Considering the work accomplished by the Marey Institute it is maintained very economically. The annual expenses average about £1,200 or $6,000. The paid staff comprises the assistant sub-director and an assistant, two highly skilled mechanics, and one or two minor officials, the important posts being filled honorarily.
Private investigators are encouraged to use the Institute and its equipment. The scientific institutions of the different countries are given certain facilities in return for a small payment. Thus an annual subscription of £40 ($200) entitles the representative of an institution to the widest use of the laboratory. He is not only given free and unrestricted use of all the apparatus, but is provided with a bedroom, so that his expenses are reduced to disbursements upon meals and other personal requirements. Everything requisite for his study, as well as accessories, such as light, film, developers, etc., are provided free of charge.
The laboratory is well provided with all sorts of appliances. There are cameras of various designs adapted to special classes of work, dark rooms for developing, rooms for experiments, a workshop with skilled mechanics, a library stocked with literature bearing upon cinematography and its relation to the sciences, and a large and lofty hall furnished with a projector and screen. As the Institute stands in its own grounds of over 3,000 square yards, there are ample facilities for out-door investigations.
The experimenter at this Institution has advantages placed at his disposal which will not be found elsewhere in any other part of the world. The majority of the appliances have been designed by the staff mechanics, and in their manufacture extreme ingenuity has been displayed. Much of the apparatus might possibly provide an income in the form of royalties if it were commercially exploited. But it is a rule of the Institute that no instrument may be patented. Its work is for the benefit of all.
Undoubtedly the near future will see the foundation of national cinematographic laboratories in some form or other. The value of animated photography is not yet appreciated. Directly the sciences realise its significance, and see that it constitutes an indispensable aid to investigation and research, the invention will be given the recognition it deserves. Then it will be turned into more useful channels than at present. Individual investigation will be encouraged, and discoveries more wonderful than any of which we know will be made.