The Dark Room: Developing and Printing 57 



themselves by experience, for it is one where our 

 own judgment alone can aid us. With different 

 developers the negative requires to be carried to 

 different degrees of density before being placed 

 in the hypo bath. The only advice that can be 

 offered upon the subject is, no matter what de- 

 veloper you are using, always to make the image 

 somewhat denser than would appear to be neces- 

 sary by looking at it in the dark room. 



For myself, I prefer, for most work, metol used 

 in conjunction with hydrokinone, for, as metol 

 is a soft working developer, and hydrokinone 

 gives hard results, the combination of the two 

 strikes a happy medium that produces a brilliant, 

 snappy negative that is full of half-tones and de- 

 tail. The following is an excellent formula, sim- 

 ple and efficient: Water, 16 ounces; metol, 45 

 grains ; hydrokinone, 90 grains ; sulphite of soda, 

 crystals, 2 ounces ; carbonate of soda, 2 ounces. 

 Dissolve in the order given and use, for normal 

 exposures, 1 ounce of the solution to 4 of water. 

 If the exposure is uncertain, use 10 ounces of 

 water, and when the detail appears in the plate 

 throw off this developer and finish with the 

 normal mixture. This developer may be used 

 repeatedly until its action becomes too slow, 

 when it must be discarded, or it will be liable to 

 stain the negative. It gives clear negatives with 

 no trace of fog, if used properly, and is, in my 



