142 The Field Naturalist' s Quarterly May 



the lens pointing to the ground. Many inanimate objects 

 closely connected with animal photography are conveniently 

 photographed by laying on the ground, and photographing 

 with the camera vertical as described. 



Insects and small objects can be taken without shadow, 

 and with a background of any desired tone as follows : 

 Place the objects on a sheet of glass which is supported on 

 two bricks placed edgeways on the ground. A piece of 

 paper of any desired tint is laid on the ground as a back- 

 ground, and is too far away to show any shadow of the 

 object. The camera is used vertically as before. If it is 

 desired to use this shadowless plan with a horizontal 

 camera, the insects or objects can be fastened to the glass 

 (which is also vertical) by a useful cement made of equal 

 parts of Canada balsam and bees-wax. The advantage of 

 this plan is that after the objects are fixed the tone of the 

 background can be changed to get the most suitable 

 contrast. 



It is but a small step from photographing small animals 

 or objects to the subject of photo-micrography. Photo- 

 graphing with about the same degree of magnification — say 

 about 3 to 5 diameters — as that afforded by a low-power 

 pocket -lens, is easily attained with very little apparatus 

 beyond the long-extension camera already advised. If the 

 photographer, for instance, can obtain a 3-inch focus lens — 

 either a photographic or a microscopic one — and screws it 

 temporarily into the front of the camera, he can, with a 

 15-inch extension, take a photograph with a magnification 

 of four times the original. An ordinary i-inch micro- 

 objective can also be used in this way, but the object to be 

 taken must be of almost microscopic dimensions. For this 

 class of work a long board the width of the camera should 

 be provided, with strips of wood on each side, and a sliding 

 upright stage in which a sheet of glass for the objects can 

 be fastened. A bull's-eye condenser is useful for increasing 

 the illumination of small objects. I found an arrangement 

 of this kind most useful when making a set of lantern-slides 

 to illustrate the life-history of the honey-bee. 



As regards exposure and development, one of the text- 

 books should be read up, as a sound idea of first principles 



