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Magnesium and the Magnesium Light 
1868 
  
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LL/42263 
  
"Magnesium and the Magnesium Light", Chamber's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge (London: W. and R. Chambers, 1868), Volume X, p.620.
 
The first time that a photograph was ever taken by this light was at Manchester in the spring of 1864 by Mr Brothers and Dr Roscoe. That the magnesium light, in a more or less modified form, must prove of extreme value to photography, cannot be called in question. Besides overcoming the obstacle of unsuitable weather for the employment of sunlight, it may be applied both for the exploration and the photography of various dim structures, underground regions, &c, such as the interior of the Pyramids, of catacombs, natural caverns, etc, which could not otherwise be examined or photographed. Professor Piazzi Smyth, the Scottish Astronomer-royal, dating from the East Tomb, Great Pyramid, February 2,1865, writes as follows: 'With any number of wax-candles which we have yet taken into either the King's Chamber or the Grand Gallery, the impression left on the mind is merely seeing the candles, and whatever is very close to them, so that you have small idea whether you are in a palace or a cottage; but burn a triple strand of magnesium wire, and in a moment you see the whole apartment, and appreciate the grandeur of its size and the beauty of its proportions.' According to the writer of an excellent article in the Technologist for 1865, 'M. Nadar is said to be engaged on a series of photographs of the Catacombs of Paris; various artists are busy practising on monuments in obscure recesses of continental churches; and Mr Brothers, we believe, contemplates undertaking the caves of Derbyshire.' For portraiture, it is found to be less successful than was at first expected, owing to the intense light within a few feet of the sitter's eyes causing a contraction of the facial muscles. 
 

 
  
 
  
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