Development in the Dark Room. 43 
hung on hinges which can be raised when needed and lowered 
against the wall when not in use. Over my sink I have a goose- 
neck supply pipe, such as you often see in barber shops and lava- 
tories, but so arranged that when not in use, it may be turned to 
one side out of the way; to this is attached a rubber tube termin- 
ating in a spray similar to the familiar shower-bath arrangement. 
On this rubber tube and just above the spray I have a piece of lead 
pipe weighing about one-quarter of a pound, which prevents the 
tube from becoming unmanageable when the water is turned on in 
full force, and this weight serves the further purpose of acting as a 
pendulum, for by giving it a slight motion it will continue to swing 
for a considerable time and distribute the water over the entire 
sink, instead of in one place, thereby reducing the danger of break- 
ing the gelatine from the force of the water falling continually in 
ovensspor, |My, sink is of copper, but. if I should -ever 
build another dark room I would replace it with a porcelain 
One asi) find the acids will, in the course of time, eat out 
the copper and allow the water to leak out upon the floor; 
this can be prevented in some degree by painting the sink with 
asphaltum varnish, which the acids do not seem to attack success- 
fully. A porcelain sink is open to the objection that a plate is 
much more apt to be broken by coming in contact with it, than it 
would be against a copper one. Ihave, however, in my sink a wire 
draining board, such as is sometimes used in the kitchen for drain- 
ing dishes upon, only mine is about one inch high, and answers 
admirably for laying plates upon, and does not interfere with the 
discharge of the water through the waste pipe.. My window is 
glazed with heavy ground glass, to which is attached one thickness 
of orange colored paper, and one thickness of ruby fabric; this 
forms a screen sufficiently non-actinic for practical purposes, 
and yet by turning on the full head of gas I have suffi- 
cient light to illuminate the whole room. I have found a 
double shelf, or rather a shelf with a drawer about one and 
one-half inches high directly underneath, a very great conven- 
lence; but instead of the drawer pulling out underneath the 
shelf, the front is hung on hinges, and can be let down at pleasure 
to receive the tray containing the plate in process of development, 
in case it is found desirable to open up the room and let in white 
light before the plate is ready to put in the hypo. As I have 
said before, I find wide mouth bottles very handy in a dark room, 
