56 THE WOMBAT. 



band round the lens till removal ; then if you pick up your 

 camera in a hurry the stops will be safe. (An " Iris " diaphragm 

 on the lens saves this trouble). Perhaps while climbing on 

 the side of a cliff we make a sudden slip and crash goes the 

 ground glass ; for instance in a case I know of at Erskine 

 Falls, a lady had her camera broken in this way, and a delay 

 of three days occurred before she could obtain a fresh glass 

 from Melbourne. A friend of mine had the same trouble 

 while on the steamer coming from England, but he substituted 

 a fine handkerchief stretched tightly and then damped, and 

 this proved equal to the finest glass 



In exposing plates have a regular system, which will soon 

 become a habit ; commence with number one and note it in 

 your book. This will frequently save the vexation and annoy- 

 ance arising from exposing the same plate twice, and thus 

 getting two pictures on one plate. One of our members, after 

 a trip, once lent his camera to some ladies after changing the 

 plates ; on developing the plates he found that he was one 

 short, but too late ; — the camera was gone and he had to 

 resign himself to await its return. When it was restored to 

 him the lost was found again, but what a muddle was there ! 

 And though the spoiled plate gave much amusement to the 

 borrowers, the owner of the camera hardly saw the joke in the 

 same light. 



The writer of this article, being once asked to assist in 

 developing some plates and not caring to be too near the red 

 light, developed in the dark ; when he came forward to ex- 

 amine his plate before the lamp, he found that instead of a 

 group of ladies in evening dress, he had a negative of wax 

 figures of aboriginals. The cause of this was that the aboriginal 

 group had been developed some time before in the club rooms 

 and carried home in the dark slide for convenience ; when he 

 went to develope the other plates he picked up his slides in 

 a hurry, shook them and found them full, and carried them 

 off to the darkroom with the results stated. 



A friend of mine being anxious to secure some pictures 

 at Anglesea borrowed a camera, and thinking the slides were 

 all right, off he went with his mate. After spending much 

 time in selecting their views, as they had decided to take half 

 a dozen only to save changing, they returned the camera, and, 

 with the owner, went to the darkroom to develope. They 

 opened one slide — no plate ; next slide same result, and again 

 with the third. What followed I decline to relate, but when 

 he told me, I thought it was the best joke I had heard for some 

 time. Never depend on others — see to things yourself. For 

 years I have used Tyler's dark bags for exposed plates. Do 

 not change your plates in the daytime if you can avoid it ; it 

 will not matter by moonlight if the direct rays do not reach 

 the plate. 



