276 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



He Demands Proof in the Lens Ques- 

 tion. 



(A name in the following is left blank by 

 request of the photographer who intended 

 his letters as personal to the editor and not 

 for publication. — Ed.) 



Rochester, New York. 

 To the Editor: 



You have placed yourself under obli- 

 gations to Mr- , as well 



as to the readers of your magazine to 

 explain how you know that because 



Mr. in a photographic contest, 



won the first prize with a picture that he 

 made with a rapid rectilinear lens, his 

 success was owing to one of these acci- 

 dents, either that Mr. 's subject 



was better than the other subjects, or 



that Mr. 's picture was the best 



in a poor collection. Did you see the 

 pictures that were entered in that con- 

 test? Are you basing your conclusions 

 upon accurate information or upon 



what you imagine? If Mr. 's 



prize picture had been made with an 

 anastigmat would you have told him 

 that his success was owing to either 

 of the accidents that you specify? 



Mr. has stated facts which 



he knows. In your reply there is noth- 

 ing to show that you are telling what 

 you know. You don't know that the 

 man who runs the elevator has the 

 best lenses. You don't know what kind 

 of lenses the man who runs the eleva- 

 tor has. You don't know whether the 

 man who runs the elevator has any 

 lenses or whether he has no lenses; for 

 if you do know, instead of citing the 

 dealer, you would cite, as your authori- 

 ty, the man himself who runs the eleva- 

 tor. You know what the dealer said 

 about the man who runs the elevator, 

 and no more. You cannot prove a 

 statement upon heresay evidence. 



You have again made the charge that 

 the rectilinear lens is an "old plug." 

 I call upon you to produce your proofs. 

 What do you mean by the term "old 

 plug" as you apply the term to rectili- 

 near lenses? Then, in accordance with 

 your definition, what are the facts 

 which tend to show that the rectilinear 

 lens is an "old plug?" You have ac- 

 cused ; and your accusation is chal- 



lenged. It is incumbent on you to 

 substantiate your accusation with 

 proofs. 



George W. Keeeogg. 



Thus I am pinned to the witness 

 stand and quizzed and cross-questioned 

 to make clear the faith that is within 

 me regarding the superiority of the 

 anastigmat over the rectilinear. Let 

 me frankly state that I do not know 



the details of Mr. 's success nor 



of yours. I know that you both do 

 good work — first-class work — and that 

 is why I am willing to enter into an 

 argument with you as to the relative 

 values of rectilinear and anastigmat 

 lenses. With about ninety-nine hun- 

 dredths of the work that comes to this 

 office from rectilinear lenses there is 

 no chance for argument. The photo- 

 graphs are self-evidently bad although 

 in many of them the subjects are first- 

 class. Over some of them one could 

 almost shed tears when one thinks that 

 the photographer did not have gump- 

 tion enough to use a rectilinear lens 

 well and get the best out of it, or to 

 use an anastigmat fairly well and even 

 with such usage get good results. I 

 think that you and all other advocates 

 of rectilinear or anastigmat lenses lay 

 too much stress upon the quality of 

 the work as a test of relative values. 

 I think that every manufacturer of an- 

 astigmat lenses makes a mistake in 

 arguing that the anastigmat lens pro- 

 duces better results than the rectilinear. 

 Taking everything into consideration, 

 these arguments in behalf of the anas- 

 tigmat are right, but they often create 

 suspicion in the minds of thoughtful 

 camerists like you, because the fact re- 

 mains that once in a while poor work 

 is done with the anastigmat even in 

 the best hands, while occasionally we 

 see a perfect masterpiece made with a 

 rectilinear. Rut why put all the stress 

 of the suneriority of the anastigmat 

 upon quality? I can recall many 

 phases of human life where superiority 

 does not rest wholly on quality. The 

 wise man occasionally does a foolish 

 thing and the numskull sometimes 

 makes a brilliant achievement. The 

 holiest man sometimes sins and the 



