Abstract
THE point raised by Prof. Meldola (p. 28) is partially, if not completely, answered by Otto Wiener in a most valuable paper, “Ueber Farbenphotographie durch Körperfarben, und Mechanische Farbenanpassung in der Natur,” published in Wiedemann's Annalen, 1895, lv. 225–281. Wiener devised a method of examining colour photographs through a right-angled prism in such a way that pigment colours, which owe their hues to absorption, are distinguished from interference colours by not changing their positions when seen through the prism. The application of this method to colour photographs by Lippmann's process and the older processes of Seebeck, Poitevin and Becquerel, shows that in Lippmann's photographs the colours are due entirely to interference. In Becquerel's process they are due mainly to interference, though pigment colours are formed to an extent which is generally very small, but which increases with the duration of the exposure. The colours on Becquerel plates do change with the angle of incidence, though the changes are very small, probably in consequence of the high refractive power of the film. Further, when the film is examined from the back the colours do not occupy the same positions as when they are viewed from the front. It follows that the colours on Becquerel plates are due essentially to the same cause as those on Lippmann's plates, and the theory of standing waves is applicable in both cases.
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BOTHAMLEY, C. Becquerel's and Lippmann's Colour Photographs. Nature 54, 77 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/054077a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/054077a0
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