400 



RECREA TION. 



FIRST TONING. 



Stock solution A: 30 ounces water 

 5 drams borax 

 Stock solution B: 3V2 ounces water 



15 grains chloride of gold. 



One hour before use take 1-3 of solution 

 B and pour it into solution A. (This bath 

 should be always fresh and is to be thrown 

 away when it has become blue.) 



Tone until a red-brown, but not violet 

 tone is obtained. 



Wash quickly in running water, and then 

 put the prints for about 10 minutes into the 

 toning solution again. 



A FINE FOCUSING SCREEN. 

 A capital focusing screen, so fine as to be 

 practically devoid of grain, can be made as 

 follows: Fix an unexposed plate, and wash 

 it thoroughly. Then immerse it in a solu- 

 tion of barium chloride (strength imma- 

 terial), and then, without washing, pass it 

 into dilute sulphuric acid. Keep the plate 

 in motion by gentle rocking, when a fine 

 precipitate of barium sulphate will be pro- 

 duced on the film and form a surface much 

 superior to ground glass. 



NEGATIVE VARNISH. 



Dissolve 8 parts of borax and 2 parts of 

 carbonate of soda in 160 parts of hot water, 

 and dissolve in this 32 parts of bleached 

 shellac broken up small. When this is dis- 

 solved, add one part of glycerine dissolved 

 in 160 parts of water. If any deposit forms 

 after a few days, filter off. 



This varnish can be run on the plate while 

 it is wet, hence the plate dries once for all. — 

 Dun, in Photo. News. 



BLACK STAIN FOR WOOD. 



Extract of logwood 225 grains. 



Chromate potass 450 grains. 



Water 1 quart. 



PHOTO NOTES. 



Please give me a formula for a good reli- 

 able toning solution. 

 Roy J. Boynton, Hillsboro Bridge, N. H. 



The following is good. 



Print a shade deeper than required in the 

 finished print. 



Wash prints in 5 or 6 changes of water, 5 



minutes apart, keeping them well separated. 



You cannot wash them too much. 



t« u 4.1, Water ..60 oz. 



Toning bath: nu , ., c 1 ■, ..„ 



& Chloride of gold.. 2 grs. 



Neutralize with a saturated solution of 

 acetate soda and borax equal parts. Test 

 with litmus paper. 



If cold tones are desired, the bath must be 

 made sufficiently alkaline to turn red litmus 

 distinctly blue. Too much alkali, however, 

 tends to make prints appear toned. Such 

 prints will bleach in the fixing bath. 



Prints should tone in 5 to 10 minutes. 

 Too rapid or too siow toning will result in 

 lack of brilliancy. If water contains sedi- 

 ment, it is best to filter before making up the 

 bath. When prints have reached the desired 

 tone, place them in plenty of clear water. 



Fixing bath: ^ ater V^VT* "a ' '** ° Z ' 

 Hyposulphite of soda.. 2 oz. 



Prints should remain in this bath not less 

 than 15 minutes. 



Washing. — Directly after fixing, the prints 

 are to be washed in 8 or 10 changes of water. 

 For this purpose use a large tray, and be 

 careful to separate each print, from time to 

 time. The washing will be complete in 

 about one hour. 



When developing with the hydro-metol 

 type of reagents, many of the terrors of 

 " hypo " in the older developer disappear. 

 In fact, a trace of hypo acts only as a mild, 

 and sometimes desirable, restrainer. 



I find that the sky half of a negative may 

 be treated to a bath of hypo, when the 

 clouds are in danger of disappearing, with- 

 out leaving the lines of checked develop- 

 ment that are- so apt to follow the local use 

 of bromide in such cases. I use a swab of 

 cotton dipped in the regular fixing bath, 

 wash out the sky portion of the negative as 

 soon as it is sufficiently developed (of course 

 holding the plate so that the hypo will not 

 run back on to the undeveloped portion), 

 not completely clearing the sky but thinning 

 it down to taste; rinse under the tap and 

 complete the development as usual. If the 

 hypo carried back into the developer makes 

 it work too slowly, a fresh solution is the 

 natural remedy. 



L. M. McCormick, in Camera Notes. 



To prepare a negative for retouching, 

 make the following solution: In 4 ounces 

 of good turpentine dissolve about 15 or 20 

 grains (by weight) of Canada balsam. Then 

 add from 30 to 40 grains of gum dammar. 

 When dissolved, let it stand a few days and 

 pour off the upper clear part into another 

 bottle. Cover the end of the finger with 2 

 thicknesses of clean, soft rag; take 2 or 3 

 drops of the liquid and gently rub the part 

 of the film to be retouched, in a circular di- 

 rection. The negative should not feel at all 

 sticky, but have just enough roughness or 

 tooth to enable one to fill up the specks and 

 defects by dotting or touching with a hard, 

 finely-pointed lead pencil. 



Editor Recreation: Will some reader 

 through the columns of Recreation please 

 give his experience with an Adlake special 

 camera. 



M. E. Daniels, Kendallville, Iowa. 



I am much interested in amateur pho- 

 tography ?.nd should be glad to exchange 

 4x5 views with brother amateurs. 



S. Bauer, 117 Central Ave., Owego, N. /. 



