PHOTOGRAPHING ELECTRICAL DISCHARGES. 305 



and the representatives of the Presbyterian and Baptist mis- 

 sions, was in favor of prohibition. On the other hand, the views 

 of the Episcopal bishops and clergy of Calcutta and Lucknow, 

 and of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Calcutta, were adverse 

 to prohibition. Several of the former, however, frankly admitted 

 that the evils of the opium habit, deplorable as they undoubtedly 

 are, have been grossly exaggerated, and the good that it accom- 

 plishes has been but little recognized. 



The use of opium in India and China is as much a natural , 

 habit as the use of alcohol among Western nations. It has been i 

 practiced in those countries for centuries, and it would seem im- : 

 possible by legislation, and especially by the legislation of an : 

 alien nation, to do anything more than control the more mani- 1, 

 fest evils resulting from it. A policy of rigid restriction of the I 

 use of opium would unquestionably be a substitution of the use 

 of opium by alcohol ; and all the evidence given before the com- 

 mission as to the evils arising from the opium habit showed, that '■ 

 as a source of social disorder, organic disease, insanity, and sui- , 

 cide, opium is not to be compared with alcohol. J 



Note. — For the full details of this most interesting inquiry, whether regarded from an 

 economic, social, or medical point of view, reference is made to the First Report of the 

 Royal Commission on Opium, with minutes of evidence and appendices, presented to Parlia- 

 ment in 1894, and to two final reports, Parts I and II, with historical appendices, etc., pre- 

 sented to Parliament in 1895, after the return of the commission from its visit to India. 



PHOTOGRAPHING ELECTRICAL DISCHARGES. 



By WALTER E. WOODBURY, 



EDrrOR OF THE PIluTOGKAPHIC TIMES 



PHOTOGRAPHY plays many important parts in modern sci- 

 ence. It assists the astronomer by revealing the existence of 

 thousands and thousands of worlds veiled in the obscurity of im- 

 measurable distance and invisible to the eye even when aided by 

 the most powerful telescope in existence. The chemist has recog- 

 nized the value of it in registering the belted zones of the spec- 

 trum. It aids the meteorologist by placing in his hands perma- 

 nent records of the dark nimbus and the bright rolling cumulus 

 clouds, the lightning flash, and the automatic registration of the 

 rise and fall of the barometer and thermometer. The microsco- 

 pist is able to photograph the disease-bearing generations of bac- 

 teria, vibrio, and schizomycetes, and to magnify their images a 

 thousandfold for the benefit of the student. It determines the 

 depth of the sea, the direction of currents, and the velocity of 

 projectiles. It detects the spurious bank note or signature, the 

 vibration of suspected bridges, and no traveler's equipment is 



VOL. XLIX, — 25 



