Mr. M.H. Stiles delivered a Lecture on “Photography by Artificial Light.”

The subject was divided into four sections – Photo-microscopy, the preparation of Lantern Slides from dry plate, Contact Printing on Bromide Papers & Enlarging.

In connection with Photo-microscopy the necessary appliances were exhibited & the mode of working explained, after which a positive was printed & developed before the meeting. Owing to the want of time & the necessary convenience the process could not be carried out to its full extent; so to compensate for this a finished Lantern slide from the same negative was exhibited. To ensure permanency a Photograph, whether on Glass or Paper, requires fixing after development. This is accomplished by soaking the plate or paper in a solution of Hyposulphite of Soda which removes the Silver which has not been acted on by light.

Contract Printing was shown to be very simple & expeditions. A piece of paper coated with Gelatine & Bromide 0f Silver (resembling in this respect a Photographic Dry Plate) is placed in a Printing Frame behind a negative & then exposed for a few seconds to the light from a Gas or Lamp Flame.

It is then developed & fixed exactly like a plate & the resulting picture has the appearance of an etching or soft engraving. This process was also shown in operation.

The last & most interesting feature of the evening was the production of enlargements from small negatives. The apparatus consisted of a long box forming a lantern & a board on which to supports the prepared paper. The box contained a Paraffin Lamp, a Condensing Lens, a frame to carry the negative & a Lens in a sliding Tube to form an enlarged image on the paper. A 5 x 4 negative of a Railway Bridge over the Don was chosen as a subject & after an exposure of 7 minutes & subsequent development an enlarged picture was produced possessing all the details of the original & a much bolder & more beautiful effect.