The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-23 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

A soiree, last evening, in the rooms of the Society of
Arts—Lord Monteagle officiating at the lecture as chair-
man, and afterwards as ambulatory president, and a
numerous and distinguished company of ladies and gen-
tlemen participating—inaugurated an exhibition, which
is to remain open for a week, of " recent specimens of
photography." Four rooms were filled with pictures ;
but we do not know why the generic term "photogra-
phy" has been used, since all these pictures are calotypes,
there not being one daguerreotype. The specimens are
French and English, in about equal proportions, and are
in every sense most interesting, as evidencing the pro-
gress which is being made in this one branch of photo-
graphy, both as an art in itself, and as an aid to the
general artist who approaches nature in a manner more
indirect. We have seen better isolated specimens, both
in Paris and London, than any here shown ; but, no
doubt this, as the first exposition of the kind, is to be re-
garded as, on the whole, the most perfect collection which
has yet been made. And we think an examination of this
exhibition will demonstrate the soundness of the view ori-
ginally taken in reference to calotypes—setting aside con-
siderations of cheapness of material and facility of copying
—that the process cannot present anything to compete with
the Daguerrotype in the rendering of the human coun-
tenance, or of delicate copying of minute work of any
kind, but is simply successful, and with widely beneficial
results to art and artists, in giving broad outlines and
masses, landscapes, sculpture, and architecture. Com-
pared with the works of Beard and Claudet, the calotype
portraits shown last evening are very inferior.
The following names and pictures may be mentioned
as most worthy of notice—at least on a hasty survey, as
most likely to fix admiring attention :—H. Owen's, a
statue, by Foley ; the same artist's, "Lord Falkland," a
statue, by Bell ; F. Marten's "Louvre ;" Sir W. New-
ton's ";Ventnor, the Beach ;" P. H. Delamotte's
" Cellini shield ;" R. Fenton's " Windsor Forest ;" E.
Constant's " Roman. Ruins ; A. Rosling's "Southwark
Bridge ; H. Owen's " Street views in Bristol ;" and a
group from the Arc d'Etoile—(alto-relief, though de-
scribed in the catalogue as bas relief) singularly fine—
by Lodoisok.

The lecture was delivered by Mr. Roger Fenton, one
of the exhibitors ; and we give passages as stating
broadly the general objects and results of the exhibition.
Speaking of the technical progress in the art, he observed.
—"New deoxidising agents have been brought into ge-
neral use, and the surface of the paper has been rendered
smooth and more glossy, so that it will take a sharper
negative impression. Means have also been adopted
for keeping it in a sensitive state for a longer time
uninjured. A new medium, collodion, variously modi-
fied, has been adopted, on which to receive the sun-
pictures—a medium which possesses three most valuable
properties, great rapidity of impression, excellence in
the picture produced, and the capability of receiving
either a negative or positive picture, according
to the intention of the operator, balanced by two
disadvantage—the necessity of employing so heavy and
fragile a material as glass to receive the collodion film,
and of performing consecutively all the different parts of
the process. A gradual but slow improvement has been
made in the construction of lenses, principally consisting
in the use of a kind of glass, that, in the passage of
light through it, absorbs less of the chemical ray. In
spite of many attempts to improve the camera, it is still
the same clumsy unmanageable affair that it has always
been. The improvements that have been made are,
with one exception, that of collodion, rather those of
detail than of first principle, and have been obtained
more by rough experiment and by accidental discoveries
than by scientific research." In reference to the differ-
ences between the French and English specimens, his
remarks were :—" The best pictures received from
France have been taken, by means of albumen, upon
glass ; and certainly nothing can surpass the brilliancy
of the views near Lyons, or the harmony of tone and
.minuteness of detail of the ceilings of the Louvre. The
best productions of English craftsmen, without reference
to portraits, have been taken upon paper ; and upon
this medium, there has been nothing, it is believed, pro-
duced which can surpass in delicate beauty or in gran-
deur some of the specimens exhibited. This conclu-
sion is the more satisfactory, because it is admitted that
the perfection of the paper process is the true point to
which our efforts should be directed." The practical
uses made of the art are pointed out in this way :
" The present scientific and industrial applications of
this art are as yet little more than indications of
what will hereafter be done. We hear of ;the collodion
plan being transferred from the glass to the wood en-
graver's block ; of attempts being made by means of
sensitive paper to record the pathways of the heavenly
bodies, or to delineate in legible and lasting characters
the minute wonders of microscopic creation. Among the
pictures exhibited there is a remarkable specimen of suc-
cessful effort in this direction. It is also being used at
this moment for the advancement of geographic research;
photographic apparatus having been supplied to the ves-
sels dispatched to the arctic seas under Sir Edward Bel-
cher, and to the Herald, sent out under the command of
Captain Denham, to examine the unexplored islands of
the Pacific." On the other hand—" Its commercial and
industrial use has hitherto been very limited ; and be-
fore much progress can be made in this direction, more
attention must be paid to a part of the process at present
treated as one of secondary importance--namely, the
' positive picture. According to the method generally
employed, and which seems at present to give the best
results, negative pictures can be copied with sufficient
rapidity only on days of strong sunshine : and, in order
to produce rich tone and agreeable colour, each proof re-
quires careful watching during the after process of fix-
ing. To say nothing of the risk of injury to which the
negative picture is exposed by careless manipulation, it is
impossible at present to trust the reproduction of the
positive proof to less skilful hands than those who ought
to have been employed in the creative branches of the
art. Before sun pictures can be extensively used in the
production of letter-press, some method of copying them
must be discovered, which shall produce as good or bet-
ter results than the present one, which shall be so simple
in its manipulation that a workman of ordinary intelli-
gence may be trusted to perform it—and which shall not
depend upon the state of the weather for its succes. Of
these conditions, the last is already fulfilled by the use of
the negative Talbotype process in printing."

