The Express.
London, England, 1853-10-08 00:00:00

TO TIM IDITOIL OF 1111 ZIFRIU.

SlB,—With reference to your report of yesterday,
permit me to correct a =Wake us the statement of the case
of Baron Rothschild's rent charge'.
The only point raised before the court related to the
question of vales, which at once, and I admit very properly,
disposed of all the rest. It was indeed alleged by Mr.
Jones, that by the deed the first payment was not due until
June lest; bat on a reference to the document itself, he
admitted that the first rent fell due on 26th December last.
I never stated that it had been paid, but only that it be-
came payable at that date, subsequent payment being, as I
would have been prepared to contend, quite sufficient to
satisfy the requisitions of the act.—lians, sir, your most
obedient servant, SIDNEY SMITH.
Liberal Registration Association, Oct. 7.

PHOTOGRAPHIC FRAUDS ON THE
BANK OF ENGLAND.
---e--

A discovery has recently been made at the Bank
of England which will cause, it is understood, a great
change to be speedily effected in the character and general
appearance of the notes issued by that corporation. It has
just been ascertained that, by means of photography, foe
sissies can be obtained, by a skilful operator, with the
greatest facility ; and that fraudulent copies of bank notes,
thus obtained, would pass muster, even with some of the
most experienced judges.
We are not aware by what means the suspicions of the
authorities of the Bank were originally excited on this im-
portant subject. It is stated, however, that they were tarot
canoed by one of these fraudulent notes Daring been ex-
changed for gold " over the counter ;" its spurious cha-
ff racter having escaped the generally closely scrutinising eyes
of the cashiers in that department.
Under the impression, from certain indications which
manifested themselves on the note, that it had been fabii-
. eated by photographic agency, experiments were made by
one of the most eminent and experienced photographers
in the metropolis (whose aid was called into requisition by
the Bank authorities), when it was clearly proved, by the
results of these experiments, that the spurious note had
been manufactured by the means suspected, via., Photo-
graphy. So close was the resemblance between the spuri-
ous note (thus experimentally obtained) and the genuine
one (whence the copy was taken by the photographer al-
! luded to), that not only were the signature and the private
marks (the latter known only to the Bank officials) imitated
with the closest accuvacy, but the very water-mask
in all its integrity, was as clearly and closely defined as the
other more prominent characteristics of the genuine docu-
. ment.
The process adopted to produce these effects is well '
known to all photographers as " the wax paper process."
The photographic thin negative paper, after having been
prepared with wax, and then rendered sensitive by the
usual method (which need not be described here) is then
in a fit state to receive the impression from the genuine
note; the printing, the signature, end the water-mark
(and, in fact, every mark, however minute, which appears
on the fare of the note) being clearly and distinctly traced
and defined. This is termed the " negative;" and from
this "negative," obtained by such an extremely simple
method, when adopted by a skilful manipulator, " pasi-
tives " (exact fan-similes of the note itself) might be multi-
plied by means of sun-printing to any extent.