ON A NEW PKOCESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT SILVER. 197 " 



. The result of his experiment, as it refers to the best mode of preparing 

 it as an article of diet, I give in his own words, as it may be of interest to 

 some. 



" In the first place, from the tendency of pectin or vegetable jelly to 

 form insoluble compounds with saline and earthy bases, it is necessary to 

 steep this fucus for a few hours in cold rain-water as the first step in its 

 preparation. This removes a large proportion if not the entire of the 

 sulphate of soda, leaving all the gelatine and starch. It should then be 

 dried by the sun's rays, and ground to a fine powder ; I say ground, for 

 cutting or pounding, however diligently or minutely performed, still leaves 

 the amylaceous globules, so mechanically protected, and so closely in- 

 volved in an external sheath of tough ligneous fibres, that scarcely a par- 

 ticle of the starch can be extracted by boiling, even though the decoction 

 is prolonged beyond several hours. When ground, on the contary, boil- 

 ing for twenty-five minutes or half-an-hour dissolves all the starch and 

 gelatine ; the solution, while hot, should be passed through muslin or 

 calico, and thus the ligneous fibre is removed ; lastly, the strained fluid 

 should be boiled down till a, drop placed on a cold surface gelatinizes suffi- 

 ciently." 



9. From the nuts of the Cycas circinalis the Singhalese in the Ouvah 

 district prepare an inferior kind of starch, called Madupitte. The fresh kernels 

 are cut in slices, and well dried in the sun before they are fit for use, otherwise 

 when eaten, they are intoxicating, and occasion vomiting and purging. The 

 poorer classes generally use the flour prepared by pounding the kernels. 

 They also esteem it highly as a remedy in bowel complaints and haemor- 

 rhoids, for which purpose the flour is boiled in steam and eaten. I have 

 given the flour made into porridge in several cases of chronic dysentery in 

 Malabar coolies, and from the few trials made, I think favourably of its 

 effects in restraining the inordinate purging which is beyond the control of 

 the usual astringent medicines. The tender leaves are also eaten by the 

 natives in curries. The natives of the Moluccas use the flour of the nuts 

 for a similar purpose. 

 Colombo. 



ON A NEW PROCESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT SILVER, 



BY DK T. L. PHIPSON, 

 Member of the Chemical Society of Paris, &c, &c. 



This process, which is founded upon the use of oxalate of iron, was dis- 

 covered by me about a year ago. I gave a slight sketch of it in the 

 ' Moniteur de la Photographie ' of Paris, for Oct. 1st, 1861, and I did not 

 intend to say anything more about it until I had made further experiments 

 with a view of testing its value in comparison with the use of salts of silver. 

 But a few weeks ago, to my surprise, I perceived that Mr Reynolds had 



