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less in 1881 than in 1883, and slightly greater than in 1882,” remains to be seen. Perhaps, as Mr. Christy asks for the means to procure a larger refractor for spectroscopic observations of the stars, the funds at his disposal for photographic purposes are very limited. If so, would it not be as well to leave the sun alone for a time, and devote a little more attention to photographing the stars, to avoid the reproach of being so far behind other countries in this respect ? All the bodies at the Paris Morgue are photographed. From 400 corpses received in 1830, the number has now reached nearly 1,000 annually. What a horribly grim album these photographs must form! A n article on photo graphy at the Morgue appeared some time ago in these columns. The fact that Mrs. Langtry should have the back of her neck and her shoulders photographed has excited some comment. But there is nothing extraordinary in the selec tion of this pose. It only shows that the lady is perfectly well aware that from this point of view her figure shows to the best advantage. It is no crime, we presume, to regard an actress with a critical eye, and Mrs. Langtry must forgive us if we say that artists consider the upper part of the torso as seen from the front as not absolutely faultless. Besides, monotony in the eyes of the fashion able world is put down among the seven deadly sins, and the much-photographed Mrs. Langtry must be truly grate ful for the slightest novelty in her portraits. A correspondent points out that au old concertina bellows may be pressed into the service of the amateur camera-maker ; but it is scarcely necessary to break up a concertina for the sake of the bellows. Concertina bellows can be had at prices ranging from a few pence upwards at stores where they sell materials for making musical instru ments. We have obtained them from Dawkins, of Charterhouse Street, E.C. In the semi-technical journals there have been of late paragraphs and anti-paragraphs as to the possibility of cutting glass under water by means of an ordinary pair of scissors. The truth, however, lies midway. The glass can be readily chipped under water to any desired form pro - vided one does not take off too much at a time; but more than this can hardly be said. The operation of glass chip ping is decidedly bad for the scissors. It is certain, from the minutely-detailed accounts which have appeared in the papers of late, that Lord Salisbury’s front door in Arlington Street must have been closely watched during the past week, for no one seems to have either entered or emerged from his lordship’s mansion un noticed. What is more, at least one artist seems to have been also on the watch, and busily engaged in making thumb-nail sketches of the marquis’s visitors. But this is an occasion surely when instantaneous photography would have proved invaluable. A collection of the photo ¬ graphs of all the callers at No. 20, Arlington Street, would have been simply invaluable to the political leader-writer and news-paragraphist. What ample material for comment and conjecture a clever journalist would find, for example, in the comparison of but one pair of these instan taneous photographs, viz. (1) “Sir Stafford Northcote’s face on entering Lord Salisbury’s house at 11 a.m., and (2) “ Ditto ditto on leaving ditto at 12.5 p.m.” A permanent photographic record of Lord Randolph Churchill’s expression before and after his interview with his nominal leader would be equally valuable ; and a close study of the facial features of certain veteran Tory poli ticians on quitting their chief’s town house could not fail to supply reliable hints as to those who were to get office again, and those who were to be left out in the cold. Only fancy the new interest that would be developed were articles on the Crisis to be illustrated with portraits taken in the way we have proposed 1 What are now merely prosaic details would become quite fascinating reading. The dry bones of political rumour, in fact, would be made to live. Aatent Untelligente. Application for Letters Patent. 7084. Herbert John HADDAN, 67, Strand, Westminster, for “ Improvements in instantaneous shutters for photographic cameras.”—(Carl Lutken, Denmark.)—10th June, 1885. Patent Sealed. 8852. Frederick Woodward Branson, Leeds, Yorkshire, Pharmaceutical Chemist, for “ Improvements in the means for uncapping and capping the lenses of photographic appa ratus.”—Dated 11th June, 1884. Patent on which, the Fourth Year’s Renewal Fee of £10 has been Paid. 1881—No. 2527. W. B. Woodbury, “ Printing surfaces.” Patent Granted in America. 319,359. RANSFORD E. Van Gieson, Brooklyn, N.Y., for “ Automatic clasp and lifter for photographic plates.” Filed January 29, 1885. (Nomodel). Claim.—A photo-plate-holder constructed of two connected diverging arms whose outer ends are provided with inwardly- projecting lips, in combination with an elastic band encircling said arms to draw them automatically together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth. PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY BY LAMP LIGHT. BY W. H. WALMSLEY.* I shall now describe the apparatus I am using at present, passing unnoticed the various stages by which its comparative perfection has been reached. Four essential parts make up the complete outfit. A microscope with its object glasses and other accessories, a camera with long extension bellows, a suitable lamp for illumination, and a solid platform to carry the entire apparatus. Any microscope with joint to the body, permitting same to be inclined to a horizontal position, may be employed, but the essentials to accurate and comfortable work are as follows: A heavy, solid stand, perfectly firm in all positions, with a short body (the G-inch Continental model is admirable), good coarse adjustment for focus and a very delicate fine one, the latter controlled by a large milled head, in the periphery of which a groove is turned to admit the focussing cord, hereafter to be described. A solid mechanical stage rotating in the optic axis, and a sub-stage moved by rack and pinion, capable of * Continued from page 849.