ANIMATED CINEMATOGRAPHY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 283, 22 April 1911, Page 9

ANIMATED CINEMATOGRAPHY.

MARCH OF IMPROVEMENT. The march of improvement in cinomatograpliy is so rapid that it is hardly possible to keep in touch. What was wonderful a few years ago is now a matter of course; but the doings of those few yeaTS will make valuable history nevertheless. For instance, where, in twenty years' time, shall we find records of Booksellers' Row? Where, even now, can we procure more than fugitive prints of old Seven Dials? The list can be indelinitely increased, by subjects .which arc of value even to the present generation, but how much more valuable will I hey lie to the men and women of the future? Animated pictures of almost daily happenings, which possesses no mure llian a passing interest now, will rank as matters of national importance to future authorities, and the heads of museums and universities, to see that the institutions under their control become possessed of these important moving records of present events. Books, pamphlets, prints, and the like, are perforce kept for reference, hut lilms depicting important movements with a detail verbally impossible are lost to the nation for want of a little forethought and a ridiculously small expenditure of capital. Though many subjects would not be able to be kept, it is reasonably certain that enough remain to make the securing of a film here and there a good investment for the future of our institutions. WONDERS OF THE MTCRO-CTNEMATO-GRAPH. Former cinematographic exhibitions of •individual scientific subjects in places of amusement were intended as an introduction, and served their purpose in attracting and compelling the attention of scientists and experts. Possibilities, as demonstrated in the displays of a few years ago, are now accomplished facts in preparing educational and scientific series of subjects. Equal in importance in the study of microscopic forms of life is the microcinematograph. Utilised in conjunction j with the cinematograph projector, germs and microbes, magnified to gigantic dimensions, are shown in full activity. The magnification varies from 2,000,000 to 70,000,000 times, according to the extent of the face of the projector, which varies from 25 to 850 diameters. This discovery was only achieved after much patient labor and no small expense. The chief trouble to be overcome at the outset was that of light. It was nccessary to turn a ray of 2000 candle-power on to the speck that was being magnified and photographed, and yet not .destroy it by heat. In solving this problem a great scientific triumph of the highest value in many directions was accomplished, and there is no doubt as to the future of the micro-cinematograph in bacteriological science. SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION ENLARGED. As a result of this discovery, the scone of investigation into various diseases produced by bacilli is, by animated photography, immensely enlarged. Ordinary methods of preparing bacteria for microscopic examination give anything but an accurate idea of the natural appearance of the organisms. The greatest difficulty in the way of investigating living bacteria is the close affinity of I tlieir refractive index to the media in I which they are cultivated. After months of experiment with various optical formulae, success in finding a combination of lenses, which permit accurate examination of living, unstained bacteria, was achieved, and is now practicable. By the usual methods, particular movements have to be waited for. often without success, as in the ''clumping" of typhoid bacilli; but, by the micro-cine-matograph, pictures of these germs, magnified 850 diameters, may now be projected on the screen in all stages of growth, and in restless, unceasing movement, while films presenting the necessary clumping can easily be prepared.

CINEMATOGRAPH IN NATURAL ■SCIENCE. In former years, only rapid snapshot series for use with the zoetrope were available, and only one person at a time could view the subject exhibited. But since the introduction of the micro-cine-matograph the student of natural science may record the development of microscopic forms of life, follow it through the various stages, and demonstrate it to an audience of any size, with better scientific results. In the days of the zoetrope, twenty feet of film could not be produced; now, film to any length may be procured. By micro-cinematographic investigation, scries have been produced which illustrate circulation and rotation of protoplasis and the movement of chlorophyll bodies within the cells of the leaf of Elodea, the circulation of blood in the web of a frog's foot, and in the tail of the gold-fish. An accurate knowledge of the minute microscopic organisms is necessary not only to the medical man, but to the Board of Agriculture, to every officer of public health, every sanitary inspector, sewerage disposal committee, farmer, brewer, dairyman, etc. But for certain forms of bacteria the farmer could not successfully carry on his labors, while the dairy farmer depends on other forms of bacilli for the delicate flavor of his cheeses, etc., and the bacterial treatment of sewerage is daily being more generally adopted as the best. Animated pictures of the different forms of bacilli and other microscopic organisms are nowbeing produced by the micro-cinemato-graph. THE MICRO-CINEMATOGRAPH IN AGRICULTURE. In its application to the study of the life history of insects, the cinematograph is of the first importance to the Board of Agriculture, to horticulturalists, and to agriculturalists. By its means are recorded, not only the transformations from the egg to tlie perfect stages of the insect's existence, but also can be witnessed the manner in which, at different stages, it attacks crops. Great facility is given, too, by its means, to the study of the movements of insects and plants in relation to special adaptation and environment. The farmer, with a knowledge gained by a cinematographic study of his subject, is better able to cope with the depredations of the numerous insect foes which all too readily devour his small profits. Microscopic forms of life enter into so many branches of industry and commerce that' familiarity with their appearance is necessary to tea, coffee and tobacco planters! fish breeders, silk merchants, and many others, and animated pictures of organisms affecting the various products should be eagerly sought. THE CINEMATOGRAPH IN PHYSTCS. In the domain of physics, micro-cine-matograph records of the birth of crystals and the wonders of rc-crystalM--'-tion have been made. The marvellous changing shapes of the high frequency discharge in electricity are also rocon 1 and demonstrations are given of the formation of smoke vortices and *'" throwing off of minute spheres or molecules from the wick of a spirit lamp, upon which the rays of the electric arc are concentrated.

