Various

“ Sir Isaac Newton, the immortal discoverer of the law of universal gravitation (which asserts that every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force which varies directly as the mass and inversely as the square of the distance) , himself believed that this law would be found, at some future time, to result from the motions of a subtle fluid which occupied space, the atoms of which, by impinging against ponderable matter, produce the observed effect of weight or gravitation. ”

“ As the railway wound its tortuous way amidst the charming mountain scenery the landscape changed at every turn—bridges, cottages, foliage of every variety, rivers, brooks, and torrents coming into view every instant. Here a photographer might spend weeks without exhausting the rich field for his camera. ”

“ When a current of ether passes through a ponderable body some of the atoms of ether strike the atoms of the body and rebound; the current, after passing through the body, will, therefore, be weakened, according to the number of its atoms which have rebounded in altered directions—that is to say, according to the number of atoms of the body which have been struck by atoms of ether. The greater the mass of a body the greater will be the weakening of the currents of ether which have passed through it. ”

“ I will endeavour to give an outline—but it can only be an outline—of this startling hypothesis, which makes universal gravitation an effect of the motions of ether, and dispels the idea hitherto entertained that it is an attractive force inherent in particles of matter, by which they are enabled to exert a pull upon other particles at a distance from them in space. ”

“ There are many substances beside the growing tissue and cells having the property of condensing gases in their pores, and often entering into combination with such avidity that sufficient heat is liberated to render the substance incandescent. Such is the case when hydrogen gas is impinged on platinum in a spongy form. Fresh-burned charcoal is another substance having the property of condensing many times its own volume of gas, and by mutual attraction to the occluded air the external air sticks as a film on the substance with considerable force—wets the surface, if I may use the simile. ”

“ When I made the statement in your Journal, it was from the united experience of all my collodio-bromide acquaintances, which, if pinned together, would, in respect of mere lapse of time, extend over the greater part of a century.
Although bromised collodion will give good results when freshly made, the development of the image is almost a matter of physical force—more ammonia, more silver, and such like—in order that the excellent prints expected from your exertions may be superb indeed, in consequence of the labour bestowed on the negative. ”

“ No intelligent collector hangs works in colour with photographs or engravings; and exhibition goers, passing from a gallery of pictures, will not stop to look at photographs. If, therefore, we could, under the direction of the photographic societies, make in October a collection of cosmopolitan photography, and connect with it a display and comparison of lenses of all makers, we should enable the art to claim its just consideration.
Colonel Stuart Wortley’s suggestion as to contributions of negatives would give a photographic exhibition, if adopted, a special technical interest ”

“ The velocity with which the atoms move is enormous, and millions of times greater than the velocity of light.
The reader will observe that there is a vast difference between the mobile equilibrium of this ether and the equilibrium of air or gas confined in a closed vessel. The reason why particles of a gas appear to repel each other is because the ethereal undulations of heat are vibrating between them. By reducing the temperature and increasing the pressure gases may be liquified or solidified, in which states no repulsion exists between their particles. ”

“ He could not really believe in an inherent central force of attraction residing in a material atom, by which it could draw towards itself another such atom situated at a distance, or that it could affect other matter in any way than by the impact of intervening atoms; and he predicted that some day the cause of universal gravitation would be discovered. ”

“ These atoms are elastic—a property which they possess in virtue of being able to change their form, though not their volume, during impact and to recover it again. Their form is spherical, they are all equal, and their diameter is very small compared with that of the atoms of ponderable matter, and also with their general distance apart. This ether is, therefore, an exceedingly rare medium. When the atoms impinge against each other they rebound like billiard balls, and in all their motions they obey the common mechanical laws of inertia and impact, and no other laws whatever. ”

“ Who does not sympathise with a “Black-Country Foto.,” who appears to think that there is no use in his sending portraits to the London exhibition because he can’t afford to have his negatives worked upon to the degree that seems requisite to permit of successful competition? If the gossip that was indulged in by the visitors to the exhibition is to be credited, the preparing of the portrait negatives of one amateur must have been attended with no small cost ”

“ Here we simply note this fact, and continue the dissection. Having detached a vesicular film, and caught it on a small plate of glass with the innermost side upwards, it will be found in almost every experiment to have the surface fibre of the paper attached, thus showing that it does not part from the surface of the paper as a film pure and simple. We therefore dismiss from our minds the idea that the outer surface only had been rendered insoluble, while the inner portion had been dissolved; were this the case the blister would be filled with the albumen solution. ”

“ Sutherland is perfectly right in saying that a dependent ear never does come out of an attached one, and that Sir William Fergusson is right in saying that substantially the ear remains the same all through life. Take the Chili daguerreotypes and compare them with the photographs of the claimant. In the Chili daguerreotypes of the real Roger Tichborne, which Col. Wortley says are for this purpose to be depended upon, you will find that the ears are distinctly adhering, but in all the photographs of the claimant where the ear is shown the ear is distinctly not adhering to the face. ”

“ There was this peculiarity about it—that the nail was attached to the part beneath to a less extent than it was in the case of the nail on the other thumb. On being asked if such a condition of the left thumb could have been produced by any known process which a man could exercise on himself, Mr. Canton said that the only thing he could conceive would be a person continually biting his nails. It really comes to this, that if the man had let his nail alone, the difference between the two nails would be greatly less. That is the evidence of a witness for the plaintiff. ”

