IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Morgan-Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th March 1875.-A communication from abroad by Jules Henry
Hermages, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, Optician.
I, WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-
Brown, Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings,
London, and 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to produce a simple, effective, and
portable apparatus, equally available for photographic operations within
doors and in the open air, as well as for making enlargements. I give
the name of "Micromegas to my new apparatus.
"
My first improvement has reference to the camera itself, and consists
in forming the two sides, the top, and the bottom, of four pieces of wood
jointed together by hinges, which exclude the light and extend the entire
length of such pieces, the points of junction of each piece being also
bevelled to an angle of forty-five degrees. Such camera can thus be
easily folded flat for transportation, or for otherwise economising space,
and when required for use, on being unfolded, the hinges with the
bevelled edges cause it to assume the shape of a rigid square, which is

page_text: further maintained by the insertion of the lens board in front, and of the
dark slide at the back.
My second improvement has reference to the tripod, the means of
attaching the camera to the same, and to the method of imparting
solidity and rigidity to the said parts when mounted for use. My tripod
consists in the usual three legs, shaped so that when not in use they form
a complete circle on being closed together; but instead of as hitherto
making the head an independent part of the tripod, my head is a fixture
on the top of the legs, and consists in a metallic disk, the diameter of
which does not exceed the diameter of the upper part of the three
legs, provided underneath with three horizontal pins and vertical wings
to which the legs are jointed, and pierced with a central hole for the
purpose of attaching the camera to the same by means of a screw with
a large knob inserted from the inside of the camera; with the view of
imparting rigidity I pierce the screw as well as the metallic top of the
tripod with a small central holo through which I pass a wire or twine,
and suspend thereto a weight composed of any material at hand, such
as stones, earth, water, etc., bringing the same down as near to the
soil as is convenient. When the camera is dismounted the screw is
replaced in the disk of the tripod and serves as the knob of a walking-
stick.
My third improvement has reference to the manner of mounting tho
lens, and consists in making the outside of the lens tube in the shapo
of a swift screw, and providing the inner surface of the usual ring or
washer with a similar thread, so that for the purpose of focussing it is
sufficient to rotate the lens in one or other direction. The tube usually
attached to the ring or washer can thus be dispensed with. A much
larger range of focus is thus obtained, which is particularly useful in
enlarging. For this latter purpose I fix the negative in the ground
glass slide and expose it to light, excluding at the same time the passage
of light or actinic rays around the negative; and then after placing the
screen to receive the enlargement at the required distance from the lens,
I adjust the position of the latter by the means above-mentioned until the
requisite sharpness is obtained.