42 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[No. 193. 



5thly. In his paper process, does not the soaking 

 in water after iodizing merely take away a portion 

 of iodides of silver and potassium from the paper ; 

 or, if not, what end is answered by it ? W. F. E. 



Baths for the Collodion Process. — Having lately 

 been assured, by a gentleman of scientific attain- 

 ments, that the sensitiveness of the prepared col- 

 lodion plate depends rather upon the strength of 

 the nitrate of silver bath than on the collodion, 

 I am desirous of asking how far the experience of 

 your correspondents confirms this statement. My 

 informant assured me, that if, instead of using a 

 solution of thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the 

 ounce of water for the bath, which Is the propor- 

 tion recommended by Messrs. Archer, Home, 

 Delamotte, Diamond, &c., a sixty grain solution 

 be substituted, the formation of the image would 

 be the work of the fraction of a second. This 

 seems to me so important as to deserve being 

 brought under the notice of photographers — espe- 

 cially at this busy season — without a moment's 

 delay; and I therefore record the statement at 

 once, as, from circumstances with which I need 

 not encumber your pages, I shall not have an 

 opportunity of trying any experiments upon the 

 pomt for a week or two. 



Upon referring to the authorities on the sub- 

 ject of the best solution for baths, I have been 

 struck with their uniformity. One exception only 

 has presented Itself, which Is in a valuable paper by 

 Mr. Thomas in the 6th Number of the Journal of 

 the Photographic Society. That gentleman directs 

 the bath to be prepared in the following manner : 



Into a 20 oz. stoppered bottle, put — 



Nitrate of silver - - 1 oz. 

 Distilled water - - 10 oz. 

 Dissolve. 



Iodide of potassium - 5 grs. 

 Distilled water - - 1 dr. 

 Dissolve. 



On mixing these two solutions, a precipitate of 

 iodide of silver is formed. Place the bottle con- 

 taining this mixture in a saucepan of hot water, 

 keep it on the hob for about twelve hours, shake 

 it occasionally, now and then removing the stop- 

 per. The bath is now perfectly saturated with 

 iodide of silver ; when cold, filter through white 

 filtering paper, and add — 



Alcohol - - - 2 drs. 



Sulphuric ether - - 1 dr. 



The prepared glass is to remain in the bath about 

 eight or ten minutes. Now, is this bath appli- 

 cable to all collodion, or only to that prepared by 

 Mr. Thomas ; and if the former, what is the ra- 

 tionale of its beneficial action ? A Beginner. 



Mitigation of Capital Punishment to a Forger 

 (Vol. vii., p. 573.). — If your correspondent 

 H. B. C. really wishes to be released from his 

 hard work in hunting up the truth of my and 

 other narratives of the mitigation of capital pu- 

 nishment to forgers, I shall be happy to receive a 

 note from him with his name and address, when I 

 will give him the name and address of my in- 

 formant In return. By this means I may be able 

 to relieve his shoulder from a portion of its 

 burden, and myself from any farther imputations 

 of " mythic accompaniments," &c., which are un- 

 palatable phrases even when coming from a gen- 

 tleman who only discloses his initials. 



Alfeed Gattt. 



Ecclesfield. 



Chronograms (Vol. v., p. 585.) and Anagrams 

 (Vol. iv., p. 226). — Though we have ceased to 

 practise these " literary follies," they are not with- 

 out interest ; and you will perhaps think It worth 

 while to add the following to your list : 

 " Hugo Grotius, his Sophompaneas. 

 By FranCIs GoLDsMIth." 



has no date on the title-page, the real date of 

 1652 being supplied by the chronogram, which is 

 a better one than most of those quoted in "N. & 

 Q.," inasmuch as all the numerical letters are em- 

 ployed, and it is consequently not dependent on 

 the typography. 



James Howell concludes his Parly of Beasts as 

 follows : 



" Gloria lausqiie Deo saeCLorVM in saecVla sunto. 



A clironogrammaticall verse which includes not onely 

 this year, 1660, but hath numericall letters enow [an 

 illustration, by the way, of enow as expressive of num- 

 ber] to reach above a thousand years farther, untill the 

 year 2867." 



Query, How Is this made out ? And are there 

 any other letters employed as numerical than the 

 M, D, C, L, V, and 1 ? If not, I can only make 

 Howell's chronogram equivalent to 1927. 



The same author. In his German Diet, after nar- 

 rating the death of Charles, son of Philip II. of 

 Spain, says : 



" If you desire to know the yeer, this chronogram 

 will tell you : 



f ILIVs ante DIeM patrlos InqVIrIt In annos," 



which would represent the date of 1568. 



The same work contains an anagram on " Frere 

 Jacques Clement," the murderer of Henry III. of 

 France : " C'est I'enfer qui m'a cree." J. F. M. 



Abigail (Vol. Iv., p. 424. ; Vol. v., pp. 38. 94. 

 450.). — Can it be shown that this word was in 

 general use, as meaning a " lady's maid," before 

 the time of Queen Anne, It probably was so used ; 



