NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 22463, 7 October 1936, Page 8

NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB

INFORMATIVE ADDRESS ON PHOTOGRAPHY, The president (Sirs J. A. Moore) presided over a fair attendance of members at the fortnightly meeting of the Field Chib, held on Monday night. Miss M. Macaulay was elected a member, and Mr J. G. Moody’s resignation was accepted with regret. The special subject for the evening was photography,’ by Mr S. Earland, whose long experience well qualified him to deal with the subject. ‘ Photography,’ he said, was the title of a paper read by Sir John Herschell before the lloyal Society, London, in 1839. Before this Thomas Wedgewood, son of the famous potter, using paper or* leather soaked in a solution of silver nitrate, madCj in 1802, prints of ferns and other objects, but was unable to fix them. In 1822 a Frenchman, Joseph Niepce, obtained the first permanent photogram by using silver chloride and bitumen. In 1838 Daguerre, using a silver plate sensitised by iodide of silver, made the invisible image visible by exposure to mercury vapour, and this was the origin of the Daguerreotypes still treasured in some families. Fox Talbot, using paper sensitised by silver nitrate, discovered a method of making a negative from which a positive was printed. Herschell suggested the use of glass for negatives and the use of hyposulphite of sodium as a fixing agent. The invention of the wet collodion process by Scott Archer and the gelatine dry plate by Dr Maddox followed. In 1876 Hurter and Driffield investigated the speed of plates, and a system of development by time and temperature with a definite composition of developer was worked out. Watkins investigated exposure and development. The speaker gave an outline of the extension of sensitivity to green, yellow, and other rays, and the decrease in the time necessary for exposure, and, in dealing with stereoscopic photography, showed how he had used two old “ Brownies ” to get stereoscopic effects. Pinhole cameras were very simple and had an infinite depth of field, and no focussing was necessary, though the time of exposure is lengthened much. Several methods adopted in colour photography were explained, and the uses of different types of lenses were touched upon. * Many examples of different types of photographs and of instruments used by the photographer were on exhibition, and many slides were shown. The speaker was accorded a vote of thanks. SATURDAY’S OUTING. Last Saturday’s outing was held under ideal conditions, the weather being entirely favourable. The waters of the harbour sparkled in the sunlight as two well-filled buses bore the party to “ Glenfalloch,” the residence of Mr P. Barling, who has long been a good friend to the Field Club. Expressions of admiration were not wanting as the members came in sight of the house, standing in its well-kept and beautifully wooded grounds. _ Everywhere were signs of appreciation of beauty and wise planning, so that every plant should be placed in its best setting and its natural habitat reproduced as nearly as possible. The natural beauty of the property is great, and it has been so enhanced by art and care that it is a veritable paradise. From the gate the drive winds in graceful curves, bordered by flower beds, and sweeps past the front door, which is approached by a massive flight of steps, in the chinks of which small rock-lov-ing plants find a congenial home. On the lawn is a goldfish pond, flowerrimmed. Here and there are flowering sbnibs, so artistically placed that there is beauty without artificiality. The rockeries, with their brilliant blooms of cactus, heath, sparaxis, aubretia, and saxifrages—to mention a very few of the plants there —attracted much attention. One quaint plant, which Mr Barling grows to and which is worthy of special mention, is the Chatham Island forget-me-not, with its large glossy leaves and blooms of circulean hue. The creek which runs down the gully at one point widens out into a pond, around which trollius, both single and double, makes a splash of golden colour. Along the course of the creek are several romantic little bridges, across which the party wandered, admiring beds of tulip and ranunculus and gay borders of polyanthus. From a point of vantage bn the

hillside the garden lay like a beautiful mosaic, and when the cultivation ceased the grass showed a delicate shading o! forget-me-nots, primroses, and narcissi, the whole effect being restful and a delight to the eye. The upper reaches of the gully were still clad in the native bush, with the addition of acacias, gums, and karakas. Tree-ferns and other ferns were aboundant, and enticing little nests were placed here and there, ready to encourage birds to build. Native clematis was in bloom in the hush, and beside the house bloomed the dainty pink clematis montana. A gorgeous pea of a rich red shade grew against a shelter wall, and beds of roses promised a harvest of colour and scent to come. The party thoroughly enjoyed its ramble, and, thanking theii host and hostess, departed _ by bus foi a quick run back to the city.