Sept. 25. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



295 



The " piece of romance " quoted by your corre- 

 spondent first appeared in a newspaper, the Gene- 

 ral Evening Post of 1789. The scene, however, is 

 there laid in England. The story is given by the 

 Kev. H. J. Todd in Some Account of the Life arid 

 Writings of John Miltoji, 1826, p. 30., who adds 

 the following note : 



" This narrative is not singular : an exact and older 

 counterpart may be found, as the late J. C. Walker, 

 Esq., pointed out to me, in the Preface to Poesies de 

 Marguerite- Eleanore Clotilde, depuis Madame de Surville, 

 Fo'ele Frangois du XV Siecle : Paris, 1803. The 

 anecdote has been elegantly versified in the Original 

 Sonnets, 8fc. of Anna Seward." 



EdWAKD r. KiMBAULT. 



PHOTOGRAPHY APPLIED TO ARCHEOLOGY, AND 

 PRACTISED IN THE OPEN AIR. 



(^Continued from page 278.) 



Having manipulated his collodion, it will be 

 necessary, before the photographer proceeds to 

 operate, that he should make his fluids for the 

 development of the latent picture after the pre- 

 pared glass has been exposed in the camera ; and 

 for general purposes the solution of pyrogallic 

 acid, as first recommended by Mr. Archer, seems 

 best adapted. It is made of — 



Pyrogallic acid, three grains. 



Glacial acetic acid, one drachm. • 



Water, one ounce. 

 If to each ounce of this solution one drop of nitric 

 acid be added, a much more clear and white pic- 

 ture will be produced than from the original 

 solution. 



For some purposes the protonitrate of iron 

 possesses advantages, as it produces a picture far 

 surpassing all others in beauty and minuteness of 

 detail, having all the brilliancy of the Daguerreo- 

 type, without its unpleasant metallic reflection : 

 the pure silver film being deposited in the glass, 

 the picture becomes, when varnished, perfectly 

 indestructible by time or atmospheric exposure. 

 As the protonitrate of iron very rapidly under- 

 goes a change, it is quite needful to use it fresh 

 made. The preparing of it Is most easily effected 

 in the following manner : — 



Powder three hundred grains of nitrate of 

 barytes, and place it, with three ounces of water, 

 in any convenient glass vessel over a spirit-lamp. 

 I use a small German " beaker " glass. Stir it 

 •with a glass rod until it is dissolved, which It does 

 ■with some difficulty. When the solution is accom- 

 plished, throw into it three hundred and twenty 

 grains of pure protosulphate of iron, In crystal, 

 •which by stirring will dissolve in the previously 

 saturated solution of nitrate of barytes, without 

 the addition of more heat. Thus the decomposi- 

 tion of the iron is prevented. Upon the mixture 



taking place a dense white fluid is produced. The 

 sulphate of barytes soon, however, subsides, when 

 the clear protonitrate of Iron may be poured off" 

 into a dry bottle and kept for use. Many of my 

 friends have not succeeded to their wishes in the 

 use of the iron, which I think has depended upon, 

 a want of proper care in its preparation. This 

 solution being mixed with the pyrogallic solution, 

 immediately before its application to the glass 

 plate, and only in the quantity then to be used, 

 produces very beautiful pictures, varying in colour 

 according to the relative quantities employed ; 

 and it also developes the image when, from too 

 faint an exposure having taken place in the 

 camera, neither would do so separately. 



In all manipulations the third application Is the 

 hyposulphate of soda, to fix the picture and pre- 

 vent its change by aft-er-exposure to the light. I 

 therefore merely observe that I use a saturated 

 solution, always preserving the same for use over 

 and over again ; for when it becomes well charged 

 with the iodide of silver, pictures are produced of 

 a much more agreeable tone of colour than when 

 the mere raw solution Is used. When the solution 

 weakens in its power, a few pieces of the hypo- 

 sulphate of soda may be occasionally added to re- 

 fresh It. 



With these preparations A. H. R. may safely 

 proceed to work, and although a little time must 

 elapse, as In every other art, before he can expect 

 perfect success, I believe the whole process to be 

 so easy that there are few who cannot avail them- 

 selves of it. Although I entirely agree with your 

 subsequent correspondent C. P. S. as to the ge- 

 neral requisites to make a good photographer, yet 

 I believe there has always been a general though 

 unintentional disposition to give very vague in- 

 structions, and to make a much greater mystery of 

 the art than it really is. 



Thus being In possession of the chemical re- 

 qtilsltes, the following instructions will enable 

 your Querist to make use of them. Although it 

 is desirable that good glass should be used, that 

 which can be obtained of all glass-cutters is quite 

 fit for the purpose. The application of ammonia 

 and various other means have been recommended 

 to render the glass perfectly clean (which clean- 

 ness is certainly absolutely necessary), but I have 

 always found washing them in plain soda and 

 water to be the easiest and most effectual mode of 

 securing this. The use of soap is very objection- 

 able, the tallow in the soap being often decom- 

 posed, and forming a cloudiness not easily removed. 

 The glass should be quite dry and well polished 

 before the application of the collodion. 



It Is far the most convenient way to use a glass 

 a little longer than the required picture : thus 

 you always keep a portion as the handle ; and I 

 will venture to say that, If the manipulator uses 

 ordinary care, he may produce a number of pic- 



