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THE BRITISH
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JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
EDITED BY GEORGE SHADBOLT.
YOL. YIII.
LIVERPOOL :
HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, CASTLE STREET.
LONDON:
E. MARLBOROUGH & CO., AYE MARIA LANE; HORNE & THORN THWAITE, 123, NEWGATE STREET
EDINBURGH: JAMES WOOD, 130, GEORGE STREET.
DUBLIN : McGLASHAN & GILL, 50, UPPER SAGKVILLE STREET.
PARIS; GEORGE FOWLER, 0, RUE MONTPENSIER, NEW YORK; E. ANTHONY, 501, BROADWAY.
GETTY CENTER LIBRARY
INDEX
PAGE
Acetic Acid, J. Martin on - - 266
Ackland, W., On Photographic Lenses - 3
Accidents. M. A. Gaudin - ^42
Acid Collodion and Iodine, M. A. Gaudin on 287
- Acetic, J. Martin on - - 266
Action of Iodine in Silver Bath, L’Abbe
Laborde on the - 268
Albumen on Glass. Dr. R. L. Maddox - 336
- Process. J. Larpey - - 235
_ _ J. Cramb on - 1 81,204,220
_ . _ Negretti, on Ferrier’s - 143
Noton.
404
59
283
335
163
69
150
152
449
448
171
208
239
369
5
253
51
5
103
Albumenised Paper, C. Jabez Hughes on -
Alcohol, J. Martin on -
Alkaline Gold Toning. See Toning.
Another “Half Brick” from A AVall-
Anthony, On Photographic Lenses
Annual Reports :
London Photographic Society -
North London Photographic Association
Chorlton Photographic Association
Birmingham Photographic Society
Edinburgh Photographic Society -
Blackheath Photographic Society
Photographic Society of Scotland
South London Photographic Society -
Manchester Photographic Society -
Artificers, Photographers their own. T. Gulliver
Apparatus for Copying Drawings, W. T. Mabley
on
Applied Photography, Burr on - -
Art-Photography, C. Jabez Hughes on
- . - J. T. Brown, Jun.
An Artist’s Letters to a Young Photogra¬
pher, A. H. Wall, 292, 310, 329, 343, 367, 387, 410,
426.
Automatic Washing Trough - - -At
_ Mo ule’s 49
Backgrounds, Profiled - - . - 329
Balsamo, J. E. New Permanent Printing
Process _ _ — — - 290
Barber, T. A., On Silver Alloyed with Copper 83
- - Tests for Organic Matter in
Distilled Water - - 100
— - On Neutralisation of Silver Bath 169
Barnett, J. Vertical Camera for Copying - 197
Bath Holder. L’Abbe Despratz - 308
- India Rubber, Francis’s - 3)2
Bath, Silver and Acetate of Lead. M. A. Gaudin 184
- - Meters, C. Jabez Hughes on - 43
- - J. Cramb on - - - 62
- G. Dawson on - - - 103
Beldon, On Fothergill Process - - 188
437
Butterfield, C., Photographic Retrospect
Cameras,' Hints on -
Camera, Copying, Barnett
- of Horrors, O. G. Rejlander
- Portable Operating
- Stereoscopic, J. Cramb
_ Meagher’s
_ _ _ _ Dallmeyer’s
_ _ _ Vertical, for Copying, J. Barnett
Carbon Printing Process, Poitevin
Celestial Photography, Report on
Changing Box, S. Highley’s - -
Chemicals, Notes on Photographic, J. Martin, 232
250, 266, 283, 301, 318, 337, 355, 419, _
Chloric Acid in Silver Bath, M. A. Gaudin
Choice of Dry Process, on the, G. Shadbolt
Chloride of Gold, Reynolds on
Cleaning Plates -
Collodion Film, to make it adhere to Glass
- - Filter -
_ Process, and its Difficulties. D.
Brown -
Positive.
Binocular Photographs, Viewing, without a
Stereoscope. G. H. Slight -
Blanchard, V. Intensifying Processes as
adjuncts to Instantaneous Photography - 121
Brown, E., On the Collodion Process and
its Difficulties - 166
Brewster, Sir D. Photographic and Stereo¬
scopic Portraiture - 87
- - On M. Claudet’s Disco¬
veries in Photography - - - 150
Brown, J. T. Art Photography - _ - 103
- - Photographic Competition 424
Bochert, On Dry Processes 9
Books, Reviews of:
Gutches’ Scientific Pocket Book - 20
Hardwich’s Photographic Chemistry - 96
Nicholl’s Microscopic Photography - _ 174
C. Jabez Hughes’s Principle and Practice
of Photography - - 211, 350
C. Russell’s, The Tannin Process - 296
A. H. Wall’s Manual of Photographic Co¬
louring - - - - - 451
Bow, R. H., On Distortion - - 417
Burns, A., Fothergill Process - “ 144
Burr, On Application of Photography to
Astronomy, Magnetism and Meteorology - 51
30
282
197
29
181
265
275
291
177
249
323
290
365
357
165
300
223
302
166
182
Collodio- Albumen Process.
J. Ewing
T. S. Davis on 86, 165
_ _ H. Petschler - 215
Collodion Wet Plates, the manipulation of
V. Heath - - - . - ’ 124
Colouring; Photographs, Practical Instruction
on, A. H. Wall, 63, 75. 95, 115, 153, 172, 19G_
Competition, Photographic, J. Cramb 405, 4^5
Comet of 1861 - - ~ ~ ~
Competition, Photographic. J. T. Brown, Jun. 424
Composition Printing. C. Jabez Hughes on 5
_ and Keeping. A. II. Wall - °
_ _ — - Davies on - - 396
Comments, Photographic, T. ^ 2, «, 58
Concerning “ Cheapness” - - 380
Constitution of the Solar Atmosphere, as revealed
by Spectrum Analysis. S. Highley. See Spec-
trum Analysis.
Contencin, J., Photography on Wood for Engrav¬
ing -
Copying Apparatus, Mabley’s - -
Cramb, J. See Palestine in i860 _ ^
_ Photographic Competition - 40o, 42o
- Stereoscopic Camera - - 26o
_ On Hydrometer in Bath Testing - 62
- Reply to Mr. Hughes - - 107
- Albumen Process _ 181, 204, 220
- Hyposulphite of Silver - -32
Chemicals, Notes on Photographic, J. Martin, 232,
250, 266, 283, 301, 318. 337, 356, 419,
Colouring Photographs, Practical Instruc¬
tion on, A. H. Wall, 53, 75, 95, 115, 153, 17—, 190,
Correspondents, Answers to, 22, 40, 56, 78, 98,
1 18, 136, 156, 176, 194, 212, 230, 246, 262, 280, 298,
316, 334, 354, 374, 394, 414, 434, 452.
Correspondence, Foreign, 20, 38, 54, 76, 96, 116,
153, 173, 191, 210, 226, 244, 262, 276, 295, 3r4, 333,
351,372,391,413,432,460.
Correspondence, British — Subjects of- The
Address at the Chorlton Society — -20. Photographic
Plate-warming and Drying Machine A Avoid in
Favour of Metagelatine— 21. Centering Lenses—
The Fothersrill Process — Messrs. Petschler and
Mann’s Process— 22. Dallmeyer’s Triplet Lens-
Apparatus for India — Decolourisation of the silver
Bath — The Area Covered by a Lens — Trade Secrets
in Photography — 39. Gallo-Citrate of Iron De¬
veloper— Developers— Quasi-New Developer —40.
Dallmeyer’s Triplet Lens — Resin Process — 55.
Mr. Tunny and Gallo-Citrate of Iron Application
of Photography in the Construction of AIicio-
scopes — Light! Glass! Varnish!- 56. Degiada-
tion of Tone in Alabastrine Positives— Resin Pro¬
cess — 77. Recovering Silver — Preparation ot
Metagelatine — Photographs in Natural Colours
Correspondence, British — Continued.
How to Conquer a Stubborn View — 78. Art and
Truth versus White Skies — Alabastrine Positives —
The Hydrometer Silver Meter Question — 97. Con¬
jugate Foci — Very Small Lenses — In Explanation —
Instantaneous Negatives — 98. Suggestions for a
Lens Committee — Recovery of Silver — Printing
Transparencies — Recovery of Waste Silver —
Optical, &c.— 117. Negatives— South Kensington
Again! — Correction — Glass House — 118. Mount¬
ing Prints — Keeping Sensitised Paper: Look after
your Cameras — Sensitiveness of the Resin Process
— The Photographic Exhibition of 1862: aHint—
Photographs in Natural Colours — 136.. Photo¬
graphic Exhibition of 1862 — Stereoscopic Trans¬
parencies — 154. Removing Black Varnish— The
next Photographic Exhibition — Mounting Stereo¬
graphs — Collodio-Albumen Toning — 155. Stereo¬
graphs of Java — Scale of the Image — 156. . The
Resin Process — Acceleration — Resined Collodion —
Photographic Gloves — Query — Mounting. Stereo¬
graphs — Toning Theory — 175. Collodio-Albu¬
men — Spotty Proofs — The Tannin Process — 176.
Mr. Negretti’s Reply — Mounting Stereographs —
Tannin Process — Actinism in Australia, &c. —
Baths — Focus — Stereography — Operating Place,
&c. — Resin Process — 193. Tannin Process —
Test Wanted for Paper Proofs — Acceleration — 194.
Resin Process Experience — 211. Hot Water Pro¬
cess — Differences in Collodion — Fading of Deve¬
loped Prints — 212. Air. Negretti’s. Reply — 227.
Amateur’s Photographic Association — Faulty
Paper — Printing Transparencies without Cutting
the Negative— Preservative Case Phenomenon--228.
Portable Camera Stand — Apparent Discrepancy
Explained— A Letter from Miss. Spriggins— Un¬
washed Pyroxyline — Albumenising Paper — 229.
Hot Water Process — Black Tones — A Pat on the
Back — 230. Lenses— A Difficulty — A Screech
from Glasgow — 245. Paul Pry’s Visit to Airs.
Spriggins : A Lesson on Sharpness — 246. Re¬
discoveries in Photography — Camera Stand —
Petschler’s Collodio-Albumen Process — Photo¬
graphy by Alachinery — 261. Alarbled Alarkings
An Offer — Paul Pry “shut up” — Air. Larpey’s
Albumen Process— 262. Amateur Photographic
Association — 277. The South London “ Report’
Negatives and Developers — 278. A arnisli, &c.
What is it Worth ?— Passe-Partouts— Pheesic for
Photographic Notes— 279. AVide Angle of Sub¬
ject — Faulty Negatives — Toning — Stereography :
I Collodion— 297. Loosening of the Film— Paul
i Pry’s Key-hole Photography— AA’hat Journal can
this be?— 298. Air. J. Cramb’s Cameras— 314.
Pheesic for Photographic Botes — 315. Adherence
of the Film in the Tannin Process — Awful Igno¬
rance and Assurance — 316. Alalt Process Co-
I incidence of Foci — Glass for Operating Rooms
Difficulties in the Tannin Process— Dry Plate
Difficulties — 334. Collodio-Albumen — Alodified
1 Taupenot Process— Bath Doctoring— Cleaning the
Plates for the Taunin Process — AATho Invented
or Discovered the Alalt Process ? Binocular
Lustre — 353. Alicrometry — Camera Campestra—
354. Resined Collodion — Gelatine Solution —
Collodio-Albumen— 373. An Accident, and its
Remedy— The late Air. Howlett — Proportion .of
Acid in the Silver Solution — Zinc Plate Boxes 3/4.
Is Photography a Fine Art ?— 392. Development—
The Application of Meteorology to Photography-
Tannin Plates— Sensitiveness— Preservative Plate
Boxes — 393. Dry Collodion — Zinc Plate Boxes —
394. Zinc Plate 'Boxes -413— Toning and Fixing
Deferred — 414. Iron Developing — 433. Print
Washing— Photographic Localities— 434. Stereo¬
scopic Cameras — 451. J. Cramb’s Cameras 452.
Avoidance of the use of Highly Albumenised
Paper — 452.
Cyanide of Potassium, J. Alartin, on - - 149
IV
INDEX.
PAGE
Dallmeyer, J. H., New Instantaneous Shutter 401, 105
Davis, T. S., on Dry-plate Photography - 9
- on Collodion-Albumen Process 86
- Report on 166
Davies, W. H., Gold as a Photographic Agent 183
- Hints on Composition - 396
Dawson, G., on Testing of Silver Bath Meters 103
- on Testing Old Collodion and Print¬
ing Baths - - 138
- on Strength of Nitrate of Silver Solu¬
tion - - - 160
- on Cleaning Glass Plates - 300
Desiccating Box, Spiller’s - - 110
Despratz, l’Abbe, on Bath Holder - - 308
- - on Instantaneity - 404
Developers, Monkhoven on - - 217
Developing without Free Nitrate ot Silver,
G. W. Simpson - -376
- Sink, S. Highley’s, - 309
- Printing, on, L. Smith - - 163
Diary of an Amateur (see Sunshine) - 256,285
Discussion on Manufacture of Paper - - llr
- Electric Light, - - 224
Distortion, R. II. Bow on - 41 1, 440
- in Photographic Portraits,
J. Sidebotham - 102
Domesday Book and the Liber Studiorum 283
Dornbach, L. M. Instantaneous Process - 167
“ Dream of the Future ” - - - 407
Dry Processes :
Report on - - - -
S. Davies on - 9
Borchert’s Experiments on - - 9
Gaudin on Collodion - - 04, 106
S. II. Stanley on - - - 115
Choice of, G. Shadbolt, - 357
W. J. C. Moens on - - - - 382
Dropping Bottles, Samuel Highley on - 147
Dried Collodion, W. Hislop on - - 417
- Van Loo on - - 406
Drying Positive Paper, Injurious Influence of,
Mende on - - - - - 135
Dry Plates, Changing Box for, S. Highley’s 290
Electric Light, Printing by, T. A. Malone on
- - - Prof. Way’s
Electrometer, Thomson’s Photo-Registering
Exhibition. {See Industrial.)
Dent al Committee of South*London Photo¬
graphic Society - 165
Emerson, E., On Improvements proposed by
sir I). Brewster -
Enamelled, On, Coloured Photographs on Glass.
F. Joubert - - -
Epilogue, "
Ether, J. Martin on
Ewing. J. Positive Collodion Process
Exhibitions —Architectural Photographic Associa-
tJon, 60 — Birmingham Photographic Society, 206,
23S, 273,293, 127 — British Association for the Ad¬
vancement of Science, 322, 330 — M. Joubert’s, 409
— London Photographic Society, 37, 67, 108 —
Manchester Photographic Society, 271,314 — Pho-
togr iphic Soi iety of Paris, 811, 831 —Photographic
Society of Scotland, 68, 109.
36
274
221
3S0
199
436
301
1S2
1' acts riT.uit “Great Expectations,’’ W. Griffiths on 8
Fa it. urns :
O. G. Ki jlander on . - - 29
M. Martin on - - - 264
Perrier’s Albumen Process - - -143
Filtering Collodion. M. A. Gaudin - 230
Fry, S. Lunar Photography - - - 24
Pormic Add Accelerator - - 200
_ . _ _ _ in the Silver Bath, Gaudin on - 265
Fotheririll Process - - - 160
. _ — - - — F. Howard- - - 87
_ _ — A. Burns - - J44
_ _ - Rcldon on - - - 188
Gaudin. M. A . Dry Process, 04, 106— Hyponitrateof
L> ad Silver Bath, 162 — Silver and Acetate of Lead
Bath, 184 — On Filtering Collodion, 236— On For¬
mic Add, 26i' — On Acid Collodion and Iodine,
2s7— On the Reduction and Re-conversion of
Nitrate of Silver, 280 — On Photogenic Collodion,
SOI— Accidents, 312— Chloric Acid in Silver Bath,
365
Gelatine Process -
Glass Plates, On Cleaning. G. Dawson -
Glover, J. Resin Process. - - -
Gold, Chloride of, It. Reynolds on
Gold as a Photographic Agent, Davies
Griffith, W. Facts < rrstis " Great Expectations"
Grouping Large Numbers - - -
166
360
125
29
183
8
167
PAGE
Halation, Cause and Remedy, Marlow - 141
- G. Shadboldt on 137
Uannaford, on Fothergill Process - 165
Hardwich, T. F., Photographic Comments 2, 42, 58
80, 100, 138,159, 179, 196
Harmonisation of the Photographic Solutions,
Schnauss - 286
Heath, Vernon, on Manipulating Wet Collo¬
dion Plates ----- 124
Hei-sch, C., on Toning Process, - 44
- on Toning Positives - 81
Herschel, Sir J. F. W.,on Forms of Lenses for
destroying Spherical Aberration - - 3S4
Heroic Conduct of Mr. Sarony - - 399
Highley, Samuel, See Spectrum Analysis.
- On Dropping Bottles - 147
- - - - Photographer’s Lamp - 25S
- — — - Changing Box for Dry Plates 290
Hislop, W., On Simple Dried Collodion - 417
Hot Water Process - - 248
• - Slight, on - 349
Howard, F., Practical Details, of Fothergill
Process - - - - - 87
Hughes, C. Jabez, On Art Photography, 5 — on Silver
Bath Meters, 43 — Albumenised Paper and Gold
Toning, 59 — on Cramb’s Paper — on Testing Silver
Baths, 84 — Intensifying Process, 319 — What
Arrangements to be Made at International Exhi¬
bition 1862, 359
Hydrometers and Bath Testing, on - 62
- Reply to Mr. Hughes
and others. By J. Cramb - - 107
Hydrosulphite of Silver, On. J. Cramb - 82
Hyposulphite of Soda, J- Martin on - 400
Hyposulphate of Lead Bath. M. A. Gaudin 162
In Memoriam
Instantaneous Shutte
J. IP. Dallmeyer ’3-
Fry’s
Rouch’s
Murray and Heath’s
Lake Price’s
Melhuish’s
De la Rue’s
Leake’s
Sutton’s
Shadbolt’s
Ross’s
Skaife’s
Hockin’s
Salvin’s -
- 266
, New :
105, 401
105
105
105, 128
128
- 128
128
- 128
128
- 128
- 128,257
- 129
129
129
Instantaneous Photography. B. Marc - 250
- Collodion with Iodine of Iron.
M. E. Sahler - - 342
- - - - - Process. L. M. Dornbach - 167
- V. Blanchard - 121
Instantaniety, On, L‘Abbe Despratz - 404
Intensifying Process. C. J. Hughes - 319
- V. Blanchard - 121
International Exhibition of 1862, Photography at
the - - - 180, 214,266, 435
Iodide of Potassium - 232
Iron, Protosulphate - 318
Joubert, F., On Enamelled Coloured Photographs on
Glass - - - - - 199
Kibble, J., On the Light we Use - - 35
Laborde, L’Abbe, Action of Iodine in Silver
Bath ----- 268
Lamp, Photographers, S. Highley’s - 258
Larpey, J., On Albumen Process - - 235
Leaders, Subjects of — Retrospect of the Year
1860 — 1. Toning Processes — Lenses Free from
Distortion — 23. The Solar Camera — M. Lacan —
Explanation — 24. Art Photography — 41. Prac¬
tical Optics of Photography — 42. Royal Favour —
Toning Positives — New Photographic Society in
Edinburgh — 57. French Photographic Exhibi¬
tion — 58. Solar Camera — Photo-Lithography —
79. Photographic Paper — More New Lenses —
New Photographic Society — 80. Asperities and
Amenities — South Kensington — Caution — 99.
Printing and Toning — Albumen Process — 119.
Practical Optics of Photography — Tannin Process — -
L’ Amende Honorable — 120. Halation — 137. A
Hint — Soiree — 138. Exhibition of 1862 — Fading
of Positives — 157. Printing by Development —
Dry Process Without a Silver Bath — An Articulo
Mortis— Forthcoming Photographic Exhibition at
Birmingham — 158. Amateur Photographers’ Pub¬
lishing Association — Alleged Permanency of De-
Leaders — Continued.
veloped Prints — 177. Old or New ?— Albumen
Process — American Photographic Lens — The
Oldest Photographic Periodical — 178. Stains and
Streaks — 195. Instantaneous Stereographs — In¬
ternational Exhibition of 1862 — 126. Sharpness —
213 Amateur Photographic Association — 214.
Halation — Large Lenses — 231. Preservative Plate
Box — Iledivivus— 232. Photography at the Inter¬
national Exhibition — Personal Accusation — 247.
The British Journal of Photography —
248. A Tribute of Thanks — Photographic
Measles — Photography at the Industrial Exhibi¬
tion, 1862 — 263. Amateur Photographic Associa¬
tion — 264. Re-discoveries— Harrison’s New Lens—
An Odd Mistake — 281. Photography at the Inter¬
national Exhibition — Photo-Lithography —(299.
Test Pictures — 300. Micrometry — 317. Classi¬
fication of Photography — 335. International Ex¬
hibition — 336. Restoration of Sensitiveness — 355.
International Exhibition of 1862 — Alleged Micro¬
scopical Discoveries — 395. International Exhibi¬
tion — Quartz Lenses — 396. The British Journal
Photographic Almanac for 1861 — The Composition
of the Photographic Image — Albumen Process —
Photography at the International Exhibition — 415.
Moonlight Stereographs — King’s College Photo¬
graphic Lectureship — 416.
Leaves from Diary of an Amateur, 256, 285, 366, 407
Lenses, Photographic, Harrison’s - - 351
- W. Ackland - 3
- Dr. Anthony - 163
- Panoramic, Sutton’s - - 324
- Forms of, For Destroying Spherical Aberra¬
tion, Sir J. F. W. Herschel - - 384
Light, J. Kibble, on - - 35
Louch, J. on Portable Operating Tents 12
Lunar Photography, S. Fry - - 24
Lustre, Binocular, Sir. D. Brewster on 325
Lyte, M., On Photographic Printing - 120
iVlabley, W. T., On Apparatus in Copying
Drawings - 253
Maddox, Dr., on Two'Negatives, Wet Process 125
- Albumen on Glass - 336
Magic Lantern, on Construction and Application
of the, by J. T. Taylor - - 2 i 8
Magnesium as a Source of Light - - 162
Malone, T. A., On Electric Light - 36
- On the Nature and Toning of
Images - - - - - 401
Management of Wet Collodion Process. M. Mar¬
tin ----- 254
Mark, B. Instantaneous Photography - 250
Marlow. Halation : Cause and Remedy - 141
Martin, J. See Chemicals.
- On Varnishes - - 304, 337
Martin, M. Management of Wet Collodion Pro¬
cess - - - - - 254
- On Transparent Positives and on Trans-
ferrence of Collodion - - 270
Maxwell, Prof. J. C. On the Theory of Three
Primary Colours - - - 270
Mediterranean, Yacht Voyage in W. J. C.
Moens ----- 12, 47
Meetings. See Societies.
Mende, T On the Injurious Influence of Drying
Positive Paper - 135
Miers, W. J. Suggestions for Obtaining Posi¬
tives in Gold, On Glass Plates - - 386
Micrometers. Dr. E. Wood - - 289, 326
Micro-Photographs, Enlarging from. T. Skaife 160
Microscope, Photography Applied to. Prof. Rood 378
Miller, Prof. W. A., On Spectrum Analysis - 327
Moens, W. J. C. Photographic Voyage in the
Mediterranean - 12, 47
- — On Dry Plate Processes - 382
Monster Camera, Ottewill’s - - 243
- Lens, Dallmeyer - 243
Monckhoven, M. D. New Developer for Nega¬
tive Process - - - 217
Moonlight Photographs, Breese’s, M. Gaudin on 372
Moule’s Washing Trough - - - 49
Mounting Photographs, G. Shadbolt, on 197
- — - G W. Simpson, on 420
Musgrave, E., On Positive Printing - 376
Nature and Toning of Photographic Image.
T. A. Malone - 401
Negative Process, Developers. Dr. Van Monk¬
hoven - - - - 217
Negatives, On two Wet Process. Dr. Maddox 125
Negretti, On Perrier’s Albumen Process - 143
Neutralisation of Silver Bath. T. A. Barber 159
New Way to keep a Sitter Quiet - .37
INDEX.
v
PAGE
Nitrate of Silver, amount of. C. J. Hughes 43
— — - - —Developing without. G. W.
Simpson - . 376
- - J. Martin, on - - 250
Nitrate of Silver Solution, Strength of, G. Dawson 160
of, M. A. Gaudin - 289
Notes of the Month 244, 276, 313, 350, 428
Nothing New under the Sun - - 245
Noton, New Plate-holder - 105
- - . The Compound Albumen Process 404
- Vacuum Plate-holder - - 301
- on Rectangular Stops - - 152
Olla Podrida, Photographic 294, 313, 348
Optics, Practical, of Photography, J. Roth-
well, 61, 85, 125, 161, 203, 252, 284, 320, 365, 423,
''ptical Principles of Lenses, W. Ackland on 3
Organic Matter in Distilled Water, Test for,
T. A. Barber - - - 100
Osborne, J. W., Photo-lithographic Process 198
Our Eye-witness at St. Helens - - 347
Palestine in 1860, J. Cramb, 32,46, 130, 146,237,255,
287, 364, 388, 425, 444
Paper, Photographic, Discussion on -
Permanency, on, Lyndon Smith - - 180
Petschler, H., Collodio-Albumen Process 215
Petschler and Mann’s Process, Report on 166
Photo-Electrotype Plates - - - 26
Photo-Lithographic Process, J. W. Osborne 198
Photozincography, Sir II. James on - 326
Photogenic Collodion, on, M. A. Gaudin 304
■ - - Tribulations - - 45
Photographs of War Scenes - - 340
- - Reviews of (see Stereographs) 408
— - Enamelled on Glass. F. Joubert 199
Photographers in Trouble - - 275
- their own Artificers. T. Gulliver 5
Photographic Camera, On Proposed Improve¬
ments, by Sir D. Brewster. E.
Emerson - 380
- Chemicals, On. J. Martin, 266, 283,
301.
- Competition. J. T. Brown 405, 424
- - - and Moonlight Pictures.
J. Cramb - - 443
- - Distortion. R. II. Bow 440
- , - Engraving on Wood. J. Contencin 88
- Image, Nature of, Malone on •• 401
- - — R. H. Preston on 28
- - ;Lenses. See Lenses
- Pictures, Hints on. W. II.
Davies - 395
- - Printing. On. M. Lyte - 120
- Retrospect. C. Butterfield - 30
- and Stereographic Portraiture,
On. Sir David Brewster - 37
- Tent. fieTent
— - - Trip, Notes of J. Traill - 269
- - - Voyage. W. J. C. Moens 12,47
Photography One of the Fine Arts. S.
Thompson - 234
- applied to Pictorial Decoration.
S. Thompson - - 267
■ - The Uses of - - 163
- — — - - abuse of 435
- - at the International Exhibition 435
■ - and the Microscope. Professor
O. N. Rood 378
“ Pistolgram ” - 117
Plate Holder, Solomon’s ... 339
Poitevin, M., New Carbon Printing Process 249
Poly conograpli, Duboscq’s - - 302
Portable Operating Tent. G. Louch - - 12
Positive Collodion Process J. Ewing - 1S2
■ - in Gold, on Glass Plates, Suggestions
for Obtaining. W. J. Miers - 889
- Printing, on. E. Musgrave - 376
- Proofs Washing. G. Shadbolt 437
Potassium Iodide - 232
Practical Photographers, Appeal to. A. H.
Wall ----- 101, 126
Preston, R. II., on the Formation of the Pho¬
tographic Image - - - - 28
Prevention of Stains in the Negative. R. W.
Thomas ----- 202
Printing, Photographic, Maxwell Lyte on 120
page
Printing Process, Permanent. J. E. Balsamo 290
Processes, Intensifying. V. Blanchard - 121
- Negative Albumen, on Glass. J.
Cramb - - 131,204,220
- _____ Waxed Paper. G. Traill - 233
Prologue for the season. V. Blanchard 442
Pyrogallic Acid, J. Martin on 356
Pyroxyline, Manufacture of. J. Nicol 438
Record of Photographic Inventions, By
Samuel Highley, 49, 104, 128, 147, 221, 257, 274,
290, 309, 329.
Re-Discoveries in Photography 236, 254, 272
Reduction and Reconversion of Nitrate of
Silver, on the. M. A. Gaudin - - 289
Rejlander, O. G., Camera of Horrors - 29
Report of Experimental Committee of South
London Photographic Society, on
Dry Processes - - - 9, 165
— - Of Kew Committee - - - 327
Resin Process, J. Glover - 125
Retrospect, Photographic, by C. Butterfield - 30
Retrograde Movements on Toning - 10
Reviews. See Book and Stereographs
Reynolds, R., on Fraudulent Chloride of Gold 29
Robertson, A., on Alkaline Toning - - 399
Rood, O. N., on Producing Stereographs by
Hand ----- 66
■ - - On Practical^ Application to the
Microscope ----- 378
Rothwell, J., Practical Optics of .Photo¬
graphy. See Optics.
Russel, Major, Tannin Process, Improve¬
ments in Manipulation - - - 140
— - — The Tannin Process - 306, 362
Sahler, M. E., Instantaneous Collodion with
Iodine of Iron - 342
Schnauss, Dr. J. Harmonisation of the Photo-
graghic Solutions - 286
Scraps and Fragments - 446
Shadbolt, G., Remarks on Mounting’ Stereo¬
graphs - 197
- - - Choice of Dry Process 357
Shalott, the Lady of, Photographic Contribu¬
tions to Art - - - . 355
Sharpness, What is it? A. II. Wall - 201
Sidebotham, J., Causes of Distortion in Photo¬
graphic Portraits - - - 102
Simpson, G. W., Developing without free Nitrate
of Silver - 376
. - On Mounting Photographs 420
Silver and its Salts, J. T. Taylor - 26
- Acetate of Lead Bath, M. A- Gaudin 184
— — Nitrate, J. Martin on - 250
Skaife, T., Enlarging from Micro-Photographs 160
Smith, Lyndon, on Development Printing 163
- on Permanency - 180
Smyth, S., on the Solar Camera - - 291
Spectrum Analysis, Prof. W. A. Miller 327
— - - - S. Highley on, 303, 340, 361,383, 422
Spiller’s Desiccating Box - - 110
Stanley, S. H., on Dry Plates - - 1 15
Stereographs by Hand, Prof. O. N. Rood 66
Stereoscopic Portraiture, Sir D. Brewster 87
Sunshine, S., Leaves from the Diary of an
Amateur - - _ 256, 285, 366, 407
Societies, Photographic — Meetings of
Amateur - - - 371
American - - 95
British Association, Manchester Meeting 322
Blackheath - - 17,53,91,133,171
Bradford 35, 75, 152, 188, 226, 259, 294, 332, 370
413, 450
1 O,
Birmingham 34, 73, 1 14,152, 17 1, 187, 209, 242, 369
449
Edinburgh 93, 114, 134, 3 89, 207, 226, 243, 275, 294
312, 349, 390, 432, 448
French - 94
City of Glasgow and West of Scotland 35,74
93, 114. 172,189,243,391,412,450
Chorlton (Association) 18,53,94,135 152, 209,241
350,371,431
Liverpool (Club) - 135
London 33,69, 108,110,148,223.411,446
Manchester 34, 74, 1 13, 151, 186, 225, 259, 293, 431
448
Newcastle-on-Tyne and North of England 74
172, 189, 243,260, 371, 450
PAGE
Societies— -Meetings of — Continued
North London (Association), 13,34. 72, 112, 149
16S, 184, 225, 348, 389, 428
Scotland 18, 35, 92, 133, 150, 208, 431, 449
South London 14,51,89, 131,169,206,239,368,428
Soda, Hyposulphite - 400
Specific Gravity /fable for Silver Solutions.
G. Dawson ----- 160
Spectra, Photographs of, by Professor Miller- 325
Spectroscopes, S. Highley on - - - 383
Stains and Streaks in the Negative, R. W.
Thomas on - - - - - 202
Stereographs, Shadbolt, On Mounting - 197
- - - Reviews of :
G. Wilson’s
Anthony’s -
W ingrave’s -
Ogle’s - - -
Woodward’s -
Negretti and Zambra’s, Java
Gordon’s, Madeira
Bedford’s, North Wales
Hanson’s -
Views of Paris -
Stereotrope, The - - -
Stops, Rectangular, Noton on -
Strengthening Negatives, New Method of.
M. Jourdain
11, 145, 308
48
48
65, 439
- 106
127
- 258
272
- 386
424
- 170
152
414
lannin Process, Report on - - - 166
- Improvements in Manipula¬
tion. Major Russell - 120, 140, 306, 362
Taupenot Process, The - - - 165
• - - G. Wardley - - 339
Taylor, J. T., Silver and its Salts, 26 — Re-discoveries
in Photographic Society of Scotland : Reply to
Mr. P. Smith, 254 — On Construction and Applica¬
tion of the Magic Lantern, 218.
Tent, Photographic, Louches’ - 12
- - - Tresize’s - - 204
Testing Silver Baths. C. J. Hughes - 43
- . Cramb on - - 62
- - G. Dawson on - - 138
The Miner’s Grunt in return - - 236
Theory of Three Primary Colours, on the,
Prof. J. C. Maxwell - 270
Thomas, R. W., on Prevention of Stains in the
Negative ----- 202
Thompson, S., Photography one of the Fine
Arts ----- 234
- Photography Applied to Pictorial
Decorations - 267
Thomson’s Photo-registering Electrometer 221
Toning Process, Retrograde Movements in 10
■ - C. Heisch on - 44 81
- - - c, J. Hughes on - 59
- - — A. Robertson, on - 399
Traill, J., Waxed Paper Process, - - 233
Notes of Photographic Trip 269
Transferent Collodion Positives, and on Trans¬
ference, M. Martin - - - 270
T resize, J. Q. A., American Photographic Tent 204
Vacuum Plate-Holder, Noton’s - - 301
Van Loo, S. On Resined Dry Collodion 406
Varnishes, On J. Martin - - 304, 336
- - - - , . . - 307
Vertical Camera for Copying. J. Barnett 197
Viewing Binocular Photographs without a
stereoscope. G. H. Slight - - 437
r all, A. II., Hints on Composition and Keeping, 8
— an Appeal, 101 — Appeal to Practical Photo¬
graphers, 126 — on Sharpness — what is it? 201 —
Another “ Half Brick” 235. See Colouring and An
Artist’s Letters.
Wardley, G. The Taupenot Process - - 339
Warren, G. C., On Photography as it is - 74
Washing Positive Proofs, on. G. Shadbolt 437
Washing Trough, Automatic - 47
- Moule’s 49
Waxed-Paper Process. J. Traill- - 233
Way’s Electric Light - 224
- - - - Discussion on - 274
What is the Art and Science coming to ? - 47
Wood, Dr. Micrometers - 2S9
1 acht Voyage in the Mediterranean W. J. C.
Moens - - - - - 12, 47
Yellow Glass, &c., Discussion on 185, 209
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THE BRITISH
.JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 133, Vol. VIII.— JANUARY 1, 1861.
With the commencement of the New Year we undertake the
representation of a materially enlarged constituency — the City
of Glasgow and West of Scotland and the Bradford Photogra¬
phic Societies having honoured us by selecting this Journal
as their official organ. We shall endeavour to convince the
members of each Society that they have not misplaced their
confidence. Union is strength ; and it is impossible for so
large a number of intelligent experimentalists, clever manipu¬
lators, lovers of ait, and leaders in science, as those who give
the result of their labours to the world through the medium of
our pages, to be engaged in the pursuit of one common object
without making important advances, and opening up new fields
for research.
Unanimity of pursuit does not necessarily mean unanimity
of opinion ; but, fortunately, this is no bar to kindliness of feel¬
ing, which in its turn presents no hindrance to freedom of dis¬
cussion — a sine qua non to anything like progress. It will
therefore be our aim to encourage fair comment upon all matters
photographic, as we have heretofore done, giving free scope to
all to express their views, the only restraint imposed being the
invariable adoption of reasonable courtesy of language, a re¬
straint which we do not apprehend many of our contributors
are likely to transgress ; and should it on rare occasions hap¬
pen that any do so, in the ardour of discussion, it must of course
be our task to interpose, in order to prevent the infliction of a
wound, or to heal one if our vigilance be eluded.
In taking a retrospective glance at the occurrences of the
past year, so far as they affect photographers, we cannot omit
congratulating them upon very decided advances in several
directions, which, if they do not stand so prominently forward as
some that have been effected at earlier periods of photographic
history, are not improbably less conspicuous only because those
had the advantage of a less crowded background than these can
ever enjoy — an advantage that most of our professional por¬
traitists will readily appreciate : there was then far less to dis¬
tract the attention of the looker-on than now.
In the first place, let us observe what is the condition of the
various Societies established for the promotion of our art. We
think that upon the whole it may be regarded as satisfactory.
If the meetings of the Parent Society have not been quite so
numerously attended as of yore, this is not surprising, nor does
it necessarily evince any diminution of interest in the members ;
for it must be borne in mind that a few years back that Society
was the only point of contact between photographers, and the
amount of work to be accomplished was far greater than at pre¬
sent. Now, however, we have nearly a dozen Photographic
Societies in existence (the survivors of a still larger number),
which we may presume — adopting for the nonce Darwin’s
“ law of natural selection” — are in a state of healthy vigour.
Two out of the surviving number have come into existence
during the past twelve months ; and of those which have come
to a premature end, we may mention the following, viz. : —
The Photographic Society of Ireland, the Belfast Photographic
Society, as also the West of England, the Nottingham, the
Norwich, and the Dumfries Photographic Societies; and yet
with all this mortality, a reference to our pages will prove be
yond question that the amount of work performed has been
greater during the year 1860 than during any corresponding
space of time previously. We think, therefore, we are quite
justified in asserting that the survivors are in a sound state
of health.
The Art aspect of photography is one which offers much en¬
couragement for perseverance' in the course so steadily pursued
by some of our most renowned operators ; amongst whom we
may mention the names (which we do alphabetically) of Bed¬
ford, Fenton, Frith, Ogle, Rejlander, Robinson, Rodger, Sedge-
field, Woodward, Wilson, &c. ; the last-named especially being
pre-eminently successful in delineating some most interesting
and picturesque subjects, of necessity demanding a minimum of
exposure, in many cases only a small portion of a second
of time. Although this statement does not appear to the ear
alone to present any peculiar novelty, to the eye the case is far
different; for Wilson of 1860 has materially advauced upon
Wilson of 1859 in the “instantaneous” branch of photography
— an additional decision and vigour of result being markedly
perceptible.
The Scientific part has obtained a full share of attention ;
some obscurities have been cleared up, and altogether photo¬
graphers are better able to assign a sound reason for many
of their proceedings than has heretofore been the case. To
the value of Mr. Hardwich’s contributions to our pages our
readers will accord a willing testimony. Our knowledge of
the best methods of producing collodion of specific qualities
is due principally, if not entirely, to him; and in all that
relates to the chemistry of photography his authority is of the
highest.
Amongst the important features of photographic chemistry to
which our attention has been directed we must place the ex¬
periments of Mr. George Dawrson, communicated through papers
read at The Nobth London Photogeaphic Association, and
which were undertaken with the view of testing the accuracy of
some extraordinary statements promulgated by MM. Davanne
and Girard, with reference to the theory of photographic printing,
and which statements were completely and satisfactorily refuted ;
as indeed the French gentlemen have virtually admitted, though
we regret to find that they did not make any reference to Mr.
Dawson’s labours, as would have been but just and graceful of
them to have done.
Our Manchester friends have not relaxed in their ordinary
career of progress ; and, in addition to several matters of minor
importance, we may cite the process of Messrs. Petschler and
Mann as an introduction of peculiar interest.
The dry processes generally have undergone a pretty exten¬
sive examination and trial, and considerable success lias been
achieved by our Liverpool brethren in working the Rosin Pro¬
cess, originally suggested by the Abbe Despratz, and with which
Mr. Corey especially has, so far as we know, taken the lead. A
lady photographer, resident at Liverpool, has earned well-
2
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 18G1
deserved applause for her manipulation of the Fothergill
process.*
A very considerable amount of attention has been devoted to
the optics of photography, which is a subject decidedly increasing
in favour, though there are comparatively but few persons yet
sufficiently familiar with it to render it very popular. The
demand for a lens embracing a number of qualities not com¬
patible with one another is as brisk as ever, to say nothing of
the unreasonable expectation of being able to procure that
mythical multum in parvo one lens to do everything in the best
manner. In order to gratify such demand, we fear that some
opticians have been induced to produce a compromise against
their better judgment, so that we have had no lack of novelties,
or supposed novelties, in this direction. Among the former,
we must not omit to particularise one that is unquestionably
both novel and cleverly designed — we allude to Mr. Sutton’s
panoramic lens ; but, at the same time, we do not anticipate
for it any great amount of popularity, at least at present,
because its use involves the employment of curved glasses, or
else paper, as a support to the sensitive film ; the former also
precludes the possibility of focussing. Should we, however, at
any time be able to discover some perfectly transparent flexible
material, inexpensive, and not liable to injury by immersion in
aqueous solutions, or by contact with alcohol and ether, then
indeed, for a certain class of subjects, we may presume that the
panoramic lens would stand a fair chance of being pretty
extensively employed. It is to be regretted that its inventor
was so injudicious as to claim for it qualities that, on exami¬
nation, could not be maintained, and thus call down upon
it an undue amount of discredit.
The subject of enlargement frpm small negatives has obtained
no small share of attention and consideration. We would
especially notice the communication made by M. Bertsch to
the French Photographic Society, in which that gentleman
pointed out the impossibility of insuring good definition in the
enlarged image when the negative is illuminated by converging
rays proceeding from an uncorrected convex lens, and sug¬
gested a method by which a condensation of light might be
obtained, and the illumination effected by parallel rays. The
objection referred to by M. Bertsch would undoubtedly exist to
some slight extent, even if the condensing lens were made
achromatic, or effected by means of a concave reflector, as sug¬
gested by us on a former occasion ; but we believe that, in
practice, this might be disregarded.
It would be unjust to conclude this part of our retrospect
without calling attention to the valuable papers contributed at
the early part of the year to this Journal by Mr. Grubb,
M.R.I.A., and which will well repay re-perusal.
The very unfavourable summer has caused many photo¬
graphers to consider the expediency of employing some kind of
artificial light when the sun has declined to show his face ; and,
though considerable ingenuity has been displayed in the search,
nothing practically available for commercial purposes has yet
been found. We are not oblivious of Mr. Moule’s photogen ; but
it is rather a light for printing purposes to which we allude, that
important part of the professional photographer’s work having
been most interfered with by the inclemency of the season,
notwithstanding which a fair share of first-class negatives were
fortunately obtained.
The application of photography to book illustration has been
too recently before our readers, with the specimens from Herr
Pretsch’s new surface-printing blocks, to need any extended
notice ; as o\so the details of Colonel Sir Henry James’s
photozincography, for the multiplication of maps and other
documents. M. Joubert’s processes for carbon printing on
paper and vitrified photographic impressions upon glass not
having been made public, we can do no more than mention them
as being/ni/s acco7n])lis.
There is one process which we regret having been unable
* Among our Correspondence in tlie present Number, in reply to n former corres-
pon li nt, the lady amateur alluded to, under the signature of “S. H, Q describes the
torraula with which sh has been so successful.
as yet to lay before our readers, not from want of the means,
but from want of space. We mean Mr. Osborne’s photolitho¬
graphic process for the reproduction of maps and other subjects
delineated by lines or dots, and similar in application to that of
Sir Henry James, to which, however, it has, in our estimation,
some superiority. In fact, we regard it as by far the best photo¬
lithographic process extant, and we hope shortly to find room for
an account of it.
Photography, as an aid to astronomical science, has received
further development at the hands of Mr. Warren De la Rue,
especially during the late eclipse of the sun, as seen in Spain —
of which phenomenon many valuable negatives were obtained,
some establishing disputed points of considerable importance.
The production of an instrument for measuring the chemical
power of light has not been forgotten ; but a thoroughly useful
actinometer is still a desideratum.
In apparatus of all kinds many ingenious and highly useful
specimens have been laid before our readers by description,
aided by illustrations, most of which were drawn from photo¬
graphs of the originals ; and our country and foreign subscribers
have benefitted largely by the elaborate description of most that
was worthy of notice in the “Letters to a Photographic Friend,"
published under the signature of “ Simeon Headsman.’’
And now, feeling that we have occupied far too large a share
of our space, we conclude, heartily wishing our readers pros¬
perity and A HAPPY NEW YEAR !
In consequence of the first Tuesday in the month falling on New
Year’s Day, the Council of the London Photographic Society
lias postponed the next ordinary meeting till Tuesday, the 8th
inst., when a paper on Lunar Photography will be read by Mr. Fry.
The contemplated soiree at King’s College has also been postponed
because of the very inclement state of the weather.
- -
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMM T S .
By T. F. Hardwich.
No. XVI.
We have at various times been requested to examine and report
upon certain iodides not commonly used in photography, but
supposed to possess advantages entitling them to more con¬
sideration. The first of these was the iodide of tetrethylammo-
nium, offered by Professor Yon Babo for iodising negative collodion.
This iodide is so rarely met with that we anticipated some diffi¬
culty in obtaining it, and probably should not have succeeded in
doing so had it not been for the kindness of a friend who had
worked with Dr. Hoffman in his researches. It was stated to be
more permanent in collodion than the alkaline iodides ; but we did
not find such to be the case ; and as it requires an unusually large
quantity of water in the spirits to retain it in solution, we had no
hesitation in condemning it.
Next came the iodide of magnesium advocated by Mr. Mayall,
in a paper read before the London Photographic Society, in which
he concludes that it excels the iodide of potassium in stability. Iodide
of magnesium is undoubtedly a better iodiser for collodion than
iodide of tetrethylammonium, since it is far more soluble in
anhydrous alcohol. This property, indeed, of dissolving easily
in spirits free from water, and of never crystallising in the collo¬
dion, will recommend it ; but our anticipations of its superior per¬
manency were not realised, for on iodising two portions of the
same plain collodion — one with iodide of potassium and the other
with iodide of magnesium — we found the red colour to be developed
in the latter as speedily as in the former.
Iodide of sodium we have also examined, and may observe with
reference to it that, although less soluble in strong alcohol than
iodide of ammonium or iodide of magnesium, it is more so than
iodide of potassium, and hence is to be preferred. The only ques¬
tion is, whether the difference is sufficiently great to induce the
manufacturers to disturb their present arrangements? for we must
remember that large quantities of iodide of potassium are employed
in medicine, and the purification of this iodide for photography is
a more simple process than Avould be the preparation of a new and
distinct iodide. Up to the present time we have not been able to
obtained a commercial iodide of sodium which could be termed
absolutely pure.
Iodide of arsenic needs only a passing notice. If used in collo¬
dion it would be added in minute quantity for the purpose of
altering the colour of the negative. Bromide of arsenic is far
Jauuary 1, 186 1J
3
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
better, according to our own experience ; but we do not anticipate
that the compounds of arsenic will be extensively employed.
Last of all may be mentioned the iodide of lithium, which Dr.
Sohnauss has lately put forward. Of this iodide also, as of the iodide
of tetrethylammonium, the first thing we had to consider was how to
procure it in a state of purity. In our deliberations the name of Mr.
Morson, of Southampton Row, occured tons as having volunteered
his assistance on a previous occasion, and we at once applied to
him and obtained a crystallised sulphate of lithia. This, after
ignition, was decomposed by an equivalent of iodide of calcium.
The filtered solution was then evaporated to dryness in vacuo over
sulpuric acid, and the residue was extracted by absolute alcohol. The
iodide of barium would have been used instead of iodide of calcium,
but on testing commercial iodide of barium we have found it to be
alkaline from excess of baryta, which, although harmless in the
case of an iodide to be used in the preparation of hydriodic acid,
would interfere very much in collodion.
The experiments with the iodide of lithium were commenced
three months since, and have now terminated. The result is that
in our own judgment we must decide against this iodide ; for not
only is it expensive and difficult of purification, but it is also deli¬
quescent and unstable. We do not find, as Dr. Schnauss asserts, that
it remains in the collodion without much change after the first straw-
yellow coloration due to the ether; but, on the other hand, we
observe that the ethereal solution of pyroxylins steadily decom¬
poses it week by week; so that after three months’ keeping
the collodion reaches a deep saffron, yellow, verging on brown,
and becomes limpid and slow in action.
"What, then, is the explanation of these conflicting statements?
We will endeavour to indicate it as far as possible. Probably three
causes are concerned in the differences of opinion which prevail on
the stability of some collodions after iodising. The first of these
is the presence of a bromide. When unstable iodides are used in col¬
lodion, the free iodine accumulates in the liquid more rapidly than
when iodides and bromides are conjoined. Many, not aware of this
fact, have thought that such iodides as the iodide of calcium or mag¬
nesium, although more changeable than iodide of potassium in
alcoholic solution, are less changeable in collodion ; whereas the
real explanation may have been that these deliquescent iodides, on
account of their easy solubility, admit of being used with a larger
quantity of bromide than can safely be added to collodion iodised
with iodide of potassium.
Another reason for the differences in the rate of coloration of
two collodions placed under similar circumstances as regards light
and temperature, may be due to peculiarities in the ether and alcohol
used. Pyroxylic alcohol, or wood naptha, possesses a property
of absorbing a portion of free iodine with production of a colourless
acid liquid. Methylated spirit of wine does the same, as also does
methylated ether, as a rule. Further than this, we have lately
found that even ether made from pure spirit will sometimes exhibit
the same property; and in our laboratory is a quart of ether, not
methylated, the bromo-iodised collodion prepared from which
becomes of a deep saffron hue almost immediately on mixing, but by
the following day regains its colourless condition.
A third point which must be taken into account in estimating
permanency in iodised collodion is the nature of the pyroxyline.
It will be found, independently of the temperature of the nitro-
sulphuric acid, that when the diluted sulphuric and nitric acids are
mixed in the proportions of 3 to 1, the pyroxyline will liberate iodine
more rapidly from unstable iodides than when the same acids are
mixed in equal bulks.
Hence, after reading the papers of Mr. Sutton, M. Liesegang, and
Dr. Schnauss very carefully, we find ourselves at issue with them
on this question. In our own experience we find but one mode of
preparing a permanent collodion, viz., the use of iodide of cadmium.
With any other iodide there is discoloration and ultimate loss
of sensitiveness. Neither is this prevented by diminishing the
quantity of ether and adopting the formula known as the
‘‘alcoholic.” In our own developing-room two bottles of alcoholic
iodised collodion have been standing for several months, and
although one still remains of a pale yellow tint, the other, in which
the pyroxyline and the ether and alcohol were of a different
quality, has become brown. We have always found that the
gradual liberation of free iodine in collodion is due to the pyroxy¬
line more than to the ether, and that the only means of preventing
it is to employ an iodide which scarcely admits of decomposition.
If you procure a sample of any iodide, arid find that it is already
yellow whilst in the bottle, and that it becomes more so on dis¬
solving it in alcohol, you may be sure that the collodion will lose
its sensitiveness on keeping.
ON SOME OPTICAL PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES.
By William Ackland.
[Read before the South London Photographic Society, on Thursday, Dec. 20th, I860.]
The subject I am about to bring before the notice of this meeting
is one of considerable importance, and merits a very careful con¬
sideration by both the photographer and optician, and will consist
of a description of the optical means employed in the manufacture
of photographic lenses, under my superintendence, by Messrs.
Horne and Thornth waite ; but before doing so, I should remark that
I have but little that is new to offer you, my object being to bring
together for publication certain means that are but little used, and
perhaps unknown by many, so as to disseminate for the general
good information that has been practically applied by myself for
the last six years, and found thoroughly efficient.
In the construction of photographic lenses the first consideration
is to obtain “ optical discs,” as they are termed, of first-rate
quality, free from striae, wavy lines, perfectly homogeneous, and
properly annealed. To ascertain if any of these defects exist is an
object of some importance in a pecuniary point of view, as, should
they be detected on any after stage of the manufacture, the honest
trader would at once reject it as valueless, and thus not only lose
the original cost of the disc, but also the labour bestowed on it ;
whereas if these defects had been detected at the outset the prime
cost of the glass would be his only loss.
In order to detect these defects, the disc is very carefully
examined by looking through the facet polished on its edge by the
maker, with a view to ascertain if any striae exist. If none are
visible it is next covered with a varnish, to render the rough sur¬
faces more transparent, or is ground and roughly polished on both
sides. The object of this is that any wavy lines or striae that may
be invisible by our first mode of examination may be thus brought
to light. If a careful examination shows us nothing objectionable,
the disc is next examined by polarised light, to ascertain if it is
perfectly homogenous and carefully annealed. To accomplish this
we require an apparatus similar to fig. 1, where A represents a
lamp used as a source of light; B a sheet of glass ground on. one
side, and employed here for the purpose of diffusing the light
before it falls on the plate C. This plate C is made of ordinary
glass, the under side of which is coated with black varnish or
Bates’s jet, and is so placed that the light from the lamp A, after
passing through B, shall fall on it at an angle of about 33°. After
falling on the plate, the rays of light are reflected in a polarised
state towards a Nicol’s prism, situate in the support at E. The
plate of glass at E is merely for the purpose of supporting the
disc of glass to be examined.
If we place the eye at E, we shall find that the amount of light
reflected varies on rotating the prism, and that at certain positions
of the latter none whatever is reflected, as what was before the
field of view is now total darkness, the light having suffered what
is termed polarisation.
The apparatus being thus arranged, so that no light is reflected
if we place an imperfectly annealed piece of glass on the plate D,
and again apply the eye so as to look through the prism E, we
shall find, instead of darkness, that the glasses illuminated, and
shows a rich and gorgeous display of the prismatic colours, and
the more carelessly the annealing has been done, the more brilliant
the colours ; but if we introduce a disc of glass that has been pro¬
perly annealed no colour is perceptible, and the field of view is
totally dark as before its introduction.
This mode of examination frequently brings into view wavy
lines and striae that are perfectly invisible by ordinary light.
Having ascertained that the discs of glass are free from any
defects, they are next handed over to the glass grinder; and those
intended toTorm convex lenses are ground and polished in the usual
manner, and are then ready for centering. The object of this is to
render the lens perfectly circular, and to make the axes of the .two
spheres, of which the surfaces are segments, in the same straight
4
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1861
line; and much of the correct working of a lens depends on this
being properly done. The mode of centering is well known, and
consists in attaching the lens by means of pitch and a clinch to the
mandril of a lathe, and whilst the pitch is still warm enough to be
pliable, the position of the lens is changed by a pressure of the
hand, or with a fragment of wood, till, by revolving, the mandril,
as in turning any object seen by reflection on its outer surface,
remains steady to the eye during the revolution. If this is not the
case the workman by practice judges what is wanted, and either
lowers or raises the lens on the pitch, or inclines it a little more or
less, until by repeated trials the objects seen both by reflection and
refraction remains stationary during the rapid revolution of the
lathe. He then concludes that the lens is fixed centrally, that is,
that the two axes coincide, and it only remains to cut it down to a
perfect circle of the proper size.
To effect this, the lens is left until the pitch is quite cold, and
then the workman turns the lathe with his foot very rapidly ; and
being provided with a plate of copper, covered with coarse emery,
moistened with water, he applies this at a fixed distance from the
centre of the lens, so that the parts most distant from the centre
rub pretty strongly against it. By these means the prominent
parts are soon reduced. He then approaches the plate of copper
a little more, and thus removes the next projecting parts; and so
on till he has ground the rest of the prominent parts down, and
produced a most complete circle, which must, when the lens is
properly centered, be of equal thickness all round. The lens is
now finished, and after removal from the bath, is washed with
turpentine, to remove the adheriug particles of pitch, and is then
ready for use.
Concave lenses are usually centered in the same manner. But I
must confess that, from the first moment I turned my attention to
lenses, I saw that great difficulties must be experienced in properly
centering a concave lens by this plan, more especially if one surface
is nearly flat; and as the front lens of the portrait combination and
the first surface of a view lens are both nearly flat, it was very
important that some other plan should be adopted, and I devised
the following one, which I have found to answer admirably in all
cases.
The importance of centering a concave lens by some other and
better plan than the one usually adopted will be apparent to any
one who tests a few lenses by the plan I shall hereafter describe,
as I venture to assert that out of every six portrait lenses that are
imperfectly centered, five of that number will be found to be de¬
fective in the concave lenses; and most probably four of that
number will show a want of accurate centering in the flint lens of
the anterior combination.
The disc for a double concave lens, after being examined as before
described, is first edged down to the size of the required lens in a
manner exactly similar to that employed in edging down the
finished convex lens, and is then removed from the lathe and
ground perfectly level on both sides, and reduced to an even
thickness all round.
To ascertain if one part is thicker than another, an instrument I
have termed an “Indicator” is employed, the construction of
which will be apparent by reference to fig. 2, where A represents
an iron base perfectly flat ; above this is an axis working on centres,
one of which is shown at C. This axis has attached to it two
arms, into one of which, D (the shorter of the two), is inserted a
screw, working vertically, and underneath the point of which the
edge of the lens to be tested is placed. The other arm, E, extends
backwards for a couple of inches, and has a spiral spring under it,
so as to raise it, and thus to depress the arm, D, and keep it in con¬
tact with the lens under trial. Attached to the axis is a mirror,
placed in an angle of 45 degrees. Now, it is evident that if we
cause a beam of light to fall on the mirror, by using a lamp pro¬
perly so placed that such beam of light will be reflected upwards
to the ceiling of the room in which the experiment is tried, and
that we may consider such a beam of light as an inflexible and pro¬
longed arm, having an axis at C and a short arm at D, and that if
we raise or depress the arm D the smallest fraction of an inch, such
movement is instantly visible by the reflected image on the ceiling
varying its position. Hence it is evident that if we place our
flattened disc under the arm D, and then rotate it, that if the disc
is of uniform thickness, the image on the ceiling will remain per¬
fectly stationary ; but if our disc is even the one-thousandth of an
inch thicker on one side than the other, the varying position of the
image will detect it with certainty. If the extreme delicacy of this
instrument is found objectionable, we may dispense with the beam
of light and mirror, and prolong the arm E some six or seven inches,
and place before its end a divided scale, as a depression or raising
of the arm D will cause a reverse movement of the arm E, and
thus the uniformity on the thickness of the disc would be shown,
but in a less accurate manner.
The disc of glass, now of uniform thickness, is next ground on a
convex tool of the required curvature, until the spherical cavity
formed extends to near the edge ; but the workman is very careful
to leave a slight ring of the previously flattened surface undisturbed.
This circular annulus or ring is a guide to enable him to keep the
axis of the curvation exactly at right angles to the surface of the
disc ; for should the ring be thicker at one side than the other, it
is evident that the axis cannot be in its proper position, and must
be corrected accordingly.
When the lens is correctly ground to the required curvature it
is polished as usual, but needs careful examination from time to
time to ascertain that the accuracy formerly attained is not des¬
troyed by uneven polishing.
However careful a workman may be in grinding and polishing a
lens, it often happens that at some stage of the process a particle
of grit or emery will get on his tool or polisher, and scratch the
surface so deeply that, in order to remove it, the circular ring must
be entirely removed. When such is the case, the indicator must
be employed from time to time during grinding and polishing.
Both sides of a double concave lens are treated in exactly a
similar manner; but for the concavo-convex lens of a portrait com¬
bination we must proceed differently.
In this case the disc of glass, after testing as before described, is
edged to the required size, and the convex side ground and
polished in the usual manner. After this the disc is rendered of
uniform thickness, and such thickness verified by the indicator, and
the concave surface is then worked with the precautions before
described.
I have thus shown the optical means employed to form each
lens with accuracy. But we have still to guard against any errors
that may arise from a defective brass mounting, or in imperfectly
turned cells ; and we must not consider our examination complete
until we have ascertained that not only the lenses but even the brass
mounting in which they are fixed is accurate. To do this is easy,
and any errors can be instantly detected, whether caused by the
glass grinder or the brass finisher, and even the defective surface
or cell pointed out.
The plan I adopt was invented by Dr. Woollaston, and read
before the Royal Society on the 13th December, 1821. The title of
the paper is On the Concentric Adjustment of a Triple Object Glass,
and in it the learned author says : — “Having in my possession a
telescope with a triple object glass on 45-inch focus, made by
Dolland in 1771, I have had a good opportunity of examining the
central adjustment of the lenses, and have made trial of a method
of correcting that adjustment which appears not to have been used
for that purpose. When I ventured to take to pieces an adjust¬
ment that had stood the test of fifty years1 trial with uniform appro¬
bation of tits performance, those who know the telescope, and who
know the difficulty of centering, seemed to consider it an act of
rashness, which 1 was likely to regret ; but, by the test I am about
to describe, I felt confident that my object-glass was capable of
improvement, and I rested my hopes of success on principles that
seemed indisputable.
“ When any bright object is viewed through a glass of this con¬
struction without an eye-glass, there may be observed at the same
time as the refracted image a series of fainter images that are
formed by two reflections from the different surfaces; and as the
position of these images is dependent on the curvature of that pair
of surfaces by which it is formed, they appear at different distances
from the object-glass.
“ Since the number of surfaces is six, the number of binary com¬
binations of these surfaces is fifteen, and just so many images
formed by reflection may be discerned.
“ It is manifest that if the glasses be duly adjusted to each other,
so that the axes are correctly coincident, then this series of images
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
January 1, 1861]
must be all situated in the same straight line, and conversely, that
any defective position may be immediately detected by a derange¬
ment of the line of images.”
The author then goes on to describe the formation of the various
images ; and an engraving published with the paper in the Transac
tions of the Royal Society shows the displacement of certain of
these images by one or other of the lenses being out of adjustment;
and, in conclusion, states that the telescope, when finally adjusted
by this plan, was so much improved that “the actual limit to its
powers cannot be fully ascertained, excepting under such favourable
conditions of the atmosphere as do but rarely occur.”
In order to apply this to test our portrait lenses, all we have to do
is to place a candle at a distance of about seven or eight feet, and
then holding the lens in the hand, or supporting it on a stand, if
we look through it we shall distinctly see fourteen of the reflected
images, as shown in fig, 3 , and of the comparative sizes there
given. If all these images are in one straight line we may
pronounce such lens properly centered ; but, if they appear scattered
to the right or left, such lens is defective.
It may be mentioned that fig. 3 shows the images as formed
when the front lens of the portrait combination is next the eye,
and that to observe these images properly the eye should be placed
at a greater distance from the lens, that its focal length, and also
that the first image next the candle, is the one often out of its true
place, in lenses otherwise properly centered.
I mention this last fact, as in many cases I have discovered that
the surface here out of place is that of the front flint lens, and it is
no doubt caused by the cemented pair of lenses not accurately
fitting the cell, and the softness of the balsam having allowed the
lens to drop a trifle after leaving the maker’s hands. Such defects
can be remedied, and the lenses much improved in action.
I have now, gentlemen, given you a rough outline of a few
optical means found useful in the construction, of lenses.
Of course, you are all aware that one part of this paper is a
description of a plan that at one of our meetings I designated a
“ trade secret.” How far I was justified in doing so I leave you
to judge ; but this much is certain, that the plan now described is
unknown to many, and the worthy Editor of The British Journal
of Photography, who attacked me, was amongst that number.
It is true he had since been told something of the principle, which
he designates a rough method; but when we find that, on looking
through a portrait lens, there are fourteen reflected images easily
seen, and that a fifteenth exists, whilst he states the number to be
six, I think we may conclude he has never tried the plan, and that
his assertions are mere hearsay.
However, as he states he will allow me to have the last word, I
can only use his own expression, by saying, I will “let him down
easily,” and thus close the discussion.
Before sitting down, I may mention that, some years ago, and
prior to my accepting the situation I now hold, I was occasionally
employed by two importers to select into classes a very large
number of French portrait lenses. In so doing, I made use of
Woollaston’s method to test the centerings ; focussed a luminous
speck, situated obliquely, to ascertain the amount each lens would
cover; and, to ascertain the coincidence of the chemical and visual
rays, I examined the state of the lens as to “ correction for colour,”
by viewing the image of the luminous speck by a Ramsden eye¬
piece.
These examinations were rapidly made, and the lenses distri¬
buted into one of three classes. Those I considered fit for No. 1
class were sold at a comparatively high price, as first-rate lenses.
To prove that the plan I followed was successful, I can with
confidence state that not one of these lenses was ever returned as
defective, or even complained of; and although my charge for
making such selection was such as to pay me very handsomely, I
think my services would have been made use of to this day had
my time been my own to apply it for such purposes. I mention
this to prove that Woollaston’s plan is not to be considered either
rude or complicated.
- - -
PHOTOGRAPHERS THEIR OWN ARTIFICERS.
By Thos. Gulliver.
No. V.
My camera is merely a square box of the required length for the
focus of the lenses. I have a pair of Ross’s single lenses 4^-in.
focus : they are fixed on a sliding front. The camera slides on a
mahogany bar 19 in. long by 3 wide, which is furnished with a
brass tongue in the centre, working between a sliding jaw. This is
attached to the camera-stand by a screw working in a slot, thus
allowing for any angle up to 1Q£ in., and two negatives are taken at
one operation on a plate GJ by 6 in. ; or, by putting the camera on its
side, and screwing it to the stand, it becomes a binocular camera,
and the two negatives can be taken one after the other. The
camera is made of deal, varnished; the groove for the plate and
borders at the back are of mahogany. A sun-shade, 2 1 in. deep, is
fitted to the sliding front, and a cap made of pasteboard fits over
the sun-shade. These are made moveable when required, in order
to pack closer. Two pieces of hard wood are fixed to the bottom
of the camera. A small brass tongue, screwed to one of these
pieces, runs in a groove at the back of the sliding bar. This keeps
the camera on, and causes it to run steadily.* The method of
working it, and some further particulars, must be reserved for
my next.
OHT ART-PHOTOGRAPHY,
And how far Composition Printing is capable of Aiding Cultivation,
By C. Jabez Hughes.
[Read at the meeting of the South London Photographic Society, December 20, If 63.]
In resuming the discussion of Mr. Fry’s paper, On Instantaneous
Photography and Composition Printing , instead of following him into
the technical details of manipulation, I prefer to take a broad and
general view of the subject, particularly that section in which he
suggests the production of a higher order of artistic pictures by
printing in portions from different negatives.
Hitherto photography has been principally content with repre¬
senting Truth. Can its sphere not be enlarged ? and may
it not aspire to delineate Beauty too? All men love Beauty.
The sentiment of Beauty is innate in us. It is not only
a part of our nature, but one of the best parts. We have
no evidence that any other creature on God’s earth has the
perception of Beauty but man. The poor savage, the dull
boor, and the educated man — -all love Beauty. The child loves
Beauty ; the youth and maiden dream of Beauty ; the strong
man toils night and day for Beauty, and the aged ones close their
eyes and look with confidence into that bright world they are
hastening to for the full realisation of all their disappointed hopes of
Beauty. The mother sees Beauty in her babe ; lovers adorn each
other with a Beauty concealed from all other eyes. And there are
different kinds of Beauty There is Material Beauty, Intellectual
Beauty, and Moral Beauty. The love of Beauty is no narrow feel¬
ing : the man full of it cannot contain himself, but must communi¬
cate it to his fellows ; and the ways of its expression are various.
Some give utterance in “ words that breathe and thoughts that
burn others seize the rude clay and solid stone and carve
enduring monuments; but the more general form of its expression
is pictorial. Man is the only animal which makes pictures, and all
men love pictures. The earliest form of writing is pictures ; the only
universal language is that of pictures. Earliest history records the
existence of pictures, and the child’s first passion is for pictures.
Civilisation and pictures go hand in hand ; and the more civilised
men are the irore they value them. “Man cannot live by bread
alone,” but must have pictures. Every art that man can invent
* A brass button at each end of the bar keeps the camera from running off.
6
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
January 1, 180 1
is applied to increase the production of pictures. The Steam-engine,
Printing Press, Electricity — all must help to produce pictures. The
child’s first lesson is from a picture-book. Dry science is made in¬
teresting, and fiction more fascinating, by pictures. The more man
becomes educated the more he requires pictures, for education and
pictures are indissolubly connected. The highest Art and deepest
Science are concentrated on pictures : we paint them by Light,
print them by Steam, and distribute by the Railroad.
If pictures, then, exercise so powerful an influence, how highly
may we estimate the greatest picture-producing power ever de¬
vised — I mean our glorious Photography ! What invention was
ever more deeply appreciated, more fondly cherished, more de¬
votedly cultivated, than this child of the sun? What art can boast
in so short a time of so numerous a band of attached disciples?
Others may have added more to our material wealth ; but none
have communicated so much pure and unalloyed good in aiding
science, assisting art, and by the humble but potent aid of exchange
of portraits, ministering to and keeping alive in every part of the
globe those warm and holy feelings of affection which are the
very base of our nature.
Our business to-night is not with the usual applications of photo¬
graphy. We seek the higher forms of pictorial representation, and
wish to know whether the Artist-photographer may not, by the aid
of the camera, as legitimately express his love of beauty as the
poet by his poetry, the sculptor by his chisel, or the artist by his
brush : the means are different but the end is the same.
Permit me, before proceeding further, to make a few distinctions
to assist us in discussing our subject. I propose to divide general
photography into three classes — Mechanical photography, Art pho¬
tography, and, for want of a better term, High-Art photography.
Mechanical Photography will include all kinds of pictures which
aim at a simple representation of the objects to which the camera
is pointed, and will include not only all reproductions but the great
majority of portraits and landscapes. Let it be understood that I
do not mean the term mechanical to be understood depreciatingly.
On the contrary, I mean that everything that is to be depicted
exactly as it is, and where all the parts are to be equally sharp and
perfect, is to be included under this head. I might have used the
term literal photography, but think the former better. This branch,
for obvious reasons, will always be the most practised ; and where
literal, unchallengeable Truth is required, is the only one allow¬
able.
Art Photography' will embrace all pictures where the artist, not
content with taking things as they may naturally occur, deter¬
mines to infuse his mind into them by arranging, modifying, or
otherwise disposing them, so that they may appear in a more ap¬
propriate or beautiful manner than they would have been without
such interference. This class may easily embrace almost all sub¬
jects. In landscapes the artist may select the period of the year,
the condition of weather, time of the day, point of sight, length of
exposure, &c., as material agencies in beautifying his picture ; the
same in portraiture, by arrangement of light, pose, expression,
presence or absence of accessories, &c. ; also in the composition of
pictures by the due attention to all the necessary parts, so as to
form one harmonious whole.
High- Art Photography. — This distinction may appear presump¬
tuous ; but I feel a necessity for it to include certain pictures which
aim at higher purposes than the majority of art-photographs, and
whose aim is not merely to amuse but to instruct, purify, and
ennoble.
If such distinctions as these be admitted, we can the more easily
discuss the various kinds of pictures, and assign them each to their
proper class. Our more immediate object is with what I propose
to call art-photographs. With many of these productions we are
quite familiar, particularly those of that true artist-photographer,
Rejlander. The idea of producing art-photographs is not a new
one : it is almost coeval with photography itself. In 1845, Mr.
Mavall, then of Philadelphia, designed and executed a series of
ten pictures, on daguerreotype plates, in illustration of the Lord’s
Prayer. This series was highly appreciated in America, and when
exhibited in this country received high encomiums from the art-
press. In 1848 he composed a series of six, illustrative of Campbell’s
Soldier's Dream. It is to be regretted that they were only on
silver plates, as they were confined therefore to his own gallery,
and the great merit they possessed known only to a few. Numerous
other art-photographs lie composed, particularly one very fine one,
in illustration of the words — “And this mortal shall put on immor-
t.ulity.” This work, for the fineness of conception and noble
simplicity of execution, in my opinion, exceeds all that has yet
been produced.
This gentleman, though he has precedence in point of time, has
done little or nothing in this line lately; and it is to Rejlander we are
mainly indebted for popular illustrations of art-photographs. Mr.
Robinson has also produced some very superior productions of this
class, of which his last one, the Holiday in the Woods , is by far the
most ambitious, and by many considered his best. It is certainly
the largest ; but there is a deep pathos and feeling about his Fading
Away that gives that picture a far higher place in my mind than
any of his other productions. Rejlander occasionally, and Mr.
Robinson often, uses more than one negative to produce then-
pictures. To describe this class of pictures a word has been coined,
“Composition-photography.” Now, I object to this term as descrip¬
tive of what I propose to call Art-photographs. It is not sufficiently
definite, and is open to misconstruction ; and, moreover, it is
descriptive rather of the means taken to produce the picture than
its nature when done.
I may be told, as doubtless I shall be, that “composition,” in an
artistic sense, means the operation of devising, arranging, modifying,
and successfully carrying out the artist’s conception. The idea
may exist in the painter’s mind ; but the reducing to practice in a
proper and harmonious manner the various parts required to form
the picture, so that the idea conceived shall at last be adequately
expressed, this operation — partly mental, partly physical — is
what an artist will tell me is meant by “composition,” and that
photographs produced by such or similar means he would call
“ composition-photography.”
Well, in an artistic sense, this is right; but as the word is for
photographers, they cannot be expected to understand it in this
refined and technical sense, but will attach to it the plain and
literal meaning — a print composed from different negatives. Take
a notable art-photograph, Rejlander’s Tico Ways of Life, and ask
an artist if that is a composition-photograph ? “ Most assuredly,”
he will say ; “ as much so as any painting, and a very clever compo¬
sition.” Now ask a prosaic photographer is that a composition-
photograph ? and his reply will be — “Certainly; composed from
ever so many negatives, and very nicely printed in.”
Now that cannot be a very happy word where it is capable of
conveying such different meanings of the one subject.
Again, take Lake Price’s Don Quixote in his Study, or his Roman
Festa, and ask the artist and the photographer — •“ Are these coin¬
position-photographs ?” The artist will exclaim — “ Yes ! and fine
ones !” while the camera-man will declare — “ They are nothing of
the kind: they are both from single negatives, and printed all at
one time !” Here I fancy I hear the man with the black fingers
exclaim to the artist — “ What do you know about photography ?
Come here, and I’ll show you something worth calling a composi¬
tion-photograph ! Here’s a print, five feet square, composed of
twenty-five negatives, and I’ll defy you to tell where one ends and
the other begins. They are taken from a large map. That’s what
I call a composition-photograph !” Artist (with knitted brow and
violent manner) : “ That a composition-photograph ! — it’s no com¬
position at all ; mechanical drawing by sunlight — nothing else !”
This is sufficient to show that the term composition-photography
is not definite enough, and that it will be difficult for the photo¬
graphic mind to separate it from printing from many negatives.
Indeed if we don’t mind we shall get into trouble and confusion
with this question of printing from many negatives, by allowing
mechanical ingenuity to usurp the place of artistic skill. For my
own part I do not like printing one picture from several negatives.
There may be times where it cannot be avoided ; but wherever
possible it should not be done. Artistically speaking, it is false in
principle ; and photographically, it is a step in the wrong direction.
Its tendency is to cripple art and degrade photography. It is
making the conception of the artist depend on the skill of the
printer. It is a confession of weakness on the part of both, by
doing in fragments what is ultimately to be represented as if done
as a whole. When an artist conceives a brilliant thought, and
hastens to put it on canvas, how he sighs that he is obliged to work
piecemeal — that he cannot, with one sweep of his brush, realise the
thought in his mind. It is the proud boast of photography that it
can do this. In depicting a portrait it does not begin with the head
and go on with the hands, then put in the drapery, and finally the
accessories : it works all at once — as a whole. This is the natural
mode ; and it was reserved for patchwork photographers to discover
the method of taking the head on one plate, the body on another,
and the feet on a third ; and then, by printing them together, to
produce a tasteless monstrosity. See yon lovely landscape of hill
and dale, water and sky ; how shall I proceed to depict it? Shall
I first photograph the river, and then do the trees ; next week take
yon hoary old castle, and some other time the distant hills and
January 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
7
sky ; and then, by ingenious printing, fit and match them together
as a child does its toy puzzle? Or shall I uncover my lens, and
with one effort seize Nature with all her native charms, her local
and general hues, her natural chiaroscuro , just as she now is, and as
she never will be again ? I fancy I hear some one say — “ But you
cannot get this natural harmony. You may secure the landscape
but you lose the sky, or you get the sky and lose the landscape ;
and the argument now is, can we not print the sky into the land¬
scape, or the landscape into the sky, and so make the photograph
perfect?” That is exactly the question — can we do this? Let us
hope we can. Let us try ; but bear in mind, mere printing
clouds into landscapes is not making perfect photographs. A
fine photograph of clouds and sky is one of the most beautiful
we can depict; but to join it on to a landscape without having
a most tender regard for the nature of the subject, instead
of raising the photographer to the rank of an artist, will only
degrade him to the level of a mechanical printer. An outcry
has justly been raised against white paper skies, but don’t
let us run into the opposite error of indiscriminately printing
in clouds. No sky will ever harmonise like the one that existed
when the view was taken. Let the efforts be, then, to take the
normal and natural sky simultaneously with the landscape. In this
direction lies the true progress of artistic landscape photography.
Until we make further advances in our art we shall be troubled,
especially in out-door work, with some objects reflecting more
light than others ; but let us exercise our ingenuity rather in
devising means of giving short exposure to the sky and longer to
the foreground, so that they may simultaneously be produced, than
by tricks and dodges to print in another sky, which, under the best
circumstances, can be but a sorry substitute for the natural one.
Give me a landscape with no sky at all rather than with one that
is not in harmony with it : for in the former case, though I may
regret its absence, it does not prevent me enjoying what remains ;
but if the sky be not consonant with the rest of the scene it offends
me by its impertinent obtrusion, and mars the pleasure I should
otherwise have experienced. There is, at least, this negative
merit about a landscape without a sky, that it permits the mind to
supply any sky it pleases ; and so carefully, though unconsciously,
is the eye trained, that whatever sky the mind supplies is suro
to harmonise with the picture.
But landscapes may be taken with the natural sky. Mr. Fenton
has exhibited some. The late Mr. Archer took many, and very
charming ones they were. But there is one class of subjects that
seems to offer less difficulty — marine pieces ( waterscapes I should
like to call them, as distinguished from landscapes). Water always
reflects light in nearly the same amount as the sky. In 1855
Cyrus Macaire showed many pictures of vessels at sea with the
natural sky and clouds. We all remember Le Gray’s famous sea
piece, and the sensation it created. Mr. Kibble, of Glasgow, has
taken an enormously large picture, with the sky and water and
steam vessel all perfect, and on a dry 'plate, too. Let us not forget
these facts, for they show that the hope of obtaining natural skies
is. by no means so desperate; and I urge especially on those who
wish to see photographs take rank as works of art not too readily
to give way to any mechanical means of producing aerial effect.
I hear that it is seriously proposed by certain photographers to
take a series of negatives of clouds-— stock negatives— to print into
their landscapes as occasion may require or taste (?) suggest.
Just imagine a negative secured of one of those cloud scenes in
April, when the sun, bursting through, sends down his beams like
rays from a gigantic fan : such a picture is a triumph, and we
applaud the photographer for securing it. Suppose another nega¬
tive taken of the sea, on a mild and tranquil day in June, when
there is scarcely a ripple on the water, and the sky is “ all serene
such a picture will have a quiet beauty entirely its own, and quite
different from the former one. But imagine the photographer, not
satisfied with the calm and nearly white sky, bringing out his cloud
negative, and by ingenious dodging printing in this turbulent sky,
where from gaps in the clouds stream down those broad beams of
light not one of which is reflected from the calm sea beneath.
V/bat shall we say if such a picture, so deficient in the first
elements of harmony, be presented for our admiration and instruc¬
tion ? . It may startle us by its novelty, and please us by its
ingenuity; but how shall we designate it? Its novelty consists in
connecting two conditions of atmosphere that never did or can
co-exist, and its ingenuity in skilfully combining that which ought
never to have been brought together. Shall we do violence to our
feelings and call it an art-photograph ? or shall we hint the un¬
pleasant truth that it is only a piece of printing- frame patchwork?
or shall we let it down easy, and call it a composition photograph'}
It will be gathered that I am not sanguine of the advantage of
printing skies into landscapes. Shall I rest contented with white
skies, then ? Yes, I say, rather than have skies not in harmony with
the scene ; but, as the late Sir Robert Peel used to say, “there is a
third course open to us.”. During a recent visit to Manchester, I
was much delighted with the beautiful productions of Mr. Mudd,
and particularly with the manner he treated this question of “ skies
or no skies.” I do not know whether I can do justice to his plan by
description, but he kindly furnished me with a few examples to
show you. You will observe that the sky, which is usually dead
white, is in his delicately tinted, and that where the sky joins the
land, instead of being hard and wiry, it is extremely soft and
tender. These effects he gains by very simple and legitimate
means.
He explained that his skies generally printed through, and to
prevent this, he paints them out ; but, in painting out, he only
brings his black within a quarter or half an inch of the boundary of
his landscape : he softens off this black, and thus leaves the sky
to this extent to print through ; this not only prevents a hard
outline to his extreme distance, but it gives a charming effect of
atmosphere. The rest of the sky prints quite white ; but, after the
print is taken out of the printing-frames, this dead white portion of
the sky is exposed to light for a very short time, just to tint it, and
by these two simple devices it is surprising what a charm he com¬
municates to those portions of his pictures that would otherwise
be white paper. Understand me distinctly, he does not paint in
clouds; he only introduces delicate, wavy, irregular tints, just
enough to disturb the monotony of the dead white plane and to.
suggest aerial effects.
If cloud backgrounds could be printed in, in this delicate, dreamy,
hazy, imaginative style, I would not object to them ; but unless
they can be done in this quiet, unobtrusive manner, they had
better not be attempted. Meanwhile, until we get our natural
skies, I call photographers’ attention to the delicate and artistic
manner of Mr. Mudd ; for by it they can join in the cry of— “down
with white paper skies !” without running to the other extreme of
keeping property negatives with which to print their clouds.
Before concluding this very incomplete essay, allow me to say a
few more words on Art-photography. I feel that photography is
capable of being made to minister to higher purposes than it has
yet aspired to; and that it will as certainly take its place as a fine
art as sculpture or painting — how early depends on the earnest¬
ness, truthfulness, and intelligence of its votaries. The tendency
just now is to produce art-photographs by fragmentary portions
rather than direct, and all at once. Strictly speaking, this consi¬
deration does not lie in our province. A photographer, like an
artist, is at liberty to employ what means he thinks necessary
to carry out his ideas. If a picture cannot be produced by one
negative let him have two or ten ; but let it be clearly understood
that these are only means to the end, and that the picture, when
finished, must stand or fall entirely by the effects produced, and
not by the means employed to secure them. When judging of a
painting, we do not ask the artist how many sittings he took from
his models, or how often he arranged his lay figure. These are the
mechanical appliances of the art— the mysteries of the printing
and painting rooms. I lay stress on these points, because I find
persons dwelling too much on the beauties of an art-photograph,
and praising the artist because he composed it from so many nega¬
tives — thus exalting too highly the mechanical instead of the artistic
skill. We have abundance of mechanical ability : it is the artistic
we want to cultivate. For my own part, I am sorry to see that
an artist-photographer is obliged to have recourse to more than one
negative, and can fancy how he must be annoyed and crippled by
working in this fragmentary way. Of two given pictures, equal in
merit and design, that one is the best that is produced by the
fewest negatives ; for he is the higher artist who produces the
greatest results with the smallest means. I consider it, then,
rather a demerit that a given picture should require so many
negatives to produce it. It indicates a poverty of means or design,
and is so far a reflection on the art or the artist, or both ; for, after
all, the ultimate picture must appear as if produced from one
negative. Not only are the manipulatory difficulties increased, but
the risks run of altogether destroying that natural harmony and
chiaroscuro always present in a picture taken from one negative
are very great.
Finally, I do not think the advocacy of composition-printing
tends to advance art-photography. It starts with patting clogs
and fetters upon it. As mind is higher than matter, so is art
loftier than mechanics. The artistic mind is not mechanically
inclined. It is better— clearing all obstacles from his path— to
8
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1801
allow the art-photographer free scope to his fancy, and trammelled
with few mechanical details ; to give him freedom to use the
camera and printing-frame, as the artist his brush and canvas, as
the legitimate vehicles of expressing his conceptions of beauty.
In this way only, loving our art, can we hope to elevate it.
As Mechanical photography deals with Material Beauty, so let
Art-photography deal with Intellectual Beauty; and when deep and
earnest minds, seeking to express their ideas of Moral and Religious
Beauty, employ High Art photography, then may we be proud of
our glorious art, and of having aided in its elevation.
FACTS versus “GREAT EXPECTATIONS.”
When a writer takes upon himself the office of censor, and criti¬
cises the speech or writing of another, we have a right to expect
that he will, at least, confine his statements within the boundaries
of truth. There is a code of honour in literary as in any other kind
of warfare. He who transgresses that code ceases even to deserve
the notice of his antagonist.
In less enlightened times it may have been necessary, from
motives of personal safety, for an illustrious Junius to resort to the
nom de plume. In those days a sense of honour would suggest to a
Avriter the ignominy attendant upon “stabbing in the dark.” “ 2,”
concealed beneath the mantle of “Great Expectations,” has aimed
the blow, but, being “ in the dark, both missed his footing and his
mark.” I shall not attempt to inquire what motives have inspired
him so completely to distort and misrepresent my statements and
opinions. The bitter animus which pervades his criticism is but
too apparent; beneath its influence his perceptive faculty has be¬
come so far deranged that he has failed to discover in my paper
the very sentiments which he charges me with ignoring. He wil¬
fully overlooks the fact that my paper was an address delivered
as Vice-President of the Chorlton Photographic Society, before a
number of gentlemen probably the equals of “2” in point of photo¬
graphic intelligence — decidedly his superiors in the spirit of candour
and the love of truth. Had I taken the course suggested by “ 2,”
I should have insulted their understanding by indulging in some
recital of amusing anecdotes, by fulsome adulation as to some
imaginary wonderful progress in their pursuits during the past
year, or in some other way flattered their vanity at the expense of
my own veracity. By this course, if they were the school-boys “2”
would have us to suppose, they would swallow the opiate and in¬
vestigation might sleep profoundly for another year.
In my address I discharged, to the best of my ability, the duty
which was imposed upon me. Thus, in the first half of my paper,
to use the words of “ 2,” in his closing paragraph, I did point out
that “ photography has had an immense influence in the world.
Young in years, it is a very infant Hercules in strength. * * It
has opened a vast new field of chemical inquiry ; it has stimulated a
large amount of mechanical skill ; and not the least of its benefits
is the £ s. d. side of the question.” All this, and much more of
the encouraging phases of photography, was dwelt upon by me, as
the reader may verify for himself. Has “ 2 ” thrown a single new
ray of light upon our favourite science in the corrective paragraphs
he has penned ? “ Physician,” &c., &c.
In the second division of my address, referring to the field of
chemical inquiry, I have stated that “a great number of facts require
explanation ;” and that my object in a partial enumeration of them
has been to “excite a determination to commence a course of careful
experiments, with a view to clearing up some of the mysteries that
beset our art.” It may be wiser and more sensible to stifle inquiry,
and create “great discouragement” by a course of ridicule and
anonymous misrepresentation ; but “2” may be assured that he
will gain no converts among readers of The British Journal of
Photography, who are not to be led astray by disingenuous
sophistry.
W. GRIFFITHS.
A FEW HINTS ON COMPOSITION AND KEEPING.
By Alfred H. Wall.
[Read, in continuation of the discussion on Mr, Fry's paper, at. the Meeting of the
South London Photographic Society, on the evening of December 20, I860.]
The question of composition-printing is not only a mechanical but
an artistic one. The mere process of printing from several negatives
to form one picture will depend for its success upon the skill and
ingenuity of the operator, who may produce a paste-and-scissors
affair — “ a thing of shreds and patches,” offensive both to common
sense and good taste, or one in which the joinings are so artfully
concealed as to be invisible to any but a more than ordinarily ex¬
perienced and careful observer. But in either case it is merely and
purely a mechanical process, and by no means to be claimed, in this
sense, as anything at all artistic in itself. Artistic composition is
quite another thing, and it is to the word in this sense that I intend
my present few remarks to apply ; for even when this highest
mechanical success has been attained, and no cruel lines cut up
the affair into mere patchwork, there are yet other considerations of
far higher importance to the real pictorial value and high character
of such productions.
The most legitimate method of using more than one negative for
a single picture is undoubtedly that to which Mr. Fry applies them,
when printing in skies to marine views or landscapes ; but the
operation is one which must not be undertaken without a thought¬
ful study of nature, and extremely careful manipulation in the
printing process. In the first place then, I would suggest to
Mr. Fry that in procuring transcripts of so difficult a subject as
water in motion an exposure more strictly instantaneous than that
he adopts would be an advantage. I think if he compares a more
absolutely instantaneous picture of waves to some of his own pro¬
ductions he will find that, while his own have lost somewhat of
that characteristic beauty of form and detail in which the more
striking truthfulness and effect of such a subject lies, the former
will have a clear crispness of outline and detail which is pre¬
eminently eloquent, in their fantastic and continually varying
forms both of the material and of its various pecularities. Although
no advocate for extreme sharpness in general landscape, I have
frequently observed that the least woolliness in the outlines of
moving water goes a very long way towards destroying its truth¬
fulness of effect. More particularly will this be perceptible in
what artists call accidental waves, viz., waves which are influenced
by such accidental causes as the inequalities of the shore, and by
rocks or other impediments which not only cause them to rise or
leap to a greater height before bursting, but also originate a great
number of broken waves, which are decidedly of keen-edged, jagged
forms, and should be represented with clear definition and distinct¬
ness in the photograph.
The Heo.vy Sea at Brighton , which Mr. Fry exhibited in illustration
of his paper, is, I think, open to the objections I have brought
forward, due, as I venture to state, to an exposure which, consider¬
ing the actinic influence of water in light, and its rapidity of change
in assuming diverse forms, was too long ; but it should be remem¬
bered that no greater accumulation of difficulties can exist to baffle
the most expert and artistic photographer than those Mr. Fry has
so boldly undertaken to combat. I find, in a work by an authority
among our landscape painters, the following remark. Speaking of
the treatment of water, he says : — “Softness and obscurity in outline
is to he avoided here, more even than in clouds, as without clear
and firm edges no transparency can be obtained ; and, although in
looking at the foam and spray of waterfalls or cataracts it is not
easy to see how such broken forms can be produced by laying on
tints with defined edges, a careful examination will prove that there
is no other means by which a good conclusion can be attained.”*
The foam in the picture I have called your attention to has no real
shapes or forms, which, however great the apparent confusion
arising from the mistiness of the drifting spray, certainly existed,
although changing so rapidly and in such minute fractions of time,
as to defy any exposure but one more strictly instantaneous to
seize the real appearance.
Turning now to Mr. Fry’s cloud negatives, I would impress upon
him the necessity of securing, for every composition picture he
may undertake, the identical shy which may be associated with it
in nature. Every scene will be affected to no small extent by the
character of the sky under which it appears ; and this being the
case, as it is acknowledged to be by all authorities, you will under¬
stand what subtle and delicate modifications of aerial effect, and
what tender gradations of chiaroscuro must arise from the various
atmospheric conditions as indicated by sky and cloud. To print in
any sky to any landscape will therefore be erroneous in principle,
although it is very possible that an artistic and scientific observer
of nature may do so with impunity, defying detection. I remember
seeing a composition print not long since which put a landscape
taken on a clear, bright, sunshiny day, in a pure and colourless
atmosphere, under a sky full of low-lying vapours and masses of
misty cloud. It had been shown and admired among certain
photographic circles without the detection of its funny mistake,
which is only one of the many proofs I could name of the great
absence of, and urgent need for, artistic culture in the practice of
our art.
Barnard on Landscape Painting.
January 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
If this be the case in obtaining a sky and cloud negative under
ordinary circumstances inland, how much greater becomes the
necessity of securing the sky and landscape at the same time
when photographing marine views! Every variation in the
glorious dome above is reflected in, or has its influence upon, the
eagerly sympathising surface of the water beneath. The seem-
inly wayward humours of reflection and hue, which are continually
changing on its mirror-like surface, have their origin for the most
part in the no less wayward variations above; and the placing of a
sea under a sky foreign to it in character is so destructive of har¬
mony and truth that, even where undetected by the eye, it will be
repulsive to that instinctive recognition of truth which so often
makes an ignorant observer just in his judgment although
erroneous in the words or ideas in which it is intended to be ex¬
pressed. Nor let it be thought that such reflections upon the sur¬
face of water can be so readily accounted for that they are easily
imitated. Apart from certain atmospheric characteristics peculiar
in their harmonious effect to both sky and water, but more nearly
related to perspective, the mere question of simple surface reflec¬
tions involve a number of very complicated scientific considera¬
tions. How often do we see certain portions of clouds and sky, or
certain objects on the shore, reflected in a most unaccountable
way on the surface of some lustrous lake’s clear surface, while
other things which you would certainly expect to see in such a
mirror are as singularly absent ! How often are we, despite the
recognised optical laws which govern reflections generally, com¬
pelled to recognise the existence of disturbing circumstances which
baffle foregone conclusions and defy ordinary calculations! I, and
doubtless most of you, have been perplexed by such singular
operations of nature more than once. The height and position of
the clouds, the height of the camera (or eye of the spectator), the
density of the atmosphere, and a thousand other chances, seem to
influence such effects in their wondrous diversity of changes. The
licence, therefore, of using one sky for combination with several
sea or land views is, to say the least, a very dangerous one, and
one which I do not think a society with any artistic pretentions
should encourage. To conclude, I should recommend that where
the practice of composition - printing to secure natural skies is
adopted, you should, for the sake of good taste and artistic truth,
take your sky at the time you secure your landscape.
REPORT OP THE EXPERIMENTAL COMMITTEE OP THE
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ON THE
DRY PROCESSES.
The first subject chosen for investigation was the Dry Processes
generally. The question being naturally a very wide one, the
Committee could not possibly, in the short time they have had at
their disposal, arrive at any decisive conclusions on it. Indeed,
considering the large number of formulae for dry photography, they
scarcely anticipate being able to do more than practically to com¬
pare the different processes one with the other, and carefully to
note and point out the good and bad qualities of each. If in
addition to this they succeed in advancing another step, however
slight, towares the elucidation of this important subject, they feel
assured that their time will not have been misapplied,
In this report, which must only be considered as a preliminary
one, the Committee have given their opinions and experiences
individually, and not collectively — a plan they propose adopting on
all future occasions.
The first question which the Committee considered was, the
possibility of preparing dry plates to equal wet collodion in sensitiveness;
and, as a short step to its solution, appointed a sub-committee to
test Dr. Norris’s plates, which were stated to be the most sensitive
hitherto produced. After most careful trials, the individual opinions
arrived at tallied, as nearly as possible, with that of Mr. Davis,
here given : —
“ My inference,” he saj’s, “is, that the plates at present prepared
by the Dry Plate Company are about one-third less sensitive than
by the most rapid wet collodion, and equal to that of average
sensibility.” Having thus established the certainty that sensitive
dry plates can be prepared, the Committee are now engaged in
investigating the principles involved in producing qualities favour¬
able to that end.
The Committee have next to place before the Society the result
of some general experiments which have been made by individual
members, commencing with the following valuable remarks by
Mr. Davis : —
9
General Remarks on Dry Plate Photography .
By Sebastian Davis.
In conducting some experiments in connexion with the Experimental Com¬
mittee of this Society, 1 have at present directed my attention to the principles
involved in the preparation of dry plates. Dry plate photography, as at
present practised, divides itself into two methods of proceeding. We have
upon the one hand those processes which are based upon the principle of intro¬
ducing organic compounds, soluble in w’ater, into the pores of the film; and,
on the other, the combination of albumen with collodion, and its subsequent
conversion into an insoluble state. The practical advantage which attends
the adoption of the former method arises from the facility with w'hich an
aqueous developing solution permeates the structure of the film, thereby
favouring rapidity of development. This easy solubility of the preservative
media in water necessarily precludes the possibility of a retentive power
being exerted between the glass and collodion film by its agency. Pure albu¬
men, on the contrary, is not only susceptible of actinic impression when in
combination with many salts of silver, but it possesses an adhesive capacity in
in an eminent degree. Albumen, unfortunately, is not entirely efficient as a
preservative agent, inasmuch as all its sensitive combinations with salts of
silver are liable to spontaneous decomposition, even in complete darkness.
We thus have two classes of media, the nitrogenous and the non-nitrogenous —
each possessing special qualifications as preservative agents, but neither
unaccompanied by characteristic deficiencies.
The special experiments to which I would call attention are those made
with preservative agents soluble in water, and which, when applied to the
collodion film, renders it pervious to aqueous solution after a preliminary
dessication. The bodies that possess this property, and which are most worthy
of notice, are gum arabic, British gum, gelatine, metagelatine, extract from the
dried grape, glucose, dextrine, infusion of malt, sweet wines, molasses, oxymel,
melted sugar, and the mucilages prepared from linseed, quince.seed, carrageen,
&c. In experimenting with these bodies, I have considered it indispensable to
practical success that they should be capable of preserving the collodion film
in a sensitive condition without the presence of free nitrate of silver. I have,
therefore, converted the free nitrate salt into a chloride of silver by washing
the excited film in an abundance of common filtered water. By then covering
the plate with different solutions of the above-mentioned bodies, of suitable
strength, photographical results of more or less practical importance will
become apparent. Gelatine and metagelatine will be found to possess the
inconvenience of requiring a more thorough soaking in cold or hot water,
between exposure and development, than is compatible with the tenacity of the
most suitable collodion film. Gum arabic, under all circumstances, is liable to
enter into spontaneous decomposition when brought in contact with the sensi¬
tive surface, and many foggy pictures are the inevitable result of its employ¬
ment. An infusion of malt and linseed offer practical advantages over gum,
arising from the facility with which they can be washed from the collodion
surface: they do not, however, preserve the plate for many days, so as to
ensure clean and perfect pictures. A similar drawback accompanies the use of
molasses, oxymel, solution of melted sugar, and a solution of quince seeds, or
carrageen. If we except some partial and peculiar stains, British, or sweet
wines (as ginger and raisin), act excellently as preservative agents, provided
the superflous quantity be gently washed from the surface of1 the plate before
drying. The extract obtained from the dried grape, as imported to our
country, appears to afford a solution equal or superior to any of the above ;
whether its use will prove to be accompanied with any practical obstacle to
uniform success must be left to the decision of further experiments. Upon a
future occasion 1 hope, with the assistance of my colleagues, to form a specific
opinion with respect to the best dry plate process for landscape photography,
and to furnish a report upon the practical and theoretical merits of the
recent suggestions in connexion with the preparation of collodio-albumen
plates.
Mr. Davis lias also made some highly-interesting; experiments
on the Petschler and Mann process, the particulars of which he has
promised to impart at a future opportunity.
Mr. Bochert, of the German Hospital, Dalston,has been^ indefati¬
gable in his experiments on this subject, and his communication is
the more valuable because he illustrates every step of it with an
experimental plate.
Although the following extracts from his notes are not, perhaps,
so conclusive as might be desired, yet the Committee hope that in
placing them before the Society the members may be induced to
experimentalise in some of the directions pointed out, so that use¬
ful conclusions may ultimately be arrived at.
Mr. Bochert1 s Experiments on Sundry Dry Processes.
Dr. Schnauss, lately making some experiments on iodide of silver, comes to
the conclusion that iodide of potassium employed before exposure on a sensitised
film nearly destroys all sensitiveness to light, and leaves it to practical photo¬
graphers to draw their own conclusions. _ .
There appears to me one important case for doing so m the collodio-albumen
process, where, over a sensitised film, iodised albumen is poured. Accoiding
to Dr. Schnauss, sensitiveness ought to vanish away hopelessly, as the second
sensitising is pronounced to be unable to restore the previous sensitive condi¬
tion of the iodide of silver in the film. Nevertheless, the efficacy of the
collodio-albumen process is beyond doubt.
I repeated his experiments with the following results .
Plate 1 had a weak solution of iodide of potassium poured over its lower half,
and was then well washed, redipped for one minute, and exposed. The result
was, as described by Dr. Schnauss, a nearly complete loss of sensitiveness.
The part treated with iodide of potassium had a dense dead yellow colour, and
was not transparent at all, like a film produced by an o\ei -iodised collodion. It
struck me that, through over-iodising, the film may only become inaccessible
to the sensitised bath because the meshes are blocked up.
10
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1861
I repeated the same experiment (plate 2), and allowed the plate in re-sensi¬
tising to remain in the bath for five minutes instead of one, and I obtained a
picture as dense as can be desired. This proves, I think, that Dr. Schnauss’s
experiment allows no conclusion on the chemical properties of iodide of silver,
but on the state of mechanical deposition of the iodide of silver in the meshes
of the film.
His third experiment of treating an exposed plate with iodide of potassium,
exposing to daylight, then washing and re-sensitising (but now five minutes
instead of one), I have repeated, and got a dense picture, the little fogginess of
which I am inclined to attribute to faults of my own.
Mr. Bochert then directed his experiments to Petschler and
Mann’s modification of the collodio-albumen process, and after many
trials gave it as his opinion that the plates, previously to the final
washing, could not with safety be exposed to diffused daylight.
He then goes on to say : —
Now Mr. Petschler suggested that iodide of potassium gave similar results to
his process. Finding the chloride not answer, I tried the iodide. Plain albumen,’
containing two grains iodide of potassium per ounce, was poured over the washed
sensitised plate. After drying, I tried the sensitiveness to diffused light, by ex¬
posing one-third to the sun for twenty minutes, another third to dull diffused
light for three minutes, and kept the last third entirely protected. After twenty-
four hours’ keeping, the plate was soaked in water for half-an-hour, then fully
washed under a tap for several minutes. After drying, exposed in a stereoscopic
view camera to an object strongly illumined by the sun for six minutes, in de¬
veloping no trace of picture could be obtained ; but exposure to strong sunlight
of one-third of the plate produced a slight fogginess, which might not perhaps
be much noticed on a strong picture behind.
Now, I remembered Dr. Norris’s suggestion, that in the case of iodide of po¬
tassium on the film, hot water removed more completely this salt. I prepared
a plate similar to the last, soaked it in cold water for half-an-hour, and washed
it by pouring over it about a pint of hot water. After drying, I exposed the
same time as before, and obtained a dense strong picture.
From this last experiment he draws the conclusion that when
plates are required which, in their comparatively insensitive state
will bear moderate exposure to daylight, it will be better to pre¬
pare them by the Taupenot process, and make use of Dr. Norris’s
suggestion to finally sensitise by washing with boiling water.
He obtained highly promising results by Dr. Ryley’s process, as
given by Mr. Parry at the meeting of the Manchester Photographic
Society in October last. After sensitising and well washing the
plate, he coated it with uniodised albumen, and then, draining for
a few minutes, immersed it in boiling water. Exposing in the
camera, the resulting negative developed out remarkably clean,
and any amount of intensity could readily be obtained. He has
promised to continue his experiments in this direction.
In speaking of the Fothergill process Mr. Bochert makes the
following interesting communication: — -
Fothergill’s process, as advocated by Mr. Ackland, gave in my hands good
results, although the least deviation from the prescribed manipulations is fol¬
lowed by a series of different descriptions of stains. As an essential point, I
mention here the use of four to six drachms of distilled water for the first wash¬
ing, and the prepared albumen containing five minims strong ammonia in three
ounces liquid (one part albumen to two of water), or half a drop strong am¬
monia per ounce.
I was advised to try a modification of the Fothergill process, propounded by
Mr. Hannaford at a meeting of the .South London Photographic Society, which
was to ensure entire freedom from stains. Mr. Hannaford does not dilute with
four drachms of water, but washes the plate nnder a tap, redips it. into a weaker
silver bath (four grains per ounce), and pours on a solution weak in albumen (one
part to six of water), but strong in ammonia (about four drops per ounce),
and containing between ten and twelve grains of citrate of ammonia per ounce.
I tried Mr. Hannaford’s process, and found it answer perfectly, the plates
being certainly free from stains, but requiring 25 per cent, longer exposure. In
dry plates I think a little longer exposure does not much matter.
To what circumstance must I look for the difference of results?
The albumen may produce in both cases albuminate of silver; certainly a
larger amount in Ackland’s. The albuminate being soluble in ammonia may
be liquified and washed off (being in small quantities) in Hannaford’s; very
likely not in Ackland’s, or not entirely, and perhaps assisting in the formation
of stains.
The citrate of ammonia, easily soluble in water, could not, after washing
under a tap be supposed to assist anyhow : it may in the first instance convert
the minimum of nitrate of silver combined with thepyroxyline, either chemically
or mechanically, into citrate of silver; but this citrate (an infinitely small
amount), being easily soluble in ammoniated water, will wash off under the tap.
Starting from the inestimable experiments of Hardwich and others, on the
value of all the substances used as preservatives in the dry process, which prove
distinctly that their influence is essentially mechanical, keeping the pores of the
film in a distended state during drying, and giving easier access to the developer
— that their chemical influence is only experienced when they are combined
with oxide or nitrate of silver, and even then to the detriment of the keeping of
the plates : — 1 was of opinion that the larger amount of ammonia Hannaford’s
rocess, having little or no action on iodide and bromide of silver, exerted what
may be allowed to call a last and complete cleansing effect on the film, taking
away all silver compounds out of the meshes of the pyroxyline, and relieving
the iodide from any embarrassment through preservatives which take now.a°-
days all the glory to themselves, putting the hard-working man (iodide of
silver) into the dark.
I now prepared a number of plates, taking care to work with the same col¬
lodion, bath, &c., exposing at the same hour of the day, on the same object, and
in close comparison to one plate prepared according to Hannaford’s formula.
It is clear that, following my supposition, the second sensitising was at once a
waste of time and labour.
As modifying or cleansing liquids I employed («) ammonia and water, i our
drops per ounce; ( b ) ammonia and water, two drops per ounce ; (c) ammonia
and water, one drop per ounce, with two grains of citrate of ammonia; (d)
acacia and water, with two drops of ammonia per ounce; (e) Hannalord’s
normal prepared albumen, containing four drops of ammonia per ounce (his
prescribed evaporation of ammonia at the common temperature in a dustlcss
room being in most localities practically impossible, and if possible resulting
only in the loss of half the ammonia).
As the plates, b, c, d. e, show the same sensitiveness, intensity, and freedom
from stains generally, it proves to my mind that all interference of preservatives
or silver compounds, besides iodide and bromide, is done away with, and we
behold the pure sensitiveness of iodide and bromide to light. Hut a plate
having been treated with the strongest ammoniated water, without mitigation
by any additional preservative, although the same compact collodion was used,
exhibited after drying the peculiar lustreless dull appearance of a film made
with entirely rotten collodion, and in developing brought out the picture
unusually quick, but weak, and of a gray leaden hue, resisting all further
attempts to intensify. The rottening effect of ammonia on a horny collodion
in the bottle is sufficiently well known, and we find the same effect going on here.
In my opinion, this effect must be mitigated by gum, albumen, &c. , or more
reasonably by simply decreasing the strength to one drop ammonia per ounce,
and by not allowing the liquid to stand on the plate beyond half a minute.
Perhaps a short immersion in a tall bowl filled with ammoniated water will
best answer the purpose, as then the back and the roughened edges of the plate
are cleansed equally at the same time.
The Committee have dwelt at some length on Mr. Bochert’s
experiments, and although, individually, they differ in opinion from
him on many of the points advanced, yet they consider his com¬
munication contains much that is sufficiently novel and interesting
to merit the notice of the Society.
Mr. xickland has made an important statement, to the following
effect : —
In many of the dry processes the excess of nitrate of silver
remaining on the plate after washing is precipitated as a chloride,
citrate, acetate, or other insoluble salt :
A plate so prepared can have its degree of sensitiveness doubled
by immersion in a weak solution of nitrate of silver, and afterwards
washed :
It therefore follows that, if sensitiveness be the object aimed at,
nitrate of silver should be in excess on the plate.
Mr. Hannaford has been more exclusively engaged in experi¬
ments connected with the production of instantaneous dry plates,
on which branch the Committee propose entering more fully in their
next report on the Dry Processes.
Messrs. Tear, Clark, Leake, Blanchard — practical members of the
Committee — have been deterred by the weather from prosecuting
their experiments as energetically as might be desired.
The Committee have now only to state that early in the coming
year, before the season for out-door work begins, they hope to place
before the Society a much more conclusive report on the subject.
A PROTEST AGAINST RETROGRADE MOVEMENTS
IN TONING POSITIVES.
By “P. P.”
Perhaps I may be allowed a few remarks in reference to Mr.
Ewing’s reply to my letter on the subject of his paper in your
number of December 1st. In the concluding paragraph of his
paper (see Journal of 15th November) Mr. Ewing states that he
may not be correct in the views he has taken on the subject under
consideration, but that he is very willing to be corrected, conclud¬
ing with these words : — “ When any notion of any particular theory
seems false to us, we should endeavour to eradicate that notion
from the minds of others; or, if we are wrong, to have it properly
understood by ourselves, thus fulfilling the end of mutual im¬
provement.” Mr. Ewing’s perfect sincerity when he penned these
statements may be reasonably questioned, from the concluding
remark of his reply, in which I am charged with misconception
and arrogance for acting on the principle thus laid down by him¬
self, when trusting in his good faith I endeavoured to point out,
certainly in no unfriendly spirit, an error into which I conceived
he had fallen, and ventured to express my own views on the subject,
That I may have misunderstood the drift of Mr. Ewing’s paper, and
put a wrong construction on some of its paragraphs, is quite possi¬
ble — and if I did so I can only express my regret ; but when he
charges me with arrogance, in not receiving all he said as infallible
truth, in which I was only carrying out his own professed principle
as stated, we begin to doubt the sincerity of his willingness to be
corrected, and are entitled to suspect the truth of his cause.
As to his charge of misconception, I have to reply that I have
carefully read his paper over again with all the light of his ex¬
planation ; and while I admit that he does not directly recom¬
mend the old hypo, bath, I still cannot help coming to the conclu-
January 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
1]
sion — from the terms in which he speaks of it in conjunction with
the alkaline bath — that his predilections are in favour of the
former. It is true that in the paragraph he wishes especially to
call my attention to, and which I did not overlook, as he supposes,
he reluctantly admits the superiority of the alkaline. I say reluc¬
tantly, for he afterwards destroys the force of this admission by
urging against it a train of objections which, if they had any force,
would completely destroy its utility.
But admitting his own affirmation that he gives no preference
to any of the named baths, what I wish more especially to notice
is his positive declaration (repeated in his letter) that we have yet
no printing process on which we can rely to produce perma¬
nent proofs. I maintain that Mr. Ewing has no ground whatever
for such an assertion. Unless he can prove that all those photo¬
graphs toned by the new method, which have stood perfectly un¬
changed for three years, exhibiting no trace of yellowness in the
whites, nor loss of vigour in the blacks, will shortly manifest these
symptoms of approaching decay, he cannot substantiate his asser¬
tion. And I should like to know by what species of argument he
will endeavour to prove this. Will he reason from analogy, and
tell me that prints toned by the old method have stood well for
three years and afterwards faded, thus leading to the inference
that alkaline prints will do the same? I reply that such an argu¬
ment will not hold good, since, while it can be said of some
prints by the old method that they have remained unchanged for
three years, it is true only of a very few, too few in fact to form a
practical exception — ninety-live out of every hundred discolour¬
ing before that time. How many of the thousands of prints toned
by this method three years ago are as good now as they were
then ? Not a greater proportion, I firmly believe, than that I have
named. But does the same apply to alkaline-toned prints ? Mr.
Ewing himself answers us; and others with perhaps greater expe¬
rience, and in a better position to judge, will tell him that the very
reverse is the fact, and that instead of finding only five unchanged
in every hundred, or a similar proportion, it would be difficult to
find that number which in any perceptible degree had changed.
Unfortunately we cannot go back to a longer period whereby to
test the merits of the new system; but shall we condemn a most
promising discovery when sufficient time has not elapsed to test
its merits, and which so far has given great satisfaction in every
respect, and exhibited no symptoms to shake our confidence or
excite our suspicions? This is precisely what Mr. Ewing has
done in' his sweeping denunciation. Further comment on this
point is unnecessary.
I read the paper of Mr. Heisch to which Mr. Ewing alludes ; but,
so far from doing my “ heart good,” as he so kindly anticipates, it
only awakened a feeling of regret that a gentleman of Mr. Heisch’s
scientific attainments, and with the influence which consequently
attaches to his name, should endeavour to throw suspicion on the
value of a discovery which many of his fellow scientific workers,
after demonstrating its truth, have laboured to establish, and which
was gradually taking a firm hold on the public mind, and displacing
a system which the experience of fifteen years has proved unsta¬
ble, and which was tolerated only because no other was known.
What is it, I would ask, that has associated with photographs the
idea of instability, against which so great an outcry has justly
been raised ? Nothing but the use of that vile system which Mr.
Heisch seeks still to uphold. Have we not been sufficiently dis¬
gusted by the prevalence of “yellow fever” amongst our pictures,
that we should still desire to prolong the system which we know
too well is the certain and only cause of it ? I can only hope, for
the interests of photography, that the simple and, I will add, cor¬
rect method of toning by alkaline chloride of gold has extended
too far, and taken too deep a hold on the convictions of photo¬
graphers, to be upset or even checked by the unsound reasoning of
Mr. Heisch, or the denunciations of Mr. Ewing.
In the approving note of the Editor of The British Journal of
Photography to my former letter it is said that freedom of
discussion eliminates truth, and this must be my apology for
again trespassing so far on the valuable space of the Journal.
STEEEOGSAPHS.
Stonehenge, Cathedral Interiors, Sfc., ly Geo. Wilson, Aberdeen.
The association of ideas implied in the preceding “heading ” is not
so incongruous as might at first be supposed, for we believe that
it is a matter beyond dispute that Stonehenge was formerly used
as a temple, in which Divine worship (or what was supposed to be
such) was performed. As another connecting link between the
two classes of subjects, we cannot forget that Stonehenge and
Salisbury Cathedral are almost inevitably associated together by
sightseers visiting the county of Wilts, and from one cathedral to
another is a natural transition. In our last notice of Mr. Wilson’s
beautiful productions we treated especially of his “ instantaneous ”
pictures, and should therein have included one of his Stonehenge
subjects but that we considered it would range more correctly
with the others of the same series. — That to which we particularly
allude is entitled Stonehenge : General View from the East
(No. 207). The spectator is supposed to be standing on a portion
of Salisbury Plain, where there is a slight depression below the
general level of the ground, so that the effect is similar to that of
a building placed on an eminence. An entire circle of the huge
stones is included in the view, and the fine roiling masses of sun-
lighted clouds form a splendid background to so grand a subject ;
the proportions of which are cleverly indicated by the figure of a
gentleman, in the central part of the view, leaning against one of
the upright stones, and a carriage drawn up close to the circle on
the right side of the spectator. A flock of some twenty-five to
thirty sheep are scattered in the foreground, feeding upon the
herbage of the plain, which is rendered without the defect of
undue darkness so commonly prevalent where grass forms a portion
of the subject of a photograph ; and numerous buttercups in flower
are plainly discernible. — Nos. 209a and 209 are respectively a
Near and a Nearer View of some of the more remarkable of these
singular stones as seen from the West. In the latter the specta¬
tor peers, as it were, into the very texture of the stone, and per¬
ceives it to be covered on the surface with numerous nooks and
crannies, wherein mosses and lichens in great abundance have
found a fitting habitation, while at the bases of the massive blocks
crowds of nettles and other plebeians of the vegetable kingdom find
a welcome shelter. — No. 211, Near View from the South-East,
presents similar characteristics to the preceding ; but here the
almost boundless extent of the plain is seen stretching far away in
the distance, bounded only by a faint horizon.
From all the drawings that we have seen (numerous as they
have been) of this singular monument of antiquity but a very im¬
perfect idea could be formed of the real appearance presented by
it; but this is not the case, we need scarcely remark, with the
stereographs before us. Far from lacking interest, they are over¬
flowing with that valuable qualification.
From Salisbury Plain to Salisbury Cathedral we pass as a matter
of course ; and of this edifice we have six illustrations, all of first-
rate character. The long-drawn aisles, the nave, the choir — all
are beautiful and suggestive ; but of these we give the preference
to the South Aisle (No. 214), in which the long perspective of
column after column and pointed arched roof is indeed very fine, cul¬
minating, as it were, in a fine monument and stained-glass window.
The Cloisters (No. 217) form a subject of a similar character to
that last noticed; but here the architectural beauties are not so
elaborate, nor the distance included nearly so great. The roof is
lower and the span more obtuse : but there is an exquisite artistic
effect introduced in the soft reflected light from the pavement upon
what would but for its presence have been deep shadow at the
apex of the arched ceiling.
In No. 215, The Transept, the play of chequered light on the
columns on the left contrasts admirably with the cool repose of
the chapel-like monument in the foreground.
Perhaps the most beautiful of the series, however, is No. 216
The Entrance to the Chapter House, in which so many excel¬
lencies are combined that we find it extremely difficult to give any
adequate idea of it. The effects of colour are so admirably ren¬
dered that, when viewing this slide, it is almost impossible to
disabuse the mind of the notion that it is not indebted to the
painter’s art. From the interior of the building the spectator looks
through a twin-arched doorway into a vestibule closed by an
ornamental glass screen, of which the rectangular door stands
open. Through this glass screen a portion of an external collonade
is perceptible on the nearest side of the quadrangle, and a further
portion of it on the opposite side ; while just in the centre stands
a splendid cedar tree, the stem of which comes opposite to the open
door. The floor of the edifice consists of a pavement of vitrified
ornamental tiles, which obscurely reflect the surrounding objects.
The beauty of the structure is evidently enhanced to no incon¬
siderable extent by the judicious combination of various colours,
which serve to heighten the effect of the carving and moulding;
and it appears pertectly marvellous how the idea of this can have
been so distinctly conveyed in the simple monotone of the photo¬
graph. Such, however, is the fact, and we cannot too strongly
advise all lovers of the curious as well as of the beautiful to maj|
a point of adding a copy of this slide to their collection.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January ], 1861
ia
Of our Metropolitan Cathedrals we have an interior of St. Paul’s
(No. 203) ; but in this the solarisation arising from the glare of
light from the widows facing the spectator has been fatal to the
perfection of the illustration ; and the same remark will apply to
No. 193, The Choir of Westminster Abbey. To some extent,
also, a similar blemish may be noticed in No. 198, The Cloister
of Westminster Abbey. It must not, however, be supposed that
these are not good specimens. They are simply not equal to the
very high standard usually attained by the operator who pro¬
duced them.
There are four other illustrations of Westminster Abbey that
are entirely free from the drawback noticed in the preceding,
although in three of them a window is situated similarly with re¬
gard to the spectator. It is therefore probable that the artist was
compelled to operate when the sun was in the most unfavourable
position, photographers being often obliged to work when they can
instead of when they will. — In No. 192, The Nave, two of the
sculptured monuments on either side of the choir entrance form
prominent features of interest. It is, however, to be regretted that
the enormous pile of chairs and benches used during Divine service
on Sunday evening could not have been removed before taking the
picture ; but of course this was out of the question. — No. 194, The
South Aisle, and No. 195, Poets’ Corner, will no doubt find many
admirers ; but No. 199, The Interior of Henry the Seventh’s
Chapel, will in all probability be the favourite.
We cannot conclude without congratulating all interested in
ecclesiastical architecture upon the facility they now enjoy of an
opportunity of securing such truthful illustrations, at a trifling out¬
lay, of structures which are regarded by the profession as invalu¬
able for study to aid in the formation of a pure and elegant taste in
architecture.
- - -
PORTABLE OPERATING TENT,
By John Louch.
The rods A are § of an inch in diameter, and when jointed together
seven feet long. The cross pieces, B, about two feet long, § of an
FIG. i.
inch square, each jointed to one of the rods A, with a hinge at one
end, and provided with a hook at the other, to fall into an eye on
the opposite rod, as shown in the subjoined sketch, fig. 2, also
FIG. 2.
provided with screws to attach the sink of india-rubber cloth and
the gutta-percha or other bath.
The covering, represented by the dotted lines, which, in the case
of my tent is of three thicknesses of common yellow-glazed calico,
but which I should recommend, for the sake of lightness and port¬
ability, to be made of india-rubber cloth,* should be made to
fit tightly, and be nailed to the upper part of the frame, leaving
the sockets of the rods projecting. A bag or pocket must be made
in the underside of the covering to admit the bath, and if provided
with strings at the lower end, by tying them to the rod, any
amount of inclination may be given to the bath. The covering
must be enlarged at the side next the bath, as shown, and open at
the bottom to admit the operator, with strings to draw round the
waist. Hooks, or if preferred, pockets, in the covering to hold the
necessary bottles.
The tent may be erected in a few minutes by the photographer,
without any assistance, in the following manner : — Holding the
upper part in an inverted position, fix the lower ends of the rods
into their sockets ; then placing the tent in its proper position, se¬
parate the rods to such an angle that it will stand ; then by inserting
the head and upper part of the body into the tent, the cross-pieces
may be brought to their proper position, and the sink, if made to
fit tightly, will stiffen the whole. The bath and bottles may now
be put in their places, and the tent is ready for use.
The framework of my tent is of deal, and weighs, with the cover¬
ing, the sink, and outside cover, under five pounds ; but, with neater
workmanship and a lighter covering, the weight might be con¬
siderably decreased.
I am contemplating making one with thin brass tubes, sliding
one within the other for the frame, by which means no part of the
tent would be removeable, and there would be no fear of leaving
any part behind when on a tour.
The tent is very stable, as a proof of which I may state that I
had it in use on the day that the “ Great Eastern” was blown away
from her moorings. I, of course, contrived on that day to get it
to the leeward of some building.
The only inconvenience that I have found in its use, is that in hot
weather it is rather confined, and the vapour of the ether is
unpleasant ; but that may easily be remedied by adopting some
means of ventilation.
NOTES OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC YACHT VOYAGE IN
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
By W. J. C. Moens.
(Continued from page 370.)
We arrived at Cagliari on the 13th December, and spent the rest of the
year snugly in port, thereby escaping some very bad weather at sea. The
consul there, Mr. Craig, is a great lover of the art, but hitherto he has only
taken waxed paper negatives. He was very desirous of working with collo¬
dion, but the difficulty of obtaining the materials had deterred him ; for
there are no depots of any consequence in the Mediterranean, nearly every¬
thing having to be procured from Paris.
The dress of the natives here is very quaint. The covering to their
heads consists of a kind of black nightcap, the square end of which
hangs over the forehead : long black flowing hair, which is never cut,
a red cotton handkerchief tied over the cap and under the chin, a
black jacket with buttons, a very short kind of kilt, and very loose white
cotton trousers — these, with black cloth gaiters, complete their dress.
We often wished we could photograph the different costumes we fell in
with, but the trouble of getting them to sit deterred us.
On the 19th I took a panoramic view of Cagliari on four plates ; ex¬
posure about one and a quarter minutes. The Consul came with me, and
was astonished at the quickness of wet collodion even on a cloudy day.
The next day we started on ponies for a journey into the interior, in
order to pay a visit to the grotto of St. Giovanni, which runs for a dis¬
tance of more than half a mile under a high mountain, coming out into
a deep gorge on the other side. In wet weather the grotto forms the out¬
let for a mountain torrent, which thus runs under the mountain. It is
full of the most beautiful stalactites and basins formed of petrified water :
the light from our flambeaux and torches being reflected and re-reflected
from these presented a most glorious spectacle. When we got near the
end of the cavern, a most curious effect was produced by the sunlight
shining on the rocks and trees outside, being separated into the prismatic
colours, Avhich caused everything to appear as if encrusted with every
kind of precious stone. After spending several days shooting, we returned
in order to spend Christmas Day on board, which we didin true English
fashion, our dinner consisting of a turkey, roast beef, and plum-pudding.
On the 27th I tried to photograph, but the wind was too high; so we
amused ourselves by printing pictures, for we always got positive proofs
as soon as we could, in order to keep up our albums. The sight of this
* With, of course, sufficient transparent yellow material to admit the necessary
amount of light,
January 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
caused great astonishment; for the people said that they often heard of
travellers photographing, hut never saw any resuits.
On the 29th I went to take an old Roman tomb — supposed to
be that of a doctor, from the serpents which are cut on the fa9a.de.
I found it rather difficult from the deep shades cast by a very bright
sun. I commenced with thirty seconds, and finished with min.
I tried to get a very pretty girl, Marie by name, to include her¬
self in the picture, but I could not induce her to stand quiet.
I next took a picture of the graves cut in the rocks, attributed to
the Venetians, who founded the city Cularis, on the site of .the present
Cagliari. These chambers are coated inside with plaster, with a hollow
recess cut for the body, and little niches for their lamps, and gods just
over. One we saw was for the reception of a family, several of the
recesses being for children. They were entered by a descent of a few
steps and a door. There was, also, an entrance at the top ; but this was
covered in with fiat stones, and evidently was intended for the dead body
to be lowered through. Several of these chambers are now inhabited by
poor people. After this I went to the Roman amphitheatre (exposure
forty seconds, and for stereoscopes eight seconds). It is very hard work
trotting about from place to place, even when you are lucky enough to
have men with you to carry about all your things.
On the 31st we completed our photographic labours at Cagliari by taking
a panorama from the east side, on four plates. The light was very bright
and difficult, the mountains in the distance developing very dense.
We printed some pictures to present to our photographic friend, Mr.
Craig, who had pai l us great attention, and lent to us the numbers of
the Journals we had not seen, in one of which was announced the heart¬
breaking loss the president of the Dublin Society, Capt. Henry, bad
sustained by the sinking of his yacht, the Mariquita, in Holyhead har¬
bour, with all the negatives he had taken during a trip of the same
character we were now enjoying. It is difficult enough to get pictures at
home ; but abroad it is ten times worse, where all sorts of obstacles and
hindrances are continually arising which prevent you taking the pictures
you wish, and which, too, you may never have another opportunity of
procuring.
On the 1st January, i860, we unmoored at daybreak, and got under
weigh for St. Antioco; but a fresh wind springing up from the westward,
we altered our course, and steered for Tunis, in order to visit the ruins
of Carthage. We reached Cape Carthage by dusk the next evening, and,
the wind failing us, we brought up for the night, the navigation being
bad for want of lights. We weighed anchor next morning early, and
sailed close past a number of ruins, some large masses of brickwork
being very apparent. We brought up off the Goletta, which is the Port
of Tunis ; the town being nine miles off on the other side of a shallow
salt lagoon. We paid a visit to the Consular Agent here, and then went
up to Tunis in his boat. Here is seen an Eastern city in all its filth and
glory : — Moors in gorgeous flowery dresses ; camels in numbers going
through the narrow streets ; natives talking and quarrelling with each other
in Arabic ; negroes strutting about, considering themselves as good as you
are, whom they look on as an intruder, and, if you could understand them,
you would hear yourself cursed for being a Christian. We called on our
consul here, Mr. R. Wood, and also went to seethe French one, Monsieur
Roche, to whom we had a letter of introduction. We made arrange¬
ments for amusing ourselves, for here it is necessary to get orders for
everything. In the afternoon we returned to Goletta and got a curious
document from the admiral to allow us to land in our boat at Carthage.
It was impossible to tell which was the top or bottom, it being written
in Arabic.
The next morning we started in the gig, with all the photogra¬
phic apparatus, with our revolvers in our belts, and all the men with
cutlasses ; for we were told it was necessary to be armed when
you go into the country, the Arabs thinking nothing of murdering
you if they get a chance. When we landed, some soldiers came down
to look after us. We found they could not read a word, and we could
not make them understand by signs that one order was of use for
more than one person, but we carried up our things to the ruins and
began operations, my friend taking those to the south, while I worked
more to the north : we each had one of the men to attend to us. I got on
pretty well ; and when I had done three or four pictures went to see how
the other establishment was progressing. “Well, Sam,” I said to the
coxswain of the gig, “ how are you getting on?” “First-rate,” was his
answer; “ think we shall lick you to-day.” In a minute or two my
friend emerged from under the black cover of his dark box, looking very
hot; for though it was January the sun was very scorching. 1 then
went back and took a picture of the cisterns, which are very curious.
These are nineteen large square chambers, side by side, communicating
with each other : they are all arched over, and must have held an enor¬
mous quantity of water. We then left off picture taking, and had an
al fresco luncheon, and walked about the place. It is very melancholy
to see the decay of such a city as Carthage must have been, the very
debris of the buildings being ploughed up, and corn springing up
between the broken bricks and tiles. When we got back to our photo¬
graphic stations, we found that a Tunisian officer had been down to look
at our order again ; but of course it was impossible for the men to answer
or say anything. We then packed up and returned to our vessel, which
was lying four miles off. We had some trouble the first fifty or hundred
yards in steering the boat clear of the masses of broken marble, which
are just covered with water. Tn the evening we varnished the pictures
with the last of our varnish, and went to bed dead beat.
On the 6th Jan. we met Dr. Davis on the ruins. He had kindly come
from Ghomart to show us all there was worth seeing. He has taken a
great interest in this part of North Africa for some years, and has been
for some time engaged in making excavations on behalf of our Govern¬
ment, and, consequently, knows every nook and corner of the place. He
showed us the ancient staircase which led from the Byrsa to the sea¬
shore, and also the remains of the sea gates. We had our cameras with
us, and took both these places : the latter was rather difficult to take, on
account of the loose sandy nature of the soil, the legs of the stand having
to be forced some distance into the sand before they would stand steady.
While taking the stairs to the sea, my camera was blown over by the
wind, but fortunately without receiving much damage. The next morn¬
ing we printed some copies, two of which we gave to Mr. Roche, the
French consul, with whom we had the pleasure of dining in the evening.
(To be continued.)
ffliclhtgs H Strnefits.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 26th ult., at eight o’clock, at Myddleton Hall, Upper Street,
Islington, — George Shadbolt, Esq., Y.P., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed,
Mr. Samuel Bourne, of Nottingham, was proposed and declared duly
elected a member of this Society.
The Chairman then exhibited the photograph selected by the sub-com¬
mittee for distribution among the members. It was entitled The Mill.
Mr. Nicholson exhibited two photographs, by Mr. S. Bourne, by the
Fothergill process.
Mr. Hill understood that Mr. Bourne washed freely.
Mr. Nicholson : He did ; and employed chloride in the albumen, which,
notwithstanding Mr. Shadbolt’s objections, he considered might be used
with advantage in the Fothergill process.
The Chairman said his objection to chloride was, that he thought the
phosphate, or citrate, better. The chloride was better than nothing.
Mr. Nicholson : The great fault I find with the Fothergill is its want of
density.
Mr. Hill : I have never found that fault with it.
Mr. Nicholson said he found a want of density in the sky by that pro¬
cess. The chloride obviated that fault. Mr. Bourne had written to him
to say that he had tried it and found it to answer best.
The Chaikman said, in his opinion, a great deal depended on the collo¬
dion used in the Fothergill process. It made a marked difference whether
there was a bromide in it or not.
Mr. Nicholson : I find the best collodion for the Fothergill process is
old, mixed with some recently iodised.
The Chairman : By that mixture the desired organic change is obtained.
Mr. Hill said he had obtained some very rapid pictures with Ponting’s
collodion, thinned. The negative looked weak, but printed with great
intensity.
Mr. Simpson asked whether any member had heard of a statement that
some negatives had been taken in India by the collodio-albumen process,
the plates for which had been made ready for the camera twelve months
previously. The account appeared in the Photographic News of the week
before. He had seen them in Horne and Thornthwaite’s a short time ago.
It was a singular fact that the amateur who took them had never seen a
negative before he purchased his camei’a and went to India. He was di¬
rected to follow Major Russell’s collodio-albumen process. He washed the
film for half-an-hour in water, finally treating with gallic acid. None of
his plates were used until they had been ready for the camera four months.
On being informed that it was somewhat peculiar for plates to remain
sensitive for so long a period, he preserved some for twelve months, when
he found that they were still good. That was very remarkable in India,
where the extreme heat was so likely to hasten decomposition.
The Chairman said he did not think that decomposition was chiefly
brought about by a high temperature, unless at the same time there was a
considerable amount of moistui’e present.
Mr. Simpson remarked that he had thought of that, but still a dry
high temperature would have some effect.
Mr. Hill said Mr. Moens had taken several pictures by the collodio-
albumen process during his yacht voyage, and he had never found a blister.
The only objection to that process was the extra washing.
Mr. Nicholson : Mr. Bourne washed his negatives for fifteen minutes.
The Chairman asked whether Mr. Bourne wrashed before or after the
albumen was used ? If after, washing for fifteen days would not hurt it.
Mr. Nicholson said Mr. Bourne washed both before and after.
Mr. Hill : Dr. Ryley remarked that it was utterly impossible to take a
picture if all the free nitrate of silver were removed.
The Chairman said Mr. Bourne did not remove all the nitrate of silver,
but removed as much of the albumen as he could.
14
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Mr. Simpson asked whether Mr. Bourne washed thoroughly before the
albumen was applied ?
Mr. Nicholson said he did, and thoroughly washed afterwards.
Mr. Hill : Such thorough washing would prevent stains.
Mr. Nicholson : Mr. Bourne did not so thoroughly wash last year, and,
in consequence, the plates became quite red on developing, and turned out
altogether unsatisfactory.
The Chairman : I thought the difference might be the result of the
presence, or absence, of bromide in the collodion. If the bromide were
present it would unite with the iodide salt and form an insoluble substance;
but if they used iodide only it washed out, and a good negative would
not be obtained.
Mr. Simpson : In the latter case the sensitiveness would at all events be
much lessened.
Mr. Hill said he had brought some specimens of paper with him
respecting which he had had great difficulty. Since the new method of
preparing paper came into operation he had not met with any samples of
paper so satisfactory as those prepared for the old process, arid he had had
several cases of “ mealiness” occur. He perceived a defect in the paper on
which Mayall’s portraits of the Royal Family appeared. He found that
the albumen came off in several places, and in one case, where he had
ironed a sheet with a rather hot iron, the albumen had come off altogether.
He had sensitised the paper in a new bath of 65 grains to one oz. of water.
Several of his friends had complained of a similar defect. A sort of measly
red spots made their appearance, which he thought was owing to the
removal of part of the albumen.
The Chairman asked whether it was an established fact that there was
a new method of preparing the paper ?
Mr. Hill said the sellers had acknowledged to some of his friends, who
had complained, that they had a new method of preparing the paper for
the alkaline gold toning process. The reason for the defect was alleged to
be the use of too much soda in the toning bath ; but he had tried phosphates
with no better result.
The Chairman called attention to the fact that Mr. Hill exhibited a
sensitised sheet untoned, so that there could be no dispute on that point,
and yet the greater part of the albumen was gone.
Mr. Simpson said Mr. Hughes contended that there was no new method
of preparation, but that any difference was owing to the paper itself.
Mr. Nicholson asked Mr. Hill whether he was sure that his bath was
not alkaline ?
Mr. Hill said his bath was slightly acid.
The Chairman remarked that Mr. Sutton had been recently drawing
attention to what he called a new method of albumenising by the addition
of acetic acid. That was no novelty, for some time ago attention had been
drawn by himself to that method. In 1854 or 1855 a Committee of the
London Photographic Society endeavoured to ascertain the effect of the
introduction of various substances into the albumen for the purpose of
getting an even coating of albumen on the paper. The result, in his
opinion, was that the introduction of acetic acid was highly detrimental
instead of beneficial, whereas the introduction of ammonia materially
assisted in getting a good even film.
Mr. Hill said he thought something had been introduced into the
albumen to get a greater amount of surface.
Mr. Simpson observed that it was strange that Mr. Sutton should call his
method a new one, because some years ago that gentleman had given the
same method for obtaining an even coating and for avoiding stickiness.
Air. Hill said some persons were of opinion that the fault arose from
the albumenisers being under paid. Now, he gave 12s. per quire for the
paper, which allowed a very fair margin for the albumenisers.
The Chairman said the fact was that amateurs must albumenise their
own paper, and show the way first of all, and then they would get pro¬
fessional albumenisers to do it.
Mr. Hill said the paper was made expressly for that process, yet it was
not so good as the old paper. The latter, certainly, had not so much
surface.
Mr. Lander said ho had met with mealiness, but not through the
albumen leaving the paper.
Mr. Hill remarked that in the thicker paper the albumen did not
entirely come off, but did so partially.
Mr. Simpson said that might be owing to the removal of the artificial
surface given by the rolling.
The Chairman : That is an additional objection to rolling.
Mr. Hill asked whether Mr. Simpson had ever tried acetic acid with
the paper ?
Mr. Simpson stated that he had had paper that smelt of it, but he had
perceived no bad effect. Some of his friends had used acetic acid to get
rid of the stickiness, but had not succeeded in doing so. j
; Mr. Hill observed that nine-tenths of Mayall’s and Ciaudct’s cartes de
visile showed signs of mealiness.
Mr. SlMPSON said he had a very sti’ong suspicion that they were not
toned by the alkaline gold toning process, as some of them were turning
yellow already. «
Mr. Hill : Some are turning green. It was said that if the alkaline
gold toning process were used these mealy marks would not occur.
Mr. Simpson said another point was, that it was not always known by
[January 1, 1801
whom the pictures were done, as they were frequently copied, and the
copies sold as originals.
Mr. Hill remarked that there was generally a great contrast between the
originals and such copies.
The Chairman said he had been credibly informed that, when it was
very desirable to get a portrait of any celebrated character, some people
were not very particular whether it was taken from the individual or any
person like him. He had been told that there was a man resembling the
French Emperor who had been dressed up and put into a suitable alti¬
tude, and that thousands of his photographs had been sold as veritable
portraits of the emperor.
Mr. Simpson : It has been suggested that Rejlander himself should sit as
Garibaldi.
Mr. Hill said he had received a letter from a friend at Port Natal
relative to using arrowroot as a preservative. He dissolved a portion of
arrowroot in boiling water, to which he added alcohol, and he then used it
in exactly the same way as the Fothergill process : it answered very well.
The Chairman said there was another subject they might take into con¬
sideration — Mr. Heisch’s recommendation to retain the old toning bath
instead of the alkaline gold toning process. Mr. Heisch said, in the first
place, that the latter could not be better than the former, because pictures
toned by it faded. But he had omitted to say, at the same time, that even
when thoroughly washed many pictures toned by the old gold and hypo¬
sulphite of soda process also faded. That could not be proved with regard
to the alkaline gold toning process.
Mr. Hill attributed the fading experienced in the alkaline gold toning
process to errors in the fixing, and not to the toning.
Mr. Simpson observed that Mr. Heisch only said he did not see that the
new process was better than the old. All that Mr. Heisch had proved was,
that certain toned prints had faded, but he did not prove what occasioned
the fading. Mr. Heisch said that the carbonate of soda and chloride of
gold were introduced, whilst in the texture of the paper, into the hypo¬
sulphite of soda, and that the decomposition would take place as much in
that way as in the old process.
The Chairman did not consider Mr. Heisch’s reasoning good, because
it did not at all follow that the same results would follow when the sub¬
stances came into contact in so different a manner from that in which they
did in the old process. Everybody knew the difference between pouring
the gold into the hypo, and the hypo, into the gold.
Mr. Garnham asked whether iodine had been tried with the hypo. ?
The Chairman said if iodine were mixed with hyposulphite of soda,
tetrathionate of soda would be produced. The moment iodine was intro¬
duced into hypo, decomposition took place.
Mr. Hill asked whether any person had taken the trouble to question
Mr. Heisch’s statement ?
The Chairman said he knew somebody who was going to do so.
Mr. Simpson observed that one very curious statement made by Mr.
Heisch was, that chloride of gold would decompose with hypo., whereas it
was the presence of acid in the chloride that produced that effect.
Mr. Hill thought Mr. Heisch must have neglected the washing.
Mr. Simpson : Very likely the fading is occasioned by want of care
in the manipulation. Fresh hyposulphite of soda ought to be used, not
that charged with nitrate of silver.
Mr. Hill said Mr. Heisch appeared to consider the old process more
permanent.
Mr. Simpson : Mr. Heisch merely suggested the question, as to whether
it had been sufficiently well considered.
Mr. Garnham said he thought that the old process had fallen into dis¬
use, because it was not treated properly.
Mr. Simpson observed that it was very fortunate that it was not treated
properly, or else people would have stuck to it, instead of adopting the
new method.
Mr. Hill said Mr. Hughes had promised them a paper for then’ next
meeting, but he did not know the subject of it.
The Chairman announced that the next meeting would take place on
the 30th of January.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the chairman.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 20t.h December, at eight o’clock, at St. Peter’s School Rooms,
Walworth, — the Rev. F. F. Statham, the President, in the chair.
Mr. Wall, the Secretary, read the minutes of the last meeting, which
were confirmed. He had received from Mr. Bailey some very fine speci¬
mens of the waxed-paper process executed by Mr. Hooper. Both these
gentlemen were provincial members of the Society, and he wished that
such an example was more frequently followed. Mr. Bailey had sent
a letter describing part of his process, hut the other part not having
arrived, the whole would be read on a future occasion.
The Chairman said that some very beautiful specimens had been placed
in his hands by Mr. George, who would be liappy to answer any questions
the members might wish to ask.
Mr. Wall said that they consisted of copies from engravings, and their
peculiarity was said to be due to the use of an iron developer, without
any after intensifying. .
January 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
15
Mr. George, in answer to questions, stated that he followed the usual
process. The collodion ho used was manufactured by an operator at the
Crystal Palace. The developer was 10 grains of protosulphate of iron,
1 ounce of water, 10 drops of acetic acid, the same quantity of alcohol,
and one drop of ammonia fords. He should state that in making the
bath he neutralised it with a small quantity of caustic potash— say 1 drop
to about 6 ounces of the solution. Pie could get the negatives so intense
by the developer he employed that it was impossible to print through
them. He also used the acetate of ammonia.
Mr. Hughes said the merit did not belong to the developer, but was
due to the character of the collodion.
Mr. George said he had used that developer with other collodions with
a similar result.
Mr. Hughes was convinced that the strength of the negative was
obtained, not in consequence of the developer, but in spite of it.
Mr. Simpson gave it as his opinion that the collodion and bath produced
the effect, not the developer.
The Chairman said they were then to resume the discussion upon
Mr. Fry’s paper On Instantaneous Photography, which was read at the
last meeting, when the further discussion upon it was adjourned.
Mr. PIughes then read a paper upon that subject, entitled Art-Photo¬
graphy, and how far Composition-Printing is capable of Aiding its Culti¬
vation [see page 5], and exhibited some photographs by Mr. Mudd, of
Manchester, illustrative of his remaiks.
At its conclusion, the thanks of the meeting were very heartily ten¬
dered to Mr. Hughes for His paper.
The Chairman said he could not altogether agree with some of Mr.
Hughes’s deductions ; neither did he quite concur in the blow he sought
to aim at the process of printing from several negatives. It was, how¬
ever, certain that both Mr. Fry and Mr. Hughes had a common aim,
namely, to approach as nearly as possible to the beauty of nature. The
question was, not whether they were at liberty to use several negatives
for the purpose of obtaining a number of skies to be printed into their
pictures ad libitum, but whether they might not take one negative of the
view and. at the same time, take another of the sky, which being there
in nature must be suitable and appropriate to the view. Of course the
condition of the atmosphere ought to be adapted to the rest of the pic¬
ture, and the extreme case, mentioned by Mr. Hughes, of an April sky
over a sea view taken on a hot summer’s day, must immediately strike
any one as being inappropriate. But a negative of the sky, taken about
the same time with that of the view, he should consider to be legitimate.
Mr. Wall said he thought Mr. Hughes’s paper, in words of prose, con¬
tained some very beautiful poetry. In some of his remarks, however, he did
not concur, it was possible to take a sky almost at the same time with
the landscape, and thus obtain a truthful result. The picture by Mr.
Mudd, then before them, contained such a series of gradations from the
foreground to the horizon, that anything more forcible than the faint
floating vapours blending so tenderly with the delicate softness of the
distant mountains would be out of place. A dark sky with heavy clouds,
for instance, would suffice to drive out all the sentiment and poetry it
was in its present state so full of. He had prepared a few remarks upon
Mr. Fry’s paper, which he would then read. [See page 8.]
Mr. Flo ward ventured to suggest a method of obtaining a pleasing
effect, particularly in large pictures, when the outline was of a very
abrupt nature, as when there was foreground foliage, or anything
si milar, against the sky. The method he referred to was by unequally
developing the picture. After developing, the plate should be washed
free from the action of the developer, and then the developer poured on
again, over the foreground, and then it should be allowed to flow over
certain portions of the sky only. That produced a softness in the edges,
and might, in the hands of a skilful operator, be much improved upon.
Mr. Hughes said, in reference to the remarks made by the President
and the Secretary, that he did not, of course, expect that his views,
which were so entirely hostile to the received opinions of the day, should
be concurred in. He had taken, in his paper, some extreme cases to
illustrate his point ; but it was better to arouse attention by showing
cases of error, so that a more artistic feeling might arise among photo¬
graphers. Their Secretary had suggested a method of obtaining the
sky harmoniously with the view, namely, to take it as soon afterwards
as possible. That was certainly the next approach to the natural
mode. But the whole tendency of his paper was to drive them out of
mechanical details, because the man who rested upon crutches would
never have the use of his limbs. It was toiling in the wrong direction.
Observe the quiet unobtrusive manner of Mr. Mudd, who, taking advan¬
tage of an accidental defect — the sky printing through — exhibits his
skill in turning this defect into a beauty. His method was certainly
more applicable in some cases than in others. He had seen a good many
of Mr. Mudd’s pictures — and they would see more in the forthcoming
Exhibition — and his tendency in all was to reduce the sky, to keep it
down, and to soften it into harmony. He (Mr. Hughes) had selected
the pictures now before them as specimens of his style. They would
notice in one of them how exquisitely the eye was led into distance.
On seeing it he had said to himself: — “Supposing we have not that
extreme delicacy of distance, but a bold vigorous subject, how would
he (Mr. Mudd) treat it?” He then selected the second picture ivliere
there was only foreground, so that they could see two entirely opposite
subjects treated in the same manner. It was a dreamy, misty, soft,
cloudy, quiet effect, decidedly in consonance with the view. A gentleman
wrote to him a short time ago that he had been amusing himself by
taking some cloud pictures that he was going to print with some
negatives he had taken during the summer! Thus, if they did not take
care, instead of fostering artistic landscape photography, they would, by
encouraging the practice of printing in skies from “ stock ’’ cloud nega¬
tives, degrade and vulgarise it. His great object was to call the atten¬
tion of the photographic world to the cultivation of true artistic feeling,
and not to be deceived by any feats of photographic-legerdemain
printing, which at best is but a delusion and a snare. The strength of
photography exists in its inexorable truth, and we should watch with
jealousy anything calculated to compromise or trifle with this vital
quality.
Mr. Wall entirely agreed with Mr. Hughes as to the proper object they
ought to seek ; and that they must not rest satisfied with pleasing vulgar
taste, lest able photographers should rest on their oars. But they
must not throw away their crutch until they were strong enough to walk
alone. For his own part, he would much rather have a “ printed in ” sky
than the bare white paper. In that he differed from Mr. Hughes. The fact
that Mr. Mudd took such great care to keep out any jarring discord from
his pictures was a proof that he was an artist. But in a grand, turbulent,
rocky scene, with leaping water flashing and roaring, a quiet, tame, and
calm sky would be out of place. When Mr. Hughes held up the second
of Mr. Mudd’s pictures, he (Mr. Wall) at that distance could see nothing
but a row of three dark spots. This arose from a want of breadth, which
a darker sky, by uniting these three masses, would have secured, and
would, moreover, have harmonised better with the character of the
subject. A picture ought to be suggestive of artistic beauty even be¬
fore it could be distinctly seen. He had a tender reverence for such a
photograph as that, and it gave him a pang to point out any defect in it.
Mr. Hughes said Mr. Mudd had a horror of any strong melodramatic
effect ; but he certainly should like to see him carry his method a little
further. He had omitted to state that these photographs were all taken
on dry plates, so they had there evidence of what the dry plate might
effect. They were excellent examples of delicate manipulation.
Mr. Leake said his remarks would apply more to the manipulation than
to theory. He perfectly concurred with Mr. Fry’s remarks as to the wet
process : it was unrivalled for sensitiveness and certainty. He also
objected to “ white skies,” and did not like them at any price. Mr. Fry
had stated that he sometimes used the negative bath as strong as 50 grains
to the ounce. Now, he thought that was too strong, and that it should
never be more than 40 grains to the ounce. Mr. Fry had also said that
he made the bath slightly alkaline, but in his (Mr. Leake’s) opinion it
would be impossible to produce a picture with it by the wet process at any
rate. He considered that the collodion sold as positive collodion gave
much better effects than that sold as negative collodion, when used with
an iron developer. He wished to know Mr. Fry’s reason for using the
hydrosulphate of ammonia process for intensifying. He thought the
process, with a solution of iodine, and subsequently with pyrogallic acid
and silver the best. He would suggest that the clouds be primed rather
more slightly, as they seemed to him too strong, thus making the pictures
look heavy.
Mr. Fry observed, with respect to the use of hydrosulphate of am¬
monia, that since reading his paper he had come to the conclusion that a
weak solution of iodine would be preferable, as the hydrosulphate of
ammonia gave rather a yellow look, whilst a weak solution of iodine was
more delicate in its effects. With reference to the strength of the
bath, he begged to say that he did not use a 50-grain bath from
choice, but because the pictures were very apt to spot, and must be
kept in the bath only a short time : 40 grains was the maximum strength
for ordinary purposes. In speaking of using the bath alkaline, he onlv
meant it to be so very slightly alkaline as to be scarcely perceptible, and
not even that from choice. If Mr. Leake would look at his paper he
would find he stated that he had occasionally found his bath alkaline, and
that lie had remedied that by an excess of acid in the developer. He had
only said that the bath, if anything, should be slightly alkaline, but, if
possible, it should be neutral. If he fouud the bath decidedly alkaline,
he should add nitric acid. With respect to Mr. Hughes’s observations, he
agreed with him in the main point, but he should decidedly take exception
to some of his remarks. As a literary production he could not speak too
highly of it. Mr. Hughes commenced by saying that the higher our state
of civilisation the more we should like pictures. Now, Dr. Johnson was
a highly civilised man, and yet he hated pictures.
Mr. Hughes: But some people called Dr. Johnson a “literary brute.”
Mr. Fry : Mr. Hughes said that the use of several negatives to pro¬
duce one picture was a confession of weakness. Now, that was exactly
the reason why Mr. Rejlander and himself used several negatives — on
account of their weakness. If they could produce their pictures with
one negative, they would not use more. Where he had been successful
with one negative, he had looked upon it as a triumph; and he trusted
that the day would come when they should be able to produce their
effects with one instead of more plates. But the white sky had been
remarked upon by art critics, if not in derision, with commiseration. An
attempt to produce the natural sky', even if not absolutely' successful
must be looked upon as a move in the right direction. He had stated
his process for the purpose of calling forth at least the comments of
photographers, as h<? was desirous they should poiut out its defects, Ho
16
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1861
thought that the little sky printed in by Mr. Mudd’s process was an
improvement, and that the white sky was not to be compared to it. He
did not object to any remarks that might be made, and he was open to
receive any opinion that might be given upon his process. With respect
to what Mr. Hughes called “ stock ” or “property skies,” to he used indis¬
criminately, he deprecated them as much as Mr. Hughes did. If he had
“ property skies ” he did not print in the first that came to hand, although
he had “ property skies,” and was very proud to show them. However,
he did not thrust them into every negative indiscriminately. Mr. Hughes
remarked that a different kind of sky was required for each view : he
perfectly agreed that the sky ought to be suitable to the rest of the picture.
Mr. Hughes, as a proof that the sky and sea could be taken together, re¬
ferred to Mr. Le Gray’s pictures. Now, he thought it only fair to state
that some of that gentleman’s pictures appeared half made up. He did
not say that they were so always, but he was sure they were frequently.
He was quite sure that the sky was printed in separately, as he had been
examining some of them the day before. Mr. Hughes had also alluded
to pictures where the sea and clouds were taken together, which he also
approved of. With respect to Mr. Kemp’s dry-plate pictures, he had
never seen them, but he had himself exhibited, at the last exhibition,
pictures of the sea and sky taken on dry plates. He (Mr. Fry) fully
appreciated the remark that glaring incongruity ought to be avoided.
He also wished to say that clouds might be printed in too deeply, and so
mar the effect of the rest of the picture. He did not agree with Mr.
Hughes that a blank sky was better than one “ printed in.”
Mr. Hughes corrected the speaker by remarking that he said a blank
sky was better than a badly printed in one.
Mr. Fry agreed with him so far. With reference to what Mr. Wall had
said about the want of absolute instantaneousness in some of his pictures,
that miglit be the case in some instances, but he now produced one taken
in the same way with which such fault could not be found. The waves
were there standing up, and each drop was distinctly rendered.
The Chairman said he thought such discussions as that just concluded
would be of great advantage to the advance of their art : it showed that they
were seeking perfection — to have every adjunct as perfect as possible.
He thought, with Mr. Hughes, that they might hereafter be able to per¬
form at one operation that which now took two or more ; but he thought
until that point was obtained it was better to produce the best effect they
could with the means they then had.
Mr. Wall said the Experimental Committee had sent in a report of
their experiments, which was to have been read that evening; but, as it
was so late, the Secretary of the Committee (Mr. Hannaford) thought, as
there was nothing in the report requiring discussion, it would be better to
lay it on the table, and that it should be considered as read. The mem¬
bers would have an opportunity of seeing it in The British Journal of
Photography, the official organ of the Society [see page 9], and any
discussion upon it had better be adjourned to their next meeting.
A resolution was then moved and carried in accordance with Mr. Wall’s
suggestion.
Mr. Leake here made a suggestion to the effect that the method of
taking two negatives on one plate for album portraits might be adopted
to take two negatives, one of the landscape and one of the sky, in such
rapid succession, that it would amount practically to taking the sky the
same time as the landscape. There could be no incongruity in printing
in a sky so taken.
Mr. Ackland, V.P., proceeded to read a paper On the Optical Principles
Involved in the Construction of Lenses, illustrated by various diagrams and
instruments. [See page 3.)
The Chairman, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Ackland, said their
discussions ranged from practical to theoretical, and then back again to
practical. Mr. Ackland’s paper was of great value, not only to those pre¬
sent, but to persons at a distance, especially those in our colonies, who
could not go to shops when their instruments were defective to have
them repaired. It was valuable, as Mr. Ackland had laid before the
public that which was previously called “ a trade secret,’’ whether rough
or otherwise he did not care to say, as he should be very loathe to use
a word that appeared to have given offence. The method was sanctioned
by the name of Dr. Wollaston, one of our most eminent opticians and
chemists. lie, however, did not consider it either rough or complicated.
Thethanks of the meeting were then voted to Mr. Ackland for his paper.
Mr. Hughes said this was scarcely a proper time of the evening to
consider adequately Mr. Ackland’s paper, and how far they could take
advantage of the means which he had presented them with. He was
particularly glad, however, that the paper had been read, as it put Mr.
Ackland in a proper position. He had been laid open to many invidious
expressions; and lie had much pleasure in saying that now there were
not the faintest grounds for supposing they could apply. Since the
question had been started he had compared notes with several practical
opticians, and one of the first means suggested for ascertaining the
accuracy of the position of single lenses was the ordinary method stated
in the Journal ; but, where several lenses were used, in combination, he
was told to look through them at a fixed light and to see if all the
images, reflected from the various surfaces, were in a line or not. If the
images were all in a line the lenses were concentric, but if otherwise,
they were out. Thus the subject was much more generally known than
the Vice-President gave the world credit for, but whether there was the
same appreciation of it he was not prepared to say. Hut accuracy in
centering was not the only thing a lens o ight to be tested for; for in
looking at one the other day he found it to be very bad, although it was
as accurately centered as possible.
Mr. Ackland said he was quite aware of that, for in making a short
focus lens the other day a workman overheated it in fixing the balsam.
Although they could find no fault with its position, it was perfectly
useless; for on placing it under polarised light it was found that the
annealing had been destroyed, and it had to be thrown away.
Mr. Hughes said it would be a great pity if they were to set up any
one test for lenses, as photographers might be apt to condemn a lens
merely because it was not concentric, and to attach great merit to it if
concentric. Rut in the particular case to which he referred the lens,
although well centered, Avas bad. In other cases good lenses might be
badly centered. Photographers, therefore, ought not to condemn lenses
for this fault only.
Mr. Wall said with regard to their Vice-President’s paper having
put him in a proper position, it might be argued that the alleged secret
being so well known it might be absurd to call it a secret. But he thought
that Mr. Ackland, finding so many lenses badly centered, was justified
in supposing that even if his simple method were known it was at
least not practised. A
Mr. Dalljieyer hoped he would be permitted to say a few words upon!
the subject, having been invited, although he was not a member of
the Society. With reference to an observation of Mr. Hughes’s, he
begged to say that he quite endorsed his remark to the effect that a lens
truly concentric was not to be regarded as a perfect instrument on that
account. It was not by any means the most difficult operation to
centre a lens truly ; but it was far more difficult to grind.pne with true
spherical surfaces, and not only that, but to be of such form and under
such conditions as to produce an instrument giving perfect definition
both at the centre and margin of the picture. A lens might be truly
centered, and yet be far from a perfect instrument. Mr. Ackland
would doubtless have experienced this in the manufacture of telescopes
which magnified as against photographic lenses which diminished the
objects. A telescopic object-glass with perfectly spherical curves, and
otherwise corrected, even when not truly centered, gave better definition
than one in which the curves of the lenses were not perfectly spherical —
were better centered. Therefore photographers should notalone regard the
centering of their lenses — which, by-the-bye, he did not regard as a secret,
and therefore did not think that Mr. Ackland had conferre 1 so great a
boon upon opticians generally, because he found that, with that method,
after all, the matter must be referred to the lathe. For when Mr.
Ackland had discovered by the position of the reflected images that one
of the lenses was out, it did not show that the defect was owing to a
want of centering of the lens, as it might be owing to a fault in the
brass-work ; therefore, he must go to his lathe, fix the tube, and see where
the defect lay. With respect to Mr. Ackland’s method of centering his
lenses he did not think that plan a good one. All the lenses made by his
late father-iu-law, Mr. A. Ross, were centered, at one time, in the lathe,
in the manner described as adopted by Mr. Ackland for the crown
lenses; but when mathematical accui’acy was required that plan was
not sufficient. No person could by hand move a large glass so as to
obtain both images perfectly stationary when revolving in the lathe; and
even if it were obtained, it would only remain so for an instant, for the
pitch holding it, being still warm, would, in a measure, yield to the
weight of the lens, or by its own contraction destroy its centricity.
Therefore it became necessary to have what he had adopted, namely, an
eccentric universal chuck, which permitted of motion in vertical and
horizontal planes when in the lathe. It was by that means, with fine
adjusting screws, that he attained perfectly concentric lenses. He used
that for the larger lenses, but believed it unnecessary for the smaller.
He had stated enough to lead photographers to believe and consider
that the merits of a lens did not consist in its being truly centered alone
— however important he might admit that to be — but that they should
rather look upon perfect definition. If they focussed for the eyes of the
sitter in the picture, they should be well defined on the plate ; and if
they were wrell defined, and the margins appeared sharp, they might rely
that the spherical and actinic correction of their lens was perfect.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Dallmeyer was then unanimously carried.
The Chairman said lie wras glad to hear that there was a method of
obtaining mathematical accuracy in centering lenses. That was in his
mind at a previous meeting when he used the wrord a “rough ” method.
He thought the method of looking at the images to see if they “wobbled”
or not was a rough method ; and he thought some more mathematical
method — such as that now described— would be necessary to ascertain its
really true centering. He trusted that this discussion would remove any
unpleasant feeling any remarks, either in The British Journal of Pho¬
tography or elsewhere, might have given rise to. Their object ought to
be to invite comments, and they could very well bear to have criticisms made
on their remarks, as they were made for that purpose ; and if, by a slip of
the tongue, they might transgress a little, and draw down editorial
criticism, they must bear it. Their discussions were open to comment,
and rightly so ; and they were obliged to the kindness of the editors
who thought them worthy of attention. He w-as quite sure that any
remarks made by Mr. Shadbolt were made in good humour, and that they
would never give rise to any other feeling on the part of the members of
the Society.
January 1, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
17
Mr. Ackland said Mr. Hughes had called attention to the fact that
photograpers must not look to the centering of their lenses too much.
Now he said photographers had several things to look to, and the
centering was an important one. Mr. Dallmeyer had mentioned the fact
of centering lenses by a universal chuck, which was certainly very good in
the case of large lenses; but the plan he (Mr. Ackland) recommended
was applicable to all lenses, large or small, and his workmen got a better
result than they did formerly. They could not get workmen to do it in
any other way. Here was something the workman saw, — he was told the
image must not move. He found that out of 20 lenses, 18 or even 19
were as perfectly centered as he could expect. He could not get that by
the ordinary mode of centering.
Mr. Dallmeyer said he did not dispute the facility of Mr. Ackland’s
process, but it depended on the honesty and efficiency of the workman
employed. Supposing Mr. Ackland found, by passing his lens under
the lever of his machine, that one of the edges was thicker than the
other, it was then for the workman to grind it accurately, and generate a
new curvature from a different centre, when the rings' would be ground
out. He did not mean an alteration all over, but ah eccentricity in the
curves, when there would be nothing to guide the workman. Eccen¬
tricity was often caused by the glass being scratched by the emery, which
caused the workman to polish it unevenly in trying to work the scratch
All such errors could be more readily detected in the lathe. He
had not much faith in Mr. Ackland’s method as regards accuracy.
Mr. Ackland said he always kept the rings at the edges to guide the
men in polishing.
Mr. Dallmeyer : Still Mr. Ackland trusted to their eyes.
Mr. Ackland said he did not admit that the workman was to polish
one side more than the other. No difficulty could arise except in cases
where the emery had scratched the glass. He never regarded the
lenses as perfect that had been re-ground.
Mr. Dallmeyer said he generally found lenses that had been re-ground
and re-polished better than those which had been only once ground and
polished. The second time generally a better figure was obtained. It
frequently happened on the first grinding that convex lenses took the
form of an oblate spheroid, while concave ones approached to elliptic
forms.
Mr. Bowden and Mr. Quin were then proposed and declared duly
elected members of the Society.
Mr. Wall announced that Mr. Thomas Burr would read a paper On
the Application of Photography to Astronomy , Magnetism, and Meteorology ,
at their next meeting.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
BLACKHEATH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held at Eight
o’clock, on Monday, the 17th ult., at the Golf Club House — Charles
i Heisch, Esq., the President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman said Mr. Heath, who was unable to attend at the last
i meeting, was now present, and would give them a very interesting
account of the manner in which he had obtained direct positives in the
camera. He had also been kind enough to bring several very beautiful
1 stereographs by M. Soulier.
Mr. Vernon Heath said he did not think his communication was of
so much importance as Mr. Heisch supposed. In taking a copy of a
medal he had accidentally obtained a positive instead of a negative.
; Some time ago he was requested by Mr. Convngham, of the Foreign
Office, to make photographic copies of a medal just then received from
i Italy, struck by the direction of that truly illustrious man, Garibaldi.
That medal he was enabled, by the kindness of Mr. Conyngham, to lay
before them. [The medal, which was gilt, had a fine head of Garibaldi
on the obverse, and an inscription within a wreath on the reverse.] It
was interesting as being a medal struck by Garibaldi to give to his
i chief officers, and to any other persons who might merit it. He had had
considerable experience in copying by photography drawings, manu-
:| scripts, and engravings, and he had always inverted them — a method
:| commonly adopted for the purpose of focussing with greater facility.
Without due reflection he reversed the medal, whereby the positions of
the lights and shadows were altered, and the result was a direct positive.
Mr. Harding asked what Mr. Heath meant by reversing the medal ?
Mr. Heath said he meant turning the head upside down, whereby
i instead of a light on the top of the head there was a shadow- The source
|! of illumination being from above, a negative would be produced in the
il ordinary way if the medal were placed with the top of the head upper-
1 most ; but if reversed the result must be a positive.
Mr. Glaisher asked whether the result must always be the same in
objects of that class ?
Mr. Heath said the result must be the same where the subject was in
ij relief. As negatives often, and in fact generally, were better than the
I positives taken from them, this method of obtaining direct positives
might be useful under certain circumstances. It had since struck him
that a discussion might arise as to whether from such a positive a nega¬
tive might not be obtained, from which better positive plants might be
taken than could be got from negatives taken in the usual way. In order
to illustrate his proposition he had brought a negative taken in the
usual way and a direct positive taken from a reversed medal. It would
be perceived that in the former there was an exaggeration of the
shadows, a kind of double line down the profile, which was avoided in
the latter. That exaggeration must occur in taking a negative in the
ordinary way, unless the source of illumination were very accurately
placed with respect to the object. The exaggeration in the negative he
produced was owing to the source of illumination having been some¬
what on one side; but when the medal was inverted no ill effects were
perceptible, even in the case of the source of illumination not being
accurately placed. The positive he produced had all the qualities
necessary to give a good negative. This was all he had to say upon the
matter, and he was afraid his communication was not of so niutdi interest
as their President supposed.
The Chairman said it was true that Mr. Heath had, he might say,
stumbled upon this discovery accidentally, but it was none the less valu¬
able for that ; and all he could say was, that it required a good man to
observe upon, and to make the most of, these accidents. The discovery
might turn out to be of great value in taking objects in relief where the
convenience of a glass house, with its blinds and other appliances for
controlling the illumination, was not to be had.
Mr. Heath said there was usually some difficulty in obtaining good
tones in positives on glass by the ordinary method of printing from
negatives on dry plates ; but in this case he had obtained a direct posi¬
tive with ease which in tone more resembled M. Soulier’s positives, the
process for producin'? which was a secret.
Tne Chairman said Mr. Heath's direct positives certainly possessed
qualities which he had seldom seen in positives printed on glass. Had
Dir. Heath ever tried, by that method, to take objects in much higher
relief?
Mr. Heath said he had not. He had taken the reverse of the same
medal with similar success. It might be interesting to state that the
positive was taken with a smalt orthographic lens, and that the copy was
much larger than the medal.
Mr. Glaisher inquired the focal length of the lens ?
Mr. Heath said twenty inches for copies enlarged to that extent.
The Chairman said he believed twelve inches was the focal length for
ordinary landscape work.
Mr. Heath said he believed about thirteen inches.
Mr. Glaisher said Mr. Heath’s method was very simple, but the idea
had never occurred to him : it might pirove of great importance.
The thanks of the members were then voted to Mr. Heath for his
communication.
Mr. Heath then called attention to the views from Windsor Castle,
Buckingham Palace, <fcc., exhibited by him, and taken by M. Soulier,
whose name, he said, was sufficient to guarantee their excellence. The
circumstances under which they were taken were these : — In February
last the Queen asked whether M. Soulier would photograph those places,
and upon what terms. He (Mr. Heath) proposed that M. Soulier should
go upon the terms of obtaining permission to take and publish the views.
M. Soulier was only too happy to assent to his proposition, and with Her
MajestCs consent he was now publishing a number of the photogi-aphs he
had so taken. They were all, he believed, printed by artificial light.
The interiors were particularly remarkable, when the comparatively small
amount of light in the rooms at Windsor Castle was taken into considera¬
tion. M. Soulier was engaged there from June to October. They were
all taken on dry plates by the Queen’s express stipulation, as pints of
solution of cyanide of potassium had been previously expended upon the
staircases and floors in removing the stains left by the practitioners of
wet processes, and Her Majesty said she would have no more wet
processes carried on there at all.
Mr. Glaisher inquired if Mr. Heath knew whether M. Soulier’s success
depended on any peculiarity of process, or only on perfect manipulation ?
Mr. Heath said he did not. He thought it was partly due both to
manipulation and process. M. Soulier and his sons let no person into
their secret. He knew one house that had undertaken to take 4000 of
these photographs before Christmas Day.
The Chairman inquired at what rate M. Soulier could print them ?
Mr. Heath said he must print them very quickly. Within a week after
M. Soulier arrived in Paris with his negatives he had sent 800 copies to
London.
The Chairman said perhaps he doubled his negatives.
Mr. HEATH^said, from the sharpness of the positives, it was quite pos¬
sible to take very fine negatives from them, and many persons had done
so ; but they were unable to produce the beautiful elfect obtained by M.
Soulier in his positives, although the negatives were very good. His
impression was, that M. Soulier’s negatives were four or five times
larger than the positives, and that they were reduced in the camera.
The Chairman said, from the position the operator must have been in
when taking the views he did not think that was possible, being so close
to the objects he was photographing. He must have used a lens of very
short focus, and it was easier t.o obtain such an one perfect of a small size.
Mr. Heath, in answer to a question, said single copies were seven
shillings each.
The Chairman asked whether Mr. Heath had ever seen M. Soulier's
negatives ?
18 THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY. [January 1, 1861
Mr. Heath said he had asked M. Soulier upon one occasion to let him
see them. M. Soulier was very civil, but did not show them.
The Chairman said he should much like to see them, as he had a strong
suspicion that they were what would generally be called very much over¬
done.
After some desultory conversation,
Mr. Heath said, with regard to the rapidity of printing now practised,
he might mention that one house had undertaken to purchase 60,000 of
the cartes des visites of the Royal Family in twelve months, but they had
in fact taken 70,000 in less than three months, and they had orders on
their books for 200,000 more copies. From the great rapidity of this
printing, he was afraid we should have large numbers of “fading”
photographs. Fie had been trying to get together some interesting facts
relating to p'rinting, which he trusted would prove useful. He always let
his own photographs lie in running water twenty-four hours, and then gave
them three spongings, all of which occupied much time, but he did not
think stability could be insured without it. He had some he took in
1848, which had shown no signs of fading.
Mr. Glaisher said he adopted the same course of washing and spong¬
ing with the photographs at the Observatory. The Venetian photographs
were all gone.
Mr. Heath said, so were Robinson’s Constantinople photographs. It
might have something to do with the condition of the paper used.
Mr. Glaisher said one curious fact with respect to paper came within
his knowledge. He had a ream of paper in the Observatory with which
he had succeeded very well at first, but it gradually became worse, until
at last he could get no impression at all. Ultimately he discovered that
the defect arose from the paper having been kept in a room at the Obser¬
vatory where gas was burning night and day.
Mr. Heath asked whether the paper was sensitised ?
Mr. Glaisher said it was not. There wrere six or seven gas-burners
constantly alight in the room.
The Chairman said he supposed the sulphuric acid generated by the
burning gas was the cause of the evil, especially as the Greenwich gas
was sometiifees very bad. He had 11b. of sulphate of zinc taken from a
pipe used to carry off the fumes from one burner at the Observatory, the
whole of which had collected in six months.
After some further discussion, the proceedings terminated with the
usual vote of thanks to the chairman.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
At the close of last meeting of this Society, reported in our previous num¬
ber, Mr. Tunny saidthat the members might not be aware of the existence
of a developing agent for collodion negatives, which he had often tried,
and by which more curious and, in many cases, better results might be
attained than by any other developer extant. He alluded to a com¬
bination of pyrogallic acid and iron, which he thought might not be
inaptly named a gallo-citrate of iron, and which he made in this way: —
Fifteen grains sulphate of iron having been dissolved in one ounce of
water is added to another ounce of water containing two grains of
pyrogallic acid in solution. A copious precipitate of gallate of iron is
formed, which is re-dissolved by adding quant, suf. of a saturated
solution of citric acid in water. Those who try this will find that for a
short time no apparent development takes place ; but they will be
agreeably surprised by the picture subsequently starting into existence
in a most instantaneous manner. When this takes place the develop¬
ment is completed , no further length of time seeming to add to its density.
Mr. Tunny urged on the members to try this. So far as he was aware
it was quite new, at least he had never seen mention made of it in any
of the periodical or other literature of photography.
In connexion with the report of this Society in our last number, we
made an editorial comment, in consequence of which we have received
the following : —
Edinburgh , 26 th December, I860.
Dear Sir, — I think merit would have been fully belter awarded if you had turned
up the number of the Journal, and given the date and the name of the gentleman who
" had forestalled me in the application of citric acid for clearing the discoloured albu-
menised paper silver bath,” If citric acid has been used for the above purp< se, priority
of publication, by so doing, would have been established ; but. on the contrary, if your
memory has been at fault, I conceive your note to be rather injudicious.
Your obedient Servant, J, G. TUNNY.
f,-
[An editor, in trying to avoid Scylla, very often falls a victim to
Charybdis. On a former occasion we accidentally omitted to make a
note of a fact which occurred to us in connexion with albumenised-
collodionised plates coagulated by hot water, and consequently became
figuratively immersed therein. Mr. Tunny’s paper reached us but a very
short time prior to our “going to press;” and we cannot pretend to
remember exactly dates, places, and names of people, so as to give the
when, where, and who, relating to matters of fact of which we take cog¬
nisance more definitely without reference. We have, however, now
sought for the missing particulars, and have to refer to the Journal of
the Photographic Society for 8th January, 1859, No. 76, page 138, where
is an article, by Mr. Fras. G. Eliot, of which this application of citric acid
is the theme. Finding that the free citric acid rendered it difficult to
permit the red colour being sufficiently subdued in the subsequent toning
bath, Mr. Eliot carried his experiments further, and gave the following-
directions for restoring the bath to a proper working condition, viz. : —
“Evaporate to about fifty or sixty grains to the ounce ; add citric acid in
solution, anjr strength, until precipitation ceases; then add ammonia
until the reddened litmus is restored to its proper colour; filter, and
afterwards add nitric acid, two drops to the pint.” We had no intention
of accusing Mr. Tunny of plagiarism (indeed we do not consider that our
note admits of this interpretation), and have no doubt that the idea was
original so far as he was concerned ; for he may well have overlooked
Mr. Eliot’s very modest paper, which was not brought forward at a
meeting of any society. — Ed.]
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting of this Association was held on Wednesday, the
12th ult., at the Chorlton Town Hall, — Mr. William Griffiths, one of the
Vice-Presidents, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Secretary objected to that portion of the report which was vir¬
tually an amendment on the previous one ; the report, as sent by hin^gj
The British Journal of Photography, was what he understood aBB
Sheard to say at the previous meeting. He did not wish to say more
about the matter, only that he did not admit having reported incorrectly.
Several members expressed their opinion as to the correctness of the
original report.
The Chairman said several of his friends had tried the process, as
brought before the last meeting by Mr. Kay, for converting positives
into negatives. Very successful results were obtained, and lie could
recommend this mode to the members. He then read a letter from the
Manchester Examiner and Times — showing how lightly photography was
treated by some persons who had no knowledge of the art — the correct¬
ness of which he could not endorse.
A Member wished to inquire from the meeting if it were necessary to
prepare collodio-albumen plates in darkness, as he had prepared some in
open daylight, up to the second sensitising, and found they were good.
The meeting thought there was no new feature here ; but had the
development been continued longer, fogging would have supervened.
Mr. Rogerson said he wished to read some papers, and a letter already
published, on dry processes, by Dr. Hill Norris, in 1857.
Mr. Griffiths also read some extracts bearing on the same subject.
_ A very interesting discussion then arose on the sensibility of iodide of
silver in its various forms, and was continued until the close of the
meeting, which was concluded by a vote of thanks to the Chairman.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. ( Continued. J
We have now, I think, quite disposed of the necessary implements
materials, &c., and may begin practice — in the first place choosing
as may best suit our purpose, —
The Photograph, &c.
It should be a good print, but not a dark or a feeble one. The
whites must be pure — the half-tints good — the tone warm. It
should be printed upon good albumenised paper, and mounted
upon thick, hard drawing-board, which has been hot-pressed.
Salisbury glue is sometimes used as a size for its preparation.
Newman’s preparation size is frequently preferred; but I use
isinglass dissolved in a very small proportion of water, by heat,
strained through coarse linen, diluted with gin, and applied, while
perfectly liquid, with a broad flat brush. Once on the picture this
forms a hard protective surface not likely to be influenced either
by moisture or heat ; but if it is applied too thickly it may crack
off. Having sized the print it should be hot-pressed.
You now take it into your painting-room, which has been well
dusted, and fasten it to your desk with drawing-pins, while I pro¬
ceed to speak of —
Preparing the Palette.
The late excellent artist, Leslie, said “he hated a starved palette,”
and I subscribe to this great man’s opinion ; but beware of a dirty
palette, with no one colour pure or distinct from another. You re¬
quire a very small portion of each pure pigment, just a mere touch
from the mouth of your squeezed tube, and from these may com¬
pound your tints and hues at will. It is usual with those who
paint large pictures to set the palette differently for each painting;
but for ordinary photographs once setting the palette will suffice,
if the palette be a tolerably large one, so as to afford you room
enough for both the pure and mixed colours. No two artists may
January 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
19
be said to use exactly the same set of tints and hues — preference,
feeling, and individual peculiarities of practice having much to do
•with the selection.
Setting the Palette.
Place the pigments on your palette, as described, in the following
order, leaving some little space between each, in order that they
may not, during work, become mixed and soiled : —
White,
Naples Yellow,
Cadmium Yel. (1&2)
Yellow Ochre,
Raw Sienna,
Gold Ochre,
Burnt Sienna,
Light Red,
Extract of Vermilion
For Fair
Complexions.
Cobalt Green,
Terre Verte,
Raw Umber,
Vandyke Brown,
Cappa Brown,
Ivory Black,
Blue Black.
Vermilion,
Madder Pink,
Rose Madder,
Indian Red,
Madder Purple,
Cobalt,
Ultramarine,
Prussian Blue,
Indigo,
Tints for Flesh.
These are very numerous; but I select such as may be most
frequently used : modifications will readily suggest themselves to
you during your practice.
'White and Naples Yellow.
White, Cadmium Yellow, and Madder Pink.
White, Light Red, and Cadmium Yellow.*
, White, Vermilion, and Light Red.
White and Yellow Ochre.
. White, Yellow Ochre, and Light Red.
White, Burnt Sienna, and Madder Pink.
> White, Indian Red, and Yellow Ochre.
’White, Cadmium Yellow, and Light Red.
White and Light Red.
White, Light Red, and Madder Pink.
White and Rose Madder.
‘White and Indian Red.
For Darker
Complexions.
For Ruddy
Complexions.
For Half-Tints to break the above.
For Fair
Complexions.
For Darker
Complexions.
For Ruddy
Complexions.
For Fair.
Darker.
Ruddy.
{White, Cobalt, and Venetian Red.
White, Cobalt, Ochre, and Madder Pink.
White, Black, and Vermilion.
White, Indigo, and Venetian Red.
White, Light Red, and Emerald Green.
White and Terre Verte.
■ White, Black, and Yellow Ochre.
.White, Black, Indian Red, and Raw Umber.
White, Cobalt, and Venetian Red.
White, Black, and Vermilion.
White and Purple Madder.
White, Rose Madder, and Ultramarine.
White, Indian Red, and Indigo.
Carnations.
(White and Vermilion.
White, Vermilion, and Madder Pink.
White, Rose Madder, and Light Red.
White, Cadmium, and Madder Lake.
■ White and Indian Red.
.White, Rose Madder, and Burnt^Sienna.
’White and Rose Madder.
• White, Rose Madder, and IndianRed.
.White, Vermilion, and Lake.
Shade Tints.
Darker.
Ruddy.
[Raw Umber and Light Red.
For Fair. Madder Brown and Raw Sienna.
( Vermilion and Black.
(Indian Red, Raw Umber, and Black.
Madder Brown and Lake.
Vermilion and Black.
Vandyke Brown and Lake.
( Same as above, but with the Reds
{ predominating.
Before proceeding, let me give a few hints with reference to the
use of these tints. In the first place, recall the remarks upon flesh
painting already given, and hear them in memory while compounding
the tints and hues given in the preceding tables. The great difficulty,
and it is indeed a puzzling one, in teaching through such a
medium as the present, lies in this fact, that although you may give
the pigments which enter into combination for the production of
a given tint, hue, or shade, you cannot so easily convey an impres-
* Cadmium yellow being a yery powerful colour, a very small portion will suffice.
sion of the exact degree of warmth or coldness, depth, &c., which
is desirable. I may, as many do, call this a cold and that a warm
colour, by way of making you understand the exact nature of the
colour I wish produced ; but, then, this may be warm and that cold
rather in a comparative than in a general sense, or it may possess
just a certain degree of the one or the other, and that only in
reference to the harmonious relationship it ought to bear to those
previously applied. All I can do for you, unless you send me your
productions, therefore, is to impress upon you the advantage of
considering all I have said in previous chapters concerning flesh
painting, and urge upon you the necessity of a proper amount of
keeping. For instance, in painting a yellow complexion let yellow
more or less enter into the composition of all your flesh colours ;
in painting a very fair complexion preserve delicacy and pearliness
in all your compounded hues and shades ; and when engaged upon
a ruddy complexion let it be expressed in the warmth and rich¬
ness of the broken and shadow tints as well as in the purer local
colours. I have said much the same thing as this before, but, by
repetition in varying phrases, I hope to impress upon your mind
more strongly the more important and prominent points of
practice to be observed, and the more common and dangerous
errors to be avoided. Nothing is uglier and more inartistic than
the common error of blue greys in a ruddy or yellow complexion,
instead of those tending, however slightly, to purple and green.
Many popular miniature painters adopt one tone for all their
broken tints, making them green or blue, violet or purple, grey or
brown, without the slightest reference to those of nature ; follow¬
ing blindly some conventional idea, or triumphantly pointing,
perhaps, for their authority to some fine piece of work by a pet old
master, in which the varnish has turned yellow and given all the
cold greys a decidedly green or greenish tone.
The author of the preceding paper , in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practical value, has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring , and to give them advice through the
' medium of these pages; for which purpose specimens may he sent,
with a stamped and directed envelope for their return, to A. H.
Wall, Esq., 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
Arthur E. — Some skill is required, but not more than can be easily acquired. I am
no advocate for the use of body colours in photographic colouring: apart from the
reasons I have given their effect is so cold, sickly, mealy, and opaque, that I think their
use should be confined to filling in the outlines of such conventional designs as belong
to ornamental painting, where such flat, clean, and even tints may be pleasing without
offending good taste. I will, however, give you the information you require. Obtain
your colours in powder ; grind and regrind them repeatedly in distilled water, and mix
them with a size made from parchment. Mount upon a thick hot-pressed board, and
do not apply your colours too thickly at once. Use large soft brushes ; fill in as quickly
and with as light a touch as possible; avoid gum, or use it in a very weak solution, and
work with neatness, care, and speed.
“ Dust Ahoy ! ’’—You are right. I am about having a new painting-desk made, which
will enable me to slide one sheet of glass over my palette when not absolutely in use,
and another over the whole or part of my picture, so as to shield it entirely from dust
during any pause in my work, or shield it partially when from the upper part of my
picture I go to the lower, say from the face to the hands. “ Go thou and do likewise.”
I would write to you privately, and enclose a drawing of the desk, were it not that just
now I have so many demands upon my time.
A Painter. — See the above reply. Delicate finish can never be secured in a dusty
room. Every motion sets the dust afloat, and the slightest deposit of the smallest par¬
ticles will go far to spoil a miniature picture. The only precautions I can suggest are
those already given and the above. Many of my pictures have also been so spoiled.
G. R. S. — The information respecting “ Eludoric Painting,” which sometime since I
was unable to supply this correspondent with, I have discovered in a work, translated
from the French of M. Constant de Massoul, which was published in 1797. The paint¬
ing is executed upon a ground prepared with white lead and poppy oil. Three coats of
this priming is laid on, each one being allowed to dry and being scraped smooth before
the application of another. You could not. therefore, apply this to photographic colour¬
ing. The pigments are very finely ground, and are kept in distilled water. They must
not be brought into contact with any metallic surface. The palette protects the colours
from dust by a covering of glass (a hint you will see I have taken). Distilled water is
also kept in contact with the painting while the colours are moist; and the work is also
retouched through it. When the oil comes to the surface of the water it is poured off,
and the picture being covered with a bell glass, is put in a box and gently heated. When
quite dry, it is scraped smooth and flat. For each colouring this process is repeated.
The colours used must be such as will not be disturbed by the water. The chief value
of this process is that its pigments have not more oil than is absolutely essential to their
adherence, and that no varnish is used— the picture beingfastened under a glass, which
is so contrived as to preserve it from air.
G. L., Guernsey. — Boil the parchment in water, and then strain it from the dregs.
Lip glue may be made, I believe, with isinglass dissolved by heat, mixed with the above
made strong, to which a small proportion of sugar-candy and gum tragacinth has been
added.
F. M.— I cannot claim for the reply you require the space it would demand, or I would
willingly oblige. The work was published by David Bogue, of Fleet Street, and was re¬
viewed ‘in all the various journals devoted to art. Its principles were very widely dis¬
cussed at the time— some upholding, some denouncing them. Leslie, the painter, I
believe, denounced them, but not publicly'.
Dabbler.— The ivory is bleached in the sun, under a piece of glass, taking care that
the heat is not sufficient to make it warp and crack. It is then scraped smooth with a
razor, or a u scraper,'' and finished with fine pumice-stone powder. Some use a little
distilled vinegar with the first pumice powder, as they say its acidity opens the pores of
the ivory, and makes it take colour better. If the ivory be fresh from the turner s,
coarse sand-paper may succeed the scraping. . .
George Smith— I have heard of a preparation, composed of isinglass and extremely
fine pumice-stone powder, being spread over the surface of the photograph, so as to
form a tooth which would receive the crayon. Try it, using about a tablespoonful of
the powder to about a pint of the size, and boiling the mixture before using. As it forms
a kind, of thin paste, the print should he a vigorous one,
130
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1801
Jforctgri Corospontrttm.
Paris , December 28, 1860.
I HAVE no great abundance of processes and formulae to commence
the opening year with. The monthly meeting of the French Photo¬
graphic Society, which has just been held, and upon which I had
counted a little, offered nought of the kind. An interesting dis¬
cussion, however, to which I will presently return, occupied the
larger part of the evening ; while the rest of the time was taken up
with the presentation of photographs. Among these was a mono-
graphy of the Imperial Asylum, at Vincennes, in which convalescent
workmen are received. The views, both interior and exterior, are
each animated with groups of persons, arranged with that perfect
good taste which reminds you that the author, M. Charles Negre,
joins to his photographic skill the experience of the painter. The
inmates of the establishment served as models for these little
pictures.
MM. Bingham and Nadar presented some specimens of electric-
light printing. They employ a Bunsen apparatus of 50 elements,
with one of Seurin’s regulators, and a reflector, at a distance of 2
metres 25 centimetres. The results obtained are already very satis¬
factory. Communications had been announced relative to positive
printing by steam and on the panoramic camera. These communi¬
cations were not forthcoming ; and despite the desire generally
eflt to know the means employed by M. Fontayne for printing,
photographically, at the rate of 4,000 copies an hour, the members
were obliged to be resigned. This dearth of new processes ought
not to be regarded as discouraging ; far from having exhausted
its resources, photography is in a moment of transition, and will,
doubtless, soon enter upon unexplored paths. As I have already
remarked, the principal efforts being made are directed to the
improvement of the modes of printing. But for all experiments
the present season is most decidedly unfavourable.
I know not what is the state of the atmosphere in England, but
here the long-continued rain and fog have given place to snow.
All is white, with the exception of the sky, which is yellow. With
such un photogenic weather, I am at a loss to know how the
portraitists manage; for their reception-rooms are encumbered with
the persons, who want their portraits for new year’s gifts. In that
photographers are not favoured : the period of the year at which
their lucrative labours increase in an enormous proportion is
precisely the period at which the diminution of the light is the
greatest. In spite, however, of this drawback, they find means
to make splendid profits ; and I do not think they have much
ground for complaint.
It was Woodward’s solar camera which was again the subject of
the discussion at the meeting of the Photographic Society; but,
thanks to M. Leon Foucauld’s triumphant resolution of the ques¬
tion, I do not think it will soon need again to demand so much of
the ’ Society’s time. M. Foucauld proved with mathematical
clearness that all the objections turned upon a misunderstanding,
and that M. Claudet alone was in the right. His demonstration
was not lengthy, but it was presented with an authority and a
precision that were unanswerable : M. Bertsch himself was forced
to acknowledge it. The figure traced upon the black-board, by the
learned photographer of the Paris Observatory, sufficed to show
both the excellence of the principle of Woodward’s camera and the
correctness of M. Claudet’s reasoning. The image formed at the
centre of the objective — that is to say at the apex of the cone — is
certainly that of the sun, upon which the image of the interposed
cliche becomes depicted, for the cliche , being transparent, does not
interrupt the convergent direction of the rays. The two images
exist really but at the apex of the cone — that is to say, at the centre
of the objective ; all the other parts of which, receiving extremely
feeble rays, form but the diaphragm. There is then a maximum
light, and freedom from the aberrations of sphericity. This con¬
clusion is identical with M. Claudet’s.
A curious and unprecedented incident has occurred in the course
of Quinet’s lawsuit. After the advocates had pleaded, the tri¬
bunal, not considering itself sufficiently enlightened on the subject,
requested that experiments should be made in its presence : only
the1 magistrates, unfamiliar with photography, did not reflect that
a court of justice is scarcely a suitable operating-room; so the test
proved nothing, and no decision was come to. It were to be wished
that lawsuits of such a nature should be submitted to special
courts composed of practical men. It is almost impossible for a
magistrate to arrive at an exact opinion on complicated questions
of which he knows not the first elements, and upon whioh, however,
the interests and fortune of large numbers depend.
The French Photographic Society is actively preparing for its
exhibition, which is to be held simultaneously with the Fine Arts
Exhibition, in the Palace of Industry. The Society intends appeal¬
ing to all photographers, and it is very desirable that the appeal
should be responded to by the English artists. Comparison will
be profitable to all. Besides, the larger the number of worl<B of
mark exhibited to the public, the greater will be the development
of taste for an art whose importance is already understood, but all
the resources of which are but partially known. Your instantaneous
pictures and composed scenes would be very successful — and legiti¬
mately so : the beauty of the results would excite the emulation
of our operators, and induce them to turn their talents in these two
directions, which they have too much neglected.
I spoke lately of the fine collection of cliches brought from
Mount Atlios by Count Sevastianoff. M. Lemercier has repro¬
duced from lithographic stones the facsimiles of some manuscripts
figuring therein. They were executed with Poitevin’s process ;
and the result is very satisfactory, as I have ascertained from
personal inspection. The fact is noteworthy, as bearing upon the
future of photography. ERNEST LACAN.
|§Lfo §00hs.
Literary and Scientific Register and Almanack fur 1801, by
J. W. G. Gutch, M.R.G.S.L., &c., late Foreign Service
Queen’s Messenger.
London : Kent & Co., Patemoster-row.
This publication, which has now made its twentieth appearance,
increases in usefulness year by year: it contains, in a condensed form,
a mass of information upon various branches of science, including
astronomy, chemistry, geology, geograph}’-, optics, photography, and a
host of other things too numerous to mention.
The architectural, geographical, and geological tables have been
materially improved in the last issue. Being in the pocket-book form,
it is extremely handy for frequent reference, and will be found invalu¬
able to many persons whose memory for dates, quantities, formulae, &c.
is at fault. Mr. Gutch is a practical photographer of no mean skill, and
therefore likely to aid those who require a guide in pursuing this art.
We perceive with satisfaction that the various photographic formulae
are selected from authorities of high repute ; and we have no doubt that
to many of our readers this publication will prove of value. We cordially
hope it may meet with an extensive circulation.
&0.msp0tttmut.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
THE ADDRESS AT THE CHORLTON SOCIETY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — On perusing the last number of your Journal I discovered that
a third, and an anonymous, writer had entered upon the discussion of the
photo-chemical question. I experienced no surprise on realising the fact ;
but I admit my astonishment that he has written so much and yet said
so little, and that the article is devoid of evidence and deficient in courtesy.
I therefore solicit a corner in the Journal, in support of the assailed.
The first, second, and third paragraphs require no comments. In the
fourth, these words occur : — “ But we think, with Mr. Hardwich, that such
disencouraging arguments as he offers should be condemned.”
To which I reply : On the same principle so should the arguments of
any man who, by legitimate reasoning, endeavours to stimulate his
fellows to the acquisition of that which he knows they would be all the
better for possessing ; for we must know what our deficiencies are, before
we can apply ourselves to their rectification.
Mr. Griffiths has (and not so unwisely as some persons seem to think,
but have failed to prove) directed the attention of photographers to the
unsatisfactory state of photo-chemistry — which opinion a careful consi¬
deration of facts justifies him in holding.
Does not the fact of photographers being, even now, engaged in the
investigation of its mysteries, proclaim its unsatisfactory condition, and
that notwithstanding the comparative perfection of the results obtained ?
Are we content with our present knowledge ? If not, how can “ Sigma ”
maintain that we are otherwise than dissatisfied ?
Mr. Griffiths stated his views to his fellow-members with the intention,
not of discouraging them, but of enlisting more workers in the pursuit
of a particular branch of science, and to stimulate them to the
study of theoretical, in addition to mechanical photography. “ He
professes to deplore our present ignorance, but does nothing to dispel
the darkness which he seems to feel himselfi” Not so! Mv. Grif-
January 1, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
fiths is no simulator, and does not profess: He is sincere in what he
advocates. How does “Sigma” know that Mr. Griffiths is doingnothing,
ox does nothing, &c. ? If “ Sigma ” were as observant as a man who makes
such assertions ought to be he would have seen, from a subsequent
statement by Mr. Griffiths, that he was doing something. Will “ Sigma”
be good enough to substantiate his assertion ? and also, when next he
professes to quote the words of another, to honestly quote the entire
sentence, and not as much of it only as suits his purpose?
“ Sigma ” says — “ Perhaps he (Mr. Griffiths) means its effects are
becoming increasingly known, which is just what every lover of the art
has most at heart.” Let me advise “ Sigma” to read carefully before he
attempts to tutor : there is no “ perhaps ” in the matter, as your readers
will find if they will turn to the report of Mr. Griffiths’s paper in your
Journal of October 1st..
Paragraph the sixth is a far-fetched one, wherein a sentence, between
inverted commas, is very kindly constructed. It seems tome that “Sigma”
has here arrived at a hasty conclusion, and that the argument of Mr. Grif¬
fiths, instead of being what it is represented as being, amounts to this : —
that although we know more now than we did ten years since, we are yet
in want of very desirable information, and the greater the number of per¬
sons we can induce to seek diligently for it the sooner will it be in our
possession. Why, the direct tendency of Mr. Griffiths’s paper is to lead
the photographer to the study of the chemical and other principles of his
art ; to persuade him to teach his head what his hands are doing. Can
“Sigma” make it manifest that an ignorant artisan is a superior work¬
man to an educated one ? “ But we do not want to re-write Mr. Griffiths’s
paper, or one paragraph after another might be treated thus ” — that is,
construed to the disadvantage of Mr. Griffiths. 1 challenge “ Sigma ” to
do it if he can ; and if he does it by means of fair, sound argument I will
acknowledge its accomplishment.
I can coincide with some of “ Sigma’s ” observations, as indeed every
one can — for instance, those in the early portion of the last paragraph of
his paper ; but the statement that arguments such as those of Mr. Griffiths
would in the beginning have exercised an adverse influence I empha¬
tically deny. He (“ Sigma ”) should not merely tell us they would have
done so, when it is much better , but not so easy , to show us how.
Thus far I have followed the substance of “ Sigma’s” communication.
Now let us see if anything encouraging can be gleaned from that of Mr.
Griffiths. I should like to copy some of the paragraphs entire, but fear
you would not be able to spare the necessary space ; I must therefore
request your readers to reperuse the first, second, and third paragraphs
of Mr. Griffiths’s paper, at page 290 in your Journal of October 1st.
If these do not acknowledge that something to be proud of has been
accomplished I should like to know what they do mean?
In paragraph 10 — “ A wide field for research is open to the enterprising
experimentalist in this department, who should not rest satisfied until
the improvement in his lenses is such as that the angle of view embraced
by them shall more nearly approach that of the eye and also — “ Both
these objects I am persuaded can and will be ultimately attained."
. In paragraph 17 — “But the chemical department, though far out¬
weighing the other in the importance of the results that may be expected
to arise from a more general and energetic study of it," &c.
In paragraph 20 — “ But I trust I have done sufficient to excite in you
a determination to commence a course of careful experiments,” &c. I can
see no throwing of cold water in this, but quite the contrary, even
though the object in view might be hopeless of attainment.
Again, is not the whole of that portion of the essay referring to Mr.
Hooper’s experiments an incentive to additional exertion ? 1 think it is.
, In conclusion,, sir, I cannot rid myself of the impression that the
opposition encountered by Mr. Griffiths is dictated by some other feeling
than that of the true interest of photography.
Multiplicity of opinion, without evidence, ought to have no influence (and
has none) in the minds of impartial men. If the views of Mr. Griffiths
are so prejudicial to the advancement of photography as by “Sigma”
they are said to be, let him establish the position lie takes by evidence.
I for one am not content to accept the naked “ not-proven ” assertion of
any man, and more especially so when that assertion is calculated to
injure another individual in the estimation of the public.
As an instance of the carefulness of “ Sigma,” he attributes that to
Mr. Wardley which was said by Mr. Bogerson. Now, as the latter-named
gentleman is about double the weight of Mr. Wardley, you will admit
the justice (to Mr. Wardley, at least) of placing the responsibility of the
words cn the right man — aye, and in the right place.
I am, yours, &c., CHARLES ADIN.
Manchester, 24 th Dec. 1860.
[We can by no means assent to the assumption that photographic
chemistry is in an unsatisfactory state : on the contrary, we regard it as
in a highly healthy condition. What wise man is ever content with the
amount of his knowledge ? We may safely conclude that were he ever
so diligent, and his life extended to ten times its ordinary span, he would
yet be only on the thi'eshold of the vast expanse of knowledge still to be
acquired.
We are, however, of opinion that Mr. Griffiths’s observations have been
to some extent misunderstood from a slight obscurity of diction in which
they were couched. If it be possible to interpret words in two senses, we
may . be assured that some persons will be certain to adopt the wrong one
— not intentionally, but inadvertently. This we know to our cost ; for,
though we are generally very careful in what we write, we have occa -
sionally found, that our remarks have been taken in a very different spirit
to that in which they were written. It has been jocosely said, in reply
to the question — “Can a double meaning be just?” — if a man means
well, the more he means the better. Let us give Mr. Griffiths credit for
such a double meaning. — Ed.]
PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE-WARMING AND DRYING MACHINE.
To the Editor.
Sib, — I know not if the following description of wha,t has proved to me,
during my frequent photographic journeyings in the summer, an ex¬
ceedingly. useful appliance, will be deemed of sufficient importance for
insertion in your pages. Possibly the idea is not a new one. All I can
say is, I had never met with anything of the like kind before I had mine
made, and have never regretted the day I commenced its use. I used
oftentimes to find it a troublesome matter to warm my plates easily,
rapidly, and without fear of cracking when applying the Soehnee varnish',
which I always use. There being no fire generally in the room during
the summer months, and the kitchen fire in strange houses not being
always convenient, or come-at-able, I consequently had made, bv an
ordinary tinman, two flat boxes, hinged at the top, one inch thick or
deep, ten inches long and eight broad, with a round hole at the top to
pour hot water in, and a brass stopper screw to keep it in : a ledge at
the bottom of each, running the whole length, completes the little plate¬
warming machine ; and when open and in use, it is in appearance
exactly like a double reading-desk.
The following simple diagram will, I hope, easily explain my meaning;
for it is often difficult to convey clearly an idea of those contrivances by
mere words : —
Holes for pouring
in hofc water. Hinge.
1 lay two plates to be varnished on each flat side of the hot water box,
and by the time I have varnished one the other is ready, and whilst var¬
nishing that the first is dried and finished. They are thus done with
great rapidity and ease, and no fear of breakage, or having the glass
plate unequally heated ; and the two boxes folding together, take up very
little room. Mine was made for the plates I usually employ, six and
a-half by ten and a-half, a size I have found convenient in every respect.
Let me take this opportunity for thanking you for the Almanack
accompanying your last most interesting number. It is a very useful
and ingeniously-compiled little work, and deserves to be the Almanack
of photographers. — 1 am, yours, &c., J. W. G. GLITCH.
[We fancy this is a very excellent arrangement, as by leaving out the
stoppers, and not filling the receptacles quite full of water, a spirit lamp,
or other small flame, placed beneath, would keep up the temperature for
some considerable time. — Ed.]
A WORD IN FAVOUR OF METAGELATINE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have taken the liberty of forwarding you a few slides, trusting
you may find them worthy of forming a part of your collection — not as
possessing any particular merit, further than that of giving some of our
city antiquities ; but, perhaps, as specimens of some of the different dry
processes, they may have an interest at the present time.
My experience does not date far back; but, having pursued the study
con amore, difficulties are soon overcome. I have tried most of the many
dry processes which have from time to time appeared in the pages of
your excellent Journal, and believe that good results may be obtained
from nearly all of them; but, so far as mjr experience goes, I must give
the preference to the metagelatine. This, I am awmre, is not a favourite ;
but I cannot help feeling certain that it would soon become so if fairly
tried. The plates are easily prepared ; will keep as long as any prepared
plates, and give uniformly good results. During the past summer 1 have
had ample experience of their keeping qualities, in consequence of the
great rarity of fine days. I may instance the Kenilworth Views sent.
I had one dozen plates prepared, which were kept more than six weeks
waiting for a favourable opportunity to be used : at length I exposed the
twelve, and developed a dozen negatives. I think I have sent you ten
prints: the other two are quite as good as the rest, but I have not printed
from them as yet. The metagelatine I find better than any other pro¬
cess for interiors, as they will bear protracted exposure and development
without stains, or breaking the film. Nos. 101 and 102, The Altar Screen,
St. Michael's, were exposed over two hours, the light being indifferent,
and occupied more than eighteen hours in developing. I use gallic acid
and nitrate solution, intensifying with pyrogallic acid. Both of the
interiors ( Trinity and St. Michael's ) have a bad light, yellow predomi-
22
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1801
nating. With the collodion-albumen I could scarcely get an impression.
I have tried the various collodions advertised as specially adapted for
certain processes, &c., hut I now use one kind only for every process,
which I find all that can be desired. No. 9 is a specimen of its rapidit}',
used wet. No. 77 is simply the collodion plate, slightly washed in dis¬
tilled water on its removal from the nitrate bath, then washed with a
weak solution of salt and water, with a final slight wash of distilled
water, dried, and kept three days : exposure, three seconds, and deve¬
loped with iron. The sky has been stopped out, which does not improve
the picture.
I intended giving the different exposures, as I have memoranda (in
making experiments for the purpose of comparison this was necessary) ;
but, unless you wish it, I will not take up your valuable space.
With regard to quickness, I have found Fothergill most rapid, meta¬
gelatine requiring a shorter exposure than the collodio-albumen ; but
having so little bright light this summer, the results have not been so
good as I could have wished. I have generally used a pair of Grubb’s
aplanatic lenses, and like them. I also find large plates prepared by the
metagelatine process far superior to the Fothergill or collodio-albumen.
I send you a print of one of our city gates, in fact the only one now in
existence. — I am, yours, &c., J. WINGRAVE.
Coventry, Dec. 6, 1860.
[Mr. Hill, the Treasurer of the North London Photographic Association,
is a warm advocate of your favourite process, and is very successful
therewith. Thanks for your specimens. — Ed.]
CENTERING LENSES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I was going to write to you to mention a method of ascertaining
the correctness of the centering of the lenses in a portrait combination,
but I see by the last Journal that you know it. It was published many
years ago — I think by Dr. Wollaston— as applied to the triple object-glass
of a telescope. The same author published instructions for centering
lenses, which differ from those stated by you in not requiring a hollow
mandril, although the principle is the same. The directions were these : —
Turn a chuck a trifle smaller then the lens ; hollow the face of it so that
the lens shall rest only against a cylindrical edge, and put into the cavity
of the chuck a sufficient quantity of pitch-cement to hold the lens.
Warm the latter, and press it against the chuck until it bears on the edge
all round. (This is not always done in practice.) The back surface is sure
then to be concentric with the mandril ; and the front must be made so
by shifting, until the reflection of any bright object ceases to “ wobble ”
when the mandril revolves. The cement is then allowed to cool, and the
edge of the lens either turned or ground true. The optical and mecha¬
nical centres then coincide, and it only remains to turn the cell true in
its place.
I centered lenses by this method more than twenty years ago, and
found an error in the triple object-glass of a small telescope by Troughton.
I am, yours, &c., GEORGE JACKSON.
Spitalfields, Bee. 21, 1860.
THE “FOTHERGILL” PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reply to the request of your correspondent, “ Inquirer,” that
I would through the medium of your Journal give my manner of work¬
ing the Fothergill process, I beg to forward the following details for
insertion, should you deem them worthy of a place in your valuable
Journal. — I am, yours, &c., S. H. G.
Dec. 21, 1860. -
Having ground the edges of the glasses and perfectly cleaned them,
arrange them singly round the sides of an open box lined with clean
paper, and inside of which heated flat irons have been placed. When
the glasses are cooled, place one of them on a pneumatic plateholder, and
polish it with a silk handkerchief. Pour on the collodion, which must
be one that will adhere firmly to the glass — a thin collodion is preferable ;
allow the film to set well and immerse the plate in a 35-grain silver bath;'
slightly acid, moving it up and down until all greasiness has disappeared,
and a perfectly even coating is obtained. When the plate is removed
from the bath, wipe from the back all remains of the silver solution, and
set it on angle to drain for about a minute; then pour from a jug evenly
and thoroughly over the plate, particularly round the edges, two quarts
of common water ; drain for about three-fourths of a minute ; then pour
on the albumen three times in an even wave, reversing the flow each
time, and always using a fresh portion of albumen ; immediately
pour over the plate, as after sensitising, two quarts of water ; dry sponta¬
neously for five or ten minutes, and then place on angle against the side
of a box heated with flat irons until perfectly dry ; when store in a tight
tin box.
The exposure of the prepared plate will depend on the lens: six minutes
is about the average. As the plates are uniformly prepared great cer¬
tainty may be obtained. Plates so prepared will keep six weeks with
undiminished sensitiveness.
To develop, moisten the plate with a little water and pour on the de¬
veloping solution, keeping it moving for about two minutes. Then
throw it away and apply a fresh portion of the developer ; keep pouring
it off and on, using fresh solution as soon as it becomes discoloured 5 and
when all the details are fully out, and a considerable amount of inten¬
sity obtained, wash and fix in hyposulphite of soda. After copious wash¬
ing, the picture may be intensified to any amount, withoutfear of oud-
ing the shadows, by proceeding with the development as before ; or it
may be dried and re-developed at some convenient opportunity. The
plate must dry spontaneously, and when surface-dry touched round the
edges with gum mucilage, otherwise the film will curl up when dry.
The development may occupy from lialf-an-hour to an hour and a-half.
ALBUMEN SOLUTION.
Albumen . 1 ounce.
Water . l ounce.
Liquor ammonige . 8 drops.
DEVELOPING SOLUTION.
Pyrogallic acid . 16 grains.
Spirits of wine . drachms.
Water . 4J drachms.
Citric acid . 8 grains.
One part to seven of water.
Immediately before using add eight drops of silver solution to the
ounce of the diluted, mixing well with a glass rod.
MESSRS. PETSCHLER AND MANN’S PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have latterly been working with the process of Messrs.
Petschler and Mann, and I have got some first-rate results with it ; but
I was rather short of bath solution, and I put about three ounces of dis¬
tilled water into the bath, without any silver in it, and I was surprised
to find, when I made some plates ready and exposed them, that I had
very faint pictures. The other solution was about thirty-five grains to
the ounce, and there were about sixteen ounces in the bath. Would re¬
ducing the strength of the silver solution be the cause of my failing? If
you think so, please say what strength you would recommend for me to
use. — I am, yours, &c., JOSHUA HORNE.
[The original strength was very good ; but thirty grains to the ounce
will do. We are not at all certain that the fault was in the strength
of the bath — perhaps it was in developing. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
[fir The Titlepage ancl Index for Volume VII. (for 1860) will
he given with next number.
R. E. P. — Your communication is far too personal for our columns. Attack principles
as much as you please, but not individuals; or at any rate, avoid imputing disreputable
motives to their actions.
E. Eastwood. — The address of the “ Moulded Carbon Filter Company ’’ is 62, Fleet
Street, London, E.C. You will find a Grove’s battery cheaper in the long run, and far
more convenient, than a Bunsen’s.
Solus. — 1. Fothergill’s, as given at pages 34 and 35 of the Almanack. — 1a. Because
gelatine and gum do not assist in holding the collodion film on to the plate, while albu¬
men does so ; and again, albumenised plates can he made to keep good longer as a rule.
—2. Favourable generally. — 3. Yes ; Flood it with alcohol or benzole, and re-varnish.
More Light. — 1. By filtration. — 2. Afterwards. — 3. Need not be evaporated at all ; but
it you know the quantity of gold originally employed, add distilled water, so as to make
a round number of minims contain one grain of gold. — 4. Yes; but it requires re¬
crystallisation twice, or perhaps thrice, if you wish to obtain it pure in a solid lorm.
J. H. Slater. — A good orthographic lens will probably answer your purpose; and
though it will he (thus applied) probably somewhat quicker in action than the single
combination lens, it will not be quick. A well-constructed double lens, with a 3-inch
front and 5-inch hack combination, of about 20-inch equivalent focus, would answer
better, but w'ould be far more costly.
J. C. Burrell.— You will find the principles discussed at length in our volume for
1859: viz., Vol. VI., pages 223, 224, and 253-5. M. Bertsch’s views are very much the
same as our own ; the other gentleman you name is no authority on optical matters, and
in the instance alluded to has committed an absurd blunder. A lieiiostat is simply a
mirror moved by clockwork, so as to reflect the sun’s light always in one direction. The
single achromatised lens would not be large enough for a condenser.
A. R. P. — 1. No ; unless the bath becomes dusty.— 2. Yes; but you will then have acetate
of potash in the bath. — 3. See British Journal Almanack, page 29.-4. Blue, certainly ;
you may almost as well use black as green.— 5. It is impossible to reply correctly to so
vague a question. You do not say what hinds or sizes are to be compared, and what
you term “ordinary ” ones have very different qualities one with another. — 6. Do not
mix any silver with the cyanide fixing solution ; that only weakens and contaminates
it. — 7. Immaterial ; you cannot do better than follow the instructions in Hardwich's
Manual.
Oxoniensis. — It is a frightful case of photographic “measles,’’ in all probability
arising from your having removed the print from the toniug bath direct into the hypo¬
sulphite solution, without washing first ; or, if washed, it was possibly not drained or
dried enough, and left in repose in the fixing hath after immersion — a proceeding
which has the same effect as that of using too weak a solution of hyposulphite of soda.
Peruse carefully Mr. Dawson’s papers, read at the North London Photographic Associa¬
tion, and published in our last volume, pages 127 and 174. feThey are most valuable
ontributions to a photographer's stock of knowledge.
Edina. — Your suggestion is faulty as regards the diaphragm, which, if properly placed
between the lenses of a portrait combination, should be closer to the front than the back
pair, as indeed you have made it in your well-executed sketch. But if you remove the
back lenses, and reverse the whole affair, so as to use the front one alone for views, in
that case the diaphragm will be too near to the lens. If, on the conti ary, the screws of
the back and front combinations are alike, a removal of the back one and substitution of
the front one for it will put matters very nearly right as regards the position of the
diaphragm— an arrangement which is even more simple than what you propose.
Among numerous other aiticles le t over for want of space is Palestine in 1860.
No. II. By John Crainb. It will appear in next number.
fggf3 All Editorial Communications , Books for Review, dec., should
he forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Lise, London , N.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL
No. 134
OF PHOTOGRAPHY
, Vol. VIII.— JANUARY 15, 1861.
fiToNiNG Processes.— At the first monthly meeting of the Black-
I heath Photographic Society, held on the 10th of November last,
Ijsome remarks were made by the President, Mr. Heisch, relative
fto the Alkaline Gold Toning Process, which are likely to mis-
Ilead those who are but imperfectly acquainted with the various
3 experiments that have been conducted for the purpose of ascei-
■taining what principle of operation in toning appears to offer the
■best security to ensure permanence of the positive proofs. It is
■not only that Mr. Heisch attributes to the process defects which
Bare due rather to faulty manipulation, but that a gentleman of
■his reputation should attempt to throw again a doubt upon
I points which have been satisfactorily settled, that we find cause
I for regret. For example, he remarked, “the stability of the
I (prints toned by the) alkaline process required most jealous
■watching, and that he at present did not see any reason foi
|| considering it more stable than the other” — alluding here to
■the gold and hyposulphite of soda bath. We beg to offer for his
|l consideration a few suggestions that may possibly tend to modify
I his opinion. We presume that it will not be denied that the
I bath made by mixing chloride of gold with hyposulphite of soda
ft in excess consists of a mixture of sel d'or (double hyposulphite
ft of gold and soda) with hyposulphite of soda. Now, the toning by
■means of sel d'or vie believe to be effected thus*. — the compound
I! salt is decomposed, the sulphur attacking the reduced silver form-
ling the image causes a deposit of gold thereon, without, however,
■ removing the sulphide of silver formed. That this is a probable
I explanation is corroborated to some extent by the fact that, if
j| the print be fixed first in hyposulphite of soda, the sel d'or will
1 not tone it afterwards ; but if ammonia be substituted as the
|j fixing agent, by which no sulpliurisation of the proof can take
ft place, then the toning by sel d'or can be proceeded with success-
I fully. The same observations apply to the alkaline gold toning
ft bath. There is, however, a distinction to be drawn between
ft them in one remarkable particular, and that is, that if a. print
Ij be cut in two pieces, and each partially toned, the one with sel
|j d'or and the other with the alkaline gold bath, both then washed
|j and fixed with hyposulphite of soda, it will be found that, on
ft attempting to continue the toning of the two pieces, each in its
I respective bath, that in the sel d'or will not progress, while that
X in the alkaline gold bath can be carried a stage further in toning.
I This we believe to be owing to the more complete reduction of
I the gold in one case than in the other.
It has been asserted that pure sulphide of silver is a very
[I stable compound. This we do not doubt, but we have as little
ij doubt that, when in combination with organic matter, it is not so;
i and this is its precise condition in the photograph. It has been
It proved, beyond dispute, by Mr. Hardwich, Mr. Dawson, and MM.
[: Davanne and Girard, that the two causes of fading are sulphuri-
|| sation or oxidation, or both combined. Mr. Heisch will scarcely
II dispute that in most chemical experiments time is an important
Hi element; but a large portion of the time required to bring about
;[ any result in the ordinary way may be economised by the adop¬
tion of certain precautions. For instance, by enclosing portions
of paper photographs in hermetically-sealed vessels, containing
moisture, oxygen gas, chromic acid, &c., the effects produced in
a few months will probably correspond to the ordinary destructive
influences continued for several years; consequently we are jus¬
tified in concluding that, of proofs toned by the various methods
employed, those which offer most resistance to the destructive
effects of oxidising and sulphurising agents so applied are more
likely to resist similar influences under ordinary circumstances ;
and prints carefully toned in the alkaline gold bath are found to
bear these various modes of ill-treatment with the least amount
of detriment.
Mr. Heisch says, in reference to the alkaline gold bath : —
“ In that process the print was put into a mixture of chloride of
gold and carbonate of soda. When toned it was taken out, and
put into a solution of hyposulphite of soda. ’ This is not the
general course pursued, but the proof well washed before im¬
mersion in the hyposulphite of soda, consequently the reasoning
based upon this assumption falls to the ground, . But, even were
the case as stated by Mr. Heisch, we cannot admit that the same
decomposition in the pores of the paper in the latter case, as in
the bath in the former, would necessarily exert a similar des¬
tructive influence, because of the different condition of the image
on the paper, which, after immersion in the alkaline gold bath,
is protected by, if not converted into, metaUic gold. Y\e. refer
those who wish to reconsider the question to Mr. Heisch s
remarks at page 355 of our preceding volume.
Lenses Free from Distortion. — In a communication fiom Mi.
Rothwell, published in the last number of the Journal of the Pho¬
nographic Society, that gentleman claims to have been the inventor
Dr discoverer of the principle for constructing photographic lenses
producing an image free from distortion, upon the giound t lat
he pointed out, in the year 1858, the fact that, by placing t le
diaphragm between the back and front combinations of a poitiait
Lens, at such distance from each as is in a proportionate ratio to
their respective focal distances for parallel rays, the amount ot
displacement of the lateral pencils is equally balanced, and t at
they emerge in a direction parallel to that of their incidence
upon the front combination. It is aUeged also, in the same lettei ,
that the late Mr. Frederick Scott Archer having previously used
diaphragms between the components of his lenses does not inter¬
fere with Mr. Rothwells claim, because the latter assume^
that Mr. Archer was not aware of the importance of attention to
the exact position as above indicated, and did not construct Ins
lenses with reference thereto. This is, however, a mere assump¬
tion on the part of Mr. Rothwell ; and we are m a position to
give direct testimony to the contrary. In the year lbo3 we had
frequent conversations with Mr. Archer, when we weie in le
habit of discussing the principles upon which double combina¬
tion lenses for photographic purposes should be constructed, and
frequent allusions were made by both to the veiy point claimed
as a new discovery by Mr. Rothwell. In corroboration of this
statement we have a lens made by the late Mr. Aieliei, at pie-
24
T 11 E B 11 IT I S II J 0 U R N A L 0 F P1I0T0G R A V 11 Y.
[January 15, 1801
sent in the possession of a friend, but belonging to us, in which
the diaphragm is located as previously described, and which was
designedly so 'placed. Moreover, we had in 1852 one of the same
maker’s fluid lenses, in which the same principle of construction
was adopted with reference to the diaphragm.
We are not aware that even at the time specified any discovery
of a novel principle had been made; nor do we perceive how
this could have been so regarded by any one who had considered
the question of lateral displacement of the oblique pencil, by the
use of a diaphragm at a distance in front of, or behind, a lens.
But the application of this principle to photograpjhic lenses was
regarded by Mr. Archer as a novelty, and justly so ; and on this
point we have some partial corroborative evidence to submit, in
the fact that our good friend, Dr. Diamond, the accomplished
Secretary of the Photographic Society, mentioned to us before
we made Mr. Archer’s acquaintance, that the latter “ laughed
at the idea of placing a diaphragm in contact with the front
combination of a portrait lens.” Again, as regards the principle
involved, wre may cite the position of the stop with reference to
the erecting glasses of a terrestrial telescope, as bearing upon
the case.
Until we heard Mr. Dallmeyer read his paper at the meeting
of the Photographic Society, in which Mr. Rotliwell’s name was
mentioned with reference to some principle (not defined) alleged
to have been discovered by him, we had never to our knowledge
heard his name ; and }ret we were in the year 1853 familiar with
the principle which he claims to have discovered in 1858, as we
have already shown ; and further, that Mr. Archer was familiar
with it, and had applied it to photographic lenses , at a still earlier
date.
We now come to the question of date of publication. As far as
we can perceive it is only recently at least that Mr. Ptothwell can
be supposed to have made known his presumed discovery; whereas
Mr. Archer constructed and sold his lenses in 1852, and in 1853
distinctly pointed out why he placed his diaphragms in what
was then regarded as an unusual position. It has been attempted,
by the editor of a contemporary, to throw discredit upon Mr.
Ar cer, upon the alleged ground that his was but an empirical
use either of the diaphragm or concave lens between the normal
components of an ordinary portrait combination. This we
have hitherto had no fitting opportunity of noticing ; but we
assert emphatically that there was nothing whatever empirical
about Mr. Archer's proceeding, and that what he did was done
designedly, and after due consideration of the matter, in order to
accomplish the end proposed.
Our special object in thus entering into these particulars is
to justify statements that we have made upon several former
occasions, the accuracy of which have been sought to be called
in question. We have no personal knowledge of Mr. Rothwell,
and no imputation to throw upon him. We are ready to give
him full credit for having wrought out the point claimed by
him as novel for himself, without presuming that he has been
guilty of plagiarism. But we must unequivocally assert that, in
imagining himself to have been the original promulgator of the
principle claimed by him, he was altogether mistaken.
The Solar Camera. — Our readers will have become too familiar
with the practice which we have always followed, of giving all
sides a fair hearing — antagonists as well as allies — to feel any
surprise at our calling in question a statement made in the last
letter which we published from our esteemed Paris correspondent,
M. Ernest Lacan ; for while we accord to all who come before
the public, through our columns, perfect liberty to express their
sentiments upon any subject connected with photography, we,
at the same time, retain an equal freedom, and are, moreover,
not disposed to acquiesce iu the ipse dixit of any one, no matter
how exalted the authority whence it springs, provided that the
sentence be not in accordance with known principles. The
statement to which vve allude is one referring to the Solar
Camera, and is the fourth paragraph in M. Lacan’s letter, at
page 22 of the current volume, of which we quote a small
portion, viz : — “M. Foucauld proved, with mathematical clear¬
ness, that all the objections turned upon a misunderstanding,
and that M. Claudet alone was in the right. I lis demonstra¬
tion was not lengthy, but it wras presented with an authority
and a precision that were unanswerable : M. Bertsch himself
was forced to acknowledge it.” Without knowing to what the
word <{ misunderstanding ” applied, it would be idle to question
what M. Foucauld really did demonstrate; but we absolutely deny
the accuracy of the conclusion as enunciated by M. Lacan, and
much regret that he did not repe t the demonstration which he
considers so clear and unanswerable. We trust that he will yet
do so.
M. Lagan. — We notice with regret that our esteemed corres¬
pondent in Paris, M. Ernest Lacan, has just relinquished the
post of editor of La Lumiere, which he has occupied with dis¬
tinguished success and increasing reputation for the long space
of ten years. La Lumiere was, we believe, the iirst journal
published devoted almost exclusively to photographic science ;
and some of the earliest records of the London Photographic
Society’s doings were chronicled therein. We understand that
the cause of M. Lacan’s secession consists in a difference be¬
tween his views and those of tke«proprictor of the publication.
We are glad to state, however, that M. Lacan does not con¬
template abandoning the literature of photography, which he
regards as increasing in importance daily.
Explanation. — We are sorry to find that some remarks made by
an esteemed contributor, under a nom de plume , have given rise
to a considerable amount of irritation, upon the presumed per¬
sonality of the attack. We are assured by the writer that no
inimical motive prompted the observations, which were directed
against the sentiments expressed, and which he regarded, and
still regards, as detrimental to progress, To avoid any further
misunderstanding, however, he withdraws from the contest.
- - -
LUNAR PHOTOGRAPHY.
By Samuel Fry.
[Read at a Meeting of the London Photographic Society, Tuesday, January 8, 1861. J
Photography, as generally understood, seems so inseparably
connected with the light of day, that it appears at first glance
anomalous to speak of taking pictures at night without artificial
light. But one moment’s consideration points to the true state of
the case : though to us it be “dark as Erebus,” to the lunarians, if
such there be, inhabiting that portion of the moon’s surfaco which
is turned towards us, it may be broad sunshine, sunrise, or sunset,
according to the moon’s age and position. If, therefore, we choose
a time for our operations in which we are favoured by the same
atmospheric conditions required for producing good terrestrial
pictures, we have many probabilities in our favour of obtaining
good photographs of the moon. It has been matter of surprise
with many that lunar negatives display a much larger variety of
tone and gradation of shading than the eye can detect on the
surface with the telescope ; but photographers will easily under¬
stand that this is of necessity the case, as whilst large tracts of
the moon’s surface north-west of Tycho and also south of that
centre are of a silvery whiteness, other parts to the east and south¬
east of the lunar surface present varying hues of yellow and green,
each shade having its actinic value, and being accurately impressed
on the photographic medium. And this variation in colour is a
very happy circumstance for us, as, if the pure silvery tone of
the upper portion extended over the entire disc, how flat and
chalky would the pictures be !
The darker portions of the moon’s surface are generally known
as seas ; but the appellation appears to be a gratuitous one, as
beyond the supposition which some have entertained that the
colours before alluded to were caused by sands and other deposits,
constituting dry oceanic beds, there appears no other cause for
thus denominating what are evidently now dry arid tracts.
My attention was first called to the photography of the moon at
the commencement of 1857, by having placed at my disposal the
very fine equatorial telescope of Charles Howell, Esq., at Brighton,
which had then just been erected in a suitable observatory on the
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
January 15, 1861]
beacli, about a mile from the town. I determined to commence
operations at once, and with that object fitted up a little laboratory
in another room of the observatory, adjoining the instrument-room.
I found a difficulty at starting, arising from the circumstance of the
extreme col , of the place greatly reducing the photographic power
of the chemicals; and it was thenceforth needful to keep the
bath and developer in a dwelling-house for warmth. I then com¬
menced experimenting for the purpose of discovering the exact
actinic focus of the telescope ; for as the object glass of 8^ inches
diameter and 11 feet focus was not corrected for the chemical rays,
it was necessary at starting to discover the point of sharpest possi¬
ble focus. I had made a mahogany board, 12 inches long and
4 wide, with a screw extending the entire length, and so arranged
that, by turning a thumb-screw at one end, an upright plate-holder
at right angles with the board could be moved in either direction.
I also made a graduated scale of degrees along the board, divided
into to of an inch. The eye-piece of the instrument being removed,
this simple camera was, by means of an adjusting collar, fastened
to the end of the telescope by the thumb -screw at the end. I ob¬
tained a remarkably sharp image at the visual focus, about 3J inches
from the aperture of the telescope, and I began by taking a picture
at this point, which, of course, from the non-correction was quite
out of locus, but was preserved for comparison. I then began by
removing the prepared plate one-tenth of an inch back from the
visual focus, and soon found my pictures showed evidence that I
was approaching the true focus. I ultimately found that the
average sharpest focus was 0 75 inches beyond the visual ; but I
found constantly a slight, as it were, oscillation of focus within and
beyond this point, caused primarily, no doubt, by the varying dis¬
tance of the moon from the earth, and also to a certain extent by
the condition of our atmosphere. M. Claudet was one evening with
me at the observatory, and stated, on being informed of this cir¬
cumstance, that he considered it a striking corroboration of a theory
he had advanced at an earlier stage of photography. I always
found it necessary on commencing operations to make one or more
trial pictures, to discover the very sharpest possible focus ; and on
more than one occasion, when the moon was in a plane peculiarly
suited for delineation, great loss of time arose from overclouding
and other unfavourable conditions of atmosphere. For this reason
a reflecting telescope is greatly to be preferred to a refractor, as by
a reflector the focus may be obtained as in an ordinary camera from
the coincidence of the foci.
I now come to the mechanical arrangement necessary for driving
the telescope to follow the moon’s apparent path ; for as, even
under the most advantageous circumstances, an exposure of a few
seconds is necessary to secure a good negative, it is indispensable
to annul the rapid lunar motion by most accurate smooth-running
machinery. This was done by a powerful clockwork, regulated,
as Mr. De la Rue describes his also to be, by a conical double-beat
pendulum, acting on the same principle as the governor of a steam
engine. This was easily set to go at any given speed by a dial,
and degrees marked thereon ; and a few experiments enabled me
to set it at any given time to exactly follow the moon ; though at
first it was rather difficult to discover whether want of sharpness
arose from incorrectness of focal position, or want of adjustment of
the clock-movement, the mistiness being much the same from
each j but the latter fault gives also a rather oblong appearance to
the image. With regard to the chemical part of my arrange¬
ments, I find it of primary importance to employ the very best
chemicals, and the highest possible state of cleanliness, perfect
freedom from floating particles in the bath, collodion, or developer,
and all three so suited to one another as to work uniformly
together. . I prefer positive collodion, as being more limpid, and
thus pouring better, also from its usually containing both an
iodide and bromide in its composition : it does not deteriorate in
sensitiveness to any extent, which enables one to keep it in a
body, in tall bottles, and allow every particle to settle down to the
bottom, and thus draw from the upper portion a quantity abso¬
lutely free from all inclination to produce spots or comets. The
bath I prefer of forty grains to the ounce, made of pure crystals ;
and if at all acid I reduce it by saturation with the oxide of silver,
and add, testing carefully meanwhile, drop by drop, a weak solu¬
tion of nitric acid.
I believe this is the way to obtain a bath capable of producing
the very highest results for any branch of photography. The
developers 1 use are sometimes pyrogallic, three grains to the oz.,
and at other times iron of ten grains, and one grain of acetate of
soda. Under very favourable circumstances 1 use the former, as
giving at one operation a vigorous, well-defined negative ; but
"wtiefe I have to contend with yellowness of the atmosphere and
2.5
its concomitant photogenic drawbacks, I use the iron solution and
intensify afterwards with pyrogallic and citric acid. In using iron
it is absolutely necessary to hit upon exactly the right time of
exposure, as a second too much or too little I find sufficient to mar
the picture to a much greater extent than when pyrogallic is used.
The extreme difficulty of obtaining good lunar negatives 'would
scarcely be credited without actual experiment — the disturbing
causes are so numerous, and apparently so trivial, and yet so often
fatal : — a strong breeze in the upper regions of the atmosphere when
almost calm below ; night vapours and mistiness arising after a
warm sunny day ; or, when all the preparations are made, and the
photographer at his post, perhaps at midnight, or often much later,
cloudiness may set in and completely upset every chance of getting
pictures, in so variable a climate as ours, the opportunities of
obtaining really fine lunar negatives are like ‘’'angels’ visits, few
and far between.”
The variation in size of the lunar negatives is much greater than
would be supposed at first, but is of course owing to the moon’s
varying distance from the earth. I have here one plate of glass
for comparison, a negative of the full moon taken at the period of
perigee, or its nearest approach to the earth, and also one taken at
apogee, its greatest distance. You will observe that the difference
is very considerable; and in the after process of enlarging, where a
stereoscopic combination is desired, the qualities of the two negatives
are very different also, from the details of one being much more
condensed than in the other ; the enlargements will also differ to
some small extent when brought up to the same size.
The principle of binocular vision is now well understood, and
though the means taken are very different, yet the principles
involved in taking a stereoscopic combination of the moon are
precisely the same as employed in our binocular cameras for ordi¬
nary pictures. Though the moon is by far the nearest to us of
any celestial body, yet such is her enormous distance, that, even
if simultaneous pictur’es could be taken of the satellite, with
telescopes placed at the extreme diameter of the earth, 8,000
miles, the stereoscopic effect would be very slight: the method
adopted is therefore to take advantage of the librations of the
moon, and, by obtaining pictures at different epochs, to afterwards
unite them in the stereoscope. The libratory motion of the moon
amounts in the maximum to Jth, or rather more, of the whole
apparent lunar surface ; but the period of time occupied in tra¬
velling from one extreme to the other is frequently very con¬
siderable, from the change of position being both in latitude and
longitude a still longer period must elapse. By this I would
imply that the distance of time is often considerable at which it is
necessary to take pictures for a stereo-combination in order to
have them at the same age of the moon. The average time occupied
in travelling from one extreme of filtration to the other is not
more thau fourteen days ; so that if we take, for example, six
lunations, and a given age of the moon, say sixty hours alter full,
it will be found frequently that for several consecutive months the
variation is so slight as to give no stereoscopic effect.
The most successful combination I succeeded in making was one
in which the first negative was taken on November 23, 1858, and
the other side of the combination on October 11, 1859, being an
interval of nearly 11 months, and which, as may be seen in the
stereoscope on the table, is sufficient to give powerful relief. I
think it a point of great importance to display clearly in lunar
photographs the details of the surface, as well as the general
effect to be good. I have here the original negative of the right-
hand picture of this combination, and it will be seen that the dis¬
play of volcanic craters, mountain ranges, and even in many in¬
stances the interior cones of eruption are very striking. The
period chosen for this picture is about GO hours past the full, a
time in my opinion very admirably suited to obtain good images,
and when the solar fight falls on the moon with sufficient obliquity
to produce strong effect of fight and shade, at the same that it is
almost, if not quite, the nearest to full moon at which may be
reproduced at the gibbous edge those exquisitely sharp cusps and
volcanic craters. The time of exposure required to produce a good
picture is of course different, according to circumstances, and the
age of the moon, perhaps an average exposure at full, was about
3'. I have succeeded in taking a very fine negative in a single
second, but under very favourable circumstances.
I have here a negative of the crescent moon, four days old,
which required 45' to be successful, and even then but little detail
is seen : the half moon required about 12' on an average. I have
invariably found that when the actinic power was highest I obtained
the best pictures, as it is then there is least chanGe of any difference
in speed between the telescope and the satellite.
26
[January 15, 1861
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
I also exhibit here a series of negatives of the eclipse of the
moon in Febi uary last. On the left hand picture the penumbra
may be clearly seen, just commencing; and on each of the others,
further advanced till the last, beyond which I was unable to obtain
3/ny result, in consequence of the reddish copper-colour of the
moon, which appealed to leave after this point no photogenic
action. The enlargement of the moon, which is before you, together
with the pnnt from the original negative, is from a negative taken
on the evening of the eclipse, before it commenced, and shows
more of the moon s surface than at ordinary full moon, on account
of the moon, earth, and sun being at that time so nearly in a line,
and thus allowing us to see very nearly the entire 'illuminated
circle. However accurate and however unremitting maybe per¬
sonal observation of the lunar surface, it must, in many important
respects, yield to the photographic representation, by which any
disturbance thereon cannot fail to be brought under our observa¬
tion ; and a series of pictures, extending over a length of years, must
0 necessity be of the utmost value for future comparison.
. ■~ ie enlargement, and subsequent unity, stereoscopically of lunar
pictuies, is one of the most tedious and difficult operations the
photographer can encounter ; it is very unlikely that the two
negatives are quite the same size, and still less likely that they
have exactly similar photographic value, and yet, to be perfect,
they must be made to intimately correspond in size and colour.
My own practice, as being shortest ultimately, is to enlarge in the
first place each negative separately, to about If inch, thus making
a tiansnntted positive; these are again enlarged to 2 inches
diameter, giving this time a negative, and the operation must be
repeated until these two negatives have equal photographic value.
They are then mounted stereoscopically on a stereoscopic plate,
and fixed in front of an enlarging camera, in a slide made in such
a manner that either image may at pleasure be drawn opposite the
glass01 a l6nS placed midway between the negative and the ground
Each side of the moon is copied separately on a piece of glass,
and the transparent positives thus obtained are afterwards cut
Avith a diamond to fit a mount, having a circular opening for each
side : they are then bound in the same way as book-covers, and are
complete, but the utmost care is necessary in mounting the two
halves to obtain true sphericity in the stereoscope, as the slightest
aberration causes apparent flattening of one part of the moon, and
excessive convexity in another.
PHOTO-ELECTROTYPE PLATES.
i^Q numbeis of this Journal published on Nov. 15 and Dec. 1
I860, were printed, in conjunction with type, two specimens of Hen
rretscli s new process of photo-electrotype. About the same period
another specimen by the same process, not printed with type was
given with the Journal of the Photographic Society .
A contemporary thus alludes to the specimens issued respectively
by the two journals i — r j
fieiePrtte^fOTnLX?^?°irn9 ?f Photography to the printing-press is the process o:
rierr rretsen loi suiface block-printing, which is, however, as vet in its infanev Tht
t/J JuotoZllhic WaS pr,iUted wifh Sjeat oave> and issued in the Journal oj
issued S, in mn l’ivpAff36 f“any excelltflices> aild was full of promise ; the last
destroy tha^romise n tl S / co»temPorai7> jvas so much inferior that it tended to
uesiroy tnat piomise. It is, we doubt not, capable of further improvement • and if it mn
be made avadabic for general subjects, Her Pretech will have oonSbuted one of the
most valuable improvements issued in connexion with photography
We ffiar our friend the editor is rather prone “ to hint a fault.”
Herr Pretsch s process was designed to serve the purpose of book
illustration with ordinary letterpress, and to take the position now
occupmcl by wood engraving for that purpose.
Of course the proper method of testing the capability of the in-
A ention was to print from the blocks when “ made up” in “forme”
with type.
The publisher of this Journal stipulated with Herr Pretsch that
uc 1 should be done, and that as much care as possible should be
+W £on®18ten* Wlti h test, in “bringing-up” and printing
S®b < DCja- T,he specimen given with the London Photographic
®Joui?al ™ so printed. Hence, if the editor possessed
encccssaiy technical knowledge, in common fairness he ought, for
Hen 1 ictsch s sake, to have stated the whole facts. There could
• fno/T.stake> if our contemporary gave due attention to the sub-
alotte”48’ “ ‘° Ule diff°renCe 0f the - -nt
frn)Vc/?ttach £rcat importance to this invention, and none the less
from the appearance of the impressions printed in this Journal
toon mir" l0t C0+?ked'” bl,t WOrC l3dnted at the ™te of one
liousand an hour— -the specimen given on Dec. 1st being printed
with an ordinary cylinder machine. b p
We again congratulate Herr Pretsch on the results of this test,
and say emphatically the impressions were not “ inferior ” to the
London specimen, when the circumstances of production are con¬
sidered. . If so much has already been realised by the inventor,
when his process is comparatively new, we are convinced that
when further improvement has been made — which we understand to
be in progress — “ Herr Pretsch ivill have contributed one of the
mostvaluableimprovements issued in connexion with photography.”
ON SILVER AND SOME OP ITS SALTS.
By J. T. Taylor.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie Photographic Society of Scotland, on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1861. j
The present paper being hurriedly written at a few days’ notice, it
is quite impossible that anything like justice can be done to one of
the most important subjects in connexion with photography —
“ Silver and its compounds, chiefly in tbeirrelation to photography.”
The importance of this will be understood when it is considered
that of the two sciences on which photography is based — chemistry
and optics — the latter, in its application to photography, is consi¬
derably nearer perfection than the former. And it is only by a care
ful study of the changes induced in metallic salts generally, and
argentiferous salts in particular, that progress can be hoped for.
That photographic optics is nearer perfection than photographic
chemistry is doubtless owing to the fact that the one problem was
incomparably more easy of solution than the other. Indeed I fear
it may be said, with too' much truth, that neither the one science
or the other has (in their relations to photography) made any
considerable progress for the last twenty years. Since photo¬
graphy (I allude now more particularly to negative or camera
photography) was published by Fox Talbot, there has been no
discovery or modification of any great consequence, with the excep¬
tion of the discovery of the peculiar suitability of collodion as a
medium in or on which to form the layer of iodide of silver. Great
have been the advances in manipulation, and numberless the little
petty improvements made in carrying out these general principles ;
but I repeat that in the principles of photography, as practised over
the whole known world at the present time, little or no changes
have been made. As with chemistry so with optics. The portrait
combination of lenses now in daily use is almost a facsimile of
Petzval’s lens, as made by Voigtlander many years ago (1843).
But I must ask pardon for this digression, and return to the sub¬
ject in hand. The salts of silver being pre-eminently adapted for
photography, from the loose and unstable nature of their affinities,
it is important and desirable that still further research be made
into their various properties, especially by studying their action
when in combination with other salts, such as those of gold, tin
lead, and others.
In the present remarks everything of a theoretical or speculative
nature will be carefully avoided ; not by any means that I deem
them unimportant, but that, for the very opposite reason, I consider
them by far too important to be introduced into a paper written
like the present at a few days’ notice.
I will first of all notice briefly the metal itself. Silver is found
in various forms and in many parts of the earth. It abounds in lead
mines, from which metal it is largely extracted. It is also found
in the forms of iodide, chloride, bromide, sulphuret, and other salts.
It often accompanies the sulphuret and chloride as native silver in
a crystalline or arborescent form; and in the museum of Copen¬
hagen is a large mass of amorphous native silver, weighing about
500 lbs., which was procured from a mine in Norway.
Silver is of a brilliant white colour, and is susceptible of a high
degree of polish. Its bright appearance, however, may he converted
into a very beautiful matted frost by the simple operation of
immersing the metal, previously heated to a dull red, in a weak
solution of sulphuric acid in water — a few drops to the ounce.
Silver dials of watches, and various articles of jewellery, are thus
frosted or “ whitened,” as it is technically called.
It is commercially difficult to procure pure silver. The coin of
the realm, as also all silver plate, are adulterated or alloyed with
copper to render them harder and more durable, the metal in its
absolutely pure state being very soft. The quantity of alloy in
silver plate or “ standard silver” varies in different places. The
standard being rather lower in Edinburgh than in England, arti¬
cles of plate made here, and stamped at our Goldsmiths’ Hall, are
slightly inferior in quality, and consequently of less value, than
than those made and stamped in London, Birmingham, or even
Glasgow.
The value of silver is not fixed like that of gold, but variable.
At present the commercial value of standard silver is 5s. 3d. per
January 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
ounce troy — chemically pure silver being worth about sixpence per
ounce more.
Silver coin as issued from the mint is not intrinsically worth the
sum which it represents. A new sovereign is intrinsically worth
twenty shillings value, but a shilling is only worth about eleven¬
pence. Passing from the metal itself to some of its compounds,
we naturally begin with —
Nitrate of silver, or, as it should more strictly be called, nitrate
of oxide of silver. This important salt is easily made by putting
silver into nitric acid, which in a few minutes — more or less ac¬
cording to the quantity — is completely dissolved. By the applica¬
tion of heat this is formed into a mass of crystals, which may be
removed and preserved for use. I regret that this beautiful and
very simple operation of making nitrate of silver cannot be con¬
veniently shown here tonight, as the fumes which are given off
when the metal is being dissolved are not pleasant. Amateurs,
who for the first time are about to make this salt, may be apt to
imagine that something is the matter with the acid when, on
adding the silver, no dissolution appears to take place. The ap¬
plication of a slight degree of heat will, however, soon cause the
action to commence, after which it goes on with considerable
rapidity.
I usually make my nitrate of silver in a glass dish resembling a
tumbler, though somewhat larger, for which I have a loosely-fitting
glass lid ; sometimes, however, I use as a cover a bit of glass laid
over it — not such a tight or close fit but that the fumes generated
can find a way of escape. After the silver is dissolved it should
be poured out into a flat dish and exposed to a slight degree of
heat. I prefer a glass dish for this purpose, although a china
plate forms no mean substitute. Evaporating dishes for this and
similar purposes can be bought at a cheap rate at the chemists’.
Exposure to heat serves to drive off any excess of acid which may
remain, and hastens the formation of the crystals which, as the
liquid cools, will be found to be rapidly formed in transparent and
colourless tables, the appearance of which is too familiar to the
members of this Society to render any description necessary at my
hands. The size and beauty of the crystals depend upon the
amount of heat to which the solution has been subjected in evapo¬
rating. When these crystals are subjected in a proper vessel to a
certain amount of heat they fuse, and may be cast into cakes or
sticks. In this way is made lunar caustic, which is much used by
surgeons for destroying fungous excrescences.
There are often complaints as to the adulteration of nitrate of
silver. Certainly few if any substances used in photography
can be adulterated with less trouble or more difficulty of detec¬
tion to an inexperienced amateur ; not that there is any real
difficulty in its detection, but it is only by means and appliances
not always within the reach of every amateur. The substance
mostly used in this adulteration is nitrate of potash, which,
being easily procured at a cost of less than a penny an ounce,
is, when thus fraudulently used, capable of causing a handsome
profit to accrue to the dishonest dealer. Of course, manufac¬
turers of respectability would not stoop to such nefarious practices ;
still it is a fact that there is much nitrate of silver so adul¬
terated. During the spring of last year a gentleman, who had
purchased a considerable quantity in the south of England, told me
that this silver had this peculiarity, that, in order to get desirable
results, he had to almost double the quantity of silver usually
required. On an examination of a sample of the crystals which he
sent me, I found a very large number of crystals of nitre mixed
with them. These, no matter how minute, were very easy of
detection when placed in the polariscope ; and, on subsequently
analysing the silver, with a view to ascertain the extent of the
adulteration, I found it to exist at fully more than one-third. In
detecting the adulteration of nitrate of silver the so-called
argentometers, of the hydrometer make, are utterly worthless.
Indeed this instrument is of no use for testing the strength of any
solution of silver (a collodion-exciting bath, for instance), unless
when the solution is altogether uncontaminated by foreign sub¬
stances. It is evident that an old bath, which has been for
some time in use, cannot so be tested with anything at all approxi¬
mating to accuracy of results. One of the easiest ways of testing
the quality of crystals of nitrate of silver is to take an ascertained
weight — say, for exactness, 170 parts of it — (170’ being the equi¬
valent or combining proportion of nitrate of silver). This having
been dissolved in distilled water is precipitated as chloride by the
usual means. The equivalent of chloride of silver is 144‘, or, more
strictly, 143’5. Hence it follows that, if the nitrate of silver be
pure, the 170 grains or parts which were dissolved will have pro¬
duced 144 grains of chloride of silver. The extent of departure
27
from this indicates the extent of adulteration. An ounce of silver,
when dissolved in nitric acid, yields rather more than an ounce
and a-half of pure nitrate of silver. In strict language, the pro¬
portion of nitrate of silver obtained from one ounce of the metal
is one ounce and a-half and 744 parts of an ounce.
I have said that it is difficult to obtain pure silver commercially ;
but nitrate of silver may be made thus from ordinary standard
silver : — The silver, having been dissolved and crystallised in the
usual way, will be found to be of a bluish colour, owing to the
nitrate of copper present, for standard silver contains T'T of copper.
This copper may be got rid of by the following means : — Into a
porcelain or other convenient vessel put the crystals, and subject
them to heat over the gas or spirit lamp. The heat oxidises the
copper, rendering it insoluble in water ; hence, if the operation be
properly conducted, and the crystals again dissolved in water, the
copper will remain at the bottom in the form of a black powder,
pure nitrate of silver remaining in solution. An argentometer
is useful in such a case as this, as by its means the strength of the
silver in grains to the ounce of water may be ascertained.
To amateurs who may feel inclined to make their own nitrate
of silver from such material as old spoons, coins, and such like,
but who may yet be rather disinclined to be at the trouble of
getting rid of the copper which is present, I will here offer the
results of my own experience in working with some silver solution
which I made from the material just indicated, and from which the
copper was not removed. The quantity of silver 1 made was
enough to fill my large bath of fifty or sixty ounces with a
thirty-grain solution, and, in addition, about a dozen ounces of a
sixty-grain solution for printing. I tested the collodion bath side
by side with one of the same strength of pure nitrate ; and the
result of several careful experiments was, that beyond the pale
blue colour which characterised the nitrate of “ standard” silver,
there was no difference whatever between the working of the two
solutions — one was, in every respect, the same as the other in sen*
sitiveness, cleanliness of development, and density. Those trans*
parencies and negatives which I exhibited on the occasion of Mr.
Macnair’s bringing under the notice of the society the use of wort as
a preservative for collodion plates, were all produced by means of
this copper solution of silver. The sixty-grain solution for posi*
tives must receive a similar character to the other. In the prints
produced by means of it, the whites are as pure and the tones as
deep, while the papers are as sensitive and preserve their sensi*
tiveness as long as similar papers prepared with absolutely pure
nitrate of silver. If a solution of nitrate of silver be alkaline, and
it be desired to be neutral, the cautious addition of distilled water,
slightly acidulated with nitric acid, will at once effect this. Accord¬
ing to the alkalinity, so must be the addition of the acid solution.
Care must be taken to intermix thoroughly and test after each
addition. To render an acid solution neutral, all that is necessary
is to add oxide or carbonate of silver in excess. The free acid is
thus got rid of at once. I myself always prefer the carbonate of
silver for this purpose, and can recommend it to others. When
added to a solution containing free nitric acid, the silver imme*
diately leaves its old master and flies to its new one, and the car¬
bonic acid, finding itself not at home in its new quarters, loses no
time in making its escape as gas to the surface. By putting a
piece of metallic copper into the solution of nitrate of silver, the
silver is precipitated as pure metal, the nitric acid, which formerly
combined with it, now entering into combination with the copper.
This is an excellent way of reducing an old nitrate bath which may
be unfit for use.
Carbonate of silver may be formed by adding bicarbonate of soda
to a solution of nitrate of silver, in the proportion of twelve parts
of the soda to twenty of the silver. Their exact combining pro¬
portions are 84 and 170 ; but great exactness is not required, pro¬
vided always that the soda be in excess, to ensure complete con¬
version of the silver. I may here state, once for all, that in all
cases where salts like this — insoluble in water — are formed by
double decomposition, it is necessary that they be thoroughly
washed by repeated changes of water. I here illustrate the forma¬
tion of carbonate of silver, which is that dense white precipitate
formed when I pour the solution of carbonate of soda into that of
the nitrate of silver.
Oxide of silver, or, in the present case, protoxide of silver (for
there are three oxides of this metal — the protoxide, the suboxide,
and the binoxide), is readily formed by adding a solution of caustic
potash to a solution of nitrate of silver. The brown precipitate js
oxide of silver. This is soluble in nitric and some other acids,in
ammonia, and even, to a small extent, in distilled water. Like
the carbonate, the oxide of silver may be added to an acid bath in
2S
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 18G1
order to neutralise it. When so used, it leaves the bath slightly
alkaline, which may be cured in the usual way. I here proceed to
make this preparation, all that is necessary being to pour the
solution of caustic potash into the nitrate of silver. When the
oxide of silver is heated to redness, the oxygen is set free, and
metallic silver formed in a spongy condition.
Cyanide of silver is usually formed by the addition of cyanide of
potash to nitrate of silver. The equivalent of cyanide of potash is
79, the other being 170. The precipitate cyanide of silver is readily
soluble in cyanide of potash, and, when so dissolved, forms electro¬
plating solution. This solution (for electroplating) is also formed
by dissolving oxide of silver in the same solvent. In practice,
however, I find no difference in working between these and a solu¬
tion made as I shall now show you. Into this solution of nitrate
of silver I pour cyanide of potash. A dense precipitate ensues;
but, by continuing the addition of the solution of cyanide of potash,
the precipitate is again dissolved, and the liquid becomes clear
and colourless. I now immerse a piece of brass in this solution for
a few seconds, and on taking it out it is coated with pui’e silver.
The addition of six or eight parts of water makes this a very
excellent plating solution.
Chloride of silver is made by the addition of such a salt as
chloride of sodium to nitrate of silver. It is thus formed in the tex¬
ture or on the surface of sensitive papers for printing, only in such
a case it is necessary to have an excess of nitrate of silver. It is
soluble in hyposulphite of soda, in cyanide of potash, in ammonia,
&c. It may be readily converted or reduced into metallic silver
by putting it into a porcelain dish with water to which has been
added a few drops of sulphuric acid. On immersing a piece of iron
or zinc the reduction is effected in a few hours.
The iodide of silver next claims our notice ; but, from the
length of this communication, it must be treated in a more sum¬
mary way than it deserves. It is to the glorious discovery by
Daguerre and Talbot of its capability of receiving a latent impres¬
sion that, humanly speaking, we owe photography. Perhaps the
only case analogous to this remarkable discovery in the world of
science is that of Le Verrier and Adams in connexion with the
discovery of the planet Neptune. The iodide of silver of Daguerre
was formed by the direct contact of the elements, the fumes of
the iodine acting on the surface of a polished silver plate ; while
the iodide of silver of Talbot was formed just in the way we are
doing at the present day — in every collodion plate dipped into the
nitrate of silver bath — viz., by double decomposition. When iodide
of potassium is brought into contact with nitrate of silver, the
silver, true to its nature, leaves the old master in favour of the
new, and iodide of silver is the consequence. When this salt is
exposed momentarily to light, a process of reduction is induced
which may be continued by chemical agency. In the early
days of the art it was found that while the blue ray alone
of the spectrum had the power to originate this reduction, the
heating rays at the other end of the spectrum had the pro¬
perty of continuing this action. Soon after Becquerel published
this discovery I made a lengthened series of experiments to deter¬
mine how far this would be practically useful; but I regret that I
cannot just now lay hands on the notebook containing the results of
these trials. By judicious additions to the iodide of silver of free
nitrate of silver, gallic acid, and perhaps other substances to me
unknown, the sensitiveness is considerably increased ; and a
photographic plate so prepared may be developed by gallic acid,
pyrogallic acid, or sulphate of iron, but preferably with gallic acid
and acetate ol lead mixed together. Bromide, fluoride, and other
salts of silver, are formed by decomposition from the nitrate, in the
same manner as the other. Ammonio-nitrate of silver is some¬
times used for exciting salted paper for printing, in preference to
a simple nitrate. It is thus prepared Into a solution of the
nitrate of any strength add strong ammonia. Its action will be
similar to what was seen in the formation of the cyanide of silver.
In the first place, oxide of silver is precipitated, which is redis¬
solved by the addition of more ammonia. Care should be taken
that no more ammonia be added than is barely sufficient to redis¬
solve the oxide. Paper prepared with this is very sensitive to
coloured rays ; and, if exposed to light under the action of variously-
coloured glasses, the result will be found to be strongly impressed
with corresponding colours. To obtain the best results, the paper
should be salted with the chlorides of barium or ammonium.
I must pass over the other salts of silver, whether simple or
compound, merely from want of time to take notice of them. I
may observe, however, that at one time it was thought that what
Mr. Hunt calls the fulminate of silver was, from its very unstable
equilibrium, likely to produce some important results in photo¬
graphy; but I have no doubt that the great danger attendant on
the preparation of fulminating silver has wisely deterred men of
science from perilling their lives in endeavouring to obtain a know¬
ledge of the properties of this potent substance. There are some
very beautiful features about this metal which would require another
paper to treat of them with justice. One or two I shall merely
indicate : — If certain substances — a dead moth, for instance — bo
immersed in a solution of nitrate of silver, and then exposed to the
fumes of phosphorous, the silver is reduced with a brilliant metallic
appearance, and a most beautiful object is the result. If ammonio-
nitrate of silver, to which has been added grape sugar or other
reducing agents, as oil of cloves, oil of cassia, &c., be poured on a
plate of glass, the silver is reduced, and being attached firmly to
the glass a most brilliant mirror is thus produced. The exact
proportions recommended by Mr. Drayton, the patentee, are —
Ammonia . 1 part.
Nitrate of silver . 2 parts.
Water . 3 „
Alcohol . 3 „
Filter, and add one-fourth part of grape sugar, dissolved in weak
spirit.
I may conclude by stating that when a weak solution of nitrate
of silver be desired to be very much concentrated, I have always
found the best and readiest way to be by the application of intense
cold produced by freezing mixtures. Water, when congealing,
ejects all foreign matters; and under this treatment water crystals
are speedily formed which, when removed, leave the solution
strengthened in any degree.
The exact way I proceed is this Into a dish (capable of holding
another thin glass dish, in which is placed the nitrate of silver
solution) pour a mixture made as follows : —
Muriate of ammonia . 1 fart.
Nitrate of potash . 2 parts.
Mix intimately, and call this compound No. 1. Crush common
washing soda into a fine powder, and call it No. 2. When about to
use, mix equal parts of 1 and 2, and dissolve into the smallest
possible quantity of water : this is done into the above-mentioned
dish.
One jotting more, and I have done. Staius may be removed
from linen, the skin, photographs, &c., by
Spirits of wine . 20 parts.
Iodine . 1 part.
Nitric acid . 1 „
Muriatic acid . 1 „
Mix these, and apply to the stain, which is at once converted into
iodide and chloride of silver, which may, in turn, be removed by
any of the usual solvents, cyanide of potassium or hyposulphite
of soda.
COLLODION : IS IT INERT IN THE FORMATION OF THE
PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE?
By R. H. Preston.
Allow me to present to your readers an account of a few simple
experiments, having reference to that most interesting question —
the composition of the photographic image ; and undertaken with
the impression that pyroxyline is not so passive in its character of
mechanical support to the iodo-argentine layer as is generally
supposed.
An ordinary glass positive, complete and dry, was moistened
with water, and flooded with undiluted nitric acid. The metallic
lights of the image rapidly disappeared ; but beneath the fluid —
absolutely insoluble, even by prolonged contact — a somewhat faint
but perfect picture remained, on which the features of the original
portrait were easily recognisable, the definition and vigour increas¬
ing with drying.
To annihilate a suspicion that this relict consisted of some hydra-
cid compound of silver, which the volume of superposed metallic
deposit had shielded from the action of the primary fixing agent,
a strong solution of cyanide of potassium was employed after the
removal of the acid, but without manifest effect.
The irreducibility beneath the influence of these powerful agents
abbreviates the catalogue of argentine products which could con¬
stitute the impression, unless indeed we entertain the idea of an
heteromorphous or allotropic state.
The film was subsequently washed and treated with a solution
of pyrogallic acid, with which was associated a little nitrate of
silver. Emerging from invisibility by transmitted light, the por¬
trait gradually became dense, until the obstructiveness equalled
that of its primitive condition, and was progressing towards greater
January 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
29
intensity, when the film broke, and floated off the plate. The
shadows during redevelopment, probably from the action of the
preceding solution, became somewhat misty.
Excepting the rather irrelevant part of bi-development, I have
repeated the manipulations with various collodions, the results
being identical in general features ; but I have apprehended a
greater pictorial prominence in some cases,
I refrain from premature deductions. Perhaps the facts and
their tendency may be the subject of a few comments.
ON FRAUDULENT CHLORIDE OF GOLD.
By R. Reynolds, F.R.S,
The consumption of chloride of gold in photographic printing is
very considerable. As many chemists deal in the article it is
proper that they should be put upon their guard against frauds
which have deceived several parties. I therefore give" the results of
the analyses of chloride of gold from three distinct manufacturers,
which I have recently made ; and, although reserving the names
of the guilty parties, shall probably take some future opportunity
of examining their products.
All the samples referred to below were bought as chloride of
gold, no mention of “ non-deliquescent ” being made by either
buyer or seller.
The following are the results of the examination : —
“A. B.”
Three “fifteen grain” bottles taken at random, without removing
wrappers. Contents were as follows : —
No. 1 . 11.7 grains
» 2 . 11.9 „
„ 3 . 12.0 „
Average . 11.87 ,,
One “sixty grain” bottle taken as above, contents 54 grains.
No. 1 was submitted to analysis : —
Gold 4.4 grains = I ~
Terchloride of gold j . 6,75 Srams
Chloride of sodium . 3.80
Moisture and free acid . 1.15
11.7 grains
As some makers of fraudulent chloride of gold reserve as a loop¬
hole the fact that the double chloride of gold and sodium is sold
under the term of “non-deliquescent,” and have the audacity to
assert that no other is in the market, I give the composition which
this should have had, even had it been the true double salt, although
the preliminary notice shows that it was not sold as that. Ter¬
chloride of gold, 6.75 grains, would have combined with chloride
of sodium 1.30 grains. Consequently there is an excess of chloride
of sodium of 2.50 grains, simply diluting the mixture.
“C. D.”
One “fifteen grain” bottle taken as above, contents 15 grains.
Analysis.
asfofgoSi- .
Chloride of sodium . not a trace
Moisture and free acid . 3.88 grains
15 grains
“E. F.”
This was a solution labelled thus : — “ Neutral Solution of Chloride
of Gold, guaranteed to contain 7 grains of pure gold, equal to
15 grains of crystallised ‘non-deliquescent’ chloride of gold.”
Analysis.
Gold, 6.6 grains = ) inio
Terchloride of gold ) . ^
Or = Chloride of gold and sodium 13.26 ,,
The solution did not contain any chloride of sodium.
Practical Results. — Assuming “C. D.” to be sold at a fair market
price, the excess of profit over this to the maker of “ A. B.” is as
follows, and, of course, the loss to the consumer is the same : —
On short weight . 21.0 per cent.
(Being average of three bottles)
On lower quality . 10.7 „
31.7 per cent.
As, however, “A. B.” was sold at 8.3 per cent, lower price, the
sum will stand thus : — 31.7 less 8.3 = 23.4 per cent, excess profit,
or £23 8s. on every £100 worth sold.
The samples “C. D.” and “E. F.,” although not theoretically
pure chloride of gold, may be considered to be commercially honest
articles. The deliquescent nature of the pure chloride renders it a
difficult operation to fill the bottles with accuracy as to weight, and
the varying amounts of moisture which the maker may leave in
the salt will always be a source of discrepancies in value.
. The former difficulty may be overcome by sending out the solu¬
tion instead of the solid chloride. I know of no reason why such
solution should not be valued by its theoretical equivalent of gold,
excepting that the practice of the trade has been going in another
direction, and the change would involve an apparent, though not a
real, advance of price, to the consumer.
At the least, purchasers should require a guarantee of seven
grains of pure gold in each bottle corresponding to the gramme,
whether the contents may be solid or in solution.
- — — -
THE CAMERA OF HORRORS; OR FAILURES IN THE
WET PROCESS.
By O. G. Rejlander.
[Abstract of an Address given at a Meeting of the Birmingham Photographic Society
on Tuesday, the 18th December, I860.]
In opening his remarks, Avhich were of a conversational character,
Mr. Rejlander stated that it would be quite impossible to embody in
a “ paper ” the different causes and effects he had met with in the
practice of the art. He had arranged somewhat in a systematic
manner the various specimens, and would describe each briefly as
he proceeded. He also stated that he had a strong objection to
developing boxes , and other appliances for external purposes. The
difficulties he had to contend with arose from many causes : —
the bath, the glasses, collodion, dust in summer, cracks in and under
the varnish, &c. &c.
The Bath (which Mr. Rejlander explained might be exposed to
light for any length of time without injury). — A perfectly new bath
— whether it arose from the glass, the dipper, or other cause — was
often found covered with scum or iridiscent dew of reduced silver,
which could only be removed by filtration or skimming. That, on
the first occasion of dipping the collodion plate into it, covered it
— perhaps not entirely, but partially. The opaque silvery parts
stuck to the collodion. When the plate was exposed no effect was
produced on these silvery spots ; but, on developing and washing,
their position on the plate was left perfectly transparent, or they
produced transparent black spots on the negative. There was also
another kind of scum which, when the plate was dipped, produced
a kind of marbling like that used by bookbinders. Those streaks
were attributable to what had floated upon the bath, and dependent
upon opaque silver particles ; also water marks , similar to moire
antique, but more equal, due to the presence of water in the collo¬
dion or measure glasses. Although from his first attempt at
photography he had used the same collodion — whether it was
attributable to himself or the maker — still he had continually met
with these water marks, and at times for a period of half-a-year
successively.
The Glasses. — It might be thought no difficulty existed on ob¬
taining them pure and clean ; but there was great difficulty in so
procuring the glasses. In producing some he had met with, and
explaining his own difficulties and evil doings, his object was to
show and warn others not to trust too implicitly to a chapter of
accidents — to glass manufacturers or chemists — but to obtain the
best of everything they required for their use, availing themselves
as far as practicable of the experience of others in their selection.
Glasses were frequently marked, from one lying partially over or
across another; and were also at times met with having chalk
marks (trade marks), which were not seen before tile glasses were
used, and did not show on gently breathing over the plate — the
usual mode of detecting the presence of impurities on the surface.
He exhibited two negatives which were completely spoilt from
these causes, and invited members to take home and clean the
plates, subject them to similar treatment as an ordinary plate,
and produce them at the next meeting with the view or object
taken, &c.
Another source of annoyance arose from a subtle and invisible
deposit forming upon the plate while lying under water, as spoilt
plates are usually placed before cleaning. If the water was dropping,
say from water works, the deposit was stronger. This was caused,
in his opinion, by lime, alkaline, or metallic impurities in the water ;
and its removal was rendered exceedingly difficult, although abso¬
lutely essential, as it would be fouud to have eaten into the pores
of the glass. He suggested that plates should not be left lying in,
water for a day or longer, as all water was subject to precipitatea
although such was quite invisible to the eye.
While on the subject of glass he would take occasion to say a
30
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1801
word on glasses in printing frames for negatives. These were
generally a quarter of an inch or more in thickness, and on them in
a great measure depended the time required for the actinic action
upon the prints. He at one time had a glass with which he could
print in from ten to fifteen minutes, while with all others he had
met the time required was thirty to forty. This glass appeared of
a pure blue when viewed edgeways. Those generally in printing
frames appeared green under similar circumstances. For a thin
negative it would be advisable to use a green glass; and a photo¬
grapher, by testing the capabilities of his various glasses, might
readily adapt them to the particular requirements of his negatives.
The slowest glass for printing purposes was not quite green , and he
was at a loss to describe the peculiar tint. It was a kind of
opalescent flinty green ; and this tint required, for the percolation
of light, treble the time of common green or common bluish glass.
The difference between ten and twenty minutes in printing was
entirely referable to the glass.
The Collodion. — He would suggest great care in pouring the
collodion from the bottle on to the plate, as oftentimes a portion of
the thickened collodion from the neck was carried to the plate ;
and, though it was not at times very important, still it was liable to
assume an ugly aspect. He had also found the collodion film upon
the same plate perfectly transparent in parts and thick in others.
Dust.— From the dust in a hot and dry summer he had expe¬
rienced much annoyance. The shutter might not fit very close,
and in the anxiety to close it as quickly as possible the dust, which
had and would collect, was scattered upon the film. He had
always found it a difficult matter thoroughly to dislodge the dust
both from his camera and operating room, a sudden draft or shake
causing a large quantity to arise, as could plainly be seen at any
time in a sunbeam. To prevent as far as possible the dust accu¬
mulating in the camera, and to render it more easy to clean, he had
adopted with good effect papier machd to round off the corners.
Cracks. — Of cracks in and under the varnish he exhibited speci¬
mens, which (magnificent pictures otherwise ) had been completely
ruined from those causes.
He had often met with a nucleus of transparency without any
apparent foreign substance to account for it ; and amateurs would
find a fruitful source of annoyance from surface decomposition from
a reflow, the plate not being properly drained.
Condensation or fog upon the lens had to be contended with,
resulting from the variation of temperature in the different por¬
tions of the lens, and consequent upon its removal from one room
to another, or even changing its position in the open air.
He stated that, about a fortnight before, with a copper-coloured
sky and easterly wind, he took a negative of a mastiff. When de¬
veloped there was no trace upon the plate except the position of a
pure white streak upon the nose of the dog. As the first photo¬
graph was not generally correct as to pose, &c., and wishing to
obtain an accurate and at the same time pleasing picture, he took
the exposed plate into the open air for the purpose of detecting, if
possible, the impression, and was rather amused to perceive it
gradually inclining and very shortly changing to a very fair
positive.
He would also hint that if a negative had by any means got damp
or wet, it was not advisable to dry at a fire ; but the drying should
be steady, in an equable temperature. He had found that a nega¬
tive might be slowly dried without injury.
At the close of his address, of which we have given only a
summary, Mr. Bejlander remarked that if the manufacturers of
photographic paper would each furnish him with a sheet, he would
undertake by the next meeting to print a hard and soft negative on
each, similarly toned, &c., and produce them for the inspection and
discussion of the members.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC RETROSPECT.
By Charles Butterfield.
[Read at a meeting of the Bradford Photographic Society, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 1861.]
In our ordinary life, at each return of this season — when the old
year, with its hopes and fears, its anxieties and struggles, has
passed away — it is pleasant to rest for a moment in our wrestling
with the world, and, before we again address ourselves to our daily
labour, to look back on the year that has gone by. The page of
life we have looked on for twelve months is now turned over and
lost to us for ever, save in memory. To look back on this year and
pass in review before us, one by one, the events which have been
to us its prominent features, it is well to have some halting-place
like this — some apparent rest in our hurried race to the end.
I cannot help likening ourselves, at such a time, to travellers on
our modern railroads : we sit calmly gazing on the scenes flying so
quickly by, ourselves apparently stationary, and almost forgetting
how wo are hastening on to the great terminus of life. Thoughts
like these are passing through my mind as I sit by the fire at mid¬
night on the last day of 1860. 1 was sitting up, as is my usual
custom to do, to “ sec the new year in” — not that there is any
visible difference to mark the event, or that twelve o’clock on the
night of the 31st of December is not like twelve o’clock on any
other night ; but because we know that at this hour one of those
periods into which we have parcelled out time has come to a close
— it exists in our fancy as a tangible point, and wo almost expect
to see some manifestation of the fact of its passing away. Strange
long-forgotten memories crowd upon us at these times : my
thoughts, by some strange magnetism, went to the days of my
boyhood ; I see myself seated in the crowded schoolroom, and once
more hear the busy hum of my schoolmates ; I look around and
see the dunce of the school sit in his accustomed place, poring
over his dog’s-eared book, and looking the very impersonation of
abject, mental bewilderment. Poor fellow ! his was no pleasant
time : continually cuffed by his master and jeered at by his juniors
in years but seniors in wit, ho goes through his allotted drudgery
in stupid sullenness. What a martyrdom ! greater far than wo
could now believe. The sorrows we have passed through have
grown less in looking back upon them, and we wonder why we then
felt their griefs so keenly.
I have been speaking of no imaginary person : I met this same
dunce yesterday. He is well to do in the world, and sits by his own
fireside perhaps, just now, recalling, like myself, “the thoughts of
bygone hours.” Nine years ago I was a pupil at this very school
I have in imagination placed before you. I had been there some
time, and was therefore an “ oldster.” I could look down with con¬
tempt on the “youngsters” of the “fourth form,” fresh from home.
My place was on the “first,” near the fire in winter and the door
in summer. I had many privileges to which my service had en¬
titled me, and one of them was that of perusing certain books, the
property of our head master : amongst them were several volumes
of the Mechanics' Magazine , and it was through this medium I first
became possessed of the knowledge that such a thing as photo¬
graphy existed. Do not suppose for a moment that our art had
attained the dignity of cameras and lenses purposely adapted to
its wants : nothing of the kind existed— at least I had never seen
such things, and, if I had, it would have been all the same. I
might have looked and longed, as little bo}rs do before pastry cooks’
windows, but that would have been all. The state of my finances
utterly precluded any such idea as buying the things to be enter¬
tained for a moment. No ! I must be content to follow very humble
paths. Therefore, as a commencement, I invested a penny on
some bichromate of potash ; and I well recollect, when I held the
yellow blocks in my hand, how a sort of pride warmed my breast
to think that I, so young, was going to use an article having such
a portentous and learned name. I could scarcely run home fast
enough, and, when arrived, was all impatience till I had bolted
— not swallowed, my tea ; then, getting some hot water from the
kettle, I dissolved my precious yellow salt in it, and prepared my
first photographic papers.
The next day being Saturday, I printed everything I could lay
hands on — all was fish that came to my net. I was overjoyed with
the results, meagre as they would be considered now, and never
cared that the lights and shadows were all reversed : the pictures
were there — veritable copies of every line of the originals — and
what cared I whether these lines were light or dark?
In looking over some old papers, I found a few of these my first
prints, and have brought them with me, thinking, perhaps, they
might interest some of you who have only known photography
since it has grown up, and were not (like myself) acquainted
when they were children together. These specimens were fixed
by simply washing in water, which dissolves out the unchanged
bichromate, but leaves the rest intact. Later on I used to mix a
little sulphate of copper with the bichromate of potash, and then,
after exposing to light, I washed the paper over with nitrate of
silver, whereby the pictures were changed from negative to posi¬
tive. You see I became ambitious as I advanced ; and, what
pleased me so much at first, I soon learned to look at with some¬
thing like contempt.
But a still greater change was coming over me : I had indis¬
tinct visions of arriving at the dignity of copying “ the human
face divine.” I had the details of a plan in my head : I thought of
it by day and dreamed about it at night ; at last it became a great
fact. I procured a camera and lens. Do not fancy I had “ begged,
borrowed, or stolen” sufficient to purchase a French-polished affair
January 15, 186 1J
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
31
such as, no douht, is present to your imaginations. Nothing of
the kind ; my mountain, which had been so long in labour bad only
brought forth a mouse after all. The camera with which I pur¬
posed to take my first portraits was— a cigar-box fitted with a
spectacle glass ! With this simple instrument I essayed to make
my first study from nature.
But reflecting that my bichromate pictures took some thirty or
forty minutes to print, and that the rays of light would certainly
be much diminished by passing through the spectacle glass, I
thought it just possible I should not be able to find a victim
who would sit for his portrait for that length of time, though,
such was my enthusiasm, I certainly would have done it myself
could I have focussed the image also. Under these circumstances
I thought I had better content myself with still life ; and there¬
fore I directed my lens at the opposite buildings, on which the
sun was shining strongly, and then galloped off to school, there
to pass the hours in a continual fever of expectation till my time
of rolease came. Arrived at home, breathless, I ran to my camera,
not without misgivings that in my three or four hours’ absence it
might have been displaced ; but no ! there it was in statu quo,
and I carefully put the cover on my lens (a needless precaution,
one would think, after such an exposure), and went down stairs
into that refuge of photographers — the coal place — to take out
my paper.
I pull out the slide, my eyes dive through the glass front and
the paper beneath. But ay ! What ! How is this ? The paper is
“ as you were 1" There is not a trace on it !-— not even a darken¬
ing where the sky should have been ! I look at it again, thinking
I must have put in plain paper ; but no, for on taking it into the
sun, I find it darken very perceptibly. Then, how is it? I could
not imagine at first, but in time the conviction slowly dawned
upon me that the exposure had not been sufficient — four hours, and not
enough ! — even my patience could not sit so long for a portrait, so
my cherished hopes were dashed to the ground, and I was in despair.
Time passed on, however, and, like falling snow, soon oblite¬
rated all traces of my disappointment. I tried another process,
one that required great manipulation — at least for me ; but I got
some results — at least, my brother, after sitting staring into the
Polyphemus-like eye of my camera for four minutes, declared he
could sit no longer, much to my disgust; but, however, in taking
out my slide and waiting (for the pictures by this process deve¬
loped themselves), a something made its appearance which I exult-
ingly carried to my brother as his portrait, but which might as
well have answered for Bishop Berkeley ; only I can’t say that I ever
heard of Bishop Berkeley wearing a blue and white spotted belcher
round his neck, which was the case with my brother on this parti¬
cular day.
I struggled on for some time with this and other processes until
the discovery of collodion ; and then having left school, and my
pocket being better able to bear the increased demand upon it, I
“ went in” for collodion in the wet state — dry plates were as yet
unborn. I had the usual misfortunes, of course : my bath ivould go
wrong, and I would persist in doctoring it when I had better have
left it alone ; my collodion could not boast of being always free
from specks and comets ; nor was I ever seen without plain evidence
of my evil practices and study of the “ black art ” in my fingers
and linen. Now, these things never happen now-a-days. Oh no !
— they must be set down to my ignorance and clumsiness.
A year or two passed over in this way, and at the end of that
time, during the interregnum of winter, I had made myself a tent,
which one or two of you present tonight have no doubt seen.
With this on my back, and a carpet-bag full of bottles and sundries,
including a clean shirt, &c., which I had wrapped up in an oil-case
lest it should be dyed black with nitrate of silver when I came to
put it on, I set off one fine morning in spring to take photographs
of something else than stone walls and chimney-pots. I had a
friend with me who had lately caught the photographic fever, and
was nearly as bad as myself, excepting that mine was a chronic
case, and his more recent. I am happy to say he has since quite
recovered.
We travelled some distance by rail, and then shouldering our
apparatus, we trudged along the road as though the weight we
carried were feathers, and not substantial bottles, &c. Arrived at
the banks of a picturesque river, we sat down and relieved our
weary shoulders of their burden. Then pitching the tent, I pre¬
pared a plate, exposed it, and finally sat down on the rock, near
the brink of the stream, my companion temporarily snuffing me
out by placing the extinguisher-like tent over my head.
Now came question after question from my friend outside. “ How
does it look?” — “ Are there any specks?”— “Does the sky blacken
well?” (the great desideratum in those days). These I answered
favourably, and proceeding in my “ labour of love,” scarcely noticed
that my friend was shouting outside, until attracted by the alarm¬
ing words — “ There’s a bull, and I can’t keep him off! ”
Imagine my position. Seated on a stone within a yard of the
river’s brink, and expecting every moment to be charged and hurled
over into the stream by the enraged brute outside, and yet I could
not go out of the tent ! No — I had not yet fixed my picture : the
light would inevitably spoil it. I would stand, or rather sit, my
ground ; and if I should be hurled into the stream, I would add
one more to the long list of the martyrs of science.
Such, however, was not to be my fate : the bull thought better
of it, and took himself away. He had, no doubt, been insulted by
a “ bull’s eye ” of yellow calico I had inserted into the tent to
furnish me with light ; and my friend standing tbefore this he no
doubt considered as a sufficient apology. His wrath being thus
appeased, he retreated, much to my satisfaction. In commemora¬
tion of the event I photographed the place, and have just one copy
left, which you can examine. It is nothing in itself, being one of
my earliest attempts ; but association makes me set some little
value on it, poor as it is.
During the few days we spent in this district with our tent, my
friend and I took a pretty round number of views ; but I came to
the conclusion that photographing in such a way was too much a
toil to be really a source of pleasure ; and when, shortly after, a
plan was discovered for employing plates in the dry state, I adopted
it, and have been constant to it ever since.
I have worked all the known methods for preparing dry plates,
and have altered and improved them to suit myself. That modi¬
fication which constitutes the main feature of the Fothergill pro¬
cess — I mean the washing off the albumen — I had employed myself
in working collodio-albumen long before it was published to the
world; and I have now in my possession a photograph taken by it
of the Observatory at Apperley Bridge, which our Treasurer has
seen, and will doubtless remember, now that 1 recall it to his memory.
It will, I think, be allowed that I have had some little experience
in photography generally; and my opinion on the comparative
merits of the different processes, founded on this experience, is
as follows : — For professional photographers engaged in copying
nature out of doors, a van and wet collodion are decidedly the
best ; for amateurs, the Fothergill process, both for large and small
plates, but more especially for the little stereoscopic slides, which,
after all, are what will yield most pleasure to an amateur, both for
the present and future. Wax paper is very good for reproducing
views of old ruins, rustic cottages, &c., where required of extra
large size ; but I certainly cannot recommend it generally, in con¬
sequence of the length of exposure required, and its inability to
give any amount of sharpness to views embracing distant objects.
And now it is time I brought this long paper to a close. I have
conjured up spirits of the past, and held communion with them for
your amusement. I hope, too, my efforts have not been barren of
instruction also. It must be borne in mind that the mariner not
only requires the compass by which he steers, but that even this
would be of little value were it not for lighthouses and landmarks
to warn him of rocks, and shoals, and hidden dangers, made all the
more terrible because oftenest occurring when he is nearest the
land on which he would fain plant his rolling, restless foot. May I
hope the sketch I have read to you may answer, in 6ome degiee,
the purpose of a beacon to some of you, and enable you to avoid
what is not of real use in our pleasing art.
Whilst I have been jotting down these recollections, the fire,
with its ruddy, cheerful smile, into which I had been gazing, and
which had revived up all my old memories, has gradually. faded
away. The old year has died out with it. As the light expired, a
transient gleam would now and then start up, as though the blaze
were about to quit its hold, and strove hard to retain it ; but these
struggles grew weaker and weaker, and less and long frequent, till
the last has come and gone, and all is dark.. . Solemn thoughts
crowd round me, and I feel as though the spirits of friends long
since dead are hovering near. All is silent without. Is ot a sound
breaks on the ear. The footfalls of the homeless wretch who
shivers through the street are as. inaudible on the snow-covered
pavement as his piteous supplications for warmth and shelter. 1
rise, and walk slowly to rest; while, as I climb the stairs, 1
see the space around peopled with the shades of memory, an can
almost fancy I hear voices as of childhood s friends wlnspeimg o
me, as I must to you — “ A Happy New Year !
Obituary. — On the 30th ult., at 116, Priuces Street, Ediubuigh,
Miss Anne Taylor, Photographer.
32
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1 8G1
PALESTINE IN 1800;
OB, A PHOTOGRAPHER'S JOURNAL, OP A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
No. II.
By John Cramb.
I HAVE previously intimated that tlie 9th of April had been fixed
on as the day of my departure. I did actually leave on the morning
of the 10th. Permit me to take stock of my luggage as it lies on
the railway platform, pounced on by the officials as far exceeding
the amount allowed free with a single passenger. “ Seven packages,
435 lbs. — 313 extra, sir !” shouts the man in green corduroy. The
money is paid, and the boxes are safely placed on the top of the car¬
riage in which I am to travel — a condition of things I could have
wished I were assured would be possible during my journey.
Taking so much luggage along with me proved very troublesome
and expensive, without counterbalancing advantages. Indeed, but
for the certainty of having anything whenever one wanted it, I
should say it would have been quite as safe, much cheaper, and far
more convenient to have sent nearly all the boxes by ship to Alex¬
andria, Jaffa, or Beyrout ; and by so doing one would have avoided
that most horrid of troubles, the customs’ examination in passing
through France.
London, though upwards of four hundred miles from my home,
was reached in less than twelve hours ; and I could have wished to
have remained a day or two, if' but to mark the progress our art was
making in that great centre of everything. But, no! I must be in
Marseilles on the 13th; so I was reluctantly compelled to set off at
once for Paris. Here a trial of my patience awaited me. Travellers
who cross the Channel about “ the witching hour,” and arrive
in Paris between nine and ten in the morning, with every qualifica¬
tion for doing justice to a dejeuner d la fourchette, are not in the
best condition for enduring the tiresome ordeal of a custom-house
examination. I had imagined that, as I was going direct through
France, there would be some arrangement by which my luggage
could be sent under seal direct to Marseilles, in the same way as it
is from London to Paris. No ! The Chemin de Fer du Nord has
no connexion with the Chemin de Fer de Lyon la Mediterranee.
To come to the point. I was politely — a Frenchman does every¬
thing politely, not kindly or civilly, though — I was politely informed
I must open every package, and turn out on a railway platform
every part of their fragile and, to me, very valuable contents. The
reader may guess how it shocked my nervous system to think of
undoing my carefully-packed parcels of albumenised glass in such
circumstances. Perhaps a less stringent survey might have satis¬
fied ; but, on opening the boxes that contained my stock of glasses,
the sight of one box within another seemed to the lynx-eyed officers
to speak of deception and promise a capture. I took especial care
to inform the officers of the Douane what was in every box before
opening it, and by so doing anticipated saving myself the pain of
seeing them “ pawing ” my prepared glasses one by one. All expla¬
nation, straightforwardness, and sincerity were quite lost ; and the
amount of labour to themselves alone saved me from having my
preparation of the glasses all destroyed, and from everything being
turned out of its place and then hastily packed, risking the break¬
ing of the whole of the fragile contents of my boxes. After an
hour and a-half of examination the boxes were closed, and in another
hour I was informed I would have to pay duty on the glass, but that
I could recover that at Marseilles on embarking my goods on board
the steamer. There is a new difficulty. Is this plain glass ? If
not, what is its value ? Right glad was I to be told I must pay
seventy-two francs, and that having paid which I and my traps
might go wherever I felt disposed. I had entered Paris before
with my camera and other photographic paraphernalia, and found
no difficulty or annoyance. Probably this time the more imposing
appearance of my baggage had excited the cupidity of the
executive at the Douane.
I was in Paris — I was going to say the birthplace of photography
— one of them would be more correct. I took a stroll along the
Boulevards, not interested in the gay, giddy crowd that flooded
along, but absorbed in their miniature shadows on the wall. The
Parisian photographer had not begun to show the life size, and as
much longer as you like, which seems to be “the thing” now.
Nothing remarkable was to be seen. Lo Gray — who had often
astonished and instructed the photographic world, and who two
years ago had set the art-world in raptures with his “ sea and sky,”
and by it had done more to win for photography a position in the
estimation of Fine- Art critics and collectors than even the most
sanguine lover of our enchanting art could have hoped for — had left
Paris, and his princely establishment was advertised to come under
the auctioneer’s hammer. I remarked again, as I had done before,
how little progress the Parisians seemed to make in glass positives
— nothing like what one could see in any large town on this aide the
Channel. Well, perhaps they judge rightly : they are not the
most creditable productions of our art, even at their best.
Of Lyons and Marseilles I would like to have said something1
regarding photography, but will reserve it till my return. The
reader is probably b}r this time wearied of introduction, and
desires to set foot with me on the Holy Land as soon as possible.
Malta should be reached from Marseilles in about three days. I
was fully five days before I sighted the welcome harbour of Valetta.
The crazy, worn-out screw steamer the “ Ilydaspe,” and its
pluckless crew of uniformed automata as officers, and half-starved-
like lubbers for sailors, were quite unequal to the task of going
forward with a heavy sea and head-wind ; so, after being almost
within sight of Malta, we put about and ran for Sicily, and I had
a look at a part of the dominions of his brimstone majesty of Naples.
Rugged and precipitous enough the shores looked.
I landed at Malta, andresolved to remain there a few days to con¬
firm my health before going farther, and did a little in photography
as well. What followed I give almost verbatim from my journal
written at the time.
I am at Malta, or more precisely I am in Valetta, the chief city
and port of Malta and its dependencies. There are two principal
islands, Malta and Gozo. Malta, the eastern and much the larger
of the two, is about sixty miles in circumference, about twenty
miles at its greatest length, and twelve miles at its greatest
breadth. The island may be said to be one large limestone rock,
and pretty nearly a bare one ; for, in travelling over its surface, one
sees so much of the uncovered rock, and so little of green fields
and trees, that its rocky character makes an early and decided im¬
pression on the mind. There are one or two fertile plains of a few
miles in extent — as the plain of Nasciar, immediately to the east
and south of the bay, which tradition and biblical scholars of nearly
every country have fixed as the place of St. Paul’s shipwreck.
These islands are very densely peopled — eight times as much so as
England, there being 100,000 souls in Malta, Gozo, &c. There may
be said to be one continuous town over the whole of the island of
Malta. The city of Valetta is surrounded with a circle of eight or
ten smaller towns : we just clear one when another begins. Citta
Veccliia, or the old city — Citta Notable it used to be called — was
the capital of Malta till the government fell into the hands of the
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. It is now, like most cities
which have been “ superseded,” a quiet, dull-like place, seeming to
exist only for the purpose of being shown to strangers. It stands
entirely on very high ground ; and, being in nearly the centre of the
island, from any part of it, and especially from the roofs of the
higher buildings — such as the cathedral and one of the convents —
a fine view is obtained of “ Malta and its dependencies.” Every¬
where over these islands places associated with the shipwreck and
residence of St. Paul are shown. Citta Vecchia, as the capital,
could not be behind. There is a church specially dedicated to the
Apostle of the Gentiles, and under it a cave, in which the visitor is
informed St. Paul lived for three months per penitentia. There is
nothing very marked about it — a goodly size of place it is now;
and we were assured it never gets any larger, though yearly cart-
loada of the stone are carried away by tourists. Another sight of
at least equal interest was the catacombs. Very wonderful excava¬
tions they certainly were ; but whether they were for the living or
the dead, or if of Phoenician origin or not, I am not able to tell with
certainty ; so I had better leave them with the many learned doc¬
tor* who, in this matter, have gone before me in every sense of the
word. Malta is thoroughly Roman Catholic ; and here, as in all
countries where the religion of Rome prevails, the churches are of
great extent and magnificence. In one small village, or casal, as
they are called, amid a squalid people and poverty-stricken dwell¬
ings, rises a dome which, for size and beauty, bears favourable
comparison with the famous domes of the world. The village of
Mosta has a church which in anything could be compared with
the great works of Michael Angelo and Sir Christopher Wren.
Strange to say, the architect of this wonderful building is a
Maltese, a poor man, residing, if not born, in the casal of Mosta.
How, you will ask, can so much magnificence be afforded ? The
tale we were told was this : — The architect conceived the plan ; a
parish priest took it up, and left his fortune — a goodly sum — to
begin the work, and organised the plan of getting the rest done.
The villagers would not give money, nor, indeed, anything else,. But
their time on Sundays and the many feast-days was the Church’s,
and that they gave. The church has been built on Sundays, and all
with free labour. W ell, their reasoning was not so bad, for they worked
for God on the Lord’s-day. Except a fine portico and a recess in
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
33
January 13, 1861]
which the altar is placed, the church is a duomo or circular building,
surmounted by a dome. I do not know the size exactly : I think
about a hundred and eighty feet in diameter, and of very great
height. When one enters, the feeling of the sublime is great,
though, being yet unfinished, the effect is considerably impaired.
Yes, not finished ; and it has been already thirty years in building !
- -♦ — - -
HRffiitp flf S0deii.es.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of the above Society was held on Tuesday
evening, the 8th inst., at eight o’clock, at King’s College, — John Grace,
Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman announced that the Council had nominated Mr. Vernon
Heath and M. Joubert as auditors. He had also to propose the following
gentlemen for election, as members of the Society : — M. Antoine Claudet
(one of the oldest, if not the oldest, photographer in this country), Thomas
Grillis, Esq., and Captain Versclioyle.
These gentlemen, having been ballotted for, were declared duly elected.
Dr. Diamond exhibited a specimen, sent by Mr. Leighton, photographed
from one of his negatives, and engraved upon wood by Mr. Thomas
Bolton, and read a letter from Mr. Leighton upon the subject.
The Chairman stated that the print was published in the Lyra
Germanic, a, and it had been noticed in the Illustrated London News of the
previous week. The positive impression was printed on, or transferred
to, the wood block, which was then placed in the engraver’s hands.
Mr. De la Rue, in referring to Mr. Leighton’s method of transferring
photographs to wood blocks for the purpose of engraving, observed that
it was necessary in these cases to pay great attention to dates, so that
each person who had contributed to the discovery should receive the
credit due to them respectively. In September last his esteemed friend,
M. Joubert, transferred the same, or a similar subject, to a wood block.
Having seen that block, he thought, it only right to mention the fact, so
that M. Joubert might receive any credit to which he was entitled.
Mr. Henry Bohn observed that in Jackson’s History of Wood En¬
graving, which he was just about to publish, this block was referred to as
being taken from a negative of Mr. Leighton’s, and engraved by Mr.
Thomas Bolton. He was not aware until now that M. Joubert had
transferred the photograph to the wood, but it was only right that such
a fact should be stated.
M. Joubert said Mr. Leighton had called upon him in August or Sep¬
tember last, to inquire whether his phototype process could be applied
to wood, as well as to paper and porcelain. He told Mr. Leighton that
it could be so applied. That gentleman then sent him some negatives,
which he transferred to the identical block (he believed) now before the
members ; if not, Mr. Leighton must have copied it upon another block,
but it looked very like the one he had executed.
The Chairman observed that the work having been published a month
ago, September would have been the latest time that M. Joubert’s in¬
vention could have been carried out, so as to allow of the block being
inserted in its pages.
M. Joubert remarked that he had in his possession a similar block,
executed by his phototype process two years ago.
Dr. Diamond was aware that Mr. Archer had, in 1851, succeeded in
transferring the collodion film to a wood block by floating it, from
which some very rude woodcuts had been executed.
M. Joubert stated that Mr. Archer found the collodion film prevented
the workman from executing the woodcut with sufficient delicacy. In
the phototype process, however, there was not that objection.
The Chairman asked whether M. Joubert could explain the process?
M. Joubert said he had not made the process public. The invention
was not yet in such a practical form as to allow of an ordinary workman
carrying it through the several stages. As soon as he had reduced the
manipulative details to such simple practical operations that any one
could follow, he should then make his process public.
Mr. Malone mentioned that Mr. Crookes had published a method of
transferring photographs to wood blocks, in which oxalate of silver was
employed. If all that was required at present was the power of trans¬
ferring by printing inks the impression to wood, he might mention the
process of M. Fizeau for etching on daguerreotype plates. M. Claudet
had given them a portrait of himself obtained by that method, which
was known in 1844 or 1845; and, so far as mere faint, delicate outline
etching was considered, it was extremely beautiful.
Dr. Diamond then read a letter from Mr. Ilautrive, referring to Mr.
Thomas’s paper on varnishing negatives (read at the last meeting), and
also a letter from Colonel Phipps, stating that the Queen being in the
country rendered it impossible for cither Her Majesty or the Prince
Consort to inspect the Photographic Exhibition as on former occasions ;
but that during the time it was open they would not fail to attend for
the purpose of examining the photographs exhibited. (Applause.)
Mr. Vernon Heath rose to make some animadversions on a statement
made in an advertisement respecting Mr. DallmeyeFs triplet lens, printed
on the cover of the Society’s J ournal, in connexion with a letter inserted in
the Journal j but, after proceeding for some minutes, the chairman stopped
the speaker, as he thought the subject irrelevant to the business of the
evening, and he considered it would be better if Mr. Heath gave notice
of his intention of bringing the matter before the Society on some future
occasion.
Mr. Malone thought that Mr. Heath’s remarks were open to a serious
objection. If every ambiguity in every paper or advertisement was
open to discussion, there would be no end to it ; nor would the Society
gain credit by such discussions. If necessary, he would move that this
mode of trespassing on time that should be devoted to the legitimate
subject of the evening should not be allowed.
Mr. Heath then gave notice that he should bring the matter forward
at the next meeting.
Mr. Fry read a paper On Lunar Photography [see page 24], and
exhibited several illustrative photographs.
Mr. Warren De la Rue had listened with very great interest to the
remarks of Mr. Fry, who had evidently been pursuing with assiduity his
experiments on lunar photography. If they had a dozen observatories,
each as well served as the one at Brighton, the field was sufficiently
large to employ them to advantage. His practice, as was natural among
individual experimenters, differed somewhat from that of Mr. Fry ; but it
was merely a question of experience, as each person worked best with
the chemicals he was accustomed to. First of all he (Mr. De la Rue)
found great advantage from using fused nitrate of silver for the bath, for
it was the most manageable, as he had mentioned in his paper On
Celestial Photography , published in the Reports of the British Associa¬
tion.* To secure its purity and freedom from nitrite or organic matter
he personally took out, with a porcelain bowl, crystals direct from the eva¬
porating basins of the manufacturer, so as to ensure the sample being
preserved from contact with paper, and thus being contaminated with
organic matter. He subsequently fused the nitrate of silver thus
obtained in small quantities (about a drachm) at a time, taking care not
to raise the sample to such a temperature as to produce nitrite of silver.
He then put the sample into a bottle, taking care not to handle it or
bring it into contact with any contaminating body. The bath prepared
from nitrate of silver, thus carefully obtained, in the first instance gave
one or two foggy pictures, but after that all went well. As a developer,
he used aceto-pyrogallic solution, which he considered to be the best for
the purpose. He had also used citric acid, which he found gave very
dense negatives, but they were deficient in that transparency so neces¬
sary for taking copies of pictures of the moon. He always oyer-exposed
so much that the whole picture began to develop immediately on the
solutioivbeing poured on. The bright parts of the moon then came out
quite dark. He used the ordinary negative collodion. He had tried
Hardwich’s, Thomas’s, and other collodions, but he preferred collodion
iodised with cadmium to that with any other iodiser, as it was necessary
to have an iodised collodion that would retain its sensitive properties for
a long time. Through frequent atmospheric disturbances they could
not calculate upon any given night being suitable for celestial photo¬
graphy, therefore it was better to employ a cadmium iodised collodion,
which was always ready for use, to a collodion iodised with iodide of
potassium, which soon lost the requisite sensibility. Thus, whenever a fine
night did occur, they were always in a position to commence operations.
With regard to the telescope employed by Mr. Fry, it was not specially
corrected for the actinic rays ; so that the visual and chemical foci not
being coincident, every one of the points of light acting on the film were
surrounded by other rays, and this tended to mar the sharpness of the
negative. It was essential that every achromatic telescope used for celes¬
tial photography bo specially corrected for the purpose. There was
another subject to which he would refer, namely, the driving clock. The
most equable machine they could produce sometimes broke down when
they were measuring their skill against the superior equable motion
of the earth. Now and then a star would adhere to_the wire immovably,
and then it would lean a little to the right or left, it was very difficult to
get true sideral time, but still more so to obtain that of the moon, which,
as Mr. Fry had told them, was always going at a varying speed in an ad¬
verse direction to that of the heavenly bodies. Although they might
adjust the clock one night to folio tv the moon, it would not do so the
following night, or, indeed, an hour after the time for which it was set.
For this°purpose "special appliances were necessary, and always kept in
working order. So delicate were the adjustments that he had calculated
that a °mall particle of dust on the adjusting screw was sufficient to dis¬
turb the adjustments to such an extent as to make itself perceptible in the
photographic image by damaging results. For taking photographs of the
raoon,° &c., they must also tear in mind, whilst the average focal length
of photographic lenses was one foot, that of astronomical telescopes was
ten feet. Consequently they must not expect to find the same amount of
sharpness as in ordinary negatives. Mr. De la Rue then exhibited several
very fine transparent photographs of the moon, fixed stars, and planets;
and pointed out the means of obtaining stereoscopic views of the moon,
by taking advantage of the moon’s libration, and the errors that would
arise through the improper adjustment of the pictures obtaiued, the details
of which will be found in Mr. De la Rue's articles On Celestial Photogra¬
phy (given in our volume for 1860) ; and he concluded by promising to
bring "before the Society, on some future evening, his experiences iu
solar photography, more especially in reference to the late expedition to
Spain formaking observations on the eclipse.
* See No. 122 of Tee British Journal of Photography for July 16th, I860.
34
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [January 15, 18 01
Mr. Shadjbolt wished to ask Mr. Fry a question. Mr. Fry stated in
his paper that he enlarged by a double operation. Had he ever tried to
enlarge by first reducing the picture in size, and, having produced a
smaller transmitted positive, enlarging this to obtain the negative of the
desired size ?
Mr. De la. Eue had always obtained his positives of the required size
directly from his negative.
Mr. Fry wras glad that his paper had elicited so much valuable
information from Mr. De la Eue. That gentleman had stated that the
instrument he employed possessed incalculable advantage over the
Brighton telescope, and this accounted for the larger and sharper images
that gentleman had been able to produce. He fully agreed with Mr.
De la Eue upon the care necessary to be taken with respect to the
libration of the moon, when taking stereoscopic views of the same. In
answer to Mr. Shadbolt, he must say that he thought he had tried every
way of enlarging, but it had certainly not occui’red to him to enlarge by
the method suggested by that gentleman, However, he did not quite
see how that method could produce a sharper picture.
Mr. De la Eue said there was just one point, as a matter of scientific
speculation, mentioned by Mr. Fry, to which he wished to refer. That
gentleman stated that he found his pictures differ in sharpness on different
nights, and attributed it to the varying distance of the moon from the
earth. Now, he (Mr. De la Eue) thought such difference might be
owing to the varying length of the tube of the telescope in different tem¬
peratures, as he should think the varying distance of the moon was so
slight as to make no difference in a picture.
Mr. Hardwich said he had lately been on a visit to a friend at Cam¬
bridge, when he paid a visit to the observatory of Professor Challis, for
the purpose of obtaining photographs of the spots on the sun, having
had no experience of the chemicals necessary to be employed in so
strong a light, but knowing he should have to contend against its
over-action, he had used a bromo-iodised collodion. With this he used a
forty-grain nitrate of silver bath, as he found this strength acted better
than one of thirty grains with a collodion of this nature. Considering
sulphate of iron too strong for a developer, he had used one grain of
pyrogallic acid to an ounce of water. That developer would not, of
course, be sufficiently strong under ordinary circumstances, but it was
well adapted for such a subject. The spots were not perfectly sharp, but
that was owing to the fact that they were in continual movement owing to
an atmospherical effect. He Avas confident that the use of a bromo-iodised
collodion, with a forty-grain bath and a Aveak developer, Avas of great Aralue
in taking such pictures. They reduced the aperture of the telescope by
means of stops of brown paper. He also found a halo round the sun in the
pictures he then obtained, similar to those recently alluded to in the Photo¬
graphic Journals ; but this Avas quite different from any other halo-like
effect or defect that had previously come under his experience. He had
heard this kind of effect attributed to faulty mounting or a defect in the
lens ; but be thought it was attributable to some other cause. With
regard to Mr. De la Eue’s observations on nitrate of silver, and the
organic matter with Avliick it Avas too frequently contaminated, he had
lately drawn attention to the subject, and it AA’as an important one. It had
been asked — Hoav does it get impregnated Avith organic matter? But
Avhen they considered Iioay the nitric acid Avas exposed to contamination
by the luting of the retorts in wdiich it was distilled, and the linseed-meal
placed round the necks of the carboys in Avhich it was stored, it was not
difficult to ansAver such a question ; but, till they were in a position to
obtain nitrate of silver free from organic matter, he feared that fusing the
salt Avould only lead to endless cases of fogging. He Avas quite con¬
vinced that pure nitrate of silver Avould bear fusing, and that there was
little fear of nitrite being formed unless an unnecessarily high tempera¬
ture were employed in the operation.
Mr. Sebastian Davis said he had recently been experimenting to ascer¬
tain Avliether any advantage could be obtained by modifying the compo¬
sition of the developing fluid, so as more satisfactorily to photograph
objects strongly illuminated by direct solar light. It would have been
noticed that Mr. Fry recommended the employment of protosulphate of
iron, Avhereas Mr. Warren De la Eue advised the usual pyrogallic acid
developer. The solution of the protosulphate of iron possesses the pro¬
perty of bringing out the portions of a picture cast into deep shade Avith
a minimum of exposure, but at the same time yielding insufficient intensity
pi-operly to represent objects in bright sunshine. Pyrogallic acid solution,
on the other hand, fully accomplished the latter purpose, but acted Avith
comparative feebleness in rendering the parts of a picture impressed by
Aveak radiations. It therefore suggested itself to his mind, that if by
chemical means he could prevent the formation and precipitation of
pyrogallate of iron, and could mix the tAvo developing agents together,
he could produce improved results. Upon adding a simple solution of
pyrogallic acid to one of protosulphate of iron, a deep blue mixture
occurred, and, if persulphate Avere likeAvise present, a black precipitate of
the pyrogallate of the peroxide of iron. He found, however, that if he
slightly acidified the solution Avith a strong mineral acid, such as the sul¬
phuric, then no blue discolouration or precipitation ensued, and the mixture
remained without deterioration for a considerable time. The photographic
advantage accompanying the employment of a developing agent con¬
taining both pyrogallic acid and protosulphate of iron, as suggested,
consisted in the increased facility it afforded towards obtaining with a
short exposure proper definition in the parts in deep shadow, together
with sufficient intensity in those portions brilliantly illuminated by direct
sunlight.
During the evening the Secretary called attention to a plate-Avarmcr
invented by Mr. Gutch [seepage 21], and tAvo forms of instantaneous
shutters invented by Mr. Dallmeyer, to be employed Avith a pair of
his stereoscopic lenses.
Mr. Sebastian Davis proposed, and M. Joubert seconded, a vote of
thanks to Mr. Fry and Mr. De la Eue for their valuable communications.
The thanks of the meeting were then voted to those gentlemen amid
great applause.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
chairman.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
Not having had an opportunity of seeing any proof of the report of the
last meeting of this Society, oAving to the necessity of “ going to press ”
on a given day, Ave regret to find that one or tAvo errors have occurred.
The only one, hoAvever, Avhich requires special correction, is a statement
attributed to the Chairman, as follows : — “ If the bromide Avere present it
Avould unite with the iodide salt and form an insoluble substance ; but il
they used iodide only it Avashed out, and a good negative Avould not be
obtained.”
We have the best authority for asserting that no such absurd remark
was made. The report should have run thus: — “If a bromide Avere
present, as Avell as an iodide of silver, it would account for. the ready
formation of an image, notAvithstanding Arery copious washing of the
film ; because, the bromide of silver being a salt capable of reduction by
the action of light alone, all the conditions to the formation of a visible
image Avould be present, and the same Avould be the case if a citrate or
phosphate Avere substituted for the bromide. But if the collodion were
sensitised with an iodide alone, and all the free nitrate of silver Avashed
aAvay, it would be very difficult to obtain an impression, from the absence
of the reducible salt of silver.”
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A Meeting of the above Society Avas held in the rooms of the Literary
and Philosophical Society, 36, George-street, on Wednesday last, the
9th instant, — Edward Mann, Esq., in the chair.
The Secretary announced that a number of prints, upon paper and
glass, Avere now ready for exchange under the rules adopted at the last
meeting, and might be inspected by the members after the general
business of the evening had been transacted.
Mr. Pyne exhibited several negatives taken by Mr. Sutton, of Jersey,
upon plates prepared by Dr. Hill Norris. The time of exposure Avas
stated to be the same as that required for wet collodion. As an account
of the testing of these pictures had appeared in Mr. Sutton’s publica¬
tion, he referred the members to it for the particulars.
The Secretary said it would be recollected that he had at a preAiotm
meeting developed a negative taken on one of Dr. Norris’s sensitive plates,
and had upon the same occasion shown others Avhich he had developed at
home. The exposure in his practice had been equally short Avith that
mentioned by Mr. Sutton; but the results had been unsatisfactory in
reference to brilliancy of effect, and others had experienced the same,
disappointment. The negatives now exhibited had been taken upon
plates prepared after this defect had been spoken of, and he was most
happy to find that they possessed qualities far superior to those which his
experiments had afforded. He particularly called attention to t\\ro of
them, Avhich he believed were perfectly satisfactory, and he considei’ed
that they bore substantial evidence of one of the greatest improvements
in photography having been effected.
The remainder of the evening Avas taken up by the exhibition of trans¬
parent pictures upon the screen by the oxycalcium light, which was
ldndly furnished and superintended by Mr. Dancer.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Dancer, to those, who had provided pictures,
and to the Chairman, closed the proceedings.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A General meeting of this Society was held on Tuesday, December 18,
1860, — C. L. Haines, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed,
Mr. Burr, of LadyAvood Lane, was nominated as an ordinary member of
the Society. Mr. J. V. Jones was duly elected a member.
In accordance with Eule 16, a ballot was taken for the removal of the
names of Messrs. J. C. Phillips, J. 0. C. Phillips, J. H. Hawkes, and
— Brantliwaite from the Society, in consequence of their non-compliance
with the requirements of the Council.
The Chairman then called upon 0. G. Eejlander, Esq., of Wolver¬
hampton, to read his paper, entitled The Camera of Horrors ; or Failures
in the Wet Process. [See page 29.]
On the conclusion of the address an interesting discussion followed.
Mr. W. B. Osborn, Vice-President, thought that it was possible to use
a larger amount of light than photographers Avould generally admit ; but
that, as a substitute for yellow glass, he had found paper of a lemon-yellow
tint and proper texture exceedingly valuable — one sheet in thickness
January 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
35
being sufficient for all general purposes, but two would effectually prevent
any evil effects; and, while admitting sufficient light to render the
operating-room pleasant, entirely shut out the chemical properties of the
rays. As to the scum upon the bath, he thought it either arose from a
peculiar kind of collodion, or from an admixture of collodion with the
bath, and was the cause of much unpleasantness to those who used it.
Dr. Anthony, as an old photographer, complimented the Birmingham
Photographic Society on having such a practitioner as Mr. Rejlander on
the list of its members. He had listened to the remarks of that gentle¬
man with a vast amount of pleasure, both on account of their practical
bearing, and because he could not forget the fact that Mr. Rejlander had
done more than any other man in England in rescuing photography from
the purely commercial position it had a tendency to assume, and placing
it in its present one as an art. While in Syria and the East he had had
a large experience in external developing, it being necessary there not
only to coat the plate but to expose it in a yellow light. In his own ope¬
rating room the best light he could find was that of a moderator lamp,
with the globe coated internally with vermilion. As to the surface scum
upon the bath, he (Dr. Anthony) had never met with it in “ glass ” or
“porcelain,” but only in “ gutta percha;” and he wished to ask Mr.
Rejlander how often a bath should be filtered ?
Mr. Rbjlander said that when a bath caused marbling upon the surface,
&c., the cheapest and best way was to dispose of it and obtain a new one.
Dr. Anthony observed that many of the best authorities filter every
night. The moire antique markings Mr. Rejlander complained of were
to be attributed to the cloth with which the glasses were cleaned being
damp, and cn rubbing the plate a series of markings were produced; but
these might be dispersed by rubbing in a circular manner. That
cleanliness was the chief means towards obtaining a good photograph was
sufficiently proved, the plates being marked from superposition ; but on
no account should paper or grease be allowed near the plate ; and for the
purpose of removing an old film, if requisite to be placed in water at all,
he should recommend its being placed perpendicularly in the best rain
water. The precipitate on the plate arose from soaking in water contain¬
ing salts, which, when impasted, there was a difficulty to remove. Glass
containing lead and silicate of potash, silicic acid being joined, had a better
affinity for the soda, and thus the glass became partially honeycombed.
All photographers had met with the dust marks, and he himself had ex¬
perienced considerable annoyance from that source while in Egypt. To
prevent that annoyance he had the sand under the operating tent, and
also a carpet upon the sand, watered, the inside as well as outside of the
camera sponged, and over and above this he had a damp cloth laid inside.
The hard crust from the collodion bottle neck was easily overcome by
cleaning the neck on each occasion before proceeding to coat the next
plate. Scratches and markings upon the negative and upon the plate be¬
fore coating were often produced by silk handkerchiefs, which, containing
animal matter, being rubbed upon the plate produced a series of markings
in the negative. Cracking in the varnish arose from damp and the differ¬
ence of expansion between the glass and collodion. Coloured sheet glass
was hygrometric to a great extent, causing gaps in the collodion, thus
allowing the surface to he seen through the collodion and varnish, &c.
These film cracks could be removed in a great measure by holding the
plate for a few seconds before a fire before beginning to varnish. But
even when that precaution had been taken, placing the plate upon a damp
shelf, or against a damp substance, would cause them. The fogging, he
thought, was to be attributed to the reflection caused by the light falling
at a particular angle upon a common lens. He would eschew folding
cameras of all kinds as not being light-proof, particularly in the East,
where it was essential to use even a common camera in a yellow bag.
Mr. Rejlander said that the wooden grooves in which the glasses were
placed until there was time to varnish, or to dry before doing so, acted
very detrimentally upon the edges of the coated plate ; and if partially
dry, and a dry film were placed opposite, the dry one was not only affected
by the box itself, but more seriously so by the presence of the damp one.
Owing to the lateness of the hour, it was resolved to adjourn the dis¬
cussion until the 29th of January, when the attendance of the numerous
visitors present at the meeting was again invited.
On the motion of Mr. Osborn, seconded by Mr. J. T. Brown, Jun., a
cordial vote of thanks was unanimously given to Mr. Rejlander, and
that gentleman having briefly replied, the meeting adjourned.
Mr. Leather laid before the members a number of very fine photo¬
graphs, illustrative of the wet and dry processes, and several well-defined
prints from waxed-paper negatives, after which the meeting adjourned.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The monthly meeting of this Society was held in George Street Hall,
Edinburgh, on the evening of Tuesday, the 8th instant. The President,
Sir David Brewster, being unavoidably absent from slight indisposition,
the chair was occupied by Alexander Young Herries, Esq., jun., of Spottes.
After the minutes had been read, the Chairman presented Mr. C. G. H.
Kinnear, the late Secretary, with a silver medal, in acknowledgment of his
valuable services while Secretary of the Society, and also for his invention
of the portable camera which now bears his name.
Mr. Kinnear having returned thanks, Mr. Auchie was elected a member.
Mr. T. B. Johnstone read a short communication detailing his expe¬
rience in working the malt process. It differed in no important respects
from that of Mr. Walker, as published in this Journal a month ago among
the transactions of this Society. He said, however, that everything in this
process depended on the preparation of the malt solution, and the using it
at the proper time after preparation. He found the best proportions to
be twenty of water to three of malt. In its preparation he heated the
water to 175° Fall., and then added the malt, stirring well while doing so.
It was then cooled gradually.
Mr. J. T. Taylor read a paper On Silver and some of its Salts. [See
page 26.] This paper was illustrated by a few experiments. No dis¬
cussion followed these two communications.
The Hon. Mr. Fox Talbot was expected to have been at the meeting;
but a letter was read expressing his regret at being unable to be present
on that occasion. He, however, sent a great number of specimens of his
patent photoglyphic engravings, which were handed round among the
members, and which, from their extreme minuteness of detail and fine
gradation of tone, were greatly admired.
Thanks were voted to Mr. Fox Talbot, and the meeting then separated.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
On Wednesday evening last, the 9th instant, the first annual soiree
and conversazione of this Society took place in St. Mary’s Hall, Ren-
field Street.
J. Kibble, Esq., President, occupied the chair, supported by Dr. Taylor,
of the Andersonian University, Alexander Macnab, Esq., John Stuart,
Esq., J. Spencei’, Jun., Esq., A. Robertson, Esq., &c.
The Hall was crowded to excess — not fewer than 200 ladies and gentle¬
men having been present. Suspended from the walls were various
triumphs of the photographic art, contributed by the members ; and in
an ante-room were to be seen Mr. Kibble’s two views of The Broomielaic —
one of them being the largest “ direct ” picture on record, and both seen
to great effect by means of cosmoramic assistance.
After tea, the Chairman, Mr. Kibble, rose, amid great applause,
and delivered the following address : —
On the Light ice Use.
I feel highly gratified in having the honour of addressing the present as¬
sembly, constituting the first soiree held in connexion with photography in
this city. It is not my intention to encroach on your time by entering into the
minutiae of the science; still, a little may be said on so interesting a subject,
which may not only amuse but be highly beneficial.
The object of this Society, as the name partially indicates, is to inform itself
as much as possible, by studying, practically and otherwise, all the various
changes effected by light on organic and inorganic matter, more particularly
when in contact with metallic salts — such as the darkening which takes place
when nitrate of silver, in solution, is spread upon paper, under the influence of
sunlight. In light we have a space-penetrating messenger, darting with a
velocity of not less than 12,000,000 of miles for every minute of time ; inform¬
ing us of worlds so distant that even the highest optical power gives but a
faint intimation of their existence. How unfathomable to the human mind thata
substance traversing space with such inconceivable velocity — dashing through
the surface, and striking upon the retina of that most delicate ofall organs, theeye
— should be unfelt, indeed unknown to us, in so far as actual sense is concerned —
its presence only being made manifest by the visibility of surrounding objects !
Until a comparatively recent date, light was considered an elementary sub¬
stance ; but recent investigation has proved it to be composed of not less than
three distinct properties : viz., calorifiant rays, which give heat ; colorifiant,
which impart colour ; actinic rays, which excite chemical change, and which
last is the property the photographer has chiefly been experimenting with.
Although there are several (who confine themselves exclusively to a still
higher branch of the sciences) who have been endeavouring to obtain a
cotoured image coinciding with that depicted on the focussing screen of the
camera, the most sanguine hopes are entertained that such a result will be
effected, and rendered as permanent as the generality of pictorial productions
are. The wonderful discoveries of the present age justly warrant the highest
hope of the future. So as to bring clearly within the comprehension of those
of my auditors who have not given any attention to such matters, it will be
necessary to enter into a slight explanation or proof of the assertions made
regarding the properties of light, but which, from limited time, and the nature
of this meeting, must be very superficial indeed.
In the first place, as to colour. By closing the shutters of any room so as
to exclude light, afterwards piercing one of the panels with a small borer, so
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of the Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 2nd instant, at eight o’clock, at the rooms, Chapel Houses,
James Street,— -Dr. R. Parkinson, the President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the
President moved that early arrangements should be made for the circu¬
lation of the Journals amongst the members, and proposed that a special
meeting should he held for that purpose, which was seconded by Mr.
Leather, and carried.
Mr. Charles Butterfield then read a paper, entitled A Photographic
Retrospect . [See page 30.]
At its conclusion, a vote of thanks was proposed to Mr. Butterfield by
Mr. Leather, seconded by Mr. Stanley, and carried by acclamation.
A vote of thanks was also given to Mr. J. McLandsborough for
presenting to the Society’s library a number of photographic hooks.
36
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1861
as to permit a ray of light to enter, it will proceed in a straight line parallel
to the aperture by which it enters, and so continue its course until interrupted.
By placing a prism, such as you now observe, so as to intercept its passage, it
will pass through it; but instead of emerging from it, as previously seen, it
suffers decomposition, and, if received upon a light surface, exhibits what is
termed the prismatic spectrum — all the colours of which light is composed being
clearly visible. These, according to Sir D. Brewster, are red, yellow, and blue ;
but, at the extreme side of each colour, where they are supposed to overlap each
other, the intermediate tints are produced, blending imperceptibly into each
other, such as you observe in the rainbow’s lovely form, which is produced by
the decomposition of light in passing through small particles of water floating
in, or falling through, the air. A very satisfactory illustration of this can be
had at any time during sunshine, by observing the foam from the paddle -wings
of a steamer, which you will generally find accompanied by its satellite rain¬
bow.
Now, as to heat. By holding a thermometer in the different colours of the
spectrum, the degrees of heat will be indicated — red the greatest number of
degrees, yellow next, and blue the last. Again, glasses can be so prepared that
the chemical rays can be excluded, whilst the light passes through freely ; also,
so that light can be shut out, and heat passing through freely; again, so that
light can be greatly excluded, the chemical rays passing through.
There are several effects of light with which all of my fair auditors must be
familiar, but which, in all probability, have ended in simple observation, such
as the bleaching of their linen, sleeves, collars, and other ornamental fabrics
with which they so much delight in adorning themselves. This bleaching all of
you know is effected by spreading the articles out to the action of the sun’s
rays, or even diffused light — the brighter the better — watering them as often as
they become dry, the result being a brilliant white instead of that dull, un¬
washed-looking tone they possessed previously. Now, this much-desired change
is effected by a chemical action induced by light, the carbonaceous matter of
the cloth combining with the oxygen of tbe air, forming carbonic acid, which
immediately commingles with the surrounding atmosphere, forming food for the
vegetable world — in short, sad to say, is so much of the “ little love of a collar ”
gone for ever. Let any one who doubts this expose to the continuous action of
the summer sun a fabric which has not been worn, watering it constantly when
dry. I feel safe in saying that by the end of the season it will weigh one-fourth
less than what it did at first, and go to pieces in the hand with a very slight ten¬
sion. This hint may be useful. I have known many who, not satisfied with
a fabric having attained the maximum whiteness, continued the bleaching pro¬
cess, under the impression that they could not get too much of a good thing.
Horticulturists for a considerable period have been acquainted with the pro¬
cess of growing several succulent plants almost colourless, such as celery, sea
kale, &c., &c., which is effected by enclosing the plants in large earthen vessels,
boring holes in the top, which are covered by moveable lids, which, when closed,
shuts out almost all light from the plants, and at the same time admits suffi¬
cient air for growth. That excluding sunlight from the plants was the cause of
their growing colourless they had not any doubt, but why such should be the
case they could not answer — sufficient for their purpose that it was so. Indeed,
several nurserymen with whom I have conversed recently, seem never to have
given a thought to the subject, or inquired why it is that plants deprived of
light grow colourless. This arises from the fact that colour is not an inherent
property of matter, but derived by decomposition from light ; so that if earth
be heaped upon the plants as often as they emerge from the soil, or grown in
an almost dark chamber, they must of necessity grow colourless, the only
source from which it could be obtained being excluded.
The destructive influence of light in altering the colour of cotton, woollen,
and silk fabrics, is familiar to all of you; still more so the tendency to impart
that undesirable yellow tint to the skin which the fair sex dread to such an ex¬
tent that, rather than have the purity of their complexions hurt, they willingly
suffer their faces to be parbroiled.and submit topartial suffocation by enveloping
their faces in thick veils during the intense heat of summer, and, “ unhindest cut
of all ” deprive the opposite sex of one of the most delightful of all emotions —
that consequent on the sight of beauty.
To save time, a few examples of the action of light may be clustered. Several
vegetables which are eaten as luxuries, when blanched, are poisonous when
grown in open daylight. Flowers turn to the light. Flowers under a glass
shade, through which the sun’s rays are allowed to pass, deposit dew first on
that side of the glass towards the sun. All woods, with few exceptions, darken
in the sun’s rays. Gases which can be mixed in a glass receiver without altera¬
tion, combine instantaneously in sunlight with explosion. Cut a small branch,
from a tree, and it will be found that wood has grown to a greater extent in the
direction of the greatest light. Some substances which are soluble under cer¬
tain circumstances, become insoluble after a few hours’ exposure to sunlight.
In short, the changes effected by light are endless.
Had we been informed just sixty years ago by some intelligence that, ere the
nineteenth century had completed half its course, the ever-restless being, man,
dissatisfied with the conquests he had already gained over the material world,
would get within his grasp the influence of a body resident front the earth, on
which he moved, not less than 95,000,000 of miles ; making it, through the aid
of chemistry and optics, subservient to his use in the delineation of Portraiture,
not only of mortals like himself, but of the moon and stellar worlds ; also of
objects so infinitesimal that the microscope only could render them visible — I
repeat, had such information been given sixty years ago, would not the listener,
like Sarah of old, have laughed her informer to scorn ? Yet all this has been
done in a science but yet in its infancy.
Consider the delightful emotions we enjoy through the agency of light, inde¬
pendent of its property of rendering objects visible. Who has not felt almost
sublimed as he gazed on the variegated tints of our own Scottish hills, sweeping
upward for some thousand feet above the level of the sea — light and shadow
from intervening clouds chasing eacii other in rapid succession along their
bumpy sides ? Who has not felt his love of the beautiful called into exercise
as his eye swept over waving forests of deep green foliage, here and there
relieved by the orange hues of autumn, and at intervals by chasms, down
which the mountain torrents sweep their resistless force — the foaming waters
shimmering in the sunlight, whilst the spray, rising from the thundering
waterfall, is surmounted by a mimic rainbow— that most beautiful of objects—
whose glowing colours, vanishing into each other, must have excited man’s
admiration ever since the flood ? Or gaze we on the pastures which fringe
our rock-bound coast, efflorescent with all that is bright and beautiful in the
floral world ; the soft velvet sward over which \tc so joyously tread — on which
the eye so loves to repose — gemmed with beds of colour so radiant that tbe
sense of sight becomes bewildered? Yet in midst of all this galaxy of lovili-
ness, how few have asked — Whence come you ?
Mechanics has long since established the principle that action and reaction
are equal ; hence, a ray of light falling upon any solid body is reacted upon by
that body, and sent into space, carrying with it an image of itself, bounding and
rebounding throughout creation, and although lost to our finite senses, will go
on throughout infinity, impressing the whole material creation with an action
never to beeffaced. No matter how many wavelets or pulsations may intersect
each other, there will be no destruction of the original influence — like the dis¬
turbance created by two bodies plunged at short intervals from each other in the
placid water, the circular waves resulting therefrom will intersect each other
and, from an apparent confusion, emerge as perfect in form as if no interference
had been offered. To use the glowing language of Professor Babbage, when
speaking of the atmosphere in connexion with sound, he says : — “ The air is
one vast library, on whose pages are for ever written all that man lias ever said
or woman whispered.”
Well may we have a care of all we do, or all we say; every sound, through
the medium of vibration, may be registered; every act, through the influence
of light, may be photographed; so that, as’an American author beautifully
writes : — “ Acuter senses than ours shall see them as on a great canvas, spread
over tbe material universe — perhaps, too, they may never fade from that canvas,
but become specimens in the great picture gallery of eternity.”
How exquisite and harmonious are the arrangements, of the Deity, as exhi¬
bited in the little we partially comprehend ! How that acls and thoughts which,
in their own essence, may be evil, may be the means of producing physical good !
The lofty thoughts of the moralising sage, the soft airy nothings whispered by
the fond lover in his mistress’ ear, however differing in degree, may be alike
beneficial in thtir physical effects. No thought without electricity. No utterance
without vibration. Both effects start on their unceasing career of action and
reaction in the economy of the universe, and will only cease when materialism
shall be no more. Exclude the sunlight from our earth, and a very short period
would elapse ere human beings would cease to exist. It is the medium through
which we enjoy our most pleasurable emotions, and lias with tbe present
century disclosed a mine of enjoyment which will furnish philosophers with
intellectual food for untold ages. It clothes us, feeds us, heats us; it decks the
trees in their summer garb, and sparkles in the frozen icicles of winter; it
shimmers in the waters around us, and leaves its last glorious impression on
the gorgeous-tinted clouds which surround the great luminary from whence it
emanates, as it sinks from our vision in the far distant west. Above, beneath,
around us, it renders the face of creation joyous ; in short, what was the world
which we inhabit until the Omnipotent’s fiat went forth, “ Let there be light !”
The Chairman was frequently interrupted in his interesting address by
the hearty plaudits of the company, and the conclusion of his eloquent
peroration was followed by loud and long-continued applause.
In the course of the evening, Dr. Taylor illustrated the beautiful effects
of photography by the agency of the magic lantern. Several Egyptian
views were thus shown with marvellous truthfulness on a disc of twelve
feet diameter, and constituted a novel and instructive exhibition, which
might be applied, with great advantage, to popular entertainments. Mr.
Gilmouv, a member of the Society, gave an interesting sketch of a photo¬
graphic tour through Italy ; and the proceedings of the evening were
agreeably enlivened by the musical efforts of Mrs. Alexander, Miss
O’Connor, Mr. Walker, and others. The conversazione , which passed off
with the utmost eclat , was wound up with the usual vote of thanks.
POSITIVE COPIES BY THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
By T. A. Malone.
I beg to lay before you a small contribution and specimens
which may be interesting to practical photographers generally,
and which may perhaps he occasionally of great service to both
professional and amateur operators as well as to the public. The
difficulty of producing satisfactory positives in the winter time i3
well known, a whole day’s exposure having been found insufficient
for producing, on the ordinary copying paper, a single impression
from the negative. The prompt execution of portraits and other
work lias, in such cases, hitherto been impossible. Having lately
turned my attention to experiments with the view to the use of
artificial light for purposes of scientitic photographic research,
during the too frequent absence, this season, of our master-light,
the sun, I have ascertained that one or more negatives of moderate
size may be copied in a quarter of an hour by simple exposure
in the usual copying frame to the rays emanating from the gas-
carbon points of Duboscq’s electric lamp ; by concentration with a
mirror and lens, the effect might be produced in even a less time.
On the day of the experiment, a dull October day (two to three
p.m.), the same amount of exposure to the zenith light, the sun
being obscured, gave but a faint impression with part of the same
negative that was used in the photo-electric experiment. The*
sensitive paper used was also, like the negative, purposely halved
in order to make the experiment a fairly comparative one. It will
be observed that the resulting pictures, fixed simply in hyposul¬
phite of soda,- and not toned by gokfy present characteristic differ
THB BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
37
January 15, 1661]
ence of colour. That produced by the yellowish foggy daylight is
inferior in colour and richness and depth of tint to the one obtained
by the brighter, purer electric light. I have observed some years
ago a similar difference when one and the same negative was
copied on a dull day, half under a yellow glass and half under a
blue one. A final comparison of results indicates that the electric
light surpassed in quality the daylight with which we were favoured
on the day in question. It will be observed that the result of the
experiment is further useful as proving that all the ordinary pro¬
cesses of our art can be rapidly and clearly demonstrated to an
auditory or class at any hour — by night or day. Moreover, the re¬
lative photographic power of the electric light being thus more
exactly demonstrated, I hope to be able to use it for important re¬
searches during the winter, when the sun is absent. I think my
results already show that it is a superior agent to atmospherically-
deteriorated sunlight. I trust, on a future occasion, to be able to
communicate the results of experiments I have determined upon,
with a view to compare more thoroughly the relative photographic
properties of these and other varieties of light. In conclusion, I
think it right and only just to state that I owe to Mr. Gassiot, whose
liberality in such matters is well known, the use of the Grove’s
battery of forty cells which served for the experiment; and to Mr.
Warren De la Rue I am indebted for the Duboscq lamp. The labora¬
tory of the London Institution furnished all the other requisities.
New Way to Keep a Sitter Quiet. — We have read a story of
an artist “ way down south in dixie,” who adopted a novel expe¬
dient to keep his sitter quiet. He had tried all sorts of suasions
without success, when it occurred to him that the strongest of all
human motives is fear. As soon as he had completed his adjust¬
ments, he suddenly draws a revolver, and levelling it at the sit¬
ter’s head, he exclaims in a voice and^with a look suggestive of
lead and gunpowder : “ Dare to move a muscle and I’ll blow your
brains out.” We have not seen any of the pictures produced by
this process, but have no doubt that they present some interesting
peculiarities. — American Journal of Photography .
dirfribilian.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
Cards of invitation were issued for the private view of the eighth
annual collection of photographs, by the authorities of this society,
for the 12th instant, upon which occasion a goodly gathering of
photographers and their friends took place at the old quarters, No.
5, Pall Mall East, where most of the preceding Photographic Exhi¬
bitions have been held. A large amount of interest was manifested
upon the occasion, as well by visitors as photographers, evincing
the steady progress in popularity achieved by our favourite pur¬
suit. It would be quite impossible for us to enter into any length¬
ened and detailed criticism of the various works displayed on
account of the proximity of our day of publication ; yet, we are
not willing to forego altogether some account of the present col¬
lection, as, by the time these lines meet the eyes of our readers,
the Exhibition will have been opened to the public, of whom many
will be glad to know what is in store for their entertainment.
The hanging committee has adopted a very judicious modifica¬
tion of a recommendation from the pen of our esteemed contri¬
butor, Mr. A. II. Wall, which appeared in a paper published in
our pages but a short time since, relative to the aggregation of
the works of each exhibitor. To have carried out such a plan in
its entirety would have required a very much larger amount of
space than was at the command of the committee ; and we are by
no means sure that a rigorous adherence to this plan would have
so greatly tended to the general excellence of effect. The works of
each contributor of but a few specimens have, as a rule, been kept
together ; but, when they have been tolerably numerous, they
have been arranged in what we may designate as several symme¬
trical masses, so that there is no difficulty, if the visitors be so
minded, in going through each exhibitor’s works seriatim.
The coup cl' ceil is decidedly pleasing, and the works in detail do
not take off from the first impression. We cannot forbear remark¬
ing, however, upon the extreme complaisance of the hanging com¬
mittee in according so large a space to the productions of a few
portraitists, including a very considerable number of coloured speci¬
mens, which have been, however, judiciously arranged together, but
which occupy very nearly the entire of the south side ot the room.
Most of the other specimens are contributed by the old familiar
veterans of the photographic art, including the names of Bedford,
Fenton, Mudd, Robinson, Morgan, Wilson, Downes, Lyte, Dixon,
Piper, &c.; while the absence of a few of the celebrated names is no
less remarkable. We noticed nothing from Rosling, Frith, Rejlan-
der, Llewellyn, Turner, White, or Thurston Thompson. As some
compensation, however, we find a few new artists that are likely to
be men of mark, amongst whom we may cite David Campbell,
William Lloyd, and P. Dovizielli.
So much for general observations. We will now proceed to
make a few particular ones in connexion with the works displayed
for our admiration.
On taking up a position in the centre of the gallery, and glancing
around, we are first struck with the fact that Mr. Roger Fenton
has come out in an entirely new character, and may now be
regarded in the photographic world in the same light as Lance
amongst painters, whose studies of fruit and flowers (oddly enough
designated “ still life”) are of a world-wide reputation. The pre¬
sent collection is enriched by about a dozen of the most charm¬
ingly-grouped specimens of magnificent samples of fruit and
flowers, so completely in the manner of the renowned artist already
named that, on first seeing them, we could not help exclaiming —
11 How delighted Lance would be with these !” It is not a little
difficult to make a choice from amongst such a collection, but,
perhaps, that on “ the line” a little to the right of the centre and
one immediately below it, are amongst the most charming. In
the former, the petals of a delicate rose and those of a lily are
rendered with exquisite felicity. That group a little below “ the
line,” to the left of the centre, is also very beautiful. We congratu¬
late collectors of photographs upon the new pleasure that is in store
for them in acquiring some of this novel class of productions.
It must not be supposed that, in assuming a new character, Mr.
Fenton has abandoned his old ones; on the contrary, as a land¬
scape operator, he comes out in as full strength, so far as skill is
concerned, as in any former year. Amongst these works we may
mention specially, The first view of Ullswater from the Keswick
Road, and a charming view of Derwentwater looking towards Bor-
rowdale, somewhat iu the style of Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen. The
mention of this gentleman’s name is opportune, for, on turning
towards one of the centre screens, we recognise with pleasure
some of his artistic gems, which, though but Liliputians in size,
are true giants in beauty. There are six Studies of Sunset in the
Loch of Park, Aberdeenshire, and as many of sea views, including
the Great Eastern at Southampton , which, in their stereographic
form, we have so recently noticed that it is needless again to
criticise them. There are six other subjects also, only one of
which is familiar to us. Two of them deserve especial notice — A
Vieio in Glencoe, in which the gathering mist on the mountain side
forms a prominent and striking feature ; and Loch Katrine, in
Perthshire, which presents a scene of placid beauty seldom equalled.
Mr. Bedford’s works are always fresh and always ' welcome,
dcubly so when they include (as on the present occasion) many
well-remembered scenes, some of the most charming in Somerset¬
shire and the North of Devon, Lynmouth, Ilfracombe, &c. We
have also records of the late excavations at Uriconium (Wroxeter),
and a gem entitled A Study of Nature, in which the rugged stem
of a tree is surrounded by a charming conglomeration of ferns, ivy,
meadowsweet, and brambles.
A near relation of the preceding is a Study of Foliage, by Mr.
Dixon Piper, on the north wall of the gallery, in which the dock,
coltsfoot, ferns, ivy, &c., take part.
The post of honour — the centre of the top of the room — is awarded
to Mr. Henry P. Robinson’s important composition picture of The
Holiday in the Wood, which we have recently described. The same
artist has also another production or two of minor interest.
Mr. Mudd has lost none of his former skill, and will certainly
gain in prestige. Of many fine productions, the most exquisite is
one, On the Greta, Rokehy Park, in which the elfect of atmosphere
and distance is unusually fine. Another picture, designated In
Teesdale , is also particularly noteworthy.
Mr. Downes exhibits numerous reproductions of paintings, some
of which are familiar to frequenters of the various metropolitan
Art Exhibitions. It is very observable how the kinds of colour
emp oved in the paintings influence the photographic results. The
vivacity and bustle of Mr. Hicks’s picture of The General Post
Office are capitally rendered, but we miss the colouring ; while in
Mr. Lewis’s Punch the loss is but little felt.
Mr. Maxwell Lyte is, as usual, in the first rank among photo¬
graphers, his contributions to the present exhibition being
unusually fine, possessing a depth of poetry quite out of the com¬
mon way. His Valley of Pierreftte and Valley des Eaux Bonnes
leave nothing to be desired.
38
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1801
Mr. Lyndon Smith, like many artists who adopt a mannerism,
and elaborate a perverse idea, has, duriug the past season, still
further mist-ified his productions. The artistic merit — spoiled to
some extent as it was, but which however those of last year
undoubtedly did possess — is, in our estimation, entirely wanting in
those now displayed. What can be the value of such a “ thing ” as
that immediately over the entrance door ? An under-exposed
branch of some tree, with a background of — smudge, looking like
a rough landscape on blotting paper that an unfortunate black
beetle, which had just taken a bath in the inkstand, had been
crawling over.
The exigencies of time and space will not permit us to make
more than a casual reference to a few other subjects.
Mr. Heath makes a fair show. His Gardener's Cottage , at Ends-
leigh , is the specimen which we prefer, and, though the foliage has
been sadly interfered with by a stiff breeze, the evil effects have
been cleverly counteracted by vignetting the subject.
Mr. William Lloyd may become a clever artist. His view] in
Beckworth Park is good.
Mr. Bourne has two frames, each containing four subjects, all
worthy of attention.
Mr. David Campbell is also an operator possessing considerable
skill : his Auld Brig o' Boon, Ayrshire, and Home! Sweet Home! are
excellent landscapes. We perceive that Mr. Wardley puts in an ap¬
pearance with a scene in Ambleside that is very nice. Captain Dixon
has some interesting illustrations of Indian scenes. We must not
omit to mention a very fine photograph of Raglan Castle, on two
pieces of paper admirably joined — and almost perfect, whether
regarded as a picture or a photograph — the work of Mr. Earl.
Mr. Beeves Traer comes out with a few of his microscopical
illustrations.
Mr. Morgan, of Bristol, exhibits some of his well-known'land-
scape beauties, of which we prefer A Scene in Leigh Woods. M.
Claud et has an admirable likeness of Dr. Becker amongst his
numerous portraits. While on this subject, we cannot forbear
a fewT words of high commendation to Mr. Hering for some
admirably executed and artistic portraits of children.
With this we must for the present close.
Jfxrrdgtr Corr.espiibrirre.
Paris, January 11, 1860.
Some months ago I wrote to a friend of mine, belonging to the
Expeditionary Corps in China, asking him to communicate to me
any information that might be interesting from a photographic
point of view. He informed me in his next letter that the stereo¬
scope was in full vogue at Shanghai. The Chinese, whose patience
is indefatigable, and who have a mania for imitating everything,
had copied with marvellous correctness, he said, the views, whose
clearness and delicacy they had so much admired. He added that,
speculating on the dissolute morals of the country, European
photography had inundated the shops with pictures which were
more than light, and that these detestable productions were
to be seen, not merely in the sing-songs , but in the flower-boats.
In answer to subsequent inquiries as to the photographers to be
found among the French officers, he wrote on the 25th of August : —
“ Antoine Fauchery, official correspondent of the Moniteur, is also
attached to the Photographic Mission of Colonel Dupin, Chief
of the Topographic Office Expeditionary Corps. We had also,
at the Tche-fou camp, a M. Legrand, a French photographer of
Shanghai ; but, besides his not being a first-class artist, he has
given himself to the liquor ti’ade with the army, and has
abandoned the objective for the petit verre." Thus, accord¬
ing to this information, there are at least three persons on
the theatre of war capable of taking views with the camera, without
counting our ambassador, Baron Gros, himself a master in the art.
I know that in his high official position he has neither the means
or the leisure for turning his operative talent to profit. Still, for
those who know him as we do, it is a matter of astonishment that
he did not secure the services of one of the persons above men¬
tioned for the representation of the eminently curious objects
offered by the country which has been traversed by our troops.
I know nothing of Colonel Dupin; but I know that Fauchery, of
the Moniteur, is a pupil of Nadar, and, consequently, capable of
obtaining excellent results. With regard to M. Legrand, I have
seen some of his stereoscopic pictures, and, though they are not of
the best, they indicate a very sufficient practical knowledge. With
these facts before me, I liaye been unable to understand the regret
expressed by General Montauban in his official report of the cap¬
ture of the Emperor’s summer residence. His words are : — “ A
volume would be necessary to paint all that I have seen : my
greatest regret is, that I had no photographers in the expedition
to reproduce that which words are powerless to express.” It is
certain that men of art and of science, and all those wno appreciate
the value of the artistic riches described with so much enthusiasm
by the General-in-Chief himself, will regret, as he does, that at
least the image of what was scattered or destroyed lias not been
preserved. Perhaps the leaders of the English expedition were
more fortunate or more provident, and so were not reduced to bear
testimony to the utility of photography by deploring its absence.
Those of your readers who have been at Paris duriug the week
separating Christmas from New Year’s Day will remember that at
that period the footways of our boulevards and leading thorough¬
fares are bordered by wooden booths, sheltering a host of small
dealers. These are mostly work-people, who having bought second-
class articles and waste goods at a low price, take advantage of this
moment of universal purchasing to sell them for a modest gain.
In previous years photography had made its appearance in these
open-air bazaars : it had been represented by stereoscopic views on
paper, which were half effaced, or which bore traces of defective
printing. This year, the goods of this kind were of better quality
and of a higher price. Card-portraits lay side by side with stereo¬
scopic pictures ; and here and there were to be seen the fashionable
photographic albums. The stall-keepers that had selected this
branch of Parisian commerce must have been satisfied with their
choice, for certainly their receipts were not among the smallest.
The licensed publishers, stationers, and printsellers had surpassed
themselves in their costly display, in which photographic novelties
made the principal figure, and which the amount of their transac-
tians amply paid for. The portraitists, of whose embarrassment
from the unfavourable weather I spoke in my last letter, will not
have to complain. A fourth-class man has been mentioned to
me at whose establishment people were obliged to take their
ticket of order two or three days in advance, according to the
practice of the most reputed houses. Most letters containing the
compliments of the season contained also the portrait of the friend
or relative who had written them, and asked for the like in return.
It was a general interchange of faces — faces pretty or plain — faces
full of dimpling grace, or furrowed by the plough of time — but faces
ever welcome ; for those even which were not dear to memory at
least augmented the collection already begun, and so had their
value.
Apropos of portraits : a story was related to me yesterday, which
will give an idea of the manner, more ingenious than honest,
in which certain ambulant photographers of the class I have
already described to you, turn to account every circumstance for
exploiting the public. One of our most renowned and fashionable
portraitists lately announced in the journals that he had just
installed a branch establishment in the neighbourhood of Boulogne.
Up to the present time, the ground which this branch establish¬
ment will occupy is unbuilt on. However, the eager amateurs
who repair to the spot find at the door a photographer, armed
with his objective, who accosts them thus: — “I am one of
M. - ’s first operators. His new operating-room is not yet built;
but he has commissioned me to offer my services to those who
may present themselves. If you will be kind enough to follow me,
I will take your portrait at once.” And he conducts the visitor to
an adjacent booth, making many excuses on the way for the rustic
simplicity of the premises. Many persons prefer to return on some
other day ; but some allow themselves to be caught, and so the
trick is played.
There is some talk at present of experiments whose results I
shall probably be able to communicate to you soon. They are on
the application of gluten to photography. This body acts chemi¬
cally, as does albumen, and it is thought that it may perhaps ren¬
der the same services as the latter, if used as a vehicle for the
luminous image. This would be a real progress in a practical
point of view, on account of the difficulties presented by albumen
in its preparation,
EBNEST LACAN. .
Numerous complaints reach the Publisher as to the difficulty experienced,
in some country districts, of obtaining this Journal. Where there is no agent for
its sale appointed, persons desirous of becoming subscribers may either remit the
amount (IQs. per annum ) direct to the Publisher , Henry Greenwood, Liver¬
pool, or to the London Wholesale Agents, E. Marlborough & Co., 4 , Ave
Maria Lane, E.C. Any bookseller can have it included in his London parcel, so
as to reach him on the day [of publication, by sending his order to the London
Agents, as above.
January 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
O
%*g~ We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
THE LATE MEETING OF THE LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY— MR. DALLMEYER’S TRIPLET LENS — APPA¬
RATUS FOR INDIA.
To the Editor.
Sir, — It appeared to the chairman that the remarks I was addressing to
the meeting last night would originate a discussion which might en¬
croach upon the time that would he required by Mr. Fry’s paper. It was
for this reason I gave way. I should be glad, however, to take this
opportunity to put myself right with the meeting, by making the following
explanation
Prior to the 4th December last, I gave notice to the Secretary of my
intention to make, at the meeting of that date, some remarks upon Mr.
Dallmeyer’s triplet lens ; and if the discussion upon Mr. Thomas’s paper
had not occupied the time it did, I should have done this. I maintain,
therefore, that my notice held good for the meeting of last night ; and as
I yesterday reminded Dr. Diamond of my claim, I think it will be seen
that my proceedings were quite in order. I mention this because, at the
Conclusion of the meeting, I was told that what I had been doing was
irregular, and that the chairman was justified in stopping me. To those
who think so, I address the foregoing explanation.
As our next meeting will probably be entirely occupied with the
business of the annual meeting, I will now ask permission to use your
J ournal for the remarks I desired to make last night.
There is no question that Mr. Dallmeyer’s triplet lens has its peculiar
advantages, and that it provides against certain defects of certain lenses ;
but I should like to be convinced that it fulfils some other conditions.
Mi\ Dallmeyer says it does. I do not mean to say that it does not, but
I confess that I cannot exactly understand what is meant by the assertion
that “ it is quicker acting than the orthographic or single combination
lenses.” “Quicker acting” is so peculiar a term, that I ask whether
it is intended by it — the size and the definition of the resulting pictures
being equal — that the triplet lens will produce its pictures in less time
than the orthographic or single lens ?
My own experiments give a result the very reverse of this ; but perhaps
I do not understand Mr. Dallmeyer’s mode of comparison. I must,
however, insist that no comparison can be just which does not include
perfect equality in the size and definition of the pictures produced.
I cannot help calling attention to the fact that Mr. Dallmeyer’s asser¬
tion is not made of the Petzval combinations generally, but that for his
comparison with lenses of that principle he has singled out the ortho¬
graphic, which is the lens of Mr. Ross. It is really but reasonably fair,
therefore, that there should be no ambiguity about the terms or the
manner of the comparisons made. I will merely add, that if it should
lie in Mr. Dallmeyer’s power to demonstrate the accuracy of his asser¬
tions, he will have no cause to regret the remarks I have made here ; but,
on the other hand, I think that if one or other of those assertions fail to
be verified, it will be admitted that the notice I have taken of them is
completely justified.
Allow me now to take advantage of this opportunity of addressing
you, to call attention to an advertisement in a recent number of the
Photographic Journal , in which a camera is stated to be “the only
camera that will stand the climate of India.”
Now, there is no question that, in an advertisement, every one has a
right to speak of whatever he may produce new and good in the most
favourable manner possible ; but no one is justified in an assertion
which all who are acquainted with what has been done by photography
in India and elsewhere know to be untrue, and which can only be
hazarded to catch the ignorant. In my own name, therefore, and in
that of the several other manufacturers whose apparatus has been, and
is, most successfully employed in India, I protest against this unfounded
assertion. — I am, yours, &c., YERNON HEATH.
43, Piccadilly , 9th January , 18G1.
[As Mr. Heath’s remarks referred to statements made in advertise¬
ments, it is probable that the chairman considered them irrelevant, the
advertisements not being then, or at any previous time, before the
meeting. We do not perceive the same objection to the discussion in
these columns, consequently afford space for the insertion of the pre¬
ceding, Messrs. Dallmeyer and Rouoh having the privilege of reply
through the same channel, should they see fit to avail themselves
of it. — Ed.]
DECOLORISATION OF THE SILVER BATH.
To the Editor.
Sir. — I have turned up the London Photographic Journal of 8th
January, 1859, and have read Mr. Elliot’s paper, and find the use of
citric acid there mentioned is for a very different purpose than the de-
colorisation of the silver bath.
Mr. Elliot recommends it for rendering an old collodion bath suitable
for printing purposes. There is no evidence in this article that Mr,
Elliot knew the properties that citric acid possesses of decolorising an
old albumenised-paper bath, although he mentions, incidentally, in the
analysing of the precipitate, that it was slightly discoloured by de¬
colorising the plain-paper bath.
I do not believe that any one understood from Mr. Elliot’s article that
citric acid was to be a substitute for animal charcoal, or kaolin, this
being the object for which I recommended it.
Mr. Elliot’s use of citric acid is a very valuable one, but in no way
forestalls my application of it, — I am, yours, &c., J. G. TUNNY.
THE AREA COYERED BY A LENS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A photographic lens is said to cover distinctly a given size of
glass, which is always more in one direction than the other — e. g., by
GJ, 6 by 5, 41 by 3 L &c. I do not understand why this should be, and I
shall be much obliged to you for an explanation. Is not a photographic
lens a segment of a sphere ? and if so, I should have supposed the defini¬
tion equal in every direction. If I am in error, would the fact be that
the definition extends further in one direction than the other? Is this in
the vertical or the horizontal axis ? But, supposing the size of the
picture to be 8^ by 6£, is the 8 J horizontal or vertical ? and can it be
reversed so as to make the most distinct direction be either way ? I fear
I have not made out my difficulty very intelligibly; but I dare say you
will comprehend it, and no doubt clear it up. Apologising for thus
troubling you. — I am, yours, &c.,
MEDICUS.
[You are quite intelligible, and we are not surprised at your being
puzzled about a matter that has been a stumbling-block to many. It is,
however, very simple, as you will perceive by the following: — The
“ field,” or surface, covered by a photographic lens is not absolutely a
segment of a sphere, but of a curved figure approaching more or less
closely to that of a paraboloid or ellipsoid, only a small portion of which
approximates somewhat to a plane. Now, if we cut off from this curved
surface at right angles to the axis of revolution, we shall have a perfectly
circular disc, but slightly concave, which represents the plane of delinea¬
tion of your lens. We will suppose this to be of 10£ inches diameter.
Now, by drawing a circle of this size (that is, 5J inches radius) upon a
sheet of paper, you are in a condition at once to perceive why your lens
can cover a rectangular surface of 8J inches by inches, though not of
8J inches square ; because with the larger parallelogram the angles would
extend beyond the circumference of the circle — that is, beyond the part in
which any definition is formed. It will, however, cover a square surface
of about 7J inches siding.
The above diagram will render this more iutelligible. Yitli a centre,
0, strike the circle A B X Z E D Y, and let W X Y Z represent your
plate of 8^ by 6§ inches : it is clear that the whole of it falls within the
circle; but if you extend it to a square of 81 inches siding, then it will
cover the space occupied by the dotted lines, w x y z. and all the angles
will fall beyond the circle. The square, A B D E, however, which falls
within the circles, can be covered by the same lens as would do the work
upon the 8§ by G| plate. — Ed.] ^
“TRADE SECRETS” IN PHOTOGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir,— Some articles have lately appeared in your publication in refe¬
rence to the centering of lenses, and which aiosc out ot an obseivation
made by a member of a London Society, who stated that he held a tiade
secret” which enabled him, and perhaps two or three otheis, tocflect that
operation in a superior manner. I conclude that the question itself is now
to be dropped, and I think you may safel}’ allow” it to pass , but anotliei
matter arises from its ashes, which demands, I believe, your attention.
It is not the first time that we have heard of these “ trade secrets, and
I think it needful that we should understand the position of those who
hold them. . , , . , . .
I am not one who believes that a man is bound to reveal everything he
knows. I see no reason why there should not be scciets in the photo¬
graphic tts well as in other trades; and I considei that a man who has
40
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1801
spent much time and money, and made many other sacrifices, is fairly
entitled to his reward. Such a man knows well enough what he will
be likely to gain from public generosity and gratitude : he will think
instinctively upon the fate of poor Archer, who, having given his dis¬
coveries to the world, was coolly deserted by numbers of those who had
built their fortunes upon his ruin.
I blame no man, therefore, for keeping that to himself which he has
hardly earned ; but I think that he should from that time, and in common
honesty, retire from societies which are established for the purpose of
making public those things which he endeavours to conceal within his
own bosom.
It may be said that the “ trade-secret ” man does no harm ; for if he do
not tell everything he knows, he communicates something. I deny the
position altogether. One in such a position will naturally be constantly
fencing (perhaps without meaning it) to destroy a discussion which he
finds to be dangerously approaching his secret ; or he may be found to
give an opinion which he cannot deal with honestly, and may thus mis¬
lead those who look up to him as a high authority. I submit that to
belong to any society for the advancement of an art, especially to take
a prominent position therein, and to keep to ourselves that which we
know will benefit it, is to sail under false colours, and to adopt a system
injurious to that object which we profess to forward. — I am, yours, &c.,
W.
GALLO-CITRATE OF IRON DEVELOPER.
To the Editoh.
Sin, — This developer has been long known, and may be found in Hogg's
Practical Manual of Photography, 5th edition, p. 59, published by
Bolton, Holborn Bars, in 1850. I copy from that work the following: —
“ Eon Negatives — No. 1.
Pyrogallic Acid . . . . 3 grains.
Glacial Acetic Acid . 1 drachm.
Distilled Water . 1] ounces.
No. 2.
Sulphate of Iron . 10 grains.
Acetic Acid . 5 drachm.
Distilled Water . 1 ounce.
Mix equal parts of 1 and 2 immediately before they are required for
developing the pictures.” The only difference here is the use of acetic
insteal of citric acid.
Again, in The British Journal of Photography, Vol. VII., p. 96, at the
conclusion of a paper On Glass Transparencies , read by Mr. J. P.
MacAdam, at Glasgow, he says : — “I use thegallo-citrate of iron developer,
made by mixing together solutions of pyrogallic acid and protosulphate
of iron, and adding solution of citric acid, till the precipitate be barely
dissolved.” Here the citrate is substituted for the acetate,
I am afraid Mr. Tunny’s acquaintance with “ the periodical or other
literature of photography ” is not very extensive, or the above could not
have escaped his observation. * — I am, yours, & c.,
AN AMATEUR.
P.S. — I am inclined to think that the proportions given in Hogg’s
Manual are better than those adopted by Mr. Tunny. Each ounce of the
gallo-citrate of iron solution should contain one grain of pyrogallic acid
and five grains of iron, unless in very cold weather, when the relative
quantities may be augmented.
DEVELOPERS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — If Mr. Tunny refers to page 90, in the April number of your
Journal, he will see that his developer was given to the world months ago.
I should much like to see the subject of developers ventilated in your
columns. Some use the same proportions for all pictures, whether pro¬
duced by lenses of long or short focus. My own experience goes to prove
that for lenses up to fourteen or fifteen inches focus, one and half grains
of pyrogallic to three-quarters citric to the ounce of water is best; but
with lenses of longer focus, a stronger solution is required, otherwise,
even if a very long exposure be given, the results are chalky. With a single
Ross lens of twenty-inch focus, half-inch stop, use five grains pyrogallic,
one grain citric, to five ounces of water, with an average exposure of turn
and half minutes — Routing’s collodion. Some operators say that a weak
solution and prolonged development is best. My opinion is that a more
brilliant picture is produced by a strong developer. I fancy that there is
a slight loss of intensity, perhaps ; but as people tire beginning to think
that a white sky is not all that is required in a photograph, this loss of
density becomes a positive gain, if the sky does not print through too
much. I have a weakness for an iron developer; but unless the ex¬
posure is rightly timed to a second, the necessity for using pyrogallic
occurs, and in hot weather the plate is almost sure to stain, though I
found, during last summer, that after well washing off the iron, if a final
swill be given with distilled water, it decreased the chances of stains.
The tent of Mr. Louch, of which you gave a drawing in your last
number, has the usual drawback, no room where you want it — i. e., in
the centre ; but at the bottom room enough to dance a polka in.
I am, yours, Ac., II. GORDON.
* See Ante, page 18.
QUASI-NEW DEVELOPER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Under the head of “ Photographic Society of Scotland,’’ in your
impression of January 1st, 1801, Mr. Tunny, of Edinburgh, iu recom¬
mending to the notice of the Society a new developer for negatives — a
combination of pyrogallic acid, sulphate of iron, and citric acid — is re¬
ported to have expressed bis belief that it had never been mentioned in
“ any periodical or other literature of photography.”
If Mr. Tunny will take the trouble to turn to page 90, Vol. VII., of The
British Journal of Photographs’, he will find the same developer, Ac.,
described in a paper read by Mr. MacAdam, at a meeting of the Caledonian
Club.
I may also mention, par parenthesc, that this developer is by no means
new; as on a visit to Scotland, last September twelvemonth, Mr. Rodger,
of St. Andrew’s, no mean authority, was'so good as to write it down for me,
and I did not understand from him that even then it was new, although
I certainly was under the impression that at that time it was known only
to a few. — I am, yours, Ac., 11. M. S.
Exmouth , 5th Jan. 1861.
[We have reason to conclude that it is not improbable that both Mr.
MacAdam and Mr. Rodger may both have derived their acquaintance with
the developer, directly or indirectly, from Mr. '1 unny, whom we do not
suppose, by the way, to have only recently employed it. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
We beg to return onr best thanks to the numerous friends who have so kindly expressed
good wishes for the continued success of this Journal, as well as for those of a personal
character. Time will not permit us to acknowledge privately 60 many letters us we
have received of this nature, and we trust that each will regard this notice as especially
addressed to himself. -
J. H. B. — Not necessary to interfere with the bath. The quantity of bromide may be
half a grain, without detriment.
Camera. — We have the article in MS., and it 3liall appear as soon as we can find room
for it.
A. S.— W# have forwarded your note to the publisher, who will, no doubt, have rectified
the omission before this.
Salis. — We prefer the chloride of ammonium for the purpose ; partly because the
addition of liquid ammonia to the mixture does not interfere with the result; and partly
because that salt is less apt to be impure Uian some of the other chlorides.
Failure. — Tou have omitted a very important ingredient from your developer, if you
have accurately described your manipulation. Of what do you suppose the image is to
be formed, without you add a few drops of solution of nitrate of silver, which you have
previously removed in preparing your plates ?
Almanack. — We have had one or two complaints about non-receipt of a copy. We are
assured by the Publisher that a copy was furnished with each number of the Journal for
l*th Dec , 1860, consequently any neglect lies with the bookseller. Any Subscriber not
having received a copy of the Almanack can have one forwarded on application to the
Publisher.
F. S W. — Much will depend upon the nature of your collodion and condition of your
sensitising bath. — You give the diameter of your lens, which is of no consequence in the
consideration, and omit its focus, which is important. — We doubt whether you will find
five minutes too much in the best part of the day. Developer: — Protosulphate of iron
fifteen grains ; dissolve in one ounce of distilled water, and add half a drachm of glacial
acetic acid.
Amateur (Harrogate). — The essentials to a good colour in glass positives are ‘.—Pure
collodion, containing a bromide as well as an iodide for sensitising material, with a
small portion of free iodine ; hut, above all, an absence of organic matter in the nitrate
bath, which should be acidified with nitric acid. It is not improbable that your nitrate
of silver may be contaminated with organic matter. See the Almanack issued with our
last number of Volume VII., 15th December, I860, page 28.
Alexander Suirreffs. — Your questions are not photographic, and would take up too
much space to reply to with accuracy. You have not named the form of your lenses,
but if plano convex, you may arrange them thus : — Tube of body six inches long ; object-
glass, plane side towards object ; eye-glass at opposite end of tube, plane side towards
the eye ; field-glass same position, but two inches nearer to the object-glass ; diaphragm
between the last, at one inch distance from the eye-glass, which also requires a diaphragm
in front of it (nearer to the eye), about three quarters of an inch from its surface. You
must not expect much definition.
F. B. — 1. Citric acid with pyrogallic will do very well for a negative developer.
The quantity necessary depends upon temperature. In cold weather half a grain of
citric to one grain of pyrogallic acid in one ounce of diitilled wrnter. In moderately
warm weather the quantity of citric acid may be increased to one grain, and in very
hot weather to two grains. — 2. The emire quarter-plate combination may be used for
enlarging from a negative about 2f by 3^. The front lens alone is not well fitted for it
at all, and would he so slow as to be quite unmanagable. — 3. Fothergill plates should
develop with the developer above-indicated, in from two to ten minutes. — 4. Your maho¬
gany box for drying should be varnished inside. — 5. Ammonia does not produce insensi¬
tiveness in the wet process, hut, on the contrary, fogging : when added to albumen, all
the free ammonia disappea- s on drying.
II. H. H. — It would be impossible to lay down a definite distance for th ? stop to be placed
from each element of the combination in all cas es, because in lenses of the same denomina¬
tion, even by the same maker, variations of construction do occur ; but the correct place Is
readily ascertainable in oil cases, thus: — Focus for a distint object accurately, and
measure the distance from the object to the shoulder of the screw of the back combina¬
tion, and call that distance A. Reverse the lens entirely, and again focus for the same
object. Measure the distance from the image to the same shoulder in its new position,
and call that distance B. Ascertain the difference between A and B, and divide it by two ;
the product will give the correct distance for the stop, measured from the same shoulder
of the screw of the back combination. You must remember that by placing the stop in
this position the following results will arise : — the marginal lines will be undistorted— the
field covered will be larger, but it will also be more curv.d than with the diaphragm in
contact with the front combination. The size of diaphragm must depend upon the
subject delineated, and, if smaller than the front lens, the principle is carried out to some
extent in all cases; the area of field affected by it being greater as the diaphragm is
smaller, and vice versa.
*** In consequence of the very dull weather, Mr. Hughes has been unable to verify,
hv experiment, some important points in connexion with his papers On Albumenising.
The continuation of Mr. Hughes’s articles on this subject will, therefore, he postponed
for a short time. — We are also compelled to defer till our next number the continuation
of Mr. A. II. Wall's interesting series of articles on Photographic Colouring.
fg-gT All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, &c., should
he forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Mise, London , N.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 135, Vol. VIII _ FEBRUARY 1, 1861.
Art-Photography. — An occasional retrospective glance at the
incidents which occurred during the earlier days of any parti¬
cular science or art is, when considering its actual state, generally
interesting, and often profitable — the various phases through
which it has passed not unfrequently presenting a complete
cycle of events. This is the case to a double extent with re¬
gard to photography, upon which all the disturbing influences
both of science and art act and re-act upon one another. The
present moment is one in which the art-aspect is more truly in
the ascendant than has ever heretofore been the case ; and this
we think arises partly because the scientific branch has made
sufficient advance to enable the skilled operator to use his
weapons with greater freedom than formerly; and partly be¬
cause the two principal classes of photographers fiud by expe¬
rience that they can neither of them well do without the other’s
aid. Almost immediately after the establishment of the Photo¬
graphic Society it was threatened with a grand disruption,
owing to the very dissimilar elements of which it was composed,
chiefly men of science — whose ideas are generally practical,
decided, definite — and artists, who are more addicted to the
vague, speculative, and fanciful. Is it to be wondered at, then,
that men who scarcely had an idea in common — whose very
language was scarcely understood by the opposite section —
should fail to coalesce with that cordiality which was hoped for ?
We have a very vivid recollection of the first few meetings of
the Photographic Society : the spirit displayed was by no
means amiable, and most certainly the artist section, which in
cricketting language may be said “ to have had the first in¬
nings,” not only “ threw the first stone,” but did it in such a
manner as to outrage every cherished feeling of the scientific
portion. The fact was that many artists looked upon the new
art with fear, not unmixed with jealousy, and hoped to make
it remain in a thoroughly subordinate position; consequently
they exaggerated its defects, patronised it with a supercilious
condescension, and affected to consider that, if the scientific
workers were diligent in improving photographic manipulation,
it might one day prove a useful handmaid to the artist. It was
intimated that no negative could be considered fit to print
from until it had received the requisite improvement (!) at the
hand of the artist, by the addition of a sky or back-ground ;
that the lines of the photograph were offensively hard and
exact; and that the only way to obtain breadth of effect was to
put the lens a little out of focus. One young gentleman went so
far as to assert that the camera was unfit to delineate a picture,
because it rendered the outline of every individual leaf exactly
as in nature — declaring that the true artist would not copy any
one particular leaf, but adopt a form that might be considered
as exhibiting the general type of the whole, and repeat that as
often as necessary in his drawing ; and the same acute observer
drew a caricature of the “photograph of a distant church,” as
seen through a railing — the said illustration consisting of one
horizontal and a series of thick perpendicular black lines for the
railing, surmounted by a pert-looking cock sparrow, a dim out¬
line of the church being visible between the spaces of the rail¬
ing. The only conclusion at which genuine photographers
could arrive was that if the young gentleman ever had seen
such a photograph it must have been one of his own taking.
We need scarcely state that this was rank heresy to the
men of science, who now, in their turn, did injustice to the
art section. They held out for “ truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth.” So indignant were they at the position
which had been assigned to them, that we verily believe they
considered it almost in the light of a concession to allow of the
selection of a point of view. They were determined to have
nothing whatever to do with art and artists, and hoped to beat
them out of the field altogether. It was as if the savans and
the artists had met on the opposite banks of a great river, and
that the former declared the stream to be flowing towards the
right hand, -while the latter as vehemently asserted that it
flowed towards the left — both holding a portion of the truth,
but utterly forgetful that -what was right to one party was left
to the other.
Happily, this is now altered for the better. A more amicable
feeling exists between the members of these two great sections.
They have now some approach to a common language, though
there are still many obscure phrases employed occasionally on
each side ; but, for the most part, they are willing to afford and
to seek each other’s aid. It is not now considered a very
heinous offence to “ black out a sky,” or to “ print one in ”
from another negative — a proceeding regarded formerly by the
scientia as evincing the utmost turpitude, though smiled on by
their “artful” brethren; but, singularly enough, the printing
from several negatives, which appears to savour very much of
the same character, has been more decried by the latter than
the former.
It is wonderful how a squabble sometimes arises upon a
mere question of words and names, while the facts are almost
entirely lost sight of. We remember a legal anecdote with
which we were highly amused at the time we heard it, and
which illustrates this question. A witness under examination
was asked — “ You saw Mr. - present on the occasion : what
did he say about the matter?” The counsel on the opposite
side objected that it was not a proper question, and that the
answer could not be admitted as evidence. Cases were cited
on both sides, and the contest was fast and furious for about
half an hour, the witness remaining all the time an amused
spectator. At last the court decided that the question was ad¬
missible, and again the question was put — “You saw Mr. -
present on the occasion: what did he say?" The reply was
scarcely worth the squabble, and consisted of but one word —
“Nothing.” Although this question of “touching” or “not
touching” a photograph may now be considered as in the same
category as the above, we mu6t not forget that at one time
it really was of considerable importance ; because, then, it
would not have done to be under any doubt whatever as to what
could and what could not be done by photography pur et simple,
and all parties, including the artists, are now the gainers by
the jealous precautions then taken.
We have been led to these remarks by a perusal and re¬
perusal of Mr, Hughes's capital paper on Art-Photography , pub-
42
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. (February 1, 180 1
lishecl in the first number of the current volume, pages 5 to 8,
and which we recommend our readers to glance at a second
time. Now, without going so far as to accept all Mr. Hughes’s
conclusions, we do say that we concur with the majority of
them, especially with the following : — “ He is the higher artist
who produces the greatest results with the smallest means.”
On first reading the paper there wmre several remarks to which
we took exception ; but their number sensibly diminished on a
second perusal. The fact is, the matter is discussed in a liberal
spirit, guided by good, sound common sense, and we heartily
commend a consideration of it to our photographic brethren.
Mr. Hughes draws attention to a method adopted by Mr.
Mudd, of Manchester, with regard to skies, and with justice ;
for on examining this gentleman’s productions now on view at
the Photographic Exhibition we were much struck with the
excellence of the effect produced, by a method, be it remem¬
bered, quite within the skill of any accomplished photographer.
The artistic feeling is indeed requisite, but so also is it in
taking the photograph.
The designation suggested of “artist-photographer” instead
of “ photographic artist,” appears to us but a temporary pallia¬
tive of a very ephemeral character, in place of a radical cure ;
for will not the pseudo-photographic artists who have shown
themselves unworthy of the name as readily, nay more readily,
adopt the newly-proposed style when it is perceived to hold a
higher place in public estimation ?
We can scarcely subscribe to the divisions of mechanical
art and high-art photography as defined by Mr. Hughes ; and
we are not sure that we can conscientiously join in the out¬
cry lately so lavishly bestowed against white paper skies —
that is to say, to anything like the extent to which it has
been raised by a small section of our brethren. We have come
to the conclusion that, in this country at least, white paper skies
are in nature the rule rather than the exception. Generally,
albumenised paper is not so offensively white and chalky as to
be obnoxious, though we allow that some plain paper may be so ;
and we admit the advantage of a slight, say very slight, tint being
thrown in, even on albumenised paper, until we can obtain the
natural clouds (when present), but altogether dissent from the
opposite error now, alas ! frightfully prevalent— that of giving
the appearance to many landscapes of having been taken just
prior to a thunderstorm. We point to Mr. Bedford’s and Mr.
Mudd’s productions in the Photographic Exhibition as best
satisfying the critical eye when we are unable to obtain the
“ genuine article,” as Mr. Wilson frequently does. And here
again we have a strong ally ; for we perceive that Mr. Wilson,
who knows so well the value of a natural sky, when from
circumstances he is debarred from obtaining it adopts the
other alternative, and leaves it quite or nearly white. We are
quite conscious that in hazarding this assertion we have figura¬
tively thrown dowu the glove : be it so, we only say — “ Strike,
but hear ! ”
Practical Optics of Photography. — We know of uo sub¬
ject upon which at the present moment photographers, as a
body, feel a greater amount of interest than the practical appli¬
cation of the science of optics to the furtherance of their art.
Our readers will therefore, no doubt, learn with pleasure that
arrangements have been made with Mr. Rotliwell for the pub¬
lication of a series of payers, to be supplied by him, on THE
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY— the first to
appear shortly, and. the remainder of the series from time to
time, as space and circumstances may permit.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CO MIEITS.
By T. F. Haudwich.
No. XVII.
The Chemical News of January 12th, 1861, contains a paper by
Mr. Frederick Field, F.R.S.E., in which photographers will be
interested. The author speaks of the solubility of the chloride,
bromide, and iodide of silver in certain solutions ; and although
his conclusions differ from those ordinarily received, they bear the
aspect of being sound and trustworthy.
In sketching briefly the contents of this paper, we notice, in the
first place, the solvent action of iodide of potassium upon iodide of
silver. It is found to vary with the degree of concentration of
the aqueous solution to a far greater extent than is usually sup¬
posed. The general impression probably is, that a strong solution
of iodide of potassium dissolves a large quantity of iodide of silver,
and that a dilute solution, say two grains to the ounce of water,
dissolves a smaller quantity. Mr. Field, however, shows that, for
all practical purposes, iodide of silver may be considered insoluble in
a dilute solution of iodide of potassium — in other words, that the
decomposition of the double iodide of potassium and silver by dilu¬
tion with wrater is complete , and that it splits up entirely into free
iodide of silver and free iodide of potassium. The same observa¬
tion applies in a still greater degree to the double chloride of
potassium and silver; and it is necessary to bear this circumstance
in mind in studying some of the reactions which take place in
photographic chemistry. For instance, the rationale of the alkaline
chloride of gold toning bath is sometimes explained as follows: —
A solution of double chloride of gold and sodium, in acting upon
the image, becomes a solution of double chloride of silver and
sodium, whilst an equivalent quantity of gold is deposited. The
truth, however, appears to be that a solution of chloride of sodium
of the strength indicated would not dissolve chloride of silver, and
hence the reaction must be interpreted in a different manner.
Concentrated solution of iodide of potassium dissolves iodide of
silver with facility : bromide of potassium dissolves bromide of
silver, but with greater difficulty, and not in so large a quantity :
the action of chloride of potassium or sodium upon chloride of
silver is still less decided. Although iodide of silver will dis¬
solve in a strong solution of iodide of potassium, it is insoluble in
a strong solution of chloride of sodium. Even a saturated boiling
solution of common salt dissolves only traces of iodide of silver,
and these are re-precipitated on cooling.
Mr. Field’s papers have shown most conclusively that, in aqueous
solutions, the affinity of iodine for silver is greater than that of
chlorine, whilst that of bromine stands intermediate. If you mix
together solutions of iodide and chloride of potassium, and add
nitrate of silver with the proper precautions, the first precipitation
which takes place will consist only of iodide of silver, and not until
the whole of the iodide has been thrown down will any formation
of chloride of silver be perceptible. Supposing iodide, bromide,
and chloride to be present in a solution, and nitrate of silver to be
cautiously added, the iodide deposits first, then the bromide, and
afterwards the chloride.
If a moist precipitate, consisting of iodide, bromide, and chloride
of silver, in a state of mixture, be digested with a weak solution of
chloride of sodium, no effect is produced : if with a weak solution
of bromide of potassium, the chloride of silver is converted into
bromide, and chloride of potassium is found in the solution ; whilst
if a portion of the same mixed precipitate be treated with dilute
solution of iodide of potassium, it is converted entirely into iodide
of silver, and the bromine and chlorine pass into the supernatant
liquid, in combination with potassium.
The author next speaks of the action of hyposulphite of soda
upon the chloride, bromide, and iodide of silver, and in this
portion of his paper we were more especially interested, having
recently published our own experiments in that direction. Taking
equivalent quantities of the chloride, bromide, and iodide of silver,
and suspending them in water, he found that it required four times
more hyposulphite of soda to dissolve the bromide than the chlo¬
ride of silver, and nearly nine times more for the iodide of silver.
Further than this, when an equivalent quantity of iodide of potas¬
sium was added to the solution of the chloride of silver in the
hyposulphite of soda, nearly the whole of the silver was re-precipi¬
tated in the form of iodide of silver. Thus it appears that a
dilute solution of hyposulphite of soda has little or no action
in dissolving iodide of silver. Few readers of the journals of
photography will be prepared for this statement; and our own
experiments scarcely led us to anticipate so complete an insolu¬
bility of iodide of silver in a weak fixing bath.
When iodide of potassium in excess is added to a solution of
iodide of silver in hyposulphite of soda, a portion of iodide of
silver is thrown down, according to Mr. Field; but if chloride
of sodium in excess be added to a solution of chloride of silver
in hyposulphite of soda, the solution remains clear, and there is
no precipitation of chloride of silver. This statement we do not
dispute ; because, in the solution of chloride of silver by hyposul¬
phite of soda, Herschel’s soluble salt, containing two atoms of
February 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
43
hyposulphite of soda to one atom of hyposulphite of silver, is
usually formed. If, however, the second salt of Herschel — viz.,
that containing single atoms of each — be dissolved in water, and
chloride of sodium be added, we find that chloride of silver is im¬
mediately precipitated.
The inference which we are disposed to draw from the last-men¬
tioned experiment is that, in using hyposulphite of soda as a fixing
agent for chloride of silver, the action will always stop at a rectina
point; and that the quantity of silver converted into hyposulphite
will be less than if an equivalent quantity of nitrate of silver were
substituted. We commend this matter to the consideration of
MM. Davanne and Girard, who have given in their adherence
to the statement that nothing but common salt remains in the
liquid when the fixing bath is agitated with a large excess of
chloride of silver.
In reference to the great insolubility of iodide of silver, we
remark, in conclusion, that if the unwary photographer should at
any time take a draught of his own nitrate bath in mistake for
water, we advise him to use iodide of potassium as the antidote,
instead of chloride of sodium. Chloride of silver is undoubtedly
soluble to a certain extent in the juices of the stomach ; but iodide
of silver is more insoluble, and would be less likely to be absorbed
into the system.
- -*»- -
HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE AMOUNT OP NITRATE OP
SILVER IN A SOLUTION ; WITH REMARKS ON SILVER
BATH METERS.
By C. Jabez Hughes.
[Bead at a meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Jan. 30th, 1861.]
The purpose of the present communication is purely practical,
and has reference to a paper I read before this Society about twelve
months since. I then expressed my belief that many of the faults
of albumenised prints arose from having the sensitising solution
too weak, and urged the use of a little instrument known as the
silver-bath meter, based on the principle of the hydrometer, to in¬
sure that the silver solution should not be employed below a known
strength. I recommended it, not as a perfect instrument, but as
one very simple and easily managed, and sufficiently accurate for
printing purposes.
Since then I have heard it spoken of depreciatingly, and
even denounced as leading only to false results. As I am not
aware that any body has gone through experiments to ascertain
how far it is right or wrong, or of comparing it with other instru¬
ments for accomplishing the same end ; and, being convinced that
I had derived much benefit from its use, I determined to make
a series of experiments to satisfy myself of its exact value. Un¬
derstand me, I am not the inventor of this instrument ; I did not
bring it out ; I do not know who did, and am its advocate only so far
as I believe it to be useful in aiding the production of good prints.
The most valuable substance in photography is nitrate of silver;
it is the most important material that is consumed, and costs the
most money. If the operator use it too strong he commits extra¬
vagance, and if too weak he defeats his own object. He ought to
use it then the right strength, and know how to keep it so. Many
methods have been proposed to ascertain the amount of nitrate of
silver in an aqueous solution. They are nearly all based on chang¬
ing the soluble into an insoluble salt; one method judging by the
quantit]’ of precipitate produced, the other by the amount of mate¬
rial required to cause complete precipitation.
The silver may be thrown down as a chloride, cyanide, sulphuret,
oxide, or metal ; but from the nitrate solution is most easily treated
as a chloride.
When a perfectly accurate result is required — a nitrate solution
being under examination — it must be strongly acidified with nitric
acid, and pure hydrochloric acid added till all precipitation ceases.
After well shaking, let it settle for some hours ; decant and wash
the precipitate well with distilled water. Do this many times till
the last water does not redden litmus paper, then pour off the
water and evaporate, finally fusing the chloride. Then weigh it
carefully, and the amount of nitrate contained in the original solu¬
tion can be inferred from the amount of chloride obtained, allowing
3£ grains of the nitrate for every 3 grains of chloride ; the exact
proportion is 3 of the former to 3'555 of the latter.
This method is theoretically correct, and if perfectly conducted
must lead to exact results; but is far too troublesome and lengthy
for our daily wants, and requires a person to be acquainted with
chemical manipulation.
A much readier method is based on the principle that, as there
is only a limited amount of silver in any solution, if we can know
how much chloride is required to precipitate it we can infer the
quantity contained. This saves all the trouble and time of collect¬
ing, washing, drying, and weighing the precipitate.
Many applications of this principle have been published. Mr.
Heisch read a paper at the Blackheath Photographic Society, which
was published in the journals, in which he showed how silver can be
estimated to the hundredth of a grain per ounce of solution. In the
appendix to Mr. Hardwich’s Photographic Chemistry another method
is given, accurate to a grain, or even half a grain per ounce of solu¬
tion. These are based on making standard solutions of certain exact
strengths of pure chloride of sodium, and according to quantity
consumed is calculated the strength of the silver solution. These
operations require to be conducted with the greatest nicety, or cor¬
rect results cannot be obtained.
To obviate the necessity of calculations, certain instruments
have been invented and graduated to scales suitable to the stand¬
ard solutions that are used with them.
Mr. E. G. Wood’s argentometer is a glass tube graduated from
0 to 60, which he fills to 0 with a standard solution of pure dry
chloride of sodium 33 grains, distilled water 13 ounces l£ drachms.
Into a measure glass is placed a drachm of the bath to be tested.
The saline solution is poured from the tube into the measure. A
dense white precipitate immediately falls. The standard solution
is added until the last drop or two causes no more precipitate,
when the quantity of the solution used from the graduated tube
shows, by the number of the divisions at which it stands, how
many grains per ounce of nitrate the bath contains. Thus if 30
divisions are used the bath contains 30 grains ; if 40 divisions, 40
grains, and so on.
Mr. Hockin has devised another form, a graduated syringe. It
is used with a standard solution of pure dry chloride of sodium
69 grains (68‘94) in 1000 minims (2 ounces 40 minims) of distilled
water. In using, 1 or 2 drachms of the nitrate bath are to be
added to an equal bulk of nitric acid and twice or thrice the
bulk of distilled water. Fill the instrument to zero by slowly
raising the piston, the point being kept under the test liquor.
Depress the piston and cause the test fluid to pass into the portion
of the bath prepared as above, vigorously stirring all the time.
A heavy white precipitate of chloride of silver takes place directly.
The solution requires well stirring and the standard fluid added
till only an opalescent appearance remains, and when, after being
used drop by drop, no more precipitate is formed, the operation is
complete. The number of graduations left empty indicates the num¬
ber of grains of nitrate contained in the quantity of solution examined.
Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite’s bath tester is a graduated
tube, marked from 0 to 100. They employ a standard solution,
pure dry chloride of sodium 84J grains in 20 ounces distilled water.
To use, fill up to 0 with the bath solution to be examined, then
gradually add the standard solution, shaking violently between
each addition. When no more precipitate is produced the number
of the graduations at the top surface of the fluid shows the number
of grains per ounce of nitrate of silver in the solution tested.
The other little instrument I introduce professes to estimate the
strength of the nitrate of silver solution on the principle of the hy¬
drometer. To use it, it has only to be immersed in the solution,
and the number on the stem of the tube, where the surface of the
solution intersects, shows the supposed number of grains of nitrate
of silver contained per ounce.
The experiments were performed with great care. Pure well-
dried chloride of sodium was accurately weighed and dissplved in
distilled water, as directed.
Of the five nitrate of silver solutions, two I made up myself
— one ten grains to the ounce, the other thirty — and being tested
directly they were mixed, no foreign substance was present to
influence the result. Another solution was a portion of a bath,
mixed up I cannot tell when, certainly some j-ears since, and has
always been receiving additions of nitrate of silver and distilled
water, and was therefore a severe test. Another one was a sixty-
grain solution of port wine colour, obtained from one of our
Regent-street photographers, and had only been used to sensitise
a few sheets.
The other bath was one made up about four months since, and
been used for sensitising collodion plates only, and of course con¬
tained a good deal of ether and alcohol.
Hjdrometer
Silver-tester.
W ood’s
Argentometer.
Horne & Co. s
Bath-tester.
Hockin'*
Argentometer.
New ten-grain bath .
10
u
12
12
New thirty-grain ditto .
30
31
29
31
Sixty-grain bath, port wine colour.
60
61
50
60
62
Very old albumenised paper bath
56
54
56
Bath used tor collodion plates ...
16
25
23
25
44
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [February 1, 1861
From the above experiments it will be seen that, where the
strength was exactly known, in one instance only did the “ stand¬
ard-solution ” testers give precisely the amount, all else being
one or two grains over or under. That there should be such
variations is only reasonable ; for, unless the most scrupulous care
be taken, many errors may creep in. The chloride of sodium may
not be quite pure or dry, and the graduated measure not quite
accurate ; the minim-glass with which the drachm of nitrate bath is
measured, may not be perfectly graduated, and we know in com¬
merce how they vary: there is also the risk of putting in two
much of the test solution at the very last, to ensure all the nitrate
being thrown down. All these are sources of error always more or
less present when these instruments are in the hands of the general
public. Again, as there is only a drachm of the nitrate solution
experimented on, from which to infer the quantity contained in the
ounce, it is clear that, if there be an error, it is magnified eight
times.
It is hoped that these remarks will not be considered as depre¬
ciatory of these useful and ingenious instruments, as they are only
intended to show the great care necessary to prevent obtaining
false instead of true results.
In my experiments I might have used graduated glass mea¬
sures that had been verified by standard ones ; but I felt this
unnecessary, as I wished to qflace myself in the position of an
ordinary operator, and therefore employed the usual well-made
graduated glass measures supplied by respectable houses.
If proper precautions be adopted, my impression is that these
instruments may be relied on for giving within about two grains
either over or under the exact amount contained in each ounce of
nitrate solution. In my experience they ajopeared rather to over¬
estimate the amount.
I do not feel at liberty to say which is the best of the three,
as they are all different, and have each a merit peculiar to itself.
Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite’s does not require any additional
graduated measure for the drachm of bath to be examined, which
removes one source of error. Mr. Wood’s is very neat and elegant,
and the result easily read off. He has two forms, and I used the
cheaper one. Mr. Hockin’s graduated syringe is theoretically
perhaps the most perfect, and when a person has got used to it, he
may work it very exactly ; but I fancied, if the test solution were
less concentrated, or the graduations made wider, it would be
improved. I have, however, to repeat that they are all very
ingenious, and do their work without giving any trouble of calcu¬
lation. They are equally applicable to the baths for sensitising
collodion plates and albunienised paper, but must not be used in
solutions containing cyanides or hyposulphites.
The other little instrument, based on the hydrometer principle,
when tried in new solutions of known strength, 1 found to be
perfectly correct, and with the old printing solution — the real prac¬
tical test — it corresponded with two of the “standard solution”
tests and differed only two grains from the third. The principle
on which it is constructed, the increased weight given to water by
the addition of nitrate of silver, is quite hostile to the introduction
of such light fluids as ether and alcohol; and as the bath for
sensitising collodion plates always contains these, it was hardly
necessary to try it on an old bath for this purpose. Still, as I
tried the others, I tried this too, and, as I surmised, it did not
register correctly, showing much less nitrate of silver than the
bath contained. This instrument is not fitted for solutions of this
character ; but as the errors are always on one side, even this pe¬
culiarity may occasionally be useful, for it never can register more
nitrate of silver than it contains — ahvaj^s less.
Speaking generally, then, this instrument is less perfect than the
others, because it is applicable to only one of the two photographic
silver solutions ; but for that one it answers admirably, and may be
depended on more certainly than the others. As this solution — •
the printing one — is the one that daily requires to be tested, the
little instrument should be considered peculiarly fitted for it, and
it only.
I began these experiments — for I have gone through a great num¬
ber besides those reported — without the knowledge of the degree of
accuracy of these argentometers. I determined to test them care¬
fully and strictly, and to record the results impartially. I am
happy, therefore, to bear testimony to the usefulness and practical
approach to perfection of the gentlemen’s instruments whose
names I have mentioned.
With respect to the other instrument, I confess I had misgivings
of it, for one cannot avoid being influenced by frequent condem¬
nations ; and I am agreeably disappointed with its accuracy in its
more limited vocation. That it fails in the presence of ether and
alcohol is what any intelligent person would be prepared for, and
therefore should never be so used. Each instrument should there¬
fore have credit for what is due to it; and, for utility sake, I think
every photographer should have one on each principle — the
“standard-solution” one for testing his collodion bath, say every
week, which he should do himself, with all the precautions named
to prevent mistakes ; and the other for his assistant or printer, to
be used daily, for he has only to immerse it in the solution and its
strength is told.
After again rendering full justice to the other useful and in¬
genious instruments, I feel more confidence than ever in recom¬
mending the little “hydrometer silver-tester” for printing purposes,
and conclude in my own words, used twelve months ago : — “ The
merits of this little instrument is its simplicity. Without profes¬
sing analytical accuracy, or the perfection of more complicated
instruments, it is sufficiently correct for practical printing purposes,
and no knowledge of chemistry is required for its use. It is always
ready, needs no calculation, and the dullest boy can employ it.”
- - ». -
REMARKS ON THE TONING PROCESSES.
By Charles IIeisch.
Will you permit me to say a few words on the subject of my re¬
marks on the Alkaline Toning Process ? I was quite prepared to find
many who would be surprised to hear a doubt expressed as to the superior
stability of the said process ; but I was not prepared to find myself called
an enemy to progress, and misrepresented as a foe to the Alkaline Toning
altogether. Such is far from being the case. I expressly state that the
process has so many advantages that, if it be only as stable as the older
process, it would be universally used. I have my doubts on this point,
and neither your remarks or any other that I have seen convince me
that I am wrong in recommending close watching of the prints to see if
they be as stable as we hope they may prove. What the points arc which
have been “ satisfactorily settled” on which I throw a doubt you do not
say ; but I would remark that as those who have experimented most
largely on the subject are still not agreed as to the exact composition of the
image to be toned, the theory of the action of any toning bath on that
image cannot be “satisfactorily settled.” Again, in Mr. Hardwich’s
Photographic Chemistry , page 159, I find these words : — “The ordinary
plan of fixing and toning in one bath has been proved to yield permanent
prints if proper precautions are observed.” This is stronger language
than any I have used about the permanency of prints : if it be true land I
believe it to be so), what other process can do more as far as stability is
concerned ? Yet we find this process abused as the author of all the faded
photographs and yellow skies in existence. It is against this abuse of an
old and tried process (simply because a new one has been brought forward
which is by some people considered theoretically more correct), that I wish
to protest. Now, with respect to the special points mentioned in your re¬
marks, I can only go with you to a certain point. I quite admit that a
well-prepared bath contains the double hyposulphite of soda and gold, hypo¬
sulphite of soda, and, in the bath, as I recommend it, soda. Now, perfectly
to understand the action of this solution on the print a perfect knowledge
of the nature of that print is necessary, and this we do not yet possess ;
but I can by no means admit the necessary formation of sulphide of
silver, which in your explanation you take for granted, if the action bo
between reduced silver, as you state, and the double hyposulphite of
soda and gold. Under such circumstances why may there not be a
single interchange of bases ? Gold being deposited and soluble hypo¬
sulphite of soda and silver formed. That a deposition of gold without
any liberation of sulphur takes place when pure silver acts in sel d’or,
or on a properly prepared mixture of chloride of gold and hyposulphite
of soda, seems certain from the process of gilding a daguerreotype plate,
where the plate, after being treated with hyposulphite of soda and well
washed, is warmed in a solution of sel d’or, and becomes covered with a
film of gold, but without any formation of sulphide of silver, the smallest
trace of which would effectually spoil the picture. You next say that
“if a print be first fixed in hyposulphite of soda it cannot be afterwards
toned in sel d’or.” On this point doctors differ. In 1849, Le Gray
published a process of toning by sel d’or in which he directs that the
prints, after being fixed in hyposulphite of soda , should be floated on a
bath of sel d’or, five grains to the ounce, when fine velvety tones would
be procured. This process I tried in 1851, and found I could tone prints
to a black colour, even after they had been washed and kept dry for some
weeks after fixing. Its action was, however, a little uncertain, and the
tones rather too blue. I have some of these prints now, perfectly good.
With respect to time being an important element in chemical changes,
it is just because I think so much of its importance that I say — Watch
your prints. I have prints by the dozen, toned in the double hyposul¬
phite bath, which have for nine or ten years been subjected to all fair and
much unfair usage, without showing any symptoms of fading, even a
sojourn in New Orleans having failed to give them “yellow fever.” As
much cannot be said for any alkaline-toned prints, simply because none
have been so long in existence. While quite admitting that the tests to
which you refer give strong reason for expecting the permanence of
February 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
45
prints, I cannot admit them to be as good evidence as the exposure to all
ordinary accidents for a number of years.
You next deny my assertion that, in the alkaline process, the pores of
the paper when it goes into the hyposulphite ol soda, are filled with a
mixture of chloride of gold and carbonate of soda, because the prooi is
well washed before being placed in the fixing bath. If any one washes
his prints so perfectly as to remove all the solution from the pores ot the
paper of course the remarks founded on this one point are not applicable
to his prints; but such washing is certainly not the rule. Mr. Hardwich
Bays_“ Wash them for an instant under a tap and I know many photo¬
graphers who do not wash them at all. My own practice has been to
wash them for much more than “an instant;” but I think, if such an
elaborate washing be necessary as is required to remove the whole of the
toning solution from the pores of the paper, it will go far to bring the
process into disrepute; and so long as any remains the _ decomposition
between it and the hyposulphite of soda must be the same in the. papei as
in the older toning bath — with this difference as regards the print, that,
in the bath, the precipitated sulphur, if any form, is filtered off, while, if
it] form in the paper, there it remains. The different condition of the
image may, to a certain limited extent, modify the deleterious action;
but, as all experiment shows that there is still silver in some shape in the
prints, it cannot be altogether different. One remark, and I have done.
It is customary, in speaking of the alkaline process, to call the gold bath
the toning, and the hyposulphite the fixing bath, as if the only action of
the latter were to dissolve out unchanged chloride of silver. If such
were the case why cannot ammonia be substituted for the hyposulphite
of soda, and so the very presence of any sulphur compound throughout
the process be avoided? The answer is, that the colour of the prints
would not be good. In fact, toning strictly takes place as much in the
hyposulphite as in the gold bath. To what is this toning due ? To some¬
thing more than the mere removal of unchanged chloride of silver. Mr.
Hardwich, I observe, says that the fixing bath may be kept for many
weeks, and gives a slightly improved colour when it has been much used ;
that is, when there has been time for decomposition to set in between the
hyposulphite and the dissolved salts of silver. This seems to me rather
like a return to sulphur toning than going farther from it. In no process
would I risk the use of an old bath. In conclusion I would say that I
wish all success to alkaline toning ; but success is not attained by shutting
our eyes to the weak points of a favourite process, and I repeat that seven
or eight years hence we shall be in a better position to form a correct
judgment on its superior stability.
PHOTOGENIC TRIBULATION S.
RECITATIVE.
Soul of the universe ! oh, hear our prayer !
Drive not thy suppliant vot’ries to despair.
CHORUS.
Bright orb ! send forth thy rays.
In floods of splendour, god arise !
Dispel the storms, ascend thy skies
In one effulgent blaze.
Virgins of the Sun.
Professional photographers are a badl}*-used race. Some one has
always a stone of abuse to add to the already large heap. The
sting of satire exhausts its venom on their works. The stroke of
wit descends sometimes not too gently on their efforts. But the
novelty of all this has passed away, and the once unaccustomed
ridicule falls more lightly upon its victims. .
The esteemed conductor of All the Year Round makes it to be an
apparent necessity of all whose lot has fallen in the deseit of London
out of season, that they should get themselves photographed ; and
it certainly is difficult to escape the wiles and temptations held out
in this direction in that great city. Photography is everywhere—
“ rampant, regardant, passant ;” — and if you seek refuge at the sea¬
side you do but flee from Scylla to Charybdis, and are continually
invited to “ walk in and be done.”
One occasionally meets with people to whom the Exhibition ot
1851 is only a matter of hearsay. There are even travellers
in Spain who have not seen Madrid. One day, last autumn, while
walking, camera in hand, on the lofty cliffs of one of our favourite
resorts, we met a man who, mirabile dictu! had not had his
portrait taken. Here was a curiosity, indeed! We looked at
him with astonishment while he told us that he had lesisted
generally the blandishments of the professional world, and particu¬
larly those of his brethren, and even those of his cousins. What
self-denial in an age like this, when every parish vestryman lives
in hope of a testimonial to himself of his own effigy, together with
a silver teapot for Mrs. P. V. ! But there the man stood, a likely
person enough and well-favoured, but with blue eyes and sane iy
locks withal, which would not delight a photographer ; and we had
to enlighten his ignorance as to the mystery of our own pioceed-
ings, and sent him home musing about the solar spectrum, actinism,
and the like. When we hear of officers of the line and their volun¬
teer compatriots being “taken off” by the dozen, and even social
societies, such as the Harmonic Brethren, handing down their
images to posterity, such an instance as we have cpioted must
be a rarity indeed.
We do not know what Mr. Wall will say, but we incline to
the opinion that photographers are scarcely responsible beings.
We are strengthened in this heresy (it may be) by a thing we met
with the other day, and which, acting on the Cape’n’s advice, we
made “ a note of.” A small man and his huge wife wanted their
portraits taken in a group, probably to show that in life at least
they were not divided. The lady, standing at her lord’s side (the
master was sitting), completely overwhelmed her better-half by
her matronly proportions ; and when another plate was tried, and
the situations reversed, the lady appeared sitting upon a com¬
fortable chevaux de frise of letter V’s, which formed the marginal
device of her extensive flounce. What was the poor photographer
to do ? He was clearly not responsible for this. It was not for him
to put asunder what had otherwise been joined together ; but in no
way could he produce either to our mind or his own a presentable
group.
People will get into their pet attitude, which, perhaps, after
all, pleases their friends, and perhaps pays the artist : so that
we ought not to grumble. But we want to alter prevailing tastes.
We want to see fewer young ladies languishing at the memory of
imaginary lovers. We are tired of aldermen sitting at immortal
tables, with one hand in their purse pocket. We got immensely
tired once of a smuggler whose figure, looking through a casemate
in a sanguinary manner, stared us out of countenance wherever we
turned ; and we are now equally tired of weird figures of young
men (who have apparently been out all night) drawn on back¬
grounds of cerulean hue. Why do not artists take up some work
of art— Hogarth, for example ? There are figures in the Marriage
a la Mode which cannot be improved upon ; and the “ conversations ”
of his time might be revived on paper well enough. But there are
objections to this; and though it might be quite appropriate in one
sense, one would not like to be figuring as Thomas Ralcewell, nor
as the matrimonial hero before alluded to, while other objections
will constantly present themselves : so it is a matter of extreme
difficulty to an artist rightly to pose and arrange his sitters, and it
is too bad to blame him for all the miserable results one sometimes
meet with. .
We have seen some portraits slightly printed on ground glass,
and then coloured. These are very effective, and might be good
substitutes for the present fashion. We saw some at Llandudno,
by an artist who has also a place in Liverpool, of which we approv e
very much. A short time ago we were shown one coloured by an
amateur, who had contrived to make it as unlike the original as ho
could ; but taste differs much in this particular as in other matters.
There are a thousand and one difficulties in the photographic
pathway. Thorns spring up on every side, and the artist has need
of a patience like that of the patriarch of old before he can meekly
put up with and succumb to them all. Did the reader ever spend
an hour behind the background screen of a studio, and play
Dionysius to those on the other side? If he has, it is not neeuful
that we should reiterate what has echoed in his ears cnticism
the most unkind and inappropriate, compliments of a most ques¬
tionable kind, complaints of a pecuniary character, corne as a
matter of course, apparently, from visitors, he sometimes think
the situations of the studios is the cause of this. Mounting up
six flights of stairs is at all times unpleasant, and seems to have
a bad effect both on the lungs and temper of its victims. It is not
pleasant to walk into a mousetrap even for the sake of the cheese ;
and too many look on it in this light.
Well, then, the weather has a great deal to answer for ; and last
year above all others has been the worst since it lay in everybody s
power and means to have his or her portrait taken Aulla dies
sine linea may suit the academy; but old Phoebus Apollo forces
many such days on the photographer, and the public do not all think
of this. So long as it does not rain (that touches their own conve¬
nience), so long they think the actinic influence may be successfully
invoked on their behalf. Photographers themselves err, we think,
in the other way, and so lose many days; but this has its blessings
also, and a cessation from toil may prove of much good, as it
generally does. The spider that always spins.never catches flies,
aud will starve in the long run. . , f
But we have not done with photographic difficulties, aud for the
present commend to our readers the passage which has been placed
at the head of this article as being peculiarly appropriate to the
While discoursing of photogenic troubles, we may be pardoned,
perhaps, for a slight reference to those we have recently got into
46
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1801
ourselves. On reference to a recent report, we find we have inad¬
vertently attributed^ our friend Mr. Wardley what another friend of
ours (Mr. Rogerson) said ; hut though this correction, in fact, is
called for, we do not think we erred much, as what is reported of
Mr. Wardley is the same in spirit, though his ipsissima verba differ.
So much for the charge of inaccuracy. As for that of wrong
motives we do not care to notice that, except to say that, if a
writer cannot escape it because he chooses, like the Veiled Prophet,
to remain unknown, “ ’tis a pity, pity^ ’tis ’ tis true ;’•’ and we are
content to bear it along with the still unknown Junius whose name
has been imported into the discussion. 2
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OB,, A PHOTOGBAPHEB’S JOURNAL OP A VISIT TO JEBUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. III.
After seeing Mosta, I did not think the cathedral at Citta
Vecchia so grand as I might have done, notwithstanding its gilded
and fresco-painted ceiling, its many-coloured marble pilasters,
gorgeous marble altar, and real silver services.
Boom ! go the guns of H.M. ship “ Agamemnon,” reminding me as
I wrote that I was under the protection of some ten or a dozen of the
largest of our wooden walls. Nofearof forgettingthatthere, though ;
for one saw sailors everywhere. Rare sport “Jack” makes, too. He
is fond of being mounted ; and such a row he makes on horseback !
The Maltese, whose horses they hire, are generally good runners,
and manage, by keeping up with the tars, to save “Jack’s ” neck and
their own horseflesh. One day we saw one deliberately trotting
behind, and while the sailor belaboured the beast, and spurred and
kicked, the owner by twisting and pulling the horse’s tail managed
to “steer” him through the crowd of amazed passengers.
The city of Valetta, from which I write, and which, as the seat
of government and harbour of the island, is the chief or capital
city, is built on a narrow neck or strip of land, about half a mile
broad and less than two miles long. On one side of the city is the
quarantine harbour ; on the other, the naval and merchant harbour —
both very fine and safe roadsteads, and both, I believe, perfectly
protected by the many forts which are planted at the entrance and
on every point which commands them. The city, as a whole, looks
quite European, though there are several features which are
peculiarly Eastern. A large extent of dead wall, a great
scarcity of windows, and still greater scarcity of glass, are
prominent characteristics. The roofs are all flat and paved over,
affording a fine terrace for enjoying the evening breeze and a view
of the surrounding country. The shops are decidedly peculiar.
There is no window, and the door is the full breadth of the shop, or
nearly so — not a very convenient arrangement for those businesses
which have work to do. Tailors and shoemakers, in order to see to
work, sit at or outside the door, and pursue their stitching voca¬
tions. The same with other trades. The temperature being so mild,
the Maltese do a great deal in the open air. I think them a fine
people — faithful and honest, tolerably industrious, and able to
endure a great deal of fatigue. It is rather singular they are
not a richer people. But I do not think they are ambitious, or
fond either of wealth or power. They seem better suited for
servants than masters. In the former capacity they have a name
over the world as the embodiment of obedience, faithfulness, and
reasonable industry. As a people they are vain in a high degree,
and immensely fond, in consequence, of jewellery and gaudy orna¬
ments about their persons.
Their incapacity for government, as a nation, may almost be held
established in the fact that in no case have they ever even aspired
to it, though they have changed masters times without number
since they bowed to the Phoenicians, more than two thousand
years ago. They now willingly submit to the mild government of
her gracious Majesty. It would be difficult to relate all the changes
of masters they have had. The “ Knights ” alone have left numer¬
ous and decided mementoes of their government, and are by all
allowed to have ruled well. This city was designed and, in
great part, built by one of the grand masters of that order, La
Vallette. For nearly three hundred years the island was the
abode of this embodiment of the chivalry of Europe. In the
church of St. John of Jerusalem, in the centre of the city, lie buried
the knights and their squires. The whole floor of the church
is covered with the monuments, which form a kind of Mosaic
pavement.
Photography has found two creditable professional representa¬
tives here, and I believe numerous amateurs. I put out my baths
the other day, and took a few views of the streets and more pro¬
minent public buildings of Valetta. In a few days I purposed taking
atrip to St. Paul’s Bay, in order to carry oil a memorial of that
interesting locality. The water in Malta l found extremely hard,
causing a dense deposit of silver salts in the washing waters. I hat,
however, I knew would do no harm whatever. I had been accus¬
tomed always at home to use the ordinary water for all purposes.
When I came to the development in Malta, I lound it very difficult
indeed to get on. The amount of silver I had been accustomed to
add to the developing solution I saw was precipitated, and found,
on applying it to my plate, that there was no image* appeared,
though I was confident it had been sufficiently exposed. I pro¬
cured distilled water, and with it proved that everything else was
right but the water. I could not, however, make up my mind to
use distilled water all through myintended journey for that purpose,
as I had no means of distilling it myself, and I felt confident there
would be no other way of obtaining it in Syria. By adding a con¬
siderable quantity of silver — five or six times as much as I had
been in the habit of doing — I got good pictures, using the ordinary
spring water of the country. Strange, the rain water which was
in the “well” of the hotel I lived in I found extremely hard, from
the lime on the house-tops, and also the lime-lining of the well itself.
An observable feature in Maltese houses is the balcony. It is
similar to what is sometimes seen at home; but at home the balcony
is generally only a railed-in space outside the window, fl lie Maltese
one is quite enclosed, and reaches to the top of the window, and
often extends along the whole front, taking in two or three win¬
dows, and is all glazed. It projects a good deal ; and in this quiet
retreat, sheltered from the sun by blinds, and from rain or wind, the
Maltese dame enjoys the luxury of observing what passes below
all along the street. In our climate it would shut out the sun too
much from the rooms, as all the light has to pass through these
balconies ; but everything there seems to aim at making the dwell¬
ings as cool as possible. Just now the temperature is not high ;
though, bordering on seventy in the shade, it is warm enough to a
Scotchman.
It was pleasant, though, to look on the yellow waving corn, and
think it was ripe in the end of April; and pleasanter still to have
been eating ripe strawberries for a fortnight, fl’ropical plants grow
there, though I believe the palm-tree barely grows, giving a
thorough oriental feeling to the landscape. I was disappointed
with the orange-tree : I was told it would look better a few
months afterwards. There were very few leaves, and the large
yellow fruit seemed stuck-on like. The cactus, or prickly pear,
was there everywhere abundant, and was very observable from its
peculiar character. I was assured I should enjoy its appearance
more on my return, when the fruit was formed and ripe. Medlars
I saw yesterday in abundance, and was assured they were ripe. I
thought them sour : perhaps that is their best taste.
After the grain crop is removed, I believe the Maltese farmer
grows a crop of cotton. I shall see that for the first time on my
return in autumn. Another crop, I was informed, follows the cotton.
There is scarcely anything of national peculiarity in the dress of
the Maltese, except in the head-dress of the women. The “ onnella,”
which is at once a covering for the head and shoulders, is not unlike
what prevailed in Scotland forty years ago. It is usually made of
silk, and has a piece of whalebone sewed into it, which makes the
cloth stand out from the face, and forms an arch over the head ;
the left arm is covered by the habit, and the right hand is used to
hold it together. The hands so placed, and the mild, resigned- like
looks of the Maltese ladies, give them the appearance of nuns or
religious devotees, especially as they are so often going to and
from church.
The whole population seem very great church-attenders. Every
hour in the day, and every day in the week, you find crowds
hurrying into their places of worship. I would say they are a
religious people. Pity they are not blessed with a more intelligent
religion !
There are no manufactures there, nor, indeed, any commerce. It
is a large victualling-yard for the navy and merchant service. The
government seems to be the principal employer. The climate, I
suppose, is healthy. I understand many invalids go there in search
of health ; many, no doubt, to find a resting-place in the little
cemetery at Floriana. I should think Malta is disposed to make
one bilious; so those so disposed had better not go there. The people
are very highly bilious in temperament, no doubt produced by the
soil or climate, or both ; and during my short stay there I have seen
enough to convince me that new-comers feel the influence. The
good-looking among the Maltese are, I think, beauties ; but that is
the exception. As a rule, they are spare and hard-featured ; and
the children never being chubby, but thin and hard-muscled, are
February ], 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
47
either ugly or unchild-like — at best, miniature men and women.
Sometimes one lights on a pair of glorious black eyes, which, if I
were not a sworn bachelor, might produce fatal effects. As it was, I
admired Nature’s workmanship, and passed on.
During my stay 1 went to St. Paul’s Bay, which tradition
has fixed on as the place of shipwreck of the great Apostle of the
Gentiles, while on his perilous voyage to Rome to have his appeal
heard before Caesar. This is about ten miles from Yaletta, and an
agreeable drive for a day. I took views of the bay, the “ creek
with the shore,” into which the sailors 11 were minded if it were
possible to thrust in the ship also of the “ place where the two
seas meet,” where the ship was run aground. All went tolerably
well with me photographically. The heat was considerable, but
not such as to be either personally troublesome or materially
to disturb my photographic operations.
I must now finish my very hurried, imperfect sketch of what I
have seen and heard in Malta. I leave to-morrow for Jaffa, and in
a few days more I hope to be in Jerusalem.
May 1st, 1860.
WHAT IS THE “ART AND SCIENCE” COMING TO?
The following advertisement appeared in The Telegraph and
Lloyd's newspapers : —
TO PHOTOGRAPHERS. — WANTED a Young
Man that understands the Photographing Business;
one who understands the Hairdressing Business preferred. —
Inquire at * * * * E.
We intend visiting the “ establishment” in expectation of seeing
a notice —
I©
I©
I©
I©
YOUR HAIR CUT
1 YOUU EXTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHED,
®l
@1
@\
©I
©I
AND
YOUR INTERIOR REGALED
with
a m Sl 3 Em WAm mw 9
FOM FOURPENCE!!!
THE ORIGINAL E S T A B L I S H M E NT.
©
@
@1
©I
@1
©1
What next — and next?
In passing down a street in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden,
one Sunday evening, we were startled by “ A Blaze of Triumph,”
announcing that Portraits were taken every night “ By the Electric
Light.” On arriving at the door a touter very politely requested
us to “ Step in and be done.” We need hardly say that the Electric
Light resolved itself into Moule’s Photogen. II. S.
AUTOMATIC WASHING TROUGH.
[We copy the following letter, which has been addressed to the
Editor of the American Journal of Photography .]
Some time since you published a communication from me on this sub¬
ject, and explained its action by a drawing-, Avliicli was copied by Tiie
British Journal op Photography, No. 128. In No. 129 of the last-named
Journal appears an article, signed “William Church, Jun.,” inAvhieh the
writer asserts that the trough suggested by me “ cannot be trusted to as
self-acting, and it is not therefore to be depended on for the washing of
prints to be left to themselv'es for a prolonged period.” He also declares
that “ a siphon of four times the capacity of the feed-pipe, as spoken of
by ‘H.,’ cannot fill except by help or accident,” &c.
So much for conclusions ; hoav for facts and figures — stubborn tilings.
In my article I stated that “ care must be taken to have the siphon of
capacity sufficient to run the water off very fast, at least four times as
fast as the feed.” I admit that it need not of necessity be four times as
fast, but even at this rate it will act as mine does. In making that
statement, I took a Yankee’s undisputed privilege, that of guessing as to
about how fast my own worked ; and you will see by the time below given
how near I proved true to my natural instincts. Being only an amateur,
of course my box, or trough, is small, compared Avith that of some of our
practical friends.
The box, or trough, measures inside two feet four and three-quarter
inches long, thirteen and three-quarter inches wide, and eight and a
quarter inches deep. Doavii through the bottom, and turned up outside,
passes the siphon (not inside, as printed by you), made of lead pipe of
three-quarter inch bore, and down again, as drawn to a point, nine and
three-quarter inches below the bottom.
_ Now start the water, and in from seven minutes and forty seconds to
eight minutes it begins to drip slowly from the lower end of siphon ;
in forty-five seconds more it begins to run a full stream; and in tAvo
minutes and fifteen seconds from that time the tank lias emptied itself
and is filling again; and so it Avill continue to operate just as the Avater
floAvs Avith any degree of regularity.
Noav, in conclusion, let us see Iioav near the mark my guess was, as to
the capacity of the siphon compared to the feed. With my tank full to
the point of overfloAv, seven-eighths of an inch of the top, and Avater shut
oft, it empties itself in just one minute and fifty seconds (average time
to fill) ; thus it will be seen that the overflow or siphon is more than four
times the capacity of the feed. Perhaps my photographic brother, on the
other side of the “ big pond,” Avill uoav give up his theory for my fads,
and the Editor of The British Journal of Photography Avill not have
occasion for his very ingenious “frame balance valve” to make the
“ fixins ” Avork. Having adopted the name given to my Avashing
apparatus, by William Church, Jun., it being eminently correct and
proper, and trusting it may meet Avith general approval and adoption,
just in proportion as it is better than the “old fogey ” contrivance now
in use, I remain, yours, &c., H.
NOTES OP A PHOTOGRAPHIC YACHT VOYAGE IN
THE MEDITERRANEAN.
By W. J. C. Moens.
( Concluded from Vol. VII., page 370.)
On Sunday Ave Avent through the torture of a Turkish bath, part of the
process being to crack all your joints. It Avas most x-idiculous to see a
grinning demon of a Moor putting his foot against your ribs, and haul¬
ing with all his might, to crack the joints of your arm. After reclining
on a divan, smoking a chibouque and drinking coffee, we engaged a car¬
riage, and drove to Ghomart, tAvel\re miles off, to pay a A-isit to Dr. Davis,
who resided there with his family. The Europeans at Tunis considered
it so dangerous that they were quite afraid to go and see them, and the
Bey had sent word to him that he would not be responsible for their
safety. One of their servants, Ali by name, confessed to Mr. Davis that
he had committed no less than seven murders ; but he Avas very much
attached to the family, and would do anything for them. The figure on
the extreme light in the group is the individual I refer to. We were
received with a hearty welcome, and after dinner walked up the hill to
see the catacombs, which were inhabited by hyenas and jackals. The
next morning Ave took a picture of Ghomart and Mr. DaA-is’s family, and
late in the afternoon tried the Plain of Carthage, but it was too misty :
the camera had to be pitched facing the south, so that it was only do-able
in the very early morning or late in the afternoon. The next morning it
was misty and rainy, so it Avas no-go for the plain. We started with Mr.
Davis and the ladies for the village of Moalka, in a chaise and cart, in
order to photograph the large cisterns there, a good many cf which are
turned into dwellings. When we arrived there it was raining, so we took
shelter in one of the cisterns, and erected the dark-box, and between tAvo
showers managed to do the Avork : the camera was pitched on the top of
an old ay all , in a most difficult position. While I was deA-eloping a plate the
camera Avas again blown over by the Avind, and was only saA-ed from utter
destruction by my friend, who was standing by it, catching by one of
the legs. I heard all the party call out, and guessed at once what was the
matter; but I continued developing, and, on emerging from under the
black cloth, was told it was all right, which greatly comforted me, for I
had imagined it had been dashed all to pieces. We then proceeded
to the ruins, and, after lunch, took a stereoscopic picture of the Temple
of Saturn, and in the evening returned to Goletta and went on board.
The next Aveek Ave spent in a shooting expedition to Bezerta, leaving
our cameras, &c., at Tunis.
On Friday, the 20th Jan. Ax*e started for Zoghwan, about thirty miles
from Tunis, in order to take pictures of the noble aqueduct that used to
carry water to Carthage. With great difficulty we got in the carriages to
Avhere it crosses the stream, in the centre of a plain about five miles wide,
across which the stupendous AATork runs — not quite in a straight line, but
a little in and out, in order to protect it more from the force of the wind
We had some debate on the best position to take it from, and it avos settled
by taking pictures from two points. You can see from the copies I hand
round the grandeur of the work, the piers near the river being built of
stones about two feet high, neatly bevelled oft at the edges. There are
sixty-tAvo i'oays of these, and in many of them you can see the holes in
which the clamps were put to raise them by. Also you can notice one
column built of sun dried bricks, by the Saracens, who did not take the
trouble of restoring it in the same style as the rest. In another place the
48
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1801
top of one of the arches had been repaired with long Roman bricks.
Aqueducts built with two tiers of arches are very rare, and this is a far
grander work than the one in the Roman Campagna, which we saw gome
months after. The large pier on the right of the picture was in process of
being blown up in order to make a bridge with the materials, so that my
photograph was the first and only one that would ever be taken of it. The
figures on the other side of the river are the American Consul at Tunis and
his dragoman, who had gone to shoot a fox that we had seen just before.
We left at twelve for the ruins of Udina, an old Roman town, where the
cisterns, amphitheatre, and stables capable of containing several hun¬
dred horses, are very perfect. An old Arab we met on the ruins
moralised on them, and said: — “Look at these old ruins: who knows
what people built them ? What has become of them ? and where are they
now ? Shall not we also pass away in the same manner, and those that
come after us will know as little of us as we know of those that dwelt in
this town?’’ We had not time to photograph, so Ave had dinner on the
ruins, got into our carriages again, and arrived at the town of Zoghwan at
half-past four. There were no roads for carriages, but we had to go
over the country the best way we could — over the corn just sprung up, or
through the bed of a river. There were three horses harnessed abreast in
each carriage, and the drivers Avere Maltese, Avho always act as coachmen
in this region : we paid about ten shillings a day for each vehicle, pro-
vender included. When we entered the town the Cadi was informed of our
arrival, and he had to find a house for us, and to supply us Avith pro¬
visions, horses, and, in fact, everything Ave required.
The documents that the Bey had presented to us at Tunis enabled us
to make all these demands from the head of the tOAvn, The next morn¬
ing it Avas raining hard, to our great disgust. It Avas impossible for us to
move out of doors, but at tAvelve it looked a little lighter ; so A\’e ordered
a horse to be brought, Avith panniers, and we started for the ruins of the
Temple, built over the place where the spring gushes out of the mountain.
The water was conveyed to Carthage by the aqueduct from the Temple
being on the side of the mountain, which towered some thousands of feet
above it. There was some difficulty in finding a suitable place to take it
from ; but Ave found one on the other side of a ravine : this was some
distance from where I had put up my dark box under cover, so I trans¬
ferred my macintosh from my shoulders to my camera, and went back to
prepare a plate. I had to give a long exposure. It Avas raining all the time,
but the picture turned out pretty well. I then took two stereoscopic views
from the top of an old arch which I thought Avould tumble with me all the
time. It continued raining all day.
The next day the American Consul, who was with us, had a
dispatch from Tunis to say that the Bey wras going to be installed
the next day, the firman having arrived from Constantinople the day
before ; so we returned at once, for it Avas a point of etiquette for him
to be present. On Monday we went with the diplomatic corps to the Bardo
Palace to view the spectacle, Avhicli Avas one of barbaric splendour, the whole
road from Tunis to the Palace, about a mile, being lined Avith the troops,
and about 8000 Arabs, all mounted on their OAvn horses, Avho had come
from the interior to pay homage to Si Sadoc, their new sovereign. After
the ceremony they engaged in tournaments and all sorts of Avild games.
In the afternoon Ave bade adieux to all our friends in Tunis, and
returned on board. In the evening I tried to make some varnish,
with some gums I had got in the tOAvn, and, to my great horror,
upset the alcohol, which caught fire, and ran all over the cabin
alight. We soon put it out, but it caused a great fright; for Ave Avere
lying out in the bay, about a mile from the shore. All spirit opera¬
tions by candle-light were interdicted for the future. I Avas in despair
about varnish ; for we had nothing but some nasty crystal varnish,
that was not at all suitable for negatives. The next day we put all the
printing apparatus in the boat, and rowed round Cape Carthage to
Ghomart. We had some difficulty in landing, on account of the surf.
We stopped here a week, for our friends would not hear of our going
while the weather was so bad ; so Ave spent the time in printing pictures,
and taking portraits of ourselves, dressed in Avild native costumes. I
sent one of myself home to England, without saying who it was. It was
not recognised till, in the next letter, I asked what they thought of me
dressed as an Arab ?
On Monday, the 30th, the weather Avas more moderate, and Ave sailed
for Palermo, at about tAro o’clock, saluting our friends Avith tAvo little
cannon Ave had on board — they in return Avaving flags from the top of the
bill. The next morning, by ten, av© reached Palermo, having sailed about
180 mil«B in twenty hours.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Views in the CatsJcill Mountains and in the Highlands of
the Hudson.
(E. Anthony, Broachvay, Noav York.)
It is much to be regretted that out of a dozen slides noAv before us
no more than four have any indication of their precise locality
attached to them, nor even any numbers : so that it is very diffi¬
cult, if not impossible, for us to indicate intelligibly those to Avhich
the remarks we would otherwise make Avould apply.
There are two slides of the Catskill Falls— one described as
“ from below.” These present a very different aspect to the “ falls ”
in the northern parts of our oavii island, not so much on account of
their magnitude as of their surroundings ; the geological character
of the district of the American falls presenting a laminated
structure, so that there is an absence of the roundness notice¬
able in the rocks of a different structure, over which a stream
of Avater is continually passing. Of these tivo, one is a view
taken from an elevation, where the waterfall is seen against
a background of nearly still Avater of the lake beloAv, which a little
mars its effect, and in neither is the gauzy transparency of the
falling Avater given Avith anything approaching the perfection Avith
which Mr. George Wilson would have rendered it. But this is a
a highly interesting slide notAvithstanding, containing, as it does,
a beautiful scene with Avhich European eyes are generally unfamiliar:
— a dense pine forest, groAving quite up to the margin of the lake,
the stems springing apparently from out the solid rock, and all
faintly suggested again, rather than repeated by reflection, from
the calm waters.
The Bastion Cascade in Catskill Mountain Glen is open to
the same objections as regards the “ fall ” as the preceding, the
water being far too opaque for artistic effect, but the subject, if
fairly treated, xvould be a fine one.
Silver Lake, Catskill Mountain Top, gives an admirable idea
of the solitude and repose of the locality, and is of a very simple
character, consisting merely of a dense pine Avood on the margin
of a still lake. On the near bank tAvo birch trees stretching over
the water, Avith the peculiar light-coloured bark peeling off the
stems, form a striking picture.
Of the Highlands of the Hudson Ave can say but little, for the
reason already assigned; but several of the slides disclose expan¬
sive and beautiful vieAvs, including mountains, hamlets, and the
noble stream of the Hudson river. Were these properly brought
before the public, Ave have but little doubt they Avould meet with
a ready and extensive sale — not only on account of their novelty,
but for their real beauty also. We believe that Mr. Atkinson, of
Liverpool, is Mr. Anthony’s agent in this country.
Views of Coventry and the Neighbourhood, by J. Wingrave,
High Street, Coventry.
Mr. Wingrave has been attempting to “kill tAvo birds with one
stone ” in preparing the series before us : firstly to procure a supply
of the most interesting objects in the vicinity of Coventry, Avhere-
Avith to tempt visitors ; and, secondly, to test the excellence of the
various dry processes upon glass, Avhich have been so abundantly
brought forward of late. We perceive, on looking over the speci¬
mens, that the metagelatine process has been most in favour ; and
this is not surprising, as the best slides are amongst those printed
from negatives taken by it. Of these Ave will mention a few : — •
Grey Friars’ Hospital, Interior of a Courtyard (No. 8), is a
curious specimen of ancient domestic architecture, and Avas founded
in 1529, as Ave learn from the label attached to the slide. The win¬
dows of the upper storey all look into the courtyard, or, to speak
more correctly, the whole of the internal sides of the quadrangles
are windoAvs.
St. Mary’s Hall (No. 15), without any pretensions to beauty,
is still interesting to the local antiquary, and the slide contains
also, apparently from its close proximity, a specimen of one of
those wooden houses, Avith projecting upper storeys, so picturesque
in a drawing, though obnoxious in a sanitary point of view.
The Reredos, St. Michael’s Church (Nos. 100 and 101), are good
illustrations of the great advantage of the stereoscope in repro¬
ducing, in a striking manner, the effect of sculptured ornamentation.
One consists of an oblique view of four of the compartments, and
the other of a front and nearer vieAv of tAvo of them : in both slides
the several subjects treated in each compartment are plainly dis¬
tinguishable.
Want of space Avill not permit us to do more than name two
or three other specimens, without attempting any description,
which, in fact, is scarcely necessary, OAving to the subjects having
been for a long time popular, as affording picturesque illustrations
for various editions of Sir Walter Scott’s works.
Kenilworth Castle, Cyesar’s Tower (No. 82), Archavay of
the Great Hall (No. 88), Interior of Great Hall (No. 85), Avill
no doubt be amongst the most popular. No. 84, another vieAv of
the Great Hall, being the best as a picture, will probably receive
a double share of favour.
Nos. 67 and 103 are fairly executed interiors of Trinity Church
and St. Michael’s Church respectively, but do not present suffi¬
cient architectural or pictorial attractions to command more than
a local interest.
February 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
46
Itecortr of |ll;otogni|j(}ic Jnbeufiotis.
By Samuel Hiqiiley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to time
such inventions and applications as may be of interest to photo¬
graphers, whether they be of great or minor importance, and also
to compare the relative merits of two or more contrivances de¬
signed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible, we shall,
as a rule, describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a
place in these columns after a personal inspection of the same. It
is therefore requested that manufacturing, professional, and ama¬
teur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as
soon as they are ready to place them before the public, whether
they be lenses, cameras, stands, tents, operating boxes, printing
apparatus, preservative cases, enlarging apparatus, stereoscopes,
novel methods of fitting up glass or developing rooms and their
appurtenances, artificial sources of light, &c., or the applications of
photography to technical or useful purposes. If the inventors be
resident in the country, it is requested that they will forward with
a simple description of the- object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the
same.
No. I.
MOULE’S PATENT T SELF-ACTING WASHING APPARATUS AND CHEMICAL FILTER.
FIG. II.
FIG. I.
In consequence of the recent discussion in the pages of The
British Journal of Photography as to a practical form of self¬
acting washing apparatus for positive prints, Mr. John Moule has
been induced to place his invention before the public rather sooner
than this inclement season, so unfavourable to printing operations,
would have encouraged him to do, though it was embodied in a
patent dated June 16th, I860, and entitled “An improvement in the
construction of self-acting apparatus for precipitating and collecting
from solutions, metals, and their salts, part of which apparatus is appli¬
cable to flushing purposes." .
All practical photographers are awake to the importance ot. an
efficient method for thoroughly washing their prints, but it is a
question whether all are' equally convinced of the importance ot
recovering the noble metals from the washings, which, it is feared,
only too often find their way into the sewers. A recent writer
* The Photographic Art ; its Theory and Practice. By James Martin.
has observed : — There is an operation of no small money iinpoit-
ance to the photographer, and in which a great deal of chemistry
is involved, viz., the treatment of residues; and as it has been as¬
certained that of all silver used in the production of a print only
five per cent, remains on the paper to form a picture, an easy and
efficient process whereby the remaining ninety-five per cent, can
be saved becomes a desideratum. ”*
The chief difficulty that has presented itself in the treatment of
washings from photographic prints has been the large amount of
liquid that presents itself in comparison with the amount of silver
contained therein. To avoid the trouble and loss of time entailed
by precipitating’ the silver, and afterwards decanting the super¬
natant liquor, these washings have too frequently been allowed to
flow away. From personal experience of these annoyances, Mr.
Moule was led to devise a self-acting arrangement that should
* See also Hockiu's Practical Hints on Photography, pages 94 to 102.
50
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1861
effect the necessary operations, and rapidly get rid of the excess of
liquid after it had been thoroughly exhausted of every trace of the
precipitated silver salt. The following is a description of his
ingenious invention, and the method of using it. Fig. 1 is an
external view of the apparatus ; but it is to the sectional drawing
{fig. 2) we must refer to make its interior arrangement intel¬
ligible. The prints are placed on the false bottom of the oblong
washing trough A, which is supplied with water by means of the
tap F. When the water rises to the height of the lip of the funnel
of the waste-pipe B, it passes into “the float chamber” beneath;
and, when this chamber is filled to a certain height, “the float”
begins to rise, and, at the same time, it lifts the valve attached to
its upper surface, which, when at rest, accurately fits a conical
hole in the bottom of the trough A: this is in consequence emptied
of its “ washings,” which, in the first place, pass into the float
chamber, and ultimately (by means of an aperture in its upper part
and a syphon tube covered by the float) into “the mixing chamber.”
As soon as a sufficient amount of liquid has accumulated in this to
reach the top of the tube J, it passes down into the “salting cham¬
ber” H, and is there saturated with chloride of sodium, by means
of crystals of that salt placed in a perforated compartment, I. As
soon as the washings have accumulated sufficiently high to reach
the top of the syphon C, and start the same, a flush takes place
from the chamber H, and a part of its contents return charged with
salt, and the mixture is then carried over into “the precipitating
chamber” MM, by the action of the syphon C : here the chloride of
silver formed settles to the bottom and accumulates, and the
superabundant liquid is carried off, after passing through “ the
filter” D, by a waste-pipe E. This filter is formed of a perforated
tube, filled with cotton wool and zinc filings, so arranged that any
particles of unprecipitated silver salts that may have escaped the
first attack may be reduced by the zinc and retained in the inter¬
stices of the wool. G is an air tube, which, however, may be con¬
nected with the developing sink, so that its drainings may be
carried into the lower vessel M. K is a capped tube for drawing
off the supernatant liquid, when it is wished to remove the pre¬
cipitated silver salts through the stoppered aperture L. All the
parts exposed to the action of the solution are constructed of a
material that is impervious to water and the chemical action of
acids, &c., and, therefore, not likely to readily get out of order.
The frequency of the change of water in the trough B is regu¬
lated for any given interval of time by the adjustment [of the
supply by means of the tap F.
The compartment H, once charged with a saturated solution of
salt, and rock salt placed on the perforated bottom I, is calculated
to be sufficient to precipitate about fifty ounces of silver ; and,
beyond keeping the compartment I charged with salt, no other
attention is requisite.
This apparatus is about two feet six inches high, and ten inches
in diameter, and not by any means cumbersome in appearance.
Mr. Moule states that, independently of the prints being thoroughly
washed without trouble or attention, he finds that the amount of
solution which can be exhausted of every trace of silver is one
hundred gallons in the course of a day.
ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The fourth Annual Exhibition of this Society was opened by a
private view on the evening of January the 15th, when a numerous
and fashionable assemblage of subscribers and those favoured with
cards of invitation filled the galleries of the Architectural Union
Company, at 9, Conduit Street, Regent Street, W. The collection
for the present year comprises 488 photographs not previously
exhibited, together with 81 sent in on former years. Most of the
subjects have been selected according to the taste of the exhibitor ;
but others have been taken expressly for the Association, and these
illustrate some special point of architectural interest. During the
season, evening lectures will be delivered on The Egyptian Pho¬
tographs, by Joseph Bonomi, Esq. ; The Photographs of French
Renaissance Architecture, by E. l’Anson, Esq. ; The Photographs of
French Gothic Architecture of the 13 th Century , by R. P. Pullan, Esq. ;
The Collection of Indian Photographs, by James Fergusson, Esq. ;
Architectural Progression , by E. B. Lamb, Esq. ; The Grotesque in
Art , by J. P. Seddon, Esq. ; The Collection of Photographs Generally ,
by W. Burges, Esq. Arthur Ashpitel, Esq., will also give a lecture
on a subject not yet determined on. Those who may have recently
visited the Exhibition of the London Photographic Society will not
fail to mark the striking difference in the general aspect of the two
collections; for, as a rule, the picturesque element is here, as might
be anticipated, to a great extent wanting; nevertheless the pho¬
tographs possess features of the greatest interest, and the excel¬
lencies of execution testify as to the valuable aid photographic
delineations are capable of rendering to the architectural student;
for, as Petit observes in his Architectural Studies , “The value of
photography in conveying architectural character, combined with
the most faithful accuracy of detail, is universally recognised.
It is applicable both to general outline and minute ornament.”
The productions of each exhibition are grouped together, but are
subdivided as to size.
We will proceed to notice the productions of the principal ex¬
hibitors, in the order in which they stand in the catalogue. Bisson
contributes a fine series of sixty-five photographs, varying in size
from 25 by 20 to 14 by 12 inches, comprising general views,
together with the details of continental cathedrals and other
public buildings. Of these we may draw attention to The Tower
of St. Jacques de la Boncherie at Paris (No. 1), which, how¬
ever, would be improved as a picture if the mass of whito
sky surrounding the shaft of the tower above the houses
were broken up, after the manner Mudd has now accus¬
tomed us to. The Tympanum of the South Portal of Notre
Dame (No. 4) represents a quaint sculpturing of the martyr¬
dom of St. Stephen. No. G is a large and effective view of The
Principal Entrance to the Palace of Industry. The well-known
Place de la Concorde, and that magnificent pile of building, the
Hotel de Ville, Paris, are finely rendered in Nos. 7 and 8. fi’lie
West Portal of Rheims Cathedral (No. 9), and the West Front of
Rouen Cathedral (Nos. 13 and 14), attract attention, together with
the Palais de Justice (No. 19) of the same place. The Staircase of
Francis I. at the Chateau de Blois (Nos. 27 and 28), the interesting
Byzantine Doorway, Bourges (No. 33), the Details of the Portals of
Chartres Cathedral (No. 36), the quaint West Front of Notre Dame,
Poitiers (Nos. 44 and 45), the Doors of Rouen Cathedral , carved by
Jean Goujon (No. 50), the Hotel Bourgthtrouldc, of haunted aspect
(No. 56), and the Groups of Antieque Sculpture in the Palais de Beaux
Arts (Nos. 59 and 60), all possess features of archaeological interest.
Nor must the Roman Theatres at Arles and Nismes (Nos. 21, 22,
40, and 41) be overlooked.
Legrey contributes four views from the tympanum of the por¬
tal of Notre Dame, Paris (Nos. 66, 67, 68, and 69). One of these
represents a quaint sculpturing of The Last Judgment , and the last
a detail of grotesque character representing An Angel holding a
Balance, with a praying figure in one of the scale pans weighing
down a devil in the other, whilst the arch-fiend, with greedy eye,
is watching the important operation, and an attending demon is
attempting to turn the beam in his master’s favour by hanging on
to the side out-balanced. A file of kings, counsellors, knights,
priests, and queens, who have passed the scale and been “ found
wanting,” are chained together, like a gang of dockyard convicts,'
and politely attended on by demon warders, who are pushing them
on to a warm reception-room.
