APPARATUS. 11 



and still the number is ever being increased. The 

 vast majority of them embody none of the 

 primary requirements of the naturalist's camera, 

 the true attributes of which are strength 

 and simplicity of 'construction. Remember at 

 the time of purchase that your camera will sooner 

 or later have to undergo the ordeal by tree, by 

 cliff, or by water. Its life is to be a hard and a 

 rough one, and a suggestion of weakness in any 

 part should at once condemn it. The dealer's 

 shop is indeed a valley of temptation. All around, 

 poised daintily on glass shelves, or cased alluringly 

 in rows, are charming little folding hand-cameras 

 of diverse forms, each one a gem of workman- 

 ship, and by the maker's craft at once arousing 

 our cupidity ; while propped up in some corner 

 is that very uninteresting (I had almost said 

 forbidding) looking thing, a stand-camera. Small 

 wonder that the beginner, advised by some older 

 worker to purchase the latter type, should be 

 torn by conflicting desires. 



It would be difficult, if not impossible, to 

 nominate the best camera for this work ; the price 

 the purchaser is prepared to give and the weight 

 he is able to carry are both important factors, 

 and as there is no perfect camera we do not wish 

 to name specific models, but rather to define a 

 type. 



