SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



247 



CONDUCTED BY B. FOULKES-WINKS, M.R.P.S. 



EXPOSURE TABLE FOR JANUARY. 



The figures in the following table are worked out for plates ot 

 about 100 Hurter & Driffield. For plates of lower speed number 

 give more exposure in proportion. Thus plates of 50 H. & D. 

 would require just double the exposure. In the same way, 

 plates of a higher speed number will require proportionately 

 less exposure. 



Time, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 



Between 9 and 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m. double 



the required exposure. Between 8 and 9 a.m. and 



3 and 4 p.m. multiply by 4. 



Subject 



F. 5-6 



F.8 



F.ll 



F.16 



F.22 

 I 



F. 32 

 i 



F.45 

 I 



F.64 

 1 



Sea and Sky . . 



iio 



, 



33 



rs 



Open Landscape 

 and Shipping 



>* 



A 



1 



i 



I 



1 



2 



4 



Landscape,with 

 dark fore- 

 ground, Street 

 Scenes, and 

 Groups 



1- 



J 



i 



4 



1 



2 



4 



8 



Portraits in 

 Rooms 



\« 



16 



32 



1 



2 



4 



- 



- 



Light Interiors 



30 



1 



2 



4 



8 



16 



32 



60 



Dark Interiors 



2 



4 



8 



16 



32 



60 



120 



240 



The small figures represent seconds, large figures minutes. 

 The exposures are calculated for sunshine. If the weather is 

 cloudy, increase the exposure by half as much again ; if gloomy, 

 double the exposure. 



Royal Photographic Society. —For some con- 

 siderable time a strong current of discontent has 

 been apparent amongst the members of the Society 

 with regard to the working of some of the Articles 

 of Association. This feeling became more and 

 more pronounced, until at last it found vent last 

 October in the presidential address to the Society. 

 A special general meeting was therefore convened 

 at the Society's house, 66 Russell Square, London, 

 for November 11th. At this meeting many of the 

 Articles of Association were altered. The first to 

 be amended was Article. 4 : to substitute 1,500 for 

 1,000 as the limit of the membership. There was 

 a proposition before the meeting that the Society 

 should have a paid secretary instead of an honorary 

 secretary and a paid assistant secretary ; but unfor- 

 tunately this proposal was lost. We are certainly 

 in agreement with those members who advocated 

 this proposition, as there can be no question that 

 a society of this standing, being in fact the premier 

 photographic society of the world, with a member- 

 ship of nearly one thousand, should have paid 

 officials to do the onerous work of the department. 

 Only s\ich officials can be made responsible for the 

 administration of the many details being executed 

 in a proper manner. There was also a proposal to 



amend Article 37 which defined the mode of 

 election of committee and other officers. By 

 some evident mischance this was lost ; because 

 there is no doubt that the wish of the great 

 majority present was for the amendment. It has 

 been a matter of contention for some years, and so 

 evident was the feeling of the members, that another 

 Special General Meeting of the Society was requi- 

 sitioned for December 9 for the express purpose 

 of again bringing forward this proposition. 

 There was, then, an attendance of 104 members. 

 The objectionable Article 37 ran as follows : 

 " All nominations must be sent to the secretary not 

 less than twenty-five clays before the annual 

 general meeting. A balloting paper containing 

 no names but those of the members nominated and 

 eligible to serve and their nominators shall be sent 

 to every member of the Society at least seven days 

 before the annual general meeting, with instructions 

 to erase all names of members nominated except 

 those for whom he desires to vote. Every balloting 

 paper shall be invalid on which more than one 

 name as president, four names as vice-presidents, 

 one name as treasurer, and twenty names as 

 ordinary members of Council are left unerased, or 

 where there is any indication of the identity of the 

 voter. The balloting paper shall be closed in an 

 envelope provided for the purpose, which shall be 

 enclosed in another envelope bearing the voter's 

 signature, and forwarded to reach the secretary not 

 later than noon of the day preceding the annual 

 general meeting. The secretary shall place such 

 envelopes unopened in the hands of the scrutineers, 

 who shall reject any papers received except those 

 from members entitled to vote, and shall announce 

 the result of the election before the close of the 

 annual general meeting. If the votes in any case 

 are equal, the chairman shall give a casting vote. 

 Votes given to any member nominated in two 

 capacities, and not elected to the higher, shall be 

 counted to the next office, but no balloting paper 

 shall be allowed to count as recording more than 

 one vote for any nominee." The omission of the 

 words " and their nominators," on the third and 

 fourth lines, was proposed by Mr. Child Bayley, 

 F.R.P.S., seconded by Mr. Thomas Bedding, 

 F.R.P.S., and supported by many of the most 

 influential members. The great objection raised 

 by all these gentlemen to the article was that the 

 balloting paper for members of the Council went 

 out with twenty to thirty well-known names as 

 nominators in support of certain candidates for the 

 Council, which system, it was contended, asserted 

 undue influence in favour of the candidate who 

 could get the most members to nominate him. 

 So keen were the members on the necessity of 

 having this article amended, that when the 

 amendment was put to the meeting by the president, 

 it was found that 97 out of a total of 104 members 

 present voted for the proposition to eliminate the 

 words. There is still urgent need for change in 

 management in many directions, and should an 

 entirely new Council be elected, the members may 

 hope to get these reforms carried through. One of 

 the most important is that the Society's rooms 

 should be kept open every evening until 10 o'clock. 

 At present they are only available from 10 a.m. 

 until 4 p.m., excepting one evening in the week. As 

 the great majority of members are business men, 

 it is evident that the advantages of joining such 

 a society are practically denied to most of the 

 members. 



