Ch. VII] PHOTOGRAPHY WITH A VERTICAL CAMERA 207 



§ 328. Photography with a vertical camera. — The object can be 

 left horizontal as well as the camera by the use of a mirror or totally 

 reflecting prism, but this gives the inversion of a plane mirror, and 

 as shown in § 282 it will render the image erect on the film side of the 

 negative, but when the negative is printed the image will be inverted. 

 To meet all the difficulties the object may be left in a horizontal 

 position and the camera made vertical (fig. 126). 



Since 1879 such a camera has been in use in the Anatomical Depart- 

 ment of Cornell University for photographing all kinds of specimens; 

 among these, fresh brains and hardened brains have been photo- 

 graphed without the slightest injury to them. Furthermore, as 

 many specimens are so delicate that they will not support their own 

 weight, they may be photographed under alcohol or water with a 

 vertical camera and the result will be satisfactory as a photograph 

 and harmless to the specimen (§ 328a). 



A great field is also open for obtaining life-like portraits of water 

 animals. Chloretoned or etherized animals are put into a vessel of 

 water with a contrasting background and arranged as desired, then 

 photographed. Fins have something of their natural appearance 

 and gills of branchiate salamanders float out in the water in a natural 

 way. In case the fish tends to float in the water a little mercury 

 injected into the abdomen or intestine will serve as ballast. The 

 photographs obtainable in water are almost if not quite as sharp as 

 those made in air. Even the corrugations on the scales of such fishes 

 as the sucker (Catostomus teres) show with great clearness. 



While the use of photography diminishes the labor of artists about 

 one-half, it increases that of the preparator; and herein lies one of 

 its chief merits. The photographs being exact images of the prepara- 

 tions, the tendency will be to make them with greater care and deli- 

 cacy, and the result will be less imagination and more reality in 

 published scientific figures; and the objects prepared with such 

 care will be preserved for future reference. 



In the use of photography for figures several considerations arise: 

 (1) The avoidance of distortion; (2) The adjustment of the camera 

 to obtain an image of the desired size; (3) Focusing; (4) Lighting 

 and arranging the object. 



