84 | RECREATION 
suggestive, and is not to be followed slavishly. 
With slight modifications, it may be more suit- 
able for some brands of plates, or for different 
emulsions of some particular brand. Some have 
a greater tendency to fog, which sometimes can 
be remedied by using a smaller proportion of 
solution B, or by the addition of a few drops ofa 
ro per cent. solution of bromide of potassium. 
Or, the color of the negative can be altered by 
using more or less sulphite of soda. There have 
been occasions when from three-fourths to one- 
half the quantity of solution B was used with 
the given quantity of solution A, and when the 
amount of sulphite of soda in solution A has 
been reduced to four ounces, or increased to 
eight ounces, the result, with the former, has 
been a more yellow negative, and with the latter 
one more gray. A print from the former will be 
more brilliant; from the latter it will be softer. 
With a very thin, weak negative, the yellowness 
is desirable, as it will tend to increase the bril- 
liancy of the print. But with a negative of good 
printing density the”yellow will cause harshness 
in the print, so a gray negative, which is a softer 
printer, is preferable. But the necessarily pro- 
longed development in the much diluted pyro 
developer may cause a general and intense yel- 
lowness in the negative: this can be sufficiently 
removed by bathing the negative in a saturated 
solution of alum, to which has been added citric 
acid, previously dissolved in‘a‘little water, the 
proportions being about one ounce of the acid 
to one pint of the alum solution. 
There is no lightabsolutely safe for the devel- 
opment of plates and film, and too long an expo- 
* sure, even to the deepest ruby light, during the 
early stages of development, is liable to produce 
light fog. The developing tray should either be 
covered or set four or five feet from the dark- 
room lamp, until the development is well under 
way, then the negatives can be briefly examined 
close to the light, without danger of fogging. 
To a diluted developer and the shielding of the 
plate or film from the light, during develop- 
ment, rather than to a specially constructed 
apparatus, the temperature of the developer or 
a precise time for development, is due the suc- 
cess of tank development. 
There are other developers which in solution 
do not decompose as rapidly as pyro, nor will 
they stain the fingers as pyro stains, but for all 
around negative work all are inferior to pyro. 
While they produce negatives which look well, 
owing to the bluish color, they are inferior as 
printers to the pyro developed negative. It is as 
important that a negative shall be of a suitable 
printing color as that it shall have sufficient 
detail and proper density. With a majority of 
pyro’s competitors the chemical fogging point is 
reached at an earlier stage of development, and 
not infrequently before sufficient density has 
been acquired. So when the question is asked: 
‘Which is the best developer for negative 
work ?” our answer invariably is, ‘‘Pryo.” 
“Which is the best method of development— 
the old or one of the new? Is it better to develop 
in a developer of a standard strength, at a stated 
temperature and for a specified time, or to 
watch for the appearance of the image, then 
multiplying by a certain factor the elapsed time 
between the application of the developer and 
the first visible indications of development to 
determine the total time which the development 
should continue, and take chances on the 
results? Or, is it better to acquire the faculty 
to develop skilfully, to know the different treat- 
ments required for harshly or for flatly lighted 
subjects and to get the most out of the negatives 
when there have been errors in the exposures ?” 
For all of merit in the new methods in devel- 
opment due credit should be given. With the 
new, the novice will get a better average of good 
negatives; for, not knowing how far develop- 
ment should be carried, he will almost invari- 
ably underdevelop his exposures. With this, 
the tank and time method, the danger of fogging 
by too much exposure to the dark-room light is 
obviated. Exposures can be developed any- 
where and in emergencies when dark-room 
facilities are not available, and the negatives will 
be better in quality than those developed in the 
old-way by the beginner or by the average com- 
mercial developing and printing establishment. 
But, following the new methods exclusively, 
the amateur becomes a machine, working 
mechanically and never competent to meet 
emergencies in development. For the occa- 
sional dabbler who does but little work, and that 
at remote periods, we recommend the new. 
But for the serious worker who aspires to the 
mastery, who aims to accomplish, under all con- 
ditions of light and shade and with one trial, the 
work he sets out to do, we advise the old form 
of development in the dark-room with trays. 

Colors for Prints and Lantern Slides 
There are on the-market transparent colors 
under various names and in cakes, tubes, books 
and bottles with which gaslight, bromide and 
platinum prints and lantern slides can be 
colored very satisfactorily. For each make of 
these colors there is claimed some merit which | 
gives it a ‘superiority over the others, and for 
most of them it is represented that no aniline 
is used in their preparation. 
If the amateur photographer desires he can 
easily and cheaply prepare his colors from 
Diamond dyes for wool. The following 
shades will be sufficient: dark blue, yellow, 

