278 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



IShpt, 



an eminent promoter of art, lo place the bust of Pericles in the Elgin 

 rollection, the chief beauties of which were created under bis patronage, 

 for Phidias could not have wrought but under the treasurership of Peri- 

 cles. 



The Roman heads are happily more numerous, but far from enough to 

 satisfy curiosity. No. 51 is Augustus, a Napoleonic countenance. No. 53 

 is an original bust of Marcellus, the favourite nephew of Augustus, dedi- 

 cated by the body of Decemvirs. Tiberius Caisar follows Augustus in 

 time. No. 65 is Messalina, one of the wives of Claudius, and the most 

 infamous womau of her day. The fashion of her hair is worthy of notice, 

 as indeed is that of most of the empresses. Some of the modes of head- 

 dress are far from inelegant, while others are quite as peculiar as anything 

 modern, as for instance those of Sabina and Uomitia. At any rate, a 

 Roman collection is one of the last places in which any support can be got 

 for the doctrine of classicality in busts. The Romans were qui'e content 

 to be featured according to the fashion of the day— the women in particu- 

 lar ; while the greatest fear of a modern sculptor is to pay any such 

 homage to the costume of his time. 



No. 44, Nero, pins attention. His low forehead, marked eyes and nose, 

 and large lower jaw, countenance the unfavourable accounts of his charac- 

 ter, and we confirm our prejudices and dislikes, as most probably the Ro- 

 mans did, by looking at the likeness of the man. 



No. 13 is the glutton Vitellius. No. 1, Room IV., is Trajan, a very 

 business-like looking man, with a forehead not over large. Of Hadrian 

 there are two busts. 



No. 58 is Julia Sabina, niece of Trajan and wife of Hadrian, a matronly 

 lady with her hair plaited and netted, as already mentioned, in rather a 

 peculiar manner. No. 18 is Aotinous, the notorious favourite of Hadrian. 

 No. 43 is /Elius Cajsar. No. 11 is the illustrious Antoninus Pius. As 

 we have noted of the hair of the ladies, so may we of the other sex. 

 There is much variety in the mode of wearing it, which often approaches 

 the modern style. No.O, Room IV., is Marcus Aurelius, another philoso- 

 phic emperor. He is dressed as a Frater Arvalis, a priestly officer. No. 

 32, Annia Faustina, is his wife. Her hair is worn quite plain, simply 

 parted. No. 7 is Lucius Verus. 



No. 29 is Severus, one of the emperors who visited Britain, where he 

 died at Vork. No. 51, Room VI., is Caracalla, a fitting companion head 

 to that of Nero. No. 39, his wife, Plantilla, has a fanciful mode of wear- 

 ing her hair, but one not ungraceful. No. 85 is the elder Gordianus. No. 

 51, Room XI., is that of a Roman lady of rank, whose head-dress is re- 

 markable and rich. As the lady is not known, it is most valuable as an 

 illustration of costume. No. 54, the bust of a little girl, shows one of the 

 fashions of wearing the hair, made up into little plaits and tied in a top- 

 knot. 



(To be continued.) 



PHOTOGRAPHIC MANIPULATIONS. 



The great beauty of photographic pictures and the varied uses to which 

 the art of photography may be applied, invest this wonderful discovery of 

 modern science with surpassing interest, and to the successful operator it 

 possesses great fascination. As the manipulations, however, are numerous, 

 and require great care— for a defect in a single one may prevent any re- 

 sults from being obtained— the art has not yet been so extensively practised 

 as it deserves to be, and as we have little doubt it will be ere long. Many 

 have been prevented from commencing by the dillicuUiea which en- 

 compass the process, aud many, after making the attempt, have abandoned 

 it in despair of being able to succeed. These obstacles are in a great 

 measure owing to the want of clear and satisfactory directions for conduct- 

 ing the various manipulations, and though it is extremely difficult to de- 

 scribe the processes of an art requiring so much nicely so as to insure suc- 

 cess, we will endeavour to give such directions that we trust will enable 

 most persons, by a little practice, to produce good photographic pictures. 

 We are the more induced to hope that we shall succeed in this attempt, 

 from having worked out the problem wilh such imperfect light only as the 

 printed directions afford, and having experienced by many failures the 

 points wherein such directions are vague and imperfect.* 



* Tlie most comprehensive work on Itie subject that we have seen is " Photogenic 

 Maolpnlation," .p'lblished by Messrs. Knight and Sons, which within a small compass 

 titats of must of" the varied photographic processes, but it fails in many points as a guide 

 10 the uninitiated. 



