Mar. 26. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



315 



the whole operation to a very simple system. My 

 bath, hypo-soda, developing fluid (of which, as 

 it keeps so long, I. make ten ounces at a time), 

 are always ready in a small closet in my study. 

 These I arrange on my study-table : a gutta 

 percha tray, a brass levelling-stand upon it, a jug 

 of soft water, and half-a-dozen small plates to 

 place my pictures on, after treating them with the 

 hypo-solution (for, to save time, I do not finish 

 washing them until I have done all the pictures I 

 require). All these things I can prepare and ar- 

 range in less than ten minutes, and can as easily 

 return them to their places afterwards. 



With regard to Mb. Mabley's process, de- 

 scribed in "N. & Q.," No. 176., p. 267., as I am 

 but a beginner myself, and have much to learn, I 

 should be sorry to condemn it ; but I should fear 

 that his pictures would not exhibit sufficient con- 

 trast in the tints. Nor do I see the advantage the 

 pictures would possess, if they did, over positives 

 taken by our process. We amateurs in the counti'y 

 labour at present under great disadvantages, some 

 of which I think the Photographic Society will re- 

 move. I am myself quite unable to form an idea 

 what the collodion pictures done by first-rate 

 photographers are like. All the positives done by 

 amateurs in this part of the world, and developed 

 by pyrogallic acid, which I have seen, present a 

 dirty brown hue, by no means pleasing or artistic ; 

 and I have seen but very few, either developed by 

 pyrogallic acid or protosulphate of iron, free from 

 blemishes. I think if we were to act upon the 

 suggestion made in "N. & Q." some time back, 

 and send the editor a specimen of our perform- 

 ances, it would be a slight return for his endea- 

 vours in our behalf; and he would, I doubt not, 

 honestly tell us whether our pictures were toler- 

 able or not. I, for one, shall be very happy to 

 do so. J. L. SissoN. 



Edingthorpe Rectory. 



Developing Chamber. — I think Mr. Sisson will 

 find some difficulty in applying his very excellent 

 idea of a sheet India rubber lighting medium to 

 his portable laboratory, as the vapour of the ether 

 will act upon it and render it sticky and useless 

 after one or two usings. Allow me to suggest 

 what I am in the habit of using, viz. a double 

 layer of yellow glazed calico, stuck together with 

 a little common drying oil, and allowed to dry for 

 a ^QVf days : this causes a perfect exclusion of the 

 actinic rays, and is very durable. 



F. Maxwell Lyte. 



Falkland, Torquay. 



The Black Tints on Photographic Positives. — 

 A correspondent having inquired how these were 

 obtained, and another replying that it was caused 

 by starch, I beg to offer a process to your readers 

 as to how they may obtain those carbonic tints ; 



though I must premise that the process requires 

 some skill, and is not always successful, though 

 always sure to make them black : but on occasions 

 of failure the lights sink, and the brilliancy of the 

 picture is lost. That it is not starch in the French 

 process, unless that vehicle contains some pre- 

 paration, I am tolerably certain ; the chloride of 

 barium will often produce black images, though 

 very uncertain ; and the black process as given by 

 Le Gray is uncertain also. For myself, I generally 

 prefer the colour given by ammoniac salt ; it is 

 artistical and sufficient for any purpose. The 

 present process, which I use myself when I re- 

 quire a black colour, with its imperfections, I 

 offer to the photographic readers of "N. & Q.," 

 and here it is. 



Take a two-ounce vial, and have some powdered 

 litharge of lead, by some called gold or scale li- 

 tharge ; pound it fine in a Wedgewood mortar, and 

 put in the vial about one scruple ; pour on it 

 about half an ounce of Beaufoy's acetic acid, but 

 do not replace the cork or stopper, as the gas 

 evolved is very active, and will burst the vial, 

 placing the operator's eyes in jeopardy ; agitate 

 and allow it to stand some hours to settle, or leave 

 it till next day, when it will be better for the pur- 

 pose : then decant the clear part and throw the 

 fajces away, return the solution into the bottle, 

 and fill up with distilled water. The positive 

 paper being now prepared with the ammonio- 

 nitrate of silver, and placed as usual in the sun, 

 the artist must remove it when a tolerably distinct 

 image is visible, but not altogether up : this is 

 one of the niceties of the process ; if it is too much 

 done the blacks will be too black, and If not 

 enough they will be feeble and want richness; 

 it is when a visible image of the whole is de- 

 veloped : at this point put the positive into cold 

 water ; this will remove a great deal of the silver 

 that has not been acted upon by the light : let it 

 soak three or four minutes ; take it out and blot 

 off the water, laying a clean piece of paper below. 

 Now pour a small quantity of the solution of lead 

 on one end, and with a glass rod pass It carefully 

 over every part ; blot it off, and giving the paper 

 a little time to dry partially, pass over a solution 

 of newly made gallic acid ; the shadows will rapidly 

 become perfectly blank, and the picture will come 

 up. But another nicety in the process is the point 

 at which it must be plunged into hyposulphite of 

 soda solution ; if plunged In too soon the black will 

 be mingled with the sepia tints, and If too late 

 the whole tint will be too black. I offer it, how- 

 ever, because I know its capabilltes of improve- 

 ment, and the intensity of the black is sometimes 

 beautiful : it is better suited for architectural 

 subjects, where there is but little sky, as it will 

 lay a faint tint over it ; but if a sky is attempted, 

 it must be kept under by a brush with a little 

 hyposulphite of soda solution, touching it care- 



