Monkeyshines

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Monkeyshines

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1 Edison (MU 1)  
 
The initial experiments took the form of microscopic pin-point photographs, placed on a cylindrical shell, corresponding in size to the ordinary phonograph cylinder. These two cylinders were then placed side by side on a shaft and the sound record was taken as near as possible synchronously with the photographic image impressed on the sensitive surface of the shell. The photographic portion of the undertaking was seriously hampered by the defects of the materials at hand, which, however excellent in themselves, offered no substance sufficiently sensitive. How to secure clear-cut outlines, or indeed any outlines at all, together with phenomenal speed, was the problem which puzzled the experimenters.
[...]
Then followed some experiments with drums, over which sheets of sensitized celluloid film were drawn, the edges being pressed into a narrow slot in the surface, similar in construction to the old tinfoil phonograph. A starting- and-stopping device very similar to the one now in use was also applied. The pictures were then taken spirally to the number of two hundred or so, but were limited in size, owing to the rotundity of surface, which brought only the centre of the picture into focus. The sheet of celluloid was then developed, fixed, etc., and placed upon a transparent drum, bristling at its outer edge with brass pins. When the drum was rapidly turned, these came in contact with the primary current of an induction coil, and each image was lighted up in the same manner as described in the previous disk experiment, with this difference only, that the inside of the drum was illuminated.
Cassier's Magazine, vol. 7, novembre 1894-Avril 1895, p. 146.
2 W.K.L. DicksonWilliam Heise Frederick P. Ott
 

Deposition of F. P. Ott
[...]
10. Q. Did you see any photographs taken on this machine Edison Cylinder nº 3 or a similar machine before Edison went to Paris ?

A. Yes; I was one of the subjects.
11 Q. I call your attention to Complainant's Exhibit Edison Cylinder Strip nº 1, nº 2 and nº 3: Do you recognize these strips with photographs on them?
A. Yes.
12 Q. You say that you were one of the subjects. Were you at that time photographed in any particular costume ?
A. We had white cloth wound around us and then a little belt to tie it in around the waist so as not to make it too baggy-look like a balloon, and then tied around ma head, and made a monkey out or ourselves.
13 Q. That is, you stood up and made motions ?
A. Yes; stood up and made motions before the machine.
14 Q. In what part of the laboratory were these pictures taken ?
A. In Room 5, I was.
15 Q. That was the room in which the photographing was being done at that time ?
A. At that time, yes; that was the only place there was in the plant at that time.
16 Q. Do you recall a cylilnder machine which had a different shape to the surface than this Exhibit Cylinder nº 3 ?
A. Yes, sir; but I never done any work on it myself. I seen the man working on it at the milling machine.


United States Circuit Court, Southern District of New York. In Equity nº 6928, "Thomas A. Edison vs. American Mutoscope Company, et al., p. 128-129. Edison Microfilm Reel 116. Edison Papers.

3 21/11/1890-27/11/1890.  
4 États-Unis. West Orange.  

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