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26 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. [JANUARY 9, 1891. Motes. The second meeting of the International Photographic Congress will be held this year in Brussels, at some period not yet fixed, during the holding of the Inter national Photographic Exhibition in that city. The Exhibition will open on the 10th of July, and close on the Sth of September. It will take place in the New Museum, a magnificent and comparatively new building on one side of the road leading from the King’s Palace to the Palace of Justice. The latter the Belgians claim to be the finest secular building in the world; photographs of it on sale in London and else where ordinarily do not do it justice, in consequence of the use—or rather misuse—of wide-angle lenses. All who wish to exhibit should write as soon as pos sible, or before May 1st at latest, to the secretary of the Belgian Association of Photographers, M. Ch. Puttemans, Industrial School, Boulevard du Hainaut, Brussels. If the exhibits are also intended for sale, they should let him know the price. In any case, the photographs will be submitted to a jury, who will decide as to their admission or otherwise to the Exhibition. The Association will select the best of the accepted exhibits, and award to them diplomas of honour—gold medals, silver-gilt medals, bronze medals, and honour able mentions—in accordance with the decisions of a jury specially appointed to decide upon their merits. In the list of objects which may be exhibited, every thing connected with photography seems to be included. The classification and terminology thereof are in accor dance with the decisions last year at the Paris Con ference, which seems to us to be reasonable, and to evolve order out of chaos. Why they have not been publicly discussed by any influential English photo graphic organisation is a mystery. One medal-in-chief will be given to the most meritorious of the exhibitors, no matter in what class he exhibits. The jury will be composed of the president of the Belgian Photographic Association, of the general secretary of the Exhibition, of two persons to be elected by Belgians from among the members of the Association, of two members outside the Association to be nominated by the committee of the Association, and of five per sons who are not exhibitors to be elected by foreign exhibitors; the latter will receive voting papers with their admission tickets. At the close of the Exhibition there will be a lottery, the prizes in which will be some of the exposed objects. Exhibitors of photographs will have to pay five francs for every square metre, or fraction of a square metre, occupied by their pictures. All g tods must de removed within eight days after the close of the Ex hibition. Each exhibitor must send his carte-de-visite before the 10th of June, with his signature thereupon, and with the number of his exhibit, to the general secre tary, that it may be stamped, countersigned, and otherwise be turned into a non-transferable season ticket, in accordance with Belgian custom on railways and elsewhere. Those who wish full information should write to the secretary. The new home of the Camera Club is in an unfinished state. The wintry wind whistleth through its vaulted aisles, and the owl hooteth on the battlements thereof:— “ Here winter holds his unrejoicing court, And through his airy hall the loud misrule Of driving tempest is for ever heard ; Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrath, Here arms his winds with all-subduing frost, Moulds his fierce hail, and treasures up the snows, With which he now oppresses half the globe.” At the last meeting of the Committee of the Camera Club fifty new members were elected. It is said that many more candidates are applying for admission, so that it is fair to assume that, on an early day, the Club will be pronounced “ full,” and future elections will therefore necessarily be slow. In consequence of the unfinished state of its new home, and another tenant being in possession of the old one, the Thursday evening meetings of the Camera Club will not be resumed until February. From Melbourne has been sent to us a copy of the illustrated newspaper, The Australasian, setting forth how Mr. Farquhar, 'photographer, has succeeded in obtaining negatives of all the principal events at the Flemington Spring Races. A large engraving of the finish for the Melbourne Cup represents a number of horses with their legs in the ungainly positions previously revealed by the photographs of Mr. Muy bridge. Mr. Farquhar used whole-plates in the work, and it is said that the time of exposure was 1-230th of a second, but no information is given as to how the speed of the shutter was ascertained. Perhaps more interesting than the attitudes of the horses are the expressions upon the faces of the winners and losers amongst the betting people in the crowd. Mr. Farquhar did not photograph the finish “ broadside on,” so that his task was easier than otherwise would have been the case; he intends to attempt the greater feat next year. A few weeks ago, we commented in these columns upon the utilisation on shipboard of the optical lantern as a means of relieving the tedium of long voyages, and expressed a hope that the new departure would presently lead to wide adoption on ocean going steam ships. It would seem, however, that the lantern is destined to fulfil another service at sea, and one which is not for the mere amusement of passengers, but is put forward as a means of communicating with the shore or with neighbouring vessels in case of need. The system is described in the Scientifie American, and