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

At the annual general meeting, on Tuesday, Decem-
ber 21, James Rendel, Esq., President, in the chair,
for •the election of president, vice-president, and other
members of council for the ensuing year, and for re-
ceiving the annual report of the retiring council, the
medals and premiums, which had been awarded, were
presented. The report attributed the present extraor-
dinaty activity in public works and private enterprises,
in a great degree, to the discovery of those auriferous
deposits of the other hemisphere, which had been, appa-
rently, beneficently designed to bring into active utility
the humbler, but more permanently useful, minerals of
the parent country. It alluded to the general demand
for the improvement of the sanitary condition of towns,
the completion of the branch lines of railways, the ex-
tension of the electric telegraph to the Continent and to
India, and the vast revolution it was producing in com-
mercial and social relations. The augmented size of
steam-vessels, and the creations of docks of proportions
to receive them ; the rapid accomplishment of the rail-
way across the isthmus of Panama, with the recent sur-
vey for a projected ship canal, in the same region ; and
the numerous other works, in all parts of the world,
confided to the skilful conduct of English civil engineers,
were briefly alluded to ; and the good wishes of the pro-
fession were demanded for the re-establishment of- the
building, in which the specimens of the world's wealth
had first been exhibited, and which was now to
be devoted to the recreation and instruction of that
valuable portion of society, the productive classes.
The principal papers read during the past session
were recapitulated and commented on, and the
following premiums were then presented :—Tel-
ford Medals —To Captain Mark Huish, Colonel
Sam Colt, Messrs. Braithwaite Poole, Frederick Richard
Window, Charles Coles Adley, Eugdne Bourdon (Paris),
Pierre Hippolyte Boutigny (d'Evreux), and George Fre-
derick White. Council Premiums of Books—To Messrs.
John Baldry Redman (for the third time), Wm. Thomas
Diene, William Bindon Blood, George Donaldson,
Christopher Bagot Lane, and William Bridges Adams.
Many presents of books for the library were mentioned,
and two valuable donations from Mr. H. A. Hunt and
Mr. W. Radford, were particularly noticed. Attention
was directed to a portrait of the past president, Sir
John Rennie, painted for and presented to the institu-
tion, by Mr. James Andrews ; and also to a bust by Mr.
E. H. Bally, R.A., of Mr. Robert Stephenson, M.P.,
one of the vice-presidents ; a cordial vote of thanks was
offered to these artists for the truthful portraits of two
valuable and highly-esteemed members of the institu-
tion. The condition and progress of the institution
were described as most satisfactory, the expenses dimin-
ishing, so as to enable more volumes to be published,
and the new members increasing fast—the number of
members of all classes being now 746. Memoirs were
read of F.M. the Duke of Wellington, Major-Gen. Colby,
and John Geo. Children, honorary members ; Messrs.
John Barnes, David Bremner, Robert Brunton, William
Tierney Clark, Frank Forster, Thos. Grainger, and Wal-
ter Hunter, members ; Sir John Josiah Guest, Bart., M.P.,
John Sylvester, and Henry Vint, associates ; and Henry
Charles Rawnsley, graduate. The main characteristics
of the civil life of the duke were pointed out, and the
cordial assistance he had frequently afforded to engineers
and their works was alluded to with feelings of warm
gratitude ; the valuable services of General Colby on the
trigonometrical survey were detailed, and the scientific
skill of Mr. Children recognised. The great talents,
theoretical knowledge, and practical professional skill of
the other deceased members and associates were alluded
to with pride, and the untimely loss of Mr. Forster,
under peculiarly distressing circumstances, was feelingly
noticed. The resignation of Mr. J. Miller from the
council, in consequence of long-continued ,illness, was
accepted with regret ; and at the ballot the following
members were declared to form the council for the ensu-
ing year :—James M. Rendel, president ; I. K. Brunel,
J. Locke, M.P., J. Simpson, and R. Stephenson, M.P.,
vice-presidents ; G. P. Bidder, J. Cubitt, J. E. Erring-
ton, J. Fowler. C. H. Gregory, J. Hawkshaw, J. R.
M'Clean, C. May, J. Penn, and J. S. Russell, mem-
bers ; and T. Brassey, and T. R. Crampton, associates.
Votes of thanks were unanimously offered to the presi-
dent, vice-presidents, members and associates of the
council, and to the secretary, and the meeting adjourned
until Tuesday, the 11th of January, 1853, when it was
announced that the following paper would be read :
"On the nature and properties of timber with de-
scriptive particular of several methods now in use, for
its preservation from decay," by Mr. H. P. 'Burt,
Assoc. Inst. C.E.