The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-14
Observation-Disclosures IN PHOTOGRAPHY
PhOtOgraphing COIOrs - Photo Relief
Engraving.


workshop and studio of Nepce de st. Victor,
the celebrated discoverer of the art of photo
graphing in colors directly from nature. He
found the artist in one of those mysterious
galleries of the Louvre where officers of the
Government attached to the Imperial house
hold are provided with quarters, aua are
allowed leisure to cultivate some branch of
art to which the associations of the place and
the rich treasures stored below may inspire
them.
M. Niepce was very polite and communica-
tive. There was no attempt to disguise his
processes, but on the contrary, he seemed
anxious to impart all the information he was
possessed Of in order to encourage others to
take up the research and prosecute it to a sue
cessful termination. His Investigations into
the effects of light upon various sensitive
chemical agents were carried on in laboratories
overlooking the noisy and thronged Rue de
Rivoli. There were all of the usual accesso-
ries of Photographic gallery-dark closets,
sinks, tables, curtains, screens, shaded
windows, chemicals, and the odor of iodine
which always prevails in such place.
The objects selected for testing the power of
light to transfer color were complicated pat
terms and designs, such as are used by the
calico-printer or for wall paper, and beautiful
French dolls, dressed in all the cOlors of the
rainbow, with plate jewelry and rich silks, so
as to make fair trial of the process.
NJ. Niepce had succeeded ia photographing
a doll geographically, so that it stood out in
relief under the stereoscOpe with all of the
colors, the blue, red, green, white, and black
equally sharp and distinct. He was kind
enough to present to his visitor two specimens
photographs of highly colored wall patterns,
which the President exhibited to the members
of the society and which attracted great
attention.
The process pursued by Niepce is essen
TALLY the same as that suggested by Becque-
rel and Poitevin. 1t is, in fact, the old da-
guerreotype process with few notifications.
The silver plate is rendered sensitive by being
placed in a bath of some hypochlorite. The
thin film of chloride of silver which forms on
| the surface is partly fused before the exposure
is made. After the first exposure it is heated
| and once more put into the camera. Such
method would be highly fatiguing for a living
sDbject, but immaterial for an inanimate one.
| There are technical precautions to be OBJ
| served, the details of which are given in the
| published articles of Niepce.
There would appear to be no doubt about
the possibility of photographing colors The
| specimens exhibited were conclusive on that
| point. But now comes the unfavorable side of
the picture--they will not keep; they fade like
the rose. The beautiful stereograph of the
doll would fade out entirely in few hours in
the direct sunlight, or in a few days in the
suffused light of room. All efforts to fix
the cOlors have been unavailing. The fixing
/
recall the long years of patient research on the
part of Daguerre and the elder Niepce, before
| they succeeded in fixing the image on the
| silver plate, we can take courage and conf
IDENTIFY anticipate the final success of this
| branch of art.
Professor Charles A. Seely remarked upon
| the great beauty of the specimens exhibited
by the Chairman, and stated that they were
superior to any he had ever seen, and indi-
| Gated decided improvement upon the earlier
| pictures by M. Niepce. Professor Seely spoke
of the labors of Becquerel in the same direc-
tion, and was disposed to give him the credit
for having originated the method since en-
ployed by photographers in colors. He also
stated that cOlored pictures had been taken in
this country ten or fifteen years ago by Mr..
Hill. They could not however, be fixed, aud
the further prosecution of the art had been
suspended since the death of the inventor.
Mr.. Hill wrote a considerable volume on
heliochromic pictures, which was sold at a
high price, but is now out of print There
was at one time considerable talk of securing
an appropriation from Congress to enable Mr..
Hill to carry on his researches, but no success
attended the movement. Mr.. Cameron, of
Ohio, also published articles on color pictures
in humphreys Journal Of Photographic There
seems to be no doubt that cOlOrs can be pho
tographed or rather dagueEreotyped but how
to fix them has not yet been discovered
The President also exhibited very fine
specimen of photo-relief engraving, which he
had received from the inventor, Mr.. Wood
bury, whom he found engaged in perfecting
his process in Paris. By this method an ordi-
nary negative is taken; of this a gelatine COPY
is made, which is transferred to soft metalt type
py means ui n nowerfnl hvdraulio nress, A
clichG is thus formed which affords the printing
surface. The ink is a solution of gelatine,
properly cOlored; this is poured hot upon the
surface Of the plate, and piece of paper is
gently pressed upon it. After the gelatine
sets ii adheres to the paper and forms the pic
ture. The picture is cast of the metallic
clCh6, but is so thin that it is impossible to
feel or see the relief. Plaster casts of the pic
lures formed on the metallic plates were also
exhibited. These casts could be electrotyped,
and thus the most delicate microscopical sub
jects could be printed, or, in fact any object
can be copied.
Mr.. Woodbury's process differs somewhat
from the photo-lithographic method pursued
by Mr.. Osborne, though both use the action Of
light upon gelatine mixed with bichromate OF
potash. In the one case we have metallic
| plates, and in the other stone for the printing
surface. Both of these methods are capable OF
extensive application, aud ought to be better
understood by the publishers OF illustrated
books and magazines. Some very fine micro
photographs taken by Mr. Arnold were ex-
hiplled to the society.
M Thuillier, principal editor of the COw-
@t de FAigfrte, and NJ. Ferrouillat, director
ConIt same as Journal We're recently tried at the