British Kinematography (1951)

90 BRITISH KINEMATOGRAPHY Vol. 18, No. 3 ward to the extension of the work into other fields of research. The Camera and the Microscope Since the microscope is a universal research tool, it is natural that a large number of research films should have been made with its assistance. Again, Marey in France appears to have been the pioneer worker, and his book " Movement " contains an illustration of his special microscope. design and construct his own apparatus, and this may be complex and expensive.8 The basic component parts of every kinemicrographic equipment are as follows: — 1 . The microscope with its thermostatically controlled incubator. 2. The illuminating system and protective shutter. 3. The motion picture camera and special observation ocular. 4 Rigid support for the camera with antivibration mountings. Fig. 6. The Apparatus of Simpl, Ltd. The majority of films made with the microscope have been time-lapse records of cell growth and cell division. The method has the advantage of saving much time and, for organisms that grow slowly, the tireless automatic operation of an equipment for kinemicrography may be the only method available for certain types of research work. Since no commercial equipment is available for this work, each worker has had to 6. Timing unit to operate the camera at the correct time intervals. The equipments of Dr. Commandon at L'Institut Pasteur and those of the late Dr. Canti, now at Cambridge, are of this type, but recently less massive and expensive apparatus has been used by some workers, notably Dr. Hughes of Cambridge, and it is now possible to make a reliable 16 mm.