“ Stuart Wortley, whom some of the profession do not accept as an authority, and in whose position, as having a commercial interest in photography in no way identified with that of the profession at large, they find excellent reasons why he should not be put forward as the judge and spokesman of it. ”

“ He says:—After the positive printing bath has been used some time it becomes more or less charged with albumen. If, when the solution is poured from the dish into the filter, frothy bubbles appear on the surface, it is in the condition named, and is unfit for use in sensitising albumen paper. The reason is obvious. When an albumen sheet is floated upon a silver solution thus charged with albumen, a secondary film of albumen, or albumenate of silver, is imparted to it, which deprives it of its lustre, and it is impossible to secure a good tone upon it. ”

“ The question of retouching might be decided without difference of opinion by having two classes of works—one touched on the negative, and the other in which no touching other than stopping out pinholes should be permitted. If awards are made—and in this I recall Colonel Wortley’s mention of the medal of the Photographic Society—no award should be made for a touched negative unless a print from it before touching should be submitted to the judges at the same time, but not necessarily for exhibition. ”

“ On our camera we use a quarter-size tube inverted—that is, turn it end for end—with a diaphragm of about six-eighths of an inch aperture, placing the picture square to the front of the camera. After making the necessary adjustments as to size, &c., we coat the plate with the same collodion which we use for our regular portrait negatives, and when it is properly coated expose fully—that is, neither over- nor under-expose. The success, however, depends on the manipulation during the exposure. ”

“ All ponderable matter is porous; its ultimate atoms are spheres much larger than the atoms of ether, and much farther apart; the currents of ether can, therefore, pass through a ponderable body in all directions. ”

“ It is clear that when we talk of excellence in photography we mean something other than what a draughtsman may do in the way of supplementing photography. Works which do not enter for an award may omit mention of the distinction I have indicated. ”

“ Now the absorbed air which the water contains finding a nucleus on its permeating the body of the paper grows immediately (as I pointed out when directing your attention to the phenomena proceeding from the freezing of the water) in the surface-fibre, thus it is likely that the blisters are formed is all cases where air is enclosed. Hyposulphite of soda when entering into solution reduces the temperature considerably—the air being then held with so little force readily unites with a nucleus. ”

“ Nicol, who is of opinion that the conversion of a distorting lens into a non-distorting one is an improvement of doubtful value—an opinion in which the generality of photographers will scarcely coincide. The Manchester Photographic Society had a paper by Mr. Coote On the Good Keeping Qualities of Collodio-Albumen Plates between Exposure and Development. It is an unfortunate thing that many dry plates, after exposure, do not retain the latent image; hence the necessity for developing as quickly as possible after the camera has effected its portion of the work. ”

“ There is nothing in the hypothesis to interfere with the undulating theory of light, or with any theory that reposes strictly upon observed facts; but this we may discuss on a future occasion.
I need hardly say that it is in consequence of their great velocity that the atoms of ether acquire sufficient momentum to communicate sensible motion to ponderable matter.
Ponderable matter may possibly be composed of the aggregation of ethereal atoms; but M. Leray thinks not. He can see no good reason why it should be so. ”

“ If the evidence you have got before you be true, the claimant and Roger Tichborne cannot be the same. That is my argument upon the question as to his ears. We have got unusually full and distinct proof about the ears, and I’ll demonstrate to you that they cannot be the same on the ears alone. Now, the ears are not so unimportant as some people may be inclined to make out, although, I dare say, my learned friend will by-and-by treat the ears with summary contempt. ”

“ It seems to some of us that the least the management could do, if the leading photographers are expected to contribute, would be to put some one on the photographic committee whom they are accustomed to regard as identified in a high degree with the interests of the art, or whose interest in it they feel assured of. ”

“ This gentleman dissolves the resin in spirit. We may remark that strong spirit gives the most satisfactory results. The solution when now treated with a very small amount of the ordinary liquid ammonia becomes immediately miscible with water. Care must be taken, however, only to add sufficient ammonia to accomplish the desired end, and this can be easily accomplished by testing a little of the mixture by addition of water after every fresh dose of alkali. In this way any unnecessary deepening of the colour is avoided, and a useful liquid obtained. ”

“ In the spring, and even now, London is filled with collections of paintings, which make photographs look tame. In the International Exhibition they are equally put out; and if they are to be seen and judged properly they must be in an exhibition by themselves. ”

“ With respect to the assertion that the amount of carbolic acid vapour which could be tolerated in the air of a hospital ward would be entirely inadequate to act as a disinfectant, Dr. Sansom says his experiments have shown him that carbolised atmospheres are efficient in preventing putrefaction and the growth of mouldiness, and more so than atmospheres impregnated with chloride of lime or sulphurous acid. ”

“ The absolute density is, therefore, unity for an atom, and varies from 0 to 1 for all bodies.”
If two bodies have the same apparent volume, their densities are proportional to their masses.
I have been looking through a capital French work on Chemistry, published in 1870, by M. Alfred Riche, lecturer at the Polytechnic School at Paris. He uses the old notation and table of equivalents; but strongly advises a change to the new, which he explains very nicely, and pretty much as our lecturer has done. ”

“ They cannot act upon each other at a distance, and therefore no attractive or repulsive force exists between them.
If only one of these atoms were to exist in space it would move in a straight line with uniform velocity until it reached the limit of space; that is to say, the boundary by which creation is limited—the boundary which separates entity from nonentity. ”