W. Nichols exhibits views of the Cambridge colleges, the best
being that of The Fitzwilliam Museum (No. 74).
Messrs. Cundall and Downes exhibit forty views in England,
France, and Spain. No. 91 represents the engineering works of
the Albert Bridge at Soltash. Nos. 92 to 99 are photographs of
Winchester Cathedral. No. 93 is particularly free from distortion,
showing the Interior of the Nave , loolcing West. The Triple Arch,
Saint Cross, Winchester , and The Old Well, Alnwiclc Castle , are of
archaelogical importance. No. 103 is a pretty vignette view of St.
Paul's Cathedral from the River — in fact, one of the best photo¬
graphs we have seen of that noble pile. The Grand Entrance to
the Palais de Justice, Rouen (109) again presents a subject that
attracts attention.
Barnes exhibits two neatly-executed views, the subjects being
King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, and the Patriotic Asylum,
Wandsworth.
R. Gordon’s views of antiquities in the Isle of Wight next pre¬
sent themselves, the best being that of Yaverlund Church.
Tyley exhibits two views of Bristol Churches.
Frith’s Egyptian views, 31 in number, are one of the features of
the present Exhibition. No. 144, giving a distant view of The
Island of Philce, is a picturesque subject, showing a curious strati¬
fied appearance in the shallows of the rivers towards the fore¬
ground. Pharaoh' s Bed { 145) and The Details of the Columns (146),
and Colossal Sculpture on the Pylon of the Structure (147), possess
considerable interest. The Ruined Roman Arch on the Island of
Biggeh is as picturesque from a photographic point of view as it is
February 1, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 51
< attractive from an archaeological one. The General View of the Temple
| of Soleb (151), and The Details of the Pylon and Columns (152-153),
claim attention. From being above the sixth cataract of the Nile,
j this is seldom visited by Europeans.
Mr. Moens contributes a unique collection of photographs of the
ruins of Carthage, being those described in his “Notes of a Photogra¬
phic Yacht Voyage in the Mediterranean” that have lately appeared
; in The British Journal of Photography. These include The
{ Cisterns at Moalha ; Cisterns at Carthage; views at Zoylievare,
r showing The Ancient Aqueduct to Carthage (Nos. 159-159); and The
Temple at that place over the spring of water. The Gate of Lions ,
\Mycena; Temple of Jupiter, Egina ; and The Temple of Minerva ,
! Sunium — are perhaps the most noticeable of the seventeen photo-
; graphs exhibited by this gentleman.
Dr. J. Murray contributes twenty photographs of Indian sub-
| jects, all of which possess great interest; but we would call atten¬
tion to No. 168, The Gateicay of the Gardens of Secundr a ; 173, The
Great Temple of Bindrabund\ 174, The Taj; 17 6, The Fort at Agra —
a fine group ; and 182, an unnamed subject, representing a temple¬
like group of buildings, with a curiously carved low wall advanc¬
ing from the centre of the picture to the left side of the foreground.
Mr. Annan has sent in ten views of the antiquities of Iona:
Mac-Lean's Cross (187), The Doorway of St. Oran's Chapel (188),
The Burial-place of the Scottish Kings , being those that first fix
; the attention. He has also given one of the best general views
. we have seen of Edinburgh, looking towards Calton Hill from
! Holyrood.
Roger Fenton exhibits twenty-four fine views of Furness Abbey —
206, 208 (Norman Arches) and 211 being the most to our fancy —
Southwell Minster , Harewood House from the Parterre (224), and
Kirlcstall Abbey (225). The last, however, is of a gloomy, inky
tint, being the most marked of a style Fenton has adopted this
season, we presume to avoid the defects of the much-decried white
paper skies. The treatment of his subjects is, however, always
artistic.
Bedford contributes seventy photographs, inclusive of twenty-
nine subjects taken expressly for the Association. This collection
includes some fine cathedral interiors, marked by the rich tones
and the exquisite rendering of the lights and shades that cha-
! racterise the productions of this artist in the treatment of such
j subjects. The wrought-iron work and the Grinlin Gibbon’s wood
i carvings in St. Paul’s Cathedral present subjects of interest.
The Excavations at Wroxeter (227) arrests the attention of the
archaeologist. Salisbury, Bristol, Wells, and Exeter have furnished
ample material for Mr. Bedford’s camera. The subjects taken for
the Association comprise architectural details or general views
of Rivaulx Abbey, Tintern Abbey, Whitby Abbey, York Cathedral,
Fountain’s Abbey, Ripon Minster1, Chepstow Castle, Raglan Castle,
Carnarvon Castle, Conway Castle, Barfreston Church, and Canter¬
bury Cathedral.
Delamore and Bullock exhibit subjects from Ely, Iffley, Cambridge,
! and Oxford — the most interesting being those of the interior and
I details of the New Museum at Oxford : Nos. 328-9-30, show the
fretwork of the elegant iron arches that support the roof of that build¬
ing. S. Thompson also exhibits some good representations of the
! same building, which has lately attracted so much attention ; but
J we are surprised that in neither of these collections are to be found
I details of the capitals of the marble columns, which are sculptured
j with novel designs from Natural History subjects, by local artists,
as these excited considerable interest among the visitors at the
j recent meeting of the British Association at Oxford.
Captain Austin contributes some admirably-rendered Interiors of
Canterbury Cathedrcd, quite worthy of a professional photographer.
Mr. Church, jun., sends some interesting views of various parts
of Glasgow Cathedral. Irish Antiquities find their representor in
Dr. Hemphill, The Round Tower at Cashel giving a good idea of those
peculiar constructions.
Mudd gives perhaps the most picturesque treatment of an archi¬
tectural subject in the exhibition. Goodrich Castle (417) is, we
think, one of the gems of the collection. His subjects are from
Lincoln, Roslyn, Linlithgow, Edinburgh, Fountains, Tintern, Rag¬
lan, Chepstow, and Worsley, Lancashire.
Frost contributes views of Beaulieu and Romsey Abbeys.
Cocke confines himself to Exeter Cathedral. Nos. 435 and 437 are
the best by this excellent photographer; but the last view is some¬
what marred by the Punch-and-Judy-lookmg “ tent ” putting in too
prominent an appearance beneath the noble Porch of the Tower of
the Cathedral.
The Terrace at Sir W. F. F. Middleton’s, by Cade, is a fine sub¬
ject, well treated, and taken expressly for the Association.
Captain Dawson contributes some interesting views of Indian
structures, amongst which we may specify The Pagodas and Horse
Court cd Seringham, and those of The Roclc at Trichinopoly (Nos.
463, 464, 465). The Bridge over the Cauvery River (460), with its
vista of arches across the broad stream, strikes one as a remarkable
engineering work in such a country.
Captain Henry Dixon contributes a numerous series of peculiar
interest of the Rock-cut Caves of Orissa, and the curious structure
of the Native Temples at the same place, together with two views
of the great Temple of Juggernaut at Pooree.
The entire collection presents numerous features of varied
interest, whether the visitor be interested in archaeology, architec¬
ture, and engineering works, or not, and is well worthy of a visit
from those wishing to mark the progress of photography in it3
various applications. S. II.
Ulteliitfls xrf Sumtieg.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held at St. Peter's
School Rooms, Walworth, at Eight o’clock on Thursday Evening, the
17th ult., — the Rev. F. F. Statham, the President, in the chair.
Mr. Wall, the Secretary, read the minutes of the last meeting, which
were confirmed. He also announced the receipt of a very interesting
letter from Mr. Bailey, relating to Mr. Hooper’s waxed-paper process, and
considered it would be advisable to place it at once in the hands of their
Experimental Committee, who had appointed a sub-committee to make
experiments in that direction. He also read a letter from Mr. Bolton, in
which he claimed the honour of being the first and, up to the present
time, the only person who had succeeded in producing photographs on
wood blocks that could be engraved therefrom by the ordinary wood
engraver. He had further to announce the appointment by their managing
committee of a sub-committee, authorised to select from the Photographic
Exhibition in Pall Mall their presentation photograph. Mr. Simpson
had presented to their library copies of the Year Boole, of Photography
and his Photographic Teacher. The future meetings of their committee
would be held at his (Mr. Wall’s) Studio, instead of at 90, Cannon Street,
City, as heretofore.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Simpson for his present to the
Society’s library.
The Chairman thought the Society was not in a position to offer an
opinion as to Mr. Bolton’s claim to priority in the successful application
of photography to the requirements of the wood engraver. He wished
to call the attention of the members to some very successful specimens
of photo lithography, executed by Mr. James Contencin.
Mr. Burr, F.R.A.S., had been invited by Mr. Wall to offer a few re¬
marks On the Application of Photography to Astronomy , Magnetism , and
Meteorology. In consequence of his time being so much occupied, he
had been excused drawing up a formal paper upon the subject, and,
therefore, lie must beg them to pardon any shortcomings he might be
guilty of, more especially as he should be most happy to answer ques¬
tions upon any points where he might not be sufficiently clear and ex¬
plicit. He must premise that he professed but a small acquaintance
with the principles of photography, and even still less with its practical
details, — although he had made a few attempts to obtain pictures of the
moon by its means. He would proceed, in the first instance, to trace the
application of photography to astronomy in a historical point of view,
and he would then give them an account of the various ingenious
methods and contrivances whereby such successful results had been
obtained by the celestial photographer of the present day. The first pic¬
ture of the moon taken by means of photography, that he was aware of,
was a daguerreotype taken by Mr. Bond, of the Cambridge Observatory
(United States), assisted by Messrs. Whipple and Black, and sent among
other American curiosities to the Great Exhibition of 1851, when it was
also shown at one of the meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society. It
was obtained bjr means of a refracting telescope of fifteen inches
aperture — probably the fiuest in the world. The picture was very
perfect, Mr. Archer having introduced collodion into photography
in that year. Mr. De la Rue applied it to celestial photography
in 1852, and by means of his large reflecting telescope, of thirteen
inches aperture, produced photographs of the moou one and a-half
inches in diameter, which were exhibited to the Royal Astronomical
Society in 1853. At that time Mr. De la Rue had no machinery
for driving his telescope, and was assisted by Mr. Thornthwaite in
making it follow the course of the moon by hand. In consequence of
the difficulties to be surmounted, Mr. De la Rue ceased his attempts until
he succeeded in 1857 in making a driving clock. In 1853 Professor
Phillips, then residing at York, succeeded in taking photographs of our
satellite with an eleven-feet refractor telescope, ot six and a-quarter
inches aperture. The process was very slow, and. although he was pro¬
vided with a driving clock, the pictures were not sufficiently sharp. In
1854, Mr. Hartnup, of Liverpool, assisted by Mr. Crookes, produced some
very good pictures of the moon with au eight-inch aperture telescope ;
and since that year Professor Secchi, of Romo, working with a telescope
53
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1801
of nine inches aperture, and Mr. Fry, of Brighton, with a refracting
telescope of nearly seven inches aperture, and Mr. Huggins, of Tulse
Hill, with an instrument of ten feet in length, and eight inches aperture,
have prosecuted their labours in that direction. The latter works with
a little camera screwed into the eye end of the telescope, with a back of
the ordinary description, containing the collodion plate, and with a part
of the draw-tube graduated to tenths of an inch, for the purpose of noting
the exact focus. Mr. Fry uses a graduated board and screw adjustment
for the same purpose. [Mr. Huggins’s camera and negatives were ex¬
hibited to the meeting.] All the gentlemen using refracting telescopes,
which were only corrected for perfect achromatic vision, experienced great
difficulty in consequence of the difference between the position of the actinic
and visual foci, but reflecting telescopes were not open to that objection.
In 1857 Mr. Bond sent to this country a collodion photograph of the
double star Mizar in the great bear’s tail of very sensible magnitude, and
so sharp that, by the application of a delicate measuring apparatus, the
distance between the two components of the star and their relative posi¬
tion could be accurately ascertained. The same gentleman also exhi¬
bited aphotograpli of the star Vega, crossing the field ofhis transit instru¬
ment. The track of the star left on the picture a singularly blurred line,
the unevenness of which was attributable to atmospheric causes. Mr.
Bond said he had, in 1851, obtained a daguerreotype of the stars Castor
and Yega. That finished the list of most of the attempts that had been
made to photograph celestial bodies down to a recent time ; and, in
giving them an account of the methods now in use, he should be princi-
cipally indebted to the information he had obtained from Mr. De la Rue,
either from personal communications or from his report to the British
Association and other papers. It would be found that the great difficulty
to be surmounted in taking lunar photographs was to make the telescope
follow with sufficient accuracy the moon’s course, which was more com¬
plicated than that of any of the other heavenly bodies. For this purpose
they used a telescope with its axis tilted parallel to that of the earth,
called an equatorial, which followed the course of the moon by one
motion instead of the two inquired by the common altitude and azimuth
mounting of a telescope. The telescope was driven by a clockwork machine,
its speed being regulated and adjusted by a contrivance similar to the
governor of a steam-engine, whereby equable motion at the desired rate
was obtained. The apparent motion of the moon was not only slower
than that of the sun and stars, but its change in declination was also
much more rapid — that of the sun being only about 5' in the twenty-four
hours, whilst that of the moon was often 10a in that time ; and as this is not
corrected by the driving clock, the best plan is to accelerate the action
of the chemicals employed. Mr. De la Rue used a negative collodion con¬
taining iodide of cadmium, avoiding acetic acid and alcohol in the bath,
which he made as neutral as possible, and developed with pyrogallic and
acetic acids. By that means he obtained pictures of the full moon
either instantaneously or in five seconds, and of the half and other
phases in from thirty to sixty seconds. That gentleman sometimes
exposed his plate in the usual way, in the situation of the eye-piece,
and sometimes replaced the small mirror of his Newtonian reflector
with the collodion plate, but had not obtained much greater quick¬
ness of action by so doing, as the actinic rays appeared not to be
absorbed by the second mirror in the same proportion as the visual
rays. Mr. De la Rue had the great advantage of having the actinic and
visual rays brought to the same focus, as there is no dispersion by a mir¬
ror ; and he could therefore obtain his focus by a magnifier. The great
disadvantage of a refracting telescope was that the actinic and visual foci
did not coincide, the former being always behind the latter ; and hence the
proper position of the plate could only be found by experience. In some
experiments with his own four feet four inches telescope, of three three-
eighths inches aperture, he found the actinic focus was from one-eighth to
one-quarter of an inch behind the visual focus. In Messrs. Huggins’s,
Phillips’s, and Fry’s telescopes it was three-quarters of an inch, in Mr. Hart-
nup’s eight-tenths of an inch, and in Mr. Bond’s twenty-two feet telescope
it was one and a-quarter inches, behind the visual focus. The negatives
were very small, as even those obtained by means of the largest telescopes
were only three inches in diameter, whilst those he obtained were only
the size of a fourpenny piece, and Messrs. Fry’s and Huggins’s were about
that of a shilling ; but Mr. De la Rue had succeeded in subsequently en¬
larging his to various sizes up to ten inches in diameter. In taking the
picture with a Newtonian telescope, the mouth was covered over when
fixing the plate in its proper position, then uncovered until the exposure
was sufficient ; but where only one mirror was used, a screen was placed
between it and the plate. Mr. De la Rue and Mr. Fry, by taking advan¬
tage of the librations of the moon, had produced some beautiful stereo¬
scopic pictures ; and Mr. George Jackson had reduced some lunar photo¬
graphs for inspection in the microscope, wherein the detail was very
perfect. Lunar photographs were of the greatest value to astronomers,
who were thereby acquiring a more intimate knowledge of the details of
the moon’s surface ; and, with respect to those dark portions of it usually
called “ seas,” but which were known to be depressed plains, Mr. De la Rue
wa ; led to suppose they contained a dense atmosphere of small height
accumulated at those spots. They would be of the greatest assistance in
making maps of the moon, by allowing delicate markings on its surface to
be examined at greater leisure than when looking through a powerful
telescope. The double star Castor had also been taken by Mr. De la Rue’s
reflecting telescope ; but the result was rather large discs than stars — that
kind of telescope usually defining stellar points less perfectly than achroma-
tics. It was very remarkable that, although at such an immense distance from
our globe, the planet Jupiter possessed such great actinic power that its pic¬
ture could be obtained in as short a time as sufficed for taking that < >1 the
moon, viz., five to twelve seconds, although its light was evidently not
more than one-third that of the moon when seen in contact at occulta*
tions. Saturn usually required one minute; but, at a recent occultation,
both Saturn and the moon had been taken in one picture in fifteen seconds.
In accordance with a suggestion made by Sir John Hcrschel, in luoti,
photographs of the sun were taken daily — when possible — at Kew, by
means of an equatorial telescope of 3^ inches aperture and 52 inches
focus, made by Ross. It was corrected for coincidence of the visual and
actinic foci ; but that was slightly upset by the image being enlarged to
4 inches by an eye-piece, whereby the actinic focus was thrown one-
eighth or one-tenth of an inch beyond. Great difficulty was encountered
in endeavouring to overcome the iixtense action of the light, and coloured
glasses, dry plates, and retai’ding chemicals were tried; but recourse
was ultimately had to dispensing with the clock-driving machine, and
taking the pictures instantaneously, by means of a slit in a shutter sus¬
pended by a thread, and pulled down by an india-rubber spring. When
the image of the sun reached the proper point, the thread was set on fire,
the image of the sun flashed momentarily through the slit on to the plate,
and the jncture was taken. That telescope was taken to Spain on the
occasion of the total solar eclipse of July 18th, I860, when two pictures
of that interesting event were taken in one minute each ; and the
pictures so taken settled definitively the fact that the red flames seen
round the moon during a total solar eclipse belonged to the sun, although
they did not determine what those flames or prominences actually were.
Mr. De la Rue had been successful in taking stereoscopic pictures of the
sun with a few days’ interval between each picture. It was remarkable
that, whilst astronomers failed in taking photogi’aphs of Donati’s comet
with telescopes, Mr. Ushei’wood, of AValton, about the 2Gth September,
1858, alone succeeded in obtaining a negative of it, one inch in length,
with an ordinary portrait camei’a, in seven seconds’ exposure, without
using any driving machinery whatever — an enlarged positive from which
was exhibited. With regard to the application of photography to mag¬
netism and meteorology, lie had only to say that all the variations of the
magnetic needle and the barometer and theremometer were ceaselessly regis¬
tered by its means, and results of the greatest importance in those sciences
were thus obtained. During the last twenty-five years great attention had
been given to magnetism, Professor Gauss, a German, being the first to
erect an observatory for its study. In 1837 the British government took
the matter up, and built the observatory at Greenwich. The building was
in the form of a cross, and was composed entirely of wood and copper,
being 170 feet from any other building. The magnetic needle was always
in motion, being subject to a periodical variation from the north of long
duration, being now about 21^° west, but gradually returning. It had
also diurnal and annual variations, the peculiarities of which he ex¬
plained, and also described the three magnetometers used to observe the
declination and horizontal and vertical forces. In the photographic sys¬
tem of registration of the constantly varying forces used at Greenwich,
and invented by Mr. Brooke, each large magnet had a mirror attached to
the bar reflecting to a focus the light from a flame of napthalised gas on
the surface of a glass cylinder containing a sheet of sensitised paper, and
turned by clockwork. As the bar moved, so did the point of light move
on the surface of the cylinder, leaving a line on the sensitised paper,
which on being developed and fixed gave a perfect record of the varia-
tions. The declination and horizontal force magnets left their trace on
a horizontal cylinder, while the vertical force depicted its undulations on
a vertical cylinder, which also registered the variations of the barometer.
This was done by means of a glass float resting on the surface of the
mercury as it rose and fell, putting in motion a lever carrying a perfo¬
rated plate in front of the sensitive cylinder, the magnified motions of
the larger arm being registered by the light passing through the aper¬
ture. The modes of obtaining the base lines and time scales with the
values of the curves were also explained. The variation in the wet and
dry bulb thermometers were registered by means ef wires drawn across
the tubes at each degree, and a vertical lens sending the light through
the tubes on sensitised paper behind them, except where stopped by the
mecurial thread. The paper being on a moving cylinder the variation
was shown in a waving line. Mr. Ronald, at Kew, besides recording the
indications of the magnets and meteorological instruments, also regis¬
tered the motions of an electrometer in a similar manner, the diverging
rods intercepting light thrown upon sensitised paper in gradual motion.
There was an observatory at Oxford where the same means were adopted
for registering meteorological variations. Mr. Burr concluded by thank¬
ing the members for the attention they had given him during his dis¬
course, and again offered to give any further explanations in his power
they might wish. , _
Some of Mr. De la Rue’s finest lunar pictures were exhibited in illustra¬
tion of the above remarks, as also micro-photographs and stereographs of
the moon, specimens of the results of the Kew photoheliograph, with
models and engravings of telescopes and apparatus, and some most inte¬
resting specimens of the curves produced by the Greenwich magnets.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Burr was passed amid great applause, in return
for the trouble he had taken to afford the members present so much
pleasure and instruction.
The Chairman observed that photography in some of its applications
February 1, 1861] THE B R I TIS H" J 0 U RN AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 63
really did not appear to be so much in its infancy as they were so fre¬
quently told it was, but appeared from Mr. Burr’s interesting and instruc¬
tive remarks to have arrived at full perfection. He thought it was the
. duty of Government to take the matter up, and not to leave photography to
be applied to so important a science as astronomy by private individuals,
or by the Royal Astronomical Society, without its help. The specimens
' exhibited by Mr. Burr appeared to him to leave nothing to be desired.
Mr. Burr remarked that photography was about to be applied to
j astronomy at Greenwich.
Mr. 0. Jabez Hughes expressed the pleasure with which he had listened
; to Mr. Burr’s excellent resume of celestial photography. He had ex-
j plained all it had done and was doing for astronomy, from the lunar
! daguerreotype of Mr. Bond to the latest achievement of Mr. Warren
IDe la Rue. He had also in an interesting manner shown the wondrous
application of the art to meteorology, and, with the aid of diagrams, had
made clear the ingenious methods by which Nature was made to write
I down her own operations in her own unerring manner. He (Mr. H.)
had never before been so impressed with the deep importance of photo-
graphy. Usually it is employed as a luxury — trifled with as a toy ; but
(said he, pointing to the sheets with the photographic lines recording
the perturbations of the magnet, and risings and fallings of the baro¬
meter, &c.) in looking at those papers I am filled with a feeling of awe ;
} for those strangely and fantastically curved lines were produced by no
human hands. We often speak figuratively of the “ pencil of light,” but
here are its visible tracings. Man supplies the magic sheet, and Nature
1 writes on it with her own finger the constant changes and variations of
those great laws that govern and control the universe ; and there are
the very manuscripts. Mr. Hughes continued : — Daguerreotype, before
it expired, gave the first impulse to lunar photography, and Mr. Bond’s
! picture on the silver plate almost seemed purposely taken to contribute
to that great focus of intelligence that took place at the Great Exhibition
of 1851, where it was seen. Long prior to Mr. Bond daguerreotypes of
. the moon had been taken. He remembered Mr. Mayall taking them in
1847, and knew that he had been doing it for a year or two before ; but,
as they were very small, and not sufficiently sharp to bear magnifying,
they existed only as scientific curiosities. They, however, thus early
established the fact that the moon’s rays possessed photographic power.
With respect to the statement that Mr. De la Rue did not find the ac¬
tinic rays absorbed in anything like the same ratio as the luminous,
he thought that required consideration, as it was contrary to the expe¬
rience of daguerreotypists who, in working with glass mirrors, found
they lost the actinic in a similar ratio to the luminous rays. Mr. De la
i Rue also stated that there was a difficulty in working with a refracting
; telescope in consequence of the non-coincidence of the visual and actinic
j foci; but in his. (Mr. Hughes’s) opinion it was not necessary that they
should so coincide, as they did not do so in the early Yoigtlander’s and
many of the best French lenses. It was only necessary to discover the
difference of the two foci for the usual distance at which the lens would
be used, and to alter the planes of the ground glass and the plate
holders to the extent of this difference ; and so long as that camera and
lens were used together all would go as right as if the two foci coinci¬
ded. What was true of cameras must also be so of telescopes, which were
only very long-focussed cameras. M. Claudet said the relative distance
between the foci varied in the same instrument on different occasions ;
but the experience of other photographers was hostile to this view.
Mr. Fry found the. foci vary in his instrument, and thought at first
: such variation was owing to the valuation of the moon’s distance from the
earth ; but Mr. De la Rue had explained the matter in a manner satisfac-
' tory to him, by attributing it to the contraction or elongation of the tube
of the telescope by temperature.
Mr. Hughes thought under those circumstances both foci would be
I affected equally, so that there would be no variation in their relative dis¬
tance. He thought it more probable that there was some error in the
adjustments, as he found no variation in his camera.
Mr. Burr thought forty-five miles of atmosphere was sufficient to
account for the disturbance.
Mr. Fry said the variations could not be owing to errors of adjustment,
1 because he found them not occasional but constant. M. Claudet was
much delighted on being informed of the circumstance, as it corroborated
his theory. Mr. Hughes must recollect that the focal length of a camera
was only eight inches, whereas that of his telescope was one hundred and
I twenty inches.
The further discussion was then adjourned to the next meeting.
Mr. Fry then read a supplemental paper On Composition Printing ,
in answer to one on the same subject read by Mr. Hughes at the last
meeting.
The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Fry for his paper.
Mr. Hughes said Mr. Fry and himself looked at the subject from dif¬
ferent points of view, although their aim was the same, viz., to approach
as nearly as possible to excellence and beauty. His 'whole argument,
however, was concentrated in the expression — that the soul and strength
of photography consisted in its truth; rob it of that, and no trifling or
trickery could compensate for the loss.
The following gentlemen were proposed and duly elected members of
the Society: — Mr. E. W. Foxlee, Mr. Symonds, Mr. John Warren, and
Mr. Sydney Smith.
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the President for
his services in the chair.
NOTICE.
The next meeting will be held on the 21st inst., when the discussion
upon Mr. Burr’s paper will be re-opened by Mr. S. Fry, and a paper read
hy Mr. Frank Howard, Hon. Treasurer, On the Successful Practice of the
Fothevgill Process. A jotting will also be contributed by Mr. Wall, upon
Sharpness. The Secretary respectfully invites gentlemen interested in
astronomical photography to attend. The presentation of their private
card will procure admittance.
BLACKHEATH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held at Eight o’clock,
on the 21st ult., at the Golf Club House, Blackheath Hill, — Charles
Heisch, Esq., F.C.S., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman apologised for there being no paper that evening; and
was sorry that the frost had prevented the results of several interesting
experiments being made known to the members present. Two or three
papers, however, had been promised for their next meeting.
Mr. Wood exhibited some stereoscopic views of scenes about Black¬
heath and in Wales.
A long conversation then took place among the various members pre¬
sent, but nothing of importance relative to photography transpired.
OHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The monthly meeting of this society was held on Thursday, the 17th
ult., at the (Jhorlton Town-hall. The meeting had been postponed from
the 9th ult., to allow members more time to prepare specimens, it having
been decided to hold one meeting entirely for the exhibition of magic-
lanthorn pictures. Mr. Griffiths, a vice-president, took the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. Ashley exhibited some specimens taken by artificial light, which
were very much admired. They were exposed 16 seconds. The
rotundity of the figure was striking, and the half tones all that could be
desired.
Mr Whaite having all his apparatus arranged, then occupied two hours
in showing a great number of pictures, many of which were very much
applauded as they appeared on the screen.
At the conclusion of the exhibition, after the lights were restored, Mr.
IIeywood moved, and Mr. Wardley seconded, that a vote of thanks be
given to Mr. Whaite, for the great treat enjoyed by the meeting.
Mr. Rogerson moved, and Mr. Ward seconded, a vote of thanks to the
gentlemen who had contributed the specimens.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the meeting.
Ipradiral Jitstattas tit dolming |lj)oltgraj)Ijs.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. ( Continued. J
Well, you have now, we will say, prepared and fastened the
photograph to your desk with drawing pins ; set the palette as
directed ; got out your brushes, finding them nicely cleaned and
pointed, and given them a rinse to free them from dust. You now
proceed to fasten, either above or beside the photograph you are
about to work upon, two others, as —
THE GUIDES.
Most colourists use one, but I generally prefer two guides — one
to aid me in my treatment of the highest lights (the exact shape
and situation of which it is vitally important to preserve); and
another to assist me in securing the proper degree of gradation,
transparency, and reflected light in the shadows. By om*-printiug
the high lights may be secured in a strong dark print, although
the shadows are thus destroyed ; and by a little «?id’e?,-printing,
the shadows of another print may be got as perfect as the negative
can render them, although the more delicate half-tints may not be
secured. I therefore prefer, as I have said, tico guides — one a dark,
over-printed, and the other a somewhat light, and under-printed
proof. If your shadows are merely intended to be certain patches
of conventional “ shadow mixture,” and your high lights mere
chance splashes of ochre and white, why, one guide, or none , will
be as useful to you as a dozen. If you are conscientious and
ambitious, with a love of your art, no precaution will be thought
vain that aids you in your aims. I know too well that photographers
sometimes think a colourist’s asking for two guides, printed ex¬
pressly as guides, and, therefore, useless for any other purpose, is
a tremendous bore ; but if they want highly-finished artistic work,
and perfect resemblance, two guides are better than one, just as
one is better than none. It is true I have had prints to colour in
which the perfection of modelling has been rendered, and nothing
left to desire in the exquisite amount of gradation and truth of both
lights and shadows, when one guide was as good as a score. Such
Si
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1801
are tlie productions of T. R. Williams (of Regent Street), Lacy (of the
Isle of Wight), and some few others ; but such are not the general
characteristics of the prints which fall into the hands of “ photo¬
graphic colourists.”
And now, my dear pupil, the guides being in their place, you
give the photograph a final wipe with the clean piece of linen rag
prepared to clean your pencils with, and sit down to begin.
PRACTICE.
I shall here adopt the same plan for directing your studies in oil
that I have reason to believe answered so well with our water¬
colour practice.
Take a clean, well-chosen, and small sable pencil,* remove with
it a touch of the white to a clean portion of your palette, and there
mix it with a little yellow ochre, and sufficient medium to make it
work with a soft creamy smoothness, without being so fluid that it
will not retain the exact shape your touches give it on the photo¬
graph’s polished surface. f Be very choice over this dear little bit
of colour : let it be clean, bright, and perfectly smooth in working ;
not too decidedly yellow, unless your model’s complexion be so,
but rather of a creamy, delicate, ivory-like hue. If it appears at all
gritty, either rub it off altogether, or rub it down, until smooth,
with your palette knife.
Fill your brush well with this colour, and with a few light de¬
cisive touches lay it in its place upon the brightest or highest
lights, so as to preserve their precise form and position, bearing in
mind all I have said about these “high lights” in former lessons,
where they were more fully dwelt upon.
A little madder pink may be added to this on the palette, and
worked into the previously applied colour, round the edges of the
high lights, with light gentle touches, and as few of them as
possible. This same tint may then be worked into stronger ones,
compounded of the same pigments in varying proportions, until
you begin to meet the earliest signs of gradation into half-tint.
But we must now pause and see what we have done.
Our colour is on the lightest parts of the forehead, nose, and
cheek of the illuminated side of the face ; but the colour on the
brow is exactly the same as that upon the nose and cheek. This
must now, therefore, be altered.
So we take a little bit of madder pink, and mix the same with a
morsel of Venetian red on a clean portion of the palette, as before.
This is a thin glazing colour, and we work it (as may be dictated
by a study of the model’s facef, with touches of the lightest and
most careful tenderness, so as not to disturb the colour already
applied) over the cheek and nose, using a kind of stipple for this
purpose, or applying it by a few touches placed here and there,
according to the effect desired, talcing care not to use too much
vehicle.
Now, take another clean, dark, sable pencil, somewhat larger,
give it a rinse in your brush- washer, and a wipe on your linen
cloth ; a rub in the magilp, and then another wipe on the cloth,
and pass it between your finger and thumb, so as to flatten and
spread the hairs out. This is now your “ sweetener,” or “ badger,”
and a very nice one too.
With this go, with an extremely light sweeping touch, over the
applied colours, so as to blend smooth and softer, without either
muddling them, rendering them too uniform in colour, or working
them up. Some skill and practice will be required to do this suc¬
cessfully, for though the tints are to be worked one into the other,
each must preserve its own individuality. You mnst be careful,
too, that the brush does not remove the colour from the surface,
much of your effect depending upon the lights having a good body
of colour.
The author of the preceding paper , in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practical value, has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring, and to give them advice through the
medium of these pages; for ivhicli purpose specimens may he sent,
with a stamped and directed envelope for their return, to A. H
Wall, Esq., 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
A Ladt Amateur. — The specimen tints have been forwarded to the address given. I
have before recommended Newman's water colours.
Georce Grant.— They will be published in a few months now, carefully revised and
corrected, with here and there such important additions as have been suggested to me
in the course of their publication. Thank you. Am very glad you think so highly of
this Journal, and am sure it deserves your best praise.
Miss G — .—.—The same old fault— the outline destroyed. Use your colour thick on
the high lights, but not so thick as to be perfectly opaque. Obtain body where desirable,
* See the directions given for choosing water-colour brushes. I use water-colour
sables for oil my;elf when the work is small.
+ Some use u little wax dissolved in turpentine with their medium to secure this
quality.
t In this case, as in the directions for water, I imagine you to be working from the
sitter.
by constant repetition rather than at once : it requires much skill to manage so large
a quantity of colour within so small a space.
J. C. — Too hard, too cold, too crude and raw. Endeavour to acqube a soft nullow
touch, and avoid sharp outlines. Use a little more magilp ; work with more cure and,
pex-haps, less speed. The head wants half-tints, and consequently rouudness ; for yoo
seem to have overlooked the existence of greys in the flesh.
- -♦ - -
Jkmp (forrespokbeute.
Paris , January 28, 1861.
Allow me to commence my letter by replying to the reproach
contained in the last number of The British Journal or Photo¬
graphy, to the effect that I bad not given with sufficient explicit¬
ness the demonstration by which M. Lfion Foucault had put an end
to the discussion which had been called forth by M. Claudut’s
paper on Woodward’s apparatus. If I did not give M. Foucault’s
words at length, it was because, as I had not been able to take
them down in shorthand, I was fearful of changing their meaning
in trying to repeat them. A mathematical definition cannot be
translated by an a peu pres ; for each word is like a figure, having
its own value, its own place. In saying, therefore, that M.
Foucault had resolved the question triumphantly, I wished to sum¬
marily describe the impression which was produced by that gentle¬
man upon his audience — an impression, in fact, which appears to be
durable, as no one ventured to return to the subject even at last
Friday’s meeting, of which meeting I will speak presently. MM.
Bertsch and Tkouret bad misunderstood M. Claudet’s paper, and all
their objections turned upon that misunderstanding. M. Foucault
showed them their mistake : voild tout. Now, if M. Claudet’s rea¬
soning be correct, is it not natural to conclude with him that
Woodward’s solar camera is based upon a good principle ? Such
was my conclusion. If, however, 1 was, with many others, mistaken,
I shall be happy to see my error proved. With regard to M.
Foucault’s definition, I wished to give it to you textually to-day,
and for that purpose asked M. Foucault to write it for me ; hut, as
I have not yet received his note, I am obliged to defer it till my next
letter.
The meeting of last Friday had promised to he of some interest,
as the committee charged by the French Society of Photography
to adjudge the Luynes Prize was to present their report. The
Duke de Luynes, one of the most generous patrons that the fine
arts count in France, had placed at the disposal of the society — 1st,
a sum of 8000 francs to be adjudged to the inventor of a practical
process for the transformation of photographic pictures into plates
capable of being printed by the means usually employed for engrav¬
ing or for lithography ; 2ndly, a sum of 2000 francs for the best
charcoal printing process. While appreciating the value of the
different processes submitted to their examination, particularly by
MM. Poitevin, Negre, and Pretscb, and while distinctly acknow¬
ledging the progress which those processes indicate, the committee
did not deem that the results were sufficiently complete to warrant
them in awarding the prize. In consequence, the delay was
extended to the 1st of April, 1864. Some considered this date too
distant, and therefore likely to discourage investigators ; the
majority, however, declared themselves in favour of the decision.
Mr. Harrison communicated some further details on the method
employed by M. Fontayne in his machine printing.
The sensitive paper is rolled round two cylinders which are
boxed in from the light, and moved by mechanism. The negative
is placed under a corresponding aperture made in the top, which is
closed by a shutter that opens each time a new portion of blank
paper is brought under the cliche. The same mechanism that
moves the paper onwards opens and shuts the valve. Thus, the
first essay is made, in order to ascertain the time of exposure
necessary according to the state of the light and the nature of the
negative, and then the rapidity of the movement, and consequently
the number of pictures printed per minute and per hour, can be
regulated thereby. A powerful lens, placed at a certain distance,
condenses the luminous rays, and throws them upon the cliche, thus
rendering the printing so rapid that 200 copies can be pulled in a
minute. During the recent presidential struggle in the United
States 100,000 portraits of Lincoln and Hamlin were executed in
this manner. As the portraits were very small 250 were printed
on a single sheet. The development is done afterwards. I asked
Mr. Harrison by what means the paper was prepared. He replied
that lie was not aware — that the inventor had kept silence on that
subject.
M. Retzinski communicated another printing process, much less
expeditious, but presenting, in his opinion, the advantage of great
economy. M. Retzinski uses common paper. For albumen print-
February 1, 1861]
ig* he employs a litre of egg-white to which have been added
hree grammes of chloride of sodium ; a five-per-cent silver bath,
>aper salted in a solution of chlorhydrate of ammonia in a litre of
ommon water. He sensitises in the same silver bath. The expo-
ure lasts twice as long as in the usual method. This process,
vhich I wrote down as well as I could while the secretary was
eading it, does not seem to me well balanced. Economy is cer-
ainly a very good thing, but, in photography especially, “ the
barest is often the cheapest.”
An inventor of the society, M. Gerin de Yaldonne, announced by
etter that he had found a means for the direct production upon
>aper, without nitrate of silver , of positive pictures in which the
ights were very pure, and the shades of great vigour. He post-
>ones description till he shall have made further essays.
Another member, Dr. Signoret, wrote to say that, to his regret,
le was compelled to give up photography on account of the pertur-
>ation in his health, caused by the emanations from the chemical
>roducts. He accuses collodion, or rather the vapours of ether, of
laving developed in him a nervous malady. In his medical cha-
aeter he calls the attention of operators to the dangers they have
;o guard against. It is evident that certain substances employed
n the manipulations exert a really hurtful influence upon the
lealth, without counting those substances presenting a still more
serious danger, and of which the Almanac of The British Journal
if Photography has very rightly given the nomenclature. In
general, professional photographers have an agitated sleep, and the
lervous system is highly excited. A serious and useful study might
le made on this subject.
The Exhibition of the Society will take place this year, as it did
;wo years ago, in the Palace of Industry, at the same time as that
if the Fine Arts. It will open on the 1st of May, and will close on
lie 1st of July. Specimens should be sent from the 1 st to the 15th
if April (limit strictly adhered to) to M. Martin Laulerie, Secretary -
igent of the Society. The exhibitor should indicate in a note his
lame, the number of his specimens, as well as a summary mention
if the negative process employed.
In my next letter I shall speak of the experiments which are
occupying MM. Bingham and Nadar for the application of
electric light to photography, and which have already yielded some
curious results. ERNEST LACAN.
Comspeiiimict.
\3tr We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
ltmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
if the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
MR. DALLMEYER’S TRIPLET LENS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am sure you will in fairness insert the following letter, in
answer to Mr. Heath’s questions respecting my advertisement.
I may remark that, had the subject been broached by some other person
not commercially interested, the public would probably regard the ques¬
tion from a somewhat different point of view.
Hundreds of my new lenses, free from distortion, are already in use,
and without exception not one single complaint has reached me respect¬
ing any one of them — indeed, quite the opposite. Until, therefore, some
professional photographer of known merit comes forth to confirm Mr.
Heath I deem it unnecessary further to touch upon the point.
Allow me here to state that the first two lenses I constructed and sold,
one for plates 15 X 12 and the other for 10 X 8, were of smaller diameter
than they are now and have been ever since the announcement appeared
in the Journal.
Firstly, the “triple achromatic lens” is quicker acting than the
“orthographic,” because the relative intensities or quickness of two
lenses (having the same number of reflecting surfaces) are in direct pro¬
portion as the squares of their apertures, and inversely as the squares of
their foci. Now the focal length of the orthographic, for a given size
plate, and with the same aperture, is longer than that of my “triple”
lens in the proportions of 10 : 9, and therefore their intensities will be ex¬
pressed by l2 : 94 : : l2 : 10*, or as 81 : 100 ; in round numbers, as 4 : 5 ;
giving my lens the advantage to the amount of £.
I My reason for making the comparison with the “ orthographic ” is
owing to the fact that, having assisted my late father-in-law (Mr. Andrew
Ross) in its construction, it will readily be conceded that I am intimately
acquainted with all its properties.
Secondly, the “triple achromatic lens” is quicker acting than the
single combination view lens, because, for the same size picture, and with
equal diameters of stops, its focal length is less in the proportion of
55
10 : 9‘4; therefore, according to the above rule, its intensity in round
numbers is greater by
The loss of light, as occasioned by the greater number of reflecting
surfaces in the “triple,” is compensated for by the circumstance that,
although stops of equal diameters are employed in both cases, yet the size
of the pencils of light, as transmitted by the two lenses, is by no means
the same : for in the case of the single view lens the stop is situated
“ before ” the lens, and therefore limits the diameter of the several pencils
before refraction ; but in the case of the “triple” the stop is situated
“behind ” the front positive combination, where the rays are already con¬
verging, and therefore the pencil of light received and transmitted is
considerably larger than the diameter of the stop.
I may observe that what has been advanced above has also been con¬
firmed in the experience of numerous professional photographers, and it
was only after that confirmation had been obtained that the announce¬
ment was made in my advertisement.
In regard to other good qualities possessed by my new lens, such as
perfection of definition, flatness of field, perfect straightness of marginal
lines, &c., Mi'. Heath does not appear to question ; and since photo¬
graphers and the public generally are already well acquainted with the
“triple achromatic lens” and its merits, I will not trespass any further
on your valuable space. — I am, yours, &c., J. H. DALLMEYER.
19, Bloomsbury Street , London, Jan. 22, 1861.
[We would draw the attention of Mr. Dallmeyer to some obscurity in
his reply. The size of a plate which any given lens is supposed to cover
has nothing to do with the points in question, which we take to be as
follows, viz.: — 1. Will a given equivalent focus for both lenses with the
“ triplet ” and the “ orthographic ” lenses bear equal apertures with equal
definition for an oblique pencil at a given amount of obliquity from the
axis? If so, their “ rapidity of action ” should be equal. — 2. The same
question as applied to the “triplet” and “meniscus.” In this case the
“meniscus ” would have the advantage with equal apertures having but
two surfaces of reflection instead of six. — 3. With the same equivalent foci,
and equal apertures, which of the three named lenses will cover properly
the largest area ? It is notorious that the late Mr. Andrew Ross always
under-estimated the surface which his lenses would cover well ; conse¬
quently the lenses recommended for a given size plate, unlike those of
most other makers, would generally cover a plate of a size larger ex¬
ceedingly well. — Ed.]
ROSIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You have, in No. 131, certainly pointed out the worst qualities of
the process of mixing rosin with the collodion. Impaired sensibility after
lengthened keeping, and ripping of the film, are the weak points; but the
merits of far greater importance which have excited my enthusiasm you
have not alluded to. Now, you must admit that the susceptibility which
will give you a rich negative, in sunshine, in one minute and-a-half, iu
place of six minutes, and, more than this, in three minutes to produce
an effect in a light that would scarcely act upon a Fotliergill plate at all,
certainly not under ten minutes, has much to recommend it. Farther,
though it is as easy to pour albumen upon the plate before exposing as it
is after developing, yet, with what I advocate, there is no need to do it
unless you find you have a picture worth the trouble; on the principle of
Mrs. Glass’s cookery, viz., “ first catch your hare,” &c.
I will say nothing of the frequency of stained plates by the primary ap¬
plication of albumen, with the entire absence of this nuisance by the sub¬
sequent application. The minute spots you speak of I have never seen :
may not these be, not from the presence of rosin, tut excess of iodising
ingredients; or, it rosin, the superabundance of it? Three grains, not
to one ounce, but to four ounces, is ample.
Now, as regards derangement of the bath, I have used the same for
three months without detriment. Suspended by the collodion as it is, it
is a great question if carboniferous, not carbonaceous matter — if I may
draw the distinction — would prejudice an aqueous solution at all ; howbeit,
the carbon in its free state may, and no doubt does, impair the crystal¬
lisation, as your learned colleague tells us.
Apropos of that — what say you to the occult influence exercised bi*
the subsequent dipping in the bath ? The very sagacious remark of the
photographer’s good genius, Mr. Hardwich, first attracted me to the use
of this process.
I would desire to lay considerable stress upon this important point,
though I have heforo alluded to it, because much of the beauty of the re¬
sults arise from the redipping of the plate just previous to development.
The action of the rosin is merely mechanical ; but there is a force and
vigour displayed, after redipping, and the appearance of the image is so
prompt, yet so equal, that failure is impossible. Now, in no other method
have I seen this insisted upon : and here is auother stubborn fact for
your consideration, that not merely has the same bath lasted unimpaired
for three months, but as every plate has been dipped and allowed three
minutes’ immersion before, and two minutes after every exposure, it has,
of course, undergone double working, and yet I can detect no fault in it.
Now, my friend, I think “ I have thee upon the hip.” — I am, touts, <fec.,
‘ C. COREY.
[To the preceding note, written in a spirit that it is quite refreshing to
find prevalent with those who take the other side of the argument, we re-
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
56
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February J, 1861
ply with another gastronomical allusion — “ the proof of the pudding is in
the eating.” If our theory of the bath being likely to be put out of order
be net borne out by facts, we have not the hardihood to exclaim with the
genius — “ so much the worse for the facts ! ” With regard to the dis¬
tinction between carboniferous and carbonaceous, we should apply the
former to ether, alcohol, &c.; the latter to rosin. It is the carbonaceous
ingredient that we fear. However, we must not forget the story of the
man in the"stocks, who was asked “what he was put in for? ” “ For so
and so,” was the reply. “ Nonsense ! ” was the rejoinder — “ they can't put
you in for that ! ” “ It is all very weil for you to say so, but here I amt ”
was the climax. “ You can’t take good pictures by the rosin process,’’ is
what we have implied. “ Indeed ! but here they are,’’ responds Mr. Corey.
Ed.]
:mr.|tunny AND GALLO-CITRATE OF IRON.
To the Editor.
Sir, — 'Please allow me, as a simple piece of justice to Mr. Tunny, to
reply to the letters respectively of “Amateur,” “ R. Gordon,” and
“R. M. S.,” which appeared in your last number. Reference has been
made by all of them to my paper on transparencies, read a year ago
before the Caledonian Club — not in Glasgow, as “ Amateur ” says, but
in Edinburgh. When reading that paper I informed the members that
it was to the kindness of Mr. Tunny I was indebted for the developer in
question; but this remark being extempore , and not embodied in the
paper, our Secretary had possibly neglected to insert it before sending
off the report of the transactions of the Club. When Mr. Tunny fur¬
nished me with particulars about this developer, I understood from him
that he had been in the habit of using it for a considerable time pre¬
viously ; and I was also made aware by him that Mr. Rodger, of St.
Andrew’s, was in possession of a similar formula, which (if my memory
serves me right) he had obtained by his own investigations — at any
rate, quite independently' of Mr. Tunny.
I would take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Tunny for the free and
hearty way in which he is ever ready to communicate to amateurs
information which in many cases is carefully, very carefully', with¬
held by other professionals. — I am, yours, &c., J. P. M'ADAM.
P.S. — Surely “Amateur” has made some slight error in the formula
for a developer which he gives as extracted from Hogg's Manual ; as
(in accordance with my' expectation) it produced, in my hands, a liquid
which at a pinch would make a very decent waiting fluid.
APPLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF MICROMETERS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I take the liberty of correcting a slight error in yrour remark
upon the above subject in The British Journal of Photography for
September 1.
If you will be kind enough to refer to the Quarterly Journal of Micro¬
scopical Science for April, 1856, page 240, you will find that the sugges¬
tions of Mr. Clarence Morfit have been anticipated byq yours, &c.
Moore College , Liverpool, N.S. W. WILLIAM HODGSON.
November 19 th, 1860.
LIGHT! GLASS! YARNISH!
To the Editor.
Sir, —Permit me to correct some errors in the report of my remarks on
Mr. Rej lander’s interesting communication to the Birmingham Photo¬
graphic Society.
First, apropos of the amount of light (quantity and quality) admissible
Avith impunity into photographic tents and operating rooms, I said : — “In
my experience, when a flood of yellow light is allowed to stream into the
operating chamber, although it ivould neither cause the excited plate to
‘fog’ nor to ‘blacken,’ yet that it so changed the condition of the plate
that when subsequently exposed in the camera the picture never came
out on development with the same brilliancy as if it had not undergone
the exposure to the yelloAV light.”
Next, with regard to certain patches on glass plates of a quasi-crys¬
tallised matter exceedingly difficult to remove, I said : — “I had most fre¬
quently found this condition when the glass (new or old) had been
allowed to soak for a time in a solution of carbonate of soda or of
cyranide of potassium, and more particularly if the plates had been laid
horizontally. I supposed that, as all glass contained more or less lead in
its composition, the silicic acid had a greater affinity for the soda and
so a surface decomposition took place with the deposit of crystals. At
all events I get rid of this annoyance at present by placing all my
glass in a vertical position in rain ivater, that being naturally in a great
measure free from metallic salts.”
Then Avith regard to the cause of the frequent cracking of varnish on
photographic plates (independent of the constitution of the varnish
itself), I observed that “ I had been peculiarly unfortunate at one period,
owing to the use of crystal sheet glass for positives — nine-tenths of my
pictures on this substance being spoiled, while those on the ‘ flatted
croAvn’ or on ‘ patent plate,’ though varnished equally with ‘Soehnee,’
seldom ‘ cracked’ or ‘reticulated.’ I looked on the cause as traceable to
the amount of moisture which ‘crystal sheet’ gives out , technically,
‘ sweating,’ and that certainly the drier the quality of glass I Lad used
the less I had been troubled with cracking of the varnish. ”
The importance of the subjects of “light,” “glass,” and “ varnish,”
in photographic art, will, I trust, plead my excuse for troubling j’ou
with this corrige of the remarks Avliich 1 A’cntured to make as a visitor
to the Birmingham Photographic Society. — I am, yours, &c.
Jan. lQth, 1361. JOHN ANTHONY, M.D.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
H. R. R. — In an early number.
T. Johnson.— See Mr. Hardwieli's “Comments” in the present number.
T. F. — We are unable to comply with your request: we do not consider it fair.
F. R. — You only require the addition of a little pure ether, and no doubt all will work
satisfactorily.
S. Conway. — We have every reason to believe that you will be satisfied wit a the che-
micals sold by the firm which you mention.
C. H. — There is no typical error with our printer in what you notice — the statement
agrees with the MS.
A. II. B. — We have forwarded your note to Mr. Wall, ns we arc unacquainted with the
practice of colouring.
F. R. — See reply to “ J. Barrow,” so far as relates to developer. To your other
question — Fothergill’s.
Feap.ful. — You had better employ two cameras — one for landscapes and another fui
portraits. You will find it economical in the end.
Weak Sky. — If you pay a visit to the Photographic Exhibition in Pall Mall, now open,
you will see some of Mr. Mudd’s pictures treated as described. They are very good.
T. B. — Quite possible, if there he a sufficient number from which to select; though it
is desirable that they should he made of the same glass and ground in the same tools.
Scotchman. — You had better employ oxide of silver to neutralise your hath, then car¬
bonate of soda, which, in unskilful hands, is apt to get you into a scrape. We have just
replied to another coiresponcknt who has spoilt his bath with it from inexperience.
Hugh Somerville. — Mr. Dancer, of Manchester, can, no doubt, procure the apparatus
for you, even if he has it not already in stock; or Mr. Atkinson, of Liverpool. These
are the two nearest dealers to you that we know anything about.
Jas. M.— If you have a sliding front to your camera you have only to unfasten the
screws and replace the front piece nitli a corresponding piece of yellow pine, which is
procurable from any carpenter, and is soft enough to he worked v. ith a Unite if you have
no other tools. This will enable you to fit any other lens on your camera than what
you have, and wish to try, without defacing the camera.
S. Cameron. — No apology necessary ; we most willingly afford our assistance. You
have sensitised your paper on a bath not sufficiently rich in silver ; hence the poor, flat,
grey tone. Double the present strength of your hath ; you will find it more economical
in the end. Do not use the paper too dry, as it quickly absorbs moisture in the pres¬
sure-frame, and this it is which gives rise to the “ wrinkles ’’ that you mention. You
will find the toning formula in the Almanack.
W. J. G. — The difference in time of exposure with a portrait lens is certainly in favour
of that arrangement, where a diaphragm of a given diameter is placed between the com¬
ponents of the combination ; hut the amount of difference depends upon its distance
from the front lens. The reason is obvious — the diameter of a converging pencil of rays
is smaller as you approach the focus, lienee a given aperture will admit the passage of a
larger pencil when limited at a distance from the point of refraction, than at that point.
The diaphragm between the lenses causes the field to be more curved than when it is
placed in front.
J. Barrow.— Your specimens arrived in some thousands of pieces— in fact, reduced
almost to powder— consequently it was simply impossible to judge of their merits. An
iron developer is totally unfit for micro-photography ; you had better use the following,
viz., pyrogallic acid one grain, citric acid one quarter grain, distilled water one ounce,
acetic acid twenty minims, by which you will obtain a pleasant brown tone. The collo¬
dion you have may he very good: try it with the above-indicated developer. Keene's and
Ponting’s collodions also answer very well, as also Burfield and Roucli's. For localities
consult the advertisements.
B. W. — You do not say what hind of photograph you wish to be reproduced, whether
daguerreotype, glass positive, or paper positive. If it is on paper, the best way would
be for you to put it into the hands of an artist, who can possibly “ touch it up ” to make
it ‘ 1 legible ; " and then, by copying the same in the camera, the discrepancies of colour, if
any, will be got rid of. If your original is a daguerreotype, and not rubbed, send it to
Mr. C. Jahez Hughes, of Oxford Street, London, who will probably be able to help you
out of your dilemma. If it be a glass positive, consult Mr. Keith, of Castle Street,
Liverpool.
A Goose. — 1. You have thrown away the carbonate of silver, and certainly very much
weakened the bath, if not destroyed it altogether.— 2. There is no chemical difference
between a collodion positive and negative; hut owing to the presence of organic matter
in the latter when pyrogallie acid, &c., are used for developing, the molecular condition
of the reduced silver is different in the two cases.— 3. No. If the developer blackens on
the addition o! a few drops of solution of nitrate of silver as rapidly as you mention, it
is an indication Of there being too small a quantity of citric acid present. Remedy : Add
about a quarter of a grain more of citric acid to each ounce of developer, and if that be
not enough add again a like quantity.
A Puzzled One. — We do nut wonder at it. We regret to find the very loose morality
existent with regard to advertisements, in which some parties appear to think that they
have a perfect right to make any statement, however preposterous, with impunity. AVe
are quite willing to presume that when an advertiser vaunts the good qualities of his
wares he may possibly really believe that his geese are swans ; but he certainly has no
right to assert that those vended by others are spurious, unless he can distinctly prove
the fact to be so. We regret that you have nobody in your locality through whom you
can with confidence procure what you require. You will, perhaps, he able to solve most
of your doubts by reading the Letters to a Photographic Friend recently published in
these pages. For the last article about which you inquire apply to No. 3 in your list ;
and avoid No. 5 especially, who only deals in the so-called cheap.
Discontented. — We cannot publish your letter, because it refers to matters relative
to which t/ig public are not interested, but only those who are mem hers of the Photo¬
graphic Society ; and as we do not officially represent that body, which has a special
organ of its own, we think you had better forward your communication to Dr. Diamond,
the responsible editor, and he will probably deal with it, either by laying it before the
council or publishing it, as he deems best. We may remark, however, as a member of
the Society, and in our private capacity only, that we cordially agree in the policy of
reducing the number of members of council (provided that it he done in a legitimate
manner), and before we retired from office we repeatedly urged this course without
success. We believe that you are quite in error in attributing interested motives to
those who remain on the council. We know for a fact that there is absolutely no advan¬
tage derived, hut much labour and trouble incurred, by those Avho take an active part.
Received. — R. T. — Max. — Con tutto core.— An Amateur.
f§iP All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, dec., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 136, Vol. VIII.— -FEBRUARY 15, 1861.
Royal Favour. — Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. the
Prince Consort, accompanied by the Princesses Alice, Helena,
and Louisa, and attended by several members of the Court,
paid a visit to the Photographic Exhibition now open, and
minutely inspected the various works there on view, upon
many of which they were graciously pleased to bestow consider¬
able commendation. We have no doubt that photographers
generally will be highly gratified to find that Her Majesty, so
far from losing her interest in our fascinating art, appears to
enjoy it with increasing zest.
Toning of Positives. — We published in our last, at page 44,
an article from our valued contributor, Mr. Charles Heisch, in
response to some editorial remarks upon observations made
by him as President of the Blackheath Photographic Society,
at a meeting of that body, the subject being that of the ton¬
ing of positive paper proofs. We must correct Mr. Heisch ’s
assumption that we ever libelled him as “ an enemy to pro¬
gress:” we certainly did not attribute any such animus, but
pointed out that the observations he had made would be
likely to do mischief, precisely because he has established a
reputation as a scientific and progressive photographer. It is
this conviction which we expressed, and which we still entertain,
namely, that, having inadvertently adopted certain views from
insufficient consideration, the expression of his questionable
conclusions, as it were ex cathedra, would be likely to prove
injurious in certain quarters were no attempt made to cause
him and others to keep in mind the already established facta
bearing upon the subject.
Mr. Heisch entertains doubts whether the alkaline gold ton¬
ing process produces results of equal stability with the “ older
process,” meaning thereby that where chloride of gold and hypo¬
sulphite of soda are used in conjunction for fixing and toning
simultaneously. We have no doubt that the evidence, so far as
it has yet been tested, indicates that the alkaline gold method
affords more stable results.
The abuse of “ an old and tried process proved to yield perma¬
nent prints, if proper precautions have been observed,” has not
arisen “ simply because a new one has been brought forward
which is by some people considered theoretically more correct
but, on the contrary, it is because it is found practically that, if in
both cases the pi’oper precautions are neglected to some extent,
such neglect is more detrimental when the old process is employed
than when the alkaline gold toning bath has been resorted to;
while it has been proved beyond question that the chief de¬
structive agents, oxygen and sulphuretted hydrogen, especially
in the presence of moisture, exert respectively a far more baneful
influence upon the proofs toned by the old process than on
those by the new one. This fact having been established, it is
found also to be in accordance with theoretical considerations.
It must also not be forgotten, that the penalty incurred by
neglect when the alkaline gold toning process is employed is
generaUy more prompt in appearing, and thus it falls, as a rule,
upon the right shoulders ; the careless manipulator being ge¬
nerally the sufferer, by loss of his labour and materials.
We now arrive at another remark in Mr. Heisch’s paper
upon which we wish to comment. It is as follows : — “ It is
customary, in speaking of the alkaline process, to call the gold
bath the toning, and the hyposulphite the fixing bath, as if the
only action of the latter were to dissolve out unchanged chlo¬
ride of silver. If such were the case why cannot ammonia be
substituted for the hyposulphite of soda, and so the very pre¬
sence of any sulphur compound throughout the process be
avoided ? The answer is, that the colour of the prints w'ould
not be good. In fact, toning strictly takes place as much in the
hyposulphite as in the gold bath. To what is this toning due?
To something more than the mere removal of unchanged chlo¬
ride of silver.”
To the above we reply that ammonia can be substituted for
hyposulphite of soda for fixing the proofs after or even before the
alkaline gold toning; and that we pointed out this very fact in
a communication to the Photographic Society several years
back; and, further than this, that after coagulation by contact
with nitrate of silver even strong liquor ammonise does not dis¬
solve off the albumen from the surface of the print. If Mr.
Heisch will try the experiment he will find that after the use of
ammonia the colour of the prints will, when dried subsequently,
be just what they were prior to their removal from the gold
toning bath ; and that in order to obtain agreeable w7arm tones
it is only requisite to employ English paper albumenised, in¬
stead of the foreign kind generally adopted. There are objec¬
tions to the general use of ammonia as a fixing agent, it is true,
and serious ones wre admit. Extra cost; great inconvenience in
application from the suffocating fumes given off, even when a
dish with the edges ground and covered with a glass plate is
employed ; and, thirdly, the tendency to remove the sizing of the
paper — an operation which is instantly effected with foreign
paper, on account of the frequent use of starch as a sizing
material. These are grave objections to the general use of
ammonia for the purpose suggested ; but they do not nullify
the fact that good tones can be attained by the alkaline gold bath
in such a manner that their being the result of sulpliurisation
is impossible.
We would not any more than our esteemed antagonist
“ shut our eyes to the weak points of a favourite process ;” but
we have yet to learn in what the alleged “ weak points ” really
consist. In truth, we at present do not know that any exist, and
shall be glad if Mr. Heisch will point them out ; but in case
he should be able to find any, our course would be rather to
try and remedy them than return to a process which we believe
to be undeniably faulty in principle.
New Photographic Society in Edinburgh. — We learn from
a correspondent that a number of practical photographers are
about to form a new Society in Edinburgh. A preliminary
meeting (presided over by George H. Slight, Esq., Engineer)
58
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1861
lias been held, and the expressions of opinion there elicited
seem to indicate that fortnightly meetings will be held, and
that these will mainly partake of a conversational character.
We are informed that the first meeting for the adoption of laws,
election of office-bearers, &c., is to be held at Buchanan's
Temperance Hotel, on the evening of Wednesday, the 20th inst.,
upon which occasion we are given to understand that any one
friendly to this movement, whether specially invited or not,
will be at liberty to attend, and will receive a cordial welcome
by those who have already taken the initiative.
French Photographic Exhibition. — We are requested by M.
Martin Laulerie, the assistant secretary of the French Photo¬
graphic Society, to announce that a Photographic Exhibition
will be held under the auspices of that body, contemporaneously
with the Exhibition of Paintings at the Palais de l’lndustrie,
Paris, from 1st May next to 15th July inclusive; and to invite
the co-operation of British photographers in contributing to the
collection.
We extract from the regulations such points as affect foreign
exhibitors : —
“All works intended for exhibition are to be sent (carriage
paid) to * M. Martin Laulerie, door No. 1, Palais de l’lndus-
trie, Paris,’ and must arrive between the 5th and 15th of April
next ensuing. No extension of time can possibly be allowed
beyond the last date specified. To avoid cost of transport,
foreigners are recommended to send their works mounted simply
on cardboard to some correspondent in Paris, to have them
placed under glass ; and to those who have no correspondent
the assistant secretary, M. Laulerie, offers his services for the
purpose of procuring their being carefully and properly mounted
under glass at the least possible expense. In this case they
should be addressed to him at No. 11, Rue Drouet, and ought to
arrive between the 5th and 10th April.
“ Each specimen to be accompanied by a statement of the
subject represented , with a summary of the process employed in
its production, and any information relative to its peculiarities.
The name and address of the exhibitor may be appended, but
no statement partaking of the nature of an advertisement will
be permitted, nor the price of the picture, if for sale ; but this
last-named particular may be stated to M. Laulerie, who will
communicate it to the public.
“ A list of subjects contributed must be forwarded to the
assistant secretary, together with the particulars above specified,
for the purpose of insertion in the catalogue.
“ Coloured specimens, as also those being s touched by hand’
so as essentially to modify the photographic work, properly so
called, by substitution of manual skill, will be rigorously ex¬
cluded, as also works that have already been exhibited in former
expositions of the Society ; but the same subjects that have
appeared before even by the same artists, if from different nega¬
tives, are admissible.”
PHOTOGRA P.H I C C.OMMENTS.
By T. F. Hardwick.
No. XVIII.
The question of permanency of photographic pictures on paper
has been again opened up in consequence of remarks made by Mr.
Heisch, President of the Blackheath Society. We have always
been greatly interested in this matter, and therefore it may not be
altogether unprofitable to state our experience.
It will be remembered that, as long ago as the year 1855, the
Photographic Society of London appointed a committee to examine
and report upon the merits of the various printing processes, and
to consider how the positives might best be preserved from fading.
A large number of experiments were made, and the separate por¬
tions of the prints which had been operated on, having been mounted
upon cards, were exhibited at the Society’s rooms, and are to be
seen, even now, in the laboratory of the photographic department
of King’s College.
Those who decry toning by mixed hyposulphite of soda and
chloride of gold will perhaps learn with surprise that, at the time
of the appointment of the above committee, many scientific and
well-informed men were advocates of a method of toning by decom¬
posed hyposulphite of soda altogether free from gold. We our¬
selves finding “the old hypo, bath,” as it was termed, in frequent
use, had endeavoured to imitate it by mixing tetrathionate of
soda with the fixing bath, and prints toned in that manner were
tested by the committee. Eventually all, or nearly all, became
convinced that the sulphur toning process was fugitive and bad,
and that even when gold was employed the permanency of the
tones varied much with the mode in which the gold was applied.
Commencing with the fixing and toning bath, prepared by
adding chloride of gold to hyposulphite of soda, we observe that
the following were the conclusions arrived at in 1855 : — In all cases
a liberation of sulphur takes place on mixing the above salts; for
even supposing the free acid to be removed from the chloride of
gold by neutralising with a base, yet tetrathionate of soda will bo
produced in small quantity, and by a secondary reaction the
tetrathionate and the hyposulphite will decompose each other.
Nevertheless, prints properly toned in a bath of the above kind
did not show a very marked disposition to fade, and retained their
brightness under a treatment which destroyed the sulphur prints.
Looking only at the experiments of the committee, the hypo, and
gold-toning process could not have been utterly condemned, pro¬
vided sufficient security had been given that photographers in
employing that process would carry it out in a proper manner.
Herein, however, the weak point appeared; for it was shown that
after a certain number of pictures had been toned in the bath the
character of the colouring action changed, and sulphur began to
effect that which had previously been produced by a deposit of
gold. Of this the photographer was necessarily ignorant; and,
when toning a number of pictures in the same bath, did not know
that the first of those pictures was far more permanent than the
last, although the colours were in both cases nearly the same.
Against the sel d'or process nothing could be said ; for, although
it appeared certain that some communication of sulphur took place,
and that sulphide of silver was formed upon the print in minute
quantities during the time that gold was depositing, yet the expe¬
riments showed that the sel d'or pictures were permanent for all
practical purposes: they remained in damp air, for three months,
without any change, and are to this day as fresh as when first
printed. If the sel d'or process could have been carried on success¬
fully with albumenised paper we should scarcely have needed any
other, but might have rested content and have discontinued our
experiments.
Mr. Waterhouse’s method with alkaline chloride of gold, the
description of which he accompanied with specimens, was exam¬
ined and reported on. The prints were quite permanent; but un¬
fortunately the same objection seemed to apply as that to the sel
d'or, viz., that a good colour could not be secured upon albumen¬
ised paper. Readers of this Journal who are using the above pro¬
cess daily will wonder how such a conclusion could have been
arrived at; but the truth was, that the albumenised paper was un¬
adapted for the purpose, and therefore gave cold and inky tones,
not bearing comparison with those obtained by the mixed sulphur
and gold toning. It often happens in photography that an experi¬
menter comes very near to a good thing, but from some trifling
disturbing cause fails to secure it. Mr. Waterhouse himself worked
with paper prepared with caseine; and none of the specimens sent
by him were printed upon albumen. Unfortunately he was not at
the time in good health, and therefore the committee were obliged
to be satisfied with his original communication, and could not ven¬
ture to trouble him for further particulars. Mr. Frith, ofReigate,
was the friend to whom we have alluded on a former occasion as
having been the first to show that alkaline chloride of gold could
be worked commercially on a large scale, and with albumenised
paper; but even after we had seen him operate we could not
achieve the same success with our own albumenised paper, and
hence the addition of citrate spoken of in our communication to
the Society at that time.
Although we do not share Mr. Heisch’s apprehensions as to the
stability of prints toned with alkaline chloride of gold, yet it
appears to us that photographers must be careful how they tamper
too much with the formulas laid down, and especially as regards
the quantity of the carbonate of soda to be used. Mr. Waterhouse
himself gave no directions as to quantity, but merely said: — “I
take potassce subcarb., and add it to the chloride of gold, more or
less, according to the colour I wish to obtain.” Thirty grains of
carbonate of soda to each ounce of water appeared to us to answer,
and therefore we published the formula in that shape; but the
February 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
59
later experience of photographers has decided them to reduce it
further. Mr. Hughes, who takes a practical view of most subjects,
has fixed it at ten 'grains; but there we advise him to stop, and
not to go on to the employment of neutral chloride of gold with¬
out any alkali. The reasons alleged for the reduction in the
amount of alkali are the diminished tendency to blistering of the
albumen, and the greater freedom from red spots and markings
I due to imperfect toning. We are quite prepared to allow that the
; excess of alkali interferes with the rapidity of toning, and prevents
: the gold from depositing upon defective portions of the paper which
offer a resistance; but this we think should be remedied by im-
{ proving the quality of the paper, and by bringing it up to the altered
demands of the process. Against too great a reduction in the
quantity of the alkali we have a word to say on the score of per-
j manency; for it will be allowed by all that the reaction of the print
: on entering the hyposulphite fixing bath ought to be alkaline, or
i at all events not acid. Now, let any person who uses commercially -
I prepared albumenised paper, touch it with a piece of moistened
litmus, and he will probably find that the blue colour immediately
changes to red in consequence of the presence of some acid,
which the maker adds for the purpose of liquefying the albumen.
Further than this, MM. Davan'ne and Girard have lately called
attention to what we believe to be a fact, viz., that a neutral
chloride and nitrate of silver becomes acid when reduced by the
j sun’s rays. Hence free acid exists in the print from two sources;
and, if so, an excess of alkali is required to neutralise it before it
comes into contact with the hyposulphite. We ourselves having
witnessed from the very first the deleterious effects of free acid,
were advocates for the addition of carbonate of soda to the fixing
bath, and in our own practice have followed that plan. If others,
however, find the alkaline fixing bath to cause blisters, let them
omit the alkali; but we advise, by all means, to keep a portion of
it in the solution of chloride of gold. At present the process is
successful; and the public are becoming convinced by degrees that
paper photographs do not necessarily fade. Let us then by all
j means leave well alone, and continue to work with the alkali in the
I toning bath ; otherwise we may inadvertently introduce a weak
j point into the process, and some maker of albumenised paper, in-
i nocent of the consequences, may send us a batch of paper sour
enough to liberate sulphur in the fixing bath, and thereby to “im-
■ prove ” the prints for a time, but eventually to destroy them.
ON ALBUMENISED PAPER AND ALKALINE GOLD
TONING.
By C. Jabez Hughes.
[Read at a Meeting of the London Photographic Society, on February 5, 1861.]
The usual mode of opening a discussion is to apologise for the
subject, and to depreciate oneself for bringing it forward. I am
j sure you will excuse these conventional formalities, for no plea
need be urged to establish the importance of Good Printing.
All our other processes are but preparatory steps to printing.
I For that we make our pyroxyline, prepare our collodion, purchase
our apparatus, and rack our brains to produce perfect negatives.
With this object before us we travel o’er land and water, climb
glaciers, face waterfalls; on mountain top, in sheltered valley, on
open heath, in deep forest, or dark glen — wherever or to what¬
ever we point our lens this is the consummation we always have
in view — the reward for all our labour.
If not the be all , printing is certainly the end all of our various
processes. It is the last crowning stone of the edifice — the very
apex of the pyramid.
Yet, with all its importance, we do not do it justice. We vote
it a bore — we declare it drudgery — delegate it to our assistant — put
it out to be done — employ ignorant men, silly women, and foolish
children to do it. We hurry it over, begrudge the time, stint the
money, use the cheapest materials, and, finally, inconsistent beings
as we are, express astonishment that our results are not uniformly
of first-rate order.
Note the different degrees of care with which the two halves of
the photographic process are conducted. For our negatives we
obtain the best glass, prepare it most scrupulously, and do not dare
to touch its clean surface ; but our boy lets the albumenised paper
lie about anywhere, and he fingers it and “ paws ” it all over. Our
collodion we pay whatever price the celebrated maker asks for it,
so that it be up to the right standard, and we watch and study it
as to its age and condition ; but we send here, there, and anywhere
for our paper, and generally with an eye to cheapness.
We should not dare to keep three or four sorts of collodion, and
jump from one to the other, and expect at once to get equally good
negatives ; yet we employ different samples of paper, treating
them all alike, expecting they will or ought to “ come out ” equally
well, and, without hesitation, condemn them if they have not
answered our expectations. We know that different kinds of col¬
lodion require different baths and developers, and variable manipu¬
lation ; but we have yet to learn that different papers require their
special treatment too. In our negative bath we use the purest re-
crystallised or fused nitrate ; but anything will do for printing.
We make up one bath with religious care, and most jealously watch
its condition ; but the other may take care of itself. It is sixty-
grain to-day, may be forty to-morrow, and the day after, in a fit of
generosity, may be strengthened to seventy. This week it is acid
— next it may be alkaline ; but too generally it may be what it
likes and how it pleases.
There are many photographers who really do take pains, and
study the production of their prints as carefully as their negatives,
and they have their reward; but the majority do not. These
latter treat the operation as if it were mechanical, instead of che¬
mical, and expect it equally readily to be despatched. The very
term “ printing,” by the association of ideas, helps to confirm the
mechanical notion. The letterpress printer bestows all attention
on the skilful arrangement of his types, the engraver on the cutting
his plate, the lithographer with drawing on his stone, and wood-
engraver on the block ; this well done, the rest is only careful
“ working off” or u machining.” But photography is not mechani¬
cal, and will not be “ machined.” The simile holds good between
composing the types and making the negative, but it wofully
fails after ; for every photographic print is the result of a series of
delicate chemical operations, and if the result be not as we wish,
we must endeavour to discover where the error creeps in, and either
by alteration of manipulation or variation of material produce
better results. If photographers would but look at prints as che¬
mical, not mechanical, products, and endeavour to grasp the causes
that produce them, from that moment their prints would be im¬
proved and their effects more uniform.
With relation to present troubles, most of them are based upon
and grow out of that fatal facility of production that was in use
during the sulphur-toning period. It was necessary then only to
take the print out of the pressure-frame, and immerse it in the inky
hypo., and there it remained until it was “ done.” The present
method requires much more care and attention, and by some this
is given grudgingly : they shirk the proper preliminary washings,
and, getting into trouble, of course blame the process. Sulphur as
a toning agent was not very delicate : much or little albumen, or
none at all, it was chiefly a matter of time, and it served all prints
alike. Whether the paper was thick or thin, English, French, or
German, it toned them all the same. Like a specious, plausible,
malignant, destroying demon, as it was, its fn- justice was im¬
partial.
But our present protecting agent, gold, is much more nice and
delicate, and recognises most critically the differences of much or
little albumen, of the various kinds of paper, and of minute varia¬
tions of manipulation. We are now in a transition state, and shall
doubtless yet arrive at a perfect toning process, which will be
uniformly certain ; but we must throw away some of our past
notions, and not say what albumenised paper and gold ought to do,
but what we can obtain from them. They will not yield, so we
must.
Too many of our printing notions depend on those conceived
during the sulphur-toning period. There is a tendency to de¬
preciate the application of those careful rules that we apply to the
production of negatives. The printing process is almost supposed
as if it ought to be automatic — self- working. I don’t know why
we ought to assume this. It would be very desirable if it were
so ; but at present it is not.
In the practice of negative-taking we are not surprised if a
goodly number are not first-rate ; but our prints, about which we
take so little pains, ought all to be perfect. We calculate how-
much we can get out of a sheet of paper, and expect every square
inch to turn out right.
The drift of my observations is to show that we ought not to
expect to produce good prints uniformly, unless we take great
care and study attentively the conditions under which they are
best produced. If this be done, I am sure we shall fail less often.
We must expect less from our materials, and more from ourselves.
We depend far too much on special formulas — acting too fre¬
quently to the letter instead of the spirit : for example, in Maxwell
Ljffe’s toning process by phosphate of soda and chloride of gold.
In his directions he says, employ neutral chloride of gold. Well,
in commerce, the article is called neither acid chloride nor alkaline
60
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, lbOl
chloride, but simply chloride of gold; and the majority of operators
assume, therefore, it is neutral, and add it to the phosphate ; and
being, as it always is, more or less acid, mostly the former, phos¬
phoric acid is liberated in proportion to free acid in the gold, and
a different result is produced to what Mr. Lyte intended, and, of
course, the process is all rubbish. Again, I have found persons
toning with acid solutions of chloride of gold, when they believed
they were working with alkaline. They have added the modicum
of carbonate that their formula prescribed ; but, whether it was
sufficient to neutralise the free acid always present in the com¬
mercial chloride, they never tried. A given method may work
well with one kind of paper and not with another. One man may
produce uniformly hard negatives, and require a paper to give
a soft image ; whilst another gets little contrast, and must force
it out in printing. In one district the water is soft and pure,
in another very hard and limey ; and shall one formula be appli¬
cable under all circumstances — nothing be left to the skill of the
operator ? and if the process fail, is the man wholly blameless ?
Although the laws of chemistry are regular and certain, yet
who can anticipate or give directions to another how to act under
every emergency ? The man who depends exclusively on formulae —
who does not grasp the spirit as well as the letter of instructions —
will always be liable to derangements. I make these remarks be¬
cause I so frequently hear paltry and foolish objections urged
against processes and formulae. Men should take up subjects
large-heartedly and frankly, and not be discouraged easily ; work
themselves out of their difficulties, and not allow success and
failure to depend so much on external circumstances.
The principal troubles met with in alkaline gold toning may be
embraced under the following heads : —
Weakness and flatness of image.
Mealiness.
General greyness of tone.
Red spots and streaks.
Blisters.
Weakness and flatness of image is generally caused by the negative
being deficient in contrast.
One peculiarity of toning by this method is, that a good print
can only be obtained from a good negative. By the old method a
passable one could be got from a weak negative by over-printing
and reducing in the toning.
Generally, however, a weak and flat appearance is indicative of
the silver solution being too weak. This use of a weak silver
solution is one of the greatest causes of trouble. I take this
opportunity of urging, as I have already done elsewhere, the use
of the little instrument known as the hydrometer silver-tester, for
estimating the amount of nitrate of silver in solution every morn¬
ing before sensitising paper. No person knows, unless he has
tested, how rapidly the silver is abstracted from the bath by sen¬
sitising paper. If objection be made to the instrument I have
named, then use one of the other argentometers : they are all good
and efficient — only do use some one of them.
A general mealiness.— This at first sight appears to be a defect in
the albumenising ; and yet it really is not so, for neither the albumen
or the albumeniser is at fault, but the plain paper. It took me
some considerable time to establish this fact, but I am quite con¬
vinced of it now.
A general greyness and coldness of tone. — Over-toning is the gene¬
ral cause of this. Not being exposed long enough in the printing
frame, and being kept too long in the toning solution, will always
produce this effect. The remedy is obvious. Papers excited on
weak silver solutions have a constant tendency this way. Some
papers are more subject to it than others, and on some Saxe papers
it is too easily produced. Rive papers do not go into the inky
tones, but adhere to the purple brown tints.
This defect exists principally in coarse paper. When laid on
the albumen it absorbs it unequally, and when dried the surface is
seen full of small hillocks and hollows arising from this unequal
absorption. Now, as the gold requires a uniform surface of albu¬
men to produce a uniform tint, it is seen that it cannot be obtained
here; for the valleys, so to speak, tone first, and, as they have less
albumen on them, they are finished before the hillocks scarcely
begin. The print taken out at this stage is covered with minute
red spots of untoned albumen. Now let it be replaced, and the
toning continued till these spots are the desired colour. By this
time the valleys are over-toned, and have turned to a lighter
grey, and the picture has that unpleasant speckled and dotted
appearance as if it had been dusted with fine flour, and in
rubbing it off had got ground into the pores of the albumen. Paper
having this defect should be condemned, as, although it may be
modified by manipulation, it never gives good pictures. Rive
paper is very rarely subject to this objectionable peculiarity.
Red spots and streaks. — These are often caused by t lie paper
being badly albumenised, and are then defects of manipulation;
but they are often to be attributed to irregularities in the surface of
the primitive paper — some parts absorbing more than the rest ; and
in toning, as the gold changes the CQlour just in the proportion of
albumen present, so the difference of colour produced registers
the exact amount of albumen — the red spots, lines, and patches
showing the irregular amount of albumen present. Remedy —
better paper.
Blisters. — The defects hitherto pointed out belong mainly to
German paper; but blisters are more prone to the thick Rive
papers. The albumeniser is often charged with these, as though
they were his fault. He is no more accountable for them, often
much less, than the person who uses the paper. They range in
size from a pin’s head to a marble, or larger. They may be found
in any very highly albumenised paper, and only in that descrip¬
tion, and are less frequent in thin than in thick papers, being
scarcely ever found in thin Saxe, and most abundant in thick Rive.
These blisters usually take an oval form, and seem to be formed
by a gas being generated in the body of the paper, which, by its
dilation, causes the soft and elastic albumen to expand also. The
paper, however, splits into two layers — one portion remaining
attached to the albumen. As a rule, the greater the relative
amount of carbonate of soda present so is the tendency to blisters.
Many papers will blister when a large quantity of the carbonate is
added to the gold, which, if the latter be used acid or neutral, will
not blister at all. This quite favours the idea already named as
to their probable origin ; for if the soda base unite with any of the
acid sizing material in the body of the paper, the carbonic acid in
struggling to escape would cause the distension of the albumen
surface, and thus obviously explain the presence of blisters. They
generally go down in drying.
I think I have pointed out the principal defects complained of;
and, apart from ourselves and our own defective manipulation,
the great cause of the difficulties really lies in the plain papers
themselves.
Those who prepare paper should endeavour to have some con¬
trol over the sizing, so that they may guarantee a more uniform
article. Many think that the faults lie with the individuals
who albumenise the papers. This is a mistake. These persons,
when they prepare a large batch of albumen, float thin and
thick paper, Saxe, English, or Rive, all on the same albumen — in
fact, treat them all alike ; but the papers, as you know, all give
different tones. Much less lies in the albumeniser’s domain than
is supposed. Speaking of albumen, there are many false notions
extant. Gelatine, dextrine, gum-arabic, &c., are supposed to be
added to it to increase the glaze, and many faults are attributed
to these sources ; whereas I believe that no substance whatever,
chloride and acetic acid excepted, is added to the albumen, in this
country at least. The cause of those bad smelling papers is de¬
composed albumen, than which few things have a more foetid odour.
Not long since, one gentleman, who ought to have known better,
burst forth with a grand panacea for all our troubles — a something
which, if added to our albumen, everything was to go light, and
without it all formulae were hopelessly wrong. After this grand
flourish of trumpets, and when on the tiptoe of expectation, we
were told to wait a fortnight — a whole fortnight of anxious sus¬
pense, for the secret was too great to be hurriedly told — when,
wonder of wonders! the mountain commenced its labours, and a
few drops of acetic acid oozed out! This, added to albumen, was to
be a cure for all the ills albumen was heir to ! Jesting apart — for
the matter can only be so treated, despite the oracular method of
its utterance and the ponderous effort to astonish the world — what¬
ever small merit the addition of acetic acid to albumen may have
has long been known and is constantly practised. It does aid in pro¬
ducing limpidity, and, perhaps, tends to keep the whites clear ; but
it is so utterly inefficient to cope with the greater difficulties
already named that, while acknowledging its humble aid, all its
extraordinary merits I dismiss to the safe keeping of the gentleman
who made the discovery.
In leaving the matter in your hands — for I have only attempted
to open it — allow me to say that, although we have troubles with
our paper now, we are not peculiar, and need not despond, for
troubles with paper have always existed. In early calotype days
the cry was — <( Where can we get good paper?” The present are not
the first complaints on printing either. When the first novelty
was past, of producing prints at all, complaints were made of the
foxy hue and dead sunken-in effect of our prints. Albumen was
February 15, 1861]
61
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
then introduced to give a finer surface and greater biilliancy.
This was all very well ; but there remained the odious colour
something between brick-dust and gingerbread when that aw fill
mystery of “ toning ” was invented, and we first got glimpses of
that “ beauty which only leads to destruction. During that biiei
period how we revelled in our new-born powers! Who would not
1 be a photographer to produce such tones, such blacks, such whites .
You remember that famous “Crucifixion.” What a delusion we
i laboured under then ! It was as though we had bargained with
’ the Evil One to have temporary good for permanent ill— selling
; for fleeting beauty all future permanence. It was an awful “ sell,”
that villainous mixture of sulphur, and acid, and hypo., and gold,
and s ilver, and chloride, and nitrate, and — what not ; that ominous
black pool, thick with ooze and slime, and fearfully suggestive, by
its very brimstone smell, of the dreadful fate reserved for the young
print, j ust fresh from the printing-frame, full of its fresh purple beauty.
See! it takes the fatal plunge deep into this black ditch, and when
1 we see it again its virgin charms are all gone ! Wan and pale, dis¬
robed of its early attractions, there, in that dark pool, it must in
penance lie, till, forgetting its former self, it emerges, sallow in
hue, black in shadow — with a delusive beauty in its face, but
disease at its heart; for its brief existence it remains a mockery, a
; delusion, and a snare, and fitting triumph for the Sulphur-demon.
Let us hope that these times are past, and that, in a photo-
j graphic sense, the golden age is at hand, when our prints will be
as permanent as they are true. There are some few of us, who
I still linger and look back fondly at the good old hypo, times, who
1 are sceptics as to the “good time coming.” As an off-set to these—
the archaeologists of photography — let us point to the noble monu¬
ment existing in the present Photographic Exhibition, where the
few sulphur-toned prints present show up, by very contrast, the
splendid success of alkaline gold toning.
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothwell.
No. I.
| In commencing my series of papers on the “ Practical Optics of
] Photography,” I conceive it to be the best way in this my first to
j give, in as lucid a manner as possible, such elementary information
as may be auxiliary to a clear understanding of the subject.; for,
though much has been spoken and written about the Optics of
Photography, yet a great want has been felt of something more
practical, simple, and applicable, than the scientific discussions
and treatises which have hitherto been published. Perhaps some
learned men may think it trifling or unnecessary to do so ; but I be¬
lieve many photographers to be as well informed as an old woman
(a neighbour of mine), who said on seeing every fresh picture : —
“ Aw conna mak it eawt what maks t’ picter ! the de’il’s i’ that box,
or else i’ that dark hole !” and, on being told it was the lens, she
would answer — “ Heaw con t’ glass do it? it ne’er sturs !” Many
people have indistinct notions, but few have concise or perfect ideas
on the matter. I therefore propose to take for my general topic
the formation of the image or photographic picture, the manner of
its production, and the numerous ways in which it is affected,
under various conditions, and to divide and sub-divide this under
separate heads.
Light is emitted from all self-luminous bodies (so called because
they are the sources from which it springs) — the sun the principal
one, and it is supposed from all the fixed stars, they being regarded
as the suns of immensely distant systems, and also all flames
and fires. After issuing from any of these sources light impinges
on all bodies within its reach. These bodies are said to absorb. or
suck in a part of the light, and to reflect or turn back the rernaiu-
der. All such bodies are called “ non-luminous,” because light
(although it comes from them by reflection) is not originated or
evolved by them. Now it is this reflected light almost universally
with which photographers have to work, consequently it is their
main consideration.
A ray of light I describe to be the smallest or thinnest conceiva¬
ble straight line of light.
The light of the sun is generally spoken of as being composed of
parallel rays, and for all practical purposes such may be taken to
be the case ; but in truth they are not parallel, for even, the rays
from Sirius, supposed to be the nearest fixed star, and which is im¬
mensely more distant than the sun, are not parallel.
When a ray of light impinges on any object, and is turned, back
or rebounds in any direction, that is what is meant by reflection.
When a ray of light, on striking a transparent body, is trans¬
mitted by it, and, at the same time, bent, or caused to deviate out
of its original direction, that is termed refraction.
If a ray strikes the surface perpendicularly, no refraction takes
place, but it proceeds in its straight course. Refraction takes place
only when a ray enters or emerges from the surface of a transparent
body in an oblique direction.
Reflection occurs always, more or less, whether the ray strikes
the body obliquely or perpendicularly, or whether the surface be
rough or smooth. If a beam of parallel rays strikes a rough or
uneven surface in any direction it is reflected in numerous direc¬
tions ; but if such a beam is incident on a highly-polished flat sur¬
face, it is reflected in one particular direction, with the exception
of what is scattered by the little roughness which always remains
on the most highly-polished surface.
From these simple preliminary definitions and explanations I
imagine any one will readily comprehend, from what follows, how-
in the world the surface of things is illumined by the operations of
the light of the sun, and, resulting from this, the formation of the
photographic picture.
Were it not for reflection many of our days would be nights: we
should have many days and nights during the space of one day
every black cloud would involve us in darkness. One side of a
street or building would be in broad daylight and the other in total
darkness : we should never see the beautiful silvery light of the
moon. Such thoughts as these must convince every one of the
inestimable value of the reflective property of light, and of the in¬
finite wisdom of our great Creator.
When the sun’s rays penetrate our atmosphere, certain variable
effects are produced thereby. On a clear day, when there are no
clouds and little vapour in the air, the rays come through the at¬
mosphere, lighting up brilliantly all those parts of things on which
they fall, leaving the other parts in strong shade, for want of
sufficient reflective light from the sky. On a light day, when the
sky is covered with white fleecy clouds, and little of the sun’s direct
light arrives on the earth, what becomes of it? It is reflected by
the clouds and vapour in an infinite number of directions, and so
illumines everything on the earth, on all sides ; and, resulting from
this, each visible point of all objects reflects light in every direction
in which any or every point is visible. On a dull dark day, the sky
is overspread with thick black clouds, or dense fog : the sun s rays
are then reflected awav from the earth to such an infinite extent,
and absorbed, that very little light falls on the surface of the earth.
Thus it will be seen that the atmosphere and the matter suspended
in it are the primary means by which light is diffused in. every
conceivable direction ; and, secondly, that light after being so
scattered, falls on the surface of all bodies on the earth, by- which
it is still further reflected, producing, so to speak, a universal sheet
of light.
It would be out of place, and unnecessary, here to enter into any
disquisition on the refraction of light by the atmosphere and the
matter in it, by which, in conjunction with reflection, the splendid
prismatic colours, seen most frequently at the rising and setting of
the sun, with those of the rainbow, are evolved.
Perhaps some persons may be ready to ask what all this has to
do with the Optics of Photography, or the formation of the photo¬
graphic picture? We shall see that presently, as well as all tlnongh
my papers.
Now, if we take, or rather imagine, the smallest point on the sur¬
face of any object, with light falling on it in every direction, as be¬
fore explained, it is quite evident that the light will, be reflected m
every direction. If we now place a converging lens in front of that
point a certain quantity of the reflected rays will strike the lens .
the form of that quantum of rays being a cone, the. apex of which is
the point of reflection, its base the lens, and its height the distance
of the point of reflection from the lens, this cone of rays is lefract.ed
by the lens and converged to a point on the opposite side of it :
that point is called the focus, or, rather, the conjugate focus. If the
incident rays were parallel, and struck the lens in the form of a
cylinder instead of a cone, they would be. refracted to a point
nearer the lens than in the above case: this point is termed the
principal focus, or focus for parallel rays, or, more commonly, its
distance from the lens is called tli* focal length ot that lens. . .
In my next paper I intend to introduce a diagram by which, in
that and succeeding papers, to elucidate simply the formation ot
the photographic picture, focus, definition, spherical and chroma, ic
aberration ; the field of view, its flatness, sphericity, Ac. ; and, with
other diagrams and papers, to treat on copying, distortion, the
acting power of light as affected by using various sized stops, and
different focal lengths ; clearness or otherwise ot pictures, as influ¬
enced by lenses, the state of the atmosphere, distance, &c.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
62
THE TESTING- OP USED SILVER BATHS, AND THE
HYDROMETER SILVER METER.
By John Cramb.
rRead at a Meeting of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society,
held on the 7lh of February, 1861. ]
I almost feel sorry to take up so much of the valuable time of this
Society with the subject I have announced. Since, however, we
may exaggerate its importance — there are so many subjects of
much more real value lying at our hands demanding early con¬
sideration — I yet would crave your further indulgence, while I
occupy a few minutes more to explain why I bring this subject
forward now, and how I have been unwittingly brought into the
position I now occupy.
The subject of silver meters — that is, the instruments specially
prepared and advertised for the purpose of testing the strength of
silver baths — had not till very lately received from me any amount
of attention. As I mentioned at a former meeting I had not per¬
sonally used one; for in my more immediate walk, the albumen
process which I had specially in view when I spoke on the subject,
it is not required that the strength of the silver bath should be esti¬
mated. The albumen film, when sensitised, tells with considerable
exactness the absolute strength of the silver bath used, and whether
it is relatively strong enough to the amount of iodide employed.
I have felt this explanation necessary, as it might seem strange
why my brother and I should differ so much on this question,
while we were so intimately associated in the practice of the art
as we are known to be. I am not sure that I shall be justified in
saying Ave test daily all the baths in use ; but if I said so, I am sure
I would not be far from the truth, and that from such frequent
testing we derive valuable information on which we can rely. In
the course of the following paper, I shall lay before you a descrip¬
tion of the plan my brother has long practised for ascertaining
the strength of old silver baths. It is not difficult to understand,
and is, we think, easily manipulated ; but I am certain, if a simpler
plan could be found, such as the hydrometer tester, which would
indicate what we want to know with approximate accuracy, no one
would more readily adopt and recommend it than we should.
About the end of November last the subject of the hydrometer
tester for silver baths was brought prominently before me ; and
at our December ordinary meeting that meter was the subject of
considerable discussion, the question being raised by Mr. MTAtrlane
expressing his doubt if the hydrometer test was of any value
to the practical photographer. At the time that meeting was
held I had a short notice on testing in type, expressing the same idea,
but more immediately in connexion with the practice of the
albumen process, which indeed was the special subject of the
letter in which the notice appeared. That may explain to you
why that process was so prominently in my mind in connexion
with this meter question on that occasion.
You are all aware of what took place at that meeting. Ultimately,
I understood every one present to give up the hydrometer meter
as valueless to the practical photographer, which was just what
anyone would have expected, as, to my mind, it seems that the prin¬
ciple on which the hydrometer tells anything at all, has but to be
clearly understood, to convince any one that, to the practical
photographer, such a bath tester is a snare and a deception, as
I, perhaps, somewhat warmly characterised it. Of old it has
been written that “ a false balance and a false measure is an
abomination.”
At the time I made these remarks I had no idea by whom that
little instrument had been recommended.
Since that time others have denounced this false measure as
unmeasuredly as I did ; but it has also found a champion, who
comes forward and boldly throws down the gauntlet of defiance to
all comers. Joined as this bold man of arms is by two brave
knights, not unknown in the photographic lists, it requires no
ordinary courage to risk an encounter where the odds are so
unequal. “ Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just.” We
need the poet’s encouragement.
It turns out that, some twelvemonths ago, my esteemed friend,
Mr. C. Jabez Hughes, had recommended this little instrument. He
has, in consequence of the declarations of its uselessness, felt called
on to bring the subject before one of the suburban London societies,
by a long paper, in which he gives the results of experiments
made by himself and Mr. G. Wharton Simpson with the several
advertised silver meters. As I was so entirely ignorant of the
connexion Mr. Hughes had with the hydrometer silver meter, or
that he had ever recommended it, I hope I shall be exonerated from
any personal feeling in the matter. I feel disposed to say, with
Febvnary 1.1, 1801
Hamlet, when in a more serious difficulty, “Forgive me if I shot
my arrow o’er the house and hurt my brother.” Enough of intro¬
duction.
I will now proceed to give a short explanation of the plan wo
usually follow in testing old silver baths. Thereafter I will explain
the principle of the hydrometer silver meter. Then I propuso 10
give the results obtained by these tests applied to several of our
own silver baths, and to as many as I could obtain from members of
the Society; and conclude by a few remarks bearing directly
on the paper read by Mr. Hughes at the last meeting of the
North London Photographic Association, and the discussion which
followed.
The members of this Society' are probably', from various
sources, familiarised with several plans of ascertaining the amount
of silver in a nitrate of silver bath, which more or less partake of
the character' of analysis. The plan we practise is based on the
known superior affinity of chlorine over nitric acid for silver.
When hyrdrochloric acid, or a chloride in solution or otherwise, is
added to a solution of nitrate of silver, chloride of silver is precipi¬
tated in the shape of a line white powder, which may be washed,
dried, and weighed, and by this means the amount of silver in the
solution may* be ascertained with certainly , if the manipulation be
performed with sufficient care and exactness. We are in the habit
of doing all sorts of things, on the supposition that such operations
can be performed, so as to give constant and reliable results.
This plan would be far too troublesome for any photographer in
his daily practice ; but a variation of the same thing is easy
enough. Instead of observing the weight of precipitated chloride
of silver, mark the amount of the chloride required to throw down
all the silver in the solution. That is, carefully add the solution of
chloride to the nitrate solution, just till precipitation ceases ; and,
noting the amount of chloride used, you can tell with certainty
how much silver was in the solution tested. In practice, the
chloride selected is common salt, — but so carefully prepared as to
ensure perfect freedom from impurity, as any foreign matter in
the chloride would lead to a corresponding amount of error in
the estimate of the amount of silver in the solution. Mr. Hardwich,
in his well-known work on Photographic Chemistry, gives a plan of
testing old baths based on the above principle, and so have several
others; and no particular claim is meant to be put in for origi¬
nality in the plan.
The atomic weight or combining equivalent of nitrate of silver
is 170, and of chloride of sodium GO. If you put 170 grains of nitrate
of silver in say 170 drachms of distilled water, and in another vessel
dissolve 60 grains of chloride of sodium in say 170 drachms of dis¬
tilled water; then, suppose you add the whole of the chloride
solution to the whole of the nitrate solution, you will just exactly
precipitate all the silver. But if, instead of adding the whole of the
chloride solution, you only add a part, say 30 drachms, how much of
the silver will be precipitated? Just 30 grains; and the same
thing would happen if the nitrate of silver was dissolved in a
greater or less quantity of water. In other words, every drachm of
such a solution of chloride of sodium, added to a solution of nitrate
of silver, precipitates the silver from one grain of nitrate of silver.
There are some particulars in regard to the making up of this
testing solution which it may be well to observe at this point.
The chloride of sodium must be known to be pure. It must be
carefully dried, and accurately weighed. The distilled water should
be accurately measured. All this is quite as easy to do as
described. The portion of the bath to be operated upon should
be also accurately measured, and should be slightly acidified with
nitric acid.
The following is exactly how we proceed in our usual practice;
and, as I think it both an easy and a certain manner of testing old
baths, I am sure you will excuse me the seeming repetition.
Having accurately weighed out 60 grains of pure dried chloride of
sodium, dissolve in 170 drachms of distilled water. A bottle
which is known to hold this quantity is a more convenient and
also more correct method than a large measure with a great sur¬
face, which renders it difficult to observe the exact amount. Mea¬
sure a drachm of the silver solution to be tested. Render acid by
nitric acid. Put this into say a two-ounce phial, wash out the
measure with distilled water, and add the washings to the silver
solution. If you are sure there must be say 20 grains to the
ounce of silver solution, add at once as much of the chloride solu¬
tion as will precipitate the amount of silver. Then add carefully,
little by little, shaking each time you add chloride. Observe how
much chloride you have used before you again add a quantity.
At a certain point precipitation will cease : you may add more
chloride to make certain. But the quantity of chloride used before
63
February lo, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
the point at which you observed there was no more precipitation is
the quantity you found your calculation upon. Suppose a case, and
say it required three drachms of solution of chloride of sodium to
precipitate all the silver from the one drachm of solution operated
on, proving that there were three grains of nitrate of silver present
in the drachm of the bath tested, or equal to twenty-four grains of
nitrate of silver to the ounce of solution.
There does not seem to be much difficulty in using such a test
as this, and for all practical purposes it is sufficiently accurate. I
have no wish in this matter, or in anything else that comes before
this Society, to be the champion of any side, but only so far as I
believe I may be able to aid in bringing out truth. I will now,
therefore, notice some weak points which have been observed in
the methods proposed for testing old silver baths.
It has been suggested that it requires some knowledge of che¬
mistry to understand it, and some acquaintance with chemical
manipulation to perform it with satisfaction. Though that were
true, I could scarcely recognise it as an objection, since all practical
photographers are, to a certain extent, practical chemists. And
if any of them do not understand the nature of the double decom¬
position which takes place in this operation, or cannot perform so
simple a piece of manipulation with the requisite accuracy, I really
think they cannot too soon commence to acquire both.
But I do not think the objection has even that force. The manipu¬
lation in this testing is as simple, as easy of performance, as the
operation daily gone through by every photographer ; and, if any
! one chooses, it may be gone through successfully without knowing
anything of th q principle on which it is based, or how it does indi¬
cate how much silver is in a bath. Does every one who uses a
hydrometer understand the principle on which it acts?
The exact point at which precipitation ceases, it has been ob¬
jected, may be difficult to observe. Practically, we do not find it
so, nor do I think it will generally.
The question has been asked : — “Can you precipitate all the silver
from a nitrate solution?” Mr. Shadbolt is reported to have said,
at the meeting of the North London Photographic Associa¬
tion : — “There is no doubt about the fact that alkaline chlorides
do hold a portion of silver* in solution.” But in the plan of testing
proposed there is no alkaline chloride , but an acid solution of a
chloride, which is presumed not to hold chloride of silver in solu¬
tion. Thus far for theory ; and, so far as I have tried, fact goes the
same way. If by the plan proposed all the silver in a known
solution is shown to be precipitated, that would be a sufficient
practical demonstration ; and it does so. An additional and more
complete proof is to decant off the clear liquid from a silver solu¬
tion so tested ; then to test for silver by such delicate tests as
sulphurretted hydrogen or hydrosulphate of ammonia.
My brother will now show this gone through successfully. He
will precipitate all the silver from a solution of nitrate — Mr.
Brown’s bath, in fact — then filter the top liquor, as time will not
allow us to decant, and he will then try this filtered liquid with
hydrosulphate of ammonia, which will not perceptibly change
the colour of the solution. He will then drop in a very little
(the tenth part of a grain) of nitrate of silver, when you will
observe the dense black precipitate formed, clearly proving that
there was no silver in any shape left in solution after testing by
chloride of sodium. Let me here do justice to my brother in this
matter. To him you are indebted for all the results you see on
the wall behind me, and to him you will have to look for the
careful repetition in your presence of any one, or as many as
you may choose to demand, of the experiments on which these
results have been based. And though it is sufficient to make one
nervous to perform anything like quantitative analyses before a
society, yet I am confident you will be satisfied with his manner
of doing so. I wished you to know that all I had done was to
overlook the performance of the experiments, and write what I
now lay before you.
The hydrometer silver meter, which is more specially the sub¬
ject of my present paper, is just a hydrometer whose scale is cal¬
culated to indicate the amount of nitrate of silver in solution in
distilled water. If you know from any other source that there is
nothing else in the solution than nitrate of silver, it will indicate
the amount with considerable accuracy : and there lies the whole
question. I had the impression that the principle on which the
hydrometer did show anything at all, had but to be clearly stated
to convince any one it never could tell how much silver was
in a solution, if we did not know whether that solution con¬
tained silver or not, or how many other substances it contained,
or what amount of each or either. I pointed out to you, on a
* Chloride of silver is meant, we presume.
former occasion, that an old collodion bath might contain sub¬
stances which would make it lighter than -water — namety, alcohol
or ether, or substances that would make it heavier, such as the
nitrate of potash, cadmium, or ammonium, &c., or redissolved
cotton, &c. Thus we have sources of error in both directions.
An old collodion bath might be tested by the hydrometer tester
and show less silver than there really was, in consequence of the
presence of a large amount of the lighter substances — alcohol and
ether. Set the same bath aside, and in time it will seem to get
more silver, in proportion as the ether and alcohol evaporate,
which they will do much more rapidly than the water. Very old
collodion baths would gather heavy matter (not silver), but would
not nearly in the same proportion acquire, or rather retain, the
lighter substances — alcohol and ether. Such a bath might be
shown by this hydrometer tester to contain the amount of silver
which analysis would confirm.
In the printing bath there is no such disturbing cause. The
error in using the hydrometer is always in one direction. The bath
steadily, the longer it is used, acquires the more of heavy matter —
nitrate of soda or ammonia.
Before proceeding to comment on the table of results of an
extensive series of experiments with the hydrometer test, and
the one I have given as that we usually employ, I may mention
that we have tried all the baths by the specific gravity bottle
as well as by the hydrometer. [Mr. Cramb here showed the specific
gravity bottle, and explained the manner of using it.] All these
results in the subjoined table have been obtained since the Journal
containing Mr. Hughes’s article came to hand ; yet all the experi¬
ments have been so performed, and in many cases repeated so
often, as fully to satisfy us that the results may be relied on.
TABLE SHOWING THE RESULTS OBTAINED BY SPECIFIC GRAVITY BOTTLE,
HYDROMETER SILVER METER, AND ANALYTICAL METHOD DESCRIBED
IN THIS ARTICLE, AS APPLIED TO BATHS OBTAINED FROM VARIOUS MEM¬
BERS OF THE SOCIETY.
Collodion bath from Mr. John Urie . . .
,, ,, Mr. A. Macnab .
,, ,, Mr. J. Bowman .
,, ,, Cramb Brothers, No. 1 .
„ „ „ No. 2 .
Albumenised paper printing bath from Mr. J. Stuart .
,, ,, ,, Mr. A. Robertson ...
,, ,, ,, Mr. II. M ‘Farlane...
,, ,, ,, Mr. D. Brown .
Very old ditto from Cramb Brothers .
Special test baths, from Cramb Brothers —
A new bath for printing, made to 90 grains, 8 ounces of solu¬
tion, used one day, and reduced to 4£ ounces of solution..
The same bath, again made up to 90 grains, 8 ounces of solu¬
tion, used one day, and reduced to 3 ounces of solution...
The same, again made up to 90 grains, 8 ounces of solution,
used one day, and reduced to 4 ounces of solution .
A new 60-grain printing bath, 8 ounces of solution, used
one day, and reduced to 4£ ounces of solution .
The same bath, made up to 60 grains, 8 ounces of solu¬
tion, used one day, and reduced to 5 ounces of solution...
Specific
Gravity.
Grains of Silver per
ounce as shown by
Specific
Gravity
Hydro¬
meter
Tester
Analy.
tlctl
Test.
1055
29
29
29
1059
31
31
34
1063
33
33
25
1050
26
26
28
1058
31
31
33
1179
96
96
84
1128
68
68
63
1196
105
105
88
100
94
1106
56
56
31
1132
70
70
62
1117
62
62
45
1122
66
66
48
1077
41
41
32
1106
56
56
44
I have here all the baths operated upon, except those which
were strengthened and again used, and for additional security I
got the solutions from the other gentlemen in two bottles ; one
open for my use, and the other sealed by them, to be opened here
if you desire me to test them again in your presence. We cannot
go over all ; but a trial of one or two, if the same results be
obtained, will convince you at once of the accuracy of the plan I
propose, and the ease with which it can be performed, and also prove
that we have made our experiments with the required care and
exactness.
In the above table you will observe that in the collodion baths
there is generally more silver in the bath than the specific gravity
would indicate; but in one case (Mr. Urie’s bath) it is just the
same by both tests, while in Mr. Bowman’s bath the error is in
the other direction : the specific gravity shows 33 grains of silver,
and there is really only 25 grains to the ounce, or an error of
8 grains to the ounce — proving the hydrometer tester of no value
for trying collodion baths, as there is no constant ratio of error,
nor is the error always in the same direction.
In the printing baths the error as shown by the analytical test
is always in the same direction. In the very old bath from Cramb
Brothers the specific gravity leads us to expect 56 grains of
silver, while there are only 31, or 25 grains of error to the ounGe,
if we were to measure by the hydrometer test alone. The baths
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, IBtll
01
from other gentlemen are all in the same direction ; the lowest
error being in Mr. Robertson’s, where the difference is 5 grains
to the ounce. The new baths we made up for specially trying
this question, and which we tested daily, and daily made up to
their original strength, show how rapidly the bath acquires heavy
matter not silver, and how it goes on doing so.
In the paper read by Mr. Hughes at the last meeting of the
North London Photographic Association, there is no mention at all
of the theoretical objection to the hydrometer test for used printing
baths. In the discussion which followed the reading of the paper
several members pointed out the source of error arising from
the accumulation of nitrate of soda, ammonia, &c. In reply,
Mr. Hughes does not deny this objection, but boldly appeals
to. his so-called facts as settling the question. Pretty strong
faith this in his own manipulation, to found the upsetting of known
principles on the results of a few experiments performed substan¬
tially by himself! Quite refreshing in fact to find such strong faith
in these degenerate days of prevailing scepticism ! I will not
say one word here as to whether he was justified in placing so
much reliance on his manipulation, even if he were certain his
instruments were accurate. But let us see how many facts he
has to offer. His acceptance of the “hydrometer silver meter”
as a true measure of the amount of silver in an old used printing
bath is founded on just two facts. Fact number one is that an old
albumenised paper silver bath indicated by hydrometer tester 5G
grains of silver to the ounce, and that the three double decomposi¬
tion silver meters used by him gave nearly the same result ; and fact
number two is that a 60-grain silver bath in which two or three sheets
of paper had been sensitised gave similar results. There is no
attempt to explain how this should be in the paper. In the
discussion that followed a theory had to be propounded, and
ultimately between Mr. Hughes and Mr. G. W. Simpson one is
developed. . The combined explanation, then, is, as I understand it,
that very little soda or ammonia does get into the sensitising bath.
Mr. Hughes says “ the fact was overlooked that comparatively
little of soda, potash, or ammonia was dissolved into the bath.”
Where Mr. Hughes gets the “fact” I know not. Mr. Simpson
suggests how it should be — “that as the albumen was coagulated
immediately on contact with the nitrate of silver, that would tend
to imprison the soda, potash, or ammonia, and prevent its rapidly dis¬
solving into the bath.” I quote from the Photographic Neivs, merely
correcting an evident “literal” where “soda” is put for silver.
Mr. Simpson’s theory to support Mr. Hughes’s so-called “fact”
evidently takes for granted that nitrate of soda will be “impri¬
soned” by a film of albumen; that nitrate of soda cannot pass
tnrough a coagulated film of albumen as easily as through paper.
There can be no formation of chloride of silver without the nitrate
of .silver getting to the chloride of sodium , and the same liquid that
brings the one can and will take the other. So much for the theory
to support the so-called facts. But are the alleged facts numbers one
and two really facts ? Mr. Hughes sought to make one meter prove
another to be correct, but failed, we humbly submit, to prove any
of them to be so. If Mr. Wood’s argentometer is not capable of
giving accurate results — which personally I do not for one moment
doubt or deny— it cannot prove the hydrometer tester to be cor¬
rect, though both agree. With known solutions, such as those
specially prepared of ten grains and thirty grains to the ounce,
none of the decomposition meters as used by Mir. Hughes gave cor¬
rect results, and consequently, we would think, proved nothing at
all. Besides, though they had all agreed, and shown the correct
amount of silver when tried at home, the trials before the Society
ga\ e so monstiously inaccurate results when used on a known
30-gram solution, that we cannot accept them in evidence to prove
another plan of meter to be capable of giving true results. I have
copied out Mr. Hughes’s table of results both at home and before
the Society, and have them here on the wall before you. Let us
look at them as applied to a 10-grain solution and a 30-grain one,
both known to contain that amount of silver : —
MR. IIUGIIES'S TABLE OF RESULTS.
! Hydrometer
1 Silver Teeter.
Wood's
Argentometer.
Horne Co.*s
Bath Tester.
Hockin’s
Argontometcr.
A no v 10-grain bath, tested at home... | 10
ii
12
12
A new 30 grain bath, tested at home... 1 30
A new 30 grain bath, tested atmeetingj
f North London l’hoto. Association.] 30
31
29
81
32£
48
Now, observe it is much easier trying these weak baths than
stiong printing baths, as, in the latter, the smallest error in mea¬
suring the quantity to be tested is so much more fatal to accuracy
m the one Bran the other.
Look along the first line 10, 11, 12 — twice the same figures, but
the wrong one 12 instead of 10. Horne and Ilockin agree, you
think; they arc in some way similarly affected. No, no! these
two do not again agree. Look below, and you find the one 20 the
other 31, and again the one 27$ the other 48. You think, perhaps,
the same instrument will nearly agree on several trials. rJ uke
Wood’s first — 11 on a 10-grain; 3 times 11 is 33. No! on a 30-grain
solution at home it gives 31, and at the Society s meeting 32L
Horne and Co. is no more fortunate in Mr. Hughes’s hands. A
10-grain solution gives 12 — 3 times 12 is 36; not in argentometry.
A 30-grain bath is 29 tried at home, and 27$ at the meeting <>f the
Society. Hockin’s clever instrument makes 10 grains appear 12 —
3 times 12 is 36; only 31 by Mr. Hockin’s argentometer, used by
Mr. Hughes at his leisure. Before the Society it does good service —
makes a 30-grain bath appear to have 48 grains of silver. Seriously,
gentlemen, do you consider these results worthy of consideration?
Complete befooling, to call such a tissue of contradictions facts in
the presence of a scientific society !
But give him everything. Suppose all his results had for onco
agreed : how meagre to base a theory upon ! Still more so to upset
known established principles ! I come before you with an array
of fourfold the amount of evidence, and all the other way — all
going to support known principles of chemical and hydrostatical
science.
After laying before the Society the table of so varying results,
and the still more varying results obtained in presence of the
Society, I really cannot understand what Mr. Hughes means by
such a sentence as the following : — “ I am happy to bear testimony
to the usefulness and practical approach to perfection of the
gentlemen’s instruments whose names I have mentioned.” The
advertisers of these instruments will have reasons to say, “ Save
us from our friends !”
Mr. Hughes gives up the hydrometer tester as inapplicable to
collodion baths. In doing so he has fallen into another error.
He says : — “ This instrument, then, is not fitted for solutions of this
character (collodion baths); but, as the errors are only on one side,
even this peculiarity may occasionally be useful, for it never can
register MORE nitrate of silver than the bath contains — always less."
The italics and capitals are Mr. Hughes’s. I have shown you that
collodion baths may be in a condition in ordinary use to indicate
either more or less silver than they really contain, and have given
you my edition of facts to support that statement.
There are several other points I would wish to refer to in the
paper of Mr. Hughes, but time will not permit. Let me conclude by
a quotation I wish applied equally to my results as to those of others,
now as well as at any other time. Mr. May all, addressing the
London Photographic Society, said, some time ago : — “Crude ex¬
periments should as far as possible be denounced and discarded by
the Photographic Society. They serve only to retard progress,
and, as Lehmann says, ‘It were better for the cause of science had
it never been weighed down by the unprofitable and crude burden
of these analyses.’ ” *
- -
ON A SENSITIVE DRY COLLODION PEOCESS.+
By Moms. M. A. Gaxjdin.
The problem which at the present moment most occupies the
attention of photographers is, without doubt, the attainment of a
dry collodion process which shall equal in sensitiveness the ordi¬
nary wet method, and also admit of the film retaining its sensibility
for a lengthened period. In England there exists a company formed
to carry out the process of Dr. Hill Norris. It sells, at the price of
a little less than a halfpenny the square inch, dry collodion plates
read}’- to receive the impression, which have, it is said, very great
sensibility. Moreover, there has been formed a society of amateurs,
whose object is to make researches so as to arrive at satisfactory
formulas for a dry collodion process that shall possess the highest
degree of sensitiveness. The processes experimented upon by that
society rest in general upon the use of a coating applied after
sensitising the film. The editor of Photographic Notes has written
an article upon the subject tending to prove that the solution of the
problem must depend rather upon the combination of bromide
with iodide in the collodion.
In reading that article I thought Mr. Thomas Sutton was about
to indicate the solution of the question which will be the subject of
this article, but my expectations were not realised.
In writing upon the employment of iodide of silver, a method for
modifying that body has occurred to me, and which I have long
had the intention of trying. This I now propose describing,
* Vide Journal of the Photographic Society, Vol II., page 105.
t From La Lumiere.
February 15, 180 lj
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
05
as 1 think that the vast field of inquiry which it opens up
cannot be sufficiently examined except by the co-operation of
experimental photographers, and to which investigation I hope to
contribute my share at the first opportunity.
Every one remembers the extraordinary impetus which was
given to the daguerreotype process from the day when the dis¬
coveries of MM. Claudet and Fizeau enabled them to obtain a
sensitiveness fifty times greater than had been previously attain¬
able — reducing minutes ot exposure to as many seconds, and that
only by causing the action of bromine to succeed that of iodine.
As soon as I became acquainted with the employment of iodised
paper for the production of negatives, and also with iodised albu¬
men and collodion for the same purpose, it occurred to me, from
reasoning by analogy, that it might prove advantageous to modify
these processes in a similar manner to the treatment of the
daguerreotype plates ; but I never made any experiments in this
direction. The addition of a bromide to an iodide is an idea that
has occurred to most persons. However, it is still doubtful
whether the sensitiveness produced by such addition is greater.
It is often believed that the sensitiveness of the collodion is thus
doubled ; but it would be nearer the mark to say that, in general,
the addition of a bromide contributes rather to the perfection of
the negative than to the diminution of the time of exposure. This
is not surprising, the analogy being founded on words and not on
facts — which is a very different matter, especially in chemistry,
where the least circumstance overlooked changes entirely the
conditions so as often to produce results quite contrary to those
anticipated.
When for the collodion process we add a bromide to an iodide,
we are very far from producing anything analogous to what takes
place upon submitting an iodised silver plate to the action of bro¬
mine. In the collodion process the iodide and the bromide of
silver are produced separately, side by side. Light acts upon each
individually, and the result is the sum, or, to be more exact, the
mean, of two modifications; whilst upon the silver plate it is the
particle of iodide which undergoes the action of bromine. There
xesults necessarily a complex compound which contains at the
same time silver, iodine, and bromine — the whole in proportions
which may vary indefinitely, the maximum effect for producing
a practical daguerreotype being only ascertained after a great
number of trials,
(To be continued.)
STEREOGRAPHS.
Fountains Abbey, and the Beauties of Derbyshire, by Thomas
Ogle, Preston.
There are few spots more prolific in subjects for the photographer
than that on which Fountains Abbey stands ; indeed, this vene¬
rable ruin appears to be inexhaustible in affording “ food for the
camera ” of a class peculiarly adapted for stereographic illus¬
tration. It has been visited by several of our most eminent
operators — Bedford, Fenton, Woodward, Ogle,! and others; and
when we fancy we have seen Fountains Abbey from every possible
point of view, whether as a whole or in detail, we are astonished
to find another and still another subject from it almost ad infinitum.
Haddon Hall, in Derbyshire, possesses somewhat of the same
protean character as regards aspect under different circumstances,
and from different points of view, and we do not remember to have
ever visited any other monument of antiquity with which we have
been so much delighted ; in fact, Derbyshire rests in our memory
as one of the greenest of green spots — a locality where we obtained
rest, recreation, and health, at a time when all three were much
needed.
We now proceed to notice particularly some of each series above
indicated ; and, first, wre must draw attention to those illustrative
of Fountains Abbey, amongst which, No. 195, The Cloisters,
looking south , is a gem of the semi-interior species, in which the
sunlight, streaming in from the partially-open side upon the floor,
is reflected-upwards and inwards, so as to display the pillars and
arched roof in the soft-mellowed radiance that gives such an air of
calm repose.
No. 201, From the Chapter House, looking toivards the Re¬
fectory , is an extremely picturesque “ bit ” for an ordinary picture,
but doubly so as a stereoscopic subject. The semicircular arched
doorway, with part of the Refectory wall, is seen through a similar
arch belonging to the Chapter House, itself adorned with a scanty
wreath of ivy, not hiding but embellishing the crumbling stone
mouldings.
No. 191, Fountains Abbey from the West, is a beautiful slide,
though its beauty consists not in the Abbey, of which an insignifi¬
cant portion is seen from a pathway leading up to a wooded
elevation in the grounds; but the charm exists in the beautiful
combination of some noble trees, amongst which we can distinguish
the beech and the sycamore, and through the branches of which
the ruin is just perceptible. Numerous scattered leaves bestrew
the pathway, unmistakeably testifying of the autumnal season,
even had we not been informed that it was taken at that period of
the last very unpropitious year for photographers’ work. It is a
slide with which none can fail to be charmed.
No. 192, Tiie Tower from the West, is another most artistic
production— -a complete picture full of detail, half-tone, and atmos¬
phere. The tower is slightly veiled with the leafless branches
of a couple of trees, around the stems of which a dense clothing of
ivy is packed as if to shelter their aged bodies from the blasts of
the quickly-coming winter’s winds. The ground is undulating,
and on the left a thicket of evergreens and deciduous shrubs still
in tolerably full leaf is noticeable, and the roadway cutting through
the grass in a graceful curve. The atmospheric effect of this slide
is truly beautiful.
No. 207, Ancient Bridge over the River Skell, is the desig¬
nation of another specimen illustrative of the glories of the vege¬
table kingdom ; for the bridge, an uninteresting piece of brickwork,
forms so minute a portion of the picture that, but for the name, it
would stand every chance of being overlooked altogether. A small
portion of the river acts as a central light to the composition ; and
from each of the banks the stately stems of many magnificent elm
trees rise, their numerous branches quaintly and tortuously inter¬
lacing overhead ; while the little lateral sprays, sparsely adorned
with leaves after the manner of elms when lopped, bristle up the
stems, and are here and there contrasted with the leaves of a stray
bramble.
No. 208, Near Fountains Abbey, is another charming study of
foliage, or rather of woodland scenery. It is in such subjects as
the one before us that we sigh most for the glories of colour. Ex¬
quisite as it is, yet in the many-tinted foliage of autumn it must
have been infinitely superior to anything that the photograph can
recoi'd, and must have been gorgeous in its fast-fading hues.
We now come to the Derbyshire beauties, amongst which are a
series of eight, illustrative of Haddon Hall. No. 173, from the
North-West, is a view of the edifice as it is seen when approaching
it from Bakewell, and is taken from the bank of the turbulent little
river Wye, which winds and twists in its course like a writhing
snake ; but just at this spot the waters are smooth and tranquil as
a mirror. The entrance by which access is gained to tho building
i3 just hidden by the trees on the right hand. It is only a side-door
leading from near tho stables to the domestic offices, amongst
which, by the way, are included what were once the chaplain’s
quarters. On the left of the roadway an empty open carriage is
standing, and, as a counterpoise, on the opposite side is the omni¬
bus, in like condition, which brings the daily party from Buxton.
No. 175, The Entrance Tower, shows the doorway that was
noticed as hidden in the last-mentioned slide.
Nos. 182 and 183 are both views taken from the west, which is
the direction in which the Hall is seen by the visitor approaching
from the Rowsley Station.
No. 174, Haddon Hall and the Remains of the Ancient
Bridge, from the West, is, however, the slide which gives the best
general notion of the spot. With a thickly-wooded background
and natural sky, the Hall half hidden amongst the trees on the
rising ground with the eagle tower standing out prominently, and
a portion of the river in the foreground sweeping round a clump of
bullrushes, it will be conceded that the elements of a very pretty
landscape are existent.
No. 180, The Terrace, and the flight of steps leading up to it,
must of necessity be the favourite. Quaint and curious, telling of
old-world habits, it is a perfect romance in itself. Who that has
any imagination can for a moment look on this flight of broad and
shallow stone steps, flanked by the massive balustrade, without in
fancy beholding the stately dame, with powdered hair and ample
skirt stiff with brocade, ascending towards the cool avenue of yews
by which the terrace is adorned ?
We possess another excellent illustration of this spot taken in
the opposite direction by Mr. Hill, the treasurer ot the North
London Photographic Association.
No. 171, Peveril Castle, near Castleton, apart from its value
as a picture, must always possess an interest from the association
of the subject delineated with one of Sir Walter Scott’s most popu¬
lar works, Peveril of the Peak , this being the scene where a part of
CO
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 18i
the action is laid. But independently of this association, the sub¬
ject is a highly interesting one ; but to those who have not seen it
description will give a faint idea of it.
Of The Lover’s Leap, Asiiwood Dale, there are three charm¬
ing slides (Nos. 164, 165, and 166), all excellent; but No. 165, that
in which the little waterfall forms a prominent object, is our
favourite. Hemmed in by huge perpendicular rocks, adorned with
graceful ferns, and blocked up by the large leaves of the coltsfoot,
this little natural fall is as pretty in a miniature kind of way as
some of the more imposing Scotch falls.
No. 159 is a View in the Serpentine Walks of the public
gardens at Buxton. These gardens are much frequented by the
visitors to Buxton ; in fact, they are one of the most prominent
features of this favoured locality. Natural beauties, aided by art
so skilfully as to let all art be concealed, are here turned to the
best account. The gardens are situated on both banks of the river
Wye, which though here but a small stream, has a propensity of
winding about in all directions to an extraordinary degree; and,
in addition to several trifling falls with which the gardens are
favoured, this tortuosity of the stream allows of the introduction
of numerous ornamental rustic bridges. Few who have visited the
spot will be able to pass by this slide.
The last which we have to notice is No. 162, representing
another celebrity in the Buxton neighbourhood — the entrance to
Poole’s Cavern — which is perhaps more interesting as a picture
than in nature.
The whole of the preceding series are executed with Mr. Ogle’s
well-known skill, and printed in a manner to increase his already
well-earned reputation.
ON A METHOD OF PRODUCING STEREOGRAPHS
BY HAND.
By Prof. Ogden N. Hood.
Sir David Brewster, in his Treatise on the Stereoscope (London,
1856), page 135, after describing a method of projecting the picture
seen by one eye, of a symmetrical, geometric solid, and of obtain¬
ing by reflection from a mirror a drawing of its stereoscopic com¬
panion, states : — “ When the geometrical solids are not symmetrical,
their dissimilar pictures must be taken photographically, from
models, in the same manner as the dissimilar pictures of other
solids.”
Upon page 200 of the same work he states that though appa¬
ratus may be photographed directly, yet that stereoscopic diagrams
can only be executed by the use of models made of wire , which
are to be photographed in the usual ■way.
The same author, in the article “ Stereoscope,” Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica, vol. xx, 1859, p. 690, writes:-— “As no artist, however skilful,
is capable of executing two pictures of any individual object or
group of objects, as they are seen by each eye separately, the
stereoscope was of little value before the art of photography
enabled us to take such pictures with the most perfect accuracy.”
In addition to these statements, which would seem to imply
the impossibility of producing stereographs by hand, I have not
been able to learn from scientific friends nor from professional pho¬
tographers that any process is now in use to effect this end,
except the laborious and imperfect one of geometrical projection.
Under these circumstances, I venture to describe a simple method
of drawing stereographs, which possibly may supply a want in
this department.
When we examine attentively a photographic stereograph with
the aid of micrometrical measurements, and adopt the left-hand
picture as a standard of comparison , we find that the right-hand
picture is an exact reproduction of it, with one important excep¬
tion, viz., that in the right -hand picture the position of an object,
little more distant from the spectator than the immediate fore¬
ground, is shifted a small distance toward the right hand ; objects
farther back have their position shifted still more to the right
hand, &c.
This is illustrated by fig. 1, where A is in the immediate fore¬
ground, and D in the background.
Now, if we had a single drawing
in perspective, of a house for ex¬
ample, and could produce a facsimile
of it, this would evidently answer
for the left-hand picture. If we
could again reproduce this drawing on the right hand of the slide,
with all the objects or points in it back of the immediate foreground,
1.
D
D
C
C
B
B
A
A
2.
shifted to the right hand the proper distances, wo should have
pair of pictures, which when combined in the stereoscope wo
give relief.
To accomplish this is the object of the machine shown in fig.
Itconsists ofaboard,10in. by 14
in., having a square opening 0
in its centre, 5 inches wide; this
is covered by a plate of glass
which is let into the wood and
lies even with its upper surface.
The slider C is moveable in the
mikfa
iildMilMMm
ll\
direction indicated in the figure : C"^
its motion is effected by the
screw A, which acts against the
India-rubber band I : the screw
and its support are removable
at pleasure. The mirror M
serves for illumination ; the
shade B moves on hinges, and
regulates the amount of light
which falls on the paper while
the drawing is being made.
To produce a stereograph, the object or objects to be represent
are drawn in perspective with ink on writing paper; this is oil
to render it transparent, the excess of oil is removed, and thedrav
ing is attached with a drop or two of gum-arabic to the glass plat
which is completely exposed by the removal of the slider. T1
under side of the latter is covered with ordinary writing paper
with thin paper, and is slid into the machine till the drawing
seen under its left half, the screw having been previously remove
In this position it is fastened securely by a screw at C, and tl
drawing is traced slowly, line by line, until as perfect a facsim
as can be made by hand has been produced : this is the lcft-luii
picture.
The slider is now moved toward the right hand a distance
2*6 in., and the screw with the India-rubber band attached.
An object, or a small portion of an object, in the immediate foie-
ground is now traced ; then the screw is turned slightly so as to
throw the next object, or the remainder of the first object, slightly
toward the right hand where it also is drawn, &c. Thus we ad¬
vance slowly toward the background, turning the screw each time
that depth is to be represented. This in practice is a very simp'
operation, and if the displacements toward the right hand have
been rightly proportioned the effect produced is good.*
The process is also a rapid one, for it consists only in makin
two tracings.
The question now arises as to the total amount of displacement
allowable, and as to its proper distribution.
If a number of stereoscopic photographs are examined it will be
found that in those where the sum of all the displacements is not
more than one or two-tenths of an inch the two images are readily
united, and a good general effect produced ; while in those where
this quantity is as great as three or four-tenths, difficulty is
experienced in effecting the union.
Taking then '2 of an inch as the maximum total displacement
allowable, the method of its distribution from foreground to
background can be calculated in the following way : —
Let ER be the distance between the eyes
= 2-5 in., QD = 6 in. the nearest distance o
distinct vision; CD=lin. A small object
being placed at D and another at C, the eye
E sees the two objects projected in the line
FGf at C and D ; the eye R sees the same
objects at D and c”. Here the total dis¬
placement, adopting the picture seen by the
left eye as a standard of comparison, is
equal to the distance cc". With the pro¬
portion—
cc"
QC : EQ = (1-25 in.) : : CD : cD= —
2
we have at once the value of this quantity. In like manner this
displacement on the line FG for 2, 3, 4 or any number of inches
from Q is readily calculated.
As an example I subjoin the following table applicable to small
models : —
For the 19th inch above 6 inches,
* It will sometimes happen that portions of objects in the background which were
hidden in the left picture are brought into view in the right-hand representation. This
offers no practical difficulty, for the indicated additions are readily made.
February 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
67
Total displacement.
for the 25th
inch .
—
0
26
. 1-922
55
55
•022
27
. 1-940
55
55
•040
28
. 1-960
55
55
•060
29
55
55
•080
30
55 .
55
55
TOO
31
)) .
55
55
T16
32
55 . .
55
55
•133
33
55 .
55
55
•145
34
» .
. 2-058
55
55
T58
35
)) •••••••
. 2-072
55
•172
36
J1 .
. 2 082
55
55
•182
well executed form almost a substitute for the real illustrations.
Photography for obvious reasons is not well adapted to this
class of objects.
By colouring differently corresponding parts of two stereoscopic
pictures, or by the application of colour to only one, the other being
allowed to remain white or black, or by completing certain parts
of the drawing only in one picture, many appearances connected
with subjective optical phenomena can be represented with a de¬
gree of perfection unattainable in a single picture.
Prof. H. W. Dove, ( Farbenlehre , p. 166) has studied the effects
produced by colouring two stereoscopic drawings differently,
though I am not aware that he has made this application of the
results he obtained.
By slightly rotating the instrument around a line perpendicular
to its axis, as was remarked to me by Prof. B. Silliman, Jr., many
of these views are greatly enhanced. The phenomena of com¬
plementary colours, and many other facts of physical optics not
otherwise within the reach of most students, may also, as the
same gentleman has suggested to me, be rendered intelligible by
the stereoscope without the use of costly apparatus. The
stereoscope is thus capable, in the hands of an expert teacher, of
a far wider range than was at first seen.
At the suggestion of Dr. W. Gibbs I have also made a few
stereoscopic drawings of crystal models : these can be drawn by
this instrument with perhaps greater facility and rapidity than any
other class of objects.
The accompanying stereoscopic diagram was drawn with my
apparatus without reference to tables.
Outline sketches of every description, stereoscopic drawings of
ideal objects, or objects not in the possession of the draftsman, are
by this process readily executed — problems evidently beyond the
power of photography.
Finally the drawings thus made can be transferred to wood and
stone and reproduced by the thousand.
Troy, Oct. 11 th, 1860.
€ f \ x b x 1 x 0 it & ,
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
[second notice.]
In our number for 15th January we announced the opening of the
Eighth Annual Exhibition of the London Photographic Society, and
As in using this table objects in the extreme foreground are
supposed to be 25 inches distant from Q, we have for them not a
displacement 1‘900 in. but 0 : for the 26th inch, viz. the 1st inch of
depth in the picture the quantity ‘022, &c. Thus if we know the
distance from the spectators of the objects to be represented, they
can be located on the stereograph. In the same manner tables are
constructed which apply to objects placed at greater distances
from the eye. Indeed after some practice very tolerable stereo¬
scopic representations of many objects can be made without refer¬
ence to such tables, as the annexed stereoscopic diagram of a
crystallographic model demonstrates.
This process was originally devised by me for the production of
stereoscopic representations of optical phenomena, which when
drew attention to the principal features which it presented, men¬
tioning particularly some of the works possessing the greatest
amount of merit. We have since paid several visits of inspection,
and find no reason to change the opinions then expressed. There
are evident signs of unohstrusive, steady progress, it is true, but
no striking advances to record ; indeed, the wonder rather is, con¬
sidering the very disheartening character of the past season, that
there are not indications of a retrograde character. It is probably
owing to the unparalleled bad weather that there are so many of
the old exhibitors totally unrepresented in this year’s collection.
The portraits exhibited by M. Claudet, Messrs. Carrick, Lock,
and Whitfield, and others, attract a considerable share of atten¬
tion (particularly the coloured specimens) from the lady visitors.
There are many well-known faces to be recognised — amongst
them, the late Lord Macaulay, Sir David Brewster, the Lord Chief
Baron, Sir F. Pollock, Dr. Becker, Mr. P. le Neve Foster, &c., &c.
But passing by these, with which we have but small concern, we
will make the circuit of the room from west to east, making a
note of such observations as occur to us during the passage. On
glancing through our note book, and comparing it with that which
we took on the previous occasion for the same purpose, we are
surprised to find how closely the two coincide, with one prominent
exception — few or none of the works which were noticed beforo
having escaped a second memorandum, and but few others having
been added on the second occasion.
We are first arrested by two capital pictures by Mr. Wardley
(Nos. 314 and 315), which, though rather too grey in tone, are
both excellent photographs, taken by the Taupenot process.
The first-named, Castle Cray, Borroicdale, has been treated as
regards the sky in the manner adopted bj' Mr. Mudd, and we must
affirm that the additional excellence of effect imparted is well
worthy of imitation. The other subject is The Head of Winder-
mere Lcdce.
A Spanish subject, The Doorway of the Church of Santiago
(No. 309), by Messrs. Cundall and Downes, is very artistically
rendered. Mr. Gordon favours us with several subjects from the
Isle of Wight. He is a good photographer, but in nearly all of his
contributions we think he has erred grievously in taking them upon
such large plates, and on so large a scale as he has chosen. The
size, in our opinion, is a particularly unfortunate one — too large
for an album, not large enough for suspending in a room. It also
has the disadvantage, as regards most of the subjects delineated,
of not allowing the operator to get a sufficient distance from them
08
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
February 15, 1861
to include all that it would have been desirable to have inserted,
besides occasionally^compelling the selection of a point of view
inferior to what might have been chosen had smaller plates and a
lens of shorter focus been used. We make this observation being-
familiar with many^of the spots illustrated.
To the Panorama of Raglan Castle (No. 279), by Mr. F. C. Earl,
we before directed attention. It is, in our judgment, a very meri¬
torious production, cleverly printed upon two pieces of paper, and
more perfectly joined^than we have ever before seen accomplished
where more than one sheet has been required to be used for one
subject. The water in the moat surging round the angle of the
edifice is very telling,* andj'the angle itself is almost stereoscopic
in its effect. From a little carelessness in the mounting and
framing, some of the perpendicular lines, which really are straight,
appear to be crooked ; andjwe*notice the fact in order to save the
reputation of the maker of the lens by which the picture was taken.
A frame containing “four subjects (No. 2G5) from Canterbury
Cathedral , by Mr. S. Thompson, displays the evil effects of at¬
tempting to construct lenses possessing the quality falsely called
depth of focus. There is a total want of brilliancy and an indis¬
tinctness pervading the whole of these specimens which are
certainly not the fault of the operator so much as of the tools he
has employed.
We next come to Derwentivater, loolcing toioards Borroicdale
(No. 264), by Mr. Roger Fenton — a work which we mentioned in
our last notice as being somewhat in the style of Mr. Wilson.
We are, however, constrained to admit that, on a closer scrutiny,
there are several defects which become apparent, of a character to
cause its position to be decidedly below that of Mr. Wilson’s pro¬
ductions in artistic value. We have already stated that we found
one important exception in the opinion derived from our former
and our more recent examination of this collection — it is that we
discovered a considerable number of Mr. Fenton’s works that we
had altogether passed over, not having been sufficiently attracted
by them to ascertain the name of their producer, and certainly not
recognising Mr. Fenton’s style therein. They are altogether
unworthy the reputation of so celebrated an artist. But for the
fruit and flower pieces, to which we adverted in our former notice,
we should say Mr. Fenton was unrepresented: these we still find
as charming as before, despite the absence of colour, which we are
fain to admit would much enhance their value. By far the larger
number of landscapes displayed this year by this photographic
veteran are heavy, dull, flat-looking affairs; and even the few
exceptions to this description are not crisp and vigorous as of
yore, but partake of a dreamy character highly suggestive of un¬
reality. We fear much that Mr. Fenton has proved an inconstant
swain — that he has transferred his affections from the camera to
the rifle. Let us hope, as we once heard a Frenchwoman phrase it
— -a little questionable as to the object — qu'il sera ramene a lavertu.
Mr. Dixon Piper contributes, in No. 251, a Lane Scene , which,
though a little hard, is picturesque and very suggestive. His Study
of Foliage (No. 155) is an exquisite “bit,” which we find noticed
before.
Mr. J. H. Morgan has not exhibited this year so many excellent
pictures as usual. They are scarcely equal to his former contri¬
butions either from an artistic or a manipulative point of view.
Those on the third screen, numbered 486 to 490, are amongst the
best of them, and with one or two we have no fault to find.
We now come to a mass of Mr. Heath’s productions, which,
though not numbered consecutively in the catalogue, are in reality
all collected together. With these as a whole we are dissatisfied;
yet Mr. Heath is entitled to no small amount of commendation.
The printing is excellent, the subjects generally good — some of
them unusually so — and the treatment, that of one with an eye for
artistic excellence ; but there has been one influence at work that
was unconquerable, and which, with a single exception, has more
or less marred the whole. This malignant spirit is no other than
that which the poet has called “ rude Boreas;” and certainly he
has been decidedly uncivil during the exposure of Mr. Heath’s
plates, which all more or less display the impress of his inter¬
ference. The exception alluded to does not apply to the absence
of the malevolent interference, but to its success in spoiling the
work — which, on the contrary, has probably gained by it, as it has
induced the operator to present us with a beautiful subject in a
beautiful setting, and which, in spite of the most perfect skill in
vignetting, we much question whether the effect now given could
have been attained but for the restlessness of the foliage when
exposing the plates for taking the negative. The subject of our
remarks is the Gardener's Cottage at Endsleigh (No. 230). We are
not attributing the beauty of this picture to “an accident;” but
Mr. Heath has very cleverly taken advantage of an accidental
disturbing cause to effect an object which without it would have
been far more difficult, if not impossible, fn a few of his other
plates he has carried the development of the negatives a little too
far, thus introducing a snowiness of appearance into some of the
high lights of the foliage.
Raglan Castle must be in the same predicament that Punch some
time back asserted was the case with H. It. II. the Prince Consort,
viz., that there is no possible way left for him to have a portrait
taken without repeating what has been dono before. There are
numerous representations in the present exhibition of Raglan
Castle, by several different operators ; and, if we add to them those
that have been displayed in former years, the total would be almost
enough to fill the entire gallery. Amongst those that have tiied
their hands upon it, Mr. F. Dunn is by no means one of the least
successful — witness Ncs. 197,201, and 216, as promising much merit,
both manipulative and artistic; in fact, they are very charming
pictures.
MM. Bisson Freres enjoy considerable reputation, and deservedly
so, as photographers, and their Alpine Vieics aro amongst their most
popular productions. No. 198, The Col du Geant , and (206) View
on the Alps , are well worth attention; but, excellent ns they are, ar¬
tistically considered, we have some doubt about their truthfulness,
for we do not well perceive how the skies can have really presented
such an appearance as indicated by the photographs, except at mid¬
night, when we fancy it would have been somewhat difficult to have
taken the views. Joking apart, here is a case in which veracity
has been, to some extent, sacrificed to tho picturesque, and we do
not say unjustifiably so.
EXHIBITION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
OF SCOTLAND.
My peripatetic habits and good fortune have again led me to
the “land o’ cakes” at the right moment, an 1 with a short space
of time at my command to saunter about among the results of our
much-loved art in canny Scotland.
As I anticipated, there are not nearly so many productions this
year as formerly ; but we experimenters with the camera all know
“the reason why.” The past season was peculiarly unsuited for
all out-door operations, and therefore I was prepared for an Exhi¬
bition of little else than portraits; but, to my surprise, these
amount to less than a third of the whole. One wall is almost
entirely covered with pictures of paintings and engravings by
Mr. Hering, of London. They are beautiful to look at, but not
“ the right thing in the right place” in a photographic exhibition.
They are, however, better than a naked wall.
Instead of two there is only one screen this year, which greatly
lessons the hanging space, but leaves sufficient for the pictures.
They aro very well arranged, and few will have cause of complaint
against the committee on this occasion, as none can say their pic¬
tures are too high, requiring the visitor to mount a ladder to
view them, as has been hinted on previous occasions.
On looking over the list of exhibitors’ names in the catalogue,
there is a sad lack of those of the local professional men. Out of
the list of twenty-seven firms, which I observe to be the number
of photographers in the Edinburgh Directory, only three have had
pluck enough to mingle with the amateurs; and these bold men
are Messrs. Tunny, Moffat, and Dallas.
Out of 160 members composing the Photographic Society of
Scotland, there are only twenty-seven exhibitors, embracing Great
Britain — yea, even extending to Russia; for in that distant coun¬
try the Society claims one of Scotia’s sons as belonging to its
body.
The entire exhibitors from all parts of the world are eighty-one
in number, including X, Y, Z ; and, notwithstanding the clanship
of the nation, all that is Scottish in the Exhibition is but a mere
bagatelle, and that the production of amateurs. A more appropriate
designation for the Society would be “ The Universal Photographic
Society ” — dropping the nationality. Be that as it may, we will
now, if you please, inquire “ who is who ?”
Messrs. Hay, M‘Craw, Henderson, Taylor, Farmer, Ritchie,
Truffit, Smith, Ross and Thomson, and last, but not least, our
much-esteemed friend and confrere , Wilson, of Aberdeen, are to be
found nowhere in the catalogue ; so you need not wonder that the
Exhibition is somewhat sparse, and the number of subjects com¬
paratively limited.
The principal contributors, in the order of the catalogue, are : —
Messrs. Claudet, 23 pictures ( cartes de visites and portraits) ; Dal •
las (Scottish), 23 ; Fenton, 30 ; Heath, 14 ; Hering, 57 ; Maxwell
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
00
February 15, 1861]
Lyte, 20; Lamb (Scottish), 26; Moffat (Scottish), 21; Mudd, 18;
Musgrave (Scottish), 15 ; Raven, 25; Tunny (Scottish), 21. These
twelve gentlemen contribute not much short of half the pictures in
the Exhibition — in all, 283 subjects. They are highly deserving
of our thanks ; for, without them, Scotland would not be apparently
able to provide the treat for us “ southroon loons ” (as they say in
Aberdeen) when we happen to take a run down for a few days to
our favourite “ Auld Reekie.”
The works exhibited by Maxwell Lyte are many of them ex¬
ceedingly beautiful this season. They are principally magnificent
subjects, embracing fine broad, deep, fertile valleys, with lofty and
distant congeries of precipitous mountains receding far away in the
distance, and capped with snow.
Vernon Heath exhibits fourteen very bright sunny pictures, all
landscapes, artistically chosen, embracing several beautiful views
of the mansion and the surrounding park scenery of an English
gentleman, with a winding rivulet, and bosky glens on each side of
the stream. The farm-house standing on an eminence — the slope
down to the meandering river sparsely spotted with umbrageous
trees — the irregular fields, divided from each other by undulating
hedge-rows — with gently rising ground receding far into the dis¬
tance — form charming landscapes, which I observe some purchaser
of taste has prevented going back to England ; for if I am not mis¬
taken they are all marked as “sold.” They are toned and finished
very much after the manner of H. White’s wheat-fields that used
to be admired so much in former years— an artist whose name, like
many others, is this year absent altogether.
Mr. Mudd has some very similar subjects to that which gained
for him the prize in the previous Exhibition. They are smaller in
dimensions, but composed of the same elements. However, I think
he is behind Maxwell Lyte on this occasion ; but I speak generally,
not having had sufficient time to examine them with that minute
care which would enable me to form a decided judgment on the
respective works, and I am therefore only giving you the salient,
outstanding points as they happened to strike me on a first visit to
the Exhibition. I shall endeavour to repeat my visit and note
down some further particulars for your Journal when I can find an
opportunity of addressing you at some other stage of my journey.
Mr. Lamb, of Aberdeen, is a large contributor this year, and 1
hope to have something favourable to say of his productions, for
his and Fenton’s (which are also numerous) will be sufficient to
occupy another visit.
Mr. Raven, as usual, comes out strong in the wax-paper process ;
but he is fairly distanced in his own walk by a brother clergyman —
the Rev. R. H. Witherby — who contributes four subjects. Trinity
College , Glenahnond (No. 11), is very fine in its chiaroscuro, being a
lofty bank of trees, in gorgeous foliage, surmounted by a noble pile
of building — the light and shade being spread over it in sweet per¬
fection. I have seen nothing else so good from wax-paper.
A striking contrast to those of Mr. Witherby are two pictures
(Nos. 304 and 305) by W. Walker, both landscapes, and both also by
the wax-paper process. I think, if memory serves me right, I have
seen something very superior to these from Mr. Walker’s portfolio
before. These two are remarkably poor. In one of them is a piece
of water, which might be very well represented by the head of a
cask of beer in active ferment, working off the barm! That is
exactly the idea it calls up to my mind. It is true, the season was
very untoward ; and some photographers allege that there ought
to be a hospital for the wounded and diseased, and that failures
often teach more than undeviating success.
I have just had my attention called to an article on the Exhibi¬
tion in the Edinburgh Scotsman , in which there are some remarks
about Mr. H. Robinson’s Holiday in the Woods with which I cannot
agree. The editor must have been in one of his reveries about
the “ Cardross case ” or the “Edinburgh Annuity Tax” when he
passed that manuscript to the printer’s devil. You will no doubt
have seen the article (which has been copied by one of your con¬
temporaries), therefore judge for yourself. Thus remarks the
Scotsman: — [Rejlander’s] “admirable cartoon of the Two Ways of
Life, which, besides containing some thirty figures, grouped artis¬
tically, was embellished with a landscape background. Excellent
as that work was, it wanted the vitality and sentiment with which
Mr. Robinson has imbued the present compositions, and which
constitute them works of intellect.” Alas, alas ! the writer must
have “ greatly dined ” when his critical eye viewed the two pro¬
ductions, for they are “as water is to wine,” and will not bear
comparison for a single moment. I am far from seeking to detract
from Mr. Robinson’s artistic productions in that direction. They
are very praiseworthy, and if he has not yet proved entirely suc¬
cessful, he deserves to be, and I hope eventually will be so.
There is a large number of cartes de visiles, by Mayall (whose
case is the poorest exhibited), Tunny, Moffat, &c. ; some very
interesting specimens of enamel on glass, by Joubert; micro¬
photographs, by Bryson ; and a host of stereoscopic slides, by
Moffat, Walker, Wilson (exhibited by Waterston), Bryson, Orange,
Davies, &c.
I have now given }Tou a somewhat general outline of the con¬
tents of the present Exhibition, and must here bring my remarks
to a close. If time and business permit, I will endeavour to jot
down a few more notes for your next number. SEL D’OIi.
thtqs af SantlifS.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held on Tuesday evening, the 5th
inst., at Eight o’clock, at King’s College, — C. B. Yignolles, Esq., F.R.S.,
Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chaikman regretted the absence of their President, the Lord Chief
Baron, who prayed to be excused from taking the chair on this occasion
on the grounds of ill health and the fatigue of attending the opening of
Parliament. The first business was the election of them officers.
The following gentlemen were then, after some discussion on the method
adopted for the appointment of the Council, unanimously elected officers
of the Society for the ensuing year : — •
President.
Sir E. Pollock, F.R.S., Lord Chief Baron.
Vice-President.
Professor Bell, F.R.S.
Treasurer.
A. R. Hamilton, Esq.
Council.
Ti-ie Earl of Caithness. J. G-. Crack, Esq.
Warren Be la Rue, F.R.S. E. Kater, F.R.S.
Walter Hawkins, F.S.A.
Rev. J. R. Major, F.S.A.
T. R. Williams, Esq.
F. Bedford, Esq.
Roger Fenton, M.A.
N. S. Maskelyne, F.R.S.
C. T. Thompson, Esq.
G. Stokes, F.R.S.
H. White, Esq.
Professor Delamotte.
J. Durham, F.S.A.
Arthur Farre, M.D., F.R.S.
J. D. Llewellyn, F.R.S.
Professor Wheatstone, F.R.S.
Mr. Hamilton, the Treasurer, in the absence of Dr. Diamond, the Secre¬
tary, read the annual report and the balance-sheet.
REPORT.
In submitting to the members of the Photographic Society the eighth annual report, the
council beg to congratulate them on the scientific position now attained by the Society,
and on the general recognition accorded toit as representing photography in this country.
On presenting the report for the past year, the council trust that the efforts made by
them to guard the interests of the Society, to uphold its position, and to promote its
welfare, will meet the approval of the members.
The plan of throwing open the rooms of the Society in order to promote social inter¬
course among the members, and to afford opportunities for study, although conceived in
a spirit which met with general approval, was found unsuccessful when practically tested.
It was therefore determined at the last yearly meeting, that notice should be given of an
intention to vacate, at midsummer, the premises occupied by the Society at an annual
cost of more than £300.
Through the courtesy of the authorities of King’s College, a place of meeting more
suitable, °and equally convenient, was rendered available. The council at once accepted
the liberal terms, and trust that, both as regards expediency and efficiency, the change
will meet the approval of the meeting.
The expenditure entailed by retaining the premises in Coventry Street during the first
six months of the year was unavoidable ; t ut it may be now fairly assumed that the
change of premises will materially reduce the expenditure.
At the last annual meeting there was presented the report of the committee appointed
to invest! at j and decide on the relative merits of such collodions as were submitted for
examination under the only conditions to which such a committee could fairly accede.
To sanction the admission of preparations w ithout information as to the precise process
<f manufacture was of cou; se unwarrantable; and to test the properties of collodion
supplied in insufficient quantities to allow of thorough examination would have been
merely wasting the valuable time of the gentlemen who undertook the investigation.
The council can only regret that specimens of the productions ot the numerous makers
of collodion were withheld, but think it right to mention that every detail in the manu¬
facture of the preparation approved by the committee has since been fully published,
ace; r.iing to the terms of competition. The expenses incurred du. ing the investig ;ti n
amounted to nearly fifty pounds. ...... . . , .
The Journal has during the past year chronicled in its columns not only the pro¬
ceedings of the Society, together with the transactions of the Photographic Society of
Scotland, but has al-o recorded the details of vaiious new processes, and the latest
inventions and improvements in the lieliographic art, often accompanied with illustra¬
tions, and afforded information on all current subjects of interest to both scientific and
practical photographers. As a mere record of the proceedings of the societies, the
Photographic journal would have caused a heavy annual loss to the Society, as the
expense of publishing their transactions does entail on most scientific societies. The
actual cost of supplying the Journal has amounted to £90 17s. 3d. The total cost of the
year's printing and publishing has been made up by advertisements, winch attest the
almost universal adoption of photography as a lucrative art. There are now several
publications devoted exclusively to photography wheie there was formerly only one ;
and to this cause the publishers attribute some diminution in the advertisements, which
gives rise to the small loss on the Journal above mentioned.
The presentation to the subscribers of plates illustrating the processes of Colonel Sir
II Janies and Herr Pretscli entailed an expense of £20. The specimens of the photo¬
graphic process of M. Joubert, issued with the number for June, were presented by
that gentleman for distribution, and involved no expense to the Society.
The loss standing to the account of the Exhibition for 1S60 will, there is good reason to
believe, not attend’tlie admirable collection of photographic pictures this year. The ex-
70
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1861
penses of the Exhibition of 1830, up to the end of January, were about £60, and tiie
receipts £76, leaving a profit of £16 only; whereas a clear profit (allowing for similar
expenses) has accrued of £50 during the same period of the present Exhibition, when the
long continuance of wet and foggy wea‘ her e specially interfered with the success of an
exhibition held before the commencement of the season. The year which began so
disastrously to photographers was equally unfavourable throughout : of continuous
bright weather, affording both the opportunities and stimulants to work, there was
literally none ; and to this cause may be probably attributed the dissolution of several
photographic societies which had local habitations.
It is hoped that some of the members of these societies will, in the season now com¬
menced, join the Central Society, as the observations of photographers working in the
country, and away from towns, where “ houses thick and drains pollute the air," are
especially valuable.
During the past year the governments of this country and on the continent have on
several occasions officially recognised the importance of photography in ordinary scientific
research, in advancing education, and in preserving authentic records of the stirring
events of the time. The expedition which visited Spain under government auspices, for
the purpose of securing photographs of the eclipse of the sun, most satisfactorily main¬
tained the high repute of English photographers. The results obtained evinced the
scientific precision and exceeding skill of the gentlemen who represented this country ;
and we are proud to say that Mr. De la Rue, Mr. Yignolcs, and others, are members of
this Society.
Photographers accompanied the brilliant campaign in Italy by Imperial command ;
and the choicest and rarest works of ancient art in the museums of this country and
abroad are now, under Government orders, produced and made known to thousands by
the aid of photography.
The Society desire to sound a note of preparation to the members of this Society and
to English photographers generally. The photographic section will form an important
part in the Exhibition of 1862; and the council beg to suggest that every effort should be
made during the forthcoming season to ensure that this country shall be worthily repre¬
sented. The earliest information as to the arrangements of the photographic section will
be published in this Journal.
The council have felt sincere regret at the loss of their colleague, the late Mr. P. W.
Fry. From the first commencement of the discovery, by M. Daguerre, of a process by
which light was made to impress upon a silver tabiet the images it illuminated, Mr. P. W.
Fry became an earnest student of photography. He was amongst the small band who
commenced their labours ere yet Mr. Fox Talbot’s earliest photogenic (so-called) pro¬
cesses were fully developed, and before the publication of the calotype process. So
earnest was Mr. Fry, that he purposely visited Falmouth to make the acquaintance of
Mr. Robert Hunt, who was reported to have become one of the most successful of the
earliest English photographers. Under Mr. Fry's auspices a photographic club was
formed; and Mr. Cundall, who did so much towards rendering the Calotype a manage¬
able process, and Mr. F. Scott Archer, to whom we owe the use of the iodised collodion,
were frequently seen at those agreeable gatherings.
Eventually Mr. Roger Fenton, aided by Mr. Vignoles, conceived the idea of a Photo¬
graphic Society. The suggestion was warmly entertained by Mr. Fry, Mr. Robert Hunt,
and a few others. They were naturally desirous of enlisting Mr. Fox Talbot; and
several preliminary meetings were held, at which Mr. Talbot was present. The object
of these meetings was to endeavour to induce that gentleman to relinquish some of his
claims, in favour of the Photographic Society. Mr. Talbot, however, claimed so much,
and, although professing liberality to tbe young society, his conditions were in every way
so stringent, that it was resolved (mainly on the representaion of Mr. Fry) to reject the
offer which Mr. Talbot, no doubt, conscientiously, felt was all he could concede.
To the efforts then made by Mr. Fry and his friends must be referred the ultimate re¬
moval of the objectionable restrictions, and the freedom of photography from the shackles
of the patent law.
Much discussion has arisen respecting the introduction of the use of collodion ; and
Mr. Fry’s name has been mixed up with that discussion as if he were a claimant for the
discovery of the collodion process. This Mr. Fry never was. The facts were as fol¬
lows ; — Mr, Hall, of Dartford, who purchased Schbnbein’s patent for the manufacture of
gun-cotton, was the first to exhibit the film formed from the ethereous solution of gun¬
cotton : the collodion film so formed was used in the hospitals to protect abraded sur¬
faces from the air. The beauty of this film attracted the attention of photographers ;
and many endeavoured to avail themselves of it. Collodion was spread on glass, on
paper, and on other substances ; and films of chloride and iodide of silver were pre¬
cipitated on the collodion surface, and pictures (very poor ones) were obtained. The
earliest application which Mr. Archer made of the use of collodion was for the improve¬
ment of his paper surface ; for, being then engaged as a sculptor, he saw the service
photography would render his art ; and as such he took up the study, that he might
retain resemblances of objects which he had executed, and which would pass away from
his hands. At length, atone of the meetings of the Photographic Club, held at Mr. Fry’s
house, some really beautiful specimens of collodion pictures were exhibited by Mr.
Archer, being the production of a friend to whom Mr. Archer had imparted his dis¬
covery, and who had worked with much earnestness in carrying out Mr. Archer's
original ideas. Some little time elapsed, and many pictures were circulated, before Mr.
Archer developed publicly his secret of uniting a solution of the iodide of potassium with
ethereous solution of gun-cotton. Mr. Fry especially urged Mr. Archer on in his discovery,
and rendered him the means of bringing it fairly before the public. By this happy dis¬
covery the collodion was made an active agent in the delicate process ; and from this we
date the great extension of the art of producing pictures by sunshine.
When Mr. Fox Talbot commenced his action against La Roche, Mr. Fry most zealously
assisted the defendant. lie left no stone unturned to bring into court a sufficient amount
of evidence to show that the collodion process in no one example could be involved by
Mr. Fox Talbot’s specification ; and very great was Mr. Fry’s delight at the success which
crowned his efforts. It is not necessary to speak of the many experimental modifications
which were introduced into our art by Mr. Fry ; several of them are recorded in the
Society’s journal. To the late Mr. Fry the Society owes much. He was one of its
founders, and, to the period of his death, was one of its warmest supporters.
The council have to express regret that the accounts for the current year show a con¬
siderable deficit, although the general balance proves that the Society has ample means
to discharge all claims against it. Certain expenses, unavoidably incui-red during the
year (which have been referred to in detail), will be very much diminished, or entirely
avoided, in future.
In conclusion, the council have much pleasure in announcing that during the ensuing
year there will be presented to each member of the Photographic Society a print selected
from the present Exhibition.
Mr. Feter Le Neve Foster moved tliat the annual report and balance-
sheet be received and adopted. This motion having been seconded,
Mr. Malone said he could hardly allow the report to pass without some
comment on his part. Some allusion was made in that report to their late
member, Mr. Fry; and in passing a just tribute of praise to his memory,
the writers of the report had thought fit to refer to certain matters that in
times past had raised unpleasant feelings, he referred to Mr. Talbot’s
jiatents. Statements were made in the report which did not appear to
lim to be correct, and he considered that it was written with a party
spirit which he had hoped had died out long ago. He would have been
silent upon this occasion had not this long-forgotten feeling manifested
itself so strongly in the wording of the report, he therefore felt bound
— looking upon Mr. Talbot as a friend — to offer a few observations upon
the subject. For instance, the report stated that Mr. Fry began his work
before Mr. Talbot’s process had been fully developed. That was a gratui¬
tous assertion, made for the puiqiose of exalting Mr. Fry’s reputation at
the expense of Mr. Talbot.
The Chairman said he thought Mr. Malone’s good feeling and good
taste would have prevented him from bringing Mr. Fry’s name into dis¬
cussion. That gentleman was dead. Mr. Malone should recollect the adage,
“ De mortuis nil nisi bonum,” and throw no reflection upon him.
Mr. Malone said the maxim was a very good one, but each must
judge for himself to what extent it should be applied, under circum¬
stances like the present one. He simply wished to correct an erroneous
statement of what were now historical facts, and he could assure the Chair¬
man that he had no other object in view. The fault he found was that
the writers of the report had brought Mr. Fry’s name into collision with
that of Mr. Talbot. It was said that Mr. Talbot’s claims, if admitted,
would patent the use of the sun itself. He complained that such a state¬
ment was incorrect and unjust.
The Chairman : No such statement appears in the report.
Mr. Malone repeated that the words used in the report were : — 11 Fatent
the use of the sun altogether.”
The Chairman observed that the words used were: — “They declined to
accept his proposals, as, in so doing, they would almost acknowledge his
right to patent the use of the sun.” That expression did not bear at all
the meaning Mr. Malone wished to give it.
Mr. Malone said Mr. Talbot made no such claim. It was an invidious
remark to make in a report of the Society, as it threw an imputation upon
that gentleman that lie did not deserve.
The Chairman : Nobody said Mr. Talbot made such a claim.
Mr. Malone said he must appeal to those listening whether these
statements did not contain charges against Mr. Talbot ; or whether, at all
events, his name was not brought invidiously before the Society so as to
cast odium upon him. It must be recollected that the verdict on the trial
was a mixed one, and owing to the judge’s want of information with
regard to their science he did not place the points properly before the jury.
The Chairman said: Now you are attacking the judge who presided
at the trial : this cannot be allowed.
Mr. Malone remarked that what Mr. Fry did was done for a given
purpose, and in the same partisan spirit that pervaded the report.
Mr. Archer’s name was also introduced in a laudatory manner, calcu¬
lated to prejudice Mr. Talbot’s reputation.
The Chairman said that gentleman’s name was not introduced in the way
Mr. Malone suggested. Everybody joined in giving praise to Mr. Archer.
Mr. Malone was going to state that Mr. Archer had told him at one
of their meetings that if he and Mr. Talbot had put their heads together
they might have made a nice thing of it. That would show his dis¬
position with regard to the law of patents.
The Chairman said he really must stop this discussions Mr. Malone
had commenced with the assertion that there was a certain spirit dis¬
played in the report. He must say that no person had shown such a
spirit except Mr. Malone himself. It was exceedingly bad taste on the
part of that gentleman to make such observations.
Mr. Malone stood strictly on his right to speak, and he appealed to
those present as to whether such a spirit existed or not. He maintained that
Mr. Talbot did not endeavour to throw obstacles in the way of amateurs.
The Chairman s id he recollected that at the time the general impres¬
sion was that Mr. Talbot did endeavour to throw a great many obstacles
in the way of amateurs, and it made a very strong and deep impression
on everybody connected with photography. Mr. Talbot retracted after¬
wards but it must be in the recollection of some of the members that
at the time Mr. Talbot endeavouredtomonopoli.se the art of photography.
Mr. Malone said that he had been told by Mr. Talbot himself that he
did not wish to prevent amateurs practising the art, but he -wished to in¬
demnify his licensees by requiring amateurs to sign a paper, whereby they
bound themselves not to practice photography for profit. Mr. Hunt did
sign such a paper, and thought the requirement a perfectly fair one. He
thought he ought to state such facts as these, in answer to the odium the
report threw upon Mr. Talbot’s proceedings. Fie looked at the matter
historically, and any warmth he might have shown was more external
than internal. He should not have mentioned the subject had it not
been for the expressions used, and he should not move any amendment on
the report, as his purpose was answered in making the protest he had done.
The Chairman said he thought if that alone was Mr. Malone’s object,
he might have obtained it by means of a very few -words, and without
showing the animus he had exhibited. Considering how highly they
esteemed Mr. Malone’s character, he must say he had listened to him
with very great pain.
Mr. Foster’s motion, “that the report be received and adopted,” on
being put to the meeting, was carried by a majority, but the show of
hands on either side was very small.
The Chairman called attention to some photographs before him, photo¬
graphed on boxwood, by Mr. Bolton ; and also to some engravings, from
photographs on wood, engraved by that gentleman.
Mr Hughes read a paper On Albumenised Paper and Alkaline Gold
Toning. [See page 59.]
The Chairman said he was sure the meeting must be exceedingly
obliged to Mr. Hughes for his paper, which so judiciously mingled wit
February 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
71
and wisdom. The ball having been set rolling, he trusted somebody
else would take up the subject.
Mr. Hardwich stated that his reason for wishing to bring the subject of
albumenised paper forward was that a superior kind of paper than any
they could obtain at present was much required. More depended upon
the paper now than in the old times ; and he knew that operators
frequently could not succeed with Xormulse which ought to yield good
results. He had been much struck with a former paper read by Mr.
Hughes, and as he did not coincide with that gentleman’s opinions he
had invited this discussion. Some years ago he was a member of a com¬
mittee of this Society nominated for the purpose of examining the various
papers used in photography. He found the qualities of some papers
totally different from those mentioned by Mr. Hughes. A paper which he
found soft that gentleman considered hard and one that would be readily
albumenised ; whereas English paper, which Mr. Hughes stated to be soft
and porous, he found hard and good. What they wanted was a mode of
sizing their paper so as to produce an article suitable for the alkaline
chloride of gold toning process. He had examined that process with great
care, and it appeared to him to give the greatest security for permanent
results ; hence if was only required to determine the proper conditions of
the albumenised paper to be worked in conjunction with it. Whilst work¬
ing on the committee he came to the conclusion that a great deal depended
on the composition of the size. By taking two different kinds of starch¬
sized papers he observed that there was a great difference in the colour
of the photograph, and some samples of papier Rive he had worked with
fulfilled all the desiderata. Albumenisers, however, complained that they
could not get this paper uniform — one sample being porous, and another
being hard. Some time ago a gentleman who called upon him at King’s
College showed him an English paper which he found nearly as good as
Rive paper. It yielded agreeable tones, free from mealiness and all the
other defects alluded to by Mr. Hughes. He did not know, however,
whether this paper was uniform ; but surely what had been done in
England once could be done again, and if so, the paper might in future be
obtained at home, instead of their having to 'go abroad for it. He was
informed that the water-mark was stamped on all paper bearing the name
of “Rive,” whatever its composition might be.
Mr. Hughes suggested that that fact might account for the different
opinion Mr. Hardwieh and himself had formed regarding the character of
the same paper.
In reply to a remark by the Chairman, Mr. Hardwich said the nature
of the fibre, whether linen or cotton, would alter the effect, but not so
much as the composition of the sizing. He should try to obtain a tone
of red from the paper, which, being corrected by the blue colour of the gold
rocess, would give the warm purple tone they so much admired. He
ad found that an acid entered into the composition of some commercially-
albumenised papers ; and the question then arose, if acid were to be
used, which acid was the best for the purpose ? He had tried two or three
experiments with the view of ascertaining the effect of various acids upon
albumen. He found that citric acid liquefied the albumen, so that it would
even run through filtering paper readily, and yet left a strong gloss upon
the paper. It must not be supposed that limpid albumen gave less gloss,
or that by the admixture of gum to thicken it, would yield a better gloss,
the fact being just the contrary. Exposing the albumen until it became
sour would also make it run easily and give more gloss ; but it was not so
suitable to work with as when acid was added to fresh albumen, on account
of the decomposition and disagreeable smell. In adding acid great care
must be taken not to use too much, as it interfered with the toning process.
He had, however, found that the commercial paper containing acid toned
sufficiently quickly, and gave pictures of a good colour, although the
paper he experimented on did not tone so quickly. He gave up the use of
citric acid after a few trials, since it appeared to him to interfere with the
toning, at least with the paper he then used. He desired to obtain, ifpossible,
a plain paper that coloured quickly, and then to use an albumen contain¬
ing acetic acid, which would not interfere much with the toning. They must
agitate for a better supply of paper ; at present they were entirely in the
hands of individuals who did not understand what photographers wanted.
Mr. Malone said he had taken some active steps with regard to the
paper used in photography, having been engaged in experiments at a
paper mill some years ago. Nothing could be done by individuals in
the matter, and therefore it was necessary that the Society should take
the matter up. The difficulty was that manufacturers did not consider
it worth their while to put all their ordinary course of business out of
order for the purpose of making the necessary experiments required of
them by photographers. In England we were not in the habit of making
these kinds of paper. If we could but get the foreign makers to do
something for us it would be a great gain; but they would not do so.
They kept secret their method of sizing, on which a great deal turned.
Our own paper was sized with alum and gelatine, whereby atmospheric
causes sometimes spoiled its effect. A resinous soap was used by some
French manufacturers; and it was just possible that on coming into
contact with acid the resinous matter, which resisted water, would be
liberated unevenly into the paper, and the albumen would not be so
likely to take upon the resinous surface. That might be the reason of
some of the paper not working properly. If they treated such paper
with a weak alkaline solution, which would alter the nature of the sur¬
face and act upon the resin, they might then try whether the albumen
would take better. Those who prepared the albumenised paper for sale
differed as to whom they considered the best makers. In his judgment,
therefore, the Society ought to endeavour to induce some paper manu.
facturer, possessed of adequate machinery, to take the matter in hand-
The paper might be made from linen, or what was called “ govern¬
ment canvas.” There was some difficulty in using that paper sized by
gelatine, and it might perhaps become necessary to introduce the size
into the pulp. He thought the French put the size into the pulp, and
then passed it through rollers, so as to iron down the fibres, and thus
give a smooth surface. This plan, in his opinion, was much better than
putting the sheet of unsized paper into the size; and, if possible, we
should adopt that method. He was afraid that if they did not get up a
joint stock company of their own they would never obtain a good paper.
He must, however, say that, in his opinion, many of the bad results com¬
plained of arose out of the neglect of the old and recognised method of
working. He had seen albumen used in such a state of putrefaction as
to be of a buff colour, and in that state the sulphur and phosphorus it
contained must be liberated by decomposition. He knew that pictures
sent into the trade were frequently taken upon paper prepared from
albumen in that condition for the sake of the high gloss and the rapidity
of printing attained by its use. This sort of pictures were likely to fade,
and were in fact almost fraudulent. Good paper albumenised with
fresh salted albumen, would give every quality of surface they required.
Then with respect to the proper quantity of nitrate of silver to be used
in the bath. Photographers frequently, perhaps from a notion of
economy, did not use a sufficiently strong solution. Sometimes a solu¬
tion of 100 grains strength was used to obtain a rapid effect; and
good effects might be obtained from a bath of 60 grains to the ounce,
but in general it was far weaker than it ought to be. Mr. Hughes had
mentioned sulphur when referring to fixing and toning. He was not
going to advocate sulphur against gold, but he must say that there were
unfaded pictures toned by the old process staring them in the face ; and
it was not yet absolutely proved that the alkaline gold process was per¬
manent, as any portion of silver remaining in the picture not rep aced
with gold would be attacked by sulphur. He might add, in favour
of the old process, that there were unfaded pictures now in existence
that were toned by it in 1844.
The Chairman : So that the devil is not so black as he is painted.
Mr. Shadbolt was surprised to find himself in a very insignificant
minority with regard to the present discussion, as he well remembered
that his colleague on the printing committee, Mr. Hardwich, had formerly
thought well of a specimen of English paper which he (the speaker) con¬
sidered the best of all the various kinds examined by the committee.
This opinion was one of the few which he shared also in common with Mr.
Sutton. The paper to which he specially made allusion was that made by
Mr. Hollingsworth, and sized (he believed) with gelatine. He admitted,
however, that paper sized with gelatine was more troublesome to mani¬
pulate, and that Avas one of the reasons why a preference was shown in
favour of starch-sized paper. The former was more difficult to albuinenise
and more difficult to sensitise than the other, in consequence of its tendency
to curl up when laid on the bath. A great deal had been said about
mixing a small quantity of acid Avith the albumen; but from experiments
he had made years ago, he thought it best to proceed in exactly the
contrary direction, by mixing a small quantity of free ammonia Avith the
albumen. That mixture gave a high gloss, and did not cause the albu¬
men to run in streaks ; but, in using it, especial care should be taken to
hold the paper before a brisk fire as soon as it was removed from the
albumen so that the drying might proceed rapidly. He Avished also to
refer to a paper read some time ago at Manchester, by Mr. Mable}', Avho
experimented rather extensively upon various subjects connected Avith
printing. That gentleman therein stated that papers sensitised upon a
nitrate of silver bath, rendered slightly acid with nitric acid, Avere found
to tone more readily in the subsequent operation than those excited in
either a neutral or alkaline silver bath.*
Mr. Henry Bohn had great experience in all varieties of paper, but did
not know before that evening there Avas an}' difficulty in obtaining the proper
description of paper for photographic purposes. He Avas sure that there
were manufacturers Avho would be glad to undertake the necessary ex¬
periments for discovering the best material and method of making it.
It ought to be made from pure Avhite linen rag, and to be sized probably
with vellum size, which, although largely used by foreigners, was not
much used in this country on account of its expense and the difficulty
of procuring it in quantity. They could get first-class paper from three
makers, A\rhose names he would communicate privately to any member
who desired to know them. In case of difficulty he Avould advise the
members to make experiments by sizing the paper themseh'es, as it Avas
a very easy process. He could tell them thaA the foreign paper Avas not
usually made of pure linen — that there Avas not one ounce that was not
made up, and he wondered how they could use it at all. There Avas a
great deal of woody fibre in it, which, from causing hard spots, Avas in¬
convenient to the photographer.
The Chairman thought it Avould be strange if, Avitli a great demand and
without any great restriction as regarded price, they could not induce
manufacturers to make them a paper suitable for their purposes. But
photographers should specify beforehand what they wanted, or, at all
events, state what must not enter into the composition of the paper. It
might be a question Avhether some of the neAvly discovered materials for
making paper AA-ould not answer their purpose exactly. For instance,
might not straw paper be made useful ?
* See page 128 of our last Volume.— Ed.
n
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1861
Mr. Bohn said straw paper would not do at all: it must be made either
of linen or cotto ■, or half linen and half cotton.
Mr. S Davis, in referring to the hydrometer alluded to by Mr. Hughes
for measuring the strength of nitrate of silver solutions, said he objected
to it on the ground of its uncertainty when anjr substance was present
to decompose the nitrate. The most certain and simple way of ascer¬
taining its strength was to dissolve eighty-eight grains of chloride of
sodium in sixteen ounces of water, half a drachm of this liquid being
exactly sufficient to convert one grain of nitrate of silver into chloride,
an ordinary glass minim measure being all that was required for the
purpose. By adding a single drop of chromate of potash to the nitrate a
red colour would be imparted to it, which would vanish the moment the
entire conversion took place, and thus the exact amount of silver salt in
the bath could be estimated with certainty.
Mr. Thomas said he objected to the use of English papers on account
of their being all sized with gelatine, and thus, as a rule, they did not give
so good a colour when working with them as the foreign papers, which
were sized with starch. He always used papier Saxe for albumenising,
which, although rather difficult to manage, gave an agreeable colour. The
best paper ought to be hard, not very absorbent, and should, when shaken,
have quite a metallic ring. He might mention one point respecting
toning by the alkaline gold process, namely, that the more albumen
there was used the greater difficulty there would be in obtaining the
darker tints. He always used pure albumen with sufficient water to
dissolve the chloride, and modified his effects by adding more or less
water. It was also necessary to pay particular attention to the tempera¬
ture when albumenising the paper; for if the paper were kept in a damp
place, and then brought into a hot room, the albumen would be un¬
equally absorbed, which would probably account for the faults usually
attributed to defects in the paper. He always albumenised in a tem¬
perature of 70° and he had never experienced any of the ill effects com¬
plained of. Something might be due to the condition of the eggs used,
and to the method in which they were broken, as great care ought to be
taken not to allow any particles of the germ or yolk to be mixed with the
white. In using th e, papier Saxe care should be taken to albumcnise the
proper side. In answer to Mr. Hardwich, he said he found he got on
very well without the use of acid, and therefore he did not use it.
Mr. Shadbolt asked Mr. Thomas what he called “ an agreeable
colour,” when he said such was given by a starch-sized paper, as he
found there was great difference of opinion on that subject, and he re¬
garded that produced by Hollingworth’s paper as preferable to the cold
tone of a starch-sized paper ?
Mr. Thomas replied that that was a matter of opinion : he might refer to
Mr. Bedford’s pictures in the exhibition as the kind of tone he admired.
Mr. Sutton exhibited some stereographs, which he said might be con¬
sidered as good types of various methods of printing and toning.
Mr. Hughes thought it would be a pity to close the discussion that
night, as he had purposely omitted several important points in his intro¬
ductory paper, in the hope that other gentlemen would take them up.
The further discussion was then adjourned to the next meeting.
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 30th ult., at Eight o’clock, at Myddleton Hall, Upper Street,
Islington, — -George Shadbolt, Esq., V.P., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman announced the following contributions to their Port¬
folio : — Seven copies of views in Devonshire and North Wales, presented
by Mr. Bedford, and a photograph presented by Mr. How. He had also
received a letter without a signature — he fancied from a new member —
complaining that the portfolio was seldom to be seen. He begged to state
that any member could have it for a week, on application to the Secretary,
unless it were previously engaged by some other member, in which case
the applicant’s name would be placed on a list, so that he might have it
in the order of his application.
Two copies of engravings, photographed by Mr. Lauder, were exhibited
— one toned by the old acid and hyposulphite bath, and was three years
old, and the other was toned by the alkaline gold process. A vote of
thanks was passed to Messrs. Bedford, How, and Lauder for their contri¬
butions.
Mr. Woodward, of Nottingham, and Mrs. Champian, of Eltham, Kent,
were proposed and declared duly elected members of the Society.
Mr. Hughes read a paper on How to Ascertain the Amount of Silver in
a Nitrate Bath; with. Remarks on Silver-bath Meters . [See page 43.] At
its conclusion he remarked that in relation to the experiments that he had
recorded, so important did he consider them, and so anxious was he to
avoid error, that he had asked the assistance of a gentlemen of undoubted
qualifications, Mr. G. Wharton Simpson, who kindly gave him the best
part of one day to aid in verifying and working them out.
Mr. Hughes then proceeded to test the different instruments, and was
aided by the Chairman, who examined the quantities of each of the
solutions used, and recorded the results obtained. -The silver solution
tested was the new 30-grain one previously experimented on.
The hydrometer tester registered exactly 30 grains, Mr. Wood’s
argentometcr 32 \ grains, and Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite’s bath-
tester 27J grains to the ounce. Mr. Ilockin’s instrument appeared to lie
rather out of order, and therefore the result shown was disregarded.
In conducting the experiments Mr. Hughes availed himself of Mr.
Heiscli’s suggestion of adding to the silver bath a minute quantity of
solution of bichromate of potash before the addition of the standard solu¬
tion. This caused a deep red precipitate of chromate of silver. The
saline test was then added with confidence, for the colour of the precipi¬
tate showed exactly the point when to cease; the last drops required
changing it from a junk to a clear white. This additional test was as
much admired for its elegance as for its certainty. Messrs. Horne and
Thornthwaite, in their published directions for using their instrument,
recommended this addition, as well as pointed out the exceptional circum¬
stances under which it ceased to be efficient.
Mr. Hughes explained that the results obtained in their presence
were certainly less accurate than those performed by Mr. Simpson and
himself in private: this he attributed to the difficulty of reading off the
glass tubes by the gas light. In Mr. Ilockin’s instrument it was very
necessary to be careful, as the standard solution being more concentrated,,
every drop lost caused serious error.
Mr. Hughes next experimented on a jiortion of a negative nitrate bath,
which, it was stated, did not work well. It was supposed to be of a 30-
grain strength, but, when tested by Wood’s argentometcr, was found to
contain only 26 grains. Before he left home he had tested it, and made
it 22£, so that, taking a mean of the two experiments, he must judge it
to contain 24J grains, and this he thought was very probably one of the
causes, if not the cause, of its not working well. In another bath, also
sujqiosed to be a 30-grain one, which he had examined because it did
not work in a satisfactory manner, he found the strength to be 25 grains.
He thought that many times when baths were supposed to be out of
order, the main trouble arose not only from the accumulation of organic
matter, but the deficiency of silver also. In such cases one of the
standard solution tests must be used, as the hydrometer could not be
relied on in consequence of the ether and alcohol. He regretted that
none of the gentlemen were jiresent whose instruments he had used, lie
had forwarded notes of invitation, and acquainted them with the subject
of the paper. Messrs. Hockin and Wood had informed him that they
were jirevented by jirevious engagements.
Mr. Barber inquired from Mr. Hughes whether the hydrometer would
give a correct result when jilaced in a 30-grain solution of nitrate of
silver, to which 20 grains of chloride of sodium had been added (thus
forming a solution of 10 grains of nitrate of silver, and an equivalent of
nitrate of soda) ?
Mr. Hughes said he thought that was a severer test than would occur
in everyday jiractice, and that so long as no other substances were pre-
sent than those that occurred from the customary decompositions, that
instrument might be relied on. He did not find that foreign bodies accu¬
mulated in the bath sufficiently to disturb its specific gravity.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Hughes for his paper, and to Mr. Simpson for
his assistance, was then carried.
The Chairman wished to draw attention to Negretti and Zambra’s
hydrometer, the scale of which was four times as long as that exhibited
by Mr. Hughes, and was therefore more delicate in its operation. In
answer to inquiries from Mr. Hughes and Mr. Shave, he said it could be
used with an ounce of solution, and that the capillary attraction was
so slight as not to affect its accuracy. He might also say that it would
be an advantage if a graduated measure were supplied with Wood’s
argentometer to be always used with it. It was possible that Mr. Hughes
might not have used the same measure that evening as he did when con¬
ducting his former experiments, and that might jiartly account for the
variation in the results.
Mr. Burr said he considered Wood’s argentometer, which approached
the form used by Gay-Lussac, to be the most useful instrument. If
Hockin’s instrument were liable to derangement on this occasion it
would be equally liable to accident on other occasions perhaps, when
most wanted. He thought Mr. Hughes’s paper would have been far
more valuable if he had accurately tested his chemicals before com¬
mencing his exjieriments, and had afterwards carefully analysed the pro¬
ducts. The relative approach to accuracy of the different instruments
would then have been more clearly shown, and the cause of the variation
in the results might have been ascertained.
Mr. Simpson explained that they had applied Mr. Heisch’s test, which
is based on Gay-Lussac’s, to their chemicals before using them.
Mr. Hughes stated that Mr. Biut did not appear to understand the pur¬
pose of the paper, which was, not to deal in the refinements of chemical
analysis, but to test the usefulness and accuracy of the instruments sup-
jilied for estimating the value of silver solutions. His early experiments
had been of a very delicate nature, but he had not reported them ; for
he found that unless standard weights and measures of the most perfect
accuracy were used, these tests were even more liable to error than mere
approximate methods. He had placed himself in the position of a photo¬
grapher who wanted to know the strength of his solutions, but had neither
time nor means to spare, and only the ordinary apparatus to be found in
his operating room. He had therefore used ordinary good nitrate of
silver, and the usual graduated measures.
In reply to a remark made by Mr. Louch, that Wood’s argentometer
might be applied in testing the amount of adulteration in the nitrate of
silver sold in the shops, Mr. Hughes observed that, in the hands of an
inexperienced person, such a test, possibly performed in a clumsy manner,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
73
ebruary 15, 1861]
as scarcely fair to tlie shopkeeper. They had seen that evening that,
/en with care being taken, when an experiment was performed twice
ith the same solution there might be a variation of 2J grains in 30,
hich in the ounce of silver would amount to a sufficient quantity to raise
groundless suspicion that the seller had been guilty of fraud.
Mr. Quin said the best and most simple test he was acquainted with
>r the purity of nitrate of silver was to dissolve a few grains in distilled
ater, and, after precipitating with hydrochloric acid, to evaporate a drop
f the supernatant liquid on a clean glass plate, when, if pure, no trace of
rystallisation would appear. The perfect solution of the precipitate in
mmonia would prove the absence of lead and mercury, the only impuri-
ies with which it would be likely to be adulterated. The principal
ontamination he found consisted in organic matter. He experienced
reat trouble from a bath made from a sample of fused nitrate which was
rid in round cakes, one ounce each, and sent out in a sort of pill box.
his silver he had no doubt acquired contamination by long-continued
rntact with the paper box in which it was packed and sold.
Mr. Hill, and some other members, referring to Mr. Hughes’s last ex-
eriment, did not think the weakness of the solution of the negative bath
ad anything to do with its unsatisfactory working, as they had used
aths of even less strength without experiencing any ill effects.
Mr. Dawson thought the hydrometer was the best test for ascertaining
le strength of a new solution ; but he wished to know how it would be
ffected by the presence of nitrate of soda or nitrate of potash, which
ould undoubtedly affect the specific gravity of the liquid ?
Mr. Hughes replied that if large quantities of nitrate of soda or potash
/ere present of course the specific gravity would be affected, inasmuch as
0 grains of nitrate of silver registered 30 on the hydrometer, and 30
rains of nitrate of soda registered 20. But nitrate of soda did not
ccumulate in baths to the extent supposed, as a great portion of it re-
lained in the pores of the paper, and some was carried away in the
dhering solution. In practice he had not found it to accumulate to the
xtent to interfere with the specific gravity communicated by the silver
alt; and perhaps the best answer was to refer to the reported experi-
lents, particularly of the bath that had been in use for some years.
Mr. Dawson thought very little nitrate of soda would remain in the
ores of the paper on account of its great solubility in water. With the
xception of that portion contained in the fluid adhering to the paper it
/ould all remain in the bath.
Mr. Simpson said the moment the albumen came in contact with the
itrate of silver it became coagulated, and the nitrate of soda was to a
onsiderable degree imprisoned and prevented from passing into the bath.
Mr. Dawson said in preparing his baths he poured in the nitrate of
ilver until the hydrometer registered the required strength. He con-
idered that method superior to weighing the nitrate. He did not find
hat plan answer so well when adding fresh nitrate to an old solution, as
he specific gravity increased to a greater degree than the quantity of ad-
itional nitrate would warrant. He had also found that the nitrate of
oda in an old solution stripped off the albumen in flakes, and, until he
iad experimented upon the point, he thought that was owing to the
eakness of the nitrate of silver. Nitrate of ammonia would produce
hat effect.
Mr. Hill said he had experienced that inconvenience also. The albu-
nen had dissolved in the fluid instead of coming off in flakes.
Mr. Dawson said that must be owing to the presence of ammonia.
levy likely his paper was salted with chloride of ammonia. In his own
ase, perhaps the most reasonable explanation was that the chloride of
.mmonium decomposed, and left the albumen in a really alkaline con-
Lition, and which therefore dissolved when it came in contact with the
ilver solution.
The Chairman announced that, at the next meeting in February, the
fficers of the Society and of the Committee for the ensuing year would be
lominated, any member being at liberty to propose names. Out of the
tersons named six would be selected.
Mr. Hill stated that at the next meeting Mr. Barber would read a
ommunication On the Purification of Nitrate of Silver.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the Vice-
’resident for his services in the chair.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
1 i general meeting of the members of this Society was held on the 29th
fit. — Mr. W. B. Osborn, the Vice-President, in the chair.
Some formal preliminary business having been disposed of, the Chair-
•ian opened the discussion upon Mr. Bejlander’s paper [see page 29] by
•eferring to the remarks made by that gentleman relative to the scum on
he surface of the bath.
Mr. Turner said he was sorry that Mr. Bejlander was unavoidably
ibsent, as he wished to have that gentleman’s opinion upon many points.
He (Mr. Turner) had worked for six or seven years, but had never seen
he scum on the bath until within the last six months, when, in con¬
sequence of the coldness of the weather, he had had a stove erected in his
room. Since that had been put up, owing, he supposed, to the fumes of
sulphur that were generated by it, he had frequently detected the scum.
He proceeded to say that he believed that almost all the difficulties and
horrors that photographers had to contend with were attributable to dirt
and want of cleanliness. For his own part, he made a point of filtering
his bath every night, and he possessed an apparatus which was very
efficient for the purpose. It consisted of a funnel fitted into a glass jar,
a plug of cotton wool being inserted in the tube of the funnel. This
effectually filtered the bath. On each side of the jar also was a tube on
the syphon principle, and, by blowing through one, the bath could be
filtered by means of the other, without disturbing the sediment that might
have collected. He believed also that the want of care in cleaning the
glasses was a very fruitful cause of this scum forming. He generally
cleaned his glasses on both sides with nitric acid and water.
The Chairman concurred in Mr. Turner’s remarks as to want of
cleanliness, and said he had often observed that amateur photographers
considered it quite sufficient to clean one side of the glass only.
Mr. Turner called attention to one point in Mr. BejlandeFs remarks,
having reference to throwing down the silver as chloride in weakened
baths. He had never done this. He maintained the strength of the
bath by fresh additions, as he considered the old baths possessed qualities
which new ones could not have. He was certain that there was more
in the making up of a bath than many persons supposed.
Mr. Hulme, as a dealer in nitrate of silver, complained of the very
dirty condition in which it was often sent out by the manufacturer.
Mr. Turner said that at the last meeting Mr. Bejlander left two glass
plates which he complained of as being naturally dirty, and as resisting
all efforts to clean them. He (Mr. Turner) cleaned one with nitric acid
and water, and took a portrait of the Honorary Secretary upon it. Mr.
Hart, he added, had cleaned the other with levigated emery and water,
and had taken a picture upon it.
[The plates were handed round, together with negative prints from
them. The plates, which were previously very curiously marked — the
one with a paper mark and the other with the figure 2 — were now quite
clean, and free from any markings whatever.]
Mr. Breese, in answer to a remark from the chairman respecting the
varying quality of glass, said that in looking over some negatives a
few days since he found six which had cracked all over, and upon
examining them he perceived tVat they were all upon white glass, while
those taken upon glass with a £reen tinge had remained perfect. He
was of opinion that the white glass absorbed moisture from the atmos¬
phere, and, acting upon the porous collodion film imprisoned under the
hard varnish, caused it to sweNCv and finally to crack the varnish. He
was borne out, he thought, in this opinion by the fact that he had one
negative kept in the same box (which was on white glass, but unvar¬
nished) which had remained peAect.
The Chairman observed that he could endorse the last speaker’s
opinion, as he had frequently noticed this defect — vulgarly called
“ sweating” — in colourless or white glass.
Mr. Turner said he had used the colourless plate and never found this
defect. He had negatives fifteen months old which were quite good.
Mr. Plante had frequently noticed veins in the white glass. His own
experience would corroborate that of Mr. Breese. He had often used
both kinds of glass indiscriminately, and his practice was, previous to
varnishing the negative, to clean off a narrow rim all round the glass ;
then to warm it and pour the varnish all over it. By this means moisture
was prevented from creeping under the film ; and yet with all these pre¬
cautions he had frequently found the films on the colourless glass, which
films from lapse of time were split all over. He had also negatives which,
quite clear when done, were now marbled all over, probably from
the same cause. He should like to ask Mr. Breese, whose instantaneous
productions he had been so delighted with, whether he had met with the
same result in his rapid p ctures?
Mr. Breese said he had referred to instantaneous pictures.
Mr. Plante felt convinced, after a long experience, that the generality
of photographic horrors might be traced to carelessness and want of
cleanliness. If photographers would but exercise scrupulous cleanliness
in all their operations, three-fourths of their troubles and difficulties would
disappear. He found the best method of cleaning glass plates was to
place them upright in a solution of one part sulphuric acid, four parts
water, and after some hours to neutralise the acid with best chalk.
This process covered the glasses with a very fine deposit of chalk, which,
when rubbed off, gave a brilliant surface to the glass. He generally used
boiled rain Avater for AA'ashing purposes.
Mr. Breese said he found nothing better than plain water, and plenty
of it.
Mr. Turner observed that he often used weak solution of cyanide. He
related a curious circumstance connected Avith the development of a
negative, in which the image of the porcelain bath had been printed on
the plate by reflection from a sudden opening of the door of the operating
room.
The discussion then turned upon varnishing, and the cracking of films
under some varnishes.
Mr. Brown thought that the nature of the collodion had very much to
do Avitli it
Mr. Burr made a very useful suggestion. He had, he said, frequently
found the varnish crack on his negatives, and he adopted the simple
expedient of following the line of the crack with a camel-hair pencil
dipped in Soehnee varnish. By this means he had saved very many
valuable negatives.
The discussion then assumed a conversational form ; after which the
Chairman announced that the prints purchased by the council for pre¬
sentation to the members would be placed on the table for selection.
74
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1801
A number of choice and beautiful pictures were then displayed, the
allotment being— one large print, two small ones, or six stereographs, for
each member.
The Honorary Secbetary then announced that Mr. Robinson, of
Leamington, had with great liberality forwarded one of his photographs
for presentation to each member of the Society. These pictures, all of
them of the genre class, were most of them very beautiful. They will be
highly esteemed by their fortunate possessors.
The meeting, which was protracted until a late hour, was brought to a
conclusion by a vote of thanks to Mr. Robinson for his very handsome
present.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday, the
6th inst., — Mr. Wardley in the chair.
The Secretary read some correspondence in reference to the course
to be taken by the Society at the approaching meeting of the British
Association. After a conversation on the subject, the following gentle¬
men were appointed representatives : — The Secretary, Mr. Mudd, Mr.
Neild, and Mr. Sidebotham.
The Secretary then read a letter from the Secretary of the Royal
Institution, proposing a spring exhibition of photographs, under the
management of the Society.
The consideration of the question was adjourned until the next meeting.
The Chairman asked whether the panoramic lens had found its way to
Manchester ?
Mr. Hooper stated that he had received one of them with the intention
of giving it a fair trial ; but he found it so unsatisfactory that lie had
been obliged to return it. This might net, he thought, be the case with
all lenses of that construction ; but he feared that the difficulty of
getting rid of striae was almost insuperable. Mr. Ross had now, however,
he was told, taken the matter in hand, so that they might expect a settle¬
ment of the question. He (Mr. H.) spoke highly of Grubb’s lenses : he
had seen pictures taken by them including an angle of 60°.
The Chairman observed that much had been said lately about the
centering of lenses; but the error that was likely to occur was of very
little moment in those for landscape purposes. The subject of lenses
being before the meeting, he wished to call attention to the importance
of devising some method of expressing the capabilities of the various
combinations now before the public, as compared with the ordinary
landscape objective. The practice of measuring the focus from the back
lens of a compound portrait, triplet, or orthographic, was erroneous in
principle; consequently photographers, unacquainted with this fact, were
liable to be led astray when they hear of a 3£-inch focus lens (compound
form) covering a circle of nearly five inches. Upon trying a lens of this
character, they would find the size of image and circle of good definition,
equivalent to an ordinary meniscus of about inches focus. It would
be much better if the compound lenses were expressed in equivalents
with our old landscape lenses.
A vote of thanks having been passed to the Chairman, the members
were occupied in exchanging photographs, under the new plan adopted
by the Society.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held in the Religious
Institution Rooms, on Thursday, the 7th instant, — J. Kibble, Esq., the
President of the Society, in the chair.
A. Claudet, Esq., F.R.S., and R. Hunt, Esq., were unanimously elected
honorary members of the Society, in consideration of their important ser¬
vices in advancing the science of photography. Mr. A. Robb was elect ’d
an ordinary member, after which the Society proceeded to the nomination
of office-bearers for the next year.
Mr. Stuart showed some prints, produced by a photo-lithographic pro¬
cess, which he would not then disclose, but stated that it was different
from any one yet published.
The Secretary then intimated that, as the paper on testing of old
baths was likely to occupy the whole available time, Mr. James Cramb
would not read his paper — Notes on the Hyposulphites of Silver— as an¬
nounced in the circular.
Mr. John Cramb then read his paper, On the Testing of Used Silver
Baths, and the Hydrometer Silver Meter. [See page 62.]
Mr. James Cramb performed the experiments described in the paper,
with the hydrosulphate of ammonia, in testing for the presence of silver
in the clear liquor from a bath from which all the silver had been pre¬
cipitated. The test tube was handed to the Chairman and other mem¬
bers, who testified to the comparative absence of colour. The dense
precipitate formed on the addition of the most minute amount of silver
clearly proved the point at issue, and called forth the most marked
demonstrations of approbation.
At the conclusion of the paper Mr. Cramb intimated that the experi¬
ments on which the results placed before them were based would then be
gone through in their presence, or as many of the experiments as they
chose to demand and time would permit.
Mr. Spencer suggested that Mr. Stuart’s bath be re-tested.
The operation of testing that bath was then gone through, the whole
being closely observed by the members of the Society, particularly those
on the front benches. It was proved to contain eighty -four grains — the
amount set down in the table on the wall.
Instead of trying another, Mr. Ma< nab suggested the trial of: be -.aim- one
a second time : it would be a severer test, and would, if all agreed, more
conclusively establish the correctness of all the others iu the table before
them.
The second trial gave eighty-three grains to the ounce. A drachm was
operated on each time. This result was considered satisfactory, with so
strong a solution of nitrate of silver.
In a conversation on the variation of specific gravity by difference of
temperature, Mr. Stuart said that the hydrometer would indicate a grain
of silver of error for each degree of temperature above or below sixty
degrees.
Mr. James Cramb distinctly denied the accuracy of Mr. Stuart’s state¬
ment, and promised to prove its inaccuracy on a future occasion.
Mr. J. Spencer, Jun., said the hydrometer was useless as a te st for old
baths or solutions of silver, which contained other matter beside s silver.
Mr. R. Leck said it was a cheat to sell an instrument to a photographer
and call it a silver meter which would not measure the strength of an
old bath, as he had no other use for it.
Mr. Stuart said the hydrometer was useless as a test for old baths.
Mr. M ‘Farlane : It is a mere toy.
Mr. Stuart continued : He used the hydrometer, and a plan similar
to the one pointed out by Mr. Cramb, und he found he got the strength
of his silver baths to within a grain or a half-grain.
Mr. John Cramb said Mr. Stuait’s remark seemed to impugn the
accuracy of the results he had placed before them ; he therefore sug¬
gested that the bottles of solution be all sealed up and pluced in the
hands of the Chairman, and at another meeting let Mr. Stuart, or any
one else, come forward and test tho baths in their presence, when, he had
no doubt, all his results would be confirmed.
Mr. Ewing said the thanks of the Society were due to Messrs. Cramb
for the manner they had brought the subject before them ; and lie thought
they would all agree with him in admiring the accuracy with which the
experiments had been performed.
Mr. Stuart said Mr. Cramb had quite misunderstood him. He thought
the results most satisfactory, and he begged to propose the cordial thanks
of the Society to Mr. Cramb. He was glad the subject had fallen into such
able hands, as he did not think any other member of the Society would
have so successfully handled the subject as that gentleman had.
The Chairman remarked that he could net understand how any one
could not at once see the uselessness of the hydrometer as applied
to old baths; the method of testing proposed by Mr. Cramb was easy and
reliable. He would bear witness to the accuracy with which the experi¬
ments had been performed.
It was then agreed to adjourn the meeting to that day week, to allow
of further discussion and experiments. After the usual vote of thanks
to the Chairman the meeting separated.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first general meeting of the above Society was held on Friday even¬
ing, the 1st instant, — George Christopher Warren, Esq., Vice-President,
in the chair.
Mr. J. F. McKie, tho Hon. Secretary, read a detailed account of the
establishment and laws of the Society, and announced the following gen¬
tlemen as elected to fill the various offices for the ensuing year : —
President — The Right Honourable T. E. Headlam, M.P.
Vice-Presidents — The Rev. J. C. Bruce, A.M., LL.D. ; G. C. Warren, Esq.
Treasurer and Hon. Secretary — Joseph F. McKie, Esq.
Council.
P. M. Laws, Esq. I W. H. North, Esq.
R. Porteus, Esq. j R. S. Hill, Esq.
Robert Anderson, Esq.
The Chairman read a paper On Photography As It Is, of which the
following is an abstract : —
This being the first paper read before the Society, lie did not propose to
bring before them any new process, but to give an account of the present
state of the art, and show that photography was not confined to mere
portraiture or depicting of landscape scenery. He stated that the art had
reached such a degree of importance that no less than four Journals were
now devoted solely to disseminating photographic information. Numerous
societies existed, and were instrumental in improving the various processes
of the art. These societies had obtained the patronage of men of rank
and fortune, and at their meetings every subject connected with the art,
comprising chemistry, optics, mechanics, &c., was fully discussed. The
various modifications made in the several processes during the last few
years were then referred to. In speaking of the improvements in the
optical department, he specially alluded to the panoramic lens, whereby a
picture was taken embracing a much larger angle of view than the ordi¬
nary view lens was capable of producing. Reference was then made
to the various new printing processes for insuring permanency and
stability, the present mode of printing with silver salts being, as alleged
by the author, considered unsatisfactory. This part of the paper was
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
75
February 16, 1861]
illustrated by specimens of various kinds of photographic carbon printing
and engraving. Reference was then made to the application of photo¬
graphy to wood engraving, lithography, &c., and special notice was made
of the patent process for obtaining photographs on glass and ceramic ware,
and a specimen of that process was introduced. Amongst other applications
mention was made of its use in astronomical observations, and for regis¬
tering the variations of the thermometer, barometer, and magnetic needle.
It was also useful to the architect, the engineer, the microscopist, and
those engaged in military matters, &c. Photography was also being used in
the Ordnance Office at Southampton for reducing the ordnance survey maps,
whereby a saving to the country of £30,000 would be effected. Towards
the conclusion of the paper reference was made to the influence of the art
on the artistic taste of the public. In conclusion, he said if each member
gave an occasional paper, or statement of either failures or successes in
any branch of the art, or even put a few questions as to the why and
wherefore of anything, he had no doubt they would always be able to pass
a pleasant, instructive, and amusing evening.
Some fine photographs were then placed before the meeting by Messrs.
Laws, North, and Warren.
Mr. Laws presented two views of the Ruins of Tynemouth Priory to
the portfolio of the Society, for which a vote of thanks was passed to that
gentleman.
The meeting was then adjourned to the first Friday in March.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 6th instant, at the Rooms, Chapel Houses, James Street. Dr. R.
Parkinson occupied the chair.
After the usual routine of business had been gone through, Mr. Roger-
son, introduced to the meeting by the Secretary, was duly elected a
member of the Society.
Mr. Fletcher said he would have pleasure in placing his photographic
operating room at the disposal of the members.
A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Fletcher for his liberal offer.
Mr. Stanley proposed that one of Ross’s instantaneous stereo, lenses
be procured for the benefit of the Society ; and Messrs. Parkinson,
Stanley, Beldon, and Fletcher were appointed a committee to examine
and report upon the same.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to the Secretary for a 10 X 8
Fothergill print, and to Mr. Beldon for two stereo, prints, by the same
process, for the Society’s portfolio; and also to several other members
! for presents of photographic works for the Society’s library.
The paper promised bj^ Mr. Stanley was, through a misunderstanding,
not prepared, and was therefore postponed until the next meeting.
The remainder of the evening was pleasantly spent in discussion on
numerous specimens by various processes brought for that purpose.
- -
Indiral litslntcfMs fluColarh|^j)okgra||s.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. (Continued.)
The lights are now “impasted” with a good body of colour, and
your most luminous and brilliant flesh-tints are in their places.
To preserve these clean and bright must be your care as you pro¬
ceed; so avoid teasing or muddling them. The next tints are
those which delicately indicate the boundaries where the lights
begin to melt faintly and imperceptibly into the demi-tints; and
in mixing these use one touch of white and one of Venetian red,
subdued slightly with a third of emerald green* Over the tender
tones of the photograph let this tint be applied in a somewhat more
; transparent condition, and with a rather full brush, the colour being
[ in a nice soft pulpy condition, and free from dust or grit. That
i this tint may glide imperceptibly into those previously applied,
[ with very light fairy-like touches, and with a soft-haired and not
• too-finely pointed brush (which might stab into and drag up the
colour) work a little of the mixture of ochre, madder pink, and
white into the last-mixed tint, where its edge touches that, of
those previously applied. If necessary the clean brush which
serves as your “badger” may be swept with one or two slight
feathery touches over this to aid in softening or blending the
whole ; but he very careful not to sully the purity of the lights.
Now, by the use of tints less and less luminous, secure round¬
ness and gradation until the retiring surfaces approach the more
i broken or less pure tints, and begin to fall into gradations of shade
and reflected light. For this purpose sets of tints have been al¬
ready described ; but by mixing even the few pigments given in
varying proportions, such, sets of tints may be increased and altered
to a much larger number and variety. Their places, too, will be in¬
dicated more certainly by their appearance when thus mixed than
by any directions I might endeavour to provide. In applying them,
remember that one must be so slightly different from another, that
* By an oversight emerald green was omitted from the list given of necessary colours.
it is only when placed in juxtaposition that the effect of gradation
is perceived. It is much easier to use fewer tints; and the inexpe¬
rienced lover of “ pretty” colour will feel somewhat loath perhaps
to take a subdued or broken tint, instead of those more charming
ones which were mixed for the lighted and consequently bril¬
liant portions of the flesh. But if he would avoid flatness and
weakness, and secure roundness and life-like vigour, he must not
shirk the painstaking labour of securing gradation.
Ruskin says : — “ Give me some mud off a city crossing, some ochre
out of a gravel pit, a little whitening, and some coal dust, and I
will paint you a luminous picture, if you give me time to gradate
my mud and subdue my dust. But though you had the red of the
ruby, the blue of the gentian, snow for the light, and amber for the
gold, you cannot paint a luminous picture if you keep the masses
of these colours unbroken in purity, and unvarying in depth.”
If you have read or practised all these lessons you ought to
know the theor}'' which governs these demi-tints — how they
change in analogy of tone and colour, as well as in depth and in¬
tensity, &c. ;* and here is the place to apply such practically.
Thoughtful study alone can help you here. If you consult your
model and tkinJc, you are all right ; if you do not, I cannot, in these
pages at any rate, lend you more assistance, or help you more
effectually.
Having laid in these tints, preserving the forms of the high¬
lights, and gradating one tint into another to secure roundness, we
next come to the shadow tints.
Now the great charm of a shadow is its transparency, and this
can only be secured by gradation. Some authors and painters
almost lead their pupils or readers to believe that this transparency
means nothing more nor less than the mechanically-obtained
transparency of the mere pigments themselves, which, of course,
is a funny mistake. The shadowed passages have the same gra¬
dations as the lighted, only the tints are subdued and of a more
uniform tone. Farts of the shadows will receive more or less light,
either direct or reflected, and parts will be more deeply over¬
shadowed ; but detail and gradation will exist even in the deepest
shades, although more or less distinctly, according to the amount
or depth of obscurity. Few photographs have the delicate beauty
in their shadows which we find in nature — a fact chiefly due to their
producers neglecting the study of light and shade in connexion with
the peculiar conditions of the photogenic process, as well as with
those of artistic chiaroscuro. The successful operator must be both
artist and photographer: if he be one and not the other he must
fail to a proportionate extent. We now pass from the shadows
(for which tints see page 19 of the present volume) into the
reflections.
Reflected lights are peculiar to the shadowed surfaces merely be¬
cause it is there only that they become visible. Their colour will
be determined both by that of the surface which reflects them and
that they are received upon. As a rule it is best to keep them of
a rich warm tone. [See preceding remarks upon the same subject.]
Now we use our badger once again, feathering over the tints
with it, and blending their edges, or bringing down any ridges of
paint, but cautious always that the brilliant passages remain un¬
sullied and no tints are rendered muddled or dirty.
Add a little drying oil to your medium ; and with a little Indian
red, brightened with a touch of vermilion, proceed to strengthen
the nostrils, the lines separating the lips, the lower edge of the
upper eye-lids, the darker markings of the ear, and the darkest
cast shadows.
Put in the iris of the eye with dark blue, brown, or grey, ac¬
cording to the colour of the eye itself; touch in the reflected light
within the iris, and opposite the spark of direct light, and lay in
the pupil with black.
Touch in the lips with varying mixtures of vermilion and white,
madder pink and vermilion, Indian red and lake — the last being
used only for the upper lips, which will be in shadow', and must
receive the same treatment as that you have given to other sur¬
faces in shadow. Before painting the lips refer back to what I
said of them in the articles upon touching in black and white ;f for
it is important that you should thoroughly understand what you
are about — the “ reason why ” as well as the “ method how.”
Lay in the lights of the hair with a grey harmonising in tone
and depth with its local colour. The hair must grow transparent
towards the parting. Its reflected lights must be rather strong,
its divisions not too deeply defined, or it will appear wiry. You
must avoid anything like a hard line where the hair meets the brow
* See pages 154, 137, and 121.
1 1 am compelled to refer to past lessons very frequently, or the amount of repetition
would render these articles sadly too long.
76
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1861
by softening the one into the other with the greys, the shadow
tints, and the local colour of the hair. You must, in short, never
lose sight of the real character and beauty of such a material. [See
page 14 of the last volume, and maxim 45.]
The author of the preceding paper , in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practical value, has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring, and to give them advice through the
medium of these pages; for ivhich purpose specimens may he sent,
with a stamped and directed envelope for their return , to A. H.
Wall, Esq., 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
A. H. B. — This correspondent rather puzzles me, his difficulties being such as I never
betore met with. I can only recommend him to use transparent colours, and be sur«
that his surface is not greasy. Some find their colours adhere to the albumenised sur¬
face all the better for mixture w'ith a little albumen, but I never found it necessary. I
think “A. II. B.” must have been using opaque instead of transparent pigments. I have,
it is true, sometimes met with albumenised paper which was very averse to the recep¬
tion of colour, and this may be the case in his instance.
jfarcrgn Correspondence.
Paris , February 11, 1861.
I WAS present on Thursday last at a series of very curious experi¬
ments made by Nadar, in his new operating-room, for the purpose
of applying the electric light to photography. I found there a
numerous party of men of letters, artists, and even practical pho¬
tographers, all desirous of learning the results to be obtained from
the alliance of the two great modern discoveries. The first essays
were for obtaining negative portraits. The model — I had almost
said victim, the operation was so long and tiring — sat|at about two
metres and a-half from the focus of light, and was placed so as to
be lighted from above and a little to the right, while white screens
around, and a large mirror on the shady side, sent back upon him
the diffused rays. The light is very intense ; the moments of in-
termittence are rare, and arise solely from the impurities of which
they have not been able to entirely rid the charcoal. Three por¬
traits were taken, the pose for the first lasting one minute and a-half,
for the second eighty seconds, and for the third forty-five, which
appears sufficient. The collodion employed is not peculiar. The
developing is done, as usual, with pyrogallic acid. The object of
the subsequent experiments was the obtaining of positives from
the cliche. The printing apparatus had been composed as well as
could be managed for the occasion, by placing opposite to each
other a fixed camera and a telescope one, the space unavoidably
left between them being covered with pieces of stuff. This extem¬
porised apparatus was placed so that the negative was at about
fifty centimetres from the lamp. At the other extremity were
successively introduced several sensitised glasses, whose time of
exposure was varied. Four seconds, with pyrogallic acid develop¬
ment, gave very satisfactory pictures. With a fine cliche , in which
the contrasts between the lights and shades are not too violent,
the exposure may be reduced to three seconds.
M. Serrin’s lamp is of a very simple and ingenious construction.
The charcoal points, though constantly being consumed, are always
kept in contact; for they are supported by moveable branches,
whose regulated movement exactly corresponds to the amount of
light emitted. This little machine, which scarcely occupies more
space than an ordinary lamp, is very portable. It can operate at a
great distance from the electric battery, with which it is connected
by two conducting wires. Thus, at Nadar’s, the pile was separated
from the lamp by an apartment and the operating-room. The
powerful light employed for the above experiments was produced
by a battery of fifty elements.
The process employed for the production of positive pictures is
that of M. Albert Moitessier, which is as follows : — The negative
is disposed so as to allow none but the transmitted light to reach
the objective, as would be done for the reproduction of an engrav¬
ing by transparence. It is evident that if, after focussing and
taking all the usual precaution, a collodionised sensitive glass be
placed in the frame of the camera, there must be obtained a posi¬
tive picture, possessing all the qualities of a negative — that is,
extreme delicacy and softness in the shades and half-tints. Posi¬
tives of all sizes may be obtained by this method, though it is
especially applicable to small ones.
For the preparation of the glasses a collodion somewhat rich in
pyroxyline is made use of. The image is developed by means of a
weak solution of pyrogallic acid, avoiding as much as possible
the addition of nitrate of silver. The exposure ought to be toler¬
ably long for the image to appear in all its details. In the solar
light, according to the author himself, the time of exposure varies
much, but is never less than twenty seconds, which would give a
great advantage to the electric light. The image is fixed with
hyposulphite of soda, or, still better, with cyanide of potassium.
After the fixage the picture is very beautiful by transparence;
and, if it is desired that it should remain in that state, washing
and drying are all that is necessary. Viewed, on the other liana,
by reflection, it is of a disagreeable grey tone. This inconvenience
maybe obviated easily in the following manner: — A solution ot
bichloride of mercury is poured upon the glass. The image first
becomes black, then white : when it has acquired a very uniform
tint, a weak solution of ammonia or of hypo, is poured upon it. The
tone then becomes very vigorous, but pales a little in drying.
There must then be applied upon the collodion a layer of white,
which is to form the ground of the picture. For this, the white is
diluted in a mixture of copal varnish and benzoic ; then spread
over the glass, just as a layer of collodion. Being very even, it
dries rapidly. The picture may be kept in this state, and produces
a good effect ; but it is preferable to transfer to paper, which is
easily done by fixing a sheet of white paper upon the colour, and
then letting dry: the whole may then be taken off without diffi¬
culty. The image has a good deal of brilliancy, and looks as if it
were covered with a layer of gelatine, if a well-polished glass has
been operated on. We saw this transfer made very rapidly at
Nadar’s, notwithstanding the unfavourable conditions.
Now, if it is asked what would be the advantages of the prac¬
tical application of the electric light to photography, aside of the
interest presented, from a scientific point of view, by the study ot
the phenomena resulting from such application, we shall be led to
the following conclusions: — The light with which Nadar operated
the other evening costs him fifty francs each time, whereas the
light of the sun, in all its abundance and fecundity, is offered
gratuitously to all who will turn it to account. Further, the
results obtained in this manner, as far as negatives are concerned,
can never be equal to those produced by the solar light. Still,
there are many cases in which the electric light would be a
valuable resource : for instance, when dark interiors or tombs in
cathedral vaults have to be reproduced, or when one is called on
to take portraits after death, in rooms into which but a feeble day¬
light penetrates. Its most important use would be for the printing
of positives, especially if a means of sensitising gelatine were dis¬
covered, so as to permit of the employment of one of the carbon
processes. There would be economy of time, as the night would
become available ; and, at the same time, the certainty of strength
in the pictures. Lastly, this means would be applicable to magnify¬
ing apparatus, the principal inconvenience of which is the impos¬
sibility of using it without the direct light of the sun. With the
electric lamp we should be independent of the collaboration of the
capricious luminary, and should be able to operate at any hour and
in any weather. This also is the object aimed at by Count Aguado
in the experiments he is following at present. I have not yet
seen anything obtained by the noble amateur; but I know that he
is studying the subject, and should there be any results I will in¬
form you.
ERNEST LACAN.
We have been favoured with the following interesting letter, re¬
ceived lately by a photographic friend : —
The Far South , October 2nd, 1860.
My Dear * * *
Yours of July 25th has been duly received, and here¬
with accept my thanks for same. I had recognised my letter in The British
Journal of Photography before yours came to hand. I must try to send
you something more to be used in the same way. By this time you will have
received some specimens of my work, which, to tell you the truth, I thought
“ no small beer” of, till I saw those of Mudd’s and Bedford’s that you sent out.
I was very much pleased with them, but felt quite downhearted at having the
pride taken out of me. However, I saw where my productions were deficient,
and I hope erelong to send you some pictures that may be hung on the same
line. * * *’s already quite equals, and in some little views taken lately I
think even excels, them : however, you can judge for yourself. I am about to
return to you the lens * * * sent me, by next box ; if not too much trouble,
I shall be much obliged to you if, on your next trip to London, you take it
with you, and get him to change it for a landscape lens, if he will — a lens to
cover a seven by nine plate, taking in a large angle, and sharp to the edges. I
do not want a lens that will cover a larger plate than seven by nine — that I can
get here, as your brother has plenty ; but one that will really work on this size,
with a small allowance for cutttng off foregrounds, &c.
The diez y ocho has been a merry one, at least as I understand. I was away
in the country on a photographic trip. I sometime ago promised Mr. * * *
that I would go out for him to take some views along the railway : so on the
17th I started in company with the draughtsman of the Company for Quillota,
with every requisite for working the wet process. On the road we met one of
the assistant engineers, who having nothing to do accompanied us. As soon as
we got to Quillota, I felt that the heat was so great that in all probability the
collodion I had with me would not work, so I sent in word by the next train
February 15, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
for a bottle of alcoholic collodion to be prepared : of this more anon. After
lunching we prepared to start for the Tabon, about twelve leagues from
Quillota, the most difficult piece of the line, and about which they are still
i in doubt as to whether the line is to be carried, through it or not. We met one
of the Lathams, going to Llai Llai, and he kindly lent a horse to the young
man we had met on the road. We did not reach the Tabon that night, as the
darkness overtook us; and, as none of us knew the road, we made friends with a
ranchero , and passed the night in his hut, accompanied by millions of fleas.
We looked like leopards when we got up next morning. Before sunrise we
were on the road again, and reached our journey’s end about nine o’clock. The
engineers’ encampment is at the entrance to the'pass : it is almost impossible to
get b.yond this point on horseback. Immediately after breakfast I began
reconroitering, but found it a very difficult matter to select points of view.
The scenery is on so grand a scale, that to get it all in, in a way to give an idea
of the place, it is necessary to get a mile or two away. I next started for the
interior of the pass, and took my traps with me. As soon as we had passed the
first rocks, I felt that if the heat was against success outside the pass, it
was ten times more so inside. I determined, however, to make a
trial; and, after much trouble, managed to set up my tent and camera
at a spot that was not quite at an angle of 45Q, like the rest of the hill.
There was not a bush or a stone to afford the slightest shelter, and the sun
was burning like a furnace. I stripped to my shirt and trousers, and set to
work. Although 1 poured the collodion on the first plate as fast as I could, it
was set before I could tilt it up ; so I cleaned another, and managed to cover
it by half emptying one of my collodion bottles on to it. I got it into the bath,
but, on taking it out, a large fly of a (to me) new species chose it as his resting-
place. So at it again : this time I got the plate into the bath, from there to the
camera and exposed, and back into the tent ; but misfortune again pursued
me. Just as I was about pouring on the developer, several large drops of
perspiration from my face fell on to it, and, as a matter of course, did for
it. At length, at the fifth trial, I got a picture, but a very unsatisfactory one. I
had had enough roasting for one day, so I packed up my traps and went down. In
the afternoon I got another plate of the entrance to the pass — by no means good.
It was covered with blisters of a description I had never seen before I think
the solution must have run into drops in the camera, as the print will show you.
I now made up my mind to send our mozo back to Quillota for the collodion
I had ordered ; but, considering the hard work he had had inside the pass, I
decided not to send him, and thinned the collodion I had with seme of the
alcohol I had taken for cleaning plates.
The next day was foggy until one o’clock, but I managed to get a very nice
near view of the encampment. About midday it cleared up ; so I went off to
the pass again, the heat not being so great. I this time succeeded in getting a
fair negative, although the distance was hidden by the fog; but the effect is not bad.
I could well have passed three or four days here, as there are lots of fine and
extraordinary views to be made ; but I saw that it would be better to look on
- this trip as a trial. Consequently, having satisfied myself as to what I ought
j to do next time, we prepared to return. On our way back we stopped at the
Centinela Tunnel works, of which I got two good pictures. I also took a pic¬
ture of the majordomo, his wife, and family. It would be useless to* try to
describe the antics of the man when he saw his portrait : he was taking it up
and running out to the light with it every moment, till at last he managed to
pass his sleeve over one-half of it, and then he left it alone, but did not cease to
lament the accident the whole evening. Hacendado, who was on a visit, sent
my companion to me to say that, if I would take his and his family’s portraits,
he would willingly pay anything I liked to ask. Of course I told him that
payment was unnecessary, and satisfied his vanity by placing him, with his
“ better half” and three youngsters, in the foreground of one view. The lady had
put on several diamond rings and bracelets for the occasion, but unfortunately
none of them are to be seen.
On passing Llai Llai we called for Latham, but did not find him : his brother,
however, made us dismount to lunch. Here I found that the horse we had bor¬
rowed belonged to a friend of mine, who had left word that I was quite welcome
to him if I would send him some copies of the views I had taken. On arrival
at Quillota we found the fiestas going on in grand style, and managed to amuse
i ourselves pretty well, considering that our rigging was rather dilapidated. I
also found a parcel containing the collodion I had sent for. But, Oh horror ! on
- opening it, I found that, instead of taking a bottle of collodion from my room,
as I had requested, they had taken a bottle of albumen, to which the chemist
had, as directed, added alcohol ! and the consequence was that the whole com-
osition bore a strong resemblance to Devonshire cream. 1 thanked my stars
had not sent the boy on an eighty miles ride for it. In all, I got
1 five or six passable pictures, of which you shall have proofs. Although
I was not so successful as 1 had hoped to be, yet the experience gained will
enable me to go out another time with certainty of success.
I had intended going into some photographic talk, but I find my paper is
nearly filled ; so I will not say more for the present than that I am satisfied that
in a trip like this dry plates ought to be taken, as it is quite out of the ques¬
tion to think of working wet in such heat and in such uneven ground. I nave
tried the collodio-albumen, of which you will have received a specimen ; but it
is very troublesome, and I cannot get over the nasty deposit, in spite of all my
washing and scrubbing. I am now going to try the Fothergill, which I expect
will answer. Some dry process I must have. * * * has made several trials
of various kinds, but has hit on nothing really satisfactory as yet. However,
more of this next time. For the present, I remain, yours truly,
Photographic Dissolving Views. — The Directors of the Pendle-
i ton Mechanics1 Institution have been raising funds by the nightly
exhibition, in the Lecture Hall, of dissolving views, the pictures for
i which have been produced by photographic agency. Two of the
directors, Messrs. Rangley and Atherton, furnished transparent
photographs of their own production, the subjects being oi local
interest, including the Broadbottom Viaduct, St. Thomas’s Church,
and picturesque views from Wharfdale and its neighbourhood.
Other photographic views were also exhibited of Paris, Palermo,
the Bay of Naples, the lava formed on the summit of Vesuvius, the
rice-fields and characteristic vegetation of Java, and the Falls of
Niagara; together with portraits of Garibaldi, and other nota¬
bilities. Some very fine reproductions of celebrated statuary were
also exhibited. This exhibition, which has excited great interest,
not only on account of its educational value, but also for the good
object that has called it into existence, has been patronised by the
Mayor and many members of the Town Council of Salford, and in
every way has proved a success.
Ccrmpnuiretut.
DEGRADATION OF TONE IN ALABASTRINE POSITIVES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The little notice taken of the alabastrine process by the various
periodicals of the day leads me to infer that it is a branch of our art not
much practised by photographers generally ; nevertheless, hoping there
may be still a few among the numerous readers of your very useful
Journal who may have devoted some portion of their time to working in
that direction, I would venture the following query, the solution of which
would be of much service to myself — perhaps to a few others also, simi¬
larly circumstanced.
On washing the mercurial solution (redeveloping solution) from off
the whitened proof, I have been annoyed with a discoloration taking
place, more or less in proportion to the time it is allowed to remain in
the water or under the water-tap — hot water hastening the browning
very considerably — so that in order to preserve the original whiteness,
as when fresh from the redeveloping solution, I am compelled to content
myself with a more scanty ablution than, I fear, is compatible with the
entire removal of the bichloride of mercury, and thereby endangering
the permanency of the picture.
On a little reflection it occurred to my mind that its loss of purity — the
tone of the picture being lowered several degrees — might be caused by
the carbonate of lime, contained in the town-supply water, uniting
chemically with the calomel formed on the whitened proof; but I was
somewhat surprised at finding the same annoyance to occur, apparently
to the same extent, after the use of rain water from a cistern hard bv,
which could not contain lime in solution.
The picture being thus rendered useless as a glass positive — in fact,
presenting the appearance of a tolerable negative — I was naturally induced
to try the effect of a second flooding with bichloride solution, which in
a few minutes restored all its pristine beauty, unfortunately to be again
lost if exposed to the same and, if possible, necessary amount of washing
as before.
The alabastrine proof, from its purity of tone and suitable surface for
taking the ordinary powder colours, is a great favourite with myself;
and, from the almost universal silence on the subject, I am obliged to
think that I have but a few companions in the choice of a process which,
when well worked out, leaves but little to be desired in the glass positive,
the permanency of which I am also enabled to verify by proofs of several
years standing.
Trusting that yourself or some kind friend may be enabled to keep me
out of the above-described difficulty, by explaining its cause and suggest¬
ing a remedy for the same, — I am, yours, &c., HENRY H. HELE.
P.S. — May the browning after the rain water be caused by the minute
poi’tion of ammonia that there might be in it ? But, whatever be the cause
of the discoloration, it little matters, the remedy being the chief thing
wanted. It would be quite impossible in the country to get a sufficient
quantity of distilled water for washing purposes. H. H. H.
Tcignmouth, February 4th, 1861.
[It occurred to us as just possible that the degradation of tone noticed
might arise from darkening of the small quantity of chloride of silver pro¬
duced by decomposition of the bichloride of mercury, the operation being
performed in ordinary daylight ; if so, that it might be worth trying
whether prolonged washing in the dark room were equally detrimental ;
but, on reflection, it is scai-cely probable that any darkening of chloride
of silver would occur in presence of an excess of chloride of mercury.
The effect complained of is probably due to the presence of some aikali
in the water used, and, therefore, boiling it might be useful. Perhaps
those more conversant with the process may favour our correspondent
with their experience. — Ed.]
RESIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — It is now some time since I had the pleasure of addressing you,
and you will recollect the subject was the “resin process.’’ I now beg
to hand you a few results, which have been forwarded, per rail, to-day.
I have noticed from time to time your objections, and have done my
utmost to prove their validity7- ; and I have come to the conclusion that for
the whole of them there is a remedy. The greatest of all obstacles to
overcome was the tendency to insensitive spots, which you will notice in
some of the specimens ; but I can confidently assert that, if sufficient care
be taken, these may be got rid of by using the minimum quantity of resin
in the collodion, and protecting from dust while moist. Some of the
78
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
plates were kept fourteen days ; beyond this I think it is not safe to use
them.
I am a great admirer of the Fothergill process, and have taken a great
deal of trouble to trace causes of failure to their sources, for which you were
pleased to give me some commendation ; but I never was able to work
larger than stereoscopic size with anything like certainty. But with the
resin there is no limit, and I find it to be much more sensitive. This
last quality is a very great consideration — so much so, with me, that if I
could bring myself to become a second-hand photographer, I would use no
other plates but Dr. Norris’s improved ones, until I could produce a plate
myself of equal sensitiveness. Enclosed is a list of the subjects, viz. : —
1. Conway Castle. — Blowing very hard ; exposure 2£ minutes, 13 inches
focus, £ stop, diameter of lens 2£ inches. A slow lens from its colour.
October 10th, 1860. Bather too deeply printed.
2. Birkenhead Priory. — Same lens, &c. ; exposure 20 minutes ; time
£-past 7 morning. End of September, 1860.
3. Avenue , Birkenhead Park. — No record.
4. Menai Bridge. — October 11th, 1860. Time £-past 4 p.m. ; exposure
3* minutes.
Stereograph. — 5. Conway Castle. — Ross’s lenses, 4£ focus; exposure
15 seconds ; taken at same time as No. 1 .
6. Avenue , Birkenhead Park. — Exposure 5 minutes in early morning.
The Birkenhead Priory is almost completely covered in by the trees;
there are, besides, a variety of causes why one should give a long ex¬
posure. With the best possible light and wet collodion in landscape
order, with the same lens, I should have given three minutes. I find
my exposure with resin plates to be about twice the average of wet
collodion, and one half the exposure of “Fothergill.” I never use iron
developers. I feel certain that the process only wants to be better known
to make it a favourite. — I am, yours, &c., JOHN GLOVER.
Liverpool, January 30th, 1861.
RECOVERING SILVER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly oblige me with your advice on the following: —
I have a porcelain dish, which I formerly used for sensitising paper,
and which, in consequence of cracks in the glaze, has become impregnated
with silver. Is it possible to recover the silver?
I thought of breaking it up into small pieces, putting them into the
crucible, and treating them in the same way as spoiled prints, old filter
papers, &c.
If you will please say whether this is likely to be successful, I shall
esteem it a favour.— I am, yours, &c., A SUBSCRIBER.
Birmingham, Feb. 6, 1861.
[We advise you to break up the dish into small pieces, and suspend
them in a muslin bag near the surface of a dish of distilled water ; the
solution of nitrate of silver will then sink down to the bottom of the ves¬
sel, and may be collected and precipitated by chloride of sodium. — Ed.]
PREPARATION OF METAGELATINE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you please to give the best method for making metagelatine?
I have sought through many back numbers, but have not been able to
find a recipe. — I am, yours, &c., F. B. E.
[Dissolve an ounce of gelatine in twenty ounces of water, and boil in
a covered saucepan, with a quarter of an ounce of oxalic acid, for one
hour. Next add powdered chalk until effervescence ceases, and strain
through calico ; after which the liquid may be clarified, by adding to it
the whites of three eggs (previously mixed with their own bulk of water),
and heating once more to the boiling point, so as to coagulate the albu¬
men and entangle the suspended oxalate of lime. Mix the filtered
solution with a sixth part of alcohol. Use it of the strength of twenty
grains to the ounce of water. — Ed.]
PHOTOGRAPHS IN NATURAL COLOURS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The wonders of photography seem never to cease, and I think it
right that every improvement should be made known and circulated as
widely as possible.
For my own part, I take a deep interest in watching the rise and pro¬
gress of each invention in this most intere -ting art; and on reading an
accountof photographs taken in America in their natural colours, I referred
to one before me, taken twelve months ago, by a clever artist, whose name
and address I do not hesitate to make known : it is “ Joel Findlow, Mill
Street, Congleton.”
The subject is a boy, who, I understand, is nephew to the artist.
The exact colours of the handkerchief round the neck, in which are in¬
termingled red, white, green, and brown, are portrayed more perfectly by
the solar rays than the ablest artist could effect.
If Mr. Findlow could bo prevailed upon to communicate the secret
how it is that he has been able to do this it would, I consider, be quite
a desideratum to the photographic world. — I am, yours &c.,
Congleton, 24th January, 1861. AN AMATEUR.
[We insert the preceding because it has been attested by one who
wo aid scorn to attempt a hoax ; but we have not the slightest faith in the
supposed facts, and believe our correspondent himself to be the victim of
either deception or misunderstanding. — Ed.]
[February 15, 1861
HOW TO CONQUER A STUBBORN VIEW.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I shall be glad to be favoured with replies to the following I
questions : —
Question 1. — I have been trying to take a view, by the direct positive i
process, on glass. It is a view (from an upper window) of Norwich 1
Cathedral — distance about 250 yards ; the most distant and best lighted 1
part (the spire) is always dim, dull, and almost foggy. I have made
several alterations in my bath, but it is alwa}7s the same. Are there any
particular hints you can give me bearing upon taking such a view as I 1
have described above by this process?
Question 2. — What degree of acidity should characterise a positive
bath? Should it turn blue litmus paper pink in eight seconds — or even
in three ?
Question 3. — If I want to dissolve one ounce of pure metallic silver, j
what should be the relative proportion of icater and of nitric acid in the I
solution in which I put the silver? — I am, yours, &c., NORWICH.
[1. Incline the diaphragm in the tube of your lens, so that the upper i
part leans towards the view to be taken : this will give a larger effective j
aperture for the foreground than for the sky of your subject, and thus the 1
requisite exposure for each part will be more nearly equal than at
present. — 2. Your bath should be fully as acid (with nitric acid) as you
indicate, or even slightly more so. See that vour collodion is slightly <
yellow with free iodine. — 3. Not very material, but about three parts to
one will do. — Ed.]
- _♦» -
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
J. Stevenson.— Declined with thanks.
George Wilson. — Received with thanks. In due course.
Como. — Scarcely suitable: but we thank you all the same.
J. H. Stacy .—Journal of Pharmaceutical Society, Vol. VI., page 526.
F. M. — You are right in your conjecture : the ether is the stumbling-block.
Failure. — Never mind; try again. Your formula; arc quite correct. Give longer
exposure.
Bothered. — You have added too much acetic acid : make an equal quantity without
any, and add both together.
C. D. R. — If you are not acquainted with any of the members write to the Secretary,
Dr. Diamond, and he will, no doubt, introduce you.
T. R. — We think you would do well to select some other shop, after the treatment
which you describe. We, however, know nothing about the party named : we have
never met with the name before.
F. R. S. — We have noticed the errors of the writer mentioned ; but we find that very
few put faith in his assertions, or, to put it more correctly, in his judgment, so that the
matter is really but of small importance.
Robert Keysor.— You will find a very good formula in our Almanack for the present
year. Use the iron developer first, and intensify if needful. We have too many in¬
quiries to allow of the possibility of private r. plies.
An Illegible Hieroglyphic (Croydon). — 1. You had better use a glass of deep orange
yelloiv colour, and cover it also inside with yellow calico, one layer of which is sufficient.
2. — Amber steeped in pure chloroform to saturation —3. About the last week in March.
Henry Morton. — Your communication would not be of any interest to our readers,
who are well acquainted with the ordinai-y capabilities and applications of our art. It is
rather suited to an audience of non-photographers. Still, for your kind intention accept
our thanks.
J. W. (Washington, U.S.) — The publisher has received the remittance, and has
attended to the other matter mentioned in our correspondent s communication. It was
refreshing in these days of commotion to receive a transatlantic letter addressed to
“ Liverpool, Old England 1 ”
A Beginner. — The earlier part of your note has been already answered by our Pub¬
lisher. You do not mention what developer you use, but in all probability it is a salt of
iron : if so, the film you mention most likely arises from you’- keeping the developer too
long on the film ; you should wash it off before the details in the shadow are quite out.
A Beginner.— You err in supposing that there is any peculiarity of process for taking
“instantaneous” pictures beyond what has been published in most manuals. The
operation depends upon favourable circumstances of light and purity of chemicals nicely
adjusted to each other, combined with delicate and intelligent manipulative skill. We
know of no work that can assist you so well as Hardwich’s Manual.
C. J. D.— No. 1 a little (but not much) under-exposed ; ’he le * appears to be good.
No. 2 is yellow, because you have rot sufficiently washed away the free ni rate of silver
before immersing it i-> your toning bath ; 0'\ you have neglected to wash it after the
toning bath, befo e immersion in the hyposulphite of seda — remedy obvious. We may
as well caut on you also against toning in strong ordin ry light, which acts injuriously
during t' at operation.
Stereo. — If we thought you were serious in your remarks about Knole, we would
leave you to the demon of ill-nature without mercy.
The first name on your list is by far the best, and then No. 6.
All single lenses, with a stop in front, produce barrel-shaped marginal lines ; but for
stereoscopic landscape subjects, this is not very important, and those lenses made by a
skilful workman have the defeat reduced to a minimum.
W. Daniels. — All five o- the names in your list ar j good makers of collodion ; but
perhaps you will work at first most re- d lv with No 1 especially when it has been iodised
a few days. I you are familiar with the positive process you ought to succeed readily ;
give double your usual exposure at lea- 1, develop with pyrogallic and ac> tic aci s, and
push the development until the plate appears to you much over-’ione. Fix with hypo-
sulph te of soda, and you will not u ant any intensif ing. Get a little manual by Hennah,
published by Ivniglit and Sons, Foster Lane, Cheapside, London.
J Q. A. T. (Zanesvill , Ohio, U. S.) — We have nothing whatever to do with the business
of the Journal, and have therefore handed your draft for 12s. to the Publisher, and for¬
warded the several letters enclosed as addressed. With regard to your questions, we
believe — 1. That the composition burnt in Moule’s photogen is the ordinary signal
light, made of nitre, sulphur, and fine sawdust, with sometimes zinc filings added. —
2. A pistolgraph is intended for taking pictures, suitable for lockets, brooches. Ac.,
about one and a-half by one inch in dimensions.— 3. The kind of lens that requires no
focussing is a myth. The nearest approach to it is that used in the pistolgraph.— 4. Of
the list you give, select that of the sliorlest name.
(f-g3 All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 137, Vol. VIII.
Solar Camera. — In our leading article of the 15th January
Lve found it requisite to comment on a paragraph contained in
jtlie communication of our esteemed correspondent in Paris,
M. Ernest Lacan, hearing date 28th December, 1860 [see p. 24
3f the current volume], regretting that the demonstration of M.
Foucault, which he regarded as so satisfactory, had not been
repeated. When about “ going to press ” with our last we
received our copy of the official organ of the French Photo¬
graphic Society, in which, to our satisfaction, we found the
jreport of the December meeting to which M. Lacan had made
allusion, and have been not a little amused at the mystification
and confusion to which the introduction of the solar camera has
given rise — our worthy correspondent himself not having escaped
being involved in the “ fog.” In order to render our observa¬
tions intelligible, it will be necessary to quote from the letter
the paragraph before commented upon, which is as follows, viz. : —
“ M. Foucault proved with mathematical clearness that all the
objections turned upon a misunderstanding, and that M.
Claudet alone was in the right. His demonstration was not
lengthy, but it was presented with an autliorit3r and a precision
that were unanswerable : M. Bertscli himself was forced to
acknowledge it The figure traced upon the black-board, by
the learned photographer of the Paris Observatory, sufficed to
show both the excellence of the principle of Woodward’s camera
and the correctness of M. Claudet’s reasoning. The image
formed at the centre of the objective — that is to say at the
apex of the cone — is certainly that of the sun, upon which the
image of the interposed cliche becomes depicted ; for the cliche,
being transparent, does not interrupt the convergent direction
of the rays. The two images exist really but at the apex of the
cone — that is to say at the centre of the objective — all the other
parts of which, receiving extremely feeble rays, form but the
diaphragm. There is then a maximum light, and freedom from
j the aberrations of sphericity. This conclusion is identical with
M. Claudet’s.” The misunderstanding to which allusion was
| made we have, at some trouble, “ unearthed,” and find that it
emanated entirely from the same worthy old lady of the male
) sex who, not very long back, vouched for the value of that
■ brilliant discovery, the encre photograpluque, which has since
i proved to be a shameless adulteration of nitrate of silver with
I nitrate of potash ; and we may remark, en passant, that our
j refusal to recognise the authoritative judgment of the said “ old
! lady ” as of any value threw the then editor of a contemporary
| almost into a fit.
At the last meeting of the British Association a paper of a
laudatory character on the Solar Camera was read by M.
Claudet; and when publishing a report of the same we re¬
marked that, had we not had ocular demonstration to the
contrary, we should have doubted whether the author had ever
j seen a microscope, because lie attributed to the solar camera
as a novelty that which had been long in use and understood
with regard to the microscope. The substance ot the same
paper was, it appears, subsequently communicated to the
j French Photographic Society by the author, and at the time
gave rise to controversy and complete refutation of the sup-
■MARCH 1, 1861.
posed excellence of principle by M. Bertscli : it wras opposed
also by M. Thouret and others. With all these facts our
readers were rendered au courant at the time. It appears,
however, that the editor of a French contemporary, in his zeal
to support M. Claudet, not only attributed to him as a grand
discovery an absurdity existing only in the said editor’s imagi¬
nation, but was indiscreet enough to publish it, alleging that
M. Claudet asserted the existence of a minute image of the
negative in the centre of the amplifying lens. We need scarcely
say that M. Claudet made no such ridiculous assertion, the
blunder being on the part of the editor in confusing the image
of the sun with that of the negative. It was against this
blunder to which M. Thouret addressed his remarks, and which
M. Leon Foucault explained ; but, so far was he from proving,
or even asserting, “ that M. Claudet. alone was in the right,” as
implied by our correspondent, we find M. Foucault made
these remarks which we quote, viz. : — “ Shall it be said that, in
order to obtain the best results, it is indispensable to receive
the focus of the condenser on the amplifying lens ? That is
quite another question !” And “ It would be preferable, in my
opinion, to cause the solar image to fall beyond the amplifying
lens.” While M. Bertscli, instead of acknowledging M. Claudet’s
victory as erroneously asserted, reiterated and referred to his
former objection, of the necessary absence of sharpness of the
image due to the faulty construction of the solar camera.
Before concluding this subject we cannot forbear remarking
that it is an odd thing, when so much explanation was being
made, that M. Foucault himself should have been allowed to
fall into misapprehension on one point without being corrected.
From several diagrams which are included in the report of the
meeting, we perceive that the amplifying lens is represented as
a single combination • — a circumstance that we should have attri¬
buted to simplification for convenience, only for the fact that we
find M. Foucault concluded his remarks thus : — “ It would be
preferable, in my opinion, to cause the solar image to fall beyond
the amplifying lens, giving the latter the meniscus form, the
concavity of which should be turned towards the solar focus.
We should then have a system acting in a converse manner to
that of the old camera obscura of Wollaston adopted byT
Daguerre. This arrangement, founded on the employment ot
a single combination, ought already to give very good results ;
but further resources might still be found in the employment
of double combinations .”
Was there nobody present acquainted with the fact that
Woodward’s camera was originally designed for use with a
portrait lens ? _
Photo-Lithography. — We have been favoured by Mr. Stuart,
of Glasgow, with two specimens of the photographs exhibited
by him at the meeting of the City of Glasgow and YY est of Scot¬
land Photographic Society, held on the Till ultimo. They are
both copies of engravings ; but, so far as we can judge without
access to the originals, we should pronounce them to be ot very
unequal merit. In that of the illustration of a statuette some ot
the more delicate lines are run into one another so as to pro-
[March 1, 1801
80 THE BRITISH JOURNAL
duoe a “ smudgy” effect, and the outlines of the hair especially
are heavy and coarse; but we are of opinion that in attempting
this subject Mr. Stuart was rather too ambitious, and it may
probably turn out that when further progress has been made
in the manipulation of the process, which is alleged to differ
from any yet published, this existing weakness may be over¬
come, for in the other subject, a copy of an antique vase, where
the lines are all bolder, the reproduction appears to be com¬
plete, sharp, and clean.
Photographic Paper. — The discussion upon Mr. Hughes’s
paper read at the last meeting of the Photographic Society
(London) was fruitful in suggestive matter, and is we believe
to be followed up in continuation at the next meeting. It is
also satisfactory, in a point of vast importance to the photo¬
graphic world, inasmuch as wre have now considerable hope that
the long-existing want of a thoroughly good paper upon which
to print photographs may at no distant day become readily at¬
tainable. Mr. Henry Bohn, the well-known publisher, whose
vast experience with all kinds of paper has rendered him
familiar with the various qualities produced by the most noted
manufacturers, expressed some astonishment at finding photo¬
graphers in any difficulty about the matter, and asserted that
what was described as a desirable kind of material for their use
appeared to him precisely similar to that requisite for the recep¬
tion of impressions of the highest class of wood engravings, and
handed round a copy of a work on the History of Wood En¬
graving, very recently issued by him, containing a large number
of illustrations. So far as we could judge from mere inspection
the paper used in the work above-named appeared to us to be
admirably suited to the requirements of our photographic
brethren. Mr. Bohn stated that he knew of three firms, manu¬
facturers of paper, all of them likely to produce a first-class
material if desired, but did not mention the names. Having
made diligent inquiry relative to the paper upon which Mr.
Bohn’s book was printed, we find that it was that known as
“ Dickenson’s White Ticket”— a designation which we recom¬
mend our readers to bear in mind ; and not to forget also
another hint of Mr. Bohn’s, viz., to use vellum size, and if need¬
ful size the paper for themselves. Verb sap.
More New Lenses. — In another column will be found an ex
tract from the report of a meeting of the American Photogra"
phical Society, at which some description is given of a lens
about to be introduced by a celebrated American optician, Mr.
C. C. Harrison. As we have no doubt that the pages of a con¬
temporary will contain a reprint of the report, and that there¬
fore we shall probably have inquiries relative to a matter
that is sure to excite considerable interest, we deem it advisable
to make a few comments upon the subject at once. We may
remark, en passant, that the Mr. Harrison alluded to is not
the same gentleman as the one mentioned in another part of
our impression as taking part in the proceedings of the French
Photographic Society. We perceive that the American Society
has very prudently abstained from expressing any opinion upon
the merits of the lenses until after they have been submitted
to examination by a sub-committee appointed for the purpose.
We rejoice at this, because we are convinced that either Mr.
Rutherford or the reporter must have been under some misap¬
prehension regarding them.
It is asserted, with reference to these lenses, that the field is
flat, and that an angle of picture extending to 90° is included.
Indeed, this would follow as a matter of course, if there were no
error in the statement that a lens of twelve inches focus covers
a field of twenty-four inches. But we have no doubt whatever
that there is very considerable error in the alleged focus of the
lens, the distance having been probably measured from the
nearest part of the lens to the plate, instead of the equivalent
focus having been quoted — a difference which would most likely
reduce the calculated angle from 90° to 60°, or even less.
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
There is also some confusion of ideas expressed about
angular aperture, which is evidently put for angle of field — a very
different affair : in fact, as a rule, the larger the angle of
aperture , the smaller is the angle of field that the lens will I
properly cover. The next point to which we wish to advert is a
little amusing. It is claimed that these lenses give a more perfect ]
rendering of straight lines than any other lens. Now, as an
ordinary portrait lens, with a diaphragm properly located, will
render straight lines absolutely rectilmearly, to say nothing of
other combinations already in use, how is it possible that they
can be rendered more perfectly 1 Truly M. Petzval did not
claim so much for his orthoscopic lens, and he showed his i
prudence thereby. In the remarks that we have felt it necea- j
sary to make we have no intention of depreciating the alleged
new lenses. They may be good — nay, even improvements on |
existing forms — for aught we know at present ; but wo are quite
satisfied that the statements to which we have adverted are
not capable of being sustained. ^We shall be on the look-out
for the report of the sub-committee with some interest.
New Photographic Society. — It will be seen by our reports
of the meetings of societies that the contemplated new society
in the northern metropolis was inaugurated on the 20th ult.,
under the name of the “Edinburgh Photographic Society.
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMENTS.
By T. F. Hardwich.
No. XIX.
Several letters having been published with reference to. the triplet
lens recently brought out by Mr. Dalhneyer, we determined, in the
interests of the readers of The British Journal. of Photograph y,
to examine the instrument, and ascertain what it was capable of
effecting. There exists an impression, not altogether destitute of
foundation, that in improving a lens in one particular it is. gene¬
rally injured in another, and hence we were anxious to inquire
what had been lost in order to secure the freedom from distortion
so important in a good copying lens.
The lens supplied to us by Mr. Dallmeyer bad an equivalent
focus of tliirty-five inches, and was said to cover a plate.of twenty-
two inches by twenty. We desired him to put the instrument
into the best condition for copying maps, which be did by grinding
the central negative lens of greater power, and thus adding to the
flatness of field. As a standard of comparison we took an ortho¬
graphic of T. Ross’s, likewise constructed for plates of twenty-two
inches by twenty, and having an equivalent focus of 37'5 inches
nearly.
To commence with a sketch of the mode in which the experi¬
ments were conducted: — A number of visiting cards, printed
from the same copper-plate, were arranged in a horizontal line
upon a black board, and the back of the camera having been
partially closed above and below, and left open in the middle, a
stereoscopic frame was made to slide across, so that the focussing
glass could be brought to bear either upon the central or upon the
marginal portions of the field. If, instead of stereoscopic plates,
glasses of twenty-two inches by twenty bad been coated, there
would have been a much greater chance of the sensibility of the
collodion varying, in consequence of evaporationfandfdrying up of
the film. The employment of a glass of the stereoscopic shape
had also this advantage — that two pictures of tbe^'same part of
the image could be taken side by side, by shifting the plate, and
the exposures could be varied when necessary.
In testing lenses of a long focus the duration|oPthe exposure
is so great that it interferes much with^comparative experiments.
To obviate this difficulty the most sensitive bromo-iodised collo¬
dion was developed with a strong solution of sulphate of iron, and
thus the times were reduced to about sixty seconds with the stops
of 1’2 inch aperture, and two minutes with the -85 inch aperture.
By halving the exposure in each case for the first of the two similar
pictures taken side by side, the rapidity of the lens was easily
determined, since, in photographing a black and white object,
under-exposure always results in a very prolonged and feeble
development, the negative appearing weak and grey when viewed
by transmission. These particulars are given lest it should be
objected that the experiments were inconclusive because the lenses
were not worked simultaneously upon one camera. Doubtless the
latter method of proceeding is, as a general rule, preferable, but it
March 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
81
would not have been easy to apply it to the apparatus before
described ; and since we were fortunate enough to secure two days
in which the light appeared to be uniform (the first of the two days
being cloudless, and the other altogether cloudy), we have no
doubt whatever that our conclusions are strictly correct, and that
by going over the same ground several times, backwards and for¬
wards, we arrived at length at the true state of the case as regards
the rapidity of working of the triplet lens.
Mr. Dallmeyer considers that his lens is theoretically “quicker
acting” than the orthographic lens, and gives his reasons in a
letter which appeared in The British Journal of Photography
of February 1st. We do not find, however, that his views are
borne out by experiment ; for on careful comparison with stops of
varying size it appeared that the orthographic of 37'5 inches focus
worked in exactly the same time as the triplet of 35’ inches when
the picture was taken by the centre of the lens, whilst in the case
of similar pictures taken with the marginal portions of the lens, or
with the “oblique pencils,” as the opticians say, there was an
advantage on the side of the orthographic to the extent of about
one-fifth of the whole exposure. With reference to the actinic power
of the central rays corresponding exactly in the two lenses we enter¬
tain no doubt at all, since the experiments made on the first and
sunny day agreed with those performed on the second or cloudy
day. . That the outside portions of the field were less brilliantly
illuminated in the case of the triplet than in that of the orthogra¬
phic we can not affirm with the same confidence, although the
results of three consecutive sets of experiments appeared to
indicate as much.
If it be granted that the triplet lens is appreciably slower than the
orthographic, foci and apertures being equal, what is the explana¬
tion? We think it may depend partly upon the little extra thick¬
ness of glass in the former case, and partly upon the fact that the
position of the diaphragm and the focal length of the front glass
are less favourable. In the orthographic the whole of the con¬
densing is effected by the anterior lens, and the diaphragm being
also further off, it follows that more light passes through an
aperture of a given size.
Having satisfied ourselves as to the comparative rapidity of the
two lenses, we proceeded in the next place to examine them for
flatness of field, and in this respect we found the triplet to be
superior. Although a shorter focus lens than the orthographic,
and one embracing more objects in the field, the greyed glass
required less approximation to the lens to define the margins after
focussing the centre of the image. With a stop of '85 inch aper¬
ture, eighteen inches along the horizontal line were fairly covered,
the aperture of the orthographic for producing a similar result
being '75 inch. A stop of '6 inch on the triplet gave average
definition over nineteen inches horizontally, and corresponded to
one of '5 inch on the orthographic. In consequence of this
difference the triplet regained in the matter of exposure all that it
had before lost, and on taking pictures at nine and a-half to ten
inches from the centre of the field with the above-named stops,
that produced by the triplet ('6 inch) was, if anything, a trifle more
vigorous than with the orthographic of '5 inch aperture.
Thus much for rapidity of action and flatness of field. A third
point more important than either remained still to be examined.
Opticians are aware that the means taken to flatten the field of
lenses often tend to introduce another error known as “ astig-
mation,” in consequence of which the image loses its sharpness
and cannot be brought to a true focus. Having been led before¬
hand to anticipate astigmation as a probable defect in the triplet,
we examined, with great care, the whole of the pictures
taken with that lens, and the result was, that with stops of
the relative sizes before alluded to, viz., 1*7 ; 1'2; '85, and '6
inch for the triplet, as compared with 1*75; T25 ; *75, and '5 for
the orthographic, we could detect no difference whatever. In neither
case was the picture of the outside of the field equal to that of the
centre ; but comparing pictures taking at corresponding points, the
unassisted eye failed to distinguish them. We think it right to
mention, however, that a friend, experienced in the use of the mi¬
croscope, after submitting the pictures (not labelled) to a consider¬
able magnifying power, pronounced in favour of the orthographic.
We ourselves also examined the images with af 3-inch object-glass,
but were unable to decide positively upon their respective merits.
The mode of focussing in the above experiments was that recom¬
mended by a friend esteemed an authority on the subject of copying,
viz., to focus with the lai'gest convenient aperture, and at a point
midway between the centre and the edge of the field. Then, by
inserting the diaphragm and taking the picture, there will be an
approximation to a real focus everywhere. On consulting a work¬
ing optician as to the soundness of this method of procedure, he
approved of it, stating that the central rays were always superior
to the. oblique, and that it would be better to favour the latter in
focussing.
The camera was placed at such a distance from the object that
the image (formed by the lens of shorter focus, viz., the triplet,)
measured exactly two-thirds of the size of the original ; the general
opinion being that the capabilities of the lenses would be better
shown by copying on a reduced scale than by reproducing of equal
size, since, in the latter case, disturbances would arise not con¬
templated in the original construction.
In concluding this notice we think it right to express our sense
of the energy which Mr. Dallmeyer has shown in bringing out this
copying lens. Assuming him to be correct in stating that it gives
no perceptible distortion, it appears to us to be an advance on any
previously existing form, since we do not find that the above de¬
sirable quality has been purchased at the expense of others even
more important, such as sharp definition and intensity of the deve¬
loped negative.
ON THE TONING OP POSITIVES.
By Charles Heisch.
[Read at a Meeting of the Blackheath Photographic Society, February IS, 1851.]
A short time ago I called your attention to the toning of positives.
The remarks I then made have called forth a good deal of opposi¬
tion, and ! make no apology for again referring to the subject ; be¬
cause it is so all-important that it cannot be too fully discussed.
At the present moment, too, toning is under consideration at the
London Photographic Society, so that the time is particularly fa¬
vourable for a complete investigation. I have been accused of a
wish to drive people back to the abominations of sulphur-toning,
yellow skies, &c., &c. Such accusations are simply absurd, as any
one taking the trouble to read my remarks will at once see. I
stated the precise method which had, in my hands, yielded perma¬
nent prints, and I am not to be made responsible for the results of
a very different mode of proceeding. Some remarks of quite another
character, however, appeared in The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy, from the pen of its much-respected Editor, and to these I
replied in a subsequent number of the same Journal. In the current
number the Editor has done me the favour to reply to this com¬
munication, and Mr. Ilardwich has also referred to my remarks ;
but neither of these gentlemen has really touched the question
which I raised.
At the risk of a little repetition I will restate what I consider the
weak point in the alkaline process. It is this: that the pores of the
paper, when immersed in the hyposulphite, are filled with a mixture
of chloride of gold and carbonate of soda — precisely the same sub¬
stances which are put into the hyposulphite of soda in the modifi¬
cation of the older process which I have for years employed, so that
any decomposition which in that process takes place in the bath
takes place in the paper in the alkaline process. If any deposit
take place in the old bath it can be removed : in the new process
it must remain in the paper. The Editor of the Journal above
referred to, in his first article, dismissed this, by saying that the
pores of the paper were not full of the substances in question, as it
was customary to well wash the prints before placing them in the
fixing bath. This assertion led me to read over again all that
had been written on the subject, to find if auy such elabo¬
rate washing as is necessary to remove the solution from the
pores of the paper had been anywhere recommended, and I find
nothing of the kind. Mr. Ilardwich (one of the great apostles of
alkaline toning) simply says — wash for “ an instant under a tap
that is, just remove the solution from the surface, not from the
pores, of the paper. We all know the amount of washing required
to remove solutions from the pores of paper — witness the time and
trouble required in the last washing of our prints — and I fear, if
such a washing be needed between toning and fixing, the process
would meet with but little favour, and stand a very bad chance of
being generally well carried out. In my reply to the first article
I pointed out these facts : in the second no notice is taken of
the matter ; but I am told that I have not pointed out a weak point
in the process. I think I have. Mr. Hardwich, while not notic¬
ing this point, incidentally makes my objections even stronger
than I did, by converting what I spoke of as only probable
into a certainty. He says : — “ In all cases a liberation of sulphur
takes place on mixing the above salts (chloride of gold and
hyposulphite of soda), even supposing the free acid to be removed
from the chloride of gold by neutralising with a base.” Therefore,
sulphur must be deposited in the pores of the paper. I also
82
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1801
pointed out, in my letter to The British Journal of Photography,
what has too much escaped attention, that toning goes on as much
in the hyposulphite as in the gold bath, inasmuch as the colour
of the prints is totally different, when they leave the so-called
fixing bath, to that which they possess when they go in. To what
is this colouration due, if not to some reaction between the
matter of which the image is composed and the hyposulphite ?
The respected Editor of The British Journal of Photography
adroitly gets out of answering this question by taking hold of my
remark, that, if it were not so, ammonia might be used instead of
hyposulphite, and says you can use ammonia and your prints will
then be the same colour as when they leave the gold bath. Of
that I was aware, but it does not affect the question of the prints
whose colour has been changed by immersion in hyposulphite. I
have never met with any paper which would give agreeable tones
if left as they come from the gold bath, and such seems to be the
general result of experience. Mr. Hardwich evidently counts
much on the change of tone thus effected, and even goes so
far as to say that better tones are to be got by using old hyposul¬
phite, which looks to me very much like depending a good deal on
sulphur for your tone. My belief is, that the colouring matter of the
prints in both processes is the same, and that in the alkaline process
you have at least a chance of a deposit in the pores of the paper
which you have not in the others. I do not think that the quan¬
tity of gold deposited on the picture could materially protect it
against any injury this deposit may produce, particularly as on
the white parts of the picture no such film of gold exists.
Whether this deposit is of any consequence I do not at present
pretend to say, but I shall watch it carefully before altogether
giving up my old friend.
In reading over again what has been written on this subject, my
attention was attracted by one statement which had before escaped
me, namely, that papers prepared with chloride of barium could not
be used for the alkaline toning. I have, as most of you
know, always advocated a barium paper, as yielding more stable
pictures and requiring less over printing than others. I continued
to use them with the alkaline toning and still found them far
preferable. I have recommended them to a good many, and none
who have once tried them will ever use any other. All Mr. Heath’s
pictures in the Exhibition are printed on barium papers, and alka¬
line toned. I also produce some printed and toned in the same
way. The reason given for believing that these papers could not
be used is so curious that I can only attribute it to utter inadver¬
tence. It is, that when the barium salts come in contact with the
carbonate of soda, carbonate of barium will be deposited. Now,
in the first place, when the paper is in the silver bath, most of the
barium remains in that bath as nitrate, and what little is left in
the paper in the soluble condition (and that only could be affected
by the carbonate of soda) is removed along with the free nitrate
of silver in the preliminary washing of the prints. Practically, I
believe barium papers are very superior as correcting all tendency
to a blueness of tone.
In conclusion, I would remark that all authorities — Mr. Hard¬
wich included — are agreed that prints properly prepared by the
double hyposulphite process are “ permanent” — a word which does
not admit of degrees of comparison. I trust that alkaline prints
will prove so too ; but I cannot admit that experiments with moist
sulphuretted hydrogen are parallel with the wear and tear of years.
That which would stand the one might yield to the other, and
vice versa.
_ It must also not be forgotten that my attention was called par¬
ticularly to this point by observing signs of fading in some
alkaline-toned prints. This must, of course, only be taken for
what it is worth ; but it is a fact as far as it goes. Mr. Negretti,
who is present, must have had great experience in printing, and
I should be very glad to hear if he has made any observations on
this subject. I produce some prints of various ages — with one
exception none less than four years old — which show no signs of
either fading or yellow skies. Here is also one toned with sel d’or
after having been fixed in hyposulphite of soda in the year 1851—
a process now pronounced by some to be impossible.
NOTES ON THE HYPOSULPHITES OF SILVEH.
By James Cramb.
tttead at the Meeting of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society,
held on the 14th of February, 1861.]
In the observations which follow on the hyposulphites of silver, it
is not presumed that there is much, or perhaps anything, posi¬
tively new, especially to those who are well read up in the more
recent publications on photographic chemistry. But it seemed to
the writer that there was not so clear and connected information on
this subject readily accessible to most of his photographic brethren
as the importance of the subject demanded. Such consideration s in¬
duced him to allow himself to be named, at the December meeting,
as willing to read a paper on the subject.
Holding the opinion that one experiment performed in presence
of the Society is in many cases worth pages of exposition, I
will repeat as many of the experiments on which my deductions
are based as the time at disposal will admit of.
Every photographer is familiar with the use of “hypo., the
familiar abbreviation for hyposulphite of soda on this side the
Atlantic. Our cousins on the other side call it “ soda” — not nearly
so expressive of the use to which avc are to make of it, or rather
the part of it we are to employ. The photographer wants the
services of the hyposulphurous acid; and if lie get it lie cares not
whether it be combined with soda or potash, or any other base.
The purpose proper to which alone hyposulphurous acid is em¬
ployed in photography is to remove the superfluous silver salts which
have not been used in the production of the image. It is the
“fixing” agent — though that is not a very accurate designation
either. Photography has not been over fortunate in exactness of
phraseology and nomenclature.
Trifling though this operation of “ fixing ” may often seem, the
inability to do so successfully was the chief hindrance in the way
of the photographic pioneers in the beginning of the century.
The extraordinary affinity of hyposulphurous acid for silver is
what constitutes its superiority over other substances as a fixing
agent. So powerful, indeed, is this affinity for silver that it forms
an exception to the ordinary laws of chemical union. That some¬
what singular fact seems to have been overlooked by Mr.
Hardwich in the following statement: — “In the solution of silver
compounds by hyposulphite of soda a double decomposition always
takes place.”* The italics are Mr. Hardwich’s. The fact men¬
tioned above Avas early pointed out and Avell known. Hear Sir J.
W. Herschel, in an article on this subject in the Edinburgh Philo¬
sophical Journal for 1819: — “The habitudes of oxide of silver in
union Avith this acid (hyposulphurous) are very peculiar. The
strong affinity betAveen these bodies is shown by the folloAving
facts:- — I poured hyposulphite of soda on neAvly-precipitated oxide of
silver ; hyposulphite of silver Avas formed and soda in a caustic state
set at liberty — the only instance , I believe, yet known of the direct
displacement of a fixed alkali by a metallic oxide, vid humidd.
* * * * Thus the affinity betAveen this acid and base, unas¬
sisted by any double decomposition, is such as to form an excep¬
tion to all the ordinary rules of chemical union. ”f
As mentioned before, it is as a fixing agent avc use the hypo¬
sulphite of soda. It will perhaps be more intelligible if avc say
that in future our remarks Avill be directed alone to its use in
fixing paper prints. On a paper print, as it comes from the
printing frame, Ave have chloride and nitrate of silver and reduced
silver, Avhatever that exactly is, forming the image. Copious
Avashing in Avater Avill undoubtedly remove most of the nitrate.
It is generally supposed it could all be removed by sufficient
washing, but Ave Avill by-and-by see that is more than doubtful.
The chloride of silver is knoAvn to be Avholly insoluble in water ; but
it forms, Avith hyposulphite of soda, by double decomposition, a
soluble compound, thus enabling us to get the chloride out of the
paper, Avithout affecting the picture, since the reduced silver is
not acted on, or but very partially so.
Hyposulphurous acid is composed of sulphur and oxygen, one
atom of each. Most, if not allj, its compounds are composed of
tAvo atoms of the acid with one of the base. There seems to be but
one compound of hyposulphurous acid Avith silver, the hypo¬
sulphite of silver, composed of tAvo atoms of acid Avith one of
oxide of silver.
Hyposulphurous acid, 2 equivalents . 48
Silver 108, oxygen 8 . U6
162
Hyposulphite . of silver is insoluble in water, and extremely
unstable , passing rapidly into the sulphuret of silver, both of Avhich
qualities we shall have occasion very fully to refer to further.
Since hyposulphite of silver is insoluble, the photographer Avould
gain nothing by changing the insoluble silver compound, the
chloride which he Avould dissolve out of his prints into it; but
hyposulphite of silver is soluble in excess of hyposulphite of soda,
* Manual of Photographic Chemistry. By T. F. Hardwich, fifth edition, page 40.
+ Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. ATol. I., page 397.
t Herschel, Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, ATol. I. p. 18.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
83
March 1, M61],
and forms with that salt a soluble double compound , the double
hyposulphite of silver and soda. I will not say very decidedly
if there is more than one such compound, or how many. This
soluble double salt is composed, as I find it, of one atom each of
hyposulphite of soda and silver.
Hyposulphurous acid, 4 equivalents . 96
Soda . 32
Oxide of silver . 116
Mr. Hardwich and others speak of the double salt of hyposulphite
of silver and soda being composed of two atoms of hyposulphite
of soda and one of hyposulphite of silver. If my statement above
be correct, and Mr. Hardwich’s also, then there will be two soluble
double compounds. Mr. Hardwich speaks of there being two,*
one soluble and the other sparingly so ; but as the compound, com¬
posed undoubtedly, I think, of one atom of each, is quite soluble,
we cannot recognise it as the one called sparingly soluble. In
fact I cannot say I clearly comprehend Mr. Hardwich’s meaning
towards the end of the paragraph in which this sparingly soluble
salt is named.
Permit me here to refer to an ambiguity common to most photo¬
graphic publications in stating the equivalent of hyposulphite of
soda. It is set down NaO, S2 O2 5HO 125. Now, this salt is
composed of two atoms of hyposulphurous acid and one atom of
soda, NaO, S3 O2.
Hyposulphurous acid, 2 equivalents . . 48
Soda . 32
80
The additional 45, to bring it up to 125, is made up of five atoms
of water of crystallisation, which forms no part of hyposulphite
of soda. except when crystallised. Any one can test that by
desiccating it, when the water will be found to leave the salt,
without in any way altering its properties. The Photographic
News Almanack makes a graver error in a list of chemical equiva¬
lents. Hyposulphite of soda is there set down as containing
twelve atoms of water, and its combining equivalent increased to
187. The compiler probably takes sodium at 23, though in chloride
of sodium he takes both substances at their highest, and quotes it
at 60 (Na24Cl36). Such blundering should, I think, be in every
case pointed out, especially in a table intended for reference.
The notes of the behaviour of hyposulphite of silver in a variety
of circumstances, which I propose laying before the Society, will
perhaps be most intelligently and conveniently given in connexion
with the experiments I propose performing.
When a solution of nitrate of silver is dropped into a solution
of hyposulphite of soda little by little, a white flaky precipitate is
at once formed. On agitation this is dissolved, and again and
again, as more silver is added, the precipitate is each time formed
and each time dissolved. The precipitate formed is the hyposul¬
phite of silver, which, as before remarked, is insoluble. This insolu¬
ble salt, by being agitated in excess of hyposulphite of soda, com¬
bines with the soda, forming a soluble double salt. If the addition
of nitrate of silver be continued at a certain point the precipitate
ceases to be dissolved by any amount of agitation. The reason of
this is, that there is now too much hyposulphite of silver for all the
hyposulphite of soda left to form the soluble double salt. The
permanent precipitate which at this particular point begins to be
formed goes on increasing till as much silver is added as will take
up all the hyposulphurous acid in the solution to form hyposulphite
of silver. Another property of the hyposulphite of silver is its
extreme instability now shown. The precipitate is at first quite
white, but speedily changes to yellow, then on through orange,
red, brown, till finally it becomes quite black. The exact nature
of these changes is, I understand, pretty much of an open question
among chemists. The silver has changed from a hyposulphite to a
sulphuret. The hyposulphite of silver containing the elements which
are required to make up sulphuret of silver and sulphuric acid —
Hyposulphite of silver, AgO Sa O2 equals SOS and AgS.
24 Sulphuric acid Sulphur 1 16
108} Sulphuret of Silver |y^.Ur } jjg
The two solutions separately, before being combined, were neu¬
tral ; the solution is now highly acid, and if no more silver has
been added than just exactly to take up all the hyposulphurous acid
from the soda, there should be neither any free silver in solution nor
any double hyposulphite of silver and soda. Decanting off the clear
liquid, and dividing it into two portions, it can be tested for both
salts. If any nitrate of silver be left in the clear solution hydro¬
sulphate of ammonia will show its presence, and the addition of
• Manual of Photographic Chemistry, fifth edition, p. 50.
Oxygen 3
Sulphur 2
Silver 1
silver will tell at once if any soluble double hyposulphite is in
solution, because the addition of more silver will cause the forma¬
tion of the insoluble compound.
The next experiment is intended not only to bring out more
clearly the fact that hyposulphite of silver immediately on being
formed, and no free hyposulphite present, begins to pass into sul¬
phuret, but also the very important fact, that in presence of chloride
this change to sulphuret either never begins or is at any point in its
progress stopped by being brought into contact with a chloride.
To show this clearly, hyposulphite of soda and nitrate of silver are
mixed in equivalent proportions so as to form the insoluble hypo¬
sulphite of silver. Half is immediately thrown into a solution of
chloride of sodium ; the white precipitate remains white, and re¬
tains the property of combining with hyposulphite of soda to form
the soluble double salt. The half left changes, as before described,
from white to yellow into black, and is quite insoluble in water or
in hyposulphite of soda : it has become sulphuret of silver. The
other, that added to the chloride, remains hyposulphite of silver.
The next experiment to which I call the attention of the Society
is that if a drop of solution of nitrate of silver be added to a strong
solution of hyposulphite of soda without agitation, the insoluble
hyposulphite of silver is formed, as it were locally, and passes, as
pointed out above, into the sulphuret.
The fourth experiment with hyposulphite of soda and oxide of
silver shows what has been before observed regarding the excep¬
tional character of this combination. It will also show the quan¬
tity of hyposulphite of soda required to form the soluble double salt
with oxide of silver. If 250 parts of hyposulphite of soda be added
to 116 parts of oxide of silver the soluble double salt is formed,
proving its composition to be one atom of each of hyposulphite of
soda and hyposulphite of silver — NaS2 O2, AgOS2 02. The com¬
bination of hyposulphite of soda with oxide of silver also brings
out the fact that with oxide of silver you never can form the in¬
soluble and unstable compound : if excess of oxide of silver be
added it just remains as excess, and the double soluble hyposul¬
phite remains also.
The fifth experiment I perform is the addition of hyposulphite
of silver to chloride of silver : the chloride is dissolved, but at no
point is the insoluble hyposulphite ever formed, consequently the
sulphuret can never be formed either.
This experiment is undoubtedly one of the highest practical
value, as showing that if we could turn all the silver in our prints
into chloride before immersing them in the hyposulphite it would
be quite impossible to form the insoluble hyposulphite of silver,
from the formation of which, in more or less quantity, arise the
yellowing and browning of prints, and the various kinds of measly
spots and other ills we are all so afraid of, with so much good
reason. These brilliant hopes looked well on paper, but. on trial,
so far as my experiments have yet gone, I have found it impossible
to remove all the nitrate from the paper by prolonged soaking in a
chloride. Whether it be that the nitrate enters into combination
with the size of the paper, from which the chloride is not able to
dislodge it, or whatever else may be the explanation, I give the
bare fact of my experience.
The practical conclusions I would wish to draw from the facts
brought out are: — 1st. The great importance of removing as much
of the nitrate from our prints as possible, before we . proceed to the
fixing, as lessening very much the risk of sulphuration.. 2nd. The
necessity of strong hypo, to ensure its being able to furnish as much
hyposulphite of soda as needful to form the soluble double, salt with
the silver to be converted. 3rd. The advantage of. draining the
prints before immersion in the “hypo. ’ to avoid diluting it, and
thereby deceiving us regardingits strength. And lastly, and most
important, the necessity of agitating the prints while in the hypo.,
turning them frequently over and over, otherwise the insoluble
compound may be fonned, though there be quite strong enough
hypo, in the dish. The experiment with the hypo, solution. and
the single drop of silver solution, gently added, shows the evil of
trusting to strong hypo, alone, without agitation.
L NEW METHOD OF PEEPAEING- PUEE NITEATE OF
SILVEE FEOM METALLIC SILVEE ALLOYED WITH
COPPEE.
By Thomas A. Barber.
TRead at a meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Feb. 2/th, ls61.]
One of the simplest plans for recovering silver from, an ola bath is
that of immersing a piece of copper, slightly. acidifying the liquor,
and leaving it until the whole of the nitrate is decomposed, and the
silver falls in a metallic powder. In this case, however, the pro-
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. March 1, lb.il
81
duct is contaminated with copper, from which no amount of washing
will free it.
My method of proceeding is this : — After well washing and
drying the precipitate, I add carbonate of soda, or borax, and fuse
it in a crucible, by which a part of the copper is eliminated. It is
then poured out into cold water, bringing it into a granular and
manageable form.
The solution of the silver in nitric acid is effected in the usual
manner ; but evaporation is carried on until the resulting mass
begins to fuse, so as to drive off the excess of acid.
The salt is then rubbed in a mortar with a little oxide of silver,
distilled water added, and the whole boiled. The oxide of silver
displaces the copper, which falls as an oxide, and is separated by
filtration, together with any excess of oxide of silver.
The liquor is then a solution of pure nitrate of silver, containing
a small amount of oxide of silver, which must be neutralised by the
addition of nitric acid, if evaporated for crystals, or by acetic acid,
if transformed into a negative bath.
I fuse the silver and afterwards the salt, in order to economise
the use of the oxide, otherwise there can be no reason why the
pulverent silver should not be converted at once into a nitrate; for
the oxide will rectify a solution containing both copper and acid —
in fact, nitrate of copper may by the same means be converted into
nitrate of silver.
The difficulty in this process is, to arrive at the proper quantity
of oxide to be used without wasting it. This may be ascer¬
tained by testing portions of the boiling solution with ammonia,
and adding the oxide gradually, till every trace of copper has
disappeared.
The method generally recommended to get rid of the copper is
to fuse the mass until the nitrate undergoes decomposition. The
nitric acid is drawn off and oxide of copper remains; but the high
temperature necessary for this operation involves the danger of
forming nitrite.
Another plan has lately come under my notice. It is to wash the
deposited metallic silver with weak hydrochloric acid, and then
with ammonia. I have tried the experiment, but did not find it
succeed : copper was still left and chloride of silver formed.
If nitrate of potash be preferred in place of nitrate of copper, it
may be readily effected by dropping into the boiling solution some
caustic potash. The product will then be contaminated with
nitrate of potash instead of nitrate of copper.
I give my method more as a chemical fact than as a useful
addition to photographic operations ; for I have long held the
opinion that nitrate of copper is no bar to the working of nitrate
of silver, and this Mr. Taylor, at the Photographic Society of
Scotland, proved to be the fact.
Most of our baths contain potassium, cadmium, ammonium, and
very likely calcium, sodium, &c. ; and why object to cuprum ? The
salts of this metal, are, I believe, just as free from actinic action
as the others. Still it is of some service, and no little pleasure,
to deal with a genuine article.
REMARKS ON MR. CRAMB’S PAPER “ON TESTING USED
SILVER BATHS,” &e.
By C. Jabez Hughes.
[Bead at the meeting of the North London Photographic Society, February 27, 1861.]
SINCE our last meeting, at which I read a paper on estimating the
amount of silver in nitrate baths, &c., another in reply has been
read by Mr. John Cramb, of Glasgow, in which he alludes to ex¬
periments made by his brother somewhat similar to those under¬
taken by Mr. G. Wharton Simpson and myself, the results of which
are. considerably different to our own. So far, then, we have two
series of recorded experiments on the same subject, each tending
to a different conclusion. This is unsatisfactory ; for either one or
the other, or possibly both, may be wrong. A re-examination of
the subject is obviously suggested, and I am sure you will be
gratified when I inform you that this is now being done by gentle¬
men whose names will be a guarantee both for the accuracy of
their, results and their ability for the task, and that at our next
meeting I hope to lay before you an interesting report, from which
we may deduce safe conclusions, not only on the question in dis¬
pute, but on kindred points affecting the theory and practice of
photographic printing.
For my own part. I have no object to serve but the elucidation of
truth, and its application to daily wants. If it shall occur that
the views I have expressed are not substantiated \vhen tested on
a wider basis, I shall have pleasure in being set light, and shall I
cheerfully embrace the new views; for, after all, better men than 1
have committed themselves to positions which enlarged experience I
has not allowed them to maintain.
Awaiting, therefore, respectfully but anxiously, the advent of
this trustworthy information, I would leave the matter, were it
not for the tone in which Mr. Cramb has chosen to couch his
comments on my paper ; and for fear that my silence might be
misconstrued.
That he should dissent from my views was quite reasonable — for
if we all agreed there would be no discussion — and that he should
endeavour to show where he supposed me to be in error, was not
only allowable but highly commendable ; but there is a proper and
courteous method of doing this, which, to the credit of photogra-i
phers, is rarely departed from. Why Mr. Cramb has so done Ii
cannot surmise, unless it be that this being his first paper addressed i
to any photograhpliic society he is unaware of the amenities
usually expected.
For my own part I am alwa}rs too happy to be taught, but I can
never submit to be coerced ; and, while bowing with submission to
any one who will point out my faults, and thanking them for the
act, I distinctly deny the right of any to do it in offensive language, j
I claim to be treated with ordinary courtesy and respect ; and if
in the present instance I somewhat depart from the usual course, it
is to remind Mr. Cramb that in criticising papers read before |
societies he must endeavour to avoid ebullitions of jaundiced and
splenetic feeling.
I do not propose to follow him through his paper — the whole pur- I
pose of which appears to be to pervert and distort my views — I
and will only remark on the experiments themselves. They are
based on the principle of inferring the amount of nitrate of silver j
in a solution from the quantity of a standard solution of chloride !
of sodium required to cause complete precipitation. In the use of
this method I pointed out several sources of error. These experi¬
menters have adopted one of these sources, viz., using only a fluid j
drachm to estimate the quantity in an ounce of solution, whereby
an error becomes magnified eight times.
What means, if any, were taken to ascertain the accuracy of the i
fluid drachm measure are not explained. As many of the bath
solutions examined were very concentrated, the error of a few
minims either way, especially when multiplied by eight, is very ;
grave.
Again, as the results of this method are obtained by indirect, I
not direct, experiment it is of the greatest importance that, as a
collateral check, a solution of known strength should be tested in i
the first instance. This was done by Mr. Simpson and myself, but j
these gentlemen, in the plenitude of their confidence, did not seem |
to think it necessary.
They must needs make a blunder in the equivalent weight of
chloride of sodium, taking 60 instead of 58’5. This alone makes I
an error in all their calculations of one grain in forty, or two and
a-half per cent.
The results obtained from Mr. Bowman’s bath are so hostile to
general experience that that alone is enough to throw doubt on all
their figures.
Why was the hydrometer tried on collodion baths at all, seeing
that I more than once distinctly stated that it was not suited for
them? yet in their array of figures they parade no less than
Jive collodion baths.
It may be remembered that Mr. Cramb had already condemned
this instrument, confessing in the same breath that lie had never
tried it ! — a mode of proceeding not calculated to favourably
prepossess one as to his impartiality as a judge, and certainly the
contrai-y of what is adopted by the usual investigators of “chemical
and hydrostatical science,” about which he talks so complacently
Having established his conclusions to his own satisfaction, he should-
when he selects his facts and adduces his figures, bring some,
independent third party as a voucher, being himself far from an
unexceptionable witness in his own case. This confirmatory
evidence is not supplied. I therefore dismiss these unverified
figures.
I have not attempted to reply at large to Mr. Cramb’s paper;
for, after all, the point in dispute is not one of argument but of fact,
and as the question must be re-opened shortly we may patiently
wait. My main object has been to resent the tone in which
it is written ; and, in dismissing this provincial censor, I trust
when he next makes his appearance it will be with a more
becoming deportment, and that in alluding to persons with
whom he may disagree he will make an effort to use inoffensive
language.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
8a
March 1, 1861]
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothwell.
No. II.
In continuing the subject of my first paper, C (Fig. 1) is the point
of reflection, the rays from which are supposed to fill the whole
hemisphere, the base of
which is I C I) ; but that
portion only which is in¬
cluded between the lines
C B and C A is incident on
the lens. A B is the lens,
which I will take to be
plano-convex non-achro-
matic, and a the point or
focus to which the rays are
supposed to converge. I
say supposed, for reasons
which will hereafter appear.
C E d is the axis of the lens.
I would remark here that
the reader must confine his
attention closely and solely
to the lines and points as
they are successively re¬
ferred to, and as if there
were no other lines, points,
or index letters present on
the paper, because the
figure is somewhat compli¬
cated.
I will iioav take a second
point of reflection II, which
is the point of the arrow
D G I : this point reflects
rays in every direction,
similar to the point C, a
portion of which strike the
lens obliquely, and are sup¬
posed to be converged to
the point /, forming there
an image of the point of
the arrow.
If we now suppose the
half of the arrow betwixt C
and D to be so full of points
of reflection that the eye
cannot distinguish any in¬
tervals betwixt them, and
the rays reflected from all
' those points to be refracted and converged to so many points be¬
tween a and /as to fill up that space, then wo shall have a picture
of the half (C D) of the arrow complete from a to /. By the same
reasoning it will be evident that the image of the other half (C I) of
the arrow will in like manner be depicted complete from a to e, and
so a perfect picture of the whole of the arrow will be thus produced.
This is so simple and clear that, in connexion with what I have
before stated about the reflection of light, the dullest intellect must
comprehend it.
From the foregoing another mystery (to many people) will with
equal perspicuity be unravelled, viz., the inversion of the image.
It only requires to be seen to be understood ; for as the rays from
the point D of the arrow strike the lens obliquely, and are con¬
verged to a point /on the opposite side of the axis c d, and the rays
from I, the other end of that arrow, are incident on the lens ob¬
liquely, and converged to the point e on the right-hand side of the
axis, it is manifest that the point of the arrow which was up is in
the image down , and the bottom end is up: thus the whole arrow
is inverted. Can anything be plainer? Yes: ocular demonstra¬
tion. Then the following experiment will be an interesting ocular
demonstration of the truth of what I have before advanced on the
formation of the image and its inversion. Place a camera of any
size on a table; put a lighted candle two or three yards in the front
of it ; the flame must be about on a level with the lens, say on the
I point C in Fig. 1. The room must be in darkness, except the light
I of the candle — no focussing glass is needed. Now fill the camera
with steam or tobacco smoke, and it will be distinctly seen how
the lens converges the light to a focus, the light from the lens to
the focus being nearly in the form of a cone, A a B. Next, let an
assistant move the light sideways from C to D, and it will be
clearly seen when the light is at D, after having moved from C to
D, that the cone of rays will point to /; and, when at any inter¬
mediate point between C and D, the cone will be directed to a
corresponding point between a and/.
What is here demonstrated with regard to the formation of the
image of the arrow holds good with respect to the formation of
the image or picture of any other object, in whatever part of the
view it may be situated, although affected in numerous ways by
being in different parts of the view (which will be hereafter
explained), the light from which is incident on the lens. Now, if
three lights are put in positions — one at I, the second at C, and the
third at D — then by looking in the camera, as previously directed,
three distinct cones of light and the three images will be finely
seen. If instead of three lights a large number were placed, it is
very plain that there would be images of all of them in their
proper places in the picture, and as situated in the view. There¬
fore it will be clearly comprehended how every object in a view is
rendered approximately correct, and the whole picture thus com¬
pleted in every part.
I have heard this simple, perhaps it may be called silly, ques¬
tion asked : — How is it that the image is not clear or properly de¬
fined anywhere but at the focus? Well, to answer that, put the
focussing glass in the camera; slide it a little nearer the lens than
the focus ; then, taking the three points of reflection, I C D, it is
seen that the light, after passing the lens, strikes the ground glass
before it arrives at the focus. Therefore, in place of being con¬
verged to a fine point at the focus, it forms discs or circles on the
ground glass— that is, extended, confused images ; and, if the glass
be brought very near the lens, the three cones of rays will cross
each other on the glass, and thus make “ confusion worse con¬
founded” — and the greater the number of lights or points of reflec¬
tion the greater the confusion. On the other hand, if the focus¬
sing glass is at a point beyond the focus similar effects take place,
in consequence of the divergence of the rays after passing the
focus. In few words, the image of a point, line, or any other ob¬
ject, is not properly defined unless some portion of the rays which
issue from them are collected to a similar fine point, line, &c.,
which occurs at the focus and nowhere else.
Having now given a general explanation of the formation of the
photographic picture, I will proceed to treat the subject under dis¬
tinct heads, the first being
THE FOCUS,
'which is a Latin word, signifying hearth, fire, or fire-place, the term
being used to denote the point to which rays of light and heat
converge — no doubt because when a sufficient quantity of the
sun’s rays are concentrated by a lens or speculum, they will ignite
combustible matter, and thus it becomes the fire-place or focus.
All practical photographers as well as opticians are aware that
one part of the image on the ground glass will be in good locus
when other parts will be bad, especially with a large aperture.
There are several reasons to account for this, such as curvature ot
the image, astigmatism, difference in the distance ot objects, &c.
Another effect has often been noticed, which besides being trouble¬
some is to many novices incomprehensible, viz., that, although the
image appeared perfectly sharp and well defined on the ground
glass, the picture when taken was indistinct and apparently out of
focus. This might arise from three causes : — 1st. The plate on which
the picture was taken might not occupy exactl}7 the same position
that the ground glass did, from having been pushed in or out a
little. — 2nd. Vapour might have condensed on the lens. 3rd. Hie
luminous and actinic foci might not be coincident. Ihe two
former would be easily remedied, but the latter not so leadily.
Perhaps I ought to state here that the luminous or optical focus, is
the point to which the luminous rays are converged, of which
yellow is the chief; and that the actinic focus is that to which the
actinic rays converge, violet being the principal. It is necessary
to make another observation here also, and one which all photo¬
graphers should remember, that is, when a prepared plate is in good
focus ihe picture is not only sharp, but struck in a shorter tune, that is,
with a less exposure than if it is a little out of fociis. Mark that well.
As this may be disputed, it will be as well to give several examples
in support of it. The first is, if a picture be taken, having a large
field of view, with a moderately sized stop, the marginal objects
not being in very good focus, and none of the light of the oblique
pencils cut off by the tube or other obstruction, it will be seen that
the centre, -which is in good focus, is lighter, or apparently more
exposed than the margin, both of which will, of course, have been
exposed the same length of time — the reason being, that a portion
of rays, instead of coming to a fine focus, are scattered, thereby
depriving the focal point of a proportionate acting power ; but if a
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[March 1, 1801
80
small stop is used this effect does not occur, because all the field is in
good focus, and therefore struck with equal power throughout.
2ndly. If in taking one picture an inch stop is used, and in another
half an inch, all other conditions being the same, the former
(according to the rule, the squares of the diameters) ought to be
struck in a quarter of the time of the latter ; whereas I find in
practice that the half-inch stop will produce the result in only
three times that of the inch. The same relative effects take place
with half-inch and quarter-inch : thus the quarter-inch will effect
the object in only nine times that of the inch, instead of sixteen
times. This I attribute to the more exact concentration of the
rays to the focus when small stops are used than is the case when
large ones are employed. Another example by similarity is, when
the sun’s rays are converged to a focus a dry combustible sub¬
stance will be ignited thereby ; but if the substance be moved
nearer to or further from the lens it will not be ignited. The de¬
duction from all this is — the finer the focus the quicker and better
in every respect is the resulting picture. Give me a good focus
and sharp clean picture.
- ^5—" -
ON THE PRINCIPLES OF COLLODIO-ALBUMEN
PHOTOGRAPHY.
By Thomas Sebastian Davis.*
In continuation of my report in elucidation of the principles in¬
volved in the preparation of dry plates, I have to record the general
results of my experiments in connexion with the employment of
albumen in unison with the excited collodion film. The practical
difficulties that have beset the use of such plates maybe described
as consisting in a rapid deterioration after preparation, the want of
uniform sensibility, liability to blistering, and a general tendency
to stains and markings. With regard to the first difficulty, viz.,
deterioration after preparation, a lengthened experience leads to the
inference that free nitrate of silver, in union with albumen, forms a
compound prone to decomposition. It becomes, therefore, a ques¬
tion of primary interest to ascertain how far the sensibility of the
collodion film can be preserved, without bringing the albumen into
collision with free nitrate of silver. To ascertain this point I pre¬
pared a plate by covering it with collodion, decomposed the sensi¬
tising salts in the usual nitrate of silver bath, and then washed
thoroughly with an abundance of pure water. I then poured over
its surface a mixture of dilute albumen, and finally treated it
with water at a high temperature (about 200° Fah.). Upon deve¬
loping the picture, after an exposure of ten minutes, with a Boss’s
stereo. 4j-inch lens, in a fair light, I obtained a result which indi¬
cated slight under-exposure. It seemed to me desirable to ascer¬
tain in the next place whether, under similar circumstances to the
above, pure iodide of silver be more or less sensitive to the actinic
impression than the iodide of silver in combination with the chlo¬
ride and bromide. In pursuance of the inquiry, I first prepared two
samples of collodion : the one I sensitised with iodide of cadmium
alone, and the other with a combination of iodide, bromide, and
chloride salts. I then prepared two plates with the iodised collo¬
dion, and upon removal from the nitrate of silver bath subjected
them to a prolonged washing in pure water. The one was pre¬
served with my raisin extract preservative solution, and the other
with dilute albumen, and each subsequently washed, dried, and
exposed. Two other plates were next prepared with the collo¬
dion, containing both chlorides and iodides in solution, plunged
into a solution of chloride of ammonium, then washed freely
with common water, treated respectively with the raisin extract
and albumen solution, and lastly washed and dried. It will
be noticed by the above treatment we obtain two films containing
iodide of silver, and two others, in which the iodide is in intimate
admixture with the chloride. In comparing the relative sensibi¬
lities of two photographic surfaces to the action of light, I have
found it necessary to expose them simultaneously, otherwise the
variation in the actinic intensity, within a few minutes, is calcu¬
lated to lead to false inferences. To avoid any source of error
from this cause, X exposed the plates, prepared as above, in two
cameras, fitted with corresponding lenses, and found, on develop¬
ment, that under the above-mentioned circumstances the iodide of
silver, plus chloride of silver, gives evidences of possessing a
greater sensibility than iodide of silver minus the chloride. The
relative difference may be estimated as three is to four in respect
to the plates prepared with the raisin extract, and as two to three
between the two jnepared with the diluted albumen. The above
experiments indicate, however, that the collodio-albumen plates
•' In continuation ' f the Report of tiie Experimental Committee of the gjutli London
1 ho'.ograpluc Society upon the- Dry I’ioceBSC3.
can be preserved in a sufficiently sensitive condition for general
landscape purposes, without the conversion of the albumen into
the compound that is recognised (whether correctly or not) by
photographers as the albuminate of silver. It seems, however,
desirable to ascertain the proportionate sensibility between a plate
prepared with or without the formation of the albumino-nitrate of
silver compound. Perhaps the most sensitive surface that can bo
produced of this character is by following the Taupenot process,
and using the second bath in a neutral state. Although the plate
in this condition is exceedingly deficient of keeping qualifications,
it yet possesses considerable sensibility. The result of some com¬
parative observations upon the subject leads to the inference that
Taupenot plates so prepared have about twice the average sensi¬
bility of those containing a combination of iodide and chloride of
silver, and preserved with plain albumen. I do not find that any
increased sensibility is attainable in the latter instance by treating
the washed albumenised plate with a solution of gallic acid. I am
inclined to deduce, as a general inference, from varied experiments
on the subject, that a layer of albumen intervening between the
silver salts and the excited collodion film, or the presence of insen¬
sitive salts upon or within its interstices, are directly antagonistic
to photographic action. Without having recourse, therefore, to
an)1- theoretical speculations with regard to physical modifications
of structure, we are enabled to explain satisfactorily the principles
on which the various modifications that have been successfully
applied in connexion with collodio-albumen photography depend
for their practical value. It will be noticed throughout that, in
those cases in which the albumen does not contain iodides, it need
not be brought into contact with the nitrate of silver solution, but
that it becomes advisable, as noticed by Mr. Fothergill, to remove
from the surface of the film the greater portion of the insensitive
coating. If the albumen has become desiccated, or partially so,
by spontaneous evaporation, it will be found more efficacious to
use hot than cold water to effect its removal. The superior
efficiency of the former will be apparent if we coat a piece of glass
with liquid albumen, dry it at a high temperature (say 200° Fah.),
then attempt to wash it from the surface of the glass by the aid of
cold or boiling water. It will be noticed that, although the layer
of albumen resting simply upon the surface of the glass is not
coagulated by the heat applied, it has been rendered less easily
soluble in cold water. If, moreover, we dip the glass covered
with the thin film into boiling water, we shall not find that
any opacity is produced indicative of a structural alteration in
its character. Although I am inclined to the belief that the
same reasoning would apply to a layer of albumen resting upon
the surface of the collodion film, yet we do not possess any demon¬
strative experiments to show that it would equally be applicable
to the portion retained within the interstices of the film, in intimate
proximity with the metallic salts. At all events it is to be ob¬
served that those experiments which have been adduced in favour
of increased sensibility attributed to structural alteration, are ex¬
plicable upon the simple principle of a removal of the insensitive
or even antagonistic influence of the preservative agent. Regarded
in the light of the theory advocated, in conjunction with the fact
of the possibility of preserving the sensibility of the collodio-
albumen compound, without the necessity of bringing the albumen
in contact with free nitrate of silver, as shown by my experiments,
we can easily understand the unity of principle existing between
the preparation of plates by the Fothergill, Petschler, and other
published methods of manipulation.
I have now, in conclusion, to offer an opinion with reference to
the best practical method of preparation ; or, in other words, the
one which offers the greatest number of general advantages as a
dry plate process. As the preference must be made in subordina¬
tion to special requirements, it is advisable to state that the lead¬
ing qualifications which I consider a dry-plate process ought to
possess are these : — facility and readiness of obtaining uniformity of
pi’eparation, moderate sensibility, certainty of results, one sensitis¬
ing bath, and considerable keeping qualities. I am inclined to
think that the great care that would be required to preserve plates
in an unimpaired condition, the lengthened period of exposure
during preparation and development, the necessity for the avoid¬
ance of any contact with deletereous vapours, would militate
against the utility of dry plates possessing equal sensibility with
ordinary wet ones, when required for general landscape delineation.
In those cases in which a greater sensibility than one-half or third
of that of wet collodion be requisite, the balance of advantages will
in all probability remain in favour of the wet or preservative process.
In subjection to the above considerations and experiments, and
to meet the exigencies of ordinary landscape or still-life photogra-
March 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
87
phy, I have devised, and would generally recommend, the following
collodio-albumen dry process : —
Take six fluid drachms of any good negative collodion of a noil-
contractile character, and add thereto two drachms of the following
sensitising solution : —
Iodide of potassium . 8 grains.
Iodide of cadmium . . 16 „
Bromide of ammonium . 2 „
Chloride of ammonium . 1 „
Alcohol '805 . 6 fluid drachms.
Digest for three or four hours with occasional agitation, carefully
filter, and add two additional drachms of alcohol so as to make up
to one fluid ounce. Sensitise the plate in the ordinary 35-grain
neutral nitrate solution, immerse in a dish of (pure) water, to
which has been previously added a drachm or two of a 5 per cent,
solution of chloride of ammonium, remove and wash thoroughly
with ordinary filtered water. The plate is then to be covered
with the following preservative solution : —
Raisin extract solution
(Raisins 1 fluid drachm, -water 5 fluid drachms)
Albumen .
I
1 ounce.
Ammonia . 10 minims.
Agitate the whole together in a large bottle, and filter through
sponge just before using.
The first quantity applied should be made to flow over the plate
in a continuous wave, and be poured off at once from the opposite
corner ; the second should be permitted to remain thereupon not less
than a minute. The plate is now to be washed freely with filtered
water applied from a jug, or other convenient manner, then stood
on end to dry spontaneously, or by the application of a gentle
heat, and is ready for use. After exposure the dry plate should
be moistened with distilled water, and developed with the follow¬
ing solution : —
Pyrogallic acid . 1A grain.
Citric acid . £ „
Water . 1 fluid ounce.
Alcohol . 10 minims.
Add to each fluid ounce about half a drachm of a 15-grain solution
of nitrate of silver. Fix with hyposulphite of soda, wash, spon¬
taneously dry, warm, and varnish as usual.
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC AND STEREOSCOPIC
PORTRAITURE.
By Sir David Brewster.
[Abstract of a Paper read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society of Scotland,
February 12th, 1861.]
He had already shown, he said, in a former paper, which had been
published some time ago, that all pictures which had been taken
with lenses of a large diameter consisted not of one, but of an
infinite number of incoincident pictures ; and at that time he had
exhibited specimens of portraits taken -with such lenses, and also
some taken with a very small lens. The result of the employ¬
ment of a lens of large aperture was to swell the human face, and
was the principal cause of the imperfect likenesses which so often
issued from the studio of the photographer. In the delineation of
spheres, the influence of large apertures was very perceptible.
The true representation of a sphere varied Avith the distance of
the point of sight, Avhile the photographic representation varied
not only Avith this, but Avith the aperture of the lens. Hence, in
taking a subject for a sculptor, to make it of real value to him, the
photographer must accompany it by a statement of the aperture
of the lens employed in taking it, and also the distance of the
object from the camera.
If they placed a lighted taper a certain distance behind an
object Avhich was smaller in diameter than the lens, and took a
photographic representation of it, the image of the taper, although
very much enfeebled by the interposing object, will be introduced.
The imperfect homogeneity of the glass in a large lens produced
errors both in form and expression; Avhile the false light intro¬
duced into the camera by means of the reflection from its surfaces
operated detrimentally toAvards procuring an image free from haze
and indistinctness.
In speaking of the faults inherent in many photographic por¬
traits of the present day, Sir David said that some of these faults
arose from an error in placing the sitter. He Avas ahvays placed
too near to the camera. The effect of this Avas to render prominent
objects disproportionately large. It was quite common to hear
complaints as to the size of the hands, but it Avas equally the same
Avith the other features — the nose for instance. These Avere all
consequences of the sitter being placed too near the camera ; and
although in the case of the hands a remedy Avas sought by placing
them as near as possible to the body, yet this Avas unpleasant
from the effect of constraint given to the portrait. The obvious
remedy for these errors Avas to remove the sitter to a considerable
distance from the camera ; and the more parallel Avere the rays
from the object to be taken, the more perfect would be the picture.
Sir David illustrated the application of this principle by supposing
a sculptor about to copy the Apollo Belvidere from different
points of vieAv; by not attending to this, lights and shades Avere
thrown into the picture Avhich Avere not' visible to the artist,
Avhether he looked Avith one or both eyes.
In looking at solid objects, the right eye sees objects not visible
by the left, and vice versa; Avhile on looking Avith both eyes at a
particular object, that object Avould be seen under greater illumina¬
tion. If instead of tAvo eyes, avc had a hundred, Ave should, on
looking at any object, see it very much increased in brightness,
but Ave should also have a representation of it from as many points
of view as we had eyes. So it Avas Avith a large lens. It Avould
introduce into the camera all the rays which superinduced upon it,
and therefore Avould introduce a number of rays Avliich a painter
Avould not see. These Avere not mere opinions, but demonstrable
truths, and it was the duty of the professional photographer to aim
at the greatest perfection to Avliich his art could attain. To ap¬
proximate towards such perfection, Sir David suggested that the
large achromatic lenses at present in use should be superseded by
rock-crystal lenses, a quarter of an inch in diameter, the use of
Avliich, coupled Avith placing the sitter much farther aAvay from the
camera than was usually done, Avould render any errors quite inap¬
preciable. Such a lens Avould transmit a great many of the actinic
rays.
He Avould at a future meeting exhibit a series of portraits of the
same individual, taken by different eminent photographers, and it
would be interesting Avere others to do the same. He Avould defer
till another opportunity his remarks on stereoscopic portraiture,
seeing there AAras so much other business befor© them.
THE PRACTICAL DETAILS OP THE EOT HERGTLL
PROCESS.
By Frank Howard.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie South London Photographic Society, February 21, 1861.]
; feel that some apology is due to you on my part for venturing to
mgage your time about a subject of which so much has been said and
vntten, namely, the Fothergill dry collodion process. However, hating
seen requested by your Committee to lay before the members my process
>f working, I have ventured to do so, nothing more pressing being before
he Society. In tlie first place, I desire to intimate to you that Avhat I
iave to say is pre-eminently practical, and nothing will be brought for-
ivai'd or asserted in this paper that I have not tested and pro\ed mjself ,
aid at the same time, I would say that my remarks are more addressed
o those gentlemen who would desire to produce pictures, than to those
vho are more inclined to experiment or draw comparisons.
The bath I use is the ordinary negative bath of not less than thirty-five
n-ains to the ounce, and not more than forty, carefully filtered, possess¬
or faint acidity, and tested with a wet plate before commencing to
orepare dry ones. The glass I use is the best polished flatted crown,
vhich possesses as fine a face as patent plate, and, after rejecting all
curved and thin pieces, is much cheaper and less weighty. 1 he albumen
[ prepare by obtaining the white of one egg (Avhich you wdl obtain best
and most free from germ by making two moderate-sized holes, and blow-
inv the egg, after the fashion of boys of bird s-nestmg experience) ; to
this I add three parts of water, common or distilled— a little more or less
Io*s not matter— beat it well with a silver or wooden fork, or place in a
bottle and well agitate till it is all froth. I prefer the bottle, as it is less
messy does not require pouring from one \ressel to anothei, as you can
see at once if it lias mixed properly; as it will frequently happen, eien
with distilled water, that the albumen coagulates, and the mixture is
full of white opaque flakes, and when rubbed between tlie fiugeis is not
tackev and does not possess the gununy feeling Aihich dilute albumen
ou°ht to have : this must he throivn away, and a fresh lot mixed. It will
generally be found that the clear white of an egg is very nearly one ounce
in measure, vou will therefore have four ounces of dilute albumen, which
will prepare three dozen stereoscopic plates : if you now add some s 60 to
100 drops of strong liquor ammonia, and well agitate, aou vill find t a
mixture much clearer, and if left for a few hours it is very transparent.
Tim cXdion is the most important item of the process, Pictures may
be obtained with any good .collodion ; but the pbrtes
characteristics, except sensitiveness, of t te ■ ’ jl l y negatives
rated decree. For instance, the collodion which gn es dense ne^.mes
used wet° Avill give denser if "Xdioifp ossesshm half-tones will be liable
through, and a difficulty of avoiding stains, is a Auy ..long teatu
88
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1861
I have, during last summer, tried a great many descriptions of collo¬
dion, and those possessing an abundance of half-tones have invariably
shown stains in drying, quite apparent before development — always
occurring in the same place, namely, the upper half of the plate, when
drying, as I have watched them appearing, they being quite apparent if
the plate is held so that the light falls obliquely on it. I can only account
for this by imagining that the washings have a disturbing effect upon the
sensitive film, and tend to separate and cause a crystallisation of the
iodides or bromides in the collodion. To prevent these markings I have
employed, with some success, the following mixed collodion : — Three
parts of a collodion giving half-tone to one of a dense collodion, both
having been iodised some days : this gives a creamy, powdery film, which
is very desirable, and, indeed, necessary to success.
I will now proceed to describe my method of manipulation. Having
the bath ready, and the plates cleaned a few hours before, I take a clean
plate and lay it between two pieces of clean blotting-paper, and place
upon the top a flat bottle filled with hot water ; in the meantime get the
collodion bottle, free the neck from dry pieces of collodion, and get the
plate-holder, slightly damping the edge of the india-rubber ; remove the
plate, brush both sides with a broad camel-hair brush, and, being sure
that the glass is not too warm, attach it to the plate-holder ; coat with
collodion, allow it to set, and immerse in the bath. I then take a clean
funnel, and push with a porcupine quill a clean piece of sponge into the
neck (not too tight) and filter into a clean measure the dilute albumen.
Whilst filtering I move the plate up and down in the bath (perhaps it is
as well to commence filtering the albumen an hour or so before, as it is
a tedious operation). I now take a clean dish a little larger than the
stereoscopic plate, and pour into it about three ounces of filtered rain,
distilled, or filtered common water, which has been boiled, and, having
removed the plate, drained and wiped the back, place it in the dish. I
then hold it on a level with the eye between me and the light, and in¬
cline it at an angle sufficient to cause the water to flow completely over
the plate to the other end of the dish, then back again until all greasiness
has disappeared, and one turn more, remove the plate, and stand to
drain on a clean pad of blotting paper (meanwhile get another
plate and place under the hot water bottle) ; then attach
the sensitised plate, after wiping the back, to another plate -holder,
and pour along one edge enough filtered albumen to flow evenly across
the plate ; then let the surplus fall off the other side, put the lip of the
measure to the edge of the plate, and cany the albumen round the edge ;
flow the albumen still on across and across the plate three or four times,
then drain off, and place the plate in another dish of water, enough to
cover it ; having done so, dip your fingers into a basin of clean water
and wipe them, remove the second plate from under the bottle, and coat
that with collodion and place it in the bath. Now take the dish of water
containing the first plate and agitate so as to cause the water to flow
across the plate, some thirty times ; throw out that water, and fill again,
not allowing the water to fall on the plate from the vessel ; again agitate
as before, throw away, and a third time fill the dish with Avater and
agitate ; then remove the plate, stand on blotting paper, and Avipe the
back; then remove and place in a cupboard or box, free from dust or light,
to dry spontaneously ; standing it so that it rests on the corners, thus
the right hand top corner on a clean piece of blotting paper, the left
hand bottom corner against the Avail, or side of the box — your other
plate will, after moving up and doAvn in the bath, be ready for the same
treatment. By pursuing this method of Avashing, you obtain a perfectly
even sensitive film far more easy than by confining the amount of water
to four or six drachms, and much less liable to stains or insensitive
patches as will be obtained if you wash under a tap.
Plates thus prepared I have kept for a month : they possess a high
degree of sensitiveness. I have obtained good negatives in forty to sixty
seconds of well-lighted subjects. Drying by artificial heat I do not
approve of : it has never given satisfactory results in my hands ; indeed, I
believe it is to the power of albumen, gums, gelatine, and sugar to retain
an impalpable moisture, that apparent dry -plate photography is successful,
and if you drive the moisture off by artificial heat you decrease the sen¬
sitiveness. This is a matter which I venture to call our Experimental
Committee’s attention to. The plate may advantageously be varnished
round the edges, or albumenised Avith a camel-hair brush, as it prevents
the film slipping in washing off after developing.
The development I perform Avith pyro. 2 grains, citric acid § grain to
the ounce of Avater, silver solution, fresh filtered, of 10 grains to the
ounce. Iron developers I have never tried.
I do not pretend for one moment that this method is superior to any
other; I can only say it has answered in my hands perfectly Avell. I
regret that I have not more specimens to place before you ; but if any
gentleman desires, during the forthcoming summer, to bring back the
reminiscence of a trip into the country, or any object of interest, I
should be glad to hear he had given this method a trial, as I have little
doubt of his success and consequent satisfaction.
A few Avords upon development may not be out of place, as more plates
are spoilt during development than in any other method. Moisten the
film all over evenly and rapidly— the best method is by immersion in
distilled or filtered raimvater ; have ready sufficient developer in a clean
measure to cover the plate, remove the plate from the dish, and rapidly
attach it to a plate-holder, keep the moisture well up to the edges, they
are apt to repel the moisture, and the touch of the finger at the edge or
back of the plate driving the moisture rapidly away, the consequence of
which is that the developer will not pass over those parts; cover tho
plate well Avith developer Avithout silver, on and olf two or three times,
then add, say, two drops of silver solution fresh filtered, to the drachm of
pyro. solution, Avell mix; again apply the developer, and if properly
exposed the picture will soon appear; at the least sign of turbidness you
must throw away the developer and mix fresh, washing out the measure ;
a peculiar characteristic of a good plate is that the developer does not
darken, one allowance developing completely. If the lights are increas.
ing in density too rapidly you may sometimes advantageously wash the
plate and commence developing again ; but it rarely succei ds. It is very
useful sometimes when sufficient density is obtained generally — except
the sky, or foreground — to wash, and then confine the further develop¬
ment to those parts requiring it. In conclusion, 1 shall be most happy
if, during our ensuing meetings out-of-doors, I may hear some member
say — “ I am trying your plan of Avorkiug Eotliergill’s process, just tell me
how long you Avould expose for this view?” I shall then think tlieso
observations have not been superfluous.
I Avill, at the risk of reitci’ation, state Avhat are the characteristics of
good materials and successful results. The albumen absolutely bright
and clear ; the sensitised collodion film creamy to look at, powdery to
the touch; and the negative should, when developed, show considerable
transparency in the sky — indeed a dense sky is not to be obtained in a
properly-exposed plate unless very much over-developed. This, by the
way, need give little trouble to anxious workers, as Avhito skies are, I
believe, out of date, and much found fault Avith by our friends the artist
photographers.
Traces of clouds may he frequently' observed in diy plates, and if not
obliterated by over-development, add much charm and softness to the
print specimens.
One Avord I Avould add as to the relative sensitiveness of Avet plates
and plates prepared by' this method. I would say that they require from
five to six times the length of exposure, never less ; but there are many
difficulties in the Avay of arriving at correct conclusions, as 1 have found
that a collodion which is very sensitive Avhcn Avet, is not correspond¬
ingly so Avhen used dry'.
PHOTOGRAPHY ON WOOD FOR ENGRAVING.
, By'. J. CONTENCIN.
[Read at the Meeting of the South London Photographic Society, Feb. 21, 1801. ]
A method, at the same time facile and practical in producing photo¬
graphs upon AA'ood for the purpose of wood engraving, has long been
considered a desideratum, and has formed the subject of careful research
both in this country and on the continent.
At first sight this problem may' not appear very' difficult to solve. It
would seem, at a mere casual glance, that Avood might be treated much in
the same manner as paper, or that a collodion film might be used and the
image developed upon it. But Ave must first consider the difficulties on
the side of the photographic manipulator, and then the requirements
of the engraver, and how they are to be met. Upon carefully' considering
these two points and their relation to each other, it Avill not be difficult to
see Avhy so many methods have been cast aside as impracticable.
When a solution of nitrate of silver is applied to the surface of the
Avood-block, that surface readily darkens upon exposure to day-light. .So
far AA'ell ; but Ave find that it is not only' the surface Avhich the solution
has affected, but that it has also penetrated deeply' into the substance of
the AA'ood and softened it, thus making it far more difficult to cut.
The light substance of the wood, as seen in the cut lines, which i3
usually an indication of the extent of the engraver’s work, is not in this
case seen until the block is very deeply cut into.
But the most grave objection to Aviricli I have already alluded is the
change to which the AA'ood is subject. In the ordinary case it is crisp,
and presents a certain amount of resistance to the graver. Of course the
block which has received the photograph ought to be equal in this parti¬
cular to the common ones ; hut it Avill be found that the silver salt and
the soda used for fixing, by penetrating so deeply into the avoocI, haA'O
caused it to become in a manner soddened, very difficult to cut, and alto¬
gether objectionable.
The use of collodion has been to some extent successful : positives
have been developed directly upon the block, the latter having first been
coated Avitli black varnish. I have seen a simple subject in process of
cutting AA'fiich had been prepared in this Avay, and succeeded very Avell.
Noav, should this process answer as far as the preparation of the Avood,
and its substance being unaffected, which may be granted, y'et its use
must be limited ; the Avood-engaver must not be expected to perform
the Avork of the draughtsman, or to produce brilliancy, effect, and picto¬
rial excellence from a metallic and sombre-looking positive. He asks for a
picture upon the block which shall have all the qualities of the engraving
which he is expected to produce ; and those Avho have seen the admirable
works of our talented artists in this department Avill very Avell under¬
stand the engraver’s objection.
If photography is to be used, it follows that the photograph on the
wood should be equal to a draAving such as that which the engraver
would expect from the hands of the artist. It must be upon the surface
only, the substance of the Avood not being affected. The preparation
must not scale or chip during manipulation, and the surface must not be
March 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
89
affected by the light to which it must necessarily be exposed in the en¬
graver’s hands.
Having noticed briefly these methods, and the objections which are
generally found to operate against their use, I shall now proceed to notice
a process which I have not only been acquainted with for some time, but
have used in practical work for several years.
The first thing which I found it necessary to guard against was the
absorbent quality of the wood ; and among the substances that appeared
likely to correct this — such as gelatine, albumen, wax, aluminous soap,
&c. — I did not find any superior to the varnish made with gum dammar
and benzole. Spirit varnish can be used, as also amber and chloroform
varnish ; but the benzole varnish is sufficient.
The method which I have used is this : — The surface of the wood is
flooded with varnish twice or thrice, until it ceases to absorb the liquid ;
but no coating is allowed on the surface, the object being simply to saturate
the fibre. This being effected, the block is placed aside to dry. I next
proceed to coat the face with a white preparation, corresponding to that
commonly used for drawing. For this purpose I have used washed chalk
or whiting ; but I think zinc white answers the purpose better : it is
applied with a flat camel’s-hair brush, the excess being swept off.
When this is dry, the surface is again covered with varnish, and all
not immediately absorbed is allowed to drain off, the wood being placed
on edge. This last operation lowers the colour of the white coating ; but
it still remains sufficiently opaque to obscure the grain of the wood.
A solution of gelatine, containing twelve grains to the ounce of water,
and twenty grains of chloride of sodium, is poured over the white prepa¬
ration, and is allowed to drain off at the lower edge.
The block is rendered sensitive by being placed face down in a glass
tray, containing a solution of nitrate of silver of seventy or eighty
grains to the ounce, and kept carefully from contact by slips of glass : in
this manner but a small quantity of sensitising material is needful, a
large quantity, by being repeatedly used, might become deteriorated by
the white.
It is, perhaps, needless for me to go into minute details, in regard to
exposure, &c. I make use of the ordinary pressure-frame without the
back, adjusting the block and negative in a way to allow their being
removed and replaced if necessary. I have occasionally placed the
negative upon the block without using pressure, adjusting it by three
pins ; and this has answered very well.
In connexion with the sensibility of the surface and vigour of the
image, I must observe that the quantity of gelatine or other organic
matter is of the greatest importance. If too small in quantity the image
will not darken beyond a pale slate colour. In explanation, it must be
recollected that the solutions being kept entirely upon the surface, and
the silver not combining or acting upon the wood, but only with the
gelatifie, there must be a sufficient quantity of that material or of some
other organic substance present ; on the other hand, a large quantity
would render the preparation too thick.
This is the method I have employed for producing photographs on
wood blocks.
If performed in the manner I have just described, the coating, as
regards thickness of substance, will be scarcely (if at all) perceptible.
Under the graver it is much lighter in colour than the wood itself, but not
white. The markings of the grain of the wood may be traced through
it, and there is no tendency to scale or chip away.
After exposure the treatment of the image is throughout much the
same as upon paper. It is fully toned in the gold bath, and fixed in
rather weak hyposulphate of soda. The action of the latter must be
carefully watched, and a short washing in running water is sufficient.
The negatives taken for this operation should be moderately dense — not
of the very intense kind, but with sufficient gradation. AVhen taking them
the colloctionised glass should be placed in the slide with the plain side to-
< ward the lens, otherwise the impressions from the block would be reversed.
In reference to recent claims for the successful application of photo¬
graphy to wood engraving, I may notice that the process I have used,
j and which I have just described (slightly modified sometimes according
| to the subjects), has been in operation since April, 1857.
I have rarely made inquiry about any works for which the blocks I
prepared were intended, but I remember one upon the /S 'pint Doctrine,
edited by William Howitt, and published by the Messrs. Routledge in
1857, containing eight engravings from blocks prepared by me. Also an
edition of Longfellow’s poems, by the same firm, with a frontispiece
‘ portrait. A few months’ later I sent a frame containing three blocks — one
of them a subject measuring eleven by nine inches — to the London Society’s
Exhibition of 1858. Perhaps some visitors may yet remember them.
It may be that this process, which I have used in the practical depart¬
ment of the art, will be found of service in other hands ; and, as many are
now giving their attention to the subject, I wish to contribute as far as I
can to the general stock of information upon it.
Utieihtqs of jlonetifs.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
evening, the 21st ult., at eight o’clock, at St. Peter’s School Rooms,
AVal worth, — The Rev. F. F, Statham, the President, in the chan*.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. Meagher exhibited a folding copying camera, with a double-back
for dry plates, 18 by 16 inches. Its range was 32 inches. With the copying
cone attached, its extreme length was 60 inches. The camera was on
the same principle as that by the same maker described in a former num¬
ber of this Journal.
The Chairman called attention to a number of very beautiful cartes de
visite ,_ photographed by Mr. Lacy, of Ryde, Isle of Wight. Mr. Fry had
promised to open the discussion upon Mr. Burr’s paper read at the last
meeting, but unfortunately he had not come. The adjourned discussion
upon that paper would be opened by Mr. Burr himself, who had a few
additional observations to make on the subject.
Mr. Burr was happy to be in a position to exhibit one of the original
American daguerreotypes of the moon, taken in 1851 by Mr. Bond, with
the large reflector, at the Cambridge Observatory, in that country. It
showed the half moon with great beauty, and served further to illustrate
his previous remarks.
Mr. Hughes said he had two similar ones that he had intended to bring
that evening, but he had forgotten to do so.
Mr. Burr continued : AVith regard to the statement made by Mr. Fry
in his paper, and repeated at the last meeting, as to the difficulty of
taking lunar photographs with refractors being increased by an alleged
variation in the relative distance of the visual and actinic foci, all
he could say was that, if admitted, this proved the superiority of the
reflecting telescope for celestial photography. The fact of the variation
rested entirely upon that gentleman’s assertion ; but he had not tried
whether the visual focus did not alter, and the actinic focus with it pre¬
serving the same distance instead of the latter only varying. There had
been no decisive experiment on this point performed up to the present
time to his knowledge. Mr. Fry, adopting Mr. De la Rue’s suggestion,
attributed such variation to the action of tempei'ature on the length of
the tube; but in that case the visual focus would be affected as much as
the actinic, and he (Air. Burr) had discovered no such variation on try¬
ing the visual focus of his telescope at the different degrees of tempera¬
ture which had occurred since the last meeting. AVith the Aloon and
Jupiter no difference of focus resulted from the difference between 34°
and 42Q. An explanation of the variation — if any existed — had been
suggested by Air. Huggins, who attributed it to the effect of temperature,
not upon the length of the tube, but upon the molecular condition of the
glass of the lenses. That gentleman purchased a large object-glass,
manufactured by Alvan Clarke, of Boston, U.S., from Air. Dawes, one of
our best practical astronomers, who informed him that the glass worked
best in a certain temperature, clearly proving that it was sensibly
affected by heat ; and very likely the actinic rays might be affected by
such a change in the glass more than others of less refrangibility. AVith
reference to the statement of Air. De la Rue, that the second reflector of
his telescope did not absorb so much of the actinic power as he had
anticipated from the loss of light, he must say that such a statement
from so accurate an observer and cautious narrator must be received as a
fact, and could not be affected by the observation of Air. Hughes, that in
using a mirror to reverse portraits for the daguerreotype process with a
camera of short focal length, the light and actinism were lost in the same
ratio. Here the conditions were not the same, the camera mirror had
two reflecting surfaces, the glass and metal coating; but the telescope
mirror was metal throughout, and the observations had not been made
with a view to this point. Air. De la Rue did not say no po-wer was thus
lost, but only that the proportion was different. Upon this subject he Air.
Burr) wished to call their attention to a matter bearing upon the question,
and that was the different power of luminous and non-luminous rays of
heat to pass through transparent substances, such as glass and the
atmosphere. The luminous rays of heat received from the sun passed
easily through the atmosphere, and were absorbed by the earth during
the day. At night the earth radiated dark or non-luminous rays of heat,
which, not being able to pass through the atmosphere, were kept near
the surface of the earth, and so preserved the animals and plants, whilst
at a short distance from the surface the cold was intense. In the same
way the luminous rays of heat passed during the day through the glass
roof of a greenhouse, the floor, &e., of which then absorbed the heat.
At night the dark rays were radiated, but were unable to pass through
the glass, and so the heat inside was kept up. He called their attention
to that fact, as there were also luminous actinic rays and non-luminous
actinic rays, and it might -well be that the former acted differently
with reflecting surfaces to the latter. AA'ith regard to the question
incidentally raised at the last meeting, whether the moon sends any heat
to the earth, lie might mention that Professor Piazzi Smythe, in the course
of his experiments on the Peak of Teneriffe, in 1856, ascertained that some
small amount of heat was thus reflected by the moon, thus confirming
the experiments of Alelloni on Vesuvius. The amount of heat which
Professor Smythe found was received by the earth from the moon at his
station, 8000 feet high, affected his extremely delicate thermo-electric
pile about one-third as much as that emitted by a small candle placed at
a distance of fifteen feet from his instrument ; probably much more heat
was reflected, but became lost in the upper regions of an atmosphere, as
the cloud-dispelling power of the full moon had been long noticed.
Air. Hughes remarked that, in relation to Air. De la Rue’s experience
that he lost considerable light but very little actinism by reflection from
the use of a second mirror, he (Air. Hughes) could not avoid, on the
90
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1801
former occasion, noticing the difference between that and the daguerreo-
experience, and must again repeat that it "was well established
that the use of the mirror did very seriously increase the time of expo¬
sure in the process alluded to. This was the main reason why the image
on the silver plate was usually reversed. It was the advantage of these
meetings that, when apparently contradictory facts were stated, they
could be compared and inquired into, and the real truth often elicited.
He had no doubt Mr. De la Eue was correct ; but it was equally certain
that the experience of all daguerreotypists also confirmed the statement
he had made. As no two facts could, however, contradict each other,
he did not doubt that, when the different nature of the two surfaces of the
mirrors was considered, and also the different degrees of obliquity with
which the cones of rays were received on the two reflecting surfaces, so
far from these facts being in antagonism, they would each illustrate the
other, and confirm the harmony always found in the laws of nature. As
to the other point in discussion — the alleged variation in the relative
distance of the visual and actinic foci — he thought the whole experience
of photographers was against such a supposition, and that until all other
sources of error were carefully eliminated, it would not be advisable to
encourage that theory in explanation of effects which might with far
greater probability be attributed to other causes.
Mr. G. Wharton Simpson said he had visited Greenwich Observatory last
week, accompanied by Mr. Fry, and their attention had been particularly
directed to the meteorological and magnetic departments, where they had
an opportunity of inspecting in operation the beautiful processes so ably
described by Mr. Burr at their last meeting. In regard to the explanation
of the supposed loss of light or actinism by reflection, to which Mr. Hughes
had referred, Mr. Glaisher had pointed out a peculiar illustration. He
showed them that the light from the flame of naptlialised gas. twice
reflected by prisms gave him, notwithstanding that double reflection, as
forcible and speedy an image on the sensitive paper as that produced by
the direct light from the flame itself, so that there could have been no
sensible loss of actinism. Mr. Dallmeyer, to whom he mentioned the
subject, had suggested in explanation that the loss of light by reflection
by a prism was very inconsiderable when rays impinged directly at
right angles upon the first surface, but that when they struck obliquely
there was considerable loss ; and where the obliquity of incidence
amounted to seventy-five degrees there was a loss of about three hundred
and seventy out of every thousand rays. He had made a note of one or
two other things whilst he was at the Observatory, to which he would refer.
In the first place it was a somewhat peculiar fact that the paper used for
the meteorological and magnetic records was so prepared as to receive
an instantaneous impression from an artificial ray of light. For such
purposes it was necessary that the paper could be completely relied upon,
as in case of any accident there would be the loss of one entire day’s
records. Mr. Glaisher informed him that his object had not been so
much to obtain the greatest amount of sensitiveness as to get an uniform
rate of sensitiveness continuing over the twenty-four hours. In his
original experiments to ascertain the most suitable preparation for this
purpose, lie had to bear in mind a curious effect he found in calotype
paper, namely, that the action of light continued progressing after expo¬
sure ; so that a sheet exposed for three minutes in the morning when
developed in the evening yielded as perfect a picture as one exposed for
six minutes in the afternoon under exactly a similar light, but developed
immediately — whilst that exposed in the morning had of course been ex¬
posed six hours or more before, during which time the action of the light
at first set up had continued its influence sufficiently to render half the
amount of exposure sufficient, and he had to guard against that increased
action in preparing his paper, to retain uniform sensitiveness during
twenty-four hours. The mode in which he prepared his paper, so as to
obtain the maximum amount of sensibility and uniformity, was this: —
First he applied a solution of iodide and bromide of potassium— -eight
grains of iodide to twelve of bromide, to an ounce of water — with a glass
rod and then sensitised with a fifty-grain nitrate of silver solution,
also applied with a glass rod. He then placed it damp upon the
evlinder, and kept up a certain amount of moisture by means of a
piece of wet rag at the edge. No visible image was produced on the
paper by the action of the light, but on development with gallic acid it
nave a well-defined image. There was another point of great interest to
photographers. It was a somewhat singular fact that the ordinary
yellow, and even, as it appeared by daylight, dark orange flame of
ordinary gas, should by any treatment be made to yield a light brilliantly
white, possessing considerable actinic power. To produce this effect the
gas was passed through what Mr. Glaisher called “the naptha box and
during its passage it came into contact, and to a certain extent combined
with, the vapour of naptha, by which this peculiarly pure and actinic
character was communicated to the flame. There was just one other
suggestion lie would name, which might be worth the attention of gentle -
men engaged in experiments as to the best method of preparing paper
for producing enlarged developed prints. The fact that Mr. Glaisher’s
paper was sensitive to the instantaneous action of artificial light pointed
out the suitability of a similarly prepared paper for developed prints,
produced by the solar or other enlarging camera.
Mr. Burr said there was a very important connexion between the
oscillations of the magnetic needle and the changes that, were taking
place on the surface of the sun — so much so, that the variations of the
needle might almost be looked upon as telegraphic messages sent from
the sun to the earth, giving intelligence of chauges in the physical con¬
stitution of that luminary. It appeared that the maximum and minimum
number of spots on the surface of the sun occurred within a space of ten
or eleven years; thus in 1855 was the last minimum period, when lor day*
scarcely' any spots were visible, whilst in 1859 and 1800 there were wry
few days in which there were not a large number of them visible. rIln*
law had been found by Sclnvabe, of Dessau, during thirty-lbur years of
observation ; and very lately" it had resulted from the reduction and dis¬
cussion by General Sabine, of the Greenwich and Kow observations, as
well as those from Ilobarton, Toronto, and St. Helena, during the time
they were supported by our government, that the period of the greatest
frequency of magnetic storms, as the irregular variations of the needle
were termed, coincided with the period of the maximum of spots on the
sun. The magnetic needle had a regular variation or declination, lasting
over a considerable period — going first east, and then west, of the true
north. Upwards of 200 y'ears ago it was east of north. In 1057 it agreed
with the astronomical meridian, and then travelled west until the year 57.
In that year it attained its maximum west of about 24°, and it was now
approaching the true north, the variation being at the present time 21J
degrees wrest of the true north. That variation, however, was subject to
very considerable fluctuations, called magnetic storms, taking place
simultaneously. all over the world, and those were clearly traced to he
connected as to their frequency with the number of the sun’s spots.
They were not the effect of heat, as the earth’s magnetism was strongest
in our winter, when the sun was nearer to the earth, than in our summer.
The earth’s magnetism had once been supposed to be caused byr thermo¬
electric currents ; but in all probability it was really produced by the
oxygen of the air, which was highly magnetic, being acted upon by the.
sun. With reference to the confirmation of Mr. De la Hue’s statement ol
the small loss of actinism by a second reflection, which Mr. Simpson had
heard from Mr. Glaisher, at Greenwich, and which it was said Mr.
Dallmeyer had accounted for by reference to the obliquity of the rays
falling on the mirror, he (Mr. Burr) must be allowed to observe that he
thought Mr. De la Rue could not have apprehended the true point. It was
not a question how many ray's fell on the mirror, but what became of them
afterwards, and why, while light was absorbed, chemical rays were re¬
flected in a larger ratio. There was no dispersion in reflection, and there¬
fore the two sorts of rays were incident and reflected at the same angle.
The reason of the effect had yet to be sought out..
The Chairman said the application of their science to other sciences
was almost sure to lead to fresh discoveries in each. In addition to
napthalised gas, as an artificial light, possessing actinic . power, he
might mention that camphor put into oil would impart to it a certain
amount of actinic power.
Mr. Burr said camphine was much better.
Votes of thanks were passed to Mr. G. AY. Simpson, and again to Mr.
Burr, for their remarks.
Mr. F. Howard read a paper On the Fothcrgill Frocess [see page 87],
and produced various illustrative specimens.
A vote of thanks was then given to Mr. Howard for his paper.
The continuation of the report from the Experimental Committee was
laid on the table, and taken as read. [See page 8G.]
Mr. Clarke produced some negatives taken bv the Fothergill process,
with only twenty or thirty seconds’ exposure, and stated that during last
summer lie, on one occasion, obtained an instantaneous negative by that
process. The plate referred to was not washed before exposure, and he
had obtained the same result with another plate whilst wet. He used a
portrait combination.
Mr. Hughes said, with due deference to Mr. Clarke, he did not think
that quickness of exposure was the standard by which a photograph
should be judged. The real standard of excellence was its beauty. The
great charm of Mr. Bedford’s and Mr. Mudd’s pictures consisted in the
fact that they were exposed for such a time that every little detail was
distinctly' seen, even in the darkest parts.
Mr. G. AAr. SmrsoN said that under-exposure was a very frequent
source of failure in dry-plate negatives, and mentioned the practice of
several eminent photographers, as illustrative of the advantages gained
by a lengthened exposure.
Short exposures were also denounced in remarks made by other
members, after which
Mr. James Contencin read a paper On Photography applied to Wood
Engraving [see page 88] , during which he produced specimens of the
prepared wood blocks. He added that the negative might be taken by
artificial light, and transferred to the block in the course of an hour.
Mr. Blanchard inquired whether Mr. Contencin had ever tried soaking
the block in turpentine for twenty-four hours, to prevent absorption.
Turpentine was usually applied to wood blocks after they were engraved
to harden them and to prevent them absorbing the printing ink. Blocks
thus prepared became so tough that they would_ outlast half a dozen
metal stereotypes taken from them.
Mr. Contencin said he thought the varnish better, because it only
required half-an-hour to prepared the block, instead of twenty-four.
Mr. Hannaford said he had tried to transfer collodion films to wood
blocks. He first of all coated the block with a solution of gelatine,
containing Chinese white, and then laid it on a transparent positive film,
which adhered to the block when dry. It was then pressed down smoothly,
and it resembled closely a photograph taken on wood, and on running
March 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
91
a graver over it it seemed to present a surface suited for the engraver.
Mr. Contencin said there was one great advantage in such a method,
namely, that the surface of the wood would be unaffected.
Mr. Hannaford said in producing electrotypes he used gelatine with
bichromate of potash, and on exposing to the light, under a negative, the
portions acted upon by the light were rendered insoluble, while the other
parts were soluble. He then put it into cold water, which had the effect
of swelling, but not dissolving the insoluble portions of the gelatine,
from which he took an electrotype. Sometimes , instead of swelling up,
the gelatine was dissolved out, and a reverse electrotype was so obtained.
Mr. Howard said, even if a picture were taken, from nature on wood,
| the engraver could not express by lines all the variety of tints in it.
Mr. Contencin remarked that “tints” were now introduced by
I engravers. There might be some difficulty in engraving photographs on
wood, but not more than a skilful engraver could overcome.
IMr. Wall said he had often drawn on wood for engraving with Indian
ink. Surely if the engravers could reproduce the Indian ink tints, they
could just as well reproduce the natural tints in a photograph.
Mr. Simpson remembered seeing, in 1854, an engraving on wood, photo¬
graphed and engraved by Mr. Leighton. It was strange that since that
time so little advance had been made in the art. Either there was greater
difficulty than was imagined in producing a photograph on wood, or else
there was great difficulty in engraving it when done. The real difficulty
consisted, he believed, in finding an engraver capable of translating the
various delicate tints into lines. lie referred to the reproduction of the
Gobelin tapestry, which an ordinary workman could not reproduce with¬
out the number of stitches of each colour being written down for his
guidance. Mr. Bolton used a salt of silver in photographing on wood that
did not require fixing, so that albumen gums, &c., were done away with in
the process. It, however, required that the engraving should be con¬
ducted in a yellow, or at all events in a dim light.
Mr Wall announced that Mr. Blanchard would read a paper at the
next meeting On Experiments on Intensifying Processes as Adjuncts to
Instantaneous Photography. Mr. Blanchard and Mr. S. Smith had pre¬
sented two pictures to the portfolio.
A vote of thanks was passed to those gentlemen for their presents.
The following gentlemen were proposed, and declared duly elected
members of the society: — Mr. Win. Price, Mr. Burrows, Mr. James
Contencin, and Mr. J. Baldwin.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
President for his services in the chair.
BLACKHEATH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Monday
evening, the 18th ult., at eight o’clock, at the Golf Club House,
Blackheath, — Charles Heisch, Esq., the President, in the chair.
The minutes of tne last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman said he had much pleasure in informing them that Mr.
Negretti had kindly brought a number of views from Java and other
countries, and had promised to give some interesting information con¬
cerning them. Before requesting him to do so, however, he (the Chairman)
-wished to make a few remarks On the Toning of Positives. [See page 81.]
Mr. Negretti said he had found from experience that the alkaline gold-
toning process could not be used in large printing establishments, for the
hands of the person whom he employed in toning had broken out in
postules and sores, solely on account of the action of the carbonate of soda
and gold on the skin, and it would be years before they were entirely
cured. Thinking that the eruption might be owing to other causes, he
: had employed another person, who suffered in a similar manner, and he
found that Mr. Hayward (Frith and Hayward) had also experienced un-
[ pleasant effects from its use. Its ill effects were now so well known
among his people, that if he asked them to tone a picture by the alkaline
gold process, tliej^ would tell him he had better do it himself. It must,
however, be recollected that, at times, upwards of 100 or 150 full sheets
i were toned daily in his establishment during the summer, and, therefore,
no ill effects might be experienced by amateurs who only toned a few
prints in the day. He was quite sure that the eruption on the hands of
his toners was caused by the action of the chemicals, as they had been
told, at the Hospital for the Cure of Cutaneous Diseases, that it was owing
to the action of the carbonate of soda, in combination with the gold, upon
the skin, and they were, he believed, subjected to arsenical treatment.
The process certainly produced beautiful pictures ; but he could not say
exactly whether it was permanent or not; for some of Frith’s last series of
views in Egypt, toned by it, had faded, whilst the first series, toned by the
old process, still retained their tone — the average washing being the same
in both cases.
In reply to the Chairman,
Mr. Negretti said it was an absurdity to say that prints taken on
barium paper could not be toned by the alkaline process, as for six months
his firm had toned prints on that paper. Less gold was required in toning
when barium was used, as the latter gave a very beautiful effect of itselt.
The Chairman said Mr. Negretti had been kind enough to bring down a
number of beautiful transparent glass prints of views from various parts
of the world for their inspection, and had offered to give any explanation
of them in his power.
Mr. Negreiii produced a series of stereoscopic slides of Views in Java,
from negatives taken by Mr. Woodbury, a photographer residing at
Batavia, in that country, and printed on glass by Negretti and Zambra.
In his opinion they were the first series that gave any idea of tropical
scenery, and many of them were of great beauty — one, of The Slave Girl,
especially so. The process by which they were printed on glass was,
with a few modifications, identical with that he had described at a meeting
of the London Photographic Society, about six years ago, and which was
printed in the Society’s Journal. The negatives were taken on collodion
plates, and the prints were taken on the regular albumenised plates, as
used by Fevrier and Soulier. Nothing was put into the albumen but
iodides. All the prints were printed by superposition.
In answer to Mr. Glaisher,
Mr. Negretti said that any person who stated that Soulier or
Fevrier took large negatives and then reduced them in the camera
did so purely from imagination, and he did not think a more
mischievous statement could have been made, as it impressed
amateurs who were producing good negatives, and who would
eventually have produced good glass pictures, with the belief that there
was some grand secret with which they were unacquainted, and so de¬
terred them from proceeding with their labours. He had seen at least
one thousand of Fevrier’s negatives, all of which were on small stereo¬
scopic plates. On one occasion he went to Paris for the purpose of
treating with M. Clouzard, Soulier’s former partner, for the purchase of
various negatives. That gentleman showed him a great number, and
among them was the celebrated Bridge of Prague, for which he (Mr.
Negretti) offered a considerable sum. Soulier and Fevrier, however,
brought an action against Clouzard, under the deed of dissolution of
partnership, whereby he engaged not to carry on the business of a photo¬
grapher, and so the sale was put a stop to. All the negatives he saw
upon that occasion were on small plates, and he considered that sufficient
evidence of the fact that Soulier and Fevrier did not reduce them.
Soulier and Fevrier printed by superposition, and not in the camera.
In answer to Mr. Glaisher, he said he did not believe that Soulier and
Fevrier used artificial light for printing. That was another idea started
which had a tendency to frighten amateurs. In London, with its ever-
varying light, nearly two-thirds of his prints were lost from under or
over exposure — for in glass printing it is a question of seconds only —
whilst, in Paris, with its clear, steady light, prints could be obtained from
an early hour in the morning to four o’clock in the afternoon, without
hardly varying the exposure — so that artificial light was only imagina¬
tion. He considered the pictures taken from negatives ou albumen
plates to be the best and sharpest of any, for the simple reason that they
did not require varnishing, and therefore there was nothing between
the negative and the print. He had some negatives that were taken
on collodion plates which had received three coats of varnish, and yet
he never could take a print from them without making holes in the
negative. It was necessary, in printing by superposition, in order to
obtain good, sharp impressions, to press the two glasses in a pressure-
frame ; and, when albumen prints were taken from collodion negatives,
the albumen was so much harder that it injured the collodion film even
when varnished. Soulier and Fevrier, who used albumen for their nega¬
tives, did not use varnish at all, the films being so hard that it required a
knife to scrape them off the glass. Sometimes, however, those gentle¬
men modified the albumen by mixing with it a little collodion ; but pure
albumen was decidedly the best for wearing and sharpness. W hen
Soulier’s negatives were injured by use, he repaired the positives by
re-touching them with Indian ink. On a close examination of his slides,
sometimes as many as two hundred patches might be discovered —
although it must be acknowledged that the painting was most beautifully
done. He had seen nearly a whole tree in the foreground put in in a
most exquisite manner. Their surprise at this would be less when they
recollected that both Soulier and Clouzard were formerly well-known as
artists on glass. In one of their pictures called The Bath-room in the
Alhambra, the plank on the left hand was a glaring white originally, but
it was carefully shaded down in the print. When any part was too
black they applied a sort of mordant, which rendered the object trans¬
parent. Patching the prints was absolutely necessary sometimes, for a
little speck of dust on the negative would leave a white spot that if not
hidden would entirely spoil the general effect. He made no secret ot
his process, because it would be impossible to expect secresy among
a number of workmen necessarily employed. He (Mr. Negretti) pro¬
duced some negatives on albumen taken last year at Borne by one
of their young men. These negatives had never been varnished, and
they were still perfect, although at least four hundred glass impressions
had been taken from each negative. When they wanted cleaning he put
them under the tap and washed them. In reply to Mr. Glaishei,
Mr. Negretti said English lenses were mostly better than the French,
and English photographers did not spare expense, either in apparatus or
chemicals, nor could it be asserted they were less intelligent than
the French. If he could only induce English amateurs to try albu¬
men for negatives, he was sure the would be able to beat the French
completely, and, in fact, to “ shut them up,” as far as glass printing was
concerned.
In replv to a question put by Mr. Glaisher,
Mr. Negretti said the operation certainly was more troublesome where
albumen was used, and having to ivait until night to develop the nega¬
tive was a great objection, which accounted for their operators in China,
92
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Japan, and India not often taking negatives by that process— a circum¬
stance he greatly regretted. . .
The Chairman inquired the time required for exposure m the camera
when albumen was used ?
Mr. Neoretti replied that in an English light three minutes’ exposure
was necessary in summer, whereas in Italy only one minute and a-half
would be required. The lens used was the ordinary single lens of 4^-inch
focus. In answer to Mr. Glaisher, he said his firm was the only one in
England that produced albumen pictures commercially. He supposed
that others were frightened by the supposed difficulties, generally asserted
to be insurmountable, but which, he said, did not exist. The positives
after development were toned with a little gold. When iron was used as
a developer for collodion negatives, varnish could never be put on clean
enough for glass printing, and spots on the print were the result.
The Chairman asked whether there was any reason why they should
not varnish with a thin film of albumen over collodion?
Mr. Neoretti said he had tried that method, and found it could not be
used for negatives for printing on glass, although it might do well enough
for paper printing. He had even tried pouring the albumen on whilst the
negative was still "wet, but it would not do at all. He was very anxious
that English photographers should adopt the albumen process, as with
the exception of Soulier and Fevrier’s views, and a few large pictures by
Bisson and Martens — which, by-the-bye, are from albumen and eollodio-
albumen negatives — he had never seen any French pictures to be
compared with those of Bedford, Wilson, Fenton, and a host of other
English photographers. The French also were very slow in working, as
during the four months Soulier was in England last year, taking the royal
palaces, he only took about 250 negatives — good, bad, and indifferent — •
while Mr. Frith would have taken double the number in as many weeks.
In answer to Mr. Wire, Mr. Negretti said he knew the albumen process
was not so quick as the Taupenot process. There was one secret about
Soulier’s process that had never been hinted at, and the only one, namely,
that he took his negatives on the back instead of the front of the glass,
focussing through the ground glass ; for, in the manner he mounts the
pictures, they would be reversed if he did otherwise. In answer to the
Chairman, he said the albumen plate would only keep three or four days
if sensitised— that is, to get first-rate negatives ; but if not sensitised,
they would keep for years. Whenever they had plates that had been
long sensitised, the negative developed foggy : in that case they are put
under the tap and -well washed, when the development is resumed ; but
the negatives are never so bright and sharp as when recently sensitised.
They always washed their plates well with rain water after sensitising.
He then proceeded to explain in detail the slides from Java, and stated,
as a curious fact, that having sent to the representative of his firm in
Japan some stereoscopes, as presents to the European officers, the natives
immediately imitated them in lacquer work, and their operator was
presented with some within a week after the arrival of the English ones.
He ordered a large quantity of them, and sent them home. There were
now upwards of 200 in the London Docks.
A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Negretti for his kind communication.
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held in George
Street Hall, on the evening of Tuesday, the 12th ult. The chair was
occupied by Sir David Brewster, President of the Society.
The minutes of last meeting having been read,
Mr. Robert Armstrong was admitted a member of the Society, after
which the Chairman read a paper On Photographic and Stereoscopic
Portraiture. [Seepage 87.] Sir David’s address was listened to with
marked attention.
Mr. Horatio Ross said he was sure it must have given them all plea¬
sure to have listened to the able paper just read by their President. The
subject was one of the most important to which the attention of the
photographer had been directed. Everything which Sir David Brewster
stated in connexion with optics they must all accept as facts ; but as
practical photographers they knew the extreme difficulty which they
experienced (with their present knowledge of chemistry) in using lenses
with very small apertures : the time occupied in taking a picture with
them was so great that no human being could reasonably be expected to
remain in a state of absolute repose for such a time as would allow of
getting a tolerably correct picture. He feared that the advantages to be
gained in portraiture by using such small lenses would be more than
counterbalanced by the difficulty of getting a person to sit for some
minutes without moving.
Sir David Brewster, in reply, stated that the time required for
taking a portrait by one of these small lenses was not so great as Mr.
Ross supposed. He himself had more than once had his portrait taken
with a small lens: the time of sitting on one occasion was sixty seconds,
and on another fifty seconds.
Mr. Walker attested to the excellence of the portraits now alluded
to, which he had seen.
Mr. Tunny said that from several experiments he was more and more
convinced of the soundness of Sir David’s theory. In order to produce
the best results, he used a small stop between the lenses of his
portrait combination.
[March 1, 1801
Sir David Brewster said there would be no practical difficulty were
photographers only to try it.
Horatio Ross, Esq., then proceeded to the
Award of the Prizes for the Best Pictures in the Exhibition.
The Council of the Society having a second time done me the honour of
requesting me to award the medals for the best portrait and landscape in
the Exhibition, I felt that they could not pass on me a higher compli¬
ment ; but I cannot sa3r the duty was a pleasant one, for although it was
in my power to confer happiness upon two individuals, 3rct there were
many who, doubtless, would feel disappointed, as it is one of the con¬
sequences of our art that every one thinks his own pictures the best I
m3'self have often, after having produced a good picture, said — “Well,
there is nothing which can beat that;” but on seeing the same picture
hanging among others in the Exhibition I have, b3' comparison with
them, observed deficiencies, and have gone awa3’ with the determination
of producing something still better. Now, 1 believe this is a general
feeling among all photographers. If we were to be disheartened because
our pictures were not equal to others, it is evident that progress would
never be made.
In this Exhibition there arc a number of really good pictures, and
many exhibitors may fairl3r think themselves entitled to gain the medal,
which is the onl3r public honour a photographer can gain. 1 believe
other societies give medals, but they are limited to the competition of the
members : onr medals are open to the whole world, and I hope they will
always continue to be so.
Having accepted the office of judge, I have done my best to discharge
the duty property, and have spared neither time nor trouble in making
myself acquainted with the pictures. I began with landscapes, and had
great difficulty in coming to a decision, for wc have in this Exhibition a
vast number of most excellent landscapes. After going over them re¬
peated^’’, both b3' gaslight and da3rlight, 1 found pictures by Maxwell
Lyte, Fenton, Mudd, Annan, Dixon Piper, and another gentleman who
makes his appearance in our Exhibition for the first time, Mr. Vernon
Heath. These pictures were so nearly balanced in merit, that it was
realty a toss up to sa3r which was best. I consulted some friends with a
view to learn which picture was, in their estimation, the best, determined
to pay every deference to such opinions ; but although they were all
agreed that the artists I have named had sent the best landscapes, they
differed as to which was the best picture. I had, therefore, to be guided
exclusivety by my own judgment in the matter, and I have accordingly
fixed upon No. 106, A View in the Pyrenees, by Mr. Maxwell Lyte, as the
landscape entitled to the medal. I beg to remind 3rou, gentlemen, that
he has been a large contributor to our Exhibition for the last three years,
and it was a matter of great doubt whether or not he was to get the
medal both last year and the year before. If instead of awarding tho
medal to the best picture, it was to the person who mid sent in the best
lot of pictures, he would have got it every year.
With regard to the medal awarded for the best portrait, there was
again for that a very keen competition. We have admirable portraits
from Tunny, Moffat, and Orange ; still, on looking them all over very
carefully, I thought that the portraits sent by Claudet were, on the
whole, better. Here again I experienced some difficult3r in determining
to which of his pictures the prize should be awarded, but have now fixed
on No. 67, a Portrait of A Lady.
No Scottish artist has as yet gained the medal, but that is a proof we
are very impartial in our awards. I know that there will be no feeling
of jealousy against M. Claudet, for he is at once the oldest of photo¬
graphers, and we are indebted to him for a great many improvements in
photography, especially in daguerreot3’ping. One thing I venture to point
out to all who are in the habit of taking portraits, and I am sure M.
Claudet will not find fault with me for betraying some of the secrets of
his studio. If you look at his portraits you will find that he preserves
the purity of his wdiites in a very remarkable manner. Look, for instance,
at his Portrait of a Lady , with a black velvet jacket, and a considerable
deal of white muslin about her dress, and you see how perfectly he has
rendered this difficult subject, both in its highest lights and deepest
shades. To do this he makes use of two large screens, and all the time
the process is going on he is shading those parts of the sitter which are
apt to develop too quickty. B3t these means he is enabled to produce
such beautiful contrasts in his pictures. I feel confident that all photo¬
graphers will agree with me that M. Claudet has well earned the “blue
ribbon” of our order.
Before I conclude I wish to direct attention to a very remarkable pic¬
ture in the exhibition, a most beautiful specimen of what is a new and
novel way of apptying photography. Mr. Rejlander was the first to
adopt the plan of producing pictures from three or four negatives, and of
this class is the picture to which I allude. It is by Mr. Robinson, the
winner of last year’s medal, and is entitled A Holiday in the Woods. I
had only two medals to award ; to Mr. Lj’tc I gave one, and to M.
Claudet I gave the other ; but I take the liberty of directing the attention
of the Council to that picture of Mr. Robinson’s, and think it is well
worth the consideration of the Council whether they should not award to
him a bronze medal as a mark of their approbation. In skilful hands
this method of printing may be the means of producing admirable
results.
March 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
98
Mr. Ross’s address was received with great applause, and his decision
appeared to give general satisfaction.
_ The President conveyed to Mr. Ross the thanks of the Society for his
kindness in again acceding to the request of the Council, and acting as
judge in the Exhibition.
The Secretary then read a paper by M. Claudet, On the Laws which
-Regulate the Conjugate Foci, and the Sizes and Proportions of Images
according to the Distance of Objects.
M. Claudet, in his paper (which was of very great length, and illus¬
trated by several diagrams), spoke of the importance of photographers
being able to determine exactly the distance the sensitive plate should be
from the lens in relation to the distance of the object to be copied, and
the. subsequent degree of enlargement or reduction of the image. With
i a view to effect this, he advised a scale to be affixed to each camera, so
that it could be drawn out any given length with exactness — the zero of
the scale to be the solar focus of the lens, or its focus for parallel rays. The
camera being so prepared, the photographer could, by means of a table of
| distances between the object and lens, and the lens and plane of reproduc¬
tion, be able without any calculation or trouble to determine the relation
his copy should bear towards the object to be copied. As such a table
would be of great service, it was his intention to compute one as soon
as possible.
The thanks of the meeting were given to M. Claudet for his paper.
The next subject before the Society was a communication from Mr. C.
J. Burnett, entitled Notes on Various Matters connected with Photography .
Among the subjects treated of by Mr. Burnett were A Modification
of an Engraving Process published sometime ago by him ; The Use of
the Metal. Aluminium for Mounting Lenses, instead of Brass, for the
Construction of Metal Cameras with Gfutta-percha Slides, or Slides made
with India-rubber mixed with Vegetable Fibre ; and also for the Mounting
of Telescopes. There appeared to be no objection to the use of aluminium
from its price. Its softness was an objection, but the admixture of a
small quantity cf copper or brass with it would cure that fault. The
third topic treated of by Mr. Burnett was The Production of Positive
Photographs with a White Margin for Booh Illustrations, with the Best
Means for Obtaining this End. He suggested that the negative should
be taken on a plate of glass as much larger than the picture they
intended to take as the blank margin they wished to have in addition
would require. It was then to be considered how this marginal space
could be made black, so as to produce corresponding whites in the posi¬
tive. One way was by painting it over with lamp-black or other black
varnish. Or they might use in the camera a glass which had been
1 stained black or red; but this plan he would not recommend.
After the usual votes of thanks, the meeting separated.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A new Society, bearing the above title, was formed in Edinburgh on the
evening of Wednesday, the 20th ultimo. In the unavoidable absence of
j J. D. Marwick, Esq., City Clerk, the chair was occupied by George H.
Slight, Esq., F.R.S.S.A., who in a few remarks explained the objects of
the Society. All present were aware, he said, that there was already a
Photographic Society in this city, the annual Exhibition of which, now
open, was well calculated to improve the taste for the art both among its
members and the public ; but, while that Society had its peculiar advan¬
tages and departments for its members, it had been thought that there
was room for another Society, if it could be made more easily accessible
to the amateur of moderate means, in which more freedom of discussion
could be cultivated, and, having more frequent meetings of an experimental
character, would prove more useful to the young photographer. A new
Society, conducted on such principles, could scarcely be called a rival to
the present one, but would rather be looked upon as a useful assistant,
taking upon itself no end of drudgery, by discussing subjects which
might be considered as beneath the notice of the other — aiming at plain
practical excellence, although, in doing so, not necessarily abjuring the
i refinements of the art, which they would shave in common with their
more matured parent and friend. The projectors of this Society had for
I several months been in the habit of meeting together and discussing
photographic matters in that way, and the pleasure and instruction they
had derived induced them to wish to extend their plan a little further,
' the present meeting being the consequence.
A list of laws for the new Society was then submitted to the meeting,
which, after slight alterations, were unanimously approved of.
On the motion of Andrew' Mure, Esq., Advocate, the following gentle¬
men were elected a Council of Management : —
President — J. D. Marwick, Esq.
Vice-President — G. H. Slight, Esq.
Secretary — Mr. J. T. Taylor, 81, South Bridge.
Committee —
Mr. Robert S. Galloway. I Mr. W. H. Davies.
Mr. Archibald Burns. | Mr. James Ramage.
It was agreed on that meetings be held fortnightly throughout the
j year, that summer excursions be planned, and that, if it were found pos-
j sible from the state of the funds, a glass house be procured, in which the
■ members might practise portraiture.
Mr. Valentine, of Dundee, who was present, gave an interesting
account of the introduction of the collodion process into that part of
Scotland in which he resided, stating that he was the first to manufacture
collodion for photographic purposes in that quarter.
Several useful suggestions for carrying out the objects of the Society
were made by Messrs. Campbell, Flowers (Warristou House), and others ;
and after a number of names had been enrolled, and a vote of thanks
tendered to the Chairman, the meetiug separated.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An adjourned meeting of this Society was held on Thursday evening,
the 14th ult., — Mr. J. Stuart, one of the Vice-Presidents, in the chair. ’
The Secretary read the subjoined letter from A. Claudet, Esq., in
reply to the intimation of his having been elected an honorary member
of the Society : —
London, 9th Feb., 1861.
Dear Sir, — It is with a deep feeling of gratitude that I accept the high distinction of
honorary member conferred on me by the “City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Pho¬
tographic Society.”
I assure you I am exceedingly flattered that my endeavours to promote the progress of
our beautiful art have been noticed by the Society, and that my labours have been ap.
predated by so competent a body.
Nothing could be more gratifying to me than to become associated with honorable
fellow-labourers whose aim is the welfare and improvement of photography ; and I hope
that by so many united efforts the art will fulfil its high destiny. — I am, dear Sir, your
very obedient, humble Servant, A. CLAUDET.
John Cramb, Esq., Hon. Sec., “City of Glasgow and
West of Scotland Photographic Society.”
The Secretary was ordered to engross M. Claudet’s letter in the minutes.
Mr. James Cramb’s paper — Notes on the Hyposulphites of Silver — was
then read. [See page 82.]
Mr. Cramb illustrated liis remarks by the performance of the experi¬
ments referred to in his paper. The members present seemed highly
interested, and testified their approbation in the usual manner. The
discussion on the question was adjourned to next meeting.
Mr. Stuart then left the chair for the purpose of joining in the discus¬
sion on the hydrometer silver meter question, adjourned from last meet¬
ing. Mr. Duncan Brown occupied the chair during the rest of the evening.
Mr. Stuart reported the results of some experiments made by himself
and Messrs. Kibble and Macnab on one occasion, and by himself and
Messrs. Macnab and Bowman on another occasion. He (Mr. Stuart)
said they had not adopted the plan pointed out by Mr. Cramb of testing
the bath, but had taken the true chemical plan of converting the whole of
the silver in the baths into the chloride ; and to prove the perfection of their
analysis they had also made some nitrate from known pure silver. His
own bath, they found by their plan of testing, contained 88 grains of
nitrate; Mr. M'Farlane’s 92} grains of nitrate ; Mr. Macnab’s 36$ grains
of nitrate to the ounce. The argentometer obtained from Mr. Spencer, at
60° temperaturo in a standard solution known to contain 47J grains to
the ounce, stood at 44, or 3 $ grains to the ounce of error. In a 30-grain
standard solution it was quite correct. This meter indicated 92 grains
in Mr. Stuart’s bath, and 99 in Mr. M'Favlane’s. He (Mr. Stuart) said
he mentioned the bare facts — they could draw their own conclusions.
On the question of temperature he had to report as follows: — The ar¬
gentometer showed a variation of l£ grains to the ounce for ten degrees
of rise of temperature from 60° to 70°, and from 70° to 80®.
Mr. John Cramb said he would, with the leave of the meeting, attempt
to show how much Mr. Stuart’s facts proved in this question. He would
first correct an error Mr. Stuart had evidently fallen into. The plan of
analysis pursued by Mr. Stuart and his friends had been pointed out in
his (Mr. Cramb’s) paper read at the previous meeting, and the phrase, ‘‘true
chemical plan,” seemed to him simply absurd — as it was quite as consistent
with the principles of chemistry to estimate the amount of silver in a solu¬
tion by the amount of chloride required to precipitate all the silver, as to
weigh the amount of chloride precipitated, and so judge of the quantity
of nitrate of silver contained in the solution tested. The objection to the
latter plan was pointed out at the last meeting — its impracticability for
photographers in their daily practice. He would beg the members to ob¬
serve that the results obtained by Mr. Stuart and his friends were thus
far confirmatory of the results laid before the Society at the last meeting —
that in all Mr. Stuart’s trials the result was higher, and in a pretty
constant ratio, which would lead him to suspect some constant source
of error, either in the instruments employed or in the manner of using
them. He (Mr. Cramb) at this point insisted on the injudiciousness of
citing Mr. Kibble as a guarantee that all had been correctly done. Mr.
Kibble was not present, and he, for himself, would not care to animadvert
on the statements of a gentleman which they only had at second-hand.
Mr. Cramb was proceeding to comment on the statements of Mr. Stuart
on the effect of temperature made at the last meeting and in his pre¬
sent report, when Mr. Stuart denied the accuracy of the report, attri¬
buting to him to have said that a difference ol one grain of silver of error
to each degree of temperature above or below G0° would be indicated
by the argentometer.
Mr. Cramb, as Secretary, appealed to the meeting whether he had not
given a correct report, and it was unanimously declared to be correct.
Mr. Stuart had not said that it was a grain to the ounce.
Mr. Cramb said Mr. Stuart was on the horns of a dilemma : his choice
was the longest aud the sharpest horn.
Mr. James Cramb, pointing to the argentometer said to have been
94
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1861
used, remarked that it was impossible to measure half-grains by such
an instrument ; and, as it had been confessed to be inaccurately di¬
vided, he was astonished that gentlemen would use such an instru¬
ment in any careful investigation. He simply wished to say further
that the grain and a-half per ten degrees of additional temperature,
though far below Mr. Stuart’s former estimate, was yet much in advance
of truth ; but in such a matter he would rather show the Society the
result than tell them of what he had obtained by himself.
Mr. John Cramb said the results given by Mr. Stuart on the specific
gravity question were utterly valueless : he (Mr. Stuart) had not tried
the bath, except by a hydrometer which he himself had said was erro¬
neously graduated. Why not take the specific gravity bottle, as his
(Mr. Cramb’s) brother had done?
Mr. Macnab referred to the fact that they made their nitrate from pure
metallic silver.
Mr. J as. Cramb asked how much solution was operated on from each bath ?
Mr. Stuart said one ounce of each.
Mr. James Cramb asked what kind of measure they used in measuring
the quantity ?
Mr. Stuart held up a common conical two-ounce measure.
Mr. James Cramb said it was unwise to talk of careful analysis and
use such a measure, where, from the extent of surface, error would
be so imminent. He considered the whole affair as unreliable, and
totally unworthy of any one making pretension to scientific accuracy.
Analytical chemists used an accurately graduated measuring bottle,
which he described.
Mr. John Cramb said he thought it would have been courteous if he
or his brother had been invited to be present at the re-testing of
baths which they had tested ; but as the gentlemen who had reported
the results that evening had not thought so, and as the subject
seemed by their statements not so satisfactorily settled as it could
be, he would propose that the Society appoint a small committee to
investigate fully the whole question. He still thought it a very small
matter, and unworthy of the rvhole Society spending an entire night
upon it again ; but a report by a committee would not take up much of
the Society’s time.
# Mr. Ewing said he thought that the subject had been sufficiently
discussed, and he would move that it be now dropped.
Mr. A. Robertson seconded Mr. Ewing’s motion.
Mr. Cramb’s motion for a committee failed for want of a seconder.
A short discussion followed on the graduating of dropping tubes, &c.
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Association was held at the
ChorltonTown Hall, on Wednesday, the 13th ult., — Mr.W. Griffiths, Vice-
President, in the chair.
After tbe minutes of the last meeting had been read and confirmed,
the Chairman said that, as there was no paper to be read, he would take
the liberty of calling upon Mr. Wardley to favour the members by giving
them his opinion as to what he believed to be the best method of produc¬
ing transparent positives, either for the lantern or the stereoscope.
Mr. Wardley said, that as far as his experience went it was decidedly
in favour of taking them by contact on dry plates with artificial light.
He had heard a good deal said about producing them through the camera
on wet collodion, but he had invariably found that pictures so taken
were wanting in that sharpness and definition which printing by contact
on dry plates always gave. Any of the numerous dry processes might
be used ; but, after considerable experience in nearly all of them, he gave
the preference to the raspberry syrup, not so much from the simplicity of
the manipulation required, but because the tones produced by it were
agreeable and pleasing when viewed in the stereoscope, and also because
the beautiful softness and semi-transparency of the shadows which it gave
made it particularly well adapted for pictures intended to be used in the
lantern.
A Member asked if there were not many drawbacks to the successful
working of the process ?
Mr. Wardley replied that there were certainly the usual difficulties
attending all dry processes to be overcome, but they were not such as
might not be easily got over by careful manipulation. The principal and
only important ones were the liability of the sensitive film to become
attached to the negative while in the pressure frame, in consequence of
the adhesive nature of the preservative coating, and the next was the
tendency sometimes in the collodion to split up or leave the glass during
the development or the subsequent fixing. The first might be readily
avoided by well drying the sensitive plate before putting it in the
printing frame; and the second could generally be overcome, if not
entirely obviated, by coating the plate, either wholly or partially, with
albumen or gelatine, previous to the application of the collodion.
The Chairman said that lie had often been surprised to see albumen
recommended in the Journals for the purpose just stated. He thought
that such a use of it must inevitably lead to a discolouration of the bath,
but would be glad to have the opinions of those who had practised it for
some considerable time.
Mr. Hooper said that opinions differed greatly upon this subject, and
he should be glad to see it definitely settled. From the slight experience
he had had of it, he was inclined to the view that no deterioration of the
bath took place.
Mr. Wardley said he was sorry to have to remark that this subject
could not have given rise to any doubts if photographers generally were i
only animated with a better spirit of candour towards each other : it was *
impossible to use albumen in the manner stated, or even to the extent
of a quarter of an inch all round the edge of the plate, without the sen¬
sitive bath becoming after a time discoloured and unfit for ordinary wet
negative pictures. The coating with gelatine was not liable to the same
objections, but greater care was necessary in their preparation, parti¬
cularly as respects keeping them free from dust and damp.
The Chairman said he did not altogether agree with Mr. Wardley, that
the best mode of taking transparencies was by contact, and not through
the camera ; he believed that, by proper arrangement of lenses and stops,
the latter method would be found to present fewer difficulties, with
results equally satisfactory as respects sharpness and good definition.
A lengthened discussion then took place on the toning of positive
prints by the alkaline chloride of gold.
In answer to a question from the Chairman,
Mr. Wardley said he should hesitate before giving 'a decided opinion
upon the absolute permanency of prints toned by the alkaline chloride;
still he thought from the short time it had been practised, and the general
results obtained, that it promised to be greatly superior to the old method.
He had, it was true, detected slight evidences of a change in some prints
toned by it, but he was strongly of opinion that it was in consequence of
their having remained longer in the hypo, than was necessary to dis¬
solve out the chloride of silver, in which case he thought the decomposi¬
tion of the double hyposulphite of soda and silver had partially com¬
menced. He believed that, if prints after receiving a fair amount of gold
from the alkaline chloride, were not allowed to remain in the hypo, too
long, no fears need be entertained as to their permanence.
Mr. Hooper said the permanence of a print could be judged of almost
to a certainty from its colour. If that were of a deep dead black, the
chances were that it would fade ; but if of dark brown, inclining to bistre,
he should not hesitate to award it a much longer existence. This latter
tone was, to his mind, much more pleasing and agreeable than the former,
and he thought the public would soon come round to the same opinion.
Mr. Wardley and other members said they could entirely endorse the
views just expressed.
A Member inquired if any means were known by which the spontaneous
colouration of long-kept sensitive papers could be removed.
Mr. Wardley said he had tried several plans, but the most effective
was this : — After taking the print from the frame he immersed it in an
aqueous solution of iodide of potassium, which speedily removed all su¬
perfluous colour without materially affecting the picture ; but he must
tell them that he had not as yet been able to tone by the ordinary methods
a print so treated.
A Member suggested the use of chlorine or chlorinated water as likely
to answer better than iodide of potassium for removing the colour.
Mi’.Adin did not see how so deleterious a substance could be practically
employed, even supposing it to be well adapted to the object in view.
The Chairman then made some observations on uranium printing.
He said he should like to see some of the members take up the subject,
as, from the permanency as well as the occasional beauty of its results, he
thought a great deal more might be made of it than had been hitherto done.
He then exhibited some prints taken by him soon after the process was
made public, all of which he said remained as perfect in tone as when
produced. One on albuminised paper was considered to be nearly, if not
quite equal, to an ordinary silver print.
Mr. Whaite said he thought the process might be employed with great
advantage in the production of large portraits intended for painting up.
After some further discussion, the Chairman announced the conclusion
of the ordinary business, and that the meeting would then be made
special for taking into consideration the report of the Treasurer and
other matters relating to the election of officers for the ensuing year.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman, and the business
of the ordinary meeting concluded.
FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The following subjects were brought before the last meetings of this
Society, which we quote from Le Bulletin : —
Four Thousand Positive Proofs fer hour. — Mr. Harrison presented
to the Society the following communication upon the Telesmatic Machine,
made in America, by M. Fontayne, by which four thousand positive
positives can be obtained in an hour with a single negative, and exhibited a
proof produced by the same. He stated that common letter paper is pre¬
pared by a method, so that it is rendered very sensitive ; it is then dried
and fixed upon a cylinder, which is placed in a dark box, having on the
outside an arrangement by which the cylinder can be rotated. Upon the
top of this box there is an aperture through which the light passes ;
into this the negative is fixed, and the paper is made to touch and leave
it after each revolution of the cylinder, in the same manner as in a printing
machine. Above the aperture and the negative is fixed a powerful con¬
densing lens, so that a very intense beam of solar light may be projected
through the negative upon the sensitised paper placed beneath it. The
aperture is closed by a shutter arranged in such a manner that it can be
opened and shut instantaneously, and simultaneously with each rotation
of the cylinder. By this means the negative can be exposed hundreds
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OR1 PHOTOGRAPHY.
95
larch 1, 1861]
f times per minute, and thus six thousand proofs may be obtained
l an hour. The proofs are produced by development printing.
The same machine may be made to contain ten small negatives, all of
rhieh may bo exposed at the same time.
M. Fontayne has made a new instrument, by means of which a
liousand proofs can be exposed per minute ; and its capability has been
osted by the largest order for photographic proofs ever given. This
rder was for no fewer than ten thousand portraits of Mr. Lincoln, and
on thousand of Mr. Hamlin, when they offered themselves as candidates
or tho office of President of the Republic of the United States. Two
undred and fifty of these portraits were photographed upon a single
hect of paper.
Mr. Radcock, in a Memoir which he read before the American Photo-
raphic Society, said he had seen that machine in operation, and that
wo hundred proofs could be impressed in a minute.
Promised Novelty. — M. Germ de Yaldonne announced that he has
ist discovered a process destined, in his opinion, to produce a consider-
ble modification in the photographic process now in use. Ho could not
hen describe his method, which lie wished to bring to perfection before
laking it public. According to his statement positive proofs could be
roduced directly in the camera, and without nitrate of silver, in which
he blacks and whites would be unexceptionable.
Dug de Luyne’s Prize. — The competition for the great prize of 8000
rancs, founded by the Due de Luynes, has for its object the conversion
f photographs into matrices, from which a great number of impressions
an be produced, in a manner similar to the processes on metal and stone,
without the intervention of the human hand in the production of the
esign.
The Commission appointed by the French Photographic Society to
ward this prize, has, after a careful examination of the productions sent
i by the competitors, adopted the following conclusions : —
“The Commission acknowledges the importance and interest of the
roductions presented by many of the competitors, particularly those of
fessrs. Poitevin, Charles N&gre, and Pretsch. These works encourage
be hope of a satisfactory solution to the question ; but considering
bat the results hitherto obtained are not sufficiently complete, and also
hat the authors themselves have not had sufficient time to give to their
>rocesses the greatest amount of perfection of which they are suscep-
ible, the Commission decides not to award the prize for the present, and
hat the competition be postponed till the 1st of April, 1864.”
Photozincography. — M. Davanne presented to the Society the follow-
ng observations upon the analogies which exist between the processes
f M. Poiteven and Colonel James : —
In noticing the description in the various photographic Journals of the
rocess of Colonel Sir Henry James for obtaining a transfer of a proof
pon zinc, he had been surprised that not one seemed to recollect that, in
anuary, 1856, M. Poitevin communicated to the Society a process based
pon the same reactions, and by means of which he obtained various
^productions, printed with lithographic ink.
It follows, from an attentive perusal of both processes, that, if they are
lot identical, they have at least the greatest analogy.
In both processes it is necessary to prepare a sensitive surface by means
>f a mixture of gum, water, and bichromate of potash ; after having ex-
iosed it to the light, some oily ink, previously diluted, is passed over it.
’his ink adheres only to the parts acted upon by the light ; tho excess
s in both processes removed by washing.
M. Poitevin obtained his proof either upon paper or directly upon a
ithograpliic stone. Colonel Sir Henry James begins by obtaining the
iroof upon paper, and transfers it to a plate of zinc, afterwards to be
reated by the zincograpliic processes.
If the process of Colonel James rest exclusively upon the manner of
ransferring the proof upon zinc, and afterwards employing this zinc
late, we are right in saying that he has simply applied the process of
I. Poitevin to zincography ; but if, in speaking of Colonel Sir Henry
ames’s process, we were to understand that the only necessary operation
ras to obtain a proof in a greasy ink, susceptible of being transferred to
tone or zinc, we believe that the honour of the discovery ought to be
ccorded to M. Poitevin.
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.
?HE following extract from a report of the twenty-fourth meeting
J the above-named Society is taken from the pages of bur con-
emporary, the American Journal of Photography : —
Harrison’s new lens.
Mr. Rutherford said : Mr. C. C. Harrison has for a considerable
ime been engaged in perfecting a lens which appears to be a novelty
n construction and its properties. He has already completed three
grades : first, for stereo, views, with focal length of two and a-half
nclies and a j flat field five inches in diameter; second, view lens five
and a-half inches foeal length and field ten inches in diameter;
bird, a twelve inch focus and a field of twenty-four inches. Thus
he angular aperture is double what has hitherto been achieved.
The plan of the lens is this : the two lenses of the combination are
symmetrical, and are so mounted in the tube that their outer sur-
aces shall form a part of the surface of the opposite segments of
of the same sphere. These outside curves subtend an angle of
about 180°, and thus the combination is brought within a conve¬
nient length. A small stop is placed midway between the two
lenses, and at the centre of the sphere. The lenses being symme¬
trical, either end of the tube may be turned to the view. The trials
with these lenses show that they give a flat field, and a more perfect
rendering of straight lines thorn any other lens. Petzval does not claim
as much for his orthoscopic lens, although he professes in that to
have exhausted the subject. Mr. Harrison’s lens is not intended
to take the place of the ordinary portrait lenses except for groups.
Portraits do not require a very wide angle of view. Mr. Harrison
has taken the proper steps to secure his invention by patent. [Mr.
Rutherford then presented negatives and prints to illustrate the
properties of the lenses.]
Mr. Seely said he had in his possession a camera made probably
about twenty-five years ago, which had some resemblance to that
of Mr. Harrison. The lenses are symmetrical plano-convex, with
a midway stop. They are adjustible, but probably were never so
far removed that the curves should lie in the same sphere.
Mr. Rutherford : Mr. Harrison seems to make it a capital point
that the lenses shall be so adjusted that the curves are permanently
in the same sphere, moreover the lenses are of the meniscus form.
Mr. Seely : I am unable to see the necessity of such an adjust¬
ment. Mr. Sutton appears, in his panoramic lens, to have appre¬
ciated the advantage of the curvature of great angle.
Mr. Rutherford: Have you seen the work of the panoramic
lens ?
Mr. Seely : Yes, and it is not comparable to what is here exhi¬
bited. The field of the panoramic lens is curved, a fact which is a
serious objection to it.
Mr. Tillman believed that Mr. Harrison had made a great in¬
vention, and was deserving some marked commendation from the
Society.
Mr. Johnson: Mr. Wolcott, of the firm of Wolcott and Johnson,
was a very skilful optician, and carefully studied the requirements
of photographic lenses. He was fully competent to make the pre¬
liminary mathematical calculations, and carried them out practi¬
cally with his own hands. The result was that he made combina¬
tions which were new in his day, twenty-five years ago, and some
which are still not generally known. He had instruments espe¬
cially adapted to the purpose for which they were used : he had a
camera for copying, for enlarging, and I remember distinctly a
camera similar to Mr. Harrison’s, which Mr. Wolcott called his
ninety-degree camera, for making views of a wide field. I cannot
positively say that it is the same, but the instrument was patented,
and the full particulars may be found in Newton’s Journal of
1844 or ’5. The copying camera was a combination of pianos, and
Mr. Wolcott was well satisfied of the plan, and often complained
that he was obliged to use the “ expensive flats.”
Mr. Seely did not wish to be understood as opposing Mr. Harri¬
son’s or any genuine invention. If Mr. Harrison deserved praise he
desired to be among the first to accord it to him. The subject is
of great interest, and if any opinion goes out from the society it
should be only after due deliberation. It should be first referred
to such as are skilled in optics and in the requirements of photo¬
graphic lenses. He therefore moved the appointment of a special
committee consisting of Messrs. Fitz, Rutherford, and Johnson.
[The motion was carried, and President Draper was added to the
committee. ]'*
- -
Practical fitsfnttfans oit Coloring ^Jiofograjjjjs.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. ( Continued, J
You have now laid in the head. The lights are clean and bright,
and in harmony with local peculiarities of colour; the tints
gradate by becoming less and less luminous as they melt into the
retiring or broken tints, and these deini-tints, as they are called,
glide just as imperceptibly into the shadows. Softness, roundness,
and cleanliness should characterise your work at this stage of its
progress. If, however, your inexperience has resulted, as it gene¬
rally does, in a failure, take your brush-rag, wipe all the colours
from the photograph, and, as the child’s song says, “ try, try, try
again !” After each trial, pause and examine the work, criticising it
as impartially as you can, and rejoicing in every discovered fault,
by thinking how much better it is for you to discover and remedy,
than for others to discover and ridicule, them. _ See that the half¬
tones which break the yellowish tints are greenish ; that the deli-
• For editorial remarks upon the preceding see our Lender in this number.
96
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1861
cate blues are to be found only where the skin is most white ; and
that the greys, into which the carnations melt, are first of a lilac,
and next of a violaceous tone, becoming gradually colder as they
retire from such influence, or begin to be characterised by other
qualities of local colour. If you are painting — as I now suppose
you are — a fair complexion, see, too, that the shadows are not
inharmoniously red. Observe that where the bones are in more direct
contact with the skin it is indicated by a slightly yellowish tinge ;
that the rosy hue suffusing the cheek is not of one uniform colour,
but is full of charming inequalities ; that the down on the skin is
truthfully indicated by its effect in softening the illuminated
passages, and spreading cool light over the shadows ; * that the
lights on the lips glisten more brightly than those upon other parts
of the face, in proportion to the amount of illumination ; and so
on. You may sit before your work and admire it too, if you like,
providing you also resolve to pick it unmercifully to pieces after¬
wards.
HAIR TINTS.
Light.
White, Naples Yellow, and Raw Unaber.
White, Yellow Ochre, and Vandyke Brown.
White, Black Lead, Burnt Sienna, and Yellow Ochre.
Raw Sienna.
White, Raw Sienna, and Burnt Umber.
Brown.
Raw Umber.
Raw Umber and Cappah Brown.
Cappah Brown.
Vandyke Brown.
DarTc.
Black, Brown, Ochre, and Madder Purple.
Vandyke Brown, Lake, and Indigo.
Vandyke Brown, Black, and Lake.
FOR THE HIGH LIGHTS OF FAIR HAIR.
White, Black Lead, Yellow Ochre, and Vandyke Brown.
White, Light Red, Black Lead, and Raw Sienna.
FOR THE HIGH LIGHTS OF BROWN HAIR.
White, Light Red, Ultramarine, and Vandyke Brown
(or the above tints mixed in different proportions).
FOR THE HIGH LIGHTS OF DARK HAIR.
White, Ultramarine, and Blue Black.
White, Black Lead, and Indigo.
The greys of hair will be toned down when dry with the local
colours, and richness got in the shadows by glazings. It is suf¬
ficient for the present, therefore, to lay in the colours so as to
preserve the drawing and texture, but kill the too dark colour of
the photograph.
- -
Jfamgtt clferapit'&rnxe.
Paris , February 25, 1861.
I spoke to you lately of the experiments which are being made
by Nadar for the purpose of applying the electric light to pho¬
tography. I shall shortly be able to give you an account of
those by Bingham, undertaken with the same object. The last
meeting of the Society was almost entirely taken up with trials
of the same nature. The apparatus employed (Duboscq’s) is very
ingenious, but also very complicated : the light is regular’, but its
intensity is not great. The amplified image of a cliche of six square
centimetres (about 2£ inches) was thrown upon a screen bearing a
sheet of iodised paper. The exposure at first lasted 140 seconds,
and then was extended to three minutes. In the latter case a
very vigorous picture was obtained in the development.
Count Aguado is about to repeat these experiments in his private
operating-room — one of the best organised in Paris. I will keep
you informed of the results.
M. Fargier, who was present at the meeting, gave orally the
same description of his carbon printing-process that he had
already given by letter, but he added some important details. One
condition essential to success is the uniformity of the film of gela¬
tine, and the intimacy of its mixture with the powdered charcoal.
The exposure in the frame lasts from three to four minutes, but
when the glass is withdrawn the image is not visible, and only
becomes so in the washing: this, however, is a matter of experience,
for which a little practice will suffice. The collodion with which
the picture is covered for the purpose of transferring must be a rich
* Examine this down upon your hand, and you will find that it possesses the velvet¬
like character of being darkest when in direct light, and light as it retires into shadow
growing lighter at the outlines, which it does much, also, to soften,
one, and uuiodised. The glass is dipped into lukewarm water
and the collodion comes off and floats upon the water, which mu6t £
be renewed after a few minutes. This operation is performed in a
white-bottomed dish, so that the image may be seen better, and its [I
successive phases followed more closely.
M. Fargier is endeavouring at present to shorten his process by
one-half by substituting for the collodion film a sheet of thin
transparent paper.
M. Girard read a paper in which he called the attention of pho¬
tographers to the dangers arising from the use of the cyanide of
potassium. He mentioned a very serious case which occurred quite
recently. An amateur having washed his hands with cyanide, a
small particle lodged under his nail ; and, though there was no cut
visible on the skin, he became subject to serious symptoms — throb¬
bing in the arteries of the temples, congestion, difficult respiration,
a general chill resisting friction, &c., which only yielded to a
prompt and energetic treatment. We all knew Mona. Juleo
Couppeau, of Paris, who had acquired a reputation by some re¬
markable stereoscopic pictures upon glass, and we all are aware
that he died from incautiousness in the use of cyanide. I remem¬
ber myself that, while staying in London some years ago, I made
some experiments with a friend, and then, to remove the stains on
my hands, used soap prepared with cyanide. I was almost imme¬
diately seized with giddiness and pain in my throat, which ren¬
dered me ill for all that evening. In juxtaposition with these facts
I can point out many photographers who employ cyanide with
impunity, and do not even take the precaution of seeing whether
they have any scratches on their hands. It is certain that this
product is very dangerous, and requires to be used with great
prudence ; but at the same time it is very evident that it does not
act with equal rigour upon all constitutions. It is the same with
many other and less noxious substances employed in photography.
I have known daguerreotypists upon whose systems the vapours of
mercury acted so energetically that they lost their sleep. Ether
affects others in a painful manner. Recently an amateur, Dr. Siguoret,
announced to the French Society of Photography that he found
himself obliged to relinquish the art in consequence of the injury that
the emanations of the laboratory had caused to his health. At all
events, then, M. Girard’s advice should be followed. Cyanide is
employed in photography for fixing pictures and for taking out
stains. In the first of these applications it can be replaced by
hyposulphite of soda; in the second by a solution of from five to
six grammes of iodide of potassium, in twenty-five cubic centi¬
metres of water, to which must be added some iodine in crystals.
You have probably seen in the last Bulletin of the French Society
of Photography the note in which M. Leon Foucault sums up
what he said in respect to the debate of which Woodward’s appa¬
ratus was the subject. You have remarked that the conclusion of
the first part of the note — that relating to the objection raised by
M. Claudet’s paper — is the same as that which I sent to you at the
time of the meeting. As regards the latter part of the note — in
which is discussed the value of the apparatus — I of course was
unable to say anything about it, as M. Foucault himself did not
speak of it before the Society, but added it when drawing up his
communication.
On the first of March there is to be a special meeting for ex¬
perimenting with the electric light. I have reason to think it will
be interesting, and I shall not fail to give you an account of it.
ERNEST LACAN.
A Manual of Photographic Chemistry. By T. F. Hardwich, :
late Demonstrator of Chemistry and Lecturer on Photo¬
graphy in King’s College, London. Sixth Edition.
London: John Churchill, New Burlington Street.
This is the third occasion upon which we have been called, sifsce we have
had the honour of conducting this Journal, to notice a new edition of the
work now before us, and it is less than two years since the last one was
issued. It does not often happen that the labour of the critic is great
when dealing again and again with the same work; but in the case before
us the identity is preserved much in the same way as occurs when the child
becomes a youth and then attains to manhood. The author, too, may
well exclaim : — “ When I was a child, I thought as a child, I understood as
a child ; but when I became a man, I put away childish things for, not
only has he advanced with the times, adopting all that is new and true
(much of which is due to him directly or indirectly), but he has also not
hesitated to cast away what mature experience has proved to be worthless
and unsatisfactory, not shrinking from the sacrifice of much that had a
“ show of wisdom,” and which he himself had formerly advocated before
March 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
he had proved its inefficiency — thereby setting an example of moral
courage worthy of imitation. It was jocosely remarked by Capt. Marryatt,
in his novel of Midshipman Easy, that old Mr. Easy “ was placed in the
dilemma of having to sacrifice his theory or his son, so he chose the lesser
of two evils and sacrificed his son” — so hard is it thought to be to give up
a cherished theory. But, notwithstanding the withdrawal from time to
time of a considerable quantity of matter, the Manual majr truly be said
to have both grown and strengthened under the author’s fostering care.
He appears to have been constantly on the alert, laying by a store of
valuable matter against the time when a demand should have arisen for
another issue ; so that with each succeeding edition, though we have recog¬
nised a familiar and valued friend, we have scanned his features closely
to note the many changes that time has wrought in him.
We now proceed to notice a few of the improvements which we notice
in the issue before us. In the first place the elementary and the more
detailed facts of the work are distinguished by -the employment of two
sizes of type, thus facilitating reference. The theoretical consideration of
photography upon dry collodion has been entered inte, and an important
improved method of working it, emanating from Major Bussell, has been
introduced. There is much new matter with reference to the theory
of the latent image ; and, what practical photographers will regard as of
still more importance, the whole of the chapters relating to the subject of
positive printing have undergone revision and re-arrangement, and the
addition made of a considerable amount of new and valuable matter in all
parts of the work. In fact, on reference to the memoranda we have made
on going through the work, with a view of indicating the various points of
reconstruction, we find them so numerous that we must content ourselves
with indicating instead where they may be found in the work itself; and
even with the following we have by no means included the whole of the
improved portions of the text.
There are doubtless many who possess the earlier editions who will still
think it worth their while to procure a copy of the new one, and to them
the information where to look for some of the new matter may be useful.
Some will be found at pages 38 to 48, 80 to 82, 108 to 11G, 126 to 129,
155 to 160, 163, 165, 168, 173 to 190, 213 to 237, 377, 378, 387, 420 to
427, 442 to 444, and several matters in the Appendix.
We may remark, with reference to the new dry process of Major
Bussell’s introduction, that though we have been acquainted with the
particulars of it for several months past, we have been unable from want
of opportunity to put it to the test of practical trial ; but we are aware that
it has been experimented upon by some of the most skilful veterans of
our art, including our friends Alfred Bosling and Erank Frith, who both
entertain a high opinion of its value. The principle consists in carrying
out the views advocated by Dr. Hill Norris as regards the removal of all
free nitrate of silver and the introduction of matter to prevent the
cuticular-like condensation of the collodion film which otherwise occurs
on drying, and thus interfering with its permeability to aqueous solutions ;
and at the same time the new process supplies anorganic substance which
adds materially to the intensity of the image formed without interfering
greatly with the sensitiveness. The preservative agent employed is
tannin, one not expensive and easily procurable at almost any druggist’s
shop in the kingdom. For the details of the manipulation we must refer
to the work itself, as we do not think it would be just to either author
or publisher to extract so valuable a portion without express permission
to do so first being obtained — a permission which we should scarcely con¬
sider it reasonable to ask for.
Mr. Hardwick’s services to photographer’s as a body have been readily
and almost universally acknowledged; and to our thinking he has de¬
servedly earned the designation we have more than once heard applied to
him — “ The photographer’s good genius.” Long may he live to enjoy the
admiration and gratitude of all true lovers of our art!
(Karmpuimixe,
"We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. _
AET AND TKUTH versus WHITE SKIES.
To the Editor.
Sib, — While pleased with your very able leader of February 1st, I
really must take exception to your remarks about white skies. I can’t,
by-tlie-by, make out who the sage and doubtless very young hero of
the rails and church steeple could be ; but it would not puzzle me to
give him a name, rightfully his, although not bestowed by his God-
i parents.
I have been very active in denouncing “ white skies ” (I can’tforthe life
of me make out why white paper should be called a slcy ) ; and if such
monstrosities are to be upheld , I — in the absence of a better man— shall
be very eager and glad to enter the ring, put on the gloves with their
' defenders, and do battle for the cause of photography as pictorial art.
With your permission I will therefore “strike,” but am very ready to
i “hear.”
97
White skies destroy the effect of space and atmosphere — the most
important elements of a picture. They are utterly destructive of breadth,
without which no picture is successful. They ruin vigour in the lights,
give undue force to the aerial tones of the middle and extreme distance,
and kill all the various important effects which have their source in a
proper scale of tones.
These are my accusations, and I am prepared to defend them “against
all comers” with every weapon of honourable warfare. And so “there
is my gage.”
I am emboldened to write this by considering that, while the mistakes
of ordinary folk are made chiefly at their own expense, when an
authorised leader jumps into error there is always an army of thoughtless
followers ready to take the same leap.
Let us say that you, my dear sir, want to convince yourself that the
sky is never white. Well, you select such a day as that described in
your otherwise excellent article, when, as you say, the sky is white, or
very nearly so. You ramble on until you see the tower and spire of a
new church rising up against the white (?) sky. The light is full on the
spire and tower, and they stand out against the sky in full relief. How
is this ? If the sky is white, what can the tower and spire be, standing
out, as they do, so much lighter and brighter against the sky ? But what
shall be said when that spire and tower, gleaming in the purity of
apparent whiteness, are found to be as far removed from white, when
compared with a piece of white paper placed in the light, as the sky is
when compared with the tower and spire ?
Pray don't defend white paper shies (?) which are the most inartistic and
ugly of blunders — the cruellest offenders against good taste — and the
most glaring violaters of pictorial truth. Our operators are beginning to
waken from a sleep, and the cry that has arisen against white skies is the
cockcrow of that dawn which will brighten into the full daylight of art.
Don’t check it — there’s a good fellow ! — don't! 1
I’m afraid the above epistle is hardly formal enough for the dignity
“which doth hedge” an Editor from the vulgar world; but then, you
know, I have chatted and laughed with his high mightiness in private,
and know him to be a frank, genial, hearty, unassuming sultan of the
en, whom the humblest scribe may approach with his slippers on and
is head erect, and I am, really, very sincerely and respectfully his,
28, Old Bond-street, W. A. H. W.
[We find on reference that the Editor of the Journal of the Photographic
Society exercised a wise discretion in publishing only an abstract of the
paper (see Yol. I. p. 74), to which allusion was made and in it nothing
is mentioned about the “illustration.”
We fancy that the term white paper shy originated with our worthy
correspondent — certainly not with us.
We perceive that the full force of the argument is directed against the
word white. Suppose, then, we print upon “cream-laid” paper — will
that do ? But, to cease joking, we are not advocating white skies strictly
so called ; but if we cannot have natural ones, we decidedly object to
those scowling, dark grey affairs, that seem to have appeared of late in
order to avoid - well! not white — but — clean skies. However, we are
open to conviction, so we will think it over. — Ed.]
alabastbinfTY>ositives.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Your solution of the difficulty represented by your correspondent,
Mr. Hele, viz., the browning of the alabastrine positives from the dis¬
colouration of a chloride of silver, formed by the double decomposition, is
certainly the most probable one.
The rapid darkening by light of the chloride of silver, particularly in
presence of any free nitrate, forms tbe basis, as we all know, of our
printing. Let your querist, then, do as I find indispensable for the perfect
whiteness of these positives — not merely wash thoroughly after clearing
with cyanide, but set the plate up to drain afterwards, until the film is left
merely damp, without fluid upon its surface ; and even then, upon the
thick edges, he mil find a yellow iodide of mercury formed, showing that
the whole of the excess of silver has not been dissolved out by the
cyanide.
When surface-dry (not, of course, film-dry), then let him pour over the
following solution, and the most perfect whiteness may be relied upon.
The ordinary solution of bichloride of mercury so rots the film that,
unless the pyroxyline be prepared with acids at a low temperature, so as
to produce a tough and firm film, a proper amount of washing cannot be
used : this solution has no deteriorating effect upon the coating.
Make, first, a perfectly saturated solution of chloride of ammonium, in
rain water; take of this one ounce; dissolve in it half a drachm of
bichloride of mercury ; jit will readily take it up, and when set by, for
impurities to settle, it is fit for use. — I am, yours, &c.,
23 rd February, 1861. C. COBEY.
THE HYDBOMETER SILVER METER QUESTION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you be good enough to allow me a few lines in The British
Journal of Photography, in connexion with a question I have un¬
fortunately got seriously, though I hope not dangerously, entangled with.
The hydrometer silver meter question seems likely to be a prolific one for
photographic journals. One article, in reply, has already appeared in the
columns of a contemporary, to which I wall be expected, and indeed to
which I would feel disposed, to reply at once ; but, as other gentlemen
98
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1861
interested — or I should rather say implicated — in this discussion, are said
to he preparing replies, I think it will best serve the cause of truth and
progress if I wait with my rejoinder till those opposed to the conclusions
of which I am the humble exponent have had the opportunity of com¬
batting my views on this question, when, with your permission, one
article will, so far as I am concerned, close the discussion.
I still think, as I expressed at our Society’s meeting, that a well-
selected committee would have most satisfactorily settled the question.
I am, yours, &c., JOHN CRAMB.
67, West Nile Street, Glasgow , Feb. 23, 1861.
CONJUGATE FOCI. — YERY SMALL LENSES.
To the Editor.
Sir,-— Happening to be at the last meeting of the Photographic Society
of Scotland, I heard a paper read, the production of the well-known
M. Claudet. It was about taking the focus of lenses and a lot of other
things connected with lenses, of which, I honestly confess, I could
understand little or nothing.
What I wish to call M. Claudel’s attention to is this, that we, in the
far north, are perfectly alive to the importance of having a table such as,
if my ears did not deceive me, M. Claudet assumes is not in existence,
and which he is about to draw up ; I mean a table by which the photo¬
grapher may determine a priori the degree of alteration between the size
of the image and the original, by a scale founded on the focal length of
the lens. M. Claudet will, I doubt not, be glad to be saved such an
amount of trouble as he purposes taking upon himself, by being informed
that a table was published, some years ago, in, I think, Lay' s Photographic
Almanac , and that it has been reproduced in other almanacs, and more¬
over is more generally known among provincial photographers than
metropolitans may be aware of.
Since I am writing, at any rate, I may inform you that Sir David
Brewster has proved himself a friend to the poor photographer, by showing
that portraits may he better taken with a lens a quarter of an inch in size
than, with our large and expensive compound achromatics. I have no
doubt that this is quite true, because Sir David Brewster says it ; but,
although I have procured more than one of the small lenses recommended
by him, I have quite failed in taking pictures that can at all compete with
those by the usual achromatics. Instead of taking a first-class portrait
in three or four seconds, as I usually do, I find that an exposure of as
many minutes with the small crystal lens fails to produce even a passable
picture.-— I am, yours, &c., 0.
Leith , Feb. 22nd, 1861.
[Those who have read the able articles by Mr. Grubb, On the Optical
Centre , published in our last volume, will perceive that with a double com¬
bination lens the tables named would be useless. Not having yet perused
the paper by M. Claudet, we cannot of course remark upon it. — Ed.]
IN EXPLANATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I fear I must have expressed myself very badly to have led you
to think that I imagined that you had accused me of being an enemy to
progress. The tone of your remarks would warrant no such idea. I
simply meant to express surprise that I should have been so accused at
all. That I have been so, I need only refer, amongst other similar pro¬
ductions, to an anonymous letter in your Journal, called “A Protest
against Retrograde Movements,” in which, after speaking of some process
yielding yellow skies and fading prints, and, consequently, very different
from, any I ever advocated, the writer says:— -“Such is the abomination
to which Mr. Heisch wishes to drive us back,” or words to that effect, for
I have not the Journal before me. I will not here trouble you with any
further remarks, as X again brought the subject before our Society, and
you will see what I have to sav in our report. — I am, yours, &c.,
Middlesex Hospital, Feb. 18, 1861. CHAS. HEISCH.
INSTANTANEOUS NEGATIVES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you inform me, in the next issue of your Journal, on the
1st of March, what is the quickest and best collodion to use for taking
negative portraits of children, as I am anxious to get some good nega¬
tives of my own little folks, and fear they will not he able to sit still the
time requisite to get a negative full of detail with the collodion I generally
use ( . ’s, iodised with cadmium), which gives me beautiful negatives
in twenty seconds with Ross’s quarter-plate lenses? To take children, suc¬
cessfully the exposure should be as nearly instantaneous as possible, to
secure the fleeting expression of the countenance which they cannot
command at will ; and I have thought of using a positive collodion and
iron developer, and intensifying afterwards, but should prefer to use a
regular negative process rather than a doctored positive one, if you can
inform me of one sufficiently quick. I use a forty-grain neutral bath.
I shall be glad also of your opinion on the following questions: —
1st. If a solution of chloride of gold is poured over a plate prepared for
the negative process, and sensitised, either when partially washed or
when just out of the bath, what chemical change takes place on the sur¬
face of the film lately covered with free nitrate of silver?
2nd. Does the action of chloride of gold on the free nitrate or on the
iodide of silver render the plate more sensitive to light, and therefore
“quicker in action?” and would it be applicable to taking wet- plate
pictures with an instantaneous exposure? If so, itpuight suit my idea for
children’s portraits.
I am exceedingly anxious to get good portraits of them, as they will '
he very interesting in after life, or should anything happen to them: I
the regular professional glass positives are my abomination. I also take !
all mine for the stereoscope, by a binocular camera.
Your kind assistance in the abovo matters will greatly oblige. — I am,
yours, &c., CAPTAIN B.
P.S. — There is another matter which troubles me. I get a sort of
water-mark on the lower edge of the negative, just over the head of the
sitter, which sometimes extends one-third across the plate.
It is evidently caused by capillary attraction of some matter from the
plate back, which is an old one, and much stained with nitrate; but to
remedy it I have cut off all contact with the woodwork, and the plate
now only touches two silver wires at the corners, but still the marks arc
there, and appear to come distinctly from the silver wires, and then to
spread out from the corners like a tree or wavy stream. The mark is of
a lighter shade than the ground of the picture, which is a neutral canvas
background behind the sitter. I have washed the wires with diluto
acetic and also sulphuric acid, but without curing the fault. "What can
I do to get rid of the trouble?
[1. We advise you to dissolve a grain of bromide of ammonium
in the quantity of iodising solution required for an ounce of collodion,
and to filter before adding it. Take your pictures in the open air: de¬
velop in the first instance with sulphate of iron, and subsequently in¬
tensify with pyrogallic acid and nitrate of silver. By this method you
may expect to obtain a fully-exposed negative in two seconds, even in
the shade. The bath is of the proper strength if it contains forty grains
of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water; and, as regards the quality of
the negatives, we can promise that they will be all j’ou desire, if you arc
able to work in a tolerably bright light.
2. The chloride of gold should not he applied until the free nitrate of
silver has been removed by washing, and in that case you produce sub¬
chloride of silver, and a superficial deposit of metallic gold forms upon
the image. The process is not used before exposure in the camera, hut
subsequent to development, and is recommended for intensifying the
negative; but we are not disposed to put much faith in it.
3. We know the “water-marks” of which you complain; but after
adding the bromide to the collodion they will cease to annoy you. — Ed.]
Garibaldi. — Mr. Stortz, photographic artist, Liverpool, has just received
the following characteristic note from the regenerator of Italy. Garibaldi
has a son being educated near Liverpool, and Mr. Stortz forwarded to the
parent a beautifully-executed portrait of his boy, finished in water-colours :
Mr. Stortz, Liverpool, — I am extremely grateful to you, kind sir, for the agreeable
present made to me of the portrait, in water colour, of my Ricciotti. Thus we have now
in our family an absentee whom we love. Command, pray, yours, Ac.,
Caprera, Feb. 4th, 1861. 6. Garibaldi.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Failure. — We have some articles in preparation upon the subject.
Bawtry. — We cannot recommend you to purchase the article indicated in your letter.
F. K.— Rather too blue in tone ; you have left it a little too long in the gold bath. The
formula is a very good one.
Timid John. — You need not fear to keep a moderate quantity of collodion on the pre¬
mises, particularly as you are not likely to use it at night.
Binocular, — You will find a description in the last number of the Quarterly Journal
of Microscopical Science, published by Churchill.
R. M. F. — 1. See remarks in our leader about paper. — 2. We have seen very good
results occasionally upon the arrowroot prepared paper.
J. N. — 1. We prefer number/our in your list, and next number one. 2. We believe it
can, but it will not cover a larger field. 3. It is a matter of taste, but personally we
have an objection to cameras cf the bellows form.
Lucy.-— It is certainly difficult to print many proofs, tone and fix them without soiling
your fingers now and then ; hut by care and the use of wooden or hone forceps it can be
done.
Stevedore.-— Mr. Moens packed all his paraphernalia in a small compass, hut it was
a heavy package of course. We know of no method by which to make a pound weigh
but a few ounces, though the bulk may sometimes be reduced. We suspect you are joking
at our expense.
T. L. —There is a spe. ies of yellow woollen material, called “ tammy,” which is better
than yellow calico for your purpose. Thin sheet india-iubber lias been used for
windows for a dark room. Thick yellow silk answers very well. The oiled silk w hich
we get in London is generally deep yellow.
Seeker after Truth.— We know the gentleman to whom you allude intimately, and
have no hesitation in asserting that you may rely implicitly upon the accuracy of liis
statements, and not only so, hut upon the soundness of his judgment also— which is a
quality second only in importance to the preceding.
James Shaw. — 1. You will find the formula in the Almanac for the present year,
issued with our last 15th Dec. number. — 2. The best kind of bath to use is decidedly a
glass one, mounted in a wooden case, with a water-tight top. The glasses can be pro¬
cured of Mr. J. A. Forrest, Lime Street, Liverpool, and also ready mounted from most of
the dealers in apparatus.— 3. If you will re-peruse the “Letters to a Photographic
Friend,” published in our last volume, you will be able to select what you prefer — better
than we can advise, not knowing exactly your requirements.
Delta. — We have never seen the camera you mention ; hut, on principle, we should
have nothing to do with it. A multum in parvo is generally cumbersome, costly, and,
above all, rieketty. Choose the size you intend to adopt (9 by 7 or 10 by 8 we recommend),
then have a single rigid camera constructed, of common Honduras mahogany, not too
thick— three-eighths of an inch is plenty. Have a leather handle to carry it by, and
arrange it so as to pack your dark slides and lens in the camera, and do not bother
ourself with a case. If it gets scratched (as it will), never mind ; and when too rough,
ave it re-polished.
A* We have been overwhelmed with matter for the present number, and we have
therefore been obliged to defer till our next numerous critical and other articles in type.
lUP All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, &c., should
be forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Lise, London , N.
JOURNAL oF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 138, Vol. VIII _ MARCH 15, 1861.
Asperities and Amenities, — We have observed with consi¬
derable regret that a paper by Mr. C. Jabez Hughes, advocating
the employment of a little instrument constructed upon the
hydrometer principle, for the purpose of ascertaining approxi¬
mately the strength of a solution of nitrate of silver in use for
exciting positive printing paper, and which was read at the
January meeting of the North London Photographic Associa¬
tion, has been the cause of much acrimonious feeling— in our
opinion very unnecessarily — amongst the members of another
Society; and has very unreasonably subjected the author to
certain animadversions and misrepresentations, couched in
language which ought not to be permitted to go forth to the
public without condemnation. Every person who publishes an
article by that act invites fair comment and criticism ; and we
have upon several occasions drawn attention to the general ad¬
vantage arising from the publication of the reports of the various
metropolitan and provincial photographic societies on this very
account — an interchange of ideas and correction of erroneous
doctrines being the usual result. But it is to be regretted
that occasionally a member of some one society, in comment¬
ing upon the doings of somebody belonging to another society,
has appeared to think it unnecessary to observe the amenities
and courtesies which would probably not have been violated had
they been actually brought into contact with one another. This
is a state of things much to be deplored; and we think it our
duty to urge upon all who have to join in any kind of discussion,
but especially when carried on through the medium of the
press, to adopt for their rule of conduct the excellent precept —
“ suaviter in modo, fortiter in re." The prime objects of every
photographer belonging to any society may be assumed to be
“ progress and the ascertainment of truth.” Why then should
one object to his neighbour for exploring an unknown region on
foot because he prefers to go on horseback ? If all wrere agreed,
where would be discussion ? The pebbles on the shore have
their asperities removed and their angles rounded by long-con¬
tinued gentle attrition with one another, whereas violent collision
breaks and roughens them. Let us then not forget that harsh
words and unkindly feelings do more towards the hindrance of
progress and improvement than even the inadvertent promul¬
gation of erroneous doctrines ; because in the latter case there
is every chance of correction where feelings of consideration for
each other exist, wdiile the former altogether precludes unbiassed
discussion. We have frequently exercised our editorial discre¬
tion in removing a few “personal” excrescenses from articles
which have appeared in our columns — occasionally to the
momentary disapproval of the writers ; but in no single instance
have we hitherto found that such dissatisfaction has been per¬
manent, while in most cases wre have subsequently been assured
by the temporary malcontents that they have eventually found
reason to rejoice in our exercise of power. These concluding
observations have been rendered needful to account for a few
trifling discrepancies which may have been apparent to such of
our readers as peruse also the pages of a contemporary.
South Kensington. — We would direct attention to a letter
from Mr. Scott (of the firm of Colnaghi and Co.), which will be
found in the usual column. We rejoice to perceive that some
concession has been made to the just demands of photographers,
but at the same time protest against their exclusion from access
to public property under reasonable conditions.
Caution. — Amongst the abuses to which photography has been
applied, we have just heard of one against which it may be as
well to record a few words of caution, in order to save others
besides our informant from any chance of falling into a similar
trap. We may remark that the truth of the following is unques*
tionable.
A gentleman, only temporarily resident in London, and who is
shortly about to proceed abroad, having been asked by several
of his friends for his likeness— which from the bad weather and
other hindrances he had been unable to have executed — was
proceeding along one of the not very agreeable streets lying
between the back of the Borough Market and Westminster
Bridge, which route he had taken in order to save time.
Passing by a large shop, in the window of which a consider¬
able number of photographs were displayed, his attention was
arrested by the announcement — “Photographs taken at
Night.” This being a complete novelty to him, and feeling
some interest in the art, though not a photographer, he thought
he should like to see by what sort of operation a nocturnal photo¬
graph could be executed. The price offered no impediment to the
gratification of his curiosity, being placarded all over the place
as “ Only Sixpence !" and this was confirmed on application to
the man at the door. So he immediately entered— not indeed
expecting to get anything fit to present to his friends, but out
of mere curiosity. We mentioned the preliminary circumstances
simply as accounting for the reason why a complete stranger to
photographic practice should have gone into such a place. He
was requested to sit down : the camera was pointed at him, the
firework “ let off ” in what we recognise from description to
be one of Moule’s photogens, the likeness pronounced by the
operator to be capital, and he was told that in five minutes it
would be ready. In five minutes he had handed to him a
minute scrap of glass, surrounded by a little piece of thin brass
encircling a ghastly-looking object that he was told resembled
himself. He of course laughed quietly, and handed out his
sixpence. But he was not to escape so easily : he was informed
that he must pay half -a crown l With this demand of course he
declined to comply, referring to the announcement outside, and
to the statement of the man at the door. There now appeared
several other men, of villainous aspect, on the scene of action,
who joined angrily in the contest, and, spite of all remonstrance,
vowed that he should not quit the premises until he had paid
the half-crown demanded. Feeling that he had done a foolish
thing to enter at all (though not wanting in physical courage),
be did not relish the idea of a report of any disturbance in
which he might be involved by resistance finding its way into
100
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1801
the newspapers, so he very reluctantly submitted to the black
mail demanded, as electing the lesser of the two evils offered to
his choice.
It is probable that one more accustomed to London and its
ways wonld have known that there was but little to fear on ac¬
count of newspapers. M etropoli tan journals have more important
matters to chronicle ; and, even were it not so, gentry of the class
to which those above indicated belong are usually very shy of
being made much of in print- — a reason why we confer upon them
the honour, and thus drag modest merit (!) from its obscurity.
— — — - —
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMENTS.
By T. E. Hardwick.
No. XX.
In our article for this number of the Journal we propose to consider
a few points bearing on the use of the “ Hydrometer Silver Meter”
as a test of the strength of old printing baths. At first we were
much opposed to this instrument, but, after a trial of some months’
duration, decided on giving it our recommendation. In doing so
we did not perhaps point out its errors as clearly as would have
been desirable had we looked upon it in any other light than that
of convenience and practical utility.
The most accurate plan of estimating the quantity of silver in a
solution of the nitrate of silver is by a standard solution of salt.
In throwing down silver as chloride, and weighing it in that form,
we scarcely expect to be correct to the hundredth of a grain ; but in
the humid assay process they report easily to the l-500th of a grain.
To secure this accuracy, however, many points have to be attended
to ; for, not only must the eye of the chemist be educated to appre¬
ciate the varying pi tensity of cloudiness due to suspended chloride
of silver, but the pipette must deliver exactly a given bulk of
solution, even to a single drop, and, most important of all, the
real strength of the salt solution must be correctly ascertained.
To effect the latter object a stock of metallic silver, prepared pur¬
posely in a state of absolute purity, is always kept on band ; and,
when an assay is to be made, a portion of this silver, weighed with
extraordinary accuracy, is dissolved in dilute nitric acid, and pre¬
cipitated at the same time with the other, as a check upon it. The
whole process, in fact, is a model of scientific precision, and it is
impossible to witness it without gratification.
When the photographer adopts the use of the standard solution
of salt in estimating the strength of the bath, he usually falls con¬
siderably short of accuracy- — partly from errors in measurement, and
partly from imperfect manipulation and uncertainty in the strength
of the soluble chloride. It would not perhaps be wrong to conjec¬
ture that, taking a number of experiments made upon a 60-grain
bath by different individuals, with various measures and bath-testers,
the average would be three or four grains to the ounce from the
truth. Such, at all events, was our impression after submitting
“an old albumenised paper printing bath,” sent to us by Mr.
Hughes, to analysis in an assay office to which we have access.
The real quantity of nitrate of silver contained in the bath was
51*41 grains per ounce, whereas it had been estimated in previous
examinations at 54 to 56 grains to the ounce.
The specific gravity of the foregoing bath, taken at 60° Fah.,
indicated between 55 and 56 grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce,
so that the error amounted to about 4J grains, which is not very
serious. Let us consider for a moment whether this error is greater
or less than might have been anticipated ; and in doing so we will
assume the case of a 60-grain bath, weakened by dry chloride of am¬
monium down to one of 30 grains, and the whole of the soluble
nitrate left in the solution. Thirty grains of nitrate of silver are
equivalent to about fourteen grains of nitrate of ammonia; and
lienee, if we take away the former, and. insert the latter, the fluid
ounce ought to weigh sixteen grains lighter than before. In point
of fact, however, it loses considerably more than sixteen grains,
for a reason which the chemist understands. When saline bodies
dissolve in water they produce a certain amount of expansion in the
liquid, and this expansion is sometimes greater and sometimes less.
No certain rule can be laid down, but it has been found that bodies
of a similar crystalline form often produce the same expansion, and
that salts of ammonia produce more expansion than the correspond¬
ing salts of potash.* If you take fourteen grains of nitrate of
ammonia, and dissolve them in a bottle holding exactly a fluid
* “ Alum contains twenty-three anhydrous atoms, and twenty-four atoms of water :
on dissolving alum in water the space occupied is exactly that due to the water, the
twenty-three anhydrous atoms taking up no space of themselves.” — Playfair and
Joule, Chemical Gazette vpl, HI, , p 377.
ounce of water, nearly nine minims of liquid will run over the sides
of the vessel, and the fluid ounce will weigh rather more than
grains heavier than before. Now take sixty grains of nitrate of
silver, ana dissolve them in an ounce of water as before, when
again nine minims, more or less, will be lost, and the bottle will
weigh fifty grains heavier. Therefore, we are not far from the
truth in saying that the expansion produced by fourteen grains of
nitrate of ammonia, is equal to that of sixty grains of nitrate of
silver; and hence it follows that the hydrometer graduated for
nitrate of silver is less affected by the presence of nitrate of am¬
monia than would have been anticipated. We may state in general
terms that a 60-grain bath, weakened to a 30-grain, as above des¬
cribed, ought, according to our calculations, to float the hydrometer
at the line indicating forty grains of nitrate of silver. On the one
hand. there would be the contraction of the liquid due to the removal
of thirty grains of nitrate of silver, and on the other the expansion
produced by^the fourteen grains of nitrate of ammonia; but the
former woula not balance the latter, and hence the error becomes
lessened.
But, in recommending the hydrometer silver meter, we have
always done so under the conviction that much of the nitrate of
silver is abstracted from the bath without any giving out of nitrate
of ammonia in return. On immersing strips of gelatine in a 20-graiu
solution of nitrate of silver, we found the strength of the liquid to
be reduced as far as three grains to the ounce— the nitrate having
combined with the animal substance without liberation of nitric
acid. Our intention betore commencing this article was to ascer¬
tain exactly the amount of nitrate of silver appropriated by the
albumen and the chloride respectively, in floating papers. In
carrying out the experiments, however, difficulties arose; one of
which Avas, that the quantity of solid matter left on evaporating an
eSS f° dryness in vacuo over sulphuric acid, did not correspond
with that given in the works on physiological chemistry. At pre¬
sent, therefore, Ave leave the matter for further consideration,
merely calling attention, to the fact that an absorption of nitrate of
silver, Avithout production of a nitrate of any other base, must
necessarily diminish the error in the indications of the hydrometer.
In conclusion, Ave Avould incidentally mention other sources of
fallacy in the use of the hydrometer silver meter, such as varying
temperature, solution of organic matter in the bath, &c. The
scientific chemist is indeed compelled to satisfy his conscience
by exclaiming against this instrument, as unpliilosophical ; but,
having done so,, he may yet purchase one, if its occasional use
promise any saving of trouble. We Avould ask him, however, to
attend to the nature of the chloride used in salting ; for it is evident
that, if chloride of barium be employed, the error will soon rise to
a point Avhich becomes alarming. We imagined that chloride of
barium had fallen into disuse at the time of the introduction of the
alkaline gold toning, since carbonate of soda precipitates carbonate
of baryta in solutions of that salt, [n a report of the Blackheath
Society, liOAvever, it is stated that the President and Mr. Negretti
consider this fact, from various causes, to be practically unimpor¬
tant. HoAvever that may be, Ave feel sure, Avithout further inquiry,
that those gentlemen are not likely to adopt the hydrometer silver
meter as a test of the strength of their old printing baths.
— . — » -
delicate test for organic matter in distilled
WATER;
By T. A. Barber.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie North London Photographic Association, February 27, 1861.]
Amongst the innumerable reasons assigned for the cause of failure
in the exciting bath, one which has struck me as being somewhat
singular is that of the nitrate of silver having been Avrapped in
paper; for if the contact of dry nitrate takes up organic matter
from the paper, what must be the effect of its solution running
through filtering-paper? Certainly one is sized and the other
not; but to contaminate the silver the size must be abraded and
left on the nitrate of silver — not vice versa — which I am inclined to
think is more likely to he the fact.
To elucidate this matter I produce three bottles — one Avith
neutral, another with acid, and the other with alkaline (i. e. satu¬
rated Avith oxide) solution of thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the
ounce, and which have had some days’ exposure to the light. It
will be observed that in neither case is there any discolouration of
the liquid, nor any precipitate, which might have been expected
had the paper imparted organic matter of an injurious tendency.
The papers acquired their blackness at different intervals — first
the alkaline, then the neutral, and lastly the acid.
March 16, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
1
A much more likely source for tracing organic matter lies, I
think, in the distilled water. I produce some samples of distilled
water that has been kept some considerable time, to which have
been added nitrate of silver one grain to the ounce, acid, alkaline
and neutral. It will be observed that the alkaline has finished its
business first and crusted the organic matter on the bottle, the
neutral partially so, whilst the acid still retains it in solution. I
have some here, a portion of a carboy just opened, and fresh from a
wholesale druggist’s — an indirect but general source from whenco
most photographers are supplied. These samples tell the same
tale, but to a much more limited extent; and, having had only
a short exposure to light, the state of transition is different — the
alkaline has completed its work, the neutral still holds the or¬
ganic matter in solution, whilst the acid gives no evidence of its
presence. The other two bottles are from one of our oldest-estab¬
lished druggist’s. Like all other samples I have tried, it will not
stand the test of alkaline nitrate.
It should be understood that distilled water can never be relied
upon for purity. That which comes over first — some say the first —
ought to be thrown away. Nor should the still be used for any
other purpose. Waste steam from an engine is sometimes made
available.
Water containing no inorganic matter suffices for most chemi¬
cal operations; but, if it be a sine qua non in photography that no
organic matter be present, we have a ready means of freeing it
from all that is incompatible with the salts of silver by treating it
with a weak solution of alkaline nitrate of silver. I say a weak
solution, because I find it attended with such satisfactory results.
I have not tried a thirty-grain alkaline, but here is a thirty-grain
neutral : it gives no evidence of contamination, whilst the same
water with one grain develops it most clearly. Nor have I tried
the oxide above : of course more would be added than the water
could dissolve, and its sediment would prevent the observance of
precipitated organic compounds ; and I have no hesitation in saying
that, provided a new bath be dosed with oxide of silver, and ex¬
posed to the light, it matters not what water is used for making it
— distilled or not.
AN APPEAL TO PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By Alfked H. Wall.
[Read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society of Scotland, March 12, 3861.]
It is with no small pleasure that I respond to the invitation
extended to me through the editor of the Photographic News , by
placing in your bauds the following unpretending paper.
A new branch of art has arisen, to the improvement and ad¬
vancement of which this and kindred associations have been
generously devoted. Its numerous applications and their varied
character have procured it admirers, professors, and practitioners
among individuals of the most diverse character, inclinations,
sympathies, and pursuits. It ministers to the pettiest sentiments
of the meanest natures, and it soars above the aspiring ambition
of the loftiest : now depicting the simpering expression of personal
vanity; nowbringing through the measureless abysses of space
those mysterious images of other worlds, rolling in silent majesty
upon their God-appointed ways. Filling the awe-struck soul of the
mightiest astronomer with new thoughts and fresh conclusions as
he compares their invaluable records with those written by the
Divine hand, high in the mighty dome of the hushed and solemn
night ; and delighting the illiterate serving-man or maid with a
sooty and distorted image of vulgar finery and common-place
features in a sixpenny glass positive, “with frame and glass, with
a ring to hang it up by,” all included.
The mere “man of facts” — as he delights to call himself —
tiavelling in his little circle of ideas, with imaginative faculties
and poetical sentiments locked up in darkness, and guarded by the
stern, hard gaolers of common-place utility and selfish advan-
tageoupness, patronises photography ; “ for,” says he, “ it is uncom¬
promisingly true : it takes my portrait, and it gives me the wart
on the cheek and the squint in the eye, exactly as I am. It pro¬
duces .me a landscape, and I can count the leaves on the trees,
the bricks in the walls, and the tiles on the roofs.” And again : the
poet, lover of beauty, worshipping at the shrine of refinement and
art, finds in the less common specimens of artistic photography
food for the highest thoughts and sources of the most ennobling
emotions.
Such is the art we as members of photographic societies have the
privilege of training, through its infancy, and educating for the
glorious missions of its coming manhood. I think it is high time
that this young giant, Photography, should learn that, apart from
its wonderful and invaluable qualities as a scientific agent, and high
above the perfection of manipulatory or mechanical details— which,
after all, are but means to an end — it should prepare to take higher
rank with the loftiest and most humanising of intellectual tenden¬
cies, as a fine art.
The arts in their highest state of progress indicate the refine¬
ment and opulence of a nation, and are then termed “ fine arts.”
This term is at present held to include poetry, painting, music,
sculpture, and architecture. To this list there is no just reason
why we should not add photography, for, in whatever way we
define the perfection which is understood as constituting the claim
of any art to be called “ fine,” our art can show either that it has
already such qualities, or that such qualities are within its reach,
or that there is a very reasonable hope of such qualities being
acquired. In either case there would exist no fair argument
against its claim. Every branch of the fine arts were as much fine
arts in the earlier stages of their progress as they now are — the
utmost stage of perfection, or the absolutely highest state of pro¬
gress, being yet unreached in either of the five arts I have named
as fine. I therefore think such facts as are mere indications of the
infantine state of photography should not be advanced as argu¬
ments against its rightful claim to so honourable a position.
To enforce this claim we must look to our practical operators.
The evidence of the eye is better than that of the ear. One mem¬
ber of this valuable society in bringing forward a single production
expressive of real artistic power, sentiment, and feeling, would
find in its silent eloquence a more able pleader for the recognition
of his art’s high value than a whole army of such poor advocates
as you now honour with your attention.
Believing this, I have always, when speaking of art in connexion
with photography, endeavoured to give my remarks som q practical
value, confident that, in calling attention to the more simple or
mechanical of pictorial principles, I should have the better chance
of enlisting in the cause such allies as would do battle for it with
their chemicals and apparatus, rather than with their pens or
speeches. Not that I undervalue the aesthetical in art, or think
feeling, imagination, or sentiment of less value to the photographer
than to the painter ; but because I know that the lesser must pre¬
cede the greater — the seed the harvest. There are those who
think the corn already ripe ; but they are not many. There are
others who believe the soil to be barren ground, in which such seed
can never grow : these are more numerous. The fact is, the ground
is new and strange, has teen neglected , and contains some iveeds, but
only requires bur operators, societies, and journals to put their
hands to the plough already in the furrow.
There is plenty of art in the mouths of our photographers, but there
is very little of it, as a rule, in their works — like Hood’s poor fellow,
who, with victuals always in his mouth, sadly wanted a belly-full.
Loose talk about Art has never been a very scarce commodity,
I’m afraid, but it has certainly always been a mischievous one.
With no other aid than a good memory you may talk art or poetry
by the hour; but to feel either jrou must do more — you must undei'
stand it. It is only those who feel art whose works display genuine
pictorial excellence ; and it is seldom indeed that any feel art who
do not also understand it, even although they may be by no means
eloquent in giving to such knowledge verbal expression. The
popular estimation in which any new art is held will always be
decided, not by a knowledge of its peculiar capabilities, but by the
merits or demerits of its productions. This is especially the case
with photography.
I have just been reading a series of remarks in some daily and
weekly papers upon this year’s Photographic Exhibition in London.
Nearly all of them directly or indirectly denounce its claims as a
fine art, and at the same time evince the most profound ignorance
of its resources, powers, and improvements. To understand only
one side of a question is said to be a good way of avoiding preju¬
dice ; but the critics I refer to possess such an advantage in a more
eminent degree — they understand neither. For instance, the Illus¬
trated London News says: — “Judging from the appearance of the
various works produced, we should be inclined to conclude that
the new art had reached its limits, leaving nothing farther of
importance to be accomplished. As a rival [?] therefore of the
fine arts its powers and resources may be considered as known
qualities; and we are still of the opinion which we have always
entertained that, as far as the estimation of the real lovers of art
goes, the palette and easel have nothing to fear from camera and
darkened room.”
This critic has evidently made up his mind and delivered judg
ment without hearing a single witness.
Again, The Times tells us that “it is as well that the domain
102
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1801
where photography ends should be so sharply and certainly fenced
off as it is from that where art begins and adds that “ the proof
of this separation is afforded by the conspicuous failure of all the
photographers’ attempts to make pictures.”
Now, is not this a pretty piece of argument? My new cook, who
took her place among my domestics without sufficient knowledge
of the duties belonging to her office, spoils my dinner, and I tell
the guests her failure is a proof that it is impossible to produce a
properly cooked joint.
Now, whether we have to deal with critics who believe because
they always did believe, or denounce because they don’t and won’t
understand, your practical man’s works are in either case the best
arguments to advance against them. Prove to the public eye that
photographs are pictures, and we thus enlist in our cause that
mighty monarch called “ popular opinion,” before whom this cant of
criticism will become hushed, and all these dogmatic censors bowed
in humble deference. We cannot convince these critics, perhaps —
for their closed eyes and stopped ears place them beyond the
reach of evidence or argument— but we can deprive their oracular
dogmatism of its influence by the exhibition of our succcessful
results.
If they point out the flat, adhesive character of some hard, map¬
like landscape, produced by some mechanical operator, place before
them another full of space and aerial effect, showing them that the
superiority of the latter had its origin solely in the brain of the pro¬
ducer. If they deride pictures without roundness or relief, hard of
edge, with harsh black patches for shadows, and the high lights
swallowed up by masses of glaring white paper, show them others
produced as before with equal appliances, in which the images are
soft and round, with transparent shadows and beautifully delicate
half-tones, gradating almost imperceptibly from the real high lights
into the deeper tones and reflections of more retiring surfaces. They
can’t escape such arguments as these ; and so the truth will ultimately
triumph, and photography be raised in public estimation as an art
in which, however easy as it is to do a little, only artistic feeling
and artistic knowledge can secure artistic results.
They say it can’t be done : we say it can. They speak in the thunder
of the public press: we in the whisper of class journals and compara¬
tively unknown societies. Our whisper, therefore, cannot compete
with their thunder in addressing the publicear; hut our works can speak
with even more force and effect than they can command to the public eye.
I therefore again repeat that it is to our practical men that we
must look for the art’s real upward and onward progress.
The new art has not reached its limits; and we, societies, know
very well that there is something further to be accomplished.
There is, indeed, much to be done, and that in every branch of the
art. We require, and are grateful for, the labours of our opticians,
our chemists, our mechanics, and our operators ; but, above all, it
is necessary that our artists should be active, inasmuch as theirs,
the highest and most important branch of all, has been the most
neglected. We do not want abstruse theories from any of them.
Such things will do well enough when we have done our more
necessary work; but now every paper we read, every experiment
we undertake, and every discussion in which we take part, should
have some practical value.
. It is our task, then, to urge upon our practical members the cul¬
tivation and application of artistic taste and knowledge, that their
works may assert publicly the lofty mission and high importance
of the art they practise.
(To he continued .)
ON SOME OP THE CAUSES OP DISTORTION IN
PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS,
By Joseph Sideboth^m.
[Head at a Meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, March 6, 1661.]
Every photographer, whether he be amateur or professional, who
has taken many portraits, must be aware of the great difficulty of
producing a satisfactory likeness : a bad sitter — a person who will
move his features, or who purses up his mouth, or who appears as
if awaiting his execution— or, what is perhaps still worse, has no
expression whatever on his face — is one of the difficulties. A
short focus lens endeavouring to take a large portrait is another.
These, and other well-known circumstances, combine to furnish us
with numerous photographic pictures, not likenesses — portraits
that yield no credit either to art or the artist. Even among the
productions of skilful photographers one often meets with portraits
which are not likenesses ; and making due allowance forbad sitters
there still appears to be something beyond which makes the por¬
traits not exactly what they ought to be.
How often do we hear the remark — “ the portrait makes yon look
too stout!” One great cause of this form of distortion is the
practice of making the camera look down on the sitter, the photo¬
grapher supposing that by this means the legs and bands will be
brought into better focus : this has the effect of foreshortening the
figure, and, consequently, making it appear stouter in proportion.
In copying a picture in the camera this distortion can be seen at
once : the figure may be lengthened or shortened according as it is
viewed in the same plane or at an angle.* This is a well-known
fact to many of the best professional photographers, and they
always make a point of having their camera placed horizontally.
There is still another matter for consideration, and one which has
often been discussed, viz., the question whether largo or small
lenses are best suited for portraits — or perhaps it would be more
correct to say large or small apertures. Sir David Brewster and
others maintain that the correct aperture with which to take a
portrait should be a very small one — as small, if possible, as the
pupil of the human eye ; others contend that a lens, or combination,
of large aperture should be adopted, not only as increasing the
rapidity of action, but as also giving greater roundness and pro¬
minence to the portrait.
FIG. 1:
FIG. 2.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 5.
FIG. 7
Let us examine portraits taken under both these conditions ; and,
first, that taken with the small aperture (%. 2J. You can find no posi¬
tive fault with it ; but there is a flatness about it, and you perceive at
once that it is not satisfactory. It is in fact like looking at your
friend’s face with one eye, and to a person who is unfortunately fur¬
nished with but one would no doubt be pronounced an admirable
likeness. Look at portraits taken with a lens of large aperture (Jig. 1).
They have not the fault of being flat, but stand out extremely
well. Still the features do not appear correct : there is evidently
distortion , although we cannot exactly find out where it exists.
It would appear, then, that neither the small aperture or the
large one give accurate portraits ; in fact, neither looking at a
friend with one eye or looking at him with a number ol eyes,
arranged in a circle of three inches in diameter (fig.. 3 ), would give
us the same result as we have by looking at him with two eyes.
If we take a small cube, of an inch iu diameter, and take a photo¬
graph of it, using a small aperture — or, what .is the same thing,
look at it with one eye — we are able to place it it so as to see three
of its sides (Jig. 5 ). If we use a large aperture lens, we can so
place it as to take a picture showing five sides (Jig. 7) ; but if we
look at it with both eyes, we can only see four sides, (fig. 6 ) —
viz., small aperture, three sides; large aperture, five sides; both
eyes, four sides.
Let us now see if this does not assist us in solving the problem.
To depict the portrait on a flat surface, as seen from a single point,
the small aperture is no doubt correct. But we want a likeness.
We do not care for the mathematical precision. We want a
picture of our friend’s features as they appear to us.
To take a portrait so as to give the likeness the same as we see
with both eyes, we ought theoretically to use a diaphragm with
two small openings, one at each margin of a three-inch lens, ar¬
ranged horizontally like the eyes. In practice this does not answer,
as the two apertures yield dissimilar pictures, which, although
falling on each other, do not blend together . to form one image.
But we can produce a modification of this, which removes the diffi¬
culty, and it appears to me this is exactly what we require..
My plan is to use a diaphragm of the form oi fig. 4, giving the
extreme limits of the vision of each eye in a horizontal direction,
and entirely cutting off what we may term the vertical stereoscopic
effect, which is the cause of so many unpleasing portraits. We
get the roundness of figure as in the large lens portrait, we reduce
• Large portraits were exhibited— copies of the same picture, viewed correctly, and
also at angles vertically and horizontally, showing the different forms of distortion,
March 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
108
the amount of distortion to a minimum, and we get copies of our
friends’ faces as we see them. The two eyes, although fixed in
position, do not each look at one side of the face, but, as it were,
wander across it horizontally. So this form of diaphragm appears
to imitate as nearly as can be this effect, and to produce for us
what we all wish for — a perfect photographic portrait.
Since writing the above I have seen an abstract of a paper by
Sir David Brewster on the same subject, published in The British
Journal of Photography; but, although Sir David notices the
distortion produced by large lenses, he still advocates the use of
small lenses, which appear to me quite as wrong in the other
direction.
ON THE TESTING OF SILVER BATH METERS.
By George Dawson.
