126 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



THE "FRENA" FILM-HOLDER. 



A/TESSRS. R. and J. Beck, of 68, Cornhill, Lon- 



don, have added to their well-known " Frena " 



Camera a Film-holder, which will be most useful to 



naturalists and others whilst travelling. It can be 



O 



Fig. i. — Filling the Magazine. 



fitted to any tripod-camera, like an ordinary dark 

 slide. It carries twenty cut-sheet celluloid films, 

 and changes these automatically. Fig. i represents 

 the holder open, ready for filling; fig. 2, closed, 

 and complete for use, This holder consists of 

 two parts, the maga- 

 zine and the receiver, 

 each being about half 

 as thick again as an 

 ordinary dark slide. 

 The exposure is made 

 with this apparatus in 

 the same way as with 

 a dark slide ; that is to 

 say, by inserting the 

 magazine in the slide- 

 rails of the camera, 

 withdrawing and re- 

 placing the shutter of 

 the holder, as shown 



in fig. 3. By this action the exposure has 

 been made, and the foremost film transferred 

 from the magazine to the receiver. The ex- 

 posed films stored in the receiver mav be 

 removed and developed singlv or as a pack. 

 The great advantage of films generallv. is their 

 lightness when compared with dry plates of 

 glass. 



The prices of the complete 

 apparatus is £2 10s. for quarter- 

 plate, and £3 for half - plate 

 sizes. Sensitised Films, for use 

 in the "Frena" Film-Holder 

 are supplied in packs, arranged 

 in the order in which they are 

 to be inserted into the magazine. 

 There is an ingenious arrangement 

 of notches, which ensure the correct 

 use, in turn, of each of the films. 



Fig. 2.— The " Frena " Film-Holder. Complete 



VALUE OF SPECIMENS. 



X June nth, Mr. L. C. Stevens sold at his 

 Great Rooms, Covent Garden, the collection 

 of Lepidoptera formed by Mr. J. E. Robson of 

 Hartlepool The rank and file of the collection 

 sold for rather low prices, but the best varieties 

 reached, as usual, high figures. A Colias hyale 

 suffused with black as far as the central spot, which 

 specimen has been figured in Mr, Barrett's book 

 and Mr. Mosley's " Illustrations," sold for £4 10s. 

 A specimen of Lyazna icarus £5 10s. Twenty 

 Vanessa urticj, including one variety like Newman's 

 fourth figure of this species, reached £^ 8s. 

 Argvnnis aglia, a suffused variety accompanied 

 by ordinary forms, reached £g. Another fine 

 collection of Lepidoptera is to be sold during Jul}-, 

 made by F. D. Wheeler, M.A., LL.D., F.E.S., of 

 Norwich, being very rich in Fen species. This 

 collection is a good example of the necessity for 

 long series of some insects, to show the range of 

 variation. On June 25th, an egg of the great auk was 

 sold at Mr. Stevens' rooms. It is that figured in 

 the Memoirs of the Societe Zoologique de France, 

 in 1888, plate 6, fig. C, and further notes on its 

 history appeared in the "Bulletin " of the Societe 

 in 1 89 1. The figure is 

 far too highly-coloured, 

 the bright green patch 

 on the plate being no 

 more than indicated on 

 the egg. The egg is 

 interesting on account 

 of its granular texture 

 and very light-coloured 

 markings. It was taken 

 in Iceland about 1830, 

 by a shipowner of St. 

 Malo, who bequeathed 

 it to the Count Raoul de 

 Berace, whose collection 

 was purchased by that celebrated oologist, Baron 

 D'Hamonville, from whose collection it was now 

 offered, he having still two others. The egg is 

 slightly cracked. It was sold to Mr. Jay, of Regent 

 Street, London, for 165 guineas, and is, we are told, 

 to form a kind of advertisement at his mourning 

 warehouse. At the same sale a wall-creeper's five 

 eggs and nest sold for 14 guineas. 



-Film-changing. 



