ARCHER, FREDERIC SCOTT Born at Bishops Stortford, 1813, died in Lon don, May, 1857. He invented the wet collodion process in 1848, and published working details in The Chemist, dated March, 185r, his own " Manual of the Collodion Photographic Pro cess " following in 1852. His process practically displaced both the Daguerreotype and Tal botype (calotype) processes, and enjoyed popu larity from 1855 to 1880. Many historians have coupled other names with Archer's, either as assistants or co-inventors, but close study of all the facts leads inevitably to the conclusion that Archer deserves the whole of the credit. He introduced pyrogallic acid (then sold at 6s. 8d. per dram) as a developer ; a camera within which plates could be exposed, developed, and fixed ; a triple lens to shorten the focus of a double combination lens ; and a method of whitening collodion positives upon glass (see " Alabaster Process "). Archer lived and died
a poor man ; and at his death a subscription list was opened and a sum of £747 raised for his widow and children. Mrs. Archer died shortly afterwards (March, 1858) and the amount was settled upon his children, together with a Govern ment pension of £50 per annum. Punch, referring to the testimonial, said (June 13, 1857) : "To the Sons of the Sun.—The inventor of collodion has died, leaving his invention unpatented, to en rich thousands, and his family unportioned to the battle of life. Now, one expects a photographer to be almost as sensitive as the collodion to which Mr. Scott Archer helped him. A deposit of silver is wanted (gold will do), and certain faces now in the dark chamber will light up wonder fully, with an effect never before equalled in photography. . . . Now, answers must not be negatives."