46 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1884. 



(d) Photographer. 



Mr. T. W. Smillie reports the addition to liis files of 529 negatives 

 during the year. The following instruments have been purchased : One 

 large vertical copying camera ; one small camera ; one solar microscope, 

 including one heliostat; one camera with various illuminators, dia- 

 phragms, &c. ; and a series of objectives from ^ inch to 4 inches. An 

 electric light has also been added to the apparatus of this section, ob- 

 viating tne necessity of delays by reason of cloudy weather. 



The apparatus in this section is extremely complete, and the photo- 

 graphic laboratory is now thoroughly equipped for all kinds of work. 

 Several of the Government bureaus have recognized this fact, and have 

 occasionally requested the i)ermission of the Director to have certain 

 scientific work performed here, some of which i^robably could not have 

 been accomplished elsewhere. During 1884 Mr. Smillie has instructed 

 a class of ten ensigns of the United States Navy. One of these accom- 

 panied the Greely Relief Expedition, and produced some very satisfac- 

 tory results with a camera. Instruction has also been given without 

 reserve to several scientific gentlemen who desired to acquire some 

 knowledge of this art preparatory to their departure on various scien- 

 tific expeditions. 



As a special application of this art to Museum purposes may be 

 mentioned certain work which has been performed for the Department 

 of Building Stones. Negatives have been made of typical buildings, 

 constructed of various kinds of stone. These have been enlarged on 

 paper 30 by 40 inches, and colored according to the natural colors of 

 the different kinds of stone. By means of polarized light photomi- 

 crographs were made from thin sections of stone. These were enlarged 

 on glass and colored with transparent tints, thus presenting a picture 

 of the section as seen with the microscoj^e under polarized light. Spe- 

 cially noteworthy also were a number of photographic enlargements 

 representing thirteen of the Government buildings in Washington. 

 These are the largest single prints ever made, and have been found par- 

 ticularly effective at the New Orleans and Cincinnati Expositions, it 

 being thought that in an exhibition of the work of the Government De- 

 partments, such as has been attempted this year by the United States 

 Executive Board, it is particularly appropriate that the public buildings 

 of Washington should be shown in an impressive manner. 



The work accomi^lished in this section during 1884 is as follows : 



Negatives taken *463 



Prints made 4, 847 



Medium size enlargements GG 



Extra size enlargements (4 by 7 feet) 26 



Enlargements on glass, colored 12 



Enlargements on paper, colored 12 



Cyanotypes 315 



* In addition to this number 66 negatives were taken in the field. 



