An interesting account is given in the Paris letter of
Wednesday's Daily News, of M. Lippmann's discovery of a mode of photographing colours, which, however, ho has as yet only got as far as applying to the photography of bands of simple colour,—strips of red, orange, yellow, blue, not mixed with each other. The method used is described as having been to take advantage of the principle of interfering waves of light, to prevent the silver from being deposited uniformly through- out the gelatino-bromide, and to secure its being deposited in layers which would subsequently obstruct the passage of any wave of light except a wave of the same length which originated them. In this way the red band was photographed as red, the blue band as blue, and a window made of such simple bands of light was accurately photographed in its true colours. What M. Lippmann is now apparently seeking for, is some mode of applying the principle which will enable the photo- grapher to render all sorts of mixed colours as well as he now renders bands of simple colour. A perfect colour-photo- graphy would certainly vastly enhance the scientific value as well as the popularity of the art. It is difficult to over- estimate what such a power would add to the worth of sky and sea and flower photographs.
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