176

THE AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNAL

July 20, 1896.

gelatine, dust off the loose powder, and if you have ground enough, you will find a beautiful matt surface all over the negative that is capable of taking any amount of lead of any grade. Should a mistake be made in the work, it can be ground off again. If negative takes too much lead, give it a slight rubbing with a cloth, to take some of the roughness out of the surface. This method applies especially to negatives fixed in a hypo and alum bath, such as Carbutt’s.’’—American Process Review.

lute measurements—whether trimming a print or building a house—you cannot do better than use a foot-rule. Yours faithfully,

S. SPURLING,

One of the Judges.

Launceston, July 30, 1896.

JUDGING STEREOSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHY AT LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA.

To the Editor, Australian Photographic Journal.

Dear Sir,—An article in the May number of the A.P.J. has just come under my notice. I will be glad of a little space to correct what is an apparent misunderstanding or else the fault of the judges in not being more explicit.

The prints in question were not outclassed on account of the height shown, we being well aware, that being immaterial within certain limits, and quite agree with your authorities on that point. The great and fatal fault was that, with the exception of those taking first place, not one set shown were properly trimmed as regards the sides and spacing, thus entailing such defects as “ foreground in relief in front of mount, distance on same plane as mount, distance of foreground objects too great,” etc., utterly precluding the subjects from coalescing correctly in the stereoscope, many beautiful photographs being ruined for want of knowledge of how to trim a stereoscopic print. There is only one system on which stereo prints can be properly trimmed and mounted, viz., that adopted by the first authorities in the world (I can give you the names if necessary), which ought to be well known to all who practice this beautiful branch of photography, particularly exhibitors. The judges’ decision was given on artistic and stereoscopic merit alone. With the exception already mentioned, the prints generally failed grievously in stereoscopic merit; but many exquisite beautiful photographs could well lay claim to artistic worth. The mounting of ordinary photographs may not be an important matter; with stereos it is different, as, unless properly done, they are useless for their purpose. A properly mounted stereo should coalesce instantly—show correct relief, as we see in Nature—and every part of it be at back of the plane of mount, as though viewed through an aperture. I may add that when a definite system of work demands abso-

BQOKS RECEIVED.

LJL^fntensity Coils. How made and how used.—“ Dyer.” —At the present time when both the scientific and photographic world are intensely interested in the various developments of electric light, this instructive little volume will prove of more than ordinary interest to both electrical and photographic students. The publishers, Messrs. Perken, Son, & Rayment, 66 Hatton Garden, London, send us a copy of the Seventeenth Edition, which proves to be a compact text boou, well arranged, freely illustrated, and containing valuable information upon all branches of electrical research. The published price of the book is only One Shilling, so that it is well within the reach of all interested.

Photography for Artists (Maclean).—The well-known Photographic publishers, Percy Lund and Co., Limited, have recently issued a number of useful textbooks, neatly and strongly bound, under the designation of “ The Lund Library of Photography,” the most recent published of which, by Hector Maclean, F.E.P.S., F.G.S., gives useful information respecting the many uses of Photography in various walks of Pictorial and allied Arts. The book is written in an interesting manner, and is full of instructive information for both artists and photographers.

“ The Half-tone Process,” by Julius Verfasser, again reaches us in the shape of a second edition comprising one of the " Lund Library of photography series.” The first edition of this useful publication has had such a run that the author has been induced to thoroughly revise and re-write a good deal of the book, including in the subject matter all the latest discoveries in this rapidly advancing art. Those who are possessed of copies of the first edition will find much that is new, interesting, and helpful in the second.

From the British India and Queensland Agency Co., Limited, we have received a copy of their “ Handbook of Information, 1896-97,” 10,000 copies of which are being distributed. The Handbook is full of useful, interesting, and descriptive information; it is fully illustrated with Half-tone Process Blocks, giving views of places visited by the Company’s steamers, and will prove highly useful to both travellers and those who are force to stay at home.

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