June 10. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



549 



that papier mache' has many of the requisites desired, 

 being very firm, light, and impervious to wet. 



Progress of Photography. — As a farther contri- 

 bution to the History of Photography, we have been 

 favoured with the following copy of a letter from a 

 well-known amateur, %vhich details in a graphic manner 

 his early photographic experiences. 



"As there is a sort of reflux of the tide to Mr. Fox 

 Talbot's plan, and different people have succeeded best 

 in different ways, it may amuse you to hear how I 

 used to work, with better luck than I have had since. 



" Mr. Talbot's sensitive wash was very strong, so 

 he floated his paper upon distilled water immediately 

 after its application. 



"Mr. G. S. Cundell, of Finsbury Circus, diluted 

 the sensitive wash with water, instead of floating the 

 paper. Amateurs date their success from the time 

 Mr. Cundell published this simple modification of the 

 original process. 



" Mr. William Hunt, of Yarmouth, was my first 

 friend and instructor in the art ; and if there be any 

 merit in the pictures I did before I knew you, the 

 credit is due to him entirely. 



" The first paper we tried was Whatman's ivory 

 post, very thick and hard, and yet it gave good nega- 

 tives. We afterwards got a thinner paper, but always 

 stuck to Whatman. Neither were we troubled with 

 that porosity in the skies of which you complain in the 

 more recently-made papers of that manufacturer. 



" We first washed the paper with a solution of 

 nitrate of silver, fifteen grains to the ounce, going over 

 the surface in all directions with a camel-hair brush. 

 As soon as the fluid ceased to run, the paper was 

 rapidly dried before the fire, and then immersed in a 

 solution of iodide of potassium, 500 grains to the pint 

 of water. We used to draw it through the solution 

 frequently by the corners, and then let it lie till the 

 yellow tint was visible at the back. It was then im- 

 mediately taken to the pump and pumped upon vigo- 

 rously for two or three minutes, holding it at such an 

 angle that the water flushed softly over the surface. 

 We then gave it a few minutes in a rain-water bath, 

 inclining the dish at different angles to give motion to 

 the water. By this time the iodide of silver looked 

 like pure solid brimstone in the wet paper. Then we 

 knew that it was good, and hung it up to dry. 



"To make this paper sensitive, we took 5 drops of 

 gallic acid (saturated solution), 5 drops of glacial acetic 

 acid, 10 drops of a 50-grain solution of nitrate of 

 silver, and 100 drops of water. The sensitive wash 

 was poured upon a glass plate, and the paper placed 

 thereon. We used to lift the paper frequently by one 

 or other corner till it was perfectly limp. We then 

 blotted off and placed in the camera, where it would 

 keep a good many hours. 



" Whether such pictures would have come out spon- 

 taneously under the developing solution, I know not, 

 for we had not patience enough to try. We forced 

 them out in double quick time with red-hot pokers ; 

 and great was the alarm of my wife to see me rush 

 madly about the house armed with these weapons. 

 Yet the plan had its advantages ; by presenting the 

 point of the poker at a refractory spot, its reluctance 



to appear was speedily overcome, and we persuaded 

 out the shadows. * * * 



" P. S. — I now have the first picture I ever did, 

 little, if at all, altered. It was done in July, 1845, 

 with a common meniscus lens. I have just got a 

 capital negative by Dr. Diamond's plan, but which is 

 spoiled by the metallic abominations in Turner's paper." 



A Collodion Difficulty. — With reference to Mr. J. 

 Cook's collodion, I would suggest that his ether was 

 indeed " still very strong" of acid ; by which the iodine 

 was set free, and gave him " nearly a port-wine colour." 

 This is a common occurrence when the ether or the 

 collodion is acid. The remedy is at hand, however. 

 Powder a few grains of cyanide of potassium, and intro- 

 duce about a grain at a time, according to the quantity : 

 shake up till dissolved, and so on, until you get the 

 clear golden tint. Thus will " the mystery be cleared 

 up." I need not say that the essential properties of the 

 solution will not be impaired. Andrew Steinmetz. 



P. S In a day or two I shall send you a recipe for 



easily turning to immediate use the " used-up dipping 

 baths" of nitrate, without the troublesome process 

 recommended to one of your correspondents. 



Ferricyanide of Potassium. — I have used with success 

 the ferricyanide of potassium (the red prussiate of 

 potash, as it is called) for removing the stains con- 

 tracted in photographing. This it does very readily 

 when the stains are recent, and it has no injurious 

 effect upon cuts and sore places should any exist on 

 the hands. An old stain may with a little pumice 

 be very readily removed. I have mentioned this to 

 several friends, and, if not a novelty, it is certainly not 

 generally known. S. Pelham Dale. 



Sion College. 



. &t]ilitf> to Minav IBiuzvitS. 



Postage System of the Romans (Vol. ix., p. 350.). 

 — Your correspondent Ardelio probably alludes 

 to the system of posts for the conveyance of 

 persons, established by the Romans on their great 

 lines of road. An account of this may be seen in 

 the work of Bergier, Hisloire des Grands Chemins 

 de V Empire Romain, lib. iv. ; and compare Gibbon's 

 Decline and Fall, chap. xvii. Communications 

 were made from Rome to the governors of pro- 

 vinces, and information was received from them, 

 by means of these posts : see Suet. Oct. c. xlix. 

 But the Romans had no public institution for the 

 conveyance of private letters. A letter post is a 

 comparatively modern institution ; in England it 

 only dates from the reign of James I. An account 

 of the ancient Persian posts is given by Xenoph. 

 Cyrop. viii. vi. § 17, 18. ; Herod, viii. 98. : com- 

 pare Schleusner, Lex. N. T. in ayyaptiu. L. 



As a proof that there is at least one eminent ex- 

 ception to the assertion of Ardelio, that "we know 

 that the Romans must have had a postal system," 

 I send the following extract from Dr. William 