Tlin march of civilisation is so rapidly defacihg native customs, ttiatiit is '■'.' greatest importance tttat cmewr •>

graphic means be adopted to place c on record. For this purpose the cinematograph is an ideal agent, for by its aid we obtain a truthful and permanent record of native customs, ceremonies, etc. The following instance of the cinematograph's value in this connection is quoted from the Inverness Courier as far back as April 2, 1907, and a copy of which the writer still has:—"An Expiring Race.— Dr. Moskowski and Professor and Mrs. Delenkii, who are engaged in researches for the Berlin Academy of Science, i secured excellent photographic records illustrating the life and customs of the aboriginal Veddabs of Ea*< "■•■'■ mi. The Yeddahs are the descendants of the 1 primitive race which inhabited Ceylon .prior to the Hindu conquest. Their number is steadily decreasing, and to-day there are probably not more than two thousand throughout the island. They are of dwarfish stature, their habits are extremely degraded, and they are devoid of any sort of organisation. The Veddabs dwell in eaves or in the depths of the forest, subsisting on vermin, reptiles, or whatever animal they contrive to capture! with their rude weapons. They are not able to count, neither have they any idea of time. They cannot distinguish colors, and differ from all other known races in that I hey never laugh, and do not possess even the rudest form of musical instrument." CINEMATOGRAPH IN ZOOLOGY. in the study of the movements and habits of animal and insect life, ordinary photographs left much to be desired. Although a long series of photographs will present an animal in various positions, the one most characteristic is not obtained, and the point sought is missed. This particularly applies to the methods • of carnivoria in seeking and capturing prey. The ordinary snapshot camera fails entirely in its relation to wild animals in their natural environment when seeking and seizing food, nor docs it give a graphic idea of'the facial expressions and characteristic movements of the animal under observation. These difficulties have now been overcome, and it is possible to place before natural history classes "living pictures" of animal and insect life which, by faithfully reproducing every action of the j subject under discussion, more vividly impresses the minds of the students than any lecture illustrated by still picture or drawings. Upon all students of natural history the importance of using nothing but photographs as illustrations cannot be too strongly impressed. However carefully the artist may draw, and however skilful the engraver may copy, there can never be the same accuracy of detail which it is possible to obtain in a photograph. MOVING AMID NATURAL SURROUNDINGS. The cinematograph secures to natural history classes the opportunity of studying subject films in which the specimens —some of which are rapidly becoming extinct—are depicted moving amid their natural surroundings. The swimming fish, the flying bird, the leaping salmon, the crawling reptile and insect—these, as well as the larger animals, are reproduced faithfully. By means of the cinema togrnph it is now possible to teach this subject, not as a study, but as a relaxation from study, and yet impart a knowledge which cannot lie gained by mere reading. Work already done, and results recorded, show the necessity of closely watching during the period of photographing phenomena, which were heretofore unnoticed, and it is most useful in ' physiological botany, as showing the movement of plants between periods of activity and rest. Cinematography also teaches that the more we study by means of modern methods, the 'more the student is struck by the almost human-like instincts of the plants under observation. Photographs of germinat- | ing seed may now be taken bv the cinematograph at regular intervals during many days, until the seed sends up its seed leaves. The projected pictures show the earth raised up by the swelling seed, and the seed-coat thrown off; the seed leaves emerge, straighten themselves out. and then the first leaves break forth. Phenomena of plant life which take several days or weeks to recordsuch as the stages of growth in a plant and the opening of a flower bud—can be projected upon the screen, condensed to a single film, as if the successive stages followed each other in the course of a few minutes. It may be mentioned—to give some idea of the magnification—that the size of each film picture is %in by lin, and in this space a magnification of 850 diameters is possible. In conclusion, the cinematograph has become, not—as some people imagine it to be—a showman's plaything, but a vital necessity for every'barracks, ship ■ college, school, institute, hospital, laboratory, academy and museum; for every traveller, explorer and missionary. In every department of State, science and education, in fact, animated photography is of the greatest importance, and one of the chief and coming means of imparting knowledge.