THE BOOK OF THE LANTERN. 233 



paper is unpinned, and carried to the developing dish. It 

 is now saturated with cold water on both sides, and clean 

 hands may assist in spreading the water over the surface 

 until it lies perfectly flat on the bottom of the tray. The 

 water is now drained off and the developer applied. The 

 ferrous oxalate method is by far the best to adopt, but the 

 proportion of iron should be reduced to about one-sixth, or 

 even one-eighth of the oxalate solution ; and to insure the 

 best results, the exposure should be such that only a very 

 small dose of bromide solution is necessary. Some workers 

 prefer to bring the image out slowly by using an old 

 ferrous oxalate solution. I myself prefer it mixed per- 

 fectly fresh, and am quite certain that if the best results 

 are looked for, fresh developer should be mixed for every 

 print required. The development must not be carried too 

 far, for the image gains in density under fixation. When 

 development is judged to be complete, drain off the liquid, 

 and immediately, without washing, flood the surface of the 

 picture with an acid solution. 



Acetic acid (glacial) ... ... 1 drachm. 



Water ... ... ... ... 16 ounces. 



The addition of this solution keeps the whites of the pic- 

 ture pure. In a minute or two pour the acid away, wash 

 the print, and fix in fresh hypo of the usual strength. The 

 print ought to be fixed in about ten minutes ; if it is allowed 

 to remain in the hypo longer than necessary the half-tones 

 are quickly destroyed. Now wash the paper in several 

 changes of water, and let it soak for a couple of hours at 

 least before drying. 



It is not very difficult to print in clouds, from a separate 



