844  Advances  in  Photographic  Procedures.  { Arnbi2uri^farm" 
tia,  a  yellow  dye-stuff,  had  a  distinct  desensitizing  action,  but  practi- 
cally only  for  plates  that  are  not  sensitive  to  red  light.  It  was  also 
found  that  the  solution  of  aurantia  in  acetone,  which  was  the  com- 
mercial form  first  used,  is  decidedly  irritating  to  the  skin  and  the 
firm  is  now  putting  out  a  dilute  solution  in  alcohol.  It  is  not  likely, 
however,  that  the  phenosafranin  will  be  displaced.  For  work  with 
ordinary  plates  these  desensitizers  are  not  particularly  valuable,  but 
for  work  with  autochromes  and  plates  of  wide  range  of  sensitive- 
ness, it  is  a  great  convenience  to  be  able  to  work  in  an  appreciable 
lighted  room. 
It  has  been  incidentally  found  that  phenosafranin  is  an  ac- 
celerator of  some  developers  and  also  a  preservative  of  them.  Formu- 
las have  recently  been  published  in  which  phenosafranin  is  used  in 
place  of  metol.  Hydroquinone  is  especially  stimulated  by  the  dye. 
The  quantity  of  dye  used  is  small,  but  owing  to  the  staining  power, 
and  the  greater  difficulty  of  observing  the  development  in  a  colored 
solution,  it  is  not  likely  that  it  will  come  extensively  into  use  as  a 
regular  addition  to  the  developer. 
The  subject  of  simultaneous  developing  and  fixing,  that  is,  com- 
bining the  hypo  with  the  developer  has  been  brought  forward  rather 
prominently  lately  by  some  French  workers.  It  is  not  new,  having 
been  described  many  years  ago.  Among  the  formulas  given  lately 
is  one  in  which  acetone  is  used,  which  is  the  only  one  with  which  I 
have  had  any  approach  to  success.  One  French  firm  has  put  on  the 
market  a  tube  containing  the  materials  for  the  procedure,  but  I 
have  not  had  any  success  with  it.  The  acetone  procedure  is  objec- 
tionable on  account  of  escape  of  acetone  vapor  from  the  bath  dur- 
ing development,  which  is,  of  course,  not  only  unpleasant,  but  dan- 
gerous. 
Paper  negatives  have  been  introduced  in  Germany  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  film  and  glass  supports,  both  of  which  materials  have 
increased  enormously  in  cost.  Paper  negatives  are  not  new,  but 
have  never  been  a  prominent  articles.  In  one  of  the  older  forms  the 
paper  was  rendered  translucent  after  the  picture  was  finished  and 
thoroughly  dried  by  rubbing  in  castor  oil,  and  skilful  operators  did 
very  good  work  in  this  way.  The  German  product  is  a  gelatin  film 
carrying  the  sensitive  silver  salt,  so  attached  that  after  completion  of 
the  work  and  thorough  drying,  the  film  can  be  easily  stripped  off.  As 
