FISH PHOTOGRAPHIC EXCURSIONS 173 



the disturbed surface of the water. It consists of a 

 box, three feet long and one foot square, fitted with a 

 J-plate reflex camera. The camera slides up and down 

 inside the tube, and can be fixed at any desired point. 



In constructing this apparatus, my original intention 

 was to use it for taking colour photographs of marine 

 animals in pools among the rocks. I closed the end of 

 the tube with a sheet of plate glass, and intended to push 

 it right down, so as to have only a few inches of water 

 between the anemone, sponge, or crab, and the camera. 

 The first time I used it I succeeded, with difficulty, in 

 getting it about half-way beneath the surface of the 

 water, when suddenly it tilted to one side. I slipped 

 and sat on the bottom of the pool, the tube filled up, 

 and the camera was soaked. 



The experience gained resulted in the construction 

 of quite a useful apparatus. The plate glass was taken 

 out from the end and fixed six inches up the tube, and 

 the whole apparatus shortened. When in use, the end 

 of the tube is now a few inches under the surface, and 

 the weight being supported by the water, it can readily be 

 turned in any direction. 



The lower illustration facing page 172 shows a 

 plaice photographed by means of this apparatus. This 

 fish, when disturbed, swam off, but revealed the place 

 where it stopped, by raising a cloud of mud, as it 

 attempted to bury itself on the bottom. The photo- 

 graph shows how, when the disturbed mud settled, it 

 assisted to conceal the fish. 



