
Fic. 1.— The Tiger 
Salamander (4. tigri- 
num); life size. 
The American Naturalist. [July, 
result was I obtained a good working negative.’ 
The object of the blotting paper is to give a 
sharp figure, bereft of all surroundings, and 
that is one kind of picture largely demanded 
in zoological illustrations. Of course we can 
have all the grass, stones, and the rest of it 
that we want, but, as I say, that is not the 
kind of figure desired. The nap on the blot- 
ting paper usually gives a peculiarly soft back- 
ground, and dead white in the reproduction 
made from the negative. 
In nearly all cases such a negative should 
be intensified by the usual method with bi- 
chloride of mercury and the ammonia bath. 
It sharpens all the details of the figures, and 
makes a better print for the object in view. 
Now from such a negative a good photograph 
can be made upon sensitized albumen paper, 
and from this a drawing can be made. Or, 
any of the photo-engravers, by the various 
methods now employed, can make an electro- 
type from this negative, from which any num- 
ber of figures can be printed. Yet again, you 
can make a print from it upon plain, non-albu- 
menized, sensitized paper, which figure can be 
afterwards colored by hand. from the original, 
and then handed to a lithographer for repro- 
duction. Finally, one of the prints on this 
plain paper, can be delicately traced over by 
means of one of Gillott’s mapping pens (No. 
291) and Higgins’ American drawing ink, and, 
when dry, the print can be submitted to a 
bath of saturated corrosive sublimate, and re- 
moves everything save what you have traced 
with your drawing ink. The “black and 
white” figure thus produced can be electro- 
i Had not this negative, and the one described beyond of the Buteo, been broken just 
prior to having good prints made from them, they could have been used in the repro- 




