The Optical Magic Lantern Journal (February 1903)

AND PHOTOGRAPHIC ENLARGER. : 50 silken snares. Their architectural and engineering skill was of a high order. They were equipped with poison glands, and armed with formidable piercing weapons, but Hnglish spiders were utterly unable to injure man, though the punctures of some tropical species were as dangerous as the sting of a large scorpion. The escape of young geometer spiders was shown, and webs spun by them. Their first attempts showed that their geometry was very bad; but they soon improved, and on the sixth day they produced webs perfect in design, though smaller than those made by adults. Gossamer,.as to the origin of which there had been so much discussion, consisted of silken threads used by the young of certain species of spiders in wafting themselves from place to place; these when detached floated awhile in the air, and then fell to the ground. Some forms of snares were then shown, notably one which served also as a gin, the spider releasing a line which caused the elastic network. to rebound and imprison the fly. Mr. J. W. Garbutt was in charge of the lantern and mechanical arrangements of the slides. Sir Horace Tozer, Agent-General for Queensland, delivered a lecture on the resources and interests of Queensland at Worcester on January 24th. The lectures are illustrated by views of the State which the lecturer represents, and will, we understand, lecture to any society by request. Kingston Photographic Society.—At a meeting of this sosicty held in the Masonic Ffall, on Monday, January 12th, when a good number of the society met to hear Mr. Cembrano, F.B.P.S., lecture on the “Art of Lantern Shde Making.” A practical demonstration by the gelatine process with the pyro developer occupied the first part of the evening, and an excellent show of lantern slides from negatives taken by hand camera in the possession of Mr. Cembrano were thrownon the screen. Mr. Cembrano said one of the most important points in lantern slide making was of course to have a good negative. One kind of negative that should be avoided was the hard one. ‘here were various processes in making slides, but the one the lecturer generally adopted was the gelatine process. It was especially suited to amateurs, as it was cheap, easy and durable. The lecturer then proceeded to make slides, giving various exposures to a gas flame, saying that gas was perhaps better than magnesium, which was not so steady. Time was an important factor in the development of the slides, and he advised enthusiasts to work with a clock at hand that had a large ‘“ second face,’ and to keep record of all the times and chemicals which had been in use. They would find this of great value, and it would tend to save the spoilation of many plates. The lecturer said he generally used the pyro developer, which would keep and produce faithful colouring. The best tone to print a lantern slide was a warm brown tint. He also advised slide makcrs to mark the slides so as to define the right way up, else if they did not do so, they would become the dispair of the lanternist. Mr. Cembrano concluded his remarks by saying: When you have made a nice slide it is a pity to spoil it by a bad mount, and more so to show it through a bad lantern. Huddersfield Literary Society.—On the 16th January Mr. B. H. Halstead gave a lecture entitled ‘‘ My Trip up the Mediter:anean,”’ which was well illustrated by upwards of seventy views shown by the oxy-hydrogen lantern. The lecturer was accompanied on the trip by his brother, the Rev. J. H. Halstead, B.A., of Stockport, and explained that the lantern views had been made mainly from photographs taken with a Kodak camera. The life and amusements on board ship were described, and an interesting account given of each calling place, from Gibraltar to Algiers, Malta and Alexandria. A Walk to Venice.—The Rev. A. N. Cooper, vicar of Filey, delivered a lecture in the Temperance Hall, Driffield, on January 20th, detailing his recent walk to Venice. The lecture was illustrated by limelight views. Sheffield Literary Society.—Mr. R. W. Chase, of Birmingham, on the 19th January, delighted an audience with an illustrated account of ‘The Rambles of an Ornithologist.” After dealing generally with the distribution of birds and their marked characteristics, the lecturer gave some remarkable examples of the manner in which Nature protected her offspring. For example, the eggs are laid so that the heat shall be evenly distributed during the process of hatching. Then there is the assimilation of colour secording to the varied environment. It is cifficult to perceive the eggs that are laid in the sind by the ‘seashore by the birds that inhabit the coast, owing to their corresponding with the colour of the sand. Someare laid among stones, the eggs closely corresponding; others on the dizzy heights of a precipice, and only the practised eye can distinguish the feathered creature from the scarped cliff. In one instance, where a certain species build their nests in the reeds of the marshes, a ridge is placed round the edge of the nest to prevent the eggs or the young from