SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



193 



Photography for Naturalists. — Hand 

 cameras have hitherto hardly been taken seriously 

 into consideration for effecting scientific work. 

 Still their portability and convenience for travel 



Portrait of a Parrot, by T. Peacock. 



has caused the science student to look longingly in 

 their direction. To meet the difficulty, Messrs. 

 Newman and Guardia, of 92, Shaftesbury Avenue, 

 London, W., have perfected a hand camera which 

 will be of great value to naturalists. As an instance 

 of the work to be obtained from it, we figure a 

 beautiful piece of portraiture from life, taken by an 

 amateur, Mr. T. Peacock, of London, being of a 

 parrot which was allowed free Might in a garden. 

 It was taken during an instant of momentary rest 

 on a branch, the time allowed for approaching, 

 focussing, and obtaining the plate, being only a 

 few seconds. It will be observed that the object 

 is in perfect focus, every feather being seen in 

 detail. One important feature of these cameras 

 is the fact that a new focussing screen has been 

 adapted, which enables the photographer to 

 get three distinct views, as if taken at different 

 distances. This is very important to a naturalist 

 or geologist, who, as a rule, cannot get close to 

 his object. He can also see which focus will 

 best suit his picture, and so select its size 

 without moving from his position of observa- 

 tion. For photographing still subjects this 

 camera is equal to and better than many 

 tripcd cameras. The motion of the shutter is 

 perfect for steadiness, there being no "kicking" 

 with its consequent blurring of the picture. This 

 movement has been most successfully treated, 

 consequently the pictures are good. The Newman 

 and Guardia latest *' P> " pattern is for quarter- 



plate or 5 x 4. It can be fitted with the Zeiss 

 Jena lens and iris reduction movement, so that 

 three different sizes as above explained can be 

 obtained. This instrument is necessarily expensive 

 on account of the cost of the lens, the quarter-plate 

 size being ^22 10s. while the half-plate size 

 camera is ^"26 15s. Much less costly cameras are 

 made by this firm with equal care, being fitted with 

 either Swift or Wray lenses for quarter-plate, which 

 do most excellent work. These may be had from 

 twelve guineas upwards. The cameras shown to 

 us are so perfect that nothing remains for the 

 amateur photographer but to take his pictures, 

 which can hardly fail to be successes, if only 

 ordinary care be taken in studying the composition 

 of the pictures. Each camera contains frames for 

 twelve plates. There is further a double camera 

 made by the same firm, by which the operator can 

 see the proper moment for taking views of small 

 moving objects, such as moths, flies, fighting 

 spiders and others. We hope to be able in early 

 numbers to illustrate some of these wonderful 

 pictures. 



Stenopaic Photography. — We have received a 

 little book, by Frederick W. Mills, F.R.M.S., and 

 Archibald C. Ponton (London : Dawbarn and 

 Ward, Limited, price is.) upon stenopaic or pin- 

 hole photography, which, as many of our readers 

 know, is the taking of photographs without the aid 

 of a lens. There is a fine piece of this kind of work, 

 illustrating the process, in a frontispiece to the 

 book. The progenitor of the pin-hole camera was 

 Giovanni Baptista Porta, a physician of Padua, 

 about a.d. 1500. The word " stenopaic "is from the 

 Greek stenos, narrow or confined, in reference to 

 the aperture of the camera admitting the image. 

 This is done by employing a thin sheet of metal or 

 other substance perforated with a small hole and 

 fixed in the position usually occupied by the lens of 

 a camera. Messrs. Mills and Ponton's book very 

 simply instructs the amateur how to proceed with 

 this system ; a camera having a rising front and a 

 swing back being best suited for stenopaic work. 

 One method of preparing the aperture is to take 

 a sheet of thin brass and drive through it a sewing 

 needle by a series of gentle taps, the burr being 

 removed with a very fine file ; the needle is again 

 passed through the hole and the brass sheet is 

 finally blackened. The best plates to use for 

 this kind of photography are rapid plates, 

 which must be thickly coated by emulsion, and 

 to prevent halation they should be backed by 

 a piece of black carbon transfer-paper, such as 

 is used in autotype printing. The Manual before 

 us will be found of great use to some of our 

 readers who have not yet studied stenopaic 

 photography. 



Newman and GuardIa's Camera. 

 Open, to Show Fittings. 



