July 21. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



51 



its face downwards, and bring one end of it in contact 

 ■with the liquid, and then, bending the sheet backwards, 

 let it gradually down on the surface. By this, when 

 properly done, we prevent the possibility of air-bubbles 

 between the liquid and the paper, and at the same time 

 wet only the face of the paper; when it lies flat on the 

 liquid, and ceases to curl up, which will be in about 

 three minutes, it is to be lifted off and hung up by one 

 corner to dry. Many people may prefer to use albumen, 

 and I mj-self now always employ it, as by more or less 

 dilution'with water we can heighten or lessen to almost 

 any degree the lustre it produces on the paper. A good 

 proportion for general purposes will be found to be 40 

 parts of albumen and 60 of water, to which is added 

 7 parts of chloride of ammonium. The paper is to be 

 treated with this just as with the simple saline solution 

 before mentioned, only that it should He on the surface 

 of the liquid just about twice as long. These papers 

 when dry may be put aside for use, only that it is ne- 

 cessary they should be kept in a dry place, and out of the 

 way of all acid vapours. 



When we wish to sensitize the paper, which should not 

 be done more than twenty-four hours before it is required 

 for use, we take it, and, observing the same precautions as 

 before, lay it on the surfaceof a bath composed of 100 parts 

 of water, and 20 of nitrate of silver, and 1 part of sugar 

 of milk; after lying on this bath for not less than five 

 minutes, it is to be taken off and hung up as before to dry. 

 I may here remark, that it is better to put a little scrap of 

 blotting-paper on the corner of each paper, when hanging 

 up to dr}', whichever bath it may have come from, as this 

 carries off the last drop : also, that when we nitrate the 

 papers, each one draws a certain amount of nitrate from 

 the liquid, and it is therefore necessary to add 1 drachm 

 ■of solid nitrate of silver for every large sheet of the paper 

 which is sensitized, or as many small sheets as would 

 form a large one, and to fill the bottle in which the bath 

 is kept always to the same height with water, to replace 

 what the paper has imbibed ; also, that the bath becomes 

 coloured when albumen paper is employed, to prevent 

 which a little animal charcoal should be kept in the 

 bottle into which the bath is returned, to decolorise it, 

 the bath being filtered each time before using. 



The paper, when dry, will be fit for exposure in the pres- 

 sure frame, which I think I need scarcely describe, the pro- 

 cess being so well known to all photographers ; all I will 

 remark is, that the picture should be printed twice as 

 dark as it is ultimately intended to be, or at any rate con- 

 siderably darker. Being then taken out of the pressure 

 frame, we now proceed to fix the proof, and with this 

 object we lay it in a bath of clean water, to soak out as 

 much as possible of the nitrate of silver employed, which 

 is now no longer of any use ; it next is put into a bath 

 of salt and water, the strength of which is of no great 

 moment ; here any remaining nitrate of silver is decom- 

 posed after it has lain for five or six minutes, and it is 

 now ready for the colouring bath, which is made as 

 follows: Take 15 grains of ter-chloride of gold, and 

 having dissolved it in a little water, add, very carefullj' 

 and by degrees, some diluted liquid ammonia ; the gold 

 solution will suddenly seem to turn from light yellow to 

 a darker colour. Then having made a solution of three 

 ounces of hyposulphite of soda and sixty grains of chlo- 

 ride of silver, pour the gold solution into the hyposul- 

 phite, stirring rapidly all the time. Let the liquid stand 

 six or seven hours, and then filter it. The proof being 

 taken from the salt solution, and plunged into this, is to 

 be left there for about a quarter of an hour. No change 

 will take place in the colour while it is in this solution, 

 unless perhaps a slight shade of brown may pass over it ; 

 but it will still look fiery red. Taking it now from this 



No. 299.] 



bath, place it in one composed of 100 parts of water, 

 20 parts of hyposulphite of soda, and 0*5 carbonate of 

 soda ; here it will be seen to change colour rapidly until 

 it comes down to a fine sepia tone ; it is then' to be 

 changed from this bath into another of the same com- 

 position, and having lain in it for about a quarter of aa 

 hour, is to be passed into one of pure water. This bath 

 of pure water having been three times changed, and the 

 proof well moved about during a space of at least six 

 hours, it is to be again changed for one in which has beea 

 mixed one ounce to a gallon of water of the concentrated 

 solution of chloride of lime ; it should not be left long in 

 this bath, but in a few minutes be passed into one of pure 

 water, which must be constantly changed during twenty- 

 four hours, the last washing being with tepid water. I 

 must here add, that if the first three washings have not 

 been done with great care, the chloride of lime will have 

 a very injurious effect on the proof; and I only employ it 

 as a sort of guarantee of the complete extermination of 

 all sulphur or hyposulphite in the proof. 



In conclusion, I will offer a few remarks on the choice of 

 views, and the posing of persons for portraits. First, be 

 careful not to have the view lighted by a full light glaring 

 directly upon it, as is the case when the sun is behind the 

 camera, but rather prefer a side light, by which shadows 

 being cast, more variety is given to the picture, and the 

 effect of the perspective is heightened. Next, choose gene- 

 rally a good rough foreground, so long as in so doing you 

 can maintain the character of your landscape : prefer rather 

 too long than too short a pose, as it will often be found 

 absolutely necessary, in order to obtain the details of the 

 deep shades, that the intensity of the sky must be sacri- 

 ficed. This will be found particularly the case where the 

 sky is verj' bright — as in this climate — and snowy 

 mountains form the background, while we have often 

 dark masses of trees in the front. Take care to place the 

 principal object in the view as near the centre as possible ; 

 never incline the camera upwards or downwards, as that 

 destroys the effect of perspective, but rather have the 

 front of it made, as most cameras are, with a movable 

 front : rectangular lines drawn across the back of the 

 ground glass will assist in placing the camera straight. 

 Be careful not to expose the plate to too high a tem- 

 perature during any part of the operation. In taking 

 portraits I find a side light always preferable to having 

 the light coming from the top. Next week I hope to 

 add a few remarks on the chemistry of photography. 



F. Maxwell Lyte. 



Bagnferes de Bigorre, Hautes-Pyr^n^es. 



Does Thunder affect Photographic Chemicals ? — Can you 

 or anj' of your correspondents account for the following 

 failures ? I have two silver baths, the one of gutta percha, 

 and the other of glass, which are kept together, and each 

 is covered with a paper cover to keep out dust; they 

 were in good order on Friday morning, the 13th inst, 

 and a good result was obtained with the same collodion 

 and developer as used on the following day, Saturday, 

 when, as soon as the image showed itself under the action 

 of the developer, the plate began to stain all over ; and 

 the same result has followed upon every subsequent trial, 

 and Avith plates excited in either bath, both with and 

 without exposure in the camera. Fresh collodion and 

 fresh developing solution has been tried in vain. 



The stains are of a brownish -yellow colour by reflected 

 and purplish by transmitted light, and in some cases are 

 only seen upon that part of the image which is black in 

 the original ; in the case of a black dress the stain ac- 

 curately follows the outline of the figure, and a figure in 

 a light-coloured dress is free from the stain and fog which 

 covers almost all the dark background. In two cases the 



