i6o 



RECREA TION. 



shake. After settling the liquid will be satu- 

 rated. That is it will have dissolved as much 

 as the water will hold. Let this solution 

 stand 6 to 12 hours before using. 



Pour 2 ounces of this citric acid solution 

 into another bottle; add the platinum salt 

 and finally the copper chloride. 



After a thorough solution and shaking it 

 is ready for use. Take 1 dram to 15 ounces 

 of water and if after toning a number of 

 prints it gets weak add a little more, from 

 time to time. 



ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



Will prints toned with the combined bath 

 fade? 



When does the next photographic contest 

 open? 



How good must a picture be to be printed 

 in Recreation? 



Carl D. Hart, Atlanta, Ga. 



1. No, they will not fade, if you maintain 

 the correct equilibrium between the toning 

 salt (gold) B, and the fixing salt (hypo) A. 

 One or the other is apt to be used up 

 quicker than the other, according to kind of 

 paper used. 



2. My fourth annual photo competition is 

 open now and will close September 30th 

 next. 



3. You can best judge of that by examin- 

 ing the reproductions of amateur photos 

 published in each issue of Recreation. 



. NEGATIVE VARNISH. 



Every negative intended for preservation, 

 or from which many prints are to be taken, 

 should be varnished; in fact, all negatives 

 should be varnished systematically. The 

 coating thus supplied, says Photographic 

 Scraps, protects the film from the ravages 

 of damp, mildew and stains which will some- 

 times occur from contact with the printing 

 paper in a moist atmosphere. A good var- 

 nish should dry hard and be of a light color 

 so as not to interfere with the printing. The 

 following formula answers every purpose. 

 Take of gum sandarac Y\ ounce, foreign oil 

 of lavender Yz ounce, and alcohol 7 ounces. 

 The gum sandarac should be taken from a 

 fresh sample, when it will be of a light color. 



COMBINED FIXING AND TONING BATH. 



Sodium hyposulphite 2 ounces. 



Chloride of gold 2 grains. 



Water 16 ounces. 



Dissolve the hypo in the water and add 

 the gold. The bath should stand at least 24 

 hours before being used, and it is not in 

 its best working condition until after several 

 prints have been fixed and toned in it. Prac- 

 tically an old bath works better than a new 

 one. For the proper working of the com- 

 bined bath it is necessary to know the quan- 

 tity of gold it contains, how much paper that 

 quantity will tone, and on no account must 

 that quantity be exceeded. 



RETOUCHING VARNISHES. 



These may be made either with turpentine 

 or benzine, or a mixture of both; the turpen- 

 tine naturally taking much longer to dry: 



Dammar 1 part. 



Turpentine (commercial)..... 5 parts. 



or, 



Dammar 20 parts. 



Pure rubber s . 2.5 " 



Benzine 500 " 



or, 



Dammar 10 parts. 



Spirits of turpentine 75 " 



Benzine 75 " 



Oil of lavender 2 " 



CHEMICALLY FOGGED PLATES. 



Having been presented with the remains 

 of a box of plates which were found to fog 

 to such an extent as to be useless, it struck 

 me, says T. E., that possibly a remedy might 

 be found in addition of hypo to the devel- 

 oper, and in this I was not mistaken. On 

 adding 3 drops of my fixing bath to the 

 ounce of developer, every plate gave a per- 

 fectly clear negative of excellent printing 

 quality. The simplest way to measure the 

 hypo, in the absence of a minim measure is 

 to fold lengthwise a strip of stiff paper, dip 

 in a little solution, and count the drops as 

 they fall into the developer. — Photography. 



EXACTITUDE IN WEIGHING. 



It is often said that a grain or 2 either way 

 makes no difference in the result. This is 

 wrong when speaking of many of the im- 

 portant chemicals now in use, and especially 

 with several of the recently discovered ones. 

 Furthermore it leads to a shiftlessness to 

 which most of us are prone. Developing 

 solutions are frequently condemned as of no 

 use, when the fault lies with the careless 

 compounder. 



NOTES. 

 I should like to hear of the experience of 

 some of the amateur photographers who 

 have used the Karma rayfilter. Is it all that 

 is claimed by the manufacturers? 



I have about 50 good views and should 

 like to exchange with brother amateurs. 



Neil Johnson, Centralia, Wash. 



According to A. C. Austin, when it .is 

 necessary to dry a negative in a hurry the 

 easiest way is to immerse it for 5 minutes 

 in a solution of formalin, 1 to 16, blot it off 

 with tissue paper and dry in the hottest sun- 

 shine, on a hot plate on the top of a stove, 

 or over a gas flame. 



To obviate frilling and pyro stains im- 

 merse the plate, after development and be- 

 fore fixing, in a bath made up as follows: 



Alum (crystals) 1 ounce. 



Water 16 ounces. 



Hydrochloric acid 1 fluid drachm. 



