What is an H&D Curve in Photography?

What is an H&D curve as related to photography?

Shutter Bug

Dear Bug,

The H&D curve, which is also known as the “characteristic curve”, describes the exposure properties of film. The “H” and “D” come from Messrs Hurter and Driffield, who first investigated and published a paper on the curve in 1890. The curve represents the relationship between film exposure and film density.

Anne