April 22. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



383 



about a quarter of an hour the papers selected and 

 cut, five or six at a time, till the liquor is exhausted. 

 Taken out, hung up by the corner, and dried, these 

 papers, which have taken a uniform rosy tint, are shut 

 up free from dust, and kept dry. With regard to the 

 sensitizing by nitrate of silver, the bringing out of the 

 image under the action of gallic acid, and fixing the 

 proof by hyposulphite of soda, I follow the usual 

 methods, most frequently that of Mr. Le Gray. 



I add only, if I have any dissolved, 1 or 2 grammes 

 of camphorated spirits to 1 litre of the solution of gallic 

 acid. 



Allow me, Sir, to say a few words on the great ad- 

 vantages I have always remarked in preparing my 

 negatives by this method. 



All those who use papers waxed by Mr. Le Gray's 

 process, know how many, how tedious, and how diffi- 

 cult are the operations before the sensitizing by nitrate 

 of silver. They know too how much care is neces- 

 sary to obtain papers uniformly prepared and without 

 spots, in the midst of such long operations, in which 

 there are so many opportunities for accidents. In fact, 

 one must be always upon one's guard against the im- 

 purities of the wax obtained from the shop ; against the 

 dust during the impregnation of the paper ; and, while 

 using the iron, against the over-heating of the latter, 

 and against the bad quality of the paper used to blot. 



Photographers know also how much wax they lose 

 by this process, and how much it costs for the quanti- 

 ties of paper necessary to dry it properly. They know 

 likewise how difficult and tedious it is to soak a waxed 

 paper which has been previously in a watery solution. 

 On the contrary, by the method I have described, the 

 iodizing and the waxing is done by one single, simple, 

 and rapid process ; the saturation is, as may be con- 

 ceived, very uniform, and very complete, thanks to the 

 power of penetration possessed by the alcohol ; and 

 that marbled appearance of the ordinary waxed proofs, 

 which is so annoying, cannot be produced by this 

 method, thanks to the character of the ceroleine : this 

 body is, in fact, of a remarkable elasticity. 



The solution of ceroleine in the alcohol is more easy 

 to prepare, and comparatively costs little ; and the 

 remains of stearine and of myricine can either be sold 

 again, or, in any case, may be used to wax fixed proofs. 



The solution of which I have given you the formula, 

 is photogenic to a very high degree ; in fact, used with 

 papers, either thin or stout, it gives, after the first 

 bath of gallic acid, blacks of an intensity truly remark- 

 able ; which it is impossible to obtain to the same 

 degree with Le Gray's paper, and which other papers 

 scarcely take after having been done a second time 

 with the acetic acid, or the bichloride of mercury. At 

 the same time, it preserves the lights and the half-tones 

 in a way that surprises me upon each new trial (I have 

 not yet been able to obtain one clear proof by gallic 

 acid, with the addition of nitrate of silver). The 

 transparency of the proofs is always admirable, and the 

 clearness of the object yields in nothing to that of the 

 proofs obtained by albumen. 



The paper, prepared in the manner I have described, 

 is also very quick as compared with Le Gray's paper — 

 at least one fourth quicker; and preserves its perfect 

 sensitiveness in the same proportion of time, three days 



in twelve. Thus, it is at the same time quicker and 

 less variable. This comparative rapidity may be very 

 well understood, by remembering that the ceroleine is 

 an element much softer than its compound; and pos- 

 sesses a photogenic aptness which is peculiar to itself, 

 which science will, no doubt, soon explain. 



To succeed in the preparation of the ceroleine, it is 

 important to work with wax of the best quality : this 

 is not easy in Paris, where they sell, under the name 

 of wax, a resinous matter which is only wax in appear- 

 ance. It will be veil to observe, with the greatest 

 care, the smell and the look of a fresh cut. 



[This article reached us after our preceding note 

 was in type. We shall be glad to hear from any cor- 

 respondents who have tried this process how far they 

 find it to be one deserving of attention.] 



fUpfog ta Minav teuzxizsl. 



Origin of Clubs (Vol.ix., p. 327.). — Johnson's 

 definition of club, as " an assembly of good fellows, 

 meeting under certain conditions," will apply to a 

 meeting held two centuries earlier than that esta- 

 blished by Sir Walter Raleigh at the Mermaid, in 

 Friday Street. In the reign of Henry IV., there 

 was a Club called " La Court de bone Compagnie," 

 of which Occleve was a member, and probably 

 Chaucer. In the works of the former are two 

 ballads, written about 1413 . one a congratulation 

 from the brethren to Henry Somer, on his appoint- 

 ment as Sub-Treasurer of the Exchequer : and 

 the other a reminder to the same person, that the 

 " styward" had warned him that he was — 

 ". . . . for the dyner arraye 



Ageyn Thirsday next, and nat it delaye." 



That there were certain conditions to be observed 

 by this Society, appears from the latter epistle, 

 which commences with an answer to a letter of 

 remonstrance the "Court" has received from 

 Henry Somer against some undue extravagance, 

 and a breach of their rules. They were evidently 

 a jovial company ; and such a history as could be 

 collected of these Societies would be both inte- 

 resting and curious. We have proof that Henry 

 Somer received Chaucer's pension for him. 



Edward Foss. 



Dr. Whichcote and Dorothj Jordan (Vol. ix., 

 p. 351.). — The sentence which Mr. Leigh Hunt 

 couples with Mrs. Jordan's laugh, as among the 

 best sermons he ever heard, your correspondent 

 Ilui'flti will find in the collection of Moral and 

 Religious Aphorisms of Dr. Whichcote, first pub- 

 lished by Dr. Jeffery in 1703, and which were re- 

 published by Dr. Salter in 1753. It is to the 

 following effect : 



" Aph. 1060. To lessen the number of things lawful 

 in themselves; brings the consciences of men in[to] 

 slavery, multiplies sin in the world, makes the way 



