A Japanese Legend 209 



May 2gth, 28gth meeting. Mr. Huggins exhibited a 

 small photograph 1 printed by a process recently patented 

 by Mr. Willis. The paper, prepared with ferric oxylate, 

 is floated, after removal from the negative, on a hot bath 

 of neutral oxylate of potash to which a solution of a platinum 

 salt has been added. The picture is developed in a few 

 seconds, the advantages consisting in the artistic effects 

 of the grey and black tones of the platinum, the pureness 

 of the whites, and the absence of glaze. As the platinum 

 is deposited in the paper, the print should be very durable. 



June i gth, agoth meeting. Dr. Henry Draper, 2 of New 

 York (a guest), exhibited two photographic negatives 

 illustrating by the coincidence of the bright lines the presence 

 of oxygen in the sun. The photograph also shows some 

 of the iron lines, and the coincidence between these and the 

 dark lines in the sun indicates that the two spectra, that 

 of the oxygen and of the sun, are correctly adjusted one 

 to the other. 



Mr. Moseley produced a roll of Japanese pictures illustrating 

 a legend corresponding in many respects with that of Jack 

 the Giant-killer. They are bold outline sketches, a style 

 much admired by the Japanese, and tell this story, though 

 not accompanied by a descriptive text. A terrible giant 

 dwelt in the mountains of Oyeyama, near Kioto, who carried 

 off certain princesses from the Mikado's court. The hero 

 sets off to rescue them, accompanied, as usual, by twenty 

 trusty attendants. Disguised as pedlars, with their weapons 

 in their packs, a hermit shows them the way up the mountain 

 and a princess guides them to the castle gate, where hideous 

 gnomes brandishing the giant's arms are on guard. The 

 owner receives them graciously and invites them to supper, 

 at which both he and his gnomes get drunk. The avengers 



1 A copy is inserted in the Minutes. 



2 Henry Draper (1837-82) was an enthusiastic, original, and distinguished 

 observer in astronomy and chemistry ; the son of John William Draper 

 (1811-82), who was born in England and emigrated to Virginia in 1833, 

 ultimately being Professor of Chemistry at the University of New York. 

 He also wrote many valuable memoirs on physical and physiological 

 subjects. 



P.C. O 