[Read at a meeting of the North. London Photographic Association, February 27, 1861.]
I HAD intended to have made some remarks on the extraordinary
paper of Mr. John Cramb, of Glasgow ; but, as Mr. Hughes
himself has taken up the cudgels, I cannot leave them in better
hands. I will now, therefore, only refer to some experiments I
have been making, to help to clear away the doubts which, at the
last meeting, I expressed after the reading of Mr. Hughes’s ex¬
cellent practical paper, whether the hydrometer test could give
even an approximate estimate of the quantity of nitrate of silver
present in a very old paper-exciting bath. Theoretically, the large
amount of other nitrates arising from the double decomposition
must necessarily accumulate to such an extent as to render the
hydrometer test useless. Mr. Hughes replied that such an accu¬
mulation did not practically take place, except to a very limited
extent. With the view, then, of satisfying my own mind on this
point, I have, since the last meeting, made a careful analysis of
several old baths, two examples of which I will read from my
laboratory memoranda. I selected these two because the baths
were very old, made and kept up by pure nitrate of silver, only
used by myself, and gave a fair average result of the whole.
ANALYSIS OF OLD POSITIVE PAPER BATH.
_ History. — About ten months old ; originally three quarts of
ninety-grain solution ; kaolin sufficient to discharge the colour as
it formed in the stock-bottle. After each occasion of use, the flat
exciting and the drop-catching dishes were rinsed out with two
ounces of distilled water, which were added to the stock-bottle
along with 240 or more grains nitrate of silver, according to the
number of papers excited : the original solution now reduced to
about one quart.
At 60° Fall. S. G.= 1T52
» 80* „ „ =1-148
» 90° ,, „ =M46
„ 120° „ „ = 1-140
» 140° „ „ = 1-136
indicating about 83 grs. nit. sil. to fl. oz.
J1
81
17
80 „
5J
78 j? »
>>
76 ,, ,,
The ratio of decrease of Sp. Gr. by increased temperature I have
no doubt, if this experiment had been performed accurately, would
have been found perfectly uniform. As to the grains of nitrate of
silver appended to each I have some doubt — in fact, they were
only approximate.
At 60° one fluid ounce of this solution, precipitated by pure
hydrochloric acid, yielded 67"2 grains chloride of silver, equiva¬
lent to 79-6 grains nitrate of silver.
The filtered liquor on evaporation, and after all the nitric and
excess of hydrochloric acid had been expelled, left 7*6 grains of
residue, consisting of 5*2 grains soluble nitrate, and 2*4 grains
organic matter, apparently combined with carbonic acid, from its
being expelled readily by any stronger acid without the applica¬
tion of heat. The compositions of this substance I did not
examine further. This amount of chloride and residue of
evaporated liquid was the mean of three analyses, which varied
no more than one-fifth of a grain. The organic matter was the
mean of two.
A test solution of 66 grains pure dried chloride of sodium in
24 ounces distilled water always showed precisely 80 grains to
the ounce. The slight discrepancy between the more tedious and
exact process of precipitation of chloride of silver by pure hydro¬
chloric acid and the modification of Gay Lussac’s method arose,
no doubt, from the difficulty of expelling the water completely
from the salt, and the impracticability of measuring precisely 24
ounces of water from any glass measure usually employed. From
the large quantity of nitrate . of silver added to this bath, and from
its frequent use, I should certainly have expected to find a very
much larger proportion of nitrates different from that of silver.
The equivalent of nitrate of soda being 84*97 (say 85), it follows
that, for every two grains of nitrate of silver abstracted by decom¬
position, one grain of the former ought to be left in the bath. In
the above case, certainly, and in some other baths I have tried —
but whose history I do not so well know, nor whether they were
prepared with pure nitrate of silver — this accumulation of nitrate of
soda and ammonia did not take place in any way commensurate
with the quantity we ought to expect. Although these nitrates
must inevitably be formed, they are partly retained and taken
away by the paper in a way which I am at a loss to account for.
ANALYSIS OF OLD COLLODION BATH.
History. — This bath was made about the beginning of June,
1860; strength, 35 grains to the ounce; 40 ounces made up, the
bath holding about 18 ounces; used occasionally during that
month, almost daily during July, and pretty frequently since; it
has travelled and been knocked about in Scotland; yielded upwards
of 200 stereoscopic negatives ; and lain for four months in a warm
room in an open gutta-percha bath. No water has been added,
but a few crystals of nitrate of silver occasionally, as it seemed to
require them.
At 60° Fah. S.G. 1-050 = about 26 grs. nit. to fl. oz.
Analysis by hydrochloric acid gave 265 grains chloride, corres¬
ponding to 31*39 grains nitrate of silver to fluid ounce.
The evaporated liquor yielded —
Soluble nitrates . 3*2 grains.
Organic matter . *9 „
These experiments, I admit, did not settle the general question
in dispute, but certainly they led me to pause before passing a
sweeping condemnation on the specific gravity test for practical
purposes from purely theoretical reasons. In so far as relates
to the few baths I have examined, it always gave a considerably
under-estimate for the collodion, and slightly over for positive-
paper baths. But of course a great deal depended on the purity
of the silver originally employed.
ART-PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. T. Bkown, Jun.
[Road at a Meeting of the Birmingham Photographic Society, on February 26th, 1861.]
Art-Photography has very recently been prominently brought
before the photographic public by the admirable paper of Mr.
Hughes, read before the South London Photographic Society, and
commented upon by nearly every journal connected with the art. I
have taken the matter up at this late period of the discussion with
reluctance ; but, having given much study to the subject of Art-
Photography, I wish to make a few remarks. I cannot believe- that
in this controversy our friends, Messrs. Rejlander and Robinson,
as the chief exponents of what is called “ Composition Photo¬
graphy,” have been fairly dealt with; hut it is not requisite I
should raise my voice in their defence, feeling confident that their
works will remain a lasting and sufficient reply to their would-be
detractors.
We have read very much lately about “ mechanical” or (as Mr.
Hughes more justly terms it) “literal” photography, “art” and
“high-art” photography; but I must confess the distinction to be
almost too subtle, more especially judging by Mr. Hughes’s own
axiom that “ he is the higher artist who produces the greatest results
with the smallest means."
Before entering upon the question of Literal or Art-Photography,
I will explain my views of Art, which, summed up in a few words,
consist of », faithful translation of the beauty and poetry of Nature,
as rendered to the perception of the human mind through the
medium of the sense of vision; and, whether embodied upon
canvas by the “artist” proper, by the mechanical aids at his com¬
mand, or by the “artist-photographer” upon a chemically-pre¬
pared plate, with much less mechanical labour, through the means
at his disposal, j’et both are dependent upon extraneous assistance
— “ mechanical ” — whether manipulatory or otherwise.
If we take the whole scope of modern painting, and apply Mr.
Hughes’s test, we shall be compelled to award the palm of greatest
excellence to Turner and David Cox, as in their works they have
achieved stupendous results with an outlay of mechanical means
marvellously small ; while the followers of the pre-Raffaelite
school — who have, I believe, by a strict and judicious attention to
the productions of photography, tended in a great degree to promote
a higher interest in their profession than artists generally were pre¬
pared to admit — would, from the extensive manipulation upon their
104
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Murcli 15, 1861
ictures, be degraded to the lowest position. This would obviously
e unfair. While I cannot but admit the productions of Turner or
Cox to be the result of a most intimate knowledge of the mechani¬
cal means at their command, combined with an aptitude for con¬
verting that knowledge to its proper and natural use, I cannot
overlook the fact that the study required by the observer to fully
comprehend the subject matter of the picture more than com¬
pensates for the extra labour or outlay of mechanical means that
would have been required to render its intention more clearly
expressive. In the pre-Raffaelite school the opposite extreme
has been adopted, and I believe no man can look upon the won¬
derful manipulation of most of that class of paintings without
regretting that so much valuable time has been wasted by the
artist that might have been turned to better account. In this par¬
ticular photography will ultimately take the place of painting.
I have here a stereograph of a bit of Nature, Ferns and
Blackberry Brambles. No doubt Millais would not think such a
gem beneath his pencil, though the time required to perfect by the
means at the artist’s disposal a finished picture of this bit of
Nature would form an insuperable bar to its application. But the
artist-photographer, provided with his camera and prepared plate,
may perform in a few seconds what to the artist would be a labour
of months. And how much more correctly ! Colour only would be
wanting ; and in this, the most important item, photography is at
fault. While we can render the chiaroscuro of Nature — and the artist-
photographer must pay more attention to his lights and shades than
the artist of the pencil is necessitated to do, as upon them and not
upon colour the effects of photography depend — still I am not
without hope that we may, by a more careful analysis of the
photogenic power of colour, chemically applied, remove this diffi¬
culty and place photography in a still higher position than it has
yet aspired to.
I have also a set of stereographs— Views upon the Avon — taken
during the recent frost by one of our members, Mr. Burr, which,
although literal photography only in its lowest form, still shows
that the appreciative powers of the artist have been employed, not
only in the selection of the views themselves, but in the applica¬
tion of the art to copy the eccentricities of Nature therein dis¬
played, as a memento of a scene which, for poetical beauty, has
seldom been equalled. They also exhibit the superior powers of
the artist-photographer over the artist. Had the latter wished to
depict the sublimity of the scene, he would have utterly failed
from the amount of time required to perfect — even were such per¬
fection possible in human hands — a transcript of the view before
him ; but the former, by a simple movement of the cap of the lens,
so as to expose for a few seconds his prepared film to the photo¬
genic influence, receives an impression perfect in all its details, and
still more perfect when viewed stereoscopically.
I am therefore disposed to class these productions among those
of art-photography ; but would with all deference throw out the
hint, not only to the operator in this but in other cases, that when
the poetical sublimity of Nature is aimed at it would be well to
dispense with the introduction of figures, which generally appear to
be posed for that particular operation, and, to the educated eye of
the artist, mar the effect.
I have described Art as being a faithful transcript of Nature.
This faithfulness in photography has hitherto been unattainable,
from the variation of the photogenic powers of the different colours
composing a landscape or other natural object operating so va¬
riously upon the chemicals employed ; and it is in this particular
that I think the works of the composition- photographers — if I may
use the term “composition” — have been underrated. With all the
chemical and mechanical means at his disposal, the artist-photogra¬
pher has not been able to avail himself of the evanescent forms of
Beauty to the extent he would wish to have done. While some im¬
portant object in the landscape or view, to which he has directed his
camera, may require several seconds— for I will speak of an instan¬
taneous process — to impress itself in all its detail upon the film, other
parts are considerably overdone. And the sky ! Would that artist-
photographers could, like the artist, not perhaps select their sky, but
be allowed to suit a sky to the requirements of their picture ! — if sky
in most photographic pictures be an essential (which I have yet to
be convinced of) : or what should be the sky, a complete blot. I
maintain — and I think justly — that the artist-photographer, having
met with a scene, and a sky which, in his judgment, is suited to
that scene (and such is seldom to be met with), would be tully
justified in translating the cloud or sky, as it might be, to one
plate and the landscape to another. The evanescent beauties of
the one might be preserved intact, and a better opportunity would
be afforded to obtain detail of the view. . Mr. Hughes states that
landscapes may be taken with their natural sky — granted, in seme
not in all cases — and he gives the fact that Mr. Kibble, of Glat-,
gow, has succeeded in taking an enormously large picture with the
sky and water and a steam vessel all perfect, and on a dry /date.
He quotes this as showing that the hopes of obtaining natural skies
are by no means desperate. But I ask is such a picture — Art? I
say it is mechanical photography, neither more nor less. It may
be that the feeling of the artist has been displayed in availing him¬
self of the precise|moment when sky, water, and vessel were artisti¬
cally arranged; but such is farther removed from Art than the
composition-photographers’ works Mr. Hughes alludes to.
Again, Mr. Hughes cannot undertake to say that the natural sky
is at all times that best suited to the picture. From some pecu¬
liarity of tone in the distance, the foreground, or the principal
object in the view, operating upon the chemically-prepared film in
a manner far differently to the photographic effect upon the visual
organ of the artist, a want of harmony would be produced ; and,
unless the artist-photographer has been educated to a duo appre¬
ciation of the photogenic effects of colour upon the chemicals he is
generally in the habit of using, it is almost impossible, unless in rare
instances, for him to produce upon a single plate the natural har¬
mony of the scene.
I would, with Mr. Hughes, if possible, dispense with “ composi¬
tion-printing but at present such is a necessity, and, therefore,
a legitimate vehicle for expressing the artist’s conception of Beauty.
But, not only does the art of photography require further culture
— whether in in its optical, chemical, or mechanical departments —
we must, to render photography an art, educate our operators to
their profession. A photographer may take a portrait or a view
which shall exhibit a large amount of artistic feeling on his
part ; but, if he had received an artistic education — if he had studied
the chiaroscuro of nature apart from photography — I maintain, with
Rejlander and others, that he could not produce a picture wanting .
in artistic feeling. But, while he applies all his energies to art, he
must not forget science. However artistic a man may be, he
■ will often be foiled by apparent failures which might have been
overcome had he been “ up” in his chemistry or optics ; but in these
matters I am infringing upon the position of men better qualified
than myself to give explanation.
Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen, in a letter to one of the journals, “ states
his conviction that vision is a photographic operation, and that
before we can see an object, it is necessary that it should be pho¬
tographed in colours upon the retina. The optic nerve may be very
sensitive, but not so sensitive as to feel a mere shadow. ” I have
long indulged in a similar belief, as explained to the members of
this Society in connexion with an impression I have, that we may
. so educate our vision as to reclothe the rays from a practically
colourless photograph as they strike the retina with many, if not
all, the pristine colours of the view or object represented. I have 'hot
in the limits of this paper an opportunity to explain iny reasons ;
but I feel satisfied such a result can be, and is often, partially
attained, whether from the force of contrast, variety in depth of
tone, or other cause. Colour blindness has been clearly demon¬
strated, and the loss of such a perception would justify my belief
in the theory.
I am happy that our Society numbers a Rejlander, a Robinson,
and a Norris — and united with us, also, a Hardwich ; and I hope
every member will use unwearied exertion to maintain the Society
in the proud position it occupies in having such men connected
with, and I may say working members of, it.
§Lemh ef Ipljafagragljh Infieitfxmrs.
By Samuel Hioslley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
No. II.
INSTASTTAUEGUS SHUTTEHS.
As the time is at hand when photographers will be making
their arrangements for field-work, I purpose devoting the present
paper to a description of the various methods which have been
adopted for giving short exposures to the sensitive film, so as to
produce the so-called instantaneous pictures ; for, although these
inventions have frequently been referred to at the various meetings
of Societies, no detailed description of their construction has
hitherto been published.
The various contrivances may be classed under four groups —
viz., those that cap the lens with a motion similar to the opening
and shutting of a book-cover; those that open and close the lens
with a plate moving perpendicularly or horizontally in front of it;
March 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
165
those that close the aperture by a diagonal sweep across the lens ;
and those that open at the centre of the lens.
It may be premised, however, that some operators eschew all
mechanical appliances for the purpose. Thus, Mr. Wilson exposes
and closes his lenses with his Glengarry cap, whilst Mr. Hardwich
recommends the simple plan of hanging a piece of black cloth
before the apertures.
Group I.
Shutters belonging to this type are placed either in front of the
lens or behind it, thus : —
Mr. S. Fry’s Arrangement consists of a light mahogany slab,
screwed on to a round rod of wood, one end of which fixes on to a
pin fixed inside the camera, and the other end of the rod, which is
capped -with a brass ferrule, passes through a light-tight aperture
on the opposite side of the camera : a milled head screws into the
ferrule, so as to afford a means of rotating the rod upon its axis—
the position of the shutter in relation to the lens is shown at A,
fig. 1. The slab fits close against the lens, so as to exclude all
light from the camera ; but, by a rapid movement of the hand, the
rod is rotated backwards, downwards, and then forwards, so that,
at the will of the operator, an exposure of greater or less duration
can be given.
This contrivance is both simple and efficient, and has the ad¬
vantage of giving the sky the minimum and the foreground the
maximum of exposure.
Mr. Rouch’s Method is on the same plan as that just described.
It consists of a box with a lid hinged to it, placed behind the lens,
within the camera. The lid or shutter is kept up or pulled down for
the exposure by means of a cord passing round a pulley, fixed to
the side of the shutter-box, and then through the back of the
camera; but this is obviously not such a good arrangement as the
preceding. FIG. i.
glare of the sky — an arrangement recommended by many of our
best photographers. If a very rapid action is desired, an india-
rubber band is fixed on to a pin on the side of the camera, and then
over the handle D ; and when the shutter is sufficiently raised, the
handle is allowed to slip from between the fingers, to allow of the
full reaction of the spring.
Mr. Dallmeyer adopts two modifications of this type. If the
lenses are fixed at a certain distance apart, a thick block of wood,
pierced with two apertures, fits over the brass shades of the lenses :
a thin slab of wood, with overlapping sides, attached to an axis fur¬
nished with a milled head at each extremity, is hinged to the upper
side of this block. By means of one of the milled heads, the lens
cover or shutter is rotated upwards and downwards with any desired
degree of rapidity, and in a manner to meet all the requirements
of the photographer. The action is indicated at E, fig. 1.
If, on the other hand, the lenses are mounted bn the front of
the camera so that they can be separated, to meet this arrange¬
ment Mr. Dallmeyer adopts the following contrivance On to
the shade of each lens a separate cap fits, to the upper side of
which a metal shutter is hinged in the manner shown at E, fig. 1.
Through the centre of the hinge of each shutter a square rod
passes, as shown in fig. 2. Thus each shutter is freely adjustable
on a common axis; and when the lenses have been sufficiently
separated, according to the wishes of the operator when focussing
a view, it is only necessary to clamp each shutter on to the bar
by means of the screws S S, fig. 2. On turning either of the milled
heads, both shutters may be simultaneously raised or depressed.
Both in Messrs. Murray and Heath’s and Mr. Dallmeyer’s arrange¬
ments it will be seen that the maximum of exposure is given to
the foreground and the minimum to the sky — as the shutter turns
upwards in front of the lenses. (To he continued.)
FIG
Messrs. Murray and Heath extend the woodwork of the camera
in front of the lens or lenses {fig. 1 B), so as to form a sun-shade ;
whilst, a close-fitting door C, hinged to the top of this portion
of their camera, is raised or closed by aid of a little handle D,
fixed about one-third from the end of the shutter. This con¬
trivance places at the disposal of the operator the means of giving
a long or short exposure, as circumstances may dictate ; and
when the shutter is raised, it further shields the lenses from the
ON A NEW PLATE-HOLDEB.
By — Noxox.
[Read at a Meetingof the Manchester Photographic
Society, March 6, 1861.]
My method relates to the albumen pro¬
cess, in which it is necessary to “ spin ”
the plate. The ordinary method of ef-
effeeting this is to attach the plate to a
piece of heated gutta percha, an opera¬
tion often inconvenient, and attended
with danger of breakage, the plate being
as it were cemented to the holder. I may
here mention the fact that, upon detach¬
ing a plate from a holder of this des¬
cription, I have frequently observed a
luminous ring upon the gutta percha.
I will now describe the particulars
of the construction of the new plate-
holder A tube of metal, about fifteen
inches in length, is provided at one end
with a disc of India-rubber, such as is or¬
dinarily attached to pneumatic holders,
the central part of which disc is open to
the interior of the tube. This tube is
provided with an enlarged cylinder,
about two inches in diameter, within
which is a small air pump, which can
be worked by a rod passing along the
tube. Above the before -mentioned
cylinder is a cock, which, upon being
turned the one way or the other, opens
or closes the cylinder to the aperture
in the India-rubber disc. In using the
apparatus the cock is so turned as to
cause it to close, and the pump being
then put in motion a partial vacuum is
formed. The plate is now placed on the
India-rubber, and is subjected to the va¬
cuum by turning the cock, so as to open
a communication between the space be¬
neath it and the cylinder in which the
air pump is placed, and it will thus be held secure. When neces¬
sary to release the plate the cock is again turned, and air ad¬
mitted beneath it, to provide for its easy removal.; but this turning
of the cock does not destroy the partial vacuum within the cylinder,
which is still capable of acting as already described the air neces¬
sary for the release of the plate being admitted through another
aperture, the arrangement of which is similar to that in use for
indicators of steam engines.
106
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1801
ON A SENSITIVE DRV COLLODION PROCESS.
, By M. Mc-A. Gatjdin.
.. ("Continued from page 65.)
There will be then no analogy of treatment when images on paper,
albumen, or iodised collodion, are submitted to the emanations of
bromine or chlorine ; and these three last preparations have the
great advantage of being susceptible of forming, with silver, a
whole series of combinations. Silver itself is at first only slowly
attacked by iodine : by beginning with bromine or chlorine we
scarcely succeed at all, and if we wished to apply cyanogen that
would prove almost impracticable.
In the paper, albumen, or collodion processes we can, in the first
place, introduce either cyanide, chloride, and bromide, as well as
iodide : upon cyanide we can cause iodine, chlorine, or bromine to
act; ripon iodide, chlorine or bromine; upon chloride, iodine or
bromine; and at last upon bromide, iodine, or chlorine, without our
being able in the least to foresee the results : in my opinion this
method is fraught with promise.
Here is, however, the opposite side of the question. I cannot
imagine that many other photographers have not been struck with
the_ same idea, which may have been followed up by experiments ;
which experiments having proved completely unsuccessful, no
mention has ever been made of them. I mean that in reasoning
upon the analogy between the iodide of silver of the daguerreotype
plates and that of other supporters, we shall find that the last have
an unfavourable aspect. With silver, as I have already said, there
necessarily takes place a phenomenon of affinity which produces on
the surface of the plate a coating of iodide, bromide, &c., of an in¬
definite thickness, by means of the substratum of silver which is
ever ready to enter into combination ; with a previously existing
iodide, which does not possess a particle of metal in excess, we
can only lead to a compound rich in .the mineralising element,
iodine, bromine, &c. ; and, according to theory, such a compound
ought to require a greater luminous action to compete with the
deposit formed upon metallic silver, so that it might well hap¬
pen that this process, when put into practice, should produce an effect
quite the reverse to the one expected, that is to say, one of less sen¬
sitiveness ; but it would probably become a means of preservation
for sensitised papers and plates.
Indeed, in the case wherein a sheet of sensitised paper or glass,
even after a careful washing, should still preserve some free nitrate
of silver, the first effect of iodine, bromine, or chlorine, would be to
form an iodide, a bromide, or chloride with disengagement of
oxygen, and the release of an equivalent of nitric acid; conse¬
quently, the complete destruction of the nitrate in excess, and the
release of volatile substances which would immediately disappear.
That being granted, this is how one might operate after having
sensitised and washed as perfectly as possible some sheets of paper,
or albumenised or collodionised plates, and dried them : — Operate
with a-stereoscopic instrument having two objectives ; one side of
the. plate only should be submitted to treatment, so that a com¬
parison of the two sides will immediately give the result of the
experiment.
. my opinion, the process would[be applicable to the preserva¬
tion of paper only, considering the great foreeof absorption of this
support ; and for sensitised plates we ought to allow the mineralis¬
ing vapour to act but for a very short time, as we have no means
judging at sight of the molecular change which has taken
place.
Such are the suggestions which I have thought fit to make, in
order to provoke experiments, which I also intend to prosecute
upon insoluble compounds, other than those which I have indi¬
cated. — La Lumiere.
*•* In the first portion of this article the word “process” was accidentally omitted
afty the word “ Daguerreotype," in the last line but one ; page 65.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Abbeys, Castles, and Cathedrals of Great Britain .
[Illustrated by W. Woodward, Nottingham.]
Oh turning over the series before us, the first picture we come to is
identical with that first noticed in our issue for 15th February of
the present year, as regards the subject, and taken nearly from the
same point of view. We allude to The Cloisters at Fountains
Abrey, No. 204 ; but, as we have so recently described the scene,
it is unnecessary to repeat it. We may, however, remark that Mr.
Woodward’s negative was taken by the collodio-albumen process,
and we are informed that this subject being very dark entailed the
lengthened exposure of one hour. We are somewhat surprised to
find that, contrary to what might have been expected, the outlines
of the shadows are sharp and distinct in spite of the change of 15°
in direction which of course they must have undergone.
Mr. Woodward has made more pilgrimages than one to Foun¬
tains Abbey, and it will probably be in the recollection of some of
our readers that we have noticed in previous volumes some of his
productions from this locality. We find that here and there he has
issued a second edition of a former subject, and generally an im¬
proved one, notwithstanding the very unfavourable weather during
the past season : in a few instances, though rare ones, he has had
the worst of the contest. Amongst the improved editions of the
Fountains Abbey illustrations is No. 198, The North Aisle, looking
East. Of the new ones there are two nearly identical, both numbered
201, and entitled Bridge over the River Shell. Both of them are
excellent illustrations of a picturesque subject, and the position of
the camera appears to have been altered after taking one nega¬
tive, but to a very small extent ; yet it has not been done without
material improvement — that containing a trifle more of the subject
towards the right of the operator being in our judgment con¬
siderably the best. We know not whether or no this is the
same bridge which figured in one of Mr. Ogle’s series : it is by no
means improbable, although there is not the slightest resemblance
between Mr. Woodward’s and Mr. Ogle’s illustrations, except in
name. In the latter the bridge formed but a very insignificant
item in the “theme:” in the former it is a prominent object,
and the water is beautifully transparent, while the banks of the
river, bridge, trees, ruins, bushes, &c., receding from the observer
in successive planes, one behind another, cause this to be an
effective slide as well as a highly pleasing picture. There is
one little fault in this as in some others of Mr. Woodward’s
otherwise excellent productions, and it is one for which we have
before had a quarrel in a quiet way : he will use a single instead
of a bi-lens camera, and it is consequently impossible always to
prevent this being perceived by slight difference in the illumination
of the members of the pair of pictures, though Mr. Woodward fre¬
quently manages it cleverly.
No. 199, View from a Window in the Cloisters, Fountains
Abbey , is a very charming subject, whether for the stereoscope or
a larger picture : the disjointed portions of the ruined walls appear
to be literally crushed under the luxuriant mantle of ivy, while a
grove of fine trees forms a fitting background.
No. 175, Bolton Abbey, from the South-West, is taken from an
admirably-selected point of view, and the pair of noble old trees in
the foreground, leafless as they are, add materially to the artistic
value of the subject.
There are two pictures from Easby Abbey, the negatives of
which were exposed during the rain as we are informed, though, be¬
yond the absence of sunshine, they exhibit no symptoms whereby
we could have inferred this extra difficulty in operating. No. 181 is
a View from the Churchyard, and No. 182 A peep through the
Refectory Window, and a very pleasant peep it is we must admit.
Of Rivaulx Abbey we have three different views in the Choir —
all excellent. No. 192, The West of the Choir Side, _ loolcing
South, is perhaps the most pleasing as a picture, owing to its con¬
taining more variety of incidents than the others, and being more
broken up in detail; but, when viewed in the stereoscope, No. 193,
The Choir looking South, from the Inside, is particularly charming,
the row of columns and arches on the left being adorned with the
chequered light from the corresponding openings on the opposite
side. We may safely predict an extensive demand for these beau¬
tiful specimens.
Tintern Abbey has long been known as a favourite resort to
the artist, and of late years to his brother of the camera. In some
few of the numerous illustrations of the locality now before us, we
do not think that Mr. Woodward has attained to his usual standard
of excellence — no doubt owing to bis having been afflicted with
the malefic influence of continuously bad weather — while in others
he has been particularly felicitous.
No. 220, South Aisle, loolcing West, and 217, The Nave, looking
East, are both charming semi-interiors. No. 218, The Nave, look¬
ing West, is only a little inferior; but 219 is a trifle too chalky iu
appearance.
There are three of the slides presenting a general view of the
abbey ; and of these we prefer No. 207, View from the Chapel Hill.
There is, however, an absence of sunshine, which would materially
have improved the landscape ; and the high wooded hills in the
background present rather too hard and cutting a line against the
sky, that is destructive of atmospheric effect. In No. 210, View
from the South-east, the distant hills are beautifully mellowed
lor
March 15, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
down ; but a tree on the left in the foreground is far too dark, and
the foliage having been in motion is indistinct and unsatisfactory.
The abbey itself, also, is a little too “dreamy” for a photographer,
so that we fancy a rather large aperture was employed for the lens
when taking this picture.
No. 211, The South Transept, and 212, The West End, are both
extremely well-executed specimens of Mr. Woodward’s work, the
last-named being almost identical in subject with a large proof by
Mr. Bedford, which formed the presentation photograph of the
North London Photographic Association last year.
Amongst the illustrations of Lichfield Cathedrae there are
three that merit especial notice, viz., Nos. 235, 236, and 237, being
all representations of The West Front or portions thereof. In
No. 236 the whole front is included with the exception of the top¬
most portion of the spires, and the effect of the rich gothic style is
well displayed. No. 235 is a somewhat nearer view, and of course
includes but a smaller portion of the subject executed on the larger
scale : it enables the observer to examine closely and particu¬
larly the five-aud- twenty figures occupying the series of arched
compartments extending entirely across the front. No. 237 is
specially devoted to the magnificent West Door, rich in carving
and chaste in design, the subject being similar to one delineated
by Mr. Bourne on a larger scale, and which is to be seen at the
Photographic Society’s Exhibition, now open in Pall Mall. Our
architectural friends must not omit procuring these.
Raglan Castle has found so many worshippers that we had
come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to present it
from any new point of view, but we were mistaken. No. 226, A
View from the Walls, we have not before seen ; nor yet 225, View
in Fountain Court — both of which are pleasing studies. In the
latter the blossom on the elder-tree fixes unmistakeably the period
of the year when the picture was taken. No. 223, View from
the Moat, though perhaps the most picturesque, has suffered a
little from slight over-development of the negative : the transpa¬
rency of the water which is in shadow is beautifully retained, but
the leaves of the ivy on the stem of the tree to the left are rather
chalky. This is a favourite view with most operators.
Henry Martin's Tower, Chepstow Castle, No. 230, is one of last
year’s successful achievements, and is a pleasing subject.
There are two capital slides of Helmsley Castle: — No. 184, The
Gateway and Barbican; and No. 185, View from the Inner Moat.
It is evident that both of these were taken in the early spring time
of the year, for the buds on the trees are just beginning to burst
into leaf. In the latter the young leaves of the elm on the left
contrast beautifully with the tufts formed by the half-opened ends
of the ash on the right; and through a vista between the branches
the upper part of the tower of the castle forms a fitting central
point, around which a very charming composition is grouped. The
execution is perhaps a trifle harder than might have been desired ;
but, if not faultless, the picture is still an excellent one.
In conclusion, we must express our gratification at finding that
the season, so trying to all photographers, has not proved altogether
barren of results to Mr. Woodward; and we cannot but entertain
the conviction that, should the forthcoming season be only equal
to the average of former years, he will add fresh laurels to those
already earned.
REPLY TO THE “REMARKS” OP MR. HUGHES, MR.
SIMPSOE, AND OTHERS, ON THE PAPER “ON THE
TESTING OP USED SILVER BATHS AND THE HYDRO¬
METER SILVER METER.”
By John Cramb.
A.s the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society
lias appointed a committee to investigate and report fully on this subject,
it will be quite unnecessary for me to enter on the main question further
than so far as I have, unfortunately, got personally mixed up with it,
which, of course, will not be considered to come within the province of
that committee’s investigations.
It may be necessary to explain why I choose to answer Mr. Simpson
through the columns of The British Journal of Photography, seeing
hat his comments on my paper appeared intact only in the Plioto-
jrajphic Neivs. I do so for three reasons : Firstly, I wish one reply to
finish the question, so far as I am personally concerned; secondly,
because my paper appeared alone in full in The British Journal of
Photography; and, thirdly, because it was so cut down in the News
is to be quite unintelligible. Being determined to avoid the very
appearance of offensive language, I simply say my paper was so briefly
: given in that publication as to be quite unintelligible, and, therefore,
I had no approach to fair play with the readers of that journal.
I understand, from the report of the meeting of the North London
Photographic Society, that I am generally charged with manifesting bad
feeling in my paper ; and both Mr. Hughes and Mr. Simpson pointedly
make that charge against me. I may have been unfortunate-in my manner
of expression, if such is a legitimate interpretation of the language used
by me ; but I emphatically declare that nothing was further from my
thoughts than any approach to personal feeling of any kind. I repu¬
diate such, even now, though I cannot but feel hurt at being called such
hard names as “Provincial Cynic,” “ Bombastes Furioso,” &c., and
being counselled to acquire the.“ habits of a gentleman,” and not to give
way to “ebullitions of jaundiced and splenetic feeling.” Perhaps the
first impulse would prompt one to return these not over-complimentary
phrases in kind ; but I shall avoid this. I had supposed it were possible
to be both bold and pointed in exposing error without being open to a
charge of personal ill-feeling. The polemical region of intellectual labour
I knew was no bed of roses ; but I did not think it necessarily produced
poisonous plants, or deadly and sickening exhalations. Thorns and
thistles I knew were in my path, and their sting might be sharp. A good
swordsman meets his antagonist by skilful fence and guard, but does
not charge an honourable opponent with bearing a poisoned blade. I had
no purpose in writing the paper on the subject of Silver Meters other
than to aid the exposition and advancement of truth ; and if, in doing so,
I have spoken of what seemed to me to be errors on the part of my
opponents with such severity as can fairly be construed into a manifesta¬
tion of malus animus, then I can but say I never intended so to express
myself, and I am sorry I have been misunderstood. I still, however, am
quite unable to find in my paper any just cause of complaint on this
head ; and I think both of my opponents would have better served the
cause of truth by distinctly pointing to the passages in which I had *
violated the “ amenities of photographic discussion,” than by fulminating
offensive epithets at my head. That has not been done. Mr. Hughes,
particularly, deals alone in general denunciations of the tone pervading
my communication. I shall not characterise his proceeding, but prefer
to leave it to the readers of this Journal and to Mr. Hughes’s own sense
of right and wrong.
Permit me now to refer in detail to a few points in those communica¬
tions. It is said, in the article quoted, that I call so and so “one of
the known principles of chemical and hydrostatical science.” There
is no such language in my paper. I only mention chemical and hydros¬
tatical science once, and certainly not as the writer reports me. Again,
he says my experiments are too contradictory to base a theory upon. I
set up no theory, and consequently require no base. But, even if I had,
how many contradictions do the authors point out ? One ! And
though he does not state his meaning very clearly, I understand him to
say that I had set forth the idea that the accumulation of heavy matter,
not silver, in the printing silver bath went on in a regular ratio as the
bath was used. I never said so. I never meant so ; because I had not a
sufficient number of facts before me to form any opinion on the question.
But Mr. Simpson supposes this must be so; and, because one fact in my
table of results goes against such a conclusion, that gentleman must
needs say my results are too contradictory to base a theory upon, and
that one fact in my table which goes against his theory shows all my
unimpugned results to be contradictory. The setting up of a theory
immediately on the back of every observation is not necessary, and
indicates the tyro in philosophic investigation.
Again, I am supposed to deny that the paper may retain a considerable
portion of the nitrate of soda, &c. ; and in the article under review,
I am referred to the difficulty of washing out all the hyposulphite of
soda in ordinary printing operations. I never said all the nitrate of
soda formed by double decomposition would be left in the silver bath. ' I
did not mean so : I did not mean to say how much. Mr. Simpson con¬
cedes all I ever argued for : he allows that nitrate of soda, &c., will be
dissolved into the printing silver bath. This is all I ever claimed. The
only difference between us is, how much there generally is, and how
much may be expected in ordinary working. I know there is an impor¬
tant difference in the amount of nitrate of soda that will be left in the
bath, if we leave the sheet a long or a short time on the sensitising bath,
and also that there is an important difference with different bases, —
whether barium, sodium, or ammonium be used. As that question will
be likely to receive a large share of attention from the committee above
referred to, I need not enlarge on it now.
Mr. Simpson takes' quite a different position in reference to the hydro¬
meter silver meter to that taken up by his coadjutor, Mr. Hughes. I
think five times in his notice he speaks of it giving “ approximate
results,” and counsels the frequent corrections of its indications by an
appeal to some of the analytical plans. That is far within Mr. Hughes’s
position, and in fact “approximates” closely to mine. I give Mr.
Hughes’s own words:* — “Speaking generally, - then, this instrument
[the hydrometer] is less perfect than the others, because it is applicable to
only one of the two photographic silver solutions; but for that one it answers
admirably, and may be depended on more certainly than the others (i.e.
the analytical testers of Horne and Thomthwaite, Wood, and Hockin).
Mr. Hughes is right. According to the record of results he gave us these
testers on the analytical method were not to be depended on, ’ ’ even when
tried on a new bath of known strength. Mr. Simpson says Mr. Hughes’s
advice isf — “That the analytical test be used occasionally, once in a week
or two, for verification, or for ascertaining how far the solution is in a state
* The British Journal bF Photography, Yol. YHI. page 44. ■
+ Photographic News, Yol. V. page 87.
108
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1801
to allow the hydrometer test to be regarded as indicating approximately
the strength of the printing solution.” Where does Mr. Hughes give
such advice ? Not in the quotation I give above. If he had, it would be
a comfortable recommendation, certainly ! try your bath by a certain test
to see if you may gratify yourself by applying an uncerterin one !
A few words now on Mr. Hughes’s “ Remarks” on my paper. I will
quote and refer alone to the edition of Mr. Hughes’s “remarks” which
appeared in The British Journal of Photography (the editor of the
Photographic News says Mr. Hughes considered his paper as “ emascu¬
lated” by the trifling alterations made by the editor of The British
Journal of Photography). Mr. Hughes remarks that the whole pur-
ose of my paper was to pervert and distort his views. Where have I
one so ? No instance is given. The whole purpose of my paper was
to give my views on the whole question according to my convictions
of what was the truth of the matter. And that is a sufficient answer
to his question — Why did I try collodion baths at all, “seeing,” he
adds, “J had more than once distinctly stated it was not suited for
them?” — I was investigating the matter fully, though we only took
a few days to do so, and 1 was requested to try the collodion bath.
The hydrometer was being used here for collodion baths, and hydro¬
meters were made and sold here which were alone useful for baths of
thirty grains and under. And my trial and “parade of figures,” as
Mr. Hughes calls it, proved that with these baths the error in estimating
the amount of silver by the hydrometer tester may be on either side, and
not, as he firmly stated, always on one side.
Again : Mr. Hughes asks if we, in the “plenitude” of our “confidence,”
tried the standard solution of chloride of sodium on a solution of known
strength — or rather he says we did not do so. We did, and offered to
show the Society the same repeated. I do no more now than refer the
reader to my paper.
Mr. Hughes surmises that the paper on testing of used baths was my
first paper addressed to any photographic society, and that I was, there¬
fore, unaware of the amenities usually expected. Is this an excuse
for his going into a towering passion, ana calling “this person” all
sorts of names ? Little boys never like being flogged ; and I am not
sure of its efficacy in making offenders much better, — Solomon’s dictum,
notwithstanding. But Mr. Hughes is wrong : it was not my first paper
addressed to any photographic society— nor my second — nor will it, I
hope, be my last either. I might have read many papers. Mr. Hughes
has often told me that I should have done so, and has requested and
obtained formulae from me for his own personal use, if I would not
publish my plan in the journals.
But he says we “must needs make a blunder in the equivalent
weight of chloride of sodium, taking 60 instead of 58-5.” — We have
respectable company to blunder in, if that be a “blunder.” Mr. Hard¬
wich, in his Manual of Photographic Chemistry, sets it down at 60 ; so do
the Almanacks of the Photographic News and The British Journal of
Photography. And Mr. Hughes, in his paper on the hydrometer tester,
refers to Mr. Hardwich’s* having given a plan of testing baths by precipi¬
tating with chloride of sodium, and extols it as being accurate to half-a-
grain. Now, in this same plan, the equivalent of chloride of sodium is
taken at 60 — or rather, coming to decimals, 60'2 — if the equivalent of
nitrate of silver be taken at 170. I could quote a large number of authori¬
ties for 60 as the equivalent of chloride of sodium ; but I prefer to prove
Mr. Hughes wrong as it were by his own words. As he quotes Hardwich,
even supposing Hardwich to be no authority, yet having homologated
Mr. Hardwich’s assumed error, Mr. Hughes debars himself from the
agreeable privilege of finding fault with me for quoting from the same
■ource of information.
I may remark further, that I knew quite well that most recent works
on chemistry discard the even number 60, and adopt a lower one more
consistent, with the precise results of the most careful analyses. But 58-5
is not a generally received number: one finds all numbers from 58 2 up
to the old even number 60. That forms no difficulty, if we want to be
very accurate ; and this plan of testing a solution of nitrate of silver is
capable of the greatest accuracy, — more so than even that of precipitating
the silver with hydrochloric acid, and drying and weighing the chloride
of silver.* Mr. Hughes will see, in the article quoted below, that Mr.
Henry proposes bringing the solution of chloride of sodium to such a
degree of strength, by experiment, that the assayer may be able to deter¬
mine to the part of the amount operated on. The assayer wants to
know how much pure metal is in an alloy : he tries the standard solu¬
tion for 1,000 assays, by dissolving what he knows is pure silver, and
testing it. The photographer wants to know how much nitrate of silver
is in an old bath of the same quality as the nitrate he originally made
the bath from. He has only to try his standard solution of chloride of
sodium on this same nitrate of silver, in a fresh solution, and bring the
sodium solution to the strength that will indicate the true amount of
nitrate of silver he knows he is operating upon. Once right, it will serve
till used up, and will be easily made up again with the same materials
as before. The assayer does not trouble his head about the purity of
chloride of sodium, nor combining equivalents either, but makes up his
solution near the truth, and brings it by experiment to perfection — to the
perfection we have indicated above.
• Hardwich’i Manual of Photographic Chtmittry, fifth edition, page 491.
♦ See Ure’e Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures (edited by R, Hunt), I860, article
“ Away,*' by T. H. Henry, f.R.8., O.S., rol. I, p. 219, ' '
That is the only fact in my paper upon which Mr. Hughes puts bis
finger. How much has he gained by it ? My whole facts are uuim-
pugned — my deductions uncontroverted. I do not say my positions are
unassailable ; but as yet they remain intact.
I conclude with a request that the reader who feels interested in the
subject will turn to my article ; and if, on reading it over, lie feels I
advance any opinion not supported by evidence produced or referred to,
let him discard it : or, if he find I have not treated my opponents with
proper courtesy, he will please to erase the offending paragraph or sentence,
as I would wish to do. It is my earnest desire, in this as in all else, to
do as I would be done by. The Scotchman’s national motto is Nemo
impune lacessit. Perhaps we are too apt sometimes to turn the thorns of
our thistle towards our opponents. Mr. Hughes’s long residence in
Glasgow ought to have familiarised him with our peculiarities.
A word in conclusion. Mr. Simpson seems to think it an approach to
photographic treason to call in question the conclusions announced by
Mr. Hughes ; and Mr. Hughes himself almost endorses the opinion, I
think. My acquaintance with Mr. Hughes is not of yesterday. 1 had
for years been accustomed to think of him as a photographic friend.
When or how has my old friend got to this supereminent position that
no one can safely doubt his oracular enunciations ? I am neither proud
nor ashamed of being now resident in Glasgow. Mr. Hughes had
reason to he pleased with having been for a considerable number of
years a successful Daguerrian in Glasgow, llow long, then, will it be
since he ceased to be a “provincial” photographer? I really cannot
see the force of this. Very creditable men in every walk of intellectual
and moral labour Lave come from the provinces, in all countries and
in all ages. To talk lightly of the country and country people is
simply a Cockneyism. It seems doubly inappropriate in the columns
of a provincial photographic journal, which is so successfully vindi¬
cating by its usefulness and very wide acceptance the possibility of
a provincial production equalling — I had almost said far excelling — any
metropolitan competitor.
I now close the discussion so far as I am individually concerned, and
will not be tempted again to reply to any future attack.
(jBfjiibilifliiS.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
[final notice.]
Of the whole class of reproductions of which the present collection
affords numerous examples, we have but little to say, beyond the
statement that they are generally well executed. Highly valuable
as this application of photography undoubtedly is it is chiefly, if
not entirely, mere mechanical skill that is required to ensure suc¬
cess. In evidence of the accuracy of this assertion we have but to
point to the fact that, wherever a photographic copy of an engraving
or drawing in monochrome is made, the reproduction is so perfect
that, in some cases, it is difficult to distinguish between the original
and the copy ; hut when paintings or water-colour drawings are
operated upon, although the forms are accurately repeated, the
effect is frequently unsatisfactory, owing to the difficulty of properly
translating the influence of colour into hues of black, white, and
grey — in the former case, a collodion giving hard, dense pictures
alone being required; in the latter, one capable of giving half-tone
is imperative. But more than this, to copy a painting well, so as
to convey a pretty close impression of its language, requires for its
successful practice considerable chemical and scientific skill, many
of the difficulties being conquerable by the judicious use of certain
chemicals, combined with management of the light by which the
pictures are illuminated. Now, if we refer to the copies of paint¬
ings in the present collection, we find that most of them are sadly
deficient in the quality of conveying the poetry of the originals —
some to a much greater extent than others, oven by the same
operator. We are therefore convinced that there is far more of the
work of the hand than of the brain employed in this branch of the
art.
We now approach a corner rich in fine specimens. There are two
Views in Warwickshire (Nos. 175 and 176), by Josiah Spode, that are
exceedingly effective in execution and highly meritorious. Here,
also, are half-a-dozen of Mr. Mudd’s beautiful proofs from collodio-
albumen negatives. In Watsdale Head. (No 169), Watsdale (182), and
Teesdale (183), the method adopted by this operator for avoiding the
hardness arising from painting out a weak sky is well displayed,
and it must be admitted that it adds materially to the value of the
proofs as pictures — which, by the way, are deserving of almost
any amount of labour to obtain. We must also add a word or two
of commendation for the excellence of the printing.
Of Mr. Fenton’s studies of Fruit and Flowers we have already
ipoken in laudatory terms; there are many of them at this end
of the room which, no doubt, attract a large share of attention. R
109
March 15, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
is true that to acquire all possible beauty they do require, the ap¬
plication of colour. We remember to have seen some specimens of
flowers, on a smaller scale, that had been well tinted, exhibited at
one of the meetings of the North London Photographic Association,
and are convinced from what we then saw that a profitable, field
is open in this direction to any artist having the requisite skill, as
such productions, well got up, would meet with eager purchasers.
Mr. Robinson’s Holiday in the Wood (No. 136), we notice, in pas¬
sing attracts much admiration. Mr. Dixon Piper’s Loch Gates ,
near Ipswich (No. 121), is a striking picture and well executed, but
s a little deficient in vigour.
In the corner corresponding to that previously remarked upon’
we encounter another “ nest ” of Mr. Mudd’s productions, quite
equal to those before mentioned, — Study of Rocks, Perthshire
(No. 99), On the Greta, Rokeby Park (No. 103), and Goodrich Castle
(No. 104), being especial gems.
To the few maligners of the Fothergill process we would suggest
a careful examination of No. 91 (a frame containing four subjects),
by Mr. S. Bourne, of Nottingham, particularly defining Loch Lub-
naig and the West Entrance of Lichfield Cathedral, as evincing what
excellent results can be attained by it.
The Rev. T. M. Raven appears principally, if not entirely, as an
operator upon waxed paper ; and good as his proofs are, consider¬
ing the nature of the negatives, we are constrained to admit that
they prove unquestionably the superiority of glass as a basis.
Dovizielli’s reproduction of Guido’s Aurora (No. 40) elicits the
the highest applause for its successful rendering of the original.
The same artist’s large photographs of The Coliseum (No. 30) and
St. Peter's, Rome (No. 52), are not, in our opinion, by any means so
satisfactory. Both are too black and white, and the shadows heavy.
The few trees visible might as well have been cut out of black paper;
and there is such unmistakeable evidences of a free use of the brush
upon the negatives that, regarded simply as photographs, they
would be out of court for competition. The St. Peter's, too, is dis¬
figured by considerable distortion and by the ghosts of vehicles and
foot passengers.
One extraordinary feature of this year’s exhibition is the amazing
number of card-portraits as they are called. Of course there are
but few of these which possess any particular public interest, while
with regard to some we cannot but conclude that the exhibitor
would have enhanced his reputation by reducing the number dis¬
played to one-half, or, in some cases, one-third of those contained in
the frames. But, while commenting on this class of production, we
must altogether except those of Her Majesty and the members of
the Royal Family, exhibited by Mr. Mayall, which, in point of exe¬
cution as well as of interest, are unrivalled by any in the room.
We are afraid to state how many thousands of these portraits
have already been sold by Mr. Mayall, lest we should be charged
with exaggeration; but we may remark that the number is so
great that alone it affords no inconsiderable evidence of the affec¬
tionate loyalty existing towards our Sovereign by her subjects.
In interiors and other architectural subjects Mr. Bedford distances
all competitors. Chantry in the Nave of Wells Cathedral (No. 417),
and View in the Lady e Chapel , Wells Cathedral (No. 448), are first-rate
samples of interiors ; and The North Porch of Wells Cathedral and
South-west Door of Exeter Cathedral (No. 442), corresponding ones
of exteriors. It is on the third screen that Mr. Bedford appears in
strongest force ; but his pictures are all so excellent it would occupy
more space than we can now afford to particularise all we have
specially noted. We must therefore be content with asserting that
in the present collection Mr. Bedford’s works form decidedly the
most prominent feature, and are one and all unexceptionable.
In our former notice we remarked upon Mr. David Campbell’s
contributions as possessing superior excellence. Home! Sweet
Home! (No. 427), The Auld Brig o' Doon (No. 433), and Cranford -
land Castle (No. 453), are all artistic studies.
Mr. Robinson’s Top of the Hill (No. 465) is a well-designed sub¬
ject, though he has not been quite so happy in his model as could
have been desired. Unless we mistake this is one of the pictures
that we commented upon in the recent controversy upon printing
from several negatives.
Mr. J. Reeves Traer is the only exhibitor of microscopic subjects — ■
four only of which are included, and these are unfortunately
placed very high up on the screen. Of these the Xylocopa violacea
(No. 511), an acarus parasite of a bee, is the most interesting.
Few persons are aware of the difficulty of photographing micro¬
scopic objects, requiring objectives of high power and large angu¬
lar aperture for their definition. In addition to all the ordinary
troubles there are superadded variation of chemical and visual I
foci, and severe restriction of definition to one fixed plane in the I
object ; so that if the latter be of any appreciable thickness it can¬
not even be seen without focussing up and down with the fine ad¬
justment— in which case of course to photograph it would become
an impossibility.
Mr. Wilson’s gems we have already noticed, and have also
alluded to Mr. J. Maxwell Lyte’s artistic pictures; but these last in
particular, force upon our attention the great necessity existing for
endeavouring to overcome the chemical difficulty of the impaired
sensitiveness of the sensitive film to the green rays. Mr. Lyte’s
pictures all suffer more or less from the darkness of the foliage as
appearing in the photograph.
With this we must bring our remarks to a close, so far as the
exhibition for the present year is concerned.
EXHIBITION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
OF SCOTLAND.
FROM ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW.
It is, we think, pretty generally admitted by all who have visited
this Exhibition that, although inferior to the one of last year in
point of the number of pictures exhibited, it is superior to it in
artistic excellence. The room is large, comfortable, and well
lighted both by night and by day; and from a more judicious
arrangement of the pictures— consequent, however, on their reduc¬
tion in numbers this year — less inconvenience is experienced than
formerly.
There is but little in this Exhibition that will present much
interest to the merely scientific photographer; for, with the excep¬
tion of two or three of Joubert’s specimens in enamel, there is
nothing displaying any scientific novelty. We have looked in
vain in the hope of finding some specimens of photographic or
heliographic engraving. Equally unsuccessful have we been in
our search for photo-lithographs. Herr Pretsch’s new and valuable
discovery of blocks for surface-printing seems to be ignored. Not
a solitary specimen of carbon or other “pigmentary” prints is
there to be seen; nay, even the poor old daguerreotype process
has not had one exponent, and the once-favoured albumen process
musters only some one or two bantlings. The collodio-albumen
process finds a representative in only one man ; but, that man is
a host in himself, and has done more to elevate this process than
any other man.
The majority of the pictures are by wet collodion, a few by dry,
and the remainder (about fifty) by waxed paper.
The Society under whose auspices this (their fifth) Exhibition is
held is, numerically at any rate, very poorly represented; for, out of
a list of 160 members, only thirty are exhibitors— the total number
of exhibitors being eighty. Among the fifty who are not members
rank the well-known names of Mudd, Maxwell Lyte, Dixon Piper,
Fenton, Mayall, Bedford, Vernon Heath, Annan, Hering, Frith, and
others. It has created some surprise that out of the great number of
professional photographers in Edinburgh, Tunny, Moffat, Macleay,
and Armstrong have alone entered the arena.
With these few prefatory remarks, we will now take a look at
the pictures themselves, commencing with those to which Mr.
Horatio Ross has awarded the prize medals, and the other works
of the same artists. No. 106 in the catalogue is a beautifully-
rendered view of the Valley of Pier refittes, in the Pyrenees, a subject
admirably adapted for an effective photograph. It will be in the
recollection of most of the readers of The British Journal of
Photography that the prize picture by Mr. Raven, two years ago,
was a representation of the same subject; but from what cause
soever it may arise, whether from advances in the art generally, or
from the superior capabilities of collodion over waxed paper for
rendering such sharpness and admirable gradation as characterises
this picture of Mr. Lyte’s, certain it is that the superiority of the
one over the other is marked. A village in the foreground, a plain
in the middle distance, with magnificent mountain masses in the
extreme distance, hemming all in, form the chief features of this
picture. The effect, we think, is a little marred by the overprint¬
ing of the left side of the picture ; and the same failing characterises'
several otherwise beautiful works by this artist — for instance,
281, in which the sloping braes on the left are rendered of pitchy
blackness, 292 and 296 partaking of similar faults. Now this, we
doubt not, arises from the great difficulty of rendering, with the
requisite efficiency, distant, and, it may be, snowy mountains, and
at the same time doing justice to the objects in the foreground; but
it would be well worth while adopting some plan of screening the
“distances” a little, while the foreground was getting more
thoroughly impressed. Mr. Maxwell Lyte, lucky man! has an
110
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1801
advantage which few in this country possesses — he has easy access
to some of the most magnificent scenery under heaven.
Turn we now to No. 67, the other prize picture — A Portrait of a
Lady , in a white dress, by M. Claudet. The size of this picture is
thirteen inches by ten. The subject is a full-length portrait of a lady
arrayed in something- akin to a bridal dress. With all deference
to Mr. Ross’s judgment, we are inclined to the opinion that this is
not by any means the best of Claudet’s pictures ; for although the
size is great, and the posing graceful, there is considerable want
of detail in the upper part of the dress, and the hands and face,
by contrast, look dark. We quite admit the difficulty of taking
such a subject perfectly ; but a man of M. Claudet’s vast resources
should be able to overcome all difficulties, and render in perfection
whatever he undertakes. It is, however, a very excellent picture,
but not in our opinion equal to another lady, by the same artist,
this one (533) being in a black velvet jacket. We much question
if among all Claudet’s pictures there is one which can excel 543,
a portrait of Mr. Horatio Ross, who in this portrait is depicted in
the dress of a captain of volunteers. Claudet exhibits altogether
about two dozen pictures.
So much has been written about A Holiday in the Woods (65),
a composition picture, by Robinson, (size, twenty-two inches by
sixteen), that we deem it unnecessary to make further allusion
to it here, than to say that, on the recommendation of Mr. Ross,
the Council of the Society has awarded it a bronze medal. In our
opinion it has a cut-out sort of appearance, which we do not like.
Possibly our taste may become so improved (?) as to like this sort
of thing hy-and-by. There is another picture of this sort by the
same artist — The Top of the Hill — which we think preferable to his
great work.
Among the productions of Scotch artists, those by T. Annan,
of Glasgow, must occupy a prominent part. He exhibits about
fifteen pictures, most of which are large, well defined, and of
beautiful tone. Without entering into the merits of his pictures
individually, we may be allowed to point out 280, Inversnaid
Waterfall, as a picture of great beauty and force.
Mr. Horatio Ross shows five pictures, the subjects being Dead
Game.-- No member of the Societj- has the same facilities for pro¬
ducing this class of pictures, and his arrangement of the dead deer,
&c., is marked by the artistic excellence which usually characterises
this gentleman’s works. Were he to employ a lens having greater
depth of focus, or make use of a smaller stop in his present one, his
pictures would be still better.
Mr. Finlay Anderson sends four views from waxed-paper nega¬
tives. Although his points of view (especially 139, Village of
West Kilbride ) are Very carefully selected, yet the granularity and
general hardness of these pictures induce us to advise him to lose
no time in adopting some important modification either in the
process itself or in his maimer of manipulation. A few months
ago Mr- Anderson brought before the Society the importance of
keeping the “ sky line ” much lower than was usually done. In
his Farmhouse , Elie— and Bungalow , Madras (Nos. 140 and 141),
this doctrine is illustrated rather too freely. We have, however,
no objection at all to an excess of sky, provided there are a few
clouds to disturb the unbroken monotony of pure white paper.
We would advise Mr. Anderson to try collodion in lieu of the waxed
paper.
A. Y. Herries exhibits fifteen pictures, all by waxed paper. His
pictures are uniformly good, some of them being particularly so.
Chief among this latter we might point out 243, St. Brelade's
Church and Bay , Jersey. We may state that a great number of
the scenes depicted by this artist are in Jersey and Guernsey, and
form as good specimens of the capabilities of waxed paper as any
we have seen in this exhibition.
Mr. Rimmer sends two portions of views of Roslin Chapel (Nos.
275 and 401). They are clear and well defined, but are taken with
a lens which has been quite inadequate to the task imposed on it,
as his parallels show signs of circular convergence , which, in an
architectural subject like the present, is very faulty.
It is with decided feelings of disappointment that we turn this
year to Mr. Raven’s pictures. He sends twenty-five, most of which,
were they not recorded as such in the catalogue, we never could
have dreamt of as being his productions. Waldring field Church (No.
267), although in good focus, is a singularly inartistic picture. We
particularly mention this picture, because some critic has, in a
local paper, awarded it the chief place among the works of Mr.
Raven in this exhibition.
Mr. W. Scott Elliot exhibits fifteen pictures — some by collodion
and some by waxed paper. Among this gentleman’s contributions
like many others, there are some pretty good pictures, and others
not so good. Of his case of four pictures (No. 336 et seq.), The
Old Bridge of Earn (338) is the best, and, when viewed from the
proper distance, is perhaps the best one in his contribution. No.
335, The Village of Kintillo, is a very unfavourable specimen of this
artist’s productions, owing to its patchy hardness.
Mr. Rodger, of St. Andrew’s, sends nine pictures, and we shall
dismiss them with a few words. While, on the whole, he does not
this year come up to himself, he still has one or two which are per¬
fect gems. There is a brilliancy and exquisite sharpness in the
details of his portraits that we look for in vain even in the prize
portrait. One of this artist’s productions, Master Coates (No. 539),
we have no hesitation in saying, is the most pleasing portrait in
the exhibition. It is a portrait of a little boy, five or six years of
age, on an easy chair; and the rendering of this subject is faultless.
We are glad, for the credit of old Scotland, that it has been placed
in juxtaposition with another boy , by Claudet. Claudet’s boy is
good, but Rodger’s is exquisite. AUR. CIIL.
ffttethtqs of Sxrmtits.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Tuesday
evening, the 5th instant, at eight o’clock, at King’s College, — Francis
Bedford, Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected
members of tlie Society : — Mr. Thomas Sutton, B.A., Professor of Photo¬
graphy, King’s College, the Hon. E. Wingfield, R. K. Dick, Esq., Capt.
James Buchanan, of Madras, T. Morris, Esq., Lewis Musgrave, Esq., and
Albert W. Hall, Esq.
Mr. Spieler explained his new desiccating box for sensitised dry paper.
It consisted of a case (of any convenient dimensions) of some depth, made
of well-seasoned deal. Into the bottom of the case a tray, about four
inches deep, fitted, which was half-filled with lumps of fresh lime ; over
this fitted a perforated shelf, on which the papers were thrown in rolls,
just as they came from tlie drying cupboard. The sensitive papers could
be kept good in this apparatus for a fortnight or three weeks, or even
longer. When the lime became entirely slacked, it was replaced by a
fresh charge. When the paper was required, it was necessary to expose
it to the atmosphere, in a dark drawer, for a few hours, so that it might re¬
imbibe some of the moisture that the desiccating body had removed,
otherwise the paper did not yield such satisfactory results, from being too
dry. Mr. Spiller stated that he had found paper weighing eighty grains
when taken from the box acquired seven grains additional after exposure
to the moisture of the atmosphere, being about eight per cent, increase in
weight ; and it was the removal of that eight per cent, of moisture that
constituted the advantage derived from the employment of the box. He
thought that dry collodion plates might be preserved in the same manner,
and also that the method would be found useful in preserving varnished
negatives during cold weather, by preventing them from cracking. He
had several plates (which he produced) entirely spoiled by the film cracking-,
in consequence of their being placed iu a damp room during the cold
weather.
In answer to Mr. Shadbolt,
Mr. Spiller said he liad never employed his box for the preservation
of albumen or any dry plates. The action of the lime would not coagulate
the albumen, but it would abstract a great deal of its moisture.
Mr. Vernon Heath inquired whether Mr. Spiller had ever tried Marion’s
cases, as he had kept paper in one of them for three months ; but, as in
Mr. Spiller’s method the paper became too dry, and required exposure to
a moist atmosphere before using, what was the special advantage of Mr.
Spiller’s box over that of Messrs. Marion and Co.’s ?
Mr. Spiller said its cheapness, and the convenience of being able to
throw in the rolls of paper without the trouble of spreading them out in
sheets. He thought lime was better than chloride of calcium.
Mr. Shadbolt suggested the use of a lead drawer, containing sulphuric
acid in place of the lime, to adapt it as a drying box for albumenised
plates.
Mr. Hughes observed that photographers did not seem to approve of
dried paper in general. Their objection might arise from their omitting
to restore the necessary degree of dampness to the paper before using
it. He had himself noticed a resistance to tone in paper so dried although
it answered very well in other respects.
Mr. Fry produced a photographic print that had accidently been kept
sensitised for some time before it was employed. He said that the plan
that lie adopted for preserving sensitised paper was very simple ;
viz., putting the sheets into a tall glass jar with a layer of salt at the
bottom covered with a piece of cardboard. The paper kept very well
when so preserved, but still he found that it acquired a horny surface '
through which the toning liquid seemed scarcely able to penetrate ;
however, for a few days it kept very well indeed.
Mr. Eliot said that Mr. Sedgefield had tried to keep a large quantity
of sensitised paper in a box containing a tray of chloride of calcium, hut
March 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
1 J 1
lie always found that with the exception of five or six sheets at the bottom
i and top they were all spoilt.
The Chairman suggested that too much atmosphere might be shut info
; the box.
Mr. Fry agreed with the chairman on this point. He also thought that
deal cases might prove prejudicial — that glass or metal was far better for
the purpose*
Mr. Malone said it was necessary to watch carefully to see that through
the absorption of water the action was not exhausted. The objection to
lime was its rapid power of absorption, by which the paper was too much
dried; but that objection applied in a greater degree to chloride of calcium,
and still more so to sulphuric acid. He had personally no liking for the
desiccating plan. He thought that if, when photographers prepared their
paper, they would dry it in a steam bath, put it whilst hot into a tin box,
or screw it down in a pressure frame, it would be found to be preserved
sufficiently for their purpose, and they would then not be annoyed by a
| horny surface, as Mr. Eliot stated. Of course where the papers were
| put in a thick pile into a box the chloride of calcium could not act upon
the middle papers until after several days. The chief advantage of Mr.
Spiller’s plan was that the papers were thrown into it in a roll, and the
surface of each was properly exposed to the desiccating action.
A discussion than took place as to the cause of the cracks in some
negatives exhibited by Mr. Spiller. The Chairman, Dr. Diamond, and Mr .
Thomas did not attribute them to the varnish, but to the original improper
drying of the film, or to the fixing agent not being properly washed out.
| Mr. Spiller and Mr. Fry considered the effect to be owing to the frost and
damp.
Dr. Diamond said he kept his negatives in a damp place, in a temperature
frequently below freezing point, yet they had not cracked ; but he pro¬
duced two prints that had hung on a damp wall that had completely faded,
j whilst other prints in the same room, but on a dry wall, were unaffected.
Mr. Malone said some of Mr. Talbot’s pictures, which had kept very
well in a frame exposed to the sunlight, had faded entirely when put into a
damp place. The fact was, it was impossible to keep photographs when
exposed to the action of damp or sulphurous vapours, let them be toned and
varnished in whatever manner they might. It was much better to tell per¬
sons buying photographs so at once than to lay the blame on the materials
employed. If people chose to expose their photographs to damp it was
impossible to control the action of the elements, and fade they would.
Mr. Spiller’s drying box might, therefore, be usefully employed in pre¬
serving the prints, as well as the plain sensitised paper. With regard
to the cracks in the negatives, mentioned by Mr. Spiller and Mr. Fry,
why should it not be due to the unequal expansion of the collodion film
and the varnish? With regard to the washing of the film he did not
admit that all the hypo, teas removed in general ; for different collodions
required a different amount of washing, and it was very difficult to know
when the film was sufficiently washed. They ought to determine upon
some test for determining the point when the washing was sufficient, for
! at present they were quite in the dark.
Mr. Bohn, in referring to Dr. Diamond’s faded pictures, observed that
they had been lying upon a damp lime wall, which dissolved the size
in the first instance, and then destroyed the print. The same effect would
have occurred if they had been engravings instead of photographs.
The discussion on Mr. Hughes’s paper read at the last meeting was then
j resumed.
Dr. Diamond read a letter on the subject of the manufacture of paper
from Mr. Hardwich.
Mr. G. F. Busbridge (a paper manufacturer, of the firm of Spalding
and Co., Maidstone Mills) had read with the double interest of a photo¬
grapher and a paper-maker the account of their last meeting, and he
looked with great jealousy upon the remarks of those gentlemen who
said the English manufacturers could not compete with the foreign
manufacturers in making paper adapted for photographic purposes.
Being conversant with the subject, he felt those remarks to be unjust to
the English manufacturer, whom he was sure had only to be informed of
the requirements of photographers to produce a paper superior to the
foreign. In making the paper for photographic purposes only one sort of
fibre ought to be used, by which means a uniform and perfect paper might
be produced. If the brilliancy of colour so much admired were desired
they could produce it just as well as their continental friends. Gelatine
and resin had been recommended for sizing, but he thought they could
produce a better size than either. He took great interest in the matter,
and he wished to succeed, not so much for the sake of £ s. d., as for the
sake of winning what might be called the blue riband of the Society, and
to show the world that the English paper-maker would not be left behind;
Let the Society but co-operate with the paper-makers, and give them
suggestions, and they might rely on soon having the exact description
of paper they desired.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Busbridge for his offer of co¬
operation.
Mr. Shadbolt drew his attention to the minute metallic spots in the
paper of which photographers had reason to complain so bitterly.
Mr. Malone said that they arose from pins and buttons being left in
the rags from which the paper was made, and these were chopped up in
the mill, and so became incorporated in the pulp.
Mr. Sebastian Davis said that after the very handsome offer made by
Mr. Busbridge it appeared to him that specimens of plain unsized paper
should be put into the hands of those members who expressed an incli¬
nation to experiment on the subject, as well as specimens sized with gela¬
tine and starch, so as to enable them to furnish data for the manufacturers’
operations. He thought, however, that the Society should not confine its
communications to one manufacturer alone, as that might produce a
monopoly.
Mr. Fry said perhaps it might be possible to produce a paper with
such a surface that it should not require albumenising.
My. Thomas said that, as alum was employed for fixing the mordants,
might not that throw some light on the sulphurous decomposition and
decay so frequently occurring? and might not alum be a very injurious
ingredient to introduce into paper required for photographic purposes ?
By its use they had at once sulphuric acid in contact with the chloride of
silver. He thought some other mordant might be used in preference.
Mr. Busbridge said that alum was used for fixing delicate colours in
the papers ; but, as the paper they required would be colourless, the
smallest quantity of alum would suffice as a preservative for the gelatine
size.
Mr. Malone advised paper manufacturers not to trust too much to the
opinions of photographers, who were all utterly in the dark with reBpect
to the most elementary points of this subject. He was sure alum
was not a cause of fading ; for he had in his possession some unfaded
pictures that were printed in 1844, on paper made at Hollingworth’s
mills, and treated with alum. They were washed with hot water, and if
the size could be dissolved with hot water the paper would be reduced to
the condition of blotting-paper. He did not exactly know the action of
the alum, but it was supposed that the alumina separated from the sul-
huric acid and mordanted the gelatine to the fibres of the paper. What
ecame of the sulphuric acid he could not say. He did not know whether
alum was better for performing that operation than resinous soap. He
thought they wanted brilliancy, not only on the surface but also through
the body of the paper, so that it could be used for positive or negative
processes. The French papers possessed this quality, and that was one
reason why they were preferred. In fact the French paper fulfilled the
required conditions, and the only complaint against them was that they
were not uniform in character.
Dr. Diamond understood that hyposulphite of soda was occasionally
used in the preparation of superior paper. That was just the paper likely
to come into the hands of the photographer.
Mr. Malone could give some information on that point ; for when he
was at some mills at Maidstone he asked if the proprietor felt disposed
to state what materials were used in the manufacture of the paper, and
he was told that nothing was used but alum and size made from fresh
hoofs kept in running water, and then boiled in clear spring water until
they dissolved. Before he left the mill he took occasion to observe that
a substance was used by some paper manufacturers, called anticklore,
made of hyposulphite of soda, to cleanse the paper from the chloride
required in bleaching. Upon that they admitted that they did use some¬
thing of the kind for that purpose.
Mr. Busbridge said the antichlore was sometimes employed for the
purpose indicated by Mr. Malone, but it was not by any means essential
that it should be used in paper-making. For photographic purposes he
should employ the purest materials of one kind of fibre, and avoid all
chemical bodies that were unessential in the process. With one fibre,
either hard or soft, thin or thick paper could be produced with all the pecu¬
liarity of surface and body they might desire, without the introduction of
anything deleterious to their pictures.
Mr. Vernon Heath was exceedingly pleased that an English manu¬
facturer had given them a promise to endeavour to make them a first-rate
paper, and he W’as sure they ought to give him every assistance in their
power. If they could get men of energy, skill, and determination to
enter into the subject, they would soon have good English paper. With
regard to the paper read by Mr. Hughes at the last meeting, it was
one of the most interesting of the season. That gentleman had struck a
chord that it would be well for the Society to sound at all times and at
all seasons. He referred to the admitted negligence and carelessness of
photographers with respect to printing. It was impossible for greater
injustice to be done to negatives : few people were aware of the qualities
of their own negatives. They intrusted their printing to other persons,
and consequently had no idea what they could, bjr proper management,
be made to yield. He himself had on many occasions been obliged to
take several prints before he could satisfy himself that he had obtained
all that was possible. If they could only once induce a desire in persons
to get the best results from their negatives, they would hear no more of
their giving them up to the tender mercies of those who print by the
acre, and almost at the same price that other work by the acre was done.
He could assure photographers that there was no cheapness in that method
of proceeding. There was another point to which he wished to call atten¬
tion, viz., whether we had not too hastily condemned the old printing
processes, and attributed to them defects which were due onlj7 to the care¬
lessness of the manipulator. He produced some specimens, taken in 1844,
by the Talbotype process, all of which, with the exception of one, were
unfaded. In that one instance the fading had occurred at the edges, but
in the other parts the picture still remained perfect. The fading at the
edges had been attributed to the effect of the paste with which it was
mounted ; but he found that it was caused by the action of the atmosphere,
which commenced in the first instance at the edges. He had also found
112
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1861
that a great number of prints toned by the method which was in use a
few years ago exhibited the utmost brilliancy of tone and colour, and
remained unfaded; but still he must say his feelings went almost
entirely with the alkaline gold process. Nevertheless, he was quite sure
they would find just as many fade by the alkaline process as by the
others, not from any disease in the process itself, but from the negli¬
gence and carelessness of photographers. He used chloride of barium
in his papers, and he mentioned this fact because it was stated that it
would not work. There was less loss in fixing and toning when it was
used, and the operator had more command over the tones. He used
Saxe paper, and always washed his prints with the utmost care. The
latter could not be too much impressed upon photographers.
Mr. Malone stated that some of Mr. Talbot’s pictures, prepared in 1844,
were not washed half an hour altogether, and yet they remained un¬
changed at the present day. During the washing they passed through
six gallons of water, contained in three separate pans. What, then, be¬
came of the theory of twelve or twenty-four hours’ washing being necessary ?
It was strange that they should have to finish a discussion by having to
acknowledge that they really knew nothing about the matter ; but,
honestly, that was the state of the case. It was really difficult to find a
remedy for a disease, when neither it or the constitution of the patient
was understood.
The Chairman wished to say a word with regard to the culpable negli¬
gence of those persons who kept photographs — placing them on damp
walls, or within reach of horrible smells — for he had known them kept in
the most singular places. AVoukl they place drawings or paintings in
such positions? Then how could they expect photographs to stand such
extraordinary tests, or to be permanent under such severe trials ? And
yet they were complaining that their pictures faded under these circum¬
stances, and found fault with paper, process, and printer.
Mr. Sebastian Davis inquired whether Mr. Malone’s pictures were
printed by sunlight or in the shade, as it was said some time ago that
there was a different action of chloride of silver when exposed to the actinic
rays of sunlight to that which took place in the diffused light.
Mr. Malone said they were printed indifferently in sunlight or shade,
according to the nature of the day on which they were operating.
Mr. Fry said undoubtedly they found some prints fade even when toned
by the alkaline process with care, by persons of skill. He wanted to
know why they could not use a neutral process instead of an alkaline one.
There were three salts of soda applicable, viz. : — Phosphate of soda, acetate
of soda, and carbonate of soda ; and he found that a paper that would not
tone with one bath would answer very well with another; he, however,
rather preferred the acetate of soda toning-bath. He considered Mr.
Hughes was hasty in the opinion he had passed on the hypo, bath, for
photographers had not done it justice when using the filthy black liquid
they were in the habit of toning with, and photographs fcmed in such a bath
could not be expected to last. Another point was, that there were many
negatives taken that yielded a very weak result by the alkaline process,
and those, he believed beyond a doubt, would yield much better results
if toned with the old hj'po. bath. In fact, professional photographers had
not, as a body, quite relinquished the old bath, as there were some
negatives that could not be treated successfully b3r any other process.
Mr. Eliot had tried four grains of citrate of soda to every grain of
gold, with which he had produced most brilliant pictures. Since that
time he had tried to use that solution with papier Rive ; but he found that
he could not get the pictures dark enough, and he then tried the alkaline
process with it, which answered well enongh. Some years ago he found
the alkaline process did better on English than upon foreign paper, with¬
out leaving that cold blue colour over the picture. He mentioned these
facts to show that they must not take up one solution and suppose that
it will do for all papers under all circumstances. They must vary their
method according to the nature of the paper they had to deal with.
Mr. Hughes, in bringing the discussion to a conclusion, said that, as he
had previously stated, a good print was the sole end and object of their
labours. Photography had passed from the condition of a mere scientific
amusement and had become an every-day want ; and, at the present time,
it was one of the great questions of the age. Their very difficulties were
national, if not human ; and he thought they could get up a case for a
Eoyal Commission to investigate with much more plausibility than very
many objects that had received that distinction. He must say that he
had expected there would have been more practical experience laid before
them on the subject than there had been ; but the discussion had touched
a more vital point — that which was at the bottom of all their difficulties —
viz., the paper. Ever since the days of Fox Talbot paper had been the
sore point. He thought it was a pure accident that the French or Ger¬
man paper should have answered their purposes better than the English ;
for he had no reason to believe that the foreign manufacturers had tried to
meet the views of photographers any more than the English makers had
done. It was most desirable that the question of the primitive nature of
the paper should be seriously entered upon by those competent to deal
with the subject. Photographers had always desired to have more con¬
trol over the manufacture of the paper ; but for the first time in their lives
they had heard that they were to have the assistance of a gentleman
competent to deal with the subject, and he need scarcely say how much
the information pleased him. He had albumenised all kinds of paper
from different parts of France, Germany, and England ; but the results
had convinced him that more depended on the nature of the plain paper
than anything else. Unless they could obtain the proper kind of paper
they would find their troubles increased by the alkaline gold toning
process, simply because with it the best results could not be obtained
on the inferior qualities of paper, whilst an}fthing would do with the
old process. Photographers had hitherto great wants which they could
only satisfy by means of foreign manufacturers ; but now that it was
shown, as a commercial fact, that they used large quantities of paper,
paper manufacturers were willing to come forward to take the matter
in hand. It was an entirely new phase in their history, for they never
yet had a supply of good paper expressly made for their use. Most
people when they talked of Saxe-paper knew nothiug more about it than
that they supposed it came from Germany ; and when they talked about
Ropier Rive , they did not know whether it was the name of a maker
or the name of a place — in fact, they knew nothing about the nature
of the paper they were dealing with. His last address was only in¬
tended for the purpose of opening the question, and of drawing out
other people’s opinions and knowledge on the subject. "With regard
to Mr. Fry’s observations respecting the advisability of using the organic
salts of soda under different circumstances he entirely concurred, as lie
was sure one formula would never suit all papers ; and he would recom¬
mend printers to try the effect of the tartrates, oxalates, formiates, and
the endless series of analogous organic compounds, as well as the citrates
and acetates, in connection with cliloride of gold, and he had no doubt but
that an improved method of gold toning would arise from such experi¬
ments. With regal'd to the prints produced by Mr. Malone and Mr. Ver¬
non Heath, toned with sulphur, all he could say was that, when one was
troubled with the difficulties of gold toning, the tempter Sulphur points
to one or two prints, and says — “ These were printed in 1844, with
sulphur, and are still unchanged, therefore, &c., &c.” But it would
be found that, whilst ninety-nine out of every hundred toned by that
process went the way of all flesh — and photographs — a far larger pro¬
portion of gold-toned photographs remained unfaded, if carefully mani¬
pulated. Their weak point was still the hypo. bath. Whilst they
now flattered themselves that they had found a way to depose his Sul¬
phur Majesty, with characteristic vindictiveness he still managed to
do them harm, if they were off their guard ; for the fact was, they used
the same hypo, bath too often and changed it too seldom. They often
found the stale h}'po. bath improved the tones, and thus, unconsciously
going back to sulphur toning, they reinstated his Infernal Majesty on his
throne without knowing it. The great point was to discover some more
suitable fixing agent — something that would not give rise to sulphurous
decomposition. Dilute liquor ammonia had been proposed ; but it was
but the other day that hyposulphite of soda was discovered — for its dis¬
coverer, Sir John Herscliel, still lived; and it was scarcely to be sup¬
posed that, if this substance had not been found, something else would not
have been used in its place for fixing purposes. He hoped to see the day
when some harmless agent would be discovered for dissolving out the
chloride of silver from their prints.
The thanks of the meeting were accorded to Messrs. Spiller and
Hughes for their communications.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
Specimens of landscapes with clouds introduced, also of an enlarged
portrait, were exhibited by Mr. Samuel Fry. Photographs were also
exhibited by Dr. Diamond and Mr. Heath, in illustration of points in the
discussion.
In apparatus, the drying-box described by Mr. Spiller was also exhi¬
bited by him ; and a folding camera, as well as one of a novel construction
adapted for lenses of both long and short focus, without the latter being
drawn within the sides, were exhibited by Messrs. Murray and Heath.
These last, we were informed, comprised a portion of the outfit for a
mission to Africa ; but we did not learn the name of the gentleman who
is to use them.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Association was held on Wednesday
evening, the 27th ult., at eight o’clock, at Myddleton Hall, Upper Street,
Islington. — George Shadbolt, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected
members of the Association Mr. W. Eodgers, of Montrose; Mr. T.
Stone, Mr. Edward Scott, and Mr. James Shepherd, jun., of Aldie,
Aberdeenshire.
Mr. Barber read a paper On a New Method of Preparing Pure Nitrate
of Silver from Metallic Silver Alloyed with Copper. [See page 83.] During
the reading of his paper he produced specimens of the granulated silver,
of the nitrate of silver contaminated with copper, and of the nitrate of
silver crystals freed from the copper, referred to in his communication.
The thanks of the meeting were awarded to Mr. Barber for his paper.
The Chairman observed that Mr. Burnett made use of copper in his
photographic printing, to obtain certain tones. He used it first with
nitrate of uranium.
Mr. Barber said a mixture in the bath of half a drachm of nitrate of
silver with half a drachm of nitrate of copper would produce a very faint
negative.
Mr. Barber then read a paper on a Delicate Test for Organic Matter in
March 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
113
Distilled Water [see page 100], and produced several bottles of solution
illustrative of the subject.
Another vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Barber.
The Chairman considered Mr. Barber’s second paper to be of consider¬
able importance to photographers, as pointing out a ready method of de¬
tecting the smallest amount of organic matter.
Mr. Hill had found a yellow precipitate in some distilled water, and
although he had noticed no ill effects in its use in printing, it might have
given rise, ultimately, to imperfections. Had Mr. Barber filtered the so¬
lutions ? as that might account for the presence of the organic matter.
Mr. Barber said none of the specimens he produced had been filtered.
Directly the solution was put in the sun it became discoloured.
The Chairman, in connexion with the subject before them at the last
meeting, had brought for their inspection two of the hydrometers manu¬
factured by Messrs. Negretti and Zambia — one for ascertaining the specific
gravity of liquids heavier than water, and the other for those lighter than
water. By their means an ounce of liquid could be tested with consider¬
able accuracy. They did not give the number of grains to the ounce, but
only the specific gravity, and the former had to be calculated from the
latter.
Mr. Shave said in that case it would be desirable that they should have
a comparative scale of their relative value.
The Chairman said on the scale before them one degree was equivalent
to six grains to the ounce ; and if they multiplied the decimal of the spe¬
cific gravity by six, they would get the exact number of grains to the
ounce. For a collodion nitrate bath that instrument was of course per¬
fectly useless.
Mr. Hughes read a paper, entitled BemarJcs on Mr. Cramb's Paper on
Testing used Silver Baths. [See page 84.]
Mr. Dawson then read a paper on the same subject. [See page 103.]
The thanks of the meeting were passed to Mr. Dawson for his paper.
The Chairman observed that at the last meeting Mr. Hill had suggested
that the coagulation of the albumen might cause the paper to retain
in its interstices nearly all the nitrate of soda formed. The hydrometer
would only show a balance of errors ; but it was precisely that balance
they wished to arrive at.
Mr. Moens said the hydrometer was much used abroad, and a pro¬
fessional photographer that he had met at Athens constantly availed
himself of the instrument. The gentleman stated it answered his pur¬
pose perfectly, and he always employed it for making up his baths, so as
to dispense with weighing out the materials. He even used it for testing
collodion baths, being quite satisfied if the reading did not indicate the
solution to be below a certain strength.
Mr. Hughes mentioned that he had tested the same baths as those
experimented on by Mr. Cramb, and he had [found [the results very
different from those stated.
The Chairman announced the presentation of pictures to their portfolio
by Mr. Lander and Mr. Mainwaring — those presented by the latter being
coloured photographs of prize fruit and flowers.
Mr. Hill stated that Mr. Wilson, who was printing the photographs
for presentation to the members, had been hindered by the unfavourable
state of the weather ; but they would be ready by the next meeting.
The Chairman said, as it was the evening for proposing the names of
members to be elected as officers of the association for the ensuing year,
it would be better to proceed with the nomination of the gentlemen to fill
the place of the officers about to go out by rotation. Any number of
members might be nominated, out of which the officers for the ensuing
year would be elected at their next meeting.
The following gentlemen were then nominated: — As President: Mr.
Woodward. Vice-President : Mr. Moens and Mr. Shadbolt. Treasurer:
Mr. Hill. Honorary Secretary : Mr. Barnett. Committee; Messrs. Bing¬
ham, Nicholson, W. W. King, Dawson, Hughes, Barber, Goslet, Shave,
Simpson, Mainwaring, Morley, Bedford, and Moens. Auditors: Messrs.
Bingham and Foxley.
Mr. Hughes gave notice that he should propose, at their next meeting,
| that the number of members of the committee be increased from six to
eight. He also thought it advisable that an experimental committee
should be elected, after the example of the South London Society.
Mr. Hill intended to propose that they should have a photographic
album, in which unmounted prints should be preserved.
The Chairman announced that at their next meeting a paper, by Mr.
Glover, [of Liverpool, would be read, On the Besin Dry Process ; and also a
short note from Dr. Maddox, On a Peculiar Action of a Dry Plate.
Mr. Hill produced some negatives from plates preserved with pale ale.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the Chair¬
man.
NOTICE.
On the 27th instant, the last meeting for the present year will be held at
Myddleton Hall, Islington, at eight o’clock in the evening, when the
Annual Report, and a statement of the financial affairs of the Association,
will be laid before the members.
Tt is expected that the presentation photographs will then be dis¬
tributed.
The subscription for the ensuing year falls due on that evening, and
the Treasurer and Secretary will be in attendance to receive the same.
Ladies and.geutleuien who contemplate joining the Association are in¬
formed, that amongst the many advantages enjoyed by members, the fol¬
lowing may be enumerated : —
The delivery of The British Journal of Photography (post free) fort¬
nightly, from April 1st to the 15th March following inclusive.
A copy of a selected photograph, by Wilson, F. Bedford, or other well-
known artist.
The privilege of introducing a member at each meeting of the Associa¬
tion.
And the use of the portfolio of the Association, containing productions
by many of the best photographers of the day.
The subscription is 10s. 6d. per annum, payable in advance.
All communications may be addressed to the Secretary, Mr. John
Barnett, 9, St. Peter’s Terrace, Islington, N.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY,
An ordinary monthly meeting was held on Wednesday the 6th iiist., —
Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., in the chair.
Mr. F. R. Fielder and Mr. C. J. Simpson were elected members.
Mr. Brothers presented the Society with two copies, twenty-three by
eighteen, of old engravings. The negatives were taken with an ortho-
scopic lens of eighteen inches normal focus, the originals being about three
inches larger than the copies. The prints showed evidence of exceedingly
uniform illumination and freedom from distortion, the marginal lines being
perfectly straight and square. The manipulation of plates of this size
was considered a matter involving much difficulty ; and the best thanks
of the Society were accoi’ded to Mr. Brothers for his valuable addition to
the portfolio.
Mr. Parry having taken the chair, a paper was read by Mr. Sidebotham,
On some of the Causes of Distortion in Photographic Portraits. [See
page 102.]
Mr. Brothers said that he had brought some photographic portraits,
thinking that they would, perhaps, serve to illustrate remarks which
might be made in the discussion of Mr. Sidebotham’s paper ; but, not
having been aware of the point upon which the argument would turn,
his selection had been made at random. In the portraits he produced he
believed that no distortion of any moment could be perceived. He was
quite aware that such defects were frequently seen ; but he believed that
much depended upon the lens used, and he thought, if operators were
careful in their choice, that most satisfactory portraits might be taken
with a large aperture of the ordinary character. He believed that sitters
often complained of their portraits making them look too stout, for the
purpose of saying something ; but supposing it to be really so, the in¬
crease would be in the same proportion for all persons.
Mr. Sidebotham remarked that the question of good and bad lenses did
not bear upon his argument. In order to test his theory, any lens might
bs employed and its capabilities ascertained with the ordinary stop, as
compared with the arrangement he proposed. His argument was briefly
this: that in taking a portrait with a small aperture the rotundity is lost,
because the effect is that which we should get by viewing the object
with one eye only. If a large aperture were used, then the rotundity was
obtained ; but distortion arose from the fact that a stereoscopic effect, in
a vertical direction, exists. With his form of stop the picture was
taken by an aperture corresponding to the arrangement by which they per¬
ceive the sitter.
Mr. Brothers doubted whether he should be able to work in his glass
room with so narrow an aperture as that recommended.
The Secretary said that Mr. Sidebotham’s theory carried truth with
its enunciation. It appeared to him to be one of those things that was
simple enough when found out, but which everybody had been in search
of until then without success. In reference to Mr. Brothers's remark
that there would be a want of light, he observed that, to carry the prin¬
ciple out perfectly, the opening should of course be the diameter, in a
vertical direction, of the pupil of the eye, and the length the distance of
the eyes apart ; but in practice these dimensions might probably be
enlarged without any perceptible loss of truth.
Mr. Noton said he was glad to find that the subject of stops to lenses
had been so ably taken up by Mr. Sidebotham. It was a matter of gratifi¬
cation to him, for it would be recollected that he had himself brought the
matter before the members some time ago ; and, although he had not hit
upon the theory and shape of stop which had that evening been made
known^he had worked in the same direction, and therefore felt a peculiar
interest in it.
Mr. Offer said that this was a matter of much importance ; and if Mr
Noton would review his labours, and bring the subject before the next
meeting, the whole question might then be discussed, with the advantage
of experiments which would doubtless, in the meantime, be made.
On that understanding the discussion was adjourned.
The Secretary said that Mr. Noton, who first constructed a rotatory
beater for albumen, would then introduce to the meeting a Plate-holder,
of novel arrangement.
Mr. Noton then explained to the members the salient points of his new
Holder. [See page 105.]
The Secretary said that, if the expense of making these instruments
were not too great, they would prove exceedingly valuable. He had
tried that now exhibited, and had found that the plate was held with a
pressure, at the commencement, of about ten or eleven pounds to the i»ch,
114
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
and so gradually was that pressure reduced that he had removed a plate
and replaced it fourteen times without a second use of the air-pump.
Mr. Nqton thought there would be no complaint of the price if a num¬
ber, say one hundred, could be made at a time.
Mr. Brothers begged to propose a vote of thanks to Mr. Noton for in¬
troducing his new holder to the members. From that gentleman they
were frequently receiving valuable assistance, and they had never heard
anything from him about patents.
The proposition was carried by acclamation.
Mr. Offer exhibited a print, upon a collodio-albumen plate, which had
not been sensitised a second time. The plate was exposed by mistake ;
and, although the exposure might be considered somewhat under the
mark, yet the plate was evidently nearly as sensitive as it would have
been under the full preparation. The result was so contradictory to ac¬
cepted rules, that it was thought desirable to wait for proof by further
experiments.
The Secretary said that before the members separated he wished to
draw their attention to an article by Mr. Sutton in the Photographic
Notes of the 1st instant, calling in question certain statements made by
Mr. Hooper at their last meeting. In a matter like that, affecting the
credit of one of their own body, he thought it but right that an opportu¬
nity should be afforded him of entering into explanations.
Mr. Hooper having been called upon, said that in the explanation
which he was permitted to make, he should confine himself strictly to
the facts as set forth by Mr. Sutton himself in the voluminous heap of
letters he held in his hand. In July of last year he had been so capti¬
vated by the glowing description of the extraordinary qualities and pro¬
perties of the new panoramic lens which had from time to time appeared
in the Notes, but particularly by that at the head of an advertisement in
the now defunct Photographic Quarterly Review for June, that he was
anxious to become the fortunate possessor of one. On referring to the
advertisement for price, &c., he found two sizes mentioned — one, No. 5,
four inches diameter, eleven inches focus, for pictures 20X9, price £10.
The other-, No. 7, five inches diameter, sixteen inches focus, for pictures
30x14, price £16. The latter lens was the one he wished to have, and
he immediately entered into correspondence with Mr. Sutton respecting
it, stipulating that it should be of the quality and possess the properties
attributed to it ; but did not, as Mr. Sutton would have his readers
infer, propose to pay less than the advertised price, £16. He was then,
to his surprise, informed that it would have to be made, and, moreover,
that he (Mr. Sutton) could not guarantee that it would be of the focus
or produce the size, of picture mentioned ; and also that it must only be
considei-ed as a cheap substitute for the right thing, which would cost
about £50. In a subsequent letter, however, he said he would supply a
lens which should have ali the qualities named, with the exception of
being slow in its action, and producing a picture slightly less in diameter
than 30x14. These conditions were accepted ; but, the lfens not coming
to hand after a reasonable time had elapsed, a long correspondence was
the result, in which Mr. Sutton described certain unforeseen difficulties
in obtaining a suitable glass. At last, on or about the 1st December, a
lens arrived. It was at once tested, but the definition and sharpness was
so defective, that he found it necessary to return it. Soon after this, Mr.
Sutton wrote requesting permission to make another trial, attributing as
the cause of his former failure stria in the glass, and at the same time
strongly advised that he (Mr. Hooper) should take back the rejected lens,
which he might have for £10. This offer was refused, but consent was
given for another attempt. This, he was informed, had failed, and
then another also, until he was told at last that altogether “ four
lenses have failed and have been put under the hammer. We are
trying a fifth." The principal cause of these failures he attributed to
striae in the glass. Mr. Hooper then went on to say that he was
quite willing to leave it to the members to say whether he was not justi¬
fied from the facts in making the statement he had done, and, in conclu¬
sion, would beg to suggest to Mr. Sutton that, before so flatly contradicting
statements made at any Photographic Society, he should first assure
himself whether such were incorrect or not. What he (Mr. H.) had said
respecting Mr. Grubb’s lens taking in an angle of sixty degrees, he was
prepared to prove by one he had in his possession, or by prints taken by
others, including that angle in which the “ frightful amount of distortion ”
docs not exist. He had written to Mr. Sutton requesting him to insert
a reply in his next issue.
A Member suggested the impolicy of Mr. Hoopev taking that course,
for ho was afraid that he would find himself in the same position as the
man in his encounter with the miller.
The meeting was then brought to a close by a vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A monthly general meeting of the members of this Society was held on
Tuesday, the 26th ult.
The usual preliminary business having been disposed of,
Mr. John Thomas Brown, jun., the Hon. Secretary, called the attention
of the members to the proposed Photographic Exhibition, to be held in
Paris this year, and also to the great International Exhibition in 1862,
and expressed a hope that the Birmingham Society would be well repre¬
sented, at least on the latter occasion.
•A short discussion followed upon the subject of copyright and its
[March 15, 1861
infringement by photographers, not only as regarded the reproduction of
engravings, but of the works of photographers.
Mr. Robinson exhibited copies of his Jfoliday in the Woods and The
Top of the Ilill ; as also a magnificent coloured portrait, lie also bowed
a very ingenious arrangement of a shutter for instantaneous exposure, the
invention of Mr. Bright, of Leamington.
Mr. J. T. Brown, the Hon. Sec., read a paper on the now very intereat-
ing subject of Art- Photography. [See page 103.]
A discussion followed the reading of Mr. Brown’s paper, in which the
members present took part.
After a vote of thanks to Mr. Brown, the meeting was adjourned until
the 26th inst.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held its annual meeting on Thursday evening, the 7th
instant, in the Religious Institution Rooms, — John Kibble, Esq.,
President of the Society, in the chair.
After the minutes of the preceding meeting had been road and approved,
the Secretary read the subjoined letter from Robert Hunt, F.R.S., F.S.S.,
&c., in acknowledgment of the intimation of his having been elected an
honorary member of the Society : —
Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street,
London, 25 th January, 1861.
Dear Sir, — May I ask you to convey to the Members of the City of Glasgow and West
of Scotland Photographic Society my thanks for the honour they have done me in electing
me an honorary member of that Society.
For many years I have been so entirely removed from the field of photographic researeli
that I feel the more entirely the kindness which has awakened the inoinory of my work
in the early days of the art.
Allow me also to express my thanks to you for the kind manner in which you com¬
municate the matter to me.— I am, dear Sir, faithfully yours,
Juhn Cramb, Esq. ROBERT HUNT.
Some rather disagreeable discussion then followed on the subject of
reporting ; but nothing was agreed on, and the settlement of the ques¬
tion was delayed.
Mr. J. Steel was elected an ordinary member, and several new
members were proposed.
The Secretary and Treasurer read highly favourable reports of the
progress of the Society during the past year, which were both approved of.
It was agreed to add two additional members to the Council of the
Society.
The following gentlemen were elected office bearers for next year
President — John Kibble.
Vice-Presidents — A. Macnab and Hugh Wilson.
Treasurer — Archibald Robertson.
Secretary — John Cramb.
Council —
John Jex Long. I Andrew Mactear. I Dunoan Brown.
James Ewing, | John Spencer, Jun. | Graham Gilmour.
Auditors — James Cramb and Robert Leck.
The Secretary intimated that the large and handsome black hoard
which was placed before them was a gift from Mr. John Jex Long.
On the motion of Mr. Stuart, a cordial vote of thanks was passed to
Mr. Long for his useful and opportune present.
On the motion of Mr. John Cramb, seconded by Mr. A. Macteab,
the Society then unanimously appointed the following gentlemen as a
Committee to investigate and report on the subject of the hydrometer
silver meter and the testing of used baths : — Messrs. Andrew Mactear,
John Jex Long, A. Macnab, James Ewing, John Stuart, John Cramb, and
James Cramb; Mr. John Cramb convener.
After passing a cordial vote of thanks to the Chairman the meeting
separated.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on the evening of Wednesday, the 6th inst., — the chaii
being occupied by the President, J. D. Marwick, Esq.
The following gentlemen were ballotted for, and admitted as membert
of the Society : — James Barlas, Secretary of the Scottish Union Insurance
George Rowe, Master of John Watson’s Institution; David Cousin, City
Architect ; Thomas Knox, Hanover Street ; William Troquair, Stock
bridge; John French, Graham Street; James Cownie, South Bridge:
Alexander Lindsay, North Bridge; John Nicol, Chemist; John Horse-
burgh, Photographer ; and George Inglis, Photographer.
This meeting was mainly occupied in the adjustment of laws, bye-laws,
and other routine business attendant on the formation Of a new Society.
It was agreed that the next meeting should assume the form of a
conversazione, in Queen Street Hall, on which occasion the President
would deliver an inaugural address.
It was also resolved that a number of photographs, &c., should be ex¬
hibited, to arrange which a committee was appointed ; audit was intimated!
that, for that occasion, each member would be at liberty to invite two oi
three friends, cards for which purpose Avould be sent them in due time.
The Secretary announced that several gentlemen had kindly offered tej
read papers on various practical subjects connected with photography,!
which were to be experimentally illustrated as far as was deemed neces-,
sary. The first of this series is to be by Mr. Archibald Burns, On the
Father gill Process.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting separated.
March 15, 1801] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
115
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday ©vexi¬
ng, the 6th instant, at the Rooms, Chapel Houses, Janies Street. The
President, Dr. R. Parkinson, took the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, Mr.
Appleton and Mr. Burrow were proposed, and unanimously elected mem¬
bers of the Society.
The President cnlied upon the commit too appointed to test tlic
nstantaneous stereoscopic lens, by Ross, to report the result of their
ixperiments.
Mr. Stanley, for the committee, said that the weather had been so very
unfavourable for “out-door” photography, that no good or quick result
aad been obtained ; and, for that reason, the committee declined giving a
lecisive answer until the next meeting.
It was resolved to add the new edition of Mr. Hardwich’s Photographic
Chemistry to the Society’s library.
The thanks of the meeting were awarded to several of the members for
heir very liberal contributions to the Society’s portfolio ; also to the Pre¬
sident, for exhibiting a very beautiful stereoscopic camera, which was
nuch admired for its lightness and portability.
Mr. S. H. Stanley then addressed the meeting on the subject of
Dry Plates.
it was the remark, I believe, of William Pitt, upon one occasion, in the
House of Commons, that when a man had nothing to say on a given sub-
ect, the best thing he could do was to say nothing. . This remark may in
some measure apply to myself, having little or nothing new to communi¬
cate to you on the subject of Dry Plates.
We will, however, take exception to this rule, as in all newly-formed
)hotographic societies there are some volunteers ; and those who have
>nly recently joined the ranks may be glad to profit by the experience of
hose who have trod what certainly used to be the “ up-hill ” path of the
Iry process in this enchanting art. For such, and such only, are the
•radical details I am about to submit to your attention intended. Our
Society is yet very young, and I trust each member will give proof of his
lesire to promote its welfare by communicating to the members the
esults of experiment and practice.
It has been suggested that, for tlie benefit of the junior members, I
liould this evening go through the working details of the process I em-
>loy. It may not be the best ; but, having found it more than answer
ny early expectations, I have continued to adhere to it. Some negatives
ire now on the table for your inspection which speak for themselves, and
vhich, for an amateur, will bear critical examination : they are sharp and
tear, and as full of half-tone as any person could desire. There are also
. few prints from the same, which I have great pleasure in presenting to
he portfolio of the Society.
You have all had sufficient experience in photography to know that the
dates must be scrupulously clean, and also to be acquainted with the
nethod of cleaning them. I shall therefore proceed at once to the bath,
vhich I prepare with thirty-five grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce of
rater, and about half-a-drachm or more— -probably one drachm— -of i Ran¬
ey's acetic acid. When I say it is nowjabout two years since I prepared
he bath, I may have made an error in the quantity of acetic acid ; but,
hat it contains a large amount, you will perceive by the smell, without
he aid of test-paper. I am aware that a neutral bath is now advocated,
.nd am willing to give it a fair trial. I have, however, found this bath
vork very well, but shall have no objection to change it for a better.
I use a “rotten ” collodion, sensitising with cadmium. The plates are
illowed to remain in the bath about two or three minutes ; then immersed
n sufficient water to cover them in a flat dish, gently removing the free
litrate by moving the dish backwards and forwards. I then place them
n a second dish, containing sufficient prepared albumen to cover them, in
vhich they remain until another plate is placed in the bath. I then
•gitate the albumen bath pi’etty freely for half a minute ; take out the
•late ; wash in about half a pint of water, and dry.
The albumen is prepared thus : —
White of egg . . 1 ounce.
Water . . . . . . . . . 10 ounces.
Liq. ammonia..... . . . . . Jounce.
Shake well together, and strain.
The time of exposure with a Ross’s stereo, lens, one quarter-inch stop,
a tolerably clear weather, is two minutes. Develop the latent image
vith
Pyrogallic acid . . . . . 2 grains.
Beaufoy’s acetic acid . . . 1 to 2 drachms.
Water (distilled) . . . . 1 ounce.
I have no doubt that, with a little practice, this will be found a safe and
asy mode of operating.
At the close of Mr. Stanley’s paper, a very animated discussion arose
hereon, tending to solve many difficulties apparent in the Fothergill dry
date process.
The usual vote of thanks having been given to Mr. Stanley for his
Taluable paper, the meeting separated.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A monthly meeting of this Society was held in the Tower, New Bridge
Street, on Friday, the 1st inst. Mr. G. C. Warren, one of the Vice-
Presidents, occupied the Chair.
The Chairman read the following list of new members, who had been
elected since the December meeting:— The Right Hon. Sir Frederick
Pollock, Lord Chief Baron (patron) ; Right Hon. T. E. Headlam, M.P. ;
Sir David Brewster; the Rev. J. C. Bruce, A.M., LL.D. ; the Rev. John
Lockhart, A.M., D.D. ; A. H. Wall, Esq.; F. Joubert, Esq.; Thomas
Sutton, Esq., A.B. ; T. Ross, Esq.; Dr. Hill Norris; G. Wharton Simp¬
son, Esq. ; George Shadbolt, Esq. ; J. Dallmeyer, Esq. ; James Dewax-,
Esq.; Jos. Watson, Esq.; and David Zenner, Esq.
Mr. Thomas Davidson (formerly of Edinburgh), read a paper On the
Position Diaphragms should Occupy in View Lenses. He illustrated his
paper by reference to diagrams, pointing out the correct position the dia¬
phragm ought to occupy, and showed that the distance a diaphragm
should be from the lens, to be thoroughly effective, must be regulated
according to the size, aperture, and the focal length of the lens. The
larger the diaphragm used, the nearer it should be placed to the lens ;
the smaller, the farther from it. Some opticians, he stated, had their
diaphragms to slide or turn round in front of the lens, and at equal dis¬
tances from it, whatever the diameter of their aperture. The impropriety
of this was pointed out by reference to the diagrams. It was also shown
that, by attempts to secure flatness of field, distortion of the image was
produced, particularly towards the margin of the picture, the parts there
being enlarged disproportionately to the centre.
When the reading of the paper had been concluded, two views of The
Interior of Whitfield Church were exhibited by the Chairman. At first
these pictures appeared quite useless from being over-printed. They
were immersed in moderately strong ammonia, by which they were
considerably reduced in intensity ; but they still remained flat and mealy -
looking. They were then toned in the alkaline gold bath, when he was
surprised to find they were converted into very good impressions, pos¬
sessing much vigour.
Mr. North presented to the portfolio of the Society three very fine
pictures. Two of them were copies of drawings in sepia 150 years old ;
Another was the Norman Keep at Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; and the other
the chapel in the same building.
Mr. Laws exhibited some beautiful transparent slides, which were
greatly admired, and he promised to explain his method of manipulation
at a subsequent meeting.
Mr. Willis and Mr. Anderson laid before the meeting several illu¬
minated transparent slides, which were very pleasing. On the table
were also placed an admirable display of large pictures and stereoscopic
slides belonging to several of the members, all of which were much
admired.
It was announced’tkat the tannin and albumen process would be the
subject for the following meeting. After votes of thanks had been
cordially passed to Mr. Davidson and the Chairman, the meeting was
adjourned to the first Friday in April.
Indttitl litslnufimts on Coloring IJJjotflgrapjis.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. ( Continued J
ON PAINTING THE NECK, BOSOM, AND SHOULDERS.
Supposing our specimen to be the portrait of a lady in evening
costume, we next proceed to lay in the neck and bust. Here the
general tone should be subdued with pearly greys, but all the tints
must be very clear, clean, and delicate. From the neck towards the
shoulder bones the skin displays a faint, delicate blush of pink ; but
the shoulders — influenced by the bones which there are nearer the
surface — grow of an ivory-like hue and appearance. The swelling
bust, as it nears the breasts, also becomes more influenced by a
just perceptible tinge of the carnations, but chiefly by the pale
blue tracery of the veins beneath. Should the muscles of the
neck, or the bones of the bust, be too conspicuous, you are justly
licensed to soften, conceal, or modify such unpleasant passages
with your best skill.
THE HANDS AND ARMS.
The colours used for the face will also be used for the arms and
hands ; but you will only require a few of them. Let the high
lights be well impasted. The same license granted you in
painting the bust also extends to the arms and hands. For further
information see remarks in previous chapters.
Having got in all your flesh you must now give some attention
to the background. As a plain background is all yrou should at
present attempt, I here give the following : —
116
[March 15, 1801
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OU PHOTOGRAPHY.
LIST OF TINTS FOR PLAIN BACKGROUNDS.
Black, White, Indian Red, and a little Vermilion.
Black, White, and Lake.
Black and Burnt Sienna.
Black and Indian Red.
Brown Ochre, White, and Burnt Umber.
Prussian Blue, Ochre, Black, and White.
Terre Verte, Raw Umber, and Burnt Sienna.
Black, White, and Burnt Umber.
Umber and Yellow Ochre.
Black, White, and Burnt Sienna.
The above will provide you with almost every necessary variety.
Begin by laying in the darker portions, sa}' with black and burnt
umber, using the colour somewhat but not too thin, and work
gradually with lighter tints towards the head. The background
must not be so dark at this stage as it is intended to remain. It
should be varied in colour, although harmonious in effect, relieving
the head, but not cutting hard and sharp against the hair, &c. [See
previous directions for the management of backgrounds, and also
the maxims.]
DRAFERY.
I have said much already on this subject, too, so that what I
need now add must merely refer to the manipulatory and mecha¬
nical methods to be adopted.
TINTS FOR DRAPERIES.
Linen.
White and Blue Black.
White, Black, and Burnt Umber.
And White for the lights.
White Satin.
White.
White, Raw Umber, and Ivory Black.
White, Black, and Indian Red.
Brown Ochre, White, and a little French Blue.
Blue Satin.
Prussian Blue, and White.
Ultramarine, and Blue.
Ivory Black, Ultramarine, White, and a little Vermilion.
Brown Ochre, Ultramarine, and White.
Scarlet Coats.
Crimson, Lake, and King’s Yellow.
Crimson, Lake, and Vermilion.
Vermilion.
Crimson, Lake, and Indian Red.
Extract of Vermilion.
Carmine, and Yellow.
Blade Cloths.
Lake, Vandyke Brown, and Indigo.
Black, White, and a touch of Venetian Red.
Black, Blue, and White.
The author of the preceding paper, in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practical value, has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring, and to give them advice through the
medium of these pages ; for which purpose specimens may he sent,
with a stamped and directed envelope for their return, to A. H.
Wall, Esq., 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
G. S. — You will never preserve the likeness if you work so carelessly. You get so
much colour on the lights that the first sweep of the softener destroys your outlines and
half-tints, and then you have evidently not the knowledge of drawing wanted to enable
you to recover what you have thus lost. Boldness is a very good quality, but rashness
is folly ; and although timidity may retard modesty, prudence will advance your efforts
to the proper goal.
A Little Pupil and George L.— See the above reply. The class I then named is
now in existence, and meets every Tuesday and Friday, at ten o’clock in the morning,
at 28, Old Bond Street, London.
M. II.— Too timid. Use rather more colour, as] the first application of the softening
brush must leave your paper nearly bare.
W. M. (Guernsey). — I will write to you in a few days. Pardon my long delay.
Jfcrcigu Corrcsponheirfe,
Paris , March 11, 1861.
You were somewhat hard upon me in the leader of your last num¬
ber, but I am far from irate thereat; for I have always held and
avowed that in matters of science, as in politics, freedom of discus¬
sion is indispensable to progress. I trust, however, that you will
allow me to reply for the last time; for the best things may List too
long. First, then, with respect to the debate at the French Society
of Photography, I repeated to you what I had heard, and that us
faithfully as it was possible to do. Secondly, M. Leon Foucault did
conclude, as I announced to you, in the same way as M. Claudot.
Thirdly, if the note given by M. Foucault in the Bulletin adds
many things which were not said by him before the Society, and
which militate against M. Claudet’s conclusion on the excellence of
the solar camera — a contradiction on M. Foucault’s part, as it
appears to me — I am not responsible for that ; for, of course, I could
not report to you what I had not heard. Lastly, as regards my
own judgment on Woodward's apparatus, you let it be clearly seen
that you do not consider me sufficiently competent in matters of
optics to give a serious opinion. But I see that you likewise reject
the judgment of M. Claudet, whose competence cannot be put in
question, and that you also charge M. Foucault with an error. I
confess that it consoles me to find that, if I err, I err in such goodly
company. Further, I shall he the first to acknowledge my error,
and to manifest due contrition, when I shall he shown amplified
pictures superior to those obtained with Woodward’s apparatus.
Certainly, theories have their value, but results have theirs also;
and I shall always be disposed to prefer an ill-constructed instru¬
ment which produces excellent works to the most perfect apparatus
from a theoretical point of view, if it leads only to disappointment
and failure. I know not if such was the disposition of the “ Old
Lady” spoken of in the above-mentioned leader, but certainly it is
that of many of my friends, the photographers.
So much said for my own satisfaction, and with the firm desire
of satisfying every just susceptibility which my ill-fated report of
the famous meeting may have aroused, I resume my course by
again speaking of an apparatus. This time, however, I will keep
on my guard, and will content myself with describing what I have
seen, without delivering any judgment.
The instrument in question is the automatic regulator of M.
Serrin, which the inventor exhibited the other evening before
our Photographic Society.
The object of the instrument is so to regulate the electric lamp
that the luminous point may always remain fixed ; that the char¬
coal points may remain at the same distance from each other, not- 1
withstanding their constant consumption ; and, lastly, that the
light may be let on and let off, so to speak, at a distance from, and
without touching, the apparatus. The mechanism is very simple,
being a sort of balance, inclining now to this side now to that, so
as to establish the equilibrium necessary to the production of a fixed
luminous point. It is composed of two parts, distinct but depend¬
ent upon each other, inasmuch as the functions of the one commence
where those of the other cease. The first part, the oscillating sys¬
tem, produces the separation of the charcoal points which are in
contact when at rest, and brings them together when the too
great separation would stop the production of light. The second
part, depending on the first, has for its object simply to bring to¬
gether the charcoal points. The two tubes containing the charcoal
are placed perpendicularly, the one above the other : the upper one
communicates with the positive pole and the lower one with the
negative pole, by means of the movement and of the oscillating
system. The upper one, in descending, by its own weight causes
the other to rise ; but this movement is regulated in the proportion
of two to one, the consumption of the former being twice as rapid
as that of the latter.
The oscillating system forms a rectangle with articulated angles,
and two vertical and two horizontal sides. One of the vertical
sides is fixed, the other is moveable, and hung very delicately, so
as to yield alternately to its own own weight, bringing it down¬
wards, and to a spring which propels it upwards. This same oscil¬
lating system bears at its lower extremity a soft-iron armature,
connected with an electro-magnet, which the passage of the current
from the pile renders active. When the current is not passing, the
twTo charcoal points touch ; but, as soon as the electro-magnet be¬
comes active, the armature is attracted downwards, and with it the
oscillating system and the lower charcoal point, which latter is
thus drawn away from the upper point, remaining motionless, and
the arc and the electric light appears between. As the points are
consumed their distance augments, the current grows feeble, the
electro-magnet less powerful, and the armature is less attracted.
Immediately the oscillating system rises, and in so doing sets free
the movement, and the points are brought together again. More
exactly, however, it is the play of opposite tendencies, neutralising
each other at each instant, and maintaining the points at a deter-!
mined distance so that the electric light may have its maximum
intensity, so far as the slow combustion of the charcoal is con-
117
larch 15, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
erned. Should any extraneous cause intervene — should one or
oth of the charcoal sticks break— the current is abruptly arrested,
he electro-magnet becomes inert, the armature is liberated and
ises with the oscillating system; the movement is set free, the
harcoal sticks come into contact, the circuit is closed, the armature
3 attracted downwards, and, with it, the oscillating system ; the
ipper charcoal stick stops the lower one retreats, and the lamp
ights up again.
This lamp admits of various applications ; but, of course, we
lave merely to consider it from a photographic point of view. It
■ives a very intense light ; and its remarkable constancy allows
>ictures, even negatives, to be taken in a very short space of time.
I spoke some time back of the Galerie des Contemporains which
)isderi had begun, and of which many numbers have now been
•ublished. Pierre Petit has just commenced a publication of
imilar character, but in a more costly style. His portraits of our
elebrities are unusually large, and the accompanying text is very
landsomely printed on folio pages. The high price of the work
five francs a number) will naturally limit the subscribers to the
vell-to-do classes of society ; but the work is one that will do
lonour to photography.
Several officers belonging to different corps have for some time
>een taking lessons of Disderi. A speedy organisation of this
iranch of instruction for military men is under consideration.
Several projects are spoken of, but as yet nothing official has been
umounced. ERNEST LACAN.
- — - - —
ar "We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
.tmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
f the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
riends. ^
SUGGESTIONS FOR A LENS COMMITTEE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Permit me to ask you if there is any chance of the London Pho-
ographic Society appointing a Committee to test the merits of the various
enses now in use? It appears to me (with all deference to Mr. Hardwich)
hat a Committee of this kind would have been of far moi'e service to the
general mass of photographers than the late Collodion Committee. A
)ho' ographer could, for the outlay of a few shillings, procure samples of
ill the best collodions, and could select that which pleased him most ; but
vith lenses it is quite a different matter. In that case it is a question of
rounds ; and as the opinions of those upon whom the amateur generally
lepends (the editors of the journals) differ very materially upon this
mbject, the appointment of this Committee would, I think, give universal
iatisfaction. The lenses should not be sent in specially from the maker
or this purpose ; but one should be procured from each manufacturer
■vithout his knowing the purpose for which it was required, in order to en-
iure a fair average sample, such as a private person would be served with,
t he funds of the Photographic Society would surely bear this expense ;
uid if a moderate size were adopted, say for pictures 10 by 8, no doubt
some half-dozen or dozen of our best men would undertake the trouble
md give us a report before the present year ivas too far advanced. If
here is no delicacy in recommending a particular maker’s collodion,
surely the same rule can be applied to lenses. I am not interested in a
nisiness way at all in giving the above suggestion, but have been hesi-
ating some time what lens to purchase ; and, having heard the above
■emarks made by others, I thought if the matter were agitated a little
something might be done to allay the existing perplexity. Pray, Sir,
ake up the question. — I am, vours, &c.,
LENS.
P. S. — Could you kindly inform me the reason why so large a portion
>f acetic acid is added to the bath when albumen plates are employed ?
\.nd also what kind of acid is meant, as there are three kinds in chemists’
:atalogues — Is. per ounce, 6d. per ounce, and 2d. per ounce — all called
ilacial ? Would not a small portion of nitric acid do as well ? In sensi-
ising paper for printing, the bath does not contain so large a quantity of
icid, although albumen is largely present.
[We rather imagine that such a Committee would give almost universal
frs-satisfaction, even if appointed, of which, however, we have no expec-
;ation. Without the sanction of the various lens makers whose goods
vere to be operated upon we scarcely think the Society would be justified
n publishing such a report as is contemplated; and it would be question-
ible whether, if this were to be done, somebody would not be liable to an
iction for damages by those whose goods were depreciated.
An opinion by an individual might be legitimate enough; but that
would scarcely satisfy our correspondent, as he has that already. He
must just elect for himself what lens he will purchase, or else make up
his own mind in whose opinion he can best confide.
Acetic acid is introduced to preserve the film from browning by lapse
of time when not exposed to light, and could not be replaced by nitric
acid, as the latter would also materially reduce, or, perhaps, altogether
destroy the sensitiveness. Glacial acid is that which solidifies at about
fifty degrees of temperature, and is stronger than the others quoted. — Ed.]
RECOVERY OF SILVER,
To the Editor.
Sir, — I put twenty ounces of silver solution in a bottle, and put the
bottle and solution in a pot of boiling-hot water, to evaporate the ether ;
it had not been in the bottle long before it broke, and all the solution was
in the pot with the water. I precipitated the silver with common salt,
and I found a black powder at the bottom.
Please to inform me, through your valuable Journal, what I must do
with it to make it fit for use again. Thanks for many past favours.
I am, yours, &c., A. B. C.
P.S. — I have kept it from the light ever since.
[Wash the deposit two or three times with water, dry, and mix it with
twice its weight of carbonates of potash and soda together, and put the
whole into a Cornish crucible. Place the crucible in a glowing fire, and
raise the heat to a bright redness. Remove the crucible, and, when cool,
break it : a lump of metallic silver will be found, which may be dissolved
in nitric acid. — Ed.]
PRINTING TRANSPARENCIES.— RECOVERY OF WASTE SILVER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly oblige me with the best formula for printing
glass transparencies, also the best method of recovering silver from old
sensitised and filtering papers, or if I shall be able to find it anjwvhere in
your valuable Journal? — I am, yours, &c., A BEGINNER.
[Printing by direct contact in the pressure-frame upon albumenised
glass is perhaps the best method ; but any of the dry processes will
answer. You must, however, be careful that the glasses for both negatives
and positives are perfectly flat. To recover your waste silver from paper,
burn them, and collect the ashes, which mix with twice their weight of
nitrate of potash. Make a crucible red hot, and throw in the mixture
little by little : slight detonation will occur at each addition. When all
is used up, remove the crucible to cool, and a small network of silver will
be found at the bottom. We strongly advise you to procure a copy of
Hardwich’s Manual, sixth edition, just published : it contains all you can
wish to know on both these subjects. — Ed.]
OPTICAL, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir,— Your remarks on the use of a central diaphragm would lead one to
infer that Mr. Archer was the first to use it. I, however, first saw it used
in the photographic establishment on the front of the Rotunda, in Dublin,
by the Chevalier Debruil, in the year 1841.
I may also remark that Mr. Archer’s paper on collodion photography
was not the first published account in England. Mr. AVillat published a
little pamphlet — -a translation of Le Gray — early in 1850, which our late
respected brother photographer, P. W. Fry, sent to me early in that year,
in which the use of collodion and sulphate of iron is plainly stated by Le
Gray. The mixture of pyrogallic acid and sulphate of iron wfith acetic
acid I first saw used, as a developer, by Mr. T. Pain, then Mr. Kilburn’s
operator, in 1851. He had the formula from Horne and Thornthwaite,
with the first bottle of collodion he purchased.
And now I shall thank you to answer me an optical question. With
the front achromatic lens of Chevalier’s combination,* which is about three
feet focus, I have measured the images on the ground glass. They appear
to be about the same size as the image produced by my eye, measuring
them in inches on a straight line. I thus conclude the lens of the eye is
three feet focus ; but the retina on which the image is refracted is not
more than an inch from the lens. How is this shortening the camera
without loss of size effected in the eye? and could not the same or a
similar plan be adopted in photography ? — I am, v-ours, &c.,
ANTIPODES.
[If you refer again to our article you will perceive that we simply
pointed out the fact that the use of a diaphragm between the components
of a double combination lens, in order to remedy distortion, wTas at least
as old as the time indicated; for we expressly remarked that we were not
claiming the discovery of the property for Mr. Archer.
I11 reply to your query, wre must state, first of all, that we have no
doubt that you have committed an error in supposing that a lens of three
feet focus will cover a circle of six or even five feet in diameter; but that
is immaterial to our present inquiry.
* Covers a circle from five to six feet in diameter.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, lfld
IIS
You are confusing yourself with the subjects of real and apparent size.
You do not suppose that the real size of the image of a distant object (say
100 yards off), formed by a lens of thirty-six inches focus, will be equal to
that of the object itself. If you do, measurement would soon undeceive
you. Therefore it is the apparent size only to which you can refer ; but
the apparent size depends upon the distance from which you view an
object, or, to put it in more accurate phraseology, the angle of vision, sub¬
tended by any object, increases as you approach towards it.
If, then, you view an object from any point, and also view the image of it,
formed by a lens of thirty-six inches focus, the eye being at a distance of
three feet from the image, the sizes of the object and image will ap-pear to
be equal— that is, they will subtend the same angle of vision. So also will
be the case if an image formed by a lens of twelve inches focus be viewed
from a distance of one foot; but if, in viewing the former image, you ap¬
proach to within two feet of it the image will appear larger than the object,
while if you retire to a distance of four feet it will appear smaller. The
same things will occur with a lens of twelve inches, or any other focal
length ; and, in general terms, we may say that images viewed from a dis¬
tance corresponding to the equivalent foci of the lenses producing them, will
subtend the same angle of vision as the objects themselves viewed from the
positions of the lenses. — Ed.]
NEGATIVES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — From what I have seen of photographic negatives, it seems to me
that you can produce two different sorts — one looking, by transmitted
light, dark and grey, the other a white shade, more like a “positive”
tint. I should be much obliged if, in your next number, you would say
how to arrive at the blackish tint, because all the negatives I have seen
taken by artists in the trade are of that tint, and consequently I infer that
they are most perfect ; but all the negatives which I have taken, although
they print tolerably well, have very white lights and half-tones, and you
can see more of a “ positive ” picture in them, viewed by reflected light,
than those taken by professors. I expect to find there is something wrong-
in the bath or developer. The solutions I use are : — Bath : slightly acid
with acetic, one ounce water, thirty-five grains silver, half a grain iodide,
and five drops alcohol. Developer : one grain pyrogallic acid, twenty
drops glacial acid (thirty-eight degrees), and fifteen drops alcohol,
1 am, yours, &c., A SUBSCRIBER.
[The best negatives by reflected light appear of a dull orange colour,
the details being indistinct : those of a blue-black look intense, but are
not so in reality. The bath is probably too acid : you may nearly neutralise
it with carbonate of soda. The addition of alcohol is totally unnecessary.
For your developer, omit the alcohol and use instead ten drops more of
acetic acid — making thirty drops, or rather minims, in all. Push your
development until the shadows just begin to fog. — Ed.]
SOUTH KENSINGTON AGAIN !
To the Editor.
Sir, — I enclose copy of an advertisement from the Daily News, which,
perhaps, you have not seen : —
HOTOGRAPHS of TURNER’S LIBER STUDIORUM.—
The SCIENCE and ART DEPARTMENT of the COMMITTEE of COUN¬
CIL on EDUCATION, with the permission of the Trustees of the National
Gallery, has produced NEGATIVE PHOTOGRAPHS of the original DRAW¬
INGS of LIBER STUDIORUM of W. M. TURNER, R.A., with a view of
supplying schools of art in connexion with the Department with photographic
copies. ...
To enable the public at the same time to purchase copies it is proposed to
print and publish positives through the ordinary channels of trade.
Publishers desirous of tendering for printing and selling positives may see
specimens of the negatives in the Photographic Rooms, South Kensington
Museum, and must send in a tender stating what number of mounted copies
they are willing to supply free of charge to the Department in return for the
privilege of having the negatives.
They must state at what price they propose to publish single copies,
wholesale and retail.
The Committee of Council do not guarantee any copyright in the work,
and can give no exclusive right beyond the possession of the negatives, but
will not themselves issue to the public any negatives of the Liber Studiorum
for a period of three years.
The Committee of Council on Education do not bind themselves to accept
the lowest or any tender.
It concedes an important principle — namely: “To enable the public at
the same time to purchase copies it is proposed to print and publish
positives through the ordinary channels of trade.” And tenders are
asked for.
To “enable the public” is a strong phrase, and would seem quite to
dispose of the question of government monopoly.
But the great injustice to photographers still remains, namely — the
fact that all the public galleries under the control of government are
closed to all but the government photographer. No tenders are even to
be asked for works in that department.
The profession is thus shut out from not only the finest things in the
country — which, as part of the public, belong to photographers — but
from those very things familiar to the general public, and thus certain
to be in general demand. I hope you will say a few words on this sub¬
ject in your next number,— I am, yours, &c., JOHN SCOTT.
March 6, 1861.
CORRECTION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I shall be much obliged by your correcting an error at page 90
column 2, line 34, of your Journal, where “ Mr. lie la Rue ” has been
taken for “ Mr. Dallmeyer.” It is obvious, from my remarks, that Mr.
De la Rue had stated the fact of more actinism being reflected than light!
without any hypothesis to account for it, and that it was Mr. Dallmeyer
who was reported to have explained it ; but which, for the reasons given
I conceived to have been founded on want of appreciation of the difficulty!
I am, yours, &c., WILLIAM BURR.
GLASS HOUSE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you have the kindness to favour me, through your valuable
Journal, with your advice respecting a glass house for taking portraits? I
have a shed 1G feet long, 8 feet wide, with a north-cast aspect, similar to
sketch now enclosed, and I propose putting in a skylight, G feet by 8 feet,
in the roof, and side-lights, as you will see. The south side and two ends
are dead walls. I am rather at a loss to know the proper position for the
skylight to produce the best effect. Would the skylight be better for
being entirely at the end of the building and all up through the roof?
The roof is very flat, about six inches pitch : have I allowed enough room
for light? Would you recommend my putting the skylight any larger?
The sitter, of course, will sit with the back to the sun. Any suggestion
you can give me will be thankfully received. — I am, yours, &c.,
JAMES DATE.
[We recommend you to carry the glass roof quite up to the east wall ,
and, if possible, introduce also four or five feet of glass in that wall
towards the north end. It is needless — in fact it is detrimental — to cany
the glass farther back on the roof, as a shade over the head of the sitter
is a necessity for obtaining artistic portraits. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
R. B. — We are obliged by your offer ; but decline it with thanks.
T. D. (Brighton). — We cannot find sufficient merit to allow us to notice them.
R. F. — Your camera is at fault as regards the position of the ground glass and dark
slide, or your lens is not properly corrected.
C. Truman. — We thank you for your kind intention, but fear that the articles proposed
would not be suitable to our columns.
Lizzy Lawrence. — Procure some of the dry plates prepared under the patent of Dr.
Hill Norris, of Birmingham. See advertisements.
William Judge. — You must vary the quantity of citric acid according to the tempira-
ture : from half a grain to two grains will be about the limits for each grain of pyrogallk
acid, or for ten grains of protosulphate of iron. First use the minimum quantity, am
try your developer ; if it blackens very quickly add another half grain, and so on unti.’
you find it works smoothly.
Saml. Swanscombe. — We are not surprised at your obtaining different advice from eacl
of the editors named, because we know that their views differ ; moreover, we diffei
somewhat from both, so that you have only increased your dilemma by applying to us,
We advise No. 5. Make up your own mind in whose judgment you have most confidence
and follow his advice in the matter.
William Daniels. — Your proof shows signs of under-exposure in the negative ano
over-development. In all probability you have used collodion that has become highly
coloured, and most likely your bath has become acid. Test it with litmus-paper, and,
if add, neutralise it with oxide of silver. We have not had time to examine your stereo¬
graph, except by a glance ; hut will advise about that in our next, if needfuL
F. B. — We are obliged for your model of an “instantaneous" movement; hut the
same thing has been long in use, made of metal, wood, or milled-board, with various
modifications. That you have sent i3 absolutely identical with what Mr. Skaife formerly
employed under the name of a dart-movement ; and a similar one, without the india-
rubber hand, was made by Murray and Heath, for Mr. Lake Price, some time ago.
An Amateur. — Your negative is very likely not dense enough, and your sensitising
bath for the paper has probably become reduced in strength ; but we think it likely tha
the toning bath is also out of order. Have you any deposit therein ? If so the gok
has been reduced. —Remedy : Make a new sensitising bath; slightly acidulate wit!
nitric acid. Do not examine your proof while printing by daylight ; and mix your toninc
hath only as wanted — that is, do not keep it ready mixed.
J. II. Slater. — You have arranged the components of your portrait combination quit'
correctly in your sketch — that is, with the flattest side of the convex lens towards thi
ground glass. There is no limit to the reduction in size of your stop, except what arises
from making your lens too slow in working ; but you will probably find yourself unabb
to use it less than about one inch for portraiture. It is not advisable to use a secom
diaphragm in your landscape lens, as indicated in your sketch ; hut you may, with ad
vantage, line the whole tube with black cloth or velvet.
F. P. M. — You had better purchase a good pneumatic holder or two. We have seer
excellent ones at Bolton and Bamitt’s, Holborn ; Shew's, Oxford Street ; Hughes’s
Oxford Street, and Murray and Heath’s, Piccadilly, London. Probably many othei
dealers keep them in stock; hut the particular kind for your purpose is that with a
lever and catch, and we know that they can be obtained at any of the above establish¬
ments. We quite agree with you relative to your remarks on the shape and type of the
Journal, but our Publisher does not. We how to his superior judgment in that matter
R. T. Dick. — The albumen process is of older date than collodion, and possesses but
two drawbacks, viz., extra trouble in preparing the plates, and slower capability oi
receiving an impression ; on the other hand there are certain advantages not possessed
by any other process. We shall have something to state about this in an early number.
We do not perceive any particular advantage in the process you have been lately trying-
No doubt it answers, hut not better or perhaps so well as some others. The preservative
would be apt to ferment if kept long in warm weather. We recommend you to try. the
new tannin process of Major Russell’s introduction. See Hardwich’s Manual, sixth
edition.
Received. — “Con Tutto Core." — “A.” In our next.
i(pgP All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., shovlc,
be forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N. _ |
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to bo addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street , Liverpool.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 139, Yot. VIII _ APRIL 1, 1861.
Printing and Toning. — The renewed discussion on this sub¬
set at the last meeting of the Photographic Society assumed
; one stage a very unsatisfactory tone. In the course of the
sbate Mr. Vernon Heath alluded to some specimens selected
om a large number out of “The Pencil of Nature,” which
Decimens lie laid before the meeting. It was natural that this
lusion should start our friend, Mr. Malone, full gallop upon
is hobby, and that he should tell us-— not for the first time —
ow these proofs were produced ; how they had all been put
pen a short allowance of water for washing purposes, not more
lan six gallons in all having been allowed for division amongst
venty-five proofs — that is, something less than a quart a-piece ;
3w they had been toned by sulphurisation arising from the
nail (!) quantity of hyposulphite of soda left in the paper,
ded by a hot iron : we say all this was very natural, but it
as not edifying. There is, however, one thing in connexion
ith this subject that certainly does excite our wonder, and
lat is, that a man of Mr. Malone’s attainments, experience,
id observation, should contend that, because one or two, or
ren ten per cent., of pictures produced by such a method as
above described survived to the time of speaking, it should
3 regarded as any reason for pausing before entirely abandon-
ig such a method of toning in favour of one where the
isualties do not exceed, even if they attain to, the same per
outage. It is like questioning the insalubrity of a locality
here only one person in ten survives an epidemic attack, and
mdemning the healthiness of another where but one person
l ten loses his life. Our worthy predecessor is certainly not
' be condemned for any want of caution, as a rule ; but we
it it to himself whether he has not in the present instance
3come incautious from his over-caution.
In the friendly controversy upon the same subject which we
ive carried on with Mr. Heisch the case is widely different :
is a question between the use of sel d’or, aided by sulphur,
jainst chloride of gold in contact with an alkaline salt. We
mnot at all regret this discussion, because it has not only
duced our amicable opponent to explain more fully his own
ews than he did at first, but because also it has caused him
1 draw attention to a probable error of manipulation, which
lay account for some of the failures in applying the so-called
alkaline gold toning process:” we allude to the transferrence of
le proof from the toning bath directly into the hyposulphite
soda solution without any intermediate ablution. We may
mark, in passing, that although in theory all of the toning
ilution should be removed from the pores of the paper, we
dieve that in practice no inconvenience will arise if the proof
3 left to soak for a few minutes in water between the two
Derations ; because, although a portion of the toning solu-
on, much diluted, will undoubtedly remain in the fabric of
le paper, the quantity being very small it will not have a chance
■ forming any insoluble deposit, owing to the great excess of
.rong hyposulphite of soda, in which this otherwise insoluble
tatter is readily soluble.
Mr. Heisch brings against us personally a charge which we
are quite convinced he does not intend to convey, when he says
that we adroitly get out of answering one of his remarks by
taking hold of another. This must surely be a lapsus calami,
for he would scarcely, in sober earnest, accuse us of arguing to
sustain an expressed opinion against a conviction of its error.
We have for too many years pursued science in several branches
not to know that the ascertainment of truth is the only real
advantage to be obtained. If the possessor of a lump of
yellow dross can persuade his antagonist that it is a veritable
golden nugget, to what end is it ? It will not, therefore, pur¬
chase an ounce more of nitrate of silver. We consequently
regard this remark of our worthy antagonist merely as a ran¬
dom shot, without any special intent, and certainly freighted
with no malice.
In conclusion, we will notice one more observation, to which
we would make a reply. Mr. Heisch says — “ I have never
met with any paper which would give agreeable tones if left as
they (the proofs) come from the gold bath.”
If he will try some of Hollingworth’s paper perhaps he may
find cause to modify this opinion, though after all the whole
point may hinge on the interpretation of the words “ agreeable
tones,” as we hinted on a former occasion.
Albumen Process.-— On receiving a short time back from
Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, the series of Java stereographs
noticed in our usual column, Mr. Negretti said much to induce
us to urge on our readers the propriety of considering whether
or not it might not be worth their while to return to the original
simple albumen process upon glass for taking stereoscopic
negatives, on account of the much higher intrinsic value which
would attach to them over those executed upon collodion or
collodio-albumen.
The greater relative value is owing to the fact that the best
transparent glass slides are obtained by direct contact-printing
in the pressure-frame, and that the albumen negatives readily
bear this treatment without injury, while the other kinds always
suffer more or less under it, even though handled with much
greater care and delicacy.
It is, we are told, almost impossiblejo avoid raising the film
and making minute holes in the negatives, excepting those
taken upon albumen alone, when used as abovo indicated, and
they have constantly to be patched and touched up, until, after
a comparatively short time of usage, they become worthless. It is
conceded that the manipulation of simple albumeuised plates,
as regards preparation, is a little more troublesome than when
assisted by collodion — dust being the chief enemy to vanquish ;
but it is also contended that the additional value, in a com¬
mercial point of view, considerably outweighs the extra trouble
incurred. Mr. Negretti himself read a paper before the Photo¬
graphic Society, a few years back, detailing all the manipulations
as practised by M. Ferrier, the renowned French operator. It
is possible that a very thin preliminary coating of collodion may
be less objectionable than one of the ordinary kind. This is a
matter that may be worth consideration.
120
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1 80
Practical Optics of Photography. — We perceive that we
shall certainly have to make a few comments upon some points
contained in the series of papers by Mr. Rothwell upon the
subject above indicated, now in course of publication in our
columns ; but as any of a dissentient character might tend to
embarrass the author, as well as to confuse the unskilled reader,
we have concluded to postpone any remarks of this nature until
after the conclusion of the series, and issue for the present only
such as may be calculated to illustrate further Mr. Rothwell’s de¬
monstrations. To this end then we would draw attention to a
method of testing the coincidence or amount of variation of the
chemical and visual foci that we regard as simpler, and involving
less labour, than that put forth in Mr. Rothwell’s current article,
and for which photographers are indebted to the ingenuity of M.
Claudet. A circular disc of card, upon which has been printed
an ornamental pattern resembling engine- turning, with lines of
various degrees of fineness, is divided into about a dozen seg¬
ments. Upon each of these segments a number in large type
is placed, and they are arranged in a spiral direction around
a cylindrical slip of wood at distances of one inch apart, be¬
hind one another, so that when looking upon the end of the
slip of wood each segment is distinctly seen, the whole
forming together the original circle, but the piece num¬
bered one being nearest to the spectator, and that numbered
twelve being eleven inches further off. This is mounted on any
convenient standard, and is called a focimeter. To use it pro¬
ceed as follows ; — Place it before the camera at the distance
which is likely to be adopted by a sitter when taking a portrait;
focus very carefully upon one of the middle numbers, say num¬
ber five , directing attention especially to the finest lines on that
segment of the instrument bearing the number indicated.
Now, upon a prepared plate take a picture of the focimeter ,
on examining which it will be at once seen whether the chemical
and visual foci agree, as in that case the finest lines on segment
five should be distinctly visible in the negative, and all the others
less so. If the lens be under-corrected for actinism, the finest
lines on a segment bearing a lower number will be most distinct
on the negative, probably three or four, which indicates the
amount of variation, it being greatest when the number of the
distinct segment is lowest. If over-corrected the number of the
distinct segment will be higher than that originally focussed
upon the screen. Consequently, if on focussing number five
you get number three most perfect on your negative, in order to
obtain number five you must focus for number seven, and so
on. A substitute for this instrument may be made by using
some finely-printed matter upon cards, and arranging them one
behind another at regular intervals, like a set of steps. With
either of these arrangements a single experiment is sufficient
to show not only the fact, but the quantity of variation between
the two foci, if existing.
Tannin Process. — -We understand from Major Russell that
he has made some further improvement in his new preservative
collodion process, as described in the sixth edition of Mr. Hard-
wich’s Manual , and that he is about to describe fully the details
in a little pamphlet shortly to be published.
L ’Amende Honorable.— -It is always distressing to a right-
minded person to find that, from carelessness or want of con¬
sideration, he has inadvertently hurt the feelings of another,
and such an one will surely take the first opportunity of making
any reparation that lies in his power. In our last we made some
allusion to a circumstance of the kind above indicated — n,n
allusion that was written and in type before we received a
letter connected with the same subject, which, however, we
contrived to include in our last issue, wherein the writer
expresses his regret for any offence given, disclaims any mali¬
cious intention, and, in a manly and straightforward manner
highly to he commended, urges upon the reader a reperusal of
his original paper wherein the offence had arisen, and makes use
of the following words, which we quote : — “ If he find I ha\
not treated my opponents with proper courtesy, he will ph ase i
erase the offending paragraph or sentence, as 1 would wl_u ■]
do. It is my desire, in this as in all else, to do as 1 woul
be done by.” Surely with such a concession any opponei
must be satisfied, and we do not imagine that the gentlema
to whom it is specially made will fail to respond by acceptin
the olive branch thus tendered. We trust that all animosit
is now buried in oblivion.
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING.
By Maxwell Lyte.
[Abstract of Paper read before the Photographic Society of Scotland, March 12, lftOl.
The subject of photographic printing was one of the most impoi
tant to whicli the attention of the photographer could be turnc
and too much could not be said about it. In the following remarl
he would merely sketch his own experience in printing on albi
menised paper.
It would, he thought, be scarcely necessary for him to descrifc
the mode of albumenising paper, for not only could it be purchase
much cheaper and better than it could be made by the amateu
but the method of preparing it was also to be found in ever
manual on the subject of photography. He thought that in alls
menising paper it was a mistake to add acetic acid as l'ccommendc
by some, for acetate of silver was then formed in the paper, whic
was objectionable. Before being albumenised, the paper should l
as dry as possible, and it should not be allowed to remain on th
albumen more than two minutes, as a longer time than thi
allowed the albumen to sink into the paper, and so prevente
gloss. Although advisable to keep the paper for some time befoi
albumenising, after that operation had been performed it could n<
be used too soon. He had never seen any albumenised papi
which, with every precaution, did not deteriorate after being ke]
for six months.
To sensitise the paper, a solution of nitrate of silver, of tl
strength of eighty or ninety grains to each ounce of water, shou1
be used. After remaining in this bath for not less than foi
minutes, the superfluous solution should be removed by drawing
glass rod over the surface of the paper, and should be returned i
the bath. Paper thus excited might be hung up to dry by aid<
the clips now sold for that purpose.
The nitrate of silver solution would be apt to get discolouret
To remedy that various methods had been recommended, such f
coagulation of the albumen by means of heat, filtration throug
animal charcoal or kaolin, and the addition of citric acid. Thot
methods were more or less faulty, and what he recommended w;
the following : mix together —
Crystallised phosphate of soda... 3 ounces 5 drachms.
Carbonate of soda . . 1 ounce 3 „
Take of that mixture (which must be kept in a bottle) two ounce
and dissolve in water thirty-five ounces.
The above solution, added to the bath in the proportion of or)
drachm to each pint, would effectually decolorise it.
The paper being excited would, by being put into one of Marion
preservative cases, keep for some time. Care must be taken tin
it was not exposed to fumes of ammonia, sulphuretted hydroge:
or such deleterious gases, else its quality would be much impairei
The operation of printing must be regulated by the taste of thi
operator. It must be borne in mind, however, that the strengt
of the print was always deteriorated by the fixing process ; henc
it was necessary to carry the printing much deeper than would t
desired when finished.
If, as sometimes happened, the sky of the negative was solarisec
it would be necessary to stop it by means of paper coated wit
bichromate of potash, unless where trees or such objects intervenec
That would be found a suitable plan for preserving the whitenes
of the skies. He thought, however, that pure white skies wer
bad. Various expedients were adopted for skies. Clouds might b
printed in separately, either from a negative taken from nature, o
they could be produced in printing by the judicious arrangemen
of pieces of cotton wool. A finely-graduated sky could also b
produced by keeping a piece of cardboard moving over the sk;
when printing.
The picture being printed, the next operation was that of toning
which was accomplished in a solution prepared thus : — Dissolv
200 grains of phosphate of soda in a pint of water, to. which nms
be added one ounce of a solution of chloride of gold, made as foil
lows : —
April 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
121
Tercldoride of gold . . £ ounce.
Water . 12 ounces.
Almost as soon as the picture, previously washed, was immersed
in this solution, a change in its colour would take place. Taste
and judgment must regulate the tone, which, when attained, the
picture "must be removed from the toning bath to a plain water
bath. While in the toning solution it must be frequently turned,
and kept in constant motion. The toning should, by preference,
be done in a warm room. The solution of chloride of gold and
phosphate of soda must be kept in bottles separately, but when
mixed should be used as soon as possible. As the deposit of gold
took place only on the dark parts, it was advisable to cut off all
the darkened edges of the paper before toning. It should be soaked
in water for nearly an hour, and, during this operation, should be
kept in constant motion, to prevent stains. Highly-albumenised
paper was slower to tone than the plainer kinds, but the proofs
had a superior appearance when finished.
The fixing was done in a strong solution of hyposulphite of soda,
after which the proof must be thoroughly washed. Many used
contrivances such as sponges for washing ; but he knew of no
better plan than by simple washing in repeated changes of water
for twelve hours.
For mounting, he advised paste made of potato flour. When the
paste was quite dry, the print was passed through a press. By
making use of an encaustic paste, the appearance of the finished
proof was improved. This was made by dissolving two ounces of
white wax in two ounces of turpentine, to which should be added
about a drachm of mastic varnish.
THE TANNIN PROCESS.
We make (by permission) an abstract of the manipulation of
Major Russell’s process from the sixth edition of Hardwich’s Manual
of Photographic Chemistry, as follows : —
A newly iodised collodion will succeed in this process since
the tannin has an extraordinary effect in increasing the intensity ;
but the picture will be more brilliant upon an old collodion,
though requiring longer exposure. A collodion of a character
midway between the horny and powdery kinds is to be chosen in
preference, and bromo-iodised with the following, namely : —
Bromide of Ammonium . 40 grains.
Iodide „ . 90 „
Iodide of Cadmium . 90 „
Alcohol, S. G. ‘816 . 10 ounces.
Pulverise ; dissolve without heat, and filter.
Of the preceding, add one part by measure to three parts of
plain collodion ; clean the glasses carefully with a little waste
collodion, and be sure that they are quite dry at the time of coat¬
ing with collodion.
If large plates are to be prepared, or if the collodion in the
final operations shows a tendency to leave the glasses, they should
be prepared with a preliminary coating of —
Nelson’s patent gelatine . 20 grains.
Distilled water . 10 fluid ounces.
Dissolve, filter, and add lialf-au-ounce of alcohol — in order to pre¬
serve good for some considerable time. Pour a quantity of the
above on to a plate, in a sort of pool, and guide it all over the
plate by the aid of a glass rod, taking care to keep the back of the
plate clean : pour off the excess into a bottle, and stand the plates
on end, resting on an angle, upon blotting-paper, to drain and dry
spontaneously, carefully avoiding dust.
Coat the above when thoroughly dry with collodion in the ordi¬
nary way, and when fully set immerse in the ordinary thirty-grain
pitrate of silver bath, known to be in good working order for the
wet process. When fit for removal take out the plate and wash it
freely under a tap for about one minute, or until all greasiness has
disappeared from the film. In warm weather pour over the plate
a solution of common salt (five grains to the ounce of water), wash
again under the tap, and finally with a small quantity of distilled
water.
The preservative solution is made by dissolving fifteen grains of
tannin (procurable at any druggist’s) in one ounce of distilled
water and filtering through blotting paper.
Measure out two separate portions of the above, each sufficient
to cover the plate easily (about two fluid drachms for a stereoscopic
sized plate), apply the first portion several times on and off to
remove the adherent water, then cover with the second portion
and stand on end on blotting-paper in a perfectly dark place to
drain and dry, finishing by artificial heat, but carefully protected
from light.
Develope as soon after exposure as possible, with —
Solution No. 1 . } Pfop'lic acid . 72 grains.
( Alcohol . 1 ounce.
f Nitrate of silver . . 20 grains.
Solution No. 2 . -< Citric acid . 20 grains.
( Distilled water . 1 ounce.
To three ounces of distilled water add thirty minims of solution
No. 1. Moisten the plate rapidly with filtered water ; and to a
sufficient quantity of solution No. 1, diluted as above, add five
minims of solution No. 2 for every fluid drachm. Apply the
mixed developer, and keep it moving on the plate until the image
is sufficiently intense, after which wash, fix with hyposulphite of
soda in the usual way : thoroughly wash and dry the plates and
varnish.
- _ -
INTENSIFYING PROCESSES CONSIDERED AS ADJUNCTS
TO INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY.
By Valentine Blanchard.
[Read at a meeting of the South London Photographic Society, March 21, 1861.]
All who have beheld the glorious productions of Wilson, of Aber¬
deen, and the instantaneous sea and sky photographs of Le Grey,
must be impressed by the conviction that the future of artistic
photography lies not in giving forth to the expectant world deli¬
cate primrose or white skies, with the hills so sharp in outline that
the thought of the consequences attendant upon a fall upon them
makes us quite uncomfortable ; and a middle distance, generally
pronounced by the uninitiated to be ice covered with snow, and
which only the connoisseur knows to be the photographer’s hiero¬
glyph for water; and the foreground made up of black masses
dotted with white, known only by general outline to be trees.
Photographs of this well-known class will soon be covered with
the dust of oblivion. Much has been said in defence of photo¬
graphy. During its early struggles its artistic shortcomings were
explained away, and the dilletante exclaimed — in order to judge
fairly this wonderful art, that has assumed the proportions of Her¬
cules whilst still in swaddling clothes — “We must start afresh !” All
the time-honoured rules, the study of which only has given us our
present knowledge on art matters, are useless, for this new art sets
them all at defiance.
By degrees the taste in photographic matters became insensibly
depraved, and for several years the productions most commended
were those where the manipulative skill was most apparent. The
lens that produced a result upon the sitter as powerful as that
effected by the ghost of Hamlet’s father, and made
“ Each particular hair stnnd on end
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine,”
was the one “ applauded to the echo.” A mania for black tones
followed, and was succeeded by one for landscapes of gigantic pro¬
portions. All these efforts of the unsatisfied speculative mind have
not been in vain ; but they have been too much in a wrong direc¬
tion. The French, with a truer taste than ourselves, were dis¬
satisfied with the larger landscape productions; and, instead of
devoting themselves to this branch of photography, pointed their
lenses towards the facades of their magnificent cathedrals. They
have, in consequence, produced pictures the like of which had never
been seen since the world began. The skies in these pictures only
make more clear and distinct
“ The high embowered roof
With antick pillars massy proof
And storied windows richly dight.”
Many of them are, indeed, so perfect in every sense, that they have
(to borrow again from the immortal Milton) “dissolved us into
ecstacies.”
Le Grey is the man who has spanned the gulf that separated
photography from the fine arts. We regard him as the pioneer of
the new era in photography, and Wilson and a few others have
formed the advanced guard. When we look at Wilson’s later pro¬
ductions, and see that Avater — usually so imperfect and naked in
photographs— can be produced with all its undulations, its thousand
lights and shadows faithfully pourtrayed ; Avhen A\*e see it proven
that the sun, generally regarded as so fierce in some of his moods,
has calmly looked on while the daring photographer has “taken a
sight ” at him, and even has smiled upon his efforts, and left the
impress of his beaming face upon the sensitive plate ; Avhen cloudy
sky and stormy sea can be portrayed Avith equal facility, AA'e can¬
not help feeling that the future before us in photography lies in the
perfecting of every means and appliance that can tend to make in¬
stantaneous pictures, of ever}' size, easy of production.
As one of the most difficult operations in instantaneous photo¬
graphy is the bringing up of the image to a sufficient degree of
122
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April J, 1861
grams.
ounce.
developer, we
intensity, we propose to devote our attention this evening to those
of the many intensifying processes which we have practically
tested. In doing so, we feel no apology necessary. Our chief aim
is to cause discussion upon this important part of all instantaneous
processes. We shall simply record our own experiments, and
doubt not but that in the discussion much valuable information from
our practical members will be elicited as to the best means of getting
over the difficulties which beset most of the intensifying processes.
At the outset, we would say that, if it be possible to bring the
picture up at once into anything like a printable condition, we
would most certainly not adopt any of the after methods we pur¬
pose mentioning. The best means of producing negatives with
the requisite intensity is to employ a bath quite neutral, a collodion
made with at least as much alcohol as ether ; in many cases we
would use two parts of alcohol (sp. gr. ‘800) to one of ether ('750),
iodised with iodide of cadmium four and a-half grains, bromide of
cadmium one and a-half grain, to each ounce of plaiu collodion.
We consider the preparation of the cotton for this collodion a
most important matter, as so much of the after success depends
upon the temperature at which it is made. That which we have
employed was made with weak acids, at a temperature just below
the dissolving point. We have not time now to go into the
formula, as we have other things to consider. We hope to do so,
however, on some other occasion.
The developer we employ is as follows : —
Iron . 30
Acetic acid . . . 15
Acetate of soda . . l£
Water . 1
With the collodion we have described and this
secure an image which comes up slowly, gradually acquiring
during the operation what appears to the eye a line black image ;
but which, when fixed and brought out to the light, shows that
fine peach-like bloom which is so great a charm in negatives pro¬
duced by the pyrogallic acid. The application of pyro., and a few
drops of nitrate of silver, completes the operation.
Could we always succeed with this process in securing as much
density as is desirable our task would soon be over; but, un¬
fortunately, there are many subjects where this totally fails — there¬
fore the need of one of the many after-processes of intensifying
which we will now proceed to describe. We beg, however, to
say, before we go further, that we are not going to announce any¬
thing new or startling. We shall simply record our experiments,
and send round results produced as nearly as possible at the same
time, and under the same circumstances, so that the processes may
be fairly tested side by side.
The first one is produced by the agency of a saturated solution
of bichloride of mercury, and, after washing the plate, a few drops
of a saturated solution of hypo, in half-an-ounce of water is poured
over, and the plate well washed. This plan answers well for many
subjects ; but the tendency is to produce harshness, unless the pic¬
ture has received a slight excess of exposure. The same objection
applies to the application of a weak solution of ammonia after the
treatment with the chloride of mercury. The great objection to
this, or any plan where mercury is employed, is the tendency the
film has to split off in drying. This can only be remedied by
rejecting any collodion that is at all contractile, and employing one
containing not less than five and a-half grains of really soluble
pyroxyline to the ounce. Another evil, scarcely less than the one
just named, is the production of crapy lines in the negative when dry.
The remedy for this is a collodion of equal parts of alcohol and ether,
and to use solvents as free from water as possible. Crapy marks in a
negative indicate invariably the presence of water in the collodion.
The next plan we will mention is one that, a few years ago, was
quite a favourite with us. After the application of pyro. and silver,
should anything further be required, we poured over a very weak
solution of bichloride of mercury, draining it off and pouring it on
two or three times, until the surface appeared covered by an even
coating of black. We did not allow the image to whiten, but
washed immediately. On holding the negative up to the light,
much that was very weak, especially in the half-tones and lighter
shadows, were brought up ; while the powdery nature of the film
permitted the light to act much more powerfully than would be
imagined, judging from the appearance of the negative. This ap¬
plication of a weak solution of bichloride of mercury for so short a
time does not make the film tender, and one of the greatest difficul¬
ties is thus overcome.
The next we will mention is the application of iodide of mercury.
If a weak solution of bichloride of mercury be poured over the image,
and, after washing, a solution of iodide of potassium is spread over i
in like manner, a yellow image is formed, caused by the precipita¬
tion of iodide of mercury upon the silver image. If these solu¬
tions are poured over alternately twice or thrice, perfect chemical
opacity will be produced in the high lights of the negative ; and, by
comparing the back of the picture with the front, it will be seen
from its conversion into a bright yellow, that the image is composed
of iodide of silver as well as mercury. This kind of picture is not at
all desirable in an instantaneous process; we would, therefore,
recommend a different plan. If we add iodide of potassium by
degrees to a solution of bichloride of mercury, a dense scarlet pre¬
cipitate is thrown down. The clear liquid left after subsiding will
produce the yellow image, but still frequently with toomuch density.
There is also a danger of producing marks and stains in pouring on,
which no after treatment will remove. But if we continue to add
iodide of potassium we shall find this dense red precipitate gradually
taken up, until it is all dissolved in the excess of iodide of potassium.
If we now apply this solution to a negative we shall find its fierce
propensities very much curbed. The first effect is to produce
blackening, and it goes on gradually until a very harmonious nega¬
tive is produced. This method has many advantages over the
other applications of mercury. If you obtain a well-developed
positive, with all the detail plainly visible after very careful wash¬
ing, it can be put in the plate box and left until you reach home;
for it acts as well upon the dry as upon the wet surface. Of course
it is necessary to wet the film with water before the application of
the solution.
The last method we shall mention is one that, in our hands, has
given the best results, affording at the same time the greatest
facility of modification. It is the application of an aqueous solu¬
tion of iodine. We havo never seen this plan given in any of the
journals, and we felt assured it is known but to few. Tincture of
iodine has long been recommended, and when only a slight increase
of density is desired it answers very well, followed by pyro. and
silver. The advantage of the new method is, that you can secure
as much or as little intensity as you may require by employing a
strong or weak solution. In using alcoholic tincture of iodine
great difficulty is experienced in making the alcoholic solution unite
with the aqueous one, and frequently stains are produced during
the operation. By the following plan the difficulty is obviated : —
The method of producing a solution of iodine in water is, doubt¬
less, known to many ; but, for the benefit of those not familiar with
the plan, we will describe it. If a drachm of iodine be put into a
4-oz. bottle, no solution will take place ; but if iodide of potassium
be dropped in, a change takes place immediately : first, a jHlow
colour is produced ; on adding more, a beautiful crimson appears,
until, on frequent additions, the whole of the iodine is dissolved,
and a deep coloured solution remains. This stock solution can be
diluted according to the intensity required. We always judge by
the colour the strength necessary to produce any effect we want.
If a negative require but a little vigour, then we apply a solution
in colour between sherry and port ; and let it remain on a few
seconds. On holding the negative up to the light, a very decided
change will have been produced. More intensity will have been
imparted to all parts of the negative, without having changed in
any material degree the general appearance of the image on the
surface. If, however, the picture be thin, then a strong solution
may be applied, and poured on and off until the image comes out
as a beautiful positive full of delicate half tones, and of a very pale
primrose colour. A little pyro. and silver will complete the operation.
One great peculiarity we have noticed in negatives so produced
is, that on holding up the primrose image to the light, a ruby
colour, inclining to the complementary purple, is seen. But on
looking at the surface, nothing but the bright primrose colour is
visible.
There are many other processes possibly yielding good results in
the hands of those who have given attention to their peculiar re¬
quirements. Among others, there is the chloride of palladium ; but
as it is more expensive, and does not yield results better than some
we have mentioned, we have not introduced it. Indeed, the opinion
of those competent to judge is, that it is not equal to several we have
described.
Our task is now done. Believing that the modus operandi of the
veriest tyro may convey some hint to the thoughtful experimen¬
talist, and may be instructive to many — if only to serve as a warn¬
ing beacon, pointing out some photographic shoal or quicksand to
the wary voyager, or confirming the established chart — we shall
sit down content to learn in the discussion how little or how much
is considered useful to the many. And if, however imperfectly our
task may have been performed, you will take the will for the deed,
we shall be more than repaid.
April 1, 1861]
123
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY*
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP -PHOTOGRAPHY
By J. Rothwell.
No. III.
I WISH now to bring before tbe reader’s attention a matter of the
first importance, bearing upon his daily operations, the value of
his productions, and the unnecessary trouble to which he is often
subject, in consequence of a want of practical knowledge of the
focussing qualities of the lenses he has in constant use, in connexion
with which a number of experiments will be requisite.
In the generality of advertisements issued by opticians it is stated
that the optical and actinic foci are coincident and where uniformity
of workmanship and quality of glass are obtained such may be
the case nearly. But every photographer will find it worth his
while to ascertain experimentally for himself how near it is so with
his own particular lenses. To do which proceed as follows : — Focus
the centre of the image, or the whole of it, on the ground
glass with the nicest possible exactness, which will be at the
optical focus; then take a picture with the plate in the. very same
position; then a second with the plate one-eighth of an inch nearer
the lens; then a third at a quarter of an inch nearer ; and so on,
as many as j'ou think fit. By comparing them, it any one is
| sharper than the first it is evident that the point at which that
| was taken is the actinic focus, which gives a superior picture to the
optical focus, and when such is the case the lens is said to be under-
; corrected. But, if the first picture should be the best — that is, the
, sharpest — then take several in a similar, manner, at distances
farther from the lens than the optical focus, and if any of these are
superior to the first the lens is then said to be over-corrected.
B,y proceeding in this way you will be qualified to judge of the
best position in all cases (with the particular lens or combination
tried) for obtaining the sharpest picture with the shortest exposure.
But if, after all, the first picture is the best, you may surely con¬
clude that the optical and actinic foci are coincident. When you
have tried these experiments you may work on, knowing that you
are producing the sharpest pictures obtainable by that particular
lens or combination. I am supposing the above experiment to be
tried with a focal length of seven or eight inches, and moderate-
sized stop — say three-fourths or one inch : for larger or smaller
I lenses all dimensions should be in proportion.
To show the importance of every photographic practitioner
! acquiring a thorough knowledge of the focussing qualities of his
| lenses, it must be borne in mind that it makes an immense difference
j between taking a picture at the optical and actinic foci when they
are not coincident; for, at the optical focus the luminous rays
j which converge thereto are weak in power, whereas the actinic
rays, although they do not come to a good focus at the same
point, act powerfully in confusing and spoiling the definition. On
the contrary, if the picture be taken at the aclinic focus, the lumi¬
nous rays have but a weak effect in blurring the definition.
A double combination will, as a rule, always give a sharper focus
than a single one, supposing their focal lengths arc equal, and the
same size of diaphragm used ; because the back lens to a scertain
extent corrects the aberration of the front one, thus causing the
optical and actinic foci to be finer, and also making them approxi¬
mate or become more nearly coincident.
The next point relating to the focus to which I will refer is that
where the images of objects situated at various distances in front
of the lens are formed at relative different distances behind it.
Referring to Fig. 1, page 85 : suppose an object to be at C, and the
rays from it brought to a focus at d; then another object farther
off imaged at h : if the plate li h is placed at h, the image at that
point will be distinct, while the other image, which would be dis¬
tinct at d, is indistinct on the plate, in consequence of the converg¬
ing rays striking the plate before they come to a focus. Again : if
the plate were at d, similar effects would occur, but the conditions
of the two images would be reversed. Therefore, to obtain both
images in equal focus, it is evident that the plate must be midway
between them (as in Fig. 1,) at a. The assertion has often been
hazarded that it is impossible to obtain the images of near and
distant objects in good focus on the same plate simultaneously by
any other means than using a small stop. I am not of that opinion,
but believe it quite within the range of possibility.
Having now touched on the most important phases in relation to
the focus, I will briefly state my views on
DEFINITION.
I have never yet seen the photographic picture having that fine
and perfect definition I wish to see attained, nor the iens which
would produce it — in fact, I consider all photographic lenses yet
produced faulty, inefficient, bungling affairs, in comparison to what
is required, and what I hope and believe will yet be elaborated.
The general principles on which photographic lenses are con¬
structed may be regarded as the same, or at least similar, to those
governing the construction of the object glasses oi telescopes——
that is, the object aimed at is to correct the spherical and chromatic
aberrations of the central pencil, or that which comes to a focus in
the axis, leaving the oblique pencils in a condition far from what is
desirable ; but, "if ever we are to have that desideratum— the perfect
instrument which photography requires— it must be arrived at by
searching out a method of combination and correction altogether
different to anything at present in practice, and which there is, in
ixi y opinion, some faint probabilitj7^ ol being woixed out.
The general effect to be produced with respect to definition is
that all pencils, whether central or oblique, be brought geome¬
trically correct to the finest points on every part of the flat plate ;
ancl the thinner or more attenuated they are the better, pioviucd
always that sufficient intensity of light be retained. Hitherto all
contrivances have failed to do this satisfactorily, the difficulties to
be surmounted arc so great and numerous. Imperfect definition
spoils more pictures which are permitted to remain in existence
than any other single evil with which we have to contend. I am
persuaded that any one wno has studied the subject will admit
that it is imperfect definition principally which makes such a mess
of a picture that happens to be a little over-exposed, ho illustrate
this forcibly, let us* consider the “ human face divine ” in the case
of a portrait. If a portait is much over-exposed, in what state
have we the features?- Where are they? Gone into a white,
blank unlikeness— having a hideous similarity to the original, it is
true, but no “likeness.” “How deathlike it looks ! ” is the common
remark— the very word for expressive significance. Both life ancl
soul are gone out of it; and yet many photographers, after jeais
of practice, regard it not, or do not understand. . Let me impress
on every fellow-workman in the art that hciein lies (moie than in
anything else) the vast difference between the lifelike portraits of a
master in the art and the caricature of a bungler. Now, what is
the cause of this ? Why is all the shadow and detail obliterated
through over-exposure? It is principally bad or imperfect defini¬
tion, to explain which I will again refer to Fig. 1. page 85.
Tiie rays which radiate from the point of reflection C are sup¬
posed to "be brought accurately to the focus a, when a very good
lens is used; but the best lens ever yet constructed will not do
anything of the kind. There are always some erratic rays, which
strike the plate in a confused state about the focal point— which
we will suppose to amount to one-sixtli of the whole, the other
five-sixths coming accurately to the focus. Of the raj s fiom
another point very close to 0, the first are acted upon in Ime
manner, and so on from all parts of the arrow. Then, if a picture
be taken of short exposure, the definition will be very good, be¬
cause the light at the focus will have been sufficiently powerful to
make an impression ; whereas the erratic portion being only one-
fifth of that at the focus, and also being in a diffused state, will not
have operated sufficiently to be perceptible — which principle, ot
action I explained in the latter part of my paper Iso. II. Again :
if a second picture, but over-exposed, be taken, the erratic portion
will have acted to such a degree as to obliterate to a considerable
extent the detail and shadows ; thus producing a blurred picture,
because the erratic light from one point overlaps that adjoining,
thereby acting and reacting in a manner highly detrimental to the
excellency of the general result. In accounting for this evil per¬
haps something may be allowed for light which, after having
passed through the film, is reflected from the back surface of the
glass plate; but such action must be very small indeed. Littuseu
light in the camera, it has been thought, has. some action fieie
also ; but I attach no importance, to it, for if, in the case ot an
over-exposed picture, it had any influence in destroying deifti!, it
must have a proportionate action on an under-exposed one which,
however, is not perceptible. . _
I imagine I have now said enough on this part of the subject ot
definition to convince all photographers who are ambitious (aud
who is not?) of producing lifelike portraits, having a good stereo¬
scopic appearance, full of detail and shadow, to make it t icn ru e
never to over-expose, and in all cases to use the smallest s op
practicable, as well as such chemicals as will give the fullest ancl
most perfect detail. , ,
There is a property of light — its natural divergency or tendency
to radiate— which I have never yet seen mentioned m any publica¬
tion, or even spoken of (and which I believe has not been taken
into account by opticians in constructing lenses), in relation to its
effects on definition and focus, particularly with lenses ol long
124
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 186
focus, and in enlarging pictures by copying, on which I shall have
something to say worth attention in my next, being, I believe, the
first person to draw public notice to this property in connexion
with the optics of photography.
- - — - " — — - -
ON MANIPULATING WET COLLODION PLATES IN THE
FIELD.
By Vernon Heath.
[Read at a Meeting of the Blackheath Photographic Society, March 18, 1861.]
Let me in the first place explain the reason why I am induced to
bring this Paper before you. I have frequently noticed that, at
meetings of various photographic societies, papers have been read
upon this subject ; but I have always remarked that the operator
merely described the manipulation of stereoscopic plates, or, at all
events, of plates of small size : in several instances indeed I have
noticed that the size of the plate was not even mentioned. In fact,
I have no hesitation in saying that, in nearly every case where
papers have been read before societies upon manipulating in the
field, either with the old or any of the new processes, the operators’
experience was limited to small plates.
I recollect once reading a paper which had been produced before
a provincial meeting, in which the author commenced by condemn¬
ing every dark tent or box in use, and then explained a contiivance
of his own, which he carried in his coat pocket ; but ho nowhere
described the size of the picture he worked, and it was only by
observing that in one sentence he spoke of the stereoscopic effect
of his pictures, and the angle at which they were taken, that I was
able to determine the size of the negative he obtained. Now, I
believe that the condemnation of tents and dark boxes by those
whose operations are limited to small-size plates arc as gratuitous
as unnecessary, for it requires but the exercise of a very little
ingenuity to work small plates without any such contrivance at all.
I once knew a zealous follower of the art who worked the wet
collodion process thus -He fitted his camera in his hat, punched
out a piece of the front of the hat the size of the lens, which piece
he refitted and attached a string to it, and when working used it as
the cap of his lens. In one breast pocket of his coat he had his
bath, and in another a developing bath, fitted with yellow glass;
and with such means he succeeded in obtaining pictures.
But the dark tent and chamber are, however, necessary for those
who work plates of ordinary landscape size. And I believe that
the wet process is still superior to any of the dry processes,
where really artistic and truly satisfactory results are desired,
I will now state my own experience and mode of manipulating
with that process, venturing to believe that it might be in
some measure acceptable to the Society if I described the exact
means which enabled me to procure the negatives from which my
pictures now in the Exhibitions are printed, and one of which this
Society has done me the honour to select as its presentation pic¬
ture — the London Photographic Society having selected three for
a similar purpose. I shall refer chiefly to my photographic visit
to Endsleigh, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Bedford, in Devon¬
shire.
Probably the points of peculiarity in my manipulation, and those
most worthy of your attention, are-— First, my method of working
Smartt’s tent; second, what would generally be considered the
over-exposure of my negatives ; third, my method of developing ;
and fourth, the deferring of fixing till the end of the day, or to
some other convenient time.
First, then, as to the apparatus.— My negatives are all on 12 by 10
plates, and, with the exception of one (which was previously men¬
tioned in this room, and which was taken with a Ross’s 8J by
orthographic lens), were all taken with a Grubb’s C lens — a lens
which is intended to cover merely 10 by 8, and I think it will be
allowed that the definition even to the margin is all that can be
desired. At this point I may be permitted to observe that I
believe the landscape lens par excellence is that known as the single
lens ; and that, for this purpose, it is superior to all the new lenses,
whether orthoscopic, orthographic, or triplet. I do not mean, in
speaking of Mr. Grubb’s lens, to disparage the landscape lenses of
Mr. Ross, Mr. Dallmeyer, or any other maker of eminence ; I am
merely mentioning the fact that my pictures were taken with a
Grubb’s lens, and that I think as highly of it as possible for land¬
scape work. My camera is a folding one, and, although somewhat
heavier, I consider it superior to that known as Captain Fowke’s
and to Mr. Kinnear’s, inasmuch as it is firmer and more rigid. The
tent which is before you is that known as Smartt’s, and I must say
that, for field work, I know nothing so efficient and convenient. I
have arranged in it some special fittings and contrivances of my
own, to which I will refer jftesently. 1 used Ponting’s collodion
only, and a bath made after his formula.
Now for the manipulation. — In the first place I am most scrupu¬
lously careful and particular in every portion of the process, and 1
think it impossible to photograph properly without being bo. In
cleaning my glasses I use nothing but alcohol and tripoli, a] plied
with a tuft of wool, and then thoroughly removed with a linen
cloth. I then pour on a few drops of alcohol, which I rub off with
a clean linen cloth, and finally polish with a leather. To one side
I give a little more attention than to the other, and I Btow the
clean plates away in pairs, placing the two well-polished sides
together.
Then as to the manipulation in the tent. — The general arrange¬
ments of Smartt’s tent are now so well known that it is only
necessary that I should point out the contrivances I have had
fitted to it. For instance, a water bottle is hung over the table,
which [ can work with one hand, and the negative bath is sus¬
pended from the front of the table, as you see. Over one part of
the table, and attached to the rods of the frame, I have contrived
a shelf, where the chassee of the camera is placed : this, it will be
seen, is a very useful contrivance. I coat my plate in the tent,
after having first carefully closed the opening. When the plate
has been in the bath the requisite time, I allow it to drain fora
few seconds, and then remove it to another little ledge I have con¬
trived, and allow the draining to complete : it is now ready for the
chassee. I mention this with some minuteness, because I am quito
sure that one of the most prolific sources of stains upon negatives
is clue to the plate not being sufficiently drained before it is placed
in the chassee. I not only drain it thoroughly, but I put strips of
blotting paper along the top and bottom of the plate. The plate
is now supposed to be in a proper state to go into the chassee of
the camera.
With regard to the exposure in the camera, I believe that tho
most artistic effects are produced by what is termed over-exposure ,
— a term which ought no longer to be allowed, if its results are
superior to those from negatives exposed a less time. Excepting,
of course, in the case of burnt-up pictures, I do not think there is
any such thing as over-exposure in landscape photography.
It must not be supposed, however, that I mean by over-exposure
exposing for a great length of time. The average exposure of my
negatives, in varying hut good light, was about thirty seconds,
using a lens, it should be remembered, of fifteen-inches focal length.
What is usually understood by the term over-exposure the several
negatives I now produce will illustrate. It will be perceived that
there is a want of that complete brilliancy which negatives
believed to have been exposed a proper time generally exhibit.
If they are viewed by transmitted light a slight redness will be
perceived, and this is usually supposed to be a sign of over-exposure.
The effect which I believe is produced by what is erroneously
called over-exposure, or at all events by negatives in the condition
of these, is a greater gradation of tone and softness of effect, and
the different planes of the subject are brought out in a much more
beautiful manner. I think that when a negative appears very
brilliant there is generally a flatness of effect. I lay some stress
upon this point, as I really believe it to be important, and I think
that if more attention were paid to it, better and more artistic
effects would be produced.
Now I believe that my method of development is peculiar — at
all events I think that that distinctiveness of character which is
stated to belong to my pictures is, in a great degree, due to the
nature of the development. I prepare sufficient developer for a day’s
work, of the following proportions : — Eight grains pyrogallic acid,
eight ounces of water, one drachm of glacial acetic acid, and one
drachm of alcohol. This is about the strength that a pyrogallic
developer is generally used ; but though I thus prepare it, I do not
use it of this strength. I have a bottle of distilled water in my
tent, and into one of my developing cups I pour just sufficient to
cover the plate — say two ounces.
Being now ready to develope, I carefully close the tent, and,
having previously placed the chassee on its ledge, I remove the
plate with the pneumatic developing holder, and pour over it very
carefully the measure of distilled water. I allow this to flow over
and remain on the plate for a few seconds, and I thus take up a
large portion of the free nitrate of silver. I then pour the water
back into the developing cup, and add to it about a drachm of the
pyrogallic solution, so that instead of commencing my develop¬
ment with a one-grain solution of pyrogallic, I have merely taken
a drachm of a one-grain solution to two ounces of water. This is
a very weak developer, and of course the action of development is
much retarded — the picture coming out very faintly and gradually-
Lpi'il 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH!.
195
t is, therefore, very manageable and pleasant, and in hot weather
nil be found most advantageous; and, what is of great importance,
obtain the details in the shadows to an extent I never succeed in
retting with an active developer. ..
When I am satisfied with the amount and effect of details pro¬
ceed (the negative at this stage being faint, and of an intensely
■ed colour), I slightly wash the plate and complete the development
,vith the one-grain solution of pyrogallic, to which, if it becomes
lecessary. I add a few drops of silver ; but, if possible, it is better
,o do without the latter. I then wash sufficiently to remove the
ieveloper, and at once place the negative away m a box 1 have
lad made for the purpose, in which the grooves are of such a
'orra that they cannot injure the edges. I put a pad of wet blot-
:ing-paper at the top and another at the bottom of the box, and
he negatives are thus kept sufficiently damp until the end of the
lay, or even until the next day, so that I am enabled, without
risk, to fix them. I do not fix in the field unless circumstances
compel me; and to those who use the wet process this is an
immense advantage, as it saves time that is valuable, while the
necessity of having a large supply of water is avoided.
I may mention that if, by any chance, the edges of the film are
injured previous to fixing, so that there would be a risk of losing
the film during the fixing and washing, I first of all dry the nega¬
tive thoroughly, and then with a camel-hair brush and the oi di¬
nary spirit varnish I paint round the edges and damaged places,
and when dry and hard I float water upon the negative until the
film is saturated. I then fix and wash in the ordinary manner.
By adopting these means I have never lost a negative ; but I very
seldom have one damaged so as to render this treatment necessary.
To complete my remarks upon the use of the tent, I ought to
explain that there are cords furnished with it, which, whether
there is wind or not, I always make a practice of securing the tent
with previous to using it. No doubt a high wind would blow it
over but for these cords : it is, however, secure enough with them ;
and, as the cords are sold with, and are therefore a portion of, the
tent, I should just as soon think of putting up the tent without
the cover as without them.
The actual chemicals and other things required for use in the
tent are contained in a field-box of a very convenient and portable
form ; and, as I always place it in exactly the same position under¬
neath the table of the tent, I am able to find whatever I want
without any difficulty. In my field-box I carry a spirit lamp,
which I find very useful for drying plates from condensed vapour
strong light; rain falling fast; Derogy’s twin lens; exposure
“twelve” seconds; collodion sample bromo-iodised by iodide of so¬
dium and bromide of calcium ; developed partially with ordinary
pyrogallic and acetic acid solution, several weeks old; sufficient
of the same not being at hand to continue the action to the
quantity poured off the plate an addition was made of a developing
solution containing pyrogallic acid nine grains, citric acid four
grains, and six ounces of water ; then together returned to the
plate. ’ The image to the left, when viewed with the fac efrom the
beholder, appeared to develope distinctly and with great definition ;
the image to the right slowly. Almost suddenly the image to the
left altered in character, seeming to disappear under the developing
solution, while the one to the right increased steadily in depth of
tone until the action was stopped. The weather had darkened so
quickly that it was impossible to judge of the actual state of the
image by yellow light ; it was therefore washed and cleared with
hyposulphite of soda solution. October, 1860.
The development was not delayed nor the plate at all dry. ihe
first portion of the developing solution was quite sufficient to fully
cover the plate, but not superabundant. It was kept in gentle
motion. A few drops of a twenty-grain solution of nitrate of silver
had been added. _
Great pains had been taken to have the visual appearance of the
two images perfectly alike — the lenses remaining unaltered, and
only the sliding portion of the camera used to focus for a picture at
a subsequent trial, some days later. Every part of each picture was
equally and beautifully sharp.
Was the impending storm likely in any way to set up an opposite
electrical state at either end of the plate? The developing stand
was set in a pan containing water and waste solutions.
Is there any appreciable effect on a plate when being developed
in the proximity to electrical discharges ? # , .
The small plate is sent only as a good illustration of a pic-
ture, and for ready comparison with the larger one.
January , 1861. ^ _
which forms upon them during such a season as that of last year.
I have now said all that I at present desire to state upon this
subject ; and I shall feel obliged if you, sir, or any member of the
Society, will make any observations you think fit upon the remarks
I have made. I may say that I have a passion for the art, and
that whatever falls in my way calculated to forward it I feel the
greatest pleasure and gratification in communicating.
In conclusion, let me say that, if everybody would try to find
out how little they could do with in the field, there would not be
the objections against the wet process we hear of at present.. I
think that those who prepare plates for any of the preservative
processes really in the end take a great deal more trouble than is
required for the wet process : there is the ordinary preparation of
the plates in the first instance, the washings afterwards, then the
application of the preservative, and at last the chance that the
plates might not turn out good, for a very large per centage
certainly do not.
[During the course of his remarks, Mr. Heath produced a great
number of illustrative negatives and prints. He also put up his
dark tent, and exhibited the various ingenious contrivances he
referred to.]
[The following short memoranda accompanied some specimens
of plates, showing the abnormal effects of light known as “ re¬
versed action,” and were read at the meeting of the North London
Photographic Association, 27th March, 1861.]
REMAKES ON TWO NEGATIVES —WET PROCESS.
By R. L. Maddox, M.D.
The small plate accompanying this was taken in bright light, out
of doors, with Voigtlander’s lens; the collodion sample was bromo-
iodised, I believe, with iodide of potassium, holding bromide of
silver to saturation; exposure, counting the pulse, five seconds;
developed with ordinary pyrogallic and acetic acid solution, and
cleared with hyposulphite of soda. — July or August , 1859..
The stereo, plate taken out of doors, in the shade, i.e. not in
A PLEA FOR THE RESIN PROCESS.
By J. Glover.
[Read at a meeting of the North London Photographic Association, March 27, 1861.]
By request of your worthy Vice-President, I beg to biing before
the notice of your Society the merits of a process which has been
pronounced by him to be “ unsound in principle and uncertain in
its results.” This, at first glance, might be considered an un¬
thankful office ; but I assure you it is not so, for I shall be amply
compensated for my feeble attempt if I can only engage a small
share of your attention, and so elicit a useful discussion.
The ground on which I proposo to take my stand is, first of all,
to demonstrate as briefly as possible its simplicity , and then to meet
the charges which have from time to time appeared against the
“ resin,” or more appropriately the “ Despratz ” process.
In urging the first point for consideration, allow me to ask what
formula can entail less complexity than one. in which the sensitive
surface requires no application of a preservative , but simply washing
with an indefinite quantity of spring water— that succeeds with an
acid silver bath— and that developes with all the rapidity of moist
plates ? How many photographers, worthy of the name, are there
who after arriving at excellence little short of perfection in wet
collodion, shrink from the difficulties which have hitherto attended
the manipulation of dry plates, and who, from motives not alto¬
gether pecuniary, refuse to adopt those prepared by the agency ot
others? Such individuals would hail with. the highest degree of
satisfaction a dry process combining simplicity with a tolerable
degree of sensitiveness. The writer affirms— and it is the ex¬
perience of every one who has followed out the process under
consideration — that no other one approaches so nearly to the
manipulation of wet collodion; for, I ask, m what does the differ¬
ence consist but in copious washing and the usual precautions in
drying ? I can state with the greatest assurance, that any good
negative operator can produce, with suitable materials, a successful
dry resin plate. So much for simplicity. . ,
The objections , real and imaginary, which have been urged against
the process, I have no doubt, have deterred many from giving it a
fair trial. They are, however, happily overcome without difficulty.
The foremost— and which, if well founded, would have pio\ed alto¬
gether fatal to its adoption, and stamped it as unsound in principle
— is the alleged deterioration of the bath from the introduction of
such a carbonaceous substance as resin. This, however, as far as
I can learn, was only hinted at theoretically. Far from being
sound doctrine, I find practically that, m the homoeopathic doses
which are recommended, it is perfectly inert as regards any action
120
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1801
upon the silver solution. After using a bath for a whole season,
the plates last immersed in it were, if anything, more sensitive
than those prepared at the commencement, and without any of the
effects attendant upon an excess of organic matter in the solution.
This is not alone my individual experience : it is borne out by
several of my friends. It rests with those interested in the
chemistry of our art to determine what is the effect upon the film
itself. Irrespective of the mechanical action, I would suggest — Is
there not some chemical change — viz., the precipitation of pinate of
silver — which partially accounts for the preservation of the collodion
in the sensitive state, as well as the amount of that sensitiveness ?
The next two, and by far the most general, objections, are the
liability of the film to become detached from the glass during develop¬
ment or subsequent washing, and the existence of small circidar
insensitive spots which remain transparent after prolonged action of
the developer.
If a suitable collodion, with the minimum quantity of resin (say
a quarter of a grain to the ounce) be employed, these defects are
entirely obviated. Supposing a sample of collodion, suitable in
every other respect, should show a tendency to leave the plate, if,
prior to moistening, a camel-hair pencil, dipped in benzole varnish,
be passed round the edge, an otherwise tender film will remain
intact. The collodion I recommend is one composed of about two-
thirds cotton and one-third paper pyroxyline (both produced from
acids at medium temperatures), iodised with cadmium salts, used
as soon as in good working order for wet plates, and that does not
give, under such circumstances, an intense image. It should stand
two or three days after the addition of the resin, and be decanted
for use. Such a collodion, sensitised in a forty-grain silver bath,
containing from three to four minims of glacial acetic acid to the
ounce, will endure the thorough washing it is then to undergo — ■
remembering it is the last traces of free nitrate that retard the
sensitiveness of dry plates. I recommend spring water, so as to
ensure, by chemical agency, this desideratum, and is much safer
than adding a chloride to pure water. It only remains to dry
spontaneously, carefully excluding dust, without confining in a
moist atmosphere.
The third difficulty is the splitting up of the film on drying the
finished negative. The cause is obvious — the employment of too
contractile a collodion ; nevertheless, should it prove otherwise
suitable, a certain remedy has been suggested by my worthy friend,
Mr. Corey, and consists in flooding the plate with dilute albumen
previous to the final drying.
The fourth and final difficulty with which we have to contend is
w ant of density . This is not so much a characteristic of the pro¬
cess, but, as previously stated, the kind of collodion most suitable
is prone to this defect (if such a term is rightly applied) ; for I find
no difficulty in obtaining the necessary amount of intensity, with
absence of hardness, by using a strong developer — never less than
three grains of pyrogallic acid to the ounce of water.
I would urge at this point the question — Is not this seeming
drawback rather to be viewed in the light of an acquisition? In
most dry processes we have complaints of the opposite tendency, so
much so, indeed, that it has been a by-word among the votaries of
the wet process, who, on criticising one of those pictures displaying
stronger contrasts than ever existed in nature, naturally exclaim — •
*• Surely this is from a dry plate ! is it ‘ gelatine 1 or ‘ oxymel ?’ ”
Having thus hastily glanced at the difficulties, allow me, in
conclusion, to give my experience as to the comparative sensibility
of the various dry processes, to which I have given a fair trial.
Taking “ Resin ” as the standard, which I find to be
the most sensitive of any by a published formula.... 1
“Fothergill,” with chlorided albumen . lx
Do. original formula . 2
“McNair” . 2
“ Oxymel,” on unwashed collodion . 3
“Gelatine” (Patent Dry Plate Co.) . 4
The above were all treated the same as regards their development.
Memoranda relative to specimens to illustrate paper.
NEGATIVES.
No. 1. Prints very well ; has sufficient intensity.
No. 2. Failure. Under exposed. Sent as an illustration of over
resinised collodion. Spotty, and film tender.
Nos. 3 and 4. Under exposed, and as hard as it is possible to make
these plates. One displays a hopeless case of varnish fever.
The above were all prepared with collodion of the kind recom¬
mended for the process, excepting No. 4, which was a mixture of
Ponting’s and Thomas’s, which answers, although it is tender and
less sensitive.
AN APPEAL TO PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By Alfked II. Wale.
{Continued from page 102.)
Photographers too frequently look with an eye of jealousy upon
the artist, because, regarding all art as purely imitative, they can¬
not conceive a work of the hand and eye as more perfect than the
results of a process which they regard as infallible. Hence it was
that when such artists as Sir Charles Eastlake, Sir William New¬
ton, Rejlander, and Lake Price came amongst the photographers,
mutual misunderstandings soon estranged and separated them. If
an artist, venturing out of his native element of art, made a false
step in his chemistry, some eagle-eyed scientific photographer
swooped down upon him, and held him up to ridicule and laughter;
and if a scientific photographer, rashly invading the domains of art,
advocated some glaring artistic blunder or piece of evil taste, up
rose the representative of the palette, and down went the gauntlet
once again.
Now, however, happily achango is taking place. Weknow that our
lenses require artistic management; that our knowledge of pictorial
science must give our chemical knowledge its real value ; and that
mechanical perfection helps ns to artistic results only when we
have the power of using such judiciously. The hand may be there,
but it wants the head to guide it : the body may exist, but it wants
the soul to animate it. Let us therefore cultivate, not this or that
branch of photography, but all its branches. Let us aim to bring
together and unite harmoniously every element of our art’s suc¬
cess, so that our societies may be formed of artists, opticians, me¬
chanics, and operators, bound together by a love of the art they
practise, and working out practically the grand problem of its
ultimate perfection, undisturbed by petty jealousies or idle contro¬
versies — working not with words ouly, but with words and works.
To embody the progress which may thus arise, we shall look to
our Societies’ Photographic Exhibitions, which will thus become
the medium of communication between us and the public, and light
our art’s battle against adverse critics.
My sole object in this paper is to advocate the practical. To
this end we need our best efforts. We must not be content with
bringing this process out and that modification forward, but rather
direct our efforts towards the perfection of existing processes.
Novelty has great attraction ; for he who brings forward the veriest
trifle of a discovery has been more lauded and honoured than the
steady plodder who conducts us slowly and surely onwards to per¬
fection. Here, then, we want a little reform. Let the palm be
given to the practically useful — the meed of honour to the doer of
good things, rather than to the suggestion of idle or unprofitable
experiments.
To simplify and render more certain every step in the practice of
photography is one of our tasks ; and here I cannot do better than
quote a writer in a recent number of the London Review, who,
writing upon “ Photography as a Fine Art,” says : — “ When its pro¬
cesses become more manageable (as much so, in fact, as the crayon
in the hands of the painter), then will pffiotography approach still
nearer to a high place among the fine arts ; for, inasmuch as being
less dependent on manipulation, there will be more room for the
exercise and display of the artistic faculty. Every year brings us
nigher to this desired consummation and if, united by a common
love of our glorious art, we all work together, as our various ac¬
quirements and experiences dictate, each labouring to perfect that
element, branch, or process with which he is best acquainted, we
cannot fail so to improve the character of our photographic exhibi¬
tions that the stigma of the mechanical will be laughed to scorn,
both by the photographers and the public.
While speaking of exhibitions, I may perhaps be permitted to ex¬
press my very high appreciation of a system adopted by the Photo¬
graphic Society of Scotland — that of awarding medals as prizes for
the best photograph exhibited. The value of such prizes will
depend upon the real merit of the qualities for which they are
awarded, inasmuch as it is the honour implied, rather than the in¬
trinsic value of the medal, which renders them so desirable. Of
course I need not therefore add that, while the judges, being
thoroughly able and competent gentlemen, should be guided by the
success achieved, they should rather reserve such prizes altogether
than award them for acquirements or specimens of an inferior
description. The greatest success of the highest nature should
carry off the prize. The simple medal thenrepresents more honour,
and is, consequently, more eagerly desired and more earnestly
sought — thus best serving the high purpose for which it was
intended.
In concluding these few suggestive remarks, I again take up my
text, and repeat that, for real progress, both upwards and onwards,
April 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
1ST
we must look to our practical members. Whatever we do, let us now,
at least, be practical. We may sometimes feel, when discussing a
piece of mechanism, or some point of simple manipulation, that
such an employment has but little identity in comparison with
the high flights we have taken into the loftiest heaven of science;
but our art is a peculiar one, embracing, as I have shown in my
opening remarks, the noblest and the meanest- — the loftiest and the
lowliest ; and the highest flight of science may depend for its ulti¬
mate eminence upon some lowly piece of mechanical ingenuity or
manipulatory tact. Therefore, whatever the nature of our work,
let it be earnest and practical, whether it be claimed by Mechanics,
Science, or Art.
Gentlemen, I will not now detaih you any longer: already,
perhaps, I have exhausted your patience ; but I could not resist
the opportunity of placing before so influential a society, for con¬
sideration and discussion, the few preceding suggestions. If, in so
doing, I have made a mistake, I can only ask — what I think, in
consideration of my earnestness, you will kindly grant, viz., — a
full pardon.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Scenes and Scenery in Java. — Negretti & Zambra, London.
We apprehend that there are but few persons who would be
disposed to question the correctness of the assertion that one of
the chief advantages of the stereoscope is its power of making
the stay-at-home intimately acquainted with the scenery in foreign
lands. Even the most inveterate rover, who has the requisite
time, means, and energy at command, cannot visit every place ;
so that all may on some occasions profit by the labours of the
skilful photographer. Messrs. Negretti and Zambra have recently
published a most valuable and interesting series of illustrations
of a locality comparatively but little known — thus adding another
leaf to the many laurels already won by this very enterprising
photographic firm. For exquisite delicacy of detail and beauty of
effect it cannot be denied that proofs upon glass far surpass those
upon paper, though they possess also some drawbacks, amongst
which their much greater liability to injury and greater cost are
not the least.
Until we had seen the series now before us we had never been
able to realise so vividly the actual appearance of tropical
scenery. Accurate drawings may go far towards imparting some
notion, and ordinary photographs still more ; but, for bringing the
thing itself before the eyes of the beholder, commend us to well-
executed stereographs upon glass plates.
How pleasant it is to remain quietly in one’s easy chair and
explore the intricacies of a fine Forest of Cocoa Palms, at Solo
(No. 13) ! How strange to one accustomed only to European
scenery 1 The tall naked stems, permitting the eye to penetrate
far into the recesses of the forest ; while the quaint-looldng tufts
of large pinnate leaves on the top, like huge bunches of green
feathers, throw a welcome shade beneath. Another group of
Cocoa Nut Trees, at Solo (No. 14), is very artistic in composi¬
tion, the light and shade being well balanced ; and the graceful
curves of the luxuriant leaves have their value enhanced by the
rigid angularity of the huts beneath their shade. Still more
strange and picturesque is the slide No. 17, representing a Native
; Hut, Djocicja Karta, in which trees of a more familiar style of
; foliage mingle and contrast with the majestic cocoa palms; while
the hut itself appears constructed for the express object alone of
securing shade and coolness at the smallest possible expenditure
of means, being formed chiefly with a roof of a kind of thatch on
walls of matting. The Campong Prawen, Buitenzorg, is a more
pretentious series of residences, dotted about the broken ground
in much admired disorder.
A Group of Tropical Fruit, disposed d la Lance, contains a
mixture of the strange and the familiar to a West Indian eye. The
bread-nut, the mammee apple, the bunch of cocoa nuts, the sugar
apple, the pine, the melon, and huge bunch of luscious bananas,
are easily to be recognised; but they are commingled with about
an equal number of kinds as strange as they are curious in ap¬
pearance.
The Travellers’ Tree is a very singular specimen of local
vegetation, resembling a huge fan, the leaves being arranged
symmetrically, very like the little implement with which a
Spanish beauty does so much execution, only that the blades,
| instead of overlapping one another, are arranged edgewise,
each leaf, when turned a quarter of a revolution, presenting the
appearance of a torn leaf on a very long footstalk.
A View from Batce Toclis (No. 31) is a marvel of photographic
skill, embracing as it does an enormous extent of distance, the
furthest hills being some twenty miles off ; while the long windings
of a shallow river, meandering around the clumps of palm trees,
and widening into a species of lagoon by a village in the middle
distance, and a tall bank, covered with some kind of brushwood, in
the foreground, unite to form a subject not a little trying to render
satisfactorily by photography. There has evidently been one point
in the operator’s favour, and that no trifling one — an atmosphere of
a purity almost unexampled in our own misty land ; but, notwith¬
standing the beautiful clearness of the whole, there is no want of
aerial perspective, the whole composition being pervaded with a
charming atmospheric effect. This slide will certainly command
many admirers. No. 32, another view in the same locality, is also
particularly well executed.
Amongst the most instructive slides we must not omit to
mention a Rice Plantation, which appears to be located on a sort of
irregular plane at the base of a valley, on the borders of a stream
which serves to irrigate the land, for nearly the whole of the
“plantation” is under water. What we presume we must, in
courtesy, term “fields,” are in fact a series of irregular ponds, more
or less of a rectangular form, divided from one another by a nar¬
row strip of land, serving apparently the double purpose of a foot¬
path and a hedge. The blades of young rice are just showing
above the water ; and in the middle foreground is a raised bank
about six feet higher than the general level, and probably fifteen
to twenty feet wide, also divided into compartments filled with
water and growing rice. The figure of a man, clad in white,
standing with his back to the spectator, appears to be superin¬
tending some agricultural operation. The background consists of
the wooded slope of a hill, and the view on either side is limited
by masses of foliage. This slide presents a very novel appearance
to those accustomed only to European cultivation.
As an appropriate sequel we have No. 37, Village and Paddy
Fields, Karampandang, the latter stretching far away up the
slope in regular steps. Irrespective of its interest, as ex¬
hibiting scenery of an unfamiliar character, it possesses much
artistic beauty.
A very pleasing one for the last mentioned quality is No. 12,
labelled Plantation Grove, Golo, which we fancy is miscopied
for Plantain Grove, seeing that a goodly number of these palms
border the sinuous little stream in the centre. Mixed with the
plantains are many other trees and shrubs of various kinds, some
with exceedingly delicate foliage ; and these, combined with the
sluggish little stream before mentioned, are composed into a /very
exquisite picture.
No. 21, Sunset, is a fine study of clouds, with the mist rising
amongst the trees of a dense wood.
We now come to some slides illustrative of Javanese customs ;
and one of the most valuable of the series is No. 26, representing a
Concert under the shade of the Warringhim Tree, Passorocan.
This slide possesses the highest interest. The tree named is itself
a vegetable wonder, and the grouping of the musicians picturesque ;
while the instruments upon which they are performing are of a
class quite unknown to Europeans, many of them being large, not
unlike elaborately-carved sofas in appearance, while at the back
of the group are suspended a huge drum and corresponding couple
of gongs, and a series of hollow vessels in graduated sizes, some¬
what resembling in form and size immense carboys.
As a companion to the preceding we notice A Theatrical Per¬
formance or Wayang, which, like the concert, is taking place out
of doors. In addition to the performers, some of whom are seated
on stools, a portion of a very numerous audience is seen in the
background, all sitting cross-legged on tire ground. Of the
figures seated on the stools nearly every one has adopted the same
attitude, the legs being stretched wide apart, and the arms
extended in a similar manner, with the hands resting on the knees
— the whole figure thus presenting a somewhat grotesque re¬
semblance to an arm chair. This slide will well repay long and
careful examination.
No. 40, Javanese Actors, contains the portraits of two of the
principal performers mentioned in the preceding. In a companion
slide we have portraits of four of The Dancing Girls of the
Sultan, decked in all their finery, not set off In' crinoline.
No. 43 is a Native Girl at her Lace Work, an illustration
which will serve better than volumes of written description to
give an idea of the female inhabitants of Java. The walls of the
apartment in which this young lady is seated consist of matting,
having a kind of damask pattern, and strengthened by light
wooden supports. The furniture consists of a broom, an umbrella,
a kind of chafing-dish, and a very rudely-constructed low chair,
m
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
April 1, 1801
on which the girl is seated, in a half recumbent posture : before
her is stretched the lace on which she is working, thrown across a
kind of clothes-horse.
The girl herself deserves some description, being, we believe, a
young Javanese beauty. Her expression is mild, and by no means
deficient of intelligence : the hair is drawn all off the forehead,
and combed straight back, much in the same style as that adopted
by some of the young ladies in our own land ; but, in the case
before us, rolled into a knot at the back of the head, instead
of being confined in a net. The garments consist of a species of
scarf, wound around the trunk, to form a boddice, leaving the arms,
neck, and upper part of the bosom bare, and a large shawl wound
round the lower part of the figure forms the skirt. Of shoes and
stockings she has none ; but instead of the former a pair of clumsy
wooden clogs, which, while sitting, she has cast aside. She appears
to be well formed, plump, and with limbs nicely rounded.
Although she has quite attained to the maturity of womanhood,
we understand that her age is but a little over thirteen years.
We have taken this description partly from the slide we have
just noticed and partly from another, in which she is seated at an
open window, through which a very beautiful view of Javanese
scenery is obtained.
This last is very cleverly managed, being a sort of tour deforce ,
and one that would not answer in a commercial point of view, the
figure being printed upon the front glass and the landscape on the
back one, the corresponding portions from each having been care¬
fully removed.
The whole of these slides are printed upon albumenised glass by
direct contact in the pressure-frame, and we have been informed
by Mr. Negretti that the negatives from which they were printed
having been taken upon collodion, a serious impediment has thus
been interposed to the production of what he regards as first-rate
results; because it is almost impossible to obtain a sufficiently close
contact between the negative and plate on which the impression is
to be taken without tearing up portions of the collodion film. Mr.
Negretti strongly advocates the employment of simple albumenised
glass for negatives, and considers that any extra trouble involved
in using them is more than compensated by the increased value of
the negatives, both in an artistic and commercial point of view.
of ipjMngmpffit fnhmlicws.
By Samuel Highley, F.Gr.S., F.C.S., &e.
No. IT.
INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTERS.
( Continued from page 105 J
Group II.
Shutters that uncap and cap the lens by means of a plate passing
perpendicularly or horizontally in front of it are referable to one
type, which will serve for the comprehension of all the inventions
that belong to this group.
FIG. i.
A frame of brass or wood, having two caps attached to the back
by which it is fitted to the lenses of the camera, is pierced with two
apertures corresponding to the position of the lenses (L L . On each
side of the front of this frame grooves are cut, in which a plate of
brass slides freely. This plate is pierced in its middle portion
with two apertures, and is of such proportions that there is a width
of metal above and below these apertures equal to the diameter of
the lenses employed ; so that when this front plate is pushed up
its lower portion covers the apertures (L L) in the back frame, and is
retained in this position by the catch of a trigger fixed at the
side of the frame. An India-rubber band is stretched from a
pin, screwed into the lower edge of the back of the frame, on to
another fixed on the back of the upper edge of the front plate.
When the trigger is pulled the spring (which may be varied in
power) draws the plate downwards ; the apertures in the central
portion corresponds for an instant with those in the frame, and
passing onwards the upper portion of the plate covers them, thus
giving the sensitive film a very rapid exposure.
Mr. Lake Price was, we believe, the first to describe, in his work
on Photographic Manipulation , page 165, an arrangement of this
kind. Messrs. Murray and Heath afterwards produced a verv
neat improvement on his arrangement, made entirely in metal, with
the addition of a piece of stout India-rubber tubing placed so as to
break the concussion caused by the action of the spring shown at
the top of the diagram. We have likewise seen an arrangement
on this plan at Mr. Melhuish’s. Mr. De la Hue adopts a similar
contrivance for Lunar Photography — the front plate being propelled
simply by its own weight (as in Lake Price’s instrument), but being
released by burning in two with a lucifor match a thread that holds
it in position.
All these are placed externally. Mr. Leake, however, places his
arrangement within the camera behind the lenses; and the motion
of the exposing plate instead of being perpendicular is horizontal,
so as to meet the proportions of the front of the camera.
Group III.
Mr. Sutton, in his Dictionary of Photography, describes an arrange¬
ment which consists of a disc of metal centered on a pin placed be-
fig. 2. tween the lenses (Fig. 3), which
are covered in by an extension
of the camera front (Fig 2), as
in Murray and Heath’s camera
described in our last number.
Two apertures are pierced in
the disc, and are made to stand
vertically to the lenses by aid
of the weight of a heavy handle
fixed to the lower edge of the
disc : thus the uncut portion
covers the apertures of the
rl ill h hr1 i lenses whilst the disc is at
rest. The exposure is given
by a rapid semi-revolution of
the disc, the handle securing its
return to the covering position.
Mr. Shadbolt’s arrangement is
somewhat similar. The lenses
are covered in by an extension
of the camera, the front being
pierced with two apertures,
which are covered by a narrow
{] plate of brass that works on a
pin between them. This plate
is fixed in position by a trigger
catch which, on being released,
allows a steel spring to act on
the covering plate so as to im¬
part to it a semi-revolution,
thus causing the lenses to be
fig. 3. exposed and again covered with
great rapidity.
In both these arrangements the exposure commences with the
foreground on one half of the plate and the shy on the other half of
the plate, so that at the beginning and end of the impingement of
the view the exposures of each picture are not absolutely simul¬
taneous ; but as the action of both these contrivances is very rapid
it is questionable whether, under any circumstances, this diagonal
method of exposure is in practice objectionable.
Mr. Ross adopts a very simple arrangement for his small stereo¬
scopic lenses when mounted in pairs. It will be recollected that
April 1, 1861]
129
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
these lenses are closed by a little disc screwed to the front of the
mount, which cover and uncover the lenses by a diagonal motion.
To the bottom of each disc a little binding screw is attached by a
hinged piece ; a steel rod passes through both the binding screws,
and is clamped at whatever distance the lenses may be separated
from each other. By a rapid side motion both the covering discs
are drawn aside by aid of the connecting rod, and again restored to
their covering position.
Group IV.
Mr. Skaife’s ingenious arrangement, originally invented for his
“ Pistolgraph,” has never been fully described, though often refer¬
red to at meetings of societies, &c. I therefore take the present
occasion to give the details of its construction, and in the form most
suited for the photographer, viz., mounted for use with a twin lens
camera, when it may be placed in front of the lenses or behind them,
within the camera itself. I shall describe the latter arrangement.
FIG. 4.
Two apertures, indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4, are cut
in a wood frame that slides into a groove (in the same way as a
i focussing glass is fitted) placed immediately behind the lenses. On
the side next to the plate frame a pair of shutters (CC) are riveted
to a pair of steel rods (EE) about the size of knitting needles.
Each pair of shutters are made of slabs of vulcanite about the
thickness of a stout card, and open in the centre like a pair of
folding doors. Each shutter is 2£ inches by 1§ inches in dimensions,
i A slip of vulcanite is attached to one shutter of each pair, so
as to overlap the central slit ; and slips of wood (W) are fitted
round the edges of the shutters, so as to exclude light. The
rods (EE) form the hinges of the shutters, as their lower ex-
; tremities drop into little brass brackets, and their upper ends pass
through the thickness of wood, in the overlap of the frame, so that
they can rotate freely. To the external end of each rod a little
wooden reel (R’) is attached. Into each of these screws (S) are in¬
serted, and over each pair a piece of elastic cord (E) is stretched, in
! the manner shown in the diagram. Thus the shutters are kept
quite closed, the contractile action of the cord forcing the reels
(R') — into which their hinges are inserted — towards each other in
j an inward direction.
fig. 5.
So much for the arrangement when at rest. It now remains to
describe the contrivance by which the shutters are rapidly opened
and closed — the details of which are purposely omitted from the
previous diagram for the sake of perspicuity. . Two strips of
leather (L L), each piece having a slot cut in it to allow of the
passage from screw to screw of the elastic cord (E) and the pack¬
thread (T), are fixed to the outside reels (R") by the screws (S S).
Two pieces of packthread (T T) pass from the screws on the out¬
side reels to those on the inner reels (R'R'), in the manner indicated
in Fig. 5. The inner ends of the strips of leather are riveted
to a plate of brass (B), called “ the mail,” which is perforated with
two holes, that traverse over two steel wire “ guides” (G G) fixed
to a brass frame that is screwed to the top of the camera. It will
be seen that if the mail is pulled back the leather strips will pull
the outer reels (R'TL") round in the manner indicated by the arrows;
and as the threads (T T) will be simultaneously acted on, the inner-
reels (R'R’) will also be pulled round, as indicated by the arrow's.
The consequence of the reels, and with them the steel hinges, being
forced round by the inward pressure on the mail , is that the shutters
are turned outwards or opened. As soon as the mail is released
the elastic cords (E E) re-act on the screws in the reels so as to pull
them towards each other, and the reversed action of the arrange¬
ment causes the shutters to be closed. The mail may be forced
back and then freed, simply by the tip of the finger, and an in¬
stantaneous or longer exposure can then be given at pleasure ; or
it may for instantaneous exposures be acted on by the mechanical
aid of a trigger, which on being released strikes the mail , forces
it back for a distance sufficient to cause the shutters to be opened ;
then passes over the mail , which, being released, allows the elastic
cords (EE) to react and close the shutters again.
Mr. Hockin has introduced an arrangement that is extremely
rapid in action, the construction of which will be understood by
aid of the annexed illustration.
fig. 6.
A mahogany base board (B) is fitted with two caps, by which
it is attacli/d to the lenses. On the front side brass grooves (G G)
are screwed, within which two brass plates work smoothly over
each other. Both plates are perforated with two diamond-shaped
apertures, so adjusted that in two positions they overlap, so that
the apertures of the lenses are closed, whilst in an intermediate
position the apertures are fully exposed. At the right-hand side
of the board a grooved wheel rotates on a central pin that passes
between the ends of the two plates. At the end of each plate a
slot is cut, into each of which a pin (BP’) fixed on the margin of
the -wheel fits — one pin (P) resting at the bottom of the slot on the
front plate, and the other pin (P') at the top of the slot in the under
plate. An India-rubber cord is fixed at the left-hand side of the
board by a clamp screw (C), and the other end is clamped to the
edge of the wheel at C. At the right-hand side of the wheel is a
handle (H). The apparatus is arranged by rotating the wheel till
the handle occupies the position indicated by the dotted ~. This
stretches the elastic cord round the margin of the grooved wheel.
As the wheel rotates the pins (P P'), acting in the slots, force the
tvro plates asunder, so that the diamond-shaped apertures change
sides ; but they again overlap so as to cap the lenses. The wheel
is then fixed in position by a trigger (T) fitting into a notch in its
margin. On releasing the trigger the India-rubber cord reacts, and
forces the wheel back to its primitive position ; and, as the two
plates again glide over each other, through the reversed action of
the pins in the slots, the diamond-shaped apertures coincide for an
instant with the apertures of the lenses, and thus a very rapid ex¬
posure is obtained.
Mr. Hockin has likewise a very ingenious and beautifully-con¬
structed model of an improvement on the previous arrangement,
made by A. Salvin, Esq., the architect of the Zoological Gardens.
This consists of a pair of front shutters and a pair of back shutters,
made of thin brass plate, both pairs meeting in the centre of the
arrangement when adjusted, as shown in Fig. 7. Each shutter
ISO
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1861
PALESTINE IN 1800;
OR, A PHOTOGRATHER’S JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. IV.
The conclusion of the last article left mo enjoying myself in Malta,
with a promise that I should leave the following day for the Holy
Land. I did leave Malta on the 2nd of May, in the Borysthene, one of
the best of the French mail steamers, bound for Jaffa, calling on the
way at Alexandria. As I have mentioned before, I do not enjoy the
sea, my readers would most likely still less enjoy a description of iny
voyage. A fast steamer would make the harbour of Alexandria from
Malta in three days : the French Company’s time bills allow four
days; and I believe they generally require that time. The Borysthene
left Yaletta on Wednesday afternoon, and with her sailing quali¬
ties she could have made Alexandria easily on Saturday evening,
if there had been anything like “ pluck” in her officers. As it was,
we just got in sight of the city of the Ptolemies when too late to
get a pilot, as Arab pilots restrict their hours of labour to the rising
and setting of the sun. The French make poor sailors. The
officers are stiff and formal, looking every one the impersonation of
red-tapism, while the “ before-tiie-mast” part of the crew arc a sad
set of lubbers — mean, slavish-looking fellows, with a miserable
physique compared with our own brave, weather-beaten, but manly-
looking “Jack.” Sunday morning, with early dawn, we were steaming
into the harbour of Alexandria, and I would soon be landed on (to
me) a new quarter of the globe. I was only likely to spend six-and-
thirty hours in the land of Egypt at this time. Grand theme
though ! Capital opportunity for becoming poetical, historical, or
more easily rhapsodical ! As I intend returning by Alexandria, my
readers will, I presume, be quite willing I should defer my per¬
formance in these departments of literary industry till then.
The steamer lay at anchor in an immense harbour capable of
containing thousands of such vessels, and we were landed by boats —
the owners of myriads of them hurrying about among the pas¬
sengers soliciting custom to their boat in every European language,
with Arabic, and I know not what added, to make up the Babel.
My dragoman knew the place and its customs : so, tamely submitting
myself to him, I soon found myself seated at the breakfast table of
the Hotel de 1’Europc.
Alexandria looks quite as motley as its inhabitants undoubtedly
are. It is in every respect an aggregation of very various
elements. Architecturally it is generally very low. There is a
large square or place, as the French would call it, and which the
Pasha has much improved this summer. The hotel we were for
the time domiciled in is iu this place , and around it there are
numerous public hotels, and the residences of the various consuls
and eminent merchants, &c. — all high Parisian-looking buildings.
Indeed, except a very tine church in this same square, in con¬
nexion with the Anglican Church, everything in Alexandria above
the merest hovels have a French aspect. Generally it is a very dirt}’,
mean-looking city indeed. The streets are narrow and crooked.
There are few remains of antiquity. My commission did not
require me to photograph anything in Egypt at all — at least till I
had donePalestine — so Iliad nothing to do but see the “sights,” like
any other Jones, Brown, or Robinson. Sunday was a sirocco
day. Those who have been in the East know what that means.
What a boiling heat! what an overpowering, depressing influence
bangs over the strongest-nerved on such a day! It would have
been impossible to photograph the nearest objects, there wras such
a dense cloud of sand floating in the air. The buildings on the
opposite side of the square were just barely visible. I was
Scotch enough to hunt up a place where I could hear a Scotch
sermon. Good, earnest man, the minister had not a large congre¬
gation, and I doubt if two of them were of the same nationality.
Everjdoody that visits Alexandria must see Pompey’s Pillar and
Cleopatra’s Needle, and make the acquaintance of the Egyptian
donkey-boy and his “ very good donkey.” I had no wish to be
exceptionable ; so early on Monday morning I left the hotel with
the “ very good donkey-boy ” as my guide. Cleopatra’s Needle I
found to be situated in what seemed a builder’s yard. I felt more
interested in the fine view of Alexandria to be got from a point near
it than in the Needle itself. My readers know as much as I do,
perhaps, about this remarkable monolith. There is the other Needle,
too — the English one. It is here in the same place, just below the
Cleopatra one — quite or very nearly covered with sand. We looked
for it but could see nothing, till our guide pointed to a hole in the
sand, when, on close inspection, we saw it, with characters
engraved on it similar to those on the one standing erect; but I
could form no idea of the dimensions or entireness of our Needle.
FIG. 7.
is connected by a crank to a brass ring fixed to the frame plate by
another overlapping bevelled ring. A vulcanised India-rubber band
is attached to a pin at S, which passes over a fulcrum on the right-
hand side of the frame (formed by a pin to which one of the cranks
is hinged), and then is fixed on to a crank pin just below the trig¬
ger that fixes the arrangement ready for action. On the trigger
being pulled the elastic band reacts, and the inner ring is forced
round in the direction indicated by the arrows ; and at a certain
position all four shutters are forced outwards by the action of the
cranks, as shown in Fig. 8 — so that the exposure is effected, and
FIG. 8-
the ring still being forced onwards by the contraction of the band,
the shutters are then forced inwards and closed. The action of this
arrangement is extremely rapid. If the spring were removed this
contrivance would be admirably adapted for a dissolving view
apparatus, as just the kind of gradual opening up of one view and
closing in of the fellow one might be imparted to a pair of such
shutters as is desired.
Some authorities, on theoretical grounds, raise an objection to
all shutters that open from the centre , from being likely to increase
the already existing tendency to inequality of action between the
centre and margin of the lens. We can only say we have seen
very good views taken by such arrangements, though, from their
greater simplicity and equal effectiveness, we should prefer work¬
ing with an arrangement pertaining to the first or to the second
type described in this article.
April 1, 1861]
131
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Why does not some enterprising M.P., in want of a theme for hia
eloquence, take up this, and compel the existing government, or
, any future government that may be formed, to take it up too, and
have this interesting relic of antiquity brought to Old England,
that Cockneydom may boast of as old and as wonderful an obelisk
i as that which adorns the gay and beautiful Place, de la Concorde,
with the satisfaction — a great matter to an Englishman. that it
was rather more honestly come by than that of our Gallic neigh-
| hours?
Pompey’s Pillar looks very like its pictures — more than can be
said of many such Old-World remains; and the stream pointed out
as the Nile showed no peculiarity which one could lay hold of or
remember, being more like a canal than a river; but the same
might be said of many English rivers.
The country around Alexandria looked well. The palm tree. is
common, and grows luxuriantly. One sees it everywhere. While
I was in Alexandria there were several smart showers. I remem-
1 bered having heard that romancist lecturer and traveller, J. Silk
| Buckingham, expatiate to a great length on the dryness of Egypt,
j Some of my readers may have heard his story of the Pasha who
i could not be made to understand what rain was, as he had never
j seen anything like it. The amusing lecturer added that, after he
i had done his best to convey to his regal pupil a comprehension of
what rain was, the Pasha, to show how well lie had taken up
his instruction, had a pail of water poured over the head of Mr.
Buckingham, adding, as it was being done, “ that is rain !”
Well, the story showed how familiar Silk Buckingham was with a
Pasclia ; but beyond that it was a grave “ sell.”
There has always been rain at times in Alexandria; and within
the last ten years it has been frequent all the year over, and . in
winter much rain falls. In Upper Egypt there is less : in Cairo
there is rain occasionally. The change is accounted for by the
more general cultivation of the ground. My informant, who is well
able to give an opinion, believes there will, in a few years, be as
I much rain as we have in many parts of Europe, or as much as they
I want, at any rate. It is the same in Syria ; but of this again.
A day and a-half brings us from Alexandria to Jaffa, where we
are to disembark for Jerusalem.
Jaffa (Yaffa the Arabs call it) is the biblical Joppa, where
Jonah embarked on his unlucky voyage to Tarshisli, and where
Simon the Tanner lived, on whose housetop the Apostle Peter saw
the vision of clean and unclean beasts and creeping things, and
heard the voice saying, ‘‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
Jaffa is the most usual place of landing for Jerusalem. It is the
nearest port, if port it can be called, for there is no natural harbour,
and nature has been left quite unassisted ; the consequence is, that
more boats are upset here than all along the coast put together, and
no steamer can attempt to land passengers but in smooth water.
The contract with passengers is something like this: — If the weather
be very fine wo will lie off Jaffa, and allow you to trust yourself
and goods to the tender mercies of the rocks and waves and your
[ Arab boatmen.
On this occasion the weather was just sufficiently propitious to
allow us this privilege; and it certainly is a rather nervous affair
to land in such circumstances— to me peculiarly so. Everjmne
of my valuable boxes required to be carried from the steamer into
the boat on the back of a rough fellow, who could never comprehend
a tithe of the harm done if he too roughly jolted one of my boxes
of glass. Or, worst of all, thought I, what if he drop one — perhaps
the one with the camera — into the sea ! To the credit of the Arab
! boatmen I must say they did their duty nobly. My traps were
all safely deposited in the boat with a celerity quite unaccountable;
j and they showed more pluck and skill than I could have thought
them capable of in rowing us through the narrow passage among
the rocks which lay between us and the town.
Every pilgrim as he sets foot for the first time on a land every
inch of which is rendered sacred by the holiest associations of which
our nature is capable has, no doubt, his own peculiar sensations.
To many it is the realisation of a life’s aim. The dim unformed
wish of childhood — the dream of youth — and the settled purpose of
manhood — is then fulfilled. I was rudely awakened from my reverie
1 by a very present hard reality. My foreign office passport demanded
for me, in Her Majesty’s name, free passage — not so for my baggage
though. I was in the hands of the Turkish custom-house officials.
! I had thought I knew something of the horrors of a custom-house
examination, but this exceeded all my previous experiences : —
boxes all opened, and their contents inspected — not once, but five or
six times over. Could not pass. What did they want? The fact
was, they did not know themselves. They wanted to rob mo, and
did not know how much to ask, in order to do so. Only after
getting the aid of the cawass of the British Consul did I learn' what
was the demand of Turkey. Quite absurd, of course. They valued
my chargeable goods at twenty times their real value ; and, after
an hour’s talking, which I did not understand, they took the duty
on the real value. By this time the Governor of Jaffa hacRcome on
the scene, and I was expected to go through the ceremony of taking
coffee with him. I refused at first, on the ground that I could not
drink coffee without sugar, but forgot to add, and milk. He soon
had my sugar objection remedied, and I had no choice but drink
the (to me) nauseous cup, which many praise highty. Tastes
differ 1 It may be that mine is vitiated.
The Turks seem to live for the doing of two things— -smoking
and drinking coffee. I can do neither as they do it.
There are two hotels in Jaffa; but the reader, in order to form
any idea of what they are like, must dismiss from his mind all his
previous associations connected with the word hotel. I chose the
one kept by a Jew; and, as I will have other opportunities of des¬
cribing the Syrian dwellings, I will leave my Jaffa inn now, further
than that it was quite as comfortable as I expected. Comfortable
dwellings are not difficult to get in a country where sleeping in
the open air is a luxury, and rain and wind and shade are the
things men pray for.
I felt glad I was now about to begin my work in earnest, and
that if any troubles might annoy me I should have the solace of
my camera ever at hand. For how completely does the enthusias¬
tic photographer forget all life’s ills as he hurries along in his ever-
interesting preparations, or in his more absorbing consummatory
labours, as he watches the mimic representations slowly or quickly
developing before him ! It is a theme worthy of some unborn
laureate to tell of the albeit not unalloyed but transcendest joys
of the sun-drawn picture-maker!
Hftetinqs af Sumfirs.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
evening, the 21st ult., at eight o’clock, at St. Peter’s School-rooms,
Walworth,— W. Ackland, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the
following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected members of
the Society : — Mr. M. H. Warver (of Ross), Mr. Quentery, Mr. Price, Mr.
Walter Ridley, and Mr. Samuel Fry.
The Chairman drew the attention of the members to a copy of the
presentation print for the year — the subject being a very beautiful view
of Coniston Falls, in Cumberland, executed by Mr. Mudd, of Manchester,
by the collodio-albumen process. He said it was a fine illustration of
what could be done with the dry process, as the presentation photograph
of last year exhibited the powers of the wet. They hoped to present
their members with specimens of the best masters in each process ; and
he thought that they could do no less than tender their thanks to the
sub-committee for the judicious selection they had made, and to Mr.
Mudd for. placing within the reach of the members of the Society a
picture of such a character.
A vote of thanks in accordance with the suggestion of the Chairman
was carried.
Mr. G. W. Simpson exhibited a panoramic picture taken with one lens
by two exposures, the two halves of the plate being turned in the right
direction % rotating the camera on its stand, and was an illustration of
the good effect capable of being produced by this method.
Mr. Wall (the Secretary) exhibited a very faint but distinct print pre¬
pared by placing the non-sensitised side of the paper against the negative.
The photograph was printed in that way for the purpose of its being sub¬
sequently coloured — the darkness of the foliage, so much complained of
by persons colouring photographs, being entirely done away with, whilst
every detail was distinctly visible.
Mr. Blanchard read a paper On Experiments on Intensifying Pro¬
cesses [see page 121], and exhibited several illustrative specimens of
instantaneous negatives and prints, intensified by the various methods
he described.
The thanks of the meeting were given to Mr. Blanchard for his paper.
Mr. S. Fry, who had some little experience in taking instantaneous
pictures, could not help admiring the course adopted by Mr. Blanchard
in proceeding carefully and certainly, step by step, towards the end he
had in view. Each picture was an improvement on the one before it,
although they were all good, the negatives showing clearly that they
had been taken absolutely instantaneously. In his opinion the thanks
of photographers were due to Mr. Blanchard for the way in which he
had explained the methods he had tried. He had found gi’eat difficulty
in getting instantaneous pictures sufiicently intense, as for a long time
he developed with pyrogallic alone, which required a more complete ex¬
posure than where an iron developer was used. Therefore he agreed with
Mr. Blanchard in the propriety of using an iron developer, by which
process he obtained the best results. By using bichloride of mercury
132
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY,
and iodide of ammonium, a yellow negative was produced of considerable
printing power, with an inclination to amalgamate the half-tones with
the rest of the picture. Of course much must depend upon the collodion
used. He considered the best for an iron developer to be a bromo-iodised
one. With the exception of the last mixture for intensifying, none of
Mr. Blanchard’s processes seemed absolutely new, although his manipu¬
lation seemed to differ from that generally followed, and was decidedly
an improvement. The last intensifying process adopted by Mr. Blanchard
appeared to him to leave nothing to be desired.
Mr. Hughes could do little more than repeat the words used by Mr. Fry
to express his admiration of Mr. Blanchard’s method of working. The
great difficulty in taking an instantaneous negative was to get it suffi¬
ciently intense ; and every person who had worked with bromo-iodised
collodion and developed with iron would recollect the thin, filmy, phan¬
tom-like image he invariably obtained, and then when endeavouring to
intensify the picture the delicacy he was priding himself on entirely dis¬
appeared. Bichloride of mercury could, according to Mr. Hardwich, only
be used with advantage in cases were half-tones were not absolutely
requisite. The series of pictures brought before them by Mr. Blanchard
was peculiarly interesting from having been taken under the same general
circumstances, and thus fairly showing the different values of the various
intensifying agents he had used. Supposing that the conditions of
exposure in all the cases were alike, the last process adopted by Mr.
Blanchard was out of all question the best, as giving more vigorous
results with a greater preservation of the half-tones. He did not think
the processes used by Mr. Blanchard were so generally known as they
ought to be ; but he thought they were better known than that gentleman
thought they were, from the fact that Mr. Hardwich, in the fifth edition
of his book, mentioned the use of the aqueous solution of alkaline iodide
with some confidence, but in the sixth edition he falls back on the tincture
as giving a picture less inclined to stain than the aqueous solution.
However, Mr. Blanchard’s practical experience was of equal value to Mr.
Hardwich’s. Mr. Blanchard had at all events shown them that, if they
had a weak negative, they had a power in reserve by which they could
render the negative stronger than they could have done by the old method
of intensifying, which often left the film a miserable thing of shreds and
rags. He was glad to say that the reticulated and crapy appearance of
the film, owing to the presence of water in the collodion, had almost
entirely disappeared since they had used anlijulrous alcohols in the collo¬
dion. Mr. Blanchard stated that he had used alcoholic collodion iodised
with cadmium, which rather surprised him, as both cadmium salts and
alcohol had a tendency to gelatinise the collodion.
Mr. Blanchard said he obtained a most magnificent film with that
collodion, whereas, when other salts were combined with the cadmium,
peculiar lumps were to be seen in the film. The collodion prepared in
Hie way he mentioned was thoroughly limpid, and left a glossy film on
the plate, free from marks of any kind.
Mr. Hughes said that was totally different to what was generally
believed to be the case. Mr. Sutton, who used a large quantity of
alcohol in his collodion, considered ipdide of cadmium unfit to be used
with it, and preferred ipdide of potassium. They must, under the cir¬
cumstances, go over the same ground again, and ascef f^in ydiether it was
to be condemned or to be regarded as a serviceable agent. _
Mr. Blanchard observed that the solvents in his collodion were equal
proportions of alcohol and ether.
Mr. Hughes said that might explain the different results arrived at by
Mr. Sutton, who used alcohol in the collodion to excess, which was of
course more likely to gelatinise the collodion. He thought Mr. Blanchard
was acting very properly in comparing the old with the new processes,
so that they might arrive eventually at a proper conclusion.
Mr. Fry adverted to a different method of procuring intensity, not
referred to by Mr. Blanchard — namely, by superposition by the dry pro¬
cess, whereby a very vigorous transparency would be produced, which
could afterwards be recopied either by superposition or in the camera.
At any rate, they could avail themselves of it as a last resource, as the
negative so produced bore no sign of being forced, but possessed all the
gradation that could be desired.
Mr. Simpson recollected seeing a work in which were numerous prints
of views of the Peak of Teneriffe, printed from negatives obtained from
small positive collodion pictures backed with black varnish, sent over to
this country by Professor Piazzi Smyth. The black varnish was washed
off and cariiera transparencies obtained, from which a large number of
negatives were taken, apd from the latter the copies for the work were
printed. In his opinion obtaining transparencies by superposition from
weak negatives was much better than risking the danger of destroying
the film of a good instantaneous negative by any intensifying process.
With regard to the use of cadmium as an iodiser, he thought that if it
were used with an excess of alcohol it would tend to gelatinise the col¬
lodion unless there was something peculiar in the soluble cotton em¬
ployed ; but with equal portions of alcohol and ether it might make a
good collodion. With regard to the danger to the film in using bichlo¬
ride of mercury as an intensifier, he thought that it might be in a great
measure avoided by washing off the solution after a few minutes, and
then applying iodide of ammonium. There was another danger which
had not been referred to — he meant the use of a solution of bichloride of
mercury prepared, as it frequently was, with hydrochloric acid.
Mr. Ejdmans had taken an instantaneous picture of Temple Bar on the
[April 1, 1801
previous Monday, and had developed with iron and pyrogallic acid. He
had then washed it with a forty-grain solution of silver, which he re¬
moved as often as it became muddy, and eventually he got a very excel¬
lent negative. He had tried bichloride of mercury over and over again
but had always found it a dangerous article to meddle with. He thought
that iron and pyrogallic was the best developer that could be used. He
had used the tincture of iodine for a long time, and had always been
very successful with it. He employed a collodion prepared in the follow,
ing manner: — Pyrox^linc from hot acids (150°) 4 grains, ether (*730) 4}
drachms, alcohol (anhydrous) 3.J drachms, bromide magnesium 4 grains;
to one part of this he added one part of 1'onting’s negative collodion. He
developed with proto-sulphate of iron 20 grains, water 1 ounce, sulphuric
acid 3 drops, formic acid 10 drops, alcohol 2 drachms. After the details
were well out, he washed well and intensified with the following mix¬
ture Pyrogallic 1J grains, water 1 ounce, acetic acid J drachm, satu¬
rated solution of gallic acid 1 draclnn, to which a few drops of nitrate of
silver were added. He preferred fixing with cyanide of potassium, washing
thoroughly afterwards.
Mr. Blanchard, in answer to Mr. Hannaford, said the proportions of
the cadmium, iodide, and bi-omide he used were four and a-half grains of
the iodide and one and a-half of the bromide.
Mr. Hannaford said that proportion of bromide was larger than the
quantity generally used, half a grain being the usual amount. He him*
self had used one grain, which he thought was an excessive amount,
and he should have considered that where one and a-half grains were used
there would be so little intensity that collodion containing it would bo
thrown aside by most people That peculiar property of the bromide,
however, would he just the thing that would recommend it to persons
using the intensifying process, as a faint negative would he obtained,
full of detail, and the deposit on the film would be very slight ; and by
changing this very slight deposit into a colour (such as yellow) that
Avould entirely exclude the light, a very fine negative might be produced.
He thought this method would be far preferable to piling one particle of
silver over the other until that beautiful delicacy which was the great
characteristic of photography was entirely lost. He had used the bichlo¬
ride of mercury for intensifying; but instead of adding the iodide of
potassium to the mercury, Avhereby a red precipitate was thrown down
and left at tlie bottom of the vessel, he added the mercury to the iodide,
which caused the red precipitate to be redissolved in the solution.
Another plan was, first to use the bichloride, and afterwards to employ
a weak solution of the iodide on the plate itself. Another point he would
refer to was that when they had over-intensified a negative, as was
sometimes the case, instead of throwing the plate away as spoilt, tfyev
had only to pour on it a strong solution of an alkaline iodide, which
would restore it to its original state of a faint negative. If applied too
long, however, the iodide would reduce the picture too much, leaving a
weak metallic film that they could not afterwards intensify. If they
stopped at the right moment, which some little experience would enable
them to do, they could go on intensifying and reducing as often as
tliey pleased. With regard to the danger of the film cracking on the
application of bichloride of mercury, he thought it might be avoided by
allowing the film to dry before the mercury was applied.
Mr. Blanchard observed that in one of his negatives the bichloride of
mercury was applied after the film was dry.
Mr. H^NNAFpRp thought the 1 g* st of Mr. Blanchard’s negatives was
much more promising than the first of the series, which was in some
degree owing to the fact that the former appeared rather over, and
the latter rather under-exposed. He might also observe that he had
obtained a vigorous negative by superposition, from one so weak that
it was perfectly useless for printing. In the reverse case, where a nega¬
tive was too intense, a picture might be obtained by superposition,
bearing all the marks of under exposure. He thought they could scarcely
do better than recommend their Experimental Committee to turn its
attention to the intensifying process, as applied not only to the wet, but
also to the dry process, as one of the steps toward discovering an instan¬
taneous dry process. One of the chief difficulties in the way of obtaining
a rapid picture by the dry process was its want of intensity ; and, if that
could be overcome, a great deal would have been done towards attaining
the end they had in view, viz., the production of a vigorous instan¬
taneous picture by tlqe dry process.
The Chairman said if the pyroxyline were made with a weak acid, at
a high temperature, dissolved in five parts of alcohol and three of ether,
cadmium could be employed as an iodiser without any fear of the col¬
lodion becoming gelatinised.
Mr. Simpson observed that, in the last edition of his book, Mr. Hard¬
wich mentioned a soluble cotton for making an alcoholic collodion that
wpulcl bear iodising with cadmium, and would coat large plates without
any danger of gelatinisation. With regard to the excessive use of bro¬
mide referred tp by Mj\ Hannaford, lie might mentiop that lie had
received a letter that week from Major Russell regarding the tannin pro:
cess. He therein stated that he had used two grains of bromide and
three of iodide, which he found with the tannin process yielded very
iptense plates. The excess of bromide gave great detail with rapidity,
and the tannin gave vigour to the pietprg,
Mr. Blanchard said bis reason for using so large an amount of bromido
was to obtain half-tones, which in a very short exposure could not be got
with a small quantity. In reference to Mr. Hannaford’s statement that
April 1, 186 1J
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
133
iodide of potassium would remove any excess of intensity, he might say
that the application of chloride of mercury would have exactly the same
result. In drying those pictures which had been intensified with mercury
by heat they turned a bright red colour, which, however, faded away on
cooling, leaving an orange shade. In answer to Mr. Hannaford he
stated that the collodion he used was sold to him as containing equal
proportions of alcohol ’805, and ether '750.
The Chairman announced that at their next meeting their Secretary,
Mr. Wall, would read a paper On Sharpness : What is it? The third
report of the Experimental Committee on the dry process would also be
laid before them.
Mr. Wall (the Secretary) said it had been determined on a previous
occasion by the managing committee that their next anniversary meeting
should be celebrated by a soiree , as the last had been. At their next
meeting he should have something more definite to announce on the
subject.
The proceedings then terminated with a vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
— *_
BLACKHEATH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Monday
evening, the 18th ult., at eight o’clock, at the Golf Club House, Black-
heath Hill, — Charles Heiscli, Esq., President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. Vernon Heath proceeded to read a paper On Manipulating Wet
Collodion Plates in the Field. [See page 124,]
When Mr. Heath had concluded the reading of his paper,
The Chairman said he was sure they must all have listened with great
interest to Mr. Heath’s paper : there were many points of great practical
value in it. The method of developing was more like that ordinarily
employed with a dry than a wet plate. The good effect of using a weak
developer he could quite confirm, and he had no doubt the plan of pouring
water on the plate to begin with would equalise its action over all the
plate. He was surprised, however, to hear of the possibility of drying
the plates (mentioned by Mr. Heath as his practice if he injured the
edge of the film) before fixing, as he had always found any attempt to
wet a plate after it had been dried cracked the film.
Mr. Heath said that if the edges and injured parts were varnished as
he had stated he did not find this to be the case.
The Chairman said something might be due to the nature of the collo¬
dion. If it were at all. contractile it would of course be more liable to
crack. Some collodion would crack away from the edges almost in the
act of drying.
Mr. Heath said a very good plan to prevent this was to free the collo¬
dion from the ground edge of the plate all round, so that it could contract
evenly. This was best done by drawing a damp cloth all round the edge
of the plate when all but dry ; it also made the negatives look neat.
The Chairman remarked that Mr. Spiller had mentioned to him that
he had some unvarnished negatives the film of which had suddenly
cracked all over after being kept some months.
Mr. Heath said he had seen some cracked after varnishing but not
before : he had never had a negative of his own crack either before or
after varnishing.
Mr. Williams, after remarking the beautiful character of Mr. Heath’s
pictures, and the perfect rendering of the grass, &c., in the foreground, as
contrasted with the black grass so often seen, mentioned that he had
employed a photographer to copy some buildings for him, who, after in¬
sisting on having a scaffold erected to about one-half the height of
the building as the only chance of getting upright lines, had produced
pictures with black grass foreground and white roofs to the houses.
Mr. Heath said that, with an ordinary landscape lens, it might be
necessary to work from a raised platform ; but the new forms of lens —
orthographic, orthoscopic, or triplet — were especially made to avoid any
such necessity.
The Chairman asked what distance they were working from the
building ?
Mr. W illiams said about 300 yards, the building being about forty feet
| Ugh.
The Chairman observed that in that case any landscape lens ought to
do quite well from the ground, if there were no intervening objects, by
very slightly raising the shifting front of the camera.
Mr. Heath, in answer to Mr. Glaisher, said he always used hypo, for
fixing in the field; but he had been using cyanide lately, with iron
developers.
The Chairman thought that the negatives developed with iron stood
fixing with cyanide better than those developed with pyrogallic acid,
which were apt to lose some of the delicate half-tone.
Mr. Heath said he had been making some experiments lately with
different collodions for the purpose of ascertaining which gave the best
half-tones. He found a collodion made by Mr. Thomas, iodised with
magnesium, very good when developed with iron. There was a peculi¬
arity of half-tone about it that they did not get from the generality of
collodions.
The Chairman thought this effect was owing a great deal more to the
fact that the collodion in question contained a large quantity of bromide
than to its being iodised with a magnesium salt. He then asked if Mr.
Heath’s experience confirmed what had been stated by some as to the
great keeping qualities of collodion iodised with magnesium salts ?
Mr. Heath said it kept pretty well, but not like that iodised with
cadmium. After five or six weeks it had diminished in sensibility. All
the pictures they had seen were taken on collodion iodised two or three
days before using.
The Chairman said his own experience was that magnesium collodion
did not keep any better than other collodions containing an equal quan¬
tity of bromide : collodion prepared with ammonium salts could be used
very well after two months or more if it contained much bromide.
Mr. Heath then presented the Society with a portrait of the President
taken on the collodion in question.
It was proposed by Mr. Glaisher, seconded by Mr. Harding, and earned
unanimously, that the best thanks of the Society be given to Mr. Heath
for his remarks and for the portrait; and after some further conversation
the meeting adjourned.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The monthly meeting of this Society was held in George Street Hall,
on the evening of the 12th ultimo. The chair was occupied by
T. B. Johnstone, Esq.
A paper On Photographic Printing , by Mr. Maxwell Lyte, was read by
the Hon. Secretary. [See page 120.]
When the reading of the paper had been concluded,
Mr. Orange said that he was not sure whether Mr. Lyte had recom¬
mended the skies to be stopped out by painting the negative with bi¬
chromate of potash, or by pasting paper stained with that substance over
it ; but, if he meant the latter, he (Mr. Orange) had used it many years
ago, hence there was no novelty in it. Painting the skies with bichromate
he had never found to succeed properly ; for, when the negative -was
varnished with Soehnee varnish, which he used in preference to all others,
he found there was a difficulty in getting the gum in which it was mixed
to adhere to the varnished plates, besides there was a great tendency to
crack and split off. Were it not for this, it would be a very good and
useful substance for stopping the skies.
Mr. J. T. Taylor said that Mr. Orange would experience no annoyance
in future from those causes provided he would add to the mixture of
bichromate and gum water a very small quantity of ox gall and a simple
syrup of sugar and water. The ox gall caused the gum to adhere to the
picture, no matter how it was varnished, while the sugar effectually pre¬
vented cracking of the gum film. He had often thus prepared magic
lantern slides, which had been exposed to a very high temperature with¬
out any appearance of cracking.
Mr. Tunny said that a very excellent way for stopping out a sky was
by smoking over the plain side of the glass with the smoke from a candle,
and then varnishing it. By that means the effect of clouds might be
imitated very successfully.
A paper, entitled An Appeal to Practical Photographers, by Mr. A. H.
Wall, was then read. A large portion of Mr. Wall’s paper appeared in
our last number : it is concluded in the present number. [See page 126.]
After the reading of the paper,
Mr. George Harvey, R.S.A., said that, although he could not assent
to all that the paper contained, yet, as a whole, it was a step in the
right direction. Photographers could not, he said, accommodate a scene
before them in anyway, so as to make a complete whole. Photographs
appeared to him like bits of pictures : they had not the look of a complete
or well-arranged picture. One of those to which a prize had been given
in the present Exhibition was very beautiful in parts, but it wanted the
unity that the mind of an artist would have given it. Actuality did not
always give the best conception of truth. A topographer would fail to
give such an accurate idea of Loch Katrine as Sir Walter Scott did. He
thought he saw how far photography was likely to go ; but, after what it
had already achieved, lie would be chary in prophesying anything. Pho¬
tography did not give proper perspective. His friend, Mr. Kenneth
Macleay, who was a photographer as well as an artist, had informed him
that in painting a photograph he always found it necessary to make the
eyes somewhat larger then they were represented in the photograph, and
it was notorious that the hands, which were usually a little nearer the
camera than the face, were rendered disproportionately large.
The Chairman said that subject had at their last meeting been treated
by Sir David Brewster, who proposed to remedy it by the use of small
lenses in the camera.
Mr. Harvey said that this would not be affected whatever by the size
of lens : whatever that were the distortion would always remain.
Mr. Taylor said that the enlarged hands and nose in a photograph
arose from the perspective being too violent, and were the camera re¬
moved to a greater distance from the sitter, this fault would be cured.
Mr. Tunny observed that notwithstanding the bad taste displayed in
taking a portrait under such circumstances as allowed the hands to ap¬
pear larger than they really were, it proved that instead of the perspec¬
tive of photography being incorrect, it was quite correct — indeed it could
not be otherwise : the nearer any object was brought to the point of view
the larger the angle under which it was seen.
After the usual vote of thanks the meeting separated.
184
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1861
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first ordinary meeting of tlie above Society took place in the Library,
Queen Street Hall, on Wednesday, the 20th ult.
The meeting was graced by the presence of several ladies. Among the
gentlemen present were the following : — Bailies Blackadder and Auchie ;
the Lord Dean of Guild ; Mr. James Falshaw ; Dr. Moir ; Dr. Easton ;
Mr. David M ‘Gibbon ; Mr. Andrew Mure, advocate; Mr. Thomas Knox;
Mr. John French, W.S. ; Mr. Hugh Watt, S.S.C.; Mr. George Bowe ; Mr.
Robert Paterson, architect; Mr. Adam Walker; Mr. John Galletly,
S.S.C. ; Mr. P. L. Cattenach, S.S.C.
Around the walls of the room were hung upwards of 700 very choice
specimens of photographic skill. Among the various artists whose pic¬
tures adorned the rooms were the names of Fenton, Bedford, Mudd, Ho¬
ratio Ross, Tunny, A. Y. Hemes, Piper, Rodgei’, Ramage, Silvy, Bisson,
&c., &c. There was also a fine selection of pictures from the Exhibition
of the Architectural Photographic Association, now open at the rooms of
the Architectural Institute, George Street. Mr. Ramage exhibited several
excellent photo-lithographs, which were much admired. Stereoscopes,
binocular pictures, &c., were spread over the table in great abundance.
After a considerable time had been devoted by the company to the in¬
spection of the photographic treasures provided by the Committee,
The minutes of the previous preliminary meeting were read by the
Secretary, and approved. Four new members were admitted.
Mr. J. D. Marwick, the President, then delivered the following
Opening Address.
I cannot assume tlie position of President of this Society without explaining that the
office has been imposed upon me, not only without my consent, hut contrary to my
expressed wishes, justified as I conceived these to have been, not only upon grounds
of a personal nature, hut likely to affect to some extent the prosperity of this infant
Association. While I make this explanation, however, as an act of simple justice to
myself, I should ill requite the compliment implied in my election did I not now endeavour
to the best of my ability to promote the interests of the Society, and to further the
objects which it is intended to secure.
You must not expect from me any contribution to the general stock of your know¬
ledge on the subject of photography. Once, and for all, I have to disclaim everything
but the crudest acquaintance with the optical or chemical branches of the science. My
experience is simply that of one who, having got certain formulas, has tried with very
varying and uncertain success to produce certain results, and who, in the course of his
practice, has felt the want (which this Society will, I hare no doubt, supply) of ready
access to photographers, whose greater knowledge and experience might resolve
difficulties, and account for failures which beset the first steps, and almost crush the
aspirations, of every beginner in the art. I shall not venture, therefore, in these
introductory remarks, upon anything of a sc'entific or quasi scientific character. On
subsequent occasions we shall have papers from members well qualified to speak on the
various branches of photography and collateral science, illustrated by interesting and
instructive experiments, which, explained freely in subsequent conversation, will enlarge
our acquaintance with, and increase our love for, the practice of the beautiful art which
we meet to cultivate. My object at present is altogether different. I desire to offer one
or two hasty practical suggestions as to the spirit in which this Association should be
managed and its objects pursued, and as to the means by which it may be made best
to maintain its vitality-sustaining the interest, and if possible, the enthusiasm of its
members.
Let us first, however, ascertain clearly and definitely what it is that the Society aims
at accomplishing. It is instituted, say our law's, for “ the mutual improvement of the
members in the theory and practice of photography.” Now, I wish, at the very outset
of our career as a Society, to repeat, as its head, and as the exponent of its feeliDg on
the matter, that nothing is further from cur thought and desire than to establish what
can be regarded, even in the humblest way, as a rival to the Photographic Society of
Scotland. To that institution, with which several of our members are already con¬
nected, we wish to stand in the relation in which the school stands to the university.
Y,'e desiderate opportunities for more free and frequent and less formal meeting than
is afforded by the larger Society. The less experienced amateur may come here and
state his difficulties or ask advice, and a more advanced member will give him such
information and assistance as will save him many experiments and much vexation.
More experienced members desiring to prosecute certain experiments will concentrate
their investigation, compare the results, and in the interchange of friendly communica¬
tion will help each other and advance their common object. If it be resolved to
procure photographic view's of interesting scenes or objects, such as, for example, the
Abbey of Melrose, Linlithgow Palace, Tantallan Castle, or some of those interesting
relics of former ages with which our own city and neighbourhood still abound, the
members whose skill and practice recommend them best for the work may here be
selected, and by a judicious and artistic application of their efforts a series of beautiful
views may be obtained to enrich the portfolio of the Society, or the collections of individual
members. Or it may be deemed expedient to relieve the more purely scientific nature
of our work by discursions into fields of personal observation ; and if so, the member
who has spent his holidays amid some of the lovelier or grander aspects of nature may,
by means of the stereoscope or the magic lantern, reproduce before us scenes w'liich have
most impressed himself by their own intrinsic beauty or magnificence, or on account of
the associations which hang around them. Thus in an almost infinite variety of ways
this Society may conduce to our improvement in the art of photography and at the same
time subserve important ends of innocent and healthful amusement and instruction.
Obviously we have facilities of that kind through our small Association wlvch are not,
and cannot very well in the nature of things be, available in the larger and more formal
and stately Photographic Society of Scotland. As evidently, at the same time, are our
Society and every similar association in Scotland fitted to minister to the general culti¬
vation and progress of the art of which that institution may be regarded as the national
representative. Our relation to it, then, is that of co-operation, not of rivalry.
Such being our object, I proceed to notice one or two of the means by which I appre¬
hend it may best be attained.
First and prominently, I would observe, must he our determination to keep the
society select. I don't consider it desirable, in any sense, that wo should be a large
society. Many of the objects which wc propose could not well be gained were our meet¬
ings very numerously attended. An average attendance of thirty or forty membei s
would meet my views, a. being sufficient to give those who had papers to read an
inducement to prepare them carefully; and, at the same time, he not too numerous to
interfere with free colloquial discussion. To secure such an average attendance, how¬
ever, I believe, judging from my experience of other societies, we should not shrink from
enrolling eighty or even a hundred members. With an ordinary roll of that number we
should secure variety of subject and of treatment, and at the same time maintain our
exchequer in a satisfactory state. On this subject, however, there will doubtless he variety
of opinion ; but I trust there will be no difference in our estimate of the paramount im¬
portance of most rigorously excluding everything which can lower the tone of the society
or detract from tlio cordial feeling which should subsist among its members. I do not
at all desiderate the application of any educational standard in the admission of mem¬
bers. Still less would I insist on an equality of social position or photographic attainment.
I can conceive most valuable members whose educational ]K>6ition might be fur below
that of others, who might still meet with them on a common platform in the Society,
and their intercourse be mutually advantageous; and I believe we already have members
whose attainments as photographers are scarcely to be mentioned, yet whose acquaintance
with other arts — whose cultured taste and general intelligence— will contribute to the pood
of the Society, and more than compensate for the benefits which they expect to receive
from it. I would desire to see this Association a small republic, ns comprehensive in spirit
and constitution as the outer republic of letters and art and science. It is the tritest of
all trite observations, that men great in science, literature, and nrt— apostles of great
thoughts and lords of the great heart— have sprung from the very humblest ranks, indis¬
criminately from the workshop and the mine, from the blacksmith's smithy and the
cobbler’s stool ; and we will scarcely dream of making conventional distinctions of out¬
ward circumstances any ground of distinction here. “The facts of nature are open to
the peasant and mechanic as to the philosopher.” By nature they are alike capable of
using these tacts, and remembering that even in the lowliest calling the true worker
may win the very loftiest results, we will receive with open arms any one, no matter
what his calling or circumstances, whose knowledge of the art, whose cultivated taste,
or whose manipulative skill is likely to contribute to the sum total of our attainments as
a Society. Most carefully, however, should we guard against the admission among us
of any element of discordance in the person of a captious, froward, troublesome mem¬
ber. One dead fly spoils the whole pot of ointment, however precious ; and one opinion-
ative, brawling, rude, or vulgar member will poison the comfort of all, and endanger the
very existence of the Society. While, then, it has been wisely arranged that three votes
shall exclude an applicant for admission, it is earnestly to be hoped that every member
will be most careful not to recommend any person of whose eligibility lie is not per¬
fectly assured.
Selectness in the sense thus described being secured, it is most desirable to foster an
esprit de corps. Each member must hold himself bound, according to the measure of
his ability and opportunity, to promote the common object. Each must recognise the
duty to aid and encourage liis fellow as he would liimscif be aided and encouraged. The
scientific knowledge, the taste, the manipulative skill, which the most experienced
photographer of our society possesses, must be a fund from which the merest tyro may
draw and come again. For all objects connected with our common pursuit we must be
bound together in a philosophic bond like that of freemasonry, in which jealousy, envy,
and all uncharitableness shall have no part. If this be realised, the business of the
Society will be pleasant as well as profitable.
Assuming tlie existence of such a spirit, there are various ways in which the objects
of the Society might be sought to he carried out, and a pleasing variety given to its pur¬
suits. For instance, after the attainments of the members have been so far ascertained
as to admit of classification, excursions might be planned during the summer months, in
which members in the same class might co-operate in experimenting with wet collodion
plates, with dry plates variously prepared, with waxed-paper, or, in 6hort, with any of the
other processes which the Society might be desirous to investigate or practise. The com¬
parison, at the subsequent meetings, of the pictures obtained, and of the notes and
observations made during these journeys, would be very interesting and instructive. I
would, moreover, preserve a copy of each of the pictures so got, so fur as they were
worth preserving, as at once a pictorial record of the meetings, and, I hope, an evidence
of progress.
I would also suggest, for the consideration of the society, whether arrangements
might not be made either for an interchange of pictures among sections of the mem¬
bers, or for the distribution among all the members of a certain number of selected
photographs. Probably both plans might be tried with good effect. Each membor
might be required to send in to the Council a print of one of his best negatives, and
from these a certain number might be selected. The negatives of those selected might
thereafter be got and put into the hands of a competent person, by whom prints might
be taken for distribution among the whole members, either at the expense of the
Society or at a low charge for each print. No member would grudge tlie use of liis
negative for such a purpose. Such an arrangement as this would be quite consistent
with an interchange of photographs between members, under a classification recog¬
nised by the Society, or probably with greater safety under private arrangements
which would not be open to objection as tending to split the Society into sections.
These, however, are matters of detail ; and I probably should not venture to do more
than merely suggest the importance of seeking to make the interchange of pictures a
means not only of securing for members a more extensive and varied collection than
would otherwise be attainable, hut of diffusing among all the members a mutual in¬
terest in each other’s progress.
If, gentlemen, you accept of this outline cs anything like an indication of our ob¬
jects, it must be our own fault if we do not succeed in imparting to our meeting the
greatest variety. A limitation of our business to the purely theoretical or manipula¬
tive branches of photography might pall ; and, even could we be sure of obtaining
sufficient contributions within these departments, the great majority of our members
might, ere long, find the proceedings to be devoid of interest. But we may, I think,
contrive to interweave or combine with the details of the art much that would interest
and instruct and he ever fresh. As there is no one who may not press photography
into his service, aud make it applicable to the purposes of his special pursuit, so we
may recruit our ranks from every profession and employment, and trust the camera
to reproduce for us, in all its truthfulness, the various objects and forms by which
each of our members may illustrate the subject on which he chooses to speak. To
prove this, it is only necessary to advert to the numerous and important applications
of the art.
[Mr. M. then adverted to the applicability of photography to the arts of painting and
sculpture, and to the benefits which it conferred upon the artist by giving him studies
of costume and form, enabling him to seize upon the characteristic features of a crowd,
and to delineate the workings of passion. He referred, also, to the advantages which
it offered to the sculptor and the architect, by placing within their reach the master¬
pieces of art ; and to the manufacturer and the man of science, by enabling him to
multiply their designs in endless variety, or to record, with unerring fidelity, the
resemblances of Nature and the working of her laws.]
The simple statement of the infinitely varied applications of photography suggests
the means by which the business of this Society may, in like manner, be infinitely
diversified. It requires hut that each member who has devoted himself to any one of
the multifarious branches of science above alluded to, and who has applied this art
to the objects of his observation, should come here with his illustrations, and, telling
us of his modus operandi, should connect these details with the leading truths of liis
favourite study. In this way the knowledge of the artist, the architect, the sculptor,
the botanist, the astronomer, or the geologist, might all he made available to interest,
to amuse, and to instruct. In this way even the legendary lore and out-of-the-way
facts of the antiquary might come home to the most work-day world utilitarian, and
he would be surprised to find that in the rubbings from monumental brasses, the
illuminations of some old monkish missal or mediasval charter, or in the mouldering
remains of some feudal fastness or baronial residence, there was still a human interest,
as on the suggestion of some humble photograph the long-departed years were brought
hack, and the all-but-forgotten dead were recalled from their obscurity to re-enact the
ancient story which has given to them and all that appertained to them a long-lived
interest.
These are all practical means by which variety may be given to the meetings of the
Society ; but, after all, the deepest sources of pleasure or of interest with which each one
of us must look at his own pictures are those in which no one but himself can partici¬
pate. Every one of them has a little history of its own; and as wre look at it after a
period of years we re-liv8 the time at which it was taken. The scene comes up before
us as fresh as ever, the friends who were with us, the conversation we had, the minutest
April 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
1S5
expression of lineament, and every little accessory of time and place and circumstance
are reproduced, and you marvel to find that the long-obscured remembrance requires
but to be breathed upon to come out sharp in every outline, and perfect in the minutest
detail. It was but the other day that I turned over some blurred and defective prints of
a few pictures, taken two years since, in the West, and there seated beside some boats
drawn up on the beach, in the dress and attitude, and with the very smile he had, was
the friend who, but a few months afterwards, passed away from all human friendships,
and lives for us but in memory, and through the medium of this art. It is strange how
such incidents move us. They suggest, moreover, what for all of us is a solemn consi.
deration, that the tablets of our memory are sensitised surfaces, on which every expe¬
rience i3 leaving its impression to be brought out some day. Not more surely does every
beam of light and every breath of air which falls upon an object permanently affect it
than does every incident in our lives, even the long-forgotten sorrow of childhood, leave
its peculiar stamp and trace. It blends itself with the firmer texture of our youth and
manhood, but it lives still, and may at any moment be reprodueed, for aught we know.
Lewis, in his Studies on Animal Life, tells us that if a wafer be laid on a surface of
polished metal, which is then breathed upon, and if, when the moisture of the breath
has evaporated, the wafer be shaken off, we shall find that the whole polished surface is
not as it was before, although our senses can detect no difference ; for if we breathe again
upon it the surfaoe will be moist everywhere except on the spot previously sheltered by
the wafer, which will now appear as a spectral image on the surface. Again and again
we breathe, and the moisture evaporates, but still the spectral wafer reappears. The
experiment succeeds after a lapse of many months, if the metal be carefully put aside
where its surface cannot be disturbed. If a sheet of paper, on which a key has been laid,
be exposed for some minutes to the sunshine, and then instantaneously viewed in the dark,
the key being removed, a fading spectre of the key will be visible. Let the paper be put
aside for many months, where nothing can disturb it, and then, in darkness, be laid on
a plate of hot metal, the spectre of the key will reappear. So is it with ourselves ; and
even as under intense cerebral excitement illiterate persons have teen known to
utter the words of an unknown language which they had long before heard without com¬
prehending words forgotten for years, and the traces of which, in ordinary conditions,
*altV' as t? be invisible — so may acts, scenes, and incidents in our own lives,
which have loug since faded from our recollections, again start forward into promi¬
nence under other conditions of existence, just as the application of heat forces into
reappearance the spectral image of the key. Verily our own consciousness may at any
time supersede the office of the recording angel!
A few words more as to the value of photography as a diversion from the cares,
anxieties, and distractions of business— as a means of educating the taste for the
.U cmlT0i0f multlplying the avenues of pleasure— and I have done.
• J'tost ot us> 1 dar« say> are engaged in the active business, and have to bear our part
in, e strugS}fs and contests of common life. A\ e are scarcely able to emancipate our-
selves from the passions, prejudices and influences of party and sect, and the more
we are thrown into the toil and trouble, and subjected to the pressing demands of busi-
I!!‘tS’.oth8 keened we are apt to become to the gentle and refining influences of
nature, or of the beautiful in art — the more insensible to the higher and nobler aspira¬
tions of our being. Now everything which come3 in here to divert us from the private
interests and political questions which so deeply divide men — to take us out of the region
ol party stntes— and to open our hearts to kindly, genial, elevating influences— to
improve our perceptions of the beautiful wherever that is to be found, and to refine our
nobler sensibilities, is to be welcomed and embraced. I apprehend that the study of art
does this— that it tends to the development of a part of our being which the ordinary
pui suits of life leave dormant; and to that development everything which enables us to
see beauty where we had previously overlooked it— everything which raises the standa; d
ot that ideal beauty which all men cherish to some extent— ministers to our true
culture, and gives to our being greater completeness and higher dignity. I believe
. ‘ t le Practice of photography is a most powerful means of training the outer and
inner eyes for the perception of beauty. Beauty surrounds us. It environs us oa every
side, it is an all-pervading presence. But men may live in the midst of it, and still
not see it. To such men nature is a great literality— a stone is but a stone, aa
insect but a creeping thing. For them there is no charm in the turn of a leaf—
m the delicate interlacing of light and shadow — in the outline of a mountain
range— or m the shaping of a summer cloud reflected in the bosom of one of
our own mountain lakes. And yet within these men mav slumber a God.given
t0 P^cei-ve beauty in everything. It may need" but to be awakened
and to be cultivated to qualify them for recognising an effloresence of infinite beauty in
the flowers of spring, in the budding leaflet and the blade of grass, as well as in the
ocean, the mountains, the clouds, the heavens, the stars, the rising and setting sun.
t lis caPacity cultivated but in very moderate measure has an unfail-
ng delight in the contemplation of nature. He is, so far, independent of society and
; „an,d, aJ1 of uj? “ust have seen such ail one luxuriate in scenes and circumstances
which yielded no delight to other men less receptive of beauty, because, I do be-
“ad. n®ver cultivated their receptivity by the practice of photography or
M^V1cg? -+r PaintlnS’ or any of the other educational processes, by which men have
their spiritual as well as their physical vision improved, and learn where to look for,
™ -° F,erCAre’ ,beauty- There is profound truth, as well as great charm
’ in the following extract from Blackwood, with which I shall conclude
* 7 Us’ 1Q a great measure, create our own happiness, which is not half so much
l°e”2S ai,ld circumstances as most people are apt to imagine. And so it
be,a?,t/‘ Isatn.re ^es little more than furnish us with materials of both, leaving
streams arSp?11 our®eWes- ‘Stars, and flowers, and hills, and woods, and
tnhpfni’Prf1?„ft!i‘ShtUd ^?rds>.and voices, vehicles, and missionaries;’ but they need
understand ? rigFlt sPlrlf’ ,We must read and listen for them, and endeavour to
forget to tnl lri by them. And when we look around us upon earth, we must not
Donulai (. uhknFP‘? d t0 he,aven- ‘Those who can see God in everything,’ writes a
FhFv ’ a *‘6ure ^ see K°od in everything.’ We may add, with truth, that
oeace with3°on^i l° see ,beauty m, everything and everywhere. When we are at
thin™ 7i,th i elve?, aud tfae world, it is us though we gazed upon outward
We 8kno7°lthn> 3 Solden-tmted g’;as3> and saw a glory resting upon them all.
wifi Z cannot be long thus : sin and sorrow and blinding tears
atrain ™d hv nFdK°r^0f 1°Ur^ ln.m°st thoughts; but we must pray, and look
rennilA th°A\?ud Pass away. There is beauty everywhere, but it
requires to be sought, and the seeker after it is sure to find it. It may be in some out-
H7L!'7ay^!f06,,whe,7 .no one else would tbink of looking. Beauty is a fairy • some-
nhKhilS8 herself in a buttercup, or under a leaf, or creeps into the old ivy, and
S , h me-and-seek with the sunbeams, or haunts some ruined spot, or laughs out of a
r,,.nf.7iF°Un° fer7 Sometimes she takes the form of a white c’.oud, and gees dancing
* green fields or the deep blue sea, when her misty form, marked out in a
FFFF!7ttaiy darkness> looks like the passing shadow of an angel’s wing. Beauty is a
and Yeav.es herself a robe of various hues, according to the season ; and it is
“ d*° say which is the most becoming of all the attitudes and shades she is wont to
assume, as she traces her lineaments on the broad canvas of nature."
e^emen, we shall not find that our time has been either unpleasantly or unnro-
I occupied if by means of our meetings here we have our susceptibility to beauty
ncieased; if we are enabied to discover the fairy and coquette in places where other-
T, !?.VVe #.h°uld not have looked for her, or to deteot her under disguises which, but for
u experience as photographers, we should not have been able to penetrate.
fostering care, to attain to at least an average acquaintance with the
beautiful art of photography.
Bailie Blackadder expressed himself highly pleased at being present.
He, like the Dean of Guild, was only a photographer in embyro ; but
from his connexion with that Society, which gave such strong evidences
of vitality, he hoped, ere long, to be more intimately acquainted with the
art. If he could not expect to practise it himself, he might at least
derive, as he had done that evening, pleasure and instruction from the
skilful labours of others, and be enabled to ajipreciate intelligently such
beautiful works as adorned the walls of their place of meeting, in which,
as was most befitting, literature and art were wedded together.
After a few remarks from Mr. 0. Falshaw and Mr. Nicol,
The Secretary announced that a paper On the Fothergill Process, illus¬
trated by experiments, would be read at the next meeting by Mr. Burns.
The meeting then adjourned.
LIVERPOOL PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUB.
On Thursday, the 7th instant, the members of the above Club met at the
house of Di\ Cauty. The meeting was one of considerable interest.
Among the specimens exhibited by the host were a number of interest¬
ing stereographs by the dry processes, a quantity of brilliant proofs from
Mr. Bedford’s best subjects, and a stereoscopic camera, of excellent de¬
sign and workmanship, with transfer-box, of perfect construction, by
Messrs. Newton, of Liverpool.
Mr. W. G. Helsby exhibited a number of most interesting photographs
of South American scenery, produced by his brother on a yacht voyage
along the West Coast. Among them may be specially noticed a View of
Valparaiso, taking in the Bay and shipping at anchor ; The ex- Governor's
House (Juan Fernandez), a mountain scene of wild grandeur ; Robinson
Crusoe's Gave; and several picturesque views of the silver mines in Chili.
The whole, comprising upwards of twenty subjects, are handsomely bound
in the form of an album, for presentation to the friends of the spirited
proprietor of the yacht. The work reflects great credit on the photo¬
graphers, Messrs. Helsby and Co., Valparaiso.
The conversation having been directed to the cause of the cracking of
the films of varnished collodion negatives, a member suggested a plan by
which the evil could be entirely obviated. After thoroughly washing the
fixed negative, and draining for a minute, he pours over a solution of
gum arabic, draining, drying, and varnishing in the usual manner.
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The usual meeting of this Society was held on the 13th ult. The
business was confined to arranging for the election of officers at the next,
which will be the Annual Meeting, and some alteration in the rules, not
of any particular interest out of the Society.
ON THE INJURIOUS INFLUENCE OF DRYING
POSITIVE PAPER.
By T. Mende.
Photographers are but too well aware that sensitised positive
paper becomes rapidly discoloured, especially in a warm moist
atmosphere, even in the dark. The loss and inconvenience caused
by this decomposition led several experimentalists to trace out the
source of it, and it was found to consist in the presence of moisture,
and that if the sensitised paper could be kept in a perfectly dry
atmosphere it would remain a considerable length of time un¬
changed. With this view boxes were contrived in which the air
should be kept dry by the presence of chloride of calcium. Theso
answer exceedingly well for the purpose in view; but, in removing
the evil, it is found that sensitised paper, after it has been kept three
days or more in the drying box, gives hut very feeble pictures,
resembling those taken on paper from which the free nitrate has
been removed by washing. The cause of this is that a certain per
centage of water is necessary to effect the decomposition of the
chloride of silver in the presence of light ; and if it be absent the
chemical changes concurring in the production of a strong positive
print are wanting.
If the hypothesis he true, that the image is formed of successive
layers of chloride of silver at the expense of the free nitrate, ex¬
cited by the reducing powers of light, we have an explanation of
the reason why highly dried sensitive paper fails to give good proofs.
It is easy to overcome this difficulty without abandoning the
use of the highly useful preservative cases, simply by damping the
sensitised paper between leaves of moistened blotting paper pre¬
vious to putting it into the printing frame. The paper immediately
absorbs as much moisture as is necessary to cause the nitrate of
silver to act during printing. — Photographisches Archiv.
At the conclusion of the President’s address,
The Lord Dean of Guild moved a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Marwick
for his admirable, address, adding, that although he was the youngest
and most inexperienced member of the Society, he yet trusted, under its
Obituary. — Suddenly, at his residence, the ’Estanci de los Sajoues,
Buenos Ayres, James Peter Sheridan, Esq., formerly a member of the
Liverpool Photographic Society, and an ardent photographer in the
waxed-paper process.
136
TjjH E BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1801
€0rresjjflittmu.e,
MOUNTING PRINTS.— KEEPING SENSITISED PAPER.
To the Editor.
Sib, — Will you be so kind as to tell me, through the medium of your
Journal, how to prevent the prints from curling the cardboard after
mounting? I dislike the India-rubber solution, on account of the disagree¬
able smell it introduces to the print. Also, which you think is the best
preservative for sensitised paper — chloride of calcium or lime? I am,
yours, &c., AN AMATEUR.
London , March 26, 1861.
[1. You must damp the cardboard on which you mount your prints, if
you employ any adhesive material soluble in water. The plan lately
recommended by Mr. Stuart, of Glasgow, appears to us a very good one,
viz., apply your adhesive material to the back of your proof, and let it
dry; then damp the cardboard; place the prepared print in its proper
place, and pass the two between rollers, or under a lithographic press.
2. We think that Mr. Spiller’s box with common quick lime most advan¬
tageous to use at home; Marion’s case with chloride of calcium if for a
journey.— Ed.]
LOOK AFTER YOUR CAMERAS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Having been a sufferer by the inroads of a very small, though
by no means despicable, enemy, I am desirous of warning my brother
photographers against it, and take advantage of your kindness to do so
through the medium of your Journal.
I stowed away my cameras very safely, as I thought, in a dry attic
for the winter ; but, upon taking them out the other day, in order to
commence operations for the summer, I found the bottom of one of them
perforated by small round holes, made by the ordinary wood- worm, and I
shall be obliged to have a new bottom put to the camera.
Perhaps you could kindly tell me of some method of keeping the worms
away from the wood ; if so, you will confer a great obligation upon
yours, &c., VERMIS.
Liverpool, 22nd March, 1861.
[We scarcely know to what animal you refer by the term wood-worm.
As a rule, wood is perforated by the larva; of certain beetles, and some¬
times by white ants in hot climates. We imagine that good French
polish would be the best protection. — Ed.]
SENSITIVENESS OF THE RESIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The great drawback to the mode of preserving dried plates, by
putting resin into the collodion, has been the dread of impaired sensibility-
after prolonged keeping: two weeks have been considered the utmost that
might be depended upon.
In a former communication I mentioned I had put one by to test it, and
am now able to state the particulars.
On the 16th of October, last year, I prepared a plate 6J inches by 8J,
using no other precaution than what might be called excessive washing.
After resting it edgewise upon two bricks, in a dark box, it has remained
so until Saturday, the 9th of March, this year. The morning was fine,
and I exposed it with a plate prepared two days before, viz., 7th March.
The exposure was just the same in each — exactly two minutes — and each
developed with the same chemicals: the only difference I can detect
(excepting a few holes in the film from over-iodised and at the time fresh
collodion) is that the longest kept was the more sensitive plate of the
two. — I am, yours, &c., ^ C. COREY.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION OF 1862.— A HINT.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A very general opinion seems to exist among photographers that
this year’s Exhibition is not equal to that of last ; and even in your own
kindly critiques you admit that, at all events, it shows no degree of
progress.
Now, although, no doubt, last season was about the worst for photo¬
graphic purposes we have had for years, still, I think, if a spirit of
emulation had been infused amongst ns, a superior display of manipulative
as well as artistic skill would have resulted, even in spite of the weather.
But, say you, how is this friendly rivalry to be “developed?” Very
easily, in my opinion. Let the Photographic Society give forth, at once,
that they will arrange the pictures at their next Exhibition in a different
manner to that adopted heretofore, and instead of hanging them on
the walls “ promiscusly,” as Mrs. Gamp would say, they will place
the contributions of the members of each Society in groups or divisions,
thereby enabling the public to form a judgment, by comparison, on the
skill and artistic qualities of their respective members.
This plan would arouse us all to action. Each Society, as represented
by its individual members, would make the most strenuous exertions to
produce fine pictures, and carry off the palm of superiority ; and I am
confident in the prediction, that the stimulus thus given would result in
a Photographic Exhibition which, for novelty, extent, beauty, and general
excellence, has never been seen before in this country.
Leaving the better advocacy of this idea in your own able hands, should
you think well of it, — I am, yours, &c., A.
P. S. — Of course the proposed arrangement would not necessarily ex¬
clude the productions of non-society members : a division could easily be
arranged for them, as well as for foreign contributors.
PHOTOGRAPHS IN NATURAL COLOURS.
[A friend at Liverpool lately received the following amusing nutc :]
Dear - , You will remember in The British Journal op Photo¬
graphy how a certain Mr. J. F., of Congleton — “a neglected genius"—
had made the grand discovery of applying colour to photographic pictures,
per old Sol.
At riving here, I asked my principal customer his whereabouts, and was
told (in a facetious tone) I would find it next door to a little beer ihn
with the information on a dirty board, that “ LODgINS fon ThAUIL iS"
could be had ; but that if a spot in the country could be named where art
was in its infancy, that would be the place.
Arriving there, I could not help laughing at the plain and coloured
specimens, which reminded me of those (only a shade worse) outside the
yellow caravan in Scotland Road. Thinking, however, the 11 gems''
might be hid from mortal eye, inside, I walked in and made the acquaint¬
ance of no less a personage than J. F. himself, who informed me “ them
wur Is. 6d. a piece, and thur wur hafe-a-guinea,” and that he wur the
only man in England who knew “how to colour them wi’t sun.” I said I
would look at them ; but learned “ t’price wur athaasand paands,” which,
you may conceive, I did not feel inclined to pull out of my pocket. Asking
the difference betwixt the “ eighteenpenny ” and “ lnafe-guinca ” samples,
I learned the latter “ wur moor laaf-like, and theer wur summat abaat it
he never saw abaat any other.” “T’Manchister folk did bigger ; but take
microscope and yaw could see three colours it eye. T’Lundon foaks had
sent for samples ; but he knew nobbut but to critisaaze it : and if he
showed it, other foak could finnd it aat, soa he’d be paid for it.” 1 there¬
fore left as wise as I went, with the impression that Mr. J. F.’s discovery
and secret could be embodied in a single word, viz. — II, U, M, B, U, G.
Congleton , March 13 th, 1861. Yours sincerely, AV. G.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
rETER. — We shall have a paper on the subject shortly.
li. G-. — Will propose you as a candidate for election, as requested.
F. P. >1.— Received with thanks. Very good, but rather too large.
R. L. M.— Received. Will endeavour to reply to all your queries shortly.
Doubtful. — A few drops ; the exact quantity is quite immaterial — say five to fifteen.
A. W. K. — Received too late for reply in our last. No. 3 is the retail, No. 1 the whole¬
sale agent.
T. M.— Fill up the deficiency with a slightly stronger solution— say thirty-five or forty
grains to the ounce of water.
S. W.— A little more time on the exciting bath, or increased strength of the latter, will
most likely remedy the annoyance complained of.
R. (Fermoy). — Too much acetic acid materially retards the development of an im¬
pression ; but too much nitric acid will arrest it altogether : so you can take your choice.
J. B. L. — We should not advise a trial of waxed-paper for negatives, if, as you state, you
meau to practise upon dry glass plates eventually: the manipulation of the one will not
be much assisted by familiarity with the other.
Amateur (Leicester).— Wc intend giving the details for which you ask in our next.
We do not print letters for the benefit of the senders, but in order that our replies may
be useful also to others of our readers. Yours will therefore appear in our next.
Viator. — See our remarks upon albumenised plates for negatives. If you want them
only for personal use, try Major Russel! s tannin process, which you will find in the last
(sixth) edition of Hardwich's Manual.
Tuos. Smallwood.— Hyposulphite of soda is not so good for fixing positives on glass ai
cyanide of potassium, because it degrades the tone of the high lights more than the latter,
and in glass positives they are never too brilliant.
J. Martin.— The “pistolgraph” (!) is intended for taking instantaneous pictures only,
of about one inch square in size, for which purpose it is perfectly efficient ; but for larger
sizes it is not applicable : consequently it is simply a question of size as to whether it
will answer your purpose or not.
Quasimodo.— It is not unlike, certainly ! The dwarfish appearance arises from your
having your camera too high with respect to your sitter ; the lower extremities become
thereby foreshortened. If you cannot lower your camera, you must elevate your sitter
by placing him, chair and all, on a sort of dais. Looking down upon a sitter will always
impart an undignified appearance to your portraits.
Chas. Sumpter.— If you place the stop in contact with the view-lens you eure the dis¬
tortion, it is true ; but you introduce too great curvature of the field. It is chiefly in order
to flatten the field that the diaphragm is placed at a distance from the lens, hence the
larger diameter of the latter. If the two were in contact, there would he no need for the
lens itself to be larger than the largest diaphragm.
Quiz. — Lenses are to be obtained fit for the several purposes named— that is for
stereographic portraits and landscapes combined in one instrument — either of Mr.
Dallmeyer or Mr. Ross. The focus is, however, much longer than you name : it is perfect
nonsense to reckon it from the back lens. We must refer you to trade lists and advertise¬
ments for prices. They are double combinations, and include a wide angle of picture.
An Amateur. — Your note arrived so late that in order to give any reply in our last we
were obliged to be content with a very partial examination of your specimen enclosed.
We are not aware that we have mis-estimated the cause of your trouble, except, perhaps,
as regards the density of your negative, which possibly may be sufficient ; but wc feci
convinced that your exciting bath for the paper is too weak. The chief fault, however,
lies in the toning bath, which, we have no doubt, has become inactive from precipitation
of the gold. As before indicated, the latter should be mixed only just before using.
William Daniels.— Your stereograph is very fair in execution. The reason why one
picture is rather lighter than the other is, that one has received, in effect, more exposure
than the other, whether this be so actually or not. You do not state how it was taken ;
but, if with a bi-lens camera, one lens works quicker than the other. The same would
apply whether a wet or dry collodion plate were used. Again, if wet collodion and a
single-lens camera were employed, the picture that is exposed last should have more time
allowed than the other, to produce an equal effect, as sensitiveness of the wet film is
certainly deteriorated by the lapse of time.
Robert Burnhard. — You have stopped the development of your plate before the in¬
tensity is sufficient : ,\ ou must bear in mind that a n -gativc looks more intense in the
dark room than is really the case, and also that the fixing reduces it somewhat. Your
collodion also is not good ; there is evidently too much water in it, as indicated by the
crapy lines. This last effect may sometimes be mitigated by letting the film set more
than usual before immersing it in the nitrate of silver bath. It is not improbable that
the addition of a little more iodising material may assist you ; try one grain of iodide of
cadmium to an ounce of the present iodised collodion. We do not like, the alcoholic
collodion, though we think it very likely to be preferable in hot climates— in fact, it stands
to reason that it should be so.
Practical Instructions on Colouring Photographs. —We are reluctantly
compelled to omit Mr. Wall's Paper in the present number.
The usual letter from our Paris Correspondent bad not arrived up to the time ol
our going to press.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No, 140, Vol. VIII. — APRIL 15, 1861.
Halation. — At the last meeting of the Photographic Society
(London), a paper by Mr. Marlow, of Birmingham, purporting
to be on the subject of “ Halation,” was read by the Secretary,
As will be perceived, on reference to our report of the meeting,
it is very evident that the author of the paper has altogether
mistaken the signification of the term — or we should perhaps
more correctly say that he has misapplied it to another phe¬
nomenon. It is also not a little singular that a considerable
amount of confusion has been caused by the classification under
one head of several distinct objectionable phenomena arising
from very different causes. The particular one to which Mr.
Marlow’s paper was devoted is a species of fogging, unfortu¬
nately but too familiar to those operators who have much to do
in the delineation of interiors, especially where a southern
window at the extremity of a long dark aisle has to form the
principal centre of the subject; and the objectionable effect is
heightened to a very offensive degree when operating at or
about noon, when the direct solar rays fall upon the window.
This effect has been attributed to “ diffraction,” or bending of
the rays of light that pass in immediate contiguity by the edges
of objects. But, without at present discussing that question,
we may explain that the appearance presented is that of a
haze or fogging of greater or less amount extending from the
highlights over a portion of the shadows or darker parts of the
picture. This, however, is not what is understood as “halation.”
Moreover, the effect produced is diametrically opposed to
what occurs in the latter ; for in this the outline is more or less
obscured and degraded as regards sharpness and intensity,
while in the case of real “ halation ” the sharpness of outline is
materially increased so as to become very offensively hard and
cutting. Where the outline of a landscape or architectural
subject is in contact with that of a bright sky, when halation
takes place it is produced by a very dense deposit of silver,
commencing exactly at the junction of the sky with the darker
part of the subject, and extends into the sky part of the picture,
decreasing in intensity until it is lost in the general deposit of
I silver which represents the sky. The breadth of the said dense
band varies with circumstances ; but when present it always
| exists only in the lights, never over the dark parts. We may
observe that we have never known the phenomenon of true
halation to occur except when the sun is low down towards the
horizon, and when at the same time the exciting bath has con¬
tained a large proportion of organic matter.
We will now address a few observations with reference to the
subject really discussed in Mr. Marlow’s paper — a species of
fogging — and for which we are disposed to adopt a term sug¬
gested by Mr. Henry Bohn, who was present at the meeting,
and which appears to be sufficiently descriptive and appropriate,
namely, that of “ nubation.” Mr. Marlow attributes the effect
of nubation to reflection from the under surface of the glass plate,
and he was directed towards this conclusion from observing that
the defect is always most noticeable at the back of the picture.
It would be impossible, without more mature consideration and
experiment, to decide upon the accuracy of this conjecture.
There ai’e several points of objection to this theory which might
possibly be established ; but we do not think that the specimens
exhibited in illustration of the paper wrere by any means suffi¬
ciently satisfactory to form a basis upon which to found a
theory. To begin with — they were, with one exception, pro*
duced by exposure to the direct light, under an opening in a
piece of card, and not in the camera. Possibly the explanation
proposed by Mr. Marlow for the effects thus produced may be
tolerably correct in the main ; but we question whether it at all
holds good when a similar appearance arises in taking views of
interiors. Again : the remedy proposed, that of coating the back
of the plate with a film of black varnish, we consider to be
quite out of the question in practice ; and, even assuming the
theory propounded to be correct, we believe that the placing of
a piece of black cotton velvet or undressed black cloth in contact
with the back of the plate while in the dark slide wrould be quite
as effectual as using the black varnish, and far more practicable.
We consider that the subject of the paper upon which we
have been commenting quite as worthy of investigation as that
of halation, and the discussion of it may prove of much
service by directing inquiry towards a solution of this cause of
annoyance. Our objections to the proposed explanation are
not made in a captious spirit, but simply for the purpose of
endeavouring to aid in clearing up the mystery of its occur¬
rence at certain times and not at others. With regard to the
diagram which accompanies the paper, no notice is taken of the
effects of refraction arising from the obliquity of the incident
ray ; but this may have been purposely omitted for simplifica¬
tion of the illustration. We cannot, however, omit drawing
attention to the probability that, supposing any light to. have
passed through the collodion film, so as to suffer reflection at
the second surface back again upon the film by its passage
through the iodide of silver, especially when occurring within
the camera, the actinic portion will have been effectually
arrested by the said iodide — as will be very readily conceded
by any one who has ever attempted to print from a negative
from which any portion of the iodide of silver has not been
dissolved out of the film.
In conclusion, we would remark that when the effect of
“ nubation” (as we propose to call it) happens in taking a negative
of an interior, the window or opening in contiguity to which
it occurs generally occupies a spot not far from the centre of
the picture ; and, in this case, the rays are incident with but
very slight obliquity upon the plate — a condition of things most
unfavourable to internal reflection : the greater the obliquity
of incidence, up to a certain point, the more perfect the reflec¬
tion (so that at an incidence of from 40° to 45° the reflection
becomes total) ; ' and it is very rarely that the image of a
window located upon the edge of the plate is defaced by this
defect, while, supposing the theory adduced to be sound, it is
precisely when so situated that the disfigurement ought to be
at its maximum.
138
[April 15, 1861
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
A Hint. — We think there is a good opportunity for the pro¬
duction of a popular stereoscopic slide by any photographer
who will take the trouble of depicting the omnibuses now
running on Mr. Train’s new street railway from the Marble
Arch, at Hyde Park, to Bayswater. A good “ instantaneous ”
picture would, we fancy, be in great demand, especially
amongst those of our provincial friends who have not yet had
an opportunity of inspecting this novelty of the day.
Soiree. — On the 4th instant, a gathering of photographic
celebrities took place in the Great Hall of King’s College,
London, on the occasion of a reception by the Lord Chief
Baron, Sir Frederick Pollock, President of the Photographic
Society. There was a very numerous attendance of both ladies
and gentlemen. Many gentlemen of note in the scientific
world were present as guests upon the occasion. Nearly the
whole of the pictures from the Exhibition then just closed had
been removed to King’s College, which, together with some
additional specimens (including some from Messrs. Rejlander
and Prout, which were much admired), were tastefully arranged
round the Hall, and displayed to much greater advantage than
in the Pall Mall gallery. Specimens of apparatus, stereoscopes,
microscopes, and some very brilliant chemicals, were arranged
on the various tables, and excited much attention, very many
of the ladies being particularly interested therein. In
several instances we were asked by visitors whether it would be
possible to obtain admission on the following morning, in order
to go carefully over the collection of photographs — an evidence
of the fact, that it is only necessary to bring the productions of
our art under the cognisance of persons of taste and education,
who have not hitherto had opportunities of viewing them under
moderately favourable conditions, in order to extend the ranks
of those -who view our pursuit with feelings of interest, even if
they do not take an active part in it. We must not omit to
mention that amongst the adornments of the Hall upon the late
festive occasion were a few specimens of sculpture, one of which
in particular was very much admired, as well for its excellence
of execution as for its conception. The subject to which we
allude is entitled Go to Sleep, and is the representation of a
sweet little girl, in a graceful attitude (a portrait, we were in¬
formed), attempting to hold a dog back in her arms, much as a
nurse would hush a baby; while the dog, which is not apparently
a consenting party to the arrangement, is struggling to assume
a more ordinary position of canine dignity. It is only needful
to mention the name of Mr. Durham, as the artist, to testify to the
artistic value of the composition ; and it will afford our readers
satisfaction to learn that he is also an accomplished photographer.
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMENTS.
By T. F. Hardwick.
No. XXL
We are glad to find that Major Russell intends publishing a
pamphlet containing a full and detailed account of his dry process
with tannin as a preservative. For several weeks we had no oppor¬
tunity of comparing notes with him as to the practical working of
the new method ; and hence we were pleased to meet him a few
days since, and to find that he is still actively engaged in experi¬
menting. More than a year ago we could not refrain from saying
to a friend, that if the reward of discovery went by desert, and not
by accident, Major Russell would undoubtedly obtain it — not only
from his perseverance in examining the dry processes already known,
but from the happy originality he displays in devising new ones.
Two or three points in the tannin process occur to us as need¬
ing remark. When we first tried this method, we were strongly
reminded of the action of glycyrrhizine in the wet process, con¬
cerning which one of our best practical operators stated that in
his opinion its especial characteristic was an increased density of
the sky and of other parts of the image on which the light acts
strongly. The tannin dry process in like manner gives an excel¬
lent redness and vigour to the high lights of the negative, but the
half tones are more inclined to a metallic greyness. Supposing the
actinic force of the light to fall below a certain point, the opacity
of the deposit is, according to our experiments, less with tanriii
than with albumen : hence we anticipate that the collodio alhu
men method will still be found preferable for lenses of very Ion,
focus and small aperture, but that the tannin process will give i
softer picture when short- focus lenses are used.
In explaining the action of the tannin we must not attempt to b<
too explicit, since there is evidently a something not clearly intelli
gible. The fact of tannic acid being a reducing agent has evident])
to do with its property of accelerating development and imparting
intensity ; but, in addition to this, it seems to possess some othei
quality which renders it favourable for that purpose, since it pro
duces a more marked effect than pyrogallic acid, which as a men
absorber of oxygen far surpasses it. In the wet process wc
observe the same thing ; for the image developed by gallic acid is
more chemically opaque than that of pyrogallic acid, although tl(
former is the weaker reducing agent. It will probably not lead u-
far astray to view the matter in the following light: — when organ!
bodies reduce the salts of silver, there is, as a rule, a combination o
organic matter of some kind with the product of the reduction
This combination is more marked in the case of albumen — a weals
reducer — and less so in that of pyrogallic acid ; hence the forraei
(and bodies like the extractive matters which resemble it photo¬
graphically) may be expected to give the greater intensity.
Major Russell, in using newly iodised collodion for the tannin
process, finds it to produce a redder and more decided image than
old iodised collodion ; but our own experience has been invariably
in the opposite direction. Both observations are doubtless correct,
and the discrepancy may perhaps be reconciled by considering the
mode of manufacture of the collodion and the length of keeping.
After having been iodised for a certain time, a given collodion may
be found more intense than at first. Allow a longer time to elapse
and it may prove to be less intense. The same rule applies to the
bath; and, although moderately old baths usually produce increased
vigour of negative, baths of still greater age often lessen the vigour
In each case the changes are due partly to a transformation o
organic matter, and partly to the presence of iodine or acid. Il
would be impossible to lay down any fixed rule, since the changes
thus affecting density are themselves materially influenced by the
nature of the pyroxyline and the purity of the ether in the collodion
Some mention having been made of fogging in the tannin process
we were anxious to inquire of Major Russell whether he had expe
rienced this annoyance. His reply in the negative was contirma
tory of our own results ; for on no occasion have we had reason tc
complain of fogging, provided the collodion contained enougl
bromide. With a simply iodised collodion foggiug and long!
tudinal streaks are sometimes apparent ; hence we would suggest
to those who make complaint, that if by admixture of various
collodions the proportion of bromide has been too far reduced,
more of that salt should be added.
Another matter which requires notice is the propriety of drying
the film by artificial heat subsequent to the application of the
tannin. It will be remembered by some that, in the early days oi
the Photographic Society, Sir William Newton advocated imperfect
focussing of the picture as a remedy for that excessive sharpness
which he considered to be offensive to the eye of an artist. In the
tannin process we have invariably found that the pictures are
slightly blurred if the plates be merely surface-dried, and that the
negatives possess more of the albumen sharpness when the film is
condensed and the last traces of moisture driven off by placing a
warm iron in the box around the sides of which the plates are
reared. It should be noted, however, that our experiments have
mostly been made in the winter season, at a time when the
atmosphere is very damp.
Mr. Fothergill, whose name is so well known to the photographic
public, has taken up the tannin process, with a view of satisfying
himself as to its capabilities. With two men so remarkable for can¬
dour and perseverance as Major Russell and Mr. Fothergill, the
readers of this Journal may well be satisfied to leave the process,
feeling sure that it will be worked out by little and little, and that
they' will eventually obtain a perfectly impartial statement of its
value as a dry collodion method.
- -
ON THE TESTING OP OLD COLLODION AND PRINTING
BATHS.
By George Dawson, M.A.
[Read at a Meeting of the North London Photographic Association, March 29, 1861.]
In fulfilment of my promise to carry out an extended series ot
experiments — the results of some of which you already know — I
have now the pleasure of laying before you a larger stock of facts,
pril 15, 1861]
om which I think we shall he able to deduce a consideiable
nount of usefid information. . , T
Through the kindness of Mr. Hughes and of some other friends I
ive been favoured with many specimens of old printing and col-
-dion baths, all of which I have examined with great care on
»rery point which I thought might be useful in tne present
iquiry. Rut, in truth, the question, from causes to which I need
3t particularly refer, has assumed a prominence and importance
tr beyond its merits.
Practicallv speaking, I can scarcely fancy a photographer ot any
handing sitting down quietly every morning to ascertain how
luch his baths may have lost in strength since yesterday. _ It
uinot be to acquire useful information, but to gratify an idle
jriosity ; for he knows, or ought to know, the original strength of
is solution — he knows that silver is abstracted each time lie
icites a plate or paper, and experience soon teaches him to esti-
iate this amount pretty nearly. In short, it is the. usual rule, I
fiieve, not to cease using a bath so long as it continues to give
ood results. There are cases when testing may be of use, but
ley are exceptional, and not of frequent occurrence. Neverthe*
*ss, as the question has been raised — what is the. best, quickest,
nd most easily applied method of testing a negative or positi\e
elution, so as that we may be able to tell within a grain or so the
trengthof the bath with which we are about to operate?— I shall
ow contribute my mite towards its settlement.
Several plans have been proposed and instruments devised tor
lis purpose, all possessing defects and advantages in a greater or
iss degree, which I shall examine separately.
1. Specific Gravity Test. — Against this test it has been urged,
nth great theoretical probability, that the accumulation of light
latter in collodion baths and of heavy matter in printing baths
enders its indications valueless. This objection is true to some
xtent, but not nearly so far as is generally supposed. In proof
f this I am able to bring forward some potent facts : — Out of fifteen
Id printing baths sent to me from all parts of the country for analy-
ical investigation, and varying in strength from 49 to 100 grs.
itrate per fluid oz., all — with one remarkable exception, to be
eferred to more particularly hereafter— showed by the sp. gr.
Kittle an amount of nitrate of silver exceeding what they really
ontained only by from 1 to 5 grains. The exact average of excess
vas 3-45 grains. The nitrate of soda and ammonia varied from
75 to 6‘25 grs., the average being 4‘85 grs. In some cases there
vas not sufficient nitrate of soda or ammonia present to account
or the high sp. gr., but in all such instances the baths contained
ree acid, which seemed to have quite as much effect on the test as
he presence of the nitrates. In no case did I detect nitrate of
taryta.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the strength of any solution
ff pure nitrate of silver, as indicated by its sp. gr. To my know-
edge no reliable tables have yet been constructed. My estimate
s based on the following rule, which I have made out by cxperi-
nent. It will be found, I think, correct to within about a grain.*
When the sp. gr. is 1-052, or under, reject the integer, take the
irst two places of the decimal as integers, and the third as a
lecimal, then multiply by 5’75.
Sp. gr. 1-053 to 1-090 multiply by 5-5.
„ 1-090 to 1-160 „ 5-25.
„ 1-160 to 1-190 „ 5-2.
For instance, suppose the sp. gr. of the solution to be 1 * 146,
•eject the integer 1 : taking the first two decimal places 1 and 4 as
ntegers, and the third, viz., 6, as a decimal, we have 14"6 ; and as
jy the table 1*146 lies between T090 and 1*160, we have to mul¬
tiply by 5-25— thus 14-6x5-25=76-65 grs. Now, observe, I do not
jy any means give out this rule as accurate : by a little easing of
[he angle the indications will be sufficiently near for practical pur¬
poses. Hereafter, should the subject be considered of sufficient
importance, I may, with more time at my disposal, be able to fur¬
nish photographers with a more exact and reliable table. Should
any one feel disposed to test the present one, he must not suppose
that a newly made solution, say of 90 grs. pure nitrate of silver,
dissolved in three ozs. of water, will show 30 grs. to the oz. ; for
the water, by the addition of the nitrate, has expanded to more
than 3 fluid ozs., and ought to indicate somewhat less than 29 grs.
Nor is this expansion equal by equal increments of nitrate : it
diminishes upwards ; and this is the great difficulty which besets
us in the construction of these tables. A progressive law of
expansion evidently exists, and probably may be ascertained by a
!n Since this paper was read Mr. Dawson has found good reason, on more careful
investigation, to reject the present rule, and is now completing an accurate sp. gr. table
from 10 grs, to ISO, which will probably appear in our next issue.— Ed.
139
few accurate and well-directed experiments. If so, a series of cal¬
culations will be all that is necessary for any strength of solution.
After all, however correct we may make our tables for pure silver
solutions, their accuracy will be sadly disturbed when testing im¬
pure materials. Of tlie fifteen old printing baths submitted to my
examination, the fourteen whose average I have already given
seemed to contain extremely little impurity derived from the
original nitrate. Probably the free acid they all contained in a.
greater or less degree may be attributed to that source. But this
seems not to have been the case in the exceptional hath. Its
sp. gr.— l-193=about 100 grs. nitrate of silver to fluid oz. ; whereas
a correct analysis gave barely 90 grs. silver, and 2P5 grs. of other
nitrates and organic matter. A large proportion of these 21*5 grs.
was nitrate of potash. How this salt could have got into an old
printing bath I am at a loss to comprehend, unless introduced
originally along with the nitrate of silver. For such solutions as
this, I admit, the sp. gr. test is utterly valueless.
To those, therefore, who may select this method of testing then-
old baths, I would recommend the use of at least tolerably pure
nitrate of silver ; the avoidance of chloride of barium, whose
atomic weight is very high, as a salt for their paper ; and the ab¬
staining from the addition of any extraneous soluble matter : all
of which will materially affect the sp. gr., and render any rule of
calculation impossible. The temperature should also be taken into
account— 60° Fahr. being the standard. For every 10° below this,
deduct 1 gr., and for every 10° above, add 1 gr. It may also
be of importance to know that the blackening of a printing bath
from use does not sensibly affect the sp. gr. One, indeed, I had
as black as ink, which, after clarification by kaolin, was affected
slightly, but not sufficient to alter the sp. gr. to the extent of tuW*
The discoloration I attribute entirely to the suspension of very
fine undissolved particles of organic matter in the liquid. With
these few precautions attended to, and after deducting from 1 to 5
grs. according to the more or less extensive use of the bath, the
sp. gr. indication will tell us to within about 1 gr. the actual
amount of silver present — sufficiently near, I should thiuk, for all
practical purposes.
As respects old collodion baths, this mode of testing is scarcely
so reliable. In six specimens subjected to analysis, the error
ranged from 2 to 7 grs. — all in one direction, viz., below the real
quantity of nitrate present. I do not tliiuk we can fix this erior
so definitely as in old printing solutions ; for, if a collodion bath
when not in use be kept well stoppered or closed up, the error will
be greater than if (other conditions being equal) it were left in a
warm place and exposed to tlie atmosphere. It has been strongly
urged that the error may sometimes lie on the other side, and an
instance lias been produced in proof. I am not by any means sure,
but I believe, that one of my seven analysed specimens was tlie
identical instance adduced. ' It was contained in a bottle labelled
“ old collodion bath,” bad rather a large sediment of flocculent
organic matter, and smelt very strongly of stale pickles, masking
completely the smell of ether and alcohol, if it contained any. The
sp. gr. was 1-065, showing about 36 grs. to the oz. ; whereas, by
careful analysis, it contained only 26 95 grs. nitrate and 675 grs.
foreign matter — a large proportion ot the latter beiDg organic.
One fluid oz. freed from silver by chloride of sodium required 19
grs. dried carbonate of soda to produce neutrality. The acetic
flavour being thus destroyed, the alcohol and ether should now
have made themselves perceptible ; but they did not, and I doubt
whether a trace of either was there. I have therefore no hesitation
in saying that this so-called collodion bath was never used for
that purpose at all ; or, if so, the ether and alcohol it contained,
from exposure to the air, or from some other predisposing cause,
were converted into acetic acid, which affected the sp. gr. to such
a degree. . .
2. Hydrometer Tester. — To the form of this instrument as sold
in the shops some strong objections may be urged. In the first
place it is graduated arbitrarily, that is, it does not show the sp.
gr., which in some measure would be a check on its correctness.
Secondly, the stem is too short, and, in consequence, the scale is
crowded into too small compass to enable us to read accurately its
indications. In principle it is of course tlie same as the former
method; and when we obtain good sp. gr. tables of pure nitrate of
silver solutions, and a better mode ot manufacturing the instru¬
ment, tliat it may show clearly on one side of the scale the sp. gr.
and on the other the corresponding grains of nitrate, we may hope
to see it extensively used, both on account of its approximate truth
and its exceedingly simple mode of application.
3. Another class of instruments has been devised, depending on
a different principle, viz., that 58*5 grs. of chloride of sodium will
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1801
140 THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
exactly precipitate 170 grs. nitrate of silver. Theoretically this
should give perfectly correct results ; and, even practically, with
extraordinary precautions and extremely delicate instruments, we
may depend on it to within of a grain. But what do we find
with these instruments ? We find them in the hands of different
individuals, and even of the same individual, giving very contradic¬
tory conclusions — sometimes four or five and even more grains over
the mark, and sometimes, but seldomer, as many below. Indeed this
is not to be wondered at when we consider the many sources of
error common to them all. It is difficult to obtain pure chloride of
sodium and to dry it perfectly; for the water is not altogether
expelled till it has ceased to crepitate under a strong heat. Our
glass measures as usually sold are never accurate ; and even were
they so their shape and large surface precludes the possibility of
their being accurately used. Moreover, as respects the instru¬
ments themselves, on account of their arbitrary graduation, we
have no very obvious and ready means of ascertaining whether the
error which is sure to exist ought to be laid at their door, or that of
the solution, or both combined. In truth, the error is not constant
nor always in the same direction, and cannot, therefore, be allowed
for. None that I have seen have any arrangement for the violent
agitation necessary for the complete clarification of the liquor
without waste. Finally, when we recollect that a possible or
rather probable large error in one drachm of nitrate solution has to
be multiplied by eight, it is only a matter of wonder that their
inaccuracy is not greater. A nice balance of errors may occa¬
sionally bring about a happy compromise pretty near the truth,
but this must be of very rare occurrence. I have no hesitation,
therefore, in condemning these instruments to the class of philo¬
sophical toys, fit only to amuse a photographic amateur and to
waste his solutions on a rainy day.
A fourth method, founded on the same principle, has been pro¬
posed, possessing, however, all the defects of the previous plan,
attributable to impure materials and imperfect measures, but avoid¬
ing others incident to the instruments themselves. It consists in
dissolving in a certain quantity of distilled water pure dried
chloride of sodium, sufficient to precipitate one gr. nitrate of silver
by one fluid drachm of the solution. The relative proportions of
water and chloride of sodium may be readily ascertained from the
atomic weights of the two salts to be acted on. Since the com¬
bining number of chloride of sodium— 58’5, and that of nitrate of
silver=170, it follows by an easy calculation that 66 grs. chloride
to 24 oz. water is about the right proportion. The mode of apply¬
ing, and the probable results, of this test will be seen from the
following experiments : —
I obtained from three manufacturing chemists of considerable
repute as many specimens of so-called “pure chloride of sodium,”
which for convenience we shall call 1, 2, and 3. With each I
operated separately on a new solution of nitrate of silver, contain¬
ing rather over 80 grs. to the ounce. I used three different sets of
measures throughout in all the subsequent operations. After drying for
two hours a portion of No 1. on a sand-bath, at a temperature of
about 400°, I weighed out 33 grs. and dissolved in 12 ozs. distilled
water. I made similar solutions of Nos. 2 and 3. Two fluid
drachms of the nitrate, along with the washings of the measure
and a little nitric acid, were now poured into an 8-oz. stoppered
bottle, and solution No. 1 added to the point of no more precipita¬
tion. I repeated the experiment with 2 or 3, using, as I have said
before, different sets of measures. There was a very considerable
discrepancy in the results — a solution containing exactly 80'25 grs.
being represented by the numbers 78’5, 84, and 86'5 grs. respect¬
ively. To what causes are we to attribute so much uncertainty
and error ? Chiefly to the utter unfitness of our glass measures
for such delicate experiments. For instance, besides their ordinary
defects, which must be patent to us all, there is another and very
curious source of error not generally known, attributable to the
fact that, although our quarts, pints, and ounces are constructed as
they ought to be, from the standard of the avoirdupois, our
drachms, graduated into minims, are made from apothecaries’
weight, containing 480 grs. to the ounce. They are, therefore,
calculated to contain 60 instead of 54.7 grs. distilled water at the
temperature of 60°.
Another mode of testing, which can scarcely be called of practi¬
cal value to the photographer, but capable in the hands of one accus¬
tomed to chemical manipulation of great exactitude, is useful when
we want to estimate how much foreign matter is present in our
old baths besides nitrate of silver. Its principle is different from
the former, and consists in precipitating the nitrate by pure hydro¬
chloric acid ; filtering, washing, and drying the precipitate along
with its previously weighed filter, till they cease to lose weight
and then calculating the nitrate from the weight of chloride. The
filtrate, with all the chloride washings, when evaporated to dry¬
ness, will show by the weight of residue the other nitrates and
organic matter which may have been present. A slight error ia
estimating the silver may occur when operating on a very dark-
coloured old bath — a small quantity of organic matter (never
according to my observation reaching i gr.) suspended in the solu¬
tion being precipitated along with the chloride, detained by tin;
filter, and not got rid of by any amount of washing. But, if we
first clarify with dried kaolin, no organic matter is thus thrown
down.
Having now expressed my opinions and the reasons for the same
pretty freely, but necessarily very briefly, on the advantages and
disadvantages of the several testing systems which have come
under my notice, I may expect furious attacks from certain
interested or over-sensitive parties, who may feel themselves
aggrieved by my unbiassed and disinterested expression of
opinion. To such individuals I may beforehand reply — and this i ,
the only reply they may have — that unless they can show error in,
and unwarranted deductions from, the facts I have adduced, no
notice whatever will be taken of their communications. If they
show either of these I shall be glad to retract my opinion for the
higher pleasure of gaining a new truth. I have no hesitation
then in pronouncing the hydrometer, when properly constructed,
and when used with the proper precautions, superior to all the
ordinary modes, and perfectly sufficient for the purposes of the
practical photographer.
Should greater nicety be required, I am prepared with a method,
or rather a modification of a method — and, indeed, had it incorpo¬
rated with this paper — by which, without any great trouble or
extraordinary manipulations, we can tell within A of a grain the
amount of silver in any solution. It is the plan I have adopted
throughout the course of my experiments for checking the analysis
by hydrochloric acid, which I was compelled to have recourse to in
order to estimate the other nitrates and organic matter. The
instruments I used were made by myself ; and, in getting more
artistic-looking duplicates made by Mr. Zambra to show you, an
accident occurred which compels me reluctantly to defer this part
of my paper to next meeting, or to consign it to a quiet corner of
our Journal.
THE TANNIN PROCESS.-SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANIPULATION.
By Major Russill.
It seems useless to repeat what is contained in Mr. Hardwicli’s
excellent account of the tannin process (an abstract of which ap¬
peared in your last, at page 121) ; I will therefore confine myself
to points not to be found in it, and to those parts which I think
can be improved upon.
In the first place I think it best to coat the glass with gelatine.
This renders the process quite independent of the mechanical state
of the collodion, which can be selected without regard to anythiug
except sensitiveness and the quality of negative which it produces.
In my hands new, or nearly new, collodion gives the best results
as well as the greatest sensitiveness. I am still making experi¬
ments to determine which is the best kind of collodion, and other
doubtful points ; but at present it appears that the film should be
rather horny.
Bromide should be used largely ; its addition rapidly increasing
both sensitiveness and intensity up to three parts of bromide to
eight of iodide. Further addition causes less and less improve¬
ment, till the best proportion appears to be reached at about two
parts by weight of bromide to three of iodide.
The substitution of albumen for gelatine is not advisable, as it is
not so effectual, contaminates the bath, and would be likely to
injure the keeping qualities of the plates.
The excited plates should be thoroughly freed from nitrate. My
practice is first to remove the greater part with distilled water,
and then to soak the plates for half-an-hour in common water.
Salt and water may be used without any detriment, if the salt be
entirely removed again by copious washing.
The only fault of the process in my hands has been a tendency
to blurring at the edges of the sky and high lights which is some¬
times produced by various causes, such as great contrast of light
and shadow, and over-exposure. The use of both gallic and pyro-
gallic acids on the same plate is not recommended, as it usually
produces this annoyance.
I have only lately found out that this difficulty may be entirely
avoided by using more acid in the developer, and that the stronger
the solution of tannin the larger must be the proportion of acid.
141
pril 15, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
cannot yet fix the amount exactly ; but to each grain of nitrate
oulcl be added about one grain of citric acid for every ten grains
tannin in one ounce of solution, which may be of any strength
nn ten to thirty grains to the ounce, the latter giving a rather
ider and more vigorous negative than a weaker solution.
In all cases where gallic and pyrogallic acid have not both been
;ed, blurring round the high lights shows that enough acid has
)t been used in developing. I find the most convenient strength
' the developing solutions to be—
(1) Pyrogallic . 96 grains.
Absolute alcohol and a few drops of ether.. 1 fluid ounce.
(2) Nitrate of silver . . . 10 grains.
Citric acid . 10 to 30 grains.
According to the strength of the tannin solution.
The development being very rapid, the best way of using the
bove is to mix two or three drops of (1) with one drop of (2)
i the water required to cover a small plate, which will bring out
le impression very slowly, and give time to suit the treatment
) the exposure by adding more of both solutions in such pro-
ortion as may be required. If much under-exposed only pyro-
allic, if much over-exposed only acid silver, should be added,
.'his plan will be found to give great latitude in exposure.
HALATION:* ITS TRUE CAUSE AND REMEDY.
By Mr. Ma*low.
[Read at a Meeting of the London Photographic Society, on Tuesday, April 2nd, 1861.]
!ome three or four years ago, in conjunction with a photographer
I this town, I made a few experiments with a view of ascertaining,
f possible, the nature of the invisible photographic image. Among
ther peculiarities of the collodion film the phenomena of halation
ame under consideration. At first it was thought to favour the
dea of the electrical nature of the latent image; but on examining
ts characteristics more fully, I found that it was invariably seen
flakiest at the back of the pictures. This fact suggested a much
ampler hypothesis, and that it was in fact due to the light pene¬
trating through the film and glass to a reflecting surface at the
:>ack of the latter, where a portion was reflected back to the under
surface of the film and acted on it. To demonstrate the correctness
pf this view, I procured a piece of stained crimson glass and coated
in the usual way with collodion. It is evident that with this
arrangement, however much light might be reflected from the back,
it would be non-actinic in its nature, and could not therefore expose
the under surface of the film. This experiment was completely
successful; for, although the picture was extremely over-exposed,
not a trace of a halo existed. The reflectional origin of the halo
was fully established in my mind, and I had ceased to think respect¬
ing it. My attention has, however, been recently drawn to the
subject by a report of your January meeting ; and the opinions then
brought forward have induced me to reconsider the matter, and
I beg to lay before you the experiments I instituted and the con¬
clusions I have deduced.
I commenced with a view of settling a question or two which
arose when I compared the stained glass experiment with Mr.
Hardwich’s “ wandering ” theory. I coated the above-mentioned
stained glass plate on the stained side to prevent actinic light from
going through, because I did not then see how the back reflecting
surface could be destroyed. I thought it might be argued that
the light was prevented from wandering in the glass. The only
way of meeting this objection would be to destroy the reflection
at the back of the plate. In these experiments I wanted the light
which penetrated the film to pass into the glass, but not to be
capable of being reflected back again. How was that to be accom¬
plished?
With these ideas I began by examining apiece of glass that had
one of its surfaces ground off. I found, by placing a coin vertically
on its polished side, a shadow was cast on the roughened surface,
the same as upon any other dead surface. This would not answer
the purpose ; for although the polish had been ground off, still it
had a white surface, which would of course reflect actinic light.
I now coated it with black varnish : by this means I concluded I
should be able to get a dead black surface facing the front surface.
On examining again with coin, as before, on its polished surface,
and directing them to a strong lamp light, so that the flame could
be seen where the two come in contact, I found all the secondary
images which always appear under other conditions were not
visible : instead of there being many images, there was only one,
and that in close contact with the coin. I next took a piece of
unground glass and coated with black varnish on one side ; and, on
* See remarks in Leader.
examining it as I did the previous piece of glass, I found a dull
heavy secondary image present.
Having ascertained these facts, I saw how to proceed, and took
a piece of glass (No. 4) and ground half one side of it, coated with
collodion, dried, and coated half the black surface with black var¬
nish at right angles to the ground half, so as to make four experi¬
ments on one plate, and have them all exposed and developed
under the same conditions. The four variations may be thus de¬
scribed: — 1st, collodion film with polished surface behind; 2nd, col¬
lodion film with obscured or ground surface behind ; 3rd, collodion
film with black varnish behind ; 4th, collodion film with ground
and black varnish behind. The plate was exposed in such a man¬
ner that each quarter should have part exposed and part unexposed.
After developing and scratching off a portion of the black varnish
to examine the result, I found the experiment had exceeded my
most sanguine expectations ; for not only wa3 that part of the film
which had the ground and blackened surface behind free from halo,
but that part also which simply had the black varnish behind.
Nothing could be more conclusive. I send you the original experi¬
ment, that you may show it at the meeting. The figures refer to
the four experiments on No. 4 plate. I should say that if the ex¬
posure had been prolonged, the quarter of the plate having simply
the black varnish behind w'ould ultimately have exhibited a slight
halo, produced by the above mentioned secondary image.
Now, how does this agree with Mr. Hardwich’s lateral wandering
theory ? certainly it is caused by excess of light, and the effect
appears as though a lateral action had been going on. Unfor¬
tunately Mr. H. did not state where he considered the lateral
wandering to take place — on the exterior surface of the collodion
film or in the interior of the glass. I should say not the latter, or
he would most decidedly have mentioned the fact of the halo
always appearing plainest at the back of the picture, especially
before the iodide is dissolved out. To my mind the experiments
speak for themselves, and it requires no great amount of ingenuity
to see through the whole affair.
Mr. Malone’s supposition of outstanding rays not having been
brought to the true photogenic focus is completely upset by the
fact that the halo can be produced and avoided at will without a
lens; consequently the optician need not trouble himself, as it is
wholly out of his power to obviate it. The only true way is to
black varnish the backs of the plates for pictures of interiors and
other subjects in which parts are exposed out of proportion.
It will be well to state what I consider is the cause of the
secondary images. That there are reflections or images coming
from the back of the glass no one can deny, and that there is a
surface reflecting light is very evident. What is the medium
producing these images? There appears something like a surface
of glass facing you as you look at the images. Is this delusive or
real ? 1 took it for a reality at first, and so it appears ; but how
can this be the case? it is difficult to conceive of an inner surface
at the back of the exterior. If this is not the case, what is? Let
us see what substance or substances there are present that might
be likely to produce this reflecting surface. We have nothing but
air in contact with the surface of the glass : can this be the cause
or medium of reflection? Why not? How can air reflect under
these conditions ? It will be well to inquire what is the cause of
reflection, or the conditions necessary for a perfect reflecting sur¬
face. Is it not the disposition of the particles at the surface, the
levelling down of all microscopic prominences, and the presenta¬
tion of an uniform surface which shall reflect light in one direction
only ? and according to the perfection of any surface in this respect,
so is its reflecting capacity, other conditions being equal. Now
the particles at the surface of the glass are so disposed, and the
air coming in contact with them must of necessity take up this
condition also, and present in an opposite direction a surface equal
in every respect to the surface of the glass ; or, in other words, the
air is moulded into the form of the glass, which, having a polished
or unbroken surface, must give to the air the same form. Having
established this point in the inquiry, a question arises as to the
capabilities of air to reflect light : this is answered very easily by
referring to the fact that glass, which is a transparent body, reflects
light readily. I am not aware of any difference of reflecting power
having been observed in bodies of different densities, other quali¬
ties being taken into account. As far as I can judge, I should say
that the air at the surface of the glass reflects about the same
amount of light as the glass does, other conditions being deducted.
How to prove the reflective power of the air at the surface of the
glass was the next point to be settled. At first I thought I would
try the substitution of vapour of iodine for atmospheric air ; but
this would not be likely to answer, because the iodine would take
142
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 18C1
lip the form of the glass, and reflect the same amount of white light
as polished and coloured surfaces do. I again took a piece of glass
stained on one side, coated with collodion on the opposite side. By
this arrangement it is evident that the light which penetrated the
film, glass, and stained surface would be rendered non-actinic in
its nature on its return from the reflecting surface of air at the
hack ; consequently the under surface of the collodion film could
not be exposed. The result of the experiment (see plates 9 and 10)
proves the correctness of the theory ; for the plain glass plate that
was exposed with the stained one has a fearful halo, while the
stained glass is totally free.
There are difficulties attending the use of black varnish in the
wet process, and to find a good substitute was well worth trying
for. I tried black paper by merely wetting it, and carefully press¬
ing it down to exclude all air-bubbles : it was only partially suc¬
cessful. I next tried black japan leather wet with water and
pressed down to the glass, having previously ground the polish
ofl. This was much more successful, and is a good substitute for
the varnish : it is not quite so potent as the varnish, there being a
slight reflection, but if the exposure had been prolonged it would
have been more palpable. I think I shall be able to get a still
better substitute, and will let you know when I have tried it.
It is worthy of remark that black varnish and wet ground japan
leather also exclude the air, and present a surface that appears to
reflect less and absorb more light than atmospheric air does.
Of course the black varnish must be removed before the picture
can be developed. This is easily done by moistening a piece of rag
with naphtha and rubbing it over the varnish, which is easily
dissolved ; and if there is not too much naphtha present, the
asphaltum can be removed without any risk of getting any on the
front side of the plate. One or two trials will make any one suffi¬
ciently expert to do it in a short space of time. The best way to
apply the varnish is by means of a camel-hair pencil : there is not
so much danger of getting any on the front side|as there is when
it is poured on and off again.
From the above experiments I think I have established the true
cause of the halo, and that it is not caused either by lateral
wandering or unfocussed outstanding rays ; but that it is caused by
a peculiar action at the surfaces of the photographic tablet. If I
may be allowed the privilege of theorising I would give the follow¬
ing illustration as explanatory of the ideas I have concerning it.
/ \
/ V
Let A and B represent the edgo of a sheet of glass ; C a ray of
light impinging upon the surface at 0 ; a, b, and c are rays that
pass out of the back surface; 1, 2, 3, and 4, rays that pass out of the
front surface ; 1 is the only portion of the original ray that does
not pass into the glass; a is the only portion of the original ray that
does not suffer any reflections ; 2, 3, and 4 are all reflected from the
air which is in contact with the glass at the back surface ; ami b and
c rays that pass from the air at the front surface. Or to put it in
another way : — Let C be a ray of light impinging on the surface of
the glass at 0 ; a portion is reflected back in the direction of 1, while
a portion passes through the glass to the reflecting surface of the
air, a portion escaping while another portion is reflected, passiug
along a to the front of the glass, a portion passing out along 2,
while that which remains is reflected from the air along 5, and bo
on till the light is expended. This I am satisfied is the case from
what I have seen and shown to others. By holding the glass at a
certain angle to a strong light, the secondary images may be seen
on both sides of it, the light impinging and the coin held on the
same side in both cases. The images seen on the front side are
much more brilliant than those which have passed through : this
of course must be expected, because each one is a step behind the
others on the front side in regard to numbers. A portion of the
light having passed off at the time of each reflection from the front
and back surfaces, this latter action accounts for the diminished
brilliancy of each image on both sides. These images, when
viewed from 9, have a given distance from each other ; when
viewed from 8 their distance is increased, aud from 10 diminished ;
when viewed from 8, there are but two or three images, from 9
more are seen, and from 10 still more : the reason is obvious —
they also diminish in size. When the diagram was first drawn I
had not seen the images at the back of the glass with the light
and coin still on the front side ; but seeing that the air at the front
surface must of necessity give off images the same as the air at
the back surface, I began to look for them in the direction of o, b,
and c, when to my great delight I saw them, and, as before stated,
much less brilliant than those on the front surface. They follow
the same law as the front images do, that is, less in number at 11,
increase in number as the acuteness of the angle is increased at 12
and 13 : they are also nearer to each' other when viewed from the
latter places.
Explanation of the Glass Plates accompanying this Paper.
No. 1 is a piece of plain glass. Place the edge of a coin on
either of its surfaces, tilt then so that a [good lamp or gas-light
may be seen where the two come in contact. According to the
angle at which they are held in reference to the light and the
eye there will be seen one, two, three or four distinct images, or
even more, according to the thickness of the glass, the angle at
which it is held, and the intensity of the light. The thickness of the
glass also varies the distance of the images from each other.
No. 2 is coated with black varnish. Place coin on and examine
in the same manner as the above. On those parts where the
design is absent, I have not been able to detect more than one
secondary image, which appears very dull and heavy : this I attri¬
bute to the almost total absorption of the light which has passed
through the glass to the reflecting surface of the black varnish on
the other side, rendering it so feeble as only to be able to be
reflected once. Next compare the design with those parts in which
the varnish is not disturbed ; notice the difference in the amount
of light coming from each when held so that the flame of a lamp,
&c., is seen upon its unvarnished side : .the parts on which there is
no varnish give off considerably more light than those varnished.
No. 3. This is ground glass black varnished on the ground side.
Examine with coin as before. It will be. seen to give only one
image, and that in close contact with the coin, because the ptlished
surface has been destroyed, and the white rough surface rendered
absorbent to light by the black varnish.
No 4 plate has been referred to before as half ground and half
black varnished at right angles to it. I need say no more about it.
No. 5 is a plate that has been exposed in the camera. This shows
the effects of over-exposure, which has been so great as to render
the sky through the window transparent : this is termed by some
the reverse action of light. On examining the external surface of
the film a kind of halo is seen, which I suppose is similar to that
which Mr. Malone referred to. I do not consider it to be wholly
due, if it is at all, to outstanding rays that have not been brought to
the true photogenic focus ; for, on examining a plate .with the
image of the sky through a window upon it, from the inside of the
camera there will be seen (especially when the air is foggy) light
streaming from it in all directions into the camera, lighting it up
considerably. Now we know that the air is a material substance,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
U3
prii 13, 1861J
l aiding in suspension watery vapour, more or less, at all times ;
I id, according to its state in this respect, so is its power of being
I luminated and its power of reflection. This illuminated atmos-
bere (if the exposure has been considerable) acts upon the adja-
uit parts sufficiently to cause them to blacken when the developer
applied to bring out the picture. This plate also shows the
pmarkable preservation from halation exercised by the black
arnish: not a trace of a halo is then to be seen. I had pre-
[upposed that for exposures sufficiently long to produce the trans-
arency in the sky would require the back surface of the glass to
e ground as well as varnished; but merely blackening is quite
ufficient for most purposes, if not for all.
No. 6 is exposed just under the transparent state. It exhibits
o halo save at the back of the film, where there has been no black
arnish to absorb the light which passed through the film.
No. 7 plate shows what black paper will do at the back. It was
lerely wet with water to make the two as much as possible into
I ne compact body. It produced a little effect — by no means so
jomplete as black varnish.
No. 8 shows the effects of black japan leather, the surface of
which was ground in the same manner as glass with emery and
water. The numbers refer to conditions at the back of the plate : —
llo. 1 had dry black cloth at back ; No. 2, ground black japan calf-
. kin at back; No. 3, black varnish.
Nos. 9 and 10 are two collodionised sheets of glass ; No. 9 is
ordinary glass; No. 10 is stained yellow at the back. They were
noth exposed at the same time, under the same aperture, in a piece
>f blackened card. I may mention here that all the other plates
jvere exposed in the same way, except those that were exposed in
he camera. The two were exposed at the same time, so that
-hey might have the same exposure, each plate being placed half¬
way over the aperture ; and when they are viewed side by side
I -he contrast is very striking. I have made several more experi¬
ments in another direction, but my professional connexion pre¬
vents me saying much about them : suffice it to say they all point
in the same direction, and only modify the defect under con¬
sideration.
| If in this paper I have advanced any views inconsistent with
facts known to any of the members of the Society I shall be most
[happy to be corrected.
THE ALBUMEN PROCESS OP M. PERRIER,
AS PRACTISED BY MR. NEGRETTI.
Tiie advantages that the albumen process presents over the other
dry processes more usually practised by photographers is— -superior
definition ; greater hardness of the film, whereby negatives are
enabled to stand much greater wear and tear when a vast number
of proofs are required from them ; eminent keeping properties
both before and after exposure ; perfect control over the develop¬
ment of the image ; and last, not least, the fact that albumen can
be obtained in any part of the world where fowls are propagated,
which is more than can be said of collodion. Therefore it has special
claims on the attention of travelling photographers, as, with a sup¬
ply of glass plates, iodide of ammonium, nitrate of silver, acetic
and gallic acids, they may follow their art in any clime.
The following is an outline of the method of manipulation : —
The Glasses must be clear, of good surface, and perfectly clean,
or the albumen will not flow well when poured on. The glasses
should be cleaned with tufts of cotton wool, and the following
mixture : —
Fine tripoli or precipitated chalk . 20 parts.
Alcohol (36°) . 80 „
Liquor ammonise . 10 „
Polish as usual.
The Albumen should be beaten up in a Berlin evaporating
basin, having a small lip, with a silver or wooden fork, and be pre¬
pared fresh as wanted. About ten ounces of albumen should
be made at a time. For this purpose ten large fresh eggs are selected,
as each egg is estimated to contain an ounce of albumen. Each
egg should be broken separately on the edge of a cup, and the yolk
and germ very carefully separated from the white, the shells them¬
selves being employed for this operation : the produce of each egg
is then thrown into the basin. To the albumen add one per cent, of
iodide of ammonium dissolved in twenty per cent, of distilled
water : now beat up the albumen for about a quarter of an hour,
till the whole is converted into a froth, so thick and hard that
pieces may be pulled up bodily with the fork when plunged into it.*
* Although shaking up the albumen in a bottle serves very well for the purpose of
albumenising piper, this method is quite inadequate for the requirements of 'the glass
process. •
Th'e basin should now be carefully covered in with a sheet of paper
to prevent the access of dust, and put aside for six hours. After
the froth has subsided, a thick crust is formed at the top : this
serves as a filter for the substratum of albumen, which has to force
its way through the crust when being decanted from the basin on
to the plate.
The Dark Room should be carefully freed from dust some two
or three hours before it is used, the floor being watered and swept,
and all shelves and ledges well wiped with a damp sponge ; for
dust is the principle cause of blemishes in the albumen film, and, to
prevent disturbing it as much as possible, it is advisable to take in
all material required at one time, just before commencing operations.
It is desirable that the room should be kept at a moderate tem¬
perature, though this is not essential.
The Plate-holder is a round tapering stick, about half an inch
in diameter and nine inches long, having at one end a small cup,
about an inch in diameter. Round the edge of the cup, which is
about a quarter of an inch thick, some gutta percha is melted.
Coating the Plate. — Place a clean sheet of white paper on the
operating table; on this place, best face downwards, a cleaned
glass plate : fix a piece of gummed paper on the back, that tho
unalbumenised side may be more readily recognised in after
operations. Warm the gutta percha of the plate-holder in the
flame of a spirit lamp, then press it on the centre of the back of
the plate : in a few seconds it will have cooled sufficiently to adhere
firmly to the glass, so that it may be turned and whirled in any
direction. Now hold up the plate, and with a soft flat brush
remove any dust that may have stuck to the plate. Pour the
albumen from the basin on to the plate in the same manner
as if coating with collodion, and, if necessary, assist the even
flowing with a glass rod. Drain the albumen off, first at one
corner then at the other; tilt the plate, so that the fluid may
again pass over it ; again tilt the plate, and when the albumen has
reached halfway across it, impart a rotatory motion to the glass
by means of the holder worked between the hands ; continue this
for seven or eight seconds, then place the hand close under the
plate and force it off the gutta percha. If any dust fall upon the
plate during the operation, draw a fine camel-hair pencil between
the lips, and pick off any spots with the point. Each glass, as
finished, must be stowed away in a groove of the drying box, and
in the course of a few hours they will be ready for sensitising ; or,
if stored in boxes in a dry place, they may be kept for years before
that operation is effected.
The Drying Box must be made of well-seasoned wood, properly
put together, and furnished with levelling screws. On each side
a number of grooves run parallel to each other, the sides being just
the width of plates apart. In each alternate groove a board slides
freely, so as to separate each plate one from the other. The inside
of the box must be well dusted before use, and the boards cleaned
and thoroughly dried before a fire or in the sun, so as to render
them absorbent, otherwise the film will not dry easily.
Sensitising the Film.— The bath preferred for this purpose is
a horizontal one — in fact a dish with a perfectly flat bottom made
of plate glass. The dish should be about one-third longer than
the plate employed. The sensitising 'solution is thus consti¬
tuted : —
Nitrate of silver . 10 parts.
Acetic acid . 10 „
Distilled water . 100 „
This is poured into the dish till it stands about a quarter of an
inch high. The bath is then raised at one end so as to keep the
solution at the other. The plate is placed in the empty part,
albumenised surface upwards, when by a dexterous movement of
the hand the dish is brought level, and the solution allowed to pass
quickly and evenly over the plate. The plate should now be
raised and lowered several times by means of a flattened silver
wire, bent at one end into a right angle : in about forty seconds
the plate may be removed from the bath. The same care must be
taken, as in sensitising a collodion plate, that the solution passes
evenly over the film, for wherever there is a stoppage there will
be a sharp clear line.
The plate when removed presents a nice light blue tint. It
must immediately be well washed back and front with distilled or
rain water ; for, if any aceto -nitrate solution is left on, the picture
will show black stains at that part The water should be allowed
to flow over it till no greasy streaks are perceptible. The plate
is now placed in a box to drain, with the lower edge resting on
blotting paper, and the upper edge against the side. The plates
may be used moist, or, if intended for keeping, they should be
thoroughly dried before being stored away in grooved plate boxes,
144
or in the camera slides. The sensitising solution should be filtered
back into the stock bottle, and may be used over and over again,
even when quite black.
The Exposure in the Camera must be governed by the usual
conditions. In Italy good negatives are taken in three or four
minutes ; but in this country, in summer, a good negative might be
obtained in ten minutes, with a lens 2£ inches in diameter, and of
15 or 18 inches focus, or about five minutes for stereoscopic plates.
Practice alone can determine the proper amount of exposure,
according to the lens employed and the nature of the light at
command.
Developing the Image. — Place the plate on a levelling stand,
and pour over it a saturated solution of gallic acid, which has been
warmed to a temperature of 80° Fahr., spread it rapidly over the
plate with the aid of a soft brush, the hair being about an inch long.
There is no fear of using the brush freely, as it would almost
require a knife to scratch the hardened albumen. After the
solution has been on a minute or two pour off a portion, and to
that remaining on the plate add some of the following : —
Nitrate of silver . 2 parts.
Distilled water . . . 100 „
Rest the brush on the plate, pour the nitrate solution over the
brush, and rapidly mix the two solutions together. In a few
seconds the picture begins to appear, if the plate has been pro¬
perly exposed : if, however, it is under-exposed, the image does
not appear until the solutions have been changed and the previous
operation repeated several times — in fact, a picture has to be coaxed
out of an under-exposed film. If anything should prevent the
operator from proceeding with the development, the plate may be
well washed with water, pul away in the dark, and be fully deve¬
loped on a future occasion.
The image may, by the assistance of a warm solution of gallic
acid, be developed in ten minutes ; and should, with proper atten¬
tion, never exceed three-quarters of an hour.
Fixing the Image is conducted as in the collodion process ; but
cyanide of potassium must never be used, as it strips off the albumen.
Hyposulphite of soda . 4 ounces.
Water . 4 „
Wash thoroughly with water. No varnishing is) required for
plates taken by this process.
Positive Transparent Pictures are printed by superposition,
in diffused light, on plates extra thinly albumenised. Extra thin¬
ness is imparted to the film simply by rotating the plate more
rapidly and for a longer time. The development must be effected
as quickly as possible ; but not by increasing the strength of the
nitrate solution, as this would only lead to the positive being
spoilt. Much speculation has been excited as to the manner in
which M. Ferrier produces his exquisite stereographs, and it has
been thought by many that they are obtained in a coying camera
from large transparent negatives ; but Mr. Negretti positively
asserts that this idea is erroneous.
The principal drawback to the prosecution of the albumen
process in hot climates is the difficulty of obtaining rooms or cup¬
boards from which dust can be perfectly excluded ; and this is the
reason why Messrs. Negretti and Zambra’s operators in China and
Japan are forced to take their negatives on collodion — otherwise
by the albumen process they could obtain a still greater amount of
definition and detail than they do even now in their present beautiful
and interesting productions.
ON THE POTHEEGILL PROCESS.
By Archibald Burns.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, April 3, 1861.]
I FEEL that, in bringing before you the details of a dry process
about which so much has been said and written already, some
apology is necessary on my part. I have only been induced to do
so at the request of some of the members who have not yet
attained that certainty of obtaining good results which it is so
desirable to acquire, especially when operating at a distance from
home.
The enthusiast who (making light of the necessary load of baths
and bottles) follows the wet collodion process, tells us that he
always knows what he has got before leaving the place. This
knowledge, however, is not invariably of a cheering description,
failure being quite as common with the wet as it is with the dry-
plate photographer — while the convenience with which dry plates
may be prepared at home, and carried about for exposure, offers
great advantages to the amateur who wishes to make a pleasure
and not a toil of his photographic rambles.
[April 15, 1861
I have had some little experience in landscape photography with
the wet collodion process, and but for the greater convenience and
certainty with which good negatives may be obtained with pre¬
served plates I must have given up the practice of the art lonr-
ago.
The process to which I have given most attention, and with
which I have got the best pictures, is the one known as “ Bother-
gill’s,” or the washed albumen process.
It was first announced to the public in the end of April, 1858, and
soon became a general favourite with amateurs. My first trial wa-
successful beyond my most sanguine expectations ; and, although 1
have obtained good negatives with other preservatives, such a;
gelatine, gum-arabic, malt, milk, &c., 1 have never been able to fee
so confident of success as when working with washed albumen
With a view of assisting those members of our society who have noi
yet attained sufficient skill in the preparation of dr}- plates to work
with certainty, I propose to read over with considerable minuteness
of detail my method of working, and to illustrate the subject pra .
tically, by exhibiting before the meeting the preparation ant
development of a dry plate.
I prefer a collodion of the non-contractilc kind, which gives s
rich creamy film when sensitised, and it must adhere firmly to tin
plate. After trying a great many of those which are advertised a;
suitable for the various preservative processes, I have settle
down to the exclusive use of that made by Mr. Nicol, Dundas
street. It is quite as good as any of the others, and is always al
hand when required.
The silver bath is thirty-five grains to the ounce of distillec
water, and faintly acid with acetic acid. If it is in a good condi
tion for taking negatives by the wet process, it is also in gooc
condition for the dry.
The albumen wash is made by adding to the white of one egf.
two ounces of distilled water, and ten or twelve drops strong
liquor ammonia ; beat the whole into a thick froth with a woodei
fork or a few quills tied together, and allow it to settle for a da]
or two : it should be filtered just before use. A piece of mois
sponge pressed slightly into the neck of a funnel makes a conve
nient filter.
The developer consists of —
I. Pyrogallic acid . 3 grs.
Citric acid . 1J grs.
Distilled water . 2 oz.
II. Nitrate of silver . 10 grs.
Distilled water . 1 oz.
I generally use polished flatted crown glass : it is much cheapei
than patent plate, and if handled with care will stand a great dca
of printing. Having ground off the edges and corners by rubbing
on the hearth stone or window sill, wipe off the particles of grit
and clean with a little waste collodion in the usual way, placing
them in a box ready for use. In addition to being chemicall}
clean, it is desirable to have the plate freed from damp : this 1
usually effect by passing the clean plate back and forward ovei
the flame of the gas, until the moisture which is deposited on the
surface is driven off (taking care not to warm the plate unequally
or to make it too hot), and giving a final polish with a clean and
dry wash leather : fix it on the plate-holder, and brush both sides
and edges with a broad camel-hair brush, such as is commonly
used with the copying letter book.
Coat with collodion in the usual way, and as soon as the filrr
has set at the corner from which the collodion has been poured oft.
reverse the slope of the plate and hold it in the reversed position)
for some time before dipping it into the bath. Let it remain in
the bath longer than it is usual to do when working the plates
wet— say for about a minute after having got rid of the greasy
appearance by the usual up and down motion. On removing it
from the bath rest one corner on a pad of blotting paper, wipe the
back with a piece of damp sponge, and, placing it in a flat dish
with just sufficient distilled water to cover it, gently raise one end
of the dish two or three times, causing the water to flow; back¬
wards and forwards over the film, and leaving it in the distilled
water, prepare another plate ; then having dipped it into the silver
bath return to the one in the distilled water; again gently raise)
the end of the dish two or three times, and with the aid of a silver
wire or glass hook remove it and fix on another plate-holder (not
the one used for coating Avith collodion). Swill the film Avith a veiy
little distilled water: if it runs off smoothly it has been sufficiently
washed, but if it leaves a greasy appearance repeat the swilling
Avith fresh distilled Avater till all greasiness has disappeared. Then,
after draining by one corner on blotting paper for a few seconds,
pour on a little of the dilute albumen at one end, cause it to flow
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
ipril 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
145
ver the film in a continuous wave (well up to the edges), and
rain off at the opposite end. Again pour on a few drops of
lbumen, and by inclining the plate cause it to flow all over the
fin in various directions for about half a minute ; then wash off as
luch as possible, using plenty of common water, finishing by
looding with distilled water, and setting it on an end on blotting
>aper to drain for a little ; remove it to a dark place free from
lust to dry spontaneously.
Plates prepared in this way may be kept for a month or six
vecks without any perceptible deterioration ; indeed I have kept
hem for upwards of five months, and then obtained a clean and
/igorous negative with the usual exposure and development.
The exposure in the camera is a matter about which no definite
lircction can be given. I always try to expose for the details in
shadow-, without any fear of the high lights being over-done. On
ooking over a number of negatives taken with a view lens 5|-
uclies focus and J-inch stop, I find that the general exposure is
ibout two minutes: it is always the safest plan to give a full
illowance of time. An over-exposed plate may sometimes be
emedied in development, but an under-exposed one is quite useless.
The development I look upon as the most important part of the
vhole process. I feel confident that there are more plates spoiled
luring development than at any other part of the manipulations,
laving moistened the film by dipping the plate in a dish of dis-
i lied water, fix it on a plate-holder, and pour into a glass measure
wo drachms of the pyrogallic developer ; add three drops of the
diver solution ; after mixing them well together, cover the plate
vith this as quickly and evenly as possible, and drain it back into
he measure: do this two or three times, and then pouring on the
leveloper keep it moving about all over the plate. The picture
ihould begin to appear in about a minute, but it will sometimes take
i much longer time. The developing -solution should be changed
vhenever it shows signs of getting the least muddy, and the plate
should be washed before applying the newly-mixed developer.
The proportion of silver should not be increased until the details
ire well out, and then a few additional drops may be added to
ncrease the intensity and complete the development.
If from over-exposure the picture should start out immediately
die developer is poured over it, I at once pour it back into the
neasure, and, after well washing the plate, add two or three addi¬
tional drops of the silver solution, and proceed as before : this plan
sometimes enables me to get sufficient contrast in an over¬
exposed plate, but it is not always successful.
I fix with cyanide of potassium, and, having washed thoroughly,
dry before the fire, and varnish while warm.
I am quite aware that there is nothing new in what I have
brought before you, but such is the simple method by which all
;ny best pictures have been produced ; and, to those who will carry
Dut these details with ordinary care, I can promise at least
as much success as the pictures which I have placed before you
exhibit. If exposure has taken place under favourable circum¬
stances, failure will be the exception, not the rule.
In conclusion, I would just add that although these details may
seem tedious in description, in practice I do not find them so ; and,
should I appear somewhat awkward in my practical illustrations,
you must attribute it to my want of experience in exhibiting
publicly those manipulations which hitherto I have only been
accustomed to perform in the privacy of my own dark room.
- - -
STEREOGRAPHS.
Scottish Lake Scenery, illustrated by George Wilson,
Aberdeen.
Many of our readers will, doubtless, remember the emotion of
delightful surprise with which they first beheld the beautiful
addition to our art-treasures, produced by Mr. Wilson about a year
and a-half ago, in the form of a series of sunset effects on the Loch
of Park, in Aberdeenshire, and which were first noticed and
described in our columns. During the last season — that of 18G0,
inclement as it was, and disheartening in the highest degree to the
professional photographer — this gentleman pursued his avocation
with unwearied diligence, and in spite of all impediments secured a
goodly collection of new triumphs of his skill. It is true that,
from his peculiar mode of operating, he is exempt from some of the
troubles which beset ordinary photographers ; for he laughs to scorn
the puny efforts of wind and waves, clouds and vapours, to elude
his powerful grasp, so that he gives us Nature in all her lovely
aspects : now with the waters dancing in the laughing sunshine —
then the rough hill-side, half shrouded in the clinging mist, like
tears on the cheek of the aged pilgrim — at another time the angry
clouds frown over the grand but dark abyss — again we are hurried
to the fierce active life of the crowded thoroughfare — and end by
lingering in the calm shades of evening, over some soft landscape
that has a charm like the gentle smile of an innocent child as it sinks
into slumber.
In giving some account of the exquisite specimens now before
us, we will endeavour to be as brief as justice to our subjects will
permit. — In the first place we will mention a second series of
views from the Loch of Park, Aberdeenshire, all produced by an
“ instantaneous ” exposure, revealing all the passing charms of
cloud and ripple, with other incidental adjuncts. — In No. 278,
Wild-Duck Shooting, besides a splendid sky reflected in the placid
water of the lake, the smoke from the sportsman’s gun (who,
standing up in the boat, has just fired) possesses all the rich trans¬
parency of nature, veiling, and only just veiling, the distant shore.
—-In No. 284, Evening, the sun has set behind a dense mass of
clouds in the horizon, but still lights up some of a more fleecy
character in the zenith, while the water is now calm and level as a
mirror, the surface only broken by a few protruding rushes and a
solitary boat. — Akin to the last-named is No. 280, Twilight ; and,
though in this the shadows are so long, and definition of the land¬
scape consequently so obscure, that a mere commonplace photo¬
grapher would despise the composition, yet, in so doing, he would
only expose his ignorance and want of discrimination ; for, despite
its admitted deficiency, it is a perfect gem of art, displaying per¬
haps as fine a sky and aerial perspective as ever was delineated.
No. 279, Pike Fishing, with some fine effects of sky and ripple,
presents also a trifle of the grotesque in the comical attitude of
the fisherman. — Of the remaining sun-lighted views, Nos. 281 and
282 deserve especial notice — the former with the great luminary of
day nearly hidden by clouds, the latter with it shining in full efful¬
gence, and adorning the water with a streak of gold.
Of sweet Loch Katrine we have some very charming illustra¬
tions; and foremost amongst them we must place No. 9, which, for
perfection of composition and calmness of repose, is not surpassable.
It is veritably a perfect picture, and is the same subject to which
we accorded high commendation amongst those displayed by Mr.
Wilson at the Photographic Exhibition, recently closed in Pall
Mall, London. It is very beautiful. — No. 30, another part of the
lake, not very distant from the preceding, is also a fine composi¬
tion. A clump of birch trees on the near bank fills the whole of
the foreground, and indeed forms three-fourths of the whole sub¬
ject. Through the branches of the trees, across a narrow portion of
the lake, the steamer at the landing-place is just discernible on
the right; while on the left a thatched boat-house may be noticed
behind the point of a rough stone quay, and the wooded preci¬
pitous mountain-side makes an appropriate background.
Loch Katrine from Ben Venue (No. 65) is another magnificent
piece of Scotch scenery very unlike the two preceding, and com¬
prising a view of some miles in extent. The waters winding
amongst the rugged, rocky mountains, clothed in patches with
luxuriant ferns and fragrant heather, are charming in their seeming
caprice. The following lines recur to our mind while gazing on
this pleasant scene : —
“ We hare left the world behind.
We have lost the beaten track,
And the hum of the city upon the wind
We have only to guide us back.
“In the wood where the hyacinths grow,
And the earth is as blue as the sky,
We wander to-day till the sun sinks low,
And the rosy shadows die."
Loch Katrine and Ben Venue from the Dale of the White Horse
(No. 26) is a scene of another character, and again we must have
recourse to the poet for its description : —
“Like dreary piison walls,
The stern grey mountains rise,
Until their topmost crags
Touch the far gloomy skies :
One steep and narrow path
Winds up the mountain's crest,
And from the valley leads
Out to the golden West."
In the next slide we have another view of Ben VENUE FROM Loch
Aciiray (No. 59) — another charming composition. A wooded islet
in the centre of the calm lake, with old Ben in the background, are
both seen through a vista in the spreading branches of a sturdy
oak tree, which act as a graceful frame to the composition.
The Pass of the Trossaciis (No. 21) is particularly interesting
from the variety of the foliage everywhere discernible in the wooded
part of the pass. The numerous fir-trees are pleasantly contrasted
with the birch, the tall graceful fronds of the ferns, and the crisp
leaves of the holly on either bank of the shallow brook ; and the
J 46
*THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1H01
bare sides of the high mountain in the background act as an
agreeable foil to the vegetation.
Glencoe is rich in affording subjects of a peculiarly grand and
solemn class, and Mr. Wilson has been busy amongst them. In
several of them some very picturesque effects have been secured
by taking advantage of moments when the curious clinging misty
vapours, so prevalent in mountainous districts, have come creeping-
down the various gorges and passes between the taller peaks.
“ See ! down the mountain side
The silver vapours creep,
They hide the rocky cliffs —
They hide the craggy steep—
They hide the narrow path
That comes across the hill — — ”
*****
In No. 154— Glencoe from above Clachaig — there is a broken
band, as it were, of mist, a few hundred feet from the top of the
mountain, and there are no less than four specimens (No. 272) all
of the same spot, but differing in the amount and forms of the ever-
shifting vapours. These are all charming ; but perhaps the most
so is that one where a couple of sheep have strayed into the im¬
mediate foreground of the subject.
Nos. 153 and 157, both Views in Glencoe, are admirable illus¬
trations of the locality ; and the last-named one is especially pictu¬
resque, with its very broken rocky masses, the top of the mountain
just tipped with light vapour, and the chasm in the foreground
moistened with the soft spray from the “ falls” of a little mountain
stream.
Those who are making collections of geological illustrations, as
well as all those who are connoisseurs of the picturesque, must not
fail to secure copies of The Falls of Bracklin, near Callander ,
Perthshire ; for anything more truly beautiful it would be difficult to
imagine — in addition to which the peculiar rectangular cleavage
of the rocks imparts all the appearance of massive but ancient
masonry “ with verdure clad.”
Nos. 63 and 64 are both very remarkable. In the former the
rounded sides of distant hills in the background leave a small vista
towards the sky, broken by a solitary tree : in the foreground the
stream gently tumbles over the natural gigantic steps, having
worn a deeper passage by its ceaseless tread, while the huge blocks
of stone are thickly strewed with lichens and crowned with shrubs.
— No. 64 is a composition that would afford a welcome study for a
painter : it is one absolutely perfect of its kind, and is probably
taken from a spot not far distant from the preceding. The same
stream is tumbling over similar natural steps, clothed with lichens
and ferns and bushes ; branches also of the ash, and the alder, and
holly are mingled here and there, and the whole is viewed through
a magnificent framework composed of the boughs of a luxuriant
oak tree. This is a gem of the first water.
No. 25 is another of the same tribe— Bracklin Bridge — a little
wooden footway, with a railing perched high up over the top of the
chasm, while the rock is split and rent into the semblance of a
massive castellated stronghold of ancient days, with the same
stream as before slipping down more steps, and various trees
nestled in snug nooks and crannies in the rock, as if they had
selected comfortable quarters to protect themselves from the rude
blast to be expected in those elevated regions.
We must, for want of space, bring out remarks to a close — a
matter we always find it difficult to do when gloating over the
works of such an artist as Mr. Wilson, to whom we are indebted
for many a pleasant hour. While such works as these continue to
be produced there is no fear of any decline in the popularity of the
stereoscope, as view them when we will they are always a source
of fresh gratification.
PALESTINE 1ST 1860;
OR, A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNAL OP A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. V.
Jaffa — Lydda — RaMLEti — Kirjatii Jearim — Arrival at
Jerusalem.
Jaffa, as it now stands, contains about 5,000 inhabitants, a fifth
part of whom are Christians. The entire city is enclosed by a
strong wall, and has but one gate through which all the traffic
inland must pass. The streets are very crooked and dirty, and
cannot be said to be paved at all. Smooth round stones are laid
down here and there, sometimes so close as to form a kind of
causeway, but which at best are very uncomfortable to walk over.
The city is built on an eminence, which gives it a very fine
appearance from whatever side it is viewed, though the country is
nearly level all around. From the house-tops in the higher parts
of the city a very extensive and beautiful view is obtained of tlic
lovely plain of Sharon on the one side and of the Mediterranean
on the other. The rich deep green of the gardens around Jalfa
will live as a delicious spot in the memory of many a pilgrim to
these lands. There is a considerable trade carried on, I believe, in
exporting fruit. I saw the orange exportation going on vigorously.
The Jaffa oranges are very fine, and highly esteemed all over the East.
Jaffa is traditionally one of the oldest cities in the world, and
has figured largely in Eastern history. It is connected with tno
of the most despicable acts in the life of Napoleon, called “The
Great.” The first was the poisoning of his own sick to relieve
himself of the burden of carrying them further ; and the other was
of a kindred nature, the cool butchery of 4,000 Albanians, who
had capitulated to his generals on the express condition of their
lives being spared. How many of the acts of so-called great men
are as mean, cowardly, and villainous, if we can only get out of
the glare of the glory which surrounds them to see their acts in
their true light, I know not. For these acts the Corsican tyrant
has not, even in France, found an apologist.
We saw little of interest in Jaffa : a lot of crowded bazaar stalls
and lazy Turks sitting (as they only can sit) smoking, or sipping
coffee, and that is all — if we except a house shown as the veritable
house of Simon the Tanner.
I had landed at Jaffa on Wednesday morning, and was anxious
to get on to Jerusalem before the Sabbath, if possible. But, as I
might not return the same way, I was equally desirous of having
views of Jaffa, Lydda, and Ramleh, and if possible Kirjath Jearim,
before going to the Holy City. My manner of proceeding in my
photographing required me to darken a room or wait till evening,
when that would be done for me. I had no dark tent for working
in the field, as I proposed depending for all my views alone on dry
albumenised plates. Wherever I would be likely to remain some
time, as in Jerusalem, I could arrange to darken a room, and thus
be able to sensitise plates, and develop, &c., during the clay ; and,
if I felt so disposed, try a wet plate, if only to see how the collo¬
dion I had brought with me would work. The first evening
I spent in Palestine I sensitised a few plates, which I exposed next
day, and developed in the evening. As I proposed to leave
the following day (Friday) for Ramleh, going by Lud — the Scrip¬
tural Lydda — I prepared plates to serve for use in both those places.
There was no further difficulty in my photographic operations
at Jaffa, beyond what I have mentioned in the notes of ray
experience at Malta, only in a very much increased degree. The
Jaffa water is obtained from springs, and is very salt. That had
no mischievous tendency in the washing operations ; hut in the
development I had nearly failed altogether to obtain a shadow of a
picture. But patience, and the addition of a very large amount of
silver to a fresh developing solution, gave a fair picture, and I
went on with the others, not losing one plate.
I read a paper on the albumen process at the meeting of the
Photographic Society of Scotland, on the 9tli instant, in which my
ordinary manner of operating is given, and which will appear in
The British Journal of Photography. To it I refer my readers
for a full description of how I had been in the habit of working
before I went to Palestine. As I go along I will add what difficul¬
ties I experienced, and how I overcame them.
Before I had finished the development and fixing of my pictures
of Jaffa, and prepared a sufficient number of plates with which to
“take” Lydda and Ramleh, the evening was far spent, and I was very
tired. I had arranged to start next morning at six o’clock. Ram¬
leh, where I proposed resting the next night, is but some twelve
miles from Jaffa, but Syrian travelling, especially with baggage,
is slow, and I had to stop some time at Lydda to take pictures of
it. I wished to he at Ramleh, to photograph it too — hence my
desire to make an early start.
Before going further, a word or two on Syrian travelling. There
was not in all this land, I was told, a icheeled conveyance, not even
a wheelbarrow, nor perhaps many consecutive miles of road where
such could he wheeled. Baggage and goods of every description
are conveyed on the backs of mules or camels. The latter go
slower, but carry much more than the mules, consequently can
carry much larger and heavier packages ; and, from being able to
do for a long time without water, are alone suited for desert travel¬
ling or wherever water is very scarce.
Merchandise being so carried, I need not say we bipeds must
either use our own ancient mode of conveyance or mount either
the horse, the mule, the camel, or the donkey. Except very timid
travellers, who sometimes prefer risking their lives to the tender
mercies of the donkey, all who can afford it procure a good Syrian
horse — a more or less pure Arab. Those who make a business of
April IS, 1861] THE BRITISH
lending horses to travellers have generally got the character of
supplying the worst of animals and charging the highest price.
I am not much skilled in horseflesh, but presume from anything
I saw in Palestine that the horse hirer is there a good deal like his
brother-in-trade in this country.
Partly from the badness of the roads, but chiefly from the
acquired habits of the horses and mules, the rate of travelling is very
slow. The average rate set down is three miles an hour, an easy
walking pace ; and practically I have found the distance actually
accomplished under that in nearly every case, though fre¬
quently the roads were such as the horses might be raced over.
There is no great natural obstacles to the making and keeping of
good roads in the country, so far as I could see or learn — not nearly
so much as in the highlands of Scotland, I should say. The Turks,
I have been told, have a positive objection to good roads : perhaps
that is a mistake, and that it is only their unconquerable indolence
which will not allow them to make such themselves. Of course
nobody can make a road but the government, or with its autho¬
rity. Near Jerusalem the Greek Christians (Russian gold?) have, at
their own expense, made some good roads, indicating what might
be done if the rulers of Syria were at St. Petersburgh instead of at
Stamboul.
Early on the Friday morning my cavalcade was winding its way
through the crooked streets of Jaffa, and after three hours’ pleasant
riding I reached Lydda. The country I found quite level, and the
road as good as could be expected, where nothing has been done
to make it better or worse, but just the track of former passengers
left unploughed — here twenty yards there only a few feet, according
to the avarice or caprice of the farmer over whose property it passed.
Lud has a thoroughly oriental look. It is on every side sur¬
rounded by glorious palm groves — not a tree here and there, as
one sees in most parts of Palestine. It would seem that the palm
flourishes best near the sea. Whether it requires the saline
atmosphere or not, I cannot say. The “ sight ” of Lud is the
Church of St. George, very little of which now remains. St.
George — our St. George of England — was bom here, it is said ;
and this church, the ruin of which is the attraction of the place, was
erected to mark the spot where so distinguished a saint was born.
I rode round and through the town, and soon fixed on the point
from which, with the light I then had, the best picture of the city
could be taken. In half an hour I was on my road to Rami eh, which
I reached in about forty minutes. I rode at once up to the Latin
Convent, where I was to spend the night. I found this convent
clean and comfortable, and every one about it very civil. After
hurriedly partaking of some refreshment, I set out to look for and
take my views of Ramleh. This was a short day’s work ; but to
go to Jerusalem would have been too far.
As the crow flies, Jerusalem is about thirty-three miles from
Jaffa ; but, from the routel was compelled to take, it was something
less than ten miles more. From Jaffa to Latron, at the base of the
hills, is about twenty miles on the map, and being over a level
country, a traveller can get over it at any rate he chooses to make his
horse go. The last ten or twelve miles, by the map, to Jerusalem
is in reality at least twice that distance by the road I was obliged to
travel, and cannot be got over in less than six or seven hours,
without risking one’s neck. In the valleys or wadies (as they are
called) the road is generally the water-course, going on the sup¬
position that where there is any water there is little or no travelling.
Very wild-looking places I had to pass, and equally wild-looking
people I encountered 1
Some travellers speak as if they enjoyed travelling in places
where there is a spice of danger. I can scarcely say I do so at any
time ; and in this case I felt very anxious about complete security
— to myself, no doubt, first, and after that to my valuable and
easily-injured “traps;” therefore, as I could not feel quite safe in
traversing those narrow passes where I was informed so many
poor pilgrims and travellers had been robbed or murdered, I did
not enjoy the grandeur of the scenery — if, indeed, it has any pecu¬
liar claim to that characteristic. Besides, to one who has roamed
over the hills and wild glens of his native Caledonia, the Syrian
wady is too narrow, and the hills have neither height, individu¬
ality, or distinctness of character : the hills are a seemingly end¬
less succession of knolls, one over the other.
Passing several Arab villages — which mean a congregation of
miserable hovels, quite unfit, according to our notions, for the
habitation of the lowest animals — I arrived at Aboo Goosh Kuriet
cl Enab (the Scriptural Kirjath Jearim), situated right in the centre
of the hilly part of our road to Jerusalem, about three or three and
a-half hours’ riding from the Holy City. There I was told a chief
of the robber scoundrels used to hold his court, and woe betide the
14?
traveller who dared to pass without first arranging with the black¬
guard sheik of Aboo Goosh !
My dragoman and guide assured me that the road was then as
safe as any in Palestine. To me that was not saying a great deal
for it, as I then looked on every native as an unadulterated scoun¬
drel, who would steal my property and shoot me, whenever he had
the opportunity. I learned to think better of them and their
country, as my readers will see as I advance in my journal.
Aboo Goosh is rather a respectably-built village, and looks well,
placed as it is on the brow of a hill. There are the remains of
a Christian Church here: it is tolerably entire, though long unused
for the purpose for which it was built. Three or four Syrian
tinkers were busy mending pots within its sacred walls when I
passed ! The Church is large and very strongly built, and, though
not highly ornamental, is, I should say, chastely elegant in design.
It is surely a disgrace that so creditable a specimen of ancient Church
architecture should be allowed to remain in such a condition.
I should have said that I developed my pictures of Lydda and
Ramleh before I left the Convent at the latter place, and had
intended to have prepared plates to use at Aboo Goosh ; but I was
too tired, and I thought it so near Jerusalem I could go down any
day, and return to my quarters in the Holy City in the evening.
Having rested before coming up to Kirjath Jearim, I passed on,
merely taking an observation how the light fell on it, and determin¬
ing at what hours it should be photographed.
I had got quite tired of wandering up and down among stones,
over break-neck precipices, and up steeps, that at some distance
looked like perpendicular walls. All calculation of how long I
was to be in getting to Jerusalem had been exceeded ; and I was
still slowly climbing the nine hundred and ninetieth steep — thinking
it but one more, and there would be still another and another — when
reaching the summit, I at once saw — Jerusalem ! Now, I am not
poetical— I cannot go into ecstacies ; but I never can describe
what I felt during those few minutes. My horse might have
carried me over a yawning gulf — I could see nothing — but before
me there was Jerusalem! No -word was spoken — there was no
expression of joy — but onward we move ; and the eye is kept
steadily fixed on those grey walls and glistening towers and mina
rets and domes. That is Jerusalem — the City of our Lord !
“PISTOLGRAM.”
“ A rose by any other name won’t smell as sweet.”
The following extract from Punch is so much in accordance with
our own sentiments respecting this truly awful name, that we
cannot forbear transferring it : —
“ But oh ! this mention of one’s poppet reminds me of a horrible advertisement Eve
seen, which is headed in big type ‘ Pistolgrams of Babies.’ Good gracious, Mr.
Punch ! pray what ever is a pistolgram ! Is it some new-fangled fire-arm, like an
Armstrong breech propeller, and can it be intended really to go off ? If so, I'm sure
infanticide will be alarmingly increased, and it will be a mercy if but one out of a dozen
of one’s babies is not shot. I know I've thought a pop-gun a sadly dangerous thing, and
as for those toy rifles one now sees in every nursery, I'm quite sure that it’s not safe for
children to be left with them ; for though Charles says they can’t be loaded, they're got
great bayonets stuck on to them, such as seem made expressly to poke one’s* baby's
eyes out. But what destructive implement a ‘pistolgram’ may be, I confess I really
have not courage to inquire ; only I feel convinced that if it be one-half as terrible as its
name seems to imply, our infant population will be dreadfully decreased. I know I'll
take good care that nobody shall buy my ittle tiddleums a pistolgram, unless I see quite
clearly that it can't do any harm ; and for my part I can t tliiuk why people can’t use
common English when they want to name a thing, instead of puzzling one with gibberish
that no one understands.
* s * * • •
“ Yours abruptly, Mr. Punch, for ittle tiddleums is crying.
“ Arabella Aramixta Angelina Smith."
Ilerorb of ^ibofogiiuiplitt Jfnkntioits.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
[Noticf. — Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to time such in.
ventious and applications as may be of interest to photographers, whether they be of
great or minor importance, and also to compare the relative merits of two or more con¬
trivances designed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible we shall, as a rule
describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a place in these columns after a
personal inspection of the same. It is therefore requested that manufacturing, pro¬
fessional, and amateur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as soon
as they are ready to place them before the public, whether they be lenses, cameras,
stands, tents, operatinghoxes, printing apparatus, preservativecases, enlarging apparatus,
stereoscopes, novel methods of fitting-up glass or developing rooms and their appur¬
tenances artificial sources of light, A c., or the applications of photography to technical
or useful purposes. If the inventors be resident in the countrj', it is requested that they
should forward with a simple description of the object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the same.]
No. III.
DROPPING BOTTLES.
Mr. Hardwich, in the recent edition of Ins Manual of Photographic
Chemistry , says : — “ The accompanying diagram, fig. 1, shows the
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1861
148
best form of dropping bottle, for nitrate of silver, that the writer
has seen.” This is partially filled with solution : on being inclined
air passes in at the wide mouth, and the liquid drops out at the
end of the fine-drawn spout. In travelling the larger opening is
closed with a stopper, or, better still, a cork, and the end of the
spout is capped with a piece of cork or gutta-percha. The palpable
objection to such a form of bottle is the risk incurred of the fine
projecting spout being fractured whilst on a photographic trip.
This instrument has been known to chemists as Schuster’s Alkali-
meter.
li
i
FIG. 1. FIG. 3. FIG- 2-
A better form of bottle is one that has been sold, for some time
past by Messrs. Murray and Heath, shown in fig. 2 ; for in this the
fine projecting spout is removable from the neck of the bottle into
which it is ground, and may then be replaced by a stopper. The
action is the same as in the preceding form. It was introduced for
photographic purposes by Mr. Smartt.
I would, however, draw the attention of photographers to a
dropping bottle that I have used for some years, which I think is
palpably superior to either of these forms, being much more com¬
pact in shape, and therefore infinitely less liable to fracture when
en route or in the field. It consists of a bottle {fig. 3) made from
glass tubing, stoppered with a piece of barometer tube, drawn out
at the upper end to a fine point, which is protected, when not in
use, by a glass cap.* The bottle is filled about three-fourths full
Avith solution of nitrate of silver, and then stoppered. When used
the bottle is seized with the hollow of the hand, and the point in¬
verted over the measure holding the pyrogallic acid : the warmth
of the hand causes the air in the upper end of the bottle to expand,
and this acting on the liquid forces it through the capillary tube of
the stopper drop by drop. As soon as the action becomes slow the
bottle is restored to an upright position, so as to allow a fresh
charge of cold air to enter, and, on being again inverted, it begins
to act afresh. Originally, this form of bottle was made out of
tube, drawn to a capillary point at one end, and capped with
gutta-percha; it was then filled by warming the large end of the
bottle in the flame of a spirit-lamp and inverting the point in the
liquid it was to hold, which was placed in a watch-glass. On re¬
moving the flame the liquid rushed into the bottle, and this operation
was repeated till it was sufficiently full. As, however, many
people unpractised in chemical manipulations generally managed
to break their bottles when conducting this operation, I modified
the form to that previously described, and drew the attention of
microscopists to it in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,
Yol. IV., page 28G, for 1856. Both myself and my friend, Dr. Lionel
Beale, had used this kind of dropping bottle for many years pre¬
vious, having, as fellow-students, taken our hint from Beaudant's
Mineralogy. Dr. Beale made his bottles in the shape of bulbs,
whilst I made mine in the tube form I have always advocated,
whether to be used for chemical, microscopical, photographic, or
medical purposes. I may perhaps be allowed to state, whilst
speaking of these bottles, that when travelling for any length of
time I take with me a little case containing remedies, in a liquid
form, for cold, toothache, indigestion, fever, &c.
• These bottles have been made for me, for some years past, by Mr. Eve, glass-worker,
of 90b Holborn Ilill, who had several difficulties to surmount in bringing them to per¬
fection, as they aro very liable to break in the process of stoppering.
Ulrctiirqs of Somtics.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Tut ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Tuesday
evening, the 2nd inst., at eight o’clock, at King's College, — Peter le Neve
Foster, Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected
members of the Societ}w — Mr. J. G. Livesay (of Portsmouth), Mr. M.
Smith, and Mr. Portbury.
The Chairman felt great pleasure in announcing that M. f’laudet had
been elected a member of the Council in the place of Mr. Hawkins, who,
after being elected, had declined to serve in that capacity.
Dr. Diamond (the Secretary) read a paper, by Mr. Marlow, On Ha¬
lation: its True Cause and Remedy [sec page Ml], and exhibited
several plates sent by that gentleman in illustration of his paper.
The Chairman having called upon Mr. Siiaduolt, he, in remark¬
ing upon Mr. Marlow’s paper, said he recollected an old joke con¬
nected with the French Academy, at the time when that body was
engaged in drawing up its Dictionary, to the effect that a celebrated
naturalist, on entering their room on one occasion, was informed
that they had just been describing a crab as “ a small red shell¬
fish which walks backwards ; ” whereupon he replied that it was a most
excellent definition, with the exception that it was not a fish, was not red,
and did not walk backwards. In somewhat similar language he might
say that Mr. Marlow’s elaborate paper contained a very good description
of and reason for a certain effect — with the exception, that what he therein
described was not halation at all. The effect described by Mr. Marlow in
his paper, and exhibited in his plates, was not that known as halation,
but was what might be called fogging from refection. Halation
only took place at the line of contact of a high light with a dark object,
and it appeared in the form of a fringe extending round the margin of
the object and in the direction of the high light ; whereas the action de¬
scribed by Mr. Marlow produced an effect exactly the reverse, the fringe
extending into the shadow. It therefore appeared to him to be utterly
useless to attempt to discuss the subject before them under the name of
halation, it not being in any way connected with that phenomenon; but, if
Mr. Marlow had called the effect produced on his {dates fogging, he was
perhaps not prepared to differ from him in other respects in any material
degree. Another point to which he should wish to direct attention was that,
the surface of the glass being coated with iodised collodion, it was im¬
possible, from the yellow tint of the film, for any large amount of actinic
rays to pass through the surface and be reflected from the back of the glass.
He was sure that any person who had tried to print from a plate from
which the iodide had not been removed would support his statement
regarding the impediment to light penetrating the glass under such con¬
ditions. It further occurred to him that the reflection of the light from
the back surface of the glass, as indicated by the diagram on the table,
would nearly be at the angle of polarisation, when but few actinic
rays would he reflected. Mr. Marlow did not appear to take
cognisance of the fact that light was totally reflected from the surface of
glass when it fell upon it at an angle something less than forty-five
degrees, the angle slightly varying with the density of the glass.
The Chairman asked whether any gentleman could tell him why, if
Mr. Marlow’s theory were correct, "the effects did not always occur? or
where they did and where they did not occur ?
Mr. Shadbolt said halation usually occurred during exposure in the
afternoon, when the sun was very near the horizon, and when the col¬
lodion contained organic matter. He had never known time halation
occur where the collodion was entirely free from organic matter. They
had no means of ascertaining under what circumstances Mr. Marlow
exposed his plates, and therefore they could come to no opinion as to
what the results produced might be owing.
Dr. Diamond said some of Mr. Marlow’s plates had been exposed under
a piece of blackened card.
Mr. Shadbolt said in that case an3^ suggestion that the effect was
produced by halation fell to the ground.
Dr. Diamond observed that, in the early dajrs of the collodion process,
Mr. Archer on one occasion replaced a broken yellow window in his tent
with an iodised collodion plate, which proved sufficiently yellow to pre¬
vent any light from passing or injuring the plates he was operating on.
Mr. Malone certainly was not prepared to call the effect shown by
Mr. Marlow’s glass plates “ halation,” although on the other hand he
could not say that it might not be due to the same cause as halation.
What he meant by halation was a dark fringe surrounding a light object
at its junction with a half-tint, which was exactly the reverse of the
case as defined by Mr. Shadbolt. He had some idea that the effect Mr.
Marlow had described was caused by red or yellow rays falling upon the
background ; and he was more inclined to take that view in consequence
of some remarks made to him that evening by Mr. De la Rue upon the
subject, and who put into his hands a diagram nearly but not quite
agreeing with that accompanying Mr. Marlow’s paper. Mr. De la Rue
understood the author of the paper to say that rays of light were repeatedly
reflected backwards and forwards between the surfaces of the glass, each
reflection, although fainter than the preceding one, giving a decided
action on the film. That was the case where ordinary glass was used ;
April 15, 1861]
T PI E BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
149
but if yellow glass were substituted no such effect took place, the yellow
medium depriving the light, even when reflected, of any photogenic power.
The same result would be given where the light passed through a collodion
film, and was then reflected from the back of the glass on to the under
surface of the film, viz., the light would have lost all its photogenic
action, the film acting as a yellow medium : where black varnish was
used no light, at least none that would produce any action, would be
reflected. He considered that the point required careful consideration ;
and he thought it was just possible the true explanation' of the effect
might be such as was given in the paper they had heard read that night.
He might observe that, some years since, he left an ordinary plate exposed
opposite a white statue, which, by the reversed action of light, produced
a positive instead of a negative — showing that too much light acted in a
contrary way to a smaller amount, and that the developer then deposited
upon the shadows instead of the light. In the case he referred to the over¬
exposure had destroyed the usual negative effect in the lights, but had
produced it in the shadows. In the case of a glossy object sendingback
the light very strongly, it was just possible in certain cases that the extra
amount of light produced a destructive action, aud so gave rise to a
reversed effect.
Dr. Diamond recollected taking a picture of a friend’s servant who had
a very glossy hat on, and not only was the hat fringed, but the edges of
his dress also appeared fringed as if with silver lace. The person operated
on was standing against a dark background.
Mr. Malone said that, in that case, instead of the action of light being
reversed, it was simply increased.
Mr. Siiadbolt remarked that before attempting an explanation of any
phenomenon, it was desirable to settle definitely what really was under
discussion, and proceeded to define, by aid of the black-board, what was
generally understood as halation, so as to enable the members to keep in
view the nature of the several kinds of phenomena under discussion.
Mr. Eliot asked to what the appearance so frequently seen around the
windows of interiors was to be attributed.
Mr. Siiadbolt replied that the proper name for that effect was “fogging,”
and not “ halation.”
Mr. Eliot said that was the defect Mr. Marlow sought to cure by
utting black varnish on the back of the glass. It was very useful to
now of such a remedy, as in photographing windows in cathedrals
they were often surrounded by that description of haziness.
Dr. Diamond said that appearance was very common in over-exposed
calotjrpe pictures.
The thanks of the meeting were then awarded to Mr. Marlow for his
paper.
Mr. Eliot proceeded to describe a portable dark tent and a binocular
stereoscopic camera. The tent was formed by placing four uprights in
the corners of the box that carried the apparatus required in the field.
To the top of these four other rods were fitted, so as to form an over¬
hanging framework, over which the usual covering was stretched, — the
proportions being about four feet square by five feet high. The plate
stock box formed the seat for the operator. The bath was placed
within the box so as to be on a level with the sink that fitted into the
top of the packing box. When all things were packed up the box was
dropped upon an axle carrying a pair of small wheels, and the tripod
stand being strapped to the box served as a handle by which the whole
of the traps could be pushed before the perambulating photographer.
The camera was similar to that described as Mr. Sedgefield’s, at page 352
of our last volume, in Letters to a Photographic Friend.
Mr. Malone said that as the subject was before them he might be
allowed to make a remark upon tents in general. A pupil of his who went
to Lima, in South America, had complained greatly of dust getting in under
the cover of his tent, and he thought that in all dusty climates it would
be preferable to use dark boxes instead of tents, as thereby the annoy¬
ance would be obviated. He did not exactly approve of Mr. Eliot’s
I camera, as, in his opinion, the two sets of lenses were not capable of being
removed sufficiently apart for taking stereoscopic pictures of objects at a
great distance. For instance : a church spire on the horizon, taken with
lenses only a few inches apart, would not appear solid, but would look
I like a piece of cardboard stuck against the sky. It was sometimes neoes-
' sary to have the lenses thrae feet apart in order to get a stereoscopic
effect ; and there was no royal road by which the effect could be produced
any other way.
Mr. Eliot said that if the lenses were separated too much the near
objects would appear altogether out of proportion with the rest of the
picture. He found six inches between the lenses sufficient to produce a
good effect.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Eliot] for his explanation of his tent, &c.,
was then passed.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
chairman.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The Annual Meeting of the Association was held at Eight o’clock on
Wednesday Evening, the 27th ultimo, at Myddleton Hall] Upper-street,
Islington, — George Siiadbolt, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. John Barnett (the secretary) read the following letter from Mr. J.
Cramb, of Glasgow, in reference to the late discussion on the use of the
hydrometer in testing silver baths : —
67, West Nile Street,
Glasgow, March 23, 1661.
Dear Sir,
I am anxious to offer a few words of explanation through you to the
members of the North London Photographic Association, regarding the hydrometer
silver meter question. It would be difficult for me to risk entering at any length on that
subject, without endangering further my own peace of mind aud that of those fur whom I
entertain the highest respect, notwithstanding that we have taken a different view of a
matter which has, no doubt, two sides. I merely wish in this note to disclaim distinctly
any intention to give offence, or any expectation that anything I was doing was calcu¬
lated to do so ; and I feel no difficulty in expressing the most sincere regret that anything
I have written should have had an effect I never contemplated.
On the treatment I have received I make no further remark than that I leave it to the
gentlemen who have animadverted on me and my conduct to do as to them seems just
and honourable.
My views on the merits— as a lawyer would phrase it— are unchanged.
You will perhaps be kind enough to read this at your first meeting, lly so doing, you
will oblige, Your most obedient
And humble servant,
J. Barnett, Esq., Hon-Sec., JOHN CEAMB,
North London Photographic Association.
The Chairman said that, when an unintentional offence bad been given
(or even an intentional one), and every possible atonement made, it would
be ungracious and unreasonable not at once to let the matter drop — and
immediately proceeded to read a paper by Mr. Glover, On the Resin
Process [see page 125], and exhibited specimens of the failures, as well
as the successes, of that gentleman. He also exhibited a specimen by
the same process, executed by Mr. C. Corey, which in Iris ej-es gave
some promise of success, although it had the appearance of being under¬
exposed. Mr. Glover had also sent several prints, as a present to their
portfolio. He (the chairman) had brought several bottles of resinized
collodion which he had received from Mr. Charles Jones, of Birkenhead,
and which were at the service of those members who felt desirous of
experimenting on that process. In answer to Mr. Simpson, he stated
that the ordinary resin was used, the purest that could be obtained being
selected.
The thanks of the meeting were awarded to Mr. Glover for his paper
and contribution to the portfolio.
Mr. Simpson had tried the effect of Canada balsam and Venice turpen¬
tine with the wet process, in quantities varying from a quarter of |a
grain to two grains to the ounce; but he had also found that the addi¬
tion of the substances he had named caused the film to adhere with
greater tenacity to the glass. His experiments had been conducted for
the purpose of determining the effect of various kinds of organic matter
on the collodion. He found no perceptible difference until he had added
two grains, when white spots began to appear. He had not tried it with
the dry process.
Mr. Hill said it was very important to ascertain whether the con¬
tinued use of resin would not spoil the nitrate bath.
Mr. Simpson had not found it injure the bath, although he had used
the process with some scores of plates.
The Chairman on first hearing of the resin process by the Abbe
Despretz had added amber varnish, instead of the resin, to the collo¬
dion, with the view of ascertaining its effects when treated in the same
manner. He found the plates very apt to spot, and that the film, after
washing, became powdery. He had also experimented with camphor,
but had found it highly unsatisfactory.
Mr. Hill had used amber varnish for the same purpose, but, although
he had obtained respectable pictures, lie had given it up from a fear of
spoiling his bath.
Mr. Simpson, who had also used camphor, had found that it had a ten-
dency to cause the film to become powdery, and to create opacity in the
shadows.
The Chairman read a paper from Dr. Maddox, an old member of the
society, On the Singular Appearance presented by two Negatives talcen by
the Wet Process. [See page 125.]
Mr. Hill had found portions of some of his negatives present the
appearance of transmitted positives, which he attributed to splashes
of hyposulphite of soda falling on the plate just before it was developed.
He could always produce a similar effect by adding hyposulphite of soda
to the developing solution.
Mr. Moens said similar effects had been produced in a case where the
bath was made from water obtained from a steam-engine condenser.
Mr. Dawson said a transmitted positive was likely to be produced
when an iron developed negative was being strengthened by pyrogallic
acid.
Mr. Foxlee thought that light falling upon the negative before the
development was completed would also produce such a result. He believed,
however, that it was only where an old bath was used that such an effect
would be produced.
The Chairman said that about three years ago Mr. Rippingham had
exhibited at tlie London Photographic Society a similar effect in a nega¬
tive, occasioned by slightly developing the picture, exposing it to diffused
light, and then completing the development.
Mr. Simpson observed that method was somewhat similar to the one
M. Sabatier, a French gentleman, bad lately re-discovered.
Mr. Reiner thought the effect was produced by pouring on the deve¬
loping solution too violently on one spot.
The Chairman noticed a trifling inaccuracy in the paper. The collodion
used was described as a bromo-iodised one, composed of iodide of potas-
150
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OR PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1861
Bium, holding bromide of silver in solution. Now, bromide of silver
was not soluble in iodide of potassium, but was converted into iodide of
silver.
A vote of thanks to Dr. Maddox for his communication was passed.
Mr. Dawson read a paper On the Testing of Old Collodion Printing
Baths [see page 138], for which he received the thanks of the meeting.
The Secrhtarv read the annual report of the committee, as follows,
which was received and adopted with an expression on the part of the
members of great satisfaction.
THE ANNUAL REPORT.
Is celebrating the fourth anniversary of the North London Photographic Association
your Committee cannot forbear expressing no small degree of pleasure at witnessing the
rapid advance it is making in the science it was established to promote, and at finding
that it is acknowledged in the scientific world as an authority in matters photographic.
Without doubt it is greatly indebted for much of its vitality and strength to several
influential and accomplished members : — to the worthy Vice-President, who, always at
his post, has laboured most energetically for its prosperity ; to Mr. George Dawson, for
the elaborate and delicate chemical experiments he lias undertaken on its behalf ; and
to other gentlemen who, by the papers they have read and the valuable information
they have imparted in the various discussions at the meetings, have contributed so
largely to the present gratifying position of the Association. The Committee acknow¬
ledges the kind services of all, and thanks them for their disinterested labours in the
cause of photgrapliic art.
The valuable addition of seven large photographic gems by Mr. F. Bedford, and the
promise of a selection of unique floral photographs, by Mr. G. R. Mainwaring, to the
portfolio of the Association have induced the Committee to entertain the suggestion of
the Treasurer, “ that an album be provided, to circulate amongst the members in the
same manner as the portfolio;” and, in according its thanks to those gentlemen, hopes that
other members may be induced to follow their excellent example, as the circulation of a
valuable collection of photographs cannot fail to implant or encourage a predilection for
the practice of the art.
It has long been the desire of your Committee to increase the friendly ties already
existing between the surrounding Photographic Societies and this Association, and
desires it to be generally known that members of other societies will be most cordially
welcomed at all its meetings, on producing their card of membership.
The financial state of the Association is satisfactory : the income has exceeded the
expenditure by a small amount.
The number of members belonging to the Association for the past year was seventy-
eight, and we have a list of fourteen for election this evening, which, considering that
besides the parent society there are two other suburban ones connected with the metro¬
polis, cannot but be regarded as highly gratifying.
In conclusion, the Committee feels that it has done its best to promote the interests of
the members, and, in resigning its trust, congratulates them on the still increasing
prosperity of the Association.
The Treasurer in Account with the North London Photographic
gr. Association. Cr.
To Balance from last year.
Subscriptions . .
£ s d.
8 17 11
36 15 0
£ s. d.
By Journals, Presentation Photo¬
graphs, Rent, Printing, Sta¬
tionery, & c .
Balance in hand .
34 2 5
11 10 6
£45 12 11
A udited 27 ih March, 1 861 . - -
(Signed) D. BINGHAM,
E. W. FOXLEE.
£45 12 11
A. vote of thanks was passed to the Vice-President, Treasurer,
Honorary Secretary, and Committee for the energetic manner in which
they had conducted the business of the society during the past year.
ihe business of the annual eleetion of the officers of the Association
for the ensuing year was then proceeded with.
Mr. Hughes rose, pursuant to notice, to move that the number of the
committee, limited by their 5th rule to six, should be increased to eight.
He thought such an alteration would be beneficial to the interests of the
Association, by infusing fresh blood into its management.
The motion having been seconded by Mr. Dawson, was carried
unanimously.
Mr. Hughes, Mr. Dawson, and other gentlemen, made some jocular
observations on the advisability of determining, before the next annual
meeting, as to the propriety of following the practice of many scientific
societies of more frequently changing the gentlemen that filled the office
of president and of increasing the number of vice-presidents, they
brought the subject forward on the occasion, as it would give the mem¬
bers of the Association t5velve months to think over the matter, and to
ventilate the question.
The following gentlemen were then duly elected officers of the Associ¬
ation for the forthcoming year
President— Charles Woodward, Esq., F.R.S., &c.
Vice-President — George Siiadbolt, Esq.
Treasurer — D. W. Hide, Esq.
Hon. Secretary — John Barnett, Esq.
Committee.
T. A. Barber,
F. Bedford, Jun.,
G. Daavson,
C. J. Hughes,
G. R. Mainwaring,
C. J. Moens,
W. Shave,
G. W. Simpson.
The following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected
members of the Association : — Messrs. Henry Morton, Samuel Evershed,
T. M. Mackie, John Louch, Samuel Mason, A. H. Bateman, Robert
Gordon, R. Ramsay, M. Bradshaw, M. M'Gcllivray, Theodore Joyce,
Bingham Smith, R. H. Dickinson, and C. Marsh Denison.
The Chairman expressed his pleasure to find that, by the addition of
the 14 new members that night, their number was now increased to 84.
He begged to present the portfolio of the Association with four prints.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the Vice-
President, for his services in the chair.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The sixth meeting of the fifth session of this Society was held in George
Street Hall, on the evening of the 9th instant. The chair was occupied
by Sir David Brewster, President of the Society.
After the minutes had been read and approved of, Sir David Brewster
delivered an address
On M. Claudet' s Discoveries in Photography.
The requisite talent and faculty of original research (he said) were
seldom combined with the mechanical skill in manipulation required in
the complete artist ; but both these qualifications were possessed by M.
Claudet, to whom the Society had awarded its medal for the best portrait
in the late Exhibition. He intended briefiy to lay before them a few of
the inventions and discoveries by which M. Claudet hail achieved that high
reputation which he enjoyed in the photographic art.
When an art had arrived at such a degree of perfection and popularity
as to be an object of interest to every class of society, it would be useful
to retrace the steps by which it had advanced to its present position, and
do honour to the men by whom it had been advanced.
After referring to the researches of a Protestant minister in Geneva, ho
said it was to Mr. Josiah Wedgwood that they owed the taking of portraits
and landscapes in the camera. His portraits were only white profiles the
size of life, and his images in the camera were too faint to print from. His
photographs were merely negatives, from which he could not take positives:
Wedgwood’s experiments seemed to have been unknown in France, in
which place two ingenious individuals — Daguerre and Niepce — discovered
different modes of fixing the image of the camera obscura. The result
of their joint researches was the discovery of the Daguerreotype, the
principles and practice of which M. Claudet had done more than any
other man to elucidate. In Daguerre’s time an exposure of ten minutes
was required to take a portrait; but in 1841 M. Claudet discovered a way
by which the sensibility of the plate was so much accelerated as to admit
of a portrait being taken in a few seconds. This he accomplished by the
use of chloride of iodine.
After alluding to other experiments by M. Claudet, lie said that, next
in importance to improving the sensibility of the plate on which the
picture was received, was bis perfecting the image in the camera. He
found that not only were the chemical and visual foci of simple lenses
different from each other, hut also that, owing to the over-correction or
imperfect construction of many achromatic lenses, many of the extremely
refrangible and actively actinic, although almost invisible, rays did not
come to a focus at the same point the others did ; and, in order to test the
exact distance between the visual and chemical foci, M. Claudet had in¬
vented the “ focimeter.” He invented another instrument for measuring
the intensity of object glasses; and in 1843 he communicated to the
Royal Society a valuable paper on the stereoscope.
In a brief sketch like the present, it was impossible to give a full
account of the various improvements M. Claudet had effected in photo¬
graphy ; but one of his inventions was so remarkable that he could not
pass it by without special notice. In 1857 he contributed a paper On
the Phenomenon of Relief in the Image formed on the Ground Glass of
the Camera, and founded on this an instrument which he called the
“ stereomonoscope.” He (Sir David) had never seen that interesting ex¬
periment, but he trusted that M. Claudet would some day indulge the
Society with a sight of that instrument.
While he had devoted much of his time to the theory of photography,
he had not been unmindful of the practical department of the art at the
head of which he had placed himself. For his achievements in that
department he had been awarded a medal by a jury of the Exhibition of
1851, and subsequently another by the French Exhibition.
He had already referred to what M. Claudet had done with the
Daguerreotype, but it was remarkable that, at the same time when Daguerre
and Nifepce were occupied in France, Talbot was occupied in Britain ex¬
perimenting in the same direction ; and after the discovery of collodion
by Mr. Scott Archer, which bade fair to supersede other processes, M.
Claudet had by it produced some choice works — among others that one
in the late Exhibition, for which Mr. Ross, who had been appointed by the
Council for that purpose, had awarded him the Society’s medal. In that
award Mr. Ross said he had had some difficulty, for there were many
fine portraits by Tunny, Moffat, Orange, and others ; but on the whole he
had thoughtthe one by M. Claudet, alluded to, mostdeservingofthat honour.
Sir David Brewster then tendered the medal to M. Claudet, who
briefly returned thanks.
Mr. John Cramb, of Glasgow, then read a communication On the
Albumen Process.
As Mr. Cramb disclaimed any particular novelty in this process, and
detailed at considerable length the minutiae of his working, we deem it
better to allow it to stand over until next month, when we will publish it
in full— -and this the rather that his paper was somewhat long.
At the close of his paper a vote of thanks was proposed to Mr. Cramb
by Mr. Tunny, who paid a graceful and well-merited compliment to
Messrs. Ross and Thompson, of Edinburgh, for the chef d' oeuvres they had
taken by the albumen process.
Mr. Cramb exhibited a portfolio of prints taken by the process. These
were very beautiful and sharp, and appeared to be much admired.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman the meeting separated.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
151
April 15, 186 1J
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual fortniglitly meeting of this Society was held in the Library,
Queen Street Hall, on Wednesday evening, the 3rd instant. The chair
was occupied by Mr. J. 1). Marwick, President of the Society.
The following gentlemen were balloted for, and admitted as members
of the Society: — ’Bailies Blackadder and Auchie ; Dean of Guild Moss-
man ; Councillor Falshaw ; Dr. Easton ; Messrs. David Millar Latta ;
Robert Paterson, architect; A. B. Walker; William Cuthbertson; R. H.
Bow, C.E. ; Robert S. Lain ; William Elgin ; Richard G. Muir ; Alexander
Auchie (Clydesdale Bank) ; George Watson ; R. M. Cameron ; Thomas
Johnstone; William Crawford, A.R.S.A. ; Soter Drelenkeiweig.
The Secretary stated that, feeling the necessity of adopting some one
of the various photographic serials as the official organ of the Society, he
had, with the concurrence of the Council, written to Mr. Shadbolt, the
editor of The British Journal op Photography, stating their selection of
that Journal, provided he was agreeable to the arrangements. In reply
to that letter the Secretary had received the following communication
from Mr. Shadbolt : —
2, Upper Hornsey Rise, London, N., 29t7i March, 1861.
Dear Sir,— Permit me to thank you for your kind intimation relative to the selection
and appointment of The British Journal of Photography as the “ official organ *’ of
the Edinburgh Photographic Society— an honour that possesses double value from its
having emanated spontaneously. I desire to offer my warm congratulations upon the
very marked success that has attended the establishment of a society which I trust and
feel assured is destined to run a long career of usefulness ; and I beg to assure you that
no efforts of mine shall be wanting to promote its welfare in any way that legitimately
lies within my province.— I am, dear sir, sincerely yours,
J. T. Taylor, Esq.,
Hon. Sec. Edinburgh Photographic Society.
GEORGE SHADBOLT, Editor.
Mr. Shadbolf’s letter was received with applause.
The President said that the last number of the Journal in question
was the first he had seen ; but he was very much struck by the variety
of its contents and its general excellence. The articles seemed to be of
a very high class indeed ; and he could not but feel that in being allowed
to insert their transactions in its columns they had secured a great boon
to the Society.
A paper On the Fothergill Process was then read by Mr. Archibald
Burns. [See page 144.]
On the table were a considerable number of stereographs, taken by
Mr. Burns, illustrating the capabilities of the process in question. They
were characterised by several members as being among the finest they
had ever seen.
At the close of his paper, Mr. Burns showed the various manipulations
by coating and exciting a plate. He then printed a transparency by the
gas, and developed it with great success.
Mr. Slight wished to ask Mr. Burns what was the advantage of using
distilled water in the various washings ? He had hitherto used common
water himself, and yet he had obtained excellent results. Also, what
harm heat did when drying the plates ?
Mr. Burns thought that in using common water there were little parti¬
cles in it which damaged the sky, by causing minute holes. With respect
to drying at the fire he thought it made the film very much harder, and
rendered it more difficult to develop.
Mr. Slight asked if he had ever seen stains on the plate when it was
dried spontaneously ? On some occasions when he had dried by the fire
he had seen marbled stains, which he thought might have arisen from the
use of common water.
Dr. Easton thought the salts which common water contained might
possibly account for the stains alluded to.
Mr. Nicol said that the pictures which Mr. Burns had laid on the table
bore ample evidence of his success with the process he had so lucidly
described. For that success, however, he was as much indebted to the care
with which he manipulated as to any particular modification he adopted.
It was his belief that Mr. Burns would succeed with any dry process.
With reference to Mr. Slight’s question, regarding drying by artificial
heat, he (Mr. Nicol) thought that between that and what was called
spontaneous drying was merely a question of degree, and the result of
| many experiments led him to believe that the photographic qualities of
plates were much the same whether dried at 50 degrees or 212 degrees.
It was not the quantity but the irregular application of heat which should
be avoided. In the crystallisation of salts it was well known that the
size of the crystals depended upon the temperature at which the solution
was evaporated ; and although they were not then dealing with a crys¬
talline surface, it was possible that some such modification of structure
might take place. For that reason it was objectionable to dry before a
fire, as the fingers got hot, and the plate was moved backwards and for¬
wards, producing' irregular or patchy drying, which might be the cause
of the family of mottliugs and markings so much and so bitterly com¬
plained of. It was occasionally very desirable to dry by artificial heat.
He had very decided recollections of more than once beginning to pre¬
pare a dozen of plates after ten o’clock at night, and of the weary wait¬
ing — which not even the solacing influence of a pipe could make pleasant —
till they were dry. In preparing large quantities of plates for sale — which
his firm had frequently to do — they dried them very rapidly by a simple
plan, which consisted of a frame of wood, something like a bird’s cage
without wires, standing in the ordinary hot water or steam-tray used for
waxing paper. Two inches from the bottom of the frame there were
slips of glass on which blotting paper was laid. On that the plates stood
and leaned on glass rods, resting on cross pieces of wood, which were
made to move up and down to suit any size of plate. A Bunsen burner
was lighted below the dish, and when the water boiled the plates dried
rapidly. A cloth thrown over all would exclude the light of the room.
A Member asked concerning the propriety of putting plates in the
camera slide while wet, and allowing them to dry there.
Mr. Nicol said it was decidedly injurious ; for if the slide were well
made it would prevent evaporation and hopelessly spoil them. Some time
ago he had three dozen plates sent after him to the Trossaclis. They had
been put wet into the boxes, and two days after, on opening them, they
were dry at the corners and still wet in the middle. They were slowly
dried before a fire and exposed, and on development every one of them
showed circular marblings in the centre, and were in consequence use¬
less. Probably had they been thoroughly moistened, and dried equally,
those marblings would not have occurred.
Dr. Easton remarked that it was now a matter of experiment to deter¬
mine whether drying spontaneously or by artificial heat was the better
plan, and he for one would lose no time in trying the experiment. He had
found it to be a good plan for drying plates to set them up in a small
trunk, inside of which was a stone bottle, filled with boiling water. By
doing this they might have their plates dried and ready for use in ten
minutes after they were coated.
Mr. Walker said he had one day prepared a lot of plates, and while
still wet he had put them by in the plate-box, in tlie bottom of which he
had previously placed a few thicknesses of blotting-paper. The plates so
dried were perfectly successful.
Mr. Burns said that the room in which he prepared his plates had
usually a temperature of sixty degrees Fahrenheit, and the plates dried
in a short time.
A vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. Burns for his paper, and the
Secretary announced the paper for the next meeting to be On The Wet
Collodion Process , by Mr. Nicol.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary monthly meeting was held on Wednesday, the 3rd instant,
— Mr. Parry in the chair.
The Secretary stated that he had with much regret to announce the
unavoidable absence of Mr. Sidebotham, whose paper, read at the last
meeting, was now to be discussed ; and lie was sure he should enlist for
him the sympathy of his brother members when he informed them that
severe illness in his family was the cause of his not being among them.
Mr. Brothers had, he believed, come with some results of experiments
made with Mr. Sidebotham’s stop, and these he would then explain.
Mr. Brothers said it would be recollected that, at the last meet¬
ing, he had contended that in taking portraits with a good lens, fur¬
nished with the ordinary circular stop, there would not be any distortion
of the character spoken of by Mr. Sidebotham ; and he begged to
lay before them four photographs in support of that opinion. The sub¬
ject was a bust, in which allowing beard stood out from the pedestal; and
this constituted an admirable test, for of course it would at once show
whether the ordinary lens gave rise to a stereoscopic effect not produced
by the new stop. The photographs were about one-third the size of
the original— -the first being taken with the stop with which he usually
worked ; the second with the full aperture of the lens ; the third with
Mr. Sidebotham’s stop ; and the fourth with a similar slit placed verti¬
cally. He invited the members to examine these carefulty, and he
believed they would say with him that no difference could be detected
as regards the stereoscopic effect. The beard he had alluded to would
prove this ; for it would be found to extend to exactly the same point on
the pedestal in all the copies. It was possible tliere might be some
minute difference, but the eye could not detect it; and he could not there¬
fore conceive it to be a matter of any practical importance. But he
found that, on using Mr. Sidebotham’s stop, the time of exposure neces¬
sary was three times that which he required when using the ordinary
arrangement ; and it consequently appeared to him that he should, without
gaining anything of importance, lose considerably. Another defect,
however, would be observed, and it was in order to show this that
the fourth negative was taken with a vertical slit. On examining the
pictures it would be observed that in both eases where the elongated stop
was employed there was a drawing of the lines in the direction of that
elongation, they being blurred horizontally when Mr. Sidebotham’s stop
was used and vertically with the vertical stop.
The photographs exhibited by Mr. Brothers were examined by the
members, and a general opinion prevailed that no difference existed which
the eye could perceive. It was, however, thought that further experi¬
ments should be made, as the subject then before them was scarcely
distinct enough in lines to test the principle.
Mr. Heywood suggested that the best object would be a projecting
block placed upon a sheet of ruled paper. It would then be seen at once
whether the projecting part covered more lines in one case than in the
other.
Several members having expressed their intention of making experi¬
mental trials, the further discussion of the subject was postponed until
the next meeting, when it was hoped that Mr. Sidebotham -would be
present-
1&&- THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [April 15, 1801
Mr. M. Noton then read the following
Memorandum on the use of Rectangular Stops.
On the afternoon of Saturday, the 30th nit., I went out with my stereo¬
scopic camera and one plate, to try the effect, if any, of using rec¬
tangular stops.
The object I selected for experiment was an engine chimney about
fifty yards in height, distant from the camera about eighty or ninety
yards, with a fence between us distant about six or seven yards.
In front of the right-hand lens I fixed the stop vertical ; the left, hori¬
zontal, or at right angles with the former.
I then focussed the chimney on the right-hand side of the ground glass,
leaving the left hand to take care of itself, as in ordinary usage it would
have been equally sharp, which I have proved in hundreds of cases before.
A cold wind was blowing, the light very poor, and likely to rain soon,
which caused me to cease working earlier than I intended.
I could see the trees and the camera legs moving, and it seemed very
doubtful whether I should get anything but disappointment.
The result after development was better than I expected, showing a
considerable difference between the two impressions.
The right-hand picture’s outlines are tolerably sharp (considering the
wind), the trees being as good as the chimney. There is very little half¬
tone, as I expected.
On the left-hand half of the plate the chimney is very deficient in out¬
line and much slenderer, the vertical lines being scarcely discernible : the
brickwork has been trying to come out, but has got into a state of
confusion.
The trees surprise me the most. The trunks an d branches have more half¬
tone, the outer edges being sharp ; the inner ones, or those towards the
centre of this picture, being shaded off, giving a rounder appearance, more
like coral, and has quite a stereoscopic tendency, I think.
I beg to lay the plate before the Society ,and may say that, if we had
not had nearly constant rain since our last meeting, I should have been
able to have produced others.
Mr. Brothers said it was very singular that the paper they had just
heard read by Mr. Noton should bear so directly upon the remarks he had
made on Mr. Sidebotham’s stop. On looking at the negative taken by
Mr. Noton, precisely the effect he had pointed out, of a drawing of the
lines in the direction of the slit, would be perceived — the blurring up the
chimney with the vertical stop and across it with the horizontal stop being
most marked. He requested Mr. Noton to continue his experiments and
to take two pictures — the one with the usual round stop and the other
with a vertical slit.
Mr. Hebert then exhibited an automatic washing machine of his own
contrivance, in which a valve being acted upon by two floats was caused
to open and close periodically, so as to ensure a change of water. The
photographs to be washed were placed in trays formed of wooden lattice-
work.
The proceedings were brought to a conclusion by votes of thanks to
Messrs. Brothers, Noton, and Hebert for their communications, and the
Chairman for his services.
OHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The Annual Meeting was held on Wednesday last, the 10th instant, —
Mi'. Griffiths occupying the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, when the
Chairman read the following annual report of the Council : —
ANNUAL REPORT.
In laying before the members this, the Fourth Annual Report, your Council must, in
the first place, express their satisfaction at the continued prosperity and usefulness of
the Society.
They have, great pleasure in referring to its financial position, as shown by the
treasurer’ 8 account, which, as in previous years, continues to show that the income
has rather more than equalled the expenditure. This is more than they could have
reasonably expected, considering the smallness of the annual subscription, and the
slightly diminished number of members ; and is, they think, a satisfactory proof that
everything has been managed with the strictest regard to economy.
This desirable result has not, however, they believe, been obtained by restricting to
any material extent the objects of the Society. It is true that, with the command of
larger funds, more could be undertaken in the interest of the members than has
hitherto been.
It was with that object the resolution to advance the subscription was proposed at the
last meeting, Your acceding to this unanimously caused great satisfaction to your
Council, showing as it did that the sympathies of the members with the objects of the
Society were not dead, as some had supposed, but only required a suitable stimulus to
awaken them from the lethargic slumbers into which they had fallen.
The progress made by photography towards perfection during the past year may not
satisfy all the wishes of the more sanguine lovers of our art ; but such as it has been is
matter for congratulation, inasmuch as its course is onward ! and points to a future
(let us hope not far distant) w hen most if not all our desires for its complete success
will be gratified.
To the establishment of photographic societies we are mainly indebted for its present
comparatively advanced condition. They have proved a stimulus to investigation to
vast numbers of minds whose energies might else have remained undeveloped, and by
the laudable spirit of emulation, ever attendant upon the free interchange of thought and
opinion, have excited in many of their members a worthy desire to outstrip their fellows
in their efforts to accelerate its further progress.
Our own Society, occupying a position comparatively insignificant in relation to some
of the older associations, has not, your Council submit, been without its measure of use¬
fulness as well as profit, at least to its own individual members. And although the
number of papers read exhibit a falling off compared with previous years, they are
sanguine in their belief that the majority have largely profited by the valuable and
practical information elicited at the prolonged discussions which have taken place at all
their meetings.
A recapitulation of the proceedings during the year is presented as required by the
rules.
April 11, 1860. — Election of officers and annual repor tread. Mr. Griffiths's paper On a
New Dry Collodion Process. Discussion introduced by Mr. Hooper on the FothergQl
Process.
May 9.— Discussion on Mr. Griffiths’s paper. Communication by Mr. Fawcett On
Taking Pictures by Artificial Light.
June 13. — Exhibition of the artificial light used by Mr. Fawcett, and discussion thereon.
June 16. — Extra meeting held at the Photographic Exhibition Rooms, Peel Park
Museum.
Sept. 12. — Address of the Yice-Presidcnt. Communication by Mr. Hooper On a New
Negative Albumenised I’aper Process. Discussion on Dr. llill Norris's extra sensitive
plates, and on Messrs. Petschler and Mann's process.
Oct. 10. — Communication by Mr. Sheard On Mr. Parry's Hot Water Process ; #nd
also On some New Facts concerning the Sensibility of Plates coated with Chlons' d
Albumen.
Nov. 14.— Mr. Griffiths’s paper On Iodo-N itrate of Silver— Its Photographic Proper,
ties ; and also On the Chemical Effect of Free Iodine in Collodion. Communication by
Mr. Kay On a New Method of Strengthening Negatives.
Dec. 12. — Discussion introduced by Mr. Rogerson on the Theory of the Dry Process of
Dr. Hill Norris, and on the Sensibility of Iodide of Silver.
Jan. 17, 1861.— Exhibition of members’ pictures iu the lantern, conducted by Mr.
Whaite.
Feb. 13. — Discussion introduced by Mr. YTardley on the production of transparent
positives, and on the alkaline gold toning. Communication by Mr. Griffith On Uranium
Printing.
March 13. — Special meeting. Nomination of officers ; alteration of rules ; and audit
ing accounts.
They regret that the average attendance of members has not been more numerous, and
that a greater number have not volunteered a more active assistance in cafriyingout the
objects of the Society ; but confidently expect that, under the contemplated alteration in
the management, this will not be the case in future.
Several important additions and alterations will, in accordance with the resolutions
passed at the last meeting, be made to the rules which your Council entertain no doubt
will have the effect of greatly increasing the interest felt by every member in the future
prosperity and success of the Society,
Before concluding their report they would specially recommend that the beEt thanks
of the Society be given to the Editor and Publisher of the British Journal of Photo¬
graphy, for their courtesy and kindness in inserting the monthly reports of our proceed¬
ings in that most valuable and deservedly popular Journal.
It was moved by Mr. Radcliffe, and seconded by Mr. Ward, that the
report just read be received, which was carried unanimously.
[Owing to our going to press so soon after the date of the above meeting,
the remainder of the proceedings did not reach us in time for publication
in this number.]
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
At the monthly meeting of the members of this Society, held on the 26th
ult., Mr. Haines presided.
On the motion of Mr. Brown (honorary secretary), Mr. J. Wingrave
and Mr. J. Mountfort, of Coventry, were nominated members of the Society.
Some other formal business having been disposed of,
Dr. Anthony, of Birmingham, delivered a viva voce address on the sub¬
ject of Photographic Lenses, of which we will give a report in our next
number. He illustrated his remarks, which were listened to with the
greatest attention, by a succession of cleverly-executed diagrams on the
black board.
Mr. Brown (hon. sec.) exhibited three large photographs — two by
Bisson Freres, the West Front of St. Ouen, Pouen, and the Matson de
Bateliers, Ghent ; and one by Cocke, the South-East View of Durham
Cathedral — each of them illustrative of certain defects which Dr. Anthony
briefly explained. Those of Bisson Freres, though giving even the
minutest detail of the architecture, together with great depth and purity
of tone, fell off towards the angles of the picture in consequence of the
lens not having sufficiently covered the field, the one of Rouen being very
much distorted. The View of Durham Cathedral showed a central halo, or
lens mark, which much marred the effect of an otherwise exquisite print.
A copy of a map reduced by Dallmeyer’s triplet lens was also laid upon
the table, showing the working of the lens, the definition of a 12 by 7
being as perfect to the extremes as the centre. The Secretary stated
that he had tested the angles and found them perfectly square and true.
Mr. Brown afterwards proposed a vote of thanks to Dr. Anthony, and
suggested the postponement of the discussion on the address until the
next meeting, on which occasion he invited Dr. Anthony to attend.
The vote of thanks was cordially passed, and the meeting adjourned
until the 30th instant.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 3rd instant, at the rooms, Chapel Houses, James Street, — W. H.
Leather, Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having hcen'passed, Mr. Wood was
unanimously elected a member of the Society.
The Chairman called upon the committee appointed to’ try Ross’s lens
to give a report of their experiments.
Mr. Stanley said a comparative experiment had been made between
Ross’s and a lens of French manufacture, the results of which were on the
table. The exposure of both were)alike, but as would he seen, on close
examination, there was a great difference in definition — Ross’s being a
more vigorous picture, with greater depth of focus. It must be remem¬
bered that these pictures were taken in the studio.
A Member : Does Mr. Stanley think a better and quicker result by
Ross’s could be obtained than by the French lens spoken of in operating
out of doors, and has any such experiment been made ?
Mr. Stanley : It was my intention to have put before you some wet
plate negatives this evening, but from the very unfavourable state of the
153
April 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
weather my plans were completely frustrated. I am satisfied, ^however,
that on a bright day, and with Avet collodion, an instantaneous result
may be obtained by Ross’s lens; and if the meeting will spare me the
necessity of giving a decisive report until our next meeting I will be
prepared to carry my theory into practice.
After some discussion it was unanimously agreed to allow the experi¬
ments to be continued until next meeting.
The thanks of the meeting were awarded to Mr. Stanley for exhibiting
some exquisite stereoscopic views, taken by the tannin process, and. to
Mr. Beldon for a view 10X8 taken by the same process, clearly shelving
the superiority of that process ; also to Mr. J. M’Landsborough, for pre¬
senting a volume of The British Journal of Photography to the
Society’s library.
Mr. JIarland requested Mr. Beldon to favour the Society by reading. a
paper at the next meeting on the tannin and Fotliergill processes, as his
experience in the dry plate process would greatly assist all endeavouring
to perfect themselves in this interesting branch of the art.
Mr. Beldon said he should have much pleasure in complying.
After an interesting conversation, and the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman, the meeting separated.
|)rattiral Jitsfrattiras on Coloring l^olograjjjjs.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. ( Continued, J
"VVe will say, then, you are now about to paint cloth. Make a
glaze of Vandyke brown, lake, and indigo, mixed to a rich
warm black, and carry it over the whole : with the same pro¬
ceed to strengthen the deeper shades. This done, lay in the
lio-lits with black, white, and a little blue; and next the inter¬
mediate tints with various proportions of black, white, and Vene¬
tian red — using the same rather warmer for the reflected lights.
With white and black lay in the high lights, and then soften and
blend with a dry brush as before described, taking care all the
time to preserve the photograph by laying tint for tint and shade
for shade. When this first painting is dry you may finish with
the same colours, using more medium and repeating the glazings.
And now suppose you are about to paint a scarlet coat. Use
for the first glaze cadmium yellow and crimson lake ; for the
high lights orange vermilion ; for the shadows crimson lake and
vermilion ; and for the intermediate tones vermilion, vermilion and
lake, and vermilion and orange vermilion. Soften, and when the
first painting is dry finish with the glazing colour (cadmium and
lake) and orange vermilion. [See previous remarks on the cha¬
racter of cloth.] In the same way proceed with every other
material, using each colour of the exact tone and depth of that it
is laid over, and you cannot go wrong.
The whole of the photograph having now received colour, it may
be placed aside to dry, in some place perfectly free from dust; and
thus ends the first painting.
At this stage the colours should all be bright and clean, but
short of their intended force and depth, to allow for the glazings
and finishing touches. There should be nothing hard about the
lines and markings of the features, and the likeness should be
thoroughly preserved.
The Second and Third Paintings.
If the colours have become, in the interval between the last
painting and your again commencing, too hard and dry to receive
the subsequent painting, you have only to pass over them, first, a
damp sponge,* and when the surface is dry, a little poppy oil to
make the second colouring unite with the first. After applying the
poppy oil it should be gently wiped off with a soft, old silk hand¬
kerchief, carefully observing that no dust or threads of the silk
adhere to the surface.
Your task in repainting is, first, to strengthen the lights by
scumbling. For this purpose you may use white, Naples yellow,
and a touch of madder lake; following this with white, yellow
ochre, and vermilion, and again with white and light red.
The carnations next claim attention. For these we use madder
lake and vermilion, or madder lake and Mars, orange, with or
without a little white, according to the complexion to be imitated ;
or white and Indian red, with a very slight touch of cadmium ; or
white, raw sienna, and madder lake ; and for passages _ retiring
into shadow, white, madder lake, and ultramarine and white, with
madder purple.
The gi'eys may next bo attended to ; and in this branch of our
work we shall find all our knowledge and experience put to the
test. The tints for the greys are the same as those given under the
♦ Whenever the glazings will not lie, the sponge must be applied. You may dry, with,
care, by the fire, avoiding placing it too close.
head of half-tints, in a previous number, mixed to a cool or warm,
a greenish or bluish purple, or violaceous tone, according to local
requisites, or the peculiar complexion of your sitter. The more
transparent of the tints given are the better for this stage of the
picture’s treatment, and they should be used thin, that is to say,
with a good supply of medium.
The half-tints may next be treated with the more transparent
tints already given, used thin.
Among the tints incidental to certain passages in various com¬
plexions will be found the following : —
Ultramarine and purple lake, with light red and a little white ;
light red and purple lake, with a little white ; burnt sienna, madder
lake, and a little white ; black-lead, white, and Indian red.
For strengthening the shadows use glazings of—
Indian Red and Madder Brown.
Purple Lake and Vandyke Brown.
Crimson Lake and Vandyke Brown.
Indian Red and Brown Ochre, with a touch of Black.
Burnt Sienna and Purple Lake.
Vandyke Brown and Mars. Orange.
Select from these such as may, by their tone or depth, be
most suitable to the end in view. If you find any passages that
appear too warm or foxy, such may be corrected by working the
following cool tints — either used thin, or by a stipple— over
them : —
Terre Verte and White.
Ditto with Rose Madder.
Emerald Green and White.
Cobalt and White.
Cobalt and Naples Yellow.
In applying these tints, it is especially desirable that they
should be laid on at once in the right place, and with as few
touches as possible. All the warmth , transparency , brilliancy , and
f reshness of colours disappear when leased by much working about with
the brush. The brushes themselves must also at this stage be more
particularly examined, to see that in applying one tint you do not,
in using the same brush, destroy its purity or character by mixture
with another.
The reflections also should now be strengthened, and a little
pure madder lake applied, as a stipple, to the brighter and deeper
passages of the carnations.
Proceeding to the draperies, scumble the highest lights and
glaze the deeper shadows ; afterwards proceed by scumblings and
glazings to improve the background, and then the work may bo
put aside for the third or
The Finishing Painting.
The second painting being dry, and the work prepared as before,
you have now to bring your picture up to the brilliancy and force
of the complete effect by skilful glazings and scumblings — the
latter being confined chiefly to the lights.
The author of the preceding paper, in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practical value, has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring, and to give them advice through the
medium of these pages; for which purpose specimens may be sent,
with a stamped and directed envelope for their return, to A. II.
Wall, Esq., 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
Arthur E.— The specimen has not yet arrived. Your remarks are taken in perfectly
good part, I assure you. Many, lam afraid, think with you ; but it seems to me as absurd
to argue that, because a man can hear, therefore he must be a good judge of music, as
to say, because he can see, therefore he must know whether a picture is good or not.
“ The eye only sees that which it brings with it the power to see.” You do not dance
beautifully because you have legs, but because your mind has acquired the rudimentary
principles of this graceful accomplishment.
Chromo (No. 2.) — The preparation of the “cream,” ns Miss Greenland, afterwards Mrs.
Hooker, called it, was for a method of incaustic painting which might answer your pur¬
pose. It was stated when first announced to be “in imitation of the ancient Grecian
manner.” I will tell you how to make the composition in the next number, as I have
not the time to spare just now.
M. J. — See reply to G. S. and others in the last number but one.
Bothered Bob.— I don’t wonder at it. You seem to think your paint is plaster and
your brush a trowel. Good brushes are not plentiful : I never rely upon any one but
inyself for making choice of these. Sometimes I get them good from one place and
sometimes from another. To clean them, rinse first in spirit of turpentine, and finish
in a mixture of poppy oil with a little spirit of turpentine. They may be kept moist by
dipping them into olive oil, but be careful to cleanse them from *it before use, or your
colours will not dry. I won’t say anything about the specimen sent : its many faults must
be apparent, and you can lam sure do something better north criticising. Wilkie's
first easel was made by pulling out the centre drawer of a chest and sloping his canvas
against the upper part. Perhaps the hint may serve you for the large picture you are
about.
- -
Jf.crmp Cantsji onbenxe.
Paris, April 10, 1861.
Some two years ago an English experimenter, whose name escapes
my memory, announced that he had employed paraffin with advan-
154
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1861
tage in a photographic process which he described. I am not aware
whether he followed up the matter or abandoned it ; but one of
our cleverest amateurs, M. Civiale, has been employing the same
substance in the preparation of negative paper as a substitute for
wax. The pictures exhibited at the last meeting of the French
Society of Photography are very satisfactory, and especially re¬
markable for their freedom from those little spots which generally
cover pictures upon waxed-paper, and give to them what is called
a grainy appearance. The preparations differ in no respect from
those which are usually required for the preparation of waxed-
paper. The exposure is the same as for wet collodion, and the
development is done with gallic acid.
Paraffin is cheap ; it resists the action of most chemical agents;
lastly, it gives great transparency to the paper. All this is more
than enough to attract the attention of operators.
Some new details on Fargier’s process have just been given by
the committee charged with the experiments. The proportions
are the following: —
Water . 100 grammes.
Gelatine . 10 „
Bichromate of potash . 3 ,,
Charcoal powder . 1 „
After exposure, two coats of collodion slightly acidulated aro
spread over the picture : the first coat must be thin, the second
thicker. The report of the committee is very favourable to the
process, which has given good results in the hands of Count
Aguado, a member of the committee.
Some attention has been attracted here by the process published
in England by M. Belbini, by which the picture may be obtained
(so it is said) almost instantaneously, without development, by
coating the glass with a solution of shellac and gum sandarac
in alcohol and ether, to which are added iodide, bromide, and
lactate of silver, and, lastly, iodide of iron. This looks somewhat
of a medley, and one naturally inquires how all these agents will
agree together. However, we must not be hasty to reject inno¬
vations which may, after all, prove to be real improvements, but
rather wait for further information.
If one may judge from the preparations that are going on on all
sides the season about to commence will be a fruitful one for
photographers and photography. Establishments are being
organised, and new processes pursued with activity, so that we
may hope for a fair abundance of useful and interesting facts.
Nothing official has yet been published with respect to the
organisation of photographic instruction in the army. The in¬
struction, however, has already begun. Twenty-five officers are
going through a course of lessons at the rooms of Disderi, under
the direction of that gentleman, who has just communicated to me
the paper which he presented to the Minister of War, and which
is, in fact, his programme. Here is the substance : —
The materiel of the army photographer should answer to the fol¬
lowing requirements : — It should be light, occupy but a small
space, be convenient to move and handle, and, lastly, should be of
a moderate price.
The stereoscopic apparatus fulfils these various requirements
better than any other. The materiel is divided into two portions : —
on one side, the apparatus, composed of camera, objective, frames,
and pedestal, in a box of 25 centimetres (about 10 inches) each way ;
on the other side chemical products, funnels, dish, and small utensils,
contained in a box of 35 centimetres (about 14 inches). These
two boxes, light enough to be carried by a man, could, when
necessary, be placed on the back of a mule. The stereoscopic
apparatus likewise offers the advantage of supplying several proofs
at a time, and of giving the relief of nature. The pictures
obtained in campaigning might be amplified at one’s leisure,
with the help of the proper apparatus. M. Disderi calculates
the price of the equipment necessary for each officer at 400
francs (about £17). He takes his pupils into the various
operating-rooms set apart each one for a special operation, so
that the instruction may be divided as follows : — 1. A preparatory
lesson, giving explanation of the operations. 2. Cleaning of the
glass and preliminary lesson. 3. Preparation of the sensitive
film, development of the picture, and various labours of the labo¬
ratory. 4. Pose, study of lights, and reproduction. 5. Different
preparations of positive papers. 6. Printing of positive pictures.
7. Fixing. 8. Retouching and mounting of the pictures.
9. Lessons in photographic chemistry. 10. General work —
photographic excursions.
This last part should be done with the officer’s regulation
apparatus.
As to the choice of officers, M. Disderi proposes that sub^
lieutenants and lieutenants should be preferred, as they can follow
the lessons more easily, and bo taken from their service with the
least inconvenience. They should send a certain number of posi¬
tive pictures from their cliches for the collection of the ministry,
and for the various libraries and museums. Lastly, an anuual
special exhibition of the works of army photographers should bo
instituted, and prizes should be awarded for the most meritorious
productions.
Such is, in outline, the programme submitted to the Minister of
War, though as yet no decision has been officially announced. Of
course this plan needs completion. Practical military men will
point out the special applications of the photographic art which
are most useful for the army, and will add to the plan those details
which their experience shows them to be necessary. The pupils
who are already at work manifest a zeal and an aptitude which
give good promise for the future.
The French Society of Photography is actively preparing for its
exhibition, which is to open on the 1st of May. I have already
seen several pictures which are to figure therein, and I have every
reason for believing that the Exhibition will be a very interesting
one. Amplified pictures will occupy an important place. M.
Edouard Delessert, one of our most talented amateurs, will send
twelve remarkable specimens, among which will be a carriage, with
ponies half the natural size, two full-sized portraits, which will
doubtless claim a large 6hare of the attention of visitors. These
pictures were obtained with a solar camera having a condenser of
seventy-five centimetres (about 30 inches) in diameter. The
reflector is moved in any direction by means of a new mechanism.
To obviate the inconvenience of the extreme heat produced by
a condenser of such power, ventilators have been so arranged
that a constant current of cold air falls upon the cliche. M.
Delessert’s apparatus allows pictures to be obtained upon ordinary
chlorided paper in thirty-five minutes. This is already a note¬
worthy progress. ERNEST LACAN.
Camspoitlmice.
»ar- We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION OF 1862.
To the Edit on.
Sm, — The “hint” conveyed in the letter of “A.,” in the last Journal,
is an excellent one ; and I hope you will advocate its adoption, and do
your utmost to induce the Photographic Society to act up to it.
Some “ scoffers ” say that photography has reached its ultimatum, and
the total absence of all progress in the present Exhibition might mislead
them to that conclusion ; but they would be thoroughly convinced of
their mistaken notion when they saw the wonderful display of merit and
artistic skill which this suggested friendly rivalry would unquestionably
produce. — lam, yours, &c. EVALINE.
[We will certainly advocate the principle for which you contend, and,
if needful, personally bring it under the notice of the Council in due
time. Want of sufficient space to do justice to the plan may prove an
impediment ; but the probable advantage appears to us to outweigh the
disadvantage of having to reject a few more pictures than usual. — Ep.J
STEREOSCOPIC TRANSPARENCIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, —In your impression of March 1st, turning to the report of the
Blackheath Photographic Society, a good deal is said about stereoscopic
transparencies by the albumen process ; and Mr. Negretti mentions
that, six years ago, the process was published in the Journals.
Not having been a photographer so long, I have not seen the descrip¬
tion mentioned, but shall be much obliged if you -would give me in
your next Journal the formula for the best known process for
albumen plates, both for transparencies and the negative one referred to
by Mr. Negretti. I have, for some time past, been printing transparen¬
cies from my stereo, negatives by the same dry process by which the nega¬
tives are taken (the resin one) ; and although they are very good, when
you can succeed in getting them perfect in the film, the film is so deli¬
cate, from its having no horny substance like albumen to protect it, that
four plates out of every six get small pin-holes and spots pulled out of
the film by the minute uneven points on the face of the negative, espe¬
cially if the plates get the slightest side motion in being placed in contact
or removal after exposure — in addition to which the plates are so sensi¬
tive that it is almost impossible to hit the right exposure every time. I
think the albumen process referred to would be just the thing for me, as
I have some beautiful negatives well adapted for the purpose. I have
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
155
April 15, 1801]
never yet tried any process for taking negatives except collodion ; but if
I the albumen one referred to by Mr. Negretti is to be worked without very
great difficulty, I should like to try it, more especially as he says the
negatives are'so much better adapted for transparency printing. *
Is there any known solution or varnish for pouring over plates to cause
the appearance of ground glass, instead of putting a sheet of real ground
glass over the print, as is usually done ? If so, I should be very glad
to know of it, as I find very great difficulty in getting very nice fine
ground glass : most of that offered me for sale is such coarse stuff that I
would not use it, and prefer paper prints to such a medium. It would
be cheaper also to use two sheets of crown glass instead of one of ground
glass over the crown glass one with the print on it, as I have been doing,
and the slides would not be quite so heavy, which is a consideration
when you have 200 or 300 slides in a collection.
I am, yours, &c. AMATEUR.
[You will have noticed that the very same objection which you find
to printing upon collodionised glass plates, viz., the production of small
\ spots, pulled out of the film by the necessary contact of the plates, is
that to which Mr. Negretti objects in negatives, as being even more inju-
j rious. You will find an abstract of Mr. Negretti’s paper, detailing M.
Ferrier’s method of working the albumen process, in the present number.
There are several means ofproducing the effect of ground glass, one being
the use of a spirit varnish that readily “blooms.” We believe that a varnish
of this kind is made and sold by Mr. Maddison, of Huntingdon (for which see
advertisement). Another method is by pouring over the proofs a solution
[ of pure white wax in ether, in the same way as you coat with collodion,
j By the way, ground glass is usually applied behind, not over, the proof,
i The ground glass fit for your purpose is that which we have been told
; is called “ matted” — that is, roughened with hydrofluoric acid ; but we
know that the right kind can be obtained from either Messrs. Forrest
; and Co., of Liverpool, or Messrs. Claudet and Houghton, Holborn,
London. — Ed.]
REMOVING BLACK VARNISH.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You being, as an Editor, supposed to know everything, and
having kindly assisted me with information before, may I trespass on
your good nature by asking for advice in the following case : — I possess
an over-exposed glass positive portrait, sufficiently dense I believe to use
as a negative, but, unfortunately, I finished it as a positive. If I remem¬
ber rightly I varnished it first with transparent chloroform varnish, and
over that with Bates’s black varnish, on the film side. Can you tell me
any way of dissolving off this black varnish cleanly and complete!}' ?
I tried with chloroform, which took off the greater part, but left the
j picture too stained'and blackened to print from ; and, in despair, I re-
I blackened it with Bates’s.
I would go to any moderate expense to make a negative of my picture,
and crave your kind advice.
If you cannot tell me what to do, can you mention to me any one who
I would undertake to do it for me ?
I am, yours, &c. W. J. G.
P.S. — Would benzole serve me ? I am inclined to think that chloro¬
form would have done if anything would. I value the picture too much
to try any dangerous experiment.
[The exact composition of Bates’s black varnish is unknown to us,
but we have little doubt that benzole will be the proper solvent, as it dis¬
solves asphalte, which is probably one of the chief ingredients ; and, if
there is any India-rubber in it, benzole will still be suitable. It is pos¬
sible, however, that your employment of chloroform may have compli¬
cated matters by causing a union between the black and the transparent
varnishes : still, with care, you may yet manage to preserve your picture
and remove the varnish. Soak it in benzole, and get off as much of the
Bates’s varnish as you can, rubbing it gently, if needful, with a clean
tuft of cotton wool. Then proceed in the same manner with turpentine
as a solvent, and if any stains remain they will, most likely, have been
caused by your treatment with the chloroform : you have, therefore, only
to remove what remains as well as you can by flooding the plate with
chloroform, and pouring it off, without any rubbing — and, lastly, again
varnishing it with transparent varnish. This will probably cause a
slight discoloration of the varnish ; but, if it is a general one (not in
patches), it will merely make it print a little more slowl}'-. — Ed.]
THE NEXT PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The “hint” thrown out by “A.” in your last number, that the
pictures in the next Photographic Exhibition should be classified and
hung in groups, representing the various societies, is too good simply to
find an obscure corner in your Journal and to perish there. I trust that a
suggestion so well calculated to stimulate exertion in our common pursuit
will meet with the attention it deserves ; and, in order to bring it more
prominently forward, I beg space in your columns for a few words on the
subject.
It is extremely desirable that our Annual Exhibition, which is the chief
exponent to the world of the progress we are making, should be rendered
as excellent and artistic, year by year, as possible ; and, therefore, any
new idea which tends directly to this result is worthy of consideration.
Photographic manipulation, we may suppose, ^'lias almost [reached its
maximum, and the great field for competition does not lie so much in that
direction. It is in the higher regions of art that photographers must now
seek their laurels, and here is certainly ample scope for alLfriendly rivalry
and ambition. It is quite time that the hostile critics who annually peep in
at our display should be made to acknowledge, 'in;spite of themselves, (that
photographers had at last entered the domain ofjart, and that the works sus¬
pended before them, by bearing unmistakeably the impress[of thought and
refined cultivation, while commanding their admiration should defy their pre¬
judiced criticism. “A.’s” suggestion, if properly carried out, I believe, would
greatly tend to promote this result, inasmuch [as we should all wish to
see the particular society with which we may be connected first on]thc
list, thereby creating a stimulus which must be productive of marked
and rapid progress. But, in order that this effect may be secured, it is
not only necessary that this suggestion be| adopted, but tliat|it be gyro-
claimed at once, before the season for work begins. I would therefore
suggest that, at the forthcoming meetings of the North London and South
London Societies, the subject be introduced, and, if approved of, that
competent gentlemen be appointed to bring^the^matter before the Photo¬
graphic Society at its meeting in May. That conservative body, which
generally treats with considerable neglect any suggested alteration of
its (I was going to say stereotyped) movements, might thus be brought
to give its sanction to this slight, but important, modification of its
Exhibition arrangements. Perhaps, Mr. Editor, if this suggestion com¬
mends itself to your judgment, you would not think it too much trouble —
in your interest for the art’s advancement — to bring it forward yourself ;
and, if so influential an advocate can thus be secured, I, at least, have no
doubt of its becoming a fait accompli.— I am, yours, &c.,
PROGRESS.
[We have already pronounced in favour of the suggestion. As regards
our opinion, we are quite ready to advocate its adoption as proposed; but
we are not sanguine about the possibility of its being carried out in the
small Gallery hitherto occupied. Nous verrons l — Ed.]
MOUNTING STEREOGRAPHS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Would you kindly inform me what rule ought to be observed in
mounting the two halves of a stereograph when taken on the Latimer
Clarke’s system of moving the camera ? I am at a loss to know what
distance the two halves should be from each other. In 177, On the
Rothciy, near Rydal (Ogle and Edge), the distance from any one point is
2§ inches. In a stereograph, Beautiful in Death, it is only 2§ inches.
In a view of Paris, Notre Dame on the right, it is less than 2f inches.
In a picture of a seashore, with boats, it is less than 2J. There is thus a
difference of three quarters of an inch. Which is correct ? An answer
will oblige. — I am, yours, &c., SIGMA.
Warrington, April 6, 1861.
[Our correspondent has committed an error in saying that the distance
between any corresponding points in either pair of stereographs is a fixed
quantity, near objects being closer together than distant ones. There is a
very wide latitude admissible in mounting the two halves ; but, in order to
get the best effect, the distance between corresponding points of the most
distant object should be such that, when viewed in the stereoscope, the
optic axes of the observer should be very nearly parallel. If entire lenses
are in use in the stereoscope this distance will be on the average about
2J inches ; but, if prisms or semi-lenses are in use, owing to their lateral
displacement of the rays, the distance may be increased to from 2§ to 2$
of an inch without detriment, but there are very few persons who could
view them without straining the eyes (if placed at the last distance)
through a stereoscope with entire lenses. We, therefore, recommend 2f
inches as the best distance in general measured against the distant
objects. — Ed.]
COLLODIO-ALBUMEN.— TONING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — As an unsuccessful amateur in the collodio-albumen process,
which has met with such good results in the hands of Mr. Mudd and
others, I write to you hoping to learn the causes and remedies for failures
with this truly light subject.
Our system is as follows (for I and a friend join in wasting material) : —
After carefully cleaning the glass and coating with Ramsden’s negative
collodion, sensitising in a forty-grain bath, we carefully wash away all
traces of free nitrate and then flood the plate four times with the albume-
nising mixture, composed according to the formula recommended by Mr.
Mudd, in your March number for 1860. We then carefully bake before
the fire : after being put aside for several days sensitise again in the same
bath, and carefully wash as before, when it again undergoes the baking
process. We use a Kinnear’s camera, with a Ross’s orthographic lens,
for plates 11X9, and expose for twenty minutes in strong sunlight,
with a £-inch stop.
_ On proceeding to develop with the ordinary pyrogallic solution (using
citric acid) the film assumes a very dark amber colour, clouded, and
darker in some places than others. No application of the fixing mixtures
(hyposulphite of soda) will modify this appearance, which prevents the
negative printing, except very faintly, although left for four hours in a
Strong light with occasional direct rays of sunlight.
156
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH Y.
[April 15, 1801
Is the albumen sufficiently diluted ?
Is the collodion in fault ? or is the exposure too long ?
Is the bath out of order ?
In our printing operations, we also find difficulties. The purple tone,
so desirable, vanishes on fixing ; occasionally a meaty appearance pre¬
sents itself ; and, to crown all, the abominable yellow tint pervades the
print. The paper we use is Hope’s, albumenised some time ago — about
three or four months. Carbonate of soda is also added to the fixing. The
prints are afterwards washed, finally in warm water, and dried between
sheets of blotting-paper with a hot iron. As an old subscriber, and one
who has had tolerable success with the wet process, and worked hard for
some time at the dry process, I beg to subscribe myself your’s, &c.,
DRY PLATE.
P.S. — What kind of changing apparatus do you recommend for dry
plates 11X9? and what is the price of Smartt’s tent ?
Rochdale, April 5, 1861.
[Your nitrate of silver bath : query— -Does it contain a fair amount of
free acetic acid, say ten to fifteen minims to each ounce of fluid? If not,
this will account for your failure. — The second “baking” of the sensi¬
tised plates : Is it certain that there is no access of light during this
operation? Try without the second baking, but simple and careful
drying in a dark place substituted. It is possible that your exposure
may be too long; but this is rarely the case with collodio-albumen.
Your plates, however, betray unmistakeable evidence of fogging, so that we
should advise a shorter exposure, say one-half the time previously given. _
The print received indicates too small a quantity of nitrate of silver in
the paper sensitising bath. Make it stronger ; wash away all free nitrate
before you tone ; and use a stronger fixing solution. Be careful also not
to expose the proof to strong light while undergoing these operations.
If property toned, the colour ought to change but very little in the fixing
bath.-— Ed.]
STEREOGRAPHS OF JAVA.
To the Editor.
Sir, — We shall feel obliged by your stating in your next number that the
negatives of the stereoscopic views of Java, so favourably noticed in your
Journal, were printed by us from collodion negatives taken by Mr. Wood¬
bury, of Batavia, Java. It is only just to that gentleman that he should
have the credit of having produced negatives which, in point of artistic
effect, we believe to be unequalled. — We are, yours, &c.,
April 10, 1861. NEGRETTI & ZAMBRA.
SCALE OF THE IMAGE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In your answer to my question in your number of the 15tli
ult., you say that I do not suppose that the real size of an image at a
hundred yards off, formed by a lens of thirty-six inches focus, rvill be
equal to that of the object itself. No ; but I did say that this image
appeared about equal to that of the image formed by my eye at die same
distance as the lens from the object. You go on to explain the conjugate
foci of lenses, and, I respectfully say, badger my question. My question
was How is it that my eye, which is such a short camera, produces an
image equal to that in a camera three feet long? — because if we can
shorten our camera, or increase the size of the image, we are gaining an
important improvement. The view from my bedroom window is magni¬
ficent ; but if I put my camera to it the beauty is quite lost : a strip of
about an inch in width contains the river, ships, bridges, mountains, &c.,
too small to fairly represent them. Now, a camera of three feet is a
very awkward thing to use ; and, as I find the light from my long-focus
lens is scattered over a circle the diameter of which is at least five feet,
my light (when it is diaphragmed) is very attenuated. The nearest
approach I am acquainted with is the plan of placing a concave lens
between a portrait combination ; but as I wish you and others to think
on this point, I write again, as three out of four of the views I wish to
take are on too grand a scale for our ordinary cameras ; and if I con¬
struct long-focus lens cameras, I fear I shall meet with other serious
difficulties. — I am, yours, &c., ANTIPODES.
[The sizes of the images of a distant object produced by lenses of
different foci are proportionate to the foci respectively, consequently as
the focus of the lens of the eye is about one inch in length, it follows
that the actual size of the image of an object one hundred yards distant,
as formed on the retina, will not be greater in diameter than one thirty-
sixth part of the size of the image formed by a lens of three feet focus.
But the actual size of the image on the retina has, alone, but little to do
with its apparent size to the observer. You are, however, confusing the
two things, as the following experiment will demonstrate : — Place your
three-feet-focus camera lens at the window of your room, and focus care¬
fully, so that the image appears to be, as you assert, of the size of nature.
