TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT 97 



DEPARTMENT OF PUBLICATION AND PHOTOGRAPHY. 



Ehvin H. Saiiliorii, Kditor and Pli,>ti>.!.r;i])licr. 



Photographij. — The more important of the subjects photo- 

 graphed in 1915 were as follows: Sea-lions diving into their 

 pool, kiang, dromedary, gudha, banded opossum, dinomys, Hum- 

 boldt saki, yak, hartebeest, swimming frogs, rare tropical frogs 

 and toads, tree snakes, palm viper, black-footed penguin, trum- 

 peters, emu chick, crested eagle, goliath herons and merganser. 

 An extensive series of negatives was made of the bears, of con- 

 struction work at the Wild Fowl Pond, and the bird shelters and 

 bird-feeding appliances exhibited on Baird Court. 



A paper on the eyes of fishes was illustrated by a number 

 of photographs made under the direction of Dr. Bates. 



The most successful and interesting results of the year's 

 photographic labors were the negatives of fishes made in the 

 tanks at the New York Aquarium ; successful from the point of 

 view of the solving of a very difficult problem. It practically 

 is impossible to remove any mammal, bird or reptile from its 

 home quarters and photograph it successfully ; and this holds 

 true of fishes. In fact, there are few creatures that are as sen- 

 sitive to changes as the fishes. Usually it is fatal to the speci- 

 mens when they are disturbed, and the resulting photographs 

 under these circumstances are of little value. The pictures that 

 the display tanks around the Aquarium presented, however, were 

 so alluring that experiments with them, covering the past ten 

 years, were tried from time to time until the problem of photo- 

 graphing the specimens as they cruised about in the tanks was 

 successfully solved. The work involved not only innumerable 

 devices in synchronizing the camera shutter and the artificial 

 lights employed, but also many nights of experiments that ex- 

 tended far into the hours of the coming day. Often a week of 

 these experiments produced not a single result other than a 

 blank plate. 



It sometimes requires several nights' work to make one good 

 negative, on account of the tardiness of the fishes in rising in 

 the water and presenting a picturesque grouping. Often, also, 

 a flood of light suddenly enveloping a tank sends its occupants 

 scurrying to the bottoms and along the sides where frequently 

 they remain for a long period. 



