June 2. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



433 



The photograph so obtained is in the same situation as a. 

 new photograph, and in consequence, passing through the 

 same phases thatjit has already done, it will again be- 

 come yellow or red at the end of a longer or shorter time.. 

 It is necessary then to cause a transformation on the 

 surface of the silver, which will render the image un- 

 changeable. We have arrived at this by combining the 

 precipitate of gold by silver with the simultaneous form- 

 ation of sensitised chloride of silver. Every one- knows 

 that if a plate of silver ia plunged into a. bath of chloride 

 (ter-chloride.') of gold, a deposit of metallic gold forms 

 on the surface of the silver, whilst a portion of the latter, 

 equivalent to that of the gold precipitated, passes into the 

 state of chloride. It is then probable that in impregnating 

 a faded photograph, witbi chloride ef gold, a deposit of 

 metallic gold would take place on the silver, which being 

 then transformed into chloride, could not be altered by the 

 light. One could always foresee that the beautiful colours 

 of metallic gold would enrich the tints of the photograph. 

 That which theory has indicated, experience has fully veri- 

 fied. If we take a positive prirrt, however faded it may be, 

 and soak it in a bath of chloride of gold sufficiently con- 

 centrated, the print will be in all cases revivified, but with 

 different aspects and various tints from the red to the 

 blue or black, according to circumstances. In effect, the 

 experimenter has here before him two reactions (the pre- 

 cipitation of metallic gold, and the blackening of the 

 chloride of silver which is formed), of such a kind, that 

 in forcing one of these conditions more than the other he 

 can at pleasure obtain any tint. We will now examine 

 successively the different circumstances which may pre- 

 sent themselves, and which are, all of them, particular 

 cases of this general rule. Immerse the picture in a 

 solution of chloride of gold of variable standard, expose 

 or not the paper in the bath to the light, and then transfer 

 it to hyposulphate of soda to remove the excess of chloride 

 of gold and chloride of silver. As we have just said, one 

 can work either in the light or in the dark ; the results, 

 however, are different, and the presence of chloride of 

 ffllver sufiiciently accounts for this. If we work in the 

 dark, the deposit of gold is formed more or less quickly, 

 according as the bath is more or less concentrated. If 

 you employ a bath containing about five grammes of 

 chloride of gold to the litre, and rendered slightly acid 

 by the addition of some drops of hydrochloric acid, the 

 operation lasts from three to four hours ; at the end of this 

 time the j-ellow parts of the picture have assumed beau- 

 tiful red, brown, or black tints, parts which were invisible 

 have made their appearance, and the whites have never- 

 theless been well preserved. When the picture is taken 

 out of this bath, it is sufficient to place it for some time 

 in hyposulphite of soda, and wash it afterwards in water; 

 in this case, one imagines the results are produced by 

 metallic gold without the intervention of chloride of 

 silver. In effect, this not being exposed to the light 

 dissolves in hyposulphate of soda. If we let in the light 

 of the sun, the precipitation of metallic gold will be effected 

 in the same manner; but, in addition, the chloride of 

 silver will influence the colour by its property of becoming 

 black in the light; and hence some precautions must be 

 taken to prevent the aolarisation of the picture. If the 

 bath of gold is sufficiently concentrated, the deposit is 

 formed rapidly, the chloride of silver is only slightly 

 affected, and the whites remain without any "alteration. 

 If the bath of gold is carried too far, and if consequently 

 the picture remains in it too long, the whites turn blue, 

 the picture is completely solarised, but the blacks become 

 darker. Finalh', in order to revivify a picture, place it in 

 a solution of chloride of gold, and leave it in this bath 

 three or four hours protected from the light, or for a few 

 mmutes under the influence of the solar ravs. Continue 

 the process, transfer it to hyposulphate of "soda, wash it 



sufficiently, and your picture, however faded it may have 

 becDj will be revivified. 



{To he concluded in our next."} 



Internal spiral wooden Staircase (Vol. xk, 

 p. 365.). — In reply to Mr. Fereey's inquiry, I 

 can mention the existence (in 1846) of an internal 

 spiral wooden staircase in the tower of Wenden 

 Church, Essex, within a few minutes' walk of the 

 Audley End Station, on the Eastern Counties 

 Railway. If I recollect right, it is of Perpendicular 

 date, but not particularly ornamented. The tower 

 itself is a square one, and of very early date : its 

 western doorway, with a solid typanum, has been 

 engraved in Paley's Manual of Gothic Arcliitec- 

 ture, p. 202. There is also a very good Perpen- 

 dicular wooden pulpit in the church. C. R. M. 



Shew Family (Vol. xi., p. 385.). — In reply to 

 your correspondent S., I heg to say that I remem^ 

 ber, when a child, having been taken to Wey- 

 mouth for operations|^on my teeth by Mr. Shew, a 

 surgeon-dentist. This gentleman came every sum- 

 mer from Bristol, to enjoy the bathing, boating, 

 &c. of this delightful watering-place ; but is, I 

 hear, now dead. I believe, however, a son or some 

 other relative still resides at Bristol, and is a 

 dentist. John Garlani>. 



Dorchester. 



Author of " Palmyra;' ^c. (Vol. xi., p. 206.). — 

 Sixteen or eighteen years ago, two historical 

 novels were published in this country, entitled 

 Zenohia and Probus. They were written by a 

 Unitarian clergyman, named Ware : and were pro- 

 bably the works reprinted in England under the 

 names of Palmyra and Julian. Uneda. 



Philadelphia. 



'■'■ Sanlegue" (Vol. xi., p. 342.). — Your corre- 

 spondent has put " Semlegue" for Sanlegue. The 

 latter is in Les Belles Lettres de Hier. I cannot 

 find any account of the author, but this correction 

 may facilitate the search. P. 



Double Christian Names (Vol. x., pp. 18. 133. 

 276. 413.).— 



" But two Christian names are rare in England, and I 

 only remember now his Majesty, who was named Charles 

 James, as the Prince his Sonne Henry Frederic; and 

 among priuate men, Thomas Maria Wingjield, and Sir 

 Thomas Posthumus Hobby. Although it is common in 

 Italy to adioyne the name of some Saint, in a kind of 

 deuotion to the Christian name, as Johannes JBaptisfa 

 Spinula ; Johannes Franciscus Borhomeus, 3Iarcus Ante^ 

 nius Flaminins : and in Spaine, to adde the name of the 

 Saint, on whose day the childe was borne." — Camden's 

 Remaines, p. 44. : London, 1623. 



w.w. 



Malta^ 