Now leave your camera where it is, and retire to the opposite side of
your room ; you will immediately perceive that while the size of the real
subject remains the same , the apparent size of the image in the camera is
materially reduced. You are pursuing a phantom, and a very flimsy one
it is.
In order to obtain the view to which you make allusion, on a large
scale , you must have a lens of long focus, and then you will bo sadly
disappointed to find that the angle of picture included will be so small ‘as
to take in but a fractional part of your subject. This is a case in which
Mr. Sutton’s panoramic lens may be appropriately applied, as the distor¬
tion produced by flattening out the cylinder upon which the negative is
taken (or, what is equivalent thereto, flattening the positive proof printed
from it) will not be offensively apparent in such a subject. Be assured
you cannot in any way materially shorten your camera and yet have
your subject delineated upon a large scalo.' — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
F. M. — You will find the formula in the Almanac for the present year.
In a Fix.— We have a series of articles now in preparation on the subject.
Samubl Evershed. — You will find what you desire in the present number.
Robert L. * * * * — We shall be happy to receive the communication proposed.
T. Roberts. — Apply to the Secretary, whose address you will find in our Almanac.
S. M. B. — On no account would we do as you propose. We never delegate that office
to another.
R. J. — We have no time to spare for such an unpromising experiment as the one
suggested.
T. C. — We are obliged for the permission, but we do not copy, especially^frora the pub¬
lication named.
Robert W. Baker.— See reply to S. Evershed. We shall have an articlo shortly
upon the second subject named.
Curious. — We know the habit of the individual named too well to think as you do.
We do not intend to take the slightest notice.
Matthew. — The neighbourhood of Dorking, Boxhill, and Reigato abounds with sub.
jects fit for your purpose — in fact it is almost inexhaustible.
E. J. TI. (Dudley.) — Your letter having reference to the business department of the
Journal does not come under our cognisance; but we have forwarded it to the ; ublisher
who will, no doubt, have communicated with you ere this.
Negro. — M. is best. We are not responsible for opinions expressed by contributors to
the Journal, the ugh we generally take exception, specially to any that are absolutely
erroneous, and always when likely to mislead our readers.
M. D. — 1. Most assuredly.we do mean albumenised plates without collodion. See Mr.
Negretti's paper on Ferrier’s process in the present number. — 2. By placing the
diaphragm obliquely in the tube of the lens mounting, so that the upper part leans from
the lens.
Beatrice. — We can scarcely advise you to commence with the waxed-paper process ;
but should you decide on doing so, you had better adopt the modification known as the
turpentine waxed-paper, devised by the Rev. J. Lawson Sisson. Pamphlet j rocurablo
at Marion and Co.’s, in Regent Street.
T. G. Perry. — 1. Your formula for toning is good ; the behaviour of your proofs indi
cates some fault in the preparation of the paper, as there is nothing fairly to account for
blistering. The turning of a red tone in the fixing-bath shows that they’were .not *uffi.
ciently acted on in the toning-bath : try heating it, and also adding a drop or two of free
nitric acid to the sensitising silver bath.— 2. At least twenty-four hours. Rain water
would do well —3. The first-named is the best; but see Mr. Dawson's paper in the
present number.
Lazy Janb. — If you proceed as you now propose we can safely promise you a fine crop
of faded proofs in due time. We protested agaiust such a method of toning at the time
of its first introduction, and demonstrated that, if sulphur toning bo admissible at all, it
might be more perfectly, economically, and easily accomplished by the aid of hydrosul¬
phate of ammonia, used in a dilute state, than by adding an acid to your hyposulphite
of soda bath. For travelling, you may make some very useful trays of paper— first
impregnating it with a solution of gutta percha in benzole.
Leoni. — We cannot too often repeat that, in our opinion, the gold toning commonly
called “alkaline” is the only process of toning that ought to be followed ; but you
perceive that we have some names of note on the other side, so you must either judge
for yourself or choose those in whose judgment you have most faith to guide you. We
have no wisli to force our opinion upon others ; but never shrink from giving it if called
upon to do so, even when opposed to that of generally recognised authorities. We are
very obstinate about judging for ourselves.
J. B. B. — 1. There is very little amiss with the figure in the hat — the other is not iu
focus and deficient in detail. The coarseness of grain may be from the use of too much
citric acid in the developer ; but is also likely to have arisen from an over-iodised collo¬
dion. That of the horny kind, and bromo-iodised, is best adapted for the purpose. Make
your developer thus — Pyrogaliic acid two grains, water two ounces, acetic acid half a
drachm, citric acid half a grain. — 2. 3^by2J is a good size, or smaller. — 3 and 4. You only
want an illuminated lens to work by artificial light, and in that case you want two— first,
a two and half inches bull's-eye ; and, second, a bi-convex, six inch diameter, seven or
eight inches focus.
J. Martin (Workington). — You will find several communications relative to the Resin
process in the various numbers of the curreut, and late ones of the last, volume. The
process is extremely simple, and may be shortly described thus: — To each ounce of a
sensitive bromo-iodised collodion add one quarter of a grain of pure white resin, which
will readily dissolve therein. Coat and sensitise your plates in the usual way, using for
the purpose an ordinary silver bath, with a small quantity of free acetic acid, say five
minims to each ounce of both. Wash very copiously with common filtered water, and
drain and dry in the dark. After exposure dip the plate in the silver bath, and then
develop with an ordinary pyrogaliic and acetic acid developer ; wash and clear with
hyposulphite of soda in the usual manner. For particulars of exposure, and some other
details, see Mr. Glover's article in our last number.
F. B. — There is certainly some detrimental influence at work in your preservative-
box that in its present condition renders it quite unfit for its purpose. You say that the
varnish is dry and hard ; but are you sure of this 1 It strikes us as possible that the
varnish may have been made with methylated, spirit, in which case it would fully ac¬
count for the evil so long as any scent of it remains. We recommend you to expose the
box and lid freely to the open air and sunshine if possible during the day time, and at
night put into the box a saucer and tuft of cotton wool, upon which put a few drops of
bromine, and cover it quickly with the lid. Do this alternately for several days and
nights until the scent has entirely disappeared, and then test your box in the same way
as before. The exposure with the compound will he about two-thirds of the time
requisite for the single lens — that is, two minutes instead of three.
R. T. D. (Novice). — The fault of your toning is not in the sensitising hath, but in the
toning bath itself ; but, without more information, we cannot point exactly to the
weak place. The “instantaneous” view is by far the best of the whole. The negative
is over-exposed, but is also developed too much. Your sky is weak, possibly from there
being a shade too much bromide in your collodion, or too little pyroxyline. Add a little
more of the latter, and try again. The stain on the sky of Ovingdean Grange appears to
be from the corner w hence the last drop of liquid was drained. It may be from draining
the nitrate upon contaminated blotting paper, just before putting the plate into the slide;
or it may arise from the last drop of water remaining when the plates w’ere put to dry
after washing, and prior to coating with collodion. You will find an abstract of the
paper on the albumen process in the present number.
*** The Publisher regrets that he has been compelled to omit a large number of
Advertisements from this Number,
[§?§r All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, &c., should
he forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N. I
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
THE BRITISH
JOUBNAL OP PHOTOGEAPHI.
No. 141, Vol. VIII.— MAY 1, 1861.
Exhibition of 1862. — As a matter of course our readers will
be in ecstacies of delight at the honourable position assigned to
photography in the forthcoming industrial exhibition ; for, in¬
stead of classing it amongst the ordinary graphic arts in
Section 4, it is promoted to ‘.Section 2, and stands between
philosophical instruments in Class 13 and horological instru¬
ments in Class 15, and is immediately associated with photo¬
graphic apparatus of all kinds, which, with the results obtained
from their judicious use, constitute Class 14. We have little
doubt that it is to the interposition of the authorities at the
South Kensington Museum that photographers are indebted for
this very flattering arrangement, seeing that they have been of
late so busily occupied in furthering the interests of the whole
body of professionals connected with our art. It is also the
more appropriate wrhen we refer to the details of Section 4,
which are as follow, viz. : —
Class 37. Architecture, including trowels and specimens of
bricks and mortar.
,, 88. Colours, brushes, pencils ; also paintings in oil and
water-colour and drawings.
„ 39. Sculpture, chisels, clay, marble, models, mallets, &c.
,, 40. Needles, burins ; also specimens of etching and
engraving.
Only wre cannot perceive why photography is to be so dis¬
tinguished as not to he confounded with the above-named four
classes of art productions. On looking again at the official
document with which we have been favoured by the Secretary to
Her Majesty’s Commissioners, we find that we must have made
some unaccountable mistake, for in the architectural class there
is no mention made either of trowels or bricks and mortar ; and
similar remarks apply to the other classes in this'section with
respect to the various tools employed. Surely this is an un¬
pardonable oversight. But no ! we have, we fancy, hit upon the
correct solution of the mystery. Our readers are aware that
Her Majesty and her Boyal Consort are both patrons of the
Photographic Society, and, together with one or turn of the
Princes, practitioners of our art, and it was possibly intended as
a special compliment to them to class photographs with cameras
and tripods. Yes, it must be so ; for are not the authorities of
the South Kensington Museum always sunning themselves in
the smiles of Royalty ? and are not the Commissioners for the
Exhibition Her Majesty's Commissioners ?
It is, perhaps, just possible that some photographers of an
ungrateful character may not perceive the advantage of exhi¬
biting their specimens amidst a general jumble of incongruous
adjuncts ; and in that case it will certainly be excellent policy on
the part of the Council of the Photographic Society to carry out
the suggestion recently put forth in our columns by a corres¬
pondent, advocating the arrangement of an extensive exhibition
of photographs in masses, according to the particular societies to
which the various contributing artists belong. A special invi¬
tation might also be conveyed to our confreres on the other side
of the channel with every prospect of a cordial response ; for it
is hardly credible that, while in Paris their productions are ad¬
mitted to rank with the older fine arts, they will send them to
this country to be associated in immediate juxtaposition with
hardware and cutlery. Oh, no ! our French brethren have
much too keen a sense of the ridiculous to commit such an
absurdity.
Fading of Positives. — We learn from our contemporarv,
the American Journal of Photography , that the members of the
American Photographical Society have been occupied upon the
subject of the fading of positive proofs ; and that a paper by
Mr. H. H. Snelling, late editor of the Photographic and Fine
Art Journal, was read before that body, in which we regret to
find that several mischievous practices are recommended and
erroneous doctrines enunciated which will be likely to prove in¬
jurious to the printing branch of the art on the other side of the
Atlantic, because of the authoritative position of the author,
unless the unsound points are speedily controverted ; and this
wre have some hope will be the case, for wre notice that in dis¬
cussing the probable permanence of some pictures one speaker
remarked : “ In fact, they invariably improve in appearance by
keeping” — to which Mr. Garbanati judiciously replied: “Any
improvement implies change : give them [the pictures] time
enough and the change might not be an improvement.” This
observation is undeniable, and our American friends will do well
to bear it in mind. With regard to Mr. Snelling’s advice and
opinions, wm find him recommending that the silver solution
should be well rubbed into the paper — to which end he advises
“ not to fear labour.” Again he says : “ Sufficient of the sul-
phuret of silver” [an insoluble compound] “maybe got rid of in
washing to prevent the advance of decomposition.” We are not a
little amused at finding tobacco-juice put down as one of the causes
of fading — a statement which we are not inclined to dispute,
but scarcely think it needful to caution operators against it. In
asserting the following, namely — “ I have toned and fixed sepa¬
rately, and have used the toning and fixing solutions together, and
I cannot give preference to either method so far as permanency is
concerned” — Mr. Snelling probably inadvertently misleads his
readers, because many might infer that allusion was made to the
gold-toning bath. But this is not the case, so far as we can per¬
ceive from the remainder of his paper, for we find no mention at
all made of a gold-toning bath, properly so called — though a
toning bath containing a salt of gold in addition to silver and
some other ingredients is adverted to ; but this is a very diffe¬
rent affair. From a careful perusal of the paper we have
arrived at the opinion that from the facts set forth no con¬
clusions of any value can be deduced ; for the formulie used in
printing the numerous specimens appear to have been adopted
almost haphazard, and without any systematic plan, while
there is not the slightest evidence to show that the unfaded
proofs did not owre their existence to simple preservation from
moisture — a condition of things vdiich we believe would pre¬
serve prints toned by almost any method.
158
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1861
Printing by Development. — There can be no question
about the advantage of producing positive paper proofs by
development provided that they can be executed as economically
and perfectly as by the ordinary printing process — that is to
say, of equal excellence. The great gain to be expected is the
saving of valuable time : we therefore hail with pleasure any
feasible plan for the attainment of so desirable an object. In
another column we give extracts from a communication upon
this subject by Mr. Lyndon Smith, of Leeds, which appeared
in the pages of a contemporary, and which are quoted in the pro¬
per place. Many of our readers wall doubtless be familiar with
the works of Mr. Lyndon Smith, which have from time to time
appeared in the various photographic exhibitions. That some,
nay most, of his earlier productions display a considerable degree
of artistic excellence we are quite ready to testify; and, though
we have felt it needful to protest against the abuse of a certain
method of treatment of his subjects to which Mr. Smith has
lately addicted himself, we are not disposed to deny his pos¬
session of a sentiment for art. We cannot, however, always
agree with his practice or his logic.
Upon what ground undisputed permanence is claimed for the
proofs produced by the method of development recommended
in the communication to which wre refer we are at a loss to con¬
jecture. All the evidence that we have been able to collect
points to a contrary conclusion. The experiments made some
years back by our collaborateur, Mr. Hardwich, went to prove
that prints untoned by gold were in every instance, whether
developed or not, inferior to those in which gold salts had
been the toning agents ; and further, it was also demonstrated
that proofs developed upon the chlorided paper did not resist
destructive agents any better than ordinary sun prints, though
those developed upon an iodised basis appeared to have some
advantage in this respect, but still in an inferior degree to the
gold-toned specimens. It is asserted that the hydrochloric acid
in the salting solution for the Canson’s paper is active in
enabling the operator to obtain clean and vigorous proofs, though
it slightly impairs the surface of the paper. The quantity of
citric acid in the sensitising bath is regarded as important ; for
without it the development is alleged to be beyond proper con¬
trol, while with too much the half-tones are impaired.
Mr. Smith expresses himself as strongly against the use of
albumenised paper, though apparently admitting some of its
advantages. We must frankly admit that we feel with him in
this matter ; but we are not prepared to say, as he does, that
“ all this vigour and extra delicacy must be sacrificed ” until
we can fairly overcome some of the defects of plain paper—' we
mean especially inferiority of detail in the half-tones, and still
more the unpleasant opacity in the shadows. When we can
rectify these failings we shall no longer regard albumenised
paper as we now feel constrained to do — a disagreeable necessity.
In concluding we may remark that we feel not a little amused
at the energy of Mr. Smith’s peroration, which is too cha¬
racteristic to be omitted.
Dry Process Without a Silver Bath.— We find from the
pages of our contemporary, the Photographic News, that Captain
Dixon and Mr. S. Fry are engaged in maturing the details of a
process for producing a sensitive film on glass without the aid
of a bath of nitrate of silver or any other substance — it being
alleged that the sensitive film is produced at one operation, by
means of a preparation poured on the plate. Mr. Simpson testi¬
fies to having taken three or four pictures by means of the pre¬
paration, and considers it a trifle less sensitive than wet collodion.
A patent is about to be or has been secured for the preparation.
We do not know anything of the composition of the preparation ;
but, should it contain nitrate of silver iu combination with collo¬
dion, we doubt whether the patent will be valid, as a process
was some short time back published in one of the French
Journals — we believe La Lumiere — in which this peculiarity was
adopted. But then a bath of iodide of potassium was employed :
in the present case it is asserted that no bath is requisite.
Mr. Fry we know personally to be a very practical man, while
his coadjutor is, we believe, not less so : we therefore have
hopes of something really tangible in the matter before us.
In Articulo Mortis. — We notice with considerable regret
that the Council of the Blackheath Photographic Society has
deemed it requisite to recommend the discontinuance of the
ordinary monthly meetings, in consequence of the difficulty
experienced in procuring papers of sufficient interest to engage
the attention of its members. It is novv proposed to have
occasional meetings, to be convened at the discretion of a
standing committee; but we fear that the plan will scarcely be
found to answer, and that the Society has, dc facto — well!
gone the way of many photographs. Requiescat in pace !
Forthcoming Photographic Exhibition at Birmingham.—
With much pleasure we draw attention to an announcement
in our advertising columns of an intended Exhibition of Photo¬
graphs in connexion with the Birmingham Photographic
Society, to be opened on Monday, the 27th instant. It is to
be held at Aston Hall, near Birmingham, and will remain
open for three or four months. Circumstances have prevented
the Committee from issuing the notice earlier; but we trust
the short time which elapses before the opening day will be
turned to good account by the workers in our Art, so as to make
the Birmingham Exhibition a great success, not only in the num¬
ber but also in the general excellence of the pictures exhibited.
We append the “ regulations ” issued by the Committee, by
which it will be seen that our energetic brethren in the “ black
country ” offer six medals — three silver and three bronze — for
competition. We have reason to believe that Birmingham,
in connexion with its Exhibitions, has hitherto been a generous
patron of Art.
Birmingham Photographic Society.
REGULATIONS OF THE EXHIBITION TO BE HELD AT ASTON HALL.
The Exhibition of the Society will be opened on Monday, May 27, 1861,
and will continue open three or four months.
All descriptions of photographs will betadmissible, together with appa¬
ratus, &c., used in producing the same, or in any way connected with the
art, as also photographic engravings, &c.
It is recommended that all pictures should he framed and glazed, and
the margin of the mounting-board should not exceed three inches ill
width ; but unframed prints will be allowed.
In the case of pictures of smaller size than 9 X 7 it is desirable that
four or more should be placed in one frame; but no frame must exceed
twelve square feet in area.
Each picture, or frame of pictures, must have the name and address of
the artist and exhibitor distinctly written upon the back, together with
a number, which number must correspond with a list of the subjects to
be enclosed with them, specifying the particular process, whether calo-
type, waxed-paper, or the different varieties of collodion by which the
negatives were taken from which the pictures were produced, and, if for
sale, the price.
Touched or coloured prints must be accompanied by an untouched copy.
The Society will award three silver and three bronze medals for the
best pictures in the Exhibition. One silver for the best portrait or group;
one bronze for the second best. One silver medal for the best photograph
of any other subject, landscape, composition, or otherwise; one bronze
medai for the second best. And one silver medal for the best photograph
from the solar camera. The whole of the above to be pure untouched
photographs. A bronze medal will also be awarded to the best coloured
photograph from the solar camera.
The solar pictures to be of not less size than 21 X 17, and unless taken
in Great Britain will be disqualified from competing for the prizes.
All works intended for exhibition must be delivered at Aston Hall,
near Birmingham, not later than the 20th day of May next.
Any picture received after the 28th day of May will be ineligible for
competition for the medals.
A commission of 10 per cent, will be charged on all sales made
during the Exhibition.
A list of the photographs sent must be enclosed with them, and a dupli¬
cate forwarded to the Hon. Sec., together with such other particulars of
process as the exhibitor may wish to communicate.
At the close of the Exhibition the pictures remaining unsold, or not for
sale, will be carefully packed and returned to the owners.
JNO. THOS. BROWN, Jun., Hon. Sec.
47, Paradise Street, Birmingham .
Vlay I, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 159
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMENTS.
By T. F. Hardwick.
No. XXII.
During the last twelve or fourteen months we have been favoured
vith a series of communications from Mr. J. W. Osborne, of Mel-
>ourne, describing the new photolithographic process, of which he
s the inventor. A paper was communicated by him to the
VTelbourne Institute as long ago as November, 1859, describing all
Fat had previously been done in the same direction, and exhibit-
ng the main points in which the new method was considered to
sxcel those which preceded it. On examining the back numbers
>f The British Journal of Photography, we cannot find any dis-
inct statement of Mr. Osborne’s process, although it is more than
>nce alluded to in terms of commendation. An extended notice of
t would be out of place in these “Comments,” which are intended
ather to call attention to objects of passing interest than fully to
lescribe any particular process ; but we are not without hope that
he editor will, ere long, give an abstract of Mr. Osborne’s original
>aper. Although the late exhibition did not, as far as we are
twarej contain specimens either of the photolithographic or photo¬
uncographic processes, yet many such have been shown at the
neetings of the London Photographic Society, and have excited
iniversal admiration, especially the copies of maps and surveys,
vhich are superior to anything done by hand, and can be produced
it a tenth part of the cost.
Our principal object in writing this article at the present time is
;o comment upon two or three matters alluded to by Mr. Osborne
n his letters, and of which, we doubt not, he will be willing to give
>ur readers the benefit. It is evident from his remarks that the
ight in Australia, is, actinically, far stronger than that of London,
since he is able to work easily with lenses which failed to give any
?ery decided intensity of image when examined in the glass-house
)f King’s College. Even in Melbourne, however, the development
)f the image becomes slow and difficult when very small dia¬
phragms are affixed to the lens, and fogging results as a conse¬
quence if the chemicals are not in very perfect order. A method
which he has adopted with success to clean foggy negatives of
naps and plans, is to treat the plate alternately with a solution con¬
taining free iodine and a solution of hyposulphite of soda. The
.rregular deposit of silver is thereby converted into iodide, and is
subsequently removed by the fixing agent, the image itself escaping
njury in consequence of the absence of half-tones. In replying to
this note we advised a trial of the solutions which Major Russell
uses for his dry process, viz., pyrogallic acid and a mixture of citric
icid and nitrate of silver. The result was satisfactory, and we
were requested to thank the inventor for the idea. A good mode of
intensifying negatives of the kind we are now considering, without
precipitating silver on the clear parts of the image, has long been
required ; and the plan of mixing the acid with the nitrate of silver
answers very well when the proportions of the two ingredients are
properly adjusted. It is not necessary for us to say more at
present, since the experiments are still in progress, and the last
number of the Journal contained an allusion to the subject.
Mr. Osborne, residing at a long distance from the source of sup¬
ply, has tried his hand at manufacturing collodion, and speaks of
the “ parchmentised paper” as answering his purpose well in
yielding an intense negative pyroxyline. Having heard this same
commendation from others regarded as good authorities, we may
take this opportunity of stating what were our reasons for discon¬
tinuing the use of the parchment-paper process : — First, on account
of an uncertainty in the action of the parchmentising acid, which
varied with the thickness of the paper and the nature of the fibre ;
and second, because it was difficult to regulate the exact time
upon the first bath of diluted sulphuric acid, and a few seconds
more or less materially affected the quality of the resulting collo¬
dion. As a commercial process, therefore, we hesitated to recom¬
mend it, and the wisdom of our decision is now apparent ; for if
some fail in obtaining uniform results with the process last de¬
scribed to the Photographic Society, the prospect of producing a
normal collodion from parchmentised paper would have been
small. This question of collodion of uniform quality is of the
greatest importance ; but we fear it will not be finally settled until
the manufacture of ether is perfected. The best ether now sold is
no doubt good, as far as regards its general use in the laboratory ;
but it is not up to the requirements of photography in the parti¬
cular case of collodion iodised with a simple alkaline iodide.
Albumen is employed by Mr. Osborne in preparing his sensitive
paper, in addition to the usual mixture of gelatine and bichromate
of potash. He finds it to assist in fixing the design, which other¬
wise would be apt to fall away ; but, if too much albumen be
used, then it is difficult to clean off the ink from the unsunned por¬
tions. His experiments appear to show that the amount of real
albumen in the white of egg is variable, and doubtless such is the
case ; but our own attention had not been directed to the photo¬
graphic importance of the fact until his letter arrived. It may
have something to do with the differences of gloss on paper, and
rvith occasional difficulties in filtering the Taupenot and Fothergill
albumen.
Lastly, we have to speak of lenses for copying maps and plans to
scale. What is the quality which may be esteemed as of the
highest importance? Mr. Osborne assures us that it is fine defini¬
tion ; and in proof thereof calls attention to the minute letters
which he is obliged to reproduce with absolute sharpness, even at
the very corners of the field. Freedom from distortion is of conse¬
quence ; but, if the means taken to secure it in any way injure the
quality of the oblique pencils, he is of opinion that nothing will
be gained. Some experiments that we lately made with an
orthographic and a triplet lens have been published in this Jour¬
nal, and were so far interesting that they showed what a carefully
constructed instrument, of the new form, would accomplish. It
is more than probable, however, that something will soon be pro¬
duced which will eclipse both of these forms; for we are assured,
on good authority, that, setting aside all calculations of expense, a
lens might be ground after the manner of an astronomical tele¬
scope, capable of giving better definition at the edges of the plate
than anything we have yet seen. The focal length of such a lens
would be considerable, and, consequently, there would be less
necessity for the use of means to obviate distortion. The aper¬
ture might be large, since the objects to be delineated lie in one
plane, and a sufficient sharpness in the image would be secured by
the perfect sphericity of the curves. These particulars are given
on the authority of more than one competent optician; but the
price of such an instrument is so considerable that no amateur
would care to encounter it. If our own and foreign governments,
however, find the new processes economical and certain, we shall,
doubtless, soon hear of opticians competing for the honour of being
the first to produce a really serviceable lens.
ON THE NEUTRALISATION OP THE NITRATE OP
SILVER BATH BY CARBONATED ALKALIES.
By T. A. Barber.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie North London Photographic Association, April 24, 1861.]
Some three or four years ago I recommended oxide of silver for
correcting free nitric acid in the exciting bath : this and the car-
bonate of silver are the only additions that can be made to effect
the object, and at the same time preserve its integrity. It is howr-
ever found in practice that there are many combinations of nitric
acid which are not injurious, so this method is rarely adopted, the
alkaline carbonates having the preference, as, being always at
hand, they are the most convenient.
It is not my object in broaching this subject to condemn the use
of alkalies, but just to point out a source of error that may arise
from using the carbonates.
Carbonic acid gas is to some extent soluble, or rather it is
tenaciously held in combination by aqueous solutions, so that when
we add a carbonate to an acid it is only after waiting till the gas
escapes or is driven off by heat that the fluid becomes in a fit state
to receive the test paper. One of the best illustrations of the
power of carbonic acid to redden litmus paper in the presence of
an alkali is that of dipping it into a newly-opened bottle of soda
water : the reaction is the same as if dipped into vinegar.
I recollect once readingin the list of “Answers to Correspondents”
in The British Journal of Photography, a reply to one who had
been adding carbonate of soda at the rate of a drachm to a pint of
bath, without being able to neutralise the acidity. Now this was
very likely to have been the fact ; but the acid that changed his
test paper was no doubt carbonic acid, which he had not allowed
to evaporate before seeking advice. This applies in some measure
to all cases when a carbonated alkali is used, more or less appa¬
rent according to the proportion of acid originally present.
Carbonate of silver is also open to the same objection, nor does
it very readily part with its carbonic acid. I have exhausted my
patience in endeavouring to dissipate the acid reaction on litmus
paper by adding this carbonate. The remedy is, of course, time,
or boiling the solution : we then get a bath absolutely neutral.
Wanting the oxide, I should recommend the caustic alkalies as
preferable — it matters not which: ammonia forms no exception.
There is no danger of spoiling the bath by an overplus; for, although
J 60
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1661
it may be made alkaline, this alkalinity is in no case clue to tlie
adjunct, but to the formation of free oxide of silver, which, after
filtration, is easily corrected. In fact, the point of saturation is
passed when turbidity commences, and whether the bath be acid
or alkaline it is immediately available to test paper.
The alkaline acetates are sometimes used to correct free nitric
acid, but are open to the objection that there is no knowing when
the decomposition is completed, and we have to guess as to
whether we leave nitric acid or form more acetate of silver than
we intend.
The objection to the employment of oxide of silver for neutralising
free acetic acid applies equally to the use of carbonate of soda:
acetate of silver is formed in both instances — directly by the oxide,
and indirectly by the latter. The soda unites with the acetic acid,
forming acetate of soda, then double decomposition follows with
this and the nitrate of silver; resulting in nitrate of soda and
acetate of silver.
It has been recommended of late to use recrystallised nitrate, as
being the purest form of obtaining it. Formerly the fused was
said to be the best. There is no doubt that the oftener you repeat
the process of crystallisation, each time rejecting a portion of the
mother liquor, the purer will be the result. This method is neces¬
sarily much practised in organic chemistry, but is quite inexcusable
when dealing with nitrate of silver.
My advice to photographers is to buy their nitrate as cheaply
as the competition of manufacturers allows them, and doctor
it themselves with oxide. This, with the influence of light, will
free it from both acid and organic matter, leaving a solution purer
than is attainable by any other means. Let them also bear in
mind that recrystallisation is no guard against sophistication.
- — <$— -
ON- ENLARGING- FROM MICRO-PHOTOGRAPHS.
By T. Skaife.
[Read at a Meeting of the Blackheath Photographic Society, April 15, 1861.]
A MICROSCOPIC photograph, whether under the name of “ pistol-
gram” or otherwise, although generally appreciated for its multum-
in-parvo properties by eyes that luxuriate in small print, yet, as a
“ change comes o’er the spirit of the dream,” so it is with the idol
of affection, whose image, secreted in a little gold locket, is there
exclusively worshipped by one devotee. But when the beloved one
merges into paterfamilias, so does his image require an amplifica¬
tion of proportion — not only to meet the necessities of patriarchal
eyes, but to be in keeping with the patriarchal gallery. Here our
art science has stopped short — to the satisfaction of sundry artist
painters no doubt, but not equally so to those who would see in
the life-sized family portrait that truthfulness perceived in the
miniature photograph.
To meet this want photographers are now taxing their inge¬
nuity, and enlarging cameras with more or less success. Chief,
perhaps, amongst the enlarging class is Woodward’s solar
camera; but which, though well adapted for sunny Egypt, or
Brighton during the “ dog-days,” stands small chance of being
appreciated in the neighbourhood of London smoke while the sun
is walking south of the equinox.
To a modification of the electric light the hopes of cloud-capped
and fogged photographers are now turned. But, not to waste time
in anticipations of the epoch when the sun is to be outshone at
noonday, I have trimmed me a chamber lamp, which, with its com¬
plement of wick and oil, cost sixpence. This, on being lit and
placed within the focus of a glass reflector,* can have the image of
its flame reflected upon the surface of the pistolgram. Now, sup¬
posing an enlarged reproduction is required from this small photo¬
graph, I replace it in the back of the pistolgraph, which I pose
opposite the reflector at a distance from the latter of about double
its radius, and place the lamp midway or nearly so between the
two, moving the lamp backward or forward until the pistolgram
appears brilliantly illumined. Now if a white screen be placed in
front of the pistolgraph (from which the shutters have been re¬
moved), say at the distance of three feet, a large picture will
appear projected thereon a la magic lantern. Beneath the screen
upon which the magic photograph is projected I place a second
table vis-a-vis to the first, upon which stand the pistolgraph, lamp,
and reflector — a sufficient space being left between the two tables
to admit of the operator and his chair.
Upon this second table I place a drawing board fixed perpen¬
dicularly in a foot, which, when viewed in profile, has the form of
a X square. In this instance my drawing board, you will perceive,
* Pries half-a-crown.
is a stout mahogany picture-frame, across the back of which two
pieces of wood are screwed, so as to form a groove into which the
frame is pressed. On the plate glass in the frame I fix a sheet of
drawing or common cartridge paper by the two upper corners with
a little gum. This done, I next decide on the size of the required
enlargement, sliding the drawing frame nearer or farther from the
pistolgraph and obtaining a proper focus that way, or by turning
in or out the screw of the lens. I then take a small sable pencil
dipped in a little neutral tint, and pass it over all the light parts
of the picture, repeating the process until the illumined parts
have attained the shaded density of the shadows : which done
on bringing a light to the front of the lens, an imitation photo¬
graph will be found to be the result. Although this imitation, if
hastily done, will be found wanting in some of the minor details of
the original, the deficiency will be more than compensated by the
better adaptation of the imitation than the genuine photograph to
receive the colour thereon when applied by the skilful touch of an
accomplished artist ; for the material upon which most artists prefer
to paint, whether in oil or water-colour, is not generally that best
adapted for a photograph, and vice versa. Nor does experience
prove that a painting, whether done in water or oil, on a photo¬
graphic base is as durable as one otherwise painted.
Formerly the Messrs. Dickinson, of Bond Street, whoso pictures
from photographs have attained such high celebrity, painted upon
the photograph ; but, in consequence of the numerous complaints
made of the fading of pictures so painted, I was informed some
months ago by one of the firm that they had abandoned that
system, and now employed competent artists to copy all their best
photographic portraits by hand when intended to be finished in
colour from the life. The experience of the Messrs. Dickinson,
coupled with that of others, added to the no small trouble entailed in
obtaining an enlarged negative from a micrograph, has induced me
to adopt the plan just described, which, where only one or two
enlarged reproductions are required for artistic purposes, answers
excellently — a great saving of time being effected thereby, as the
head of a child or other subject, which would take a skilful artist
many hours to copy or enlarge by the unassisted eye and hand,
could by the magic lantern means be copied more correctly in one-
quarter of the time.
[Here Mr. Skaife placed a photographic portrait on glass the
size of a small finger nail in the back of the pistolgraph ; then
lighting his small lamp (the gas being turned down) an enlarged
picture was perceived on the drawing-board screen, which was
increased up to life size or diminished accordingly as the screen
was slid backward or forward. Finally, adjusting the focus to
about half-life size, lie passed a small sable pencil charged with a
shade tint rapidly over the distinctive light parts of the picture for
a few seconds ; then slightly turning the lid of the box upon which
the “ magic lantern ” apparatus stood, the enlarged negative image
appeared to slide off the sketch like a mask, revealing the progress
of the sketch in contact with the parent negative standing close
by.]
You see it is not necessary that the enlarging copyist should be
a draughtsman in the artistic sense of the word, although before
the mere photographic imitation can rank as a work of art the
mesmerising hand of an artist must pass over it.
- ■*- -
STRENGTH OF NITRATE OF SILVER SOLUTION,
DEEUCIBLE FROM THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY.
By Geo. Dawson.
[Communicated at the North London Photographic Association Meeting, April 2K, 1861.]
The following table has been constructed from solutions of pure
nitrate of silver in distilled water at the temperature of 60° Fab.
It is not intended to show the weight of nitrate dissolved in a
certain number of fluid ounces of water, but the actual amount
present in each measured ounce of the solution ; for, as I have
already explained in a previous paper, the bulk of the liquid in¬
creases, but not in a uniform ratio, by the addition of successive
doses of nitrate of silver. Suppose, for instance, in making a
collodion bath we measure out a certain quantity of water,
and dissolve therein thirty grains of nitrate of silver for each
fluid ounce, we shall find, in the first place, on a careful re¬
measurement of the solution, a considerable increase in bulk;
and, secondly, as a necessary consequence, that a careful analy¬
sis will barely yield twenty-nine grains of the salt to the
fluid ounce. Moreover, if we try the same experiment with
what is usually called a hundred-grain solution, it will have ex* j
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
161
I May 1, 1861]
paneled proportionately to a still greater extent, and analysis will
only show about ninety-four grains. On account, therefore, of this
expansion ever varying according to the strength of the solution,
I have deemed it more convenient for photographers generally, and
more consistent with the results of precise analysis, to indicate by
the specific gravity the weight of nitrate actually present IN one
fluid ounce of solution. Although this has materially increased
the labour of construction, it has given us greater precision and
uniformity.
Table for Ascertaining from the Specific Gravity to the Nearest Grain the
Amount of Nitrate of Silver contained in One Fluid Ounce of any Pure
Solution, 60° Fah.
Grs.
Grs.
1
Grs.
Grs.
Grs.
Grs.
! per
Sp. Gr.
per
Sp. Gr.l
per
Sp. Gr.
per
Sp. Gr.
per
Sp. Gr.
per
Sp. Gr.
fl. oz.
fl. oz.
fl. oz.
fl. oz.
_
fl. oz.
fl. oz.
10
1,021 i
32
1,063 1
54
1,105
76
1,146
98
1,187
120
1,227
11
1,023
33
1,065
55
1,106
77
1,148
99
1,189
121
1,229
12
1,025
34
1,067
66
1,108
78
1,150
100
1,191
122
1,231
13
1,027 i
35
1,069
57
1,110
79
1,152
101
1,193
123
1,233
14
1,029
36
1,070
58
1,112
80
1,153
102
1,194
124
1,235
15
1,031
37
1,072
59
1,114
81
1,155
103
1,196
125
1,236
16
1,032
38
1,074
60
1,116
82
1,157
104
1,198
126
1,238
17
1,034
39
1,076
61
1,118
83
1,159
105
1,200
127
1,240
18
1,036
40
1,078
62
1,120
84
1,161
106
1,202
128
1,242
19
1,033
41
1,080
63
1,122
85
1,163
107
1,204
129
1,244
20
1,040
42
1,082
64
1,123
86
1,165
108
1,205
130
1,245
21
1,042
43
1,084
65
1,125
87
1,167
109
1,207
131
1,247
22
1,044
44
1,086
66
1,127
88
1,168
110
1,209
132
1,249
1 23
1,046
45
1,088
67
1,129
89
1,170
111
1,211
133
1,251
24
1,048
40
1,089
63
1,131
90
1,172
112
1,213
134
1,252
25
1,050
47
1,091
69
1,133
91
1,174
113
1,215
135
1,254
26
1,051
48
1,093
70
1,135
92
1,176
114
1,216
136
1,256
27
1,053
49
1,095
71
1,137
93
1,178
115
1,218
137
1,258
28
1,055
50
1,097
72
1,138
94
1,180
116
1,220
138
1,259
29
1,057
51
1,099
73
1,140
95
1,181
117
1,222
139
1,261
30
1,059
52
1,101 |
74
1,142
96
1,183
118
1,224
140
1,263
31
1,061
53
1,103 I
75
1,144
97
1,185
119
1.226
Correction for Temperature. — For every 10° below 00° deduct one grain from
the number quoted in the table, and for every 10 3 above 60° add one grain to the
number tabulated.
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J, Rothwell.
No. IV.
Without entering specially into the subject of copjdng in this
place, I must, to make myself understood, go somewhat into it in
: connexion with definition ; for the two are so inseparably involved
in the matter on which I am about to state my views that to do so
cannot well be avoided. Although my object in these papers is
to elucidate the practical optics of photography, I am, in this case,
under the necessity of theorising to arrive at practical results.
As I stated at the latter end of my last paper, No. 3, I believe
myself to be the first hereby to draw public attention to, and to
discuss, the subject of the natural divergency of light, or its tendency
to radiate as affecting definition , particularly in copying. Let no
one run away with the idea that I am laying claim to having dis¬
covered the principle or property of light to diverge ; but that in
the construction of lenses, and in the practical optics of photo-
i graphy this principle has not hitherto been taken into account, as
regards its influence on definition.
Opticians and all photographers who have attempted to enlarge
pictures by copying, know practically that the definition is nothing
at all approaching satisfactory — not even when that universal im¬
prover of definition, a small stop, is used : in fact, when a picture
is enlarged much , say four times linear, or from a one-ninth to a
whole plate size, or from a one-third size to a twenty-two by
eighteen plate, the thing is a complete failure through astigma-
tion, or the impossibility of producing good definition, whatever
size of stop may be employed. Woodward’s solar camera would
he an invaluable instrument were it not for this evil. Copyists
are well aware that, in the case of copying by lenses, when the
copy is of the same size as the original, that the definition is much
better than in the case of enlarging , and that as the copy is smaller
the definition improves ; and if the original or other objects are
at such a distance that the rays before striking the lens may be
considered parallel, then the definition is the best possible.
I should suppose another thing is generally pretty well known,
viz., that if one picture be taken direct of a certain size, by a lens
of a particular focal length, and a second he produced by being en¬
larged from a small picture (to the same size) in copying, the conju¬
gate focal length being equal to the focal length by which the direct
picture was taken, then I say the definition of the direct picture is
very much superior to that produced by enlarged copying. What
is the cause of this very great evil ? I will explain it according to
my ideas on the subject.
There are three reasons to be given in accounting for it : — First,
the natural divergency of light. In the case of enlarging by copy¬
ing, the light is in a divergent condition in consequence of the short
distance the picture which is being copied is from the lens, which
divergency is supposed to be changed into convergency in passing
the lens. Now although the light does undergo a change in direc¬
tion at every part of the lens, and so appears to be directed to a
focus, yet I am inclined to think that the light after passing the
lens at any part, notwithstanding its altered direction everywhere
except at the centre, is still in a divergent state ; for if we take a
very small portion after passing the lens, and which we expect to
come to a fine point or focus, it will pass the focal point in a
state of divergency, and when the conjugate focal length is some¬
thing considerable in the case of enlarging much , the definition is
so bad as to be perfectly intolerable. It is quite evident a small
stop will not cure this. On this hypothesis it will he readily com¬
prehended, without much ractiocination, how it is that, as the con¬
jugate focal length, and, consequently, the size of the picture
increases, the definition becomes worse in consequence of the
increased divergency ; and, on the contrary, when the conjugate
focal length is shortened, and the size of the picture reduced, the
divergency is less, and therefore the definition better.
The second reason is, that hereto we have no lens which will
fulfil the conditions indispensable in a good copying instrument ;
but I am in. hopes of producing one myself shortly to answer that
purpose. The calculations which have been made, and the lenses
constructed according to them, have all been contrived to answer
in case of parallel rays.
The third reason is, that in enlarging by copying a similar effect
is produced to magnifying by the microscope. A small object may
appear to the naked eye to have a very sharp outline ; but, when
much magnified, that which seemed sharp becomes rough and
jagged. Of two pictures taken direct — one of one-ninth size, and
another of whole-plate size, and both what would be considered
equally sharp — if we enlarge the one-ninth size to that of whole-
plate, and the enlarged copy was actually equally as sharp according
to size as its small original, yet I say the copy would appear rough
and coarse in comparison to not only the small one, but to another
large one also which had been taken direct , in consequence of our
being able to see it under enlarged dimensions— or, in other words,
we should see the enlarged copy having the definition (of the
small original) magnified, similar to the case of the microscope ;
therefore do not forget this, ye copying photographers, who
desire good definition, that, to obtain an enlarged copy of a small pic¬
ture, the said copy to be equally sharp with another of the same size
taken direct , and even loith a lens which is all that can be desired the
small picture must be extremely sharp, and the focussing rigorously
exact, or the thing will he an impossibility. The chemicals must
also be in the finest order. This point has not received that deep
consideration, nor been investigated in the searching manner, one
would have expected from some of the master minds in optics and
photography.
Where is the use of expecting to enlarge a picture by copying,
and yet suppose that the definition will not be enlarged at the same
time — that is, that the definition of the magnified copy will seem
as fine as it did in the original? What an absurdity ! what abor¬
tive work, for want of a little investigation !
There are several other things which practically affect definition,
and which must be attended to by those who wish to produce first-
class work. If a lens is used for a length of time without being
cleaned, there is a kind of film adheres to the surfaces, as if the
elements of the atmosphere produced some chemical action on
them, and which, if not cleaned oft’ frequently, produces a marked
effect on the definition and clearness of the picture, aud which has
been attributed to the chemicals and supposed-to-be fog. Dust,
even though in small quantity, must be cleaned off frequently. So
far as my experience goes, soft wash-leather, free from dirt and
grit, is the best thing with which to clean lenses. Sometimes,
by repeated and careless cleaning, the surfaces of lenses be¬
come so rough and scratched as to he almost valueless, which
will of course be rectified by nothing less than repolishing, or
entire new lenses. One or two small marks or scratches are of no
great consequence; but, if numerous, they are very injurious to
definition.
As the divergency of light, in its influence on definition, has not
been investigated at all, so far as I have read or heard — and as any
such influence or action may be totally denied or ignored by some
scientific men — I purpose giving, after the conclusion of this series
of papers, another on this particular subject, wherein I believe I
shall be able, with the assistance of diagrams, to demonstrate the
162
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1861
matter in such a way as to convince the most sceptical that this is
one of the great obstacles in the way of the onward march of pho¬
tography, and also the means of removing it.
[The editor desires that it may be distinctly understood that he is in no way responsi¬
ble for the views held by Mr. Rothwell.J
MAGNESIUM AB A SOURCE OF LIGHT.
Professor A. Schmitt calls attention to the practicability of em¬
ploying metallic magnesium for purposes of illumination, as has
already been suggested by Bunsen. From the researches of the
last-named chemist, it is known that when magnesium is ignited
it readily takes fire and burns with an exceedingly brilliant flame.
The intensity of the light thus produced, as determined by Bunsen
and Roscoe, in one of their photochemical researches ( Pogg .
Annalen , cviii. 261, et seq.) is only some 525 times less than that of the
sun. Compared with an ordinary candle, it appeared that a wire
of magnesium 0297 millimetre [1 mm. = 0'0394 inch] in diameter
produced as much light in burning as seventy-four stearine candles
five to the pound. In order to support this light during one
minute, a piece of wire 0’983 metre long, weighing 0T204 grm.
[1 grm. = 15’4325 grains], was required.
Only 72'2 grms. of magnesium, therefore, would be needed in
order to maintain during ten hours an amount of light equal to
that of seventy-four stearine candles consuming about lO'OOO grms.
of stearine.
According to Bunsen, magnesium wire is readily obtained by
forcibly pressing the metal through a hot steel die by means of a
steel piston. Bunsen’s arrangement for burning the wire was
made by connecting spools of it with rollers moved by clock-work,
so that the work should be unrolled like the ribbon of paper in
Morse’s telegraph, the end of the wire thus gradually pushed for¬
ward, passed into the flame of an ordinary alcohol lamp, where it
took fire.
It is evident that a magnesium lamp of this sort must be much
simpler and more compendious than any of the existing arrange¬
ments of the electrical, or of Drummond’s light. For light-houses,
&c., where an intensely brilliant illumination is required, it can
hardly fail to rival either of these. Where an extraordinary amount
of light is needed, it could readily be produced by burning large
wires, or several thin ones at the same time. Another important
consideration is the fact that the spools of wire, as well as the
clock-work and spirit-lamp, are easily transportable.
It is not, however, to the intensity alone of the magnesium flame
that these lamps owe their utility, for the photochemical (i.e.,
photographical) effect of the light is also very great. According
to Bunsen, the photochemical power of the sun is only 36-6 times
greater than that of the magnesium flame. The latter must there¬
fore be useful in photographing by night or in any dark or sub¬
terranean locality — the evenness and remarkable tranquility of the
flame especially commending it for this purpose.
The present high price of magnesium, it is true, must prevent
any extended use of it for technical purposes. For example,
Lenoir of Vienna charges three Florins [1 FI.— 51 cts.] for a grm.
of it ; hence the cost per minute of the light just described would
be 36 Neulcseutzer [1 ktr.=about f of a ct.] ; and the cost during
ten hours, would amount to 216 Florins, while the ten kilogrammes
of stearine could be procured for less than 14 Florins. But even
at this price it could still be used by photographers, since it would
only be required for exceedingly short intervals of time, and all
unnecessary consumption of the wire might be prevented by
stopping the clock-work. — Stamm's lUustr. Zeitschrift, 1859, p. 332 ;
in Polytechnisches Notiz Blatt, 1860, xv. 56.
HYPONITRITE OF LEAD SILVER BATH.
By M. Mc-A. Gaudix.
I have been making experiments upon the addition of hyponitrite
of lead to the silver bath. This is how I have operated : — I dis¬
solved two and a-half drachms of nitrate of lead in twenty-five
drachms of common water; I added ten drops of nitric acid; then
I poured the mixture into a pan, formed of a thin sheet of zinc
turned up at the sides. On stirring it with a thin piece of zinc
all the lead wras precipitated in lumps. As soon as the reaction
had ceased (known by the lead being no longer deposited upon
the bottom of the pan), I washed the precipitate several times
with water to remove the nitrate of zinc which had been formed.
I then placed this granulated lead to digest in a pan containing
two-and-a-half drachms of nitrate of lead and twenty-five drachms
of water. On heating the pan slowly a few gas bubbles were
disengaged ; and, at the end of an hour, the liquid had assumed
a pure yellow colour : a small white deposit had also been
formed. The liquid, when filtered, was a concentrated solution of
hyponitrite of lead.
By adding to a silver bath a fourth part of its volume of the
solution thus obtained, plates sensitised in it gave beautiful nega¬
tives when developed with acidulated protosulphate of iron and
concentrated gallic acid, to which alcohol had been added to faci¬
litate the flowing of the developing fluid. In order to obtain a
negative free from spots, it is important that the plate should bo
uniformly moistened by this silver bath, by the usual manipulation
followed by experienced photographers.
If a plate thus prepared is passed into an iron bath there will
be instantaneously formed a negative of an olive green by
reflected, and of a deep red chestnut colour by transmitted, light.
If, on the contrary, it is desired to pour on the iron developer, it
is necessary to dilute it with ten parts of water, otherwise it
will be impossible to avoid stains. When gallic acid is poured
upon it, its action is much slower ; the negatives are of a blue
slate colour by reflected, and of a dark green by transmitted,
light. In consequence of the colour of the proofs, this bath could
not be used for producing direct positives.
Before adding hyponitrite of lead to the silver bath I attempted
to produce a negative with gallic acid ; and, as it ended in failure,
I thought of adding to gallic acid some hyponitrite of lead, which
caused a negative to appear immediately. This fact is of great
importance, because it shows that developing agents incapable by
themselves of acting effectually upon a given preparation which
has been exposed to the action of light acquire a sufficient energy
on the addition of certain substances ; and if to bodies excessively
reductive an acid is added to moderate them, it will be necessary
to add to inert bodies another reductive whose combined action
will produce the expected effect. Thus gallic acid is not well
adapted for producing negatives upon collodion sensitised with an
ordinary silver bath ; but from the fact just mentioned there must
exist a great number of substances which, on being added to gallic
acid, will cause it to act like pyrogallic acid ; but the mixture
must not be subject to decomposition.
From what I have said, I do not believe that the bath of Schoer
which I aimed at producing is prepared with hyponitrite of lead,
for this bath gives with sulphate of iron positives of a beautiful
white. I strongly suspect that it owes its qualities to subacetate
of lead. I spoke much of it on its first appearance ; but, wishing to
allow time to its inventor to profit by it, I did not even analyse it.
This time has expired, and in a few days I shall have a small
quantity at my disposition, and there will be nothing to prevent
me examining it and publishing the result for the benefit of pho¬
tographers.
I believe, however, that the progress of photography lies in the
modification of the developing solutions employed with the ordi¬
nary silver bath. I am convinced that the protosulphate of iron
is susceptible, with suitable additions, of rivalling pyrogallic acid;
but, in fact, the employment of protoacetate and protonitrate of
iron has already given me that result, with the advantage of not
marring the blacks, and consequently giving negatives which be¬
came vigorous positives. As I have already said, protoacetate of
iron gives yellowish images, not very luminous as positives, but of
matchless beauty as negatives. Protonitrate of iron, on the con¬
trary, causes the silver to be deposited in molecules white as snow.
The positives are superior in brightness to pictures upon silver; but,
as negatives, the transition from the lights to the half-tones is not
so well graduated as on employing protoacetate of iron.
In order to avoid the trouble of preparing these protosalts by
double decomposition, I operate upon the reduced iron with excess
of acetic or nitric acid, which admits of obtaining these salts in a
very concentrated form; and in that state they are free from oxida¬
tion, especially if iron be left in excess. Filter and dilute with
water only the quantity necessary for daily use.
The great advantage of these protosalts of iron is, that they
can be poured in any manner upon the impressed plate, moist with
its silver bath, without ever making any spots ; because the for¬
mation of the image is slow, and there is sufficient time to cause
the liquids to mix thoroughly before anything appears, and after¬
wards the image is developed by degrees to its greatest efiect,. as
happens upon albumen with gallic acid ; but, relatively, the time
of development is very short. When protonitrate of iron is em¬
ployed, towards the end of the operation, some silver spangles
may be found floating upon the surface of the plate ; but, if the
time of exposure has been well regulated, these form upon the
image lights of extreme beauty.
May 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
16?
In all probability I shall be able, shortly, to describe the usual
preparation, the use and the effects, of these two salts, which are
employed, at present, mixed with protosulphate, and which are
recommended by several authors, who do not know that it is waste
of time, since the instantaneous reducing action of the protosul¬
phate leaves no silver salt for the reaction of the protonitrate,
and the reaction then takes place too slowly.
ON DEVELOPMENT PRINTING.
By Lyndon Smith.
[The following is a condensed extract from an article which
appeared in a recent number of Photographic Notes.}
In experimenting with printing by development I have made, I
think, a few improvements worth recording.
First as to the paper. — I obtain the best results on Canson’s
positive, but Turner’s calotype gives good prints. Immerse the
papers in this solution.
Common salt . 160 grains.
Hydrochloric acid . 10 drops.
Rain water . 20 ounces.
Let them soak some hours, that the acid may act thoroughly. On
no account omit the acid ; it is essential to success with Canson’s
paper : if you use Turner’s you may omit it. Excite by floating
on a bath (in yellow light of course)—
Nitrate of silver . 50 grains.
Citric acid . 1 grain.
jVV ater . 1 ounce.
Allow the paper three minutes, then hang up to dry, suspending
with American clips — not pins — by two corners; put a slip of blot¬
ting paper along the bottom. Let the paper become surface dry,
and while it is still damp, place in contact with the negative as
usual, and expose to light till there is a faint image ; give, say
three seconds in full sunshine, and ninety or one hundred seconds
in dull weather, till experience shows you the exact time, which
varies with every negative. Return to the darkroom and develop
as follows : — Turn up the edges of the print and make it into a tray
and lay it on a sheet of blotting paper ; then, in a clean measure-
glass, put a sufficient quantity of the solution — say one ounce for
a ten by eight print : —
Pyrogallic acid . 2 grains.
Citric acid . 1 grain.
Water . 1 ounce.
Take the measure-glass in the left hand, and a glass triangle in
the right, and pour the solution smartly down one side of the tray,
and with the triangle spread the liquid cleverly all over the paper:
this operation requires some practice, for if not performed neatly
the picture will be stained, just as a collodion negative would be.
The picture develops very quickly, in about the same time as a
collodion negative, and must be closely ivatched. If all is right the
deep shadows come up first, and strengthen considerably before the
half-tones and finer details of the high lights show themselves. As
soon as it looks vigorous and powerful enough — recollect the fixing
does not reduce the print at all — take hold of the tray by two corners,
and turn the devoloping solution into the waste pan, and wash the
print well under the tap, then fix in
Hypo, soda . 1 ounce.
Water . 1 pint.
Letting the proof remain twenty minutes or half-an-hour in the
bath; afterwards wash as usual — though I do not wash as usual ,
for I douse the print with a heavy stream of water from a piece of
India-rubber tubing attached to the tap, where I have a heavy
pressure. I squeeze the tubing between my fingers, so as to make
the water out (I cannot explain better) and direct the stream
on the print which lies on the bottom of the wooden sink, turn it
over repeatedly, let it soak half an hour, repeat the dousing, then
take it out and dry. I think this is just as effectual in getting rid
of the hypo, as soaking many hours, which softens the paper and
dims the picture.
I have now detailed a process of printing positive photographs
at once simple and elegant. The proofs are as vigorous and power-
fid as could be.desired : they can be turned out with great rapidity,
and. are of undisputed permanence.
Finally, let us not delude ourselves that any proofs we may give
of the inferiority of albumen prints will injure either the produc¬
tion or the sale of them, as long as we advocate a process which
deprives so .many “ albumenisers” of occupation, and so many
photographic chemists” of large profits. We are now so much in
the hands of the “professionals” that we can hardly stir without
their kind permission ; and there are so many nostrums and empi¬
ricisms afloat that we lose ourselves in the search for the simple
principles of our art. If I could not go out for a day’s quiet
photographic enjoyment without being bound to use this man’s
“infallible preparation” of collodion, or clean my plates with
“ patent polish,” and develop with “ my formula,” forwarded for
the small consideration of Is. 6d., I would not go out at all. I am
happy to say I can always go out with my own collodion. I have
never used any else, nor would I; and I regret now very much
that a fancied necessity has induced me to use quantities of albu-
menised paper, about the preparation of which I knew nothing.
- - »*♦>>. - - -
The Uses of Photography. — The Times mentions a case in
which the value of photography in a commercial point of view is
strikingly apparent. The Count de Penafiel left Lisbon for Paris,
carrying with him an order for 70,000 francs : this, however, he
unfortunately lost on the road, and telegraphed the same to his
banker at Lisbon. That gentleman at once telegraphed to Paris
stopping payment of the order, but sent by post the portrait of the
Count de Penafiel, stating that the amount might be paid to him
when he presented himself.
- - — »■ -
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES.
By Dr. Anthony.
[Address delivered at a Meeting of the Birmingham Photographic Society, Mar. 26, 1861.]
Dr. Anthony said he had much pleasure in coming forward to make
some observations on lenses. Having had an opportunity of examining
and working lenses by most of the best makers, he trusted what he
had to say would be of a practical character ; and he hoped so to pass in
review the improvements and modifications which had taken place in the
optical portion of photography, as to enable the artist, not only to seek
for the kind of lens best adapted for his particular branch of study, but to
examine and test the instrument.
He was obliged to speak of the laws of refraction, or at least to glance
at them; for without some knowledge of those laws it would be impossible
to understand the advantages and disadvantages of existing or proposed
forms of lenses. He would first take view lenses, and the laws which
regulated the proper position of the stop ; then portrait lenses ; and, lastly,
he would take the subject of lenses more especially intended for copying
prints, maps, &c., which included the new triplet lens of Mr. Dallmeyer.
Dr, Anthony drew on the diagram board a prism, and showed how a
pencil of light falling upon it suffered refraction, being always bent
towards the thick part of the prism ; that the pencil of light was com¬
posed of coloured rays and of chemical rays — the primary colours being
refracted in the order, red, yellow, blue, the chemical rays being proved
by experiment to be the most refrangible of all, that is nearest the thick
portion of the prism, and that this was important in considering the
“correction” of lenses.
A double convex lens might be looked upon as two prisms placed
base to base, and a double concave lens as two prisms apex to apex: a
consideration of the law of refraction would show that, in the one, parallel
rays of light would be made to converge towards a line passing through
the bases of the prisms, and in the other they would equally be made
to diverge from that line ; thence it followed that, as all the parts making
up a pencil of light were unequally refrangible, the rays, coloured or
chemical, would all cross each other from corresponding parts of the two
prisms on the central line, but at very different distances from the lens,
which is looked on as composed of the two prisms.
The optioian, taking advantage of glass of greater orless density, giving-
greater or less refraction of the pencils of light, was enabled to make up
the general shape of a lens of these glasses of different density in such
proportions as to “con-ect” for “colour,” and to a considerable extent
for “spherical aberration” — that is, that the coloured rays should bo
united again to form white light, and that the pencils falling through the
circumference of the lens (and which would naturally fall shorter or
nearer the lens than the central pencils) should be lengthened out, so
that, if the plate for the reception of the imago were a curved one, every
part of the field would be equally defined.
Great confusion existed in the use of the terms “spherical aberration”
and “ curvature of field.” It was well to understand at once, that as a pic¬
ture was taken on a plain surface, the centre of a picture and the sides could
never be absolutely in focus at the same time ; but, by moving the ground-
glass in or out, the focus could be got (in a well corrected lens) of the sides
of the picture, and the lens was only said to have “curvature of field but
if the lens were “under-corrected” for sphericity no focus at all could be
got of the sides — a quality which M. Voigtlander, who very much under¬
corrects for spherical aberration, believed not only to be of little import¬
ance in a portrait lens, where the centre alone was used, but to give that
centre a greater “ depth of focus,” or, as some pleased to call it, no focus
at all. The fact was mentioned there in its proper place of the. under-cor¬
rection of the lenses of M. Voigtlander, and as they had a world-wide
reputation, and as some of the best operators preferred them in that con¬
dition, the question was not considered to be set at rest.
164
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[May 1, 1861
Every lens had two foci, which were called “ conjugate,” best under¬
stood by considering the sitter to be in one focus and his image on
the plate in the other : these continually varied — the longest focus pos¬
sible being on the horizon, giving the shortest focus between the lens and
ground-glass. A knowledge of these foci and their limits was necessary
for copying or enlarging, as it was evident that a point would be reached,
when the lens was placed very near the object to be copied, beyond which
the lens would be what was called “strained” — that is, an attempt to
enlarge the object still more would only be productive of distortion.
When the focus of a lens was spoken of it meant the focus for parallel rays.
Lenses were classed as positive, or those which converged the rays ; and
negative, or those which dispersed them. It was presumed that the
meaning of the terms “double convex,” “plano-convex,” “meniscus,”
and “ double concave ” was known.
When that form of the front lens of a portrait combination which is
nearly plano-convex, or, more correctly speaking, concavo-convex, is used
as a view lens, with the flatter or slightly concave surface turned towards
the landscape, and with a proper stop, its performance is not to be de¬
spised ; but mathematicians, and particularly Mr. Grubb, have taken great
pains to ascertain the proper curvatures and the best densities of the
glass for the special construction of these meniscus view lenses, and the
arrangement, as patented by Mr. Grubb, has been found to give very
satisfactory results. Taking the view lens, it was manifest that the full
aperture would never do ; for the parallel rays falling on the circumference
would come to a focus much nearer the lens than those of the centre,
and so cause great confusion of the image. So a stop was employed, the
aperture of which, as well as the distance at which it was placed from the
lens, was of importance. Consider well why the stop was used. It was not
to allow rays to pass only through the centre of the lens — because, if that
were its purpose, it would be placed close up to the lens — but it was to
prevent direct rays from falling upon the circumference of a lens which
would be short in focus, and to cause the rays which fell on the cir¬
cumference to do so at such an obliquity as to lengthen their focus, and
so to approximate them to the focus of the central rays.
FiG. 1.
View Lens, with stops of different sizes on the cone of rays before they enter the lens.
Dr. Anthony drew a diagram {fig. 1) of a landscape lens in its tube, and
showed that the rays from an object crossing before the}" entered the lens
form, from the point where they crossed, a cone, the base of which was the
lens itself; that, so considering it, a stop must be so placed that it wo uld
be like a ring encircling that cone. The smaller the stop the nearer the
apex of the cone — that is, furthest away from the lens ; and for the same
reason, when copying a near object, and more light was needed, a larger
stop was used, which admitted more central pencils. But such stop was
placed nearer the lens, always at such distance that the oblique pencils
fell at their best position on the edge of the lens. If a small stop was placed
near, or close up, to a view lens, it simply made it into an open lens of
small diameter. Many makers made the stop a fixture at about the
diameter of the lens in front of it ; some took it in the proportion of the focal
length, and set it from one-fourth to one-sixth. The best position was found
experimentally by sliding the diaphragm in the tube till the best defini¬
tion was got, with equal and full illumination of the field. It seemed to
require no explanation that the size of a lens had nothing to do with the
size of a picture, which was entirely an affair of focal length. A lens the
size of a sixpence would take the same sized picture as one of three inches
diameter, provided their focal length was the same ; but the time of expo¬
sure would be wonderfully different.
A stop placed in front of a lens caused the aberration to be of such a
nature that straight parallel lines were rendered as curved towards each
other — an appearance which must bo familiar to photographers in old
representations of houses and masts. They saw that the lines crossed
before they entered the lens, and produced the so-called “ barrel ” shape.
But, if the stop was placed behind the lens, the rays crossed after passing
through, and produced an aberration in an opposite direction, called
“pincushion” — that is, the lines were bowed from each other. The
Petzval lens, the orthoscopic of Voigtiander, and the orthographic of
Ross, all on a somewhat similar principle, had the stop behind, and so had
more or less this pincushion-shaped image, which, though slight, was of
some importance in copying prints or maps where the proofs had to be
afterwards j oined together.
FIG. 2.
Orthoscopic Lens, the stops placed onthe cone of lays behind or a.terphey <juit the bus
Dr. Anthony drew a diagram (fig. 2) of the construction of the Petzval lens,
and showed the qualities gained by the negative lens and the meniscus
at the back ; that the focus could be much shortened and the lines be
rendered tolerably straight at the same time, conferring a most valuable
quality, and one which pre-eminently distinguished them from the land¬
scape lenses — that of equal distribution of light over the field. Mr. Dall-
meyer had taken up a suggestion of Mr. Sutton’s, with regard to a lens
which should be absolutely free from distortion: it was very symmetrical
in its character, being two plano-convcxes, with their plane surfaces
facing each other, and a double-concave lens between them. He (Dr.
Anthony) found Mr. Dallmeyer’s lens to work exceedingly weU, both for
copying purposes (for which it was originally intended) and for landscape
and architectural subjects. One test to which it was subjected was to
render, with open aperture , the detail of a vinery (distant thirty-five feet)
and of a building (at just double the distance) at the same time ; the
representation of both being very fair indeed. The negative lens was
made to unscrew frem the triplet so as to shorten the focus, and to work,
in case of need, as a portrait lens; but there was very great sphericity,
and anything like a good picture could only be got on a very small plate.
Portrait or combination lenses had the front lens a concavo-convex
(generally made reversible for landscape purposes) . In some, as in J amin’s
lenses, the back combination was very much the largest. In others, as in
Voigtlander’s short-focus lens, the back lens is much the smallest ; but in
all the stop was placed between the lenses, the available field being thus
rendered much larger, though with some sphericity. The stop placed in
front of a portrait combination diminished the field ; but, when placed close
up to the glass, it flattened the field very materially — so much so, that a
double combination was not a bad means of copying any small flat sur¬
face where the light teas feeble: therefore it was seen that depth was got,
with some sphericity, by a stop being placed between the lenses ; and
flatness of field, with little depth, by the stop being placed in front.
Jamin made his lenses capable of being separated from each other, and
so lessened distortion when a near object was to be copied. Voigtiander
made his lenses (by preference) to have the chemical and visual foci
different, so that a compensation had to be made after taking the focus
in the ordinary manner. Some photographers made the compensation
by recessing the ground-glass in its frame a distance which they had
found it necessary to move the lens as compensation for the usual
distance at which portraits were taken.
Among the makers of English lenses might be named Ross, Dallmeyer,
Grubb, Slater, Shepherd, &c. Of the German makers, Voigtiander seemed
to stand out conspicuously (Petzval says as a maker only) ; however, his
portrait combination and the orthoscopic were so superior that some of
the greatest photographers would use no other. The quick-acting lens of
Voigtiander had a focal length of two and a-half inches, with a diameter
of three inches, but with great spherical aberration, and only covered a
small field, but bore stopping down well, and then worked with great
brilliancy. The French makers sent in a host of lenses, cheap, and many
of them good ; but they should be examined, as lenses had been seen in
the market which had no focus. Jamin’s, and Hermagis’, and Derogy’s
were much used. Chevalier did make some good lenses. Lerebours’
were spoken favourably of by some. There did not seem very much to
choose between the Petzval, the orthoscopic, the orthographic, and the
triplet : they might all be regarded as copying lenses : the last seemed
to be the most perfect, though many spoke very highly of Mr. Ross’s
orthographic.
In choosing a lens, the colour of the glass of which it was made must be
of importance — that of a j^ellowish cast to be avoided. All lenses covered
fairly a certain sized plate, and then what was called fell off towards the
edges. For equal apertures, and equal focal length, the lens which would
cover the largest area distinctly was the best. It was a point to observe by
pushing in and drawing out the ground glass, if the sides of the picture
could be got into good focus alternately with the centre, when the lens was
used with the full aperture. Few lenses were of universal application:
the attempt which some opticians made to combine all sorts of capa¬
bilities, in compliance with the wishes of customers, was rarely productive
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
165
May 1, 1861]
of anything but disappointment in the end. There was one law with
respect to lenses which was specially worthy of note — that was, that the
shorter the focus of the lens the greater number of planes it would
render in focus at the same time ; as, for example, the short-focussed
stereoscopic view lenses of Ross would give every distance from the fore¬
ground to the horizon. The beautiful landscapes of Mr. Vernon Heath,
in this year’s Exhibition, were taken, he tells us, with a Grubb’s view
lens.
THIED REPORT OP THE EXPERIMENTAL COMMITTEE
OP THE SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
In this report the Committee do not aim at exhausting the subject of dry'
plate photography. They propose only to report on those which they
consider available for general Out-door work.
During the coming season it is their intention practically to test these
different processes, one against the other, to a greater extent than the
nature of the weather has hitherto enabled them. In the meantime they
place before the Society the result of their investigations so far in the
several processes following.
The Taupenot, or Original Collodio- Albumen Process.
This process, on the whole, is considered an exceedingly satisfactory
one, although there are certain difficulties attending it which will ever
jirevent its becoming a general favourite with the amateur.
Particulars op Manipulation. — Sensitise in the ordinary manner, using
any collodion, provided it is not too thick, and thoroughly wash under a
stream of running water. It is not necessary to use distilled water for
this purpose. Iodised albumen is now to be poured over the washed
collodion surface. This albumen is prepared as follows : —
Albumen . 1 ounce.
Water . £ „
Iodide of potassium . 5 grains.
Bromide of potassium . 1 ,,
Ammonia . . . 10 minims.
Dissolve the iodide and bromide in the water, then add the ammonia.
Mix altogether with the albumen, and beat the whole into a froth and allow
to settle, when the clear portion may be poured into a stock-bottle for use.
Air bubbles must be carefully avoided, and the excess of the portion of
albumen taken from each plate should not be returned to the stock-bottle,
but placed in a separate receptacle for future use. It should not, how¬
ever, be used more than two or three times, as after that it becomes too
dilute. Allow the plate to drain on one corner five or ten minutes ; then
dry rapidly before a clear bright fire, and make it quite hot. This tends
to prevent blistering in development.
In this state the plates are insensitive to light, and may be kept for
years. This keeping quality is very convenient, as it enables the photo¬
grapher to prepare, during the winter months, a stock for the summer
season.
To sensitise these plates, immerse them in aceto-nitrate of silver, pre¬
pared as follows : —
Nitrate of silver . 40 grains.
Acetic acid . J drachm.
Water . 1 ounce.
And again thoroughly wash. The amount of washing, however great,
does not seem to lessen sensitiveness, but adds to the keeping qualities.
Development is best effected with gallic acid. Put the plate, face up¬
wards, in a dish, with sufficient of a saturated solution of the gallic acid
to cover it. When it has remained five or ten minutes, add a few drops
of silver solution, and mix well in the dish ; the picture will gradually
appear. When all the details are out, add more silver till the develop¬
ment is complete. Fix in hyposulphite of soda.
The above method of manipulating is that followed by Mr. Mudd.
Your presentation print of this year is a proof that in such hands as his
the process leaves but little to be desired.
Those members of the Committee who have given the process a fair
trial are of opinion that it is uniform and certain in its results, and
possesses many advantages peculiarly its own, not the least of which is
the allowing of long exposure to bring out detail in the shadows, without
fear that the more srtongly-lighted parts will be overdone. It permits of
the ready removal of stains during development, the film being so hard
that a camel-hair brush may be used for that purpose.
On the other hand, the use of the second bath involves considerable
additional trouble : the plates, unless carefully prepared, are liable to
blistering of the film ; and, after the final sensitising, their keeping pro¬
perties are limited. This latter inconvenience, however, may be remedied
by washing in salt and water, then in plain water, and finally applying
tannin or gallic acid to restore intensity. But all this tends further to
complicate an already not over simple process.
Nevertheless, to those who do not object to the trouble of preparation,
the Committee have not the slightest hesitation in recommending the
Taupenot process as safe, and, with proper manipulation, unsurpassed in
its results.
The Fothergill Process.
Of all the dry processes this, perhaps, is in more general use than any
other.. Its simplicity and certainty, particularly for small plates,
especially recommends it to the amateur.
The following are individual opinions of some of the Committee who
have been in the habit of adopting this process : —
Mr.- Borchert describes it as being “ the best process, with little washing
for highly sensitive plates, with long washing for keeping plates of
average sensitiveness.” Mr. Martin says, “my practice has been con¬
fined almost exclusively to Fotliergill’s original process, with which I
have been very successful. I like it for its simplicity, and shall continue
to practise it.” In Mr. Clark’s hands “the process has proved very
successful, more so indeed than any other. The exposure is short, com¬
pared with many other processes.”
With some of the Committee there appears, however, to be a difficulty
in obtaining a surface of uniform sensitiveness and intensity, more par¬
ticularly with large plates. Mr. Davis says “the difficulty of obtaining
an evenly sensitive film of albumenised nitrate of silver affords a decided
impediment to the successful practice of the process.” Mr. Hannaford,
in order to overcome this difficulty, recommends the use of a second bath
of nitrate of silver, of the strength of about five grains to the ounce. The
plate, when taken from the sensitising bath, is to be thoroughly washed,
and then immersed in the weak bath, by which means a more uniform
coating of free silver is got on the plate than by the ordinary method of
washing with a limited quantity of water, or until greasiness disappears.
He also calls attention to the modification of this process, which will be
given presently.
Particulars op Manipulation. — Numberless modifications of the
Fothergill process have from time to time been given : the Committee,
however, prefer the following simple plan, which is more generally used
than any other, and which is thus described by their colleague, Mr.
Clark : —
“ The modification I have adopted is that of washing the plate freely
after sensitising, in any quantity of water, until the greasiness entirely
disappears. I then pour on one corner of the plate sufficient albumen
solution to flow freely over to the other end : this forces the water before
it. I then place it on the levelling stand, and pour a second quantity of
albumen on, and allow it so to stand while I coat another plate. It is
then washed in a large quantity of water, and stood to dry. My albumen
solution consists of one of albumen to three of water, and half an ounce
of ammonia to the pint : it is beaten well up, allowed to settle, and de¬
canted. I prefer this to filtration.”
This method is similar to that lately described to you by Mr. Howard,
in his eminently practical paper, read at the February meeting of this
Society.
The addition of chloride, or a citrate, to the albumen is advantageous
in certain circumstances, such as if over-intensity be complained of; but
the above simple plan will be found to give the most charming results.
The following modification of this process lias been proposed by Mr.
Hannaford : —
Mr. Hannaford' s Modification of the Fothergill Process.
Many complain that in preparing large plates by the Fothergill process
they experience difficulty in obtaining a surface producing equal sensi¬
tiveness and intensity throughout. This difficulty I had to a consider¬
able extent got rid of by thoroughly washing on removal from the
sensitising bath, and afterwards redipping in a second bath containing
about five grains of silver to the ounce. But this method, evidently
involving a multiplicity of operations, and the true beauty of the Fother-
gill process being its simplicity, I have been induced to make some
experiments having for their aim the reducing of the process to as simple
a form as possible, so as at the same time to obtain the best results.
These experiments have not been carried to the extent I purpose, and
I cannot therefore give the exact formula in the modification I am about
to suggest ; nevertheless, I trust my remarks will not be without some
degree of interest to the Society.
The first point to which I directed inquiry was this : — What action
ensues on applying the albumen preservative to the partially-washed
plate ? It is very generally supposed that the free silver remaining on
the film is thrown down as an albuminate ; and, therefore, as the amount
of washing the plate receives regulates the quantity of this albuminate,
thereby affecting the sensitiveness and intensity of the film, we have
received various instructions respecting this part of the manipulation
ranging from the “four drachm ” to the “unlimited.”
Now, it will be found that if we place, say, half an ounce of albumen
mixture in a glass, and add a drop or two of our silver bath, the wh'te
precipitate at first found is almost immediately redissolved by the am¬
monia in the solution. The same action ensues on the albumen coming
in contact with the free silver on the partially-washed plate. But it is
evident that the ammonia becoming weakened by partial saturation, as it
flows on over a large surface, its action is not equal at all parts.
Again, following the same line of reasoning, we may consider that no
albuminate of silver remains on the plate when finished but while still
wet. The film, I think, mechanically retains a part of the albumen,
which in its turn mechanically holds a portion of the silver in combination
with ammonia. It is possible, however, that the salt may be a double one
of ammonio-nitrate of silver, and albuminate of silver. Whatever it is,
wre no doubt get a soluble, instead of an insoluble salt, aud which on eva¬
poration of the ammonia combines again with the albumen to form albu¬
minate of silver. Thus, whilst wet, we have the soluble salt, but wheq
160
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 18CI
dry so that the ammonia has evaporated, the albuminate of silver is
formed in the pores of the film. ...
Reasoning in this manner, it at once struck me that to form this silver
romonund in the albumen mixture would be much neater than obtaining
the same thing at random on the film. This I did by adding nitrate of
silver as long as the precipitate would dissolve.
In order that you may be enabled, should you desire so to do, to follow
out my suggestions, I will give you the plan by which, so far, I have best
succeeded i — ~*
Particulars of Manipulation. — To the white of one egg add three ounces
of water, and about twelve minims of ammonia. This, well beaten, is
the ordinary albumen mixture for Fothergill plates. Now add silver
solution, drop by drop: at first a white precipitate is formed, but quickly
re-dissolved. Directly, however, this albuminate of silver is no longer
so dissolved, cease. The mixture should present a slightly milky _ ap¬
pearance, and in this state may be kept some time. Its keeping qualities
will, however, be better with the addition of just ammonia enough to re¬
dissolve the milky precipitate, and in this state, I think, it works cleaner.
Anv “ mealy ” collodion giving good results in the wet state, may be used.
A fter sensitising thoroughly, wash in an unlimited quantity of water. Then
p ur on the albumen mixture, and allow it to flow over the plate for about
a minute. Again throughly wash, and dry.
It is not needful that the albumen should be removed by washing. In
this case the mixture should be quite clear, ammonia being slightly in
excess. This plan gives all the simplicity which is claimed for the tannin
process without its disadvantage of the danger of losing the film. Develop¬
ment of these latter plates is tedious, but the former come out readily
and intensify to any desired extent.
Petschler and Mann's Process.
In the hands of the Committee this process has not come up to what
it at first appearance promised. It is less satisfactory in its results than
the Taupenot process, liable in a greater degree to a blistering of the film,
and not capable of being exposed to diffused light with impunity when in
the “ insensitive ” state.
The Committee have to thank Mr. Mann for the courteous manner in
which he has afforded them information during the course of their
experiments.
Mr. Davis's Collodio- Albumen Process.
This formula is described by those of the Committee who have tried
it as being extremely simple and certain, producing the best results,
although at a trifling loss of sensitiveness. By thoroughly washing the
film in common water Mr. Davis concludes that every particle of the free
nitrate is either removed or converted into an insoluble salt of silver ; so
that on the application of the preservative no combination of silver with
albumen is formed. Intensity is secured by the addition of glucose.
The Particulars of Manipulation, as given by Mr. Davis, are as
follow : —
In the second communication from the Experimental Committee a
formula was given for a sensitising solution which I found to work very
satisfactorily when added to a suitable plain collodion. I will, however,
take this opportunity of remarking that, any collodion that combines
with an appropriate mechanical structure the capacity of giving an
abundance of half-tone, is equally suitable for this as any other dry
process. The plate, after having been covered with such a collodion, is
to be excited in the usual 35-grain nitrate of silver bath, and then to be
washed freely in a dish (or otherwise) with two or three quantities, of
common filtered water. In cases when the ordinary water contains
organic impurities, it will be found preferable to wash with a very dilute
solution of chloride of ammonium in distilled water. The film is now to
be covered with the following preservative mixture: —
Albumen . 1 ounce.
Ammonia . 10 minims.
Glucose . £ ounce.
Water . 1 ounce.
Dissolve the glucose, in the first instance, in the water, next filter, and
then add it to the albumen, previously well beaten or otherwise frothed.
This preservative solution will keep for a lengthened period, and, after
having been prepared for a few days, will readily filter through common
filtering-paper. This latter operation should be repeated immediately
before applying it to the plate, the liquid should then possess the bril¬
liancy and appearance of amber-coloured collodion. Pour the first
quantity along one edge of the plate, allow it to flow towards the other in
a continuous wave, and pour off from one of the corners ; re-cover with
a second quantity, which should remain thereupon for about a minute.
The plate is then to be washed freely with water, and stood on end to
dry.
Gelatine Process.
This process is capable of producing good results, but is not so gener¬
ally a favourite with the Committee as those previously described.
Particulars of Manipulation. — Well wash the excit' d plate and then
coat with a solution of gelatine, made by dissolving eighty grains of
gelatine in a pint of water, and boiling down to half the quantity, filter¬
ing, and, when cooled a little, adding one ounce of alcohol. This solution
must be heated upon being applied, which is most conveniently done by
standing the bottle containing it in a jug of warm water.
The Tannin Process.
From this process having so recently come before the public the
Committee have not had opportunity to test it to the extent they desire.
Mr. Davis remarks respecting it : — “The simplioity’and readiness with
which the latent image can be developed commends it to a full experi-
mental consideration. The necessity of rendering the film sufficiently
adherent to the glass when working upon medium size (10 by 8 plate*-)
without complicating the process, and the lengthened exposure required
under the same conditions, offer the obvious difficulties to be surmounted
in connexion with this process.” Mr. Borchert recommends a five-grain
solution only, as he considers the tendency of the film to wash away to
be less in that case than when using a stronger solution of tannin, lie
adds: — “All preparations containing tannin (as leather) are very apt, in
a dampish atmosphere, to engender fungus. This will have something to
do with the keeping qualities. I have noticed marks of fungus in old
gelatine plates although they were put perfectly dry into the boxes.”
Pending the publication of the promised treatise by Major Russell, the
Committee reserve their opinion on this process, only adding the follow¬
ing remarks by Mr. Hannaford : — “Collodion for tannin prints maybe
of two directly opposite kinds : the first, and probably the best, partakes
of the ‘ mealy’ nature to a very great extent, almost approaching to
rottenness ; this sample will be found to adhere to the glass with toler¬
able firmness. It should be strongly bromidised, and the alcohol and
ether should contain as much water as possible.
“The second collodion may be of directly the opposite character. I
have prepared a sample giving good results, which is so firm that the
film can almost be lifted from the glass without breaking. It contains
but a small quantity of water and very little bromide. This sample, on
being varnished round the edges, will bear a considerable amount of
washing.”
Particulars of Manipulation. — Thoroughly wash the sensitised plate,
so as to remove every trace of nitrate of silver ; coat with solution of
tannin, five to twenty grains to the ounce. Dry as usual.
There is so much in this process that is promising that the Committee
propose giving it a fair practical trial during the coming summer months.
General Processes.
The Committee having now entered at some length into those processes
which they consider the best, it will be sufficient, perhaps, to allude but
shortly to some others which have been placed before the public from
time to time.
The malt, glucose, linseed, raspberry syrup, metagelatine, &c., processes
are each capable of yielding good results, but are severally open to the
objection that the preservative media do not assist in retaining the col¬
lodion film in contact with the surface of the glass.
The resin process, from its extreme simplicity, is well worthy of atten¬
tion. It has not yet received sufficient trial from the Committee to be
spoken of with certainty.
Concluding Remarks.
In this report the Committee have given what in their experience has
proved the best formula in the several dry processes which they consider
will be most generally followed.
As a body, they are inclined to give the preference and recommend the
Fothergill and Mr. Davis’s processes : the tannin process, and Mr.
Hannaford’s modification of the Fothergill, they consider promising, but
would at present more particularly call the attention of the experimental
members of the Society to them.
During the summer months the Committee purpose continuing their
experiments in the preparation of extra-sensitive plates. They however
only here attempt to report on the good working processes, from which
the members of the Society may make a selection, now that the season
for out-door work has commenced.
OH THE COLLODION- PROCESS: ITS PURSUIT
UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
By D. Brown.
[Read at a Meeting of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society,
April 4ih, 1S61.]
At the request of the Committee I beg to contribute my mite to the
photographic literature of this Society. Perhaps I may be the means of
encouraging some of those who are far more qualified then I am, by their
daily experience, to go into the details of photography.
Instead of commenting on the high position that this art has attained,
and laying before you specimens of its wonderful perfection, I feel it will
be much wiser in me to leave that part of the subject to some of our more
advanced members, especially those amongst you who have studied the
chemistry of the different compounds, and can so nicely detect an error
of a minim, or the fraction of a grain, to the ounce. I will rather go back
to the good old days when photography was in its infancy, and before
the actinic rays had bleached my locks “ wi’ siller grey.”
It was, I think, about the year 1848, that I first thought of trying my
hand at photography. A young acquaintance of mine had made a box,
and we purchased a lens, which cost only a few pence, fitted it to the box
with a paper tube, and set to work with great glee. But my partner,
May 1, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
167
who was engaged all day, could spare no time except in the evenings. I
happened to be more fortunate, as I generally had more time throughout
the day, and went on with the experiments, and we discussed them fully
in the evenings together.
The first process with which we commenced was the calotype, following
the formula given in the Art Union Journal of June, 1846 ; but after many
trials, and about as many failures, we gave it up in despair. The cause
of failure was, as I found out afterwards, partly owing to the actinic focus
not being adjusted, of which we knew nothing at that time.
I very soon after this procured a quarter-plate camera, with a good
lens, which had been used by a lady for taking Daguerreotypes in this
city. I also got some books containing improved formulae, and began
again, and arrived at great success (at least I thought so at the time) .
Some of the results I now lay before you in iodised paper, negatives, &c.
Recollect it was slow work in those days : an exposure of from one to
two minutes, in the sun’s rays, was then necessary. You will see by
one of the specimens that I had the cruelty to make the gentleman sit in
the full blaze of the sun !
I need not enter into the details of the old paper process, as you will
all be quite conversant with the different solutions : I will only say a few
woi'ds on the way I was most successful in manipulation. After iodising
the paper according to the directions, I got a pair of porcelain slabs and
two glass rods, laid on them a piece of clean blotting-paper, a little larger
than the iodised paper, which I laid on it ; set the glass rod across the
top ; poured on close to the rod a few drops of the gallo-nitrate of silver,
moved the rod backwards and forwards till the solution spread along to
the edges of the paper, then brought the rod to the foot of the slab, and
generally got a very even coating by this plan. I also developed in the
same manner.
I now come to the great revival in the art on the discovery of the
Collodion Process. It was in the latter end of 1851 that persons who
had been at the Great Exhibition told me of the collodion pictures shown
there, and advised me to try the process. I found a very good descrip¬
tion given in the Art Journal of July of that year.
You may imagine with what sanguine hopes I prepared to try my
hand ; but where was I to find materials, especially the collodion ?
There were no establishments in Glasgow at that time where ready-made
materials for the collodion process could be procured, and I knew not
how to make them up, as I had no knowledge of chemistry. I at last
mustered up courage, and consulted Dr. Paterson, the friend of the
photographer in distress — a gentleman who did more for the art in its
early stages than any that I know of in the West of Scotland, and a
gentleman who well deserves to be numbered amongst the honorary
members of this Society.
Dr. Paterson, in his own kind manner, showed me how to prepare the
cotton. As far as I can remember it was thus : —
Dried nitrate of potash . . . J ounce.
Sulphuric acid . . . f ,,
Cotton . . § drachm.
It was mixed with a glass rod till saturated, allowed to soak for eight
or ten minutes, washed, and dried. He at the same time gave me a
little cotton to make the collodion with ; also instructions how to make
up the different compounds.
I then set off with a light heart, with the doctor’s prescription, to the
Apothecaries’ Hall, procured the different materials, got home, made
them up, waited with no small share of patience for a good day. With
the first opportunity I set to work — failed over and over again — till at last
I got something-like Nos. 1 and 2, which a gentleman of my acquaintance
used to characterise as belonging to the coal trade !
I may as well detail here what materials I used in the different solu¬
tions. The silver bath contained thirty grains to the ounce. We had no
idea of saturating the bath with iodide of potassium then; hence the
cause of failures at first. The collodion simply contained — ether 1 ounce,
alcohol 2 drachms, cotton 10 grains, iodide of potassium as much as it
would take up; the whole shaken w ell and allowed to stand till settled.
Developer : — Pyrogallic acid 3 grains, water 1 ounce, glacial acetic acid
1 drachm, nitric acid 2 drops. The fixing solution was hyposulphite of
soda. Pyrogallic acid was rather an expensive developer at that time.
It was good for us we had no shilling pictures then, as it cost’soinething
more than twenty shillings per ounce.
In the Mechanics' Journal of December of that year a formula for the
iron developer was published. A great boon it proved to be! It was
much cheaper, and more rapid in its action. I think the cyanide was
used about that time. No. 3 is a specimen of this process. You will
perceive it is full of deep shadows, little or no half-tints, hard, and
metallic. The want of the bromides was the cause of this. To remedy
this defect I mixed the pyrogallic and the iron solutions : the result is
seen in No. 4, &c. I think the bromide was used shortly after this time.
No. 5 is a specimen of another developer that I got some time after¬
wards — the protonitrate of iron. It consisted of — iron 20 grains, water
1 ounce, nitrate of lead 16 grains, formic acid £ drachm, sulphuric acid
2 drops. I frequently use the same developer to this day, and have got
very good negatives with it, under favourable circumstances.
A few words on the manipulation of the collodion process, and I have
done. I wish, however, to state here that the remarks which I now sub¬
mit to you are the result of recent experiments, and that I have had the
advantage of comparing notes with a brother photographer while doing so.
In coating the plate with collodion, as a matter of course we must pour
it off at one end. If the material be thick, ic will be still more so by
evaporation of the ether, and consequently the layer of collodion is thicker
at the end we pour off at. A plan I have adopted to counteract this is to
place the thin end so as to correspond with the sitter’s head, as the light
is strongest on the upper part of the sitter.
Another plan, which I think better still where a uniform coating is
necessary, is to thin the collodion and coat the plate twice, reversing its
ends. This will be shown when copying engravings, or where a uniform
surface is required all over the plate. I would recommend this double
coating with thin collodion for views also.
I am afraid to enter on that much-vexed question — the nitrate bath :
how to keep it right, or, when wrong (as it often is), how to put it right.
There has been so much said and written on the subject, it would be pre¬
sumption in me to attempt to enlighten you on it; but, with working a
gold bath, there is a great deal more than many are aware of in the time
one allows the plate to stand in it. For instance, if you allow the plate
only say from a minute to a minute and a-half, you will get a much
clearer picture- — that is, clearer in the lights and deeper in the shadows —
than if left for three or four minutes ; although the longer time in the
bath has its advantages when taken in proper time — say, for instance, in
photographing a clump of trees in full foliage, or the deep recesses of a
dark glen, where the lights and shadows are in strong contrast, you will
get much better harmony and nicer details, with less chance of the high
lights being solarised.
Such, gentlemen, is an imperfect sketch of an amateur’s earlier and
later experiments in photography. I hope the day is not far distant when
I shall have the pleasure of hearing some of you following up these
remarks.
An Alleged Instantaneous Process. By L. M. Dornbach.—
It is always desirable that the photographer should have at his
command the means to take that limited class of pictures or views
in which there are moving objects, such as street views, vessels in
motion, &c. For this object different methods, called instantaneous
processes, have been devised. The following is one that has never
been published, and gives very good results : —
The first thing to be done is to make a very sensitive alcoholic
collodion as follows To 4 fluid ounces of sulphuric ether, sp. gr.
•720, add 4 fluid oz. of 95 per cent, alcohol ; in this dissolve 140
grains of soluble cotton made in rather weak acids, so that it has a
short structure, and, when all dissolved, add 12 fluid ounces more
of alcohol, which finishes the plain collodion. To 20 ounces of this
collodion add 2 fluid drachms of a saturated solution in water of
iodide of potassium, and 30 grains of bromide of cadmium ; allow the
undissolved particles held in suspension to subside, and the collo¬
dion is complete. Use a neutral 45-grain nitrate of silver bath;
develop with water 16 ounces, protosulphate of iron 1 ounce, acetic
acid (No. 8), 1 ounce, alcohol 1 ounce : fix the picture, as usually
done, with cyanide of potassium. When the picture has been thus
far complete it lacks the required degree of intensity for a negative,
and the following method is resorted to for securing this object: —
After it has been fixed and well washed, pour over the plate a
saturated solution of bichloride of mercury, after which wasji the
plate well; then pour over it some water in which 2 or 3 grains of
iodide of potassium or iodide of ammonium (which is the best) has
been added to the ounce, Avhen the plate is to be again well washed.
If the intensity is not sufficient, this process is repeated until the
required intensity is obtained. — Humphrey's Journal.
- — — — -
GROUPING LARGE NUMBERS.
It is probable that most of our readers are familiar with the engrav¬
ing from a celebrated picture, purporting to represent the Waterloo
Banquet, and containing the likenesses of the various partakers in
the entertainment. There are but few who have any sentiment
for art (to say nothing of proficients therein), who have not
instinctively felt that very numerous offences against good taste
have been committed in the grouping and posing of the various
figures. It is, no doubt, partly owing to the necessity of introducing
the features of the respective individuals that constraint of attitude
has arisen, and in consequence of the large number of persons
comprising the group, not only are the strained portions veiy
conspicuous, but they tend also to increase the bad effect by-
exaggerated contrast. When the picture itself was painted there
was no photography to assist the artist, who clearly had to work
up his subject without the aid of the originals, except tor the
features, and they could not have adopted the attitudes assumed
by some of the figures, even had they been so inclined.
In all large groups, consisting entirely of the male sex, it rnust
be very difficult to produce much artistic effect ; but especially
when they are all very busily occupied in doing — nothing. However
168
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1801
an attempt has been made by Mr. Brothers, of Manchester,, to
accomplish this by7- photography, assisted by the device oi piinting
portions from various negatives, and with considerable success. A
local critic wrote lately as follows in the Manchester Review : —
Visitors to the Photographic Gallery, the establishment of Mr. Brothers, 14, St. Ann's
Square have recently enjoyed a treat of no ordinary description, in the inspection of a
splendid triumph of photographic art. The work in question is a group, composed of
the officers of the 84th Regiment, at present quartered in this city. The picture con*
tains between forty and fifty portraits ; the resemblances are said to be perfect, the
scientific portion of the process of taking has evidently been a success of the very
highest degree, and the artistic taste and skill of the subsequent manipulation at once
command the admiration of the uninstructed eye, and challenge and defy the closest
scrutiny of the regularly trained artist to detect a fault. In most works of the kind,
however faultless the proper work of the artist, the grouping is more or less faulty, and
in many cases it is exceedingly so ; but the sarno taste and skill have, in this instance,
been brought to bear on the mechanical arrangement of the subjects as on the trans¬
ference of the portraits to the plate, and the natural and unconstrained expression of
the figures consequently contributes, in no small degree, to the effectiveness and pic.
turesqueness of tiie lout ensemble. The attitudes are remarkable for the entire absence
equally of the starched and studied stiffness, and of the still more offensive studied
negligence, which are so frequently apparent in works of this kind ; and all the minor
accessories of the picture have been produced with a corresponding degree of taste,
skill, aud carefulness of elaboration, so that the whole constitutes one of the greatest
triumphs hitherto achieved in the department of art to which it belongs.
We have been favoured with a small paper copy of the work, and
judging from that we must admit that considerable artistic skill
and taste have been displayed; but we are of opinion that the same
operator could, on a future occasion, produce a still better work by
the same means, if he would break up bis group into several smaller
ones, and place some nearer, and some more distant, so as not to
have all nearly in one plane. Rome was not built in a day, and
the present work is decidedly a step in advance of most similar
subjects that we have seen.
IJUetirrp of Soiidifs.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 24th ult., at eight o’clock, at Myddleton Hall, Islington —
George Shadbolt, Escp, Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following new members were proposed and declared duly elected : —
Major Burt, R.A., Messrs. T. Allender, J. Harrison, E. Steegmann, and
— Purnell.
Mr. Barber read a paper On the Neutralisation of the Nitrate of Silver
Baili by Carbonated Alkalies [see page 159], for which the thanks of the
meeting were awarded him. Afterwards he said he had expressed him¬
self more strongly on one point than lie otherwise would have done, in
consequence of one of the photographic authorities stating it to be, in bis
opinion, a mistake to neutralise the bath with oxide of silver. How, lie
(Mr. Barber) could not see the mistake, as it was certainly more scientific
to use the oxide than the carbonate in the batli ; because, by putting in
the oxide, they were only putting in more silver, whilst the carbonate
formed nitrate of soda — not that he thought the latter would practically
injure the bath, but still it was putting in foreign matter, which ought
if possible to he avoided.
Mr. Dawson agreed with Mr. Barber respecting the advantage of using
oxide in neutralising the hath. He had tiied ammonia, carbonate of soda,
and other neutralisers, but had found none of them so good as the oxide,
as the only, part of it that would be dissolved out would he the pure silver,
by the excess of nitric acid in the hath. Chemically speaking it was
perfect, and practically speaking it was the best plan lie had ever
adopted. With regard to recrystallisation, lie thought that by repeated
rccrystallisation the organic matter was removed. He had tried it often,
and he always found the first crop of crystals to he purer than those
which were subsequently obtained from the same solution. The 'Another
liquor” would retain the organic matter, but it could subsequently be
used for printing.
The Chairman thought Mr. Barber’s remarks applied peculiarly to
freeing the nitrate of silver from organic matter.
Mr. Barber said his remarks applied equally to getting rid of the nitric
acid. A good deal might be got off by boiling. It was also got rid of
by crystallisation.
Mr. Dawson had not found it so difficult to buy good nitrate of silver as was
generally supposed, that which lie had bought being adulterated solely with
water and nitric acid. The best way to drive off the nitric acid when
pure nitrate was desired was to pound down tlie crystals, and to keep them
for a few hours in a shallow' dish over hot water. A solution made from
crystals thus prepared would he found perfectly neutral. He had met
with a singular accident a short time ago, which showed the fallacy of
the general supposition that nitrate of silver could not he decomposed
into nitrite except at a high tem perat are. One Saturday lie happened
to put some nitrate of silver slightly acid into a shallow basin in a water
hath over a gas jet, and he entirely forgot it until the following Monday,
when he found tlic nitrate of silver, which during that time could not
possibly have been at a higher temperature than that of boiling water,
was in part converted into nitrite. When he made a .solution from those
crystals it was decidedly alkaline. The conclusion he arrived at upon
the subject was that long-continued moderate heat would decompose the
nitrate of silver, whilst a shorter exposure, such as five or six hours,
w’ould produce no such effect. lie did not like fused nitrate, as every
specimen he had seen contained nitrite, and lie did not think it was
possible to fuse it without forming nitrite.
Mr. Sutton having been called upon by the Chairman to reply to Mr.
Barber’s remarks on the use of oxide of silver as a neutraliser, stated that
lie had made many inquiries of Mr. John Williams respecting the manu¬
facture of nitrate of silver and the nature of the residue left on re-crystal¬
lising the nitrate of silver. [See Letters to a Photographic Friend ,
Yol. VII., page 242 ; and Mr. llardwich’s Photographic Comments , page
542.] Mr. John Williams questioned the contaminating body being
organic matter, as he thought the process of fusion would destroy all
organic matter ; but said that a sulphate of silver wTas formed, for lie fouud
sulphur to he present in tlie residue referred to, which might lie traced
to the sulphuric acid always present in commercial nitric acid. The
way, therefore, to make pure nitrate of silver was (in Mr. Williams’s
opinion) to get pure granulated silver in the first place, and then to get
pure nitric acid. To obtain the latter, any nitric acid might be taken, it
did not much matter how impure, and add to it nitrate of baryta, udiick
would pi’ecipitate the sulphate and leave the nitric acid pure : dissolve
in it the pure silver, and there was then obtained pure nitrate of silver.
In recrystallising this nitrate of silver they would not get colourless
crystals, unless they added to the solution a very few drops of nitric
acid, just sufficient to give very slight acidity.
Mr. Barber, with respect to the presence of sulphate of silver, said that
w'ould be easily tested by adding nitrate or baryta to the bath. He
thought the appearauce was much more likely to be owing to the presence
of organic matter, as when a hath had been worked for some time and was
overcharged with organic matter, ether, or spirit, he found it produced
the streaks, &c.
Mr. Dawson said he might take this opportunity for stating that lie
thought it impossible to make nitrate of silver from spongy silver
reduced from the chloride or oxide. He lately had about a pound
of waste chloride of silver, which he reduced to spongy silver by adding
zinc : after washing it lie added rather an excess of sulphuric acid to
remove the zinc. He evaporated the liquor, and then washed the pre¬
cipitate until all trace of acidity disappeared. He then added nitric acid,
and placed the solution in an evaporating dish and kept it over a water
bath until it was concentrated to the thickness of a syrup. lie then
made a solution, equalling about the strength of ninety grains to the
ounce, for printing purposes ; and he was much surprised to find that it
became turbid, which he could not account for, seeing that the liquor was
perfectly7, clear. He left it to stand, and the day before he had collected
a quantity of white cloudy matter off it, which he found to be chloride of
silver. It evidently arose from some of the chloride not being sufficiently
reduced by the zinc. He had to reduce the whole bath to chloride, and
he did not think it was possible to completely reduce the chloride of
silver by means of zinc. Spongy silver should not, therefore, be used for
making nitrate of silver : it should always be fused, with a little lime and
charcoal mixed with it, when it would form perfectly pure silver.
Mr. Hughes had met with an exactly similar effect. Having a quantity
of chloride of silver he had reduced it to spongy silver by the ordinary
zinc method, and had then redissolved it in nitric acid, filtered it, and, on
diluting it to a working strength, to his astonishment down fell a quantity
of precipitate, notwithstanding the previous filtration, showing that the
chloride of silver was soluble in the strong nitrate of silver.
Mr. Sutton asked whether it was not sulphate of silver which was
precipitated, as chloride of silver was not soluble in nitric acid?
The Chairman thought it was a pretty wellknown fact that chloride
of silver was, to a certain extent, soluble in a concentrated solution of
nitrate of silver. There was one point to which Mr. Sutton had not
referred : Mr. Barber’s paper appeared to him to he directed against some
observations made by Mr. Sutton, who depreciated the employment of
oxide of silver in neutralising the hath ; Avould Mr. Sutton favour them
with his views upon the subject ?
Mr. Sutton said when oxide was added there was always a great chance
that too much would be put into the bath ; and then, to counteract that,
too much nitric acid would be added, and so on, over and over again :
whereas, when carbonate of soda Avas used in excess, carbonate of silver
was throAvn doAvn, which, unlike the oxide, Avas not soluble in Avater, and
thus there Avas not much trouble about the matter.
The Chairman : Provided all the carbonic acid Avas evaporated from
the bath, that plan Avould ansAver Avell enough.
Mr. Sutton said he thought that Avas got rid of in filtering.
Mr. Dawson did not see any reason for adding an excess of oxide to the
bath. It could be added in infinitesimal quantities.
Mr. Sutton replied that the smallest excess Avould produce fogging.
Mr. Barber inquired whether Mr. Sutton considered it necessary to
have his bath a little acid to make it Avork well, as he could not obtain
satisfactory results Avith a perfectly neutral hath ?
Mr. Sutton replied that the collodion he employed made his bath a
little acid.
Mr. Dawson, in ansAver to Mr. Barber, said the best pictures might be
obtained Avith an absolutely neutral bath.
May 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
169
Mr. Simpson said when the bath was absolutely neutral every thing
must be in the most perfect condition, as the. presence of the smallest
amount of foreign matter was sure to be indicated on uic plate, ihe
collodion must be good, and the manipulation careful.
The Chairman and Mr. Dawson expressed opinions that, if sulpnaie of
silver had been present in the residue referred to by Mr. Sutton in any
appreciable quantity, its presence would have been indicated very de¬
cidedly on the addition ot nitrate of baryta, and tnis did not seem to have
been the case. Also, that sulphuric acid would not attack silver if there
were an excess of nitric acid present. ^ .
Mr. Simpson said Mr. Sutton suggested that when there, was silver m
excess, and the nitric acid was exhausted, the sulphuric acid, if any weie
present, would begin to act upon the remaining silver.
The Chairman said even in that case the sulphuric acid ivould not
attack the excess of pure silver: to do so it must be oxidised.
Mr. Sutton said the silver would become oxidised by the oxygen of the
nitric acid. The fact that Mr. Williams had found sulphuric in the nitric
acid was most important, and must not be overlooked. They must. not be
misled by theory when it went against practice. He would not stick ex¬
actly to the word sulphate of silver ; it might be sulphite, sulphide, or
some other combination of sulphur with the silver.
The Chairman said they only disputed the presence of sulphate. He
could easily see the possibility of sulphide of silver being present.
Mr. Highley observed that when the attention of photographers was first
called to the peculiar residue that was left in the evaporating dish after
recrystallising nitrate of silver, Mr. Hardwich had carefully experimented
on the nature of this residue, and, in one ot his “ Comments,” had ex-
i pressed an opinion that the colouring body was attributable to organic
matter.
The Chairman said Mr. Hardwich had experimented as to the presence
of organic matter only — not as to the presence of sulphur compounds.
Mr. Hughes said the question might be easily decided by adding sul¬
phur in some form to a nitrate bath, which ought to produce exactly the
same results and appearances alluded to by Mr. Sutton, if his supposition
were correct. That would be the complement to Mr. Williams’s expert,
ments, and would decide the question definitely— if any martyr to science
would spoil his bath for that purpose.
Mr. Barber remarked that the more acid a nitrate bath was the more
organic matter it would hold in solution.
Mr. Dawson proceeded to explain his method of correcting his Table of
Specific Gravity [seepage 161], and exhibited the various instruments
he employed, including some made by himself, and a very delicately-
constructed pipette, graduated to every single minim up to 480 grains,
which had been constructed by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra.
Mr. Hughes thought they ought not to separate without expressing
their admiration of the wonderful patience and accuracy exhibited by Mr.
Dawson in the table of elaborate calculations he had that evening laid
before them. It must not be supposed that he had done it out of mere
whim; for lie had conferred a great benefit upon photographers in telling
them what that eternal grain of nitrate of silver — by which all their cal¬
culations were made — was really worth, and what it stood for. It was a
great fact he had discovered, viz., that the larger the amount of nitrate
of silver in the solution the less was the comparative specific gravity.
The discussion started by himself respecting nitrate of silver had been
productive of much good, and he was sure had greatly benefited the
photographic world.
The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Dawson for his valuable
communications.
The Chairman placed on the table one of Mr. Highley’s dropping
bottles for nitrate of silver solution, described at page 147 of the present
volume. He also announced that the committee had been taking into con¬
sideration the propriety of altering the day of meeting from the last
Wednesday in the month to the last Wednesday but one, so that they
might get reports of their proceedings earlier than they did at present.
He therefore gave notice that a motion to that effect would be made at
their next meeting.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
Evening, the 18th ult„ at eight o’clock, at St. Peter’s School Rooms,
Walworth, — the Rev. F. F. Statham, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Several photographs taken by the different dry processes were exhibited
by Mr. S. Davis, one of the members of the Experimental Committee.
The Chairman announced the following presents to their portfolio : — A
photograph by Mr. Howard ; a photograph of A Sleeping Child, by Mr.
Fitch ; and a copy of a picture painted by Mr. Noel Paton, presented by
Messrs. Smith and Blanchard.
Mr. Wall presented several cartes de visile, (intensified by bichloride of
mercury,) and Mr. F. Howard exhibited a series of views.
Mr. Chadwick and Mr. C. M. Denison were duly elected members of the
Society.
The Chairman called attention to the copies of their presentation print
lying upon the table for members to select from. Any members not pre¬
sent on that occasion could have their copies upon applying to the Hon.
Sec., Mr. Wall, either at his private residence, or at his studio, 28, Old
Bond Street.
Mr. Hannaford read the Third Report of the Experimental Committee
[see page 165], for which a vote of thanks was passed with applause.
Mr. Howard thought they ought not to pass over the report of the
Experimental Committee without expressing their approbation of the
researches they had made. He had tried Mr. Hannaford’s process
for preserving the plates as follows : — He precipitated silver in ammonia
and albumen until the precipitate was no longer dissolved; and
he then, by adding one drop of ammonia, made the solution clear.
He then prepared a Fotliergill in the usual way, partially washing
it ; a second he prepared, thoroughly washed, and coated it with
the solution mentioned by Mr. Hannaford, and washed it again.
A third plate he coated and partly washed, and then covered it with
the preservative solution ; and a fourth he coated with the solution
and did not wash at all. He exposed these plates for five minutes
each one duil Saturday, when he found the Fotliergill plate under¬
exposed, but the detail pretty well brought out. The plate was well
washed both before and after the application of Mr. Hannaford’s
preservative, and he might say the sensitising solution was fully
exposed, and gave a vigorous and well-defined negative. The plate
partly washed, strange to say, did not present so good a negative
as the one thoroughly washed ; although, knowing how sensitive the
Fotliergill plate was when only partially washed, he had expected a dif¬
ferent result. He could only attribute the latter case to the superabundance
of silver, which acted as aretarder rather than as an accelerator. The plate
coated with the solution, and not washed after, although exposed the
same time, was, though not exactly a good negative, very nearly so-
knowing how insensitive a Fotliergill plate was, if not washed after being
albumeniscd. This he thought gave promise. He called attention to
these facts, as showing that Mr. Hannaford had made a step injhe right
direction. The process was very simple, and there was no danger of stains.
He thought they ought to assist the Committee by pursuing any course of
experiments they called their attention to.
Mr. G. W. Simpson exhibited some turpentine waxed-paper negatives,
taken by the Rev. J. Lawson Sisson with two minutes’ exposure, and a
half-inch stop. It was a modification of the old waxed-paper process,
and gave very good definition and sharpness. [See British Journal
Almanack, page 35.]
Mr. Borchert had tried a process similar to that recommended by
Mr. Hannaford. On the one hand, he had poured over the sensitised
and thoroughly-washed plate a 10-grain silver solution, and then the
usual prepared ammoniated albumen solution ; on the other hand, he had
mixed a few drops of a silver solution containing half a grain of dry
nitrate with two drachms of the prepared albumen, and employed this
quantity in two effusions on the previously well-washed plate, and
washed again. In both instances he had noticed an increase of sensi¬
tiveness by one-half. On one plate he allowed the albumen with nitrate
of silver to dry (unwashed), but after five da}rs’ keeping decomposition
manifested itseM’ in developing. Supposing that other insoluble silver
salts might turn out more stable, he tried cliloride and cyanide of silver.
He weighed out the materials in atomic proportions, allowing a quarter
more on the side of nitrate cf silver (to make sure of the sensitive modi¬
fication, if such be) : he dissolved them separately in water, stirred the
chloride or cyanide solution into the silver solution (all this by yellow
light), and washed well. Of the moist precipitate he mixed to four ounces
of prepared albumen a little more, as it appeared to take it up, allowed it
to deposit for two hours, and poured off the clear for use. The albumen
solution containing cyanide of silver had, when put aside in a dark place
for four days, assumed a dark brown colour. The other solution con¬
taining chloride of silver turned yellow only at the end of ten days.
Dry plates prepared with those two albumens, when fresh and lastly well
washed, did not, on being exposed along with ordinary Fotliergill plates,
show any increase of sensitiveness or intensity. He approved of Mr.
Hannaford’s suggestion to employ a prepared albumen with a few drops
of silver solution in it, as conducive to the production of equal sensitive¬
ness on every part of the plate.
Mr. Hannaford said if the plates covered with the solution he recom¬
mended would not keep, then the Fotliergill plates would not keep either,
as the same action took place in both processes. The silver was not
added in excess, but only in a sufficient quantity to produce intensity and
sensitiveness. The only real difference was that in the Fotliergill pro¬
cess the silver was added to the albumen when on the plate, whereas, in
his modification, the silver was dissolved in the albumen before the latter
was poured on the plate, so that a large surface would be rendered more
even in its action when prepared as he suggested than would be the case
in the ordinary Fotliergill plate. With regard to the amount of washing
required, it was only necessary to take the plate from the bath and
thoroughly wash it before the solution was applied, but not afterwards.
That method was simplicity itself, and quite as simple as the tannin pro¬
cess, without the danger of the film leaving the plate. It does not follow,
however, that the operator must confine himself to the nitrate of silver :
the cyanide and citrate of silver would do as well. The plates he had
tried with the solution appeared to him to give very promising results;
and if by some such method they could rely upon evenly coating large
plates — say twelve by ten or fifteen by twelve — it would be a great advan-
iro
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1861
tage, as the ordinary Fothergill plates did not present that even appear¬
ance exhibited by the collodio-albumen or by any of the thoroughly-washed
^Mi^Borchert, whilst admitting that Mr. Hannaford’s modification would
render the plates more even in action, did not see how it could increase
the sensibility. . ... . , .
Mr. Hannaford did not claim any increase of sensitiveness tor ms
method, but thought it would give equal sensitiveness with the Fothergill
process; still, Mr. Ackland had told him that if the nitrate of silver in
the dry plate was in excess of the salts, it would be far more sensitive
than if the salts were in excess of the silver. Thus, if one-half of a plate
were washed with a chloride, and the other redipped in the nitrate of sil¬
ver and then thoroughly washed, when such a plate was exposed, the part
that had the most silver upon it would be twice as sensitive as the other
half having an excess of chloride. However, he only claimed greater
simplicity in manipulation, and more eveness in coating large pictures.
He might refer to some Fothergill plates taken by Mr. Howard, who was
a very careful manipulator, but yet they were far from even in the skies.
Mr. Howard was afraid Mr. Hannaford was not exactly aware of all
the circumstances connected with the plates he alluded to. In the first
place, in the Fothergill plates there was no doubt that the decomposition
commenced at the edges and extended gradually according to the length
of time between the preparation, exposure, and development. Now, the
plates in question were prepared a week before he went into the country,
where he remained three weeks, and the red tinge at the edges of the
plates was sufficient to show that decomposition had begun. A freshly-
prepared plate, he thought, would give as even action as the collodio-
albumen plate, although he admitted that in a large amount of sky it was
very difficult to get the requisite density up to the extreme edges.
Mr. S. Davis recommended the use of glucose mixed with the albumen,
which would, in his opinion, enable them to work without free nitrate.
He had used albumen and glucose in equal parts, which he found retained
the film to the glass with great tenacity, and liquified the albumen to
such a degree as to enable it to pass through the filtering paper. He
tried that mixture on two nine-by-seven plates, from which all free
nitrate was removed, exposed them eight minutes with a two and a-half
inch lens and a half inch stop. The plates turned out to be over-exposed,
and he subsequently found four minutes sufficient, so that the old idea
respecting the necessity for free nitrate was proved to be wrong. With
regard to Mr. Hannaford’s solution lie thought it would coat the plate
evenly, but he did not consider that it would keep for any length of time
without undergoing decomposition. He had before expressed the same
opinion of all combinations of albumen and nitrate of silver.
Mr. Hannaford said his solution acted simply as a preservative, and
might be used over and over again, which was not the case in the Fother¬
gill process, where the solution would stain after being used once or twice.
Mr. Davis got rid of the nitrate of silver, which one would at first fancy
would get rid also of the intensity, but that was restored by the glucose.
He asked how Mr. Davi3 applied his preservative?
Mr. S. Davis said his manipulation was similar to that of Mr. Hanna¬
ford. He thoroughly washed the plate, covered it with the solution, and
thoroughly washed again. In answer to Mr. Hughes he said plates pre¬
pared by the glucose-albumen process would keep three, four, or even six
weeks in the hottest weather. He put five minims of ammonia to each
ounce, which had a tendency to preserve it so long as the alkalinity of
the ammonia was kept up. The glucose was made from the starch of the
potato.
Mr. Hughes had made a mixture of extract of raisins and ammonia,
which kept very well until the alkalinity of the ammonia was overcome
by the acid of the raisins, when a vegetable would begin to form on the
surface, which he removed by filtration, and then added fresh ammonia.
With regard to the tannin process the fault generally found with it was
the weak hold the film had upon the glass ; but he must say there was a
most extraordinary difference of opinion upon this point. One gentleman
told him he had experimented with fourteen different kinds of collodion
by that process, and although he used the tannin solution so strong as
twenty grains to the ounce, he never found one film which detached itself
from the glass. Mr. Hardwich never found the film give way, and said
that Major Russell's recommendation to use gelatine to prevent the film
leaving the glass was perfectly unnecessary, as the film never did leave
the glass. Mr. Sutton was of a similar opinion, and yet it was the
opinion of the Committee that the film did leave the glass. He himself
had heard from amateurs that they would get on very well with that
process, if they could but get the film to stick to the glass.
Mr. Hannaford objected to the introduction of gelatine, as it took
from the tannin process one of its chief advantages, viz., its simplicity.
There was a beauty and crispness about the albumen plates scarcely
equalled by the wet process, and, therefore, if complicity were intro¬
duced into the tannin process, he should greatly prefer the albumen
process.
Mr. Simpson, referring to the application of albumen to the plate before
coating with collodion, said a gentleman had told him that he found no
deterioration of his bath by its use, as he had coagulated it by a solution
of sulphate of iron before putting it into the bath.
Mr. Hughes said that might certainly be done, but they lost one of its
chief merits, viz., its near approach to the simplicity of the wet process.
By Mr. Hannaford’s process a person could prepare a dry plate nearly as
easily as a wet one, and the dry plate thus prepared developed nearly ag
quickly as a plain wet collodion negative would do. lie thought that, io-
stead of trying to find out some film that would make the film stick to tho
glass, they might do something with the collodion itself. The powdery
form of collodion was generally thought to be the best ; but now the ad¬
vocates of the tannin process preferred the “ skinny” kind of collodion.
He thought that in some cases water was allowed to get under the film,
and that the failures might be thus accounted for.
The Chairman thought that if the glass were warmed before the film
was put on, all moisture would be driven off. Increasing the temperature
of the glass might also prevent a thin coating of air being left under tho
film, and thus the chances of its adhering would be much increased.
A Member thought one cause of the film separating from the glass was
the swelling out of the film by the tannin solution, and then in drying it
became full of cracks and holes. That was owing to the expansive power
of the collodion and tannin being different.
Mr. S. Davis said that might be the case, as tannin was largely used in
medicine for its astringent and drying properties. He inquired if any
gentleman had experimented with the resin process, which was simply
the wet process with half a grain of resin added to each grain of
collodion ?
Mr. Clarke said he found the development by that process was very
unequal, although it required but very short exposure, lie had used
shellac instead of resin, and he considered it better.
Mr. Hannaford had prepared a few plates with resin, but had found
them liable to crack in drying. They developed out with all the rapidity
of wet plates, but he had a few stains, which seemed, however, to arise
rather from carelessness in the washing than from anything else. He
thought the process highly promising, since for simplicity it could not be
equalled.
Mr. Clarke said if stereoscopic plates were not thoroughly washed, and
were placed to dry on their narrow end, there would be an accumulation
of nitrate of silver which would cause one picture to be more intense
than the other; but this might be obviated by resting them to dry on
their longest side.
Mr. Hannaford said washing the plate with salt and water would
remove that danger.
Mr. Clarke did not think so.
The Chairman thought members ought to furnish the Experimental
Committee with subjects for their experiments. They should make out
a list of what it would be desirable to experiment upon.
Mr. Wall said the members of the Committee would gratefully receive
any suggestion from the members of the Society, as they were sure they
would be of great value to them. He wished to inform them that it was
proposed to have a soiree in June, the expenses of which — paid last year
by the members of the Committee — were to be defrayed by the produce of
tickets of admission at one shilling each. Members might take as many
tickets as they desired for themselves and their friends. At the next
meeting he would read a paper On Sharpness , and Mr. Sydney Smith
would read another On the Solar Camera. The latter paper would be
very valuable, as Mr. Smith had been making a great number of experi¬
ments on that subject. A meeting of the members of the Committee was
appointed to take place at 28, Old Bond Street, on a subject of much im¬
portance, which would most likely have to be brought before a general
meeting of the members.
Mr. Thomas Clarke then contributed the following to the Society’s
PHOTOGRAPHIC JOTTINGS. No. VII.
On the Stereotrope.
Permit me to make a few remarks on the stereotrope exhibited at the
soiree of the Photographic Society, at King’s College, on the 4th inst.,
in which was shown some machinery in motion, and on looking at which
I was immediately convinced of the impossibility of representing the
steady, progressive movements of machinery ; for in this instrument
several pictures, taken at various stages of progression, are presented to
the eye, one after the other, whilst, on the other hand, the image pre¬
sented to the eye by the machinery itself is, I may say, one ever-changing
picture, and not made up of distinct images, hence the jumping appear¬
ance which has already been remarked by Mr. Simpson, in the Photo¬
graphic News. This, I think, can never be entirely overcome ; it may be
lessened to a considerable extent by multiplying the pictures, but not
entirely overcome, from the above-mentioned cause. No doubt for some
objects it will be very well adapted — objects in which distinct images are
presented to the eye in succession: such as animals in motion, where one
foot is placed before the other, and is actually at rest for a certain frac¬
tion of time ; or the uplifting of a hammer, where even two pictures would
be found sufficient for the illusion; and a multitude of objects of this
description might be very well exhibited.
There is also another point to which I would call attention, and that
is that only half the picture was visible ; possibly, however, this may
be overcome by enlarging the aperture, as suggested by Mr. Shadbolt at
the soiree. I do not wish by these remarks to at all depreciate the value
of the discovery, or rather the application of a known principle to stereo¬
graphy : on the contrary, I admit it to be very amusing and instructive,
and may be a useful addition to our inventions ; but I do think it un¬
adapted for the representation of such objects as machinery in motion.
171
May 1,1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
While upon this subject, I take the opportunity of giving an idea of my
own with regard to stereoscopic views — viz., to obtain two panoramic
pictures at the proper angle for viewing them in the stereoscope, and
mounting them on rollers, so that they may be viewed in the stereoscope
as a moving panorama. I conceive the effect would be charming, and
might easily be accomplished by making a slide with four rollers, one at
each end and two in the centre : these could be connected by a piece of
silk, and made to turn by a handle at the end, similar to the frame used
for the snow-storm in the magic lantern.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Clarke for his paper, and the pro¬
ceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman.
BLACKHEATH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held on Monday evening, the
15th ultimo, at eight o’clock, at the Golf Club House, Blackheath, —
Charles Heiscli, Esq., the President, in the chair.
Mr. Wire, the Secretary, read the minutes of the last meeting, which
were confirmed.
Messrs. Williams andMelhuish were appointed auditors to examine the
accounts.
Mr. Sicaife, before reading his paper On Enlarging from Micro-Photo¬
graphs [see page 160], wished to make a few observations upon the name
he had given to his camera, viz. “ pistolgraph ” — as some remarks, dis¬
approving of the name, had appeared in the journals. About the end of
the last year he read a paper before the North London Photographic
Society, in which he explained the reason for adopting this term, and no
person had then thought fit to attempt to convince him he was wrong.
Lately, however, some remarks had appeared in a popular journal, which
had been copied into the photographic journals; and as he felt lie had
been misunderstood, he proposed to again explain why he considered the
term “pistolgraph” correct. In the first place, the instrument was
originally held like a pistol, and was worked by a trigger in a similar
way. When used, a person unacquainted with the instrument would
believe a pistol had been snapped at him ; and, therefore, he considered
the term “pistolgraph ” gave a good idea of the little camera he used in
taking the small instantaneous pictures he had the pleasure of laying
before them. Mr. Skaife then proceeded to read his paper, the principle
of which he illustrated by throwing the magnified shadow of a minute
negative upon a sheet of drawing-paper, and washing over the light parts
with Indian ink. He also exhibited several finished pictures which had
been sketched in by that means.
The Chairman said Mr. Skaife’s method was one among- many appli¬
cations of what he considered an important principle, viz., the enlarge¬
ment of small photographs. It was well known that a small photograph
could be obtained more perfect than the larger ones, and the small one
could be greatly enlarged without losing any of the detail or general
effect. By adopting a kind of double enlargement, objects might be
magnified sufficiently for school lectures, without there being any neces¬
sity for using the oxyhydrogen microscope. For instance, he had ob¬
tained an image of a louse, magnified to the length of a foot or more,
with every hair on its body perfect. He first obtained a negative, about
one inch long, by means of the microscope, and had then printed a copy
of it by super-position on a dry plate, which he had again magnified and
thrown upon a sheet of paper, as Mr Skaife had done that evening. He
thought the best lamp to use for that purpose was one of the small cam-
phine or paraffin lamps. The whole subject of enlargement was one that
had yet to be worked out, and would well repay investigation.
Mr, Melhuish inquired whether a small photograph could be enlarged
equally sharp with a good collodion negative.
The Chairman believed a good small photograph might be enlarged to
a great extent — that was to say, from a stereoscopic size to twelve by ten
inches, without the least difficulty, and without the slightest loss of
detail.
Mr. Melhuish had found enlarging unsatisfactory : whether owing to
the imperfectness of his lens or through his own clumsiness he could not
say, but he had never succeeded in obtaining a thoroughly sharp negative
photograph. He had never seen a good enlarged photograph : they always
wanted sharpness.
The Chairman said as objects could be enlarged in the microscope with
great perfection, there was no fault in the power of lenses to magnify to
almost any size ; and, therefore, all they had to do was to obtain a correct
photograph in the first instance. One source of failures he believed to be
that people tried to overdo the enlargement : by keeping within reason¬
able limits a great deal might be done. Another essential point was to
employ as short a focussed lens as possible for enlarging. A small single
stereoscopic lens, with a short focus, would do excellently. A great deal
depended upon the light, but he thought most of the failures arose from
tke rays being diffused by a lens with too long a focus being used. Some
of the best he had seen had been enlarged from daguerreotypes. He had
been making experiments lately on the subject, and he believed the best
results would be obtained by letting the light from the sky shine directly
down through the negative.
Mr. Skaife said that would answer very well for dry plates ; but he
had found the combination answer better than the single lens. His
method of working was to have the lens fitted up in a little box fixed
under the skylight, so that the image was thrown upon a table beneath,
Mr. Melhuish inquired what length of exposure was required; for he
found, in using a diaphragm sufficiently small to ensure sharpness, the
exposure necessary was so long as to render the process almost im¬
practicable.
The Chairman said that the longest exposure he had given was ten
minutes, and that was not with light direct from the sky. The proper
exposure of a transparent positive to obtain an enlarged negative was
about three minutes. For enlarging only to a small extent, the small
orthographic lens answered admirably, and worked in about a minute
or so.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Skaife was then carried.
On the motion of the Chairman a special vote of thanks was tendered
to Mr. Wheeler, the late Secretary, for his services during his period of
office.
Mr. Wire, the Secretary, then read the Report of the Council for the year.
FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.
In presenting this their Fourth Annual Report, the Council feel that they have cause
both for congratulation and regret. They can congratulate the Society on its financial
prosperity, as is shown by the balance sheet appended, while the subjoined list of com¬
munications made to the Society during the past year amply proves that the interest
of the meetings has been well sustained : —
Mr. Ilardwich On the Present State of our Knowledge of Photographic Collodion —
Mr. Wheeler On the Solar Spectrum in its Relation to Photography — Mr. Glaisher On
Pretsch's New Process— Some Remarks on Fluorescence, by Mr. Wheeler — Remarks on
Toning , by Mr. Ileisch — Mr. Heath On the Production of Direct Transparent Positives
from Objects in Relief— Further Remarks on Toning, by Mr. Heisch — Mr. Heath On
Manipulation in the Field — Remarks On Transparent Printing on Albumen, by Mr.
Negretti— Mr. Skaife On a Simple Means of Producing Enlarged Copies of Pistol -
grams or other Small Photographs.
Various interesting photographs have from time to time been exhibited, and special
mention may be made of the transparent views of Windsor Castle and the other palaces,
exhibited by Mr. Heath, and those from Java, Japan, &c., exhibited by Mr. Negretti.
Two prints— the one by Mr. Heath, the other by Mr. Heisch — are also ready for pre¬
sentation to the members for I860.
Du ing the past year but little that is strictly new has been accomplished in photo¬
graphy ; but, on the whole, the character of the pictures produced is more artistic than
formerly. The experiments of Bunsen and Kirchoff, on spectrum analysis, though not
made with relation to photography, may ultimately have an important bearing on the
subject, especially with regard to the kind of artificial light best adapted for photo¬
graphic purposes, by pointing to those substances whose flames appear in the more
refrangible part of the spectrum.
While speaking thus cheerfully of the past, the Council regret that they cannot look
forward with equal satisfaction to the future prospects of the Society. Circumstances
have deprived the Society of the assistance of some of its most active members — several
having left the neighbourhood — and others being prevented by the pressure of professional
engagements from taking any active part in its proceedings.
The number of working members being thus so greatly reduced, the Council feel that
they cannot carry on the affairs of the Society in such a manner as to maintain the
position it has so well won, even by taxing to the utmost the few who remain. Under
these circumstances they think it desirable to recommend the suspension of the
periodical meetings, at least for the present. They would hardly advise the entire
breaking up of the Society, as occasional meetings may be held when there is any sub¬
ject of special interest to bring forward ; and, should any number of active photo¬
graphers hereafter come into the neighbourhood, the periodical meetings could at
any time be resumed withoutthe formation of a new Society.
In the mean time the Council would recommend that no subscriptions be for the
present collected, excepting the arrears for 1860, and that the affairs of the Society be
entrusted to a committee, who should be empowered to continue the subscriptions to
the various journals out of the balance in hand, and to call special meetings when con¬
sidered desirable.
Tlie Treasurer, in his balance sheet, showed a balance in hand of
£32 5s. lOd.
The Chairman assured the members that the Report which had just
been read had not been prepared without due consideration. Although
they had managed to get papers of interest at all but one of their meetings,
yet it had been done by over-taxing one or two of the members of the
Society. And even when papers of considerable interest were read, the
attendance of members generally was so small as to be discouraging. He
thought that the recommendation of the Council that the monthly meeting
should be discontinued ought to be adopted, although they might meet
once in three or six months to discuss any paper of interest that might be
forthcoming. He was afraid that if the Society continued to meet every
month, it would lose that credit it had so justly earned. That was their
view of the subject, but the Society must adopt the course it deemed best.
Mr. Brown thought it was a great pity that they should discontinue
their meetings, which had afforded the members so many pleasant even¬
ings. It was the means of bringing together all the gentlemen interested
in photography in the neighbourhood, and if the meetings were given up
the attraction to photographers to settle in the neighbourhood would
cease.
The Chairman said a Committee was to be appointed who would call
the members together when any paper of interest could be procured.
The Report of the Council was then received and adopted.
Mr. Heisch, Mr. Glaisher, Mr. 'Wire, and Mr. Wood, were then appointed
to act as a Committee to collect the arrears due to the Society, and to
discharge its debts.
The thanks of the meeting were then given to Mr. Wire for his
services as Secretary.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A SrECiAL General Meeting of the members of this Society was held on
the 16th ult., — Mr. C. L. Haines, Vice-President, occupying the chair.
The minutes of the preceding meeting having been confirmed, a ballot
for the new members proposed on the 26th March, namely, Mr. Joseph
m
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1861
Wingrave, and Mr. Joseph Mountforfc, of Coventry, was taken, and they
were declared to be duly elected. . , r . , ,, r,
The Report of the Sub-Committee, appointed to confer with the Com¬
mittee of the Aston Hall and Park Company, as to the Exhibition of
Photographs proposed to be held at Aston Hall, in connexion with the
Company, was next read, and ordered to be entered on the minutes.
A long discussion ensued upon the subject, after which it was
unanimously resolved that it would be advantageous to accept the offer
made by the Aston Hall Company to prepare a Photographic Exhibition
in connexion with that of the Company.
The gentlemen present were afterwards constituted a Committee (with
power to add to their number), to carry out this object.
The meeting was then adjourned until the 30th of April, on which day
the discussion on Dr. Anthony’s remarks On Photographic Lenses took
place, of which we shall give a report in our next issue.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday, the
25th March, — Mr. Wilson in the chair.
After the minutes had been read and approved of, Mr. D. Brown read
a paper On the Collodion Process, detailing the difficulties he had met
with in the earlier days of the art. [See page 166.]
When Mr. Brown had concluded his paper, a discussion ensued respect¬
ing the result of a longer or shorter immersion in the nitrate bath ; also
as to the time of immersion being modified by the character of the col¬
lodion.
Mr. McFarlane stated that, by regulating the time in the batli, a great
variety of effects could be obtained, a short immersion giving very strong
effects of light and shade, and a longer producing a softer picture.
This was contrary to the opinion of Mr. Ewing, who stated that a pro¬
longed stay in the bath produced “soot and whitewash.”
Mr. McTear made some remarks upon the employment of collodion
which had been kept a considerable time before iodising, and strongly
advocated its use, on account of its tendency to produce cleaner pictures
than newly-made collodion.
The meeting was then adjourned.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The monthly meeting of this Society was held in the Tower, New Bridge
Street, on Friday evening, the 5th ult., — Mr. G. C. Warren in the chair.
As the report Avas not forwarded in time to reach us until the moment
of going to press, we were unable to include it in our last issue ; and, as
nothing of importance occurred, it is needless to give more than a con¬
densed account of what took place.
The Chairman announced that Mr. Moule’s photogen, which was to
have been exhibited at the meeting, had not arrived in time, but would
be forthcoming for the next meeting.
Mr. Roger Fenton and Mr. Lake Price were elected members of the
Society.
Mr. McKie drew attention to the tannin process, with which were en¬
gaged many of our ablest photographers. He gave it as described by
some of its warmest advocates. Though unsuccessful in many of his own
experiments, he attributed the cause of failure to the unsuitableness of
the collodion he had used. He had been supplied with some by his friend
Mr. Laws. With it he had had better results.
Mr. Laws exhibited two negatives he had taken by the tannin process.
They were the only two he had prepared. With both he had been suc¬
cessful. The edges of the plates were varnished.
The negatives were handed round and considered very satisfactory.
Mr. Laws remarked that, although he had been so far successful, he, as
a professional, was still inclined to the wet process for certainty of result.
Mr. North also advocated the wet process in preference to any dry
method.
Mr. McKie thought that, although the wet process might be considered
preferable by professionals, he, as an amateur, considered that any good
dry process would be a boon to such as himself.
The Chairman coincided in this remark.
Mr. Laws exhibited a tent of his own manufacture. The whole of the
tent was enclosed in a box about two and a half feet by one foot six inches,
and four inches deep. The bottom of the box formed a water-tight tray,
which was fixed to a tripod stand; upright bars of deal were raised at
each corner, which supported the lid of the box forming the top of the
tent. Over the whole was thrown the tent cloth, which contained pockets
for bottles. Light was admitted by yellow cloth. The waste water was
carried off by a tube screwed to the bottom ot the tray. In working in
this tent the operator stood upright. The advantages of this tent were
its simplicity, lightness, and portability. It was well examined and much
admired by the members.
Mr. Hill, of North Shields, introduced to the notice of the members a
stereoscopic camera, combining several improvements which he had in¬
troduced. The camera displayed considerable mechanical ingenuity.
Many very fine stereoscopic pictures, by several well-known artists,
were exhibited by Mr. Bunn.
The Chairman announced that Mr. Laws had kindly consented to read
a paper, at the next meeting, On the Printing of Transparencies.
A vote of thanks was unanimously given to Mr. McKie for his paper,
and to Messrs. Laws, Hill, and Bunn, for the exhibitions of the tent,
camera, and pictures ; also to the Chairman.
The meeting was then adjourned to Friday, the 3rd instant.
lira dint l Instructions on Coloring 11 (jotognipljs.
By Alfred H. Wall.
CHAPTER VIII. ( Continued, J
Backgrounds.
A set of tints having b»en already given for plain backgrounds
the following are added for those consisting of sky, or sky aud
landscape, &c.
(Black-Lead, White, Naples Yellow, & Madder Pink,
Brown Ochre and White.
Burnt Sienna, Black, and White.
Indian Red, Cobalt, and White.
White, Black, and Vermilion.
Ultramarine, White, and Venetian Red.
Lighter Tints
for Skies.
For
Distances.
For Foliage ,
(&C.
/Mars. Orange and White.
White, Vermilion, and Yellow Ochre.
French Blue, White, and Vermilion.
- Ditto with a little Naples Yellow.
Black Lead and White.
I Ditto with Madder Lake.
\French Blue, Raw Umber, and White.
(French Blue, Indian Red, and White.
White, Terre Verte, and Light Red.
White, Black Lead, and Naples Yellow.
Indigo, Indian Red, and Burnt Sienna.
fRaw Umber and Black Lead.
Blue Black and Naples Yellow.
Terre Yeite and Light Red.
Ditto and Brown Madder.
. Ditto and Burnt Sienna.
Naples Yellow, and Raw and Burnt Sienna.
Terre Yerte, Black and Naples Yellow.
Yellow Ochre and Blue Black.
[Terre Verte and Naples Yellow, &c.
For Glazing the
above.
For Stems of
Trees, &c.
/Yellow Lake.
Madder Brown.
Raw Sienna.
„ Gamboge, &c.
f Black Lead and Naples Yellow.
[ Black and Burnt Sienna.
For Twigs, ancl
Deepest Sha -
dovjs.
Madder Brown.
Vandyke Brown.
For Stone- Work.
/Black, White, and Yellow Ochre, or Burnt Umber.
Black Lead and White.
- Black, White, and Burnt Sienna.
Brown Ochre, Black Lead and White.
kBlaclc Lead and Naples Yellow.
In working a sky do not produce the blues too vivid ; but keep
all subdued and indefinite, blending the clouds with soft light
touches of the greys and flesh tints, and striving to secure as much
as possible the effect of air and space rather than that of blue
paint or a mere screen of some blue material.
ON DRAPERY.
All the rules I have given in other portions of these articles are
of course generally applicable to every description of colouring.
Using the tints I shall presently give, proceed with a full pencil
and transparent colour to strengthen the darkest shades ; then take
the same lint, made lighter with white, for the half-shades, adding
more white as they grow lighter. Next lay in the local colour, and
lastly the high-light, with a full pencil and rather stiff colour.
After this soften and blend the tints with the light feathery touches
of a clean soft brush, as before described ; and lay in, sharp and
clear, with decided touches, of the proper shape and strength in¬
dicated by “ the guide,” the high lights and reflections. This
done, the more distinct markings of the deeper shades may be
touched in with spirit and force.
May 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
IT
The degrees of force in the lights and reflections being dependent
upon the nature of the material, the guide must be carefully con¬
sulted before such are rendered.
TINTS FOR WHITE SATIN.
High Lights. — Flake White, with a touch of Cobalt.
Middle Tint.— White, Naples Yellow, Black Lead, and Madder
Pink.* Lighter or darker as circumstances may demand.
Shade Tint. — White, Black, and a little Indian Bed.
Reflected Lights. — If not decided by the colour of the subject
reflecting the light, these may be got with White, Light Red, and
a little Black Lead.
FOR BLUE SATIN.
High Lights. — White and Prussian Blue (pale).
Middle Tint. — Ditto used darker, with a touch of Madder Lake.
Shadows. — Black Lead, Prussian Blue, and a little Madder Pink.
Deepest Shadows. — Indigo, Lake, and Raw Sienna.
Reflected Lights. -—White, Prussian Blue, Naples Yellow, and
Madder Pink.
GREEN SATIN.
High Lights. — White and Verdigris.
Middle Tints. — Prussian Blue and Naples Yellow.
Shadows. — Prussian Blue and Brown Pink.
Deeper Markings. — Prussian Blue and Raw Umber.
Reflected Lights. — Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue.
PINK SATIN.
High Lights. — White, Madder Pink, and Light Red — using most
White.
Middle Tints. — Lake and White.
Shadows. — Indian Red, Vermilion, and White.
Reflected Lights. — Light Red, Madder Pink, and White.
YELLOW SATIN.
High Lights. — King’s Yellow and White.
Middle Tints. — 'White and Yellow Ochre and White with Yellow
Ochre, a little Black Lead, and Pink Madder.
Shadows.— Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, and a little Black Lead.
Reflected Lights. — Ochre, Light Red, and White.
black Satin.
High Lights. — White, Black, and a touch of Light Red.
Middle Tints. — Ditto, with more Black.
Shadows. — Black and White, with a touch of Lake.
Deeper Shadows. — Indigo, Vandyke Brown, and Lake.
Reflected Lights. — Ditto, with a little Brown Ochre.
The author of the preceding paper , in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practical value , has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring, and to give them advice through the
medium of these pages; for which purpose specimens may he sent,
with a stamped and directed envelope for their return , to A. H.
Wall, Esq., 11, The Tf.krace, Walworth.
James S. (Bromsgrove). — Will receive a private reply in the course of a few weeks.
Miss 1). (Kingsland). — The specimens have but just arrived, and I have not yet had
time to look at them.
An Old Pupil. — The classes have commenced. I have no right to reply to your latter
question here, the matter being apart from the subject of these papers. Have not the
time to spare, or would oblige you willingly.
Another Lady Amateur.— A reply will be given in the next number.
Jump tlC- nr r c sp cr ntrc n cc .
Paris, April 26, 1861.
Major Gordon was listened to with great interest by the mem¬
bers of the French Photographic Society present at the meeting of
Friday, the 19th instant. He first submitted to their notice a
curious collection of steroscopic views on glass, taken in India.
Many persons, and myself among the number, were, to their regret,
obliged to depart without having seen this collection, so unwilling
were the happy individuals who had possession of the stereoscopes
to let the pictures leave their hands. The Major then exhibited a
very ingenious tent, which he had made use of in his various ex¬
cursions, but which I cannot describe very accurately without a
drawing. All I can say is that it is composed of a large piece of
waterproof cloth, which is placed upon uprights made of bamboo,
and extremely light. Under this tent the artist is in his operating
room ; he has a table, a board for draining off the glasses, a dish,
and a water reservoir. The last two articles are in waterproof
stuff and flexible, so that they occupy but very little space.
Stereoscopic pictures of another kind called forth the admiration
* Or white and raw umber, with a touch of ivory black.
of the meeting. They were instantaneous views taken by MM.
Ferrier (father and son) and Soulier. The prodigious rapidity of
the operation had in no degree detracted from the clearness of the
image obtained. The details were as delicate in the deep shades
and the demi-tints as in the lights. There was not a single harsh
contrast — not one doubtful line. With the aid of a microscope,
one could recognise the faces of a thousand of the beings passing
to and fro in the vast place (the Boulevard de Sebastopol) included
in these views. The obturator employed is a sliding one, which
reduces the exposure to an inappreciable fraction of a second.*
In speaking of these artists, I have to transmit a reclamation
which they have requested me to address to you in their name.
The British Journal of Photography published in its last number
an article having for its title The Albumen Process of M. Ferrier as
practised by Mr. Negretti Now, this process (perhaps an excellent
one) is not M. Ferrier’s process at all. He formally disavows it.
He has never communicated his method to Mr. Negretti, and con¬
sequently cannot have authorised him to publish it.
It might be added that M. Ferrier’s method is free from the
inconveniences indicated by the author of the communication in
question, and the proof is that our friend has employed it when
travelling in hot countries and when travelling in cold. To publish
with apparent authority the process of a master in the art, whose
reputation may be useful to you, is already a serious affair ; but to
put into public print, under his name, a process which does not be-
belong to him, in order to appear to hold it from him, is still more
serious, and Mr. Negretti would do well to think over the matter.
A photographer of Lucca has obtained positive pictures with
writing and with printing ink ; but he does not say by what
method. The specimens sent have the appearance of pictures
printed with salts of silver.
M. Selmer, of Berghem, in Norway, transmitted to the Society a
series of pictui’es, whose negatives are obtained on wet collodion,
with the iodide and the bromide of ammonium. To obtain greater
rapidity, he mixes acetic acid and absolute alcohol in equal parts.
After a few weeks this mixture produces acetic ether, which is
added to a seven per cent, silver bath, at the rate of twelve or
fifteen drops per litre (about thirty-five ounces). The pictures are
fixed with chloride of calcium and neutral chloride of gold (Gray’s
method).
An amateur, M. Lavoyne, lias been making some experiments,
and communicates the results. He has employed with success a
collodion coated with a keeping solution, composed of one part
honey to four parts water, which is poured upon the glass upon its
leaving the silver bath. Development with acetate of iron gives
great rapidity.
M. Lavoyne has tried Major Russell’s tannin process, and has
found it very advantageous. The time necessary for developing
an image executed by this method does not exceed five minutes.
Various experiments which he has made with toning processes
for positive papers have led him to prefer the following formula: _
Chloride of gold and potassium . 1 gramme.
Chloride of sodium . 10 grammes.
Water . .. . . 4 litres.
M. Poitevin read the description of the different improvements
introduced by him into the charcoal printing processes ; but, un-
fortunatel}', I did not seize his words sufficiently well to report to
you that description with accuracy.
Apropos of charcoal printing, I must speak of an application of
photography which has lately been acquiring a certain importance.
I refer to photographic enamels. The author, M. Lafout de
Camarsai, published a method in 1855, by the aid of which he
obtained pictures of various colours upon paper, porcelain, glass,
ivory, &c. He has since improved his modes of operating; and
within the last few days I have seen many of these pictures, which
possess remarkable beauty. The}' are mostly medallion portraits
upon porcelain. There are some large-sized ones which do not
yield in modelage and vigour to the best pictures on paper by our
best portraitists. M. Lafont, who is a miniaturist, paints these
portraits with talent, and produces works which are thoroughly
artistic. The public are acquiring a taste for them, and I should
not be surprised if some day this application were to obtain a
vogue equal to that of the visiting cards.
Two new instruments were lately presented to the Society. The
first was a camera, in which all the operations of the wet collodion
process are effected by themselves ; so that you place in the frame
a collodionised glass, and you draw out a picture Avhich has merely
to be fixed. It suffices to press upon this knob or that, according
to the manipulation to be performed. The result is very simple ;
but the mechanism is so complicated, that it would be useless for
174
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1801
me to attempt to describe it. I should suppose even that the pho¬
tographer would be liable to frequent mistakes in the manoeuvring
of its various knobs, which would naturally produce a change in
the order of the operations. This chambre-laboratoire is, however,
arranged in a very ingenious manner, and does credit to its inven¬
tor, M. Anthony.
The other instrument, a description of which was sent by the
author, M. Henri Romberg, of Liege, is intended to facilitate the
preparation of positive sheets. It is composed of a vertical frame,
supporting two parallel rollers, which may be separated or brought
together. The bottom roller dips half-way throughout its length
into a narrow vessel containing the baths. The sheet of paper is
rolled round the two cylinders, the upper border being joined to
the lower one, and the cylinders separated so as to stretch the
paper properly. By turning the little crank fitted to the bottom
roller, the paper is moved round, and its whole surface is succes¬
sively introduced into the bath. This system is especially advan¬
tageous for large sheets, which may thus be prepared with ease
and economy, seeing that a very small quantity of liquid suffices,
provided it is always kept at the same level.
Our Exhibition will be opened on the 1st of May, and I believe that
I may, without risk, assure you beforehand that it will be the most
interesting we have yet had in France. ERNEST LACAN.
- - - - -
1 1 ciu ^0flhs.
Microscopic Photography : its Art and Mystery. The Principles
of the Art Disclosed, and its Practice Clearly Explained. By
James Nicholls.*
(London: F. J. Cox, Skinner Street, Snow Hill.)
At a trial for felony, about sixteen or eighteen months ago, the counsel
for the prisoners attempted to quash the indictment on the ground that
the criminal information upon which it was framed was disclosed by
the prisoners while under examination in the Bankruptcy Court, a
clause in one of the acts relating to that court specially exempting them
from the usual consequences of the disclosure of a criminal act. The
Lord Chief Baron, Sir F. Pollock, before whom the case was heard, how¬
ever, disallowed the objection, pointing out that in law, as also in
common sense, the word disclosure signified the communication of
information previously unknown , whereas in the case before him the
criminal act was known before the examination.
We are at a loss to understand how it is possible now to disclose the
principles of an art which were published by the writer of this article
in a paper read before the London Photographic Society on the 5th of
Nov., 1857, and at the same time demonstrated by actual experiment
before the meeting. Upon that occasion, also, a paper on the same
subject was read by our friend, Mr. George Jackson, and both papers
will be found in this Journal of the 15th November, 1857, and in the
Society’s organ on the 2lst of the same month. It is not therefore sur¬
prising that we cannot concur in the following unfounded assertion,
which we extract from the preliminary observations of the author of the
pamphlet before us, viz : —
" The few who have succeeded in the practice of an art which comes so much
rearer to the initiative of nature’s handiwork than anything hitherto known have not
teen very communicative of the principles which govern it; and it may be reasonably
supposed that, unless such a monopoly be broken through, this vast museum of
curiosity and interest will remain only half explored.”
We learn from the title-page that Mr. Nicholls is a practical photo¬
grapher, and a perusal of his pamphlet convinces the reader that such is
. the fact ; but at the same time it clearly reveals that his claims to
scientific knowledge are but slender. We believe that he very faith¬
fully communicates all the information upon the subject of which he is
possessed ; but there are several points in which he is greviously in error,
and singularly they are precisely those upon which he is most dogmatic.
The first caution which we desire to offer is with regard to the LENS,
upon which subject we strongly recommend all who desire to embark in
micro-photography to turn a deaf ear to the author of the pamphlet.
Even the best of what he recommends is nothing but a makeshift. In
* This Notice lias been in type for some time back; but, owing to pressure on our
space, we have not been able to find room for the article hitherto.
order to obtain first-rate results, a microscopic objective by one of the
first-class makers is a sine qud non ; and moreover it should be con¬
structed upon the principle enunciated by Mr. Lister in bis paper read
before the Royal Society, in the year 1829; by which a considerable
variation in the positions of the conjugate foci can be admitted without
disturbing the corrections. Although not usually constructed with t ho
chemical and visual foci coincident, there is no difficulty in making
them so ; but they are not then fitted for microscopic observation. A very
ingenious addition to an ordinary microscopic objective was contrived by
Mr. F. H. Wenliam, many years back, in order to render the latter appli¬
cable for photographic purposes without interfering with its optical quali¬
ties. It consisted in the application of a shallow convex lens (removable at
pleasure) in the position of the posterior diaphragm, thus slightly increas¬
ing the power of the combination, but at the same time reducing tlieovcr-
correction for colour always required for the perfect performance of a
microscopic objective in combination with the Huygendan eye-piece.
We have next to object to some of the remarks upon illumination of
the negative (an operation which we regard as the keystone to success).
We again quote : —
“The small camera at one end of tbe tube being in focus for the negative picture
parallel with it at the other end, it might he supposed that nothing more was requisite
than to slightly elevate the instrument to the sky and copy by the light transmitted
through the negative, which would thus impression [become impressed ?] very rapidly ;
but note the defect— the fur distant sky which produces the impression is not in focus,
though the negative picture at a short fixed distance is so. The oporator would
naturally adjust and readjust the instrument to obtain a better focus, and would succeed
to a certain extent by a focal compromise between the two distances. A picture, of
course, would be obtained, and look passably well under low power ; but, under a higher
power, it would at once be seen to possess no true definition. The negative in this case
is not, except in a partial degree, the ‘ radiant,’ aterm that was used (advisedly) before.”
The far distant sky is not in focus, nor ought it to be so ; and no ope¬
rator who knew the principles upon which he should work would think
of trying to make it so. Moreover, Mr. Jackson, who has produced as
many and more perfectly defined specimens than most other operators in
that direction, invariably works in the manner here asserted to be faulty.
Artificial light, too, has its advantages, notwithstanding Mr. Nicholls*
sneer at it ; for, besides being able to work at miscrocopic photography
in bad weather or at night by its aid, there is a quality of some im¬
portance that it possesses in which daylight is deficient — that is, uni¬
formity of action, a quality that will be appreciated by those who desire to
produce a considerable number of specimens. The instructions for illumi¬
nating by artificial light, as given at page 14 of the pamphlet, aro sheer
nonsense, as well as the observations in connexion with them. Those
for illumination by sunshine are sound enough, and are as follow : —
“The solar rays may fall upon the picture in any oblique direction, at any angle pas¬
sing through it, and bearing away with them a bright but vague cast shadow of the
image in any direction, downward or sidelong, such rays not being required or
desired to reach the copying lens. Here the negative beeomes a true ‘ radiant,’ and is
copied only through the medium of those rays which are diffused by itself, and which
suffice to impress pretty rapidly.”
As regards the negative, while we do not concur in many of the
remarks, we do so as regards the dimensions recommended, viz., about
two inches square, and that it should be as sharp as possible. Let an
operator, however, beware of intense ones, excepting for copies of engrav¬
ing, printing, &c. — that is, of simply lined objects.
There is one plan proposed for working from largo negatives by which
a double diminution is effected at one operation, upon the telescopic prin¬
ciple. This appears ingenious ; but we have some little doubt about its
practicability, principally on account of tbe loss of light involved by the
rays passing through so many surfaces : in this, however, we may be
mistaken, not having any experience to guide us. Our author says
“The copies are necessarily developed with a solution of iron, both for their colour,
which should be black, and their brilliancy, which should he unclouded.”
We do not hesitate to affirm, from very extensive practical experience,
that for micro-photographs an iron solution is absolutely about the worst
developer that can be employed, whether as regards delicacy, colour, or
brilliancy of result;
Pyrogallic and citric acids, with a drop or two of acetic acid added, are
the best — the latter being for the purpose of giving a slight warmth of tone
to the colour, which without it is apt to he a trifle too bluish. A picture de¬
veloped with iron will not bear anything like the same amount of amplifica¬
tion as one brought out by an organic developer, on account of the much
greater coarseness of the deposit which tlie microscope readily reveals.
Lastly, with regard to “mounting,” we would recommend him to let
the drop of balsam fall on the slip of glass previously warmed, and not
on the thin glass disc as be directs. We can boast of something like a
quarter of a century’s extensive experience in this operation, and we
fancy that it is one which will “bother ” a novice not a little.
In conclusion, although we have pointed out several matters which we
regard as wanting correction, we do not think the pamphlet undeserving
of attention. There are many useful hints contained in it ; and it is written
in a spirit of good faith and sincerity that we always appreciate, even when
we are constrained to disagree with the sentiments expressed. We per¬
ceive, from a remark in a contemporary publication, that some confusion
exists relative to the meaning of tlie word “ micro-photogiaph,” which
indicates a minute photograph. The photographic delineation of a micro¬
scopic object is entitled “ plioto-micrograpliy a very different affair,
and one infinitely more important than that we have been considering.
May 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
THE EE S IN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I perceive the resin process is beginning to claim a few friends.
As I have a good deal of faith in it, I am pleased to find it gaining ground.
Mr. Glover’s paper, read at a meeting of the North London Photographic
Association, March 27th, gives it a good lift. Several Leicester amateurs
are gaining great successes with it, and find it the simplest, quickest,
cleanest, and most certain process they have ever practised. One gentle¬
man is making 12 by 10 plates with perfect success ; and I will undertake
to produce ten good negatives from a dozen plates.
There are a few conditions I find necessary to succeed perfectly, in
addition to those Mr. Glover mentioned. Always wash in a common pie-
dish, or dish of a similar shape, so that the plate is suspended by the four
corners, at a distance of half an inch from the bottom of the dish. By
this means you wash both sides of the plate completely, thus preventing
stains when the developer runs along the back of the plate again into the
developing glass, and is then poured again on the film. Develop with
pyrogallic acid one and a-half grain, citric acid three-quarters of a grain,
water one ounce : always use a pneumatic holder.
Citric is very superior to acetic for this process, yielding very fine
brown negatives, extremely soft and full of detail ; and Mr. Glover’s
method of increasing the intensity I find quite successful, though I do
not like them so very intense. With a Eoss’s stereo. 4J-inch lens, one
minute and a-half in sunshine is quite enough. The shortest time I have
ever got a good resin negative with the same lens is forty seconds, and
not an usually quick subject to photograph either. A person may
prepare a dozen plates by this process, while another can only prepare
four or five by Fothergill’s or collodio-albumen ; and I have an unusually
intense negative from a plate which had been kept a month, and without
a stain upon it. With regard to the tenderness of the film, varnishing
the edge (as Mr. Glover says) is all that is necessary. I have used
chloroform varnish for the purpose, with perfect success. I see Mr.
Corey, in your last number, finds his old plate the more sensitive of the
two. I have never found a plate spoil by being kept ; but, never having
kept one so long as he has, I am glad to see his communication. If our
plates, by this process, succeed with merely washing the film, why need
we apply albumen, gelatine, oxymel, tannin, raspberry syrup, or any¬
thing else, and be liable to failures, which are most frequently incidental
to the application of the preservative medium only ?— 1 am, yours, &c.,
April 1 lth, 1861. F. PARSONS.
[The preceding reached us too late for insertion in our last number. —
Ed.]
ACCELERATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you have the goodness to inform me, in your next impres
sion, if another lens could be added, or any other contrivance adopted, to
one of Ross’s large lenses (the late Mr. Ross’s £36 one), in order to
shorten the focus, or to alter the lens in such a manner as to take the
pictures in less time. The lens should (if the alteration were practicable)
be able to be used with or without the addition, as, of course, I am aware
that the size of the picture would be much lessened with a shorter focus.
— I am, yours, &c.,
Newton, April 11, 1861. J. MACKLINGTON.
[It would be quite practicable to adapt another back combination, of
shorter focus, to your present front one, so as to make it work more
rapidly ; but whether the saving of expense would be worth going out of
the way to effect is questionable. You would be obliged to unscrew your
present back combination and substitute the other — not unite the three.
— Ed.]
RESINISED COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I observe in the last Journal you offer a sample of my resin col"
lodion to any one who chooses to try it. If you have any applications for
it I wish you would be kind enough to let me know, and I will forward
you half a small sample bottle gratis, for any of jTour friends to try, and
not to let them have the sample you had twelve months ago, as that
would not be a fair trial. What I have in use now I know to be good,
as yesterday I exposed six stereo, plates, and will challenge any other
process to beat them at six successive exposures. They were all washed
under a tap, and dried — no painting at edges, no gelatine, albumen, or
tannin ; held under the tap again before developing — no re-dipping, but
requiring three grains of pyrogallic acid, half a drachm of Beaufoy’s acid,
one-third of a grain of citric acid, and half a drachm of alcohol, water one
I*-' &
( o
ounce, with a few drops of fresh solution of nitrate of silver, thirty grains
to the ounce ; forty grain hath, very slightly acid; six stereo, negatives,
average exposure one-half to three-quarters of a minute, sun five p.m.
Please not to send that old stuff out : I will send you some up. — I am,
yours, &c., CHARLES JONES.
Birkenhead , April 18, 1861.
PHOTOGRAPHIC GLOVES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Can you recommend me, or tell me where I can procure photo¬
graphic gloves, such as really meet the wants of the photographer ?
Trifle as it may sound, I believe there are few greater impediments to
amateur photography than dirty hands. Nothing can be more incon¬
venient or more comfortless than the India-rubber gloves, or gauntlets, as
for some unknown reason they are often called. They are difficult to
put on, difficult to take off, and peculiarly disagreeable when on. What
is wanted? — a pair of gloves, easy to put on and take off, perfectly im¬
pervious to moisture of any kind, and sufficiently thin to admit of feeling
what is in the hand. If any one could and would supply an article of
this kind, he would be a great friend to the photographer, and I am
inclined to think the photographer would be a great friend to him. — I am,
yours, &c., ALBIMANUS.
[We personally use vulcanised India-rubber finger-stalls (purchasable
at most of the Mackintosh warehouses for about threepence each) on the
thumb and two next fingers of the left hand, which we generally find
sufficient protection ; but we do occasionally spill some of the developing
solution off the plate on to the back of the hand : probably an old pair of
kid gloves put on before the finger-stalls would remedy that defect,
especially if a coating of plain collodion were first poured over them.
Perhaps something in oiled silk may be procurable. — Ed.]
QUERY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In your valuable Journal of the 15th, page 124, Mr. Heath men¬
tions that his negatives were exposed about thirty7- seconds. Would he
have the kindness to mention the size of the stop he used? — I am,
yours, &c., _ J. H. SLATER.
MOUNTING STEREOGRAPHS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Like your correspondent, “ Sigma,” I should be glad to have
some information on the subject of mounting stereographs. Your answer
to “Sigma” is inconsistent with my (doubtless) erroneous notion that
stereographs taken on Latimer Clark’s system are mounted without
any change, and without any help of scissors whatever; but, with
stereographs taken by the binocular camera, how would you mount
them? If they are mounted so that any distant point in say the right-
hand picture is 2f inches from the same distant point in the left hand
picture, is this sufficient? and is it of no consequence how the two pictures
are cut at the edges ? Should not the right-hand picture exhibit more
of the left side and less of the right side of any subject than the left-hand
picture, and vice versa ? — I am, yours, &c., BLIND EYES.
[Our reply was intended to apply to pictures taken by the bi-lens
camera — not by one on Latimer Clark’s principle. In the latter case
the adjustment should be made in the camera before taking the picture —
that is to say, so that the most distant object in one view should fall at
a given distance (say 2§ inches) from the corresponding object in the
other picture — then of course no further adjustment is necessary, it
having been made once for all in the negative. With regard to trimming
the edges of the views, there is room for improvement upon the usual
plan, which is generally a case of “happy-go-lucky.” Your notion is
correct ; but, as you cannot make every one attend to this requirement,
the simplest plan is to introduce a pair of diaphragms, properly arranged,
into the stereoscope itself : the}7 should be rectangular apertures, with
their corresponding edges a less distance apart than the nearest corres¬
ponding points in the pictures (say 2^ inches apart). The diaphragms
may be cut in a slip of thin wood, metal, or even cardboard, blackened
and placed immediately in contact with the pictures. We believe that
M. Claudet was the first to draw attention to the fact that a diaphragm
placed as described always appears nearer than the picture, while, if the
corresponding sides are wider, it appears behind it — a fact easily ex¬
plainable. — Ed.]
TONING THEORY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have but just read your article of the 1st of this month, owing
to having been much occupied. «
You only do me justice in thinking that my observation about getting
out of answering one remark by taking hold of another was made without
malice. I should have said that your attention seemed to be so attracted
by the one remark that you forgot to answer the other, but to this day it
remains unanswered. Now, “ in sober earnest, I do wish to know what
you consider is the action of the hyposulphite on the alkaline-toned print
176
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1861
which produces the great change of tint, even after the said prints have
been well washed after the alkaline bath? I believe it to be a sulphur¬
ising action : if I am wrong I shall be glad to be set right. One remark
in your article I cannot quite agree with, viz., that the deposit caused by
the mixture of chloride of gold and hyposulphite of soda is soluble in a
large excess of the latter ; being a deposit of sulphur, it is quite insoluble
in hyposulphite. — I am, yours, &c., CHARLES HEISCH.
Blackheath, April 23rd, 1861.
[We defer replying to the preceding till our next. — Ed.]
COLLODIO-ALBUMEN.
To the Editor.
Sir, — For several years I have been working hard at the various dry pro¬
cesses and the turpentine and waxed-paper. I have succeeded moderately
with the latter, but best of all with the “ Taupenot.” I have only one
difficulty in this process, viz., I cannot get foliage : it is always so trans¬
parent in the negative that it prints all in one mass, and the high lights
are mostly so dense that they require very long printing. The enclosed
print is an illustration : it required twenty hours’ exposure in the sun.
The trees were masked after about four hours exposure in the printing
frame, and the sky is backed out.
g|Can you, in your notices to correspondents, inform me how to proceed in
order to obtain good definition in foliage and less opacity in the high lights ?
I use “ Keene’s collodion.” I expose generally for such subjects as
this print about thirty minutes in good light. Three-inch landscape
lens, fifteen-inch focus, quarter-inch stop. I develop in gallic acid. I do
not use very much silver in developing. — I am, yours, &c., J. SHAW.
[Your proof indicates very great over-development of the negative.
With so long an exposure as you name, you ought to obtain all the
details in both shadows and high lights. But you employ a needlessly
small diaphragm to your lens : you may well have it half-an-inch in
diameter. Add half a grain of bromide of ammonium to each ounce of
your albumen, and do not carry your development further than enough
to get all the details well out. Remember your negative will be actinically
more intense than it appears, and after trial of a print you can always
develop more if needful. — Ed.]
SPOTTY PROOFS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — On looking at some photographs printed by me about two months
ago I find them covered with little green spots, similar to those on the
portrait enclosed ; and, being considerably puzzled to account for their
appearance, I take the liberty of troubling you, hoping to obtain infor¬
mation through the medium of your valuable Journal.
My pictures are printed on albumenised paper, highly sensitised, toned
by the alkaline gold process (with carbonate of soda and citric acid), and
mounted with a solution of Nelson’s patent gelatine. I should be disposed
to attribute the spots in question to imperfect fixation ; but I see no traces
of that in some other unmounted prints which underwent precisely the
same process. They certainly cannot be due to any want of washing.
If you can kindly enlighten me as to the cause of this unexpected
vexation, you will confer a great favour on yours, &e.,
A VICTIM OF MISPLACED CONFIDENCE.
[We cannot perceive the green colour to which you allude, but notice
little spots of decomposition of the albumen, arising most probably from
a fungoid growth, due to some kind of moisture. It is not unlikely that
the proofs have never been properly dried after the mounting before
packing them together. We have no doubt that the gelatine is in this
case the culprit. We notice, by the way, that your negative is much
“ out of focus.” — Ed.]
THE TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Allow me to say a few words in favour of the new tannin process.
Its simplicity and certainty are very much in its favour, and the results
are quite equal to wet collodion. In working it I found great difficulty in
getting the solution of gelatine recommended by Mr. T. F. Hardwich to
flow over the plate, but I have adopted another plan, which is equally effica-
cacious. After the plate is cleaned take a brush filled with dilute albu¬
men, say one ounce to three of water, and pass it over the edge of the
glass for about a quarter of an inch. The collodion will now adhere with
great tenacity, and bear any amount of washing without allowing the water
to get under the edge.
The only difficulty I have met with has puzzled me exceedingly. I
prepared some plates with the same collodion, &c., and dried under the
same circumstances ; but two of them, on being wetted previous to
development, appeared to wrinkle all over. One of them broke up in the
washing; but, by great care, I managed to save the other.
I would recommend all interested in dry-plate photography to give the
process a fair trial. — I am, yours, &c.,
34, Castle Street , Liverpool. WM. KEITH.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through. Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROTTOH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctuaUy, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 82, Castle-street, Liverpool.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Erratum.— In Mr. Dawson’s paper, pub'bhed in our last number, instead of “it
diminishes upwards,” read “it increases upwards.”
J. H. S. — We have inserted your query.
H. M. — Of no intrinsic value whatever.
E. R. T. — It was unavoidably postponed.
N. W. — A twin-lens stereoscopic camera is preferable.
Inquirer. — You can get a stereoscopic outfit for £6 or £7.
R. M. — You will find all necessary details in our little Almanac for the current
year.
Oldham. — Damp the mount all over with a clean sponge, then paste on the proofs;
they will not cockle.
Robt. H.— We should prefer the turpentine waxed-paper process for the long tour
you contemplate.
A. Z. — Ten per cent, means ten ounces of hypo, to one hundred of water, equal to two
ounces to tho pint.
X. X. — Aluminium being but one-third the weight of silver and double the price per
ounce is still the cheaper of the two.
S. Farnworth. — Your letter arrived too late for reply in our last, but you will have
perceived that we anticipated your wishes.
Spec. — You have probably added bicarbonate of soda instead of tho carbonate.
Boil the whole in a glass or porcelain vessel.
Argentum. — Most of the nitrate of silver sold is slightly acid ; so, before adding acid
to your hath, test it to see if it be not acid enough.
Amateur (Norwich).— Why not try the tannin process of Major Russell’s devising ’ or
else the simple albumen process given in our last ?
W. H. IIayes. — You can easily procure an achromatic meniscus lens from any
optician. State the diameter and focus you require.
T. R. — Prices vary with the quality, althouglit it must be considered that soil#
dealers are satisfied with much less profit than others.
S. M. — Your exposure has been insufficient : you will require at hast tin-ice as long to
penetrate the deep shadows on the left side of the picture.
Samuel T. — You had better master the wet collodion process before you attempt th»
collodio-albumen processes, else you may become discouraged.
F. B. (Maidstone) — See the sixth edition of Hardwich' s Manual. We know of no other
work which contains the information which you are seeking.
J. R. (Manchester). — The deposit is iodide of silver. It is best to decant the silver
hath without disturbing this sediment, and filter through paper.
F. A. B. (Dulwich).— Wo have never seen anything in iron-printing that is comparable
to a good silver print, and we quite despair of its rivalling the latter successfully.
Robert Macaire. — We recommend common fir for the purpose of making a tripod ;
but, if you object to that, use plain Honduras mahogany. Ash is in our opinion too
heavy and elastic.
R. G. (Bembridge). — Your note was mislaid by one of the people in the publisher’s office,
and we were unable to help him to the name of the correspondent when applied to. You
will no doubt ere this have had attention.
Dubious. — It is impossible to say what state your bath is in : it appears to us as com¬
plex as the contents of the witches’ cauldron in Macbeth. You had better precipitat#
the silver by a strong solution of common salt.
E. II. — Make a solution of gallic acid one ounce, in five ounces of alcohol and two
drachms of acetic acid. For a developer take one drop of this mixture, and add to it a
drachm of water with a few drops of silver solution.
Fearful. — It is useless to expect to produce brilliant positives on glass, if you fix with
hyposulphite of soda ; but if you use a weak solution of cyanide, and throw it away
when you have used it, you need have no fear of the fumes.
Q. E. D. — Your strictures on the individual are truly well deserved ; hut we should not
like to publish them, as our motives might be misunderstood, although he has treated
ue very shabbily. Give him full swing, and he will be sure to bring down retribution
on his own head in time.
McQ. — Not properly toned ; you must have allowed hubbies of air to remain under
your proofs while in the toning bath . Touching the face of the proof with the finger
before toning sometimes produces a spot, the resulting greasiness preventing the ready
contact of an aqueous solution.
G. W.— You are mistaken : somebody else has made an attempt to imitate our usual
form of such articles ; hut we had hoped that the style would not have been mistaken
for ours, notwithstanding the adoption of a quotation which we selected a short tune
back as descriptive of a certain waterfall.
P. R. D— Your sitter has been placed near a window, and no light reflected upon the
shaded side of the face ; this it is which causes the very great contrast that is so un¬
pleasant. Throw a sheet or tablecloth over a clothes-horse, and place it opposite the
windows, so as to throw a slight reflection on the sitter.
L. S. D.-We are unable to give you any information about the commercial value of
negatives. Much will depend upon the localities of the subjects as well as on their
pictorial excellence, because tho e that are readily accessible can he more easily repro¬
duced by other operators, and, if popular, put in competition.. Messrs. Negretti and
Zambra, of Hatton Garden, London, are very enterprising publishers, and if your sub¬
jects are foreign ones you might apply to them.
J. Paterson. — Personally we abominate the whole tribe of folding cameras, conse¬
quently we are scarcely fitted to recommend one to you. We can more readily warn you
against certain objectionable points in some. For instance, avoid all in which the body
consists of black velvet, which holds the dust and is almost sure to cause spotty plates.
See that the front and back are both firmly attachable to the base-hoard, and especially
that the latter is sufficiently rigid to prevent the movement of the image on the ground
glass; and lastly, make sure that the whole when in use is light-proof.
Old Humphrey. — Both the Editor of Humphrey' s Journal and Herr Paul Liesegang
are in error as to the date of the first publication of this Journal. It was first issued, as
the Liverpool Photographic Journal on the 1st January, 1851, and not in 1855. Herr
Liesegang is therefore wrong in his chronology of photographic literature, so far as we
are concerned. Like our correspondent, we have been rather amused at the warmth
which our venerable transatlantic contemporary exhibits in putting forth his claim to
antiquity. We hope it will be long ere he descends into a “green old age.” Our wag of a
correspondent also hints that his namesake, Old Humphrey , had better at once, arrange
with the publisher of this Journal for its republication entire in New York, seeing he is
such a thorough “freebooter” at present. We have no objection, in lack of “original”
matter, that liis readers should he persistently called upon, not merely to sip, but to
drink deeply at “ The British” fountain. We pardon the liberty our aged friend takes
with our columns, seeing ns has the candour — not always found in the literary “free
traders” connected with our art on both sides of the Atlantic — to acknowledge the source
whence he has derived the “ annexed ” articles. He says he is “modest!” Weareglad
to find he thinks so ; we confess we should have never found it out — indeed we have
always had a “ notion” that that was a weakness our transatlantic brethren was seldom
troubled with. However, we “ live to learn” as well as “learn to live.”
fggr All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., should
he forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London , N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street , Liverpool.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Amateur Photographers’ Publishing Association. — We
have so frequently had applications from many of our readers
for information upon the following points, viz. —
How to get a few copies from their negatives carefully
printed ?
How to render a few good ones available for procuring a
variety by exchange with other photographers ?
How to make their hobby self-supporting ?
--that we derive considerable satisfaction in being at length
able to indicate a course by which these problems may probably
be solved. We have for several months past been engaged,
with some other gentlemen, in maturing the details of a scheme
by which all the advantages of an exchange club upon a very
extensive scale may be placed within the reach of every photo¬
graphic amateur. In doing this, one of the principal objects
kept in view was to afford equal facilities to those located in
the provinces as to residents in the metropolis ; and another to
render the scheme available to the producer of a few good nega¬
tives as well as to the Dives who rejoices in a large collection —
and that in such a manner that while the abundance of the
latter ministers to the requirements of the former, equal justice
shall be meted out to all. In working out some of the details
of the plan a considerable amount of labour and much con¬
sideration had to be devoted to many of the questions involved ;
and this gave rise to the idea of grafting some other collateral
advantages upon those originally proposed to be attained,
especially such as we have hinted at in the commencement of
this paragraph. rihe result has been the formation of the
Amateur Photographers’ Publishing Association under auspices
which we feel confident are well calculated to ensure triumphant
success. For particulars we refer our readers to the circular
distributed with and enclosed in this number of the Journal ;
and we are authorised to state that any inquiries for further
information, if needed, will be readily supplied by the Secretary,
Mr. Melhuish, through the medium of our columns. It is, we
believe, pretty evident to those conversant with the progress of
our fascinating art, especially during the last two or three
years, that an immense number of valuable negatives are in
existence all over the country from which the photographic
public, and in many instances also the owners even, receive
little or no benefit ; but it is hoped and fully anticipated that
the new Association will afford the means*of disinterring, as it
were, these buried treasures, and therewith enriching its mem¬
bers — not only without impoverishing the lawfful owners, but,
on the contrary, increasing the value of their property by
making it fruitful.
Amongst the most cherished objects of the promoters we must
reckon also the wider diffusion of a love for, and appreciation of,
our art-science, which can scarcely fail to be extended over a
much larger area than is as yet under its civilising influence.
One of the means to this end is the admission of non-plioto-
graphers to a share in the advantages offered by the Association ;
and it is considered that the arrangement made for this purpose
combines justice to the one class with liberality to the other.
In all the rules adopted, and the regulations that may yet have to
be made, the guiding principle has been, and is to be, that of
mutual advantage, unfettered by exclusiveness or protection (we
use the last word in a political sense), but seasoned with a pro¬
gressive and liberal policy. In conclusion, we have simply to
remark that any suggestions with which we may be favoured in
connexion with this matter will meet with careful and attentive
consideration.
Alleged Permanency of Developed Prints. — We publish
in another column a communication from Mr. Lyndon Smith,
upon the subject of developed prints, which calls for a remark
or two from us— of course disregarding the little flavouring of
sauce piquante with which he has seasoned it — trusting that the
majority of our readers do not regard us as such a “ hedgehog”
as the remarks of our contributor would imply that we are held
to be in his estimation.
With regard to the “undisputed permanence” of developed
prints, we have seen not one but several which have shown un-
mistakeable signs of fading. With regard to their care and
treatment we have not been able to testify anything from per¬
sonal knowledge, but they were alleged to have been kept with
all ordinary care between the leaves of an album. We are by
no means ready to assert that Mr. Smith’s print “ contains
within itself the seeds of decay but unfortunately we are not
prepared to admit the stability of gallate of silver to be proven.
The absence of change of colour in the weak bath of hyposulphite
of soda is certainly a strong point in its favour ; but we are still
of opinion that as it does not resist the action of oxidising and
sulphurising chemicals — both of which are present in the
atmosphere to some extent — -while prints properly toned with
gold do resist the same in a very considerable degree, the latter
must stand a better chance of persistence under all probable
circumstances than the former. If we have no indisputable
proof that the material of a gold-toned print is mainly metallic
gold, still less has our correspondent any stable ground for
asserting that it is not so, while presumptive evidence we believe
to be decidedly in our favour. Gold in a minutely divided state
is not necessarily blue. But this is beside the question, as our
object is not to prove that the ordinary prints are superior to
those produced by Mr. Lyndon Smith’s formula, but merely to
record a protest against its being admitted as yet proved that
the latter are permanent. We hope they may be so, but we
are not quite sanguine upon the point.
With regard to the treatment of the subject of the picture
with which Mr. Lyndon Smith has favoured us we are perfectly
satisfied. The tone of the proof is good, and there is plenty of
detail; but — alas! that there should be any but — there is an
absence of atmosphere and also of transparency in the shadows.
And this is precisely the point upon which Ave took exception
before : we said nothing about half-tone. It is the absence of
these qualities, so necessary to artistic perfection, which made us
178
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 180 1
regard albumenised paper for the present as a disagreeable
necessity. We say for the present, because we do hope that,
ere long, this reproach against plain paper will have ceased to
exist. If we could manage to retain the albumen in the deep
shadoAvs only and get rid of it elsewhere, as in the proofs where
bichromate of potash is used in conjunction with albumen, a
step of importance would have been gained ; but, however the
problem may be solved, give us the two qualities yet Avanting in
the proofs produced by Mr. Smith’s process, and avg shall
readily admit that, from an artistic point of view, it is perfect.
Old or New? — There are se\reral points in the letter of our
esteemed Paris correspondent, M. Ernest Lacan, which Ave
published in our last, that demand a few words of comment
from us. The most important we shall leave for the moment,
and therefore commence Avith the announcement made — “ that
M. Lavoyne, an amateur, has been experimenting successfully
with honey and water (!) as a preservative agent for collodionised
plates, and that with an iron developer tolerably rapid negatives
may he obtained.” We certainly were under the impression
that this had been given to the photographic public some seven
or eight years ago as the result of our own individual experi-
ments-Mn fact immediately folloAving the publication of Messrs.
Spiller and Crookes’ method of using nitrate of zinc for the
purpose of retaining moisture in the film, and contemporaneously
with a nearly identical process, intended to produce extra sen¬
sitiveness, by Mr. Maxwell Lyte. Our readers will of course
be, for the most part, sufficiently familiar Avith these facts,
though it is not surprising that our worthy correspondent is not
better informed on the matter, as at that time our French
brethren were under the rroneous impression that photography
was almost unknown in England. F or the same reason we are
scarcely surprised to find that the automatic operating chamber,
introduced by M. Anthony, is regarded as something new in
idea, if not very practicable ; but to those Avho were present at
the London Photographic Society’s March meeting of the year
1850, on which occasion the Camera Chora Avas exhibited and
explained by Mr. East [see Journal of the Photographic Society,
vol. III., p. 9], it will be evident enough that the idea at least is
not neAV, even if the instrument itself be not identical with that
then shown. In Mr. East’s apparatus, as in that of M. Anthony,
the collodionised glass being put into the instrument was by
means of an external knob immersed in the sensitising bath,
Avithdrawn, and placed in position for exposure ; after which,
by aid of several other knobs, the development, washing, fixing,
&c., were all performed in a most ingenious manner, it is true ;
but we fancy that flexible sleeves, admitting the arms of the ope¬
rator, were preferred by the majority. Thirdly, the employment
of acetic acid and alcohol, in order to increase the sensitiveness
of a plate, by M. Selmer, of Berghem, was long since antici¬
pated by our OAvn countryman, the Hon. IP. F ox Talbot — the prin¬
cipal focus of English photography, if we may so term him. In
his case the mixture was used in conjunction with albumenised
pdates, into Avhich they were dipped — the operation comprising a
portion of the process by Avliich the highly sensitive plates Avere
prepared for taking an impression from a printed bill fixed to
a wheel, which impression AATas obtained during the rapid rota¬
tion of the Avheel, the bill being momentarily illuminated by <a
flash from an electric battery. The experiment indicated wras
performed at the Royal Institution, in the presence of a large
audience, and Avas recorded in the Athenceum about the time,
a.d. 1852. As the matter is one of very considerable interest
at the present moment, we will endeavour to seek out the
account, and reproduce it for the benefit of our readers — to most
of Avhom it will be, in all probability, quite new.
Albumen Process. — Had M. Lacan been acquainted with
Mr. Negretti he would have known that the latter is above
making a false assertion, and that therefore in all probability
some misapprehension exists. We thought it our duty to spe¬
cially direct Mr. Negretti’s attention to the implied charge
against him involved in M. Lacan’s report of M. Ferrier’s
assertion relative to his never having instructed Mr. Negretti
in his method of operating.
Mr. Negretti, in a note of reply [see page 192], positively
asserts that he originally learnt the process from M. 1’errier,
as stated by him Avhen describing the same before the Photo¬
graphic Society on 1st March, 1855 ; that M. Ferrier, when
teaching him, supplied him Avith a whole-plate negative as
a standard to work up to, Avhich negative he also exhibited
on the night of liis lecture. A report of Mr. Negretti’s
lecture, containing his acknoAvlcdgment of obligation to M.
Ferrier for instruction, Avas inserted in the Journal of the
Photographic Society at the time ; and has therefore been
published for upwards of siv years without contradiction
until the other day. The solution of the mystery therefore
probably is, that M. Ferrier has adopted of late some modifi¬
cation of his former process, and imagines that Mr. Negretti has
laid claim to a knoAvledge of the details of his present modified
mode of operating. We may remark that Ave took the initiative
in re-publishing Mr. Negretti’s method in a condensed form iu
consequence of numerous applications from correspondents after
our critique upon Messrs. Negretti and Zambra’s JaAranese
stereographs. We had the abstract verified by Mr. Negretti; and
had he been less modest and omitted all mention of M. Ferrier’s
name, though he would not have been so scrupulously just, he
would in all probability have escaped the odium so undeservedly
attempted to be cast upon him. in making these remarks, of
course AAre would not for a moment be understood as implicating our
Avorthy friend, M. Lacan, Avho simply reports for our information
that which he undoubtedly heard alleged in Paris, and Avho could
have no personal knowledge of the matter in dispute. In con¬
clusion, so far as our readers are concerned, they have the actual
process employed in the establishment of Messrs. Negretti and
Zambra ; and, whether M. Ferrier disoAvns it or not, its value
is not the less indisputable.
American Photographic Lens. — Not long since Ave made a
comment on the announcement in the pages of a transatlantic
contemporary of the introduction of a neAV photographic lens,
Avhich Avas stated to “ cover” a flat field of 180° angle of vieAV.
So much of the particulars of construction of this apparently
very desirable instrument Avas given as to the extent that the
outer curves of the tAvo terminal lenses (if Ave may so designate
them) Avere located in, and formed part of, the circumference of
the same circle. We remarked at the time that Ave felt con¬
vinced that some error had crept into the report given. An
English contemporary, in commenting on the same circum¬
stance, stated, and truly, that the assertion made was not in
accordance Avith theory. Our American brother meets this
objection in a truly philosophical manner: he says — “so
much the worse for theory;” but coolly admits the trifling (!)
error of having made the assertion with respect to an angle of
180° Avhen he meant 90° instead.
The Oldest Photographic Periodical. — A dispute for this
honour is now being carried on betAveen the rival editors of two
of our American contemporaries that involves some rather
comical features. One of them quotes dates some of which Ave
know to be erroneous ; the other, in addition to falling into a
similar error, claims precedence in age because another Journal
published long since and which is iioav extinct has been, to use
the editor’s own word, merged in the one over Avhich he rules.
This strongly reminds us of the story of the antique penknife
of undoubted authenticity Avhich had belonged to the ovrner’s
great great grandfather Avhen a schoolboy, and which had been
retained in the family the Avhole time and kept in good repair,
having had no less than thirty-five neAV blades and fourteen new
handles — so that there could be no mistake about its being the
identical knife.
May 15, 1801}
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
170
Closing Words. — With the current number we give the
concluding portion of the extended and valuable series of “ Prac¬
tical Instructions on Colouring Photographs,” by our esteemed
contributor, Mr. Alfred H. Wall ; and we cannot dismiss the
subject without a few valedictory observations. The pre¬
eminent feature for which the whole series has been distin¬
guished is that of its unquestionable practical nature. It has
been treated by one who is intimately familiar with the subject —
not from mere book knowledge, but from constant daily actual
use of the pencil and palette. The intelligent communication
to others of knowledge acquired by diligent, patient, and labo¬
rious study has been more the object than mere literary elegance
ofstjde; and, judging of the value of the lessons imparted by
their appreciation on the part of those for whose benefit they
were undertaken, we have no hesitation in asserting that they
have attained a deservedly high reputation. The liberality
with which Mr. Wall has given to the public that which he has
won by plodding industry, combined with acute intelligence, is
beyond all praise ; and we sincerely trust that, in his new
establishment in Bond-street, wdiere he has recently located
himself, in order to follow the occujiation of a professional
artist-photographer, he will meet with that public patro¬
nage which his merits so richly deserve. Although the ink
is now dry in our contributor’s pen, the colour is still moist
in his pencil ; and those who desire further instruction can
readily obtain it by joining his classes already formed in
Bond Street,
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMENTS.
By T. F. IIaudwich.
No. XXIII.
By the experiments and analyses of Mr. Dawson, lately reported
in this Journal, the question of the hydrometer silver meter
may be considered as settled ; and we are glad to take an early
opportunity of thanking that gentleman for the pains he has
bestowed upon the construction of a specific gravity table,
which will be highly useful to photographers. All will appre¬
ciate the advantages of having such a table ready to hand,
and in works on photography, or on photographic chemistry, it
will fall naturally into its proper place in the appendix. The
article which we ourselves communicated on the hydrometer
was intended principally to show that the introduction of a salt
like nitrate of ammonia into the bath did not disturb the working
of the instrument to so great an extent as would be anticipated,
inasmuch as nitrate of ammonia produces a larger amount of
expansion in the liquid than is usual. Our information on this
subject was derived from the perusal of papers by Messrs. Lyon
Playfair and Joule, in which the authors showed, by conclusive
experiment, that the specific gravity of a solid was often changed
in the act of dissolving in water, so that the weight of a given bulk
of the solution could only be determined by actual trial, and might be
be either more or less than that indicated by the known density of
the body. With the results of the March meeting of the North
London Association before us it will not be necessary to reopen
the question ; but we may observe, in passing, that the contending
parties were never less at variance than a casual looker-on might
have supposed — the hydrometer being advocated simply on the
ground of practical utility, and not as an instrument scientifically
correct. Mr. Cramb may be assured that the friendly tone of his
last letter is reciprocated in all that has since been spoken or
written upon the subject.
Whilst speaking of the bath we would take the opportunity of
making a few concluding remarks on commercial nitrate of silver,
since we observe that it is undergoing a further discussion at the
meetings of the societies. A large dealer, whom we consulted not
long since, assured us that he was really at a loss to know what
to do or whom to believe, some of his customers contending that
the difficulty was an imaginary one. Scepticism will always pre¬
vail in photography, and perhaps, from the nature of the subject,
there is some room for it ; but, as regards nitrate of silver, it is
certain that an impurity of a very injurious nature is frequently
present, and that the difficulties complained of do not depend upon
the collodion nor upon any peculiarity iu the illumination of the
subject. Those who employ bromo- iodised collodion will not
perceive the effect so plainly as in working with collodion simply
iodised. But in the latter case we venture to give this advice,
viz., to view with suspicion any sample of nitrate of silver which
evolves a fragrant smell (such as nitric acid will occasionally pro¬
duce in oxidising organic matter), or which froths when its strong
aqueous solution is stirred briskly with a rod. The purest com¬
mercial nitrate of silver may give a strong acid reaction to test
paper ; but this is of no consequence in photography, since the free
nitric acid can easily be neutralised. In spite of what vras said at
the last meeting of the North London we are still convinced that
this impurity is of organic origin, and most probably gains entrance
with the nitric acid used in dissolving the silver. We know of
no satisfactory mode of eliminating it ; but its effect of weaken¬
ing the intensity of development may be overcome by adding
fractional quantities of acetate of soda to the bath.
Regarding the most convenient mode of neutralising a bath, we
cannot perceive the advantage of preparing an oxide of silver
purposely, and thus adding one more to the list of photographic
chemicals. If a bath has become acid by long use the operator
should consider, in the first instance, whether collodion containing
iodide or bromide of ammonium has ever been dipped in that bath.
If so, nitrate of ammonia is present, and care must then be taken
to avoid adding the neutraliser in excess, since oxide of silver and
carbonate of silver are both soluble in nitrate of ammonia, and
hence the solution would easily be rendered highly alkaline.
Considering the frequent use of bromides in the photography of the
present day, we may assume that nitrate of ammonia is usually
present in old baths, and that the substance employed to neutralise
ought, therefore, to be dropped in cautiously. But in what respect
oxide of silver can be esteemed superior to ammonia , we are at a
loss to conceive ; or to carbonate of soda, which, in our own practice,
is never found to evolve enough carbonic acid to interfere -with the
visible change of colour in the litmus. We are now speaking of an
old bath, known to contain nitrate of ammonia : a newly-prepared
bath, free from nitrate of ammonia, may be neutralised very simply,
by rendering it milky with excess of carbonate of soda, and subse¬
quently filtering through porous paper. Alkali, or rather oxide, is
thus left in the liquid in a free state ; but the quantity is defi¬
nite, and without employing test-papers experience teaches the
operator that a minim of glacial acetic acid to each six ounces will
more than neutralise it.
The next matter which struck us as being worthy of comment
in the discussion above referred to was the employment of zinc to
reduce chloride of silver to the metallic state. We have had
abundant opportunities of seeing that process carried out on a
large scale in an assay office, and can assure our readers that it
answers perfectly, even with many pounds weight of the chloride,
provided the proper precautions are observed. It is indeed true,
as Mr. Dawson remarked, that a white sediment of chloride of silver
may remain on dissolving the spongy silver in nitric acid ; but one
of two causes would in all probability explain this : — either the
grey mass was insufficiently digested in warm water, acidified
by sulphuric acid, in which case a partially soluble salt of zinc,
known as an oxy-chloride, remains behind — or the precipitated
chloride of sil ver contained organic matter, and, in consequence,
the transfer of the chlorine from the silver to the zinc was incom¬
plete. On the whole, we think this process will not meet with
much favour from photographers, although it is a very convenient
one in the chemical laboratory. A small quantity of well-dried
chloride of silver would be more readily reduced by rubbing it
up with excess of precipitated chalk, and projecting it by small
portions at a time into a hot crucible.
The next observation made at the meeting is at variance with
our own experience. The difficulty of melting nitrate of silver,
without converting it into nitrite, was alluded to ; but we have
never met with any such difficulty. The question turns upon the
proper test for nitrite; and if it can be shown that absolutely pure
nitrate of silver has an alkaline reaction, then alkalinity ceases to
indicate decomposition.
Some time since we dried a quantity of nitrate of silver at a
few degrees above boiling water, and sent it to Messrs. Johnson
and Matthay to be crystallised. The crystals, as returned to
us, perceptibly changed the red colour of the litmus-paper to blue,
and from that time we have felt little doubt as to this reaction
being proper to nitrate of silver. Observe, however, that the
aforesaid crystals were not alkaline to turmeric-paper, and hence
it is probable that the restoration of the blue colour to reddened
litmus is an exceptional circumstance not to be accounted for, and
similar to what we see in the case of ether.
[May 15, I80i
180
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE INTERN ATIONAL EXHIBITION
OP 1862.
The following correspondence has taken place between Her
Majesty’s Commissioners and Chief Baron Sir Frederick Pollock, as
President of the Photographic Society, relative to the appointment
of a committee to advise the Commissioners as to the arrange¬
ment of the photographs expected for exhibition. Sir F. Pollock’s
reply is very pertinent; and unless some concession be granted, in
accordance with the representation made, we fully anticipate that
the collection sent in will be confined exclusively to the works of
the sappers and miners engaged at the South Kensington Museum,
for we presume that none of our artist-photographers will care to
exhibit their productions if placed on a footing below that of
Manchester printed calicoes. We very much applaud the course
adopted by the Society in not acceding to the request for a
committee until the result of the very reasonable remonstrance is
known.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 18C2.
454, West Strand, London, April 23, 1861.
Sir,— -I am directed by Her Majesty’s Commissioners to forward for your information
the enclosed copy of the decisions which they have published up to this date, on points
relating to the management of the Exhibition of 1862.
Her Majesty’s Commissioners having had under consideration the arrangements that
will be required for securing an adequate representation of the vai'ious branches of in¬
dustry of the United Kingdom, and having had the benefit of the advice of a large and
influential Committee whom they specially consulted on the subject, have determined to
organise those classes of the Exhibition, which appear to admit of such an arrangement,
by means of Central Committees, and to invite the co-operation of such Societies or other
public bodies, as are generally recognised as the representatives of these classes, in the
selection of the members of the several Committees that will be appointed.
One of these Committees will be formed in connexion with the Class of “Photographic
Apparatus and Photography'” (No. 14) ; and Her Majesty’s Commissioners have directed
me to inquire whether the Council of the Photographic Society would be willing to submit
the names of six or eight gentlemen whom they would recommend for appointment as
members of such Committee.
The duties of the Committee will’consist generally in advising Her Majesty’s Commis¬
sioners on the measures to be taken for obtaining an adequate representation of the class
with which it is connected — in examining the demands for space sent in by intending
exhibitors, which will be classified and submitted to the Committees in a condensed form
by the officers of Her Majesty’s Commissioners — in encouraging the production of suit¬
able objects for exhibition — and in settling the final distribution of space among the
exhibitors in the class.
Her Majesty’s Commissioners trust that they may not only have the assistance of your
Council in the selection of this Committee, but that the officers and members of your
Society in general will give them the benefit of their co-operation, by communicating
such information, or such results of their experience, as may seem likely to assist the
Commissioners in those departments of the Exhibition with which the Photographic
Society is mainly concerned.— I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
F. R. SANDFORD, Secretary.
Baron’s Room, Court op Exchequer,
Westminster, 6th May, 1861.
SiR, — I have to acknowledge your communication of the 26tlx inst., inquiring whether
the Council of the Photographic Society would be willing to assist in appointing a Com¬
mittee to advise Her Majesty’s Commissioners on the measures to be taken to procure an
adequate representation of Photographic Apparatus and Photography, Class No. 14, and
expressing “that Her Majesty’s Commissioners trust that the officers and members of
the Society will give the benefit of their cooperation, and assist the Commissioners in
those departments of the Exhibition with which the Photographic Society is mainly
concerned.”
I lost no time in assembling ihe Council, and laying before them your letter and its
enclosure (containing the decision as to sections and classes), and I have been desired
by the Council to communicate to you the result of their deliberations, in which I en¬
tirely concur. It appears to them that some mistake has occurred with r eference to the
objects of the Photographic Society— indeed to photography itself— which it is desirable
to point out and have corrected before they appoint a Committee. The class to which
their attention is directed is Section 2, No. 14, “ Photographic Apparatus and Photo¬
graphy” (as if photography were nothing more than the mere mechanical application
or use of certain apparatus, and to be considered of less account than the apparatus
itself). 1
The section in which No. 14 is placed includes every species of machinery, imple¬
ment, or tool which is used for the purposes of social life ; and photography is the only
result or product which is placed among the machinery or apparatus necessary to pro¬
duce it. It furnishes the solitary exception to what is otherwise a universal rule. E ven
the paper on which a photograph is printed is put into a section above the machine that
is used to make it.
In the investigation of the properties of light, upon which the visible phenomena de¬
pends, photography is as much a science as astronomy or chemistry. It has led to dis¬
coveries of the greatest interest and importance as to the composition of the rays of the
sun, and the properties of the different portions of the solar spectrum, as was lately
expressed m a part of Professor Faraday’s lecture at the Royal Institute. It has also
enlarged the bounds of chemical science, by ascertaining the qualities of a great variety
of substances with which it had to deal ; and it is in these respects chiefly that I per¬
sonally have any connexion with it.
Li the observations of natural scenery, and in the selection of what shall be repre¬
sented with reference to the effect of light and shade, and from what point of view in
t ie grouping and arranging of the principal or accessory objects for the purpose of fo'rm-
*p!?tUl'e’ Photography is, no doubt, an art— an imitative art. But the Council of
hr . ,°.tograP!uc Soci?ty claim for it a position (however humble) among the fine arts
(it etching and engraving may be so placed, as no doubt justly they may). Photography
quite as much as engraving, gives room for the exercise of individual genius, so as to
•tamp a special character on the works of photographers, and give to the result of their
labours the impress of the mind of each artist.
The Photographic Society lias been founded chiefly with a view to promote photogra¬
phy in connexion with science and the fine arts, and the members interest themselves
about photographic apparatus in the same manner only as a Raphael or a Reynolds
might select and use the most convenient easel, the best brushes, or the most appro¬
priate and enduring colours— the instrument is comparatively nothing. Photo-ranhv
consists in the artistic use of any apparatus upon a subject properly selected, and occa-
♦ w ™ nrratlged or prepared. They are quite willing to contribute as much as lies in
1Jlustrate "j'Y Photography has done, and is daily doing, in producing
tho most accurate copies of the finest works of art, ancient or modern, -in multiplying
representations of the lairest or the wildest scenes of nature, and whatever art has done
to adorn or improve nature in the building cities and constructing magnificent works
and buildings of all sorts, from the cathedral or palace to the humblest cottage; lrorn
the bridge that spans a mighty river to the plank that crosses a brook, or in giwng
enduring pictures of private and domestic life. They do not complain that the apparmtoa
they use is placed among all the other apparatus, but they do complain that results such
as have been exhibited for many years by the Society, and have been honoured 1 , t h.-
presence and encouragement of Iler Majesty and II.R.H. The Prince Consort, are Ai I mtd
worthy of no better place than among tools and mechanical devices of whatever merit;
and they would appeal to the royal and illustrious patrons of their body to bo rescued
from the comparative degradation of being mixed up with the last improvement in
ploughs or cart wheels, or ship's tackle.
The very clear and luminous arrangement of the articles to ho exhibited give* the
greater force to the objection of the Council.
Section 1 contains all natural substances, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal,
which minister to the wants and comfort of man.
Section 2 contains all the machinery and apparatus (including instruments and tools
of every description) that conduce to a mechanical end; and with one exception it
contains nothing else.
Section 3 contain* the result produced by Section 2 acting upon Section 1.
There is something so remarkably distinct and simple in the arrangement, that it is
to be regretted that its beautiful simplicity should be marred by any exception; but
photography as a result is put in Section 2. It is the only thing that is out of place in the
whole arrangement. A result that involves thought, selection, taste, and sometimes
design, is put among carpenter's tools and agricultural implements ! The incongruity
is not so glaring, but it is of the same kind as if architecture were placed along with
trowels and scaffolding, or Humboldt were put among commercial travellers.
Section 4 comprehends nil that-genius and labour have done in the department* by
common consent called the fine arts, in which engraving has been tardily admitted.
But at last it has been admitted (now one of the latest discoveries in photography is)
that an actual engraving (without the use of any graving tool) can be produced by
chemical agency and the light of the sun. Is the impression from the result of such n
process to be received as an engraving (which most undoubtedly it is), and the other
results of photography to be excluded ? I am sorry to have troubled you at such length ;
but these are the views of the Council, which I have to submit to you in answer to your
letter, and remain your obedient servant,
FREDERICK TOLLOCK.
To F. R. Sandford, Esq.,
Secretary of H. M. Commissioners, luternationaljExhibition, 1862.
ON THE PERMANENCE OF DEVELOPED PROOFS.
By Lyndon Smith.
It is quite encouraging to learn that there is any single point on
which you can find it consistent with your editorial duty to agree
with me, and very gratifying to know that you consider some of
my humble productions “ display a considerable degree of artistic
excellence.” I am afraid, however, that with regard to my “ abuse
of a certain method of treatment” — whatever that rather ambiguous
expression may exactly mean — we must be “agreed to differ.” I
am glad you can commend my printing process, which you do me
the honour of publishing: on trial I believe you will find it justifies
all I have said in its favour.
You ask on what grounds I claim “ undisputed permanence” for
developed prints? On this principally — that no one, to the best of
my knowledge, has ever produced a faded print done by the de¬
velopment process : I mean a print simply developed, not toned,
and simply fixed, and which has been fairly treated afterwards —
that is, cared for as a work of art should be. What do Mr. Hard-
wich’s experiments prove? Only this: that photographic prints,
if subjected to the violent action of chemical reagents, will be de¬
stroyed — some in a short time, others in a longer — a fact which it
needed no lengthened series of experiments to demonstrate. The
question to be determined is — does my print contain within itself
the seeds of decay ? — not, can I destroy it by subjecting it to
certain abnormal conditions ?
I believe a print on albumen paper does contain within it the
seeds of decay : first, because the albumen will decompose in time,
particularly if the paper become at all damp ; and, secondly, be¬
cause the material composing the picture — I am speaking of prints
toned in any of the ordinary ways — is naturally unstable. It is not
true to assert that this material is mainly metallic gold : if it were
the picture would be a very deep blue, and unpresentable as a work
of art. There can be no doubt that the majority of the prints now
in our hands consist chiefly of unstable silver salts, the deposit of
gold being very superficial : a very minute quantity of the blue
gold deposit will tone down the red-brown colour of the untoned
proof to the usual pretty chocolate and violet tints.
No one, I think, will be inclined to dispute the stability of the
gallate of silver, of which a developed picture is composed, together
probably with metallic silver; and, as the print does not change
colour in the weak hypo, bath, we may be tolerably certain that it
is not sulphuretted at all.
These are briefly the reasons for my asserting the undisputed
permanence of my prints. If you can controvert them by argument
or, more effectually, by producing a faded print which has been
printed by development and not toned, you will put me and others
right in a matter which is of paramount importance to our art.
You admit that you “feel with me” — you must do if you have
even a “considerable degree” of artistic feeling; and you will par¬
don my saying plainly, if you lenow albumen printing to be wrong
and had, you ought to use all your influence to stop the practice of
May 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
181
it. When the same energy and talent has been displayed in the
improvement of the processes on plain paper that has already been
concentrated on the albumen paper methods, there can be no doubt
the former will give prints both permanent and all that can be de¬
sired in an artistic point of view.
The small print which accompanies this is not a brilliant speci¬
men of my process, as the negative was taken on a very dull day ;
but it will show that half-tone need not necessarily be defective on
plain paper.
- -
PORTABLE OPERATING CAMERA:
In describing this form of tent I beg to disclaim all originality in
its construction ; my object being solely to bring before my brother
amateurs a very cheap, portable, and efficient form of dark room,
suited alike for home and field purposes.
It consists of a box made like a folding camera, constructed of
deal and millboard, hinged to a base-board or tray, two and a-half
inches deep. The front folds to admit of easy package, and the
drapery for the exclusion of light is nailed all round the back
edge of the camera, and is capable of being extended twelve
inches in a backward direction by means of a folding frame, thus
affording ample room for the operator to stand whilst manipu¬
lating.
F Folding extending frame.
It is very readily erected : all that has to be done is to unbuckle
the packing strap, render the front rigid by bolting it on the inside
at top and bottom, and slip it into the groove prepared for its re¬
ception in the dark chamber, shake out the drapery, and place the
frame-work on the tripod legs — the whole proceeding taking less
time to do than to describe.
When erected it affords an operating-room thirty inches square,
having a table thirty inches by eighteen inches, fitted with a tin
sink, fourteen inches by twelve inches, to the right, well varnished
with lac varnish, and furnished with an elastic pipe to convey away
waste solutions and washing water. To the front of the table and
to the left are attached two hooks or staples for hanging the
nitrate bath. The front has a yellow glass window immediately
over the sink, and a door or shutter capable of opening from within
by its side, both measuring twelve inches by eight inches: lighting
and ventilation are thus well provided for. The frame- work is
painted white outside and flatted a dead black inside.
| Tent packed up.
It will be perceived that the great advantage in this tent is the
small number of detached parts, as it consists only of frame-work,
front, and tripod legs — the whole packing into a parcel measuring
thirty inches by eighteen inches by six inches, and, if well made,
weighing under fourteen pounds. H, Ik R,
THE NEGATIVE ALBUMEN PROCESS ON GLASS.
By John Ceamb.
[Read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society of Scotland, April 9, 1861.]
I neither come before you with an important discovery in our art
nor with a new process of which I am to predicate before unheard-
of results. My subject is an old process, not so generally known
as it should he, nor so much esteemed as its merits deserve. Albu¬
men was pressed into the photographic service at a comparatively
early period in the history of the science, when trifling improve¬
ments were either made the subject of a patent monopoly or kept
a profound secret; hence it may be that its progress was slow, and
that even yet we find fewer operators in plain unadulterated albu¬
men than in any of the myriad of dry collodion processes. Nor
am I here with a new, or it may he improved, albumen process. I
am careful thus to explain, as I am scarcely forestalling criticism
when I say that some one may after perusing my paper say I had
nothing to communicate, and therefore need not have come here to
occupy your valuable time. I have frequently said so myself when
I have been urged to write on this subject ; that, in fact, though
there might he something peculiar in my method of working in
albumen, I scarcely know that I could single out the new or
peculiar part, if such existed. I come here to-night, then, to tell
my photographic brethren the exact manner in Avhich I have been
able to obtain several thousands of fair negatives with, I think, the
minimum amount of trouble and the maximum amount of certainty.
Before I had tried a single albumen plate I had formed a very
high opinion of its capabilities, and I commenced it with a firm
conviction that it ivas capable of doing for me all I wanted photo¬
graphy to do at the time ; and I may add I determined not to
be easily deterred from accomplishing my purpose. Mr. Negretti
said, in introducing this process to the attention of the London
Society, that many gentlemen gave up albumen before the}r bad
tried it. And, perhaps, bad some of the bandy dry collodion
processes, so successfully practised now, been then known, I might
also have proved faithless to my resolve, and, instead of being here
the humble exponent of the claim of this beautiful and certain
process, I might have been the enthusiastic advocate of the
raspberry vinegar, the champagne, or infusion of tea process.
Many a time, as a whole batch of plates proved a failure, did I
resolve to try no more of it. Such resolves were soon forgotten,
and I had soon encouragement in being able, one by one, to under¬
stand and overcome the difficulties of the process.
Without further preface I now give the details of my method of
operating, beginning with the
GLASS.
Patent plate is, I think, undoubtedly the best for this process.
The albumen film is generally dried with the glass, carefully
levelled ; hence any inequality in the glass tells seriously in the
future picture. Fine sheet glass, such as that sent out by Messrs.
Chance Brothers, of Birmingham, and the St. Helen’s Company, I
have used successfully ; but, if expense be not a serious considera¬
tion, I would say patent plate is much the best.
CLEANING THE GLASS.
In all dry processes it is very desirable that the glass should be
very carefully cleaned. A plate which would seem quite perfect
on the score of cleanness, but which had been so exposed as only
to require a few minutes development, would, if it had been other-
182
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1861
wise exposed so as to require prolonged development, appear a
mass of dirt, and, in consequence, no picture, or one of little value
only, would be obtained. Some gentlemen have so described the
cleaning' of glass for albumen as, I think, may have aided in
frightening* amateurs about the process. There is nothing, so far as
I know, peculiar to albumen over any other dry process on glass
on this head. My practice is to immerse the glass for some time
in a saturated solution of common washing soda. I then wash
with abundance of water, and dry out of the water with a linen
cloth. I never could succeed, with any degree of steadiness, with
leather for drying and polishing. I give a final rub, mostly to
remove dust, with a piece of clean silk, just before proceeding to
coat.
PREPARATION OF THE ALBUMEN.
I have not in my usual practice added either honey, gum arabic,
dextrine, sugar, or treacle to the albumen ; and whenever I have
done so by way of experiment, the result has not encouraged me
to continue their use. The addition of those substances has been
recommended by those whose position entitles them to considera¬
tion ; but in my experience I have neither felt the necessity for
their addition nor the promised advantage when I have tried
them. I have always preferred the use of simple substances, as
far as possible, in my photographic practice.
The whites of any kind of eggs, I presume, would do. I have
tried the whites of hen eggs for the most part : new-laid country
eggs are decidedly to be preferred. Opinion has been a good deal
divided among photographers on the question of whether stale
albumen will do or not. My experience of a very large amount of
operating in albumen, both on glass and paper, has now fully con¬
firmed me in my first opinion, that allowing the albumen to
become stale is always pernicious, though I must confess to having
at times inclined strongly in favour of allowing it to decompose
partially before using. The whites may be separated from the
yolk in any way the operator finds most convenient. Let him be
careful to keep the smallest amount of germ or yolk from passing
among the whites. The quantity of albumen in which it is proposed
to operate should now be thoroughly beaten. A good deal depends
on this, as we will by-and-by see when we come to speak of the
difficulties and objections to the process. The beating of the
albumen ma}7- be accomplished in a variety of ways— shaken in a
bottle, or beaten in a basin with a wooden fork, and in many other
ways, not to speak of the many clever machines specially made
for the purpose. The addition of a small quantity of acetic acid to
the albumen, to make it fluid, has been recommended, and has also
been the subject of some discussion. I have tried it, andjfind it
to answer the purpose proposed.
IODISING THE ALBUMEN.
Iodide of potassium is the iodiser most usually recommended.
Any iodide will do, I think, except those metallic iodides which
coagulate albumen. Iodide of cadmium does so, yet it has been
recommended, and pictures shown which were produced with its
use. In my hands the addition of some iodide of cadmium to a
basin of albumen turned it into a substance resembling sour milk.
Iodide of ammonium has been much recommended. Its only ad¬
vantage, I think, is that it generally contains a good deal of free
iodine.
The addition of a bromide to collodion is now pretty generally
recognised as advantageous. I have always used bromide in my
albumen, and have no doubt I have obtained finer pictures than I
could otherwise have got. A much shorter exposure will do , and,
above all, it materially aids in getting thin pictures full of half-tone.
Albumen, and indeed all dry processes, are apt to give harsh pic¬
tures if care be not exercised to avoid it.
The amount of iodide and bromide to be added is an open ques¬
tion, much depending on the purpose to which the plates are to be
applied. I have no doubt that the degree of rapidity of exposure
is in proportion to the amount of iodide, if the silver bath he suited
to it. That conclusion, I am aware, is not in accordance with the
• expressed opinions of high authorities, but it is in strict accordance
with my own experience. In a young science like photography,
which as yet furnishes but a dim and shadowy explanation of the
wherefore of the results we are every day witnesses of, it is
perhaps as well to be more than ordinarily scrupulous in regarding
facts — single observations, even though these may not accord j
with this or that generalisation of the most eminent authorities.
With plates which I wished should possess the highest degree
of sensibility I have used as much as eighteen grains of iodide of
potassium and twelve grains of bromide of potassium to the
ounce of albumen.
The formula most usually given is about 1 per cent, of iodide of
potassium or ammonium. That will do well enough, but will be
slow and will give bard pictures. The addition of one-third of a
bromide and a little free iodine will make it work clean , and give
fine thin pictures. Say to each ounce of albumen —
Iodide of potassium . 4 grains,
Bromide of potassium . li „
and a very little pure iodine.
Dissolve these I. as little water as you can, and add little by
little, shaking or heating up the albumen as you do so.
After iodising and thoroughly beating up the albumen it should
stand for some time. It will generally be ready in a day, or less.
(To he continued.)
REMARKS ON THE POSITIVE COLLODION PROCESS.
By James Ewing.
[Read at a Meeting of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society.
May 2nd, 1SGI.]
When I lookback in imagination to the first time I was shown a
collodion positive, and consider the rapid strides that the photo¬
graphic art has made in Glasgow since then, I am indeed led to
marvel at it, as at that time, scanning with critical eye the sickR,
consumptive' image on the glass, strange repugnant impressions
entered my mind. I little dreamt that after a fewyears into the future
of photographic history, through the medium of this same phantom
of watery birth, the streets of this city should be literally hung
with the tempting triumphs of the art — that the house-tops should
hurst into photographic galleries — or that the two or three professors
of the daguerreian art, then plying a most profitable trade, should
be succeeded by a race whose ‘‘name is legion.” No! my ideas
certainly took not that direction; and as I placed the new-fledged
u vitriotype" beside the shining daguerreotype plate, my notions in
regard to the glass process were anything but enhanced by the
comparison, although it had the honour of preserving the image
non-reversed. Comparisons seemed odious : we resolved to hold on
by that branch of the art which served up to our customers pre¬
served sunbeams on silver plate.
But suddenly a cry went over the land that this xylotype strength¬
ened day by day; that it rose stronger and stronger in public
estimation ; that it could he viewed in auy light ; and its greatest
recommendation (one of intrinsic import) was that it could be made
the matrix from which copies on paper could he multiplied to any
extent, threatening to undo the patent of Fox Talbot — which it
eventually did — and make photography on paper a free untram¬
melled gift to the world.
As suddenly it became apparent that the brilliant daguerreo¬
type was not faultless ; that its images were reversed ; that
instead of giving you the image of your friend’s face it reflected
your own ; that blue hazes bespread its surface ; and that a year
or two sufficed to dim its glories. Ah, beautiful daguerreotype !
first finished child of the sunbeam ! was it thus thy beauties were
to be cast down ? Was it thus thy votaries were to be seduced,
and the shades of cold neglect allowed to cloud thy argent field?
Thing of light, horn of mysterious mist, ’twas thus thy glories
were dimmed ! Yet, though thou art no more in demand, we hold
thee dear in the past as a beautiful and finished creature.
The cry I spoke of sank deep into the hearts of daguerreian
artists ; they could not see the merits of the “ Neivcome but at last
it had to he resorted to : the public demanded it, and thus the thing
of vapours had to give place to the thing of fluids. Unsalutary
odours were now introduced into the laboratory, threatening to
eclipse all the vapours of the daguerreotype*; our garments were
spotted and riddled with drops of acid received in making the
horrid gun-cotton, and filling our lungs with cough-provoking
fumes. We did not relish the process at its beginning ; bu t, when we
viewed the snowy gun-cotton dissolving in the laughing ether —
then, on the addition of iodide of potassium, the variety of tints
the liquid began to assume, from the pale straw colour to the deep
blood-red— the called-out-against collodio-type began to have some
attraction. The performance of the magical feat of pouriug the
collodion over the plate without spilling a drop, and the no less
wizard-like trick (in which we were not always successful) of
introducing the plate into a plate pan — for we had no upright baths
then— all this done in the dark, with only a screened peep of gas
to light us in our manipulations, was no joke. We thought it so
different from our former mode of operation that we could quietly
(but for the demand) have dispensed with it : eventually it pro¬
gressed to the utter extinction of the silver plate.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
183
May 15, 1861]
W atching liow, step by step, the collodio-type lias risen to a state
of perfection, one cannot help thinking of the difficulties to be
encountered, when, as Mr. Brown has it, photography was in its
infancy. Many of the barriers to its progress lay in not being
able to procure ready-made material, and in the want of pure
chemicals. We had to manufacture or purify to a considerable
extent the stuffs we used — prepare the gun cotton, sometimes to
find it had been too long subjected to the action of the acids or had
been improperly washed, to the certain destruction of our ether,
alcohol, and iodide, the exact proportions of which were as yet
under debate.
Think not lightly, then, ye modern amateurs and recently-dubbed
photographers, of the labours of those who groped through dark¬
ness to bring the infant collodio-type to the light, and paved for
you, through a chaos of difficulties, a royal road to the camerian
art ! The chemist, however, began to see that a field for his
research and profit was opened up by the new art, and he assi¬
duously went to work, concocting the collodion and chemicals
suitable for our use. Hie optician also brought his experience to
bear upon it. _ The artist, who could not at first regard photo¬
graphy as a high art rival, and shyly stood aside, began to feel its
attractions, and was pleased to copy and take hints from it, giving
in exchange his skill in the composition of pictures and the due
ai rangement of light and shade. In fact the art became so enticing,
both in a recreative and business light, that a short time beheld
numbers totally absorbed in its pursuit, bringing from the sciences
and aits new ideas and applications, till, by degrees, photography
has acquired a division of labour which has proved a good to all,
foi now we can procure almost anything we want in a very short
space of time.
Ihus far it is ivell : yet there are difficulties lying in our way,
and, as we lead our photographic journals, one would suppose
there was no end to them ; yet, thanks to those journals, they have
cleared away many impediments, and bid fair to dissipate those
which still remain. Among those adverted to by Mr. Brown is
the nitiate of silver bath ; the difficulty of keeping it right, or,
when wrong, how to put it right. Three or four years ago we
felt similai ly annoyed ; but then we only employed one bath, and
that bath used for the production of pictures, large and small, in
gieat quantities, without being properly attended to. It would
take a fit of bad humour and absolutely refuse to work, or, if it
did work at all, gave us pictures thin and meagre, with
black spots on different parts of the plate — resisted the deve¬
loping solution, leaving most unpleasing streaks and dashes over
the picture. MBiat was to be done then? "We were in a mess
o ui selves, and customers were troubled by the delay occasioned
infoi w aiding a new bath. Now it is quite obvious that all
this lesulted fiom pioper care not being taken of the bath in ques¬
tion. Again, if it happened that the new bath would not work
(as sometimes it occurs after a new bath is started, unless it has
due time to settle), we were fairly nonplussed, and had to work as
best we could under the circumstances. We, however, got into the
Han Gheepmg two baths in good working order: we started one,
and if it proved good laid it by till the other should show the
slightest sign of a break down, which coming we laid it aside,
after carefully adding a given quantity of water, which had the
effect. 1 blowing down a milky precipitate ; this we filtered off,
a. low mg of as much evaporation of alcohol and ether as pos¬
sible, by using a broad wide funnel and allowing the drop from
the point to fall into a deep bottle : this assisted in clearing
away the volatile matter in the bath. We then weighed out
double as much silver as the quantity of water formerly intro-
duced, shook the bottle violently, and put it carefully by to
se e. Veiy seldom indeed it required further doctoring, unless
perhaps a slight precipitate of silver covered the plate, which,
upon the addition of a drop or two of acetic acid, disappeared.
Unis wc have gone through bath after bath, without encounter¬
ing the many failures complained of when only one bath is used.
A bath can be worked from 20 fluid ounces down to five, and the
remaining five mixed up anew without any loss. With regard to
collodion, I prefer a middling thick solution. That prepared by
]. aw son I have worked and do work with successfulhq both for posi¬
tives and negatives : if it be too thin I add a little gun cotton to
ling i up to the proper consistency. I do not always go by the
exact quantity of iodising solution as given in the formula) labelled
on their bottles, as in occasional samples I find it differs, more
especially if long kept. I prefer collodion to be mixed at least one
week before using although I have taken pictures very rapidly by
now ^ ioc lsed collodion ; but the chances of comets and other
s icacs have to be risked. You cannot always get the same body
of collodion, as with one sample you may make pictures which,
when dry, look as if they had been varnished, whilst in others the
pictures look obscure. I remedy this by always having by me a
solution of good gun cotton in pure ether, with about a third of
pure alcohol, adding half of this solution to a half of the collodion.
A great deal of the success of collodion pictures depends on the
developer, and the exact quantity of material used in making the
solution. I have been successful with pyrogallic acid with the
addition of nitric acid; but it appeared to me to be too slow of
development, and to give a slightly brownish tint to the picture.
With protosulphate of iron, nitrate of potass, and acetic acid, with
a little alcohol, in the usual proportions, I have got good results,
the pictures being of a dull white appearance, very suitable for
colouring : if too much acid were added a bluish or slightly greenish
metallic image was the result. Here I would advise, as I have
found it in my own experience, that collodio-type pictures, if they
are to be highly coloured and varnished, should be of this par¬
ticular class, as the silver forming the image is of a soft,
spongy, absorbent nature, which the varnish quickly permeates,
sinking the colour softly into the picture. I do not think, for
durability, however, without being coloured and varnished, they
stand the test, in point of permanence, against those bright metallic
positives so much resembling daguerrotype, produced by nitrate
of baryta in the iron solution, which develops the pictures very
slowly, but gives such fine gradation and minutiae of detail that,
to me, gives it a preference over the other developers. I have
one picture here, taken about four years ago, which has been
exposed in the show cases over and over again, was taken out of
the frame and placed in the dark room, became slightly oxidised,
and was treated with cyanide solution in the manner we clean off
the oxide of daguerreotype plates, and, again mounted : it looks
almost as well as when first taken from the bath, but such pictures
do not permit of colouring, the metal being so hard as to resist the
colour, except the slightest tint, and even refuses to let the varnish
sink into them; yet they are pretty, and I think should never be
coloured, each touch taking away from the beauty of the photo¬
graph.
If the foregoing remarks, loosely thrown together (owing to the
short time I had to prepare them), assist to elicit others from the
members present, they shall have served my purpose.
ON GOLD AS A PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENT.
By — ■ Davies.
[Reid at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, May 1st, 1861.]
At the last meeting I attended my paper was put down for a
fortnight later than to-night, and I was rather astonished to find
in the report of the last meeting, which I was unable to attend
through illness, that it was to be ready to-night. I have tried my
utmost, and failed to do what I intended, having been thoroughly
incapacitated for literary work, and indeed for almost every
other, for nearly a month. I hope, therefore, that you will excuse
my shortcomings.
Pure gold is of the specific gravity of 19‘5, and its atomic
weight or combining equivalent is 197. It is almost invariably
found in the metallic state, but occasionally contaminated with
silver and copper ; and in this state its only photographic use
that I know of is that of being combined with the profits of some
dealer in cameras, lenses, or photographic materials. I am sure
most of you will be too familiar with its use in that direction to
need any light that I could throw on the subject. Indeed, I
believe it is more extensive^ used in that way than in any other,
especially b}r amateurs.
Although in the metallic state it is perfectly unoxidisable in
atmospheric air, still there are various modes in which it can be
made to succumb and unite to the other elements. Thus it can be
made to unite with oxygen in two proportions. The suboxide
Au 2 0.,, and the sesqui or peroxide called auric acid Au 2 03.
Again, with ammonia, to form fulminating gold — the ammoniacal
oxide — which is occasionally formed in making chloride by the
hydrochlorate of ammonia method, which I advise you to avoid.
Again, it unites with sulphur in two forms, corresponding with
the oxides — the disulphuret Au 2 S2, and the sesqui sulphurite
Au 3 Sa ; and with chlorine we have the sub or dichloride, which
is quite different from our chloride, being a yellowish nun-
crystalline body, quite insoluble in water, and totally unfitted for
photographic use ; while with the addition of one atom more of
chlorine, we have the sesqui, per, or terchloride, or, as we call it
shortly, chloride of gold, Au. Cl.s, the additional atom of chlorine
making it a crystalline body in dry air and a moist mass in
184
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 18GI
ordinary atmospheric air. Thus you have the key to the sealed
tubes in which it is usually sold commercially. It has become,
with this additional atom, soluble in water, alcohol, and ether; and
such an affinit}'- lias it for ether that you may extract every
particle of it from an aqueous solution by means of ether alone.
This etherial solution, by-the-bye, has the quality of gilding bright
iron or steel by simple immersion only. It is with this tractable
salt that we, as photographers, have mainly to do, as without it
we could have no phosphate, citrate, or other of the exquisite and
safe toning baths we now use, and would have no resource, save in
sulphur — which we have happily been forced to learn, by bitter
experience, the uselessness of — and perhaps platinum, which is
comparatively powerless, and does not produce the fine tones of
gold, besides being very much slower.
If we, as a young and practical society, had followed the natural
routine, we should have had a paper on positive printing before
one on toning, and it would have saved both you and I some
trouble, as I must be allowed to say a few words on that subject
before coming to the question of toning, and on gold as the agent.
Whatever may be the mode of producing negatives — whether the
Fothergill of Mr. Burns, or the wet collodion of Mr. Nichol — we
are all agreed as to the use of the negatives made, viz., to assist
in producing good prints ; and I am of opinion that the introduc¬
tion of alkaline gold toning has caused most photographers to be
more careful in the production of them, as it is a truth that, Avhile
a fair print might be got from a poor negative by the old processes,
you cannot get anything like the same kind of quality from the
alkaline gold process unless the negative be good, the prints
requiring to be fully and deeply printed. I would also say, don’t
spare the silver. If you buy your paper ready albumenised you
may safely calculate that it is salted with at least ten grains of
salt to the ounce. I think this too much, and never, when albu-
menising, use more than from three to five : using ammonium by
preference with this quantity, and a fifty to sixty grain bath, you
will get as fine prints as with an eighty grain bath and ten grain
salting solution.
In reference to the theory of toning by gold, my opinion is that
the action of the gold in the bath, in whatever way it may be
made, whether by simple chloride, with a dash of alkali, or
phosphate, or citrate, is similar to, if not identical with, the action
induced by the galvanic battery, and that the gold is deposited
on, and partly substituted for, the silver with which the paper
was originally covered. Although I have not tested it yet, I feel
certain that an appreciable amount of silver could be recovered
from old toning baths if they were kept, resulting from the substi¬
tution of the gold for the silver previously on the paper.
I may mention here, without in the least attempting to claim any
originality in the matter, that with the exception of a short erratic
chase after Mr. Sutton’s sel d'or bath, when using the ammonia
nitrate paper, I have never used any other than an alkaline gold
bath, which is now a NEW discovery ! ! and I believe that many
others can say the same. I have now used it fully four years.
From the many forms that adulteration and short weight and
measure assume, I hope I shall offend no one by saying that, as
usually sold in the shops, you rarely if ever get the full value for
your money. Tubes with a warranty of fifteen grains of pure
chloride are almost unknown ; and it was this, together with not
caring “to pay too much for my whistle,” that first called my
attention to the task of trying whether I could not cheapen its cost
to myself. After trying the dissolution of various pieces of metal,
from a half-sovereign to some old jewellery, I tried some gold
dust in that state of minute subdivision in which it is brushed
off the gilding of picture and mirror frames during the process of
gilding them. Perhaps my business led me to it ; at all events I
found that the cheapest and best material for making it. It is
usually sold for £3 an ounce instead of £4 for sterling, or £4 to £8
for pure gold (which, by-the-bye, you must use for the hydrochlo¬
ride of ammonia method of making chloride). It is of fine quality,
nearly, if not quite, as fine as sterling ; but in that state is only fit
for the melting pot or for this purpose. To use it I proceed thus : —
I take say seventy grains of this material, which costs 8s. 6d., and
which, with the addition of six pennyworth of acid, makes one hun¬
dred grains at least of chloride at a cost of not more than about l jd.
The mode of doing it is this : — Take five parts of hydrochloric acid,
three of nitric, and one of water. Mix and add the gold. If slow
of dissolving, gently heat it, and in two minutes it will be ready
for the next step in the process, as you see. It is now, however,
impure, from the mixture of silver and copper alloy which has also
been dissolved, and there is sure also to be a surplus of acid used ;
therefore we must get rid of both, which is done by one operation
by simply neutralising by carbonate of soda, which changes the
silver and copper to carbonate ofthose metals, and leaves a residua
of chloride of sodium in the gold, which is of no consequence to the
toning powers of the article. If for immediate use slight h over-
neutralise it and filter, and you may use it at once, as I will do:
if wanted to be kept in the solid state, the acid is driven off
by evaporation and heat ; if fluid, by determining your quantities
you can, by adding water to make it say one drachm to t lie ounce,
keep it in that state. It is best to be kept in the dark.
I have purposely omitted giving strict rules as to quantities, as
you may vary within very wide limits; and would only advise, as
you are never sure of the commercial strength of your acids, to
always have a full allowance of hydrochloric acid, as it is the free
chlorine which determines the dissolution of the metal.
[The writer then proceeded to dissolve a quantity of the gold,
from which, in a few minutes, he toned several albumenised prints.
After which he stated that, had time permitted, lie should have
shown the other methods of using the material made, including
the citrate of gold process — which is very beautiful and effective,
but very wasteful of the chemicals, as they do not remain in action
for any time — and also the chrysotype, a process which depends
for its results on the reduction of a persalt of iron into a protosalt.
Mr. Davies hoped that time would be found for that some other
evening.]
THE SILVER AND ACETATE OF LEAD BATH.*
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
Acetate of lead behaves with nitrate of silver differently from
other soluble acetates. Opposed to the law of Bertholet, insolu¬
ble acetate of silver is not formed by an exchange of acids: this is
the reason why we can add acetate of lead jin all proportions to
the nitrate bath.
I have made an attempt to explain the absence of a precipitate
being formed when the two salts are mixed together; and I have
thought that if the precipitate of acetate of silver doeshiot present
itself, it may be that it does not remain persistent, if formed —
being taken up through the solvent action of acetate of lead on
acetate of silver. To ascertain this point I operated by synthesis.
To a concentrated solution of acetate of lead I added acetate of
silver, washed, and dried ; I agitated the mixture and_[liltered
through paper. The clear liquid applied to paper r became
blackened by light, as if I had treated it with nitrate of silver.
Thus, without doubt, acetate of silver is soluble in acetate of lead.
Tt is a point that it is possible to employ this new bath in place
of nitrate of silver. This dissolves little iodide of silver, but the
addition of an acid — necessary when pictures are to be developed
with salts of iron — always causes a precipitate of part of the acetate
of silver.
The bath which I had prepared was charged with a little acetate
of silver, and the collodion assumed its opaline aspect when
removed as a sensitive film, proving a very slight impregnation of
acetate of silver ; but I have never made my preparation other¬
wise than cold, not aiming at]charging it witlqmuch silver.
My first experiment should have been tried at boiling point, but
I purpose stating on a future occasion whether acetate of lead,
saturated when warm with acetate of silver, is capable of giving
collodion proofs comparable in all respects with those produced by
the ordinary baths.
Hleelhrqs of Satieties.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held at eight o’clock
on Tuesday evening, the 7th instant, at King’s College, — Henry White,
Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected
members of the Society : — Captain W. Osborne, Edward Hailston, Esq.,
and Colonel Maitland.
Dr. Diamond announced the receipt of a cheque for £100, sent by the
Honorary Secretary of the Bengal Photographic Society, in aid of the
fund being raised for the support of the widow and orphans of the late
Mr. Archer.
Mr. Thomas read a paper On Hoio to Prevent Stains and Streaks in the
Negative, f for which he received the thanks of the meeting.
Mr. Bedford had worked with so much light in the yellow room, and
had obtained such satisfactory results, that he could scarcely ascribe
* La Lumiere.
+ Mr. Thomas’s paper is postponed till our next number.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
185
May 15, 1861]
these streaks to the presence of too much light, or to diffused light. _ Of
course it was very essential to take every possible precaution against
having too much light. Had Mr. Thomas ever developed these plates
without exposing them, and did they then present the streaks as in the
ordinarily exposed finished picture? Some of the brightest pictures he
had ever taken were in a room at Marlborough House, with a southern
aspect, where the window was eight feet by five feet, covered with only two
thicknesses of yellow calico. There was such an abundance of light in the
room that he could see to read the smallest print in any of the corners;
but, notwithstanding that, his pictures were quite clear, and in the trans¬
parent parts were quite free from any symptoms of streaks or fogging. He
had himself tried, lately, to find out the cause of these streaks. He had
tried putting on an additional thickness or two of calico over the window,
but he did not find that the difficulty was obviated. Of course if there
were too much light fogging would occur, and people very often spoilt
their pictures by working with too much light in the yellow room.
Mi\ Vernon Heath considered it was only due to Mr. Thomas that
he should mention his experience on the subject during the last few
weeks. He informed Mr. Thomas a short time ago that stains occurred
on the plates he prepared in his glass house, in London, and Mr. Thomas
very kindly volunteered to point out the cause of them. Mr. Thomas
attributed the stains to the presence of too much light in his yellow
room, the light in which was regulated with the ordinary care photographers
take ; but he must say that since Mr. Thomas had induced him to alter the
condition of the light by putting additional yellow tammy the stains had
entirely disappeared. The moment he removed the tammy the stains
returned, and so, although the dulness of the light was very inconvenient,
he was compelled to put up with it. He now obtained very brilliant
negatives — so brilliant, indeed, that, when looking at them by reflected
light, they presented all the appearance of positives, with all the charac¬
ters Mr. Thomas had indicated in his paper ; and for printing there was no
comparison to be made between the prints he obtained before the altera¬
tion and those taken from the negatives he had since produced. The
peculiarity of the streak in his negative was that it commenced at the top
and ran downward.
The Chairman asked why, if too much light were the cause of the
marks, general fogging was not produced, instead of the action being
confined to thin lines ?
Mr. Malone agreed with Mr. Thomas that great care should be token
with regard to the exclusion of light. He had been unfortunate enough
to have worked in a country-house, where there was nothing beyond a
small square of yellow calico, except some old carpets placed over a large
window, to exclude the light. His negatives were covered with spots,
comets, streaks, &c., and he came to the conclusion that they were owing
to the presence of photogenic light in the room in injurious quantities.
As to how it acted, and as to how photographers got into the difficulty, he
would point out. People generally got into these kind of difficulties by
not adhering to acknowdedged imnciples in their work. Mr. Crookes, in
fitting up his dark room, put a sheet of yellow glass in the window
Bhutter, and in order to ascertain whether the glass was properly covered
with the silicate of silver — to which the yellow colour is due — he put a
sensitised plate behind the sheet of yellow glass, and left it there for a
considerable time with the light of the sun pouring directly upon it, and
then proceeded to develop it. He found it quite clear, which justified him
in concluding that the photogenic light was completely excluded. If the
yellow or rather orange glass were not sufficient, or was speckled with
little holes that admitted rays of white light, two sheets of glass might be
used, as it was not probable that the holes in one sheet would be coinci¬
dent with those in the other sheet, or else a mixture of yellow glass and
yellow calico, or tammy would answer the purpose. In fitting up the
London Institution they had not been quite so successful as they might
have wished, as the glazier had taken upon himself to use some panes
of a lighter coloured glass than was selected. However, the light was not
admitted to an injurious extent, as far as he had yet noticed. It must be
recollected that, even when the room appeared almost dark, photogenic
rays might obtain access through cracks and crevices to an injurious
extent. If collodion were poured upon a dirty plate a chemical action
would take place ; but unless a certain amount of photogenic rays were
pi'esent no ill effect would be produced. A slight amount of photogenic
light, however, would cause a chemical action to be set up, and stains,
&c., would be the result. He thought that the streaks were formed by
the solution when running down the plate, on being taken out of the
bath, forming ridges in the direction of the draining, and the fluid being
denser than the air, and not so dense as the glass, any white light in
the room would be concentrated by refraction, after the manner of a
lenticular body, and lines would be formed on the plate, corresponding
with the direction of the ridges. He might state that he always covered
his bath over with black velvet whilst a plate was being exposed, so as
to protect it from any extraneous light.
Mr. S. Davis thought all streaks and spots were not to be attributed
exclusively to the presence of actinic rays of light that had obtained
access to the dark room. He had found when preparing dry plates that
streaks which appeared upon a plate when dipped in one bath disappeared
when dipped in another, the same collodion being used. In one instance
he had used a new bath, and in the second he had used an old one. The
old one, having an excess of ether, required a considerable amount of
time before the nitrate of silver would flow evenly over the plate, and
streaks were produced. Pie generally used a sheet of yellow glass in
combination with one of orange, covered over with a sheet of orange paper.
He recommended that a regulator of the light should be used, especially
when preparing dry plates, as sometimes the light was more brilliant
than at other times.
Mr. Malone thought that the use of a second bath, rather old and
slightly acid, would tend to remove the streaks which had occurred when
the plate, in a high state of sensibility, was taken out of the first bath;
and even redipping the plate in nitrate of silver might have a beneficial
effect in removing stains, by destroying the excessive sensibility of the
film. Was there any reason to suppose that there was an excess of ether
in the new bath when these streaks occurred ?
Mr. Eliot had noticed that lines would occur even in a new bath when
plates were kept out of the solution for any length of time during the
operation of sensitising. Lines were produced in that case even where
the plate was not exposed to light. If the collodion contained plenty of
alcohol there would be less likelihood of the stains being produced.
The Chairman inquired what effect would be produced if a candle were
in the room when the plate was being prepared?
Mr. Thomas said that the effect would vary according to the distance
of the caudle from the plate and the means of protection employed, as
it was quite possible to print by either a strong candle or gas light. If
their plates were prepared in a perfectly dark room, they would produce
negatives far surpassing any they had obtained before. Mr. Bedford had
stated that he worked, when at Marlborough House, with a great deal of
light in the operating room. Now, he knew how easy it was to come to
an erroneous conclusion upon the subject — in fact, one day’s experience
was exactly contrary to that of another. A great deal depended upon the
character of the light and the relative position of the sun to the window
of the room at the time of operating. That was the reason why he
advised them to try their test-plate when the light was strongest — on the
brightest day they could select. With regard to those negatives taken by
Mr. Bedford at Marlborough House, ho was almost sure that thev had
been taken some seven years ago. [Mr. Bedford acquiesced in this
opinion.] Now, seven years ago they knew very little of the character or
quality of nitrate of silver used for the silver bath. At that time, if the
crystals looked pretty and were large they were considered pure ; whereas,
in fact, they contained a very sensible quantity of nitric acid. In his paper
he had referred to the use of a neutral bath in making his experiments,
which would, of course, be more sensitive than an acid one. If they
were to take some of the fine large crystals of nitrate of silver
and break them, a piece of litmus paper would indicate that a laige
quantity of acid was entangled in the pores of the crystal. That
would explain why, seven or eight years ago, they could work in
rooms comparatively light, the acidity of the crystals preventing ex¬
cessive sensibility in the film. Not only was the nitrate of silver
very acid, but the collodion was iodised with potassium alone, very
little cadmium being used at that time; and an explosive pyroxyline,
which decomposed very readily, was employed in the manufacture of
the collodion, which also decomposed very soon, and was therefore not
so sensitive to the action of light (especially if it were at all yellow) as the
collodions made at the present day. At the present time, however, the
proportions were so exact, and the chemicals were so delicate and sensi¬
tive, that it was quite impossible to work in the presence of any material
quantity of light. In some instances two, or even four, thicknesses of
tammy were scarcely sufficient to exclude the light. The Chairman had
asked why, instead of lines, the presence of light did not produce general
fogging. The reason of that was, that when the plate was first taken out
of the bath, it was in a streak}', liny condition, and in that state the
diffused light, no doubt, as Mr. Malone had explained, was concentrated
by the lines of the solution, which left a stain beneath them. In fact,
they could be produced at will, by admitting a little light upon a plate
freshly taken out of the bath. Some gentleman had remarked that
orange glass alone might be used with safety. He could not allow that
expression of opinion to pass without contradicting it in the strongest
manner. He did not think any orange or yellow glass per se was suffi¬
cient under all circumstances to prevent the action of light in the
developing room. Mr. Davis had referred exclusively to the preparation
of dry plates, upon which subject he himself had not had much expe¬
rience. He did not like dry plates, and he wished all dry-plate processes
at the bottom of the sea, as be believed that they had to a very great
extent put out of sight and out of mind a very much more pei-fec” and
more beautiful dry process, namely, the Talbotype paper process. In his
opinion the results obtained seven or eight years ago by the calotvpe
process upon paper were far superior to anything that had been done* by
the dry-plate processes. With reference to the question put by the
Chairman, he thought it was very difficult to define which marks were
produced by light and which were produced by fogging. He would
content himself by saying that, if they found that their negatives had a
dull dark surface, there could scarcely be any doubt about there being too
much light in the dark room, and that very likely when the negativeVas
developed streaks would be perceived.
Mr. Malone protested against the statement made by Mr. Thomas
that a single sheet of yellow or deep orange glass would not sufficientlv
exclude the photogenic rays. Certainly Mr. Crookes had made his ex¬
periment several years ago ; but he was too good a chemist to have used
nitrate of silver containing nitric acid in his test experiments.
186
[May lo, 1801
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Mr. Thomas would be greatly delighted if anybody would discover a
yellow glass that would completely exclude the photogenic rays; but,
certainly, the glass that was sold at the present time was not suitable for
the purpose.
Mr. Malone said Mr. Williams suggested to him that if the glass were
made of the “pot metal,” instead of the “flashed glass,” it would answer
much better.
The Chairman thought, so far as his experience went, that the orange
glass was quite sufficient when aided by a sheet of ground glass.
Mr. Thomas said ground glass made all the difference, aud was a great
improvement.
Dr. Diamond also thought, from the experience he had had with
Archer’s camera, in which yellow glass was inserted, that it sufficiently
excluded the light. He did not think Mr. Malone’s plan of covering the
bath with black velvet good, as it was very likely to harbour dust, which
was then shaken on to the surface of the bath, and thus streaks, comets,
&c., would be produced. He thought a cover made of deal or cardboard
was much better for the purpose of excluding stray white light or dust.
Mr. Harvey read a paper, or rather advertisement. On Old and New
Inventions for Preserving Pictorial Works of Art. This gentleman would
have attained his end better by simply placing his ingeniously-contrived
portfolios before the members, and pointing out their peculiarity of con¬
struction, which would not have taken more than five minutes, instead
of occupying from half to three quarters of an hour of valuable
time, -which every person present hoped would have been given to
the discussion of an important subject. It is to be hoped that the
officers of the society will never again permit such an infliction. The
advertising element was too palpable throughout this so-called “ paper.”
Mr. Vernon Heath gave notice that, at their next meeting, he should
ask some questions with respect to the position photographers were to
occupy in the Exhibition of 1802. The session ought not to be allowed
to pass over without some observations being made upon so interesting a
point.
Dr. Diamond said the Lord Chief Baron informed him, last Sunday
week, that he had received a communication from Her Majesty’s Com¬
missioners respecting the position photographs were to occupy in the
forthcoming Exhibition, and requesting the Photographic Society to
appoint six or eight members comjietent to advise them on the course
they should pursue in reference to photography. The Lord Chief Baron
at once requested a special meeting of the Council, -who decided unani¬
mously that, previously to their taking any steps in the matter, photo¬
graphy must be placed in its right position, in connexion with the art
section of the Exhibition, and that it should not be treated as a mere
mechanical appliance. They were now awaiting the result of the com¬
munication to the Commissioners of that decision.
Mr. Vernon Heath said that, if photography were so purely a mechanical
art, how was it that the pictures by Bedford, Fenton, Mudd, and others,
were as easily distinguished by their individual characteristics as were
the pictures hanging on the walls of the Loyal Academy ? Surely that
distinctive character could not entirely be due to speciality of process.
If his conviction were correct, surely it could not be right to endeavour to
throw photographers back to the position they originally held in public
estimation as mere mechanical operators, when they had been struggling
so hard to raise their art to the excellence it had at present obtained.
Mr. Shadbolt was glad to find the Society was determined to place
photography on its proper footing in relation to art at the forthcoming
Exhibition. He wished to suggest to the Society that if they found there
was no intention of placing photography on the same footing with other
arts' subjects, they should take the matter into their own hands, by getting
up a special photographic exhibition in 18G2, totally distinct from the
Great Exhibition. Another matter which he wished to suggest was one
that had appeared in The British Journal of Photography, namely,
that it would be much to the advantage of photography if the pictures of
the members of each society could be arranged in groups, so that the
members of the various photographic societies would have a double motive
for emulation. He would not propose any resolution on the subject, but
would merely suggest it to the Council for consideration.
Mr. Malone said he had striven personally, at the time of the Great
Exhibition of 1851, to have photography placed on a proper footing in
connexion with art. On that occasion some photographs were sent in
by an eminent photographer, some of which were coloured and others
were not, and by his management they were placed in the fine art depart¬
ment, whilst those sent in by himself (Mr. Malone) and others were put
up in the gallery devoted to photographic apparatus. Lemonstrance was
made on the subject to one of the sub-chiefs of the Exhibition, who
replied that the gentleman whose pictures were so distinguished was a
noisy, troublesome fellow, and that it would be better to leave his pictures
where they were and to leave theirs in the gallery. He felt that the
same influence was at work again, and that they must do something to
prevent photography being treated in 18G2 as it was in 1851.
The Chairman said there could be no doubt but that the position
assigned to photographic art in the Exhibition of 1862 was highly
derogatory to them. However the Lord Chief Baron had written to Earl
Granville on the subject, and he trusted that something would be done
in the matter to place them right in public estimation. Photography
was the only result of chemical invention that was classed among the
mechanical arts.
Mr. S. Davis suggested that no photographs that had been touched
up by the pencil, brush, or other means should be admitted into ti e
Exhibition as specimens of pure photography, so that the public might
be convinced what the art per sc was really capable of producing.
Mr. V. Heath announced that at the next meeting, on the first
Tuesday in June, he would exhibit Professor V ay’s electric lamp in
operation, and its application to photography.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman. ^
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly' meeting of this Society was held on the 1st instant,
at the Philosophical Society’s Looms, — Mr. Joseph Sidcbotliam in the
chair.
Some donations to the portfolio, which possessed more than usual
interest and beauty', were laid on the table. They included two copies of
engravings, Check and Checkmate, by Mr. Petschlcr ; and these, as well
as two others, landscapes (size, 9x7), ailord ample illustration of the
capabilities of the process followed by that gentleman. Mr. Young also
presented some prints from negatives (10 X 8) of landscapes by what may
be called Mr. Parry’s hot water process. These pictures are almost all
that can be desired, and exhibit none of that violent contrast of shade and
absence of half-tone which has been erroneously attributed to this process.
Mr. Wardley also presented a view of Dunham Old Mill, taken on the 24th
of December last — a day to be remembered in all England for its intense
cold. The beautiful frost looks well in this picture. Mr. Sidcbotliam
produced a copy' of an old caricature depicting a ludicrous and not very
reverent incident in the clerical life ol the late Lev. Joshua Brooks,
coloured after the original.
The usual vote of thanks was unanimously accorded to the donors.
Mr. Cottam, who, in the unavoidable absence of the Secretary, had
undertaken his duties, said the business of the meeting would be to
resume the discussion on stops, introduced by’ the Chairman at a former
meeting, and continued at the last one.
Mr. Brothers, who had continued his experiments, exhibited some more
specimens, showing chiefly the different degrees oi intensity produced
by the same simultaneous exposure with different stops, as suggested
by Mr. Sidcbotliam, and said that there was no advantage derivable from
the use of any but circular stops, as other stops drew out and distorted
the lines in the direction of the stop.
The Chairman thought that such distortion was infinitely preferable
to a distortion in every direction, as must be found to be the case with
those who used five-inch lenses for portraiture. lie had not brought
forward his theory before he was as satisfied of its truth as of that of an
axiom of Euclid." He thought Mr. Brothers’ experiments should have
been made on a smaller bust, and read a letter in the Photographic Pews,
from Mr. Lake Price, in support of his theory, in reply to Mr. Maginn,
who had discovered the same thing since the last meeting.
Mr. Brothers said he had nothing to allege against the theory, but
thought the distortion was not visible to any great extent in portraits.
Mr. Wardley and Mr. Parry took some part in the discussion.
Mr. Noton produced four pictures, taken with a longitudinal, an upright,
a triangular, and a circular aperture. The preference appeared to be
given to the one with the perpendicular stop, though the triangular one
would probably have given the best effect had the opening not extended
too much into the margin of the lens. The object was a perpendicular
gothic monument to the late Joseph Brotherton. He said his object in
experimenting in that direction was to find a means to shut off any
superfluous sky, which was sometimes very desirable.
The Chairman said that the contracted oblong stops were of course
not applicable to landscapes, and remarked that any credit in the matter
was due to Mr. Noton, who had introduced the subject some time ago.
A discussion ensued upon the pictures on the table, by Messrs. Petschlcr
and Mann’s process, which many who had used the old Taupenot process
agreed were fully equal to anyr that could be produced by it.
Mr. Petschler promised, on being requested by the Chairman, to
develop one of his plates at the next meeting. He used,. he said, three
grains pyrogallic acid to the ounce, and two or three minims ot a ten-
grain solution of nitrate of silver. When the details began to appear lie
reduced the strength of the pyrogallic acicl, and added more silver. . Five,
to ten minutes sufficed to develop a picture 9X7. The copies of
engravings had had three-quarters of an hour s exposure with a half-inch
Mr. Parry explained that, in his process, a neutral silver bath caused
fogging, and this effect had made Dr. Ryfley condemn the process pro¬
bably without knowing the cause. He (Mr. Parry) found that lie got
the best results from an acid bath.
The Chairman said he should like to see a large plate prepared, as lie
had had some difficulties with the albumen in the hot water, though lie
had succeeded with stereoscopic plates.
Mr. Young promised to prepare a plate at the next meeting.
Mr. Parry exhibited some stereoscopic transparencies, which were
much admired, and
Mr. Offer proved the keeping properties of the process by showing
some beautiful transparencies on plates prepared some three months ago.
Mr. PIooper described a new box for keeping prepared plates which lie
had seen. Each pair of plates were placed face to face in a frame of wood
May 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
187
composed of two thin frames with a strip of India-rubber between, which
projected about one-eighth of an inch between the plates all round. Four
| springs at the corners press the plates together, and the sensitive sides
of the plates arc in a manner hermetically sealed. A number of these
pairs were then placed together in a grooved box.
The Chairman reported very favourably as to the copying capabilities
of one of Dalhneyer’s lenses which he had been trying : thecaricature
on the table was a specimen. He also begged an inspection of Mr.
Noton’s very ingenious pneumatic plate-holder, one of which was on the
table.
A conversation ensued about the alleged discovery by Mr. Fry, &c.,
and also as to the propriety of adding resin to collodion. Some remarks
were also made as to the appearance of rusty patches on albumenised
paper toned by the alkaline process, the cause of which seemed doubtful.
The attention of the manufacturers to the matter was desirable.
A Member remarked that there was a striking instance of a re-discovery
in The British Journal of Photography for that day, namely, Mr.
Skaife’s method of obtaining enlarged portraits — a plan which he knew
had been used by the late Mr. Handley, an artist, of Manchester.
It was subsequently announced by the Chairman that the Committee
had made arrangements with the General Committee for a Photographic
Exhibition, to be held on the occasion of the vis:t of the British Asso¬
ciation, in August next. A sum of money had been granted for that
purpose. One of the best rooms in the Royal Institution had been
obtained, and, with the time and money they had at command, he did
not doubt that they would be able to get up an Exhibition superior to
anything of the kind which had preceded it. He suggested to the mem¬
bers the desirability of their taking improved views of places of interest
in the neighbourhood.
The Chairman was complimented in the usual manner, and the meeting
was brought to a close.
[We notice that this Society continues its meetings through the summer,
and this remark will correct an accidental omission in our Almanac. The
next meeting is fixed for the 5th June. — Ed.]
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held at the Odd
Fellows’ Hall, Temple Street, on Tuesday, the 30tli ult , — W. B. Osborne,
Esq., Vice-President, in the chair. There were also present Jno. Anthony,
Esq., M.D., Messrs. C. L. Haines (Vice-President), Hart, Plante, Turner,
Burr, Johnstone, and Brown (Hon. Secretary), &c., &c.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed on the motion
of Mr. Hart, seconded by Mr. Haines.
Mr. W. B. Osborne exhibited four large pictures by the waxed-paper
process, from Mr. Robertson, Manchester ; Dr. Anthony, portraits, by
May all, of the Prince Consort, Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, and the
Earl of Derby, as also a number of untouched prints from Mr. T. R.
Williams, of Regent Street, and several photographic reproductions of
engravings ; and the Hon. Secretary, the pictures received from Mr.
Mudd, of Manchester, including the celebrated Coniston Falls.
The whole of the above were minutely criticised, their general artistic
heauty eliciting much admiration, and pronounced to be in eArcry respect
first-class photographs.
Dr. Anthony said that the portraits which he exhibited, by May all,
had been taken by one of Voigtlander’s four-inch long-focus lenses, ancl
developed in the ordinary manner. They each possessed a wonderful
roundness — that of the Prince of Wales remarkably so — together with
great depth of focus, and also showed very clean and careful manipulation.
He called particular attention to a reproduction of an engraving, taken
by the orthoscopic lens of Voigtlander : this print was of the most satis¬
factory character, and the light equally distributed over every part of the
picture.
The Honorary Secretary stated his conviction that if opportunities,
such as the present, of examining the productions of our best photo¬
graphers was afforded to the different provincial societies, it would tend
in a great measure to foster and extend the art by inducing a feeling of
emulation, and , at the same time, give them an impetus, by rendering
the meetings more interesting ; and he felt bound to express his thanks to
Mr. Mudd, particularly, for the manner in which lie had responded to his
invitation to forward a copy of his Coniston Falls for the inspection of
the. members.
Mr. Turner produced three portraits, the negatives of which he stated
were taken by one of Lerebour’s small lenses. He stated that he found
the Lerebour lens to work better than any other he could obtain, as it
would cover a large picture equally with a smaller one without any dis¬
tortion or weakness towards the edges.
The Chairman said that, in the paper which Dr. Anthony had favoured
them by reading at their last meeting, he had remarked that a stop placed
in front of a lens caused the aberration to be of such a nature that straight
parallel lines were rendered as curved towards each other, and produced
the so-called “barrel ” shape ; while, if the stop were placed behind the
lens, the rays crossed after passing through, and produced an aberration
in an opposite direction called “ pin-cushion,” the lines being bowed from
each other. He should like to know how the Doctor proposed to remedy
this ?
Dr. Anthony said that Dallmeyer’s triplet lens was constructed with a
negative lens between the others, for the purpose of avoiding both the
“ pin-cushion” and “ barrel ” distortions ; but, to reduce the distortion to
a minimum in a single lens, the object was to cause the eccentric pencils
to fall upon the circumference, instead of the direct or central pencils,
never forgetting that in placing the stop, and regulating the aperture of
that stop, the photographer had to deal with a cone of light and not with
parallel rays.
The Chairman said that many opticians made the stops in their lenses
immoveable. He had himself a landscape lens in which the stop was
fixed.
Dr. Anthony said he had, a few days ago, been speaking on that sub¬
ject with Mr. Ackland, who acknowledged to him that in every case the
stop ought to be moveable. Makers, however, placed the stop in what
they thought the best average position ; as, if moveable, amateurs would
be almost certain to place them in the worst position possible, and then
write angry letters to say that the lenses sold to them would not work,
He believed that for those who wished to work with care, and who had
a knowledge of the subject, the stop ought to be moveable, both in land¬
scape and portrait lenses. Since the meeting of March 26th, he (Dr.
Anthony), with the assistance of Mr. Brown (the Honorary Secretary of
the Society), had made a series of experiments for the purpose of testing
the lenses of different makers, the negatives of which were produced,
as he thought they would be more satisfactory evidence than the prints
from them of the working of the lenses. These negatives being all taken
on the same day, with the same chemicals, and with the camera in the
same position, were considered to be a very fair comparison. His house,
an old-fashioned residence, broken up by gables, offered an excellent
object, not only from the large number of planes it presented, but also from
the position of his vinery, the latter of which was about central between
the house and the camera. The point of view selected was some seventy
feet distant from the main buildings, and from this place the whole of
the pictures were taken. Their chief object had been to see how far they
could get the vinery and house into focus at the same time. The first
was taken by Dalhneyer’s triplet, eighteen-inch focus, exposure thirty
seconds, without sun. This plate gave an excellent definition of the
image up to the extreme edges, and was especially remarkable for the
absence of all distortion in the perpendicular lines, so fruitful a source of
annoyance in architectural subjects generally. The second, by a Petzval
lens, focal length twelve inches, exposure twenty seconds, the sun being
out bright, gave a definition of the central portion equal to the triplet,
but with a tendency to curvature in the outer lines. The third, by
Voigtlander’s single lens, seventeen inches focal length, was exposed, in
sunshine, sixty seconds, producing a sharp clear picture iirtlie centre, but
falling off materially towards the edges. The fourth was from a Grubb's
four-inch aplanatic lens, twelve-inch focus, time of exposure, with sun, ten
seconds, which gave a very much diminished image, but included, of course,
a much larger angle than any of the preceding ones : the definition up to
the edges of the plate was good, but a slight curvature was observable.
The fifth, was by a Hcrmagis’ portrait combination : this picture was an
instantaneous one, with sun, and showed the powers of the lens to be
very great, defining with equal clearness a figure against the vinery,
thirty-five feet at least from the camera, and buildings at more
than double that distance ; the outer edges of the plate were not sa
clearly defined as couid be wished, but the lens was evidently over¬
tasked. The sixth, a portrait from Dalhneyer’s triplet, with the cen¬
tral or negative combination removed, was exposed in the open air
four seconds ; but, being taken towards evening, shows a falling off in
the actinic power of the light, and at the same time shows also that
the triplet is scarcely available for portrait purposes, and ought not to be
so applied except under extraordinary circumstances. The various nega¬
tives were separately and critically examined with much interest, and
there seemed an unanimous opinion that Dallmeyer’s triplet, from its
rendering the lines of architectural subjects, especially, perfectly true and
perpendicular and entirely free from distortion, was far superior to
either of the others. Although the specimen produced did not.' show so
large an amount of illumination as the others gave, still the detail was
equally sharp, and as clearly defined at the edges as the centre.
Mr. Plante asked what form of lens Dr. Anthony thought best suited
for enlarging purposes ?
Dr. AxTiioxy stated that for enlarging negatives lie had never met
with any single lens that gave him perfect satisfaction. In a negative
of stereoscopic size there was often a great deal of beautiful detail which
rendered it very desirable for taking an enlarged pictui e ; but neither
Voigtlander’s, Ross’s, or Dalhneyer’s lenses would bring out the detail with
the distinctness that he desired, for directly the copy passed the size of
the original, it began to fall off most fearfully about the edges. For
copying such pictures it was better, instead of trying to do too much at
once, to take a positive only a little larger than the original negative, and
then again copying that, and so on for several times. By so doing they
would get a negative that would print beautifully and show no distortion.
Instead of using a single lens in such cases he used a portrait combina¬
tion, with the stop placed close down before the front lens : by that
means the size of the picture Tvas limited, but it was made particularlv
soft.
Mr. Turner said that would make it like the Lerebour lens, in which
the stop was always before the front lens.
188
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1801
Dr. Anthony stud that placing' a stop in front of a portrait combination,
though it had been the custom, was about the worst possible position ;
because, though a stop in front produced a better definition at the sides
of the picture, and so was useful for taking groups, and copying from a
plane surface, yet the field was found to be much diminished ; the time of
exposure to be nearly, if not quite double, that with a central stop ; and,
as Lake Price had correctly stated in his Manual of Photographic
Manipulation , “the stop in front of the lens gives a flatter picture, but
placed between gives a larger picture, with more depth of focus in the
centre.” A smaller stop docs not always improve the definition, and
beyond a certain point would rather tend to injure it.
Mr. Turner stated that he found the Lerebour arrangement to work
very well in taking portraits, and especially if taking a group.
Dr. Anthony : As I before said, for groups the stop would be better in
front, as it thereby corrects in some measure the curvature of the field,
but at the expense of a diminution in size.
Mr. Johnstone said he always worked with the stop iu front, and
always had done so.
Mr. Turner did not think Jamin’s lens equal to Lerebour’s, and
found it wanting in depth.
Dr. Anthony : Mr. Williams, some of whose prints you have this even¬
ing seen, Avorks, I believe, Avith a five-inch Jainin lens — Avith Avliat
success you have had evidence.
Mr. Brown asked if any gentleman present had tested Derogy’s lens?
From inquiries he had made he found that the Messrs. Burton, of Leices¬
ter, A\rho had lately opened an establishment in the toAvn, used one ; but
from the short notice he had given them, they had not been able to sup¬
ply him Avith either a negative or untouched print to lay before the
meeting.
A conversation ensued upon this subject, the conclusion being that it
was not equal to those of some other makers, as, Avliile the centre of a
picture Avas very good, there was a large amount of distortion at the
extremities of the plate Avlien it Avas as large as the lens Avas supposed to
cover, and the lens was also slow in its operation.
The panoramic lens of Sutton Avas then considered ; but, as no specimen
of its performance Avas produced, and the members kneAV little of its
working, they could not arrive at any conclusion ; at the same time great
hopes Avere entertained of it.
On the subject of Grubb’s lenses, Dr. Anthony stated that he had
found Grubb’s landscape lens to take in a very much larger angle than
any other — indeed, that quality might be seen in the very fine photo¬
graph on Avaxed-paper (Comvay Castle) sent for exhibition by Mr. Robert-
son, of Manchester ; but, at the same time, he must say that with a test he
Avas in the habit of using, viz., some fine Avire lattice in a dairy Avindow,
he could not get as satisfactory a definition Avith a Grubb as Avith his other
lenses.
The Honorary Secretary (Mr. BroAvn) said that at their last meeting
a suggestion had been throAvn out as to Avhether or not it Avould be pos¬
sible to institute a lens committee in connexion Avith their Society. Lie
believed that, if the question of the capabilities of the various lenses in
the market could be fairly decided, it would prevent a large amount of an¬
noyance, to amateurs especially, as Avell as stir up the makers to produce
a better average quality of lens than many Avere in the habit of doing.
As that seemed a favourable opportunity, he asked Avould it be Avorth
their Avhile to consider that subject then ?
Dr. Anthony said the question had been mooted in the London Society
again and again, but there had always been the difficulty that the makers
Avould, doubtless, be very willing to prepare lenses for the purpose, but
such Avould not be a fair test of the quality usually sold. It Avould be
necessary to go and purchase a lens without saying itAvasfor the purpose
of testing it, and, after trying, to report upon it. But if a lens committee
could be instituted, it Avould, doubtless, bring the best makers into com¬
petition, and thus conduce to the advancement of the interests of the
science.
After some conversation, and as there seemed so many difficulties in
the Avay of successfully carrying out such an object, the subject Avas
alloAved* to drop for the present, and the business of the meeting Avas
brought to a close by votes of thanks to Dr. Anthony, for his kindness in
coming among them to take part in the discussion, and to the gentlemen
Avho had so kindly forwarded the prints for the examination of the
members.
Dr. Anthony briefly replied, and presented, for the album of the
Society, five pictures of his production, including a very beautiful land¬
scape Avith cattle.
The meeting Avas then adjourned to the 28th inst.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 1st instant, — Dr. R. Parkinson in the chair.
After the minutes of last meeting had been confirmed and passed, the
President called upon the Lens Committee to give a final report on the
instantaneous lens, by Boss.
A Member of the Lens Committee : On behalf of the committee, I am
desired to state that every available experiment has been made on the
stereoscopic lens, by Ross, to justify us in giving a decisive report ; and
we arc of opinion that the lens is instantaneous for portraiture, full opeuing
and in a moderate light; but for stereoscopic views, Avith stop, it is u
better (if as good) than the single stereoscopic lens of the same mak< r.
A Member : I have tried the lens several times, and can corroborate
the statement made by the committee.
Mr. Hareand proposed that the report be received, which Avas seconded
by Mr. Burrow, and carried unanimously.
It Avas resolved that the lens should be sold at the next meeting.
Mr. Beedon then read a paper
On the Fotliergill Process.
So much has been said about this process — for and against it — that one
may safely say it is the bone of contention betAveen all dry-process
workers. In my opinion I consider it to be, for stereoscopic plates, the
most certain of all dry processes Avliich I have tried; and 1 may say that
I have Avorked nearty all the dry processes that have been published, and
some that have never appeared in print. 1 have obtained, on the average,
very good plates by this process, some of Avliich I may have spoiled with
under exposure or over-developing. Those Avliich 1 consider the best are
rather over-exposed, and give, to my liking, the softest and most har¬
monious pictures.
I Avill uoav give you my method of Avorking, premising that there is in
it nothing very startling or original.
Clean the plate Avell. There are so many Avays of doing this that it
AA’ould be foolish of me confining you to one particular method: so long
as your plate is clean, that is sufficient. After cleaning, let vour plate
be throughly dry before commencing the next operation, which is to coat
Avith a suitable collodion. I find half Keene’s and half old collodion to
answer very Avell. Noav immerse Avith one doAvnAvard motion in the
bath. I prefer the bath to be forty grains nitrate of silver to the ounce
of Avater, and made acid. When the plate is removed from the bath, and
sIioavs no signs of Avrinldes, proceed to the next operation. This part of
the process has caused a great amount of discussion, and, Avhatcver the
thorough Avashers may say, 1 prefer the certain quantity of Avasliing. I
take the plate from the hath, let it drain a foAV seconds, Avipc the back
with a piece of clean tissue paper, put it on to a clean plate-holder, and
then pour on at one corner as lightly as possible four drachms of distilled
water : this is made to Aoav up and doAvn the plate for forty seconds.
Work the Avater well up to the edges : if not, you Avill certainly have
stains on the plate. I knoAv that to wash a plate in this manner is rather
difficult, and you may sjaill some of the Avater. Should you do so, that
plate Avould be liable to stains and marblings, unless the following pre¬
cautions be taken -Continue Avasliing Avith Avhat Avater you have on the
plate forty seconds longer. You may, in Avasliing, let some of the Avater
fall Avith a splash upon the plate : this will produce an insensitive patch.
I repeat, pour on the water gently. Noav, put your plate on to another
plate-holder, and pour on to the edge Avliich you intend to be the sky
tivo drachms of the folloAving solution : —
White of egg . 1 ounce.
Distilled Avater . 1J ,,
Ammonia . 10 drops.
Well beat, up to a froth, and let it Aoav across the plate in one AvaAre, then
back again and so on for a feAv times ; pour off ; drain a little; wipe the
back of the plate ; put it into a dish ; shake and Avash the plate as you
like with two changes of Avater, finishing with distilled Avater.
I prefer albumen which smells very bad; in fact, some of my best
negatives Avere prepared with very old albumen. I can give you no che¬
mical reason for this preference. I must say I understand A ery little of
photographic chemistry.
The manner in which I proceed after washing off the albumen is as
follows : — I take the plate, and rear it on one corner to drain. I use
little pads of blotting paper for the plates to rest upon. When I have
done another plate I remoAre the first one into a drying box.
If you do not think it out of place I will describe the arrangement of
this box. The box is made of deal, and the inside I have lined Avith
strong brown paper. Across the box there is a piece of deal, and into
this are inserted, at convenient distances, glass rods. The box is light¬
proof. I put in the bottom of the box some bits of ribbed glass.
You may let your plates dry spontaneously, or you can finish them off
by artificial heat, by inserting in the box a large bottle of hot water. I
refer the latter method. When the plates are dry I put them in tin
oxes, Avliich I find to be cheaper and better than Avood.
Noav then comes the photographer’s anxiety about the Aveather of to-
morroAV. On the evening preceding his journey he scans the heavens
and looks around for signs Avhich promise him fine Aveather. The indica¬
tions being satisfactory, he goes to bed and dreams of leaping cascades,
fearful avalanches, over-hanging rocks, old abbeys, castles, and of other
things which exist only in dreams — never in reality. Amongst other
things, he may dream of falling into the strid, and battling with the
watery element, just as he is sinking for the last time, to be rescued by
- - ; but lie is suddenly roused by a shrill voice, calling — “ Six
o’clock ! ” He rises — goes on his journey — returns, and, although weary
with walking- and riding, commences to develop his plates with the
greatest eagerness.
I develop in the following manner, and he may do the same : — I take
the exposed plate and put it into a dish of distilled water, so as to moisten
i: n E BRITiSH JOliRtf AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
189
May 15, LBOi]
the film. In about a minute take out the plate, drain, and pour over it
for a few times two drachms of the following developer : —
Pyrogallic acid . 24 grains.
Citric ,, . 8 ,,
Distilled water . . . . . 12 ounces.
Then add a few drops of nitrate of silver solution (nitrate of silver thirty
grains, water one ounce), to bring the negative to its proper density.
If the developer get black wash it off, and use some fresh. A
developer with acetic acid in it changes very rapidly, and does not
develop so clean as citric acid. Citric acid gives a little more hardness
to the negative than acetic acid, yet 1 prefer the former for many reasons.
When the plate is sufficiently developed I wash it well, and fix with—
Hyposulphite of soda . 1 ounce.
Water . 6 ounces.
In a few minutes the yellow tint will have disappeared, and the negative
be quite transparent in the shadows. Wash well, dry, and varnish with
a suitable varnish.
I have given you the process as I have worked it ; and should any
member be rather doubtful of success from my description, I shall be very
happy to give him any further information.
As I have not had time to give the tannin process a fair trial, I feel
that I should be doing it injustice if I were to give you the results of
what I have done. I have heard that Dr. Parkinson has been very suc¬
cessful with it; and I for one should be very glad if he would favour us
with a paper at the next meeting on that process.
Mr. Beldon illustrated his paper by a very large and choice selection of
beautiful stereoscopic negatives and prints, some of which he presented
to the Society’s portfolio.
Dr. Parkinson asked Mr. Beldon if keeping the albumen so long did
not spoil it for working?
Mr. Beldon said the older it was the better it worked, and was much
easier to pour on the plate, and the result obtained was very much
superior.
Mr. Harland said, when he worked the collodio-albumen process he
obtained better results when the albumen was old than when it was new.
After a vote of thanks had been given by acclamation to Mr. Beldon
for his paper, the meeting adjourned until the first Wednesday in June;
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on the 17th ult., when Mr. George H. Slight, Vice-
President, occupied the chair.
After the minutes had been read and agreed to, the following gentlemen
were balloted for, and admitted members, viz., Messrs. David Wood, John
Muir, and Dr. Sidey.
An elementary lecture on the collodion process was then delivered by Mr.
Nicol, which, beingfor the instruction of the more inexperienced members,
has been deemed rather too elementary for publication among the regular
transactions of this Society. Mr. Nicol’s address was characterised by
great clearness and simplicity of style, and the experiments which he per¬
formed, illustrative of the various phases of his lecture, so successful as
repeatedly to call forth applause. At the close the Chairman tendered
the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Nicol.
Mr. Taylor said that by way of starting a conversation he would make
a remark or two. He would like to ask Mr. Nicol what effect, mechanical
or chemical, was produced in a layer of iodide of silver by the momentary
impingement on it of a ray of light ? Also, what part the iodide cf silver
in a sensitive film played in the formation of a developed picture on that
layer ? On the former he would not remark at present ; but on the latter
he thought he was almost in a position to prove both that iodide of silver
did and also did not go to form the image. If his memory served him
aright, he had developed albumen negatives with gallic acid alone,
although there was no free nitrate of silver in the film ; and in this case
he would ask where the deposit of silver in the lights came from, if not
from the iodide in the film? To prove the second position — namely, that
the iodide in the film did not go to form the image — he might relate an
experiment he had often tried. After developing a collodion plate he had,
previous to fixing, and by means of a proper solvent, removed the image
from the surface, leaving the iodide still there, on which the image could
be redeveloped if necessary, or the latent image might be totally dis¬
charged, and another image put on the very same film of iodide from
which the picture had previously been dissolved.
Mr. Walker remembered reading about a mechanical effect which light
produced on the film of iodide, which was to cause a slight sinking of
those parts on which the light acted.
Mr. Nicol said the questions raised by Mr. Taylor were of so profound
a nature that the ablest photographers alive had failed to solve them.
The experiments indicated were highly instructive ; and, when Mr. Taylor
fulfilled his promise of devoting an evening to the practical illustration of
these experiments, he thought some light might be cast on this hitherto
little-known branch of photography.
After several other remarks, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the
meeting separated.
Another ordinary meeting of this Society was held on the 1st instant, —
the President in the chair. The following gentlemen were admitted as
members: — Messrs. Alexander Gray (George Street), Edward Ayton
(dentist), and William Lyon (George Street).
Mr. Davies read a paper On Gold as a Photographic Agent [see page
183] , which he illustrated by making chloride of gold and toning a number
of prints.
Some conversation which followed Mr. Davies’s paper will appear in our
next number.
A vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. Davies, and a similar tribute to
the Chairman.
The business for the next meeting was announced to be a paper On
the Construction and Applications of the Magic Lantern, by Mr. Taylor,
to be illustrated by Mr. Ramage, who, by means of the oxyhydrogen light,
would exhibit a number of dissolving views. It was intimated that, for
this occasion, the members might invite their lady friends, as the meeting
would be of a somewhat popular character.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
evening, the 2nd instant, in the Religious Institute Rooms, — Mr. D.
Brown in the chair.
Mr. James Ewing read a paper On the Positive Collodion Process.
[See page 182.]
On the conclusion of the reading of the paper a conversation followed
on the subject taken up by Mr. Ewing, and on cognate subjects.
Being the last meeting of the session, and photographers becoming
busy later in the day, the attendance ivas meagre ; but there was a
pleasant and interesting meeting.
It was reported that the Council were making arrangements for
photographic excursions during the summer months.
NEWCASTLE -ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on the evening of
May 4th, at the Tower, — J. C. Warren, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
There was a very numerous attendance, the room being crowded.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed,
The Chairman read a circular received from the Honorary Secretary of
the Birmingham Photographic Society, notifying that an Exhibition of
Photographs would be opened at the end of the present month, and that
it was the intention of the Council to offer silver and bronze medals for
the best specimens sent in, in various departments of the art.
Mr. McKie introduced to the notice of the members one of Moule’3
photogens for taking portraits by artificial light, and stated that above
300,000 portraits hod been taken in London during the past season by its
aid. The British Government had given an order for two of these instru¬
ments, for the purpose of securing photographs of the interiors of certain
caverns in India, which could only be obtained by means of artificial light.
The light is produced by a composition placed in a metal cup in the centre
of a hexagonal lamp, about four feet in height and two feet in diameter, and
its glare is thrown through large squares of glass which form two of the
sides. A blue transparency is introduced between the lamp and the sitter
at the commencement of the operation. The heat of the flame is great,
and a chimney is required to carry oft' the fumes. The composition burns
for about twenty seconds.
The members present proceeded to test, by experiment, the qualifi¬
cations of the apparatus. The operators were Messrs. Laws and Warren,
of Newcastle, and Mr. Hill, of North Shields, assisted by Messrs. Porteus
and North.
The portraits ( transparencies, ivhich were on tannin plates) taken by
the Council were exhibited iu the rooms. All were highly pleased with
them, and convinced that portraits could be taken by the aid of the
pliotogen equal to any taken by daylight.
A resolution, expressive of the good opinion entertained of the photo¬
gen by the Society, was passed; also, a vote of thanks to Mr. Moule for
the readiness with which he sent the pliotogen for experiment to the
Society on learning the Council's wish.
Thanks were given to all the operators.
Mr. Laws’ paper On Transparencies was postponed, by desire of the
Council, on receipt of the photogen. Crowds collected outside the Tower
on seeing the light from the windows.
The Chairman exhibited and explained the construction of Mr. Skaife's
pistolgraph, and, by means of Mr. Moule’s pliotogen, took several portraits
with the little instrument.
A vote of thanks having been passed to the Chairman, the meeting
separated.
[We have been favoured with a paper proof from a negative portrait
of one of the reporters, taken by the photogen by Mr. Laws, which is
certainly very good, many of the former defects incident on artificial
lighting having been remedied. — Ed.]
190
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Irattiral lirstnittos mi Cdaniig|]!)offfKnij}ljs.
* By Alfred H. Wall. f
CHAPTER YIII. ( Concluded J
For Linen.
High Lights. — White, with a touch of Blue Black.
Middle Tints. — White and Black.
Shadows. — Black White, Umber, and a touch of Madder Lake.
Reflected Lights.— White, Black, Naples Yellow, and Madder
Lake.
On Varnishing.
A newly-painted picture should never be varnished if we attach
any value to its proper preservation ; indeed, if possible, the var¬
nishing is best avoided altogether. At any rate, the paint should
be completely and thoroughly dry , if not hard.*
To avoid chilling, or to apply the varnish with more ease, oil is
sometimes mixed with it; but a picture thus treated speedily loses
all its brilliancy and beauty, becoming dull, heavy, and discoloured.
In applying varnish, be careful that it does not bloom or chill.
Mastic varnish is the more easily applied, but it is sometimes apt
to become dull and foggy. This, however, smart friction with a
clean piece of chamois leather, when dry, will at once remove.
Copal varnish, although more brilliant and smooth in its effect,
is too apt to crack and destroy the painting; I therefore do not
recommend its use.
Before varnishing a picture you should see that the surface is
not damp ; and it is best to apply it in a warm, dry atmosphere, free
from dust.
To obtain a very smooth glass-like surface, some painters apply
some five or six coats of copal varnish, polishing the surface after
each application with pumice stone.
A temporary varnish of albumen, gelatine, or isinglass, is some¬
times applied, which can afterwards be easily removed.
Mastic, being a soft varnish, dries rather more slowly than the
harder species; and if put in a dusty place, it being long in a tacky
condition, will gather a thick coat of dust, which, drying into the
varnish, cannot afterwards be removed.
These articles now draw near their conclusion. All the promises
I made in commencing them have, to the best of my ability, been
duly performed, and, with a few further hints, I will make my best
bow and retire.
Hints.
If you find it very difficult to get the colours smooth and even,
the cause will be found either in the fact of too little colour having
been applied or in that of your medium drying too quickly.
When the colours are sparingly and thinly laid on, your softening
brush does not unite and blend them properly, and the result is a
patchy unevenness and a painty appearance.
When your colour dries so quickly that the ridges formed by the
brush are not removed by the softener, it will be advisable to add
a little poppy or nut oil to your medium.
When the finishing colours are the same as those used in the
previous painting, the resulting whole will lose the depth, trans¬
parency, and brilliancy it might otherwise have assumed.
When the warm-toned colours are laid over the cold a far better
effect will be produced than the conttary method would secure. If
you glaze too deeply and frequently the picture is apt to become
foxy and unnatural.
If you wish to retain the colours on your palette, or some tints
which you are anxious to preserve for an unfinished passage,
because not exactly sure of reproducing them with the required
nicety,f work each tint into a small separate heap with your paletto
knife, and place them all so close together that a basin, glass, or
cup will cover them. The remainder of the palette may then be
cleaned, a well-wetted rag laid about the bottom of the inverted
vessel, and the whole removed and placed, where it will not bo
disturbed, in a cool place. %
When the medium dries very slowly a little nut oil may be added
to the colour on the palette.
The slab and muller is best cleaned after use with a little of
your nut or poppy oil, afterwards with soap and water, and lastly
with pure water.
On the smooth surface of the photograph it is difficult to get on
the requisite quantity of colour for finishing in one painting; but
The paint will hardly be thoroughly hard in less than ten or fifteen years, perhaps
more. Varnishing, when not necessary, is a common mistake.
t In the hurry of work you will frequently mix a tint without remembering the
various colours which may have entered into its composition.
t It is, perhaps, a better plan to remove them from the used to a clean palette, and
put them away ou that.
■May 15, 1861
when this is particularly desirable rub a viscous varnish over the
surface with a hog-hair tool, and paint into it. This will enable
you to repeat your touches without removing those already
applied ; but, unless you work very rapidly, and place every colour
in its right position at once, the method will either be quite
unmanageable or the result be very rough and coarse.
Some colourists, instead of preparing the photograph with
isinglass, gelatine, glue, &c., merely brush it over with prepared
linseed oil, so as to prevent the paper absorbing the colours too
rapidly, arguing that the oil had better find its way into the card¬
board than to the surface of the paint. But pictures so painted
must be varnished, while the others seldom need it.*
To obtain clean bright effects, touching and re-touching with
fresh colour is much better than too frequent a use of the
softening brush — the freshness and purity of colours being
destroyed by leaving them too much with the brush, because the
oil is then always worked to the surface. Sir Joshua Reynolds
gives us a rule in painting beautiful faces to “ keep the whole
circumference about the eye in a mezzotinto, as is seen in the
works of Guido and the best of Carlo Maratti.”
A double concave lens will be very useful in colouring from the
life, as by holding it between yourself and the model, at the proper
focal distance, you get a picture in small, in which all the colours
are brilliantly defined, and their subtle gradations and other pecu¬
liarities conspicuously visible — just such, in short, as you get on
the focussing glass of the photographic camera. Another advan¬
tage this method possesses is the fact that you may examine more
intensely and fixedly the image in the lens than you would like
perhaps to do if the face of the sitter herself were moro directly
the object to be so curiously observed.
I cannot do better than append to this portion of my papers
some further observations from some memoranda of Sir Joshua’s
“ A student should begin his career by a careful finishing and
making out of the parts, as practice will give him freedom and
facility of hand : a bold and unfinished manner is generally the
habit of old age” — and, consequently, of very long experience.
“ Let those parts which turn or retire from the eye be of broken
or mixed colours.”
“Let all your shadowsbeof one colour: glaze them till they areso.”
“Use red colours in the shadows of the most delicate com¬
plexions, hut icith discretion .”
“Avoidlong-continued lines in the eyes, and too many sharp ones.”
“ Where there is the deepest shadow it is accompanied by the
brightest light.”
“ Let nothing start out or be too strong for its place.”
Keep the colours in the shadows thin and transparent, rather
killing the blackness of a dark photograph with transparent and
powerful, than opaque and heavy, colours. Another reason for
this is fonnd in the fact that, while light is absorbed by trans¬
parent, it is reflected by opaque, colours.
Concluding Remarks.
And so my task is completed. I am satisfied to know that I
have started many of my readers on the right road ; have pointed
out the goal, and urged them earnestly to seek it ; and now all
that remains to do can be done only by themselves. I have no
desire to add to the hundreds who colour photographs, as many of
them previously coloured cheap lithographs and engravings, for
such remuneration per picture as the unfortunate shirt makers can
command per shirt. But I earnestly and honestly desire to see
photographers recognise more generally the real value and im¬
portance of this new and not tinworthy branch of the painter’s art ;
and I am sure that the best steps towards such a consummation
will be taken by those who really produce artistically-coloured
photographic pictures.
The experience I have embodied in these few pages is a portion
of that which I have had to dig tediously and laboriously out of
the mine of unaided labour. Knowing how very, very hardly
such experience is earned, I am the more anxious to help others
who may be similarly situated ; and being assured by many of the
letters I have received that this my sole aim has really been
achieved, I have always sat down after my day’s professional
labours to write my fortnightly quota of instructions with a great
deal of cheerful pleasure. In which spirit I now shake you by the
imaginary hand you have held out to me, and say — Good-bye !
By-the-bye, before I go, let me quote Barry, the celebrated
artist, who said
“ It is presumed that reasonable men looh for nothing further than
mere information in the loritings of artists."
* Oil, I believe, will frequently combine with size.
May 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
191
The author of the preceding paper, in order to render his communica¬
tions of greater practiced value, has kindly undertaken to criticise the
work of students in colouring, and to give them advice through the
medium of these pages; for which purpose specimens may he sent,
-with a stamped and directed envelope for their return, to A. H.
Wall, Esq., 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
Another Lady Amateur.— Will find the promised reply in the above.
Arthur E.— I am glad you have been convinced, because such a belief would be
mischievous to you and retard progress. See the earlier numbers of the last volume.
The publisher will send them to you, if you make application. I forget in what number
they began.
Bothered Bob.— Exactly the same faults in this specimen. What can I say more
than I said before ? I’m as bothered as you are. The pure Naples yellow is greenish.
Ask for French or Bright, and you will get the right colour, or add a little cadmium
and pink to that you have. At Newman’s, of Soho-square, London.
G. L. (Guernsey).— I thank you very warmly.
Notice. — For the next three months I will very readily answer all correspondents per
post who will enclose a stamped and directed envelope; but afterwards I cannot
promise to continue the same, my time being just now too much occupied.
jfaragn CamspmxkHte.
Paris, May 1(M, 1861.
Tiie Exhibition of the French Photographic Society Avas opened
on the 1st May. It occupies, as it did two years ago, a gallery in
the Palace of Industry, adjacent to that in which the paintings
are being exhibited.
As was to be expected, this Exhibition is full of interest, both
from the number of the exhibitors and from the diversity and
excellence of their works. On first entering, one’s eyes are
naturally attracted towards the amplified pictures, both on account
of their size, and especially on account of the progress made in
that branch of photography during the last tAvo years. Two
amateur artists, Count Aguado and M. Edouard Delessert, have
consecrated the space allotted to them to such works. The first
has amplified groups of animals and teams of oxen ; and, as
there is always some pleasing landscape for a background, he
forms rural scenes of charming aspect. These pictures, whose
dimensions do not exceed those of oil paintings, are remarkably
clear. Whether it be from the excellence of the cliche, or from the
perfection of the apparatus, or from the judicious proportions
observed by the operator, they have not only all the delicacy of
detail which pleases us in the best productions of the objective,
but also a relief and a perspective Avhich are truly surprising.
The vigorous contrasts of light and shade nowise interfere with
the proper graduation of the half-tints, and the sh ades themselves
are of wonderful transparency. In fact, it will be difficult to carry
the perfection of execution any further. A half-length portrait of
the artist himself, tAvo-thirds of the natural size, has preserved all
the charm of the original picture.
M. Edouard Delessert’s exhibition is composed of half and full-
length portraits and groups, all of natural size, with the exception
of a carriage with ponies of about one-third. The artistic effect
of these Avorks is excellent ; but, Avhetber it be that the cliches
Avere deficient in sharpness, or that the amplifying was someAvhat
exaggerated, they are slightly flou.
MM. Mayer Brothers and Pierson have only a female portrait
of natural size, and of exquisite modelage.
The portraitists are numerous, and they have so vied with each
other in zeal and talent that it Avould be difficult to assign to them
their respective rank. Pierre Petit has a certain number of his
portraits of contemporaries : they are distinguished by their
vigour of tone and of modelage, and by a singularly happy
choice of the pose. M. Alophe has different characteristics.
His pictures are delicate, and approach more closely to the
English school. M. Claudet’s exhibition shows us that the art
of which he was one of the earliest adepts will ever find him in
the foremost rank. I admired, and not alone, his beautiful por¬
traits, at once of such finished detail and of such masterly unitjr.
His specimens have a character of their oavii, neither exclusively
English nor exclusively French, but combining, I think I may say,
that which is most excellent in the one school and in the other.
M. Bilordeau, a photographer who has already made himself
knoAvn by his reproductions of bass-reliefs, and Avho has recently
become a portraitist, has exhibited a large number of portraits,
Avhich excite general admiration. They are cleverly executed, and
of great finesse. The poses are Avell chosen, and the tone is har¬
monious. On the other hand, the artist surrounds his model Avith
too many accessories. I know that this enables him to compose
veritable pictures ; but still the principal figure suffers, as the
beholder’s attention is, so to speak, too much disseminated. The
great painters are always sober in the composition of their portraits,
and I think that photographers should, in this matter, follow their
example.
Nadar only gives us some of the results of his printing Avith
electric light, and some equestrian specimens. These pictures
offer an interesting study, and show that the art is entering upon
hitherto unexplored regions, and not Avithout success. In a first
rapid visit I did not catch sight of Disderi’s exhibition; and as the
catalogue is not yet printed, I cannot say positively Avhether he is
present or not,
A photographer of Vienna, M. Angerer, has sent very good
portraits and visiting cards, which are in no respect inferior to
those Avhich are produced here. There are also some fine portraits
by an artist of Amsterdam. I did not see any English specimens
of this kind, and I much regret it ; for Ave like to compare
our productions Avith those of your fellow-countrymen, and Avefind
such comparison serviceable. For instance, there are, happily,
at the present Exhibition, some neAV views from the Pyrenees, by
Mr. Maxwell Lyte. These landscapes possess the same delicacy,
the same depth of perspective, the same harmony of tone, Avhich
are ahvays to be found in Mr. MaxAvell Lyte’s works ; while tho
skies give to them an additional charm, and a greater completeness
as pictures.
M. Caldesi exhibits reproductions of valuable ancient sculptures
in the British Museum. The representation of Avorks of art has
also been the chosen labour of M. Fierlants, of Brussels. Baldus
has sent a few fine landscapes ; Bisson Brothers some magnificent
vieAvs of public edifices.
I cannot in this letter speak of all the Avorks Avhich arrested my
glance during my first visit. I shall return to the subject, and
notice the principal productions which figure in this Exhibition, as
Avell as the new processes, or neAV applications of old processes, for
Avhich they naturally claim our attention.
Before closing this letter I will say a Avord or tAA'o on an in%Ten-
tion Avhich has been communicated to me. It may be called
photographic sculpture. The inventor, M. Villame, places his
model in the centre of a circular operating-room. Four objectives,
placed at equal distances round the circumference, give four views
of the model — the front, the back, and the two profiles. With one
point of a pantograph the artist folloAvs the outlines of each picture,
and thus accurately reproduces them Avith the other point upon a
block of clay. The system is very simple, and in M. Villame’s
hands yields excellent results. ERNEST LACAN.
Neio York, April 27, 1860.
At the present time nothing is talked about or thought of but our
impending civil Avar. The martial order inspires every deed and
speech. The dragons’ teeth have been planted in the whole extent
of the country: armed men by the hundred thousand are already in
the field eager for battle. The fervent enthusiasm of the people
is beyond all precedent : the deepest depths of society are moved.
“ Shoot the first man who attempts to haul doAvn that flag!” is the
sentiment which manifests itself in every possible way. NeAV
York is all in bloom with “the star-spangled banner the “ stars
and stripes” float everywdiere — on the house tops, church spires,
and from AvindoAvs and doors of stores and dwellings ; stages, cars,
carriages and their horses, are all decked out Avith the patriotic
emblem; pedestrians show their colours in badges, rosettes, and
breast pins. All these things mean Avar, and it is said Avar to the
knife and knife to the hilt ; and Iioav fearful Avhen Ave remember
that it comes from the animosity of a house divided against itself!
I draw a long breath and ask myself if I need to make an apology
for introducing this painful subject, so foreign to our peaceful art.
1 Avill only say that no letters are Avritten Avithout allusion to it,
and I believe it Avill have a Arery notable bearing on the condition
of photography in America.
Photography, like other avocations Avhich do not contribute to
the materials for warfare, must for a time be prostrate: already
many of the practical photographers, by virtue of the opportunity
or CAren necessity, in the name of patriotism have gone into the
armies. For the feAv days, lioAvever, in Avhich the military are
being enrolled, some of the photographic galleries are thriving :
the Avise soldier makes his Avill, and seeks the photograph as possi¬
bly the last token of affection for the dear ones at home.
You must therefore expect little of photographic novelty from
America for possibly many months to come. There are, hoAvever,
a feAv matters, not altogether new, Avhich I trust will proA’e of
interest to the readers of The British Journal of Photography.
Another neAV lens ? We haA' e heard about the orthoscopic,
aplanatic, panoramic, triple achromatic, ***** and are
vastly astonished at the fertility of the European optical genius.
We are indeed bordering on beAvilderment, especially when Ave
192
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
remember wheat fine daguerreotypes we used to make with a spec¬
tacle glass which cost only a dime ! Is it possible that the great
names cover the great realities which the advertisements set forth ?
But America now enters the lists in the race for the perfect lens.
Mr. C. C. Harrison, of this city, has recently brought out a lens
which is claimed to be able to perform what hitherto lias been
deemed impossible, viz., to make a ninety-degree view, free from
distortion, and evenly lighted. The lens is composed of two sym¬
metrical achromatic meniscus lenses, so set that their convex sur¬
faces are in the same sphere. The outside curvature subtends an
angle of 90°. Of course the radius is short: the stop is placed at
the centre of the combination. It is evident that the construction
of the lens provides for an uniform and equal treatment of the inci¬
dent rays which pass through the stops. The rays which shall
form the image strike the lens nearly at right angles, pass through
without loss, while oblique ra}’S are eliminated by reflection. Thus
intenser lighting is secured with a stop of given size, and the
lighting is uniform to the extremes of the image. The practical tests
with the lens are conclusive : those of our photographers who have
used it and compared its work with that of other lenses consider
it a very valuable acquisition to our art. I enclose a stereoscopic
view, made with one of the smaller lenses, of the studio of one of
our skilful amateurs. The even lighting and sharpness are evident
at a glance, and any one skilful in perspective will easily deter¬
mine the angle of view.*
I have spoken of this invention as another new lens ; but there
are those who believe that its construction was well understood
nearly twenty years ago. At that period it is shown that Mr. A.
S. Woolcot, then residing in New York, claimed to have invented
a lens which he spoke of as a ninety-degree camera. While he
was putting his ideas into a practical shape he was seized with a
sickness which resulted in liis death in 1843. The only relic of
Mr. Woolcot’s camera at the present time found is two uncon¬
nected meniscus lenses, which, when achromatised and mounted,
will form a combination precisely like that of Mr. Harrison’s. The
exact degree of merit which is due to Mr. Woolcot may never be
determined. CHARLES A. SEELY.
- - — - -
Cffrmpoubcnxe.
MR. NEGRETTFS REPLY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Doubtless the letter of your Paris correspondent, M. Lacan,
surprised many persons besides myself. I feel much obliged to you for
calling my attention to it. It is certainly so extraordinary a statement,
that I hardly know how to frame my reply. I, however, ought to feel
flattered ; for I really believe I am the only person the great M. Ferrier
has ever condescended to notice in a photographic journal. Not that his
name and mode of operating have never been alluded to : for he has had
more opportunities than any other ever had to set photographers to
rights — but no ! never a word from him — not he. So long as mushroom
photographers attributed all manner of absurdities to the mode of the
production of his pictures he never uttered a word. He allowed one to
state that they were reduced from large negatives; another to say that
they were printed by artificial light ; a third that they were not printed
on albumen at all. In fact, so long as they managed ty their absurdities
to throw photographers off the scent, he chuckled and held his peace ;
but as soon as he hears that pictures have been favourably criticised by
an independent editor, and that they ai'e stated to be produced by his
method, and that method is divulged, up he starts, and, with a “ sacre!'’
denies in toto everything — asserts the process not to be his — and calls the
person (that’s me, Mr. Editor) an impostor, if not worse. M. Lacan winds
up his tirade by saying “ Mr. Negretti had better look to it.” Well, M. Lacan,
I have looked to it, and I will state the result of my investigations : —
1st. I find that about the year — , whilst I was doing a good deal of
business with M. Ferrier, he (M. Ferrier), in his own house , at No. 8,
Rue Cocquillex, Paris, on the fifth story of the said house, in the room
facing the sti'eet, did willingly and unreservedly (so he told me) go
through the albumen process, from the coating of the plate to the
developing and fixing the picture: I believe his son was present, but of
this I will not be certain.
2nd. That M. Ferrier, at my own request, let me have a whole plate
negative, as a standard to work up to, which negative (the subject being
the river Seine, at Paris, with one of the public baths in the foreground)
was exhibited by me at the time I gave the lecture, 1st March, 1855, as
M. Ferrier’s negative; and you, Mr. Editor, as also many more who were
present, will doubtless remember it.
3rd, That some few months after delivering the lecture — whei’ein I
.stated to whom I was indebted for my knowledge of the pi’oeess — I told
M. Ferrier of the circumstance of my appearance at the Photograph!*
Society, the lecture, and my having acknowledged him as my instructor :
* The Editor will notice this picture in the next number.
[May 15, 1801
he did not express any disapprobation of the course I pursued. At that
time I presented him with some pictures I had produced — among others
the nave of the Crystal Palace.
Now, Mr. Editor, this was five or six years ago, when he had not
made T30,000 or .£10,000 by transparent pictures, as ho is reported
to have made since then. One thing I have omitted to mention, which,
in justice to M. Ferrier and myself, I must do, viz., neither of us
had the most remote idea, at the time he exhibited his process to
me, that I ever should take it up as a matter of business. The
man who has never opened his lips or given the slightest hints,
but always allowed photographers to flounder about wide of the’
mark, would not be very fast in showing his modus operandi. But
why not deny my statement before and not wait six years to do so ? But,
after all, perhaps it’s all a mistake. M. Ferrier probably told M. Lacan
that the process was not the one he now adopts : if so, a la honneheure ,
we all know (I presume) that M. Ferrier’s pictures are not what they
used to be — that their character has changed ; in fact ever since he has
been in partnership with M. Soulier — this latter gentleman’s jxiclures
having more half-tones and more atmosphere, and hence the reason
probably why M. Ferrier left no stone unturned to obtain M. Soulier
for a partner. With reference to M. Lacan's statement that M. Ferrier
has used his procees in hot and cold climates without any inconvenience,
has M. Ferrier ever been further than a few hours’ journey from any
large town or city where he could obtain any chemicals required for the
albumen process, or even obtain a fresh stock of prepared plates from
home if needs be ? His having taken views in Italy or Switzerland is no
test that he would notbe at times inconvenienced in distant countries, such
as China, Japan, or Siam, where one of our photographers is at present,
and at times where not even a drop of rain water is to be had ; where on
occasions, through the failure of a steamer, spoiling of chemicals, or some
such casualty, the photographer has had to make his nitrate bath, gallic
acid, iron solutions, and in fact to set to work with only his camera, lens,
and glasses in his possession. Is the secret of M. Ferrier’s annoyance
that if he be not driving such a roaring trade as formerly he may attri¬
bute any falling off to my having entered the field ? If so that may
explain the “ reclamation ” of MM. Ferrier Pere et Fils.
The charge M. Ferrier makes against me is a very grave one, and I
say it is most unfounded, as he well knows. I need not, Mr. Editor,
assert to you my incapability of stating that which is false ; the same
observation applies to all who personally know me. I feel quite confi¬
dent on that score. I feel also certain that you, sir, will take proper care
of my reputation with that large number of your readers who may be
sti’angers to me. Had I done as many others — who, if the advertisement
duty had not been l’epealed, could not have had their speeches printed
without incurring the duty — and had I claimed the process as my own,
I should have been thought a clever fellow ; but as it is, and because I
took the upright course and acknowledged the source whence I derived
the little knowledge I possess, I have aroused M. Fender’s ii*e. I leave
the rnattei’, however, with perfect confidence in the hands of your readers;
and apologising for troxxbling you, 1 am, yours, See., H. NEGRETTI.
MOUNTING STEREOGRAPHS.— TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sip., — I am venturing again to ti-espass on your kindness by requesting
that you will be good enough to inform me, through the medium of the
Journal, -whether I am correct in mounting stereoscopic pictures after the
following manner : —
I have a binocular camei'a with the lenses fixed without lateral move¬
ments, the interval from the centre of one to that of the other being three
inches and three-eightlxs. Exactly the same interval exists between the
cori’esponding parts of the same object in the two pictui'es. But, if the
interval between corresponding parts, when the two pictures are separated,
revei’sed, and mounted, should be only two and three-quarter inches, it
seems to me clear that the only way to effect this is to cut off the five-eighths
too much in equal portions from each picture, taking the left side of one
and the right of the other. Am I correct ; and, if not, how is it managed ?
I take the opportunity of saying a word in favour of the tannin process.
I can fully endorse Mr. Sutton’s statement, that it is the best di-y process
yet known. The principal objection made to it, namely, the liability of
losing the film, is not valid. I never find the film separate from the
glass ; and I believe the secret of success in this respect is to dry the
glass well immediately befoi’e it is coated with collodion. I take the
liberty of sending you a specimen, to show you of what it is capable, even
in ncn-artistic hands, and to have the benefit of your criticism for sub¬
sequent improvement. The lens used was Dallmeyer’s No. 1 portrait, the
back combination taken out and the front put in its place, with a5-16th of
an inch stop, so as to focus as an ordinai’y view lens, not intended to
cover quite so much as six by five, the size of the pi’esent plate. The
exposure was five minutes, at 2 p.m., opposite the sun, but the sun not
shining much. It is not so bright and clear as some I have ; but I think
the definition is very good. I suspect it was exposed a little too much.
I cannot even obtain much more intensity than this one has. My de¬
velopment takes from five to eight minutes, the developer being two
grains of pyrogallic acid, one ounce of distilled water, and fifteen or twenty
minims of citro-nitrate of silver, consisting of twenty grains of nitrate of
silver and twenty grains of citric acid to an ounce of distilled water.
May 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
193
I have troubled you with a long story : a brief reply at your leisure
will much oblige. — I am, yours, &c., MEDICUS.
Bi'istol, May 7 th, 1861.
[We find that a brief reply will not meet the case, so that we shall
write a short article on the first subject to which allusion is made in the
preceding letter, and insert it in our next number.
The negative received is by no means deficient in artistic excellence,
with the single exception of the illumination, which, from the position of
the sun (nearly behind the operator), precludes the introduction of the
important pictorial element of effective shadows ; there is therefore want of
contrast and consequently density. It is quite enough exposed, but we
scarcely think too much so. Had there been shadows enough the plate
would have borne more development with advantage; but, as it is, this
would not have increased the contrasts, but simply added to the time
required for printing. The performance of the lens and, we must add,
the manipulation are both highly satisfactory; the definition at all parts
of the plate ample ; and the quality of the illumination indisputable. — Ed.]
ACTINISM IN AUSTRALIA, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, —Mr. Hardwicli, in his 1 Comments,” No. 22, has allowed his imagi¬
nation to run away with him, and has ascribed to actinism what is but an
incidental circumstance. In Melbourne, in consequence of the general
use of wood for fuel, there is little smoke ; but in other respects the
weather is very similar to that of the past month, only with a higher
temperature.
Mr. Hardwicli gives Mr. Osborne’s method of remedying foggy pic¬
tures. I think it would have been better had he given us the law of fog¬
ging and its remedy. Fog is reducible to rule, and can be instantly reme¬
died— in fact, it is a very simple affair, and should not puzzle a chemist.
With regard to the instantaneous process of Dornbaeh, page 107, that
gentleman can make a much quicker collodion if he will read some of our
old friend Burnett’s papers, written a long time ago, in your back num¬
ber!. I am sorry to see that we never get anything from his valuable
pen now.
With reference to the new process of photography without a bath, I
communicated a process of that kind to the late Mr. P. W. Fry in 1849
or ’50. Many of the precipitates of silver have the property of being
reduced and showing the action of light. Take the white of an egg, or
a little collodion, and shake up in it sufficient chloride of silver to give it
a milky appearance ; now let it stand until the larger particles subside,
and with the milky liquor prepare the glass in the dark room. On dry¬
ing (or setting, if collodion), expose ; then immerse in bath, and develop
as usual. Most of the precipitates of silver, especially iodides and
bromides, would, no doubt, act in the same way.
The most curious fact I noticed was, that although the bottle was kept
in diffused daylight the picture was taken witli certainty, thus showing
that it was the ultimate action of light which the developer rendered
visible, and that former impressions were effaced. — I am, yours, &c.,
A. K. SPARES.
[Mr. Sparke is, doubtless, correct in supposing that the London smoke
is the cause of the degradation of the light ; but where is the remedy?
The sun emits abundance of actinism, but in passing through vapours
floating in the atmosphere much of it is lost ; hence those portions of the
earth’s surface are best for photography where mist and smoke are least
abundant. Travellers in Egypt and Syria assure us that photographic
pictures are taken with wonderful celerity, simply from the excessive
clearness of the air ; and even in this country, where conditions so
favourable but seldom occur, there are days on which one-half of the
usual exposure will suffice. Amateurs commencing the dry processes
should familiarise themselves with the appearances indicating quick
action. They are shortly as follow : — Fleecy clouds, with intervening sky
of deep blue ; absence of yellow vapoury appearance around the sun ;
distant buildings seeming near at hand, with the projections sharp and
well defined ; wind westei'ly or south- wrest, in preference to east or north¬
east. After a day of this kind always commence the development of the
dry plate with a very small quantity of nitrate of silver, and carry it on
slowly, in order to avoid excessive contrast and intensity in the negative.
This observation applies particularly to stereoscopic lenses, with which
amateurs mostly commence their practice. — T. F. Hardwick.]
BATH.— FOCUS.— STEREOGRAPHS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you please say what is meant by exposing a bath to light to
remove organic matter, as recommended by Mr. Barber; that is, how
long the bath should be exposed? I have always thought that exposure
to light affects the bath injuriously.
To ascertain the length of focus of a lens, I hold the lens in my parlour
and allow the picture to fall on a sheet of paper suspended on the wall
opposite the window. Am I to take the distance between the front or the
back combination and the picture as the length of focus ?
As regards stereoscopic pictures, I should esteem it a favour if you will
say how much of the picture should be cut away before mounting. I
have an impression that more is taken from one side than the other.
Trusting I am not trespassing too far on your kindness, I am, yours, &c.,
Birmingham, May 8 th, 1861. TYRO.
P.S. — I should have said, with respect to my last question, my lenses
are two and a-half inches apart.
[1. If a bath contain organic matter, exposure to light causes it to
become blackened and precipitated as a compound with oxide of silver,
which can be removed by filtration. No injurious effect arises from ex¬
posure to light.
2. To ascertain the equivalent focus of a compound lens, procure a
common spectacle lens and measure accurately its distance from the point
at which a distinct image of the sun is formed. Then select a distant
object — a house, for instance — and measure the size of its image formed
by the same lens. From the same spot ascertain the size of the image of
the house formed by your compound lens ; then, as the first image is to
the focus of spectacle lens, so is second image to equivalent focus of com¬
pound lens.
3. We have written an article in reply to another correspondent
“ Medicus,” which will meet your case.— Ed.]
OPERATING PLACE, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I shall feel much obliged if you will inform me the best way to
arrange and shade my portion of the garden for taking portraits out of
doors? It is about thirteen feet wide (with side of a house on either side)
by about thirty feet long. I have placed a light muslin covering over the
head of the sitter ; but the head and upper parts are always under-exposed,
whilst the legs are over-exposed. How high should the covering be from
the sitter’s head? and how far should I bring it forward? In the after¬
noon the sun shines under the covering on to the sitter, although the
cover projects out about six or seven feet. I cannot get any shadow's :
my pictures are a la soot and whitewash with exposures of thirty and
forty seconds. I buy - - - ’s negative portrait collodion ready
iodised. Do you consider a collodion sufficiently sensitive when pur¬
chased ready iodised ?
Which is the simplest way of eleaningAny plates from the amber var¬
nish for use again ?
And can you tell me the cause of my negatives having white patches
on after they are varnished? I think it is the way I varnish them, as
they appear as the varnish dries. I always warm the plate first, and
dry near the fire. The patches show in the printing.
I have made some intensifying solution (as advised in your Journal at
one of the meetings) of iodine dissolved in water, with iodide of potas¬
sium added, but on applying it to a negative (developed, but not quite
intense enough), I expected it would make it blacker; but the picture
nearly disappeared, leaving the film yellow and opaque. How' ought I
to intensify u'ith the above solution ?
With many thanks for past favours, and hoping this will be the last
time I shall have to trouble you, — I am, yours, &c., PHOTO.
May 6, 1861
[Your covering over the sitter’s head is no doubt too low down. The
exact height for the best effect will be most readily ascertained by direct
experiment, thus : — llinge the frame bearing the covering ot the bade ,
and, with a cord and pulley, raise the front until you begin to perceive
the shadows under the brow, nose, and chin of your sitter too strongly
marked ; then go back a little from this point. You had better arrange
a moveable screen behind the camera to intercept the rays of the sun,
and prevent their shining on the sitter. This is not difficult if you em¬
ploy, for instance, a sheet, with a cord from each corner, and four little
pulleys, twTo on either wall, so that you can raise the sheet to a height of
ten or twelve feet if need be, or bring it down as low as convenient. The
same arrangement will enable you to place it more towards either side,
or in the middle, as may be requisite.
Why not buy your collodion in separate solutions, and iodise it as you
require it ? We think that plan preferable. To clean your plates, you
have only to pour on each one of those varnished with amber varnish a
little waste collodion, and immediately, while it is still fluid, rub it with a
tuft of cotton or piece of rag, and at the same time add a few drops of solu¬
tion of common washing soda, which facilitates the removal of the com¬
pound of varnish and collodion. The white patches in your negatives
arise from the varnish becoming chilled on drying : you cannot, in this
instance, allude to amber varnish, we presume. The use of the solution
of iodine is only preliminary : your film should be washed, then covered
with a weak solution (five grains to the ounce) of nitrate of silver, in the
light , and then redeveloped by more pyrogallic acid. — Ed.]
eesin~prTocess.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Since writing to you on the subject of the resin process I have
been trying the iron developer on these plates, and find it admirable.
The extreme softness and multiplicity of detail it gives renders it very
desirable for stereoscopic subjects.
Protosulphate of iron . 5 grains.
Citric acid . £ grain.
Water . 1 ounce.
Add a few drops of silver solution, as usual, before developing. If well
exposed, the detail comes up very quickly. I intensify after fixing.
Very great intensity may be obtained, if desired, by this method, and a
very beautiful purple brown tone obtained — -just the thing for trans¬
parent positives, for which the resin process is admirably adapted.
194
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY. [May 15, 1861
I omitted in my last to notice Mr. Glover’s remark on the appearance
of circular insensitive patches. I do not think the resin can be blamed
for them. If the plates are immersed in a dish of water, and taken out
before developing-, these circular patches are very visible : they do not
appear to have been wetted ; but take the plate and pour water over it,
so as to make these patches take the water, which they soon will do, and
then even two grains of resin to the ounce of collodion can be used with¬
out incurring them. I always prefer, however, about one-third of a grain
to the ounce, and work with a collodion so horny that if there should be
(which is seldom) a scummy stain on the negative, it may be wiped off,
and the negative cleaned with a piece of cotton wool — of course after the
negative is dry. No powdery film will stand that ; and, although the
owdery films are given out to be the best adapted for the dry processes,
can confidently state that for the resin process they are not by any
means equal to a horny one.
The negatives have all the appearance of fine wet negatives : the bloom
upon them is beautiful. — I am, yours, &c., F. PARSONS.
Leicester , May 3rd, 1861.
TANNI N PR 0 C E S S .
To the Editor.
Sir,— A day or two ago I forwarded to you a tannin negative, which I
hope arrived safely. I now trouble you with a print from another nega¬
tive of the same building— the Bristol General Hospital — taken since the
one which I sent you. It was exposed little more than half the time of
the former, but in all other respects the same. It came out a good deal
brighter and clearer ; but the sky presented a curious appearance, such
as you will see in the print, which I often get in the dry processes, and
cannot tell why. I suspect it has something to do with the removal of
the preservative coating previously to the development, as it occurs much
more frequently when I do not let the plate remain some time in water
before developing it. Can you enlighten me ?
I send also a stereoscopic picture taken by the same process, with one
of Ross’s new- lenses, and quarter-inch stop. The first combination alone
was used, reversed as a view lens, and the exposure was a minute and
a-lialf, on a bright day, without sun, about 1 p.m., the sun being oppo¬
site. I find the tannin process very simple and very sure, free from
stains and all the usual drawbacks of a dry process ; and it certainly is,
in my hands, quicker than the Fotliergill. The keeping qualities of the
plates in hot weather have yet to be tested. — I am, yours, &c.,
Bristol, May 9, 1861. MEDICI'S.
[Your proof is excellent, and justifies all we said of the lens in reply
to your former note ; the same applies also to the stereoscopic one. The
fault in the sky may be owing to the fact of not sufficiently soaking the
plate before development ; as Major Russell has pointed out that when
first wetted the collodion preserved with tannin expands, but, by allowing
sufficient time to soak, it again contracts when perfectly wetted. It is
just possible that it may be due to another cause — irregular density of
the collodion. In this case we have found the addition of from five to
ten drops (minims) of chloroform to each ounce of collodion a perfect
remedy. On first adding it the pyroxyline is precipitated in gelatinous
beads, but will re-dissolve on shaking, after which the collodion flows
very smoothly and evenly over the plate. — Ed.]
TEST WANTED FOR PAPER PROOFS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Can you tell me any simple test whereon an opinion may be
founded as to the probable permanence of proofs ?
I am frequently offered what appear to be very good stereographs at
prices so low as to excite my suspicions that they must be sulphur-toned,
and perhaps not very carefully washed. I could purchase views (un¬
doubtedly from good negatives) at — s. or — s. per gross. Can they be
worth having at that price ? If there be any way — not too complicated
— of ascertaining the important point, will you add to the debt of grati¬
tude I already owe you by informing me in the next number of your
Journal ? * * * * * *
— I am, yours, &c., W. J. G.
[We have it upon very good authority that the prices you have quoted
would barely pay for materials and labour of printing, if such were done
by the gold-toning process, without reckoning anything for profit or for
the use of the negatives. With regard to a simple test, there are several
which will, as it were, afford an indication as to whether a print is sul¬
phur-toned or not ; but we know of none that can be absolutely relied
upon. If a hot iron be passed over a sulphur-toned proof, the smell of
sulphur can generally be detected. If the same be submitted to the
action of diluted hydrosulphate of ammonia, material deterioration of the
tone will very rapidly occur, and final destruction of the proof ensue ;
but, if it be a gold-toned proof properly manipulated, it will resist the
action of this destructive agent for some considerable time without show¬
ing signs of deterioration. Again, chromic acid will act much more
rapidly upon the sulphur-toned than on the gold-toned print. Your
course of proceeding then would be to sacrifice one copy at least, and act
upon the principle ex uno disce omnes, subject it to the tests proposed,
and if it resist them tolerably well you may conclude that the parcel is
worth having ; but if not, at once reject the whole. We may remark
that you ought not to expect to get good proofs at the price named.
Your concluding remarks wc omit for obyious reasons : your flattering
remarks we do not receive unalloyed with regret that there should he
cause of complaint in the quarter named.
With regard to form, we quite agree with you ; but it is not a question
for our department, and we take it that our publisher knows more about
it than we do. — Ed.]
ACCELERATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — What your correspondent, J. Macklington, asks about under the
above title, I had done for me by the late Mr. Ross, half-a-dozen years
ago, to a <£14 lens, three and a-quarter inches diameter, making the tube
about two inches longer inwards, and thus so much nearer the focussing
glass. This is the only len3 I work with, except for the larger photo¬
graphs. It is quicker and larger, and gives more solid pictures.
I am, yours, &c., 0. G. REJLANDER.
Wolverhampton, May 1th, 1861.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Omission. — In making up the “formes” for our last impression, the printer accidentally
omitted the acknowledgment of the article by M. Mc-A. Gaudin, as translated from
La Lumiere.
F. J. F.— See Mr. Barber’s paper in our last number.
R- J- 1*. — Wc are sorry to say it has “passed like the baseless fabric of a vision.”
Inquirer. — Mr. Charles Jones, of Birkenhead, will no doubt supply you with some on
application.
W. M.— The article was retained by the author for correction. You will find it in the
current number.
Bore. — Not at all ; we will cheerfully give you the advice sought for. Send your
inquiries at once.
Andrew Lomax. — 1. See reply to “John Bowen.” — 2. Pyrogallic and acetic acids. —
3. Hyposulphite of soda.
R. Reid. — You will perceive that wc have already noticed the matter to which you
make allusion in our last issue.
F. M. — Our notice would not do you any service, as we could not commend your
specimens ; the manipulation is good, but the treatment very inartistic.
R. Brown. — We are quite ready and willing to afford you advice and assistance through
the pages of the Journal, but not by private note ; and as to testing apparatus for you,
it is quite out of the question.
Trustful Tommy. — We think you should be cautious in such a matter; there arc too
many traps for stray cash, couched in similar terms to those in the advertisement en¬
closed, to allow of our having much faith in the integrity of the advertiser.
R. Brackenbripge. —We are unacquainted with the commercial details of photography ;
but if your object be simply that of reciprocity, we cannot do better than refer you to tho
prospectus inclosed with the current number, and the paragraph on the same subject in
our leader.
A. K. S. (Devonpoit). — Wc arc so little satisfied with the tone of your communication
in reference to an esteemed fellow-labourer, that— although we should have published it
had the remarks been directed against us personally — we have, as it is, forwarded it to
him for reply.
John Bowen. — Your negatives appear to us, from the proof sent, to be veiy much
under-exposed : we should recommend at least double that given when you next operate.
There is no detail in the darker parts, and the contrast is far too violent between the
lights and shades.
Beginner. — 1. You have not done amiss for a novice ; but you have left your print too
long in the toning bath, hence its cold bluish tone. — 2. You will find Hockin’s Manual
quite suitable to your wants ; we presume you mean his last edition.— 3. See paper by
Mr. Barber in our last number. — 4. Very good, but not the best.
Ignorant Operator. — You will perceive that our own feel ng quite tallies with yours
in the matter alluded to by you ; it is, no doubt, the handiwork of the South Kensington
officials. We sincerely trust that none of our leading photographers will be induced to
contribute a single picture with such an arrangement. We certainly will agitate to get
up a strong opposition, unless more just treatment be accorded.
A Young Professional. — We willingly give you our advice. Your plan renders your
position perfectly intelligible, and it is clear that in your case your sitter must face the
south. By a proper arrangement of blinds there will be no need for you to shift his
position at all. Place your glass room at the west end of the garden, and raise its floor
about eighteen inches from the ground ; you will thus be able to have glass within two
feet of the floor on one side and end, and all the way down on the other side. As there
is room for fifteen feet of length, we advise that you should have it as long, and not less
than seven or eight feet wide and eight or nine feet high — say eight feet on the west
side, and nine feet on the east, giving the slope towards the wrest. Your entrance door
must be at the south-east corner. Your dark room may be attached to the north-east
corner of your glass room, and would thus not interfere with the light on either side, as
it would be near the sitter. You must have metal rods running along the top on both
sides, on which the rings of calico blinds may run, which w ill enable you to shade your
sitter from the overhead sun to any extent. Similar blinds, to slide on rings at top
and bottom, should be arranged on each side and the south end : these blinds may be in
three pieces each for the top and both sides, and in two pieces for the end. You will
thus be able to shut off the direct sunlight from any direction, or leave the whole fully
exposed in dull weather. Your waiting-room may be well placed at the north-east corner*
of the garden, next the two high walls, and thus you can manage without renting the
adjoining ground at all.
Highland Laddie.— 1. We are of opinion that the lens which produced the three
pictures, each containing two sittei s (male and female), as also that one of a gentleman
with the bald head, beard, and moustache, is as fine an instrument as any hitherto
made. Of the other four proofs, those of the ladies are not properly focussed; that of
the gentleman with a stick in his hand is good, but not equal to the four first named;
while that of the same gentleman, upon a larger scale, is deficient, because the lens has
been set to do work for which it was not constructed. We presume that the whole of
the negatives were taken by the same lens, consequently the faults of the four last-
mentioned proofs are not due to any imperfections in the lens, but to errors of manipu¬
lation.— 2. Provided that you do not attempt to take pictures upon a larger scale than
that of the bald-headed gentleman, a two-inch aperture will be very appropriate to use
with the lens ; but if the sitter be nearer, so as to produce a larger image, you must
reduce the aperture to one inch, in order to obtain moderate definition, but in this case
the exposure would become very protracted in consequence.— 3. Toning bath: dissolve
eight graius of chloride of gold in one ounce of water. Dissolve also forty-eight grains of
carbonate of soda in another ounce of water. When about to operate, measure out one
drachm from each solution, and add each separately to half a pint of water ; mix the two
half pints, and stir till effervescence has ceased, then immerse your prints. In cold
weather you will find it advantageous, if not necessary, to warm your solution to seventy
or eighty degrees Fah.— 4. From three-eighths to three-fourths of an inch, according to
circumstances.— 5. A difficult question, perhaps impossible for us to answer strictly ; but
we think if you apply to Mr. 0. Jabez Hughes, of Oxford Street, London, he may assist you.
It is not the light which has faded the picture of which you complain, but the
atmosphere, although under a passe-partout. Do you ever burn gas in the room in
which it was hung ?
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 143, Vol. YIII _ JUNE 1, 1861.
Stains and Streaks. — At the last meeting of the Photo¬
graphic Society (London), in a paper on this subject by Mr.
Thomas, an attempt was made to demonstrate that in most of
the stained and streaky plates produced by amateurs the defects
specified arose principally from the admission of too much light,
or of light of an improper quality, into the pseudo-dark cham¬
ber. During the reading of the paper we made, as is our wont,
several memoranda, for the purpose of prosecuting further in¬
quiry or discussion relative to the question under consideration,
and we now propose to enter a little more fully into the same
than there was time for doing at the meeting.
On looking over our notes we find that the first which we
made of a decidedly dissentient character relates to the following
proposition, which we quote, viz. : — “ I think it will be allowed,”
argues Mr, Thomas, “ that the more sensitive a prepared plate
is to objects in shadow, the more sensitive it will be to yellow
light ; and, if a preparation could be made capable of producing
a landscape in the camera illumined by moonlight, I need
hardly remark that it would be necessary (arguing in the
abstract) to prepare this highly sensitive plate in total darkness,
and develop it under precisely similar circumstances.”
We can by no means accord our assent to this doctrine, and
believe it to be fundamentally erroneous. It is the quality of
the light that should be carefully attended to, and when that is
of the right sort its quantity is immaterial. It is not a good
plan to work with too little light ; for by so doing the operator is
liable to all kinds of inconvenience, and to the inadvertent pro¬
duction of flaws and blemishes from being unable to see properly
what he is about. Iu the event of the quality of the light being
improperly cared for, so that a certain portion of ordinary
actinic light finds its way into the operating chamber com¬
mingled with that of a chemically inert character, then indeed
its quantity in the aggregate becomes of serious importance, and
it is only by keeping it at a minimum that one is able to operate
at all ; but such a mode of treatment must be regarded as
merely temporarily palliative, and not at all curative of the evil.
It would be altogether unphilosopliical to regard mere palliation
as remedial ; and therefore we could not but view with sus¬
picion the recommendation to reduce generally the amount of
light wherewith to work, simply because the materials at present
in use are far more sensitive than they were of yore.
That it is quite possible to employ a flood of non-actinic light
without detriment to the most sensitive film hitherto discovered
is well known to many who have made experiments in order to
test the point. A solution of disulphate of quinine can be pre¬
pared so as to arrest all the actinic rays, and yet allow of the
passage of the luminous ones apparently unaltered : so that it
would be quite possible to construct an operating room chemi¬
cally inert, and yet lighted by means of a window allowing of
tire free passage of white light. This might, we fancy, he a
very great convenience where printing and toning operations
have to be carried on upon an extensive scale. It is to Pro¬
fessor Stokes that we are chiefly indebted for a knowledge of
most of the phenomena connected with what is termed
“ fluoresence,” and their bearing upon photographical opera¬
tions; and those who feel interested in the subject will do well
to consult what he has published in reference thereto. If we
remember rightly, glass stained a bright yellow colour by means
of oxide of bismuth acts very energetically in arresting the che¬
mical rays ; and it would therefore appear to be particularly
fitted for the use of the photographer, because glass of this kind
can be made coloured throughout, and not merely “ flashed ” on
the surface — a condition which, as Mr. Malone pointed out in
the discussion following Mr. Thomas's paper, must always leave
a sheet of glass liable to actinic leakage, from the impossibility
of making sure of the absolute covering of every part of the
surface, which, if carefully examined, generally exhibits unpro¬
tected spots — of microscopic dimensions it may be, — but, if
numerous, quite enough to admit a very appreciable portion of
“ unfiltered” light.
This brings us to another memorandum which we find on our
list, to the effect that there seemed to be at the meeting some
confusion relative to the cause of the alleged impression upon
the plate of streaky lines in the direction of the dip. Now,
assuming that ordinary actinic light has found admission into
the yellow chamber or camera, and that the plate is withdrawn
from the bath at a time when the silver solution runs into
streaks, there is no necessity for the supposition of any con¬
centration of the rays by refraction, as suggested by one of the
speakers, because the said streaks are caused by the nitrate of
silver solution leaving certain parts of the film and adhering to
other parts: hence there is a positive difference in the sensitive¬
ness of these several portions, and consequently there might be
sufficient activity in the contaminated light to affect the more
sensitive portions of the film, but not enough to impress strongly
the remainder. Granting the existence in the dark room of
light of an improper quality, we see no objection to Mr. Tho¬
mas’s theory relative to this as one cause of streaks ; but the
proposed remedy we regard as altogether insufficient, as before
stated.
To the explanation assumed by Mr. Thomas relative to the
action of the translucent and opaque films respectively, we find
we have the single word — “query” — as a comment. We are rather
disposed to conclude that the translucent film having the par¬
ticles of iodide more minutely divided than is the case in the
dense opaque film is more sensitive, and hence that fact alone
would be sufficient explanation of its greater liability to injury
under the circumstances supposed.
The experiments detailed relative to the respective influences
of a weak and a strong impression consecutively upon the same
film are interesting, but quite compatible with known theo¬
retical considerations; while we are however indisposed to admit
that stains and streaks are so generally traceable to improper
light in the laboratory as the author of the paper supposes, he
has, doubtless, done good service to tyros in our art in drawing-
attention to this source of annoyance.
196
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 1801
Instantaneous Stereographs. — A few days back we had an
opportunity of examining some “ instantaneous ” street scenes
in Paris produced by M. Ferrier, to which allusion was made in
laudatory terms by M. Lacan, in a recent number. That these
are highly interesting and meritorious we accord willing testi¬
mony ; but we confess that it is not without satisfaction that,
we find on inspection, some of a similar character produced by
our own countryman, Mr. George Wilson, and which we noticed
some time since in our critical column relating to stereographs,
certainly surpass them, especially a view in Princes Street,
Edinburgh, and one in Regent Street, London.
International Exhibition of 1862. — It is with sincere
satisfaction that we observe the position assumed by the Council
of the Photographic Society with reference to the representation
of Photographic Art in the forthcoming Exposition. Until ap¬
pealed to by the Commissioners it would have been undignified
for the Council as a body to have made any direct remonstrance,
although in due time it would have well become it to have
taken the initiative in organising such an Exhibition as would
have effectually rescued the practitioners of our art from the
alternative of either submitting to the indignity of being ranked
as mere mechanics or of altogether foregoing the display of their
productions. It is still possible that such an unpleasant duty
may yet devolve upon the Council, for it is a difficult matter to
move individuals invested with high authority, much more
bodies of them, to reconsider isolated points of a question
regarded by them as already settled ; but if anything can do so,
it may be expected that the sound logic displayed in the excel¬
lent letter from Sir F. Pollock, published in our last, will
have the desired effect. It is not without pleasure that we
observe the views expressed in Sir Frederick’s letter coincide
very closely with those detailed in our article in a previous
number, and that, consequently, we have not inaptly repre¬
sented the general feeling of our constituents.
As if also to offer a comment upon the discourtesy contem¬
plated by the Commissioners towards our foreign brethreu of
the camera, in thus depreciating the result of their labours by in¬
viting them to contribute under such humiliating conditions as
those sought to be imposed, we point to the commencement of
M. Lacan’s last letter from Paris, in which he incidentally men¬
tions the very different treatment experienced by the profession
at the existing Paris Exposition, wdiere photographs are found
in their due position amongst other works of art.
We have before expressed our conviction that the influence
exercised in misplacing photographs in the list already issued by
the Commissioners emanates directly from the authorities of the
South Kensington Museum. Can it be that these gentlemen have
judged of the capacities of our art only by the productions of their
own establishment ? If so there may be some excuse for them.
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMENTS.
By T. F. Hardwich.
No. XXIV.
Ip any one question can be said especially to interest photographers
at the present time, it is that of transparencies for the stereoscope.
Numerous artists in every part of the country are anxious to pro¬
duce them with certainty; whilst the public on their part are
equally desirous of purchasing. A favourable notice of a series of
Java stereographs appeared in this Journal not long since, and
those who have seen them will allow that the Editor’s praise was
not misplaced. Mr. Negretti, the producer of the slides, is well
known as a man of skill and enterprise ; and this admission we the
more readily make, because it is our intention to break a lance
with him in the present article. It will be better, perhaps, to
come at once to the point, and to ask Mr. Negretti in all plainness,
whether we are to understand from his letter, published in the last
number of this Journal, that the process by Avhich he makes his
transparencies has been divulged? For our part we have always
been under the impression that Mr. Negretti aspires to be a first-
rate producer of photographs, but does not profess to communicate
all his information. If such be the fact, it is a pity that his followers
should puzzle themselves over an albumen process which will not
in their hands yield results equal to those of the master. Against
the employment of that process for* negatives we have not one
word to say : we were glad to see it reprinted in the Journal, and
all that has been advanced on the superior sharpness and dura¬
bility of the plates in printing is entirely in its favour. < >ur
opposition is directed rather against the employment of pure albu¬
men for transparencies; and unless we are mistaken in our reading
of Mr. Negretti’s communication (in which case we beg to offer
him our apologies), it seems to us that he is doing harm rather
than good by bringing the matter forward at the present time, and
by advocating a simple albumen process, without detailing any
new modes of operating likely to remove the common difficulties.
Some time since we were in conversation with a gentleman of
ability and experience, much engaged in commercial photography.
The question of transparencies was mooted, and all present were of
opinion that up to that time the real secret had not been divulged.
How was the peculiar shade of colour to be obtained which is seen
and admired in the "works of M. Ferrier and INI . Soulier ? . Albumen
had long been known, and nearly every one had tried it in all its
modifications ; but the fact remained that in this country we "were
still behind our continental brethren. In reply to the above ques¬
tion we advised atrial of Major Russell’s tannin process, since pub¬
lished in all the Journals, but at that time only known to a few.
Our friend called at the laboratory of King’s College about a month
or six weeks afterwards, to assure us that his experiments had
been crowned with complete success, and that the process was
worth any reasonable sum of money in a commercial point of view.'
Now we must not be understood to say that anybody who reads
Major Russell’s pamphlet, now in the press, will be able at once to
produce transparencies equal to the best works of M. I'errier. Of
course ingenuity and skill will be necessary in devising modifica¬
tions; and only in so far as the artist can rival M. Ferrier or Mr.
Negretti in these respects will he be in a position to compete with
them in the excellence of the work. We affirm, however, that in
putting tannin into the hands of the photographer Major Russell
gives the key to the difficulty, and that many will take it up and
complete what remains. If there are any objections to urge against
our remarks, we shall be happy to hear them. We wish the public
to be enlightened, and not drawn off from what we believe to be
the proper scent ; and a vision of numberless individuals groping
about in the vexatious details of a pure albumen process suggests
that some steps should be taken to prevent so great a waste of time
and labour. We have known Mr. Negretti for a long time past, as
probably have most others who are concerned with thermometers
and graduations of all kinds : he will therefore permit us to speak
our mind freely, and to propose that he should make application
for an evening at the Photographic Society’s rooms, and go carefully
through the process by which he produced his Java pictures. If
he allows the matter to remain as it at present stands, and con¬
tents himself by putting forth a mere skeleton process requiring so
much clothing and filling up, he will be answerable for all the dis¬
appointments of the thousand and one amateurs and professionals
who, on the strength of his published successes, will weary them¬
selves in the vain attempt to rival their teacher. Our own impres¬
sion is that Mr. Negretti will be obliged to give way, and that he
will fail to put forward anything equal in simplicity and certainty
to the tannin; but, if otherwise, we shall still have cause for con¬
gratulation that we have induced him to come forward.
It will, perhaps, be expected that, having undertaken an article
on this subject, we should complete it by a full discussion of the
rules to be observed in obtaining the true colour by the tannin
process. This matter, however, may be more conveniently left in
the hands of the inventor; and it will suffice if we notice two or
three points which have turned up in our own experience. The
tone that strikes us as the most agreeable is a warm sepia brown,
removed from yellowness on the one hand and from inkiness on
the other. If the image be too grey and metallic in the first
instance it is an objection, and we have found that the condition of
the collodion has much to do with this defect. Anything which
causes a highly powdery state of collodion tends to diminish the
proper redness of the image, because, as stated in a previous papei
on collodion for dry processes, the particles of the iodide of silver
are then less intimately related to the pyroxyline, lying more on
its surface, and thus losing much of the intensity which the^ organic
reactions of the pyroxyline are calculated to produce. We think,
therefore, that those who wish to study the process carefully, and
to make it their business to excel, will not act wisely in choosing
collodions at random, or in mixing various sorts together in one
June 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
197
bottle ; but will select a particular formula and adhere to it, ad¬
justing the quantities of tannin, of the different acids, and of the
nitrate of silver, accordingly. We were made very sensible of the
importance of this rule in introducing the glycyrrhizine process, for
a very few trials served to show that a matter so trivial as the use
of a little methylated spirit in place of pure spirit sufficed to alter
the colour. Tannin is less changeable than glycyrrhizine, and
better in every way : nevertheless we are still disposed to remem¬
ber that some samples of methylated spirit (probably not all) will
give a grey metallic tone to the image in a case where pure spirit
produces a red tone ; and that collodion made from methylated
ether may become powdery and rotten more quickly than that
from pure ether, apparently from its containing oxidisable mat¬
ter, and being more prone to the formation of a body resem¬
bling acetic ether in its property of disintegrating gun-cotton.
This, we think, will explain the powdery condition spoken of by
Major Russell as common in old collodion, even when iodised with the
cadmium salt. In our practice it never occurs; and the older the
collodion, in reason, the redder and more vigorous is the picture.
We are not disposed to advocate the use of a pure cadmium collo¬
dion in printing stereoscopic transparencies. Something, of course,
will depend upon the gun-cotton ; but as a rule it seems to us that
a trifling amount of decomposition under the influence of the base
of the iodide is an assistance in obtaining the colour, and that
iodide of ammonium may suitably be added in convenient propor¬
tions. All these points must be borne in mind, and others even
more minute, such as the application of a preliminary coating of
gelatine to the glass, which we have found slightly to increase the
redness when it is deficient from any cause.
[By a mistake as to the day of publication, the last number of the “Comments ’’ (No'
XXIII) was not sent in time to receive a proof for correction : hence a verbal error in
the first paragraph, which will be quite obvious to the reader. ]
SOME REMARKS ON MOUNTING STEREOGRAPHS.
By the Editor.
It is easier to enunciate a principle than to lay down a simple
rule of action that shall "be applicable to all cases. On a
recent occasion we made an assertion to the effect that corres¬
ponding points in a pair of stereographs, viewed through a whole-
l$ns stereoscope, should be placed at such distance apart as equals
that between the eyes of the observer ; but, if viewed through a
prismatic stereoscope, the separation of the corresponding pictorial
points should be augmented by the amount of lateral displacement.
Now, there being two variable quantities involved — viz., the width
between the eyes of different observers and the lateral displace¬
ment of rays by the prisms used — it is necessary to ascertain some¬
thing like an approach to an average of the amount of these
inconstant quantities, and, after careful consideration of the matter,
we fixed it at 2‘75 inches. Since the receipt of a note which we
have published, we have measured the distance under discussion in a
large collection of Wilson’s gems, which we fortunately possess,
remembering that when they are viewed in one of Smith, Beck, and
Beck’s achromatic stereoscopes we personally find that they pro¬
duce an effect suggestive of natural size and distant view. We
find the distance between similar points very constant, and that it
is 2-8 inches, differing only Jive-hundredths of an inch from the
standard which we had adopted — a tolerably satisfactory corrobo¬
ration of our calculations.
Now, the distance between the corresponding points in the
negative taken by a bi-lens camera has nothing to do with the
mounting, seeing that it is needful to transpose the two sections ;
consequently, it is the aggregate amount of subject on the right and
left sides respectively of the selected corresponding points in the
negative that affects the mounting, and not the portion originally
between them.
We may incidently remark that it is a great error ever to vignette
subjects intended to be viewed in the stereoscope, for not only is
the apparent reality of the object inspected, materially degraded,
but we deprive ourselves of one means of increasing the pleasing
illusion of distance.
As the field of view in a stereograph is necessarily more con¬
tracted than in nature, the illusive effect produced is improved by
so mounting the pair that we may appear to be regarding the
view through an aperture not very distant, which limits the amount
of subject seen. In such a case actually occurring, the right eye
can see rather more of the left side of the view and rather less of
the right side than can be observed with the left eye, and vice
versa. To give an illustration: — Suppose we are standing near a
small window, looking into a garden, and perceive in the centre a
fountain, and an avenue of trees, at regular intervals, stretching
away from the fountain on either hand. Now, if we close the left
eye, keeping the head still, we find that the vista includes three
trees on the light side of the fountain and four on its left side.
Now, on opening the left and closing the right eye, still keeping
the head in the same position, we find that the left side of the
fountain has but three trees visible between it and the window
frame, while there are four in the space on the right side.
It is therefore clear that — although the right and left pictures
each include the same amount of subject — though eight trees are
visible to the observer only seven of them are seen by either eye.
Therefore, if in mounting our stereographs we bear this fact in
mind, and cut our jfictures in accordance with this principle, we
materially improve the illusory effect; because then our mounting
card (which should be of an unobtrusive hue, such as black, grey,
or drab) acts like a diaphragm, appearing near at hand, while the
landscape in the photograph seems to recede from the spectator.
Now for the application.
We will assume that 2| inches is our intended distance between
corresponding points of the pair of pictures when mounted. Let
R h
represent a negative taken by a bi-lens camera on R and L, the
corresponding points. We must cut the proof so that the distance
a R, added to L c, will together make exactly 2f inches ; but it is
also needful, at the same time, to arrange so that the distance a R
is greater than h L, and that a h and h c are equal. The amount
of variation is of minor importance ; but if too great, say exceeding
a quarter of an inch, the effect will not be pleasing. The above
precautions also involve the fact that R h is less than L c.
In conclusion, we will obser*j£ that it is not needful that the
sum of a R and L c should amount to 2f inches, provided that it
does not exceed it, and that, when transposed, a space be left
between the margins a and c (which will then be contiguous), so
that the points L and R are exactly 2f inches apart.
VERTICAL CAMERA FOR COPYING.
By J. Barnett,
Honorary Secretary of the North London Photographic Association.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie North London Photographic Association, May 29, 1861. j
The idea of making a vertical camera was first suggested to me
about twelve months ago, on seeing Mr. W. Hislop attach a por¬
trait camera to the ordinary stand for the purpose of copying
geological specimens. The object I then had in view was to pro¬
duce slides for the magic lantern which should be worthy of our
times; and as many of the subjects I desired to possess were prints
bound up in different books, I was quite at a loss as to the best
means of copying them. Many were too large, others too small,
and it was essential to have uniformity in size. A book could not
be conveniently fastened against a wall or screen ; and, if it could,
the grain of the paper was so strongly marked by the side light
upon it that it became visible in the negative, and, of course, was
reproduced in the printing. The same objection as to fixture applied
to plaster medallions, coins, crystals, &c., &c.
I therefore made the camera be¬
fore you : it is simple, easy of
adjustment, perfectly rigid; and,
when a print is once correctly
focussed, any number of other
prints of the same dimensions may
be copied, without alteration of
camera arrangement, or the slight¬
est chance of the negatives being
out of focus. It admits of exten¬
sion to twenty-two inches, and will
slide into the body so as to bring
the lens within eleven inches of the
glass screen, so that the object to
be copied (if a lens of five and a-
half inches focal length be used)
can be increased to three diameters,
or reduced to two-thirds of its
original size ; and should it be
necessary to reduce a large object,
it can be placed below the stand,
which is left open at the bottom,
or it may be used in the ordinary
horizontal manner, in which form it is useful in copying glass posi¬
tives audjother transparent pictures.
198
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 1801
The arrangement consists of two perpendicular uprights, fitted
in a frame at right angles. Attached to the back of the camera is a
slip of oak that runs in a Y groove in the uprights, and to fix it in
any desired part a screw bolt and nut is provided, which clenches
it so firmly that no ordinary pressure will remove it. The inner
or sliding box of the camera is similar to that in general use, with
the exception of being lengthened by a tube, with the lens attached,
or rather sliding in a V groove at its base, so as to admit other
lenses, or a combination, according to the work to be done.
The manner of focussing is thus performed : — if the object is to
be enlarged, draw out the tube to some extent, and fix with one of
the side screws, of which there are six — three on each side ; then
draw up or lower the camera on the uprights until the focus is
clear: if not large enough, draw the tube out further, fixing as
before, and so proceed until the exact size and desired sharpness is
obtained, then fix in position by the screw bolt at the top. If it
should be necessary the fine adjustment of the lens can now be
used. To reduce an object I find it best to slide the tube up to its
full extent, and draw out if necessary.
You will perceive there is but one slide, and that the dark one :
it carries the ground-glass, which is removed for the prepared
plate to take its place. One great advantage in this is the certainty
of obtaining a picture in the exact focus it appeared on the screen;
and, however carelessly the apparatus may have been made, you
will not experience the annoyance so often felt at finding your
picture less sharp when taken than it appeared on the ground-
glass.
I am desirous it should be distinctly understood that I make no
claim to originality in the formation of this camera. I have only
done a little towards maturing the method adopted by Mr. Ilislop;
and should any friends feel disposed to follow out the 'principle here
adopted for copying purposes, they will find an immense saving of
time, and I doubt not we shall have^me pleasing results placed
upon the table at our next meeting.
THE PHOTO-LITHOG-BAPHIC PROCESS OP MR. JOHN
WALTER OSBORNE, OP MELBOURNE.
In our number for the 1st ultimo, our coadjutor, Mr. Ilardwich,
drew our attention to the fact that the details of this process have
never been given in this Journal in extenso, although we have more
than once alluded to the distinguishing principle involved therein.
The fact is, we have been for the last seven or eight months waiting
for space, and although the article has been so long in our posses ¬
sion, the opportunity sought for has not yet arrived. We fear,
therefore, that we have scarcely done that justice to Mr. Osborne
which his valuable labours merit ; and in order no longer to dela}r,
and yet not encroach too far upon other pressing matter, we extract
the following from Mr. Osborne’s article, which was read on the 30th
of November, 1859, at the Philosophical Institute of Victoria : —
“Photographic science has of late years made such astonishing-
progress that it has stimulated the inventive genius of scientific
men, awakening in them the very natural wish to make its many
advantages applicable to the several graphic arts. The result has
been the more or less perfect development of a number of processes
bearing directly upon the reproduction of works of art.
“ Thus the application of photography to engravings has been
the object of Mr. Fox Talbot’s exertions ; Niepce de St. Victor and
Mr. Pretsch are also working in the same direction ; while several
gentlemen, of whom I shall subsequently speak at greater length,
have turned their attention to photo-lithography.
“ It is not my intention to undertake the description and criticism
of the majority of these important inventions, save as far as they
stand in close relationship to the subject of this paper. The inven¬
tion I have been fortunate enough to make belongs to the latter
class, and I shall describe it as concisely as possible, and then pro¬
ceed to compare its capabilities with other photo-lithographic
methods.
“To prevent misconception it may, perhaps, be well to state that
the manipulations I am about to describe are only such as aid the
lithographer in producing one particular kind of work, namely, that
which is printed from smooth stones. My process, in the form I
shall give it in this paper, is chiefly applicable to the reproduction
of drawings formed of hard defined lines, such as maps, pen-and-
ink sketches, and important documents ; and less so to photo¬
graphic views of landscapes, portraits, or Indian-ink drawings,
composed of tints and shades ; and although the former class may
not be as interesting and attractive a study as the latter, yet I
believe it to be of equal, if not superior, practical value. Circum¬
stances have caused me to turn my attention more particularly to
the reproduction of maps and plans, and I wish it to be understood
that my remarks on this occasion bear reference to that description
of work.
“ It is generally the case that the scale on which a map is drawn
by the surveyor of a district is very much larger than that which
would be wisely selected for publishing his map, inasmuch as tho
details become too minute and tedious, and would take him more
time than should be expended upon one copy, if lie were to draw
upon the usual publishing size ; the consequence is that his plan
must be reduced before it is engraved or drawn upon stone. This
process of reduction is more or less troublesome, as the map con¬
tains more or less work when it is accomplished in the old way ;
but by photographic means it is a matter of the utmost indifference
whether the original be crowded or not. The application of pho¬
tography to reducing maps was introduced into the Ordnance
department of Great Britain in the year 1855, by Colonel James,
with perfect success.
“ To proceed a step further, and imprint such a reduction directly
upon the stone in such a way that common lithographs can be
printed from it, is the problem the photo-lithographer has to solve.
“ Without entering too minutely upon a description of the mani¬
pulatory details peculiar to my process, T shall simply give a con¬
cise account of the several operations, so far as they are ot scientific
interest.
“ In the first instance, a sheet of paper is prepared with albumen in
the usual way known to photographers ; when quite dry, it is passed
through a copperplate or lithographic press, upon a polished steel or
copper plate, by which operation it receives a very smooth and regu¬
lar surface ; it is then coated on the same side with a solution of gela¬
tine to which an addition of bichromate of potash has been made ;
this is then carefully dried in the dark, and again passed through
the press to ensure the finest surface. This operation completes
the preparation of what I shall call the sensitive paper. Having
made a negative of the original map bearing the desired propor¬
tions to it, I place a suitable piece of the sensitive paper just
described under and in close contact with the map, and the whole
is exposed to daylight in such a way that the luminous influence
passing through the transparent parts of the negative shall strike
directly upon the prepared surface, while the greater part of the
paper is protected from its influence by the dark parts of the
negative, which correspond to the white places on the original
map. In the presence of the organic matter, the actinic agency
effects the decomposition of the bichromate of potash, and the
liberated nascent oxygen in all probability reacts upon the gela¬
tine, altering its chemical characteristics in a peculiar manner.
The visible effect, after removing the negative, is the formation
of a picture in brown upon the clear yellow of the paper, corres¬
ponding to the transparent portions of the negative, or to the
black lines upon the original drawing.
“ This positive photographic print is next covered with an even
coating of lithographic transfer ink, by passing it through the
press, face downwards, upon an inked-in lithographic stone. The
pressure causes the whole of the sensitive surface to lay hold of
the ink, and bear away with it an even coating, hiding the brown
photographic positive from view. The altered parts ot the gelatine
which have been exposed to the luminous action appear to. be
possessed of a certain amount of affinity for the grease of the ink,
so that they will be found to retain it with considerable tenacity.
“ The next operation is to coagulate the albumen which still
exists under the prepared surface. This is done by floating it
upon boiling water, Avith the paper side downwards. A subse¬
quent soaking for a short time causes the unaltered gelatine to
swell in such a way as to raise the ink with it from the paper, and
a slight amount of friction, with a sponge or other soft substance,
remoAres the superfluous ink from all parts of the inked print which
correspond to the white parts on the original document. When
all the lines appear clear and well-defined, boiling Avater is poured
over the whole to remove the last traces of gelatine, and the
print is dried. We are noAV possessed of a bond ficle lithographic
transfer— -that is, a dvaAving in greasy ink, of such a nature that it
admits of being transferred to the stone in the ordinary manner,
by simply inverting it thereon, and passing it through the press,
the albumen, Avhich Avill be found to have withstood all the
washing, acting as the adhesive substance under the ink, to pre¬
vent the paper from slipping on the stone.
“ The whole of these operations need not occupy more than from
two to three hours.”
Such Avas the process as Avorked by Mr. Osborne in 1859, and Ave
have on several former occasions expressed our conviction, that the
preceding is certainly the most valuable proceess for its intended
June 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
199
purpose that has yet been suggested, not excepting that of Colonel
James; but we understand that latterly several improvements and
simplifications have betfn introduced into some of the manipulatory
details which we hope, in due course, to be able to lay belore our
readers. The concluding part of the original paper consists prin¬
cipally of a review of what had been done by other operators in this
field of photographic research, and an indication of the special
points of advantage claimed by the author for his method of pro¬
ceeding ; but as we have before advocated them, it is unnecessary
to repeat them here.
OX A NEV/ METHOD OF PHODUCIHG OX GLASS PHOTO¬
GRAPHS OR OTHER PICTURES, IX ENAMEL COLOURS.
By F. Joubert.
[Read before the Society of Arts, May 22nd, 1861.]
Of all the inventions to which the genius of man has given birth, and
which have been progressively developed and brought, by his industry,
to a high degree of perfection and usefulness, the art of glass-malcing is
certainly one of the most interesting and extraordinary. At the same
time it is doubtless one which has tended to increase our comforts and
our enjoyments in a degree almost unequalled by any other discovery of
modern civilisation.
If we look back to the dark ages, and find that in those days even the
rulers of the earth had no means of keeping rain and bad weather from
their habitations, except by also shutting out the light, we shall be ready
to acknowledge the astonishing results, as compared with the present
state of things around us, which the persevering efforts of man have,
under the guidance of an ever-merciful Providence, been able to accom¬
plish.
Before entering into the description of the process which is more im¬
mediately the subject of our meeting this evening, I would, in a concise
manner, and, as far as the necessarily limited time I have to occupy this
place will allow me, recapitulate the history and progress of the inven¬
tion of glass itself, and of glass painting, which has led to the process
before us.
We have no distinct evidence to show what nation first used glass, and
we must therefore be satisfied with the various traditions transmitted to
us, from age to age, on the subject. One fact, however, seems estab¬
lished beyond the possibility of a doubt, viz., that the greatest antiquity
can he assigned to this invention, since the Egyptians and the Phoenicians
had both vessels and ornaments made of glass, crude in form, but of a
substance so perfect, by whatever means obtained, that it has stood the
trial of several thousand years, and may he pronounced to have suffered
no deterioration. Might we not, in consequence, assign to glass a place
in the list of useful inventions far higher than that which it occupies ;
for in this we have a discovery, the first inventors of which seem to have
attained, at once, the very condition — durability — which humankind is
incessantly bent upon obtaining for any produce of its hands.
But, still more remote is the mention of glass in the Holy Scripture ;
for, if the interpretation of the text be a, correct one, in the 18tli chapter
of Job, as also in several other parts of the Bible, is found an allusion to
a substance which we imagine must have been glass. Next to this,
Alexander Aphrodisius amongst the ancient Greeks, Lucretius, Flavius
Yopiscus, and other-Latin authors, have left us a correct description of
glass. Aristophanes also alludes to glass in one of his plays, and Aris¬
totle brings out two problems on the subject : the first, Why is it we see
through glass ? the second, Why can we not bend glass ?
Admitting that these two propositions emanate from the celebrated
philosopher, they appear to give conclusive evidence that glass was
familiar to the Greeks.
But we may, perhaps, even trace the origin of this invention far
earlier, and to the remotest period of the existence of man, by associa¬
ting it with the art of making bricks, which was, it is believed, practised
by the earliest inhabitants of the earth ; and it is not difficult to imagine
how such an art would originate.
Man was led, for his subsistence, to seek a mode of preparing animal
food for his use by roasting it over the fire; and having, in course of time,
built, rudely, a sort of oven made of earth, and the earth having become
hardened through the action of the five, our forefathers would soon dis¬
cover alktlie advantages which might be derived from such a process for
making bricks or pots, and utensils for common use. Specimens of the
potter’s art in ancient times we have plenty, and in a variety of forms or
shapes, which for elegance have not been surpassed. We need only
allude to the Etruscan vases in the collection of the British Museum.
In firing bricks it will not unfrequently happen that some kind of vitri¬
fication takes place in the bricks placed in the most violent part of the
fire; and one might naturally suppose that one process would lead to the
other, but such docs not appear to have been the case, at any rate, for
many centuries. Later, horn and skins were in use down to the third or
fourth centuries of the Christan era, and oiled paper or mica were also
used in lieu of window glass nearly up to the time of the reign of Eliza¬
beth. If we are to give credence to the narrative of Pliny, to accident
alone, as in many other instances, we should he indebted for the discovery
of glass: — Some traders, being weatherbound, landed on the banks of a
vivev in Syria, and began to dispose a place in the sand for cooking their
meals, after having gathered for fuel a great quantity of an herb, known
there by the name of hali, which plant must have contained a large pro¬
portion of carbonate of soda, and this being mixed with the sand, yielded,
through the agency of the fire, a sort of vitreous substance. Such is one
of the accredited versions of the origin of glass.
Glass has at all times, until recently, been thought a. substance of
great importance ; and even amongst the primitive inhabitants of South
America and of the Indian continent — who were, when first visited by the
early European navigators, found to possess gold and silver ornaments
in abundance — it is well known that the first discoverers of those coun¬
tries who happened to land in search of food or for water had no difficulty
in obtaining from the natives gold in exchange for some valueless pieces
of glass, or a few glass beads, which they would immediately use as an
ornament round their neck or their wrist. As late as the middle of the
last century, glass beads of various descriptions and of all sorts of colours
were extensively manufactured in France, principally for exportation to
the colonies of South America and the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
It may be said that although glass is an article of first-rate necessity
to us, it is at the same time one with the nature of which very few per¬
sons are well acquainted ; and the learned have even been often at
Variance as to the exact classification glass ought to belong to. It is not
a mineral, since it has never been found in a primitive state in any
country ; neither can it be placed in the vegetal kingdom, although one
of its most important parts — the alkaline — is undoubtedly a vegetal.
Glass has become with us an article so singularly cheap and common,
that we are apt to lose sight of its immensely diversified qualities; hut,
if only considered from a philosophical point of view, we shall find that
few of the substances which we have in daily use, either in a simple or
compound state, can be compared to glass in point of importance and of
usefulness. Firstly, unlike any mineral, it is inodorous and clean to the
fingers, and does not lose any of its weight by usage or wear ; it is always
transparent, whether in a cold or a red-hot state ; it can take any shape
whatever while in a state of fusion, and it retains it absolutely after it
has cooled. It is capable of receiving the highest polish, and of taking
any coloured tint, either on its surface or in its body ; and it also has this
peculiar and invaluable advantage, that it does not retain any taste of
any liquid or acid it may have contained. It is the most flexible of sub¬
stances while in fusion, and becomes harder than any pure metal when
once it has become cold. Lastly, it> is not liable to rust, nor to be con¬
sumed by fire.
The innumerable applications of glass are such now, that it is difficult
to imagine any one branch of industry or of manufacture which could be
carried on a single day without the use of glass in one shape or another.
To some of the most important amongst the sciences, such as chemistry,
physics, and astronomy, the use of glass is a matter of absolute necessity ;
and in proportion to the gradual and increasing requirement of those
last-named sciences, especially astronomy, it will be found that the glass
manufacturer has been obliged to perfect his mode of manipulation, and,
by the aid of chemistry, has of late years obtained such magnificent
results, that the field for astronomical observations has thereby been con¬
siderably enlarged.
It appears that, although vessels made of glass had been in use for a
considerable time previously, it was only about the third century of our era
that glass began to he used for glazing windows. These consisted in an
infinite number of small panes of various shapes, which were arranged
so as to form certain designs for the ornamenting of windows in places of
worship — glass having, on account of its rarity then, been almost, if not
entirely, confined to that use.
St. Jerome, who wrote in the fourth century, speaks of glass in church
windows ; and Gregoire de Tours relates, two hundred years later, in
the year 525, that a soldier of the army of the King of the A isigoths,
which had invaded Auvergne, entered into a church through a window,
of which he broke the glass. Fortunat, Bishop of Poictiers, towards the
end of the seventh century, describes with admiration the painted win¬
dows of the Cathedral of Paris. St. Philibert, also in the seventh cen¬
tury, had the windows of the celebrated Abbey of Jumuges, on the banks
of the Seine, near Rouen, decorated with glass.
In the beginning of the eighth century glass was unknown in England,
and it was Wilfrid, Bishop of York, who died in 709, who first introduced
glass into England, by sending for some glass-makers from France,
according to a record kept to this day. A few years later, St. Bennett,
Abbot of Wearmouth, wishing to decorate the windows of his monas¬
tery, sent for some glass-makers, also from France; for it appears from
some authentic records, that the art of decorating windows with glass
was practised in several parts of France, especially in Normandy, long
before it became adopted in other countries.
It would seem that the art of staining glass was very early discovered,
although no date can he correctly assigned to the period when stained
glass for church windows was first used. The practice generally adopted
was to make a sort of mosai'que design, hv placing an infinite number of
small pieces of coloured glass together. This was in use for several
centuries before the art of painting on glass, properly speaking, was dis¬
covered, which seems to have soon extensively spread, and was culti¬
vated by many excellent artists, if we may judge from the numerous
specimens yet in existence on the Continent. But to the sixteenth cen¬
tury, so rich already in ai-tistic talent, was reserved the glory of carrying
glass painting to a degree of excellence which has never been equalled
200
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 1801
since; and the names of Jean Cousin and Bernard de Palissy will be
honoured for ever amongst the large phalanx of glass painters in all
countries. The most remarkable, perhaps, of painted windows in this
country, are the windows of the various Colleges at Oxford, which were
executed during the seventeenth century by Bernard Van Linge and his
pupils. William Price also repaired some of the glass paintings in
Queen’s College, Oxford, and in Christ Church painted a remarkable
composition from the designs of Sir James Thornhill. Besides these may
he mentioned the windows of Lichfield Cathedral, and several other verjr
ancient windows in Christ Church College, and especially in the residence
of the Dean of Westminster, near the Abbey.
Having been, for many years, professionally acquainted with printing
in connexion with the fine arts, and having observed the immense
development the new art of photography has taken, and the large field it
has opened for representing all sorts of subjects, of animated as well as
still life, it occurred to me that if a means could be found to print the
photographic image on glass, as easily as it is done on paper, and through
the agency of some chemical composition which would admit of employ¬
ing ceramic or verifiable colours, and burning them in, a great result
would be attained, and a new and considerable branch of industrial art
might thereby be opened. Considering the numerous and various
attempts which have, from time to time, been made to introduce a substi¬
tute for glass painting in the decoration of houses, I believe it can be said
that a want was generally felt for supplying the growing taste for pic¬
torial decoration ; for glass painting is an expensive process, and requires
also a considerable time to obtain a perfect result. There is a process
known as lithophany or diaphany, or transparent china, on biscuit slabs,
which are new made in Germany principally, and some very good speci¬
mens can be seen; but although any kind of subjects, on a small scale,
can thus be represented, and with a very good effect, the slabs are heavy
and thick, and can never come into use as a substitute for glass painting.
Some few years ago a new mode, which was then termed “ poticliomany,”
was introduced, which had for a short time very great success. I allude
to the mode of pasting coloured prints inside a large glass bowl or jar,
and applying a thin layer of plaster of Paris, in a liquid state, so as to fix
the paper firmly, and create an opaque background, by giving substance
to the whole, when seen from a distance. Some very good specimens of
this were obtained, and it afforded for a time an agreeable occupation to
many a young lady. Another mode has also been tried, and some very
pretty results produced, by applying prints obtained by lithochromy, or
lithographic printing in colours, on a pane of glass, and varnishing them
at the back with copal or some such varnish: these will for some time
resist the effects of the weather when placed in a window, and this is
perhaps the nearest approach to glass painting in point of effect yet
achieved; but, practically, it does not answer, for the varnish will not
stand exposure to the weather from outside, and the constant cleaning
glass requires renders it liable to be injured, and the image will soon perish.
In the mode which is for the first time introduced no such danger or
liability need be feared, since the colour has been firmly fixed in the sub¬
stance of the glass by fire, and, being composed of the same elementary
materials, has become part of the glass itself, and can only be destroyed
by the glass being annihilated by breakage.
In order that the process may be very distinctly understood, I shall
now describe it by reading that part of my specification which relates to
the placing the image on the glass, fixing it, and passing it through the fire.
This invention has for its object improvements in reproducing photo¬
graphic and other pictures, engravings, prints, devices, and designs, on
the surfaces of glass, ceramic, and other substances requiring to be fired
to fix the same thereon.
For this purpose, I proceed in the following way : — A piece of glass,
which may be crown or flatted glass, being selected as free from defect
as possible, is firstly well cleaned, and held horizontally while a certain
liquid is poured on it. This liquid is composed of —
Saturated solution of bichromate of ammonia . . 5 parts.
Honey . . . . . . 3 ,,
Albumen . . . . 3 ,,
Distilled water . . . ..,.20 to 30 ,,
Well mixed together.
The whole carefully filtered before using. The preparation of the
solution, and the mixing up with other ingredients, should be conducted
in a room from which light is partially excluded, or under yellow light,
the same as in photographic operating rooms, so that the sensitiveness
of the solution may not be diminished or destroyed.
: In order to obtain a perfect transfer of the image to be reproduced, the
piece of glass coated with the solution, which has been properly dried by
means cf a gas stove (this will only occupy a few minutes), is placed,
face downwards, on the subject to be copied, in an ordinary pressure
frame, such as is used for printing photographs.
The subject must be a positive picture on glass, or else on paper rendered
transparent by waxing or other mode, and an exposure to the light will,
in a few seconds, accoi'ding to the state of the weather, show, on removing
the coated glass from the pressure frame, a faintly indicated picture in
a negative condition. To bring it out, an enamel colour, in a very finely
divided powder, is gently rubbed over with a soft brush until the whole
composition or subject appears in a perfect positive form. It is then fixed by
alcohol, in which a small quantity of acid, either nitric or acetic, has been
mixed, being poured over the whole surface, and drained off at one corner.
When the alcohol has completely evaporated, which will generally be
the case in a very short time, the glass is quietly immersed horizontally
in a large pan of clean water, and left until the chromic solution lias dis¬
solved off, and that nothing remains besides the enamel colour on the
glass; it is therefore allowed to dry by itsell near a heated stove, and,
when dry, is ready to be placed in the kiln lor firing.
It may be stated that enamel of any colour can be used, and that by
careful registering a variety of colours can be printed one after the other,
so as to obtain a perfect imitation of a picture; also, the borders of any
description can be subsequently added, such as those shown in the B|
mens on the table, without any liability to remove or even diminish the
intensity of the colour in the first firing.
It will be easy to perceive that this mode of obtaining an image on
glass, in an absolutely permanent substance, and of any description,
colour, or size, may prove of considerable advantage and utility for tlio
decoration of private houses and also for public buildings. Now that,
through means of the photographic art, the most correct views of any
object or of any building or scene — even portraits — can be faithfully and
easily obtained ; when we see every day the results of the labours of
photographers in all parts of tlic world, in the shape of beautiful prints ;
when we can be made acquainted, without leaving home, with the actual
costume, habitations, scenery, manners almost, of all countries, for in¬
stance China and Japan, which have but recently opened their doors to
European civilisation ; when, through the same means, we are able to
see, for tlie first time, and the learned are able to translate from, the
graphic reproduction with which photography furnishes us of those early
inscriptions engraved on the rocks in Asia, and by the Egyptians on their
splendid monuments — I need only point out the usefulness of the
mode of fixing those images, in an indelible manner for ornamental as
well as scientific purposes.
In large cities like London, where houses are built so close to one another,
in how many places may not the process become available by enabling
anyone to introduce, for a very moderate expense, pleasing or instructive
images where common plain ground glass is now used, to shut out the
sight of a disagreeable object, a dead wall or an unpleasant neighbour,
without diminishing the amount of light more than is convenient.
In tlie library, fitting subjects might be introduced on the windows by
a judicious selection of the portraits of favourite authors, or of famous
scenery at home or abroad. In the dining room, also, appropriate pic¬
tures could be selected, such as flowers, fruits, or game subjects, so
disposed as to liannonise with the decoration of the room. Even for
domestic purposes, for lamps, or screens, or any object of glass, the pro¬
cess will be found useful, principally on account of its rapidity, which
will enable the manufacturer to execute and to deliver an order at a very
few days’ notice. _
At the conclusion of the lecture, in answer to various questions
put to M. Joubert, he stated that the size of his productions was
only governed by the limit at which good photographs could be pro¬
duced, and by the size of the furnaces used for “ firing” the pictures
into the glass ; but at the present moment a picture might be made
up to three or four feet square. As to the number of colours that
could be employed in one picture, he bad only as yet attempted
mono-chromes for the pictures themselves; but he had introduced
various colours into the designs of the borders, and had therein
obtained four colours on one glass plate. As his object was to produce
cheap permanent artistic designs on glass, he had confined himself to mono¬
chromes ; for, by introducing numerous colours into a picture, he would
have to return to the old and expensive method of the glass painters,
viz., tinting in and firing each colour separately, and would thus pass
into glass painting proper. With regard to the risk incurred, it would
increase in proportion to the increase in the magnitude of the plate
employed, and also according to the number of colours introduced into a
design; for they might secure three of the colours with safety, and
whilst “ firing” the fourth the glass might be fractured. Whilst bis
failures had in his early experiments been at least fifty p#c cent., they
had been, during the last three months, with increased experience, under
five per cent. With regard to the cost of his process, he had estimated
that pictures on glass could be produced from 8s. per square foot, the
price increasing, however, with the size of the glass plate, and consequent
risk of breakage.
- - -
Formic Acid Accelerator.— -We learn from tlie Bulletin of the
French Photographic Society that MM. Ferrier, Sons, and Soulier,
at a recent meeting introduced a number of stereoscojiic views of
Paris, obtained, they stated, by absolute instantaneous exposure,
whereby people, horses, carriages, &c., were represented in motion.
M. Ferrier informed the meeting that the only peculiarity in the
process he employed was the addition of a small quantity of formic*
acid to the nitrate of silver bath (not to the iron developing
solution, as stated by the “Paris Correspondent” of a con¬
temporary) to which the great sensibility of tlie plates employed
was due. The lenses employed were Dallmeyer’s new stereoscopic
combination.
* We consider this mode of application an error, formic acid being a reducing agent.
Mr, Maxwell Lyte was, we believe, the first to employ formic acid in photography.— Ed.
June 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
sol
SHARPNESS— WHAT IS IT?
By A. II. Wall.
[Read at a meeting of the South London Photographic Society, May 16, 1361.]
If frequent use could wear out a word, where would that poor little word
“ sharpness” he ? No quality has been more lauded, few more frequently
denounced than that which lias been held by photographers to be repre¬
sented in this word. Sharpness has influenced the labours ol our
opticians, chemists, and manipulators ; to its attainment far higher and
more important qualities have been ruthlessly sacrificed ; and it must
certainly have seemed to many that if there was one thing above all
others for which photography was providentially created, that one thing
was sharpness.
I must admit that I do not like the word : it has become associated
in my mind with hardness and flatness, with a dull monotonous surface
cut up into paltry little sections by sharp outlines, and the unpleasant
and unnatural obtrusiveness of minute details. I have more than once
expressed my feelings about it in the journals ; have smiled with a sen¬
sation of gratified malice when it has been severely handled; have given
it a vigorous dig in private conversation when I got the chance ; and
altogether have been anything but its friend and supporter. Having done
all which, I begin at length to suspect that the poor thing which has re¬
ceived so much ill-usage at my hands is, after all, a very worthy, good,
and excellent friend of mine, deserving far different treatment. Not,
however, being quite sure that my suspicions as to the character of this
quality are justified, and not being the happy possessor of great scientific
attainments myself, I come down to our pleasant meeting this evening
with a few words about sharpness, written with the sole intention of in¬
quiring from the scientific and experienced of our little fraternity — What
is it ?
In bringing forward this subject, however, I feel, to use the words of a
friend of mine, that it is a difficult one to deal with, “because no one has
ever fairly committed himself as to what sharpness really is, so that when
you attempt to seize the fellow in one shape, presto! he assumes another,
denies that he ever was anything else than that he is, and protests that
everybody’s common sense knew him to be that.” I shall presently show
you that for want of a clear definition of this little word, much misunder¬
standing has divided artists and photographers ; and to prove that the de¬
finition 1 ask for is not altogether so needless as some amongst us may
think, I shall refer to such authorities as Sir William Newton, Messrs.
Buss, Leighton, II. Cooke, Bothivell, Lake Price, Professor Hunt, and
Mr. Sutton; assuring you that to these I might easily have added a
dozen or two more of good authorities, if I had possessed the necessary
leisure to hunt out references.
I have been associated with photographers for nine or ten years,
although my own practical experience in this delightful art dates from a
more recent period. I have mingled with photographers, and discussed
photography in many parts of England, and with operators of different
degrees of merit, and of varied attainments in both photography, science,
and art ; and it is from convictions thus strengthened that I feel this
question of sharpness ought to be definitely settled.
The optician will, I suppose, define sharpness as “ the perfect represen¬
tation of a point by a point.” The photographer, I know, frequently
defines hardness as sharpness. And the artist is too apt to take the term
for what it is worth in the dictionary, without due reference to its tech¬
nical meaning.
I suppose sharpness really means the perfect definition of an object in
focus. If this be true, what constitutes perfect definition? By what
standard are we to judge its perfection ? By the definition given in the
image upon the healthy eye’s retina, or that produced by an optical
arrangement of glasses which gives the most clearly and distinctly
visible view of every minute detail in the natural object? One lens will
produce a sharper picture than another, and again by decreasing the
aperture we can increase the sharpness ; but what is the standard we are
to set up for our guide in this matter? for unless we seek sharpness
merely for the sake of sharpness, some standard of perfection we must or
ought most certainly to possess.
It will show pretty clearly in what spirit this matter has been discussed
by photographers and artists if I refer back to the first volume of the
Journal of the Photographic Society. We there find that at the first
ordinary meeting of that body, Sir William J. Newton, Vice-President,
being both an artist and a photographer, read a paper Upon Photography
in an Artistic View, and in its Belation to the Aits. In this paper its
author, while regretting that photography had not then realised the
truths of atmospherical perspective, pointed out, as a course for the pho¬
tographer to pursue, the devising and discovering of means by which
pictures might be produced “ still more minute and perfect in deta l,"
without, however, forgetting “ that his subjects are principally natural
objects, powerfully acted upon by atmospheric influence.” Sir William
Newton wanted, in short, more “ gradation," and less “ flatness ,” and I
think every c/r Ast-pho t ograplier of the present day must acknowledge
that this — speaking generally — is a want still to be supplied. In the
course of his paper, however, Sir William observed that, for the purpose
of the painter only, and as “ private studies," a “greater breadth of
effect” would be attained if the photograph was taken “o little out of
focus.”
Now the great aim of the painter has always been to secure for his
compositions that harmonious unity of parts which constitutes a perfect
whole ; and not onty are crude spots or patches of light, dark, or colour
destructive of this, but sharp edges and abrupt terminations have an
equal tendency to cut up the surface into sections, and so destroy breadth,
or, in other words, the unity of parts — separating and dividing instead of
uniting ; giving you a -weak little bit at a time, as it were, instead of
coming down upon you at once with the whole strength of well-united
forces. For this reason Sir William advised the artist, or the painter, to
take his photographs, as studies, “ a little out of focus.”
Now, the excellent Vice-President’s doing this was nothing very terrible;
but it seems to have startled the whole photographic world from its
propriety. In vain Sir William asserted “lie had no intention of advo¬
cating the general use of this plan,” nobody seemed to believe him ; and
soon after, when the subject was re-opened by two papers, read respec¬
tively by Mr. J. Leighton and Mr. R. W. Buss (artists both, I believe), a
grand battle-royal came off in the presence of Sir Charles Eastlake,
President of the Royal Academy, at the end of which matters remained
much the same as they were before they commenced, so far as the actual
merits of the question were concerned. Mr. Buss asserted that, by throw¬
ing objects out of focus, forms were rendered indistinct, the minute detail
or lines destroyed, and nothing left but large masses of light, half-tint,
and shade ; and Mr. Leighton, that by excess of detail you sacrificed
breadth, or, in other words, exactly the same thing. In the discussion
that ensued, Sir AVilliam remarked that the artist who copied servilelv
“ destroyed the poetry of fine art,” and argued that photography, by-
copying servilely, could never reach “the poetry of Nature .” Mr.
Vignoles said the artist, the optician, and the engineer, each viewed these
matters in a different light ; but although he himself certainly desired
more artistic qualities in photographs, he “should as soon think of
attempting the adjustment of his eye instead of using a veil, as of throw¬
ing the camera out of focus to obtain an effect lie could produce by a
variety of other means.” Mr. Shadbolt referred to the strong party feel¬
ing existing on the subject, and stated that he and Sir William Newton
differed in toto “as widely as light from darkness.” Dr. Peixw belieA'ed
accuracy and minuteness of detail to be perfectly consistent with breadth
of effect, and therefore denied the necessity for throwing a picture out of
focus. Mr. Henry Cooke, a painter, said “ the whole question of whether
photography should be a benefit or a bane as an art, hung upon the
successful issue of the pending question. He thought focus a scientific
rather than an artistic question ; but said, if one part of a picture must be
sharper than another, that part should certainly contain the principal
object or objects. Such was the character of this often-mentioned and
very animated discussion, in which, be}mnd agreeing to disagree, little
was done by those present for settling the point at issue.
In reference to the assertion of Mr. Buss, I would remark that the
destruction of detail is neither more nor less than the destruction of gra¬
dation, upon which real softness and breadth to so large an extent are
dependent. I cannot remove detail from any portion of a photographed
surface without removing certain of the more delicate tones which unite
and blend the half-tints with the highest lights. For instance, suppose I
take a brush, and, with indian ink, lay in a broad line, the edges of which
are Avashed softly away into the Avhite paper on either side : if I then take
tAvo pieces of straight-edged Avhite paper, lay them one on either side of
the line, and gradually bring them closer and closer, until a very fine
dark line alone divides them ; this line, owing to the removal of the more
tender and delicate tones on either side, must then appear sharp and hard.
Therefore, I think Mr. Buss Avas mistaken in supposing “the minute
detail or lines ” might be destroyed Avith advantage ; and, with reference
to Mr. Leighton’s remark, I could easily quote expressions from a score of
eminent artists of the highest rank, tending to show that in their opinion
the most minute perfection of detail Avas perfectly consistent Avith a broad
artistic effect.
Sir William NeAvton’s objections to the servile copying of the artist I
can understand. There are matters of higher importance which should
claim all an artist’s efforts and time; for such, therefore, to sit doAvn and
copy nature servilely, is waste to their precious gifts by indulging in mere
mental indolence and self degradation. But surety the more Hearty Ave
approach, by a process demanding no such laborious outla}’- of time and
work, the truths of nature, the greater chance Ave have to embody her
spiritual meaning of poetry. Sir William himself inferred the close ties
which unite the poetry of art to that of nature.
I have in my OAvn mind some suspicions that the quality which is
somewhat commonly regarded by our practical operators as sharpness is
neither more nor less than imperfect focus, or, in other words, not sharp¬
ness at all. I believe that perfect sharpness or focus tends to destroy
outlines, secure gradation, and give perfect modelling. I have frequently
seen pictures produced by inferior lenses in which the contours of the
features appeared to be bounded by outlines as clear and distinct as if
they had been drarvn by hand Avith a fine-pointed pencil — an effect which
has been lauded as the very perfection of sharpness, but which I, never¬
theless, attribute to the Avaut of that A’ery quality. There are certainty
no such outlines in nature ; on the contrary, the boundary of vision
glides gently from our sight, and dies softly aAva}'.
In this view of the case I fancy I am supported bj’ one who, unlike
myself, speaks not only from his observation of natural objects, but from
a scientific knowledge of optics. Mr. Rothwell stated, in a recent number
of The British Jourkal of Photography, that “he had never yet seen a
202
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
photograph possessing that fine and perfect definition which he wished to
see attained.”
Sharpness, as at present understood, has never been very popular with
our best men. Mr. Sutton, speaking of the waxed-paper proce-s, said, in
a recent number of the Notes, that one of the evils attendant upon the
introduction of collodion was that of “exalting the quality of sharpness,”
and “ lowering the appreciation of higher qualities.”
Professor Hunt, speaking of this quality, regretted that “intense illu¬
mination was so much sought for under the idea of producing the sharpest
picture,” saying that, although many productions were remarkable for
this effect, it was extremely unnatural, because “ the human eye never sees
this extraordinary sharpness of outline in nature. Upon the edges of every
object there are fringes of light, which soften oft' their outlines, and sub¬
due the general tone of objects, blending all harmoniously.” Lake Price
warmly denounced “the parrot cry of sharpness and, in short, so have
very many others equally eminent. But, as I have before said, it is now
a question with me whether sharpness or perfect focus is really the quality
thus denounced.
Certainly the artists who recommended that the lens be put a little out
of focus made a funny mistake. Sir William Newton was not one of
these ; for, as I have shown, he, in his paper, actually advised that
efforts be generally directed to the obtaining “ still more minute and per¬
fect detail and 1 am, therefore, inclined to believe that his ideas then
were not unlike those I express now. A picture out of focus is certainly
blurred at the outlines, but it is not less blurred in its lights and shadows ;
moreover, it is flat and weak, and, altogether, a thoroughly inartistic
affair. I do not think with Sir William that it would be good even as an
artist’s private study ; and I am certain that, while it had lost all worth
as a photograph, it would be of no more value as a picture.
I have already referred to the control wc have over this quality of
sharpness by choice of lens, and method of using it. It is therefore of
consequence to settle what part of a subject should be focussed for sharp¬
ness. -
This question will be answered differently, according to the different
ends aimed at. For the architect an equality of sharpness distributed
over the whole picture will, of course, be most suitable ; but the artist
will always desire that every attractive quality of a picture should find
its focus where the interest of his performance centres. In a portrait, the
head, and those features especially which require the most prominence
given to them, will be most illuminated, and most carefully wrought out
in their details. In a group the principal figure will receive similar treat¬
ment; and in a landscape the vigour and foi’ce of chiaroscuro , as well as
the expression of minute detail, will naturally enough occupy the fore¬
ground.
In opposition to this, how frequently do we see photographs in which,
through the use of a very small diaphragm, the ear and boundary lines of
the hair are as sharp and distinct as features which are more important
and prominent ; or a group, in which we find no more definition secured
for the hero of the action represented, than for a figure which acts as the
merest accessory to help the story ! And in a landscape do we not fre¬
quently see that the operator has focussed for the most distant object in
his view ?
Sharpness should, I therefore venture to assert, be clearly separated
from what would be more legitimate^ called hardness, should be limited
in amount, and judiciously secured for that portion of a portrait, land¬
scape, or composition group in which it will have the most pictorial value
as focus. I use the word focus here in its artistic sense.
The painter recognises the value of focus throughout his whole work.
To secure breadth of light and shade, he obtains a focus of light and a
focus of dark — in short, all his effects invariably have their focus. But
if the lights were of nearly equal brilliancy all over the surface of his
picture, and the darks of nearly equal depth — if no one part of the pro¬
duction was more attractive than another, and an equality of interest
pervaded every part of it — if, in short, it had no focus, it would be a very
poor and miserable affair, devoid of both art and interest. Yet we “stop
down” our lenses to the smallest possible aperture, and bring all their
powers of focus to bear upon the most distant portions of a view, in order
to obtain no focus, and so ruin pictorial effect and natural truth. Sharp
distances, as evidence of depth of focus, are mistakes only to be equalled
by “ white skies.” Why, nearly all the poetry of nature lies in the
exquisite sensations of the broad free air — the home of the glorious sun¬
light, and the boundless dwelling-place of the fetterless wind ; the ocean
of the universe, connecting worlds with worlds, and systems with
systems : and wc are to shut out this mighty element from our beautiful
sun-pictures — are to push back our foregrounds, and drag forward our dis¬
tances, and crowd them into a little white-washed dungeon, for the sake
of “ sharp distances ” and “ depth of focus.” Truly it wont bear think¬
ing of.
The other day, being with my friend Mr. Simpson, the editor of the
Photographic Neivs, we were examining the effect of stops upon the image
on the ground-glass. I took my station under the focussing cloth, with
my eye fixed on the ground-glass screen, and Mr. Simpson changed stops
the while. At every change of aperture, beginning with the larger and
coming to the smaller, there was a clear distinctive variation in the
character of the view, distant objects growing sharper and coming nearer,
* “ The parrot cry of ‘ sharp .' sharp which the ignorant in art raise, seems the main
point aimed at.”—LAKE Piuce.
[June 1, 1801
until at length an almost flat map-like appearance gradually became
apparent. Sharpness teas everywhere , fo.us was nowhere, and space teas
annihilated.
If I am not mistaken, Mr. Grubb, in one of the early numbers of the
Photographic News, referred to this “effect defective,” arising from tbe
use of very small apertures; and pointed out, by way of illustration, the
images produced by telescopes and microscopes. The moon, seen by the
full aperture of a telescope, is in perfect relief, and the prominences on its
surface are seen with their cast shadows and real chiaroscuro ; but if the
aperture be reduced by a small diaphragm, although sharper, it then
becomes a mere flat circle with a map-like surface.
The presence of atmosphere is always recognised by the English
painter, while the English photographer’s prime desiro seems to be to
ignore it. There is no better illustration of the effect of atmosphere upon
retiring objects than that of seeing how their colours become affected Ly
it. As the green grass of a field retreats, every few yards change in
colour and tone, partaking more and more of that of the atmosphere. So
with form, as veil after veil of thin air interposes between us and the
object before us, lights grow less powerful, shadows lose their force, and
details disappear- — the finer and more delicate first, the stronger and
bolder last. Perfect detail, brilliancy of light, and depth of shade, are,
then, qualities which, falling in their right place on the more near and
prominent objects, represent sharpness where sharpness should be, and
thus give a focus to the view; for it must be clear that, where all parts
are equally sharp, there can be no focus.
And so I leave the matter in your bands. I think I shall produce a
discussion, and hope I shall benefit by it. It is somewhat bold of me to
come forward and tell so many old photographers and scientific men that
sharpness isn’t sharpness, and focus isn’t focus ; but I have done it, and
must dare the consequences. The fact is, I want to know what sharpness
is, and have in reality only gone in a somewhat rambling way about
making tbe very simple inquiry chosen for a title to this unpretending
little paper. Before commencing an argument, tbe first best thing you
can do is to define terms ; and, having omitted this preliminary, ’the next
best thing you can do is to begin again, without omitting it. And so I
end, as 1 began, with the short question — Sharpness : What is it!
HOW TO PREVENT STAINS AND STREAKS IN THE
COLLODION NEGATIVE.
By lb W. Thomas.
[Being an abstract cfa paper read before tbe Photographic Society of London, May 7, 1R6i.]
My object this evening is to place the subject of my paper in a practical
light, and in doing this I will also endeavour to answer an objection
which will present itself in the course of this inquiry. I shall divide the
subject into two heads, and discuss them separately, viz. : —
1st. The action of light in the camera.
2nd. The influence of light in the operating-room.
First, the action of light in the camera. — All things considered, is it
not wonderful that we have a clear image in a latent state upon the
highly sensitive surface of the collodion plate? Light passes equally
into the darkened chamber through the full aperture of the lens ; but at
the focus of the lens it is also deposited, so to speak, in a ratio equal to
the reflecting power of the surfaces of the objects to be copied, impressing
the first atoms of the sensitive film in a degree equal, as before stated, to
the amount of light projected from tbe bodies to be represented, and I
firmly believe that the first atoms only are affected in the camera. Now
it will be readily gi-anted, and very easily conceived, how soon a disturb¬
ing influence may be brought about by tbe introduction of any false light
in the chamber wherein this image is produced; but notwithstanding this
incontrovertible fact, there arc those who remain careless as to the manner
of rendering the camera absolutely dark.
Tn furtherance of this proposition, let us imagine that a bundle of thin
surfaces, of any material sensitive to light, be placed at the slightest con¬
ceivable distance apart in the focus of the lens, the colour of each and
all of the surfaces being antagonistic to tbe action of chemical rays (as
yellow, the colour of the iodide of silver in the film), and the homogeneity
of the colour favoured by the circumstance that light is not passed abso¬
lutely through these atoms, what will be the result of the action of light ?
Undoubtedly the image of the object to be copied will be deposited upon
the first surface of the suppositious arrangement, and there receive a check.
The next surface must, if at all impressed, be so through the yellow
medium of the first ; and so, of necessity, the light parts with a portion
of its actinism ; and having thus passed through the two yellow surfaces,
I doubt whether any other of the series would be affected. I have made
use of this hypothetical arrangement of surfaces tor the convenience of
explaining the views I am about to advance ; but I do not for one moment
wish it to be inferred that this explains the chemical phenomena involved,
or that this action alone is the only force exercised.
I now proceed to examine the action of light in the dark room. — I think
it will be allowed that the more sensitive a prepared plate is to objects in
shadow, the more sensitive it will be to yellow light ; and if a preparation
could be made capable of producing a landscape in the camera illumined
by moonlight, I need hardly remark that it would be necessary (arguing
in the abstract) to prepare this highly sensitive plate in total darkness,
and to develop it under precisely similar circumstances. Such a high
degree of sensitiveness would be very inconvenient, and has not yet been
June l, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
203
obtained ; but suck a discovery is within the bounds of probability, and
the course to be pursued in order to obtain a clear image must, under such
a condition of sensitiveness, be the one proposed.
There are those present who can remember the time when the negative
paper process was the only one employed for taking portraits. The
sitting, under the most favourable circumstances of light and short-focus
lens, was sixty seconds ; but generally, I think, averaged two minutes.
Since the old paper negative process was set aside for the purposes of
portraiture, the photographic chemists have been steadily advancing to
perfection in the preparation of both collodion, nitrate of silver bath, and
a few other less important chemicals, in order to obtain the maximum
amount of sensitiveness, preserving at the same time other conditions neces¬
sary to the perfection of the result. But, let me ask, what have photo¬
graphers been doing all this time ? Many of them have been treating
these improved preparations in much the same way as the man who
would take pictures by moonshine and neglect the precautions just laid
down necessary for the clearness of the image : in other words, photogra¬
phers have been working in rooms with as much yellow light as was used
in the old days of photography. Now I will endeavour to show the result
of such a course. I will not suppose for a moment that any other than
a neutral bath is being used. A plate is prepared and plunged into the
nitrate of silver bath and the door of the room closed ; after a minute or
so the plate is taken out and moved up and down, to equalise the action
of the bath and remove greasy lines caused by the contact of ether with
water, these two not being at first perfectly miscible.
Now, at this stage all the damage is done : the so-called darkened room
is by no means dark enough : the greasy lines are impressed more or less
according to the intensity of the light prevailing at the time, and appear
subsequently in the development as well marked as any other latent
image that the lens is capable of producing. Let me ask you to call to
mind the illustration I introduced — that the image in the camera im¬
pressed the first atoms of the collodion film, and that this film, in its
position in the camera, was not translucent but opaque : hence the first
atoms only were impressed. But the reverse of this takes place in the
dark room. The prepared plate is always more or less transparent, and
admits of light passing through it according to the relative position of the
plate and the source of light. Moreover, at this stage of its excitation
it may be in a highly sensitive condition.
Now is the time for me to introduce the only objection that can be
made to this theory, viz., How is it that I can get perfectly clean pictures
with a particular preparation of collodion, and may be the same or a
particular bath, and yet when I take this or that preparation I obtain
greasy lines or stains? In reply to this objection, I say, in the first
place, that this statement, if it be made, is only partially true, and if
true, the reason is evident. The most superficial observer must have
been struck with the difference in the appearance of films of different
kinds of collodion when immersed in the bath — some (even after a short
immersion) becoming opaque, whilst others remain translucent even
after a prolonged immersion. I make use of this objection as the
strongest proof of the soundness of my views. Is it not clear that this
vei'y property of opacity arrests light passing through the film, and
prevents the action traversing all the atoms of the mass in its entirety?
Now, I think I have shown the use of my first illustration. The fact is,
the surface of this opaque film is, in the dark room, in precisely the same
position as the first atom of the translucent film, placed vertically in the
focus of the lens, with an opaque body behind it, and clearly shows theo¬
retically what is proved to be true by experiment, that the stains are not
produced in the camera, whether the film be opaque or translucent,
providing due attention be paid to the quality of the yellow light
in the dark room ; but, on the other hand, the stains can be produced
at will, and especially with a translucent film, if the light in the dark
room is not of the proper quality, or is too actinic. Herein we have the
key to the whole position : the translucent film is more readily impressed
by feeble light in the dark room, and this impression is rendered more
permanent from the fact that light passes through the entirety of the
atoms of the film in consequence of its translucency. I will now pass on
to another phenomenon, which must have been to many a matter of
astonishment, viz., the frequent occurrence of streaks in the background
of a portrait, and their absorption at the point of contact with the image
in absolute focus. Is not this an extraordinary fact? and, moreover, one
worthy of close observation? I must confess that, until I gave a great
deal of attention to this subject, I was not only puzzled but vexed at the
want of a satisfactory answer. It was not satisfactory to my mind to be
able to say I know how to produce and how to avoid these stains; I
therefore set to work to find out some tangible reason and ground of
explanation. The experiments I made appeared suggestive. 1 have the
pleasure of handing round the results, by way of illustration. Plate
No. 1 exhibits the image of a circular disc of yellow tammy stuck to the
centre of a piece of amber-coloured glass. This was supported vertically
on a stand, and a scratch made to indicate its position. A plate was pre¬
pared in the usual way, and a negative taken of the yellow disc. The
exposure required was found to be three seconds. A second collodion
plate was prepared, and exposed in the camera the same time — viz., three
seconds — and the cap placed on the lens, an image of the same disc
having been impressed ; then the yellow glass with the disc was removed,
and in its place a piece of white cardboard was substituted. Having
cflected this exchange of objects, the cap of the lens was removed, and an
instantaneous exposure of the wdiite card was impressed upon the latent
image produced by the first exposure : the slide with the plate was then
taken to the dark room and developed. Let me ask, what would you
expect to find — the image of the yellow disc, the cardboard, or both?
The result is, that the image of the disc is scarcely perceptible, and,
moreover, was not any more evident at any stage of the development than
is here represented. I ascertained this by stopping the development at
various stages when repeating the experimenting. Again, in the third
experiment the order of exposure was reversed — that is, the plate first
impressed with an instantaneous exposure of the white cardboard was
then exposed to the yellow disc. In this case the result is the same, the
image of the disc being scarcely visible. To find out whether it could be
made visible, plate No. 4, the result of another experiment, will show that
it is possible; but, in order to effect it, an exposure of fifteen seconds was
necessary, being five times the amount of exposure required under ordi¬
nary circumstances. Now, I think that these experiments may be made
somewhat instructive. They, at any rate, very clearly show that the fainter
impression becomes subservient to that more intense. This is either literally
the case — the first disturbance of the atoms again giving place to a higher
disturbing influence, and thus assuming the condition effected subse-
sequently by the power of a more intensely acting ray ; or if this be not
so, the first image remains shrouded from view, owing to the more
intensely reduced atoms being superimposed and under all circumstances
prevailing.
I think I have said sufficient to show, and these plates wfill assist
in confirmation of my views, that the faint images of streaks produced in
feeble light become shrouded or absorbed by the more powerful action
of the image in focus. As supplementary fco my paper, let me offer
a few remarks. What is the amount and character of light which can
be safely used in the dark room ? In reply to this inquiry there is fortu¬
nately a very clear answer. Let me state it : and first I wish to lay
down as a rule that with properly prepared collodion, no matter wdiat the
light out-of-doors be, the negative image, whether under-exposed or just
enough exposed, should more or less on some portions, and generally of
course on those parts in deepest shadow, show a bright positive surface.
If, therefore, the surface is at all deadened with a short exposure, notwith¬
standing that a neutral bath be used, then I say there is too much light
in the room: no better test can be had. Another guide is the behaviour
of the developer. The solution of pyrogallic acid should remain bright
brown for some time: too much light in the room will cause it to blacken,
and in some cases throw down a loose black deposit at a very early stage of
the development. I recommend every one to adopt the course I am now
going to suggest. Darken the room entirely, so that no object be dis¬
cernible : slits', crevices, and holes will then be seen. Now let light
into the room, passed through a piece of amber-coloured glass, covered
closely on each side with a single thickness of yellow tammy. For the pur¬
pose of experiment, let this aperture of yellow light be as small as possible.
Under these inconvenient conditions of light develop a picture, and note
well its character ; then find out by degrees how much larger the aperture
of yellow light may be made, so that the beauty and purity of the picture
be not less on comparison with the first result, obtained almost in dark¬
ness, and which may be called the test plate. It will then be very soon
ascertained how large the aperture of yellow light may be made with
safety. Let it be, however, remembered that this experiment must be
periormed on a bright day, when the light is strongest upon the covered
yellow glass. I do not believe that either yellow glass or dyed stuffs
alone can be depended on : the perfection of a yellow light for photo¬
graphic purposes will be found in a combination of these two substances.
The number of superficial square inches of light passing through this
medium must be regulated according to the position of the window
through which the light passes ; hence the necessity for these experi¬
ments, and the difficulty in laying down any fixed rules. This is my
formula for lighting a room with yellow light ; but bear in mind that
the want of a perfectly light-tight cover to the bath for use, whilst the
plate is iodising, would be equally a source of stains and fogging;
therefore, in making the test experiment, cover the bath and its case
entirely over with black velvet, or some other dark material, should
there be occasion to open the door during the preparation of the
plate.
I assert plainly that the truth of this paper lies in a sentence. You
may thrust away from your minds every theory that has been advanced,
bearing in mind the one statement only, that the principal cause of want
of success in photography, and of streaks in the negative, is due to the
introduction of too much light in the dark room.
The apology for the length of my communication must be found in the
fact that a simple statement of a simple truth is not in itself sufficient to
impress men’s minds with anything like a strong conviction. In order
to do this, the ttatement must be elaborated, and then it may be expected
that a greater amount of attention will be drawn to the subject-matter.
I myself feel strong in the opinion with which I shall conclude this sub¬
ject — that the future of photography lies in the bestowal of proper atten¬
tion to the quality and quantity of the yellow light used in the operating
room ; and I shall be well satisfied in having devoted so much time and
attention to this subject if a single follower of our art has, through the
instrumentality of this communication, been freed from the gnawing
anguish and irritation which attend the unsuccessful efforts of those who
aspire to perfection.
904
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 1801
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC TENT.
By J. Q. A. Tkesize.
HAVING seen in your very valuable Journal, as well as in American
journals, descriptions of variously formed tents for out-door work,
with wet collodion, and thinking that none of them are equal to
my own in convenience, I send you a view and description of a
tent that I have had in use upwards of two years. It is composed,
as the view shows, of four
posts, 5 ft. 10 in. in height,
and 1 in. square, and six
braces, of 5 ft. in. long,
and 1 £ X £ in. thick. The
braces are riveted or bolt¬
ed together in the centre
in pairs, and are all fas¬
tened to the feet of tho
posts by strap hinges, and
to the top of the posts by
pieces of iron about J in.
thick, with a T on the
upper end, the iron being
fastened to the brace; and
the T slides up and down
in a groove that is cut
through a piece of heavy
hoop-iron, which is fasten¬
ed to the top of each post,
a corresponding groove
being cut into the post
about £ in. deep, to admit
the sliding of the T. The irons on the posts are 11 in. long, and
the grooves through them 10J in. long; and there is a spring latch
at the lower end of each to hold the T down when the tent is open.
From top to top of the two front posts is a cross-bar 1 in. square,
halved at the ends, with an iron strap round each end, to come
down about \ in. on the posts ; and from one end of this to one of
the back posts is a bar, with a pin near each end, which drop into
holes in the front bar and the top of the back post.
It is then supplied with a frame on which to place the chemical
box, as seen at A A.
The frame is all hinged together, and drops into the notches of
the braces, except at each back post, Avhere is a pin in the end of
that piece of the frame that enters a hole through the post, as seen
at A in the view.
This frame and these bars left off, the tent folds up into the
space of 4 in. square and 6 ft. long; and, including bars, frame, and
camera stand legs, weighs eleven pounds. It may be made of half
the weight and be abundantly strong. When open it is 3 ft.
square, and may be covered with cloth seamed all up, except in
front. I use muslin painted with chrome yellow. The cover will
add about nine pounds to the weight, and remains on the frame all
the time. Then I have a box made of thin poplar boards, 3 ft. 1 in.
long, 10 in. high, and 8 in. wide, all outside measurement. The
top has 3£ in. of the front attached to it, and raises up and is hooked
to one of the braces of the tent, while the lower 6 in. of the front
falls down, forming a shelf 14 J in. broad, and the top furnishes a
shelf 3£ in. broad. This box or case is set upon the frame in the
tent, and when shut can be carried by a handle attached to the lid.
Into this I pack my camera, top of stand, chemicals, bath, tin cis¬
tern (which holds one and a-half gallons of water), two vulcanite
trays, and a gutta percha sink (with elastic pipe to lead off the
waste water), each in a compartment to itself. The cistern is set
up on moveable wire legs when in use. This case all filled, with
plates in box, and everything for three dozen stereo, negatives,
weighs twenty-eight and a-half pounds. I have carried it in one
hand and the tent in the other one mile ; and I can set it up in four
minutes, put a plate in the bath, and can pack-up in four more.
Zanesville , Ohio.
THE NEGATIVE ALBUMEN PROCESS ON GLASS.
By John Ciiamb.
( Continued from page 182.)
COATING OF THE PLATES.
This has been a great, if not the greatest, stumbling-block to
the adoption of albumen by amateurs. It has been supposed to be
very difficult to get an even or uniform coating on the plate.
There is no difficulty in getting such a coating of albumen once on
the glass ; but there is some in having the plate dried so as to have
a dry coating of equal thickness throughout. To get this the fluid
albumen must be equally disposed over the plate while it is drying
and as it takes some time in the ordinary condition of our atmos
phere to dry a plate, some arrangement of keeping the glass level
while drying has usually been resorted to, or the plates have been
dried over a fire, or stove, or hot plate. Any one will at once see
that, on whatever plan we dry the plates, there will be imminent
danger of their being injured, by dust falling on them while the
operation of drying is going on, as well as while we are spreading
the albumen on the plate. The use of a drying-box, in which the
plates are all kept quite level while drying, and are also completely
protected from dust, has generally been adopted. These boxes are
constructed on various plans. A convenient arrangement is to
have the box made of a size suited to take
in the largest glasses we generally wrork.
The glasses slide into grooves, which are
so arranged that when one glass is level
all are level. It is easy adjusting the box
before we begin so that one glass is so
levelled. Between each glass, and alter¬
nately with them, thin boards are inserted,
which have previously been made very
dry : these absorb the moisture from the
plates, and so placed the glasses will dry
in a few hours. The lid or door should
slide so as to cover up each groove as we
put a glass in.
A hinged door would expose the plates
each time we put in a newly-coated one.
A cover, to draw down in front, something
like a window-blind, I esteem as the best
plan. There can be nothing easier than
the making of such a drying-box as I have
described. But I would have little hope
of many amateurs being disposed to have
such a box made before they knew if they
could succeed in taking a picture at ail
by the process. I will give you a plan
which gives as good results, but is a little
clumsy and inconvenient where a quantity
ii to be prepared. No special apparatus
is required to be got, except, indeed, a simple spirit level, and that
I think every landscape photographer should carry with him
wherever lie goes to level his camera with. We want a levelled
place to put our plates on : a smooth table, levelled by wedges
under the legs, will do for that. We want a cover to protect the
film from dust : here, in the recess usual at the back of a common
bead picture-frame, is this protector. We next require something
that will absorb the moisture; the deal back of the frame exactly
suits for this purpose. For small plates arid great exactness a piece
of waste plate-glass may be levelled on the table, on which we
place the prepared glasses, and cover till dry.
Suppose 3rou are ready to begin to coat glasses. — The albumen,
beaten and iodised, is settled : it should now be filtered through
sponge or fine linen. The drying-box should be tried if level. All
the polished glasses should be rubbed with a piece of silk to
remove any dust, and placed up against the wall or any other
support. Let the dust so raised settle. The operator should
leave the room and brush his clothes with a damp brush. After
an hour or less he should go in gently and commence operations,
making as little fuss as possible. The operation of coating is
much the same as with collodion. Pour on an abundant amount of
albumen to cover the plate easily ; have a small piece of paper to
guide the albumen over the plate, and to remove specks of dust
and air bubbles ; drain off the superfluous albumen, leaving as
much on as you leant — more or less will do, and the operator soon
learns to leave a regular quantity. No one should be deterred from
trying albumen by the careful direction given regarding the coating,
danger of dust, &c. No great speciality of preparation or arrange¬
ment is absolutely necessary. With an ordinary degree of care I
have successfully albumenised with the simple apparatus I have
described in my bedroom in a Highland cottage and in a metro¬
politan hotel. Be careful, is my advice ; but do not be afraid to try.
When dry, the glasses are ready for the next operation — the
sensitising. The silver bath usually recommended, and which I
alone used for a long time after I began the process, is : — •
Water . 1 ounce.
Nitrate of silver . 45 grains.
Glacial acetic acid . 45 minims.
This will answer admirably for plates with any iodising up to
perhaps ten grains to the ounce of albumen. It gives slow
June I, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 205
pictures, however. An albumen plate is silvered in an instant,
and I am unable to say I ever observed any difference between
those which were only a few seconds in the silver bath and those
which were for a longer time. The flow of silver over the plate
should be very rapid, the most momentary stop leaving a clear
mark. A dipping bath will suit well, but a flat bath I prefer. In
a dipping bath bubbles are apt to form on the surface, which mark
the plate : besides, a flat bath does with a very small amount of
silver solution. A bath of this description, made of gutta percha, I
found to answer very well in my journey through Palestine.
For rapid plates I would recommend more silver, say sixty
grains to the ounce, and not more than a sixth of the amount of acid.
After sensitising, the prepared plates are to be thoroughly
washed to remove all the nitrate of silver that will wash out. For
convenience and economy of water I generally use five or six
dishes. On removal from the silver bath the plate is placed in
No. 1 dish, and is there kept in agitation to prevent the insoluble
silver salt formed from settling on the prepared surface, till nearly
all the silver is removed ; it is then passed to No. 2, and so on in
succession to the last; finally washing for a short time under a
tap, or by pouring water from a jug. I have been in the habit of
using the ordinary water of the place I am in for all operations for
which water is required in this process. Distilled water would be
better for some purposes, but the advantage would not be anything
like a compensation for the trouble and expense of procuring it in
many places. In certain circumstances something more than wash¬
ing with common water may be advantageous, if not absolutely ne¬
cessary sometimes; but as my remarks are more intended for the tyro
than the advanced practitioner, I do not enter on that further here.
KEEPING.
The albumenised plates, if properly dried and packed away, so
as to be kept from damp, will keep for any length of time. I pre¬
pared my plates for the Holy Land before I left Glasgow ; and I
may say, on the question of the time it takes to coat plates, that
some days I coated with my own hands 130 plates.
After silvering I have never tried to keep them longer than
about six weeks, and generally I am content with keeping them a
far shorter time. I have, however, found it quite suitable to pre¬
pare plates at home comfortably ; go for a few days— as long as I
wanted — to the country ; expose my prepared plates as I went
along; and develop and finish when I returned. Acting in this way,
I have never lost a view , and they have generally been published.
Many of them — perhaps I should say more correctly all — are far
below what I would like to get. Some gentlemen photograph to get
perfect pictures, or as near perfect as they can, and some merely to
try processes and formulae. I think there may be a third class, whose
ambition is to get easily and with certainty good fair pictures.
(To be continued.)
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Eothwell.
No. V.
Spherical aberration is caused by the spherical forms of surfaces
on which light is incident, or from which it emerges. When a
ray is incident perpendicularly on the surface of a transparent
body, it is not refracted at all : if the incident ray forms with the
perpendicular a small angle, the refraction is little; but if the
angle of incidence is greater, the refraction is also greater, and
the more oblique an incident ray, the greater its refraction. It will
be easy from this to comprehend how it is that a spherical surface
is the cause of aberration. Referring again to fig. 1, page 85,
suppose parallel rays to be incident on the spherical surface A E B
of the lens A B, the central ray or axis proceeds on without being
refracted, because it strikes the spherical surface, or its tangent
at E, perpendicularly, and emerges from the back plane surface,
also perpendicular to it. Now the ray C II (supposing it to be
parallel to the axis) strikes the surface at IT, and because it strikes
the surface or its tangent at that point oblique!}', it is refracted
so as to cut the axis at d ; all the rays between E and II cut the
axis at intermediate points from d to infinity. The ray C B (sup¬
posing it also to be parallel to the axis) is incident on the edge of
the lens at B ; and because the surface or its tangent at B is more
oblique, that ray is refracted more so as to cut the axis nearer the
lens at b. It will be understood that the above is an explanation
of the way in which the central pencil, whose axes coincide with the
axis of the lens, is affected. An oblique pencil is acted on differently ;
for instance, tire axis D E g of the oblique pencil DAB strikes
the plate at/; the outermost ray D A, after passing the plano¬
convex lens, cuts the axis at m before it arrives at/, the focus; the
opposite outermost ray D B is refracted less (for the reasons I
have stated), and therefore cuts the axis at g beyond the focus/;
thus all the rays on one side of the axis of the oblique pencil cut
that axis before they reach the focus, and all those on the other
side of the axis cut it beyond the focus. This is called astig¬
matism. If the lens were reversed, with its plane side towards
the object, the effects would also be reversed — that is, those rays
which cut the axis beyond the focus would now cut it short of that
point, and so on with the others.
People unacquainted with optics naturally ask whether, seeing
the spherical form produces aberration, there are not other curves
which would not do so. There are, viz., the ellipse and hyperbola,
that is, for central pencils ; but these forms would be worse for
oblique pencils than the spherical : besides which the thing is at
present practically impossible, because it has not yet been dis¬
covered how to grind glass into these forms accurately.
From an inspection of the// and what I have here stated, any
one will comprehend how spherical aberration is prevented, or at
least reduced by a small stop ; for, when the whole aperture A B of
the lens is used, the angle A b B, formed by the outermost rays
A b and B b, cutting the axis at b, is large ; whereas if a stop,
whose diameter is F II, be introduced, the outermost rays F d and
II d do not cut the axis till they arrive at d — thus the angle F d H
is more acute than A b B, and supposing the plate h h to be mid¬
way betwixt the points b and d, it is evident that the pencil A b B,
converging to b and then diverging, will be diffused over a greater
space on the plate than the pencil F d H; therefore the definition
will be worse in the former case than the latter ; and in like
manner a small stop diminishes the astigmatism of oblique pencils,
but cutting off the rays from F to A and from II to B, leaves the
remainder of the pencil to approximate more nearly to the focus/.
Light is composed of the three primary colours- — red, blue, and
yellow : its decomposition occurs along with refraction. When
white or daylight is refracted at the surface of any transparent
medium, it is decomposed into what are called the prismatic
colours — that is, those above indicated, together with the se¬
condary or compound colours, violet, indigo, green, orange, and
innumerable other shades resulting from their intermixture in
endless proportions. Violet is the most refrangible colour, and red
the least so. In the fig. suppose a ray or small beam of light to
strike the lens at F, and to be refracted and dispersed in such a
way that the red cuts the axis at d, the violet at b, and the other
rays of intermediate refrangibility at all points from b to d, then it
is plain that no sharp or clear image of any object could be formed
with the light in this condition. This is chromatic aberration.
The greater the refraction the greater the dispersion or separation
of colour: therefore the light which passes the lens near the mar¬
gin shows more colour and consequently worse definition than
that near the centre. Here is seen again the value of a small
stop as well as in spherical aberration.
It would be out of place here to say anything of the means or con¬
trivances for correcting spherical and chromatic aberration, except¬
ing so far as I have done in relation to stops, as information on
them can be obtained from the elementary works on optics.
A knowledge of the chemical or actinic powers of natural colours
is of great use to the practical photographer, as it saves a great
deal of trouble, as well as enables him to produce superior pictures,
particularly portraits. White light acts more powerfully than any
colour : of the primary colours blue is the next, whereas yellow
and red act almost the same as black. By the mixture of white,
blue, red, and yellow, in various proportions, all shades are pro¬
duced, and operate chemically according to the proportions of the
primary colours in any shade or compound colour : thus light
blue, a mixture of strong blue and white, is very powerful ; so also
is lilac or puce, a mixture of light blue and a little red. Pink, a
mixture of white and a little red, is an energetic colour; and then
come violet and blue. By taking into consideration the composi¬
tion of any shade or compound colour, it may be guessed very
nearly how it will act. Any colour in which there is a large pro¬
portion of white or blue acts quickly; but when yellow or red
predominate the action is weak. Grey, particularly light grey, is
quick acting, because there is a large proportion of white in it.
Drab is much the same. Brown is not a slow colour, though there
is a great deal of red in it. Orange is weak, because composed of
red and yellow. Green is also a feeble colour.
In taking a portrait the face is the most important and first con¬
sideration. If the portraits of two persons have to be taken — one
with a “jolly red face ” and dark eyes, and the other with blanched
cheeks and light eyes — it is quite certain that the same exposure
206
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 1801
will not answer equally well for both: whatever colours of clothes
they have on, the red face must have the. longest exposure. The
physiognomy most difficult to take is a red face, sandy hair, and
light blue eyes. Such a subject must be timed and developed to
the greatest nicety, or it will be a miserable thing when done. In
taking either portraits or views it is advisable to take into account
not only the time of day, and the lightness or dulness of it, but
also the hue or colour of the light at the time.
These considerations in reference to colour m.ust not be forgotten
when taking a group, as there is often a wide variation in com¬
plexions.
[The Editor is in no way responsible for tha opinions advanced by Mr. Xothwell.J
€ rTj % k i f x 0 n .
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
The Exhibition of this Society, proposed to be held at Aston Hall,
was partly opened on Tuesday the 28th ult. ; and although only
so short a notice could be given of it, the response on the part of
some of our first photographers has been most liberal.
We noticed amongst the list of contributors the names of Mr.
Mudd, of Manchester, who sends eighteen pictures, including his
Coniston Falls, Goderich Castle , &c. ; Mr. Vernon Heath, fifteen, com¬
prising his Views of Endsleigh, the seat of the Duke of Bedford, &c. ;
Mr. F. Bedford, twenty of his architectural and other subjects — and
Messrs. Thompson, the publishers, also exhibit twenty-four pictures
by the same artist; Mr. Samuel Fry, nine; Messrs. Wall and Co.,
three, one being a^portrait in oil, by Mr. A. H. Wall; Lyndon
Smith, Esq., Leeds, four; John II. Morgan, Esq., Clifton, twenty-
four ; the Rev. T. Melville Raven, eighteen ; Major Gresley, of
Winterdyne, near Bewdley, sends eight ; Major Shakespear,
Royal Artillery, live--' Views in the Island of Corf u ; T. C. Earl, of
Worcester, eleven, comprising his panoramic and other Views of
Raglan Castle, &c. ; Mr. Robert Gordon, of the Isle of Wight,
seven; Mr. Annan, of Glasgow, seven, who is at present the only
exhibitor from Scotland, as is Mr. Brownrigg, of Dublin, from
Ireland, who sends two pictures ; Mr. Lyley, of Bristol, twelve ;
Mr. Rogerson, of Manchester, four by the waxed-paper process;
Dr. Anthony contributes six pictures, being a portion of Robert¬
son’s Vieios of Sebastopol and Neighbourhood ; Miss Campbell, of
Gand, a beautiful little reproduction; and Mr. Bowen, of Kilbain,
a Study of a Cottage in Middlesex. A number of photographs from
China, taken during the late war, and kindly lent by a Birmingham
gentleman, will form a very interesting portion of the Exhibition ;
while Messrs. Rejlander and Robinson make a good show in their
respective departments. Portraiture is as yet the weakest point
in the Exhibition, and while M. Claudet sends some twenty-four
specimens, we miss with regret the names of Mayall, Williams. &c.,
in this branch, as in others we also miss those of Fenton, Maxwell
Lyte, Lake Price, Frith, Cundall and Downes, Dolamore and Bullock,
Negretti and Zambra, Cocke, Wilson, Baldus, Bisson, &c. &c.
The productions from the solar camera are not so numerous as
we hoped from the liberality displayed on the part of the Society
in awarding two medals to them. Messrs. Smyth and Blanchard
of London contribute six, Mr. Angel of Exeter four, and Mr.
Atkinson of Liverpool three, all plain untouched prints ; Mr. Turner
of Birmingham three plain and two coloured in oil, and Mr.
Pickering of Birmingham three coloured ones.
The only stereographs we have to notice are those of C.
Bruse, Esq., of Birmingham, which are very remarkable instanta¬
neous pictures.
At present the Society has not received any apparatus. This is
to be regretted, as they have space at their disposal for a large
display ; as also for hanging a large number of pictures, should
any gentleman who has not yet contributed feel disposed to assist
the committee by doing so, either at once or at any time during
the continuance of the Exhibition ; but of course they will now be
ineligible to compete for the medals of the Society.
We were very much surprised to find that the Birmingham pho¬
tographers had exhibited so few pictures, as there are many gentle¬
men in the town using the solar camera ; but not only in “ solars,”
but in portraiture and landscape, the Birmingham Society is
entirely unrepresented, except by Messrs. Rejlander and Robinson ;
and it is to be the more regretted as there are men in the town
capable of producing first-class pictures.
Wo hope in the next number of the Journal to give a more
dotailed description, and also a list of the successful competitors.
ittcctiirqs of ilorietics.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
evening, the 17th ult., at St. Peter’s School Room, Walworth, at eight
o’clock, — Sebastian Davis, Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman announced that Mr. Wall, their Secretary, had presented
their portfolio with four album portraits of public characters, photo¬
graphed by himself.
Mr. S. Smith read a paper On the Solar Camera, and exhibited several
portraits enlarged by that instrument. Some of these pictures were on
rough paper, so that they might be finished with chalk; others on smooth
paper for oil or water colours.
Mr. Blanchard, after explaining the construction of a solar camera
that was on the table, said he had never tried to enlarge photographs to
a greater size than double Saxe paper, but it was quite possible to get a
full length portrait six feet high — in fact, there was scarcely a limit to
the size; but of course the larger the picture the less of detail and dis¬
tinctness it presented. In answer to Mr. Simpson he said the size of the
sun’s image on the back lens of the portrait combination was only one-
eighth of an inch, and therefore the remainder of that lens was not em¬
ployed in the operation, so that a meniscus lens would be sufficient for
the purpose. He thought either dry or wet plates might be used, and
the picture printed by superposition. The dry plate not being so dense
as the wet plate would answer better in the solar camera, as the weakest
negath’e gave the best positive prints.
The Chairman said if stereoscopic plates could be enlarged to about
ten by eight or nine by seven, the effect would be very beautiful. Could
Mr. Smith enlarge a stereoscopic slide by their next meeting?
Mr. Smith intended doing so, and he had been promised a slide by Mr.
Howard for that purpose.
Mr. Wall had always been anxious to get enlarged pictures for the
purpose of finishing them in oil or water colours, but be had invariably
found that, although the small picture appeared to be full of detail and half¬
tone, the enlarged one seemed a mass of flat shadows and flat lights. On
comparing them carefully he found the larger was a faithful copy of the
smaller photograph ; but the faults unnoticed in the latter became pro¬
minent in the former. The pictures then before them, on the contrary,
presented sufficient detail and half-tone, and looked quite round; and
this was the result of a somewhat important fact, viz., that they were
procured from such negatives as — although full of detail and gradation —
were too weak for printing small pictures of their own size.
Mr. Howard, like many other amateurs, had been desirous of enlarging
his stereoscopic pictures, and had tried to enlarge his negatives by the
old method ; but lie found that, after enlarging to twice the size, the pic
ture became indistinct, and the effect was decidedly objectionable. In
1859 he had mentioned the subject at one of their meetings, and had
exhibited a picture he had enlarged. He had on that occasion used a
quarter-plate lens, allowing a strong light to pass through it, and the
image was received at the proper distance upon a wet collodion plate.
The exposure was about a minute and a-lialf.
Mr. Fry said he had practised enlarging, and always preferred obtain¬
ing a transparency on glass, and printing from it by superposition. By
that means either pyrogallic or iron developed negatives might be em¬
ployed. Transparencies were very superior to print from, as the colour
of the print would be regulated easily, and vignettes could be obtained by
shading the margin of the plate. He did not use a wet collodion plate,
but a large Fothergill one. He had used for some time the legitimate
Woodward’s camera, and, after many Dials, he came to the conclusion
that it was better to use the north light of the sky than the direct rays
of the sun. It did not matter in that case whether the sun shone or not,
so long as it did not shine into the camera. Some time ago he had
enlarged a negative of an oil picture to 34 by 23, for the purpose of the
engraver. Certainly the pictures then exhibited by Mr. Smith and
Mr. Blanchard were very line indeed, and he thought they deserved
the thanks of the Society for the trouble they had taken in bringing the
subject before them. He had used the pure sea salts to prepare his paper
for taking enlai’ged pictures, instead of employing the regular solutious
of bromides and iodides, and he found they answered excellently. A
chemist at Brighton, named Schweitzer, prepared the salts for aquariums
and artificial sea baths ; these might also be used with advantage for
albumenised paper, instead of chloride of sodium.
Mr. Blanchard exhibited a print spoilt through too rapid evaporation
going on whilst the paper was wet. He also alluded to the purpose to
which the solar camera might be applied, viz., throwing the image on the
canvas for the artist to trace over with his pencil, and to obtain a per¬
fectly accurate outline in a few minutes, instead of giving some hours to
the operation, as was usually the case. He had frequently taken por¬
traits in this manner.
Mr. Hughes said it would be better for artists who wished to paint the
enlarged image direct on their canvas to work with a transparent posi¬
tive, as then they would have light for light and shadow for shadow.
With regard to Mr. Fry’s remarks, he thought that gentleman was the
first avIio had said a north light acted better with the solar camera than
the direct rays of the sun ; in fact, the electric and the oxyliydrogen
une 1, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
SOI
ichts were generally preferred to the diffused light of the northern sky.
n his (Mr. Hughes’s) opinion there was almost as much difference
ietween the direct light of the sun and a north light as there was
be recollected that Mr. Fry always used
ither wet or dry plates on which to take the enlarged picture, which
vere far more sensitive than the wet paper. M
The thanks of the meeting were given to Mr. Smith and Mr. Blanchai d^
Mr. Wall, the Secretary, read his paper On Sharpness : What is it .
S Aft ei-The reading, the Chairman invited discussion on the paper, and
sarticularly asked Mr. Hughes to express his opinions.
' Mr. Hughes said he thought their worthy Secretary had selected a
wrong title for his paper : he should have called it “ Sharpness, and When
is it Properly Used?” He thought photographers were entirely agreed
with regard to the nature of sharpness, and the only dispute among them
was as to how and when it should be used. The answer to the question,
“ What is sharpness?” appeared obvious, until a person endeavoured to
define it. The fact was, sharpness was like one of those primitive sensa¬
tions that they had no words to describe. He should say ‘ Oro and look
at the ground glass at the back of your lens, and, upon accurately adjust¬
ing the focus, there you will see sharpness. How far it was desirable
to indiscriminately employ it was quite a different thing : in most cases it
•was highly desirable, in some less so. Sharpness, like every other good
thing, required to be used in its proper place. It was an excellent thing*
in a razor, but not in a paper-knife. The old adage that children should
not play with sharp edged tools” applied to inexperienced photogiaplieis ,
for it was clearly an abuse of sharpness to delineate every brick m the
wall behind as carefully as the head of . the. sitter in advance ot it. i>u
while admitting its occasional misapplication, he could never forget its
high qualities. However artists might disagree among themselves about
it there was no one point upon which photographers were so thorough y
at one with each other as on the desirability of sharpness. lo secure it
they employed the most skilful opticians, and gave large sums for then-
lenses ; and no pains were considered too great to secure it in its highest
and most exalted condition. Why had not enlarged, pictures been more
general ? Because of the loss of sharpness. And was it not the great merit
of the solar camera that, while it enlarged the image, it lost less ot that
vital quality, sharpness, than any other instrument? But all parts ot a
picture were seldom equally sharp, and hence arose the question, where
should be the sharpest part ? On that point, too, he thought photographers
had sounder views and more correct practice than their artistic mends
gave them credit for. Take a portrait, for example, where should be the
greatest sharpness ? Why certainly in the head,, for that was the most im¬
portant ; and of all parts of the head the eye was invariably selected as the
portion to focus on, for the photographer naturally felt that if there be
mind, feeling, or character, in the individual, the eye-— . the window
of the soul” — must express it. In like manner, m taking a gioup,
some figures were felt to be more important than others, and on
them was concentrated the focus; and thus the exigencies of the p 10-
tographer and the practice of artists were brought into harmony,
was important not to confound hardness and sharpness, for they were
very different. Hardness was absence of half-tone and gradation a
more rapid transition from high light to deep shadow than was nature .
A picture might be sharp and hard, or it might be sharp and. yet spit. a
picture might also be hard and not sharp at all : any impression, it under¬
exposed and over-developed, would certainly be hard, but whether it won d
be sharp depended on totally different conditions. Through the whole of
Mr. Wall’s paper there was a tendency to saddle the faults of hau ness
on the back of sharpness. Condemn hardness by all means, but not the
power of definition. Mr. Wall made a mistake when he said inferior
lenses gave harder outlines to the face than superior ones. Me thought
such hardness was attributable to defective, manipulation and lig 1 mg
rather than to the lens. A lens that was incapable of giving* correct
definition could never give a firmer or more decided line than a supenoi
lens. Perfect sharpness was entirely consistent with perfect softness,
hard picture was an imperfect picture, for it gave only the highest lights and
deepest shadows — and it exaggerated those. Perfect sharpness, owever,
defined not only high lights and deep shades, but all the intermediate gra¬
dations and half-tints, and the presence of the latter constituted softness ,
therefore, a truly sharp picture was not a hard, but must be a soft, one.
Mr. Howard defined sharpness as a necessity arising from the practice
that had been adopted during the last few years of representing nature
and minute objects in small pictures. In large paintings they saw that
only the principal figures were sharp; but m the small cabinet picture
there was as much sharpness as in a photograph. In early plio ogi p
only one-third of the picture was visible, and, therefore, the sharpness w as
confined to one place; whereas now, by the aid of improvec ms mmeim ,
nearly the whole of the picture could be mode sharp. Thus shaipness
had, as he said at first, become a necessity. . ,
Mr. Pry agreed with Mr. Hughes that enlarged pictures would never
be generally made use of, on account of their want ot sharpness.
The Chairman said lie should define sharpness as freedom from optical
distortion when the picture was seen at the proper angie anc. is ance.
Sharpness depended greatly upon the distance at which the pic me w.
to be presented to the eye; for instance, a large picture required les
detail than a smaller one, because it was to be looked at from a gi
distance. Sharpness ought not to be confinetl to one spot, but ought to
be equally distributed over the whole picture. In a lens he was examining
the other day he found the sharpness was confined to a microscopic spot,
whilst there was no sharpness over the rest of the picture. Foreign
lenses did not give anything like the same sharpness as those of English
make but what they did give was more uniformly distributed over the
picture. They ought to aim at equal sharpness all over the picture ; but
he did not think any person would focus for the back of the picture in¬
stead of the foreground. . __ .
Mr. Wall, in reply, entered into a discussion with. Mr. Hughes, re¬
garding certain opinions expressed by various authorities, and tending,
he (Mr Wall) thought, to show that opinions upon this subject were not
at all so unanimous as Mr. Hughes had stated they were. He then pro¬
ceeded to sav that he had shown, at all events, that there was a great
difference among photographers and artists as to wliat sharpness really
was Mr. Hughes had said that a photographer need only look for sharp¬
ness on the ground glass ; but. he replied that Mr. Hughes had forgotten
that the eye only saw that which it brought with it the powei to see. If
the photographer mistook hardness for sharpness, he would contrive to
get hardness instead of sharpness; and lie therefore thought it very
advisable that some attempt should be made to define wliat. sharpness
legitimately was, so that other evil qualities might not be mistaken for
it and described by its name, to the detriment of the art and the injury
of its professors. With regard to the definition given by an inferior lens,
he thought Mr. Hughes was right in saying that the hardness was owing*
to the manipulation and not to the lens In answer to Mr Howard, he
might say that the same qualities would be required in the large as were
required in the cabinet pictures, with this difference, that, to take m the
whole of each production, the spectator would have to place himself nearer
to or farther from the picture, according to its size, and consequently the
treatment would be varied just as much as was necessary to meet such
requirements, although the principles of pictorial art would not be
changed in the least for either case. Mr. Fry, in his reference to the
solar camera, had overlooked this fact in his remarks upon Mr. Smith s
beautiful productions. The delicacy and tender finish of a miniature
would be out of place, and produce a want of roundness and vigour, if
applied to a life-size head on canvas ; and just so would the characteristics
of a small photograph be out of place applied, to large heads like those
before them He was so sure that there was infinitely more detail and
drawino* in these enlarged photographs than in the smaller, that he would
assert that a reduced copy of one of them would give a very superior
and remarkably beautiful result. . He rather fancied that what Mr. Fiy
would regard as sharpness he might be inclined to define as haidness, 01
something approximating to it.
Mr. Fry said not at all. ,, ,,
Mr Will, in continuation of Ins reply, said their Chairman thougnt
no Derson would be so absurd as to focus for the back or. distance ot a
nicture Now, there were plenty of photographs in existence which
might serve to convince Mr. Davis that there were such persons in
existence • and, by way of instance, he might mention a fact he had once
before pAlicly referred to :-At a meeting of a photographic society a
picture, produced by a celebrated lady photographer, eras very highly
praised because it represented a church not less than fiv e miles distant
as distinctly as objects in the foreground-these being, if he remembered
rio-btlv the very words used. In conclusion, he must add that they
should endeavour to train the eye of the photographer to see the qualities
most desirable in their productions, and not suppose that the uneducated
instincts of every man were sufficient to make hun a judge of what did
or what did not constitute this or that quality of art.
A vote of thanks was then passed to Mr. M all for his paper. .
The Chairman announced that the next meeting would be their annual
one and that it was the intention of the Managing Committee to propose
great alterations in the management and rules of the Society. He therefore
requested there would be a full attendance of members on that occasion.
Mr Hughes gave notice of his intention of moving, on the next meeting
night, certain alterations in the laws of the Society. ■
The proceedings terminated with the usual v ote of thanks to the
Chairman. .
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
We resume our notice of the last meeting of this Society, held on 17th ult
At the close of Mr. Davies's paper On the Photographic Properties of
Gold Tsee page 183], , , ’ , _ ,
Mr. Nicol said he should like to make one or two observations. In
the first place they were all much indebted to Mr. Davies for the paper
he had iust read, in which he had goue pretty thoroughly mto the matter.
He could not, however, altogether subscribe to bis conclusions. It would
be evident to most of them who had been accustomed to make chloride
Of cold that Mr. Davies’s habit of making it of impure gilders’ sweepings,
with bis statement that a certain quantity of these sweepings tvouia give
us a certain quantity of chloride of gold, was somewhat. open to objection.
Besides, photography being an art the beauty of which very much de¬
pended oi purity, and it being pretty evident that these gilners sweep-
Fn^s were Contaminated with base metals, he thought it was better to
make use of as pure gold as they could possibly procure A half-sovereign
would yield ninety-two grains of chloride, which would be at the rata
of nine grains for a shilling if they manufactured it for themselves,
208
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 18Gi
£.
which he found few amateurs cared about doing, and he had no doubt
fewer still would do so were it not for the fact that the sealed tubes
usually represented as containing fifteen grains were often notoriously
deficient. They had gone through many hundreds of them, and some
time ago his attention was called to a sample by one of the best makers.
He opened and tested one tube, which lie found to contain only 6-44
grains of metallic gold. He at once wrote to the manufacturer, and
received a letter admitting that it contained about 20 to 25 per cent, of
chloride of sodium, but that nevertheless there was none purer in the
market. Since that time he had given up purchasing tubes and now-
made it himself, keeping it in solution, which was sold at the rate of
2jd. for each grain of pure chloride. It was impossible to keep chloride
of gold in solution along with carbonate of soda. To make it keep,
acid must he added ; for, if neutral or alkaline, it would undergo
decomposition. Although Mr. Davies’s process might do for an occa¬
sional experiment, yet it was faulty. There should be a process for
obtaining a solution of gold quite neutral without the use of alkali. A
good way of making chloride was to put a piece of pure gold into muriatic
acid, and add nitric acid until the action commenced. When dissolved it
was put on a water bath and evaporated to dryness. They had by this
mode of proceeding chloride of gold nearly neutral, and which would keep
any length of time. Mr. Davies’s system, then, he thought to be faulty,
first, because it required to be neutralised by sodium. Would Mr. Davies
tell the members how many square inches a grain of chloride of gold
would tone? Before sitting down he might mention that the amateur
had a very simple method of keeping himself square when purchasing
chloride of gold. A solution of protosulphate of iron was added to it,
when the pure gold would be precipitated in a metallic form, which might
then be filtered and weighed.
Mr. Walker said he would like to ask what objection there was to
making the chloride of gold by the direct action of chlorine on gold.
They all knew that it would dissolve the gold, and it appeared obvious they
would by this means obtain an absolutely neutral and pure chloride of gold.
A Member : But will chlorine dissolve gold?
Mr. Nicol said that gold was soluble in a solution of chlorine, and Mr.
Walker was quite correct in supposing the resulting salt would be neutral ;
but the objection to that method was the very great length of time they
must wait before dissolution would take place. It was done by getting a
Woolfs bottle full of water, to which was added the gold in the form of gold
leaf; a current of chlorine to be passed through it until the solution was
complete. He had prepared some by this process ; but the trouble and
expense was such that it was very undesirable to do it.
Mr. Davies remarked that he often dried otf the acid by heat, although
he had not done so that night. In reference to the number of square inches
a grain of gold would tone, he thought it had been estimated at 144.
A Member said that a grain of pure gold should and did tone well 500
square inches.
Dean of Guild Mossman said it seemed that there was a great deal of
adulteration carried on in connexion with the manufacture of that article ;
and if similar adulteration existed in other chemicals, it would be well
that, for the benefit of the young and inexperienced members, the
Society would enter into an arrangement with some chemist to supply
the members with absolutely pure chemicals at a certain rate.
Mr. Taylor introduced the subject of toning prints by the hyposulphite
of gold or sel d'or process; and, for the benefit of the younger members,
explained that by this method the toning and fixing of a print were carried
on simultaneously, one solution only being required. This solution was
prepai’ed by pouring a solution of chloride of gold into a strong solution
of hyposulphite of soda. The convenience of this over what is termed
alkaline gold-toning, was marked, and the results were very beautiful.
While he was not aware of any great objection to this method of toning,
it had one advantage over alkaline gold-toning in that it did not require
such over-printing. There had been a cry raised about the permanency
of prints so toned ; he did not think this alleged objection could be sub¬
stantiated. He thought that, with proper care, prints toned, even by the
“ old hypo." process, in which no gold at all entered, might be rendered
permanent. He did not wish to decry the alkaline toning (which he often
employed), but he wished to speak a word in favour of the other methods,
which it was now so fashionable to undervalue. If he mistook not, Mr.
Ramage had had some experience with the sel d’or process of toning and
fixing ; perhaps he would give them the result of that experience.
Mr. Ramage said he had never had a print which, when properly
washed, faded; and he had toned many hundreds by the hyposulphite of
gold. When pictures toned in that way faded, it was always the result of
imperfect washing.
Mr. Davies observed that many of the prints belonging to the Archi¬
tectural Photographic Society, which were recently exhibited in Edinburgh,
were toned by the old process, and several of them were nearly totally des¬
troyed ; the dingy yellow whites were very noticeable. He had often used
the sel d'or process, and had no hesitation in saying that by means of it
they would get very beautiful prints. Perhaps with some negatives they
would get a better quality of print than they could with alkaline chloride
of gold ; but it was with what he believed to be the “ galvanic process ” of
toning that they would get permanency.
Mr. Nicol thought they wero all very much agreed that the alkaline
method was the best. He had no sympathy with the outcry raised against
an old friend. It was just as permanent every bit; but it required much
longer and more careful washing. He had a picture tuned in that way
which had been for the last five years hanging up exposed to all sui ts of
treatment, and coming in contact with all sorts of gaseous vapour, and
yet the picture was just as beautiful as the day it was first taken. The
alkaline process was much quicker than the old way, and he pn IVrml it
when toning a number of prints at a time ; but when he had only one or
two to do, he used the other. As for Mr. Davies’s idea of accounting for
the action of the gold in analogy with electro-deposition, he feared there
were no good grounds for it. He had recently experimented with a view
to determine the nature of' the photographic image, and he had sulficic nt
evidence to warrant him in believing that the picture did not consist iu
any degree of pure metallic gold, which it would have done were it toned
by a process analogous to that of electro-deposition.
