650 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 218. 



whether used for albumenising or othern'ise, being re- 

 duced to a state of chloride by the addition of common 

 salt so long as any precipitate is formed : fine silver 

 may then be readily obtained by heating a crucible, 

 the chloride consisting of three-fourths of pure metal. 

 It is a false economy to use dirty or doubtful solutions, 

 and by adopting the above course the pecuniary loss is 

 very trifling. Our ordinary stoves will not always give 

 a sufficient heat, but any working jeweller or chemist 

 having the ordinary furnace would accomplish it.J 



On the Restoration of old Collodion. — Many plans 

 have been suggested for the restoration of collodion 

 when it has lost its sensitiveness by age. In the last 

 Number of the Photographic Journal, p. 147., Ma. 

 CaooKEs proposes " to remove the free iodine from 

 the collodion by means of a piece of pure silver. For 

 two ounces of liquid I should recommend a sheet of 

 stout silver foil, about two inches long and half an inch 

 broad. It will require to remain in contact with the 

 collodion for about two days, or even longer if the 

 latter be very dark-coloured; and in this case it will 

 sometimes be found advantageous to clean the surface 

 of the silver, as it becomes protected with a coating of 

 iodide, by means of cyanide of potassium or hypo- 

 sulphite of soda. 



" When thus renovated, the collodion will be found 

 as sensitive and good as it was originally." 



This plan is certainly more simple than any that has 

 yet been recommended. The action of the silver being 

 its mere combination with the free iodine, thereby pro- 

 ducing the reduction of the collodion, to its original 

 colourless condition, I would venture to put this ques- 

 tion to Mr. Crook es (to whom the readers of " N. & 

 Q." are already under great obligations) : Does he 

 consider that it is the mere presence of free iodine 

 which causes the want of sensitiveness in the collo- 

 dion? This is all which appears to be accomplished 

 by the process which Mr. Crookes recommends. 



Now, as one who has had some experience, both in 

 the manufacture and uses of collodion, such a view does 

 not agree with my practice and observation. Occa- 

 sionally, upon sensitising collodion, I have found it 

 assume a deep sherry colour a few hours after being 

 made. This must have depended upon the free iodide 

 it contained, and yet such collodion lias worked most 

 admirably. I have now before me a large body of 

 collodion almost red, and which has been made some 

 three or four months ; yet the last time I used this, 

 about a week since, it was just as good as when it was 

 first made. Undoubtedly collodion does more or less 

 deteriorate with age; but here I would observe, that 

 there is an immense difference in the different manu- 

 factures of collodion, and which can be ascertained by 

 use only, and not by appearance. 



But Mr. Hennali, who has had much practical expe- 

 rience, recommends the collodion to be made sensitive 

 merely by the iodide of potassium ; and he said, " if it 

 did not work quite clearly and well, a little tincture of 

 iodine brought it right." Here, then, is added the 

 very thing which Mr. Crookes proposes to abstract. 



Again, Mr. Crookes considers the free iodine to be 

 the cause of the colouring of the collodion ; will he 

 then kindly explain its modits operandi? 



As he has on several occasions given your readers 

 the benefit of his great chemical knowledge, I trust 

 they may be favoured by him with a solution of these 

 difficulties, which have puzzled An Amateur. 



^zjflizi t0 Alitor €L\xtxizS, 



Admissions to Inns of Court (Vol. viii., p. 540.). 

 — The following particulars may be of service 

 to your correspondent who requires information 

 upon the subject of the matriculations at the inns 

 of court. 



The books of Lincoln's Inn, which record the 

 calls to the bar and other proceedings of the 

 Society, commence in the second year of the 

 reign of Henry VI., 1423. Those of the Inner 

 Temple, which contain the admittances in 1547, 

 and the calls to the bar in 1590 ; of the Middle 

 Temple, which contain a regular series of ad- 

 missions and calls, about the year 1600 ; and of 

 Gray's Inn, about the year 1650. The earlier 

 records of Gray's Inn were destroyed by fire, but 

 the Harleian MS. No. 1912., in the British Mu- 

 seum, contains : 



An alphabetical list of gentlemen admitted to 

 that society, with the dates of their admission, 

 from 1521 to 1674, 



Table of the admittances into Gray's Inn, de- 

 claring the names of the gentlemen, the town and 

 country whence they came, and the day, month, 

 and year when admitted, from the year 1626 to 

 1677. 



Arras and names of noblemen and knights ad- 

 mitted to the said society. 



An alphabetical list of all persons called to the 

 bar by the said society. 



The Lansdowne MS. No. 106., which is also 

 In the British Museum, contains : 



Names of benchers, associates, utter barristers, 

 &c. of Lincoln's Inn, and the same of the Inner 

 Temple ; and of the students of the several Inns 

 of Court, apparently about the end of the reign of 

 Elizabeth. Jas. Whishaw. 



Gower Street. 



The MS. Harl. 1912. contains the admissions to 

 Gray's Inn. G. Steinman Steinman. 



Inedited Lyric by Felicia Hemans (Vol, viii., 

 p. 629.) — A surviving relative of the authoress 

 In question begs to answer to the correspondent 

 of "N, & Q." who has produced this lyric from 

 an Imperfect MS. original, that the piece has not 

 remained Inedited, but is to be found in the 

 several complete editions of Mrs. Ilemans's works 

 published by Blackwood. The playful signature 

 of the letter alluded to, as well as the subject of 

 the lyric, It may be added, was suggested by some 

 conversation respecting the fanciful creatures of 



