488 



RECREATION. 



veloper and costs 5 cents. Every amateur 

 should have a set of Manning's masks, 

 worth 25 cents. There are about 15 in 

 the package, varying in shape from a 

 square to a heart. By the use of these 

 masks a picture is improved 100 per cent., 

 and it is not necessary to trim prints after 

 using these masks. They save much time 

 and paper. The result is, the atmosphere 

 around you is not quite so blue, and your 

 chance of meeting your friends on that 

 beautiful shore has not decreased. 



P. R. Finlayson, Secamous, B. C. 



Will you please advise through Recrea- 

 tion if formaldehyde will prevent frilling? 

 If so, how should it be used and where 

 can it be obtained? 



S. E. Taylor, Morgantown, W. Va. 



ANSWER. 



Formaldehyde will not prevent frilling 

 to any extent. Ice is the only thing for 

 that; but formaldehyde will make your 

 film insoluble and prevent melting. It 

 will also toughen the film. You can buy 

 it of any druggist who carries a fair stock. 

 Get full strength and add one ounce of it 

 to 9 ounces of water. Of this, use 2 drams 

 in a pint of water and drop plate in when 

 it needs it. — Editor. 



Last winter I had several bottles of ton- 

 ing and fixing solution and developing so- 

 lution which froze in the bottles. Would 

 the solution have been all right if I had 

 thawed them out? 



Frank Liebig, Belton, Mont. 



ANSWER. 



I have had numerous inquiries similar 

 to yours and to satisfy myself I have frozen 

 a number of photographic preparations, 

 have let them thaw gradually, and have 

 then tried them. In no case has there 

 seemed to be any deterioration. Do not 

 use the thawed chemicals till they are 

 of a comfortable temperature. Cold solu- 

 tions work slowly and give strong con- 

 trasts. — Editor. 



Please tell me how to prevent films from 

 curling after they are dry. Can they be 

 stiffened to stay flat? 



J. Schants, Woodhaven, N. Y. 



ANSWER. 



After developing, fixing and washing 

 your film, soak it 5 minutes in a solution 

 of l A ounce glycerine in 15 ounces of wa- 

 ter. From this glycerine bath pin your 

 films up at once on soft pine boards, using 

 a pair of pins at least every 8 inches if 

 you pin up the whole strip at once. Then 

 keep your films between 2 cards, with a 

 rubber band around them, and they will 

 always stay flat. — Editor. 



Please give me a formula for making 

 chloride of gold from old gold. 



E. F. P., Colmesneil, Tex. 



ANSWER. 



Chloride of gold is made by dissolving 

 pure unalloyed gold in aqua regia by gentle 

 heat, evaporating, drying and redissolving 

 in water if wanted for toning. When buy- 

 ing the gold at an assay office the chemist 

 will tell you exactly how much aqua regia 

 to buy for the amount of gold you get. The 

 process of making the chloride is not pleas- 

 ant unless the dissolving can be done in a 

 well-ventilated room, as the fumes given off 

 are choking. — Editor. 



Will you please state formula for the 

 developer you consider the best for gen- 

 eral use? Also kindly state reasons why 

 it is best. 



D. C. McRae, Greenwood, B. C. 



ANSWER. 



I consider the pyro developing formula 

 given by the maker of the plates you use 

 the best, for the -eason that the maker 

 knows his plates better than anybody else, 

 and gives, free, a formula that his chemist 

 finds to produce the best results. All buy- 

 ers of plates should use just what the 

 maker recommends, or never kick at the 

 plates. — Editor. 



Will you kindly inform me through 

 Recreation if there is such a thing as a 

 folding dark-room lamp? If so, where 

 can I buy one? 



John S. Miller, Jr., Chicago, 111. 



ANSWER. 



There are many. The nearest places to 

 you are Burke & James, 118 West Jackson 

 boulevard; Aimer Coe, 74 State street; or 

 Ralph Golsen, 72 Wabash avenue. These 

 lamps cost about 75 ' cents, and use a 

 candle. — Editor. 



To avoid blistering of albumen paper : 



Do not dry the pap* 3 ; by excessive heat. 



Avoid acidity in solutions. 



Moisten the print, before washing, with a 

 sponge saturated in alcohol. 



Immerse the print, before fixing, in a 

 weak alum. 



Add a trace of aqua ammonia to the fix- 

 ing bath. 



Add 1-10 part of alcohol to the ordinary 

 toning bath. — The News Monger. 



Will you tell me what makes platino 

 tints blister? 



Chas. H. Stortz, Racine, Wis. 



ANSWER. 



If you will keep all the solutions the 

 paper has to go through at the same 

 temperature you will probably never have 

 trouble with blisters. Changes from cold 

 to warm or vice versa cause them. Editor. 



