GENERAL NOTES 125 



negative, or a "doctoring" of the defective 

 one. The beginner must not yield to dis- 

 couragement should his most careful work 

 turn out a failure. Such contretemps will 

 happen to the most experienced workman. 

 We do not usually show our failures, and only 

 the operator himself ever knows how long a 

 list of them have been charged off to profit 

 and loss. It is well, therefore, to be prepared 

 for troubles and how to meet them. As it is 

 impossible in this connection to enumerate all 

 that may arise, I shall confine myself to two 

 or three of the most common ones and their 

 remedies. 



Assuming that both optical and photo- 

 graphic appliances, including plates of course, 

 are of good qualities, the majority of failures 

 are due to under- or over-timing of the expos- 

 ure, and to under- or over-development of the 

 plate. The first of these I shall dismiss at 

 once in a single sentence, make another ex- 

 posure, for a really under-timed negative can 

 never be successfully after-treated. An over- 

 exposed plate probably gives more frequent 

 trouble to the novice than any other thing, 

 but fortunately he can usually remedy it. 

 The development commences so quickly and 

 proceeds with such rapid strides that he is 



