114 THE BOOK OF THE LANTERN. 



is poured upon the mould. The square of glass which is 

 to bear the picture is placed on this pool of ink, and the 

 pi-ess is lightly brought down upon all. The slide is left 

 thus until the gelatine has had time to set, when the 

 glass is lifted from the mould, and the picture in all its 

 delicate details is left upon it. This beautiful process, 

 which may be looked upon as the most perfect of all the 

 mechanical photographic processes, was due to the genius 

 of the late Mr. Woodbury, who, shortly before his lamented 

 death, modified it so that it might be practised by ama- 

 teurs, 



This modification is known as the Stannotype pro- 

 cess, tinfoil being employed as a substitute for the work of 

 the hydraulic press. The gelatine relief is attached to a 

 plate of glass by a suitable cement. Its surface is then 

 coated with india-rubber cement, and a sheet of ordinary 

 tinfoil is placed above it. The whole arrangement is now 

 passed between a couple of india-rubber rollers, such as 

 are attached to a domestic wringing-machine, so that the 

 tinfoil is forced into the interstices of the picture, We 

 thus obtain a metallic-faced mould without the interven- 

 tion of the hydraulic press, and this mould is afterwards 

 treated with warm gelatinous ink, and prints taken off, as 

 in the Woodburytype process. In the latter process, how- 

 ever, a negative is employed to give the necessary relief, 

 and in the Stannotype a positive. Both of these methods 

 give the best results for pictures where there is not a large 

 expanse of sky, or other high light ; for in such a case 

 a slight deposit of the pigmented gelatine is likely to spoil 



