8o 



RECRJEA TlOJSt. 



COMBINED TONING AND FIXING 

 BATH. 



Why is it used? 



Simply because it is less trouble and is 

 thought to be cheaper. The fact is it is just 

 the reverse, and prints toned therein are not 

 always permanent. When toning a print 

 you want the best possible results, and 

 should therefore make it absolutely perma- 

 nent and with clear whites. The combined 

 bath gives neither. The combination of 

 hypo, borax, alum, lead, etc., is not so 

 staple as one might suppose. A chemical 

 action takes place and decomposes some 

 of the chemicals, at the same time liberat- 

 ing sulphur fumes. 



After several years of experimenting I 

 have concluded that a single bath is best. 

 Some amateurs tone as many as 50 4 x 5 

 prints in 8 oz. of combined bath. Do they 

 suppose, for one minute, that there is 

 enough hypo to fix the prints, or enough 

 gold to tone them, in so small a quantity? 

 Well, I don't, and those of my prints, toned 

 in combined solution, which are in the best 

 condition, are those on which I used 16 oz. 

 of new to 8 oz. old solution. I toned at 

 about 50 degrees, using cracked ice, cleared 

 in salt water (1 oz. salt to 32 oz. water) 

 washed and fixed in an extra fixing bath. 

 Then I washed, thoroughly, in water and 

 allowed 8 oz. bath to each 15 4 x 5 prints. 



A combined bath may produce a good 

 print occasionally, but cannot be relied 

 upon. Prints thus treated turn yellow in 

 a short time and finally fade out altogether. 

 This may be due to insufficient washing, 

 after toning; to an exhausted bath; or, 

 most likely, a sulphur tone. Hundreds of 

 my first pictures are faded, and I was com- 

 pelled to make them over, using the single 

 bath, which, while being a trifle more te- 

 dious, amply repays one for the extra labor, 

 from the fact that it insures permanency if 

 properly used. 1 



I do not claim that none of the combined 

 baths give permanent results but have never 

 found one that is absolutely reliable. 



Is the print toned first and then fixed? 

 Or, is it fixed and then toned? This ques- 

 tion always puzzled me. How can clear 

 whites be obtained if the free silver (not the 

 Bryan kind) is not first washed out? These 

 are puzzles to me and should any reader 

 be able to explain them I would be pleased 

 to hear from him, through Recreation. 



G. A. C. 



HOW TO WORK PLATINUM 

 PAPER. 



In the first washing take half a gallon 

 of water and add 2 ounces of saturated sal 

 soda. Put in prints and flatten down. 

 After they are drained and flattened, pour 

 on plenty of clean water. Wash in 5 



changes. By handling them over, you will 

 never be bothered with red spots. Tone 

 in 60 ounces of water. Take one teaspoon- 

 ful of table salt; gold one grain; borax 

 enough to turn red litmus paper blue in 3 

 or 4 minutes; adding gold enough to keep 

 bath speed 6 to 8 minutes. Tone in this 

 bath to point you desire when finished; 

 bearing in mind that they will not be any 

 warmer when dry. Place prints in salt 

 water — one tablespoonful to half gallon of 

 water. When ready wash them out 3 times 

 to clear them of the salt. 



This is the way I work all Aristo and 

 other papers. The acid in papers once re- 

 moved they tone easier, with less gold, and 

 with clear whites. W. 



Mr. Wm. Schutte, who made the excel- 

 lent radiographs of fishes shown elsewhere 

 in this issue, says he will be glad to give 

 any information desired, on the subject of 

 X ray photography. Address him in care 

 of Recreation. 



A friend of mine asked me if I knew of 

 a remedy for negatives that are too thin. 

 They print the sky and other objects of the 

 same shade. I think his negatives have 

 been left too long in the hypo. 



J. R., Yazoo City, Miss. 



Most likely these negatives are over- 

 timed and underdeveloped. It would be 

 well to send with all such questions a silver 

 print, unmounted. 



An underexposed plate yields a negative 

 full of contrast, with clear glass in the 

 shadows. An overexposed plate yields a 

 flat- negative, with no contrast (shadows 

 veiled or entirely blocked), full of detail 

 but with no snap. 



TO PHOTOGRAPH BABY. 



Get 6 large wire nails, 6 ounces chloro- 

 form, 1 handkerchief. Saturate the hand- 

 kerchief with the chloroform and press 

 over the nose and mouth of the baby till 

 perfectly quiet. Then drive nails through 

 each ear, hands and feet, into a board large 

 enough for background. Use hammer on 

 parents if necessary. — Photographic Life. 



" That photographer is crazy." 

 " What's the matter? " 

 " He wanted me to pay cash down for 

 long distance photographs." 



" Rose says it is a perfect bore to be 

 married to a photographer." " Why ? " " If 

 she doesn't smile all the time he jumps up 

 and down in front of her and rings a little 

 bell." — Chicago Record. 