Since the original discoveries of the means of fixing the images of the 

 camera obscura, by M. Daguerre and Mr. Talbot, many variations in the 

 processes have been discovered, but we shall confine ourselves to the 

 description of the Daguerreotype aud Calotype, which have hitherto been 

 unrivalled in practice by any. The distinguishing characteristics of the 

 inventions of M. Uaguerre and of Mr. Talbot are, that in the former the 

 image is impressed on a metal plate, and is subsequently rendered visible 

 by the vapour of mercury ; whilst in the Calotype process the picture is 

 produced directly on paper, by the influence of the rays of light on the 

 salts of silver. We propose in the first place to describe the mauipuIatioDS 

 of the Daguerreotype. 



The apparatus essential to the Daguerreotype artist, in addition to the 

 silvered plates, consists of the following articles : an achromatic camera 

 obscura fitted with appropriate slides for holding the plates, iodine and 

 bromine boxes, a mercury-box, three or more " bufTs," and a spirit lamp 

 wilh stand for holding the plates. The chemical aud other materials are 

 iodine, bromine, spirits of wine, mercury, cotton wool, tripoli powder, rouge 

 or" finishing powder," and nitric acid. 



The plates are now so well finished in the manufacture that with new 

 plates comparalively liltle preparation is required. There are two kinds 

 sold by philosophical apparatus makers, the one French, and the other 

 English; the former of which are cheaper, but the plating of silver being 

 much thinner, it is adviseable for beginners to pay the higher price, as in 

 the course of cleaning the plates after failures, they soon come to the 

 copper, and the plate is then useless. In order to clean the plate 

 it must be placed on a holder of some kind, to keep it firm when rubbed. 

 For small plates a piece of wood, nearly the same size, will answer very 

 well, the plate being held by the edges. Then take a small piece of prepared 

 cotton wool, freed from all grease and dirt, which form into a ball, and dip 

 it into a mixture of tripoli powder and of nitric acid diluted with one 

 fifteenth part of water; a few drops of the mixture will be sufficient. In 

 rubbing the plates, it is usual to direct that the cotton wool should be 

 moved in a circular direction, forming circles on the plate of dilTerent sizes ; 

 but we believe the most successful artists polish their plates by a motion 

 directly across. In giving the last polish, indeed, it is essential that the 

 motion should be in lines across the plate, otherwise it would look misty 

 when held in the direction in which the picture is to be viewed. This 

 eflect is owing to the minute scratches which will remain even after the 

 most careful polishing, but when the plate is looked at transversely to the 

 lines of the scratches they are invisible, and a black mirror-surface is pre- 

 sented. After rubbing with cotton wool and tripoli, take some fresh cotton 

 wool, and rub till a bright polish is obtained. The finishing polish is given 

 wilh the " buflTs," which are pieces of wood covered wilh well washed 

 cotton velvet. Some finishing powder, consisting of lampblack and rouge, 

 is dusted over the first buff, and the plate is rubbed along it briskly, taking 

 care that the fingers do not touch. This operation is repeated on two or 

 three other clean buSs, in order to remove the slightest trace of grease. 

 \V'hen the polishing is finished, the plate should have a fine black mirror- 

 surface, when held in the direction in which the picture is to be looked at. 

 If the plate after use becomes scratched, it will be requisite to apply 

 some fine emery powder and oil with cotton wool before applying the 

 tripoli. In case any drop of mercu ry should adhere to the silvered surface, 

 the plate should be heated by holding it over the spirit lamp with a pair of 

 pliers until the mercury is evaporated. Some operators, alwavs 

 heat the plates, for the purpose of expelling greasy particles. It cannot 

 indeed be loo strongly impressed on the Daguerreotj pe artist, that the per- 

 fection of his pictur es will depend in a great measure on the cleanness 

 of Ihe plates. 



The next operation is to coal the plate with iodine. The iodine must 

 be scattered evenly over the bottom of the iodine-box, and the plate ex- 

 posed on its frame wilh its silvered surface downwards. In about half a 

 minute the silver will become a gold colour, in consequence of Ihe vapour 

 of the iodine having entered into combination wilh it, and formed an iodide 

 of silver. The length of time requisite for exposure to the iodine depends 

 much on the temper atuie. At about 7u° Fahrenheit, 30 seconds will be 

 sufficient for a small plate, but it must remain till it acquires a golden tint, 

 distinct from the brassy hue it at first assumes. If it remain longer, Ihe 

 colour changes lo pink and lo lead colour ; in which case the plate must be 

 polished afresh, and the operation renewed. The light need not be ex- 

 cluded during the iodising process, but the plate should only be exposed 

 to its action instantaneously. The iodised plate might now be put in the 

 camera, and in the course of five minutes, in a very bright light, a perfect 

 picture would be obtained after exposure to the vapour of mercury. It 