After some further desultory conversation, the meeting separated.
The next meeting takes place on the 5th inst., in George Street Ilall.
PHOTOGRAPHIC! SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The fifth annual general meeting of this Society was held at 51, George
Street, Edinburgh, on the evening of Tuesday, the 14th ult. There was
not a very numerous attendance. George Moir, Esq., occupied the chair.
Capt. Suttie having been admitted a member, the Secretary read the
ANNUAL REPORT.
In presenting their report on the conclusion of the fifth year of the Society's existence,
the Council would have been glad if they had been enabled to congratulate the member*
on the past year having bei n one of more marked progress. Believing, however, that it
rests very much with the members themselves to add not only to the interest of the
meetings, but to the usefulness of the Society generally, the Council do not doubt but the
prominent place which the Society lias hitherto occupied will be fully maintained ; and
while they trust that before next season they may be able to make such ai rangements as
will add to the attractiveness of the monthly meetings, they would desire strongly to
urge upon members, individually, the many advantages which would arise if they would
communicate freely the results of their investigations and experience in particular de-
partments of the art. Great discoveries are possibly not now to be expected; but there
is still an ample field for improvement in all the various branche* ( f the art— chemical,
optical, and manipulatory; and nothing would form a more attractive feature in the
meetings of the Society than the unreserved communication of such details, as well ns
the exhibition of any new apparatus of which the members of the Society may be in pos¬
session. While regretting, however, that more has not been done, the Council may
fairly congratulate the Society on having been the means of giving to the photographic
world so many intercstimr papers as were read before them last year, and published in
the Photographic Journal; and they desire to record the obligations under which they
lie to Sir D. Brewster, Mr. Claudet, Mr. Wall, Mr. L’Amy, Mr. Tunny, Mr. Walker, Mr.
Taylor, Mr. Maxwell Lyte, Mr. Cramb, Mr. Burnett, and others, for having contributed
them.
At the last annual general meeting the Council had the pleasure of recommending that
the Society’s bronze medal should be’awarded to Mr. Macnair, for the account which lie
had laid before the Society of his new dry collodion process. The Council are glad to
observe that further experience of this valuable process has completely justified their
recommendation. All who hare practised it are convinced that it is much the best dry
process yet discovered. Its great advantages are the simplicity and certainty of the pre¬
paration, the sensitiveness in the camera, and rapidity of development (approaching in
these respects even to wet collodion), the great length of time which it enables the plates
to be kept without the slightest deterioration, and the vigour and delicacy of the result¬
ing pictures. Whilst so many new dry processes, or rather modifications of existing
processes, are being brought before the public— many of which, by their complication
and uncertainty, prove unsatisfactory when tested by the practical photographer— it
must be highly satisfactory to the Society to have been the means, through one of its
members, of introducing a process which is really valuable and practical.
As the Society is aware, the opening of the last Exhibition was postponed from Decem¬
ber to February. This was done under the impression that a larger number of visitor*
might be expected at a season when there are more strangers in town, and the weather
is more favourable for visiting places of the kind ; the result, however, has not been
such as was anticipated, and the Council therefore propose that the next Exhibition
should be opened in December, as formerly. The Council are glad to say that, notwith¬
standing the diminished attendance, the Exhibition will still leave a small balance at the
credit of the Society ; and they need scarcely remind members that in all other respects
it was completely successful— a similar collection in point of merit, more particularly in
landscape photography, having probably not previously been brought together.
The two silver medals of the Society were this year awarded to Messrs. Claudet and
Maxwell Lyte; and on the suggestion of Mr. Horatio Ross, who had again kindly acted
as judge, an additional bronze medal was awarded to Mr. H. P. Robinson. It would
doubtless be gratifying to the Society to see how much the award of their medals is ap¬
preciated— Mr. Claudet having come from London specially to receive his, and both the
other gentlemen having expressed in very flattering terms their sense of the honour con¬
ferred on them.
Notwithstanding the comparatively unfavourable result of the Exhibition, the funds of
the Society are in a highly satisfactory position, as will be seen by the annexed statement.
It will be in the recollection of the Society that it was thought desirable to accumulate
from the annual income a fund to be applied in procuring rooms for the special use of
the Society. From the experience gained elsewhere, however, the Council fear that the
great expense attendant on such a scheme, both in reference to original outlay and
annual expenditure, places it beyond the reach of the Society. Accordingly, they would
now propose that the Society should limit its exertions in this direction, and rather look
to entering into an arrangement for acquiring convenient premises along with other
kindred societies. As the Council are of opinion that the fund already accumulated
should prove sufficient for this purpose, they would suggest that in future years a por¬
tion of the annual income should be applied in furnishing to each member a photograph,
or photographs, illustrative of the progress of the art ; and they would hope that in this
way the non-resident members of the Society will be enabled to share somewhat more
largely than they do at present in its advantages.
As required by the laws of the Society, the President, the Senior Vice-President (Mr.
Horatio Ross), the four Senior Members of the Council (Messrs. A. Y. Herries, George
Harvey, T. Melville Raven, and T. B. Johnston), the Honorary Secretary, and the Hono¬
rary Treasurer, retire upon this occasion, hut are re-eligible.
The Council would suggest that the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Trea¬
surer should be re-elected to their respective offices ; that Mr. Herries and Mr. Johnston
should he re-elected as councillors; and that Major Ramsay L’Amy and Mr. Findlay
Anderson should be elected in place of Mr. Harvey, who has expressed a desire to retire,
and Mr. Raven, who now resides in England.
A state of the funds for the past year is annexed, showing the sum of £386 18s. lid. in
favour of the Society, as compared with £315 12s. 8d. at the close of the preceding year.
On tlie motion of Sheriff TIallard, seconded by Wm. Walker, Esq.,
the report was unanimously adopted.
209
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
une 1, 1861]
STATE OP THE FUNDS AT MAY 1, 1861.
ialance in favour of the Society on the general account, at 1st May, 1861 . £380 9 3
talance on accounts in connexion with the Exhibition and sale of photographs 4 7 8
a-rears of subscriptions due by members considered recoverable . 2 2 0
Amount of funds as at 1st May, 1861 . £386 18 11
Mr. Bryson then exhibited a portable stereoscopic camera ; Mr. Aucliie
i mahogany expanding camera, by Thomas, of London (which, as apiece of
■abinet work, was much admired) ; and Mr. Taylor showed some negatives
tnd transparencies by the tannin process, after which the meeting separated.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held in their room, at
{the Odd Fellows Hall, Temple Street, Birmingham, on Tuesday evening
last, the 28th ult., when Mr. W. B. Osborne, Vice-President, took the chair.
The circular convening the meeting having been read, the proceedings
of the last meeting of the Society were read and confirmed.
Mr. Bkown said that prospectuses had been forwarded to him by the
Amateur Photographic Association, copies of which he would be happy to
,hand over to any gentleman who might desire them. In his opinion the
advantages to be derived from joining the Association were very great,
particularly to amateurs, for whom it was more especially intended. He
saw that the scheme had been written down in some of the journals ; hut
if any gentleman would take the trouble to read the rules, he would find
that the Amateur’s’ Association offered far greater benefits than could be
obtained by means of any exchange club or society of that kind. Mr.
Brown also stated that he had received the prospectus of a Photographic
Exhibition, to be held in Manchester, in connexion with the Meeting of
the British Association.
The Chairman then made some remarks upon a paper read by Mr. K.
W. Thomas, before the London Photographic Society, on May 7th, en¬
titled lloio to Prevent Stains and Streaks in the Collodion Negative. Mr.
Osborn read the salient points in the paper, in which it was contended
that the principal cause of want of success in photography, and of streaks
in the negative, is due to the introduction of toe much light in the dark
room; and, in order to remedy this, it is suggested that no light should
he admitted into the dark room except through a piece of amber- coloured
glass, covered closely on each side witli a single thickness of yellow tammy.
He then said that he had been induced to make a few remarks upon
that subject because it struck him that that paper, coming from one
who was such a high authority in photographic matters as Mr. Thomas,
was calculated to do a good deal of damage, especially amongst
amateurs. Mr. Thomas started with the assertion that they had all too
much light in their operating rooms, and that light coming through yel¬
low glass still retained so much actinism as would produce stains: and
recommended that the yellow window should he darkened by means of
two folds of yellow tammy, a kind of woollen cloth. Now he (Mr. Osborn)
imagined that if this was done it would be so dark in the room that
nothing could be seen hut the plate when in close proximity to the win¬
dow, the result of which would be a dire upsetting of chemicals, &c. He
had his dark room lighted by a window, which was two feet square, and
was simply covered with two pieces of light yellow paper, and he had
never had a single streak or stain in negatives caused by the light which
came through that window. Orange glass not of the proper tint might
cause stains in the negative ; but if it was of the proper quality, and tested,
as it ought to he in every case, with sensitised paper, so as to prove that
it decomposed all actinic light, there would be no need to fear stains and
streaks from that cause. In his opinion, the principal cause of stains was
the want of cleanliness — a sin to which many amateur and professional
photographers must plead guilty. If everything was kept scrupulously
clean, the bath filtered, and everything in the highest state of purity, he
did not think there would be much need to fear stains of any description.
There were several methods of producing stains, such as the insufficient
immersion of the plate in the bath ; even if drawn out before the iodide of
silver was properly formed, and then put in the camera, it was extremely
probable that oily -looking streaks would he produced oh the plate ;
hut then that stain would be produced in the camera, and not in
the dark room. In washing a plate in the hath care should be taken
that it was properly drained before placing it in the camera, as, if this
was not attended to, a quantity of the silver would fall to the lower part
of the glass, and either in drawing up the slide or putting it down it was
probable that a splash would he caused, which would produce streaks ou
the plate, or else the silver would sink into the wood, and form a nucleus
for future stains. Insufficient exposure was also a cause of stains, as in
such cases they were frequently obliged to use the developer to such an
extent as to produce stains that would otherwise not have been visible.
Dirty fingers were prolific causes of stains, as in preparing many plates,
if great care was not taken, a little streak would rise from the thumb,
which, if not perceived, would gradually carry itself almost half way across
the plate. Stains might be caused by the iron developer used being too
strong, and by an improper method of development, which caused much
trouble to amateur photographers. The method of development was, in
his opinion, the most important part of the photographic process; and
so few people understood how to bring out a picture under any cir¬
cumstances of difficulty by development, that it might be said to be one
of their bugbears. The use of a pyrogallic developer too strong would
have a similar effect to the iron developer, hut not to so great an extent. In
washing after development he had seen some amateurs who simply slushed
one end of the picture in water and then put on the cyanide, when
of course the picture was covered with marks. When the cyanide was
too strong it was apt to cause stains ; and, being poured on before the
iron developer was sufficiently washed off, it produced a sort of Prussian
blue which inevitably stained the negative. He had mentioned those few
points to show that there were a great many other reasons for stains in
the negative besides those which had been given by their friend, Mr.
Thomas, and with the hope of exciting a discussion.
Mr. Turner said His dark room was lighted with hare yellow glass, and
he did not find that it caused stains or streaks upon his negatives. In
his opinion the chief cause of stains was not immersing the plate long
enough in the bath, but that did not happen in the developing room. If
light got into the camera it caused stains somewhat similar to those
caused by want of sufficient immersion in the bath.
Mr. Johnstone said he was sorry that no photographic journal should
point out what description of glass ought to be used in lighting the dark
room. It had been found out years ago that the only glass proper for
that purpose was that prepared with silver — glass stained with copper
would not stop the actinic light. Some sixteen years ago he got two kinds
of glass— one stained with silver and the other with copper; and, though
there was very little difference in the colour of the two, the former de¬
composed the actinic light in passing through, and the other did not.
The Chairman said that some yellow glass would stop actinic light
when placed in a certain position — say looking to the north— but when
exposed to the sun would admit it.
Mr. Plante said there were a few remarks in Mr. Thomas's paper on
the various kinds of collodion, which was a very important point; and it
was also stated that the light given off from the objects to be copied im¬
pressed the first atoms of the sensitive film, and that the first atoms only
were affected in the camera. Mr. Thomas made it clear that in the dark
room the stains occurred before the exposure of the picture, andnotafter.
Now, with the translucent kind of collodion film this was a great annoy¬
ance, hut in the creamy or opaque films it made very little difference, as
the stains did not show through. He had often observed that the stain
was in the picture, as it were, between two layers of collodion ; but he had
never before been able to account for it satisfactorily.
Mr. Johnstone said it appeared clear to him that in the daguerreo¬
type the first atoms of the iodised silver absorbed the whole of the light,
which afterwards went on penetrating deeper and deeper; but in the
collodion film he did not believe that such was the case. He found that,
if he placed a plate in a bath rather highly charged with ether and
alcohol, left it in the proper time, and then moved it about in the bath,
so as to free it from all greasiness, but exposed without wiping the back
of the plate, he often got perpendicular streaks in the background of the
picture, caused by the contact of the dipper.
Mr. Turner suggested that this might be caused by light in the camera.
Mr. J ohnstone stated that if in varnishing a negative any of the varnish
got on the back of the plate, it caused a dull mark on the face corre¬
sponding to the varnish on the back ; and, though they might rub the
latter off, still the dull mark would be left on the face.
Mr. Piante suggested that this might he caused by the glass being
porous, and absorbing a portion of the varnish.
Mr. Brown was of opinion that it was caused by an unequal ratio in
drying, the evaporation not being so rapid from the place where the var¬
nish was opposite as in the rest of the plate.
Mr. Johnstone said he believed that Mr. Thomas was right up to a
certain point, as if any actinic light found its way into the dark room, and
the plate when lifted out of the bath was exposed to it, certain filmy lines
would form and be left upon it, which, when in the camera, would be
more intensified than the rest of the surface, and stains he thus produced.
Much care ought to be taken with regard to the proportion of alcohol and
ether in the bath, as the contrary was a very frequent cause of stains.
A conversation then ensued on the subject of boiling the hath, after
which the meeting adjourned.
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
In our number for April 15th Ave gave the Annual Report of the Council
as presented to the meeting held on the 10th April. The report of the
subsequent proceedings of that meeting, through an oversight, onhT
reached us on the day Avhen our last number was at press, consequently
too late for insertion on May 15tli. We now complete the report of the
meeting held on the 10th April.
The future working of the Society and the new and amended rules
formed the subject of a lengthened discussion, which terminated in Mr.
Heywood remarking that, inasmuch as the past management of the
Society had deA’olved entirely upon a feAv members of the Council, who
were no longer willing, if unassisted, to bear that responsibility — and the
unusually thin attendance on that evening confirmed them in the
opinion that such co-operation would not be forthcoming in future — ho
thought that the best course Avould be to dissolve the Society, and con¬
cluded by moving a resolution to that effect.
The Chairman (Mr. Griffiths), in putting the resolution, observed that
he did so with great regret, as, from the enthusiastic feeling exhibited at
the last meeting, he had anticipated for the Society a long and success¬
ful career. If one circumstance move than another could tend to dis¬
courage and damp the ardour of a fcAv whose anxiety and solicitude for
the success of the Society had always been conspicuous, it was to see so
210
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Juno 1, 1801
few of the members present on an occasion like that. He approved of the
resolution, as, under the circumstances, he did not see that any other
course was open to them. He was not without hope that, if the resolu¬
tion was carried, those members whose sympathies with the art were
undoubted would meet for the purpose of reconstructing the Society upon
a basis more in consonance with their wishes.
Mr. Hooper, Mr. Sheard, and other members, spoke in favour of the
resolution, which was ultimately carried, and the meeting terminated.
At a preliminary meeting of a few members of the late Society, held on
the 9th ult. — Mr. Hooper in the chair— it was resolved to re-form the
Society.
On the motion of Mr. Griffiths, a draft code of rules having been sub¬
mitted and approved of, the election of officers took place by ballot, and
resulted as follows : —
President — John Heywood, Esq.
Vice-President— W . Griffiths, Esq.
Hon.-Sec. — Mr. Chas. Adin.
Treasurer — Mr. Hooper.
Council.
Mr. Siieard, Mr. Whaite,
,, Badcliffe, ,, Archer.
,, Wardley,
After further preliminary business, the meeting was adjourned until
Thursday, June 10.
Jhrap (Ihrmpnnfrem
Paris, May 27th, 18G1.
In a preceding letter I spoke of the stereoscopic views brought
back from India by Major Gordon. At the last meeting of the
Photographic Society, on Friday, the 17th instant, another amateur,
Count de Nostitz, presented a collection which is also very inte¬
resting. It is an album depicting the landscapes and inhabitants
of the Caucasus. Enchanting women, whose personal beauty is
enhanced by their picturesque costume ; manly faces, whose ener¬
getic expression materially leads our thoughts to the difficult struggle
which the Russians have had to maintain against those sturdy moun¬
taineers. Schamyl and his family figure in this interesting gallery.
The principal communications made at this meeting were
descriptions of the experiments which M. Martin and the
Abbd Laborde have been severally following out. M. Martin, Avho
has been studying photographic collodion, has ascertained that
most of the accidents which interfere with the success of negatives
arise from the nature cf the collodion, and especially of the bodies
entering into its composition. Thus, among the iodides, he marks
out two sorts which are quite distinct: — those whose oxide is
soluble in alcohol, and those whose oxide is insoluble ; as, for
instance, the iodide of cadmium. Iodides of the first kind are to
be rejected. He advises that iodide of ammonium, in solution at
one per cent., should be poured into the ether before the cotton
is dissolved therein. The silver bath he recommends is at ten
per cent., and contains a little nitric acid. The developing solu¬
tion is composed of one gramme of pyrogallic acid in fifteen cubic
centimetres of acetic acid and five of alcohol. When about to
operate, five per cent, is poured into the water. This developing
solution is very convenient for travelling ; the presence of the
alcohol preserves the limpidity of the solution, permits it to pene¬
trate farther into the film, and prevents that too rapid mixture of
the reducing agent and the sensitising bath remaining on the
image which produces spots. A developing solution of sulphate
of iron at twenty per cent., containing one per cent, of acetic
ether, has the property of moistening the whole film thoroughly.
For the sake of greater rapidity, nitrous ether may be employed
instead of acetic ether ; but then there is the inconvenience of
the spots again.
M. Martin has made the following modification of M. Moitessier’s
method for obtaining positive pictures by transparency : — Ho
dev elopes with sulphate of iron, washes, and then pours upon the
image bichloride of mercury, which fixes upon the silver. A
solution of hyposulphite of soda, saturated with nitrate of silver,
' is then poured upon the glass. By this means very powerful
darks are obtained. For fixing, the ordinary hyposulphite is
employed.
The Abbe Laborde recommends that one gramme of free iodine
should be added to silver baths saturated with iodide by use. In
this manner may be prevented, he says, that spontaneous reduction
which takes place without the luminous action, and which forms a
veil over the image. Solarization is also avoided.
M. Gaunffi, of Mans, sent several negatives obtained upon paper
prepared with gutta-percha, and then albumenised with albumen
and dextrine, according to a method which he has already men¬
tioned.
M. Poitevin’s processes, published in the last number of the
Bulletin, have been experimented on by a Committee appointed for
that purpose. Count Aguado, to whom the report of these experi¬
ments was entrusted, declares that M. Poitevin’s processes and
manipulations have been deemed very practical, and have given
very good results.
In the present letter, I will only refer to our Exhibition of
Photography to mention two pictures which MM. Bisson Brothagj
have added, and which form part of a series of artistic n pro¬
ductions intended principally for English amateurs. They are
two clever compositions representing Shakspere and Byron. The
original designs have a very fine character, and are traced iu
excellent condition for photographic reproduction. The album
will contain all the great names which figure in the history of
literature, philosophy, and the arts. Milton, Thomas Moore, Walter
Scott, Luther, Calvin, Dante, and Tasso, will appear shortly, The
collection will be interesting, on account both of the subjects con¬
tained in it, and of the names of the artists figuring on the designs,
such as Gustave Dord, Nanteuil, Hamman, &c.
A new application of photography is at present much employed
at Paris. Numa Blanc had the idea, a year or two ago, to repro¬
duce the actors and singers of the Opera Comique and the Theatre
Lyrique in their principal characters. Thus, all the personages of
the “Fanchonnette,” of the “Pardon de Ploermel,” and of “Quentin
Durward,” had been pourtrayed as they appeared on the stage.
At present the idea is applied to the principal pieces played at our
theatres. Everywhere are to be seen little play-bills announcing
such-and-such a representation, and exhibiting portrait cards of
the chief characters of the drama or vaudeville in question.
It is needless to reply here at length to M. Negretti’s letter,
though my name appears in different passages of it. I was the
interpreter of M. Ferrier, as I shall always readily and rightly
be of an}r photographer who applies to me. I have not to judge
the question in itself; only I have (and use the right) to observe to
Mr. Negretti that he might advantageously have struck out from
his reply, many useless things, the sole effect of which is to
envenom discussion. M. Fender’s greater or smaller fortune
is quite irrelevant to the matter ; and the insinuation with
respect to the advantage which that gentleman has found in
his association with M. Soulier, is, to say the least, out of place.
It is very evident that, if MM. Ferrier and Soulier had not con¬
sidered their partnership useful, they would not have entered into
it. The modifications also that this partnership may have intro¬
duced into M. Fender’s processes are quite aside of the mark, for it
is the old method that is in question.
Were Mr. Negretti more familiar with the pen, he would feel
that to leave it to its true office of instructing and convincing is
far better and more pleasant than the endeavouring to inflict with it
unnecessary wounds, especially when our subjects are science and
art,
ERNEST LACAN.
New Yorlc, May 11, 1861.
Since my last, New York has become very quiet : the great war
excitement has given place to the semblance of profoundest peace.
The bow cannot be always bent : we seem to know the value of
peace and quietness. Our whole army marching down Broadway
would not now receive the attention which greeted the single
regiments only tivo weeks ago. War business has lost its attrac¬
tiveness for the sight-seekers, and is given up to the regular pro¬
fessors and their apprentices. People have great confidence in
Uncle Sam — meaning now “Uncle Abe” — for he has a long purse
(he spends two millions every day) and a great many friends.
Possibly I may have the honour shortly to chronicle some useful
application of photography for the Avar business — as, for example,
lengthy and important despatches executed in micro-photography,
and transmitted under such concealment as Avould only hide a
mustard seed. Of course Ave have plenty of photographers wdio
could manage their part of the Avork. And such applications of
photography are probable enough, for our fighting men are enter¬
prising. In Washington are already tAvo balloons for the service
and yesterday a terrible steam-gun, on the road to “Dixie,” was
seized. I dismiss the subject of the Avar with the announcement
of the supposed truth, that nobody has yet been hurt in battle : it
is only a score or two of vulgar rioters who have been shot.
Yesterday I called on my old friend, A. A. Turner, Avho has
recently become quite eminent in photolithography. Mr. Turner
Avas first in the field as a successful collodion photographer, and
June 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
911
his ability was so highly appreciated that, for some years, he
received a salary of fifty dollars per week, as a practical operator.
Three or four years ago he visited Europe, in the hope of further
perfecting himself in the art. Since his return he has devoted him¬
self exclusively to photolithography, and at the present time-
merits to be considered the highest authority in that interesting
branch of our art. His Establishment is conducted on a large scale,
and with facilities for the execution of any kind and extent of work
that might be desired. I have little doubt that Mr. Turner has pro¬
duced more photolithographs than all the rest of the world together.
The single work of greatest magnitude which he has executed is a
facsimile reproduction of a large quarto English book, entitled The
Foreign Tour of Messrs. Brown, Jones, and Robinson. One thousand
copies of the book were printed, and found ready sale at three dollars
per copy — one-half the price of the English edition. The larger part
of Mr. Turner’s ordinary work is on maps and views of buildings.
The fact seems not to be well understood in Europe that the
earliest attempts at photolithography were made in America, and
precisely by that bichromate process which is most approved at the
present day. I have seen a relic of a successful experiment which
I have very satisfactory evidence to believe was made on July 2nd,
1840, by Joseph Dixon, then at Taunton, Mass. We feel aggrieved
that Mr. Dixon’s claims have been, as we think, persistently ignored
by the European editors and authors in photography, in the face
of evidence which has been widely published here. Mr. Dixon
holds a prominent place in our history.
Photolithography has also been creditably carried on in Boston,
by Messrs. Cutting and Bradford, and by Mr. Rehn, of Philadelphia.
The latter gentleman has published a very valirable series of micro¬
scopical illustrations, for which photolithography seems peculiarly
applicable. CHARLES A. SEELY.
ILclu llff.oks.
The Principles and Practice of Photography Familiarly Ex¬
plained, in a Course of Easy and Familiar Lessons. By C.
Jabee Hughes.
(London: Published by the Author, at 379, Oxford Street.)
On all the troubles to which a competent author is liable in writing an
elementary work in an}7 branch of science, there is perhaps not one so per¬
plexing as the judicious selection of the point whence to begin. “Give me
but a point to stand on and I will move the whole world !” was the demand
of Archimedes. “ Give me but a point to start from and I will convert tire
tyro into the accomplished photographer !” might our author exclaim if he
did not understand, or only half understood, his calling ; but, instead of
this, as a practical man, which he is, he chooses a point and then moves on¬
ward, with steady progress, till he brings his reader safe to the terminus.
In the ranks of intending photographers every grade of intelligence
may be found, from the man of science down to the thorough sim¬
pleton ; but, as Mr. Hughes knows too vrell of what stuff good photo¬
graphers must be made, to have any hope of recruiting their ranks from
the last-named class, he very wisely abstains from troubling his head
about them, and commences with the assumption that all his readers
are possessed of ordinary intelligence, and not altogether ignorant of
common things. More than this he does not require, though it is a task
of no common difficulty to state in simple and intelligible language all
that is required by the unlearned, and, at the same time, not to offend the
taste of one with a more cultivated mind. If the author has not thoroughly
accomplished such a task, it is simply from its being impossible ; for we
cannot deny that he has made the effort to do so, and that he has accom¬
plished more than we have found in most other works in this direction.
The work is divided into two unequal parts. The first, containing about
four dozen pages, is written in a colloquial style, as allowing of more
familiarity of expression ; the second part, of about twenty pages, contains
a few useful hints adapted only to the advanced student, in which a more
terse and conventional style is emploj’od.
In all that relates to the practical part of photography Mr. Hughes is a
safe and experienced guide. Some few of his theoretical opinions may be
open to question — e. g., those relating to copying and enlarging ; but even
these are expressed without dogmatism.
There is one point in particular upon which we cannot express too
strongly our hearty commendation : though written by one who deals in
photographic apparatus and materials, there is a total absence of “ shop"
in its pages ; and so far from its containing any hint or suggestion that good
things are to be obtained only at the author’s establishment, the said
establishment is not once named in the book, excepting on the title-page as
the place of publication, nor does it contain advertisement or trade cata¬
logue of any kind.
The commencement of a chapter on “ Defects, Failures, and Remedies,”
is thoroughly in the author’s own peculiar semi-jocular style that is unmis-
takeable, and which would certainly have betrayed him even had he
desired concealment ; and we are pleased to notice that the advantages
derivable from a constant perusal of the photographic journals have been
specially commended to the attention of the author’s pupils. We have
little doubt that this pamphlet is destined to pass through man}7 editions,
and are equally convinced that in each succeeding edition any real
advance made in the art since the previous issue will be duly chronicled.
In conclusion, we quote the following as samples of what the book
contains : —
I propose, in a simple and familiar manner, to introduce you to the wondrous and
fascinating art of photography. I take it for granted that you are entirely unacquainted
with it, and that you are very anxious to learn. Before proceeding, however, to the
practical portion, I wish to impress on your mind a few of the leading principles. I
■would willingly omit this part of my instruction ; but I see so many amateurs, and even
professional photographers, who get into difficulties, because they do not commence with
a clear idea of their subject, that despite your natural impatience to get to work, I
must beg your attention to this inti oductory chapter, as my desire is that you should not
only practise the art, but that you should understand it too.
If you acquire a knowledge of the general principles, you will not only avoid those
difficulties that so frequently embarrass young photographers, but every step in your
path will be rendered pleasant and interesting. Even your very failures, when you have
a clue to them, instead of disheartening you, will be stimulants to improvement — step¬
ping-stones to success. I wish you to work not blindly and impatiently for the result,
viewing all the intermediate operations as irksome, but I want you to be interested in
each stage of the process— to know why you have to do these things— to understand
exactly when they are done properly — to be able to explain to any intelligent person the
reason you do this and that, and what the result would be if any one thing were done
differently.
If you follow the art as an amateur, taking it up as a source of pleasure, this is the
only course you can adopt; for, by making each step a labour of love, whether you suc¬
ceed or fail, you will certainly secure interesting amusement, and, by perseverance, you
cannot fail to become sufficiently expert to have jjleasure in blending your new acquire¬
ment with your other tastes and occupations — depicting bosom friends, multiplying
choice engravings, copying rare works of art and vertu, as well as gaining health and
vigour by rambling among those charming hills and dales to which your camera will
invitingly entice you.
And should you encounter those frowns of fortune from which we are none of us exempt,
and have to seek other means of support than those you now' happily enjoy, you may
discover that you have made no unprofitable investment of time and means; for the
period will never occur when a skilful and intelligent photographer may not so tar profit
by his knowdedge as to gain a respectable subsistence.
If, however, you aim at once at being a professional, no matter what branch you
attempt, unless you determine thoroughly to understand it, you have but an indifferent
pi’ospect. The days of rule-o’ -thumb photography are rapidly passing away, and to
avoid descending to the level of a mere black-fingered mechanic, you must study hard to
master your profession — the scientific part first, the artistic afterwards ; and by their
successful union you may look forward not only to competency, but even fame, as a re¬
ward for your well-applied talents.
Hoping that I have convinced you that, whether you follow the art for pleasure or for
profit, by studying its general principles you will secure a certain reward, I pass on to
the subject itself.
And, from the manipulatory details —
IIOW TO TAKE NEGATIVES BY AN EASIER AND MORE CERTAIN METHOD.
The plan of taking negatives all eady described is the usual one, and when practised
by experienced operators produces the most perfect results ; but there is another method
getting into general use by which good negatives can be obtained with greater uni.
formity.
I recommend you to commence with the one I am about to describe in preference to
that which I have already given ; as, from the progress which I may suppose you already
to have made with positives, you will find this very simple and easy.
A positive collodion giving a dense creamy film is required ; if the one you are usiii" is
r.ct of this character, mix an equal quantity of any good negative collodion with it, and
after settling it v. ill be ready for use. Collodionise your plate and sensitise in the usual
bath ; expose in the camera about half as long again as for a positive. Develop with the
usual positive developing solution, only continue the action rather longer— that is, until
ail the details are distinctly seen ; then wash well. The picture in this stage is like an
over-exposed and over-developed positive, and on looking through is seen much denser
than one, but not intense enough for a negative, but every detail myst be distinctly seen •
next pour over the plate as much of the “ Summer Developing Solution” as it will hold ;A
Pyrogallic acid . 5 grains.
Citric acid . 21 ,,
Distilled or boiled rain water . 5 ounces.
When this has thoroughly mixed with the water on the plate, pour it back into the
measure glass and add a fewr drops of the nitrate of silver solution to it, mix, and pour
over the plate ; it will speedily begin to intensify, that is, the silver will begin to be de¬
posited over the various parts of the image in the ratio that the light has acted. Con¬
tinue the development until the requisite intensity already explained is produced, then
wash your plate and fix with either the cyanide or hyposulphite fixing solutions.
Negatives very soft and full of detail can be obtained by this process, when it would
be extremely difficult to produce them by any other means.
Although it is not quite so important to obtain the same exactness of exposure in the
camera in this as the preceding method, yet there is a certain margin beyond which you
must not go. Nearly the same precautions apply as those I have already named.
If the various parts of the picture intensify in an equal manner, the dark drapery be¬
coming nearly as dense as the head, and when fixed the whole plate is drab, and very
little appearance of positive image, the exposure in the camera has been too long ; but
if the image becomes dense only in the parts reflecting most light, and even then takes
the silver reluctantly, and when fixed shows as a good positive, the exposure has been
too short.
The plate must be varnished in the manner already described.
Ccrrcspo nti cute,
RESIN PROCESS EXPERIENCE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Having recently exposed a dozen ten by eight resin plates with
tolerable success, I would observe, for tlie benefit of those practising
this process, that those dried off at the fire, after surface draining, pro¬
duced more intense negatives than those spontaneously dried ; those de¬
veloped with the addition of citric acidwereofablue-blackcolour; and those
by acetic acid alone in the developer were of a good brown printing colour.
1 washed in a flat dish, repeating the changes of spring irater till all
milkiness and oily stains had disappeared off the plate, then drained on
very clean blotting paper. The exposure was from one and a-half
to five minutes, varying the stop with the subject and distance — Ross’s
912
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1, 1801
orthoscopio lens. Nothing but collodion was on the plates ; hut, as the
subjects were some sixteen miles away, I took the precaution, before
commencing to develop, to paint the edges of the plates one eighth of
an inch all round with benzole varnish, which secured the film in each
case perfectly . Of the twelve exposed plates I have eleven decent nega¬
tives, and one spoiled by the light in changing in the “bag.” — I am,
yours, &c., CHARLES JONES.
Birkenhead, May, 1861.
HOT WATER PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — May I, through your columns, draw the attention of the Experi¬
mental Committee of the South London Photographic Society to a
modification of the albumen process, which, judging from their report,
they have overlooked, viz., the hot water. I have tried most of the dry
processes, and have obtained good results by nearly all. The hot water
plates which I have now tried for three months give, in my hands,
pictures certainly not inferior to those yielded by any of the other dry
processes, and surpass them all in facility of preparation. The colloclio-
albumen plates require resensitising, a second washing, and very long
development — the Fothergill a second and most careful washing, and
are very liable to stains. Plates prepared with honey, oxymel, gum,
tannin, &c., must first be coated with gelatine. I simply wash, coat with
albumen, and, without any draining, dip into water nearly at the boiling
point. The plate is then finished. Besides facility of preparation, this
process has two other points in its favour — freedom from stains and
keeping properties. I must confess that, on first reading of the process,
I had small hopes of it, as I fancied the albumen would be coagulated
unevenly; but I found on trial that my fears were groundless.
I send you two pictures taken by the process, that you may judge whether
it is worth drawing the attention of the Committee to the subject. They
are chosen to show its power of rendering difficult subjects, rather than
as the best pictures I could send. The plates on which they were taken
had been prepared a month. No. 1, Tabley Old Hall, I was afraid would
be a failure. The grass and trees were in bright sunlight, while the hall,
covered with ivy, was in deep shade, rendered deeper at the right-hand
corner bjr the overhanging lime trees. I regret I could not have the flagged
path in front — which spoils the picture — watered. No. 2, The Chapel,
Tabley Old Hall, has a plentiful crop of daisies in front, and a tree covered
with white blossom. — I am, yours, &c., TOM JEFFCOATT.
[The proofs received show that the negatives are excellent: the details
are all thoroughly preserved.
If our correspondent will favour us with full details of his mode of
working we will lay the matter before the gentlemen indicated, and have
no doubt that they will report thereon. Particulars required are : — Kind
of collodion, strength of albumen solution, how dried after immersion in
the hot water, developer, and mode of development. These details have
all been published, it is true ; but the point is to state precisely the
minutiae of the preparation of the plates from which the proofs received
were printed. — Ed.]
DIFFERENCES IN COLLODION, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You have several times before given me advice when in difficulty;
therefore I again appeal to you to help me in the following: —
I have been working of late with A - ’s collodion and bath, and his
prescribed formula for developer — three grains pyrogallic acid, one minim
acetic acid, and one ounce watei- — diluted to one third of its strength
when required for use. I experience great difficulty in getting any but
very transparent skies in all lights. This with B - ’s collodion, generally
considered inferior, and my own bath and developer, never troubled me.
I think there must be too much acid in the developer. Am I right ; and
what do you recommend as the best ordinary negative developer? Also,
I find A - ’s collodion very difficult to keep on the plate during the
washing subsequent to developing and fixing : it has an unaccountable
(to me) tendency to float away.
Another thing: how can I preserve plates moist for an hour or so, so as
to be able to prepare say half-a-dozen plates one after the other, take them
half-a-mile, and return to develop immediately? Would honey answer?
or is there any other simple plan efficacious for so short a time?
Your kind attention to these queries will much oblige vours, &c.,
A PUZZLED “AMATEUR.
[The manufacturer of the collodion indicated by A - has several
different kinds for different purposes ; possibly you may not have that
kind most suitable for landscapes. A portrait collodion requires to be
more transparent than one suitable for landscapes.
To keep plates sensitive for twelve hours or so, we know of nothing
better than syrup made of distilled water three ounces, honey one ounce,
filter. Flood the plate with this after its removal from the bath, and keep
it flowing backwards and forwards until all greasiness has disappeared.
You will find the sensitiveness very little impaired, and the density will
be considerable.
You may add a little of the above syrup to your developer for a wet
pla'e, when your density is insufficient. Let your collodion set well on
the plate before immersion. But, if you find B - ’s collodion suit you
best, why not stick to that? — Ed.]
FADING OF DEYELOPED PRINTS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Mr. L. Smith has lately given to the photographic world a process
of printing by development in which is recommended a weak fixing solu.
tion, because, I suppose, a strong one would nearly destroy the print
altogether. Now I firmly believe that more prints fade from want of 1
proper fixing than from want of after washing. As Mr. L. S. has not seen I
any faded ones by development printing, I enclose one or two to you, Mr.
Editor, which, with the substitution of gallic acid instead of pyrogallic,
have been printed as L. S. directs. They were sent to me as specimens of
development printing, and warranted permanent : they faded so quickly
in the light that I removed them to a portfolio in order that they might
still linger on. But no, they were not fixed : the hypo, solution used was
too weak to fix them, and the extra after washing they had only helped
them on to destruction. The gentleman who sent them strongly advo¬
cates development printing, and gives his prints plenty of after washing :
he does not tone them except passing a hot iron over them to finish
these permanent prints. If you think proper, Mr. Editor, I can send you
a few prints fixed in different proportions of hypo., and some particulars
respecting the washing of them, &c. They have been exposed in all sorts
of weather, these past eighteen months, in a specimen frame : they will
go far to support the opinion I have expressed. — I am, yours, &c.t
Swansea, May 25, 1861. THOMAS GULLIVER.
[There is no question about the prints received having faded, but they
have evidently been very good originally. Mr. L. Smith does not advo¬
cate the use of imperfect fixing; but, proposing to use a new bath of
hyposulphite of soda on each separate occasion, does not think it needful
to have it very strong. IVe shall be hi ppy to receive the particulars
offered by our correspondent, though we do not agree with him that the
fading of the prints received is due to imperfect fixing. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Errata. — In consequence of the late hour at which we received a portion of the MS.
for our last, we have to correct the following : — In page 182 of last number, second
column, twenty-third line from bottom, for “ finished creature” read “finished crea¬
tion.” In page 184, first column, seventeenth line from top, for “you and I” read
“you and me.” In the same column, fifteenth line from bottom, for “or £4 to £9”
read “or £4 8s. Od."
T. Clarke. — In our next.
Benjamin. — No need to do more than send a request as directed.
C. J. Jones. — See paper on the subject of your inquiry in the current number.
Anxious. — “ Though it tarry, wait for it.” It will surely come : it will not fail.
Impatient — See Mr. Lyndon Smith's paper On Development Printing, in our last.
F. M. — We perceive no objection : do as you propose, and we will give our opinion, as
you desire.
F. J. — A little stronger solution of nitrate of silver upon which to float your paper will
impart additional vigour to your prints.
C. P.— We are making experiments on the subject at the present moment : those
hitherto completed are very satisfactory.
F. Morden. — A very little more exposure would have impressed the details in the
darkest parts. The folds of the dress are “hinted at,” if not actually expressed in the
proof.
K. L. — We have never heard of the fault of which you complain, and cannot at all
comprehend how it is possible for it to arise. Send further particulars, and we will try
to help you.
Flat. — We shall have an article upon the subject in our next. The confusion is prin.
cipally of words and names ; though we confess that it appears very absurd to us to ask
such a simple question — that is in public.
R. Mutrie. — The paper to which you refer was merely an enormously expanded
advertisement. The article dilated upon is certainly very good ; but it has no pretentions
to occupy so very much valuable time as was devoted to it.
S. Jones.— A. B. — T. Wheelwright. — C. Lake. — R. M. — Oliver. — You have nothing
to do but to fill up the form, put on a stamp, and post it ; afterwards you will be com¬
municated with in due course, with all particulars not included in the prospectus, soma
of which are not finally arranged.
W. G. G. — Supposing the same area to he covered by each of the lenses, then tlie
shorter the focus the more of the subject will be included ; and generally the quicker
will the image be impressed, hut the greater will be the amount of distortion at the edges
of the picture. On the other hand, the longer the focus the larger the scale upon which
objects are delineated, and consequently the less there is included in a given space ; but
the marginal distortion will he less. Wc think you will find the four inches and a-half
suit you best for general purposes.
W. Clarke.— Your portable tripod for the operating room we will notice in our next,
with a cut. The paper received has all the albumen removed by your solution, hence we
should expect to find it alkaline. This expectation is the more probable because wefind
that the deposit, of which you sent a sample, is soluble in ammonia, and also in nitric
acid. It is very impure, being contaminated with much organic matter, and is either
carbonate or oxide of silver. The only thing for you to do is to precipitate the whole in
the form of chloride, by the addition of solution of salt.
P. S. — The fault complained of is neither in your process or chemicals, but in the
cleaning of your glasses. We have no doubt that you have taken great pains with this
operation ; hut are you certain that tlie cloth or leather with which you give the last rub
to the plate has not been washed with soap ? Wash your cloth in soda and water only,
then rinse w ell, and try again. Your proof has been left too long in the toning bath,
which is its only fault. Remove it as soon as it has acquired the purple tone : if it
approaches too near to a blue it will always, when finished, appear like that received.
C. E. Busk.— “Depth of focus,” or rather what is so called, in a lens is about the
worst quality that it can possess ; because such can only be apparently obtained by ab¬
sence of proper correction of the spherical aberration, or, in other words, by preventing
the formation of a “circle of least confusion ;” consequently every such lens must of
necessity be slow, and, what is worse, deficient in definition. A lens of comparatively
small diameter can only be made to cover evenly a large area by thus degrading its
defining power — that is to say, by reducing the sharpness of the central pencil the diffe¬
rence between it and the oblique pencil is not quite so apparent. We strongly advise your
having nothing to do with such a lens. We may remark about the noted maker whom
you mention that you may safely take the lens one size smaller than that he quotes for
the stated plate upon which you work.
*** Sydney Smyth On the Solar Camera, and several other articles are, from press ot
matter, postponed till our next number.
THE B R I T I S H
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 144, Vol. VIII.— JUNE 15, 1861.
Sharpness. — Some time ago our facetious friend, Punch,
entertained the world with a glimpse of the social amenities
prevalent in the mining districts. An illustration was given of
a mild, peaceable-looking gentleman passing quietly by a couple
of miners lounging against a gate, the following dialogue being
supposed to pass between the latter : —
First Miner: “Who’s that?” —
Second Miner: “ Stranger.”
First Miner: “Then heave half a brick at him.”
We have had this illustration forcibly recalled to our memory
by perusing a paper recently read at one of our suburban societies
by a gentleman who has deservedly acquired some reputation as
an art-instructor, but who has not a little surprised us by such a
display of his want of familiarity with science as to put the ques¬
tion — “ Sharpness: What is it?” and we come to the conclusion
that he has been perpetually heaving half-bricks at “sharp¬
ness ” simply because it was a stranger to him. Now although we
perceive, from certain indications to be found in the paper
quoted, that a slight acquaintance has at length been sought
with “sharpness,” nothing approaching to intimacy has hitherto
been attained.
The fact is, that certain words and phrases have been em¬
ployed in common both by men of science and by artists in a
technical sense, but each class applying them to the expression
of totally different ideas— e.g., “sharpness,” “focus,” &c.
We beg emphatically to assure the author of the paper to
which we have alluded that amongst opticians there is no doubt
whatever as to the meaning of the word “ sharpness” as applied
to the image formed by a lens ; that there is no connexion at
all between it and “ hardness,” used in an artistic sense ; and,
further, that the word is by no means inappropriate to the idea
intended to be conveyed, as we will endeavour to show.
From each point of a visible object rays of light proceed in
every direction. A certain portion of these diverging rays being
intercepted by a convex lens has the primary direction of each
ray diverted, so that the whole of the intercepted rays are made
to converge towards another point on the opposite side of the
lens, which point is termed “ the focus.” Now, if these rays
could be made to unite accurately in a mathematical point
similar to that from which they proceed, there would be formed
a perfect image of that point ; and, if of that point, so also of
all other points in the subject. It is therefore abundantly
evident that the cone of rays meeting in such a point might not
inaptly be compared to the very “ sharp ” point of a pencil care¬
fully cut. If we were to break off the end of a lead pencil the
“blunt point ’ would represent the section of the cone of rays
formed by putting the object “out of focus.” What sort of a
highly. finished portrait could an artist execute if he were to
employ only a broken-pointed pencil ? That he sometimes for
convenience uses a pencil in this condition for a portion of his
subject, so as to save labour by making one thick line do duty
for half-a-dozen thin ones, is only analogous to the corresponding
practice of the skilled photographer who knows that a well- con¬
structed lens can only give a “ sharp ” image in one plane ; and
hence the better the definition the more artistic is the image
produced, provided only that the instrument be applied with in¬
telligence. Like the graphic artist who wants a fine pencil to
make his delicate lines, so the photographic artist requires a
lens effecting a maximum of definition — that is, giving a
“ sharp” pencil of light to make his fine lines ; but also like his
graphic brother using the blunted pencil (of light) to delineate
the more unimportant parts of his subject.
We have been rather startled by the heterogeneous assem¬
blage of names quoted as “authorities ” on the question raised,
and also strongly demur to some of the misinterpretations ap¬
pended to quotations made. For instance: it is attributed to
Mr. Robert Hunt (by implication) that he asserted an image
produced by a lens under certain conditions to be “ sharper ”
than that produced by the human ej’e. This is a proposition
which, if made, we should flatly contradict. The image formed
by the most perfect lens ever constructed must of necessity fall
far short in “ sharpness ” to that in the retina, for the simple
reason that, while the lens of the eye unites all the rays proceeding
from any given point and of whatever colour they may be accu¬
rately in another point, there is no artificial lens that can accom¬
plish the absolute coincidence of rays even of one colour in one
absolute point, and still less so those of many colours. But we
deny the propriety of the allegation against Mr. Hunt from the
context of the passage quoted. His animadversions are directed
against the improperly intense illumination of the objects pour-
tray ed. It is a well-known axiom that the more intense the
illumination the greater is the depth of shadow. Hence by
too intense illumination an offensive contrast between light and
shade is engendered, and this, of course, produces the effect
known by artists as “ hardness.”
What would be thought by the author of the paper respecting
which we address these remarks if we were to assert that he taught
his pupils never to point their pencils or sharpen their crayons ?
And yet by decrying sharpness this is practically what he is
doing — evidently without being aware of it.
Here is another proposition which we dissent from in toto: — •
“ Sharpness, as at present understood, has never been very
popular with our best men.”
Queries. — 1. Understood by whom?
2. Who are our “ best men ?”
We will take the liberty of suggesting the names of two
whom we recognise as amongst our best men, viz., Mr. Francis
Bedford and Mr. James Mudd. That “ sharpness ” is both un¬
derstood and thoroughly appreciated by them we have only to
point to their works to prove ; and if we see photographic land¬
scapes “ frequently ” with the most distant objects most sharply
focussed by other operators, we have only to rejoin that we
“ frequently ” see the works of graphic self-styled “artists”
frightfully out of drawing, and with every conceivable offence
against correct taste. It is merely the assertion that there are
pretenders and bunglers in every art in plenty ; but they ought
no more to influence the judgment we form of the capabilities
of the art or the implements used in its pursuit in the one
case than in the other.
The fact is, that upon this point the opinions of some of
214
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 15, 180 1
the quasi authorities quoted are worthless, and they are all
of a piece with a reason given by one of them for advocating the
practice of taking pictures a little out of focus — because, forsooth,
“it is so suggestive, and leaves room for the imagination!” How
much more room for the imagination, &c., would a single sheet
of paper with a few indistinct scratches leave does not appear to
have struck this gentleman at all.
There is but a very small amount of truth in the assertion of
Mr. Lake Price — “ The parrot cry of sharp ! sharp ! which
the ignorant in art raise, seems the main point aimed at.” The
truth is that, as a musician shrinks at a false note, so does an
optician at an image out of focus ; and, when some professional
artists fir'lfc began to show photographers how they should take
pictures, those amongst the latter who also knew anything of the
use of optical instruments were naturally enough disgusted with
■what was to them an unbearable offence. For, however fine the
“ composition ” or perfect the “ keeping,” in nine cases out of
ten the model pictures were valueless from being “ out of
focus” — none more so than those of Mr. Lake Price himself:
witness one of the earliest pictures exhibited by him, Genevra,
the subject being the burden of the ballad known as “The Old
Oak Chest.” That there were and still are many photographers
who could take a “ sharp ” picture, but not an artistic one, we
should be the last to deny ; but, though we should attach abso¬
lutely no value to a photograph out of focus, nor to a “sharp”
picture of a worthless subject, we cannot admit that this quality
of sharpness has been exalted at the expense of art : rather
let us say in aid of it.
To show how much an artist may yet learn about the question
of “ focus,” as understood by the optician, we quote the follow¬
ing paragraph from the paper : —
The other day, being with my friend Mr. Simpson, the editor of the
Photographic News , we were examining the effect of stops upon the
image on the ground-glass. I took my station under the focussing cloth,
with my eye fixed on the ground-glass screen, and Mr. Simpson changed
stops the while. At every change of aperture, beginning with the larger
and coming to the smaller, there was a clear distinctive variation in the
character of the view, distant objects growing sharper and coming nearer,
until at length an almost flat map-like appearance gradually became
apparent. Sharpness ivas everywhere , focus was nowhere , and space was
annihilated.
That sharpness could be everywhere under the circumstances
detailed we know to be impossible - — the explanation of the statement
made being given by the author himself by his inquiry, “ What
is sharpness ?” The remainder of his observations are accurate
enough ; but he is evidently not aware of the explanation and
remedy for the defects noted. If upon each change of diaphragm
he had re-focussed the view, he would (if the lens were a good
one) have found that his foreground might have in all cases
been made most distinct, though the smaller the aperture em¬
ployed the less indistinct would have been the distant objects.
Only focus properly, and there is no fear of distant objects ever
appearing too near even with small stops, nor of loss of atmos¬
phere from the same cause ; yet are we by no means an advocate
for the indiscriminate use of a small aperture.
We will explain the phenomenon witnessed. The lens, when
used with a large aperture, has its “ circle of least confusion ”
(focus) at a definite point from itself ; but with a small aperture
the place of the “circle of least confusion ” is further removed
therefrom ; therefore, as the effective aperture of the lens is re¬
duced, it follows that the focussing screen must, in order to keep
the same object in perfect focus, be removed further back ; and
if it be not so adjusted, then a more distant object projects its
image into the spot formerly occupied by that of a nearer one,
which in its turn is “ pushed off,” as it were, to a spot behind
the ground glass.
Seeing how the effect of mere change of diaphragms was
tried, can we wonder that our author makes the following
remarks ? —
Yet we “stop down” our lenses to the smallest possible aperture, and
bring all their powers of focus to bear upon the most distant portions of
a view, in order to obtain no focus, and so ruin pictorial effect and natural
Sharp distances, as evidence of depth of focus, are mistakes only
to be equalled by “ white skies.” Why, nearly all the poetry of nature
lies in the exquisite sensations of the broad free air — the home of the
glorious sunlight, and the boundless dwelling-place of the fetterless wind :
the ocean of the universe, connecting worlds with worlds, and systems
with systems : and we are to shut out this mighty element from our
beautiful sun-pictures — are to push back our foregrounds, and drug
forward our distances, and crowd them into a little white-washed
dungeon, for the sake of “ sharp distances” and “ depth of focus.”
Truly it wont bear thinking of.
Truly it won’t ! And this brings us to another matter that we
perceive has been, to say the least of it, a particeps criminis in
causing the mystification about sharpness, we mean the quality
that has been miscalled depth of focus — that ignis fatuus which
leads its pursuer into a quagmire — that myth which has been
exalted by ignorant, lazy, or designing opticians, and which
science can prove to be impossible. The sooner photographers
cease to seek lenses possessing this impossibility the less will
they be likely to be troubled with indifferent instruments. The
demand is born of laziness; for it needs but intelligent appli¬
cation of known laws to make any lens, however good, do all that
is required iu art, so far as the rendering of different planes in
nature upon one plane iu the picture.
The indiscriminate use of small apertures is a great mistake.
We advise, as a rule, the use of the largest aperture that each
subject will permit, and to “ stop down ” the lens only enough to
prevent the more distant parts from appearing too indistinct.
Too small an aperture obliterates relief; and, as a rule, the larger
the aperture that can he used the more “ plucky” does the re¬
sulting picture appear ; but perfect rounduess is quite compati¬
ble with perfect sharpness.
We find our remarks have run to a great length, such as
we never contemplated when commencing this article ; but, as
the paper on which they are founded was put forth principally to
“ elicit discussion,” and that there was much misapprehension
to remove, we have been unable to condense our observations
within shorter limits. If in any of them we may seem to have
overstepped the limits of calm remonstrance, it is because the
subject is one upon which we feel strongly; but vte would not
voluntarily give offence to any, and least of all to the gentleman
wrhose communication has formed the basis of our dissertation.
Amateur Photographic Association. — It is with consider¬
able pleasure that we notice the very enthusiastic manner in
which the Amateur Photographic Publishing Association has
been received in all directions. We have amongst our cor¬
respondence published two out of very many communications
received by us with reference to the subject, as the replies
therein contained will serve for several others. A steady stream
of adherents has set in from the first announcement, which has
continued uninterrupted up to the present moment ; and already
the “ process of disinterment ” of fine and interesting negatives
(to employ the phrase of the Honorary Secretary) has com¬
menced, many of which have been sent in.
PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
OP 1862.
We regret to have to report that since our last issue but little
apparent impression seems to have been made on the Royal Com¬
missioners by the very pertinent letter addressed to them by Sir
Frederick Pollock, as President of the Photographic Society, in
which he pointed out the grave objections to the existing classifi¬
cation of photographs adopted by that body.
To this letter, however, the Commissioners returned the follow¬
ing unsatisfactory reply, which we think our readers will agree
with us in saying may be accurately described by the single adjec¬
tive “ evasive
Offices, 454, West Strand, London, W.C., May 16, 1861.
Sir,— I am directed by Her Majesty’s Commissioners to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 7th instant, to which they have given their most careful consideration.
The views of the Council of the Photographic Society seem to be based on a misappre¬
hension of the intention of the decisions published by the Commissioners, as there is
nothing in those decisions which would imply that Photography may not be placed
either in a separate room or in juxtaposition with engravings, or any other analogous
and suitable class of objects.
It is the wish of the Commissioners to do their utmost honour to the Exhibition of
Photography, and the scientific instruments essential to the practice of that art. With
June 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
21
this object they have removed it from the subordinate position -which it occupied in 1851,
and have constituted it a separate class, to which special space will be allotted.
They hope to induce all the exhibitors in this class to assemble together in one apart¬
ment all their photographic apparatus and photography, so as to illustrate fully the state
of photography as practised throughout the world at the present time.
Her Majesty’s Commissioners entertain no doubt that this explanation will be suffi¬
cient to secure the valuable co-operation of the Council of your Society in the forthcoming
Exhibition, as requested in my letter of the 26th ult.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient Servant,
The Eight Hon. Sir F. Pollock. F. R. SANDFORD, Secretary.
Upon tlie receipt of the above the Council of the Photographic
Society assembled together, and after mature deliberation decided
upon forwarding the following counter reply : —
Court of. Exchequer, Westminster , May 24, 1861.
Sir,— The Council of the Photographic Society have been assembled, and have had
laid before them the letter which I have had the honour of receiving from Her Majesty’s
| Commissioners through you.
The Council is most anxious to concur in whatever may promote the success of the
i Exhibition, either by assisting in the appointment of a Committee or in affording the
most zealous co-operation ; but they do most earnestly hope that their claims will be
admitted and their request be complied with— viz., that their apparatus may not be
exhibited in the same room with the results which arise from the use of them.
As a science, Photography, like every other science, is incapable of being exhibited.
But when embodied in the artistic results with which every one is more or less familiar,
Photography as an Art is capable of contributing to an Exhibition matters of the greatest
and most universal interest, embracing every variety of object which can gratify curio¬
sity and afford pleasure. It would be most painful to the Council to have blended with
these results the mere apparatus which they use as tools— neither could throw any
light upon the other ; and I am desired by the Council to press this upon Her Majesty's
Commissioners, and to solicit an interview, when the Council will, by a deputation, wait
upon the Commissioners, and explain more at large the views they entertain on the
subject. I have the honour to remain vour obedient Servant,
FREDERICK POLLOCK.
To this letter the following answer was sent, viz. : —
International Exhibition, 1862.
454, West Strand, London, W.C., May 29, 1861.
Sir, — I have submitted your letter of the 24th inst. to Her Majesty’s Commissioners,
and am desired to express their gratification at receiving from you an assurance of the
readiness of the Council of the Photographic Society to co-operate with the Commis¬
sioners in carrying out the undertaking which has been entrusted to their management.
They will be glad to learn, at an early date, the names of the gentlemen whom your
Council would recommend for appointment as a Committee in connexion with Class XIV.
Any suggestion which this Committee may make with respect to the position to be
assigned to the various objects that they may consider entitled to admission to the Ex¬
hibition will receive the most careful consideration of Her Majesty’s Commissioners,
when they proceed to the ultimate distribution of space in the building, and to the
arrangements connected therewith ; but they feel that it would be premature, at this
time, to discuss any of the questions connected with this part of their duties ; and so
many other matters are at present occupying their attention that they regret their
inability to receive the proposed deputation from your Council.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient Servant,
The Right Hon. Sir Fred. Pollock. F. R. SANDFORD, Secretary.
From the preceding it is not only pretty evident that the Com¬
missioners, through their representative, decline to recognise photo¬
graphy as a fine Art, but endeavour to obtain the appointment of
a Committee by the Council of the Photographic Society in order
to compel that body, as it were, to condone the indignity. This
proceeding would, in commercial circles, be designated by a rather
ugly word, which it is needless for us to employ, as the hiatus
will no doubt be readily supplied by our discriminating readers.
We are convinced that the Council of the Photographic Society
will receive the warmest thanks of the photographers throughout
the kingdom for the dignified position assumed by it in this matter ;
and, in order to strengthen the hands of those who are labouring for
their benefit, we have to request the Secretaries of allthose Societies
the proceedings, of which we have the honour to record officially
to lay the question before their respective Societies at an early
date, and to report whether it is the general feeling amongst the
members that the course pursued by the Council of the Photo¬
graphic Society is calculated to further the interest of our art, or
otherwise.
In conclusion, we with the highest satisfaction place before our
readers the following letter, addressed to the Secretary of the Pho¬
tographic Society by a gentleman whose name ought to have no
trifling weight in this matter with the Royal Commissioners, and no
doubt would do so were there not some counter influence at work : —
To Tins Secretary of the Photographic Society.
„ University of Edinburgh, May 27th, 1861.
MR,— At the request of one of the members of your Council I write to you on the
position given to photography in the classification of the Exhibition of 1862. My apology
for doing so is, that I was the responsible officer for framing the classification adopted in
the Exhibition of 1851, upon which that of 1S62 is founded; and further, that as a mem¬
ber of the Committee of Organisation the present classification has been brought under
my notice by the Commissioners.
You have no doubt observed that the general principle of the classification is to group
the raw materials employed in industry, then to group the machinery used to convert
them into utilities, and, lastly', to group the utilities themselves as manufactured
products.
The group Machinery cannot embrace photography with any propriety. If it has been
placed there on account of the apparatus employed in its production, this in itself is a
misunderstanding of the principles upon which the classification was Framed. Cameras
belong to the general class of “ Philosophical Instruments,” and have no more title to a
separate class in machinery than telescopes, microscopes, electrical or surveying instru¬
ments, all of which are sections of one class.
But the mixing up of the photographic pictures with the instruments employed to pro-
uce t lem, when the art has developed in magnitude so as to entitle it to special exhi-
i ion, is a gross. philosophical error. With equal ignorance the works of the sculptor
anci engraver might have been appended to cutlery and edge-tools, or the works of
paintei s to the classes which include brushes made from hair, or to chemical products.
But besides this philosophical error, which will deface the classification in the eyes of
foreign nations, who have attended more to its principles than we have in England, the
proposed arrangement will be inconvenient for the purposes of instruction, and for the
consideration of the jurors who have to judge the works exhibited. The visitor to the
Exhibition cannot benefit by the abrupt transition from machinery, in its varied forms,
to photographic pictures ; and the jurors on machinery cannot be appropriate judges of
the relative excellences of pictures.
In conclusion, I may express the hope that your efforts to obtain the alteration in the
classification will be successful ; and that while photographic apparatus is reduced to
its proper rank as a sub-section of philosophical instruments, photographic pictures will
be raised to the position which they have acquired by the recent progress in the art, by
being put in the group of fine arts, which is the only place under which they can be •
consistently classified. LYON PLAYFAIR.
On tlie precediug farther comment is needless, as it speaks
volumes.
The following letter has been addressed to the Secretaries of the
various Photographic Societies throughout the kingdom, by direc¬
tion of the Council of the Photographic Society (London), and is ac¬
companied by all the correspondence which we have already given : —
Sir, — I am directed by the Council of the Photographic Society of London to invite the
attention of the body of which you are the representative to that portion of the regula¬
tions of the Commissioners for the International Exhibition of 1862 which relates to the
photographic ait.
In the programme published by the Commissioners, Photographic Apparatus and
Photography are classed in Section 2, among machines and mechanical processes, in¬
stead of in Section 4, in which are placed Sculpture, Painting, Engraving, and all those
occupations to which the title of “Fine Arts” is usually applied.
The Council have been requested by the Commissioners to name from among their
body a Committee, whose office it will be to take care that the interests of photography
and of its cultivators shall be properly represented in the Exhibition of 1862.
The Council, however, deemed it to be their first duty, before naming any Committee,
to point out to the Commissioners the improper classification of the art, and to request
that it should be removed from the class of machines and mechanical processes to that
portion of the fine arts to which it has so just a claim.
Enclosed for your perusal is the letter of the President of the Society to the Commis¬
sioners, and the subsequent correspondence.
The final reply of the Commissioners appears to the Council to be so unsatisfactory as
to compel the consideration, not only of tlie question of the appointment or non-appoint¬
ment of a Committee, but also whether it will not be their duty to recommend those
members of the Society who look upon their art as more than a mechanical process to
abstain altogether from exhibiting any of their works.
Before adopting so grave a resolution, they desire to have the advice of the Society of
which you are the representative. They have placed the correspondence before the
Councils of the French, Belgian, and other Continental Photographic Societies, and
requested their opinion upon the course which, in the interests of the art ought, under
these circumstances, to be pursued.
It is their wish that any resolution which they may lay before the Commissioners in
their final reply shall be the result of the united and deliberate opinion of the whole
body of photographers, both in England and abroad.
Requesting you to lay this letter before your Society, and of favouring me with a reply
at your earliest convenience, I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
HUGH W. DIAMOND, M.D.,
Secretary to the Photographic Society or London,
MODIFIED COLLODIO-ALBUMEN PROCESS.
By H. Petschleb.
[Read at a Meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, June’ 5, 1861.]
Having been requested by the chairman at our last meeting’ to
read a paper this evening on the mode of manipulation by which
the negatives of the pictures I then produced were prepared, I
do so with pleasure, the more so as the details of this modification
of the collodio-albuinen process has never been properly put before
the photographic public.
When my friend, Mr. Mann, in his paper last year, made known
to you that when the free iodides, bromides, and chlorides of the
alkalies in excess on the collodio-albuminised film were washed out
with water the film would again be sensitive and fit for exposure
in the camera, he did so merely bringing these chemical facts
before you for what they were worth, not as a process ; but the
photographic public did us the honour of taking it up as such.
The negatives which I then showed to you were certainly pro¬
nounced to be very good, hut they were not exactly what might
have been desired. They were exceedingly sharp in detail, with
plenty of half-tone ; but there was a character about them which
gave a peculiar hardness to them : perhaps the very sharpness
lessened the softening effects which are so beautiful in the
Taupenot process. At the opening of this season, however, I had
another trial, and I am happy to say that I have overcome this
objection to a great extent, and that by a mode of slow develop¬
ment which I shall hereafter describe.
With regard to blisters, they can easily he avoided by proper
management. The principal point to be observed, when coating
the glass with collodion, is not to let tlie temperature of the
plate he below that of the atmosphere in the operating room :
when colder it is liable to condense moisture on its surface,
especially where the plate may not he perfectly chemically clean.
In taking the glass out of a cold box, for example, into . the
warmer atmosphere of the room, the plate is in this condition ;
and it should, in such cases, before being coated with collodion,
be very slightly warmed all over, so as to raise it to the tempera¬
ture, or a little above that, of the room. For this purpose I use a
tin box, filled with lukewarm water.
[June 15, 1861
316
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
The mode of manipulation which I follow gives, in my hands,
invariably good results, and this certainty adds very materially to
the pleasure of my photographic excursions. I generally bring
home as many good negatives as I exposed for. They develop
very clean ; give very soft but vigorous negatives ; and they keep
bright even with a very long exposure, which I think is a great
advantage. Double the exposure necessary makes but very little
difference : it shows only in the development, and must be humoured
accordingly. The plates keep a long time : they have been kept
for months in an ordinary plate box without deterioration.
I will describe the mode of manipulation in detail, so that
beginners may follow it up easily. I have, therefore, to crave the
indulgence of the more experienced photographers for the benefit
of the beginners, to whom, I have no doubt, every little hint will-
be welcome.
To begin, prepare the following solutions : —
NITRATE OF SILVER BATH.
Nitrate of silver crystals . 1 ounce.
Distilled water . . . 11 ounces.
Iodide of silver . to saturation.
Acetic acid . a few drops.
To saturate with iodide of silver : dissolve the one ounce of
nitrate of silver first in three ounces of distilled water : add to
this three or four grains of iodide of potassium. The whitish
precipitate formed is iodide of silver. Stir it, and it will presently
dissolve, or nearly so. Now add the remaining eight ounces of
distilled water, to make up the eleven ounces, as in the above
formula. This will cause a re-precipitation of part of the dissolved
iodide of silver. Let this milky-looking liquid stand to settle for
some hours, and then filter through clean blotting paper, and add
the few drops of acetic acid, so that the bath is slightly acid. It
is then fit for use. It should be frequently filtered during usage.
PREPARED ALBUMEN.
The white of . 6 eggs.
Distilled water . 3 ounces.
Chloride of sodium (common clean kitchen
salt will do) . 18 grains.
Liquor ammonia . 60 minims.
Dissolve first the salt in water, add the ammonia, and then mix
with the albumen. Shake or beat it up into a thick froth. Let
this stand a day or so, and filter the liquid formed through a
sponge pressed loosely into the neck of a funnel. Keep it in a bottle
corked up.
Instead of the three grains chloride of sodium to the ounce, as in
the above formula, I sometimes use —
The white of... . . . 6 eggs.
Distilled water . 3 ounces.
Chloride of sodium . . . 15 grains.
Bromide of potassium . . . 3 grains.
Liquor ammonia . . . 60 minims.
The introduction of the bromide, I believe, makes the pictures
softer, but the development is a little longer. With an iodide it
takes a still longer time to develop.
To flow the albumen over the plate without getting air bubbles,
use two beaker glasses or clean cups which will pour well ; place a
funnel with its spout broken off on one glass, so that it will reach
nearly to the bottom, and press a sponge loosely into the funnel.
When pouring the superfluous albumen back from the plate, always
pour into the funnel, changing it from glass to glass, as the filtered
fluid is being used.
Collodion. — I have succeeded best with a good positive collodion
mixed with some old negative ; but any good negative or positive
collodion itself seems to answer well. An ordinary negative col¬
lodion diluted with ether works very well. Of course, whatever
collodion is used should be of a known good quality. It does not
require any peculiar kind; but if it is not good no process will suc¬
ceed with it. I have not met with any yet which has not given me
the desired density, with proper development. Always have plenty
at hand when working. When many plates are prepared at a time
dilute some collodion in a separate bottle with ether, and keep
adding it to that in use as it gets too thick, taking care to shake
it up before using it again.
PREPARATION OF THE PLATE.
Before commencing to operate have everything requisite pre¬
pared and placed in the places where most convenient to handle.
Do this, if possible, an hour or two before beginning, in order that
any dust caused by your preparation may first settle. Filter the
silver bath, if required. Have plenty of clean blotting paper at
hand, ready cut and folded, and a clean towel to wipe the hands
with ; but do not knock this about much whilst using, as the lint is
apt to fly from it. Clean and polish your plates well. This should
not be done in the operating room, or at any rate not there imim--
diately before the preparation of the plates. See that no dust is
flying about while coating the plate.
Warm the plate slightly to a little above the temperature of the
room. Get firm hold of it by means of a clean pneumatic plate-
holder ; but let this holder not be colder or warmer than the plate,
else a ring is formed in the film. Brush it over with a clean flat
camel-hairbrush to remove dust, and coat it with collodion. When
well set — say in a few seconds, longer or shorter, according to exist¬
ing temperature — detach the plate from the holder by getting hold of
it firmly with your thumb and forefinger by one corner only ; and,
whenever the plate requires handling during the manipulation,
always confine yourself to this one corner : never get hold of it by the
sides. Stains are very liable if the plates, especially when wet, are
handled too much. When the collodion is well set dip the plate
into the nitrate of silver bath with one even continued motion. I
use a wooden well bath for large plates, well varnished inside and
out with shellac. Shake up the collodion in the bottle just used,
so that it may be equally mixed again for the next plate : this will
to a great extent prevent cloudy appearances in the film.
In a minute or so lift the plate in the bath up and down a few
times to remove the apparent greasiness from- the surface. Leavo
it in the bath four or five minutes, and give a few more up-and-
down movements. Then remove into a dish filled with clean com¬
mon water, but not into running -water.
Coat another plate with collodion, and place into the silver bath
as before.
Take the first plate out of the water, always getting hold of it
by the same corner as at first; place it on the plate-holder, and
pour water over it gently and evenly, until the apparent greasi¬
ness on the surface disappears, not longer. This washing should
not be too much, as I have good reasons for believing that if too much
of the nitrate of silver be removed it will cause uneven sensitiveness
on the film. The amount of water used for this washing is imma¬
terial : it may be used either direct from the tap or from a vessel,
but it should be done gently and evenly. I have a flexible india-
rubber tube, about half a yard long, fixed to my water tap. Holding
the plate in one hand and the tube in the other I play on the sur¬
face of the plate gently two or three times all over, when the water
will flow evenly down over the glass. Drain whilst in your hand
for half a minute or so ; in the meantime give the second plate in
the silver bath a few up-and-down motions.
Now pour the albumen on the plate, sufficient to cover the sur¬
face, without spilling, in one continued wave from end to end, on
and off twice. Do not let the wave stop until it gets to the oppo¬
site end to the one poured on, else the stoppage will cause a line
in the negative. Drain in your hand for a few moments, until the
bulk of the albumen is dropped off ; then place on one corner, on
clean doubled blotting paper, face side to the wall, and wipe the
back with some blotting paper. Take care not to let the scratching
against the wall cause any dust to fly : in the wet state the film
soon catches it up and would cause spots in the negative.
Now take the second plate out of the silver bath and proceed as
before, until as many plates as you desire to prepare at the time
are finished.
When sux’face dry or nearly so, say in about an hour, bake the
plates, by holding them either before a brisk red fire, or in an oven,
or on a hot water bath. I use a tin box with two flat sides, the
ends conical shaped, with a narrow base. At the bottom of each
flat side is a ledge for the plates to rest on. At the top of one of
the corners is a spout. This is nearly filled with water and placed
over a Bunsen burner to heat. The water need not be quite boiling,
but nearly so— say between two hundred degrees and boiling point.
I keep them on this to bake for five or ten minutes.
The only thing necessary now is to wash them well in clean
water, and they will be ready for the camera when dry.
After the baking the plates are comparatively insensitive to
light, and may be kept in boxes for a very long time, until required
for re-sensitising. A short exposure to a weak diffused light will
not do them much harm. However, where it is not inconvenient,
I should recommend them always to be kept in the dark ; but, in
case they be, by chance or by necessity, exposed to light, it is
necessary to give a longer exposure in the camera than usual. In
this case the negative will acquire its proper intensity before any
injurious fogging may appear.
If the plates are wanted to be finished off at once after the
baking, they are placed in a dish of common water, running, if
possible, before they are quite cool, and left in there from five to
ten minutes or longer, if convenient ; then fixed on the plate-holder
June 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
91T
and well washed under the tap ; and finally (if at hand) flushed over
once or twice with distilled water. Let them drain in your handafew
moments and place on one corner on clean doubled blotting paper,
face side to the wall, to dry. After a few minutes change the wet
blotting paper for some fresh, else it may cause foreign matter
to be drawn up on to the film by capilliary attraction. When dry
they are ready for exposure in the camera, but do not put them
away until they are quite dry. In this state they will keep good
and sensitive for months.
When the plates after the baking are kept before being sensitised
in water, I should recommend them to be warmed again before
the final washing. This will keep the film firmer on the glass.
The exposure in the camera required is about the same as some
other dry processes — say about three to thirty minutes for stereo¬
scopic pictures, six inches focus, quarter-inch stop ; and about six
minutes to one hour for eleven by nine inches pictures, half-inch
stop, according to light and subject. This must be learned by
experience. When convenient, I should recommend a long expo¬
sure, as the pictures in this case are less dangerous to develop.
DEVELOPMENT.
Prepare the following solutions : —
Pyrogallic acid . 3 grains
Citric acid . 1 grain.
Distilled water . . 1 ounce.
Nitrate of silver . 10 grains. 1 filter if not
Distilled water . 1 ounce, j clear.
Fresh nitrate of silver must be used for this solution, not old
silver baths. Also —
Protosulphate of iron . 8 grains.
Acetate of soda . 4 „
Acetic acid . 20 minims.
Distilled water . 1 ounce.
This last-named developer was recommended to me by a friend
lor wet plates. I find it answers well for the dry process.
The development is of great consequence, and, in order to get
soft and vigorous negatives, it should be begun with very little
silver, not increasing that until all the details are well out.
The following mode I find the best : — Hold the plate by means
of a plate-holder firmly in the hand, moisten the surface all over
quickly and well under the tap or in a dish, and flush it over with
distilled water. Take of the strong three-grain pyrogallic de¬
veloper, as per formula, sufficient to cover the plate well, and pour
it on and off several times ; then add to the ounce of developer in
the cup three to four drops of the ten-grain nitrate of silver
solution, and continue pouring it on and off the plate, thus
keeping it constantly in motion. After some minutes the picture
will appear : first the sky and high lights in the body of the picture,
gradually followed up by the less and still less illuminated parts.
Continue developing with the same solution until all the details are
perfectly out ; then take some fresh pyrogallic solution, and dilute
it to about half its strength with distilled wrater, and add about
half a drachm of the ten-grain nitrate of silver solution ; with
this continue developing until the required density is attained.
If this should not bring out the intensity, dilute some fresh
pyrogallic solution still further, say to about quarter its strength,
and add a drachm or two of the ten-grain silver solution : this
lias never failed in my hands in bringing out the desired intensity,
b.iould the. picture give signs of decided fogging before the
proper density is. acquired, or should it make its appearance with
great vigour, quicker than usual — in fact when the plate gives
unmistakeable signs of much over-exposure — then dilute the
developer at once considerably, and add plenty of silver : this
wnl soon darken the high lights, whilst the shadows will follow
but slowly. Experience only will teach the operator how to
humour tire negative. Any reasonable exposure too little or too
much may thus result in a good picture by slow or rapid de¬
velopment; but I would caution you against a too rapid develop¬
ment, as the resulting picture is liable to be hard. The best way
to know when the silver in the developer should be increased is
when, looking at the surface by reflected light, the strongest
shadows in the negative appear to begin to fog. The pyrogallic
should then be weakened and the silver increased, not before.
Another mode of development which I have been very suc¬
cessful with, and which promises to be very useful, especially
when pictures have been under-exposed, is, to begin with the
piotosulphate of iron and acetate of soda developer, as per
oi mu la above, commencing with lit tle silver, and increasing it
according to exposure. When the details are all out, and the
negative gives signs of fogging before the desired density is
obtained, then change the developer. Take of the pyrogallic solution,
diluted to about one grain to the ounce, and add half a drachm or
more of the nitrate of silver solution. This will soon darken it. With
this iron and acetate of soda developer veiy soft pictures may be
obtained, and a shorter exposure is necessary. Mixed with the
silver it soon gets muddy, and should be changed when it gets
too dirty.
By a subdued yellow light the appearance of a good negative,
before fixing in the hyposulphite of soda, should be almost black
or dark brown in the high lights and fogged in the shadows.
When the hyposulphite has afterwards dissolved out the iodide of
silver it will appear lighter and more transparent. A good nega¬
tive should not have any perfectly transparent places like the glass
itself. A slight fogging in the shadows, with detail and gradation
of tone up to dark brown in the high lights, make rather slow
printing negatives ; but the best pictures are obtained from them.
When the development is carried far enough wash the plate in com¬
mon water, and place it in a solution of hyposulphate of soda : say —
Hyposulphate of soda . 3 ounces,
Common water . 20 ounces,
until the yellowish green iodide of silver in the plate is all dissolved
out. Then wash well for a minute or two under the tap, so that
no hypo, may remain in, and dry either spontaneously or by gentle
heat. If the film should wrinkle after the fixing and washing, dry
spontaneously : it will then adjust itself.
When dry, examine it by daylight, and see whether all the
iodide of silver is out of the film, and whether the negative is
dense enough. If all right, then varnish it.
If the iodide be not all out, it may be replaced in the hypo. If
it be not dense enough, and the hypo, having been previously well
washed out, it may then be strengthened by a very weak solution
of pyrogallic developer and a ten-grain solution of silver, mixed
half and half. This must be done very quickly and with great
care, as the negative is sometimes liable to darken very soon, and
too much.
Lastly, I will enumerate the most important points necessary
for success in the process.
1. Let the glass be of the same temperature or above that of
the atmosphere of the room when coating it with collodion. This
will, to a great extent, prevent blisters.
2. After taking the plate out of the silver bath do not wash too
much, but merely until the water flows evenly over the glass.
This will ensure even sensitiveness of the film.
3. Wash well after the baking, so that all the excess of chloride
of sodium in the film be dissolved out. The more they are
washed the more sensitive they are likely to be.
4. Give plenty of exposure in the camera.
5. Develop slowly, commencing with a strong pyrogallic solution
and little silver, gradually weakening the pyrogallic and increasing
the silver.
- — 4= — -
HEW DEVELOPEBS FOB THE NEGATIVE PBOCESS,
By M. D. Van Monkhoven.
Believing, with the Abb5 Desprats, that processes of the greatest
rapidity are to be obtained more by modifications of the sensitising
bath and in the employment of new reducing agents than in seek¬
ing after novel formulae for collodions, I address myself to the
subject of developers.
The first developer I have experimented with is the sulphate of
uranium — properly speaking the proto-sulphate of uranium.
The simplest method of procuring this substance in a perfect
state of purity is by dissolving a few grains of the pi-oto-chloride
of uranium in ten times or less of their weight in water. On mix¬
ing this solution with an equal quantity of a solution of caustic
soda a blackish green substance is precipitated, which is the
hydrous protoxide of uranium. On allowing the liquid to stand at
rest for some hours the precipitate settles : then decant the super¬
natant liquid, add fresh water, and again decant. Repeat this
operation until the washings do not contain a trace of the chloride:
this is ascertained by adding a drop of solution of nitrate of silver
to a portion of the liquid, and if a cloudy precipitate is not pro¬
duced the washings are free from chlorides.
Then add sulphuric acid, drop by drop, to the precipitate, and
stir the mixture with a glass rod.
The precipitate is dissolved and affords a green liquid. When
all the precipitate is dissolved cease adding more acid. The
resulting liquid is ready for use and should be preserved in a stop¬
pered bottle, as air tends to decompose the proto-sulphate very
readily into persulphate of uranium, which is incapable of develop¬
ing the image.
} filter if not
f clear.
218
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
The preparation of proto-chloride of uranium is very simple.
Calcine nitrate of uranium in a small porcelain crucible furnished
with a cover at the melting point of tin. In an hour the nitrate
of uranium is decomposed into a reddish yellow mass, which is to
be finely pulverised and intimately mixed with double its weight of
wood charcoal in a state of impalpable powder. This is made into a
paste with oil, and formed into pellets, which are calcined again in a
closed crucible. These pellets are placed in a tube of hard German
glass and heated to a dull red heat, and a stream of dried chlorine
vapour is then passed through the tube. The manipulation is exactly
the same as that of the proto-chloride of iron, chloride of silicon, &c.
The chloride of uranium is found in the cold part of the tube in
little masses of a very decided green colour. This should be
weighed, dissolved, and treated with caustic soda, or potash, as
above described, as this chloride is very easily decomposable by
the oxygen of the atmosphere.
We have also prepared this solution as recommended by Niepce ;
but I do not think that M. Niepce has observed the laws of deve¬
lopment of this liquid on a film of collodion. He places in a closed
glass bottle 100 parts of water, two parts of nitrate of uranium,
and a bar of zinc. On exposing the closed bottle to the sun the
yellow tint is changed into green, for the nitrate of uranium passes
into the state of a proto salt. A few drops of sulphuric acid pro¬
duce a solution having the most energetic reducing power, only
this liquid is not readily preserved.
M. Ebelmenn recommends a very convenient method. It con¬
sists of mixing together —
Water . 100 parts
Absolute alcohol . 20 „
Nitrate of uranium . 5 „
Sulphuric acid . 2 „
and exposing the flask containing the mixture to the sun’s rays.
The alcohol is transformed in part into aldehyde, and the nitrate
of uranium into proto-sulphate.
But these two methods do not give me such satisfactory results
as by the process first described.
To develop pictures taken on collodion, the exposure should be
about the same as if it were intended to develop with sulphate of
iron. The image then develops slowly, especially if a certain
proportion of acetic acid be added to the developing liquid. If the
sulphate of uranium do not contain a great excess of sulphuric
acid, and if it do not include two parts of glacial acetic acid to
one part of chloride of uranium, the image is developed as quickly
as with pyrogallic acid, and yields pictures of extraordinary vigour.
But it is a singular peculiarity that, at the first moment when the
developing liquid is poured upon the plate in the dark room, the pic¬
ture appears very slowly ; but in an instant it becomes defined, and
attains vigour very rapidly. When the picture is judged sufficiently
developed, the action is arrested by plunging the plate into water.
I believe this new developer, from its energy, to be an advan¬
tageous addition to photography. — Le Moniteur.
O N THE CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATIONS OF
THE MAGIC LANTERN.
By J. T. Taylor.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, June 5th, 1861.]
AMONG the many optical instruments which minister to the instruc¬
tion or amusement of mankind the magic lantern is worthy of a
tolerably high position. It may be defined as a dioptric arrange¬
ment for throwing on a white screen, or other obstructing medium,
an enlarged representation of a strongly illuminated transparent
picture, differing from the solar microscope only in the source of
illumination and the size of the object to be magnified. The dis¬
tinction of the illuminating media is, however, fast being annihi¬
lated ; for to such a state of perfection has artificial light attained,
that even for the solar microscope the sun has been supplanted by
the oxyhydrogen and electric lights.
The magic lantern, like most other subjects, has a history; but
it is involved in considerable obscurity. We have evidence which,
although purely inferential, is still entitled to great respect, that
this instrument must have existed at least 300 years ago. About
the middle of the sixteenth century lived a Sicilian priest, a man
of considerable literary and scientific attainments. He was also
reputed for his skill in magic and necromancy. The celebrated
Benvenuto Cellini gives a somewhat particular account of an inter¬
view held between this priest and several of the denizens of some
other world, Cellini himself and one or two others being present.
It would seem that, after the usual ceremonies and incantations,
performed by the feeble light of a fire in which one of the assis¬
tants from time to time threw various perfumes, innumerable
[June 15, 1801
troops of devils appeared. On a second occasion similar results
followed ; perfumes in abundance were burnt, and, as a consequence,
demons in abundance were in attendance. Cellini, who narrates
these incidents, says “ When the magician had performed the rest
of his ceremonies he stripped oft’ his gown and took up a wallet full
of books which he had brought with him. We all went out of the
circle together, keeping as close to each other as we could, espe¬
cially the boy, who had placed himself in the middle, holding the
necromancer by the coat and me by the cloak. As we were going
to our houses in the quarter of Bancbi, the boy told us that two of
the demons whom he had seen at the amphitheatre went on before
us leaping and skipping, sometimes running upon the roofs of the
houses and sometimes upon the ground.”
Now, in this description one or two things are worthy of notice.
In the first place, volumes of smoke, caused by throwing various
substances into the fire, were produced ; second, the magician had
with him what seemed to be a wallet full of books; and third, some
of the demons or figures which had been seen in the amphitheatre
were also seen dancing on the walls of the houses as they passed
along on their way home — the priest being still in the company,
and having in his possession the said wallet of books, or what was
mistaken for it. Now, in the present day, every schoolboy knows
that some of the most startling and curious effects may be pro¬
duced by throwing a magic lantern phantom on a wreath of smoke
instead of a white screen, more especially when a little art is em¬
ployed to keep entirely hidden the fire from which the smoke
arises. This fact, coupled with the other that the priest or magi¬
cian carried home with him a box, and that some ot the same
phantoms which had been seen in the place specially prepared lor
the exhibition were also seen, now on one side and then on the
other of the narrow streets through which they passed on their
way home after midnight, establishes satisfactorily that all these
various troops of demons, which must have so astonished the people
in those days and enhanced the reputation of the sacerdotal magi¬
cian, were the offspring of a well constructed magic lantern. These
things took place, however, one hundred years before Kircher, the
reputed inventor of the magic lantern, was born.
I may here say that, although the state of knowledge in optics
and artificial illumination in the times of James IV. of Scotland
was such as at once warrants us in rejecting as erroneous the story
of the aerial herald and pursuivants who appeared over the ancient
cross of Edinburgh immediately before the battle of Flodden (for
particulars see Sir Walter Scott’s Marmion), yet at the present
day such a feat would be not only possible but comparatively easy.
With a jet of smoke or vapour projected into the air an excellent
representation of objects could be depicted by means of a lantern
placed fifty, one hundred, or even a greater number of feet distant
from it. A slight diminution in the magnifying power of the
object glass of the lantern, so as to send off the rays at a more
acute angle than is usually employed, coupled with a light of con¬
siderable intensity, would fulfil every condition.
After its recognised invention by Kircher it would seem to
have progressed in a somewhat steady and deliberate manner up
to the present time. Within the last few years its manufacture
has received an impetus owing to the acknowledged superiority of
photographic transparencies over those produced by the hand ;
and it is from a conviction that the lantern and the camera should,
to a greater extent than hitherto, go hand in hand that the subject
has been brought before a photographic society.
With these prefatory observations the subject now resolves
itself into the following : — firstly, the lantern itself ; secondly, the
slides or pictures ; and thirdly, a few of its applications.
The first part comprises the lighting, the condenser, and the
object-glass. The body of the lantern may be made either of
common tinned sheet or wood. The best class is usually made of
mahogany. The requirements for the body are that it shall be
rigid — shall not be affected by the heat arising from the source of
light — and shall completely prevent any leakage of light from the
inside. The chimney must be constructed so as to give perfect
passage to the heated air while it debars the passage of light.
The chimney should be put together by means of rivetting in
preference to soldering ; for, unless the oxyhydrogen or electric
lights are employed for lighting it, the heat generated is so great
as to melt the solder commonly employed in its construction.
This, as I have said, is not the case when the oxyhydrogen light is
used ; and to some it may appear singular, for up to the present
time the oxybrydrogen blowpipe possesses an intensity of heat
which is not attained by the hottest furnace. But more of this again.
The following comprise the usual modes by which the lantern is
lighted : — candle, lamp, common gas, and oxyhydrogen gas. To
219
Juno 15, 18-61] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
this category might also he added the electric light ; but it is
employed very seldom, and is of so cumbrous and expensive a
nature that it will never be much employed for this purpose.
Candle is only employed in the most inferior instruments : the
light emitted from this source being of such a Aveak and puny
character as to prove utterly inadequate towards the proper
illumination of a magnified picture. Of lamps, although in the
toy and cheap lanterns a very primitive form is used, in all
instruments of greater pretension the beautiful invention of
Ami Argand, resulting in the lamp named after him — the Argand
lamp— is employed. The peculiarities of his invention are that
the burner is formed of two tubes of metal one inside the other ;
in the space between, which is closed at the bottom, is a cylindrical
wide and a supply of oil. Through the inner cylinder, as well as
outside the outer one, a current of air passes upwards, and insures
more perfect combustion of the oil than could have been obtained
by any other arrangement. In order to provide for the more
thorough combustion of the carbon in the oil, an artificial draught
was excited by the addition of a glass chimney which, while it
very much increased the brilliancy of the flame, also imparted to
it great steadiness.
In places where no gas Avorks exist this burner has been largely
employed in the shape of moderator and other lamps. This light
seems now in danger of being quite extinguished by the parrafine
lamp, from some alleged advantages possessed by the latter; but I
am not yet aware with what advantage it may have been ap¬
plied to the magic lantern.
When common gas is used, undoubtedly the best form of
burner is. the Argand, with a glass chimney. For a small room,
either this or the Argand oil burner answers perfectly Avell, and
Avhen, in addition, a parabolic reflector is used, the light is really
of a very respectable character ; but for a large hall like the
present, a. church, or other similar building, it is inadequate
towards giving an enlarged view of a small picture with any
degree of force. For this purpose we must employ a light
attached to Avhich are such names as “ the Drummond light,”
“the oxy hydrogen light,” and “the lime light.” This last extremely
beautiful, pure, and intense light is produced by allowing a jet of
the mixed gases to iuqDinge on a piece of lime, Avhich, being
rendered incandescent, emits a strong light. All the requisites
for the production of this light are oxygen and hydrogen gases
and a cylinder or ball of lime. Oxygen is made by introducing
chlorate of potash, mixed Avith ten per cent, of black oxide of
manganese into a retort. This, when heated in an ordinary fire,
liberates oxygen in abundance. By means of a proper conducting
pipe and purifier it is passed into a bag made of macintosh cloth
or vulcanised India rubber. While it is undoubted that the
oxygen is formed from the chlorate of potash alone, and also that
the oxide of manganese very greatly facilitates the liberation of
the gas, it is difficult, if not impossible, to say how the oxide of
manganese effects this. The generally accepted theory is that it
acts by catalysis, or by its presence, for it enters into no chemical
combination Avith the potash, and parts with none of its oxygen,
unless, indeed, at a much higher temperature than is required for
the operation in question at present. Hydrogen gas is formed by
the addition of diluted sulphuric acid to broken pieces of zinc. The
gas is at once liberated, and may be put into a bag ready for use.
When these tAvo gases are mixed together they form a com¬
pound gas of an exceedingly explosive nature. Formerly the
gases were combined in a separate cell or chamber, and conveyed
thence to the burner. This, as might have been anticipated, was
sometimes attended by explosions of such violence as to sacrifice
life. But at the present day this is obviated by the simple
expedient of not allowing the gases to mix until they arrive (by
separate pipes) at the nozzle of the burner. Here, when ignited,
they give little light, but a most intense heat: so great is this
that the most obdurate metals — iron, copper, platina, and others —
Avhen subject to its influence, melt almost instantly. When a
piece of lime is made to receive the flame, the light under consi¬
deration is emitted. At the close of the exhibition of pictures to¬
night you will have an opportunity of verifying all I have
advanced in favour of the superior illuminating qualities of the
oxyhydrogen over every other form of light.
A modification of this is sometimes made by the omission of the
hydrogen and the substitution for it of a spirit lamp, through the
flame of Avhich the jet of oxygen passes before falling on the lime-
ball.- This modification usually receives the name of the oxycal-
cium light. In character it is the same as the original oxyhydrogen
light, -but inferior in degree. A more convenient modification con¬
sists- m the substitution of carburetted- hydrogen, i.e. the common
gas of the streets, for pure hydrogen. This is the process Ave have
employed on the present occasion.
A few words must suffice to dismiss the optical portion of the
lantern. It consists of a pair of condensing lenses placed betAveen
the picture and the light, so as to ensure equality of illumination
all over the picture, and an object-glass — something akin to a
camera lens— a few inches outside of the picture.
The next part of the subject is of more interest to the photo¬
grapher. It is how to make the slides. I will endeavour to
answer this by detailing the way by Avhich I made some of the
slides which in a feAV minutes will be submitted to your notice.
I assume that the operator is in possession of the negative photo¬
graphs from which his subjects are to be reproduced, and also that
he has at least a rudimentary knowledge of the collodion process.
The glass should be carefully examined and the best only selected.
After being cleaned it must be coated Avith collodion. Now, it is
of considerable consequence that the collodion be porous— capable
of receiving a dense deposit of silver — that it stand a long develop¬
ment without fogging— and, above all, that on the lights of the
picture there is not the least vestige of a deposit of silver, but that
it be represented by clear transparent glass. It Avould be out of
place here to say Iiqav I make collodion A\Thich shall fulfil all these
conditions : this will better be clone at one of the ordinary meetings
of the society. The bath I use is the ordinary one, acidulated Avith
acetic acid. After remaining the usual time the plate is removed
and subjected to a thorough washing. This done, it is coated Avith
a preservative varnish. This, according to the principles enun¬
ciated by Dr. Hill Norris, of Birmingham, and carried out in a
process for which he obtained a patent in 1856, consists of sub¬
stances of a gummy nature dissolved in Avater, Avhich, filling up
the pores of the collodion, prevents it drying into the close horny
film it otherwise would, and alloAvs, at a subsequent part of the
operation, the developing solution to permeate the entire thickness
of the film. In 1856 Dr. Norris published an account of some of
the various substances suitable for making this preserving varnish.*
He says : — “I have not confined myself to gelatine, but have used
albumen, gum, dextrine, starch, caseine, gluten, mucilage, sugar,
tanno-gelatine, and a great variety of substances, some of Avhich I
see are now being set forth by others Avho have imbibed my vieAvs.”
Such is the historical ignorance or moral obliquity of vision of some
photographers at the present day that some of them have, Avith
the greatest coolness, appropriated the valuable researches of Dr.
Norris, and, selecting one from the well plenished larder of that
gentleman, have trumpeted it forth to the Avorld as some new
thing. If any member of this society Avishes to be dubbed an
inventor in photography, all that is required is to select the appro¬
priate substance or something analogous, and, prefixing his name,
call it the Brown, Jones, or Robinson process. Seriously speaking,
it is rather melancholy to think Iioav often and Avith Avhat success
this sort of “ invention made easy ” is practised. But to the
subject. The plate being coated with a preservative A^ar-
nish is dried preferably by a tolerably strong heat — such as
that from a dull fire, a heated brick, or a liot-water bottle.
When dry, it is either ready for immediate use or may be kept
for months or years, excluded, of course, from the light. The
negative being placed over the plate thus prepared the Avhole is
exposed to an ordinary gas-light from fifteen to sixty seconds,
according to the density of the negative and the character of the
picture that is desired. The development of the picture next fol-
Ioavs. This is the great point in photography, and in this I shall be
borne out by all who have had experience. The members present
who, on a late occasion, heard Mr. Burns read his excellent and
practical paper On the Fothergill Process, Avill recollect his dictum
that more pictures were spoiled from improper development than
from any other cause Avhatever. Noav, any expression of this kind
coming from Mr. Burns is entitled to consideration ; for to him has
been generally aAvarded (and this aAvard I from my very heart
endorse) the high position of being among the first, if not the very
first, dry-plate operator at least in Scotland. There is no doubt
that protosulphate of iron Avill not produce such a good picture as
pyrogallic acid. True, on one occasion I did recommend it pretty
strongly; and on my authority Mr. Macnair recommended it as the
best developer for that modification of Dr. Norris’s discovery Avhich
he brought under the notice of the Photographic Society of Scot¬
land, in Avhich the varnish consisted of wort or malt infusion in
preference to any other of this class. Since that time, however, I
have discarded it for all kinds of dry plates, in favour of pyrogallic
acid and another substance sometimes employed by me — of Avhich
* In the Journal of Ihc Photographic Society, which serial is also the organ of the
Photographic Society of Scotland.
220
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Juno 15, 1861
further particulars will be forthcoming — these latter giving a much
finer quality of picture, and being much more manageable. The
degree of development must be determined by the taste of the ope¬
rator and a consideration of the kind of light to be employed in
the lantern ; for it is evident that a picture to be exhibited by the
comparatively feeble light of an oil lamp must have its details
rendered in much*greater transparency than when the oxyhydrogen
is intended to be used.
When developed, fixed, and varnished, the picture, if successful,
will have its highest lights of the clean glass. If preferred, it is
now coloured. While some use water colours with very great suc¬
cess, it is generally thought that colours in oil are usually more
advantageous. From the perfect transparency required in the
colours, but few are available : yellow lake, gallstone, madder lake,
Prussian blue, burnt sienna, and madder brown, rank chief among
those used. Without further remark I dismiss this part of the
subject, and this the more readily that I hope to get my able coad¬
jutor, Mr. Kamage — whose skill in this department is of a very high
order — to favour us with an evening on this subject at an early
meeting of the Societ}^.
We have now arrived at the application or various uses to which
the lantern may be applied. Only a few of these can here be glanced
at. Perhaps the use with which all our earliest ideas are associated
is that of the amusement of children. For this purpose the lantern
stands altogether unrivalled. At a party of children, the intense
delight depicted on the little eager faces when it is introduced
leaves no doubt as to its popularity with them.
A few of the class of pictures — usually of a somewhat comic
character — best adapted for the amusement of children will now be
exhibited. * * • * - # •» * *
But, with respect to children, a higher and more important appli¬
cation of this instrument is, to assist their tuition in the rudiments
of geography, natural history, geology, and astronomy. Before
giving illustrations of some of these, a few very rudely-painted
slides, illustrative of one of JEsop’s fables — “ The Old Man and his
Ass ” — will be shown. A judicious exhibitor will, of course, when
showing such a picture to children, accompany if with a narration
of the fable — which, in the present case, I assume, you all know
already. ********
Not to encroach too much on your time, we shall submit one or
two out of a great variety of astronomical slides. The first one
represents the solar system, in which, by a complicated system of
wheel work, each planet revolves round the sun — no two per¬
forming their revolutions in the same time. The next is a
telescopic view of the moon. I may state that this is not a mere
fancy picture, but a real map, executed from the photograph
exhibited before the British Association at Liverpool.
As a number of pictures of a general nature are now to be
submitted for your inspection as dissolving views, allow me to
explain how the dissolving effect is produced : — Two lanterns,
placed side by side, must be employed, and the discs of light on
the screen must exactly coincide. A pair of fans are made to
move in front of the lanterns, in such a way as to allow free
passage of light from the one, while that from the other is entirely
stopped. While the picture on the screen is being examined
another picture is inserted in the darkened lantern, and on gently
sliding the fans the one picture is gradually covered from the
light, while the other as gradually is brought to view. The
effect of the pictures merging into one another is very beautiful.
And now a few words about the pictures. Some have been
photographed from nature, and a considerable number of them
from engravings. Many of them are parts of sets for the illus¬
tration of lectures — such as the Polar regions, the life and career
of Napoleon, and others. Some of you may not be aware that
there is a firm, in Edinburgh, who get up such lectures periodically
for the benefit of their numerous employes and their friends. I
allude to Messrs. Nelson, the eminent publishers, of Hope Park,
who provide these intellectual and pictorial feasts, interlarded
with music of a high class ; and which, judging from appearances —
for I have had the pleasure of being present on two occasions —
seem to be, indeed, highly appreciated by those for whose benefit
they are given. This, indeed, is an ennobling use of the magic
lantern ; and let all honour be awarded to the Messrs. Nelson for
taking the initiative in a movement which very much tends to
strengthen the ties which bind employers and employed. Others
may be acting in a similar manner : I sincerely hope they may —
only I am not aware of it. I may say, further, that our Society
being, from its extreme youth (not yet three months old), unable
to afford a suitable lantern for itself, is indebted for the use of
the lantern before you to the Hope Park printing establishment.
THE NEGATIVE ALBUMEN PROCESS ON GLASS.
By John Ciumu.
( Continued from page 201.)
EXPOSURE.
The length of time required to expose for good results in any
process is a matter on which no very definite rules can be given.
Albumen is generally considered slow. It is very difficult to com¬
pare processes under this head, as so few persons are equally com¬
petent to try several, and so much depends on development and
the previous preparation of the plates for the trial by each process.
Perhaps, after all, different operators, equally skilled in different
processes, and trying the same subject at the same time with
similar lenses, would bo the only fair trial. It would bo no
easy matter to get such a comparison made. Personally I
believe albumen to be the quickest dry process. I have not
turned my attention much to rapidity of exposure, and not at
all to instantaneous exposures. I believe albumen capable of
yielding instantaneous pictures with no important difference in the
plan of working I generally adopt. The instantaneous pictures of
my friend, Mr. Kibble, are on collodio-albumen — a process I esteem
as generally slower than plain albumen. I have taken two pictures
in one day : the one was exposed for twenty seconds, the other for
twenty-four hours, getting all the light that was going in a day in
the middle of October. The twenty-seconds’ picture was over¬
exposed ; the twenty-four hour one — a view of the interior of West¬
minster Abbey — was under -exposed. In both the preparation of the
plates was the same. The darkest subject, photographically, I
ever tried was the interior of the House of Lords. I got a picture
by an exposure of six hours, with the full aperture of a double
combination lens. I exposed some for three days on the same
subject, and, though sharper, from using a landscape lens with a
small stop, yet I prefer the double lens picture as being more perfect.
While in Syria I scarcely ever tried rapid working, and never
prepared for it. My object there was to get fair pictures with
certainty and with as little trouble as possible.
DEVELOPMENT.
The development of a dry plate is an important part of the
manipulation. Almost any amount of exposure can be made to
yield good pictures in albumen by adapting the development to
the exposure : at least as much as a difference of twelve or fifteen
times can be made to yield similarly finished pictures.
Any of the usual developing agents employed in other photogra¬
phic processes will answer in albumen. I almost invariably use
gallic acid, which I prefer to be warm, adding a little aceto-nitrate
of silver. I develop in a porcelain dish, and generally have
several going on at the same time. My usual mode of procedure
is something like the following : — Get a kettle of warm water, put
a little gallic acid in the dish, and pour the hot water over it. My
finger tells me when it is about the temperature I want. I then
add the silver, mix well, then drop in the plate. If properly
exposed, the picture appears in about half a minute. I attend to
one picture till I see how it is going on. If it can be left I proceed
to another dish, and so to a third— seldom more, except they are
much under-exposed, and even in that case I cannot have a large
number profitably going on, as I prefer using afresh hot developer
if under-exposed. With stereos I generally put six plates in one
dish, and with three dishes that makes eighteen pictures to look
after. With eight by ten, the size I frequently work, 1 could not
risk so many. A picture which appears in less than halt a
minute will generally be fully developed in half-an-hour. I have
had fine pictures fully developed in a few minutes, and I would
always prefer to err on that side. Some of the finest pictures !
have ever done were about an hour in developing. I do not at this
time remember having got any very fine results by long develop¬
ment; but yet it is a great matter if by such means one can get a
picture in a case in which, without long development, there would
bo none. The aceto-nitrate of silver to be used in developing
should contain a larger proportion of acid than the sensitising bath ;
and it is more convenient to have it weaker — say ten or fifteen
grains to the ounce.
FIXING.
The fixing is done with a solution of hyposulphite of soda, oi
the proportion of one of hyposulphite of soda to six of water. I
prefer it generally much weaker, and not alkaline.
I had purposed saying something on the history of this process
and the chemistry of it; but, on looking over my notes, I saw
there would be little of practical value to the beginner, and my
time is far gone, and so I fear is your patience.
I would yet wish to say a few words qn some of the special
difficulties and objections to albumen. Small holes in the film are
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
231
June 15, 1861]
a frequent annoyance, and arise from several causes. Imperfect
beating up of the albumen produces the innumerable number of
minute holes equally distributed over the whole plate. Some¬
what similar effects are produced by using impure or alkaline
iodide of potassium. The use of free iodine prevents this.
Dust falling on the plates in any of the various stages of the
manipulation will produce holes, but quite different in character,
and only here and there, over the picture. Bubbles is another of
the vexations. Abundant beating assists in preventing that, and
having the plate in proper season when it is silvered,— not too dry.
This is not a serious trouble at all, and can be readily cured by
avoiding the use of alkaline hypo, or washing waters.
Most of the objections generally urged against pure albumen have
been referred to, and in some measure met already, viz. : — the length
of time required in preparation of the plates, both albumenising and
silvering and washing ; the long developing and long exposure ;
and uniformly giving harsh pictures. All these charges we meet
with a flat non sequitur. Try the process. I will not promise too
much ; but have confidence that a fair proportion of those who try
will persevere and be satisfied.
It is fitting that I should say something of the advantages or
superiority of albumen. I believe that is not much required—
they lie so much on the surface, and will strike every one at once ;
so that if I can remove objections and convince my auditors that
they could easily succeed in it, if they would only try, my work is
perhaps done. When albumen on glass was introduced to the
photographic world there were no competitors, it may be said —
there was no negative process but on paper. It must be confessed
that there is something to explain— why, if it be so simple, so
easy, and so superior, it has been so little used, as we must allow.
For how few exhibitors have we ever had at any British photo¬
graphic exhibition whose pictures professed to be by this process !
And how much fewer — almost none — were resident among us 1 It
came to us from France, and seems never to have been properly
naturalised. Some years ago I would have had more hope of
success in recommending it, when there was no dry process on
glass. In some respects the time may be esteemed favourable.
The attention of photographers is now more than ever turned to
the desirableness of a good workable dry process ; and, above all,
it is now fully acknowledged that dry plates can, if skilfully used,
give good pictures-— as fine as wet, some high authorities say. My
own opinion is so modified that I could not either say yes or no
to that proposition. Under every favourable condition I would
be disposed in favour of wet plates ; but, taking the average of
the positions in which an operator will be placed, I would incline
to the opinion that the resulting picture, with equal skill and
experience, would very often be in favour of dry plates.
Comparing albumen with dry processes in which collodion is
used, I think the superiority is much on the side of albumen for
ease and simplicity of working. It has an important advantage in the
certainty of obtaining the raw material in any country, and also, in
its extreme cheapness — a consideration where large plates are used.
For transparencies no other process can be compared with it. I
have not used it in large quantity for this purpose ; but, to the
extent that I have, I found it quite as easy as taking negatives. Mr.
. Negretti, of London, has been calling the attention of amateurs to
the superior suitability of albumen negatives for printing transpa¬
rencies from, because they will bear being pressed into close contact
without being injured, while those by other processes will not. I
have found no necessity for this absolute closeness of contact ; but
I prefer to leave a full description of the apparatus I use for this
purpose to a future occasion, when I can also show specimens
and perhaps operate in your presence.
I conclude with an earnest recommendation to those who hear
me to try this process. Begin with one egg. Nothing peculiar is
required. But determine, before you begin, that one failure will not
discourage you. If I can assist in helping any one personally over
a difficulty, my services are at the command of those who will
try the albumen process ; and nothing will give me greater
pleasure than to smooth the path for fellow-labourers in the cul¬
tivation of our art in this department.
Aletov'D nf Intentions.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
No. IV.
PROF. WM. THOMSON’S REGISTERING ELECTROMETER.
Professor William Thomson, of Glasgow, has recently invented
an electrometer for registering, by photographic agency, the diur¬
nal variations in the electrical condition of the atmosphere. This
places another instrument in the hands of the meteorologist for
foretelling the advent of fine or stormy weather. The apparatus
has lately been set up at the Kew Observatory; and, as we have
had an opportunity of examining it since it has been in action, we
purpose devoting the present article to its description, as it furnishes
a very good type of the arrangements usually adopted for regis¬
tering, by photographic appliances, the action of meteorological
instruments, wherein an uninterrupted series of observations, from
hour to hour, day to day, and year to year, is of the greatest im¬
portance, and where, otherwise, human observation would have to
be employed.
The Collector consists of a copper reservoir, A, fig. 1, capable
of holding about ten gallons of water, fixed on an insulated stand.
From this projects a metal tube, B, that passes through an insulated
aperture in the wall of the Observatory, and terminates at some
feet from the building in a jet, from which a fine stream of water
is allowed to flow : a copper wire passes from this collector to an
insulated plate, C, in a reflecting electrometer. Professor Thomson
finds the water-jet to be a more energetic and convenient collector*
of electricity than the flame of a spirit or other lamp, or the fine
metal points hitherto used for similar purposes.
The conducting wire is, as we have said, attached to an insulated
metal plate, C, fixed within the glass jar of the electrometer : this
plate is a semi-circular ring (as shown in fig. 2), and is separated
by about one-tenth of an inch from a similar metal plate, D, but
which is in communication with the metal-work of the instrument,
and so with the earth. A little above these two plates, a delicate
counterpoised aluminium needle, E, is suspended by a fine glass
fibre from the top of the electrometer. A fine platinum wire is also
attached to the aluminium needle, and hanging in a line with the
glass fibre it dips downwards into some sulphuric acid placed in
the bottom of the glass portion of the instrument. The interioi of
the instrument is thus similar in arrangement to that of a Leyden
jar. The object of this arrangement is, that when electricity is
communicated to the insulated plate, 0, the aluminium needle, E,
* See “ Elbctbicity, Atmospheric," Nichols Cyclopaedia of Natural Philosophy,
2nd Edition.
222
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 15, 1801
shall, by virtue of a fixed charge of positive electricity previously
communicated to it, be attracted or repelled, according to the nature
of the electricity (+ positive or — negative) collected by B, and
that it shall be deflected to a greater or less extent, according to
the amount of the charge imparted to C.
Behind the aluminium needle, and attached to the wire by which
it is suspended, is a very small and light mirror, F, consequently,
when the needle is effected by an electrical charge, this mirror will
be also deflected from side to side.
As only a portion of the semi-circular plates, C and D, can be
shown in section in fig. 1, the absolute arrangement of the electro¬
meter plates, needle, torsion fibre, and mirror, will be better under¬
stood by reference to Jig. 2, which is a horizontal section as seen
when looking down from above the electrometer.
C is the semi-circular ring con- 11
nected by the wire with “ the
wire
collector,” B ; D the other half
ring in connexion with the earth ;
E the aluminium needle of the
electrometer; and F the little
mirror that receives and reflects
light from the lamp, G {Jig. 1).
The electrometer is enclosed in a
square mahogany case, which is
indicated in Jig. 1.
We now come to the photo¬
graphic arrangements for regis¬
tering any deflections of the
electrometer needle. _
The light from the edge of a very flat gas flame (rumapntflaiiseuj, is¬
suing from a burner, G, of peculiar construction (similar in shape to
that employed for the consumption of paraffine), passes through a
slit, 'H, in a metal screen, so as to cast a beam of light on the mirror,
F, and also on ajixed mirror attached to the outside of the electro¬
meter at K. Before the electrometer is connected with the collector,
B, the mirrors, F and K, are so adjusted that the rays incident on
their surfaces shall both be made to fall, by reflection, on one spot,
namely, the zero line on the drum,L, that supports the photographic
paper or register enclosed in the dark box, M. The mirror, K, is
simply adjusted by screw movements ; the mirror, F, together with
the electrometer needle, by aid of a mechanical arrangement fitted
to the top of the electrometer.
The dark box, M, contains clockwork, by means of which a broad
brass drum, L, is made to rotate, with an uniform motion, at the
rate of one inch an hour. Over this drum a sheet of waxed-paper,
prepared according to Mr. Crookes’s formulae,* is stretched, and
clamped by two brass bars, with trigger catches, N. The rays of
light reflected from the two mirrors, F and K, are admitted to the
interior of this dark chamber through a narrow slit, 0, in front of
which a bar-shaped semi-cylindrical lens, P, is placed, so as to con¬
centrate the rays to a focus on the surface of the sensitive paper.
A conical tube, R, blackened on the inside, extends from the elec¬
trometer to the dark box, M, so as to exclude all extraneous light
but that proceeding from the mirrors alone. Now it will be seen
that whilst the rays reflected from the fixed mirror, K, will always
fall on one spot on the paper, the slightest motion of the mirror, F,
will cause a dot of light to fall upon the photographic paper, varying
in position according to the amount of its deflection, to the right
or to the left. Thus any electrical action effecting the needle will
be indicated ; for if the electrometer needle, E, moves, the mirror,
F, must also move, and according to the amount and number of
deflections of the needle so will there be corresponding curves
impressed upon the photographic register paper, as it pro¬
gresses onwards, as shown in the following diagram, which is a
facsimile* of one of these records forwarded to me by Professor
Thomson, who, from recent mathematical investigations, has given
a value to such registers of the atmospheric disturbances that has
hitherto been wanting.
These register papers show the actual electric condition of the
atmosphere at the time and place at which they are exposed.
While the air is destitute of electricity the spot of light reflected
from the mirror, F, falls upon the zero line; but, according as the
collector is charged from the atmosphere with negative or positive
electricity, the spot of light traces the record on one side or the
other of the zero line, the amount of disturbance being measured
at any instant of time by the length of a perpendicular drawn from
the zero line to the point in the curve occupied by the spot of light
at that instant. These register papers prove, however, that the
atmosphere is hardly ever in a state of absolute rest, electric dis¬
turbances of a greater or less extent being ever indicated.
The mirror, K, which is an addition to the instrument as originally
described, is for the purpose of laying down, photographically, the
“ zero line,” which has otherwise to be ruled in, in ink or pencil, on
the prepared paper before being placed on the drum. If, however,
the paper is not very carefully adjusted on the cylinder, or vibra¬
tions are imparted to the instrument, the zero line will not be in
true relation to the indicating lines of the mirror F. By this addi¬
tion they are kept in unison with the self-printed zero line.
The glass vessel that encloses the torsion needle, E, to protect
it from currents of air, also includes, as previously stated, a Leyden
jar arrangement which is in connexion with another Leyden jar and
torsion arrangement, S, which may be called the “ tell-tale electro¬
meter ; ” for before the apparatus is set to work, an electrode, T, com¬
mon to both electrometers, is charged with positive electricity, and
the charge thus imparted is kept as constant as possible : this is indi-
acted by the “ tell-tale” torsion electrometer, S, and when necessary
the charge is again adjusted. The object of the electrometer, S, is
to guage the amount of electricity communicated to the aluminium
needle, E.
The air in each electrometer is kept dry by means of the sulphuric
acid placed at the bottom of each glass vessel that forms the Ley¬
den jar of the arrangement.
There are some other minor details ; but, as our object is more to
show THE principle of the method by which photography is made
available for registering the indications of scientific instruments
employed in meteorological and magnetic researches, &c., we omit
them, but refer those who may desire a more minute description
ZERO LINE,
of the electrometers^sed by Professor Thomson to an abstract of a
lecture he gave at the Royal Institution, published in the “Pro¬
ceedings ” of that Institution, from which we extract the following
passage as illustrating^ the practical value of this very ingenious
and important invention ; —
“ The water-dropping collector constructed for the self- registering ap¬
paratus to be used at Kew had been previously set upon the roof of the
Royal Institution, apd an insulated wire (Beccaria’s * deferent wire ’ led
down. to the. reflecting electrometer on the leciuxfi-raorn. table. The
electric force in the.air above the roof was thus tested several times during
the meeting ; and it was at first found to be, as it had been during several
days preceding, somewhat feeble positive (corresponding to a feeble ne¬
gative electrification of the earth’s sui’face, or rather housetops, in the
neighbourhood). This was a not unfrequent electrical condition of days
* description of the Waxed-paper Process Employed for the Photometeorograpkic
Registrations at the Radcliff'c Observatory, Oxford ,1851.
such as these had been of dull rain, with occasional intervals of heavier
rain and of cessation. The natural electricity was again observed by
means of the reflecting electrometer during several minutes near the end
of the discourse ; and was found, instead of the weak positive which had
been previously observed, to be strong positive of three or four times the
amount. Upon this the speaker quotedf an answer, which Prior Ceca
had given to a question Beccaria had put to him ‘ concerning the state
of electricity when the weather clears up.’ ‘If, when the rain has
ceased (t&e Prior said to me) a strong excessive^ electricity obtains, it is
a sign that the weather will continue fair for several days : if the elec¬
tricity is but small, it is a sign that such weather will not last so much as
that whole day, and that it will soon be cloudy again, or even will again
* The “ zero line” is not laid down in the register forwarded to me, but is indicated in
fig. 3.
+ From Beccaria’s first letter “ On Terrestrial Atmospheric Electricity during Serene
■Weather” — Garzegna di Mondovi, May 16 fh, 1775.
t i.e. vitreous, or positive
June J 5, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
223
rain.’ The climate of this country is very different from that of
Piedmont, where Beccaria and his friend made their observations; hut
their rule as to the * electricity of clearing weather ’ has been found
frequently confirmed by the speaker. He therefore considered that,
although it was still raining at the commencement of the meeting, the
electrical indications they had seen gave fair promise for the remainder of
this evening, if not for a longer period. [At the conclusion of the
MEETING IT WAS FOUND THAT THE RAIN HAD ACTUALLY CEASED. THE
WEATHER CONTINUED FAIR DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT, AND
THREE OR FOUR OF THE FINEST DAYS OF THE SEASON FOLLOWED.] There
can be no doubt but that electric indications, when sufficiently studied,
will be found important additions to our means for prognosticating the
weather.”
The earth’s surface is, in serene weather, generally, in most loca¬
lities hitherto examined, found to be negatively — or resinously
electrified, but sometimes, at instants, positively + or vitriously.
- -
SIMPLE MEANS OF MAKING- THE COLLODION FILM
ADHERE TO THE GLASS.
A Writer in La Lumiere states that, having wished to try some
iodised collodion that had been prepared about eleven years, he
found it red, very fluid, consequently of little consistence and of
feeble sensibility ; but, on adding to it new collodion, it gave very
beautiful proofs. This mixture, however, per se, readily became
detached from the glass, on account of its non-adherent character.
He therefore endeavoured to make this otherwise valuable
sample of collodion available by imparting to the glass plate an
almost imperceptible film of albumen. This was produced by rub¬
bing the surface with a pad of rag, over which had been spread one
or two drops of albumen, the glass being eight and a-half by six and
a-half inches in dimensions. The albumen was simply unbeaten
white of egg in its natural state, without any addition, of such a
consistence, that, on soaking a piece of rag or bibulous paper in a
cup filled with the albumen, and rubbing it rapidly over the plate
(at the same time assisting equal distribution by breathing on it),
it formed a very thin pellicle, whose presence was only indicated
by irisated shades. On coating the plate thus prepared with the
non-adherent sample of collodion, it no longer broke away from the
plate, even when put to severe tests.
The author recommends this simple remedy with confidence.
The albumen thus applied does not give rise to strife, &c.
Ifltetinp of StrdHws.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The last ordinary monthly meeting of this Society for this session was
held on Tuesday evening, the 4th inst., in the Lecture Theatre of King’s
College, — Joseph Durham, Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were proposed and declared duly elected
members of the Society: — Earl Cawdor, R. C. Oldfield, Esq., and Major
Shakspeare, R.A.
Mr. Vernon Heath rose, pursuant to a notice given at the last meeting,
to di aw the attention of the Society to the anomalous position in which
photography had been placed by Her Majesty’s Commissioners in the ap¬
proaching great Exhibition of 1862. Pie was happy to say that after
reading the forcible, logical, and excellent letter of their worthy President,
his task had become much simplified ; and lie thought he might content
himself with asking the Chairman to explain to the meeting what had
occurred since that letter had been forwarded. Whatever answer that
question called forth, he was sure the President’s letter, and the manner in
which the Council of the Photographic Society had conducted this ques¬
tion throughout, merited the warmest and best thanks of the members of
the Society for their endeavours to place the art of photography in the
rank which it ought to hold on such an important occasion.
The Chairman thought the best way would be for the Secretary to read
the correspondence and the minutes of the mee tings that had taken place
since their last meeting. By that means every one would be put in pos¬
session of what had been done, and the results of such proceeding. Un¬
happily things had not gone exactly as he could wish.
[Dr. Diamond then read the correspondence which had taken place
since the President’s letter had been addressed to the Commissioners,
which will be found under the head of Photography at the International
Exhibition of 1862. [See page 214].
After a long sitting of the Council that morning it was determined to
send another letter to the Commissioners on the subject.
Mr. IP. G. Bohn was quite sure that photography was placed under
the Fine Arts Department in the Exhibition of 1851. It came under his
management as chairman of a sub-committee, in conjunction with Mr.
Chven^ Jones, and was classed in connexion with colour-printing, which
occupied a very prominent position among the fine arts on that occasion.
Mr. Malone said Mr. Bohn could not have noticed the remarks he had
made at a former meeting. He was one of those who took part in the
actual arrangement of the photographs in the Exhibition of 1851, and
therefore he could speak most positively as to the place they then occu¬
pied in the classification. He had stated at a former meeting that a
portion of the photographs were placed under the Fine Arts Department
with the colour-printing, as stated by Mr. Bohn ; but the best and greater
portion of the collection was sent up into the gallery with the apparatus.
On complaint being made a gentleman, whose name he need not disclose,
decided in an arbitrary manner that no alteration could be made in the
classification. _ He did not wish that this should be repeated in the forth¬
coming Exhibition.
The Chairman did not think it would be right for him under the
circumstances, as the matter was in the hands of the Committee, to state
on that occasion the course they intended adopting.
Mr. Vernon Heath thought that if the Council found it necessary to
call a special meeting of the Society, every member would attend and
support them in any course they might think advisable.
The Chairman stated that that was the determination the Council had
arrived at.
Mr. Shadbolt wished to call the attention of the meeting to one point
in the letters laid before them— namely, the cool assumption. of the Com¬
missioners that the Society was about to appoint a Committee to assist
them in arranging the Photographic Department of the Exhibition, when
they had been distinctly informed by the Lord Chief Baron that the
Council refused doing anything of the kind until their just claims had
been complied with. He thought they ought to record their strong and
unanimous protest against such an assumption.
The Chairman said lie might state that the Council had for the present
declined to appoint any Committee for such a purpose.
Mr. Bedford exhibited several fine photographs, characteristic of his
style, taken with one of Mr. Ross’s orthographic lenses. A charge had
been made against one of those lenses by a gentleman who had purchased
one, that it was deficient in depth of focus, and otherwise wanting in
necessary qualities, tie had therefore tried the lens under the most
unfavourable circumstances, by using an absurdly large aperture, and he
had succeeded in taking a picture twelve by ten with a lens only intended
for a field of eight and a-half by six and a-half inches. That was about the
most severe trial a lens could be put to. The convergence of the lines
in one of the pictures produced was owing to his having “cocked ” the
camera to get in the whole of Ely Cathedral. The exposures were about
eight seconds for the exterior, and five minutes for the interior. He
thought the result was a satisfactory proof of what that lens was capable of.
Mr. Shadbolt laid on the table two prints from negatives taken by
the gentleman who complained of the lens to which Mr. Bedford referred,
with that lens, and also two others taken by the same operator rvith ano-
. ther lens, to show by comparison the alleged inferiority of the former.
He was informed that the malcontent asserted that the two sets of
pictures were regarded by him as “corresponding subjects” respec¬
tively, but in both instances the subjects were really of an opposite
nature, instead of similar in character ; for in one the objects in the centre
of the picture were the nearest to the spectator, whilst in the other the
objects at the side were the nearest. In another pair of test pictures the
objects were all in one plane : in the other there were several planes. It
was, therefore, impossible to call these in any way corresponding or
analogous subjects, and he thought any one so regarding them utterly
unfit to judge of the capabilities of a lens. There was a mistake com¬
monly made by photographers to which he might as well refer —
namely, that a lens with a great “depth of focus,” as they called it,
must be a good lens. Now, in his opinion, a lens with great depth of
focus was as bad a lens as could possibly be produced. The term “depth
of focus” was in itself an absurdity, and only to be regarded as a myth
invented by opticians either ignorant of their trade or for the purpose
of deluding inexperienced photographers. Instead of good pictures being
produced by a lens enjoying that property, it should only be regarded as
a special contrivance for deteriorating the character of the picture. It
was an impossibility for any properly corrected lens to render objects
situated in different planes all equally sharp. “Depth of focus,” in
plain language, means no focus at all.
Mr. Sutton said there were two kinds of “ depth of focus,” — that pro¬
duced by a bad lens with a large aperture, and that produced by a good
one with a small diaphragm. Mr. Shadbolt seemed to confound the two
things together.
Mr. Shadbolt maintained that depth of focus was altogether a myth.
By using a small diaphragm the rays formed a more acute angle, and
objects that were out of the plane of focus did not appear quite so much
out of focus as when the rays formed a more obtuse angle by the use
of a larger diaphragm, and the result was that the image did not appear
so blurred. In other words, by using a small stop “the circle of least
confusion” was not so readily discernible.
Mr. Malone said Mr. Ross used the term “ depth of focus,” but in a
correct sense. He quite agreed with Mr. Shadbolt that where all objects
were made to look equally sharp and in their true planes, by using a
small stop, there was no real depth of focus; but that was quite different
from the real “depth of focus” produced by a lens of full aperture,
where all the objects retained their true positions with equal sharpness.
He knew of one lens now in daily use that took excellent portraits, and
m
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Juno 15, 1861
was generally liked for giving that depth of focus that was so much
approved of by some photographers ; but Mr. Ross would have said that
it gave no part of the picture in proper focus, for in such a lens there
was no true or mathematical focus anywhere. So far so good ; but he
also thought it was quite possible with a good lens, and by proper
management of the subject and the stop, to get one portion of the pic¬
ture in focus and the rest but so slightly out as not to be perceptible.
But to secure depth of focus by this means it was at the expense of a
large portion of the light, and, with long focussed lenses, they might
arrive at a point at which it would be impossible to secure actinic action
on the photographic medium employed.
Mr. Shadbolt again denied the possibility of getting two planes of
equal sharpness at the same time. He thought that Mr. Malone had
followed the French philosopher’s definition, and had employed language
to conceal his thoughts.
Mr. Sutton had taken a picture with one object only twenty-five feet
from him, and another a mile distant, and yet both were as sharp as
could be desired.
Mr. Shadbolt. — In that case, no object could have been properly in
focus.
The Chairman said it had often struck him that photographers tied a
lens down to do a single thing, and if it exceeded that they called it bad
photography. It might be bad photography, but it was good art. He
had seen photographs of landscapes, portraits, and groups, in which the
camera lens had represented the object as his eye had seen it, and as
Raphael, Claude, Turner, and other celebrated painters had seen and
painted it ; yet many photographers would call such photographs as he
referred to, bad. They might be so to photographers, but they appeared
very beautiful to him. Such failures were just what artists thought
useful, though they .were very difficult to get hold of ; but, when secured,
they were much prized.
Mr. Shadbolt denied in toto the allegation of the Chairman, as apply¬
ing to photographers and artists. He himself had just stated that no
good lens would give two planes quite in focus at the same time : if either
of them were in focus, the other could not be so. But in affirming this
of a lens, he was only stating what was equally applicable to the human
eye ; but he thought it was true art to represent faithfully what was
depicted on the retina. He was only contending for an optical prin¬
ciple, and, artistically, agreed with the Chairman.
Mr. Malone said Mr. Ross had, some time ago, made a very beautiful
lens, five inches in diameter, for the Austrian Government, and he had
been invited to attend its trial. The object was a house on the opposite side
of the street, about twenty-five or thirty feet distant, and they found that
they could not get the iron railings in front of the house in focus at the
same time as the bricks of the wall. They could not get what they called
“ depth of focus.” Mr. Ross thought that they were unreasonable to
expect to do so. They then tried a small lens, one inch and a-lialf in
diameter and six inches focus, when they obtained both the bricks and
the iron railings in presentable focus. Under some circumstances it
might be necessary for photographers to use a smaller aperture than they
generally ought to do, in order to obtain a given effect, as, although
theoretically wrong, it was practically right.
Mr. Vernon Heath then proceeded to read a paper On the Appli¬
cability of Professor Way's Mercurial Electric Eamp to Photographic
Purposes , and to make comparative experiments between that form
of instrument and Duboscq’s carbon-pointed electric lamp. Whilst
Duboscq’s lamp emits rays of a purity and brilliancy almost equal to
those of the sun, Professors Way’s, from the nature of the electrodes,
gives forth a light peculiarly deficient in the red rays of the spectrum,
and consequently produces very remarkable phenomena with objects
under the influence of its illuminating power. Thus, a crimson silk
handkerchief appears mauve coloured, and “ the human face divine”
frightfully cadaverous and as if in an advanced stage of decomposition
after death, whilst the lips appear purple. The persons present at the meet-
inghad the aspect of a solemn conclave “In Inferno." With theassistance
of Mr. Hughes, papers placed in pressure frames were impressed by the
Way and Duboscq lights, under similar conditions, and pictures were
produced by development printing in the course of a few minutes. An
enlarged picture was also produced from an image thrown on a sheet of
sensitive paper from a magic lantern arrangement, illuminated by means
of the Way light. It was demonstrated that pictures could be rapidly
impressed in the printing frame, but the arrangements were too imper¬
fect for a fair trial as to the capabilities of this light for producing enlarged
photographs, as the lamp leaked and allowed light to fall upon other
parts of the paper than that whereon the image was projected, and during
development diffused actinic light was reflected on to the moist surface
of the paper: nevertheless a faint outline portrait was obtained, and there
is little question that satisfactory pictures could be produced under pro¬
per conditions and more perfect optical arrangements.
Mr. Malone objected to the experiments made that night being regarded
as fair comparative tests as to the qualifications of the two lamps. As
regarded the cost of the electric light he had some time since estimated
the waste of materials at 10s. per half hour, while Mr. Heath considered it
to be only 2s. per hour; but had he taken into consideration the loss of
mercury that probably occurred every time the instrument was used ?
He thought the mercurial lamp was placed at an advantage over its rival,
the carbon light of Duboscq, by having a glass shade placed over it (to
retain the fumes) which would act as a reflector : this he thought was
unfair, as it would be auxiliary to the effect of the mercurial light, whilst
the carbon light was without such aid. Again, Duboscq’s lamp was nut
the best form of electric light with carbon electrodes. A lamp had lately
been introduced by M. Serrin, and that lamp ought to have been em¬
ployed at any comparative trial of this kind. He thought he was only
doing his duty to protest against the idea going forth that Way's
light was the best for photographic purposes, or that it had ever been
proved to be hotter than the ordinary electric lamps. He was at a loss to
know why Way’s light was better than that of M. Serrin.
Mr. V. Heath denied that he had ever said the mercurial lamp was the
very best that could be used for photographic requirements. All he had
done was to bring it before the Society, to show what it did do, and leave
those present to judge for themselves, lie was in no way interested in
advocating its use, but there was no question as to its superiority for
photographic purposes over the cai’bon lamp before them. Instead of the
glass over the mercurial lamp acting as a reflector it was a great disad¬
vantage, as it became coated with mercurial vapour and so impeded the rays.
Mr. Malone protested that it was impossible to say that the experi¬
ments just performed were comparable, and it was only misleading
people to say that they were. He objected that the paper was placed
much nearer to the mercurial than to the carbon lamp.
Mr. Y. IlfiATH said Mr. Malone might have every facility for testing
the qualifications of the two lamps. He begged to state that the papers
were in both experiments at exactly the same distance from the source
of light, the distance having been guaged by one of his assistants with a
piece of string.
Mr. Highley remarked that, as Mr. Malone had laid much stress on
the fact that Duboscq’s light had been used in the experiments, which he
(Mr. Malone) conceived was not so good a one as that recently invented
by M. Serrin, he might state that the improvement in Scrrin’s lamp was
not in the quality of the light given out, but in the mechanical appliances
for securing a continuous beam. Any one in the habit of attending the
lectures at the Royal Institution must be aware of the intermittent
character of Duboscq’s arrangement, and the annoyance resulting,
from the light frequently going out in the middle of an experiment.
Mr. Malone i-eplied that if the light was continuous instead of inter¬
mittent, more light would be given off in the same time of exposure;
therefore Serrin’s would be better than Duboscq’s light, even if the im¬
provements were only of the mechanical nature described.
Mr. Highley begged to I’emind Mr. Malone that that evening an
assistant had secured the continuous action of the Duboscq lamp by
manually keeping the mechanical parts up to their work, so that the
carbon light was as steady during the experiment as the mercurial one
against which it was put to trial. Moreover, as the assistant had shielded
his eyes with a piece of purple glass, and this was immediately behind
the light, it acted as a reflector for the Duboscq, even better than the
small glass shade placed over the mercurial light, to which Mr. Malone
had raised objection.
Mr. Hughes, in reply to questions put to him by various members,
said that the print he had just taken by the lamp in five seconds’ expo¬
sure was upon the same paper he empl^ed in the solar camera, which
was not the most sensitive. It was a paper which would enable him to
expose until the image was distinctly seen. He could prepare paper that
would receive an impression in one second’s exposure. There was very
little iodide employed in its preparation, but principally bromide and
chloride. He then explained the construction of Woodward’s solar
camera he had intended using, in conjunction with the electric light,
that evening, but which time would not admit of. He thought it would
be very desirable if photographers could secure an artificial source of
light, so as to render them independent of the sun, especially in a climate
like that of England. It had been proved that evening that, with an
exposure of five seconds, they could print from the negative, and that by
a more prolonged exposure it was possible to obtain enlarged photographs
by the solar camera arrangement.
Mr. Y. Heath said he had just been informed that M. Duboscq had
experimented with the mercurial lamp before them, and had given it as
his opinion that it was infinitely superior to his own for photographic
purposes.
Mr. Malone was glad to hear it. What he had said was, that they
could not form any judgment on the relative merits of the two lamps
from anything they had seen that night. He might say that, with the
light produced by burning phosphorus in oxygen, pictures might be
printed in five seconds, without going to the expense and trouble of the
electric light.
Mr. Shadbolt could not permit the opportunity to pass without saying
a word or two relative to the solar camera. He now publicly stated his
belief that it was impossible to produce with such an arrangement a sharp
image, whatever enlarging lens might be used. The condenser was an un¬
corrected lens, and no subsequent correction by passing the rays through
another lens could remedy the evil caused by the decomposed light. In his
opinion a mistake had been made in throwing the image of the sun on
the front lens of the double combination, as it ought to be thrown some¬
where between the two lenses to get the best effect. He merely com¬
menced the discussion at the present moment, and he hoped Mr. Sutton
would take up the gauntlet he had thrown down, and continue the
subject at another meeting.
225
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
June 15, L861]
Mr, Sutton said it was too late at the present moment to begin such a
discussion. All that he could say was, that he denied the accuracy of
everything Mr. Shadbolt had stated. He contended that the condenser
was quite goo'd enough, and that any defects in it did not affect the
result at all, and that the image of the sun ought to be thrown exactly
on the front lens of the combination.
Mr. Malone said M. Claudet had just published a paper upon this
camera, in which he stated it was perfectly useless to photographers
unless it was made with the accuracy, and, consequently, costliness, of
an astronomical telescope.
Mr. Sutton exhibited his panoramic camera and lens as made by Eoss,
and produced the first and only negative he had taken with it. The
negative was curved, and embraced an angle of about ninety-five degrees.
The thanks of the meeting were then given to Mr. Vernon Heath, for
the great trouble and expense he had incurred to place so interesting and
instructive a subject before the meeting.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
The next meeting will not be held until the first Tuesday in November
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Association was held on Wednes¬
day evening, the 29th ult., at eight o’clock, at Myddelton Hall, Upper
Street, Islington, — George Shadbolt, Esq., V.P., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, and. Mr.
George Elphick and Mr. T. Hearn were elected members of the Society.
Mr. Barnett read a description of his Vertical Camera for Copying
[see page 197], for which he received the thanks of the meeting..
The camera could be used for copying transparencies by placing it in
a horizontal position, and Mr. Barnett stated that he had thus obtained
pictures three times as large as the originals. It was elicited that the
camera was of home manufacture, and was constructed of Quebec yellow
pine.
The Chairman noticed this with satisfaction, but stated that Christiana
white deal would answer better for the construction of the plate holder
and dark slide; for though a trifle heavier, it is not so readily affected by
moisture as regards expansion and contraction.
Mr. Highley stated that he had seen a large folding camera made of
lime tree wood, which was excessively light, and seemed to answer for
the purpose exceedingly well. He did not know whether any objection
existed against the employment of that material for cameras, as its
lightness was otherwise a recommendation.
The Chairman said that lime tree had a tendency to become rotten
under the influence of moisture. He used that wood for cutting the
edges of photographs on, before mounting them, as lime was a very
homogeneous wood, and had not a tendency to produce asperities when
the knife was passed in a direction crossways to the grain, as was the
case with deal and many other woods. Lime wood was used by curriers
to cut leather upon, in consequence of this quality.
Mr. Mainwaring said he employed glass for the purpose of trimming
his photographs on.
Mr. Shadbolt having vacated the chair, which was temporarily filled
by Mr. Barnett, he proceeded to read Some Remarks on Mounting Stereo¬
graphs. [See page 197.] A vote of thanks having been tendered to
Wn, he resumed his seat as Chairman.
A conversational discussion followed on some methods of mounting
stereographic prints, in which Mr. Moens, Mr. Shave, the Chairman,
and others took part.
Mr. Dawson stated that Mr. Sedgfield, who used a single-lens camera,
adopted an ingenious plan for cutting his stereographs. He made pin
holes on the margin of the negative, which were printed on the positive,
and then he ran a quantity of them on long pins and stamped out a
number of sets together. The result of this plan was that his stereo¬
graphs were always uniform as to the parts introduced.
Mr. Hughes said Mr. Sedgfield also used a bi-lens camera. His plan was
to cut the negative plate in two, transpose the two pictures and attach
them permanently to another glass plate, and then print from them. He
never separated the prints down the middle line, but cut them with two
domes, so as to leave them united. He used a press like that employed by
envelope manufacturers for cutting them. A great saving of time was
thus effected.
The Chairman announced that Mr. Mainwaring had presented the
Society with thirteen fine photographs, consisting of various groups of
flowers, for which donation a vote of thanks was accorded to him.
Mr. Barber exhibited some photographs taken by the resin process.
He used one grain of resin to the ounce of collodion. Those negatives
taken without the addition of glacial acetic acid to the bath were very
murky, whilst those taken with the maximum of acid, three minims to
the ounce, gave clear pictures. Mr. Barber thought that on the whole
this method gave promise of being one of the simplest of the dry
processes, but he did not find it by any means so rapid as stated by Mr.
Glover.
_ The Chairman said it was difficult for persons to work under exactly
similar conditions so as to make fair comparative trials of new processes ;
therefore discrepancies resulted in reported trials by different operators.
Mr, Glover had come to the conclusion that the minimum quantity of
resin answered best ; in fact he only used just sufficient to cause the
collodion to adhere to the plate. It was necessary in this process to re¬
dip the plate after exposure, as was done by Mr. Corey, of Liverpool.
The re-dipping in fact was half the battle. It was said that the exposure
might be diminished one-third if this were done.
Mr. Barber said that perhaps the re-dipping adopted by those gen¬
tlemen accounted for the difference between his and their results. He
would try that method before the next meeting.
Mr. Godbold had succeeded in getting a very good negative, free from
spots, &c., ten by eight inches in size, in five minutes’ exposure, at eight
o’clock in the morning, by the resin process as described by Mr. Glover,
but without re-dipping. He added one minim of acetic acid to the bath,
and had sensitised the plate three days before using it.
Mr. Barber stated that d his plates had been prepared a week before
using.
The Chairman said it would appear, prima facie., that acetic acid would
be necessary when any organic matter was present in the collodion. One
of the great defects of the process was that the film was very much in¬
clined to wash off. Mr. Glover was of opinion that the pinic acid in the
resin exerted some effect upon the preservation of the collodion in a sen¬
sitive state.
Mr. Barber thought the resin acted so as to protect the iodide of silver
from atmospheric action. When any circular spots appeared he should
feel inclined to flood the plate with spirit to equalise the distribution of
the resin over the surface of the film.
Mr. Hughes referred to Mr. Hannaford’s admirable modification of the
Taupenot process, viz., the addition of nitrate of silver to the usual mix¬
ture of albumen, water, and ammonia, and treating such as a preserva¬
tive solution. It yielded clean and uniform results over the largest
plates.
Mr. Barber asked why that gentleman did not add ammoniacal nitrate
of silver to the albumem in the first place, instead of first the ammonia
and then nitrate of silver ?
The Chairman said that both Mr. Hannaford and Mr. Barber advocated
the same principle, though the latter’s suggestion in practice was more
philosophical. By adding the ammonio-nitrate of silver to the albumen
the latter could not be over-dosed with oxide in an insoluble state.
Mr. Barber said that Mr. Hannaford called the solution “ albuminate
of silver,” but albuminate of silver was insoluble.
The Chairman said the possible result of the solution might be albu¬
minate of silver, as all the free ammonia evaporated whilst the plate was
drying. If a solution of nitrate of silver in ammonia were evaporated
the ammonia would fly off, and a grey powder would be left behind,
forming with albumen an organic compound, which would fully account
for the sensibility of the plate without the addition of more free nitrate
of silver.
Mr. Hughes said Mr. Hannaford’s idea was to combine the nitrate and
the ammoniacal albumen together at once, instead of sensitising with
nitrate first and then pouring on the albumen mixture, as in the old
process.
The Chairman thought Mr. Barber’s method was certainly a step
further in the same direction.
The Chairman then said that notice had been given at the last meeting
that the Committee proposed to alter the night of meeting from the last
Wednesday in the month to the last Wednesday but one in the month, so
that they might get an earlier report of their proceedings than was at
present possible. They would in that case also have the advantage of
meeting a fortnight before the London Photographic Society, which might
be of advantage to many of the members who belonged to both Societies.
After some discussion upon the point, a resolution embodying the pro¬
posal of the Committee was carried unanimously.
The Chairman said that the alteration would be announced in the next
number of The British Journal of Photography. The next meeting
would be held on the 18th of September.
Mr. Godbold exhibited a print that had been toned by the old hypo,
process, which he had restored after it had faded by means of a saturated
solution of bichloride of mercury. It had assumed a very warm tone,
although it had previously presented a dingy yellow appearance.
Mr. Hughes said it was well known that a saturated solution of bi¬
chloride of mercury would take out the j^ellow tone of a faded print, but
how far the effect was permanent he could not say.
The Chairman said it was the first time he had heard of this method.
The proceedings terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held its usual monthly meeting on the 5th instant, — ■
Mr. Parry in the chair.
In consequence of the absence of the Secretary through severe domestic
bereavement, Mr. Cottam again occupied his place. He showed some
specimens of prints from hot water negatives, with which he had been
very successful, and also exhibited a copy of the Cornwall portion of
Domesday Book, pliotozincographed by Sir H. James.
Mr. Petschler showed some very beautiful prints from negatives by
his process, which were much admired, both for the artistic feeling dis¬
played by them, and also as specimens of the process. They were chiefly
views at Matlock and Ckatswortk, Some fine pictures by Mr, Wardley
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[June 15, 1801
were also handed round, and a splendid large view of Conway Castle by-
Mr. Rogerson, by the turpentine waxed-paper process, was presented to
the Society’s portfolio.
Attention was also called to the opportunity now existing in this
Society for obtaining a large collection of photographs without the risk
of an unsatisfactory exchange. The portfolio contains a number of
prints on paper and on glass, and the offer of pictures in exchange is par¬
ticularly requested in order that the scheme may be generally understood
and fully tested.
The Chairman, referring to a letter which appeared in the last
number of The British Journal of Photography, which speaks of dip¬
ping the plates at once in the hot water after coating with albumen, said
that that was not to be recommended, as the drop which invariably forms
at the corner would, on coagulating, not fail to damage either the plate to
which it was attached, or by remaining on the surface of the bath would
injure its successor. He exhibited a negative on waxed-paper coated
with collodion, and dipped in the hot water bath. He then called upon
Mr. Petschler, who read a paper On a Modified Collodio -Albumen Process.
[See page 215].
After the reading of the paper, a discussion arose upon the subject.
Mr. Mann said he was very much surprised at the decision come to by
the Committee in London who had reported upon this process and con¬
demned it in such a brief and off-hand way that he could only conclude
that, in consequence of the details of the process not having been suffi¬
ciently made known, it could not have had a fair trial, as he believed the
objections raised by them were, on the contrary, not usually met with by
those practising the process here.
Mr. Hooper asked Mr. Petschler what part he thought the ammonia
played in the albumen? whether or not oxide of silver was formed by
its introduction.
Mr. Petschler in answer, said that the ammonia would neutralisethe
acid state of the film ; but he thought the most important part it played,
was, that the ammonia must necessarily dissolve part of the chloride of
silver formed on the surface of the film, and thus spread this salt more
evenly through the albumen coating. After the ammonia had been driven
off by the baking, the insoluble silver salts would be left behind, in a
more finely divided and even state. With regard to the formation of
oxide of silver, he could not speak with certainty, but he should think
that the chloride of sodium in the albumen would decompose all the
nitrate of silver, before the ammonia could deprive the silver of its nitric
acid.
Mr. Cottam said that the ammonia, at first, had been introduced into
the albumen to make it more limpid, and keep better, but he had no doubt
it played an important chemical part on the film.
Mr. Wardley said he had used the albumen without the ammonia, and
had good results ; but he had no doubt it was better to use it.
Mr. Hooper suggested that, instead of slightly washing the plate after
the sensitising in the silver bath, if the plate were thoroughly washed,
and then dipped into a solution of nitrate of silver, say one grain to the
ounce, a more uniform amount of silver might be got on the film.
Mr. Wardley, however, thought that when once the pores of the collo¬
dion film had been deprived of nitrate of silver, and soaked up with water,
no silver could be introduced into these pores again to such an extent
and so evenly as they had previously been.
Mr. Petschler quite agreed with Mr. Wardley on this point. He said
the amount of water used was immaterial ; only it must be applied gently
and evenly, so that the mechanical position of the silver might be dis¬
turbed as little as possible.
The Chairman also quite agreed with what Mr. Petschler stated in his
paper with regard to the washing after the silver bath ; he thought they
had made a great mistake to wash too much. He had found that his hot
water plates had insensitive patches where the film had been too much
washed, and that it was only necessary to remove the apparent greasi¬
ness.
The room was then darkened, and Mr. Petschler developed a plate
which had been exposed that morning. Pie 'succeeded in producing a
very satisfactory negative, full of detail and half-tone. It afforded the
members much pleasure to watch the neat and clean manipulation of Mr.
Petschler ; and it was considered that a practical demonstration of this
kind afforded more opportunity for acquiring an acquaintance with a pro¬
cess than any other plan.
Votes of thanks to Mr. Petschler for his paper, to Mr. Rogerson for his
picture, and to Mr. Parry, the Chairman, concluded the business of the
meeting.
The next meeting is fixed for the 3rd of July.
[We have been favoured with an opportunity of inspecting the proofs
exhibited, and can testify to their excellence and abundance of half-tone.
A little more bromide would probably have improved one or two in
rendering the green of some of the trees at Chatsworth not quite so
dark ; but they arc very good. — Ed.]
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Tnis Society met on the evening of the 5th inst., in George Street Hall,
when there was a large attendance, every part of the hall being densely
crowded by the members and their friends, nearly one-half of those
present being ladies. The President (Mr. Marwick) occupied the chair,
and in a few appropriate remarks explained that this was the fu st of a
series of popular meetings which the Society intended holding at regular
intervals, and it must be looked upon just as an experiment.
The Secretary (Mr. J.T. Taylor) then read a paper On the Construction
and Application of the Magic Lantern [see page 218] ; at the close of
which above one hundred pictures were shown, as dissolving views, by
Mr. Ramagc, by means of the oxyhydrogen light. Many of these pictures
were of great beaut}', and called forth repeated applause.
At the close of the exhibition Baillie Blackaddeu proposed the thanks
of the meeting to the two gentlemen who had so well entertained than.
This was carried by applause ; and after inspecting the lights, which had
then been removed from the lantern, the meeting separated.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday evening,
the 5tli inst., — Hr. R. Parkinson in the chair.
After the minutes of the last meeting had been read and confirmed, the
President called the attention of the members to the stero lens by Ross,
which was to be sold that evening to the highest bidder. A large num¬
ber of members being present it was expected the lens would have com¬
manded a higher price than it did: the Society, however, sustained no
loss.
Many members spoke in very flattering terms of the tannin process,
which they declared to be the most uniform process yet introduced.
Mr. Leather said lie had lately been working some 10 X 8 plates, and
out of a number had no failures that he could attribute to the process.
A Member hinted that it was difficult to meet with a collodion suitable
for the process, as many he had tried -would not stand the quantity of
washing whilst it was desirable to give, to secure perfect results.
The President named a collodion which lie said completely overcame
the difficulty referred to.
Some conversation then took place in reference to a proposed excursion
of the members, with their cameras, it being suggested that no doubt
such would be advantageous to the health of the members, and might
possibly increase the contents of their portfolio ; but the matter, not
coming strictly within the limits of the rules, was left for private
arrangement, after which the meeting adjourned.
Jfcrcigtt Carrcspoitbmtf.
Paris, June 10 tli, 18G1.
We will, if so it please you, pay a second visit to the Exhibition
of Photography in the Champs Elysees. The crowd of visitors is
large — much more so than on previous occasions of the same kind.
True, the merit of the works exhibited, and the importance that
photography has acquired among the industrial arts, count for
much in the curiosity which attracts the public to the Palace of
Industry ; but, still, we who have for years past given to the im¬
provements in photography all the publicity in our power, eacli
one in his sphere, may we not say, without excessive vanity, that
we have contributed our share to the creation of a taste for the
new art ? If photography had not had its press, its writers, its
advocates, it would not have taken possession of the public mind
to such an extent as it has done. That being said (and I trust we
shall be pardoned this innocent vote of thanks to ourselves), I will
proceed to our subject.
In my first letter on the Exhibition, I said I should have to speak
further of the specimens of new processes which figure therein ;
and I alluded especially to the different methods of printing. One
of the most important subjects which now occupies the investiga¬
tors of all countries is the production of permanent pictures. Now,
1 believe that whoever has carefully examined the present Exhibi¬
tion will come to the conclusion that the problem is solved.
Putting aside the engraving processes, which constitute a particular
branch of photography, I will speak only of the carbon printing
processes. Three exhibitors have sent the results of their investi¬
gations in this direction : they are Messrs. Poitevin, Fargier, and
Lafon de Camarsac.
M. Poitevin’s system, as improved by its author, has been pub¬
lished, and I need not here describe it. It has not only the merit
of bringing into play the hitherto unknown properties of certain sub¬
stances, but it further possesses the advantage — and that a capital
one — of being varied in its results and essentially practical. It
gives images of excellent modelage, of vigorous tone, and as
minute in their shades as are the most transparent pictures pro¬
duced with salts of silver. The larger or smaller size of the cliche
in no respect interferes with the operation. These are certainly
conditions of great promise.
M. Fargier’s method is, as you know, a modification of M. Poite¬
vin’s first process. It produces pictures of undeniable beauty.
The shades are remarkably powerful, and the lights are of great
June 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
urit3r ; but the difficulty offered by the manipulation of a collo-
ion film floating in a bath, and which must be, so to speak, fished
out before it can be mounted On the sheet of paper, limits the
application of this method, which cannot, in its present state,
answer the requirements of printing on a large scale.
As the processes of M. Lafon de Camarsac have not been pub¬
lished, they can only be judged of by the results obtained. Those
results, which appear to be regular, have an artistic value of the
first order. In all M. Lafon’s pictures on enamel and on porcelain
there are such contrasts of intense light and of dark shade, such
delicacy in the modelage, and such finished detail, that they are
really perfect productions.
This is how we stand in France at the present moment with
respect to printing processes and to the very important question
of the permanence of positive pictures.
In the last number of The British Journal of Photography
there is a short article in which you compare M. Ferrier’s instanta¬
neous pictures with those by Mr. Wilson, and give the palm to the
latter. I have seen Mr. Wilson’s pictures, and think them charm¬
ing ; yet I am not of your opinion as to their superiority. Doubt¬
less that gentleman has operated with extreme rapidity, and has
shown great taste in the choice of pleasant picture-like sites ; but
you are only acquainted with the earlier essays of our fellow-
countryman. For some time past he has been improving his pro¬
cess, and he has intentionally grappled with the greatest difficulties.
Thus, he has not been merely satisfied with reproducing a crowd in
motion : he has taken carriages moving across the field of the objec¬
tive at a very short distance from the instrument— -which you will
allow to be far more difficult than to photograph a boat upon a lake
or a sportsman firing his piece and, practically, posing as he is taking
aim. Let me call attention to another difficulty surmounted by
M. Ferrier: — One side of the Boulevard is in full sunlight, and the
other in deep shade ; and yet the passers-by on either side are de¬
picted with equal clearness.
If I dwell somewhat upon this point, it is because M. Ferrier
himself chose the most unfavourable circumstances in order that
his success might be more striking, and, at the same time, all the
more honourable to the photographic art. ERNEST LACAN.
New York, May 28, 1861.
The May meeting of our Photographical Society was a brief one —
in short, only long enough to get through a little customary
routine, and to decently adjourn. The veterans of the Society
console themselves with the fact that this is the first failure, and
that for it there was an extraordinary cause. American science
yields in a temporary access of inanition : it is a necessary casus
belli.' It was also a stormy night, and the few members who came,
waiting for starlight, gathered in little social knots about the room.
But little of the photographic was talked. Such words as
“Sumpter,” “Pickens,” “Anderson,” “rebels” (which an observer
might catch above the hum), showed plainly where the minds of
the speakers were.
I chanced, however, to be one of the group who found some¬
thing besides the war of sufficient interest for conversation. We
discoursed chiefly on the manufacture and properties of optical
glass ; arriving at the conclusion that the manufacture is exceed¬
ingly uncertain, and that apparently fine specimens of glass might
so deteriorate as to be utterly worthless. Mr. Fifz (our most
eminent manufacturer of telescopes), told us that he had seen a
polished plate of glass become full of minute specks in every
direction ; that it was not a rare circumstance for a finished lens
to become rough or covered with a film on the surface ; and that
it had been reported that one of the largest telescopes ever made
was becoming useless, from deterioration of the object-glass. Mr.
Fitz has just completed a dialytic telescope with an object-glass
of sixteen inches aperture, which he considers the most perfect of
his work. The glass was made in Lennox, Massachusetts, and was
cut out of rough plate intended for skylights. Mr. Fitz procured
it at the warehouse of the Company in this city, intending to use
it for trials of his tools; but, after giving it a rough and careless
handling for a month or two, he discovered that it was the finest
piece of glass he had ever operated upon. Of course this specimen
was a freak in the art of glass-making : the Lennox Company
might not in a thousand years manufacture a mate to it. Mr.
Fitz has looked at tons of skylight glass but has not found any
which was not worthless for optical purposes. The telescope is
valued at ten thousand dollars, and has been purchased by a gen¬
tleman in Buffalo, for the use of two daughters who are fond of
star-gazing.
227
The conversation shortly turned upon the art of electro-plating;
and Mr. Hilgard, of the Coast Survey, gave his experience in
electro-coppering iron cylinders, under circumstances where the
whole of the iron could not be entirely immersed. Mr. H. had once
a good opportunity of observing the protective power of zinc
towards other metals which are negative to it. The Coast Survey
to which he was attached was sunk, and, being raised after a lapse
of a few months, it was found that the magnetic and other metallic
instruments which were packed in zinc boxes were perfectly pre¬
served, so that they needed only to be wiped dry to look as bright
as when the ship went down. The instruments in wooden boxes
were thoroughly ruined, some of them only leaving their traces in
iron dust.
You have heard of our fashion of Presidential electioneering by
the aid of photography. During the late contest one of our New
York establishments disposed of 100,000 medallion badges, each one
containing one or two photographs. The most ordinary form is cir¬
cular, and about the size of a dime, the picture on one or both sides
being garnished with the gilded rim of the setting. These pictures of
last fall were mostly positives on japanned iron; but lately photo¬
graphs on paper seem to be preferred, and especially as they are
cheaper and may be more rapidly produced. The specimens are sup¬
plied at the rate of two dollars per thousand: they are about one-
third of an inch in diameter on albumenised paper, and are printed
from a negative which yields two or three hundred at each exposure.
A gentleman in this line of business, who has just called, says his
greatest difficulty arises from delay in procuring negatives. In the
first place, it is necessary to get a good photograph, then copy it
to a large size, re-touch it, make fifty or more copies to a whole
plate size, set them up conveniently, and make the negatives
from which the pictures are finally printed. All these operations
may consume two or three days, and the excitement which was to
carry off his badges lias subsided : perhaps his hero has made a
fool of himself. These photographic badges are sold in the streets
at five cents or more. CHARLES A. SEELY.
Comsponfrjetta.
flar We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. _ . _
MR. NEGRETTI’S* REPLY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — It may he a pleasure to some parties to write letters and to
appear in print, but I cannot say that I share their happy feeling; and I
should certainly forego the honour of seeing myself in your pages were it
not that my silence would probably be misinterpreted. Mr. Hardwicb,
in your last number, kindly tells me, at the first onset, that he intends
breaking a lance with me. Now, this is rather too bad, as if I had not
enough with Mr. Ferrier on my hands, just now, without having Mr.
Hardwich to cope with ; however, of the two, I candidly confess, from
what I know of Mr. Hardwich, I would rather deal with him. Let me,
therefore, start by asking him if he has read my letters ? Has my lec¬
ture on the albumen process, given some six or seven years ago, ever
come under his notice? If so, I ask him did he detect anything in those
letters to lead him to believe that my motives in writing or demonstrating
were with a view to puffing or selling any particular camera, lens, paper,
varnish, &c. ? I am rather precise on these points ; for many, in fact
the majority, of the articles written or communicated by photographic
tradesmen, may be looked upon as gigantic posters.
I flatter myself that Mr. Hardwich will exonerate me from having
any way attempted to make a job of the albumen process. If I am
correct in my supposition, will Mr. Hardwich tell me what motive 1 could
have had in publishing what a contemporary of yours calls “an
imaginary” process. Have not all the words I have said been directed
against parties who, by attributing all sorts of absurdities in the work¬
ing of the albumen process, were misleading and deterring persons
from attempting it? Why should Mr. Hardwich, therefore, suspect that
all has been a farce, and that /also have been misleading photographers?
I have stated, and do so now, that for at least five years we printed on
albumen plates. There have been a few exceptions, when we tried
various experiments with a view of getting over the difficulty of the
dust, which is in realitj’- the only bad point with the albumen. I do not
say that the process is not capable of any modification : I am not
wedded to it, and shall only’' be too glad to adopt any other. Mr. Hard¬
wich may infer from my replj7 to Mr. Lacan’s letter, that I half fancy Mr.
Ferrier has modified his mode of operating, this is probably the reason
why I am suspected of having done the same. I can only say, I wish I
could find a medium as hard and not liable to dust as albumen, then I
would bid albumen adieu at once. Until then, Mr. Hardwich (as well as
all others) must remain satisfied that we still work as formerly.
228
T HE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Juno 15, 1661
With'reference to my asking for an evening at the Society’s room, as
suggested by Mr. Hardwich in his letter, I can only say that at present I
have quite sufficient on my hands, as most of my friends well know, so
that I must forego the pleasure of making my obeisance just now. Some
of these days, perhaps, I may follow his advice, and come. out. Until
that time, — I am, yours, &c., HENRY NEGRETTI.
[We neither had, nor have the slightest doubt about the perfect
integrity of his communication ; which it is but justice to him to say
was not volunteered but granted in accordance with our request, a cir¬
cumstance most likely unknown to our worthy fellow-labourer Mr.
Hardwich, who we are convinced did not intend to impute to Mr.
Negretti any intentional sophistication of his process, but probably
imagined from its great simplicity that some of the details were inad¬
vertently omitted, as regards the attainment of the particularly pleasing
“tones” of Messrs. Negretti and Zambra’s productions. — Ed.]
AMATEURS’ PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Whilst the Amateur Photographic Association has elicited
an outburst of approval far exceeding the most sanguine expectations of
its projectors, some few objections or queries have reached me which
deserve, I think, to be noticed.
I will, for the sake of brevity, put them in the form of question and
answer.
Objection 1. — Is it just that the prize negatives shall become the pro¬
perty of the publishers when the prizes are paid for by the Association ?
Answer 1. — The prizes are awarded by the Committee , but paid for by
the publishers. This objection, therefore, falls to the ground.
Objection 2. — Is it not an anomaly to declare that “none but amateur
photographers shall be admitted as members,” or, in plain words, to
exclude the profession, whilst the fact is that as soon as a photographer
takes to selling his pictures he becomes a professional, for professionals
do no more ?
Answer 2. — This objection I have placed in the strongest possible
light, and it is exceedingly plausible; for although we well Icnoiv the
difference between an amateur and a professional photographer, yet it is
difficult so to define the terms as not to lay oneself open to criticism.
Suffice it, however, to say, that, whilst an amateur photographer is one
who is wholly independent of photography, but practises it for the love
of it, and who will love it none the less should he find that the public are
glad to purchase copies of his pictures at such a price as to make his
amusement self-supporting, a professional photographer is one whose
income upon which he depends is derived wholly or in part from the
practice of the art.
Objection 3. — Will not the selection of prints, the choice of negatives
for publication, and other matters connected therewith, be apt to engender
feelings of dissatisfaction or even mortification ?
Answer 3. — It cannot be expected that a scheme so complicated and
comprehensive will be altogether free from difficulties ; and if the rules
are somewhat vague on certain points, it is because it is thought that
there are matters which will be better left to the judgment and manage¬
ment of the Committee and referees ; and the public may well rely upon
it that they will act with an impartiality above suspicion, that in no case
need members select pictures inferior in quality to the negatives which
they send, and that justice and liberality will be shown to all. In con¬
clusion, sir, allow me to add that, although (as you well know) no thought
nor labour has been spared in drawing up the rules, yet we do not pre¬
tend that the thing is yet perfect ; but we do confidently believe that it
is so substantially good that we may reasonably hope to make it so.
I am, yours, &c., A. MELHUISH, Hon. Sec.
P.S.-— Since writing the above I have received a letter from the chap¬
lain of H.M.S. - , in which, after characterising the association as
“the very thing we have long wanted,” the writer asks one or two
questions which suggest to me that it may not be unnecessary further to
mention that the publishers alone are responsible for all expenses
incurred, and no member can, under any circumstances, be called upon
for anything beyond his yearly subscription, which, as usual, is payable
in advance.
FAULTY PAPER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Twice following, while working with two different samples of
highly albumcniscd paper, I have had a large batch of prints ruined in a
manner so strange and unaccountable that I would gladly call your
attention, or that of some of your many readers, to the circumstance —
feeling assured that you will not only not refuse to give me such infor¬
mation as will prevent my getting into the same difficulty again, but will
likewise give me, if practicable, the probable reason of its occurrence,
which was briefly this : —
The prints, after having been washed and toned with an alkaline gold
bath as usual, were placed in a fixing bath of hyposulphite of soda-
strength one ounce soda to one fluid ounce distilled water — and allowed to
remain there about fifteen minutes. When taken out they appeared
blistered all over, with marks much like smallpox, but convex instead
of concave. These marks I cannot get entirely out, though they show
much less when dry and pressed. I have only to add that I haye been
working with chemicals for some time, but have never jh ad such an
occurrence happen before.
I should feel very grateful for any information on this subject. — I am,
yours, &c., MARTIN ;HENRY PAYNE.
[We have no doubt that the fabric of the paper is in fault, not the
albumenising ; so that although you may have used i two samples from
different dealers, it by no means follows that the paper itself does not come
from the same batch made at the same mill. On microscopic examination
of the paper, the fibres appear to be more loosely agglomerated in some
parts than in others — as it were in spots corresponding to the cavities.
We can only suggest that you should moisten the proofs well just before
mounting, in hopes that the tension arising from the drying in contact
with the cardboard may remove the faults. Subsequent pressing may
also do something towards this end. — Ed.]
PRINTING TRANSPARENCIES WITHOUT CUTTING THE
NEGATIVE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I was somewhat surprised, while scanning the pages of a recent
number of your Jersey contemporary, to find a statement by the Editor
(in one of his lectures to the students at King’s College) to the effect
that it is not possible to print transparent glass positives from negatives
taken in the bi-lens camera without cutting the negative or positive.
Such a statement, coming from such an authority, is likely to mislead
those who have not given the matter consideration ; and, by way of helping
the lecturer over what he designates an impossibility, I would crave
leave, through the pages of Tiie British Journal of Photography, most
respectfully to direct his attention (and that of your readers who arc
not already acquainted with it) to the method of doing so published in
in the then Liverpool and Manchester Photographic Journal for May
15th, 1858.
The plan which I adopted much about the same time is I think more
simple in manipulation, and docs not involve the necessity of printing
two plates at the same time, or taking the pictures on the ends of the
plates with a blank space in the centre. My lenses arc mounted three
inches apart, and give proofs about three inches broad, so that it is only
necessary to cut out the smallest possible slip of paper from between the
pictures when mounting the ordinary paper proofs. The following diagram
will make the modus operandi for glass positives easily understood.
Place the negative in the frame, face up, and push the end of it against
the right hand side of the frame — the part of the negative to be first
exposed will then be over the aperture in the bottom of the frame ; then
place the sensitive plate face down, the end of it against the left hand
side of the frame — cover in with a shutter and expose : it will now be
quite apparent that by moving the negative to the left and the sensitive
plate to the right, and again exposing for the same length of time, the
pictures when developed will be in the proper position for viewing in the
sterescope. I am, yours, &c., A. B.
Edinburgh.
P.S. The aperture in the frame should be the exact size of each picture,
and the spaces on each side of the aperture should be half the length of
the stereo plate (whatever size is used), and in the resulting positive the
two pictures will be edge to edge on the middle of the glass plate.
This simple plan is identical with that used in taking negatives with
the single lens stereo camera, and was adapted from it.
PRESERVATIVE CASE PHENOMENON.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In photography everything strange should, if possible, be ac¬
counted for. As a student therein for some years, allow me to ask
you for an explanation, if possible, of the following : —
Not printing every day, I purchased, two or three years back, one of
Marion’s cases; but I found that my prints with paper so preserved evi¬
dently underwent some chemical change, as they took longer to tone
(gold and carbonate of soda) and were very much inferior to those printed
when the paper was sensitised and used the same day ; consequently,
from time to time, I merely put therein the surplus fragments from sensi¬
tised sheets larger than were used, and intended to give the box the best
of trials in the keeping point of view, in which I must admit it is very
successful so far as keeping the paper white (other defects excepted).
Now comes the pith and substance of my inquiry. Last evening upon
opening the case I found the inner slide (which encloses the preservative
substance) perfectly saturated, and from out the box poured about six
drachms of liquid, which to the taste was extremely bitter. Will you, if
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
229
June 15, 1861]
possible, explain what change has taken place in the contents of the
inner slide, and whether the preservative influence is gone. By so doing
you will oblige an old subscriber to The British Journal op Photo¬
graphy. I am, yours, &c., JOHN BOCKETT.
Kentish Town, June 5th, 1861.
[The explanation is simple enough. The preserving quality of the
case depends upon the presence of a substance that has great affinity for
watei’ — that employed in the case you name being chloride of calcium.
The quantity in your case is no doubt exhausted, having pretty effectually,
as it appears, done its work, and should be replenished, when your case
will be as good as new. The water which you poured out is of course
saturated with the lime salt ; hence the bitter taste. When using the
papers thus preserved for printing, you should leave them in a dark place,
but exposed to the air, for about an hour before putting them in the
pressure frame, in order to allow of the absorption of a small quantity of
moisture, as they are, when first taken out of the case, too dr)/. For
reply to your other query see “Answers to Correspondents.” — Ei>.]
PORTABLE CAMERA STAND.
To the Editor.
Sir,— I beg to forward you, as per enclosed, a photograph of a camera
stand for the operating room.
It is a very simple affair, consisting of a cylindrical pillar on three legs,
into which slides a piston, carrying a board, to which the table is hinged!
The movements are regulated by the two screws.
If you think it worthy, I shall be glad of a notice in your columns, as
I intend bringing it into the market, believing it to be a noveltjn
A A Table, moving in any direction horizontally.
B Screw to elevate table to any pitch.
C Piston rising fifteen inches, or falling eighteen inches
(two inches in diameter, eighteen inches long).
D Screw to fix it in position.
E Pillar three feet high, four inches in diameter.
When the piston is down, the board (which is one and
a-half inch thick) carrying table rests on top of pillar.
I have not yet weighed it ; but I can move it easily with one hand,
and yet it is very firm, and quite free from the slightest vibration.
Waiting your opinion as to its merits, previous to advertising,
Bath. I am, yours, &c., W. CLARK.
APPARENT DISCREPANCY EXPLAINED.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am so pleased with the “Amateur Photographic Association”
scheme that I have returned the printed form, delivered with my last
Journal, to Mr. Melhuish.
I wish to ask one or two queries, which, doubtless as a member of the
Committee, you can, and with your known courtesy will, answer. In
“Rule 10,” I see — “ The publisher shall print for the Association two
guineas’ worth of prints during the year from each member’s negatives.”
Does this mean two guineas’ worth from each negative, or two guineas’
worth from all one sends ? If the latter, which I rather suppose it means,
it will be needless sending many negatives ; for, supposing one sends a
dozen, two guineas’ worth would not be a print from each ! And yet,
“ Rule 7. Each member will be expected to forwai'd for publication, as
well for his own interest as for the interest of the Association, as many
good negatives as he conveniently can ; and members sending less than
six during the year may, at the option of the referees, be ranked as sub-
scribei’s.” These two rules do not work together. Can you assist me ?
I am, yours, &c.,
Oxford, May 29, 1861. OXONIENSIS.
[Your note reached us only on the day on which we “ went to press
hence our delay in replying. We publish your note for the benefit of
others who haye also made inquiry on this point.
The Association is, per se, not a commercial undertaking ; but in order
to accomplish all the advantages contemplated some commercial risk had
to be incurred by somebody. This has been undertaken entii’ely by
the publishers, their remuneration being solely that arising from the
printing, and the prospective advantage of gain of prestige by the finn.
It is not meant that only two guineas’ worth of px-ints should be struck off
from each member’s negatives, but only that number for the Association
as an exchange club — that is, without the owner participating in the
profit arising from the popularity of his productions. It is not likely
that every member will confine himself to the two guineas’ worth of
proofs, though some may. — Ed.]
A LETTER FROM MISS SPRIGGINS.
Deer mistur hedditur
hi dessa u rekullekt mi muther a ritin 2 u about er givin hour
litle soft witch she korld er a golding aird hangle sum kallermel wen she
wos took hill has she got horf uv hour jim’s fotergruf kos u printed er
lettur in the jurnle — wel muther wos a redin hof the jurnle yesterdi and
ses she — wi theres a jentlemun a haskin — -wot his sliarpnis— hif eed
lionli kum ear ses she woodent hi soon sho im nithur — so ses hi— muther
— wi donte u rite 2 the hedditur and tel im so — no ses muther hi got
korld a littery karikter last time has I rote so hi liant a goin 2 rite agin
jist now — so has hi think hit a pitty the jentlemun shooddent no wot
shai-pnis his hi thort hide jist rite miself and tel im ware 2 kum, but hi
dun nit hunbenode 2 muther so no more hat this present time hof harskin
from MARIA SPRIGGINS.
UNWASHED PYROXYLINE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I should esteem it a favour if you would enlighten me on the
following subject, through the pages of The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy : —
A shoi't time ago I obtained a quantity of soluble cotton, said to have
been manufactured after a foi’mula of Mr. Hardwick’s. This I made into
collodion, and iodised it according to Mr. Hardwick’s foi-mula in the
Almanack for 1861. Upon developing plates prepared with this collodion,
the solution of iron, after two or three seconds, turns muddy, and the
plate fogs all over. With pyrogallic there is no intensity and no half¬
tone, even with a long exposure, though the plate remains clear. The
bath, which had pi-eviously given perfectly clear pictures with - ’s
collodion, now fogs very much with it also.
I think I have a clue to this difficulty. Finding that the collodion
liberated iodine rapidly, although the ether was good and free from acid,
I tested a small portion of cotton that I had left : upon applying litmus
paper damped, it immediately reddened strongly.
Would sulphur find its way into the bath by the above-mentioned
collodion ? and, if so, I should be obliged by your pointing out a remedy
for the bath and collodion also. — I am, youi'S, &c., A VICTIM.
Hidl , 5th, June, 1861.
[The pyroxyline was no doubt insufficiently washed, hence all the evils
of which you complain. Your bath is most likely very acid, and probably
contains organic matter. Over-neutralise the acidity by the addition of
caustic potash or of ammonia, until there is a slight dark grey deposit ;
expose the bath to the light, filter, and finally add a drop or two of dilute
nitric acid. See a paper by Mr. Barber on this subject, in page 159
of the current volume of this Journal. We do not perceive how sulphur
can have been introduced. — Ed.]
ALBUMENISING PAPER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Can you help a photographic artist and printer in albumen with
insti'uction for making albumen and albumenising paper. The gi’eat
difficulty in obtaining a satisfactory article that is uniform in substance
and in toning is so great, that if you can you will confer a positive boon
upon a numerous class of admirers of your useful Journal.
I am, yours, &c., W. H. G.
[It is not often that we albumenise our own paper, but some years ago
we conducted a series of experiments upon the subject, and arrived at
the following conclusion, viz.: — that in ordera to obtain an eveix and
brilliant surface it is needful to dry the paper rapidly after it is floated
on the albumen, and to use the latter undiluted. The course we pursue
in coating paper is as folloxvs, viz. : — take the white of any convenient
number of eggs and add to that of each egg five minims of liquid ammo¬
nia and fifteen grains of ehloi'ide of ammonium. Put all into a lai’ge
bottle with some scraps of glass, and shake up the white into a froth ;
filter through a clean sponge in tlie neck of a funnel into a dish. Use
Hollingworth’s thin or else a good thick Saxony paper ; float until it
lies flat; remove and allow it to drip from each corner in succession,
causing the sheet to revolve as it were on its centre as an axis ; when the
di'ip has neai'ly ceased, hang it in front of a brisk fire, albumen side next
the fire, while you float and manipulate a second sheet of paper, and so on :
finish the drying in a warm room. Keep your sensitising solution slightly
acid with nitric acid; you will find this assists the subsequent toning
operation in the gold bath. — Ed.]
230
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Jane 15, 1801
HOT WATER PROCESS.
To the Editor.
SiRj — 1 have already tried the effects proposed for the use of hot water.
Make an edging1 of dilute albumen on the glass [one-eighth inch) and let
it dry: it will be almost invisible. Any collodion will hold fast on this
edging. Sensitise, and put the plate on a pneumatic holder ; flush with
water, and then pour over it the albumen. It is now only necessary
to flush this albumenised plate with a dose of hot water (almost boiling)
and it is finished. The plate, on exposure, gives a very satisfactory result.
Jane 1, 1861. C. E.
BLACK TONES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Shall I be considered intrusive if I ask your Foreign Correspon¬
dent, M. Lacan, if he can assist me to the formula for obtaining the
magnificent dark tones so generally given to the cartes de visite portraits
by the French professionals ? or is the process altogether a secret ?
‘ June 4th, 1861. I am, yours, &c., IGfNOTUS.
A PAT ON THE BACK.
To the Editor.
Sir, — There was a paper read at a meeting of the South London Photo¬
graphic Society, on the 17 th ult., by Mr. Wall, On Sharpness — What is it ?
and a capital, good, useful paper it is, as well as the discussion which en¬
sued on it.
There has been as much, or perhaps more, misconception and error on
sharpness, even by our leading men, than almost on any subject connected
with photographic pictures. Sharpness, or at least extreme sharpness,
has been condemned over and over again, even editorially, as producing
hardness. The assertion has been so often reiterated that it has become
almost a settled conviction in the minds of some, that when the definition
is very fine or sharp the picture must of necessity be hard. Nothing of
the kind — never was there a more absurd statement.
Mr. Wall quoted a statement of mine, and I believe photographed my
meaning so correctly that I wish to quote several remarks of his and Mr.
Hughes’s, wherein they develop, so unmistakeably correct views on the
subject, that I think (if not written in chloride of gold) they ought to be
fixed in the mind of every photographer.
Mr. Wall says — “ I would remark that the destruction of detail is
neither more nor less than the destruction of gradation, upon which real
softness and breadth to so large an extent are dependent. 1 cannot remove
detail from any portion of a photographed surface without removing
several of the more delicate tones which unite and blend the half-tints
with the highest lights. 1 believe that perfect sharpness or focus tends
to destroy outlines, secure gradation, and gives perfect modelling.
There are certainly no such outlines in nature. On the contrary, the
boundary of vision glides gently from our sight and dies softly away.”
Very good, and very true, Mr. Wall.
I differ with Mr. Wall as to using small stops : we are one as to sharp¬
ness, and as to fulness, gradation, and perfection of detail ; and yet he seems
to object to the means by which those effects are mainly produced, viz.,
small apertures. Let him take a landscape with the full aperture,
focussed for the foreground, and his distance will be a confused, indistinct
mystification, having none of the desirable qualities enumerated in the
above extract.
Mr. Hughes says — “ It was important not to confound hardness and
sharpness, for they were very different.” “ Hardness was absence
of half-tone and gradation” [true]— “a more rapid transition from high¬
light to deep shadow than was natural.” “A picture might be sharp and
hard or it might be sharp and yet soft.” That’s right, Mr. Hughes.
“ A picture might also be hard and not sharp at all. Condemn hardness
by all means, but not the power of definition. Perfect sharpness was
entirely consistent with perfect softness. A hard picture was an imper¬
fect picture; for it gave only the highest lights and deepest shadows, and
it exaggerated those. Perfect sharpness, however, defined not only high
lights and deep shadows, but all the intermediate gradations and half¬
tints, and the presence of the latter constituted softness; therefore, a truly
sharp picture was not a hard, but a soft, one.” Very good, Mr. Hughes :
that is multum in parvo.—l am, yours, &c., J. ROTHWELL.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
is -\Ve are a "a in compelled to hold over a number of interesting articles in type. As
nearly all the Societies have now discontinued their meetings for the summer months,
we* hope for some time not again to have to claim the forbearance of our valued contri¬
butors. We have made arrangements for a regular succession of important articles
during the reces3.
.Tames Larpey. — In our next.
Candida.— The best white is that of plain paper— far superior to that of any glass
P°ItoBERT Holmes— C. Jones- J. A. S.— R. R.-F. Smith.— See Mr. Melliuish’s letter in
our '‘Correspondence” column.
j,I A.— Thomas Jules— F. 0. B.— Curator— Sel D’Or— Faithful— Babe.— See reply
to “ Oxoniensis,” and also Leader of the current number.
g p _ y?e ave unable at present to say how soon we shall commence ; but you may
depend upon it no delay beyond what is absolutely requisite will occur.
II. B. L. K. C. and Nemo. — You need have no hesitation in the matter; we can pro¬
mise at least a courteous reception, and anticipate a hearty welcome.
Henry C.— It is not that professionals are ineligible ; on the contrary, they are ad¬
missible if they please to put themselves on the same footing as amateurs.
Charles Robinson.— You have only to apply to the Secretary, who will ml' rd y<m ;,n
the requisite information. What you suppose to be impossible is, nevertheless, un fait
accompli.
Tourmaline.— We are of opinion that a rich field of inquiry is open for retearehin
the region of polarised light and iis bearing upon photography. Prosecute your ex.
periments by ail means.
W. Bessell. — Pyrogallic acid kept perfectly dry, and protee'ed from the air, will
remain good indefinitely. If exposed to the air it turns brow n, and this the more rapidly
in presence of moisture.
Inquirer. — There is no necessity for acetic acid when you use citric acid to restrain
the too rapid action of the pyrogalhc, except it be to modify the colour of the proof when
printing glass transparencies.
Timon. — A little more or less is unimportant as regards the final result. Give time
enough, and do not be in a hurry with your manipulations. More plates are spoilt by
over-liaste than by bad chemicals.
John Bockett.— The subscription to the Ray Society is one guinea per annum. You
can procure any hack volume that is in print by subscribing for the special year in
which it was issued. You can obtain the rules on application to the lion, secretary, Dr.
Lankester, 8, Savile Row.
G. J. T. — We are unable to give you the information desired about customs duties on
photographic apparatus and plates ou the Continent ; but wrc advise that you should at
any rate cover your plate boxes with a sheet of yellow glass, in case ycu find the officer/
persist in looking into them.
Eugene. — You will find in the best of the albums for card portraits, where provision is
made for two pictures to each leaf placed back to back, that the central blank piece can
readily he slid out at the bottom of the thick leaf, which is really composed of three
thicknesses of cardboard. The proofs are then to be introduced back to back instead.
George Judkjns. — You can send mounted or unmounted positive photographs by post
at the cost of one penny foi‘ four ounces of weight, provided that you send the packages
open at loth ends, though you are permitted to tie a piece of string round them to pre¬
vent them becoming detached from the envelope. 1'nmounted specimens are best rolled
round a piece of cylindrical wood.
J. H. Slater.— Focus your extreme distance as perfectly as you can, and it will cer¬
tainly do for the clouds which you wish to take. The purer the hath the more rapid the
impression. Your ideas are correct about intensifying clouds, if treated the same way
as a landscape the effect is always heavy. We should not think the addition of so small
a quantity of water to the bath of any consequence.
T. Jones.— Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite keep boxes for stereographs that are
thoroughly adapted for your purpose. They will contain about six or eight dozen of
paper ones, and have one end hinged; so that by opening that as well as the top, and
raising the pile of slides with the finger, they can be glanced quickly through like the
leaves of a book, so as to find any particular one sought for.
R. B. — Not well grouped, and rather too near tho top of the plate to look well: the
left foot is also awkwardly posed, so that the effect of a very thick ankle is implied,
and this effect is also exaggerated by slight over-development of the negative, which
destroys the roundness of the part by want of shading. Tho same attitude, but with
the left foot placed obliquely towards the operator, will entirely remedy the defect.
II. II. H. — If you will again refer to the copy of the rules of the Association you will
perceive that, to become a member simply because you are a photographer, without
furnishing any negatives, would be to obtain a quid w ithout affording the quo. Members,
in consideration of their supplying their quota of negatives, are entitled to have proofs
at half the publishing prices. We cannot perceive the justice of giving to the bird that
can sing, but won’t, any advantage over the bird that cannot sing.
J. Bowen. — Your plate would have borne a trifle more exposure with advantage, as
you might then have stopped the development a little earlier, and avoided the spottiness,
of the ivy. Again : you would have had a more artistic picture had you selected a point of
view' a little more to the right of the positiun you took up ; as the little tree behind the
slope of the outhouse would have been more visible, and this would have broken the too
stiff diagonal line at present existing. Your manipulation is very good. You will do well.
M. L. R. — Yours in common with several other letters only 1 eached us on the morn¬
ing upon which we were last “going to press,” hence the unavoidable delay in replying
to you. Thanks for your good opinion. It is not necessary to use fresh solution of hypo¬
sulphite of soda for fixing negatives on glass for every plate : on the contrary, you may
continue to use the same solution over and over again until veil find that it ceases to dis¬
solve out the iodide of silver. It is only for paper proofs that afresh solution is recom¬
mended, and that not for every proof but for every day’s work. Your other query you
will find answered in our Leader.
D. C. — The negative received wants further development; it is not nearly intense
enough. You should develop very slowly upon waxed-paper, using but a few drops of
nitrate of silver solution with your gallic acid until all the details are well out, after
which you may bring up the intensity with a fresh portion of gallic acid and more silver
solution, that is to say four or five times as much silver as at first. Some operators w ill
take five or six hours in the preliminary development, and we have known twenty-four
hours expended thereon on special occasions. When the negative is over-exposed, it
begins to develop of an ugly reddish colour. Except in want of intensity there is not
much amiss with your specimen.
A Subscriber.— No. 1 is “hard” as a rock — it is very evidently printed from an
intensified positive as you state : no treatment could make a good picture of it. No. 2 is
“flat ’’ and wanting intensity, although it is like the other from an intensified positive ;
hut it is better than No. 1, inasmuch as you have some half-tone. Your toning was
carried a li ttle too far. hence its pale colour. Negatives are quite as easy to take as good
positives ; hut you had better try some other collodion : we have nothing to say against
that you use, except that it does not appear to accord with your manipulation. To keep
it firmly on the glass, rough the edge of the glass before use, and let the collodion set
well. Send a stamped directed envelope and we will, return your specimens.
James Law. — Your manipulation is unquestionably good, clean, and neat. There is,
however, some want of vigour in your proofs, notwithstanding an evident under-exposure
of your negative ; hence we conclude that the collodion which you employ is, perhaps,
somewhat deficient fn iodising material, or else in pyroxyline. Of the proofs received
that of Annaty Burn is decidedly the best, and is, in fact, good in every respect, hut in
want of a little moie vigour. Strathbraan comes next in excellence ; but the large fir
tree in the foreground is manifestly under-exposed. The water in the fall of Moncss is
too hard and chalky, and that in Gienalmond is still more so : both of these slides inquire
very much more exposure — twice, or even perhaps thrice, as long as you have allowed.
In the absence of any definite information from you, we cau only indicate a course of
proceeding contingent upon certain facts being correctly guessed at. If your collodion
be very thin and fluid, add a little more pyroxyline. If it contain no bromide of
any kind in the iodiser, add about half a grain of bromide of ammonium or cad¬
mium to each ounce of collodion. If the sensitised film be pale and translucent,
add more iodising soluiion; and, lastly, give longer exposure than you have hitherto
done. The detail is all good in the foliage in Annaty Burn ; but it is too faint. It
is probable that, from want of a sufficient quantity of iodide of silver it was im¬
possible to get up the intensity by development: lienee our advice to add more iodising
material. You need make no apology for seeking our aid : it is always cheerfully and
honestly afforded.
Efjgr All Editorial Communications, Bodes for Review, doc., should
he forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper ITornsey
Rise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 82, Castle Street, Liverpool.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 145, Vol. VIII— JULY 1, 1861.
Halation. — The author of a paper entitled Halation — Its
True Cause and Remedy (see No. 140 of this Journal for April
15th), has taken umbrage at our remarks, both oral and
editorial — at least so we gather from the tenor of an article
which appeared in the last number of the Journal of the
Photographic Society by the same gentleman, entitled A Reply
to Various Objections,-&c., wherein he figuratively pours boiling
oil on the heads of all who presume to differ from him in
opinion ; but we personally come in for a double share of his
animadversions, and if we do not tremble thereat it is simply
because we are incorrigibly hardened. But to drop bandinage,
we are really sorry that this last article was not sent to us, for
we make it a rule to publish in extenso every complaint against
ourselves ; and this we have invariably done, with one solitary
exception, in which the excepted communication was marked
“ private f and we could not prevail upon our correspondent to
grant, although we earnestly solicited, his sanction for the inser¬
tion of his letter.
With regard to the subject before us, we can only refer those
of our readers who take an interest in the matter to the
Society’s Journal, pp. 210 to 213 inclusive, for the article is far
too long for a mere reprint. We shall notice one or two of the
points adverted to, and leave the rest for others to deal with if
they see fit to do so.
We find : — “ Notwithstanding Mr. Shadbolt’s endeavours to
establish his views, and make the name he would apply to
certain phenomena binding on every photographer,” &c. We
had no particular views to establish, nor did we contend for the
appropriateness of any particular designation as applied to a
phenomenon termed “halation,” and which was certainly none of
our devising ; but we have some pretty extensive experience
regarding the terms generally employed by photographers and
the sense in which they are used, and -we again affirm that by
“ halation ” what we described at the meeting is what is
generally understood. We are unconscious of having exerted
any “ strenuous endeavours ” “ to ridicule the title of the
paper,” though wre certainly perpetrated a mild joke upon it
when specially called on by the Chairman to speak.
Much fuss is made by our opponent about some fancied dis¬
crepancies between the reports in this and in the Society’s
Journal, which, though taken by separate reporters, rather
remarkably corroborate each other’s accuracy in the main ; for
instance, Mr. Archer’s tent in one report is called a camera in
the other — appropriately enough, for his tent and camera were
united in one article.
While on the subject of “reporting,” we notice a remark
towards the close of Mr. Marlow’s article, relative to what he
calls the “ wise omission ” of certain observations in the Society’s
Journal which were published in this Journal. They were not
reporter’s imperfections, as he suggests, but statements of what
actually occurred ; neither were they in reply to questions, as
he funnily insinuates. If a question be asked, to which no one
cares to reply, is that of necessity to close all discussion ? If
our objector were to attend many photographic society meetings
he would soon learn to know the value of abstaining from reply
upon some occasions.
“ Mr. Shadbolt’s belief” in black velvet is just what it was ;
for, as regards the experiments performed in the pressure-frame,
we do not value them at all with reference to this question.
We were so astonished at finding what was the subject of the
paper after hearing the title of it read, that our attention was
not for some time after its commencement directed with any
degree of concentration to the former — -hence we may have
missed some points therein ; and our editorial comments were
certainly written and in type ere we had an opportunity of
perusing the paper itself, and therefore we had nothing but
memory on which to depend.
Mr. Marlow appears to be eminently dissatisfied with all
who took part in the discussion, which is a pity, but, we pre¬
sume, unavoidable under the circumstances. Our principles
will not allow us to offer him space in these columns to vent his
ire upon others ; but we can honestly say that he is quite
welcome to such as he may require for any directed against us,
if he will accept it.
Large Lenses. — By the special desire of Herr Voigtlander,
the celebrated optician, of Vienna, we have been favoured with
a series of unusually large-sized portraits for critical examina¬
tion: they are the production of Herr Wegner, of Amsterdam,
by aid of one of Voigtlander’s gigantic double-combination
lenses. Of these portraits there are twelve in number, each
plate being not less than seventeen inches b}r fourteen in
dimensions. In one proof there is a group consisting of two
ladies, in another of a gentleman and two children, the re¬
mainder being single figures. Some idea of the scale upon
v'hich the delineation is effected may be gathered from the fact
that the length of the faces of the figures represented averages
about two inches. The lens employed was the No. 8, of five
inches in diameter. We cannot omit this opportunity of
according willing testimony to the artistic skill of Herr
Wegner. Each portrait is a perfect study in itself, and
would, wTere the Royal Commissioners for the International
Exhibition of 1802 open to reason, be alone sufficient to
refute the preposterous notion entertained by them that
photography is a mechanical art. The individuality of each
sitter is not more perceptible than the individuality of the
artist, wdio lias unmistakeably left on each picture the impress
of his owm mental labour. But this is somewdiat of a
digression, and we return to consider the operation of the
lens, which was the point to which our attention was soli¬
cited. We are assured, by the way, that the specimens sub¬
mitted to us are perfectly “untouched;” and indeed they bear
evidence to the verity of the assertion. As large specimens for
suspending on the walls of a room they are truly admirable, and
so presented are not subjected to the close scrutiny to which
ordinary photographic portraits are exposed ; but when closely
232
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1801
examined they certainly present certain defects to which all
images of objects not in one plane, and delineated by aid of
lenses of large aperture, are more or less inherently liable — that
is to say, the faces of the sitters give one a notion of being in¬
spected through a magnifying glass : every crease and wrinkle,
nay the very texture of the skin also, are somewhat painfully
apparent ; while certain objects are to some extent unnaturally
thickened, such as the hair of the beard and whiskers in the
male sitters. But, on the other hand, the textile fabrics com¬
posing the various dresses are distinctly rendered. The reason
for the existence of this peculiarity is sufficiently obvious to
those acquainted with optical science ; and the better the lens
the more perceptible is the difference of distinctness between
the parts to which we have alluded. Operators who are am¬
bitious of working with very large lenses become involved in
very unexpected difficulties : not only do the photographic
manipulations require more care, but optical troubles of no
trifling kind are superadded. If the artist lacks a knowledge of
that science with reference to the action of lenses — as is most
frequently the case — he naturally lays all the blame of his ill
success upon the unfortunate maker of the lens, because he is
well assured that his photographic dexterity in all that regards
the chemical part is not deficient.
It must not be supposed from these remarks that we are in
any way detracting from the merit of the optician who pro¬
duced the lens with which the specimens upon which we have
been descanting were taken, nor from the excellence of the lens
itself— »on the contrary, we estimate them both highly. We
consider that the lens is as perfect as it is possible for a lens of
its size to be made, and, further, that in Herr Wegner the
maker has found one who has known well how to apply it ; but
we could not allow so appropriate an opportunity to pass by
without recording a word of caution to those who imagine that,
if they do but obtain a large lens, of good quality, they will
necessarily be able to execute large portraits of a satisfactory
character as easily as they can small ones.
Preservative Plate-box.- — We have recently received from
Mr. A. Keene, of Leamington, a specimen of his new plate-box,
for preserving undeteriorated sensitised dry plates. It is con¬
structed of block tin, with grooves of gutta-percha, or some
similar material, of a form that precludes injury to the film.
There is ample provision for perfect exclusion of light, and a
Bimple arrangement to obviate the accidental opening of the lid.
The whole is well designed, compact, and appears to fulfil its
intended object.
Redivivus.— -It is with gratification that wTe notice the re¬
formation of the Chorlton Photographic Society under the
presidency of Mr. J. Heywood. It is always to be regretted
when a bond of union that has been in existence for any con¬
siderable time becomes broken ; and we cannot but rejoice that
the new Society has arisen, phoenix-like, ere the ashes of its
predecessor had become cold.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
The series of papers which we now commence is undertaken with
the object of placing before our readers a description of the means
by which the quality of the chemical preparations used in photo¬
graphy can be ascertained.
The necessity for such information will be obvious to all scientific
students; and those photographers who practise the art by “rule
of thumb” must be no less convinced of its utility, after a very
little experience. The last-named practitioners cannot be occupied
in any process _ very long without discovering that their guide¬
books and chemicals can only produce failure, notwithstanding the
“ dreadful facility of the camera ,” unless they be properly informed
as to the nature of the chemicals employed. For apparatus cannot
do everything: the process is essentially chemical; and, if the
material be impure, the result cannot be satisfactory. There is, in
point of fact, no requisite for which the unscientific photographer
is so much at the mere}7 of the shopkeeper as his chemicals. It is
further intended that those who are at a distance from “ homo” —
men “up country” in the Australian bush or Indian jungle, quite
beyond the reach of chemists’ shops — should, from these papers,
learn the method for supplying themselves with the chemicals they
require.
To illustrate the necessity for such instructions as we propose to
give, we will cite the case of the phosphates and carbonates of
soda — substances now largely employed in the new method of
toning paper positives.
Without alluding to the fact that the acid which forms the first
class of salts is capable of existing in three different conditions,
viz., monobasic, bibasic, and tribasic — -each one of which forms with
soda a phosphate of soda — it is sufficient to mention that the ordi¬
nary tribasic modification which is usually employed is capablo of
crystallising under different circumstances with fourteen and
twenty-four atoms of water of crystallisation respectively. And
as it is manifest that these two salts must contain a very different
per centage of anhydrous phosphate, the importance of knowing
which salt is supplied becomes obvious.
With reference to the second class of salts — the carbonates of
soda — similar remarks apply with equal force. Carbonic acid com¬
bines with soda in three different proportions, forming three separate
and distinct salts, all three of which are to bo found in commerce
under the general name of carbonate of soda ; added to which, the
commonest of them, the carbonate of soda, may, by particular
treatment in its preparation, be had with seven, nine, ten, and
fifteen equivalents of water of crystallisation, possessing, of course,
a corresponding variation in the proportion of anhydrous carbonate
contained in equal weights.
These instances sufficiently show that success in photography
depends not only upon the chemicals being accurately prepared
and without adulteration, but also upon their composition and
qualities being known to the photographer who employs them.
The arrangement adopted in the following papers has been
resolved on by the writer after careful consideration during the
last eighteen months, while engaged in collecting the information
now brought forward ; and, in view of what has been said above,
they will necessarily contain a statement of the impurities which
may occur, and the method of ascertaining, by tests, the presence
of those impurities in photographic chemicals. The method of
preparation will also claim to be accurately treated. In addition
to the ordinary name of the compound, its synonymes will also be
mentioned, while its composition and equivalent will be expressed in
the manner employed by Berzelius and Turner. The uses or method
of acting in photographic processes, with the ordinary physical
characteristics and per-centage of pure in the commercial article , will
also be stated. Subsidiary, also, to the more immediate object in
view, it has been deemed advisable to include a statement, where
practicable, of the effect of each substance on the human body, with
its appropriate antidote where injurious:
Where desirable, also, the specific gravity will be stated, and,
further, the boiling point of liquids, with the solubility of certain
salts in water, alcohol, or ether (whichever may be their most
suitable menstruum), likewise the proportion necessary to make a
saturated solution.
As an important chemical agent, we will commence with—
IODIDE OP POTASSIUM.
Synonymes. — Hydriodate of Potash, Ioduret of Potassium.
Composition. — K.I.
Equivalent. — 1 66.
Preparation. — This compound, so important in a medical as well
as a photographic sense, may be prepared by three different methods.
The one most generally adopted is that in which iodine is added to
a solution of caustic potash until it becomes coloured ; the solution
so obtained (consisting as it does of iodide and iodate of potash)
evaporated to dryness, heated to redness, and crystallised by re¬
solution in water. It may be obtained, also, by adding iodine to a
hot solution of caustic potash to saturation, and then decomposing
the iodate of potash formed by passing a current of sulphuretted
hydrogen through the solution. Any excess of sulphuretted
hydrogen may be expelled by heat, and the solution, being filtered
and neutralised with potash, may be evaporated and set aside to
crystallise. By the third method, iodine, water, and iron filings,
or scraps of zinc, are digested in a Florence flask with a gentle
heat until the combination is complete, which is indicated by the
solution becoming colourless: it is then filtered and exactly decom¬
posed by a solution of pure carbonate potash. The precipitate of
carbonate of iron or zinc resulting from this reaction is then
July 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
233
separated by filtration, and the clear solution evaporated until it
crystallises. This last method will be found the most practicable
for amateurs desiring to prepare only a small quantity to meet
their immediate wants. The chief point to be attended to in order
to insure a satisfactory product is the careful decomposition of the
iodide of iron or zinc with the solution of carbonate of potash.
If too much of this be added, the resulting iodide is contaminated
in a way which will surely mar the delicate reactions which occur
in photographic manipulation ; if the quantity of carbonate, on the
other hand, be insufficient, some undecomposed iodide of iron or
zinc remains in solution, producing a corresponding contamination
with one or other of these metals. Both these untoward results
may be avoided by having the solutions fairly diluted, and adding
the carbonate cautiously and just until no further precipitate is
produced and no more.
Properties. — Iodide of potassium forms semi-opaque white cubic
and prismatic crystals. They are anhydrous, and slightly de¬
liquescent in damp air. One hundred parts of water, at 65p, take
up 143 of this salt. It is only sparingly soluble in absolute alcohol;
but much more so in alcohol, sp. gr. '850, which takes up about
70 grs. to the ounce. It should be purchased in crystals, which
ought not to be very deliquescent, and should perfectly dissolve in
six or eight parts of alcohol, sp. gr. '836. Iodide of potassium is
insoluble in ether.
Uses. — Iodide of potassium is employed in nearly all the more
important photographic processes, for the purpose of producing by
what is termed double decomposition an iodide of silver, either in a
film of albumen or collodion, or on the surface of a sheet of paper.
The solutions containing it, alone or in combination with other iodides,
are called “iodisers,” iodising compounds, or iodising solutions.
Impurities. — A very pure form of this salt is now introduced into
commerce, prepared expressly for photography, and obtainable at
any of the more respectable houses where photographic chemicals
are sold. The ordinary kind prepared for medical use is frequently
contaminated with the following impurities — Carbonate of potash,
sulphate potash, iodate potash, and chloride potassium. Their
presence may be ascertained by the application of suitable
Tests. — Namely, chloride barium, nitric acid, lime water, and
tartaric acid. The suspected salt is first dissolved in pure distilled
water; and if, on the addition of solution of chloride of barium, a
white precipitate is formed, it is an evidence of the presence of
either carbonic, iodic, or sulphuric acids. Nitric acid should then
be added, when, if it be the two former acids, the solution becomes
clear ; but if it remain turbid, sulphuric acid is undoubtedly present.
Iodic acid will be indicated, if present, in the following manner : —
To a solution of the salt in pure distilled water add a small crystal
of tartaric or citric acid, when, if iodate of potash be present,
the solution will speedily become coloured from the liberation of
free iodine. Carbonic acid, in combination with potash, will be
indicated by dissolving a small portion of the salt under examina¬
tion in lime water, to which it will communicate a turbidity, if pre¬
sent. If, however, it forms a clear solution, the absence of carbonate
of potash may be inferred. The detection of chlorides in iodide of
potassium is conducted as follows : — Solution of nitrate of silver is
added to a solution of the salt to be tested, until it produces no
further precipitate. The precipitate is then collected on a filter,
copiously washed with pure water, and finally washed with strong
solution of ammonia. To this ammoniacal filtrate, nitric acid (pure
and quite.free from hydrochloric acid) is now added, when, if chloride
of potassium be present in the iodide, a white flocculent precipitate
of chloride of silver will be thrown down.
Effect of Internal Use. — Iodide of potassium is employed medici¬
nally as a stimulant to the absorbents : it acts also as an irritant, and
is diuretic. When taken in such quantities as to produce poisonous
effects, the symptoms are violent shivering, headache, hot skin,
intense thirst, quick and full pulse, vomiting and purging, and great
prostration, with discharge from the eyes and nostrils.-— Taylor.
Antidote. — As there is no known antidote to this salt, the best
course to adopt is to evacuate the stomach by emetics, or even by
the stomach-pump If there be no excoriation of the mouth and
iauces, give stimulants ; also demulcents, such as milk, white of
egg, linseed tea, &c. ; obviate inflammation, and allay irritation.
THE WAXED-PAPER PROCESS.
By John Tbaill.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, on June 19th, 1861.]
On the comparative advantage of glass over paper or paper over
glass as media for the reception of negative pictures I will not enter
at present, beyond remarking that, if glass is most suitable for very
minute detail, paper is infinitely more convenient to the tourist.
There are not wanting some who say that equal shaipness — not,
of course, alluding to microscopic sharpness, but sharpness sufficient
for all artistic purposes — may be attained equally well with waxed
paper as with collodion. So much is this the case that positive
prints have often been exhibited so sharp as to have been thought
impossible to have been produced from paper, having been mis¬
taken for collodion.
I now proceed to show how waxed paper is prepared.
The original way was this : — On a flat warm surface — a plate of
metal, a porcelain dish, &c., &c. — lay one or two sheets of paper ;
rub it over with a piece of white wax, which will melt by the heat
and permeate the pores of the paper. The sheet is now placed
between two folds of blotting-paper and a hot iron, such as
laundresses use, passed over it. The bibulous paper absorbs the
superfluous wax, and the sheet is removed and ready for the next
operation.
But more improved methods of waxing paper have been intro¬
duced, and the following is one which gives good results: — Put
into a bottle or glazed earthenware vessel the following : —
Camphine . 5 ounces.
White wax . \ „
Iodine . \ drachm.
The application of a slight degree of heat will dissolve the waxi
Paper is immersed into this, and when saturated, which takes a few
minutes, may be removed and dried by hanging up. It is advis¬
able that both for this and the subsequent operation a large num¬
ber of sheets be prepared at once, as the trouble is very little and
the papers keep any length of time. — The next operation is that of
iodising. Into a deep dish pour some of the following solution : —
Iodide of potassium . 300 grains.
Bromide of potassium . 100 „
Iodine . 3 „
Water or serum of milk . 20 ounces.
Immerse, one at a time, the papers into this, taking care that each
is thoroughly wetted, no air bubbles being allowed to adhere to the
side. It is, perhaps, desirable that not more than a dozen sheets
be immersed into the bath at a time ; but this of course depends
very much on the depth of the dish and the quantity of the iodis¬
ing solution. A small glass rod assists in getting rid of the air
bubbles which would attach themselves to the sides. When all
are immersed they should be allowed to remain so for a consider¬
able time — say two hours. I often immerse a batch of papers in
the morning the first thing after rising. These are ready for re¬
moval at breakfast time, which being done afresh set is introduced
and suffered to remain until dinner time, when a third set takes
the place of the others, remaining till evening. In this way three
dozen sheets 12 x 10 are prepared in a day without encroaching
in any way on business hours. I may observe that it is just as
easy to prepare a large sheet as a small one, at least after one or
two trials. When removed from this iodising bath the papers are
hung up to dry, and will keep any length of time. They are now
of a deep purple colour.
To excite for use, which I usually do a day or two before I wish
to use them, I immerse them singly in a solution as follows : —
Nitrate of silver . 30 grains.
Glacial acetic acid . 30 drops.
Water . 1 ounce.
The usual precautions as to air bubbles must be observed, and
when a sheet is immersed the purple colour will vanish and be suc¬
ceeded by a deep primrose. After remaining about eight minutes
each sheet should be removed into another bath of water, and
agitated so as to effect a removal of the excess of nitrate of silver.
The more washing the papers get the longer they will keep,
but the less sensitive do they become. With a moderate washing
I have taken very fine negatives on the tenth day after they were
excited. They may be dried either by being hung up in a darkened
room, or by being pressed between two folds of clean blotting
paper.
The exposure in the camera is nearly the same as that required
for a dried collodion plate. There is, however, a considerable
latitude in this process, as I have taken two views of the same
subject at the same time, and given one of them double the ex¬
posure of the other — the two negatives presenting the same
appearance when finished. The exact exposure requisite for pro¬
ducing the best effects must be determined by each one for him¬
self, commencing with four times the length of time a wet collodion
plate would be exposed under similar circumstances.
I have said the papers will keep ten days or more, but it is
desirable to use them within as few days as possible after they
are excited, as they deteriorate.
234
[July 1, 18GI
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Each operator has his particular way of development. The fol¬
lowing answers perfectly: — Into a flat porcelain or glass dish
pour a saturated solution of gallic acid, to which some of the sen-
titising bath has been added in the proportion of a drachm to
every four or five ounces of the gallic acid solution. Immerse the
negative into this, and in a short time the highest lights will
make their appearance. When the details are all judged to be
out the sheet may be examined, and either fixed or returned to the
developing dish, as is found to be requisite.
I fix in a strong solution of hyposulphite of soda.
PHOTOGRAPHY ONE OP THE PINE ARTS.
By S. Thompson.
BEFORE crossing the threshold of any discussion on photography as
a fine art, the question that naturally suggests itself to every mind
is, what are strictly speaking the fine arts? What constitutes an
art a fine art, taking precedence of ordinary arts? What is a fine
art? and what is an ordinary or mechanical art? Much misappre¬
hension exists, it is to be feared, on the subject. Ask twenty ordi¬
nary persons to define them, and you will probably get twenty
definitions. But, nevertheless, the best understood distinction
among the cultivated classes is that those arts requiring a greater
amount of intellectual refinement and fine taste, combined with
judgment and manipulatory skill, such as painting, music, sculpture,
and architecture, have been separated from the arts generally, and
designated, by way of distinction, “ the fine arts.” I would hazard
a more subtle distinction. It is obvious that an art which every
one may acquire and practise alike successfully cannot be other
than one of the mechanical arts, such as our juvenile “million” is
apprenticed to daily, and, having served the appointed time, prac¬
tise forthwith for the remainder of their existence, with a degree
of success almost wholly regulated by capital and character. Can
the fine arts be thus taught? Painting, strictly speaking, embraces
all methods of producing represen tations on flat surfaces by pencils
and pigments (not chemicals!! !) ; Architecture, those of erecting
edifices, ecclesiastical and secular ; Sculpture, all methods of pro¬
ducing representations in relief. The manipulatory and mechanical
details may be taught, but that which invests them with real beauty,
grace, and power, as works of art, cannot be taught. The divine
afflatus which animated some of “ the simple great ones gone,”
and is shared to some extent by many of our own day in every
walk of art, claims a higher origin.
Can photography be thus taught? Yes : the manipulatory and
mechanical details of it, certainly; — is taught, daily, to hundreds of
votaries, many of whom be-label themselves “artist” forthwith,
even as there are many painters who practise painting, yet are
not artists in any true sense of the term. All these have but
entered the lists: the race has yet to be run. That sacred title
which Raphael bore, and Michael Angelo, and Claude, and Cellini,
and Phidias, and Flaxman, and a long line of honoured names, is
much too lightly bandied about in our own day.
But why — we hear some diligent amateur or professional photo¬
grapher exclaim — but why cannot I get landscapes and portraits
like those of Bedford, Williams, and some others, if photography
is only a mechanical art? I have practised the art as long — have
the same mechanical means and appliances — have spared no
expense, or labour, or pains, or study. If photography is only a
mechanical art, why do not those who preside in the councils and
societies — accomplished savans learned in all the theory of the art,
profoundly versed in all the phenomena elicited, and the substances,
organic and inorganic, mineral and vegetable, used in the various
processes — why do not they excel all others in their pictures?
How is it that so few photographic pictures, comparatively speaking,
are to be seen in public or private ? Their number bear no relative
proportion to the quantity of apparatus manufactured during the
last few years. Is it that they are buried in the portfolios of their
producers, amateur and professional ? Alas ! we fear not. The
answer is, they are generally only too ready to show them. We
must confess it has been our lot to wade through numbers of such ;
and, humiliating though it be, must fain admit that but few reached
above the line of hopeless mediocrity : fewer still were of a high
class. It is but fair therefore to conclude that we are, through the
medium of our exhibitions, familiar with the best ; and it is well
known that all our best amateurs do exhibit. If men whisper of
manipulatory secrets and photographic tricks known only to the
few, believe them not. The only secret resides in the personal
qualities of the artists themselves, and they could not teach you
those. It does not reside in knowledge, essential as it is —
“ Let her know her place :
She is the second, not the first”—
nor in experience, essential as that is; for, after bestowing both,
they could not make you see as they see, nor feel as they feel.
You must bring even to the photographic landscape or subject as
much as you take away ; and in this sense it may be truly said —
“ Minds that have nothing to confer
Find little to perceive.”
It is that photography is not a mechanical art, though there is
an element of that kind mixed up with photography ; but is really
only a new medium, and the latest, through which man can express
his sense of the Beautiful, and the results vary as much as the
individual minds through which they pass. Perhaps some of the
opponents to its claims as a fine art would be surprised to learn
that some of our best exhibitors could, if needs be, paint the scenes
they depict with the camera — have drawn or painted them, and
that with no ’prentice hand. They have chosen or adopted this
medium, but are not exclusively tied to one. Photograph}’, in the
hands of a master, is an art inimitable in its way, and susceptible
of infinite variety, and modulation, and power. It is not that
there is anything in photography to prevent its becoming one of
the most fascinating of the fine arts ; but it is to be feared the
artistic element has been too much neglected by its professors.
Let there be fewer pictures, and let them be better studied, and
the art would inevitably rise to a higher status. That it is too
often degraded, and, in the hands of touters whose employers cari¬
cature humanity, has become somewhat of an abomination, is no
more chargeable to photography proper, than that the paternity of
the black profile tribe, and the perpetrators of vulgar daubs for
publicans’ back parlours, should be thrust upon the Royal Academy.
Even in its most mechanical aspect — namely, the power of infi¬
nite multiplication — it is less so than engraving; for every print
obtained from the negative plate owes some of its beauty, or the
want of it, to the hand that performs the task.
Another sure test of what may be considered a fine art resides
in the consideration of what part of our nature it appeals to. A
fine art appeals only to the finer part of our nature. All the lower
arts minister only to the material or animal part of our economy.
Does the photographic landscape, with its marvellous delicacy of
detail and play of light and shade — does the really graceful and
masterly portrait of the genuine artist, with its soul-speaking
reality, appeal to our animal appetites or our material sense of
comfort? To what does it speak? What feelings does it awaken?
What thoughts does it excite ? Are they not of a higher order ?
If it does not do any of these things, what does it do ? To use
the most threadbare of newspaper phrases — “ we pause for a
reply.”
That which is the offspring of the higher part of our nature can
minister only to those faculties, even as “ that which comes from
the heart goes to the heart.” Away with all utilitarian cant !
They have their uses too — every “ thing of beauty” and work of
art; — like the lilies of the field, which toil not, nor spin, yet are
arrayed in a glory beside which that of the most magnificent
monarchs pales its ineffectual fire. They serve to remind man
whence he came — whither he goeth : to refine — to humanise — to
elevate.
It would seem that, when the world is ripe for any particular
means of enlarging man’s nature, or hastening his progress, Pro¬
vidence ushers it in by some individual discovery — perhaps puts
into one man the intellectual force of a number of men, or brings it
about by the successive discoveries of several. Thus we had
printing at the right moment, to supersede the slow and, necessarily
to the many, unobtainable missal and manuscript. Now, in our
own day, we have photography at the right moment ; for there is
no denying that, gigantic as we certainly are in science and learn¬
ing, the majority are comparatively infants in art.
Photography places within the reach of the many what has
hitherto been inaccessible to all but the wealthy few : — pure land¬
scape, correct drawing, reproductions of the greatest pictorial
efforts of human genius, the triumphs of constructive skill, and the
boundless wonders of nature. To render thousands capable of thus
more fully enjoying the contemplation of the marvellous works of
the Creator — to enlarge the perception of the beautiful by educating
and refining the taste, is to admit of a greater amount of pleasure
being derived from a greater number of pure sources, while the
number of those partaking of them is indefinitely multiplied. All
art is elevating. The outward beauty of nature —
“A setting sun, a lake among the mountains” — ■
whether embodied in photograph, or drawing, or painting, is one
more means of presenting moral beauty to the mind ; and
” How near to goodi s what i* fair.”
July 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
235
In conclusion, let not any photographic neophyte be discouraged
by the superior excellence of others; but rather rejoice and take
comfort in the fact that there is in photography abundant scope
for the exercise of individual taste and feeling. What the photo¬
graphy of the future will be, when we consider its progress in ten
years, the boldest imagination cannot shadow forth.
If the recent mis-classifieation of photography be not simply an
unintentional error, but an emanation from, and an illustration of,
the same spirit of exclusiveness which animated the body who so
long denied engraving admission to their ranks, we need but to
observe that the day will certainly arrive when they will be proud
and glad to admit it. It would surely be far better that they
should not lose an opportunity of paying a graceful compliment
while they yet may, than that they should with tardy justice do so
when, as often with the individual honours they bestow, they can
add no distinction — impart no lustre — and confer no honour,
- -
ANOTHER “HALE BRICK”
From A Wall.
In another of our respected friend Mr. Punch’s illustrations of the
mining districts, the new clergyman, a mildly pleasant, affable
man, anxious only to conciliate, remarks to one of the miners
aforesaid that it is “a very fine day,” and, receiving only a grunt
by way of reply, repeats his observation, when he is startled by
the abrupt growl of the miner, who says — “Did I say it warn’t?
Do you want to hargur, y.er beggar?” 1 must say I no more
expected your remarks than the clerical gentleman did the miner’s,
inasmuch as, writing in defence of “ sharpness,” I was somewhat
startled at being accused of throwing “ half bricks ” at such a
very desirable quality. But I fear you wanted to “hargur.” So
you see it was only because my meaning was a stranger to you
that, like the Christian miner, you “ heaved ” half a brick thereat.
To explain. I never did heave any section of any existing brick
at sharpness rightly understood ; but I did, shall, and will heave,
not only half, but whole bricks — not only whole bricks, but the
biggest whole bricks within my reach — in fact, a whole wall — at
certain qualities which, as I still assert, are very commonly recog¬
nised as belonging to that misused term, “sharpness.”
You seem to have overlooked also a fact which I urged at the
commencement of my paper, viz., that it was written by me, not
as an optician, but as an artist and photographer — dealing, not
with the means, but with the results ; and judging a lens, not by
optical theories, but by the character of its productions.
You denounce my want of scientific knowledge. When did I
advance even the slightest claim to such knowledge? Mine is a
profession greedy of a man’s whole time and energies ; and I, not
being by any means, alas! one of its richest members, have been
forced to yield up to it what in pseudo classical language we term
“the entire animal.” Moreover, if I possessed a deeper insight
into the more subtle theories of science, it is very probable that I
should not have that reputation as an art-teacher which you do
me the honour to assert I possess.
I hoped my paper would elicit from those who pretend to
greater scientific attainments than I possess so clear an exposition
of “ sharpness,” as a scientific term, that future misconceptions of
its meaning would be scarcely possible. I hoped to show that,
while artists were right in denouncing flatness, hardness, and the
want of atmosphere, neither artists nor photographers were right
in supposing such qualities constituted “ sharpness.”
As to the title of my paper I give any one permission to call it
what he pleases (“what’s in a name?”) ; but I hope he will endea¬
vour also to understand what it means before he undertakes to
reply to its arguments.
Although I cannot pretend to be more in focus (or sharp) than
other folk, I am as enthusiastic a lover of photography as most;
and if I can only show artists that photographers differ from them
rather in the use of certain terms than in more essential and im¬
portant respects, and convince photographers that artists, in
denouncing “sharpness,” rather denounced qualities really untrue to
nature and offensive to good taste, I don’t care how many “ bricks”
I cast forth, how many “Wall papers” I produce, or how many
adversaries I meet.
With reference to Mr. Robert Hunt’s remarks, as I quoted them,
without comment, merely to prove what was therein roundly and
unmistakeably asserted, how on earth can it be said that, even by
implication, 1 misinterpreted his meaning?
You also state that “ it is a well-known axiom that the more
intense the illumination the greater is the depth of shadow.” In
that case the weak but clearly defined shadows of strong sunlight
ought to be absolutely of greater depth than the strong black
shadows of weak moonlight. How is this?
ALFRED H. WALL.
THE MINER’S “GRUNT” IN RETURN.
Not so fast, good friend ! You have seen pictures which were both
sharp and hard. You have heard them bepraised for the former
quality, and the latter has properly enough offended you ; but we
believe you have “ saddled the wrong horse ” with your ani¬
madversions. If the term “sharpness” has been misused, artists
are the culprits. We deny altogether the existence of any mis¬
understanding of the term amongst optical men. We did not
overlook the fact that you laid no claim to any scientific know¬
ledge ; for our Wall, like “ a brick,” makes no false pretensions;
but he sometimes makes a mistake in fancying that men of science
(like some artists) talk vaguely. There is not much “ fancy ” about
figures, and mathematicians are rather too fond of “ hard facts.”
We had hoped that your hope had been fulfilled with regard to
a clear exposition of “ sharpness ” in its optical sense, and we
cordially agree in denouncing flatness, hardness, and absence of
atmosphere ; but the presence or absence of such qualities are not
directly dependent upon sharpness alone. So please never denounce
“sharpness” if you expect to make an impression. You know the
sharper the blade the better it cuts.
Surely it is not singular that one who asks what sharpness is
should misinterpret Mr. Robert Hunt’s meaning ; and, with regard
to shadows, we must not confound transparency with weak¬
ness, and opacity with depth — a not uncommon mistake. The
intensity of a light is always determinable by the intensity of the
shadow which it casts — as we shall be most happy to demonstrate
practically. Its transparency is quite another thing. But here
again we fear that the language of science and art may not coincide,
and a question of mere words and names is always unprofitable.
AN ALBUMEN PROCESS.
By James Larpey.
Any person trying the following (modification of the) albumen
process, I believe, will no longer doubt the possibility of Mr,
Negretti having produced his admirable stereo, transparencies by
that method of working.
1. Coat the plates with any kind of collodion, iodised or uniodised
(having plenty of it iodised, use it; but I doubt not plain collodion
would do quite as well).
2. Wash well in ordinary water. I use a plate or dish and the
tap. Drain, and
3. Pour on the albumen —
Iodide of ammonium . . 4 to 6 grains.
Bromide of potassium . 1 „ l£ „
Water . 2 drachms.
Use the albumen as in the Fothergill process — first quantity to
drive off the water, second quantity work well over the plate, and
then drain it well and rear it up on one corner in a warm oven or
over the gas to dry, and it is ready (or can be put aside till
wanted) for excitation.
4. Excite in bath —
Nitrate of silver . 60 grains.
Acetic acid . 60 minims.
Water . 1 ounce.
And wash thoroughly — you cannot wash too much — and rear up to
dry in the dark. It can now be kept five hours, days, or months, till
required.
5. Exposure about double the time of wet collodion — say, land¬
scape lens, fifteen inches focus, full sunshine, about two minutes
to five.
6. Developer. — Saturated solution gallic acid and a few drops of
nitrate of silver, fifty grains, and one ounce water. By varying the
quantity of nitrate any kind of tone can be got. A small quantity
gives brown — more, black tones.
7. Wash. — Fix and wash, and the pictures cannot be told from
plain, pure, and simple albumen ones.
Now for its advantages. — It possesses the peculiar beauties of
plain albumen, without any of its necessary difficulties of pre¬
paration. The collodion coating euables you to pour on the
albumen without trouble, and to dry immediately, without drying-
box or fear of dust. It keeps admirably — in fact, apparently as
long as albumen. It works much quicker than plain albumen, and
beautifully clean. It can be developed as soon as taken, or de¬
ferred till next week or month ; and, when fixed and washed, is as
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1861
236
firm as any varnished pictures can be, and so adhesive that you
can hardly tell which side of the glass it is upon. Considering its
ease of preparation and certainty of action, I believe it will stand
second to none for dry purposes or copying transparencies. May
I ask, as a favour, that you will, if possible, devote a small portion
of your time to giving it a few trials, and then if (as I believe you
must) you find it promising, give the world the benefit of your
experience.
[The experience of the author of the preceding corroborates the
assertion of M. Taupenot with regard to the use of collodion that
is uniodised. As already stated, we neither have nor had any doubt
about the integrity of Mr. Negretti’s process, as given by him. — Ed.]
RE-DISCOVERIES IN PHOTOGRAPHY.
In a paper, by Mr. Taylor, of Edinburgh, On the Magic Lantern >
which appeared in the last number of your Journal, there is at least
one topic which is highly suggestive, and which, in the retirement
of a temporary residence in the country, I will now endeavour still
further to elucidate, premising that if in doing so I should happen
to come somewhat roughly across the fingers of Mr. Taylor and
some other members of the Photographic Society of Scotland, yet
that such flagellation is administered with regret that there should
be occasion for it, as well as in hopes that it will be beneficial in
its results to the above-named Society in particular and to in¬
ventors in general.
I select as the foundation of my remarks, at present, that portion
of the paper in which Mr. Taylor denounces the thievery in photo¬
graphic inventions and discoveries so rife at the present day. Very
well, I say: it is quite right such conduct should be denounced, for
re-invention is the prevailing sin of the photographic age. But such
denunciation must come from some other person than a Scotchman,
especially a citizen of Edinburgh, more especially still a member
of the Photographic Society of Scotland ; for it is a fact that this
Society, of which Mr. Taylor is Secretary,* has made itself perfectly
notorious for its patronage of second-hand discoveries. This is
certainly a grave charge against any Society, no matter how
inefficient it may be ; but proofs so abundant may be found
that in the present case the difficulty is in the selection. In
this article I will go no farther than the proofs Mr. Taylor has
unwittingly furnished to us himself. It seems then that, some
time ago, the ability to keep collodionised plates dry in a state of
sensitiveness was a desideratum. The first to step forward to the
relief of the tourist was Mr. Shadbolt (you yourself, Mr. Editor),
who by means of a solution of honey in water enabled us to varnish
our films in such a way that after exposure the plates could be
developed. The only objection to this was the fact of the plates
not being quite dry, and hence liable to damage if they were kept
in a place to which dust had access. In giving an account of this
new process, on July 6th, 1854, Mr. Shadbolt having stated his
reasons for employing saccharine preparations, says : — “ loaf sugar,
moist sugar, grape sugar, sugar of milk, mannite, and honey,
together with glycerine, have all been employed by me,” &c., &c.
The principle, then, of “ The Honey Process” (as it was called for
many years) is, that a saccharine preparation applied to the plate
will not allow the film to dry into the hard and impermeable condi¬
tion it otherwise would have done. Bearing this in mind, we now
pass on to the next and, at present, the final stage of progress.
Dr. Hill Norris, in the course of his. investigations, found that the
conditions for preserving a collodion plate sensitive were, that
the pores of the collodion be filled up by any substance which, no
matter how hard and horny when dry, should be softened by water,
bo as to allow of the action of a fluid developer, and also that the
surface of the film should, by the same varnish, be protected from
atmospheric influences. This principle was established and pub¬
lished in May, 1856 ; and, later in the same year, he, in a commu-
cation to the Journal of the Photographic Society , as correctly quoted
by Mr. Taylor, says he had used for the purpose albumen, gum,
dextrine, starch, caseine, tanno-gelatine, and a great variety of
similar substances. Now, all these things were well known to Mr.
Taylor and the members of the Photographic Society of Scotland,
seeing, they were published in the before-named journal, which,
according to Mr. Taylor, is the organ of that Society; and, in saying
that, he inadvertently lifted a stone to throw at the head of the
Society, to which operation I shall immediately proceed.
In April, 1857, Mr. John Sang, a member of the Photographic
Society of Scotland, discovered that golden syrup would preserve a
t* Our contributor is in error here. That gentleman, although, we believe, a
member of the Photographic Society of Scotland, is Secretary, not of it, but of the
Edinburgh Photographic Society— quite a distinct Society, though meeting in the same
plate. Well, so did Mr. Shadbolt in 1854, and published it. too, at
that time.
In the end of 1857, Sir David Brewster, president of the society
in question, read to the members an account of a ‘ new ” photo¬
graphic process, communicated to him by a Frenchman. In this,
the preservative varnish was dextrine.
In January, 1860, Dr. Robert Paterson read before the same
Society an account of a new dry collodion process, in which the
preservative varnish consisted of a solution of gum arahic.
But for Mr. John Macnair seems to have been reserved the high
honour of enlightening the Council of that learned and intelligent
Society with light of such intensity as to have blinded its members
up to the present time. At the close of Dr. Paterson’s paper, as
above quoted (I extract my information from the official report of the
transactions on that occasion), Mr. Macnair gave to the Society his
discovery that brewers’ wort, or infusion of malt, w'ould act as a
varnish for preserving the sensitiveness of collodion plates, alleging
his experiments to liavebeen made in conjunctiomvith Mr. J. T. Taylor.
This important discovery (!) was thought of such importance by the
Council that the only bronze medal it had ever deemed it
necessary to award for inventions or discoveries in the art was
given to Mr. Macnair for his communication. Now that this
invention was a plot between these two gentlemen to test the
gullibility of the Council there can be no reasonable doubt; and
that the Council fell before the stumbling-block is now on recoid.
Before Mr. Macnair made known to the Society his remarkable dis¬
covery, it had previously been brought before the notice of the
Society at least three times. In the first place, in 1855, deeming it
an improvement on the original communication of Mr. Shadbolt, a
London gentleman — “ I. J. II.” — published it as a process well
worth a trial ; and this publication took place in the Journal of the
Photographic Society , which, according to Mr. Taylor, is the organ
of the Photographic Society of Scotland. In the second place,
Mr. Taylor himself, in a paper read before the same Society, on
January 7, 1859, alludes to it as a well-known existing process.
Stranger still, we have, one year later, Dr. Paterson, in a paper
read before that Society, alluding to it as an existing process. And, to
crown all, Dr. Paterson no sooner sits down than Mr. Macnair rises
and gives it forth, for the first time, as a “ new discovery ! ”
The density of the fog into which the Council of that excellent
Society has been betrayed, may be learned from the fact that not
only did it award Mr. Macnair the medal for his important
invention, but also that, in its last Report, some members, feeling
they had committed themselves, endeavoured to justify their pro¬
ceedings by saying it was the best process yet discovered ! ! !
Mr. Taylor will therefore see that some of his late sneers against
Englishmen might be more judiciously expended a little nearer
home. PETER SMITH.
Cornwall, June 26, 1861.
[Though not disposed to deny the general accuracy of the facts
adduced by the author of the preceding, we cannot concur in im¬
puting to many worthy gentlemen bad motives, nor consider them
guilty of any greater crime than is committed by our present con¬
tributor, viz., carelessness and inadvertence — e. g., the misappre¬
hension of Mr. J. T. Taylor’s position in the Society named, and
who, by the way, we Jcnoiv to be animated by an unusual amount
of zeal for the progress of our art. — Ed.]
ON FILTERING COLLODION.*
By M. Me -A. Gaudin.
Homogenousness of collodion is a quality of the first importance.
Many photographers are accustomed to clear the collodion solely
by letting it stand some time, and afterwards pouring it gently off.
The manufacturers of chemical products, who operate upon large
quantities, act in the same way; but, as I have already said, a
simple collodion appearing clear can become, after its ioduration,
filled with imperceptible spots — spots that one must not confound
with the less numerous and brilliant points which show themselves
upon the shadows : these points proceed from quite another cause.
Having had the misfortune to fall upon a collodion of a gelatinous
nature, notwithstanding repeated filtering through cotton I could
never avoid the spots : at last I resolved to filter through paper,
and this time the film was perfectly exempt from spots.
For many years I had renounced the filtration of collodion
through paper, having rarely succeeded in effecting it without
difficulty. The cause of my non-success was very simple : I used a
filter with channelled sides, hoping to filter more quickly, and never
thought of using a filter simply folded in four. But with the filter
* From Za Zmkre,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
237
July 1, L861]
with exposed sides the collodion dries on the exterior, and soon
ceases to pass ; whilst with a filter folded in four, which adapts
itself automatically to the funnel, the vaporisation of the alcoholised
ether can no longer occur, and the filtration is quicker. By means
of a last filtration with paper, a quite recently-prepared collodion
at once presents a perfect homogenity ; whilst that simply poured
off and filtered through cotton would not answer.
Thus the use of a filtering paper folded in four instead of with
little folds solves perfectly the problem of filtering collodion ; and,
without doubt, one would succeed equally with albumen.
The filtering with paper ought to have been preceded by a
filtration through cotton. The funnel ought always to be kept
covered with glass, and from time to time a little ether added to
compensate for the evaporation.
This will suffice for the preparation of bottles of three to four
ounces; but to filter several quarts at once, another arrangement
must be made. Procure from a tinman a zinc cylinder of from two
and a-half to three inches in diameter by four inches high (being able
to put it in a preserving pot), with a rim, in order to rest it upon
the neck of the preserving pot, the zinc cylinder being perforated
at the bottom like that of a coffee pot. Upon the bottom put a disc
of metallic cloth, and the interior should be covered carefully with
a sheet of filtering paper, without any cementing material, and
reaching to the edges. Upon the mouth of the cylinder place a
glass funnel, having in it a tuft of cotton slightly compressed, and
upon which empty the iodised collodion, and cover the funnel
immediately with a glass. By this means two or three quarts of
collodion may be filtered in less than one hour ; and, before using it,
one may filter again with a funnel and a filter folded in four to fill
the bottle for use. The strong filtering paper which is sold cut
into discs of different sizes is excellent for this purpose.
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OR, A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNAL OP A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. YI.
Entrance into Jerusalem — Hotels — First Sabbath— The
English Church— Syrian Houses.
The end of my last article left me approaching Jerusalem. I had
just caught a glimpse of it, and was revelling in the sacred associa¬
tions and memories it brought up, when I was, as I thought, rudely
disturbed by the sudden appearance of two young men, who each
saluted me, and presented, or rather tried to present, papers for
my perusal, which I learned were certificates from former travellers
of the superior character of the accommodation at the hotels at
which they were waiters, and on whose behalf they now appeared
as “touters.” I was scarcely pleased at being disturbed then with
this question ; and, besides, I never could bring myself to be over
courteous to touters anywhere. So I believe I very distinctly and
summarily dismissed the representatives of the two leading hotels
in the Holy City by informing them that my mind was unalterably
made up to go to the other house — which it certainly was not till
just then — a resolution which I nevertheless carried out, and never
had reason to regret.
The view of Jerusalem from the Jaffa road has few points of
attraction ; and as I shall have opportunity soon of fully describing
the appearance of the city from the various commanding heights
with which it is surrounded, I may as well chat with my reader
about the hotels as we walk our horses at a leisurely pace up to
the Jaffa Gate, through which I purpose to enter the City of our
Lord.
Till a few years ago all visitors to the Holy Land had to live in
the convents of the different sects of Christians ; and many
travellers still prefer them to the hotels which are to be found in
most of the larger cities. Some Protestant Christians I believe
felt it disagreeable to do so, and called loudly on the missionaries
and consuls of Protestant countries to use their influence to get
hotels opened in as many of the cities of Terra Sancta as possible.
These have met with a measure of success, and wherever tried they
have been able to remain in existence. In 1860 there were three
hotels in Jerusalem kept by members of the English Church there.
The one I had chosen is the smallest — scarcely aspires indeed to the
dignity of a hotel, but may be called a boarding-house. It is in
the Turkish quarter, and overlooks the Via Dolorosa, and has to a
photographer an invaluable quality — an inexhaustible supply of
fine water. It is kept by Max Unger, a converted Jew, an honest
and. simple-minded man, whose attentive and accommodating dis¬
position will make him a favourite with all who visit his house.
The other two I had good means of knowing are good and comfort¬
able houses. That of Simeon Rosenthal is on Zion, near the Jaffa
Gate, and commands a fine view of the City. The usual system of
charging is the same at all — so much per day for everything,
including food and lodging.
Having got my cavalcade within the walls of the city I dis¬
mounted, and guided by Mr. Max Unger I was soon inside one of
the clean and comfortable rooms of his house, disencumbering my¬
self of the now useless defensive gear, six-barrel revolvers, &c.,
which I am glad to say I never required during my journey, but
for shotv, though, as will be seen by-and-by, I was unfortunate
enough to be in that country during the whole of the terrible
massacres which horrified Christendom last year, and which fur¬
nished the pretext for the presence of a division of Napoleon’s army
in that ?mgoverned country.
After I had seen my baggage all safely placed, and had eaten my
first meal in the Holy City, I was soon ready and willing to enter
on my first sleep too, and a pretty long one it w’as. Had any one
told me that I should go to sleep in an hour after I entered Jeru¬
salem, and not rush up to the Mount of Olives the first morning at
early dawn, but would lie peacefully unconscious of where I was,
dreaming of far-distant scenes of loved friends in the old country
and of dear ones gone to the better land — weaving of memory’s woof
a fabric of bright and gladsome hues — I would not have believed
him. Late in the morning when my servant called me I found I
had little time left, so I had to get ready as fast as possible and go
to church service at half-past ten, and leave all sight-seeing till
another time, if not to another day. Yet what could be a more
fitting employment of my first hours there than to join in wor¬
shipping God on the summit of Zion ?
The Anglican church I found to be a substantial Gothic building,
inside of which was assembled a large and respectable congregation.
It was pleasant to hear the full-toned organ pealing forth its notes
of praise ; and my readers will appreciate the peculiar feelings with
which one joined in singing the psalms of the “ sweet singer of
Israel ” on the very spot where he had chaunted them three thousand
years ago. The Rev. Mr. Crawford — an accomplished and scholarly
man, of whose genial and kindly disposition I can speak highly-
preached on this occasion ; and I regretted that his failing health
precluded me from again enjoying the same advantage.
On the conclusion of the service I returned to the hotel, guided
by Mr. Max, through the narrow streets, among the medley of
loitering passengers, laden camels, donkeys, &c. ; for there is
little of what we would call Sabbath appearance in the streets of
Jerusalem on the Lord’s Day. There are three holy days observed
here : — Friday is the Moslem Sabbath : it makes least appearance.
Saturday is the Sabbath of the Jews, and is, perhaps, as evidently
a day of rest as any of the three. And Sunday, the first day of the
week, is of course the Sabbath of all Christians.
After dinner I went out for a walk outside the walls. I soon
found that my dragoman had but a very limited knowledge of the
topography of the city and its environs, but that he had the rare
quality of knowing how little he knew, and was consequently unwil¬
ling to move far from the Jaffa Gate. I knew the city was some¬
thing like square, and that there was at least a gate on each side ;
so I thought I would walk round to the Damascus Gate, and, per¬
haps, if I could make my way to the gate opposite the one I had
emerged from the city to the St. Stephen’s Gate, I would thus get
a sight of Mount Olivet. I did so ; but by the time I got so far as to
be able to see the sacred height well, it was approaching sunset.
Philip reminded me that the gate would be shut then, and that if I
did not make haste I would be locked out. There was so much to be
seen I thought it cruel to be so hurried ; but true enough the time
of gate-shutting did approach, for as we spoke a soldier appeared on
a slight elevation which hid from my view the yet open gate, and
in a wailing tone called out, in Arabic, that he was just “ going to
shut the door.” Philip rather unwillingly entered ; for he wanted
to retrace his steps to the Jaffa Gate, from which it afterwards turned
out he could alone make his way to the hotel. He told me nothing
of that till he had me in a labyrinth of narrow dirty streets. On
we wandered, but seemed to make little progress. Unfortunately
I had, as yet, no knowledge of the streets, and positively did not;
know where my temporary domicile was. Philip, however, remem¬
bered that it was near the Russian Consulate; and, as the flag of
the Czars floated over it, he and I soon caught sight of that-
representation of Muscovite majesty, and so got out of the difficulty.
On Monday morning, as early as I thought it advisable, I, went out-
to deliver the notes of introduction I had brought to the Consul, the
Bishop, and most of the missionaries. At the Consulate I; met a Jew
resident who had for some time practised as a professional photo¬
grapher. He took a pretty fair picture, and had done a considerable
238
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1861
number of views ; and, bad be been as frank and reliable as I could
have wished — and I may say as I might have expected from his
extraordinary professions of universal benevolence and earnest
desire for my welfare and success in particular — he might have
given me some valuable information regarding the peculiarities of
working in that country, the best views, best points, and the time
to take them, &c., &c. But, as it was, I soon found that he was a
Jew in the worst sense we are accustomed to use that word.
After leaving the Consulate I returned to my hotel for the purpose
of sensitising a few plates, that I might expose them in the alter-
noon. In most cases it would have been a wiser course to wait till
I had seen the city from various points, and had fixed on the best
views, and how many I could afford to take. I was, however, in a
hurry; and as I had seen one really good view, it mattered little to
me if there were ever so many as good, or better: I could not be far
wrong in securing it.
I have previously promised to give you some description of the
peculiarities of the Syrian houses. I may as well do so before I
enter upon my photographic preparations. And in doing so I may
make my Jerusalem hotel a model as far as it can fairly be esteemed
to be so. The houses in Palestine are built of stone, and have a
decidedly substantial appearance. Very little wood is used in the
construction of them. Many parts that with us in so-called
stone-and-lime built houses are of wood are there of stone and
lime, or of stone or lime alone. There are no wooden floors ; nor
any joisting or wooden beams or girders ; nor any wood in the
construction of the roofs. Neither are there any cupels or wood
lining, and there are no slates. These are a few negations. The
walls are generally very thick, and of stone and lime. The roofs
are of the same material, the ceiling of each room being arched ,
and of solid masonry of great thickness. If there be more than one
flat, the floors and ceilings are formed in the same manner.
Instead of wooden, or tile, or stone, or earth floors — being all the
kinds I had ever seen before — the most usual Syrian floor is of lime;
a fine cement, spread as smoothly as possible, and having a polish
and closeness of grain like fine marble.
In Jerusalem the roofs of the houses are not quite flat, but in the
main are so. The central part of the arched ceiling of the rooms is
carried up, and has a dome-like appearance on the outside. If the
rooms be large and of an oblong form, there are generally two or
more of these domes. The general effect of them in the views of
the city is very pleasing. The great intensity of the light enables
the people to do with small windows, and very few of them ;
and the Orientals having a dislike to the faces of their wives or
daughters being seen, it leads them further in the same direction.
There are generally not any, or very few, windows toward the
public thoroughfares. An ordina ry plan of building a house of some
size, such as an effendi (a gentleman) would build, is something like
this : — A dead wall is run up towards the street. It is pierced by
only one opening, which is the main entrance or front door. On
opening it the visitor finds himself in a paved court, of a nearly
quadrangular form. The various rooms of the house are on three
sides of this square: all the windows and doors are towards it. To
these rules there are many exceptions, and especially the inner
courts are of very various forms ; but in all native houses the idea
of construction is the same. Max’s hotel is situated on a steep
slope. There are two flats : the upper flat is the principal one,
and the floors of it are level with the street, to which the house
fronts. The lower flat may be esteemed a kind of area flat : the
rooms of it have no openings whatever but to the central court;
in fact the earth is not taken away from the other side. Native
houses never have any chimney or other provision for fires in
their rooms ; and yet they have some cold weather every winter :
this winter, for example, in Jerusalem, they had a severe snow¬
storm. The native population ignore such facts, and, I was told,
sit and shiver through the cold weather. Personally I am fond of
the sight of an open fire, even in pretty warm weather, in this
country ; while, on the contrary, in Syria I never missed it. There
is no damp air, nor damp place to warm or dry, and the tempera¬
ture was never below a point which was quite agreeable; but
by-and-bv my readers will be able to judge how much higher
it was than most of them would esteem so.
The outline I have given of the general plan of the buildings is
rather against the application of much architectural decoration —
the front of the houses being properly within the property, the
part which faces the street offers few points for the application of
ornament. The buildings are generally plain. “ Oriental magnifi¬
cence” is certainly not to be found in the exterior of the private
dwellings, if indeed it ever existed anywhere but in the pages of
poets and romancist travellers and historians.
The interiors of the rooms are generally also plain. The walls
are whitewashed, and remain long of a snowlike whiteness. The
bright polished cement floors are here and there covered by brilliant-
coloured small carpets, on which the people squat down in their own
peculiar fashion. This sitting on the floor leads to the making of
many elevations in a room, to suit the varied social standing of the
occupants.
The interior furnishing of the houses occupied by western resi¬
dents in Jerusalem is generally as near to the style which prevails
in the country to which the proprietor belongs as can be obtained:
I need not, therefore, further describe the inside of Max’s hotel.
Having arranged with Mr. Max to use one of the suite of rooms
I had engaged as an operating-room, I set to work to darken it
as efficiently as I could ; and here I may remark that my sym¬
pathies are completely with Mr. Thomas in the spirit of his direc¬
tions on this point. I have always been intensely anxious to avoid
the possibility of any white light in my operating-rooms or camera.
For dry-plate photography such precaution is peculiarly necessary,
and in the East I found it no easy matter to keep it out from either.
The difficulty of making a room sufficiently dark, indeed, and the
uncomfortable feeling one had in being so closed up, led me almost
invariably to prefer working at night, when doors and wiudows
could be open.
d* JnJnlian.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
[COMMUNICATED.]
Although the arrangements of the Society have been somewhat
retarded from causes beyond immediate control, the Exhibition
has, since our last notice, been generally completed and thrown
open to the public. Delays have taken place in forwarding the
pictures, and several spaces which were applied for have not yet
been filled up ; but the Committee, having a large amount of
available space at disposal, has determined to make the requisite
arrangements from time to time for fresh contributions rather
than postpone longer the preparation of the catalogue.
This Society having offered two medals for the best productions of
the solar camera, have received in competition twenty-two pictures,
coloured and plain, one of the latter, however, being worthless;
but none are fair exponents of the capabilities of the camera. Of
these, the specimens by Mr. John Turner, of Stafford Street, Bir¬
mingham, a member of the Society, claims the first attention, it being
a coloured portrait of the late Rev. John Angell James, a gentle¬
man not only well known and valued in the town, but generally
esteemed throughout the country during a long career of useful¬
ness. The picture is half-length life-size, the pose easy, and the
facial expression natural and full of character. The painting is
well executed ; and, from a comparison with an untouched dupli¬
cate, on double-elephant drawing-paper, which accompanies it,
according to the regulations (but which, being a waste copy, has
not been hung), great credit is due to the artist for the manner in
which he has retained the characteristic expression of the photo¬
graph. No price has been attached to this picture; but it ought
to find a ready purchaser. A second picture, painted in oil, is also
exhibited by Mr. Turner; but it is not in any way comparable
with the one just noticed. The uncoloured copy is flat, and the
artist has also failed in producing the effect of roundness in the
features. Mr. Turner has two other uncoloured pictures — one
particularly noticeable, from its peculiar flatness and want of half¬
tone ; the other, a vignetted head, life-size, with plenty of half¬
tone, but somewhat hard, and both of an unpleasantly greenish
hue, apparently due to over-development: this is much to be
regretted, as it gives the subjects a death-like appearance, which
a warmer tone would have removed.
Mr. Pickering, of Birmingham, contributes three solar pictures,
none of which call for particular comment. One is a half-length
portrait, painted in oil ; one a bust of a child, in water colours ;
and the other a bust, in crayon. Not being accompanied by plain
copies as required, we could not judge of the capabilities of the
photographs apart from the artistic merits. The half-length,
though not striking, is carefully painted ; the child crude and in¬
harmonious in colouring ; and the bust in crayon reminds us very
much, from its tone and the peculiar antique-looking dress, of an
old engraving.
Messrs. Smyth and Blanchard, of London, have forwarded six
pictures, two of which— -the vignetted portraits, about half life-size^
of a lady and gentleman — are very fine productions, of a warn^
July 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
239
pleasant tint, and full of half-tone. Two life-size busts are vigor¬
ous in execution, and would form excellent studies for an artist,
but are cold in tone ; and we were rather surprised to find so little
care had been bestowed upon them, as they have been sent without
glazing, and the otherwise good effect is materially destroyed by
the warping of the mounts. Of the remaining prints, we must
„ characterise one as decidedly bad, and, like the two preceding ones,
is unglazed ; the other, though not equally bad, is hard and flat :
the tone of both is cold and unpleasing.
From the three life-size vignetted portraits by Mr. Atkinson, of
Liverpool, of which we cannot say a word of praise, the whole
being flat and hard, we turn with pleasure to the four productions
of Mr. Angel, of Exeter. Unlike all the others, which are plain
developed prints, those of Mr. Angel are on albumenised paper, and
toned with gold. With one exception, they exhibit more artistic
feeling than any other solar picture exhibited. An enlarged full-
length group of two young ladies, in walking-dress, is the most
satisfactory; the pose is easy and graceful, the drapery clear and
distinctly rendered and full of half-tone, and the whole gives evidence
of careful study. With a few skilful touches from the hands of an
artist such a picture would, as a portrait, be almost faultless. In
contradistinction to this group is a male portrait, about half life-size,
exceedingly vigorous in its treatment, and a good study, but com¬
pletely marred, as an artistic production, by an ugly perpendicular
excrescence in the form of the chair back, which seems to have no
connexion whatever with the subject, and puzzles the spectator as
to what it can possibly be. The two remaining pictures exhibited
by Mr. Angel — a full-length group of children, and a vignetted
half life-size portrait of a female — are good as photographs, the
latter particularly so ; but the group, as in the former instance,
would have shown better had it been touched or coloured,
as thereby a slight tendency to mistiness about the features
would have been removed. We are disposed to consider the
pictures of Mr. Angel as generally preferable to those of Messrs.
Smyth and Blanchard, as they bear the impress of more studied and
artistic feeling.
Though too late for competition for the medals, we would
throw out the hint to the owners of solar cameras that it would
be advisable to send specimens of their productions to the Exhibi¬
tion. It is the first time that they have been brought collectively
before the public, and by comparison with the works of others the
relative capabilities of each one would be rendered more apparent;
and as the last year was so unfavourable for the use of the camera,
and the notice given by the Society so brief, we are disposed to
think the pictures exhibited are not a fair test of what can be
done. We should be glad to see the display in this branch of
the art strengthened by an increased number of prints.
Before entering upon the departments of landscape and por¬
traiture, we cannot refrain from adverting to the wonderful instan¬
taneous stereographic transparencies of Mr. Breese, of Birmingham,
an amateur member of the Society. They form a distinctive
feature in the Exhibition, not only from their great excellence, but
as being the only stereographs exhibited. It is also the first time
the public have had an opportunity of inspecting these exquisite
productions, as they have hitherto been entirely confined to a few
personal friends. In stereographic photography Mr. Breese seems
equally fortunate with all classes of subjects : — sunlit pictures —
dashing waterfalls — cool majestic ruins — animated life — the onward
career of the express train — or the calm quiet of the moon, and
that luminary, too, when under the influence of an eclipse, with
only a small portion of her orb visible — are all truthfully rendered,
ancl with the greatest delicacy of gradation. One of the most
strikingly beautiful of the eighteen slides exhibited is a group of
objects arranged on a white marble chimney-piece, with a mirror
as a background. It consists of a chased silver flagon, a parian
statuette under a glass shade, a cut glass jug and lustre, a glass of
water, and two pearl shells. To render the texture of the various
substances forming this group, together with the reflected lights,
consequent upon the arrangement, and from a window which is
faithfully delineated by reflection upon the silver, most photo¬
graphers would shrink from ; birt this has been accomplished by Mr.
Breese in a manner at once startlingly real and beautiful, and not
the slightest doubt can he entertained as to the nature of the
different materials. But by far the most marvellous are the moon-
hght scenes, of which three are exhibited — one the full moon in
the midst of, and just breaking through, a mass of clouds, illumi¬
nating their prominent edges, aud, as it were, tipping them with
silver ; another, the reflection of the moonbeams upon the waves
of the sea, presenting so marked a difference from the rays of the
sun, as shown in a similar slide of Sunrise, from the same point,
and Moonlight Meditation , a female figure contemplating the full
moon through an open window. This slide, we believe, is printed
from two negatives taken immediately succeeding each other ; but
this does not detract from the merits of the picture. One arm of
the lady, covered with a white lace sleeve, rests upon the polished
surface of a table under the window ; and, though the figure of the
lady is little more than defined, the reflected lights upon the table
and lacework of the sleeve is finely rendered. Another charming
production is Powerscourt Waterfall , County Wicklow, presenting,
by its peculiarly real and silvery appearance, a marked contrast to
the stereographic waterfalls we are in the habit of seeing.
The transparent fluidity of running water is also very faithfully
rendered in the View of Fountains Abbey. Each stone of this
grand old ruin is in Mr. Breese’s hands clothed with that exquisite
gradation of' tone which time alone imparts, and which with the
wonderful atmospheric effect, together with the most magnificent
of natural skies, serve to render this one of the most delicately
exquisite productions of its class we have yet seen. The view of
The Crystal Palace , from the Anerley Road, is another one which
we should fail in attempting to describe : the atmospheric effect is
most marvellous, and the distance rendered as we could only
believe it to be by nature. In other views the fancy of Mr. Breese
has revelled in storm clouds and storms — the waves in some cases
lashed into foam, or calming down after their passing fury, as in
Kingstown Harbour, a storm clearing off, or a Calm Sea off Llandudno.
On the occasion of the visit of Her Majesty to Birmingham, to
inaugurate the opening of the Hall in which this Exhibition is held,
Mr. Breese took four pictures of the streets adjoining the Town
Hall, which are now exhibited, and form with the general public
one of the chief sources of delight. They represent, first, the
order maintained by the officials immediately prior to Her
Majesty coming in sight ; second, the arrival at the Town Hall;
third, the departure of Her Majest,y from the Hall ; and fourth, the
appearance of the streets after the departure : the crowds have
cleared away, and one solitary omnibus alone represents the
animation of the town. Copies of these pictures were forwarded
at the time to Her Majesty, who was graciously pleased to
acknowledge their great excellence.
If on no other account, photographers are deeply indebted to the
Birmingham Society, and also to Mr. Breese, for the exhibition of
these transparencies, which we are certainly surprised should have
remained so long publicly unknown. We believe Mr. Breese has
been induced by his friends to print copies for sale: an opportunity
will thus be afforded to those interested in our beautiful art, aud
having the means at their disposal, of possessing themselves of some
at least of these truly exquisite productions.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The last monthly meeting of this Society for the session was held on
Thursday evening, the 20th ult., in St. Peter’s School Rooms, Wal¬
worth, — the Rev. F. F. Statham, President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed,
The President rose and congratulated the members present upon the
satisfactory state of the Society generally. There had been an increase
of members, and indications of vitality exhibited which were very
gratifying.
The Secretary (Mr. A. II. Wall), in laying the reports of the past
session before the meeting, stated that the officers and committee took
credit to themselves for the able and interesting papers, nineteen in all,
which they had by their exertions been the means of placing before the
Society ; and thanked the writers of those papers in the name of the
Societjn Their best thanks were also due to the contributors to the
portfolio of the Societj’’, and to Mr. Davis for his contributions to their
library. They desired further to express their acknowledgments to Mr.
Sebastian Davis, Mr. Walker, Mr. Hannaford, Mr. Wall, &c.
Mr. Howard (the Treasurer) then read the annual report of the
Society in detail, from which it appeared that the number of members
had been increased to 45. He also announced a deficiency of £3 some
odd shillings, arising from incidental expenses for which they had no
surplus fund — various stock articles having been purchased. The soiree
cost but £3 3s., the rest being defrayed by voluntary contributions.
SECOND ANNUAL REPORT.
In resigning the trust you placed in their hands, the Committee must proffer their con¬
gratulations upon the continued advancement of the Society in public estimation, the
steadily progressive increase in the number of mem: ers, the number and importance of
the papers which have been introduced, and the practical, animated, and harmonious
character of the discussions.
Nineteen papers have been read at our meetings, in which the scientific, artistic,
mechanical, and manipulatory elements of photography have each received attention, as
will be seen by the following list of their subjects : —
On the Adaptation of Portrait Lenses to Views. By C. Jabez Hughes,
On m Improved Portable Camera. By G. W. Simpson,
[July 1, 1801
240
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
On the Photogenic Action of Colour. By T. Clarke.
On Instantaneous and Composition Photography. By S. Fry.
On Positive Pictures on Glass. By A. Herve.
On Some Optical Principles Involved in the Construction.of Photographic Lenses. By
W. Acid and, V.P.
Hints on Keeping and Composition Printing. By A. H. Wall, Hon. Sec.
Art Photography : its Scope and Characteristics. By C. Jabez Hughes.
On Photography in Connexion with Astronomy, Meteorology, and Magnetism. By T.
Burr, F.K.A.S.
On the Practical Details of the Fothergill Process. By F. Howard, Hon. Treas.
On Photography for Wood Engraving. By J. Contenfin,
On a Visit to the Photographic Department of the Greenwich Observatory. By G. W.
Simpson.
On Intensifying Processes as Adjuncts to Instantaneous Photography. By V.
Blanchard.
On the Stereotrope. By T. Clarke.
On the Solar Camera. By S. Smith.
On Sharpness. By A. H. Wall.
And the First, Second, and Third Reports of the Experimental Committee.
The Committee take credit to themselves and the Society for having recognised the
importance of photography as a department of imitative art, to which the principles and
rules of pictorial science are as applicable as to painting and its kindred branches. The
best thanks of the Society are due to its very excellent and rev. President for regular and
constant attendance at its meetings, and for the efficient character of his services as
Chairman during the session.
The Committee have to thank the authors of papers read at the meetings for their
able contributions, and the kind interest they have thus displayed in the Society’s well¬
being and utility.
The thanks of the Society are also due to Messrs. Hughes, Meagher, Davis, Simpson,
Leake, and others, for the exhibition of apparatus, See. ; to Messrs. Bayley, Fitch,
Blanchard, Smith, Simpson, Joubert, Davis, Wall, and others, for kindly contributing
to the folio ; and to Messrs. Simpson and Davis for gifts to the Society's library.
In the Society’s first annual report several suggestions were thrown out, some of
which have been successfully adopted, while others yet remain dormant. Among these
the sub-committee appointed fortesting and reporting upon new or modifications of old pro¬
cesses, and prosecuting experiments in furtherance of fresh discoveries, has been very
happily carried out. The out-door meetings then suggested have also been adopted with
general satisfaction to the members.
The Committee cannot permit this opportunity to pass without recording their grateful
thanks to the following gentlemen, viz., G, Wharton Simpson, Sebastian Davis, C.
Jabez Hughes, Borchert, and M. Hannaford, for their punctual and regular attendance,
and their generous and valuable labours as members of the above sub-committee.
In entering upon the new year your Committee would suggest that the Society enter
upon a new condition of existence for the following reasons
When the subscriptions of members have been used for the expenses incurred by the
Society for the Journal and the presentation print, it is found that the trifling balance
remaining is not sufficient for the incidental expenses of warming and lighting tne rooms,
correspondence, &c. ; and that any thought of devoting small sums to the prosecution of
experiments, or to other steps in connexion with the advancement of the art, and, con¬
sequently, of the Society, would have to be completely abandoned.
To meet the above difficulty two paths were open. In the one the subscriptions could
be raised to a guinea per year, or an entrance fee, such as is usual in similar associa¬
tions, be established; in the other the Journal might be abandoned, and one subscrip¬
tion of half-a-guinea be adopted, the Society pledging itself either to spend more money
on the presentation photographs, or to increase the number of such, so as to secure two
or more per year for each member.
Thinking the latter the better plan, your Committee recommend its adoption.
Another consideration in connexion with the supply of a Journal was that, in under¬
taking such distribution to members tlie Society rendered itself responsible for the sub¬
scriptions of such, although the Committee could not always rely upon the receipt of the
same from all the members. For instance, in several cases last year’s subscription
remains unpaid up to tliejpresent time ; and in one ease the Journal has been supplied to
a member for the two past years of the Society’s existence whose subscriptions, after
repeated applications, also remain unpaid.
Influenced by the above, and thinking it wrong that the Society should be in debt to
its officers, your Committee was contemplating the discontinuance of the Journal when
an event occurred which helped them very summarily to a conclusion.
The Publisher and Editor of The British Journal op Photography, placing an
interpretation upon the connexion existing between it and the Society never directly or
indirectly accepted by your Committee, and claiming certain exclusive privileges tending
to cripple the independence of the Society and retard its influence in propagating and
advancing the art, such claims were not admitted ; and an engagement made for a term
with the Publisher was, in consequence, by him abruptly broken, although the Com¬
mittee, resolving that their engagement to the members should be more justly carried
out, procured the Journals at an increased rate of charge, and forwarded them post free
ns usual.
In consequence of this misunderstanding, the hitherto pleasant connexion between
this Society and The British Journal op Photography has ceased. We can no longer
be regarded as associated in any way with the trade interests of any particular periodi¬
cal, and each member may select for himself such journal as best pleases his own taste
or judgment ; while, by supplying at least two presentation prints per year, and render¬
ing the Society even more actively useful in new departments, we must endeavour to
fully compensate our members for what might otherwise be regarded as a something
lost. We trust, therefore, that the support the Society lias hitherto received, and we
may fairly say deserved also, will not be withheld, and that the conduct of the Committee
in supporting the proper dignity of their position will give satisfaction both to the mem¬
bers and the friends of the Society.
The Committee, moreover, recommend that, instead of one, three Vice-Presidents be
appointed; and that, in addition to Mr. W. Aekland, our present vice-president, % they
have received permission from Mr. Sebastian Davis and the editor of the Photographic
News, Mr. G. W. Simpson, to nominate them for election — a step which we are sure will
be thoroughly appreciated by the members generally, and do honour to the Society.
The Committee recommend that the following gentlemen be elected to serve on the
Committee of the next year : —
Messrs. Hannaford, Fry, Borchert, Blanchard, Quentery, Leake, and Foxlee.
And that the Secretary and Treasurer be re-elected.
Also, that the following gentlemen be elected as members of the Experimental Sub-
Committee : —
M. Hannaford.
G. W. Simpson.
C. Jabez Hughes.
Sebastian Davis.
M. Borchert.
Samuel Fry.
F. Howard.
W. Aekland.
It is usual to wind up annual reports with a glance at the progress made by the art
during the Society’s year. This need not, however, prove a very tedious task, inasmuch
as the fact is that no very prominent discoveries or other important features have
marked the history of photography since our last annual meeting. The vexed question
of government competition with photographers had its day, and seems likely to give
place to a scheme for organising an association which, if successful, will compete with
the professional photographer through the aid of amateurs more effectually, perhaps,
than even the Government grant enables the South Kensington Photographic Depart-
* Secretary was only informed at the last moment that Mr. Aekland desired to he released from
me uuvies 9* Jug Qfflge,
ment to do— the leisure of wealth, and the skill of labourers independent of their hire
who are satisfied with any remuneration which will pay even for tin- bare material, being
rather formidable antagonists to that other labourer whose work buys daily br*wt «*
well as the bare materials.
Some promising steps have been taken in the adaptation of artifical light to photo¬
graphic purposes. A good many firm-placed steps have indicated progress in an artictla
direction. Modifications of more or less value in existing processes have been brought
forward. Photolithography and photozincography have moved towards perfection.
Panoramic photography now appears to have made a fresh start. It is to be regretted
that too many of our best and most artistic photographers— forgetting that u| on such
expositions the public estimation of their art is founded — sent nothing to the Photo¬
graphic Exhibition of London, which was not, in consequence, so fair an exponent of
progress, especially artistic progress, as it might have been. The Architectural Photo¬
graphic Exhibition was a very excellent one ; and of this, we are happy to add, no such
remark as the above could be made. A new process, which will enable us to dispense
with a sensitising bath, has been announced as an idea conceived by Captain Dixon, and
worked out by a member of this Society, Mr. Fry. Several other gentlemen, however,
have laid claim to the idea, Mr. Belliui having previously announced the same in the
Photographic News.
In conclusion, the Committee feel it their duty to proffer some remarks in connexion
with the position photography will probably hold in the Great International Exhibition
of 1862. This grievance is too well known to be here repeated ; but every photographic
society in the kingdom ought certainly to combine in suggesting, discussing, and preparing
for such steps as may most vigorously oppose and defeat the foolish, unjust, and mis¬
chievous intention announced by Her Majesty’s Commissioners of classifying pictures
pi-oduced by optical and chemical science and artistic talent under the head of— .
heaven save the mark ! — Machinery" ! ! !
The following are the modified rules proposed for adoption : —
1. That this Society be called “ The South London Photographic Society.”
2. That this Society hold its meetings on the second Thursday of every month, to read
papers upon photography in any of its various departments and discuss the same, to
prosecute experiments, exhibit apparatus and specimens, Ac.
3. That nine in-door meetings be held from October to June inclusivo, and that out¬
door meetings, as may be appointed by the Committee, be held during the three Inter¬
vening months.
4. That the number of members be unlimited, and that all candidates for admission
he nominated by one membei’, seconded by another, and elected by show of hands.
5. That ladies be eligible to become members.
C. That every member be privileged to introduce a friend at tlie monthly meetings.
7. That the subscription be half-a-guinea per annum, pay Able in advance, and a pay¬
ment of five guineas in one sum constitute a life member.
8. That the Committee be empowered to arrange soirdes, conversaziones, and exhi¬
bitions of photographs, appoint sub-committees for conducting any particular series of
experiments, &c., as the Society’s funds may permit.
9. That no member be deprived of his privileges unless by a vote of three-fourths of a
special meeting.
10. That the annual subscription be due upon the second Thursday in June, at which
meeting officers are to be elected for the ensuing year.
11. That the management of the Society be conducted by a President, three Vice-
Presidents, Secretary. Treasurer, and a Committee of eight— four to form a quorum.
12. That a full report of the Society’s affairs be laid before the members at the annual
meeting.
13. That tlie Secretary have the power of convening a special meeting on receipt of a
requisition signed by half-a-dozen membei s.
14. That no alteration be made in these rules except at the annual meeting in June,
or at a special meeting convened for such purpose.
The Secretary, in reference to the discontinuance of the distribution
of the Journal among the members, said that the members individually
could buy any journal they pleased : it would not increase their expenses
greatly, and, if they chose, they could jointly themselves make a con¬
tract with some journal for the whole number required, which would te
more economical.
The Chairman thought it very undesirable that the Society should
start afresh with a balance against them. If each member could contri¬
bute something, as the amount was so insignificant, it would at once
supply the deficiency.
Mr. Howard wished to guard them against any impression that the
Society was in difficulties : it was a contingency only. If they preferred
it, there would be probably some outstanding subscriptions got in, and
with the increase of means at his disposal he would confidently under¬
take to get the Society out of debt during the ensuing year. The members
present must decide which course they would adopt.
It was decided that a subscription list should be sent round the room,
after which the Chairman announced that the greater part of the defi¬
ciency had been made up.
The report and accounts, which had been examined by two responsible
persons, together with the new rules, then received the sanction of the
members present, and the following officers for the ensuing year were
elected: —
President. — Rev. F. F. Statham, B.A., F.G.S.
Vice-Presidents. — Messrs. Sebastian Davis, G-. W. Simpson, and C.
Jabez Hughes.
Hon. -Secretary. — Mr. A. H. Wall, 11, The Terrace, Walworth.
Hon.- Treasurer.-— M.y, F. Howard, 12, Whittingham Villas, Studley
Eoad, Stock well.
Committee. — Messrs. Hannaford, Fry, Leake, Clark, Fitch, Quentery,
Borchert, and Foxlee.
Mr. Sebastian Davis permitted himself to be nominated chairman of
the Experimental Committee.
The Chairman again rose to call the attention of the meeting to the
vexata quoestio of the position assigned by her Majesty’s Commissioners
to photographs in the forthcoming Exhibition in 1862, and read the let¬
ter addressed to them by Dr. Diamond, the secretary of the parent
society. He then referred to the correspondence which had ensued, not
forgetting the admirable letter of Professor Playfair, and thought that
as all present were, doubtless, familiar with the letters, they would not
inflict upon him the task of reading them. Perhaps he had better read
the final unsatisfactory reply of the Commissioners, in which they
clearly assumed — what was not at all clear to others — that a Committee
would be appointed.
July 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
241
Mr. Wall, after reading a portion of the correspondence already given
in our columns, then made some remarks on the subject. He said that the
question to which their attention was called appeared to be somewhat
complicated. That photographers who lived by their profession would
exhibit their works at the forthcoming National Exhibition could not be
doubted. Applications for space had been already made, and preparations
were being carried on for such purpose by most of the best men. Photo¬
graphic Societies were powerless to prevent that ; and, as a matter of
business alone, it was too important to professional men for them to
expect that they would neglect their own personal interests for the sake
of advancing their art in public estimation. Nor, it might be reasoned,
while the absence of photographic productions would not tend to remedy
the mischievous tendency of the strange arrangement of Her Majesty’s
Commissioners, the presence of first-class photographic pictures would
certainly tend to show the world how little the art deserved the degra¬
dation it had been forced to submit to. From one of the letters he had
read it would be perceived that certain concessions had been made, inas¬
much as they found it was stated that there was nothing to prevent
photography being placed in a separate room, or in juxtaposition with
engravings, or any other analogous and suitable class of objects.
To such an arrangement there could not be any very great objection he
should think. But next came the great bugbear and difficulty. The Com¬
missioners seemed willing to give the halfpence solicited, but photographers
must also take the kicks which accompanied them. In other words, pho¬
tography must not claim a more important position than that accorded to
its apparatus.. Well, what was to be done, or, rather, what could be done ?
If the Council of the Photographic Society refused to appoint a Com¬
mittee to look after the interests of the art, and see that it was fairly
represented by the productions exhibited, it was not at all unlikely that
a crowd. of photographs would appear in the Great Exhibition of next
year which would really be more fairly the productions of lenses and
cameras than heads and hands; and the art, in consequence, might
receive so serious a blow that its advancement in public estimation, and
its consequent progress as a branch of pictorial art, would be thrown
back for very many years to come. The occasion was, indeed, a most
important one, and the Society would not do its duty if it did not receive
serious consideration. He therefore called upon the gentlemen present
to. give them such aid in drawing up a reply to Hr. Diamond’s letter as
might enable them to represent well and truly the opinions of the mem¬
bers generally in reference to the matter in dispute. He would be very
sorry to see their beautiful art degraded to the level of machinery
and apparatus-just as sorry to see it unrepresented next year — and
still more sorry if it should be unfairly represented. However, he did
think that by appointing the Committee requested by Her Majesty’s
Commissioners the Photographic Society would be in a better position
to urge and enforce the claims of the art. They should at the same
time at least protest against the former as being perfectly undeserved.
Before concluding, lie would just add that photographs were not yet
strong enough, as ivories of art, to compete with the professional painter,
or first-class engraver ; and that would only be made too apparent to those
who would overlook the infantine condition of the art, and the want of
art-education in the photographer, and saddle all faults of the individual
on the back of photography. Of course, there were many photographs —
he was proud and happy to say, very many — which as pictures even could
not be surpassed by the productions of any artist ; but these were rather
the. exceptions than the rule at present, although they had excellent indi¬
cations in the present condition of artistic photography from which to
augur ‘‘a good time coming.”
Mr. Sebastian Davis : Although cordially agreeing with the general
protest that has. arisen from the photographic world against the attempt
to lower the position of its artistic productions from their rank as works
of art, I must at the same time call attention to the necessity of recog¬
nising the distinct. interest attached to many pictures intended solely to
illustrate the principles involved in their production. It is in consequence
of overlooking this distinction that many persons are apt to pronounce an
unjust sentence upon the artistic capabilities of photography, and to pass
a deprecatory estimate upon the art itself. They disregard the fact that
a photograph may possess an intrinsic value, apart from any pretentions
to pictorial excellence. It frequently happens, moreover, that the photo¬
grapher is called upon to delineate objects of great interest with an
accuracy and fidelity at variance with the exercise of artistic skill. The
representation, for instance, of an event of public importance — the opening
of any national building, the arrangements for carrying out any great
engineering project, the registration of meteorological or electrical
changes would be most valuable acquisitions as a permanent record of a
passing event, without necessarily having any pretensions to rank as a
work ot art. But, although wanting in the latter respect, such a record
could not justly be regarded as the mere offspring of mechanical arrange¬
ments, nor as devoid of the power of awakening intellectual pleasure.
To promote, therefore, a correct appreciation of the full scope of powers
of photography in the public mind, I advocate the recognition and classi¬
fication of photography generally under the two distinct heads of “ Art
1 fiotograpliy,” and “ General or Applied Photography.” It appears to me
that, by impressing the public mind with an understanding of the exist-
ence of tins twofold feature of our science, art photographs would be
estimated according to their intrinsic value as works of art, and that
this estimation would act as a stimulant to make them increasingly more
so. General or applied photography would then, upon the other hand
be valued as possessing merits peculiar to itself, and be regarded in the
special character of its capacity of contributing to the promotion of
scientific, typographical, or industrial advancement. The estimation of
a photograph, even in the latter point of view, has no right to be
reckoned as a mere mechanical performance : it is a scientific production,
dependent for its existence upon the discoveries that have arisen from the
exercise of mathematical, optical, and philosophical skill. By conceding
that such productions should be distinguished from art photographs, we
by no means admit that we lower their dignity : the principles of their
production bespeak the language of poetical beauty, inasmuch as they
consist in the adaptation of the force existing in a ray of light topourtray
the object or scene from which it has been reflected. The twin sisters,
science and art, undoubtedly coalesce together in nearer harmony in the
productions of photographic results than in the kindred works of painting,
engraving, or sculpture. Whilst, therefore, supporting Mr. Simpson’s
resolution, and feeling that art photographs are works of art, I at the
same time would by no means undervalue the power of photography with
respect to the importance of its non-artistic applications, or admit that its
results are obtained by mechanical, instead of by chemical, optical, and
scientific means.
Mr. Wall, though approving of Mr. Davis’s distinction, did not think
he had sufficiently appreciated the position and power of photography in
certain walks of art. It would be for the committee of the Photo¬
graphic Society to arrange how they would place the art productions and
the scientific applications.
The Chairman did not think Mr. Davis had done so, but simply wanted
to show them that there were two classes of photographic “ results.”
Mr. Davis confirmed what he had said by an illustration drawn from
the last Exhibition.
The Chairman thought the question just mooted was one of classifica¬
tion between art photographs and photographs of geological specimens,
anatomical preparations, and so on.
Mr. Simpson observed that that would be the work of a committee,
and was a matter of detail. The real question at issue was the treating
of photography as a mechanical art.
The Chairman said that, though deprecating the course taken by the
Commissioners, he thought it would be unwise to resent it by not exhibiting.
Some members admitted that they did not intend to do so, and that
they had applied for space.
Mr. Wall hoped that English photography would not be partially,
and therefore unfairly, represented.
The Chairman thought the public would confer their homage. Let
photographers send their very best, although protesting against the
indignity offered them.
The letter of reply to the London Photographic Society was then read.
Mr. Simpson suggested that this was a time when all should concur in
strengthening the hands of the parent society. He begged to move the
following resolution : —
“That this meeting expresses its hearty concurrence in the steps
already taken by the Photographic Society of London towards rescuing
photography as an art from the degrading position in which it is placed
in the proposed classification of Her Majesty’s Commissioners for the
International Exhibition, 1862, and desires to thank the Council of that
Society for thus endeavouring to maintain the dignity of our art ; and
that this Society desires further to express a hope that, if it should be
eventually deemed prudent, in lieu of any more satisfactory arrangement
for apparatus and pictures offered by Her Majesty’s Commissioners, that
such department be accepted under a protest against any classification in
the catalogue of the International Exhibition which does not recognise
photography as one of the fine arts.”
Mr. Wall thought there never was a time when the interests of pho¬
tography required to be guarded with greater vigilance and activity, and
seconded Mr. Simpson’s resolution with great pleasure.
The Chairman then put the resolution to the meeting, which was im¬
mediately passed.
The evening of meeting was altered from the third to the second
Thursday in the month.
A vote of thanks was unanimously awarded to the treasurer and
secretary — Mr. Howard and Mr. Wall.
Mr. Wall, in returning thanks, proposed a hearty vote of thanks to
the Rev. President for his great attention and constant attendance, which
was enthusiastically responded to.
The Chairman, in reminding the members of the annual out-door
gatherings, wished for some expression of opinion as to the locality for
the first excursion, at the same time suggesting Richmond. Other places
were suggested, and, after some desultory conversation, Bennington
Park, West Croydon, was decided on, — the members to meet at West
Croydon station at 3 p.m. on the second Saturday in July, if fine : if
otherwise, on the following Saturday.
The Secretart then announced some important and interesting papers
for next session, and the meeting terminated.
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The meeting of this Society took place on Thursday, the 13th ult.
The President (Mr. J. fleywmod), in opening the business, said:—
Gentlemen, it may, perhaps, be desirable, at the opening of this meeting,
243
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1861
that I should say a few words to you on the occasion of the re-forming of
the Chorlton Society. That Society, as you are all aware, was formally
dissolved at the last annual meeting. Many of its members, however,
wishing the social connexion to continue, have decided to re-establish
the Society on a firmer basis. At a recent preliminary meeting they did
me the honour of electing me as President. I should have been glad to
have seen some one of greater photographic attainments, and possessing
in a greater degree the ability to fulfil the duties of the office, in that
position. I would much rather have retired altogether. However, as it
appears to be your desire that I should still be prominent among you,
I cheerfully accept the distinction, and you may rely on my best endea¬
vours in the cause ; hut I must confess to a feeling that my assistance
will not be of much greater value than it hitherto has been. As there
is, no doubt, business to be brought before you, I will not occupy
more of your time than is necessary to indicate avhat, in my opinion, is
the best and most agreeable means of accomplishing the objects which,
as a Society, we have in view — namely, the spread of photographic know ¬
ledge, in its various branches, among ourselves and others. This can
be done, to a considerable extent, by the reading of papers on the par¬
ticular method that each of us is in the habit of working. I must not be
understood to imply that papers have not been read and discussed, nor
that the most minute particulars have not been given ; but, generally,
we have found that more sterling information has been elicited in conver¬
sation, and when members have inquired for the information they spe¬
cially needed. I think we should cultivate this kind of conversational
meeting. It takes a little from the formal character of the proceedings ;
but it removes all stiffness, and every one feels at home.
Another pleasant and instructive way to knowledge is the formation
and carrying out of photographic pic-nics — if not for taking specimens,
yet for selecting sites, and the pleasure of a country ramble. I cannot
conceive anything that is more agreeable than to stray into the country,
admiring the works of Nature as they appear when stern winter has
departed. To how many healthy rambles can we all look back where the
pleasure has been enhanced by the conversation of a friend whose pur¬
suits were similar to our own? Mrs. Barbauld’s simple tale of “Eyes
and No Eyes,” published in Evenings at Home , and familiar to every
school-boy, well illustrates how some persons can find beauties where
others can find none. With those who can find none a country ramble
is not unfrequently tedious ; and it is, I think, really worth the while of
such persons to acquire the relish for Nature’s charms : and to this end
photography is a valuable help.
I remember, whilst listening, some years ago, to a talented performer
playing on one of the finest organs in this country, asking a not musically
inclined friend, who did not seem to share in my intense enjoyment of
the treat, what he thought of the performance. His reply threw over
me a feeling that I will not attempt to describe — “ I would rather have a
score of oysters!” Now how different would it have been had I met
with a response that accorded with my own feelings !
An undoubted advantage is to be obtained from a comparison of the
pictures we produce, good or bad. The practice is to bring our best
specimens for exhibition, or for admiration, as the case may be. I think
we should do better in bringing our failures, so as, if possible, to arrive
at the cause of failure, and thus know what to avoid in future.
Positives on glass scarcely come within the range of subjects from
which to expect much benefit, however useful they may be as remem¬
brancers ; and whatever emotions they may occasion in some persons,
they are not quite the class of subject that should take up too much of our
time here. I do not wish to condemn them, nor yet to disparage them
as far as they go ; _ but still I am of opinion that we should look°nore to
our improvement in landscape photography as offering more scope 'for
intellectual study and benefit.
On looking back to the records of the late Society, you must certainly
admit that very few specimens have been brought by the members for
exhibition. With few exceptions I might almost say the year was blank.
The special exhibition with the lanthorn was beyond doubt a great
success, and was not without its meed of good. We should profit by a
recollection of the past ; and, if a repetition of such evenings be considered
desirable, by all means let us have more of them. We can improve our
taste and judgment by comparison: let us therefore adopt it, and latent
talent may be found and developed where it may be supposed to have had
no existence. Let not the hundreds of pictures remain in our boxes and
drawers, shut out from mortal gaze ; but let them be brought here for
our common instruction and pleasure, and thus the Chorlton Photographic
Society may aid the onward progress of the art.
At the conclursion of the address,
•Mr. Griffiths opened a discussion on the alkaline gold toning process
by asking if any member present had had any experience in toning by
means of phosphate of soda and gold ? and if so, what was the quality of
the result, as compared with that obtained by carbonate of soda and gold?
Mr. Rogerson, in reply, said he was in the habit of using the phosphate
of soda and gold toning bath, and was satisfied with the results obtained.
He would, however, caution those who might try this method that it was
necessary to slightly over-print, inasmuch as the proofs were liable to
become reduced in toning and fixing, which does not occur to the same
extent. when carbonate of soda is employed instead of the phosphate. In
preparing the toning bath he said it was of importanco to neutralise the
chloride of gold, if acid, by the addition of a sufficient quantity of carbon¬
ate of soda, in solution, before mixing with the phosphate of soda.
Mr. Wardley fully concurred in the opinion of Mr. Rogerson that for
general work the phosphate was superior to the carbonate of soda, its
only drawback being the necessity for over-printing.
A Member said he should be glad to know if others, in common with
himself, had found any difficulty in toning some samples of albumenifled
paper, as lie had lately met with some that resisted all his efforts?
Mr. Wardley thought it was generall3r injudicious to employ old paper.
He had ample proof that good paper, if kept too long, became deteriorated
in toning qualities. He remembered trying a sample, some time ago,
that yielded a satisfactory result when new, but which, after a few
months’ keeping, was all but useless, as he could not then produce
results at all approaching those obtained on the same paper when new.
As a general rule, he did not like paper more than than three months’ old.
He could recommend Papier Rive, when free from specks — a blemish ho
had found it sometimes to contain.
Mr. Griffiths said that the cause of deterioration in positive paper
offered a fair subject for inquiry, and he hoped to see it entered into with
spirit.
Mr. Whaite believed that exposure to light and air was the chief cause
of change; for he had observed that paper (more especially drawing
paper) changed in colour if long exposed to these influences. The
method he was in the habit of employing for the. preservation of paper
was to keep it under pressure, and exposed as little as possible to light
and air ; and suggested that photographers would do well in adopting a
similar plan with their positive papers.
Mr. Griffiths thought the change which occurred in plain paper might
be owing to the nature of the size employed in its manufacture; resinous
soap (a substance peculiarly liable to change when under atmospheric
influence) generally forming one of the components of size for paper.
Mr. Radcliffe could support this view, as he had lately made an
experiment by soaking some paper in common turpentine (which always
contains more or less resin) ; and, after drying in the dark, and exposing
under a negative, traces of a picture were visible.
Mr. Rogerson had frequently observed similar changes in newly-cut
wood. He had seen a deal board planed and left partially covered. After
a short time the uncovered portion had perceptibly darkened.
A discussion then arose on the permanency of prints and the amount
of washing required to ensure permanency. The general idea was that
the prolonged water-washing recommended by some was quite useless,
and did not seem to improve the keeping qualities of photographic prints.
The President said he could furnish the result of some experiments in
that direction.
After along and interesting conversation on the best mode of mounting
prints, Mr. Wardley promised a paper On the Manipulation of the
Oollodio- Albumen Process.
Mr. Knott exhibited a positive paper print, which, for artistic arrange¬
ment and beauty of detail, was pronounced quite a chef cl' oeuvre.
After the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting adjourned.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A special general meeting of the members of this Society, to which the
public were admitted, was held in their rooms at the Oddfellows’ Hall,
Temple Street, Birmingham, on Tuesday evening, the 25th ult., to con¬
sider the position which has been assigned to the art of photography in
the Exhibition of 1862, and to arrange for a memorial and to determine
as to the course which, in the opinion of the Society, ought under the
circumstances to be pursued. Mr. W. B. Osborne, Vice-President, took
the chair, and there was a very fair attendance.
The Secretary read the circular convening the meeting, and the
correspondence that had taken place between the Council of the Photo¬
graphic Society of London and the Commissioners of the International
Exhibition of 1862, as to the position assigned by them to the art of
photography in their regulations.
The Chairman, who briefly opened the discussion, contended that a
painting and a photograph were equally the result of the genius of the
artist, as exhibited through the instrumentality of such tools as might be
placed in his way, whether it was by the colours, brushes, and mahl stick
in the one case, or .by the lens, camera, and chemicals in the other ; and,
that this being so, they ought to be placed on an equal footing in the
International Exhibition.
Several other gentlemen spoke to the same effect, after which
Mr. Broayn, Hon. -Sec., proposed — “That this meeting is of opinion
that the classification of photography by the Commissioners in their
programme of regulations for the proposed International Exhibition
of 1862 is both unfair, discourteous, and unjust ; and, -while they highly
approve of the steps taken by the Council of the London Photo¬
graphic Society, and the arguments used by it in the endeavour to
induce the Commissioners to amend the said classification, would urge
upon all photographers the necessity of refraining from exhibiting their
productions, or in any way taking part in the Exhibition, until a more
fair and equitable position is assigned to photography as an art ; and
while this meeting cannot but deeply regret the course the Commissioners
have taken, they would cordially join the Council of the London Society
in presenting a memorial to the Commissioners upon the subject, or in
any other course the Council may deem it desirable to adopt.”
July 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
243
The resolution was seconded by Mr. C. L. Haines, and was put and
carried unanimously.
Mr. Turner then briefly proposed — “That the most cordial thanks of
this meeting be conveyed to the Council of the London Society for the
praiseworthy position they have assumed in upholding the present
important interests of the art of photography.”
Mr. Burr seconded the motion, which was carried nem. con.
After the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting terminated*
CITY OF GLASGOW ANtTwEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held a special meeting on the evening of the 20th ult., in
its usual place of meeting, — Mr. A. Mactear in the chair.
The Secretary intimated that the meeting had been specially called
for the purpose of considering a circular and relative documents which he
had received from Dr. Diamond, the Secretary of the Photographic
Society of London, regarding the position which the Commissioners
propose to assign to photography in the International Exhibition of 1862.
These documents were held as read, — members being in possession of then-
contents through the columns of The British Journal of Photography.
On the suggestion of Mr. Douglas, the letter of Dr. Lyon Playfair was
read by the Secretary.
Several of the members present expressed their opinions on the question ;
all, however, fully concurring in condemning the doings of the Com¬
missioners.
Resolutions were then passed, homologating the past acts of the
Council of the Photographic Society of London ; and the Secretary was
instructed to write to the Secretary of that Society, thanking the Council
of the Society for what they had done, and assuring them that the City
of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society joined in the
strongest remonstrance they could send forth against the absurd, incon¬
venient, and unjustifiable arrangement proposed by the Commissioners.
After the above business was disposed of, the arrangements for the first
excursion of the Society were laid before the meeting, and were approved of.
Mr. A. Robertson then brought under the notice of the Society an
article in Photographic Notes for June 15th, from which, inter alia., it
appeared that Mr. Sutton was under the impression that the Society had
appointed Mr. Hugh Macfarlane to try lenses.
The Secretary was instructed to inform Mr. Sutton that the Society had
not appointed any Lens Committee, nor had they had the question of
appointing one before them at any time.
Several members expressed their wish for an opportunity of giving an
opinion on the questions raised by Mr. Sutton and Mr. Ross, but time
would not then permit them to do so fully and fairly to all parties. It
was therefore considered advisable by the members to confine themselves
for the present to a simple denial that that Society, as such, had any con¬
nexion with Mr. Macfarlane’s trial of lenses.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of the above Society was held on Friday,
the 7th ult. Mr. G. C. Warren, Vice-President, occupied the chair.
The Chairman said a circular had been received from the Manchester
Photographic Society relative to the forthcoming Photographic Exhibi¬
tion to be held in that city during the Meeting of the British Association
in September. He (the Chairman) hoped that the members of this
Society would lend their aid to their Manchester brethren. He then
drew attention to various prints from the negatives by Moule’s pliotogen,
which had been exhibited at the previous meeting.
Mr. Laws read a paper On Transparencies, from which we make a
short extract. After some general observations on other modes of pro¬
ducing transparencies, Mr. Laws gave his own method, as follows : —
“The camera I use consists of a long dark box, with a partition from end to end. In
the centre I have two quarter-plate lenses ; at the extreme end I have a groove for receiv¬
ing the negative ; at the other end I insert my prepared plate. I fix the camera upon a
stand, and point it towards the sky (northward is best), using very small stops. In this
way I get a transparency equal to the negative in sharpness. I should have stated that
the camera is made in two portions, one sliding within the other. Having placed the
lenses at the proper distance from the negative, wh’ch entirely depends upon their focal
length, the image becomes sharp upon the ground glass by sliding the camera out and in.
When once sharp, no more focussing is required. I then prepare a plate, in the same
manner as for a negative, by the usual wet process, and expose in the camera. The
exposure, of course, depends upon the light, and the density of the negative. Negatives
full of detail, and with little density, give the best proofs. I develop with pyro.-acid,
acidified with citric acid, in the usual quantities. When everything is in good working
order, fine rich blacks can be obtained without adding any silver to the developer, which
ought always to be avoided as much as possible. By placing the negative upside don n,
with the film outwards, the transparency is taken correctly for the stereoscope, without
cutting the negatives. The camera I have described can only be used for negatives taken
with the lenses two and a-half inches apart. When they are more open, they must be
copied with one lens in a camera, with the slide made to shift, so that only one-half of
the plate is exposed at once. In a good light there is no inconvenience in this plan ; but
when the light is bad, it is very awkward, the last half of the plate requiring more
exposure than the first. The specimens I have brought are backed with opal, which I
like very much; but it is rather more expensive than ground glass.”
After some discussion on the above subject,
Mr. Warren gave the details of a plan ■which he used with success to
prevent the film of collodion from splitting off the glass during the drying
of the negative. Whenever the film showed the slightest tendency to
split, he floated the plate instantly with alcohol. The water being thus
driven out of the film, the varnish was allowed to be poured on. He
stated that the occasional diying dead of the varnish, in consequence of
the moisture, was not material. He had by this means been successful
in saving many negatives that he would otherwise have lost.
Mr. North promised to read a paper On the Construction of Glass
Houses, with especial reference to the Arrangement of Light , at the
following meeting of the Society, on Friday, the 5th July.
The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.
At a special meeting of the Council of this Society, held on the 18th ult.,
Mr. G. E. Warren in the chair, a communication from Dr Diamond, relative
to the position proposed to be assigned to photography at the Great Exhibi¬
tion in 1862, was read. Resolutions were passed approving of the steps
the London Photographic Society had taken ; protesting against the
classification of the Commissioners ; recommending that no photographic
works be exhibited ; and according their warmest thanks to the Council of
the London Photographic Society for the prompt measures they had taken.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on Wednesday the 19th ult. George H. Slight, Esq.,
Vice-President, occupied the chair.
The following gentlemen were ballotted for and admitted as members : —
Ernest Ford, Ferneyside House; James A. Marr and William B. Marr,
Brandon Street ; Robert Darling Kerr, St. Leonard’s House ; Duncan
Anderson, Holyrood Palace ; D. K. Smith, Richmond Place ; Wm. Wason,
Rector of Robertson’s Academy; and — Musgrave, South Charlotte Street.
The Secretary presented the Society, in the name of Mr. Alexander
Taylor, Dunfermline, with the first donation to the Society’s album.
This consisted of a set of photographs from engravings of Noel Paton’s
pictures of The Dowie Dens o’ Yarrow. These were much admired ;
and the Secretary was instructed to tender the thanks of the Society to
Mr. A. Taylor.
A lengthened conversation took place on the subject of photographic
excursions by the members to objects of interest in the locality ; but as
the subject was only of local interest, our correspondent has omitted further
mention of the matter in this report.
The Secretary then read the correspondence concerning the Inter¬
national Exhibition of 1862. This correspondence appeared in our last
number. Several members expressed themselves in strong terms against
the degrading position which the Commissioners had assigned to the
photographic art ; and it was remitted to the Council to draw up a re¬
monstrance against such intention. It was the unanimous feeling of
those members present that, under existing circumstances, no photo¬
graphers should forward to that Exhibition any specimen of their art.
A paper by Mr. John Traill, On the Waxed-Paper Process, was then
read. [See page 233.] Various members made remarks on this subject ;
and the thanks of the meeting were awarded to the author of the paper.
The business for the succeeding meeting was intimated to be a paper
On Positive Printing, by Mr. R. S. Galloway.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting separated.
- -
The Italian Government has latety sent an order to England
for a complete outfit for a Photographic Department that is to be
established under the new auspices. Mr. Dallmeyer has made the
lenses, which consist of two triple achromatic combinations and a
portrait combination. The largest triplet, having a diameter of
62 inches aperture, covers with the greatest perfection a surface
of 30 by 24 inches; the smaller triplet, having a diameter of 4
inches, covers a field of 15 by 12 inches. The portrait lens, having
a diameter of inches, is intended for plates 10 by 8 inches. The
cameras for these lenses have been made by Messrs. Ottewill and
Co. The largest is a monster, in three panelled compartments, made
in mahogany, of dimensions proportioned to the largest triplet, and
has a focussing range, adjustable by an endless screw, of from 25
to 100 inches. This camera is mounted on a solid rectangular framed
stand, that runs on iron wheels; it works upon a rotating fulcrum,
fixed in the centre of the stand, and is elevated and depressed by
screws placed at each end of the framework. The camera for the
smaller triplet and portrait combination is bellows-bodied, and is
also adjustable by a fine screw motion, having a focussing range
from 15 to 55 inches. Each camera is furnished with baths, glass
trays, pressure-frames, and other accessory apparatus. A very
large developing tray has been made, “according to order,” of well-
seasoned wood, lined with gutta-percha; but, although every care
has been taken to clamp the gutta-percha lining to the base board
by passing pellets of that material into conical apertures cut into the
thickness of the wood, and then melting them so as to fill the holes,
we question, from our own experience of large trays thus made,
whether it will stand the climate, for we have found that as soon
as the sun’s rays fall upon the gutta-percha lining, or that it is
affected by summer heats, it rises into great blebs that are quite
irremovable by any after treatment ; and these have such power,
when forming, that the lining either separates from the plugs, or
pulls them forcibly through the conical holes in the base-board 0
the sink. — S. H.
244
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1861
Hates flf tjjc !|l0ivtb,
That erratic luminary which is said never to set on Her Majesty’s
dominions, but is certainly too often obscured for the disciples of
the beliographic art — breaking through all the monotony of official
routine without the slightest compunction, or even so much as
despatching a note to warn us of his intended “absence from
business” — is now shining on both sides of the hedge at his
maximum of intensity, tempting the laziest into the field, intent
and earnest upon doing something.
Our greatest master in landscape and architectural subjects is
about to gratify the admirers of Welsh scenery with a second
edition of his Beauties of Wales — in which will be included, beside
new ones of North Wales, a series of the whole of South Wales —
and has just left town for a protracted course of labour, extending
over a period of several months. Mr. Bedford has, this time, dis¬
carded his tent and its impedementa for the more commodious and
ever-ready travelling carriage. A clarence, fitted up by Ottewill
and Co., has been arranged on the principle embodied in Gold¬
smith’s description of something that was
- “ made a double debt to pa)',
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.”
In appearance, when en route, there is nothing to indicate the
purpose to which it is devoted, save and except a suspicious-
looking japanned tin despatch box on the roof ; which is not a
despatch box, but a water-tank and reservoir, or “ camel of the
desert,” communicating with the interior by means of a gutta¬
percha tube, with tap appended. On either side of the near half of
the interior of the carriage is what appears at first sight a kind of
yellow glass panelling, where padding is usually seen. These,
when the metamorphosis is about to be effected, open like cupboard
doors, revealing unsuspected rows of bottles, measures, &c., on
neat shelves, and these ingeniously folding back against the usual
front windows (being themselves of yellow glass), and black
shutters being drawn up at the side windows of the doors, a dark
chamber is at once formed. A brass handle of what might be
supposed a drawer pulls out from under the coachman’s seat what
proves to be a gutta-percha sink, with which the tank communi¬
cates, and from which the waste is carried away by another gutta¬
percha pipe under the bottom of the carriage. The bath is
suspended permanently to the inside of one of the doors. Numer¬
ous other receptacles and lockers are formed under the seats and
cushions for the stowage of plate-boxes, lenses, and all the thousand-
and-one things which a landscape photographer may at any moment
have occasion to call into requisition. Let us wish carriage and
occupants un bon voyage. The walls of the next Exhibition will,
doubtless, show good results ; but we will not anticipate.
“ Sweets to the sweet !” Coals to Newcastle ! ! Instantaneous
views of Paris from London to Paris ! ! 1 The Stereoscopic Com¬
pany are supplying French houses with the instantaneous pictures,
on which they have two artists engaged there. Some twelve
others are in the field, but (with the exception of Ferrier and Sou¬
lier), so far, unsuccessfully. The rage for cartes de visite is still
unabated. We have just seen a very characteristic one of the
author of Tom Brown's School Days, by the Stereoscopic Company.
For the lovers of the marvellous, but who have not the nerve
for it, Messrs. Negretti and Zambra’s instantaneous stereograph of
Blondin performing his perilous exploit will suffice. We know of
few better illustrations of the marvels of science than the manner
in which such a scene as that of Blondin suspended in mid-air can
be brought home to all those who cannot, whether from disinclina¬
tion or distance, witness this extraordinary feat. To the placards
on every wall, “ Have you seen Blondin ?” we can answer, “ Yes !
in the stereoscope — the nearest point of view we desire ! ”
The second of Mayall’s really untouched series of portraits of
distinguished men bears out the prestige raised by the first. The
accessories are perfect^ simple and natural. Lord Brougham’s
little kinsman, who is to inherit his honours — and the twain are
said to be inseparable, being scarcely ever to bo seen apart — is
introduced, and appears to be imbibing a practical lesson in Social
Science. The extreme contrast of age and childhood is im¬
pressive and instructive.
In answer to the appeal from the Council of the Photographic
Society, already nearly all the photographic societies have “ pro¬
nounced ” on the degradation sought to be placed on photography
at the Exhibition of 1862. Each society has protested against the
resolution of the Royal Commissioners, and “ passive resistance ”
appears to be the course recommended to be adopted by the
followers of our art. S. T.
Jforeigu (fiorrespnirbeiire.
Pans, June 26th, 1861.
If very cold weather acts unfavourably upon photographic prepa-
parations and gives rise to a multitude of difficulties which the
operator has great trouble in mastering, extreme heat is not less
troublesome. For the last fortnight we have had an almost tro¬
pical temperature ; and on all sides I hear nothing but complaints
and outcries against the weather. It is the collodion which is de¬
composing, or the baths which are losing their properties, &c., &c.
To these conditions of temperature and season is probably to be
attributed the penury in communications which marked the last
meeting of the French Society of Photography, which was held on
Friday, the 21st. Among the letters read by the Secretary I have
scarcely to mention any, except one from M.Cordier, in which is a modi¬
fication of the process of printing upon albuminised paper, which has
given him, he says, good results. He coagulates the albumen by
dipping the paper into alcohol, and he sensitises in a five-per-cent,
silver bath. Some one near me asserted that this system must have
a deleterious effect upon the bath, to which it would give a red tinge.
I give you the proposition and the objection for what they are worth.
Count Schouwaloff, a clever Russian amateur, wrote that he had
obtained direct carbon prints upon paper. His formula is the
same as that given by M. Fargier, as far as concerns the gelatine
and the bichromate of potash, only he doubles the quantity of
black. Instead of spreading the film upon glass, he spreads it
upon paper. He exposes the back of the sheet, so that the light
passes through its substance and prints upon the inner part of the
gelatinous film. He washes in warm water, and thus obtains the
same result as upon glass, since the image is attacked from below.
It was remarked that M. F argier himself had spoken of this method ;
but I do not think that he has described it so completely.
After successfully occuyying himself with the amplification of
the photographic image, M. Bertsch has just constructed an appa¬
ratus which permits the image to be reduced to the smallest pro¬
portions. It is an automatic camera, identical with that which ho
made known a few months back, excepting that its size is appro¬
priate to the object in view — that is to say, the production of
microscopic images of the same kind as those which are now set
in rings and other jewels. The principal difficulty in the execution
of these little pictures consists in the focussing. As M. Bertsch ’s
camera is set beforehand to the focus, which remains fixed for all
jbjects at a greater distance than about five feet, this difficulty is
obviated. The whole apparatus, objective glasses, &c., is contained
in a box, which is scarcely as large as a glove box. It is very
pretty and very ingenious.
A serious question was raised at the same meeting by a letter
from the Council of the London Photographic Society on the
attitude which exhibitors should take with respect to the strange
place which has been allotted to them in the Universal Exhibition of
1862 — among the constructors of apparatus and machinery. I can
only express my personal opinion on the measure proposed by the
Council of the Photographic Society. I think, then, that Sir Frederick
Pollock’s step was very commendable, and that the Council have
done right in protesting against the intentions of the Royal Com¬
missioners. But the position of the French Society is quite different.
Its protestations can only be addressed to the Imperial Com¬
mission appointed to represent the interests of France for
the occasion. Abstention would, in my opinion, and in that of
many others, be attended with serious disadvantages, and also
it could not be efficaciously resolved on by the Paris Society.
You know how far our customs differ from yours, especially in the
matter of association. All English photographers, whether ama¬
teurs or professional men, are members of some of the numerous
societies which you have formed, and I do not suppose that indi¬
viduals amongst them would act in opposition to any decision that
had been adopted collectively. It is not so with us. We have
but one completely organised society (that at Marseilles is, as yet,
but nascent), and our one society is very far from including all
French photographers. It would be useless for it to decide that
artists ought to abstain from exhibiting at London: such a
decision would fail in its effect. After reading the letters of Dr.
Lyon Playfair and Mr. Sandford, I cannot help thinking that the
first project of the Commissioners will be modified. Should this hope
be disappointed, the writers who understand the artistic importance
of photography are sufficiently numerous to call public attention to
this refusal of justice. I am not speaking only of special journals :
we have all sufficient access to the general press to protest therein
loudly in behalf of photography; but I repeat that abstention would
have regrettable consequences. We should do better to prove, by
July 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
the merit of the works exhibited, that they have aright to a special
room, if not to a place among purely artistic productions.
While on the subject of Exhibitions, I will announce to you that
the Photographic Society of Marseilles, which is being organised
actively, solicits the co-operation of all photographers for their
Exhibition, which will opened in September next. Let me com¬
mend the matter to the attention of English photographers, whom
we reproach sincerely for the paucity of the specimens sent by
them to the Palace in the Champs Elysdes. Their absence has
been remarked with regret, especially on account of the interesting
character of the present Exhibition, which is much superior to all
those which have preceded it. ERNEST LACAN.
f New YorJc, June 11, 1861.
Our latest city business directory gives us a catalogue of one
hundred and twenty-five places where photographic portraits for
the people are taken. If we add twenty-five to this number, in
justice to the suburbs across the rivers on each side of us, we have
the total of one hundred and fifty photographic “ galleries” within
rifle-shot of the spot where I am writing. I therefore find that in
our metropolitan district we have a public photographic privilege
for each 5000 souls. And if we take these figures as a basis of
calculation for the whole country, we reach the grand total of six
thousand to represent the strength of our photographic army.
In our city galleries, of course, we find all grades of thrift,
respectability, and other merit. The annual gross income of some
of them has exceeded the sum of 100,000 dollars, while of others
it is not sufficient to keep the sheriff out. A few of these establish¬
ments are erected on a scale almost gorgeous, with everything which
money can procure for ornament or convenience. And I have seen
the artist, “ poor but respectable,” in his garret — which was his
parlour, kitchen, dormitory, nursery, studio, store-house, and all.
> Of course we have plenty of humbug. It shows itself in absurd
titles, as “Temples” or “Palaces of Art,” “Professors of Photo-
gTaphy,” or the very common arrogance of new inventions and
discoveries. An unsophisticated stranger would think our photo¬
graphic galleries contained many a Zenxis and many a Faraday.
But observations of this sort apply as well to practical photo¬
graphy in London or Paris ; and I forbear.
The variety of nationalities, however, which are represented in our
photographic profession is a notable fact. The names in the direc¬
tory list are suggestive of all the civilised nations on the globe.
If I wanted to show what an odd assortment of names distinguish
the individuals of the genus homo, what could I find better for my
purpose ? It begins with “Abraham” and ends with “Worms,” and
in the interim are several as funny ; as, “ Krikawa,” with here and
there a sprinkling of the familiar, like “Thompson,” with and with¬
out a “p.” New York is a kind of pudding-stone of humanity, com¬
posed of polished specimens of all sorts, kept in mass by the Ameri¬
can cement. You have heard, perhaps, how we have sent English,
Scotch, Irish, German, French, and Italian regiments to our war.
Last evening our Photographic Society met, and listened to three
elaborate papers. The discussion turned chiefly on the uses of
photography for military purposes; and resulted in a resolve to
communicate with the Government on the subject. It seems pretty
certain that photography will be used in balloon reconnoitreing, for
which the Government is well prepared.
In my next I will endeavour to confine myself more rigidly within
the proper limits of our art. CHARLES A. SEELY.
Nothing New under the Sun. — Mons. Mc-A. Gaudin, in com¬
menting in La Lumiere upon an article which appeared in a
contemporary, describing Mr. Dallmeyer’s instantaneous shutter,*
states that, instead of being a novel appliance, it is one of the
oldest employed in photography for exposures varying from the
eighth part of a second to twenty seconds, and is the only one,
according to his experience, that meets all the requirements of
instantaneous photography, or when views of moving objects are
to be obtained by very short exposures — whilst, at the same time,
it is suited for ordinary work. M. Gaudin claims the invention of
the arrangement, which he states he introduced in 1841, or twenty
years ago ; and that since that time he has never used any other
form of cap or instantaneous shutter. During four or five years
he employed it in portraiture, and operated in public perhaps
twenty thousand times. He states that he has already described
the apparatus in three publications with which he has been con¬
nected. If the shutter is covered, or made with a flexible material,
pictures may be obtained in the one-eighth of a second, without
the apparatus being shaken by the concussion that necessarily takes
place on the shutter being rapidly turned up and back again.
• Se*THa British Journal or Photograph?, pags 105 of tho pre»ent volums.
245
Cnmspnntmia.
tsr We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. _
LENSES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — As a reader of your Journal from the beginning, I beg to solicit
from you information how to improve my lenses, if at all possible.
Some eight or nine years ago, I purchased a full-sized camera, with por¬
trait lenses three and a quarter inches diameter, focus ten inches, with the
intention of devoting spare hours to taking portraits. Ill health and the
want of proper facilities for taking these led me to use my camera and len¬
ses for copying prints, engravings, &c., and also often taking rapid pictures
from my windows. In doing so I have not been at all pleased, for,
while I get my pictures rapid enough, the field is not flat near the edge ;
indeed, in taking a picture of buildings, &c., reduced to quarter-size,
nearly one inch round the edge of the plate is blurred and much
out of focus, although I have wrought with the stop reduced to one
inch. What am I to do? I cannot afford — indeed do not need— two
lenses ; nor will the want of light allow me to use a smaller stop, sup¬
posing that would aid me. I wish to use my present lenses to give me
a rapid picture, sharp to the edges, with as large a stop as practicable.
Can you help me ?
In the report of the meeting of the Birmingham Photographic Society,
held on the 30th of April, 1861, Dr. Anthony stated that Mr. Dallmeyer’s
triplet lens was constructed with a negative lens between the others.
What is a negative lens? Would this suit my object? If so, what
diameter, curve, and length of focus ? But I am too fast. I shall be
exceedingly obliged if you can suggest any simple method that will
enable me to wile away leisure hours with my camera and lenses im¬
proved under your advice.— -I am, yours, &c.,
IMPROVED LENSES.
[You may as well expect to be shown “ how to make an ugly person
handsome,” as to make an inferior lens a good one. You desire an
impossibility. You cannot have all your requirements in one instrument.
Large aperture, flat field, sharp definition all over, are qualities incom¬
patible with one another in the same lens. Make up your mind whether
you mean to take portraits or landscapes ; and if the latter, sell the lens
you have and procure one fitted for your purpose instead : it would be
idle to attempt to improve it.
A negative lens means a concave, either simple or compound — one
that lengthens the focus. We cannot advise you to have it applied to the
lens you have, which we have reason to fear is essentially poor. — Ed.]
A DIFFICULTY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Many thanks for your indicative remarks on my stereographs.
I am still, however, on the horns of a dilemma. Frequently has the
attempt been made at longer exposure ; but the sky in such cases has
proved invariably so weak as to render the negative altogether useless
for printing purposes, without painting out, which, when foliage is pro¬
jected upwards, is a very difficult matter to accomplish well.
Till of late I have used only - - - ’s collodion, and plain albumen,
viz., white of egg one ounce, water about one and a quarter ounces, and
liquor ammonia eight minims. The only other I have tried is - ’s,
the film of which is exceedingly thin after removal from the nitrate bath.
The film yielded by - ’s is, on the contrary, very rich and creamy.
Having a very limited knowledge of chemistry, I have not directed
much attention to the component portions of the material with which I
work, and consequently cannot report on the composition of these col¬
lodions. If they both contain a bromide, it might be detrimental to add
more.
May I beg of you a short reply in your next issue. — I am, yours, &c.,
J. L.
[The thin collodion which you indicate does contain a bromide. The
other we have never examined ; but, from j’our observations, we have
little doubt that you would succeed best by mixing them together; and if
you find still that the foliage will not come out, add half a gram of bro¬
mide of ammonium to each ounce of the mixture. — Ed.]
A SCREECH FROM GLASGOW.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Heering there was a lang screed on lenses in last number o’
Photographic Notes, I actually gied. and waur’d a groat in buying ane
o’ them ; but after a guid inspection o’ it, a gey and sma’ opinion o’ the
“Note” had I ; ’deed I wadna’ gie ane o’ oor City o’ Glasgo’ bank notes
for a hail cart load o’ them. Its just made up o’ a’ wlieen havers, an’ its
sma’ wonder the bodie that }Tedits it canna mak muckle o’ Hughie’s
letter, for - hut let that flee stick tae the wa’.
Odds, man ! is it no illnatur’d o’ Mr. Ross to alloo Hughie’s letters tae
be printed? I’ll no believe — no never as lang as I live— that Mr. Ross
246
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1801
is a Scotchman, for a’ that he has a Scotch name, after him doing sic a
thing. Shame on ye, Tam Boss, say I ; you’re no your faither’s son
at a’, man. But never mind.
Noo, sir, whatever nonsense there may be in Hughie’s letter, he
doesna say that he belangs tae ony lens-testing committee ; an’ it is
barefaced impidence in ony bodie, even a yeditor, to sae that he does. This
sam’ yeditor — yeditor say I ? — Muckle yeditorship it requires to compile a
wheen news, that’s only pipers’ news when a’s dune. Weel, be he what
he may, he doesna’ seem tae like the idee o’ a committee tae test lenses.
My fegs ! he has gude cause for his dislike ; for if they begin to test for
ony ither quality than straught lines, I ken o’ at least ae malt o’ lens
that’ll bring disgrace on somebodie — and that somebodie I could easily
name, but I winna. Twa spectacle een stuck in a tube will male
straught lines ; but, my eertie ! they require some ither qualifica¬
tions tae mak a good and reliable tool for a photographer. Na, na!
Let opticians mak as mony lenses as they like, an’, gif they want
them tested, let them get practical photographers to test them. The
compiler o’ the “Notes” says — “ We ” (meanin’ himsel’) “ certainly
should not consider ourselves competent to form one of a lens-testing com¬
mittee, and should be unwilling to buy a costly lens on our own responsi¬
bility Weel, puir man, he can keep himsel’ easy — naebody is sayin’
he is competent tae test a lens, sae he needna mak a fuss aboot it ; but,
0 deerie me ! a bodie that has sae little gumption as tae write that aboot
himsel' , I hae my ain idee as tae his fitness for somethin’ else that I
could tell, but I’ll no.
It’s a grand thing is this adverteezin’ that’s carried on in the covers o’
the journals. I see, in the same “Notes ” I’ve been speaking o’, ane by
Mr. Ross, whaurin he says that his orthographic lens will bear tae be
tilted a guid bit oot o’ the horizontal withoot producing the leanin’
appearance that ither lenses wad mak. Noo, if ye’ll turn back tae page
223 o’ The British Journal op Photography, ye’ll see a different
story. Ane o’ the very same lenses made some queer mark upon the
perpendiclars o’ Ely Cathedral on ane occasion, when Mr. Ross’s ain
private tester was cockin’ up the camera tae get in mail’ o’ the buildin’
than was justifiable.
I am an auld hand at photography, and couldna resist the impulse I
felt tae mak these few remarks, for which I hope ye’ll forgie me. I sup¬
pose I maun just work awa’ wi’ the auld lens I hae, for fegs if I write
tae some grand maker for leeve tae “try before I buy,” he’ll maybe
serve me as they’ve served Hughie, and publish my letters, if I return
the lens. — I am, &c., AULD LENS.
PAUL PRY’S VISIT TO MRS. SPRIGGINS.— A LESSON ON
“SHARPNESS.”
My Very Dear Sir, — I hope I don’t intrude, but I have just dropt in
to say that I accepted that young lady’s invitation. It wasn’t intended
forme. Oh ! no. I'm too well known as a confirmed batchelor to be
invited by young ladies to call upon their ma’s ; but I suppose there’s
more than Mr. Wall desiring information about sharpness (I wish he’d
used my razor this morning instead of me, and had this sticking plaster
on his chin), and if somebody else wanted information, why shouldn’t
somebody else receive it ? So I, Paul Pry, patentee of key-hole photo¬
graphy, I, don't you see, went as somebody else.
Mrs. Spriggins, as I found out (never mind how), lives in a court,
which is not a very light nor a very clean one. Tbu go into it under a
low, narrow archway, and down some broken steps, and your nose being
assailed as you do so, you raise your thumb and finger hurriedly thereto,
and drop your umbrella all in the mud — at least that’s what I did.
Mrs. Spriggins, by a piece of card hung up in her front window,
informs Uncivilised world that “ whashin and mangerlin” are done
there ; her street door opens at once into her parlour without any formal
ceremony of lobby, hall, or passage, and, when open, reveals the fact
of newly-washed lmnen, &c., being hung up therein to dry, which I assure
you, my dear sir, is very unpleasant ; for, when I went in, a damp gar¬
ment (suspiciously feminine) knocked off my hat, and, somehow or
another, a wet blanket enfolded me in its horrid embrace.
I was well received by that celebrated “litery”. character, and she at
once gave me her hand (and some soapsuds) when I mentioned your
respected name.
Having told her of the invitation her daughter had extended to
those who want to know of “ sharpness— what is it?” Mrs. Spriggins
exclaimed in wrath — “Drat that imperunt gall, she’s allays a doing
summat, that she are !”
Which may be very true of that industrious young lady, you know,
and which fact I recommend to the attention of Mr. Wall (Eh! Eh! I
know all about him too), for he is not a confirmed bachelor (poor fool),
and an industrious wife, you know, is a great blessing.
Having asked the opinions of Mrs. S. on the subject of sharpness, that
very particularly plump lady assumed an air of solemn importance, and,
leaning forward, with one hand on either knee, and her eyes fixed sternly
upon mine, thus delivered them : —
“ Wicli as how — my sentimingst — them arc these ! Wen that aire boy
o’ mine — wich a dear good boy lie are — fust went to to sea with Capin
Rumanpitch wich he goes to furrin parts called Sunderland or summat —
‘Mother,’ says he, ‘I wants your dogratype,’ — wich, says I, packer
rubbidge says I. Wei wen our loger wot takes on them potografs on
glass tooked my room, wich a werry good loger he are — he tooked me fur
the boy wich as how says he, Mrs. Spriggins says he, you'll do for i
specerlemen as well, wich in coorse I do sir, wen dressed. So he tooked
me, and drecly I clapt hies lion hit (here Mrs. S. tightly compresed her
lips, folded her arms, and frowned awfully) Ibroked it all up! U"
“Dear me !” said I, after a dead silence of a minute or two.
“Sir,” said Mrs. Spriggins, still more impressively, “ that aire were a
‘ sharp ' pictur. Them wrinkles wos hateful, and them icrinklea wos all over
the face — they wos ! Them’s my sentimingsts.”
Thus, with an air of oracular dignit}'- and importance, did Mrs. Sprig¬
gins deliver, as to a listening and eager world, her mighty sentiments on
“sharpness.”
Before I went away, I was introduced to Miss Spriggins (I wonder if
Mr. Wall admires red hair, small eyes, and large mouths); and when
her illustrious mama inquired “wot she writ sitch a letter for?” the
fair young creature poutingly replied —
“ Well, wot on it; — there, now. — I didn’t mean nothin ” (I believe this
to be true), “only you was allays a telling on me to look sharp, you was.
Tliats why then, — there now !”
Incidentally I also gleaned the opinion Mrs. S. holds relative to “depth
of focus;” for, while the picture in question appeared to have so exagge¬
rated the texture of the skin as to move that otherwise amiable lady to
great wrath, she also complained piteously that her beautiful new cap,
with its blue and green and yellow flowers, and silver and gold leaves,
came out like a white calico turban in a fog. However, no more at pre¬
sent from yours, very truly, PAUL PRY, P.P.K.II.P.
Kew Bye House, June 26, 1861.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
An Admirer of the Fixe Arts. — In our next.
W. M. (Rudgwick). — We have forwarded your communication as requested.
C- D. — Because we do not care one single straw wliat such an one's opinion is.
Robert. — For subjects on a large scale you may produce fine effects upon plain paper.
F. S. W. T.— See The British Journal Almanac for the current year, pages 30 and 31.
Mediaeval — For general architectural subjects the orthographic lens is a very useful
instrument.
A Country Parson. — Received too late for insertion in this number. Shall appear in
our next. Thanks.
Stupid Dolt. — Not our opinion of you. See reply to “Puzzled Amateur.” To the
last question— No !
F. 0. M. — We cannot recommend any work in preference to the excellent “ Manual of
Photographic Chemistry,” by Mr. Hardwicli.
C. B. — n e cannot recommend the process, especially to a tyro. Make yourself fami¬
liar with the wet process first— then select a dry one.
Deluded One.— A good article will always command a fair price. We really cannot
pity you, for you made the purchase with your eyes open. ,
P. 0. — Mr. Negretti’s method was published in a very recent number of this Journal ;
you cannot, therefore, be a reader, even if, as you state, you are a subscriber.
Puzzled Amateur. — We have twice, if not thrice, disclaimed any participation in the
news expressed. “Let every one have a fair hearing” is a good rule, which we like to
follow.
Birmingham Exhibition.— Mr. Tyley, of Bristol, was, by a typographical error, mis¬
called Lyley in our first notice of this Exhibition. His speciality is that of photographing
architecture and sculpture.
Knickerbocker.— If you want to work wet collodion in the field we cannot perceive
the use of a folding camera. You must have something in which to pack some of your
chemicals, &c. Why not put them in the camera ?
Richmond. — It is very objectionable to have a central gutter in your skylight. If you
cannot have a sufficient s’ope from your sitter towards your door, let your light in that
direction he horizontal, and slope it towards one side, whichever is most convenient.
C. M. — You will learn more in a month by joining a society, if one exist in your
neighbourhood, than you can do alone in a couple of years. For an introductory
manual take that recently published by Mr. C. Jabez Hughes, or that by Mr. Hockin—
we should rather say both— and “tip up” with Hardwich.
J. B.— We do not know to which of M. Poitevin’s processes you allude. That of M.
Lafon will be found in our volume for 1859, detailed by our Paris correspondent.
M. Joubert’s process on paper has not been divulged by him : it probably bears some
similarity to that published on glass, hut most likely there is some additional point of
manipulation important to success.
R. Peers. — You make a statement, but omit your question ; we hardly know what it
is you wish answered. A collodion that dries of an opaque white colour is very impure ;
varnishing will remedy it to some extent, but you had better discard it altogether. The
effect is due to the presence of cotton, with an insufficient substitution of atoms of
nitrogen for hydrogen. There is no complete remedy.
Dull-headed Subscriber. — It is very difficult, almost impossible, to take a dark-
complexioned lady in a white dress; but, in addition to this cause of embarrassment in
your case, you have another in the presence of acetic acid in the bath : it should be slightly
acid, but with nitric instead of acetic acid, as the resulting colour is whiter. Thin your
collodion with a little ether, and use, as a developer — Photosulphate of iron, fourteen
grains ; water, one ounce ; nitrate of potash, ten grains ; acetic acid, half a drachm.
W. Wilson.— We believe that ordinary mastic varnish is suitable for use on glass
positives that are to be coloured ; but the dealers in powder colours usually supply a
varnish specially adapted for the purpose. For negatives the Soehnee varnish, or pure
amber dissolved in chloroform, will meet your requirements. For positive iodiser see
page 28 of The British Journal Almanac. Mr. Jones is not the inventor of the resin
process, nor does he make any claim to such honour ; but he has very successfully
carried it out. For details you have but to refer to recent numbers of this Journal.
Place your sitters between the first and second window from either end and looking
towards the further angle from the door.
LEADER
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By JAMES MARTIN .
THE V/ AXED -PAPER PROCESS. By JOHN
TRAILL .
PHOTOGRAPHY ONE OF THE FINE ARTS.
By S. THOMPSON . 234
ANOTHER “HALF. BRICK” FROM A WALL
AND THE MINER’S “GRUNT” IN REPLY 235
AN ALBUMEN PROCESS. By JAS. LARPEY 235
RE-DISCOVERIES IN PHOTOGRAPHY . 236
ON FILTERING COLLODION. By M. Mc-A.
GAUDIN . 230
Pi os
PALESTINE IN 1860. No. VI. By JOHN
CRAMB . 237
EXHIBITION OF THE BIRMINGHAM PHO¬
TOGRAPHIC SOCIETY . 233
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 239
ORDER FROM THE ITALIAN GOVERN¬
MENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS 243
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 244
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By E. LACAN. Letter from New York.
By CHARLES A. SEELY . 244
CORRESPONDENCE . 246
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, <fee . 8«
CONTENTS
PAGE
231
232
233
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 146, Vol. VIII _ JULY 15, 1861.
Photography at the International Exhibition. — There
is a story extant of a celebrated performer — a wit, a scholar,
and a gentleman — one whose convivial qualities brought him
into great request, and whom a certain Duke wras desirous of
securing in order to make a heavy dinner party in prospective
pass off with eclat. The Duke, however, desirous as he was of
the presence of the wit, could not relish the idea of placing
himself on a level with a mere actor ; and had the bad taste to
send him an invitation intimating that the Duke of A -
expected some friends to dinner on such a day at seven o’clock,
and trusted that Mr. B - would favour him with his company
at nine. Mr. B - , in reply, thanked the Duke for his con¬
descension, and regretted his inability to accept the invitation
owing to a previous engagement on the same day and hour to
partake of a supper of tripe with the Marylebone Pet (a cele¬
brated pugilist).
We have been thinking that the invitation of the Boyal
Commissioners for the forthcoming International Exhibition to
the body of photographers has been conceived much in the same
spirit as that of the Duke towards the actor. “ Bring your
choicest and best productions, gentlemen ; let your collection
be unique for excellence : it shall be heartily welcome to a
capital place - in the kitchen. In the drawing-room? No!
Why, you see, we are full there with people who are dressed in
much finer clothes, and we fear yours would suffer by com¬
parison ; and we assure you you will fare much better in the
kitchen. And, besides, there you may arrange the furniture as
you like : you may even turn out some of the tables and chairs
if they are in your way; and you can place yourselves just as
you please : so don’t wait any longer, but send your foremen at
once to talk the matter over.” But, some how or other, photo¬
graphers don’t seem to perceive the compliment, and have a
prior engagement to a tripe supper.
Seriously, we rejoice to notice that the general feeling of
photographers is one of indignation at the contemptuous man¬
ner in which the remonstrance of the President of the Photo¬
graphic Society has been received. But when we use the term
general we do not thereby mean universal; for in some few in¬
stances (very few) the classification of the Boyal Commissioners
appears to have been approved. Though we may wonder at
such obtuseness of vision, we have nothing to urge against
those who entertain this view from contributing their produc¬
tions ; but it is with deep regret that we perceive our brother
editor of the Photographic News, who has been loud in his
condemnation of the absurd classification adopted, now advo¬
cating a temporising policy, and recommending the acceptance
of a nominal concession in the shape of a separate room, when
the real offence — that of the classification — remains just as
insulting as ever. What do photographers care about where
their pictures are placed so that they are in a good light and in
a position to be properly viewed ! The}'- do not desire to have
them hung in the same room with paintings, or even engrav¬
ings ; but they do require that their productions shall be recog¬
nised as “works of art,” and as such reasonably demand a
rectification of the mis-classification adopted. If this be not so,
why do artists interfere in photography at all ? Why not
let those artisans, photographers, follow out their own mechanical
devices ?
Of course we do not anticipate that every photographer will
abstain from exhibiting, even upon the humiliating terms of the
Boyal Commissioners ; but we certainly consider that each one
who may do so voluntarily foregoes all pretension for the future
to claim the title of “ artist.” It is objected by our contemporary
that under such circumstances an imperfect exposition of our
art will be presented to the public, and that is regarded as a
greater evil than the acceptance of the ignominious position
assigned. We do not think so. We hold a directly contrary
opinion, and consider that the acceptance of that ignominious
position will be far more detrimental to our art and to the pro¬
fession than any abstinence from exhibiting.
But there is another and a better course to be pursued — one
which the Council of the Photographic Society has, we believe,
under consideration : we mean the organisation of as perfect a
collection as it can get together, to be opened to the public at
an earlier date than that fixed for the South Kensington affair.
We believe that the Council will, if it adopt this course, not
only be promoting the best interests of the art and its professors,
but at the same time doing that which is most conducive to the
benefit of the Photographic Society.
We entertain a strong opinion upon this point; and, without
a concession of the “ classification ” offence on the part of the
Commissioners, our cry will be — “ No Surrender !”
Personal Accusation. — In the second annual report of the
South London Photographic Society [see page 240 of the cur¬
rent volume] there are two paragraphs which appear to demand
some special notice from us, the compiler of the report having,
in a manner very unusual in such a document, chosen to cast an
imputation of a personal character which the facts of the case
do not at all warrant. We extract the passages to which
allusion is made as follows : —
The Publisher and Editor of Tiie British Journal of Photography,
placing an interpretation upon the connexion existing- between it and the
Society never directly or indirectly accepted by your Committee, and
claiming certain exclusive privileges tending to cripple the independence
of the Society and retard its influence in propagating and advancing the
art, such claims were not admitted ; and an engagement made for a term
with the Publisher was, in consequence, by him abruptl}r broken, although
the Committee, resolving that their engagement to the members should
be more justly carried out, procured the Journals at an increased rate of
charge, and forwarded them post free as usual.
In consequence of this misunderstanding, the hitherto pleasant con¬
nexion between this Society and The British Journal of Photography
has ceased. We can no longer be regarded as associated in any way with
the trade interests of any particular periodical, and each member may select
for himself such journal as best pleases his own taste or judgment ; while,
by supplying at least two presentation prints per year, and rendering
the Society even more actively useful in new departments, we must
endeavour to fully compensate our members for what might otherwise
be regarded as a something lost. AVe trust, therefore, that the support
the Society has hitherto received — and we may fairly say deserved also —
will not be withheld, and that the conduct of the Committee in supporting
the proper dignity of their position will give satisfaction both to the
members and the friends of the Society.
248
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Now, if these assertions mean anything, they declare that
the Publisher of this Journal failed to carry out an engage¬
ment into which he had entered, and that the Editor attempted
to set up claims to which he had no right, and which tended to
cripple the independence of the South London Society. These
are very grave charges, and should not he lightly brought
against any one ; but as it appears that the “ report, &c„
received the sanction of the members present,” without any
inquiry having been instituted relative to the accuracy of the
accusation, we have no course left but to record a distinct
denial of the allegations. We believe that we should be justi¬
fied in applying pretty strong language to this breach of eti¬
quette on the part of the Committee, each and every member
of which has, by his silence, made himself responsible for the
charges made ; but a simple detail of the facts of the case will
at once exonerate us, and will be more in conformity wutli our
usual practice.
The British Journal of Photography having been volun¬
tarily selected by several societies in the United Kingdom as
their special organ, in which official reports of the various
meetings should be published, and which should be favoured
by priority in the use of all papers read (in some cases with
their exclusive use), the Proprietor and Publisher of this
Journal, at our suggestion, by way of acknowledgment of the
compliment conferred, voluntarily conceded to those societies
which had thus honoured us the privilege of a supply of copies
of this Journal to their various members at a rate of charge
reduced below the ordinary publishing price ; but this con¬
cession was intended to apply solely to those societies which
had paid us the compliment indicated. In consequence of
some correspondence between the Secretary of the South Lon¬
don Society and the Publisher, the name of that Society was
inserted on our title-page, we having understood from the Pro¬
prietor — what he had most assuredly believed — that this Journal
uras thenceforth to be the official representative of that Society.
Shortly after the Photographic News was placed under the
management of the gentleman who at present edits it, we
found not only that we were systematically forestalled in the
publication of the papers read, but that frequently we were
subjected to serious inconvenience in procuring them at all in
proper time. We therefore personally inquired of the Secre¬
tary (privately) whether he had any desire to transfer the official
representation to our contemporary, stating, at the same time,
that if such ivere his wish we should not offer any impediment to
the change. We received an unhesitating and distinct reply in
the negative. Finding, however, that matters continued in
the same unsatisfactory state, we then addressed several letters
to the Committee of the Society — in one requiring either
priority in the use of papers read at the meetings, or the
removal of the merely nominal official representation which then
existed ; and vre were informed that the Committee did not
recognise any official connexion beyond the fact of this Journal
being circulated amongst the members of the Society. Yet,
notwithstanding this assertion, upon an occasion vdien our
reporter committed some errors which vrnre inadvertently left
uncorrected, special notice was taken of the matter publicly at the
succeeding meeting, on the ground that our Journal being the
official organ of the Society was bound to have a correct report.
Moreover, the Secretary has several times put in a claim to be
permitted to revise the report on the same ground.
As we did not choose to remain with the ridiculous preten¬
sion of official representation after the same had de facto ceased,
and were unable to procure the sanction of the Committee to
the removal of the name of the South London Society from
our title-page, we caused it to be removed on our own responsi¬
bility ; and with its removal, as a matter of course, the special
advantage to the Society regarding rate of charges ceased.
This we did quietly, and without calling public attention
thereto, purposely in order to avoid giving needless offence to
the Committee ; and, had it not unwarrantably imputed dis-
[July 15, 1861
honourable conduct on the part of the Publisher, and unreason
able assumption on our part, we should have abstained entirely
from any notice of the circumstance.
In conclusion, we make no complaint against our brother
editor relative to his proceedings in this matter, lie had ;t right
to use such influence as he possessed in order to supplant us if
he could. But we do complain that the Committee of tin Smith
London Society chose to avail itself of the advantage afforded
by us to those societies which we officially represent, while at
the same time it stultified the pretension by a systematic dis¬
regard of its duties to us.
We have made diligent inquiry into the alleged breach of en¬
gagement on behalf of our Publisher, and we are in a position to
give an unhesitating denial to the existence of any engagement
extending beyond the pleasure or convenience of either of the con¬
tracting parties. We are at a loss to comprehend what is meant
by the expression that the South London Photographic Society
“ can no longer be regarded as associated in any way with the
trade interests of any particular periodical.” We arc certainly
not aware that it ever was so associated — certainly no trade
interest was ever derived by this Journal from its so-called con¬
nexion with the South London Society; and the kind permis¬
sion accorded to “ each member to select for himself [at his own
expense?] such Journal as best pleases his own taste" is no
doubt very gratifying to the parties concerned.
We have been forced into these remarks and explanations by
the unfounded imputation applied to us, possibly through inad¬
vertence by the compiler of the “ report but there is no excuse
for the members of the Society who sanctioned such report, and
still less for the Committee which adopted it.
We have to apologise to our readers for occupying so much
space upon a personal matter, to which we arc always averse ;
but wTe consider that an explanation is due to them, and that to
have been altogether silent would have given some show7 of
colouring to the presumed truth of such a charge.
NOTES ON THE HOT WATER PROCESS.
By A Country Parson.
As requested I forward you particulars of the hot water process as
I practise it. For the sake of clearness I will first give the formula
and manipulations which, in my hands, give the best results, and
then add a few notes which may be useful to those trying the
process.
Collodion. — Keene’s dry or Pyne’s positive.
Bath. — Thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce, faintly
acid.
Washing. — Place the plate in an upright bath, containing filtered
rain water, till greasiness disappears ; then wash slightly under a
tap ; and, lastly17, place it for about two minutes in a basin of water.
Albumen Solution. — One pint of albumen to two pints of w7ater,
and ten drops of ammonia to each ounce ; applied in the usual
manner.
To Coagulate. — After pouring the albumen off closely, dip the
plate at once into a porcelain bath, containing water nearly at the
boiling point ; place on blotting-paper till surface dry, and finish
at the fire.
Exposure. — Same as for collodio-albumen.
Developer. — One grain of pyrogallic acid and three-quarters of a
drachm of Beaufoy’s acid to one ounce of water.
Now for the notes.
Of the two collodions I name, Pyne’s gives more half-tone, and has
the advantage of being cheaper. In dull weather, however, vdien
there is often a difficulty (not peculiar to this process) in obtaining
intensity, I prefer Keene’s. I have never had a blister. There is
a letter, in the last number but one of your Journal, beginning with
the slightly enigmatical sentence — “ I have already tried the effects
proposed for the use of hot water,” in which an edging of albumen
is recommended to be put round the glass before coating with col¬
lodion. This is quite unnecessary. After fixing I wash under the
pump, with a full stream of water, and have never had a film ivash
off, even with this rough usage. The film is almost as tough as
the collodio-albumen.
Neutral, faintly acid, and very acid baths, have all given me good
pictures. The plates from which the pictures I forwarded to you
july lo, L861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
240
were printed, and which you said were excellent, were sensitised in
an old collodio-alburaen bath, much discoloured, and with half a
drachm of glacial acetic acid to the ounce ; so I think I may say
considerable latitude is allowed. I observed that Mr. Parry said, a
month or two ago, u he found a neutral bath would not do, as it
yielded fogged pictures.” I have not found this to be the case. I
fancy he must have used a light unprotected by a yellow shade
during the preparation of the fogged plates. I find they are .ex¬
tremely sensitive at some period of the preparation, and that if a
naked light be used the plates will be fogged however acid the
bath. Of course I am here alluding to artificial light.
If hard water be used for the first washing, pin-holes will be the
result — particles of chloride being deposited on the plate which
the after-washings fail to remove. I wash but slightly under a tap,
since it is almost impossible to wash away evenly the free nitrate
of silver from the surface of a plate by a stream of water falling on
it, unless the washing be very prolonged. If any one doubt this,
let him soak a plate, coated with collodion, in some strongly
coloured solution, and then try to wash it off under a tap : he
will see how it collects in eddies at the corners of the plate, and
what a time it takes to remove it. The soaking in water removes
the free nitrate evenly and effectually from the surface, and leaves
an equally sensitive film all over the plate. I have never had a
picture spoilt by stains or uneven development since I have adopted
this plan. The water I use for all the washings except the first is
very hard, and of so bad a colour that it has to be filtered before it
can be used for the table. Of course I use this from necessity, not
from choice ; but I mention it to show that the process is not what
one may call “ nasty nice.”
The exact strength of the albumen solution is a matter of indif¬
ference. It must be remembered, however, that the weaker a
solution of albumen is the greater the heat required to coagulate
it. The ammonia should on no account be omitted : it modifies
the structure both of the albumen and the collodion, rendering them
less contractile. The result of omitting it would be to render the
film liable to peel off during the final drying after fixing.
I see Mr. Parry takes objection to my mode of dipping the plate
at once into hot water, as being likely to damage the plate so
dipped, or the next one. I have never found it in practice to spoil
the plate itself : what it might do to the next one I cannot say, as
I have a large kettle of hot water by my side, and use fresh for
each plate. Of course I am careful to pour off’ the albumen as
closely as possible. T used to set up on blotting-paper to drain ;
but I found that, unless I was very careful not to leave it beyond a
very short time, one side of the picture developed more intense
than the other, owing either to the albumen having drained from
the top of the plate or dried into the pores of the collodion unevenly.
The thanks of “ dry” photographers are due to Mr. Parry for calling
attention to this forgotten process ; and, though differing from him
on the above minor points, none will thank him more heartily than
myself.
[In consequence of the excellence of a couple of proofs received
from the author of the preceding paper, we requested the details
of his method of manipulation, which he has kindly given as above,
and accompanied his paper by a specimen negative, to which allu¬
sion is made. For delicacy of detail and half-tone, combined with
absolute freedom from stains and blemishes of any kind, this speci¬
men is not surpassed by any that we have seen. — Ed.]
THE LAST HEW CARBON PRINTING PROCESS DEVISED
By M. Poitevin.
This process, which was mentioned in our last by M. Lacan as
affording excellent results, has been reported upon by a sub-com¬
mittee of the French Photographic Society in terms of high com¬
mendation.
M. Poitevin, if not the author of carbon printing, was certainly
one of the earliest discoverers in this field of research ; and, as
often happens, many of his suggestions have been adopted by sub¬
sequent experimenters ivithout the slightest acknowledgment. So
far as we can judge from testimony alone, without having repeated
the experiments, the problem of carbon printing, in a really prac¬
ticable manner for ordinary photographs, appears to have been
solved.
The following are the details of the process, which is dependent
upon the hygroscopic properties acquired under the influence of
light by a mixture of perchloride of iron and tartaric acid: —
Sheets of ground glass, of the finest kind, are perfectly cleaned ;
first, with a solution of potash, then with water acidulated with
hydrochloric acid, afterwards with plain water, and finally dried
with a clean linen cloth, and all particles of dust removed with a
brush of badger’s hair. The sensitive liquid is then poured on
and spread by aid of a glass triangle, or a clean camel’s-hair pencil.
The sensitve liquid is thus made : — Dissolve in an ounce of com¬
mon water 150 grains of commercial 'perchloride of iron. In another
ounce of water, in like manner, dissolve 75 grains of tartaric acid:
filter each of these solutions separately, and, after filtration, mix
them together, then add sufficient water to make up the whole
quantity to 3£ ozs. It is important that the filtration of each solu¬
tion shall be performed before mixing them ; because commercial
perchloride of iron always contains some sesquioxide of the same
base, which is soluble in tartaric acid and injurious to the operation.
This sensitive mixture isunalterable if carefully preserved from the
light, and may be used to the last drop.
To prepare a plate, the above-cited mixture is to be poured on the
ground surface of the glass, as above directed, and, when spread all
over it, the excess may be poured off. A slip of blotting-paper is to
be applied along two opposite edges to remove the last excess of
surplus, and to equalise the film of liquid left on the glass, which is
then to be placed in a dark and dry place, at an angle of about 45
degrees, and left for twelve hours to dry spontaneously — though,
if time be an object, it may be dried artificially by means of a stove
or any similar contrivance ; but, whatever plan may be adopted,
the plate must be perfectly dried before being impressed, and, if
kept in a dark and dry place, it will remain good for two months
or more.
The negative employed should be well varnished with copal
varnish (as greasy or gummy matters arc injurious to the plates),
and placed in contact with the prepared surface. The exposure in
sunshine for a good negative not too dense, but full of detail and
half-tone, should be about five minutes ; but, as in all other pro¬
cesses, this must depend upon the intensity of the light and the
character of the negative. It is better to over than to under ex¬
pose, and the action may be to some extent watched, as the colour
of the film changes from yellow to light brown under the influence
of light.
After exposure and removal from the pressure-frame the im¬
pressed plates may be stored away for future completion, or
allowed to remain for a short time in darkness (as may be most
convenient), in order that the moisture of the atmosphere may
condense on the exposed portions of the film, the protected parts
remaining perfectly dry.
Finely pulverised carbon is next applied all over the surface, by
means of a very soft brush of badger’s hair : the image soon
appears black, and at each jDassage of the brush a fresh quantity
of carbon adheres and deepens the impression. This operation
should be arrested as soon as sufficient intensity is acquired — a
condition that may be readily judged of by laying the plate, film
downwards, on a sheet of white paper. It is not necessary to
operate in a dark room, but in one feebly lighted. The black
colour may be modified by the after addition of any other colour
in powder. In case any portions of the picture appear too
slightly impressed, it is possible to remedy the defect to some
extent by breathing on those parts, and again using the badger’s-
hair brush with the pulverised carbon; but it is not advisable to
resort to this plan needlessly, as it is apt to injure the lights of
the picture.
If the plate be perfectly dried before exposure, the protected
parts repel the carbon ; but there is always a very small quantity
that will adhere lightly to the white parts, which gives it a greyish
tone, and materially reduces the brilliancy. One of the most in¬
genious parts of the process is the removal of this small quantity
of carbon from the lights, which is effected by M. Poitevin in the
following manner: — With a tuft of cotton some white glass
pounded very fine, or some of the finest Fontainbleau sand well
sifted, is rubbed over the proof, either of which effectually removes
the superfluous particles, by a species of dry-washing process, as
M. Poitevin calls it.
If the proof be too weak, it may be still further intensified by the
carbon as before, and again dry-washed.
The image is then transferred from the glass to paper in the
following manner : —
Some plain collodion, of a fluid but tenacious character, is
poured over the plate, and, when well set, is washed in common
water, then with water slightly acidulated with hydrochloric acid,
and again with common water : then a sheet of moist paper is
applied to the surface of collodion and pressed in close contact
therewith, and allowed to dry spontaneously, when it becomes
detached from the glass, drawing away with it both the collodion
and the impression.
250
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
[July 15, 1801
A fresh sheet of paper, covered with a film of gelatine or gum,
is then pressed in contact with the previous sheet bearing the
image, both being moistened, and, on drying, the film leaves the
first sheet and adheres to the second. The image is thus pro¬
tected by the collodion film; but M. Poitevin recommends that it
should be varnished or covered with gum.
The process is alleged to be very certain, easy, and inexpensive,
as in case of failure the collodion and gelatinised paper are not
employed, because the progress of the operation is visible at every
stage, and no one need proceed with a faulty impression.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
NITEATE O 3? SILVER.
Synonymes. — -Lunar caustic, luna cornea, lapis infernalis. Fel
metallorum. Centaurea mineralis.
Composition. — Ag 0 NCR or Ag NO(1.
Equivalent. — 1 7 0.
Preparation. — This salt is best prepared by the direct action of
pure nitric acid on pure metallic silver, and evaporating the solu ¬
tion to dryness, or until it is strong enough to crystallise on cool¬
ing. But, as these materials are not always readily obtainable, it
becomes desirable to know how to make the salt with the common¬
est form of silver, viz., the standard silver of the realm — an alloy
consisting of 11 TO silver and 0'90 copper. It will be obvious that
the solution obtained by the action of nitric acid on this alloy will
contain nitrate of copper ; and, in order to separate it, it has been
recommended to evaporate the solution to dryness, and fuse the
mass strongly, in order to decompose the nitrate of copper. This
method of operating, however, causes the formation of nitrite of
silver — a very injurious substance to introduce into a nitrate bath ;
and as it has not been ascertained that nitrate of copper exercises
any detrimental effect on the formation of a latent image (any
more than the nitrates of cadmium, potassium, or ammonium —
salts often contained in a nitrate bath), or is in any way affected
by the actinic rays, the necessity for its total separation cannot be
regarded as well established. If the solution be simply evaporated
until strong enough to crystallise, the crystals dissolved in pure
distilled water and recrystallised, they will be found quite pure
nough even for photographic purposes, at least so far as extraneous
metallic impurities are concerned. The great enemy, in a photo¬
graphic point of view, to be guarded against in the preparation of
nitrate of silver is organic matter. The coins employed for the
purpose should be well cleaned, both mechanically and by boiling-
in strong soda ; and even when this precaution is adopted there
are numerous other ways in which minute traces of organic matter
will, as it were, creep in, for the mere filtration through paper will
furnish it to the solution. In the preparation of a nitrate of silver
bath, therefore, it is better, before adding the acetic or nitric acid,
as the case may be, to expose the simple solution of nitrate of sil¬
ver to the direct action of the sun’s rays during several hours,
when, such is the avidity with which this salt combines with
organic matter, it will be found completely separated by the
action of light, and, on filtration, and the addition of a due amount
of acid, will yield a nitrate of silver bath of the purest kind ; and
this method of exposing to sunshine should be adopted even when
the greatest confidence is felt in the nitrate of silver employed, as
the distilled water which is sold for the purpose will invariably
contain traces of organic matter. The above digression from
nitrate of silver to nitrate of silver bath lias been deemed not
altogether out of place, referring, as it does, to the most important
application of the salt in question.
Properties. — White, transparent, hexangular tables or right
rhombic prisms, of a powerfully metallic and bitter taste; anhy¬
drous; soluble in an equal weight of water at G0°, and in half that
quantity at 212° and in four parts of boiling alcohol, the greater
part being deposited on cooling. Pure recrystallised and dried
nitrate of silver appears to have a feebly alkaline reaction on
reddened litmus paper. The crystals are very heavy, and melt at
426° Fall., and, being run into moulds, it forms the fused nitrate
of silver of the shops, or the lunar caustic used by surgeons. At
a higher temperature than 426° it is decomposed with formation of
nitrite ; and in view of this fact the use of fused nitrate of silver
for bath solutions is open to grave objections, unless special atten¬
tion has been given to the temperature at which the fusion is
effected.
Uses. — This salt is the sine qua, non of the photographer, and is
used in almost every process where it is desired to prepare a sur¬
face highly sensitive to actinic rays.
Impurities. — These may be of two kinds, namely, those arising
from accidental contaminations of the materials employed in the
preparation of the salt, and those intentionally introduced for the
purpose of adulteration. Among the former may be mentioned
nitrate of copper, sulphate of silver, and nitrate of lead — the first
arising from traces of copper not completely separated in the pro¬
cess of purification, the second from the existence of sulphuric acid
as an impurity in the nitric acid employed to effect the solution of
the metal, and the third from the presence of traces of metallic
lead remaining in the silver through insufficient cupellation. A
fourth accidental impurity sometimes occurs in fused nitrate- of
silver in the form of nitrite, arising from want of attention to the
temperature at which the fusion takes place, which should never
be higher than 42GQ Fall. The intentional sophistications are
nitrate of potash and nitrate of lead. It may be observed that one
of the advantages attaching to the use of fused nitrate of silver is
the complete oxidation of the organic matter, a proportionate
amount of niti’ite being formed; but this may fairly be regarded
as the lesser of two evils.
Tests. — The existence of copper in nitrate of silver would be
indicated by the production of a blue colour on the addition of an
excess of ammonia. Ferrocvauide of potassium is also an ex¬
tremely delicate test, indicating one part of copper in GO, 000 of
water : it produces a puce colour in solutions containing traces of
that base. For the detection of sulphuric acid existing in the
nitrate as sulphate of silver, nitrate of baryta is the appropriate
test. The presence of lead might be ascertained by adding an
excess of hydrochloric acid to the suspected solution, boiling the
precipitate and liquor together, and filtering while hot. The
filtrate will give a black precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen, if
lead be present ; a portion also, when cold, and if sufficiently con¬
centrated, will yield a yellow precipitate of iodide of lead on the
addition of iodide of potassium. The presence of nitrate ol potash
would have so little effect, except that of reducing the strength of
the bath, that it is scarcely necessary to enter into a description of
the method by which its presence might be determined.
Effects of Interned Administration. — Nitrate of silver is a power¬
fully corrosive poison, and when sivallowed in quantity with
suicidal intention, it produces great irritation, with vomiting of a
white flaky matter, which darkens on exposure to light. Coloured
spots on the skin may also be taken as an indication of the
presence of this poison.
Antidote. — Common salt, being a remedy always ready to hand,
may be judiciously administered in cases of poisoning by this salt.
It acts by rendering the silver insoluble and, for a time, inert ; it
should, however, be followed by emetics, in order to remove it
from the system. Magnesia may also be employed either
separately or in conjunction with common salt. Both should be
followed by emetics, and, if great inflammation exist, demulcent
drinks may be freely given.
- - - 3. -
INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY.
By B. Makc.
A GREAT deal has been written and spoken lately on this subject,
and a good deal has been done in it, too ; though I have a strong
suspicion that there has been more talk than work — in some
quarters, at any rate.
Are the so-called “instantaneous pictures” really so? is a
reasonable and pertinent question one hears asked. In many
cases the answer can be satisfactorily got from an examination of
the pictures themselves. The waves do not wait to have then-
picture taken ; nor can anyone suppose that all the passengers in a
crowded street could, by any arrangement, be got to stand when
the photographer said “Now!” Anyone can satisfy himself, then,
in such cases, how far these pictures deserve to be called “install- j
taneous.” For myself, I think there has been latterly a great deal of
nonsense in the puffing talk about some fine, rapidly-taken, though
far from instantaneous, photographs. With few exceptions, the
operators themselves have left the photographic world pretty
much in ignorance about some of the more remarkable and cer¬
tainly truly instantaneous pictures. Not that the best artists are
all, I think, either disposed to be over-secretive or unwilling to
help their brethren who are a little lower down the ladder. Still
less do I think they at ali deserve the character a contemporary
lately gave to Signor Beato, of systematically humbugging ama¬
teurs by giving varied, and probably in every case incorrect, for¬
mula. As illustrative of how this useless talk goes on, see how
much has been said of the pictures of the Boulevard de Sebastopol
by M. Ferrier. If Ferrier wanted the photographic public to
July 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
251
know how these pictures were taken, he could easily tell it in
good intelligible French. What has he done? and how much is
known, after all the late trumpeting? A little has been said, but
nothing is known. Is anybody aAvare whether the pictures shown
are from collodion or from albumen negatives ? No one ever heard
of Ferrier but as the clever and successful operator in albumen.
The reasonable presumption, in the absence of information, is, that
these pictures are from albumen negatives — that old slow dry
process. Whjr write one line about the manner in which such
pictures have been obtained without giving this information ?
Some photographic friends to whom I suggested this at once
replied that it must be by collodion — wet collodion. That is just
exactly what I want to establish. Is it so ? No ! Instantaneous
pictures have been done by a dry — commonly called a slow-
process. See, for instance, the pictures exhibited at the Edin¬
burgh Exhibition, nearly three years ago, by Mr. Kibble, of Glas¬
gow. In one picture a steamer is seen passing the field of view,
yet every part of her rigging is as sharp as can be desired. I
repeat, then, that, in view of the undoubted possibility of taking-
pictures rapidly by any dry process — and still more from the fact
that such has been accomplished — I hold the presumption to be
fair that Ferrier’s pictures are by the albumen process. M. Ferrier
made no communication to the Photographic Society of France
while laying his views before it ; but only a viva voce remark on
the greater difficulty of taking street views as compared with sea
vieAvs; as, in the latter, a little movement is not seen, while the
least motion in the objects represented in his vieAvs destroys the
sharpness of the picture at once. The reporter of the meeting
adds that the only peculiarity in M. Ferrier’s “preparation” is the
“addition of a small quantity of formic acid to the silver bath.”
That is all the information furnished by M. Ferrier and the Bulletin.
Another report adds that the lenses used were Dallmeyer’s stereo,
lenses. Probably or, at least, possibly — all this is correct; but
for any practical purpose, even if all true, the information is
nearly valueless, Avhile Ave do not even know by Avhat process the
Avliole thing is done.
Similar uncertainty prevails to a great extent regarding the
productions of another talented artist, George Wilson — uncertainty
about how his pictures are produced : there can be none in the
minds of any competent judge regarding their quality. A friend
of Wilson’s Avas laughing the other day in my presence over what
he called the nonsense of saying George Wilson uses this lens and
that lens. “Why,” said my friend, “I believe he gets every lens
for stereos, that comes out, and tries them all, and he is not likely
to throw away the pictures he takes in these trials.” But that is
exactly doing what I object to — retailing second and third-hand
reports of what Mr. So-and-So does; for the same mutual friend
has gone the length of informing me precisely by what collodion
a particularly first-rate view of Wilson’s Avas done, and I could
have a pound of the same if I so desired. I would simply Avish
to protest against this Morning Advertiser sort of back-stair mode
ot getting information. I do not shut my eyes to the thirst there
is lor formula formula Avithout any caring about principles.
Again let me guard against being misunderstood. 1 do not
for one moment mean to doubt that the disclosures made by friends
of successful operators are correct, and that the information is
reliable. . Nor do I exactly mean that, Avhen any journalist says
f Ave believe Mr. So-and-so uses so-and-so,” the said journalist
has good ground for not believing anything about it. Not at all.
But what I desiderate is information from the fountain-head.
Some clever operators are deterred from writing because they say
iheie is nothing to reveal. In some cases they are afraid, even
though they Avere to give their Avhole manner of operating, and
perhaps also to point to the peculiar feature to Avhich they ascribe
theii success, that trial by others might prove that the supposed
important novelty A\ras nearly, if not altogether, useless. Witness
the excitement created by the pictures of Mr. SteAvart, brother-in-
laAv of Sir J. W. Herschel, and the information which was at once
communicated that an air-pump Avasused in the preparation of the
paper .—and Iioav everybody got air-pumps, and nobody got pic-
tuies like Mr. Stewart’s! Aftenvards, in giving very full details
of the Avhole mode of procedure, Mr. S. seemed sorry that enthu¬
siastic disciples had found that procuring an air-pump had not
ensured fine photographs. Bather discouraging that! A very
gieat noise is made about Mr. SteAvart’s fine pictures, and it oozes
out that an air-pump has been seen in his operating-room. EAreiy-
body is anxious to know all about this neAv plan, and to try it.
i ll. Stewart gives very full and faithful details of how to ensure
success ; and what then? He has a host of folloAvers? No ! The
easiest and most simple paper process is never heard of more !
Some knoAving ones hint a truth Avorth remembering — that per¬
haps it Avas Mr. SteAvartj and not Ids process, Avhich made the fine
pictures. That truth is exactly Avhat I Avish to repeat regarding
the means of producing so-called “ instantaneous” photographs.
The men, not the means, have made these pictures ; but they could
not do so Avithout the means.
One of the first to shoAv pictures so rapidly taken as to give an
image of objects in motion Avas, I think, Professor Maconachie, then
of GlasgOAv. He showed some pictures at the first meeting of the
London Photographic Society. They were at once recognised as
Avonderful ; and it seemed as if the producer of them had dropped
from the clouds he so faithfully depicted. When the meeting was
over, nobody kneAV avIio he Avas or where he could be found. Some¬
body said they thought he was a Scotchman — probably hazarding
that opinion in consequence of one of the pictures shown being a
vieAV at Granton, near Edinburgh. By-and-by the Scotch gentle¬
man took a more definite shape in the Society’s Journal, in a letter to
the Secretary (Mr. B. Fenton). Mr. Wellwood Maconachie detailed
in this letter the preparations he used in taking the pictures Avhich
had commanded so much approbation. He recommended a stable
normal collodion, iodised in the usual Avay, to Avhich he added iodide
of iron Avhen about to operate. That Avas the peculiarity in his
process. Iodide of iron had been used before in photography, and
it was knoAvn to give great sensibility. Since then no one Avho has
Avritten on the means of producing pictures rapidly has proposed
the addition of any new or before-unused substance in the collodion.
Mr. Fry, Avho has taken some very pretty instantaneous vieAvs, has
favoured the photographic Avorld Avith an account of Iioav he pro¬
duces them. The collodion he uses many Avould esteem rather
sIoav, if not unfit for negatives at all.
The silver bath has had no peculiar additions made to it, either,
for instantaneous pictures ; and sometimes, Avhere a modification
has been proposed, other equally successful operators have advised
an opposite course. Perhaps the Aveiglit of recommendation is in
favour of a neutral bath for the most rapid Avorking in collodion.
The most recent plan, and perhaps the most irreconcilable with our
previous notions, is that of M. Ferrier, referred to before, namely,
that of adding formic acid to the silver bath. Mr. Maxwell Lyte
first used honey to give increased sensitiveness, in order to get
something like instantaneous views. This idea of adding some¬
thing to the sensitised film, to make it more delicately so, seems
to have been less followed up than one Avould have anticipated.
Lately, it appears as if all the poAvers of our photographic
brethren had been directed to the developing, as the point Avhere
the most improvement could be hoped for. The collodio-albumen
process of M. Boman, which M. Chevalier, of Paris, ushered into the
photographic world lately with so much laudation, has nothing in
it to lead an operator to hope that one whit shorter exposure would
suffice Avith it than he may have been in the habit of finding suitable
in following the direction of Taupenot himself, except it consist
in using the developer hot. Leaving a portion of free nitrate looks
much like going back.
Long ago, M. Le Gray said he believed the image Avas on the
sensitive surface from the first instant it Avas exposed; and he
added that Ave only Avanted sufficiently powerful developers to
bring out this latent image. Did he succeed in practically folloAA'-
ing up this idea in taking those really beautiful instantaneous
pictures Avhich made his name a household Avord some years ago?
Or Avere they taken by the same materials — used in much the same
fashion — as others xvere then getting their sIoav pictures by? We
are left in ignorance on these points.
Strong developers, rendered more poAverful by being used warm,
and long continued developing — these seem the directions in
Avhich the tide iioav sets for quick pictures. Mr. Kibble said he
developed in some cases for ninety hours — a severe trial this for
these poAverful developers and the long continuance of their use.
Suppose Le Gray is right and the image is all there from the first :
there must be no fogging tendency, nor dirt, and no diffused light
anywhere.
Deepening seems almost to be recognised as a main element in
any plan for taking instantaneous pictures ; and in the talk lately
going on in some quarters on this subject there has been a great
deal of the exhuming business going forward. Not a bad plan this
going over the old journals and “makin’ auld claes look a’mast as
Aveel as neAv !” It Avould be just as Avell to call to call them by
their old names and give their real paternity. B}r the way, has
not some one lately brought forward the use of tincture of iodine
in deepening, as if it Avere a noA-elty ?
The attention of photographers was early directed to the im¬
provement of lenses as a likely clement in obtaining shorter
THE BEITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1801
262
exposure. A great deal of noise has lately been made about the
improvement in lenses. Somehow I cannot help thinking there is
more “gas” in the lens market now-a-days. Some very good lenses
were made many years ago. Perhaps more people now know that
a bad lens is very dear at any price, and there are probably one or
two more opticians who make good lenses ; but I do not believe
there has been any revolution in lens-making latter^. It is per¬
haps as well that photographers should not be deceived and expect
some wonderful results from the lenses now making and being
bepraised. I have given some attention to this subject, and have
no doubt there is no more rapid lens in existence than the old
landscape lens. I leave out all consideration about straightness of
lines : that is not before us now. Those who have done instanta¬
neous views do not, as a whole, use or recommend any particular
lens; in fact, the pushing of the lens into a prominent position as
an element in obtaining pictures rapidly is the optician’s doing —
not the operator’s. Yet I believe no class more highly esteem the
instruments they work with than photographers, and none are more
anxious to have the best that can be obtained.
The conclusion I arrive at from the consideration of this ques¬
tion is that instantaneous pictures are produced, generally, not
by any improved manner of operating, or by the use of new mate¬
rials or quicker-acting lenses, but pre-eminently in this case by
the superior skill exercised in every part of the manipulation.
Success in this department is the reward of perfect operating.
I do not shut my eyes to the possibility of much improve¬
ment on our present position. Pictures may be more rapidly
taken by getting more of the light from the object to the sensi¬
tive surface — that is, we may improve our lenses. Some years
ago, a gentleman proposed using a reflector behind the plate, to
get all the light that fell on the prepared surface. We may
render our plates much more sensitive. This I esteem a most
hopeful direction. Early in the use of collodion the addition of
arsenic was recommended to increase its sensitiveness. Has it
been quite abandoned? Are wet plates necessarily the most
rapid? and are dry ones, as a consequence, slower because dry ?
I would submit these questions just now, and may by- and- by risk
an answer. I hold a decided opinion, as the result of close
observation ; but it will be better to have more room to develop.
I have already indicated how much is being done in using more
powerful developers. This also I esteem to be another promising
direction for advance in rapidity. Let us not forget one thing in
the pursuit of improvement in another.
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Bothwell.
No. VI.
The field — sometimes called the field of view — I describe to be
an extent or space in which a limited number of objects are
depicted by a lens. The field, that is its margin, is in reality
always of a circular form, although the plates on which pictures
are taken, I may say, are universally7 rectangular. A focussing-
glass or plate, when rightly placed, is on the field. A line drawn
across the field, in any direction through the point in which the
images of objects are in focus, is always a curve, provided the
objects themselves are situated in a plane perpendicular to the
axis of the lens, or otherwise situated at equal distances from the
lens — or, perhaps, more correctly speaking, when the objects are
at such distances that the rays on striking the lens may be con¬
sidered parallel : thus, when all the objects are so situated, it is
evident that the whole field must be of a curved form, and not flat.
This is what is meant by the “curvature of the field,” which,
under these conditions, always occurs; for it has not yret been
discovered how to construct a lens the field of which is completely
flat. But, when the objects are situated at different distances, the
images of those objects will be some within and others beyond the
“ curvature of the field.”
The form of the curvature of the field, in any case, depends on
the shape or construction of the lens, and the side of it which may
be towards the objects or view, as also on the position of the stop
and its size. When a combination is used, the curvature is deter¬
mined by the arrangement and construction of the lenses, including
their forms, the position and size of the stop, and the sides of the
lenses towards the objects. It may be stated, as a general rule,
that the fields of all those lenses which have the greatest spherical
aberration are the most curved — so much so that they are, prac¬
tically, also very contracted or small.
I will now discuss the conditions which influence the curvature
of the field. Taking the plano-convex lens in its position in fig. 1,
page 85, with its spherical surface towards the object, and using
the whole aperture, the field of this lens is more curved than
circular, approaching to the elliptical form. Supposing hay to be
a circular or rather spherical form, then the form of the field of this
lens in that position will be c af If a small stop be now placed in
front of, and in contact with the lens, it is certain the field will be
more curved, because the outermost rays of the central pencil,
which cut the axis at b, are stopped, thus removing the focal point
farther from the lens, towards d; but in the case of the oblique
pencil the outermost ray's on both sides of its focal point, and which
cut its axis at m and y, are stopped, the result being that the focal
point, f is not moved; whereas, because the outermost rays of the
central pencil on both sides of the axis all cut the axis nearer the
lens than the average focal point, the field must be, so to speak,
deeper, therefore more curved : thus, when a small stop is used,
the field is more curved than when a large one is used. If the
stop be now moved away from, and to a distance still in front of
the lens, the field will be yet more curved ; for the outermost rays
on the right hand side of the oblique pencil, A/B, will be stopped,
and the outermost rays on the left hand side being allowed to pass
will come to a focus at m, nearer the lens than the former focal
point,/, thus drawing, in a manner, the margin of the field nearer
the lens, and thereby making the field deeper, that is more curved.
It may be taken as a general conclusion, under these conditions,
that a large stop gives a flatter field than a small one, notwith¬
standing which, although the field is more curved with a small
stop, yet the definition all over is better; because the pencils in
the latter case are less obtuse than in the former, or what is com¬
monly understood by a greater depth of focus. If the stop be now
placed behind the lens, that is, between it and the focus, and at a
certain distance from the lens, the field will bo flatter than when
the stop was in front; for, contrary to the above case, the outer¬
most rays on the left hand of the oblique pencil, A/B, which
come to a focus at m, are stopped, and the outermost rays on the
opposite side being allowed to pass will come to a focus at y,
farther from the lens than/, thus the field will be flatter.
I believe this to be the proper place in which to make a few
observations on what is usually called the “radius” of the field, but
which is oftener an inapplicable term than anything else, as it is
not a correct designation in any case, but that of a circle or sphere,
which is scarcely ever the case with the field of a lens. What is
meant by the term is this : taking the direction of a ray or pencil
from the lens to the focus in any part of the field, and tracing that
direction back until it cuts the axis of the lens, the distance from
this point to the field is called the radius of that field. It is
generally supposed (erroneously) that a field having a long radius
must, of necessity, be flatter than one with a shorter radius. Any
person who carefully studies the cases I have stated above, will
see that such is not the case ; for, when the stop is behind the lens
(with the plano-convex lens in the position stated), the field is
flatter, and yet the radius may be not more than one-half or two-
thirds the length of that when the stop is in front.
If we now turn the lens round, with its plane side towards the
object, the effects as regards oblique pencils are reversed. The
rays which pass the lens at the edge, A, of the oblique pencil cut
the axis at y, beyond the focus, / and the opposite extreme mar¬
ginal rays cut it at m, nearer the lens than /; therefore, when the
stop is ‘in front of the lens, the field is flatter than when it is
behind : thus, under these circumstances, the field with the longest
radius is also the flattest, coinciding with the common impression.
The next point I notice is how the flatness of the field is affected
by the stop being near or distant from the lens. When the stop is
some distance in front of the lens the field is flatter than when it
is in contact, because the oblique pencils are caused to deviate
towards the centre. With the stop in front a greater range of
objects may be included in focus, because of the superior flatness
of that field. If the common single view lens be substituted for
the plano-convex in the position stated the effects will be the same,
or very nearly so. In taking a picture with a single view lens,
several considerations must be taken into account. For instance,
if it is indispensable to have the objects in the centre of the field
sharp, whatever tne remainder may be (in which case a large stop
may he used), the convex surface of the lens ought to be towards
the object, because the spherical aberration of the central pencils
is less' than when the lens is the contrary way, which result is
what I understand artists to mean by focus of picture (not lens) ;
but, if it be required to have other parts of the picture with the
sharpest definition, say about half the distance from the centre to
the margin, then I would place the flattest surface of the lens
towards the object, with the stop in front. If it be wished that
July 15, 1861]
253
THE BRITISH JOURN
all the picture be as sharp as possible everywhere, with a com¬
paratively flat field, then I would have the lens and stop in the
same position, and the aperture of the stop small. . .
As a general rule when using a single lens, in whatever position
it may he put, I consider that the stop ought to be on the same
side as the flattest surface, for thereby the flattest field will.be
obtained, and the best definition up to the margin. The position
of the stop in a double portrait combination should he determined
by circumstances. It has been asserted that when, the stop is
between the lenses the field is not so flat as when it is.in front of
the anterior lens. I rather doubt this ; at any rate, if the same
size of stop be used in front, or between the lenses, I am convinced
that, practically, when it is between, a field of as large size, will be
be better defined than when the stop is in front, and that the action
of the combination will be quicker. If the flattest surface of the
front lens of a common portrait combination be towards the object,
then I grant that, when the stop is in front, the field will, in that
case, be the flattest.
The extent of the field, or its diameter, is limited by several
causes : — First, when the definition towards the margin becomes so
bad as to be objectionable, that is a limitation of the field. Second,
when there is such a diminution of light as to leave the margin too
dark, that limits the field. Third, it is also limited by the length
of the tube, and the position of the lenses and stop (and also its
size) in it. When the stop is between the lenses, the field, in re¬
gard Ito equality of illumination, is always larger than when the
stop is in front. It may be stated, and relied on, that in the ma¬
jority of cases it is more advantageous, taking all things into con¬
sideration, to have the stop between the lenses than in front. The
principal exception to this is that, in taking a portrait with a
short focus combination, the parts approaching the margin appear
too distended, too much enlarged, when viewed in the usual
manner — that is, with the picture ten or twelve inches from the
eyes. But, as this latter point belongs to the subject of distortion,
I leave it until I treat on that matter.
OFT THE APPARATUS USED IN COPYING DRAWINGS, &c.
By William Tudor Mabley.
[Eead at a'Meeting of [the Manchester 1’hotog'rapkic Society, July 3, 1S61.]
In designing the apparatus I am about to describe I have had two
objects in view: — Firstly, to obtain the means of arranging
drawings and other objects in one plane in a correct position in
reference to the camera ; and, secondly, to accomplish that end by
the most simple means. Fig. 1 is a side view of the apparatus
complete ; Fig. 2, a face view of that part which supports the draw¬
ing to be copied; and Fig. 3, a plan view of the supporting table.
AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
that the front of the box is at right angles thereto. Upon this box
is placed the camera c7, its front being brought flush with a, pro¬
jecting flange ; and thus the camera is also square with the line. b.
That portion of the apparatus for holding the object to be copied
consists of two parts ef at right angles to each other, the base
being marked at back and front — which marks being, like the
box c, placed upon the centre line b of the table, will ensure a
parallelism between the surface e and the ground glass of the
camera in a horizontal direction ; and as the box c and surface e are
square with the table a, a like parallelism in a vertical direction is
secured. The surface e is constructed by nailing boards against
battens placed at the back ; and between two of these boards are
left spaces f constituting slots. Within these slots are bolts g
passing/through the strip of wood h, which may therefore be moved
upward or downward, and secured in any desired position. In front
of the strip h is a projecting part i, provided with screws h. The
camera is always the same height from the table a, and always
occupies the same transverse position : the centre of the lens
will therefore constantly be coincident with a certain point of
the surface e, and the thing to be done therefore is so to place
the object to be copied that its centre shall agree therewith.
Suppose it is desired to copy an engraving: you place it exactly
in the middle of a drawing-board, and measure the distance from
the bottom to the middle of the subject. If this be ten inches, for
instance, and the height of the lens from the table be twenty
inches, you know that the drawing-board must be adapted ten
inches above the table ; you therefore slide the carrier h up to that
level, and there secure it, a correct parallel position being ensured
by the dotted lines ruled upon the surface e. The drawing-board
is now placed upon the carrier h, secured at the bottom by the
screws 7r, and at the top by the clips l, which may be adjusted
within the slots/. Upon the table a is a scale m , the numbers on
which determine the position of objects of different dimensions
to be copied. Suppose, for instance, you are copying an engraving
forty inches long : you place it in a line with the number forty on
the scale, and you then know that the reduced image will just
cover a plate of the size intended to be used. On the other
side of the table is a scale n, which in like manner points
out the position for a lens of another focus, and other scales
may similarly be adapted for plates of various sizes. I have
myself made the rectangular parts, e f, which carry the ob¬
ject to be copied, so that they can be folded on hinges, the stretcher
o being capable of removal : in that form they are more easily
stowed away when not in use; but upon being adapted to the table
they must, of course, be adjusted at right angles by a set square.
In one of the photographic journals I have read a description of
an apparatus somewhat similar to that which I have described, but
Here is a tabic, a, which may he supported on tressels or any¬
thing that may be at hand without regard to its being level ; along
this table is ruled a centre line, b, which is the key to the correct
positions of the object to be copied and the camera. Upon the
table a is placed a box c, on the lower part of which there are
marks ; and when these are placed on the centre line b you know
of a much more complicated character. There is no part of this
which may not easily be made by any one capable of driving a
screw or a nail. It may be taken down and stowed away in a few
minutes, and may be adapted in any situation without reference to
the levelness of the ground it rests upon. In my own case I use it
in a greenhouse, and support it by two bars placed upon the stages.
254
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1 5, lfiCl
RE-DISCOVERIES IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OP
SCOTLAND. — REPLY TO MR. PETER SMITH.
By J. T. Taylor.
That “ Scotland still stands where she did,” and that I of all others
am alive to tell the tale, is matter of thankfulness when I con¬
sider the fierce shower of fiery darts with which Mr. Smith has
thought fit to assail the northern metropolis. So far as I indivi¬
dually am concerned it will be no arduous task to answer all Mr.
Smith has advanced, seeing that his charges are made against the
wrong person altogether. As was explained in the editorial note
appended to Mr. Smith’s paper, I am not the Secretary of the
Photographic Society of Scotland, but merely a private member
of that body ; and consequently I am no more responsible for the
alleged misdeeds of any of its members than is Mr. Smith for the
misdeeds of members of any Society, photographic or otherwise,
. with which he may happen to be connected. What I myself say
or do 1 am responsible for. I will always cash my own paper on
demand; but with that of others, although members of the same
Society, I have nothing to do.
Having so far cleared the ground I will now proceed to make
some remarks on Mr. Smith’s communication. That gentleman,
while admitting the necessity of a denunciation of photographic
re-invention, denies the right of its being administered by a
Scotchman ; because that Scotchman was supposed to be Secretary
of a Society which had, according to Mr. Smith, made itself
notorious for its patronising second-hand discoverers. Than this
the “power of logic can no farther go;” hence Heave this proposi¬
tion as it stands, satisfied that the reductio ad absurdam will be fully
developed as soon as it passes under the eye of an intelligent reader.
May I, in passing, ask how it happens that Mr. Smith, feeling as
he does the necessity of making such a denunciation, and possessed
of such facts, has been so long in entering the field? Now, I
would here beg to deny in toto that the Photographic Society of
Scotland has “made itself notorious for its patronage of second¬
hand discoverers.” I at once admit the accuracy of the four cases
adduced by Mr. Smith; but these are perfectly insufficient to
establish such a character for a public Society. And even these
may be capable of explanation : one of them I know to be so —
the one in question being Mr. Macnair’s discovery that wort acted
as a preservative coating for a collodionised plate. Granting, as
Mr. Smith says, that it had been previously brought before the
notice of the Society on three different occasions, that is no
reason why Mr. Macnair might not be an independent discoverer
of it. I presume neither Mr. Macnair nor the Council of the Society
claim that this was the first discovery, but that it was a discovery,
so far as Mr. Macnair was concerned ; at least I suppose this
to be their position. Mr. Smith is pleased to be witty at the
expense of the Council, because of the bronze medal awarded to
Mr. Macnair. Well, I daresay the Council will be perfectly ready
and willing to defend its own acts ; but, as I have already said,
I have nothing to do with the matter, not being responsible for
its actions. These are all the remarks I deem it necessary to
make at present, reserving anything further for another time,
should it be necessary.
P.S. — What does Mr. Smith mean by my late sneers against Eng¬
lishmen ? I suspect Mr. Smith has got his brain “ soused ” into
the dense fog about which he writes so feelingly.
ON THE BEST MEANS OF AVOIDING THE ORDINARY
FAILURE IN THE MANAGEMENT. OF THE WET COL¬
LODION PROCESS.*
By M. Martin,
Professor of Natural Philosophy at the College of Saint-Barbe.
Two years ago I undertook a work, previously commenced, in
which I resolved to seek the causes of the accidents that photo¬
graphers meet with, and the means of avoiding them. I am glad
to have successfully attained this object, and it gives me pleasure
to communicate the results of my labour to the French Society of
Photography.
In the first place one should understand well the nature of col¬
lodion and the elements of which it is composed.
I shall have little to say of ether, as it may be obtained from the
manufacturers of chemical products sufficiently pure and refined at
62 degrees. It is slightly alkaline when it is newly prepared and
has not been exposed to the action of light in a vessel not filled.
The alcohol that I use is of forty degrees, which may be easily
obtained. The cotton varies most, the variation depending on the
conditions under which it is prepared.
* From Le Bulletin cle la Socictie Francais Photographique.
There are four kinds of nitrogenised cotton, which are —
First — Cotton with five equivalents of hyponitric acid (gun cot¬
ton) : it only dissolves in methylacetic ether ; and the solution
which results from it leaves by the evaporation of this ether a
pulverulent sediment, useless for photographic purposes.
In a mixture of ether and alcohol this cotton sterns at first to
dissolve ; but, after standing, the whole settles at the bottom of the
bottle in a gelatinous form.
Second' — Cotton with four equivalents of hyponitric acid (soluble
cotton) is the best for photographic use. It dissolves in methy¬
lacetic ether, and in the mixture of ether and alcohol : this last
solution leaves, by evaporation, a transparent film, more or less
cohesive, according to the quantity of ether in the mixture of the
two liquids.
Third — Cotton with three equivalents of hyponitric acid i'pow-
dery cotton), soluble in the same liquids as the previous ones, and
also in acetic and in dilute nitric acid. The film left by evapora¬
tion is always opaline, and has no cohesiveness, owing to the
nature of the cotton, and also because this cotton requires in the
mixture of ether and alcohol a larger quantity of alcohol than the
preceding kind of cotton.
Fourth — Cotton with two equivalents (of hyponitric acid) is
soluble in water, and no longer leaves a tenacious film upon the
glass : upon being immersed in water this film completely dis¬
appears.
These different kinds of cotton are seldom obtained of a nature
so decided as those that I have just described : those met with in
common are generally mixed in various proportions.
In 1852, in an address presented to the Society for the Encou¬
ragement of Arts and Sciences, I described a means by which cotton
entirely soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol might be obtained
with certainty, and the method has been followed from that time
by one of our first manufacturers of chemical products, who has
assured me that he has always obtained the best results.
Since that date Mr. Hardwich has studied deeply the nature and
manufacture of soluble cotton by the mixture of sulphuric and nitric
acids. I carefully repeated all his experiments. At first I expe¬
rienced a want of success, owing to the raonohydrated nitric acid
that I was using not containing enough of hyponitric acid; but,
when I learned that it is this last-named acid which is the true
transforming agent by which the ordinary cotton is converted into
nitric cotton, I completely succeeded in obtaining the different
varieties of cotton that I wished to study according to the direc¬
tions of this English writer.
The only inconvenience arising from the presence of the first kind
of cotton (gun cotton) is that Ave are unable to tell the real quantity
of soluble cotton introduced into the collodion, and of giving it the
tendency to peel off.
The third variety (powdery cotton), producing an opaline film,
deficient in tenacity, can be easily eliminated from the soluble
portion by beating the tufts between the hand, and, at the same
time, bloAving them before their introduction into the mixture of
ether and alcohol.
The fourth kind, soluble in Avater, is not met Avith except in
samples badly Avashed ; but it occurs in collodion already prepared
when containing alkalies.
Alkalies possess the property of removing from the dissolved cotton
a_ certain quantity of hyponitric acid , and of causing it to pass succes¬
sively from the first to the fourth variety. To their presence is due the
only alteration which the collodion can undergo in becoming old when in
well-stopped bottles not exposed to the light.
This last essential element of collodion is the soluble iodide
added thereto.
_ Iodides. have a great tendency to combine with a certain quan¬
tity of oxide of the same base so as to form an oxy-iodide.
Oxy-iodides soluble in Avater are decomposed by alcohol at forty
degrees if the oxide be not soluble in this liquid. Itis the case Avith
cadmium and zinc. Potash being soluble in alcohol, the oxy-iodide
will dissolve, and the potash will react upon the cotton so as to
cause it to undergo the above described transformations.
Thus collodions iodised with iodide of potassium are always un¬
stable ; and the photographer desirous of avoiding every cause of
failure ought to banish it, as Avell as every iodide having a base the
oxide of Avhich is soluble in alcohol, absolutely from the com¬
position of his collodion.
There still remains another reason why the iodide of potassium
should be proscribed. It is that bromides often enter into the
composition of collodion, and then by double decomposition it
forms bromide of potassium almost insoluble in ether and alcohol ;
so that a precipitate is formed which is difficult to collect at the
July 15, 186 lj
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
255
bottom of the bottle, and which causes those little white spots
upon the proofs which have discouraged so many operators.
The iodide of ammonium so easily loses its excess oi ammonia
in becoming yellow that it causes but little inconvenience.
The facts which have been previously mentioned being well
understood, collodion may be made in the following manner : — .
In ounces of alcohol at 40 degrees dissolve 75 grains of iodide
of cadmium and (if bromides are used) 6 grains of bromide of cad¬
mium. Let the solution stand, which will allow a gelatinous sedi¬
ment of oxide of cadmium to be precipitated; then filter, and put
it in about 12 ounces of rectified ether at 62 degrees. If the ether
be not acid the mixture will remain uncoloured. A drop or two of
tincture of iodine will give to it a pale straw colour; then 75
grains of pyroxyline, -well freed from powdery matter, may be dis¬
solved therein. After a few minutes shake it and let it stand.
I do not pretend to give the absolute proportions, but a certain
way of preparation. The proportions vary a little with the
habits of the practitioners, who prefer some a thin others a thicker
collodion. The preceding mode of operation has for its object the
removal of the oxide from the acid that contains it, and therewith
first the fogs and the grey tones, and afterwards the instability of
the collodion caused by its reaction upon the cotton.
Note. — If one employs with the mixture iodide of cadmium and
of ammonium, which is a little yellow, the addition of free iodide
becomes useless.
I use crystallised nitrate of silver for my bath, and, if needful,
dry it with a sand bath in a china capsule. The fusion of nitrate
of silver is always a dangerous operation for the ultimate success,
in consequence of the possibility of a slight decomposition by the
organic matters which may get into the crucible. Dissolve from 600
to 750 grains of nitrate of silver in eight ounces of water, and put in
a few drops of a filtered alcoholic solution of cadmium, so that
there may remain a little in excess of iodide of silver undissolved ;
then add the eight ounces more of water necessary to complete
the bath ; part of the dissolved iodide is again precipitated; again
filtered through the same paper, and the bath is then ready
for use.
The developer must fulfil several conditions : —
1st. Only operate upon the nitrate of silver in the film on those
parts where the light has acted upon it and not in the body of
the liquid.
2nd( Penetrate the film so as to act on every part that has
been exposed to the action of the light.
3rd. Only commence to operate at the end of one or two seconds,
in order to allow the operator to empty the liquid upon the plate
without marks being caused by any check in the flowing of the
liquid.
Used in the following manner, pyrogallic acid well fulfils these
conditions : — Dissolve fifteen grains of pyrogallic acid in three
drachms of crystallised acetic acid and one drachm of alcohol at
forty degrees. This solution will keep for a long time in a dark
place, and can be used as provision for an excursion. In order to
use it, add one drachm to two and a-haif ounces of water (not
calcareous) : distilled water is not necessary when one is assured
by trial that the solution thus obtained does not become yellow in
about twenty-four hours. Prepared by the preceding method, this
solution serves completely to develop an impression without the
appearance of that black mud, which is owing to the reduction of
the silver in the body of the liquid, and to the detriment of the
picture.
If it be necessary to strengthen too weak an impression, use the
same liquid, with the addition of a few drops of nitrate of silver of
about thirty grains to the ounce of water.
Certain conditions of light compel the operator to develop with
sulphate of iron. In this case I dissolve, first, about three ounces
of sulphate of iron in eight ounces of water; and, second, one
drachm of acetic acid and two drachms of alcohol in eight ounces
of water. I empty this second solution into the first, and use the
mixture as a developing agent. For instantaneous impressions, I
substitute for acetic ether nitric ether alcoholised — known com¬
monly as nitric ether. In this case the solution of iron becomes
very brown, and gives a sediment in twenty-four hours, which has
only to be filtered.
These baths of iron filtered at each operation will serve several
times; and if it be found that they give an abundant precipitate in
their mixture with nitrate of silver from the plate, it is owing to
the light being too weak for the iron bath — in which case dilute
the latter with water before using it.
The fixing is perfonned by means of a saturated solution of
hyposulphite of soda in the same way as the development.
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OB, A PHOTOG-BATHEB’S JOURNAL OP A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Ckajib.
No. VII.
Jerusalem — Supply op Water — First Photograph of the
City— View from Mount of Olives and from Scopus.
It would be quite useless to inform my readers how I darkened my
operating-room, as I may not again do so precisely in the same
manner. Each occasion requires its own adaptation. I rather
prefer to work by artificial light for several reasons: it is more
manageable — the same arrangement does for day and night — and,
above all, it is so perfectly reliable : there is no chance of being de¬
ceived with bad yellow glass or paper which is not yellov). By
using artificial light one can be certain there is no white light
admitted into the room. After all openings have been shut, and
the candle or lamp is extinguished, the operator should sit down
for a few minutes before he risk to commence. The probability is
that, after he has supposed every opening by which light could
possibly penetrate has been closed, there will remain several chinks
and seams— it may be little more then perhaps pin-holes, but quite
sufficient, if neglected, to utterly unfit the room for photographic
operation, particularly for the preparation of dry plates. The
frequent washing of these expose them so much that, if there be
any diffused white light in the room, they are almost certain to be
spoiled ; and, again, any light they may get during preparation
tells so much more if they are long kept before development. I
have seen many operating-rooms in daily use for wet plate work
in which I am sure no one could risk sensitising and washing plates
to be kept for some time. But I did not intend to say a word on
that subject here, further than that I succeeded in making my
room dark enough to suit my ideas after a good deal of pinning
and tacking, yet so that I could open all or darken again in two
minutes.
I have elsewhere given an account of my usual plan of sensitising
and washing. I proceeded here as usual. The water in Max’s well
I found very good, though contaminated with lime salts ; but the
people of Jerusalem do not look upon that as a photographed does:
lime is no contamination ; it is put in intentionally to keep the
water sweet. In my last, when describing the Syrian houses, I
should have described the provision that is usually made for a supply
of water, particularly as that is rather of more importance to the
photographer than anything else about these houses. Rain is the
principal and best source for the supply of water in Eastern cities.
In such countries as Palestine there arc few rivers or springs of
living water. The consequence is that water is one of the things
men desire to possess as of the highest value. A well is a mine of
wealth to the fortunate possesser. Rain is the chief and best
source of water supply for Jerusalem. There is but one good
well — the well “ En Regel,” below Siloam. A grand one it is : it
never seems to fail. All last summer, though it was an unusually dry
season, every day, from early dawn until dusk, half-a-dozen strong,
half-naked Arabs, kept ever plunging their buckets into its inex¬
haustible store. The Arab brain has not yet fathomed the principle
of the pump. As a matter of course, as they do not comprehend
how it can draw up water, they think it must do so by magic.
When the builder of the alms-houses for poor Jews, which Sir M.
Montefiore has recently had erected over against Zion on the side
of the Valley of Gehinnon, put down a pump he had brought from
England, the Arabs at first thought him a fool to expect that water
would come up a narrow pipe without a bucket or rope. The
pump was, however, set to rights ; of course the water did come ;
and, as a consequence, the architect and builder ceased to be a
“ fool;” but the poor ignorant Arab remained doubtful whether his
being able to do feats of magic proved him to be a better or a
worse man.
I have referred to the well in the house: it is so named, though,
as we use the word, its being so designated is a misnomer. They
are not wells, but cisterns in which the prudent householder stores
the abundant supply of avater which falls on his housetop during a
few weeks of the year, and which will, if properly collected, and
used with reasonable care, furnish an abundant supply for all the
year. When a man begins to build a house, the well or water
cistern is first made, being frequently cut out of the rock, and it is
always under ground. It is carefully and strongly built, and
covered with a hard and close-grained cement. It is arched on the
top, leaving an opening through which the water is drawn, and by
which also a man can descend for the purpose of repairs. Over
this, then, the house is built. The well is, tiu fact, in the cellar of
the house. The top of the house is so constructed that the water
256
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[July 15, 1801
all runs by connecting channels to the “ well.” Nowhere in Syria
need there be the least difficulty about a good and abundant supply
of water, if all the houses are everywhere built as 1 have described.
But wherever there is any other source of suppl}r, however inferior
in quality, or uncertain in amount and constancy, men will trust to
it : they are, in consequence, frequently perishing for want, and
never half as Avell off as they might be if the winter’s rain
were but properly stored as a provision against the summer’s
drought.
I did not get my plates ready till after four o’clock. I was
anxious, however, to take a picture the first day I was in Jerusalem:
so off I went about five o’clock, after I had done partial justice to
dinner, which had been preparing simultaneously with my glasses.
Enthusiastic photographers are very apt to forget all about dinner
summonses ; and it is perhaps as well — though they do not always
think so — that sensible housekeepers are as decided in insisting
that roast beef should not be over-exposed on the table as they have
taken care it should not be under-done in the kitchen.
By the time I had my camera adjusted the sun was getting low
and the shadows were becoming long, reminding one of home as
compared with the nearly vertical light which prevails in such
countiies. I exposed for two minutes with the middle size of stop,
about half-an-inch in diameter, in my fifteen-inch-focus lens, and
same time for the stereos. I have already mentioned that I took
the 8 x 10 and stereo, pictures at one time, using one stand for the
three cameras. In my next I will give a full description and a
drawing of the arrangements.
I took two complete copies. These I developed the same even¬
ing, and they turned out as well as I could have expected. Those
who have seen the published views will recognise it under the title
of Jerusalem from the North.
I again sensitised before going to bed. This practice I pro¬
posed to carry on daily, developing each day’s pictures the same
evening, and preparing for the next day. I soon found it would
not suit in practice, however well it might look on paper. It was
too hard work, and there was no need for such hurry. Most of
the objects had been pretty much as they were for a very long
time, and they would all accommodate me by remaining a few
days longer, till I had caught their shadow, without endangering
my health or life, which I soon perceived this day-and-night
working would shortly do. I resolved to betake myself next morn¬
ing to the Mount of Olives, and to do the grand view of the Holy
City, obtained from any point on its summit. Olivet is not properly
a mount, but an elevated range extending along the whole eastern
side of the City, with the so-called Valley of Jehoshophat lying
between it and the heights on which Jerusalem stands. Three
distinctly marked eminences are easily made out. On the central
of these stands the Church of the Ascension, built on the spot from
which tradition says our Saviour “ was parted from his disciples
and carried up into heaven.” From this central point a fine view
of the city is obtained It “ comes in ” in two with a lens which
covers well. The spectator is a considerable height above the
highest parts of the City, and it lies as it were nearly at his feet —
every important object being distinctly seen. Passing to the
southern shoulder of the Mount of Olives a better view is obtained
— more angular, and bringing in a little of the south side of the
city wall. It makes a much finer composition, and has, perhaps,
but one drawback — the Garden of Gethsemane is not seen at all.
Another objection, also, is that the view becomes lengthened, so
that three plates are required to include the whole City within
and without the walls. Again, moving northward to the third
elevation, designated Olivet, a very good view is also obtained,
finely drawn together, and with a more varied foreground than
either of the other views. Farther north still, and a little west
from what has been called Scopus, an excellent picture of the Holy
City in one view is obtained, showing the northern and eastern
sides of the City wall. In each case, the elevation on which the
spectator stands is such as completely commands the whole City.
The near parts being in all the lower— the ground rising as the
objects recede. Those travellers who approach Jerusalem from
the north by the Damascus or north road, get this grand picture
as their first view. It bursts on us at once; and, even after one is
familiar with every object on it, the impression produced on the
mind is such as can never be effaced. No wonder that those who
have come far, and to whom this is the realisation of a life-long
desire, should lay aside for a time the prudential considerations
which stifle the expression of strong emotion. It is a study for a
psychologist to observe, on such an occasion, the various manners
in which each nationality expresses the full joy of a grateful
heart. And how truly gladdening it is, too, to look on, while
Jew, Moslem, and Christian together join in thanking the “ One
God and Father of all” that their eyes at last look on what .ill
recognise as the Holy City !
I return to my camera on the top of Olivet, and while I expose
a few plates I will chat a little more with my readers about the
City which lies before me, and also embrace tin' opportunity, aa 1
have before mentioned, of taking a picture of my arrangements
of cameras, and giving a description of their modus operand i.
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A LATE ENTHUSIASTIC
AMATEUR.
Edited by Sydney Sunshine.
When the late Thomas Hood compared enthusiasm to turtle soup,
asserting that the mode largely preponderated in quantity over the
real , he could not have had the remotest apprehension of photo¬
graphic enthusiasm, because I think that is in most cases (l know
it was in mine) the real genuine article. What else could have
lured me, like an ignis-fatuus , through all the various complicated
processes — wet and nasty — dry and sticky? Calotype, waxed paper,
and collodion — preservative, honey, treacle, syrup (oh ! the sweet
coats — claret, blue, mulberry, &c. — morning promenade — I spoiled) —
culminating in raspberry vinegar and gin and water! What “a
nuisance ” the servants voted me ! “ Another of Mister Augustus’s
messes!” would the laundress exclaim. “It’s my private hopinion” — ■
I heard the venerable butler soliloquise — “It’s my private hopinion
that Mister Augustus ’ll pisin hissclf some of these days with his
’sperimentising.”
How well I remember all the fixes and failures I waded through,
all the insults I endured, and all the scrapes I got into in the laud¬
able pursuit and practice of our noble art! How well that one
bright hour in a whole week of wet ones, when I made that journey
to the Ruins of Mildew Abbey (two hundred miles) to get an
example of the Anglo-barbaric period with which my rich anti¬
quarian uncle wished to illustrate his lecture at the Tiptopham
Athenaeum ! How well I remember, after adjusting the camera
and uncovering the lens for three-quarters-of-an-hour’s exposuro
(those were the early calotype days, dear reader), strolling away
to meditate and dream o’er the days that are gone and imagine the
scenes that had been enacted within those walls —
“to re-people with the Past,
While of the Present, there was still for eye,
And thought, and meditation chastened down,
Enough, and more, may be, than I had asked or sought.”
And then, when “ time was up,” returning to put the cap on
the lens and finding a Roger Chawbacon of a clown stooping with
hands on knees in the position of a schoolboy in the game of leap¬
frog, his nose and little red eyes peering into the lens in the vain
effort to make out “what wor going on hinside.” My picture Avas
of course spoiled, and, alas ! I fear my temper. With Avliat gusto
did I not thrust him aside, muttering benevolent wishes — not loud,
but deep ! With what relish did little Snap-dragon (warranted to
kill any number of rats in no time at all) fasten on to the bottoms
of his corduroys !
FeAv but those Avho have Avorked with the woolly-paper processes
can tell the delight Avith which the collodion process Avas hailed,
more particularly when it was made available in the field.
Blessed be the man who first invented tents — I mean photographic
tents ! Of all the other varieties of tent, ancient and modern — the
Arab tent, the military tent, the gipsy tent (whose joys form such
a card in opera choruses), the Avigwam, the gold-digger’s tent, &c.
— a ponderous tome lately given to the world by a learned Profes¬
sor of one of our Universities, after many years of painful labour
and research, is completely exhaustive. But dark tents ! does any
one know the name of the transcendent genius Avho invented them?
Ought he not to have a testimonial raised to his honour? Have
we not had testimonials raised for more questionable objects? How
much that is charming in Avild and rugged landscape do Ave not
OAve to him! But their use is not unattended with difficulties and
dangers to the tyro. To such m.y advice is, do not estimate too
highly “lightness and portability,” because those qualities are too
often associated Avith inefficiency. To those about to purchase a
peripatetic edifice of black and yellow, weighing only so many
ounces, I humbly offer the advice of my illustrious contemporary,
Pundt, to persons about to make an investment of another kind — •
“ Don’t nor be too partial to the use of tripods for its support. A
strong, solid box, Avhich Avill hold all your paraphernalia, Avith a
hole made in the centre of the lid, is a far better thing to screw
the table of a tent doAvn upon. It offers a more solid resistance to
Avind in a rough or open country, and can be left to itself Avith
July 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
257
safety. A camp-stool, or a plate-box, will reduce you to the proper
height. The arrival of my first tent from Messrs. Slidedark and Co.
was a red-letter day in my photographic career. I am not gifted
with second-sight, and had not the most infinitesimal section of a
peep into futurity. How we admired its graceful proportions when
erected in the back parlour ! Unsoiled, unstained, with a refresh¬
ing odour of the cabinet-maker’s workshop yet lingering around it !
How some one I know got in it and shook a merry little head
running over with curls about when I followed to give sage ex¬
planations ! I have since used tents of all kinds with pleasure and
advantage, but still look back to this my first love with mingled
feelings of enjoyment and regret.
When travelling in Scotland, I essayed to use it for the first time
in an endeavour to bag that magnificent panorama which spreads
itself out at the tourist’s feet in crossing the hills both to the north
and north-east, a few miles from Aberfeldy. Who that has ever
gazed thereon can forget it ! I took up quarters at the little
village inn, which lay nestling under the cool shadows of one of
the mountains. The first day proved unpropitious, wet and
misewable . Chafing with inaction, I sought refuge in the literature
of the hostelry, which proved to consist of a Johnson's Dictionary ,
an old Family Herald , and a Ready Reckoner. However, my im¬
prisonment did not obtain any sympathy from the inhabitants, who
were evidently glad to have so fine a bird in their cage.
Bright was the morn of the next day, when, after a Highland
breakfast, I sallied forth with my retinue. I had hired three sturdy
gillies, with bronzed faces, and a cake-fed-looking Highland lad, to
carry my cases, &c. ; and as we slowly and laboriously wound our
way round the hill-side, the sun came out cheerily, while the lark
sung loud at Heaven’s gate, and things looked auspicious and
inspiriting. When reaching some considerable altitude there is
always a feeling of loneliness steals over the wayfarer which it may
be imagined is the result of the intense tranquillity that prevails.
But the sensations experienced are usually agreeable, and the sense
of hearing becomes acuter. Now and again, the sharp crack of a
rifle breaks the stillness, or a heron starts up almost at your feet,
wheeling in circles overhead, screaming sharply the while. Deer
are seen stealing out of the coverts, and the huge fissures in every
crag are purple with mountain-heather.
We selected a site for the commencement of our operations —
unpacking, erection of tent, and so on — about half-way up the
hill-side, at an accessible distance from which was a little mountain
tarn, sparkling with the necessary water. But, after getting all
in readiness, as will often happen, the weather, which had been
gradually lowering, became so overcast and threatening that we
were fain to sit down to the luncheon we brought with us. This
passed over, but not the clouds ; and, to soothe my impatience, I
lit my cigar, and lying down on the blooming heather, meditated
on the vanity of human pursuits in general, and photographing in
particular.
The day dragged through, though clouds kept out the sun ; but
towards evening I was pleased to feel the wind rising — in fitful
gusts at first, then more steadily — and the banks of clouds began to
“move on.” The mist below began to whirl about in eddies, re¬
vealing through and beyond them masses of dark green firs, upright
and regular, looking in the dim distance like battalions of riflemen
standing in rank. Gradually, as the wind rose, the mist rolled
itself up and away, like the curtain of a theatre, revealing one of
the most superb tracts of country at your feet, dotted with soft,
quiet hamlets, shady woods, shining patches of water, rich corn
fields, and beyond all, the moors stretching away in undulations,
like “mighty billows of a granite sea.”
Presto ! the camera was speedily got into position, and a plate
prepared. The thing looked so splendid on the focussing-screen
that I began developing with almost trembling eagerness. This
plate — no matter from what cause — was a failure. Another was
speedily ready and exposed, and the development successfully
commenced, when one of those sudden and tremendous gusts of
wind — not uncommon there — after buffeting the tent a good deal,
got fairly the mastery by a coup de main , getting under the bottom of
it and uprooting the whole at one fell swoop, sending me enveloped
in it with all its contents, rattling over and over down the steep
hill side. Every yard accelerated the impetus, and the speed with
which it rolled over and over wound it up into a tolerably compact
mass. Blinded, cut, half-smothered and stifled with nitrate bath,
collodion, developing and fixing solutions, bottles and measures —
of which I was the centre — I could yet hear the three gillies rush¬
ing frantically down the steep at full speed, like the same number
of witches in Macbeth, screaming and screeching the wildest Gaelic,
and tumbling over each other in the vain effort to stop the rolling
mass — which never did stop until it reached the bottom of the
hill !
Only those who have been present at the unrolling of a mummy-
can picture the process of my disinterment. I emerged half dead,
wholly disgusted, and gazed around me in a state of considerable
spherical aberration, combined with as large an amount of chro¬
matic dispersion. The shades of evening were falling fast, and
not umvelcomely, as I reached my inn ; and making my entry by
the back entrance for fear of gazers, my blackened and grotesque
appearance frightened the servant maid, who s'campered off evi¬
dently thinking she had at last seen the “ warlock o’ the glen.” I
immediately hurried to bed, replying to the inquiry of “ boots,”
as to when I should be called— “ Next iveelc ! ” and seeking my
pillow, let “ tired nature’s sweet restorer” steep me in oblivion.
|letorh of plljofograpljit fnbenticms.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &e.
[Notici. — Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to firm such in¬
ventions and applications as may be of interest to photographers, whether they be of
great or minor importance, and also to compare the relative merits of two or more con¬
trivances, designed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible we shall, as a rule,
describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a place in these columns after a
personal inspection of the same. It is therefore requested that manufacturing, pro¬
fessional, and amateur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as soon
as they are ready to place them before the public, whether they be lenses, cameras,
stands, tents, operatingboxes, printing apparatus, preservative cases, enlargingapparatus,
stereoscopes, novel methods of fitting-up glass or developing rooms and their appur¬
tenance-, artificial sources of light, &c., or the applications of photography to technical
or useful purposes. If the inventors be resident in the country, it is requested that they
should forward with a simple description of the object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the same.]
No. Y.
INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTERS.
In the last number of The British Journal of Photography a
notice was given of M. Mc-A. Gaudin’s reclamation of the inven¬
tion of the Instantaneous Shutters we were the first to call
attention to, in “ Letters to a Photographic Friend” in the
previous volume, as well as at page 105 of the present volume of
this Journal.
Mr. Thomas Boss has recently drawn our attention to what he
calls “ the Great Grandfather ” of the flap shutters employed by-
Murray and Heath, Fry, Dallmeyer, and Gaudin, viz., the flap that
was used to cap the “ reversing prism” in the old days of Da¬
guerreotype practice, it being “ The Common Plan,” as Professor
Huxley would call it, to which all the various modifications are
referable. At the same time Mr. Ross showed us the model of an
instantaneous shutter on this plan, that had been constructed
some years back, by a member of his establishment ; and as
this has some good points we shall describe it. In the first place,
258
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1801
the tubes, by which the shutter is attached to a twin lens camera,
are cut off obliquely, after the manner in which it is the custom to
cut a German sausage, or like a coal-scuttle — the object of this being
to ensure the flap shutter falling “ home ” when the camera is pointed
downwards, as the longest dimension of the tube is placed under¬
most, therefore in a position calculated to meet the shutterjn its
fall, after it has been raised for the exposure, unless the lenses be
pointed downwards at too great an angle. These connecting tubes
are soldered to separate plates of brass that work to and fro in
grooves, in the back of the base-plate, to which the shutter is
hinged, so as to allow of the lenses being separated at the discre¬
tion of the operator. The centre of the base-plate is cut away, so
as to form an oblong aperture, and to its front upper edge is hinged
the brass flap or shutter. To this shutter an instantaneous action
is imparted by means of the following contrivance : — At one end of
its upper edge a curved brass lever projects, over which is stretched
the loop of an india-rubber band that is fixed to an arm attached to
the under edge of the back of the base-plate. The shutter is held
down over the apertures of the lenses by means of a trigger ; hut as
soon as this is freed the elastic band re-acts, and pulling the lever
downwards it elevates the shutter ; but at a certain point it slips
off the lever, and the shutter, being thus freed from its action, falls
back over the lenses : in its course it strikes and passes over the
catch of the trigger, which again retains it in close contact with
the base-plate, so as to exclude all light from the lenses. The action
is very rapid.
THE PHOTOGEAPHEE’S LAMP.
Those who employ dry plates when on a trip away from home
must have felt the want of a compact form of yellow shaded
lamp, by which they could safely change the plates in their
camera frames, or develop the pictures they had taken during
the day. Having personally experienced the misery of work¬
ing with a candle shaded by several thicknesses of yellow
calico, we contrived a portable lamp for a recent trip to the
picturesque shores of South Devon. In the first place we selected
a cylindrical lamp glass of yellow “ pot metal to this we had
fitted a turned wooden foot, so constructed that whilst it admitted
air to a night light placed inside the shade, it should not allow' auy
stray ray of light to escape, this being effected by drilling the
little pedestal on which the light was placed with a system of air
passages at right angles to each other — one set being immediately
under the light, the other set in the base of the wooden foot.
Within the yellow glass shade a tin case, to hold a stock of night-
lights, was fitted, any jarring being prevented by means of a tuft
of cotton wool : the lid of this stock case formed the water dish for
the night-light when the lamp was in use. To protect the
glass when en route, or not in use,
a tin cylinder was fitted over all, so
as to wedge tight on to a slightly
conical rim turned on the wooden
stand.
The arrangement will be perfectly
intelligible by aid of the annexed
diagram.
C The outer tin cover or guard.
T The inner tin stock case.
G The yellow lamp glass.
S The wooden stand perforated with air holes
a a a.
The dimensions, when packed, are
nine inches long by three inches in
diameter. This apparatus is soon
unpacked and put up again, and it
answers its purpose admirably.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Illustrations of Scenes in Madeira, taken by Russell M. < rORDOH.
London: Murray & Heath, Piccadilly;
Horne & Tiiornthwaite, Newgate Street.
The island of Madeira cannot fail to be more or less interesting to
almost every Englishman, frequented as it is by those suffering
from, or threatened with, an attack of that fatal malady, consump¬
tion; and there are hut few amongst us who have not some friend
or relative who has been or is about to go there. This alone would
render the series before us popular; but, in addition to the adven¬
titious attraction of sentiment, many of the scenes are in themselves
highly beautiful, and others curious. The execution of the pict arcs
is also such as to command praise, the operator being evidently a
skilled hand. We propose describing some of the more remarkable
amongst these specimens; and first we notice the
View oh the Seixal Road — a subject as curious as it is pic¬
turesque. The whole island is of a basaltic formation, and is deeply
indented with narrow valleys and water-courses: the elevation is
also very considerable. In this view the spectator is upon a narrow
pathway, high up on the almost perpendicular rock near the coast.
A promontory of the rock juts out in the middle distance, across
which is seen a small bay, with another projection beyond. The
rock itself is worn and furrowed, and clothed irregularly with
vegetation of humble character. The narrow pathway, only some
three or four feet wide, is, a little beyond the part where the opera¬
tor is situated, protected by a sort of artificial screen from the
influence of a mountain stream, which falls perpendicularly almost
in a mass of fine vapour. At the entrance of this covered way a
man is seen contemplating the prospect beyond. This slide is
novel, picturesque, and beautifully executed.
Loo Rock and Pantinsh is the title of an instantaneous marine
view, with a calm rippling sea, and on which is seen a vessel at
anchor, a few light streaky clouds, and plenty of atmosphere.
The large rounded stones on the beach tell of storm and tempest, in
spite of the present calm.
Parta da Cruiz Bay is another “ instantaneous” picture. The
surf rolling in on the low shore, the partly wetted stories of the
beach, and the collection of small houses congregated at the foot
of the huge mass of inaccessible rock, present a vivid semblance
of the reality.
In the Peak Fort we have a scene of quite a different character.
Tim fort, standing alone on the summit of an eminence, is the
centre of attraction to a numerous group of residences built around
the base of the hill; and these seem to belong to people well to do
in the world, seeing that they appear commodious, and are mostly
encompassed by gardens, in which there is a sprinkling of tropical
trees.
Going to Town is the title of an interesting slide. A sort of
roadway (flanked on the left by a high wall, against which the
shadows of a row of trees on the right are cast, chequering it in
grotesque and suggestive forms), is occupied by two vehicles, in
each of which is seated a lady and gentleman. These vehicles are
without wheels, and appear to be constructed of basket-work.
Their form is something approaching to that of the well-known
children’s perambulators: they are propelled from behind by two
men, and seem to he made to run on an iron frame, sledge
fashion. Against the wall one of these vehicles is turned up on
its side, and upon it a man is sitting, with his back against the
wall, taking a quiet nap. In the distance a tree of strange aspect
is visible. This slide is one very characteristic of the peculiarities
of the locality.
One of the most interesting of the whole is labelled Lazzaeoni
and Water Carrier. The subject is admirably grouped and
executed, and forms a thorough picture. On the left is a flight of
stone steps, on the lower of which stands the graceful water-jug,
close by which is seated a female at work. She is dressed in a
striped skirt and loose boddice or mantle, and has a singular¬
looking peaked cap on her head. Close behind her is an arch, over
which are trained roses and various creepers. Through the arch
portions of a well-kept and beautiful garden are seen, with many
a singular plant. The paths are constructed of small rounded
pebbles, placed as a paving, in regular disorder. Leaning against
the right side of the arch, half imbedded amongst the flowers, a
male figure in picturesque costume is seen, guitar in hand, and
apparently serenading his quasi- fair companion. The costume of
the man consists of shirt and drawers, terminating above the knees
with loose jacket without sleeves; and he also wears the same
kind of pointed cap as the female. The legs and feet are entirely
hare. He is by no means ill-looking, and his attitude is graceful
July IS, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
259
and easy. Above hishead are two blossoms of a trumpet-shaped flower,
depending from tlie arch. This is a highly-pleasing composition.
Cottage at Santa Anna. — This, though interesting, as all illus¬
trations of local habits and customs are, is not nearly so pic¬
turesque as the last-named slide, the numerous women and children
being inartistically grouped; but one receives an admirable notion
of the character of a native residence. The rocky ground, the
luxuriant foliage — amongst which are large shrubs, bearing the
beautiful trumpet-formed flower noticed in the last the high-
pitched thatched roof of the wooden cottage, with unglazed win¬
dows and external gallery, to which access is gained by an outside
step-ladder, are all elements of a pleasing subject, which the figures
alone somewhat spoil, from their artificial arrangement.
The Screw Pine-tree at the Deanery forms the centre of a
scene in the Deanery garden, in which three ladies and a gentleman
are well grouped, and which — besides the special botanical lion
named — contains others but little less interesting.
Peasant Women, of which there are two — one seated jwith a
distaff in her hand, and the other standing with a water-jug in her
arms — 'seem to be enjoying the deep shade of a thick wood.
Scene near the Pria is an extensive view of some elevated
district that is unlike any that Ave have seen. Patches of cultivated
ground are scattered amidst bare rocks. In the centre is a square stone
hut, with pyramidal thatched roof, half covered by a luxuriant vine.
There are views of several churches and cemeteries, all more or
less interesting; amongst which we may mention specially the
Protestant Cemetery and the Mount Church. This last is par¬
ticularly pleasing as a picture. The church, half hidden amongst
the trees in a sort of amphitheatre near the mountain-top, forms
the artistic focus. On the long grass in the foreground a youth is
reclining at the feet of a female seated in a chair and with a distaff
in her hand, Avhile a man in highly-picturesque costume is standing,
andin conversation Avith the others. On the right a fine Deodara pine,
Avith its gracefully-SAveeping feathery boughs, is beautifully depicted.
The Yieav near the Pico Rurvo is particularly worthy of being
mentioned. Located at an elevation of about 6000 feet above the sea,
the mountain runs into grotesque and broken peaks, traversed by
deep ravines, clothed on the sides with some stunted brusliAyoocl of
unfamiliar aspect. The atmosphere and chiaroscuo of this slide
are exquisite, the Avliole being vigorous and artistic in an unusual
degree. There are several illustrations of some singularly-formed
gigantic rocks, standing out perpendicularly from the surrounding
ground. To describe them Avould be impossible. Wo must, there¬
fore, content ourselves Avith merely giving the following list,
viz. : — Rock in the Ravine of Sao Vicente ; Chapel (in a rock) of
the same locality; Rock near Pico Rurvo; and, lastly, Homem-em-
pe. As a concluding piece Ave must mention an “instantaneous”
view of II.M.S. Euryalus Saluting in Funchal Harbour, in
which the ripple and smoke from the gun are both Avell caught.
We can conscientiously recommend our readers to procure this
series, Avhich, from its novelty, cannot fail to afford much pleasure.
The Avhole are well executed, both as regards the negatives and print¬
ing, and may be pronounced an important addition to any collection.
Hleeihtgs of Satieties.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary meeting of this Society Avas held on Wednesday, the 3rd
instant, — Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., in the chair.
Mr. Sheard was elected a member of the Society.
Mr. Hooper presented the Society Avith three prints, from negatives
20 by 15, by the Avaxed paper process, which, through that gentleman’s
skill and attention, afforded most beautiful results. The lens with Avhich
these negatives Averc taken was a “ Grubb,” of twenty-one inches only
in focus ; and yet the Avliole area showed a flatness of field Avhich left
nothing to be desired. Some rocks in a corner of one of the pictures,
which Avere only a few feet from the camera, Avere rendered Avith admirable
distinctness. It has been remarked — and Avith truth — that the Avaxed¬
paper process shows great deficiency in the representation of Avater ; but
Mr. blooper has succeeded in obtaining a clear definition of the stones
forming the bed of a stream.
Mr. Petschler presented a print from the negative developed at the
last meeting of the Society, and taken by the modified collodio-albumen
process. This was much admired, and considered equal in softness to
specimens by the original Taupenot process
Votes of thanks Avere aAvarded to Mr. Hooper and Mr. Petschler.
The Secretary said that he had been requested by a member to report
progress as to the intended Photographic Exhibition, and to give some
information as to the money voted for that object by the British Asso¬
ciation. He stated that he should at all times be happy to answer any
inquiries on the subject that Avould be interesting to the members ; but
there appeared to be a misapprehension as to his position. It so happened
that he Avas Secretary to the Exhibition Committee ; but that was an
office entirely distinct from his duties in that room. The Society had
nothing ivhatever to do with the Exhibition. A certain number of its mem¬
bers Avere appointed to represent the Society, and presented a report to the
General Committee of the British Association ; but there their duty ended.
The matter Avas referred to the Chemical Section of the Association ; and
those Avho had the management of the intended Exhibition constituted a
sub-committee under that section, and were, therefore, a part of the
British Association, not of the Manchester Photographic Society. That
Avas the only Avay in Avhich the thing could be done, and the money
question was simply a guarantee voted to the Chemical Section. He
had also been asked Iioav it was that the circular letter adArertising the
Exhibition had appeared in the Notes and not in The British Journal of
Photography, Avhich was the organ of the Society ?* Of course AAdiat he
had already said Avould answer the question ; but he did not wish that it
should do so, and Avould therefore explain Iioav it occurred. He had not
sent the circular to the editor of any photographic journal : he fonvarded
parcels to those avIio Avould, as he considered, distribute them amongst
gentlemen most likely to fonvard the objects of the undertaking. One
of such parcels Avas sent to Mr. Sutton, as lecturer on photography at
King’s College, and to that place it Avas directed. Another parcel AAras
made up in Mr. Shadbolt’s name, but his address not being at hand it was
not posted ; and just at that time circumstances happened Avhich prevented
him (the Secretary) from attending to any matters of business. — The
Secretary afterrvards read a circular letter from the London Photographic
Society, in reference to the position assigned to photography at the
International Exhibition of 1862, and it Avas resolved that he be in¬
structed to express the approval of the members of the course taken by
the Council of the Photographic Society, and to state that they Avould
join in remonstrating against the slight offered to their art.
The Secretary then described the apparatus which he used in copying
draAvings and other objects in one plane. [See page 253.]
The Chairman said that they must all feel indebted to Mr. Mabley.
He knew, from his own experience, Iioav troublesome the operation of
copying was without some apparatus such as they had seen.
A conversation then folloAved on the process most desirable for copying,
in Avhich Mr. Wardley stated that he had met Avith striking proofs lately
of the superiority of Avet collodion over any dry process for that purpose ;
and the Chairman observed that some of the best specimens he had seen
had been produced by Mr. Mann on oxymel plates.
Mr. Parry stated that he and Mr. Young would, at the next meeting,
afford means for thoroughly ventilating the hot Avater process, by prac¬
tically demonstrating the preparation of the plates and the deArelopment
of the negatives, on plates ten by eight.
The Chairman called attention to the desirableness of considering, iioav
and then, statements that Avere put forward in the photographic journals.
Photographers, especially those avIio Avere young in the art, Avere liable to
great enthusiasm, and much loss of time and money Avas frequently caused
to those Avho had not by experience become cautious. As an instance he
pointed out a description of a modified albumen process (by J. Larpey),
published in the last number of The British Journal of Photography, in
Avhich a substratum of collodion, Avaslied in water, Avas used to receive the
iodised albumen. That plan had been described many times, and had been
tried years ago by himself and many other members of the Society, but had
been given up on account of its extreme insensibility and the difficulty of
development ; yet the necessary time of exposure according to the author of
the paper in question Avas farless than that required for the Taupenot process.
Mr. Parry, Mr. Wardley, and the Secretary, avIio had all tried the
so-called neAv process extensively, confirmed the Chairman’s statements
as to the time required for exposure and development.
Mr. Pyne exhibited Moule’s apparatus for washing prints, and, as a
tank of water Avas provided for supplying it, the members Avere enabled
to see the complete manner in Avhich the operation was performed.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society Avas held on Wednesday
evening, the 3rd inst., — Dr. Parkinson in the chair.
A letter Avas read from Dr. Diamond in reference to the classification
of photography at the coming Exhibition of 1862, and after a careful
consideration it Avas unanimous^ agreed that the Bradford Photographic
Society should support the London Photographic Society in its endeavour to
secure a more legitimate classification of photographic art ; and should Her
Majesty’s Commissioners refuse to make any alteration in the position
assigned, the Society also concurs in its determination to decline exhibiting.
The President asked the members of the Society Avho availed themselves
of the photographic excursion if any good results had been obtained?
Se\reral members opened their plate-boxes, and exhibited many A’ery
beautiful A’ieAVs, the greater portion being by the tannin process.
Mr. Beluon said he believed many more negatives might haA-e been
taken ; but the first part of the day wras extremely unsatisfactory. rl]le
party left by the 8 30 a.m. train for Crag Vale, and on the road were
overtaken by a heavy fall of rain, Avhich greatly depressed the spirits of
the excursionists. It, lioAvever, cleared up about one o’clock, and the
* AVe have since received the printed circular alluded to ; but too late to be published
in the present number. — Ed.
260
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
remainder of the day was very pleasantly spent. Several parties might
be seen at one time busily occupied in their yellow bags changing plates.
The Chairman then developed some tannin plates in illustration of his
paper on that process, which proved very successful.
Mr. Beloon presented a very fine 10 by 8 photograph to the portfolio.
After some discussion on the tannin process the meeting separated.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Friday, the 5th
instant, at the Weavers’ Tower, New Bridge Street. The chair was
occupied by Mr. Dewar.
In consequence of the illness of Mr. North, the Secretary stated that
the paper which that gentleman had promised to read On the Construction
of Glass Houses, ivith Special Reference to the Arrangement of Light , must
be postponed.
In the absence of the paper there was a discussion as to the value of the
various dry processes. Mr. Dewar recommended the honey process, and
Mr. McKie the tannin process ; while Mr. Laws advocated the wet process.
An apparatus for cleaning plates was exhibited by Mr. Birnie.
This was the last meeting of the season, and an adjournment took
place to the first Friday in October, a general desire being expressed that
on that occasion the members would come to the meeting laden with the
spoils obtained in the field during the vacation.
The Comet. — The celestial visitant whose unexpected advent
has puzzled the astronomers, was first seen on Sunday, the 30th
nit., at ten o’clock at night. Mr. Hind describes the diameter of
the nucleus as being only four hundred miles, and when first dis¬
covered it was not more than thirteen millions of miles from our
planet, to which circumstance may be attributed its extreme
brilliancy. “ The comet,” says Mr. Hind, “arrived at its least dis¬
tance from the Sun about one o’clock on the morning of June 10,
in heliocentric longitude 244° 35' , being then separated from him
by 76,000,000 miles. It crossed the plane of the earth’s orbit from
the south to the north side in longitude 279° 1' on June 28, in
a path inclined 85° 58' to the ecliptic. The true orbital motion
is direct.” Many attempts have been made to photograph the
“little stranger,” but we believe without success. Mr. Warren De
la Rue, who has done so much to utilise our art to the purposes of
scientific observation, thus writes in the Athenaeum of the 6th inst.: —
“ I made an attempt on the 2nd to obtain a photograph of the
comet in the focus of my reflector ; but not the slightest impression
was produced by an exposure of two minutes, although a fixed star
was clearly depicted. Yesterday, the 3rd, I made several attempts
to photograph the comet by means oi Ross’s No. 3 portrait lens,
mounted on the top of my telescope, and carried round by clock¬
work — not the slightest trace of the comet was depicted in fifteen
minutes, although the fixed stars were depicted. As Donati’s
comet was photographed by similar means in seven seconds (not
by myself), it follows that the present comet is considerably less
actinic than Donati’s.”
Jfomgu Cwraspniixm
Paris, July 10th, 1861.
PHOTOGRAPHERS arc at present overdone with work, in consequence
of the Exhibitions which are preparing at Brussels, Marseilles, and
also in your metropolis; for the importance of the last-mentioned
is such, that those who wish to worthily figure therein should take
time by the forelock. As a result of this state of things we have
received but few communications for some weeks past. The
Photographic Society of Marseilles has just taken a decision, which
lias been communicated to us, and which concerns your readers as
well as those of the French journals; for we hope that English
photographers and manufacturers will not be unrepresented at the
Exhibition wliich will take place in that city. The Society intends
not only to exhibit the apparatus that shall be forwarded, but also
to organise public lectures, in which will be shown the working of
the various instruments. It is therefore necessary that constructors
should accompany the apparatus they send to the Secretary of the
Society (M. Leon Vidal) with all the details likely to facilitate these
explanations. The most important of the new processes will also
be explained and practically illustrated. This is an excellent idea,
and one wliich will add to the interest and utility of the Exhibition.
In a paper on the persistence of luminous action, which M. Niepce
de Saint Victor presented to the Academy of Sciences on Monday,
the 1st instant, that gentleman appears to us to have replied to
most of the objections which his conclusions have called forth.
If we expose a recently-broken portion of an opaque china plate
[July 15, 1801
to the solar rays for two or three hours, and then apply it to a sheet
of paper prepared with chloride of silver, we shall, after twenty-
four hours’ contact, obtain a reduction of the salt of silver in the
part of the paper corresponding to that portion of the porcelain
which has been submitted to the sunlight, whereas that portion
which has been protected therefrom produces no eft’ect. This ex¬
periment is conclusive ; and its result cannot be attributed to
chemical action, for porcelain is a perfectly inert body.
Another of M. Niepce’s experiments is the following : — With
aquafortis lie takes the polish from one-half of a steel plate, and then,
after carefully cleaning it with alcohol, he insolates the plate in the
following manner for three or four hours : — He places a screen upon
it crosswise, and in such a manner that as much of the polished as
of the roughened portion of the plate is covered ; upon the other half
he places a white glass. The plate is afterwards covered with a
sheet of albumenised paper, prepared with chloride of silver. After
twenty-four hours’ contact he obtains an impression from the
roughened portion, which has been exposed to the sunlight, but
nothing from the polished steel, or from the roughened portion which
has been protected by the screen. The same results are produced
if for the steel plate we substitute a slip of glass thoroughly
roughened. If we cover with violet-coloured glass, the luminous
action is less sensible than when we use white glass.
M. Niepce has also ascertained, by various experiments, that the
action of light is incapable either of magnetising or of unmag¬
netising a steel needle.
M. Niepce is actively pursuing his investigations in heliochromy,
and is now engaged in preparing a new paper on that important
subject. Even should he not yet arrive at a complete solution of
the great problem, lie will, at least, enable you in England to judge
of the progress he has made, as he intends to send to the Universal
Exhibition some of the plates which he obtains.
M. Paul Liesegang has tried with his collodion, prepared with
iodide of sodium, the iodised bath recommended by the Abb6
Laborde, and published in the last Bulletin of the French Society
(No. G). The experiment has proved the advantages of this pro¬
cess. The negatives are vigorous and well modelled, and the
positives present brilliant lights and great purity in the ensemble.
The exposure is shorter than with a silver bath to which no iodide
has been added.
Mr. Talbot, whom we had the honour of seeing a few days ago,
during his short stay at Paris, communicated to us a fact tending
to prove that the air has more influence than the light in the
deterioration of positive pictures. The back of a frame, containing
a common photographic image, was pierced with a hole of about
the width of a five franc piece. The frame was then hung on
a wall exposed to the light. After a certain time the picture
was found to be deteriorated in the parts corresponding to the
hole, while the other portions were intact.
The Celebrites Contemporaries, which already formed the subject
of two publications (by Disderi and Pierre Petit), have just given
birth to a third work of the kind, published by Carjat. It is an
album of card-portraits, accompanied by short biographies, and
comes out in numbers. The pictures which compose it are very
fine. One feels that they are the work of an artist of taste and
experience. Carjat, who was already one of our best caricaturists,
lias become a photographer quite recently, and has at once placed
himself among the cleverest. In order, at the first glance, to seize
the salient feature in the physiognomy, and transfer it to the paper
with a few strokes of the pencil, one must have not merely a prac¬
tised hand, but also, and principally, a great talent of observation ;
and this is equally true of the photographic portraitist.
ERNEST LACAN.
FORMIC ACID IN THE SILVER RATH.*
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
There has been much said about the instantaneous proofs by M.
Ferrier. In presenting them to the French Society of Photography,
M. Ferrier attributes his success to the addition of a small quantity
of formic acid to the silver bath. I was, at first, much astonished
at seeing him, at length, making known something useful to the
progress of photography, after his having so well profited by the
inventions of others. But my illusion did not last long. This
announcement is a trap ; for formic acid is a pest of the Avorst kind
in the silver bath.
In making my first trial, and in order to ascertain immediately
the peculiar action of the formic acid, I added a large quantity, of it
(a twentieth of the volume of the bath). No impression was obtained,
and the glass was wholly covered with a red layer, Arery intense. In
* From La Lumiere.
July 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
961
partially removing the bath by a superficial washing, the result
was nearly the same; but it is possible that a perfect washing
might leave the plate in a superior state of sensibility to that of
one washed after the ordinary silver bath.
For my second trial I followed a reverse step. I wished to add
only one drop of formic acid per litre of the bath ; but three drops
fell in. With this dose the formic acid produced exactly the same
effect as at the first trial. I had still a general fog without any
image. I tried to remedy that by the addition of acetic acid with¬
out the least success. At last nitric acid put an end to the red
fog, and made a picture appear; but at this moment the bath
became ineffective by the addition of these acids.
I conclude, then, that in any case one ought not to add to the
silver bath even the smallest quantity of formic acid. We may
without inconvenience put in tannin, gallic acid, or even pyrogallic
acid, provided that, after the reduction operates, care be taken to
filter the bath through paper. The same day that I was occupied
in restoring my bath poisoned with formic acid, working in the
dark, I emptied in my bath pyrogallic acid instead of water; and
I perceived my error when I raised up the glass, which showed
itself of a red colour. This bath, filtered the next day, became
clear, and worked very well; but already the nitric acid had
destroyed the formic acid.
Cavrespaithnut.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
RE-DISCOVERIES IN PHOTOGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In the last number of your valuable Journal is published a
letter in which my name is prominently introduced. I hope, therefore,
you will allow me the opportunity of correcting your correspondent,
“Peter Smith,” in some of the rash and vague statements he therein
makes.
I shall confine myself to a few remarks upon the principal question in¬
volved, viz., whether or not the members of the Photographic Society of
Scotland have been giving out as new discoveries processes which have
been formerly published and patented; and I shall follow your corres¬
pondent in the charges he makes against us.
1st. It is stated that Mr. John Sang in 1857 discovered that golden
syrup would preserve a collodion plate. Mr. Shadbolt had published his
honey process in 1854, and had used syrup and glycerine. But I must
remind your correspondent that golden sju’up is different from all these,
and has as much right to be called new as the oxymel and raspberry
syrup processes, both of which were published as newly-discovered pro¬
cesses by Englishmen.
2nd. Sir David Brewster gave an account, in 1857, of a French method
of preserving plates. This was communicated by him as a piece of
information to the Society, and it is treated by your correspondent as if
it had been communicated to the Society by the President as an original
invention of his own.
drd. In January, 1800, Dr. Robert Paterson read to the Society an
account of a “ New Dry Collodion Process,” &c. I beg, Sir, to refer your
readers to the Journal of the Photographic Society , No. 94, page 155, where
they will find the process described as a “Dry Collodion Process,” and
where, in the first paragraph, it is distinctly stated not to be a new one.
4th. The malt process of Mr. Macnair, and the award of the Council of
the Society for it, meets with much better treatment from your correspond¬
ent, Avho states that malt solution had been repeatedly recommended for the
purpose of preserving sensitised collodion plates long before Mr. Macnair
ever thought of it. I have looked into the history of this, and I have
failed to discover when malt solution was ever published as a successful
preservative before.
I am aware that syrups, gelatine, albumen, gum, dextrine, grape
sugar, sweet worts, beer, &c., &c., had all of them been previously
recommended, and many of them patented ; but I have yet to learn that
the malt process is any of these. It is not a sugar process, although it
contains grape sugar : it is not a gum process, although it contains gum :
nor a dextrine process, although it contains dextrine : but it is an in¬
fusion from a natural substance, containing them all in proper propor¬
tions, when made in a certain way and at a certain temperature, and
yields results, in simplicity of manipulation, keeping qualities, and short¬
ness of exposure, which belong to no other preservative that I know of.
I do not hesitate, therefore, to homologate the award of the Council in
this matter, and to state my conviction that this process has as good a
right to be called a new one as any other discovery in photography.
A ith these remarks I leave your readers to judge what confidence is
to be placed in the many other statements of your correspondent. — Yours,
Leith, July 11, 1861. ROBERT PATERSON, M.D.
CAMERA STAND.
To the Editor.
Sir, — -Will you be kind enough to inform Mr. Clark that the camera
stand he speaks of is no novelty. I have had one of similar construction in
use for the last seven years. I purchased it in New York, where they are
in general use, and I have sold several during the last five years I have
been back to Oxford. I will send you a photograph of the one 1 have, so
that you can judge for yourself.
If Mr. Clark will send me his direction I will write to him.
With kind thanks for many hints I have had from the Journal,
Oxford, June 27, 1861. I am, yours, &c., J. BOON.
PETSCIILER’S COLLODIO-ALBUMEN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Although this process is a very good one, and has sometimes
yielded me excellent results, it is subject to some inconveniences, and
the negatives are very liable to be spoilt by stains. In my opinion the
mode of manipulation set forth in Mr. Petscliler’s recent paper on the
subject, at p. 215 of the present volume, is not so good as the method
first given by him and Mr. Mann. The subsequent washing of the plates
to render them sensitive is often a great nuisance, and is not always
safe, as the film is apt to rise in blisters during the operation. Two
plates have this day been rendered useless to me from this cause. I
would therefore recommend that the albumen be washed off at once
before the plate is dried, thus reducing the whole to the Fothergill pro¬
cess (of which indeed the Petschler process is only a modification) ; or,
what would be better, to coat the plate with plain albumen and water,
half and half, and let it dry, thus doing away with the subsequent
washing altogether.
If thought proper a weak solution of chloride of ammonium may be
poured over the plate, after washing off the free nitrate, and left on for
half a minute, when a final thorough washing should be given to get rid
of all traces of the chloride. This answers the same purpose as using
the chloride in the albumen.
I am rather surprised to find Mr. Petschler recommending “common
kitchen salt” as a good substitute for pure chloride of sodium in the
albumen. But why use chloride of sodium at all? Is the tone of the
negative or of the transparent positive of no consequence ? Salt yields
black tones, and sal ammoniac brown ones. It is not therefore a matter
of indifference as to which should be employed. It is this recommenda¬
tion of the wrong thing as a substitute for the right thing that causes so
many disappointments in photography, and induces so many amateurs to
give it up in disgust.
I will not conclude without expressing my obligations to Messrs.
Petschler and Mann, whose process proves very satisfactorily — to me at
least — that if washing albumen oft’ in the Fothergill process be not alto¬
gether a mistake, superior results are attainable by not doing so. I
admit that the Fothergill plate is more sensitive than the other; but this
slight extra sensitiveness is no compensation for the loss of that exquisite
definition and half-tone, combined with boldness and breadth, which
distinguishes the albumen film, whether in the negative or the trans¬
parency. It is for this reason I would suggest to those who have worked
at this or the Fothergill process to give a trial to the modification I have
here recommended. The albumen coating can be coagulated by dipping
the plate, after standing it to drain on blotting paper for ten miuutes,
into a trough of hot water just below the boiling point, and keeping it in
for about twenty seconds. This, according to Dr. Ryley and Mr. Parry,
not only confers extra sensitiveness but ensures clean negatives free from
stains, while the extra trouble is so trifling as to be scarcely worth
mention. I am, yours, &c. R.
