American Fisheries Society 253 



in the ordinary plate were brought out beautifully clear 

 when photographed in the water. I found little difficulty 

 in getting a fairly clear negative of certain crabs when 

 photographed through eighteen inches of water. 



My success with aquaria photographs encouraged nie to 

 believe that by applying the same principles, photographs 

 might be secured in the shallow water on the coral reefs 

 about the Hawaiian Islands that would be at least interesting 

 and possibly of value in showing, especially the ecological 

 relation of marine life to its environment. I was particularly 

 ambitious to secure pictures of the large reef-building corals 

 on the Hawaiian reefs. After much experimentation the 

 apparatus shown (in slide) was designed and made. It con- 

 sisted of a copper water-box twelve inches square, by 

 eighteen inches deep, in the bottom of which was securely 

 fastened, water tight, a square of plate glass. A thin board 

 was made to slide into keepers on one side of the water-box 

 and to this board, which projected a foot or more above the 

 open end of the box, the camera was secured by the use of 

 the ordinary butterfly screw. About the upper edge of the 

 box the copper was turned back in such a way as to form a 

 flange over which common black oilcloth could be tied to 

 form a fairly water-tight joint. On the back of the can a 

 handle was provided that served in carrying and steadying 

 the instrument when in use. Two short legs were rigidly 

 attached to the back of the copper water-box that projected 

 from right and left at such angles as to keep the feet out of 

 the field of vision when the camera was focused on objects 

 on the bottom. In use the box was carried about by the 

 handles, the black oilcloth being drawn up about the camera 

 to protect it from the splash of the waves and to shut of¥ 

 the direct light from the plate glass, which was kept beneath 

 the water. In this way the same condition with reference 

 to lighting was secured as though the whole instrument, 

 operator and all, were beneath the surface of tlie sea. That 

 is to say, the light that entered the camera was that refracted 

 from the objects to be photographed, and was free from 



