PHOTOGRAPHY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 59 
seen that the lamps were working, the shutter was operated from the boat. In 
this way good photographs of gorgonias were obtained at night at a depth of 6 
meters, with an exposure of five seconds. It is not necessary that the diver should 
descend to place the lamp in position. The same apparatus was worked successfully 
at a depth of 50 meters, in this case the apparatus not being allowed to rest on the 
bottom, but being held suspended from a cable at some distance from the bottom. 
The object photographed was a canvas screen rigidly attached by rods to the camera 
support at such a distance from the lens as to be sharply focused. When the 
apparatus was brought to the surface it was found that one of the lamps had failed 
to withstand the pressure so that its jacket was filled with water. With lamps 
and camera constructed to withstand the pressure at great depths, Boutan believes 
that an apparatus of this sort may be used at depths to which light does not 
penetrate. The apparatus may of course be used by a diver at depths of 40 meters 
or less, and the camera may then be directed at any desired object; but at greater 
depths a diver can not work, and the apparatus must then of course be let down at 
random, to photograph only what chances to be in the range of its lens. 
Boutan’s work has the great merit of having demonstrated that it is possible 
at a depth of 3 meters to obtain good instantaneous pictures by the light of the 
sun and without the use of artificial light. He showed further that his apparatus 
with electric illumination could be immersed and operated from outside the 
water at depths as great as 50 meters. For work at great depths or by artificial 
light no better apparatus is known. The faults of it, for work in shallow water or 
at any depth to which a diver can descend, are (1) its great bulk and weight, and (2) 
the fact that it can not be focused under water. It can not be carried about freely, 
and for use it must be set on the bottom at a known distance from the object to be 
photographed and must then be sighted at that object. It is unfortunate that 
for work in shallow water Boutan did not make use of the principle of the twin 
camera or the reflecting camera, for by using either of these devices he could have 
made an apparatus that was portable and that could have been focused under water. 
He could thus have carried his camera about as one carries detective cameras and 
could have photographed submarine objects either while wading with his head 
above water or in moderate depths while on the bottom in a diver’s suit. 
BRISTOL’S SUBAQUATIC CAMERA. 
That such a method is feasible and that it may yield better results than 
those obtained by Boutan was suspected as early as 1898 by Prof. C. L. Bristol, 
who immediately began work on a submarine photographic apparatus. Nothing 
has as yet been published concerning this apparatus, and the details of its con- 
struction are quite unknown to me. Professor Bristol kindly permits me, however, 
to make the following quotation from a letter to me on the subject: ‘‘From the 
first I have used a water-tight camera capable of submersion in from 10 to 15 
fathoms, mounted on a tripod with a universal motion, arranged so as to show the 
picture on the ground glass as well as to focus the lens and make the exposure. 
Moreover, a magazine attachment permits me to carry down several plates and to 
change them after each exposure while under water. After several seasons’ efforts 
the apparatus is now very efficient and has produced excellent results. I am not 
yet ready to publish a detailed account.” 
B. B. F. 1907—5 
