CAMERA AND SCIENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 6 September 1932, Page 3

CAMERA AND SCIENCE

LECTURE BY IAIR W. C. DAVIES

LORD BLEDISLOE’S PRAISE

WELLINGTON, September, 6

Before .a crowded; audience in., the; ; conference hall of the Dominion Farm; ers’ Institute, Mr W. G. Davies,' of the Cawtliron| Institute, Nelson, gave a . profoundly interesting lecture bn- photography an the service of scienoe. The Wellington Philosophical Society, under whose auspices the lecture was given, has’in the past secur-. ed sometimes eminent lecturers who; have held the attention of their audiences to am extraordinary degree. But 5 it, is certain that none of them has , dealt with, his subject in so fascinating a way, or made, time pass so quickly, as Mr Davies did ‘last evening. For more than two hours, with hardly a pause; he- moved over ah extremely wide field. . , - i , '' The lecture whs attended by his Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, who was invited by the' chairman, Dr J. Henderson, to move Die vote of thanks when Mr Davies had ended.’ * ‘My ’ capacity ' for moving 1 efficiently this vote of thanks,”, said ; hjs .Excellency,';“is in ' inverse Tatio to my appreciation of the, lecture ahd my profound admiration for tlie varied talents 6f our lecturer. There are few men, scientists or others, who could manage to hold the rapt attention of ah audience such ..as this, in, .an at--1 mospliere curiouDy impregnated vdth an excels of carbon dioxide, for two lioufa aiid a quarter, Without any ih(terriiptibh of interest or pleasure. Mr ; ' 'Davies lias. given us this evening a Veritable treat.’!ETe lias managed to'compress' into two..hours and ( a .quarter ’ an amount’.of infdrmation which' might' easily have been spread over at least four different lectures.’’ • ~ 5 ' ;r ' WORK RECOGNISED.

Before the lecture began the chairman informed the audience that Mr' Davies'had, in recognition of his outstanding work, '.received word recently of his election to a EeJipwsllip- pf. ( ih)e Royal Photographic Society, 'Die jahnouncement was received with applause, and it was to this that Mi; Davies referred when he began. ‘‘This message ,from tlie Old Land,” he , said',” comes, to me as a very welcome one. of encouragement for the many j-ears of. very happy lla.bour in photography, first as an amateur, secondly when it was of assistance to me in my work both as a teacher and lecturer to teachers, and, during the last 12 years, in yonnectiqn ,with,T the work ,of the: CaWthron- Institute, Nelson. ''

, . In choosing tfio subject of his lecture; Mr! Davies eontinued, he had, been embarrassed' not by the scarcity of material,- but by its plentitude, amjl the difficulty of deciding upon a topie.Biit lie had come to the conclusion finally that he would deal with the modern ifihotpgraphic plate, the causes. which had produced it, and its capabilities. Bb’ went oh accordingly to! an account' of the' old eoM'odion Wet .plate the orthochromatic plate, and tfie modern panchromatic plate, used with arid Without cblour‘‘filters. AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS.

Comparisons of photographs, ‘ the methods of overcoming photographic difficulties, the application of phatcri gnfphy" to scientific problems .in agriculture, 1 entoriiology, botany, geology, architecture, arid paleontology, were all discussed and illustrated with a rilaghificerit series of lantern glides. " Equally, if not more, interesting were the sections of the lecture devoted to infra-red arid ultra-violet photography—with its amazirig practical applications—colour photography/ and such things' as “optical *. sectioning”, and the istomach camera. t

No- adeq'uatri idea of Mr Davies’ lecture could be conveyed at all briefly. But it was 'certainly a lecture which all who attended it will remember for some time. Mr Davies 'Had manifestly gone to great 1 lengths ih pfeparatiori,/bringing his own lanterns and special' screen's from ’Nelson, as well as a 'collection 6f lantern sliders of ampled interest, including remarkable original work—as, for example, with the’'infra-red and trie 'ultra-yiotet—-arid some of 1 trie' most extraordinary Wbrlt of' leading •.' pkotOgra'phers overseas.

Tluj vote of thanks moved by bis Excellency was carried by acclamation.