“PHOTOGRAPHY BY MACHINERY.”
To the Editor.
Sir, — A contemporary of yours, in its small “talk in the studio” on
the 28th ult., states that “a very elaborate specification has been pub¬
lished detailing the particulars of a process for the rapid re-duplication
of photographic proofs by the aid of machinery, the invention of Mr. C.
Fontayne Flounders [significant name !] of Liverpool.” Now, as the
conductor of your contemporary never perpetrates a joke, it must be that
in making this announcement lie is the victim of a hoax. The poetic
“Fontayne” has no existence in this northern capital. A rayther gulli¬
ble photo., inquiring of another more wide-a-wake chiel — “who is
Flounders?” — was answered (more HibernicoJ by him of the open eye
putting the usual mysterious question — “Have you seen Simpson?"
I have little doubt that when Liverpool achieves anything so important
as that stated as unfait accompli by your contemporary, the announce¬
ment will be found in your own columns first.
In the meantime, I would commend to the profound study of the
sagacious gentleman who thus “babbles” in your contemporary the
interesting subject (already started by another scientific prodigy) re¬
specting the “chemistry of the comet,” or the more familiar problem
as to whether the moon is really made of green cheese.
I am, yours, &c., THE GORILLA.
Fontenoy Street, Liverpool, July 6, 1861.
263
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1861
MARBLED MARKINGS.
MR. LARPEY’S ALBUMEN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Again accept my thanks ; and once more allow me to intrude on
your time. You see by the enclosed that I am in a bad case. It does not
happen often ; but when it does, it is usually under most annoying
circumstances, viz., after carefully preparing a batch of plates, taking
them to a considerable distance, finding afterwards that the choicest
bits of scenery have been taken on plates which have (beautiful ?) marbled
markings, sometimes across the whole plate.
The euclosed, from a Fothergill plate, exposed for an instantaneous
picture, was developed only so far as to show the marbling. Now, how
does this occur in some plates only out of a batch which have all been
prepared with equal care ? It cannot be an unclean plate, for I am most
scrupulous in this part of the operation.
I shall indicate my method: — Coat and sensitise as usual (forty grain
hath), drip eight or ten drops back into the bath, holding by corner A,
and dripping from B (the arrow indicates the pouring on of the collodion).
Place the plate, face up, into a flat trough, having a recess in the bottom
fitting the plate, the depth of which is equal to the thickness of the plate.
Put four drachms river water, which has been boiled in a clean tin kettle,
into one end of the trough, and wash backwards and forwards with a zig¬
zag motion for about one minute, or several flowings after greasiness has
disappeared. Lift out, drip, flow over and off the plate one dose of al¬
bumen. Pour on another two drachms, and work it over the plate
half-a-minute. Wash in three changes of common water briskly, rear to
dry, and store away.
You are now in the focus of all information, good and bad. I am working
alone, without a ray to guide me, save what emanates from your valuable
Journal ; and I shall look for a little corner of light from the last page of
your next. — I am, yours, &c., LEX JACOBUS.
July 8th, 1861.
[The case is simple enough. The partial washing leaves some, though
but little, free nitrate of silver on the plate. The albumen coating coming
in contact therewith is apt to become slightly coagulated where there is a
trifle more moisture than elsewhere ; and from your method of washing
off the superfluous albumen (which is apt to adhere very firmly where this
flocculent semi-coagulated part rests), you are unable to dislodge all that
would be desirable. Remedy: — Add a little more liquor ammonite to
the albumen solution, and wash finally under a tap with a piece of flannel
tied over the mouth of it, in order to distribute the stream and arrest
particles of dirt. You can readily distinguish the marbling at this stage
by looking through the plate ; and, by removing the plate farther and
farther from the tap, you can increase the force of the fall of water at
pleasure, until the coagulum is removed. — Ed.]
AN OFFER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Seeing the letter of an inquirer, signed “ Improved Lenses,” in
the July 1st number, I have to remark that if he will send me a stamped
and directed envelope I shall be happy to explain to him how he can
make his present lens work as he proposes, as I do not agree with your
remarks. — I am, yours, &c., A. K. SPARKE.
3, North Prospect , near Plymouth, July 4 th, 1861.
PAUL PRY “ SHUT UP.”
Deer mistur hedditur,
Hof hall the howdashus story-tellers hi never node sich ha 1
has that Paul Pry has c corls is-self. Y e never kaim neer hour ous has
e ses e did hand wots more ede better not, loos ha yung jentlemun has hi
“ waux with” ses hif e ketches im “ wont e lay is hone muddy humbleller
hover is sholeders nyther ” fur liinsiniwatin that hi as red air, wen hevery
1 as nose me kan c lias hits ha golding yaller, hand has 2 hies e ses mine
liar regler stunners hand lites hup is Art hand has fur has my mouth gose
hits has sweat has barly slioogur — but hi haute goin to tell u hall e ses.
Wot haggerawates me most his is sayin Muther takes bin woshin, witch
shead shorn the haction — ha kaptings widder take bin woshin hindecd ! —
father u no was kapting hof a salin barj has went 2 Arridj for stone — so
u c mistur liedditur hall c told u wos a pak o storeys, hi had halhnost
sed lice hut that hante jinteal.
Hif mistur Pry ad not betrade is folcity by is hignerans hof fax, 1
thing c ses wood a maid me suspishus on im, witch e ses the jentlemun as
wonts 2 no “wot his sharpnis?” wonts 2 b marrid, has hif benny 1 boo
wonts 2 b marrid diddent no wel hanuf wot- sharpnis his, has bruther
Jim has gose 2 c ses tel that 2 the moreens kos the salurs wont beleave
hit. Hi dessa tliats jist has grate ha fib has wot e ses hof muther smashin
cr likenes, witch in coarse mistur liedditur she coodden a dun kos u c she
never ad no likenes took.
Ho hif hi cood honeli git at im hi doo think hide pinch im hand skrach
is hise bout, hand hi no sumbuddy helsc has wood serve im bout, so ead
better not kum ear, nobuddy hcver hinvited him.
Yours confectionally, MARIA SPR1GGINS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I do not exactly understand Mr. J. Larpev’s albumen process, as
given in your last number, page 235. After coating with collodion and
washing, does he pour on plain albumen, and then the ammonium and
potassium solution, No. 3, afterwards, separately? or is the latter solution
mixed with the albumon? What would be proper proportions for t lie
mixture of the albumen ?
I should be much obliged if you would give me the particulars asked
above in your next. — I am, yours, &c., R. S. II.
Ballater, July 5th, 1801.
[The author has omitted the words, “one ounce," after albumen, which
is to have the iodide and bromide mixed with it, being first dissolved iu
the water, in the proportion given. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
The Publisher has been compelled to omit a large number of advertise ments at
the last moment.
S. (Houston, Texas).— Received. All right.
J. B. — You will find the details in this number.
West Drayton. — A thin collodion will be the best for your present purpose.
Fanciful. — It is of no use to expect it: he is a regular finder of marcs' nests.
H. N. (Bristol). — See letter from “ The Gorilla.’’ Personally we know nothing about it.
Liberal.— Of course the idea is fallacious. We shall have something to suy about It
in our next.
W. Doyle. — We believe that the treatise you name is to he obtained at the Ordnance
Survey Office, Southampton.
Omar. — See reply to “ Liberal.” We do not attribute malice in the matter, though
perhaps jealousy warps the judgment a little.
C. Best. — A small quantity of free nitric acid in the bath, and an iron developer —
proto-nitrate of iron— will be the most suitable for producing single copies on glass.
J. L. (Perth). — It is scarcely fair to others to object to your letter of inquiry appearing
in type, as the replies which are useful to you are also useful to others when the case is
also before them ; and, by the use of a nom deplume, your native modesty need not be
shocked.
Simple Joitn. — All pretenders are not willing rogues ; we have found many who arc as
much their own dupes as are their pupils, a circumstance which arises probably from an
excessive development of self-esteem. Try another : you will most likely be more fortu¬
nate next time, and you have at least learned to know something that will not do.
R. F. B.— Without admitting that the matter is proven, we are not in a position until
we have had an opportunity of looking into the theory, to assert t hat it is erroneous,
however opposed to existing ideas. There are many difficulties to be met ; but the
promulgator is a clever man, and not over-hasty in coming to a conclusion, like his
exponent.
A Manchester Man. — You arc right : the account is not only abstracted from the
paper, hut from our Journal also, without acknowledgment. This is a system against
which we have in vain protested several times, and wc have distinct personal as well as
circumstantial evidence of similar appropriation of two other papers, without theknow-
ledge or consent of the authors. We know (that is morally) that the same course has
been pursued in other cases ; but we have had personal assurance thereof from the
authors with regard to the two instances to which we allude. On the next occasion,
when we take the trouble to verify the fact by actual reference, we will publish the
reply, and see if that will stop the practice.
Flora (Devon). — We believe there is much to be done in the direction which you
suggest, and it would he a very elegant application of photography for a lady who has
some skill in colouring. There is considerable skill required in the due arrangement of
the flowers, and also in their illumination. You will find some colours very obstinate
in refusing to render up their due effect iu light and shade; hut much of this diffi¬
culty is to be overcome by due attention to the sensitising material in your collodion.
You" should read a paper by Mr. Heisch, iu one of our back volumes, bearing upon this
subject. Much also may be done by proper illumination. Mr. Mainwaring presented
some fine specimens of his own production to the XoTth London Photographic Association,
for its album, which are of the kind you indicate.
Fine Arts. — Your letter having been sent to the Publisher instead of direct to us,
did not reach us until too lata for reply in our last. The tone of a proof depends
materially upon the nature of the paper on which it is printed. You cannot produce the
cool purple tones on an English paper as a rule. You do not state whether you desire
to print on albumenised or plain paper ; and there is some obscurity in your description
of your gold solution, of which you say you put a draclim in:o eight ounces of water.
What was the strength of the original solution ? However, we will endeavour to aid you.
To your gold solution add, drop by drop, solution of carbonate of soda until it no longer
reddens litmus paper, keeping hack a small quantity (say a drachm) of the solution ;
then add this to the neutralised solution, to make the whole very faintly acid. Then add
water enough to make one drachm of solution contain but one grain of gold. When
about to tone your prints (but not before), take of this gold solution one drachm, mix it
with ten ounces of water, and add thereto five grains of carbonate of soda. If they tone
slowly, warm the solution. When they have reached the proper colour, which should
occur in from two to ten minutes, remove and wash them, and then fix iu hyposulphite
of soda one ounce, water five ounces. You will find papier Saxe, of the thick land, good
for plain paper pr oofs of a purple tone. Never mind the colour of your negatives if they
stop out the light well; but, if you lack intensity before concluding your development,
add a few drops of albumen solution to the developer.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, &c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Pise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
c o N T
PACK
LEADER . 24-
NOTES ON THE HOT WATER PROCESS.
By A COUNTRY PARSON . 248
THE LAST NEW CARBON PRINTING PRO¬
CESS DEVISED By M. POITEVIN . 249
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
NITRATE OF SILVER. By JAMES MARTIN 250
INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY. By B.
MARC . 250
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. VI. By J. IIOTHWELL . 252
ON THE APPARATUS USED IN COPYING
DRAWINGS, Ac. f With Diagrams). By
WILLIAM TUDOR MABLEY . 253
RE-DISCO VERIES IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND: REPLY TO MR.
PETER SMITH. By J. T. TAYLOR . 254
ENTS.
P AOS
ON THE BEST MEANS OF AVOIDING THE
ORDINARY FAILURE IN THE MANAGE¬
MENT OF THE WET COLLODION PROCESS.
By M. MARTIN . 251
PALESTINE IN 1800. No VII. By J CRAMB 255
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A LATE
ENTHUSIASTIC AMATEUR. EDITED By
I SYDNEY SUNSHINE . 256
RECORD OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INVENTIONS
No. V. By S. HIGHLEY, F.G.S., F.O.S., Ac. 257
STEREOGRAPHS . 258
i MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 259
THE COMET . 260
: FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN . 260
CORRESPONDENCE . 261
I ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, <fcc . 262
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 147, Vox,. VIII.— AUGUST 1, 1861.
A Tribute of Thanks. — In another column will be found,
from the pen of a contributor, a well-deserved tribute to the
worth of our much-esteemed friend and fellow-labourer, Mr.
Hardwicli.
Our readers may perhaps feel some surprise that the retire¬
ment of so distinguished an ornament of the photographic
world was allowed to occur without special notice from us, and
that the first announcement of so great a calamity to photo¬
graphers generally should have been made in the pages of a
contemporary. The matter is easily enough explained. For
the last six months we have been well aware of the great
probability of our friend’s withdrawal from his long accustomed
place, and of the progress and fulfilment of his appointed
course so far as it has hitherto advanced ; but we had no
authority to make this matter known, and from our intimate
knowledge of our valued friend’s retiring disposition, we could
not fail to be aware that to have done so without his sanction
would have been simply to have inflicted pain upon his sensitive
nature. Other hands having however rudely drawn aside the
veil which he had so modestly placed to screen his exit, it would
now be but false delicacy in us to withold our meed of warmest
thanks towards him in affectionate remembrance of our long
and pleasant intercourse.
Most photographers wall be well aware that they have in Mr.
Hardwich’s removal to a higher sphere of action sustained a
heavy loss, but few will really know how heavy is that loss. Of one
thing we feel assured — that is, of our friend’s success in his newer
calling : perhaps not such success as the world would praise —
advancement and high emolument, for these are not his aspi¬
rations — but success in the objects which he has proposed to
himself, the “lifting up of the hands which hang down and the
strengthening of the feeble knees.” Our friend’s lines have
scarcely fallen in what may be regarded as pleasant places, being
in the black and dreary colliery districts of Durham. But hap¬
piness consists not in our surroundings so much as in the
heart ; and his, like the cheerful flame, is warm enough to
kindle a corresponding glow in the hearts of all with whom he
comes into intimate contact. Long may he live to cheer the
spirits of many a weary pilgrim !
Photographic Measles. — We perceive that a confusion of
ideas upon the meaning of this term is likely to be introduced
in consequence of a paper by Mr. F. G. Eliot, which lately
appeared in the pages of a contemporary, containing a descrip¬
tion of, and proposed remedy for, two different photographic
complaints, both of which he has included under this term, and
neither of them being connected with that to which the designa¬
tion was at first applied. We do not make any decisive asser¬
tion as to which of the three complaints is generally regarded
by photographers as “measles,” though we entertain an opinion
upon this point ; but we purpose to revert to the original sponsor
for his decision in the matter.
If v e are correct in our assumption, the first application of
this word in connection with photographic failures was made by
Mr. C. Jabez -Hughes at a meeting of the North London Pho¬
tographic Association, and it was felt to be so apt and descrip¬
tive of the appearance presented that it was at once adopted by
acclamation. The phenomenon itself to which the term was
applied was old enough and annoying enough to many operators :
it was that deposit of yellowish matter in the fabric of the paper
demonstrated by Mr. Dawson to be produced by decompo¬
sition of hyposulphite of silver formed in the process of fixing,
and this occurs at least as often when proofs are printed upon
plain as upon albumenised paper. We commend to Mr. Eliot’s
perusal, as also to all interested in the question, Mr. Dawson’s
paper, which they will find at pp. 174 and 175 of our 7th Vol.,
No. 120, published on 15th June, 1860.
With reference to the phenomenon to which the word “ measley”
was first applied, we refer our readers to reports of the meetings
of the North London Photographic Association, Vol 7, pp. 85,
86, 152, and 182, which also testify to the paternity of the
designation. To so good a photographer as Mr. Francis G-. Eliot
we need not apologise for drawing his attention to the inconve¬
nience that is likely to arise from the application of one term
to several distinct phenomena— -an application that we are con¬
vinced was inadvertently made on his part, and which we feel
assured he will be one of the first to correct. Confusion of
terms is always an evil to be avoided if possible ; and we have
several times had serious thoughts of compiling a sort of
pathological photographic vocabulary. Perhaps some of our
correspondents will assist us in such an undertaking.
Photography at the Industrial Exhibition of 1862. —
We greatly rejoice at the dignified and uncompromising attitude
assumed by the Council of the Photographic Society with refe¬
rence to the non-appointment of a Committee to act with the
Royal Commissioners while the latter persist in their prepos¬
terous classification of the products of our Art-science. Our
worthy friend, the editor of the Journal of the Photographic
Society , has in his last issue placed the matter as it then stood
very fully before his readers, and in a leading article enunciated
the principles which have guided the Council in its course of
proceeding, and which appear to us to be perfectly sound and
unanswerable. We commend it to our readers for perusal and
consideration. As our brother editor observes, there exists a
wonderful amount of unanimity and sympathy upon the nature
of the treatment to which photographers have been subjected.
The evil is acknowledged all but universally : on the method of
meeting the difficulty, on the contrary, there is a considerable
variety of opinion. This is quite natural ; and as it is of neces¬
sity that the Council must adopt some proceeding, and cannot
by any possibility agree with more than one of those recom¬
mended, we rejoice to find that after mature deliberation a
dignified course has been decided on and consistently pursued
throughout. Personally we fully endorse the views of the
Council of the Photographic Society, and tender our warmest
thanks for the passive resistance already offered to the degrad¬
ing terms proposed by the Royal Commissioners.
It must not be forgotten, however, that there exists a minority
as well as a majority ; and as the true principles of representa-
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1861
264
tion dictate that each should exert its due amount of influence,
we shall be both ready and willing to publish the views of our
st friends on the other side” of the question — for we cannot call
them our opponents — and hereby invite them to give utterance
to the same through our columns. We have not hitherto had
any opportunity of circulating the opposition sentiments, because
no opinions have been addressed to us excepting in the same direc¬
tion as our own ; but we are not at all desirous of having the
argument all to ourselves.
We cannot resist extracting the following letter, by Dr. Lyon
Playfair, from the pages of the Society’s Journal, both on account
of its logical deduction and because we have a word or two of
comment upon an opinion expressed therein. The letter is as
follows : —
Edinburgh, June 3rd, 1861.
My dear Sir, — In 1851 photography had not sufficiently developed to
be considered entitled to a separate class in the Great Exhibition, and
accordingly photographic pictures were accepted merely as illustrations
of the work of photographic apparatus. But when, in 1862, the Com¬
missioners deem it worthy to have a class for itself, then it must be treated
logically on the principles which guide the classification. While fully
admitting the claims of photography to be put in a separate class, I see
many difficulties which arise in treating it as such. For instance, photo¬
graphs of machines might require to be placed along with machinery,
just as drawings of machinery would be so placed ; while photographs of
structures and buildings might appropriately belong to civil engineering
and architecture. But these difficulties should have occurred to the
Commissioners in making the classification, and do not justify them in
making confusion worse confounded by inserting the distinct class which
they have made with machinery — in classifying results with the apparatus
employed to produce them — thus losing the whole philosophy of the
classification.
It does not improve matters to say that photographs may be exhibited
by themselves in a separate apartment which may be in association with
engravings or others parts of the Exhibition. This would certainly be a
practical admission of a mistake ; but, at the same time, it would allow the
ugly defacement of the classification to remain, and would still claim as
admitted on the part of photographers that their art was purely a mechanical
one.
If the Commissioners were right in giving to photographers a separate
class, then it can only be associated with Fine Arts on any principle of
classification, although the difficulties will be felt of including in the
section certain kinds of photographic pictures which cannot properly be
considered to belong to Fine Arts.
Yours, sincerely,
Lyon Playfair.
P.S. You will recollect how very long it was before engraving received
its proper place among the Fine Arts ; and you can scarcely be surprised
that artists are still unwilling to give a place to an art so young in history
as yours.
Hugh W. Diamond, Escp, M.D.
It would almost seem from the foregoing that the learned
doctor considers that if photography he entitled to be put in a
separate class, insurmountable difficulties arise in thus treating
it. Let us consider the parallel case of engraving, which forms
a separate class or sub-class. Why not treat it in the same
manner ? It is not every engraving that will be classed with
the fine arts : those illustrative of machinery, architecture, &c.,
fall into their natural positions ; they are applications of en¬
graving to other than art purposes. Why not treat photographs
in a similar way, and include applied photography in each of
the sections to which it is applied, and leave in the Fine Arts
section only just precisely those specimens which would have
been included supposing them to have been engravings? We
think this would be a compromise that might be gracefully
conceded by the Royal Commissioners and reasonably accepted
by the photographic community without loss of position. We
have already forwarded this suggestion to the Royal Commis¬
sioners and obtained an acknowledgment of its receipt.
Amateur Photographic Association. — It has been said that
“ there can be no great success without some opposition;” if so
we need not be surprised at the “big stone” (as our American
cousins would call it) which has been thrown at this under¬
taking by the South London Photographic Society in its some¬
what discursive annual report. We had imagined that the days
of protection had for ever passed away, but every now and then a
melancholy wail is heard which indicates that the old suj
tion has not yet quite died out. What damage a huge exchange
club can do to the South London Photographic Society, or why
as a society it should he so particularly timorous about the
commercial aspect of photography as to put itself into a
about a suppositious competition, it would puzzle a conjuror to
determine. But there is “ balm in Gilead : ” it may calm its
fear. None of those evils that it anticipates will come to pass.
There is no unfair competition in contemplation, nor is the
assertion made in the “annual report” true. Payment for bare
materials alone is not all that is expected ; hut cost of labour is
also included, and a fair profit in addition upon all proofs sold
to the public. Those who are members of the Association have
surely a right to waive that profit in favour of one another
without being charged with competing with the profession.
Every exchange club, nay every society, which presents its
members with photographs would otherwise be liable to the
same imputation. But even if this charge were true — which it
is not — the preposterous parallel attempted to be drawn between
the proceedings of the Amateur Photographic Association and
the Government interference at South Kensington is simply
ridiculous. At least the former pays all costs out of the pockets
of its own members, having no power to compel, nor desire to
ask, the general public to assist in any way ; while the Depart¬
ment of Science and Art does just the reverse, upon the pretence
of promulgating a love of art.
But while contending for the absolute right of amateurs to
associate themselves together for the furtherance of their art,
even if it were detrimental to the professional members, we alto¬
gether deny that in the case before us it is so ; and we may
further add that did we so deem it wre should most assuredly
not have been personally connected with any such scheme. But
the truth is, the more that the amateur element is cultivated
the better for the professional man — the greater the demand for
the professional operator’s work. In the long run the amateur
cannot compete with his professional brethren from a com¬
mercial point of view, paradoxical as the assertion may seem :
his time is too valuable. An amateurs productions, if excellent
(as very many of them undoubtedly are), is almost always a
tour deforce — a species of manufacture which never pays as a
commercial speculation. Lastly, w7e may observe that nine
times in ten whatever an amateur earns by his hobby he gene¬
rally spends thereon, together with sundry not trifling additions
thereto. Probably if those gentlemen who have felt alarmed
about competition will read the prospectus again carefully they
will perceive that their apprehensions are groundless.
While on the subject of the Association we may he permitted
to mention, for the information of some members de facto and
others in posse, that the Committee has in contemplation the
appointment of Local Secretaries, through whom members in
the provinces may have some means of personal communication
with those at head quarters, and to whom they may be more
readily inclined to entrust their negatives in preference to forward¬
ing them by rail, with the risk of damage, addressed to an indi¬
vidual who may be well enough known by reputation, hut must
of necessity he to most a mere personal abstraction. Each point
of difficulty m working the Association as it anses is caiefully
considered and a decision arrived at— the two primary conditions
always kept in view being the satisfaction of the members indi¬
vidually and the general advantage of the Photographic Art.
A discovery has just been made in Orkney of a vaulted chamber
in the “Maes How,” containing numerous Runic inscriptions.
Careful drawing's are about to be made of these inscriptions, to be
afterwards engraved, for the purpose of being submitted to the
learned bodies in Europe. We think that Mr. Stuart, of the
Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities, will commit a great mistake if
he omit to call in the aid of photography for this purpose. Even
should the chamber be in perfect darkness, a photographic record
of these inscriptions can be readily obtained by aid of Moule s
photogen.
August 1, L861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
265
STEREOSCOPIC CAMERA WITHOUT SLIDES, FOR DRY-
PLATE PHOTOGRAPHY, AND TEN BY EIGHT CAMERA,
ON ONE STAND,
As' used by John Cramb during Jus Photographic Tour in Palestine in 1860.
Fig. 1 represents the top of the tripod, with the cameras in
position as I usually used them during my journey in Palestine.
FIG. 1.
The reader will at once see there is aboard screwed to the stand,
on which again the three cameras are fastened. The 10 by 8
camera is placed in the centre ; and, as it was merely an ordinary
solid body one, made of mahogany, I do not propose any further
reference to it than to call attention to its position on the stand.
The board, a, is about two feet long, and moves on the top of the
tripod in the same way as a single camera usually does on its stand.
A slit is made in this board at each end, and passing up to nearly
the centre. Through this slit a screw, b, passes easily, by which
the stereo, camera is fixed to the board, allowing horizontal motion
to any extent.
The stereo, cameras are a little peculiar, and to them I would
call particular attention. There are no slides : the prepared plates
pass at once from the plate-box into the camera. This has many
advantages for dry-plate photography. By it one is enabled to
carry a very large number of prepared plates, ready for exposure,
within a small space. The cameras themselves are very much
reduced in size, and the entire affair is more easily made than a
camera with slides. Defects in the fitting of parts in the making,
or the result of warping or shrinking, is in no degree so detrimental
as in a camera with slides, where every part must be tight, or light
will be admitted, and the whole thing destroyed.
FIG, 2.
The construction of these cameras will be better understood
from an inspection of Figures 2 and 3. The camera A is fastened
to the stand by the screw b. B is the plate-box, sliding readily on
the top of the camera. The lines ccc (Fig. 2 ) indicate the position
of the prepared glasses in the plate-box. The lid of the box, d, is
seen half withdrawn. In using the box the lid is not withdrawn,
but is pushed out as the box is pushed on to the top of the camera,
e, which in fact becomes the lid of the box, fitting into the same
groove in which the lid of the nlate-box slides.
FIG. 3.
An inspection of Fig. 3 will at once show that all the prepared
glasses rest on either the top of the camera or on the lid of the box.
If we wish to drop a plate from the plate-box we have but to
keep the box and camera firmly in their position and withdraw the
lid a little, and immediately, on the support being removed, the
glass drops into its place in the camera at /, where a small ledge
projects from the side of the camera, to which the plate may be
closely pressed, and which has been previously ascertained to be
in focus.
The plate-box can be now withdrawn entirely ; and to do so it is
merely necessary to keep the lid, d, pressing on the top of the
camera, e, as we draw off the box. Before doing so, however, it
will be necessary to close the opening by which the glass descended
into the camera. This is accomplished by pushing in the knob, h,
which moves the slide, g g, whereby the opening at f is effectually
and easily closed.
The focussing is accomplished before the plate-box is put’on at all.
The back of the camera opens down as shown at i, Fig. 3. This
being folded down, a ground glass is dropped into the same place
as the prepared plate is to occupy.
The focus having been secured, and the cameras both adjusted,
the back doors are shut, and the prepared glasses dropped in from
the plate -boxes. The sensitive plates are pressed into the focal
position by the spring Jc, which is brought into contact with the
back of the glass by the screw l.
The box that I have used for many }rears holds fourteen plates.
The side of the lid is numbered and carefully divided, so that any
plate can be dropped into the camera. To return them to the
plate-box the arrangement is reversed. By unscrewing the
cameras they are drawn oft' the board by the slit before referred
to. This saves the entire removal of the screws b, and conse¬
quent risk of losing them.
The plate-box is now placed lowermost, and the camera slided on
to the point where we know the empty groove is. The slide, g, is
withdrawn, and down drops the plate into its former place. The
whole of these changes are very rapidly made.
Many persons will think this camera difficult to make and
troublesome to work. My experience leads me to say that the
reverse is the fact. They are very easily made bv any ordinary
cabinet-maker ; and anyone will, after one trial, find no difficulty
in using them.
I often wished during my tour that I had had the .10 by 8
camera on the same plan. The only objection is that it is not
very suitable for wet-plate work, though it has done work by that
process. In that case the camera is taken into the tent or dark
closet, its place on the stand being marked, so that it can be
replaced in the same position.
266
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1801
IN MEMORIAM.
Another earnest and indefatigable labourer in the photographic
hive — a kindly spirit, ever accessible to all ; a genial, large-hearted
man, conscientious, talented, and humble, as real worth always is —
has passed away from among us. Not indeed through the dim
dusky portals of this nether world, thank Heaven ! but to a nobler,
purer, loftier field — one that may never bring him honour or
celebrity in this world, though it will that solid satisfaction which
no worldly pursuit can give — a field in which only a perfect nature
can find rest and repose. A name unsullied by violent partisanship
or one personal brawl is dead to us : and we have not too many
labourers in the field of patient research and laborious and often
unappreciated scientific investigation. This is comparatively —
and comparatively only — the broad noon-day of photography to
the early grey twilight dawn in which Mr. Hardwich and others
laboured as pioneers, when men were groping as in a dark place.
There are — and we deplore it — those among us who carp at every¬
thing, and who would “ clip an angel’s wings.” There are — and
we say it with indignation — those who have wilfully forgotten the
sources of much of their knowledge, and arrogate to themselves
results to which others have macadamised the road. The litera¬
ture of photography is meagre enough — low enough: to that
Mr. Hardwich brings by far the most solid contribution.
That photography has too few inducements to offer to a man of
Mr. Hardwich’s attainments is not our fault ; that we should
allow him to pass away from among us and not record our appre¬
ciation, and embody it in some tangible form, would be : not for his
sake — we cannot remunerate such labours or such men with money
(let photographers get over that miserable delusion) — but for our
own. Let it not be said that any one of those who bore the heat
and burden of the day — who helped to place photography on the
pedestal upon which it stands, lifting up its face to the yet higher
region it shall occupy hereafter — came among us and we knew or
remembered him not. Doubtless Mr. Hardwich will adorn the
sacred office which he has deliberately and affectionately chosen.
The ranks of science have supplied the Church with some of its
purest and brightest ornaments : such was Chalmers and many
more. But we cling to old associations — all whose hearts are not
as “ dry as summer dust and though we would not wish him back
to mingle in
"the low, vain strife ;
The try for wealth or power, that makes men mad ;
' The passions and the cares that wither life,
And waste its little hour” —
yet we cannot — ought not — to let the circumstance pass by and
awaken no expression of regret — elicit no token or remembrance of
the past — no God-speed for the future. Let the world see that we
have some esprit de corps among us. Let each Society open a sub¬
scription list of its own for the purpose of raising a moderate
sum, sufficient for the purchase of some testimonial worthy of us to
give — worth}7 of him to receive. The donations need not be large,
and what is now but an idea will become a substantial reality.
S. T.
THE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION OP 1862.
An official reply to the circular addressed to the various home
and foreign Photographic Societies by the Secretary of the Pho¬
tographic Society (London), relative to the position assigned to
photography by the Royal Commissioners, has been addressed to
the Council by the Secretary of the French Photographic Society,
as follows
I have the honour to inform you that a Council and General Meeting of this Society
have been successively held, to consider the grave communication which you have made
to us, in the name of the Photographic Society of London, on the subject of the
approaching Universal Exposition.
The French Photographic Society is startled not less strongly than that of London at
the error committed in the programme of the Exposition so far as the classification of
photography is concerned. It is sufficient to have visited one of our Exhibitions to have
become convinced that photographic works— those, at least, which their authors have
produced with a feeling of art— are not a mechanical result. In fact, two artists, with
the same apparatus and under the same conditions, can render the same portrait the
same view, not only in a very different manner, but each according to his own individual
feeling.
Further, Dr. Playfair, in his letter which you have forwarded, has himself demon¬
strated the error ; and, like him, we doubt not that the Royal Commission, if it be able
to alter arrangements already decided upon, will not be the less disposed to repair this
error as soon as it is possible for them to do so.
The French Photographic Society has, without doubt, the right and duty of protesting
against the consequences of the philosophical error committed, since all its efforts like
those of your own Society, tend to elevate photography to the dignity of an art •’ but
in partaking of the just indignation of the London Society, it cannot adopt the ’same
conclusions.
In the first place, our position is not the same. You can, as English exhibitors, com¬
municate directly with the Royal Commissioners; but foreigners, as yuesls invited to
take part in the Exposition, though they have an incontestible right to decline the invi¬
tation, have not that of protesting against the arrangements established. The Imperial
Commission alone would have, without doubt, an official character sufficient to represent
the views of the French exhibitors : and I hasten to add that we have already received j
the assurance of the considerate intentions of the Royal Commissioners of London
towards photography.
At length the General Meeting was unanimous in recognising that in any case— even if
the Royal Commission believed itself prevented from repairing as soon as possible tho
error committed (though the meeting was well convinced of the contrary) — abstinence
from exhibiting would he the most deplorable way of protesting : that abstinence would
in fact only result in estranging true artists, whose works do honour to photography,
and to leave their places free to mere workmen, whose detestable productions would in
the eyes of the public only justify the error which we all deplore. We think then that,
far from encouraging absence, the photographic societies ought to make a more pressing
appeal to artists worthy of the name, to show themselves more severe in the choice jjf
works brought forward. Such an exhibition, in the midst cf the Universal Exposition,
would certainly be, by its importance and interest, the most worthy, useful, and certain
protest.
The French Photographic Society, always animated by a lively and sincere desiro of
preserving the happy union which exists between it and that of London, hopes that the
latter, appreciating the preceding considerations, will neglect nothing to obtain in its
execution the realisation of the benevolent intentions of the Royal Commission of w hich
the assurance has already been given to us.
On Friday next, 19th July, we shall hold another general meeting, which should be
the last before the recess. The Council will meet on Tuesday next. We request you
will, if possible, transmit to us by Tuesday, or at least before Friday, the fresh com¬
munication that we hope to receive from you.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
ACETIC ACID.
Synonymes. — "White wine vinegar, radical vinegar, acetous acid,
acetylic acid.
Composition. — C4 H404 or C4 H3 0, + HO.
Eq uiva lent. — 60 .
Preparation. — This substance is so much more advantageously
prepared on the large scale that those residing in England will, it is
assumed, purchase the article supplied by the trade, and use it after
testing it in the manner herein set forth. The photographers alluded
to in the introduction as being “ beyond the reach of chemists’ shops”
will, however, be glad to learn that common household vinegar
contains this acid ready formed. It only remains to concentrate
and purify it, and this may be accomplished in the following man¬
ner : — Take any convenient quantity of good vinegar, and add
thereto carbonate of soda, i.e. common washing soda, until effer¬
vescence ceases ; then filter or strain the liquor through muslin,
and boil down to dryness. Having weighed the dry mass, intro¬
duce it into a retort, or flask, with bent tube attached, and add to
it three times its own weight of sulphuric acid, i.e. oil of vitriol.
Sufficient heat is evolved by the mixture to volatilise a portion of
the acid, and a gentle heat expels the remainder. The condensa¬
tion of the acid may be best effected by means of a Liebig’s con¬
denser ; but, if this be not at hand, damp cloths wrapped round the
beak or neck of the retort, and the receiver surrounded by cold water,
maybe made to answer the purpose. The distilled product is rectified
by redistillation; and at this stage of the process a little peroxide
of lead (or in its absence red lead ) may be advantageously added,
for the purpose of converting any traces of sulphurous acid formed
in the first operation into sulphate of lead.
If it be desired to obtain a very concentrated preparation for use
in a paper process, the acid, after rectification, should be exposed
to a low temperature by surrounding the bottle containing it with
a freezing mixture of ice and salt. Crystals of hydrated acetic
acid are formed in a weaker liquid, which being drained off and
preserved for other uses, the crystals are again melted and frozen
a second time, and again allowed to drain. The solid product
resulting from this second operation is generally free from all
superfluous water.
Properties or Physical Characters. — Acetic acid thus obtained
forms at a temperature below 60° Fah. (15.5. C) large colourless
transparent crystals, which melt at 62° or 63° Fah. to a thin
colourless, inflammable liquid of exceedingly pungent and well-
known odour, having a density of 1'063, and boiling at 248°. A
remarkable fact in connexion with this body is, that its density
does not indicate its actual strength : this is determined only by its
power to saturate a known measure of a test solution of carbonate
of soda or of caustic ammonia. It is miscible in all proportions
with water, alcohol, and ether, and is a good solvent for camphor
and several resins and volatile oils; aromatic vinegar being an
instance of camphor with oils of lemon and bergamot dissolved
in strong acetic acid. In its strongest form it raises a blister
on the skin, and will even produce a painful sore like a mineral
acid ; but when diluted it has a pleasant acid taste. It forms with
bases an important class of salts called acetates , all of which are
soluble in water.
Impurities. — The articles met with in commerce may contain—
1, volatile tarry matter, imparting an empyreumatic odour; 2, sul¬
phuric acid ; 3, sulphurous acid ; 4, hydrochloric acid ; 5, aldehyde ;
6 (when it possesses an odour of garlic), an organic sulphur acid.
August 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
267
Tests. — The first operation to be performed in the qualitative
examination of acetic acid with a view to determine the presence
or absence of the above impurities is dilution with distilled water.
Should this produce a milkiness in the mixture it is evidence that it
contains volatile, tarry, and empyreumatic substances, which render
it totally unfit for photographic purposes. If the specimen under
examination should remain clear on dilution with water a solution
of nitrate of silver should next be added, when, if a white preci¬
pitate be produced, the presence of the third and fourth (and if the
solutions be not very dilute) of the second impurities may be in¬
ferred. It is, however, quite possible that no precipitate may
occur on the addition of this re-agent; and yet, on exposing the
mixture to light, a darkening may take place. This may be re¬
garded as evidence of the reducing effect of the fifth impurity —
aldehyde, a substance which, being a reducing agent, would of
course have a tendency to modify the retarding action exercised
by acetic acid in developing, and therefore ought not to be present.
I The sixth impurity referred to, namely, an organic sulphur acid,
may be at once recognised by the characteristic odour of garlic,
and marks the sample of acetic acid containing it as one which
should be unhesitatingly rejected.
Per-centage of Pure in Commercial Article. — That known in com¬
merce as Beaufoy’s acid contains about thirty per cent, of real acid.
Ordinary glacial contains about ninety-five per cent., and the true
glacial, solid at 50° Fah., one hundred per cent. ; and this latter
preparation, in order that it should possess the property of solidi¬
fying at the temperature named, must of necessity be constant in
its character — a quality which it is considered should recommend
it for employment on all occasions where acetic acid is introduced,
with the view of obtaining more uniform success in photographic
manipulations — a result which might be more reasonably hoped
for were greater attention given to the purity and constant uni¬
formity of the chemicals used.
Uses. Acetic acid is employed in photography as a retarding
agent in negative developing solutions. Were pyrogallic acid alone
employed to develop a negative after exposure in the camera,
the reduction of silver would be so rapid and general as to oblite¬
rate all traces of the picture. The acid under considei’ation modi¬
fies this reducing action, allowing it to take place only in proportion
as the film has been acted on by light. The proportion in a deve¬
loping solution should, be increased in warm and diminished in
cold weather.
Effect of Internal Administration. — Cases of poisoning by acetic
acid are not frequent. When, however, it is resorted to for this
purpose it produces profuse perspiration ; the pulse becomes quick
and small ; a burning pain in the chest and abdomen is felt, and a
sensation of sickness.
Antidote. Water should be freely administered so as to dilute,
and carbonate of magnesia or chalk mixed with it to neutralise, the
acid. Albumen, i.e. white of egg, milk, and oleaginous drinks may
also be administered, with a view to produce an emollient and de¬
mulcent effect on the corroded membraneous lining of the stomach
and intestines.
PHOTOGRAPHY APPLIED TO PICTORIAL DECORATION.
By S. Thompson.
One of the characteristics of the age is decidedly a growing taste
loi pictorial decoration ; and it is a taste which, like most others,
grows by what it feeds on.”. One of the wants most universally
lelt by those who cater for it is more means of meeting that taste
m an inexpensive manner; for “homes of taste ” are now no longer
confined to the upper ten thousand,” but are sought for and
achieved by the tens of thousands who constitute, in numberless
gradations, the middle classes.
It would occupy too much space to enter here upon an exami¬
nation of the effect of beauty in nature and art upon the human
mind, even were it practicable to come to unchangeable con¬
clusions. What the final use may be, to men, of art, of painting,
oi of natural beauty, is a question inextricably complicated with
the enervating influence of all luxury. All perhaps are good, if
rightly received. History shows us that the arts and sciences,
ministering to the pride of nations, only hastened their ruin ; but
it may be firmly and unhesitatingly believed that the same arts
ana sciences will tend as distinctly to exalt the strength and
quicken the soul of every nation which employs them to increase
tfie comfort of lowly life and grace with happy intelligence the
unambitious courses of honourable toil.
The want before referred to has at length been met in a way
which admits of infinite applications and endless variety. Glass,
which in itself has contributed so much to our comforts and our
enjoyments, in a certain degree almost unequalled by any other
discovery of modern civilisation, will now, by the aid of photo¬
graphy, become a medium of pictorial decoration. We allude to
the new process of producing photographs on glass in enamel
colours just perfected and patented by M. Joubert. Glass, in all
its multitudinous forms, is a thing which meets the eye almost
more frequently than any other. To unite pictorial art with this
beautiful medium has long been a desideratum. Glass-painting is
a most expensive process, and requires a very long time to arrive
at perfect results, and, moreover, is exposed to many accidents — a
work which has occupied many weeks, or even months, being liable
to be utterly spoiled in the last firing — and all this keeps up the
price of painted glass so as to make it quite inaccessible to the
many. Transparent glass photographs have long been familiar to
us; but they require the additional protection of ground glass, and
there are many reasons against their use in interior or exterior
decoration, apart from the most important reason of all — the ques¬
tion of permanency. What spectres of “fair and faded things” are
conjured up by the bare mention of the word ! How much greater
must be the degree of permanence required for photographs which
are to be framed in ordinary window-sashes, and expected to defy
time and weather, and submit to be cleaned as readily as a com¬
mon window-pane. Yet these hard conditions have been met, and
they have been found, after applying the severest tests, to be
absolutely indelible. The picture, indeed, forms an integral por¬
tion of the glass itself: the only ingredient left after the last
washing on the glass has affinity with it, and, being placed in a
kiln, is burnt in and thoroughly amalgamated with it. So strange
is it that the same element which is so often a fierce destroyer
can, under certain conditions, preserve, and by its means such
things be rendered imperishable !
Unlike other glass transparencies, those by M. Joubert’s process
must be obtained from positives. Glass positives taken from nega¬
tives are the best for the purpose, and are indispensable for obtain¬
ing the highest results the process is capable of ; but paper
positives will do if waxed, and if the paper be free from granulations,
inequalities of substance, and all those blemishes which photo¬
graphic paper unfortunately seldom is free from. The glass which
is to receive the image is first rendered p>liotogrophically clean, and
then coated with a liquid precisely in the same manner as with
collodion. This liquid is composed of a saturated solution of
bichromate of ammonia in the proportion of five parts; honey and
albumen three parts of each, well mixed, and thinned with from
twenty to thirty parts of distilled water, and then filtered. The
preparation of this solution and the coating of the plate should be
conducted in the dark room, as this is, photographically speaking,
both collodion and nitrate bath, no other sensitiser being used.
No bath ! What photographer would like such a plate to be dipped
in his bath? The glass plate coated with solution is then properly
dried by means of a gas stove in a few minutes, and then placed
upon the glass or paper positive (not negative) in the same manner
as we place apiece of sensitised paper on an ordinary negative.
The pressure-frame, of the usual kind, is then screwed down and
taken out of the dark room and exposed to the light. The time of
exposure will of course vary, but a short exposure of a few seconds
will generally suffice. On removing the coated plate from the
pressure-frame, a faintly indicated picture in a negative condition
is seen. To develop it, or bring it out, an enamel colour in a very
finely divided powdery state is gently rubbed over with a soft
brush until the whole composition or subject appears in a perfect
positive form. The fixing solution is pure alcohol in which a little
acid has been mixed. Either acetic or nitric will do. When the
alcohol has completely evaporated, which will generally be the
case in a very short time, the glass is quietly immersed horizontally
in a large pan of clear water, and left until the chromic solution has
dissolved off and nothing remains except the enamel colour on the
glass. It is then set to dry near a heated stove, and when dry is
ready for the last operation, that of firing in the kiln. On being
burnt the enamel blends with and becomes an integral portion of
the glass plate. There cannot be any question of its durability :
as long as the glass lasts it will last. Enamel of any colour can be
used, and by careful registering a variety of colours can be printed
one after the other, so as to obtain a perfect imitation of a picture.
Borders of any description can also be subsequently added without
any liability to remove or even diminish the intensity of the colour
in the first firing.
It will be at once seen that it cannot compete with original
first-class works in painted glass ; but those works, on account of
the enormous expense attending them, can seldom be introduced
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[August 1, 18ftl
26S
into either public edifices or private dwellings. By M. Joubert’s
discovery both may now be enriched with works of real art pro¬
duced by this process. The great merit which it possesses in
common with photography is the important one of faithful tran¬
scription, the finest gradations of half-tone being preserved if the
transfer is skilfully performed. It will be in a great measure de¬
pendent upon photography for original subjects, as these can only
at a moderate cost be supplied by photography, or by photographic
copies of engravings, which in time would be exhausted, apart from
any question of copyright.
Such is the process. Its applications are so innumerable, and
open out such a vast field for their employment, that, though not
overlooked, we think they have been scarcely sufficiently appre¬
ciated. Whether or not “ good pictures are the best of sermons,”
as some have asserted, they certainly are refreshing and agreeable
to the eye ; and the day of ground-glass windows which meet us
at every turn, in every dwelling, is doubtless doomed. Disagree¬
able views may now be shut out by agreeable ones. Staircase
windows may be made to open out a fairy land to children — library
windows secure privacy and repose by means of an imperishable
gallery of portraits of our friends and contemporaries. The lower
panes of a conservatory may exhibit for our instruction and amuse¬
ment scenery of the lands from which the exotics around us were
brought. For the dining-room appropriate pictures might be se¬
lected, such as flowers, fruit, or game subjects, so disposed as to har¬
monise with the decoration of the room. Glass panels of cabinets
and cliiffonniers may have an appropriate device or coat of arms.
But it is in the adornment of public buildings that it can be most
systematically and appropriately carried out. In such cases a
set of original negatives should be taken ; and, though an
incessant outlay is incurred, yet they admit, like other photo¬
graphic processes, of infinite multiplication. Or, if an elaborate
design or coat of arms be drawn at some expense, it can then be
reproduced at will. And what is more appropriate for the splendid
mansion or nobleman’s castle, alternating with picturesque views
of the grounds or estate, and places of interest in the county in
which it may be situate? In every building there are windows
which must, whether from necessity or choice, be “ stopped out,”
and such as these will now afford opportunities for additional and
appropriate embellishment. For an ecclesiastical or educational
establishment appropriate subjects may readily be found ; for an
army or navy club-house, battle pieces ; for a royal yacht club,
marine subjects; for the ‘‘Travellers’,” scenes of foreign travel;
for buildings devoted to scientific societies endless subjects
present themselves, suggestive, stimulating enough ; for the
civil engineers, feats of engineering skill — the tubular bridge
over the Menai Straits, and so on. We hope to see no public
edifice erected in future, from the new Foreign Office downwards,
without this beautiful means of decoration being utilised.
ON THE ACTION OP IODINE IN THE SILVER BATH.*
By L’Abbe Laboede,
Professor of Physics at Pigwelin.
We generally try to give the greatest possible sensitiveness to
the impressionable film ; and one of the most efficacious methods of
so doing is to make use of a silver bath saturated with iodide, and
perfectly neutral. But even this neutrality exposes us to a danger
into which we infallibly fall, if at the same time we direct all the other
operations towards an extreme sensitiveness: a general mistiness
covers the proof, and shows itself principally upon the “reserves.”
I call “reserves” the parts of the proof upon which the light has
not acted. I find this expression very convenient, because it
denotes without confusion, by one word, the same effects which,
upon the glass, are called whites in the negative proof and blacks
in the positive. We must then be prepared to lose some of the
sensitiveness, either in modifying the whole of the process or in
giving to the silver bath a slight acid reaction.
I have discovered a new and very easy means of putting it in
practise, and which, while completely preserving intact the sensi¬
tiveness of the impressionable film, gives great purity to the
reserves. This method consists in introducing some iodine into
the silver bath, previously saturated with iodide of silver, in the
proportion of about 1 part to 200 of liquid. It must be stirred
from time to time, and, after contact for twenty-four hours, a silver
bath which previously fogged the proof is in a manner regenerated.
The ordinary laws of chemistry can hardly be applied in this
case, or rather we must search more deeply into those laws to find
* From Li Bulletin de la Socle tic Franca is PhotogroL>hique,
an explanation. Indeed every chemist believes that the iodine,
when in contact with the nitrate of silver, absorbs the silver and
sets the nitric acid free : this acid will then act like most of the
other acids in opposing itself to the reduction of the silver upon
the reserves. But I observe that the prolonged contact of the
iodine with a silver bath, well saturated with iodide of silver, does
not make it lose its neutrality : I have even been able to subject
the silver bath containing the iodine to boiling heat, without dis¬
covering the slightest acidity. It is a method to be employed if
we wish rapidly to obtain all the eftect of the iodiue upon the
silver bath. _ .
However, when iodine has lain from fifteen to twenty days in
the bath, a yellowish tinge is remarked upon the surface. The
liquid sometimes then possesses a slight acid reaction , but this is
owing to a secondary action, which must be attributed to the air
which has entered into the silver bath — indeed the yellow tint
manifests itself by marks which correspond to crystals of iodine
where the imprisoned air has been drawn into the liquid ,. and if a
bubble of air be seen fixed on the surface of the iodine, it will bo
remarked, subsequently, that it will have disappeared, and have
been replaced by a yellow spot. In making the expciimcnt in a
flat basin that is inclined in such a way as to put the iodine in
contact both with the air and the liquid, some of the iodide of sil-
ver is formed around some of the particles of iodine, and the bath
loses its neutrality. We therefore understand that the iodine
should be plunged entirely into the liquid, and that it is better to
withdraw it when it has produced all the expected cflects.. It is
easy to restore the neutrality to the bath by adding to it some
carbonate of silver. An excess of carbonate ot. silvei can even be
left in the argentiferous liquid without its losing any of the pro¬
perties which it owes to the presence of the iodine, llns tact
proves more decidedly that they are not owing to the presence of
nitric acid ; for we should not know how to admit in the same liquid
the continued existence of two substances which mutually destroy
each other. On the other hand, we know that the. smallest pio-
portion of nitric acid very much diminishes the sensitiveness, and,
however little too strong the dose may be, the proof becomes flat,
because it refuses to appear under the developing agent.
The effects are different when the nitrate of silver is not satura¬
ted with iodide of silver: the iodine unites with the silver, and
sets the nitric acid free; the iodide of silver dissolves in the
argentiferous liquid, which in a short time becomes very acid.
We may completely neutralise it by carbonate of silver; but it is
much better to dissolve the iodide of silver in the nitrate, and only
to add the iodine after complete saturation. . .
The effect of iodine in the silver bath consists, ! think, in pre¬
venting that spontaneous reduction upon the sensitive film which
often happens without the action of light. The silver first i educed
attracts the remainder of the nitrate under the developing agent,
without any very marked preference for the impressed portions
when the first reduction has been rather strong. Ihere lesulls
from this a general fogginess, which does not really cover the
image, since it existed previously, and was formed as soon as the
image. It is apparent from this how important it is to prevent
sucli foo'^inGss.
I have remarked that, with this modification of .the silvei bath,
the proofs are with difficulty solarised. To arrive at that stage
the ordinary limits of exposure must have been much exceeded.
I am sure that we often attribute to solarisation that which in
reality arises from the subjacent mistiness of which I have spoken.
We then lessen the time of exposure, and involve ourselves in a
difficulty from which, we do not escape, except with but inditlerent
proofs in our possession. .
Photographers have known for a long time that they must
almost always attribute to the silver bath those imperfections
which annoy them so much by the obstinacy with which they
re-appear. In iodine they will find a powerful auxiliary in avoiding
the greater part of these difficulties. , , ,,
I At the conclusion of the paper M. Regnault observed that the
fact announced by M. l’Abbd Laborde was very. curious in a chemi¬
cal point of view, and that it would be interesting to examine into
it more closely. He requested MM. Davanne and Girard to study
the point.] _ ^ _
Herr Liesegang, of Elberfeldt, has just published a Handbook of
Photoqraphy in the German language. It is not a mere manual, but a
book of considerable bulk, containing an introduction upon the.
construction of various kinds of lenses, followed by the practice o
the collodion process— both positive and negative— printing and
toning of paper positives, stereoscopy, &c.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
August 1, 1861]
NOTES OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIP TO THE ORKNEY
ISLANDS.
By John Traill.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, on July 17th, 1861.]
One Friday morniDg in June, 1860, saw me embarked on board the
Prince Consort , a noble steamer which plies weekly between
Granton Pier and Shetland, calling at Aberdeen, Wick, and Kirk¬
wall, en route for Lerwick. Mr. James Munroe gave me his plea¬
sant company on this tour. Kirkwall, a town in the Orkney
Islands, was the place of our destination ; and the wind being fair,
Edinburgh and its attendant hills soon disappeared from our sight.
The great number of passengers for the Northern ports, especially
Kirkwall, very much surprised me. Believing, as I had been
led to do, that I was going to a place inhabited by a race of semi-
barbaric natives, who spoke Norse, subsisted by fishing, and were
as much at home in the water as on the land, I could not well con¬
ceive what motive induced so many respectable people to visit
these islands ; for, so far as a slight inspection of the passengers’
luggage could inform me, I was satisfied that my friend and I were
the only photographers among the numerous company.
Sea sickness kept me below until Saturday morning, when Mr.
Munroe called me on deck to see a shoal of whales disporting
themselves about a quarter of a mile from the vessel. I found we
were now off the Orkneys, having crossed the eastern mouth of
the Pentland Frith, which divides these islands from the mainland
of Scotland. The morning being fine, and the sea as smooth as
glass, the first sight of these islands was everything that the most
enthusiastic tourist could desire. On passing a little island called
Cobinshay — one side of which was a grassy slope, the other a
frowning precipice, inhabited by myriads of sea-fowl — our photo¬
graphic enthusiasm rose to such a pitch that wo at once determined
to have a flying shot at it with the camera ; but, such was the ra¬
pidity of the steamer’s movements, that long ere we got our “traps”
unbuckled, this picturesque 'Island was left far behind. "Winding
our way in among the islands, we. shortly after mid-day, cast
anchor in the Bay of Kirkwall, on an inlet of which is situated the
town itself.
Landing, and proceeding up its long narrow street, I confessed
to a feeling of something akin to disappointment when I found that,
with little exception, it presented just the same appearance as
others of our Scottish towns similarly situated ; and, instead of my
ears being regaled with the harsh Norse language, found that
English, pure and undefiled, was exclusively spoken by all classes.
The inhabitants, instead of being the semi-barbarians we had
calculated upon, had a shrewd, intelligent, and, in some cases,
even a refined appearance. “ Comparisons,” they say, “ are
odious but the inhabitants of Kirkwall will certainly, in mental
and physical qualities, contrast very favourably with those of
Edinburgh.
A letter of introduction to Mr. - secured me the acquaint¬
ance of that gentleman during my stay in Orkney ; and both to
him and Mrs. - I was much indebted for an account of the
most notable subjects for photographs in these islands, with (what
was also of great importance) the best points of view under par¬
ticular circumstances of light, together with other little bits of
information which can best be appreciated by those who are
similarly situated as we were. Those of the members who are
about to pay a photographic visit to a strange country would do
well to secure an introduction to some intelligent resident, feeling
assured that, as in my case, they will by such procedure save
themselves a world of trouble in the selection of views, &c.
The town of Kirkwall, although unpretending in the main, still
presents some notable features. It contains St. Magnus’s Cathe¬
dral — a magnificent gothic pile, in an excellent state of preserva¬
tion — the ruins of two palaces, and the remains of a castle.
From the photographs which the Secretary will submit to your
inspection as illustrations to this paper, you will at once see the
imposing nature of these structures and the architectural skill and
sufficient means of these islanders, at even a very remote date
from the present times. The antiquity of these buildings may be
deduced from the fact of St. Magnus’s Cathedral having been
erected in 1138. The length of this stately fabric is 226 feet,
breadth, 56 feet; height of the main roof, 71 feet, top of steeple,
133 feet.
Those of our brethren who for months can find morning em¬
ployment with the camera among the slopes and crags of
Arthur’s Seat, would, in the far North, find similar employment for
years.
260
A binocular camera for stereographs, and a portable land¬
scape camera for pictures twelve by ten, formed our 11 tools.”
We had with us a small supply of albumenised plates, ready
excited, and the necessaries for collodion plates, either wet or dry,
as circumstances might demand. The lenses with which these
cameras were fitted were the ordinary achromatic meniscus ones ;
and I here give it as my sincere opinion that, for ordinary land¬
scape work, this, if well constructed, is the best class of lens as yet
in the market. Goddard’s compound periscopic is not a bad lens
at all, and gives architectural subjects with the lines mathematically
straight ; but I prefer a single corrected meniscus by the same or
any other good maker.
We got a few good views about Kirkwall, after which we pro¬
ceeded to a small seaport town on the same island, called Stromness.
In the vicinity of this town may be taken some of the finest views
in the north of Scotland. Our first visit was to some of the quarries
rendered classical by the researches of the late Hugh Miller, after
which we began to look out for “ subjects.” To this we devoted
the first day after our arrival, noting the exact spot where the
camera was to be placed and the particular hour at which the
light falls with most effect on the object to be depicted. There
are no old buildings of any interest in Stromness, but the natural
scenery is very grand. Fearful precipices, with rocky precipitous
islands, coves, inlets, lochs, bays, and similar scenery, are all within
a short walk from this place. Here we were fortunate enough to
get introduced to Mr. Hay, a lawyer, resident in Stromness, who,
possessing an amount of photographic and artistic knowledge with
which one does not often meet in such distant regions, was of such
service to us that were it not for him we should have had to beat a
hasty retreat from that port without a single picture. The way it
happened was this : — By one of those accidents which will happen
to photographers, even in spite of the greatest possible care, a
small case, which was inadvertently left standing too near the
edge of a rock, containing our collodion, nitrate of silver, and, in
fact, all our chemicals, suddenly parted company from us, preferring
perhaps to try the wet process on its own behalf at the bottom of
the sea. The look of blank despair which was depicted in my
friend Munroe’s face at this dire calamity will never be effaced
from my memory. Apparently nothing now remained for us but
to pack up our cameras, dismiss photography from our minds, and
make the best of our way south again. It was at this stage that
the suggestions of Mr. Hay came to our relief ; for, by his assistance,
and acting under his advice, we got a complete rig-out of photo¬
graphic chemicals. Procuring some eggs, we beat up^the whites
with five grains of iodide of ammonium to each egg. At first the
procuring of the iodide of ammonium was about to upset us ; but
by dissolving common iodine in sulphide of ammonium, and crystal¬
lising the product, we procured, by this rough mode of proceeding,
a salt which in colour and photographic qualities was superior to
much that is sold in Edinburgh. Some silver coins dissolved in
aquafortis, of which there is plenty to be had in almost every
country town, made a bath solution which, although slightly
coloured from the presence of the copper with which the coin was
adulterated, produced good pictures not only when neAV but many
months’aftenvards. A shoemaker supplied a piece of gutta percha,
of which a fiat bath was soon made by the assistance of a wooden
mould. Our friend supplied us with acetic acid, which Ave added
to our nitrate of silver bath in no sparing quantity; for experience
has taught me that, in Avorking the albumen process, a liberal dose
of acetic acid is not at all objectionable. HaA’ing prepared tAVO or
three trial plates, which Avere successfully deA'eloped by Mr. Hay,
Ave prepared a stock of plates sufficient to last us for the remainder
of our stay in the north, intending to deArelop them on our return
to the south. This course Ave adhered to ; and, notAvithstanding
the inconvenience of car lying about a great stock of glass plates,
I believe it Avill prove to be one of the simplest. Albumen nega¬
tives possess a sharpness, an evenness of texture, a brilliancy, and
eAren a softness, if property exposed and developed, Avhich will
contrast favourably Avith any dry collodion process extant ; while
the cheapness of the albumen is in its favour — albumen costing
about one penny per ounce. There is no preservative solution
required in the albumen process : simple Avashing with plenty of
clean Avater Avill suffice. In deArelopiug, no Aveakness or raising of
the film need be dreaded : it is as hard almost as the glass itself.
Its only objection is the Aveiglit of the glass.
We stajmd in Orkney for two Aveeks, during which time we
visited seAmral of the islands, of Avhich there are upwards of sixty,
only half that number being inhabited. In all cases the inhabitants
Avere kind and hospitable, and the reminiscences of our photographic
trip to the Orkney Islands are of the most pleasing character.
270
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 18G1
ON THE PRODUCTION OF TEANSPAEEM T POSITIVES,
AND ON THE TEANSPEEEENCE OP COLLODION.*
By M. Martin,
Professor of Natural Philosophy at the College of Saint-Barle.
M. Motissier’s process has given, in skilful hands, charming
results, with the advantage of uniting great delicacy with absolute
permanency.
The only drawback is with regard to the colour of the proofs :
one is never sure of obtaining a desirable tint.
If the exposure in the camera in printing the positive has been
too prolonged, the operator should arrest the development with
pyrogallic acid at the instant when there is reason to think that
the shadows will not increase in intensity, and when there is no
deficiency of details. The reduced silver in this case presents a
reddish hue well known to photographers who develop their proofs
with pyrogallic acid.
The action. of chloride of gold does not entirely overcome this
colour; and, if it be not injurious to positives intended for optical
experiments, at least it is not advisable for those to be transferred
to paper.
The excess of exposure is not the sole cause of the production of
this. red tint : the presence of an excess of acetic acid in the pyro¬
gallic solution or in that of the nitrate of silver, the employment
of a collodion slightly alkaline, the use of a negative too trans¬
parent or too hard, produces it equally.
It is not always easy to remedy this defect. As regards the ex¬
posure, it is observable that if it be insufficient, the proof will be
incomplete in the lights, and will only have lights and shades
without half-tone. If we reduce the quantity of acetic acid, there
is reason to fear that the white parts will be insufficientlv pre¬
served.
. Under other circumstances, and by the employment of old collo¬
dion, rich in. iodide and in ether, with baths containing too much
free nitric acid, the reduced silver assumes a grey tone, the image,
incomplete in the shadows, is veiled, and presents in its whole
aspect, even after the action of the chloride of gold, a bluish grey
tone that is cold and disagreeable.
In short, the results are sometimes very beautiful, but always
very uncertain.
. The following method has for its object the more certain produc¬
tion of the same kind of proofs.
The collodion which I employ is a trifle richer in iodide and
pyroxyline than that described in my previous communication ; the
silver bath is, however, the same.
The plate, sensitised in the ordinary way, is exposed in the
camera for a rather, shorter time than when intended to be deve¬
loped wtih pyrogallic acid, and the development is effected instead
by means of sulphate of iron.
Silver thus reduced is white, and will only give grey shadows.
How can we transform this white into black silver? By pouring
on the developed and well-washed but not fixed image a saturated
solution of non-acid bichloride of mercury : the reduced silver
becomes black by the precipitation of metallic mercury. The
proof is then carefully washed, and covered with a solution of
cyanide of silver in cyanide of potassium.
This solution is obtained by dissolving forty-eight grains of
cyanide of potassium in one ounce of water, and adding thereto a
sufficiency of a fifty-grain solution of nitrate of silver, until the
precipitated cyanide of silver which results ceases to be re-dissolved
on shaking it up. The liquid, after filtration, is ready for use.
We may replace the silver salt by one of copper, which gives
the same results. Metallic copper which is thus precipitated is
black, and gives to the proof a tone altogether like that produced
by the silver. In this case I employ the pure crystallised cyanide
of potassium of MM. Fordos and Gelis.
We may in like manner substitute hyposulphite of soda for
cyanide of potassium, and prepare the solution in the same way,
whether with the silver or copper salt. Hyposulphite of soda
which has served for fixing negatives developed with pyrogallic
acid, and of which the action is exhausted, gives, by the addition
of a silver or copper salt, good results.
All the solutions may be used over and over again, especially
those of silver, before their efficiency is exhausted.
When we flow either of these solutions over the plate, after the
action of the mercurial salt, we see the blacks assume great in¬
tensity : nothing more is necessary than to wash well and to fix
with fresh solution of hyposulphite of soda. Cyanide of potassium
* From Lz Bulletin.
is not suitable for this purpose, however weak the solution, because
it whitens the reduced silver.
If the proof is intended to be preserved on the glass, to be viewed
as a transparency, it is only necessary to allow it to dry, and to
varnish it if it be not already sufficiently transparent.
When it is desired to transfer the proof, it must be carefully
washed after fixing, and be immersed for several minutes in water
acidulated with sulphuric acid. This last operation is necessary,
the collodion having acquired an excessive adherence to the glass.
The same method is applicable to negatives developed with iron,
of which the dark parts appear too grey.
ON THE THEORY OE THREE PRIMARY COLOURS.
By Professor J. Clerk Maxwell.
[When the compound nature of the solar light was first discovered
by the illustrious Newton, it was supposed to consist of seven
primary colours; but natural philosophers have long since arrived
at the conclusion that three only out of the seven are entitled to
be regarded as primaries, the remainder being produced by differ¬
ent combinations of these three. The primary colours have beeu
considered as blue, yellow, and red; but certain experiments per¬
formed by Professor Maxwell have led him to the conclusion that
although the number of the primary colours is really three, yellow
ought properly to be placed among the secondaries, being really a
combination of green and red — the former colour, green, being
entitled to rank as a primary.
The following is an authenticated abstract of a lecture, enuncia¬
ting these principles, recently delivered at the Royal Institution
by the learned Professor.]
The speaker commenced by showing that our power of vision depends
entirely on our being able to distinguish the intensity and quality of
colours. The forms of visible objects are indicated to us only by differ¬
ences in colour or brightness between them and surrounding objects. To
classify and arrange these colours, to ascertain the physical conditions
on which the differences of coloured rays depend, and to trace, as far as
we are able, the physiological process by which these different rajrs ex¬
cite in us various sensations of colour, we must avail ourselves of the
united experience of painters, opticians, and physiologists. The speaker
then proceeded to state the results obtained by these three classes of in¬
quirers, to explain their apparent inconsistency by means of Young's
Theory of Primary Colours, and to describe the tests to which he had
subjected that theory.
Painters have studied the relations of colours, in order to imitate them
by means of pigments. As there are only a limited number of coloured
substances adapted for painting, while the number of tints in nature is
infinite, painters are obliged to produce the tints they require by mixing
their pigments in proper proportions. This leads them to regard these
tints as actually compounded of other colours, corresponding to the pure
pigments in the mixture. It is found that by using three pigments only
we can produce all colours lying within certain limits of intensity and
purity. For instance, if we take carmine (red), chrome yellow, and
ultramarine (blue), we get by mixing the carmine and the chrome all
varieties of orange, passing through scarlet to crimson on the one side
and to yellow on the other ; by mixing chrome and ultramarine we get
all hues of green ; and by mixing ultramarine with carmine we get all
hues of purple, from violet to mauve and crimson. Now, these are all
the strong colours that we ever see or can imagine : all others are like
these, only less pure in tint. Our three colours can be mixed so as to
form a neutral grey ; and if this grey be mixed with any of the hues pro¬
duced by mixing two colours only, all the tints of that hue wrill be ex¬
hibited, from the pure colour to neutral grey. If we could assume that
the colour of a mixture of different kinds of paint is a true mixture of
the colours of the pigments, and in the same proportion, then an analysis
of colour might be made with the same ease as a chemical analysis of a
mixture of substances.
The colour of a mixture of pigments, however, is often very different
from a true mixture of the colours of the pure pigments. It is found to
depend on the size of the particles, a finely ground pigment producing
more effect than one coarsely ground. It has also been shown by Pro¬
fessor Helmholtz that, when light falls on a mixture of pigments, part of
it is acted on by one pigment only and part of it by another, while a
third portion is acted on by both pigments in succession before it is sent
back to the eye. The two parts reflected directly from the pure pigments
enter the eye together, and form a true mixture of colours ; but the third
portion, which has suffered absorption from both jiigments, is often so
considerable as to give its own character to the resulting tint. This is
the explanation of the green tint produced by mixing most blue and
yellow pigments.
In studying the mixture of colours, we must avoid these sources of
error, either by mixing the rays of light themselves, or by combining the
impressions of colours within the eye by the rotation of coloured papers
on a disc.
August 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
271
The speaker then stated what the opticians had discovered about
colour. White light, according to Newton, consists of a great number
of different kinds of coloured light, which can be separated by a prism.
Newton divided these into seven classes ; but we now recognise many
thousand distinct kinds of light in the spectrum, none of which can be
shown to be a compound of more elementary rays. If we accept the theory
that light is an undulation, then, as there are undulations of every
different period from the one end of the spectrum to the other, there are
an infinite number of possible kinds of light, no one of which can be re¬
garded as compounded of any others.
Physical optics does not lead us to any theory of three primary colours,
but leaves us in possession of an infinite number of pure rays, with an
infinitely more infinite number of compound beams of light, each con¬
taining any proportions of any number of the pure rays.
These beams of light, passing through the transparent parts of the eye,
fall on a sensitive membrane, and we become aware of various colours.
We know that the colour we see depends on the nature of the light ; but
the opticians say there are an infinite number of kinds of light, while the
painters, and all who pay attention to what they see, tell us that they
can account for all actual colours by supposing them mixtures of three
primary colours.
The speaker then next drew attention to the physiological difficulties in
accounting for the perception of colour. Some have supposed that the
different kinds of light are distinguished by the time of their vibration.
There are about 447 billions of vibrations of red light in a second, and
577 billions of vibrations of green light in the same time. It is certainly
not by any mental process of which we are conscious that we distinguish
between these infinitesimal portions of time, and it is difficult to conceive
any mechanism by which the vibrations could be counted so that we
should become conscious of the results, especially when many rays of
different periods of vibration act on the same part of the eye at
once.
Besides, all the evidence we have on the nature of nervous action goes
to prove that whatever be the nature of the agent which excites a nerve,
the sensation will differ only in being more or less acute. By acting on
a nerve in various ways we may produce the faintest sensation or the
most violent pain ; but if the intensity of the sensation be the same, its
quality must be the same.
Now, we perceive by our eyes a faint red light which may be made
stronger and stronger till our eyes are dazzled. We may then perform
the same experiment with a green light or a blue light. We shall thus
see that our sensation of colour may differ in other ways, besides in being
stronger or fainter. The sensation of colour, therefore, cannot be due to
one nerve only.
The speaker then proceeded to state the theory of Dr. Thomas Young,
as the only theory which completely reconciles these difficulties in
accounting for the perception of colour.
Young supposes that the eye is provided with three distinct sets of
nervous fibres, each set extending over the whole sensitive surface of the
eye. Each of these three systems of nerves, when excited, gives us a
different sensation. One of them, which gives us the sensation we call
red, is excited most by the red rays, but also by the orange and yellow,
and slightly by the violet ; another is acted on by the green rays, but
also by the orange and yellow, and part of the blue ; while the third is
acted on by the blue and violet rays.
If we could excite one of these sets of nerves without acting on the
others, we should have the pure sensation corresponding to that set of
nerves. This would be truly a primary colour, whether the nerve were
excited by pure or by compound light, or even by the action of pressure
or disease.
If such experiments could be made, we should be able to see the
primary colours separately, and to describe their appearance by reference
to the scale of colours in the spectrum.
But we have no direct consciousness of the contrivances of our own
bodies, and we never feel any sensation which is not infinitely complex,
so that we can never know directly how many sensations are combined
when we see a colour. Still less can we isolate one or more sensations
by artificial means, so that in general when a ray enters the eye, though
it should be one of the pure rays of the spectrum, it may excite more than
one of the three sets of nerves, and thus produce a compound sensation.
The terms simple and compound, therefore, as applied to colour sen¬
sation, have by no means the same meaning as they have when applied
to a ray of light.
The speaker then stated some of the consequences of Young’s theory,
and described the tests to which he had subjected it : —
1st. There are three primary colours.
2nd. Every colour is either a primary colour or a mixture of primary
colours.
3rd. Four colours may always be arranged in one of two ways.
Either one of them is a mixture of the other three, or a mixture of two of
them can be found identical with a mixture of the other two.
4th. These results may be stated in the form of colour-equations, giving
the numerical value of tire amount of each colour entering into any mix¬
ture. By means of the colour top, such equations can be obtained for
coloured papers, and they may be obtained with a degree of accuracy
showing that the colour-judgment of the eye may be rendered very
perfect.
The speaker had tested in this way more than 100 different pigments
and mixtures, and had found the results agree with the theory of three
primaries in every case. He had also examined all the colours of the
spectrum with the same result.
The experiments with pigments do not indicate what colours are to be
considered as primary ; but experiments on the prismatic spectrum show
that all the colours of the spectrum, and therefore all the colours in
nature, are equivalent to mixtures of three colours of the spectrum itself,
namely, red, green (near the line E), and blue (near the line G). Yellow
was found to be a mixture of red and green.
The speaker, assuming red, green, and blue as primary colours, then
exhibited th6m on a screen by means of three magic lanterns, before
which were placed glass troughs containing respectively sulphocyanide
of iron, chloride of copper, and ammoniated copper.
A triangle was thus illuminated, so that the pure colours appeared at
its angles, while the rest of the triangle contained the various mixtures
of the colours as in Young’s triangle of colour.
The graduated intensity of the primary colours in different parts of the
spectrum was exhibited by three coloured images, which, when super¬
posed on the screen, gave an artificial representation of the spectrum.
Three photographs of a coloured ribbon taken through the three
coloured solutions respectively were introduced into the camera, giving
images representing the red, the green, and the blue parts separately, as
they would be seen by each of Young’s three sets of nerves separately.
When these were superposed, a coloured image was seen, which, if the
red and green images had been as fully photographed as the blue, would
have been a truly-coloured image of the ribbon. By finding photographic
materials more sensitive to the less refrangible rays, the representation of
the colours of objects might be greatly improved.
The speaker then proceeded to exhibit mixtures of the colours of the
pure spectrum. Light from the electric lamp was passed through a nar¬
row slit, a lens and a prism, so as to throw a pure spectrum on a screen
containing three moveable slits, through which three distinct portions of
the spectrum were suffered to pass. These portions were concentrated by
a lens on a screen at a distance, forming a large, uniformly coloured
image of the prism.
When the whole spectrum was allowed to pass, this image was white,
as in Newton’s experiment of combining the rays of the spectrum. When
portions of the spectrum were allowed to pass through the moveable slits,
the image was uniformly illuminated with a mixture of the coresponding
colours. In order to see these colours separately another lens was placed
between the moveable slits and the screen. A magnified image of the
slits was thus thrown on the screen, each slit showing, by its colour and
its breadth, the quality and quantity of the colour which it suffered to
pass. Several colours were thus exhibited, first separately, and then in
combination. Red and blue, for instance, produced purple ; red and green
produced yellow ; blue and yellow produced a pale pink ; red, blue, and
green produced Avliite ; and red and a bluish green near the line F pro¬
duced a colour which appears very different to different eyes.
The speaker concluded by stating the peculiarities of colour blind-
vision, and by showing that the investigation into the theory of colour is
truly a physiological inquiry, and that it requires the observations and
testimony of persons of every kind in order to discover and explain the
various peculiarities of vision.
- — 4. - -
APPROACHING PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION AT
MANCHESTER.
The following circular is that to which allusion was made in our report
of the last meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society : —
Photographic Exhibition in Connexion with the British Association for thb
Advancement of Science, Thirty-first Meeting, to bs held in Manchester, 4th
September, 1861.
Committee : Arthur Neild, Nicholas Street, Manchester, Chairman ; W. D. Clarke,
Ilayfield, Stockport; J. B. Dancer, E.R. A.S., Cross Street, Manchester; J. Mudd, St. Arn’s
Square, Manchester ; IV. Newsome, R.E., 2, Wellington Terrace, Stretford Road, Man¬
chester ; J. Sidebotham, 19, George Street, Manchester ; W. T. Mabley, Hon. Sec., 14,
St. Ann’s Square, Manchester.
Sir, — I beg to call your attention to the above annour cement, and to solicit your
assistance in the endeavour that will be made to render the Exhibition a complete and
trustworthy exponent of the present state of photographic art, and of the steps by
which it has attained its now popular and important position. It is proposed by the
Committee of Management to organise the Exhibition upon a plan not hitherto, as it is
believed, attempted. Their labours will necessarily be great ; but they trust with con¬
fidence to the co-operation of photographers generally, and particularly they would
enlist the assistance of those whose long expeiience in and patient study of the art
have made them acquainted with the many modifications it is capable of assuming.
Photography is no longer an art which merely gives us interesting pictures in land¬
scape and portraiture ; nor is it a fixed thing, conducted upon one set of established
rules, for we now find it applied to a large number of objects and uses, and conducted
upon many methods differing materially from each other. It is particularly the aim of
the present undertaking to show its capabilities in these respects. At a gathering like
that of the members of the British Association, men of all shades of taste and acquire¬
ments in scientific pursuits are brought together ; and it is thought that, by making the
proposed Exhibition the means of showing how- photography may be applied to their
several pursuits and requirements, a great end will have been attained— not only by
affi rding amusement for the time, but by gaining a more extended patronage of the art,
and securing the co-operation of many who are at present totally unacquairted with
the wide field of subjects to which it may be made subservient. In the chemistry of
photography, also, it is assumed that some good may arise ; for, if the proposed design
be fully carried out, there will be matter placed before the members of the Association
which may attract the attention and secure the assistance of men eminent in that
department of physical science. It is proposed, therefore, that the Exhibition shall
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1861
m
embrace all the most interesting features of photography in separate classes, and the
following are given to show the principle upon which it is proposed to carry out the
design, they being, however, merely examples capable of subdivision or extension : —
I. ’Present state of the art, as illustrated by views, portraits of eminent persons, <i- c.
II. The practical application of photography to copying mac winery, maps, paintings,
statuary, rare engravings, geological strata, &c.
III. The various applications to engraving, lithography, wood-cutting, &c.
IV. The history of the art, as shown by some of the early efforts of Daguerre, Talbot,
Archer, and others, with specimens of the various processes, such as da¬
guerreotype, calotype, wax paper, collodion, collodio-albumen, &c.
V. Various experimental processes, such as prints with uranium, platinum, car¬
bon, &e., and numerous curiosities in photography.
VI. Photographs with the microscope and telescope.
VII. The most recent improvements in appai’atus.
It is submitted that not only photographers, but those who merely take an interest in
the art may assist the Committee materially in more than one direction. Those who do
not themselves work at photography may possess and be willing to lend the productions
of others, or to canvass their friends for choice or peculiar specimens of the art, and all
may assist by encouraging an interest in the Exhibition, and by affording hints or
counsel as to the practical carrying out of the design.
A detailed scheme of the rules to be observed by exhibitors will be issued in due time.
I am your obedient Servant,
WM. TUDOR MABLEY, Honorary Secretary.
14, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, May, 1861.
It must not be forgotten that, although Mr. Mabley is Secretary to
the Chemical Section of the British Association as well as Secretary
to the Manchester Photographic Society, the two offices are perfectly
distinct; that the Manchester Photographic Society, in its corporate
capacity, has nothing whatever to do with the forthcoming Exhibition ;
and that, consequently, as the Society will obtain no credit for a
successful gathering, neither will it be responsible for any failure,
should such occur — an event which, we may observe, we by no means
anticipate.
There is one feature in the preceding circular which we strongly com¬
mend to the Royal Commissioners for the forthcoming Industrial Exhi¬
bition : we mean the subdivision of photographs into several sub-classes,
and still more the judicious intimation that those adopted are intended
to show the principle upon which the design is to be carried out as cir¬
cumstances may render desirable, rather than to be rigidly adhered to.
We always regard it as a good sign when principles are firmly upheld,
but details accommodated to the wants, or even fancies, of those affected
by them.
- - -
RE-DISCOVERIES IN PHOTOGRAPHY.
Great is Scotch “ wliusky,” but greater still is Scotch “ ale,” see¬
ing that even in its incipient state of wort it can affect the eyes
not only of the Edinburgh photographers in general, but of Robert
Paterson, M.D., of Leith, in particular, who in the last number of
the Journal confesses that he has yet to learn that the malt
process, as discovered (!) by Mr. Macnair in I860, is the same
as the wort process discovered by “I. J. H.” in 1855. Be
mine the task of enlightening the Doctor. Everything now
depends upon the definition of the word “wort.” With us in
England it signifies an infusion of malt in hot water, and is
commonly called sweet wort before the hops have been added, after
which addition some call it hopped wort and some bitter wort.
The former, or sweet wort, was the kind recommended by “ I. J. H.”
in 1855 ; and, that Dr. Paterson and the rest of your readers may
know the difference between it and the malt infusion discovered
by Mr. Macnair, I here subjoin an extract in Mr. Macnair’s own
words, which I quote from the official report of the transactions on
that occasion : — “Mr. Macnair said that he had been lately led to
adopt common brewers' wort as a preservative coating to a sensitised
plate” — one advantage of which was stated to be that it was
always to be easily obtained, and at a trifling cost. Now, I opine
that no amount of reasoning or quibbling will get over these facts,
and that they are facts every one in possession of the journals for
those dates may at once ascertain. Hence, with respect to the
wonderful “malt” process, or “wort” process (a rose by any
other name will smell as sweet), all that I wrote about it before
must just remain in statu quo. Time at present scarcely allows me
to notice all that has been written in reply to my last communica¬
tion : one topic only will I touch on, and that is the Doctor’s
denial that he gave forth the “gum-water process” as a new one.
Well, perhaps I was wrong in saying quite so much for it; but
listen to what the Doctor says himself (I quote from his own
paper): — “The process which I am now about to describe is not
an entirely new one ; but is new in some important particulars.'1’'
Now, among all my friends and acquaintances there is not one
who can discover wherein the novelties consist; for, with the ex¬
ception of coating with gum, it is much about the same as the
other dry processes, viz. : — After exciting, wash (either partially
or thoroughly), ancl then coat with the preservative, whatever
that may be. It therefore remains for the Doctor to tell us in
what “ important particulars ” it is new. PETER SMITH.
Cornwall , July 23rd, 1861.
STEREOGRAPHS.
North Wales and Chester Illustrated, by Francis Bedford.
(Catherall and Prichard, Eastgate Row, Chester.)
We resume our notice of this very attractive series, as promised at
page 368 of our seventh volume ; and, first of all, we would direct
attention to one subject of a class in which Mr. Bedford has been
peculiarly happy in his illustrations — we mean architectural inte¬
riors. The slide before us represents Tiie Nave of Chester
Cathedral — a subject possessing no claims for admiration on
account of ornamentation or sculpture of any kind, as it consists
merely of a single series of Gothic arches of the plainest type ; yet
from the treatment an artistic value has been attained. We may
remark, en passant , that the east window, which though partially
obscured by the organ is visible in the distance, is entirely free from
the hazy obscurity sometimes so objectionably present in photo¬
graphic representations of interiors. The bare expanse of the
floor is relieved by the solitary figure of a lady, while the bright
sunbeams, streaming in from the range of clerestory windows, not
only impart an effect of atmosphere truly exquisite, but, falling on
the ground behind the figure, light up the former, and give that
prominence to the latter which, without the patch of light, would
have lost half its value. The delicate half-tones of the shaded side
are nicely varied, though harmonious.
Until we put it into the stereoscope we were not a little puzzled
at the appearance presented by the sky (!) in a view at Pont-y-Pair,
Bettws-y-Coecl, from near the Falls; but then the mystery was im¬
mediately cleared up, for the sky proved to be no sky, but a back¬
ground of trees, in a dense mass, against the distant hill-side.
Three arches of a bridge, the central one of considerable span,
across a natural chasm in the rock, form the central features of the
composition. In the left and middle foreground the branches of a
sturdy oak break up the outline, and the figure of a man leaning
over the parapet of the bridge imparts an air of life to the subject.
In the Penrhyn Slate Quarries, near Bangor, does not seem
a very attractive title ; but, though a mere quarry, it is singularly
artistic. The broken masses of slate catching the diffused light at
all sorts of angles, reflect those soft pearly tones which shed such
an air of repose, while the extreme upper part of the quarry is lit
up by the departing beams of the setting sun. In the foreground
is a miner’s hut (little better than a hole in the rock), and just
above it a man is standing, with his back to the spectator.
As an extraordinary contrast to the last-named slide, we may
cite an evening scene On the Ellesmere Canal, Llantisilio,
near Llangollen. This is one of those quiet scenes by which we are
always particularly attracted. At the spot delineated the canal
winds gracefully round the base of a mound, its sloping banks
clothed with vegetation. A precipitous path, protected by a light
railing1, leads to the top of the mound, which is crowned by a wide
spreading elm tree. From the side of the mound juts out a grace¬
ful silver birch tree, overhanging the water, and on the opposite
bank are three magnificent larches. A rough rustic bridge gives
access to the mound, and the vista permits a view of the distant
hills which, with the bridge, are reflected in the water.
There are few more interesting objects regarded in the light of
picturesque adjuncts to a landscape than a water-mill, and that at
Trefriw, North Wales (No. 168), forms no exception to the rule;
indeed, with one exception, we have nothing but commendation to
apply to the slide before us, the exception being the chalkiness of
the falling water, which in consequence of this defect loses both
transparency and liquidity of appearance. The distant wooded
hills, the little white cottage, the mill works, the wheel at rest and
in shadow, the fine clusters of trees and shrubs on the banks of the
stream, which is also strewn with huge rounded calcareous rocks,
form a highly pleasing combination.
Of all the locally characteristic illustrations, perhaps. The
Pass of Aberglaslyn, from the Bridge, is one most deserving of
notice. The graceful curve of the road in the valley, the huge
bare precipitous slate rocks on the right brightly illuminated, the
dense mass of coniferous vegetation clothing the conical hill on the
left, contrast well with the rugged bare rocks opposite both in
tone and character ; for though the wooded hill is in shadow, every
tree, nay every spray, is visibly defined, yet there is no frittering
away of effect by the detail, but all is broad and massive in
grandeur. There is a little to be desired in the way of atmos¬
phere, and the outline of the hill is a little too hard ; but for all
that this slide will be a favourite.
Wolf’s Castle, near Beddgelert, is the name given to a huge
rock supposed to contain subterranean apartments once haunted
by a robber chief called “ The Wolf.” Though there is but little
August 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
£73
to interest us in the rock itself beyond the legend attached to it,
its “ surroundings ” make it one of tlie most picturesque of the
whole series. Here is a beautifully-wooded stream, with sinuous
course and gentle falls. In this slide there is plenty of atmosphere,
and a distant hill recedes most naturally from the view. The
water, it is true, is a trifle too solid in that part where the foam
rises from the force of the fall ; but, nevertheless, this also is a
charming slide.
At Pont-y-Pant, in the Lledr Valley, we have a turbulent
stream, split into several streamlets by the sharp cutting rocks, and
again and again “anastomosing,” as the anatomists phrase it; but
here, though the whole course of the stream is one mass of white
foam, there is a foaminess of aspect about it which leaves the ob¬
server in no doubt about its nature, though we by no means intend
to assert that it is perfect. The bridge consists but of a series of
rough planks laid across from pier to pier, built of still rougher
stones piled together apparently without cement of any kind.
There are some fine effects of chiaroscuro in No. 186, Pont
Aberglaslyn, Beddgelert, and in No. 130, Capel Curig, Moel
Siabud, from the hotel gardens ; but in some parts of both pictures
the contrasts between the lights and shades are too marked for
stereoscopic slides, though for this same reason they look more
brilliant as single pictures. This is no doubt owing to a little over¬
development ; but we believe that, for stereographs, Mr. Bedford
intends using an iron developer on a future occasion, when we
may expect the slight defects, as we must regard them in this
class of picture, will be avoided. Mr. Bedford is not one to rest
satisfied with anything short of the best ; and his exquisite neat¬
ness of style adds an additional charm to the subjects he delineates,
however beautiful they are naturally. Long may he continue to
delight us with his productions !
- -
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
[COMMUNICATED.]
Having in our last departed from the numerical order of the cata¬
logue to notice the productions of Mr. Breese, we must somewhat
retrace our steps ; but before doing so we cannot refrain from
remarking that, after a careful perusal of the works of Mudd, Bed¬
ford, Vernon Heath, and others, we ate more than ever induced to
maintain a decided stand against the ignominy so wilfully cast
upon our art by the Royal Commissioners for the International
Exhibition of 1862. That such works, exhibiting as they do an
amount of artistic perception rarely met with in the works of either
ancient or modern artists, should be degraded to the position
assigned is surely a stretch of official importance which cannot be
too strongly deprecated. But from such unpleasant feelings we
revert to our subject.
Next in order to the solar pictures are the contributions of Mr.
Mudd, of Manchester, eighteen in number; and amongst them
Coniston Falls, which is not by any means so good a copy as we
have seen, being rather over-printed and somewhat flat in the
distance. The picture is too well known to require particular
description; but its exquisite texture, the light and shade of the
weatherworn rocks in the foreground, and the admirable contrast
thereby afforded both to the mid and extreme distance, produce a
picture almost perfect in its entirety. To our taste the effect is
somewhat marred by the water, which, as in other of Mr. Mudd’s
productions, is not so sparklingly limpid as we hope ere long to
obtain it; but the attempt was a bold one, and any defect must be
referred to the art itself rather than to the artist. In the Study of
Rocl:s, Perthshire, and High Force Falls of the Tees, the granulation
of the rocks is perfectly rendered ; but in the former the water is
mudd}’-, and in the latter wool!}7-, but accompanied by an exquisite
mistiness at the base of the falls which renders the picture a
charming one. The gem of the collection is the River Greta,
Rolceby Parle, though the water is too decidedly black and white ;
but, as a really artistic production, and exhibiting Mr. Mudd’s
consummate taste in selecting a proper point of view, we prefer
the Bridge over the Gh'eta, Rolceby Park — a scene which can hardly
fail in the hands of an appreciative photographer in stamping out
for him an artistic position. The same may be said of Goodrich
Castle, which exhibits a minute detail with general breadth of
effect and a depth of focus almost unequalled in any of the others.
The Entrance to Bolton Woods is perhaps the most picturesque of
the group, apart from its many other good qualities. The Mill
Stream is a careful study, which should be placed under the same
category as Goodrich Castle. Goodrich Court and the River Wye,
from its extraordinary aerial effect, and the exquisite gradation of
distance rendered by the meandering of the river, with the natural
misty atmosphere arising therefrom, has nearly all the essentials
of a good picture ; but the finest effect of aerial perspective is to
be found in Wastdale, Cumberland , a picture combining great
depth of focus and photographic effect with an evident considera¬
tion on the part of the artist in selecting his point of view. On
the Calder, Cumberland, should form a companion to the Bridge
over the Greta, but the artistic effect is totally marred by the per¬
pendicular trunk of a tree, entirely denuded of branches or foliage,
which cuts the picture in two, almost centrally; and the reflections,
particularly of the left hand bank in the water, and the shadows
upon the trunks of the trees, are opaque, giving an appearance
of spottiness. The Pass of Killiecrankie, Perthshire, lias the effect
of atmosphere excellently rendered. Wastdale Head, Cumberland,
is not pleasing in general effect, though the bridge is picturesque.
Raglan Castle and Moat is flat, a tendency to which may also be
observed in many of the others. The Old Moat, Chorley Hall,
Cheshire, as also the View at Worsley, near Manchester, are not
transparent in the shadows, and the View at Worsley is very
yellow. The whole are by the collodio-albumen process.
Although the comparison is obviously unfair, yet we cannot but
think that Mr. Mudd will ere long be enabled to obtain that spark¬
ling freshness of motion and liquid transparency in water which
Mr. Breese has attained in his Powerscourt Waterfall. The want
of such is so far the only drawback to his productions, which, as
delineations of the external beauties of nature, are almost unsur¬
passed in the Exhibition, and tend to place Mr. Mudd in the
enviable position of one of the leading photographic artists of the
day.
Mr. Francis Bedford, of London, contributes a collection of twenty-
seven pictures, carefully and judiciously selected. The whole are
extraordinarily meritorious productions, thoroughly artistic in their
character, and peculiarly delicate in their gradation, from the
highest light to the most intense shadow. The Excavations at
Wroxeter (Uriconium) are more interesting from their archaeologi¬
cal associations than as photographs. The Interior , Looking East,
and the West End of Valle Crucis Abbey, are somewhat deficient in
that transparency of shadow which many of the others possess in
so remarkable a degree, though in other iespects good. The North
Porch of St. Mary RedcUffe Church is unsurpassable as an architectural
subject, exquisite in detail, and the effect of the new work much
enhanced by the old buildings being rendered quite subsidiary.
A Study from Nature is treated in a most artistic manner, and such
a subject as any painter might luxuriate in, though it is somewhat
under-exposed. To the Sculpture on the North ■ West Angle of Wells
Cathedral, we could not award higher praise than that it is an
architectural picture. The Chantry in the Nave of Wells Cathedral
exhibits careful artistic jrerception, full of detail, soft yet vigorous.
A few occasional rays of light fall upon and illuminate the delicate
carving of the screen, light up the arch mouldings, and thereby
relieve them from the distance ; in fact, just as a painter would
employ the means at his disposal to produce the effect of relief,
Mr. Bedford has accomplished by natural means, guided by the
perceptive powers of the artist. In the South Aisle of the Nave of
Wells Cathedral a similar effect has been produced, as also in the
View in the Ladye Chapel, Wells Cathedral. In the former the effect
of distance is finely rendered, and the reflected lights are carefully
arranged: the female figure is placed in the proper position, but
we think it would have been better if, as in the Interior of Valle
Crucis Abbey, the back had been turned instead of the face. In
the latter the distance is well illuminated ; but to obtain this the
light in the centre of the picture is too strong, and, as contrasted
with the dark cluster of shafts supporting the arch, gives a some¬
what chalky effect, though the entire picture is stereoscopic in a
very high degree. The Western Sci'een of Exeter" Cathedral is an
exquisite photograph and a picture. The North Porch of Wells
Cathedral shows great recedence: the interior is well illuminated,
and the reflected lights artistically managed. Tire South-West
Door of Exeter Cathedral is an extraordinary photograph. An
accidental ray lights up in a marvellous manner the internal walls ;
a flood of light tips the salient points of the statuary, rendering the
shadows deeper, though the half-tone is carefully preserved ; and
the granulation of the stone, together with the crumbling
effect of the ravages of time upon it, are beautifully indicated. In
Exeter Cathedral from the South-East the light is rather strong, ren¬
dering the shadows too intense, especially from the ivy surmounting
the buildings to the left. Wells Cathedral, the Noi'th-east Angle,
, and Portion of the West Front, are architectural photographs, perfect
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 18G1
an
in every respect, though the Portion of the Western Screen of Exeter
Cathedral is not so pleasing' as the Western Screen of the same
cathedral, from the plane of the object being nearly parallel to the
plane of delineation. The Vestibule of the Chapter House , Bristol
Cathedral , renders in a wonderful manner the effect of reflected
light and aerial internal perspective : the detail of the deepest
shadows is clearly indicated, and the peculiarly luminous effect
of sunlight fully attained. At Ilfracombe , North Devon , is a
geological photograph, exquisite in texture. At Lynmouth , North
Devon , is a fine picture, but somewhat flat and marred by the
straight line of a rope running diagonally across it from the
lower corner to the yard of a mast nearly in the centre of the
picture. In The Valley of the West Lynn , Devon , is somewhat foggy.
On the West Lynn, North Devon , has more the appearance of a care¬
fully-finished drawing than a photograph, though the water is not
limpid. Two views of Cheddar Cliffs , Somerset , are valuable in a
geological point of view, and the position of the figures well chosen ;
but one, a ravine, has too much top light. The Beach at Lynmouth ,
North Devon , weed-grown boulders, is tame; but Rocks on the Beach
at Lynmouth , a similar picture, is much more lively.
Mr. Bedford’s interiors are far the best of his productions: the
reflected light in all cases is soft , and a sound artistic judgment has
been displayed by him in the selection of his subjects. Of their
photographic merits little need be said : with the exceptions pre¬
viously named, they are all high-class productions, rich, fresh, and
brilliant in tone, full of detail, and especially noticeable from the
exquisite transparency even of the most intense shadows — a
quality which few other pictures exhibited possess, if we except
those by Mr. Vernon Heath ; and, in contradistinction to the works
of Mr. Mudd, they are all by the collodion process.
Xletorb of |lfrotognipbtt Jniwntimrs.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
[Notics.-— Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to time such in.
ventions and applications as may be of interest to photographers, whether they be of
great or minor importance, and also to compare the relative merits of two or more con¬
trivances designed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible we shall, as a rule,
describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a place in these columns after a
personal inspection of the same. It is therefore requested that manufacturing, pro¬
fessional, and amateur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as soon
ns they are ready to place them before the public, whether they be lenses, cameras,
stands, tents, operatingboxes, printing apparatus, presei-vative cases, enlargingnpparatus,
stereoscopes, novel methods of fitting-up glass or developing rooms and their appur¬
tenance5, artificial sources of light, &c., or the applications of photography to technical
or useful purposes. If the inventors he resident in the country, it is requested that they
should forward with a simple description of the object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the same.]
WAY’S ELECTRIC LAMP.
As it has lately been demonstrated, at a meeting of the London
Photographic Society, that positives can be produced from nega¬
tives by development printing, after an exposure to the very
actinic rays that proceed from an electric lamp, furnished with
poles of mercury, we purpose giving a description of the apparatus
employed on that occasion.
In the electric lamps hitherto employed the poles have consisted
of little bars of carbon, as the object has been to obtain a source
of illumination, assimilating as much as possible in character to
that of the sun ; and a powerful electric current, passing between
two carbon points, affords a white light of great intensity. After
the carbon poles have been brought into contact so as to establish
a current of electricity between them, they are separated, and then
have to be kept at a certain distance apart ; for if this distance be
exceeded the light is extinguished, the current being wanting in
power to jump across a gulf of more than a given extent. In con¬
sequence of particles of carbon being carried over with the passing
current from one carbon point to the other, one pole decreases in
size, whilst the other increases, but in an irregular form. It has
therefore taxed the ingenuity of many scientific men to invent
mechanical means of keeping up a continuous light between the
carbon terminals of a galvanic arrangement. Of these con¬
trivances the lamps of Duboscq and of Serrin are regarded as the
best, though we have seen one constructed by an amateur that is
very efficient.
Mr. Way, however, deviating from the ordinary track, nas
obviated the necessity for complicated mechanical arrangements
by adopting poles of the liquid metal mercury. The light obtained
from this source is totally different in character from that furnished
by carbon poles, both in its colour and apparent magnitude; and
as it is visible at a considerable distance, it has hitherto been
employed chiefly for lighthouses. Its richness in blue and violet
rays, however, particularly recommends it for photographic pur¬
poses, if the expense and trouble attending the fitting up thirty or
forty of Grove’s cells can be diminished, or is not a matter of con¬
sideration.
Way’s lamp is extremely simple in arrangement. It consists of
a hollow conical iron jet, connected by a flexible tube with a
reservoir of mercury : this jet stands over the centre of a small
shallow iron funnel, of small bore, that is adjustible to any height
by a rack-and-pinion movement. To the end of the funnel is
attached another flexible tube, in connexion with a receiver.
The jet is connected with the positive pole, and the funnel
with the negative pole, of a series of thirty of Grove’s or Bun¬
sen’s elements. On contact being made with the battery the
mercury is allowed to flow from the jet into the funnel, the distance
between the two, for securing the best effect, being obtained by
means of the raclcwork adjustment. By this means a current is
established between the two mercurial poles, the mercury is ren¬
dered incandescent, and a small portion is volatilised. As the
fumes of this metal are noxious, this part of the apparatus is en¬
closed in a closely-cemented glass shade to prevent their escape.
It has been objected that in consequence of these mercurial fumes
being generated it is a dangerous instrument to employ ; but the
same may be said of a gun or a steam engine, and many other
useful contrivances, and with truth — if we do not follow the pre¬
cautions that experience and common sense indicate. To produce
or extinguish the light, it is only necessary to make or break con¬
tact with the battery, the flow of the mercury not being interfered
with.
The mercurial reservoir and receiver next claim our attention.
This part of the arrangement is, in principle, like an hour-glass. It
consists of two hollow iron balls, connected by a tube, suspended by
an axis on a frame in such a way that either ball may be brought
uppermost. The upper ball that contains the mercury is, for the
time being, the reservoir, and is connected with the jet of the
lamp. The under ball, on the other hand, is in connexion with the
steel funnel of the lamp, and forms the receiver. Stopcocks and
a guage are fixed at suitable points of the apparatus. When the
upper ball or reservoir is exhausted the lower ball has become
full, the stopcocks are turned, the arrangement rotated on its axis,
and what was the receiver becomes the reservoir — the connecting
tubes being, at the same time, changed from one pole of the lamp
to the other.
At least such was the apparatus exhibited at the last meeting
of the London Photographic Society ;• but as the reservoir and
receiver then employed was constructed for experimental pur¬
poses in determining certain points in the construction of a perfect
arrangement, it was far more complicated and costly than there is
any necessity for in photographic practice.
The lamp itself is as simple as it can be, and all that is necessary
for a reservoir is an iron bottle with a funnel of iron, porcelain, or
gutta-percha fixed into its neck, and a piece of iron tube termina¬
ting in a stopcock screwed into its lower end: a piece of flexible
tube attached to the stopcock connects the reservoir with the jet
of the lamp. This reservoir is then fixed (on a shelf or a retort
ring arrangement) at such a height as to secure a sufficient
pressure of the liquid metal. Another piece of flexible tube
attached to the termination of the iron funnel or cup of the lamp
is passed into the neck of another iron bottle placed on the ground
that acts the part of receiver. When all the mercury has passed
from the reservoir through the jet and funnel of the lamp into the
receiver, the contents of the lower bottle are poured back into the
funnel of the upper bottle or reservoir. Nothing can be simpler,
and the expense of such an arrangement need not be very much.
The cost of the battery and of the mercury would be the principal
items.
The mercury issues from the jet in a fine stream : for a certain
distance it descends in a solid column, and then breaks up into
little beads. The light emanates from this point of disruption, and
the nearer this occurs to the jet the brighter is the light. Until
the glass shade that retains the fumes has become warm, the mer¬
cury condenses on its surface so as greatly to impede the amount
of light given off; but after a certain temperature has been attained
the glass remains free from any deposit, the heat of the incan¬
descent mercury being very considerable.
Whilst Duboscq’s lamp requires forty of Grove’s cells, Way’s
light is found to give the best effect with thirty. But it is a
curious fact, as yet unexplained we believe, but probably depen¬
dent upon one arrangement requiring quantity and the other inten -
sity effects, that Way’s light cannot be worked by the magneto-
August 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
275
electric machines that have lately been employed in place of
voltaic arrangements.
The peculiarities of Way’s light have already been given at
page 224 of this Journal.
MEAGHER’S BINOCULAR CAMERA.
Mr. Meagher has just introduced a compact form of stereoscopic
twin-lens camera that embodies some improvements. It is a
bellows-bodied camera, with a screw adjustment. The handle that
turns the screw motion folds up so as to occupy less space when
the instrument is packed, as the handle is permanently attached
to the screw itself to provide against its being mislaid. At first
sight, this plan appears very good, but we think it may prove
objectionable in practice ; for if, when the exact focus has been
obtained, the handle should project above the base-board, it stands
a great chance of being disturbed, and of the focus being conse¬
quently altered. There is no reason, however, why the folding
handle should not be made to fit on to a square key at the
end of the adjusting screw, and then be fixed by a small binding
nut at the side, so as to allow of the handle being readily
removed when desirable. The back is made to swing in one plane
by means that will be understood on inspecting Fig. 1. The
focussing glass is permanently attached to the camera by hinges,
so that it can be turned back over the top when not in use. This
provides against chances of breakage, as it is too often the fate of
focussing glasses to get smashed whilst lying about during the
time the picture is being taken. When the bellows body is shut
up, the end of the base-board folds up over the back of the instru¬
ment so as to. protect.the 3 focussing glass, as is shown in Fig. 2.
This arrangement demands some ingenuity, as the base-boards of
cameras focussed by endless screws have hitherto been made in
one piece. Mr. Meagher has, however, got over this difficulty
thus: — The upright back frame is attached to a small block of
wood fitted with a female screw, that works from one end of
the base-board to the other, between grooves, by means of the
male focussing screw. When this portion, together with the
bellows body, is screwed quite “home” into the front portion of
the base-board, the male focussing screw becomes released from
the female screw at a point where the hinge intersects, and the
end of the base-board is then free to turn up. When the board
is again lowered, the end of the male screw just drops into
the mouth of the female screw, a spring assisting the action
by pressing the traversing block forward. A turn or two of the
handle secures a bite, and the bellows body is then drawn out to
any extent required. The two portions of the folding base¬
board are made solid by means of two side bars that clamp on
to pins after the manner shown at page 224 of the previous
volume of this Journal ; but in this case they are made to pro¬
ject above the sides, so as to serve as “ guides ” for the back
frame to work between. They also servg to bind the camera
together when packed up, as shown in Fig. 2.
The instrument has a focussing range of 3J to 7£ inches ; is fitted
with one single and three double backs; and the whole packs into
a leather case that measures nine by seven inches and six inches
high.
llttttrirqs af Satietirs.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met in Queen Street Hall, on the evening of Wednesday,
July 3rd. George II. Slight, Esq., Vice-President, occupied the chair.
Mr. Thomas M ‘Dowell was admitted as a member ; after which Mr.
Campbell exhibited a number of stereographs of various kinds.
An animated conversation was entered into on photolithography and the
tannin process. As regular papers on these subjects are expected to be
read before the Society at an early date, our reporter has not furnished
us with further particulars.
The above Society met again on the evening of Wednesday, July 17th,
when the chair was occupied by George H. Slight, Esq., Vice-President.
After the minutes had been read, the following gentlemen -were
admitted members : — C. M. Musgrave, Charlotte Street, and R. Hamilton
Bell, 30, Royal Circus.
The subjects of papers for a few future meetings were arranged and
allotted to various members ; and it was agreed that during the remain¬
der of the summer months papers should only be read at each alternate
fortnightly meeting, the intermediate meetings being devoted to general
conversation on photographic subjects.
A paper On a Photographic Tour to the Orkney Islands , by Mr. John
Traill, was then read. [See page 269.]
A vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. Traill.
Among a variety of topics suggested by the paper, that of nitrate of
silver baths made of gutta percha and other substances was discussed at
some length. It was deduced from the remarks made that pure gutta
percha had no action on the silver solution, but that a considerable pro¬
portion of the gutta percha in the market contained impurities which had
a very prejudicial action on the silver; and it was recommended that all
baths should be coated both outside and inside with shellac varnish.
Mr. Musgrave related an incident which had occurred to him some
time ago in connexion with this subject. A bath which had been for
some time in use, but had become deteriorated as he thought from contact
with impure gutta percha, was boiled down by him with a view to con¬
centration. Although previous to being boiled the liquid was filtered,
yet it had not been long in the retort ere he discovered a scum on its
surface, which on examination was found to consist of gutta percha ; and
it was afterwards found that a considerable quantity of that material had
been held in solution by the silver bath.
After some interesting remarks by Mr. Nicol on this subject, Mr. Bow
stated that, some time ago, seeing in a list of the uses to which silicate of
potash or water-glass might be put was that of cementing glass, he had
tried some experiments with a view of making baths of glass plates and
cementing them with this substance ; but, from whatever cause it might
arise, it had been unsuccessful.
Mr. Musgrave then exhibited some pictures of Holyrood, Eoslin, and
other places. These were of a very fine tone, and possessed alike of
vigour and detail. One of these — a large view of Eoslin Chapel of great
beauty — he presented to the Society. The negative of this was taken by
the tannin process under somewhat disadvantageous circumstances.
Mr. Ramage then exhibited and presented to the Society a number of
photolithographs from engravings. The members designated these as
the finest specimens of this art which they had yet seen.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Mr. Musgrave, Mr. Ramage,
and the Chairman. ... . . , ... „ »
Photographers in “Trouble.” — At the Police Court, Liverpool, on
Saturday last, Samuel W. Cayley and Louis Erpicum, a Frenchman, were
committed for trial (but were afterwards admitted to bail) on the charge
of having stolen, or being concerned in stealing, a valuable photographic
lens, value £40, the property of Mr. P. C. Stortz, photographic artist,
Liverpool. The prisoners had previously been examined before the
magistrates at Llandudno, where they were taken into custody, and by
them ordered to be brought to Liverpool. Cayley carried on business at Llan¬
dudno (in partnership with a Mr. Cazenave, also a Frenchman, formerly
in Mr. Stortz’s employ) as Cayley and Co., and Erpicum w-as their assist¬
ant. The lens was found by the detectives concealed between a bed and
a mattress on the premises of Cayley and Co. Erpicum, who had also
previously been in the service of Mr. Stortz, was found in that gentle¬
man’s studio on the day the lens was missed, though having no business
there ; hence suspicion fell upon him, and the detectives were soon upon
his track to Llandudno, with the result stated above.
By the recent census taken in Paris, it appears that in that city
alone there are no fewer than 23,000 persons engaged professionally
in some branch or other of photography.
The necessity of special arrangements for successfully photo¬
graphing horses, dogs, cats, birds, and other pet animals has
induced some adventurous Parisian to get up a photographic
establishment in France for the special purpose. AVe shall perhaps
ere long, at home, see such announcements as the following : —
“The quadruped photographic establishment!” — “full lengths and
vignetted heads!” — “ cartes de visite. &c. !” — “spacious dressing
rooms, attendance, &c. ! ”
A correspondent of the Athenaeum recently writing from Munich
says: — “An important scientific work is in course of issue in
Munich — A Photographic Atlas of the Nervous System of the Human
Frame. The photographs are taken by Herr Albert, the Court
photographer, and are done with clearness and precision. There
is an explanation jiuhlished with the plates, in German and French,
by a Professor of Anatomy ; and the work is to be completed in ten
parts, each part containing five plates, and costing about 11s. Qd.
The first part is published, containing the nerves of the head, which
stand out as plain and fine as a spider’s web in the photograph.
The importance of such a work for students of anatomy can hardly
be exaggerated ; and as I believe nothing of the kind is already in
existence, it is a great honour to Munich to have led the way.”
276
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1861
Hates jorf % |Kant(j.
“ July weather ” has ceased to be a term suggestive of long sunny
days, succeeding each other with some degree of regularity. The
fall of rain, as registered by the Royal Society, is most unpleasantly
approximate to that of the corresponding month in I860. “ Out¬
door” work has only been accomplished by means of dash and
spurt. To those of the photographic ranks who go on “ foreign
service” it has been very irritating, and they of the “home-ser¬
vice ” brigade have had more than enough.
The want of a good and reliable photographic paper is felt as
keenly as ever. Complaints meet us at all hands, and in every
direction. It is said that there is no such paper in the market as
we had two and a-half years ago, and that there has been a marked
deterioration going on ever since. Those renowned for the beauty
of their prints speak of it almost with consternation, and as having
to sustain their position at the expense of great waste. We know
of one of the most eminent firms in Regent Street which has fallen
back upon the “ cuttings ” of former years, wherever the size will
admit of it. From one house we can only get thin albumenised
paper to order , as from its porous, inferior nature it will not keep
any time when albumenised, and cannot be kept “ in stock.” The
reply to inquiries as to the cause of this is, that the demand has
so increased that continental manufacturers have no inducement to
produce a good paper ; for whatever stuff they make there are
more than enough buyers, and we are wholly dependent on foreign
sources for photographic paper. What a deplorable and humilia¬
ting state of things ! One firm is going to offer a gold medal, of
great value, at the Exhibition of 1862, for the best photographic
paper by an English manufacturer.
Verily the French are a great people ! They carry by masterly
coup d'etats what we slow deep-hearted northerners go round¬
about-ways to accomplish. To write letters in forma artistes ,
and solicit sittings from public men, make appointments, &c.,
occupies much time and expense. An enterprising French
photographer has established himself and his “ machinery ”
on the river terrace in front of the House of Commons, with the
view of inducing the members to have their portraits taken for a
parliamentary album, to contain the effigies of the 654 honourable
gentlemen. Whenever the little Frenchman beholds a member, he
rushes up to him, takes off his (the member’s) hat, places him in a
position in front of his machine, and beseeches him in the worst
imaginable English to stand at ease “for just one small moment!”
It is pleasant to witness the genial manner in which the legislative
mind unbends itself, and submits to the importunities of the artist.
There is, of course, nothing to pay, which, perhaps, accounts for the
success which has hitherto attended the parliamentary album.
At a special meeting of the Council of the Photographic Society,
which took place at King’s College on the 8th ult, when the re¬
plies to the letters addressed to the various provincial and foreign
societies were read, the Lord Chief Baron Pollock advised that no
further step should be taken until after the recess. There would
be little done during that period as to arrangements, &c., at
Kensington, and in the meanwhile that which would not be
yielded to clamour might be quietly conceded — at any rate, it
would then be time enough to consider what course to pursue.
Thus the whole matter remains in statu quo.
But an oracle has spoken! Great is machinery, and Silvy is its
prophet ! ! A gratuitous mandate from the court enthroned at
Bayswater was read at the meeting above referred to, and excited
no little amusement, and — perhaps — consternation. In it the
claims made upon the Commissioners by the Council of the Photo¬
graphic Society were denounced, M. Silvy stating, at the same time,
that he had “ demanded ” the “ favour ” of having his productions
placed in the mechanical department, and also announced that if
this piece of gratuitous advice were not acted upon he should
withdraw his illustrious name from the roll of the Society. The
amusement was not diminished by the President quietly raising
his head and naively inquiring — “ Who is Silvy ?" We forbear
comment. M. Silvy, however, must not expect to treat the
photographic world with the same imperialism that he exhibits
towards his sitters. Commercial success does not constitute any
man an authority. It is amusing to see the letter admit, by impli¬
cation, a want of “ thorough breeding.” To have made the
analogy he suggests perfect, and to carry it to its logical conclu¬
sions, every locomotive, in the hands of every engine-driver, should
invariably arrive at different results. Thus you might be booked
— not for a picture — but for Teignmouth, and find yourself landed
in the Thames. We have heard that it is not true that the meeting
at once dissolved in much consternation. S. T.
Jforeigu Corrcspanlrcncr.
Paris, July 21tli, 1861.
A communication made to the Academy of Sciences by M. Cou¬
turier has been much talked of during the last month. According
to the little that was said on the subject in the reports of the
journals, the paper treated of the obtaining of indelible photo¬
graphic pictures upon porcelain by means of silicates and alumi-
nates. I wished to have more ample information, and after many
researches I discovered the writer of the communication, which is
now before me.
M. Couturier employs photographic plates engraved by M.
Niepce de Saint Victor’s process, or by any other. lie takes from
them pictures upon paper, which he applies to the porcelain, and
then covers with a silicious coating more or less fusible. They
are then exposed to a suitable temperature. With silicates and
aluminates he forms the unctuous ink which he spreads over the
photographic plate with the roller or the dabber. To procure the
silicates, the silicic acid contained in a soluble silicate of potash or
of soda is precipitated by one or several of the soluble salts of
copper, iron, gold, pewter, platina, cobalt, &c., &c. You have then
a coloured silicate which you must put on a filter, or on fine linen,
and wash well in order to get rid of the salts of petash or of soda.
The metallic aluminates are prepared by saturating one of the
soluble salts of aluminium by one or several of the above metallic
salts. The alumen thus coloured is precipitated by means of
liquid ammonia, and then well washed. These silicates and
aluminates are submitted to a red heat in a crucible, so as to com¬
bine the colouring principles in a smaller volume. Mixtures of
two or several of each may be made in order to vary the tones.
For applying the photographic pictures to the ceramic pastes, the
operation is the same as for the reproduction of engravings
thereon. In the ink employed for marl or terra-cotta, for opaque
and for tender porcelain, only silicates obtained by precipitation
are employed, with a very small quantity of aluminates, on account
of the infusibility of the latter. For hard porcelain the silicates
and the aluminates must be mixed in about the proportions in
which they are found in the composition of the porcelain itself.
The colours are lively, and may be mixed like the tones of a
palette.
M. Liais has just given to the Academy of Sciences a paper in
which photography figures. This astronomer, having a series of
photographic views of the solar eclipse of the 7th of September,
1858, which he took in the Bay of Paranagua, has made use of
them for determining the longitude of that place. The result is
such as to lead him to recommend the adoption of this means to
others.
At the Exhibition in the Champs Ely sees much attention has
been excited by a series of reproductions from the antique, exe¬
cuted, under special circumstances, by M. Joly-Grangedor. They
form part of a considerable work which that artist will publish
shortly, and which will do great honour to photography. M. Joly-
Grangedor, who is a painter, had long been impressed with the
insufficiency of the lithographed or engraved models given to
pupils in the schools of design. Photography offered a means
far superior as to execution ; but it was necessary that the subjects
presented for study should be selected, lighted, and interpreted
under special conditions. This M. Grangedor has done. He has
chosen the best types of antique sculpture — heads, busts, frag¬
ments — and he has reproduced these under the most artistic
aspect, and with the most artistic effects of light and shade. As a
further aid, the same subject has been executed several times, so
that the student may seek at first only the outlines, then the
masses, and finally the most complete modelage. The operation
of photography has been made, as it were, to coincide with that of
pencil. This series is at once a course of drawing lessons and a
most interesting album ; for the author has placed, side by side
with the masterpieces of ancient statuary, the finest productions of
the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance. These beautiful pictures
are printed by M. Poitevin’s new charcoal process.
The Galerie des Hommes du Jour — a publication with letterpress
and portraits by Pierre Petit, of which I have already said a few
words — -is about to be continued with M. Poitevin’s process. This
process, which is so simple and which gives such remarkable re¬
sults, will no doubt be soon applied to other works of a similar
character, destined to become precious documents in our archives
and libraries.
Mr. H. Petschler, who was in Paris a few days since, showed me
a large number of pictures obtained on glasses prepared long be-
August 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
m
forehand, and preserved by his process, which The British Journal
of Photography has already made known. These landscapes,
taken mostly in Derbyshire, much interested me, not only as spe¬
cimens of a particular method, but likewise on account of their
execution. I was struck especially by the clear light shed over
all parts of the picture — you feel that the air is circulating freely
there — and by the exquisite finish of the details, which detract
nothing, however, from the harmonious aspect of the whole.
The seance of the French Society of Photography, which was held
on Friday, the 19th inst., offered nothing very new. The principal
topics of conversation were the Exhibition at Marseilles, where we
hope to see the works of many English artists, and the preparation
for the Universal Exhibition at London. We have every ground
for believing that photography will figure there with honour,
whatever be the place allotted to it. ERNEST LACAN.
New York, June 29, 1861.
I HAVE just risen from the very pleasant occupation of examining
the European journals of June 15th, which reached us yesterday.
I was especially entertained by the report of the meeting of June
4th of the Photographic Society of London, and especially amused
by the declaration in the Notes , on the alleged authority of Mr. Ross,
that “Mr. Harrison’s new lens is a transparent absurdity !”
In the Photographic Society you had a very interesting exhibi¬
tion and discussion of Way’s electrical light. This variety of
electrical light, as far as I am aware, has not yet been exhibited —
at least in any public way — in this city. The old carbon light and
the incandescent platinum light may be seen any day. We arc
getting here to think very favourably of the magnetic electric
machine as a substitute for the battery. Several of the machines
are in steady and constant use among electrotypists, and give the
greatest satisfaction. The builders of these machines formerly fell
into the error of supposing that their power would be proportioned
to their size. Small magnets are immensely more powerful, pro¬
portioned to their weight, than large ones ; therefore, to economi¬
cally “ convert ” magnetism into electricity, we must combine
the products of small machines. Cast-iron magnets, of a star form,
alternate points of which are opposite poles, are found here to be
very efficient and cheap.
Electrical machinery here has been, for the past few years, a
favourite field for inventors. We have a score or two of patents
on electrical apparatus, much of which is intended to be used for
lighting gas. I caught the prevailing fever myself : I contrived a
constant frictional machine. It is simply the ordinary machine
enclosed in an air-tight glazed case, the air being kept dry by
chloride of calcium. I am inclined to believe that the cheapest
and most available electrical light may be produced by static
electricity. At all events, photographers must have an efficient
artificial light. Such a light is the most important desideratum of
the day — of the night, I mean.
I fully agree with 'the position taken in the London Photographic
Society by Mr. Shadbolt on the depth of focus question and the
solar camera.
On the enlarging of photographs we Americans are two or three
years in advance of European photographers. The solar camera
was patented and demolished a long time before it was even heard
of in Europe. If Mr. Sutton and others of his way of thinking are
unable to see that a condensing lens, as zised by Woodioard, injures
the sharpness of the image, they surely will not claim that it in¬
creases the sharpness. Then what advantage in a development
process, for which there is plenty of light without any condensation?
Whether a condenser be used or not, it is necessary , in order to
secure the greatest sharpness, that a translucent screen (the ground
glass, for example) be placed behind the negative, and in close
contact with it. This screen serves to diffuse the direct and nearly
parallel rays from the sun or sky. These rays, if not so treated,
will form an image of the sun or sky, more or less in focus, on the
ground for the picture. The rays thus stopped by the screen pro¬
ceed from the negative precisely as if they originated from it. The
light is emitted from the negative nearly as if it were diffused light
falling on the front. Thus I have reasoned on the subject from the
beginning, and a pretty extensive practice has confirmed the de¬
ductions of theory.
I have found the mirror of an enlarging camera, which was
suitable, to be a very difficult thing to get. The ordinary quick¬
silver and tin mirror lasts, in our brilliant sun, only a few weeks.
The mirrors made by the modifications of the Drayton process
ought to last for years. CHARLES A. SEELY.
[The above letter was received too late for insertion in our last
number. — Ed.]
New York, July 12th, 1861.
Thus far, the American photographers have cared very little for
dry processes. Probably not one in a hundred have made a trial
of the Taupenot process or the Fothergill. I am not acquainted
with half-a-dozen who have made systematic and persistent
experiments with dry collodion, and I do not know one who makes
actual use of dry collodion. Our photographers make photographs
only for the utility there may be in them, and they only care
about the easy and certain means of reaching the results. There
is very little ambition of discovery — no one works for the pleasure
of working. It has thus happened that the most useful photo¬
graphic processes have in America soonest reached their greatest
development, while the theoretical and simply curious are almost
wholly ignored. I remember well that, as early as 1855, when
the collodion process had been in use here only about a year, the
details of the process were settled : facts were determined for us
about which there is yet doubt in Europe. European photography
has been gradually progressing towards the American system.
That I may not be misunderstood, I will briefly state the distin¬
guishing features of our process : — gun-cotton, made at a high
temperature ; collodion, heavily sensitised, and containg a bro¬
mide ; a strong nitrate bath ; sulphate of iron as the universal
developer; weak salt and silver solutions for paper. I do not, of
course, mean to say that we have discovered anything beyond the
precise value of facts offered to us by others.
One of the most interesting events which have recently hap¬
pened here is the opening of a new photographic gallery by
C. D. Fredricks and Co. For many years it has been a question of
debate which (of three or four) was the finest and most extensive
photographic establishment in the city. It was a difficult ques¬
tion, and perhaps never would have been put to rest except for
the recent coup d'artifice of Fredricks. For about a month the
proceedings in Fredricks’ building were, by means of an immense
wooden screen covering its front, shrouded in great mystery. On
the screen being taken down, a few evenings since, one of the
most gorgeous spectacles burst upon the view of the crowd of
people in Broadway. The entire building, four storeys high,
twenty-five feet wide, and one hundred deep, is wholly occupied
for photographic purposes. The entrance to the building is an
arched vestibule thirty feet to the key-stone and twenty feet
deep. The vestibule opens into the main exhibition room, which
is almost crowded with specimens of photography of every style
and size. The ornamentation of the building inside and out is
tasteful, solid, and not gaudy. I doubt if there is any sight in the
world which will convey a deeper impression of the importance of
our art.
I enclose another view by Mr. Harrison’s new lens. This pic¬
ture, as a test, is much more satisfactory than the last, the entire
capacity of field being shown. CHARLES A. SEELY.
[We Avill make some remarks on the two specimens received, in
our next. — Ed.]
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. _
[We have been requested to publish the following, which has already
been sent in reply to several inquiries. — Ed.]
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am desired by the Referees of the Amateur Photographic
Association to state (since from the number of members already enrolled
there is no longer a doubt of its success) —
1. That the Amateur Photographic Association is now fully established.
2. That all negatives for this year should be sent in not later than
November 1st, and as much earlier as possible.
3. That the Secretary is prepared to negociate exchanges on behalf of
all members who may desire it. These exchanges will, as a matter of
course, have no reference to the two guineas’ worth of prints to be
selected by each.
4. That the adjudication of prizes will take place at the close of this
year or the beginning of next. — I am, yours, &c.,
A. J. MELHUISH, Hon. Sec.
26, Haymarket, London , 8. W-, July. 1861.
S78
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1801
THE SOUTH LONDON “REPORT.”
To the Editor.
Sir, — As Secretary of tlie South London Photographic Society, I feel
it my duty to make some few remarks on your leader of the 15th ult.
In the first place, I must protest against your frequent reference to
“the compiler” of the Report in question, which was produced by a
Sub-committee appointed by the Managing Committee ; and consisted of
gentlemen who, collectively and individually, have, I am sure, every
feeling of respect both for yourself and the Journal under your manage¬
ment.
The Report having been drawn up was first submitted to the
Managing Committee, and then printed for circulation among the
Society’s members. The paragraphs in question were fully discussed by
both committees ; and it was our opinion that such important alterations
in the constitution of the Society could not, in justice to ourselves or the
members, be made without reference to the facts which originated
them.
It was, as you state, in consequence of some correspondence between
the Society and the Publisher of The British Journal of Photography
that the latter became the official representative of the former ; but it
was then expressly stated by the Publisher that as his Journal already
published full reports of our meetings, and had been for many months in
circulation among our members, it was then, in all hut name , our official
organ, and that the mere public announcement of the connexion could not
be a matter of much importance.
Now, the Committee had, up to that time, objected to the nomination
of any journal as the Society’s special organ, it being of opinion that by
so doing it would inevitably subject the Society to claims which, as the
Report states, would “tend to cripple the independence of the Society,
and retard its influence in propagating and advancing the art but no
special claims being advanced by your Publisher, these objections were
overruled, and The British Journal of Photography was formallv
adopted as the Society’s organ. Remembering this, it was stated in the
Report that the exclusive privileges since claimed were “never directly
or indirectly accepted by the Committee.”
You affirm that, “ shortly after the Photographic News was placed
under the management of the gentleman who at present edits it, you
were systematically forestalled in the publication of the papers read.”
This is a mistake ; for, by merely referring to the numbers of the
News which were published prior to the change in its editorship and
management, you will find that not only were the papers and discussions
regularly published in that periodical, but that they were actually pub¬
lished on the day following the evening of each meeting — a promptitude
which has not been emulated under its present management.
The only reason for my “putting in a claim to revise the reports ” arose
from anxiety to get the remarks of the various speakers done justice to
and — as you, my dear sir, know — the same feeling influenced me for
many months when both your own and the other journals did not send
reporters to the Society, and all the labour of providing them rested on
my own unaided efforts. Upon the occasion you refer to, I had received
no proof of the report previous to its publication, or possibly the errors
in question might not have been overlooked.
The engagement meant in the Report was that implied by the terms
of subscription. The journals were to be supplied by the year, and their
circulation ought — as we, at least, thought — to have stopped either at
the termination of the third or the fourth quarter, and not somewhere
about midway between the two.
With regard to the “trade interests” mentioned in the Report, and
sarcastically echoed in your remarks, if the Committee undertake to
supply a certain journal to the members of the Society, it tends, virtually,
to increases that journal’s readers, and so serves its interests. More¬
over, by selecting it from amongst others, it may easily be supposed to
publicly advertise its superior merits ; and, moreover again, photo¬
graphers must of course know that the reports of any Society are more
likely to be correct and fairly representative in the pages of its own
organ than in those of any other journal.
With apologies for the space occupied, I must now conclude by
assuring you that, while we were perfectly convinced that the whole
affair originated in either a mistake of the Publisher’s, or possibly in
some misunderstanding on both sides , we could not, consistently with
the principles laid down for conducting the Society, agree to submit to
the conditions recently urged in your letters addressed to the Committee
or refrain from some mention of the same in the Report. We have
endeavoured, while steeriug our little South London bark clear of the
shoals and rocks of personalities and undignified squabblings, to advo¬
cate the interests and assist the progress of the art itself, with consistent
steadiness, and with straightforward honesty and earnestness of purpose.
That in so doing we have offended you, Sir, or can be supposed to have
insulted anybody, must be, I am sure, a matter of extreme regret to us
all, as I assure you it is to yours very truly,
ALFRED H. WALL, Hon. Sec.
P.S.— The above is merely a personal communication, written without
consulting the Committee, its members being nearly all out of town.
[Being entirely unacquainted with the course adopted, or who were the
gentlemen concerned, in drawing up the “Report” to which we alluded,
we felt free to make such comments as we thought to be just without
being in any way personal. The usual mode of preparing such a report
is for one individual to draw it up; while those in whose names it is to
be issued canvass, suggest, alter, and finally adopt the document : hence
we concluded that the original compiler had erroneously made charges
which the others concerned had carelessly adopted. We think our (Tor-
respondent’s explanation scarcely improves the position assumed ; and if
(as asserted) the offensive paragraphs were fully discussed, we have still
greater reason than we before imagined to complain. We cannot regard
the deliberate imputation of dishonesty as anything short of deliberate
insult.
We have no objection to any statement of facts, but a very de¬
cided one against unfounded imputations. We certainly are not
aware of any regularity of prior publication of papers in the Photo -
tographic News until the accession of its present Editor ; and we can
safely answer for our Publisher’s ignorance of such custom, otherwise
he would never have made the offer to insert the Society’s name on
the title page, and certainly we should not have sanctioned it. As
corroborative evidence, our correspondent will surely remember that
shortly after Mr. Simpson became connected with the News we called upon
the former in consequence of our noticing the unwonted prior publication
of papers, and proposed to him that the official representation shoidd be
transferred to the Photographic News, stating that if he desired it wo
should offer no impediment to such a change. If the papers had been
usually published in anticipation in our contemporai'y’s columns before,
why did we then make such a proposition ? In our recent correspondence
with the Committee we were informed “that the only official representa¬
tion which it recognised was the circulation of this Journal amongst the
members of the Society.” How is it possible that such a connexion (only)
could affect the accuracy of the Reports ? And if no exclusive repre¬
sentation existed, the interference of the Secretary was uncalled for.
During the correspondence we discovered that as regarded the un¬
written arrangement then in force some misapprehension appeared
to exist on both sides as to terms. We ascertained positively that no
engagement whatever had been undertaken for an}' definite term, and we
dictated as the only possible solution of the difficulty that any supposed
agreement should at once cease and determine. We cannot understand
to what engagement our correspondent refers as “ implied by the terms
of subscription.” The only “terms of subscription” with which we
are acquainted are those printed on the title page, viz., certain rates, paid
in advance ; and, as we are informed, the rates sjiecified were not
charged, nor had any payment in advance been made.
The paragraph relative to so-called “trade interests ” fully confirms
our remarks that the Committee accepted the quid, but ignored the quo.
With respect to the sujiposed increase in the number of our readers, we
would just hint that, in order that readers may be profitable to the
publisher, they have need to be readers who are also purchasers at a
profitable rate.
Our correspondent will perhaps be surprised to learn that since the
cessation of our very nominal official representation of the South London
Photographic Society the number of copies demanded for London distri¬
bution, instead of having decreased, has, on the contrary, increased.
We publish the preceding letter because it is an attempt at justifica¬
tion : it certainly justifies our remarks. The existence of misappre¬
hension on both sides is admitted. What, then, is more correct than to
start afresh? For our part the severance of the quasi-connexion was of
so little importance to us, that we should have allowed it to have occurred,
as we did, without the slightest public notice ; and had personalities and
unwarrantable imputations been avoided in the “Annual Report,” we
should have been spared the expression of our just indignation. — Ed.]
NEGATIVES AND DEVELOPER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — An answer to the following will much oblige : — •
1. A glass negative, on which the image can scarcely be discerned, is
exceedingly intense by transmitted light, and prints well. What kind is
it ? Over-exposed or over-developed, or the collodion too thick or insensi¬
tive by being kept too long out of the bath ?
2. How do developers act? How, and under what circumstance were
iron and £>yrogallic acid chosen for developing, and why used ?
I am, yours, &c., M. D.
[Your note arrived too late for notice in our last.
1. The negative which you describe is exactly what a good negative
should be, and consequently correctly exposed and properly developed.
2. The action of developers is due to their de-oxidating property ; and
by the abstraction of oxygen from a metallic salt (nitrate of silver) the
compound is decomposed, and the base precipitated more or less in a
metallic form. It is found that the action of light upon iodide of silver
induces a molecular change of condition (according to some), or sets up
an electrical action (according to others) — perhaps both — by which the
silver in the act of deposition is attracted to those parts influenced by
actinism in direct proportion to the intensity of the influence excited.
With most developers a small quantity of a mineral acid, or a larger one of
a vegetable acid, is conjoined ; because a free acid retards the rapidity
of the reduction, and thus sufficient time is allowed to the nascent
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
279
August 1, 1861]
metallic particles to be attracted to those parts acted on by the light —
hence, if the restraining acid be too weak, fogging is the consequence,
the particles of metallic matter being formed more rapidly than they can
be disposed of.
As regards the choice of a developer, the proto-sulphate of iron is very
energetic, and throws down the silver in comparatively large crystalline
particles : hence their brilliancy. The organic developers, such as gallic
or pyrogallic acid, proceed more deliberately, and give rise to more iinely
divided particles. But there is also another difference : oxide or sub-oxide
of silver forms with organic matter a chemical compound, and probably
when a portion only of the oxygen is withdrawn the sub-oxide of the
metal unites with a portion of the organic developer, and the precipitate
is no longer metallic in lustre, but dull and coloured. This is why nitric
acid is preferable with an iron developer and a vegetable acid with an
organic one : the character of the reduction is thus retained in the most
complete integrity. — Ed.]
VARNISH, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I shall be much obliged to you if you will reply to the following-
inquiries in the next number of your valuable Journal : —
1. I have a large stock of French negative varnish, bought some three
years ago from Gaudin and Co. (no label on bottles). I find that, in print¬
ing in the sun, the sensitive albumen paper detaches some of the varnish.
Is there any gum that could be added so as to harden it ?
2. In stereoscopic photography, using the iron developer (double-lens
camera), I frequently have one of the pictures fogged in the shadows.
What is the cause, and the remedy ?
3. I have perseveringly been using bromide of ammonium, in addition
to the iodides ; but, independently of making the bath very alkaline, I
cannot get details in foliage (subjects, rural scenes of cottages and trees),
and there is a general deficiency of half-tone. Could you help me out of
my difficulties ?
I use Hardwich’s and Thomas’s collodions. — I am, yours, &c.,
Penzance , July 25, 1861. " DELTA.
[1. We know no remedy that would be safe: better lose the varnish
you have than risk injuring a good negative.
2. You do not give sufficient data for us to judge. Is it always the pic¬
ture on the same side that is fogged ? If so, the fault is most probably
due to setting of one of the lenses.
3. There is an apparent discrepancy in your account : an alkaline bath
would scarcely produce deficiency of half-tone, but more likely fogging.
We rather fancy that you very much under-expose your negatives, from
your obtaining neither half-tone or foliage. — Ed.]
WHAT IS IT WORTH ?
To the Editor.
Sir, — Although the justly-indignant “screech” from Glasgow evi¬
dently had a sting for the individual so lamentably concerned, in the
last number of that same funny individual’s journal he indulged as
rabidly as ever in the personal attacks for which he has so often been
severely taken to task.
.Yourself and Mr. Wall are the more recent objects of attack. Begin¬
ning with the latter he takes exception to the statement made in that
gentleman s reply to yourself, viz., that he “lays no claim to great
scientific attainments,” and thence jumps to the conclusion that Mr.
Vail must be “ignorant of a few elementary truths in geometry and
optics which could be picked up in half-a-dozen lessons.” It strikes me
that this is about as logical as to argue that any one not claiming great
literary ^attainments thereby proves himself ignorant of the alphabet.
This “ Jersey oracle” is, however, very gratuitously indignant to learn
that ^ sharpness, hardness, depth of focus, true perspective, and so
forth, are not understood yet, exclaiming — “What a set of dunces pho¬
tographers must be ! Before doing so he should have remembered the be¬
wildered state ofhis own “yz.” How long is it since, having a new “bee
in his bonnet, he cracked up waxed-paper, and to serve its cause denounced
“ sharp ” pictures as “hard mechanical horrors,” and “earnestly im¬
pressed upon his readers “ the utter worthlessness of mere sharpness and
delicacy. This was in April, 1861. Yet in the last number of the same
periodical he tells us “a photograph cannot be too sharp, and it should be
sharp everywhere.” It is not worth while to multiply these absurd contra¬
dictions, although almost every article written by this eccentric individual
contradicts more or less its predecessors.
Now, as he says, this process surpasses all others, and anon it is the
worst of bad processes. Now this invention is to “work an entire
revolution in the art,” and now it has turned out utterly v'ortliless.
.Now this man is the greatest photographer of the day, and now he is
the worst. . Now photography is undoubtedly a fine art, and now, as in
Ins last, it is purely mechanical, & c., &c. In short, sir, of such an one’s
opinion, permit me to ask — What is it worth ? — I am, yours, &c,
ONE WHO DON’T LIKE WEATHERCOCKS, AND RESENTS
COARSE PERSONALITIES.
PASSE-PARTOUTS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Although editors are supposed to know every thing and everybody ’s
business (everything photographic), and bring it before the public, there
is yet one thing that has not appeared in the pages of your interesting
Journal, and which I think would be very well received if you or some
friend would furnish the information. I refer to the manufacture of
passe-partouts, which owes its birth, I believe, entirely to photography ;
and, I must own my weakness, that excepting a good photograph itself
there is nothing in the whole range of our art that I have admired more
than the workmanship displayed on a passe-partout. I may be laughed
at for this weakness by some bearded and moustached fop of a photo¬
grapher ; but let him be placed where I have been, far from a town, and
a customer brings back a portrait which he has taken the day before in a
white and gold oval passe, which has got broken, and wishes to have
another j ust like it to send away, and he has not got one the same size and
colour. He must oblige this patron, and no time is to be lost. He can
get a bit of glass from the village glazier ; he can get a halfpennyworth of
whiting at the little shop ; he has a pencil, a bit of shell gold, and per¬
haps a leaf or two of gold ; and he may fancy that he can easily and very
soon imitate that little passe-partout that he could look upon so haughtily
when trying to get them a bit cheaper than the last time he bought a dozen ;
but he may try until he perspires again, and the small, even simple-looking,
gold oval line will set all his puff and foppery at defiance. Not one in a
hundred such as he can do it if he could get five pounds for it, simple as it
looks. Now look at another pattern — -embossed gold. Although upon a
flat surface it looks raised up a sixteenth of an inch, relieved by a fiat
surface most highly burnished. From their cheapness one might think
passe-partouts were made by machinery, which makes one almost fear
that the skilled workman cannot be remunerated, and that the song of
the beautiful passe-partout will have to be sung to the same tune as that
of the shirt. Now t think a ramble through a passe-partout manufactory
would be a delightful change to the dry bits we have had upon lenses,
notwithstanding that Grubb has made the subject as clear as Mudd.
These lucubrations are very clever in their way, no doubt, but my optics
are too obtuse to dive into such beauties.
As editors are likewise expected to be good-natured, I hope I shall be
pardoned for giving this hint ; and if cheerfully accepted, perhaps I may
give you another pleasant walk some other fine morning.
I am, yours, &c., OLD SLYBOOTS.
[We believe that by far the greater number of passe-partouts are made
in France by women and children, and that their very moderate price is
due principally to a judicious division of labour, very many hands being
employed over each one. The beading is made of papier-mache by aid
of a mould ; and it is probable that machinery may be employed in draw¬
ing the oval or other lines, but we do not know that such is the case. A
few passe-partouts are made in London, but they differ much in appear¬
ance from the French ones. Perhaps our Paris correspondent may
enlighten us as to the particulars of manufacture. — Ed.]
PHEESIC FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES.
DOSE THE SECOND.
To the Yedditur.
Sir, — I ca’ it phcesic, as it’s intended to cure the bile, and hinner puir
donnart bodies frae casting dirt in the faces o’ their betters.
But first o’ a’, what for did ye alloo 3Tour wee ill-faured printer’s deevil
tae print at the tap o’ my letter “ Screech,” instead o’ “ Screed frae Glas¬
gow?” Just cuff the callan’s lugs for me, Mr. Yedditur, and cuff them
soondly, an’ Ise do ye a favour again : it’ll learn him mainers in future.
0 deerie me, hoo the last dose did work Tam o’ Jersey ! It just
acted fur a’ the Avarld like barm in a bottle o’ ginger beer — oot flees
the cork, an’ ower wi’ a fizz comes the froth an’ the gas an’ the wishy-
washy contents.
Puir fallow ! sae he didna like my last letter ! weel it stan’s tae
raison that he shudna’. Oor Towscr (that’s the dog that watches the
back yard a’ niclit) disna’ half like when I see it tae be necessary tae lav
the horsewhip ower his back ; an’, as I said before, it stan’s tae raison
oor freen Tam winna like it either. But it’s a’ for his ain gude, tlio’
he disna think it. Man, I got his last Notes! an’ whan I confess tae
that muckle, ye can weel understan’ that my wame has been sail- for
twa hail days wi’ lauchin’ at it. Weel, he has fairly entered the lists
wi’ me noo, as you Englishers wad say ; an’, seein’ that he has come tae
handigrips wi’ me, wae betide me gif I be the first tae let go : I’ll gie
him cuff for cuff as lang as he likes.
Weel, as ye dootless ken, he translated bits o’ my letter intil English,
tryin’ to get a lauch raised at my expense. Just you bide a wee, Mr.
Yedditur, and if I dinna male him lauch wi’ the wrang side o’ his month
before I’m dune wi’ him, my name’s no’ Donald M'Alister, son o’ decent
Alister M'Alister. The bodiehad that muckle sense left as tae ken that, had
he gien the letter as it stood, it wad only liae made a fule o’ himsel’ :
lie’s a rank cooard, or he wad liae pit it a’ in. My certie ! just write a
letter praisin’ him, an’ in it gangs ; an’ the writer is a fine fallow, an'
gets a pat on the back.
280
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August I, 1801
Frae his last Notes it wad seem that oor freen Tam seems tae he
gettin’ sick o’ photography (weel, I daursay the feelin’ will be mutual,
could oor puir art fin’ words tae express itsel’), an’ takin’ up the
makin’ o’ steem engins. He has invented ane that’s gaun tae turn
the warld upside doon. Just hear him: — “the invention is unlilte any¬
thing that has ever been applied to the purpose,”. & c. ; but, notwith¬
standing the entire novelty o’ his invention, wad ye believe that the
bodie, no’ thirty lines farrer doon, writes about the same glorious
invention: “there are no less than fifty-seven patents for inventions
similar to our own;" an’ he hopes his readers winna tak’ it amiss
“if we sometimes exhibit a boat at a meeting of the Photographic
Society, or tell you about a new propeller instead of a new dry process."
Noo, Mr. Yedditur, div ye want ony mair proof than that that the man is
gyte ? I see he is noo misca’in’ you the sam’ way he used to do dacent
Mr. Malone — I mean him that the gorilla spat upon the ither day. But
I’m no sae sliure after a’ but what I wad muckle raither be fyled
wi’ that bodie’s spittings than be plaistered ower wi’ Tam’s butter.
I’m kind o’ wae for Tammas Ross that t’other Tam is dabbin’ him sae
thick ower wi’ the butter, dootless tae mak’ annnends for the descredit
he pat on the dacent man, Andrew Ross’s son, by makin’ sic a use o’ his
business letters as he did. The butter’s ower thick tae last lang ; for
just see lioo he used tae beslaver Burnett, o’ Edinburgh, in the sam’ way,
till it cam tae a head, and then Burnett was heaved owerboard, and
muckle misca’d.
But man ! what div ye think ? I’ve foond oot the raison why he
honoured (for I’m no’ sliure, after a’, if it’s no’ a kind o’ honour) Mr.
Malone wi’ his bile ; an’ it’ll also be a cloo tae his bile against yer-
sel’, Mr. Yedditur. It’s this. Tam was actilly tryin’ tae get liimsel’ made
Yedditur o’ ye’re Journal (lang before you had ouclit tae do wi’ it) ; but the
publisher ye ken actilly wad hae naethin’ tae do wi’ sic a bodie, an’ pit
Malone at the helm instead ! Man, if ye hae ony o’ the auld numbers
o’ your Journal, just you turn up tae the number for the 15th o’
February, ’59, and ye can read a hail accoont o’t. I raily thoclit I wad
hae deed wi’ lauchter when I red it. Odds man, but the wrichter is
a perfect Sampson at the horsewhip. He beats baith you an’ me. So
that you see Tam’s spleen at baitli you an’ Malone is on the principle
o’ the soor grapes ; and that’ll maybe accoont for the way he’s noo strokin’
the London Society wi’ the grain , instead o’ misca'in' it, as he used
tae do. Maybe he wants a similar job frae it, noo that there’s sic
strong symptoms o’ decline in his ain bit pereeodical. Hr. Diamond’s
a quiet sort o’ man ; an’ if he does little gude, he does little ill. Ane
thing is a fact— he disna fa’ intil the blunder oor freen Tam’s aye
makin’, an’ that is a trick o’ writin’ a heap aboot things he kens gey and
little aboot, an’ then contradictin’ his ain sel’ in a short time afterwards.
A callan’s a clever chiel when he can pruve a thing tae be ane way by
geometry, an’ quite anither thing by mathematics. An’ ye’ll maybe no
beleeve ony leevin’" bodie can do that ; but just bide a wee, an’ I’ll gie
ye a quotation or twa, an’ then ye’ll change your mind. In Photographic
Notes, No. 56, page 173, ye read: — “There cannot now remain a doubt as
to the merits of the orthoscopic lens : the only individual who has ven¬
tured to raise an objection to it is Mr. Shadbolt. The superiority of this
lens consists in its freedom from distortion.” Tam then goes on an’
proves this in his ain accurate an’ exact way, an’ he then modestly tells
Mr. Shadbolt that he’ll shurely noo admit his mistak’. Weel, wad ye
beleeve it, aboot twal months after that he sets tae wark an’ invents a
lens, something similar tae ane that was published in the Mechanics’
Magazine aboot a dizzen years ago; an’ ivhy, think ye ? Just because
the orthoscopic lens which he had formerly pruved by mathematics tae
he free frae distortion, he noo pruved by geometry to hae a gude deal o’
distortion. Just hear what he says on September 17th, 1859: — “If the
orthoscopic lens is used to take a picture, the marginal lines which shoidd
be straight will be found to be curved. No lens at present in existence loill
give an image free from distortion."
Truly war it said : — “ He is an universal genius — great in dodges
and great in lenses.” He is great. What better authority in optics could
you wish than ane wha could write in that way ? He discovered that a
simple uncorrecled glass meniscus lens works as sharp at the visual as at
the chemical focus ; an’ I beleeve I could fill twa or three pages wi’ a bare
record o’ his inventions. But amang a’ his inventions an’ dodges an’
discoveries, just try an’ mention ane that is used by photographers at
the present day. Weel, I wat, na ! His prophesies an’ predictions ! —
Och for them ! ! — they’re name is legion. But I’ll tak’ them up by
themsels some ither time ; an’, as oor minister says when his sermon’s
necrly dune, “Weel noo conclude wi’ some gude practical advice.”
An’ first I wad say tae the London Society, gif Tam does keep
his promise o’ wastin’ the time at the meetin’s o’ ye’er Society
wi’ his promised exhibitions o’ boats an’ ships an’ models o’ steam
engins, just you turn him tae the door, or hand him ower tae the
police. An’ tae liimsel’ I wad say : Tam, my man, gif ye really
intend tae turn your Notes intil a nautical journal, do sae by a’
mainner o’ means ; but, gudesakc man, keep a mair ceevil tongue
in ye’re head than ye’ve hitherto dune, or it will be the waur for your-
sel’ ; for ye see ye’ll be gettin’ a sea-farin’ class o’ readers then, an’ as
they’re a rough set, they winna put up wi’ sac muclde slack jaw as some
ither folks micht. I’m really wae for ye, puir man ; but accordin’ tae
ane o’ ye’re ain predictions, I doot your fast gaun — there’s a’ the symp¬
toms o’ it noo ; for ye’ll recollect attributin’ the death o’ the Photo¬
graphic Record tae its habit o’ copyin’ sae muckle fra ither journals.
I daur say when ye wrote that ye never thoucht that it wad hae
come tae this, that the only readable articles in the Notes of
July 15th are nine in number, an’ the hail nine are copied oot o' ither
journals an’ newspapers. But if your Notes shud dee suncr than vou
expect, just apply tae some o’ oor Glasgow publishers, an’ ye’ll dootlesB
get a job at translatin’ Scotch intil English ; for your talent that way
is vera wonderfu’, judgin’ by the job ye made o’ my last letter.
I am, yours, &c., AULD LENS.
Glasgow, July 19 th, 1861.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
The Publisher will be glad to receive from Agents and others spare copies of the
following numbers of this Journal, which are out of print, viz. March 1st, 1860 ; and
January 15th, April 1st and 15th, and June 1st and 15th, 1861. Full price will be
allowed for these copies. _
S. C.— A tin box, by all means.
Received.— “Handbuch der Photographic.’ ’
T. R._We shall have an article on the subject to which you allude very shortly.
C. S. P.— We fancy that Mr. Cramb’s camera would suit you exactly : see description
of it in the present number.
Ferrum.— Not alone for negatives, but as a preliminary developer. See reply to
“ M. D.,’’ in this number.
Verdant Green. — Your letter was received too late for our present number : it will
be attended to in our next.
Gorilla the Second.— Your “squib’’ is more of a rocket— aye ! a Congreve rocket—
it is so dangerous. We thank you; but it is too personal to be published.
Jacopo. _ We fear that you will not find the exemption from search at the various
“Customs” stations apply to your prepared plates, whatever you may have been
informed to the contrary.
C. L. B. — We can safely recommend the little Manual lately published by Mr. C.
Jabez Hughes; and when you have mastered that, Mr. Ilardwich's Manual should find
a place on your bookshelf.
W. R. Smith.— We have expressed our views; and, therefore, if our other corres¬
pondent is misled by “A. K. S.” it is his own fault. Free trade. We are quite willing
that all should have their say.
No Chemist.— The smaller proportion of acid would no doubt render the plates more
sensitive ; but it would also probably interfere with the length of time that they would
“keep” without deterioration.
Hard Lines.— You have used too large a proportion of citric acid : reduce the
quantity by half, or, what is the same thing, make an equal quantity of pyrogallic solution
without any citric acid, and mix the two together.
James A. (Leicester). — You will find an old collodion that has been iodised for some
time, answer your present purpose best. If a little thick, and giving a creamy film, so
much the better; but it will be rather slow in being impressed.
Novice.— It is evident that your glasses are improperly cleaned : the curved streaks
are probably caused by grease on your cloths, which have most likely been washed with
soap. Have them washed with soda and water only, and then well rinsed.
Fras. Oldfield. — We cannot advise you to procure such a lens as you name without
your first seeing the various pieces of apparatus necessarily connected with its use. You
are not far from London, and you had better run up and call on Mr. Ross, and he will
show you all the “ belongings” as well as the lens; then, if you are inclined to under¬
take the trouble and expense entailed, you can go to w ork at once. Undoubtedly, for
many subjects (especially for rural landscapes), the result is good if the manipulation be
equal to it. . , ,,
P. s.— We have repeatedly stated that is not so much the process as the operator by
which instantaneous pictures are obtained. No formula that we could give would be of
any use to you without your possessing tlie requisite skill to apply it. See the British
Journal Almanac for an “ instantaneous” wet formula; for a dry one, apply the same
principles — that is, make your chemicals accurately balance. Use a quick-acting lens,
and be very patient in developing. There is no royal road to success— nay, more, there
is no certain road at all times.
J. Arnold.— We have seen several very excellent illustrations of Matlock and other
Derbyshire localities. Mr. Ogle, of Preston, has taken those about Buxton, Haddon,
Chatswortli, and Castleton. Mr. Hill took several at Matlock, Haddon, and Wingfield
Manor. Mr. Petschler has also taken some larger views at Haddon and Chatsworth.
Mr. Woodward has illustrated Dove Dale ; but, for all that, you may well visit the
locality profitably, for the mine is almost inexhaustible. Should you go to Matlock, you
will find the Temple Hotel afford you very comfortable accommodation, and there are
several fine views to be had just outside the door.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, die., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
LEADER . 263
STEREOSCOPIC CAMERA WITHOUT SLIDES,
FOR DRY-PLATE PHOTOGRAPHY, AND
TEN BY EIGHT CAMERA, ON ONE
STAND, sis used by JOHN CRAMB . 265
IN MEMORIAM . 266
THE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION OF 1862 .. 266
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
ACETIC ACID. By JAMES MARTIN - - 266
PHOTOGRAPHY APPLIED TO PICTORIAL
DECORATION. By S. THOMPSON . 267
ON THE ACTION OF IODINE IN THE SIL¬
VER BATH. By L’ABBfl LABORDE . 268
NOTES OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIP TO
THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. By J. TRAILL.. 269
ON THE PRODUCTION OF TRANSPARENT
POSITIVES, AND THE TRANSFERENCE
OF COLLODION. By M. MARTIN . 270
ON THE THEORY OF THREE PRIMARY
COLOURS. By Prof J. CLERK MAXWELL 270
APPROACHING PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBI¬
TION AT MANCHESTER . 271
RE-DISCOVERIES IN PHOTOGRAPHY. By
PETER SMITH . 272
STEREOGRAPHS, by F. BEDFORD, Critical
Notice of . 272
EXHIBITION : Birmingham Photographic So¬
ciety’s Exhibition . 273
RECORD OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INVENTIONS
By S. HIGHLEY, F.G S., F.C.S., &e . 274
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 275
PHOTOGRAPHERS IN “TROUBLE” . 275
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 276
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE : Letter from
Paris and Letters from New York . 276
CORRESPONDENCE . 277
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, 4c . 280
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 148, Vol. VIII.— AUGUST 15, 1861.
Re-discoveries. — M. Mc-A. Gaudin, in a recent number of
La Lumiere, remarks upon the persistent sensitiveness of the
' wet washed collodion film, as if there had existed any previous
doubt upon the subject. He is clearly unaware that Mr. Russell
Sedgfield has long been in the habit of utilising this phenome¬
non for the purpose of allowing, without detriment, a prolonged
exposure of the collodion in delineating interiors. In some of
his observations regarding this subject we think he falls into an
error happily nearly obsolete amongst English operators having
any pretensions to scientific knowledge : we mean the exploded
notion that the addition of certain foreign substances is likely to
increase the sensitiveness. The best authorities are now of
opinion that the simpler the composition of the collodion the
greater the probability of obtaining all the ingredients in a state
of purity and neutrality, the exaltation of sensibility appearing
to depend chiefly upon the delicacy of equilibrium of the
chemical condition. We fancy that M. Gaudin is a little
beliiiid-hand in his photographic reading : it was but the other
day we found him introducing glycerine as a novelty (!) in pho¬
tography, entirely oblivious of the fact that it has long ago been
tried in this country in precisely the same way as lately recom¬
mended, and found wanting ; and now we have him gravely
asserting that lie has essayed the effects of tannin, and observes
that it adds much to the intensity of the picture. Has he read
nought of Major Russell’s experiments?
Harrison’s New Lens. — In the communication from our
New York correspondent, Mr. Seely, which appeared in our last,
allusion is made to a proof enclosed therewith, printed from a
negative taken by means of Harrison's new lens, an imperfect
description of which was given in a previous number of this
Journal. It was stated to consist of two achromatised menis¬
cus lenses, having their convex surfaces segments of the same
sphere, and arranged opposite one another so as to be located
in the periphery of a common centre. At first it was asserted
that the new lens would embrace an angular field of 180° when
working upon a plane surface, but subsequently this statement
was corrected, it having been erroneously quoted instead of 90°.
The specimen before us is the second with which we have
been favoured by Mr. Seely, the first having for its subject the
interior of a photographer’s studio, with the operator (we
presume) seated under a species of canopy, busts, printing
frames, &c., being arranged in a somewhat semicircular order,
doubtless for the purpose of allowing them to be tolerably well
defined upon a flat plate. The specimen more recently received
is a landscape, and occupies the entire circular surface that the
lens will cover, there being a black, indistinctly defined margin
all round the picture. The centre of the view consists of a
house standing in a garden, with a saw-mill and tall chimney-
shaft, sheds, ,&c. ; in the foreground is a timber yard with piles of
deals, &c._; in the middle distance is a river, and beyond that on
the opposite shore, several houses ; and, finally, there is the dis¬
tant horizon. Several trees and shrubs, including a fine larch iu
the centre, are scattered here and there all over the subject. From
the preceding it will be readily concluded that there is no lack
of definition ; but it must be equally evident that a very small
aperture must have been employed when taking the picture, or
it would have been impossible to have included so long a range
of subject with sufficiently fair definition. But here we must
stop in our commendation; for, as regards angle of subject
included, it is very evident to any one at all accustomed to ob¬
serving such matters that it does not approach to 90° across
the entire diameter of the circle. To us it appears to em¬
brace about 00° from extremity to extremity at most ; and if
the picture were cut to the form of a parallelogram, as usual, it
might include from 40° to 45° — that is, just about the same
amount that our good landscape lenses will generally cover. We
are consequently constrained to ask — where is the gain? We
have no doubt of our informant’s good faith in making the state¬
ment that he did, and we believe him to have been simply the
victim of an error in calculation. We are in hopes that our
correspondent will favour us with a statement of the distance
of the plate from the lens, and the extreme distance between the
two outer surfaces of the back and front portions of the combina¬
tion : we shall then be in a better position to judge of the angle
of picture embraced, and should we find our impression to have
been erroneous, we will most willingly correct our report.
We purpose bringing the specimens when we next attend a
meeting of any photographic society, and exhibiting them to
our brother members. We believe the first that will take place
will be that of the North London on the 18th September next.
An Odd Mistake. — On the very day that we “ went to
press ” with our last issue we vrere perusing the official
organ of the French Photographic Society, and were not a little
amused at the very droll blunder committed by the members of
that body, as detailed in the report of their July ordinary
meeting, at which the subject of the approaching Industrial
Exhibition — so far as it applied to photography — was discussed,
with reference to the letter from Dr. Diamond and other docu¬
ments which accompanied it. The official answer to Dr.
Diamond’s letter we gave in our last, and we were in hopes that
the assurance therein mentioned as having been given by the
Royal Commissioners of an intention to take into consideration
the remonstrances made relative to the mis-classification of
photographs was founded upon some direct communication to
the French Commissioners ; but our readers may imagine our
surprise when they learn that the hallucination arose simply
from a misapprehension of the position erroneously assigned
by the members of the French Photographic Society to Dr.
Lyon Playfair, who appears to have been regarded as invested
with authority in the matter ; whereas the fact is that he is as
powerless as the Council of the Photographic Society, and with
them issues an indignant protest against the unpliilosopliical
character of the mis-classification of photography as at present
existing, What Dr. Playfair expressed as a hope, namely, that
282
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [August 15, 1801
the Royal Commissioners would surely listen to reason on this
subject, our French brethren have, imagining him to be associa¬
ted with the Royal Commissioners in some official capacity, in¬
terpreted into an undertaking on tlieir part that the matter shall
at least be re-considered, and, if possible, adjusted satisfactorily.
Of course with the conclusions at which our French friends
have arrived we have nothing to do, but it does seem to us a pity
that they should have been settled upon false premises. It has
been insinuated, or perhaps we should rather say broadly
asserted, in the pages of a contemporary, that our neighbours
imagine us to be actuated by a desire to keep their produc¬
tions out of the Exhibition lest we should be worsted in the
comparison. We verily believe that no such general im¬
pression exists amongst French photographers, and that it
is confined entirely to the mind of the writer of the article
in which the assertion is made. Englishmen are not afraid
of being beaten, and Frenchmen know that well enough ; and
they know further that, if the former should be beaten in
that friendly rivalry, it will only instigate them to greater exer¬
tion in order that they may make a better figure on the next
occasion for comparison. Knowing this, the imputation of
fear is one which our French friends have too much good sense
to cast upon us.
We presume that our worthy friend, Dr. Diamond, will be
authorised by the Council of the Society to explain the mistake
made by the French Society regarding Dr. Playfair’s letter.
HINTS ON CAMERAS.
Yon tell me that many of your readers wish to make their own
cameras, and therefore would be interested in knowing how I con¬
structed mine ; but, as there are some things that I should alter in
a second edition, I think I shall best consult their advantage by
merely throwing together a few hints on the subject (the results
of experience), which may remove some of the difficulties that an
amateur would encounter were he to attempt to make one of the
ordinary form.
The material that I originally employed was mill-board, such as
bookbinders use for the covers of octavo volumes, but I do not
recommend it.
In the first place, it is difficult to cut, as the gritty matter con¬
tained in it rapidly spoils the edge of the tool ; and, in the second
place, it is very liable to warp. But, should any one wish to try
it, he will find it best to use a board for the base, and to make the
top and sides in one piece, forming the angles by cutting it half
through, bending it in the cut, and fixing it to the base-board with
glue and nails or screws — at the same time rubbing thick glue into
the bends to strengthen them.
The best material, however, and one which I should use exclu¬
sively were I to make another camera, is what you have recom¬
mended more than once — the straight-grained Honduras mahogany,
known at the timber merchant’s as “ coach panelling.” It is not
liable to warp, is light, and is easily worked — the last being an
important quality to an amateur.
The groove in which the dark slide is inserted is likely to prove
a difficulty to anyone who is not expert in the use of carpenter’s
tools : it will therefore be a relief to such an one if 1 assure him that
it is unnecessary. Some years ago I happened to see at Mr. Ross’s
portions of an enormous camera, intended for taking pictures three
feet by two feet ; and, on inquiring how the heavy dark slide was to
be handled, I was informed that it was not intended to be dropped
into a groove, but to be attached to the back. In adopting this
plan (of which I clearly perceived the advantage for small as well
as for large instruments) I had merely to let the top and bottom of
the box project beyond the sides the thickness of the dark slide,
•to fix a thin ledge to the bottom and a button to the top, and the
thing was done — the ledge being a piece of stout tin-plate fixed by
screws. The shutter is then drawn out to the side, and requires
no joint ; and a plate-holder may be used with the smallest camera,
long enough to shift a stereoscopic plate in working witli one lens,
after Mr. L. Clarke’s or Mr. Ilislop’s method.
The dark slide of the ordinary camera is generally a neat piece
of joiner’s work, requiring a good workman to make it; but the
one which I use is much more easily made, and, though not so neat
in appearance, answers the purpose equally well. I should pre¬
mise that my camera is a small one, having a landscape lens
capable of taking pictures six inches by five, and a portrait lens
for plates five inches by four. It h the plate-ho’der for the latter
that I am about to describe.
Fig. 1 represents
it open ready to re¬
ceive the plate, and
Fig. 2 a section across
the middle in the di
rection of the dotted
line E. The scale is
one-third of the real
size.
It is formed of three
layers of straight-
grained mahogany,
a full quarter of an
inch thick. The cen¬
tral layer (which
might be three-
eighths thick with
advantage) consists
of two pieces (A A)
fitting against the
ends of two other
pieces (B B), seen in
section in jig. 2, and
fixed by two narrow
slips in front (C C),
and two at back
(D D), which are
fastened to the cen¬
tre layer by screws.
Before the slips D D
are screwed on they
are rebated at the
back, as seen in jig. 2,
to form grooves for
the shutter, and are
so much shorter than
CCas to fit inside the
end of the camera.
The shutter may be
made of stout tin¬
plate or sheet zinc;
and the outer end
should be turned up
and the inner down,
to form a stop against
the side of the ca¬
mera when it is
drawn out. The
cover E (of maho¬
gany) when shut
down between the slips <J C is secured by two small brass but¬
tons, seen at the corners of fig. 1. It is hinged to A by a piece of
black cloth, which is continued round to the back of A, to meet the
end of the shutter and exclude any stray rays of light.
The silver wires should be so placed as to support the corners of
the plate as far as possible from the shutter, which latter should
be well varnished with a strong solution of shellac in alcohol or
wood naphtha, applied before a fire. The same solution made very
thick (which may be purchased by the name of “liquid glue” or
“ hatter’s varnish”) is useful for filling the joints of the wood-work,
and for putting together the small frames which drop into the dark
slides for the purpose of carrying small plates.
The frame for the focussing-iglass may be made on the same
principle, with two layers only, as it wants no cover ; but the thick¬
ness of the wood must be so adjusted as to place the ground surface of
the glass at the same distance from the lens as the sensitive film.
A black for the inside of the camera may be made thus: — Mix
lamp-black or vegetable-black with spirits of wine, to form a thick
liquid, and add to it a small portion of the solution of shellac.
This should be laid on with a flat camel’s-hair brush before a fire.
If it dries shiny , too much shellac has been used ; if it rubs off, too
little. Either of these faults can be rectified in the second coat.
For the purpose of excluding light, and for forming hinges and
fittings, black cloth (cut from an old coat) is a very useful material.
It may be fixed with glue, or with the thick solution of shellac.
J .
[The preceding description of a home-made camera is from the
pen of an intimate friend of the editor’s, now deceased.]
August lo, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
583
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
ALCOHOL.
Synonymes. — Spirits of wine, hydrated oxide of ethyle, spiritus
vini rectificatus, S.V.R.
Composition. — C4 II6 02 or C4 II 5 0 + HO.
Equivalent. — 46.
Preparation. — This important compound is a product of the
metamorphosis of sugar under the influence of a ferment, and can
only be advantageously manufactured on a large scale. Our
remarks under this head may therefore be more usefully confined
to a description of the methods adopted for purifying and concen¬
trating ordinary commercial spirits of wine. For the guidance
of the amateur, however, who may desire to make a little alcohol
by way of experiment, it may be stated that if one pound of sugar
be dissolved in two pints of water, and some good active yeast
be added, and the whole maintained at a temperature of 70° or 80°
Fall., until the effervescence of carbonic acid gas ceases, it will be
found to have suffered transformation into alcohol — of course
largely diluted with water. This, however, may be separated by
introducing the whole of the liquid into a retort, and distilling otf
about half-a-pint of the contents. To this should now be added
about four ounces of dried carbonate of potash, and the mixture
frequently shaken. On allowing it to remain at rest for a short
time, it will be found to separate into two strata of different
degrees of specific gravity. The upper or lighter portion con¬
tains the alcohol : it may be separated from the lower portion by
means of a pipette or syphon, and finally rectified by re-distillation
from a smaller retort containing a little quicklime.
Pure or (as it is sometimes termed) absolute alcohol is obtained
by distilling spirits of wine from certain bodies which have a high
affinity for water. These have the effect of dehydrating it, or
depriving it of its water. Such substances as carbonate of potash,
chloride of calcium, anhydrous sulphate of soda, and anhydrous sul¬
phate of copper may be employed ; but there is nothing equal in
efficiency of action to pure and newly-made quicklime. When
this latter substance is used, it should be introduced into a retort
in a powdered state, and the spirits of wine (from which a portion
of the water has been abstracted by means of carbonate of potash
as above described) added to it. The mixture should be allowed
to digest during forty-eight hours, and then slowly distilled by
the heat of a water bath. The weight of lime should be about
the same as that of the alcohol to be rectified.
Properties. — Pure anhydrous absolute alcohol is a colourless
limpid liquid, of an agreeable odour and pungent taste. Its
specific gravity at 60° is ‘794; it boils at 173° Fall. The specific
gravity of the alcohol of the pharmacopoeia, however, is 0820,
and its boiling point 176° Fah. The article usually sold as abso¬
lute alcohol is about this specific gravity. Its affinity for water is
so strong that it will absorb it from the atmosphere : it requires,
therefore, to be kept in well-stoppered bottles, as, after exposure,
it undergoes a sensible increase in specific gravity. Alcohol is
very inflammable, burning with a pale bluish flame free from
smoke. It has never been frozen. It is miscible in all proportions
with water; and in the act of dilution a contraction of volume
takes place, and the temperature rises. This remark applies to
ordinary spirits of wine as well as to pure alcohol. It is a most
useful substance in chemical investigations and in many of the arts,
on account of its extensive solvent powers, being capable of
causing the solution of many organic and inorganic bodies, as, for
instance, the vegeto-alkalies, resins and essential oils, and saline
compounds, as the iodides and bromides of potassium, cadmium,
and ammonium.
Uses. — Alcohol is employed by the photographer, in conjunction
with ether, as a solvent for pyroxyline in the preparation known
as alcoholic collodion, and also in ordinary ethereal collodion, as
aiding the solvent power of the ether upon the pyroxyline, and as
the most suitable menstruum for the various substances used to
iodise collodion. It is introduced into developing solutions for the
purpose of making them flow with greater facility over the plate
in the wet collodion process.
Impurities and Tests. — The liquid known in commerce under the
name ot spirits of wine contains variable proportions of water,
which would of course be indicated by its specific gravity. An
article possessing a gravity of '815 to '823 would contain from
ninety to ninety-three per cent, of real spirit, while the most com¬
mon spirit, having a gravity of *840, contains from eighty to
eighty Three per cent. Water can hardly be classed among the
impurities ol alcohol in the strictest acceptation of the term ; but
as no specimen containing it can be regarded as absolute alcohol,
an easy and to some extent effectual method of separating the
water becomes a desideratum. Some years ago a German chemist
introduced a process for the ripening and mellowing of wines,
which consisted in putting them into a clean bladder, or into a vessel
tied over with bladder; and if this process be applied to ordinary
spirit containing water, it is found that, by a peculiar process of
exosmosis, the aqueous vapour penetrates the membrane in pre¬
ference to the alcoholic vapour, and, by evaporation from the
outer surface, materially increases the strength of the contents of
the bladder. The preference given to smuggled spirits, which
are frequently concealed in bladders about the persons of the
smugglers, arises from the increase in strength which they are
known to acquire from being kept in these membraneous vessels.
The smugglers are equally aware that there is a corresponding
diminution in the bulk of the spirit through the evaporation of the
water, and doubtless charge accordingly. It has been found that
spirits of wine having a specific gravity of 0867 may with great
facility be reduced by the above means to 0’817. When it is
desired to increase the strength of commercial spirits of wine, by
converting it into what is generally known as absolute alcohol,
the method with carbonate of potash and quicklime described
above under the head of u Preparation" may by preference be fol¬
lowed, as being more suited to operations on a large scale, and as
including within its scope a more definite series of operations than
the mere introduction of spirit into a bladder.
Fusel oil and naphtha may be reckoned among the impurities
occasionally present. The first would be indicated by dilution
with water, which would produce a milkiness if fusel oil were
present ; while evidence of naphtha would be obtained if an
unpleasant smell were left after rubbing a little on the hands.
Fusel oil is separated from alcohol in the process of manufacture
by agitating with carbonate of potash and re-distillation. Alcohol
boils at 176°, and fusel oil at 268°; and at first sight it would
seem that this difference in their boiling points would render their
separation comparatively easy. It is found, however, in practice,
that the vapour has a tendency to rise in company with the
vapour of alcohol at a temperature much below 268°, and that the
carbonate of potash is introduced with great advantage, seeming
to possess the power of holding back the fusel oil, and allowing
the alcohol to pass over free from that impurity.
The separation of naphtha, or wood spirit, when once added to
alcohol, presents insurmountable difficulties ; indeed, it has been
decided on by the government as the most suitable substance to
add to that spirit which is imported free from duty and used in
the manufacture of varnishes, Ac., on account of the impossibility
of removing the odour and other properties of naphtha : any
alcohol therefore containing it may be regarded as unsuitable for
photographic purposes, and should be at once rejected.
Effects of Internal Use.- — These are, unfortunately, almost too
well known to need description. As, however, statements under
this head, where practicable, are included in our plan, it is neces¬
sary that it should be said that, from its action on the system,
alcohol may be termed poisonous, though, when more or less dilute,
it is said to be intoxicating. When extremely large quantities are
swallowed, it produces complete insensibility ; the breath smells
strongly of spirit, the breathing becomes loud and difficult, the
face swollen, and of a bluish red colour, with apoplexy, or paralysis
of one side. If the pupils of the eyes become dilated and fixed,
recovery rarely takes place.
Antidote. — Promotion of vomiting, cold cloths and air to the
head, warm bottles to the feet, with friction of the legs. Bleeding
may be resorted to with advantage, but under surgical direction.
“DOMESDAY BOOK” AND THE “LIBER STUDIORUM.”
It is a very long time ago since the first Napoleon stigmatised us
as “ a nation of shopkeepers.” It is not so long since John Bull
collectively set up a place of business of his own, and opened shop
at the South Kensington Museum, though if he had left off buying
pictures as wrell as taken to selling them, the circumstance would
have had some compensatory features. The officials “took stock”
the other day at the aforesaid shop, and found the amount of
sales, and business generally, looking satisfactor}* — as it ought
to look when the rent and taxes and the assistants are not
paid out of the profits of the firm, but out of the public purse.
Since they commenced business in October, 1859, up to December,
1860, the number of photographs sold has been 15,584. The pro¬
ductive powers of this establishment — though all its members work
very hard, and display all that untiring energy which Government
284
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1801
employes invariably do, at all times and seasons, and upon all oc¬
casions — are not at all adequate to the demands made upon them
by the public. Thus clerks have to stand pen in ear and order-
book in hand, instead of doing a ready money trade. So “ give
your orders ! give your orders ! ladies and gentlemen ! ! ”
The Government establishment has lately added another branch
to its business, and is now selling books as well as pictures. It
thinks there is no reason why any document should in future be
exposed to such casualties as ruined the Cottonian Collection, and so
it has begun by giving us, not duplicates only of such things, but
whole editions. Now such multiplications of any ancient book, how¬
ever interesting, is simply absurd. Such speculations would ruin any
private firm in twelve months. Who will buy them? As it has been
well put by a contemporary, “the reproduction by photography of
the Cornwall Domesday Book is merely a curiosity , and nothing more.”
No scholar will care to use it in place of the printed edition, for no
one is likely to feel that he will gain in increased accuracy what he
loses in time and eyesight. The cheap price and portable form
may perhaps tempt a wandering archaeologist to take it with him
when he goes to explore the district ; but here, we believe, is the
whole use of the edition, and, consequently, where the whole de¬
mand for it will end. For several reasons there is scarcely a county
in England which offers so little interest to the student of Domesday
as Cornwall. From its remoteness that county was little known in
the eleventh century ; from its poverty it was little important ;
and from the extraction of its population it can scarcely be said to
belong to Saxon England. But for its mines it would probably
have remained unsubdued, except in name, until a late epoch. As
it is we only infer dimly that it was reduced under Athelstane. It
is also remarkable in Its singular absence of historical names, to
explain which we quote Carew’s quaint reasons : — “For noblemen,
I may deliver in a word that Cornwall, at this present, 1602, en¬
joy eth the residence of none at all, the occasion whereof groweth
partly because their issue female hath carried away the inhabitance,
together with the inheiitance, to gentlemen of the Eastern parts ;
and partly for that their issue male little affecting so remote a
corner liked better to transplant their possessions to the heart of the
realm.” The duellist, Lord Mohun ; Sir John Trelawney, famous
as the Protestant Bishop of Bristol, whom James II. imprisoned
and the Cornish men rose to defend ; and Amy Robsart, whom M.
Froude has lately invested with a fresh interest — are the chief
names that rise to memory.
What is really wanted is a publication of the separate texts in
ordinary Latin, without the contractions which the scribes em¬
ployed. The Mechanics’ Institutes of our country towns might
fairly be expected to buy the Domesday of their county and,
perhaps, of their adjoining counties, and the study of local anti¬
quities would thus be promoted. Of course, public libraries and
private purchasers would take copies in this shape even more
readily than the less legible photographs.
Photography should be reserved for MSS. such as Gascoine's
Lexicon Theologicum, which no scholar is at present likely to edit,
or the scarce editions of the old schoolmen, such as Wycliffe or
Roger Bacon— works which every public library should possess,
but which will never repay editing and printing; and even in such
applications there is scarcely a call for ivhole editions— & limited
number of duplicates would, doubtless, be found sufficient.
The Domesday Book is also not “ a success,” photographically
speaking. The photographs are said to have been taken in a bad
light, in the depth of winter. Whether or not, the lines have a
blurred appearance which docs not belong to the original manu¬
script. The fault may, or may not, be laid to the manipulation.
Ordinary readers will probably, in consequence, have to call in the
aid of a magnifying-glass to decipher the proper names where they
are crossed through. The red cross stroke through proper names,
which was intended in the original to direct the reader’s eye, can¬
not, of course, be reproduced by photography in any distinctive
way, and is therefore a serious disadvantage in the transcript.
The evil has been diminished by causing the original red colour to
be put in by hand-labour; but will this sort of thing pay ?■ The
book, altogether, was certainly a bad one to choose.
The reproduction of Turner’s Liber Studiorum evinces better
judgment. But why should they be done by governmental
departments at all? A government is supposed to be a paternal,
fostering kind of institution, which should help inventions, dis¬
coveries, and arts through their infantile days, and, when they
are able to “go alone,” should withdraw that aid for the tending
of some other bantling. With regard to photography exactly the
reverse has been the case. Photography owes nothing to govern¬
ment aid during its nonage — has been altogether the result of the
labours, discoveries, and improvements of a private class of men —
and yet, directly it reaches a certain practicable and productive
status, it is taken up precisely at the point where all good govern¬
ment should lay it down — is taken up and used against the very
class who have helped to make it what it is. Undersold and
excluded, it is but natural that they should feel themselves
aggrieved at the perpetration of such a piece of injustice. The
invitation to purchase negatives of the Science and Art Department,
now that they have more orders than they can execute, does cer¬
tainly appear to come with very little better grace than that with
which we throw a bone to a dog — or, is it meant to imply that
photographers are not able to do them well enough themselves?
S. T.
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothwell.
No. VII.
Copying, to do it properly with all sorts of subjects, is one of the
most difficult photographic operations, more so than taking original
pictures, particularly by persons unacquainted with optics — a fact
probably w.Jl known to many, to their cost and waste of time, as
well as to myself. In copying it is of the highest importance to
have the picture to be copied as well lighted as possible, whether
it he by reflected or transmitted light, and whether the subject be
a positive or negative — an engraving, oil-painting, or water-colour
— maps, or other subjects. If it be difficult to make a copy of the
same size or less than the original, it is still more so to enlarge
satisfactorily ; in fact there are no lenses yet made which will do
it properly — at least, all the enlarged copies I have yet seen have
such indifferently bad definition that they are not worth keeping.
Another very obnoxious quality in enlarged copies is their flatness,
and yet another, their hardness — both of which I heartily detest;
but it is not improbable that the definition will yet be fine, and the
hardness prevented by full and perfect detail.
As there is a numerous class of photographers innocent of any
knowledge of optics, and a still greater number who have very
crude notions on the science, I will attempt to explain the various
conditions to be observed in producing the different results required
in cop3dng. As a specimen of the latter class, an amateur (a well-
educated man in other respects), once asked me how I managed
to copy and enlarge. lie had tried, but could not get an image
having any resemblance to the original — that is, in focus. He sup¬
posed his lens was not constructed for copying. He thought that
to enlarge a one-sixth size to a half-plate, the latter must be twice
as far behind the lens as the original was in front of it ; so ho
placed the original six inches from the lens, and expected to have
an image of double the size at twelve inches behind, whereas lie
had no image at all. Thus lie had no clear idea that the focal
length of the lens had anything to do with the matter, or did not
know how to arrange his apparatus.
If it be required to take a copy of the same size as the original,
the conditions to be observed are — that the original must be at a
distance from the lens equal to twice its focal length, whatever
that may be; and the focussing-glass or plate must also be at the
same distance, or thereabouts, behind the lens, to be in proper
focus. If a copy less than the original be wanted, the original
must he moved farther from the lens, and the focussing-glass or
plate nearer to it, until the right size of copy is obtained ; hut if an
enlarged copy be desired, we must proceed in the contrary way —
that is, move the original nearer to the lens, and the focussing-
glass farther from it, till the right size is secured in the best focus
possible. A camera suitable for the work is, of course, indispensable
for copying.
The rule or proportion as regards the size of an original picture
and a copy is this (when they are both simultaneously in focus): — as
the distance of the original picture from the lens is to that picture,
so is the distance of its image (copy) to the image or copy, whatever
the principal focal length of the lens maybe. The above distances are
called the conjugate focal lengths in contradistinction to the princi¬
pal focal length, which, as formerly stated, is the focal length for
parallel rays. With respect to the above conditions, there is
scarcely any limitation to the size of an image or copy : the ob¬
stacles are practical ones. A portrait might be enlarged not merely
to life size but to any size, were it not for certain difficulties — the
chief of which are deficiency of light and bad definition. There
are also the mechanical difficulties of operating with large appa¬
ratus, ponderous plates, baths, cameras, &c. ; but these would no
doubt be surmounted If the optical troubles could be got over.
It is very probable the following question would he put to me
here, viz. .* — You have given a rule or proportion with respect to
August 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
285
the size of an original picture and a copy ; but what I want simply
to know is the actual distance at which I must put my original
from the lens, and at what distance I shall have the image, so that
a copy will be twice, three times, or four times as large. Well, this
question cannot be answered accurately without knowing the focal
length of the lens, and also the curvatures of its surfaces, and
whether it be a single or a double lens ; but, as a rule, the following
proportions will be found pretty nearly correct for either a single
or double lens — so near that with a little focussing it will be right: —
Distance of the original Distance of imago
from the lens. from the lens.
To enlarge 1J times . If times the focal length . 2J times the focal length.
Ditto 2 ditto . ditto . 3 ditto
Ditto 3 ditto . l| ditto . 4 ditto
Ditto 4 ditto . l| ditto . 5 ditto
In copying a small stop must be used : it is out of the question
employing large ones; for even with a small stop the definition is
so indifferent as to be very offensive with any lens yet produced.
Hence results the necessity of having the strongest light thrown
on to the picture to be copied, if it must be done in any reasonable
time and is to be much enlarged. The hardness of a copy results from
deficiency of detail, and this again is the result of insufficiently
sensitive chemicals, or weakness of the light on the original, or
both ; therefore two of the indispensable requisites in obtaining a
good copy are to work with a powerful light and sensitive
chemicals.
If a picture to be copied by reflection is placed in sunshine the
sun’s rays should fall very obliquely on it, particularly if the sur¬
face be bright — such as that of an oil painting, daguerreotype, &c.
— so that when reflected none of them will enter the tube of the
lens. The flatness of a copy is the combined effect of bad defini¬
tion and deficiency of detail, the latter being removed by careful
manipulation and a little judgment; but the optical evil is the
great difficulty to be overcome.
A double lens — for instance, a portrait combination — I consider
to.be very much superior to a single lens for copying purposes : it
will give a good deal sharper definition than a single one. Every
picture to be copied ought to be as sharp as it is possible to be
taken ;. for, supposing the lens were as perfect as is desired, if the
definition were coarse in the picture it would undoubtedly be
obnoxiously coarse in a magnified copy. There are also other
advantages to be gained by using a double combination : thus, for
instance, if the original picture be a photographic A7iew in which
there arc or ought to be straight lines, supposing the lines are curved
inward, they may be rendered straight in the copy by placing the
stop nearer the back lens than the front one, tiie right position
being found by experiment ; but if the lines curved are outwards at
the extremities they could be made straight by putting the stop
nearer the front lens.
Again : in taking a tall square building with the axis of the lens
pointed upwards, the upper portion of the building would appear
too narrow; and to correct this in a copy the picture must be in¬
clined that is, that end on which is the upper part of the building
must be nearer the lens than the other end where the bottom of
the building is, by which means the copy of the building would be
apparently more correct than the original picture. Now, if a
similar subject or view were taken from an elevated position, with
the axis of the lens pointed downwards, contrary effects would
occur, which must be corrected in copying by inclining the picture
the opposite way — that is, the bottom of the view must be the
nearest, and the top of it the farthest, from the lens. Also, if a like
view, but horizontal (and which could not be taken any other way),
were the subject, it could be corrected in a similar way. Suppose
it was a row of houses, or, in fact, any other objects situated
obliquely, the tar end would be too much diminished, which could
be righted in copying as above directed.
There are numerous distortions in portraits, one or two of which
I here notice, because they may be corrected in copying. Probably
in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred the camera is level with
the head or at least the shoulders of the sitter, in which case the
axis of the lens must be pointed more or less downwards, so as to
include sufficient of the person, and, at the same time, to have the
figure in proper position on the glass ; consequently the plate is in¬
clined with its upper part towards the sitter, and the result is that
the upper portion of the person is apparently too large. If to
this be added the mischief caused sometimes by a sitter leaning
forward, the effect is highly disagreeable — quite a caricature, if
the person be a John Bull sort of physiognomy. When such a
monstrosity” is produced, people may well exclaim that he or
she is 1 too stout.” The caricaturism of such a thing may be
dissolved into a “ correct likeness ” in copying, by inclining the
picture with the head of the portrait farther from the lens than the
lower portion of it.
In taking a portrait three-quarter profile, it is often noticed that
the arm, &c., of the most distant side of the sitter appear too small.
Well that also can be remedied to a considerable extent by inclining
the picture so that those parts which seem too diminutiva are the
nearest the lens, and that side which appears too large the farthest
from it. When a picture has been taken with a very short focus
lens, and a wide field included, and in which the marginal objects
appear too large, it may be corrected in the best manner, in copy¬
ing, by mere enlargement with a lens free from distortion, which
is equivalent to its having been taken by a long focus lens, by
which it appears more correct, as I shall hereafter prove : or it
may be copied of the same size, and more correctly, by placing the
stop nearer the front lens than the back one ; but it will have con¬
siderable distortion as regards straight lines. Thus the value or
use of copying is not confined to the bare operation of securing a
copy, or even magnifying ; but, from the cases stated above, the
uses to which it may be applied are both numerous and valuable.
The solar camera is, or rather will be, a very important instru¬
ment, if the definition can be made satisfactory. With all respect
for the opinion of M. Claudet, I believe the best position for the
image of the sun to be is between the lenses instead of on the front
one — that is with a portrait combination ; for I am quite sure the
astigmatism of the oblique pencils will be less.
[We are again compelled to demur to some of the propositions
advanced by the author of the preceding paper. — Ed.]
LEAVES PROM THE DIARY OP A LATE ENTHUSIASTIC
AMATEUR.
Edited by Sydney Sunshine.
If any of my readers who are photographic fledglings believe they
would succumb to such misadventures as those related in my last
chapter, let them resign the cultivation of the art at once, for they
are not of the stuff of which the genuine photographer is manu¬
factured. No amount of discomfiture will ever subdue him! Ho
will make the imperial motto, “the guards never surrender,” his
own. He will possess real enthusiasm, without which nothing
great, nothing enduring, was ever accomplished. Nothing good
in art was ever done without intense feeling; but it must be
feeling sternly controlled, and made only to impart additional
strength to the will. Let those who have travelled some stages
of their journey no longer lose sight of the end in the means.
Let them cultivate processes less and art more : take some one
process — wet or dry — and adhere to it. I may as well display my
colours at once, and say I am an uncompromising wet collodionist,
and utterly sceptical as to the advantages — taking a broad and
comprehensive view of the subject — of preservative processes. I
am not going to deny, with the beautiful specimens of the Man¬
chester school before me, the possibility of getting good pictures
by them; but the large per centage of failures must be taken into
account, and then remember that every one of these failures is
equal to three failures with wet plates, by reckoning the additional
time and trouble expended in their preparation, not to say anything
of the journeys to expose them and their subsequent development.
It is much to be feared that photography has been seized upon
too readily as a means of getting pictures without the trouble of
learning to draw, or of previous study of any kind. The amount of
misapplied energy and the sums of money that have been wasted
in the pursuit is incredible : — precious time, precious opportunities,
precious metals ! A few faint wishes and feeble aspirations will not
achieve photographic excellence. Students should be more content
to begin at the beginning. It may be believed that if they began
by copying simple, common objects, as in drawing, and refrained
from going on to others until they could do these under all positions
and circumstances of light and shade, gradation of half-tone, depth
or transparency of shadow, and so on, instead of beginning on the
ambitious subjects they usually do — subjects which to properly
depict have exacted a lifetime of study from men of genius in all
ages— it would not be time wasted. Such study would not be
lost, and would tell hereafter. Men too often look to bring about
great results by violent, unprepared effort. But it is only in
fair and forecast order, as the earth bringeth forth the bud, and
afterward the fruit, that anything of worth can be produced in art.
Take every opportunity of educating the eye. See every picture
worth seeing. Even among persons of taste a truly discriminating
appreciation of art is comparatively rare; and among these, again,
that higher degree of cultivation which makes the taste sensitive
as an electrometer is found in very few individuals. Endeavour
286
[August 15, 1801
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
to vender yourself alive to the finest shades of difference in every¬
thing. The incarnation of self-help has said: — “It is the close ob¬
servation of little things which is the secret of success in business,
in art, in science, and in every pursuit in life. Human know¬
ledge is but an accumulation of small facts made by successive
generations of men ; the little bits of knowledge and experience
carefully treasured by them growing at length into a mighty
pyramid. There is no more important principle in art than this,
though it should be cultivated with caution, or it will narrow and
contract the mind. Greatness can only be rightly estimated when
minuteness is justly reverenced. Greatness is the execution of
minuteness, nor can its sublimity be felt truthfully by any mind
unaccustomed to the affectionate watching of what is least.”
Turner used to say — “I never lose an accident or incident.” There
was nothing so little but he noticed it — nothing so great but he
made preparations to cope with it. Thus he laboured patiently,
almost mechanically, at first — his pencil slowly, but gradually,
gaining power and. grasp. So taught and prepared for his life’s
labour, alone among the fair English hills, he began to paint, with
cautious toil, the rocks and fields and trickling brooks, and the soft
white clouds of heaven.
It would be interesting, and far better, for the amateur-photo¬
grapher to more often work with a purpose. Were he to aim at
getting up portfolios of special objects, it would lend an interest to
them whenever exhibited, apart from their intrinsic merits. There
are innumerable classes of things in nature which would serve as
“ studies,” and are especially suitable for amateurs — not that they
are beneath the notice of professional men, but are unsuitable for
those who have bread to win. A portfolio of studies of clouds
taken specially for their infinite variety of groupings or cumuli,
disregarding altogether the under-exposed foregrounds, or a port¬
folio of atmospherical effects , is well worth the effort. The fleeting
and often beautiful vapours after showers in summer-time — the
mist half-way up a mountain side, while its crest is bathed in sun¬
light — will indicate my meaning. Of course such things must be
taken disregarding all other details save the particular effect we
wish to secure. Turner painted Cuyp’s favourite effect, Sun Rising
through Vapour, for many a weary year. Take, again, every variety
of leaf beauty — from the soft rose leaf to that of the Norwegian
pine, or of grasses or of trees. It will help to make the eye more
sensitive to beauty of form and curvature. Curvature is to lines
what gradation is to colour. One of the highest qualities in
Coreggio is his exquisite sensibility to fineness and intricacy of
curvature. Or what is even better, take a collection of photographs
of lichens and mosses. I have seen a portfolio of every variety
of them, beautifully arranged, which were very impressive. Such
things may to some appear simple ; but are they so ? Despise
them not. Hear what one who has no small claim upon us as an
art-teacher has to say about them: —
“ Lichens and mosses (though these last, in their luxuriance, are
deep and rich as herbage, yet both for the most part humblest of
the green things that live)— -how of these ? Meek creatures ! the
first mercy of the earth, veiling with hushed softness its dintless
rocks ! creatures full of pity, covering with strange and tender
honour the scarred disgrace of ruin — laying quiet finger on the
trembling stones, to teach them rest. No words that I know of
will say what these mosses are : none are delicate enough— none
perfect enough — none rich enough. How is one to tell of the
rounded bosses of furred and beaming green — the starred divisions
of rubied bloom, fine filmed, as if the Rock Spirits could spin
porphyry as we do glass — the traceries of intricate silver and
fringes of amber, lustrous, aborescent, burnished through every
fibre into fitful brightness, and glossy traverses of silken change,
yet all subdued and pensive, and framed for simplest, sweetest
offices of grace ? They will not be gathered, like the flowers, for
chaplet or love token ; but of these the wild bird will make its
nest, and the wearied child his pillow : and as the earth’s first
mercy, so they are its last gift to us. When all other service is
vain from plant and tree, the soft mosses and gray lichen take up
their watch by the head-stone. The woods, the blossoms, the
gift-bearing grasses have done their parts for a time ; but these
do service for ever. Yet, as in one sense the humblest, in another
they are the most honoured of the earth’s children. Unfading as
motionless, the worm frets them not, and the autumn wastes not.
Strong in loveliness, they neither blanch in heat nor pine in frost.
To them, slow-fingered, constant-hearted, is entrusted the weaving
of the dark eternal tapestries of the hills — to them, slow-pencilled,
iris-dyed, the tender framing of their endless imagery. Sharing
the stillness of the unimpassioned rock, they share also its en¬
durance; and while the winds of departing spring scatter the
white hawthorn blossoms like drifted snow, and summer dims on
the parched meadow the drooping of its cowslip gold, far above
among the mountains the silver lichen spots rest, star-like on the
stone, and the gathering orange stain upon the edge of yonder
western peak reflects the sunsets of a thousand years.”
MORE WORDS ON THE HARMONISATION OF THE
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOLUTIONS.*
By Dr. J. Schnauss. *
My readers will remember my essay on the agreement of the pho¬
tographic solutions in the first number of this Journal. I had the
pleasure of receiving from many quarters corroboratiou of the
accuracy of the principles and directions demonstrated, without
which assuredly no certain operations in photography can be
expected. But the comprehension of my essay proved difficult to
many who possessed no preparatory chemical information. In
order to render clear the great importance and practicability of the
harmonisation of the solutions, and also to give a general short
survey of the chief points of the leading heads, I may be allowed
to add the following.
The collodion process possesses an extraordinary delicacy com¬
pared with the early negative methods on paper, albumen, &c.
We are indebted to the collodion process for exalted sensitiveness
and beautiful results; but, on the other hand, there are important
difficulties in its practice. The great point of the whole process —
especially the speedy production of beautiful, strong negatives —
depends upon the exact quantity of the acidifying principle in the
three most important solutions : — 1st, iodised collodion ; 2nd, silver
bath; 3rd, iron developer. As this acid principle may be affected
by other opposing agents, namely, those possessing alkaline proper¬
ties, we must bear in mind the neutralising power of the last class
of bodies. In chemistry acids and alkalies are recognised, the first
by blue litmus paper becoming red, the latter by the red litmus paper
being restored to a blue colour. There are in photography far
more delicate re-agents, so that the above-named test-paper is not
required. We must, in order to make this investigation thoroughly,
employ photographic agents — that is, take a proof portrait. From
this we recognise amongst photographic bodies — especially those
used to iodise collodion — two classes possessing strong well-marked
polarities or photographic contrasts, an accurate knowledge of
which contributes wonderfully to the perfection of the work. In
the negative as well as in the positive collodion process the acid
principle must absolutely predominate in the three above-named
most important solutions, though according to circumstances more
or less. This harmonisation takes place in the negative process
by the addition of acetic acid to the silver bath and iron developer :
in the positive process by the addition of nitric acid in the silver
bath, and acetic (or nitric) acid to the developer. In order to bring
a little of the acid principle into the iodised collodion, we must not
make use of the above-named strong acids, on account of their
containing so much water, but we take those known only as pho¬
tographically acid materials, namely, free iodine, or an iodide
which generally contains free iodine. But this addition must be
made with great caution, for a superabundance destroys the sensi¬
tiveness. It is therefore strongly advised to iodise two sorts of
collodion, of which one shall contain prominently the acid princi¬
ple, and only to add it in small portions, as found needful, to that in
ordinary use. We must, above all, in practically accomplishing the
equilibrium, have regard to the age of the solutions. If all three
solutions are newly prepared, we shall not immediately obtain good
results, even if they are compounded after the best formulae. In
order to obtain clear strong negatives we must considerably
augment the acetic acid in the silver bath and the iron developer.
We give now the best mode of preparation of all three solutions,
always with the proviso, however, that they must first be of a
certain age or maturity before their entire superiority can be
shown.
We compound the collodion from good freshly-prepared pyroxy-
line, and a mixture of two parts of ether and one part of absolute
alcohol of the best quality. When poured on a glass plate the
collodion should flow well and equally, without forming streaks
(otherwise it is too thick, and has too much ether), not setting too
quickly, and when pushed with the finger still possessing enough
body to hold the iodide of silver formed by immersion in the silver
bath. The alcohol is not necessarily absolute; but, if of lower
specific gravity than 0'835, it is injurious.
We prepare some days previously an iodiser by dissolving two
parts iodide of ammonium, one part iodide of cadmium, and half a
* From Photoaraphisches Antov,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
237
August 15, 186 1J
part bromide of cadmium in forty parts alcohol, of 0-835 specific
gravity. This solution must first become quite clear by settling.
A little bromide of ammonium is formed by the double decomposi¬
tion of the iodide of ammonium and bromide of cadmium, and this is
but slightly soluble in alcohol. Many impurities also of the iodide
and bromide salts sometimes remain behind, which are mostly insolu¬
ble in alcohol. It is advisable to let the iodiser acquire a sherry
colour. For this reason a yellow iodide of ammonium is useful.
We add this iodiser again and again to collodion until a glass plate
coated therewith dipped in the silver bath shows a sufficient density
of iodide of silver. But we must, in order to judge with certainty,
wash the back of the glass. We can also prove by pushing it
together with the finger the consistency, and the powdery or
skinny nature of the film. We shall thereby perceive the various
influences of certain iodides on the collodion. Thus the iodide of
cadmium makes it very dense, the iodide of lithium powdery, &c.
To produce a good equal iodide of silver film by means of
ethereal collodion, the proportions of water contained therein is of
the greatest importance next to the iodising material. I therefore
set about a number of experiments, which I will briefly relate,
using the same iodised collodions, only differing in the amount oi
water contained — each kind containing sixty parts ether, forty
parts alcohol, one part pyroxyline, one part iodide of ammonium,
and half a part iodide of cadmium.
1. Experiment. — The iodised collodion contained ether of 0'725,
and alcohol of 0-800 specific gravity. The colour was reddish-
yellow. It dried quickly on the plate, therefore the iodide of silver
was formed somewhat unequally in consequence of its repelling the
silver bath on immersion. The film possessed a firm consistency,
and could easily be transferred. It showed no sign of tearing or
cracking, as sometimes happens when too much water is contained
in the collodion.
2. Experiment. — Ether of 0734, alcohol of 0803 specific gravity.
Colour dark yellow; dried rather quickly; showed no crack or
crapiness.
3. Experiment. — Ether of 0‘734, alcohol of 0‘825, specific gravity.
Colour rather lighter yellow, drying very quickly on the plate, and
with firm cohesion. The negative proof was good, and after drying
showed no sign of cracking. The iodide of silver formed very
quickly. From these experiments I would consider the amount of
water contained in this third sample the most correct : if it be in¬
creased, the colour of the collodion becomes a still lighter yellow.
The iodide of silver is certainly very even, but it shows already
fine streaks and cracks, particularly in the direction of the flowing
off of the collodion, and on the spots where it has condensed. By
further additions the film was destroyed through numberless flaws
in drying.
In reference to the best proportions of iodide and bromide salts
in the iodiser, I have made some experiments with those most used,
namely, with iodide of ammonium, iodide of cadmium, and bromide
of cadmium, which confirms me in the opinion that the proportions
between the three above-named salts for our climate and by
medium light are the best : — Two parts iodide of ammonium, one
part iodide of cadmium, half a part bromide of cadmium.
- - — — -
COLLODION SHOULD BE ACID, AND "WITH A LABG-E
PBOPOBTION OP IODINE.*
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
It if? now admitted in photography that to act quickly collodion
must be as exempt as possible from acid and free iodine; however,
all collodions which act well are acid and coloured by free iodine.
An excess ot acid in the silver bath, in the collodion and in the
developer, is the reason that the impressions are formed very
faintly, and it even sometimes happens that there is no impression
at all: in this case the collodion is untouched, and preserves its
beautiful opal colour. Excess of acid is then prejudicial ; but to
succeed better, and to attain the greatest quickness, a certain pro¬
portion of acid is necessary in the silver bath, the collodion and the
developer, and more free iodine in the collodion.
I have had occasion this week to verify this necessity. Having
undertaken a research upon the sulphate of iron developer, I
passed a whole day without being able to obtain the trace of an
impression, having at every turn a general fog, which after the
soaking in hyposulphite presented a surface of silver. I really did
not know on what to lay the fault: I even looked into my object-
glass to see if the light passed through it. As my silver bath was
one which the day before with the same collodion had given
me (making a use of a sulphate of iron developer) some good
* From La Lumierc.
proofs, I believed at first that the evil arose from my new prepa¬
rations of sulphate of iron, which, however, I varied in all possible
ways: I had red, yellow, green, and brown, which I acidulated
more and more. At length I remembered that my collodion of the
day before had been added to from normal collodion to give it
more strength. I was far from thinking that the failure occurred
from that; however, on trying some collodion that was free from
this normal collodion, all my sulphates produced good proofs, and
the refractory collodion after being mixed with a red collodion very
slow by itself, produced some good proofs with the same sulphates.
Thus sometimes there is formed in the normal collodion a com¬
pound reduction, formic acid, aldehyde, &c., which should be neu¬
tralised by the addition of an acid or of a large proportion of
iodine. The addition of an acid does not always make the collo¬
dion red : the crystallisable acetic acid, for instance, even after
several days, does not render the collodion red; and a very
moderate addition of it, two or three drops to a bottle of three
ounces, is an excellent thing when the proofs are foggy.
An addition of iodine produces the same effect, but in a very
small degree. Generally in small bottles good collodions have a
lemon tint, which in large quantities inclines to orange ; and if
collodion is dropped and runs well upon a piece of damp litmus
paper it will reveal its acidity.
The silver bath also should be acid, particularly in using ferru¬
ginous developers. It has been almost impossible for me to obtain
anything passable with a silver bath which is neutral with regard
to the litmus paper; but in adding one or two drops of nitric acid,
enough to redden the paper, all goes well, and still better with a
collodion containing acetic acid.
Thus reducing agents ought to be banished from the collodion
as well as from the silver bath. This leads us quite naturally to
the case of M. Ferrier, who seems much hurt by some rather sharp
expressions which I used with regard to him. f was much annoyed
by having spoilt all my baths, and wished quickly to guard
against this inconvenience in the case of others. To-day M. Ferrier
pretends that there has been a misprint ; that he said to add the
formic acid to the developer, and not to the silver bath. As for
me, I have only read the number of the Bulletin de la Societe Fran -
gaise de Photographic for the month of May, which runs thus : —
“MM. Ferrier (father and son) and Soulier presented the
Society with several quite instantaneous stereoscopic views, repre¬
senting different views of Paris, rvith people, horses, and vehicles
in motion. M. Ferrier remarks the difference which exists between
some proofs of this kind and those for instance in which are repre¬
sented the waves of the sea, which can accomplish a certain move¬
ment while the impression is being taken without losing its dis¬
tinctness. On the contrary, in the present case, in order that the
proof may be clear the impression must be strictly instantaneous.
The only particular that M. Ferrier had to notice in his prepara¬
tion consisted in the addition of a small quantity of formic acid to
the silver bath.”
After assuring myself by a number of trials that the use of the
formic acid in the silver bath is constantly followed by a general
fogging, with the absence of any impression, and being persuaded
that M. Ferrier knew it as well as n^self, I have felt obliged to
protest loudly against such an announcement. If the formic acid
is to be used in the developer, and not in the silver bath, the case
is entirely altered; but M. Ferrier should not believe himself
sheltered from all reproach by saying it was “ a misprint,” for this
was a very serious mistake, and he could have given us immediate
notice through the journals. But it is probable that M. Ferrier has
never tried formic acid in the silver bath, and that he is not there¬
fore aware of how many mistakes his badly-expressed communi¬
cation would be the cause.
[Formic acid in the developer was proposed many jrnars back
(six or seven at least) by Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte ; but we believe
that if M. Gaudin will try it he will be convinced that it has no
such beneficial effect as M. Soulier claims for it. — Ed,]
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OK, A PHOTOG-RATHER’S JOURNAL OP A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. VIII.
The last number of my notes closed leaving me on the summit of
Olivet, taking my first views of Jerusalem from that height; and
I promised in my next to say a little of the view then stretched
out before us, and, at the same time, to give a picture of my
camera arrangement and a description of it. The latter part of
my promise I fulfilled in the last number of the Journal; the former
288
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1801
I shall do now, and shall describe what is seen from the Mount of
Olives, looking towards Jerusalem.
What is actually to be seen now I have delineated by the un¬
matched powers of our wizard-like art, in a manner that no tongue
or pen ever could approach — as no eye ever saw, not in fifty visits ;
for it is a fact that our artificial chemically-prepared retina, with
its brass-bound eyes, sees more, and retains a more minute, more
comprehensive, and more perfect picture of what is presented to
it, than ever the finest and best-trained human organisation for
the same purpose did, even with hours of examination (exposure)
and numerous trials. Our picture, if creditably done, satisfies the
educated eye of the historian, the archaeologist, the man skilled in
the gigantic marvels of geology or the minute wonders of botanical
science. But why boast of the powers of our art here ? My readers
do not require me to tell them what photography can do. And it
has, no doubt, struck every one of them how much more they
could see in a good photograph than they really saw of the place
it represents with their own visual organs. Is not that an import¬
ant consideration in treating of the relative merits of the produc¬
tions of the artist-photographer and the artist-painter ? David
Roberts might depict as he can — some would say as he only can —
all he saw ; but how much was there he did not perceive ! There
is no use — the reader may remark — praising my photograph of
Jerusalem, which I am not to present to them, and neglecting
to give the description which I promised, and which I ought to
have had half finished by this time.
The Jerusalem of two thousand years ago had then reached its
maximum in extent and in population. According to Josephus,
it stood on four distinctly-marked eminences. It was, as it now
is, somewhat of a quandrangular form, and, as now, was enclosed
by walls. Zion was the highest and largest of these elevations
on the north and west, on which the city at first alone was
built. Moriah directly to the east of that on which the temple
stood. To the north of Zion, and separated from it by the Tyro-
poeon Valley, stood Acra; and to the east of that, and north of
Moriah, was Bezetha, or the new city. The topography of Jeru¬
salem is one of the vexed questions of which that city furnishes
so ample a crop; and the above brief outline of it contains matter
for filling more ponderous tomes than there are lines in it. Sup¬
pose it pretty correct, nevertheless. The modern city covers part
of each of these four more or less separated eminences. The
modern walls are in a very good state of preservation, and serve
as an ample protection from the lawless part of the inhabitants of
the country, but would be of no avail if the artillery of western
nations was opposed to them, not to speak of Sir "William Arm¬
strong’s rifled irresistibles. These walls, as they now remain, were
erected some three hundred years ago ; but many parts bear
undoubted evidence of Jewish origin. Farts here and there, which
have escaped the destruction which has so often left the city as a
heap of rubbish, stand out as it were to proclaim to whom it of
right belongs.
From Olivet, as I have said, the whole city lies map-like before
the spectator, forming a really fine picture : if the scriptural and
historical associations be taken into account it is, perhaps, the
grandest view in the world. Just beyond those hills which bound
the view is Bethlehem, where Christ was born. Nearer to the left,
densely covered with houses, is Zion, worthily deserving, my
readers would think, the eulogy of the Psalmist : — “ Beautiful for
situation : the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion.” That is the
Jews’ quarter of modern Jerusalem, and it encloses as much squalid
poverty as the same space ever did any where at any time.
Nearer, in the same line, is Moriah, on which once stood the Temple.
Its site is now occupied by what is called the Mosque of Omar,
llow much or how little of it is truly either of Omar or his
followers’ erecting is doubtful. There is, however, no doubt that
the bigoted followers of the false prophet have possession of it,
nor is there any doubt that they grudge even the privilege of
looking at it from some distance. Since 1854 Moslem intolerance
has had to bear with now and then seeing Christians pass hurriedly
in and out of this holy place — partly through the influence of
western diplomacy, but mostly by the power of Frank gold.
Between the spectator and the city is the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
In the bottom of it — as it were at our feet — enclosed by an un¬
sightly stone wall, are those same olive trees which eighteen
hundred years ago were the silent witnesses of Our Lord’s anguish
on that dark night of sorrow. On the right, in the middle of the
houses, now rises a broad flat dome, said to cover the Sepulchre of
our Saviour. Perhaps it does. Sad to think how much blood has
been spilt among His nominal disciples fighting for the guardian¬
ship of this shrine !
But it were a truly hopeless task even to name the objects of
interest in the view, far less to mention the associations connected
with them. The spectator has but to think that his feet rests on
Olivet, the mount of the ascension ; that before him lies all that
now remains of one of the earliest centres of civilisation, the capital
of one of the oldest and most remarkable peoples — if not the birth¬
place, the cradle of our religion — Jerusalem, the city of our Lord.
My view's turned out remarkable successes, on development, and
I went to bed in a high state of excitement about the perfect pic¬
tures I had been able, at my first trial, to produce. Alas ! for the
uncertainty of everything human ! And photography is no ex¬
ception to the all-pervading rule long ago pronounced by. the wise
man : have we not all experienced that it is vexation of spirit In
plain language, I found my beautiful views had, in drying, cracked
in a thousand places. I tried to save them from further injury by
varnishing, but the cure aggravated the disease : those not
uselessly split before, were quite so now. This was a trouble I
had before known nothing of. What caused it, and how I was to
avoid or cure it, seemed at first quite a mystery to me. The only
thing I felt quite decided on was, that whatever it was that pro¬
duced it, I must overcome the difficulty. And this I did, and very
simply ; but that will come in better in connexion with my visit to
Bethlehem, which I shall give in my next.
About this time an incident occurred to me which illustrates
a phase of the social character of the people, and also shows the
nature of the internal government of the country; and which,
though in point of time it is a little out of the order of my narra¬
tive, I prefer to give an account of now. I have before mentioned
that Max’s hotel overlooked the Via Dolorosa : I should rather
have said a part of that sorrowful way. I had instructions to take
a picture of it. The path which bears this name, from the Hall of
Judgment to the traditional site of the Crucifixion, is a long and
crooked street, turning more than once at a right angle, or nearly
so. A Latin Church publisher would have demanded at least as
many views as there are “stations,” according to the traditions
of that church. I was to have but one. After a careful survey
of all the possible and convenient points of view I determined that
the view from the roof of my hotel was the best, taking in, as it
did, the Ecce Homo Arch and the undoubted site of the Hall of
Judgment, and just overlooking the traditional site of the house of
Dives. One afternoon early in June — the 5th I think — Iliad some
sensitive plates which I felt too lazy to go out to use. Had I been
half as Oriental as I should have been by this time I ought to have
willingly enjoyed the rest and quiet which I had fairly, I thought,
earned by a very good morning’s work. My western habit of
activity soon suggested that if I was not to go out I might, how¬
ever, take a few views from the house-top, and thus get at
least this Via Dolorosa view done which I had to do sometime,
and enjoy a rest at the same time : Lord Brougham’s kind of rest it
was to be, to be sure, — change of labour. My dragoman was sick
at the time. We had just returned from a visit to the Dead Sea
and the Jordan, and the Plain of Jericho had been too hot for
him : poor fellow, he was very ill. I had no assistance at hand to
carry my camera and stand to the house-top for me. All the hotel
people were out but an old woman, the cook. Ferraj, my jet black
Nubian, who generally carried my traps, I had dismissed for the
day. I had got several plates exposed, and was in my own quiet
undemonstrative Avay enjoying the evening breeze and the deeply
interesting view which lay before me, when my attention was
drawn to some strangers in the court below. One I saw was a
rather good-looking and very handsomely-dressed young Nubian,
accompanied by two young Arabs. I at first supposed that they
belonged to the suite of some distinguished Frank visitor or
pilgrim who proposed honouring Max’s with his patronage. Soon
I found the new comers meant to honour me with a nearer ac¬
quaintance. As they approached the part of the house-top on
which I had fixed my camera I saw they seemed excited. The
black man now seemed to address me ; but as my interpreter was
below out of the reach of his or my voice, and I knew scarcely as
much Arabic as could obtain for me bread and water from those
who were very willing to understand me, this appeal, demand,
or remonstrance was utterly lost upon me. My black visitor soon
saw that, and appeared about to speak to me in a more unmis-
understandable way. He was apparently just about to toss me
and my camera into the yard below when I, by the best exhibition
of the universal language of signs I could command, gave him to
understand I would save him the trouble by carrying my pro¬
perty and myself as quickly as possible, consistent witlj the
safety of both, to that part of the house to which he seemed
desirous they should be removed. My feelings, I must confess,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
289
August 15, 1861]]
unequally matched as I certainly was, would have induced me to
inquire at once into his sable majesty’s right thus so imperiously
to issue his commands. A moment’s reflection, however, convinced
me that whoever he was, and whether right or wrong in his de¬
mand, my best course then was perfect submission. I need not
say that I undid all my screws in double-quick time, under the
terror of every moment seeing the whole of my apparatus dashed
into a thousand pieces, my black friend and his companions be¬
came so outrageous. Having got all into a transportable state,
I breathed more freely. I had learned sufficient of the Oriental
manner to be aware that if I could only afford to seem careless,
though my intruders knocked all my property over the house—
and, above all, if I could only outdo them in making a noise, I was
perfectly safe. I deposited my cameras, well strapped together,
on the centre of the house-top, and, throwing down the stand care¬
lessly near them, I took up my umbrella and threw it right over
to the court below, with a bang as if I meant to send the rest after.
That had a good effect. The invading force were not sure of me.
I lifted the bundle of cameras in my arms and retreated by the
shortest route to my rooms below, leaving the enemy in possession
of the field and my tripod. I had barely got my cameras and
lenses into a safe place ere my uninvited guests made their
appearance in my rooms. I made signs indicative that they were
to leave, and probably said so in my vernacular. I tried the whole
of the Arabic I could muster that at all bore on the position of
parties. All was of no avail. My assailants became now more
outrageous, unfortunately when I was less likely to bear their
unprovoked injuries. The black man now lifted his hand to
strike me. He had previously pushed me about, and tried
to kick me. I quietly retired to my room, and produced
my revolver — innocent of powder and shot. Its effect was
magical : my assailants ran instantly, never turning till outside
the house, where they were followed by the old cook, who had
been trembling outside my rooms. She locked the door as the in¬
truders escaped. They were, however, no sooner out of the house
than they seemed equally anxious to get in again. They com¬
menced knocking at the outer door, and soon collected a crowd of
sympathisers, who joined in heaping on me such imprecations as
only an Oriental can conceive and as only an eastern language can,
I believe, adequately express. It is no curse at all that does not
include one’s father and mother and all other relations back to
three or four generations, and, of course, taking in one’s children.
Poor innocents ! — a bachelor’s children ! they won’t feel even an
Ishmaelite’s curse. A pretty kettle of fish this ! I thought. Here
I am nearly alone, surrounded on the outside of a thin wall by an
infuriated Moslem mob! What am I to do? Fortunately there
were two doors to the house, and it turned out that Mrs. Max had
had a young Jewress sewing in the house, and that the old cook
had despatched her at an early period of the row, by the other
door, for the hotel keeper, and such other help as would be neces¬
sary. He soon arrived, and with him an officer of a kind of
military police of the Pasha. There was a tremendous noise. I
was told that the black man demanded that I should be taken to
prison. Of course I did not relish that ; but told Mr. Max to tell
them that I had nothing to do either with the Pasha or his soldiers,
but that, if they had any complaint to make against me, they could
all follow me to the British Consulate, where I would now go to
enter ray complaint against the black man and his confederates.
The officer at once agreed to this course : so to the Consulate we
all repaired — a very doubtful procedure, under the circumstances,
I now think. As it turned out all went well, but it might easily
have been otherwise. I was known to a number of the idlers in
the quarter, and it appeared that either by myself or through the
talismanic medals bearing Her Majesty’s effigy, which I occasion¬
ally distributed among them for service done, I had made a
favourable impression on them. When I appeared outside on the
way to the Consul's I was recognised by these, and allowed to pass
on unmolested by all.
Arrived at the Consulate I was sorry to find the Consul had gone
to Jaffa, and that there was no one but the Chancellor. As soon
as an approach to silence could be obtained, I stated my case, as I
have detailed already. My sable opponent stated his charge— or
rather the officer did for him — and now, for the first time, I learned
what all the noise was about. There could not be so much
mischief without a woman being in it. It appeared, from the
statement now made, that Max’s house-top directly overlooked
the hareem of the Pasha and the garden attached to it, and
that at. the time I was taking my view of the Via Dolorosa the
ladies of the Governor’s household had retired into the garden to
enjoy the invigorating evening air. The ladies supposed I was
spying at their beautiful faces, and, no doubt, falling hopelessly
in love with their lovely sultanaships. It was further stated that
the black gentleman who had behaved so heroically was one of
those nondescript gentry who attend on the unfortunate daughters
of Eve in the East. His mistress or mistresses — for I never learned
if there was one or more, or how many — had ordered him to go and
have myself and apparatus removed. On hearing the charge, the
Chancellor began to say that it would be necessary to take the
black ennuch into custody. No sooner was this uttered than out
he ran, leaving us to settle all else as we best could. I explained
at once that I had never seen the ladies of the hareem ; nor did I
know where the garden was. After the Chancellor had assured
me that even if I had known the ladies were there, and had even
been, as they supposed, looking at them through a glass, still I had
the right to do so. And again : that, though I had been breaking
the law', forcibly entering the house of one under the protection
of a foreign flag was a crime. I left the office after arranging to
go with the officials of the Consulate to the Seraglio next day and
make my complaint known to the Pasha.
- ♦- -
ATT EASY METHOD OF DEDUCING THE SILVER FROM
OLD BATHS, TO RE-CONVERT IT INTO THE NITRATE..
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
Of all the processes that I have tried for reducing silver the fol¬
lowing is much the best, and the most expeditious. Having to do
so, I reduced the silver from its chloride by zinc and diluted
sulphuric acid, then re-formed the salt of silver, after having
acidulated it by nitric acid. This last method is very expeditious,
but the reduced silver is always mixed with acetate of silver, which
produces, on dissolving it in nitric acid, a magma of a brick colour,
which is scarcely soluble in water, and produces very bad baths.
The reduced silver from the chloride is more favourable, but there
always remains some chloride unacted upon.
In reducing the chloride in the manner in which I have indicated,
the nitrate of silver formed is very pure, and the reduction is made
with the greatest facility when one operates upon small quantities —
the only case in which the process is applicable, and which makes
me recommend it to amateur photographers.
After reducing and washing the chloride of silver, produced by
pouring some hydrochloric acid into the ordinary silver baths, and
separating this chloride by aid of a filter, it is placed together in
the hollow of a piece of charcoal, which is covered with a piece of
incandescent charcoal. I then blow upon this charcoal with an
ordinary bellows in such a manner that the flames of the. charcoal
pass over the chloride. This melts first; then, on continuing to
blow, it is very quickly reduced into a piece of metallic silver which
is almost entirely free from lead — the only metal which produces
an insoluble chloride like that of silver. During its reduction the
chloride disengages white fumes, and the operation is ended when
these cease to appear.
MICROMETERS.!
By Thomas Woods, M.D.
I SAW last week in some newspaper a notice that in America micro¬
meters have lately been made by means of photography. I do not
know from what publication this notice has been taken ; but as I
have been for the last month or so engaged occasionally in making
experiments with the same intention as an original idea, I send you
a short account of what I have done, for publication if you think it
sufficiently interesting.
My endeavour was to get a glass slide for a microscope marked
so as to measure very minute objects ; and as the micrometer I
have (measuring -j^th of an inch) was useless for the purpose I
had in view, it occurred to me that by the diminishing power of
the camera I might succeed in obtaining smaller divisions. I tried
first for pictures of dark lines, T-jth of an inch in breadth, on a white
ground, reduced to a small compass, but I did not succeed even
with a very small aperture to the lens. I then substituted lines
Jth of an inch in breadth removed to a greater distance, and I got
a pretty sharp picture ; but I found that the sharpest and best-
marked picture of distant lines I obtained was given by opaque bars,
placed so that the light from a clear sky came to the camera be¬
tween them.
By nailing rods of blackened wood, Jtli of an inch broad and Jtli
of an inch asunder, across a frame, and placing this at a suitable
distance, with a clear light behind, and using an aperture of about
■» From La- Lumiere. + From tho Philosophic Magazine.
£90
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1801
Jth of an inch in diameter, I easily obtained well-marked and
sharp lines the TAuth of an inch apart and the Tuuuth of an inch
in breadth, sufficiently accurate for all the purposes of a micro¬
meter. The picture of the lines requires to be covered Avitli
transparent varnish to prevent rubbing. I have taken the picture
on very thin talc, and cemented it to glass with the collodion
beween the plates, and for object-glasses of small power I have
found it answer ; but the thickness of the talc is too much for the
higher powers, as the object viewed and the lines do not suffi¬
ciently agree in focus.
I suppose the reason why lines with spaces between them give
a better picture than black lines ruled on a white ground is be¬
cause there is no irradiation of light from behind — -at least, not
nearly so much from the spaces as from the white ground. At all
events, whatever the cause may be, I have found the lines with
the spaces give a much better and sharper impression.
The picture of the lines should be a positive one, and very clear.
I found the collodion prepared with the iodide of iron, according
to the formula given in this Magazine, July, 1854, to act admirably.
It must be very sensitive, on account of the smallness of the
aperture necessary for the required sharpness.
I have no doubt that much finer lines than these I have got
might be obtained by the same process.
THE HEW PERMANENT PRINTING- PROCESS.
By Joseph Eugene Balsasio,
Professor of Philosophy at Lucca .
The learned professor, having been occupied in electrical experi¬
ments with reference to telegraphy, made a discovery that lie has
since applied to photography, and communicated the result of his
labours to the French Photographic Society.
The primary discovery was the solvent property possessed by
hydrochloric acid for phosphorus, from which the latter is again
thrown down in a flocculent state, under the influence of light.
It occurred to M. Balsamo that it might be possible to produce a
change of molecular condition in some substances not sensitive
alone to the action of light by aid of the phosphorus precipitated
from the hydrochloric acid. Long observation, and experiments
persistently carried on, demonstrated the fact that scarcely any
salt that is soluble in the hydrochloric phosphide can resist the
modifying action of light-— that used in preference for photographic
purposes, in consequence of its abundance, cheapness, and sensitive¬
ness, being acetate of copper.
The process as at present employed by the inventor is as
follows Phosphorus is digested for a considerable time in hydro¬
chloric acid at the ordinary temperature; or, if time he an object,
at a temperature of about 120° to 140° Fall. The older this solu¬
tion becomes the higher the photogenic properties it acquires.
After saturating the hydrochloric acid with phosphorus it is diluted
with acetate of copper until the liquid assumes a deep olive-green
colour.
To prepare the paper, the liquid is poured into an earthenware
or porcelain dish, and each sheet is immersed therein for three or
four minutes. The soaked sheets of paper are then piled one upon
the other, and separated again several times, in order that the
solution, which has a tendency to evaporate, may more perfectly
penetrate the pores of the paper. After lying together for five or
six hours the sheets become thoroughly impregnated : they are
then carefully separated, so as to avoid creasing or tearing them,
and are hung up to dry in a place perfectly protected from dust
and light.
It is indispensably necessary that the paper shall he thoroughly
well dried, for after it has been immersed in the sensitising bath it
becomes exceedingly hygroscopic, and the least trace of humidity
diminishes its sensitiveness.
In taking an impression upon this paper it is requisite to use the
precaution of placing behind it a piece of blotting-paper, in order
that the moisture disengaged under the influence of the calorific
rays may he able to escape. The paper is exposed behind the
negative until it has attained a grey colour. When withdrawn
from the pressure-frame, the paper is exposed for about five minutes
to the vapour of sulphuretted hydrogen, which has the property of
attacking those parts upon which the light has acted.
The impression being thus fixed, the paper is washed in abun¬
dance of water, to remove the superfluous salt of copper, and the
details appear with greater sharpness. In order to render the
impression more stable, and also to tone it, the proof is soaked in
nitrate of bismuth. But, as there is formed in the water an insolu-
able sub-salt, it is needful to acidify the water with a little nitric
acid. The more dilute the solution the more slowly is the impres¬
sion acted upon, but the better the details. In the bismuth hath
there is a true molecular substitution of bismuth for copper ; indeed,
at the end of a certain space of time, one may observe that the
liquid assumes a green hue, due to the nitrate of copper formed,
and the bin-oxide also is deposited.
Impressions obtained by this process are permanent; for an
external coating of oxide of bismuth is formed, upon which neither
chlorine nor any other substance likely to come in contact there¬
with will act destructively.
Chlorine, one of the most active photogenic elements, is also
especially a de-hydrogenating one, and its oxidising effects are an
indirect consequence. From it arises the transformation of the
metallic sulphides of the proofs into colourless sulphates.
If we withdraw the chloride (and there are means of so doing)
from the pure silver proofs, we have impressions more permanent
and less sensitive to destructive influences, as proved by experi¬
ment.
The photo-chemical phenomena manifested in the preceding
process are as follow, viz. : — Light acts directly on the phos¬
phorous, which by its molecular action reduces the salt of copper
and restores it to a state of bin-oxide. Indeed, if, instead of fixing
the image by means of sulphuretted hydrogen, the paper when
withdrawn from the negative he soaked in water, the impression
will be visible, if viewed by transmitted light, formed entirely of
phosphorus.
Copper in a state of bin-oxide is easily reduced by hydrogenous
substances, consequently a short exposure to the fumes of sul¬
phuretted hydrogen is sufficient to fix the impression in the form of
a sulphide. But as bi-sulphide of copper, which is very unstable,
will change into a sulphate of the same base and end by the picture
becoming entirely obliterated, it is replaced by bismuth as before
described. This bismuth, substituted for copper, constitutes the im¬
pression, fixes it, and tones it more or less deeply according to the
length of exposure, intensity of the light, and strength of the
bismuth hath. If a still darker tone he deemed desirable it can be
obtained by soaking the proof in a weak hath of nitrate of silver,
which does not deteriorate, as with bismuth it plays the part of
the negative metal.
M. Balsamo has promised to communicate at some future time
several curious observations that he has made during his photo¬
graphic experiments with various metallic salts.
Ilccath of |lhotcrgrapl)it Jnbcidums.
By Samuel Highley, E.G.S., F.C.S., &e.
[Notice. — Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to time such in¬
ventions and applications as may be of interest to photographers, whether they be of
great or minor importance, and also to compare the relative merits of two or more con¬
trivances designed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible we shall, as a rule,
describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a place in these columns after a
personal inspection of the same. It is therefore requested that manufacturing, pro¬
fessional, and amateur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as soon
as they are ready to place them before the public, whether they be lenses, cameras,
stands, tents, operatinghoxes, printing apparatus, preservative cases, enlargingapparatus,
stereoscopes, novel methods of fitting-up glass or developing rooms and their appur¬
tenances, artificial sources of light, &c., or the applications of photography to technical
or useful purposes. If the inventors be resident in the country, it is requested that they
should forward with a simple description of the object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the same.]
CHANGING BOX FOR DRY PLATES.
It often happens, when travelling in mountainous and out-of-the
way places, that there is a difficulty in finding a room or cupboard
that can be made secure against stray beams of light, wherein a
set of exposed dry plates could be taken from their frames and re¬
placed with unexposed ones. Even in the modern houses of our
watering places I have experienced this difficulty, and have had to
wait till dusk before I dare set up my yellow lamp (see page 258).
As the great advantage of dry plates is to dispense with the
encumbrance of a tent, any such hot-hole-of- Calcutta inconvenience
is not to he thought of. As, however, the camera, its frames, and
the plate-stock boxes must be packed in something , there can be no
objection to converting the packing case into a dark changing box.
This I have done in the manner I shall describe.
Without doubt, several plate frames, single or double, is the
safest and most convenient way of carrying a series of dry plates
for a day’s work ; hut, when the dry process was first introduced, I
arranged the box I am about to describe so as to work with a
single frame, and to those who begrudge ten or fifteen shillings
for each plate frame this contrivance may present advantages. It
is, however, equally applicable for the purpose of transferring a
number of plates in the way I have already referred to.
August 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
291
The arrangement consists of a box seventeen inches long, eleven
inches high, and eight and a-half inches deep, with a door to let
down in front. This contains a stereoscopic camera, focussing
glass and lens, plate frames, tripod head, and two boxes, each
holding one dozen prepared plates, all firmly packed by aid of the
focussing-cloth. Two straps, connected by a handle, pass round
each end of the packing-case. After screwing the box lirmly on to
a tripod stand, and arranging the camera on the top, a plate-box,
having a fillet running round the outside in an oblique direction
just beneath the lid, is passed through an aperture in the bottom
of the box till the fillet fits into a ledge, and assumes an inclined
position, as shown at A, Fig. 1. An empty plate frame, B, is next
laid on the bottom of the box, and fixed against a projecting bead
to keep it in position ; the lid, C, is thrown back ; a door, D, at the
side is then opened, and a black cloth collapsing sleeve, E, pushed
out. A sliding shutter is then drawn back from a yellow window,
F, at the back of the box, and the flap door, G, closed and locked.
The shutters, H H, on the outside are then unclamped and drawn
back from a large yellow glass window let into the door to enable
the operator to sec how he is manipulating within the box, which
is then obviously impervious to actinic rays. The right hand is
then passed through the sleeve, E, the lid of A unhooked and
turned back, the corners of the first plate (having the sensitised
film turned towards the right hand) seized by the thumb and fore¬
finger and withdrawn from its groove, brought over the frame B,
the bottom edge lowered on to the silver corners, and the plate
dropped into its place. The lid, C, is then closed and hasped ; the
same with the lid of the plate-box, A. The hand is then withdrawn,
the door, G, opened, the plate frame, B, removed and placed in the
camera. After the view is taken the frame, B, is placed in the box,
and, manipulating in a reversed order, the exposed plate is returned
to its groove, and the next glass placed in the frame, and so on for
the whole dozen plates.
If double plate frames are employed, it is then necessary to have
another door and collapsing sleeve on the left-hand side of the
box, as another hand is required to facilitate fixing the flap that is
placed between the two plates, and also in reversing the position
of the frame before the second plate is placed in position. In
working with three double-plate frames, after they are once
charged from either of the boxes, the six exposed plates are re¬
turned to the empty grooves, and fresh ones taken from the other
end of the box. In this case it is better to fix a roughened piece
of black wood midway across the plate-box, so as to serve as a
guide, and prevent a plate being placed in a wrong groove.
By this arrangement, with careful manipulation, the plates can
be changed in the open field.
DALLMEYER’S STEREOSCOPIC AND VIEW CAMERA.
Mr. Dallmeyer has this season introduced a very convenient form
of camera that places, at the option of the operator, the means of
securing either ordinary views, up to 7J by inches, or stereo¬
graphic pictures. This is obviously advantageous, as every pho¬
tographer must at one time or another have planted his stereo¬
scopic camera on some spot that to his chagrin he has found un¬
suited for securing that particular class of picture ; but, if he could
only have devoted the entire plate to the view before him, he might
then have secured a gem or a glorious souvenir of a pleasant jaunt.
As cases in point: — If the travelling photographer happen to plant
his camera on Roundham Head, at Paignton, in the belief that he
is about to secure a stereograph of that magnificient coup d'ceil
of the house-covered hills of Torquay, visible from that point, he
will be wofully disappointed; for, on looking to the focussing-glass,
he will find that instead of distance lending enchantment to the
view, as far as the capabilities of a stereographic lens are con¬
cerned, it has so dwarfed the houses as to render them mere unde¬
fined specks, and he must travel some two miles townwards
to Tor Abbey Rocks before he can secure a commanding but
far from so imposing a view of “ The Garden of Devon,”
adapted to the attainments of a stereoscopic camera as ordi¬
narily constructed. If, on the other hand, by changing his
twin lenses for one that would cover the entire plate, he could bag
a view that many a photographer would envy. A similar spot is
in our recollection. A little distance out of Shanklin, in the Isle of
Wight, on the way to Bonchurch, the high road passes up and
round a steep hill. If progressing by coach or trap the -driver
will never fall to request the male passengers to alight, cross the
stile and Shanklin Cowleas, and meet him at the top of the hill.
From a little terrace at the top of this meadow a gloiious view of
Sandown Bay, terminating in the headland of Culver Cliff, with the
woods of Shanklin nestling in the foreground, spreads itself before
the delighted photographer’s gaze ; but it is a view that must be
secured on nothing less than a half-plate, if the characteristic de¬
tails of the scene are to be brought out.
Mr. Dallmeyer’s camera is thus constructed : it has a rigid body,
the back being fixed whilst the front advances, the focus being se¬
cured by a pinion stretching right across the front of the body, and
working in two accurately cut racks, fixed on each side of the base¬
board. A fine and easy motion is thus secured over a range from
three-and-a-half to seven inches.
The body is divided into two parts, longitudinally, when mounted
with stereoscopic lenses, by one of the best expanding partitions
that has hitherto come under our notice : it is formed of a plate of
metal, fitted between two thin slips of wood, telescope fashion,
and it is at once neat and efficient. If a single view is to be
taken, the telescopic partition, together with the front that carries
the twin lenses, is removed, and replaced with one fitted with a
flange for a No. 1 triplet lens, that form of combination giving
exquisite little pictures seven inches by four and a quarter, free
from distortion, though its maker only advertises it to take views
six inches by five. The frame for wet plates has a carrier for the
larger glass, and another, fitting within it, for the ordinary stereo¬
scopic size. Double plate frames for both sizes are also supplied
with this form of camera; and, as the back portion of the camera
is fixed, a “ repeating ” plate frame could readily be adapted to it
when required. As the dimensions are but a very slight increase
on those of the ordinary stereoscopic camera, and the advantage
gained worth every photographer’s attention, we believe that
Mr. Dallmeyer’s improvement will become a general favourite
with tourists.
THE SOLAR CAMERA: ITS MANIPULATIONS AND
RESULTS.*
By Sydney Smyth.
Having been invited by your worthy Secretary to furnish a paper on the
solar camera, I shall with great pleasure “ put in an appearance ” to his
friendly summons, and with your kind permission will read a short record
of my manipulation, illustrated by specimens of the various processes I
employ, and the negatives I deem best for producing the most satisfactory
results.
Before proceeding to the more practical part of my subject, I would
beg to say a few words in defence of this really beautiful photographic
instrument.
Most of you are doubtless familiar with the various methods of enlarge¬
ment recommended before the introduction of this instrument, and may
have perhaps seen the various clumsy implements contrived to produce
the desired results.
I remember on one occasion going into the warehouse of a photographic
dealer, and was suddenly brought to a stand by a queer misshapen mass
of black timber that seemed to my puzzled eye to be something between
a reduced cop3r of Noah’s Ark and the spout used at the east-end wharves
for shooting coal. I asked the shopman what new business they were
* This paper, read at the May meeting of the South London Photographic Society,
has been in type since that period, but, owmg to a pressure of more important matter, it
, could not appear sooner.
292
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1861
going to launch into, the thought just vaguely flashing through my mind
that some expeditious method of vending coal would be a good hit in a
west-end greengrocer’s store ; for in these go-a-head days, when the careful
housewife can have half-a-crown’s worth of brushes, and the youngest
of her household cherubs hit off for 2s. fid. ; when the lords of the creation
can have a hat, best Paris make, for 10s. 6d., including portrait inside to
prevent any awkward cases of mistaken identity ; when at delightful
Greenwich you can have tea, including shrimps and correct photograph
of the happy party all inside of the (h) arbour ; or, when at Epping Forrest,
you may have your fortune told and yourself photographed to send to the
handsome young lady what’s got her weight of gold all awaiting for you ;
when, if the wind be contrary, and you are choked in consequence by the
smoke, you may send for the sweep, who will when you pay him furnish
you with his card, when you will learn that he will be most happy to take
your portrait (in carbon of course) for 6d.; — when the remembrance of all
these mixtures occurred to me, it did not seem impossible that the whole¬
sale dealer might not follow in the steps of the photographic retailer, or
rather “headsman, ’ ’ and extend his business in popular photographic ways.
The indignant shopman, however, informed me that instrument was for
enlarging. I think the solar camera upon the table must strike all present
as being at any rate an advance upon the clumsy thing I have described.
The plan mentioned by Mr. Hardwich of putting the negative in a hole
in the shutter of a darkened room, and throwing the image through the
reversed lens upon a screen, has not been found practicable, except only
where a slight enlargement is necessary ; for it rarely happened in practice
that the light opposite the window is the light of the sky : in nine cases
out of ten, on the contrary, the window will command an uninteresting
view of a dead brick wall. The only practical means of employing this
method is to place a collodion transparence in the shutter, and instead of
paper put a collodion plate to receive the image. This will furnish a
negative, and from this copies can be taken. When numbers are required
this plan, however, will be better carried out by the solar camera.
There arc many who dispute Mr. Woodward’s right to a patent. I
am not of that number, for I hold that the successful application of an
old principle to a new science is next door to a new invention ; and, if
we grant that the principle is akin to the solar microscope, I do not
remember to have seen any record of its successful application to photo¬
graphy."1 Now, the point of originality in Mr. Woodward’s instrument,
and one which I hold much more worthy a patent than thousands so
called, is the exact placing of the lens at the focal point of the condenser :
by this means the raj's forming the luminous image travel through the
centre of the lens and are parallel. The resulting image is, therefore,
wonderfully free from spherical aberration, and, in consequence, gives
a picture sharp to the margin. When in the dark room this is clearly
seen, for the bright spark on the centre of the lens is seen to be the
reduced image of the sun concentrated there. The darkened part of the
lens plays no part in the production of the picture, and may therefore
be termed the diaphragm, the aperture being just the size of the sun’s image.
I have found that the cleanest prints are produced by direct printing;
but this plan is frequently very tedious. There are not many days in
the year on which we have the uninterrupted beams of the sun for
several hours together. It is therefore very annoying to start with sun¬
shine, and then have to wait an hour in consequence of the sudden
arrival of an express train of heavy clouds. My favourite plan is to
print by development. There is a charm about this plan that far sur¬
passes all the many enchantments of photography. The paper is pinned
upon the easel — the sun is turned on, much after the fashion of turning
on gas — and, directly afterwards, a dim staining of the paper takes place,
which gradually assumes form, and appears, in a few seconds, a ghost¬
like outline. The paper is taken down, the developing solution poured
on, and rapidly spread by means of a strip of Canton cotton, and
slowly there arises out of the surface of the paper a distinct image,
which goes on filling, shade upon shade, until all the roundness and
solidity of life is apparent. I never tire of this part of the process. The
rising up of these large images from the blank surface of the paper is so
like magic that I feel it fortunate I produce these wonders in the reign
of Victoria instead of Elizabeth, for I doubt not I should have been
rewarded for my pains by a warm reception.
During the winter months I found that the more bromide I employed,
up to a certain point, the more sensitve the paper. The salting solution
I then used was prepared as follows : —
Chloride of ammonium . 0 grains.
Bromide of potassium . 9
Gelatine . 4
Water . 1 ounce.
With paper thus prepared I obtained pictures in three minutes with
average sunlight.
The formula which, after many experiments, I think the best, is —
Chloride of magnesium . grains.
Bromide of potassium . 7^ u
Gelatine . 4"
. Water . . 1 ounce.
With this solution No. 1 was produced in three seconds on Towgood’s
paper. I find that the bromide has a tendency to produce green in the
tone of the finished print. On Turner’s negative paper the tint is, how-
* The author is evidently unaware of the enlarged productions of the Rev. J. B. Reade
and others, in the early days of photography, produced by the solar microscope, _ S.H.
ever, by no means disagreeable. On Towgood’s small paper No. 2 shows
how important a part the proportions of the salt play m the tone of the
picture : the finished print is much warmer. It was produced by the
following salting solution on Towgood’s small size paper : —
Chloride of ammonium . 9 grains.
Bromide of potassium . 3 ,,
Water . 1 ounce.
The silver for the first picture was sixty grains. The second picture
was prepared with the same solution, but a much larger quantity was
brushed on. No. 3 is printed on Saxe paper, as also No. 5, but with
silver eight grains to the ounce. I find that on Saxe and Rive paper
there is a tendency to excess of half-tone, and the paper is extremely
rotten in washing.
Chloride of ammonium . 9 grains.
Arrowroot . 4 ,,
Water . 1 ounce.
Sensitised with silver ninety grains to the ounce, and exposed for twenty
minutes, it developed very slowly, and, when finished, was by no means
over-exposed.
I brush on all my solutions except the hypo. I use several large
pieces of thick glass, keeping each for its special use. The sailing
solution is brushed on and allowed to remain until the paper lies flat,
which, with most paper, is in about three minutes. I brush on the silver
with Canton cotton, reserving the saturated piece to darken any of the
shadows that may need it during development.
When I develop I turn up the edges of the print, so as to form a tray,
and pour on a saturated solution of gallic acid, with a few drops of acetic
acid : the prints develop cleaner when acetic is used. To wash away the
gallic acid I use a large quantity of water. This is absolutely necessary,
otherwise stains would be produced which would not be removed by
the fixing. The fixing solution is of the usual strength, and does not
appear to alter the colour of the print. All the operations except salting
must be performed in the dark room.
The negatives are not varnished. It is necessary that they be taken
on perfect glass, as the slightest scratch is made painfully apparent in
the enlarged picture. The great thing to be guarded against in producing
the negatives is to avoid intensity : a good positive picture, with plenty
of half-tone, is just the thing. They cannot be too sharp, and certainly
not too clean.
I believe I have mentioned all the points I deem of importance,
Should I, however, have omitted anything, or not have made myself clear.
I shall be glad to answer any questions.
(|)t Artist’s fellers fu it gorntg ipjiotograjjljtr.
ON LANDSCAPE.
The Mechanical and the Intellectual Elements of a
Picture, and their Comparative Value, both Alone
and when Associated in a Truthful Production.
“The critic of art ought to keep in view not only the capabilities but the proper objec
of art.” — Lessing.
My dear Fellow Student,
I am perfectly conscious that by publicly expressing
my convictions and opinions without reserve, when abler men with
the same reasons for coming forward remain silently in the back¬
ground, must subject me to the imputation of conceit; but, as I
have never yet done so without at the same time setting before
you the reason and grounds I have for them, I hope, however you
may differ from me, you will perceive that they are not — as an
obscure contemporary recently insinuated — the result of that igno¬
rance which, on the faith of my schoolboy copy-book, I, at any
rate, believe to be “ the parent of conceit.”
The intrinsic value — or in other words the merit — of an art is
properly to be determined by the amount of intellectual excellence,
conjointly with the beauty of mechanical execution, displayed in
in it. Now photography has, in a very high degree, attained the
excellencies of its mechanical element ; but the diligent study and
incessant practice essential to the proper cultivation of its intel¬
lectual element have yet to do their work before the art-science
can publicly, and with universal consent, take rank with fine arts.
Pictorial art, in each of its departments — Historical, Landscape,
Ornamental, Portrait, &c. — in whatever mode executed (outline,
light and shade, or colour), you will, I feel assured, agree with me
in regarding rather as an intellectual than a mechanical process,
notwithstanding that the latter element constitutes the practical
execution of the mental design. There are quantities of uninte¬
resting — although neatly, carefulljq and laboriously executed —
pictures wdiich are failures unworthy the name of art, because tney
exhibit only the mechanical skill of the correct draughtsman or con¬
ventional colourist, without a trace of the intellectual spirit or
appreciation of the picturesque which mark the productions of a true
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
293
August 15, 1861]
artist. And there are even greater quantities of photographs to
which the same description will apply, these constituting what are
so frequently denounced as mechanical productions.
But there is, I hold, but one medium through which these combined
elements — the mechanical and the intellectual — can attain the very
loftiest excellence as pictorial art, this being Truthfulness.
All the artistic demands of professional critics — all the abstract
beauties of breadth, softness, brilliancy, clearness, and other quali¬
ties essential to excellence in an artistic point of view — may, and
do frequently, exist in works of art, which are nevertheless far from
truthful representations of nature. The spectator looking upon
such productions is pleased and influenced only in proportion to his
amount of practical artistic knowledge; apart from which the
things before him are merely painted canvas, chiselled stone, or
printers’ ink, &c., as the case may be.
On the other side, a picture which has no quality to recommend
it but that of pure naturalness, which is a perfectly accurate repre¬
sentation of some locality, and is quite unimpeachable in its truth,
may yet claim no higher merit than that of a perfect topographical
view — uninteresting, not necessarily from the tameness of the view
itself, but entirely from the want of that intellectual element which
of itself is capable of investing the most ordinary scene with beauty
and interest.
Allowing, then, that I entertain a correct notion of the true
object and purpose of a fine art, I assert that a picture may please
because of the beauty of its mechanical execution, or because of
its display of purely artistic attainments, or because of its natural¬
ness, and yet be in each case very imperfect in its claims as a work
of art. To merit the distinction of high excellence in pictorial
art, now especially considered in its application to landscape pho¬
tography, your production should be a truthful representation of
the grand or beautiful objects and phenomena of natural scenery,
should be so grouped and expressed as to compose a harmonious
whole, and should convey vivid ideas of all the sublimity and
beauty of the real scene to the mind of the spectator.
Now, as photographers, my dear fellow-student, you and I must
remember that the qualities which in camera productions represent
the beauty of mechanical execution, is the result of carefully-con¬
sidered and well-managed chemical agents, the proper use of first-
class appliances, and skilful manipulation. This beauty, owing to
your long practical experience, and your grateful recognition of
the many aiding hands stretched forth to you in our photographic
journals and societies, your photographs display in a very high
degree. All your friends tell you that these productions of yours
are so perfect that your own expressions of dissatisfaction strike
them as being very extraordinary; and most of your photographic
brethren agree in lauding their mechanical beauty as the loftiest aim
of their own ambition ; but 3rou, having more elevated ideas of the
art’s true mission, wish to combine intellectual and artistic with
these mechanical excellencies, and I assure you that, as an artist
and a photographer, nothing will give me more pleasure than
associating myself with you for the attainment of such a very noble
end.
I have said that the last-named qualities, however, have their
full value only when associated with truthfulness. The first con¬
sideration, therefore, which meets us on the very threshold of our
studies arises from the fact that photographs are not necessarily
truthful.
To this therefore I will devote my next epistle; till the appear¬
ance of which, I remain, dear fellow student, yours very truly,
ALFRED H. WALL.
dfYJjrljitifl n .
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION.
[COMMUNICATED.]
( Concluded from page 274 .)
Mr. Thomas Tyley, of Bristol, contributes twelve pictures, which
are not generally good in colour : the mural tablets and monuments
are not to be critically examined as photographs, that in Henbury
Church Yard, Gloucestershire, being the best, but much too decided
in tone. The White Sicilian Marble Monument in Arnos Vale Cemetery ,
Bristol , is deficient in depth of focus; and the effect as a picture is
spoiled by the want of background — whether of foliage or otherwise
— to the urn surmounting it, which, being of white marble, blends
too much with the sky, and the outline is consequently lost. Of
his architectural subjects, St. Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol, is de¬
cidedly the best ; but all are flat. Brislington Church , Somersetshire ,
shows a want of artistic perception : the shadows from an adjacent
tree, not seen in the view, fall unmeaningly upon the walls of the
south aisle, and give an impression of the picture being badly
stained. Winterbourne Church shows a better selection of point of
view, but is still flat. The View at Brislington , Somersetshire, wants
transparency in the shadows, and Bristol Cathedral from the South
East is also flat. The Old Tree , Winterbourne , Gloucestershire, is
the best of Mr. Tyley’s productions, though marred by the peculiar
colour : the point of view selected is a good one, as also is the sub¬
ject. The whole are from collodion negatives.
The productions of Messrs. A. Id. Wall and Co. are represented
only by a small case of carte de visite portraits, a photograph
coloured in oil by Mr. A. Id. Wall, and a plain copy of the same.
As a coloured portrait that by Mr. Wall is the gem of the Exhibi¬
tion : the flesh tints are good, the characteristics of the subject
fully maintained, and the photograph strictly adhered to ; the only
palpable omission — -as shown by an inspection of the plain copy —
being that a white handkerchief in the breast pocket, but having
a tendency to spottiness and thereby detracting from the object
itself, has been wisely omitted. The carte de visite portraits are
good in tone, the whites are pure, and abound in exquisite gradation
and detail : they are from bromo-iodised collodion, developed with
iron, and intensified with bichloride of mercury and iodine.
Mr. Vernon Heath, of London, contributes fifteen pictures, but
not all equally meritorious. The Cottage Porch is most sparkling
in effect : the whole is arranged in the most artistic manner, even
to subsidiaries — the tone and detail throughout good, the shadows
thoroughly transparent; but the picture is marred towards the
lower angles by a falling off in the capabilities of the lens. The re¬
flected light from the fleshy leaves of the shrubs is well rendered,
and the leaves themselves full of half-tone, and not of that sickly
white which is the usual impression produced in the camera by so
many various angles of reflection: the accidental lights have been
well considered, and, as a picture, it is a perfect gem. The
Gardener's Cottage at Endsleigh, the seat of the Duke of Bedford,
is the next in point of quality, but unfortunately a strong breeze
has destroyed the otherwise good effect of the foliage. This is not
the case with The Dairy at Endsleigh , in which the foliage is
clear. Both pictures are vignetted with good effect, but in select¬
ing the point of view for the latter Mr. Heath has not exhibited
the same good taste as in the others, the dairy buildings
being parallel to the plane of the picture, and giving more
of a geometrical than perspective elevation. The View from
the Terrace, Endsleigh, is the most pleasing in its general
artistic effect, and the distance is well preserved. Two Views from
the Terrace and View from Woodman's Hill, Endsleigh, are all more
or less injured from the effects of the wind upon the foliage ; while
two views On the Cornish Bank of the Tamar, and two in Daisy Dell,
though all thoroughly artistic are obviously over-developed, and
the result is a too decided black and white. One of the views in
Daisy Dell is also very much marred by the perpendicular trunk of
a tree. The View from Leigh Wood has rather too much foreground
included in the picture, which, being out of focus, produces a dis¬
agreeable spotty effect: the distance is well rendered, and the
composition artistic. The Top of Daisy Dell, Endsleigh, is also a
carefully-considered picture, with a fine natural atmospheric effect.
Endsleigh, the Seat of the Duke of Bedford, is picturesque in its ar¬
rangement, but the foliage is blurred ; and Sudbury Church, Derby ,
the only really architectural subject Mr. Heath exhibits, is compa¬
ratively flat. The wind appears to have been especially spiteful
during Mr. Heath’s stay at Endsleigh, and the otherwise beautiful
productions from that district bear too apparently the impress of
this the natural and greatest enemy to out-door photography.
The whole are by the collodion process, and show careful manipu¬
lation and artistic feeling, having a tendency to represent the
delicate refinements of the Art rather than the more vigorous.
- -
lllectinqs af Sorieircs.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Vednesdav, the
7th inst., — Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., in the chair.
The Chairman called attention to the approaching Exhibition in con¬
nexion with the British Association, and stated that, judging from the
promises the Committee had received, there was every prospect of a great
success; but he was desirous of impressing upon the members the aid
they could afford by contributing specimens of neglected processes, or of
peculiar and exceptional effects. As an example, lie alluded to some
294
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1801
pictures which were taken by Mr. Mann, some time since, in which there
was a strongly-marked line of light which fringed all the prominent parts
of the picture. There had also been exhibited in that room pictures in
which a reversed action had taken place, so that a positive by transmitted
light was obtained in the camera. Specimens of these and of many
similar effects would be most acceptable to the Committee.
The Chairman’s allusion to the peculiar effect in Mr. Mann’s pictures
gave rise to a discussion as to the cause.
Mr. Wardley thought that it would be more likely to arise if the plate
were developed in a solution which was kept still, and for the reason that
the developed part of the picture was constantly absorbing the silver,
which was therefore thus caused to flow from the other parts — the sky,
for instance — and that the silver so passing from one place to another
became arrested at those points where the precipitation commenced, and
gradually built itself outward.
Mr. Youno illustrated the preparation of plates 10 by 8 by the liot-
water process, as introduced to this Society by Mr. Parry ; and he then
developed most successfully a negative taken by the same iirocess.
In reply to a question from the Chairman,
Mr. Parry stated that lie could not add anything to the description
which he had already given of the process. He found that he was at
issue on one point with a “Country Parson,”* who laid great stress upon
plunging the albumenised plate into the hot water directly it was coated.
In his practice he allowed it to drain for a short time, and he believed
that to be the better plan. He had lately tried the effect of a neutral
silver bath, as compared with another slightly acid, and he had found
that the former would not answer unless the plates were used in a few
hours after preparation.
Mr. Herert, in confirmation of this, produced two sets of negatives by
the hot-water process — the one being prepared in a neutral and the other
in an acid bath. The whole of the plates by the former method were
densely fogged ; by the latter they were clear and brilliant.
The Chairman asked Mr. Parry if he found the impression fade after
exposure if the development were delayed? He had lately developed
some plates from Dr. Hill Norris’s establishment, which were exposed in
Italy, and he found that they gradually became worse, until at last, when
he came to the plate that had been kept for the longest period, he could
scarcely obtain a trace of the picture.
Mr. Wardley said that he had sometimes thought that there was the
same defect in collodio-albumen ; but at other times he had met with such
success after very long keeping that he could not speak confidently.
Several members who had used Dr. Hill Norris’s plates confirmed the
statement of the Chairman as to the fading after the exposure ; but the
unanimous opinion was that they were capable of producing most
beautiful results if developed at the right time.
Mr. Offer suggested whether the defect might not be met by over¬
exposing the plates in proportion to the time which was to elapse before
development.
Mr. Hoofer said that he had, in waxed-paper, observed the defect
spoken of. He had frequently found that as he developed a batch of
negatives they appeared gradually to have received less exposure.
The Chairman asked Mr. Wardley if he had ever met with a peculiar
yellow stain upon negatives which had been blackened by pyrogallic acid
and silver after fixing?
Mr. Wardley had often seen it, and believed that it arose from one of
two causes: either the iodide of silver or the hyposulphite of soda.had
not been completely removed before the second application of the silver.
It was far better also, he believed, that a negative should be fixed in
yellow light when it was desired to intensify it.
The Chairman said that, in accordance with the idea of reviewing
occasionally the contributions of the photographic journals, he begged to
call the attention of the members to a description of a stereoscopic
camera by Mr. Cramb.f It would be seen at once that it was an inferior
copy of the arrangement introduced by Mr. Dancer some years ago.
Mr. Kershaw exhibited a stereoscopic camera of his own construction,
which was much admired for its compact arrangement and solidity,
although the whole apparatus, including double dark frame and pair of
lenses, weighed eighteen ounces only.
The Chairman said that the meeting of the British Association would
take place in Manchester at the time appointed for the next meeting of
the Society, and it would therefore be necessary to postpone it. At his
suggestion it was agreed to do so until the first Wednesday in October.
Votes of thanks were given to Messrs. Young and Parry for their
illustrations of the hot-water process, and to the Chairman for his services.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on the 7th inst., — the President occupying the chair.
The minutes having been read and approved of, Mr. Carter, C.A., was
admitted a member of the Society.
There was no regular paper before the Society ; but a conversation
took place on several topics connected with the art.
In connexion with photographic tours, Mr. Burns said he had recently
returned from a short one, during which he had exposed four dozen of
plates ; and, although it had rained most of the time he was away, he had
• Sco The British Journal of Photography for July 15, page 248.
+ See our number for August 1st, page 265.
procured three dozen and ten good negatives of the Trossacli scenery
and other subjects in that vicinity. The process lie employed was the
Fothergill one.
Dr. Easton, Mr. Slight, and Mr. Taylor were appointed a committee to
arrange a photographic excursion to Aberdour and Inchcolm, for Satur¬
day next, the 17th inst., and most of those members present stated that
it was their intention to avail themselves of this excursion, the scenery
in that part of the country being very varied, and of a kind highly
favourable for photographic pictures.
It was resolved that the next meeting of the Society should be devoted
to an exhibition of cameras and other photographic apparatus.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society’s meeting was held on Wednesday evening, the 7th inst., —
Mr. G. H. Leather in the chair.
Mr. Nichols exhibited a few failures by the tannin process, and re¬
quested some of the members to explain the cause of them.
The source of these failures having been properly accounted for, a very
pleasant conversation then ensued upon the various new dry processes,
but move particularly the tannin.
Mr. Abbey and Mr. Beldon stated that they had tried the new dry pro¬
cess by the Rev. L. Sisson, and both had come to the conclusion that it
was not as quick by one-eighth of the time as wet collodion.
Mr. Abbey expressed groat satisfaction with the tannin process, and
stated that he never found the film detach itself from the glass.
Mr. Beldon stated that any good collodion, with scarcely an exception,
would do if allowed to set sufficiently before immersion in the bath. He
observed that the great fault in this process was a want of intensity in
plates which had been kept a few weeks. He mentioned that he had been
to Coniston, and exposed a tannin plate to the far-famed Coniston Falls
of Mudd, which he sa}rs are not known by the above name at Coniston.
This plate was a very good one, with the exception of want of vigour.
Mr. Beldon promised to show a few 10 by 8 negatives at the next meet¬
ing.
The Chairman said he had worked the modification of the Fothergill
process by Mr. Hannaford with great satisfaction. He had prepared the
albumen by adding four or five drops of ammoniacal solution of nitrate of
silver.
Mr. Sutcliffe observed that he had taken some beautiful negatives in
thirty seconds by Dr. Hill Norris’s plates, and expressed a wish that this
Society should do its utmost to find out a quick dry jirocess.
Mr. Beldon proposed that Mr. Abbey should favour the Society with a
paper for next meeting — subject not named.
Mr. Harland seconded the motion, adding, from what he had seen of
Mr. Abbey’s productions, they should no doubt have a very interesting and
useful paper.
Mr. Abbey consented to prepare a paper.
The meeting shortly after adjourned.
- - -
iJbotogiapbit ©I hi Ipobriba.
INTRODUCTION TO A BRITISH PUBLIC.
In setting a new side-dish before our readers it will be well to let
them know in what way it will be compounded, that they may
have a notion whether it will be suited to their palates. Well!
an olla podrida is a Spanish dish, made up of all kinds of meats
and odds and ends — not of sufficient magnitude to allow of their
being served up as separate dishes. These are cut up into small
pieces and stewed with various kinds of green meat ; in fact, a
refined “lobscouse,” or a Saturday pie with the part of the crust
omitted. Of a similar nature will be our photographic olla : it
will be a hash of little bits of science, little bits of news, little
bits of fun ; scraps of gossip, literary and artistic ; with a sprinkling
of jokes — in season— -and such a flavouring of spice and pepper as
the state of our biliary barometer may dictate. — Hoping to make
it such a dish that none will cut , but many come again to, we sub¬
scribe ourselves, Your old acquaintance,
_ SIMEON HEADSMAN.
The Biutish Association for the Advancement
of Science will hold its thirty-first meeting at Manchester
in the month of September, under the presidency of William
Fairbairn, LL.D., F.R.S. The General Commitee will meet on
Wednesday, the 4th of September, at one p.m,, for the purpose
of transacting the usual business. The sections for Mathematics
and Physics, A; Chemistry and Minerology, B; Geology, C; Zoo¬
logy, Botany, and Physiology, D ; Geography and Ethnology, E ;
Economic Science and Statistics, F ; and Mechanical Science, G —
will hold their sittings from Thursday to the following Tuesday
evening. Lectures and conversaziones will be given during the time
of the meeting. The reception room will be at the Portico, in
Mosley Street. The fees are — for life members, £10 (as a compo-
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OR PHOTOGRAPHY,
295
August 15, 1861]
sition) ; annual subscribers, £1 (with an admission fee of £1 for
new members) ; and for ladies and associates for this year only, £1.
The Panoramic Lens. — We have lately seen, at Mr.
Ross’s, one of the best photographs yet produced by this form of
lens. It is from a negative, taken by Mr. Sutton, at St. Brelade’s,
being a view of the church and burial-ground. With the aid of a
microscope an inscription on a tomb in the foreground, at twenty
feet distance from the point of view, and another at the side of the
view, on a slab, at seventy yards’ distance, can both be deciphered.
To meet the much-vexed question of the term depth of focus,
Mr. Ross proposes to call this quality depth of definition or pic¬
torial definition.
Exhibition of 1862. — Three Catalogues are to be
issued, viz., an Industrial Catalogue and a Fine Arts Catalogue, for
which one shilling each will be charged, and a Descriptive Illustrated
Catalogue will be sold at a price determined by its hulk : it is,
however, to be printed in super-royal 8vo., so as to range with the
exquisite four-volume edition of 1851. Detailed descriptions and
illustrations are to be paid for by exhibitors who are disposed to
supply such material, but under the sanction of Her Majesty’s
Commissioners.
A Suggestion to Artist-Photographers. — Doubt¬
less all photographers who aim at the higher walks of their pro¬
fession feel animated at the present moment (and no time like the
present) with an unanimous desire to do honour to the man who has
so valiantly claimed for them a position amongst the “ mechanical ”
geniuses of the World’s Exhibition. We would suggest that their
exuberant feelings should find expression and take form in a
memorial portrait, wherein M. Silvy should he represented in the
recognised garb of an Anr-izan — not the conventional fez, velvet
jacket, baggy breeches, and slippers of the Art -ist, but with square
brown paper cap, fustian jacket, moleskin trousers, white apron
tucked up at the waist, and highlows; with a carpenter’s basket,
from which camera and tripod peep forth, in one hand, and a
pocket handkerchief, with a suspicion of a pudding basin in it, in
the other. To keep up the “ mechanical ” character of the pro¬
duction we would humbly insist that the photograph should be
“ made up ” in the card-portrait style at present in vogue at the
west end, viz., with an enlarged head, mounted on a very small
body. This should he dedicated (with or without permission) to
the Lord Chief Baron, who, in his deplorable ignorance of the “ men
of our times,” asked “ Who is Silvy ?”* As a rebuke to such indiffe¬
rence to an acquaintance with the leaders of the school of mechanical
photography, and to make the inscription more forcible, let the
Irish and Scotch system be adopted : and, as the clans speak of
their chief as The O’Brallagan, or The M'Scratchen, the portrait
should be described as The Silvy.
- -
Jfamp Camspcm'Denxe.
Paris, Avgust 10th, 1861 .
A VERY interesting fact, in a photographic point of view, took
place on the 24th of July. On that day M. Auguste Bisson made
the ascent of Mont Blanc, and after staying on the summit more
than two hours brought away three cliches, copies of which will
soon be given to the public. I had already spoken to you of the
project; but, though I well knew M. Bisson’s energy and talent, I
had inward misgivings of the success of his attempt, and, in fact,
that success was attained at the peril of his life. Bisson started
from Chamonix with the guide, Auguste Balmat, and twenty-five
bearers ; for to carry the baggage to such heights it was necessary
that it should be well distributed. A terrible storm of wind, and
avalanches falling on every side, obliged the party to come down
again from the Petits Mulcts to the Grands Mulets. Several of
the men felt too ill to proceed : they were sent back, and a hale was
made till seven other hardier bearers should arrive from below. As
soon as these had come, the ascent was re-commenced, and at length
the summit was reached ! There the guide, Balmat, and Bisson, whose
courage sustained his strength, were the only ones capable of think¬
ing of the reproduction of that magnificent panorama which lay
stretched out beneath them. The others, overcome by sleep or
exhausted by fatigue and suffering, were unable to move. The
photographer and his brave companion set up the tent and pre¬
pared the materials ; but there was no water, and the fire
on which they had counted for melting the snow refused to light
in that rarefied atmosphere. Despite these difficulties, three pic-
• See “Notes of the Month," in The British Journal of Photography, page 276.
tures were obtained, of which two especially are very satisfac¬
torily executed. I await further details, which Bisson himself has
promised me. The smallest observations made under such excep¬
tional circumstances will possess great interest.
The school of photography for the army is being definitely
organised, it appears, at the Val de Grace. The director who is
mentioned for this new institution is an amateur who will know
how to give to it a serious and useful character.
M. Joseph Balsamo, professor of physical science at Lucca, has
communicated to the French Photographic Society a new process
which gives, as he believes, more durable pictures than those
obtained by the old methods. M. Balsamo immerses his paper for
four minutes in a solution of hydrochloric acid, saturated with
phosphorus, and diluted with acetate of copper. On being taken
from the bath, the sheets are placed one above another in order to
thoroughly imbibe the liquid. After five or six hours they are
separated, and hung up to dry out of the dust and light. When
this paper is exposed in the frame, care must be taken to place
blotting-paper underneath so that the moisture disengaged by
the influence of the solar rays may be absorbed. The upper
side must take a gray tint : the sheet is then withdrawn and
submitted to the vapours of sulphuretted hydrogen for five
minutes. These vapours attack only those parts which have
been acted on by tire light. The sheet is then washed in water
to free it from the salts of copper, and finally is plunged into
a solution of bismuth containing nitric acid. The more diluted
the solution is the longer the picture may be allowed to remain, and
the more its details will be brought out. M. Balsamo affirms that
the pictures obtained by this process are unalterable, as an outer
coating of oxide of bismuth is formed, and as there remains little
or nothing of chlorine, or of any other matter liable to change.
M. Wothley also announces that he has discovered a printing
process without nitrate of silver, chloride of gold, hyposul¬
phite of soda, or carbon powder — -a process which gives mag¬
nificent and indelible results, with an economy of ninety-five per
cent. We should like to have more details.
While new processes oi photographic printing are being sought
after and published, M. Poitevin’s method is makingconsiderable pro¬
gress in the hands of those who have acquired the right of employ¬
ing it. An English operator lately made an objection to me which,
no doubt, has been also made by others. He said that the neces¬
sity of applying a coating of collodion to the carbon image for
transferring it must render the process costly. But it is of im¬
portance to remaik that, as this operation is not performed till
after the completion of the picture, it may very well be dispensed
with if the result be found to be less perfect than is desired : thus
there is but an insignificant loss for the preparations.
Photography has become definitely and officially the auxiliary
of justice in France. Not a crime is committed but the portrait of
the victim or that of the assassin figures among the documents for
the prosecution. Even the place where a crime has been commit¬
ted is reproduced. ERNEST LACAN.
New Yorlc, July 27th, 1861.
We photographers, I observe, are lately using a word which is
not to be found in the dictionary, and it is a wrord which seems to
suggest a new and wonderful art — Photo - sculpt ur e 7 Is such an
art really within our control?
We have always talked about breathing and speaking pictures,
but the breath and the speech were only a fict:on of the imagina¬
tion ; they were only “ subjective phenomena.” The stereoscope,
however, gives us some physical reality of the marvellous ; we do
really reproduce solidity. Yet the solidity of the stereograph is to
be apprehended by the eye only. Our sense of touch, by which
wre test the accuracy of the judgments of the eye, says plainly
“ it’s all in yer eye, Betty Martin !”
Photo-sculpture, if there be anything in it, must go a great way
beyond; it will give us something more than the shadow or the
skin of an object. Here is a good chance for speculators : per¬
haps some hopeful fellow will dream out howr to make another
Frankenstein.
I do not make these remarks wholly apropos to M. Willeme’s
photo-sculpture : his plan is altogether too mechanical — requires
too much of the clumsy handiwork of man. I introduced the sub¬
ject rather to show what we are doing here to solve the great
problem.
About eighteen months since Mr. Thos. Cummings, of Lancaster,
Pa., made a very ingenious experiment, as follows : —
He coated a thin and uniform sheet of gutta percha with a so¬
lution of bichromate of potash and gum arabic. After drying, the
296
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1861
sensitive sheet was put under a negative and exposed to light.
The sheet was then stretched on a frame, and plentifully washed
with cold water, in order to dissolve away the unlighted bichro¬
mate and gum. So far the experiment was nothing very extra¬
ordinary or novel : the next step was the critical and curious
climax. To change the flat picture into the boldest relief he
pours upon the sheet warm water; the sheet now stretches out,
following with considerable accuracy the lights and shades of the
picture.
It is to be observed that Mr. Cumming’s process will not repro¬
duce the precise form of the model. It will represent the lights
and shades by corresponding elevations and depressions, which
may be quite unlike the form of the model. Thus we have a new
expression and representation of light and shade, and thoroughly
new art.
Mr. Cumming’s process will no doubt suggest many modifica¬
tions and improvements, and I look with much hope for its deve¬
lopment in Europe. It hardly promises enough of the pecuniary
to stimulate our American experimenters.
Photography is already, I believe, used for purposes of police in
all the large cities. In New York the “ Rogue’s Gallery ” has been
in systematic and successful operation for several years. The
gallery is getting to be one of the great shows. Among the recent
additions are likenesses of Jeff. Davis, and other notabilities of
the Land of Cotton.
Some of our railroad companies require the holders of passes and
season tickets to attach their photographic likenesses to the
tickets. It would not be strange if this plan should be adopted
by theatrical managers.
It has also lately been proposed that prisoners of war, on being
released on parole, should leave their photographs, and that
photographs of the holders should be attached to passports. The
advantages of such a system are readily apparent.
CHARLES A. SEELY.
- ■ ■■ -
|Irto % o a h s .
The Tannin Process. By C. Russell.
(London : John W. Davies, 54, Princes Street, Leicester Square.
Liverpool : Henry Greenwood, 32, Castle Street.)
Major Russell’s Tannin Process has by this time a world-wide reputation
— that is to say, so far as the photographic world is concerned. "We have
already given in these pages, from the author’s own pen, some particu¬
lars of the general principles of the manipulation ; and while some have
succeeded to admiration in applying them, others have met with failure
and disappointment. This is but the natural consequence of many
operators of varying previous knowledge and present intelligence making
the essay to put the instructions given to the test of experience ; for,
while some intuitively, as it were, naturally seize upon the salient prin¬
ciples to he acted upon, others, with far more minute instructions, by
adhering too closely to the letter, and being forgetful of the spirit, rush
into blunders that by the exercise of the smallest spark of intelligence
ought to be to them impossible. .
Since the first publication of the Tannin Process in the last edition of
Mr. Hardwich’s Manual, many difficulties have been overcome and
failures traced to their source by Major Russell ; and we consider that
he has acted rvisely in placing before the public a record of the result of
his labours. In the little book before us will be found a minutely-detailed
account of the precautions to he observed, together with the reasons
assigned for their recommendation, in order to ensure success : at the
same time variations in manipulation are suggested, to suit the pecu¬
liarities of different operators, and where any latitude is admissible with¬
out detriment it has been carefully pointed out.
Many little ingenious arrangements in what may be regarded as the
mechanical part are introduced that deserve especial attention ; take, for
instance, the following : —
If any loose deposit appear on the surface of the film it may he removed, when quite
dry, with a brush made of eider down, which is much less liable to injure the surface
.than cotton wool or the softest hairbrush. Eider down is often to be found in coats
quilts, <kc., which are lined or filled with it. To make a brush pick out the largest
pieces singly, find in each the small quill by which it was attached to the skin, collect
five or six, and form into a small brush by bringing the quills together and twisting this
end round between the finger and thumb with a little solution of caoutchouc in turpen¬
tine, or other cement. Make a sufficient number of these small brushes to form a round
ball of down about the size of a walnut. Bring the cemented ends together and insert
in a fowl’s quill, which has been cut off near the end and split in two or three places •
then bind the quill round firmly with waxed thread. This brush ought not to be often
required to remove loose deposit, but is always useful to clear off dust before varnish¬
ing, and if applied lightly will do no injury.
The chapter on printing transparencies will, no doubt, be acceptable to
many.
On reading the instructions for preparing the gelatine solution wo
could not help wondering whether the author had ever tried the use of a
small quantity of albumen to clarify it, in the manner adopted by con¬
fectioners in rendering a jelly brilliantly clear. In former days we a K <1
to have much experience on this point in preparing a medium fof
mounting microscopic objects, originally suggested by Mr. F. 11. Wen-
ham ; and as it had to be subsequently submitted to scrutiny under a
powerful microscope, the absolute freedom from particles of foreign
matter was imperative.
As the method may prove useful to photographers we may as well
describe it. The mounting medium to which we have alluded was ana¬
logous to that used for printers’ inking rollers. The latter, being composed
of glue and treacle, is, of course, quite dark in colour and opaque; but the
former consists of gelatine and glycerine, which, when perfectly dry, re¬
tains a considerable amount of elasticity', and, for its special purpose,
must he nearly colourless and perfectly and brilliantly transparent. We
used to make it by dissolving one ounce of gelatine in distilled water,
first soaking it in the cold water, adding more and more until it refused
to absorb any further quantity ; heat was then applied, and two fluid
ounces of glycerine added, and the solution allowed to become cool ; then
about a drachm of albumen was stirred in ; heat again applied until the
mixture began to boil. The vessel was then set aside for about five
minutes, to allow the coagulated albumen to settle on the top, and this
albumen drew together with it every trace of foreign matter. It then
remained only to get rid of the albumen, which was done by pouring the
still warm and fluid solution through a perfectly clean flannel bag. It is
by no means improbable that this mixture may become a useful photo¬
graphic agent at some period.
We presume that there are hut few followers of dry-plate photography
who will not embrace the present opportunity of procuring Major Rus¬
sell’s book ; and as an incentive to do so we extract the following
instructions
ON CLEANING THE PLATES.
A training-stand, which will be found very useful throughout this and other dry pro¬
cesses, may be made in the following manner : — Take a thin board, a little more than
three feet long and nine inches broad, and nail another board, sixteen inches in width,
vertically along the middle of the first. Bore vertical holes, about one and a- half inches
apart, along near the edges of the first or horizontal hoard: fit a number of wooden
pegs about two inches long into these holes, to be used in pairs, in adjacent holes, at
such distances as may be required by the size of the glasses used. Nail a leathern strap
to serve as a handle on the middle of the upper edge of the vertical hoard. This stand
may be of any convenient size : that described above will take ten stereoscopic plates on
each side, set up diagonally on the corners, and is high enough to drain 12 by 10 glasses
in the same position.
If the plates have been used before, remove the old films by soaking for a short time
in a warm solution of carbonate of soda (common washing soda). The plates should be
removed from this liquid as soon as the film will come off easily, or the glass may he
corroded. The edges may he detached with a knife or with ilie fingernail, and the
remainder of the film rubbed off with the fingers or a hard brush. Then put the plate s
into a vessel of water, and, having carried them to a pump or tap, wash in a stream of
water, taking cave to remove every piece of old film which may remain, and place the
glasses on one end, nearly close to the vertical part of the draining-stand, their tops
resting against it, the glasses being about half an inch apart. When one row is com¬
plete, place the glasses in the next row so that the middle of each covers the interval
between two in the first row, that a vent may he left for the escape of damp air
upwards. Many dozens of plates may thus be drained at once on the two sides of the
stand. Carry the stand into a warm room, and place it before the fire, tilting up one
end about six inches to let the water drain away from the lower ends of the glasses.
Unless wanted for immediate use, it will not be found worth while to wipe them, if the
soda has been well washed off, otherwise this treatment may cause injury by corrosion.
The edges of new glasses should he ground, and, if it be intended to dispense with the
use of gelatine, or other preliminary coating, the grinding should extend a little way on
to the surface. The neatest way to grind the glass in this manner is with a piece of
stout sheet copper, along the middle of which has been soldered a nairow strip of the
same metal about one-sixteentli of an inch thick ; on the other side a piece of wood may
he screwed, to give a better hold. Mix some silver sand, brown sugar, and water, and,
with a little of this mixture in the angle, rub the thick copper against the edge of the
glass, at the same time grinding the upper surface with the lower edge of the thin strip.
The plate is held down with the left hand on a piece of wood or other convenient place,
with the edge that is being ground slightly projecting: if it project far, the glass may be
broken. The edge and a narrow strip of the surface can in this way be ground without
rounding off the angle. The use of the sugar is to render the dirt more easy to wash off.
If the plates are to be coated with gelatine it is better to grind only the edges, for the
ground glass impedes the flow of the gelatine, and is not in this case required to make
the film adhere. The edges should be slightly rounded in grinding, to facilitate picking
up the glasses out of a dish.
After being ground the plates must he well washed to remove grit, and drained dry as
described above, before being placed in contact with each other. When dry they may
be piled one upon another in the place where they are to he cleaned. Any mode of
cleaning will answer which ensures the removal of all traces of grease as well as other
impurities. The method now to be given is as certain and as little troublesome as any.
Two rubbers are required, which are to be constructed as follows :— For the first, take a
piece of thick felt, well cleaned with warm water and soda, and then with water only,
and, when dry, cement it flat on a bung about three inches in diameter — a solution of
shellac in naptha, or of india-rubber in turpentine, will answer as the cement— and the
hung should then be laid, felt downwards, on a flat surface, and left with a weight upon
it for some hours, after which the edges may he trimmed. Mix a little tripoli with
water in a phial ; shake up, and allow it to stand a few minutes, that the coarse grains
may subside ; then well wet the felt with the turbid water, and dry. This rubber Dill
last for years, and will never require anything more to be done to it if kept clean. The
other rubber is made by nailing a piece of cotton velvet (cleaned in the same way as the
f it.) to the edges of a piece of board about four inches wide, and a little longer than the j
width of the largest glasses to he used. The lower edges of the board should be rounded J
off, and three thicknesses of coarse flannel laid on it before nailing on the velvet. A
August 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
297
strap of webbing or leather nailed to the edges across the back will make a handle-
This rubber, like the other, will last for a long time, as it may be used until the pile is
worn off : it will require no cleaning, but may be brushed occasionally with a hard brush
kept for this purpose only. Put it away in a dry place, with the velvet downwards, on
a clean piece of blotting x>aper.
Liquids sold for cleaning glasses often contain rouge and nitric acid, both of which are
objectionable — the rouge adhering to the glass so firmly as to be difficult to clean off,
and a trace of nitric acid sometimes remaining in a scratch causing a mark of insensi¬
tiveness in the negative. Old collodion— the older the better— mixed with tripoli,
answers well. The collodion should be diluted with an equal quantity of common alco¬
hol, or, what is better, methylated spirit ; and if it is not already of a red colour, iodine
shoald be added to bring it to a port-wine tint. A tripoli mixture ought always to be
shaken up, and then allowed to subside, that the coarser grains may sink to the bottom:
before using, shake till slightly turbid. Choose a place where a slight current of air
will carry off the vapour from the eyes, or it may make them smart.
Put the glass to be cleaned in a screw holder, rub the back over slightly with a tuft of
cotton wool and a few drops of the cleaning fluid, then wipe dry with a cloth, turn over
and fix again with the screw; breathe on the front, and rub with the cotton wool ; drop
on a little of the mixture and rub over again. When by repeated use the tuft of cotton
wool becomes so hard as not to be immediately softened by the liquid, it should be re¬
jected, or the glass may be scratched.
Wipe the edges of the glass with the cloth, to remove free iodine which may have gone
over the angles, and would injure the exciting bath; then place the plate against a bottle,
in a nearly vertical position, on a piece of clean paper, and proceed in the same manner
with the other glasses, except that after the first the collodion need only be dropped
on the fronts : a drop or two on each will be quite enough when the cotton is once wet,
if the glasses are small. By cleaning the backs slightly we not only avoid introducing
impurities into the bath, but prevent waste of the nitrate solution, which, if the glass be
at all greasy, will adhere in drops instead of draining off. Next take the plates one by
one, place again in the screw holder, face upwards, breathe very slightly on the surface,
and polish off the collodion mixture with the felt rubber till quite dry. This will take
but a few seconds, and will leave the plate quite clear cf everything except slight traces
of tripoli dust on the surface, and of the cleaning fluid in the pores of the glass.* The
dust should be brushed off with cotton wool, and its entire removal ensured by polishing
with the velvet rubber: leather must not be used, as, however carefully cleaned, it
always leaves on the glass a trace of greasiness which will repel the gelatine solution.
Place each plate as soon as finished, vertically on the draining-stand, and when all have
been cleaned, brush the velvet rubber to remove dust.
<&0msp0itimw.e.
*ar We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
WIDE ANGLE OF SUBJECT.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I see by last Journal that you have seen some prints taken from
negatives by the new American panoramic lens, on, I presume, flat plates.
I shall await your description of them in next number of the Journal
with impatience, as I have one made from a formula of Mr. John Brown,
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, that is only 2J inches diameter, 12 inches focus,
and fully fills out to the edge a 13 by 7 plate clearly defined, with a |th
inch stop. Now, this is nearly one fourth more than a usual landscape
lens of 19 inches focus will cover; that is, the panoramic lens will
include nearly one-fourth more subject than a 3-inch lens of 19 inches
focus.
I have had the lens by me nearly two years ; but, only using it for 8J
by GJ-inch plates, did not know its properties till I tried it in a large
camera, and found it to fill out a 12 by 9 plate. Having thus. Mr. Editor,
put in my claim for an English optician, I must endeavour to prove it by
sending you a couple of prints so soon as I can rig up a camera to take a
12 by 9 plate. — I am, yours, &c., THOMAS GULLIVER.
Sicansea , August 9th, 1861.
[It is by no means necessary for a lens to be of 19 inches focus to
cover a plate of 12 by 10 inches, nor is it usual to employ one of so long
focus for the purpose ; and, as regards dimensions of the lens, that is only
a question of convenience for ensuring moderate flatness of field with
comparatively large aperture. Our correspondent will perceive that we
do not think there is any great gain in the new American lens, judging
from the data at present before us. It is not everybody who understands
how to ascertain what the focal length of a lens really is ; and further,
the width*ot angle included must always depend partly upon the height
of the subject, or the corners will be deficient-
We shall be glad to compare Mr. Gulliver’s proofs with the American
ones, which, we may remark, are only about five or six inches in diameter,
being quite circular. — Ed.]
FAULTY NEGATIVES, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly tell me the causes of the small transparent spots
in the centre of my negative plates. You will see what I mean by look¬
ing at the small black spots on the bridge in No. 1, and also to the right
of the church in No. 2 ; and in No. 3 the spots are larger, and white
instead of black. How can I get rid of the motley sky and comet in
No. 4 ?. The negatives are by the Fothergill process. I used Hardwich's
brouio-iodised collodion, and well washed the silver off, as I must keep
my plates about six weeks. The prints are neither toned nor fixed: I
only did a piece of paper over with a brush, thinking you would under¬
stand my failures better. I have developed seven plates, and they all
have spots on them, but only in the centre of the plate. When I fail 1
like anvays to find out the cause ; please give me your opinion of them.
I develop very slowly. Which is the best way to wash the plates
* See remarks at page 59 on the effect of iodide and iodine on silver stains.
thoroughly after exciting? And, lastly, which is the easiest plan to
vignette my landscapes of different sizes?
With many thanks for past favours, I am, yours, &c., PHOTO.
[Your spots are not exactly only in the centre of your plates ; for
instance, in No. 1 you have white ones at the left side and black ones in
the centre, and the latter would probably be found also on the left side
if thei-e were any half-tone there, which there is not. The white spots
are due to particles of foreign matters in the collodion, in the form of a
pulverulent deposit. These particles, being of greater specific gravity
than the fluid, more frequently occupy the centre of the plate, as it is
usually there that the collodion is poured on : these particles fall at once
down to the bottom of the pool, and are but little disturbed on sub¬
sequently tilting the plate ; but if large, as in No 1, they will sometimes
roll towards the lower edge in pouring off the surplus collodion. Remedy :
— filtration of the collodion.
The black spots arise from one of the two following causes, viz.: — the
sensitising bath may not have been saturated with iodide of silver,
consequently it acts upon the plate by dissolving out minute portions of
the generated iodide all over the plate, and the spots become visible only
in the half-tones, because in the shadows there is a deposit in developing,
and in the high lights the quantity of silver deposit encroaches upon the
margins of the holes until they are entirely filled. Or the black spots
may arise from fine particles of dirt, &c., in the washing water being left
on the film ; and these protecting the film from the action of the light
where they rest, there is no action on the spots during development. In
either case the remedy is obvious. With regard to No. 4, we should not
advise you to attempt to get rid of the mottled sky, which, but for the
comet, is a positive improvement to the picture. If you can dexterously
paint in a white cloud over the comet, on the back of your negative, with
gamboge, you will do all that is needful. To wash your plates thoroughly
after exciting, immerse them in a vertical bath of distilled water until all
greasiness has disappeared, then wash freely under a tap having a piece
of perfectly clean flannel tied over the mouth of it.
You can readily vignette a subject of any form and size by cutting an
aperture in a sheet of thick brown paper, and supporting it at a distanc
of a few inches above the negative when exposed to diffused light. — Ed.®
TONING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — When I place my positive prints in the hypo, fixing solution
they lose all trace of the purple tone they acquire in the toning bath,
and become of a dirty brown colour. They are left in the toning batli
until they are slightly over-toned. The hyposulphite solution is made of
one ounce hypo, soda to eight ounces water, and is alkaline. The prints
are left in it about fifteen minutes. Whether I leave them in for a longer
or shorter time the result is the same. Is this change of colour due to
the hypo, solution being too alkaline or too strong? If you could suggest
any means whereby I could secure the purple tone, you would greatly
oblige, yours &c., X. Y. Z.
Liverpool, 31 st July, 1861.
[The change of colour is due to an imperfection in the toning operation.
You do not state how your toning- bath is made ; but we have no doubt that
that is the part of your process that is in fault. You must remember that
the purple tone is not of itself alone an indication of a proper deposit of
gold, as the same tint can be obtained by sulplmrisation ; but the marked
change in the bath of hyposulphite of soda is a proof that the gold is
imperfectly deposited. Your hyposulphite bath is not at all too strong,
rather the reverse. We should advise you to reduce the quantity of
water to five, or at most to six, ounces. — Ed.]
STEREOGRAPHY.— COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir,— Your advice on the following is respectfully asked: —
1. Having a stereo, camei-a, I wish to know if the same movement from
right to left is required for all subjects — say a portrait six feet distance,
or a building sixty feet. If not, will you inform me how to know the
proper distance. In the plate of stand, &c., as used by Mr. John Cramb,
fig. 1, on page 265 of the Journal, the lenses of stereo, cameras are more
apart than mine (one of Horne and Co.’s) can possibly be slid.
2. I have fifteen ounces five drachms of positive collodion, separate
solutions ; but, wishing to produce negatives only, can I use this suc¬
cessfully, or improve it in any way by another iodiser? If so, what
would be the best, and will it do for the tannin process ?
August 2nd, 1861. I am, yours, &c., II. P.
[1. The distance between the two stations for a stereoscopic pair of
pictures depends upon the question whether you want to produce a purely
natural or an exaggerated effect of distance. If the former, the distance
between the stations should equal the width between the eyes ; but if the
latter, you may increase this distance materially. For distant views the
apparent prominence of some objects is increased by taking the stations
wide apart; but the effect produced is an exaggerated one — it can have
no pretentions to actual truth.
2. You require more pyroxyline and more iodiser in your collodion to
fit it for taking negatives. Add two grains of the former and one grain
iodide of cadmium to each ounce of your collodion, and it may serve your
purpose. It will very likely do for the tannin process as it is. — Ed.J
298
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1801
LOOSENING OF THE FILM.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Having often noticed your willingness to give unfortunate
amateurs useful information, I am about to trespass on your kindness.
I have lately been trying the tannin process, and have succeeded
as well as I could wish until I come to wash off the developing solution,
when the film always parts from the glass, notwithstanding the greatest
care. I have tried varnishing the edges, and also rubbing albumen on
the glass before coating with collodion : the latter answers very well,
but I cannot get an even surface.
If you can give me any information I shall be extremely obliged.
I am, yours, &c., VERDANT GREEN.
[Make your albumen solution thinner , thus: — Albumen one ounce,
water seven ounces, liquid ammonia ten minims. Having cleaned your
plate, take a piece of clean sponge tied to the end of a stick, dip it in the
albumen solution and rub it all over the glass, then pour on the albumen
in abundance, drain it off closely, and dry it quickly before a brisk fire. You
had better procure the book just published by Major Russell. — Ed.]
PAUL PRY’S IvEY-HOLE PHOTOGRAPHY — WHAT JOURNAL
CAN THIS BE?
To the Editor.
Sir, — Ha! ha! ha! the idea of that poor body imagining she could shut
up me, Paul Par. Wasn’t it absurd? Poor Miss Spriggins ! Ha ! ha ! ha !
However, I hope I don’t intrude, but I wish to pop in and say that
having .brought my new process for key-hole photography to perfection,
sets of the apparatus may now be procured from all the London and pro¬
vincial dealers, excepting, only, such as do not keep them. The results
of Paul Pry’s new key-hole process are WONDERFUL ! (please not to
omit this last line, as I intend to quote it in large capitals from The
British Journal of Photography in my advertisements.)
Never shall I forget my first experiments in the above process. I
chanced to be in - — : the day was fine Mr. Jabal Leek had
ingeniously adapted the whole apparatus to the form of my umbrella :
I placed it under my arm, and, eye-glass in hand, I wandered forth.
In a lonely position, like the residence of one who had retired from the
world a disappointed and disgusted man, stood a small house : its door
being open, hospitably wide open, I went in. Outside the door of one
room I heard a wild sarcastic laugh, full of intense bitterness and scorn.
The door of that room was evidently between me and the misanthropical
Timon who, with his blighted hopes, had found refuge within this solitary
house. Presently I heard the scratching sound of a hard-nibbed pen
travelling rapidly, as with impetuous haste, over paper, and then, again,
sounded that harsh and terrible laugh of malice and exultation.
My curiosity was aroused — I prepared my apparatus in a twinkling-
placed my lens before the key-hole — focussed it — put in a plate — exposed
it — shut the slide — packed away — and packed off.
When I reached my hotel I was breathless. A closet in my bedroom
was my dark chamber. I rushed up the stairs. A girl was on her knees,
with a pail, scrubbing : I fell over her and the pail, but the ardour of my
feelings was not damped, though the water was very dirty. I thought
not of catching cold : what soldier dreams of danger when victory is in
view'? Upstairs I rushed, as I said before. It (the image) came out
quickly : my process was rapidly developing. Soon the picture was be¬
fore me. I applied a strong magnifying power, upon which the key-hole
became as large as Temple Bar, and there I saw — Oh! triumph! victory!
fame! glory ! honour! all, all were mine — I saw the inside of the room.
On the chimney-piece was a glass globe, containing some toy ; at a table
sat a man, a sinister-looking man, with rough hair, in a sailor’s pea-jacket,
grasping tightly a pen in his riglit, and a pair of scissors in his left hand.
American journals were at his feet, and a pile of scraps cut from their
pages lay beside a paste-pot on his desk. He had been writing on a large
sheet of foolscap paper a Table of Contents , evidently for some notable
photographic periodical. What journal this could be I can’t say ; but it
will, doubtless, be speedily discovered from the following quotations
which, wonderful to relate, were distinctly visible to the naked (?) eye,
when magnified to a sufficient extent. Among the “articles” I found
reference made to the following as “ Leaders — -
1. “On the mental superiority of the Editor of this periodical over all
other Editors of similar works, whether past, present, or to come, with a
few remarks upon the superior mental, moral, and photographic qualities
of all subscribers to this periodical.”
2. “ A few condemnatory remarks, of a purely personal character, on
the contributors to other photographic journals, and other laudatory re¬
marks on the great mental, moral, and scientific superiority of contribu¬
tors to this periodical, whenever there happen to be any, which is seldom,
there being rarely genius enough to fit any contribution for these pages.”
3. “ Soft soap for the soapy and the soft, with a few offensive person¬
alities for those who cannot be thus designated.”
4. “On the absurdity of respecting the confidence implied by private
written communications to other people, and the honourable nature of
publishing on the house-top the contents of the same and the names of
their writers.”
5. “ On a wonderful new lens, invented by the Editor of this periodical,
calculated to supersede all other lenses ; with some remarks on the wis¬
dom and talent and high moral character of those who have purchased
it ; and the folly, incompetency, and immoral character of all who refuse
to acknowledge its unique perfections.”
6. “ On the infinite superiority of everything that is the Editor’s, whe¬
ther it be this journal, or his printing, toning, preservative, or developing
processes — the pictures lie produces — or his last new hobby-horse.”
7. “ On a sheet of diagrams (representing a wheel-barrow, a razor-strop,
a damaged hat, a peculiar pair of spectacles, &c.), illustrative of the one
thousand eight hundred and third great invention brought to such won¬
derful and extraordinary perfection by the Editor of this periodical.”
8. “ On the new patent fire-irons and fenders manufactured for every
kind of fire-place, especially including those to be found in photographic
showrooms, as recently introduced by the celebrated Puff, Esq., and sold
by the inventor, &c., with a copy from an engraving (originally executed
for the advertisements), and all the matter contained in the circular
issued from the manufacturers.”
9. “On our advertisers — their good sense and taste in selecting our
periodical as a channel of publicity; with a few personal remarks on the
foolish, stupid, and immoral 'wretches who don’t do so.”
Without, however, increasing the number of these quotations, I hope I
have given enough to indicate the periodical to which they belong, and
as I am particularly curious to learn its title and where it is published, if
anywhere, will any one who discovers the same address a line, with a
stamped envelope for the acknovdcdgement of its receipt, to
Yours, very truly, PAUL PRY, P.P.K.H.P
Kew Bye House , August 4, 1861.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
0. — In an early number.
S. P. — We do not like kaolin for the purpose ; it is very wasteful.
Ligiitbody. — We believe that the attempt has been abandoned for the present.
Suckling, but no Babe. — Perhaps you will findMr. Ilockin's book answer your purpose.
Wide-awake— Your are the filth correspondent who has made a similar comment.
Mad! — stark mud!
S. E. E. — Wc have long had it in contemplation ; but we have never had the requisite
leisure. We still hope to do so.
R. P. — We cannot recommend sel d’or as a toning agent, beautiful as some prints
toned by its aid undoubtedly are.
Simon G.— Declined with thanks: it is too personal for our columns. We do not mind a
joke, but cannot admit a coarse accusation.
R. Eaton.— If your dark slides are stiff from damp, put them in a box with a closely-
fitting lid, and at the same time put in a lump of unslacleed lime.
Simple John. — You have omitted to restore the nitrate of silver that was removed
prior to the application of the preservative : add a few drops to your developer.
Open Air. — Air. Rouch’s tent is very good, so is Smartt’s; you had better inspect bo'h.
For us to decide which will suit your requirements best without further information
from yourself w ould not be very easy.
F. 11.— Ammonio nitrate of silver solution is unfit for exciting albumpnised paper ; you
can use it, however, by neutralising the ammonia with nitric acid, oxide of silver being
soluble in nitrate of ammonia. See Hardwichs Manual.
F. Barnes — Vignetting, if tastefully executed, adds much to the artistic value of some
portraits and views ; but it is quite a mistake to apply it to stereographs in which you
require a marked limit in order to give the idea of distance more perfectly.
Poor Printer — Add a little acetic or nitric acid to your paper sensitising bath when
you have to prepare many sheets in hot weather, and you will find it will preserve them
from becoming brown for a longer time, though they will perhaps become impressed
rather more slowly.
J. II. Slater. — You will find the portrait lens which you mention quite fit for the
large-sized plate, 10 by 8, provided you do not use an aperture of more than two inches
diameter, and at least four times as rapid in action as the single lens with a diaphragm
having | inch aperture.
C. B.— It is no doubt the paper that is in fault this time : you will find, on holding it
up to the light, a minute black speck in the centre of each white one, the black speck
being a particle of metal. It is highly probable that the whole batch of paper made at
the same time is defective in the same way ; but fortunately this can be seen as well
before as after bestowing your labour on it, by examining each sheet in front of a
strong light.
Operator. — If you are no chemist you must, to some extent, work by “rule of thumb.”
Of the several makes of collodion which you name as haviDg tried, work with No. 2
on your list, while freshly iodised ; when it gets slow, use No. 5 in the same bath. In
time you will find your proofs fog a little ; then mix No. 2 and No. 5 together, using only
enough of the old No.2 to give you proofs that are not fogged. No. 1 we do not know.
Nos. 3 and 4 we do not think equal to those we have previously indicated.
Wm. Lyne.— On holding your proof up to the light, so as to look through it, the mottled
appearance in the sky is seen, indicating photographic measles. This extends all over
the picture; but is not so perceptible in the darker parts. It may arise from either of
the following causes, viz.:— 1. The free nitrate of silver not having been removed. — 2. A
free acid being present. — 3. Too weak a solution of hyposulphite of soda, or, what
amounts to the same thing, the proof being put wet into a solution strong enough, but
allowed to remain at rest. The brown spots are due to decomposed hyposulphite of
silver. See Mr. Dawson’s papers in former numbers of this Journal.
glgf3 All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, c 6c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
LEADER . . . 281
HINTS ON CAMERAS . 282
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
ALCOHOL. By JAMES MARTIN . 283
“DOMESDAY BOOK” AND THE “LIBER
STUDIORUM » . 283
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. VII. By J. IlOTHWELL . 284
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A LATE
ENTHUSIASTIC AMATEUR. Edited by
SYDNEY SUNSHINE . 285
MORE WORDS ON THE HARMONISATION
OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOLUTIONS. By
DR. J. SCHNAUSS . 286
COLLODION SHOULD BE ACID, AND WITH
A LARGE PROPORTION OF IODINE. By
M. Mc-A. GAUD1N . 287
PALESTINE IN 1860. No. VIII. By JOHN
CRAMB . 287
MICROMETERS. By THOS. WOODS, M.D.. . 239
PAGB
AN EASY METHOD OF REDUCING THE
SILVER FROM OLD BATHS TO RE-CON.
VERT IT INTO THE NITRATE. By M.
Mc-A. GAUDIN . 289
THE NEW PERMANENT PRINTING PRO¬
CESS. By JOSEPH EUGENE BALSAMO .. 990
RECORD OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INVENTIONS "
By S. HIGHLEY, F.G S., F.C.S., &c . 290
THE SOLAR CAMERA: ITS MANIPULA¬
TIONS AND RESULTS. By S. SMITH .... 291
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE . 292
EXHIBITION: Birmingham Photographic So¬
ciety’s Exhibition . 203
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 293
PHOTOGRAPHIC OLLA PODRIDA . 294
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 295
NEW BOOKS . 296
CORRESPONDENCE . 297
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac . 298
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 149, Vol. VIII.— SEPTEMBER 2, 1861.
Photography at the International Exhibition. — When
a statesman of acknowledged reputation is sent for to construct
a cabinet, his first consideration, before accepting the trust, is
whether lie has any chance of carrying such measures as his
party may consider it imperative upon them to propose ; and if
he arrive at the conclusion that his power is insufficient, he
prudently declines the task proposed to be assigned to him.
We cannot forbear expressing our conviction that the Council
of the Photographic Society has acted like the prudent prime
minister in g>osse by declining to nominate a committee to assist
the Royal Commissioners in insulting the followers of our art.
It must be evident to everyone that, had the Council of the
Photographic Society accepted the responsibility of nominating
a committee while the objectionable classification of photographs
is persisted in, it would therein have accepted also the odium
of branding the art which it is bound to uphold as a mere
matter of mechanical dexterity. As there are many of our
readers who do not see the Journal of the Photographic Society,
we extract therefrom the two letters which ciose the corres¬
pondence : —
Offices, 454, West Strand , London , W C.,
July 29, 1861.
Sir, — Adverting to your letter of the 12th of June, I am directed by
Her Majesty’s Commissioners to inquire whether the Council of the
Photographic Society are yet able to favour them with a definite reply as
to the_ nomination of a Committee in connexion with Class 14. The
Commissioners will be glad if the matter could be settled in the course of
the current week, in order that they may conclude their arrangements in
connexion with this department of the Exhibition. — I have the honour to
be, Sir, your obedient Servant, F. R. SANDFORD, Secretary.
To Hugh W. Diamond, Esq., M.D.
Photographhic Society , Jidy 30, 1861.
Sir, — In reply to your communication of yesterday’s date, I have to
inform you that I do not think that the Council of the Photographic
Societ}'- could come to any decision in the absence of the President, who
is now on Circuit. . I have forwarded him by this post a copy of your
letter, and I will immediately act on any instructions which I may
receive from him. — I have the honour to be, your obedient Servant,
To F. R. Sandford, Esq. HUGH W. DIAMOND, Secretary.
To the . preceding letter the following, unanimously adopted
at a special Council meeting, the President, Plight Hon. Sir
F . Pollock, being in the chair, was forwarded, viz. : —
Photographic Society , August 8, 1861.
Snq- — The Coiincil have no wish to dictate to the Commissioners in
what form their just expectations shall be fulfilled. If the Commissioners
are prepared to receive photography as a branch of the fine arts, the
Council are willing to appoint a Committee and afford every assistance
in their power.
Rut, if this be not conceded, the Council cannot concur in any proceed¬
ing the tendency of which is to disparage photography as one of the now
universally-acknowledged means by which genius can perpetuate what¬
ever is grand and beautiful in nature. — I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
To F. R. Sandford, Esq. HUGH W. DIAMOND, M.D., Sec.
Our worthy friend and brother editor is very reasonably
astonished at the disingenuous letter from Mr. Sandford, and,
commenting thereon, very truly remarks: — “We think that
some reference ought at least to have been made to the question
in dispute, if only to say that it was impossible to accede to the
desires of the body of photographers who have unanimously
expressed themselves as being aggrieved.” Truly we think so
too. But there is one point especially to which we would solicit
the attention of our readers, which is, that, by abstaining from
nominating a Committee to sanction that over which it could
have no control, the Council of the Photographic Society
inflicts no injury, either actual or imaginary, upon any one of
its members ; for it does not impede any of them who may
elect to do so from accepting the invitation of the Royal Com¬
missioners, while a contrary course would have had the effect
of branding photographers as mere craftsmen by a body sup¬
posed to be the special exponent of photographers’ own senti¬
ments. Our French compeers rightly remarked that of course
the Photographic Society has the option of declining the invita¬
tion, and we rejoice greatly to perceive that, as a Society, it
has declined it. The next move requires a little deliberation.
It is with much pleasure that we notice in the last number
of the Society’s Journal an able letter from the pen of that
veteran artist-photographer, M. A. Claudet, that well merits
perusal. We are glad to find — as indeed we should have antici¬
pated — that his views are in perfect accordance with those we
have all along advocated ; and we rejoice the more that he has
thus written on account of the misapprehension supposed to
exist amongst the majority of our French brethren. Happily
there is no need to inquire Who is Claudet? as was the case
with a would-be magnate.
Since writing the preceding we have heard a rumour that the
Royal Commissioners intend themselves nominating a Committee
to manage (we had almost written mis-manage) the photographic
collection expected, and will then inquire of the Council of the
Photographic Society whether it will suggest the addition of any
names to those selected. If this should prove to be the case, it
will be truly an insult in the form of a courtesy ; but we have
every confidence in the judgment of those gentlemen who have
hitherto acted with so much discretion in this provoking contest,
and have no doubt they will finally adopt the course best calcu¬
lated to promote the dignity and interest of photographers.
Photo-Lithography. — In the early part of July we were
favoured by Mr. Ramage, of Edinburgh, with some very fine
specimens of photo-lithography — certainly as fine as, if not
finer than, anything we had hitherto seen of the same class.
We are informed by Mr. Ramage that, while his method of
operation is based upon those of Mr. Osborne, of Australia,
and Colonel Sir Henry James, he has introduced certain novel
features to which, no doubt, his pre-eminent success is in some
degree attributable. In what his improvements consist he is
not yet prepared to make public, inasmuch as he is still prose¬
cuting his researches with a view to making further advances.
At present the process is limited to the reproduction of engrav¬
ings or other originals, the shading of which consists of lines or
dots — in other words, not dependent upon half-tone, properly so
called, as in photographs of natural objects : in this respect it in
no way differs from those of his predecessors. That which has
struck us most in viewing the specimens before us is their
exceeding delicacy, combined with brilliancy of effect. They
300
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 2, 1801
consist of some lialf-dozen reduced copies of engravings from
pictures in the Vernon Gallery, with which many of our readers
are no doubt familiar, and we do not consider that they have
suffered in the smallest degree from the reproduction. One
noticeable peculiarity in those before us is that they are printed
upon a species of plate-paper covered on the surface with a
calcareous-looking enamel, similar to that used on visiting cards,
except that it is not glazed. This imparts a brilliancy to the
lights without there being any offensive glare. There is another
feature that we notice : the density of the negatives must have
been considerable, judging from the purity of the lights, though
the lines are perfectly sharp and clear, without the slightest
encroachment thereon j)i the denser parts. Mr. Ramage had
an idea that his method of operation would be especially appli¬
cable to the delineation of microscopic subjects; and no doubt it
would, but not exactly in the way in which he imagined, for two
reasons, viz. : —
Firstly. — The greater number of microscopical objects are not
altogether composed of minute lines, though many of them owe
much of their ornamentation to the elegant arrangement of in¬
numerable dots and lines on a surface more or less curved,
which in delineation requires the most delicate shading to give
it due effect ; and supposing these to be both achieved in the
negative (a feat of no little difficulty), we fear that the shading
would not be transferable to the stone.
Secondly. — Those objects that are adorned with the most
delicate stria and other markings require for their definition a
lens of an angular aperture undreamed of in ordinary photo¬
graphy, and which necessarily limits the plane of definition so
rigorously to a fixed spot that a movement in distance from the
lens of less than the five hundreth part of an inch is sufficient
to throw it completely out of focus ; consequently it is only by
carefully focussing up and down that the whole surface of an
object only very slightly curved can be properly viewed, much
less photographed, the various parts coming successively into
view. For this reason we think there is at present no chance
of applying photography to the direct delineation of microscopic
subjects generally. Carefully-executed drawings might, how¬
ever, be made as at present is the case, and these might be
multiplied by Mr. Ramage’s plan advantageously. One of our
most eminent delineators of microscopic objects, Mr. Tuffen
West, draws from nature upon the stone direct, and uses, we
believe, a fine diamond point for some portions of his work ; but
there are some other professionals in this branch of art who can¬
not or do not draw upon the stone, as also many amateurs
whose microscopic drawings are marvels of graphic skill, and
these have either to remain as monographs or be copied by
engravers or other professional draughtsmen, not only at great
expense both of time and money, but frequently not without loss
of some of the delicacy of the original drawing. For these Mr.
Ramage’s process will be pre-eminently valuable.
We have remarked that at present we perceive no chance of
the direct application of photo-lithography to general microscopic
delineation ; but we by no means despair of the difficulties pointed
out being eventually overcome, possibly by the judicious appli¬
cation of some kind of artificial illumination rich in the photo¬
genic rays, and which by their persistence for some time may
be sufficient to impress the sensitive film, though not sufficient
to excite the optic nerve, even with a materially-reduced aperture
of the lens. But, as the discussion of this point would be at
present premature, we shall not push the argument further.
It would, however, be a fine field for research to the photo¬
graphic chemist to endeavour to ascertain the most active kind
of artificial illumination as regards actinic rays.
Test-Pictures. — We have very recently received two or
three specimen proofs from negatives that demand notice at
our hands in consequence of their possessing some rather
interesting features. The first is a group of between seventy
and eighty persons, male and female, consisting of a party of
Irish emigrants surrounding their father confessor. The nega¬
tive is on a 10 by 8 in. plate, and was taken by a Dublin
photographer with one of Mr. Grubb’s “C” view lenses, with
an exposure of only eight seconds. Some two or three of the
sitters have moved during the exposure, short as it was; but the
majority are all well defined and beautifully distinct, the whole
affording ample testimony to the excellence of the instrument
with which the negative was taken, as well as to the manipula¬
tive skill of the operator. We are informed that a copy of this
subject is to be seen at the establishment of Mr. Solomon, in
Red Lion Square, London. Two other specimens are test-
pictures intended to show what amount of distortion is given by
one of the same maker’s “C” portrait combinations, and we are
bound to add that, though the tests applied have been pretty
severe, no appreciable amount of distortion is discernible. One
is a copy (of nearly equal size) of page v. of the advertisement
sheet of this Journal for the 1st ult.; and, although the letters
in the extreme corners are just a trifle out of focus, they are
without exception perfectly legible, and save in the extreme
corners beautifully “sharp.” The negative was taken with an
aperture of two inches diameter. The other is a copy of several
of our advertisement pages from our June, July, and August
numbers (including the one previously mentioned), placed upon
a paper ruled in squares, and reduced to one-fifth the original
size, an aperture of one inch being employed. Here again
there is no distortion whatever perceptible ; and with the excep¬
tion of the letters in two only of the extreme corners, which are
a little out of focus, being slightly indistinct, the entire field is
well defined. We learn that duplicate copies of these proofs have
been sent for public inspection to Messrs. Negretti and Zambra’s,
Regent Street, and to Mr. Solomon’s, Red Lion Square.
ON CLEANING GLASS PLATES.
By George Dawson.
In The British Journal of Photography, of the 15th August
(which, from my peripatetic propensities, has only just come to
hand), is published an extract, on “ cleaning the plates,” from
Major Russell’s recent work on the “ Tannin Process.” In order
that its readers may not have the pleasure of enjoying disappoint¬
ment from adhering too closely to bis instructions, I hasten to
warn them that his mode of washing is liable to a fatal objection.
This I have learnt from long experience, but was able to trace the
error to its source. He says : —
“ If the plates have been used before, remove the old films by soaking
for a short time in a warm solution of carbonate of soda (common wash¬
ing soda). The plates should be removed from this liquid as soon as
the film will come off easily, or the glass may be corroded. The edges
may be detached with a knife or with the finger nail, and the remainder
of the film rubbed off with the fingers or a hard brush. Then put the
plates into a vessel of water, and, having carried them to a pump or tap,
wash in a stream of water, taking care to remove every piece of old film
which may remain, and place the glasses on one end, nearly close to the
vertical part of the draining-stand, their tops resting against it, the glasses
being about half an inch apart. When one row is complete, place the
glasses in the next row so that the middle of each covers the interval
between two in the first row, that a vent may be left for the escape of
damp air upwards. Many dozens of plates may thus be drained at once
on the two sides of the stand. Carry the stand into a warm room, and
place it before the fire, tilting up one end about six inches to let the
water drain away from the lower ends of the glasses. Unless wanted
for immediate use, it will not be found worth while to wipe them, if the
soda has been well washed off, otherwise this treatment may cause
injury by corrosion.”
This would be a correct enough method of cleaning the plates
provided the whole treatment after the soda were conducted with
rain or other soft water. Under these circumstances a plate
might be safely left to drain and dry spontaneously as Major
Russell suggests. But when the final washing is made with
the deep well water of London, and other lime districts, it
is necessary, and curiously enough still more so with the
London surface wells, to wipe the plate thoroughly dry
before evaporation has proceeded so far as to deposit a thin crust
of carbonate or sulphate of lime on the surface of the glass.
All waters which are technically called 11 hard11 will invariably, if
left to dry spontaneously on a glass plate, cause the deposition of
one or the other, or both, of these salts on its surface ; nor can
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
301
September 2, 1861]
they be got rid of by any amount of soft-leather rubbing and
polishing. The result in the finished negative is invariably a
picture of unequal development — in fact, a failure. The carbonate
of lime can easily be removed by treating the plate with dilute
nitric or sulphuric acid ; but, should this fail in removing the film,
the deposit is most probably sulphate of lime. In this latter case
the plate is practically useless, and should be destroyed or sold to
some enthusiastic amateur who has never known failure, to enable
him to grapple with difficulties.
Closely allied to this cause of failure in cleaning old plates, I
may mention another which I am sure has caused to many, as it
has* often done to me, great disappointment. This arises from a
too frequent habit of leaving plates to soak for some time in an
open dish of hard water. In this case as the water evaporates the
lime salts must infallibly be deposited on the surface of the glasses,
producing results even more marked than when after a short
washing they are left to dry spontaneously in a warm room.
I would recommend, therefore, that when previously used, and
varnished glasses have to be cleaned, they should be soaked in
rain or other soft water, and when dried according to Major
Russell’s plan the last water should always be of the same
character.
NOTON'S VACUUM PLATE-HOLDER.
Referring to the description of the above
apparatus, given in No. 138 of The British
Journal of Photography, page 105, it is
thought that the addition of a sectional
drawing would not be unacceptable in fur¬
ther explanation of the internal construction
of this convenient instrument.
The general appearance will at once be
seen from the outline ; then continuing the
description previously given —
A, is the India-rubber disc, fastened, as
usual, by the hollow screw.
B, the enlarged cylinder or vacuum
store.
C, the air-pump. The piston-rod is con¬
tinued to the ferrule D, which slides on the
tube or stem E : the connexion between the
mounting on the end of the piston-rod and
ferrule is made by a pin passing through
both — a slot being cut, on each side of the
tube, the length of the stroke of the
piston.
The valves of the air-pump being inverted,
light spiral springs are attached, to rather
over counteract gravity.
G, two-way cock, moved by the lever H.
As drawn, the plate-holder is ready to re¬
ceive a plate, a vacuum being supposed to
be in the cylinder B.
By moving the lever II downwards, as
shown by the dotted lines, the plate will
be fixed instantly, or it may be as quickly
released by turning the lever up as at first.
I, a loose ferrule to reduce friction when
whirling a plate. In future, another one
will be put at the bottom end of the tube
E, instead of as here shown.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
ETHER.
Synonymes. — Sulphuric ether, oxide of ethyle, hydrate of etlierine.
Composition. — C 4 H6 0 or (C4 II4 + IIO.)
Equivalent. — 37.
Preparation.- — The daguerreotype, calotype, and waxed-paper
processes having become almost superseded by the various collo¬
dion processes, wet and dry, ether, as the solvent for pjn-oxyline in
collodion, is now the sine qua non of the photographer. The
methods followed in its preparation are numerous, some of them
being quite obsolete, while others are adapted only to its manu¬
facture on the large scale. The materials employed, however, are
the same in all cases, though the proportions and the method of
treatment vary. We shall describe only that process which ex¬
perience has proved to be the best, prefacing the description,
however, with one or two introductory statements which it is con¬
ceived will make the matter more intelligible to the non-chemical
reader. If, by reference to our previous paper on alcohol, a com¬
parison be instituted between the composition given for that sub¬
stance and the one given above for ether, it will be found that
the former differs from the latter in the possession of one atom or
equivalent more water, thus : —
Alcohol C4 H, 0 + HO.
Ether C4 Hs 0.
The preparation of ether, therefore, involves the removal of this
atom of water by means of some substance possessing sufficient
chemical energy to overcome its affinity for the ether. Sulphuric
acid or oil of vitriol presents itself as having the necessary qualities,
and it is accordingly employed with great advantage in the follow'
ing proportions : —
Concentrated sulphuric acid 8 parts by weight.
Alcohol, sp. gravity ’834 5 „ „ „
These are introduced into a flask, the neck of which is closed
with a tightly-fitting cork, in which three holes have been bored —
one of which is destined to receive a thermometer with graduations
on the stem, another a bent tube of comparatively large diameter,
and connected with a condenser, while the third is fitted with a
tube funnel communicating with a reservoir of alcohol. The ar¬
rangement of the apparatus being completed, and the joints secured
with a suitable luting of linseed meal or almond paste, heat is
applied until the contents of the flask acquire a temperature not
higher than 300° Fah. or below 260°, as indicated by the thermo¬
meter; and, indeed, the main precaution to be observed in con¬
ducting the operation consists in the maintenance of a steady tem¬
perature at or about 300°, and of rapid, or even violent ebullition —
the reason for this being that the limits of the ether-producing
temperature are between 260° and 310°. It is found, also, that if
more sulphuric acid be used, so as to cause the temperature to rise
above 320° olefiant gas, and variable quantities of other products
are found — and if, on the other hand, by the employment of a
weaker acid or too much alcohol the temperature be suffered to fall
below 260°— -little else than unchanged alcohol distils over. These
precautions, however, being attended to, all the alcohol which is
supplied to the flask both in the original mixture and by continuous
dropping from the reservoir, is successfully converted into ether
and water, the mixed vapours of which distil over and are collected
after condensation in the receiver, where they spontaneously
separate into two strata, the ether floating on the water. The
crude product so obtained invariably contains alcohol, from which
it may be separated by being shaken with about twice its bulk of
water, which retains the alcohol and allows the ether to float on
its surface. As, however, ether will take up one-ninth part of its
bulk of water, this requires to be separated; and this may be accom¬
plished by agitating the ether with some well-burnt quicklime and
distilling therefrom, care being taken to prevent all escape of vapour,
and to effect its complete condensation by keeping the receivers
cool. The first third which distils over may be regarded as pure
ether. It not unfrequently happens that the separation into two
strata above referred to does not take place, owing to a larger
amount of alcohol than usual having distilled over, in which case it
will be found that the addition of a little water causes the separa¬
tion required.
Physical Characters or Properties. — Pure ether, prepared as above
directed, is a colourless, transparent, very light, and limpid liquid,
having a peculiar and fragrant odour, and a warm, pungent taste,
afterwards feeling cool. Its specific gravity varies from *712 to
•720 at 60° Fah. It is extremely volatile, and the density of its
vapour is high, being 2'586, and highly inflammable; great care
should therefore be exercised in manipulating with collodion near
a naked flame. Its vapour, when inhaled, produces an amount of
exhilaration approaching almost to intoxication, and, when judi¬
ciously administered, produces insensibility to pain during surgical
operations. It boils at 96° Fah., and has been frozen at 47° below
zero, becoming a white crystalline mass.
It is a good solvent for resins, volatile and fixed oils, caoutchouc,
several vegeto-alkalis, and some neutral crystalline principles.
Inorganic salts, however, being generally insoluble in this men¬
struum, are frequently precipitated in small crystalline grains, when
their alcohic solutions are added to ethereal solution of pyroxyliue,
i.e., collodion.
Briefly stated, the above may be regarded as the more ordinary
and well-known properties of ether. Its extensive employment,
however, in the manufacture of collodion has led to a more careful
consideration of its properties, resulting in the discovery of some
302 THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [September 2, 1801
interesting facts, which, on account of their importance to the
photographer, demand a separate consideration.
Foremost among these must be mentioned its tendency to be¬
come acid and ozonised by exposure to the joint action of air and
light. The effect of these subtle agents is to cause the formation
of acetic ether, and to confer upon the ether the power of libera¬
ting iodine from those substances which are employed in iodising
collodion. It was at first supposed that iodine was set free in
iodised collodion through the presence of slight traces of acid in
the pyroxyline, or through the formation of peroxide of nitrogen
by its decomposition ; but experiment has shown that ether alone
acquires this property through the combined action of air and
light, causing the formation of a peculiar substance resembling
ozone, which is described by chemists as allotropic oxygen, or
oxygen in an active condition.
The acquisition of these undesirable properties by ether may be
almost completely prevented by keeping it, or collodion prepared
with it, in well-stoppered bottles, which should be placed in cool,
dark cellars.
It occurs to the writer that the foregoing facts may, perhaps,
lead to the conclusion that the amount of free iodine produced in
a given sample of collodion in a given time would indicate the
degree of acidification or ozonisation which the ether had under¬
gone. It may be admitted that, to a certain extent, this inference
would be a correct one ; but, in making it, due consideration should
be given to the iodides employed in the collodion — these bodies
possessing very different degrees of stability, iodide of ammonium
being the least, and iodide of cadmium the most stable.
In the earlier days of collodion manufacture, it was considered
that as ether was used only as a solvent for pyroxyline, and did not
necessarily undergo any chemical change, that those portions
forming sediments or residues, and indeed any old collodion, might
be redistilled and the ether so produced utilised in the preparation
of new collodion. Subsequent experience has, however, satis¬
factorily shown, that it is inexpedient to do this — that it is indeed
false economy — as the collodion prepared in this way acquired so
soon the property of decomposing the iodides used in sensitising it
that it speedily becomes unfit for employment in any pro¬
cess where even a small degree of sensibility is required, and
suitable only for copying engravings and subjects of a kindred
character.
Impurities and Tests. — Among the first may be mentioned water,
alcohol, oil of wine, aldehyde, and methylic ether. Faint traces of
lime are also sometimes carried over mechanically in the process
of rectification. The first of these, arising generally from imperfect
rectification, may be separated by redistillation from quick-lime by
the heat of a water-bath. In speaking of the second, however, as
an impurity, it should be understood to be so only in the strictest
acceptation of the term, for, in point of fact, ether without the
addition of alcohol is unfit for the manufacture of collodion ; but as
it is desirable to be able to control the amount of the ingredient,
and as this can only be attained by the employment of ether
absolutely free from alcohol in the first instance, it is obviously
necessary that the ether sold for photographic purposes should be
ether per se. The third impurity mentioned, namely, oil of wine,
is not likely to be of frequent occurrence in the ether sold for
photographic purposes, though it is sometimes contained in the
crude product through allowing the temperature to rise too high :
evidence of its presence will be afforded by its rather unpleasant
smell when a portion of the suspected ether is allowed to evaporate
on the hand. It may be separated from the ether by redistillation
from caustic alkali. Aldehyde is a product of the oxidation of
alcohol which may perhaps be sometimes contained in ether, in
which case it would cause its deterioration by passing into acetic
acid and by this means rendering the collodion prepared with it
very insensitive.
Methylic ether would be produced by the employment of methy¬
lated spirit in the preparation of the ether. Evidence of its presence
may be obtained by allowing a portion to evaporate in the hand,
when, if present, a naptha-like odour will be perceived. The chief
objection to its presence arises from its proneness to absorb oxygen
from the air, and render the ether acid from the formation of formic
acid.
It also has the property of bleaching iodised collodion by enter¬
ing into combination with any iodine that may have become
liberated : it is doubtful, however, if the sensitiveness be thereby
increased.
The traces of lime mechanically projected into the ether in the
process of rectification would be indicated by the production of a
white precipitate on the addition of oxalate of ammonia, and may
be removed by agitating the ether with sulphuric acid and redis¬
tillation.
In concluding this division of the subject it may be remarked
that the specific gravity of good standard ether should be ’720° at
60° Fah., and any variation from these may be regarded as an indi¬
cation of one or both of the two first-named impurities. The follow¬
ing also may be regarded as a good indication of the presence of
alcohol. Pyroxyline is somewhat difficultly soluble in pure
ether: if this substance, however, contain only a small pro¬
portion of alcohol, the pyroxyline enters into solution with great
readiness.
Effect of Internal Use. — A large dose of liquid ether or its vapour
produces profound lethargy, with slow, deep, and noisy breathing;
the skin becomes pale and cold, and the eyes glassy, while the
muscles generally are flabby and relaxed.
Antidote. — Artificial respiration should be resorted to, abundance
of fresh air allowed to come to the patient, and cold water sprinkled
on the face. Should the case, however, present unusual difficulties,
medical aid should be called in.
THE POLYCONOGRAPH,
A neuo Camera for taking many Landscapes , &c., on One Large Plate ,
Invented by M. J. Duboscq.
For the following description of this new piece of apparatus we
are indebted to the pages of our contemporary, Cosmos. M. Jules
Duboscq, who has already rendered considerable service to photo¬
graphy, has just invented a piece of apparatus specially intended
for obtaining a considerable number of views during a journey,
and has therefore designated it as the travelling Polyconograpli.
This apparatus consists of three parts — the camera, the plate-
holder, and the tripod.
The camera consists of a kind of telescope formed by two metal
cones united by a short piece of tube, the cones being placed with
their bases towards one another. At the base of one of the two
cones is a piece of ground-glass, and at its apex a convex lens
serving as an eye-lens wherewith to view the image formed on
the gi’ound-glass. At the apex of the other cone is a double
combination achromatic lens. When in use this apparatus is
fixed to the plate-holder attached to the tripod.
The plate-holder is somewhat complex in construction, consisting
of a dark box in which a sensitive dry plate of large dimensions
is deposited, the box itself being very shallow, and furnished on
the front side with a system of five double sliding shutters, dis¬
posed one over the other, and sliding out from opposite ends of
the plate-holder, so that by the partial sliding out of the two
composing any one pair of shutters a portion of the plate is
exposed to the action of the light. Each shutter protects a por¬
tion of the plate intended for three landscapes (or other subjects)
side by side ; and, as there are five systems of shutters over one
another, the plate will receive in all fifteen subjects. At one end
of each of the outer slides of the plate-holder is an aperture and
fitting furnished with a bayonet joint in order to receive the cone
which carries the object-glass.
The tripod has on two of the legs buttons or pegs to support
the plate-holder, which, instead of being placed as usual on the
top of the tripod, is supported against these pegs and kept in its
place by means of a brass arm which is held by a screw on the top
of the tripod — an arrangement calculated to impart considerable
steadiness to the whole apparatus.
To operate we proceed as follows : — The plate-holder being
fixed in position on the tripod, and the lenses attached thereto on
the top, the whole is arranged opposite to the view or other sub¬
ject to be delineated, and, looking through the eye-lens, the focus
is carefully adjusted. The cone carrying the object-glass is then
detached from its position by unloosing the bayonet joint, and is
placed in the aperture of the upper slide, into which it fits in like
manner. The inner shutter is then slid out sufficiently to expose
that portion of the plate opposite to the objective, and the cap of
the lens is removed for a sufficient time. The sensitive plate and
the ground-glass in the tube where the focussing is effected are so
arranged that when one is in focus the other also must be so; if,
therefore, more copies than one of the same view, are desired,
there is no need to focus again ; but, by simply shifting the slides
one space further, another exposure may be effected, and conse¬
quently another negative obtained, with scarcely any trouble.
Each of the slides is divided into spaces and numbered succes¬
sively, and the plate-holder is divided internally into fifteen
divisions. The plate-holder can be carried as a knapsack, the lens
in the pocket, and the tripod can be used as a walking-staff.
September 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE AS
REVEALED BY SPECTRUM ANALYSIS.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
For some months past we have been waiting an opportunity to intro¬
duce to our readers a subject that has been exciting great interest
amongst scientific observers ; but, hitherto, matters more strictly
photographic have had a claim upon our columns, and prevented us
from entering upon a description of the method of spectrum analysis
and of the deductions to which it has led philosophers regarding the
constitution of the atmosphere that surrounds the solar nucleus, under
( which aspect the subject assumes an interest for photographers.
As the subject is an abstruse one to those who have not pre¬
viously given it their attention, we will proceed step by step, so
as to lead up to points of higher consideration.
When a beam of light passes obliquely from one transparent
medium into another of different density, it is bent out of its course,
and is then said to be refracted. This may be experimentally de¬
monstrated in the following manner : — Take a parallel- sided glass
vessel : paste two pieces of black paper over the back surface, so
that only a narrow parallel strip of glass is left uncovered in the
centre, and grey the front surface by dabbing it over with a ball
of putty. Half fill the vessel with water, and place it with the
slit opposite to a bright beam of light, in such a position that they
stand perfectly at right angles to each other. An image of the slit
will now be depicted on the front greyed glass of the tank, which
will appear as a perpendicular line from top to bottom. If, instead
of allowing the beam of light to fall perpendicularly on the back
surface of the tank,. it be made to strike it in an oblique direction,
the image of the slit will now be separated into two distinct por¬
tions at the line where the water joins the air, the image of the
slit being refracted or bent to one side, where it has had to pass
through the denser medium, whilst the image of the slit that
has only passed through the air in the upper portion of the
vessel retains its original direction.
If, instead of allowing a beam of white light to pass through a
parallel-sided body, it be made to fall obliquely on one side of a
substance denser than air, and whose surfaces are not parallel, as
that, of a triangular prism formed of glass or other transparent
media, on emerging from the opposite face of the prism it will not
only be refracted, but the several rays, violet, indigo, blue, green,
yellow, orange, red— of which white light is known to be composed
— wilhbe found to be separated from each other like the blades of a
lady’s fan, and are then in technical language said to be dispersed.
Firs i
This may be demonstrated by allowing a beam of white light,
B .fig. 1, to pass through a round hole in the window-shutter of a
darkened room on to a white screen : at the point where the beam
impinges, a circular spot of white light will he apparent, as at W,
fig. 1. If the refracting angle of a prism, P, be now introduced
into the path of the beam of light, B, the spot at W will disappear ;
as the light will then be refracted upwards, and at the same time
be decomposed by dispersion into an infinite number of coloured
rays, which follow one another, invariably in the order previously
indicated, forming' what is called the prismatic spectrums , it will
be found that the violet rays will be refracted towards the base of
the prism, whilst the red rays will be but slightly diverted from
the. apex or refracting angle of the prism, this being due to the
different degrees of refrangibility of the different rays of light.
The violet rays, being more readily refracted than the others, are
diverted from their course to a greater extent than the indigo
group, the indigo to a greater extent than the blue, and so on to
the rays which suffer the minimum amount of refraction.
303
It will also be found that the intensity of these different coloured
spaces varies, the yellow rays having the greatest intensity, whilst
the brightness diminishes towards each end of the spectrum.
If, instead of allowing the spectrum to be formed upon the
screen, as in the previous experiment, we view the aperture
through the prism with the naked eye, a spectrum will be visible,
but in an inverted order — that is to say, the red rays will then
appear to be refracted towards the base of the prism, the violet
towards the apex : this is called the complimentary spectrum.
It will be found in both these experiments that, whilst the width
of the spectrum S ,fig 1, is of the same diameter as that of the
spot of light formed at W, its length is about five times as great.
It will also be found that if the prism be turned slowly about
its edge, the spectrum first descends and then ascends ; but, during
a very small angular movement of the prism in either direction,
the spectrum will become stationary. The prism is then said to
be in the position of minimum deviation.
Different media not only have different refractive powers, but
also different dispersive powers, as may be seen on comparing the
spectra produced by two prisms of equal angles — one being made
of flint, the other of crown glass : the former will be found to give
a longer spectrum than the latter. But dispersive power is not
directly related to refractive power; for two bodies having the same
mean refraction will have different dispersive properties, and media
having different refractive powers may possess the same dispersive
power. Thus oil of cassia and flint glass do not vary materially
as to their mean refractive power, but oil of cassia affords a spec¬
trum nearly twice and a-half times as long as that [of flint glass,
prisms of equal angles being used. On the other hand, the
dispersive powers of diamond and crown glass are equal,
whilst their refractive powers are as three to one. Again: media
having equal mean dispersive powers may have different dispersive
powers for individual rays — thus, if two spectra of equal length,
produced by two hollow prisms, filled respectively with oil of
cassia and sulphuric acid, be placed in juxtaposition, so that the
extreme visible violet and red rays coincide, it will be found that
though the rays in both spectra occur in the order previously de¬
scribed, yet the spaces occupied by the several rays in the two
spectra are not proportionate. In the oil of cassia spectrum, the
most refrangible rays — as the violet, indigo, and blue — will be
found to occupy a much larger space than that in the sulphuric
acid spectrum ; Avhilst the less refrangible rays, as red, orange,
and yellow, occupy less space. In the sulphuric acid spectrum
just the reverse occurs. If a line be drawn through the middle of
these two spectra, it will be found to cut the blue rays in the oil,
and the green rays in the acid spectrum. This results from the
fact that, although the indices of refraction of the extreme rays of
any two media may be equal, the index of refraction for the inter¬
mediate rays may be unequal. This phenomenon is termed the
irrationality of spectral dispersion.
If a prism of the same media, but cut with a greater refracting
angle, be examined, it will be found that the length of the spec¬
trum or the distance of the mean rays from the extremities will be
increased. On the other hand, if the refracting angle be lessened
the length of the spectrum will be diminished. From what has
been previously stated, it might be thought that there would be a
difficulty in comparing the spectrum produced by one medium with
that of another ; but, by making an examination of the solar spec¬
trum with proper precautions, instead of appearing as a con¬
tinuous band of coloured rays, as in previous experiments, it
will be found to be traversed in the direction of its breadth by
many hundred defective or dark lines, which vary in different parts
in width and distinctness. These are independent of the nature of
the refractive medium employed, but they always occur in the
same colour and at corresponding points of the spectrum. These
lines being constant serve as fixed points for reference, in the same
manner as degrees of latitude and longitude are employed by the
geographer. The dark lines in the spectrum were first observed
by Dr. Wollaston in 1802. 354 of them were subsequently mapped
by Fraunhofer, the celebrated optician, of Munich, after whom they
were christened as “ Fraunhofer’s Lines;” and in a communication
from Sir David Brewster and Dr. J. H. Gladstone, read before the
Royal Society, February, 1860, it is stated that the Scotch philo¬
sopher has delineated more than 2,000 visible and easily-recognised
portions of the solar spectrum. The position of these dark lines
varies with the source of light : each of the fixed stars has a system
of lines of its own ; and artificial lights produce characteristic spectra,
that of the electric lamp consisting almost entirely of a few bright
lines. It is to such phenomena we have now to direct our attention.
(To be continued.)
304
[September 2, 18Ci
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
PERFECT POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES FROM
PHOTOGENIC COLLODION.*
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
Having become assured, by my studies upon washed collodion,
that the mode of development and the nature of the developer had
the greatest influence upon the intensity of the proofs, I took a
preparation of photogenic collodion, and I have the pleasure of
announcing to my readers that I have succeeded in preparing a
photogenic compound which has given me positives as white as
snow, and negatives of an extraordinary clearness for printing.
I cannot tell exactly how I composed it, the preparation was so
complicated ; but the fact is quite certain, and, as I have many
times said, photogen will soon replace the sensitive collodion in the
silver bath.
The way in which I operate at present is as follows : — I pour
upon a plate some photogenic collodion, which, in large quantities,
is of a greenish yellow, and upon the plate a very pure opal colour.
The plate thus prepared is ready for immediate use, and in all pro¬
bability will last sensitive for an indeiinite time, for this photogen
never dries.
After the impression the plate is washed in acidulated water
intended for sensitive plates. When greasiness has disappeared, a
pyrogallic developer is poured on, and when this has been well
soaked in, some nitrate of silver is added (15 grains to the ounce),
which produces a beautiful impression.
This photogen at present requires twice as long an exposure as
the ordinary sensitive collodion; but, as the latter is found fifty
times slower for obtaining positives upon paper than some impene¬
trable photogenic materials that I have already prepared, there is
nothing to fear on that score, and L have not the slightest doubt
that I shall succeed in preparing some photogenic collodion,
leaving nothing to desire with regard to its sensitiveness.
T have just tried whether the photogenic collodion will keep its
sensitiveness any length of time. After covering a plate with it I
placed it in my small apparatus, using for a diaphragm a disc of
card, pricked with the point of a pin not exceeding a millimetre in
diameter. With a diaphragm of seven millimetres this apparatus
gave me a negative, with a rapid sensitive collodion, after an
exposure of ten seconds. The glass is a simple achromatic lens.
My photogen being but half as sensitive, it required twenty
seconds with this last diaphragm, and fifty times as long with my
pin-hole — that is to say, one thousand seconds, or a good quarter
of an hour. I left it exposed, however, two hours ; and, on proceed¬
ing to the development, I only obtained a fraction of the back¬
ground with the distance very faint in the positive.
From this failure I did not conclude that the photogen could not
keep its sensitiveness any considerable length of time, because my
apparatus was tried in an extreme case. It was exposed at the
back to the full heat of the sun, and when I examined the plate
before the development, I saw it was covered with very perceptible
thin liquid globules ; the plate must, therefore, have experienced a
kind of roasting, which had undoubtedly destroyed the sensi¬
tiveness.
Soon after I took a negative with the same photogen and my
aperture of seven millimetres. This negative I found perfect in
all its parts ; and, on comparing its background with other back¬
grounds upon some beautiful proofs obtained in the ordinary way,
the background of the photogen appeared to me twice as intense.
In putting aside for the moment the permanence of its sensitive¬
ness, which I had assigned to the photogen (a question which I
shall soon decide), it will, perhaps, be proved from this day that
the photogen supersedes sensitive collodion with the silver bath ;
and washed collodion already appears to me only a thing of the past.
Yesterday I found again great difficulty in preparing some
photogen fit for use, but I have just thought of a process Avhich
will allow of my making it with mathematical precision, since I
shall be guided in the proportions by a very slight change of
colour ; and I now find that I shall be able to prepare a photogenic
albumen, which was impracticable by my former process.
Thus, before long, there will be photogenic collodion, gelatine,
and albumen ; and who will not then perceive how considerably
photography will be simplified and rendered more attractive ?
By making use of the inexhaustible resources of chemistry we
shall obtain some preparations of a perfect permeability; and, as I
have already obtained a photogenic collodion which is impenetrable
upon glass, but more sensitive upon paper than the most rapid
collodion, we cannot doubt the brilliant future which is in store for
its perfection.
* From La Lumierc.
In this way everything will become possible, and I have no
doubt of the preparation of an extra-sensitive photogen whiclu
being poured upon a plate, will serve an indefinite time ; for I can
very well see that there is a way to render the photogenic prepa¬
ration strictly insensitive to every influence apart from the actinic
force, at the ordinary temperature.
STRAY CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By James Martin.
ON VARNISHES.
The subject of Varnishes has been brought under the notice of the
readers of this Journal within the last twelve months, and is now
resumed with the object of a more thorough treatment than it has
hitherto received. The writer would refrain from adding to what
has already been printed (which is satisfactory as far as it goes)
were it not that the periodicals devoted to photography seem to
have treated the matter with less accuracy and precision than its
practical importance demands. It is, therefore, with a view to
supply this defect that the present papers are written.
The investigation may be advantageously dealt with ah initio by
pursuing the following inquiries: —
1. What is a varnish ?
2. What are varnishes made of?
3. How are varnishes made ?
These questions will first be examined in a somewhat abstract
or general sense, and then with especial reference to photography.
First, then — What is a varnish ?
A varnish is a solution of resinous matter applied to the surface
of any body, with the object of imparting to it a hard translucent
and shining coat, whereby it resists, with more or less success, the
influences of air and moisture. This we conceive to be a tolerably
fair abstract definition of a varnish. It may be further stated that
the coating thus imparted consists of the resinous portion of the
solution deposited in the form of a thin layer, consequent on the
evaporation of the liquid solvent. A good varnish also should
possess the following qualities : — Its brilliancy should remain unim¬
paired by lapse of time, and, while adhering perfectly to the surface
to which it is applied, it should not appear dull or greasy, nor
should it crack or scale off : its colour and lustre should not be
altered by exposure to light and air, nor should it be long in
drying.
These essential qualities are possessed more or less completely
by all the members of the three classes into which varnishes are
divided. These classes are — oil varnishes, turpentine varnishes,
and spirit varnishes ; and as it is especially with the latter class
that photographers are concerned, our remarks will, it is conceived,
be most advautageously limited to a description of their qualities.
Speaking generally of spirit varnishes they are more brilliant, but,
at the same time, more brittle than the varnishes included under
the other heads — the toughest and best spirit varnishes being those
containing lac or copal. But this brings us to the consideration of
our second question —
What are varnishes made of?
Keeping in view the definition of a varnish with which we
started, and which we may, perhaps, be allowed to call the text of
this chapter, it is obvious that varnishes are made of resinous
matter and a solvent. But, before answering this question in
detail, we must ask permission to digress for a short time for the
purpose of establishing by correct definition what is a resin?
It should be stated, in the first instance, that nearly all the sub¬
stances which are employed to form the body of a varnish are
known in commerce, and bought and sold in “ the trade ” under
the general name of “ Gums.''1 Now, although this kind of loose
phraseology may answer its purpose among dealers who merely
buy and sell, regardless of the chemical properties of the sub¬
stances they deal in, it is altogether inapplicable in cases where
an accurate scientific understanding of the subject is aimed at;
and such being, we feel assured, the object of the readers of this
Journal, it becomes necessary to describe distinctly the difference
between a gum , gum-resin , and resin.
Gum is a term only correctly applied when it refers to a proximate
vegetable principle of almost universal occurrence, characterised by
forming with water a viscid ’, mucilaginous or slimy solution , and by its
insolubility in ether , alcohol , and oils , and also by its convertibility into
oxalic and mucic acids by the action of strong nitric acid. Gum in
numerous cases is a natural exudation, occurring in dried nodules
on the bark of trees. It presents itself in three distinct modifica¬
tions, known to chemists under the names of arabine, tragacan-
thine, and cerasine. The first of these is well represented by
September 2, 1861]
THE BRITtSH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
305
ordinary gum arabic, the second by gum tragacanth, and the third
by cherry-tree gum. In neither of these three varieties do the
necessary properties exist to make a true gum applicable for pho¬
tographic purposes, such as we now have in view : it is not there¬
fore a gum, in the strict acceptation of the term, which enters into
the composition of a photographic varnish. Let us, therefore, see
if a gum-resin be a more suitable substance for our purpose. A
gum-resin is a concrete juice which has exuded in a milky state from
incisions made in the hark, branches, and roots of certain plants. It
has assumed the hard condition in which it is found in commerce
by spontaneous drying subsequent to its exudation, and is found on
examination to consist of resin, essential oil, and gum. A gum-
resin, of which gamboge is perhaps as familiar an illustration as
can be cited, possesses the following qualities : — It is an opaque
brittle solid, heavier than water, of variable colour, sometimes
having a strong smell and an acrid taste ; but especially charac¬
terised by being completely soluble neither in alcohol nor in water,
but forming with the latter menstruum a milky mixture which
seldom becomes transparent. That portion of a gum-resin which
is soluble in alcohol is really and properly the resin, and the por¬
tion insoluble in alcohol but soluble in water is the gum. Gum-
resins, besides these two principal constituents, contain, in many
instances, volatile oils, imparting to them characteristic odours,
and separable from them by distillation : they contain also several
saline matters, and traces of wax, starch, bassorine, and caoutchouc.
It will be seen therefore that their heterogeneous nature renders
them inapplicable for the preparation of a fluid such as we defined
a varnish to be at the outset.
Chemicals : it would be superfluous, therefore, to enter into a de¬
tailed description of them in this place.
In reference to the colouring matters mentioned in the list, it
may be said that it would be desirable if the manufacturers of var¬
nishes for photographic purposes would leave them out altogether,
as they most of them impart an increased yellowness to the nega¬
tive upon which they are poured. It should, however, be stated
that the serious objections advanced by some operators to the
yellowness possessed by some varnishes have hardly a sound
foundation ; for the printing qualities of some negatives are mate¬
rially improved after varnishing with a yellow varnish, on account
of the retarding action upon the light of the slighthj yellow film
protecting the middle tints. Moreover, the writer has ascertained
by direct experiment that the amount of solid matter of all kinds
deposited on a stereoscopic negative amounts to only one grain in
weight ; and, when it is remembered that this is diffused over an
area in this particular instance of 21 square inches, the extreme
tenuity of the film of resin and the small amount of colouring
matter that can be present will become apparent.
A few general remarks on the characters and properties of the
resins employed in making photographic varnishes will fitly conclude
this portion of our chapter. These are anime, benzoin, dammar,
elemi, mastic, lac, copal, amber, sandarach.
Anime is the produce of a tree growing in Brazil bearing the
name hymencea courharil. It consists of two resins : one soluble
in cold alcohol, and the other crystallisable from its hot alcoholic
solution.
Benzoin occurs in commerce in two conditions: — the finer kinds
_ Let us now, for a moment, turn our attention to the considera¬
tion of the properties of a true resin. Common “ rosin ” or colo¬
phony is, perhaps, as good an example of a true resin as could be
selected ; and. taking this as a type, resins may be described as
transparent, brittle solids, resulting from the hardening of a transparent
exudation, flowing naturally from fissures in the wood or bark or from
incisions made in the trees and shrubs which produce them. Generally
speaking, resins are inodorous and tasteless : their colours are
generally derived from foreign substances, as when purified they
are usually pale yellow. Some of them emit characteristic odours
when rubbed, and all of them on the application of heat : this
arises probably from the existence of slight traces of volatile oil.
The greater number of them are heavier than, aud insoluble in,
water, but for the most part completely soluble in such menstrua as
alcohol, ether, chloroform, essential oils, and benzole, &c. They
are thrown down from their solution in alcohol in the form of a
white pulverulent or curdy mass on the addition of water. Chiefly,
however, true resins are characterised by a complete homoge¬
neousness, which is absent in many of the gums, and entirely so
in all the gum-resins ; and it is this uniformity throughout its entire
mass which makes a true resin so especially applicable in the
manufacture of varnishes for photographic purposes.
Having, as we trust, now clearly explained the difference
between gums, resins, and gum-resins, we will proceed to the con¬
sideration of the second question proposed, namely — What are
varnishes made of? This subject has occupied the attention of
chemists no less eminent than Ure, Aikin, and Dumas, the latter
of whom prepared the following classified list of the materials
employed in the manufacture of varnishes : —
solvents.
Oil of Nuts
SOLIDS.
Amber
COLOURS.
Gamboge
33
Linseed
Copal
Dragon’s Blood
33
Turpentine
Mastic
Aloes
33
Rosemary
Sandarac
Saffron
33
Alcohol
Lac
Turmeric
33
Ether
Elemi
Annatto
•s g-s |
[Benzole
Benzoin
Red Sanders
1 Chloroform
Colophony
Cochineal
^ >-> 03 |
| Methylated Spirit
Arcanson
Indigo
h SJ8 1
^•Naphtha
Anime
Now added Dammar.
In the preparation of black varnishes, also, the use of asplialtum
and Indian-rubber or caoutchouc should be mentioned. The fore¬
going list, being a very complete one, obviously includes the
materials for all three classes of varnishes : it is only necessary,
however, for our purpose to consider those substances which enter
into the composition of the varieties of spirit varnishes, as it is
with these we are chiefly concerned.
Among the solvents, those especially interesting to the photo¬
grapher are alcohol, chloroform, and benzole. These will be found
described in due course under the head of Notes on Photographic
being frequently distinguished by the name of Siam benzoin ; the
coarser and less pure kind being called Calcutta benzoin. It consists
of white translucent tears, apparently connected by a brown trans¬
parent resin. These are separable into a peculiar acid (benzoic
acid) and three distinct resins: — No. 1 being soluble in ether;
No. 2 insoluble ; and No. 3 soluble in ether and in solution of car¬
bonate potash. The white translucent tears separated from the
brown resin are soluble in benzole or chloroform, forming a very
superior varnish.
Dammar or Dammara Resin. — A white resin brought from the
East Indies, and said to be the produce of the pinus dammara. It
contains, as many of the other resins do, two distinct resins — one
soluble and the other insoluble in alcohol. Both are, however,
completely soluble in benzole, leaving only an insignificant gummy
residue.
Elemi contains about GO parts of an acid resin soluble in cold
alcohol, and 20 parts per cent, of an indifferent crystallisable resin
soluble in hot alcohol. The resin is at first soft and slightly viscid,
but becomes brittle and acquires hardness by cold and age. It is
yellow, translucent, and of a peculiar odour not unlike fennel, and
yields a volatile oil by distillation. As it occurs in nature it is “a
concrete resinous exudation from one or more unascertained
plants.”
Mastic is yielded by the pistacia lintiscus, a native of the island
of Chios. It occurs also in the south of Europe generally, the
north of Africa, and the Levant. It is met with in small spheroidal,
transparent tears, of a pale yellow colour, vitreous fracture, agree¬
able odour, and mild aromatic taste. When masticated it becomes
tough and somewhat viscid. It fuses at about 250° F., and con¬
tains a very minnte quantity of volatile oil, and about 90 per cent,
of a resin readily soluble in alcohol. It is a valuable ingredient
for varnishes, and is sometimes used for stopping decayed teeth.
Lac. — The sources of this valuable resin are numerous ; being
obtained from numerous trees belonging to the genera ficus, rham-
nus, croton , &c., growing in Assam, Siam, Pegu, Bengal, and
Malabar. Its formation in the plants seems to depend upon the
puncture of a small insect (coccus ficus) made for the purpose of
depositing its ova. The three varieties of stick lac, seed lac, and
shell lac, are thus produced : — The puncture of the insect being-
made, a coloured juice soon exudes, which concretes upon the
small twigs and branches : this concrete, highly-coloured resin con¬
stitutes the stick lac of commerce, and this, on being separated
from the twigs, roughly powdered and washed with water to
remove the greater portion of the colouring matter, constitutes
the seed lac ; and the conversion of this article into shell lac is
effected by fusion, straining and dropping while still hot on a
smooth surface, so as to spread out into thin brittle plates on
cooling.
The solution of this resin in alcohol appears to be greatly facili¬
tated by powdering it very finely, and then exposing it for several
months to the action of the air.
Copal occurs in hard pieces of a delicately yellow tint pos-
30G
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 2, 18Gl
sessing a conchoidal fracture, transparency, and often including
(like amber) insects and vegetable remains. It is inodorous and
tasteless. It acquires viscidity when heated. When boiled in
alcohol a small portion only dissolves, and the residue swells and
softens. According to M. Soehnee (as quoted by Dumas) copal
acquires solubility in alcohol by being reduced to an impalpable
powder, and exposed to the air for at least twelve months.
Amber is a fossil resin composed of C40H3204. It is found
chiefly on the southern shores of the Baltic, between Konigsberg
and Memel : it occurs also in bituminous wood and in beds of
brown coal. It is transparent, or translucent, and of various shades
of yellow and brown : its specific gravity is P06. Berzelius regards
it as a mixture of two resins, bitumen volatile oil and succinic
acid. It fuses and burns on being heated, giving off a somewhat
agreeable aromatic odour. It requires peculiar management to
effect its solution either in alcohol or oils : chloroform appears to
be its best solvent.
Sandarach is a most useful resin in the preparation of varnishes
— occurring in small, brittle, yellow drops, easily fusible, and soluble
in alcohol. It is the produce of thuici articulata — a plant indigenous
to Barbary — and the resin is imported from Mogadore. Like many
others it is separable into three resins distinguishable only by their
relative solubility in hot and cold alcohol.
Having thus far considered our subject, we will postpone the
treatment of the third inquiry to a future number.
- -*»■ -
THE TANNIN PROCESS.
By Major Bussell.
[By the special permission of the Author we reproduce the following .]
Gelatine, simply dissolved in water, is always slightly milky, and
the impurity, whatever it may be, is not removable by filtration,
but soon clogs the paper. If a glass be covered with the milky
solution, the white substance, when dry, appears like a fine dust
adhering to the surface of the gelatine, and unless polished off by
hard rubbing, sometimes shows slightly in the transparent parts
of the negatives. These inconveniences may be entirely avoided
in the following manner : — Soak the gelatine in distilled water,
two to five grains to the ounce, adding one drop of glacial acetic
acid for each grain of gelatine. When thoroughly swelled and
transparent, dissolve by warming. Should the water be heated
before the gelatine has had time to swell, the latter will adhere to
the bottom of the vessel containing it, in a stiff glutinous state,
and will dissolve with great difficulty. Add one drachm of pure or
methylated alcohol to each ounce of solution, and filter two or
three times through filtering paper in a warm place. The acetic
acid coagulates the white impurity, which then collects into fila¬
ments, and is removed by filtering, leaving the solution very
bright. This solution will keep for a long time ; but, should it
decompose from loss of alcohol by evaporation, it must be rejected.
Any decomposition may be detected by a disagreeable smell, and
by the solution becoming limpid.
A two-grain solution of gelatine scarcely requires warming to
work well, if the temperature of the room be not much below sixtj^
degrees. Gelatine liquid of this strength answers well with a thin
collodion ; but, when the collodion is thick, it is apt to fail, by
allowing the film to loosen during development, which is fatal
when gelatine is used, although not necessarily so in the case of
simple uncoated glasses. It is therefore advisable to use the
gelatine solution strong enough. A five-grain solution may be
depended on for producing sufficient adhesion, whatever be the
nature of the collodion, and gives but little extra trouble in pre¬
paration. The strength of the gelatine solution ought certainly
to be proportioned to the thickness of the collodion film ; but,
nevertheless, considerable latitude is admissible — so much so,
that any solution containing between two and five grains to the
ounce will answer in the majority of cases. The effect of using
too little gelatine is insufficient adhesion ; of using too much,
blueness of the film, general insensitiveness, and want of vigour
in the negative, from the penetration of the gelatine to the surface
of the collodion. Should this penetration be uneven, markings of
insensitiveness will be the result.* A solution of isinglass may be
substituted for that of gelatine, if of about half the strength, that
is from one to two and a half grains to the ounce ; but it does not
appear to make the film adhere quite so strongly to the glass.
Isinglass may, however, possibly answer better than gelatine in
very hot weather, as the former remains undissolved at a higher
temperature than the latter.
* The writer has not seen these faults except when using a ten-grain solution of
gelatine, or a fivc-gi'ain solution of isinglass, for experiment.
Should there be a fire in the room, place the draining standi
before it on a chair rather than on the floor, for obvious reasons.
The glasses should be all on the side of the stand next the lire,
and the distance from it such that they will become a little
warmer than the hand.
Whatever method of applying the gelatine be adopted, the
plates must be warmed after cleaning, or traces of the cleaning
liquid, remaining in the pores of the glass, will repel the solution,
causing circular spots of bare glass to appear on draining. Warm
the gelatine by putting the bottle, which should be thin, inside
the fender, or more quickly by dipping it in hot water, taking care
not to immerse beyond the surface of the solution, or the bottle
may be broken. Take a small cylindrical glass vessel called a
beaker (the best are those which have the rim most turned out)
and a glass funnel. The nose of the funnel may, if necessary, be
shortened by notching with a file, and breaking to such a length
as to be just clear of the bottom when the cone fits the upper part
of the beaker. The broken end should be ground smooth on a
grindstone, or other rough stone, to prevent risk of scratching the
plates.
Cut a piece of new fine-grained sponge into a truncated conical
shape, the outside forming the thicker end, to be placed upwards.
Soak in water, and knead well under a tap to remove loose
particles ; push rather tightly into the neck of the funnel ; then
pour in enough gelatine solution to stand in the beaker higher
than the top of the sponge in the funnel : it will pass through
quickly.
Take up a glass with a pneumatic holder, sweep with the
velvet rubber, and place on a levelling stand with the holder
still attached. If the plate be large the holder should be in the
middle, if of stereoscopic size close to the edge of the plate, when
there will be room for it if the levelling stand be of suitable size
(about 61 inches between the screws at the corners), the glass
Bird's. eye view of a stereoscopic plate on a levelling stand with the
pneumatic holder attached to it.
resting on two of the screws in the middle of the sides of the
triangle, and on the screw at the angle nearest the operator.
Take the funnel in the left hand, and hold nearly or quite in
contact with the surface of the plate near corner 1 ; then with the
right hand pour the solution from the beaker on the same corner,
nearly touching the surface of the plate with the rim, to avoid
making bubbles, until about a quarter of the glass is covered ;
then replace the funnel in the beaker hold in the left hand under
corner 4, and, taking the holder in the right hand, lift the end of
the plate on which the solution has been poured in such a manner
that it will flow to the left, inclining from side to side to keep the
advancing edge of the liquid convex until the plate is covered ;
then pour off into the funnel from corner 4. With a little practice
this operation is quite as easy as pouring the collodion, the
solution flowing very readily on glasses cleaned as described
above.
Should any difficulty be found at first, the gelatine may be
spread with a glass rod bent at one end, which may be placed
ready for use in a clean glass measure, or the flow of the solution
may be assisted with the nose of the funnel. It is better to
dispense with the use of the glass rod, as dust may fall on it and
so be introduced into the solution and left on the plate. This
would render a second pouring on and off necessary. Next set the
plate up to drain on corner 3, between two of the pegs of the
draining stand on the farther side from the fire, taking care that
the glass rests against both pegs, to ensure its standing firmly.
Blotting paper should previously have been placed between the
pegs to absord the liquid ; a piece about two inches square, folded
September 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
307
in equal parts three times, so as to give eight thicknesses, will be
enough for a stereoscopic plate. If the glasses are drained on the
side next the fire, a hard line will be formed near the two lower
sides, like that produced in drying by the thick edges of negative
varnish : this line would show in the picture, but is never formed
when the gelatine is allowed to dry spontaneously. Proceed in
the same manner with the other glasses : if these are slightly
warm the gelatine will be kept sufficiently fluid. When too warm
the solution becomes limpid, and does not flow regularly, leaving
also a thinner film upon the glass. The best consistency is about
that of iodised collodion.
Should it be preferred, the gelatine can be poured exactly in the
same manner as collodion, without a levelling stand, by using two
beakers, and placing the funnel in one, while the solution is poured
on the plate from the other. In this case, after returning the
liquid from the plate into the glass, pour it into the funnel to
remove dust.
One side of the draining stand will be filled with gelatinised
plates long before the first has had time t® dry ; therefore, if more
are to be coated they must be placed to drain elsewhere. In
taking up the glasses to cover with gelatine clear one end of the
stand first, and when the gelatinised plates appear to be dry,
excepting at the lowest corner, place them on the side next the
fire, at the end cleared by their previous removal. When all the
uncoated glasses have been removed from the stand the coated
ones should be spread along, in the manner described after washing
the glasses, to complete the drying by heat.
The above plan will answer well if a place near a fire can be
found sufficiently free from dust. The plates being drained with
their faces inwards are not very easily affected in this way, but
care should be taken that no dust, especially from ashes, comes in
contact with the surface when wet, in any stage of preparation :
when dry this is of little consequence, as it can be brushed off
again. Should it be found desirable to perform this part of the
process in a cold room without a fire, a simple warming apparatus
may be extemporised in a few minutes, thus : place a Child’s night
light in a gallipot lid containing a little water, put on each side of
the light a piece of wood about half an inch higher than the top of
the flame, cut a piece of tin with an old pair of scissors (a piece of
any kind of canister will do), long enough to reach from one piece
of wood to the other, and a little wider than the glass which con¬
tains the gelatine solution. Should the tin not be sufficiently
rigid it may be made so by turning up the edges ; this will at the
same time prevent the glass slipping off. Having warmed the
solution to commence with, after coating each plate place the
beaker on the tin over the light whilst setting up that plate to
drain and taking up another: this will keep the solution quite
fluid enough.
By adding more acetic acid, the gelatine may be used in a cool
place without any artificial warming. One drachm of glacial acetic
acid to seven drachms of water, or an equivalent proportion of
weaker acid, aud five grains of gelatine, will work in this way ;
but in such a ca^e the plates must be quite cold, or the solution
will be rendered too limpid. This plan is not quite so safe as that
described before, but will answer well if the plates are heated
pretty strongly for some time to complete the drying. Acetic acid
does not change the gelatine into metagelatine like some other
acids, but merely acts as a solvent, and, being volatile, is easily
driven off by heat. The acid, if not thus removed, would cause
solution of the gelatine during the subsequent exciting and
washing.
The previous coating of gelatine is peculiarly suited to this
process, as the tannin solution, when concentrated by drying,
coagulates the gelatine partially, if not entirely, so that it holds to
the glass with great firmness, and cannot afterwards be loosened
by any amount of washing, provided an alkaline liquid be not
applied to the film. The working of the gelatine will be found
very easy and certain in practice if done as described above. The
plates can be coated and set up to drain at the rate of more than
one per minute, and unless dust fall on the surface between the
pouring off of the solution and setting up to drain, a speck will
never be seen on the film.
The gelatinised plates will remain good any length of time if
kept perfectly dry. To secure this, after thoroughly desiccating
by heat, pack the glasses face downwards (except the lowest glass,
which should have its face up), with a strip of blotting paper at
each end folded like a fan, a fold being inserted between each plate
and the next, beginning with the lowest and working upwards.
The glasses may then be stored in a tin box, into which should
also be put a lump of quicklime, folded in thick filtering paper and
tied round with a string. The inside of the box and the strips of
blotting paper should be previously warmed to ensure dryness.
The gelatinised plates may be kept in a common grooved box, if
in a very dry place ; should they be put away damp, or should
moist air get access to them afterwards, mould would form on the
gelatine, which would show in round black spots on the negative.
It will be found practically that it is much easier to produce
perfectly clean negatives with the gelatine than without it, and
that this coating has the further merit of effectually masking slight
scratches and defects in the glass, to say nothing of the advantage
of rendering success independent of the mechanical condition of
the collodion.
The gelatine does not appear to injure the bath for use in this
process, or in all probability for any other process in which the
whole of the nitrate of silver is removed by washing : a bath in
which gelatinised plates had been excited for months, was found
to produce negatives quite as bright and vigorous as if freshly
made, although no precautions had been taken, such as wiping the
backs of the glasses to remove gelatine. So little indeed was this
bath injured that it would produce brilliant and vigorous negatives
by the wet process when a collodion containing a large proportion
of bromide was used ; the plates excited in it showed no tendency
to fogging, and resisted solarisation remarkably well. Should it,
however, be desired to prepare plates for this process in a wet
collodion bath without injuring it, at the same time securing all
the advantages of the gelatine coating, a plan will be described in
the concluding chapter which, at the cost of a little more trouble,
will fulfil these conditions, and give even greater adhesion.
It is not absolutely necessary to use any preliminary coating, as
the process, with many samples of collodion, can be worked
without such precaution. The glasses should in this case, as
before stated, be ground a little way on the surface, and if the film
even then show signs of slipping off, the extreme edge must be
painted round with thick quick-drying spirit varnish when dry.
This operation may be conveniently performed in the following
manner : — Bore a hole vertically through the cork of a one-ounce
phial, and insert firmly a small cylindrical piece of wood, about two-
thirds as long as the height of the phial ; tie a small camel’s hair
brush to the wood, in such a position that the latter projects half
an inch or so beyond the point of the brush ; keep the phial about
half full of negative varnish from a bottle which has been nearly
used out, that it may be thick enough to prevent splashing ; the
brush, being kept in the bottle with the varnish, will always re¬
main soft. To varnish the edges of a plate, take it up with a
pneumatic holder, and draw the brush round, the wood acting as a
guide against the edge of the glass, so as to varnish only a strip
one-eighth of an inch wide or less. If the plates are to be used
for printing transparencies on, the edges should not be varnished
till after exposure, or the thickness of the varnish will prevent
contact of the plate with the negative.
On wetting the film previous to development in this mode of
working, the collodion will probably expand strongly, so as to be
forced up into ridges all over the plate ; but sometimes it will con¬
tract again in the course of ten or fifteen minutes. The develop¬
ment must not be proceeded with until the contraction has taken
place, or the fluid will get under the wrinkles and produce narrow
dark lines in the negative. Should the film contract enough to
lie smoothly it will not become loose again, and when dry will
adhere firmly to the glass ; but sufficient contraction does not take
place with some kinds of collodion, and hence this mode of work¬
ing is open to the objection of maldng success dependent on the
mechanical state of the eollodon.
Even when quite successful, this mode of proceeding involves '
quite as much time and trouble as when gelatine is used, especially
if the edges require to be varnished. The character of the picture
will not be very perceptibly different whether gelatine be used or
not ; and, with the exception of the precautions described above,
the treatment may be the same throughout in either case.
VARNISHES.
The subject of varnishes for photographic purposes is one that has
frequently of late attracted an unusual share of our attention —
partly because several of those enjoying until recently a high
reputation have at length been complained of, and partly because
the importance of varnish as a protection to fine negatives is
becoming more generally acknowledged, especially by amateurs,
who have been very apt to imagine that because they require but
a few copies from their negatives the trouble of varnishing them
may well be dispensed with.
308
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September Q, I8G1
While thinking over these matters, we have just received from
Mr. Henry Rigge samples of varnishes for negatives and positives
respectively alleged by him to possess certain properties and
advantages which he enumerates as follows : —
“The gum held in the alcoholic solution is one of the hardest
nature, purified by a complicated chemical process : the varnish
for positives holds besides a certain amount of another gum, to
facilitate the adhesion of powder colours.
“Unlike all other spirit varnishes, they dry bright without heat;
and if heat be applied the film becomes very hard. But one of the
most novel and advantageous properties of the negative varnish
is that it may be applied on the plate before it is quite dry,
thereby preventing the collodion from shrinking, cracking, peeling
off, &c., in drying. It is certainly very valuable for dry plates,
when some time after having a good negative it cracks, either
in drying or heating it previous to varnishing.
“ The way I use it in such a case is as follows : — I stand the
negative to drain well after the last washing, and, while the film
is yet damp (not too wet), I pour on a coating of varnish, which
evaporates with the collodion, and in drying keeps it down, pre¬
venting all cracking, &c. I either print from it as it is or varnish
it over again. In such a case, the dampness of the film absorbing
a portion of the gum from the varnish prevents it drying bright;
but a subsequent coating when dry will render a beautifully even
surface.”
We have as yet had no opportunity of testing the qualities of
these varnishes; and, as it may be some little time before we
Can do so satisfactorily, we think it advisable not to delay making
mention of the existence of these new candidates for photographers’
suffrages, in order that some of our experimental readers may, if so
inclined, try them for their own benefit and that of others.
ON THE BEST FORM OP RECEPTACLE POR THE
NITRATE OP SILVER BATH.
M. l’Abbd Despratz, a photographer whose name will be suffi¬
ciently familiar to those of our readers who practise the resin pro¬
cess, has, in a communication published in the pages of Le Moniteur
cle Photographie, discussed this question, and arrived at a conclusion
somewhat surprising to us. The question, however, is narrowed
to a comparison between the advantages of a vertical and a hori¬
zontal receptacle, though the latter may assume either one of two
forms. Regarding the vertical form our author says: — “hr spite
of the apparent advantages which it affords, above all to the
novice, its employment is at first very costly, in consequence of
the necessary capacity of the vessel, which must be considerable,
in order to allow the plate to be freely moved therein. If for
economy the broad sides of the vessel are made rather close, it is
very difficult to free the vessel from the metallic reductions which
constantly cover the surface ; and the plate being only capa¬
ble of immersion by aid of a 1 dipper,’ we can only with difficulty
regulate its rate of progress into the liquid. Frequently in
using a vertical bath receptacle the plate becomes injured by ver¬
tical transparent lines, owing to a partial displacement of the
iodide from the film, and, consequently, the image is absent
from the parts denuded.”
With respect to the horizontal dish, there are two ways in which
it can be applied. Firstly : so that the collodion film shall remain
upwards. Secondly : by the introduction of an inoxydable ledge,
to prevent contact with the bottom of the dish, the collodion film
may rest in a downward position with regard to the plate.
In the first case, the liquid being collected at one end by tilting
the dish, and the plate laid face upwards on the uncovered part, by
lowering the dish to a perfectly horizontal position in a dexterous
manner the liquid may be made to cover the film evenly in one
regular wave; but, unfortunately, as the collodion film becomes
thus in practice the bottom of the dish, any impurities that are con¬
tained in the liquid of course become deposited on the film itself.
By adopting the second of the two suggested methods, however
— that of supporting the plate, film downwards, at a short distance
from the bottom — all chances of a deposit on the film are avoided,
even if there are particles of foreign matter present in the liquid ;
so that frequent filtration, to which photographers are too prone
(according to the Abb£), is rendered unnecessary. The film of
oxide, induced by exposure of the surface to the air, can readily be
removed by “ scraping ” across it a band of stiff paper.
It is not necessary to enter into a description of the various
defects to which a collodion film is liable by want of skill in the
operation of immersion, as they must be sufficiently well known to
our readers ; sufficient to state that the paper before us is evidently
written by one who has arrived at a foregone conclusion in favour
of the horizontal dish, alleging that, by the use of the latter, the
film of iodide of silver is generated more slowly and therefore more
uniformly than when the vertical bath is adopted. It is asserted
that, for old collodion, a rapid immersion in the nitrate bath is
desirable ; but for that which is new, the old adage, “ festina lente is
applicable — that is to say, to proceed slowly, but without a pause.
Admitting, for argument’s sake, the accuracy of the principles
enunciated by the worthy Abbe, we fancy there arc but few prac¬
tised photographers who will concur in the conclusions at which
he arrives. English photographers have, as a rule, long since
arrived at an opinion that a small quantity of nitrate of silver
solution for a sensitising bath is very false economy.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Scenes in the Hebrides, dc., photographed bg George Wilson,
Aberdeen.
This beautiful series of illustrations, charming alike to those who
have and to those who have not visited the picturesque scenes
depicted, has been in our possession for some months past ; but,
owing to press of other matter, has not hitherto received at our
hands that attention which the excellence of the productions
merits, albeit they were the fruit of labour during last year’s moist
summer and still more moist autumn.
The first which strikes our attention is a singular rocky mountain,
of a conical form, called Glarnicii, in the Isle of Skye (No. 271).
A more desolate-looking spot it would be difficult to imagine than
the scene before us — the conical mountain standing out of the
dreary plain strewn with the huge boulders that the rushing waters
have carried down its sloping surface almost in straight lines,
scratching the same in deep seams radiating from the apex of the
pyramid. The air of solitude is enhanced by the reflection of the
upper half of the mountain seen in a lonely pool, the waters of
which do not appear to have the slightest ripple — so still it now
seems, in marked contrast to the evidences of former storms,
raging in fury, which have left their impress on the surrounding
objects.
From this same island there are two views — Quairang (Nos.2G3
and 264). Both of these are scenes of great interest, and, though
of a similar character, the last-mentioned possesses the most
abundant elements of the picturesque. Through a huge fissure
in the primitive rock the spectator looks down upon that desig¬
nated “ The Needle,” and beyond, on either side, the rock is gro¬
tesquely rent and torn in roughened fragments, presenting to the
eye all the appearance of some populous town built around the
base of a sheltering hill. The comparatively level ground beyond,
broken here and there with a patch of water, is suggested rather
than depicted ; and this is precisely one of those productions that
we should like to show to the South Kensington authorities, and
others who declare that there is an absence of soul in the photo¬
grapher’s art.
Scuir-na-Gillean, from Glen Sligchan (No. 268), and a distant
view of the same (No. 269). Both present features of geological
rather than of pictorial interest.
Travelling south, we come to scenes of a totally different
character. What can be a greater contrast to the preceding than
The Path to the Well, Tabermory, in the Island of Mull ?
A lovely woodland path, high up on the hill-side, winding round
the steep acclivity, and well shaded with sturdy oaks with gnarled
and knotted stems. Two bonnie little Scotch lassies, who have
thrown themselves upon a bank by the road-side for a gossip, each
with her hand upon her water-can, add not a little to the beauty of
the subject.
Tabermory, Island of Mull (No. 255) is a tranquil-looking town,
built close to the water’s edge, with wooded hills of gentle slope
and small eminence behind. The foreground is occupied by a
framing of ash and fir trees, and the “middle distance” by the
little harbour, bearing on its waters a few small vessels.
The Aros Waterfall, near Tabermory (No. 257), though a pic¬
turesque scene, is not so cleverly executed as the generality of
Mr. YVilson’s productions of this class, the water being less trans¬
parent and more woolly than is usual with this clever operator.
We have several illustrations from the renowned little island of
Staffa — that basaltic gem of the ocean. All are interesting; but
perhaps the most so is No. 16, The Mouth of the Clam Shell
Cave. Certainly, as an artistic subject, this is a fine companion to
Fingal’s Cave (No. 17) ; but, as no description that we could give
would convey any real idea thereof, we shall not attempt it. The
September 2, 186i] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
309
two named, together with No. 15, The Colonnade of Basaltic
Pillars, should be in every collection.
From Iona Mr. Wilson lias brought away The Ruins of the
Cathedral (No. 39), St. Austin’s Cross (No. 258), and Maclean’s
Cross (No. 259), of which the last-named is the one possessing
most pictorial value. At the foot of the ancient carved stone
cross are seated four lads in true Highland costume. The
crooked roads and rough stone walls, enclosing some fields
yielding a scanty pasturage, and in one instance a scanty crop of
grain already in sheaves, are backed by the rough farm buildings
and still rougher masses of rocky hill-side.
Amongst the miscellaneous slides are two which deserve special
mention, viz., Oban, in Argyllshire, (No. 32a), where, as in Taber-
inory, the houses are built close down to the water’s edge, under
the shelter of the hill; but in this place they form three sides of a
quadrangle. The general aspect of the place reminds us very
strongly of Helensburgh, on Loch Long.
The last we shall mention in the present notice is Ben Nevis,
from above Corpacii, Inverness-shire, a scene of tranquillity and
dreamy repose, where the undulating mountain sides, seen across
the curve of a bay, arc capped with cloudy vapours, and rendered
as only Mr. Wilson renders them.
It has been asserted (whether truly or not we cannot say) that
Mr. Wilson has this year gone out with a pair of panoramic
lenses. We trust it may be so, and shall sincerely rejoice if he be
successful in their application to such scenes as those we have
just been inspecting; for it is especially in this class of subject that
the beauty is too frequently marred by the absence of sufficient
expanse of view. It is true that there would be required some
modification of our present stereoscopic arrangements to display
properly the specimens thus taken ; but they would be worth that
trouble. It is also true, alas ! that much complication and extra
trouble would be incurred in taking such views, especially upon
moist collodion, as it would be necessary that two separate plates
should be employed for the two pictures, and this involves probable
difference in sensitiveness, &c. We shall, however, look with
interest to the close of the present campaign.
Ticrorh of ^Ijotograpljk fnbtnfioirs.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
[Notice. — Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to time such in¬
ventions and applications as may be of interest to photographers, whether they be of
great or minor importance, and also to compare the relative merits of two or more con¬
trivances designed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible we shall, as a rule,
describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a place in these columns after a
personal inspection of the same. It is therefore requested that manufacturing, pro¬
fessional, and amateur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as socn
as they are ready to place them before the public, whether they be lenses, cameras,
stands, tents, operatingboxes, printing apparatus, preservative cases, enlarging apparatus,
stereoscopes, novel methods of fitting-up glass or developing rooms and their appur¬
tenances, artificial sources of light, &c., or the applications of photography to technical
or useful purposes. If the inventors be resident in the country, it is requested that they
should forward with a simple description of the object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the same.]
COLLODION FILTER.
M. Mc-A. Gaudin recommends an arrangement for filtering collo¬
dion which lie states answers better than any other method he is
acquainted with, and by which three quarts of collodion may be
filtered in less than an hour. A zinc cylinder, two and-a-half
inches in diameter and four and a-half inches high, fitted with a
wire-gauze bottom, is, by means of an external flange, soldered
about an inch above its lower end, supported over the mouth of a
long glass or earthenware jar ; a sheet of filtering-paper is then
arranged so as to cover the bottom and sides of the metal cylinder,
up to its mouth, and a funnel, with a tuft of cotton-wool pressed
into its neck, is placed in the mouth of the upper vessel. Iodised
collodion is then poured into the funnel, from whence it passes into
the second filter, and, in its passage to the receiving vessel, is
freed from all floating particles that tend to form spots in the film.
As a further precaution, or where only small quantities of material
have to be treated, it is recommended that the collodion be passed
through a filter formed of a piece of filtering-paper, folded in four,
and placed in a smooth-sided funnel. M. Gaudin finds that col¬
lodion is not properly freed by rest and decantation, or by passing
it through cotton ; and if a fluted funnel with the creased filter-
paper usually employed with this form of support be used, action
is soon stayed, as the collodion hardens on the external surface of
the paper through the facilities offered by the flutes for the rapid
evaporation of the alcoholised ether. On the other baud a smooth
filter, placed in a smooth-sided funnel, retains an etherial atmosphere
between the surfaces of the glass and paper that tends to keep the
pores open, and prevents the formation of any hardened film
through evaporation.
The funnels ought always to be kept covered with glass plates;
and, if large quantities of collodion are being filtered, a little ether
ought to be added from time to time to compensate for any evapo¬
ration that may take place.
It is suggested by M. Gaudin that the smooth paper and funnel
would be very suitable for the filtration of albumen.
DEVELOPING SINK.
HAVING lately arranged for a friend the details of a small photo¬
graph^ laboratory, we purpose describing the construction of a
developing sink that formed part of the arrangements, planned to
economise the silver carried away with the waste developing
solutions.
The sink itself, T, is Jet into a wooden frame, F F, that is hinged
at one end so as to overlap a stout upright projecting above the
top of a portable cupboard, C ; the other end of the frame rests
upon the end of a stout wooden screw, S, that passes through a
bracket attached to an upright on the opposite side of the cup¬
board : this allows of the sink being brought to a level, or of one
end being depressed to facilitate drainage after the day’s work is
over. A vulcanised India-rubber pipe, P, carries off all liquid to
the precipitating jar, J, which is mounted on a block of wood,
placed in one compartment of the cupboard. This consists of a
glass jar, with a perforated neck in the side, about one-fifth of
the height from the top: in this a perforated cork is fitted, through
which is passed, from the inside, the bend of the short arm of a
syphon, G, this part being made of glass tube, and a piece of vulcan¬
ised India-rubber, V, is fixed to the projecting end of the glass
tube to form the long arm of a syphon. The lid, L, of the jar is
formed of gutta-percha, with a hole in the centre of it for the waste-
pipe, P, to pass through : a lump of chloride of sodium is tied up in
a piece of muslin and fastened to a bung, so as to keep it floating
near the surface of any liquid with which the jar may be filled.
The end of the sj'phon is passed into a drain-pipe, gutter, or other
convenient outlet. The action of the arrangement is, that what¬
ever waste fluid enters the jar is saturated with salt, and any silver
it contains is precipitated as chloride. As soon as the liquid reaches
the level of the bend of the syphon it sets it into action, and thus
the jar is emptied : when the jar is again filled to the level of the
syphon bend, the action again sets in, and thus by an intermittent
action it is emptied of the supernatant liquid that has been freed
of any silver it contained on leaving the sink above. Whenever
the deposit of chloride of silver attains nearly to the height of the
lower end of the syphon it must be removed, as it would be sucked
over with the outgoing column of liquid : whenever the salt is dis¬
solved out of the muslin bag it must he replenished. Both of these
occurrences are observable through the glass jar. A door closes in
310 THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [September 2, 1801
this part of the cupboard : the other compartment is fitted with
drawers and shelves for the stowage of bottles, baths, developing-
stands, &c. On the right hand side of the sink is fixed a tray, B,
for bottles and developing measures. On the left hand side, on a
bracket over the sink, a water filter is placed, and on the right
hand side a large glass bottle, fitted with a boxwood tap, holds
distilled water. Beneath the sink a gutta-percha dish is kept,
filled with water, into which all spoilt plates are put till the films
are rubbed off: from time to time this is emptied into the jar, J,
spoilt films included.
Hypo, or cyanide fixing solution should be poured over the plate
when resting on a levelling stand placed within a separate gutta¬
percha tray kept at one end of the sink, to prevent its mingling
with the other solutions, as these are not decomposable by chloride
of sodium. The fixing solution may be poured back into the
bottle and used over and over again till saturated, when they may
be stored in a carboy or large bottle till a convenient opportunity
offers for precipitating the contained silver with silver of sulphur
(sulphide of potassium).
Peligot has stated that if strips of zinc foil are kept in a solution
of chloride of sodium, that silver will then be precipitated, not only
from the developing but also from the fixing solutions, but we have
not yet tried this method.
Where rooms or cupboards cannot be devoted to photographic
purposes, this form of sink might be turned into a dark tent by
fixing long uprights at the corners, and a projecting frame above,
over which a voluminous black twill covering might be thrown,
having the usual yellow window let into the front part.
|U %xM% fetters tent §mtn$ ^jiotogntyjjer.
O IT LAND SCAPE.
The Importance of Entire Truthfulness — The Standard
of Truthfulness— Education of the Eye — The Works
of Eminent Masters in Landscape Art to be carefully
Studied, but not blindly, or apart from Nature — The
Lens — Depth of Definition and Aerial Perspective.
“ The visual eye asks guidance from within,
And as that cometh is its power increased.” — Swain.
“ As all our ideas of beauty are derived from a contemplation of the works of nature,
our perception can never exceed the beauty of her perfect works.” — J. D. Harding.
My Dear Fellow-Student,
In my first communication I decided that the real
aim or purpose of landscape art was the truthful representation of
the grand or beautiful objects and phenomena of natural scenery.
It is now desirable to establish the importance and the necessity of
such an object or purpose, in order that we may overstep the
threshold of our present studies with a clear and settled view,
instead of a loose indefinite notion. This may, I think, be very
briefly done.
The perfection of all art is very generally admitted to be attained
when it escapes observation. “ Ars est celare artem ” — the essence
of art is its concealment. On the stage, it was Cato or
Coriolanus, not Kemble — Othello or Bichard, not Kean, that filled
the minds of the spectators. So is it said of the great actor F echter :
he does not not play Hamlet, but he is Hamlet. As in the actors’
art, so in the picture makers’ : the art, while making itself none the
less powerfully felt, is most effectually concealed by, or forgotten
in, the impression of truthfulness ; and this, I therefore argue, is
the perfection of all art. Think over this awhile, if you please,
because on this assertion I build my coming argument.
By truthfulness I do not mean that small and fragmentary
quality which renders all the minor inferior truths at the expense
of the superior or greater truths; which shrinks from depicting
nature as sublime, poetical, or picturesque ; and revels in the petty
commonplace details of a foreground weed or the pattern of a
check dress. By truthfulness I mean that grand and mighty
quality which depicts the perfect whole — the spiritual as well as
the material aspects of nature. This is my ideal truthfulness.
Next comes another fact which must be considered : that which
seems truthful to one is false to another. How then are we to
decide? What standard have we by which to test our conception
of entire truthfulness? By general consent the eye is regarded as
this standard of truthfulness. This is an error. “ What ! ” certain
folk will exclaim — “are we not to believe our own eyes?” And we
reply — “ to a large extent, decidedly not.” The artist knows well
enough that it is not the eye but the mind that secs, and that by
educating the latter the former acquires new powers of vision
which it could never otherwise attain. Guided almost entirely by
the faculty of sight the infant’s conceptions of surrounding objects
are altogether false and indefinite : its plump and dimpled little
hands are stretched as eagerly forth to grasp the moon as any
other bright attractive object within its reach, and the uncertain
state of mind the funny little soul is in respecting the whereabouts
of its eyes, nose, and mouth, must have made you laugh as often
as myself; for all this, the infant sew quite as well as yourself,
only the mind's conceptions are so comically imperfect. I remem¬
ber reading of a blind man who, being suddenly restored to sight,
would fain have walked out of a first floor window into the garden
below, supposing one to be level with the other. Indeed there
are many such anecdotes extant. Locke, while pointing out that
the mind is the actual seat of all our sensations, showed us how,
when the thoughts chanced to be engrossed by any on« particular
subject, to all beside that the eyes became blind and the ears
deaf. How often, when deep in thought, do we pass the dear and
familiar faces of intimate old friends, not only unnoticed, but posi¬
tively unseen; because the images upon the retina of the miud
were for the time actually more real than those which gave their
light created impressions to the outward eye. Buskin, in reference
to “ the universal error of belief among the thoughtless and unre¬
flecting” — that, seeing “what nature is with their own eyes, they
can surely find out for themselves what is like her” — says : “ not
only must we learn to recognise the truths of nature when before
us, but the memory and imagination must be so trained as to
retain them, in order that their impression may be lasting and
their effect thoroughly grasped .” He also points out how “ the
influence of the imagination over the senses is peculiarly
observable in the perpetual disposition of mankind to suppose that
they see what they Icnoio, and vice versa in their not seeing what
they do not know.” That the mere possession of eyes is all
that is essential to actual perception is again disproved by
the thousands of cold unobservant bats, who, wilfully and stupidly
blind to all the spiritual truths and poetical loveliness of nature,
only look at a tree in order that they may not run against it, and
never gaze upon the changeful loveliness of shape and hue dis¬
played in the glorious clouds, save to see whether they had better
leave their umbrellas at home or not.
Without pursuing this portion of my subject further, I think we
may now conclude that the only real standard of entire truthfulness
being the educated and carefully-trained mind — or, if you please,
eye — of the truly great artist, it is to the works of such, and to the
school of such, we photographers, who desire to be real artists,
should first bend our steps. We have in this country many public
exhibitions of the works of eminent masters in art, and our great
English landscape painters are allowed to take among such the
very highest rank. Let us, therefore, study their works in the
public galleries, and seek instruction in that grand old school — kept
by good Dame Nature — in which they, in humble earnestness, first
set up their easels.
But let us go and study the works of these eminent masters with
open eyes , not blindly.
Truthfulness is not always the painter's standard, and in many
great modern paintings, few, if any, traces can be discerned of such
a purpose having been contemplated by the artist. Where this is
the case, much as these productions may be admired, and universal
as the recognition of their beauties may be among professional
critics, I think they might with greater correctness be designated
scenic, or artistic, or decorative paintings, than pass under the
descriptive title of an art of which they possess so few properties.
We, my dear fellow student, must not seek out such pictures as
these, or we shall grow bewildered and disheartened in a very
short time : they are no studies for us. The photographer’s
teachers must be the glorious and universally extolled works of
those great old and modern masters who followed,’ or follow,
reverently and with humble earnestnes, in the wake of nature.
For this work we have the proper tools : for the other work we
have none.
For the reasons above given I therefore urge that the earlier
studies of a young artist-photographer should not be confined to
the picture galleries, but should be equally divided between these
and that great school of nature in which such pictures were
produced.
I do not say that the pictures I have described as unfit for our
study, as photographers , possess nothing which can justify the
world-wide admiration they may have won ; far, very far, from it.
!E5ut regarding the purpose of landscape art as being the repre-
September 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
311
sentation of the grand or beautiful objects or phenomena of natural
scenery, I am not willing to accept the means for the end ; to take
abstract beauty of form, or harmony of colour, and a strict adhe¬
rence to the rules of mere artistic effect, as substitutes for the
specific object and purpose of landscape art.
Suppose we desire an architectural perspective picture, to repre¬
sent the form and details of some structure, according to the
dimensions of its several parts, and in their relative proportions
as seen in their respective places, and more or less receding
distances. Suppose, instead of giving us such a picture, the
draughtsman produces a magnificent and illusive combination
of the forms and colours of some building in which so much is
left to the imagination of the individual as that individual’s
more or less cultivated imaginative faculties might as easily
supply for himself upon the stained and discoloured surface of
an old wainscoat, or in the glowing embers of a sea-coal fire :
now, although a certain school of art-critics might admire the
latter, none of them would accept it as fairly representing the
thing originally desired. And thus with myself and a so-called
landscape which, whether from the purpose of a painter or the
faults of a photographer, is not a truthful production.
Excuse me, if I appear to urge this principle as involving con¬
sequences of more importance than at a first glance is likely to be
inferred from it; but when we reflect that in any pursuit whatsoever
perfection consists in accomplishing the object and purpose in¬
tended, it will be evident that the nearest possible approximation
to truthfulness necessarily constitutes the highest excellence
attainable in landscape art. Secondary purposes and aims, inde¬
pendent of the main intention, may (as I shall hereafter show) very
properly co-exist and aid in enhancing the beauty and value of
your performance ; but these must be kept subordinate and auxiliary
to the more legitimate end, and never be permitted to push it from
its place. Set up truthfulness as your standard — not the partial
truthfulness which dwells in the undue prominence of minute
detail, but real and entire truthfulness — and I am sure in its attain¬
ment will be found such excellence as shall raise our art to a
position yet undreamt of.
Let us see how far we may meet this primary requirement in the
use of our means as photographers. And first let us look to our lens.
Whatever may be said of the various combinations of glasses used
for other pictorial purposes, we may assert, as a rule, that the
images given by really good view lenses when in competent hands
very nearly approach perfection. A certain amount of distortion
does doubtless exist, but this, in an ordinary landscape view, is so
small as to escape observation. The amount of definition and the
“ depth” of definition given — to say nothing of “ focus,” for fear of
the mathematicians — may vary in the productions of different
makers ; but errors in this matter are more frequently traceable to
the want of pictorial knowledge in the operator than to the erro¬
neous judgment of the optician. Many use a lens as if requiring
no management it was impossible to mismanage it ; and many more,
though knowing perfectly well how to manage a lens, yet purposely
mismanage it most woefully. So much has been written and said
about distortion and its causes it would be the repetition of
“a twice-told tale” to write to you about this matter; but, with
reference to “ depth of definition ” I must say just a few words.
The great charm of atmospherical truth in a picture is that it
represents space, that it enables the eye to range over the miles
of surface represented, and even seems to lead us out beyond the
extreme verge of the horizon. It is not sufficient that mere relief
is obtained, that objects do not appear to adhere to each other —
mere contrast of light against dark or dark against light will give
this — but this is not aerial perspective. We ought to feel the pre¬
sence of the infinite seeming atmosphere, and recognise at a glance
its character ; whether humid and partially opaque with the dews
and vapours of rising or descending day, or clearly transparent, or
loaded with the warm and golden particles of direct sunlight — in
short, in all its various appearances, the presence of air should
give life and soul to our pictures. Without this perfect truthful¬
ness is impossible.
Aerial perspective is so often violated in photographic landscapes
chiefly because its importance is not recognised, or, in other words,
because the eye of the photographer has not been educated to per¬
ceive it. The Chinese artist aims at truthfulness, but, never recog¬
nising perspective of any kind, he too never producesit; and we know
how his pictures, as representing an extreme case, are estimated.
The most frequent cause of the absence of atmospheric effect
undoubtedly is the use of too small a stop in connexion with the
lens, by which means an undue amount of definition is carried into
the distance ; but there are other faults which have a similar
tendency. Too much intensity in a negative destroys the soft and
delicate aerial tints, and the more subtle gradations of tone and
distance ; and this intensity may, of course, be traceable either to
collodion, bath, or developer. The want of a sky, the substitution
of white paper for the same, or the inharmonious tone or character of
a printed-in sky, may also destroy the appearance of atmospherical
truth. A lens which does not give sufficient depth of focus, again,
will exaggerate the effect of aerial perspective. Developing in a
room which does not give you sufficient light to work by may also
injure your view in this respect, inasmuch as not perceiving -when
the more tender valuable tints “ which shun the careless eye ” are
secured, by slightly over-developing you lose them altogether.
For all these errors there is but one remedy, viz., the education of
the eye — the necessity for which it has been my chief aim to show
in this the second epistle of your sincere friend and fellow-
student, ALFRED H. WALL.
<B% jribif iflit.
THE EXHIBITION OP THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
OP PARIS,
CONSIDERED FROM AN ENGLISH POINT OF VIEW.
( Communicated.)
This Exhibition is a very important one, not only as regards
quantity, but quality. It contains more than thirteen hundred
specimens, produced by one hundred and fifty photographers of all
countries, those of France naturally forming the large majority.
About a hundred and twenty of the exhibitors are French, nine or
ten are English, while almost every country in Europe is repre¬
sented by one or more. Egypt on one hand, and Peru on the
other, has each contributed its mite ; and the only important
country we find totally unrepresented is the United States of
America. The Exhibition occupies a corner of the Palais de l’ln-
dustrie, in the Champs Elysees, and, as the present is the season
when many Englishmen make trips to Paris, we think it right to
notice it somewhat in detail. There are photographers who touch
up their proofs — at least so says rumour — and the jury of admission
would almost lead one to imagine that some of the aforesaid had,
by mistake of course, attached the word untouched to their pro¬
ductions, for at the back of the title-page of the catalogue we find the
following useful hint : — “ The jury has rigorously caused to be effaced
the word untouched from all proofs which are not completely exempt.”
The catalogue is printed in alphabetical order ; and as the
photographs are, as nearly as possible, arranged in the same man¬
ner, we think it best to follow in the same course.
Conspicuous in the room and at the head of the catalogue stands
the name of an eminent amateur — the Count Olympe Aguado. His
contributions are remarkable, although not numerous. They are
principally cattle and farm-house or rural views, and several of
them are original studies from nature admirably enlarged by the
Woodward apparatus. The portrait of a pet horse or other animal
as carefully rendered as are those of M. Aguado is a very pleasing-
possession.
M. Louis Angerer, of Vienna, contributes a large number of
excellent portraits, mostly full-length cabinet pictures, which,
besides their artistic qualities, derive an additional interest from
the celebrity of the originals. Amongst these are the Imperial
lady who is now seeking health in the Island of Corfu, Comte Jean
de Waldstein and Comte Schlick, in highly picturesque national
costume. M. Angerer also exhibits an admirable View of Ischl,
The Palais Schlick, and the Salon de Diomabad. If these are not
much above the average of Viennese photography the art must
have been pretty well studied in Austria.
Mr. Thomas Annan, of Glasgow, exhibits three very excellent
views in Scotland, The Inverness Cascade on the Banks of Loch
Lomond, Aherfoyle, and the Sources of the Forth.
M. Baldus has a panorama of Paris extending to 200°, which
gives an admirable coup d'ceil of the renovated city, and especially
of the Tuilleries and Louvre. Some, if not all, of the views of
which it is composed have been published, and therefore do not
call for anything more than general high commendation. His
views in Dauphin}'-, Chamounix, and the Mer de Glace also deserve
high praise : they are both solid and brilliant.
M. Bertsch exhibits five views enlarged by means of his helio-
graphic megascope. Four of these are in France ; the fifth and
most remarkable is from one of M. Ferrier’s admirable cliches, and
represents the Pavilion of the Court of the Lions of the Alhambra,
with all its exquisite enrichments, in a most remarkable manner.
312
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 2, 1801
Mr. R. J. Bingham, who, though an Englishman, practises here,
seems to have obtained almost a monopoly of the photography of art
reproductions, and has one of the most important collections in the
Exhibition. It includes more than fifty gems of modern art. Some
of these beautiful chemical pictures are already well known, such
as Meissonier’s Amateurs and Scene in a Cabaret , Horace Vernet’s
remarkable little picture, Chien cle temps (two soldiers and a dog in
a drenching rain), Yvon’s Scenes in the Crimea , Cabanel’s charming
Florentine Poet. Ary Scheffer’s Francesca and Paola de Rimini , for
which no word of eulogium is needed. Besides these there are many
not yet known to the world, and of which the originals hung but
the other day in the biennial Exhibition of Paintings and Sculp¬
ture under the same roof, such as Gerome’s Rembrandt. Mr. Bing¬
ham also exhibits beautiful photographs of Raphael’s Belle Jardi¬
niere, and of the Supper in Canaan and Jesus at the house of Simon ,
by Paul Veronese, and a small collection of Raphael’s sketches and
drawings in the gallery of the Louvre. In all he exhibits more
than sixty specimens, and some of his more recent works prove
that he is still improving. We trust that the London International
Exhibition of next year will afford Englishmen the opportunity of
seeing this admirable collection with augmentations.
The works of the brothers Bisson, of this city, are well known to
amateurs, and most of our readers will have, doubtless, seen an
account in this Journal recently of an ascent of Mont Blanc, by
one of these gentlemen, for photographic purposes, and of the
difficulties with which he and his companions had to contend. One
of the pictures obtained is here exhibited, and is a very fine speci¬
men, exhibiting the features of the monarch of mountains, which
are almost beyond the reach of any other form of art. Several of
M. Bisson’s other productions are akin to this; and, amongst the
most remarkable, are the Pic du Midi, a snow-drift on Mont Blanc,
caught in the very midst of its career, and two of the Valley of
Chamounix.
A series of maps, amplified and diminished, executed by M.
Bobin, photographer attached to the Bureau of the Minister of
War, shows how the French government has made use of the pho¬
tographic art. Amongst the rest we find specimens of enlarged
maps of Austria and Sardinia, prepared for the late Italian campaign.
Mr. Blanford Caldesi’s collection of pictures in the National Gal¬
lery of London, of the Elgin marbles, and of the gems in Her
Majesty’s collection at Buckingham Palace, represent worthily the
condition of art-photography in England, and attract great atten¬
tion here, where most of them and of their originals are but little
known to the public, and even to the artistic world at large.
M. Claudet’s portraits take rank with the first of their class, and
he has sent some excellent specimens; but other well-known Eng¬
lish photographers should have been represented also.
FRANCIS’S INDIA-RUBBER FIELD BATH.
In the number of The British Journal of Photography for
September 1st, 18G0, a bath of extreme lightness, made of thin
mahogany, lined with pure sheet India-rubber, was described in a
notice of Mr. Francis’s establishment in “Letters to a Photo¬
graphic Friend.” We have lately observed in the pages of a
contemporary that a Mr. Leo Daft, in commenting on a recent
description by the editor of this neat and ingenious arrangement,
claims the invention, as he described in one of the February num¬
bers of the same Journal a method of making a bath for nitrate of
silver solution, out of sheet India-rubber. In justice to Mr. Francis
we may state that we saw an India-rubber bath of his construction
in the hands of Mr. Cocke, the photographer, more than twelve
months ago. Independently of this the arrangement is quite
different from that recommended by Mr. Daft. Mr. Francis
cements the sheet rubber down over the entire internal surfaces of
the side, end, and bottom pieces : the end and bottom strips are
placed between the side pieces, and are then screwed in position ;
the India-rubber between the joints acting as a washer, makes any
cementing quite unnecessary. This is not only lighter, but occu¬
pies less space than any other form of portable bath we are
acquainted with. There is, however, one drawback, and that is it
must be kept unexposed to light; for it is found that a moist sur¬
face of India-rubber exposed to light becomes corroded, but if kept
in the dark it is not attacked. S. H.
- » — - -
We are glad to find that an ardent photographer and an old
subscriber to this Journal, the Rev. Dr. Thomson, Provost of
Queen’s College, Oxford, has been elevated to the see of Gloucester,
rendered vacant by the translation of the Right Rev. Dr. Baring
to the see of Durham.
fftretnip of Somtirs.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The fortnightly meeting of this Society was held on the 21st ult — the
chair being occupied by George H. Slight, Esq., Vice-President.
After the minutes of last meeting had been read,
The Secretary said that, within the last week, the Society had
sustained a great loss by the death of one of its most devoted members,
and an enthusiastic photographer — Dr. Easton. It was only a fortnight
since, along with Mr. Slight and himself, Dr. Easton had been appointed
a committee to arrange for a Society excursion to Aberdour ; and the
Friday following he had been at his (the Secretary’s) place of busiuess to
all appearance in the most perfect health and spirits, and looking forward
to the excursion with high anticipations of pleasure. The following
morning he was laid prostrate with scarlet fever, and in four days was
dead. As the life of their late friend and fellow-member was an eventful
one, he (the Secretary) would read to the meeting a brief account of a
few of the stirring incidents in Dr. Easton’s career : — Though Dr. Easton
did not occupy any public or prominent position in our city, he was, in
every sense of the phrase, a man of mark. After having passed through
the medical curriculum, he entered the navy, and served as assistant-
surgeon on board Admiral Stopford’s ship during the memorable Syrian
naval campaign of 1840-41. On its termination he was promoted to the
rank of surgeon, and spent three years in the Sealarlc, twelve guns, on
the west coast of Africa. Without referring further in detail to his naval
career, we may mention his appointment as surgeon to the Cossack,
twenty-one guns, which formed one of Sir Charles Napier’s Baltic fleet
during the Russian war. Here it was his fate to be connected with that
event so well-known by the name of the “ Hango massacre.” As many
will recollect, a boat’s crew left the Cossack for Hango, for the purpose
of setting on shore some prisoners that had been taken out of a captured
Finnish vessel. Dr. Easton accompanied Lieutenant Gencste, who had
charge of the boat. Scarcely had they landed on the jetty, with a flag
of truce at their head, when a murderous fire was opened on them by a
hundred Russian soldiers, who, up to that time, had been kept concealed.
Several of the Cossack's crew, as well as of the Finnish prisoners, were shot
down in cold blood. The survivors were taken prisoners, and transferred
separately to various Russian prisons. Dr. Easton was conveyed first to
Helsingfors, thence to St. Petersburgli, and finally to Vladimir, about 150
miles from Moscow. If, previously, he had been subjected to all the
rigours of military imprisonment, an agreeable change awaited him at
Vladimir. The Count Annenkoff, civil and military governor of the
province, treated the Doctor with the utmost kindness and courtesy, and
during his residence at Vladimir he was more the guest and friend of the
Governor than a prisoner of war under his control. When, after some
months, he left for Odessa to be exchanged, he departed laden with many
presents from the Governor and his family, which showed the estimation
in which they held their captive. Among these were a highly-finished
miniature portrait of the Empress Anne, presented by that sovereign to
one of the Annenkoff family, and a snuff-box which had belonged to the
famous Russian General, Suwarrow. Once more a free man on board a
British vessel of war at Odessa, he soon afterwards had an opportunity of
surveying the ruins of Sebastopol, after its evacuation by the Russian
armies. Returning to Scotland, Dr. Easton had but a short time to
spend with his friends, when he was appointed to the Pembroke, 51 guns,
stationed at Harwich for the training of the coast-guard. When his
three years’ term of service expired he returned to Edinburgh, to which,
though not the place of his birth, he was much attached, from the days
when, as a boy, he attended the High School. His loss will be severely
felt by a very large circle of friends and acquaintances, who could with
difficulty tell which most to admire — his upright, honest integrity of
character, or his ever genial, hearty good humour.
Some of the members gave an account of their experiences at the ex¬
cursion to Aberdour on Saturday, and several pictures taken on that
occasion were exhibited. Those by what is known as yet as the “hot -water
process” and Fothergill’s process were considered best. The members
generally had enjoyed themselves so thoroughly that another excursion
to Roslin was organised for Saturday in the following week. It was also
resolved that a small prize be awarded to the producer of the best nega¬
tive on that occasion, the pictures to be produced at the meeting on the
following Wednesday.
An exhibition of cameras and other pieces of apparatus then took place.
A three-inch patent aplantic lens, by Grubb, exhibited by Mr. Nicol, was
stated by him to produce absolutely straight marginal lines, while its
general defining powers were very excellent. One of Dallmeyer’s stereo¬
scopic cameras (costing £11 5s.) was much admired for its beautiful
finish, although some of the members thought that for photographic pur¬
poses it was needlessly fine.
The business for next meeting was stated to be a paper by Mr. Slight,
On the Hot Water Process, which would be illustrated by the preparation
and development of several plates. The meeting then separated.
We learn that the authorities at the South Kensington Museum
have altogether given up photographic printing. The deplorable
waste and quantity of “ failures ” made by the sappers and miners
have been too much even for them.
September 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
318
|1bo1o0r;i|3bit #Ik |)obnbit.
Astro-Photography. — Mr. John A. Whipple, who so
successfully photographed Donati’s comet and other heavenly
bodies, reports that the actinic power of the comet that unex¬
pectedly made its appearance during July was extremely feeble,
and that it was hardly possible to secure an impression on the
most sensitive plate. Compared with the actinic power of the
moon, or even fixed stars of the third or fourth magnitude, it was
not one thousandth part so active.
Nitrate of Silver. — M. Grenier suggests a new
method for the preparation of nitrate of silver from impure metal.
Dissolve the silver in nitric acid, when almost neutral and cold,
add solution of sulphate of soda to produce a precipitate of sul¬
phate of silver, which is to be washed in distilled water. Digest
with heat the washed precipitate, to which has been added a proper
proportion of nitrate of baryta : this produces sulphate of baryta,
which is separated by filtration, and nitrate of silver, which is
separated by crystallisation. As, however, nitrate of silver has
a great tendency to combine with alkaline nitrates, it is question¬
able whether it would not probably be contaminated by nitrate of
baryta.
Hot Developers. — MM. Roman and Ferrier recom¬
mend that developers should be applied to the film hot, especially
in the production of instantaneous views.
Humboldt’s Photographs. — At the recent sale in
Berlin of Baron Humboldt’s collections, a series of 47 views of
scenery and natural objects in Mexico and Venezuela, taken ex¬
pressly by M. Eosti, in 1857-8, produced 100 thalers (= £15) ; the
portrait of Aimd Bonpland, the naturalist, taken at Biffinos-Ayres,
and presented to his friend and travelling companion, Humboldt,
produced 31 thalers (=£4 13s.). The portrait of the sculptor Rauch,
photographs by Lehmann of the mural paintings of the Galerie
des Fetes in the Hotel de Ville de Paris, and fifty-six views by
Legray, likewise produced good prices.
Albumenised Paper. — M. Cordier advises that the
albumenised surface of freshly-prepared positive paper should be
coagulated by immersing the paper in the strongest and purest
alcohol procurable. By this method the albumen is not removed
in the subsequent immersions in water, as is the case when it is
coagulated by dilute nitric acid, or by employing a temperature of
212°. M. Cordier sensitises albumenised paper thus prepared on
a bath of crystallised nitrate of silver of only 5 per cent., as this
is not strong enough to attack the coagulated albumen, but, on the
contrary, keeps it in good condition and with a brilliant surface.
A Hint to Albuminisers. — What can you do with
the yolks of your eggs ? Make them into cheesecakes that will be
pronounced unrivalled. Dissolve a quarter of a pound of butter in
a basin placed on the hob, stir in a quarter of a pound of pounded
lump sugar, and beat well together ; then add the yolks of three
eggs that have previously been well beaten ; beat up all together
thoroughly ; throw in half of a grated nutmeg and a pinch of salt,
stir, and lastly add the juice of two fine-flavoured lemons and the
rind of one lemon that has been peeled very thin ; beat all up
together thoroughly, and pour into a dish lined with puff-paste,
and bake for about twenty minutes. This is one of the pleasantest
“bye-products” we are acquainted with in the economics of
manufacturing photography. Try it !
To Keep Water Pure. — -Dr. J. Y. C. Smith, a
traveller in tropical regions, states that if water be preserved in
India-rubber bags, and kept closely corked, it retains its purity
even if exposed to the direct rays of the sun for periods extending
over twenty-one days to six weeks. This material seems to pre¬
vent the fermentive process of what sailors call “working.”
The Tannin Process. — To prevent the possibility
of the film splitting after it has been fixed Avith “ hypo.,” a con¬
temporary recommends that after a thorough washing, and Avhilst
still wet, it should be coated with a weak solution of gum arabic :
it may then be dried and varnished.
Stop-per-easer ! — It is a frequent annoyance in the
laboratory to find the stoppers of bottles that contain caustic solu¬
tions firmly fixed, through the corrosion of the glass : greasing is
inefficient, and at the same time objectionable, as fatty acids may
be introduced into the solution. A contributor to a scientific
German journal states that if stoppers are lubricated with paraffine
the evil is perfectly remedied. S. H.
Ilofcs of tbc lltontb.
The London season has long been over, and an unruffled calm
prevails throughout the Avorld of art. Exhibitions closed, and
streets deserted, the very cab-horses hang their heads and doze,
and allow the flies to bite and the sun to burn unheeded. Artists
and photographers are most of them “over the hills and far away,”
getting pictures for next season — not without a regardful eye to
the enhanced importance of the coming year of 1862. It is said
that the French will be found more formidable rivals than has
hitherto been supposed, and that tlieyAvill come out in great force;
and M. Silvy is going to annihilate all others.
The official correspondence between the Council of the Pho¬
tographic Society and Her Majesty’s Commissioners having
terminated, it beho\res photographers to decide upon what course
they will pursue — whether to aid in getting up an independent
Exhibition, or to exhibit in the building under protest, or to abstain
from exhibiting at all — as the time for receiving applications for
space will expire, we believe, on the 30th September.
The Commissioners have, also, in accepting the tender of a
foreign house for the right of photographing the building up
to the 12th February, 1862 (when a fresh tender will be made),
recognised a very questionable principle in such matters. The
invitation for tenders was advertised in the columns of The Times,
and the conditions of tender were open for inspection at the
Commissioners’ offices, 454, West Strand. Several eminent Lon¬
don houses tendered not insignificant sums ; but a foreign tender
— offering not any stated sum, but offering to double the highest
tender sent in by any firm whatever — obtained the license. Such a
principle once admitted, and allowed to pass into a precedent,
will make it useless for anyone to make estimates for tendering,
as it will admit of any degree of modification, and no one Avould
know but every tender might be met by one offering five, or ten,
or twenty per cent, above the highest sent in. This tender for
license being comparatively an unimportant one to the subsequent
right of photographing the building in its more advanced state,
those avIio have by this means obtained the license will have
superior opportunities of seeing how far it may be politic to offer
a large sum for the more important and subsequent license.
Another result of photographic enterprise is announced in the
fact of Messrs. Negretti and Zambra having connected their several
establishments in Cornliill, Regent Street, and Hatton Garden,
London, by means of a private telegraphic Avire. The London
Stereoscopic Company have also lately completed a telegraphic
communication between their establishment in Cheapside and their
photographic printing establishment in Surrey. The enormous
demand for cartes de visite has necessitated this instantaneous mode
of communication. The public can iioav in a case of emergency secure
a large number of pictures immediately the Avant is made known.
As a proof of this, only a few days ago a man who had absconded Avith
an enormous amount of money, but Avhose negative the company had
taken, Avas known in a short time after nearly all o\-er Europe. The
telegraph gave his name and number, and by that night’s post some
dozens were ready for the police authorities to send over the Avorld.
That most offensive phrase, or rather parisitie excrescence, of
photography, “shilling-portraiture,” is just now occupying some
share of public attention. Recent cases brought before the police
courts have stirred up some of the lowest depths of this filthy
cesspool, and the odour emitted is anything but agreeable. That
this particular “ Avalk of art” is one of the most popular refuges
for the destitute — destitute morally and intellectually — is too Avell
knoAvn to need expatiating upon here. That the class Avho prac¬
tise it are amongst the most degraded of the “ fallen ” is a fact
patent enough. That they have enough of art to turn the Avell-
deserved popularity of photography to account is not much to be
Avondered at, when they can by a cheap bait in\reigle people into
their dens in the first place, and by the exercise of a little legal
ruffianism afterwards extract three times the sum expected.
That this is not an occasional thing, but is sj’stematically and
regularly practised, is another Avell-ascertained fact. The well-
knoAvn reluctance of “ victims” to seek redress in a public court of
justice allows such practices to be daily perpetrated with impunity.
The danger Avould be much reduced if people Avould abide by one
simple rule, viz., never to enter any place Avhere a doorsman or
touter is kept, because no respectable photographer eA*er employs
such an animal. We should much rejoice to see some hearty, united
effort made to put down this abomination. To no one is the class so
offensive and humiliating as to photographers themselves, and it aids
more than anything beside to associate photography in the public
mind Avith everything that is Ioav and scampish. S. T.
314
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 2, 1801
Jfxrmgtt Carmpflit’Erwre.
Paris , August 2Qth, 18G1.
M. Edouard Delessert, who is still busily occupied with his
amplification, has just invented a contrivance for obviating the
inconvenience which the motion of the sun causes to the
operator. In the usual construction of the operating-room, the
moment comes when the outside mirror, which is intended to
receive the solar rays and reflect them onwards to the condenser,
is no longer able to do so, on account of the motion of the sun,
or, to speak more correctly, of the earth. This necessitates the
interruption of the operation. M. Delessert has laid down a cir¬
cular rail on the ground or terrace where his operating-room is
established. The construction which serves as an operating-room,
and which resembles a large wooden box, is furnished with four
wheels, on pivots, which are adapted to the iron circle. The
operating-room can thus make a complete revolution. A system
of ropes and pulleys, and four supports, allow the operator inside
to turn the whole concern by means of a crank in the centre. In
this manner the operating-room and everything belonging to it
follows the motion of the sun, and it only remains to give the
necessary upward or downward movement to the reflector, which
is fastened by the bottom.
Mr. Petschler, of Manchester, whose method has been published
in The British Journal of Photography, showed me, when he
was passing through Paris, a series of excellent pictures obtained
upon glasses prepared a long time beforehand. They are princi¬
pally views taken in Derbyshire, well finished in their details,
delicate in their half-tints, and harmonious. My friend, M. Paul
Liesegang, has just communicated to me the result of different
experiments which he has made with this same process. The
glasses he made use of had been prepared more than a month.
At five o’clock in the afternoon, with a simple objective of
Lerebours’, with diaphragm, he obtained a very vigorous and
finished picture after fifteen minutes’ exposure. With Dallmeyer’s
triplet lens, No. 2, the exposure is reduced to six or eight minutes.
Out of ten glasses, one only, the first, gave a cliche somewhat
unsatisfactory, which, of course, is easily understood.
M. Zantedeschi, Professor of the University of Padua, has written
on the subject of Mr. Crookes’s spectroscope, and to claim priority
in the observations for which that instrument is intended. The
labours of the Italian savant go back to 1857 and 1852, and were
published in those years. They describe his spectrometer at length.
M. Poitevin’s charcoal process is producing excellent results,
which are all the more satisfactory, as improvements are already
presenting themselves. I have before my eyes two of M. Joly
Grangedor’s pictures, printed by this process, and which are far
superior to those obtained from the same cliches by means of
chloride of silver. There is more softness in the tones and
brilliancy in the lights on account of the contrast, and especially
there is more colour.
M. Bobin has lately reproduced, by this same process, some
maps which exhibit extraordinary finish. Different kinds of
charcoal are being studied, and by means of mixtures various
tints are obtained. The charcoal of sugar is that which gives the
tones which are the most similar to those of photography.
MM. Ferrier (father and son) and Soulier have just brought
out a collection of stereoscopic views, taken in China, during the
expedition, by Colonel Dupin, attached to the French staff. Al¬
though executed by an amatuer, these pictures are very interesting.
One of them, which has not succeeded, presents a very amusing
effect. It represents two mandarins seated side by side. The
Colonel operated with a single camera, and, while he was shifting
the apparatus after taking the first image, the two personages
moved — one raised his head, the other bent his head down side¬
ways. If you look at these portraits in the stereoscope, and
alternately and rapidly open and shut both your eyes, the heads
appear to move as if the mandarins were beating time. The
illusion is complete. I should not be astonished to see certain
photographers, who seek the new rather than the beautiful, take
up this idea, and represent moving photographs, by means of a
screen arranged in the interior of the apparatus. I relinquish to
them my idea, without even intending to claim priority.
ERNEST LACAN.
New YorJc, August 14.
We have recently been making trials of gun-cotton and collodion,
in the hope of developing new uses or properties. These wonder¬
ful substances have nearly been neglected by the scientific and
practical world. Chemists tell us, with much misgiving and
doubt, of their precise constitution and properties ; and their only
undoubted useful application in the arts is to the photographic
picture. Our recent experiments, however, will prove a sufficient
stimulus to the inventive talent, and I have little doubt that gun¬
cotton will soon find employment in a hundred arts.
Every photographer, of course, has observed how beautifully
transparent and even the collodion film is when formed on glass.
Now, if this film be made from pyroxyline of the most suitable
character, it is exceedingly tough ; indeed, I know of no organic
substance which will resist a greater tensive force. Also, by the
addition of gutta-percha, rubber, resins, &c., a greater range of
elasticity, pliability, hardness, &c., may be secured. The collo¬
dion skin may also be made of any desired thickness, and, pro¬
vided the cotton from which the pj’roxyline is produced be
properly cleaned and bleached it will be colourless as well as
transparent, or any desired colour or opacity may be given to it.
I have thus made sheets of dried collodion over an inch in thick¬
ness. Out of such a mass it is easy, with proper tools, to work
any desired form. The dried collodion possesses the sensible pro¬
perties of very many of the most valuable materials used in the
arts : it may be substituted for ivory, horn, wood, glass, &c., and
in many cases it will have a decided advantage over any of them.
“ But,” says the timid gent, of the old school, “ wouldn’t your gun¬
cotton statuary, buttons, paper, and billiard balls, explode ?” In
reply, I assure our friend that we will really change all that.
The experiments on dried collodion were suggested in a suc¬
cessful attempt to prepare from it fuses for shells to be fired from
rifled cannon. It is well known that the ordinary gunpowder
fuses are quite unreliable, and especially when fired from a rifled
cannon — the obvious reason being the uneven packing of the pow¬
der and the crushing by the shock of the discharge. Dried collo¬
dion is perfectly homogeneous, and its toughness will protect the
fuse in the discharge.
Several photographers who followed our army to the battle of
Bull’s Run were completely routed. In the inglorious retreat they
abandoned and threw away everything which would encumber
their flight. Thus, by a narrow chance, did we lose the photo¬
graphs of a great battle.
I have read the fifth memoir of M. de St. Victor, and am still
unable to discover anything about his researches more conspicuous
than the persistent activity of one groping in the dark. His
ignoring the critics and the modern progress of science is truly
refreshing for these dog days. I -wonder what M. Niepce’s notions
are of the nature of light. I would prescribe for such a case as
his a study of the modern doctrine of physical forces, of the laws
of chemical affinity, and of the phenomena of the .attraction of
substances for each other where a new chemical compound is not
formed — a category which begins, perhaps, with the attraction of
platinum for hydrogen.
CHARLES A. SEELY.
Corns pniiimta. '
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
MR. J. CRAMB’S CAMERAS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — My attention has been called to a statement in the report of the
proceedings of the Manchester Photographic Society regarding my
cameras. I think Mr. Sidebotham is mistaken if he supposes I claim or
have ever claimed the invention of these cameras. In The British
Journal of Photography for the 1st August they are described as being
those used by me. There is not a word about invention . Again, in the
first Palestine article I distinctly stated that the principle ofj[my stereo,
cameras was made known through the columns of the Journal of the
Photographic Society of London;* but that I had so much improved them
that I might claim them as an invention. But I am too fast, perhaps.
I am yet unaware what part of ray camera arrangement I am charged by
Mr. Dancer with plagiarising from him. I must plead total ignorance of
any camera put forth by that gentleman having any resemblance to mine.
Had I known Mr. Sidebotliam’s address I would have written to him
directly for this information, by which means I could have more distinctly
addressed myself to the charge made against me.
Except the camera of Mr. Bradley — which I think I have so improved
as to make it a workable thing — I have never seen or heard of one
without slides. The very same cameras I had in the Holy Land I have
used for now going on five years. I have ever been forward to profess that
* Journal of the Photographic Society, vol. iii., p. 129.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
315
September 2, 1861]
I had copied the design, and from whom. I am afraid Mr. Sidebotham
does not understand my beautifully simple plan, else he never could
confound it with anything I have ever seen of his friend, Mr. Dancer’s.
I shall, however, be glad to know more definitely with what I am
charged, either through the Journal or by post. — Yours truly,
67, West Nile Street, Glasgow, JOHN CRAMB.
August 26 th, 1861.
PIIEESIC FOR “ PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES.”
DOSE THE THIRD.
To the Yeddituk.
“ Greenwood ! thou art the man ! ”*
Sib, — 0 deerie me ! but I really tliocht I wad hae split a blude-vesse^
when I got that far throo wi’ oor frien’ Tam’s reply. Anither sic article
wad be the verra death o’ me. An’ sae ! it’s no me ava that’s writin’
just noo, but it’s Maister Greenwood, o’ Liverpool ; for disna Tammas
(wha is the verra personification o’ prudence, an’ modesty, an’ a’ that’s
gude, truth included) tell us in his last Notes that the pheesic disna
come frae a Scotsman ava, but “ Greenwood, thou art the man ! ” But,
true tae his principles, he says that if it’s no Maister Greenwood, it maun
be the ponderous Yedditur himsel’, seemin’ tae think that there’s no ither
twa in the liaill creation wha could hae wasted their time in readin’ his
Notes wi’ the sam care “ Auld Lens” has bestowed on them. Noo pon¬
derous means weighty— -a qualification whilk I suppose he attaches to
the Yedditur’s opinions : no fear o’ its being attached to his ain.
Weel, I hae read a gey hantle o’ his Notes within the last twa or three
weeks, an’ I’m no at a’ unwillin’ tae gie your readers the benefit o’ my
readins ; but no just the noo, for I hae ither fish tae fry-— or rather tae
roast; but when that’s dune, I’ll maybe gie them an entertainment noos
an’ thans by settin’ before them a dish o’ “Cream o’ the Notes.'" In his
last issue, my frien’ Tam is wrigglin’ just for a’ the warld like a muclde
conger eel, or a skate that’s pinned by a leister throo the guts : there
he tosses, an’ there he twists, just till I choose tae set him free. Muclde
better will it be for him tae lie still an’ bear the rod wi’ patience an’
resignation: his torture will be a’ the less. “Greenwood, thou art the
man ! ” Ha, ha, ha ! thou art the man this week ; but neist week it will
be some ither bodie, an’ the week after anither bodie a’thegither, for oor
frien’ Tammas is no at a’ particular in that way. An’ hoo div ye think
he males it oot that “Auld Lens” is nae ither than Maister Greenwood, o’
Liverpool ? Just this way : — When oor frien’ Tammas applied tae Maister
Greenwood (for, accordin’ tae a’ parties, Maister Greenwood never applied
tae him) tae get hissel’ made yedditur o’ the British, and was rejected,
frae that time forward he was aye lettin’ drive at the British when¬
ever he got a hair tae mak a tether o’. Weel, when the bodie grumbles
at me for readin’ his Notes ower particularly, he forgets that that is a
virtue, an’ ane that he himsel’ sairly neglects, else he wad hae seen a
haill accoont o' the transaction ( which he noo supposes tae hae been hent
tae nane but Maister Greenwood) in the British, Yol. VI., No. 88, for
February 15th, 1859, which is commented on in five columns o’ his ain
Notes for March 1st, 1859 ; sae that, if the doited bodie thinks this queer
affair cam afore the public in my last dose, he is, as Funch says,
“werry much mistook.” The transaction has been public property for
aboon twa years. A’thegither if forms ane o’ the best illustrations o’
the fox and the grapes I hae yet seen.
Anither phase o’ the sam fable may be seen when Tammas misca’s the
young ignoramuses wha write tae the British for information. Whaur
better could they apply? He says: — “Is it possible that photography
should present so strange a piece of statistics as this — that certain jour¬
nalists should be regularly beset by a parcel of blockheads requiring ele¬
mentary information? &c., &c. Look at the good, honest, straightforward
Journal of the Photographic Society: you see none of this nonsense
there, neither are we troubled with this crew of everlasting muddlers,” &c.
Weel, ane or twa remarks will dismiss a’ this fine an’ indignant writin’.
First : the Jersey Notes were got up, I understood, wi’ the express inten¬
tion o’ helpin’ on young ignoramuses. Secondly : in its palmy days, some
years ago, it used tae hae as muckle as thirteen columns o’ the corres¬
pondence o’ the “ everlasting muddlers and parcel of blockheads requir¬
ing information.” In the present number for August 15tli, the whole
correspondence is comprised in twa letters, ane of whilk is written and
signed by Tammas himsel’. Somethin’ gey an’ like tae a case o’ soor
grapes that !
As it might appear ill-natured were I to gie the reasons for this failin’
off, I’ll no say onythin’ mair aboot it; but I canna help remarkin’
that I fear “ ichabod” may noo be written on it. Oor frien’ Tam says, in
the course o’ his long ramblin’ reply to “Auld Lens:” — “But the charge
of inconsistency must not be passed over,” &e., &c. “In our optical articles
we are not aware of any flaw that has ever been pointed out in the
reasoning, or any statement that is opposed to fact. * * *
In the main we have not been far wrong, and cannot certainly
admit the charge of gross inconsistency.” Far far be it frae me tae
say he ever said or did a wrang thing in a’ his life — that wad be a
moral impossibility;. but for the benefit o’ thick-skulled mortals wha’
winna agree wi’ me in admittin’ his absolute infallibility, he will maybe
try and explain twa or three apparent (no real — of coorse not) contradic¬
tions. I am verra weel aware that he closes his last article by sayin’ he
* Photographic Notes, August 15th, 1861.
disna’ mean tae tak ony mair notes o’ the like o’ me ; but I dinna mean
tae let him aff that way : he’ll no part frae me quite sae sune yet. An’,
moreover, he should be thankfu’ tae me, for I’m bringin’ him into notice,
an’ that’s a thing he winna object tae, I’m sure, and which he sadly needs.
Weel, as I said, I’ll noo favour him by giein’ him an opportunity o’
explainin’ twa or three o’ his statements ; an’ that he may be at nae
great loss, Ise gie him day and date for them.
Lang syne (in the London Society ’s Journal for Oct., 1 854), when predictin’
the doonfa’ o’ collodion, which he "there terms a “delusion,” he says: — “ It
requires some courage in an humble individual to predict thus much of a
popular favourite in the zenith of its glory ; but I shall be obliged to you,
sir, if you will give this prediction a place in your columns, and time will
show how far I am right or wrong. I speak deliberately and advisedly,
and from a practical knowledge of all the processes. * * * *
Positives in collodion have been entirely exploded. * * * I
solemnly believe that the best paper work for views is absolutely finer
than the best collodion work,” &c. At that time wre didna ken the chiel
sae weel as we do noo, an’ folk thoucht it was either written by some
Johnny Raw (wha, by bunglin’ in his first attempts wi’ collodion, had
just got the results ony sensible bodie wad hae foreseen), or maybe by
some hair-brained ram-stam customer, after he had got tae his tenth
tumbler. Had we kent oor frien’ Tammas then, we wad hae felt nae
surprise ava when he shortly afterwards began tae write in praise o’ col¬
lodion, an’ sune after that began tae manufacture an’ sell that dirty
liquid ! It wad appear illnatured in me tae say it, but it really seems as
if collodion (only since he began tae sell it) is to be shoved in the faces o’
the readers o’ his Notes, till he males it a nuisance as insufferable as he
made Blanquart Evrard’s printing establishment, Hollingworth’s paper,
Pouncy’s carbon printing process, or (wi’ reverence be it said) the London
Photographic Society, which he is noo toadyin’ at sic a rate as really
maks me feared something no’ canny will be happenin’ to its respected
secretary, Dr. Diamond. The carbon process o’ Mr. Pouncy suggests
anither prediction oor Jersey oracle uttered in his Notes for April 1st
(ominous day !), 1858. Speakin’ o’ the substitution o’ carbon for silver
in positive printing, he says : — “ We predict that before long the matter
will be taken up in earnest by the trade. * * * * In fact,
the abominable process (silver printing) at present employed will be
swept away, and superseded by another. Our readers may smile at these
predictions, and think us too enthusiastic ; but if the truth must be told,
we rather jn'ide ourselves on the practical character of our suggestions,
and assign three months as the probable date of the fulfilment of the pre¬
diction now (April 1st, 1858) committed to print." ! ! ! No’ bad that
ava ! Odds, man, but Tam’s a real clever fallow ; an’ if he wad
come tae Glasgow I wad stan’ him a tumbler in Lucky Harrower’s,
o’ the Saut Market, an’ get him tae prophesy an’ predict a sma’ spell
o’ -weather fit for allooin’ a puir soul tae gae doon the Clyde wi’
his camera, for the wreather in this quarter is unco unphotograpliic
just noo. But it seems he prides himsel’ especially on his optical
articles. Ye’ll no find a “flaw in his raisonin’ there, nor ony statement
that is opposed tae fact.” It stan’s tae natur’ it maun be sae, for,
as I hae said, he couldna mak a mistak — na, not he. It’s my ain
private belief that there is mair than ane B.A. and wrangler o’
Cambridge stayin’ at Jersey, and that they a’ hand verra different
opinions frae each ither, altho’ they possibly tak turn aboot at the wheel
o’ the Notes, ilk ane trumpin’ oot his ain opinions tae the entire disregard
o’ his neebour namesakes. If I am wrang in this notion, hoo else can
ye reconcile the followin’? In No. 25 o’ the London, he gics us a lang
lot o’ mathematical reasonin’ tae pruve that a better picture can be taken
wi’ a sma’ landscape lens withoot a stop than a bigger ane wi’ a stop.
“The real question,” he says (page 97, Yol. 2), “is whether a small lens
could be made to work as well as a large one with the same sized stop. In
wrhat follows I shall endeavour to prove that it might work better." An’
then follows his proof's, illustrated wi’ three diagrams, which, a’ in a’,
are aboot the maist remarkable that hae ever yet appeared in ony book,
photographic or itherwise. Sic an outrage on the optics o’ oor art wasna
lang in bein’ resented by Grubb, Shadbolt, Goddard, an’ ithers o’ oor
true men — lang may they be spared ! Grubb in particular, after endurin’
a heap o’ the ill tongue which charactereeses the bodie, quietly slipped a
padlock on Tam’s mooth, an’ shut him up ( vide page 140). 0, Maister
Yedditur, do obleege me by comparin’ Tannnas’s diagram at page 98 wi’
Grubb’s at page 189 o’ the journal alluded tae, an’ then say if he ever
made ony optical statement inconsistent wi’ fact. Queer eneucli, when
Sir David Brewster afterwards cam oot in favour o’ sma’ lenses, the
person wha gied him the maist ill tongue in pruning that big lenses were
better than sma’ was nae ither than oor Jersey frien’ himsel’. The only'
thing that can be said aboot his sneers against Sir David Brewster,
Brunei, Grubb, Shadbolt, Malone, an’ ithers o’ the sam’ stamp, is, that
his sneers are just worthy o’ himsel’. He afterwards ate dirt pie by savin’
(Notes, No. 73, for April, 1859) : — “ Stnall lenses are perfectly useless. ’ *
Some years ago we committed the mistake of recommending these lenses for
trial. They are of no use whatever in ordinary landscape photoegrapliy," &c.
Without encroaching more on y7er space by7 noticin’ the scores o’ minor
inconsistencies, which he, in the elegant lingo o’ Cambridge, wad term
fibbin’ — sic, for example, as sayin’, in 1860, “ We maintain that a first-
rate practical photographer is a better judge of a photographic lens than a
practical optician," Sac.-, an’ sayin’, in 1861 (nae langer syne than the
number in which he impertinently published the private business letters
316
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 2, 1801
o’ parties witli whom he had naetliin’ tae do), “That he himself was in¬
capable o’ testin’ a lens : no photographer could do it, only an optician” —
little wee bouncers o’ this sort I maun pass over — at least at present ;
an’ I will conclude wi’ a remark or twa about anither optical achievement
o’ his : I mean his discovery that nae lens will or can gie sti aught lines
unless it be symmetrical. Noo, onybody that kens ought o’ optics kens
that tae be sic a " thunder er" that it scarcely is worthwhile tae con¬
tradict it ; but frien’ Tam has harped upon that string sae lang that he
maybe noo believes it tae be true. If he only had been capable o’ testin’
a lens himsel’, I wad asked him tae come tae Glasgow, whaur I wad liae
let him see about half-a-dizzen lenses o’ a’ sizes, all o’ which mak the
lines mathematically straught, an’ there's nae mair symmetry in the lenses o’
ony o' them than the fact that they're a' made o' glass and moonted in
brass. — I am yours, &c., AULD LENS.
Glasgoiv, August 26th, 1861.
