Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-06-04
THE CAMERA ABOLISHED.
A Simple But Sagacious Pocket Device for
Landscape Photography.
ISt I.ouis Giaba nanocra@

Landscape Photography.
[St. Louis Globe -Democrae.l
The art OF photography has taken some
remarkable steps of late. Francis CAL
tons composite portraits, merging dozen
faces irto one characteristic type, the
instantaneous picturing of the lightningI
like strides of a race-hor Sc, and the pho-
tographing of stars invisible to the naked
eye, date back less than year; but it has
remained for st. Louis gentleman to
make discovery that promises to
completely revolutionize the entire pres
ent process of the art. DIR. John Van
Zandt, chief of the medical corps of the
United States Marine Hospital in this
city, held in his hand yesterday an or.
dinary tin blacking-box. A little piece
had been cut out of the center of the lid
and over the aperture scrap of copper
foil, pierced with very minute hole,
was soldered. A tiny cap could be placed
over the copper, and the inside of the box
was painted black. Placing a piece of
sensitized paper on the bottom, DIR. Van
Zandt has with this absurdly simple ap-
paratus taken just as good photographs
as it would be possible to obtain with the
most costly camera.
He calls them "defraction pictures" For
along time students of what might be term
ed the curios of science have known that
light passing from an object through a
very small hole would produce faint pict-
ure of the object on a screen. The smallest
hole that this was ever tried with was
about as large as pin, and tho apparatus
regarded simply as a scientific toy. No
body knew why the image appeared, but
it was surmised that the edges of the hole
in some way acted upon the rays of light.
There was no refraction, as would be the
case with lens, so the term defraction,
was applied to it. A couple of years ago
DR.. Van Zandt, who was then in San
Francisco, noticed this curious scientific
fact, and the idea of fixing the defracted
image by sensitive paper at once occurred
to him. He began experimenting, but
found the great trouble was that the image
was so faint and shadowy it was of no
value as basis for a photograph. Then
he tried making the hole smaller. The
effect was instantly to sharpen the out
lines and render them distinct. All that
then remained was to project the picture
SO formed against sheet of sensitive pa
per, or negative glass, and the picture
was fixed. Thus the apparent impossibili-
| ty of photographing without a lens was
accomplished. DR.. Van Zandt's apparatus
is, in plain English, simply box with a
hole in it.
The hole is pointed to whatever is de-
sired to photograph, and little picture of
it, upside down, appears reflected on the
bottom. The hole varies in diameter from
five hundredth to SEVENTEEN of an inch.
The smallest produces the clearest-cut
pictures. 1t would be impossible to make
such tiny orifices without the aid of a mi
cro>cope. Under the powerful lens the
doctor places a fragment of copper roll,
such as mother -of-pearl buttons come on,
and pricks it with the finest sewing needle
known. The hole, which must be abso-
lately and mathematically round, is meas
ured by micrometer under the glass, and
in that way brought to the proper size.
DIR. Van Zandt has large number oi
photographs he has taken with his appa-
ratus, and many of them are very fine. AS
bright light is required, the process is
better adapted for outdoor photography
than gallery work, and would probably be
unexcelled for amateur use. 1t ought tc
be made for less than a dollar, and could
be carried in the pocket of the coat with
out Inconvenience. Taken altogether, it i:
a very remarkable discovery, and one
probably destined to attract great and
speedy attention.