' It is an
amusing book, giving an account of the rise and progress of
photography, and at the same time having a good-natured laugh at
it. I read the book carefully, and took up photography as an
amusement, using some apparatus which belonged to my father, who
had at one time dabbled in the art. I was soon able to take fair
photographs. I then decided to try photography as a business. I
was apprenticed to a photographer, and spent four years with
him--one year at Northallerton, and three at Darlington. When my
employer removed to Darlington, I joined the School of Art there.
"Having read an account of the experiments of M. E. Becquerel, a
French savant, on photographing in the colours of nature, my
curiosity was awakened. I carefully repeated his experiments,
and convinced myself that he was correct. I continued my
experiments in heliochromy for a period of about two years,
during which time I made many photographs in colours, and
discovered a method of developing the coloured image, which
enabled me to shorten the exposure to one-fortieth of the
previously-required time. During these experiments, I came upon
some curious results, which, I think, might puzzle our scientific
men to account for. For instance, I proved the existence of
black light, or rays of such a nature as to turn the
rose-coloured surface of the sensitive-plate black--that is, rays
reflected from the black paint of drapery, produced black in the
picture, and not the effect of darkness.
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