ADHERENCE OF THE FILM IN THE TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you be kind enough to ask “Verdant Green,” who seeks
your advice in the last number of The British Journal of Photography,
if he lias ever tried slightly warming the glass plate immediately
before pouring on the collodion? Out of several lots of stereo, plates
which 1 have prepared by the tannin process during the last two months,
adopting the above-named precaution, I have not had one which has in
the slightest degree manifested any signs of film loosening or film blister¬
ing either in developing or in the after-washing and fixing. I know this
is saying a great deal, when the discoverer of this beautiful dry process
himself admits that the loosening of the film during development is
one of its drawbacks ; but it is, nevertheless, a fact, and I should much
like your correspondent and others who may be annoyed in the same
manner to try the plan of warming the plate before pouring on the collo¬
dion, and also to allow the film to set mell before placing it in the
silver bath.
The tannin solution I make of 10 grains of tannin to 1 oz. of water,
and filter twice through paper.
The collodion I have used has been “ Smith’s,” of Bath, with the
addition of a few drops of tincture of iodine a day or two before using.
Probably there are other collodions which would answer as well : I
merely mention the one I am in the habit of using, because, having seen
it often stated that success in the various dry processes depend so
much on the peculiar quality of collodion used, I thought the question
might be asked of — yours, &e., T. M. W.
August 22nd, 1861.
AWFUL IGNORANCE AND ASSURANCE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — -How empty and how vain is human ambition ! There are beings
who never heard of Shakespeare, and there is at least one being to whom
J, the celebrated, the world-renowned patentee of key-hole photography,
I, Paul Pry, am — unknown ! positively and absolutely unknown ! Such
is fame !
The Editor of your Jersey contemporary asks, in print [see his last
number]: — “ Who is Paul Pry?" Fye ! isn’t such ignorance (in an
Editor, too) positively awful ? Really it takes one’s breath away !
But what I object to is not his ignorance — that, perhaps, may be his
misfortune — but it is his assurance (which is a fault) that he, after in¬
sulting nearly every photographic writer and speaker, and printing in his
pages over and over again the most coarse, offensive, and uncalled-for
remarks — that he, of all others, should — crouching down into his own
corner, and putting up his arm to guard his lowered head — cry out be¬
cause you allow some whom he has assailed to strike him with his own
weapons, although those weapons are still unsullied by foul stains which
he does not scruple to leave upon them.
This same Editor complains of certain communications in your pages,
because in attaeking him the writers’ names are not appended. Now
does this individual imagine that if I, Paul Pry, chose to belabour some
sweep or dustman with my umbrella for vulgar insolence in the public
streets, I should first take out my card-case, and with a polite bow
request him to allow me to present him with my name before castigating
him for such coarse abuse? If so he must be disappointed, and may
express that disappointment in any terms his impotent anger may dictate.
The only remedy for him lies in ceasing to act as a sweep or dustman,
and so advancing a rightful claim to different treatment. Not that I,
Paul Pry, have anything to do with such a suppositious case — oh, dear,
no ! on the contrary the only communication in which I named this
individual Editor’s journal, was that in which I gave it very high praise,
as containing just the kind of information which T, Paul Pry, more
especially and particularly desired, and most highly appreciated. But
then that letter was published a very Ion"’ time ago. I certainly
described the contents of some journal then unknown in my last ; but in
that I neither named the Editor, place of publication, or title, nor gave
any other descriptive particulars. If, however, this Editor has recognised
the description for that of his Notes, and thus publicly announces the
fact — why who has a better right to do so ? and what better proof can
be given of the great value of the last new invention of
Yours very truly, PAUL PRY., P.K.P.
Keio Bye House, August 1 6th,
NOTICE.— Orders lor this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure itb delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day ol publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E
MAB.LBOHOU GH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C. — When any diiliculty is ex-
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GB.EE3N WOOD, 3a, Castle Street, Liverpool.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Oxoniensis. — Bell and Daldy, Fleet Street, London.
Hugh. — Had better get Major Russell s book at once.
S. F. L. — We regard such precautions as puerile in the extreme.
C. A.— You will find the information sought in No. 123 of this Journal.
0. D. — You would avoid the inconvenience by adopting the use of a good pneumatic
holder.
W. J- (Liverpool). — Received just as our last “ferme” was ready for press. Reply in
our next
F. C. A. — Send a specimen of your failure, and we will endeavour to explain in what
you are wrong.
Fred P. — See reply to “Hugh.” It is not an extraordinarily quick process, hut a
very certain one.
J- 'R — Yes, sea water will do, hut we should not recommend it. Salt is cheap enough,
why not use that ?
B. S * * * n. — The cartes de visitc lenses are in no respect essentially different from an
ordinary portrait combination.
Multum ix Paryo is thanked for his offer, hut we fear it is scarcely compatible with
our ideas: we will, however, look at the instrument named.
Indignant Operator. — Your question is one for a lawyer. We could give an opinion,
hut of what value would it he ? It would only he that of a layman.
Mary J. — You appear to have omitted the washing away the free nitrate of silver fiom
your proof before immersing it in the toning-bath. This operation is absolutely needful
to success.
Corpus. — Mr. Mayall applied the iodising box used in daguerreotyping to albumen
plates several years ago. See Journal of the Photographic Society. There is nothing
new in the idea or its application.
F. L. B. — If you “ salt” your albumen with chloride of barium you will most likely
have to filter it before use, as a deposit will certainly be formed, and you may not be
able to pour it off clear enough for use.
S. M. J. C. — We cannot recommend the use of gutta-percha for any part of a camera,
properly so called: it would never keep its shape for any length of time. A compound
known as vulcanite would do for panels.
L- O. — You have been intentionally or unintentionally deceived. The sulject you
describe, The Head of John the Bap>tist, was executed by Mr. 0. Cl. Rejlander, of Wol¬
verhampton, twelve months or more ago.
T. Draper.— You will find the information which you desire in our Almanac for the
current} ear. The printing process named we gave a few numbers back; if you area
subscribe r }Oti will find no difficulty in discovering it.
Way s Light. — If you call upon Mr. Vernon Heath (Murray and Heath), Piccadilly,
London, lie will no doubt give you information as to cost, &c. ; but we fancy that some
pyrotechnic composition will answer your purpose as well or better.
It. S. D. — Naphtha is a solvent of marine glue; hut in cementing glass you had better
make the glass hot, rub the glue against the edges to be joined, and press them together
with a sliding motion. Roughing the edges makes the glue hold tighter.
W. Ford.— We could not advise you to purchase one of the instruments which you
indicate, as we really know nothing about them. We are not responsible for advertise¬
ment assertions ; anti, in the case to which you allude, we are entirely unacquainted w ith
the tacts. j i
F. P. Davis. — If we are “not to'refer you to anybody's manual," how can we assist
you? We cannot write a whole treatise on purpose : so we must refer you to IIardwich'8
Manual; or if you have not that get it ; and if that won’t suit you, take a more elemen¬
tary one, say Mr. Hughes's.
Mounter. — It you have many to mount we think you will do well to try the plan
suggested by Mr. Stuart, of Glasgow, viz.: — Coat the proof on the back with dextrine,
and let it dry; then damp the mounting card or paper, place the proof in position, and
pass both under the scraper of a lithographic press. We do not like gum for mounting.
R. Peers. — YVe regard formic acid in any form as a decided mistake in photography ;
but the formula given by Mr. L} te is as follows, viz. : — For positives, distilled water ten
ounces, sulphuric ac:d three drops, protosulphate of iron half ounce, formic acid one
fluid ounce. For negatives, distilled water ten ounces, pyrogallic acid six grains, formic
acid one ounce.
C. Brown. — There is a proverb — “ It is well to he off with the old love before you are
on with the new." How can you expect to be successful when you are constantly
changing your process ? Read the details of several, note which accord best with your
personal habits, and select that which seems to suit you; but, having selected one, stick
to it till you do succeed, and then, hut not till then, try another if you are so inclined.
Thos. Bersted.— The iault of your prints is simply that your fixing solution is too
weak, and the hyposulphite of silver formed becomes decomposed. Make your solution
of hyposulphite ot soda much stronger— say an ounce of the salt to five or six of water.
The defect is that known as measles. Lucky for you that you did not apply to our polite
contemporary, who uould have called you “a muddler," instead of helping you out of
your trouble.
Operators Assistant. — We do not approve of the plate-cleaning liquids, for the
simple reason that you do not know what you are using. If an iron developer he em¬
ployed by the operator, you will find putting your glasses for a short time (say five
minutes) in dilute nitric acid (one part acid to nine of water) a good plan, rubbing the
surface with a clean cork, and then copiously washing with water. To remove varnish,
old waste collodion is very useful, especially if you have put into it a few lumps of
common washing soda, which renders the collodion very fluid, and easily removed by
rubbing.
fgj§T All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, c6 c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Pise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 62, Castle Street, Liverpool.
LEADER
ON CLEANING GLASS PLATES. By GEO.
DAWSON .
NOTON’S VACUUM PLATE HOLDER .
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
ETHER. By JAMES MARTIN .
THE POLYCUNOGRAPH, the Invention of
M. J. DUBOSCQ .
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR AT¬
MOSPHERE AS REVEALED BY SPECTRUM
ANALYSIS. By SAMUEL I1IGHLEY . 303
FERFECT POSITIVES & NEGATIVES FROM
PHOTOGENIC COLLODION. By M. Mc-A.
GAUDIN . . . 304
STRAY CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS:
ON VARNISHES. By JAMES MARTIN .. 304
THE TANNIN PROCESS. By MAJOR RUS¬
SELL . 306
PACE
VARNISHES . 307
ON THE BE-T FORM OF RECEPTACLE FOR
THE Ni'. .’...fit Or SILVER BATH . 308
STEREOGRAPHS: Critical Notice of Wilson’s
Scenes in the Hebrides . 3C8
RECORD OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INVENTIONS
By S. HIGHLEY, F.G.S., F.C.S., Arc . 309
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE . 310
EXHIBITION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY OF PARIS . 311
FRANCIS’S INDIA RUBBER FIELD BATH.. 3PJ
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 312
PHOTOGRAPHIC OLLA PODRIDA . 313
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 313
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 314
CORRESPONDENCE . 314
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, *c . 316
CONTENTS
PAGE
209
300
301
301
302
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. ISO, Vol. VIII— SEPTEMBER 16, 1861.
Micrometry. — A paragraph has been going the round of the
photographic periodicals, domestic and foreign, noticing the
application in America of photography to the construction of
micrometers, this being apparently considered as a novelty —
whereas, in truth, it has been in use in this country for several
years to a certain extent, and that, in our opinion, as far as it is
likely to be serviceable. In Vol. VI., page 172, of this Journal,
published 15th July, 1859, will be found a description of Malt-
wood’s finder for the microscope, an instrument constantly kept
on sale by the eminent opticians, Messrs. Smith, Beck, and Beck,
of Coleman Street, London — the said finder being nothing more
nor less than a micrometer, the lines being one-fiftieth part
of an inch apart and crossing one another — thus dividing a
square inch into 2500 smaller squares, each square containing
also numbers disposed fraction-wise, indicative of what may be
termed the latitude and longitude of the square in which the
pseudo-fraction is located. For a full description we refer our
readers to the number quoted. But, although it was not till
July, 1859, that a description of this instrument was given in
any photographic journal, it was published previously in the
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science in April, 1858, the
descriptive paper having been read before the Microscopical
Society on the 13th January in the same year. We may add, en
jiassant, that Mr. Maltwood is a member of the North London
Photographic Association, and has also published the descrip¬
tion of a photographic open-air operating box.
The circulation of the paragraph to which we first made
reference has attracted the attention of a veteran photographer,
Dr. Thomas Woods, who has been engaged in experiments
towards the production of micrometers by photography, and
who communicated a letter on the subject which was published
in the Philosophical Magazine, and was reproduced in our issue
of the 15th idt.
We have also made experiments bearing upon this subject
some years ago — not, indeed, with the object of applying the
same to micrometry, because, from our intimate acquaintance
with the requirements of an accurate micrometer, we have no
hope that photography will be able to aid in the supply of any
of a high class, except at a greater expenditure of time and skill,
and consequently of cost (even if at all), than is involved in the
present ordinary method of their manufacture.
Our own experiments to which we have made allusion were
effected in producing the optical toys known as micro-photo¬
graphs , and in some of them we sought to ascertain how far
printed matter might be reduced in scale and yet remain legible
by subsequent enlargement under the microscope. The nega¬
tive which we employed for the purpose was a copy of the front
page of an early number of this Journal (then known as
the Liverpool Photographic Journal) ; and we found that when
we had reduced the size so that the small letters were no more
than the two-thousandth p>art of an inch in height the entire
page was legible, but when attempted upon a still smaller scale
astigmation interfered with the definition, first in the corners
and then at the sides. Though our optical resources wrere
by no means exhausted so far as this point was concerned, we
found it useless to carry the investigation further, because,
under the power necessarily employed to render such small-sized
letters legible, the structure of the collodion film itself (structure¬
less as it was supposed to be) became offensively prominent and
interfered with the sharpness of the letters : it was as if we
had attempted to print a fine copperplate engraving upon a
piece of coarse whitish-brown paper. Of course our next move
was to endeavour to produce a still more homogeneous film ;
and, though we found no difficulty so far as the collodion itself
was concerned, there wras no getting over the fact that the iodide
of silver, however minutely divided, was formed in distinct parti¬
cles — more or less closely contiguous, it is true, but still pro¬
ducing under the microscope, when much power was employed,
a comparatively rough granular surface with the attendant eviJs
already described.
Of Dr. Woods’s accomplishments as a scientific photographer
we have been acquainted ever since our own connexion with the art;
but from a paragraph in his letter we presume that his attention
has not been much directed towards the subject of micrometric
measurement, or he would have been aware that the method to
which he alludes of making an attempt to view both the object
and the micrometer at the same time must necessarily be very
inconvenient and inaccurate, and has been abandoned for
upwards of sixteen years by scientific microscopists in favour
of a plan proposed by the late Mr. (George Jackson, a gentleman
whose improvements in the mechanical parts of our best instru¬
ments have been adopted, and are at present in use, either in
their integrity or slightly modified, by every one of our first
microscope makers.
It is not at all surprising that Dr. Woods should not be
familiar with Mr. Jackson’s method, even if the former be a
practical microscopist, for his residence in the sister island may
have prevented his coming in contact with other workers in the
field of microscopical investigation ; and when once an improve¬
ment in the mechanical parts of the instrument is adopted, it is
constantly applied as a matter of course, exciting no remark or
discussion, so that, unless an observer at a distance from head¬
quarters happen to have taken cognisance of it at the time of
its introduction or shortly afterwards, he is likely not to have
his attention drawn thereto subsequently.
On perusing Dr. Woods’s letter it will be perceived that his
micrometer must consist of a sort of mosaic table like a chess¬
board, but with all the white squares of every alternate row
blackened — or, in other words, of a series of white squares exactly
one-thousandth part of an inch square, and placed exactly one-
thousandtli part of an inch from each other. This would form
but a very clumsy scale even if there were no difficulties in its
application to contend with, and is an enormous way behind
what Mr. Jackson produced mechanically by aid of a ruling-
machine of his own construction. We have one of his micro¬
meters now before us in which the lines are the twelve-hun¬
dredth part (tAttj) of an inch apart, and the space between them is
at least ten times as great as the lines are in thickness. We
have also seen lines of the ten-thousandth (-n^vu) part of an inch
apart ruled by the same machine. But were we to apply a
318
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 10, 1801
micrometer ruled even to this degree of minuteness by wlmt we
might term the direct method, to most objects it would be of no
use— for instance, to ascertain the distance between the strife in
some of the Diatomacecc, as in the P leurosigma delicatulum, in
which they are but the sixty-four thousandth part (uGnu) of an
inch apart, or Pleurosigma macrum, where they are but the
eighty-five thousandth part (?sAu) of an inch from one another;
and these are not the smallest spaces that sometimes have to
be measured.
It will be evident from the preceding that, until we can obtain
very very much finer lines by photographic agency, it is but of
little use to attempt the manufacture of micrometers by its aid.
Lines as thick as the one-thousandth or even the two-thousandth
(2uW) part of an inch are quite out of the question if intended
for real work. This is the real point of difficulty, which we see
but small chance of being overcome.
Having written so much on this subject, we may perhaps as
well indicate how micrometers are usually applied in the micros¬
cope, though we admit that this point lias scarcely any direct
connexion with photography. In order to measure accurately
very minute spaces, it is needful to be furnished with at least
two micrometers mounted in a slightly different manner, but
both of them having their lines tilled with plumbago, and
covered with a thin piece of microscopic glass cemented on with
Canada balsam.
Of these two one is designated the stage micrometer, the
other the eye-piece micrometer, both named after their position
wlien in use. The former requires to have its lines ruled as
finely as possible — a convenient width apart is found to be
the one-liundredth of an inch, with one of these divisions again
divided into ten, making one-thousandth of an inch. It is not
needful that these lines should be made to cross one another,
though there is no objection to such an arrangement : if
ruled only in one direction it is quite sufficient, for a reason to be
given hereafter. The eye-piece micrometer should have its lines
a little stronger than the other, and ruled only a short distance
across the glass, proceeding at right angles from a line (real or
imaginary) in the other direction. Of these short lines every
fifth one should be half as long again as the rest, and every
tenth one twice as long, to afford facility in counting. The
distance apart of these lines should depend upon the power of
the eye-piece with which they are to be employed ; for the second
eye-piece in our best instruments about the two hundredth (5R)
of an inch apart is very convenient. Now for the mode in
which they are to be used.
The micrometer with the finer lines having been placed upon
the stage of the microscope, and the other one inserted through
apertures made to receive it on the eye-piece, in such a position
that the lines are in the focus of the eye-lens — that is, in the
place occupied by the diaphragm of the Huygenian eye-piece —
the microscope is accurately focussed upon the stage micrometer
so as to bring its lines clearly into view. These will be seen to
have the lines of the eye-piece micrometer superimposed thereon,
and they may or may not have some of the latter accurately
coinciding with the former ; but at any rate it is not at all diffi¬
cult to make them so by drawing out the inner tube of the
microscope body, and with it the eye-piece, &c'., until one division
of the stage micrometer exactly ranges with anyr convenient
number of divisions in the eye-piece. For instance : supposing
we find that the divisions of the eye-piece micrometer exactly
divide one division of the stage micrometer (of a thousandth
part of an inch) into eight parts, it is evident that the value of
each division in the eye-piece is (while the microscope is so
arranged) equal to the eight-thousandth (sAu) part of an inch;
consequently by removing the micrometer from the stage of the
microscope, and substituting the object to be measured, both
the scale for measuring and the object can be viewed perfectly,
apparently superposed, at the same moment, without the proba¬
bility of error arising. The reason of this is sufficiently simple:
it is the image of the object which is enlarged by the eye-piece,
and this image is formed in the actual spot occupied by the
eye-piece micrometer. But as we can vary the value of the
divisions in the eye-piece at will by changing the object-glass
and by lengthening or shortening the body of the instrument,
we have, in fact (with only turn micrometers), an unlimited range
of scales by which to make our measurements, whether the
objects to be measured are small or comparatively large, and
that by an arrangement that is equivalent to the direct applica¬
tion of the scale to the object to be measured. The reason that
it is only necessary to rule the lines in one direction is that, the
eye-piece being capable of being revolved, and with it the micro¬
meter, of course the scale can not only be applied from left to
right but also from back to front, and in fact in any other direc¬
tion — a very necessary qualification to its thorough efficiency.
We have purposely omitted all minor mechanical details of
construction, as it is the principle that we have been anxious to
explain, and to show how important it is that the lines in a
micrometer should be of excessive tenuity and ruled with the
utmost accuracy.
We have already stated that the very beautiful machine for
ruling micrometers that was employed by the late Mr. George
Jackson was also invented and constructed by himself. We are
glad to know that it has fallen into the skilful hands of one who
will make good use of it — those of Mr. Ackland, a gentleman
connected with the firm of Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite, of
Newgate Street, London.
If after what we have stated in the preceding article any of
our readers are inclined to try their hands at making photo¬
graphy compete with the dividing engine for micrometers, all we
can say about the matter is that their courage deserves success,
and we wish them well through the contest.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
Pit OTO SULPHATE OF IBOU.
Synonymes. — Green vitriol, green copperas, copperas, ferrous
sulphate.
Composition. — Be. 0 S03 + 7 HO.
Equivalent. — 139.
Preparation. — A great deal of the common copperas of commerce
is often prepared by exposing roasted pyrites, or bisulphide of iron,
to the joint action of air and moisture, in which case the salt is
very impure. It may be prepared, however, with great facility by
allowing dilute sulphuric acid to act on iron filings or turnings, or
on the protosulphuret of iron : this latter process yields a salt quite
free from any traces of persulphate, but is, unfortunately, accom¬
panied by the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen, a gas having the
offensive smell of rotten eggs, and is thereby rendered almost im¬
practicable for the amateur. When the more agreeable and almost
equally efficient method is adopted of treating clean iron turnings
with dilute sulphuric acid, the operation should be conducted in
an open basin or pan capable of holding at least twice the quantity
of liquid employed. As soon as the materials come into contact a
lively effervescence takes place, caused by the decomposition of
the water, the oxygen of which combines with the iron to form
protoxide of iron, which is at once appropriated by the sulphuric
acid and remains in solution, while the hydrogen escapes in the
gaseous form.
It may not bo inappropriate to illustrate this reaction by a
diagram.
(H - -escapes as gas.
Water. •!
When the required reaction seems to be approaching completion,
which will be indicated by a considerable moderation in the effer¬
vescence, a gentle heat may be applied with the object of ensuring
the complete neutralisation of the sulphuric acid by any iron which
September 16, LS01]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
310
may still remain undissolved ; and when the effervescence lias
ceased the solution may be filtered, if necessary concentrated by
evaporation, and set aside to crystallise. The crystals yielded
should be completely dried as rapidly as possible between folds of
blotting-paper, and preserved in well-stoppered bottles. To pre¬
vent the absorption of oxygen by the solution, or rather the per¬
oxidation of the protosalt during filtration, it is necessary that the
funnel employed should have a long neck, so as to reach nearly to
the bottom of the vessel intended to receive the liquor; also the
vessel should be previously rinsed round with dilute sulphuric
acid, which will keep in solution any slight trace of sub-salt which
may be found. The proportions most suitable for the foregoing-
preparation are— -iron filings or clean turnings 200 parts, water
2,400 parts, sulphuric acid 300 parts.
Properties. — Pure recrystallised protosulphate of iron forms
bluish-green crystals, which are oblique, rhombic prisms : they
have a styptic, metallic taste, and an acid reaction, causing them
to redden vegetable blues. The specific gravity of the crystals is
D8, while the anhydrous salt has a gravity of 2'64. One part of
the crystals dissolves in D6 parts of cold and in 0’3 of boiling
water : the solution has a pale greenish-blue colour, and the white,
partly dehydrated, salt is precipitated therefrom by alcohol and
sulphuric acid. Glacial acetic acid also precipitates the salt from
its aqueous solution without causing any change or leaving a trace
of iron in the liquid. Sulphate of iron is fusible in its own water
of crystallisation. It effloresces in a dry atmosphere, but deli¬
quesces in air charged with moisture. A solution of sulphate of
iron absorbs nitrous oxide gas, forming a dark greenish-brown
liquid, which, on account of the nitrous gas itself being a reducing
agent, has been recommended as a more efficient developing agent
than protosulphate of iron alone; the solution, however, is wanting-
in stability, requires some little dexterity in its preparation, and,
moreover, its action on the silver salt is not so much under control
as the protosulphate itself.
For the convenience of weighing, in the preparation of small
quantities of developing solution, and also for the sake of porta¬
bility, it sometimes becomes desirable to have this salt in a finer
state of division than it is usually found in commerce ; in which
case the following process maybe resorted to, and will be found to
yield a very pure product in a very convenient form : — Take of pure
recrystallised protosulphate of iron (such as should he purchaseable
at any photographic warehouse), 500 parts ; water, 550 parts ;
clean iron turnings, 8 parts : boil these together for half an hour.
[The object of the iron turnings is to ensure the complete neu¬
tralisation of any free acid which may have existed, mechanically
imprisoned in the interstices of the crystals.] At the end of this
time filter, while still boiling, into a vessel containing a mixture of
375 parts of alcohol, sp. gr. -834, and 8 parts of oil of vitriol, the
mixture being actively agitated during the whole time of filtration.
On cooling the whole may be thrown on a linen filter, drained, and
dried as rapidly as possible between folds of bibulous paper fre¬
quently renewed. The liquor which comes through the linen
filter, notwithstanding the precautions above enumerated, will be
found to be slightly coloured, owing to the alcohol conveniently
holding in solution the whole of the persalt of iron formed by con¬
tact with air during filtration, the solubility being increased by the
addition of the free sulphuric acid. The minute crystals yielded
by this process contain their full amount of water in accordance
with the composition given at the commencement of this article.
Uses. — Protosulphate of iron is used in photography as a develop¬
ing agent in the positive collodion process, and depends for its
application to this purpose on the affinity which it possesses (in
common with other protosalts of iron) for oxygen. Its action in
this process consists in absorbing the oxygen of the nitrate of
silver, and thereby causing the precipitation of pure metallic silver
on the film of iodide of silver which has previously suffered a pecu¬
liar molecular disturbance by exposure to light. The protosalt of
iron passes in this reaction into tiie state of persalt, and, if the pro¬
portions of ingredients in the developing solution are suitably
combined, ought to remain in solution. Its special applicability
also for the positive collodion process arises from its inorganic
nature enabling it to cause the precipitation of pure vihite metallic
silver, it having been found that reducing agents of an organic
origin,, such as pyrogallic acid, while effectually developing the
latent image, throw down a precipitate of silver which is coloured
yellow by combination with the organic matter of the developer.
This salt is also employed in the negative collodion process as a
preliminary developer in those cases where, through short exposure
or deficient illumination, a slight molecular disturbance only of the
iodide film has taken place; it is usually followed by a second
development with pyrogallic acid, in order to obtain that imper¬
meability to light which is required in the high lights of a negative.
Notwithstanding it should not be supposed that the density requi¬
site in a negative cannot be produced by protosulphate of iron
alone, for very excellent results have been obtained by the employ¬
ment of a solution of this salt containing about forty or fifty grains
to the ounce of water. It has also been successfully employed in
some instances to develop pictures obtained by the dry collodion
processes.
Impurities. — The possible impurities in protosulpliate of iron are,
besides persulphate of iron, the sulphates of copper, zinc, tin,
manganese, alumina, magnesia, and lime, and sometimes ^rsenious
acid ; these, as will readily be imagined, are more accidental im¬
purities arising from the method of manufacture than intentional
sophistications, as there would be so little to be gained by adul¬
terating so cheap a salt. Ordinary sulphate of iron, such as is
supplied for photographic purposes in England, would not be
likely to contain all the preceding impurities; but it may happen to
the “ photographer abroad” to require some of the salt in question,
and the only article obtainable at the time may be common
green copperas — an article so impure as to be inapplicable to the
delicate operation of developing a photographic image ; in which
case, without going into an elaborate series of experiments to de¬
termine what impurities are present, it will much simplify matters
to assume the existence of all the above impurities, and proceed in
the following manner : — Dissolve the impure salt in water, and,
with the object of decomposing the persulphate of iron and
removing the copper, add thereto sulphuric acid in quantity rather
less than one-twentieth of the weight of the liquid, and iron
turnings in a quantity bearing the same proportion to the weight
of the solid green vitriol employed; digest these together for
twenty-four hours and filter the solution, through which, if it be
desired still further to purify it, sulphuretted hydrogen should be
passed to saturation, the liquid set aside for two days, and finally
warmed, filtered, and evaporated to the crystallising point. This
second operation with sulphuretted hydrogen has the effect of
removing the arsenic and tin, and any traces of copper not pre¬
cipitated by the previous treatment with iron and sulphuric acid.
The separation of the remaining impurities would involve a further
complication of the process into which it is hardly necessary to
enter, as they exist in such small quantities as scarcely to exercise
an appreciable influence on the result.
Tests. — When protosulphate of iron has become oxidised and the
formation of a sub-persulphate has taken place, it will at once be
evident from the rusty yellow appearance of the crystals, which
should be a bright emerald green. Evidence of the presence of
copper may be roughly obtained bjr dissolving a portion of the salt
under examination in water and plunging a clean table knife into
the solution, when, if copper be present, the bright steel surface
will be found to be coated with that metal.
Effect of Internal Administration. — Sulphate of iron enters largely
into the composition of many valuable medicinal remedies, and is
administered in rather considerable doses. It cannot, therefore, be
regarded as a very active poison. According to Taylor, “a dose
of an ounce has been found to produce vomiting, purging, and
frequently death.”
Antidote. — Should there be reasonable evidence from the existence
of the symptoms named above and other attendant circumstances
that this salt has been taken in a poisonous quantity, the best
thing to administer will be magnesia, or an alkaline carbonate, say
carbonate of soda dissolved in water. The magnesia should of
course be diffused through water or milk before it is given to the
patient,
INTENSIFYING PHOCESSES.*
By C. Jabez Hughes.
When a negative is developed by pyrogallic acid, abundance of
intensity is easily obtained ; indeed, the usual fault is that the
pictures are too intense, and, in consequence, deficient in half-tone,
though this need not be if due care be taken. Yet the practice
of using a bromo-iodised collodion and developing with iron pos¬
sesses so many advantages that it is rapidly superseding the
former method. The drawback to this plan is that the iron rarely
produces a sufficiently dense deposit to make a good printing nega¬
tive, and recourse must be had to some additional plan to obtain
the required density.
When developing with iron it is always a good thing to obtain
as strong a deposit as possible, in the first instance. With some
* Extracted by permission from Principles and Practices of Photography. 2nd Edition , '
320
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 10, 1861
samples of collodion and in good light a vigorously printing nega¬
tive can be obtained at once by the iron ; usually, however, the
deposit requires some addition to complete the required opacity,
and occasionally, especially with short exposures, the iirst deposit
is so very thin and weak that great trouble is experienced in
making a negative having good printing qualities. It should be
remembered that all intensifying or strengthening processes have
a tendency to produce hardness and destroy half-tone, therefore
great caro is required in using any of them. There are three stages
during which a negative may be intensified : — before the yellow
iodide of silver is dissolved out ; after the iodide is dissolved out
and the fixing solution has been well washed away ; and also after
the film is entirely dry.
The following are the most approved methods for intensifying
before dissolving the iodide out. First wash the plate thoroughly
to remove the iron solution ; then pour on the plate a little nitrate
of silver solution, strength twenty or thirty grains to the ounce;
let it flow backwards and forwards over the plate to mix well with
the water on the surface, and then pour over a fresh portion of the
iron developer previously used. The developing will begin anew,
and if the negative only need a little strengthening this method
will quickly answer. The solution may be poured on and off the
plate until it becomes muddy, when the operation may be repeated
with fresh quantities until the desired density be obtained. This
operation must be entirely conducted in the dark room.
Instead of iron and silver a more usual method is to employ py-
rogallic acid in the manner described on page 27. This plan is an
excellent one for producing soft yet vigorous negatives, and is
one that can be strongly recommended as applicable under almost
all circumstances.
Another method — when the exposure has been very short, and
there is very little detail in the shadows — is, after developing with
the iron and getting out all that can be obtained by that means and
well washing, to pour on a saturated solution of bichloride of mer¬
cury. This quickly intensifies the high lights and brings out the
details in a remarkable manner. After well washing, a very weak
solution of hyposulphite of soda (strength about 1 ounce to a pint
of water), must be poured over, which will change the colour to a
rich brown. The plate must now be washed, dried, and varnished,
with the iodide of silver remaining in the film. If the hypo, be strong
enough to dissolve out the iodide it will dissolve also the mercurial
deposit, and destroy the negative character. The presence of the
iodide will only cause it to print a little slower.
Some operators prefer to strengthen their negatives in the
second stage, that is, after they have dissolved the iodide of silver.
There are several plans of doing this, and those that depend on the
reduction of silver must all be done in the dark room. In all
instances the cyanide or hypo, must be thoroughly washed away
before commencing to intensify.
When only a slight increase of intensity is required a little
silver solution may be flowed over the plate, and the iron deve¬
loper used in the manner previously described. The silver will be
thrown down in a grey crystalline powder, which is not favourable
to opacity.
A better plan is to use the pyrogallic and silver as in a preceding
method, the colour being thus changed to a non-actinic brown,
which produces great intensity.
A good intensifier, when the picture does not require much
strengthening, is a solution of chloride of gold, one grain to the
ounce. It has only to be flowed over and the effect is produced
immediately by changing the previously grey deposit to nearly a
black colour.
Bichloride of mercury was formerly in great request as an inten¬
sifier, it then fell into disuse, and has recently come into favour
again. It is very powerful in its action, and requires to be used
with great care, as it has a tendency to produce hardness, and to
rot the film. These latter defects may, however, be remedied by
employing clean glasses, suitable collodion, and by a more sparing
use of the bichloride itself. A convenient strength is about two
grains to the ounce of water. This will form nearly a saturated
solution, and will serve for all the processes in which it is alluded
to. It should be poured uniformly over the film to avoid stains :
it produces its effect in a few seconds, changing the surface of the
negative to a blackish grey. If allowed to remain on long it would
change to a white : this must never be done, or the delicate half¬
tones will be lost. Wash the plate well, and pour over it a solu¬
tion of iodide of potassium, two grains per ounce, which will turn
it a dirty greenish-grey colour — not pleasant to look at, but an
excellent one for printing. If the iodide solution turn the film a
bright yellow, the bichloride solution is too strong, or has been
allowed to remain on too long. The bright yellow colour is nearly
useless for printing.
Instead of the iodide a weak solution of hyposulphite of soda
may be poured over, which will change the colour to a rich brown;
or a dilute solution of ammonia may be used, altering it to a
blackish colour.
Another intensifying solution based on the same principles is
composed thus : — To a saturated solution of bichloride of mercury
add a solution of say ten grains to the ounce of iodide of potassium :
a red precipitate will soon form, and the iodide solution must con¬
tinue to be added till it re-dissolves the precipitate and becomes
clear again. This solution has great intensifying powers, and may
be used in preference to those already named, the same precautions
being required not to over-do the intensifying.
Another plan for strengthening a weak picture after the iodide
is dissolved out, aud while still wet, is to pour over it a solution
composed of iodide of potassum two grains, iodine one grain, water
one ounce. Allow it to remain on the film about half a minute, then
wash well, and then pour over the usual pyrogallic solution, to
which a few drops of silver have been added, as if continuing the
development. If the required intensity be not produced by the
first application, the iodine solutions and pyrogallic may be alter¬
nately used, washing well between, and thus almost any amount of
intensity may be obtained, even from a weak negative. The use of
the iodine solution is not itself to produce intensity, but to alter the
condition of the film to enable it to receive a fresh addition of de¬
posit from the pyro. and silver solution to be afterwards used.
Some persons prefer, after they have dissolved out the iodide, to
let the plate dry before intensifying. Excellent pictures may he
produced by this method ; but, as there, is an increased tendency
to produce hardness, the greatest care must be taken. The plate
should be thoroughly dried, then the surface well wetted, and any
of the intensifying methods already described may be proceeded
with. The best effects have, however, been produced by the appli¬
cation of the bichloride of mercury solution, succeeded by the
iodide of potassium.
With some collodions the film becomes detached from the glass
when re-wetted : in such case the plate had better be varnished
about an eighth of an inch all round with a camel-hair brush before
wetting. Benzole, spirit, or black varnish will do.
When bichloride of mercury is used as the intensifier, the plates
should be allowed to dry spontaneously, as the application of heat
sometimes causes the film to break up when it otherwise would not
have done so. If the film on drying shows fine crapy lines, espe¬
cially in the intensest parts, the fault lies in the collodion : it
contains too much water, and is not suitable for the process.
All the above methods may be safely relied on for producing the
effects attributed to them ; but some, especially the bichloride ones,
require judgment and experience. They must not, therefore, be
hastily condemned if the first trial or two be not successful. Some
processes succeed better in one person’s hand than in another’s :
the best plan, therefore, is to adhere to that one which succeeds
best, for, after all, the final result depends not so much on the
process as on the person who uses it.
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothwell.
No. VIII.
DISTORTION.
Before commencing this subject I will, in the first place, draw the
reader’s attention to my paper On Distortion , read before the
London Society on the 6th of November, 1860, and inserted in the
Journal of the Society and also in this Journal, on the 15th of the
same month, and recommend him to read and digest that, whereby
he will the more readily comprehend my present article.
In discussing the subject of distortion, and how it is produced in
pictures, it is indispensable to have as clear ideas as possible of the
mode in which images of objects are formed in the eye, and to
compare this with the means by which photographic pictures are
produced and the conditions which determine their correctness or
otherwise. It is generally supposed that rays issuing from objects
are refracted to a focus on the retina of the eye, forming thereon
images of all objects within view ; and the eye being of a globular
form, with its lens in front, that the retina is of a spherical form,
whose centre is the centre of the lens : therefore, to obtain a pic¬
ture similar to one on the retina, it ought to be taken on a glass
or substance whose fora.} is spherical, so that the angles under
which objects are seen by the eye will be the same as those sub-
September 16, 186 1J
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
321
tended by the pictures of the objects on the spherical glass. But,
as pictures are taken on flat surfaces, it becomes necessary to
ascertain how they are affected by the various positions in which
those flat surfaces are placed. Perhaps if I state my opinion, or
make an assertion of what I believe to be the correct or best posi¬
tion in which a plate ought to be placed to obtain the most correct
result, and then go on to state my reasons in support of it, it
may be the most certain way of securing assent to the assertion.
Well, then, I assert that in all cases, whether taking views or por¬
traits, the plate ought to be vertical, or as nearly so as possible,
in whatever direction the axis of the lens may be pointed, whether
up, down, or sideways ; and further, that (particularly in taking a
single object) the best stand-point for the camera, as regards
elevation, is half the height of the object, and the middle of it,
horizontally : this is the more indispensable where there are straight
outlines.
If we look at an object (say a tall, square tower) horizontally,
and at such a distance that we can see the whole of it at once, and
then turn the eyes up and look directly at the top of it, I say the
tower in any and every part will appear of the same size in both
ways of looking at it, although the part farthest from the line of
visible direction in any case will not be well defined — that is, seen
clearly — because of the astigmation of the oblique pencils. I think
this will be seen at once to result from the globular form of the
eye, and its capability of adjusting itself, so as to bring either near
or distant objects in proper focus on the retina, whereby it follows
that the focal length is the same for near or distant objects, or
nearly so.
FIG. 2.
But wuli a flat plate tlie case is widely different. Referring to
fir/. 2., A B is the plate in a vertical position, C D the plate inclined
to the perpendicular, and E F supposed to be a spherical form or
segment of a sphere, similar to the retina of the eye ; 0 the lens,
and M S and N P rays from the upper part of the tower. Now, as
the rays, after passing the lens, diverge, it is evident they will
be farther asunder on striking the vertical plate than they arc
on the spherical segment; therefore the picture of the upper part
of the tower will be larger than it is on the spherical segment,
and the picture of the lower part of the tower, on the upper end of
the vertical plate, will be in like manner too large — as usually viewed.
But if the eye were placed where the lens is, everything on the
■vertical and inclined plates and also on the spherical segment
would appear correct, as was proved in my paper before referred to.
Now, if the eyes were placed behind the vertical plate in a position
similar to that of the lens in front, it is manifest the picture on the
vertical plate would appear in every part of the same size as
when viewed from the position of the lens. But with the inclined
plate and the spherical plate (if I may use such an expression),
xnatters would be completely altered, for the marginal parts of the
picture on the spherical plate would seem too small and those
about the centre too large, and, moreover, much distorted ; and
with the inclined plate, the upper part would appear too large, in
consequence of its nearness to the eye, while the lower part would
seem too small because of its distance.
The upper and lower parts of the picture on the vertical plate
would not vary so much in size from the same parts on the
spherical plate as to attract particular notice; but the same parts
on the inclined plate would vary greatly from those on the
spherical plate, and consequently from correctness — that is, if the
inclined plate were held vertically before the eyes — the part of the
picture on the lower half of the inclined plate might not differ much
from the same part on the spherical plate, because of its inclining
the same way as the spherical. But, in consequence of the upper
part of the plate inclining the contrary way to that of the spherical,
it is certain that that portion of the picture would be unnaturally
enlarged, and the result would be that a picture of the tower taken
on a plate inclined to the perpendicular instead of being square
would be in the form of a frustum of quadrilateral pyramid;
therefore it is proved that, to take a picture of perpendicular objects,
to appear the most correct when viewed in the ordinary way7, the
plate ought to be vertical, and that, if possible, it is preferable to
elevate the camera sufficiently high than to stand on the ground,
point the axis of the lens upwards, and so incline the plate ; or
otherwise, if that cannot be done, the apparatus should be so
arranged that, although the axis of the lens may be pointed up¬
wards, yet the plate must be vertical.
If the kind of distortion above referred to be disagreeable when
the axis of the lens is pointed upwards and the plate not vertical,
it is quite shocking and unnatural when the axis of the lens is
directed downwards from an elevated position, and the plate also
in this case inclined to the perpendicular ; for, now matters are
reversed, the bottom of the tower will be narrower than the top,
and the same with any other rectangular building near. What is
more unnatural than a building with the top half as wide again as
the bottom ? This sort of distortion can be rectified by the same
means as the other; therefore, it is quite unnecessary to go over
the same ground again. Distortion iti both these cases is seen in
its worst aspect when rectangular buildings are near at hand : the
more distant they are the less it shows.
I may be asked here what description of arrangement or
apparatus would be the best under these conditions? I answer —
I have shown the causes of these kinds of distortion. It rests with
the opticians to produce suitable apparatus, and for every photo¬
grapher to make the best dispositions he can under the circumstances
in which he may7 be placed ; but, if a picture cannot be taken in
any way to avoid these distortions, then the best plan must be to
copy and correct them as explained in my article on copying.
The foregoing relates to what may be called perpendicular dis¬
tortion ; but the same statements apply to horizontal distortion—
for instance, a wide building or row of houses taken with the plate
not parallel to the front. In this case the plate should always be
parallel with the front of the building, no matter in what direction
the axis may be, whether perpendicular or oblique to the front ; or
the distortion may be corrected in copy ing, as stated in my article
on that subject.
So far as distortion in portraits is concerned — that is, as to the
upper or lower parts of the person being too large or too small — of
course the camera can be put in any7 position, and therefore in the
best. In taking a portrait, draw an imaginary line from the ex¬
treme points (to be included in the picture) of the person, and then
direct the axis of the lens to the middle of that line, and perpen¬
dicular to it, and your object is gained. If the person sit upright,
the axis must be horizontal, and pointed at the middle of that
portion of the sitter which is to be taken. If it be a vdiole-length
portrait, and the sitter lean back,protrudinghis legs and feet forward,
then the camera should stand a little higher than the middle point
of the person, and point ^omewhat dowmvards; for otherwise the
head would be too small and the legs and feet too large — remarkably
so if the distance between the camera and sitter be short.
As objections may be raised, and dissent expressed, to wrhat I
have here stated — as such have been before — I merely request all
photographers who read these papers to try the experiments, and
convince themselves of their correctness and value; and thus I
leave every person to judge for himself.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
We are requested to remind members that the first meeting for the forth¬
coming session will be held at Myddleton Hall, Islington, on Wednesday
next, the 18th instant, at eight o’clock. It being the first meeting under
the new7 arrangement, members are requested to bear in mind the altera¬
tion of the days of meeting from the last to the last Wednesday7 but one
in each mouth. A paper by Dr. Maddox wrill be read, and samp’e pic¬
tures by Harrison’s (American) lens, and others recently remarked upon,
will be exhibited at the meeting.
322
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1 (5, 1801
§ x i t i $ b % s s o i i a t x 0 it .
MANCHESTER MEETING, 1861.
The thirty-first meeting of the British Association for the Advance¬
ment of Science, just concluded at Manchester, has been a most
successful one— in a pecuniary sense, the most successful meeting
the Association has ever held. The precise number of Members and
Associates enrolled was 3,139, from whom the large sum of £3,905
was received in annual subscriptions and compositions from new life
members. How provocative of thoughtful reflection on the part of
the older members of the Association are these annual gatherings
of the body ! According to the usual calculation of the actuaries,
a whole generation has passed away since the British Association
was inaugurated, and yet how many of its originators remain !
Still some of the most eminent of its founders have passed away
from among us, while others are compelled, through illness or
infirmity, to absent themselves from their loved occupation, and
are thus prevented from giving their active and willing services
in its various offices. Truly may its younger members ask, “ Our
fathers! where are they?”
Manchester has done herself honour in the reception she has
given to the British Association, not only in the munificent hospi¬
tality displayed towards its members, but also in the admirable
and systematic arrangements for the proper conduct of the business
of the Association, and in the important part taken by many of
her distinguished citizens in the work of the Sections. Mere
theoretic science might possibly have found a more congenial home
in academic halls and venerable colleges ; but science surrounded
by the results of theory applied to practical and useful ends is
appropriately located in the manufacturing metropolis of the
north. The markets of the world own to the value of the labour
of the teeming population of this district ; and in no other locality
have the applied sciences been so largely or so beneficially utilised
for the supply of the world’s demand for the special manufactures
of this remarkable and wealthy city.
To fill the office of President of the Association for the present
year, a happy choice was made in the selection of one of Man¬
chester’s most eminent citizens, Mr. William Fairbairn. No higher
encomium need the many warm admirers of the President have
desired than that bestowed upon him by his friend, Mr. J. A.
Turner, M.P., who, in seconding the vote of thanks for the
admirable Address read at the opening meeting, said, in allusion
to the title of P.C.L. conferred on Mr. Fairbairn: — “Your
learned societies may add letters to that name — they may give
him the dignity of a doctor, and may even make him President of
this Association— but AYilliam Fairbairn, making his own way by
his own merit, and distinguishing himself, not only by talent, but
by his modesty and unassuming character, will ever be remem¬
bered in this community as one of its most distinguished orna¬
ments.”
The President’s Annual Address was a massive document, im¬
parting in its “unadorned eloquence” a clear view of the pro¬
gress made in nearly every department of science up to the day
when the address was read. As the representatives of an art-
science, whose rise and progress has been as remarkable as, per¬
haps more rapid than, any other branch of science — while its
utility and varied application are being hourly developed in many
important directions — we must take exception to the President’s
otherwise valuable address in one particular: the very existence
of photography, the youngest-born of science, was ignored !
How Mr. Fairbairn, who in his life and labours is himself the
impersonation of the applied sciences, should have overlooked in
his annual review so important, so useful, and so beautiful an ap¬
plication of optical, chemical, and mechanical science, is to us" a
source of wonder. Indeed, we may here add, that it is curious, if
pot sad, to see what a very low position photography usually
occupies in the programme of the proceedings of this peripatetic
Association. While our art-science supplies useful matter to fill
the columns of no fewer than four journals, it only ministers three
or four papers out of the vast mass brought before the Sections
o f the British Association. We cannot imagine that the officials of
that body discourage the production of papers by the masters
end disciples of photographic science: the cause, we fear, must be
traced to a reprehensible supineness on the part of the latter in
the preparation of papers to be read at the annual congress of our
scientific savans. It is to be hoped that this reproach will have
passed away with the late meeting at Manchester.
If the followers of our art throughout the empire have been
“conspicuous by their absence” at the British Association, no
small amount of praise is due to the gentlemen who organised tin:
Photographic Exhibition held in connexion with the recent meet¬
ing, and whose doors are still open. In the arrangement of the
large number of pictures contributed, the Committee displayed an
intelligence and line taste, combined with sound judgment, which
we hope to see followed up in similar exhibitions elsewhere in
future. The results produced by every process introduced since
the da}’S of the calotype were grouped together, thus enabling the
visitor to compare results, to detect the merits and the failings
of every process, and to mark the progress of the art during the
brief period in which it has flourished as a distinct branch of the
fine arts. Indeed, this Exhibition presents a mural history of our
art-science, as clear in the exposition of its rapid development as it is
interesting to the student of art generally, in the study of the many
beautiful pictures thus systematically classified. As the Exhibition
is critically noticed in a distinct article, wo shall here leave the
subject, again congratulating the Committee which organised the
display on the satisfactory result of its “labour of love.” Mr. W.
T. Mabley acted as Secretary of the Exhibition Committee.
While speaking of pictures we must not omit to mention another
and most appropriate display prepared by the indefatigable
Messrs. Agnevv and Sons. At the picture gallery of this firm, in
Exchange-street, there was an exhibition of the portraits of eight
remarkable men to whom the world in general, and Manchester
in particular, owe an enduring debt of gratitude — men whose
names the world would not willingly let die. They were the por¬
traits of the great inventors of the machinery used in the cotton
trade, namely : — John Kay, inventor of the fly shuttle; Richard
Arkwright, inventor of the water-twist frame, or throstle, for
spinning yarns ; Samuel Crompton, inventor of the mule for spin¬
ning fine yarns ; Edmund Cartwright, inventor of the power-
loom ; Joseph Marie Jacquard, inventor of the apparatus for figure
weaving; William Radcliffe, inventor of the dressing machine;
Richard Roberts, inventor of the self-acting mule ; and Joshua
Heilmann, inventor of the combing machine. These interesting
pictures are the property of B. Woodcroft, Esq., of the Great Seal
Patent Office, by whom they were kindly lent to the Messrs.
Agnew for exhibition during the meeting of the British Associa¬
tion. How much does civilisation owe to the thoughtful labours
and invaluable inventions of these eight illustrious men ! Their
names deserve to be held in grateful remembrance in every civi
lised nation in the world.
All the leading manufactories, public institutions and buildings,
libraries and news-rooms, were freely thrown open to the members
of the Association, and many pleasant and profitable hours were
spent by strangers to the district among the busy workshops and
gigantic factories of this great centre of industrial occupation. In
no other locality has a more kindly welcome by the inhabitants
been given to the Association, or more courtesy displayed towards
its members.
Manchester has reason to be proud of its public buildings, many
of which were devoted to the purposes of the meeting. The Free
Trade Hall, in which the President’s Address was delivered and
the soirees were held, is a noble building, ample in its proportions
and pretentious in its architecture. On the recent occasion it
looked magnificent when crowded by the distinguished and richly-
attired visitors who promenaded the great hall or occupied seats in
the galleries. To enhance the beauty of the scene a large number
of fine specimens of pictorial art was placed round the walls above
the galleries, and surrounding each picture was an elegant and
artistic draping of crimson cloth, the spaces between the pillars
being relieved by the introduction of very beautiful plants.
Below, ranges of tables were filled by specimens of mechanical
skill and ingenuity, while Owen’s College contributed largely
of the contents of its museum, and wealthy private citizens vied
with each other in sending valuable and interesting articles
of vertu and of utility to impart additional attractions to the mag¬
nificent displays at the evening meetings and soirees , of which
there was one every evening. On Thursday there was a soiree, at
which was the largest and finest collection of microscopes and
microscopical objects ever brought together in this or any other
country ; on Friday an open soiree , after Professor Miller’s lecture
on the Spectrum Analysis at the Music Hall ; on Saturday a soiree,
in which was brought together specimens of almost every known
instrument connected with the telegraph systems, communications
being carried on between the Prince Consort at Balmoral and the
President in the hall, and also with Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, &c. ;
on Monday, the Astronomer Royal’s discourse on the results of the
September 10, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
323
expedition to Spain last year to observe the eclipse of the sun’
and on Tuesday, a soiree organised by the Natural History Society
of Manchester, which brought the series of evening meetings to a
succesful close.
We regretted to notice that, at the concluding General
Meeting on Wednesday, while the thanks of the Association were
supposed to have been given to all who had in any way con¬
tributed to the success of the late meeting and to the hospitable
reception of the Members, the great exertions of the local press
were overlooked. At no former meeting were the proceedings of
the Association so amply and so carefully reported. We desire to
place on record the great public spirit displayed by the proprietors
of the Manchester Guardian and Manchester Examiner and Times ,
in presenting daily to their readers the most ample details of every¬
thing interesting connected with the Manchester meeting. From
personal knowledge we can assure the Members that this was ac¬
complished only by a most liberal expenditure on the part of the
proprietors of the excellent newspapers alluded to.
We now proceed to give the few papers having a connexion with our
art which were brought before Section A. (Mathematical and Physical
Science), Section B. (Chemical Science), and Section G. (Mechanical
Science), the only Sections in which photography has a locus standi.
SECTION A.
Thursday , Sept. hih.
PHOTOGRAPHY appropriately opened the proceedings of Section A*
Mr. Warren De la Itue, the first of living astronomical photo¬
graphers, and whose utterances on our art-science, unfortunately
too few, are at all times received with the respect due to such a
master, read the following interesting
Report on the Progress of Celestial Photography since the
Meeting at Aberdeen.
At the Aberdeen meeting I had the honour of communicating to this
Section a report on the state of celestial photography in England, which
lias, since appeared in the Transactions of the Association. Since that
period I have pursued my investigations in this branch of astronomy, and
ascertained some facts which 1 believe will be of interest to the meeting.
In the first place I beg to recal to the recollection of members who may
have read my paper, and re-state for the information of these who have
not done so, that it was intended, at the period of the Aberdeen meeting,
that the Kew photohcliograph should be taken to Spain, in order, if pos¬
sible, to photograph the luminous prominences, or, as they are usually
called, the red flames, seen on the occasion of a total solar eclipse. The
words implying a doubt as to the success of the undertaking Avere
advisedly inserted, because so little information could be collected from
the accounts of those obseiwers who had witnessed previous total
eclipses as to the probable intensity of the light of the corona and red
flames in comparison with other luminous bodies. My impression Avas
that I should fail in depicting the prominences in the time available for
doing so, because I had had the Kgav instrument tried upon the moon,
and failed utterly in getting ewen a trace of her image on the sensitive
plate, and the corona and prominences together were supposed not to give
as much light as the moon. I therefore pointed out the desirability of
other astronomers making attempts to depict the phenomena of totality
by projecting the image of the inominenccs direct on to the collodion
plate Avithout enlarging it by a secondary magnifier as in the Kcav instru¬
ment. It Avas fair to assume, Avith the great experience I had acquired
in celestial photography, that I should succeed with the IveAV instrument,
it success Avere attainable ; and I kneAV that far more reliable results
Avould be obtained by this instrument than by the other means I recom¬
mended should be employed, as the surer means of obtaining some record.
Tavo theories existed, as is Avell known, to account for the red promi¬
nences — the one, prominently supported by the Astronomer Royal, Avas
that they belonged to the sun; the other, Avliich is still supported even
by an astronomer ayIio obtained photographs of them at the last eclipse,
Avas that they arc produced by the diffraction of the sun’s light by the
periphery of the moon. It will be seen, therefore, Iioav essential it Avas
not only to obtain photographic images of the prominences, but also Iioav
important it Avas to obtain such perfect images of them that they could
not be confounded Avith the purely diffraction phenomena, if such existed,
and that the images should be on such a scale that the defects common to
collodion could not be confounded Avith them. “ The pretty near” Avould
have been far more readily accomplished ; but, having the Avliole bearing
of the subject fully impressed on my mind, 1 preferred to make a bald
venture, and either accomplish what 1 aimed at or fail entirely. Fortu¬
nately I Avas successful, and to that success the steadiness of my staff
much contributed. We iioav know that the luminous prominences Avliich
surround the sun — for they do belong to him — can be depicted in from
twenty to sixty seconds, on the scale of the sun’s diameter equal § of the
object-glass cmploj’ed — that is to say, an object-glass of three inches
aperture Avill give a picture of the prominences surrounding a moon four
inches in diameter.
The next subject to which I have to call your attention is the photo¬
graphic depiction of groups of stars, for example such as form a con¬
stellation like Orion — in other Avords, the mapping down the stars by
means of photography.
I have made several experiments in this direction, and have obtained
satisfactory results, and I believe that, at last, I have hit upon an
expedient which Avill render this method of mapping stars eas}7 of
accomplishment.
The instrument best adapted for this object is a camera of short
focal length in relation to the aperture, like the ordinary portrait lens,
the size of lens being selected to suit the scale of the intended photo¬
graphic map ; and the camera of course mounted on an equatorial stand,
with clockAVorlc motion. The fixed stars depict thcmselA7es Avith great
rapidity on a collodion plate, and I have experienced no difficulty in
obtaining pictures of the Pleiades by a moderate exposure even in the
focus of my telescope, and they Avould be fixed much more rapidly by a
portrait camera.
The difficulty in star-mapping does not consist in the difficulty of
fixing the images of stars, but in finding the images when they are
imprinted, for they are no bigger than the specks common to the best
collodion. It is of no service attempting to overcome the difficulty by
enlarging the Avliole picture ; but something may be done by causing
the images of the stars, which are mere spots, to spread out into a cone
of rays by putting the image out of focus, and thus to imprint a disc on
the plate instead of a point. Last year has been so fully employed that
I have not yet had time to fully develop this method, but I have ascer¬
tained its practicability.
Some curiosity naturally exists as to the possibility of applying
photography to the depiction of those Avonderful bodies, the comets,
Avliich arrive generally Avithout anything being knoAvn of their preA’ious
history, and absolutely nothing as to their physical nature. It Avould
be valuable to have photographic records of them, especially of their
nucleus and coma, which undergo changes from day to day, and hence
such a means of recording their changes as photography offers Avould be
the best beyond comparison, if the light of the comet Avere sufficiently
intense to imprint itself.
On the appearance of Donati’s comet, in 1858, I made some attempts
to delineate it Avith my reflector on a collodion film, but without success ;
and on the appearance of the comet of the present year I made
numerous attempts, not. only with my telescope, but also with a portrait
camera, to depict it; but, even with an exposure of fifteen minutes
(minutes, not seconds), I failed in getting the slightest impression, ex'en
Avith the portrait camera. Hence this conclusion may be arrived at,
that the actinic ray does not exist in sufficient intensity in such a comet
as the last to imprint itself, and, therefore, photography is inapplicable
to the recording of the appearances of these Avonderful bodies. I iioav
return to heliography.
Experiments conducted at the Kcav Observatoiy, by my request, have
shoAvn that for an image of the sun of any gi\-en size, when once
Ave have ascertained what aperture of the telescope is sufficient to
produce the picture with the necessary degree of rapidity, it is not
beneficial to increase that aperture — that is to say, no more details are
depicted, nor does the picture become sharper so as to bear a greater
subsequent enlargement in copying than Avlien the smaller aperture is
used. It has also been ascertained, experimentally, that it is not Avell to
enlarge the image beyond a certain point, by increasing the magnifying
power of the secondary magnifier, so as to cause the rays to emerge at a
greater angle.
These results are such as I should have anticipated ; but as it was,
neArertheless, desirable to produce pictures of the sun’s spots, with a
vieAv to their closer study, on a scale considerably greater than the
pictures produced by the Kcav instrument, 1 commenced some prepara¬
tions at my OAvn observatory for trying Avhether it would be possible to
procure such pictures Avith my reflector. On maturing my plans, I found
that the apparatus which it Avould be necessary to append would be so
Aveiglrty that the telescope Avould require to be strengthened considerabl}',
to support the additional weight in the awkAvard position in Avliich it had
to be placed ; and it did not at first appear Iioav this could be conveniently
done. Ultimately, I found the means of adding a radius bar, and of
supporting the plate holder, Avliich carries a plate eighteen inches square,
at a distance of four feet from the eyc-picce.
But here another difficulty occurred, namely, that the image of the sun
Avas so poAverfully heating that, if alloAved to rema’n for a very short
time on the instantaneous slide, it heated it and ultimately set fire to
some part of the. apparatus. A trap easy to be moved over the mouth of
the telescope had to be contrived so as to open just before the instanta¬
neous apparatus Avas brought into action and again shut immediately
afterwards.
At last these mechanical difficulties were surmounted, and I commenced
my experiments to ascertain the best form of secondary magnifier. These
experiments are still in progress, and some important difficulties remain
to be overcome before pictures of the sun’s spots will be obtained with
that degree of sharpness Avhicli shall leave nothing to desire.
With an ordinary Huygenian eye-piece employed as a secondary
magnifier, and placed somewhat nearer the great mirror than its position
for the most perfect optical picture, in order to throw the chemical rays
further on so as to bring them to a focus on the plate. I have obtained some
824
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 10, 1861
sun pictures of very considerable promise on the extremely large scale of
the sun’s diameter, equal to 3ft. These pictures have only been verj1, re¬
cently procured, and I submit them to the Section because I believe that
an interest is felt in the progress of celestial photography, and that our
members prefer to take part in the experiments as it were by watching
their progress rather than to wait until the most perfect results have
been brought about,
I may state the mechanical and chemical difficulties have been sur¬
mounted, and the only outstanding one is the form of the secondary
magnifier. When this has been worked out, perfect sun pictures, three
feet in diameter, will be obtainable with a telescope of one foot aperture
in less than the twentieth part of a second of time. These pictures, when
taken under suitable circumstances, may be grouped so as to produce
stereoscopic pictures, which must throw considerable light on the nature
of the spots.
It appears to me that such results must be of value to science, and
that such records of the state of the sun’s photosphere, both as regards
spots and other changing phenomena, which are obtainable by means of
photography are worth collecting and discussing. It is agreeable to me
to work out the problem, so as to point out the means by which success
is attainable, and I may fora time carry on the records ; but it will, on
reduction, be seen that these observations, if continued as they should be
for years, are likely to prove a serious tax upon the leisure and purse of
a private individual.
[Several photographs depicting the sun’s spots were handed round, and
were viewed with great interest by the members of the Section.]
Professor Chevaluer said that, having been in Spain during the eclipse,
he could bear testimony to the value of Mr. De la Rue’s achievements.
He himself had the opportunity of making one experiment which showed
that the light of the corona was brighter than that of the moon ; for the
light of the corona was visible through a thickness of glass which, on
trying it on the moon, extinguished the light. The whole scientific world
was indebted to Mr. De la Rue for paying such great attention to a
branch of science promising such important results, more especially as
applied to the delineation of the stars.
The Rev. Dr. Robinson thought that the matter ought not to be left
with mere praise and admiration of what Mr. De la Rue had clone. The
means by which the Association had done so much in fulfilling its mission
of a benefactor of mankind was by acting uniformly on the principle
that, whenever a member was found gifted with peculiar aptitudes and
powers, his services should be secured, and himself encouraged to press
forward with liis work. It was clear that the way was open to a new
department of knowledge— that a new instrument of research was at
command. Let them avail themselves of it to the fullest extent. They
certainly had no right to trespass upon Mr. De la Rue’s zeal or time ; but
he (Dr. Robinson) was sure that if they followed up the question, they
might reckon upon Mr. De la Rue’s assistance in directing and superin¬
tending. He hoped that an application would be made by the Section to
the Committee of Recommendations ; and he had no doubt that the Royal
Society would join in affording the means, to a great extent, of prosecu¬
ting the researches so successfully begun.
The President said that it was impossible to over-value the importance
of self-registration in all ways. A good many years ago, at his instance,
the Association took up the subject of the self-registration of magnetic
phenomena, which had been further carried out by the assistance of money
from Government. It was certain that, the more recondite observations
became, the more it was felt that man was a very poor creature, and that
matter was very superior to him. Only put a machine in order to do
work and it would do it much better than any man could. Mr. De la Rue
had spoken of the precision with which he obtained images of the stars.
The precision was so great that the images were so small that they could
scarcely be made out — not from want of visibility, but because they were
scarcely distinguishable from spots on the collodion. Some time ago, in
America, the difficulty was the other way ; for, from the state of the
atmosphere, the images of the stars were in a constant shake, so that
every instant there was a different image, and the result was impressions
rather large and blurred. He trusted that the time would come when
the transit of stars would be made to register themselves. The means
were not wanting; for in America the course of a star across the
field of a telescope had traced itself photographically. It would not be
difficult to arrange so that this course should refer itself to seconds of time
on a transit clock. The image was continuous so long as the light showed
itself; but, by galvanic connexions with the beat of the clock, it was
possible at every second to stop the light, so that a succession of images
would be got, giving a distinct register of time by the star, and thus, to
some fraction of a second, it can be fixed when the star passed a given
point of view. He wished specially to call attention to one of the photo¬
graphs — an image with the edge of the sun ; and he wished all to observe
the rapid degradation of light towards the edge. It was maintained by
M. Arago that the light of the sun did not decrease sensibly to the edge—
that it was uniform throughout. That was never his (the President’s)
opinion, and he gave to M. Arago some reasons for differing from him.
If M. Arago did not choose to believe him, he had reasons for his doubt ;
but if he disbelieved the evidence of this photograph lie would have no
reason for so doing. It was a matter of public scientific importance that
the use of the photograph for the things now referred to should be
perfected ; and, as he fully concurred in what the Rev. Dr. Robinson
bad said, he thought it was most desirable that the Committee should
confer with Mr. De la Rue, with a view of securing that effective and
direct superintendence, without which, in such observations, nothing like
practical advance could be made.
After several other papers on a variety of subjects had been read
and discussed, Professor Smith read the following communication
from Mr. Sutton
On the Panoramic Lens.
The lenses commonly used by photographers for taking views have
two grave defects, viz., the}' give curvature to lines at the margin of the
picture which ought to be straight, — and they include too narrow a field
of view for a large and important class of subjects. In a paper which I
had the honour to read before the British Association at the Meeting in
Aberdeen two years ago, I described a symmetrical triple combination of
lenses which was intended to remedy the former of the above-mentioned
defects. That combination has been found to answer the purpose, and is
now manufactured by Mr. Ross, the celebrated London optician. I now
beg to lay before the meeting another and a very curious lens, which
remedies the latter of the defects named, and produces an optical image
which includes an angular field of 100° and upwards in perfect focus to
the extreme ends of the picture. This lens, which is an entirely new
optical instrument, unlike anything else, I have called a “ Panoramic
Lens,” and I will now describe it.
Imagine, in the first place, a thick spherical shell of glass, having its
internal spherical cavity filled with water, and then, since the entire
sphere is not required, imagine a central zone of the glass shell removed,
and its place supplied by the brass mounting of the lens.
When the above arrangement is fitted with a central diaphragm having
a small central aperture, it is evident that the axes of the pencils of light
which pass through it must be incident perpendicularly upon each of the
four surfaces; and therefore there is no such thing in this lens as an
oblique pencil, and the errors due to oblique incidence are completely
avoided, and the image formed in every part by direct pencils.
The glass shell, being a lens with concentric surfaces, acts as a concave
or diminishing lens, and has positive focal length; while the central
sphere of water acts as a convex lens, and has negative focal length. The
medium having the highest refractive and dispersive power is therefore
made into a concave lens, while the medium having the lowest refractive
and dispersive power is made into a convex lens. It is possible therefore
to render this compound achromatic by giving a suitable radius to the
inner surface of the shell. The investigation is extremely simple, and
the practical result very neat and convenient. It turns out that when
light flint glass is used the lens is achromatic when the inner radius of
the shell is about one-half the length of the outer radius. The com¬
bination may properly be called a symmetrical achromatised sphere. It
is a valuable property of a sphere achromatised in this way that its focal
length is greatly increased, so that a large picture can be taken with a
tolerably small lens.
The central diaphragm is another curious part of this instrument. It is
evident that, if it were merely furnished with a central circular hole, the
sides of the picture would be less illuminated than the centre. To meet
this inconvenience I have made the central hole elliptical, and have placed
in front of it two upright thin partitions, radiating from the centre, and
looking like the open wings of a butterfly. These stop some of the light
of the central pencil and make it cylindrical, and, at the same time, make
the side pencils cylindrical also, and of the same diameter as the central
one. This simple contrivance answers perfectly in equalising the illumi¬
nation, and will be understood by examining the lens which I have sent
for inspection.
The image of distant objects formed by a panoramic lens lies upon
the surface of a sphere which is concentric with the lens. But the
objects of an ordinary view are not all distant ones, for the objects
upon the ground are generally much nearer to the lens than those upon
the horizontal line. It is found, therefore, in practice, that the best
form of foeusing-screen to meet the majority of cases which occur in
practice is a part of a cylinder having the same centre as the lens,
and including about 30° below and 20° above the horizontal line. The
panoramic picture, therefore, includes about 100° in width and 50° in
height. The upright lines are straight, and the perspective strictly
correct in all parts of the picture.
Collodion pictures are taken upon curved glasses, and the negatives
printed in a curved printing frame. I have not found any more practical
difficulty in working upon curved than upon flat glasses. Everything
goes on in the usual way, and the various operations do not occupy
more than the usual time.
I am in hopes that the panoramic lens will meet a great want which
has long been felt by photographic artists in taking views of natural
scenery, since it includes quite as much subject as an artist ever requires
in one picture.
I have sent for inspection a complete set of panoramic apparatus,
manufactured by Mr. Thomas Ross, and also a negative upon a curved
glass, including about 100?, and a print from the same.
Mr. Ross having sent a camera for the purpose of being exhibited to
the Section, Mr. Brooke then explained its construction, with which our
readers are already familiar. Mr. Brooke also exhibited two negatives,
September 16, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
895
one on paper and the other on mica. The latter being novel was viewed
with much interest ; but to the former, as showing the capabilities of the
instrument, much exception was taken, and the usefulness of the pano¬
ramic lens was stated to be limited to exceptional cases.
Mr. W. T. Mabley said the lens was 5i inches focus, and that pic¬
tures of 7 inches were taken with it — a thing that had never been accom¬
plished before by any lens.
The President (the Astronomer Royal) said that two considerable
difficulties had been overcome by this lens. Everybody knew that in
a lens — a thing like a spectacle-glass, only rather more complicated —
if you looked askew you could not sec an object well. In like manner in
a camera the light which came square formed a good image, but the light
which came askew did not. By this contrivance of Mr. Sutton’s
they got something similar in the formation of the image by the light
coming in all directions. If the inventor had used glass alone it would
not have been sufficient for the purpose ; but by the insertion of a quan¬
tity of water, which was also in a spherical shape, the lens was achroma-
tised. In the first place there was no injurious effect caused by the light
coming from different directions, and in the second place the colour was
removed by a simple construction. The lens was a patent, and he thought
that the principles upon which it had been constructed had been well
applied.
Professor Chevallier said the perspective of a straight line should be
a straight line, but in the picture taken with this lens the straight line
would be seen to be curved. He wished to ask how this occurred?
Mr. Brooke said it was because the image was taken on a cylindrical
surface which was concentric with the lens — consequently the image of
all objects would be formed upon ttiat surface, and it would be the same
through the whole aperture of the lens as through the ordinary available
surface in any ordinary lens.
The President said, in speaking of that lens, it must be remembered
that it was panoramic and not •perspective. In order to see one of the
pictures taken by it correctly the eye ought to view it from the centre of
the curve.
Mr. Mabley said that was a matter of little importance where the sub¬
jects were purely landscapes, and where there were no straight lines they
could not detect the fault in the perspective. One great advantage, he
apprehended, was that by this lens they could take their pictures in a
much less time. They wanted as much light as they could get, and if
they worked with a lens of 5f inches focus instead of 11 inches, they
saved time and got more brilliancy in the picture.
The President said their best thanks were due to Mr. Sutton for his
paper, and the subject then terminated.
SECTION B.
Friday , September 6th.
The opening paper at the meeting of this Section, this morning,
was one by Professor Miller, bearing somewhat remotely on photo¬
graphy. He introduced it by a few remarks, stating that his object
was to exhibit some photographs produced by elect ric light and
sparks, after which the learned prof'essorprocccded to read his paper
On Photographs of Different Spectra of the Electric Light.
The apparatus by which the spectra may be photographed consists <J
an ordinary camera obscura attached to the end of a long wooden tube,
which opens into a cylindrical box, within which is a prism of glass, or a
hollow prism filled with bisulphide of carbon. If the prism be so adjusted
as to throw the solar rays, reflected from a heliostat, upon the screen of
the camera, and the wires which transmit the sparks from Euhmkoff’s
coil are placed in front of the uncovered portion of the slit, the two
spectra are simultaneously impressed. The solar beam is easily inter¬
cepted at the proper time by means of a small screen, and the electric
spectrum is allowed to continue its action for two or three or six minutes,
as may be necessary.
He did not find that anything was gained in distinctness by inter¬
posing a lens of short focus between the slit and the wire which supplied
the sparks, with the view of rendering the rays of the electric light
parallel like those of the sun, owing to the absorbent action of the glass
weakening the photographic effect ; and the flickering motion of the
sparks being magnified by the lens, rendered the lines less distinct than
when the lens was not used. Although with each of the metals (in¬
cluding platinum, gold, silver, copper, zinc, aluminum, magnesium, iron),
when the spark was taken in air, he obtained decided photographs, it
appeared that in each case the impressed spectrum was very nearly the
same, proving that few of the lines produced were those which were cha¬
racteristic of the metal.
The peculiar lines of the metal seemed chiefly to be confined to the
visible portion of the spectrum, and these had little or no photographic
power. This was singularly exemplified by repeating the experiment
upon the same metal in air, and in a continuous current of pure hydrogen.
Iron, for example, gave, in hydrogen, a spectrum in which a bright
orange and a strong green band were visible, besides a few faint lines in
the blue part of the spectrum. Although the light produced by the
action of the coil was allowed to fall for ten minutes upon a sensitive col¬
lodion surface, scarcely a trace of any action was procured ; whilst, in five
minutes, in the air, a powerful impression of numerous bands was obtained,
It was remarked by Mr. Talbot that, in the spectra of coloured flames,
the nature of the acid did not influence the position of the bright lines of
the spectrum, which he found was dependent jFpon the metal employed ;
and this remark had been confirmed by all subsequent observers. But
the case was very different in the absorption bands produced by the
vapours of coloured bodies : there the nature of both constituents of the
compound was essentially connected with the production of absorptive
bands.
Chlorine, combined with hydrogen, gave no bands by absorption in any
moderate thickness. Chlorous acid and peroxide of chlorine both pro¬
duced the same set of bands, Avhile hypochlorous acid, although a strongly -
coloured vapour and containing the same elements, oxygen and chlorine,
produced no absorption bands. Again, the brownish-red vapour of per-
chloride of iron produced no absorptive bands ; but when converted into
vapour in a flame this gave out bands independent of the form in which
it occurred combined. These anomalies appeared to admit of an easy ex¬
planation on the supposition that, in any case, the compound is decom¬
posed in flame, either simply by the high temperature, just as water is,
as shown by Grose, or, in ail other cases of the production of bright lines
by the introduction of a metallic salt into a flame of burning bodies (as
shown by Deville). In the voltaic pile the decomposition must of ne¬
cessity take place by electric action.
The compound gases, protoxide and binoxide of nitrogen, gave, when
electrified, the same series of bright bands (as Plucker had shown)
which their constituents Avhen combined furnish. Aqueous vapour
always gives the bright lines due to hydrogen and hydrochloric acid, the
mixed system of lines, which could be produced by hjulrogen and chlo¬
rine. The reducing influence of the hydrogen and other combustible
constituents of the burning body would decompose the salt, liberating
the metal, which would immediately become oxidised, or carried off in
the ascending current. There was obviously a marked difference be¬
tween the effect of intense ignition upon most of the metallic and the
non-metallic bodies.
The observation of Plucker upon the spectra of iodine, bromine, and
chlorine shows that they give, Avhen ignited, a very different series of
bands to those which they furnished by absorption, as Dr. Gladstone had
already pointed out ; but it was interesting to remark, that in the case
of hydrogen which, chemically, was so similar to metal, we have a com¬
paratively simple spectrum, in which the three principal bright lines
correspond to Fraunhofer’s dark lines, C. F. and G. It was, however, to
be specially noted that the hydrogen occasioned no perceptible absorption
bands at ordinary temperatures in such thickness as we could command
in our experiments ; and the vapour of boiling mercury was also des¬
titute of any absorptive action, although when ignited by the electric
spark, it gave a characteristic and brilliant series of dark bands.
The following experiment suggested itself as a direct test of Kir-
choff’s theory : — Two gas burners, into which were introduced chloride
of sodium on the wick of the spirit lamp, were placed so as to illu¬
minate equally the opposite sides of a sheet of paper partially greased.
The rays of the electric light screened from the photometric surface,
suitably protected, were made to traverse one of the flames. If the yel¬
low rays of the light were absorbed by the sodium flame, the light
emitted laterally by the flame should be sensibly increased. The ex¬
periment, however, failed to indicate any such increase in the brilliancy
of the flame, possibly because the eye was not sufficiently sensitive to
detect the slight difference which was to be expected.
Dr. J. II. Gladstone said he believed the apparent change in colour
mentioned by Dr. Miller was no change in reality, but was owing to a
defect in our perceptions. "When the colour was weak or strong it fre¬
quently deceived the eye, and appeared to be of some other colour than
the real one.
Mr. Alexander Bryson, optician, Edinburgh, said that he examined
the late comet, and he satisfied himself and his friends that they could
distinguish the raj- D very bright. He thought this was a very re¬
markable experiment, and he hoped it would be tried again when we
Avere Ami ted by another comet. If his experiment were correct, it cer¬
tainly proved that the comet’s light Avas self-luminous.
Mr. Warren De la Rue said he believed he Avas right in saying that
the photographic impressions they had seen Avere generally belonging
to that part of the spectrum which was not visible to the e}'e, and,
therefore, photography came out as an important means to the render¬
ing Arisible phenomena which would otherwise escape their notice. He
quite agreed with Dr. Gladstone that colour depended very much upon
contrast. He bad not himself made any observations upon the comet,
but Mr. Alexander Herschel (son of Sir John Herschel), had done so,
and he could detect no lines.
SECTION A.
Monday , September 6th.
In this Section Sir David Brewster read twro papers, which will
no doubt prove interesting to our readers. The first Avas
On Binocular Lustre.
He commenced by stating that some years ago it Avas observed b}^ Pro¬
fessor Dove that Avhen the right and left eye figures of a pyramid, or other
mathematical solid, the one drawn on a white and the other on a dark
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 10, 1801
3 26
ground, were inserted in the stereoscope, the solid in relief appeared with
a particular lustre.
Professor Dove described the lustre as metallic, and, in another place,
where he described the diagrams as drawn with white lines on a black
ground, and with black lines on a white ground, he stated that the pyra¬
mid in relief “ appears lustrous as made of cyraphite.” Other observers
described the lustres differently — some as resembling ground-glass, and
others as like paper darkened with a black-lead pencil, Avhile Professor
Wood regarded it as “recalling the idea of highly-polished glass.”
In order to explain this phenomenon, Professor Dove remarked “ that in
every case where a surface appeared lustrous, there was alwaj^s a trans¬
parent, or transparent-reflecting, stratum of much intensity, through
which we see another body. It is, therefore, externally reflected light,
in combination with internally reflected or dispersed light, vdiose com¬
bined action produced the idea of lustre.” “ This effect,” he elsewhere
added, “ we see produced Avhen many Avatch-gl asses are laid in a heap,
or when a plate of transparent mica or talc, when heated red hot, is
separated into multitudes of thin lajmrs, each of Avhieh, of inconceivable
thinness, is found to be highly transparent, Avhile the entire plate assumes
the lustre of a plate of silver.”
To these examples of lustre produced by these plates — not in optical
contact, or if in actual contact, having different reflective poAvers — Avere
to be added the folloAving: pearls, mother-of-pearl, pearl spar, and com¬
posite crystals of calcareous spar, and decomposed glass of all colours.
The cause of these various kinds of lustre, and of that of metals, had
alrvays been Avell knoAvn ; and Avhen binocular lustre attracted the atten¬
tion of philosophers, it was natural to ascribe it to the same cause.
Professor Dove did this, and considered the dark surface in the one
picture as the dispersed light, and the Avliitc surface as the regularly
reflected light, the dark surface being seen through the AAdflte surface.
This theory of binocular lustre, lie had reason to believe, Avas not
satisfactory. The phenomenon Avas first observed by himself in 1843,
under conditions of different forms than those under Avhieh it Avas sub¬
sequently seen in the stereoscope. Having adA'erted to a paper On the
Knowledge of Distance given hg Binocular Vision , published by himself
in 1844 in the Edinburgh Transactions , he said that Avith his knoAvledge
of the phenomenon he could not adopt Professor Do\re’s explanation of the
lustre seen in the stereoscope by the union of figures on dark and Avhite
or differently-coloured surfaces.
In order to test this explanation by other means, he combined faces
that had no geometrical figures upon them, and he found that binocular
lustre was not produced. This experiment seemed decisive of the ques¬
tion. He Avas led to infer from it that the lustre observed in the com¬
bination of right and left eye figures of solids was not due to the rays
from a dark surface passing through a lighter one to the eye, but to the
effect of the eyes in combining the tivo stereoscopic figures, and to the
dazzle occasioned by the alternating intensities of the trvo combined tints,
the impression of one of the tints sometimes disappearing and reappearing.
He referred to an article published by Professor Road, of Troy, on his
(Sir David Brewster’s) Theory of Lustre , and Avhieh he disavowed, not
having adopted any “theory of lustre.” He had merely started an
objection to Professor Dove’s theory of binocular lustre, and an opinion
regarding its cause; and, as the simple experiment on which he founded
that opinion had been tnade by others with a different result, he thought
it right to re-examine the subject with the assistance of other eyes than
his own, and had obtained results which might be of use to those Avho
Avere disposed to study the subject more elaborately. Binocular lustre
Avas a species of lustre sui generis. It Avas a physiological, not a physical
phenomenon, and had no relation Avhatever to those varieties of lustre
Avhieh arose from the combination of lights reflected from the outer and
inner sendees of luminated, transparent, or translucent bodies.
He assigned various causes for the physiological character of the pheno¬
menon, and then added : — “ If binocular lustre arise from a physiological
and not from a physical cause, Ave must look for this cause in the opera¬
tions Avhieh take place in the eyes of the observer Avhen binocular lustre
is distinctly seen.”
These operations arc of tAvo kinds. First, in combining geometrical or
other figures to represent solids Avhose parts are at different distances
from the eye, the optic axes are in constant play, not only in varying
the distance of their focus of conveyance to unite similar points at dif¬
ferent distances on the tAvo diagrams, but in maintaining the unity of the
picture by rapidly vieAving every point of its surface. Secondly, Avhen
the two surfaces have different shades or colours, the retina of one eye is
constantly losing and recovering the vision of one of them. Each optic
neiwe is conveying to the brain the sensations of a different tint or colour.
The brain is therefore agitated sometimes Avith one of these sensations,
and sometimes Avith the other, and sometimes with both of them combined ;
and it is therefore not an unreasonable conclusion that, in the dazzle pro¬
duced by this struggle of flickering sensations, something like lustre may
be produced.
In studying the subject of lustre there are some facts deserving of
attention. Iii a daguerreotype, for example, of tAA’O figures in black
bronze, with a high metallic lustre, it is impossible, by looking at either
of the pictures, to tell the materials of Avhieh they are made. No lustre is
A'isiblc ; but, Avbcn the tAvo equally-shaded pictures are combined in the
stereoscope, the lustre and the true character of the material is instantly
seen.
Another instructive example is seen in the stereoscopic representations
of a boy bloAving a soap bubble. The lustre of the watery sphere is not
visible in either of the tAvo pictures; but when they are combined it is
distinctly seen. In both these cases, and others of the same kind, tints
of similar intensity are combined, and there is no ground for assuming
that the two surfaces combined appear at different distances, and that the
one is seen through the other, as in Professor Dove’s thcoty.
Mr. Cornelius Yarley, of London, remarked that the mind could not
attend to tAvo things at once. Now, in the stereoscope, the eyes were
forced to see tAvo things, and whenever lustre Avas produced it Avas a
species of dazzling which rendered the eye unsteady, and the mind Avas
forced to see Avhite and black alternately and unwillingly. Mr. Yarley
added that the first artist avIio attempted to teach his brother artists how
to produce lustre Avas Hogarth.
in ansAver to a question, Sir David Breavster stated that he Avas not
able to say that the instantaneous appearance of a solid could be obtained
by the educated eye. After seeing the solid with both eyes, if one eye
were shut the observer continued to see the solid for a certain time.
Sir David BreAvster’s second paper Avas
Oil Photographic Micrometers.
When examining, seA'eral years ago, some microscopic photographs
executed by Mr. Dancer, a celebrated optician in this city, 1 Avas struck
with the singular sharpness and opacity of some of the lines in such of
them as were copies from engravings. The idea occurred to me of ob¬
taining, photographically, by means of the camera, “micrometrical scales,
or systems of delicate lines, opaque or transparent, and fitted both for
astronomical and microscopical purposes.”
This suggestion Avas published, in the folloAving terms, in the article
Micrometer , Avhieh Avas published in the Encyclopaedia Britannica* : —
“Mr. Dancer, of Manchester, has succeeded in making photographic
portraits on collodion, so small that they are wholly invisible to the naked
eye, and that ten thousand portraits may be introduced into a square
inch. The film of collodion on Avhieh these photographs are taken is so
thin and transparent that it is invisible, and alloAvs objects to be seen
through it as distinctly as if it Avere the thinnest glass. If a system of
opaque or transparent lines, therefore, be impressed upon it photo¬
graphically, when reduced to the minutest size, from a system of large
and sharply-defined lines, Ave shall have the most perfect micrometrical
scale that can be conceded, the portion of collodion that contains no
nitrate of silver being as transparent as if the dark spaces were solid
wires or metallic jflates placed in the focus of the eye-glass.”
In another part of the article I have described a photographic position
micrometer, in which the dark lines may be formed on collodion or
albumen, at fixed angles, succeeding one another like Arago’s prisms, by
angles differing 30", 15", or CA’en 5". These lines may converge to points
Avithin or Avithout the field, or even to points at great distances ; and in
this case their inclinations may be accurately determined, in the large or
unreduced copy, by a divided circle furnished with a vernier, and read
off by microscopes. A moAreablc photographic line on a plate of collodion
may have a motion close to the plate, so that both may be equally
distinct.
From these considerations it is obvious that avc may construct, photo¬
graphically, the various reticida, or reticles, as they have been called,
used by Cassina, Bradley, La Caille, Mr. Wollaston, and M. Valz, of
Ninies, as well as the net micrometer, the concentric circle micrometer,
the suspender micrometer of Fraunhofer, and the lineal and circular
micrometer of Cavalla, and others drawn upon mother of pearl.
In the number of the Philosophical Magazine for August, 1801, p. 166,
Dr. Woods, of ParsonstoAvn, has suggested the construction of photo¬
graphic micrometers, Avithout being aware of Avliat had been published
on the subject. +
SECTION G.
Tuesday , Sept . 10 ih.
Colonel Sir Henry James, R.E., read a paper
On Photozincography .
He said that by this discovery they could noAv transfer a photograph
direct to a zinc plate, and so produce any number of copies. The Govern¬
ment having decided that it Avas necessary to reduce the large copy
of the survey to a small one, and which Avould involve a great outlay, he
made an attempt to accomplish this Avithout resorting to engraving, and
perfect success had been aehiexred. He described the details of the pro¬
cess, and exhibited seAreral copies of Domesday Booh so printed. The
fidelity of the copies Avas shown by the fact that every defective type
was accurately represented. A large mechanical draAving could be re¬
duced to any size, and produced at an exceedingly cheap rate. Plaving
already given fall details of the process in this Journal, Ave need not
rejieat them here.
Mr. Vignoles thought that there had not recently been any more valu¬
able discovery for engineers, geographers, &c., than that of Colonel
James and his coadjutors. It had saved the government £100,000.
* Vol. XIV., pp. 745, 756, 758 note, and 759.
+ Dr. tVoods’s communication will also be found in The British Journal or
Piiotog rathy for August I5th last, page 289.
September 10, 1801]
327
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
REPORT OP THE KEW COMMITTEE.
We extract some interesting items from the Report of this impor¬
tant Committee, showing the photographic work performed during
the year. The story of the Expedition to Spain to secure photo¬
graphs of the eclipse, and tire details of the preparations made to
ensure complete success, should find a permanent place in our
report of the proceedings of the British Association.
At the last meeting at Oxford it was announced that the Kew heliograph was .about to
be transported to Spain for the purpose of photographing, if possible, the so-called red
flames visible on the occasion of a total sclar eclipse. That the mission had most suc¬
cessfully accomplished the obiect contemplated was known in England on the morning
of the 19th of July, I860 (the day after the eclipse) by the publication of The Times
newspaper of a telegram sent by Mr. Warren De la Hue from Rivabellosa, near Miranda,
where the Kew party were stationed.
It will be remembered that, at the suggestion of the Astronomer Royal, the Admiralty
*hnd placed at the disposal of the expedition of astronomers II.M.S. Himalaya , and that
the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society had voted the the sum of £150 for
the purpose of defraying the expenses of transporting the Kew heliograph, with a staff
of assistants, to Spain.
As the scheme became matured, it was deemed desirable to extend considerably the
preparations originally contemplated, and actual experience subsequently proved that
no provision which had been made could have been safely omitted. Originally it was
thought that a mere temporary tent, tor developing the photographs, might have
answered the purpose ; hut on maturing the scheme of operations it became evident
that a complete photographic observatory, with its dark developing room, cistern of
water, sink, and shelves to hold the photographs, would he abolutely necessary to
ensure success. An observatory was therefore constructed in such a manner that it
could be taken to pieces and made into packages of small weight, for easy transport,
and at the same time be readily put together again on the locality selected. The house,
when completed, weighed 1,248 lbs., and was made up in eight cases. Altogether the
packages, including bouse and apparatus, amounted in number to thirty, and weighed
31 cwt. .
Besides the heliograph, the apparatus comprised a small transit theodolite for
determining the position of the meridian, and ascertaining local time, and the latitude
and longitude of the station ; and also a very fine throe-inch achromatic telescope, by
Dallmeyer, for tlie optical observation of the phenomena of the eclipse. Complete sets
of chemicals were packed in duplicate in separate boxes, to guard against failure through
a possible accident to one set of the chemicals. Collodion of different qualities was made
sensitive in London, and some was taken not rendered sensitive, so as to secure as far as
possille good results. Distilled water, weighing 139 lbs., had to he included ; and
engineers’ and carpenters’ tools, weighing 113 lbs., were taken.
Mr. Casella lent some thermometers and a barometer, and Messrs. Elliott an
aneroid barometer, to the expedition.
The preparations were commenced by Mr. Beckley (of the Kew Observatory) early
in the year I860 ; and in June Mr. De la Rue engaged Mr. Reynolds to assist Mr.
Berkley in completing them.
Mr. Becldey and Mr. Reynolds were cl arged with the erection of the observatory at
Rivabellosa; and so well were the plans organised that the observatory and heliograph
wer in actual operation on the 12th of July, the expedition having sailed from Plymouth
in the Himalaya on the morning of the 7th. This could not, however, have been so
expeditiously accomplished without the energetic co-operation of Mr. Yignoles, who met
the Himalaya, in a small s' earner he had chartered to convey the expedition and their
apparatus into the port of Bilboa, and who despatched the Kew apparatus, as soon it was
landed, to the locality he and Mr. Dc la Rue had agreed upon. This was situated
seventy miles distant from the port of landing, and accessible only through a difficult
pass. Mr. Yignoles had also taken the trouble to make arrangements tor accommodating
the Kew party, and for the clue supply of provisions — a matter of seme importance in
such a locality.
Besides Mr. De la Rue, Mr. Becklcy, and Mr. Reynolds, the party consisted of Mr'
Downes and Mr. Beck, two gentlemen who gave their gratuitous services, and of Mr'
Clark, who acted as interpreter, also kindly assisting duiing the eclipse. Each of the
party had only one thing to attend to, and thus rapidity of operation and certainty of
result were secured.
The total expenditure of tins expedition amounted to £512; the balance of £362 over
the amounted granted by the Royal Society has been generously defrayed by Mr. De la Rue.
Upwards of foity photographs were taken during the eclipse and a little before and
after it, two being taken during the totality, on which are depicted the luminous promi¬
nences with a precision impossible of attainment by hand drawings. The measurements
which have been made of these promirences by Mr. De la Rue show incontrovertibly
that they must belong to the sun, and that they are not produced by the deflection of the
sun's light through the valleys of the moon. The same prominence5, except those
covered over during the moon's progress, correspond exactly when one negative is laid
over the other ; and by copying these by means of a camera, w icn so placed, a repre¬
sentation is obtained of the whole of the prominences visible during the eclipse in tlieir
true relative position. The photographs of the several phases of the eclipse have served to
trace out the path of the moon's centre in reference to the sun’s centre during the progress
of the phenomenon. Now', Rivabellosa being north of the central line of the moon's shadow,
the moon's centre did r.ot pass exactly across the sun’s centre, hut was depressed a little
below it, so that a little more of the prominences situated on the noith (the upper) limb
of the sun became visible than would have been the case exactly under the central line,
while, on the other hand, a little of those on the southern limb was shut off It has been
proved by measuring the photographs that the moon during the totality covered and
uncovered the prominences to the extent or about 94M of arc in the direction of her path,
an l that a prominence situated at a right angle to the path shifted its angular position
with respect to the moon's centre by lagging behind 5° 55'. On both the photographs is
recorded a prominence, not visible optically, showing that photography can render visible
phenomena which without its aid would escape observation. Copies of the two totality
pictures are being made to illustrate Mr. De la Rue's paper in the report of the Hima¬
laya expedition by the Astronomer Royal.
Positive enlarged copies of the phases of the eclipse, nine inches in diameter, have
also been made by means of the camera, and will he exhibited at the Manchester meeting.
The heliograph has since been replaced in the observatory, but few' op; ortunities
have occui red for using it in consequence of the pressure of other work; latterly, how¬
ever, Mi1. Beckley has been requested to carry on some experiments with the view ot
ascertaining whether any more details are rendered visible when the full aperture of
three inches of the telescope is used than when it is reduced to abi ut one inch-and-a
half. Up to the present time no definite conclusion can be drawn from th e results
obtained ; so that, at all events, an increase of aperture does not appear to give a
strikingly better result when a picture of the same size is taken with various apertures
of the object glass. More experiments, how ever, are needed, before this point, which is
one of some importance in guiding us in the construction of future instruments, can bo
1 answered definitely. Mr. Beckley has obtained sun pictures of great beauty during the
course of these experiments.
The work of the Kew Observatory is now so increased that it has become absolutely
imperative to make some provision for working the heliograph in a way that will not
interfere with the cuirent work of that establishment; and Mr. De la Rue lias been
requested by his colleagues of the Kew Committee to take charge of the instrument at
his observatory, where celestial photography is continuously canied on. This request
Mr. De la Rue has kindly acceded to ; and he will for a time undertake to record the
sun spots at Cranford, as long as it is found not to interfere with his other observations.
Mr. De la Rue has contrived, and had made by Messrs. Simms at bis own expense, an
instrument for measuring the photographs, which will much facilita’e the reduction of
the results. It consists of a fixed frame in which woik two slides, moving at right
angles to each other. Each is furnished with a vernier reading to ^-pth of an inch.
The top slide works on the lower slide and carries a hollow axis 4,£ inches diameter, on
which rotates ho izontally a divided circle reading to 10", and this carries a second circle
on the face of which are fixed four centering screws. An image intended to be measured
is placed on the upper circle, and is centred by means of tho adjusting screws ; it is then
adjusted by means of the upper circle in any required angular posi;ion with recpect to
the lower divided circle, so as to bring the cross lines of the photograph in position uuder
a fixed microscope, supported on an arm from the fixed frame. By means of this instru
ment tbe sun pictures arj measured so as to determine the diameter to j„Voth of the-
radius ; the angular position of any part of ihe sun spot and its distance from the centre
are thus readily ascertained ; or the differences of the right ascension and decimation
with respect to the centre are as easily read oil to the same degree of accuracy.
Mr. De la Rue has recently produced, by his large telescope, an image of a solar spot and
portion of the sun’s disc far superior to anything before effected, and which leads to the
hope that a new era is opened in heliography, and that the resources of this observatory
might be further developed in that direction.
At the last meeting of the Association the sum of £00 was voted for an additional
photographer, and of this sum £50 has been received. The Committee suggest that the
balance of £40 be granted again at this meeting as the full sum will be required during
the ensuing year. A detailed account of this expenditure will be presented in the next
annual rejiort.
Allusion was made in the last report to an instrument constructed by Professor William
Thomson, of Glasgow, for determining photographically tbe electric state of the atmo¬
sphere. Tliis instrument has been fitted up at Kew, where it has been in constant
operation since the beginning of February last. It has been found to answer well in a
photographic point of view, and Professor Thomson has expressed himself much pleased
with the resu'ts obtained. The mechanical arrangements connected with the fitting-up
of this instrument were devised and executed with much skill by Mr. Beckley, the
mechanical assistant, who has also recently made a working drawing of the instrument
for Professor Thomson, who intends to publish a description of it.
GRANTS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES.
At the meeting of the General Committee on Wednesday, the report of
tiie Committee of Recommendations, as far as money grants are involved,
was read and adopted. The following grants were among those agreed to : —
That £500 be appropriated, under the direction of the Council, for
maintaining the establishment at Kew.
That £40 be granted to the Kew Committee, for the employment of the
photo-heliometer.
That the co-operation of the Royal Society be requested in obtaining a
series of photographic pictures of the solar surface, and that £150 be
granted for that purpose.
Mems. of the Late Meeting. — The next meeting of the Asso¬
ciation is fixed to be held at Cambridge, in June next, the Rev.
Prof. Willis to be President, and tbe Rev. W. Hopkins, M.A., F.R.S.,
Assistant General Secretary. - At the conclusion of the admi¬
rable address of the Astronomer Royal on tbe great solar eclipse,
Mr. Warren De la Rue projected upon a screen tbe two photo¬
graphs be had taken of the eclipse. These excited much admi¬
ration and applause. He also exhibited a series of views of the
prominences, &c., as witnessed by other observers. - Mr. A.
Brothers, o.f Manchester, is about to produce a group of photo¬
graphs of members of the Association, for which purpose that gen¬
tleman has already secured sittings from a large number of the
more distinguished members.— —In its opening remarks on the
recent meeting of the British Association, our contemporary, the
Athenaeum , speaks of the Association having been “blessed with
brilliant weather !!” A friend of ours remarked that Manchester
was the only place to which he took an umbrella, and every member
who was present could testify to the wisdom of our friend’s foresight ;
for during the first few days there were “ cloud tears” in such
abundance that the members became adepts in the “ wet process”
quite naturally.
ON THE SPECTRUM ANALYSIS.
By Professor W. A. Miller.
[Abstract of a Lecture delivered before the British Association at Manchester,
September 9th, 1861.]
Professor Miller said the subject which the Council of the
Association had desired him to bring before the meeting was one
which, amongst the scientific questions of the day, had attracted
as large a share of popular attention as any that could be named
It appealed to the imagination so powerfully' — it revealed to us
matters of investigation much in the same way as the telescope
made known to us what was passing in distant worlds, bringing
before us not only those particular changes which appeared to he
going on in the bodies which compose our solar system, but it
appeared also further to reveal to us something of the nature of
those distant solar orbs which stud the firmament.
Not only, however, did it make known those wonders at a dis¬
tance, hut, like the microscope, it revealed to us also quantities of
substances so minute that they would defy any other mode of in¬
vestigation : it made known to us bodies which not only would
defy, but up to the present time had defied, all the sources of
analysis and chemical skill. He thought he should best discharge
the duty which devolved upon him if he endeavoured to bring
before them in an exceedingly brief manner the successive steps
by which this discovery had been made.
328
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF P H 0 T 0 G R A P H Y.
[September 10, 18G1
Like all other great discoveries, it was not the work of one
individual. It was a work in which, he was proud to say, their
own countrymen had taken a prominent part, and many of the
members of the British Association had laid the foundations of our
knowledge on this point. Newton communicated the first infor¬
mation upon this subject in 1701. We knew nothing of the solar
spectra till Newton revealed it in his great work on optics in that
year, his researches having occupied him many years previously.
He would first bring before the audience the spectrum as seen by
Newton (not that Newton had the means of producing that artificial
light which on that occasion he should employ), gradually bringing
them up to the present time. The spectrum was perhaps the most
glorious sight the eye could behold.
Professor Miller then directed a beam of white light upon the
wall from an electric lamp, and afterwards directed it, through a
prism, to a screen on the platform prepared for the purpose. The
beautiful prismatic colours on the screen drew forth indications of
approbation from the audience. The Professor then went on to
sa.y that in the solar spectrum dark lines or bands were dis¬
covered by Wollaston in 1801 ; and the distinguished German
philosopher, Fraunhofer, discovered dark lines crossing the spec¬
trum at right angles to its length. Those lines were made what¬
ever was the material used in the prisms.
He would for a moment anticipate his subject by thirty years, in
order to show a photographed spectrum on a surface of collodion.
This image, it would be seen, was not continuous, but was inter¬
sected by bands more or less bright. This he showed, in order
that his audience might understand what he meant when he referred
to Fraunhofer’s black lines in the solar spectrum, upon the nature
of which much speculation had been exercised. The point next to
remember was that other lights than that of the sun also exhibited
these lines. For instance, if a solid substance were heated up till
it gave out light, as all solid bodies would when sufficiently heated,
these solid bodies — whether the ball of lime in the oxyhydrogen
light or the charcoal in the electric light — they exhibited broken
spectrum, being crossed by bright lines. This led him to several
distinct lines of research followed b}^ Fraunhofer: — first, the lines
in the solar spectra, which he might call cosmical ; next, lines
produced by the process of absorption. For the discovery of these
lines we were indebted to one of our most illustrious philosophers,
who was with them on that occasion — Sir David Brewster. Then
there were a series of lights produced by coloured flames. Lastly,
there was a series of lines — for the knowledge of which they were
mostly indebted to Professor Wheatstone — the lines produced by
the electric spark. Wollaston and Fraunhofer noticed that the
electric spark produced spectrum, but they went no further.
Professor Wheatstone had, however, done so. He had no oppor¬
tunity of presenting to the audience any of the cosmical lines beyond
those he had already shown in the photograph. Sir David Brewster
was the first person to throw a light on these lines. He observed
that under certain circumstances the sun’s rays were absorbed.
It appeared certain that particular rays were deepened by the ab¬
sorbing action of the earth’s atmosphere.
Then came the beautiful discovery of Becquerel, in 1842, by which
it was made known that there was the same interruption, or black
lines, in phosphorogenic rays; and Stokes a few years afterwards
showed that the rays which produced fluorescence were interrupted
precisely in the same way. But no one had satisfactorily explained
the cause of these lines.
He would now lead his audience a second step, for which they
were also indebted to Sir David Brewster. He discovered that the
dark orange coloured gas, nitric oxide, had a very remarkable ab¬
sorptive power upon the sun’s rays. This brownish-red gas, placed
in a ray of light, and afterwards examined by the prism, showed a
series of black bands much more distinctly than those occurring in
the sun’s light. The moment he put this gas into the course of
the ray it produced the black lines. A good many other gases had
similar effects.
The next point of interest was observed by M. Foucault, a French¬
man, who found that by sending the sun’s rays through the electric
light, we got a black band where the electric light showed a
bright one. This led to the discovery which formed the subject of
the present discourse.
The next step was the discovery of the spectra of coloured
flames. In 1822, Sir John Ilerscliel made a series of observations
upon coloured lights ; and it appeared to Talbot that these obser¬
vations might be turned to account for chemical analysis.
Professor Miller then showed by experiment the observations
made by Mr. Talbot upon lithium and stronchium, the flames of
which were so closely allied in colour that when viewed by the un¬
aided eye but little could be seen to distinguish them one from the
other; but the moment they were viewed through the prism there
was a marked and striking difference in the bands. Mr. Talbot
pointed out that soda and potash gave out veiy peculiar spectra.
It did not matter what preparation of potash was used, the result
was the same. In the case of the spectra of the alkaline earths
the lines were very numerous. A map (of the spectra) here
pointed to was one published by Bunsen and Kirchhoff : another,
going much more into detail, had been published by himself.
Passing on to another point of great importance, Mr. Swan, he
said, was the first person who endeavoured to estimate the delicacy
of these reactions; and he showed that so minute a quantity as the
one two-millionth and a-half part of a grain of a salt of sodium
could be detected by the colour of its flame. Other points also
were investigated by Mr. Swan.
The next step was with reference to the spectra of the electric
light ; and here Mr. Wheatstone gave the first impulse to discovery.
In the year 1835 he showed, at Dublin, a map of various spectra
produced by the electric sparks passed between different metals,
and he discovered the very important principle that each metal
had its own peculiar spark, alike whether the electricity employed
were voltaic, magnetic, or from the common electrical machine.
He further showed these phenomena were not due to the burning
of the metals; for he performed his experiments in an air-exhausted
vessel, and he put carbonic acid in the vessel and still found the
same light. He also examined metals in their melted state, and
the spectra of one or two of these the lecturer here showed.
The barium spectrum having been exhibited parenthetically,
Professor Miller went on to display Mr. Wheatstone’s spectra of
lead and tin ; and he stated that Mr. Wheatstone’s investigations
had led to the offer of a prize for further investigation, Mr. Wheat¬
stone having been at that time engaged with his electric telegraph.
This prize was won by M. Macon, who published from 1851 to 1855
some important papers on this matter, with engravings of the spec¬
tra, giving much more complicated lines than those given by Mr.
Wheatstone.
Having displayed the spectrum of silver, the learned lecturer
proceeded to refer to further experiments made by an American
discoverer, and others, whom he named. Amongst these were a
number of curious observations on the spectra of gases in tubes
first filled with these gases, and then as much as possible ex¬
hausted. On the table in front of the platform stood an apparatus,
consisting mainly of two such tubes, the one containing hydrogen,
the other nitrogen, both in imponderable quantities. Electric
light passed through these tubes gave, in the one case, a vivid
red ; in the other, a brilliant blue. It was also found that if two
pieces of wire, having on them the least trace of lime, or baryta,
or soda, were subjected to the electric spark passing between
them, the characteristic spectra of those metals were produced.
Nobody up to that time had explained the relation of these
different facts with the other. M. Kirchhoff, and, simultaneously,
Mr. Stewart, investigated the nature of radiant heat — the vibration
produced by different degrees of temperature; and both concluded
that when a substance was heated it gave out a certain set of
rays which, when cold, it absorbed ; or vice versa.
Having exhibited the light of sodium under the two conditions,
to show the contrast, Professor Miller next remarked that the
black line in the spectrum before them was as the key-note to the
whole of Kirclihoff’s explanation. The light absorbed there was
not lost; it was radiated in all directions instead of being cast on
the screen. Kirchhoff proved by theoretical deductious that the
dark bands in the solar spectrum were the reverse of the bright
bands, and found he could reverse the bright bands, not only
of sodium, but of lithium, potassium, barium, and strontium, by-
putting their flames in the course of the sun’s rays.
Turning to stellar matters, Kirchhoff had said, with great
probability, that the spectra of Fraunhofer were merely the bright
lines which we should see if there were not an intensely heated
body in the atmosphere of the sun producing these dark lines.
Fraunhofer’s opinion was that, in the luminous atmosphere of the
sun, vapours of various metals were present; and that the solid
body of the sun behind the luminous atmosphere, emitting rays of
all degrees of rofrangibility, caused these lines to be observed.
Kirchhoff had arranged an extremely sensitive apparatus, by
means of which he had been enabled to magnify the solar spectrum
in such a way that he could get a spectrum eighteen feet in length,
and view every part of it with a microscope.
SirDavidBrewsterandDr. Gladstone hadrecently made known the
existence of at least two thousand black lines in the solar spectrum,
but Kirchhoff estimated them as very much more numerous.
September 16, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Showing then a map of the solar spectrum, Professor Miller said
that amongst the lines thus exhibited were a large number
corresponding exactly to the lines produced by known metals ;
and he pointed to and described the drawing of apparatus whereby
at once the lines of the solar spectrum could be seen simultaneously
and compared with the lines characteristic of mundane metals.
Every star had its own series of lines, some of them seeming to
show sodium. The sun appeared to contain sodium, potassium,
iron, chromium, nickel, and magnesia. Bunsen, in observing the
residue of the water of a certain spring, found spectrum lines
which he had never seen before, and supposed them to be due to
the presence of an unknown metal, which he afterwards was able
to isolate, finding that three grains (only) of it were extractable
from a ton of the water. From the beautiful blue lines in the
spectrum produced by this metal he named it coesium.
By the kindness of Professor Bunsen, who had complied with
Professor Roscoe’s request for a specimen, the lecturer was enabled
to exhibit the spectrum lines of this new metal ; and Professor
Roscoe had also supplied him with a sample of another new metal
thus discovered, named “ rubidium,” the spectrum of which he
also threw on the screen.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
[Notice. — Under the above title it is proposed to describe from time to time such in"
ventinns and applications as may be of interest to photographers, whether they be o*
great or minor importance, and also to compare the relative merits of two or more con"
trivances designed to effect the same purpose. Where it is possible we shall, as a rule,
describe the objects that we think worthy of finding a place in these columns after a
personal inspection of the same. It is therefore requested that manufacturing, pro¬
fessional, and amateur photographers will call our attention to their inventions as soon
as they are leady to place them beiore the public, whether they be lenses, cameras,
stands, tents, opera tingboxes, printing apparatus, preservative cases, enlarging apparatus,
stereoscopes, novel methods of fitting-up glass or developing rooms and their appur¬
tenances, artificial sources of light, &c., or the applications of photography to technical
or useful purposes. If the inventors be resident in the country, it is requested that they
should forward with a simple description of the object a photograph, stereograph, or
drawing, to facilitate and ensure a perfect comprehension of the same.]
PROFILED STUDIO BACKGROUNDS.
"We have lately paid a visit to Messrs. Bull’s, of Great Queen
Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the paper stainers and painters of
theatrical scenery, to inspect a very neat arrangement they have
just introduced for the purpose of economising space, whilst giving
the effect of rotundity to those accessories of the photographic
glass portrait room which, as usually constructed, occupy much
bulk. In the first place there are backgrounds of various
designs, such as landscapes, open French windows looking out on
to street vistas, panelling, &c., painted on flat cauvas, mounted on
rollers fixed against the wall, after the manner of map cases ; so
that any character of background can be given at the will of the
operator or according to the wishes of the sitter, at a minute’s
notice. Besides these, there are a set of “ profiled” columns, balus-
traded pillars, vases or mantle-pieces, bookcases, looking-glasses,
which are painted on the flat, with a proper view to perspective,
mounted on wood, and cut out in outline, after the manner of set
pieces at a theatre. These are only of the thickness of the wood
on which they are mouuted, and are kept in an upright position by
a hinged flap, which shuts flat when the particular piece is not in
use to facilitate its being stowed away. Thus, with a landscape
background, a column may he placed on one side, the balustrade
in the centre, and a short pillar at the end as a finish, to give an
idea of a person standing outside the portico of a romantically-
situated country house ; or by fixing a vase-piece on the short
pillar, and replacing the column of the other pillar with another
vase, a garden terrace can he represented ; and so a variety
of changes can he rung, according to the taste and ingenuity
of the photographer. If the pannelled background he drawn
clown a portion of a profiled mantle-piece can he placed on
one side and a profiled bookcase on the other, as side scenes,
or the pillar and column may be made to replace either of these,
and so on. Variety may again be effected by the addition of
drapery. We have said that the vases majr fie fixed on the pil¬
lars at will. These are so placed, in reference to the painting of
the top of the pillar, that the vase seems to stand upon it, when
depicted in the photograph, and, by an ingenious thought, the
painted shadow of the plinth of the vase is attached to the profile,
so that it may produce the proper perspective effect when
combined with other elements of the set of accessories. Judg-
| ment must he used by the arranger of the “ set-piece,” so that the
shadow of his model may fall in the same direction as the shadows
on the painted background, and that the various parts he so com-
329
bined as to produce a finished effect; for among the photographic
specimens contributed by various purchasers of these “properties,”
we noticed some curious blunders, that indicated not only a want
of taste, hut also a want of common sense on the part of the pho¬
tographer. Not only do these profiles possess the advantage of
occupying little room in the studio, but they are so light that a
child might move them into position ; and another consideration is,
that they are considerably cheaper than the “built-up” pillars,
balustrades, &c., we are as yet acquainted with. It may also be
remarked that when solid models of such accessories are included
in the range of a portrait lens, from the various planes being more
or less out of focus, the best result is not always produced in the
photograph, whilst by Messrs. Bull’s arrangement this difficulty is
reduced to a minimum, as all details are in one plane, or nearly so ;
and judging from various photographs of these models that we
have inspected, we are able to say that very satisfactory and
artistic results can be thus produced. We recommend all those
who intend fitting up or making additions to their studio to pay a
visit to Great Queen Street.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Importance of Atmospherical Truth- — How Most Com¬
monly Violated in Photographs — Value of the Aerial
Tones, &c.
“ A great artist is one who knows how the landscape will appear under varied effects.
He thinks no trouble too great, no hill too high or steep to climb. Difficulties to be sur¬
mounted only increase his ardour. You also must discard laborious idleness, and avoid
using your hands while your head is idle." — G. Barnard.
“ It is the proper study and labour of an artist to uncover and find out the latent cause
of conspicuous beauties, and from thence form principles for his own conduct." — Sir J.
Reynolds.
My Dear Fellow- Student,
In my last I pointed out, as the commonest source of
untruth in photographic productions, the want of real aerial per¬
spective, and traced such rather to the defective pictorial educa¬
tion of the photographer than to any radical error in his optical
appliances. In my present letter, therefore, we may as well pro¬
ceed to consider the vital importance of this the first and greatest
element of pictorial truth, beauty, and harmony in the productions
of landscape art.
Camera landscapes have two most frequent and prominent
sources of error, arising, in the one case, from the improper use of
a lens, or the use of one unfit for its work ; and, in the second, from
some kind of mismanagement on the part of the operator. In the
one case the effect of atmosphere is peculiarly exaggerated, and in
the other it is altogether absent. In a photograph exhibiting an
error of the first kind the critical eye at once detects a something
false and offensive, even although its cause may escape observation.
But a little consideration must suffice to show that the misty ap¬
pearance veiling all objects retiring beyond a certain plane is not
unnatural in consequence of the opacity of the air, or of a want of
more vigorous definition in the objects, hut in consequence of
wanting the proper gradation or truth of aerial tone. In such produc¬
tions, while the semi-opacity of the atmosphere is so very strikingly
apparent in the more retiring planes of the picture, in the more ad¬
vancing the atmosphere seems unusually clear and transparent.
There can, of course, be neither truth, harmony, or real beauty in
such miscalled landscape pictures. Using a portrait lens, or one
which has not sufficient “ depth of focus” (?) is a fruitful source of
such defects.
In the other case, where there is an entire absence of atmospherical
truth, the defect is attributable rather to the operator than to the
faults of his instrument or process ; and so common is this species
of untruthfulness in photographs, that a strong and popular belief
asserts atmospherical effects to he beyond the compass of our art.
The best thing some of our landscape photographers could do for
the improvement of their productions would be to join a rifle corps,
and pay more than usual attention to the “ judging distance drill,”
as they would thus learn how, apart from diminution in size, dis¬
tance is also indicated with equal force by the variety of appear¬
ance due to the character and the amount of intervening air; or,
in other words, they would see that aerial is of no less importance
in securing truthfulness than linear perspective. Each receding
plane has its distinctive scale of aerial tones, and when all such are
visible, say in a level country, unbroken by bill or valley, from the
foreground to the distant objects against the horizon, so subtle are
330
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 16, 1801
the relative gradations of tone which blend or unite the various
planes of distance that the eye cannot detect either the beginning
of one or the ending of another. The absence of aerial perspective
most frequently arises from extending the depth of definition over
too remote a field, although, as I pointed out in my last, there are
other causes productive of defects bearing the same character.
Now, having power to limit or extend the definition, or, in other
words, to secure or destroy aerial perspective, how essential is it
that we should educate the eye to recognise the quality we are
seeking for our pictures !
These aerial tones are of the utmost importance to the artistic
student of landscape art, as being the primary source of that har¬
mony or unity of parts which constitutes the great aim of the
paiuter in all his best works, as well as the chief means we have
for representing space and relief.
In the landscape these atmospherical tones represent that which
expression does in the portrait — viz., its life or soul — and the
photograph which lacks them is proportionately cold and lifeless.
The ever-changeful and rapidly-varying expressions of nature are
as important to the landscape artist as the continually-shifting
expressions of the human countenance are to the portraitist; and
just as a mere copy of the features devoid of expression is said to
be simply “ a map of a face,” so a mere representation of the
objects forming a landscape view is a mere map of a scene.
Again, just as the portraitist, endeavouring to avoid the death
or statue-like seeming of an expressionless face, yet does not seize
upon any expression simply because it gives life, but strives
anxiously to secure something be}7ond one of an ordinary or
commonplace character, so should the landscape artist look for
such expressions in Nature as indicate her happiest moments,
when the combination of atmosphere and light, blending harmo¬
niously in the expression of sentiment or feeling, convey thought
to the mind of the spectator, and so fulfil the intellectual mission
proper to all real art.
When, in some truly picturesque subjects, we feel , rather than see ,
the subtle and refined elements of harmony, so largely represented
by these aerial tones, intermingling their peculiar expression or
sentiment with every separate part of a landscape composition, the
effect is very analogous to that of some sweet and soul-refining
melody which, stealing through the ear into the heart, awakens
novel feelings of pleasure, and seems to soften and improve our
whole nature ; for, just as the enchantments of musical harmony
excite our feelings through the channel of hearing, so through that
of seeing do the glorious harmonies of tone and colour reach the
mind. Every lover of Nature, and Nature’s poetry and beauty,
will at once understand this, and appreciate the importance ot my
subject. Of this you may be sure, that without atmospherical truth
there can be no complete expression of “ the grand or beautiful
objects of natural scenery.”
A genuine landscape, embodying the spiritual truths of the air,
as well as the material realities of form, has indeed no small power
over the mind. We may contemplate such for any length of time
without satiety. Its interest never flags, because the longer we
look the more numerous are the associated ideas which come and
go before the mental eye. It renews even the fresh young feelings
through which the delighted old man first communed with nature
in early life. It calls up old experiences of pleasant country rambles ;
carries us through the windings of the fresh and cool green lane,
dappled with quivering light and shade, until we explore scenes
which memory alone has painted on the retina of the imagination ;
carries us out and beyond the misty depth of the retiring vista in
the woodland view, or, bearing the glance far into the vast region
of the luminous air, makes the sun-irradiated clouds seem to float
slowly on through the lucid and transparent sky, while, foliage
trembles in the gentle breeze, and the whole scene is brilliantly
redolent of life, and motion, and light, and— Air. How superior
is such a really rfrid/z/kMandscape— appealing at once to the memory
and the imagination, begetting fresh thoughts, and opening the
mind to new beauties — when compared with the cold exactness of
those inert imitations in which near and distant forms and details
are unduly prominent, and in which each discordant part seems
struggling for superiority over the rest, or in which, to use other
words, the harmony and subordination of Atmospherical Truth is
entirely wanting ! Such productions may boast a fictitious exact¬
ness, specious in effect, and strikingly apparent to the unthinking
spectator ; but they are as entirely and mischievously false to
Nature as to the higher aim and purpose of true landscape art.
Photography is," as I am continually asserting, by no means
necessarily a mechanical application of pictorial art. .Exactness of
form and detail are qualities above all others indispensable to
scientific representations; but if such are the loftiest requirements
of this our art, then, indeed, the highest talent requisite for the
u artist ” who undertakes landscape photography is that common¬
place ability and purely mechanical skill which you may pick out
from either the shop of the working mechanic or that of the pettiest
tradesman. The futility of so poor a notion of an art like ouis,
capable of representing truthfully “the grand or beautiful objects
and phenomena of natural scenery,” will be apparent from the con¬
siderations advanced regarding the general principles of art in my
first letter. As to those who conceive everything beyond simple
mechanical directions for baths and processes to be out of place in
a photographic journal, and denounce them with dogmatic intole¬
rance as “ cobweb weaving,” let such dull souls, my dear fellow-
student, “ gang their gait;” but let you and I, and others who, like
us, love and respect photography as a “ fine art,” strive with per¬
severing earnestness to show the world how high a station this
new branch of pictorial art is competent to fill. — In the hope of
which strong is, yours truly, ALFRED II. WALL.
<Bx I) ib iti o ns.
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT
OF SCIENCE.
BY OUR EYE-WITNESS AT MANCHESTER.
A Visit to Manchester differs essentially from a casual sojourn in
any other place, and it has the great advantage of being practically
useful and being nearly devoid of the mythical haze which often
obscures theory. The photographers of that city, not willing that
their abilities should be exhibited merely in the discussion of
abstract questions relating to the art, have brought their results
forcibly under our notice, in an Exhibition of which we may safely
say (backed by the expression of Sir David Brewster on his visit)
that it is, in many respects, the finest we have had the good fortune
to see. There is, indeed, so much to admire and so little to detract
from the tout ensemble , that we should prefer being permitted
to make our remarks from some comprehensive stand-point, as it
were, instead of manipulating in a more delicate manner the details
which are in so systematic a manner arranged before us.
The British Association has acted wisely in appointing a Com¬
mittee to undertake this department which, though personally
nearly identical with that of the Photographic Society of Man¬
chester, is nominally entirely different ; for though some , of the
papers give the Society the praise attaching to this Exhibition, the
Society is only indirectly entitled to it. The Committee, however,
has performed its duties with great success ; for, whether owing to
the apathy of photographers, or the small amount of publicity given
to the announcements, or the absence of personal solicitations, the
eleventh hour arrived without the expected pictures, and they were
only obtained by personal and immediate request. However, these
difficulties were got over, and we may at once introduce our readers
into the capacious room at the Exchange, where the pictures are
exhibited.
One glaring omission we cannot pass over : there is no catalogue.
An experienced scribe would have made one while the Exhibition
was being arranged ; and with the ample funds at its disposal
we think the Committee ought not to have overlooked the great
convenience of such an auxiliary in the inspection of the varied
works. It is a matter of great difficulty to find out any par¬
ticular picture, which would not have been the case if there had
been a catalogue. The expenses, of course, are defrayed out of the
guarantee fund, and we think greater praise would have been due
to the Committee for providing so useful a document. No one will
feel the loss of a complete catalogue more than the Committee
themselves when this collection is dispersed, and no permament
record remains of it, but such as the limited means at our command
enable us to supply.
At first sight, the room appears cold and bare ; but afterwards
we are led to prefer it to the funereal draperies adopted in other
places. The pictures, for the most part not in frames, are simply
attached to the light-coloured plastered walls with drawing-pins;
and the whole Exhibition is divided according to the process
adopted for the negatives, of which we sought in vain for speci¬
mens. In an Exhibition professing to give a general idea of the art
nothing should have been wanting. We also miss apparatus and
a variety of other things, of which as yet the public remain in a state
of ignorance. It would have been exceedingly instructive to have
had an opportunity of inspecting a collection of chemicals, with the
process of manufacture. Commencing on the right-hand side on
entering, we begin with collodio-albuinen ; then its modifications,
September 10, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
331
viz., Petschler and Mann’s process and the hot water process;
Dr. Hill Norris’s process, &c. We then come to the left-hand side of
the room, and find specimens still of collodio-albumen, wet collo¬
dion, instantaneous pictures, coloured portraits life size and small
album portraits, and some highly interesting pictures of persons
in a state of mania and convalescence ; also prints by the electric
light, and then conclude the circuit of the room with specimens of
the earliest style — old masters, in fact, in calotype — a valuable
scrap-book of which lies on one of the tables, where are also
some early daguerreotypes, lent by Mr. Sidebotham. On screens
are also arranged examples of Turner’s Liber Studiorum , some fine
copies of engravings and maps, together with a picture of the
solar spectrum, and a large collection of Mr. Dancer’s microscopic
photographs. Mr. Noton’s pneumatic plate-holder and his albumen-
heater are also in the room, together with Mr. Sutton’s panoramic
camera and lens.
We have preferred to make the circuit of the room in the re¬
verse order, which is, indeed, the most natural, as most persons
are attracted to the right on entering by Mr. Buxton’s beautiful
Egyptian views, which are doubly interesting as having been
prepared in Manchester and exposed on the banks cf the Nile.
Manchester men ramble, and are to be found everywhere; and
here is proof demonstrative of the fact — nay, the “ very stones
prate of their whereabouts.” We are much inclined to prefer these
views to those by Mr. Frith, although some painting out of skies
has not escaped our detection. In one of these the sunbeams
streaming through an open colonnade is given in a manner we
never before saw equalled.
Mr. Sidebotham exhibits pictures of mark in nearly every de¬
partment. His varied success is very remarkable, and shows how
much may be done by careful manipulation.
Mr. Robinson is the only contributor of composition pictures, of
which he sends three. The small ones, particularly that called
The Top of the Hill , are more to our liking than the more ambitious
one,. The Lady of Shcdott , which we think is sadly wanting in
poetic grace. This is not the lady for whom the “knights came
riding two and two.”
Mr. Clarke, of.Hayfield, is a worthy compeer of Mr. Mudd, but in
artistic feeling is rather deficient. We do not like to see gables
unnecessarily obtruding themselves on our attention; but his prints
are fine specimens of toning (with phosphate of soda, we think).
Mr. Wardley, as usual, exhibits many specimens of high excel¬
lence, which we must allude to more fully in another notice.
Mr. Mudd claims. special attention for the large number of his
very beautiful specimens, and it would be almost invidious to select
any of them as being superior to the rest.
The Petschler and Mann process must not be judged of by the
specimens e.xhibited. I hey have the worst lig'ht in the room, and
are not sufficiently bright in the printing to suit our taste. We
have omitted to mention some stereoscopic pictures in their neigh-
bomhood, some of which, by Mr. Underwood, are very good indeed;
and those by Mr. Wilson are in that gentleman’s usual style of
excellence. Mi'. Cottam deserves a word of praise for the industry
he seems to have employed, which is apparent from the variety of
subjects he shows in a large frame containing forty subjects, mostly
by Mr. Parry’s hot water process, of which process there are also
some specimens by Mr. Young and transparencies by Mr. Parry.
The tannin process is represented by two pictures, of which we
cannot say much in praise.
■ . Mr. Mann exhibits three oxymel pictures, and in this, as well as
m collodio-albumen, has nearly attained perfection.
ff hcie are also specimens of Rev. L. Sissons’ preservative process.
Mr. Fenton’s contributions are not quite worthy of that high
reputation. which he has obtained. There is also an example of a
piint obtained from a negative by Mr. Sutton’s panoramic lens
about which we cannot say much at present.
Mr. Vernon Heath contributes four wet collodion pictures, which
are excellent in their way.
The waxed-paper process is well represented by Messrs. Hooper
and Shear d ; but, though they succeed very well, the process will,
we think, not compare with others better established. The raime
of subjects suitable for it is limited in extent.
Mj . Albin shows some wet collodion pictures, which are much
j admired. He employs Mr. Alfieri’s camera campestra.
j. In portraits Mr. Brothers, of course, is conspicuous, particularly
m Ins large group of the. 84th Regiment, which we had the pleasure
j. n?ll(tiny some time since. He also shows some pictures finished
lrl 01, 0 j1®1 as. regards the working up, but somewhat short
o t lat degree of artistic feeling which characterised some of the
old miniature paintings.
Messrs. Smyth and Blanchard send some life-size portraits in oil,
enlarged by the solar camera.
Some prints by Way’s electric light ought not to be passed over,
but we fear the experiment is too costly to come into general
practice.
Mr. Hering’s cartes de visite are remaikable for the ease and
variety of pose which they exhibit; and Mr. Mayall’s Lord Derby
and Lord Brougham are deservedly favourites.
Ihcre is a large collection of early calotype portraits of great
value, by Messrs. D. 0. Hill and xkdamson. ’
Mr. Hering’s facsimile of engravings are of unusual beauty, and
many would prefer to possess them rather than the originals if they
could only be assured of their permanence, in which we as photo¬
graphers have every faith.
Mr. Tracy sends enlarged pictures of microscopic objects, and
near them are some rare photographic curiosities — -printing without
silver on nitrate of uranium, paper developed by ferro -cyanide of
potassium, sulphate of manganese paper, &c., and printing in colours
by various metallic salts, by Mr. Mercer.
Sir Id. James’s photozincography is illustrated by reductions of
ordnance maps and the facsimile.
But the short time before “going to press” will not allow our
doing more than scant justice to this highly interesting and instruc¬
tive Exhibition, to which we must refer in another paper. Suffice
it to say that we have derived great gratification in our visit to the
metropolis of the cotton manufacture in every way. 2
THE EXHIBITION OP THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
OP PARIS,
CONSIDERED FROM AN ENGLISH POINT OF VIEW.*
( Communicated.)
Resuming our notes on this important Exhibition at the point
where we left off, we come to the name of Fargier. This gentleman
exhibits some specimens produced by him with carbon by a
process of his own invention, and others are also exhibited" by
M. Chavaret. The carbonic photographs which we have already
referred to in our Journal are generally attributed to the inventive
genius oi M. Poitevin, and some excellent specimens, by his
method, are exhibited by the inventor himself, and also by M.
Lemercier, the eminent lithographer here. We know nothing of the
claims of M. Fargier, whose specimens were presented to the Society
here in October last; but this is certain, that the carbonic process
forms the one great novelty of the day in photographic art, the
absolute unalterability of the proofs being a quality of transceu-
dant importance, while, so far as we have been able to judge, the
tone and general effect is at least equal to that of any other
photographic pictures. It has created some surprise that this process
or perhaps we should say these processes, have not yet been intro¬
duced into general use; but we believe that this has been caused
by certain commercial engagements which seem now to have been
completed, for we find that a well-known photographer of Paris is
advertising the use of the carbonic system. We think that our
friends and readers will do well to give their attention to this
subject, which we simply recommend for their examination.
Messrs. Ferrier, Son, and Soulier contribute a large number of
their stereoscopic slides, which for clearness and vigour it is but
fair to say are at present unequalled, and the endless chain table
stereoscopes which contain them are a constant source of attrac¬
tion. The instantaneous views of the Boulevards, with crowds of
men, horses, and vehicles in apparent motion, are certain]}'' most
remarkable productions — clear, crisp, and full of life.
M. Fierlants, of Brussels, has in the Exhibition a very interesting
collection of reproductions of the works of ancient masters in the
various museums of Belgium. All photographers know the diffi¬
culty of producing good copies of old pictures irregularly en¬
crusted with the varnish and dirt of ages, and presenting frequently
a surface which almost baffles all the skill of the pliotographer.
Some of M. Fierlants’ specimens exhibit a very successful strugoJe
with, such difficulties., and well deserve attention. The Heads' of
Christ and of the Virgin , by Quentin Matsys, and the Antwerp
Portrait of a Woman, by Rembrandt, are amongst the most con¬
spicuous. M. Fierlants has done good service, too, in giving the
world photographic copies of several important works° not
generally accessible to the public, such as The Portrait of a
Woman, by M. de Keyser, and The Woman with the Glove, by Van
Dyck, in the gallery of the Vicomte B. Dubus, at Brussels : the
Portraits of Jean Charles de Cordrs and of his Wife , by Rubens in
the gallery of the Comtesse de Beaufort, in the same city ; and a
* Continued from page 312.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 10, 1861
Portrait of a Man , by the same master, in the Suermondt Gallery,
at Aix-la-Chapelle. M. Fierlants exhibits also some very good
photographs of the public .buildings of Antwerp.
Mai or Webster Gordon exhibits some very interesting views in
India, and types of Indian life; and Mr. Pvussell Gordon, of Chis¬
wick a series of remarkable photographs ot the public buddings
of Funchal, Madeira, with a„ fine view of the natural basaltic
pyramid, called Homem-em-p<5, on the road to lico Ruivo, in the
same island. This extraordinary natural monument is fifty feet in
height, and stands on a hill 5,500 feet above the level ot the sea.
Some of Mr. Gordon’s productions are stereoscopic. .
M. Hammer schmitz, of Cairo, contributes some pleasing photo¬
graphs of the interesting buildings of that city, and one or two
others from the neighbourhood of Carnac and Thebes, together
with stereoscopic views in various parts ot Egypt. _
M Joguet, M Lyons, has, like many more ot his countrymen,
welcomed Mont Blanc into France, and has succeeded m catching
Tome of the remarkable features of that ever-interesting spot His
* of tl.. Mer
effect^very liappily fthe Glaciers of the Wood and the \ alley of
CteoS are also very meritorious pictures. Amongst the
curiosities ‘of the Exhibition are the fans ot Madame Latton, with
Xtoiraphio views on silk and the enamels and vitrifications ot
M Lafon deCamarsao: neither of these are very new or remark¬
ably striking, but it is quite possible that each may contain the
g' The°lfit“o' 'IhXSXof "f! Lemereier exhibits a considerable
advance hi t le application of photographs to stone. The specimens
exhibited are examples of three d.sUnct IGTuXnousWoXs
svstem of M. Poiteviu already referred to, the bituminous Process
of MAI Bareswill and Davai.no, and the Achromatic process ot
tile former gentleman. Some of the specimens are printed in
chrome and have a very pleasing effect.
M Letzter, of Cassone, exhibits an interesting co lection of
arouDsof Hungarian and Bohemian officers, musicians, aud peasants:
the execution Sf the pictures is generally good, and the p.cturesque-
ness of the costumes secures them attention.
The archaeologist will be attracted towards Di. L“ienJ S'.0!''1811,
rneft of the Cataract o’f the Nile ; ql the Temple o f Japiter ; and of
ZVecthion: these are on albuinenised paper (earn
negatives, and the treatment is that which alone suits such subjects,
01 Belonginfto0 the same category are the views in the Crimea
TtalvEgypt, and Nubia, taken by order of the Emperor and o the
Minister" of State, by M. Le;o„ Mehedin. pic ures of places
remarkable in the history of the Russian and Italiau caviipa. i s
will always possess a considerable, amount of interest, and the
J in mipstion and tli6 clGamcss of tlicii
dimensions ol the pictu.es m quest, on and
execution greatly increase t hen v « but th eternal
French Government in Egypt ■ d show hi h artistio
interest, are very supenoi as woi k& oi ai% 1 . p ° id tl
feeling as well as excellent manipulation. The ^'dl”dsl “
noble ruins of Thebes, Ipsamboul, and Carnac peMemnons and the
Temple of Philoe, are admirably rendered, and the tone ! “lour
of these large works are remarkably happy. 1 he great monuments
stand baking in the hot -'h^^fXce of slfadTwf. Tt k difficult
rU7neh”Sb^XeXffirofP ?he°/ubjeets, and the French
Government and M. MeMdin have rendered a true service to ait
in thus placing in our hands, as it were, pictures of these marvel-
lous works in a setting of their natural atmosphere. It may not
be out of place here to give a hint to travelling photographers
from another work by the same gentleman to be seen m the same
building, namely, a model of one of the obehsks of Luxoi , in paper
M. MeliGlin conceived the happy idea of taking what is at
■ once both cast and model of this and other woiks by the
simple process of pressing damp sheets of coarse papei
on the1 sculptured bassi-rehevi, and leaving them unt
Perfectly dry, when they present all the minulicc of the .work m
the mosyt faithful manner. By this process he brought home in
sheets a facsimile of the obelisk in question, which, being fixed on
a frame of light scantling, presented so complete an aPPearance of
stone as to deceive even the most practised eye. these same
sheets were set up in Egypt out of. ioorsL
posed for, we believe, two years, without the s' g test -,*waxent
iniurv • and the inventor proposes to erect similai models in
Europe, and says that experience has proved that they will iesist
the effects of the weather, even in damp climates, for a long period.
Whether he be correct in this is a matter for trial ; but so far is
certain, that any travelling artist will find the process most valu¬
able for bringing home exact copies of bassi-relievi and inscriptions.
A moderate-sized box would hold a hundred of these papyro-
plastic models, which will bear almost any amount of rough usage,
and, in comparison with any other material, weigh literally
nothing, while a brush and sponge and water are the only other
materials required ; and iu hot countries the drying of the paper
cannot take long.
Of all the views from nature those of our countryman, Mr.
Maxwell Lyte, are, according to our opinion, the most remarkable
as photographic productions ; most, it not all the pictures exhi¬
bited by this gentleman upon the present occasion are from the
Pyrenees and the Valley of Pierrefitte. The works of that magni¬
ficent structure, the railway bridge of Solferino, now being hung
in air over the precipice at Saint-Sauveur ; the charming Vallics
of Estaube, Gavarme, Luz and Bareges, Argeles, Ossan, and Eaux-
Bonnes, the little, watering place South of Pau, where the
Empress was lately staying; the Pic du Midi of Ossan; the
fishermen’s port at Biarritz ; the amphitheatres of Gavarme and
Estaube, or M. A. Fould’s beautiful chateau of Beaucens, exhibit
almost equally the artistic eye and the able hand.
M. Tournachon, better known under the soubriquet of Nadar,
exhibits a number of proofs taken by the electric light, and one
negative which is said to have been produced, by t lie same means,
in seventy-five seconds. These specimens are very unequal, but
as experiments they deserve notice.
M. Charles Negre’s specimens of heliographic engraving, by a
process of his own invention, seem to hold out some promise. A
proof produced in ordinary copper-plate printing ink from a sun-
engraved steel plate, representing sculptured details of the
Cathedral of Chartres, although somewhat fiat is still a remarkable
production. The specimens of damascene work and ornamental
engraving on steel by this gentleman’s process are very remark¬
able. Of the same class' are the specimens of heliographic
engraving in marble, obtained by means ot the bitumen ol Judea,
by M. Niepce de Saint Victor.
Mr. Vernon Heath’s views of the Duke of Bedford’s mansion of
Endsleigb, Devonshire, are amongst the most pleasing pictures and
the best photographic productions in the Exhibition, and attract
great attention, as English views always do in Paris when wor¬
thily rendered.
As usual the number of portraits in the Exhibition is very large,
and there has certainly been a great improvement of late in that
class of French photography. As to cartes devisite they have be¬
come a perfect nuisance, and not one in a dozen is even tolerable;
but many of the larger portraits, it must be admitted, exhibit evi¬
dence of a more than ordinary amount of artistic education, or,
perhaps, it would be fairer to say that, in consequence of the over¬
abundance of artists in France— good, had, and indifferent— a larger
number have taken to photography here than in other countries.
Some of the collections in the present Exhibition are extremely
interesting, from the reputation or notoriety of the originals ; and
of all the series those of the dramatic corps are decidedly the most
effective,— Pavel’s laughing face and wonderful play and command
of feature making him especially conspicuous.
The number of visitors to the gallery shows that the taste for
photography is rapidly extending in France; but it must not he
forgotten also that plenty of space, sensible arrangements, excellent
ventilation, and a low price for admission, have aided gieatly in
the success of the Photographic Exhibition in the Palais de l’ln-
dustrie; and it is to be hoped that our countrymen will take a few
hints therefrom.
flf Sumfirs.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Tiie ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 4th instant..— Dr. Robert Parkinson in the chair.
The Chairman called attention to several matters respecting the circu¬
lation of photographic literature, as many inaccuracies had occurred,
though he was aware that no alteration could be made until the yeaily
meeting.
The minutes of last meeting having been read and passed, Mr. Abbey
was called upon to read a paper on the gum and borax process of the
Rev. Lawson Sisson. , . . ., „
Mr. Abbey addressed the meeting to the effect that, having worked the
gum and borax and the tannin processes, with a view of making a com¬
parison, he had made several important discoveries which led him to go
September 10, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
333
back to the beginning- of his researches, that he might thoroughly
convince himself of the advantages the one process had over the other ;
and therefore lie requested the Society to allow his paper to come before the
next meeting. He, however, brought several large negatives, illustrative
of the gum and borax process and also of the tannin; and, as far as
could be judged, preference was given to the former.
Mr. Abbey also exhibited an excellent contrivance for washing plates
after sensitising. It consisted of an India-rubber tube attached to a
vessel full of water, and at the end of the India-rubber tube was a piece
of pipe in the form of the letter T, and about an inch wider than the plate
to be washed. This pipe was perforated with small holes, causing an
easy flow of water all over the plate at one time. His mode of using it
was to place his plate on a levelling stand slightly inclined, and run the
water across in every direction, and, by merely pressing the tube between
the thumb and ringer, the supply was stopped : when out of use it was
only necessary to place the tubing on the top of the receiver containing
the water, supposing such to be a barrel.
The Chaikman contributed a very fine paper photograph of the excellent
print, Eastward , Ho ! which was greatly admired. Mr. Abbey promised
to be a contributor at the next meeting.
After some conversation on important matters connected with the
Society, the meeting was adjourned.
ifarap (Korrcspoirhcnxc.
Paris , September \\th, 1861.
The Exhibition of the French Society of Photography, which
was to close first on the 15th of July, and then on the 31st of
August, will be extended to the 30th of September. The reason
alleged for this new extension, decided on without consultation
Avitli the Society, which is at present taking a holiday, is the orga¬
nisation of a lottery (which likewise has not been approved by
any vote) destined to form a fund for prizes of encouragement to
be given to investigators whose labours have contributed to the
progr ess of the new art. You see how different our ways are from
yours. Although we are in a country where universal suffrage is
admitted and practised for political matters, yet general opinion is
held very cheap in our societies, and those who have* the direction
of affairs do not scruple to act according to their own will. Among
you, such a fact, if indeed it occurred at all, would raise a general
outcry of protestation and blame. Here folks are dissatisfied, but
say nothing.
The Exhibition, then, continues, and there will be a lottery. Only
I cannot think that the system is a very good one. It has the
inconvenience of in some sort obliging the photographers who
exhibit, and who already pay a heavy sum as members of the
Society, to supply prizes under the penalty of being charged with
want of zeal in the encouragement of inventors. It likewise
exposes the lottery to the risk of failure, for 10,000 tickets are not
disposed of in a day. Supposing, too, that the hoped-for sum be
obtained, and that the projected fund can be distributed, does not
the Society assume a great responsibility in setting itself up as a
judge in the very delicate question of inventions? All this merits
consideration, and in expressing these considerations I am but the
echo of what is said around me.
The Exhibition at Marseilles was opened on the 5th of Septem¬
ber, when it was inaugurated by the visit ef the Bishop, the Mayor,
the Military Commander, and all the notabilities of science and art.
i Despite, the difficulties presented by the prolongation of the Paris
Exhibition, the opening of the Exhibition at Brussels, and by the
preparation for the coming one at London, it is very interesting,
and includes numerous specimens. This result is due to the activity
of the Secretary, M. Ld( n Vidal, an enthusiastic and disinterested
amateur. He has also reserved for himself the labour of giving the
public explanations of the processes employed, of the new methods,
and the working of the apparatus— an excellent idea, by-the-bye,
which ought to be adopted by other Societies in their Exhibitions.
A fact which has forced itself upon my attention merits notice
here. It is the development that the practice of photography is
taking in Spain. Till now we had seen but few specimens — and
poor ones — from ultra-Pyrenean operators; and we knew but two
or three professional photographers in that country. Now, the
number is important. Not a week passes without our receiving-
several letters asking for information, and manifesting a strong
[ desire to learn and to improve on the part of the writers. They
I are amateurs belonging to the clergy and the nobility, and “pro-
| fessionals” who are founding establishments. So we may reason¬
ably hope that something noteworthy will shortly come from that
I quarter. Neither sunshine nor intelligence nor artistic sentiments
are wanting to the Spaniards : the country where Murillo, Ribeira,
Velasquez, and so many others have llourished, may well produce
dhotographers of talent.
MM. Barreswil and Davanne have just brought out the third
edition of their Photographic Chemistry It is a volume of 500
pages, containing thirteen new chapters. The theories which the
authors therein develop are justified by a serious experience of the
processes, and by a profound knowledge of the laws of chemistry.
The labours of M. Barreswil are too well known for it to be neces¬
sary to dwell on his scientific merit. M. Davanne is not only a
chemist : he is a photographer of the first order. The pictures
which he exhibited in the Palace of Industry have been justly and
unanimously ranked among the best. With such qualifications the
authors, by combining their labour, could not do otherwise than
produce an eminently useful book, and as such it is welcomed by
the public.
The publication of a Dictionary of Photography is also spoken of.
The book will certainly be successful, and will fill a place that was
vacant in photographic literature. Published sooner it would have
been too incomplete ; but now that photography has attained such
a development, such a book of reference is wanted. One may say,
if the work were not written, it ought to be.
ERNEST LACAN.
(Samspoitbeiut.
MALT PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A letter appeared in your Journal of the 1st August, which my
absence from town prevented me replying to on the 15th. It is from
your correspondent, “ Peter Smith.”
I could have wished that one who puts himself forward prominently as
a censor of the conduct of a large body of scientific and respectable men,
should have shown in liis correspondence some knowledge of photographic
chemistry, or, at all events, that he should not have discarded chemistry
as a means of explaining some of our curious and unexpected photographic
processes. “Wort, ’ ’ says he, 1 1 is commonly called sweet wort before the hops
have been added, after which addition some call it hopped wort and some
bitter wort.” Now I opine that, however common such expressions are
amongst the workmen of a brewery, they are totally unsuited for scientific
discourse. I have nothing to do with the common expression, but with
the chemical composition of this substance and the infusion of malt, which
was Mr. M'Nair’s proposal. That sweet brewer’s wort was proposed in
1855 as a means of protecting washed collodion plates is not denied ; but
is this the same as Mr. M‘Nair’s process of 1860 ? Sweet wort is made by
extracting as much sugar as possible (along with other ingredients) out
of the malt : Mr. M'Nair’s infusion is made by extracting as little sugar
as possible out of the malt, and as much as possible of the other principles.
The two processes are essentially different, therefore, and their results are as
much so. The sweet Avort process is a complete failure in the hands of
one who has tried it, Avliile the malt process of Mr. M'Nair yields more
stereoscopic negatives and stereoscopic transparencies for the market
than any other process at present used. One professional photographer
alone, in Edinburgh, sends hundreds of gross annually into the market,
and all of them prepared by this process.
As regards the gum arabic process, your correspondent admits noAV
that I did not give it forth as a iicav process, but only new in some par¬
ticulars. Those he does not seem to knoAv. I Avill tell him, lioAvever, Avhat
they are : — the very strong- aceto-nitrate sensitising bath, and the stated
Avashings Avitli given quantities of Avater. I Avill be glad to confess my
error when your correspondent points out to me Avliere such modifications
have been published before.
So much for the subject of your correspondent’s letter ; but your cor¬
respondent himself must permit me to express my doubts as to the
correctness of his name and address. I am certainly unacquainted Avitli
any one of that name Avhose photographic Avorks entitle him to become a
“ dictator to Scottish photographers;” and, although I have replied to an
attack made from an unseen quarter on the Photographic Society of
Scotland generally, and myself personally, I Avill not consider it a duty
to reply to further observations from any one who is ashamed to attach
his oaa’ii name and address to them. I am, yours, &c.,
August 21th, 1801. ROBERT PATERSON, M.D.
COINCIDENCE OF FOCI.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you have the kindness to inform me through your valuable
Journal about Avhat distance I should place the camera from the
number of cards you describe, to test a lens for the chemical and visual foci.
I haA-e been trying about three feet from the centre card, but think I am
putting it to too severe a test. The lens is a No. 3 A. Ross.
I am, yours, &c., J. H. S.
[The distance should be about the same as 3-011 Avould place a sitter —
say from ten to fifteen feet aAvay. If placed so near as you describe, some
qualities of the lens may be apparenth- Averse than they are in realitj-,
though this does not necessarily involve any disagreement betAveen the
A'isual and chemical foci. — Ed.]
Birmingham , September 4, 1861.
384
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1G, 1801
GLASS FOR OPERATING ROOMS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Would you be so good as to say, iu the next number of your Journal,
whether or not you have heard of any complaints against the white
Belgium glass being used in glazing photographic studios, as I have
just enlarged my studio, and used it extensively, but have not so good
an actinic light as I expected? By attending to the above, you will
greatly oblige _ A. C.
P. S. — Could you say what is the best kind of glass to use for the
above-mentioned purpose ?
Stirling.
[We have not heard of any complaint against the glass named ; but
your disappointment may possibly arise from the rapidly deteriorating
actinic power of the light at the present season, especially as we travel
northward.
We believe that the colourless sheet glass is regarded as the best for
the purpose ; but if you will apply to Mr. Forrest, of Lime Street, Liver¬
pool — who is commercially interested in glass, and also an able and
enthusiastic photographer, always willing to impart information to his
confreres — you will obtain the best of its kind. — Ed.]
DIFFICULTIES IN THE TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
gIR —Allow me, through the medium of your columns, to thank
“T. M. W.” for the information which he volunteers as to the manner
he prepares his plates for the tannin process, namely, by drying or warm¬
ing before coating with collodion — a plan which I have myself tried, and
found answer well with the small stereo, plates ; but if ever your corres¬
pondent tries larger ones, such as I was working with — eleven inches by-
nine — at the time I applied to you for the information which you so
kindly provided, I am much mistaken if he find simply warming will
prevent the film blistering, on wetting it before developing.
I have great pleasure in informing you that the dilute albumen solution
you recommended, poured on the plate and dried, fixes the film most
effectuallv. But 1 have still one complaint to make : it is the presence of
small bubbles on the albumen film, caused, I think, by using the sponge
to make the solution flow evenly over the plate, and which appear in
small black spots after sensitising.
Would not the addition of say from one to two ounces of pure spirits of
wine to every ten ounces of solution make it flow evenly over the plate,
like collodion, and so dispense with the sponge or glass rod? Any
information on this subject will be thankfully received.
I am, yours, &c , VERDANT^GREEN.
DRY PLATE DIFFICULTIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have been amusing myself lately with trying my hand at the
tli'y processes, viz , honey, albumen, and tannin. In albumen I have
been completely baffled by those well-known water markings, which seem
to be the common fate of all beginners : still I think these may be overcome
with care. At the same time I prepared two plates by the tannin process,
fifteen grains to the ounce, but very foolishly omitted to mark them.
When I came to develop the pictures, there were only two clean pictures
out of a dozen ; from which I naturally infer they were by the tannin
process. I may here say that I hardened or baked the whole dozen for a
few minutes in a tolerably warm oven.
A Aveek afterwards, on the Friday afternoon, I prepared two more plates
by the tannin process, and dried them on a tin of hot watei . they were
exposed in an hour or two afterwards, and developed as soon as-I got
home. One picture quitted the glass, the other gave me a fair negative.
That night and the next morning I prepared fifteen plates by the same
process, finishing by drying on a tin of hot water, I started in the after¬
noon to expose them in the neighbourhood of Vale Royal, Lord Delamere’s
seat, and brought home what I considered should give me at least nine
pictures. One of the plates I developed the same evening, which, with
the exception of a little want of intensity, gave a clear picture. I put the
others on one side till Monday morning, thinking I should have more
time to develop them carefully.
Being new in dry process photography, you will naturally imagine I
was up betimes on Monday morning, to grasp at the shadows I had
secured on the Saturday. Great was my consternation at beholding
what might have been tolerable pictures completely covered with the
most fantastical markings conceivable, and I could not secure a picture
out of the whole batch.
What was the cause ? Were the plates not sufficiently hardened, or
will they not keep after exposure as well as before ? This process seems
to be much simpler in the manipulation than any other, if we can only
depend on the keeping properties for even a short time. Do you recom¬
mend the fifteen grains tannin to the ounce of water or the thirty grains ?
I enclose two of my spoiled prints to show you the difference of success
between my Fotliergill and tannin manipulations. I used a quarter
Lercbour portrait lens, with a three-eighths inch stop between the lenses.
I trust I shall not be too late to have a line in the last column of your
next issue.
The British Journal of Photography being my onlj’ instructor will
be an ample apology for troubling you. — I am, yours &c ,
August 12th, 18(31. ' W ATKIN.
[Your letter arrived while we were absent from town, and from some
inexplicable cause it has only just reached our hands. We have little
doubt that the cause of your failure is in not having sufficiently freed the
plates of nitrate of silver by washing. By all means procure a copy of
Miij or Russell’s book, recently published. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Owing to the great length of the proceedings of the British Association, the papers
of several valued contributors are postponed till our next number. Among other articles
left over is a notice of Mr. C. Jabez Hughes's excellent little work The Principles and
Practice of Photography, !kc. Second Edition, with important additions.
E. Earley. — Declined with thanks.
W. II.— See the notice of Meeting in another column.
Fatigued One. —Mica in large sheets is very expensive.
Doubtful.— Both are good : we believe you may depend upon either.
T. R. F.— See notice i f meeting of the Forth London Association.
O. P. — Apply to the publisher: we have nothing to do with the business of the Journal.
A. G. — It is a matter of taste : personally we prefer the warm purple to the cold blue
tones.
C. A. P.— At page 197 cf the current volume, No. 143, you will find a reply to your
query.
Nemo me impure lacessit.— “A word to the wise," &c. We named no names, but the
cap fitted.
Cosi fan tutti. — Not all, but many certainly : that one in Oxford Street we believe to
be an exception.
No Adept. — We cannot recommend the method indicated: it is at the best but a
clumsy make-shift.
Fairfax. — Too late fer reply in our last. All on your list are good ; you cannot do
better then take the first.
W. Jones.— It is necessary to apply for space to F. R. Sandford, Esq., Secretary to the
Royal Commissioners, 454, West Strand, London.
1. II. S. — Your lens is very fairly placed as it is ; but, if you make any alteration, place
it moi e nearly opposite to the upper part of the chest.
Little One. — We have not seen M. Beriseli s instrument : the nearest approach thereto
that we arc acquainted with is Mr. Skaife’s pistol-camera.
Juvenis. — A tripod head we regard as indispensable ; for, if you attach the legs directly
to the bottom of the camera, you cam ot revolve it in azimuth.
Geo. D — The name of the author is appended to the article, and he only is responsible
for the opinions expressed, and which we have on several occasions disavowed.
Plate-box.— Mr. Keene, of Leamington, supplies a very capital form in metal; Messrs.
Murray and Ileath one in wood — both with gutta-perelia grooves. We presume it is one
of these that you mean.
Querist. — It is a subject that we have watched with much interest, but we have made
no experiments with the spectroscope. Apply to the editor of the Chemical News, who is
the best authority on the ] oint.
W. S.— Surely iou do not read this Journal, otherwise you would know that in order
to obtain a reply to your query your letter most come to London ; and, secondly, that so
lately as the 1st July last an article On Filleting Collodion appeared at page 23<>.
D. D. — We do not like folding cameras for our own use; and if we used any one, we
should certainly not adopt the form contrived by Captain Fowltcs. The best we ever saw
was one with fol ling wooden sides, such as Mr. Ottewill used to make in days gone by.
Babe and Suckling. — We fancy there must be “two Richmonds in the field.’’ Surely
this is not our former correspondent who adopted this signature. The kaolin is used to
decolorise the paper sensitising-bath that has become brown by use ; lut we prefer Mr.
Barker's remedy for this purpose, viz., oxide of silver.
Walter. — Many years ago the idea was acted upon by Dr. Diamond, wlio took many
valuable negatives tf insane patients, illustrative of the various phases ot tkat dread
disorder. No doubt photography would also be invaluable in illustrating a work on
curvature of the spine; it is far above lithography for that purpose.
M. F. G. — We perceive that your letter is intended in kindness and therefore take no
offence atyour remarks: it is, however, manifest that we do not regard the subject from the
same point of view. The articles are the bona-fide communications of well-known
correspondents, who have been grossly insulted, and are published as received, some
few omissions only excepted. We may remark that we have received one other note ill
the same strain as your own, and yet another in a diametrically opposite one.
Aroham 0. — We have frequently found that printers err in supposing that, because
their sensiting-bath was originally of a certain strength, it must remain the same after
use. If your paper be strongly impregnated with a chloride, it will abstract a large share
of the nitrate of silver ; so that, although you may have produced good proofs with the
same bath, paper, and other chemicals, with which you produced the specimen received
by us, there is nothing mysterious in your present failure. Deficiency of silver is at the
bottom of your annoyance. See reply to Siucos.
Sincos. (Oxford).— Silver bath too wealt : the term “a good strength ’’ is very indefinite.
Use one hundred grains to the ounce of water: it is economical in the end. To tone — use
one grain chloride of gold to five grains carbonate of soda, mixed in about ten ounces of
warm water. Wash away the free nitrate of silver tlnoughly before putting the proof
into the toning-bath, and be especially careful not to examine the proofs while in the
printing-frame in too strong a light. This practice is especially objectionable when the
alkaline gold toning-bath is used. Your paper has no doubt a large dose of chloride :
hence the necessity tor a strong silver hath.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, d'C., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SIIADBQLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
LEADER . 817
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
Trotosulphate of Iron. By JAMES MARTIN 318
INTENSIFYING PROCESSES. By C. JABEZ
HUGHES . 319
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. VIII. By J. ROTHWELL . 320
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSO-
CIATION : Notice of Meeting . 321
BRITISH ASSOCIATION— Annual Meeting .. 322
ON THE SPECTRUM. ANALYSIS. By Prof.
MILLER . 327
PAGE
RECORD OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INVENTIONS:
Profiled Studio Backgrounds. By S. HIGH-
LEY, F.O S., F.C.S., Sc . 329
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . 329
EXHIBITIONS . 330
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 332
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M LACAN . 333
CORRESPONDENCE . 333
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, <fcc . 334
THE BRI T I b IT
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 151, Vol. VIII _ OCTOBER 1, 1861.
Classification of Photography. — The last number of the
Journal of the Photographic Society contains a long communi¬
cation from M. Silvy — lately designated by M. Claudet as “ a
single unhappy exception" — ostensibly in reply to the last-named
gentleman, but evidently intended as a general manifesto em¬
bodying the author’s sentiments upon the alleged want of
connexion between photography and the Fine Arts, and almost,
if not quite, dictating to photographers that they shall, like him,
consider their art as essentially mechanical. The first observa¬
tion that occurred to us after perusing M. Silvy ’s somewhat
lengthy document was, that if we had to draw a distinction
between M. Claudet and M. Silvy, we should describe the former
as “ a photographer full of art,” and the latter as “ an artful
photographer” — the difference being of course a mere bagatelle.
It is scarcely worth while to reproduce in extenso an article
containing so few arguments, diluted with so many assertions
without proof, but we propose making a few extracts for the sake
of adding a comment or two thereon.
There is one very noticeable omission in M. Silvy’s article.
Although he alludes to various branches of the Fine Arts (as
acknowledged to be such by himself), and some others which he
excludes, he makes no mention whatever of engraving, either in
one category or the other. This is quite in accordance with our
estimate of him as “an artful photographer;” for we fancy he
would have been puzzled to show that photographjr does not
demand in its successful pursuit quite as much genius as the art
of engraving — consequent as M. Silvy approves the classifica¬
tion of the Royal Commissioners for the one, he must, if consis¬
tent, condemn it for the other. That there may be some diffi¬
culty in deciding exactly where art begins and mechanical
manipulation ends, we are ready to admit; but certainly we
should not, as M. Silvy appears to have done, locate the former
rather in its mode of expression than in the individual who
gives rise to the conception. If sometimes by means of photo¬
graphy I contrive to convey to other persons a cqrrect expression
of my ideas of the beautiful, and at others I do so by aid of
the pencil, am I to be considered in the one case as a mere
mechanic and in the other as an artist? If it be contended
that the most spirited sketch made with a red-hot poker upon a
panel (however artistic in itself) is not entitled to be regarded as
a work of art — a question that, it is needless to argue for the
moment — the ground of exclusion would be a want of appro¬
priateness and proper dignity in the method of recording the
ideas, or otherwise an incongruity in the vehicle of expression.
This could hardly apply to photography ; as the materials em¬
ployed both in photography and drawing are closely allied to one
another, if they be not even identical — that is to say, in the one
case paper marked or stained with silver or carbon, in the other
paper marked with carbon in a certain form. Why, then, if I
render the same idea successfully with my camera that I have
previously done with my pencil, am I to be designated a
mechanic for the first and an artist for the second work ?
M. Silvy, declares that photography cannot be a Fine Art,
because genius is not indispensable to its pursuits — “the
genius which invents, creates, composes, and which imprints on
its works the immortal seal of the Fine Arts.” Is not this what
our American friends would call “ a bit of Bunkum?” How
many paintings, drawings, statues, poems, &c., &c., come within
the limits above defined ? And yet, though but one out of ten
thousand fulfil these conditions, the arts which the}r represent
are called “ Fine ” in spite of the 9999 which have nought fine
about them. Again, what is to be understood by invention and
creation, in an artistic sense ? We make no inquiry about the
third requisite — composition — for we presume that quality can
scarcely be questioned in connexion with photography. We
wonder if M. Silvy ever saw Mr. Rejlander’s Head of John the
Baptist in a Charger ? Would the production of such a picture
by the brush or pencil involve invention or creation- — or both ?
And if so, why not with the camera ? We are not sure about
the difference supposed to exist between art-invention and art-
creation. Does the former merely include the mental conception,
and the latter the mechanical production, of something never
before couceived of?
It is not enough to showr that the artist cannot perform by
means of photography all that he can by aid of the pencil,
because he cannot produce by the latter all that he can by the
assistance of the mallet and chisel, while by each mode of
operating he can accomplish something that he cannot perform
by either of the other two.
The following extract from M. Silvy’s communication is too
rich to be omitted : —
“From the list you raise in opposition, begin, I pray you, by effacing
every French name. The first that you cite, Count Olympe Aguado, was
my photographic master. It is to him that I owe the first principles of
that art which he practises with so much honour, and which he so nobly
patronises. His counsels have ever been as precious to me as his friend¬
ship has been dear. I know his mind, as every one knows his talent, and
I assure you, sir, that he is too great an artist by nature to pretend to a
place which he would have more right than any one to occupy, if it could
be assigned to photography.
“ Gustave Legray, the learned artist and chemist, ■who has given us the
collodion and the best instruction books of his methods ; the brothers
Bisson, who have produced the finest pages of our monumental reproduc¬
tions, and who, courageously pursuing their work, astonish the world by
their touristic daring (I think the summit of Mont Blanc is one of the
highest positions photography can attain) ; all of them, sir, are artists of
too much modesty as well as talent, that, in their name and without con¬
sulting them , I fear not to assert that they have not the presumption you
attribute to them.”
That word “presumption,” employed in such a paragraph,
appears to us as trenching upon somewhat dangerous ground :
it is clear that “ presumption ” exists somewhere.
Photographs in their nature are, our author asserts, “ essen¬
tially mechanical.”
Productions that are “ essentially mechanical” have usually
the quality of being each one a facsimile of its predecessor in
manufacture. If photographs be mere manufactures, how then
does it happen that they do not possess this distinction ? Every
photographer knowrs the difficulty (not to say the impossibility^
8S0
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
'October 1, ISO I
of making each succeeding proof from the same negative an
exact counterpart of the preceding one ; while as regards con¬
secutive negatives few would even expect to make them so.
Again, we quote M. Silvy : — “ The Royal Commission has
classed photography amongst the mechanical arts. I find this
classification correct, and I say so.” Dr. Lyon Playfair, who
arranged all the rest of the classification, finds this classification
incorrect, and he says so. Which of these two opinions is
worth most ?
The secret of M. Silvy’s advocacy will perhaps appear from
the following, viz. : — -
“Although of recent discovery, photography has. rapidly placed itself
on a level with the highest mechanical and industrial arts. Restricted
within the circle of its useful applications, it is summoned to give mag¬
nificent results. Instead of rivalling the Fine Arts, let it attach itself to
serving them by furnishing them with all the documents which they have
as yet acquired only by long study, and then it will have a place beside
them, and the Fine Arts will admit it as an auxiliary instead of repelling
it as an intruder. The province of Art is to elevate the human mind in
imbuing it with the taste for the beautiful. Art creates, composes,
idealises, and is occupied less in reproducing than in interpreting nature
in that language, almost divine, which makes a great artist a demigod.
“As a means of propagation, photography ought to bring to the Fine
Arts the same aid that printing has given to science and letters. The
Fine Arts speak to the mind by representation, as philosophy by letters,
science by lines and figures.
“Let photography apply itself to useful and cheap productions. Let it
extend its works to an unlimited number of copies, and at a price suitable
to every class of society, and it will have fulfilled its mission, which is
to popularise representations.”
A “ demigod ” ought to know that “ science” speaks to the
mind in other ways than merely by “ lines and figures tut
we suppose it is not a “ demigod’s” business to know anything
of “ science.”
In stating that Sir Frederick Pollock, as President of the
Photographic Society, “ has fulfilled the duties which his posi¬
tion imposes on him,” he has simply asserted what all who are
acquainted with that highly-respected gentleman knew would
of course he the case ; but when he insinuates (which he does)
that the worthy President is the mere exponent of, without
sharing in, the views of the members of the Photographic
Society, he assumes that which is distinctly contrary to the fact.
Before concluding, we must not omit to mention in M. Silvy’s
favour, howeyer much we differ from him in our views, that his
communication throughout bears the stamp of good temper,
although M. Claudet did lean somewhat hardly upon him in a
rather personal sarcasm. We admit the retort was tempting ;
but M. Claudet could well have afforded to have foregone the
indulgence.
We have, as a result of consideration, arrived at the con¬
clusion, from circumstantial evidence only, that M. Silvy was a
graphic artist before he became a photographic one, and that
now he is jealous of, and cannot forgive, the art which he has
been forced to adopt, although he prospers by its practice. It
is ungrateful to speak an ill word against the boat which carries
one safely over.
International Exhibition. — We are just in receipt of the
current number of the organ of the French Photographic
Society, and perceive that our photographic brethren across the
channel are under a misapprehension relative to the proceedings
of the Council of the Photographic Society as a body. The
position assumed by the Council is one not of direct antagonism
to the Royal Commissioners, but simply protestant. The
Council very naturally objects to undertake the responsibility of
managing the photographic part of the forthcoming Exhibition
without being permitted any freedom of action in the matter.
It will not attempt to prevent any number of photographers
from exhibiting, as, indeed, it could not, and no doubt plenty
of English photographs will be found in the collection ; but, as
the recognised exponent of the great body of British photo¬
graphers, the Council of the Photographic Society could not
with propriety have accepted the very undignified position
assigned to it and to the art which it represents.
EXPERIMENTS WITH ALBUMEN ON GLASS.
By Da. It. L. Maddox.
[Read at a Meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Sept. 18, 1801.]
Early in June I commenced some experiments in printing trans¬
parent positives on albumen prepared glass, chielly with a view to
obtain, if possible, a fine neutral tone or colour when examined by
transmitted light. »
To say that very many failures marked the course would be
merely to relate what commonly follows the steps ol the experi¬
menter, where guides are few and paths numerous.
Firstly, — I endeavoured to procure a dense, yet perfectly liquid,
albumen liquor, that would rapidly filter through Swedish filtering
paper, and bear a certain amount of beat without cracking on the
glass,’ and, at the same time offer, when iodised, a character of its
own under development.
Diluted phosphoric acid (strength London Pharmacopoeia ), added
in small quantity to albumen, I found to liquify it so much that it
would easily pass through filtering paper : one point was therefore
gained. The next step was to iodise, sensitise, expose, and ascer¬
tain the colour of the picture after developing and fixing.
The formula eventually stood thus : —
Albumen, fresh . G drachms.
Dil. Phos. acid (Lond. Ph.J . I »
well mixed — then
Iodide of ammonium . 9 grains,
Iodine . £ »
Water . 1£ drachms,
were added, the whoie well frothed, allowed to stand a few hours,
and filtered thrice through paper.
Proportions in the bath were —
Cryst. nit. silver . 1 drachm.
Distilled water . f ounce.
Glacial acetic acid . 40 minims.
The developers, after trying various formulae, were -
Pyrogallic acid . Ingrains.
Citric acid . 2 »
Water . 1 ounce.
To which, at the time of pouring on the plate, after it had been
well moistened in fresh filtered rain water, a few drops of formic
acid and solution of nitrate of silver were added ; or, twenty-five
grains of g'allic acid in three ounces of hot water, with the addition
of a few drops of Beaufoy’s acetic acid and solution of nitrate of
silver used instead. _ <
The albumen plates were dried with and without artificial heat.
On an average, with two minutes’ exposure in the camera to a mo¬
derately sunlighted view, using Derogy’s stereoscopic portrait et
paysage combination, with smaller stop, when developed with either
of the above, gave dense pictures, having a thin suiface after
fixing and drying, of a peculiar iridescent puiple, blue, and red
appearance of the film by reflected light. In the blacks and half¬
tones, if not over-developed, there was a marked, soft neutral tint,
a little inclining to violet-purple by transmitted light.
Under a collodion or albumen negative, exposed for ten or four¬
teen seconds to a bright north light, when developed by the
pyrogallic solution, the tint inclined to violet red, and when with
the gallic acid developer to a maroon or warm purple-brown.
Between the negatives and positives produced by these methods
there was always a marked difference in the colour by transmitted
light, which no variation that I tried as to time ot exposuie or
mode of development by increasing and decreasing the vaiious
chemicals in the developing liquids appeared to regulate, so that
they should, when printed, correspondyn tone. .
I likewise used, for trial, albumen with caustic potash, one gram
to the ounce, with iodide of sodium, a minute quantity of iodine, and
half a drachm of water : also, albumen, with one drachm of filtered
fresh ox-gall to the ounce ; iodide of ammonium and bromide o
potassium, without the addition of water. I mixed these in
various proportions. I was surprised to find, with the same . e-
velopers, how much the colour of the transparent positives vane .
Some were of a smoke-tint (caustic potash), some of a burnt sienna
tint (ox-gall), the mixed partook of the two ; but neither were so
pleasing, at least to me, as those produced with diluted phosphoric
acid as a solvent for the albumen. _ .
You may suppose my hath soon gave signs of discolouration,
in order to meet which, after trying kaolin, 1 adopted the plan o
boiling with carefully-prepared animal charcoal : this gave a bright
clear liquid. An addition of acetic acid was made to meet the loss
by heat. The albumen and phosphoric acid plates, when sensitised
in this and developed by the same pyro. developer as befoie, gave
October 1, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
037
strong negatives and positives, each with an almost metallic sur¬
face by reflected light, yet transparent by transmitted light, the
positives being of a brown, raw sienna tone, inclining to red, but
very bright.
The addition to the bath of fresh nitrate of silver gave a dense
milky-yellow turbidity ( vide Legray’s Traite de Photographic , article
Noir Animal — some excellent remarks). The plates prepared in the
same manner were also, after sensitising, treated with washing by
water, and then flooded with albumen and ammonia liquor, a la
Fothergill; also the same with the addition of salt.
Iodide of iron, gallic acid, and various substances were tried as
accelerators. Those with the albumen and salt were slightly more
sensitive.
As colour was the primary object of these experiments, I did not
take particular trouble to procure perfect pictures or prints. Many
of the negatives were filled with “pin-holes,” some with minute
black points or spots ; but these I attribute to the condition of the
liquids, want of further filtering, &c. — all amenable to attention and
patience.
As regards the keeping quality of the liquids, the albumen and
phosphoric acid, after a few days, became turbid, with a whitish
deposit on the bottom of the vessel ; and, after a week or more,
sometimes with mildew on the surface. The ox-gall liquid changed
to greenish in colour, and became slightly turbid. The caustic
| potash liquid remained clear, and became very thin, depositing
' a little sediment.
The plates were not kept over a few days. The liquid, with
caustic potash, gave a fine grained surface : it quickly discoloured
my bath. The albumen and ox-gall plates had a considerable ten¬
dency to result in the appearance of over-development, if anywise
over-exposed. None were sufficiently sensitive to please me.
Having established to my own satisfaction the use of diluted
phosphoric, instead of acetic or citric acid, I soon put it in use in
the collodion wet and dry processes. At first I used the ordinary
fifteen-grain protosulphate of iron developer, with acetic acid, to
bring out the details ; washed ; fixed with cyanide of potassium ;
then poured over the plate, for thirty seconds, a few’ drops of a weak
nitrate of sdver solution, with a tew drops of diluted phosphoric
acid in water; and eventually pouring it off into aceto or citro-
Pyrogabic developing solution, to bring up the intensity. This
answered excellently for portraits with collodion, iodised by iodide
of sodium, iodide and bromide of cadmium. For the same col¬
lodion wet a solution of pyrogallic acid two grains, diluted phos¬
phoric acid fifteen minims, and filtered fresh rain water one ounce,
flashed out the picture like an iron solution, quickly acquiring
density, and allowing this to be carried to a nice point — the sha¬
dows beautifully clean and clear, the half-tones good, but the sky
in views scarcely so dense as may be desired without the risk of
injuring the shadows. The colour by transmitted light was neutral,
inclining to a deep lilac bloom ; but, when used after an iron de¬
veloper, the sky is very dense , the graduation in the half-tones remarlc-
dbly fine, and the colour neutral, inclining- to black, by transmitted
light.
Instead of using acetic acid with the protosulphate of iron,
diluted phosphoric acid was employed. After remaining on an
exposed collodion plate for five minutes, not a sign of a picture
could be seen : the plate was well washed, a solution of nitrate of
silver and diluted phosphoric acid -was poured over the plate seve-
ra] times, then drained, and the ordinary iron developing liquid
tiied for one minute — still no picture. I began to question some
en-or in lifting the shutter or uncovering the lens, &c., so rewashed
the plate, used fresh dilute silver and phosphoric acid to recover
the plate for thirty seconds, then poured these into the ordinary
pyio-acetic acid developer, and flooded the plate. After a short
time the picture made its appearance, but showing strong signs of
irregular development and general darkening from, I expect, im¬
perfect washing. The development wras therefore discontinued.
A similar experiment was made another day, using longer ex¬
posure: a like result attended the effort to develop the negative.
Hence it shows a very marked difference to acetic acid with iron,
and less with pyrogallic acid.
In the albumen prepared plates, those covered with a dense
albumen gave, on using tepid solution of gallic acid for develop¬
ment,, a swelled film, that seemed to attract and hold the particles
of reduced silver in a very rough and uneven manner, even when
they had been dried by heat, and which did not disappear perfectly
when dry. With the collodion plates the grain of the deposit is
remarkably fine when, using diluted phosphoric acid either with
non, and intensifying, or with the phosphoric pyrogallic solution
I have not found it to answer well in the dry Fothergill prepared
plates. The reduced silver seems to partake of a too crystalline
nature : though, when dry, this passes off to a great extent, yet
there is a visible reduction on the shadows.
Some, whose attention may be drawn to these remarks, may
perhaps be ready to say : — Why, what if diluted phosphoric acid be
a retarding agent — it has been employed long since by so and so,
or proposed by Mr. - . Such may be the case, though I am not
aware of it; therefore, should you, gentlemen, know that it has
been previously employed by others, please save me from the
undesired position of placing myself in a false light, and adopt
only so much of these remarks as may bear about them any novelty
or usefulness.
The experiments, I am sorry to say, are sadly incomplete ; in¬
deed I have hesitated considerably before offering them. They
were made under the cloud of much suffering from ill health, which,
I trust, may tend to shade their defects and my deficiency.
- , ■■■$>■■ -
STRAY CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
13y James Martin.
OF VAHIISHE S.*
Having described, in the previous “chapter” on this subject, what
is a varnish, and of what varnishes are made, we have now, in
pursuance of the plan laid down, to consider the question —
How are varnishes made?
It would avail but little to the readers of this Journal to enter
minutely into the details of the manufacture of varnishes on the
large scale. It is proposed, therefore, simply to furnish a few
formulas, with practical instructions for the preparation of a small
quantity for the amateur’s own use. The precautions necessary to
be adopted in the use of the varnishes will be named, accompanied
by a statement of the defects and failures which sometimes occur,
with their appropriate remedies.
There are five kinds of varnish in general use among photo*
graphers — namely, simple albumen varnish, varnish of dammar
dissolved in benzole, amber dissolved in chloroform or benzole, and
lac varnish, in which either the bleached or ordinary shellac is
dissolved in alcohol or methylated spirit.
Simple Albumen Vabnish. — The whites of eggs are beaten
completely into froth, and set aside : the clear mobile liquid which
separates is the varnish in question. It is applied to the negative
in the same manner as collodion, and the excess being drained off
heat is applied until a slight vapour begins to arise, which may be
regarded as an indication that the albumen is coagulated and the
varnishing completed; the heat should therefore be withdrawn.
In the preparation of this varnish it is important to avoid diluting
it with water as, if this take place at the end of a few days it
splits and scales off, taking with it the collodion film.
On account of the semi-opacity possessed by this varnish it is a
good one for feeble negatives, protecting the middle tints. As
albumen cannot strictly be called a resin, we must ask pardon for
describing here a preparation which, it must be admitted, does not
come within the definition of a varnish given in the first paper;
but, as it is used by our neighbours in France, it was thought
better not to omit it.
Dammar, or Soft Copal Varnish. — This preparation is very
generally known under the name of crystal varnish : it is made by
adding ten per cent, of finely-powdered dammar resin to good
commercial benzole. The mixture should be actively shaken from
time to time during the first da}T, and then set aside for eight days,
to allow of the subsidence of a minute portion of gum. When the
supernatant liquid is quite clear, it should be drawn off by means
of a glass syphon, and is then ready for use. If filtration be
resorted to for the purpose of clearing this varnish, the operation
will be found a very tedious one, as the benzole seems to have the
power of opening the pores of the thickest filtering paper in such
a way as to allow the fine particles of gum to pass through. This
varnish, on account of its perfect, freedom from colour, would make
an excellent negative varnish were it not for its unfortunate pro¬
perty of softening and becoming tacky when exposed to the direct
rays of the sun : its use is consequently restricted to the protection
of the collodion film in a direct positive on glass, for which purpose
it answers better than any other. The precautions necessary to
be observed in its use are the complete dessication of the plate by
means of a spirit lamp, and allowing it to become quite cold, after
which the varnish is poured on in the same manner as collodion,
and the picture allowed to dry spontaneously. When this varnish
* Continued from page 30i>.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1 8G1
338
used for negatives it is found to penetrate the substance of the
film very completely, thus communicating great transparency in
every part. It is, however, very important that the negative
should not be exposed to the direct heat of the sun, as many good
ones have been spoiled by this means, through the adhesion of the
paper to the softened resin.
Amber Varnish. — The use of this varnish was originally
suggested and applied to photographic purposes by Dr. Diamond.
It is perhaps the most convenient varnish in use for nega¬
tives; for it is extremely volatile, dries instantaneously, is un¬
altered by heat or light, while it serves ecprally well for weak or
vigorous negatives, its high price being the only drawback to
its use. It is prepared by macerating for eight clays 30 parts of
finely-powdered amber with 500 parts of anhydrous chloroform,
the proportions not being very important, so that the amber be
in excess and the chloroform thoroughly saturated. The mix¬
ture is shaken from time to time, and lastly filtered through fine
bibulous paper, as required for use. In using it, it should be poured
rapidly over the surface of the negative, and the excess as rapidly
drained back into the bottle ; for as soon as it has evaporated it is
completely dry, the film deposited having scarcely any appreciable
weight in the case of the smaller sizes of plates, and, possessing
very little brilliancy, any ordinary heat, such as a negative is
likely to be exposed to in a pressure-frame, does not alter amber
varnish, except, perhaps, by making it adhere still more closely to
the negative, so that it is possible to expose a negative to the
direct rays of the sun for days together without producing the
least softening or tendency to crack.
Amber forms with benzole a varnish slightly brown ; but the film
deposited on the negative is, from its extreme tenuity, almost
colourless. The solubility of this resin in benzole, and also in
chloroform, is greatly increased by being heated to about 570° Fah.
in a well-covered vessel until it softens and swells. Before this
swelling takes place, however, white fumes will be disengaged,
which need not be noticed, as the operation is not complete until
a considerable increase in bulk has taken place. Amber thus
transformed produces, when dissolved in benzole, a varnish superior
to that yielded when the same resin is dissolved in chloroform.
Its superiority consists in its freedom from a tendency to crack
and split the film of the negatives upon which it is poured. This
unfortunate property possessed by chloroform and amber varnish
seems to arise from the rapid evaporation of the chloroform,
causing a sudden change of temperature from warm to cold; an
unequal contraction takes place, and, in consequence, the splitting
of the film.
The foregoing are the principal varnishes generally known
which are applied cold. The one described as being made with
fused amber and benzole is not much known, simply because it has
not been introduced to photographers; it is, however, recommended
with great confidence by M. Monkhoven.
The varnishes which require the negative to be heated previous
to their application now present themselves for consideration.
Foremost among these is Lac Varnish, at first made by him
(Monkhoven) with only white stick lac and alcohol ; but, having
been observed to split and scale off with sudden changes of tem¬
perature, it was subsequently modified as follows : —
Alcohol, sp. gr. -815 . 40 ounces.
White stick lac . . . 3 ,,
Picked sandarac . . . 3 drachms.
The addition of the sandarac seems to render the film more
elastic. The solution of these resins in the alcohol is effected
by placing the whole in a flask and applying the heat of a water
bath : in a few minutes they will be found to have dissolved,
except a few light insoluble filaments, which may be separated
by passing the whole through filtering-paper, when a transparent,
but slightly yellow, varnish will be obtained quite ready for use.
The question may probably suggest itself to the reader whether
the varnish might not be the better for a little “ageing but such
is not the case with photographic varnishes, as a new varnish is
better than an old one— first, because of the oxidation of the resin
by exposure to air ; secondly, on account of the colouration of the
resinous solution by exposure to light ; and, thirdly, because an
old varnish is seldom of normal strength on account of evaporation
of spiiit. It sometimes happens that after this varnish has been
prepared some months a little white deposit takes place : this,
however, may be completely separated by a second filtration; and
it is even sometimes enough to shake the flask to make it dis¬
appear. The preparation of this varnish on the large scale is
surrounded by many difficulties, which need not be described here,
as few amateurs will desire to prepare more than forty ounces at a
time. In applying this varnish the negative should first be heated
to such a temperature as can be conveniently borne by the hand,
and this is most readily done by means of a spirit-lamp. If the
plate be made too hot, seams are likely to be formed ; if not hot
enough, the varnish may “chill," and semi-opacity in some paits
will be the consequence. In this part of the manipulation, how¬
ever, the operator may safely allow himself to be guided hy “his
feelings :” the hand will indicate the temperature, which, to use au
every-day expression, should be “as hot as you can hold it.” If.
it be desired to communicate an agreeable odour to this varnish
a few drops of oil of lavender or bergamot may be added. There
is one precaution to be attended to in its use which is of great im¬
portance. An inexperienced amateur might imagine that, in the
event of his obtaining seams on the negative through over-heating
the glass, a second application of the varnish might remedy
the defect: such, however, rvould not be the result; for, even in
cases where the utter destruction of the film does not take place,
the molecular arrangement of the silver forming the image is so
disturbed as to destroy all the original vigour, and make the nega¬
tive unfit for printing from.
A varnish containing the same materials as the foregoing, but in
somewhat different proportions, has been successfully applied to
transparent positives for the stereoscope, to replace the ground-glass
with which they are generally mounted. It is composed as follows: —
Alcohol . . 100 parts by weight.
White lac . . 6 ,, „
Picked sandarac . 4 „ „
This mixture is warmed, and, when the solution is complete,
filtered, and applied cold. The result, when dry, is an appearance
like the finest ground-glass, bringing out the detail of the picture
in the most perfect manner.
There is another varnish, for which there is a large consumption
among photographers, claiming notice at our hands : it is the Black
Varnish used for backing up positives. It may be prepared by
dissolving asphaltum, by the aid of heat, in twenty-five times its
weight of oil of turpentine. Some photographers recommend the
addition of about eight or ten per cent, of Canada balsam to this
mixture. A good black varnish may also be made by dissolving
asphaltum in benzole or coal-tar naphtha, in the same proportions
indicated for the turpentine, and adding about five per cent, of
India-rubber. The whole of the operations, however, connected
with the preparation of black varnish are accompanied by such
unpleasant smells and so much dirt that few amateurs will care
to trouble themselves with the details of making it, but will choose
rather to purchase one or other of the very excellent articles
always to be found at the photographic warehouses.
In testing the qualities of these preparations it should be
remembered that a good black varnish should admit of being^
applied with a brush, dry rapidly, and be entirely free from any
tendency to split. This latter quality is generally possessed by
those varnishes containing caoutchouc, and arises from the well-
known tendency of that substance to contract when the moisture
of the solvent has completely evaporated.
The experience of photographers seems to indicate the following
as among the essential properties which should be possessed by a
good photographic varnish : — It should consist of solid, transparent,
resinous matter, free from colour, hard, and having no tendency to
crack, dissolved in a menstruum, easily and rapidly vapourisable
at ordinary temperatures. The film of resin deposited on the sur¬
face to be protected should of course have the properties described
above as belonging to the natural resin — i.e. transparency, freedom
from colour, &c. — before treatment with a solvent; and that varnish
might fairly be deemed the best which, while possessing these
essential qualities, would still leave the minimum amount of solid
matter on the plate. In cases where it is desired to make a great
number of impressions from the same negative, it is further neces¬
sary that the varnish should be composed of matter which does
not alter the film upon which it is placed, and to which it should
completely adhere. When it is quite dry it should present a per¬
fectly brilliant surface, free from tackiness, and consequently not
adhering to the paper with which it may come in contact. Its
hardness should be sufficient to enable it to resist a slight con¬
cussion or abrasion, and it should have sufficient elasticity to pre¬
vent it from splitting or scaling off.
The properties last described are required in the ordinary com¬
mercial varnishes as well as in those applied to photography,
which require other qualities quite special and of the first necessity.
1. It should be sufficiently fluid not to give too much transparency
to the negative, and thus cause it to lose its vigour, and thick
enough for the efficient protection of the collodion film.
October 1, 186 1J
2. As sensitised paper containing traces of moisture through
imperfect drying is sometimes placed in contact with a negative,
and then placed in the sun, it is necessary that the material com¬
posing the varnish should be insoluble in water, in order that no
union should take place between it and the paper.
3. It should not become softened by a temperature of 140° to
212° Fah.
4. The solvents employed in the preparation of photographic
varnishes should not resinify spontaneously, after the manner of
linseed oil, but should be speedily and completely vapourisable.
Speaking generally, and in conclusion, on this subject we would
say that, though good varnishes may be made by adopting the for¬
mulae given in this paper, success in their manufacture is more
likely to follow upon a careful study of the individual characters of
the resins and solvents employed, and the exercise of judgment as
to proportions in mixing founded upon the knowledge gained by
that study.
There are few photographers who have not had to mourn
over the destruction of their best negatives in the very act of
doing that which was intended to preserve them. These unto¬
ward occurrences are rendered doubly annoying by their happening
generally to the choicest results of probably a week’s labour.
They can, however, generally be traced to one or other of the fol¬
lowing causes : —
1. Bad manipulation previous to varnishing — as, for instance,
the presence in the film of traces of fixing agent through imperfect
washing. 2. Varnishing the negative before it is dry. 3. Fixing
with cyanide of potassium, being unsuitable for certain modifica¬
tions of pyroxyline. 4. Drying and varnishing too hastily.
Therefore, if the following precautions be adopted much annoy¬
ance and loss may be avoided. It has been generally observed
that where hyposulphite of soda is used as the fixing agent,
and the negative washed freely and dried perfectly, cracking
never takes place; but where cyanide has been employed, and the
other operations have not had sufficient care bestowed upon them,
splitting inevitably follows. It is well, however, whichever fixing-
agent is used, to wash thoroughly, dry completely, and, even in the
case of varnishes which are applied cold, just to warm gently
before pouring them on, in order to ensure the dissipation of what
may be termed hygrometric moisture ; in which case we think we
may venture to assure our readers that the result so much to be
deplored will never follow.
There is yet another source of failure in the varnishing of nega¬
tives arising from the employment of too strong a spirit for the
solution of the resins, which on coming into contact with the py¬
roxyline of the film removes it entirely from the glass. The method
for avoiding this is obviously the use of a weaker alcohol or
ordinary methylated spirit.
It should further be remembered that good negatives are some¬
times spoiled by printing under the direct heat of the sun, which
acts either by partially fusing the resin of the varnish or by caus¬
ing any trace of moisture retained by the paper to be volatilised,
and thus adhesion to take place between the negative and paper.
The precautions in this case are also obvious.
[Under this heading we propose from time to time treating of
such subjects as may appear to be of pressing interest at the
moment in connexion with the chemistry of the art.]
NEW PLATE-HOLDER.
Some years ago we were amused with a pamphlet having for its
title “Photography with Clean Fingers.” The object of the publica¬
tion was to show how by the use of certain contrivances negatives
might be taken without dabbling the fingers in any of the solu¬
tions ; but unfortunately the use of the apparatus appeared to
involve considerable skill in legerdemain. Mr. Solomon, of Bed
Lion Square, London, a well-known dealer in photographic appa¬
ratus, has however lately introduced an exceedingly simple and
effective holder to use when developing plates, which really does
to a very considerable extent save the fingers, and it has also the
merit of being extremely easy to use, and very cheap in cost. It
consists of a rod of wire, furnished at one end with a gutta-percha
ferrule having a flattened ring projecting from it. This is firmly
fixed to the end of the rod, while upon it slides a similar ferrule.
The two are connected together by means of an elastic India-rubber
ring. By sliding back the moveable piece a glass plate can be
introduced with two of its opposite angles just in the flattened
rings of gutta-percha, and it can be turned about in any direction
and manipulated in the most facile way by the handle.
This is a valuable addition to our apparatus.
339
THE TAUPE HOT PROCESS.
By G. Wardley.
[Read at a meeting of the Chorlton Photographic Association, September 12, 1861.]
The subject of this evening’s paper has been somewhat severely dealt
with by the numerous ready writers to our photographic journals — I think
simply from the fact of there being a double operation in preparing the
jflates for the camera. Certainly the development is rather slow. A
quick development possesses no advantage beyond saving a little time,
and this is amply compensated for by the certainty of obtaining a nega¬
tive.
To judge of the qualifications of this process in comparison -with other
dry processes, I cannot do otherwise than refer you to the present Exhi¬
bition of Photographs in connexion with the meetings of the British
Association.
I beg to claim for this process a separate position amongst the dry
methods. My plea is the following: — A sensitive surface for the camera
consists of a “coagulated and iodised albumen film,” supported upon a
perfect film of “collodion ” impregnated with iodide of silver — these two
films acting together but having different functions to perform. The
other dry processes (where collodion is used) being simply preserved
collodion, the double film may possess an advantage by any defect in the
collodion being counterbalanced by the perfect coagulated film of albumen,
or vice versa.
The question has often been asked whether the picture exists in the
albumen or collodion film ? This is difficult to answer. Sometimes it
appears in the albumen, other times in the collodion film. The picture ap¬
pears more generally in the albumen, especially if a creamy collodion has
been used for preiiaring the plate ; but if we expose a prepared plate
through the glass, so as to act upon the collodion first, we still obtain a
picture, but the development is much slower, and before the iodide is re¬
moved the picture appears very strongly defined upon the collodion.
This is best seen by examining the picture on the glass side of the plate.
Hence it may be inferred that the iodised collodion film plays a very im¬
portant part in connexion with the albumen. Pictures were obtained
upon simple albumen many years ago, but the plates were difficult to
manipulate : a tendency to spottiness from the slightest dust, and insen¬
sitiveness, were its principal defects. The application of a collodion film,
impregnated with iodide of silver, has removed both these difficulties.
This method of working was discovered by the late Dr. Taupenot, and
the modus operandi which I am about to describe is almost identical with
that which he so liberally gave to the world six years ago.
In bringing this subject before you I do not proclaim it an infallible
process, for most of us know that photography is something like the young
schoolboy, fond of playing tricks upon his master. We often learn
more by one failure than years of continued success. Perhaps blistering
of the film and limited keeping qualities are the greatest failings of this
process : with care the former need rarely occur, but the latter is more
uncertain.
The materials required in the first part of the operation are : —
CLEANING SOLUTION.
Rectified spirits of wine . 2 ounces.
Tripoli powder, about . 3 drachms.
An ordinary collodion bath, slightly or very acid, will answrer the
purpose.
Iodised collodion, rather thin, and containing a small proportion of
alcohol : if newly iodised, it will be an improvement to add a little old,
which will make it more adherent to the glass, and often prevent blister¬
ing. The collodion will become thick by use, when it must be diluted
with pure ether, without any alcohol.
The iodised albumen is composed as follows : —
Whites of . 10 eggs.
Water . 2$ ounces.
Iodide of potassium . 50 grains.
Bromide do. . 10 ,,
Liquid ammonia . 2 drachms.
Dissolve the salts in the water, then add the ammonia, finally mix with
the albumen, and beat well up with a wisp or beater: allow it to settle
and bottle for use.
The first part of the operation consists in cleaning the glass. This is
effected by pouring on a little of the cleaning solution, and bj’- means of a
little cotton wool rub it over back, front, and edges, allow- it to dry, and with
another piece of cotton remove the superfluous tripoli, and polish with a
clean wash-leather. This method of cleaning slightly scratches the
glass, which w-ill cause the collodion film to be more adherent. The plate
must now be coated with collodion, which is done in the usual way : allow
it to “set” well before plunging in the nitrate bath : if this precaution
be neglected blisters will inevitably occur. The proper time to keep
them out can easily be attained by one or two experiments ; because, if
the coated plate should be kept out of the bath too long, a transparent
mark will occur upon the opposite corner of the plate to that from v-hich
the collodion has been poured. This mark, if produced, w-ill be visible on
removing the collodionised plate from the nitrate bath. A medium betw-een
these twro conditions produces the best result. Lift the plate once or twice
from the nitrate bath, and when the greasy appearance has disappeared
from its surface drain and wash well in tw-o dishes of running v-ater,
then transfer it to another dish containing a solution of iodide of potassium
sixty grains, water forty ounces ; wave the solution two or three times
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1861
810
over its surface, and Rave it till another washed plate is ready to succeed
it. This iodide solution will decompose any free nitrate of silver there
may be left in the pores of the collodion. If any were allowed to remain,
on coming in contact with the albumen a deleterious action would be set
up, which would materially impair the keeping qualities of the plates,
both before and after the second sensitising. Remove the plate from the
iodide solution, swill with a little water, and drain for about two minutes.
The plate is now ready for the albumen ; filter through a sponge the
quantity of iodised albumen required for immediate use ; take the drained
plate upon a plate-lioldcr, and pour along one edge a little of the filtered
albumen ; sweep it along by inclining the plate ; pour off, and put on a
second lot ; work it backward and forward once or twice, which will
make it combine more intimately with the collodion. This second lot of
albumen can be passed through a muslin filter and it will do for the first
application of another plate : the first lot should be thrown away in
consequence of being diluted with water from the plates. Drain the plate
from the excess of albumen, or till the top corner begins to dry ; finally
dry before a clear bright fire so as to make the plate warm. This baking
hardens the film, and in a great measure prevents blistering in after
operations. This drying operation need not be conducted in the dark room,
as these plates are not sensitive to white light after the albumenising.
Some operators have declared that the whole of the operation can be
conducted in ordinary daylight : I must beg leave to differ with them.
Some time ago I made experiments with a view of settling this disputed
point : the conclusion arrived at was — a ray of white light falling upon a
sensitive collodion plate cannot be obliterated by an after application of
an iodide solution, or even iodised albumen.
The albumenised plates will keep good a long time when protected
from dust and deleterious vapours, and will be ready any moment to
sensitise for the camera. This is accomplished by first slightly drying
the plate before a fire, and then immersing in the aceto-nitrate bath for
half-a-minute.
ACETO-NITRATE BATH : —
Nitrate of silver . 30 grains.
Glacial acetic acid . ^ drachm.
Water . . 1 ounce.
Drain and wash very well. It is convenient to first wash in a dish of
water, and finally under a good stream from a tap. It is essential to
remove all the free nitrate of silver from the face, back, and edges of the
plate : if any were left, indelible stains would occur in developing, and
the negative would be wanting in clearness and brilliancy. Careful
washing will allow the plates to be kept much longer in a sensitive con¬
dition. After washing, drain upon clean blotting paper, and allow to
dry spontaneously in a dark room or cupboard. If blisters should occur,
they will be seen at this part of the operation, or when the plate is
slightly drained.
The plate, when dry, is ready for the camera. When carefully pre¬
pared, they ought to keep good ten days to a fortnight in summer, and
more than double that time in winter.
The sensitiveness and exposure is what we have now to deal with.
The former, I believe, to be greater than anj’- other dry process, except
Hill Norris’s extra-sensitive. The exposure varies so much with the class
of subject, lens, stop, conditions of light, &c., that I cannot lay down any
definite rule. The average for landscape work will be two or three
minutes for a stereoscopic, and about ten minutes for a 10 by 8 picture.
This process possesses considerable latitude in exposure, which can be
corrected in development.
The development is best effected with pryogallic acid, though gallic
acid is often used. The pyro. development is commenced by placing the
exposed plate upon a levelling stand, and flooding the surface with clean
water; pour the water off, and cover its surface with a three or four
grain solution of pyrogallie acid, without either acetic or citric acid ;
pour on and off till the highlights of the image are well out, and con¬
tinue the operation till the half-tones begin to appear. This will take place
though no silver may have been added ; but the picture will be extremely
thin, and requires intensifying, which is accomplished by a solution of —
Pyrogallie acid . 2 grains.
Citric acid . ^ grain.
Water . 1 ounce.
to which is added a few drops of —
Nitrate of silver . 30 grains.
Citric acid . 10 ,,
Water . 1 ounce.
Pouring on and off as before, keeping the solution constantly on the move.
The intensity will now rapidly increase, and any amount can readily be
obtained by adding more of the silver solution. Stains, streaks, and
singular marks often occur during development. To remove them it is
only necessary to wash the developing solution off with water, and rub
the surface with a tuft of fine cotton wool : the marks or deposit will
disappear on washing the plate with a little more water. The develop¬
ment can be continued with the same solution, if bright and clear, though
it may be discoloured : if muddy, a fresh lot must be mixed.
This process possesses great advantages by the hardness of film :
negatives can be a long time developing, and invariably, under these
circumstances, the film is covered with a superficial deposit of reduced
silver, which can be cleaned off with cotton wool and water. If required,
the development can be continued after this cleansing operation.
My treatment in developing an under or over-exposed picture some¬
what differs from the advice often given. An under-exposed negative
should be developed with very little silver; an over-exposure requirt s a
large quantity, so as to intensify as quickly as possible.
To obtain the right intensity for a good printing negative requires
practice and a little judgment. Negatives by this process must not be
so intense as those produced upon wet collodion, the former being more
chemically opaque than the latter. It is very unwise to judge of tlio
strength by the sky ; generally the best negatives possess thin skies.
It is better to slightly under rather than over- develop, because a little
extra intensity can be imparted to the negative after the iodide of silver
is removed, providing the hypo, soda is well washed out of the film. This
is easily accomplished by redeveloping with the pyro. and citric solution,
to which is added a few drops of silver solution. A negative generally
loses a little strength by removing the iodide of silver, especially if a
creamy film of collodion has been used.
Fix with a solution of hyposulphite of soda one part, water four parts,
to which has been added a few drops of acetic acid ; wash well with
water, and dry. A great number of prints can be taken from these nega¬
tives without varnishing, though a strong one would be improved by a
coat of varnish.
The gallic acid development is conducted in a flat glass dish, contain¬
ing a saturated solution of gallic acid, to which is added a few drops of
plain silver solution. The plate should be face downwards, resting upon
slips of glass. This method is more slower than pyro., but very certain.
Some operators use it regularly.
Warm solutions for developing have recently been spoken of as a new
invention. I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without saying that
Mr. Mudd has used warm solutions for this purpose for nearly four years,
and has continued their use ever since — that is, when the temperature or
subject required such application.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF WAR SCENES.
The following strange scrap is extracted from Humphrey' s Journal : —
“ The public are indebted to Brady, of Broadway, for numerous excellent
views of ‘ grim-visaged war.’ He has been in Virginia with his camera,
and many and spirited are the pictures he has taken. His are the only
reliable records of the fight at Bull’s Run. The correspondents of the
rebel newspapers are sheer falsifiers, the correspondents of the Northern
journals are not to be depended upon, and the correspondents of the
English press arc altogether worse than either; but Brady never mis¬
represents. He is to the campaigns of the republic what Vandermeuleu
w*as to the wars of Louis XIV. His pictures, though perhaps not as
lasting as the battle pieces on the pyramids, will not the less immortalise
those introduced in them.
“Brady has shown more pluck than many of the officers and soldiers
who were in the fight. He went — not exactly like the “ Sixty-ninth,'*’
stripped to the pants — but with his sleeves tucked up and his big camera
directed upon every point of interest on the field. Some pretend, indeed,
that it was this mysterious and formidable-looking instrument that pro¬
duced the jianic ! The runaways, it is said, mistook it for the great
steam gun, discharging 500 b n 1 1 s a minute, and incontinently took to
their heels when they got within its focus ! However this may be, it is
certain that they did not get away from Brady as easily as they did from
the enemy. He has fixed the cowards beyond the possibility of a doubt.
“Foremost amongst them the observer will perhaps notice the well-
known correspondent of the London Times — the man who was celebrated
for writing graphic letters when there was nobody by to contradict him,
but who has proved, by his correspondence from this country, that but
little confidence can be placed in his accounts. Sec him as he flies for
dear life, with his notes sticking out of his pockets, spurring his wretched-
looking steed, his hat gone, and himself the picture of abject despair !
“But, joking aside, this collection is the most curious and interesting
we have ever seen. The groupings of entire regiments and divisions,
within a space of a couple of feet square, present some of the most curious
effects as yet produced in photography. Considering the circumstances
under which they were taken, amidst the excitement, the rapid move¬
ments, and the smoke of the battle-field, there is nothing to compare with
them in their powerful contrasts of light and shade.”
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE AS
REVEALED BY SPECTRUM ANALYSIS.*
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
(Continued from page 303^
To produce these lines of Fraunhofer, it is necessary to form a
spectrum by a more delicate arrangement than that recommended in
the previous experiment. The light of the sun must be admitted
into the darkened room (or into the spectroscope hereafter described),
through a slit about of an inch wide, formed by two plates of metal
ground to knife (or rather, chisel-like) edges, placed perfectly par-
* As Professor Miller has gone over the same ground as myself in his lecture before
the British Association, it is necessary to state that this article was in type on the 9lb of
September. — S, H.
October 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
341
allel to each other; a prism of quartz or first-rate flint glass inserted
in the path of the beam of light, with its refracting edge adjusted
so as to stand perfectly parallel with the edges of the slit, and in
such a position that the light makes the same angle with the first
surface of the prism when it falls upon it as it does with the second
surface when it leaves it (or in technical language, the angle of
incidence must equal the angle of emergence ) ; and the resulting spec¬
trum examined by an astronomical telescope of low power, placed
at from three to twenty feet distance from the slit. If the prism
bo of quartz, a spectrum of great length may, with proper manipu¬
lation, be observed intersected by numerous dark bands, of which
the more important are represented in Fig, 2. If, however, the
prism be of flint glass, a portion only of the spectrum, known as the
visible spectrum, extending from A to I (including the extreme red
to .the extreme violet), will be seen, as glass is opaque to the
| invisible , ultra-violet, or lavender rays.
Fraunhofer ascertained that these lines
are altogether independent of the magni-
j tude. of the refracting angle, or of the
j media of which the prism was constructed,
and that their number, order, and inten¬
sity, are constant for solar light.
Ihe principal linesof the solar spectrum
are conventionally indicated by the letters
i A a., B, C, &C-, and the larger inter¬
mediate lines by numbers 1, 2, 3, &c., be¬
ginning afresh on the more refrangible
side of each letter, so that the position of
any solar line may be indicated (referring
to such maps as those lately published by
bir David Brewster and Dr. Gladstone)
by a combination of a letter and numeral :
thus we speak of the line A, or the double
line D, or C. 6, or b 30 (a group beyond
B). Certain difficultly-observabie red
lays, less refrangible than A, are denoted
m Brewster’s map by Z, Y, X, thus
working backward in the alphabet,
from the beginning of the visible spec¬
trum at A.
If an incandescent liquid or solid body
be examined by a spectroscope, it will be
found to give a continuous bright spec-
trum, but utterly devoid of dark lines.
Ihe reason of this will be presently
apparent.
If, however, by the same instrument
we examine certain bodies when in a
volatalised or gaseous condition, we shall
find that, instead of presenting a con¬
tinuous spectrum, only a few bright
coloured bands will be apparent, and it
has been found that such bands vary in
colour, number, and position, but that
they are always characteristic of the body
examined.. Of course red, yellow, green,
blue, or violet bands appear in that part
of the spectra that would correspond with
the same coloured portion of a continuous
spectium ; but the red band that presents
itself when volatalised lithium is ex¬
amined,, occupies a different part of the
red portion of the spectrum to that which
the red band produced by volatalised
potassium would occup}’-, and so on for
other coloured bands produced by other
bodies : and it is thus we are enabled
to distinguish the bands characteristic
of one body from that of another.
FIG 2.
ULTRA
IVIOLET
( OR
LAVENDER
It has long been known to. the chemist and pyrotechnist that
certain salts impart characteristic colours to the bodies, spirituous
or otherwise, with which they may be burnt : thus lithium salts
pioduce a crimson flame, sodium salts a yellow flame, barium salts
a green flame, and potassium salts a purple flame, when introduced
into a gas jet, burnt with warm spirits of wine or with gun-paper
t lat has been saturated with solution of these compounds. Merz
lias lately attempted to give greater precision to such indications,
so tiat they may be used by the analyst when a rough-and-ready
method is ail that circumstances require. He employs either a
.Duusen gas-burner or a flame of pure hydrogen gas, and in addi¬
tion, as occasion indicates, also uses glasses coloured red. green,
blue, and violet. He divides the colours into three or four standard
groups: in Bunsen’s burner he indicates a, Border Colours, or
those that give a coloured indication when the substance is held on
a platinum loop about Va or J of an inch from the outer portion of the
lower part of the flame; such indications are peculiar only to the most
volatile substances — b, Mantle Colours, which present themselves
when the substance is held in the bright blue mantle that forms
the outer portion of the flame— c, Flame Colours, produced when
the loop is held horizontally in the hottest part of the mantle — and
d, Core Colours, which are only produced with the pure hydro¬
gen flame (and as far as is yet known with sulphuric" and phos¬
phoric acids) when the body on the loop communicates colour to
the cold core of the jet. By this method Merz has discovered that
nitric, chromic, molybdic, sjilphuric, and phosphoric acids give
characteristic colours to the standard flames, beside previously
known bodies.
But such methods are rough when compared with that of
spectrum analysis, to which Bunsen and Ivirchhoff have recently
recalled the attention of chemists so forcibly. I say re-called, for
years ago English and continental philosophers emploj-ed the prism
asan instrument of analytical research, and by its agency determined
the characteristic spectra of many metallic and elementary bodies ;
but their papers were read or published at a time when Science had
not become “ Popular,” and when physical instruments were not so
familiar in the laboratory of the chemist as at the present day.
But the microscope and polariscope have paved the way for the
spectroscope, and as soon as it had taken shape and form it was
welcomed as a friend that would save both time and trouble in
many a “preliminary assay,” when the laborious method of quali¬
tative analysis must otherwise have been followed, before proceed¬
ing to a quantitative research. The Editor of the Chemical News
has lately called the attention of his readers to the early investi¬
gations of Fox Talbot, "Wheatstone, and Miller, On the Spectra
of Artificial Light from Different Sources, and it is remarkable to
find how much has been done — and forgotten ; for only a few months
since similar experiments and theories published by the Heidelberg
savans , Bunsen and Ivirchhoff, were regarded by many as entirely
new, but Truth — like murder — will out.
Englishmen who have any patriotism in their souls have to thank
Mr. Crookes for having asserted the claims of his own countrymen
to a share (and a very large share too) of the honour that is due to
those avIlo have laboured to lay the foundation of the structure that
is to be hereafter reared on this new field of research. Like an enthu¬
siastic traveller on an Egyptian plain, he has exhumed papers that
were as defunct as any mummy ever brought to the British Museum,
and has brought to light 11 inscriptions" that are prophetic of the
discoveries of to-day ; for it is to be regretted that there are a few
English professors who, either from having reaped their science on
foreign soil or influenced by the fashion of looking too smilingly
on things continental, seem, both in their lectures and writings, to
be too ready to ignore the labours of their colleagues and fellow*
countrymen.
Brewster and Herschel* seem to have been among the earliest to
employ the prism in determining the characteristics of coloured
flames; for in his “Treatise on Light” in the Encyclopedia Metro-
politana, published in 1827, Sir John Herschel describes the spectra
of various metals when their chlorides were introduced into flames,
and adds “ the colours thus communicated by different bases to
flame afford in many cases a ready and neat way of detecting extremely
minute quantities of them." But in a communication contributed to
Brewster’s Journal (vol. v.) for 1826, Fox Talbot definitely points
out the yellow ray characteristic of soda, the red ray of potash, and
the orange ray of strontia, and adds : —
“ This red ray appears to possess a definite refrangibility and to
be characteristic of the salts of potash, as the yellow ray is of the
salts of soda, although from its feeble illuminating power it is only
to be detected with a prism. If this should be admitted, I -would
further suggest that, whenever the prism shows a homogeneous
ray of any colour to exist in a flame, this ray indicates the formation
or the presence of « definite chemical compound." “ If this opinion
(that the orange ray is due to strontia) should be correct, and ap¬
plicable to the other definite rays, a glance at the prismatic spectrum
of a flame may show it to contain substances which it icould otherwise
require a laborious chemical analysis to detect."
In a subsequent paper published in the Philosophical Magazine
for 1834 (Third Series, Vol. IV. p. 114), Talbot draws the distinc¬
tion that is to be observed between the red ray characteristic of
lithia and those indicative of strontia, although the red flames
* See Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburyh for 1822.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1801
342
produced by these two substances are undistinguishable from each
other by the unassisted eye, and, after stating that the strontia
spectrum is furthermore specialised by an orange and bright blue
ray, concludes by saying: —
11 Hence, I hesitate not to say that optical analysis can distinguish
the minuiest portions of these two substances from each other with as
much certainty , if not more , than any other known niethoa
In other communications he describes the spectra of cyanogen
to be distinguished by the violet end being separated into three
portions, with broad dark intervals between, the last of tho violet
bands, widely separated from tho others, being much refracted
towards the invisible portion of the spectrum ; the spectra of copper,
boracic acid, and baryta to have a somewhat general resemblance,
but characterised by numerous dark lines; and the flames of gold,
copper, silver, and zinc, produced by deflagration in the voltaic
circuit, to be characterised by peculiar definite rays, silver giving
two green rays of different refrangibility, and zinc one red and
three blue rays, besides several more of other colours. These latter
investigations were carried on b}r Talbot at the laboratory of the
Royal Institution in 1834, and were published in the Philosophical
Magazine in 1836 (Third Series, Vol. IX. p. 3).
In 1835 Professor Wheatstone read a paper before the British
Association, On the Prismatic Decomposition of the Electric , Voltaic ,
and Electro-magnetic Sparks, on which occasion a diagram was
exhibited of the bright lines of the spectrum, of the magneto¬
electric spark taken from different melted metals, and observed
with a prismatic telescope similar in arrangement to that employed
by Fraunhofer, wherein it was recorded that Mercury presented
two orange, one green, two bluish-green, one very bright purple,
undone violet, rays; Lead — two green of different refrangibility,
one bluish-green, one purple, and one very bright violet ; Bismuth
=one very faint yellowish-green, three green, one faint, and one
bright blue, one faint, and one very faint violet; Tin— one orange,
two yellowish-green, two bright bluish -green, one blue, and one
bright purple ; Zinc — one red, two very faint yellowish-green, two
bluish-green, and one blue; Cadmium— one faint red, one green,
and two blue rays.
Professor Wheatstone observes: — “These differences are so
obvious that any one metal may instantly be distinguished from
the others by the appearance of its spark (spectra) ; and we have
here a mode of discriminating metallic bodies more realty even than a
chemical examination , and ivhich may be hereafter employed for useful
purposes .”
In the same paper he expresses his opinion that the bright lines
of the electric spectrum are due to the nature of the substance
between which the spark is produced.
(To be continued .)
INSTANTANEOUS COLLODION WITH IODIDE OP IRON
By M. Eugene Saheee.
In our contemporary, La Revue Photographiquc, a letter from the
above-named gentleman appears in substance as follows: —
“ I have found the means of obtaining an instantaneous collodion
in employing the iodide of iron in a nascent state prepared in the
colic dion itself. If the method has never before been given, you
can, if you think proper, make it public. The results are always
certain, and superior to those from the employment of iodide of
iron of commerce, the instability of which is one cause of continual
failures.
“ I bruise, in a porcelain mortar, to a very fine powder, protosul¬
phate of iron, of which the formula is Fe 0, S03 + 7 HO, and of
which the equivalent with reference to hydrogen is 139.
“In the same manner I reduce to a powder iodide of barium;
formula Ba I, equivalent 195.
“Mixing then equivalents of these tried salts, or 139 grains of
pure neutral protosulphate of iron with 195 grains of iodide of
barium in a convenient quantity of ether and alcohol, double
decomposition does not delay taking place, the iodide of iron dis¬
solved, and the sulphate of barytes completely insoluble, is precipi¬
tated.
“After having filtered this sensitising liquor I add the requisite
quantity of pyroxyline, and the collodion is ready for use.
“The rule which guides me in judging tho proper quantity of
iodide is the following: — The quantity of sulphate of iron above
indicated aives 154 grains of iodide of iron.
“Collodion, with bromide and iodide of iron, is prepared in the
same way, taking bromide of barium only one-fourth the quantity
of the iodide employed — thirty-six grains to thirty-four grains of
protosulphate of iron.
“ It is important that quantities should be weighed exactly, and
the equivalents caretully observed. If the sulphate be in excess, tho
sensitising liquor is poor in quality ; if on the other hand there is too
much iodide, nitrate of barytes is formed in the silver bath— a salt
but littie soluble, remaining partly in the collodion, forming a dis¬
agreeable spottiness, and even a marked crystallisation if the
quantity be considerable.”
Is it not rather late in tho day to introduce this novelty ? Wo
fancy that Mr. Machonochie used it some eight or nine years ago.
One other question we would ask also — How does the silver bath
behave after the visits of numerous plates coated with this collo¬
dion ? _ _
ACCIDENTS WHICH OCCUR WHEN THE GREATEST
SENSITIVENESS IS DESIRED.*
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
A SILVER bath strictly neutral gives a general fog at the time of
development. It is positively necessary to acidulate the bath,
hut to the least degree, in order to obtain the greatest sensitive¬
ness. Nitrate of silver dissolved and crystallised anew will imme¬
diately produce the proper bath ; hut the crystallised nitrate
which is sold in Paris is seldom of this kind. We must then,
when we have dissolved and saturated it with iodide, add to it a
very small portion of carbonate of soda, and a I ter waids rendei it
acid l>y one or two drops of nitric acid to each litre, or rather
more if acetic acid be employed.
Having resolved to acidulate with nitric acid only, to avoid the
formation of acetate of silver, which sometimes becomes so incon¬
venient, I was much astonished to find again this acetate of silver
which had hindered me from working the whole day. After
preparing a new hath, first neutralised with carbonate of soda and
acidulated with nitric acid, I poured it into my gutta-percha dish,
withouthavingrinsed itatthe bottom. I was surprised, 011 examining
the film of the sensitive collodion, to see it covered with a number
of glistening points, which continued in spite of the agitation of
the plate in the bath; and these points formed for a number of
days upon the negative. The negative was pierced with them,
and, on examining it through the magnifying glass, I discovered
that each white point was formed by a small crystal implanted in
the film of the collodion. I attributed this result to the collodion,
hut on making use of another collodion the effect was the same.
The effect must then proceed from the hath, and on examining my
dish I found it covered with small microscopic crystals, which
detached themselves on the agitation ot the bath, and planted
themselves immovably in the still soft film of the collodiou. A
fresh cleansing of the bath diminished the quantity, but did not
make them entirely disappear. I then thought of the acetate
of lead, which dissolves the acetate ot silver. A slight addition
of this salt made these crystals disappear as if by enchantment.
They arose from a weak portion of the preceding bath, acidulated
by the acetic acid, which had undergone a reaction in the presence
of a new bath free from acetic acid, which undoubtedly possesses
to a slight degree the property of dissolving the acetate of silver
in the same manner as the acetate of lead.
The next day I found an impediment no less extraordinary. I
tried a new bath with my small apparatus, with which I recog¬
nised an extreme sensitiveness. The proofs were perfectly clear,
with the backgrounds very intense, while in using the same bath,
the same collodion, and the same developer, the proofs for the
stereoscope were always weak and foggy. This fog was formed
by some parallel and distorted streaks, which I could not attiibute
to negligence in the cleansing of the plates, which had been
finished in every way with the greatest care.
I should add that, for six weeks, this difference between my
small apparatus and that for the stereoscope had constantly pre¬
sented itself, so that I was forced to conclude that the framework
of this apparatus possessed an injurious influence so far was I
from imagining the real cause.
Having already, and with success, made use of gutta-percha
dishes with the same apparatus, and the new dish that I employed
having been, as an additional precaution, varnished with gum-lac,
I had no uneasiness on that score. Howevei-, all my failmes ,
happened from this dish.
Gutta-percha alone is a had material with which to make the
dishes. It naturally contains a great deal of tannin, and nothing
is so bad for the silver baths as a reducing agent, in however small
a portion. We very well know that new dishes of this kind. aie
worth nothing from the commencement ; but their nature is of
* From La Lumiere.
October 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
348
such a kind, that their use is for ever impracticable. Of this sort
is the one of which I made use in the last experiment : its varnish
seemed to have disappeared. The bath remained clear, but the
impressions only appeared with reluctance where I made use of it.
In order to decide the question I made a last trial, taking well
into consideration that, for my small apparatus, the hath was in a
china disli, whilst for the binocular apparatus the same bath was
poured into a gutta-percha dish. With a new bath, slightly
acidulated with nitric acid, my small apparatus gave me, as usual,
some superb proofs. The first proof for the stereoscope was
passable, but with a faintly-marked background. The following
proofs were more and more weak and foggjr. I then changed
the bath in my dish by pouring into it from that of the gutta¬
percha dish ; and I then had also with my small apparatus a foggy
proof.
By this decisive trial I have at last discovered that the repeated
failures which I attributed so much to the collodion, to the
cleansing of the plates, and to the apparatus, were traced to a
certainty to the dish. After that, I decided to exclude for ever the
use of gutta-percha dishes for the silver bath.
|U Artist’s fetters to a goumj pjotajra)}|tr.
GIST LAUD SCAPE.
Subordination — Atmospherical Effect Not the Sole Origin
Thereof — On Certain Errors more Particularly
Prevalent Among our Optical Writers — Seeing versus
Observing — Fidelity of Definition: its Use and its
Abuse — On White and Black as Elements in Securing
Subordination.
“ The great object of composition being always to secure unity, that is to make of many
things one whole, the first mode in which this can be effected is by determining that one
feature shall be more important than all the rest, and that the others shall group with it
in subordinate positions.” — Buskin.
“ Pictures are not to be judged by the strict laws of ontics : they are altogether conven¬
tional. In nature we cannot look at the distance and the foreground without impercep¬
tibly altering the focus ol the eye, neither can weflook at two portions of a picture at the
same moment, with attention, without altering the direction of the eye. It will therefore
be sufficient if our studies give the general appearance. "—O. Barnard,
My Dear Fellow-Student,
I have so far shown that, like painting and other
kindred arts, photography derives its highest value rather from an
intellectual than a mechanical process, and, in continuing our
studies, I hope to impress this still more forcibly upon your mind.'*
In my last the subject of aerial perspective was partially dis¬
cussed and explained ; and, as the purpose of these letters will not
permit me to give to this or any one branch of our study the atten¬
tion its importance might otherwise demand, we may as well pro¬
ceed to consider our next great element of pictorial effect, viz.,
Subordination.
Speaking of productions deficient in the appearance of air, I said,
as you may remember, that each discordant part seemed to battle
“ for superiority over the rest,” and, in other words, that the gra¬
dation or subordination derived from atmospherical effect was
entirely absent ; but there are other reasons why this subordination
is of importance to pictorial truth and beauty, which reasons we
will now take into our consideration.
In the first place, to render our ideas clear and definite we must
endeavour to clear away certain very prevalent errors which are
just now becoming a source of some little bewilderment and con¬
fusion.
It is very common with those who are ignorant of the principles
of pictorial art, and still more common with those who argue solely
from their knowledge of optical science , to suppose that it is the pro¬
vince of the picture-maker to give such a representation of the
images of nature as a single glance maj’ originate upon the retina
of the eye. Mr. Sutton, in commenting upon some remarks of my
own, recently fell into the same error, and argued, because when
* As if to strengthen my hands in fighting the buttle of landscape photography against
those who would reduce this art to a mere question ofprocess and apparatus, Mr. Robin¬
son, of Leamington, has just forwarded to me one of the most exquisite specimens of pure
landscape ait that ever gladdened an artist’s eye: and Mr. Mudd, of Manchester, has also
sent me half-a-dozen of his rarely. equalled productions Mr. Robinson's picture lEarly
Sp’ iri'i ) mlly illustrates how the mind may be affected by the sentiment and beauty ol a
tru'hlul picture, in the same way as it is affected by th descriptive piece of a real poet;
and Mr. M udd’s pictures will uo far to illustrate the subject of my last letter My best
thanks are due to them both, and I wish 1 could hope that my pen might do halt such
good service in the cause of art-photography as their beautiful pictures must be effecting.
However, I may not, perhaps, prove an unworthy labourer; and, after all, the pen has
more than once done good service in aiding both art and artists.
the eye was directed towards the distance the foreground could
not be seen with the same degree of distinctness, that therefore in
all landscape pictures distances ought to be “ sharp" or well
defined, and foregrounds “fuzzy” or without definition. Consider¬
ing the subject from an optical stand point, and speaking of the eye
as a mere lens for depicting mechanically the images without upon
the retina within, Mr. Sutton may possibly have been right; but this
gentleman, in his eagerness to get out of a certain corner, overlooked
the fact that the eye is not like a mere lens and camera, in itself the
absolute and only source of vision, and thus quite ignored the
existence of that vitally important visual agent, the mind,* for¬
getting also aerial perspective, and that the human eye does in the
most minute fraction of a minute adjust itself instinctively to every
plane of the view before it. Now, if Mr. Sutton, and those who
support his peculiar views, will but give this matter a little more
earnest attention, they must surely see their grave and mischievous
error. I say grave and mischievous, because there are those who
look up to these scientific men with a kind of reverence and awe
as oracular beings whom it is sacrilege to doubt and presumption
to dispute with.
But there are certain facts which a little thought must make
patent to us all, and which show at once the mistaken character
of such very partial views — to which facts I shall now call your
attention.
Whatever the laws of optical science may prove in reference to
vision , it is quite certain (as you may easily discover) that in the
act of observing the nfind is at any given instant of time absolutely
and simply occupied and affected entirely by the one definite
feeling impressed upon it by the combined effect of many objects as
one whole. The several parts in detail, and even the great
masses, do not (although some assert of the latter that they do)
affect the mind with any definite idea; for immediately the atten¬
tion is directed to any single part of a scene, or to any one particular
object therein, instantly the specific effect of the whole has passed
away. Suppose, for instance, the object which attracts the atten¬
tion is a tree, your observation then becomes exclusively occupied,
not with the trunk, branches, or leaves, as parts, but with that tree
as a whole , separate both from the landscape around it and the
minor details which form its component parts. This tree thus
becomes to the mind a complete thing in itself. But upon the obser¬
vation reverting back to the general scene it falls immediately into
its place as a part only : its details are no longer recognised, and
the tree, producing no special individual effect upon the mind, merges
into the general effect characterising the complete landscape. To
sum up : it is impossible to contemplate objects collectively and
separately at the same instant of time, although, owing to the
inconceivable rapidity with which the mind is successively in¬
fluenced in the process of observing, an unthinking person might
easily imagine otherwise. I hope these facts are sufficient to show
the folly of endeavouring to depict upon the photographer’s glass
or the painter’s canvas such an image as the eye is said to receive
in a single glance, inasmuch as we should by so doing represent an
almost purely mental as a purely mechanical operation, and there
“ would be no truth in us.”
But this argument of mine does not tend to show that minute¬
ness of detail, or exactness in the delineation of form, or precision
of imitation of any kind, is ineffective and useless ; because such
details and such completeness combine to produce the general
effect, and because the eye varies its point of attention while the
picture is before it, just as it would were the real scene actually there.
Your object being to reproduce not only the scene as it exists, but its
actual effect as influencing the spectator’s mind, the minutest detail
has its share in jTour purpose. Still, although such a share must by
no means be ignored, it must, of course, be subservient and subordi¬
nate , lest the spectator’s attention should become bewildered by a
confused and jostling crowd of conflicting effects, forbidding the
eye a single resting place, and he should turn away from your
work bewildered and displeased. To prevent any such result
arising from truthfulness of imitation and perfection of detail, the
great painters of the past originated the law I am endeavouring
to establish in your esteem under the title of subordination .
The importance of aerial effect, as influencing subordination, I
have already pointed out : we have now therefore to consider the
same in reference to light and shade, to proportion , to symmetry ,
and to harmony.
First, then, in reference to light and shade, Fresnoy tells us—
“ Fail- in the front, in all the blaze of light.
The hero of your piece should meet the sight” —
alluding to that prominence which the pale and more luminoug
• See my remarks on seeiug pictorially iu a former letter,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1801
344
tones have when associated with the more sombre and less luminous.
He again urges the importance of this fact, by adding —
“Learn hence to paint the parts that meet the view,
In spheric forms of bright and equal hue :
While from the light receding, or the eye,
The sinking outlines take a fainter dye.
Lost and confused, progressively they fade,
Not fall precipitate from light to shade."
And he exhibits its importance in reference to gradation or subor¬
dination, when he adds—
“ Permit not two conspicuous lights to shine
With rival radiance in the same design ;
But yield to one alone the power to blaze,
And spread the extensive vigour of its rays.
There, where the noblest figures are displayed,
Thence gild the distant parts, and lessening fade ;
As fade the beams which Phoebus from the east,
Flings vivid forth to light the distant west :
Gradual those vivid beams forget to shine.
So gradual let thy pictured lights decline."
You will easily perceive that such directions were intended to
apply more particular to “ historic ” or figure painting ; but the
principle, although variously applied, is of equal value in every
branch of art. The importance of white, when aided by sombre
tones, in giving prominence to anything which ought to advance
before surrounding objects, and so catch the spectator’s eye more
readily, is again enforced by the poet in the following lines : —
“White, when it shines with unstained lustre near,
| May bear an object buck or bring it near :
Aided by black it to the front aspires,
That aid withdrawn, it distantly retires.”
And to show how pure black in giving white, by contrast, to
lighter tones also gives them prominence in the same degree, lie
continues : —
“But black, unmixed, of darkest midnight hue,
Still calls each object nearer to the view.”
If you have, as I certainly think you ought to have, a copy of
Mr. Robinson’s charming little photograph, Early Sprint 7, you may
find in it a very capital illustration of the value white has in
guiding the spectator’s eye into the picture, and in securing sub¬
ordination. On the pebbly strand of a placid stream stands a girl,
with her water jug : her turned-up dress reveals its white lining,
which is rendered more prominent by forcible contrast with a dark
petticoat ; and this piece of white, echoed delicately in the water
below, is carried away softly towards the front. Now, when this is
concealed, instantly all the little touches of white in the water and
between the boughs of the overhanging trees become converted
into points of attraction, each one equal to its neighbour; and so
subordination meets with an untimely end. Uncover again this
morsel of contrasted white, and you will at once see how valuable
it is — how it throws back the distance; and, keeping each respec¬
tive part subservient, actually makes the great charm of the pic¬
ture. It was with this view, undoubtedly, that Mr. Robinson
arranged and posed this particular model.
But though white contrasted with black is so useful a servant,
you must watch it zealously and hoard it with a miser’s care, as
will be shown when our studies are directed to that of “Tone.”
But I must now conclude, reserving the further treatment of this
matter for the next communication of yours, very faithfully,
ALFRED II. WALL.
- — -
<$£ Ijilnt runs,
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS AT MANCHESTER IN
CONNEXION WITH THE MEETING OF THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
BY OUR EYE-WITNESS AT MANCHESTER.
We will now proceed to make a few remarks more in detail than
our former notice permitted; and in doing so shall endeavour to
avoid as much as possible reiteration of what we have said before.
Bydal Church and Nctbscar , Wordsworth's Bouse , Bridge House,
Ambleside , &c., by Mr. Faulkner. This gentleman has only re¬
cently taken up photography, and has much to learn, especially in
the management of his lenses.
Mr. Kershaw’s Lincoln Cathedral is very clear and free from dis¬
tortion. His Manchester Infirmary and Dunham Mill will not com¬
pare with other views of the same subjects in the room, the shades
being too dark and the water too chalky.
Mr. Buxton’s Egyptian views are very beautiful, particularly his
Great Court of Medineet Aboo, and the Memnonium at Thebes, the
Temple of Esculapius , and other views at Philoe, the “ Tivoli of
Bgypt,” as Mr. Milnes so poetically styles it. The Two Memnom
are worthy of a larger representation, but the one given here is
very good. The Nile Boat is the worst of the series. The Cata¬
racts of the Nile is an exceeding fine picture : the huge blocks of
stone scattered about by the hand of Nature seem to vie with the
havoc caused by time in the ruined temples. The pictorial inscrip¬
tions in some of the views are very well brought out, and afford
ample scope for the student of such hieroglyphics. Thebes. — The
fallen greatness of the city of the sun is well portrayed in several
of the views. The Pylon at Carnac is a noble relic of Egyptian
architecture. Since our last we regret to have been undeceived
with regard to one of Mr. Buxton’s pictures, which we mentioned
as having a fine effect of streaming suubeams. This we find is
owing to an accidental access of light to the negative, which has
been made so good a use of by the printer that we could almost
mistake the picture for one of Mr. Bartlett’s drawings.
There is here the Express Boat (Taupenot), by Mr. Kibble — an
extraordinary instantaneous picture.
To speak in detail of Mr. Mudd’s pictures is a hopeless task,
their excellence is so uniform and their beauties so innumerable.
We must, however, select his Bridge at Dunlceld, and other views
in that neighbourhood, as particularly worthy of notice. It must
be a very Eden for photographers : all seems so placid that a
failure would hardly disturb the photographic equanimity. Esk-
dale, from Birker Fell. — This is a large panoramic picture taken at
two operations from one centre : the difficulties are well overcome,
the printing is nicely managed, and the joining is scarcely visible.
Valley of the Tay. — Some natural clouds in this and one or two
others of Mr. Mudd’s deserves more than a passing notice. The
effect produced is not very pleasing, although extremely natural.
We believe the negatives were taken with a £-in. stop and thirty
seconds’ exposure. As soon as any cloud-marking is perceived
the development is stopped, and that of the foreground, which is
under-exposed, is pushed on rapidly with warm water; and when it
has reached the same tone as the clouds both are intensified
together. Cloud pictures (pur et simple) obtained in this way
would be valuable to artists who have frequently difficulty in
transferring to canvas the fleeting forms of the cloudy regions. A
Study from Nature — a perfect background for a pic-nic. A pre-
Raphaelite would revel in a bit like this, but his minutest pen-
cillings of leaf and spray cannot rival the perfect mirror of nature
here produced. Borrowdale. — The atmospheric effect in this pic¬
ture is, we think, very tine indeed. The Silent Pool — a little too
chalky, but replete with indescribable beauties. The Screes, Wast-
water. — The water in this is very black, but is not unsuited to the
solemnity of the scene, over which a Stygian darkness often broods.
Bowclon Church. — This fine picture will always call up regrets that
the original edifice has disappeared before the “ improvements” of
the restorer.
H. Miller’s Glodaeth , Tabley Old Hall, Llangollen Bridge, and
Rostrevor Bridge , are evidently the work of a young photographer,
whose works are severely tested by the hanging committee placing
them so near their splendid neighbours, Mr. Mudd’s pictures.
They have many good points, which should encourage the artist
to persevere in the path which he has begun to tread. The last is
really a very good picture, and does the artist credit.
Llandajf Cathedral. — Major Ashton has successfully contended
with some difficulties of situation, and has produced a pleasing
picture.
Chepstovi Castle. — This picture has a very artistic foreground,
and, together with all Mr. Sidebotham’s pictures, is worthy of all
admiration. It is of large size, 22 inches by 14, is a pleasing scene,
and is well worked out. Mr. Sidebotham is one of the most careful
and successful operators we know : to a thorough knowledge of
chemistry as regards photography, and the painstaking perseve¬
rance of an enthusiast, he unites the skill of an experienced adept,
and there is scarcely any department of photography, not to name
other sciences, in which lie has not made considerable progress. His
is one of those spirits we would not like to miss from the circle of
our friends, and we hope his career in the scientific world may be
as long as it has been successful. In this place, though out of
order, we would refer to one of the screens in which are some
copies of Mr. Nasmyth’s etchings by Mr. Sidebotham. As etchings
they have extraordinary merits, but as photographic reproductions
they have almost microscopic beauties. Roclcs at Holyhead. — This
picture, and another of Contorted Strata in the same locality, by
Mr. Sidebotham, are full of interest to the geologist. In Mr. Side*
botham’s South Stack Lighthouse there is a deficiency of atmosphere.
Mr. Wai'dley has managed to make a fine picture of a most in¬
congruous building, Manchester Infirmary , in which, however, the
bronze statue is much too dark.
October 1, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
3 To
Kenilworth , and Ancient House at Warwick , by W. M. Rae. — This
gentleman is, Ave understand, but a novice in the art: his progress
must, avc consider, be deemed very satisfactory. We would, Iioav-
ever, advise him to forbear exhibiting his Pitville Spa any more : the
Avhites, in some cases, require softening. The Town Hall atMaestricht
is an exception, Avhieli Ave like very much. We do not admire his
choice of position in Guy's Cliff, Avhich, however, Ave presume Avas
forced upon him, and the subject is not one of those which Ave
Avould have chosen at the risk of artistic failure. The cognisance
of the “bear and ragged staff,” on the front of the old house, has
a very curious stereoscopic effect, and seems to be quite an after¬
thought of the artist.
A. Neild. — From the early connexion of this artist Avith photo¬
graphy Ave expected more from him : his Coltsfoot Leaves , however,
makes a beautiful bit of foreground.
High Tor, Derbyshire. — Mr. Mann has evidently reached a high
degree of perfection before he modified his manipulation. Of his
process in collodio-abumen this is a satisfactory specimen, and Ave
Avould advise him to adhere to the original process. This is
an excellent example of his style, as is also a Schooner on the Sands,
Avhich has been mistaken for an instantaneous picture on a dry plate.
Mr. Clarke’s pictures are all admirably printed, but some are
very deficient in arrangement : a little more attention to this
Avould obviate the bad effects sometimes perceptible of distortion
by the lens and introduction of gables. One of his pictures is a
fine study for the architectural student — the true SAvell and pro¬
portion of the columns being apparent on measurement. The “Auld
Toon” is vividly brought under our notice in these fine pictures, and
one can realise Scott’s description of an Edinburgh Avynd at once : —
“The passage, in Avhich they stood, had a AvindoAv to the close,
which admitted a little light in the daytime and a villanous com¬
pound of smells at all times.” Some ghosts of horses and passen¬
gers in the Grassmarket have by no means a pleasing effect.
Cardinal Beaton's House. We consider this one of Mr. Clarke’s best.
Mr. Clarke rather overdoes the introduction of artificial skies ; in
one, hoAvever, that of Princes Street, Edinburgh, he has produced
such a pleasing effect that Ave are inclined to forgive him the use
of the unphotographic brush.
Patterdale Churchyard (Mr. Wardlev) is a piece of study Avhich
Avould delight Mr. Harding Avith its trees, and might almost in¬
spire a Gray Avith another elegy.
Millbeck, Langdale, by A. F. Smith. — We do not at all admire
this picture and so pass on, first naming his View on the Ir well. We
Avould hardly expect such a beautiful scene on such a river. It is
a very choice photograph.
Free Trade Hall , Manchsiecr, by G . Wardley. — A Avell con¬
trived vieAv of a fine building, but one Avhich is Amry difficult to
manage.
Eagle Crags, Borrowclale, by G. Wardley. — In this a fine
aerial effect is giAren, which shows great care in the manipulation.
The Bowder Stone, by G. Wardley. — A small shrub on the
summit of this geological monster has a singular effect, like smoke.
In this, as in many others, the staj’-at-home travreller may find
“ sermons in stones.”
Tavo of Mr. Fenton’s fruit pictures Avhich are here are better
than his landscapes, and are good Avitncsses in favour of the party
Avhich regards photography as a fine art — the marks of a master
are so strongly impressed thereon. — We are sorely tempted to beg
the “ loan of a bite” of Mr. F.’s apples.
We do not think the Lady of Shalolt has been done justice to in
Mr. Robinson’s picture. We do not mean to be uncomplimentary to
the model, Avho seems also to have figured as Elaine with the Shield
of Sir Launcelot, but she is of too earthly a mould to have disposed
of herself in any such style : the boldness of her Avriting on the
boat’s proAv is sufficient proof of this. No maiden distraught Avith
such feelings could have executed such an inscription. Mr.
Robinson gives us a good photograph, but not a good poetical
conception of the poet’s genius. The background strikes us as
rather too heavy.
Holiday Rambles, by Mr. Cottam, and various stereographs by
Mr. Undenvood. — Mr. Cottam’s frame and those of Mr. Underwood
arc hung respectively too high and too Ioav. Those of the former
are not bad specimens of the liot-Avater process, and exhibit great
variety of subject; and Mr. Undenvood’s vieAvs are exceedingly
Avell chosen and uniformly printed. We Avould, however, recom¬
mend these gentlemen to try their skill with larger cameras.
We shall never treat the oxymel process Avith favouritism, having
had many failures with it ourselves ; but it is here shown that good
results may be obtained with it, as Mr. Mann certainly proves. The
Old Mill , near Dunham , is a very artistic study.
With all due respect to Mr. Petschler’s perseverance, Ave are
unable to declare ourselves satisfied with his process. The shades
in many of his pictures are often much too intense, and an uniform
grey seems to spread itself over them, completely obliterating the
high lights. The pictures of Hacldon and Chatsworth are the best.
Matlock High Tor also competes with Mr. Mann’s vieAv of the same
subject by a different process. We think the process Avell suited
to copying, of which he exhibits some good specimens. Knowing
Mr. Pet.schler well, avc cannot help stating our strong faith in his
capabilities as Avell fitted for success in any branch of photography
to which he may apply himself.
We should have been glad to have seen more of Mr. Consterdine’s
productions. His Conway Castle is a very good picture. We hope
he has not permanently taken to Hill Norris’s plates in preference
to preparing his own.
Mr. Hebert avc knoAV to be a co-Avorker Avith Mr. Parry, and
we should have preferred some of his transparencies to those vieAvs
ot Dovedale, St. Etienne , &c., Avhich do not do justice to this very
convenient process.
Old Church, St. Brelade's, Jersey. — One of the Avorst vieAvs Mr.
Sutton could have chosen to show off his new lens. Ahvays con*
sidering photography to give true perspective, Ave cannot agree
with a theory Avhich seems to our apprehension to give curved
in place of right lines. We havre here a church which Ave may
represent by a straight line, and Ave are not aware of any mode
of placing a straight line so that all its component points shall be
equidistant from one point, i. e., the point of sight ; yet it seems
impossible to view this print rightly Avithout curving it and placing
the eye in the centre — indeed we understood Mr. Ross’s assistant to
admit this, in. reply to the Astronomer Royal’s question in the
sectional meeting. If this be so, pictures so constructed must be,
for all practical purposes, useless. It is possible to have too much
included in the field of view, as Avith other good things. We are
not of that class Avhich holds the painter of the “ Bolt in Tun ” right
in depicting both ends of that famous butt on the signboard. Mr.
Sutton’s camera, as made by Mr. Ross, is a very ingenious affair ;
but Ave fear it offers difficulties Avhich Avill prevent its general
adoption.
Conway Castle, &c. — These pictures Ave remember seeing some
} eais ago, and regret Mr. Compton does not exhibit more recent
ones.
West Door, Kirkstall Abbey (Mr. Sisson’s process), and Loch
Ranza (tannin process), by Mr. Annan.— As illustrations of new
proce. ses we are glad to see these pictures, but they ser\Te only to
heighten our appreciation of the old ones. There is a Avaut of
sunshine in the latter Avhich the clouds from a second negative do
not diminish. Elaine Gazing on the Shield of Sir Launcelot. — This
picture is by no means so ambitious as usual. It is to be admired
ior its simplicity ot treatment and the pleasing nature of the compo¬
sition, though Ave think Ave recognise the Lady of Shcilott again.
Chirk Castle , I tew of Llangollen, &c. — Mr. Alfieri’s camera cam-
pestra has. been employed Avith advantage by Mr. Albin, who uses
Avet collodion and an iron developer. The Valle Crucis Abbey is a
very good specimen.
'Kirkstall Abbey, Lowood, Windermere, Kirkstall Pass, and Windsor
Castle, by R. Fenton. — We regret to say anything disparaging of
this, veteran’s productions, but really a very different feeling is
excited by these pictures to that Avhich Ave should Avish. Every
artist, should exhibit his best ; but these are only valuable as
shoAving the attainments of Mr. Fenton some time since, and as
such are links in the photographic chain. Having been exhibited
over and over again they have become Aveather-beaten and grimy,
and present altogether a dispiriting appearance.
Aberfoyle (Avet collodion), by Mr. Annan.— Common consent seems
to have invested this picture Avith the blue ribbon of merit in this
Exhibition. The sky is printed from a second negative, and is Avell
put in and in harmony Avith the rest of the view, Avhich has a very
good distance, both middle and extreme, but the foreground is
rather deficient in conspicuous objects. We must leave the readers
of Rob Roy, Avhich category includes all our oavii, to people the fertile
plain Avith the characters of the romance, and to those with Avliom
the affray at the Change House is familiar. This Avill be no diffi¬
cult task, especially aided by one of G. Cruicksbank’s pictures of the
interior, Avhich one may almost suppose to be that of them both in
the centre of the vieAv ; at all events, if they do not recognise it,
Ave are sure Baillie Nicol Jarvie, in the saut market o’ GlasgoAv, or
AndreAv Fairservice Avould.
Mr. Piper’s Old Curiosity Shop is indeed a medley and a beautiful
picture too. There are, in the front of an old shop, kept by one
Fenton, at Bury St. Edmunds, “suits of mail standing like ghosts
340
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1801
here and there, fantastic carvings brought from monkish cloisters,
rusted weapons of various kinds, distorted figures in wood and
china, and iron and ivory, tapestry and strange furniture that
might have been designed in dreams.” The artist might surely
have improvised a Little Nell and her old Grandfather, to make the
picture a worthy illustration of Dickens.
Monument at Mansfield , View at Brisling ton , &c., and Bust of
Tennyson. — Mr. Tyley’s sculptural subjects are exceedingly fine :
no doubt he possesses some unusual advantages in this branch.
With one or two exceptions, the instantaneous pictures by
Smyth and Blanchard look too much like moonlight; but they are
admirable specimens of chiaroscuro , as exhibited in the broad
firmament above our heads.
Bust of Professor Sedgwiclc, by W. Jeffrey. — This is a very fine
photograph, and well exhibits the utility of the art to the sculptor.
St. Leonard's and Hastings, by Arthur Neild. — This gentleman is,
we believe, connected with the Manchester Photographic Society,
lie has apparently not done much in photography lately, and so
exhibits his old pictures. Whoever named these two pictures has
omitted a very meaning preposition from the title. We cannot see
how three strips of house, promenade, and shingle can represent St.
Leonard’s ; and a timber yard is no more Hastings than the Portico
is Manchester — and there is not much to admire in them, photo¬
graphically speaking.
Two river scenes by Mr. Wilson, with Dallmeyer’s new lens, are
to be specially commended for pictoi'ial as well as photographic
excellence. The large angle they embrace is remarkable. They
deserve a little more careful printing.
On the Thames at Maidenhead. — Two views of very simple sub¬
jects, by Mr. Heath, which were greatly admired. It were well that
photographers generally should follow the example of Mr. Heath,
and not “let vaulting ambition overleap itself” in the choice of
subjects.
The Glaciers , with a Party Ascending , is rather a poor specimen of
Messrs. Bisson’s skill. The figures too much resemble the ombres
diaboliques which our neighbours are so fond of.
Chapter House, Furness, and Views on the Duddon, are specimens,
by Mr. Hooper, of the turpentine waxed-paper process. They are
somewhat deficient in details, and have chalky lights, which are not
agreeable. Mr. Sheard also exhibits Furness Abbey, by the same
process.
Dalhousie Castle , by Mr. Kinnear. — This subject is vignetted in
printing — a style we do not generally admire.'*
Old Bee Hives, Ludlow, by Mr. Sidebotham. — This we deem the
best picture among those from waxed-paper negatives : it is so
clear and bright that we at first assigned it to wet collodion.
T intern Abbey , and Gateway of Raglan Castle, by Mr. Sidebotham.—-
Oft-repeated subjects, well treated.
Raglan Castle, by Mr. Sidebotham. — A very neat picture, with
good perspective.
Near here is a landscape, very fairly coloured, by Mr. Briggs,
who, we hope, will not neglect this branch of art, though we are
not inclined to commend the spoiling of good photographs for the
purpose. There are many bad ones which would be kept out of
sight it the art were a littie more practised.
Calotypes, by Mr. Buckle. — These are old landscapes which find
many admirers, who now have to lament that the artist’s hand is
cold.
Insanity. — These are highly interesting examples of the great
utility of photography to the psychological student, and exhibit in
a striking manner the melancholy effects of the most terrible
calamity which flesh is heir to. It could hardly be expected that
such subjects would give good pictures : these are, however, very
fair, and might well be studied with good effect with some photo¬
graphic illustrations of a paper On the Encephalon of Mammalia,
read in one of the sections.
Portraits on ivory and in oil. — Of the large group of officers so
deservedly admired we have before spoken. Mr. Brothers’ great
success in portrait-photography is remarkable in many respects,
and his fine photographs are exceedingly good; but he will excuse
us for giving a word of advice to the artists employed as well as to
himself. We do not use our own words, and of course the remarks
apply to all the artists in this department: at the same time we
are bound to say we have seldom if ever seen these ivory pictures
surpassed : — “ The success of a portrait depends upon the sitter as
well as the painter, and may be spoiled by the bad taste of the one
or the other. Excellence in portraiture consists in placing every
feature in its proper place, in correctness of modelling, injudicious
* We differ emphatically from cur collaborate ur upon this point— except for stereo¬
graphic purposes.— Ed. 1
arrangement of light and shade suited to the complexion, in taste¬
ful attire, and unaffected and simple attitude. No defect is more
striking than a forced and affected attitude. In every portrait the
countenance should constitute the picture : all accessories must bo
kept subordinate to the principal object.” Photographers are
generally great sinners in this last particular.
Messrs. Smith and Blanchard contribute some portraits enlarged
by the solar camera, which, had they been treated in a proper stylo
by the artist, might have shown the advantages of enlargement
to the fullest extent; but the}’- are coloured in a crude manner,
which is not pleasing.
Portrait of a Lady , by H. Hering. — A neat specimen, resembling
a litho-tint print.
Proffeser Owen (sic). — One of Maull and Polyblank’s very effec¬
tive pictures. The orthography of the label made this conspicuous.
The Earl of Derby and Lord Brougham, by Mayall. — So much has
been said in praise of these excellent portraits that we would not
add to it. We wish we could say the same of the very bilious-
looking album Portraits of the Royal Family, by the same artist.
Mr. Hering’s album portraits are excellent; but we must except
one, in which the most prominent feature is the interior of - a
gentleman’s hat.
Mr. Eastham’s large portrait of F. Crossley , Esq., was admired,
but it is not to our taste.
Among the portraits is a positive, on glass, of Mr. Nasmyth, by
Mr. Sidebotham. We should not omit to mention a very good
hand, from nature, serving as an index or pointer round the room —
a “ notion” we recommend for use at other Exhibitions.
Messrs. Caldesi have three portraits of actors — Fechter, Gassier,
and Webster. They arc very good, and the costumes are not un¬
necessarily obtrusive, except in one case, where parti-coloured hose
has caused a difficulty. The aqua-tinted ground on which they
are mounted is very neat and appropriate.
Two portraits of the Right Hon. Mr. Moncreiff, by Holt and
McGlashan, we consider the best modern portraits in the room ; and
we regret that the style does not receive more encouragement
from the public.
The early calotype portraits, by Hill and Adamson, are worthy
of all commendation. They are examples of what ought to be
done in portraiture. Subsequent progress in the art is not marked
by the same features of artistic excellence which characterises
these fine pictures.
The first screen is occupied by Colonel Sir H. James’s repro¬
ductions of maps and MS., all highly interesting and satisfactory
in their way.
One side of the second screen is covered by the copies of the
Liber Studiorum of Turner, of which — as well as of some of the car¬
toons of Raphael, to be found in this room — enough has already
been said.
On the other side are specimens of Pretsch’s process, and some
fine copies by Ponting, Spencer, Bedford, Thurston Thompson,
and A. Brothers, and one of Mr. Tyley’s mural monuments, which
is a very good example.
Mr. Hering occupies the whole of the third screen with copies of
engravings — all very fine, especially the pictures of the Cumozan
Sybil and the Mater Amabilis of S. Ferrato, and Wilkie’s well-
known Blind Fiddler. There is also a curious picture of a silver
cradle, by Mr. Sharpe.
The fourth screen contains some more of Mr. Tyley’s pictures,
and some specimens by Mr. F. H. Morgan, which we must allude
to as very choice. His Chagford Bridge and Rising Mist are
both good. One of Mr. Fenton’s best will be found here — it is
The Foot of Windermere. On the reverse side of this screen is a
curious collection of photographic wonders — examples of varied
developments, by Mr. Mercer; some enlargements of microscopic
obects, by Mr. J. R. Tracy ; some peculiar pictures from the exhi¬
bitions in Scotland in 1855-6-7 ; and a large number of Mr. Dancer’s
micro-photographs, which should, we think, have been shown under
the microscope upon the tables, on which there were two of his
instruments : and here, in like manner, might have been mounted
some pillar stereoscopes for transparencies, of which Mr. Parry was
the only exhibitor, but his specimens were very beautiful.
There were also on another table some very early collodion posi¬
tives, by Mr. Sidebotham; and that gentleman lent a Vue Generate
de Roma, on silver, by Daguerre himself, who, if he could but don
once more “ this mortal coil,” and visit such an Exhibition as this,
could not fail to be astonished at the prodigious progress made
since his day.
This Exhibition was to be a “ complete and trustworthy expo¬
nent of the present state of photographic art, and of the steps by
October 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
347
which it has obtained its now popular and important position.”
We think that this has hardly been realised in extent. We have
visited much larger collections. On running over the ground
again we find there have been less than 700 pictures shown,
counting a frame of portraits as one only, and that these are the
work of about 70 artists. This is a small number to represent
such a constituency, and we miss many names which ought to
have been represented. Cundall, Howlett,* Llewellyn, White,
Dolamore, Alinari, Melhuish, Frith, ^Raven, Lake Price, Rejlander,
Lyndon Smith, Sedgfield, Watkins, to say nothing of a legion of
others, are all absent ; and, when we consider that many of the
pictures shown are contributed by the owners, not the artists, we
are inclined the less to overlook the omission.
Some time ago we had the pleasure of inspecting the portfolio of
the Society, which contains many remarkable productions which
we should have been glad to have seen on these walls. We shall
have to contrive to ferret them out of their concealment, and tell
our readers of what they consist. How the Committee came to
forget this portfolio we cannot imagine : we are sure the Society
would have lent it. A little management would have prevented
much disappointment in another way. The placards, announcing the
Exhibition to “continue open until Saturday next,” remained visible
upon the Saturday, and, we believe, prevented many going on the
last day, under the belief that they had still a week in which to go.
The advertisements to the same effect Avere repeated on the last
day. These are all deviations from “that business-like precision for
which the men of Manchester are celebrated,” and for Avhich a
contemporary gives them credit.
We do not wish to undervalue the success which this Exhibition
has attained ; but, considering previous Exhibitions, Ave had larger
expectations from this than have been quite realised. At the
Manchester Society’s Exhibition in 1856 there Avere near seven
hundred pictures and about fifty exhibitors; at the Exhibition in
London this year, Avhich Ave visited, there Avere six hundred and
twenty-three pictures, and one hundred and seven exhibitors.
A contemporary, Ave see, finds an excuse for the absence of a
catalogue in the “temporary character and purpose of the Exhi¬
bition.” We think the purpose, as indicated by the circular of
May last, Avas far from temporary, Avhatever the character of the
Exhibition may have been; and Ave regret much that each visitor
Avas not enabled to take away Avith him a cheap and comprehen¬
sive hand-book of the valuable collection now dispersed.
The absence of any special allusion to photography in the Presi¬
dent’s opening address has been before alluded to in this Journal.
We must add, also, that in closing the business of the Manchester
meeting there were no thanks given to the gentlemen Avhose
arduous labours resulted in this Exhibition. We therefore take it
upon ourselves to thank them, both as members of the British
Association and as fellow- workers in photography. We are sure
that all the visitors Avhose appreciation is Avorth anything will
join with us in so doing.
OUR EYE-WITNESS AT ST. HELEN’S.
Your eye-Avitness, before quitting the subject of the Manchester
meeting, Avould fain be permitted to record the pleasure he expe¬
rienced on one of the excursions Avith other members of that peri¬
patetic bod y. He had a choice of coal mines, salt mines, chemical and
glass Avorks, and a visit to the Earl of Ellesmere, at Worsley.
Your eye-witness, having always an eye to the utile before the
dulce, at once declined the Earl’s proffered hospitality, and, as in
photographic duty bound, took an early train to St. Helen’s. At
least one hundred other members accompanied your eye-Avitness,
and their united testimony Avill no doubt be freely given, if called
upon, in support of your eye-witness’s evidence in favour of the
great courtesy displayed by the good people at St. Helen’s to their
visitors. Not content with providing the “feast of reason” in tlirotv-
ing open their large Avorkshops and laboratories, they promoted the
“flow of soul” by a substantial dinner at the hostelrie of the Raven,
to which your eye-witness did more justice than his modesty will
alloAv him to say he does to his present theme. The train passed
rapidly to its destination, and our courteous entertainers soon in¬
troduced us to the manufacture of soda in various forms at Messrs.
Kurtz’s Avorks. — First, carbonate of soda from its sulphate. This
is an eminently photographic drug, and your eye-Avitness Avas
considerably puzzled in watching it through the different stages
— first salt throAvn into a hot furnace, Avith sulphuric acid con¬
stantly applied, being thus converted into Glauber's salts (sul¬
phate of soda, the hydrochloric acid being evolved in the process) ;
then mixed with chalk and email coal; then heated again, this
time to fusion, becoming ball soda or black ash, containing twenty -
tAvo per cent, of alkali ; then broken up and washed with Avarm water,
and boiled to dryness; then again heated; then crystallised and
broken up; then exposed to the carbonic acid gas in a sort of grotto del
cane , into which your eye-witness Avas not permitted to enter ; and
finally dried, when it is fit for neutralising silver baths, or for print¬
ing, &c. All this boiling, and roasting, and lixiviating was attended
with much heat, considerably above that in Avhich your eye-Avitness
chooses usually to abide. Another chemical Avorks Avas visited
(Messrs. Gamble and Sons’), and more processes viewed Avith as
much minuteness as before ; but your space must not be trespassed
upon in describing them. We must mention, however, that avc
ascended to the summit of ope of the coke columns used for con¬
densing the muriatic acid, and there Avas a contrivance Avhich
might be appropriated to print Avashing. Your readers knoAv that
water is kept trickling down the interior of these columns : it is
admitted at the top through a tap into a Y shaped trough, nicely
balanced, the equilibrium of which is converted from stable to un¬
stable by its being filled Avith the Avater, Avhen it turns over and
sends its contents down among the coke. In the chlorate of pot¬
ash department a very similar contrivance Avas made to keep a
couple of pumps in a kind of perpetual motion. Your eye-witness
made a point of taking a homoeopathic dose of Epsom salts made
here, follotved by some chlorate of potash by Avay of antidote.
Your eye-Avitness then visited Messrs. Pilkington’s sheet glass
manufactory, and Avatched Avith Avonder the “skill and dexterity”
of the Avorkers standing on the edge of pits, and swinging their
gatherings about to elongate them to the cylindrical form, Avhich
is afterwards cut down the middle and flattened in the furnace,
and made suitable for the photographic consumption of your many
readers. The union of fire and water comes very close here, the
almost liquid glass on the pontil being cooled Avith water on the
smoothening block or marver.
The painting and making of coloured windoAvs A\Tas then inspected
by your eye-Avitness and friends, Avho were especially pleased Avith
certain enlarged photographs from the Art Journal, used by one
of the artists to the establishment, Avho has hit upon some plan
of burning-in outline photographs, the secret of which Ave could
not penetrate. Your eye-Avitness, but for the heat, Avould not mind
a short apprenticeship to the glass manufacture, if it Avere only to
learn a few of the secrets of Avhich that wonderful indispensable
product seems almost to be made.
Your eye-Avitness Avas then conducted to the silver and copper
smelting and refining Avorks of Messrs. Bibby. The latter metal
has not, Ave believe, much photographic use, but Ave examined
Avith interest the separation of the nobler metal, silver, from its
baser alloy by Patterson’s patent process of crystallisation, and
Ave suav some 14,000 ounces in a state of ebullition in a large
crucible ; and, like the man Avho never regarded ducks but
with a view to peas, Avondered hoAv many pictures could be
produced Avith it. We Avere alloAved to see it cooling, Avhen it
presented a most beautiful sight, and Ave suppose it Avould then be
cast into ingots, and probably some of it may be hereafter em¬
ployed by Messrs. Petschler and Mann, or some other of your eye-
Avitness’s photographic acquaintance.
The copper smelting Avorks Avas a A'ery Tartarus for heat, and
Ave Avere glad to get out, and, after a cool refreshing walk, plunged
into caloric, of still greater intensity, if possible, at the Union
Plate-glass Works, Avhere your eye-A\*itness beheld the processes of
melting, casting, rolling, grinding, polishing, and silvering, and
Avas, by the kindness of the manager, Mr. Yates, permitted to
carry aAvay sundry translucent specimens of crystal. Your ej'e-
witness must not forget the tAvo powerful engines Avhich drive
the massive-polishing machines. The casting of a large sheet of
glass Avas the sight of the day, and Avill long remain in our memory.
It is due to our entertainers that Ave should place their names on
record as above, the more so as Ave believe there is not much diffi¬
culty in gaining permission to visit the establishments at any
time, provided always that it is not for the purpose of prying into
trade secrets, Avhich, of course, Avas not our object. Your eye-
Avitness’s thanks are due, and are hereby presented, to the aboA^e-
named gentlemen, and also to Messrs. Sinclair and Shanks, Avho
acted as hosts, and to Dr. Calvert and Dr. Smith, Avhose clear ex¬
planations rendered their guidance extremely valuable.
Thus ended one of the pleasantest things connected with the
visit of the British Association to Manchester — at least so far as
concerned your eye-witness. 2
* Our ej e-witness does not appear to be aware that Mr. Howlett died above two years
ago.— Ed.
348
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH Y.
[October 1, 1801
|lbotogi;apbit (DIG ^obriba.
Exhibition Gossip. — The medals will be of one
class, for merit, without any distinction of degree. The awards
will be published, early in June, at a public ceremonial in the Ex¬
hibition building, and the medals will be delivered to the exhibitors
on the last day of the Exhibition. There are to be three catalogues :
the Industrial, the Illustrated, and the Fine Arts. Advertisements,
set up in ruby type, will be charged £5 for ten lines, or under, and
£50 for one page, for issues of 250,000 copies of the Industrial Ca¬
talogue; ten shillings for ten lines, or £5 for one page, in the de¬
scriptive part of the Illustrated Catalogue ; or ten shillings for five
lines or under, or £10 for a whole page, in the advertising portion
of that catalogue.
Iron Iodiser.— -Dr. Woods, in his paper on micro¬
meters, refers to an iron iodiser he introduced in 1844, of which we
append the formula: — Take sulphate of iron forty grains, iodide of
potassium twenty-four grains, and common salt six grains; powder
and mix them well together ; add alcohol two ounces, ether two
drachms, liquor ammonue three drops; after the precipitate has
subsided, add one part of the clear liquor to three parts of a collo¬
dion that has been prepared by adding a fluid drachm of a satu¬
rated solution of common salt to four ounces of collodion : with this
employ a thirty-grain to the ounce nitrate bath, and a twenty-
grain to the ounce sulphate of iron developer.
Works Illustrated by Photographs. — Besides Hess-
ling and Kollmann’s Atlas of Photo-micrographs , Rudinger’s work
On the Nervous System , illustrated with photographs from the dead
subject by Albert, of Munich, a photographically illustrated edition
of Schiller's Poems , and Unger’s Ideal Views of the Primitive World ,
have also lately been issued to the public by various publishers
at home and abroad. Messrs. Longmans & Co. have just published
Twenty - Four Views of the Vegetation of the Coasts and Islands
of the Pacific , being photographic reductions from the plates of
Kittlitz, with descriptive letterpress by Berthold Seemann. The
latter work is of as great interest to the botanist as the former
are to the paleontologist, anatomist, and microscopist.
A French Idea. — In translating an article from our
pages of the 15th of July, the Bulletin de la Societe Frangaise quotes
it with a formal heading as “ par M. Country Parson !”
Toning Batii for Black and White Prints. —
Before toning remove all free nitrate of silver. Chloride of gold
one grain, bicarbonate of soda ten grains, to twelve ounces of
water.
Monster Triple Achromatic Lens. — Mr. Dallmeyer
lias just completed for the Government establishment at South
Kensington a triple achromatic combination of sixty inches focal
length, for the production of pictures three feet square. It con¬
sists of three combinations — the front and back being of six and
eight inches diameter respectively, whilst the diameter of the
central or negative combination is four inches in diameter. We have
lately seen at Messrs. Ottewill and Co.’s establishment the bellows-
bodied camera with which this lens is to be used. It is of pro¬
portionate dimensions, and focussed by an endless screw. The
base-board tapers from front to back, and is formed of an inter¬
lacing system of triangles, so as to secure the utmost rigidity and
to prevent any tendency to warping.
Acid Plate Cleaners. — If glass plates have to be
cleaned with acids care must be taken that they receive a final
washing in a slightly alkaline solution ; for acid is found to adhere
obstinately to the glass, and then causes a collodion film to peel on
being placed in the silver bath.
To Prevent Paper Curling when on the sensi¬
tising bath, breathe on the back of it, and it will instantly lie flat ;
after the last washing, roll it on a stick, albumen side" out, and
in ten minutes its inclination to curl will cease.
Eertscii’s Automatic Camera. — Some time since a
description appeared in these columns of M. Bertsch’s apparatus.
He has now completed the arrangement by adding a travelling
laboratory that measures only ten inches in length by four inches
in width, and fourteen inches in height, within which packs the
camera, troughs, and chemicals sufficient for taking one hundred
negatives. The camera itself is only four inches square. S. II.
IfUcthrgs of Societies.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The first monthly meeting of the present session of this Association was
held on Wednesday evening, the 18th ult., at Myddleton Hull, Upper-
street, Islington. George Shadbolt, Esq. , Vice-President, occupied the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were proposed, and duly elected members of
the Association : — Mr. A. Sceleyr, Mr. J. Biddle, Mr. II. J. Vac hell, Capt.
Herne, Rev. S. C. Browne, and Mr. Gandy.
The Chairman then introduced to the meeting some proofs of printed
matter and ruled lines from negatives by Grubb’s C portrait leii3, with
an aperture of two inches and one inch. They were entirely free from cur¬
vature of the lines, and exhibited great flatness of field, &c. The Chairman
also exhibited specimens of Mr. Lyndon Smith’s printing by development.
Mr. Dallmeyer exhibited six views by Mr. Georg; Wilson, of Aber¬
deen — size, 7 by — taken with his No. 1 triple achromatic lens, 7§ focus
(equivalent). One of them was an instantaneous view of the channel
fleet, in Plymouth Sound, taken without any stop. There was also one
of large dimensions of Netley Abbey, by an amateur, and a map
measuring 11 J by 7.
Mr. Dallmeyer begged to state that, owing to the absence of Mr.
Wilson from home, he was unable to procure what he considered more
favourable specimens ; but, at the kind invitation of the President, he had
brought those he had by him to submit to them tin’s evening. The
excellencies in them to which he wished to call attention consisted in an
entire absence of all distortion ; perfection of definition up to the corners;
large angle of picture included ; and general vigour and crispness of photo¬
graph, which, he thought, showed that the triple achromatic lens possessed
those qualities as much as any single view lens, and the instantaneous
view would dispose of the question as to its being a slow working lens.
The Chairman then introduced the specimens received from Mr. ( 'harles
A. Seely, of New York, the American Correspondent of The British
Journal of Photography, intended as evidence of the working of Har¬
rison’s lens, alleged to include an angle of picture embracing 90° of
subject. Many of the members would recollect the remarks he (the
speaker) had made with reference thereto ; and lie thought that any one
accustomed to observing phenomena connected 'with optical matters
would agree with him in asserting that the pictures before them did not
include anything approaching to 90° of subject, although in one specimen
the entire circular disc that the lens would cover was included. He
would remark that he entirely exonerated Mr. Seely from any attempt to
deceive ; and, indeed, he had received a letter from that gentleman,
which arrived one day too late for insertion in the last number of the
Journal, in some sort explanatory of the matter. Mr. Harrison, it ap¬
pears, had declined to allow the lens to be examined, although applied to
for the purpose by Mr. Seely. The 90° of picture was assumed, upon the
understanding that the lens was of but two and a-lialf inches focus. The
Chairman said, “ No doubt, here was the source of error.” It was very
possible that the plate was not more than two and a-half inches from the
hack lens of the combination ; but that was a very different thing from
being only two and a-half inches equivalent focus. For anything to the
contrary at present before them the equivalent focus might be six or
seven inches.
Mr. Dallmeyer, on looking at the proofs, thought that the Chairman
had been liberal in his estimate of the angle included, when reduced to a
parallelogram, by calling it 45°. He questioned whether it would be
much above 40°.
The chair having been temporarily occupied by Mr. Shave,
Mr. Shadrolt read a paper bv Dr. Maddox, of Southampton, On Expe-_
riments with Albumen on Glass [see page 336], and circulated the speci¬
mens forwarded in illustration.
It was stated that the paper was elicited by Mr. Negretti’s remarks on
the superiority of the albumen process for printing transparencies.
Mr. Wharton Simpson observed that it appeared to claim special ad¬
vantages from the use of phosphoric acid in place of acetic acid.
A vote of thanks was awarded to Dr. Maddox.
Mr. Solomon exhibited two large pictures as specimens of the turpen¬
tine waxed-paper process, taken with a Grubb’s aplanatic lens by' Mr.
Hooper, of Manchester ; and some new plate-holders, for use when de¬
veloping, of novel construction. [See page 339.]
Mr. Simpson commended the last -named as being the best yet introduced.
Some specimens by the resin process were then exhibited by Mr. Barnett.
M. Hislop offered a few laudatory remarks on the. resin process — its
ease, certainty, and especially its rapidity of development. He used
Ponting-’s collodion, with the addition of half-a-grain of ordinary resin
to each ounce of collodion, and developed with citro-pyrogallic acid.
The Chairman observed that the use of resin was originally suggested
by the Abbe Despratz, as causing the collodion to adhere more firmly to
the plate ; whereas the ready loosening of the film was notorious. The
process was a pet one with the Liverpool photographers, several of whom
had been highly successful ir its practice. He alluded particularly to
Mr. Corey and Mr. Glover, and he had no doubt they would be gratified
at having made converts of Mr. Hislop and Mr. Barnett.
Mr. Hislop thought that there was certainly less trouble with this
than any other dry process whatever. Six weeks had- been the longest
349
October 1, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
test he had applied to the keeping powers of these plates. He found it
necessary to varnish the edge of the plate, but the process was free from
any tendency to blistering.
On a Member asking what was supposed to be the peculiar use of the
resin if it did not cause the film to adhere, the Chairman replied that it
was the opinion of Mr. Glover that the picric acid contained therein was
the really useful agent.
Mr. Morlcy exhibited some plates by the collodio-albumcn, or rather
Fothcrgill process, which had been washed with gallic acid before ex¬
posure, and some which had been washed with tannic acid. The strength
of washing solution was one grain to the ounce of water. The results
were somewhat in favour of the gallic acid solution, there being less ten¬
dency to solarisation than with tannic acid.
The usual votes of thanks were accorded, and the proceedings terminated.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A meeting of this Society was held on Sept. 4th, Mr. Eamage in the chair.
Mr. John Lennie was admitted a member.
Mr. Slight then made some remarks — -
On the Hot Water Process.
He said : — In attempting to become an exponent of a lately re-intro-
duced process in photography, I feel my own shortcomings to be greater
than I at first anticipated, as there are many points in connexion with it
on which I feel very much at a loss, and which I ought to have studied
more fully before attempting to explain. Every one who practises
photography on a small scale, and at uncertain intervals, must know that
new difficulties are always arising; and it may therefore be some pallia¬
tion of my want of preparation to state that the process, in its present
form, has been but a short time before the public, and that some of my
difficulties are not yet twenty-four hours’ old.
There is no necessity for tracing the history of the hot water process
further than to mention that a notice appeared in No. 143, Yol. VIII., of
The British Journal of Photography, calling attention to it as a good
though overlooked process, and recommending it for its simplicity. Very
soon after, on trying it, I found it so simple, and to work so well, that I
have scarcely tried any other since then.
The details of the process are so clearly given in No. 140, Vol. VIII.,
of The British Journal of Photography, that I need do little more than
allude to them. The glasses must be made quite clean ; but there is no
necessity, of roughening the edges to make the film adhere. The coating
and sensitising are the same as for the Fothergill process, already so
ably described to the Society by Mr. Burns ; although, as regards the collo¬
dion, I imagine that a thin sample gives the clearest pictures, as I have
diluted ordinary negative collodion with alcohol and ether, and considered
it improved thereby in the cleanness of the picture. After sensitising’,
the plate. is laid in a bath of distilled water, and may be agitated until
all greasiness has disappeai’ed : it is then thoroughly washed by having
water poured on it, and may be allowed to soak for a short time in a
large quantity of water, as is recommended for most effectually removing
the free silver. The plate is then partially drained on blotting-paper,
and albumen applied, as in the Fothergill process. I have always used
the albumen prepared in the proportion of the white of one egg to two
ounces of water and about ten drops of ammonia. After being frothed and
allowed to settle, add nitrate of silver, as recommended by Mr. Hannaford
in No. 146 of The British Journal of Photography. I have lately been
saving the albumen after its being used, and find it will answer very well
for a few times ; but after being kept for a week or two it gets of a
reddish colour, and, I think, is then acted on by the developer in those
parts of the plate which ought to be transparent, and is therefore un¬
suitable for transparencies. This discolouring and evil result may have
been caused by the frequent exposure of the albumen to daylight, which
must act on the nitrate of silver held in solution. After the application
of the albumen, the plate is again drained for about half a minute, giving
time for the preparation of its hot plunge bath of water, nearly boiling,
in which it remains for a few seconds to coagulate the albumen, and
afterwards drained on blotting-paper, and dried at a red fire. If allowed
to stand until it begins to dry spontaneously, and then held to the fire,
the plate is apt to have lines of unequal development between the wet
and dry parts ; and in drying at the fire it ought to be steadily exposed
to the heat. When dry, the plate is nearly transparent, and of a bluish
tinge. The exposure in the camera is about the same as for the Fothergill
plates ; but I fancy that the time maybe increased without risk of injury.
My stereoscopic camera has single achromatic lenses of five-inch focus,
and quarter-inch stops, with which an exposure of six minutes, in a mode¬
rately good light, appears sufficient, but twice or three times that exposure
may be required in such a light as we had last Saturday at Hawthornden.
In developing the picture, the plate is wetted and the ordinary negative
developer applied, say water one ounce, pyrogallic acid one grain, citric
acid half-grain, glacial acetic acid six drops. After they have been once
or twice poured over the plate, add a very little nitrate of silver solution,
and. use a fresh supply of developer when the first gets discoloured. When
(sufficiently developed wash well and fix with cyanide.
The hot water process has, as a recommendation, considerable simplicity
of manipulation and something like certainty in the results, while to the
beginner it has the inestimable property of causing the film to adhere
most tenaciously to the glass, admitting of any amount of rough washing.
I cannot speak positively as to the keeping qualities of the plates so
prepared ; but I think that in a few weeks they get either less sensitive
or become more difficult to develop, but on this point my experiments are
as yet inconclusive.
In regard to the use of coagulating the albumen, there docs appear to
be some virtue in the hot water, as on preparing a plate and only dipping
one-half into hot water, the part so dipped was more darkened by the de¬
veloper than the other part which was left cold and unwashed.
Mr. Slight, at the termination of his observations, went through tlio
whole process of preparing a plate, exposing to the gas under a negative,
and developing. The result was a finely-toned stereoscopic transparency.
Mr. Nicol remarked that the few attempts he had made with this pro¬
cess had been so successful as to make him think highly favourably of it.
It seemed to be more workable than any process he had ever tried before,
from the fact that the development might be carried on to a greater ex¬
tent, and a slight stain might be wiped off. This process was just the
Taupenot without the iodiser in the albumen ; and, from the great hard¬
ness of the film, it would save the trouble of varnishing — at least, when
only two or three impressions were wanted from a negative. The only
fault was the protracted development, which, no doubt, arose from the
difficulty of penetrating the albumen film.
Mr. Taylor stated that he had not experienced the difficulty just al¬
luded to by Mr. Nicol — that of a protracted development ; this might
arise from his adopting a slightly different method of preparing his plates.
After exciting, he washed the plate only very partially; and, without
allowing much draining, coated with albumen (in which there was no
silver whatever), and at once immersed in the hot water bath. In
developing he discarded acetic acid altogether, using the citric and
pyrogallic alone, with, of course, a few drops of silver solution. There
was, he conceived, a theoretic objection to the use of acetic acid —
at least it was a well-known fact that it served to remove the latent image
from an undeveloped plate ; and even when mixed with the pyrogallic
acid it might exert this injurious tendency. In proof of the great liber¬
ties that might be taken with the exposure in this process, he on one
occasion, in the company of the Chairman, developed two plates exposed
under exactly similar circumstances, except that one got two and the
other four minutes’ exposure. They were both alike good, being dense
and vigorous negatives, and he thought Mr. Eamage would bear him
out in saying that the time occupied in the development did not much
exceed a couple of minutes.
Mr. Burns said that when Dr. Norris published his experiments rela¬
tive to the deteriorating action certain substances had on an undeveloped
plate, he had repeated the experiment with pyrogallic acid, which, ac¬
cording to Dr. Norris, should have considerably weakened, if not have
removed, the impression : instead of this result, he (Mr. Burns) fancied
the picture so experimented on was improved by that treatment. What¬
ever it might be theoretically, practically he had found no removal of the
latent picture.
Mr. Nicol: No doubt acetic acid posesses the property of removing the
impressed image; but if used in small quantity it does not seem to exert it.
After other remarks, a vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. Slight. It
was intimated that a portion of the next meeting should be devoted to
examining the pictures taken during the excursion to Roslin, the previous
Saturday, with a view of determining which picture was best.
The meeting then separated. ^
This Society again met on the 18th ult., — Mr. Slight in the chair.
Mr. Ballantine, George Street, was admitted a member.
On the table was a great variety of views of Hawthornden and Roslin,
a considerable number of which were contributed by Mr. Burns, but
which, not having been taken on the Saturday of the Society’s excursion,
were not entered for competition. Those competing were numbered by
the Secretary, the members generally not being aware by whom any
particular picture had been taken. A due time having been allowed for
examination, each member wrote on a slip of paper the number of the
picture lie considered the best, which slips were deposited in the ballot-
box. The scrutineer announced a majority of votes for the picture
No. 2 ; on which the Secretary intimated that this picture had been
taken by Mr. Slight (the Chairman). This, and some other views
taken by him on the same occasion, Mr. Slight presented to the Society's
album, remarking that they had all been taken by the hot water process,
as detailed by him at the former meeting.
Resuming the conversation on this subject, Mr. Slight said lie had since
the previous meeting adopted some modifications in the working of this
process. In his former remarks he stated that he dried by artificial heat ;
but he now found it was a great improvement to allow the plate to dry
spontaneously, after completing the washing with a little distilled water.
He had also found it was better to omit the acetic acid from the developer.
Mr. Ramage, in answer to a question put to him about the coagulation
of albumen, thought that in this process there was no coagulation of the
albumen at all. He had tried numerous experiments with the coagulation
of albumen on paper, and he found that not only would hot water not
effect that end, but that steam at high pressure failed to do so, the albu¬
men being entirely removed from the surface of the paper ; and, if hot
water failed to coagulate albumen on paper, he did not see how it could
act otherwise in this case.
Mr. Taylor said that there were a great many substances which would
350
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1 , 1661
coagulate albumen, such as acids and metallic salts, and, in addition to
those, he thought most undoubtedly that hot water would do so too : they
had daily experience of that in the case of boiled eggs. There was this
difference, however, between Mr. Ramage’s experiments and the process
under consideration, that Mr. Ramage’s experiments were tried with
desiccated albumen, whereas in this case it was fluid. Once the albumen
was dried, he then at once granted the impossibility of coagulating it.
Mr. Davies : Does Mr. Taylor mean that after desiccation it cannot
be coagulated by any means whatever ? for, if so, what effect was pro¬
duced on it by such salts as nitrate of silver ?
Mr. Taylor explained that he only alluded to coagulation by hot water.
After some general conversation, the Chairman exhibited a number of
negatives he had taken the previous day at Aberdour. These were very fine.
The proceedings were then brought to a close.
OHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary meeting of this Society was held on the 12th ult., — W
Griffiths, Esq., Yrice-Rresident, in the chair.
The Secretary read a circular, which had been received from Dr-
Diamond shortly after the commencement of the annual vacation, in¬
viting the attention of photographers generally to the position assigned
to photographs and photography in the prospective Exhibition of 1862,
and which he (the Secretary) said would require the consideration of the
members present, inasmuch as (though rather, but unavoidably, late, in
consequence of the will of the members to take summer holidays) it was
desirable that the opinion of this Society should be recorded.
Mr. Hooper then proposed the following resolution : —
“ That this Society views with considerable regret the position assigned
to photography by Her Majesty’s Commissioners in the intended Exhi¬
bition of 1862, and joins most cordially in the protest made by the London
and other photographic societies against the attempt to retard the pro¬
gress of an art which, though yet in its infancy, promises, with due
encouragement, to occupy at no distant time a position equal in import¬
ance to painting and sculpture.”
Mr. Knott said he had great pleasure in seconding the resolution,
after which it was put to the meeting and passed unanimously.
The Chairman then called upon Mr. Wardley to proceed with his
paper on The Taupenot Process. [See page 339.]
This paper proved to be as interesting as it was instructive, and its value
was much enhanced by Mr. Wardley affording the members an oppor¬
tunity of witnessing his method of preparing and developing a plate. He
said that business necessities had prevented him exposing for a negative,
as he intended, he had, therefore, been compelled to print a transparent
positive ; that, however, would fully exhibit what he contemplated, viz.,
the ease and certainty with which a well-prepared plate could be de¬
veloped. The picture produced was of the most charming character, soft,
vigorous, and full of half-tone, and elicited the admiration of those present.
Mr. Wardley also laid on the table a series of paper proofs from
collodio-albumen negatives, which fully substantiated the advantages
ascribed to this process.
Mr. Knott exhibited a number of carte cle visite portraits, sharp, clear,
and artistic, veiy superior to the majority of pictures of this kind.
Mr. Hooper handed round to the members a few permanent jrn’etures
on glass, burnt in by M. Joubcrt. These were uncommonly fine — in fact,
positive art-treasures.
The discussion on Mr. YVardley’s paper was adjourned to next meeting.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the proceedings terminated.
The Principles and Practice of Photography Familiarly Ex¬
plained in a Course of Easy Lessons. By C. Jabez Hughes.
SECOND EDITION.
London: C. Jabez Hughes, 379, Oxford Street.
In the ordinary course with a second edition we simply announce the fact
of its appearance ; but, in the pamphlet before us, sixteen pages of new
matter on subjects of passing interest having been added we consider it
entitled to something more than a casual reference. It is not many months
ago that we had occasion to notify the original publication of this useful
little manual, the first edition of which has already disappeared from the
publisher’s shelves ; and it is, we are informed, a matter of no small grati¬
fication to its author that many experienced and well-known photographers,
from whom he would gladly learn, have thought it not unworthy of their
perusal. We may remark, enpassant , that this is honourable to all parties
concerned. Those who know most are always, as a rule, the most ready
to learn from anydbody who has, or is supposed to have, anything to com
municate ; and, consequently, we may presume that, while complimenting
Mr. Hughes by taking his “ easy lessons,” those accomplished gentlemen
who have done so have at the same time borne unintentional testimony to
their own enlightenment. Instead of giving an extract from the new
part of the manual here we have, by permission of the author, reproduced
his chapter on Intensifying Processes , which will be found at page 319.
The other new matter introduced ranges over the subjects of Instantaneous
Photography, Carte de Visite Portraits, and Improved Gold-toning Process.
In other respects the book remains the same as before. We thought well
of it iu its original condition ; we think still better of it in its present one.
|lotrs of the |Hontb.
“Term-time,” as it is called by Cantabs and Oxonians, has now
commenced, and the sessions of the various photographic societies
will probably be more than usually interesting. There will be the
prospects and details of the approaching Exhibition of 1862 to
occupy attention, and the latter half of the terms will include tlio
Exhibition realised. Let us hope that 1862 will be a goal which will
also serve as a point from which to start anew. It will present an
opportunity of gathering together all the scattered threads and
odd-ends of photographic knowledge from every source into one
compact whole, from which we ought to make a fresh and better
start. It would be curious to speculate on all the chauges and
results the forthcoming year will have upon photography. In any
case it will mark an epoch in the history of the art and science.
Instantaneous photography is undergoing considerable develop¬
ment, and instantaneous pictures continue to excite as large an
amount of interest as has ever been bestowed upon any phase of
the photographic art. Those glorious pictures ofWilson opened up
to us a new world in photography, and have been followed by
other aspirants with but very varying degrees of success. Few
but those who have made the essay know the difficulties incidental
to instantaneous photography. An occasional picture may be ob¬
tained — many have such to show — but to accomplish a whole series
with anything like uniformity is somewhat ot a herculean task.
The second series of twenty-four instantaneous Paris views, pub¬
lished on the 23rd ult. by the London Stereoscopic Company, are
by far the best street views yet obtained, and stand quite unrivalled.
It used to be a blot on the photographic escutcheon that beautiful as
its architectural renderings were, the streets were lifeless and
deserted, and the impression conveyed was as that of gazing on a
city of the dead. In the views referred to there is a roundness
and sharpness united with such a balance of the lights and shadows
as we are quite unaccustomed to in such subjects. The pictures,
too, are not $wasLinstantaneous, but absolutely so. Here may be
seen the porter with his burden — the exquisite taking his morn¬
ing saunter — the belle just brought to a full stop by a pretty
bonnet in a near window. In one is an old gentleman endea¬
vouring to overtake an omnibus ; in another an equestrian with
uplifted arm about to strike; and, again, a boy in the act of falling.
The old gentleman doubtless overtook the omnibus — the lash fell
on the unwilling beast — the boy completed his fall ; but the act
arrested in transitu on the sensitive plate is retained and fixed for
ever ! The vast improvements that have taken place in Paris are
brought home to us, and even the memorable hot weather of the
past season by the umbrellas still suspended over the heads of
many pedestrians. The view Fontaine St. Michael (No. 34) is a
forcible illustration of the great alterations that have taken place
in the student’s Quartier Latin ; and the Portes St. Denis and St.
Martin — in the time of the first Napoleon the entrances to the
capital, but now its very centre — are redolent of life and bustle.
La Station du Chemin de Fer de Strasbourg (No. 33) will be familiar
to every tourist ; and the Rue Rivoli , with its elegant arcade, bears
but little trace of the sites of the memorable barricades of 1848,
But it is in (No. 42), the Boulevard des Italiens — the Regent-street
of Paris — seen in its noon-tide aspect, that the interest culminates.
“ How fast the flitting figures come,
The mild, the fierce, the stony lace,
« * * •» *
Each where his tasks or pleasures call,
They pass and heed each other not,
These eddies of the stieam of life.'’
There is something of the marvellous in the fact that anything
so transitory and fleeting in its nature as a crowded street can,
as it were, by the wave of a magician’s wand, be thus seized and
perpetuated.
Llis Royal Highness the King of Siam is about to become a
practical photographer, and is impatiently awaiting the arrival of
a complete set of apparatus manufactured for him by Messrs.
Negretti and Zambra, and has, beside, engaged the services of a
gentleman to initiate him in the principles and practice of photo¬
graphy. His Majesty will, of course, not object to black his royal
fingers, and will probably, shortly, be well up in foggy baths and
“ depth of focus.’
An Exhibition of Works of Industry and Art has been opened at
Florence. The gallery devoted to photography is very extensive,
and full of pictures ; but, according to the correspondent of the
Daily Telegraph , among so many thousands of photographs there
is much “ rubbish.” As usual, portraits are in excess. _
S. T
October 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
351
HARRISON’S NEW LENS. I
Our American correspondent, Mr. C. A. Seely, lias reproduced in
the American Journal of Photography, our report upon the proofs
received by us, in evidence of the alleged large angle of 90° field
of view included by Harrison’s lens, to which he has appended the
following comments, which, it will be seen, coincide with remarks
in his letter : —
“The above seems to place the correspondent in a somewhat awkward
predicament. The photograph from which Mr. Shadbolt pronounces
judgment was made by Mr. Harrison himself, and was regarded as a
fair test specimen. Now is it true that the lens which we with others
have claimed would take an angular field of 90® can do no more than
our ordinary instruments?
“ We have to say, in view of what has previously been said in this
Journal, that we have not seen the lens in question : our information is
second-hand: we formed our opinion on the statements of others, in whose
integrity we had, and still have, the most implicit confidence.
“We were assured, for example, that the photograph described by Mr.
! Shadbolt, and which is a little over five inches in diameter, was produced
: by a lens 2 \ inches in focal length, and we discovered nothing in the
picture inconsistent with the representation. Could our informant liavre
blundered to the extent of one-third in a very simple measurement ?
Would he tell a falsehood where every one who should see the camera
might detect him ?
“Our readers no doubt wonder why we haveTnot, for ourself, tested the
lens. We share that wonder.
“The lens was brought before the public at the Photographical Society.
A discussion was held and a Committee of examination was appointed.
But the Committee did nothing — at first by reason of Mr. Harrison’s sick¬
ness, and finally by his withdrawal, and nothing further transpired.
“ We have taken some pains to see the lens, but with failure. To-day
(29th), we called on Mr. Harrison’s agent, and was politely informed that
the lens was not ready for exhibition, and that no information about it
would be given at present.
“There is a good deal of unpleasantness hanging about this matter : we
think also we preceive a silglit odour of humbug. AYhence comes it ?
“Before our next we shall blow away some of the fog, and be better
prepared to expose how much merit there is in this alleged new lens, and
to whom this merit belongs.
“And, notwithstanding the adverse opinion of Mr. Shadbolt, relying on
considerations from the construction of the lens, the work produced by it,
and the credibility of witnesses, we still adhere to our former belief, that
the lens will take in a field of 90°. ’’
Of course the explanation of Mr. Seely’s misinformation is now
simple enough, and lies entirely in the alleged focus of the lens,
which is stated to be but two and a-half inches. It is by no means
impossible that the plate may have been no greater distance from
the hack surface of the combination. But this has nothing to do
with the equivalent focus , which, for anything that appears to the
contrary, may have been six or seven inches ; and, from the scanty
description of the construction of the lens which we have received,
the focus must be considerably more than two and a-half inches,
assuming the plate to have been located within that distance of
the posterior surface of the combination.
Mr. Skaife, the well-known pistolgrapher, last week brought a
charge of felony at Brighton against a young man of highly res¬
ectable appearance, named William Morgan, formerly a pupil of
, is. It appeared that Mr. Morgan had articled himself for two
years to Mr. Skaife, but had left him and gone to Australia a few
months before the expiration of his time. Recently returning from
Australia, he commenced business at Brighton, and inserted the
following advertisement in the Brighton Herald: —
Instantaneous Pistolgrams of Babies, Family Groups, Equestrians, Dogs, Ac. —
Mr. W. Morgan (late senior pupil of Mr. T. Skaife, patentee) is now taking these beauti-
' ful little pictures, at half the original prices, by his newly-improved pistolgraph. Parties
attended and pourtrayed at their own residences — Invalids in their own apartments. No
extra charge. Or at W. Morgan's, 13, Crescent-place, Marine parade, Brighton, where
numbers of specimens are on view daily from 10 a.m. till dusk.
Mr. Skaife immediately went to Brighton, and procured a search-
warrant on account of a lens belonging to a pistolgram, which he
alleged to have been missed after the prisoner’s departure. No
lens was found, but fourteen small photographs or pistolgrams,
exhibited in Mr. Morgan’s show-cases, were claimed by Mr. Skaife
as his own property. In defence, the prisoner stated that the
plaintiff had given them to him. Two of them were portraits of
himself, one that of a young lady (a friend of his), one that of a
fellow-pupil, and one of Mr. Skaife himself : the remainder were
stated to be waste copies. Mr. Skaife denied this, and also that they
were given to him. From the nature of the evidence, the case was
transferred to London, where the evidence of other pupils might
prove that these pistolgrams were thrown about the room in a
careless manner, as alleged. On being brought up at Mary-le-
bone police court, Mr. Morgan was discharged, but the pistolgrams
were ordered to be given up to Mr. Skaife.
Jfareigit Canxspoii&mre.
Paris, September 2 6th, 1861.
The season which is about to begin promises to be abundant in new
photographic publications. The summer has been long enough and
fine enough to enable our photographic tourists to gather in an
ample harvest, and now that they are returning very remarkable
works are being talked of. Theophile Gauthier, our critic, poet,
and fantaisiste, who is at present in Russia, has been inspecting the
museums, galleries, and public buildings of that interesting country,
and has put together his observations and impressions in a book
which is about to appear with the title of Tresors d'Art dt la Russie,
and under the patronage of the Emperor Alexander. This hand¬
some work will be illustrated with two hundred large-sized photo¬
graphs by M. A. Richebourg.
While MM. Ferrier were busily occupied here with their instan¬
taneous stereoscopic pictures, which are so successful, their part¬
ner, M. Soulier, was travelling about Sweden, Norway, and Den¬
mark. He has now returned with a collection of views which
combine the interest of novelty with those artistic qualities which
so eminently characterise all his works.
M. Bisson, who was so successful in the ascent of Mont Blanc,
has likewise returned. He is preparing to publish the numerous
views with which his recent journey has furnished him. I have
already seen some of them, and I can affirm that they are even
superior to those which have preceded. Both of the brothers have
laboriously worked during the long summer days. While the
younger one was climbing the snow-capped mountains or exploring
the verdant valleys, the elder one was at home organising their
operating-room, from which already quite a collection of excellent
portraits has issued.
M. Micheletz has just brought out a numerous series of reproduc¬
tions of paintings and drawings, of the same size as the card
portraits. Thus, at small cost, one may form a little gallery of the
principal compositions of our modern painters. The idea, which
appears a good one, originated with Disderi, but M. Micheletz
deserves the credit of having applied it with intelligence and skill.
I spoke in my last letter of the development of photography in
Spain. Already the Trans-Pyrenean artists and their works are
being talked of. For instance, there is M. Melendez, who has just
made a picture of the moon, far more complete than those hitherto
obtained. This he has done by adding to his photographic appa¬
ratus a combination of very powerful lenses, which allows him to
reproduce the variations of the lunar surface in all their details.
“In this beautiful map of our satellite,” we are told, “you see
mountains and volcanoes, which appear to vomit forth lava. You
even distinguish vast petrified forests.”
Numerous contrivances have been imagined, both in England
and in France, for enabling travelling photographers to dispense
with their tent or dark closet. M. de Poilley has just patented
a new apparatus of this kind. It consists of four separate sets of
apparatus. One is for collodionising the glass mechanically and free
from the dust. The second, for nitratising, is a vessel suspended
by a handle under the camera, and turning upon its centre, so as
to take the positions necessary — first, for the introduction of the
plate ; second, for its submersion ; third, for letting it drip ;
fourth, for taking it out of the bath and passing it into the frame
without any loss of liquid or action from the light. The frame is
of the usual form. A vessel for the developing solution completes
the apparatus. This vessel is made so as to receive the plate as
it leaves the frame after exposure in the camera, without allowing
the external light to act upon the sensitive film. The operator
can also follow the apparition of the image, wash it, and withdraw
it at the right moment. I have not seen this apparatus, and can
add nothing to the above description. I am aware that there exists
a large number of systems intended to spare artists the encum¬
brance of tents and dark closets; but, however ingenious these
inventions may be, professional men always prefer to use the
ordinary instruments, or to operate on dry or on albumenised
collodion, when they are travelling. However, portable laboratories
and other things of that kind may be useful in certain cases, and
have naturally an attraction for amateurs.
Microscopic photographs are quite the fashion. Since the
appearance of M. Dagron’s photographic jewels, everybody has
been trying to make them. A few months ago folks were trying
to amplify as much as possible, now the}7- are aiming at the imper¬
ceptible. Such is this world ! Out of ten letters that I receive,
seven at least ask for information as to the processes and instru¬
ments required for these productions. Well, it is a fashion : we
must not complain. Photography always gains from these manias.
They pass away, but they leave their traces behind them.
ERNEST LACAN.
35Q
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1861
New York, August 30.
I have before me, to-day, The British Journal op Photography of
the 15th August, in which I find some remarks of the Editor upon the
photographs sent by myself to illustrate the working of Harrison’s
new lens. The remarks seem to demand an explanation from me.
I greatly regret that I am unable to put the matter in so clear a
light that doubts will be removed.
I have never seen the lens in question. A few only have been
made, and none appear to have been submitted to any critical in¬
vestigation. They have scarcely gone out of the hands of those
supposed to be pecuniarily interested in them. Mr. Harrison — one
of those ingenious mechanics who work only by the “ rule of
thumb” — and the others, having only a pecuniary care for the inven¬
tion, seem not to know how easy it is to determine precisely its
value. For example, I suppose it has not occurred to them to
place the camera in a corner of a room, and see if it will take in
the adjacent sides, or how nearly it will do it.
The lens was first introduced to the public by authority of Mr.
Harrison, at our Society. A Committee of examination was ap¬
pointed, but accomplished nothing — at first by reason of Mr. Harri¬
son’s illness, and, finally, by reason of his refusal to act.
My knowledge of the working of the lens is, therefore, mostly
second-hand or theoretical. I was told by those on whom I re¬
lied that the lens would take in an angular field of ninety degrees,
and, as illustrations, the photographs examined by Mr. Shadbolt
were offered. To my judgment — complaisant perhaps — the photo¬
graphs were not inconsistent with the claim. There were also
theoretical considerations, in part given in a former letter, and the
fact that Mr. Wolcot, an American optician, nearly twenty years
ago, had invented the same construction under the name of a
“ ninety degrees’ camera,” all favouring the pretensions set up.
And I have now to add the well-founded statement, that a gentle¬
man well-skilled in the science of optics, working wholly inde¬
pendent of information from Mr. Harrison and Mr. Wolcot, had
arrived at the same construction of a lens designed for the same
purpose.
For myself, I have so little of the mathematical talent that I
would much prefer to test a lens by the actual trial, and will hold
myself ready for a change of opinion through the persuasion of Mr.
Shadbolt or any other competent force.
Since the receipt of The British Journal of Photography of
the 15th of August, I have asked, in view of this letter, to be per¬
mitted to see the lens; but the request was declined. I shall, how¬
ever, within a few days, have full and accurate information from
sources wholly independent of the caprices of the men of business.
You may soon expect to hear that the dry processes have become
a hobby in America. Photographers have been utterly indifferent
to them hitherto, for the reason that they were not satisfied that
dry collodion could produce first-class negatives, But some recent
brilliant successes of one of our amateurs with the tannin process
have brought conviction home to the most sceptical.
I have recently been making some chemical investigations which
have turned up some facts which may be of interest to photography.
For example: — A nitro-dextrine having many of the properties of
gun-cotton may be made : it dissolves only in a mixture of alcohol
and ether. Gun-cotton is soluble in nitro-napthaline : the bromine
and iodine of collodion gradually pass into a combination which will
not precipitate silver.
I propose, shortly, to endeavour to find out the conditions of col¬
lodion required for sensitiveness and intensity.
CHARLES A. SEELY.
[The above letter was received too late for insertion in our
last number. — Ed.]
New York, September 14 th, 1861.
Our Photographical Society came together, after its summer
vacation, on the evening of the 9th inst. The attendance was not
large; but the proceedings had a good degree of earnestness. The
members seemed to make a vow that the Society should go on, any
how. In future our meetings are to be graced with the presence
of ladies : we agreed to tender them a special invitation.
The most important events which had transpired in the photo¬
graphic world, during the vacation, were reported, and furnished
the starting of a discussion which nearly exhausted the evening.
Apropos of Professor Balsamo’s phosphorus process, President
Draper remarked that he once made a study of the photographic
properties of phosphorus. He found that yellow phosphorus, on
exposure to light, was changed to red phosphorus (was transformed
ioto a new substance !). He formed layers, by melting, of phos¬
phorus between two sheets of glass. He succeeded on this surface
in photographing the fixed lines of the spectrum, and in making
prints from negatives. Some of the prints he Lad preserved, in
the dark, six or eight 3rears. Phosphorus in solution in ether or
oil is precipitated on exposure to light.
Phosphorus needs further looking after as a photographic agent.
It may furnish a new solution to the problem of photo-sculpture,
or photo-etching. For example : let a sheet of phosphorus bo
exposed under a negative, and the print be developed and
“filed” by dissolving away the unlighted parts. Phosphorus is
not an agreeable material to handle, or for a work of art; but the
artistic form may readily be reproduced in other plastic substances
or metals.
The case of Photography versus Royal Commissioners was also,
pretty fully gone over at the meeting. It seemed to be agreed that
the Commissioners had made a bad “fist” at scientific classification,
and that they were tainted with the “high-art” snobbery. Some
of our members also make it a special praise to our art that it is
useful, and think it well competent to bestow as much glory on the
so-called fine arts as it can receive from them.
When photographers become artists, then, in my opinion, photo¬
graphy will everywhere be considered the highest and noblest of
the fine arts. CIIAKLES A. SEELY.
C0rr.esp01tb.e1ia.
are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
COLLODIO- ALBUMEN.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Would you oblige by assisting me in the following difficulty that
I have met with in the collodio-albumen process : —
After the hypo, is removed, and the washing is commenced, the film
begins to shrink up in ridges, tree-shaped , and increase to such a size that
they do not recede on drying, thus spoiling the negative.
I tried with a much weaker hypo., and removed it immediately : all
the iodide was out, but still the result was the same.
In preparing the plates (9 by 7) I bake them well. I have developed
scores (by pyrogallic acid), but never met with this evil before. I have
tried washing quietly at first, but with no better result. Perhaps you
can refer me to some previous notice on the above in your useful
Journal.
2. In using - ’s collodion, with cadmium iodiser, I cannot get a
picture free from fog; while, at the same time, other collodions give perfect
results. Can vou advise me on that also ? — 1 am, vours, &c.,
DRY PLATE.
September, 2 6th, 1861.
[It is most likely the acetic acid used with the pyrogallic developer that
has the effect of loosening the film: it is not the hyposulphite of soda
which does the mischief. Try your developer with less acetic acid. The
collodion should also be allowed to “set” well before immersion in the
nitrate bath.
2. You must have a slightly acid bathfor the collodion you indicate; or,
if you use it for dry plates, you may add to it just enough tincture of
iodine to make the collodion a bright straw colour, when you will find the
fogging propensity cured. — Ed.]
MODIFIED TAUPENOT PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A letter in your last number, headed “ Dry-plate Difficulties,” is
answered by a recommendation to procure Major Russell’s book on the
tannin process.
I have great respect for that accomplished amateur, and have also,
Mr. Editor, great respect for your advice; but, nevertheless, if you will
allow me, I would recommend your correspondent “ Watkin,” if he wants
satisfactory plates, to prepare them by what is known as Major Russell’s
modification of the Taupenot process, and not by the tannin process. It
cannot be denied that the latter produces clean, bright, and beautiful
pictures ; but neither can it be denied that it is extremely slow, and that,
from the condition of the film, you can never rely upon finishing your
picture without a mishap. The very contrary may be confidently asserted
of the modified Taupenot process, which I proceed to describe.
Coat with a powdery bromo-iodised collodion (Hughes’s, Ackland’s,
or Keene’s answer well). Sensitise in ordinary negative bath. Wash
in a dish of distilled water till greasiness disappears. Cover the plate
with as much water as it will hold, wave backwards and forwards as you
would your developer for a few seconds, and then pour off. Repeat this
October 1, 1861]
353
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
operation ten times. (There is no better way of washing than this : you
may even clear a half-plate of hypo, by it with a few ounces of water.)
Now drain, ancl cover with iodised albumen (see formula below). Keep
the plate level for half a minute ; drain ; let it stand up to dry for a quar¬
ter of an hour ; then finish before a fire, or against a vessel full of hot
water. (The plates may be prepared thus far in strong sunshine with
perfect impunity.) Now immerse in aceto-nitrate bath (thirty grains of
nitrate of silver and thirty minims of glacial acetic acid to each ounce of
water) for a minute. Wash till greasiness disappears. Cover the plate
with a five-grain solution of chloride of ammonium, let it rest twenty
seconds, wash freely under a tap or from a jug, and finish with a two-
grain solution of gallic acid. Dry spontaneously.
The albumen is prepared thus: — To the whites of six eggs add eighteen
drops of glacial acetic acid in lialf-an-ounce of distilled water; stir with
glass rod for two minutes, let stand two hours, then filter through paper ;
add sixty minims liquor ammonise, and label it “ Prepared Albumen.”
It will keep for months, and is available for all albumen processes. I am
indebted to Mr. Ackland for this formula, and a most excellent one it is.
j For the Taupenot, add to each ounce five grains of iodide of ammonium,
one grain of bromide of ammonium, two grains of chloride of ammonium,
and filter just before use.
The exposure should be about six times that of wet collodion ; or about
twice , if the development be aided by heat.
In the former case wet the surface thoroughly with distilled water ;
then develop ivith pyrogallic acid two grains, glacial acetic acid 30 minims,
water one ounce, ten-grain solution nitrate of silver three or four drops (add
no more silver unless it be absolutely necessary). After short exposure pour
over the plate a large quantity of very hot water, apply the same
developer, keep it on till it is muddy or ceases to act, then wash and
warm as before, and pour on new developer, altering the relative quantity
of pyrogallic acid and silver according as the plate is wanting in detail,
or presents the thin, feeble appearance of over-exposure. In sunlight,
two or three seconds’ exposure will often suffice, if this mode of develop¬
ment be used.
Some of the advantages of this modification are great keeping qualities,
very quick development, perfect freedom from stains, as well as from any
sediment during development, and a film which sticks to the glass as
though it were part of it.
The preparation of the plates is not tedious, however that may appear
to be the case from the description, and requires but ordinary care to
ensure uniformly excellent results. Really, the unsuccessful dry photo¬
grapher who does not give it a fair trial is deserving of no compassion.
I am, yours, &c. A CLERICAL AMATEUR.
[Our correspondent, “Watkin,” did not seek our advice about a pro¬
cess ; but having adopted one, and found some difficulties therein, made
inquiries about how he could avoid them : lienee our reply. Amongst the
specimens with which “A Clerical Amateur ” has kindly favoured us, that
by the tannin process is, in our judgment, decidedly’- the best of the whole
of the stereographs, though we do not think it surpasses the larger pic¬
ture — which we perceive, by the label attached, was taken with the front
part of a Jamin’s quarter-plate lens, upon a plate kept for ten weeks, fully
prepared by the modified Taupenot process above given, and with an ex¬
posure of three minutes, against one of five minutes for the stereoscopic -
sized tannin plate. In all of the smaller pictures, where there is any
foliage, there are evident indications of under-exposure, although the
buildings, &c., arc fully brought out ; but in the larger specimen the
foliage, though still a little too heavy, is well indicated. It is not a little
singular that we adopted an albumen solution, some months back, very
closely allied to that suggested by Mr. Ackland, the object aimed at
being the attainment of great fluidity in the albumen. This we brought
about by the addition of citric acid to the albumen (from a hint thrown
out by Mr. Hardwich), and, after allowing it to stand all night, we
neutralised with liquor ammonise, and then added a surplus of about ten
minims of the ammonia to each ounce of fluid. This we found to filter
readily through ordinary filtering paper. — Ed.]
BATH DOCTORING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have a twelvc-by-ten bath, full of strong nitrate of silver
solution, which has been used for the resin process, and contains about
twenty to twenty-five drops of acetic acid to the ounce. I am anxious to
adopt the tannin process, but fear the acid bath will be detrimental.
How am I to proceed to destroy'- the acidity without injurying the purity
of the bath ? I fear that if I add carbonate of soda or other alkali to
neutralise it that I shall spoil it by forming acetate of silver in the bath.
If you will give me proper instructions how to proceed in your next
number of Tiie British Journal of Photography, I shall be greatly-
obliged. — I am, yours, &c., XERXES.
Leicester , September 1 6th, 1861.
[Add carbonate of soda in excess, so as to throw down all the silver in
the form of carbonate of silver, which will produce a white precipitate.
When no more can be thrown down pour off the liquid and wash the
deposit two or three times in distilled water ; then add dilute nitric acid,
which will dissolve the carbonate of silver with effervescence, and when
all is dissolved make up the quantity required with distilled water. — Ed.]
CLEANING THE PLATES FOR THE TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Having been absent from England I did not see Mr. Dawson’s
letter on my' method of cleaning glasses until a few days ago. The ob¬
jection to allowing the plates to drain dry after being washed in hard
water, would be well founded if they were intended to be merely dry
rubbed before use. In my way of working, the washing is only to re¬
move grit or old films ; the subsequent cleaning with the old collodion
mixture, in my own experience, immediately and entirely removes all
deposit formed by the drying of bard water. It is possible, however, that
some kinds of water may leave a residue not so easily removed, which
may make it necessary to wipe the glasses dry after washing. — I am,
yours, &c. C. RUSSELL.
London , September 25, 1861.
WHO INVENTED OR DISCOVERED THE MALT PROCESS ?
To the Editor.
Sir, — Allow me to reply to Dr. Paterson’s letter of the 27th of August.
And, first of all, let me say that I highly respect this gentleman for the
pluck he has displayed in defending a Society which, in my opinion, ha3
much need of a few more men among them like Dr. Paterson, wdio in his
defence has, undoubtedly, made the very best of a bad cause. I now
make a remark or two on it. The Doctor thinks that in the chemistry of
worts my knowledge is sadly deficient, and he is quite right ; it is very
deficient. But what in the name of all that is photographic has a
knowledge of chemistry to do with the matter? Who invented or dis¬
covered the malt process ? That is the question. At the risk of boring
your readers, I must again reply as I have formerly done. In 1855, a
London gentleman, “I. J. H.,” published “sweet wort” as a preservative;
and in 1860 Mr. John McNair published “common brewer’s wort” for
the same purpose, and got a medal for the discovery. In the names
employed to designate this malt infusion I have employed the language
of these gentlemen themselves ; and Dr. Paterson (or any one else) is at
perfect liberty to prove that the two substances arc entirely different
chemically — only there are few who will be willing to admit any differ¬
ence. In dismissing this worthless process, I trust for ever, I would say
to photographers, “ avoid using ‘ malt solutions’ in your photographic
practice ; but, if used at all, let it be after your last plate is developed,
when, properly prepared, and used in moderation, it may possibly serve
to preserve— not your plates — but your spirits.”
Respecting the very strong aceto-nitrate bath, and the washings in a
stated quantity of water in the Doctor’s own processes he not aware
that from 50 to 100 grains to the ounce have often been employed and
published ? In (I think) the second number of the London Society’s
Journal the supposed virtue of this is alluded to. This is now exploded,
however. The washings in a given quantity of water were published in
connexion with Fothergill’s experiments nearly a year before the Doctor
published his process. Granting my own ignorance of chemistry, I
might turn the tables on the Doctor, and ask if his chemical knowledge is
not somewhat at fault in supposing that 40 grains of silver to the ounce of
wrater effects the decomposition of the iodide in the collodion any more
perfectly than 35 or 30 ?
If he consults his table of equivalents I suspect lie will find that he
is indeed dosing it rather strong ; and I have been at the trouble of trying
it with the maximum as ivell as the minimum strength here mentioned,
and find no difference in the result.
Another perusal of the former letters of Dr. Paterson, as well as that
of Mr. Taylor, shows me that I have left some minor topics without a
reply ; but they are only unimportant, and scarcely merit consideration.
The Doctor objects to my name. Well, I grant it is indeed a very
common-place, unscientific name, totally devoid of grace or poetry ; and
with regard to his logic — that because he does not know such a person,
therefore no such person can exist — I doubt not it must have called
forth many a smile from your readers, as well as from
Cornwall, Sept. 23, 1861. P. SMITH.
BINOCULAR LUSTRE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Being much interested -with the varied phenomena of the
stereoscope since its application to photography, and having now read
the paper by Sir David Brewster Cn Binocular Lustre, I feel inclined
to trespass on your columns with a few observations on this interesting
subject. Not having had the opportunity of seeing the effects of any
two mathematical solids- — the one drawn on a white, the other on a
dark ground — I can only imagine the appearance such a combination
might produce. Sir David Brewster’s explanation appears a reasonable
one ; yet I have my doubts. My attention was early drawn to the most
perfect deception conveyed to the brain by a stereograph of looking
glasses, glass globes or shades, highly-polished furniture, and all other
reflecting surfaces, including -windows. To look at only' one of the
pictures, the “high lights,” or “ lustre,” appear only' as white patches;
but when the two pictures are combined in the stereoscope, these -white
patches, as if by magic, become really bright and shining centres. A
glass globe, or a soap bubble, or a highly-polished piece of furniture,
appear to be really such, nor can the mind by any effort undeceive itself.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1801
i)0'
I have adopted, from the first binocular daguerreotype I produced, in
which were some polished shells, my own explanation of the phenomenon,
but would not even now intrude it on your valuable space did there not
appear some confusion in the explanations given by the several writers
who have treated this subject.
As the “high lights'’ of all reflecting bodies are the images, more or
les3 perfect, according to the form or quality of the reflecting surface,
of the source of light, whether it be the sun, a lamp, or a skylight or
window, it will therefore depend upon the situation of the eye upon
what part of the reflecting body the high light will be seen : the image
will move along the surface of the body as the eye moves. As a neces¬
sary result each eye must see this reflection on different parts of the
object; and, if the reflecting surface be an ordinary looking-glass, the
objects in that looking-glass come under the laws of binocular vision,
and appear at certain distances as the eyes alter their convergency. In
the soap bubble we have the same laws at work. We have the diffused
light of the bubble copied, and the concentrated lights from its convex
and concave surfaces ; and, as these concentrated lights appear in a dif¬
ferent place to each eye, as objects do in a looking-glass, the eyes have
to alter their convergence when looking at them in the stereoscope — con¬
sequently, while the mind appears to look at a sphere, it is at the same
time under the impression that this sphere is a transparent glass or water
one, inasmuch as the eyes have to alter their convergence when looking
at their concave and convex reflections, neither of which reflections
appear on the surfaces of the spheres. As the mind is thus subject to the
external senses for its real or unreal impressions, it has the idea coirveyed
to it by the two eyes and two pictures, as if it were looking at a real
bubble.
The same laws will explain why furniture appears to shine or possess
“lustre,” and why a bronze figure appears really as such. The polished
wood possesses an endless variety of reflecting surfaces on very imper¬
fect mirrors, the concentrated or “ high lights” of which do not appear
on the same spot to each eye, consequently the eyes have unconsciously to
alter their convergence in looking at the high lights from looking at the
surface of the furniture. And as some bronze figures possess so little of
the prismatic colours, a stereograph of it must give the brain the impres¬
sion of bronze. The other metals can be equally imitated, but the stereo¬
graph will require great precision in the artist to colour the two pictures
exactly alike. — I am, yours, &c., ' E. JONES.
Holywell , Se pt. 21st, 1861.
[Our correspondent’s views are perfectly sound, so far as they go. We
shall probably in our next make some further remarks on this subject. —
Ed.]
MICROMETRY.
To the Editor.
Sir. — I feel greatly obliged by your courtesy in having sent me a copy
of your paper on micrometry. It is a very pleasing paper on an interest¬
ing subject. Although I quite agree with you that photography is not
likely to supersede mechanical means in the production of micrometers,
' ill my trials, instigated by necessity, to supply quickly a rough and
ready measure for very minute microscopic substances, quite answered
il!,V requirements : and 1 think a micrometer much finer than that T pro¬
duced — mine having divisions j ^Jh of an inch in breadth — might be
made by photographic means.
I did not think the matter worth publishing until I saw the photo¬
graphers in America were working at the same subject, and that they
seemed to imagine divisions Truth of an inch (I believe that rvas the
reputed breadth) were remarkable ones to obtain. As I had easily pro¬
duced sharp lines Tuouth of an inch broad, and had used them success¬
fully as a micrometer, I thought it might be well to direct attention to
the fact, in case others might wish to pursue it further.
I had not noticed, before I received your paper, Mr. Maltwood’s finder :
however, although the idea of the photographic micrometer occurred to
me as an original one, of course I do not dispute the right of any person
who lays claim to it.— I am, yours, &c., THOMAS WOODS, M.D.
September 12th, 1861.
CAMERA CAMPESTRA.
To the Editor.
Sir. — In the remarks of “ Eye-witness ” upon the Photographic Exhi¬
bition of the British Association, the views taken with my Camera
Campcstra are. described as by Mr. Albin. May I beg to be allowed to
correct what is, 1 presume, a typographical error, — the views referred
to having been taken and exhibited by yours truly, C. ALFIERI.
Northwood , Hanley , Staffordshire,
September 21st, 1*861.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
ERRATA.
In consequence of an accident a packet of corrected proofs did not reach our pi inter
until the day after we “went to press” with the last number. Several annoying
errors therefore appeared ; but as some were evidently typical, and such as every one
could correct if he noticed them, it is needless to make special allusion thereto. We
must however beg our readers to correct the following, viz. : —
Page 326, column 1, line 6, for “cyraphite’’ read “graphite."
,, „ ,, 61, for “ litminated" read “ laminated."
,, ,, ,, 70, for “ conveyance " read “ convergence."
Pag3 334, column 1, the following comment after the letter signed “Verdant Green"
was altogether omitted, viz.: —
“ The addition of spirit to your albumen solution is quite inapplicable, as it would
immediately coagulate the albumen ; but you may, if you please, in order to avoid the
use of the glass rod or sponge, coat your plates after first wetting them by immersion in
distilled water, and draining pretty closely — not drying them."
There were also several corrections in Mr. Wall’s paper that should have been made,
but the omission does not render it unintelligible.
A. V.— Already answered.
C. Lamb.— No I On the contrary it retards the action.
Lynx-Eyed. — Thanks for the offer; hut it is not suitable.
P. S. — The interest of the subject has long since passed away.
Ambrose, — Yes ! Gutta-percha will do very well for the purpose.
T. II. S. (Bath;.— The subjects named have been frequently photographed.
Philo Photo — Wc condemn in toto anything approaching to coercion in the matter.
Cambria. — We have little doubt that Mr. Gulliver, of Swansea, would give you the
necessary instruction.
Photo-philo.— We cani ot give you any practical instructions in the daguerreotype
process : it is almost extinct.
Abraham. — Mr. Ilockin is in the habit of sending collodion out for exportation in
hermetically-sealed glass tubes.
0. C. — You have most likely added too much alcohol to your developer : make a fresh
quantity without any, and mix the two.
W.E. I. (Back Creek, Amherst, Victoria). — The value of a One Pound Note of the
Union Bank or the Bank of Australia in Liverpool is 18s;
P ortsmouth Boy. — There is no novelty, and, we may add, no advantage in the use of
sea water for salting your paper, in preference to a definite solution of pure chlorido of
sodium, barium, or ammonium.
A. L. — We cannot undertake to test lenses for any correspondent. Whenever we test
a lens, by request of the maker, it is for the purpose of publishing the result of our
examination, whether favourable or not.
Pyro.— 1. Au “ instantaneous” process is merely one in which all the chemicals are
nicely balanced one against the other. See ITardwich's Manual, and also The British
Journal of Photography Almanac for 1861. — 2. Yes, if they will bear much aperture,
and your light is very good.
.T. H. S. (Birmingham.) — The stain upon your plate is, we believe, oxide of silver, and
no doubt arises from the condition of your bath, which is probably surcharged with
ether and alcohol. Expose it to light in a shallow dish — then filter carefully — and,
before returning it to the hath receptacle, wash out the latter carefully with solution of
cyanide of potassium, then with water, and lastly with distilled water.
Cantab.— We have some difficulty in advising you about the size of pictures to adopt
without knowing more of your own desires and objects in view. Personally we do not
like very large ones. Ten by eight, or at most twelve by ten, inches would be suitable
to our ideas; but, if you require them for wall decoration, you may prefer larger
specimens. Large pictures are never so satisfactory for amateurs to work upon, as they
entail too much hard labour without an assistant.
J. II. S. (Birmingham). — Your are in error relative to the Journal which you quote.
Mr. Barber's paper appeared in this Journal, Volume VIII., page 159. It was read at
the North London Photographic Association. To decolourise your paper sensitising bath
you can, under the circumstances which you mentio-1, add liquid ammonia, stirring well
after each addition, until a brownish grey precipitate in small quantity is formed : the
ammonia will neutralise tlie acetic acid, and then throw down a little oxide of silver.
When 1 lie precipitate begins to appear, expose the solution to the sunlight, when tin
organic matter will unite w ith tlie oxide, and leave the solution clear by subsidence. You
can then filter and re-aeidify if you think tit.
W. Wilson.— 1. Re-wash your pyroxyline, using about an ounce of ammonia to a gallon
of water for the first wash, then several changes of plain water, letting the cotton absorb
the water, and squeezing it out again several times. You will not do any good by
attempting to repair the collodion made with the acid pyroxyline, and had better use it
up for cleaning your plates with; for which purpose add to it about a salt-spoon full of
carbonate of soda, and shake all up together.— 2. You cannot do better then follow Mr.
Barber’s directions for restoring your bath. — 3. See The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy Almanac, page 28.-4. Chloroform is of no use for neutralising acid collodion. —
5. Your friend can use either of the following numbers on your list, viz, 1, 8, 9— the two
first preferable.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, dc., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, JJpper Hornsey
Rise, London, N.
AU Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS.
PAG*
LEADER: Classification cf Photography.—
International Exhibition . 335
EXPERIMENTS WITH ALBUMEN ON GLASS
By Dr. R. L. MADDOX . 336
STRAY CHAPTERS EOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
ON VARNISHES. By JAMES MARTIN .. 337
NEW PLATE-HOLDER . 339
THE TAUPENOT PROCESS. By G. WARD-
LEY . 839
PHOTOGRAPHS OF WAR SCENES . 340
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR AT¬
MOSPHERE AS REVEALED BY SPEC¬
TRUM ANALYSIS. By S. HIQHLEY,
F.G.S., F.C.S., &c. f Continued from p. 303 ) 340
INSTANTANEOUS COLLODION WITH IO¬
DIDE OF IRON. By M. EUGENE SAH-
LER . 342
ACCIDENTS WHICH OCCUR WHEN THE
GREATEST SENSITIVENESS IS DESIRED.
By M. Mc-A, GAUDIN . 342
»AOI
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . 343
EXHIBITIONS: Exhibition of Photographs at
Manchester, in connexion with the Meeting
of the British Association. By our “Eye-
Witness” at Manchester . 344
PHOTOGRAPHIC OLLA PODRIDA . 348
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES: North London
Photographic Society — Discussion on Har.
rison's Lens. Edinburgh Photographic So.
ciety— Mr. Slight’s Paper On tlie Hot Water
Process ; Discussion on the same . 34R
NEW BOOKS . 350
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 350
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M LACAN. Letters from New
York. By C. A. SEELY . 351
CORRESPONDENCE . 352
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS , <fcc . 354
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 152, Vol. VIII.— OCTOBER 15, 1861.
Restoration of Sensitiveness. — In a paper On the Tau-
inot Process, by Mr. Wardley, which appeared in our last
ipression, we find at page 340 the following observations,
z. : — “A ray of white light falling upon a sensitive collodion
ate cannot be obliterated by an after application of an iodide
dution, or even iodised albumen.” The observation was in
tference to the presumed impunity with which collodio-albumen
ates might be prepared in ordinary daylight prior to their
nal sensitisation.
That an iodide will not restore the normal condition of a
late that has received an actinic impression where anything
iproaching to reduction has taken place we are quite prepared
believe ; but we are somewhat surprised to learn that Mr.
rardley has arrived at the conclusion that no actinic impres-
on can be removed bv an iodide, and this from direct experiment
ion a sensitive collodionised plate. We shall have much plea-
ire in publishing a detailed account of his experiments if he
ill afford us the means of so doing. That an actinic impres-
on can be removed from a sensitive collodionised film we have
)t a shadow of a doubt; and, what is still more important, it
m be removed from a sensitised collodio-albumeuised plate, as
3 have proved by direct expei'iment. But this is to be accom-
ished, not by an iodide, but by iodine. If a sensitive plate
at has been exposed to light be soaked for a short space of
ne in water containing a few drops of tincture of iodine, and
ien drained, washed, and dried, it will be found to have re¬
tained its former capability of receiving an impression in the
imera. Of this we are certain ; but whether it receives an
[ually vivid impression in the same space of time for exposure
3 are not prepared to decide. One thing must be noted as of
iportance to success in this experiment, namely, that the
dised water shall not have been entirely decolourised, which is
l indication that the amount of tincture of iodine added has
)t been quite sufficient : in that case the plate should be again
aked in a fresh quantity of water prepared as before.
Prima facie we should have expected that, if the collodionised
usitive plate were free from albumen or other organic matter of
similar nature, an actinic impression would have been remove-
le by an iodide ; but, that if any organic matter like that above
dicated were present, although we should not have absolutely
pected a restoration of the sensitive condition where the iodine
plied was in combination with some base, we should not have
en surprised had it proved to be the case, the affinity of
dine for silver being so very strong that an insoluble salt of
ver in contact with iodine always becomes converted into an
lide. The presence of organic matter, however, so frequently
;ally alters previously existing affinities that we ought scarcely
feel surprise at any abnormal phenomenon which might re-
lt from its introduction. It happens appropriately enough
at in another column of our last number an observation is
lorded bearing somewhat upon this same question, though not
rectly identical therewith. At page 349 we find that in the
port of a discussion at the Edinburgh Photographic Society
hon the hot-water process, Mr. J. T. Taylor is represented to
ve said : — “ There was, he conceived, a theoretic objection to
the use of acetic acid — at least it was a well-known fact that it
served to remove the latent image from an undeveloped plate ;
and even when mixed with the pyrogallic acid it might have this
tendency.” Owing to the impromptu nature of a debate it fre¬
quently happens that a speaker gives utterance to an opinion
that he would scarcely be inclined to endorse on careful recon¬
sideration of the subject, and we fancy that this is one of those
occasions. A great and overwhelming excess of acetic when
mixed with pyrogallic acid would no doubt restrain the appear¬
ance of an image, or even prevent it altogether until more of the
reducing agent should be added ; but we do not apprehend that
it would remove it altogether. No doubt, also, Mr. Taylor did
not at the moment call to mind the fact that the removal of the
latent image by means of acetic acid was noticed in connexion
with Dr. Hill Norris’s prepared plates, respecting which it must
not be forgotten that the preservative agent is gelatine, and that
it is not applied until after the free nitrate of silver has been as
thoroughly removed from the film as it is possible by mere
washing to remove it : so that too small a quantity, at any rate,
would remain to unite with the gelatine to form with it an
organic compound, even were it not also notorious that a union
with that substance does not very readily occur, but requires
some time for its accomplishment. In the hot water process,
on the contrary, as detailed by Mr. Slight, the chemical combi¬
nation between the albumen and the nitrate of silver cannot fail
to take place. And here we have a compound capable of reduc¬
tion by the mere action of light, if continued sufficiently long,
without the aid of any developer; and no doubt this reduction
is brought about (possibly to an infinitessimal extent only) by
the short exposure in the camera. It will therefore be at once
perceived why it is probable — we do not say certain — that the
so-called latent image upon such a plate would not be removed
by the action of acetic acid alone. It is not in any spirit of
contradiction that we make these observations ; but we deem it
absolutely necessary to keep a vigilant eye upon all that is put
forth in connexion with our art, in order to separate carefully
opinions from ascertained facts, or soon our landmarks would be
removed, and we should become mere wanderers in the field of
photographic science.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTION'S TO ART.
“the lady of shalott.”
When poetry and music are wedded together, they not only
mutually enhance each other’s charms, but give birth to new
beauties not possessed by either alone. With poetry and painting
no such very intimate union can exist, but each can aid in iHus-
trating the other — perhaps because they speak in different
though similar languages, each appealing more particularly to
the fancy by means of the ideal — the one through the ear, the
other through the eye.
Of all the ambitious attempts made by photographers, perhaps
those may be reckoned the most so where they have sought by
aid of the camera to do what the pencil has hitherto done in
presenting to the eye a translation of the poet's ideas into
visible forms. In this branch of our art the difficulties are
358
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1801
certainly increased when the illustrator selects for his subject
anything that is not pretty generally known; and, though perhaps
it w'ould be wrong toassert that Tennyson’s works come under this
category, we fancy that with the majority even of the reading
public a portion only of his poems can be reckoned as being
“ familiar in their mouths as household words.” We hare been
led to these reflections from a critical examination of one of the
pictures recently exhibited at Manchester by Mr. Henry P.
Robinson, of Leamington, a gentleman whose merits as an art-
photographer have long been recognised. Our worthy coadjutor
and eye-witness at Manchester appears to have held this picture
in lower estimation than we are inclined to do, and we cannot
help fancying that this arises in some measure from his not
having been familiar with the poem of “ The Lady of Slialott ” — a
condition which we personally shared to the extent of not
knowing anything about it whatever until, not finding a satis¬
factory explanation of several peculiarities in the picture in
question amongst the few verses quoted in illustration, we had
recourse to the poem itself; and it was not until we had read
it entirely through that we became thoroughly alive to the drift
of the artist’s ideas in his method of dealing with so difficult
a theme. He may well exclaim with the poet — “ ’Tis not in
mortals to command success ; but we’ll do more, Sempronius !
we’ll deserve it !” And truly we think Mr. Robinson has deserved
it, though we admit that his success is but a partial one.
The following is the descriptive extract from “ The Lady of
Shalott —
“Down she came, and found a boat,
Beneath a willow, left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
* The Lady of Shalott!’
“And down the river’s dim expanse —
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance —
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
“ And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay ;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
“Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right—
The leaves upon her falling light —
Through the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot ;
“And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her sing, in her last song,
‘ The Lady of Shalott., ”
Tennyson.
This extract is appended to the picture ; but in order to
make it understood we think something more is needed.
Embowered by “four grey walls and four grey towers,” on a
solitary island in the river which flows down to Camelot, there
lives a mysterious lady, whose sole occupation is that of weaving,
night and day, a magic web representing the shadows of the
world, which appear to her in a mirror constantly before her.
Moreover —
“ She has heard a whisper say
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.”
Does there exist a woman who under such circumstances would
not look down to Camelot ? Of course not. And accordingly,
when “ bold Sir Launcelot ” came riding by, leaving web and
• loom “ she look’d down to Camelot,” and immediately —
“ Out flew the web and floated wide,
The mirror crack’d from side to side ;
‘The curse is come upon me,’ cried
The Lady of Shalott !”
Impressed with the conviction that her end has come, she
makes no attempt to avert her expected doom ; but, quietly
accepting it, makes the boat her funeral bier, and, singing her
own dirge while “floating down to Camelot. s expires ere she
reaches “ the first house by the water side,”
That there is something fragmentary, obscure, mystical, and
gloomy in the preceding we presume no one will question ; and
it appears to us that it is to these points in particular that Mr.
Robinson has directed our attention. The gloom of twilight on
the river overshadowed by the willows, backed by the sloping
“ fields of barley and of rye,” is rendered to perfection — the
more so that the sky itself, not visible, is reflected from the
water's surface.
Candidly we must allow we do not like the boat, which is
not a boat but a punt. Its form is too angular for elegance of
composition; and, though the idea of elegance is not included
in the poem, yet assuredly that of inelegance is still less so.
Again : there is certainly an absence of apparent motion in the
boat ; but we demur to the objection made by a contemporary,
that “ a boat gliding, however gently, down a stream would, in
dividing the water, cause slight eddying wavelets,” because a
boat simply carried down by the stream does not divide the
water, and there is consequently no ripple from that cause — a
fact for which we can vouch, having too often witnessed the
phenomenon to have any doubt about it. The leaves of the
lily, &c., being fixed, while the stream is gliding by them, would
cause a ripple, but not so the boat.
Mr. Robinson has departed somewhat from the strict letter
of the description for the sake of artistic harmony of compo¬
sition, and in so doing we presume he has only exercised a discre¬
tionary license ; but we do not see why it was necessary to make
the lady lie down with her head towards the stern of the boat —
an unlikely proceeding, as, after entering the boat and “ casting
off,” she would have had to turn round to do so. Neither
was it necessary to make her float feet forward, if that was the
object in view ; for when a boat floats down the stream it does
so just as readily stern forward as in the opposite manner.
Lastly, by way of objection, we notice a few hard outlines,
which we feel convinced Mr. Robinson could have avoided.
There are also some minor shortcomings ; but, in spite of
them all, a work bearing the stamp of artistic talent has been
produced, and one which also bears evidence that its author
needs but a little more “thinking out” of some of the minor
details of his composition in order to enable him to place
before the public a work that shall defy adverse criticism.
We sincerely trust that he will long persevere in the course
which he has so worthily entered upon.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
PYROGALLIC ACID.
Synonymes. — Sublimed gallic acid.
Composition. — C12 Ha Oa.
Equivalent. — 126.
Preparation. — If gallic acid be heated to a temperature not ex¬
ceeding 420° F. (215° C) or thereabouts, it is converted into
carbonic acid gas and a solid white crystalline product, the acid,
the history of which we are now about to consider. This brief
statement includes the main fact in reference to the preparation of
this substance; but there are various ways of arriving at a satis¬
factory result, some details of which will doubtless be interesting,
not only to those photographers who may be sometimes necessi¬
tated to make their own chemicals, but also to those more fortu¬
nately situated. It may perhaps be not altogether inappropriate to
state that the word “ fortunately” is here employed under the con¬
viction that it is more advantageous to be able to purchase than to
be obliged to make one’s chemicals, at least in the majority of cases;
and though it may be convenient to know how to supply a
deficiency when occasion requires, yet it seldom happens that pre¬
parations of the kind now under consideration can be made as
economically, on the small scale and with inefficient means, as by
manufacturers, who are furnished with every appliance.
When gallic acid is employed as the source of pyrogallic aciu,
and the process is conducted by cautiously heating the material
in a half-filled retort placed in an oil-bath, it is found that 100
parts of gallic acid yield 1T7 parts pyrogallic acid. When
powdered gall nuts are used for the manufacture of this acid, the
October 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
35V
yield is of course much smaller in proportion to the bulk of material
operated on, and is also more likely to be contaminated with em-
pyreumatic products. The following simple, yet efficient, process
yields the largest per centage and the best product : — Prepare a
cold infusion by macerating finely-powdered gall nuts in cold water
during two or three days; strain the mixture at the end of this
time through a linen filter ; and having by this means obtained a
clear liquor, evaporate the same to the consistence of an extract,
which should be so dry in this instance as to admit (after it has
cooled) of its being reduced to powder. A cast-iron pan should
then be procured, about three or four inches deep, and of such a
shape in other respects as to fit an ordinary chip hat-box quite
tightly. The dry and finely-powdered extract, obtained by evapor¬
ating the cold infusion before described, should now be uniformly
spread to the depth of half-an-incli over the bottom of the cast-
iron pan, a sheet of white filtering paper, pierced with pin-holes,
tied over it, and the whole surmounted by the hat-box, band-box,
or paper cap, with which the operator may have supplied himself.
The whole arrangement is now ready for the application of heat,
which is by far the most critical operation in the manufacture of
this substance ; for whereas it has been found that the process
now described yields, when properly conducted, rather more than
50 per cent, of colourless acid, and about 40 per cent, of slightly
coloured lamina) and needles, yet, if the heat be incautiously
applied, the yield of pyrogallic acid is reduced one-half. It will be
found, on removing the paper cap or hat-box, that the filtering
paper lias absorbed the greater portion of the empyreumatic oil :
it will therefore be advisable, in re-subliming the coloured portion
of the crystals, to renew the filtering paper, in order that the em¬
pyreumatic products may be more completely absorbed.
Properties. — -This substance, which, strictly speaking, is not an
acid, occurs, when freshly prepared, in brilliant crystalline laminae,
or plates and needles, of the most perfect whiteness. It is perma¬
nent in the air when dry, and in this condition does not redden
litmus paper. It is a powerful de-oxidising agent, reducing espe¬
cially all the oxides of the noble metals, and hence its application
in photography as a developing agent. It is completely soluble in
alcohol, ether, and water. Its solution in the latter menstruum
blackens on exposure to air, and deposits a brown powder. When
suddenly heated in the air, it burns with a red flame, leaving no
residue of carbon. It is an anhydrous substance, melting at 240° F.
to a colourless oil, which solidifies in a radiated mass on cooling.
Pyrogallic acid, when dissolved in alkaline solutions, absorbs
oxygen with great avidity, yielding solutions which are variously
coloured, according to the nature and quantity of the alkali, ulti¬
mately turning to a brown or mouldy substance, acetic acid perhaps
being formed at the same time.
Uses. — This beautiful preparation is employed by photographers
as a developing or reducing agent, principally in the negative col¬
lodion process. It acts so vigorously in this respect that it may
not be used alone, but is invariably mixed with an acid to retard
and regulate its action. The acids usually employed for tins pur¬
pose in the preparation of negative developing solutions are acetic
acid and citric acid ; and the reasons for preferring one to the other
vary with the character of the collodion, and the circumstances
under which the picture is taken. Acetic acid is not so powerful
a retarding agent as citric acid, and, in consequence, the reducing
power of the pyrogallic acid is more free to act. A developing
fluid, therefore, prepared with these two acids is especially ap¬
plicable in the case of simply iodised collodions at moderate tem¬
peratures, with an equable and due amount of illumination to the
whole picture. The proportion of the acid to the ounce of water
varies from five to thirty minims, according to the judgment of the
operator. It need only be stated in tins place that the maximum
of density is yielded by the minimum of acid ; but that in collodions
which give a fair amount of density, it is better to employ the
largest proportion of acid, with a view of avoiding stains in deve¬
loping, and causing a more equal reduction in the silver. It should
be borne in mind, also, that in proportion as the acetic acid is di¬
minished in quantity, the alcohol should be increased, in order that
the fluid adhering to the plate, and that poured upon it for the pur¬
pose of developing the latent image, should be as near as possible
of the same specific gravity, and thus avoid the stains which would
be caused b}r inattention to this particular. A developer prepared
with pyrogallic acid, in combination with citric acid, may be re¬
garded as a weaker reducing agent than one in which acetic acid
is used ; and this arises from the fact that citric acid is a more
powerful retarding agent than acetic — three-quarters of a grain
of the solid acid being equal to about twenty minims of the
liquid. Photographers find it highly convenient to avail them¬
selves of this property when working with large plates at a high
temperature. As a general rule, chemical reactions proceed with
much greater energy when the liquids are warm than when they
are cold ; and, in consequence, it is found in practising the wet
collodion process in a tent in the summer time, that a weak de¬
veloper, such as is produced by the combination of citric and pyro¬
gallic acid, is quite sufficient to produce detail, even in the darker
shadows of a picture.
When collodion iodised with cadmuim is used for landscape pur¬
poses, the plate comes from the bath in a nearly neutral condition,
owing to the absence of free nitric acid, which is always eliminated
in the case of a collodion containing free iodine, which a cadmuim
collodion does not. Citric acid should therefore be employed in the
developer, to prevent over-action in the high lights, and conse¬
quent general feebleness of the image. A pyrogallic with citric
acid developer is, however, unsuitable for a bromo-iodised collo¬
dion. Pyrogallic acid with citric acid produces a negative of a
bluish tint; and as this colour is very favourable to the passage of
the actinic rays, the real intensity of such a negative is much less
than it seems to be — or, in other words, negatives produced in this
way will be found to be “quick-printing” negatives. Pyrogallic
acid may be sometimes used with advantage for intensifying a ne¬
gative taken by the collodio-albumen process, which has been par¬
tially developed by gallo-nitrate of silver. It should be done,
however, with caution, as it is apt to produce fogging. Pyrogallic
acid is also occasionally employed as a developing agent in the
positive collodion process, in which case nitric acid should be
added as the retarding agent, as the image produced when lacetio
acid is used is yellow and dull. If the proportions of two grains of
pyrogallic acid, one drop of nitric acid, and one ounce of water be
observed, the image produced is purely white and lustreless ;
while, if the proportion of nitric acid be increased, the deposit be¬
comes metallic, and the middle tints of the picture suffer deteriora¬
tion.
Impurities and Tests. — The principal impurities likely to occur in
this delicate preparation are metagallic acid and sundry empyreu¬
matic products of an indefinite nature, which have the effect of
diminishing the reducing power of the acid, while, by unduly
increasing the opacity of the image, they fail altogether in pro¬
ducing the more delicate shadows of the picture. Metagallic acid
occurs as a black, shining, amorphous substance, insoluble in
water, but soluble in alkalies, from which it may be again preeqri-
tated as a black powder by the addition of an acid. It would be
immediately recognised by its colour when occurring as an acci¬
dental impurity in pyrogallic acid. An undue amount of em¬
pyreumatic product would be indicated by the odour possessed by
a sample so contaminated. Pure pyrogallic acid, crystallised from
its aqueous or alcoholic solution in vacuo, should possess no odour;
and in proportion as commercial samples are free from smell, so is
their purity from empyreumatic products. Both these impurities
occur in the manufacture from want of proper attention to the
temperature at which the sublimation is allowed to take place — a
circumstance which ought not to cause much surprise when the
present reprehensible desire for cheapness is remembered; for the
writer does not remember to have heard very frequent allusions to
metagallic acid or empyreumatic products when pyrogallic acid
was sold at five shillings a drachm. It is probable that it paid the
manufacturing chemist to bestow more attention then than it does
now, when the same preparation can be bought for five shillings
an ounce.
Effect of internal use. — No case of poisoning on record. It has
an extremely bitter taste, and would probably act as an astringent,
It is said to be as bitter as salicine.
Antidote. — Not known.
— - - -
ON THE CHOICE OE A DEY PROCESS.
By George Shadbolt.
[Read at a meeting of the Bradford Photographic Society, October 3id, 1361.]
Having been invited by your Honorary Secretary to contribute a
paper to be read at one of your ordinary meetings, I have, at his in¬
stigation, selected the consideration of the relative advantages of the
various preservative processes as my theme. It is not improbable
that some might be inclined to do what in Parliament is designated
“moving the previous question” — i.c., discuss whether it is woitli
while to forsake the ordinary moist collodion process for any pre¬
servative process at all ; but this is a question already settled with
the majority of amateur operators, as far as landscape photography
is concerned, it being not a matter of choice but of necessity with
them to adopt some preservative process, or abstain altogether
from photography “in the field.”
358
T1IL BRixiSlt JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1661
It has been not un frequently objected that the quality of the
pictures upon dry plates is never equal to the best of those taken
on wet collodion ; but this is an assertion which I am by no means
ready to admit as proved. On the contrary, I am convinced that,
excepting where figures are included in the subject depicted, there
is no need for the dry-plate negatives to be one whit behind wet
ones in quality ; and then only because the extra time of exposure
demanded causes an air of constraint to be assumed by the several
persons included in the picture, even supposing that they have
not, during the exposure of the plate, spoilt it by movement. On
the other hand, there is a positive advantage in the employment
of preserved plates where a very protracted exposure is needful —
such as for dimly-lighted interiors, &c. — because the condition of
the sensitive surface is uniform during the whole time of exposure,
whereas with a moist film this is not the case ; but at any rate,
whatever decision we may arrive at on these points, assuming that
we determine for any cause to adopt some kind of preservative
process, it is certainly not a matter of indifference which we shall
select ; and yet it would be, I believe, impossible to point to any
one and say with perfect truth — “ this is the best."
The fact is, that the several processes for dry-plate photography
may be compared to the various brushes and pigments used by the
painter, according to the effect which it is his object to produce,
and which he finds most convenient to employ under each particu¬
lar requirement of surrounding circumstances.
In photography personal predilections and aversions to certain
methods of manipulation must always have a large share in deter¬
mining the selection of a process ; and correctly so, for it is
notorious that few, if any, succeed in performing well that which
to them is especially obnoxious. I may here remark that I believe
it to be quite possible to take good negatives by nearly every one
of the processes and modifications that have been introduced,
including even that one which was proposed originally in joke —
the “ gin-and-water process.” Of course I need scarcely add that
I have no doubt that raspberry syrup may be very well employed,
though I should no more think of advising its selection preferen¬
tially than I should gin-and-water.
Amongst the most important of our considerations before adopt¬
ing any mode of proceeding is the length of time which we desire
our plates to remain in a sensitive condition before exposure ; and
subsidiary to this is another, viz., how soon after preparation do
we desire to be able to use them ? As a general rule, it may be
assumed that plates which will ^remain effectively sensitive for the
longest space of time prior to use, are not capable of being made
so rapidly impressionable as those which will only keep good for a
shorter period — that is to say, with our present knowledge of the
laws which appear to govern the development of the photogenic
phenomena.
An intelligent photographer, who is desirous of reaching a high
standard of excellence in his productions, cannot expect to do so
without making himself acquainted with the broad principles to be
kept in view in order to attain his end. He will not be contented
with merely following directions however minute in detail, or
adhering to formulae however perfect, but must have a good and
sufficient reason for every step in the operations which he adopts.
The saying that “ the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life,” is
equally true in photographic as in matters of much higher moment.
It will be advantageous to start with the following principles as
a “base of operations:” —
Pure Iodide of Silver alone is incapable of being darkened by
exposure to light of any degree of intensity, or for any reasonable
length of time : it is, therefore, commonly regarded as insensitive to
the action of light. Of this I have my doubt, but it is immaterial
so far as our present object is concerned.
Bromide of Silver is capable of being darkened to some extent
by the action of light, even when pure.
Chloride of Silver is not only sensitive to light, but is capable
of complete reduction to the metallic form.
With the preceding three salts of silver, insoluble in water, the
contact of organic matter materially exalts their readiness to
receive an actinic impression, cither latent or visible, as the
case may be; hence, in every photographic process (except the
Daguerreotype) the presence of organic matter, in some form or
other, is regarded as a sine qua non. There is nothing here stated
that is not well known to all scientific and to many ordinary photo¬
graphers, but it is a point of importance to bear in mind.
The visible photographic image requires for its production the
presence of a substance readily reducible under the influence of
some de-oxidising agent ; hence the absolute necessity of conjoining
with the iodide and organic matter another salt of silver, which
for convenience is generally the nitrate of that metal, but it may
be without detriment reduced to an almost inlinitessimal quantity
until after the actinic impression has been received : it must, how¬
ever, be added before or contemporaneously with the application of
the developing agent. The smaller the quantity of nitrate of silver
present, the longer will the sensitive film retain its powers unde¬
teriorated ; and further it appears that the presence of nitrate of
silver may be altogether dispensed with before exposure, if wo
substitute for it the oxide of the same base in combination with
organic matter, or some other silver salt.
Let us now examine the various processes in detail, bearing these
facts in mind ; and, as one of the simplest in principle, we will com¬
mence with —
Albumen upon Glass. — An alkaline iodide (with or without
bromide or chloride) is dissolved in the albumen, and finally spread
upon glass plates and dried. The plates are immersed in a solu¬
tion of nitrate of silver to render them sensitive, and by double
decomposition iodide of silver is formed in contact with the organic
matter (the albumen), which itself unites with a portion of oxide of
silver obtained from the nitrate. The film of albumen at the same
time becomes coagulated, and consequently hardened in a surprising
manner. So far everything is in favour of this process ; but there
are several serious disadvantages attending it. In the first place,
it is not easy to obtain a film of uniform thickness, partly from the
length of time required in drying, which, under favourable circum¬
stances, must occupy several hours ; and therefore the albumen has
a tendency to collect towards the lower edge of the plate if it be
not perfectly horizontal, and the extra thickness of film in the
finished negative makes an immense difference in the power of
arresting the actinic rays. Secondly, the time occupied in drying
the film renders it liable to be readily contaminated by minute
particles of dust falling on it, and each particle becomes under the
developer a centre of chemical action, causing a circular spot on
the film. Thirdly, in consequence of the comparatively large
quantity of organic compound with oxide of silver (after sensitis¬
ing), there is a tendency to spontaneous reduction, and consequently
fogging, without the previous action of light ; hence it is necessary
to supply an oxidating substance in order to restrain the spon¬
taneous decomposition. For this purpose a considerable quantity
of acetic acid is added to the nitrate bath, and the result is a
materially diminished sensitiveness of the film, so that the process
is generally found to be a “slow” one. It is manifest that none
but an experienced hand would be likely to adopt this process as
his first essay in preservative ones, although we believe it to have
been the first dry process upon glass plates.
The Collodio-albumen or Taupenot Process is one originally
introduced by Dr. Taupenot (a French amateur), with a view to
obtaining the advantages of the rapidity of collodion with the ex¬
cellent qualities of albumen combined. Although in the special
object aimed at the process did not come up to the expectations of
the designer, it is one that has deservedly met with much favour,
and by which very excellent results have been attained. By the
previous application of collodion to the glass plate a much more
uniform and a thicker film of albumen can be applied than when it
is omitted, it acting in the capacity of a very delicate sponge, in
addition to which the film of iodide of silver produced by an im¬
mersion of the collodion in the nitrate of silver bath is supposed
by some to have the beneficial effect of shortening the time requisite
for exposure in the camera. Unfortunately, however, the advan¬
tages are not obtained without some corresponding disadvantages,
the chief of which are liability of the film to blistering, and the
necessity for sensitising and washing twice instead of once. By
careful manipulation the former defect can be avoided, but I think
the difficulty sufficiently great to deter the novice from adopting
this in his first dry-plate attempt.
The Fothergill Process is closely allied to the preceding, but
differs in the important particular that the operation of sensitising
has to be performed but once ; and, although not entirely free from
liability to blistering of the film, it is far less obnoxious to this
annoyance than its earlier congener. A tyro in dry-plate photo¬
graphy may well adopt this for his first essay, especially as there
are severai modifications in manipulation from which he may
choose ; but, whatever be the modification adopted, the principle
upon which success depends is the presence of a minimum quantity
of a compound of albumen and oxide of silver in contact with the
iodide of silver in the collodion film. I would suggest the fol¬
lowing slight variation of Mr. Hannaford’s modification of this
process, suggested by Mr. Barber : — Coat the plate with a collodion
of a non-contractile character, which, however, mu§t not be of the
powdery kind ; after removal from the silver bath soak it in filtered
October IS, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
350
rain water, changing the same twice or thrice at least, so as to
remove all but a mere trace of the free nitrate of silver ; drain for
a few moments, and then pour over the plate sufficient of the albu¬
men solution to cover it perfectly ; then drain and dry thoroughly ,
finishing the drying by the application of heat, for which purpose
a clean brick made hot in an oven, and placed near the plates, is
very convenient ; or, after draining, the albumenised plate may be
immersed in water nearly boiling. The albumen solution is made
by adding to one ounce of the white of egg seven ounces of distilled
water, and a sufficient quantity of oxide of silver dissolved in
ammonia. The sufficient quantity should be determined by trial ;
but probably eight grains of oxide in eighty minims of liquor
ammoniae to the above-mentioned quantity of dilute albumen would
be about the mark. It is needful to keep the albumen solution thus
prepared rigidly from exposure to light.
Dr. Hill Norris’s Process is one that deserves consideration,
from its great simplicity. It is the opinion of the designer that
the gelatine with which the collodion film is covered after sensi¬
tising acts chiefly mechanically, by preventing the cells (if I may
so designate them) of the collodion from becoming impervious to
aqueous solutions. The substitution of gum, dextrine, mctagela-
tine, &c., for ordinary gelatine, does not, in my opinion, affect the
integrity of the process, which is essentially the same whichever
of those substances may be found most convenient by each indi¬
vidual operator. This process is one quite worth the attention of
a beginner. One essential requisite to success in this process is
the entire removal of free nitrate of silver from the film prior to
coating it with the gelatine ; and, for the benefit of my auditors, I
may as well indicate a mode of proceeding which I have myself
practised with great satisfaction.
After coating the plate Avith a non-contractile collodion, and
sensitising it in the ordinary thirty-grain neutral nitrate of silver
bath, I poured over it a syrup made of honey one part, distilled
water two parts (by measure) : the honey dissolves readily on the
Application of heat, and the solution must be filtered through bibu¬
lous paper prior to use. In all samples of honey a considerable
|uantity of pollen is present, each grain of which would cause a spot
if the filtration were omitted. If kept in small phials quite full, the
syrup will remain good for manj^ months. When the syrup lies
evenly on the plate the latter is washed freely under the tap,
until, on draining the plate, the last adhering drop of water ceases
to excite any sweet or metallic taste when applied to the tongue.
Solution of gelatine, three grains to each ounce of water, with ten
per cent, of alcohol added, is then poured hot over the plate, which
is subsequently drained and allowed to dry, when it is ready for
exposure.
The gelatine solution is made by soaking three grains of gelatine
in an ounce of cold distilled water, and, when it has well swelled,
is to be dissolved by application of heat. It is well to make about
twenty ounces at a time. When cool, the white of an egg is to
be added, and well mixed : the whole is then to be made quite hot,
to coagulate the albumen. The mixture must be permitted to
?tand for a minute or so, and then be poured through a conical
ilannel bag (a jelly bag) in front of the fire. The first portion that
runs through will not be quite clear ; but, by pouring it through
the flannel filter a second time, it will become quite brilliant.
I wo ounces of alcohol may then be added to preserve the solution,
md it is fit for use.
When about to be used, the bottle should be stood in a jug of
lot water to render it fluid, and a small quantity made very hot,
n a glass beaker, by means of a water bath, for covering each
flate. Ihe chief object of the honey sj'rup is to entirely remove
the free nitrate of silver ; but I believe it is also useful in another
vay, rendering the plate rather more sensitive than when prepared
without it, .although but an infinitesimal quantity of the compound
)f honey and oxide of silver can possibly be left on the plate. I
think it highly probable that the same method of operation might
?e useful in the next process I shall notice, viz. —
The Tannin Process of Major Russell, which is very uniform in
iffording fine results. It bears some analogy to Dr. Norris’s process,
though it has quite sufficient novelty to preclude its being merely
fiassed with the latter, inasmuch as gelatine, gum, &c., if not
xctually inert substances, are very much less active than tannic
icid ; and, while the former tend to cause the film to adhere to the
jlass, the latter tends rather to make it easily separate. This pro-
'ess entails a trifle more trouble than some others, but not suffi¬
cient to deter debutantes from attempting it, especially when aided
ly the very minute directions for its practice contained in the
vork recently published by its author.
The Resin Process certainly may claim a first place for sim«
plicity. With the addition of a minute quantity of common resin
to any good negative collodion, the sensitised plate has merely to
be well washed and thoroughly dried to be fit for use. It also has
its difficulties, or rather tender points ; but by the adoption of cer¬
tain precautions these can be avoided. The most difficult to remedy
is a defect which it has in common with the tannin process — lia¬
bility of the film to slip off the glass during and after development.
In both cases varnishing the edge of the plate is recommended as
a preventive.
Of the Moist Preservative Processes, contemptuously designated
by some the “ sticky” processes, it is natural that I should give the
preference to the use of honey, which I certainly do ; and still more,
I may say that, if my object be to prepare plates that I am certain
to use within twenty-four hours after preparation, I prefer the
honey process to any other preservative process yet devised ;
because I can not only prepare my plates more rapidly, and ex¬
pose them sooner after preparation, if I require to do so, than those
by any dry process whatever, but they involve less subsequent
labour in development, and are more sensitive, I believe, than any
other preserved plates, either dry or “sticky.” They are, how¬
ever, not so well adapted for “keeping” any considerable length
of time, and are more liable to be spoiled, from the fact that minute
particles of dust, &c., falling on the plate are sure to adhere’
to it. The same observation applies, however, to all the
“ sticky ” processes, of which the oxymel and the malt process are
the only other representatives, in my opinion, worth particular at¬
tention. The raspberry syrup being a mere variation of oxymel
and glycerine almost invariably producing a fogging, I do not in¬
clude in the category of probabilities for adoption.
From the preceding remarks it will be perceived that I am in¬
clined rather to favour the Fothergill, tannin, and resin processes
amongst the dry ones for choice, my own predilection being rather
with the first named ; and for a moist process, certainly the honey
retains my affections above all its competitors. There are, how¬
ever, always little personal considerations which rightly enough
influence an operator in the choice of the particular mode of
manipulation which he finally adopts, and which I have before
remarked should be allowed to have their full weight.
Before bringing my observations to a close I would add two
remarks by way of caution. The first is, never to forget that, when
the free nitrate of silver has been removed, it must be restored
before or at the time of development, or no picture will appear.
The second : having once selected a process on which to try your
hand, do not give it up from having a few or even many failures,
but persevere until you do succeed with it, as you surely will if
you faint not ; and then, if you have a mind to change it for another,
remember that your previous labour has not been thrown away, but
that you have gained experience in one process that will certainly
be useful in any other you may work upon eventually.
THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OP 1862:
What are the Arrangements Made for Representing
Photography There?
By C. Jabez Hughes.
[Read at a Meeting of the South London Photographic Association, October 10, 1861.]
A few days since, I took my walks in the neighbourhood of
South Kensington, and for the first time saw the great building in
course of erection for the International Exhibition of 1862. I was
surprised, astonished, and delighted. I was not prepared for the
great progress made. In my mind the intended Exhibition had
been a vague, indefinite, unsubstantial possibility — a thing requiring
much moie talk, and thought, and calculation, and noise, and
bother, and puff, and advertising, before it could take a material
existence. Yet there the great fact stood before me; and a very
great one it is. As I wandered down its great length, and gazed
on the stupendous crystal towers in course of erection, I began to
realise the vastness and grandeur of the scheme. As the shell
typifies the fish, as the cast indicates the model, and the house
the tenant, so surely does this vast and grand building imply the
magnificent collection of the world’s choicest products speedily to
be there collected. With an undying remembrance of the glories
of 1851 — with a vivid recollection of the Exhibition of Dublin and
the Art Treasures of Manchester — deeply impressed with what
has been done on the Champs Elysees , and with Avhat has been
perpetuated at Sydenham — Avith these souvenirs fresh in my mind,
I look to the neAv Exhibition to eclipse them all. It cannot have
the startling prestige of 1851, nor, falling on less pacific times,
av ill it pretend to herald in a delusive peaceful millenium; but it
300
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1861
comes at a more stirring and energetic period, and will bear many
of the fruits of which the former great Exhibition only laid the
seeds.
Vast and varied, however, as this mighty collection will be, its
distinguishing characteristic will consist in the grand display of
modern fine art. All nations will contribute examples of their
greatest living and recently deceased artists. La belle. France,
young Italy, {esthetic Germany, clever Belgium, realistic Holland,
even distant Russia, will send their trophies of science and art and
industry to compare with the treasures of Old England.
And when this grand collection is brought together — when this
galaxy of talent is convened— -amidst this very constellation of
genius, we, as photographers, naturally ask, How will our favourite
pursuit be represented? AVhen all the sister arts are assembled
in their choicest and most brilliant attire — Painting glowing with
all the charms of colour, and Sculpture in her purest forms ; the
industrial arts each in its most attractive guise; Music, with
enchanting strains, and Poetry beautifying and idealising all — in
this gay assemblage, and in the presence of wisdom, and rank, and
wealth, and youth, and beauty, where shall we look for our idol
art ? Will it occupy the distinguished position to which it aspires ?
Shall we see it appear with its credentials in its hand, and claim a
place among the highest arts ? and will its claims he acknowledged
and itself welcomed into the inner and charmed circle as the most
youthful of the arts? Will the protecting geniuses Wisdom and
Beauty recognise this young offspring of Science and Art, and,
placing it on its pedestal, call upon all to pay it homage? and,
clothed in the robes of beauty, with the effulgent star of truth on
its brow, shall we witness its apotheosis?
Or, to employ humbler imagery, shall we find photography at
the new Exhibition like the celebrated five wise virgins ? Will
its lamps be trimmed, and will it be ready and equal for the occa¬
sion ? Or, will it be found without preparation, with no oil in its
lamps, so that, like the five foolish ones, when the cry comes it
will not be prepared to go in, and then the door will be shut.
Should great exertion be afterwards made, large lamps with abun¬
dance of good oil provided, and much knocking at the door be
made, it will be very mortifying to be told by the Commissioners,
we know you not ; you complied not with our regulations ; you
have been more foolish than the foolish virgins— -you knew both the
day and the hour, and availed not yourselves of the knowledge,
and you must submit to the consequences.
It is to be hoped that little of this mortification will be felt, and
that photographers, like v/ise virgins, have availed themselves in
time and duly applied for space, and that they have determined to
send the best things they can produce. But whatever photogra¬
phers, individually, have done, in their collective capacity, nothing,
or worse than nothing, has taken place to represent photography
in such a maimer as to be creditable to the art or honourable to the
nation.
For foreign photography I have not much fear. I have every
reason to believe it will be numerously and worthily represented.
The same causes have not been at work with them to damp their
ardour and check their enthusiasm.
It is for the English portion that I entertain fears. At least ten
years will elapse before a similar occasion will occur of displaying
the immense improvement in our art and its endless applications.
It was a great misfortune that the Commissioners should have
adopted so unfortunate a classification, so far as photography was
concerned; but it was a still greater misfortune that the Council
of the Photographic Society could see no other way out of their
position than to abandon the project of a Committee of photogra¬
phic gentlemen, to manage the photographic section, because the
Commissioners would not cede the point in dispute. It is to be
lamented that the Council, after having so argumentatively estab¬
lished their case, could, not accept the proposal of a separate
department for photography. Although photographers are well
convinced that this art is entitled to rank among the Fine Arts,
yet when the position is controverted they could hardly be ex¬
pected to be allowed to be judges in their own favour. The
Commissioners are not the sole persons who deny it the right.
The great body of artists, and they are popularly supposed to be
the best judges, say that our art has no place among the Fine Arts.
When, therefore, the Commissioners offered a separate department
they practically said — “ We will not debate the question with you,
but we will supply you with the means whereby you can substan¬
tiate your position ; and if it prove that we have done you an
injustice, the more credit will be due to you by proving that we,
in commou with many more, have not sufficiently appreciated this
new and rapidly-improving- art. The verdict being given by com¬
petent parties in your favour, we will acknowledge that you have
fairly won your spurs, and in future we shall freely accord that
place to photography which it has shown itself worthy to hold.”
The Council, however, saw fit to stand on their dignity, the Com¬
missioners felt they could yield no more; and between these turn
stools photography has fallen to the ground. The opportunity
that was afforded of enlisting the sympathies of all British photo¬
graphers to exhibit the usefulness and beauties of their art to its
fullest extent is past.
How much more effective the Exhibition would have been if a
central committee had been established with a comprehensive plan,
and supported by the cordial co-operation of local committees, car¬
rying out the details, as compared with individual efforts working
without purpose or arrangement, no one can tell ; but the results
would certainly he very different.
There can he no doubt a great opportunity is lost ; and however
photography may gain, nothing like the benefit will arise that
might have occurred had full advantage been taken of this rare
occasion. In the 1851 Exhibition photography was a crude, undi¬
gested mass. Portions were to be found here, there, and every¬
where. Shimmering and glittering on silver, hard and wiry on
albumen, woolly and foxy on paper. Without natural guardians, it
wandered about the great building, having a home nowhere. It
made a small lodgment among the ivory miniatures, was princi¬
pally to be seen amongst the stationery, was frequently cropping
out of the foreign department, and formed the only brilliant display
in the deserted settlements and backwoods of the American depart¬
ment. In 1861 it lias its natural protectors: they, however, are not
adroit enough to keep it in their own hands, and cruelly allow it
to sink or swim, rather than yield a little of their own opinion.
AVhen we last assembled here the question was, should a com¬
mittee he appointed to arrange the proper display of photography,
seeing that the latter was placed in a mechanical department:
against this we all remonstrated. As I have already said, another
offer was next made, that as photography was sui generis, to pro¬
vide a separate place for it — an offer which, under protest especially,
might, in my humble opinion, without any loss of dignity, have
been accepted ; but this also was rejected, and matters are worse
than at first, viz., our pictures are still left in their original mecha¬
nical location, without even the committee of photographers to
overlook, arrange, and advise.
Thus the matter stands. AAffiile all other portions have gentle¬
men to superintend them who are learned and interested in the
various details, poor photography stands alone. AVlio is to take
charge of it, or whether any one is to take charge of it, we do not
know. AVhether it is to be placed under the tender mercies of tire
gentlemen who arrange the agricultural implements or the ship’s
tackle we are in doubt ; but as the pictures can neither arrange nor
hang themselves, it is but natural that we should desire to know
to whom they are to be entrusted. It is also of the highest im¬
portance that we should know whether any plan or method is to
be devised or recommended for intending exhibitors to conform to,
so that the few fine days that may occur before the period for send¬
ing in pictures may fully be taken advantage of. AVill there be
any endeavour to form a historical collection ? Is it desirable to
forward the curiosities of the art? Ought processes, as such, to be
specially illustrated? Will morbid photography be admissible,
that is, failures to which reliable causes may be assigned? AVill
limitations be assigned as to size, quantity, or number of pictures?
Are negatives to be sent as well as positives? AVill any means be
taken so that an instructive collection of the various dry processes
will be seen ? Is there any principle of classification or arrange¬
ment to be adopted? Are pictures to be grouped according to
size, or subject, or exhibitor? In fact, questions crowd on my mind
arising from a natural anxiety that justice should be done to pho¬
tography, and from a fear that its arrangement may be entrusted
to hands that even with the best intentions may not be able to
grasp the character of the subject. Had a committee of gentle¬
men of well-known ability been appointed, these doubts and fears
would not have arisen, for the characters of the committee would
have been a guarantee. As matters stand it is extremely desirable
that photographers should be furnished with this information.
It must be borne in mind that this coming Exhibition is no
common one, and that many variations may be required from the
usual photographic displays. Our usual Exhibitions are visited
chiefly b}T amateur and professional photographers, their friends and
acquaintances, and a small quantity of dilletante persons; the
generality of folks never see, and seldom hear of them. But in the
forthcoming great show, the great stream of the people will flow
past, and tens of thousands will see them who never saw a collection
October 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
of photographs before, and never will again. For this reason it is
I regret that the occasion will not be improved to the fullest
extent.
But though it is no use making' useless regrets, it is of the utmost
consequence that the Commissioners should quickly appoint some
gentlemen of sufficient knowledge and technical experience, and,
if possible, whose names are well known to photographers, to take
charge of and arrange the whole. It should be their duty to form
a comprehensive plan, sufficient to embrace foreign as well as
borne photography, and to carefully follow that out. Whatever
directions are intended to be published for the guidance of ex¬
hibitors should be issued as soon as possible, so that all reasonable
aid may be afforded them. It is to be hoped that, undeterred by
the adverse influences that have been in operation, our best men
have been alive to their interests, and have secured adequate space,
so that they may honourably shine by the side of their foreign
brethren. Lamentable, indeed, will it be, if in our own Exhibition
we alone are found wanting. What shall we say for ourselves,
when all other artists are striving their utmost to sustain the
national honour, that photographers alone make a mean display;
and little short of national disgrace will it be, if, in the land of
Ilerschel, and Brewster, and Wheatstone, and Hardwich, the
works of her Bedfords, and Williamses, and Mudds,and Mayalls, and
Claud ets, and Lacys, and kindred artists, are not present in
sufficient abundance to do honour to the great names of Talbot and
Archer.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE AS
REVEALED BY SPECTRUM ANALYSIS.*
By Samuel IIigiiley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
( Continued from page 34:2)
At the meeting of the British Association held at Cambridge in
1845, Professor W. A. Miller read a paper On Experiments and
Observations on some cases of Lines in the Prismatic Spectrum Pro¬
duced by the Passage of Light through Coloured Vapours and
Gases, and from certain Coloured Flames, which was afterwards
published in the August number of the Philosophical Magazine for
the same year.
The first part of this paper will be more fittingly alluded to at
an advanced stage of our subject ; but in the portion relating to the
spectra of coloured flames, Dr. Miller adds to the contributions
of previous observers, and appends a well-executed map of the
various spectra that had occupied his attention. Like Bunsen and
Kirclihoff, he chiefly employed the chlorides of the bodies subjected
to investigation and determined the characteristics of boracic acid,
nitrate of strontia, and of the chlorides of baiiuin, calcium, sodium,
copper, and manganese.
Miller expresses an opinion that certain feeble bands that occur
in the green portion of the spectra of the chlorides of iron, zinc,
cobalt, nickle, mercury, and magnesia, are due to the chlorine and
not to the bases of these salts.
He also points out that bichloride of mercury gives a bright
band near G in the indigo, and in his map of the calcium
spectra lays down the blue line omitted in Bunsen and Kirchhoff’s
map, which omission led the Messrs. Duprd to believe that they
had discovered a new metal belonging to the calcium group of
metals, f but which Bunsen and Ivirchoff afterwards stated they had
observed, but had not regarded as being sufficiently characteristic
to be noticed in their paper.
Miller concludes his paper with an observation which is remark¬
able, when taken in connexion with Kirchhoff’s recent theory of the
nature of the solar atmosphere, which will he given towards the con¬
clusion of this article. Miller says : — “ It inay be interesting to
remark, in connexion with the speculations on the absorptive action
of the sun’s atmosphere, that if solar light be transmitted through
a flame exhibiting well-marked black lines, these lines reappear in
the compound spectrum, provided the light of day be not too
intense compared avith that of the coloured flame. This may he
seen in the red light of the nitrate of strontia, and less perfectly
in the green of the chloride of copper. It would, therefore,
APPEAR THAT LUMINOUS ATMOSPHERES EXIST IN WHICH NOT ONLY
| CERTAIN RAYS ARE AVANTING, BUT AVHICII EXERCISE A POSITIVE
ABSORPTIVE INFLUENCE UPON OTHER LIGHTS.”
Nor must the iiwestigations of Mr. Crookes himself be ignored ;
for it is knoavn to many that, avith a modification of tlie spectrum
apparatus be described at page 292 of the second volume of the
Journal of the Photographic Society for 1856, be has for several years
* As Professor Miner lias gone over the same ground as mjsclf in his lecture before
the British Association, it is again necessary to state that this article was in type on tlie
9th of September. — S. H.
+ See Philosophical Magazine , for February, 1861, No. 138, p. 86.
361
past been carrying on experiments connected avith the spectra of
various salts ; and it is to be regretted that he has hitherto allowed
the bulk of his numerous observations to remain unrecorded, as he
thereby runs a chance of losing any claims he may have as a
discoverer, through avant of priority of publication; for if he has
not discovered any other new metals besides that he has recently
described in the Philosophical Magazine , at any rate the spectra of
the greater portion of the known elements have been avorked out
by him, although they remain undescribed.
Professor Stokes published a valuable paper in the Transactions
of the Royal Society for 1852, avherein (at page 522) lie claims for
the prism a place in the laboratory, and describes a method of
observation, adz. : — fusing certain metallic oxides avith a bead of
microcosmic salt, and “ viewing through a prism the inverted
image of the flame of a candle formed by the bead, the latter
being so held as to be seen projected on a dark object.”
Some years since Sir David Brewster described some experi¬
ments* on the absorptive poaver of coloured media oarnr the rays of
the spectrum. Coloured fluids, sucli as red and black ink, though
equally homogeneous, stop or “absorb” different kinds of rays. The
same takes place avith coloured glasses. Thus, on examining abri gbt
spectrum through a piece of blue glass, such as is used lor finger
basins, the greater part of the red and orange rays disappear
(being absorbed), and the yelloav band greatly increases in breadth,
encroaching on the spaces preauously occupied by the orange rays
on one side and the green rays on the other. Hence this transparent
medium produces the effect of its colour by transmitting only those
rays avhich in combination form the particular kind of blue, but
which, plus the absorbed rays, avould produce white.
On the 2nd of February, 1857, Dr. J. H. Gladstone read a paper
before the Chemical Society On the Use of the Prism in Qualitative
Analysis, and on the 6th of February lie delivered a lecture before
the Members of the Royal Institution on the same subject [see
Proceedings of the Royal Institution for 1857, and the Journal
of the Chemical Society, arol. x, p. 79.] It avas at this period that
we became familiar avith the method of applying the prism to
analytical purposes, as ave were frequently in communication avith
Dr. Gladstone, and some of his experiments avere conducted at our
oavn laboratory. Dr. Gladstone adopted a different method from
that followed by previous experimenters, adz : — examining the
spectrum of the sun, diffused daylight, oxy-gas lime light, &c., after
having passed through a avedge-shaped block of the transparent
coloured media under examination, or more generally through a
stratum of solution of the substance to be analysed avlien placed
in a avedge-shaped glass vessel, and observing the rays that avere
absorbed. This avedge-shaped vessel avas of the greatest importance ;
for in most cases the different raj’s of light are not absorbed im¬
mediately on entering a body of liquid, but only after they have
penetrated to a greater or less distance, and then they disappear — -
not suddenly, but by becoming gradually fainter and fainter : hence
a avedge-shaped vessel, filled avith liquid, allows the light from a
knife-edged slit to pass through various thicknesses, varying from
the thinnest possible film to a stratum of three quarters of an inch
in thickness ; and, avhen this is examined by a prism, the thinnest
part shoavs a series of colours differing little from a continuous
spectrum. But, as the liquid gets thicker and thicker, some rays
are seen to diminish in intensity, others gradually to die out, while
others again disappear suddenly and give place to complete opacity.
With good apparatus and bright daylight, the most prominent of
“ Fraunhofer’s lines” are apparent through the thinnest stratum of
liquid, which serve to indicate with the greatest accuracy avhich
rays are transmitted and avhich absorbed. From numerous obser¬
vations on various salts, of which twenty-five typical “absorption
spectra ” are figured, Dr. Gladstone deduced the rule — that all the
compounds of a particular basis or acid have the same effect on rays of
light ; and be concludes his paper with the remark that — “these
observations will be sufficient to prove that the varying chromatic
phenomena exhibited by different substances may be taken advan¬
tage of in qualitative analysis, to an extent avhich has been hitherto
unappreciated ;” and any one “ might easily make such a series of
observations as avould furnish data for regular tables of comparison,
and the prism would then take its place, as the bloav-pipe does
noav, among the recognised and almost indispensable instruments
of the analytical laboratory.”
Since that period, till the appearance of Bunsen’s and Kirch¬
hoff’s important contribution, in I860, little of importance seems
to have been published in this country in connexion with anal}*sis
by aid of the prism. As regards continental observers it should
he mentioned that, besides an illustrated memoir by Masson, pub-
* Transactions o the Popal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 12, p. 123.
362
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1861
lished in the Annales de Chemie et de Physique in 1857, and a paper
by Angstrom, published in Poggendorff's Annalen, vol.xciv., p. 141
(a translation of which, by Tyndall, with illustrations, appeared in
the volume of the Philosophical Magazine for 1855), on “ Electric
Spectra,” Van der "Willigen and Piucker have more recently con¬
tributed beautifully-illustrated memoirs on the spectra produced
by the discharges of RuhmkorfFs coil ; and in the March number,
1860, ot the Philosophical Magazine , Professor Stokes calls atten¬
tion to some observations of Fourcault (made in 1849) on tho
spectrum produced by the electric arc, that have bearing on Kirch-
hoff’s theory of the nature of the solar atmosphere.
Professors Bunsen and Kirchoff, in their first memoir, published
in Poggendorff Annalen , 1860, point out the most characteristic
spectra of the salts ( chiefly chlorides ) of potassium, sodium,
lithium, strontium, calcium, and barium, after the purity of each
of the compounds had been ensured by their careful preparation.
These they embodied in a coloured diagram, a reduced uncoloured
copy of which is given in figure 3. From this it will be seen that
little has been added to the spoctrum observations of the previous
observers we have alluded to in our abstract of their researches.
The special points of interest in Bunsen and Kirchhoff's papers we
shall give in our next number.
DESCRIPTION OF DIAGRAM.
Fig. 1 shows the principal lines of the solar spectrum*
for the purpose of comparison.
Fig. 2 represents the spectra of potassium. This is
characterised by a RED ray at a (which is coincident with
Fraunhofer’s line A, being the same that was observed by
Talbot) and a violet ray, 0, near the line H. Another
very faint RED ray is sometimes apparent, which is coin¬
cident with the line B. These rays present themselves
on the ground of a widely-extended continuous spec¬
trum.
Fig. 3, the spectra of sodium, which is characterised
by a remarkably bright well-defined yellow ray at a,
coincident with the double line D. Traces of a continuous
spectrum are sometime apparent in the immediate neigh¬
bourhood of this ray. Brewster, llerschel, Talbot, and
Miller, all pointed this ray out as a characteristic of soda.
Fig. 4, the spectra of lithium, characterised by a very
bright RED ray, a, which stands midway between the lines
a and B (being the same that Talbot called attention to)
and a very weak YELLOW ray, P, near the line D.
Fig. 5, the spectra of strontium, characterised by six
red rays — of which Sr £ and Sr y are the most impor¬
tant — one orANGE ray, Sr a, and one blue ray, Sr 8, all
of which were indicated by Talbot in 1834. These,
with some fainter rays, are also described by Miller.
Fig. 6, the spectra of calcium, characterised by an
intensely bright orange ray, Ca a, lying nearer to the
red end of the spectrum than the sodium or strontium
rays, and a bright green ray, Ca /3. Faint yellow and
red rays are also apparent, but not specialised. Miller’s
“ bright streak in the indigo ” is not shown in Bunsen and
Kirchhoff’s map, but it occurs near G, towards the
violet end of the spectrum.
Fig. 7, the spectra of barium, characterised by the
bright green rays Ba a, Ba >3, and Ba y. Other faint
GREEN rays, i) and 8, are also marked, together with some
faint yellow and RED lines, the most conspicuous being
an orange line at e, and a blue line nearly coincident
with the line F. All these are indicated by Miller,
together with “one blue line in the indigo,” which is
not referred to in any way in Bunsen and Kirchhoff’s
paper.
- - -4> — - -
THE TAITNIN PROCESS.
By Majoe Bussell.
CHAPTEK III.
[By the special permission of the Author ice reproduce the following.]
Almost any collodion will produce good results if properly
managed, no matter how new and horny, or how old and rotten.
Even should R be too old or too new to work well in the wet
process, it will still succeed. Some difference will, however, be
found in the character of the resulting pictures, though not so
great as in the wet process, and there will be a great difference in
the sensitiveness. A new collodion is the most sensitive, and in
the writer’s hands gives the proper red tone and vigour of nega¬
tive perfectly, provided a strong solution of tannin be used. An
old and powdery sample, on the other hand, even if rendered
colourless by cadmium, besides being very insensitive, gives a
pale grey image which will not develop with quite so much vigour
and richness of tone, and the film when varnished is soft and liable
to injury, whereas that produced by a new and horny collodion is,
in hardness and durability, only inferior to albumen. A tolerably
opaque film is advantageous, but not so necessary as in other dry
processes, plates prepared with tannin being little liable to solari-
sation. Opacity should not be obtained by over-iodising the
collodion, but by using a thick sample.
Simply iodised collodion may be used, but the presence of bro¬
mide greatly increases sensitiveness, intensity, and facility of
development. Any collodion which is sensitive and gives good
results in the wet process may be rendered suitable for use with
tannin in the following manner Dissolve sixteen grains o f bro¬
mide of cadmium and four grains of bromide of ammonium in one
ounce of alcohol s. g. -805 : if the collodion be not iodised, mix
three parts of this solution with five parts of the iodising solution,
and to one part of the mixture add three parts of plain collodion.
If the collodion be already iodised, add three parts of plain collo¬
dion to one part of bromide solution, and mix three parts of this
bromised collodion with five parts of iodised collodion.
Positive collodion will require less bromide, as it usually con¬
tains some already ; but the exact proportion of iodide and
bromide is not of much importance. The addition of bromide of
cadmium to collodion iodised with iodide of potassium, produces by
double decomposition iodide of cadmium and bromide of potassium:
the former impairs the fluidity of the collodion, and the latter,
being nearly insoluble in strong alcohol, is almost all precipitated.
If, therefore, the presence of iodide of potassium is shown by tur¬
bidity on the addition of bromide, it will be better to dissolve about
two parts of bromide of ammonium and one part of bromide of
cadmium in the smallest possible quantity of alcohol, s. g. *816, and
October 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
363
>to add this solution cautiously until turbidity is produced. The
•collodion will be found to be very little altered in fluidity and sta¬
bility, and, when cleared by subsidence, to have retained enough
bromide to improve it greatly for this purpose.
Should any doubt be entertained as to the good effect of so large
a proportion of bromide as that recommended above, it may be
easily removed by experiment. Prepare thirty-six drachms of
iodised and eighteen drachms of bromised collodion in two bottles,
the iodide and bromide being in the same proportion in both, and
the same plain collodion being used in both cases. Coat and excite
[one plate or more with the iodised collodion; then mix half a
jidrachm of bromised with four drachms of iodised collodion in a
small bottle, and proceed as before ; pour away into another bottle,
and mix one drachm of bromised with four drachms of iodised
'collodion, and so on, increasing the proportion one-eighth part each
time until equal quantities have been used. We shall now have
nine differently constituted sensitive layers, varying by one-eighth
in each case, from all iodide to equal parts of iodide and bromide.
The residues, if all poured into one bottle, will be found to do very
well for ordinary use. The plates, after being prepared with
tannin, are then to be exposed a minimum time in a uniform light,
using the same subject, and developed in the same manner, when
it will be found that there is a rapid and regular improvement up
to three parts of bromide to eight of iodide, and that further addi-
Ition of bromide makes but little difference up to equal parts of
each. Three parts of bromide to five of iodide will probably give
about the best result; and it will be seen that this proportion
leaves an ample margin both ways to allow for disturbing causes,
such as a little bromide or an uncertain amount of iodide in the
collodion, if of unknown composition. The different proportions of
iodine and bromine in various iodides and bromides, aud peculiari¬
ties in the quality of the pyroxyline, might slightly affect the
quantity of bromide required to give the best result. The use of
a large quantity of bromide has a tendency to diminish the opacity
}f the excited film. Should this effect be produced to too great an
extent, a little more iodide and bromide may be added in the proper
proportion to the collodion. Bromide may not produce so marked
in effect if a trace of nitrate of silver be left in the film ; but even
if the presence of nitrate with the tannin appears to answer the same
purpose as bromide, the use of the latter and the entire removal of
die nitrate is, for many reasons, a preferable mode oi treatment.
If the collodion be purposely prepared for use on gelatine with
;annin, the following will be found to be a good formula : —
Iodide of ammonium . 2 grains.
Iodide of cadmium . 1 „
Bromide of cadmium . 2 „
Pyroxyline, prepared by Hardwich’s formula
for negatives by the wet process . 6 „
Alcohol, sp. gr. ’805 . 4 drachms.
Ether (the best which can be procured) ... 4 „
[bis collodion will require to be diluted with more alcohol and
tlier if used to coat large plates. The salts of cadmium give
;reat stability to the collodion, and are very soluble in highly-
ectified alcohol ; but they render the collodion so thick as to be
1 adapted for producing a good uniform film on a large plate,
odide of ammonium has an opposite effect, rendering the collodion
nstable, but very fluid ; hence, by using different proportions of
lie iodides and bromides of cadmium and ammonium, we can vary
iie quality of the collodion in the above respects at will.
The iodide and bromide of potassium are intermediate in their
fleet on the stability and fluidity of the collodion, and stand
etween those of cadmium and those of ammonium ; they are,
owever, less soluble in strong alcohol than either. Should it be
esired to give the collodion more fluidity than that produced by
le above formula, a larger proportion of the ammonium salts may
e used ; but this cannot be carried beyond a certain point, unless a
ortion of the alcohol be in a state of greater dilution with water.*
In all cases it is desirable, when much bromide is used, to em-
oy a large proportion of the bromide of cadmium , on account of
3 great solubility in strong alcohol. The proportion of ether and
cohol is of no importance in this process, beyond its being such
|. is found to produce the most uniform and perfect film. The
•eater the quantity of water present, the larger must be the pro-
prtion of ether to work well. The proportion of ether required is
so dependent on the quality of the pyroxyline : it should be large
l ough to render the film somewhat horny and free from mottled
:arkings.
The soft and granular kind of iodide of ammonium is better than that which is s<
j nara crystals — th© former, though less stable, being more soluble.
Almost any nitrate of silver bath will answer, if slightly acid,
and not below the strength of thirty grains to the ounce. A
neutral or alkaline bath will not succeed, being liable to cause
fogging, and after this commences the half-tones will not develop.
Hence a slightly acid bath may be said to give greater sensitive¬
ness, although an excess of acid beyond what is necessary to keep
the picture clear will greatly diminish sensitiveness. The follow¬
ing method of preparing a bath will be found as good as any for
this process : — Dissolve and iodise in the usual way thirty-five or
forty grains of nitrate of silver for each ounce of water, stir in a
very small quantity of bicarbonate of soda to ensure the absence
of nitric acid (if the nitrate of silver be alkaline this will be un¬
necessary), filter, and then render slightly acid with acetic or citric
acid. If the latter be used, about two drops of a solution, ten
grains to the ounce, will be required for each ounce of the bath, or
more if the nitrate be decidedly alkaline.
The bath should be acid enough to redden test-paper immediately.
It is better to add too much acid than too little, inasmuch as a
slight loss of sensitiveness is better than risk of fogging. If citric
acid be used it will probably precipitate some of the iodide of
silver ; and if so, the solution must be filtered again. Should
plates, otherwise properly treated, show the least sign of fogging,
more acid must be added. A more acid bath will be required for
use with a nearly, or quite, colourless collodion than with a sample
coloured with free iodine.
A rather strong bath is better than a weak one when a thick
and highly-iodised collodion is employed, and in all cases saves
time by exciting more quickly. After the bath is once prepared,
if only used for this process, it never need be filtered again, as any
sediment which may settle on the surface of the collodion will be
removed by the subsequent washing.
The plates are to be coated with collodion an-d excited in the
usual manner, and washed, first in distilled water, and afterwards
in common water. The following will be found to be a good way
of managing these operations : — Fill two dipping baths with
distilled water, and one or more gutta-percha traj’s, or other con¬
venient vessels, with common water, and place all near the ex¬
citing bath. Take up a plate with a pneumatic holder, and rub
the surface with the velvet rubber to remove any slightly-adhering
particles of dust, turning in such a direction that the slight current
of air which exists in almost every room may carry dust away
from the place where the plate is to be coated. A common one-
ounce, two-ounce, or three-ounce phial, according to the size of
the plates, is better than the bottles usually made for the purpose
of pouring collodion, since the cork keeps the neck much cleaner
than a glass stopper, and prevents the formation of dried or half-
dried fragments. Take out the cork, and wipe the rim before
commencing. It will be better not to wipe it again while coating
plates in rapid succession, care being taken to pour from the same
side of the rim every time. The bottle should be kept nearly full,
by adding from another bottle every few plates, or any sediment
at the bottom will be disturbed. The collodion in the second
bottle should be thinner and contain more ether, according to the
size of the plates, to allow for evaporation and keep it in the same
state. Coat in the usual way, pouring off, by preference, from the
same corner on which the glass was drained after being gelatinised,
that the thickest part of the collodion may be on the thickest part
of the gelatine.
Take the plate off the holder as soon as the collodion has ceased
to flow, still keeping that side downwards which was lowest in
pouring off, and tilting it at a considerable angle on the edge of
the screw-holder, or other convenient place, to prevent the thick
edge spreading back on the plate. Touch the thick edge to
ascertain when set enough, which is known b.y its just taking the
impression of the finger. The film need not be more set than for
the wet process, when gelatine has been used. If the plate be not
quickly removed from the holder, the excited film will show a
circle of greater transparency where it was attached. This mark
is caused by difference of temperature, and the effect is produced
very quickly when the glass is thin.
When the film is sufficiently set, immerse in the bath, and give
the plate a lateral circular motion for a few seconds, to prevent
streaks in the direction of the dip and to hasten the action. Take
up another plate on the holder, rub as before, and lay it down until
required. After about two minutes lift the plate in and out of the
fluid ten or twelve times, until the oily lines disappear ; then sweep
the next plate gently once or twice with the rubber, coat with
collodion, and tilt up to set, as before. Now take the first plate
out of the bath, drain the lowest corner for a few seconds against
the dipper, and place in the first bath of distilled water. This
364
THE BEiTiSH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
operation will usually occupy about as much time as the next
plate requires to set : touch the thick edge to ascertain if ready,
and immerse in the bath.
Should the temperature be very high, a quickly-setting collodion
may not allow of this way of working, the iilm becoming too dry,
as shown, after excitement, by the transparency of the edges which
were uppermost when the collodion was poured oft’. In such a
case the first plate must be removed from the bath before the
second is coated; but the plan above described will be generally
practicable, and saves much time. After the second plate is in the
bath, the first is removed from distilled water No. 1 into distilled
water No. 2.
Proceed in the same manner throughout — that is, after immersing
each plate in the exciting bath, pick up the next and rub the sur¬
face ; then lift the plates up and down in both distilled water
baths a few- times; then shift the plate in No. 2 into the common
water, and lift the edge of the dish to make the water flow over it.
Next remove the plate from No. 1 into No. 2, just made vacant ;
lift the plate in the nitrate bath till oiliness disappears; cover the
next with collodion ; and so on till all the plates to be prepared
are in the common water, where they may remain for hours with¬
out injury.
The distilled water need not be changed until a considerable
number of plates have been washed, when the second bath may be
substituted for the first, which is then to be emptied and filled with
fresh distilled water. If dipping baths are not at hand, horizontal
dishes will answer the purpose; and, if large enough to hold
several plates, the first dish may be filled before removing each
plate in its turn to the second dish. When the second is lull, the
plates should be placed in the same manner in the common water.
The washing in distilled water is necessary when the common
water is hard, to prevent violent decomposition of the nitrate by
the action of the salts in the hard water, and consequent pre¬
cipitation and adhesion to the film of insoluble salts of silver. The
whole of the above described operations can be conducted whilst
the plates are exciting in the bath ; and, since a second plate is
always put into the bath as soon as the fully sensitised one is
taken out, no time is lost. Twelve plates can thus be easily excited
and washed in an hour, or in less time if the bath be very strong.
The plates prepared for any dry process require a rather longer
stay in the exciting bath than would be necessary for the wet
process, as in the latter case the action of the nitrate, if not quite
complete, will go on after the removal of the plate, the solution
being left on the film. The plates should not be- less than half an
hour in the common water : unless the latter be very unusually
pure, the small trace of nitrate left in the film will be entirely re¬
moved in that time. Should the water be too pure to precipitate
nitrate of silver, it may be used instead of distilled water for the
first and second washing baths, and a very small quantity of salt
dissolved in it for the third.
After being washed in common water, the plates may be steeped
in strong salt and water, if thought desirable, without perceptible
alteration of quality in any way, provided the salt be entirely
removed. No economy of time, however, results from this mode
of working : on the contrary, it takes a longer washing to remove
the salt than is required for the nitrate of silver, since the former
is acted on only mechanically, the latter chemically as well, by
hard water. A very small trace of chloride of sodium remaining
in the film will greatly diminish vigour and intensity in the picture.
By the time that six plates have been put into common water
the first will be ready to be coated with tannin ; but, if as many as
a dozen or two are to be prepared, it will be found more convenient
to finish one operation before commencing another, and greater
security will thereby be afforded against the presence of traces of
nitrate, the entire absence of which is of great importance. It will
be as well to cover the vessels containing the common water with
gutta-percha trays, to keep out light and dust while the excited
plates arc being washed.
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OR, A PHOTOGRAPHER'S JOURNAL OP A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramp.
No. IX.
Massacres in Lebanon — Cracking of Negatives Cured— No
Dry Process— Bethlehem— Eachel’s Tomb— Solomon’s Pools.
In the latter part of my last arliclc I gave a brief account of a
little bit of trouble I got into through having been supposed to be
taking, without leave, the portraits of the wives of Turkish, Pashas
and Effei dis. Let me now very briefly tell how this little affair
[October 15, 1801
ended. In true diplomatic style, no sooner had my complaint been
made than a series of long despatches commenced flying between
the seraglio and the British Consulate, till in a few weeks, when
the Pasha had returned, the thing had become a great grievance,
which threatened, before being settled, to reach the ears of Fuad
Pasha, at Stamboul, and Her Britannic Majesty’s principal Secre¬
tary of State for Foreign Affairs, at Downing Street, whoever he
might happen to be. While I had every wish for being amply pro¬
tected against a repetition of the same thing, either to mysolt or
any one else, I could not think of my little grievance being so
far magnified as even to travel beyond the officials at Jerusalem,
the more particularly that before the case became at all ripe for
any settlement more grave matters and more serious outrages, by
Turkish subjects, called for the consideration of both Governments.
The news of the horrid massacres in the Lebanon had reached
Jerusalem, and produced in the minds of the inhabitants very varied
and mingled feelings. The native Christians cowered and trembled ;
the lower order of the Moslems became sullen and insolent. A bile
many of the French Christians could well deny having manifested
anything like fear, all were concerned for their own safety and
those dear to them.
As T was in Jerusalem during the excitement consequent on the
hourly expectation of a repetition of those scenes of bloodshed and
plunder which had been enacted in Damascus, and in the prosper¬
ous villages of the Lebanon — the mere outline descriptions ol which
made one’s blood run cold — I might have occupied a considerable
space in describing the state of feeling in Jerusalem, and what wc
did to prevent an outbreak, and what provision we made ior our
defence in the event of such occurring; hut, as 1 wish to bring
these papers to a conclusion as soon as possible, I will not do
so further than I cannot avoid in order to take my readers in some
measure with me on my journey through the country.
With such things to think of I was in no humour to higgle about
the amount of compensation I should have lor the damage to my
“ traps,” nor how much humiliation I should insist on for the slight
personal injury 1 had received in my encounter with the Pasha’s
black eunuch. After a lengthened correspondence I went to the
Pasha to prosecute my demands ; and, after a long discussion of
the whole question, I accepted the Pasha’s promise that he would
severely flog his servant at his earliest convenience. He was
brought to me at once and made to kneel and kiss my hands and
knees; and I presume I might have been kissed all over it I had
had any peculiar relish for the operation It was not a very great
penalty I was exacting, but, under the circumstances which I have
referred to above, I was glad to get done with it in any way that
seemed like being victorious.
In the last number of my “ Palestine” I promised to give an ac¬
count of my visit to Bethlehem in this number, and, in connexion
with it, to tell how I got over the difficulty of my pictures cracking.
I had never seen an albumen negative crack in drying before. My
views from Olivet, which had cracked, I was sure had acquired the
tendency to do so after being silvered ; butieAcdit was that did it —
not when — was the main question.
On my return from a visit to Bethlehem, I saw at a glance the
exact when ; and, by knowing that, I also was led to the discovery
of the cause of the trouble.
On taking out one of my plates from the slide I found that the film
had not only cracked, but had peeled off entirely in many places. I
examined the slide, and found it intensely dry. This I at once
concluded was the cause. An albumen film will not do to be
perfectly dry. I was confirmed in my conclusion that the dryness
of the slide was the cause by remembering that my small or
stereo, plates had never so split off or cracked, if my readers
will look at my stereo, camera, in page 265 of this Journal,
they will see that the prepared plates are never brought near
any wooden surface, but lie most of the time, from preparation to
development, in a box with other similar plates against them,
they thus remain very much in the same state as when we put
them in. If dry, they will keep so ; if damp, they will so remain.
The cure for this evil was evident and simple enough, il my conclu¬
sion in regard to the cause were correct. I put my slides in water,
wetting every part well and frequently ; and I never had a recur¬
rence of cracking in my negatives afterwards. From my experience
in the last and some experiments I have since made, I believe the
title “dry process” to be a misnomer. There is no dry process.
I believe no picture can be taken without the presence ol moistiue,
and I am quite sure I can easily make the materials for producing
pictures so dry that only the most miserable result will he obtain¬
able. I would, however, rather give the result of experiments on
this question in a separate form.
tictoW 15, i8.61] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OU PHOTOailAfHY. 365
— : - : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ — - - - -
Persons who have never been in such a climate as that of the
higher parts of Palestine have no idea how dry the air is, and how
dry things daily exposed to it become. The driest day of the
driest summer we ever have can give but the faintest idea of the
ordinary condition of the atmosphere in Jerusalem. And yet a
large amount of water falls there every year too ; but it does so
pretty much at once, and not during the whole year, as in some
parts of this country, where one would almost be led to the con¬
clusion that the normal condition is that of rain. I believe about
eighty inches of water fall every year in Jerusalem, or rather
more than three times the amount that falls in Glasgow, where
there are upwards of two hundred rainy days in each year. There
i is no rain for eight months in Palestine. I did not see a drop ol it
from the day I set foot in it till I embarked again — some five
months nearly. Is it not a glorious country? The land chosen
of God for His own peculiar people is indeed one favoured of
nature. Why is it a wilderness and a desolation, trodden down by
j the Gentile? Plow long will it be so ? These are questions that
! arise in the mind of every thoughtful student and every traveller-
in these lands.
My instructions required me to take views of Bethlehem and
Hebron, and several objects of biblical interest lying near the road
to these places. Hebron is about seven and a-half hours’ ride from
Jerusalem — Bethlehem is less than two hours. The true distance
is scarcely in that relation — at any rate, as set down in the maps.
About an hour beyond Bethlehem, toward Hebron, are Solomon’s
Pools, and between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is Rachel’s Tomb.
Both of these I wished to photograph. After a good deal of con¬
sideration, I determined on doing Bethlehem, Solomon’s Pools, and
Rachel’s Tomb, by themselves in one trip, as I could go and return
in one day from the Holy City, while extending the journey to
Hebron would require three days, and necessitate more baggage.
I could afterwards go to Plebron, and return, only requiring to be
one night from my home in Jerusalem.
Leaving pretty early, by the Jaffa Gate, we cross the valley of
Gihon, and soon scamper over the plain of Rephaim. Arriving at
Mar Elias we lose sight of the Holy City, but soon exchange for it
the view of Bethlehem in the distance. Tradition has located some
important scriptural events here, and the pious feeling of many
nations invests this place with holy interest. Personally I do not
believe the tradition to be true — unbroken; and, therefore, I do not
believe that the impression of the elbow of the prophet Elijah is
on that stone so many are pleased to bow before. Nor can I drink
the water of that well in the belief that the “ wise men” really saw
the star mirrored in its surface, and were thus encouraged to pro¬
secute their journey, and were guided to the goal of their desire on
yon hill side, where now, whitening in the morning sun, is seen the
Church and Convent of the Nativity ; but which I do believe marks
the tine site of the birth of our Lord. The tone in which some
Protestant travellers in the Holy Land speak and write of the tra¬
ditional sites of the holy places is, I think, much to be regretted —
dismissing this or that place with the curt phrase, “a monkish
tradition” — and pointing to this or the other as so and so. What
do we know except by tradition? and what knowledge is better?
len thousand thanks to the monks for preserving the traditions they
got! and the pity of one who respects them much for the good they
did, that they ever tried to add to the traditions they received by
now and then drawing on imagination a little.
Soon after passing Mar Elias we sight the tomb of Rachel — a
holy place, alike respected by Moslem, Christian, and Jew. There,
as we approach it, some twenty or thirty Jews— all ages, young and
giey-headed and of both sexes — have arrived and are entering to go
through their devotions. Very earnest and reverential they look.
I soon unpack my camera : I take two pair of stereos, and an
8 by 10, repack, and am on my way again in twenty-five minutes :
no time lost in that operation, at any rate ! A little farther on,
and I determine on having a view of the City of Bethlehem, with
the Church and Convent of the Nativity, it will not do then —
the light is quite off it: I will take it as I return. Meantime, I
go over the ridge on which the city stands, and take a view from
the other side. It has the advantage of including the whole city
(which the other will not do, unless in three views) except the
site of the Nativity. The exception is fatal to the interest of the
view. The other view from the east would just be rendered
pioperly with a panoramic lens, as there is one point from which
the view must be done, and from it the ordinary lens would
lequire three views. I was soon again on the way to Solomon’s
ools, -walking our horses on the track of the aqueduct from these
royal water-works. Who would not think of it! These reser-
vonsj the same that, three thousand years ago, supplied the
capital of Solomon’s kingdom with water, are there before us, and
a pilgrim from a far distant land is there to carry its sun-made
picture to his island home ! The Pools are three in number.
They are of considerable size, and are in a very good state of
preservation. The channel leading from them to the Holy City is
still quite entire. I took two pictures of both sizes, and returned
by another way to Bethlehem, where I arrived early in the after¬
noon — too early to take the view I proposed. I spent the time I
had thus to spare in examining the interior of the Convent and
Church of the Nativity.
CHLORIC ACID IN THE SILVER BATH.*
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
In order that a silver bath should work well with all developers it
is needful that it should be acid, but in the smallest degree possible.
I have already shown how much the acid at present employed — -
that is to say, acetic and nitric acids — give variable results, owing
to their volatility and to their decomposition in presence of etherial
compounds which form in the silver bath under the influence of
temperature. It is this which has induced me to make trial of a
fixed and stable acid, unable, in any case, to produce a precipitate.
In this category chloric acid occupies the first rank. All the
chlorates are equally soluble with the nitrates, and, if once the bath
be acidulated by chloric acid to a convenient extent, it will pre¬
serve always the same acidity in spite of the concentration of the
bath or even of its entire dessiccation.
Chloric acid is prepared by means of chlorate of barytes which
is made for the use of certain artificers. This salt is very expen¬
sive, being worth about forty francs per kilogramme ; but so small
a quantity of chloric acid is needed that the consideration of price
may be disregarded.
After having made a saturated solution of chlorate of barytes,
sulphuric acid is added until the precipitate of sulphate of barytes
which is formed ceases to fall : the solution left is chloric acid
diluted sufficiently for use.
After having prepared a neutral silver bath I used it for the pro¬
duction of proofs developed with the pyrogallic acid, strongly
acidulated, which I usually employ. After the addition of ten
drops (of the chloric acid) to each litre, the silver bath reddened
litmus-paper very decidedly, and the proofs obtained with this
modified bath appeared after exactly the same length of exposure.
I then increased the quantity of dilute chloric acid to five per cent,
of the volume of the silver bath, when a very marked dimunition
of sensitiveness became apparent; but infinitely less so than if I
had added dilute nitric acid in like proportion.
The dimunition of sensitiveness appeared to me altogether com¬
parable to that produced by acetic acid; and that is why I asserted
that dilute chloric acid ought to be the best agent for acidulating
silver baths.
- ■ -
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothwell.
No. IN.
DISTORTION,
In the practice of every art it is necessary for all persons to
follow certain rules or methods, and to make use of the experience
and knowledge published by others, if they wish to obtain the best
and most correct results — to compare with the works of first-rate
operators. So it is with photography ; and yet, hitherto, there have
been no rules by which to go, on certain points, that I am aware of —
or, at least, I have not seen any promulgated publicly — for in¬
stance, in relation to taking pictures in such a manner that when
viewed in the usual way they will appear correct in perspective.
This is a want I will endeavour to supply. It has frequently been
asked whether long or short focus lenses are the best — that is, in
regard to causing distortion or freedom from it. I will try to
answer that question.
Every picture intended to be viewed by the naked e}re ought to
be taken with a lens whose focal length is not less than ten or
twelve inches, because small pictures are generally held about that-
distance from the eyes when being looked at; or, rather, the eye
ought to be at such a point on the axis that if the directions of the
pencils, on striking the plate, be traced backwards, they will cut
the axis at the position of the eye; for, if the distance at which
pictures are viewed always equalled the focal length, it is certain
their perspective would not appear correct, because it is not the-
- From La Lv inicrc.
366
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1861
focal length alone which determines that matter, but the focal
length and the position of the diaphragm together. If the stop be
in contact with the lens, the view-distance and focal length must
be equal ; but if the stop were some distance in front of the lens,
the view-distance would be greater than the focal length, and also
longer than the distance of the stop from the picture, because the
lens would cause the pencils to deviate in such a manner that, if
traced backwards, they would cut the axis at a point in front of the
stop, which point would be the correct position for the eye.
On the contrary, if the stop were behind the lens, the view-
distance would be shorter than the focal length ; for the pencils, if
traced backwards, would cut the axis at the aperture of the stop,
which would be the right position for the eye. Thus, in one case,
if the stop were in front the focal length should be less, and if it
were behind greater, than twelve inches. For brevity and per¬
spicuity I will call the right position of the eye 11 the view-point,”
an explanation of which I have given above.
In my last paper I showed that if a picture be looked at from
the “view-point,” it is immaterial whether the picture be taken on
a spherical or flat surface, for in both cases it will appear correct.
FIG. 3.
In Fig. 3, 0 is the lens, EF the spherical surface, and CD the plate,
or rather half of the plate. For both pictures to appear correct
sine A B : tang. CD:: cos. 0 B : rad. 0 D,
because OAB and OCD are similar triangles. Now, if we look
at the two pictures from any other point, say from P, the simi¬
larity of the triangles is destroyed, and, consequently, the propor¬
tions of the sine and tangent and sides are altered. The pictures,
therefore, are dissimilar and out of proportion ; for, looking from
P along the straight line PC, at C, the top of the picture on the
flat plate, it is very evident the line PC does not touch A, the top
of the spherical picture, but goes above it, in consequence of
which we see the upper portion of D C apparently enlarged or
distended. It will be noticed here that I use the sine AB instead
of the arc A D, because they both subtend the same angle ; and, if
a picture were taken on A B, it would appear of the same size as
A D. Without any further demonstration it will readily be seen
that, as the width of the held of view is increased, the disproportion
betwixt the sine and tangent becomes greater (that is, when
viewed from P), and, therefore, the distortion, or incorrect per¬
spective, more obnoxious. But, with a lens of 12-inch focus and
upwards, any width of field may be included, and yet the perspec¬
tive be rigorously exact.
In talcing, with a short focus lens, a view of a street, railway,
tunnel, colonnade, series of arches, crystal palace, or any subject
which extends a long distance straight in front, the near portions,
being in the margin, seem too large — too much stretched out, as
it were — while the distant parts, being in the centre, appear
contracted — too much diminished — something like looking into a
bell instead of a cylinder. And so it is in reality ; but, if the eye
look at it from the proper view-point, all then appears right — that
is, if the eye can see clearly at a sufficiently short distance; or if
it be looked at through the centre of a lens of proper focus, by
which the pencils are not caused to deviate. The bad effect is
more perceptible in subjects of the above description than in a
general view or'landscape ; but, even in a landscape bounded by
distant hills, those hills appear much too small.
It has been asserted publicly that the evil is caused by th ajxnoer
of a lens, the meaning of which I take to be this : — That pencils
from a near object come to a focus at a point farther from the lens
than those do which come from a distant object; therefore the
image of the near object will be larger and that of the distant one
smaller than what they ought to be. If that is what is meant it
is a fallacy. Under those conditions it is not the difference alone
of the conjugate focal lengths which determine the sizes of the
images, but the angles which bound the images ; for in focussing,
and to get the best average definition, the plate will be between
the two focal points, the effect of which will be to reduce the size
of the image of the near object and enlarge that of the distant one,
producing an effect similar to that of the eye in adjusting itself to
bring either near or distant objects in proper focus on the retina -
that is, having equal focal lengths for all objects.
If any of the above subjects were photographed with their line
of direction oblique to the plate, similar effects would occur to those
referred to in my last paper, viz., when the plate was inclined to
the perpendicular, or horizontal parallel direction, the distant parts
would be too much diminished and the near ones
too much distended ; and what effected a cure in
one case would do so in the other — that is, the
plate must be, if not parallel to the line of direc¬
tion, at least in such a position of inclination as
to rectify the incorrect perspective, which can be
done by the “ track of the eye,” or by a little judg¬
ment. In my paper, read before the London
Photographic Society, I there accounted for one
kind of incorrect perspective by an optical illusion,
and which, I think, will be applicable in further
elucidating the points touched upon in this article.
Portraits are always more correct, as regards
having less distortion, when taken with a long
focus than with a short one. A twelve-inch focus
will take a more correct portrait than a six or
eight-inch on the same size of plate; but, sup¬
posing the lenses to be equally good, a short focus
must give finer definition than a long one.
As a resume of what I have now stated on this
subject, 1 will just state the conditions which
must be attended to by which to obtain the most
correct results. The lens ought to be such an one
as gives straight lines all over the picture. The
best position of the plate is that in which it is vertical, or as near
it as can be, when taking a vertical object. When taking oblique
horizontal objects, the position of the plates for securing the best
perspective must be ascertained by experiment in varying the
inclination while focussing.
The focal length of the lens, whether for portraits or views,
should never be less than ten or twelve inches, except for stereo¬
scopic views, or such as are to be viewed by short-focus lenses.
If these conditions are fulfilled, I conceive a superior class of
pictures will be px-oduced; and, if so, my writing will not have
been in vain, and I shall have the satisfaction of having contributed
my mite, however small, to the improvement of photography.
LEAVES PROM THE DIARY OP A LATE ENTHUSIASTIC
AMATEUR.
Edited by Sydney Sunshine.
If you are not remarkable for anything — if you have never per¬
formed any remarkable feat — been the hero of any exciting breath-
suspending adventures — or have not any brains, dear reader, then
wear a remarkable hat. You may, perhaps, be mistaken for a
distinguished savant , or a conspirator ! This is only another form
of humbug ; but humbug is one of the mighty potentates whom
all men decry and all men worship ! — verily an uncrowned, but
not an unthroned monarch to be met at mart, exchange, at homes,
scientific soiree and conversazione, or any of the multitudinous places
where people meet to play at make believe. Only take care not to
practice the most dangerous form of it, and humbug yourself — lay
flattering unction to your soul, and hug fond delusions, which by
and by must have hideous awakenings. Never imagine, too, that
the light of genius is stamped on your brow, to be read by all
men ; or that your presence, in combination with a camera, will
command the respect of the great unwashed.
Shall I ever forget the lineaments of the simple-looking benevo-
October 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
36T
lent old gentleman I met when I was getting that beautiful distant
view which graces the 39th page of Augustina’s album ? How
attentively he watched me from the foot of the mound, or gentle
eminence, from which I took it ; and, as I shouldered my camera
to descend, begged with blandest condescension that I would not
trouble myself to bring my “ show-box ” down ! “Don’t trouble
yourself, my good man, to come down to me, I’ll come up to you”—
thinking I had something to exhibit of a nature akin to telescopic
peeps at the moon, at one penny per head — or eye. IIow he toiled
up the ascent, wiping the dew from his forehead with the yellowest
of yellow bandannas ! How I gratified him by a peep under the
focussing cloth at the churches and chapels bottom upwards ! How
my ruffled dignity chafed the while ! Did I look like a mountebank ?
And, as I stroked my hirsute appendages, I felt an almost irresist-
ablo desire to knock his old pate through the focussing glass ; but
a nobler form of revenge suggested itself to my mind. I would
take him at his word, and have my “ wager.” Did any of my readers
ever sec Robson eat an ice — or even give away a sovereign, mean¬
ing only a shilling? Can any simile call up the look of blank dis¬
may depicted in his face when I demanded nothing less than lxalf-
a-crown ? The loneliness of the spot and my ferocious beard and
glittering eye quickly extracted the unwilling coin, and old
ltusticus moved off, visibly a sadder if not a wiser man. With
what pleasure I dropped it in the hat of the old soldier who opened
the gate for me at the bottom of the meadow, under the wood ; and
what extra pipes of Cavendish and draughts of nut-brown ale it
brought him !
Growing desirous of extending my operations, and to save my¬
self from such annoyancesin future, I promoted a rustic hanger-on of
the family to be my aide-de-camp , commissary-general, and quarter¬
master, all in one — besides being the servant of the servant of
servants, as an International Exhibition Commissioner would say.
An original pattern of a man was Joe Strawberry — not a servile
copy of any one else in existence ; and he possessed, according to
Combe, a strongly-marked individuality of the most comical kind.
Jee had long been my self-constituted “ help,” and was often heard
to boast in the servant’s hall of our achievements, and the wonder¬
ful things we had done ; for Joe’s unsophisticated mind could not
understand any principle, other than that if he shared the labours,
he must the laurels also, and was very tenacious of any dissolution of
partnership on that head. Many scrapes did poor Joe get into and
through. Many more did he get me into, and not through. Thou wert
a faithful scamp, Joe! — though, like thy compeers, not unmindful
of small change, or always mindful of the laws of vieum and tuum.
Many another have I seen since — sycophants, who did the skinning
process more tenderly — yet I cherish thy memory with feelings of
solicitude and regret.
How happily he would lie on the grass and mind the camera,
whistling the while; or stretch himself out “full length” in
imitation of the pose of Coreggio’s Madonna , and producing from
his capacious pockets a penny Telegraph or Morning Star — which
he always continued to exchange {accidentally) for a newer one at
every inn in which he stayed — would proceed to leisurely spell his
way through those great public questions addressed point-blank to
the reader personally, and whose notes of interrogation thrust
themselves in our face at every breakfast table, soliloquising some¬
what in this style : — “Do — you — want — luxurious — hair— and
— whiskers?” “ Shouldn’t I !!! ” and he would run his fingers
through one of the most cross-grained, ill-tempered, ill-conditioned
of old scratches that grew in all different directions, and could
never be brushed into shape, looking like nothing under heaven
save the husk of a hedgehog. “ Luxurious hair and whiskers ! ”
and his eyes would twinkle as he thought of a deity blooming in
Farmer Stubbs’s dairy, at whose shrine he had long worshipped in
vain. This would be followed by “Who’s your tailor?” “Do
you think of getting married? ” “ What kind folks they are up in
Lunnun!” Joe would say, believing in the simplicity of his
heart they were really benevolent inquiries, and not that an
insidious design on his breeches’ pockets lurked beneath the friendly
inquiry.
One day J. S. returned from the village, near which I was
temporarily sojourning for the purpose of photographing some of
the beautiful scenery around, evidently fresh from a direful fray.
As he was still in a state of effervesencc it was some time ere I
could elicit all the details of the case, which happened somewhat
in this wise : — An itinerant painter of sign-boards — and, as he
himself expressed it, of “ almost any mortal thing ” beside — whom
we had seen once or twice before in our wanderings, was painting
a new sign-board for the village ale-house, known as “ The Sow
and Pigs.” Joe, who had been lounging about — it being a dull
morning — ventured to find some fault with the drawing — the fore¬
shortening of the sow’s leg and the unnatural colour of some of
the little ones, to which the knight of the brush replied with the
inquiry — “What do you know about it?” “ If I don’t understand
pigs I don’t know who does,” said Joe, “ for I’ve been brought up
among ’em all my life.”
Mr. Paint-pot retorted with some reflections of a personal
nature on the other machine, and his ” barrel-organ art, con¬
cluding with an ambitious attempt to smash his opponent by
another interrogation, begging to know what he knew about
“ ’igh art?” — to which Joe replied, “ That it wos a werry good job
for him it wos ’igh art, cos if it wasn’t hung so ’igh folks would see
what stuff it wos !” This led to an appeal to arms, and a regular
scrimmage ensued, in which Joe painted both his eyes in natural
colours, one black and the other blue, without the aid of brushes
or pigments.
It was many days ere Joe “ settled down,” and was evidently
often in imagination “fighting his battle o’er again,” dating every¬
thing for some time after from “ the day he thrashed the painter.”
Joe had an entirely original and eccentric method as to the division
of time, and scorned the commonplace of ordinary mortals. Thus
his life was a series of epochs, each event serving as a fresh starting
point, to be in its turn displaced by another and more recent one.
The neighbourhood was not a favourable one for photographic
pursuits. On one occasion we were rather scurvily treated by a
village squire, who imagined we were practising some illicit method
of extracting the fish from his streams, and threatened to knock
our “ box” into the waters. This being followed a day or two after
by Joe’s getting impounded for stealing a wheelbarrow to “ make
up” the foreground of a picture, decided me on breaking camp and
seeking fresh fields and pastures new.
An Artist’s I’cltcrs ftr a |)omtg ^jiolograpltcr.
ON LAND SCAPE.
Subordination (continued ) — The Power and Value of
Judicious Contrasts in Tone and Intensity — The Danger
of Such Power Being Misused — Keeping Down or
Carrying Back — Robinson’s Method — Rfjlander’s
Method — Glazing — A Hint for the Landscape Photo¬
grapher and Others — Proportion — Truthfulness —
Exactness.
“The difficulty lies in distinguishing and preserving a proper pre-eminence and
subordination." — Lodovico Dolce * on Painting, 1530.
“ The principal figure of the subject must appear in the midst of the picture, under
the principal light, to distinguish it from the rest, which are only its attendants. Time,
in tragedy, or an epic poem, the hero of the piece must be advanced foremost to the
view of the reader or spectator: he must outshine the rest of all the characters, like tlio
sun of the Copernican system, encompassed with less noble planets.” — Dry den’s ‘ ‘ Parallel
of Poetry and Painting," 1750.
“Every part must be considered with reference to the rest, and to the unity of the
whole." — H. Howard, R.A., 1848.
My Dear Fellow-Student,
The above dates will suffice to show you that
this law of subordination has at least the weight and respectability
of age to recommend it to your attention. I might have easily
hunted up quotations which would have dated back to an earlier
period; but having in my last endeavoured to show the necessity
and importance of such a law, the mere enumeration of authorities
by whom it has been announced is not of so much importance.
My difficulty indeed would rather have been to find any authority
by whom the importance of subordinatiou has been denied or even
doubted. But let us return to our subject, resuming from the point
we had reached in my last.
You now perceive why the subordinate parts of your picture
should be neither black nor white. You also see that, as white may
become more luminous and black acquire depth by contrast one
with another, contrasted white is more prominent than white
without contrast, and contrasted black has more prominence than a
black associated with kindred tones. If, therefore, we desire to
give prominence to a white object we contrast it with darker
tones, or with black, as the case may require ; or should we desire
to give black more prominence we coutrast it with the lighter
tones or with white. But there is another element of contrast
which to the artist -photographer who cannot always get the natural
chiaroscuro exactly as he would have it, is very valuable, viz., that
• Carlo Marratti said he attained his great knowledge of pictorial principles “by
studying Dolet."
308
[October 15, 1801
THE BRITISH JOURN
■which arises from contrasting white in light with black in shadow ;
for we thus obtain sufficient force to keep back either pure white or
pure black. One of the most expeditious methods of securing such a
focus of intensity is by so posing two figures, one in light and one
in dark drapery, that the first being placed in direct light throws
its shadow upon the second. All this doubtless seems very sim¬
ple, but all this is nevertheless very frequently overlooked, espe¬
cially by those who are ignorant of its importance.
But I must not omit reminding you that, while explaining the
power you have in the use of such contrasts, that power is very
easily abused; and you must also remember that many other con¬
siderations should be received before the above methods are adop¬
ted. For instance, in every picture you produce there is a point
which indicates the position of the artist’s eye or lens, and its
“focus,” to which point the spectator’s attention should be at once
carried, in order that the full effect of the whole may be properly
felt and understood. When, therefore, some attractive or promi¬
nent focus of light and dark is introduced for the sake of subordi¬
nation, its situation should either represent this focus itself, or lead
the eye cunningly towards it, just as it does in the photograph of
Early Spring. I need hardly point out that in one picture such points
of contrast must never be numerous, bring one out prominently and it
will keep in check a host of minor lights and shades ;* but that one
has a right and a wrong place : it should always he near the centre
of the picture, and while doing its work by subduing its neigh¬
bours, it must neither lead the spectator’s eye away from the
picture’s focus, nor produce that “ spotty” effect which is, as I shall
show more fully anon, destructive of pictorial “breadth."
I have at present only spoken of “bringing forward;” if, how¬
ever, we desire to “keep down" or “ carry back" we must either
select a view of our subject which will leave the parts requiring
such treatment without any forcible contrasts of tone, or wait until
a change in the direction of the light alters the chiaroscuro of the
scene itself; or we must destroy the prominency of the objection¬
able parts by getting in their vicinity contrasts of a still moro
forcible character, just as we perceived all the little points of
contrasted white scattered over Mr. Robinson’s picture, as described
In my last epistle, were kept down or thrown back by the vigo¬
rously given focus of intense black and white in the girl’s drapery.
But if the effect we require is not to be got by any of these means,
we need not despair ; for is not Rejlander's after-method of glazing
with the sunbeam still within our reach? In explanation of this
method I cannot do better than use, as nearly as I can remember
them, Rejlander’s own words : —
“ I cover up,” says he, “ some parts of the picture, and use a few
rays and pencils of light just to glaze over this group, and, using
them a little more freely on more retiring figures, I thank them
and cover these up. Then I bid my rays and pencils paint me the
background behind them ; * * * and then uncovering another
group I bid the light sink this or that figure deeper in the shade ;
* * * but,” adds he, “ because such agents as I use work
quickly, I must ply them fast and guide them well lest there should
be marks from my brush."
This process is exactly that which the painter calls “ glazing,”
and answers a precisely similar purpose in keeping down or throw¬
ing back such parts as are otherwise, from their peculiar arrange¬
ment of tones, too prominent. It is not absolutely mechanical,
since it requires no little artistic knowledge in the operator, and it
is, therefore, a process very likely to be denounced by those who
think photography has no right to be used as a fine art. If you
can do without it, do ; but it is no less legitimate in your art than
in that of painting, and, though in either case it may fail, for such
failure the photographer or painter only should be blamed.
Had you not already abandoned the pernicious “ lohite skies" (?)
once so common an eye-sore in our photographs, I should here
show that subordination can have no existence in the presence of
these huge, glaringly-prominent, and unnatural masses of flat white
paper, which, usurping the place of the skies’ beautiful and re¬
tiring gradations, star® every spectator into disgust with their
blank, unmeaning spaces. I see no reason why variously-graduated
papers should not be prepared, with tones closely assimilating to
those of photography, upon which landscape pictures might be
printed with very excellent artistic effect. By their use sub¬
ordination would be greatly aided, because the staring little
patches of contrasted white now so common in photographs would
necessarily be subdued and softened. The effects of light and
shade in such might be varied, ad lib., to suit the sentiment or
other pictorial demands of the different subjects. A similar effect
* “ A very little black will throw the whole picture into light and relief, while too
jnuch will be destructive of tone.” — Ruthin.
AL OF PHONOGRAPHY.
might also be obtained by getting a clever landscape artist, with
thin and frequently-repeated washes of Indian-ink, to produce tin-
effects you desire, and by them obtaining a negative from his pro¬
duction, to be used in the printing. Such methods would, l am
sure, be very preferable to that of under-exposing, and thereby
frequently completely destroying the brilliancy, vigour, and beauty
of the landscape itself, for the sake of obtaining what is most fre¬
quently an equally imperfect sky. Where the sky can be skilfully
printed in from a second negative, I prefer it ; but, as the subjects
in which we can thus use a good sky negative are “few and far-
between,” there is a large field for graduated printing papers.
We have now duly considered subordination both in reference to
atmospherical truth and to the uses of black and white, or the two
opposite extremes which they technically represent. We will next
consider this branch of our studies with reference to PuoroitTiox.
A good architectural perspective representation of an edilice
gives the minutest detail of the ornamental mouldings and decora¬
tions that it is possible for manual mechanical skill to delineate, but
where these cannot be described in their exact relative proportions to
the size of the building of which they are parts, they are wisely
omitted — otherwise an appearance would be presented as untrue to
architectural science as distasteful to the eye of the artist. Sub¬
ordination in landscape art demands the same degree of truthful¬
ness ; for just as the indication of any part of an edilice as larger
than its true proportionate size would altogether vitiate and alter
the character of the building, so an injudicious attempt to imitate
the minute details of objects in the vast theatre of Nature on a sur¬
face of a few inches or feet in extent must be displeasing to the
refined judgment and taste of every educated observer.
It is clearly an impossibility to represent distinctly such minute
parts as leaves, grass, herbage, and other similar objects of the
natural landscape in due proportion to the scale of the whole scene
without falsifying the actual appearance of the whole, in which
case exactness is merely nominal, and the picture is no more a
correct representation of Nature than a portrait in which the rela¬
tive proportions of the features were utterly disregarded would Ire
a correct likeness because some particular but partial truths of
form were still preserved. Now, when such portions of the land¬
scape are delineated thus disproportionably, they will infallibly so
obtrude upon the attention that the unthinking or ignorant spec¬
tator will feel puzzled by the singular combination of exactness and
untruthfulness thus presented to his eye. The absence of subordi¬
nation in proportion being more readily felt than accounted for in
this (to such a spectator) apparent paradox.
It is for this reason that the painter indicates such minuteness
of scenery with a few significant touches, omitting rather than
magnifying, just as the architectural draughtsman would in the
above case.
As I have just received a note stating that my matter is now
due at Liverpool, my dear Fellow-Student must permit me to lay
down the pen and resume the subject in my next letter. — Till
when, I am his, very faithfully, ALFRED II. WALL.
llUetiujjs of Societies.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first meeting of the season of this Society was held on Thursday
evening last, the 10th instant, at St. Peter’s School Room, Walworth.
Sebastian Davis, Esq., occupied the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman, in opening the session, said he had not the pleasure of
calling attention to any important event which had happened in the pho¬
tographic world during the recess. The upholders of artistic photogra¬
phy had not had their hopes of getting the Royal Commissioners to alter
the classification realised. Photography was an art-medium peculiar to
itself — an art closely associated with, and indeed the offspring of, science.
With regard to the ensuing session of the scientific department of the
Society, he hoped that individuals would furnish the results of their own
practical experiments, and that those experiments would be directed to
instantaneous photography. Artistic photography much depended on
this : moving objects, foliage, &c. could never be perfectly delineated until
they worked with instantaneity. They should then excel artists as much
in perfect delineation as they do photographers in colour. The progress
of the art depended much upon this, and they ought not to rest satisfied
until they could reflect objects with the same accuracy as they reflect
themselves upon our vision.
Mr. Hughes then read a paper entitled The International Exhibition of
180-2. [See page 359.]
The Chairman wished the members present would express some
opinion upon the sentiments put forth in Mr. Hughes’s paper. Perhaps
Mr. Wall would make some remarks.
October 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
369
Mr. Wall stated that some steps had been taken, which, if approved by
the meeting, should be at once acted upon.
Mr. Howaud until now had not had the unfortunate position in which
photography stood so forcibly brought before his mind. He presumed
matters stood thus: — The responsibility of the interests of photography
had been refused by the Parent Society: the time of application for space
had expired. The only course then open was to memorialise the Com¬
missioners to accept of the services of a number of the leading men and
others, and to be urged to make a selection from a body of gentlemen
nominated for that purpose. Had the South London Society possessed
sufficient negatives they would perhaps have contributed to the Exhibi¬
tion as a Society ; but the question was, of course, not of so much interest
to them as to professional men.
Mr. Wall thought he must demur to one remark of Mr. Howard’s. He
thought the question was not of less interest to amateurs. The attention
of professional men was more directed to the £ a. d. feature. Amateurs
did everything out of sheer love of the art, and he knew that they could,
and hoped that they would, exhibit largely.
Mr. Howaud meant that amateurs had not the stock of plates which
professional men possessed, and that they alone could hardly make a
show that would be at all recognised.
Mr. Wharton Simpson begged to say that Mr. Howard and Mr. Hughes
had mistaken the position photography was to hold. They were still to
have a separate department, and not be thrust into the mechanical one.
Tbe main question now was how that should be managed, so as to make
the Exhibition a worthy one. If the Parent Society had acceded to this,
no doubt satisfactory arrangements would ultimately have been made;
but, as it now stood, the Royal Commissioners were thrown on their own
resources. If they memorialised them, and stated their willinguess to co¬
operate with them, though they felt aggrieved, and protested against the
position awarded to them, they would probably be glad to do so. After
all, they (the Commissioners) should, perhaps, be exonerated from blame.
It was not for them to decide on the position of photography, but to take
things as they found them. The Royal Academy did not recognise it as
a fine art, and the Commissioners could not, therefore, accept it as such.
Tbe concession of a separate department was like throwing out a chal¬
lenge to prove whether it was such or not. It was important that the
interest should be kept up, and the classifying of the pictures entrusted to
worthy hands. As it was, it now rested upon one man, and the responsi¬
bility was too much for any one man, however talented. He hoped it
would be confided, without delay, to a body of men trusted by photogra¬
phers, and that the members would resolve to send a memorial at once.
Mr. Wall said he would take the liberty of reading the composition
which had been drawn up.
The following Memorial was then read
The Memorial of the South London Photographic Society to Her
Majesty's Commissioners for the International Exhibition of
1862.
The South London Photographic Society having noticed with concern that
notwithstanding the season for successful photographic operations is drawing
to a close, and the period of the International Exhibition is rapidly aporoach-
ing, no regulations or instructions for the guidance of photographers have vet
been published, nor has any committee or list of gentlemen to whom the ar¬
rangements for controlling this department have been entrusted been an¬
nounced. The South London Photographic Society had hoped at their last
meeting that the negotiations then pending between Her Majesty’s Commis¬
sioners and the London Photographic Society would have terminated in the
appointment of a committee; but such negotiations having unhappily failed in
producing this result, the South London Photographic Society take the oppor¬
tunity at this their first meeting after the summer recess of expressing their
approval of the decision of Her Majesty’s Commissioners as regards the sepa¬
rate department promised to photography, and of respectfully representing the
importance of the following considerations : —
That a committee of gentlemen familiar with and interested in photography,
and of well-known attainments in connexion with the Art, should be appointed
and announced to photographers as having the direction and control of the
Photographic Department.
Photography comprehending, as it does, various and distinct departments,
such as illustrate its scientific progress and its various artistic and economic
applications in portraiture, landscape, architecture, astronomy, magnetism,
meteorology, physiology, psychology, and many other departments, and a
proper arrangement of all these departments depending on technical familiarity
with the Art generally, renders the appointment of such committee of vital
importance.
That to secure a successful representation of the Art, a comprehensive plan of
arrangements should be devised and published, in order that photographers
may, in their preparations for contributing, conform thereto, and so co-operate
in the production of a successful result honourable to this country.
That whilst many other important considerations, in connexion with this
subject, crowd on the mind of the memorialists, they do not deem it prudent
here to trouble Her Majesty’s Commissioners with questions of detail. But beg
once more to press .upon their attention that the successful issue of this depart¬
ment of the Exhibition depends almost entirely upon the decisions which shall
be now made and published regarding it.
The South London Photographic Society, in conclusion, beg to tender such
service as they may be able to contribute to aid Her Majesty’s Commissioners
in carrying out any decisions at which they may arrive in relation to this im¬
portant subject.
Mr. Simpson thought that, at the last meeting, while wishing to
strengthen the hands of the Parent Society, it was not supposed that it was
the intention of any one individually to allow the period allotted to pass
away, though protesting against the classification.
Mr. Howard was glad that photography would* have a separate depart-
ment, where they could depend on their own merits; and he thought
that steps should be at once taken, and that the Secretary should be
requested to forward the Memorial.
The Chairman, in putting the resolution to the meeting, hoped the
charge of the arrangements might thus be put into tbe hands of gentle¬
men competent for the task, and they should not then have tbe
humiliation of seeing pictures hung which were “ unequal to the occa¬
sion,” and others which were good excluded for want of room.
The resolution was earned unanimous!}".
Mr. Hughes then said that the resolution to send the Memorial having
been passed, and thatit would be presented to Her Majesty’s Commissioners,
he thought they would be pleased to accede to it. As those who ought
had thought fit to retire, it gave them au opportunity of relieving them¬
selves ; and, unless some one took the charge, tbe sappers and miners, of
whose extraordinary doings they heard so much, would, doubtless, have
the whole committed to their tender mercies, and photographers would,
by the aid of red tape, be “ tied up,” in consequence of their having
neglected to do anything but find fault.
Mr. Clarke then read a short paper On the Photogenic Action of
Colour.
An interesting discussion took place between Messrs. Hughes, Simp¬
son, and Davis, relating to the real value of the addition of bromides to
collodion.
Mr. Hughes advised Mr. Clarke to go over the ground again more care¬
fully, and recommended iodising with cadmium, aud nothing else.
Mr. Davis had always found tiiat collodion iodised with cadmium
improved with keeping, aud then the addition of iodide of potassium
rendered it very sensitive and perfect.
Mr. Howard was of opinion that he (Mr. Clarke) should have tried
the complementary colours first.
Mr. Hughes thought that Mr. Clarke was on the right track in trying
the primary colours first.
Mr. G-. W. Simpson, in conveying the thanks of the society to Mr.
Clarke, wished that gentleman to try again, and begin at the beginning —
to carry out Mr. Hughes’s suggestions — to try iron, and also pyro-
developers, and the Experimental Committee would lend their aid. The
subject, lie said, was one of the highest importance.
The thanks of the meeting were then voted to Mr. Hughes for his
paper ; also to Mr. Blanchard, for two very fine interiors contributed
to the Society's portfolio.
Mr. Wall exhibited a fine portrait in oils, enlarged from a carte de
visile to life size — a graceful portrait, combining the charm of colour and
the verisimilitude of the photograph.
The meeting then separated.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Tiie annual meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday, the 2nd
instant, — Professor Williamson, F.R.S., in the chair.
Mr. William Railton was elected a member of the Society.
The Secretary then read the following
ANNUAL REPORT.
The Council of tbe Manchester Photographic Society feel much pleasure iu being able
to show by their Annual Report a prosperous slatement of affairs.
The Treasurer’s Account exhibits a balance of i.ol 15s. 8d. iu baud.
There has been a considerable increase in the number of members — an addition to the
Society, however, of far greater advantage than the numerical value, including as it does
the names of many who are energetic followers of their art, and who add materially to
the vigour with which the discussions are conducted.
The meetings of the Society hat e been well attended, and the policy of continuing them
throughout the year has been fully confirmed. The matter brought forward in papers and
discussions has been valuubie and interesting, and the whole business has beeu con¬
ducted without that ill feeling and jealousy which too frequently exist in such societies —
the object of every one having been to impart all the information he could to his brother
members, and to promote the general interests of the Society.
In reviewing the progress of photography during the past year no discovery of singular
importance presents itself; but its progress by imperceptible steps has beeu sure aud con¬
siderable. Photographers now are feeling their way into the realms of art, and are
learning that success does not depend upon the number of pictures obtained, but upon
the production of something which will bear the criticism of the artist as well as the
examination of the photographer. The pure white skies which were once so desired
have now given place to something more artistic ; and a general harmony in composition
is observable, which gives rise to the remark that photographs are becoming “ more like
pictures.”
Photographic printing may now be said to occupy a proper basis. So well do we
understand the signs of fading that v.e can predicate with tolerable certainty the fate of
even a recently-produced print, and can say by which process it has been toned. T he
photographer, however, lias been met by great and unexpected dilliculties iu this branch
of the art. The introduction of toning by a neutral or alkaline solution of gold has
brought out defects in the manufacture or in the albumen ising of paper which were
unknown under the treatment with the old hyposulphite bath. A return to that process,
however, so full of danger to the permanence of priuts, cauuot be resisted too strongly,
and the remedy must be sought in the manufacture of the paper, or iu its subsequent
preparation, it is found that uniform and perfectly even lints may he obtained by the
new method on paper prepared with diluted instead of pure albumen. If, therefore, the
taste for that highly glazed surface be modified, the difficulty at once vanishes.
In dry plate photography a process in tannin has been introduced by Major Russell
and has been highly spoken of by several photographers. It possesses, however, a dis-
a Ivan'agc which is much calculated to retard its popularity ; for it is a matter of great
difficulty to preserve the film without an application to the plate iu the first instance of
gelatine or analagous substances, and the additiou of those materials to the silver hath is
the British j o tiRNAB of photography.
tOctobcr 15, 1861
sro
injurious in the extreme. The process, however, is as yet but little known, and further
experience is required before a correct opinion can be formed of its capabilities.
The hot water process introduced to this Society by Mr. Parry has been practised
during the year by that gentleman and by others, and at one of the meetings of the
Society Mr. Young prepared and developed plates. Those who have adopted it are at
present but few, and results under the hands of more operators are required. It is, how¬
ever, believed that it cannot enter into competition with the collodio-albumen process of
The process with albumen and a chloride, by Messrs. Petschler and Mann, has been
extensively practised by the former of these gentlemen ; but the results do not appear to
be equal to the ingenuity which led to the discovery. A want of atmospherio effect per¬
vades the whole of the specimens which have been seen ; and this process also must
yield to the original Taupenot as regards the quality of negative, but as a keeping process
it is believed to excel most others.
The plates sent out by Dr. Non is continue to be popular with those who do not pre¬
pare their own, and the certainty of their action has established them as a sort of refuge
for the destitute. A great drawback, however, to the use of these plates is that they must
he developed as speedily as possible after exposure. The rapid dry plates of Dr. Norris
hare justified the assertions made at to the shortness of exposure required, but the
negatives are very deficient in density and vigour.
The Taupenot or collodio-albumen has not only maintained its ground, but has ad¬
vanced materially in public opinion. This Society may be said to have been the cradle of
the process, and it is among our own members that the best specimens are to be found.
Plate* 24 inches by 18 have been used by Mr. Sidebotham and Mr. Mabley, and by others
negatives 1 6 inches by 12 are commonly produced. Continued experience has shown that in
the preparation of plates by this process a bath of iodide of potassium should be used
previously to the application of the albumen. This may not be so necessary in the vvin-
ter months, or when it is not desired to obtain a surface which will remain unimpaired
for a length of time ; but in all cases it is the safer method.
A great improvement in the development of collodio-albumen negatives has been intro¬
duced by Mr. Wardley. That gentleman found that he could employ a solution of pyro-
gallic acid without silver and without acetic acid, or other such retarding agent. Since
hi* announcement ef the fact it has been extensivly adopted by others, and with results
which leave no doubt as to its value. The attention of photographers is particularly
called to this improvement as likely to lead to the establishment of collodio-albumen as a
rapid process ; for, by prolonged immersion in a solution of pyrogallic acid the details of a
picture may be brought out, which under the old method would have been abandoned as
hopeless. Mr. Mudd has lately obtained landscapes with the natural clouds by an expo¬
sure of thirty seconds, and it is probable from other experiments that a much shorter
period would suffice.
The waxed-paper process has received a new and important impulse, under the
judicious management of members of this Society, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Sheard, and Mr.
Rogerson. These gentlemen have been most persevering in their efforts, and the
Society’s portfolio now contains many beautiful specimens of their skill on the whole
sheet of photographic paper.
In lenses the year hats been marked by the introduction of Mr. Dallmeyer’s triple
•ombination. The definition afforded by this lens in copying is unexceptionable, and the
lines are perfectly free from distortion. Mr. Sutton’s panoramic lens has also been
brought out by Mr. Ross, and affords negatives which include a very large angle ; hut as
thi* has reference to one direction only, the picture is necessarily confined to a flat oval,
and the perspective is not correct.
X Committee of this Society was nominated to confer with the officers *f the British
Aisociation, and th* result was a Photographic Exhibition, held during the meeting, in
thi* city. The plan adopted by the Hanging Committee afforded full opportunity of
judging of the merits of the leading process ; and it must hare been a source of great
satisfaction and pardonable pride to the members of this Society to have seen how that
method which they have nurtured from its infancy could stand a comparison with the
most favoured of photographic processes. It was to be expected that collodio-albumen
would be strongly represented here ; but most trustworthy authorities declared that it
«ould, for delicacy and for all those other high qualities which a photograph should
possess, be favourably compared with any other process.
The classification of the Great Exhibition of 1862, in which photographs are arranged
with mechanical appliances, has given offence to many who consider photography one of
th* “ fine arts.” Although this Society has, with others, protested against this arrange-
tnent, it must be Confessed that the great bulk of photographs are still mere mechanical
productions; and we should all strive to rescue our art as much as possible from that
reproach by an infusion of artistic and poetic feeling, and thus to prove that it is not of
necessity mechanical, but that it carries with it the means of receiving the impress of
genius and the conception of the beautiful. It ha3 been observed that a notable change
has already taken place in this direction, and the importance of pursuing it cannot be too
strongly enforced. That photography will eventually gain the coveted position is cer¬
tain ; but how soon this may be mainly depends upon those who follow the art. It
possesses in itself a far higher character than engraving for showing the true artist; and,
although every one cannot be a great photographer any more than a great painter, it is
within the gift of all to exalt the character of their productions.
Since the last Annual Report was issued photography has sustained a heavy loss
through the retirement of Mr. Hardwich. As one who laid the foundation stone of photo¬
graphic chemistry hi* services were invaluable, enhanced by the consciousness that
every one felt of his having written in good faith. To him belong numbers of those re¬
searches, so modestly given, and which should be so thankfully received, upon which we
now build our practical operations. The Council feel it their duty to express thus their
■ense of services rendered to photographers, and they feel sure that the members in
general will join th in wishing Mr. Hardwich God-speed in that path which his sense
of duty has prompted him to follow.
To Mr. George Shadbolt, the Editor of The British Journal or Photography,
the best thanks of the Society are due, for his kind attention to its interests, and for the
assistance he ha* at all times been ready to afford.
The report and balance sheet having been adopted, the following offi¬
cers were elected for the session 1861-62.
President. — The Lord Bishop of Manchester.
Vice-Presidents. — J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.8., J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.It.S.,
J. Parry, H. E. Roscoe, B.A., J. Sidebotham, and W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.
Council. — The President, the Vice-Presidents, Messrs. A. Brothers,
8. Cottam, J. H. Gilbert, — Haywood, W. Hooper, E. Mann, H. Miller,
— Mason, — Montefiori, G. Nevill, A. Patterson, H. Petschler, J. J. Pyne,
H. Tobler, G. Wardley, and H. Young.
Hon. Secretary. — W. T. Mabley.
Treasurer. — Edwyn Offer.
Mr. Petschler brought before the meeting a few notes he had made
during a tour upon the Continent. The first was a simple method of
strengthening weak negatives. The negative having been developed
with iron, and well washed previously to being fixed, was placed in the
window or otherwise exposed to strong daylight : the intensity gradually
deepened without fogging the shadows. The time required was from
half-an hour to several hours, according to circumstances, during which
time it required occasional examination. He saw this practised very
successfully in Ncwbrandenburg, a small town in Mecklenburg Strelitz,
by Herr Baler, the photographer of that place. Another thing he observed
was developing by green light, at Herr Liesegang’s, in Elberfcld. The
glass used was a yellowish green, by means of which the state of the
negative could be ascertained much better during development. Since
bis return he had adopted the same method, and found it to answer much
better than materials of orange or yellow. If the light on the window
were very strong, the simple yellowish green would not be a sufficient
protection, and a light yellow screen should be added, keeping the green
shade on the side next to the operator. In another place lie founa the
greenish light made use of towards the latter state of development, a
yellow blind being added, which might be used at pleasure. After the
developer had been applied, the shadows appeared to take no harm, even
if the screen were not quite proof against actinic rays. A washing appa¬
ratus which he met with deserved, he thought, notice : from its simplicity,
any amateur might make it for himself. [Mr. Petschler sketched the
arrangement upon the black board.] It consisted of a vessel of any con¬
venient size, placed upon a fulcrum on which it could turn, but weighted
so as to keep it level when empty, or partly filled. At one end of the
vessel was a pipe for supplying water, and at the other end a siphon was
adapted. The water accumulated up to a certain height and then over¬
came the weight, so as to cause the vessel to turn upon its fulcrum, and
this movement, by filling the siphon, caused the water to be drawn off,
after which the weight again coming into operation, restored the vessel
to its level position, and so the operation was continued. The supply-
pipe was of course of less diameter than the siphon, so that the water
could be drawn off faster than it was supplied. He had also noticed a
method of producing soft prints from hard negatives. This was effected
by placing a sheet of white paper over the outside of the frame during
the exposure, especially in a strong light : the operation would, of course,
be slower, but a comparatively soft positive would be obtained.
Mr. Sidebotham said that he saw clearly the advantage that would
arise from using a green instead of a yellow light in the developing-room,
if the actinic rays could he sufficiently excluded. It must appear to all
how much pleasanter a light of that tint would he ; and he believed that
the condition of the negative would he ascertained more correctly. He
should certainly try the method. In reference to the mode of printing
described by Mr. Petschler, he thought there was nothing more in it than
printing in a weak instead of a strong light.
Mr. Wardley observed that the method of strengthening weak nega¬
tives might not operate by the exposure to light. He had himself been
in the habit of drying such negatives slowly, and the particles composing
the picture appeared, under such circumstances, to go closer together.
In reference to covering the printing-frames with white paper, he thought
it was merely to prevent the negative getting too hot, and to subdue the
light. In his own experience, however, he never regarded the amount of
light to be used for a particular negative. He had many of every grade
of density, and never could discover any difference in the positives,
whether printed in sunlight or shade.
Mr. Rogerson said that he differed in opinion from those who could
see no use in the white paper covering when printing from a hard nega¬
tive. He frequently practised it himself, and with very marked results.
The Chairman observed that although it would appear at first sight
that the only effect was to subdue the light, the result spoken of might
arise from the inequalities of the paper bending the rays so as to cause
them to lap around the lines composing the picture; and although the
negative was in close contact with the sensitive paper, there was a film
of varnish to be taken into consideration.
Mr. Hooter stated that the washing machine described by Mr.
Petschler was certainly very simple ; but he thought that an apparatus
which he employed was much more so. It was simply this : — The waste
pipe in the bottom of a vessel was continued upward to the level which it
was desired the water should attain, over this was placed a corked bottle
with the bottom removed, and the arrangement was complete. Water
being admitted into the vessel, found its way beneath the bottom of the
bottle, driving the air down the waste pipe, and when the desired level
was attained, the water followed and emptied the vessel, after which the
filling again commenced, and so on. He had, in the apparatus employed by
him, formed the upward extension of the waste-pipe by adopting a
separate piece, which could be removed at pleasure, so as to be out of the
way when not required.
Mr. Noton exhibited some negatives taken upon a double film of
iodised albumen. The further consideration of the subject was postponed
until the next meeting, on the understanding that plates would then be
prepared and developed in the room.
Mr. Haywood presented the Society with a photographic print which
he had purchased at Berlin on account of its great stereoscopic effect.
Votes of thanks to the officers of the past year, to the Chairman of the
evening, and to Mr. Haywood for his donation, concluded the proceedings.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 3rd instant, — William Henry Leather, Esq., in the chair.
The Secretary was requested to read the minutes of the previous
meeting, which, after some consideration, were passed.
The Chairman then called attention to a proposition made at the last
meeting with respect to the selection of the presentation photograph,
which he supposed would he given at the annual meeting in November.
October 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
371
Mr. Stanley said that he believed the choice of the photograph devolved
upon the Committee, and he would therefore move that a meeting of the
Committee be held on Wednesday evening, the 9th inst., when a decision
should be come to.
Mr. Stanley’s proposition was carried unanimously.
A Member : Mr. Chairman, is it the intention of the Society to hold a
Photographic Exhibition ?
The Chairman : That is a matter entirely in the hands of the members.
A Member proposed that the matter should come under the notice of
the committee meeting, and that some arrangement should be made, if
possible, for organising an Exhibition.
The proposition was acceded to, the result to be made known at the
next meeting.
The Chairman said he had very great pleasure in announcing that a
paper, written expressly for this Society by George Shadbolt, Esq., Editor
of TnE British Journal of Photography, would be read to the meeting,
and if no member had any proposition to make he would call upon the
Secretary to read the paper, which he felt sure could not fail to be inte¬
resting to all dry plate workers and admirers, as it was On the Choice of
a Dry Process. [See page 357.]
The paper having been read, a very animated discussion arose between
the dry and wet-plate workers, the admirers of the latter certainly having
a better impression of dry plates than that at first entertained.
Mr. Sutcliffe proposed, and Mr. Burrow seconded, a vote of thanks to
the Editor of The British Journal of Photography, for his most valu¬
able illustration of the practice of the different dry processes, which was
carried by acclamation.
Mr. Wood remarked, in answer to a question from Mr. Abbey, that
dragon’s blood and shell-lac might be used instead of gum to advantage,
as it was not liable to crack ; for gum alone was too brittle, and dragon’s
blood too pliable, but used in equal proportions the result was satisfactory.
Mr. Abbey had much hope of gum and borax, though his opinion had
no _ supporter ; but he assured the Society he was working to obtain
reliable plates, and he trusted his results might induce other members
to make a trial.
Many fine prints by various processes were exhibited, and much
admired, especially one (a dry-plate) by Mr. Beldon, which was truly
characteristic of the value of photography for architectural subjects,
being a print, 10 by 8, of the Bradford Bank.
The meeting was then adjourned until the 6th proximo.
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on]the 10th instant, — John Hey wood, Esq., occupying
the chair.
After the minutes of the previous meeting were passed, the President
said he thought it only just to inform the members that Mr. Fawcett had
requested his acceptance of a beautiful specimen of landscape photo¬
graphy, in recognition of his services in connexion with the late Society.
The negative from which the picture was produced was taken on a collo-
dio-albumen plate, 11 by 9, the lens employed being the front one of a
Goddard’s half-plate combination, stop three-eighths of an inch, and
exposure five minutes. The picture exhibited good definition up
to the extreme edges, and was in other respects eminently satis¬
factory.
This print and another by the same operator were handed round, and
originated a short but lively conversation on artistic arrangement of sub¬
jects, during the course of which several droll suggestions were offered
for the removal of obstructions when in the field.
Mr. Griffiths then opened a discussion on the subject of .Mr. Wardley ’s
paper, read at the previous meeting, the chief points raised being the
advantages or otherwise of slow development, and the functions
individually or conjointly performed by the albumen and collodion
films.
Mr. Wardley explained that a quick development frequently caused a
peculiar appearance — a kind of halo on the edges of objects that project
into the sky of a picture, whereas similar defects never occurred in the
process of slow development.
Mr. Hooper and other members corroborated the opinion of Mr. Ward-
ley on this point, and the members generally seemed to concur in the
opinion.
In reference to the parts played by the two films, Mr. Fawcett said he
had concluded, from the result of experiments made by himself some time
ago, that albumen itself in its normal condition had some influence in the
production of negatives by the process under consideration. In the
experiment to which he alluded he had coated a plate with simple albu¬
men, and after drying immersed it in the silver bath and washed it in the
ordinary way. This plate after exposure gave him a very passable nega¬
tive.
Mr. "Wardley wished to supply a slight omission in his paper, viz.,
that it was necessary to add occasionally a few drops of acetic acid to the
second sensitising bath, otherwise plates prepared in .it would .be found
not to keep. He also desired to explain that the addition of acid to the
hypo, fixing solution was simply to guard against alkalinity, alkaline
solutions possessing the property of dissolving the albumen film.
After the usual acknowledgments to the Chairman, the proceedings
closed.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The monthly meeting of this Society was held in the Tower, New Bridge
Street, on the 4th inst., — Mr. P. M. Laws, in the chair.
A letter was read from Mr. Thomas Sutton, of Jersey, in which he
promised to send a paper to be read at the November meeting.
The Secretary called the attention of the meeting to a new camera, by
Mr. Sutton, for taking instantaneous pictures, He spoke highly of the
improvement, as one very valuable and avcII worthy the attention of
photographers generally.
Mr. Birnie described the back part of the camera, in which the novelty
consists.
“Within the camera there is placed a moveable reflector, making an
angle of 45 degrees with the bottom, and which can be turned up and
down at pleasure, by means of an external handle, exactly in the same
way as Mr. Dallmeyer’s instantaneous shutter. The ground-glass is
placed horizontally in the top of the camera, and when the reflector is
down the image is thrown upon the ground-glass erect (but reversed as
regards right and left), — and this image can be accurately focussed upon
the horizontally, ground-glass by turning the focussing-screw of the
lens ; and when in focus upon the ground-glass it is also in perfect focus
upon the collodion film, which is symmetrically situated on the other side
of the reflector, and in its usual place in the camera.
* * * *
“The reader will now easily understand the general principle of this
new camera, and perceive its importance. For taking portraits of children
and for instantaneous views it is the exact thing wanted to make, in many
cases, all the difference between success and failure; and for taking portraits
generally it is a valuable instrument far superior to the common camera.
This new reflecting camera ought to come into general use amongst all
classes of portraitists, and we think it can hardly fail to do so in time ;
but unfortunately the march of improvement is slow, and the force
of prejudice in favour of established usage difficult to overcome, how¬
ever inconvenient and imperfect.”
The diagrams exhibited were well examined, and the improvement
was generally approved of by those present at the meeting.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
Committee — The Most Noble the Marquis of Drogheda; the Right Hon.
the Earl of Uxbridge; the Right Hon. the Viscount Ranelagh ; Sir
Thomas Maryon Wilson, Bart.; Right Rev. William Thomson, D.D.,
Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; Matthew Marshall, Esq., Chief Cashier
to the Bank of England; Major Stuart Wortley ; James Glaisher, Esq.,
F.R.S., F.R.A.S., &c. ; J. D. Llewellyn, Esq., F.R.S.; John Penn, Esq.,
F.R.S., &c. ; George Shadbolt, Esq.
Honorary Secretary — Mr. A. J. Melhuish.
Printers and Publishers — Messrs. M'Lean & Melhuish.
At a Committee meeting of the above-named Association, held on the
30th ult., at 26, Haymarket, the Right Hon. the Earl of Caithness was
duly elected a member of the Committee.
Several practical details relative to the method of conducting the
business of the Association were discussed and arranged, and others
proposed for future consideration. Numerous specimens of negatives
already sent in ivere examined and approved, many receiving high com¬
mendation. Specimens of the proofs from some of the negatives,
presumed to be a fair average of the whole, were also laid on the table.
A Report on the present state and future prospects of the Association,
was read by the Secretary, and adopted by the meeting, as follows : —
“ It is with considerable satisfaction that I place before the Committee
the present state and future prospects of the Amateur Photographic
Association, the scheme for which was first made known to the public in
the middle of May last. Although hardly surprised, I felt much gratified
at the outburst of approval with which it was received, and the very gene¬
ral and lively interest which it excited amongst photographic amateurs.
From the first announcement of its formation to the present moment the
list of members has steadily increased: this day, for instance, I have
registered three new names. Nor has its influence been confined to this
country alone, but it has extended also to those on the European conti¬
nent, as well as to our most distant colonies. This will be seen by the
packets of letters now upon the table, including communications received
from various localities in Europe, India, Canada, Antigua, Rio Janeiro,
Cape of Good Hope, Ac., which display an unanimity of sympathy with,
and approval of, the objects of the Association which is seldom witnessed ;
in fact, the sentiments expressed by correspondents may be epitomised
in these few words, which I extract from several of the letters before
you — viz.: ‘I have much pleasure in joining the Association ;’ ‘ I cor¬
dially approve of the scheme;’ ‘ I shall be glad to render it every assistanc
that is in my power ; ’ ‘ I think the thanks of photographers are due to
the gentlemen who have devoted their time and attention to the formation
of so excellent an association;' ‘I believe it to be the very thing that
was wanted.’
“ The future prospects of this Association are no less satisfactory than
its present condition. Although but a small per centage of the members
have as yet sent in their negatives, those already received exceed four
hundred ; and whilst at least a multiple of that number may be safely
379
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1801
calculated upon, should those who have yet to contribute do so in any¬
thin" like the same proportion, the number to be dealt with will be ex¬
ceedingly large. Of the high quality of the negatives you will be able to
judge from the several parcels now on the table before yon, which have
just been received, and from the proofs which I now exhibit, these being
selected as a fair average sample from the whole of the negatives received
up to the present time.
“ I submit that these specimens demonstrate unmistakeably that we
already have amongst us photographers of whom the members generally
may well be proud, and prove that the works of many amateurs are, to
say the least, fully equal to those of their professional brethren. This
Association, although little more than four months old, already numbers
just 100 members, and receives daily additions, so that we may fairly
pronounce it to be a great success, being, to use the words of the pro¬
spectus, ‘ an Exchange Club of the most extensive kind, a bond of union,
and a medium of communication such as no mere society, however ex¬
cellent, can ever hope to offer, and which will give an interest and a
Stimulus to amateur photography from which great results must flow.’”
iforeigu Carresponbcitte.
Paris, October 9 th, 1861.
Most of the photographic journals have reproduced the description
published by a certain M. Jos. Balsamo, of a process for printing
positives with phosphorus. On reading in the above description
all the new and strange facts which the author reveals, one would
believe that an important scientific discovery had been made — that
to the already-known wonders of photography a new one had been
added. Unfortunately, all this must he largely diminished. A
series of careful experiments made by Dr. Selmauss dispel all illu¬
sion on the subject. That learned chemist has several times
repeated the operations indicated by M. Balsamo, and that with
scrupulous care and in such circumstances that the want of success
could not proceed from him. The only result he has obtained is
the conviction that the process does not exist. None of the effects
announced took place. The phosphorus remained obstinately
insoluble, and not a trace of the image was formed on tho paper.
Supported by this judgment of Dr. Selmauss, we would go so far
as to doubt the personality of the supposed inventor. Joseph
Balsamo is the title of one of Alexander Dumas’s novels, and the
name of a personage half real, half fantastic, whom that author lias
taken for his hero. Is the writer of the communication in question
as much a creature of the imagination as is his namesake? Per¬
haps so.
Let us enter tho domain of reality, and speak of the successful
commencement of M. Leon Duval’s explanatory lectures at Mar¬
seilles in connexion with the Exhibition now open in that city.
The first of these lectures was delivered on the 1st of October to a
numerous audience of both sexes. The crowd was so considerable
that more than a hundred persons were unable to obtain admit¬
tance. This is an excellent symptom, and it proves the interest
that photography awakens everywhere. The Marseillese are not
willing to be left behind ; and they are in the right. They lack
neither sunshine nor intelligence ; and, judging from their eager¬
ness to learn, we may hope that some of them at least may suc¬
ceed in turning these two elements to profitable account.
The letter addressed by Mr. Cummings, of Lancaster (N.S.A.),
to Humphrey' s Journal , and reproduced by the Moniteur de la Photo -
c/raplde, on a process for obtaining photographic pictures in relief,
has led to the announcement from one of our Parisian artists of
similar researches undertaken by him a long while since. We
have not seen the results obtained ; but the artist informs us that,
though not yet complete, they are far from being unsatisfactory.
The inventor of photographic sculpture, Villeme, is about to open
an operating-room in Paris. Will the reduced bust have the same
success as the visiting card ? The first advantage of this innova¬
tion, from an industrial and commercial point of view, will be its
novelty ; and that is a great attraction for the public. Besides
the plaster and marble portrait, M. Villeme purposes working for
clock and bronze manufacturers, and for cabinet-makers, whom he
will supply with groups, statuettes, and ornaments at a cheap rate.
I have lately seen some very fine equestrian portraits, executed
at the various establishments consecrated to that branch of tho
art, which have been formed this year. Great progress has cer¬
tainly been made. Among the pictures of turnouts I saw an ad¬
mirably-executed two-horse calash, with coachman and footman,
and four persons inside. Each face was a complete portrait. In
the card style these pictures are very effective and successful.
The fii 'm of Goupil, the most important of our print dealers, have
just commenced the photographing of all the engravings they have
published. This collection, which the objective is about to popu¬
larise, forms an almost inexhaustible storehouse. The purchasers
of the photographs will not in general be those who make collec¬
tions of engravings. Goupil will therefore have two publics fur
the same subject ; and, while a taste for the beautiful will thus ho
excited and nourished, those who cater therefor will not, I think,
be without their reward in the shape of goodly profits.
^ ERNEST LACAN.
New Yorle, September 28 th, 1861.
In my last I spoke of some recent applications of gun-cotton and
collodion. I have now the honour to make some important addi¬
tions to that record.
For some time past tire paper used for the cartridges of the Colt
revolver (pistol) has been converted into pyroxyline, by soaking
the paper in the ordinary mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids.
By this treatment the paper is scarcely changed in strength or
sensible properties, but becomes as combustible as gunpowder, and
is wholly consumed on the discharge of the weapon. The advan¬
tages of such a cartridge are, that the powder is more quickly
inflamed, and that, the combustion being complete, no foulness is
left in the barrel. A recent improvement on this gun paper
cartridge seems to have brought the article to its ultimate per¬
fection. The improvement consists simply in dipping the car¬
tridge, hall and all, into a thin plain collodion. The effect of this
is a varnish over the whole surface — beautiful, silky, and water¬
proof. The edges of the paper are thus cemented together, and
the contraction, on drying, forces the powder together in a com¬
pact mass. The cartridges may be thrown into water with
impunity, and, becoming much stronger by the collodionising, may
be handled quite roughly.
Another invention much talked of, and of a similar character, I
am unable to describe so exactly. It is a hall cartridge m which
no paper at all is used ; hut the ball is held to the powder by
means of collodion, and the surface of the powder is varnished with
collodion. It has a very neat appearance ; but I suspect the prac¬
tical difficulties in the way (of its construction may keep it out of
use.
Experiments are about to be 'made, on a somewhat extensive
scale, to test the utility of guu-cotton for bombs. If anything of
interest transpires in this regard I will report it.
I have before me a stereo, picture, made by one of our skilful
amateurs, which I am exhibiting at my office as a photographic
curiosity. I call it “The what is it?” the problem being to deter¬
mine what it represents, and which is the top of the picture. The
first decision of the spectator is, generally, that it is a picture of a
Chinese pagoda on a highly-ornamented flower-stand. This
decision is, however, weakened by a closer examination, and
by the uncertainty as to which end the object stands on.
The imagination may now come to the relief of this bewilderment,
and decide that a burlesque statue of a soldier or a boot-jack is
represented.
Now the interest of this mystery is greatly heightened by tho
fact that the picture is a very good photograph, sharp, distinct,
and full of detail.
The explanation is this : — The camera’s station was taken on the
bank of a small lake. The opposite bank was straight, the water
was perfectly quiet, and the landscape was doubled, the joining
being the water line along the middle of the picture. The trees,
rocks, &c., with their corresponding reflections from the water,
give the appearance of the symmetry of ornamental work. A
small house peeping through the trees destroys at once all the
illusion. CHARLES A. SEELY.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOONLIGHT.
In a late number of La Lumierc , M. Gaudin, after extracting
from the pages of an English contemporary an account of some
photographs lately exhibited at Birmingham by Mr. Breeze, and
alleged to have been talcen by moonlight, comments as follows : —
“ I had read this description on its appearance, but I considered
it what it really is — a puff addressed to rich English lords; but, as
it has come into France without having been contradicted, it is
necessary to look into it.
“ In my opinion these impressions are the result of faint instan¬
taneous proofs obtained in broad sunshine, and it is their intended
faintness that produces the effect of moonlight, for we are in¬
finitely far from being able to produce, photographically, anything
by the light of the moon; the whole night would not suffice; and
even with that, the shadows would be so much displaced, that we
could only obtain views covered with spots.
October 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
373
“ Do not let us forget that, in reality, the moon, although it pre¬
sents the contrary idea, gives three hundred thousand times less
light than the sun. No photographic artifice can alter that ; and if
we can now obtain a negative for the stereoscope in a tenth part
of a second of time in the full light of summer, we should abso¬
lutely require three hundred thousand times as much time by the
light of the moon, supposing her to remain in the meridian in
winter during the whole of the necessary time, which would
occupy eight hours ; and on account of the weakness of the light
in proportion as the moon had risen, and the necessity to use dry
collodion, which acts about ten times as slowly as other col¬
lodions, it can be said with certainty that, at present, no one can
obtain a negative of an object by the light of the moon, using,
under the most favourable circumstances, the whole of the night
for the exposure.
“ With regard to the impression of the moon herself, which is
scarcely as bright as a cloud, it would be produced almost as
quickly as the background in daylight ; but nothing that she shone
upon could be produced without an exposure exceeding the length
of the entire night. Comets, like the moon, give us only a reflected
light; and, in order to have reflection, it is absolutely necessary that
they shall be incidence of the light upon a surface of a liquid or
solid material. This is probably what takes place with the comets.
Their development is immense; but the particles of which they
are composed are so isolated, and generally of such great tenuity,
and separated from each other by long intervals, that the luminous
intensity of these heavenly bodies is in inverse proportion to the
space which they occupy.”
Photography Applied in a New Direction. — The Mettray
Colony, near Tours, is a well-known reformatory for youthful con¬
victs. The moment a young rascal enters the precincts of this
house of correction, he is obliged to grant a sitting to the photo¬
graphic artist of the establishment, and a similar proceeding takes
place when the urchin makes his exit after undergoing his term Of
imprisonment. In a paragraph now going the round of the papers
it is said that the first portrait represents the rags, dirt, and misery,
the physical and moral degradation, the prematurely careworn fea¬
tures, the scowling, cowering, timid, uneasy, and withal ferocious
look of the born thief. The second shows the same individual
transformed by the magic of judicious discipline, which includes
physical comfort and kind treatment : his dress is no\j£ clean and
neat, and his countenance is redolent of health, contentment, self-
confidence, benevolence, and energy. Philosophy had never, in
any age, a grander subject for contemplation than two such pictures
- -
Camspfltttrntte.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
RESINED COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — When a man has courage 'to avow his change of opinion, he
thereby shows that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday. Now I
have very many times insisted that if was expedient first to obtain a
choice negative, and then to secure it by means of some adhesive fluid
poured over it subsequently. But the loss of what would have proved
lirst-elass negatives (by the collodion as treated by the Abbe Despratz)
for want of some retaining medium to keep it from slipping oft' the plate,
lias at length satisfied me that it is indispensable first to coat with albu¬
men, gelatine, or some equivalent. Mr. Glover has advised the follow¬
ing : — Dissolve just sufficient India-rubber (pure) in benzole or in mineral
naphtha so that it will filter through blotting-paper, pass it through
twice or thrice, cover the plate, drain, and dry before the fire.
I, however, have preferred to coat first with diluted albumen, according
to the formula so admirably suggested by yourself, viz., one drachm of
white of egg to seven of water, with twenty drops of liq. ammonise. There
is no mode of working preserved collodion to equal this method, and I
propose to trouble you with the very successful plan that has been
pursued by Mr. Glover and myself.
The plates arc first coated with the above solution — and here let me
remark that without being aware of your knowledge of the plan you
have recommended to a correspondent, “Verdant Green,” in the last
number of the Journal, I have dipped the plates into rain water, drained
slightly, poured on the solution (filtered for each plate to keep out bubbles
and dust), and then when the plates are dried, back and front, before a
brisk fire, it is impossible to tell there is anything upon them, unless
their backs be marked with a diamond. With this coating it does not
matter what kind of pyroxyline is used, whether it be hard and horny,
or porous and pulpy (1 hate the word powdery as applied to moist cover¬
ings). For the iodiser there is no better than that recommended by Mr.
Hardwich in page 277 of the last edition of his Manual. Let these con¬
ditions be stedfastly adhered to : the most intense negatives may be
obtained with perfect certainty in only twice the exposure of freshly-
sensitised wet plates.
I am quite willing to admit a certain excellence in Major Russell's
tannin process ; but what a tedious exposure is required ! Why it is
enough to disgust the Sun himself with photography ! I have now before
me two negatives prepared by each plan, which, as they were in a double
slide, were exposed in the same camera, with the same stop, and in the
same light, and were also prepared and developed with chemicals identical
for each. Mark the results : — The resined plate is a fully deep negative
in one and three-quarters of a minute, the tannin under-exposed in eight
minutes. Why what would trees in the calmest day be like in that time?
I am rejoiced to have the fact confirmed by Mr. Tlislop that these plates
may be preserved unchanged for six -weeks ; but, let him try the plan
communicated to me by Mr. Glover, and he will find no limit to their
keeping qualities. Upon taking the plates out of the bath let them be
washed back and front, with not less than twenty-four ounces of rain
water (this for plates 10 by 8). Now have ready a large spare bath filled
with spring water, and, tilting the bath towards you, the reverse w’ay to
what it stands, slip the plate gently in, so that, when the bath is set down
the right way, the jflate falls slowly with its face to the back of the bath :
the dipper will keep the coating from being injured. Here let it remain
not less than half an hour ! The colour of the water will show at the
end of that time that the former ivashing, copious as it was, has failed to
wash away all free nitrate. By a gentle flushing with more rain water
to remove any remains of precipitate, most of which has fallen to the
bottom of the water, a plate perfectly free from stains and fitted for any
amount of keeping will be secured.
I am also a convert from the plan of re dipping after exposing; but, as
the nitrate has been so perseveringly removed previously, a large quan¬
tity is requisite for development. Have ready one and a-half grain of
pyrogallic acid in one drachm of spirit and one drachm of water ; in
another measure half a drachm of the nitrate bath, and one drachm of
acid acetic fort to six drachms of water. Pour rain water upon the
plate so as thoroughly to moisten the surface, mix your two solutions,
and pour on and off until the most exigeant taste for deep, full-bodied
negatives is satisfied. Success is certain. — I am, yours, &c.
C. COREY.
P.S. — In the report of the North London meeting you are represented
to have said, when quoting Mr. Glover’s opinion, that any influence the
resin might exert was due to the picric acid ; whereas I strongly suspect
you really did say it was pinic acid, as most probably it is. Though the
former may be obtained from the same substance, they widely differ, as
the following symbols will show : —
Picric acid . C12 H3 3N04 03
Pinic acid . C40 H30 04
The good effect of picric acid is more than questionable.
GELATINE SOLUTION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — On looking over the back numbers of The British Journal of
Photography, I find in your notice of my little book, in the number for
the 15tli August, a question about my plan of preparing gelatine solution.
I have long been familiar with the use of albumen in clearing gelatine.
Perhaps it may be as well to give my reasons for preferring acetic acid.
In the first place, the latter seems to clear the solution equally -well, and
its use involves less«trouble, as the liquid merely requires warming and
filtering ; whereas, when albumen is used, it must be boiled with alcohol
before it becomes clear. Again, gelatine solution cleared by albumen is
much more liable to become decomposed : this is an evil in itself, besides
which it would seem to indicate that a trace of albumen escapes coagu¬
lation, and, in my opinion, its presence is prejudicial, as it forms, by the
action of nitrate of silver, a soluble compound, which decomposes spon¬
taneously, and is apt to cause fogging, especially when long kept in warm
weather.
The entire removal by washing of the matter in question is difficult,
when it is beneath the collodion film and the latter is close in texture.
October 10 th, 1861. I am, yours, &e. C. RUSSELL.
COLLODIO- ALBUMEN.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am somewhat diffident in addressing myself to your valuable
Journal, and more especially because my communication calls into ques¬
tion your reply or answer to the former part of “Dry Plate’s” inquiries
which appeared in this day’s Journal. To quote his own words — “After
the hypo, is removed, and the washing is commenced, the film begins to
shrink up in ridges, tree-shaped , and increase to such a size that they do
not recede on drying, thus spoiling the negative.” I have had the
above-named difficulty, and lost pictures through it. It arises, I believe,
from fixing the pictures in impure or alkaline hyposulphite of soda — that
is, if the plate was not blistered previously in development.
374
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1801
The remedy I adopt and recommend is, whenever a new fixing solution
is made to add thereto a few drops of acetic acid, which will neutralise
any alkalinity. Most samples of hypo, possess a strong alkaline reaction.
I have never known the loss of a picture since the above simple addition
was adopted. I am, yours, &c.
Manchester, Oct. 1st, 1861. GEO. WARDLEY.
[Our correspondent is a skilful practitioner of the collodio-albumen
process, and no doubt his experience will be of service to “Dry Plate.”
We do not perceive the slightest reason for hesitation in affording it, our
object being not self-glorification, but assistance to others. — Ed.]
AN ACCIDENT, AND ITS REMEDY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly inform me in your next issue how to proceed in
the following case : —
Wishing to make a new nitrate bath I put by mistake three ounces of
silver into a bottle containing some hyposulphite of soda in solution. I
wish to know whether I can recover the silver, and if so, the best method
of procedure ? I am, yours, &c.
Ipsivich. m HYPOSULPHITE.
[Precipitate the silver in the form of a sulphide (by the addition of a
solution of sulphide of potassium, of which you will probably require
about one and a-half ounces to effect the conversion of your three ounces
of nitrate of silver. Dry and pulverise the precipitate, and rub it up in
a mortar with about twice its weight of common nitre (nitrate of potash).
Make a common clay crucible red hot in a brisk fire, and throw into it,
little by little, the blackish mixture. At each addition deflagration will
take place, and metallic silver will be left behind in a spongy kind of
mass. This should be cleared by boiling it in water acidified with hydro¬
chloric acid, and after being washed may be dissolved in dilute nitric
acid to restore it to the condition of nitrate of silver. — Ed.]
THE LATE MR. HOAVLETT.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The fact that I includedjn my list of errata in the late Exhibi¬
tion at Manchester the name of a deceased artist, does not, in my opinion,
invalidate the inference I drew. I was fully aware of poor Howlett’s
untimely death, and for that reason should have been glad to have seen
some of his pictures — that of the Great Eastern , for example.
Few exhibitions would be considered complete without an old master or
two. Mr. Doyle’s picture sale is almost entirely made up of them, and
as this was not advertised as a collection of the works of living artists I
do not think such omissions should have been permitted. With regard
to my own omissions, which are many, I must crave the indulgence of
your readers in what I have said. I have endeavoured to do so in a plain
outspoken manner, at the same time wishing “nought to extenuate, nor
set down aught in malice.” I am, yours, &c. 2
PROPORTION OF ACID IN THE SILVER SOLUTION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In adding acid to the intensifying silver solution, as advised *>y
Major Russell, ought the usual amount of acid to be also used in the
pyro. solution ?
Also, as a general rule, what proportions of citric are to be added to the
silver solution in the wet process ? I am, yours, &c. R. G.
[Certainly not the acid is added to the silver solution instead of to the
pyrogallic acid, in order to retain an uniform proportion between the
nitrate of silver and citric acid, allowing a variation the amount of
pyrogallic acid, the object being the avoidance of fogging. In the wet
process we perceive no advantage in this method of working, there being
always some free nitrate on the plate, so that the proportion is not con¬
stant. Temperature also materially influences the quantity of citric acid
required. — Ed.]
ZINC PLATE BOXES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — About two months ago I took into Normandy seventy stereo,
tannin, and twenty 10 by 8, plates. The stereo, plates were in wooden,
and the large plates in zinc boxes. All the large plates, with but few ex’
ceptions (even those that had not been prepared more than a week), were,
on development, covered with black spots, comets, &c., especially at the
corners and round the edges. The small plates remained good and free
from the slightest spot to the very last, i e., a month after preparation. I
waS exceedingly puzzled by this comparative behaviour of the large and
small plates, and although a suspicion did cross my mind that the difference
must be caused by the boxes, I ultimately concluded that the 10 by 8
plates could not have received so large a proportion of washing as the
small ones, and I thought no more about the boxes.
A fortnight ago I prepared forty stereo, plates (by tannin). I tried four
of these on Tuesday last (eleven days after preparation), and got four as
good and clean negatives as I could possibly desire. On Thursday I
started with the remainder for Whitby, unfortunately carrying all in zinc
boxes. 1 exposed them on Thursday and Friday, and to day (Saturday)
proceeded to develop. I have now developed about twenty, and every one
of these is troubled with the spots, thus completely ruining the pictures,
otherwise perfectly clean and brilliant.
I can no longer doubt that the zinc boxes have done the mischief, for
all the plates were prepared together ; and, as four of them developed so
beautifully on the eleventh day after preparation, 1 cannot say that the
four additional days could make the difference. All were treated exactly
alike, except that the first four were never put in the zinc boxes.
Besides, on taking one of the undeveloped plates into daylight, and
putting it under a microscope, it was found covered with small particles of
metal, glass, &c.
The friction of the plates against the sharp-edged metal grooves has
caused the mischief.
I am sorry to have to make this charge against the boxes, as they are
so very portable. I hope Mr. Keene’s zinc boxes, with gutta-percha
grooves , will be free from this evil. I think that even these will not be
perfect unless the top and bottom be also covered with gutta-percha, or
the friction of the plates be prevented by means of a piece of elastic
tubing.
If any other of your correspondents have been troubled with a like
annoyance, and from the same cause, I wish they would make the fact
known.
Any suggestions as to the best method of carrying a stock of dry plates
on a trip, where a great deal of knocking about is inevitable, will be of
service to many as well as myself. — I am, yours, &c., D. HORNBY. -
Driffield, October 5th, 1861.
[AVe can readily understand why zinc boxes should be liable to ready
abrasion of the metal ; and further, spots of moisture would oxidate the
zinc, which, though insoluble, would readily be rubbed off, and cause the
spots on the plates. Perhaps a coating of shell-lac in naphtha or methy¬
lated spirit might remedy the evil with regard to the boxes you have ;
but we would advise your procuring some of tinned iron when you want
any more. AAre believe that Mr. Keene’s metal boxes, and also those sold
by Messrs. Murray and Heath, are perfectly free from the defect noticed
by our correspondent. AVe have personally used tinned-iron boxes, with
grooves made of the same material, and carried them full of sensitive
plates for pretty well a thousand miles by railway (out and home), with¬
out ^my inconvenience. AVe kept the plates steady by means of a piece
of crumpled paper on the top. AVe had none broken or spotted on our
return. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
F. M. B.— Not sufficently good for a detailed notice.
\V. H. (Leeds). — Received. Attention in due course.
Ardent Amateur.— See notice in the present number.
W. Daniels.— All three are good; but we prefer No. 3.
S. M. — We regret not being able to comply with your request.
George Dawson.— We have mislaid your present address : please send it.
Adhesive.— The only objection to the India-rubber solution is the unpleasant scent.
Old Boy. — An iron wire is quite unsuitable for the purpose : use a handle of wood, and
bind on the flannel with silk thread.
Trotty. —A linen duster washed in soda and water, and well rinsed (avoiding soap), is
better than wash-leather, in our opinion, for the purpose.
J. H. S. — The strength is not material, but, about ten grains to each ounce of water
will be advisable. You may wash out your gutta-percha trough with the same ; and it
should be used whenever similar annoyances occur— otherwise it is needless.
Duffy Giles. —The backgrounds which you desire are regular articles of commerce :
see our advertising columns. Should you desire to make them, stout calico sheeting,
covered with plain or figured paper hangings of appropriate patterns, will answer.
M. II. — Too late for reply in our last. Photographic frontispieces we have seen for
photographic albums, but where procurable we do not know : we have no doubt, however,
that they are purchasable where the albums are to be had— probably of Negretti and
Zambra, Murray and Heath, McLean, Melliuish, and Co., Hogarth, Clifford, Ac., Ac.
T. Mark. — We agree in the condemnation of the sliding body, as a rule ; it is useful
only when several lenses are to be used with the same camera. As to the supposed
advantage of erecting the view, we believe it to be a mere illusion, and do not value it
in the slightest degree; but there is no disadvantage that we perceive, and the arrange¬
ment is ingenious enough, allowing the subject to be watched until the instant of
exposure.
Amateur. — 1. The strength of the hyposulphite bath does not materially influence the
time occupied in fixing a proof; but the number that it will fix without chance of pro¬
ducing “ measles.” — 2. They were not enlarged, but taken direct from nature, with a
portrait lens of long focus. — 3. The orthographic lens can be used for taking portraits,
in a pood, light. The chief difference in effect is the production of a flatter field ; but it
is a slow-working lens.— 4. If you send a directed en^fcpe we will reply to this
question privately. — 5. We do not think that iodide of cadmium is the cause of the
phenomena you mention, but methylated ether. However, if the fogging does not return,
it is of no consequence; if it does, add a little more tincture of iodine.
A Junior Photographer. — 1. We do not know to what Photographic Dictionary you
allude. We belive that one was published long since by Mr. Sutton, but we faneyit is “out
of print.’’ — 2. An Almanac will most probably be issued with our number f6r the 1st
January next year. — 3. You must consult our advertising columns : it would not be fair
to answer such a question publicly.— 4. For taking portraits about £10— for landscapes
perhaps £6 or £7 ; but all depends upon the extent to which you wish to go into the art.
leader
PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO ART t
“ The Lady of Shalott.” .
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By JAMES MARTIN .
ON THE CHOICE OP A DRY PROCESS. By
GEORGE SHADBOLT .
THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862.
By C. JABEZ HUGHES .
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR’ AT¬
MOSPHERE AS REVEALED BV SPEC¬
TRUM ANALYSIS. By S. HIGHLEY,
F.G.S., F.C.S., &c. (with Diagrams) . 361
THE TANNIN PROCESS. Chapter III. By
MAJOR RUSSELL . 362
PALESTINE IN 1860 No. IX. By JOHN
CUAMB . 364
PAGE
CHLORIC ACID IN THE SILVER BATH.
By M. Mc-A. GAUDIN . 365
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. IX. By J. ROTHWELL . 365
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A LATE
ENTHUSISASTIC AMATEUR. Edited by ,
SYDNEY SUNSHINE . 36ff
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H. ,
WALL . 367
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 368
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN. Letter from New
York. By C. A. SEELY . J7.... 3'2
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOONLIGHT . . a'2
CORRESPONDENCE . 373
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS . 374
CONTENTS
»AO«
355
355
-356
357
359
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 153, Vol. VIII. — NOVEMBER 1, 1861.
International Exhibition of 1862. — We presume that
until after the opening of the Exhibition the subject of photo¬
graphy in connexion with it will be continually “ cropping out, ”
as the geologists would phrase it; hence we must not wonder at
its having been the subject par excellence discussed at the first
meeting of the South London Photographic Society, held on
the 10th ult.
One gentleman read a paper with reference to it ; much con¬
versation followed upon it ; and, to crown all, a memorial to the
Royal Commissioners was agreed on, and we presume, ere this,
has been presented. Alarm was no doubt depicted on every
countenance — a yawning gulf was supposed to exist in the form
of a vacant space where a committee for managing photographic
affairs ought to be found. What was to be done? The South
London Photographic Society, like a second Ourtius, is ready to
sacrifice itself for the salvation of its brethren by leaping
bodily into the void space, and tenders its services to the utmost
extent of its resources to the Royal Commissioners. Fancy the
Royal Commissioners in despair availing themselves of the
resources of a small (not to say very small) suburban Society !
We cannot help calling to mind the refrain of an old song that
was popular in our boyhood’s days which ran thus —
“I give thee all, I can no more,
Though poor the offering he."
Though the memorial may have been presented, we have not
yet quite done with it. It purports to be the memorial of The
South London Photographic Society, consequently including
every member thereof — not merely of those only who assented
thereto. Had the managers of the affairs of that Society been
at all conversant with the general conduct of public societies
they would have been aware that the bringing forward of such a
document as the “ memorial ” with a view to its adoption,
without previous notice, was altogether an irregular, not to say an
illegal, proceeding. But waiving for a moment this question,
they ought surely to have known that the adoption of it by a
majority, however large, could not in such a case bind the
minority. It should therefore have been styled “ the memorial
of certain members undersigned,” or “ of the officers and
committee,” &c.
Now, oddly enough, the writer of this article happens to be
a member of this notable Society, and therefore found himself
in the ridiculous position of advocating two diametrically op¬
posed courses — that is to say, he would have been so situated
had the memorial been really what it professed to be, that of the
South London Photographic Society : consequently he lost no
time in forwarding to the Honorary Secretary a protest against
the irregularity of the proceeding. What may have been its fate
has not yet appeared ; but it was incidentally remarked that most
of the absentees, who were but few in number, were aware of the
intended introduction of the memorial, and it was believed
that not one was hostile to the movement.
Now, as the number of members present was certainly small
a fact which we have taken the trouble to ascertain— it follows
that the South London Photographic Society consists mainly
of its committee and officers, with just a few unofficial mem¬
bers ; so that it resembles the celebrated skeleton of a regiment,
comprising a colonel, a major, and one private. This is hardly
the sort of Society to represent the photographic interest at the
World's Fair.
We are by no means so sanguine that the Commissioners will
be pleased to accede to the prayer of the memorial as one of
the members expressed himself to be, and still less that if they
did so photographers would be freed from the tender nursing of
the sappers and miners ; lor is there not a governmental pho¬
tographic department at South Kensington (which is so handy)?
and will not its chief pull the strings whatever set of dummies
may be installed as a committee? By the way, we may
depend upon it that the more completely they are dummies the
better for their own peace (little secrets will come out) ; and,
though they may be permitted to talk, too much liberty of action
will not be allowed. We have reason to believe also that some
misapprehension exists when it is asserted that the Com¬
missioners have conceded to photography a separate depart¬
ment. We have sought for, but cannot find, any authentic
announcement of such concession — the nearest approach to it
being, not a separate department, but a separate apartment, in
which to exhibit photographic apparatus and photography.
Nobody supposed that the latter were to be exhibited in direct
contact with steam-engines and ploughs. It was not that fear
which caused the Photographic Society to issue a protest: it was
the classification alone that was considered offensive, and the
classification remains in statu quo. What, then, has been con¬
ceded ?
By the way we notice that our old antagonist, Sir W. J.
Newton, has “fired a shot” in favour of M. Silvy’s view that
photography is not a fine art, and he asserts, moreover, that it
never can be so. Well! this is not surprising ; and certainly,
however much we may differ from this gentleman in our view’
of the matter, wre cannot, at any rate, charge him with want of
consistency in his argument, as wre truly can charge his ally, to
whom M. Claude t has written a very able reply (which will be
found iu another column) in answer to the article upon which
we commented in our last.
There is a point, upon which some little misapprehension
exists, which we must notice. The course adopted by the
Council of the Photographic Society in no way affects photo¬
graphers who intend to exhibit. Each one w’ould have been
equally bound to have applied for space through the same
channel as at present whether the Council had nominated the
committee asked for or not ; consequently every photographer
is in precisely the same condition with regard to space accorded
as he would have otherwise been. Of course all who intend
exhibiting have already secured space, and are no doubt busily
occupied in preparing their specimens, or arranging to do so.
Before concluding we would offer one suggestion for consider¬
ation. Having protested a Voutrance against the mechanical
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 1, 1861
676
estimate of our art, and presuming that the Royal Com¬
missioners may be inclined to make some concession, however
small, to what they may if they please regard as the prejudices
of photographers, might it not be politic for the Council of the
Photographic Society to intimate their willingness to accept,
under protest with respect to classification, the allotment of a
separate room for the exhibition of photographs, as proposed by
the Royal Commissioners, provided that photographic apparatus
be excluded therefrom, and exhibited in its proper place — that is,
amongst the philosophical instruments?
DEVELOPING WITHOUT FREE NITRATE OP SILVER.
By G. Wharton Simpson.
[Read at a Meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Oct. 23, ]86l.]
It has been a commonly received opinion among the majority of
photographers that the presence of free nitrate of silver was a
necessary condition to the development of the latent image pro¬
duced by light on the sensitive collodion plate. Theoretically it
has been held by some that the presence of any two of the now
generally used salts of silver would ensure the conditions necessary
to development ; but practically the presence of the free nitrate
has generally been regarded as an indispensable condition, both in
dry and wet processes.
I wish to call attention to a method of development likely to
prove of the greatest possible importance in dry-plate photography,
which involves the negation of this condition. My attention was
first called to the subject in a communication received from Mr.
Mudd, whose collodio-albumen pictures are generally acknowledged
to be amongst the very finest specimens of dry-plate photography.
It is only right to add that Mr. Mudd gives the entire credit of the
suggestion to his assistant, Mr. Wardley. The method of develop¬
ment referred to consists in the application to the exposed col¬
lodio-albumen plate of a solution of pyrogallic acid, without either
acetic or citric acid, and without any nitrate of silver. The
strength mentioned by Mr. Mudd is two or three grains to the
ounce ; but I believe the strength for this purpose is comparatively
unimportant.
Contrary to what might be expected, the image rapidly develops
very perfectly. When all the detail is fully out, the usual develop¬
ing solution of pyrogallic acid and citric acid, with a little nitrate
of silver solution, is applied, and the desired amount of intensity
by this means obtained.
Having been struck with the manifest advantages of such a pro¬
cess, and having subsequently an opportunity of witnessing its
simplicity and convenience in Mr. Mudd’s hands, I was anxious to
ascertain whether it was equally applicable to other dry processes.
I have accordingly tried it on dry plates by a variety of processes
besides the collodio-albumen. I ‘have tried it on Fothergiil plates
prepared by different persons, on tannin plates, and on Dr. Hill
Norris’s extra-sensitive dry plates. Mr. Mudd, in a conversation
I had with him on the subject, expressed an opinion that notwith¬
standing his plates received a very thorough washing after their
final sensitising, some trace of free nitrate must he left, sufficient
to aid development. I was led in my experiments with the plate
referred to— especially in the Dr. Hiil Norris’s plates, which are, it
is understood, entirely deprived of free nitrate of silver — to believe
that development might he effected without any free nitrate what¬
ever. In every instance I obtained an image more or less perfect
on the application of pyrogallic acid alone. In order to test the
matter still further, I excited a plate, and proceeded very care¬
fully to remove all free silver. I washed it in several changes of
common water, and finally placed it in a dish containing a strong
solution of chloride of ammonium, leaving it there for about a
quarter of an hour. I now washed it again very thoroughly, using
several quarts of water. Having taken every pains by washing and
the use of chloride to remove all free nitrate of silver, I exposed
the plate, and then developed with the solution of pyrogallic acid ,
without silver or acetic acid. In a minute or two a very perfect
but very thin image was fully developed. On applying the usual
developer and silver the image intensified satisfactorily. I think
from this it may be fairly assumed that the principle is applicable
to dry plates prepared by any process, no matter what pains may
have been used to remove all traces of free nitrate. The collodion
I used was prepared with a bromide as well as an iodide. What
the result would be with a simply iodised collodion I have not had
time to try ; neither have I had an opportunity of trying salts of
iron for developing under the same circumstances.
In refen ing to the advantages of such a procsss I think they
must be very apparent. One of the most common faults of dry-plate
negatives is hardness. This arises, doubtless, from two causes : —
the first being a common tendency, especially in beginners, to
under-expose their plates ; but by far the most fruitful cause is
the difficulty of determining, under all circiunstances, the exact
amount of silver to be added to the developer, so as to secure the
proper harmony between the process of development in the film
and that reduction of silver upon it by which intensity is obtained.
If it so happen that prolonged development is necessary to bring
out all the detail, it unfortunately also happens that accumulation
of deposit on the high lights, burying all the delicate half-tone
immediately adjoining them, is at the same time going forward. If
the development be stopped in time to save the lights and lighter
shadows, it frequently happens that much of the detail in the
darker parts of the shadows is not brought out. The issue in
either case is the absence of that delicacy, softness, and harmony
of detail necessary to constitute a good picture. In the process I
have been describing development proper is effected before the
accumulation of intensity begins : the attention is devoted to one
thing at a time, and facility afforded for having each part of the
process under complete control. The value of this principle, or
at least a partial application of it, is essentially recognised by
Major Russell, who makes every provision, in his instructions for
the tannin process, for the use of a very small quantity of silver
until the image is fully out, and the subsequent use of a larger
portion to give density ; but, in no case that I know of, before Mr.
Mudd’s communication, was the possibility and value of developing
without any addition of silver hinted at.
I may add a word or two in regard to the use of hot developing solu¬
tions. How far these can be used with advantage in any process,
except the albumen or collodio-albumen, I cannot say. In regard
to its value with the latter I can speak in the highest terms. In
some cases where I have used it, perfectly detailed pictures have
been secured ivith one-fourtli of the exposure which would have
been otherwise necessary. The mode in which I applied the heat
was simply by using hot water first to moisten the plate ; next
applying a hot solution of pyrogallic acid, without free silver or
acid, until all the detail appeared ; and then intensifying with the
usual developer and silver, without heat. As among the most
satisfactory illustrations of this principle I may call attention to
some of Mr. Mudd’s recent pictures, which I have present. In one
picture (11 by 9) you will see natural clouds perfectly secured.
This was taken on a collodio-albumen plate, with a lens of fourteen
inches focus and a half-inch stop, in thirty seconds.
My especial object is to call the attention of dry-plate photo¬
graphers — of whom I know we have many belonging to this Society
— to this method, so that its applicability to their various processes
may be fairly tested. If it prove as useful as I hope, I think it
will be hailed by all as a most decided step in the right direction.
ON POSITIVE PRINTING.
By Edwin Musgeave.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, October 16lh, 1861.]
As this paper is intended for the benefit of those members who have
not had any great experience in positive printing, I do not propose
to enter into the theory, but simply to confine myself to the prac¬
tical details and some of the causes of failure in this process.
Although I do not recommend that amateurs, whose printing is
on a comparatively small scale, should albumenise their own paper,
as they are more likely to obtain a good result by purchasing it
ready prepared from a dealer on whom they can rely than by pre¬
paring it themselves, I give here a formula for those who prefer
albumenising the paper themselves.
The first thing is the selection of the paper. I prefer the Papier
Rive and Hollingworth’s thin paper, as giving the best results in
my hands.
The formula for the albumenising solutionis as follows: — To each
ouuce of albumen add ten grains of chloride of ammonium or
sodium, dissolved in a quarter of an ounce of water. (Chloride of
barium also gives a very fine tone. Some may prefer it. In that
case it is requisite to double the quantity of the salt, to produce the
same vigour of print as the other chlorides give.) Beat the whole
up to a perfect froth with a bundle of quills or a fork. As the froth
forms it is to be skimmed off into a flat dish to subside. When the
froth has partially subsided, pour it into a tall narrow jar, or a
bottle with a wide mouth, and allow it to stand for several hours.
An ordinary photographic dish is filled with the prepared
albumen, by pouring it gently from the bottle into a glass funnel
having a piece of clean muslin disposed as a filter, the beak of
November 1, 1801]
THE
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH!.
37 r
the funnel resting on the bottom of the dish 'liie^aper^the
of bubbles. Having ascertained the right slffn^thtXPa sheet
wrong side may be known by gauze wire markmgs), take a sheet
by the two corners, bend it into a curved form, touching-
wards, and lay it upon the albumen, the centre part first touchi g
the liquid, and the corners being lowered gradually. In this w y
bubbles of air will be pushed forward and excluded
The following directions are given by
British Journal of Photography (then called
Journal ), 1st October, 1859, and I have followed them ever since
with perfect success : — ... .
«( When the paper can be removed from the surface of t le a for a
ttrS'Xceit first dripped, the flow being now^t
right angles to its former direction. After a few seconds— say half a ^ mmutc :
brin0, the corner next in succession to the highest point, and fina y .
corner upwards, taking care that each one comes uppermost in
that the drin has flowed from each of the foui coiners. If the p
above? described E been correctly performed, the paper will now be coated
on the surface with an even film ot albumen, scarcely flowing at all. ihe
weat point to be aimed at is to keep it in the condition it now presents-
that isf an even, brilliant film ; and to this end rapidity in drying mainly con-
dU“ The American wooden clips are extremely convenient for suspending photo
graphic paper while drying, particularly if a common pm be thrust at Us
upper end, through one pifee of the wood of which the clips are made, and
bent in the form of a hook. , , .
“ Bv attaching two of these clips to a sheet of the paper the whole can be
suspended in a vertical position from a cord. By placing a couple of chairs,
onePon each side of the fireplace, and stretching a string from one of the backs
to the other, a convenient line of suspension is formed. The paper should be
hung with the plain side towards the fire, and as close to it as possible, so long
as scorchino- is avoided. In about a couple of minutes the drying will be
complete and the surface of the paper smooth and brilliant, provided that the
manipulations have been correctly performed. ’
The next operation is to sensitise the paper
Nitrate of silver . . 80 grains.
Distilled water . . . •. . 1 °.f‘ .
Prepare a sufficient quantity of this solution and pour it pito a
porcelain dish. Lay the sheet of paper upon the solution in the
same manner as described for the albumen : three minutes con¬
tact will be sufficient. Raise the paper from the. solution with a
pair of bone or horn forceps, and allow it to drain a little before
banking up. When the sheet is bung up, a small strip of blotting
paper suspended from the lower edge will suffice to drain off the
last drop of tlie liquid. ... , ,
For those who prefer plain paper, Mr. Hardwich s citrate of soda
salting-batli will be found to give a very fine warm tone with the
alkaline gold toning-bath.
The salting solution is prepared as follows
Chloride of ammonium . . . 200 grains.
Citrate of soda . 200 grains.
Gelatine . 20 grams.
Water . 20 ounces.
To prepare the citrate of soda, dissolve 112 grains of citiic acid
in the 20 ounces of water, and add 133 grains of the dried bicar¬
bonate or sesqui-carbonate of soda used lor effervescing draughts .
then add the remaining constituents.
Use Hollingworth’s paper with the above formula, each sheet
being floated for one minute and then suspended to dry. Render
sensitive by floating for two or three minutes upon tlie solution
of nitrate of silver used for the albumenised paper.
Printing from tiie Negative.
The best kind of printing-frames to use are those with springs
in preference to screws, as tlie latter are very apt to break the
negative or glass of the pressure-frame. The negative is laid fiat
on the glass of the frame, collodion side upwards ; the sheet ol
sensitive paper is laid on the negative, sensitive side downwards,
and a pad of thick felt or velvet is placed over it; the back is
fastened down by the bars of the pressure frame ; it may then be
exposed to light. I prefer velvet myself as a pad behind the
paper, as the short pile of the velvet presses the paper evenly all
over, and secures fine definition. _
According to the quality of the negative you must decide
whether to use sunlight or diffused light in printing from it. 11
tlie negative be Avealc, with little intensity, print it in a very
feeble light, with a thick green glass over it, by which means the
shadows will be printed deep enough to give good contrast before
the/ high lights are penetrated. But if the negative is intense,
put it out in strong sunlight, so. ^‘^‘S'e^hado^Te-
andCift?pll°“bemoafyvriae! .‘pSSfmay bo got from it by placing
will show scarcely any maik at al . details have been
Tn npo-atives in which some ol the line aetans net .
rendered8too dense to print in the ordinary manner, take a bmmng
iH
pioturel anl when the printing of the picture is completed
bsfdJfw “ — * ^ -
oortraitaa very^good effect may be produced by vignetting.
Tto l°tst accomyplfshed by cutting out au ^ irregular apertu e
““ate the necessity of ofC
to ten minutes: this will give a reddish tint to the _pn l .
The print is to be steeped m fresh water, and is then ready 10
the toning bath. Toning.
1116 1 fluid drachm.
ivTu11^6 100toa8 ‘ounces.
Tim o-old^slbest kept in solution one grain to the drachm of water.
Dissolve^ the carbonate of soda in half-an-ounce of water, and add
the solution of chloride of gold to it. Let this .tand for five . orten
minutes and then add tlie lull bulk of the watei. J
this is to convert a portion of the chloride into oxide of gold, and
nvpvpnt patina: away of the half-tones. . .
The prints are to be immersed in this solution— if laige, smg y ,
small ones may be laid side by side, as many as the dish mil hold
face downwards, and another sot may bo placed on the top, lace
upwaids Take care that the faces of the prints do not touch each
other) or red spots will be the result, from the non-act, on of the
toning: -bath on the parts in contact. .... , • . a +:ii
The print must be allowed to remain 111 the toning-batli. till t
has acquired a rich violet tint. If purple tones are desired , it
must then be removed from the toning-bath and rinsed in water,
j tpon placed in the fixing bath — one ounce of hyposulphite ot
soda to six ounces of water. It must be allowed to remain in this
bath for about twenty minutes, if an albumenised paper : plain paper
reouires less— from ten to fifteen minutes, according as it is thick
or 1 thin. When fixed (which is ascertained by holding the paper
up against the light and ascertaining the absence of spots of im-
perfec fixation), it is placed in a large flat disli, in a sink, with a
Lod stream of water constantly running, for about four 01 five
hours It may be then taken out and immersed in neaily boihnto
water. After leaving it in this for a few minutes the print may
he taken out, immersed in cold water to shrink the poies of the
paper ag-ain, and then dried and mounted. pit i
P The best substances for mounting photographs are freshly-made
starch and eum-arabic. The prints are greatly improved also by
beiuo- rolled in a lithographic press after they are mounted : this
removes the appearance of grain in the paper.
378 THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY. [November 1, 1861
I will now describe some of the failures. The most common are
the following :—
1st. The print marbled and spotty after toning.
Causes. — A. Badly albumenised paper. B. The print allowed to
rise to the surface of the toning bath. C. One, two, or more prints
adhering or touching each other so as to prevent the action of the
toning- bath.
2nd. The piint has a cold and faded appearance when finished.
Causes. — A. The chloride of silver in the paper in excess with
regard to the free nitrate of silver. B. From too weak a negative
being used the light has not had time to cause a vigorous action on
the paper. C. Over-action of the gold bath imparts a cold and
grey tone to the picture.
3rd. Small specks and spots of various kinds. These, when not
corresponding to similar marks in the negative, are usually due to
metallic specks in the paper.
Remedy. — Try the effect of keeping the paper a month or tvro,
that the metallic particles may have time to become oxidised.
4th. Marbled stains on the surface of the sensitised paper.
Remedy. — Draw a strip of blotting-paper gently over the surface
of the nitrate-bath, and see that the sheet does not touch the
bottom of the dish.
5th. Removal of the albumen from the paper during sensitising,
and white deposit in the silver-bath.
Causes.— The bath is probably alkaline, and contains too little
silver : add more nitrate of silver, with a drop or two of nitric acid.
6th. The print refuses to tone.
Causes. — A. Long keeping of the proof after printing. B. Too
much alkali in the toning-bath.
When the printing bath becomes discoloured by use, Mr.
Tunny’s method of decolourising it will be found the most certain.
It is as follows : — Add one drop of saturated solution of citric acid
to the bath, and shake it up. This, if the bath be alkaline, will
cause a slight deposit of citrate of silver, and will immediately
clear the bath. The solution may then be filtered. If no deposit
take place on the addition of the citric acid, it shows that the bath
is still acid. In that case, one drop of ammonia added to it will
at once produce the desired effect.
ON THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHY
TO THE MICROSCOPE.*
By Professor 0. N. Rood, of Troy, N.Y.
While the value of the photographic delineation of microscopic
objects, as a means of accurately recording observations, seems to be
generally acknowledged, yet, owing to the real or imaginary
difficulties with which the process is beset, but very few working
microscopists have adopted it.f After eight months of steady
experimental Avork on the subject this fact appears to me a
natter of astonishment, for the difficulties which are not inherent
mostly disappear when proper precautions are taken. I propose
to mention briefly certain points in my experience, and to indicate
the methods pursued.
Arrangement of the Apparatus.. — The microscope is brought
into a horizontal position, and connected with a camera box by
a blackened pasteboard tube : much vexation will be avoided
by constructing at the outset the arrangement seen in the wood-
FIG, i.
cut. . Fig. 1. Blocks are fitted around the foot of the microscope
that it may be firmly held in position, and the camera box slides
* From Silliman's Journal.
In Vienna microscopic photographs have been produced under the direction of
Aceh. Pohl and Weselsky have also worked at this subject. (Sitzunosbcriclitd. Kais.
Atcad, 1857, xxiii , vol. 1, page 317) ; at an earlier date Mayer of Frankfort obtained
fine photographs of this kind. LiERTsen presented similar results to the French Academy
(Comptes Jtendus, 1857, xliv.) Naciiet.hIso obtained good results. Hodgson (Quart.
Jou.ni. of Micros. Science, 1853, ii. p. 147), Delves (3rd No. of the same, p. 57). Shadbolt
(ibid, p. 185), IIioiiley (ibid, p. 178, also No. 4, p. 305), Wenuam (same Journal, 1855,
No. lo, j). l), and Kingsley ( Phil. Mao , 1853, June, p. 4G1), have published accounts of
their more or less successful results. Darting on the Microscope, Brunschweig, 1859._
To the above must be added the great work now being issued in numbers in Munich
entitled Atlas der allgeminen theirischen Geivcbelehre, herausgegbcn von Tu, V. IIess-
ling un i 3. Kouluann, nach der Natur j'hotograjjhist von Jos. Albert.
between parallel strips of board, so that its distance from the
microscope can be varied. The length of A A' is seven feet. The
frame holding the ground-glass slides is at G; behind it, at L, is
a door on hinges, carrying an achromatic lens of two inches focal
length, for the purpose of magnifying the image on the ground-
glass while focussing: the glass plate should be finely ground. A
tube lined with black velvet is to be inserted in the compound
body, as recommended by Shadbolt, if the eye-piece is not em¬
ployed. Precautions must of course be taken that light does not
enter at unguarded points. At F is a rod connected with a flap of
blackened sheet brass in the interior of the box, with which the
exposure of the sensitive plate is very conveniently effected. It
is obvious that wliilo the operator is manipulating the mirror, or
using the stage-movements, on account of the length of the appa¬
ratus, it is impossible for him to see the ground-glass, or even to
know when light has been thrown on it : a plane mirror, mounted
as seen at M, reflects the image of the ground-glass, enabling him
not only to arrange the illumination with nicety, but to select the
microscopic object, and to focus on it approximately. While the
mirror is in use, the door carrying the achromatic lens stands
open ; the mirror is afterwards removed, and the focal adjustment
completed with the help of the lens, by the rod and lever attached
to the rack-work of the microscope. If the rack-work is moder¬
ately good, this arrangement is very delicate. When a high mag¬
nifying power is employed, it is essential that the microscope be
provided with stage-movements to bring the object into its proper
position. The lever stage is not to be recommended for this purpose.
Illumination of the Object. — That direct sunlight is greatly to be
preferred is admitted by those who have experimented on this
point. With light from a white cloud I have obtained negatives,
in from one to three minutes, with 1 inch and £ inch objectives :
though not highly magnified, they were inferior to those taken
with sunlight. Shadbolt obtained negatives by concentrating tho
light of a small camphene lamp on the object with two lenses.
Wenham in repeating this experiment met with no success.
I concentrated the light of two flames of a “ burning fluid ” lamp
with a bull’s-eye condenser on the object, employing the 1-inch
objective without an eye-piece, and obtained, with several samples
of collodion from different manufactures, absolutely no image at
all, after an exposure of five minutes. With samples prepared by
myself, tolerably intense negatives were obtained in four minutes.
With the J-incli objective a faint image was obtained in the same
time. For my own work direct sunlight is always employed.
It is well known that the proper display of microscopic objects
requires that great attention should be given to their illumina¬
tion, not only in degree, but in kind : much has been written on
this subject and an astonishing amount of labour bestowed on it.
All this applies with double force to the illumination preparatory
to the introduction of the sensitive plate: refined methods here
find a most useful application. If the power employed be under
100 diam., the plane or concave mirror will answer, if the stage
be provided with a diaphragm-plate having apertures of different
size. The mirror should be most carefully adjusted, so that the
maximum of distinctness in the image on the ground-glass is
obtained. I was kindly furnished by Prof. Chas. A. Joy with a
silvered mirror which Liebig presented to him some months ago,
while on a visit in Europe. It furnished brighter light than the
ordinary amalgam mirror : the use of Liebig’s mirrors for this
purpose, as well as for efrdinary microscopic work, is to be recom¬
mended. With powers from 100 to 2000 diameters, a condenser
of some form is needed. For powers from 100 to 400 diameters,
an achromatic condenser, adjustable by rack-work, was used.
Such a condenser must be provided with a series of diaphragms,
having circular apertures differing in size, also with a set of
central stops for annular oblique illumination.
Trial alone will settle which aperture gives the clearest image
in any particular case. As the lenses of this condenser were not
large, I constructed for powers from 400 to 2000 diameters a
Wollaston doublet, with an angular aperture of 44°, the lenses
being '5 and -6 of an inch in diameter. This condenser, when
provided with a similar set of diaphragms, wTas found to answer
very well, both as to the degree and quality of the light, nega¬
tives being obtained in fifteen seconds enlarged 1500 diameters.
As the chromatic aberration was not corrected, it was found easy
to illuminate the object either with white or bluish-white light, use
of the red or yellow rays being of course carefully avoided.
The proper distance of the condenser from the object is a
point of much importance, and is best ascertained by carefully
repeated trials. To obtain really good results much nicety in
arranging the illumination is required: this is a matter in which
PHOTOGRAPHY.
379
microscopists are well practised ; but, Jo secure the best results
possible under the circumstances, as in photographing tes*
the art and patience of the operator is taxed o the utmobt and
several days are often consumed before a really satisfactory re
suit is attained, even in the case of a single object.
Focal Adjustment, &c.— Trouble will be saved by selecting the
exact object which is to be photographed by the microscope in
an upright position; the instrument is then llicllll^ and co
nected with the camera. After the compound body is thus
placed, if the objective is provided with a screw collai fo
correction, this adjustment must be carefully made. Even when
this point has received attention, it by no means follows that
the chemical focus coincides with the visual, and the exact
correction necessitated by this difference must be ascertained
by trial. This can be effected by the use of the fine adjustment
(see Shadbolt’s paper). Contrary to some observers I have
found it necessary, when using sunlight, with both high and low
powers, with and without eye-pieces, to make this coirection
carefully. The use of the rod and the lever and achiomatic
lens has already been mentioned. After the corrected image
has been thrown on the ground-glass it will remain nearly unal¬
tered from thirty seconds to ten minutes, according to the power
and mode of illumination employed.
Collodion.— This article when furnished by makers of repute can
of course be used, though it is better for more than one reason to
be independent of the dealers if possible. A considerable number
of samples of pyroxyline were prepared according to diffeient
receipts and sensitised variously. The very simple process de¬
scribed by Waldack, on page 266 of his Treatise on Photography
was found with slight modifications to yield an excellent aiticle.
The strength of the sulphuric acid was slightly greater than
recommended by him ; no water was added; the temperature also
was slightly higher at the time of the immersion of the cotton.
A more prolonged washing than that prescribed in this work is
desirable. This collodion can be sensitised with advantage by the
iodide and bromide of cadmium in proportion of four to one. A
receipt published in Humphrey's Photographic Journal has lately
been used by me with very good results. f
No. 1. . No. 2.
Plain collodion, 1 oz. _ Plain collodiunq 1 oz.
Iodide of ammonium, 5 grains. Iodide of potassium, o gi.
Bromide of potassium, 3 do. Bromide of ammonium, ogi._
Dissolve the iodide of ammonium and bromide of ammonium in
alcohol, the iodide of potassium and bromide of potassium m the
least possible quantity of water, before adding them to the plain
collodion. Mix Nos. 1 and 2 in equal parts for use.
This collodion, when used according to the wet process, though
not very intense when first made, is quite sensitive, negatives ol
landscapes being obtained in £ of a second, indicating, jy ieir
strength that a shorter time would suffice. It acquires intensity
by keeping. The exposure is effected by the flap at F, and will
last from i of a second to four minutes according to circumstances.
The development is as usual, hyposulphite of soda being used as
a fixing agent. The use of the bromide of arsenic, mentioned m
the same Journal, gave with some samples of collodion excellent
results so far as intensity was concerned. . . e
The negatives thus obtained are examined by a lens ot one
inch focal length, to test their degree of sharpness, ihis quality
will not only vary with the manipulation, but with the nature
of the object: the sharpest negatives obtained by me, when
examined bv a power of 40 diameters, appear as well definec as
finely executed lithographs seen by the naked eye, while other
classes of objects (dots in pine wood, &c.), with all care, yield
negatives which present the same appearance under a much lower
magnifying power. . .
Positive Prints— In oVder to preserve the fine details, the prints
should be taken on glass, not on paper : mica answers when a
print is to be transmitted by mail. Great care should be used that
little or none of the line markings on the negative are lost m this
process ; a bright light (sunlight thrown on the negative backed
by ground-glass), a small diaphragm before the copying lens, and
careful allowance for the chemical focus, are the essentials. To
produce enlarged positive prints on glass, the negative is p acec
on the stage of the microscope and treated like a microscopic
obiect, the magnifying power varying from 5 to -0 diameteis.
the prints are to be on paper, it will be found that a more liberal
use of nitrate of silver and chloride of gold than is geneial y
recommended makes success easy.
* Treatise on Photography , by Clias. Waldack. Cincinnatti, lsGO.
+ Ilumphi'ey's Journal. Joseph H. Ladd, New 'iork.
Magnifying Pouters to ‘“Son
“p&T In M ease with proper illumination
sharp* images are produced when the distance between the object
(on pthe lage) and the ground-glass is as great as five leet.
With this distance the^ ^ ^ ^
i “ ,) 190 »
f “ „ 450 „ , .
In using the objects in this way the screw collar is set after the
microscope is connected with the camera.
For more highly enlarged images it is best to add tne long
eve-piece as has been practised by some experimenters. The
adiustment of the screw collar can then be very nearly completed
before the microscope is connected with the camera, which is a
Seat saving of time: it will, of course, fall nearer the mark
“uncovered” than in the first case. However perfectly this
o Deration may be performed in either instance allowance must
sfm b”madeyfor L actinic focus. ,By varying the d.s auce be.
tween the eye-piece and the ground-glass, ditieient dcgices oi
enlargement are obtained. When the long, or two-inch, eye-piec
"She distance from the object-slide to the eye to being 12
inches, from the latter to the ground-glass 34 inches, then
1 inch enlarges 160 diameters,
i “ ,, 550 ,,
f “ „ 1300 „ , . . .
Powers obtained in this way with the two latter objectives have
been used by me with advantage. m ,, ,nTi jni1u.4.
Thus with the »h 113® aperture, the Wollaston doublet ot
44“ aperture, having a central stop, being used as a epnaense ,
I obtained sharp negatives of the P angulalum magn I dec 11300
diameters with well defined hexagonal , markings similar to' those
obtained by Wenham with a A. of 130° aperture. turns ot
the negative bore a photographic enlargement f P diameters^
Mr Wenham announces* tli at he has discovered by . .
A til oflai mT aperture, made by himself, that the markings on this
object ancf on ^some others afe really due to sphencal pn*d»
of quartz, which car. be made by illumination to appear
With a power too low, X obtained photographs oit\.*P.Itatonm
with hexagonal markings ; with a higher power and a larger angle
of anerture the tendency was to the spherical lonn.
Photographs by Polarised Light. — A Nicol’s pnsm is placed undei
the stage, one also directly behind the objective, sun J.gl
from the mirror, and one of the prrsms revolved till the field n , dark ,
with the low powers, by this simple arrangement, photographs
Objects may he obtained which exhibit the structure revealed by he
notarised light. For higher powers it is necessaij to use. the
polarising arrangement described by Von Mold, Pogg voh cm p.
178, and recommended by Carpenter; that is, the hgi ro e g
Nicol’s prism is concentrated on the object by an achromatic co
denser PThe perfection with which this apparatus operates may
inferred, when I state that photographs of the ^ere
starch granules as well as of the P. angulatum in a dark held were
obtained by me without difficulty. Von Mold remarks hat with
inferior apparatus some very distinguished obsetver s have been
unable even to see these appearances. The selenite stage can
course be used when it is found desn able. , . j i,v
By arranging the apparatus according to the plan adopted by
Prof v. Kobell in his micro-stauroscope (this Journal [2], voh
xix p 425), the peculiar effects which microscopic crystals piod c
on the cross and rings ofcalo spar can be Phot“SraPbed' ntataing
moving the condenser and objective, as well as the slide conU g
the crystals, beautiful photographs can be obtained of the normal
cross and rings: the systems of rings in other erv sta Is ran be] ah o
toeraohed by substituting them in place of the calc spai , as well as
the changes which they undergo by combination with pMtes of
doubly refracting circumstances (circular analysis, &c ) it being
merely necessary to introduce the plates or films at the proper
“ itionS! I was shown by Prof. Dove some years ago while m
Berlin photographs of the normal cross and rings around the axis
of the calc spw; but. so far as I know, this is the first attempt to
photograph the changes which the cross ana lings undergo l)
action of microscopic crystals. . . . . , ho nma;ned
Stereoscopic Photographs of microscopic objects, can be obta ned
with the monocular microscope, by covering first the right halt ot
the objective, then
lyta mo?eCtl"o mirror towards the right or left hand with each
successive exposure, which is not only inconvenient, but often pro-
* Quart. Journal o/Mic, Science, No. xxxi., p. I1*?.
380
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 1 , 1801
duces a slight distortion that prevents the proper stereoscopic
union of the two photographs. On this account I have generally
adopted a different plan. The object is placed on an extra stage,
which can be inclined from 5° to 10° as seen in profile in the wood-
cut, /y. 2 : it is photographed first at one angle then at the other.
In practice the manipulation is easy, and no particular difficulty is
experienced from the fact that the extreme right and left hand
portions of the field are thrown slightly out °
of focus. High and low powers can be used
equally well. The second negative should
be taken immediately after the first, before
the illumination has altered. I do not know that steieogiaphs
of microscopic objects have actually been taken by other expen-
menters, though this may easily be the case. .
Living Organisms offer the photographer some difficulties by
their constant motion about the field, and in and out of the
focus. It becomes necessary to adopt a plan by which the image
can be thrown on the sensitive plate the very instant after the
animalcule has been brought into focus. The following method
has been used by me with success to obviate, this particular
difficulty: — A plate of glass with parallel sides is introduced at
an angle of 45° into the tube outside of the camera : it. reflects an
image of the object to the ground-glass at G, fig. 3, which is placed
so that an equally sharp image of the same FIG’ 3-
object is formed at G'. The sensitive plate *L - ..
is introduced at G',the flap atF being closed:
with one hand the operator, by the aid of — —
the image at G, focusses on the animalcule, - — » p
just as this effected; the plate is exposed T
by the other hand turning the flap. If the }
collodion be sensitive, a second, or less, suf¬
fices to give an image ; if a longer exposure 1
be desired the image of the animalcule on the ground-glass at G
can be watched, and the exposure prolonged till, the creature
begins to change its position. The real difficulty in the case of
living organisms is found in the fact that all parts of them do not
lie in the same focus. This in fact is one of the most important
difficulties connected with the whole subject of microscopic pho¬
tography ; but the introduction of a slight modification in the
ordinary compressorium removes it in many cases. The plate of
glass on which the objects rest, instead of being plane, is made
slightly convex , by the use of a spectacle lens of rather long focus.
Objects to be examined are placed near the point of contact, and
pressure applied as usual, when they are brought nearly into the
same plane.
CONCERNING “CHEAPNESS.”
We know not whether the author of Popular Fallacies intended to
publish a supplementary volume to that work. We think it but
fair to assume that he did, or he would not have been guilty of. so
grave an omission as he has been. That most popular of fallacies,
“cheapness,” should certainly have had a chapter devoted to it;
indeed, we ourselves think it should have occupied a foremost
position in that work. Should we ever perpetrate a book of the
kind it would occupy the post of honour. An evil so widely
spread, so universally indulged in, so pregnant of ill, and often so
calamitous in its results, as the rage for cheapness (so called),
surely deserves our earnest consideration. This pernicious evil
ramifies itself through everything and every undertaking. The
scale is infinite— extending from the small sums daily wasted by
individuals on cheap rubbish, up to the disastrous results wrought
by the desire of Railway Companies to work their lines cheaply,
and to put what is after all but a few pounds more into each share¬
holder’s pocket. Houses, cheaply run up, fall, and bury their
occupants in the ruins; ships sink, and are lost, from being inade¬
quately manned or provided for emergencies; trains come into
collision, and men, upon whom the long expensive education and
preparation necessary for high and special purposes has been
lavished, are mangled and crushed into a shapeless mass of
quivering indistinguishable humanity. The task would consist
not in finding matter for such an essay, but finding where to stop.
We will not enter upon the discussion of a wise economy gene¬
rally. A thing to be efficient need not necessarily be “dear.”
Cheapness and efficiency are antagonistic, though they may be
reconciled. But it requires experience, skill, judgment, and many
qualities not to be at once obtained, ere we can safely and really
secure whatever we desire at its minimum ratio of cost.
“ Others’ follies teach us not,
Nor much their wisdom teaches;
But most of sterling worth is what
Our own experience preaches,’’
To those who have arrived at that stage I have nothing to say.
To others — better to pay too much for a good thing than less for a
bad one. In the former case you have something to show, albeit
you paid some twenty-five per cent, too much ; in the latter,
nothing but what crumbles to dust and ashes, and perishes with
the using !
We are sorry to be forced to see that this monster, “Cheapness,”
has fastened upon photography, and that his fangs have already
made deep impressions in the beloved form of our beautiful art.
We deplore it the more that we cannot congratulate any one as
gainers — certainly not the purchasers of his progeny! Such
satyrs smile but to deceive, and attract only to betray; and what
is false and illusionary can result in nothing but what is unsatis¬
factory and disappointing.
One of the most lamentable phases of this evil is cheap printing.
It is so because its ill consequences are more widely diffused, and
therefore so much the more disastrous to llie material progress of
photography. A bad and fading glass positive ends with itself;
but the multiplication of bad, poor, and fading prints, disseminated
throughout the community, leads to a general distrust of the per¬
manency of all photographic prints whatever. People will only
purchase sparingly what they cannot be at all certain will endure
any length of time. This limits the sale. We know of one or two
liberal patrons of photography who have given up collecting pho¬
tographs for their portfolios in consequence of the chagrin expe¬
rienced by seeing them perish. Thus it re-acts against the
producers themselves, and like evil deeds “ comes home to roost,”
which is not much to be deplored ; but unfortunately the wheat
and the tares grow together, and the conscientious and pains
taking suffer equally with the guilty.
There is little hope of this vicious propensity dying out while
there are so many ever ready to pander to it. Yet it is a species
of charlatanism of which no honest man should ever be guilty.
That abomination, “cheap portraiture, executed by ruffians,” is
born of the same vice. It is at once the misfortune of photo¬
graphy and a great impediment to its best and highest develop¬
ment that the commercial element can enter so extensively into it
as it does. We have no faith in “ printing by the acre,” or in any¬
thing else that cannot — as in the old art — be done by the individual,
or under his immediate super intendence, and in which he can take
a personal pride and interest and responsibility. The highest
results are only obtainable in this way, in whatever department of
the art. Certainly “ cheap printing,” so called, may safely be
denounced as a delusion and a snare. S. T.
UPON SOME IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED BY SIR DAVID
BREWSTER IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA.*
By Edwin Emerson, of Troy University, N.Y.
Sir David Brewster, in his Treatise on the Stereoscope , repeatedly
and earnestly insists on the importance of taking the photographic
negatives by a lens of a very small aperture. He gives, as a general
rule (p. 177), “ an aperture as large as the pupil of the eye;” and
he makes, also, the following declaration : — “ I have no doubt that
when chemistry has furnished us with a material more sensitive to
light [than that possessed in 185G], a camera, without lenses and
with only a pin-hole will he the favourite instrument of the photographer
in the meantime, however, he suggests that “ the use of a lens of
rock-crystal, which has a low dispersive power, and having the
ratio of the curvature of its surfaces as six to one, with an aperture
of one quarter of an inch, would make an approximatively perfect
camera” (pp. 137, 138).
Being convinced, by the excellent results obtained by myself,
that a small aperture was indispensable to success in point of
sharpness, which was a confirmation of Sir David Brewster’s main
idea; and, having been furnished by my friend, Prof. Rood, with an
instantaneous collodion, I began to test by careful experiments
Brewster’s notion of a pin-hole camera, and also the use of a quartz
lens for the camera. I also endeavoured to determine approxima¬
tively how small the diaphragm of the ordinary photographic
camera should be reduced so as to secure the best results. The
instrument in my possession is a very exellent stereoscopic camera
fitted with two portrait combination tubes, and the best achromatic
lenses, of Harrison’s make. The results were either obtained by
this camera or were compared with its work.
Photographers generally focus upon the ground-glass of the
camera with the unaided eye, and, of course, in a majority of
instances get only an accidental approach to a perfect focus; and
when the aperture is over half-an-inch, for lenses of six or eight
* From SHUmm’s Journal*
November 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
381
aches focus, only a small portion of the whole picture is in focus
t all. Those who use a magnifying-glass and a smaller diaphragm
ucceed better ; but, by neglecting to reduce the diaphragm to a
ninimum, their results are by no means as perfect as they might
>e. By the aid of a common magnifying-glass one and a-half
riches in focal length, with which to view the image on the ground-
;lass of the camera, and an aperture of two-fifths of an inch in
he diaphragm in taking the negative, I was able without any
lifficulty to obtain results fully equal in point of sharpness to
he best French transparent views. But in attempting to improve
ipon this, by reducing the aperture and by increasing the power
)f the focussing-lens, two difficulties were experienced: — 1st. The
ight was so much diminished that it was well nigh impossible to
ee minute shades of difference in thesharpness of definition; and,
2nd, the inequalities of the finest ground-glass were so much
nlarged as seriously to obscure and distort the view projected
upon it. This last proved an insuperable bar to any higher degree
of excellence by these means, as a single irregularity in the ground-
glass was magnified quite enough to obscure many fine details.
Moreover, with a small diaphragm of the size recommended by
Brewster the light was so faint that a variation of half-an-inch
in the distance of the lenses of the camera from the ground-glass
produced no perceptible variation in the sharpness of the image. A
series of experiments was then made with two objects in view: —
1st. to carry up the power of the focussing lens; and, 2nd, to
substitute for the ordinary ground-glass of the camera something
of finer texture so as to stand the microscopic enlargement, and of
more transparent quality so as to increase the light. An ordinary
“ Fothergill” plate, covered with the delicate yellowish film of iodide
of silver, enabled me to carry the magnifying power to fifteen
diameters with an aperture of one-fifth of an inch. At the sugges¬
tion of Mr. Grunow, of New York, a plain glass plate, lightly
covered with dust, was tried, which, with a power of fifteen
diameters, rendered practical the employing of an aperture of
three-fifths of an inch. But in all the experiments with a single
microscope the focus was too indefinite and uncertain for the
accurate work I had in view, although the sharpness obtained was
far beyond anything I had seen produced by the professional
photographers. Indeed, among both British and American artists
and amateurs in photography there seems to bo a wide difference
of opinion as to what may be regarded as a standard on this
important point. I have not seen a suggestion of the proper
means of determining it, which is, undoubtedly, an appeal to the
compound microscope.
At this stage of the investigation Prof. Rood constructed for me
a compound microscope of a power of thirty diameters, which I
hoped to be able to employ as a focusser. Its form and construction
will appear from the following diagram, 1.
This instrument I had intended to use upon the
plate of plain glass deli-
FIG.
focussing
/I
rt 1
\ 1
I 'll
0
v /
j
0
cately covered with
dust; but it occurred
to me that possibly
plain glass alone would
answer to focus upon,
and, if so, all the ob¬
struction caused by "]§g
magnified particles of
dust, and the want of G, Polished plate glass'substitued for the ground*
Sufficient light caused glass, having fine lines drawn by the diamond on
by the opacity of the die surface 'farthest from the" microscope. — O,
Fothergill film, or any- Acllromatic objective.— E, Eye-piece.— R, A rack-
thino- of a similar rim- ™ork .at R mov.es the objec.tlve m a»d out.— ET,
& c. , ‘ c lc Exterior tube with a projection at the objective end
lacter, miglit be en- at right angles, so as to apply it accurately to the
tirely overcome. A flat surface of the glass.
trial showed that the amount of light was very greatly increased ;
but I was now unable to determine the position of the image
projected by the lenses of the camera. The lenses of the
camera connected with the lenses of the microscope formed
a telescope of considerable power, the lenses reciprocally
supplementing each other, so that, no matter where the image pro¬
duced by the lenses of the camera might be formed in space, the
microscopic focusser could be readily adjusted to suit it, and give,
a perfect view. To obviate this^uncertainty, fine parallel lines
were drawn by a diamond, one-twentieth of an inch apart, upon the
surface of the plain focussing-glass nearest to the lenses of the
camera : the microscope was then carefully adjusted to distinct
vision of these lines, audits lenses fixed in that position. It was
now easy to cause the image formed by the camera to coincide in
position with these parallel lines, and thus the perfect physical focus
for the sensitive plate was absolutely determined, allowance, of
course, being made for any difference between the chemical and
visual foci, which this arrangement afforded a means of adjusting
with the greatest accuracy.
By this method of focussing, very small objects, such as a single
leaf of an elm tree over a half mile distant, were distinctly visible,
and were readily focussed upon ; and, also, the difference in the
focus of objects at a mile and those at a mile and a-half distant was
made apparent, which is utterly beyond the power of the single
microscope. The use of a very small diaphragm enabled me now
to secure the finest details in all the objects visible in an extended
landscape, so that they would bear examination under the com¬
pound microscope with a power of 1 50 to 200 diameters ; or, in
other words, with a power as high as the structure of the collodion
would bear. Up to this time I had supposed that the lenses of my
camera were of the same focal length, as very delicate manipula-
lations had failed to detect any discrepancy between them ; but, by
this method of focussing, a variation of nearly one-fiftli of an inch
was detected immediately. By the use of the instrument the aper¬
ture was reduced to one-tenth of an inch, which from careful ex¬
periments I regard as about the minimum for good results, for
lenses of six inches focus.
I was now prepared to test the ideas of Sir David Brewster : — 1st,
with regard to a small aperture ; 2nd, with reference to a rock-crys¬
tal lens ; and 3rd, as to a pin-hole alone substituted for a lens, in
connexion with a very rapid collodion. By means of the binocular
camera I was able to make two experiments simultaneously on the
same plate, the left-hand view being taken by the portrait combi¬
nation, and the right-hand view being taken with a quartz lens, or
a common glass lens, or a pin-hole, as the case might be. The
scenes or objects photographed were always exposed to the full
light of the sun; and the plate, in each pair of experiments, was, of
course, subject to a uniform treatment, under similar conditions as
to collodion, baths, &c. I was thus able to compare the results of
the various experiments side by side with the action of the achro¬
matic combination, as follows : —
Portrait combination, 6 inches focus.
1. One second’s exposure, J-inch
diaphragm. A pretty fair
negative.
2. Thirty seconds’ exposure, \-
inch diaphragm, good nega¬
tive, would stand a magni¬
fying power of 30 diameters.
3. Two minutes’ exposure, Ty
inch diaphragm, strong ne¬
gative, view sharp all over
the field, would stand a
magnifying power of 100
diameters.
4. Two and a-half minutes’ ex¬
posure, Tyinch diaphragm,
negative good, but would
not stand a power of over
50 diameters.
5. Pin-hole diaphragm, could see
nothing distinctly to focus
upon, four minutes’ exposui e,
very faint impression on the
sensitive plate.
6. Pin-hole diaphragm, seven
minutes’ exposure, strong
negative, but no fine details.
7. Common glass lens, 6 inches
focus, TVinch diaphragm,
two minutes’ exposure, view
sharp, would stand 30 dia¬
meters, tolerably.
Portrait combination, 6 inchesfocus.
1. One second’s exposure, 1 inch
diaphragm, a good negative.
Quartz lens, 6 inches focus.
1. One second’s exposure, J-inch
diaphragm. Action slightly
quicker, negative pretty
fair, but less sharp.
2. Thirty seconds’ exposure, £-
inch diaphragm. Action
slightly quicker, more con¬
trast, but would not stand
a magnifying power of 5
diameters.
3. Two minutes’ exposure, b -
inch diaphragm, no quicker
action, no stronger nega¬
tive, and would not stand
a magnifying power of 5
diameters.
4. Two and a-half minutes’ ex¬
posure, Tyinch diaphragm,
no quicker action, negative
would only stand a magni¬
fying power of 4 or 5 dia¬
meters.
5. Pin-hole diaphragm. Similar
result.
6. Pin-hole diaphragm. Similar
result.
7. A -inch diaphragm, two min¬
utes exposure, quartz action
quicker than the glass, more
intense negative, but not as
sharp, owing possibly to a
slight double refraction in
the lens.
Pin-hole alone.
1. One second’s exposure, result
nothing.
382
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 1, 18(51
Portrait combination, 6 inches focus .
2. Thirty seconds’ exposure, half
inch diaphragm, a good ne¬
gative.
3. One minute’s exposure, |-inch
diaphragm, good sharp ne¬
gative.
4. Two minutes’ exposure, TV
inch diaphragm, excellent
negative, details of objects,
with a mile good under a
magnifying power of 100
diameters.
5. Three minutes’ exposure ; pic¬
ture over-exposed, with TV
inch diaphragm.
G. Three minutes’ exposure, TV
incli diaphragm, good neg¬
ative', but not sharp enough
for a power of 50 diameters.
Pin-hole alone.
2. Thirty seconds’ exposure, re¬
sult almost nothing.
3. One minute’s exposure, faint
shadowy outline of a picture.
4. Two minutes’ exposure, mid¬
dling contrast between light
and shade, but exceedingly
blurred in all the details.
5. Three minutes’ exposure, view
of a white bust in the sun¬
light, good contrast of light
and shade, picture only
of the prominent outlines
looked like a very rough
mosaic.
G. Seven minutes’ exposure, ne¬
gative strong enough to
print from; but no sharpness
at all ; details blurred and
confused.
The results of these experiments may be summed up as fol¬
lows : —
1. It is found in practice that a quartz lens is quicker in action
than a common glass lens of the same aperture, focus, and thickness.
_ 2. A quartz lens is very slightly quicker than the double com¬
bination of achromatic lenses ; but it will not afford anything like
so sharp details even under the smallest diaphragms. “A quartz
lens camera with J-inch aperture” is, therefore, very far from being
“an approximatively perfect camera.”
3. The simple pin-hole will not compare under any circum¬
stances with the commonest glass lens, as it gives no sharpness to
the picture, and requires from three to seven minutes’ exposure
with the most sensitive collodion. This lack of sharpness might
have been predicted theoretically. To give sharpness to the
image, the pin-hole must be as small as the smallest detail in the
view required— say the ten-thousandth of an inch — otherwise the
rays of light from a single point travelling such paths as are
indicated in the diagram produce necessarily a blurred image ;
thus — {fig. 2 ),i.e., sharpness will be fig. 2-
iu*proportion to the smallness of the
pin-hole ; now as a pin-hole of the
3\jth of an inch in diameter requires
with the most sensitive collodion an
exposure of several minutes, it is
apparent that a hole the ten-thou¬
sandth of an inch in diameter would
require an exposure entirely im¬
practicable. We are compelled,
therefore, to regard Sir David Brewster’s pin-hole camera as an
optical as well as a photographical absurdity.
4. The diaphragm for lenses G inches in focus can be reduced
down to. about an aperture of one-tenth of an inch with a very
decided improvement in sharpness, if the compound microscope is
used to focus with on a plain glass focussing plate ; but when we
reduce the aperture below this there is a loss of sharpness, owing,
jt may be, to the approximate parallelism of the rays.
5. A good. use for a pin-hole camera would be as a simple instru¬
ment for testing the sensitiveness of collodions ; and I would recom¬
mend it for this purpose.
Troy University , August , 1861.
— - - — — — -
A FEW NOTES ON DRY PLATE PROCESSES AT HOME
AND ABROAD.
By W. J. C. Moens.
[Read at a Meeting of the North London Photographic Association, October 23, 1861.]
I think it is pretty generally admitted that all dry-plate processes
are more or less uncertain in their results. I do not mean by this
to say that good pictures cannot be taken, even by the most un¬
popular of them ; but the failures which even the most careful
photographer is sure to meet with from time to time always
causes him to look with great anxiety to the period when he shall
develop the plates which he has exposed with so much care and
trouble, and on the success of which lie probably has looked for¬
ward to for jaohtbs. This is taking the case of amateurs. With
professionals it is even worse : they hardly dare to leave an order
to the uncertainty of a dry-plate. The effect of this is that dry
photography has gradually been deserted by most of its former
adherents, for the simple reason that they cannot afford to lose a
large per-centage of their exposures. I cannot help thinking that
the chief cause of most of their failures, which commence at stains
and end at blisters, is the humidity of our climate, which causes
the plates to be more or less damp from the time of cleaning them
till they are developed. In France and Italy, where wet collodion
is the exception and dry plates are the rule, you do not find these
failures : there, especially in Italy, the air, generally speaking, is so
dry that gelatine takes the place of our gum and resin varnishes.
Simple albumen and collodio-albumen are the two dry processes
most generally followed. Those splendid views of the French
Cathedral, the ruins of ancient Rome, and the statues in the various
museums, are nearly all taken by the former. Collodio-albumen
is more used for stereographs. There is one tiling we must re¬
member in speaking of our neighbours’ use of dry-plates — their
views are almost, without exception, architectural : trees are stu¬
diously avoided, and the sides painted out, all which makes their
work more easy. I purpose now to give you a few hints I picked
up of French, Italian, and German photographers, as regards their
method of working these two processes. Generally speaking, our
brethren abroad make the greatest mysteries of the simplest mat¬
ters, and are very far from being communicative.
They are very particular in drying, with heat, their plates before
coating them : neglecting to do this is the chief reason of blisters,
and is a precaution which should never be neglected. Very often,
instead of mixing an iodide with the albumen, they subject the
plate to the fumes of iodine. The large plates are coated by
spinning the plate, fixed on a holder made for the purpose, and
pouring the albumen on the centre : it soon reaches every corner,
and the excess is driven off by the motion imparted to the plate.
It is carefully dried in a horizontal position, with a board between
each plate. The nitrate baths are generally flat trays of gutta¬
percha, thereby avoiding the enormous vertical bath that would be
necessary for the large plates used.
The development is effected by gallic acid, and conducted as
follows The plate is levelled on a stand, and a saturated solution of
gallic acid, a few days old, is poured on, and spread over by means
of a piece of clean blotting-paper. This is left on for a few minutes,
in order to thoroughly moisten the film, then poured off’, and an
equal quantity of nitrate of silver, of from fifteen to twenty grains to
the ounce, spread over in the same manner. This quickly brings out
all the detail, when the silver solution is poured off into the gallic
acid first used: this is found desirable in order to obtain the
required density, taking care not to make them too thick. This is
a powerful, safe, and quick method of development, and you can
attend to several plates at the same time. Should a plate be under¬
exposed, the flame of a spirit lamp, carefully passed backwards and
forwards under the plate, will often aid the required details to make
their appearance. It is very necessary to have the developing
glasses very clean each time.
I will now give the details of a collodio-albumen process used by
Mr. S ch art z child, a celebrated German photographer I met at
Palermo. He took quite a pleasure in explaining it ; but he was
not satisfied with mere explanation, for he went through the whole
preparation and development of the plates in my presence, in order
that he might be thoroughly understood. I saw a great number of
his negatives, and they were all first-class : he said he seldom or
ever had a failure. Most of his pictures were on glasses about
seven by six and a-half inches, so as to allow of two negatives being
taken of each subject. I will now give the formula : —
The plate is first coated with old collodion, containing a little
free iodine, and sensitised in a neutral bath of nitrate of silver,
about twenty-five grains to the ounce ; it is then washed in two or
three changes of distilled water, and drained ; then carefully covered
in one wave with the following solution of albumen, which is run
off, and then covered again for about half-a-minute with fresh solu¬
tion, when it is reared up to dry thoroughly : —
Albumen . 4 ounces.
YVater . \ ounce.
Iodide of potassium . 24 grains.
Gum arabic . 30 ,,
Ammonia . 45 minims.
The plates in this condition may be stored for use. When wanted
they are re-sensitised in an aceto-nitrate bath —
Silver . 1 ounce ] Saturated with iodide of
Water . 10 ounces !• potassium before add-
Acetic acid,,. I ounce J ing the acetic acid—
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
383
November 1, 1861]
,nd wasli as before. The exposure in sunshine is about two
I uinutes for stereos., and developed in the same way as the albumen
'dates; clear with hypo., for cyanide is apt to raise the film in
vrinkles. I think that a bromide and chloride added to the
ilbumen would render the plate more sensitive to dark-green and
•ed rays.
I obtained some very good pictures when abroad by this process,
jut have not tried it since I returned, always using wet collodion
in preference ; but I can strongly recommend it to lovers of dry
plates, having seen magnificent pictures taken by it in Egypt,
Turkey, Syria, and all the southern countries of Europe. The
method of using gallic acid as a rapid developer is, I believe, novel
here. I have seen several pictures treated so, and with great
success.
- _ -
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAB ATMOSPHEBE AS
BEVEAIiED BY SPECTBUM ANALYSIS.
By Samuel Higiiley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
(Continued from page 362 ^
The chief value, then, of Bunsen and Kirclihoff’s paper On
Spectrum Analysis , published in 1860, in Poggendorjf s Annalen*
is to be found in the perspicuousness with which it places before
the student, in a definite manner, the simplicity and extreme
delicacy of this method of investigation ; for, as already has been
shown, English experimentalists had previously recorded exactly
the same observations. Moreover, Swan had employed improved ap¬
paratus constructed on the collimator principle (as had Masson before
him) the same as that described in their paper, and had even anticipa¬
ted their estimations as to the extreme delicacy of the reactions, for
he states]* that one two-millionth and a-halfpart of a grain of sodium
could be detected in the flame by its characteristic spectra.
The arrangement described at page 340 of this Journal for making
spectrum observations would obviously be inconvenient lor labora¬
tory purposes, the slit being placed at many feet distant from the
eye and hand of the observer. To obviate this a collimating lens
is introduced between the slit and the prism, and an instrument of
great compactness is the result.
It would be impossible to describe, in this place, the various
instruments that have been designed by Mr. Crookes, Steinheil,
and others ; but we shall describe the instrument we employ, which
combines with the model recommended by Bunsen and Kirchhoff,
all important modifications suggested by others, so that it
may be regarded as typical of the best form of spectrum apparatus.
FIG. 3.
It consists of a triangular box, having the sides that carry tlm
collimator and observing telescope placed at an angle of about
fifty-eight degrees to each other, with a lid that shuts down light¬
tight. It is mounted on three stout legs, placed at the angles
that screw into sockets, to allow of the instrument being levelled!
Within the box a “ prism bottle,” cut to an angle of sixty degrees'
filled with bisulphide of carbon (a highly dispersive liquid), is
placed on a table, fixed to a vertical pivot that passes through the
bottom of the box at a point near where the axes of the telescooe
and collimator intersect. On the right-hand side of the box^a
single-draw telescope tube screws into a flange. This carries an
achromatised collimating lens at the end nearest the prism, and a
knife-edge slit on the draw tube. The slit consists of two pieces
of brass, having their edges bevelled and accurately ground to a
* Bd. ex. S. 161.
+ Philosophical Transactions. Ediu. XXI. p, 411.
I straight edge, so that when placed close together daylight may be
perfectly excluded : these are mounted on pivots to a base-plate
by a parallel ruler arrangement, so that, by the aid of a lever arm,
these edges can be separated from each other from less than T^th
of an inch to the -Ath of an inch.
Into a flange, on the opposite side, screws a single-draw achro¬
matic astronomical telescope, which should be furnished with two
powers — one magnifying about four diameters, to allow of the visible
spectrum being in view at one time, and another magnifying about
10 or 15 diameters, to allow of individual portions of the spectra
being examined in detail. Opposite the slit the flame or induction
coil is placed. The best flame for bodies that can be volatilised
at a moderately high temperature is that of a Bunsen’s burner. The
jet should be made of Steatite (that metallic indications may be
avoided) enclosed in a copper cone, both being mutually adjusted
according to the directions given by Bunsen. As the flame of this
burner gives a very high temperature, with but a slight amount of
luminosity, it is well adapted for these investigations. The sub¬
stance to be tested is made to adhere to a loop turned in a
fine platinum wire, ith millemetre in diameter, that is held in
the mantle of the flame, a little below the bottom of the slit, by
means of a pincette stand, between the jaws of which the wire
is grasped. On consulting the horizontal sectional diagram, fig.
4, it will be seen that the wires are held by the pincette B in the
no. 4.
flame A, which is placed opposite the slit C. An image of the slit
is thrown by the lens E on to the centre of the face of the prism
bottle F, from whence the luminous ray is refracted up the axis of
the telescope G.
To put the instrument into adjustment the prism should be
placed with its refracting angle towards the base of the triangular
box, and turned on its axis till it stands in the position of a mini¬
mum deviation, the telescope and collimator having been previously
focussed so as to secure a sharp luminous image of the slit. On
looking through the telescope tire spectra of the body undergoing
volatilisation in the flame will be discerned, each band being
sharply defined. If the telescope is a good one it will resolve
the yellow soda band into two distinct lines with the higher power,
when the slit is reduced to a very narrow aperture. To determine
the position of any line for the purpose of recognition or reference
various methods have been adopted. Bunsen aud Kirchhoff em¬
ployed a small parallel mirror attached to the bottom of the vertical
axis on which the prism table rotated: at some feet distance, and
parallel to the mirror, a graduated horizontal scale was adjusted, so
as to be reflected in the mirror; behind this a telescope was placed
directed towards the mirror. On the axis of the rotating table a
long lever arm (Js.fig. 4) was clamped, by the aid of which the prism
could be turned to the right or to the left, and every line apparent
in the spectrum be made “ to cut ” or coincide with a bright
vertical wire placed down the centre of the eye-piece of the tele¬
scope. As the mirror turned with the prism every line could thus
be indicated, as the slightest variation in the angle caused a fresh
division of the scale to be reflected in the mirror, which was then
read off by the supplementary telescope. As, however, this
arrangement was cumbrous, and involved the necessity of working
by daylight, I modified this arrangement by laying down a scale on
a boxwood quadrant (M fig. 4), and taking the readings by allowing
the lever arm (made in the form of a triangular bar) to traverse the
scale with its sharp edge undermost, so that on turning the prism
by aid of the lever, till any line in the spectra “ cut ” the wire in
the telescope eye-piece, the lever also cut the symbols of the
element laid down on the graduated scale, and thus indicated the
body undergoing volatilisation; but I found the most convenient
way was by aid of a camera lucida attached to th6 end of the
eye-piece, adjusted to a scale, made from a photograph,
3S4
[November j, 1861
TIlE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
placed beneath it. When working at the violet end of the
spectrum, with this arrangement, the luminosity is .so greatly
reduced that the wire in the eye-piece is undistinguishable : it
is therefore necessary to illuminate the wire by means of a little
gas lamp ( L^y. 4), the burner of which is enclosed so that the
eye of the observer shall be shielded from its glare, whilst its rays,
collected by a lens fitted into a side tube, are thrown upon the
wire through a hole cut in the eye-piece and inner tube of the
telescope. This hole in the telescope is closed by turning the
eye-piece till it ceases to coincide with the aperture in the outer
tube. Others have employed a screw micrometer, comparing the
position of the spectra with the lines of the solar spectrum.; but
the best method is that introduced by Steinlieil, though it in¬
volves the necessity of working by bright daylight, namely, placing
a small prism over one-half of the slit, and either by refraction
or, as in an instrument of Miller’s, by reflection, turning the solar
rays (reflected from a heliostat placed at the side of the slit) down
the axis of the collimator, whilst the Bunsen, burner or coil is
placed opposite the uncoveredhalfof the slit. By this means the lines
of any spectra can be compared with those of Fraunhofer, as they
stand in juxtaposition one over the other, being only separated by a
narrow line. By this simple means also the spectra of two differ¬
ent bodies can be compared one with another with the greatest
facility, and many changes may be rung in this method of manipu¬
lating. To allow of Gladstone’s method of observing the absorp¬
tion spectra of liquids in a wedge-shaped vessel, the slit should
stand vertical, but in some instruments it is placed horizontally ;
this, however, tends to detract from their general applicability.
Other methods have been adopted for traversing the field of the
spectrum, and bringing particular lines into the centre of the eye¬
piece, besides Bunsen and Kirchhoff’s arrangement. Steinheil
adopts the plan originally employed in the goniometer of Babinel,
viz., attaching the observing telescope to an arm that works in
azimuth round a central axis ; in fact, with the exception of the
refracting prism placed over the slit, his instrument is essentially
a Babinet’s goniometer. It will be seen, however, that whether the
prism, or the telescope, or the collimator be rotated, it must infringe
upon the original adjustment of the prism at its angle of minimum
deviation in its relation to the position of the telescope and collimator.
To obviate this, Mr. Crookes has suggested that the slit itself
should be made to traverse in a plane parallel to the face of the
prism. This he effects by a screw movement, and it answers
admirably.
With regard to the best arrangement of the optical parts of the
instrument, having observed in Brewster’s Treatise on Optics that
he employed, for his spectrum observations, a telescope made by
Dolland, according to a formula furnished by Sir John Herschel,*
we wrote to Sir John for the particulars of this telescope, and our
note called forth the communication appended to this article in this
page. With his usual courtesy, Sir John Herschel likewise favoured
us with his views as to the optical arrangement best suited for a
spectrum apparatus, which Ave give in his own words : —
“I cannot perceive any advantage to be gained for viewing the
spectrum lines by the use of a lens such as you allude to (one which
destroys spherical but not chromatic aberration) over that of a good
ordinary achromatic which destroys both, certainly not such as to justify
any extra expense or trouble to have one made when any good telescope
object-glass of two or threehnehes aperture would answer equally well.
“ Suppose L to be such an object-glass (achromatic), then the image of a
white point A, the rays from which pass through a prism P, will (if at a
distance greater than the focal length, of the lens) form a coloured linear
image V Y It capable of being viewed by an ejm lens which, being
supposed achromatic, will show all the colours and their deficient lines
distinctly in order as so many coloured images (or non-images) of it ; and
V Y It will be a line at right angles to the axis of collimation of the
lens.
“ But if the lens L be not achromatic, but correcting only for the spheri¬
cal aberration, from focus R for red rays coinciding with that of the
* See Optics, page 95,
achromatic lens, that of violet v will be more distant than R, and so for
the other colours ; so that the image formed will be a coloured lino, 1? y »
forming an angle Y R v with Y R, and not perpendicular to the line of
collimation.
“This will, however, by no means prevent distinct vision of the Hues
by an achromatic eye lens, only the eye-glass must be readjusted for each
particular line of that particular refrangibility.
“ If the eye lens be not achromatic the same holds good. Only observe
the magnifying power will not be alike for all refrangibilitics, and any
micrometric measures which may be taken from line to line will require
a correction. This correction, however, is easily calculable.
“ By an ‘achromatic eye lens,’ I do not mean an eyepiece achromatic
in the eyepiece sense of the word [see Airy on Eye-pieces], but a compound
lens of flint and crown achromatising an image formed in its axis."
In the instrument described above, the legs, telescopes, lever,
&c., when not in use, pack in the body of the triangular box, and
can then be put under lock and key, otherwise the box might bo
greatly reduced in size.
( To be concluded in our next.)
ON FORMS OF LENSES SUITED FOR DESTROYING
SPHERICAL ABERRATION.
By Sir John F. W. Herschel.
As respects the particular form of lens Sir David Brewster used for
the examination of Fraunhofer’s lines, not having his work on
optics by me I cannot refer to it ; but, I suppose, when lie says
the telescope was made “according to a formula of Sir John
Herschel’s, in which the spherical aberration was corrected while
the aberration of colour remained,” that he must mean a double
lens (described in my paper referred to below), iu which the radii
of the surfaces (both lenses being of crown glass) are —
First lens : Focal length . = lO’OO
Radius of surface, 1 . 5’83
„ „ 2 . — 3500
Second lens : Focal length . 17'87
Radius of surface, 3 . 3’G9
„ „ 4 . 6‘29
Focal length of the combination . . G.41
A lens of this sort of three inches aperture and five inches focus
I found to give an image of the sun sensibly free from spherical
aberration, and to act as a very powerful burning lens (for which
only it was intended).
But I regret to say that I fear I have unintentionally misled Sir
David Brewster in reference to the radii of the surfaces of a double
crown lens corrected for spherical aberration. Your note having
recalled the subject to my notice, I have been again looking over
the subject, and I have detected an error in one of the numerical
coefficients of the formula I worked on (see Phil. Trans., 1821), where,
in section 10 of my paper on object glasses, the value of £ instead
of + f| there set down should be + which vitiates the subse¬
quent conclusions so far as a combination of two lenses of crown
glass is concerned, and renders the radii above given inapplicable.
In point of fact the spherical aberration of a convex lens requires
for its exact correction a lens of a concave character, of inferior
power ; and I only wonder that the lens I had constructed for a
burning glass on those radii worked so well as it actually does.
Had it been otherwise, I should have been led by its bad perform¬
ance to re-examine carefully all the steps of the calculation, and
the error must have been detected. I have still the lens by me,
and it gives a clean and perfectly defined focal image of the sun,
with a remarkable freedom from loose light when thrown upon a
white screen.
The following combinations, in which the spherical aberration
for glass of refractive density 1'500 is corrected, are computed with
the correct value of /3. They all suppose a compound focal length
— 2, and a convex resulting character of the combination.
November 1, l86i]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
385
Combination 1.
1 st lens. — Plano-convex ; convex side towards the light.
2nd. — Double concave.
Surface
1
2
3
4
Curvature.
2-0000
00000
—0-7932
+ 0-2068
+ 4-8356
Combination 2.
Radius.
0 5000 >
co j
— 1-2607 | Focal length of
Focal length of
1st lens + I'OOOO.
2nd lens — 0"5000.
Is* lens. — Plano-convex ; plane side towards the light.
2nd. — Concavo-convex concave side toivards the light.
Surface.
1
2
3
4
Curvature.
0
—2 0000
—2-1811
—1-1811
Radius.
CO
—0-5000
-0-4585
—0-8467
Focal length of
1st lens + I’OOOO.
Focal length of
2nd lens — 0'5000.
Combination 3.
Is/ lens. — Concavo-convex ; concave side next the light.
2nd. — Double equi-convex.
Surface.
1
2
3
4
Curvature.
— 2-1606
—1-1606
+1-0000
—1-0000
Radius.
—0-4628
—0-8616
+1-0000
—1-0000
Combination 4.
j- Focal length = — £
j- Focal length = + 1
Surface.
1
2
3
4
Is/ lens. — Convexo-concave ; convex side to the light.
2nd. — Double equi-convex.
Curvature. Radius.
+0-4463 1 2-2406 I _
+1-4463 +0-6914 J r°cal lenSt]l
+1-0000 +1-0000 f « , , _ i
— -I'OOOO -1-0000 rocal length “ +
Combinations 5, 6.
Is/ lens. — Concavo-convex , or convexo-concave.
2nd. — Plano • convex ; convex side to the light.
Surface. Curvature. Radius.
To conclude, I should observe that the error above alluded to
affects only the computations of combinations of two crown glass
lenses, and no way affects the general theory and formulae
for achromatic object-glasses delivered in the paper referred to. In
that paper, should you have occasion to refer to it, the equation in
section 10, /3 = + |? should be 13 = + In the subsequent
expression for the aberration, the coefficient — (32a' + 665’) should
be — (14a' + 665'), and in the value of X, the term+ (33 — 49 h'2) x2
should be + (33 — 40 h' l) x2. In section 10 the equation X = 0
should stand thus : 7 x3 — 7 x2 + 13 x + 2) = 0.
There is also a misprint of some consequence in the value of Q 2
in section 8, the sign of which should be negative, but this is only
a misprint, and does not affect the result.
Photography in 1861.— In some branches we may find our¬
selves behind the German group of peoples. Take the new art of
photography for example. Our famous practitioners will be ex¬
tinguished if they do not strive harder than they have lately done
to compete with the photographic productions of Vienna, of Berlin,
of Dresden, of Brussels, of the Hague, and of Aix-la-Chapelle.
Some of the large specimens from these places have been w-ell
described as being, in appearance, grand paintings in sepia. A
letter on this subject in the Journal of the Society of Arts, though
tending to place photography above its true position with respect
to pictorial art, ably sets forth the merits of Continental photo¬
graphers, and especially of those in the northern capitals of Europe.
Size and grasp of subject are joined to a delicate minuteness and a
perfectly accurate focus. In the last-named particular the freedom
from any distortion is remarkable with most of these large pictures.
Their accuracy will best be ascertained by regarding architectural
subjects, which have long straight lines parallel with and near to
the margin of the photograph. It will be seen that these lines
do not diverge in any appreciable degree, as they would do if
great skill and care were not exercised in the use of a very large
lens. Though it is not so easy to verify the exactness of propor¬
tion in the features of a human portrait, we may reasonably infer
an equal amount of precision, when a practitioner has given such
proof of ability as may be tested at a glance. We have taken but
one subject in illustration of our argument, that the year 1862 will
bring us into an arduous competition with countries whom we
have, in great measure, taught to vie with ourselves. The power
■which Englishmen have created, and launched abroad, must not be
turned against them at last. It will never be so if they will be true
to their best interests and to tlieir old renown. — Daily Telegraph.
380
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 1, 1801
SUGGESTIONS FOB OBTAINING POSITIVES IN GOLD
UPON GLASS PLATES.
By W. J. Miers.
The following process may, perhaps, not only interest some of
your readers but also offer a new and useful application of
photography to ornamental and manufacturing purposes. While
experimenting on the comparative effects of the different intensify¬
ing processes on negatives, in using the chloride of gold, it occurred
to me whether it would be possible to abstract the silver from the
collodionised surface and, subsequently, reduce the gold. As to
whether the gold would be present in sufficient amount to produce
a presentable positive in that material, a few trials convinced me
of the practicability of my suggestion.
The method of proceeding I adopted was this : — Taking a posi¬
tive or negative with clear lights the surface was first wetted and
then flushed over with a solution of chloride of gold, of a light
sherry colour, several times, until the maximum intensity was ob¬
tained ; the plate was then thoroughly washed, slightly drained,
and then immersed in dilute nitric acid (about acid one, water two
parts), or the acid may be poured on, as in developing, for one or
two minutes.
The plate is to be rinsed, then drained for a few seconds, and a
strong solution of ammonia poured over it for about half-a-minute ;
the plate is to be again rinsed and the nitric acid applied, also the
ammonia, taking care to rinse between the operations, which, if
repeated three or four times, will clear the plate of any visible
traces of the silver picture ; nor will the picture, when viewed by
transmitted light, now present any indication that the silver form¬
ing the picture at the commencement of operations has been dis¬
solved away — yet in the subsequent stage of the process the
lightest shades of the positive are found to be reproduced in
another material. The plate is then to be dried carefully and
subjected to some operation for reducing the black, precipitated
gold to its proper colour; and this is the point which I did not work
out. Before I could do so I was drifted by events from experi¬
mental pursuits such as these. There are, however, many ways
of effecting this reduction, as phosphorous in the presence of
aqueous vapour, sulphurous acid, &c. ; but the readiest was put¬
ting the glass in a kind of muffle in a common stove, making it red
hot, for a few minutes, and withdrawing it very gradually to
prevent the glass from cracking. The necessary apparatus can
be readily made by taking a piece of iron, about the thickness of
half-a-crown, rather larger than the glass, spreading upon it some
whiting about 1-lGth or l-8th of an inch deep, the surface of which
is to be pressed quite flat and level with a piece of board or glass.
The picture is then to be laid on the whiting, face upwards,
another piece of thin iron slightly bent, so as not to touch the face of
the picture, is to be placed on the top. This iron is to be rather
wider at the side and bent so as to clip the under side of the thicker
iron plate, forming a kind of cover open at both ends, through
either of which the thicker iron and picture may be inserted or
withdrawn. This may be placed on an ordinary fire, if burning
clearly, and allowed to get red hot; and if withdrawn gradually and
kept from draughts the glass will seldom crack. But in a great
many of my experimental plates the glass was merely clipped by
a piece of soft iron wire wound round it and held in the hollow
space of a clear fire for a few seconds until red hot, not allowing
the glass to lose its shape by keeping it too long in the fire.
The precipitated gold forming the picture will now be found
changed in colour from an ugly, dense, slaty, black, to its natural
colour, approaching somewhat the well-known appearance of water
gilt-work in ormolu; but the colour is not always pleasing, having
at times a slight red tinge. As far as I can recollect, however,
this depends on the strength of the gold solution, a weaker solu¬
tion producing more favourable results. But as it is more than
three years since I have experimented on the subject T am not
quite certain on this point. I have very little doubt in my own
mind that if this part of the process were more fully worked out,
perhaps, by some of your numerous readers competent to under¬
take the task, some highly successful results would be obtained —
perhaps the opening out of a new branch of practical photography
in a useful and advantageous direction.
The effect of the gold in portraiture I consider anything but
pleasing ; but in small sixes (as locket size) this is not so obvious :
many, perhaps, would pronounce in their favour. It is for ornamental
purposes that I conceive the process may be usefully applied ; and
it is very easy to combine the two effects of gold and silver on the
same surface by gilding first, using two negatives, one for each
operation, arranging and blocking out the parts so as to avoid the
interference of one process with the other, while with the further
and appropriate addition of colour novel and pleasing effects might
be produced unattainable by any other means.
By way of caution I should recommend those who do not meet
with success at first to try again, and to make their own chloride of
gold, as that obtained at some places, and used for colouring paper
positives, may not always suit for this purpose.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Instantaneous Views, photographed by William IIansc n, Leeds.
Instantaneous photography is a branch of the art in which much
has been already accomplished, while more looms in the future.
In its practice it is one most trying to the patience, because in
skilful hands the approach towards everything that can be desired
is so far attained that the artist is constantly spurred on to yet one
more trial, in hope that the trifling defect which has spoilt his
preceding attempt will be avoided in the next one. The fact is,
that to produce something fair in this direction is easy enough ; to
produce something good is very difficult ; while to produce some¬
thing perfect demands little short of a miracle for its accomplish¬
ment.
The successful practice of instantaneous photography requires
qualities in the operator that are found combined in but few indi¬
viduals. He must be an artist in the highest sense of the word or
his productions will be utterly valueless. It is his aim to fix the
transient effects which pass away swiftly as the smile from the
face of a child. The subjects worthy of his attention are precisely
those which exist only for a moment — “ which come like shadows,
so depart.” The street and river scenes, for instance, are the mere
accessories of his pictures. It is the rippling wave, the changeful
clouds, the surging crowds and prancing steeds, ever being grouped
and re-grouped — now in mere disorder, now in picturesque confu¬
sion — that form the real subject of his studies : hence it is not the
successful delineation of a well-chosen view that will satisfy his
exigeant conditions, but it must not be spoiled by the disorderly
grouping of the living elements, or by the want of balance produced
by the untoward phases of the other moving portions of his sub¬
jects. Besides all other demands, that of time is more exacting
than all the others put together. The instantaneous operator,
therefore, must have a quick eye for observation, should be free
from nervous excitement, should have considerable knowledge of
chemistry, and possess the power of delicate manipulation.
It is evident from the specimens before us that Mr. Hanson pos¬
sesses a fair share of all these requirements. We cannot truly
assert that, as a whole, they equal the best of Mr. Wilson’s pro¬
ductions; but we can honestly say that many of them he would
not be ashamed to own, while all evince a very large amount of
care and skill employed in their delineation. There are two views of
Sackville Street, Dublin (No. 509), both taken from the same
spot, and differing only in their animated portions. In one the
natural clouds are perfect and distinct, probably owing to a slightly
longer exposure, but the figures in the foreground have conse¬
quently suffered somewhat : in the other the passengers are
admirably delineated, and both are really good.
A Scene on the Mersey, Blowing off Steam (No. 517), is a
truly artistic production, and one that would be honourable to any
photographer, possessing, as it does, the most complete harmony
and gradation of tone throughout, while the sky is a perfect study
of itself, presenting that indefinable charm which we can best
express by the term “ poetical.” The white cloud of steam from
the vessel is well relieved against the darker portion of the sky,
and its graceful outline is in excellent “keeping” with the natural
clouds.
Dropping Anchor (No. 516), another scene on the Mersey, is
equally good in execution ; but, though the natural clouds are in
this also perfectly delineated, they entirely lack the picturesque
charm of grouping noticed in the preceding, while the view of
The Great Eastern (No. 515), excellent as it undoubtedly is, ap¬
pears to have been taken during an impending storm.
The Boyal Irish Mail Steamship leaving Holyhead (No. 504)
is a striking picture, though a trifle under-exposed, and forms a
singular contrast to No. 517. In this the sky is of an uniform
light grey tone, against which an enormous cloud of dense black
smoke, in grotesque contortions, is vomited forth from the four
funnels of the steamer. It is, of course, this mass of smoke which
forms the real subject of the picture, though it would scarcely do
to designate it by such a title as “ mass of smoke.”
Several Welsh scenes possess points of interest, though in some
November 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
387
the outline of the mountains cuts painfully hard against the sky,
especially those of Llanberris and Nantle. But in
Snowdon, from Llyn-y-Dywarciien (No. 514), the hard outline
of the nearer portion makes a telling contrast with the distant one,
Avhere the rolling mist obscures it in its cold and clammy embrace.
Similar observations apply to No. 513, The Valley of Nantle,
with Snowdon in the Distance.
The South Stack Lighthouse (No. 505) is a very telling and
pleasing subject, well executed : the bluff, bald, broken rock,
against which the sea washes, breaking into foam, is crowned with
the pillar-like lighthouse, round the base of which a few cottages
are clustered. The sea and sky, nicely blending at the horizon,
form a fitting background ; and the numerous foam-crested waves
of the former break the monotony without disturbing the attention.
This is an excellent slide.
Of a similar class are two Views of the Anglesea Coast (Nos.
506 and 507), one looking northward and the other southward from
the South Stack Lighthouse. Both are excellent, and form a very
charming pair of subjects— closely allied, yet well contrasting.
The Bridge connecting the South Stack Rock with the Main
Shore, near Holyhead (No. 75), is picturesque ; but, owing to a little
over-development, it is not equal in execution to the others named.
Such a production as the one on which we have particularly
dwelt, No. 517, would alone be sufficient to establish the reputation
of a photographer; but Mr. Hanson has proved that his skill is not
dependent merely upon fortuitous circumstances. It is not possible
to command such exquisite combinations of natural objects at will
as those which we find grouped in the picture to which we make
allusion, but none but an artist would have seized the happy
moment for recording them ; and in the other subjects mentioned
we have nothing to allege against the manipulation. We hail Mr.
Hanson as an acquisition to our list of artist-photographers, aud
heartily wish him success.
Artist’s Kellers Iff it |)otmg ItjjotopjjJjer.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Subordination ( continued ) — The Presence of Minute
Details Essential to Subordination and to Truthfulness
■ — Symmetry Productive of Subordination — Harmony the
Result of Subordination — The Principles of Harmony —
Close Relationship by which the Rules and Principles
of Art are Held Together — Seasonable Quotation.
“ Itcaunotbeby chance that excellencies are produced with any constancy or any certainty,
for ibis is not the nature of chance ; but the rules by which men of extraordinary parts,
and such as are called men of genius, work, are either such as they discover by their own
peculiar observations, or of such a nice texture as not easily to admit being expressed in
words, especially as artists are not very frequently skilled in that mode of communicating
ideas." — Sir J. Reynolds.
“ Our friends— that is, some of them — say that rules are the fetters of genius, Ac., Ac.,
as though it were possible to find anything upon the earth, in the sea, or in the heavens,
that may be said to be independent of rules 1 " — J. B. Pyne.
“ Without rules there can be no art, any more than there can be a house without a door
to conduct you into it.” — Dry den.
“ Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem :
To copy nature is to copy them.’— Pope.
My Dear Fellow-Student,
In the remarks with which my last concluded,
I said, in reference to the relative proportions of parts as affecting
subordination, that where from their extreme minuteness the
painter or draughtsman was unable to describe such of their proper
size, be wisely omitted them. Photography, however, does not
leave its professors thus powerless under such difficulties : in its
productions the lens records so faithfully and so perfectly even the
minutest details of the smallest objects, that when we place any
portion of. our pictures under the microscope we see all the exact¬
ness of reality in parts which, to the unassisted eye, were pre¬
viously invisible. Thus it is that while the painter aims at the
effect without attempting to suggest the cause, both cause and effect
are as closely united in the photograph as in the scene itself ; aud,
without violating the truthful character of the whole, by propor¬
tions at variance with the selected scale, subordination and the real
appearance of the actual scene is at once secured.
I am here reminded of the frequency with which certain artists
and critics have denounced in photography this very quality, con¬
tending that the presence of these minute details sufficed to
destroy subordination, and ruined truthfulness of effect, whereas, as I
have briefly endeavoured to show, no greater source of real grada¬
tion, subordination, and truthfulness could exist than this selfsame
photographic power of rendering the effect of nature with nature’s
own means, and realising the truths of a scene by reproducing
every element of its natural appearance. But, as that truth-lover,
Hogarth, said: — “The poor artist, if but able now and then to correct
and give a better taste to some particular part of what he imitates,
by having learnt to do so from her more 'perfect ivories, or copying from
those that have, too frequently grows vain upon it, and fancies him¬
self a nature-mender — not considering that even in these, the
meanest of her works, she is never destitute of such lines of beauty
and other delicacies as are not only beyond his narrow reach, but
are seen wanting even in the most celebrated attempts to rival
her.”
I think we may now conclude that the preservation of minute
details are essential, both to subordination and to truthfulness,
provided only that such are in their just relative proportions to the
scale of the complete scene, or, in other words, do not occupy a
disproportioned share of the space allotted to the whole.
Symmetry is closely allied to proportion, and, by indicating the
proper degrees of subserviency in parts as affecting the whole,
must so necessarily be associated with this law of subordination that
we need not here devote more time to its consideration. Harmony
again owes its existence largely to subordination. As musical
sounds produce certain natural effects upon the ear, and as colours
perform a similar office upon the optic nerve, so tones, in their
degree, are, by the same means, productive of harmony. Harsh
contrasts are, in either case, offensive, whether it he in music or
colouring, or mere monochrome effects, as, in either case, tlie soft
gradual transitions of musical notes, or colours, or monochrome
tones, are pleasing. “The general principles of harmony are
uniform throughout the whole science of esthetics ; and, as in no
department of that science have their effects been more clearly
developed than in music, there can he no better method of pointing
out their peculiar nature than by reference to the first principles of
that art.”* The harmony that delights the ear begets no less
pleasure when translated into the language of the eye; and just
as colours may represent notes, so may tones represent colours. f
A good engraving, or a good drawing in sepia, crayon, or india-
ink, requiring all the delicate gradations of light and shade, will
forcibly suggest to the mind all the effect of colour ; and, so well is
this fact recognised among artists, that you will frequently hear
them say of such uncoloured productions that they are u full of
colour." The truth is, that the colours of nature are so closely
associated with their tones that the same ties unite them as inti¬
mately in the mind of the spectator ; and thus when we see some
fine engravings of a sunrise or sunset, after a Claude or a Turner,
where the luminous flood seems to sweep not only over the more
powerfully-lighted passages, hut even over the shadowy masses
which, by contrast, give them brilliancy, we feel, if we do not see,
the rich golden glow of the descending sun, and the grand
autumnal hues of the decaying day, although there may he nothing
before us save various tints and shades of white and black. I
shall have more to say of this anon, when we come to consider
“ sentiment" and “ tone" of themselves, and I merely introduce these
suggestions here to give value to my present subject, viz., sub¬
ordination, as one of the means by which such effects are to be
secured.
The whole notes of music and the primary colours of painting-
find their representatives of a lower degree in the pure black and
the pure whitej of our own monochrome productions. Now, as it
is evidence of crude uncultivated taste when we see the natives of
barbarous lands delighting in the harsh, unbroken sounds of their
rude instruments, or the no less hai’sli and unbroken character of
their few bright pigments, § so monochrome productions, which de¬
stroy harmony by masses of unrelieved black or unbroken white,
may be compared to such, and denounced as wanting the harmony
of a proper subordination, which, by demanding that very little pure
white or black shall exist in a picture, therefore tends to produce
harmony by introducing the demi-tones and gradations by which
these tw'o extremes are united, as well as aiding the other import¬
ant principles urged in my preceding letters, by heightening the
* Hay, F.R.C.S.
t Ocular liarpsicords, in which colours took the place of notes, were once exhibited
to show how closely harmony of sounds and colours are united.
» That is to say in their highest light and their deepest shadow.
§ H. Warren, in his little work on colour, says: — “ In the upper district of the Nile,
the Nubians of Ethiopia, above the second cataract, the inhabitants vary in colour — in
shades of colour — although all are considered by us as black men. * * * Were one
of these people to be, iu the un-European simplicity of their habits aud thoughts, asked
to specify or define the three grades, he would say of the first— being the blackest — that
he were a blue man ; of the second, that he were a red man : but, mark ! now comes the
point— the third he would describe as a green man ; simply because being neither a red
or a blue, he has no other colour left of his category."
388
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 1, 18(51
points of effect and keeping the eye of the spectator properly em¬
ployed, instead of allowing it to wander in a loose, vague, unsettled
way over the picture’s entire surface, and quickly out beyond its
boundaries. In thus urging the importance of subordination in
connexion with the various parts of a landscape, you will have ob¬
served how this, like all other rules of art, appears closely connected
with other principles known under the terms of Repose , Breadth ,
Harmony , Proportion , Symmetry , Aerial Perspective , &c. ; and I hope
yet to show that, although varying in name and performing varied
duties, all these rules of art tend to one end, and are all but mem¬
bers of one strongly and closely united family.
In quitting this great principle of art, and turning to some others
yet to be defined, it will be as well if I commence a new letter
with my new subject. But, before closing the present epistle, I will
just add a few lines in reference to some recently-published
remarks, intended by their author either to deter photographers
from the study of artistic principles altogether, or to denounce the
advocacy of such in any pages but the writer’s own, although in
such pages no such subjects have yet received serious notice.
Whether there is anything of the “dog-in-the-manger” feeling
displayed in these remarks or not I leave you to decide ; but I
remember a certain capital little work On the Positive Collodion Pro¬
cess , in which the vital importance of artistic study received themost
ample recognition, together with the lion’s share of the little book’s
few' pages, and in which some very sensible and practical, although
by no means original, remarks on the subject occur, and in 'which
it is said that “ photographic portraiture (at any rate) is not a
mere mechanical art. It involves the application of certain principles
of art, the knowledge of which is essential to success."
I will reply in the words of J. B. Pyne, quoted from that ex¬
cellent artist’s “Letters on Landscape” in the Art Journal for 1846.
“Amongst those who are pi’one to argument five out of six may
be said to be more bent upon overcoming their antagonist than
developing any great truth that the subject under discussion may
contain, and particularly if such truth may have in it anything
capable of overthrovdng any particular and favourite theory. And
full five out of six of those persons who are incapable of mastering
the intricacy or complication of a question of art would, I fear, be
very much inclined to pronounce any attempt at placing its causes
and effects, its principles or rules, in anything like rational form, as
so much sheer humbug, if they would not even assign the produc¬
tion and certain and consistent reproduction of great works to
unassisted intuitive talent, genius, and inspiration.”
Bather apropos isn’t it, my dear fellow-student? But you must
remember that these are not the words of, yours, very trul}q
ALFRED il. WALL.
Errata— In A n Artist's Letters to a Young Photographer, in the second column of
page 3G8, for “It is clearly an impossibility to represent such minute,” &c., read “It is
clearly an impossibility to represent by any than the photographer’s means such
minute,” &c.
- — ^ -
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OR, A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNAL OP 'A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. X.
Bethlehem— Church of the Nativity — Industry of the People-
Female Beauty — Hebron— The Tomb of Abraham.
Next after Jerusalem the most interesting place in the Holy Land,
to the Christian, is Bethlehem, and the central object of attrac¬
tion in it is the Church and Grotto of the Nativity. That the
modern Beet Lalim is the true scriptural Bethlehem of Judea there
is not the slightest doubt : nor should there, we think, be much
in regard to the site of the Nativity. The place which has received
the title for, at least, some sixteen hundred years, and which has
been visited and written about during every century, should not
be readily denied that respect which we are disposed to pay to the
humble birthplace of Him “ who spake as never man spake.” I
have no patience with the spirit manifested by some recent Protes¬
tant, particularly Presbyterian, travellers in Palestine. I had the
company of an American Presbyterian minister who could not
disguise bis scepticism regarding the traditional holy places at
every turn. I went to the Holy Land with much of this feeling
imbibed from those who should have taught me better ; but my
convictions have never allowed me to sneer at anyone’s belief,
whatever it may have been. Perhaps that habit of thought saved
me from acting as I have said too many of my co-religionists do in
regard to such places as the site of the Nativity, of the Garden of
Gethsemane, and the Holy Sepulchre. Under the impression that
thero were such localities as the holy places in Palestine, and that
the title “Holy Land” was not a misnomer, I considered that the
application of photography in obtaining reliable pictures of those
sacred spots for such as could not themselves visit them, was in
reality an honourable and worthy undertaking. If there were no
such places to make pictures of, then the whole thing sank into a
piece of religious humbug, and should be allied with the mere
manufacture of doubtful relics. That there may be something of
the spurious mixed up with the real and true in what one is asked
to believe in regard to the holy places I at once admit ; but that
is no reason for wholesale scepticism or continual sneering. A
Scotch Doctor of Divinity, who has written the description for
some of the views that I took, has fallen, I think, into a grave error
in the fulfilment of the task assigned to him. The picture purports
to bo the picture of so and so : the learned doctor’s description
says in several cases that “ there is not the smallest reason for
connecting this place with” so and so. This I esteem an insult to
the purchaser of the picture. I am the more induced to mention
this circumstance, as in the description written by me I have either
carefully avoided giving an opinion, or have frankly acknowledged
my belief in the truth of the tradition which connects the place re¬
presented with the event or thing with which it has been so long
associated.
Bethlehem is one of the most thriving villages in Palestine.
It contains, it is estimated, about 3,000 inhabitants. They are all
Christians. The remnant of Moslems which remained in it was
rooted out by Ibrahim Pasha during his brief occupation of Syria.
The people of Bethlehem are said to be very turbulent. I can
speak more decidedly to other qualities as having come under my
own observation. They are most industrious, doing, indeed, a
large part of the work of Southern Palestine. Everywhere one
finds Bethlehemites plying every industrial craft, and the sound of
the shuttle, the anvil, and the lathe are as common in Bethlehem
as they are rare everywhere else in the country.
The women of Bethlehem are generall}7 fair and always beautiful.
Every traveller remarks that ; and, I believe, their beauty is cele¬
brated throughout the east. 1 may remark that \ thought some of
the men fine models of humanity. Sincerely did I regret the
arrangement that denied me the pleasure of bringing home wit¬
nesses to the correctness of my judgment on this point. But I
was not expected to spend my time on such subjects, though I now
think it a pity that I was so scrupulous in the discharge of my duty.
The object of supreme interest in Bethlehem, as I have before
observed, is the site of the Nativity of our Lord. It is a grotto,
having a splendid church erected over it, and several other
grottoes clustering around, as might reasonably be expected.
One of these, called the Grotto of Saint Jerome, was beyond
controversy the residence of that father of the Church for
many years. I cannot, of course, in the space allotted to me
describe the various buildings forming what goes under the
title of the Church and Convent of the Nativity. Each of
the three great sects of Christians — Greek, Latin, and Armenian
— have chapels in it, the Grotto of the Nativity being
common to all. In the floor of this grotto there is fixed a silver
star, and round it, in the same metal, are the words — “Hie de
Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est.” Near it a plain altar
is erected, which each sect decks out with what it deems neces¬
sary for the due performance of its devotions. When I visited
it a priest of the Greek Church was lighting and trimming
numerous lamps, and arranging the other religious ornaments his
creed required. Of course I could make no picture of this place,
but I shall not soon forget its appearance.
Before taking the view of Bethlehem, for which I was waiting, I
went a little below the Convent and took a view of the plain where
“the shepherds were watching their flocks by night” when the
angel of the Lord appeared to them with “ good tidings which
shall be to all people.” This makes a fine landscape ; and but for
the white sky which the publisher demands, and which is easier to be
out of the way than to be put in, would, I think, be a fine picture.
After taking all the views on which I had fixed I returned to the
Holy City, and developed some the same evening — others several
days after. I found no difference between those I developed at
once and those I postponed in this case ; though at other times I
did, and rather preferred to finish my pictures as soon as possible,
generally.
The temperature at this time was usually about 85° in the
shade, and 120° to 130° in the sun. During the months of July and
August the thermometer seldom fell below 95° in the shade, and
generally stood about 105°, while in the sun it rose to 160°! It was
pleasant to ride under that heat for eight or nine hours ! Any
tendency to decomposition in excited plates was soon shown under
November 1, 186 lj
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
389
such circumstances. I may say that every plate I exposed in this
Bethlehem trip has been published, and that was frequently the
case with me. That speaks favourably, I think, of the certainty
of the process I practised. _ ...
In my next article I will give an account of my visit to the
Dead Sea and Jordan, where I was less successful, though more
successful than several wet-plate operators who had preceded me.
I am quite sure, from my own experience, that a good dry process
is best adapted to the requirements of such a journey as I was on :
yet, I dare not presume to doubt the possibility of being success¬
ful with a wet process ; but to be so would be much more difficult.
It was some time before I could arrange to start for Hebron,
and by the time I could do so the danger of travelling in the
country had much increased — or at least the fear attached to so
doing had increased, in consequence of the news of the frightful
massacres in the Lebanon. The people of Hebron are very
bigotted Moslems, and have the reputation of being turbulent and
lawlessly disposed. I arranged to prepare my plates in Jerusalem,
and to develop them on my return ; and, as I particularly wished
to be in Jerusalem in two days from the time of starling, I pur¬
posed remaining only one night from my residence in the Holy
City.
I had arranged to leave early, but my muleteers had no such
intention, so it was nearly eight o’clock before I was clear of the
Jaffa Gate. The same perverseness which made us late in starting
kept us long on the way, so that the light was far gone before I
got in sight of Hebron. What a lovely place it is ! How beauti¬
fully the city stands, protected on every side, in the luxuriant
valley of Eschol ! Who will say that this land is cursed? Look
at those grapes ! It is a garden ! — a land waiting for the smallest
amount of labour to produce the most abundant crops !
It was half-past five as we walked our horses at a leisurely pace
through this fruitful valley. I hastily dismounted when we had
arrived opposite the Sanatorium, our proposed camping ground for
the night. My Nubian soon had my camera unloaded, and I at
once proceeded to take a view. I had not had time to see if this
were the best point. I perceived it was a good one, and that the
light was just suitable ; and if I neglected getting my view then,
I could not get the same till next day at the same hour, when I
hoped to be far on my journey back to Jerusalem. I exposed five
10 by 8 and ten stereo, plates before sunset, making a hasty dinner
at intervals. Had I been working a wet process, the chances were
I should not have been able to get a single picture. A friend who
accompanied me from Jerusalem, and who worked by the wet pro¬
cess, had just got his apparatus in position and a plate prepared,
when he had the mortification of seeing the sun drop below the horizon,
which itdoes in these latitudes in a very precipitate manner, leaving
the spectator in nearly total darkness in a moment. The last 10 by
8 plate I exposed was just before sunset, and so dark did it become
at once that I required a torch to enable me to undo the fasten¬
ings of my camera, and I had a difficulty in finding my way to the
tents. This picture will be recognised, by those vdio have seen
the published views, as the one of Hebron, with the Lazaretto in
the foreground. I developed one view the same evening in my
tent, leaving the others till my return to Jerusalem.
Next day I found on riding round the city that I had got the
best point of view for including in my picture of Hebron the Cave
of Macpelah, where repose the ashes of Abraham and his wife and
sons. This holy place is closed to all but the followers of Ma¬
homet, who guard it so carefully that no Jew or Christian has ever
been allowed to approach the grave of the father of the faithful
for at least six hundred years. Our knowledge of the place is
therefore the most meagre. It is not doubted, however, that the
Harem does enclose it. The great Mosque of Omar at Jerusalem
has been more or less open to travellers ever since the Crimean
war ; but this at Hebron has never been accessible. The authori¬
ties have not power enough at command, even if they willed it, to
admit unbelievers, as we are called. The people, as I have before
remarked, are very bigotted Moslems. Some travellers have said
they were not permitted to approach it. Our party, under the
guidance of the doctor at the Quarantine station, went up to the
principal entrance and walked quite round it.
On my way back to Jerusalem 1 visited the oak which, it is
said, is the identical tree under which Abraham pitched his tent.
I took a picture of it. A noble tree it is, the last of the once
flourishing forest of oaks at Mamre, and if for nothing else than this
it deserves its celebrity, linking us as it does with the events of
three thousand years ago.
I hurry back to Jerusalem where, for the present, I again rest
for a little.
HUtlhtgs of StfriMus.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The ordinary meeting for October was held at Myddleton Hall, Islington*
on the 23rd ult., at eight o’clock, — George Shadbolt, Esq., Vice-President,
in the chair.
After the minutes were read, and a verbal error corrected, they were
confirmed.
Mr. W. T. F. M. Ingall and Mr. Thomas Eoss were duly elected members
of the Association.
The Secretary then read a letter from the Secretary of the Bradford
Photographic Society, as follows : —
16, Kirlc gate, Bradford, 21st October, 1861.
John Barnett, Esq.
Dear Sir, — The members of the Bradford Photographic Society are
making arrangements for holding an Exhibition in December of this year,
which, if successfully managed, will be on a scale not to be surpassed, and most
respectfully ask your kind support.
Being the first of this kind in Bradford, it will most undoubtedly excite great
interest, especially if we consider the difficulties the country photographer and
the scientific connoisseur have of beholding the great perfection to which photo¬
graphy has been carried by our brethren of the great metropolis.
Trusting to have a line from you in return,
I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
W. GORDON THOMPSON.
The Chairman said that as a Socieiy it would of course be impossible
for the North London Photographic Association to do more than respond
by good wishes, but that the object of the Bradford Society would proba¬
bly be forwarded by bringing the matter before the members of the North
London Photographic Association individually, which would be best
accomplished by the publication of the letter in the report of the meeting.
Mr. G. Wharton Simpson then read a paper On Development without
Free Nitrate of Silver. [See page 370.]
The thanks of the meeting were accorded to Mr. Simpson by accla¬
mation.
Mr. Seeley mentioned that, after washing an exposed dry plate pre¬
pared by the tannin process, he was surprised to find traces of the
picture visible before the application of the developer. He mentioned this
as bearing upon the subject of the paper which they had just heard read.
He was informed that the phenomenon was by no means an uncommon
one in preservative processes. He inquired whether, in using a hot
developer, it was needful to be particular about the exact temperature ?
and, if so, whether any provision were made for maintaining it at a uniform
degree of heat ? Also, whether any disadvantage attended the use of a
hot developer ?
Mr. Simpson, in reply, stated that he generally washed his plate with
hot water when about to use a hot developer, but did not find any
particular temperature of importance ; and when the developer got cool,
if the picture were not sufficiently developed, he repeated the whole
operation. The only disadvantage of using a hot developer he found to
be, a slight tendency to a surface deposit, which partially veiled the pic¬
ture ; hence he considered it most applicable to the collodio-albumen
process, because the surface deposit could, without detriment, be sub¬
sequently rubbed off plates prepared by this process without injury
to the negative.
Mr. Moens added that a tendency to cause blisters must also be allowed
to be a drawback in the use of a hot developer.
Mr. Seeley remarked that it was generally supposed that the developed
picture consisted of metallic silver : how could this be the case if no free
nitrate of silver were present to be reduced ?
Mr. Moens remarked that it might be reduced from a small quantity
of chloride of silver present.
The Chairman said that there was another source whence the picture
might be formed, that did not appear to have been taken account of by
the several speakers and experimentalists. When Mr. Wardley’s plan
was first made public he (the chairman) had made a note for comment
at a fitting opportunity with reference to this subject. In all the
instances in which the development was found capable of being effected
without the aid of free nitrate of silver (with the exception of one men¬
tioned by Mr. Simpson in liis paper that evening), organic matter in
some form or other was present, and it was notorious that nitrate of
silver would, in contact with organic matter, give rise to a compound of
organic matter and oxide of silver, which was capable of reduction under
the action of a developer, consequently there was no difficulty in compre¬
hending how the image would be developed on collodio-albumen, Fother-
gill, tannin, or Hill Norris’s plates, though he (the speaker) was surprised
to find that the latter, according to Mr. Simpson, allowed a more ready
development than the others, because gelatine, though it would combine
with oxide of silver, did so with less facility than albumen would. In the
one excepted case, though there was no free nitrate there was, as had been
observed by Mr. Moens, chloride of silver, which was capable of reduction
by a deoxydising agent. The facility with which Dr. Norris’s plates de¬
veloped rather tended to confirm the conjecture that they were prepared
with a previous coating of serum of milk, as had been suggested. The
only plan that would afi’ord a rigid test of the accuracy of the theory he
had advanced, viz., that the image was formed from the organic com-
390
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Novomber 1, 1861
pound or the chloride, would be to proceed similarly to the manner in
which Mr. Simpson had done in the one excepted experiment, that is, to
use a simply iodised collodion, and, instead of using a chloride and water
to remove the last traces of the nitrate of silver, to use iodide of potassium
for the purpose, subsequently washing and drying the film.
Mr. SinrsoN replied that it would be hazardous to draw the conclusion
relative to the preparation of Dr. Norris’s plates, as suggested by the
Chairman, from the experiment which he ( Mr. Simpson) had made, as
the Chairman had evidently misapprehended his statement. He had
developed an image as described on one of Dr. Norris’s plates ; but, instead
of its being more readily brought out, it was, on the contrary, more tardy
in appearing and more feeble when it was brought out than those
on the other plates named. He thought, with the Chairman, that a
collodion film, chai'ged simply with pure iodide of silver, would not afford
an impression, as it was well known that pure iodide of silver was abso¬
lutely insensitive to light.
The Chairman knew that it was generally believed to be insensitive to
light, but he had demonstrated some years ago that this was an error. He
asserted that pure iodide of silver ^sensitive to light, but that a visible
image could not be obtained without the additton of nitrate of silver prior to
or in connexion with the developer.
Mr. Simpson said that he had not brought this subject forward for the
purpose of establishing any theoretical point, but rather with the practical
view of inducing operators to adopt the principle of separating the opera¬
tions of obtaining details and intensifying. He was convinced that by so
doing much finer results might be attained than were generally so at pre¬
sent ; and, by pursuing the course he advocated, he believed that the natural
clouds might more frequently be obtained with the landscapes even upon
dry plates.— He then exhibited several fine pictures taken by Mr. Mudd,
of Manchester, illustrative of the principles advocated in the paper, and
drew attention to the natural clouds impressed on a collodio-albumen
plate. [The pictures, which were very fine specimens of photographic
art, were handed round and much admired.]
Mr. Simpson mentioned that the idea advocated in his paper had also sug¬
gested itself to Mr. Hill, who that evening had mentioned it to him as
soon as they had met in the room without Mr. Hill having been aAvare
that he (the speaker) was about to read a paper on the subject. It was one
of those singular coincidences of ideas which sometimes occur with those
working in the same direction.
Mr. How mentioned that, with reference to the idea of iodide of silver
being insensitive to light, lie knew that formerly Mr. Bingham used to
expose his iodised paper to the sunshine as a part of the regular process of
its manufacture, under the idea that it was thereby improved.
The Chairman did not deny that it might possibly have been improved
thereby ; but improvement implied that it was not insensitive.
Mr. Hill exhibited some pictures, belonging to Mr. Thomas Ross,
which had been taken by the panoramic lens.
Mr. Moens then read a paper, entitled A Few Notes on Dry-plate
Processes, at Home and Abroad. [Seepage 382.] He thought it singular
that he should be advocating a course of development diametrically op¬
posed to that of Mr. Simpson, and yet with the same object in view — Mr.
Simpson beginning without any or a mere trace of silver, while he use.
an abundance of silver solution to commence with before applying any
developer, and then only a comparatively small quantity till all the
details were out.
The Chairman thought that there was more agreement between them
than Mr. Moens supposed. The united force of the silver and develop¬
ing solutions was the real agent employed, and the surplus of either in¬
gredient merely acted as so much diluting liquid.
^ Mr. Seeley mentioned that the Government photographer at the South
Kensington Museum differed widely in his practice from both methods
that had been before them that evening. ’When copying paintings, he
used equal proportions of nitrate of silver and pyrogallic solutions.
A vote of thanks Avas given to Mr. Moens for his paper.
Some desultory conversation then folloAvecl, relative to the admixture of
gum with albumen in dry-plate practice, its action in making the albumen
film more easily penetrable by the developer, and producing a more dense
deposit; and it wras considered as merely a modification of Whipple’s pro¬
cess, in which sugar was employed for similar purposes.
Mr. How exhibited some negatives (and proofs upon paper from the
same) taken with Matheson’s collodion, and developed with iron, without
subsequent intensification.
Mr. Hughes inquired whether there was any novelty in the negatives
exhibited ?
Mr. How said only in their having required no after intensification.
Mr. Hughes stated that it Avas an error to suppose that there Avas any
novelty in such a qualification : it was common to most good preparations
of collodion. He then addressed himself to the earlier question that had
been raised, and concurred in the recommendation of Mr. Simpson to
have two objects in view during development ; and this, in his opinion,
made the iron developer preferable to pyrogallic acid, because the operator
could first turn his attention to bringing out the details Avithout being
under any apprehension of some parts of the picture becoming too dense
while waiting for the appearance of the more delicate half-tones, and
then, when these were fully out, he could intensify the Avliole as much as
lie desired, lie considered the practice of developing and intensifying at
one operation a clue to past troubles; and a satisfactory explanation of the
reason Avhy the pictures of the present day were better in regard to deli,
cacy and harmony of tone Avas to be found in the much more prevalent
practice of developing first with iron and subsequently intensifying by tin;
same or some other process. With iron there Avas no difficulty in using it for
both operations. It Avas owing to this principle that Mr. Mudd obtained
such soft pictures by a process Avhich is generally reported to produce ex¬
cessively hard ones; indeed, the chief merit of the iron developer he re¬
garded to be its capability of separating the tAvo portions of the operation.
Mr. Hill observed that Mr. Heath’s practice with the pyrogallic acid
developer involved precisely the same principle.
Mr. Simpson stated that Mr. Heath had, hoAvever, now abandoned the
use of pyrogallic acid in favour of a salt of iron.
Mr. Reiner said that the advantage of using an iron developer depended
much upon the kind of collodion.
Mr. Hughes : Upon the pyroxyline of which it is made, but not upon
the iodising ingredient. The Parisians very rarely use any other than
an iron developer.
Mr. Hill stated that he had tried Mr. Dallymeyer’s triplet lenses, but
found they worked much sloAver than ordinary single lenses.
The Chairman exhibited some excellent stereographs taken by Mr.
Hanson, of Leeds, and pointed out one in particular as pre-eminently
artistic. [See page 380.] They Avere much admired.
Mr. Simpson exhibited a copy of Mr. II. P. Robinson’s picture of The
Lady of Slialott, and Mr. Moens some specimens of a neAv kind of
photographic ware lately introduced by Messrs. Silver and Co., called
“ ebonite.” Though he had only baths and trays, he believed it AA'ould
be found applicable also for cameras and lens mountings.
Thanks Avere accorded to the gentlemen who had in various wa}-s
contributed to the interest of the meeting. An adjournment then took
place to the 20th instant.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met at the usual place on the 2nd ult., when Mr. Manvick,
the President, occupied the chair.
Mr. Niven, C.A., and Mr. Fleming, manufacturing chemist, were
balloted for, and admitted members of the Society.
Mr. Davies then read a paper On Composition as Applied to Photo¬
graphic Pictures. [Mr. Davies’s paper Avas illustrated by a numbev of
sketches, which gave force to his observations. These have been placed
in our engraver’s hands ; but we regret to say that it has been found im¬
possible to lravm them ready for this number of the Journal. We lia\rc
preferred, therefore, leaving over the Avhole paper till our next number,
rather than destroy the unity of the subject by dividing the article.]
A considerable number of appropriate diagrams, photographs, and other
pictures Avere exhibited by Mr. Davies, who, in the course of his paper,
explained and commented on the peculiarities of composition in each.
At the close, Mr. J. T. Taylor, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr.
Davies, stated that, so far as he Avas aware, that Avas the first time that
anything in the shape of lessons in art had been brought before an
Edinburgh photographic audience ; and even in the photographic Avorld
at large the scientific intelligence A'ery largely predominated over the
artistic. While the scientific section of photographic societies had con¬
tributed of its abundance to the general store, the art section had
been sIoav in folloAving the example, and very chary in imparting its
quid pro quo. In general, for any art knoAvledge possessed by the majority
of amateurs, or even professionals, they were indebted to their OAvn taste —
at least they OAved very little to the artist members. It Avould, hoAvever,
be unjust not to mention that there were some noble exceptions among
the artist section of photography, and apropos of these he might mention
the name of Mr. Wall, of London, whose labours in this direction he had
every reason to believe were highly appreciated.
Mr. Maravick thought that Mr. Taylor was rather severe upon the
artists, seeing|that every thing they kneAV about art was derived from them,
Even in Mr. Davies’s paper, excellent though it was, there was nothing
but Avhat could be found in the works of those writers on art quoted by
Mr. Davies. Sir Joshua Reynolds certainly never Avrote Avith an eye to photo¬
graphy, seeing he died long before photography had been invented ; but all
the principles introduced by Mr. Davies might be deduced from his Avorks.
Mr. Taylor granted the truth of all Mr. Marwick had said about the
principles enunciated in the paper just read being found in the writings
alluded to : so might the principles of photographic science be found in
various treatises on chemistry ; but what he complained of was that these
principles were seldom or ever bi ought before photographic societies such
as theirs, in a tangible form, in the same Avay as the applications of the
chemical principles of the art were.
Mr. Daaues said the complaint of Mr. Taylor as to artists was to some
extent met by the quotation in his paper from Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Avhich was to the effect that some of the principles were too slight and
evanescent to be taught in Avords — they were rather felt than othenvise —
and others were so palpable that all engaged in art should know them ;
besides there Avas the fact, as intimated by him, that artists, as a body,
Avere very deficient in realising their ideas in Avords. Moreover, they
had not the privilege of having many of them at their meetings, and
those who did attend such meetings perhaps thought the simple principles
discussed in the paper too elementary for their teaching, especially as
they were to be found in most works on design and composition.
November 1, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
591
Mr. Nicol said that it was a subject on which he was totally unable
to speak. He, however, was very glad when Mr. Davies agreed to bring
forward the subject of composition, for with himself a nice picture was a
matter of haphazard, for he just shifted about from place to place until
he got the point of view that satisfied him ; but from the assistance ren¬
dered by the paper read that night he would now be able to do it in a few
minutes. Many of those who are, as it were, born artists, might not
think much of the lesson they had that evening received, but he was
satisfied that many present must feel the value of it.
In reply to a question about the value of Sir William Newton’s method
of producing artistic effect by putting secondary objects slightly out of
focus, Mr. Nicol said he usually focussed for the chief objects in the view
and allowed the distance to take its chance, as he believed that aerial
perspective could only be secured by having the distant objects slightly
out of focus.
Mr. Slight was sorry he could not agree with Mr. Nicol. He thought
there was nothing to prevent a good picture from possessing absolute
sharpness in every part, and at the same time to possess all the neces¬
sary aerial perspective by a proper gradation of colour.
Mr. Bow agreed with the last speaker. The diminution in colour was
quite apparent if a black object, such as a crow, at a considerable dis¬
tance, were compared with one’s hat held in the hand. The two colours
would be entirely different, while the form of the distant object would be
perfectly sharp and distinct.
Several other gentlemen made remarks on the subject ; and Mr. Davies,
at the request of the Society, having intimated that he would resume the
subject, in its application to figure-grouping, at an early date, the meet¬
ing separated.
The Society again met on the lGth ult., — Mr. Slight, Vice-preisdent, in
the chair.
Mr. Musgrave read a paper On Positive Printing. [Sec page 376.]
After some discussion on the subject, and the awarding of a vote of
thanks to Mr. Musgrave, the meeting separated.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held at the
Religious Institution Rooms, on Thursday, the 3rd ult. Mr. A. Mactear
occupied the chair.
After the minutes of the previous meeting had been read and approved
of, several members exhibited pictures by different processes.
Mr. John Jex Long, on behalf of Mr. Spencer, exhibited an instanta¬
neous shutter. The action of this shutter was much admired.
The Chairman mentioned his having previously exhibited an ap¬
paratus for the same purpose, and which he thought ivas simpler and
wopld be quite as instantaneous in its action.
Mr. Long expressed a fear that the camera would shake by the action
of the shutter he had exhibited ; and explained that it was not the inven¬
tion of Mr. Spencer, but was, he understood, made and invented by a
gentleman in Ayrshire, whose name he had forgotten.
Mr. Brown exhibited a negative by the tannin process.
Mr. Robb said he had been trying that process, but found the results
inferior to those by the Fothergill process, Avhich he had been working
for some time. The tannin he found slower than the Fothergill plates,
and much more liable to be stained.
Mr. Mactear inquired if any one had been troubled with radiated
markings in Fothergill plates?
Mr. Robb said he had not, or at least not much.
In reply to a question by the Secretary, Mr. Robb said his exposure for
Fothergill plates, in good sunlight, with a quarter lens and three-eighths
of an inch aperture, would be about thi-ee minutes, while the tannin plate,
■with the same lens and under the same condition of light, would require
five minutes.
Mr. John Cramb then exhibited his stereoscopic cameras, which have
been already described in this Journal. [See page 265.] Mr. Cramb
explained their construction, and showed the manner of using them. He
stated that he had been induced to bring them to the meeting in conse¬
quence of the attack made on him by Mr. Sidebotham at a meeting of the
Manchester Photographic Society, as reported in The British Journal of
Photography. [See page 294.1
On the motion of Mr. James Ewing, a vote of thanks ivas passed to
Mr. Cramb for exhibiting and explaining his cameras.
Mr. D. Brown exhibited a photograph of the Sham Fight.
The Secretary then brought before the meeting several prints from
negatives taken by Mr. Sutton with the panoramic lens, and also a nega¬
tive on talc by the same lens. The uniform sharpness of the prints was
much admired, several members expressing themselves as in the highest
de gree satisfied with the results shown.
Mr. James Cramb gave a brief outline of the principles involved in the
construction ot this lens. Referring to the paper read at the recent
meeting of the British Association by Mr. Sutton in explanation of the
construction of the lens, he said that he had been agreeably surprised to
find that he could understand what the writer meant, which was more
than he could say of most of the articles on optical subjects in photographic
journals. Mr. Cramb concluded by moving the thanks of the Society to
Mr. Sutton and Mr. Ross for sending the prints for inspection.
The motion being seconded, was most cordially passed.
The Secretary intimated that Mr. Ross had promised to send a camera
and a complete set of apparatus for working the panoramic lens for the
next meeting. The Secretary was instructed to write to Mr. Ross, con¬
veying to him the thanks of the meeting for the attention he had shown
to the Society, and to request him to send the camera, &c., as promised.
Some convei'sation then took place on alkaline toning.
Mr. Mactear recommended the members to try the acetate of soda with
the gold toning.
The further consideration of the question was postponed till the suc¬
ceeding meeting, when members were expected to come prepared with
facts, opinions, and results by that process of toning.
Jump dfofr.espDidKitxjc,
Paris , October 2 6th, 1861.
A NEW vehicle for positive pictures on collodion is being talked of
at the present moment. It is simply card-board covered with a
dark varnish, and rubbed and polished as usual, and then cut up
into sheets ready for the various photographic operations. These
sheets are thin and flexible, and proof against the acids employed.
They receive all the preparations, as glass does. The collodion is
spread over them very easiljq and thus, by the ordinary processes,
are obtained very harmonious, clear, and vigorous pictures. No
doubt, if what is announced be correct — and that I cannot affirm,
as I have not yet seen any of the results — this invention is good ;
but its only object is the obtaining of direct positives, and I do not
see the advantage of suppressing the negative. If these card¬
board sheets are so convenient, why not substitute albumen for
collodion, and apply them, with or without a white varnish, to
the printing of pictures by contact ? Then the invention -would
assume greater importance.
What appears to me worthy of a more hearty welcome is a
moveable laboratory which one of our manufacturers has just had
constructed. It has neither the proportions or the elegance of the
turnouts which some of our opulent amateurs employ for their
distant excursions, but, modest-looking as it is, it appears to me
ingeniously contrived and sufficient for the purpose intended. It
is a sort of box about a yard and a-half long, a yard high, and
twenty-seven inches broad, and is placed upon four wheels resem¬
bling those used for children’s carriages, or for the chairs of inva¬
lids. One of the large sides opens in two leaves like a cupboard.
In the interior, the whole apparatus is stowed away during the
journey; and besides the ordinary utensils there is also a reser¬
voir, with tap, for eighteen litres of water. An india-rubber .tube
carries off the dirty water to the outside. When the photographer
wishes to operate, he opens the two leaves, which are furnished
above and below with triangular boards, so filling up the corners
and fitting in with a rectangular board placed above the operator’s
head, so as to prevent the light from penetrating. A black cur¬
tain is thrown over the whole, and the photographer sits
down on his folding chair and manipulates at his ease. Twro
apertures, fitted with yellow glass, give sufficient light to
the interior. When the operation is finished, everything takes
its place again in the box, which, with all its contents, is
sufficiently light to allow of its being drawn without fatigue.
This carriage has the advantage of not being expensive : its
price is 300 francs. Several artists have already employed it
with success — M. Franck among others.
M. Niepce de Saint Victor will, in a few days, present to the
Academy of Sciences a paper On the Recent Results of his Helio-
chromic Researches. Hitherto he had been obliged to heat the
plates in’ order to obtain the coloured mirage. That system had,
among other disadvantages, that of producing red grounds, 'which
gave too strong a tint to the whole picture. M. Niepce has suc¬
ceeded, by employing a particular coating, in dispensing with the
action of heat. Further, he has obtained a partial fixation, for his
image resists the action of light during twenty-four hours.
M. Edouard Delessert has communicated to me the results of a
somewhat curious experiment which he has lately made. After
having amplified a portrait to the natural size, he remarked that
the face, though thoroughly distinct and free from deformity, yet
presented certain exaggerated effects. Thus the hairs of the
beard seemed bigger than in nature. I have myself seen the
picture in question, and may say that it is one of the finest
that have been produced in this style. I was, however,
struck, as well as the author, with the exaggeration of certain
details. M. Delessert took a cliche of normal size from his
amplified image and printed therefrom a positive picture : this
last has all the delicacy of detail which is seen in a picture taken
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 1, 1861
892
_
from nature, and the beard in particular resumes the appearance
that it presents in the original. Does not this experiment prove
that certain exaggerations remarked in amplified images are but
an optical illusion ? Else, how would one part, enlarged beyond
measure, resume its right proportions when the whole image is
reduced ? It seems to me that, if the deformity were real, it would
still exist after the second operation.
The same amateur has devised an ingenious means for
obviating the inconvenience arising from the power of
the enormous condenser attached to his amplifying appa¬
ratus. The luminous pencil projected by this lens produces a
heat that no cliche could resist. At first, M. Delessert employed
a ventilator kept in movement by the hand, which brought a con¬
stant current of fresh air upon the negative ; but, as this system
was very inconvenient, it was abandoned for another, which con¬
sists in letting the solar rays pass through a sheet of fresh water.
The frame containing the cliche is a sort of upright glass dish
filled with water. One tube serves as a feeder, and another, placed
at the upper part, keeps the water at a uniform level.
M. Poitevin is busily occupied in applying to porcelain and ena¬
mel his process of printing with powders. He has already
obtained interesting results.
Nadar, also, has been repeating his essays in aerian photography.
At each new ascension new difficulties present themselves ; but
yet who would be bold enough to say that success is impossible ?
ERNEST LACAN.
Neio YorJc, October 12 th, 1861.
We Americans, three or four thousand miles away from the sources
of very much of the modern advancements in science and the arts,
no doubt are often tendered the sympathy and condolence of the
benevolent cosmopolitans of Europe. It is admitted that our race
is of a good stock, and if we onty had a chance of mingling in good
society, &c., &c., we should become quite respectable, &c., &c.
But sympathy on that account is wasted. Our very distant
habitat gives us really great and peculiar advantages. We are
beyond the reach of the rivalries, prejudices, and jealousies of the
nations and cliques of Europe. We are able to receive and decide
upon everything dispassionately. We can prove things by their
intrinsic merit. If a European invention be adopted in America it
must be a good one.
Also we get our information easily. Our periodicals devoted to
science and the arts report everything that is done in Europe.
They are the creme de la creme. Our Journal of Photography , for
example, reproduces whatever and all that is useful in any and all
the European journals — at least such is the publisher’s boast.
But enough of these generalities, aud I drop down to a specific
subject — bath vessels.
Every kind of bath which has been found useful in Europe has
been imported here, and passed upon. We have used your porcelain,
white earthenware, and glass. The first and last met the general
approval, except in the quality of high price. The white earthen¬
ware is about to be utterly condemned for its lack of durability.
We were the first to abandon gutta-percha. We found a fail-
substitute in vulcanite; but vulcanite has had its day for that
purpose. At present, probably, the most popular bath is known as
the photographic ware, an invention of George Mathiot, an clcctro-
typist, of Washington. The invention grew out of a want in Mr.
Mathiot’s business, viz., a cheap ware which will hold acid solu¬
tions, and consists simply in soaking the vessels of unglazed and
porous porcelain in melted wax. Thus Mr. Mathiot killed two
birds with one stone, and did a very handsome thing for photo¬
graphy as well as for electrotypy. Such ware costs but a trifle, is
neat, handy, and durable. Would not paraffin be a useful substi¬
tute for the wax ? There is no compound known which is so little
affected by corrosive matters.
Our largest-sized baths arc a combination of glass, rubber, iron,
and wood — plate-glass sides, rubber joints, all held snug and
round by screws and wood. Also we make baths of blown glass,
in one piece; but they are too wide. An elegant glass bath, such
as I have seen from England, appears to be beyond the capacity
of our artisans — at least, so I infer from the fact that they have
attempted it without success. They have, however, succeeded
very well in making baths of blown glass.
I have just had the pleasure of examining a splendid gold medal,
presented by the Prince of Wales to Messrs. Gurney and Son, as a
testimonial for photographs of the Prince and his suite. Mr.
Gurney has already received more than a dozen prizes, in medals,
plate, &c.. (one of them cost ^500) ; but he sets the highest value
on the Prince’s handsome token. CHARLES A. SEELY.
Carr r span heart.
ij^ We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
IS PHOTOGRAPHY A FINE ART ?*
a Monsieur Silvy.
“Ilonos alit artes."
Sir, — You have addressed to me a letter in the Photographic Journal
in answer to one I had written to its Editor on the exciting question — Is
Photography a Fine Art ?
The reason for addressing- yourself to me personally seems to have been
that I had used the expression of a single unhappy exception in referring
to your secession from the brotherhood of photography, united (at least
in England) in the same feeling of resentment for the injustice offered to
our art in the classification of the Great Exhibition of 18G2.
But whatever has been your reason, and notwithstanding a few sarcastic
allusions, as you have written in a gentlemanly tone and spirit, I
consider myself in politeness bound to address you a short reply through
the same channel.
I have read your letter with the greatest curiosity and attention,
expecting to find in it some very tortuous arguments (such as those
generally employed in the defence of a bad cause) to show the inability
of photography to figure among the fine arts. But what has been my joy
on finding that, being yourself an artist of talent, a man of knowledge,
intellect, and education, you could not help, in discussing the question,
unravelling all the claims of photography, and proving, malgri vous, that
it is really a marvellous and beautiful art, dependent on the exercise of the
most refined mental faculties — consequently distinct from a purely me¬
chanical art.
From all your reasonings it is clear that photography is something more
dignified than a mere mechanical art. Here are your own words : — “I
also assert that photography is worthy of occupying in art an elevated rank ;
I also assert that this art requires not only mechanical aid (which is the
fundamental bcisisj, but also thought, taste, judgment, and tact." You add:—
“ Irrespective of the excellence of the machine and accessories, the artist who
practises it must, to merit tlicit name, prove his talent, ability, tas'.e, and
sentiment .”
That is enough : I am perfectly satisfied with your definition and with
such an eulogy of photography. After having said so much, how would
it be possible to pretend that the art worthy of occuping an elevated rank
— that the art requiring not only mechanical aid, but also thought, taste,
judgment, and tact — is not a fine art?
You say that there is one quality which “ I have not cited, because, in
fact, it is not indispensable to photography : that is to say, ‘ Genius' — the
genius which invents, creates, composes, and wh’ch imprints on its ivories the
immortal seal of fine arts — fine among cdl arts."
In my letter I have stated two or three times that genius was one of the
qualities required ; but wherever I may not have cited precisely the word
genius, I have cited what it means. I say that genius is as much indis¬
pensable to photography as to any other of the fine arts. What is genius?
Johnson’s Dictionary will tell us. We find in it — “ Genius : mental power
or faculties — disposition of nature byivhich one is qualified for somepeculiar
employment.''
Therefore, according to Johnson, the photographer who has a certain
amount of mental power or faculties — a disposition of nature by which he
is qualified for the peculiar employment of his art — that photographer has
the quality of genius of which you make exception. If genius is what
J ohnson explains, will you say that genius — mental power or faculties —
natural disposition — are not indispensable to the photographer who, ac¬
cording to your own admission, can merit the name of artist for his talent,
ability, taste, and sentiment?
In photography there is ample room for that genius you speak of.
Photography indeed can invent, create, and compose as well as copy. In
fact, particularly in portraiture, the machine copies what the true artist
has invented, created, and composed, which could never have been copied
or represented if the photographer had not possessed genius.
As for the genius which imprints on its works the immortal seal of
fine arts, I would consider myself guilty of the most bombastic exagge¬
ration if I had claimed for photography the performance of such a sublime
deed.
The works of photography may he works of fine arts without bearing
the immortal seal, which, I need not assure you, is fixed on a very limited
number of Avorks of painting, sculpture, and poetry ; for many, many
pictures, statues, and poems may be really works of fine arts, without
fully deserving the honour of immortality.
When I claim for photography a jflace in the fine arts, I cannot help
always remembering that engraving and dancing have been admitted in
the temple ; and no one is disposed to cavil on their account. But would
it not sound rather strange to hear one speaking of the genius which in
engraving and dancing imprints on their works the immortal seal of fine
arts — fine among all arts !
You are aware, Sir, I suppose, that photography has been admitted
several times already in public Exhibitions of fine arts.
* I’ ion the Jourral of the Photographic Society.
November 1, 1801]
THE
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRA
393
I can name three very important occasions when photography has
received S honour :-oL J the Fine Arts Exhibition at Manchester
and the other at the Exposition des Beaux Arts of Pans, m 1861, as
as in Munich. _ , , , , _ •
In the first, exclusively devoted to the fine arts, photograp iy ■
vited under no ungracious denomination, andtheCommissxoneis a mi
its productions with the most remarkable and celebrated works of the
great masters in the fine arts, to do honour to one of the most beautitui
discoveries of our age. , . ■.
In the second, photography alone was admitted under the same loot
where the recent works of painting, sculpture, and engraving were ex¬
hibited ; and, although forming’a separate department, still photograp iy
was considered worthy of being connected with the usual Exhibition of
Fine Arts in Paris. , „ , ... P 1Q,,0
It would have been in good taste for the Great Exhibition of 1862,
following these generous precedents, to have given to photography an
honourable place in the classification. This would have offended no one,
and would have been a cause of gratification to all those to whom tne ai
of photography is dear. To make room for photography m the depart¬
ment of the fine arts was only to raise every other art one step highei .
It has been decided differently. But if the Great Exhibition las no
been very gracious to one of the most extraordinary and sp ent it c is-
coveries of the time, it remains to us, the enthusiastic adepts oi photogiap iy,
to do honour ourselves to our art : we shall not fail in our elicits. ou.
Sir, have already begun to fulfil your part, both by the artistical feeling ot
your own works, and by your praises and definition of the qualities
required for the practice of photography. _ . i. Tl
Between us there is only a vague and empty discussion ot words. ie
point is gained: you have proved that photography is a beautitu, a
marvellous art, and I think I have proved that it is a fine art. But it 1
have failed, I shall never regret or be ashamed of having been among t ie
first defenders of the honour of our art;, and if, in the history ol p myo¬
graphy, my name is recorded, I am convinced, at least I hope, that i wi
not be in words of blame for my having endeavoured to have photogiap iy
called a find art , I have the honour to be, Sir,
107, Regent Street, Your obedient Servant,
Oct. 2, 1861. A- CLAUDET.
TANNIN PLATES.
To the Editor.
Ser — What is your opinion of the way in which tannin acts on the
washed collodion plate? Is there any chemical change produced .or is
it by merelv acting as a film, to protect the collodion ? Does it Produce a
film like gelatine or isinglass ? I have latterly used it hot . with the bv.st
possible results, both as to keeping properties, intensity, and prevention
of film slipping off during development, . Ihe solution of ordinary
strength, filtered, is merely boiled over a spirit lamp m the dark-room
(screened to prevent any white light), and in that state poured over the
washed plate, and allowed to stand for three minutes, and then drained
off, and put by to dry in a dark box. It appears to permeate the pores, as
in Hill Norris’s gelatine process. I wish some of your readers would try
it, and report.— I am, yours, &c., M*
Dublin, October 2oth, 1861. . . ,
p.S. _ If you examine Hill Norris’s plates, a film of varnish is evident,
which is seen on the back of the plate when it has escaped by drainage
or other causes.
I No doubt the tannin acts in some measure in the same manner as the
gelatine, in affording ready penetration of the film to aqueous solutions ;
but, in addition thereto, it acts as a great mtensifier of the image,
probably from its reducing property. Applying the solution hot, we can
well suppose to be advantageous. We fancy that the film of varnish
which you have imagined on Dr. Hill Norris’s plates is only some of the
gelatine solution which has accidentally run over the back. Ed.J
development.
To the Editor.
Sir — in answer to your correspondent, “ R. G.,” the acid silver solution
is not required for the wet process, except in those cases where the
developer needs the addition of silver after the details are out to produce
sufficient intensity, when its use gives far better results than that ot plain
nitrate solution. For this purpose one grain to one and a-halt grains oi
citric acid to each grain of nitrate will be sufficient. The use of the
alcoholic solution of pyrogallic saves the trouble of weighing out : when
diluted for use in the wet process the proper amount of acid must be
added. I am, yours, &c., C. lvlbbLBB.
October 21, 1861. .
INSENSITIVENESS.
To the Editor.
gm — I have been much surprised at the extraordinary time required
for photographing woody scenery. Having taken a considerable number
of Fothcr gill’s dry plates and a pair of - s landscape lenses
OI JPOinei&ni & Uij ^ ... p T f i
to the Quantock Hills, where I was residing for a short time, 1 found,
greatly to my disappointment, that one hour and a-half was barely su i •
cient to bring out anything like detail among- the branches (the foliage
was quite hopeless), at noonday, with the sun shining full on them : even
with such an exposure the developing took three-quarters of an hour a
the very least. Will you kindly inform me where the fault probably lies?
I can only add that I have taken town views with the same plates and
with one of Ross’s lenses in thirty-five seconds. . . .
having been strongly recommended to me for Ins lenses,
THE APPLICATION OF METEOROLOGY TO PHOTOGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I pCg to suggest, through your excellent Journal, the application
of photography to meteorology. The magnesian light illuminating the
indices of a set of meteorological instruments will enable the state of those
indices to be photographed periodically or continuously upon a sensitised
surface, travelling by clockwork, at the back of a camera.
The indices of a complete set of meteorological instruments could be
easily arranged so as to be all within a limited space, illuminated by the
magnesian light, and that space the focus, of the camera.
Considering that the space to be illuminated would be small, and that
the magnesian light can be supplied continuously, . and concentrated by
means of lens and reflector, the cost of illumination would not be very
great, while the gain to the science of meteorology, by dispensing with
human supervision while obtaining a constant report, would be the greatest,
in my humble opinion, which it has yet obtained.
If we arc ever to discover the laws that regulate, the weather, the in¬
fallible plioto-meteorological chart, from stations distributed throughout
the country, or throughout the world, would be of the highest service.
Is the plan a practicable one ? — I am, yours, &c.. T\\ II oHAM.
Rothesay, October 11 th, 1861
[Our correspondent does not appear to be aware that continuous photo¬
graphic records of magnetic disturbances have been taken for many years
past at the Greenwich Observatory, by a much less costly mode of
illumination— that of a small lamp— at the instigation of Mr. Brooke.
We believe, but are not quite sure, that a similar plan is in use lor the
barometer and thermometer: at any rate, the plan was suggested, in
this Journal long since, by Mr. C. J. Burnett, of having an opening
behind the tubes of the thermometer and barometer, with sensitive paper
traversing the same, at a regulated speed. The columns of mercury
would, in both cases, determine the length of the slit exposed, which
would vary according to temperature and pressure of the atmosphere
respectively. Both of these instruments could very well be worked by
aid of any ordinary gas jet or lamp. — Ed.]
makes me hesitate in throwing HENEY PATNE.
Sheffield, Oct. 17, 1861.
[Foliage requires very much more exposure than architectural subjects
do in order to produce an impression, and the different lenses ™ay make
some difference in the time ; but with every allowance for both of these
drawbacks, there cannot be anything like such retardation as you mention
without further disturbing causes. Perhaps your exciting-bath was too
acid with free nitric acid, or your developer may have had an over-dose
of citric acid. We presume that, in both cases, you allude to landscape
lenses and with corresponding apertures.— Ed.]
PRESERVATIVE PLATE-BOXES.
To the Editor.
gU! — In your last impression appears a letter from Mr. D. Hornby, re¬
lating the disappointment occasioned by the use of zinc boxes, with
grooves of the same metal, for carrying his sensitised plates duiiiig a torn,
m Normandy, nearly all becoming covered, on development, with black
sDecks comets, &c., produced by the friction of the sharp edges of the
glass a°-ainst the metal grooves cutting oft particles ot the latter, and he
remarks — “ I am sorry to have to make this charge against the boxes, as
they are so very portable. I hope Mr Keene’s zinc (tinned-iron) boxes,
with gutta-percha grooves, will be free from this evil. I think that even
these will not be perfect, unless the top and bottom be also covered with
8 Permit me. in reference to the above allusion to my preservative plate
boxes, to explain that, in the construction of them, I have provided for
the perfect isolation of the prepared plates, gutta perelia not only being
used for the grooves, but strips of the same placed across the top and
bottom, so that contact with the metal is impossible, and I have great
confidence that they fully meet the requirements of the dry-plate photo-
81 Save used one of them to carry prepared plates to Hastings and back,
before developing, without deterioration. Prints from two or three of the
negatives I enclose— not for their excellence, but to show. the plates had
not been injured ; also one from a plate kept lime weeks prior to exposure.
The plates were all prepared by my measured quantity oi. w ater plan but
in some instances they were well flushed with hot water, instead of cold, as
recommended by Mr. Parry, after the application of the prepared albumen,
which appears to possess the following advantages •—Economy of time m
washing, quick and even drying of the film, less liability to mischief from
the use of imperfectly strained albumen, and a film approaching m firm¬
ness the collodio-albumen process. . - . ,.
I take this opportunity to bear testimony to the excellence of mdia-
394
[November 1, 1801
T.HE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
rubber paste for mounting purposes, the advantages of which, I think, you
first drew attention to. I find it easily and quickly used, has no tendency
to induce cockling of the print, and, if any get on the mount or front of
the print, unlike other substances, as soon as it becomes a little set it is
readily rubbed off without leaving a mark.
I am, yours, &c., ALFRED KEENE.
Leamington, Oct. 19, 1861.
[It will be perceived, b}7, reference to a second letter from Mr. Hornby
in the present number, that there is no longer any mystery touching the
cause of his disasters. We may, however, remark that we do not think
it necessary where the boxes are made of tinned iron (not of zinc) to have
such perfect isolation as Mr. Keene ensures, though, of course, there can
be no objection to it. The specimens received evince perfect freedom
from spots of any kind. With regard to the use of india-rubber solution
for mounting we know of but one objection thereto — but that is a serious
one — the very unpleasant scent, which it appears impossible to get entirely
rid of: this is due chiefly to the solvent turpentine, but benzole or bisul¬
phide of carbon -would be as bad, if not worse, and chloroform is far too
expensive. — Ed.]
DRY COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am happy to be able to endorse the statements in Mr. Corey’s
letter in your last number. I have for a long time been accustomed to
albumenise my plates before collodionising, even in the wet process.
Using a collodion which is apt to leave the plate, and frequently, when
in the field, deferring the fixing of my wet negatives until I get home, I
have sometimes lost or injured some of«ny best pictures. This induced
me to try albumen, and 1 have always used it since, as it enables me to
wash and even soak the plates without the slightest chance of loosening
the film. Instead of ammonia, however, I use the same proportion of
acetic acid. The resulting solution is very liquid, easily filtered, and may
be floated over the plate like collodion. Some kinds of glass, however,
seem to have a repellant property, in which case I use a glass rod to
distribute the albumen.
The results of my experiments with resin are all that can possibly be
wished. Both in negatives and transparent positives the pictures are
exquisitely clean and beautiful, Avith an amount of detail which is abso¬
lutely microscopic, combined with the richest and softer effects of light
and shade.
I have, howevei’, very strong doubts about the rationale of the process.
I do not see wh}r or how resin can preserve a dry plate : neither do I
believe that it alters the structure of the collodion. Accident has led me
to what promises to be a curious conclusion. I strongly suspect that no
preservative is required at all. I have just developed a plate (a trans¬
parent positive), prepared with ordinary old collodion (Keene’s), washed
and dried, and the result is a perfect picture ! I am not desirous of ex¬
pressing an opinion hastily, and shall, therefore, carry on more experi¬
ments during the interval until the next meeting of the North London
Photographic Association, and report the result. Should it be as I ex¬
pect, I, for one, have been experimenting in a wrong direction with a
vengeance.
London, Oct. 16, 1861. I am, yours, &c., W. HISLOP.
[It is more than five years back since Dr. Hill Norris announced the
fact that sensitised collodion, simply washed and dried, is nearly as sen¬
sitive to the actinic impulse as wet collodion — the difficulty consisting in
the development, the collodion simply dried being very impenetrable. It
was to remedy this defect that Dr. Norris adopted the addition of gelatine,
bjfjrtjech the film is kept permeable by aqueous solutions.
mistake not, Mr. Samuel Fry is also aware that no preservative
solution is needed to retain the sensitiveness.
♦In addition to the impermeability of a simply dried film, the liability to
qti'it the plate is an annoyance that cannot be put up with; but if the
glass be previously coated with albumen, the condition is that of a
Fbthergill plate. We have long since announced the fact, that not only
can a picture be taken on such a film, but that the collodion itself may be
subsequently removed without obliterating the picture. — Ed.]
It is desirable that this question should be set at rest, as faults are, no
doubt, often attributed to the process which are due entirely to extraneous
causes. 1 am, yours, &c., D. HORNBY.
Driffield, October llth, 1861.
P.S.— I purchased boxes at three different houses : all have given offence.
[We have already expressed our preference for boxes of tinned iron.
Possibly a coating of japanner’s gold-size, applied and dried by heat, will
answer your purpose : this material is always very slightly “ tacky,” and
would tend rather to retain particles of dust than to let them fall on the
plate. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*** Several articles in type— among them Mr. Martin’s Notes on Photographic Che¬
micals — are left over till our next, for want of room.
B. Marc —Received.
Tri-basic. — See our Paris correspondent's letter in the last number.
Lotus.— Insoluble in alcohol ; but soluble in water, and in acetic acid.
Ax Old Admirer. — We have no hope of his returning to photographic pursuits.
F. R. — Personally we prefer the warm tones produced by the size in the English paper.
BeatusEst. — Then why undeceive him ? You know the old adage— “Where ignorance’'
Ac.
F. Orridge.— We are obliged for your proffered courtesy: should we have occasion,
we may profit by it.
M. B. J ones. — Honestly we cannot commend your performance, and therefore remain
discreetly silent theron.
Q. ix tiie Corner.— It is not likely that we should divulge the name of a correspondent
who writes under a non de plume.]
Fan-quio. — Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, of Hatton Garden and Regent Street,
published some stereographs of Canton, about two years ago.
Capel Court suggests that a photographic gallery of defaulters on the Stock
Exchange shall be kept by the Committee. Query : IIow compel them to sit ?
R. J. B. — You have only to consult the back numbers, in which you will find descrip¬
tions of nearly every kind of tent that has been introduced for photographic purposes.
C. Thomson. — A small Jens can produce a large picture ; but not so well as a larger
one, nor so large either— as the curvature of field comes sooner into piny in the former.
J, Rathvvay.— See reply to T. G. Perry for replies to your two first questions. 3. Fix
with hyposulphite of soda. 4. It is not absolutely necessary to coat the plate previously
with gelatine.
T. 0. — With a little more practice you will no doubt become a very good photographer.
Your manipulation is clean, hut your negative is not quite dense enough to attord a
vigorous print : it is insufficiently developed, and, we may add, broken in two places during
carriage.
T. G. Perry. —1. A twin lens camera, by all means.— 2. You can prepare the plates
the night previously without additional washing : exposure should be about double the
usual wet process.— 3. Either collodion, but, if it should fog the picture, add to the col¬
lodion just enough tincture of iodine to colour it lightly.
Samuel K. — You had better have a rigid camera made to your lens, and with a sheet
of ground-glass to fit against a fillet, which you can remove and replace by your dry
plates, from the plate-box suspended by hooks to the base of the cameras, in the same
way that Professor Maskelyne managed for calotype paper some years ago. Another
excellent hint might be taken from him : he employed, for his tripod, some long bamboo
canes.
Amateur. — Grubb’s aplanatic is a single combination view lens, and differs from that
ot the ordinary construction only at the contact surfaces of the flint and crown lenses,
the outer curves being nearly identical in both kinds of combinations. In Grubb’s lens
the “flint” is a convexo-concave, cemented to a “crown” meniscus. In ordinary view
lenses the “flint-’ is a double concave, cemented to a double convex of crown glass. The
arrangement of the aplanatic is intended, amongst other qualifications, to admit of the
use of a larger aperture, under certain conditions, than can be employed with an ordinary
view lens. You have correctly understood us.
Humphrey’s Journal. — The editor is quite welcome to copy from our columns, which
he does pretty freely at all times; but of late he has omitted the acknowledgment more
and more frequently. We therefore beg to remind him that in his journal for the 1st
October there are three pages of matter by James Martin, and two by A. II. Wall ;
both articles written exclusively for this Journal, but copied without the usual
courtesy, besides two pages more, verbatim et literatim, of our translation from La.
Lumiere, respecting which we do not expect any notice, and about a page and a-lialf
which he does acknowledge— that is, he copies seven pages and a-half from us, and
generously credits us with one and a-half. We presume that he is a modest Amrican.
R. T. D. — AVe have been necessarily a little tardy in criticising your specimens. There
is a general fault of under-exposure throughout, excepting, perhaps, one of the Doorway
into the Chapel at Holyrood ; and, oddly enough, in this one there has been no sunshine at
the time of exposure : it is, however, a little foggy. The three best ar e—Brooklin Falls,
Wallace's Cave, and Fhiliphaugh Battle-field ; hut the last-named is spoilt by the very
inartistic arrangement of the figures. The same objection applies to the two of Roslyn
Chapel, and two of the Drinking Fountain at Holyrood : in the third the figures are
better arranged, because they are accidentally placed. When you place figures, do so
Avith some object : let them be actually engaged in doing- something except staring at the
camera. There are defects in all the negatives of the Drinking Fountains, Glenfinlan,
and St. Michael's Bridge, which render them useless. Dumblane Cathedral is out of
focus. Melrose and Roslyn are much under-exposed, but otherwise good— figures ex¬
cepted. You have a long journey yet before jou to reach the standard you have proposed
for emulation, but you have done enough to convince us that you will surely “reap in
due time, if you faint not.” _
_
ZINC PLATE -BOXES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have to-day cleaned out my plate-boxes, and find in all such a
mass of dust as fully accounts for the failures I had to complain of in my
last. The principal part of this is powdered shellac, mixed, hoAvever, with
glass and metal. In some parts of the boxes, especially between the
grooves, the metal is quite bare, the varnish having- been entirely rubbed
off.
I have just received a note from a person working a different process to
mine, and he has sent me a specimen in Avhieh the spots arc precisely the
same as those Avith Avliich I have been annoyed. He iioav blames his
zinc boxes.
Can you suggest a varnish that will adhere permanently? If not, I
think the boxes are much better unvarnished.
I either mentioned the shellac in my last, or intended so to do, as I was
then aAvare that it formed a large proportion of the dust. The boxes Avcre
quite clean Avlicn the plates were put in.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
LEADER . 375
DEVELOPING AVTl’HOUT FREE NITRATE
OF SILVER. By G. WHARTON SIMPSON 376
ON POSITIVE PRINTING. By E. MUSURAVE 376
ON THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF
PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE MICROSCOPE.
By Professor O. N. ROOD . 678
CONCERNING “CHEAPNESS.” By “S. T.”.. 380
UPON SOME IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED BY
STR DAVID BREWSTER IN THE PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC CAMERA. By E EMERSON.... 380
A FEAV NOTES ON DRY. PLATE PROCESSES,
AT HOME AND ABROAD. By W. J. C.
MOBNS . 382
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR AT¬
MOSPHERE AS REVEALED BV SPEC¬
TRUM ANALYSIS. By S. HIGHLEY,
F.G.S., F.C.S., &c. (with JjuKjritmsJ ...... 383
PAGE
ON FORMS OF LENSES SUITED FOR DE¬
STROYING SPHERICAL ABERRATION.
By SIR JOHN F. W. HERSCHEL . 3S4
PHOTOGRAPHY IN 1861 . 385
SUGGESTIONS FOR OBTAINING POSITIVES
IN GOLD UPON GLASS PLATES. By W.
J. . . 386
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. By A. II.
WALL . 387
PALESTINE IN 1860 No. X. By JOHN
CRAMB . 388
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 389
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN. Letter from N<=w
York. By C. A. SEELY .
CORRESPONDENCE . .
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS . 33*
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
0
No. 154, Vol. VIII.— NOVEMBER 15, 1861.
The British Journal Photographic Almanac for 18G1 having
been received with an amount of approval exceeding our
most sanguine expectations, it is the intention of the Pro¬
prietor and Publisher of this Journal to issue a corresponding
one for the year 1802, which, like its predecessor, will be
adapted for carrying in the pocket-book. It will contain
memoranda of the days of meeting of all the Photographic
Societies in the kingdom, together with numerous useful
photographic formulae and processes, tables of equivalents,
and in short, various particulars of information of special use
to photographers. A copy of the Almanac will be presented
with every copy of this Journal issued on the 1st of January
next, and it will be on sale to non-subscribers at the price of
threepence per copy.
To avoid interfering with the portability of the Almanac, the
space devoted to advertisements will of necessity be limited.
We are therefore requested by the Publisher to intimate to
those wishing to take advantage of so desirable a medium for
permanently advertising, that early application for space will
be requisite, in order to avoid disappointments and ensure
insertion.
Alleged Microscopical Discoveries.— The “ Special Cor¬
respondent” of a contemporary recently wrote# as follows: — -
“ Professor Gerlach, of the University of Erlangen, lias obtained
some photographs of microscopic objects by a new method,
which consists in taking the object itself as the negative image,
and then taking a magnified positive of this image, and repeat¬
ing the. operation, alternately positive and negative, until an
image is obtained of such a size as to present details of struc¬
ture far exceeding in magnitude those obtainable by the most
powerful microscopes at present in use.” — !
The preceding paragraph had previously attracted our atten¬
tion in the pages of a foreign contemporary (we believe Cosmos ),
and more recently we have noticed that the London correspon¬
dent of Le Moniteur cle la Pliotographie repeated the same story,
quoting from the English journal before alluded to.
We were much amused at the preceding statement at the time
of its first appearance, as who would not have been who knew
anything of microscopical science ? We have, however, received
moie inquiries than one for information about this marvellous
proceeding, though we certainly thought that such a veritable
canm d could not have passed muster with the most credulous.
As we have been mistaken in supposing that such a transparent
absurdity would have proved its own refutation, we have deemed
it advisable to make a few comments on the subject at once, in
ordei to save any of our readers from the disappointment that
must certainly ensue from attempts to attain these fancied won-
eiful lesults ; for we do not hesita.te to affirm that by any such
means as those described it is impossible to produce “ details of
stiucture far exceeding in magnitude those obtainable by the
most powerful microscopes at present in use,” and further, that
°n u i °Se eutirely unacquainted with microscopical matters
con d have written or given currency to such an assertion.
borne of the most excellent photographic illustrations of
microscopical objects that have ever yet been executed are the
productions of Mr. Wenham, Mr. Kingsley, and M. Bertsch;
but, fine as they are, those who are familiar with the objects
represented cannot but admit that they fall very far short of the
objects themselves when viewed in the microscope. This
cannot fail to be the case, for how is it possible that a surface
of so comparatively coarse a nature as that formed by the
agglomeration of particles of iodide of silver can receive an
impression from the details of an image so exquisitely delicate
as to require the most careful management of illumination in
order that they shall make an impression on the optic nerve?
But when we remember that many of the visible details are
much finer than the particles of the iodide of silver themselves
on which they are supposed to he impressed, and that the
operation of enlargement from the collodion film is directed to
be performed several times , even if the impression of minute
details were on the original film, by the time that it had been
repeatedly enlarged the final result would of necessity be very
like the effect of a fine line engraving upon an alligator’s back !
Even the use of a very powerful eye-piece upon the visible
image formed by the objective is sufficient to degrade the bril¬
liancy of the finer details, and in some cases to obliterate them
altogether; but such a method of amplification is infinitely less
destructive than the successive enlargements above proposed.
There is some obscurity in the wording of the paragraph
relative to £C talcing the object itself as the negative image." It
may mean that the object is to be viewed by transparence ; if so
this is only the usual way of viewing all microscopical objects that
will bear such treatment. Or it may mean that the object used
as a negative is to be brought into direct contact with the' sensi¬
tive film ; but in either case the assertion is equally preposterous.
It may be objected by some that in photographs you occasion¬
ally can perceive details that the eye cannot detect in the jrqal
objects; but this fact is easily explained. The camera lens, *
enabling the object to be viewed under a mucli larger angle of
aperture than the unassisted eye can bring to bear upon it,
acts lo some extent as a telescopic object-glass, and enables the
eye in effect to approach much nearer to the object than the
spot whence the picture is taken ; but there are no details in
the negative that are not also equally apparent in the image on£.
the focussing-screen, and many that are capable of being detected
in the latter do not appear at all in the former — hence no amount of
enlargement of such a negative can present details not apparent
in the first visible image. What happens with the camera
occurs to a far greater extent with the microscope, as there is
no comparison between the perfection of the respective objectives
employed, and as a consequence, also, of the respective images
formed thereby.
Such statements as the one we have noticed are very inju¬
rious to the progress of our art. With the uninformed they give
rise to most unreasonable expectations; and, when their falsity is
discovered, by a natural reaction an undeserved amount of
odium attaches to all the declarations of photographers in con¬
nexion with the more extraordinary facts revealed by the pursuit
of our fascinating occupation.
:s
396
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
Since writing the preceding we have received a copy of La
Revue Photo graphique, in which allusion is made to the same
circumstance as is mentioned at the commencement of this
article, but with a slight variation*, that clears up the mystery
about “taking the object itself as the negative image.” It
appears that the phrase should have run thus : — “ Which con¬
sists in taking /rowi the object itself a negative image, and then
in taking from this enlarged image a new positive image,” and
so on. We may well ask where is the novelty? This mode of
proceeding had been adopted by several photo-micrograpliists
years ago, but without any idea of obtaining such marvellous
results as are ascribed to Professor Gerlach’s productions, simple
amplification having been the end in view : the operators, instead
of expecting to reveal further details having been quite content
if they lost none existing in the original negative.
Of a very different character to that just noticed is the article
by Professor Rood which appeared in our last issue ; and, as
the subject is one of much interest, we shall in our next most
probably have some comments thereon.
International Exhibition.— A Committee of Management
for the photographic department has been appointed by the
Royal Commissioners, including, amongst other good names,
that of Mr. P. Le Neve Foster, as Secretary. We have for
several months past been aware that the last-named gentleman
was destined to fill the post indicated, but the official an¬
nouncement has only just taken place. Mr. Foster is a mem¬
ber of the Council of the Photographic Society, and Secretary
to the Society of Arts.
Quartz Lenses. — In our last we gave details of experiments
and results obtained by Mr. Edwin Emerson, of Troy University,
New York, relative to the comparative merits of lenses of glass
or quartz, and of a simple pin-hole for producing an optical image
for photographic purposes. The conclusions at which Mr.
Emerson arrived will be found at page 382 ; but, inasmuch, as
we find an obscurity in one and an error in another, arising
from a slight omission in manipulation, we deem it advisable to
make a few remarks on the subject.
How the use of a pin-hole instead of a lens can have ever
been recommended is to us very surprising. The advantages
of unlimited focus and absolute freedom from distorting powers
appear to us dearly purchased at the expense of rapidity of
action and, still worse, of definition. On this point, therefore,
we agree with Mr. Emerson; but when he condemns the
quartz lens in comparison with a common glass lens as beiim,
though quicker in action, not equal in defining power, we
cannot help thinking that he has omitted to make the correc¬
tion for variation of visual and actinic foci in the latter though
possibly not so in the former case. By using a high magnify¬
ing power to focus with in the manner described, the more
perfect the visible image the more certainly would it throw out
the actinic rays from perfect focus. Now, although the dis¬
persive power of quartz is small, it is quite perceptible ; ahd it
is not improbable — nothing being said upon the subject in Mr.
Emerson’s article — that an actinic correction was made for the
common glass lens, and omitted with the quartz. In the
experiments with the double lens such allowance is, as a
matter of course, rendered needless by the optician.
If our conjecture be correct it will quite account for the in¬
ferior performance of the quartz lens.
The obscure proposition to which we previously made allu¬
sion is that in which it is stated that a quartz lens is very
slightly quicker in action than that of a double combination
achiomatic lens, though it is before mentioned that the quartz
lens is quicker in action “than a common glass lens of the
same aperture, focus, and thickness”— as if the double lens, and
achromatic to boot, were quicker than the single lens, when
there would have been four times the number of surfaces in one
case than in the other to cause loss of light. AVe are convinced
that there is some mistake in this assertion.
A FEW HINTS OH COMPOSITION AS APPLIED TO
PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES.
By W. H. Davies.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 1861.]
“ The value and rank of every art is in proportion to the mental labour employed in it,
or the mental pleasure produced by it.” — Sir Joshua Reynolds.
One would naturally have thought that in a Society like ours this
would have been one of the last subjects needing elucidation. Our
position as photographers, amateurs or otherwise, necessitates a
certain knowledge of it; and I would deprecate much the idea
that I am here to-night to teach anything that you do not know, or
indeed to do other than simply state a few of my own ideas on the
subject, which again may evolve, by being stated, the opinions of
those who are better acquainted with it, and so in that way we
may all come to be benefitted.
I do not think there is any recondite knowledge needed to
appreciate a good picture, any more than there is to appreciate
other good and kindred things — such as music, literature, or archi¬
tecture ; but it is one matter to like a thing, and another to be able
to say and show why it is good, and to give reasons for the pre¬
ference. Thus we may know, whether we like it or not, that the
first condition in the composition of a figure picture — be it genre,
historical, photographic, or painted — is whether the point aimed
at — the story in short — has been well told ; whether the artist has
taken advantage of every slight accessory to heighten the interest
or tell the talc in its different stages, if that be possible, or to cul¬
minate the interest to its principal points. Perhaps the best
examples of this may be found in our own Hogarth’s works, which
are, on the whole, perhaps the most perfect models of how picto-
rially to carry out the main idea of a story into the most minute
details of the picture. Many others might be named, both living
and dead, who have chosen this and simpler modes, but one illus¬
tration is enough.
Another of the requisites of good composition is to be found in
the harmonious arrangement of the lines of the picture : wre know
that a curve is more pleasing than a straight line, and that some
forms — as that of a circle for instance — are more graceful than
that of a pyramid, which again is better pictorially than a square,
and so on.
Many of us, I have no doubt, have been often shocked and
almost ashamed of the hideous abortions we often see perpetrated
by some who call themselves photographers, especially in groups
of portraits. •Thus we have straight regimental lines of faces —
say father and mother in the centre, with a child on each side, as
nearly of a similar size as possible, and behind, perhaps, a couple
of older children looking over the parents’ shoulders, each with the
inevitable photographic paw resting thereon, and all the rest of it,
ad nauseum. Are they not to be seen at the corner of every
street ? or placed on the mantel-shelf of every second parlour you
enter ?
The last of the requisites of good composition I need mention
here is, that the arrangement or subject must be well lighted, in
order that we may have a properly balanced effect of light and
shade ; and this is the more important, seeing that we are precluded
from the use of colour. Thus, if we are desirous of representing a
picture in sunlight let us not fall into the error of having the
shadows too deep and wanting in detail, or the whole subject not
sufficiently light, as was the case with a celebrated photographic
effect of Sunlight and Breaking Waves, which the uninitiated public
would persist in calling a moonlight scene. Were it not that
“comparisons are odious ” I could point out and contrast many. of
the photographic pictures in our last Exhibition; but, as living
artists are rather touchy, and our art has not lived sufficiently
long to allow of a good crop of old masters, I will refrain, although
much against my will, as I believe we might learn much that
would be to our advantage artistically.
These are, shortly stated, the principal points to be observed in
figure compositions. But, as our worthy Secretary phrased it, I
am expected to show how artistic landscape pictures may be made.
You will admit that, before going into that description of manu¬
facture, it will be needful to preface a little, so that I may not
plunge you into the middle of how to do the “ undoable.”
There is among those who assume the position of connoisseurs,
dilettante , &c., a vast amount of what must be classed as art-cant,
as opposed to art-knowledge. It is true if we look only at the
artificial and conventional schools of painting, and compare and
judge them only with and among themselves, and hear our friends
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
November 15, 1861]
397
above-noted prate in their usual style on the matter, we may be
lost among the numerous technical and invented terms and appa¬
rent profundity of knowledge which they display ; but, while com¬
paring one painter with another, and one school with another, how
seldom it is that we find the comparison made with the great
fountain of imitative art, Dame Nature herself! There is not —
nor can there be — any other standard ; and the more nearly wo
approximate to that great silent teacher, and the more perfect our
representations of her beauties are, the nearer shall we be to truth
and perfection, whatever the school of art-critics may say to the
contrary.
It is also true that, to appreciate the good qualities of a fine
picture, we require a certain education of the eye, as I before
remarked, and that a cultivated eye will be pained by a bad
arrangement of form or colour, precisely as a musician is shocked
by the discords of an ill-arranged orchestra. But if the pain is
bad, the sense of pleasure is exquisite ; and those who culpably
neglect opportunities of teaching their eyes to see are truly
punishing themselves. The glorious forms and tints of the clouds
and sky are to them a sealed book : the ever-changing play of light
on the tossing waves — the matchless variety of their forms — the
deep impressive harmonies of the forest — the grand contours of the
mountains, with their peaked summits piercing the clouds — the
sweetly swelling lines of the pastoral country — the bubbling of the
brook through the tangled brake, or the ’headlong rush of the
mountain torrent — are, to the uneducated eye and dull mind, a
dead language. To quote from Wordsworth : —
“ The primrose by the river’s brim,
A yellow primrose is to him,
And nothing more.”
Bearing these facts in mind, nothing seems more wonderful in
the whole progress of our beautiful art than the very slight atten¬
tion which has been given by many, very many, of its followers to
the subject of what it is that makes a good picture. Whether it
is that they are enamoured by the facile production of a successful
negative— be it of an imposing series of chimney-pots and roofs as
seen from the studio window — or of any of the numberless subjects
we operate on ; or whether it is that our pictures with their simple
and often true representations of form satisfies the slight msthetic
desires of most of our friends, without tempting them further; or
whether it may be that the education of the eye is but commen¬
cing, we will not now stop to inquire; but, if proof were needed for
the statement, we have only to adopt the motto on Sir Christopher
Wren’s tomb and “ Circumspice," to see that there are by far a much
greater number of badly arranged and lighted figure subjects
and stupidly chosen landscapes among our productions, than there
are among the exhibited works of our elder brethren of the brush
and palette. Primarily we might expect this. The artist has first
of all that inborn spur which presses him forward and will not let
him lest at any other than this profession ; then he has years of
patient study and training the hand to do the behests of the eye-
teaching it to carve the lily, or to paint the varied hues of the
landscape, or the delicate bloom on the cheek of beauty, till with
a few movements of its wonderful mechanism it can draw the most
delicate line or lay on the most subtle gradation of colour. But still,
with all his born genius and acquired skill, we find the artist falling
short in many respects of the effects produced by our skilled
manipulation and nearly perfect instruments. It is true that with
all oiu wondrous accuracy of delineation we do not approach in
tiuthtulness of colour to artistic representation, however much we
may suipass it in minuteness of detail or general correctness of
form ; and, while yielding as gracefully as we may, let us not forget
how far we fail in rendering truthfully that Nature we think we
represont so well. Indeed it is only by an intellectual effort that
we can be said to do it at all.
Our pictuies, being in light and shade merely, must be looked on
nioie m the character ol engravings or drawings in monotone,
where the essential forms of objects are represented conventionally
by lights and shadows more or less true, ignoring, as it were the
glorious accessory (if I may so call it) of colour. You will now
see that, if we desire to produce good pictures (not bits), that we
have, the more need to be able to select or compose such materials
as will make perfect pictures in black and white, limited as we are
to shade and its gradations ; and that there is the greater need
that we be able to know how to choose such classes of objects as
will be best represented by our art. If we can, by the examina¬
tion ot a large number of examples, deduce any rules for our
guidance, we ought to do so. To show that this is perfectly legiti¬
mate, I will quote the authority of Sir Joshua Reynolds, than whom
we have no higher. He says in his sixth discourse 1 “ It must of
necessity be that even works of genius, like every other effect, as
they must have their cause must likewise have their rules. It cannot
be by chance that excellences are produced with any constancy or
any certainty, for this is not the nature of chance ; but the rules
by which men of extraordinary parts, and such as are called men
of genius work, are either such as they discover by their own
peculiar observations or of such a nice texture as not easily to
admit of being expressed in words — especially as artists are not very
frequently skilful in that mode of communicating ideas. Unsub¬
stantial, however, as these rules may seem, and difficult as it may
be to convey them in writing, they are still seen and felt in the
mind of the artist, and he works from them with as much certainty
as if they were embodied, as I may say, upon paper. It is true that
these refined principles cannot always be made palpable like the
more gross rules of art” — and so on.
It cannot be expected that I shall be able, in the short time left
me, to go very minutely into those questions which have employed
the best minds during years of study, and have occupied many
volumes; neither do 1 mean to set up my small canon against the
great guns who have written on the subject. If I did, I suspect
they would blow me to pieces for many of my heterodox opinions —
that is, if they thought me 'worthy to be made such game of. All I
can do is to simply indicate a few of the most elementary forms
which experience has taught or genius shown to be those the
human eye is pleased or displeased with; and in doing so I have
no wish to open the very debateable question of innate ideas, but
simply to show what is conceived to be right, artistically, and
what wrong, at this stage of the world’s progress.
[The speaker here exhibited a number of sketches, diagrams,
photographs, prints, &c., in illustration, and commented on them
in passing, in relation to their arrangement, picturesqueness, lines,
light and shade, and other peculiarities. He then proceeded to
say 1
Perhaps the first principle to be noted in landscape delineation is
that of the height of the horizon. For fine pictorial effect, this should
never be in the centre of the subject, but either above or below it —
as, for instance, in this view [exhibiting one] of Eyemouth Harbour ,
where the line of the pier, the harbour, with the shingly pro¬
montory beyond, and the distant sea, all come in a horizontal line
right in the centre of the picture. I wish that I could have shown
you a print of E. T. Crawford’s fine picture of the same subject,
which I am sure many of you know, to exhibit by contrast the
difference that the view-point makes in taking a picture : you have
evidence here, however, that by removing the camera more to the
left, and getting the pier more foreshortened, that even this picture,
poor as it is, could have been much improved. This is one of
the points which, for photographers, is sometimes difficult; but we
must endeavour to avoid it, if possible. If the subject requires a
high horizon, you will be safe to keep it about two-thirds of the
height of the plate : if it require a low horizon, as for coast scenes,
&c., about one-third or three-eighths of the height of the plate.
FIG. i.
Again : it is wrong, where }'ou have to take such a picture aspfy.
No. 1 (which consists of an avenue of trees going right into the
398
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
centre of the picture, with a tall poplar on each side of the head of
it, and an equal-sided tree, placed as an after-thought, right in the
centre), to do it in this way, where, by so treating it, one-half
of the picture is almost a facsimile of the other. You do not quite
fancy, but you feel that invisible line running down the centre of it,
and you find yourself menially with your measure trying whether it
is so or not. It is a very common error with stereoscopists this
of getting an avenue of trees light in the centre of the picture,
with the view of showing the perspective. The large tree in front is
on the same principle, and to carry it out you have a poplar on
each side for the purpose of balancing each other in the invisible
scales, which you feel sure must have been hung there to try
if they were in their proper places. It really puts one in mind of the
anecdote of the Dutch gardener who caught the boy stealing
apples, and put him in the stocks in one corner of his garden, but
finding his eye for uniformity so much pained by one boy in the
one corner, lie put his own son in the other corner to balance him.
FIG. 2.
Fig. No. 2 is a similar subject; but you see how different is the
treatment. You have the large tree, the avenue, the poplars ; but
all arranged pictorially. From this I think we may deduce that
when the subject is a single one, or capable of being too equally
balanced, the centre of such a subject should be placed on one
side or other of the plate, as may be found most suitable, but
never in the centre of the plate.
FIG. 3.
Fig.JSo. 3 is a somewhat different illustration. It is, as you see,
a rustic gate, with a field behind, a tree on one side, and some
shrubbery on the other. Of course you have a full front view
of it as if it were of the utmost possible importance that we should
see its construction, and with it a distinct unmistakcable statement
on its face that there is no admission, or as if the maker of it
wanted what an architect would call a view of the front elevation
of it. If it be possible to annihilate the picturesqueness of such
an object I think it has been managed here.
FIG. 4.
Fig. No. 4 is the same gate, but is a slightly different view of it. It
is now inclined to the spectator — indeed it is what an architect
would call a perspective view of it, and, as you see, the parallelism
of the lines being removed the pictorial effect is much heightened,
although it is by no means the best that can be made out of an old
gate. Witness this print from Collins’s picture of the Woodland
Gate , or Happy as a King (from the Vernon Gallery) : there jmu see
in perfection what can be made of our friend the old gate. This
is perhaps as perfect an illustration of what can be done in the way
of landscape composition as I could bring before you. The figures
assist the landscape, and the landscape, in return, with its quiet
repose, contrasts so finely with the happy abandonment of every¬
thing but fun by the juvenile Joskins, that we cannot help admir¬
ing and loving the producer of so excellent a picture.
Nos. 6 and 7 are diagrams of a railway tunnel, with a train
passing through, made with the intention of showing that, in all
perspective vieAvs of architecture, it is unwise or unpictorial to
place the vanishing point of the lines in the centre of the picture,
as it is in No. G ; and although the direction as to the height of the
FIG. 9.
November 15, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
399
horiz-on lias not been observed in No. 7, you see that by placing
the vanishing point more to the right of the subject, and the train
more to the front and left of it, the pictorial effect of a very un-
picturesque subject has been much heightened. The same rule
applies to all lines of street architecture ; the light must il possible
always be on one side, so that we may have the other side in
shade, in order to get a proper contrast by the cast shadows of
the buildings.
The photograph No. 8, which was taken as a trial plate, will
illustrate my meaning. You have the sun on the light, with the
cast shadows across the street, and breaking up here and there on
the sun-lighted portions of the other side. Then you have another
important point shown — that your figures, if any, should not be in
the centre of the composition, but more towards one side than the
other.
FIG. 10-
Figures 9 and 10 are landscape illustrations of the central prin¬
ciple : — the first, with the Dutch canal-like rivulet running straight
up and into the picture, the blazing sun in the centre, and the trees
on each side/ all so nearly balanced, that you find yourself saying
that the artist’s point of view must have been from a boat in the
middle of the canal. The other, which ends the series and my
paper, is a similar view, showing that variety of size of the trees,
the curvature of the water, variety in the form of the banks,
difference of vegetation, all go to make what was a very un¬
interesting meadow into a rather picturesque bit of landscape.
in conclusion, I only wish that my remarks may elicit the opinions
of those more able to give them than I have been to explain what
I meant to say.
ON ALKALINE TONING-.
By A. Robertson.
[Read at a meeting of the Glasgow Photographic Society, Nov. 7, 1861.]
It seemed at the last meeting to be taken for granted that I was
this evening to express my views upon the subject of alkaline
toning.
I need hardly say that toning our prints well is a very important
matter. It stands, I believe, next to fixing; for fine shades of
colour that please the eye are as much wanted as permanent prints.
Success in toning will gradually lead to an increased public demand
for our works. Some admire a fine lithograph, others a fine
engraving ; but to me a good photograph, well printed, is better
than any plain paper picture. I think most of my hearers are of
the same opinion as myself on this point.
If any acknowledge the importance of finely toning their prints,
it is necessary lor them to give a great deal of attention to it ;
for, simple and successful as. many find this process, yet so varied
are the results, and so numerous are the failures which some
experience, that it is evident no single rule can be laid down that
Will lead to the same results in various hands.
It is unnecessary to search into the history of this alkaline
tomng process ; nor is it desirable that we should follow the
different improvers of it. It is enough for our purpose that Mr.
Maxwell Lyte was the true author of it, as he gave it publicity and
importance ; and, if we do no more, we should at least accord to him
our thanks and gratitude.
This toning process is of but recent date ; but, like photography
itself, is of rapid progress. Little more than three years have
elapsed since it was introduced, and already it has nearly super¬
seded every other toning process ; and so it should, for the best of
reasons — its results are more beautiful and more enduring.
Allow me in but few words to say how this process is con¬
ducted : —
With good albumenised paper use a strong silver bath, say — •
Silver . 90 grains.
Water . 1 ounce.
Float the paper on this bath for two minutes. Some advise that
you should print very dark, while others say a little darker than
the finished print is wanted is enough.
Now I think this must depend on the state of the chloride o
gold and the amount of carbonate of soda that is used. If you^
use much soda you will find the prints bleach out a good deal.
When you have your printing all done for a day, collect
the proofs and carefully cut off all the superfluous paper, and keep
this, for at some convenient time a great deal of silver can
be taken from it. You now put your prints into a dish of
water, and let them remain there for about ten minutes. Pour
off this water into a large jar or barrel. Cfive your prints another
supply of water, and this lime you may put in with them a little
salt, to take out all the free nitrate of silver. After remaining in
this for ten minutes, you pour off again into the barrel. You
may give them one or two waters more : these are hardly worth
keeping. It is important that you wash your prints well at this
stage, for here arise stains and much of the unevenness that is
complained of; and you must not put in the salt before the prints,
for it makes a great mess of the silver surface. The importance of
keeping your washings and parings is seen from such tangible
results as these buttons of pure silver that are worth several
pounds.
Your prints being ready you now mix your toning-bath —
1 grain chloride of gold to each sheet of paper.
4 ounces of water.
Neutralise by adding a little saturated solution of carbonate of soda.
A small piece of litmus-paper shows the proper amount of soda.
It is of great importance to have good pure chloride of gold.
I believe it to be a mistake to recommend any given number
of grains of soda ; for there are scarcely two samples of chloride of
gold that are alike.
As you have the hath ready, now take the prints out of the
water and lay them evenly and rapidly on the bath, turning them
over several times, and be sure there are no air-cells or parts of the
albumenised surface that are uncovered; for if there be any only for
a second or two, you are sure to have a bright red stain. You must
watch your prints in this bath till the tones you require are
obtained ; then transfer them to a dish of clean water, give them
two or three turns through it, and then place them iu the fixing
bath —
Hyposulphite of soda . 1 ounce.
Water . 5 ounces.
Keep turning the prints in this for fifteen minutes, then drain off
.all the hypo. Wash well in your delf tray, then place your prints
in the syphon washing-bath and allow them to be washed by this
means for say ten hours, turning them at times : if you can give
them a washing or two with hot water they will be all the better.
I have now told you in my own words how alkaline toning is
done; and, having thus opened the subject, I leave it for your
future consideration.
Heroic Conduct cf a Well-known Photographer. — At the
late accident when the Scarborough life-boat was stranded, and
the receding waves carried away the crew ere they could make
good their footing, a rush to their rescue was made by a number
of individuals in the crowd assembled on the beach, foremost
amongst whom was the ill-fated Lord Charles Beauclerc, together
with Mr. Saxony, photographer, and one or two others. Another
wave carried them all off their legs, and those who came to save
were alike imperilled. Two or three times they were carried out
and back again. The remaining details are too well known to
need recapitulation. Lord Charles Beauclerc lost his life in the
endeavour to save the life of others. Mr. Sarony was rescued by
two brave fellows when much exhausted.
400
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 18G1
ROTES OH PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
HYPOSULPHITE QE SODA.
Synonymes. — Dithionite of soda.
Comqiosition.—Ha 0, S 2 0 2 + 5 HO.
Equivalent. — 125.
Preparation. — This salt is now manufactured on a very extensive
scale in the neighbourhood of Newcastle-on-Tyne. There are
several methods extant for its preparation ; two only (the easiest of
manipulation) need be described. In the Chemical _ Gazette , for
August, 1843, a process contrived by Herr Walchner is published.
It is as follows : — One pound of dry carbonate of soda is mixed with
ten ounces of sublimed sulphur, and the mixture heated in an open
porcelain dish to admit of contact of air: the mixture should be
kept stirred, when under these circumstances the sulphuret first
formed passes, with slight incandescence, into sulphite of soda,
which is dissolved in water, filtered, and heated with a further
quantity of sublimed sulphur. The heat should be gentle, say
180° F. and continued for some time. On concentrating the filtered
solution, crystals of hyposulphite of soda are obtained.
The second method consists in the formation of a neutral sulphite
of soda by passing sulphurous acid gas through a strong solution
of carbonate of soda, and subsequently digesting the solution with
excess of sulphur at a gentle heat during several days. For this
purpose it will be necessary to obtain, first, a flask of about one
pint capacity: into this should be introduced either some pieces of
charcoal or some copper turnings; the mouth should then be
closed with a cork perlorated with two holes, in one of which is to
be placed a tube funnel and in the other a bent tube, the end of
which should be conducted into a wash -bottle containing sulphuric
acid, for the purpose of absorbing any impurities which may come
over with the sulphurous acid gas. The mouth of this wash-bottle
should also be closed with a ]3erforated cork, one hole receiving
the end of the bent tube from the generating flask, and the other
being furnished with a similar bent tube to conduct the gas into the
strong solution of carbonate of soda. The apparatus being placed
in position, and the flask being conveniently supported on the ring
of a retort stand, for the application of heat, sulphuric acid is
poured in through the tube funnel mentioned above (the end of
which should reach through the charcoal or copper turnings to the
bottom of the flask), and the heat of a spirit lamp is applied. In a
few' moments bubbles of sulphurous acid gas will be seen to pass
through the wash-bottle : these will soon reach the solution of
carbonate of soda, causing a lively effervescence of carbonic acid
gas ; when this ceases the formation of the sulphite of soda may be
regarded as complete. It now remains to convert this into hypo¬
sulphite of soda, for which purpose it will be necessary to pour the
solution of sulphite into an evaporating basin of suitable dimen
sions, and add thereto an excess of flowers of sulphur, i.e. sublimed
sulphur ; a gentle heat should then be applied and maintained
for some time, occasionally as long as two or three days. For this
purpose a sand bath is obviously the most convenient ; but, should
the experimenter be deficient in laboratory appliances, a gentle
heat may be maintained in action on such a solution as is described
above, by taking an ordinary saucepan, filling it with water,
placing the basin containing the solution on the top, instead of the
cover, and putting the whole on the fire. Should any mechanical
impurities enter the solution in the form of dust or soot, these can
be separated by filtration, at the conclusion of the process. This
process is merely described for those who, being beyond the reach
of chemists’ shops, cannot obtain either hyposulphite of soda or
sulphite of soda, but who yet may be able to get some oil of vitriol,
charcoal, carbonate of soda (or common washing soda), and some
“flowers of sulphur,” and who may also possess the necessary
apparatus.
Properties. — Hyposulphite of soda crystallises in large, clear,
colourless, oblique prisms, belonging to the right prismatic system.
They include five atoms of water of crystallisation, equal to about
thirty-six per cent, of water. The salt is soluble in all proportions
in water, but insoluble in alchohol. At 54° F., 100 parts of water
take up 81 parts of hyposulphite of soda; it is inodorous, and tastes
cooling ; afterwards bitter, slightly alkaline, and sulphurous.
At 122° F., the salt melts in its own water of crystallisation.
It is probable that the pure salt would not possess any alkaline
reaction, though many commercial samples restore the blue colour
of reddened litmus : this is attributable to the presence of traces
of carbonate of soda, arising in the manufacture of the salt from
the employment of too high a temperature in heating the sul¬
phur and carbonate of socla together. This salt, when pure, is
unaltered by exposure to a moderately dry atmosphere, though
it deliquesces slightly in damp air. Heated in the open air it
burns with a blue flame; in close vessels the aqueous solution
deposits sulphur; the same thing also happens if the solution be
exposed to the air. An aqueous solution containing 250 grains,
or two equivalents, of this salt will take up 12G grains, or one
equivalent of iodine, without becoming coloured, and still remaining
neutral. This reaction is accompanied by the formation of iodide
of sodium and tetrathionate of soda, and forms a convenient
method of estimating the purity of the sample so treated.
Impurities and Tests. — Hyposulphite of soda is now manufactured
in such large quantities, and sold at so low a price, that the
absence of any great pecuniary advantage to be gained by inten¬
tional adulteration almost ensures its coming from the manufac¬
turer in a state sufficiently pure even for photographic purposes,
except, perhaps, the accidental impurities arising from the par¬
ticular process followed in its preparation. These may be sulphuret
of sodium, sulphur, carbonate of soda, sulphite of soda, and perhaps
sulphate of the same base, this latter salt being, it is believed,
sometimes intentionally introduced. Silica is also an impurity
found in some samples.
Carbonate of soda wmuld cause the suspected salt to exercise an
alkaline reaction on test paper, wdiereas pure hyposulphite of soda
should be neutral. Each and all of the other impurities would act
by decreasing the per centage of pure salt in a hundred parts. A
test, therefore, which will indicate whether the right proportion
of pure hyposulphite be present in a weighed quautity of the salt
will be found all-sufficient for the photographic analyst, who, it is
assumed, desires not so much to determine the presence of each
particular impurity, as to ascertain the relative value of samples
submitted for his examination, with the view of arriving at their
applicability or suitableness for photographic purposes.
This result may be arrived at by weighing out one drachm of
the salt to be examined, dissolving it in one ounce of water, and
then adding half a drachm or thirty grains of solid iodine, and
stirring the mixture until the whole of the iodine is dissolved and
forms a colourless solution. Should the whole of the iodine not
enter into solution, it is an evidence that the sample under exami¬
nation does not contain the proper per centage, or, in other words,
is not pure hyposulphite of soda. It would avail but little for the
photographer to determine what the precise impurity is : the fact
of its being unable to take up and form a colourless solution with
the above proportion of iodine is sufficient to warrant its imme¬
diate rejection. The reaction which takes place in the above
experiment is accompanied by the formation of new salts, tetra¬
thionate of soda and iodide of sodium, and hence the colourless
character of the resulting solution.
Uses. — Hyposulphite of soda was first suggested as a “fixing”
agent by Sir John Herschel, and though it has been much abused
as being to a great extent the cause of the fading of positive
proofs on paper, it has done and continues to do good service to
the photographer, holding, perhaps, the foremost place among
photographic chemicals in regard to the quantity consumed, which
amounts to many tons annually. Its suitableness for the purpose
to which it is applied depends on the power which it has of
forming soluble double salts with the oxides, iodides, bromides, and
chlorides of silver. Taking, by way of illustration, a wet collodion
plate (after the developing solution has been Avashed off, and the
picture in other respects completed), it may be stated that when a
solution of hyposulphite of soda is poured over the plate, and is
thus brought into contact with unaltered iodide of silver, there
takes place what is termed by chemists a double decomposition,
the acids and bases change places, and the reaction results in the
formation of iodide of sodium and hyposulphite of silver, Avhich
latter salt immediately on its formation is dissolved by the excess
of hyposulphite of soda, and this is indicated by the transparency
thereupon acquired by those parts of the picture unacted on by
light. A similar change takes place Avhen hyposulphite of soda
is brought into contact with unreduced chloride of silver in posi¬
tive paper prints ; and it is of the utmost importance that this fact
should be remembered, as the hyposulphite of silver so formed
has a tendency to pass spontaneously into sulphide of silver —
a black substance, which Avould mar the beauty of the proofs.
This fact should prompt the photographer to renew his fixing
solution very frequently, always remembering that “ there is
nothing like fresh hypoP
Effect of Internal Use— There is no case of poisoning by this
substance on record. Should it be taken, however, with suicidal
intention, it might, from analogy, be expected to act in a somewhat
similar manner to sulphate of soda, or sulphate of magnesia ; in
November 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
401
wbicli case it would work its own cure! and no antidote, strictly
speaking1, would be required.
Antidote. — The internal administration of this salt, while, doubt¬
less, producing effects similar to sulphate of magnesia (Epsom
salts), would most likely, in large quantity, produce also inflamma¬
tion of the mucous lining of the stomach and intestines ; in which
case emollient and demulcent drinks, such as milk, albumen,
linseed tea, &c., may be suitably given.
DESCRIPTION OP A NEW INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTER,
Invented by Mr. Window, and Manufactured by J. H. Dalljieyer.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie London Photographic Society, November 5th, 1801.]
The advantages of this contrivance over others designed for the
same purpose may be stated thus : — It effects the opening and
closing of the lens by one continuous movement, and this move¬
ment is so contrived that the foreground receives the greater
amount of exposure, thus favouring the production of natural skies,
similar in this respect to the one introduced to the notice of this
Society by myself, in January, 1860. At the same time, also, the
exposure in this shutter can bo' regulated at will, from a fractional
part of a second to two or three seconds or moi’e.
It is, therefore, equally applicable for portrait lenses in the
studio, where the exposiu’e is of some seconds in duration, or for
instantaneous work in the field, where the exposure is completed
in a small fractional part of a second.
It consists of a small box A, which fits on the hood of the lens.
The front B, when in use, is kept open by means of an elastic C,
and serves as a shade to the lens. Inside the box, at the top, is a
roller, working on points at each end. Over this roller passes the
shutter, which is of a flexible material composed of wood strips glued
upon leather : this is represented in the section we have given by
the thick line. From each end of this curtain or shutter depend
strings d and e, terminating in the rings D and E. Another string
f joins these rings together, and finally from the ring F placed in
the middle of /proceeds the string g.
By referring to the diagram it will be seen that when either ring
D or E is pulled down as far as it will go, the shutter is entirely
closed. If it be now desired to uncover the lens for a definite time,
as for a portrait, or dry-plate landscape, the string g is pulled down,
which will raise the shutter half way, and fully uncover the lens.
When it is wished to re-cover the lens, either of the rings D or E is
pulled down as far as it will go, and the object is effected. If an
instantaneous exposure, as it is termed, be desired — that is, one of
only a fraction of a second in duration — the ring D, as shown in the
drawing, is pulled down with the speed required, and this one
movement will open and reclose the lens. It will also be noticed
that the after part of the shutter rising, the lens is uncovered from
the bottom, and the foreground is the first thing exposed; and the front
part of the shutter descending, the lens is re-covered from the top — •
so the foreground is the last thing exposed.
ON THE NATURE AND TONING OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
IMAGE.
By T. A. Malone, F.C.S.
Director of the Chemical and Photographic Laboratory of the London Institution.
[Delivered at a Meeting of the London Photographic Society, November 5th, 1861.]
The subject which engages our attention to-night is, it will be
admitted, one of great interest and importance, and yet is not
without its difficulties.
What, may I ask, is the photographic image? and in what manner
is it acted upon by the various agents employed in its production
and toning ? Many answers have been given to these questions.
A very decided one has been given by a gentleman to whom we
are much indebted, and whose absence we all, and I especially,
regret to-night. I, of course, allude to Mr. Hardwich. It is well
known that considerable difference of opinion prevails amongst us
on this subject. Some hold that the organic matter and size of
the paper serve merely as a vehicle to support the chloride of
silver, on which the image is essentially formed ; others hold that
the organic matter serves as an adjunct in producing the image, and
remains combined with it. There is no doubt, however, about
chloride of silver being the basis of our operations. How does
light act upon this chloride of silver ?
The question has been answered by men of some eminence as
chemists. Miilder, a Dutch chemist, has written an essay upon the
method of assaying silver by what is called the wet method. It is
usual, by the established method, to assay it by fusion, but now it
is proposed to assay it by solution. Mulder was led to investigate
the production of chloride of silver. He found, in the course of
his work, that this chloride of silver was liable to be darkened by
the action of light; and he wanted to know, exactly, what this
action might be— to what extent it was carried on — and what
influences were exerted. We know that chemists, who have treated
the subject previously, have given us their views. Fresenius, one
of our eminent German analysts, says “ chloride of silver, exposed
to light, loses weight,” and there he leaves it. Others have gone a
little further, and say that it loses weight by losing chlorine.
Exposure to the sun’s rays liberates chlorine. The action of light
seems to reduce chloride of silver to a state nearer the metallic.
Then comes the difficulty — does the light remove the whole of the
chlorine ? Some hold that it does remove the whole of the
chlorine, that is, as far as the action of light can go. Mulder says
that it only reduces a portion of the chloride, and forms a sub¬
chloride of silver. Unfortunately this which at first sight appears to
be one of the simplest of chemical problems becomes exceedingly
difficult, on account of the nature of the process. Many here know
that Mr. Spiller, of Woolwich, in the arsenal laboratory, has exposed
chloride of silver to the full sunshine on the roof there, but never
could succeed in liberating the whole of the chlorine ; and it will
be evident at once that hence arises the difficulty. Upon the face
of things, we know that light blackens this substance. If we ex¬
pose a bottle of it to the sun the surface is darkened, but that
darkened surface shades the bottom. Each molecule of the surface,
or perhaps I might say the surface of each molecule, has its
chlorine taken away and there is a perfect reduction to the metallic
state : that reduction alters the colour of the surface and no longer
allows the chemical force to penetrate efficiently, thus a nucleus,
or core, of chloride of silver remains. If this darkened substance
be treated with hyposulphite of soda, ammonia, or cyanide of po¬
tassium, we find a singular result — the dark body disappears, and
gray spangles of silver appear. So far all is clear, and I believe
that the silver which is liberated from the surface of the molecule
is set free from the chloride by the action of these solvents, and
thus we have the thing dissolved perfectly into its elements, so
far as we can expect. But this difficulty arises: — the gray spangles
bear no resemblance to the darkened substance on the surface, and
again, the' quantity of silver is so small that it does not appear
credible that it can give colour to the extent that it is known to
do in photography. It will be my purpose, to-night, to combat the
idea that it does not produce this result, and to give a rational
402
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
ground for my opinion as to what becomes of the black surface, and
svhy we get gray spangles, and to show you what we can do
chemically with silver and with gold. What are those spangles?
They are not oxychloride of silver, as it has been suggested by
some, nor are they, as it has been suggested by others, a low
oxide accompanied with organic matter. Every endeavour hitherto
has fallen short of a determination of the question, the diffi¬
culty being in the analysis. I, therefore, propose to get rid of
the difficulty of analysis altogether, by abandoning the system
and working synthetically, which may appear hazardous ; but I
may mention that I have the opinion in my favour, and the
encouragement, of a gentleman who is a most eminent chemist in
this country.
The method of synthesis is a fair one, and will help to clear up
the difficulty for us. It will be confessed that all analyses have
failed ; and I may state that I have been led to adopt this method
of synthesis by the study of Mr. Faraday’s paper, of 16 or 17 pages,
on ruby gold, in the Philosophical Transactions , which will, per¬
haps, repay any one for reading. I was led to see that a method
of synthesis, founded upon the methods adopted by Mr. Faraday in
the production of ruby gold, might solve our difficulty. I may
hasten matters by stating my conviction at once. If I am mistaken
in my view with regard to the possibility of the various colours
and tints of the image being due to the mechanical division of the
silver — if I am wwong in this, then Mr. Faraday’s view's, with regard
to the ruby gold being the true metal, must fail. I am free to admit
that it is equivocal, for Mr. Faraday has done nothing but show us
good reason why we should consider the ruby gold as the
metallic gold. He will require that we shall give him the atomic
constitution and weight of this ruby gold before he believes in it :
for example, we must take a given bulk of this gold, then ignite it
to the point of fusion, and then re-weigh it again, and show that it
has not lost in weight, and then he will convert it into metallic gold.
Our interest is much more excited from the moment we find that
it is possible to believe that we can have ruby silver as well as
ruby gold, and when we find also that this ruby gold can be con¬
verted into blue or purple gold, thus giving the two extreme ends
of the solar spectrum, and when we find that we can also get not
only ruby silver and blue silver — the two ends of the spectrum —
but as I think I can show you we can have yellow silver also.
I think if I pursue analogous processes to that of Mr. Faraday,
we can come to no other conclusion than that these bodies
have a wonderful analogy; and, rvhen viewed in this way,
we can explain every phenomenon as to the toning of the
pictures, for we have the ruby silver picture destroyed by the gold,
by the mere physical change. The particles are so altered
in magnitude or thickness as to affect the rays of light in a
different manner, and this will lead us to understand the whole of
the phenomena which have hitherto baffled us. I have said, in
times past, that I saw no reason why this image should not be
finely-divided metallic matter.
Let me at once bring before you the manner of producing ruby
gold. Gold is soluble in nitro-muriatic acid, and it is desirable to
have altogether pure gold, which is not very easy, but by great
care we can obtain it. I placed some in this little vessel. [Mr.
Malone exhibited a glass jar containing about an ounce of
liquid.] I then placed it in a sand stove, and allowed the acid
to evaporate. When taken away it had a darkish red colour, which
was a sign that the whole of the acid was expelled, which was
essential. Then, having pure chloride of gold free from acid, we
dissolve it in water : the strength is not material, and it is very easily
soluble in water. I will now add water to this, and thus I have
now the yellow solution of the chloride of gold. This chloride of
gold is now ready for use. The gold may be reduced from this
solution in a variety of ways. If we add oxalic acid to it, and re¬
duce it, it is found that the affinity is such that the chlorine quits
the gold — the gold is let fall. In this way we can get pure gold
from the solution of this chloride of gold.
Again: by the addition of protosulphate of iron it readily absorbs
oxygen— the chlorine acting with the elements of the water forms
a per-oxide and we get a salt : the chlorine being taken away the gold
falls. But by neither of these methods do we get it in the ruby
condition. With the oxalic acid especially we get brilliant flakes,
while by the sulphate of iron we get the gold thrown down in a
purplish or brown powder.
There is another method of throwing it down — by the chloride
of tin. When chloride of tin is mixed with chloride of gold it
falls down. I allude to these cases to point out the importance of
tno influence we employ in the reduction. Our agent is light,
■which produces the chemical result called reduction, just as do the
three agents I have mentioned effect the reduction in the labora¬
tory. When chloride of tin is used it has a peculiar purple appear¬
ance, and is well known as the purple of Cassius, which for a long
while chemists considered as a compound of gold and tin. Mr.
Faraday has shown that it is nothing else but gold in a finely-
divided condition. But by neither of tin se processes have we ruby
gold. We can reduce the gold by phosphorus. A piece of phos¬
phorus 'placed in a solution of gold and silver will reduce it. I do
not mean phosphorus in the mass, because that takes time. It
takes away the chlorine from the gold, and the oxygen from the
nitric acid in the nitrate of silver, and the gold and the silver fall
down ; but they fall down not in the lustrous condition, but in the
condition of a powder. Analysis has shown that in this way we
get the pure metals reduced. I take a small piece of phosphorus
and find a solvent. Bisulphide of carbon is a solvent. Again :
ether is a solvent of phosphorus, and some may remember that
for the purposes of the electrotype a portion of a plant is dipped into
a solution of phosphorus in ether, and then dipped into a solution of
nitrate of silver; the phosphorus reduces tl;c silver upon the
plant, which is then dipped into the solution to electrotype.
This reminds us that we can get metallic silver by the action of
the phosphorus upon the nitrate of silver. I need not say that
ether and phosphorus are both so exceedingly inflammable that
the greatest care must be taken in their manipulation. We have
here some ether, which is a substance, an organic fluid, containing
merely simply carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. In it there is no
metal — no base of any kind. We have also phosphorus, and
bring it in contact with chloride of gold held in solution in water.
These are the elements with which I am dealing, and you will
see how they act when I pour it in. [Pours some in.] Yes,
there, you see it is already beginning to act. By this light the
colour is scarcely ruby. I will now try to produce a phosphorus
light to view it by. There we have now a decomposition of the
solution of chloride of gold rendered evident, and it will go
on if there is phosphorus enough, until the whole of the gold is
thrown down in a wonderfully fine state of division, divided to
such an extent that it was thought to be a mere coloured solution.
A solution of this kind has remained several years without settling.
I have seen some in this college which has remained in this con¬
dition for a long time. Its density in this condition, although gold,
is so small in its divided molecular state that it remains still diffused
through the water. Then, again, this apparent solution of chloride
ofgold has become almost opaque where the greatest quantity ofgold
has been thrown down ; and the colouring power of silver is pro¬
duced in a somewhat analogous manner. Everything must be per¬
fectly pure and clean, and the ordinary mode of washing bottles is
not always sufficient. In this case, I can judge for myself that this
is not ruby, but more of a port wine colour. This is an import¬
ant point. It is a very beautiful experiment. You see how greatly
I have to dilute it, and, therefore, the colouring power is enorm¬
ous. I can scarcely dilute it sufficientl yto admit of the passage of
light. After a time it does deposit, and then no precipitant ofgold
can detect any gold in the upper part of the solution if you use
phosphorus; and it is this circumstance of settling that has intro¬
duced a difficulty into Mr. Faraday’s investigation — he has not
attempted to give us an analysis of the body. It might be
evaporated and the pulvurent body weighed. I poured a sample
of it into a test tube, corked it up, and took it to a friend’s
laboratory to show him the difficulty, and in two or three days the
Avhole had settled, very much to my surprise. I do not know
whether it is in consequence of the narrowness of a test tube, or
of something in the glass, but this substance will settle in narrow
vessels, and in that way I have obtained a comparatively large
quantity of it. If you pour it on the filter it penetrates the matter
of the filter, and forms a black mass. Having found out the way
of getting it, I shall have no serious difficulty in getting at its
atomical constitution.
Having shown that in this way I can precipitate gold, let me
now make an analogous experiment with silver. Here is nitrate
of silver. You remember that chloride of silver is insoluble in
water ; therefore, we take the nitrate, and we shall find that,
although it may depend upon the salt we use as regards the colour
of the result, it will not be so as regards the required result. I take
the water, and now add the phosphorus to ether. If this should
not succeed, not having sufficient phosphorus to overcome the
acid, I will use the bi-sulphide of carbon solution You see there
is a tint, with a slight appearance of brown — in fact, we have
many photographic pictures which, when toned, present this exact
appearance. Now, I will treat this by diluting it with some water,
and you observe the same tint : it is almost black even now, and
Novem her Id, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 4u3
■we can have gold and silver, coloured evidently b}r this reducing
means, in this pure state of division. There is no question here
about organic matter in the sense of albumen or caseine, or any
of the organic matters used by photographers. I am aware that,
if you take a piece of gelatine, and steep it in a solution of nitrate of
silver, and expose it to the light, it becomes darkened, and by
solution in potash, it becomes a blood-red colour. For some reason
that acted strongly upon Mr. Hardwich’s mind, he was satisfied
that the blood-red colour given was due to the oxide of silver com¬
bined with the albumen or the organic matter. Now, of course,
my mind is biassed in favour of those views with regard to the
possibility of these metals giving us colours in a fine state of
division ; and I contend that I have just as good a right to say
that this sample is ruby silver as that the other is ruby gold, for
the silver is, I believe, reduced just in the same way chemically
as the gold is reduced here. In short, here is ruby silver in the
place of ruby gold. When citric acid is used a red body is obtained,
which is stated also to be organic salt ; but I take the liberty of
observing that no rigid analysis of the salt has ever been made.
And I would observe, that if we grant that they are in a finely-
divided state, we must not look at these bodies with an ordinary
chemical eye, for they are dissolved in a variety of chemical re¬
agents, and, therefore, the ordinary qualitative experiments — as
they are called — are fallacious. I cannot carry this out to-night;
but I shall be glad if others will take up the subject. If we take
it by settling and filtration, we can easily mix this with gelatine
or other substances used in photography, and we can simulate the
photographic body, and then treat it with the various chemical
agents that we have been in the habit of testing photography with,
and I think it does re-act in the same manner as the ordinary
photograph ; and in this way the photographic question is to be
solved. I shall, I have no doubt, be asked to produce this body, and
show that, it is ruby silver. If, by s}Tnthesis, we can produce
bodies which are identical in chemical properties with the photo¬
graphic image, I think that will satisfy a rational mind with regard
to the true nature of the photographic image. Time itself may
cause this blood-red solution to deposit its metal ; but the action
of the potass increasing the density of the fluid prevents the de¬
posit of this finely-divided metal. As I believe I have said, I
will endeavour to show the colour of these by lights ; and for this
purpose my plan is a little novel— ana by-the-by, I believe I was
the first to. use phosphorus and oxygen for the purpose of a
photographic lecture. I have here a bag of oxygen which belongs
to part of an apparatus for the oxy-hydrogen microscope. You
know that oxygen is heavier than atmospheric air, and if I pass
the oxygen from the bag through this flexible tube into this bottle,
I shall displace the common or atmospheric air ; and as a proof
that I have now displaced it, I will test it with this match. [Mr.
Malone here ignited a wooden splint, blew out the flame, and inserted
the smouldering fire just within the mouth of the jar, when the
splint burst immediately into a bright flame by the action of the
oxygen.] Now., instead of this match, I have here a piece of
phosphorus which I will insert ivithin the jar, and direct your
attention to these three jars in front of it, containing the ruby
gold, the purple gold, and the ruby brown silver, in order to give you
what chance there may be of observing the tint, though I am
afraid it cannot be evident to all the sides of the room. [Mr.
Malone then burned the phosphorus within the oxygen, and thus
transmitted a vivid white light amongst and through the finely-
divided suspended metals, exhibiting the colours so beautifully
bright as to elicit, considerable approbation.] It is so far conve¬
nient because it gives us a white light, which I believe for this
purpose is equivalent to the sunlight. This light is reflected by
the white, substance forming upon the inside of the bottle, which is
phosphoric acid, and the light is more white than the electric light,
and perhaps whiter than the Drummond light.
I have still further to make good my statement that we can
precipitate gold, and silver in forms having various high colouring
powers, aiid this without uniting with other matters which form
oxide of silver. I may observe that if we take the ruby gold,
for example, and mix it with certain chemical reagents — hypo¬
sulphite of soda, for instance — strangely enough the ruby goes,
and. we get the purple colour with which we are so familiar in
toning. It was said formerly that the purple colour was produced
by sulphur ation. I deny this, for we find that common salt,
containing only chloride of sodium, will convert ruby gold into
purple gold ; and we must, therefore, discard the idea that sulphu-
ration lias taken place. Be this as it may, when we add common
salt to ruby gold, it can. hardly be supposed that we there form a
eubchlonde of gold, which is yellow. If my view of the matter
be the true one, the thing is perfectly clear. Any body in nature,
if sufficently divided, can be had of any colour : a soap bubble, or
a plate of any thickness, will give us any colour, but it is difficult
to find out the process for each body. In gold and silver, I
think, we have found out the processes. We know that gold,
when very thin, is green when seen by transmitted light; but Mr.
Faraday found one part, which had been pressed, which gave a
red tint when seen by transmitted light. Now, I will make the
experiment of the change of ruby into purple gold. I will mix a
portion of this so-called ruby liquid, which is more purple now than
I like to see it. However, I will mix it with hyposulphite of soda
solution. Here is some of the original ruby liquid, and this other
has now become darkened by the action of the soda. The one is
inky, the other is ruby. I happened accidentally to pour some of
the ruby fluid upon paper, which immediately changed to purple,
which must have been by some salts in the paper, &c. ; therefore,
it is very evident that it is easily altered, and I believe the ex¬
planation to be this — that it depends upon the size of the particle ;
and I believe that we shall find that the ruby gold and silver
are very soluble in many salts, which thereby alter the size or
form of the particles, and so, I believe, give this colour.
You remember that, if our photographs are taken out of the
solution at a certain stage, they become red again, and lose their
purple. Now, I believe that that loss of purple is due to a
positive action of the gold altering in thickness or thin¬
ness, or form or density. It is just possible that you may reduce
it to a certain colour, and go on changing it through all the
colours of the solar spectrum, until you bring it back to the
same colour again. But the proof, perhaps, would require that we
should have the density of these various precipitates, have their
specific gravity taken in water, in fact, I do hope, at a future meet¬
ing, to bring this part of the subject before you with something
more than conjecture. At present I think the colour of the
deposit or image, depends upon the accelerating or retarding the
deposit of metal. Heat may also affect the question. The
assayers heat their gold cornets, as they are called, in porce¬
lain crucibles, and, of course, in moving them about, a certain
amount of friction is undergone ; an almost infinitesimal amount
of abrasion of the gold takes place, adhering to the sides
of the crucible by which they are purpled. And we know that we
can blacken photographs by ironing them, and that even heat alone
may cause the molecule to change colour. I may observe, that if
we mix the blue and the purple together, we get a brown colour ;
therefore, if we mix together these three, I think we shall get
white light, or something like it. I have already obtained
browns, mulberry colours, and lavender from this solution of
gold.
I do not think this subject has been previously, perhaps, so fully
brought before the minds of photographers ; and, however imper¬
fectly I have brought it forward, I trust you will indtdge me by
believing that I have done my best. I hope now that others
will take it up, and I shall be happy if any one will run before
me, and occupy my place with more effect.
I omitted to state, but you will at once perceive, that platinum
may possibly be placed in the same category as gold and silver ;
but I have not experimented with platinum.
I have obtained, in one instance, on operating with gold, a
deposit which by transmitted light gave the most beautiful blue
that can be imagined ; and I do hope to see the day when we can
get these colours into glass. I have lately been experimenting with
Becquerel’s so-called sub-chloride of silver, and I got a plate which
is capable of taking all the colours of the spectrum. A very minute
portion of metal is sufficient to produce a high colour, and I think
the colours may be metallic : a little would suffice, for I have shown
in the case of iodine in the balance that sijVtt of a grain of iodine
will give the requisite film used in the daguerreotype. It is found
in practice that the chlorine on this Becquerel plate is nearly black,
and that any ray will impress its own tint upon it ; and white light
will also produce white, which is remarkable. I took a rough
slightly-coloured print, and found that the apparently white light
went through the paper ; the lines were represented by black ; and
I thus had black and white, and I had in addition a rude resem¬
blance of the colours used in the print, as M. Niepce de St. Victor
lias also found.
I have shown that gold and silver can be variously reeduced by
chemical agents; and I do not think it is jumping too far to say
that these phenomena of Becquerel’s are strictly due to the reduc¬
tion of the silver. We know that silver rubbed on linen is pro¬
duced in a black form ; and Liebig has shown latterly that if we re¬
duce the silver, by means of milk, sugar, potash, and ammonia, the
404
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
silver is thrown down on the surface of the glass. Now this
silver is purple by transmitted light, and that is an additional
confirmation of what I state — that it may be red or blue, but it is
simply metallic silver. Therefore, I say again, that seeing we can
have the silver as well as the gold in these colours, we begin to
understand the phenomena of Becquerel, and the ordinary phe¬
nomena. 1 must now leave it to your judgment to put together
these facts, but I think we have now the whole clue to the matter.
Here , for instance, is a plate which was rose-coloured originally,
and here is a white colour produced upon it by light. That white
deposit may afford a starting point for the developer. I believe,
for instance, that pyrogallic acid and nitrate silver poured upon this
plate would be reduced by that -white portion, and not by the other :
yielding by the developer a deposit similar to those I produce
chemically.
I say, then, that with respect to the photographic image, we
assume that no chemical action has taken place because we do not
see the result. I maintain that the effect is likely to be the reduc¬
tion of fine particles of silver, and those particles similar to some of
those which constitute die actual image in Becquerel’s photo¬
chromes in development processes. It is the chemical action super-
added to the physical action.
- ^ -
ON INSTANTANIETY IN PHOTOGRAPHY.*
By M. l’Abbe Despratz.
The following are among the most important conditions necessary
to success in instantaneous photography : —
Every photographer knows that there are what are called rapid
collodions and slow-working collodions. To obtain the first of
these is, of course, the primary consideration, as no other photo¬
graphic agent can be advantageously substituted for it. It has
been observed that when ether is in excess, while always imparting
to the preparation a great deal of tenacity, it gives, at the same
time, a slowness of action which is very undesirable. This, how¬
ever, is not the case when alcohol is in excess; it is found under
such circumstances that, though the collodion maybe perhaps less
tenacious, it has acquired an increase of sensibility which renders
it extremely suitable for the circumstances now under consideration.
This increase of sensibility seems to be the natural result of a
greater permeability imparted by the alcohol, through which
fewer obstacles are presented to the action of the light, and espe¬
cially to the action of the sensitising bath and the developer.
It must be admitted that collodions prepared with excess of
alcohol more readily undergo change by keeping, especially if the
alcohol employed be not absolute ; but this is only a slight draw¬
back, which need not be considered, when compared with the
advantages to be gained by their use, and which will be amply
compensated for by the importance of the object in view.
A second condition, of no less importance than the foregoing, is
to have a good light. It may be asked, is it not sufficient then to
operate in full sunshine? By no means. It is certain, in fact
that there are many days during which the atmosphere, perfectly
free from clouds, will be, nevertheless, much less luminous than
when clouds occupy a considerable portion of the sky. Hence it
arises that a landscape will be especially luminous if, in addition to
the direct light of the sun, it receives also an abundance of reflected
light from those beautiful white clouds which are sometimes ob¬
servable.
These two conditions of the atmosphere may seldom occur to¬
gether, but they do present themselves sometimes, and it is upon
these occasions that the photographer should be on the alert. But
this is not all. It is not only necessary to secure a good light,
but it should bo used with as little loss as possible ; that is to say’
the camei a should be furnished with (for stereoscopic purposes)
a pair of lenses of short focus and large diameter. It is considered,
in fact, best not to use any diaphragm, not even a large one, as it
is found that in such a case the loss of light is considerable, and
will not admit of instantaniety. In view of these considerations it
will be asked, “what becomes of sharpness ?” It may be replied :
there will be just such an amount of sharpness as may he seen in
many of the instantaneous stereograms already published ; a little
imperfect perhaps, it is true, but still sufficient. It will be such as
is obtainable with a whole-plate Voigtlander lens without a stop.
For we distinctly affirm that it is only with a lens of such con¬
struction (i.e. large diameter in proportion to focal length), that
instantaniety is attainable, always assuming that we are limited to
the use of other known means. It is also well understood that the
two lenses should act simultaneously on the same glass, should
* From Le Momteur c7 « la Photographic.
also be of exactly the same focal length, and be adjusted by
means of a rack and pinion movement of the best construction.
There is a third condition, less important, less decisive perhaps,
than the two first mentioned ; but which, nevertheless, must not
be neglected.
We refer to the nitrate of silver bath for sensitising the plates.
All baths are not equally sensitive. Old baths slightly aged by
use are more sensitive than acid baths. At first, however, it is
necessary to procure very pure nitrate of silver, and to this end,
the larger and better defined crystals should be selected from a
considerable quantity. In this state, the salt is acid, but it may
readily be rendered neutral by fusion. This fusion should be
effected by the operator himself, in a porcelain capsule, exposed to
a gentle heat upon slightly incandescent charcoal, or other suit¬
able means. This operation should not be considered complete
until the salt becomes perfectly fluid and a slight darkening takes
place in the mass ; indeed the action of heat may be pushed so far
as to cause the disengagement of red fumes of deutoxide of nitro¬
gen. A bath prepared with nitrate of silver thus obtained will
give sometimes a slight general fogging ; but, as it is a uniform
deposit over the whole surface, it does not detract from the deli¬
cacy of the negative, but only makes it a little slower in printing,
which cannot be regarded as a serious defect.
THE COMPOUND ALBUMEN PKOCESS.
By Mr. Noxox.
[Read at a Meeting of tlie Manchester Photographic Society, November 6th, 1861.]
The preparation of a sensitive surface of albumen upon a glass
plate has now for a long time been considered a difficult opera¬
tion. Even so recently as in The British Journal of Photography
of the 15th of October last the members of the Bradford Photo¬
graphic Society are advised of “ several serious disadvantages
attending it ” — “ that it is not easy to obtain a film of uniform
thickness,5’ and that the drying of such film “ must occupy several
hours,” and so on.
In the same journal is a report of our last meeting, which was
held the day before Mr. Shadbolt’s paper was read at Bradford.
Towards the close of that meeting I had the pleasure of showing
you three 8| by 6J negatives, and two transparent positives,
reduced from two of the negatives to lantern size, all upon double
films of albumen, and, in consequence of some of our members
expressing a fear about the preparation of plates with iodised
albumen, I presumed to offer to work the process out at this
meeting, and I hope that I shall obliterate the impression which
has been so frequently received.
It is essential to success in coating plates with albumen that the
atmosphere of the place in which it is to be done is entirely free
from dust or fibres, and naturally damp, with a temperature of 60°
Fahr. Such not being the case in this room, I must ask you not
to expect that I shall cover the plates free from defects in the
presence of those photographic enemies.
The quality of the glass plates must not be overlooked. Plate
glass is of course the best, especially where contact with another
plate is required ; but negatives upon flatted crown will do, either
for printing upon paper or reduction in the camera.
A strong solution of soda with whiting will clean them, if new,
or not too bad ; this may be done the day before they are wanted.
Rinse them well under a tap, wipe dry with a photographically
clean cloth, brushing the fibres off when the electricity has settled,
and put them into a rack, with the face side to the left hand.
The albumen is the next consideration. The fresher the eggs,
and if from country hens, the better. Crate eggs, not kept long,
will answer pretty well. Darkness, and a low temperature, down
to 40° Fahr., is good for albumen either in or out of the shell.
The conversion of the organised mass of albumen to a liquid by
beating, or disintegrating as I call it, cannot be too well done, for
whatever process it is required, whether plain or salted ; and should
be prepared about twelve hours before it is to be used, and then
filtered.
Pour the albumen upon the dry glass plate as you would collo¬
dion, and if it does not flow to your satisfaction make it do so with
a quill, a camel-hair pencil, or your finger : you will also have any
quantity of another enemy, namely, minute bubbles. Three or
four years back I thought if I could but get albumen to flow as
easily as collodion I should be set up. I tried steaming, but found it
did not answer, as part of the surface of the plate got dry
before the albumen reached it. Ultimately I hit upon the idea
of mopping the plate over with a strong solution of soda, washing
off front and back, and whirling rapidly for about ten seconds; I
November 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
405
then found the albumen flowed as well as collodion. Another
great advantage results from this — the plate is made, chemica y
clean at the moment you are going to cover it; there is no risk ot
contamination from a cloth, nor fibres set afloat in your operating
room. Still you must not pour the albumen on as you would
collodion: albumen must never drop. The flange of the neck ot
the bottle must be in contact with the centre of one side of the plate.
Tilt the bottle so that a quantity comes out on about the centre
of the plate, then incline the latter up and down to spread the
albumen. Keep working the liquid round and round, then cross-
ways and length-ways of the plate several tirnes to mix with the
moisture on it. Pour off into a cup, then whirl, slowly at first,
increasing the speed afterwards; detach from the holder and
slip the now albumenised plate on to a hot water plate to
dry, which will take about a minute. When cool., sensitise
and wash thoroughly ; if a second coat of albumen is intended
to be put upon the first, this sensitising may be done in
daylight ; from the washing baths transfer it to a bath of
iodide of potassium, or chloride of ammonium, then wash well again,
fix the plate upon a holder, give it another swill with water lrom
a jug, whirl rapidly, and coat and dry as before.
The plate when cool is ready to be re-sensitised in the dark
room, or put away in a plate box without, for keeping.
If, in time, dust or fibres get on the surface of the uncoogu-
lated albumen, it may be washed off, and the first film recoated.
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION.
Award of Medals at Exhibitions and Elsewhere.
By John Cramb.
Some difference of opinion exists among the friends of photographic
progress in regard to the wisdom of awarding medals at our Ex¬
hibitions, and the results that have flowed from the attempts yet
made have not proved at all encouraging — rather strengthening
the hands of those who oppose such awards than being at all cal¬
culated to lead societies, or conductors of Exhibitions general^, to
adopt the plan of offering prizes for excellence in photographic
productions.
This state of things is, however, in no way peculiar to photo¬
graphy. A considerable section of the thinking part of the
community opposes all presentation of prizes, medals, or indeed
competition of any kind, holding that more harm than good is done
by them. And, then, they say in principle the practice is wrong,
appealing, as it docs, to a base part of our nature.
It would be too large an affair to argue out the whole question
now : space would not permit it, and it is, perhaps, undesirable.
Sufficient that it is understood and granted that photographic
competitions are in exactly the same position as other competitions.
It is, perhaps, not in accordance with British prejudices to be given
to wearing medals. It may be more characteristic of, and con¬
genial to, our Gallic neighbours. Though there perhaps will come
a time when such trappings will be disregarded and discarded ;
the fact stands out that the tide of popular feeling and general
practice has been flowing in the opposite direction. Has not
more than one new “order of merit,” as the phrase runs, been
instituted within the last few years? Instead of disregarding
the antiquated and meaningless orders of the “Bath,” “Gar¬
ter,” &c., is there not rather a keen interest manifested by the
public in them, and loud expressions of indignation heard when
the dispensers of these rewards have neglected to consult public
opinion in their appropriation? The feeling of the people seems to
be — not to abolish, but to reform them ; to define their uses; and
to decide to whom and for what they are to be given. This is
consonant with the true British spirit of progress in everything —
to take things as they are and improve them if we can, and
as fast as wc can ; but not to abolish what exists, merely in
order that we may make a fresh start, unencumbered by anything
relating to the past.
The mere idea of awarding medals is consistent with the spirit
of thq age : let the manner of doing it be so also. The best men
in the photographic world have either given no attention to the
subject, or have directly opposed competition for any other pur¬
pose than that of doing what is effected for its own sake — not for
the mere purpose of obtaining a medal or of securing the com¬
mendation of a jury.
The Photographic Society of Scotland was among the first to offer
medals for the most excellent pictures at its Exhibitions. There
can be no doubt that, besides perhaps a wish to advance our art,
the Council of that Society had also in view to make its Exhibitions
more attractive. What has been the result? The Exhibitions
have been regularly, year by year, more and more unsuccessful, till
last year, as some critics said, there was some difficulty in finding
a picture worthy of a medal. It Avas certainly a small, and far
from a high-class, Exhibition.
Again : only lately, the Birmingham Photographic Society an¬
nounced the intention of holding an Exhibition, and proposed
awarding medals for certain classes of pictures. Instead of a large
collection, fully representing the position of our art, the Committee
could not get as much as Avould make a decent opening till long
after the advertised time ; and, even after two months’ persistent
application to the photographic world for contributions, it Avas a
complete failure, both as regards quantity and quality — perhaps
the most meagre Exhibition ever opened. _
In the case of the Edinburgh Exhibition, it Avas the past conduct of
the-Society Avliich produced the defective result, and the Birmingham
one in a great measure suffered on that account. There Avas no
intention on the part of any one to act unfairly, or to do aught that
could possibly injure the Exhibition, or in any Avay retard the true
progress of photography. The Council of the Photographic Society
of Scotland is composed of gentlemen above the suspicion of being-
guilty of a dishonourable, far less of an unjust, action; but they may
have done unAvittingly Avhat resulted in an injustice. At the first
Exhibition at Avhich they announced that medals Avould be aAvarded
see how the plan Avas carried out. Medals Avere to be aAvarded !
Who Avas to award them ? and for Avhat were they to be awarded ?
No information Avas furnished on either point till the pictures were
sent in. What ! run a race Avithout knoAving the course, or Avhere
the winning post is ? Ultimately the Avhole society, unannounced ,
acted as the judges ! The second year there Avas no preliminary
intimation of how the aAvards Avere to be made. Photographers
Avere simply told that their Avorks Avere to be judged — but were not
told by Avliom— if sent to the Edinburgh Exhibition. By-and-by
it oozed out that the Council Avas not pleased Avitli the previous
year’s plan of award, and that it proposed going to the other
extreme, and only one judge Avas to be appointed. It Avas hinted
that there Avas some difficulty in finding any one brave enough to
undertake the onerous duty. The selection, however, fell on a
highly competent gentleman, Mr. Horatio Pioss. But why, if this
were to be the plan, did not the Council inform intending exhibitors
beforehand? They Avould then have knoAvn what to expect.
Photographers, like everybody else, have their likings and dis-
likings. If, for instance, one gentleman that I could name Avere to
be sole umpire on such an occasion, any intending competitor avIio
knew that he had a monomania against Avhite skies Avould knoAv
also that there Avould be no use in sending a picture Avitli a
white sky, hoAvever excellent in every other respect it might
be. One man’s judgment might possibly be in itself objection¬
able, but still it Avould be much better than that of a tribunal
the constitution of Avhich is unknown till the Exhibition is
opened. The turf has not the purest moral atmosphere.
Does any one doubt which horse really Avon the “ Derby ” last
year ? No ! The conditions of competition Avere so definite that,
any one aware of them, by using his eyes could satisfy himself. If
there had been any doubt, there Avas an umpire appointed, and
before the race Avas commenced he Avas known to be competent for
his office, and Avas placed in a knoAvn position where he could judge
of the result of the race. In photographic competition there has
been hitherto nothing definite as a starting point; no looker-on
could tell Avho had Avon, because the conditions of competition Avere
never sufficiently fixed. It is not asserted that they Avere purposel j
left undefined, but Avere so most probably from the incompetence
of the promoters to deal Avitli the question. It is much easier
merely to say Ave Avill giA-e a medal for the best landscape, than to
say so Avith such additional particulars that any one having the
use of his eyes could tell Avhich picture in a collection deserved the
medal. What is the object of offering such medals? To aid the
progress of our art ? If that be the object, then limit the competi¬
tion as much as possible. Compare similar results. What is re¬
quired to be reAvarded? Is it not transcendant skill in producing
a photographic result? Is not every collateral circumstance to be
taken into account? Would it not be well, in some cases, even
to inquire whether the picture Avas the result of skill — a plan of
working — or the mere result of a happy chance ? To test that,
Avould it not often be Avell rather to require that several pictures of
equal merit, or of an aggregate merit, should be sent in ? Surely
there could be no objection either to mark Avitli approbation the
one excellent picture, too; but by all means stamp Avitli your appro¬
bation the more than mediocre productions of the artist Avho.
I though he sIioavs no transcendant picture, sIioavs twenty which are
406
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
all but the very best. It may be sometimes desirable to encourage
experiments in a particular direction, thoug'h the finished results
may be far from comparable with those produced by other
means. Consequently I say that if true progress be the object of
o-ranting medals, then in such cases medals should be given for
results by a particular manner of production, though these may
be excelled by other features, obtained by other means. The
objection to this plan of recognising merit in so many productions
is, that there would be so many medals to give that it would be
expensive ; and, again, that medals would become so common,
that nobody would care to possess them. Why, if medals be only
as common as merit , should any one object to their possession or be
^desirous of obtaining them ? But they should only be given for
transcendant merit. Well, let it be so. Is there any fair com¬
parison between the particular ability shown in producing an
instantaneous stereograph and the production of a 20-inch land¬
scape or reproduction? There is merit in both, and it can be
measured , and the award made to the artist whose results stand
highest in the estimation of the umpire. There is merit in pro¬
ducing a roll of butter or making a wheelbarrow, and it can be
measured ; but would any one propose to enter wheelbarrows and
sweet butter in competition along with photographs ? If medals are
to be the reward of merit, let them by all means bo so, as honestly
and intelligibly as possible. Floral competitions are good ex¬
amples. See how the boundary of competition is narrowed there !
In one case a society is formed in Scotland for promoting the cul¬
tivation of one particular flower — the pansy. Into how many
sections is their prize list divided ! The real competition is so
narrowed that in most cases anybody could make the awards.
Any photographic society proposing to offer medals or other
recognitions of merit would do well to consult the prize list of
some floral and horticultural exhibition^ as furnishing a plan of
competition that has in an eminent degree been successful in
accomplishing the object in view. Let them arrange first, what they
leant to encourage , and then offer rewards for that in every form in
which it may be shown in photography.
Independent altogether of the offering of medals, there would
come much good out of an officially-recognised critique on an
Exhibition coming from a known person or from a body of com¬
petent judges. What is the real purpose of sending our produc¬
tions to Exhibitions ? To show what so and so has done. And
does any one imagine for a moment that those who send pictures
to Exhibitions do not anxiously desire to know what is thought of
them by their brethren, by the public, and by competent judges ?
IIow has it been hitherto ? Critiques have been written by editors,
sheltered behind the editorial 11 we,” or, worse still, by anonymous
correspondents of photographic and other publications, the worst
of all being those written by gentlemen of the quill, who have
been crammed for the occasion by some official connected with the
Exhibition, or by some officious friend who is anxious to have his
pet artist bepraised, or, more sordid still, wishes to help in filling
the pocket of some professional photographer. What journalist
would be stupid enough to give his opinion of the merits of a floral
exhibition after three honest , competent men of acknowledged
ability had given a decision ? The non-competing part of such an
Exhibition is the only part on which a reporter or sub-editor would
dare to try his hand — the only part on which they do so. Let us
have an official declaration of the merits of the productions at our
photographic exhibitions, and there is an end of the prattling
twaddle of anonymous critics, who at present annoy sensitive
artists, and disgust honest impartial men.
Photographic competition, carried to the fullest extent, would
not be unlike a rifle competition. An object to be photographed
could be chosen and a time fixed for the operation : there should
be certain restrictions in regard to the number of trials to be
allowed, and the time occupied in such trials, and a proper
measuring of the results obtained. This would be a complete trial
of ability. But in photography it is the result we care for, and it
is in a great measure a matter of no consequence how that is
obtained. So most people think. An artist may fix his residence
near a particular view, and try it every day for three months, as
a successful Scotch photographer has done, and his result is fairly
compared by the public with that obtained by a dry-plate man,
who was not ten minutes on the spot. As far as pleasing the
public and obtaining its patronage is concerned, it is a matter of
choice with the artist which plan is adopted. And if excellence of
result be alone what photographic societies would care to en¬
courage, then there is no need for any other competition than one
of results. If, again, societies desire to mark with their approba-
bation the power of producing good pictures rapidly and certainly,
[November 15, 18C1
then it might be open for consideration if something of the rifle
competition kind of trial before indicated might not be worthy of
consideration.
Whatever be done let there be no more competitions announced
without publishing the terms of competition, and, above all, an¬
nouncing who are to be the judges. And it might be well to
require that exhibitors should enter for a particular prize or medal
certain pictures. It would be worthy of consideration if the best
twelve portraits, within a certain size, would not more fairly test
the ability of exhibitors than simply the best one. The best single
picture may be rewarded, but the best six, or twelve , or eighteen ,
should not be unnoticed. It would be easy, from these hints, to
form an exhibition prize schedule which would be at once reason¬
able and equitable, and which would draw a host of exhibitors,
instead of, as at present, frightening nearly all good men away.
If something like the principle which is merely hinted at here
were to be adopted in connexion with our Exhibitions, there would
remain much to be done both in drawing up accurate conditions of
competition, and also much to do in establishing what are the
qualities of good pictures of this and that kind; but in every case
a nearer approach to justice and general satisfaction would be
obtained than at present.
ON THE HESINISED COLLODION DRY PROCESS.*
By Sauxders Van Loo, of Amsterdam.
Every photographer who has, from time to time, operated with dry
collodion must have arrived at the conclusion that the question of
the best method is not an easy one to settle. A number of receipts
have been recommended in turn, which always produce some
result ; however, frequently it is not the desired result.
Amongst the better methods those of Messrs Robiquet and
Dubosq, may, without doubt, be reckoned ; the older processes with
the hygroscopic agents having lost almost all credit.
A modification or rather simplification of the process with
amber we find in the use of common resin, recommended by M.
l’Abbe Despratz.
The method is excellent ; and it was this process which I intended
to follow when I occupied myself, some months ago, with a re¬
search for a means of using dry collodion.
Once at the work I soon saw that the method in question gives
rapid and satisfactory results, provided alwmys that the combina¬
tion of the ingredients of the collodion did not oppose themselves
to the formation of a perfectly developed impression, without
having the fear of seeing the entire plate become foggy.
Sometimes, however, by chance, the composition of the collodion
is quite suited for the proposed end, and then the sole addition of
some resin suffices. I asked myself whether it wrnuld not be
possible to fix the conditions of success in every case — that is to
say, to prepare to a certainty dry collodion with the view of
rendering the method of M. Despratz more general ; and, after an
infinity of trials, I was fortunate enough to arrive at a solution of
my problem. I will give the description of the modifications of the
wet collodion which seem to me useful to employ in the process,
when the use of it in a dry condition is intended — modifications
which consist only in the changed proportions of the ingredients
which enter into photographic collodion.
Although we already encounter difficulties euough in general, in
the practice of photography with the wet process, the processes
with dry collodion require still more minute care.
To state precisely my ideas, I will give an example : Every
one knows that there are two ways of obtaining on collodion a
film of iodide of silver of a thickness and opacity convenient for the
moist photographic manipulations. No inconvenience arises if the
proportions of the iodides and of the gun cotton vary a little. It is
understood that in the moist process a slight surplus of pyroxyline
admits of a rather smaller proportion of iodide : in the same
way, too large a quantity of the last ingredient requires less gun¬
cotton. In a word, with wet collodion we can always obtain films
of a proper density and opacity, but with dry collodion it is
quite otherwise. Numerous trials have taught me -
1st, That there is a great difference between the two cases
mentioned above.
2ndly, That the collodion exclusively applicable to the dry pro¬
cess with resin, requires a composition of collodion which contains
a great deal of iodide and little gun-cotton. That is the whole
secret of the composition of dry collodion with the resin which
ensures certain results. However it is not always very easy to
accomplish this ; it is often necessary to overcome difficulties
* From Cosmos.
November 15, L8(J i]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
407
which arise from the proportions having been too much varied.
If the proportion of iodide be too great, that of the gun-cotton
may become too small. In that case a powdery film is not in a
condition to contain all the iodide of silver on leaving the sensitive
bath. It is especially in pouring the cyanide over the plate that
the greatest part of the particles of reduced silver is cleared away
by the flow of water employed to remove the fixing solution :
the entire impression goes whilst the film of collodion itself
remains adherent. It is easy to obviate this inconvenience,
for in this collodion there is only a little gun-cotton deficient;
thus, in adding to it a little of the normal collodion and taking
a new proof plate, we shall sec that the impression can bear the
washing current, after having been fixed, however little the silver
bath may be in a state fit for use. Care should be taken, to avoid
too great an addition of the normal collodion, for a film which is too
opaque from an excess of pyroxyline always produces foggy
impressions, notwithstanding the addition of resin.
We have already observed that chance may furnish us with
a collodion requiring only the addition of a small portion of resin
in order to produce impressions without fogginess.
Now I will give a summary of the practice of the method which
has always succeeded with me. The collodion should contain —
Not too much ether (about 50 per cent.),
A great deal of alcohol,
A great deal of iodide (iodide of cadmium and iodide of ammo¬
nium),
Very little pyroxyline,
About five grains to the ounce of common resin.
A little water added to the collodion, or alcohol containing
water, is found to improve its condition ; it should, however, be
used cautiously.
It may be asked if it is not possible to give quantities in this
receipt. I reply that the required quantities will be found after a
few trials ; and more, that all the experiments with dry collodion
require some familiarity with photographic phenomena — therefore
it is impossible to give exact formula}. One collodion will require
one per cent, of pyroxyline, another double the quantity — -the same
proportion of two different kinds of gun-cotton rarely giving the
same consistency to the collodion.
The amount of resin varies between five and ten grains to the
ounce. However, I intend to make the quantitative analysis of the
dry collodion, in order to find by analysis that which would be
always very difficult to acquire from synthesis.
As to the silver bath I have already said that the strength of nitrate
of silver is of importance : with a bath too weak the impression
goes in washing the film, even if the collodion contains the right
proportion of iodide and pyroxyline. Thirty-five grains to the
ounce of water in the bath seems to me the best proportion : then
the addition of a few drops of acetic acid ensures the transparency
of the bath, which will otherwise become blackened in a few days.
Removed from the silver bath, the plate is plunged into undis¬
tilled water (in Holland rain water is preferred) ; the soaking must
be repeated in a second bath; afterwards the plate is put to dry in
a dark place.
One of the advantages of this method is, doubtless, the sensitive¬
ness of the films ; thus the time of exposure is much shorter than
usual — that is to say, than when we use dry collodion with dex¬
trine, gelatine, or tannin.
The time of exposure to the light varies accordingly as the
quality of the collodion is more or less sensitive. The one which
I am using at present requires thirty seconds in the sun, with a
double combination lens and diaphragm ; whilst the single object-
glass for landscapes, with a diaphragm (of about four-tenths of an
inch), requires one minute. Thus we see that the sensitiveness of
the plates is sufficient. I have also made some researches upon
the keeping property of the sensitive plates, so as to assure myself
that they do not lose their good qualities. After nine days they
still yielded impressions quite equal to those prepared the day
before. When we use the same collodion for the common wet pro¬
cess the time of exposure is the same ; but the impression is often
rather weak. We see, then, that my collodion by itself is not very
sensitive, and perhaps we could accelerate the dry process by
choosing a collodion which gives the negative impression much
quicker ; but I have not yet tried it. After the exposure of the
dry plate we can develop the impression at our convenience — that
is to sajq we can do it directly, or by-and-by : if kept, we
cannot succeed without having recourse to nitrate of silver.
It is necessary to plunge the plate again into the sensitive
bath, and let it remain there until the last bubble of adherent
air has disappeared from the sensitive film. By blowing from
time to time upon the wet film it will succeed better. The
impression is then developed by the ordinary pyrogallic acid;
this bath, however, must not be too strong. M. l’Abbe Despratz
has recommended developing the impression by plunging the
whole plate into a bath containing the developer, in order to
avoid a spot upon it where the pyrogallic solution has been poured.
The impression will immediately appear and develop itself more
and more. When the proper strength is attained the development
is arrested by washing it in common water: then it is fixed with
cyanide. When it is certain that all the iodide of silver is dis¬
solved (the wrong side of the plate must be examined), it must be
well washed in water; then, after drying, the proof must be
varnished.
These are the whole of the manipulations of a method which must
infallibly lead to the desired result. It is very astonishing that
the resin process is not put more frequently into use — perhaps for
the reason that there are some difficulties in finding the proper pro¬
portions, as we have seen above. If this article contribute in any
way to facilitate the practice of this process I shall congratulate
myself on having published it.
“A DREAM OF THE FUTURE.”
Scene 1. Entrance to International Exhibition, Hyde Park.
Time, May 5th, 1862. Hour, 11 a.m.
[Enter Frenchman and Franco- Italian in picturesque costume .]
Frenchman. — I vant un — vat you call it? — un cat-loag.
Attendant. — Catalogue — yes, Monsieur. We have two Cata¬
logues, which do you require : the Fine Arts Catalogue or the
Mechanical and Industrial one?
Frenchman. — Oui, yes, de industrial, mechanical, engineering —
Anglais great in machine. Pictures — ve have more dan enough
at home.
[Frenchman and Italian each pay’their shilling, and opening the
catalogue indiscriminately, walk away cutting the leaves.]
An interval of five minutes.
Frenchman and Franco- Italian return breathless with haste.
Both. — Monsieur ! Monsieur ! you have given us wrong cat-
loag. Oui, oui! see, see ! — [Reads excitedly, On the Derwent , The
Meeting of the Waters, Lyndale , The Valley of Desolation, Eolton
Parle, The Pass of Killiecranleie, The Rising Mist, Early Spring,
FingaVs Come, Top o'the Hill, dese are pictures.]
Attendant. — No, Monsieur. The catalogue is the one you
asked for : those are all the produce of machinery !
Franco -Italian (jocosely) — Machinery ! ! ! You call men’s brains
machinery. Ugh ! ugh ! Great nation ! Great peoples ! Great
nation ! Vive I’Angleterre ! !
Frenchman (wily, sarcastically).-— Oh ! you put some of one cat-
loag into de oder, and some of de oder into dat one, so peoples must
buy both — two “ one shillings.” Ugh ! Un grande nation ! Un
grande nation of — of — of shopkeepares ! !
[Exit Frenchman and Franco-Italian. shrugging their shoulders.]
S. T.
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A LATE ENTHUSIASTIC
AMATEUR.
Edited by Sydney Sunshine.
What universally interesting subjects are the old mouldering ruins
of those whilome stately piles which lie crumbling in the shady
sadness of some of England’s greenest vales — and our fatherland
has many such ! How impressive is their desolate grandeur !
How suggestive of the mutability of all earthly things! What
lessons of humility may they not be made to yield as we contem¬
plate the “ cloud-capt ” towers of former ages, now reduced to
mere huge fragments,
<l On which dull Time
Feeds like slow fire upon a hoary brand !”
The picturesque beauty of the localities amidst which many of
them are situate invests them with additional interest. Often, far
removed from places easy of access, they lie reposing in mournful
beauty beneath the shadow of the cold dank wing of oblivion, un¬
heeded, and almost forgotten, save in the pages of antiquarian lore.
The distant hum of busy cities never reaches such recesses. No
sounds, save those of Nature’s symphonies, ever disturb the im¬
pressive, solitude. Her evening vesper and her morning hymn
ascends each day unblent with other sounds of aught more harsh
more turbulent, or less pure. The wave of time rolls on noiseless
and unrecorded. It might seem that Silence there had pitched his
408
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
tent and reigned in undisturbed possession. To the weary man —
tired of the world and the world’s ways — who can turn lovingly to
Nature, or, lieart-sick of strife and wrong and blatant falsehood,
finds refuge in everlasting Art. There are quiet, healing influences
shed around such nooks which nothing else mundane can supply
_ wjth just, and only just, enough of “the still sad music of
humanity ” as may serve to chasten and subdue. Freedom is here,
and beauty and peace — here, among the solitary vales and
boundless hills. And when the day is done and the glory has died
out of the crimson west, the dim dusky hues of twilight flit past,
and the stars come out and look down on scenes of tranquil,
unutterable beauty.
The land is rich in remains of other days. Tintern — beautiful
Tintern ! — Morpeth Tower, and Rievaulx Choir, and Kirkstall Crypt,
and Chepstow with arrowy light streaming through traceried win¬
dows “ richly flight.” Then there are the beautiful abbeys by
“ Tweed’s fair stream.” The exquisite finish and grace of Melrose —
hallowed by the genius of Scott— like nothing else
— - than frozen music or a poem in stone.
Rich in broken arch, shafted oriel, and foliaged tracery —
Never another scene so sad, so fair.
Dryburgh, rising in scattered broken masses from the rich shrub¬
bery, and towering up free and far above the surrounding foliage.
“ Few moulder there but those, the loved, the good,
The honoured, and the famed ; and sweet flowers smile
Around the precints of the Abbeyhood.”
And Lindisfarne — and Fountain’s — and last and sweetest of all,
Raglan, in utter solitude amidst the wild wood of its own
pleasaunce, the towers rounded with ivy, the forest roots choked
up with undergrowth, and the brook languid amidst lilies and
sedges : legends of grey knights and enchanted ladies keeping
the woodman’s children away after nightfall. It is to the re¬
ligious art of the middle ages we principally owe them. When
the old Greek art revived once more in modern Europe, though at
first it seemed to add richness and grace to this peculiar develop¬
ment, it smothered and killed it at last, as some beautiful tropical
parasite exhausts the life of the tree it seemed at first to adorn.
Poets and painters have loved to depict them in all time — have
limned them in every possible aspect, at morn, and drowsy noon,
and when upon turret and tower the day-god casts the homage
of his parting glittering beams; and now we have them limned by
the sun’s own subtle alchemy.
Different in kind, but scarcely less beautiful in degree, is sunrise
amidst such subjects, affording some beautiful effects when suffi¬
ciently clear and dnobscured : — The waning moon — the pale grey
dawn (if in the lake district, chill and misty, with scrolls of steam¬
ing vapours rolling up the hill-sides) — the first faint streak of light
in the east— then another, and another, until the mountain-tops
are tipped with gold, and the black shadows melt away all
around under the influence of diffused light — then the first small
arc of the sun himself appearing above the horizon, coming forth
from his chamber in the east, “ rejoicing as a strong man to run a
race.” One heave more and — no ! a bank of cloud interposes ;
another heave and it is “ topped,” the earth flooded with sunshine,
and Nature busy making pictures everywhere.
There is little fear of aesthetic studies getting too much atten¬
tion. The age is far too busy and material for that. But the pho¬
tographer who would foster within himself the artist-growth
should saturate his mind with such scenes as these. By the law of
affinity he accumulates what is beautiful, and his mind becomes
assimilated thereunto, and is a welcome habitation for all that is
lovely in nature and art. If an artist’s life is to be envied, it is
often only for the capacity of subtle, refined emotions, such as
these, wherewith minds of a grosser frame are not permitted to
intermeddle. He is chosen for Nature’s playmate, and shares the
bounties which are shoAvered upon the lilies of the field. He must
not care to accumulate a golden muck-heap if he would develop the
highest faculties of his nature — not excluding the idea of Provi¬
dence or provision, but wholly that of accumulation — and cultivate
“ a heart full of sensitiveness to all elements of costless and kind
pleasure — therefore, chiefly to the loveliness of the natural Avorld.”
There is a beautiful German poem in Avhich the poet is wisely
depicted as coming too late to share in the division of the world,
and the gods, in compensation, make him a denizen of the heavens.
No poor inheritance sings Mrs. Browning in Aurora Leigh: —
“ Earth ’s crammed with Heaven,
And every common bush afire with God.
Rut only he who sees takes off his shoes :
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware,
More and more from their first similitude.”
The poet and the artist have much in common— the same tem¬
perament, the same keen sense of the flowers mid the thorns —
and often, each
“ In a golden clime was born
AVith golden stars above. Dowered witli the hate of hate,
The scorn of scorn, the love of love.”
“ What are you in search of?” Turner used to say to art-students,
knowing Avell that only passionate seeking led to passionate find¬
ing. “Better pursue a frivolous trade by serious means,” says
another, “than art frivolously.”
It is no small thing to be able to feel intensely the inimitable
grace of the Venus de Medicis — the proud defiance of the Apollo
Belvidere — the anguish of the Laocoon — and the pathos of the
dying Gaul. But photography has done more for the art-education
of the masses in ten years than the renowned statues of the
Capitol and the Vatican in centuries. Such things are but as
though they were not to the majority. Yet even these photo¬
graphy has made familiar as “ household Avords.”
But the future of photography is not that of a mere copyist. It
Avill go from strength to strength. Let only its disciples keep pace
with its capabilities. Art is a sacred service, and will not be
trifled Avith. I would have all enter it, and take a first lesson of
Dame Nature. They Avill find much that is charming : hunting up
pretty bits in sequestered spots and glens, “doAvn Avhere the
blue-bells groAV,” far aAvay from the seats of commerce and con¬
ventionality. Go sojourn for a season in a cottage on some Cam¬
brian Avild ; and, Avliile realising the boundless sense of freedom,
take the advice contained in Ebthen , and do think of the poor devils
Avlio dAvell in streets and squares and bouses in a state of utter
respectability — “ presenting compliments,” and “ much regretting,”
and such-like elegant trifling. Think of them, and thank Providence
for your privileges.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
Series of Cabinet-sized Photographs, taken by S. Thompson,
Including the Waverhy Photographs , Places of Historical Interest in
England and Scotland, Reproductions, dec.
[London : A. AV. Bennett, 5, Bishopsgate Without.]
What is a cabinet-sized picture ? We fear that it would be diffi¬
cult to obtain a more direct reply to this question than that given
by the cautious witness Avlien under cross examination relative to
the size of an article that had been stolen — the nearest definition
that lie could be brought to state being “that it Avas about the size
of a lump of chalk." HoAveAmr, if the specimens before us be
cabinet-sized pictures (and we are not disposed to dispute the
assertion) they measure from about eight and a-half inches by six
and a-half, to ten by eight inches. We presume that the term
is intended to convey the idea of convenience for handling and
fitness for close inspection, Avbicli these specimens do undoubtedly
possess. It may be a mere fancy on our part, but Ave certainly do
prefer photographs of the dimensions quoted to those of a larger
size, Avhich always appear to us cumbersome and inconvenient.
As a rule, large photographs are both too large and not large
enough : too large for the folio — • not large enough for mural
decoration.
Mr. Thompson is evidently a disciple of the same school as Mr.
Bedford, than Avhom no better model can be selected. Not that
Ave mean to insinuate that he is a servile copyist of this gentle¬
man’s style, but that be belongs to the same class.
The Waverly Photographs comprise scenes in the home — Abbots¬
ford ; the favourite haunt — Melrose ; and the last resting-place —
Dryburgh — of Sir Walter Scott ; scenes that are familiar to most
photographic connoisseurs, and that have been rendered by many
operators, professionals as well as amateurs. Amongst these be¬
fore us, that representing the South Side of Melrose Abbey is
certainly one of the finest, Avhether we regard delicacy of manipu¬
lation or picturesqueness of effect. The point of view Avhence this
beautiful ruin is delineated is Avell chosen, the light falling obliquely,
so as to give the full rich architectural details of the fine south
window, enhanced by the transparent shadoAvs cast by the pro¬
jecting mouldings. The various tones of this picture are ex¬
ceedingly harmonious and pleasing, the only fault of the production
being an absence of sufficient sky-room above the building.
The printing of this specimen, as indeed of the whole of the
series, is highly commendable.
The South Door of Melrose Abbey is a beautiful study
(more than the others approaching to Bedford’s productions), and
admirably executed.
November lo, 18611
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
409
The East Side we do not admire so much, though equally per¬
fect as far as manipulative skill is concerned, in consequence of its
having been taken too full-face, to borrow a phrase from the
portrait-room.
The East Window possesses much value as an architectural
illustration, and is, withal, a very pleasing subject : it, however,
in our opinion, suffers materially in consequence of distortion of the
perpendicular lines at the margin of the picture, produced, most
probably, from turning the camera upwards in order to. include
the whole of the subject. This we regret to notice also in some
others of the series, especially those in which the height of the
picture exceeds the breadth. In all probability it was not possible
for the artist to get sufficiently far away from his subject to avoid
this annoyance, as he has evidently too much artistic skill to
submit to such a defect, unless he were reduced to the choice
known as “Hobson’s” — that or none.
For richness and brilliancy of effect, combined with exquisite
softness, The West Front of Melrose Abbey perhaps surpasses
the whole. Shadows the most intense, yet clear and transparent,
with every gradation of tone up to perfect white, may be found in
this specimen, each one in the proper place, giving an excellent
illustration of the value of subordination, so well descanted upon
recently in these columns by our contributor, Mr. A. II. Wall.
The general view of Melrose Abbey was taken when the sun
was obscured; and, though a perfect record of the external form of
the edifice, it lacks the spirit of the place from a total absence of
shadow, and is consequently somewhat flat.
Dryburgii Abbey lias little to recommend it beyond its his¬
torical associations : such as it is, however, it has found an able
delineator in Mr. Thompson; and Sir Walter Scott’s Tomb
therein, though in itself a commonplace affair enough, has, by the
skill of the artist, been converted into quite a poetic study. The
arch of the cloister under which the tomb is situated has been
taken from a spot whence it can only be seen through another
nearer archway and the openings between some yew-trees, which
with ivy and brushwood form, as it were, a rustic framework, the
value of which is still further enhanced by vignetting. This is
sure to be a popular specimen.
Space will not permit us to do more than mention some of the
more striking of the subjects belonging to the other series, amongst
which we find
The Statue of Newton, by Munro, recently placed in the new
Museum, at Oxford.
The Quadrangle of Brazennose College.
A Portion of the Garden Front of St. John’s College. This
is highly picturesque; and owing to an excessive obliquity of the
sunlight, the shadows, oddly projected, impart to it a curious
though charming grotesqueness.
The Entrance to the Hall and Chapel of Oriel College
would have been a delightful picture but for the bending inwards
of the marginal lines.
The Martyr’s Memorial, at Oxford, is rendered effective by
vignetting; and the same judicious treatment has been adopted
Avith several of the less ornamental halls and colleges at Oxford.
But, of all the Oxford illustrations, that which will most likely be
preferred is The Cloister Tower of St. Mary Magdalene’s Col¬
lege. Though rather prim, and with a horizontal line nearly
cutting the picture in two parts, there is something uncommonly
taking about this subject, albeit deservedly open to adverse criti¬
cism on account of sins against several of the rules of art. The
photography is pretty well perfect; and the graceful festoons of
the ivy in contrast with the architectural lines of the arches curved
in an opposite direction, combine to seduce the approval of the
beholder in spite of the artistic defects already alluded to.
There are two views of the garden front of Knole House, Seven-
oaks, Kent, that recall pleasant recollections of a ramble therein,
and still more pleasant memories of the cool shade under the
glorious old beech-trees in Knole Park. What a pity they are not
included in the series!
Hadlow Castle, Kent, is a pleasing subject, and well
treated.
Before concluding we must not omit to mention a number of
reproductions of engravings, &c., including Happy as a King, '•'■Let
him that is without sin first cast a stone at her,” Musiciens Ambidous,
&c. These are all perfectly and brilliantly reproduced, which is
all that lies in our province to state : to criticise the subjects
would be to go beyond it, as their merit has nothing to do with the
photography.
The printing and general getting up of the whole are of the best
possible character.
On Saturday, the 9 th instant, a collection of nearly a hundred speci¬
mens of “Pictures in Enamel Colours Burnt in on Glass, from
Photographs, Drawings, and Engravings,” was exhibited to a very
numerous though select circle of photographers and other art-
amateurs by M. Joubert, at his residence, 36, Porchester Terrace,
Bayswater (London). It is well known that the basis of each
picture operated upon by M. Joubert, whether the original be an
engraving or otherwise, is transferred to his glass plate by a
photographic process. This is afterwards burnt in to the glass
itself, and remains indelibly fixed as a subject in monochrome ; or
it is subsequently painted upon by hand with enamel colours, the
plate having to be “fired” after the application of each different
tint.
Although we have before given some particulars of M. Joubert’s
process, the following extract from his patent specification may be
acceptable to many of our readers : —
“ This invention has for its object improvements in reproducing photographic
and other pictures, engravings, prints, devices, and designs on the surface of
glass, ceramic, and other substances requiring to be fired, to fix the same
thereon.
“ For this purpose, I proceed in the following way : — A piece of glass, which
may be crown or flatted glass, being selected as free from defect as possible, is
firstly well cleaned, and held horizontally while a certain liquid is poured on
it. This liquid is composed of a saturated solution of bichromate of ammonia
in the proportion of five parts, honey and albumen three parts of each, well
mixed together, and thinned with from twenty to thirty parts of distilled
water, the whole carefully filtered before using it. The preparation of the solu¬
tion, and the mixing up with other ingredients, should be conducted in a room
from which light is partially excluded, or under yellow light, the same as in
photographic operating-rooms, so that the sensitiveness of the solution may not
be diminished or destroyed.
“ In order to obtain a perfect transfer of the image to be reproduced, the
piece of glass coated with the solution, which lias been properly dried by means
of a gas-stove (this will only occupy a few minutes) is placed, face downwards,
on the subject to be copied in an ordinary pressure-frame, such as is used for
printing photographs.
“ The subject must be a positive picture on glass, or else on paper rendered
transparent by waxing or other mode ; and an exposure to the light will, in a
few seconds, according to the state of the weather, show, on removing the coated
glass from the pressure-frame, a faintly indicated picture, in a negative condition.
To bring it out, an enamel colour, in a very finely divided powder, is gently
rubbed over with a soft brush until the whole compositon or subject appears
in a perfect positive form. It is then fixed by alcohol in which a small quantity
of acid, either nitric or acetic, has been mixed, poured over the whole surface
and drained off at one corner.
“ When the alcohol has completely evaporated, which will generally be the
case in a very short time, the glass is quietly immersed, horizontally, in a large
pan of clean water, and left until the chromic solution has dissolved off, and
nothing remains besides the enamel colour on the glass ; it is then allowed to
dry by itself near a heated stove, and when dry is ready to be placed in the kiln
for firing.
“It may be stated that enamel of any colour can be used, and that by careful
registering a variety of colours can be printed one after the other, so as to
obtain a perfect imitation of a picture; also that borders of any description can
be subsequently added, such as those shown in the specimens on the table, with¬
out any liability to remove or even diminish the intensity of the colour in the
first firing.’’
A further step in advance is the occasion of the present Exhibi¬
tion, the application of colour to the photograph being now effected
with more certainty and facility than has been the case hitherto.
The process appears well calculated for the purpose of house
decoration, at moderate cost, by providing a good substitute for
painted windows, including subjects far more minute in detail and
artistic in treatment than could be ordinarily obtained by manual
dexterity. That there is much to be yet accomplished before the
art can be considered as having arrived at maturity, it would
be folly to deny ; but its entire practicability and commercial
success is now beyond a doubt.
We may now make a few remarks upon the specimens exhibited,
many of which are surrounded by, or rather placed in the centre
of, borders of a damask-like character, formed by ground and
transparent glass intermixed, with a clear medallion-shaped space
left for M. Joubert's operations. Copies of engravings and lined
drawings in monochrome leave nothing to be desired. A copy of
Sampson and the Lion, reduced by photography, is an excellent
example of what can be done in that direction ; and what is per¬
haps still more satisfactory is a copy of The Irish Lovers, taken bv
direct application of the paper engraving to the sensitive surface
on the glass. These are both sharp, clear, distinct, and perfect as
can be wished for.
The monochrome copies of photographs are many of them some¬
what deficient in the more delicate half-tones ; but there is indis¬
putable evidence that this is due, when it occurs, rather to some
deficiency in the original or in the photographic part of the
410
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
manipulations than essentially to the process. A Garden Wall,
from nature, the subject being really a (study of leaves — A Faun
Dancing , being a photograph from the marble — and Savoyards , one
from nature — are illustrations of photography proper thus applied.
With regard to the coloured specimens, the first impression
which we received on entering the studio was that of the existence
of too much brilliancy, that gave somewhat the meretricious ap¬
pearance of coloured lithographs. This, however, is a defect which
no doubt will be corrected as the art advances, as well as that of
an amount of coarseness in the foliage of some of the landscapes
due to the touch of the artist, which contrasts unpleasantly with
the delicacy of the photographs. In some specimens, instead of
attempting to paint over the subject, the artist has in our opinion
much more judiciously washed in a tint, leaving the photograph
itself to produce the variations of tone required ; and this is the
case with the most satisfactory of all the coloured specimens, viz.,
Worthy Hall , Lancashire (from nature), wherein the foliage is but
little interfered with, and atmospheric effects are fairly given.
Next in order of excellence we consider a Scene near Dundee , and a
Scene on the Thames — we mean, of course, as illustrations of the
polychromatic process. It is but right to remark that the applica¬
tion of many colours presents difficulties in addition to those de¬
pendent on the “ firing ” of the plate after each application, because
not only is the colour applied quite different in tint to that which it
assumes after passing through the kiln, but the application of one
colour over another sometimes brings about very unexpected
results.
There is one direction in which we think it is premature to em¬
ploy M. Joubert’s patent, until greater progress has been made —
Ave mean that of portraiture — an unpleasant grotesqueness of aspect
being generally imparted to the victims whose “counterfeit present¬
ments” have undergone the operation of an aido da fe. There are
two small specimens upon white enamelled glass that are excep¬
tions ; but even these lack brilliancy.
Some of the smaller subjects have been adapted to the adorn¬
ment of transparent lamp-shades with very good effect, and, no
doubt, they would answer well also for hall lamps.
We have little doubt that rapid strides will soon be made
towards perfecting this very useful invention. Already M. Joubert
has more orders than he can well supply, and a little extra pressure
put upon that gentleman will compel him, in spite of himself, to
exercise anew his inventive faculties, in order to meet the
demand, which will assuredly increase.
- — <&-. -
(|ii Artists fetters to n gomig |!j!ototinrj.)jjer.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Harmony — Poetry, Music, and Painting have one Common
Source of Excellence — Truthfulness the Source of
Harmony in Light and Shade — Harmony of Expression
or Sentiment — Illustrations to Show the Value of
Harmony — Harmonious and Inharmonious Contrasts —
Illustration from Thomson’s “ Seasons.”
“ The mind should be satisfied that it, the picture, is a complete harmonious whole,
mid not a collection of parts or motives put together at random, or without enquiry into
their relative fitness, so as to jar upon sensitive tastes.'’ — J. J. James.
“ In the composition of a picture, the painter is to take care that nothing enters into it
which is not proper or convenient to the subject, as the poet rejects all incidents which
are foreign to his poem, and are naturally no part cf it. * * * No person, no incident in
the piece or in the play, but must be of use to carry on the main design." — Dryden.
“ Beauty is music, too, tbo' in disguise ;
Too fine to touch the ear, it strikes the eyes,
And thro'em to the Soul the silent stroke conveys." — Ibid.
“ T-ie Highest Art is the imitation of the Finest Nature.” — Hazhtt.
My Dear Fellow- Student,
Following out subordination in my last, we were led
to the consideration of harmony as one of its chief results; and,
that we may avoid repetition of matter now fresh in your memory,
I shall devote my present communication to the further considera¬
tion of the latter, as a picture’s all important quality.
Harmony is the result of a complete unity of parts: all the
artist’s teachings tend to it, and it governs every branch of art in
all their various details and qualities. It is its province to keep all
the component portions right in degree and in place, so that, while
order and repose may exist without sameness, contrast and variety
may not degenerate into discord and disunion.
In “ the very tempest, torrent, and whirlwind of passion,” it
‘ begets a temperance that may give it smoothness,” and, like the
calm serenity of conscious power, frequently affects our instincts
rather than our vision — is felt rather than seen.
The pictures of imitative art are like “ the pictures of thoughts ”
as Dryden called words: we may use them for the careless expres¬
sion of that which is vulgar and commonplace; or, by the studious
choice and arrangement of a nise head and refined taste, we may so
dispose them that —
“All the parts and words their places take,
And with just marches, verse and music make.” — Cowley.
From outlines and the tones of the clnarcscuro , upwards to the
sentiment and expression, all the parts in a picture are like words
in language and notes in music, which have their great value, not
in themselves, but in their combinations. Thus the beauty and
harmonious sweetness of genuine artistic productions in Painting,
Poetry, and Music, have — as I endeavoured to show you in inylast
— one common origin; and we, photographers, who would fain
emulate the high excellences of a fine art, cannot, of course, afford
to overlook so important an element of study as that to which my
present epistle is devoted.
In my last communication we saw why the accessories must he
in keeping one with another, and that advancing or receding parts
whether by virtue of their apparent actual nearness or remoteness,
or by that of their degrees of prominence as points of attraction,
must be subordinated to the chief aim or intention of the artist.
We must also remember that all the lights in the picture must, by
their relative degrees of intensity, indicate that they have hut one
source of illumination, and that all the shades or shadows should be
in accordance with each other and with the character of the light;
in short, that the perfection of harmony is only secured by the
complete agreement of all the parts in the Unity, Character, Ex¬
pression, Sentiment, and Purpose of the whole.
The great source of harmony in light and shade is simply perfect
truthfulness. Other harmonious effects may result from the selec¬
tion of the point of view, character, and degree of illumination,
time of year, &c., in reference to the natural landscape; or to the
choice of process, chemical conditions, exposure in camera, or
manipulatory skill in reference to the production itself; but the
great harmonies of light are vouchsafed only to the faithful
imitator — the true disciple. But, as I observed in a previous letter,
we do not all alike recognise these truths.
The photographer, whose uneducated eye has not learnt to
catch the subtle and tender refinements of tone and tint in art or
nature, thinks when he has secured perfect detail and gradation
from light to shade in his productions, that he must necessarily
have got all excepting colour which nature can give his pictures,
and that if harmony does not exist therein it is a very good proof
that such a quality is peculiar to art and does not belong to
nature. But let him examine his works with a more jealous and
critical eye, and he will soon see that all Lis photographs, although
equally perfect in their more easily recognized qualities of focus, ex¬
posure, and development, being taken under various conditions of
illumination, have yet lights of the same intensity, and shadows of
precisely or very nearly the same degree of depth. How this should
prove that such productions are untrue to nature, and that at least
the greater part of them must he “out of harmony.” For, as in
nature, the lights were varied, they must have changed in each
negative, both with the character of the light itself and with
reference to their shades or shadows : for instance, the stronger
the sunlight the greater and more perceptible must its diffusion
he, and, consequently, the more transparent are the shadows,
while on a grey, dull, cloudy day, when the light is weak,
its diffusion being less in proportion to its strength, the shadows
are more sombre. We sometimes call the weak a diffused light,
because of the absence of direct light, not because it has a
greater degree of diffusion, which must always be in proportion
to its power or strength. More will be said of this under
the head of “Tone.” Now, when we visit our photographic
exhibitions, and see this gentleman’s productions recognised by
the uniformly “vigorous character of their light and shade,” and this
other gentleman’s by the uniformly tender and delicate character of
their ditto, ditto — when one revels in plenty of the deepest black
and the purest white, and the other displays less powerful contrast
—it is certain that inasmuch as they are both always “vigorous,”
or always “ tender and delicate,” they must both be very nearly
always out of harmony and truth. Watch the changeful lights
and shadows of a fine April day, when their variations are most
marked and rapid ; you will then see how harmoniously the
shadows vary with the light — how, as the latter grows luminous,
the o'tliers become less sombre, and how, as the one grows grey
and weak, the other becomes dark and dull. Go, too, from such a
November 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
411
tudy of nature to a gallery of precious art-treasures, and study
ome great master’s landscape painting. You will not find these
Faracterised by the monotonous repetition of one poor scale of
ones, but you will find the light which gleams out in the brilliancy
ff unclouded day has shadows peculiar to itself, and the light
which spreads a softer radiance over the scene is served by none
out dusky retainers peculiarly its own, that even where a great
mass of shady sombre hues contrasts a smaller mass of tints of
sunny brilliancy, the tones are so nicely true in each that the same
light is as perceptible in one part as in the other. We, my dear
fellow-student, must not, therefore, think it sufficient to look
simply to the details for evidence of truth in our lights and shadows,
but must carefully remember during the whole process of prepar¬
ing, exposing, and developing, that to secure the most perfect
truth in the relative degrees of intensity, in lights and shade, is
the only source of harmony in reference to such important cpralities,
and that harmony and truth are here one and the same thing.
In the next place we will turn to the consideration of Harmony
in the Expression or Sentiment of a picture.
ITazlitt, the famous art critic, in his essay upon the Elgin Marbles
— of which more anon, should I treat of figures — defies any land¬
scape painter to invent out of his own head, by jumbling together
all the different forms of hills he ever saw, and adding a bit of one
to a bit of another, anything equal to Arthur’s Seat, with the
appendage of Salisbury Crags, which overlooks Edinburgh ; and
this is not the only case by thousands in which “the finest
nature,” clad simply in the garments of its native truth, will
also be “ the highest art that is to sa}r, art which has a
soul in it — which expresses eloquently and forcibly some senti¬
ment of grandeur aud majesty, of joyous gaiety and brilliancy,
of sublimity and beauty, or tenderness and delicacy, in short,
which depicts not only the dead inert form, but conveys also
the deathless spirit infused into it by that Great Artist of the
Universe, whose mighty work it is. In securing this expres¬
sion we must not forget that it is as subject to the laws
already advanced as are more mechanical qualities, and, above all,
it must be ruled in all its various phases by that of Harmony.
To illustrate a want of harmony in the expression of sentiment,
permit me to refer to a well-known and popular work by Peruginci —
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian , with which, doubtless, you are
familiar. We there see the Saint enduring, with calm and solemn
resignation, and with that gentle firmness which bears but does
not mock with the bravado of a meaner courage, all the pangs and
torture of his cruel death. The sentiment appeals at once to our
hearts: it would be perfect were it not at the same time weakened,
indeed almost destroyed, by the inharmonious character of the
picture’s several parts; for the background is quite a gay and lively
scene, and the executioners — instead of having the spiteful or stern
or even half- remorseful expression of such fearful agents — are slim,
graceful youths, who, bending their bows with the most graceful
curves of their Adonis-like limbs and forms, seem rather in playful
sport than in such terrible and deadly earnest. To give a more
homely illustration of harmony in the sentiment of a landscape
scene: — Suppose you and I, with dark slides filled, and other appar¬
atus, duly prepared, plunge into the secret shades of some ancient
forest, in which tangled wildness of luxurious vegetation we dis¬
cover a certain picturesque spot, so wild and gloomy in its solitary
aspect that, pausing instinctively in admiration thereof, we soon
find ourselves deeply influenced by the peculiar sentiments and ideas
associated with such a scene — its solemn silence broken only by the
awe-hushed whisper of the trembling leaves — its dim, mysterious
light — its dark secret recesses — the fantastic curves aud twists of the
intertwined roots, showing here and there like snakes in the thick
grass and weeds ; these, and a hundred other harmonious incidents
and objects, all tend to awaken in our minds a crowd of associated
ideas whose influence is nevertheless rather indicated by our feel¬
ings than by active thoughts. Such are the feelings and thoughts
which frequently teach us how cunning were those grim old Druids
in choosing so fit a temple for the mysterious and awful rites of
superstition — feelings Avhich awaken half-timid thoughts, even
here in England, of savage animals, in their no less savage haunts ;
of outcast, desperate men; or the c oncealed, ghastly evidence of
murder’s hideous guilt; or any oilier ideas associated with the
mysterious or wild or terrible. Now suppose that, just as we have
set up our tripods and determined that here we will expose a
couple of plates, a pic-nic party of gay and fashionable friends
bursts in upon us through the tangled undergrowth with merry
shouts and noisy laughter, as harsh and discordant to our ears as
their fashionable presence is offensive to our eye. But why is
this? Just before, when Ave parted with these identical people
out there in the full glare of the bright and cheerful sunshine,
beside the laughing, unshaded river, Avith its myriad tAvinkling eyes,
their romping noise and merriment Avere quite as unrestrained,
although then Ave seemed to be lighter of heart and brighter of eye
for seeing them, and echoed the joyous sounds as loudly as the
noisiest there. The reason why is plain. Here, Avhere all is
mysterious and gloomy, they are out of harmony ; Avhile there, Avhere
all Avas joyous and bright, they fell into their places as fitting parts
of the Avhole.
But it must not be supposed, from Avhat I have said above, that
contrast is always opposed to harmony. On the contrar}q it is in
the presence of contrasts only that the full value of this quality
can be recognised.
I do not know that I can give a better illustration of this than is
provided by the poet Thomson, in his harmonious picture of a
dreary Avinter evening, Avhen —
“Along the woods, along the moorish fens,
Sighs the sad genius of the coming slorm ;
And uo among the loose disjointed cliffs
And fractured mountains wild, the brawling brook
And cave, presageful. send a hollow moan,
Resounding long in listening fancy’s ear.
Then comes the father of the tempest forth,
Wrapt in black glooms. First joyless rains obscure
Drive thro’ the mingling skies, with vapour foul
Dash on the mountains’s brow, and shake the woods,
That grumbling wave below. The unsightly plain
Lies a brown deluge, as the low-bent clouds
Pour flood on flood, yet unexhausted still
Combine, and deepening into night, shut up
The day’s fair face.”
Continuing this graphic description, each fresh instrument is in
harmony Avith the rest. The birds seek their nests, “ save those
that love to take their pastime in the troubled air.” The cattle,
returning from the “untasted fields,” seek, “with meaning low, their
Avontcd stalls.” “ The crested cock, with all his female train, pen¬
sive and dripping,” seek their chilly shelter ; and all is gloomy,
cheerless, and dreary. Now, a poet with no feeling or taste for
harmony, and conscious only of the increased power and expres¬
sion Avhich such a scene would derive from its share of contrast,
might turn at once to discordant images of sunny summer time
Avith floAvers and bowers, and zephyrs and singing birds, bright
green grass, pleasantly basking and ruminating cattle, &c.,&c., <kc.,
thus ruining the effect of all by putting together things which
could not possibly combine into a Avhole.
Let us see how harmoniously, and yet how simply and unaffect
edly, Thompson contrives to contrast this scene : —
* * * * “ The cottage-hind
Hangs o’er the enlivening blaze, and taleful there
Recounts his simple frolic. Much he talks,
And much he laughs ; nor recks the storm that blows
Without, and rattles on his humble roof.”
Here we have heat, light, and warmth contrasting Avith cold,
darkness, andAvet ; cheerful laughter mocking the melancholy moan
of the winter-wind ; and safe shelter contrasting the associated idea
of being shelterless in the boisterous, pitiless storm Avithout.
Still all this contrast is in perfect harmony with the Avhole, Avhich
is a winter evening.
With this Ave must for the present part company. I am rather
too bold, perhaps, in thus urging upon your attention things
Avhich after all are very simple, but here is my only excuse. These
things have been neglected , and I earnestly desire that this should no
longer be the case. We will return to the subject of harmony
Avhen next you hear from
Yours, faithfully,
ALFRED II. WALL.
Iflectings of Societies.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first monthly meeting of the session, after the recess, was held at
King’s College, on Tuesday evening, the 5th inst. The Lord Chief Baron,
Sir Frederick Pollock, occupied the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting wa re read and confirmed.
The Secretary (Dr. Diamond) read a letter from Mr. Thomas Ross,
accompanied by some photographs executed by Mr. Harrold, with one of
Sutton’s panoramic lenses. The photographs Included an angle of 10.)
degrees, but the curved glasses Avere intended to include an angle of 110
degrees.
A letter from Mr. Dallmeyer Avas read, and a scries of landscapes, six
inches by five, taken by Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen, with the triple achroma¬
tic lens, Avere exhibited : also some others by an amateur. They were
412
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, 1801
intended to illustrate the merits and capabilities of the triplet lens when
applied to landscape photography. The whole of the pictures included
a large angle, well defined, and free from distortion.
The President referred to the exquisite delicacy and beauty of detail
contained in Mr. Wilson’s pictures.
Mr. Vernon Heath exhibited numerous well-executed views in Perth¬
shire and on the Thames, of about twelve inches by ten in size, taken
with one of Mr. Grubb’s aplanatic lenses.
A letter from Mr. Baynham Jones, of Cheltenham, together with
some photographs taken with an ordinary view-lens of five-inch focus,
were also laid before the meeting. The specimens were about six inches
long — the angle being rather more than sixty degrees.
The Secretary of the Bradford Society, Mr. William Gordon Thomp¬
son, sent a letter calling attention to the projected Photographic Exhi¬
bition at Bradford.
A new instantaneous shutter was exhibited by Mr. Dallmeyer, and an
explanation read. [See page 401.]
Mr. Shadbolt thought it an error to suppose that the foreground would
receive the greatest amount of exposure. The whole picture would de¬
pict itself through the part of the Sens left uncovered. Uncovering one
part of the lens before the other would only act in a similar manner to
placing a stop in front of it.
Mr. Dallmeyer thought Mr. Shadbolt had misconceived the question,
and that if he looked at the motion of the shutter he would perceive that
the lower part by which the foreground was depicted was exposed first.
Mr. Shadbolt still intended that it only acted as a diaphragm, reducing
the aperture, and giving less illumination to the whole image.
The Lord Chief Baron said he remembered being taught at Cambridge
that a bit of a lens — half of a lens — -saw the whole picture.
Mr. Dallmeyer explained that this would be the case with a single lens,
and in regal’d to central pencils ; but it was not the case with eccentrical
pencils. This shutter was intended to be used with his double combina¬
tion lenses.
Mr. Shadbolt said that if it were to be used with portrait lenses it
would, of course, as Mr. Dallmeyer stated, expose the foreground first.
The thanks of the meeting were awarded to the various gentlemen who
had exhibited specimens, &c.
Mr. T. A. Malone then gave, viva voce, the substance of a paper On
the Nature and Toning of the Photographic Image. [See page 401.]
Before proceeding with the subject, Mr. Malone stated that, in some
respects, he must claim their indulgence, having been of late much
employed in experimenting, and giving the most of his time to that
end. He had made one or two attempts to throw the result of some of his
experiments into form upon paper, but had not succeeded to his satis¬
faction, being, during his endeavours, seized by influenza and prostrated
with a cold. It was only by careful nursing that he was enabled to appear
before the meeting-.
When Mr. Malone had concluded,
The Lord Chief Baron gave expression to the pleasure he had felt in
listening to Mr. Malone, and to a desire to hear the results of his further
experiments ; and thanked him for the hope held out of Mr. Malone’s
resuming the subject on some future occasion. While observing the
beautiful experiment of such a heavy substance as gold held in suspen¬
sion by a minute division of its particles, he had been struck by the
idea that it explained what he had often wondered at, viz., the suspension
• of clouds in the atmosphere.
Mr. Malone said that clouds undoubtedly were composed of water in a
: minute state of division, and not in small bladders.
The Lord Chief Baron thought the last one of the- most absurd notions
•conceivable. Clouds in such a finely-divided state could float about, and
directly the particles ivere condensed into large ones, came down as
water. He thought the theory of colours depending upon the size of the
particles one of the most beautiful he had ever heard. He had much
■pleasure in announcing to the meeting that during the session Mr. Warren
De la Rue would give them a narrative of his visit to Spain, for the
.purpose of photographing the sun during its eclipse. He must here
remark that he had always expressed a hope and conviction that photo-
gtapliy would be the means of extending their knowledge of the various
jpheuomena of light, and of discovering facts in connexion with the sun
■of which they little dreamt. It had been already shown that when the
human eye was blinded with excessive light, photography could delineate
what the human eye could not even perceive, and thus help us to a further
knowledge of the sun otherwise unattainable.
The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Roueh, enclosing a contribution
to the Archer fund from the Photographic Society of Victoria, amounting
to £5.
The usual votes of thanks were passed, and the meeting terminated.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held its ordinary monthly meeting on Thursday evening,
the 7th instant, — Mr. A. Mactear occupying the chair. _
jg|Mr. A. Robertson read a paper on the subject of Alkaline Toning. [See
page 399] .
Mr. James Cramb said Mr. Robertson had given his manner of con¬
ducting alkaline toning, but, he thought, had scarcely touched that part
of the subject intended for consideration now — the difficulties and danger
of this plan of toning. He thought Mr. Robertson had given the merit o
originating this system of toning to the wrong man. Mr. Waterhouse,
of Halifax, not Mr. Maxwell Lyte, was the gentleman who first gave to
the world the plan of toning by an alkaline chloride of gold. This had
been so prominently remarked on by Mr. Hardwicb, in bringing it before
the London Photographic Society, that he could not understand how the
mistake had been made.
Mr. Ewing and Mr. Mactear both expressed themselves as of the
opinion put forth in Mr. Robertson’s paper.
Mr. John C'kamb said he had no doubt about the paternity of the im¬
provement in toning. Mr. Maxwell Lyte had done a great deal for the
advancement of photography, and been, in many' cases, denied the merit of
his discoveries, and he (Mr. Cramb) had a very high opinion of Mr. Lyte,
and would be the last to do aught to detract from his justly eminent position
in the photographic world ; hut here he had no doubt Mr. Lyte Avas not
the first to propose an alkaline chloride of gold for toning.
Mr. Ewing said it would be found so stated in the Almanac of The
British Journal of Photografhy.
Mr. John Cramb said he understood that toning by carbonate of soda
and chloride of gold to be Mr. Waterhouse’s plan, and the addition of
citric acid to be Mr. Hardwich’s. The second plan of using a phosphate
along with the gold was Mr. Maxwell Lyte’s. The use of acetate of soda
and chloride of gold was given to the French Photographic Society by
the Abbe Laborde ; and the fourth modification of the alkaline toning, in
which he would notice the use of chloride of lime and chloride of gold,
was by Gustavus Legray, who first proposed the use of chloride of gold
for toning prints many' yTears ago.
Mr. James Cramb said he thought the permanence of prints toned by
the alkaline process had been much over-estimated, and he had no doubt
there was a large number of prints now produced by' it which were far
from permanent. In his opinion, if the greatest care were not taken
to wash out the gold before putting the prints into the hypo., a worse
result would follow than if they toned at once in a gold and hypo. bath.
The hyposulphite should also be very frequently changed, and be
abundantly strong.
Mr. John Cramb, referring to the effect produced when the print was
put into the hypo, without being washed from the gold, said that the
difference then from the alkaline and the gold and hypo, plan would be
that, in the former, they secured the whole of the dangerous consequences
by making the decomposition of the hy'posulphitc in the body of the print,
while in the latter it was done in the bath before the print went into it.
On the point of permanence, he would wish most particularly to dissent
from an opinion expressed by a writer in the last number of The British
Journal of Photography; On Cheapness. The writer of the article
seemed to think that all faded photographs had been the production of
low-class photographers, and that fading was the offspring of cheapness.
He (Mr. Cramb) had some years ago purchased at an Exhibition prints by
Delamotte, Bedford, and others. They had completely vanished, or rather
had become 2)ieces of yellow paper. These were not cheap productions.
Price alone would not be a measure of permanence in photographic pro¬
ductions. He need not say lie fully agreed with the recommendation
made by his brother to avoid the imminent risk of fading in prints toned
by the alkaline process. He might mention again what he had before re¬
marked, that there never Avas a faded print seen by them while they toned
with the modification of the sel d’or process, which they practised before the
alkaline process came into use. The alkaline jirocess was no important
improvement on any point. It took less gold and was sooner got through
than toning by the sel d’or process, but there the advantage ended.
Mr. Cramb concluded by promising, at some future time, to give in full
the manner in which he and his brother toned their prints before the
alkaline plan of toning ivas adopted, and by Avhich so perfectly permanent
results had been produced.
Mr. Macfaelane said he did not believe there was such a thing as a
permanent print.
Mr. John Cramb requested the members to inspect the prints exhibited
by him at the Edinburgh and London Exhibitions, »three or four years
ago, and Avhich Avere still in the same frames, and could be seen by any
one to be unfaded in any degree.
Mr. Robertson exhibited a silver bath made from a piece of plate-glass
inserted in a Avooden frame : it Avas likeAvise adapted for a printing frame.
He also submitted a Avashing dish made by inserting a syphon into a
shalloAv milk tub ; but, Avhile stating his opinion that the original idea
belonged to Glasgow, he expressed his belief that there had been simul-
tanous inventions of the same kind.
A conversation then followed on instantaneous pictures and moonlight
photography.
Mr. John Cramb said he had, at considerable personal inconvenience,
gone to Birmingham to see the pictures of Mr. Breese. If that gentleman
had a process by Avhich he could take pictures by moonlight, he submitted
the question— Why Avere there so many figures which had moved in his so
called instantaneous views of the Queen’s visit to Birmingham, though it
Avas evident they Avere done Avith the full aperture of a double lens, there
being only a small part in the centre of the picture in passable focus ? It
really seemed to him that the Frenchman’s suggestion, that the Avhole
thing was a hoax on the editor of the Photographic News , Avas near the truth
of the matter. The only truly instantaneous vieAvs he had ever seen
November IS, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
413
were those of M. Perrier. In these there was not, so far as he could
discover, the smallest movement in any figure, even in the view of the
crowded Boulevard de Sebastopol.
Mr. Macfaxdane showed some stereo, slides as illustrating what could be
done by the collodio-albumen process. He used a Dallmeyer stereo, lens,
with which he was much pleased.
Mr. Kobb showed some transparent positives and negatives by the
resin and tannin processes, and a negative by the Fotliergill process.
Votes of thanks were passed to the exhibitors of pictures, &c.
The Secretary then called the attention of members to the panoramic
lens and apparatus sent for exhibition by Mr. Itoss. Much interest
seemed to be felt in examining the lens and camera. Several members
expressed doubt if the horizontal lines would be correct in a picture pro¬
duced by this lens. It was thought by some that in pure landscape this
would be of little consequence, though others seemed to doubt it.
.A. very cordial vote ot thanks was passed to Mr. Ross for his coui tesy
to the Society.
The Secretary gave notice of some important alterations proposed to be
made, at the next meeting, in the constitution of the Society.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held its annual meeting on Wednesday, the 6th instant.
Mr. Leather occupied the chair, in the absence of Dr. Parkinson through
indisposition.
Mr. Stanley, the Treasurer, read the Annual Report, which gave
satisfaction to all present.
The Chairman then said, if no member desired to ask any questions
relative to the balance-sheet, he would call upon the Treasurer to dis¬
tribute the presentation photograph.
Mr. Stanley said, as all the members knew the photographs before
them were the production of Mr. Mudd, of Manchester, and all of beauti¬
ful tone, there could be little fear of getting wrong; but, to avoid the first
person choosing having what he might regard as the best print, he had
placed the name of each photograph on a piece of paper, and put them
into a bag, and would select one of the members to take them out, one
by one.
This occupied so much time, that several matters for the improvement
of the working of the Society during the coming year were postponed
until next meeting.
It was unanimously agreed that the election of officers should take
place at the next meeting.
The usual vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.
Jforcrgrt (Korrespcn'Oencc.
Paris , November 10th, 1861.
I HAD hoped that in this letter I should have to give you an
account of the first meeting of the season of our Photographic
Society, but that meeting has been deferred. You see that we take
things pretty much at our ease in this country, and that punctu¬
ality is no more a characteristic of societies than of individuals.
It is much to be regretted.
The Committee entrusted by the Society with the adjudication of
the Duke de Luynes’s prize as far as regards charcoal printing pro¬
cesses (for engraving, lithography, &c. are to be treated apart), have
commenced their labours. The methods submitted to the Committee
have been published, and are sufficiently well known to enable
those who study such matters to form a judgment on the subject.
The only really important point remaining to be examined is the
practicability of the processes in question. Y\re had been told that
the Committee would require a certain number of select cliches to
be executed by the candidates in their presence ; this appeared to
us the only system admissible, for if so the chances were equal for
all. If, however, we are now rightly informed, this plan is not to
be followed; the Committee will remit the cliche to the competitors
in succession, so that they may operate at their leisure. Not only is
this an unusual mode of proceeding in such cases, but it has also
the inconvenience of rendering the conditions unequal. As the
sunshine and temperature play an important part in the processes
to be judged, it is evident that if one operator has been enabled
to profit by the fine daj^s of summer, he will have a considerable
advantage over another who has but just received the negatives
selected, and who will have to overcome, as best he may, the
difficulties of the bad season. We trust that the members of the
Committee will take these facts into their consideration, and not
pronounce a decision till they have seen the competitors operate
in their presence.
An experiment connected with this subject was made the other
day at M. Edouard Delessert’s, A large-sized prepared glass,
covered with a solution of perchloride of iron and tartaric acid, in
accordance with M. Poitevin’s latest method, was substituted for
the screenholder of the amplifying apparatus. After twelve minutes,
the image appearing to have had sufficient time, the charcoal
powder was applied. It was then seen that the exposure had been
too short, and, as the sun had disappeared in the meanwhile, it was
not possible to renew the attempt. However, the picture was per¬
fectly distinct, very soft, and delicately modelled ; with a little
more time it would have surpassed those which are obtained by
contact. This result proved that with the charcoal process we
can obtain amplified positive pictures at least as good as those on
paper prepared with chloride of silver, and that in a space of time
almost as short.
M. Delessert has recently made a very amusing application of
photography. It is a little instrument, which he calls the Photo¬
graphic Kaleidoscope, and which is composed, like the old Phenalcisti-
cope that everyone knows, of a disk with slits, through which may
be seen a succession of images, placed circularly upon another and
moveable disk. The pictures represents one or several personages
in different positions. Various aspects of the same object being
presented to the eye in rapid succession, a very striking illusion of
movement is produced. M. Delessert has made, for instance,
the portrait of a bass-player in different positions. The ges¬
ture of the hands, one holding the bow and the other slipping
up and down the strings, and the movement of the feet, now
planted on the ground, now raised in the air, are so lifelike that
the performer seems to be playing with enthusiasm and energetic
allegro, while he conscientiously keeps time Avith his foot. Children
Avill be thankful to M. Delessert for providing them with tins New
Year’s gift of so novel a kind; and indeed, I could scarcely venture
to affirm that grown-up persons will not take their share of plea¬
sure in the amusement.
There is some talk at present of a project, the execution of which
Avould be impossible without the aid of photography. It is said
that the government intend to form a collection composed of the
portraits of all the members of the Legion of Honour — from the
simple chevalier to the grand' croix. This Avould not be a small
affair, and the album des legionnaires would count a good number of
volumes. In the chief town of every department a photographer
would be required for the execution of these portraits. It is
even said, several provincial photographers have received
the official letter entrusting them Avith this mission. I have
not yet been able to ascertain Avhether the fact is so or not;
but I see nothing improbable in the report. I have seen a
picture of the panorama, taken by Auguste Bisson on the
summit of Mont Blanc, and I have asked myself Avhether
the physical discomfort which is felt on that height is not
greatly augmented by the profound impression produced upon the
mind by the spectacle Avhich lies beneath. That ocean of moun¬
tains surrounding you, and spreading away in countless Avaves,
farther than the eye can scan — the absence of every sign of life —
that terrifying solitude high up between the clouds and sky— the
silence — the light inundating, and seeming to envelope you — all
this must act poAverfully upon the mind and the nervous system.
I confess that I experienced an almost painful sensation in examin¬
ing this curious picture, Avhich holds you, as it Avere, spell-bound
by an effect, not of abysmal depth, but of vastness.
ERNEST LACAN.
Camspaitlreitce.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. ^
ZINC PLATE -BOXES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I intended to have written to you in time for your last number,
as I Avished to add my testimony to Mr. Hornby’s, about the spots caused
by the zinc plate-boxes. We have compared spots, and find them to
exactly correspond, though ayc Avork different processes. I took four
dozen plates to Scotland at the beginning of the autumn, and, to my ex¬
treme disgust, every plate (except six I had placed in my dark slides
previous to starting) became, during development, covered A\dtli opaque
spots, caused by the minute particles abraded from the box by the
friction of the plates against it.
414
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[November 15, lftGI
I am glad, however, that I did not write before, as it enables me to
correct an inaccuracy contained in your note to Mr. Hornby’s last letter.
You advised that he should varnish his boxes with japanner’s gold-size,
as it will always remain slightly tacky. If you had ever used it for its
legitimate purpose you would know to your cost that, after a short time,
the tackiness so entirely disappears that the gold leaf will not adhere.
I happen to have by me a piece of metal, varnished with the size, and,
that you may see it is not adapted for coating the plate-boxes, I enclose
some varnish dust I have rubbed off it with the edge of a glass plate.
I find that there is a very simple way of avoiding the spots on any
plates having a dry hard film. A soft camel-hair brush passed over the
surface, previous to development, effectually removes the offending
particles.
I was glad to find from the reports of the Edinburgh Photographic
♦Society, that my letter to 3Tou had induced some of the photographers of
that city to try the hot-water process, and that they were so well satis¬
fied with it. I am quite sure the longer they practice it, the more
■confidence they will have in it, which (judging from my own somewhat
extensive experience of dry processes), is more than can be said for most
<of them.
"When I sat down to write to you, I intended to have told you for the
benefit of those of your readers who like brilliancy and transparency in
their prints, how I obtained both, without the use of highly albumenisecl
paper; and so avoid the toning troubles and expenses which result
from its use.
My letter is however so long that I must defer doing so till next month.
I am, yours, &c.,
A COUNTRY PARSON.
[Our suggestion of japanner’s gold-size was, as it professed to be, merely
a suggestion , and we are obliged to our correspondent for detailing his
experience of its inefficiency. Our readers will, no doubt, be glad to
receive the information so kindly promised at the close of the preceding-
letter. — Ed.]
Although the adoption of the above simple plan has proved a boon to
myself, still its publication may be considered by you as useless, or,
perhaps, unnecessary. If so, pray do not scruple to commit the present
communication to the waste-basket, thereby saving the time of the printer,
as well as that of your large circle of readers. If thought to be an
additional and unneccessary trouble by many, who may assert that the
sensitised sheets keep for several days without the least injury, both be¬
fore and after being printed on (which assertion does not accord with my
experience), still the above method gives the advantage of keeping the
printed sheets for an indefinite length of time, toning at last as quickly
and as satisfactorily as if done at any earlier date. Be it as it may, 1
leave it to the option of those who may think it worth their while toadopt
it, or otherwise. — I am, yours, &c., HENRY 11. HERE.
Teignmouth, November 8th, 18G1.
[Though better results arc to be obtained by the precautions herein
given than by leaving them altogether unattended to, we have not found
in our own practice that proofs thus treated, are quite equal to those in
which the toning operation has been at once proceeded with. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Albert. — See leader.
M. M.— Received with thanks.
It. 0. — A mere hoax : see leader.
S. T.— Received : notice in due course.
London Member.— The subject was not discussed.
3V. Woodward. — We have forwarded your note as requested. Thanks for inquiriei.
Thos. Ward. — We have an article in progress that will afford you full information on
the subject.
C, J. Ribsley. — Warm your developer as well as the plate, and use but very little
silver at first.
Enquiris. — Received, but in a hundred or more pieces : it is quite impossible to judge
from the fragments.
TONING AND FIXING DEFERRED.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Trinting-day lias always been, by myself at least, looked forward
to as a time of toil rather than of pleasure, entirely in consequence of being
obliged to finish the same day alL the papers sensitised, instead of being-
enabled to close the day’s photographic work, when so disposed, for some
occupation more congenial to the feelings of the afternoon. A delay till
the following day, even in the completion of the proofs, I have found to
materially detract from the brightness and purity of their high lights, the
shadows also not being free from injury.
By adopting the following method I am now enabled to print on one
day and postpone the toning and fixing until a more convenient one — it
may chance to be to some non-actinic or rainy day, a week or longer for¬
wards. Participating- in the same partiality for leisure and recreation
with amateurs in general, I have found my present plan of printing of
great advantage and convenience, and, therefore, would desire to com¬
municate it to my brother amateurs, more especially to those who may
inherit the same propensity to love of case as myself.
A regular reader of all the photographic periodicals, I am somewhat
surprised at not having long before seen my present method proposed.
Still be it understood that I lay not a shadow of claim to originality, well
knowing that the use of the simple chemical effecting it is almost as old
as photography itself, although not exactly applied to tlie present purpose.
Now for the pith of my story. Judging % the early morning that a
propitious day for printing is in prospect, I sensitise as many sheets of
paper as I shall be likely to require. 1 hang them up on a line for about
twenty minutes or half- an-h our to drain. Having, in the interim, filled
my drying-tin with hot water fiom the kitchen fountain, I place thereon
a sheet or two of bibulous paper, and quickly complete the drying of each
paper separately by laying it thereon, keeping it evenly down on the
heated surface by a weight at each corner. The drying-tin is a closed
vessel, about one and a-half inches in thickness, and an inch wider all
around than the usual size of tlie sensitised sheet, raised a little in the
middle, in order to secure the perfect contact of every part of the paper
with the heated surface below, and having a tube of an inch bore at
one corner by which to pour in the hot water.
A few minutes suffice to fit the papers for tlie printing-frame, the
operation of which docs not bear on my subject.
The printing process satisfactorily completed, the proofs, after careful
washing in several waters, arc plunged into a weak solution c-f common
salt in water, moved about occasionally for ten or fifteen minutes, taken
out and washed again in many waters, hung up in a dark room, and,
when dry, stowed away between the leaves of a perfectly dry and clean
blotting-book. The salting operation, after the removal of the superfluous
nitrate of silver by common water washing, I need scarce^ add, merely
changes the remaining tinge of nitrate into chloride, thereby only adding
a little more to the paper’s previous stock of that salt. The proofs will
now remain unchanged until a convenient season presents itself for
finishing, when, after being plunged into ordinary water, taken out, hung-
up, and well drained, they will as satisfactorily go through the subsequent
processes of alkaline gofd-toning and fixing, as though no interval had
taken place between their printing and final finishing operations.
TV. Bissell.— Both letters received. We are glad to find you have discovered feryour-
self, the source of your difficulty.
Pupil.— Your formula is very good, it must be your manipulation that is at fault ; get
some friend to give you a practical lesson.
M. 0. — It would bo nothing but waste of time to make such an experiment as you
propose : we know what would be the result.
M. J. P. — 1. We do not think it worth the smallest notice. — 2. Useful in some cases,
but not to be indiscriminately applied. — 3. See Yol. IV. page ICG.
Querist. — We cannot undertake to test apparatus for private information ; if wo do it
at all, tlie result, whether favourable or the reverse, must be given to the public.
Bred. Grant. — Your ler.s is of too short a focus to give satisfactory results of the kind
you desire, unless they are on too small a scale: you had better procuie another of
larger focus at once.
F. Barnham. — Your note arrived on the day of our going to press, consequently too
late for reply in our last ; but you will have found a solution of your diffieu'ty in one of
the papers therein published.
Australian Amateur. — Nearly all the dealers in photographic apparatus can no-.v
supply you with glass baths : see our advertising columns. One at least of the advertisers
mentions the article very specifically.
South of France. — An old correspondent, a microscopist and amateur photographer in
delicate health, proposes a trip for three or four months to the South of France, and
inquires whether we know a congenial spirit who would accompany him, and share
expenses. If any of our friends would like to do so, and will communicate with us, we
will endeavour to make matters fit.
Perplexed.— Your collodion dees not contain enough gun-cotton for the amount of
iodising material used : make some plain collodion, with a large quantity of pyroxyline,
and add a small poition of it to the iodised collodion. You enclose your name and
stamps for a copy of the Journal, but omit ’ your address, hence we can only forward
it through our Glasgow agent, from whom you say, you usually procure your copy.
f§HT All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, dc., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SIIADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, TJverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part cf Great Britain'
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.-When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, IiEXRY GrREENV/OOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTE
PAGE
L EADER . . . 3 95
A FEW HINTS OX COMPOSITION AS
APPLIED TO PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES.
By W. H. DAVIES . 396
ON ALKALINE TONING. By A. ROBERTSON 399
HEROIC CONDUCT OF A WELL-KNOWN
^PHOTOGRAPHER . SS9
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
HYPOSULPHITE OF SODA. By JAMES
MARTIN . 400
DESCRIPTION OF A NEW INSTANTANEOUS
SHUTTER, Invented by Mr WINDOW, and
Manufactured by J. H. DALLMEYER . 401
ON THE NATURE AND TONING OF THE
PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE. By T. A.
MALONE, F.C.S . 401
ON INSTANTANIKTY IN PHOTOGRAPHY.
By M. L’AIIBE DESPRATZ . 4C4
THE COMPOUND ALBUMEN PROCESS. By
Mr. NOTON . 404
N T S.
PAG2
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION: AWARD
OF MEDALS AT EXHIBITIONS AND
ELSEWHERE. By JOHN CRAMB . 405
ON THE RESINISED COLLODION DRY
PROCESS. By SAUNDERS VAN LOO, of
Amsterdam . 406
A DREAM OF THE FUTURE .. . 407
LEAVES FROM THE DIARY OF A LATE
ENTHUSIASTIC AMATEUR. Edited bv
SYDNEY SUNSHINE . 407
RECENT PUBLICATIONS . 409
EXHIBITIONS . 409
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHol
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. BvAH.
WALL . 419
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES 411
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE : Letter from
Paris. B7 M. LACAN . 413
CORRESPONDENCE . 413
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, . 414
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 155, Vol. VIII.— DECEMBER 2, 1861.
The British Journal Photographic Almanac for 1861 having
been received with an amount of approval far exceeding our
most sanguine expectations, it is the intention of the Proprietor
and Publisher of this Journal to issue a corresponding one for
the year I8G2, which, like its predecessor, will be Edited by
Samuel Highley, F.Gr.S., F.C.S., &c., and will be adapted for
carrying in the pocket-book. It will contain, besides a Calendar
for the year 1862, “A Retrospect of our Photographic Year;”
Days, Hours, and Places of Meeting of Photographic and
Scientific Societies; Formula} for Wet, Dry, Instantaneous,
Negative, and Positive Collodion Processes ; Albumen Process,
Waxed-Paper Process, Printing Process, &c. ; “ Photographic
Olla Podricla,” Useful Tables, Measures, Notes, &c. ; and a large
amount of other valuable and interesting information. A copy
of the Almanac will be Presented with every copy of this
Journal issued on the 1st of January next, and it will be on sale
to non-subscribers at the nominal price of Threepence per copy.
To avoid interfering with the portability of the Almanac, the space
devoted to advertisements will of necessity be limited. We
are therefore requested by the Publisher to intimate to those
wishing to take advantage of so desirable a medium for perma¬
nently advertising, that early application for space will be
requisite, in order to avoid disappointment and ensure insertion.
Further particulars will be found at page iv. of the advertising
sheet.
The Composition of the Photographic Image. — Every
scientific photographer will doubless feel gratified that Mr.
Malone is engaged in an attempt to solve this perplexing
problem, and probably pleased as well as surprised at his hav¬
ing so strongly pledged himself to an opinion upon its nature as
that expressed in his impromptu address delivered at the last
meeting of the Photographic Society. We must admit that we
are by no means satisfied that the question is yet deter g ined ;
and supposing Mr. Malone should hereafter he enabled satis¬
factorily to prove that his deposit of what he designated ruby
silver (but which, by the way, was not of a ruby colour but brown),
is really metallic silver in a minute state of division, although
the probabilities are in favour of the photographic image being
identical with it, such a proposition would scarcely then be
proved, because other materials are present at the genesis of
the picture which were absent in Mr. Malone’s experiments.
But will the ruby (brown) silver be demonstrable as merely
metallic? We entertain a doubt, because wherever carbon is
present with the nitrate of that metal there is always a con¬
siderable risk of its entering into combination with the oxide of
the metallic base.
One remarkable statement was made in the course of Mr.
Malone’s address which arrested our attention particularly —
we mean that relative to the very extended time the ruby gold
would remain suspended in the water without becoming de¬
posited, a hint being thrown out that it may be in some measure
soluble therein, The question appears to us sufficiently easy of
solution microscopical examination would infallibly settle it.
On mentioning this subsequently to Mr. Malone we understood
him to affirm that microscopical examination had been resorted
to without detecting any particles of matter, merely colouration
being visible ; and, if this be the case, we contend that, despite
the subsequent aggregation of the particles, as Mr. Malone
considers the phenomenon, he has no just ground for regarding
the coloured liquid otherwise than as a solution. How else can
we distinguish between a solution and mechanical diffusion ?
There is, however, another fact to bear in mind : it does not
follow that, because any particular observer failed to detect the
particles, they were not to be detected. We should desire to
know who was the observer and under what circumstances was
his observation made ?
As a chemist Mr. Malone would scarcely deny the possibility
of body being held in true solution, yet allowing of the forma¬
tion of a deposit after the lapse of some more or less extended
time by decomposition ; therefore, the final result being a deposit,
incapable of resuming its former intimate state of assumed dif¬
fusion through the liquid, it must have undergone some change
of character. But, whatever way the question may be finally
settled, we hail with pleasure the new researches which will be
sure to be undertaken in consequence of Mr. Malone’s introduc¬
tion of the investigation.
Albumen Process. — The albumen process possesses some
qualifications of such peculiar advantage, under certain circum¬
stances, that we cannot forbear drawing attention to a short and
very unpretending paper by Mr. Noton, of the Manchester Society,
which appeared in our last number, page 404. The pre¬
dominating difficulty hitherto with the albumen process has
been that of rapidly drying the film, so as to retain its uniformity
of thickness, &c. This, according to Mr. Noton’s experience,
is to be accomplished by the simple expedient of placing the
coated plate on an ordinary hot-water plate for the space of a
single minute. Wb shall be interested to learn whether the
experience of other operators tallies with that of Mr. Noton.
Photography at the International Exhibition. Photo¬
graphy is now a matter of such widely-spread interest that it is
Jmost impossible even with the utmost diligence to keep
iu courant with everything which appears in the daily and
leriodical press in connexion with it. If the new and the true
done were concerned the task would be comparatively trifling ;
jut unfortunately much appears which is untrue, and still moie
vhich is anything but new'.
A few days prior to the publication of our last issue we read
n the Daily Telegraph , in one of the very interesting articles
vhich appear from time to time in that newspaper on the pio-
rress of the Exhibition, a paragraph relating to photography, in
vhich there wras a considerable amount of fiction, oi lather
nisappreheusion, based upon a very small quantity of fact,
die portion of the paragraph to which we moie paiticulaily
Jlude is the following, viz. : —
“It is a consideration, further to be taken into account, that the
iractice of photography has received governmental aid abroad and has
ieen fostered to an extent not aimed at m this country. M hen we see
hose grand architectural pictures by the Brothers Bisson, we may be
416
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTO G RAT II Y.
[December 2, 1801
sure that accurate representations on so large a scale are not achieved
without the aid of a costly apparatus. Indeed, it is a known fact that
such a lens as that employed to photograph Rouen Cathedral and the
Porch of Notre Dame costs from five hundred to a thousand pounds, or
even more. To enable photographers to meet these vast expenses, so far
beyond their ordinary means, the French Government comes forward
with liberal grants of money. It is hardly necessary to say that state
assistance in such matters does not accord with English notions ; but
this is all the more reason for extraordinary efforts to cope with the fa¬
voured art of other nations.”
After perusing the preceding we could not forbear making a
note for future comment. That such a statement should be
made at all is surprising, but is still more so when it appears in
the Daily Telegraph, an organ not the most likely to detract
from private as compared with governmental enterprise in
England. But that which excites most astonishment in us is
the extraordinary mistake relative to the value of Bisson’s lens,
which would be more correctly described by shillings rather than
pounds, in the statement above made, as to number, and in all
probability has really arisen from a mistranslation of francs into
pounds.
With regard to the actual relative outlay by English and
French operators in apparatus, we very much fear that where
the latter spend hundreds the former do the same with thou¬
sands. So much for accuracy on this point. In a previous part
of the article, too, we find a singular misconception relative to
“one of the most influential sections of the great modern
guild,” which would be amusing were it not mischievous, as
promulgating amongst the outside public a very erroneous
notion of the real feeling entertained by the majori ty of photo¬
graphers on the question at issue between themselves and the
Royal Commissioners. While on this subject we would refer
also to an article which recently appeared in The Mechanics ’
Magazine, in which this particular phase is treated with
unusual lucidity by one not directly connected with our art, and
from which we extract the following: —
“We are aware that an unseemly question has arisen between the
Commissioners of the New Kensington Palace and the principal expo¬
nents of the art of photography, as to the rank and position it shall take
in the halls of that place. AVe certainly see no good reason for excluding
photography from the fine arts department, as there is ground for fearing
it is the intention of the ruling powers of the International Exhibition to
do. The photographer, in the sense in which we understand the term,
is as much entitled to be considered an artist as is the engraver or the
painter, and the works he produces are as much works of art as theirs.
In saying thus much, we have no wish to disparage the labours of the
engraver or the painter, but rather to elevate the labours of the photo¬
grapher. To form a perfect photograph, a great deal of delicate manipulation
is required on the part of the operator, who also must understand completely
the effects of light, shade, and distance. Chemistry must have been
mastered by him — at all events so far as it has any bearing upon the art
he practises— if he is to be anything like successful in the practice of the
latter. The effects of careful _ groupings and of colours must also be
known to him, and more especially so in photographic portraiture. In
short, it seems to us that a gross injustice will be done to photographic
artists if, in the Exhibition of 1862, photography be not allowed to occupy
the position which the voice of public opinion awards'To it, namely, that
of one of the fine arts.”
We regret exceedingly, however, that in the earlier part of
the article from which the preceding is extracted (and which
treats of the abridgment of patent specifications connected
with photography, published a short time back) some remarks
appear which, though inadvertently so, are likely to promulgate
some erroneous notions. It is assumed that the 280 persons
who are the alleged inventors interested in the patents specified
have all, or most of them, “ assisted in developing the art
of photography,” and that “ public acknowledgment is due to
each.” Now, the fact is notorious to the well-informed in con¬
nexion with our art that, with some few noble exceptions, the
patentees, instead of having “developed the art,” have rather
put shackles upon it ; while most of those to whom honour is
due on this head have freely given the results of their labours
to the public : we may cite in particular, Sir J. Iierschel, Mr.
Archer, Dr. Percy, Mr. Robert Hunt, the Rev. J. B. Readc, and
a host of others whose names are not to be found in the patent
list. 1 '
Lest we should run the risk of being altogether mistaken, we
may remark that we gratefully acknowledge the obligations of
photography to some .few amongst the patentees — Talbot,
Claudet, Mayall, and some others ; but such men as these are
the exceptions amongst them — an overwhelming majority
having been nothing less than either useless or obstructive.
One of the names specially cited by our worthy contemporary
as belonging to the benefactors is superlatively droll as appear¬
ing in that capacity, his share consisting in the addition of a
small piece of looking-glass to an ordinary lenticular stereo¬
scope — an addition so obvious as to have been practised by many
long before the existence of a patent for it, and hearing but a
very remote connexion, if any, with the art of photography.
Moonlight Stereographs. — Our readers will no doubt
recollect some remarks published a short time back by M.
Gaudin, indicative of his conviction that the Stereographs by
Moonlight mentioned in the pages of our contemporary, the
Photographic News, as having been executed by Mr. Breese,
of Birmingham, were really taken by sunlight, and further
giving very philosophical reasons for concluding that, in the pre¬
sent state of chemical knowledge, it would be impossible to pro¬
duce a bona-fide “ moonlight ” view. While equally convinced of
the correctness of this conclusion, we did not, like M. Gaudin,
attribute the assertion made to mendacity, hut to some mis¬
apprehension ; and we are pleased to find that such has really
been the case — the whole confusion arising from an error of
diction, as will at once be perceived on perusing a communica¬
tion, to be found in another column, from Mr. J. T. Brown, Jum,
the Hon. Secretary of the Birmingham Photographic Society.
It turns out that the pictures to which allusion was made are
instantaneous stereographs of the moon — a very different affair
to instantaneous moonlight views, for by all the ordinary rules
of language the latter designation would apply only to views
illuminated by the reflected light from the moon’s surface. Of
course Mr. Breese is not responsible for the erroneous nomen¬
clature. We might take a negative of the flame of a candle, but
we should not therefore be able to take a candle-light view.
We cannot doubt that Mr. Breese has made some very con¬
siderable advance in exaltation of chemical sensitiveness, as
the production even of instantaneous lunar images evinces ;
and we sincerely regret that from so droll an error of language
he has been subjected to so much suspicion.
King’s College Piiotograppiic Lectureship. — Few of our
readers will have forgotten that our former fellow-labourer and
esteemed friend, Mr. Hardwicli, was the apostle of photography,
as a recognised branch of scientific instruction, at King’s College,
London ; and owing, doubtless, to his genial and amiable dis¬
position, combined with his unquestionable skill as a chemist,
the office which he filled as lecturer on photography enjoyed
much popularity. After Mr. Hardwich’s withdrawal the post was
for a short time filled by Mr. Thomas Sutton, but was again re¬
cently vacant owing to his retirement. We have much pleasure
in announcing that, by the appointment of Mr. George Dawson, of
Bath, there is every reason to expect not only a continuance but,
if possible, an increase of energy in the promulgation of our art.
Mr. Dawson’s name will, of course, be familiar to our readers
as a valuable member of the North London Photographic
Association, and also in connexion with some important papers,
published in this Journal, relative to the action of the fixing
bath of hyposulphite of soda upon the positive proofs, and others,
in which a knowledge of chemistry, combined with considerable
manipulative and photographic skill, were requisites to any one
undertaking the necessary investigations. All these qualifica¬
tions are possessed by Mr. Dawson, in addition to being accus¬
tomed to communicating instruction orally in those branches of
the physical sciences to which he has devoted his attention. We
arc, therefore, justified in congratulating the authorities of King’s
College in having secured so valuable an addition to their staff.
December 9, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
41'
ON SIMPLE DRIED COLLODION WITHOUT A
PRESERVATIVE AGENT.
By W. Hislop, F.R.A.S.
[Read at a Meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Nov. 20th, 180].]
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC DISTORTION.
Although the various processes for the preserving of surfaces in a
itate of sensitiveness to light are so numerous, it can hardly be
isserted that we have yet attained perfection. Exquisite pictures
tave occasionally been obtained by almost every process ; and yet
ve are continually heai’ing of something fresh, or some revival of
something old. Gome new preservative or some new method of
manipulation is announced as perfection and as simplicity itself.
A pamphlet is written, and it comes forth to the public so full of
details and precautions as to make its utility doubtful to those
whose aim it is to get pictures and not the pleasure of preparing
! plates.
The proper line of direction seems now to be to simplify details,
and, with the materials which we possess, to endeavour to shorten
the manipulation as far as possible.
It may probably be thought to be going too far to say that we
have been experimenting in a wrong direction, in devising all sorts
of applications to the plate to preserve it ; still I have no doubt in
my own mind that it will ultimately be found that the effect of
these applications has only been to mar and spoil an exquisitely
delicate surface, which requires rather to be kept from contact
with any extraneous substances whatever.
It has long ago been stated that the dried collodion film is
sensitive to light ; but the statement has been made in so doubtful
a manner and with such qualifications that few have ventured
even to try the experiment. Among other things it has been
said that the pores of the collodion must be kept open, in order
to allow the developing agent to penetrate the film and bring out
the picture. Then various substances have been applied to its
surface, and in most cases carefully washed off again, and we are
told that some mysterious effect has been produced on the film
which enables the desired result to be obtained. Recently we
have had several processes in which the great difficulty is the non¬
adhesion of the film to the plate, rendering some previous operation
necessary for keeping it fast. Major Russell advocates the general
use. of some such means, as he asserts, and truly so, that it is
desirable in all dry processes.
Now, it is a simple fact, and that without any qualification,
that no preservative substances whatever are required : good
pictures can be got without them. If the film be excited in
the ordinary way, well washed and dried, it will be found sensitive
still, and as sensitive as the best of any other dry process. More than
this, it will be found perfectly easy to develop the picture. It
comes out quickly and with ease, and is perfectly under command.
The results will bo found very similar to those which would be
obtained with the same collodion in a wet state, except that there
is a slight loss of intensity. Ifa small quantity of common resin —
say half a grain or a grain to the ounce — be previously added to
the collodion the intensity will be very materially increased, and
for transparent positives a very beautiful colour will be obtained.
.One great point, I find, is to keep the sensitising bath very acid
with acetic acid. The only other precaution is to adopt some
means, of. keeping the film on the plate. This may be done either
by painting the edge with varnish or covering the surface with
gelatine or albumen. I much prefer albumen. I simply add the
white of an egg to eight ounces of water, with about half a drachm
of glacial acetic acid, shake the whole well together in a bottle, let
it stand, a few hours, filter it, and bottle it for use. The quantity
is sufficient for a very long time, as it is simply poured on and
off again into the bottle — if necessary, helping it to spread with a
glass rod. The plate is then dried before a brisk fire, put by to
cool, and then the ordinary manipulation is followed.
I prefer washing in a series of dishes, pouring over the plate,
when taken from the last dish, a gentle stream of water to remove
any particles which may have settled upon it. The plate is then
dried spontaneously, and stored away for use.
I have tried several sorts of collodion, and find the same especial
results. The qualities of each sample come out on the dried pl^te
in the same way in which they are apparent in the wet state.
Let it be understood I claim nothing as new. I only know that,
after years of labour and failures, I have at length found a method
of getting pictures which supply my wants. I know beforehand
that if I can get a good picture with the collodion in a wet state,
that I shall get the same results, or even better, in a dry condition.
I speak advisedly when I say letter results; for the amount of
detail which I have thus got in my dry negatives could never be
obtained with the same material in a soft spongy condition.
By Robert H. BoW, Civil Engineer, Edinburgh.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, November 6th, 1861.]
So many peculiarities of the photographic picture may be classed
under this head that the term is very indefinite, unless it be under¬
stood to mean the total bad effect arising from the accumulated
distortions of various kinds. Or it would perhaps be better to use
the term in the plural number, and attach distinctive epithets to
the several varieties of distortion. I here offer what is probably an
incomplete list of the photographic distortions.
First. — We very frequently have an appearance of excessive en¬
largement of the nearer objects in a picture. This is more striking
in the case of photographs of objects placed very near the camera,
and taken with a lens of short focus. It consists of a perspective
distortion arising from the distance from the eye at which the pic¬
ture is held when inspected in the hand being far in excess of that
distance with which the perspective is in accordance. Now, as
portraits are most liable to this kind of distortion, and show it in a
most offensive way, we may be allowed to distinguish it as the
“portrait distortion.”
Second. — We have very commonly either a contraction or
enlargement of scale at the margins as compared with the centres
of photographs, producing the respective appearances calle
“barreling” and “pincushioning;” and as this is most observable
in, and most detrimental to the value of, copies of plans and charts,
we may particularise it as “chart distortion.”
Third. — We sometimes have a contraction of scale towards one
margin of a picture, caused by the tilting of the camera. It is
most frequently to be noticed in pictures including high buildings,
the top of the picture having a contracted appearance, the result
of an upward inclination given to the camera to enable it to embrace
the higher objects. In copying a picture also this form of dis¬
tortion may be produced, unless care be taken to have the axis of
the camera so placed as to intersect perpendicularly the plane
of the picture in the central point.
Fourth. — We have an undue width given to the high lights from
Uieir encroaching upon the neighbouring shadows. This is due to
aberration of the lens and the use of too large a stop. The rays
which are not brought to a perfect focus spread the effect of the
strong light over a larger space. This distortion may be somewhat
modified in magnitude by the length of exposure and the particu¬
lar action of the chemicals employed.
Fifth. — We have that variety of distortion pointed out by Sir
David Brewster as affecting the images of small prominent parts
of a body when taken with a lens of large unstopped aperture.
Sixth. — We may note what, in some treatises on optics — as for
instance Dr. Lardner’s — is particularly called “distortion of the
image,” but this is perhaps better known by the better name of
“curvature of the field.”
It is to the two first varieties of these distortions that I mean to
confine my remarks, viz., the portrait and chart distortions, and I
shall chiefly dwell on the latter of these.
ON THE “PORTRAIT DISTORTION.”
In the case of all pictorial representations into which perspective
enters there is, for each pictm’e, a certain point at which the eye
should be placed in order that the apparent relative distances and
magnitudes may be all correctly given. The truth of this, though
known to all who have studied perspective, does not readily come
home to us in a practical form, since the eye is so accommodating,
or rather so little critical on this point, that a picture may be
placed at a considerable range of distances from the observer
without the ensuing incongruities of the perspective becoming
offensive in amount. I speak thus in reference to the productions
of our best masters in painting.
Another order of things, however, was established by the intro¬
duction of the quick-acting portrait camera, with its short focus,
and the accompanying necessary proximity of the person to be
operated upon to the instrument. Yet the distorted appearances
which we find in the productions of such a camera, and which have
in the public mind been attached as distinctive characteristics of
photographic portraiture, are only exaggerations of a defect which
is attached to every picture.
When a picture is looked at from the proper point of vieio the
image in it of any object subtends the same angle at the eye as
the object itself would do were it seen direct. But the error com¬
mitted in taking photographs of near objects is, that the proper
point of view for the photograph is at far too short a distance from it.
When a photograph is produced by a camera with a small un¬
stopped lens, the proper distance at which it should be viewed to
418
T HE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAP H Y.
see it in correct perspective is identical with the focal length of
the lens. Now this distance is frequently not above a third of that
at which the photograph would generally be held when inspected
in the hand. But, not to exaggerate, I will, in the following
examples, speak of this focal length or proper perspective distance
of observation as six inches, and the distance at which the photo¬
graph would generally be held, when inspected in the hand, at
double this, or one foot.
Let the objects of which we are supposed to take experimental
photographs be two sticks or posts of equal and suitable lengths,
placed five feet apart, measured in the direction of observation.
Now let us first plant our camera at a distance of 100 feet from the
further-off post, which wo will consider the standard or undistorted
FIG. 1.
one. Let the angle subtended at the distance of 100 feet by this
post be represented by a, then the angle subtended by the nearer
post will be = hV — a-
Taking a photograph of these with an unstopped lens of small
aperture, it is evident that, when this is held at the focal length of
six inches from the eye, the angles subtended by the imaged posts
will be the same as if actually looking at the posts direct. But the
photograph would not be so held : it would, we assume, be natu¬
rally placed at a distance of one foot from the eye, so that the angles
subtended by the imaged posts will be reduced to half their former
values,* or become = * and f * yy3. We have now to inquire into
what change these altered angles represent, and we shall arrive at
the apparent distortion or change, by arranging the actual posts so
as to subtfend these new angles at the eye ; and this may be done in
three different ways : — 1st. We may double the distance of each
post from the camera, putting one 200 feet off and the other 190
feet : the accompanying effect of this would be to lengthen out the
distance at which they are apart from five to ten feet. 2nd. Re¬
taining the distance apart of five feet, we must place the standard
one at 200 feet off, and lengthen out the nearer post to a certain
degree, ascertained thus : — The angles we would have if we did not
lengthen the nearer post would be = £ and | * f gg, and the angles
we want are = £ and § * yV5 5 so that the length to be added to
the nearer post — £ (y5° — !H) — tI-h = 001344, its length being
taken as unity: the increase of length would therefore amount to
only about per cent. The third method of bringing about the
change in the angles is by a partial adoption of each of the above
expedients, and this, as we shall more particularly point out, is the
actual change which the picture represents.
From the above example we see
that for £*ich objects placed at so
great a distance from the instrument
the amount of apparent perspective
distortion is very trifling, and far less
than what would be required to strike
the eye. But let us now take a more
trying example. Let us produce the
photograph of the posts with the ca¬
mera only ten feet from the further-
off one ; and let the angles under which
they are seen direct, and their images
seen at six inches off, be = b and b y or
2 b: these become in the photograph
placed one foot off — % b and b. To
make the actual state of matters cor¬
respond we must — 1st, either place the
posts at the respective distances of
twenty and ten feet ; or, 2nd, placing
the standard one at twenty and the
nearer at fifteen feet distant we must
lengthen the latter by an amount =
b — (£ b = & b, or 33J per cent,
or, 3rd, we must so far make both
changes that their combined effect will
give the requisite change in the angle
subtended at the eye by the nearer
post.
* It is not str'et'y coriect, but sufficiently so for the present purpose, to say that the
aiv^li s become of half their former values. They really become such as to have tangents
C‘ju il to half the tangents of the original angles.
[December 2, 1801
The effect produced upon the eye by the two first alterations of
the positions or lengths of the posts are identical, so that the eye
alone is not capable (in so far as perspective is concerned) of
judging between them, or saying in what degree either form of
distortion exists to the displacement of the other; and the
judgment really formed will be very much directed by the charac¬
ter of the picture, and the ideas respecting it pro-occupying the
mind. We may venture, however, to say that, in the case of an
ordinary picture, the idea of enlargement of the nearer objects will
predominate over that of their exaggerated separation from the
background, since this makes a less demand upon the power of
calling up the idea of relief. In some stereoscopic pictures, on the
other hand, where the idea of relief may be exaggerated, the
nearer objects will actually appear diminished as compared with
the background or more distant objects.
# All that need be said in regard to obviating this form of distor¬
tion is merely to repeat directions which have already been given
by others— to avoid taking a photograph of an object with the
camera placed too near to it; or, when that is unavoidable, to use a
lens of much longer focus than usual.
This form of distortion is peculiarly prominent in the case of
portraits, but these are also liable to all the other varieties.
We now go on to speak of the absolute distortion of scale under
the name of “chart distortion,” as it is the great defect to which
copies of pictures, maps, plans, charts, &c., are subject.
“ CHART DISTORTION.”
Plans and charts become worse than valueless when copied so as
to have distorted scales ; it is therefore a most important matter to
free the copying as much as jaossible from this defect.
Believing that this distortion exists to a much greater degree than
is generally thought, and that the usual combinations for copying
are not so perfect as they get credit for, I trust the Society will
excuse me for treating of the subject at considerable length,
although not so fully and completely as I could have desired;
hut the subject is new to me, the calculations somewhat tedious,
and the aid to be obtained from the ordinary treatises on optics
very doubtful indeed. The chief information and the higher re¬
searches on the action of lenses are confined to the production of
the most perfect image of an object seen under a very small angle
of view, of which wo may take the moon, or about half a degree,
as the greatest; whereas what the photographer desires is an
angle of 50 or 60 degrees, or more if he can get it. The questions
are so different that one of the first proceedings of the photo¬
graphic optician is to turn the lens exactly the reverse way of
that directed by the astronomical mathematician, sacrificing fine
definition at the centre of the picture for a more generally dis¬
tributed though far inferior excellence.
The Origin of the Distortion. — If we were to take a copy of our
chart by means of the rays passing through a pinhole, or by means
SOTh'. — The more curved “ lield " is given by using the central part of the lens alone: the Hauer "lieiu"
is obtained by placing a stop at S S.
of a very small lens of considerable focus, that copy would be free
from the defect we are now considering : the various lines would
December 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
410
be more or less hazy and indistinct, but their positions and distances
would be everywhere correct, according to the scale of the centre.
The want of sharpness, however, in the best of such copies thus
obtained, except when the size is very small compared with the
length of focus of the lens, is so great, that we are driven from this
simple to more complex arrangements in search of “flatness of
field,” or of such a condensing of the oblique and straight pencils of
light as to bring them all to their foci in the same plane.
The diagram,^- 2, exhibits the different foci for some pencils of
light all at the same very oblique angle, but passing through
different parts of the lens, and at once points out the use of a stop
at S S, to cut or stop off all the rays which come to the shorter
foci; and this device of a stop is the principal step in all arrange¬
ments for obtaining flatness of field.
Unfortunately the employment in this manner of a stop brings
with it the evils of chart distortion ; thus, in jig. 3, let A I = I D.
The rays 0 A and 0 I, coming from an object beyond the stop,
would give a correct projection on the plane of AD; and there¬
fore, in order that the image formed at P F may be correct, P It
should bear the same proportion to It F which A I bears to I D, and
it would do this approximately if the tangents of the angles of
refraction were proportioned to the tangents of the angles of inci¬
dence, i.e., if P F to It E,' were as A D to I D ; but it is the sines
of the angles and not the tangents Avhich are proportionate, the
consequence is that P F compared with It F is too small, or the
ray 0 A P is too much refracted to give an undistorted image.
FIG. 3.
The courses of the four rays have been calculated for the various
examples with considerable care, the effect of the thickness of the
glass, &c., being taken into account. The index of refraction em¬
ployed has been taken as usual = 1*5 for the sake of convenience,
although a higher value would have been better.
(To be concluded in our next.)
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James MAimN.
CYANIDE OF POTASSIUM.
Synonymes. — Cyanuret potassium.
Composition. — Iv. C2 N., or K. Cy.
Equivalent. — 66.
Preparation. — Cyanide of potassium is formed Jn a variety ]of
ways, as, for instance, when potassium is heated in cyanogen gas,
or when the same metal is heated in the vapour of hydro-cyanic
acid, or when nitrogen gas is passed over a mixture of carbonate
of potash and charcoal in a porcelain tube heated to whiteness.
These methods, however, of producing the substance are simply
curious in a chemical point of view, and by no means suitable for
its preparation on a scale suitable to meet the demand which exists
for it. It may be prepared for use by passing the vapour of hydro¬
cyanic acid into a cold alcoholic solution of potash, when the salt
separates in a crystalline form, and may be dried by pressure be¬
tween folds of blotting
g-paper.
In calculating the distortions produced by the different lenses,
and in comparing the effects producible by combining two lenses,
one on either side of the same stop, it will greatly facilitate the
operations if we assume certain rays passing the stop at definite
angles; and perhaps the rays shown in jig. 3 are the most conve¬
nient for our purpose. The extreme ray is taken at thirty degrees
with the axis of the lens, and the tangent to it, A D, is divided
into four equal parts, so that the angles of the other rays are as
marked in the figure. Taking A D as the unit of our dimensions,
K D will be = 0-75, ID — 0-5, and G D = 0'25, also the distance
of the stop, or 0 D will be = T732051. All the other dimensions,
such as the radius of curvature, distance of object or image, &c.,
are to be referred to this same unit A D. All the lenses here con¬
sidered are plano-convex.
The Unit of Non -Distortion. — The amount of the distortion will
diminish towards the centre of the picture, the tangents and sines
becoming there more and more nearly equal, and at the centre the
distortion will be zero.
If we imagine a ray 0 m (fig. 3) to be exceedingly near to the
axis, then the ratio which r<;F bears to m D gives us a standard by
which to calculate the amount of distortion produced upon any of
the radii, such as D G, D I, D K, or D A; and if we make the value
which D A should possess in the picture at P F, if it were un¬
distorted like the centre, equal to unity, the actual values of
P F, T F, R F, and Q F, when compared with 1, 075, 05, and 025
times this undistorted value, respectively, will indicate the amount
of contraction which each has undergone. The ratio which m D
bears to to D when the ray 0 m is infinitely near the axis is =
1 . ?_+ “ T -L U D + « T\ . 1 D + i T
1 • R + M V R / °r 1 : 1 2~R
where u — index of refraction, D = 0 D, T = D E, and K = radius
of curvature of AE, and taking u = 1*5, and since AD = 1, the
D 4- a t
value of our unit of non-distortion is — 1 - - ^ —
It is produced still more advanta¬
geously by ihv process of Mr
Donovan, which consists in heat¬
ing to whiteness in an iron vessel
(preferably a mercury bottle)
ferro-cyanide of potassium, which
is converted by this treat¬
ment into charcoal, carbide of
iron, and cyanide of potassium,
the decomposition being accom¬
panied by the evolution of
nitrogen and other gases, which
are conducted under water by
an iron tube attached to the
mouth of the bottle — the object
of this arrangement being to
obtain an indication of the com¬
pletion of the process by the cessa¬
tion of the escape of gas. The
process, however, par excellence ,
by which this salt may be most economically manufactured for
commercial purposes is the one devised by Baron Liebig. It is as
follows : — Eight parts of ferrocyanide of potassium (i. e. yellow
prussiate of potash) previously dried in a sandbatlr or by other
suitable means, to expel water of crystallisation, are intimately
mixed with three parts of dried carbonate of potash. This mixture
is thrown into a red-hot earthen crucible, and is kept in a state of
fusion, until gases cease to be evolved, and until the upper portion
of the fused salt becomes colourless. This point may be ascer¬
tained by withdrawing a small portion on the end of a glass rod.
On cooling it should appear quite white. The crucible is then re¬
moved from the fire, the contents stirred with a glass rod, and the
clear portion poured off from the sediment, which is principally
carbide of iron and iron in a minute state of division.
Properties. — Prepared as above, it appears in that condition in
which it is generally sold in the shops — namely, as a hard white
mass, having a crystalline fracture. It may be obtained, however,
from its aqueous solution, in anhydrous octahedral crystals. It is
Very deliquescent in the air, and exceedingly soluble in 'water. A
spirit containing sixty per cent, of alcohol, and having a specific
gravity of 0896, takes up at its boiling point a large quantity of
cyanide of potassium, and conveniently allovTs nearly the whole to
separate on cooling : this, therefore, suggests itself as a suitable
method for the purification of this salt. A stronger or a weaker
alcohol retains much more in permanent solution. Cyanide of
potassium is readily fusible at a red heat, and without decom¬
position, if air be excluded : if this be admitted, however, the
cyanide becomes oxidised into cyanate of potash. The aqueous
solution of cyanide of potassium undergoes spontaneous decompo¬
sition, partly from the absorption of carbonic acid from the air and
partly from the formation of formiate of potash ; it is, therefore,
inexpedient to malcc too large a quantity of podtive fixing solution at a
time. This salt is anhydrous, has an alkaline reaction, and is very
poisonous. Though very fairly recommended by Liebig for use in
420
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 2, 1861
mineral analysis, as a powerful reducing or de-oxidising agent,
this very property renders it altogether unsuited for the fixation of
negatives, either on paper, collodion, or albumen, or for positive
prints on paper ; while, on the other hand, it is the best fixing agent
for direct positives on glass. These remarks lead us now to a con¬
sideration of the uses of this salt.
Uses. — Cyanide of potassium is occasionally employed in photo¬
graphy for the formation of a small quantity of cyanide of silver,
with the iodide in sensitive films : the propriety of this application
is, however, somewhat questionable. Its principal use is as a fixing
agent in the collodion process for direct positives on glass, for
which, as above stated, it is especially applicable, for the following
reasons -The object aimed at, chemically speaking, in the positive
collodion process, is to obtain, by development, a deposit of as pure
metallic silver as possible, so that it shall appear of a pure frosty
white by reflected light. It sometimes happens, ho wev er — through
the improper employment of acetic acid instead of nitric acid in
the development, and also through the imperfect or too prolonged
action of the developer — that the silver goes down in combination
with organic matter, and in a low state of oxidation, acquiring
thereby an unpleasant yellow colour. The use of cyanide of po¬
tassium as a fixing agent under these circumstances goes far to
correct this untoward result, owing to its strong affinity for
oxygen and organic matter.
It will be seen, upon a little reflection, that the reasons which
make it so suitable for fixing positives render it quite unfit for use
in the negative collodion process. This will become still more
obvious on perusing the remarks on the application of hyposulphite
of soda in that process.
Impurities. — Prepared as above, directed by Liebig’s process,
cyanide of potassium is always contaminated with cyanate of
potash though not to such an extent as to interfere with its use in
photography, or with its more extensive application in the process
of electroplating. The principal impurity in commercial cyanide
of potassium is carbonate of potash, which sometimes exists in the
proportion of 58 per cent. Some samples contain also iron and
formiate of potash. There are three kinds of cyanide of potassium
sold by chemists, in which the per-centage of pure cyanide is about
as follows : —
No. 1. — -Common cyanide contains about 42 per cent., and is sold
at 3s. 9d. per lb.
No. 2. — Best fused cyanide, for electroplating, &c., contains about
92 per cent., and is sold at 7s. 6d, per lb.
No. 3. — Pure cyanide, crystallised from alcohol, contains about99£
per cent., and is sold at 24s. per lb.
The prices given are of course merely approximative, and, sub¬
ject as they are to continual variation, are simply quoted to give
an idea of the comparative value of the three articles. Bearing in
mind the application of this salt in photography to the removal
of undecomposed iodide of silver from the delicate and tender collo¬
dion film, is it not marvellous that the preparation selected by
photographers for the purpose should be the commonest and most
inferior, containing more than 50 per cent, of carbonate ?
Admitting that the carbonate of potash is inert as far as its che¬
mical action on the xyloidin is concerned, it is extremely likely
to cause the separation of the film from the plate by the softening-
action which alkaline salts exert upon such delicate textures.
Moreover, the proportion of pure cyanide in a hundred parts is so
variable that it is impossible to give a formula for a fixing solution
winch shall be applicable to every sample. The writer would
therefore, upon chemical principles, earnestly recommend the em¬
ployment of the salt numbered 3 in the above comparative list,
which offers the advantage of being always constant in its cha¬
racter, without any serious drawback on the subject of cost, seeing
that two grains will go as far as ten or twelve of that coarse pre¬
paration now so inappropriately applied to the refined operation of
fixing a positive collodion photograph.
Tests. — The slight traces of cyanate of potash in the cyanide of
potassium of commerce are so unimportant, photographically, that
it is unnecessary to enter into the method of determining its pre¬
sence. A brisk effervesence ensuing upon the addition of an acid
to the solution of a salt under examination may be regarded as
evidence of the presence of carbonate of potash. A yellow tint,
possessed by the salt in the solid state, may be considered as
indicative of the presence of iron ; and a contamination by formiate
of potash would bo shown by a blackening of the salt on being
heated.
Effect on Humanity. — Of all the preparations used by the photo¬
grapher thiS'is undoubtedly the most dangerous, on account of the
extreme rapidity with which the fatal result supervenes on its
introduction into the system, scarcely ever allowing time for tho
administration of antidotes. Moreover, its poisonous effects are
sometimes produced by absorption into the body by contact with
a cut or abrasion of the skin. A poisonous dose will produce, in
rapid succession, a bitter cold taste — constriction and heat in the
throat — insensibility, spasmodic respiration, the eyes fixed, pupils
dilated and glistening— convulsions— spasms of the jaw and body-
death.
A concentrated solution of the salt would possess such a corro¬
sive action as to produce death by strangulation alone. Some
idea of the highly poisonous character of this true lapis infernalis
may be formed from a knowledge of the fact that two grains and
a-half of the pure salt (numbered 3 in the preceding description)
are equal to one grain of anhydrous prussic acid, or fifty minims
of the acid of the London Pharmacopoeia. It should be mentioned,
also, that in cases of poisoning by this salt the breath sometimes
has the odour of bitter almonds, owing to the production of prussic
acid resulting from the decomposition of the salt by the acid juices
of the stomach.
Antidote. — 1. Let the patient inhale the vapour of ammonia—
i. e., spirits of hartshorn — or drink a little sal volatile, diluted with
very little water. — 2. Pour cold water in a continuous stream on
the naked head, neck and spine. — 3. A weak solution of proto¬
sulphate of iron, or ordinary positive developer (if it do not contain
nitrate of baryta or bichloride of mercury in excess), may be
adminstered advantageously.— 4. Stimulants also may be given
if the patient can swallow them; but, whatever is done, must bo
done quickly.
» -
ON MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS.
By G. Wharton Simpson.
[Read at a Meeting of the South London Photographic Society, November J 4, 1861.]
There are few things which contribute more to the general per¬
fection of result in a picture than the mode in which it is mounted;
and, as most photographers know, much of the permanency depends
upon the adhesive material used in mounting. As but compara¬
tively little attention has been given to this subject, I propose
very briefly to devote a few words to the general question.
The first point to be considered will necessarily be that of trim¬
ming and shaping the print preparatory to mounting. In deciding
the shape to which a print should be cut, whether rectangular or
circular, oval, cushion, or dome, three considerations will weigh: —
First as to how much of the print makes a good composition ;
second, as to whether the corners, &c., are perfect; and third, the
general contour and character of the lines in the picture. No spe¬
cific directions can be given regarding the first point : nothing but
good taste and a knowledge of the laws of composition can guide
the photographer in determining how the picture will gain by the
retention or exclusion of an inch, more or less, of the subject in his
negative. His technical taste will, however, readily guide him to
the rejection of dark or ill-defined corners, unless, indeed, they aid
the composition in some degree. I remember some one exclaiming,
when examining some of Wilson’s instantaneous sea pieces, recently
exhibited as single pictures about 4$ by 31, in each one of which
the dark corners produced by loss of illumination and definition at
the edge of the lens were present — “ What a pity Wilsonffiid not
vignette these prints, or cut them oval or circular, so as to get rid
of these dark corners 1 ” “ That,” replied another gentleman, who
knew Wilson, “ would have entirely frustrated the intention in
leaving them, which is to force the lights, and by contrast give
brilliancy to the prints, as they are from very thin negatives.”
This is an expedient, however, which should rarely be used, and
then sparingly. But it illustrates that there are occasions when
power may be added to the composition from the retention of a
dark corner imperfectly illuminated or ill-defined.
The best shape for the print will often be governed by the pre¬
vailing lines in the picture, and especially by the general character
of the outline. Where a number of parallel lines, vertical or hori¬
zontal, prevail in the subject, an oval or circular shape will often
materially help the picture, and prevent the formation of angles,
which must become striking if the rectangular shape be adopted.
On the other hand when the principal lines fall in curves, the rect¬
angular shape will be most suitable. In no case, however, is a
perfect square desirable. The oblong form should in all cases be
chosen : whether the greatest length should be vertical or horizon¬
tal will be governed entirely by the subject.
It is never desirable, in shaping the print, to follow the outline,
or principal lines of the picture. If the picture be vignetted, it will
rarely look well cut to an oval, circle, or dome ; the corners should
December 2, 1861]
421
THE
BRITISH JOURNAL
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
in almost all such cases be left square. The object should be to
secure harmonious variety, and by the shape of the print to give
the utmost value to graceful lines, or to distract attention from
awkward forms. Another purpose may be sometimes gained by
the shape of the print. It sometimes happens, especially in archi¬
tectural subjects, that in obtaining a view of certain objects, it is
immediately surrounded by others of less interest, which cannot
be entirely removed without spoiling the picture. Where vignet¬
ting cannot be, or has not been, used to partially ignore these in¬
truding elements, then the circular or oval form may be adopted
with advantage, which, by cutting away portions of the objects not
required, at once gives importance to the principal figure left alone
in its integrity. These, of course, are but general hints, not abso¬
lute rules. I may here remark that except where the exigencies of
the photograph imperatively demand it, on account of dark corners,
&c., I think that the shape styled by photographers the “cushion ”
shape, should generally be avoided as meaningless and inelegant.
In most cases where it is used the perfect rectangular shape would
he much better. Where the corners are rounded, however, care
should be taken to avoid a sweep which leaves it uncertain whether
it is a flattened circle, an imperfect oval, or a cushion.
I may here acid also one word more on the cutting out of card pic¬
tures. These are, of course, always best left rectangular. But it is
an important point to remember that the due proportions of stature
are chiefly indicated by the amount of space at the top and bottom
of the figure. The size of the picture is generally from three inches
and five-eighths to three inches and three-quarters long. As a
general principle, the amount of background above the head should
be from half-an-inch to three-quarters of an inch, and the space
below the feet not more than a quarter of an inch. The exact
amount will vary, of course, with the stature of the figure, but
these remarks apply to a middle height. I may add also that it is
a good thing to adopt a standard scale of proportion in taking such
portraits, in order to give the pictures the value of suggesting
truth in this respect. About half-an-inch for each foot in height
would he found a good approximate scale for standing figures.
The best mode of shaping is to proceed as follows : — If the
prints have been rolled up, and are, therefore, inclined to curl,
roll them the reverse way on to a roller and leave them for a few
minutes, at the end of which time they will lie straight. A thick
piece of plate-glass cut to the required size and shape is the best
guide, as it enables the manipulator to see exactly the position
and amount of picture included. I may here describe a very good
contrivance described to me a day or two ago by Mr. Samuel
Fry, which he had made for cutting out the card portraits. It
consists of a plate of copper with an aperture the size and shape
of the photograph. At each corner of the aperture there is a
slight slit, proceeding, both vertically and horizontally, a little into
the copper, so that, in cutting, the knife passing into the slit cuts
the corner of the print clean, which it would be somewhat difficult
to do if the knife could only just pass up to the corner. A sharp
knife or old razor may be used to cut with ; and a piece of glass, or
a piece of smoothly-planed lime-tree, to cut upon. The latter is
most valuable, as it does not so readily dull the edge of the knife ;
and, unlike other woods, its grain and texture are sufficiently
homogeneous to allow the knife to pass without the vibration
which gives a ragged edge. The utmost neatness and skill in
getting a clean cut edge, free from jaggedness, is imperative.
The proportion of margin is another subject on which the
educated will be the best general guide ; but upon which a few
hints may be useful. Few things contribute more to give value
to a print than a respectable margin ; it is nevertheless by no
means an uncommon thing to see very fine pictures spoiled by
shabby mounting. Nothing would be more difficult than to lay
down any absolute rule on such a subject ; but a very fair ap¬
proximation to a rule may be obtained by deciding that the
margin on the sides should never be less than one-third of the
breadth of the print, and that on the ends not less than one-third
of the length.
Under some circumstances the proportion of half the breadth
for the side margins and half the length for the ends will give a
good result. But I have heard this principle objected to by
persons of taste, as tending to formality and stiffness ; it being
urged that all proportions consisting of parts of even numbers tend
to. tliat formality. I have heard some attempt to establish a
principle based on the analogies of musical science ; but I fear that
it would be difficult and unsafe to lay down definite rules on a sub¬
ject which must largely be governed by feeling and educated taste.
A very excellent effect is produced by a narrow margin of india-
paper immediately around the print, or of what is now commonly
used as a substitute, a tint produced on the mounting board by
lithography, in imitation of india-paper. This tint often gives
great value to the whites of the photograph, and general relief to
the tone of the picture. In some cases a good effect is produced by
leaving a somewhat larger margin at the bottom than the top. In
card portraits, for instance, it is better to leave about half-an-inch
at the bottom, and about one-eighth of an inch all round. In all
cases it is desirable to avoid intersecting corners ; that is, a line
drawn diagonally through the mount should not intersect the
corners, first of the india-paper tint and then of the print. Where
the corners thus intersect the effect is inevitably formal.
The next point for consideration is the best adhesive material,
and the best method of using it. A great variety of materials
has been recommended for this purpose, amongst which gum,
dextrine, paste of various kinds, gum-glue, india-rubber, &c.,
have been chiefly used, and each has had its advocates. 1 do not
propose to enter into any extended discussion of their respective
merits, but just to offer one or two remarks on the subject.
The qualities necessary in any such material are, that it should
be easy to prepare, easy to use, efficient' when used, and free from
deleterious effect upon the photograph. Gum has the disadvan¬
tage, if thin, of sinking into the paper and showing into the face of
the picture. It has, moreover, the tendency to rapidly turn acid,
and if used in this state it injures the photograph. Making it with
boiling water reduces the tendency to acidity or decomposition ;
and if made thus, and used sufficiently thick, I think it maybe used
without disadvantage. Dextrine I have not used, but I believe
there is no positive objection to its use. Of the various kinds of
paste that made of starch is preferable, and if used fresh is, I be¬
lieve, perfectly safe. I prefer the patent Starch, in powder and
without the blue tint, for my own use. I may here describe a
simple and efficient method of making it. I take a teaspoonful of
the powder and put it into a common marmalade jar ; this is then
mixed with the smallest quantity of Avater, Avhich will make it into
a thick paste. When it is rubbed perfectly smooth, boiling Avater
is poured on it, the Avhole being rapidly stirred. Sufficient boiling
Avater is used to make a thick transparent jelly, and one good tea¬
spoonful of the powder Avill make a jarful of paste. This will keep
good a few days in summer, and longer in winter. It is easily
made, easily used, efficient, and Avill not, if used properly, injure
the photograph.
Glue, gelatine, isinglass, &c., are used by some. Of these I
think good Scotch or Russian glue will be found best. This, for
persons only mounting occasionally, Avill be found troublesome to
prepare and use, but it is xrery efficient, and, I believe, safe.
I may here refer Avith advantage to some experiments under¬
taken, and detailed to the Photographic Society of Scotland a feAV
years ago, by Mr. Colin Sinclair. His object Avas to determine the
effect upon the permanency of the print exercised by the various
materials used for mounting. I Avill read one or two extracts
from his report : —
“ I prepared a small quantity of each of the substances already named (starch,
albumen, isinglass, and gum-arabic) in separate dishes, and selected two of Mr.
Tunny’s photographs, one of them of the brown tint on albumenised paper, the
other of the black tint on plain paper. I cut each of the two prints into five pieces,
the fifth piece being laid aside for future comparison, and then distributed the
four pieces of each picture over the four dishes containing the different mate¬
rials, so that there were two pieces completely immersed in each dish. They
were kept there for one month.
“ I would have allowed them to remain longer in this state, but the pieces
became so fragile that I could liardiy remove them from the liquids in which
they were immersed. After cleaning the pieces, I mounted them along with
the fifth piece, so as to show the relative effects on each, and I now lay the
mounted results before you.
“It will be obseived that the brown photograph on albumenised paper has
suffered the most, especially the piece that was immersed amongst the albumen.
It has giveu way very much. The pieces that were amongst the isinglass and
the starch are slightly affected ; that which was in the gum is the least changed
of any ; while the black picture on plain paper has come out of all the four dif¬
ferent substances much the same as it was.”
Conceiving that it might be more satisfactory still to test the
keeping qualities of pictures mounted Avith these materials, he took
two other photographs and cut them each into five pieces, mount¬
ing four of the pieces, each Avith a different material, and keeping-
one piece unmounted for comparison. These mounted pieces Avere
then placed in a damp cellar, Avhere all the conditions generally
considered averse to photographs Avere present in an exalted
degree, and kept there for twelve months. At the end of that
time they Avere submitted to the Scotch Society. I Avill read a
brief extract from the report. Mr. Sinclair says : —
“ The fifth piece, lying on each cardboard in juxtaposition with the mounted
pieces of the pictures, shows the original colour, from which it will be obseiwed
422
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 2, I BO
that the whole tone is somewhat changed, but still indicating the superiority of
the starch and the gum-arabic for mounting photographs.
“ In the first experiment — that of steeping — the plain paper photograph, of a
black colour, was less changed than that on the albumenised paper; but the
result is reversed in the two mounted pictures — the one on plain paper, of a
brown colour, being more injured than the other. This may be partly ac¬
counted for by the black coloured picture having been a stronger print. The
four photographs thus tested had been well washed with warm water, otherwise
they could not have withstood the treatment so well as they have done, as is
evidenced by the third picture in the hands of the members, which, from its
tone, did not appear to have got justice in the washing, and was only about a
fourth of the time in the cellar along with the others.
“As regards convenience of application, I prefer starch when mounting pho
tographs, as it can be used with greater facility and cleanliness than gum-
arabic, which, however, is very useful for an occasional picture, as it is inconve¬
nient and not worth while making fresh starch every time an amateur requires
to mount a few pictures.”
From these experiments it would appear that Mr. Sinclair found
starch and gum the most conductive to the well-being
of the photograph. My own predilection is in favour of
starch, simply because I have found it so easy to prepare,
and because, as it will not keep, it must be prepared
fresh ; there is not, therefore, the same temptation to use
it when unfit which there is when a bottle of gum is kept
for occasional use. I have heard the objection used to
starch that it might generate acid even after the picture
is mounted. I have no fear, however, that the dry parti¬
cles of starch, by which my prints are made to adhere to
the mounting-board, will produce me either sugar, alcohol,
or acetic acid.
There is, however, another consideration which, under
some circumstances, will influence the decision as to the
adhesive material to be selected. There are two sources
of trouble in mounting to which I have not yet adverted
—curling and cockling. The cause of both these troubles
is this : the print on being coated with paste or gum
becomes saturated with moisture and expands, it is mount¬
ed on the board in this expanded condition, and as the moisture
evaporates it contracts again to its original size, or even less, and
draws with it the board on which it is mounted. Where there is
a margin of board all round the print, “ cockling,” or uneven con¬
traction, often results. It will readily be seen that those substances
which contain the most moisture, such as gum or starch, will pro¬
duce those evils in the greatest degree. Where the pictures are
mounted with a margin, this is an important consideration, and for
this purpose it will be found that glue causes the least trouble. In
using it the print does not expand much, and there is consequently
little .contraction. The curling, &c., may also be obviated by
sponging the mount before laying down the print, so that both
shall be equally expanded. The plan described some time ago by
Mr. Stuart, of Glasgow, is also a good one for preventing this de¬
fect. Each print is covered with starch paste before trimming, and
then dried. When they are to be mounted they are trimmed and
shaped, the board slightly wet, and the print placed upon it in
position, . The two are then passed through a lithographic press,
which brings them into firm contract and completes the opera
tion.
I may here mention a little hint which will be found of great
service to those who have large numbers of card pictures to mount.
When tlie prints are very stiff and dry much, it is difficult to cover
them Avith the starch, without their curling up and smearing the
surface. To prevent this take a clean sponge and damp a few
dozen before pasting them, they will then lie perfectly flat, and
cause no difficulty. Although this involves two operations it will
be found an actual saving of time.
I will, in conclusion, just refer to the use of india-rubber paste.
This is scarcely suitable for general mounting purposes, but is in¬
valuable for fixing prints in albums or scrap-books. A slight
touch of the paste at each corner attaches the print to its place in
the scrap-book, and keeps it perfectly flat, without the slightest
contraction or cockling. ’ The paste is made by dissolving
shreds ol india-rubber in chloroform or benzole.
I now invite inspection of a variety of specimens I have brought
to illustrate my remarks, and add, that the bulk of them, all those
with the India paper tint, were mounted by Mr. Fox, of Little
Britaiu, whose neatness, skill, and taste in mounting generally I
can commend in the highest terms.
I have not said anything here of hot-pressing or rolling, hut 1
may conclude by observing that I consider it indispensable to
perfect results.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE AS
REVEALED BY SPECTRUM ANALYSIS.
By Samuel IIionLEY, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
( Concluded from page 384.,)
By means of the spectroscope three new elementary bodies have
been added to the list of those previously known. Bunsen and
Ivirchhoff have discovered two of these, viz., ccesium and rubi¬
dium, both belonging to the group of alkaline metals, while Crookes
has discovered an element belonging to the sulphur group, which
he has named thallium.* Coesiuin is distinguished by two blue
lines a and b, shown in fig . (2) — rubidium by magnificent red lines f
— and thallium by a single delicate green line in the position
indicated in fig. (3).
By the method of analysis described in these articles the photo¬
grapher is enabled to detect the nature of an iodiser, if it be an
inorganic compound ; but an organic body usually defies detection,
though in some cases it declares itself, if Gladstone’s method be
resorted to. Dr. Miller has recently discovered that photography
lends its aid to the spectrum analyst; for, on receiving the
image of certain spectra on a sensitive collodion film, lines exist¬
ing in the ultra-violet were delineated that were not visible
in the ordinary way, unless, indeed, they were received upon
a fluorescent screen. On comparing the diagrams made by
Dr. Miller sixteen years ago with those of the spectra of the
same bodies recently photographed by him, it will be seen
that great additions have been made to the portion beyond
II. J Hitherto we have chiefly spoken of the characteristic
bright bands ; but certain coloured gases and vapours produce
spectra equally characteristic, but wherein the bands are dark — in
fact analogous to the lines of Fraunhofer previously spoken of; for
instance, the Ampours of nitrous acid, iodine, bromine, &c. These
dark bands may be readily seen on placing before the slit of a
spectroscope a tube about nine inches long, Avith its ends closed
Avith plates of glass, and filled Avith the vapour of nitrous acid, at
the same time alloAving solar light to pass through the tube. The
numerous bands may be increased in number and intensity by
increasing the length of the tube or the temperature of the vapour.
The lines in this case Avill not be found to have corresponding lines
in the solar spectrum if the tAvo be examined in juxta-position as
described at page 383 of this Journal. If, on the other hand,
Ave introduce the vapour of sodium in the path of solar light on its
Avay to the spectroscope, Ave shall find that a dark line occurs coin¬
cident Avith Fraunhofer’s line D. Now it will be recollected that,
Avhen soda Avas volatilised in a Bunsen’s burner or other flame,
a bright yelloAV line presented itself, likeAvise coincident Avith the
line D. Whence this mutual coincidence? It has been found
that bodies that, in a state of incandescent vapour, emit particular
rays have the powerof absorbing the same rays emanating from other
incandescent bodies. This may be demonstrated in the folloAving
manner: — If a beam from an electric lamp be alloAved to fall upon a
prism, a continuous spectrum will present itself upon a screen placed
in a proper position. If the positive pole of the lamp be noAv moisten¬
ed Avith a solution of chloride of sodium, the Avell-marked bright line
Avill present itself in the 3^-elIo w space of the spectrum : this defines
the position Ave Avish to experiment on, but the result Avould be the
same Avere Ave to omit this precaution. If, now, Ave place a small
* See Phil. Magazine, April, 1861.
+ See Phil. Magazine, November and December, 186],
t See London Review, No: 66, p. 437.
December 2, 1801]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
m
piece of sodium in a platinum capsule, and beat it over a gas
burner placed between the lamp and the prism, as soon as the
sodium begins to burn and give forth vapour the bright yellow-
line is immediately obliterated and replaced by a dark one.
Tf, in a similar manner, volatilised lithium, strontium, magnesium,
calcium, &c., were introduced in the path of the beam, each ele¬
mentary vapour would obliterate its own system of bands from the
continuous spectrum, and thus produce an effect similar to Fraun¬
hofer’s lines. This experiment is the keystone to Kirchhoff’s theory
of the constitution of the solar atmosphere, and the explanation of
the cause of Fraunhofer’s dark lines, which has for so long been a
vexed question among philosophers ; but, as Gladstone has recently
pointed out, this theory must be received cum grano salts.*
Kirchiioff’s Theory is to the effect that the sun is an incande¬
scent nucleus, which, per se, would afford a continuous spectrum, but
that it is surrounded by a flaming atmosphere of elementary
vapours which absorb those rays of the nucleus which they them¬
selves. emit ; consequently, if the solar nucleus were to be ex¬
tinguished or removed, we should have a bright coloured band in
the place of every dark line of Fraunhofer’s. These lines, there¬
fore, are not absolutely dark, but dark by an amount corresponding
to the difference between the light of the nucleus intercepted by
the photosphere and the light which issues from the latter.
As Tyndall phrases it, this theory “ lias been nibbled at ” by
many previous investigators of spectrum phenomena, among
Avhom stand prominently Miller, Angstrom, and Fourcault.
To determine the nature of the elementary bodies that are
present in the atmosphere of the great luminary upon which
photographers are so greatly dependent, it is, in the first place,
necessary that we should attain to a very accurate knowledge of
the gbtar spectrum and its dark lines; and, in the second place, of
the bright spectra of the individual elements. But it is confidently
stated by Kirchliofif that we are at the present moment in a posi¬
tion to assert that potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, nickel, and
chromium are present, while silver, copper, gold, lead, tin, and
antimony are absent from the photosphere.
These spectrum observations palpably open up a new and wide
field for research in terrestial and stellar chemistry, which must
ever lead onward to a more intimate knowledge of the constitution
oft he solar atmosphere, and to which photography will lend its
assistance
PRACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothavele.
No. X.
Before entering into the next part of my subject I have anothe
remark or two to make on distortion, which should have been in
eluded in my last paper. I believe it will bo found that in every
picture in which distortion occurs the evil is always greater when
a large stop is used than when a small one is employed on the
same subject, and, further, if any objects situated near the margin
are somewhat out of focus, the mischief with a large stop is still
more glaring and obnoxious.
As the results of photographic operations are influenced by very
trifling causes, being delicate, requiring great care in the manipu¬
lation, and considerable judgment in directing them, so as to avoid
waste of time and material as well as disappointment and chagrin,
it is of the highest importance to be able to determine with great
accuracy the conditions by which success and certainty may be
achieved — such as the size of stop, focal length of lens, intensity
of light, condition of chemicals, &c. No doubt it is pretty generally
known that the quantity of light which passes is in proportion to
the square of the diameter of the aperture in the stop. But this
rule does not indicate exactly the practical proportions of the acting
power of light in its results when different sizes of stops are used,
or, in other words, the results are not produced in time exactly
proportional to the squares of the diameters of the apertures. Take,
for instance, one-inch and half-inch diaphragms : the one-inch
ought to produce a result in one-fourth the time of that of the
half-inch; but, instead of this being so in practice, the half-inch
will do it in three times instead of four times that of the inch.
If we compare a quarter-inch with the half-inch and one -inch by
the same rule, the quarter will be three times that of the half, and
nine times that of the inch; or, with a two-inch stop, it would be
twenty-seven instead of sixty-four times. These variations from
the rule I account for by stating that, when a small stop is used,
the light is concentrated more accurately to a focus than when a
* See Proceedings of the Royal Society, Vol, XI., p. 30.i,
large one is employed. In these cases I am, of course, supposing
the focal length to be the same in all of them.
I consider photography quite in its infancy yet ; and one of the
greatest wants to be supplied in bringing it to maturity is a lens
or combination which will require no stops, having such an in¬
tensity of light as to take any sort of picture instantaneously, and
whose pencils shall be so attenuated as to define with the greatest
sharpness either near or distant objects simultaneously. I may be
derided for harbouring any such expectations ; but I quite believe
they will yet be effected, notwithstanding the apparently insur¬
mountable difficulties. I cannot conceive that this object will be
gained so as to be generally practicable by extreme sensitiveness
of the chemicals, as, supposing such to be discovered, I believe
that pictures taken therewith would be fogged, in consequence of
the amount of light by which it is needful to work ; for, even with
the faintest light, and that of a reputed non-actinic colour, some
effect must be produced on an extremely sensitive film, and that of
an injurious character.
With regard to the proportions of the times of exposure for differ¬
ent focal lengths, the rule is that the times of exposure are in propor¬
tion to the squares of the focal lengths. I do not think this rule ex¬
actly correct in practice ; for, of two focal lengths, one half that of
the other, the shorter one will take the same picture, all other
circumstances being the same, in about one-fifth instead of one-
fourth the time of the larger one. This I attribute to the same
cause as that mentioned in connexion with stops, viz., the more
accurate concentration of the rays to a focus with a short focal
length than a longer one.
In changing from one focal length to another, or from one size of
stop to another, or using any size of stop or focal length as may be
needed, it is very useful to have some criterion to judge by or
calculate from as to the time of exposure required under any given
conditions. My criterion or standard of reference for portraits or
views is that when the sun is shining in the middle of the day in
summer or winter, as the case may be, with the atmosphere per¬
fectly clear, and no cloud in the sky — or, if any, Avhite, and
few of them : I take a picture or two under these conditions,
with a lens of such focal length and size of stop as I have most
frequently in use, and note the time. The next degree of the
acting power of light is when the sun is not shining, but yet a
clear bright day, with white fleecy clouds in the sky. The time of
exposure in this case, when taking portraits in a room, is not much
more than when the sun is shining — say about one and a quarter
that of the “ standard.” In taking a view in the open air under
the latter conditions the time will be about three times that of
the standard. The second degree of the power of light I calculate
on is when the sky is covered generally with sombre-like clouds,
intermixed with some of a more or less light hue — what may be
called dull. In this case I find that the time of exposure is from
two to three times the standard in taking portraits in a room;
but with views it will take from six to nine times the standard.
The third degree with portraits will take from four to six times the
standard — that is, when the sky is covered with dark or leaden-
hued clouds, an idea of which may be comprehended by the term
“ very dull.” I will not attempt to indicate any time under these
conditions for views, as I consider it a waste of time, and unwise
to attempt to take them under such circumstances ; for I am con¬
vinced that good views cannot be so obtained, except, perhaps, iu
some cases when all the objects are near.
I merely give these approximate data as a kind of guide-point
in a sea of uncertainty and conjecture ; for it is somewhat temper-
trying to have to take a picture two or three times over, in conse¬
quence of being a little wide in one’s calculations, or guesses, as
to the time of exposure. There are, of course, several causes
which influence the time of exposure beside the lightness or dul-
ness of the day ; as, for instance, the colour of the light, the state
of the chemicals, the temperature of the weather, &c. The colour
of light I spoke about in a former paper ; and perhaps it may be
sufficient here just to remind the reader that whenever the light is
of a yellow, red, or even green tinge, it must be taken into account
in connexion with the time of exposure, because its actinic power
varies greatly under such circumstances. These matters, to old
practitioners, may seem trifling, and anything but novel, but to
some, and particularly those who have not studied the nature and
properties of light in relation to actinism, they may be of consider¬
able service; and, as uniformity and certainty is a desideratum
much needed in photographic operations, it cannot be a waste of
time to discuss anything which may be the means of contributing
to that desirable result. Perhaps if I give an example or two
they may be the means of bringing about a clearer understanding
424
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 2, 1801
of the subject by some who may not be well up in these things
than all I have wiitten before.
First Example. — Suppose, then, I take a picture in twenty
seconds, with a lens often inches focus and one inch aperture, that
is the criterion or “ standard of reference.”
I wish to take another picture double the size, and, of course,
with a lens of double the focal length, with the same aperture, and
under the same conditions of light. What must the time of ex¬
posure be ?
As 10* : 20* : : 20" : 10 X 10 = 100
20 X 20 = 400 X 20"=8000-f- 100=80" ans.
Thus the second picture would require 80", according to the
rule ; but in practice it would require 100", as before explained in
this paper.
Second Example. — I want a picture taken with a lens of five
inches focus, same aperture as before, and light the same. What
must be the time of exposure ?
As 10* : 52 : : 20": 10x10=100
5 X 5 = 25 X 20"= 500 100 = 5 ans. by
rule, but by practice 4".
Third Example. — Same as last, except that the aperture is half
an-inch instead of one inch.
As £2 : 1* : : 4" : £X £ = £
1 X 1 = 1" X 4" ~ I = 16 ans. by rule, but by
practice 12".
Fourth Example. -Same as last, except that this is taken in the
first degree of light in a room, whereas the last was taken with the
“ standard ” light. What the time of exposure ?
Then 12. X 1J — 15". Thus this picture, taken with a five-inch
focus, half-inch aperture, and first degree of light, would have three-
quarters the exposure of the “ standard,” under its conditions of
focus and stop.
■ - — — - — -
STEEEOGBAPH3.
Instantaneous Views of Paris.
London Stereoscopic Company, Cheapside, London.
Instantaneous photographs of street scenery are, it must be ad¬
mitted, as superior to those taken by ordinary exposure as living
animals in a menagerie are to stuffed specimens of the same kind —
the bustle and animation of the scene in the former case being
retained in all its exciting stimulus, while in the latter a sense
of desolation always more or less prevails. These instantaneous
views must be of immense advantage to artists in arresting and
recording, for their future benefit, the actual attitudes of numerous
figures in varied phases of movement— one of the most difficult
feats at which an artist aims. Take, for instance, one of the most
satisfactory of the . series now before us, No. 38, the Boulevard de
Strasbourg, in which we find a couple of men standing for a gossip
together at the stieet corner, one with folded arms, the other with
the right hand resting on the hip, and suggestive of a regular cosy
chat. Most of tho passengers are sauntering along, though here
and there. one or two are seen in evident haste : — one gentleman
has his right leg poised in mid air, while advancing quickly to¬
wards the spectator; another is evidently running across the road,
for, rapid as the exposure has been, a portion of the right leg is
blurred, and, to some extent, so also are the spokes of the wheel of
a phaeton just whirling round the corner. A man with a basket
walks lazily across the. road, and one with a truck has stopped to
rest, leaning against it with his legs crossed. A huge block of
stone, drawn by. four horses, is evidently heavy — for notice how
the animals strain at the collar. These are only a few of the more
prominent figures : there are numbers of others, each in its turn
worth studying. There is a little snowiness of effect due to the
brilliancy of the sunshine and shortness of exposure ; but the sub-
ject is unusually picturesque for one of modern street architecture.
No. 44, Hue de Rivoli, is an excellent companion to that pre¬
viously noticed. Numerous examples of the advancing legs of the
pedestrians arc observable, including those who “slouch” along—
those who turn out the toes, and consequently the knees, somewhat
grotesquely— and those who move as nature, not too much sophisti¬
cated, dictates. While the preceding scene was taken from the
sunny side, this is from the shady side of tho way. Both are
excellent examples of their class.
. No. .40, Rue Montmartre, is of a more quiet character, but still
including many figures. In the foreground is an omnibus, with tho
conductor standing in the doorway, and three passengers on the
double-seated roof; a hooded phaeton is retreating in company with
the omnibus, and also a laden cart still further ahead. At the
kerbstone, on the left, stands a woman selling something contained
in a basket suspended in front of her, much as one of her English
sisterhood would arrange it; and midway along the right-hand side
is a man in pretty brisk movement, with his hands up to his mouth
apparently bawling out something for the edification of the
neighbourhood. What a pity we cannot photograph the sounds
also ! Though an excellent slide in other respects, it is rather
under-exposed for the shadows, where unfortunately most of the
figures are congregated — a predominance of very white caps,
waistcoats, shirts, &c., testifying to this assertion.
No. 42, Boulevard des Italiens is another capital illustration,
the chief features of which are to be sought in the road traffic,
consisting of carriages, omnibuses well laden, drays, water carts,
and vehicles of every description, including their human and
four-footed appendages.
No. 34, Fontaine St. Michel. — In this slide the very un-
picturesque incident of the greater part of the road being “ up,”
apparently for sewer construction, mars the subject as a picture,
and the passengers are either in a greater hurry than those seen
in the other specimens, or the exposure has been more prolonged,
for there are many with only one leg, or say a leg and a-half, the
remainder having been “lost by movement.”
No. 41, Boulevard Montmartre. — There are two specimens of
this slide, both numbered alike, and indentical, except in the passen¬
gers included therein: both are somewhat spoiled in consequence
of “ blacking out the sky,” interfering sadly with the outline of
the upper parts of the houses ; but, as studies of people in motion
they are capital. In one, two labouring men are carrying a heavy
package suspended between them, the tense muscular action from
head to foot in both being admirably portrayed : they form also
a striking contrast to the quiet repose of an old woman seated
under one of the trees knitting, and the leisurely promenade of
several gentlemen taking it very easily — one young man alone,
who is approaching towards the spectator, appearing in any hurry.
In tho other specimen, if there be less unity and harmony of com¬
position, there is more variety. A consequential individual in
military uniform, including very “peg-toppy” trowsers, is strutting
towards the observer, and beside him a civilian is walking — as a
civilian should do ; two ladies, with parasols, are partly seen beneath
the sun-blind of the-shop on the left, while two men in blouses are
walking on the other edge of the trottoir in an opposite direction ;
a third is carrying a parcel on his shoulder, and a gentleman is
running along the edge of the kerb-stone; a shopman is standing
outside his door looking clown the street, apparently directing the
attention of a pedestrian, who is approaching him obliquely, to
something in the distance. But we must call a halt : it will never
do to go on describing a whole streetful of passengers, however
much we feel interested in them.
Subjects of this class will always be popular, and deservedly so;
for, though they may not contain much of a high artistic value,
they cannot fail to appeal to human sympathy and curiosity.
- -
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION.
By John Thomas Brown, Jun.,
Honorary Secretary of the Birmingham Photographic Society.
On reading the characteristic remarks of Mr. John Cramb upon the
above subject, in your last number, I determined, as perhaps the
more dignified course, to allow them to pass without comment ;
but, having an evident tendency to mislead your readers, and im¬
pugning, as they do, the character of the judges upon whom the
responsibility of the award devolved, I am in duty bound to set the
public right, and, by explaining a few facts, remove the imputation.
In the case of the Birmingham Exhibition, the medals were
awarded by Sir Francis E. Scott, a gentleman who occupies an
important position in the world of art, if not as a practical photo¬
grapher — -though in the latter capacity he held the office of Presi¬
dent of our Society for one or two sessions. In connexion with
his general knowledge of art, his social position would, of course,
place him above even the suspicion of unfair dealing ; but, coupled
with his own, I am sure the name of his coadjutor, Dr. Anthony,
would meet with the approval of every competitor. As to the
competency of the latter gentleman, it would be presumptuous on
my part to offer any comment : his scientific and artistic acquire¬
ments, as well as his long and intimate practical connexion with
photography, are highly appreciated by those acquainted with
the art, and wherever it is practised; and, therefore, I believe that
no appointment could have been made more satisfactory to the
general body of photographers, or more beneficial to the interests
of the art itself.
December 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
425
No other complaint, or even the least reflection upon the com¬
petency of the arbitrators or the fairness of their decision, has yet
reached me; and I therefore can only accept the remarks of Mr.
Cramb as both ill-advised and not over charitable.
I must request Mr. Cramb to explain the grounds for his state¬
ment— that “ the Exhibition, both as regarded quantity and quality,
was the most meagre ever opened — a defect attributable to the past
conduct of the Society .” It is almost superfluous to state that we
opened up a new feature in photographic exhibitions, by offering
medals for the best enlarged pictures from the solar camera ; and
the paucity of the competition in this class arose from the absolute
want of sunlight to enable the operators to use the instrument.
Further comment upon Mr. Cramb’s almost impracticable sug¬
gestions is uncalled for. I think he has quite failed in his attempt
to elucidate the subject, either of competitions or awards generally.
In the instance in point, the Birmingham Photographic Society
laboured under every disadvantage that could possibly stand in its
way ; and, if the Exhibition has fallen short of producing that
satisfaction and interest in the mind of Mr. Cramb and others that
was intended by its promoters, I can only say that a part of the
onus reverts to that gentleman himself, with others, the presence
of whoso productions would have greatly increased the quantity
and, perhaps, the quality of the Exhibition.
A few remarks on the instantaneous stereographs and moonlight
views of Mr. Brcese, remarked upon by Mr. Cramb, at the City of
Glasgow Society’s meeting of the 7th ult., are perhaps necessary.
I think the best refutation of Mr. Cramb would be practically to
test the powers of instantaneous exposure at his command, and
therefore suggest a comparatively easy subject for him to operate
upon — say an object under the combined influence of rotary and pro¬
gressive motion, as the wheel of a cab ; or, to place the matter more
under the control of his own studio, I should be content with an
impression of the “ gyroscope ” in motion. If he will honestly keep
a register of the number of his failures , and forward it with the
best stereographic image he can obtain, I shall have much pleasure
in submitting it, side by side, with any of the works Mr. Breese has
already produced, and have no fear that those of the last-named
gentleman will suffer by comparison.
The views of the Queen’s visit to Birmingham, alluded to by Mr.
Cramb, were produced som efour years ago : his more recent ones are
not considered worthy of notice. The inference, therefore, is, that
Mr. Cramb either was actuated in his remarks by some personal
bias or was not a sufficiently competent judge of their relative
merits. Had he seen the Power's Court Waterfall, or others which
must have escaped his attention, he could not but in fairness have
admitted that they arc unsurpassed even by the works of M. Ferrier.
As to the moonlight views, I trust, with Mr. Breese’s sanction,
shortly to prove, before a thoroughly qualified tribunal, that they
are what they pretend to be, instantaneous werasofthe moon (that is,
instantaneous in so far as such an exposure can be obtained by a
simple removal from and replacing of the focussing-cloth over the
lenses of the camera) ; until which time Mr. Cramb must rest, if he
can, in the disagreeable position he has thought proper to assume.
I may, in conclusion, state that Mr. Breese is an amateur, practis¬
ing photography simply for the love of the art, and without any
hopes of making a gain by it. He has already gone far ahead ot
any professional in the production of instantaneous stereographs ;
and I feel convinced that such unpleasant remarks as those of Mr.
Cramb, though they may stimulate him to increased exertion, yet
are calculated to leave anything but a favourable impression on
the mind of a sensitive individual as to the class of men who occa¬
sionally act as the self-appointed judges of works they evidently
cannot appreciate.
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OR, A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. XI.
Intensity of Light in Syria— Preparations for Visiting the
Dead Sea and the River Jordan— Bedouin Escort.
The last part of my “ notes” left me in Jerusalem. I now pro¬
pose to give a brief account of my visit to Jericho, the Jordan,
and the Dead Sea. Before doing so, however, I will answer a
question that has been often put to me regarding the actinic power
of the light in eastern countries.
Photographic friends have generally expressed astonishment
when I have assured them that I found the light in Palestine to be
exactly as intense, photographically, as it looked. Gentlemen writ¬
ing from India and elsewhere, where the bright light would lead
one to expect short exposure, have bewailed the actinic feebleness
of the light in warm climates. That always seemed to me extra¬
ordinary, though not impossible. In all calculations of the com¬
parative power of actinism at different times, in the same place,
the want of a constant measure — a reliable actinometer — has been
felt. It is so much more felt in attempting to estimate the strength
of light in places far removed and under very different physical
conditions otherwise. Philosophical research or observation was
not the object of my visit to Palestine. I was not specially
equipped for such, even if I had been disposed to undertake it,
and capable of doing so successfully. But so far as careful
observation made in carrying out the purely practical purpose of
my visit can avail in settling this question, I must unhesitatingly
declare the light to be of the same quality, photographically, as
one meets with in this country. I could easily see how a wet-
collodion operator — working under a burning sun with the
atmospheric temperature at perhaps 100°, as I had during my
journey for months, and, perhaps, with old decomposed English
collodions, obliged to use an almost unbelievable amount of acid
in his developer and his silver bath too— might have very much
longer exposures than he could get good pictures with in the old
country under more favourable conditions. But no one capable of
forming an opinion on any philosophic question would receive
such a trial in evidence on the question of the comparative inten¬
sity of the light in the two countries. My plates, albumenised in
Glasgow and silvered in the same bath as I had used at home, had
only to be washed in a similar water to that I had used in Scotland
to be a pretty fair test of the strength of the light if the develop¬
ment were the same. Any other dry process would be the same.
As I have elsewhere observed, the purpose of my visit to the
Holy Land was purely to get pictures of places interesting from
Scriptural associations, and there was nothing in it to induce me
to try very short exposures, far less to attempt making instan¬
taneous pictures. From my experience there, however, I have no
doubt it would be very easy to get instantaneous pictures. Without
at all making any effort to do so with short exposure, I seldom
exposed longer than two minutes with the J-inch stop on the 15-
inch Ross lens, and more than once I made good pictures with
fifteen seconds’ exposure.
The conclusion I wish my readers to draw is, that I found no
difficulty with the light in the East. When it seemed bright it was
so. Every photographer knows how many other evils are covered
by full exposure to good light. The quality of the light in Pales¬
tine is the same as in England : you have plenty of it, and scarcely
ever know there is such a thing as fog or mist. Generally the air
is so free from moisture that objects miles off are as sharp and
intense as those in the immediate foreground of the picture. There
is, generally, no atmosphere ; for the artist’s atmosphere is not air,
but water. The mere photographic enthusiast, who desires clear
definition alone throughout his entire picture, will have his utmost
wish satisfied in such countries as Palestine. Planting his camera
on the top of any house about the centre of Jerusalem, and turn¬
ing his lens toward Olivet, how delighted he will be to find the
Church of the Ascension as clearly defined and as intense in
shadow as the roof of the next house, though in reality some two
miles distant !
Every traveller and pilgrim who visits Jerusalem has a wish to
see the Dead Sea and the River Jordan, and nearly all make it
convenient to gratify the desire. The usual plan for Frank
travellers is to make a three days’ journey of it. The first day
they go to the Convent of Mar Saba, passing on the way through
Bethlehem ; and, if they have not previously been to the “ City of
David,” to “do it” then. The second day they go from Mar
Saba to the Dead Sea and the Jordan, and encamp for the night
at or near Jericho. On the third day they return to Jerusalem.
Some again reverse the order and go to Jericho the first day, and
so on inversely. Before I left Scotland I had been informed of the
serious difficulties that lay in the way of my visiting the Plain of
Jericho at the season of the year when I would be in Jerusalem, and
my instructions permitted me freely to leave that undone, or to
employ the Jew photographer at Jerusalem, if he would be more
able to endure the heat or more willing to brave the dangers of the
journey. I had, however, made up my mind from the first, if it
were possible for me to see the Dead Sea and the Jordan, that I
would be willing to risk a little both of life and property in carry¬
ing out the desire.
The Dead Sea is about 3,000 feet below the level of Jerusalem,
and the whole Plain of Jericho is about the same level: it is, con¬
sequently, at all times very much hotter than at Jerusalem — howr
much I found impossible to ascertain without experience, but all
agreed as to the greater intensity of the heat. It was generally from
426
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 2, 18C1
75° to 85° in the shade at Jerusalem just before I purposed making
my trip to the Dead Sea. Travelling during the night obviates
the danger and uncomfortableness of the great heat, but that
would not suit a photographer who wished to take views as he
went along; and, besides, it would be impracticable, from the risk
incurred. And that brings me to the second difficulty in the way
of any one going to the Dead Sea and the Jordan — the well-known
dangerous character of the inhabitants of the country through
which the traveller must pass, and the still more dangerous and
thievish propensity of the people of the country to whose borders
he approaches at the Jordan. I learned that one way of getting over
this was to obtain an escort from the Pasha at Jerusalem, which is
easily obtained for a trifling sum. Though that would look well
enough on paper, or even while marching out of Jerusalem, I was
assured by Mr. Finn, Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul at Jerusalem, it
would just be the way of insuring my being robbed, if not murdered,
before getting back to the Holy City. The only safe plan we learned
was to place ourselves under the protection of a chief of the scoun¬
drels themselves. Earlier in the season, when there were many tra¬
vellers in Jerusalem, I was informed that parties of ten or twelve per¬
sons generally went together, with a Sheikh of the Jordan Bedouin
tribes — as their guide nominally, but really as their protector.
Having made all preliminary investigations, and finally decided
on going, I published my intention throughout the Holy City.
There were very few travellers, and fewer still disposed to risk
their heads under the burning sun of the Plain of Jericho, or to
consign their persons and property to the tender mercies of its
tawny inhabitants. Ultimately i found two reverend friends
willing to share the dangers of the journey. Long before I had
made up my mind about when or how I was to go, I was waited
upon by a Sheikh of the Jordan, as he called himself, who assured
me he would guarantee the safety of my property, and, if anything
was lost, restore if fourfold, though he assured me it was quite
impossible that such could ever take place under his protection.
Those whose opinion I was disposed to trust informed me that this
Chief was the “ right man in the right place.” Let the reader
realise the picture. The day before we proposed starting, one of
my clerical friends and myself were sitting in the British Consulate,
and under the shadow of the royal standard we made a contract
with the Bedouin Rob Roy, Sheikh Salih Abun Sere. He promised
security to person and property, and we promised in return so
many royal mint medallions, bearing the effigy of Her Britannic
Majesty. There was no document drawn up. Sheikh Salih gave
his word — and was he not a gentleman ? He saw the money put
into the Consul’s hands, to be delivered to him on our safe return.
I had determined on leaving out Mar Saba and going the
nearest and most direct way to the Dead Sea. After consulting
with our guide, I decided on trying to do the whole in two days,
taking the greater part the first day. For the more easy accom¬
plishment of all we proposed, I resolved on making a very early
start. As usual, our muleteers were of a different mind. It was
nearly five o’clock before they arrived — fully an hour after the
time we had hoped to be beyond the walls of Jerusalem. We
left by the St. Stephen’s Gate, rode down into the valley of the
Kedron, passed the Garden of Gethsemane, and took the camel
road to Bethany, where we had arranged to meet our Bedouin
guide, that being as near Jerusalem as he cared to be except in
full daylight. There his country begins, and, consequently, there
ends any little of law and protection of property which the Turkish
government, in its feebleness, is able to maintain.
Winding round the south-western shoulder of Olivet, we had a
fine view of Jerusalem. Again and again we turned and admi¬
ringly gazed on it, but we were compelled to hurry on. Soon we
passed Bethany. How quiet and lovely it looked in the soft light
of an eastern morning ! I resolved to come over again, and, per¬
haps, many times ; and very reluctantly we followed our dark¬
eyed guide down the steep stony path that led to Jericho. We
had, by advice of Mr. Finn, left our revolvers at home. We were
quite unarmed, and had alone to depend on the protection of our
Bedouin Chief. I had some dim notions of a large number of
attendants being a necessary concomitant of chieftainship : our
Chief had but one follower. The Sheikh was well mounted, but
totally unarmed : the attendant was on foot, and carried a long
gun and a sword. This was all our warlike equipment, if I except
the four-and-sixpenny pistols of my Maltese dragoman, which,
however, I observed he had stuck in his belt in as defiant a man¬
ner as he could. We soon left the Jericho road, ns we proposed
going to the Dead Sea first. About an hour and a half below
Bethany we turned off to the right, and took a more southerly
direction. There was no road there— not even a trace of one. Our
guide became light-hearted and cheerful as he seemed to feel ho
was out of all traces of what we call civilisation. My reverend
friends commented on his Ruffianship, as the American minister
called the Sheikh. I cannot say that I bleed him then; but I dared
not call him bad names. I had elected to trust him. I did do so
implicitly, and if he fulfilled his contract he was no scoundrel.
So far as my connexion with him went, he was an honest
man — a true gentleman. It was astonishing how soon this untu¬
tored son of the desert fathomed our thoughts, though he know no
word of our language. I trusted him, and never regretted it : my
friends were obliged to take his protection, but called him bad
names in a language he knew not. He read our thoughts in our
faces as well as if we had spoken in words he understood.
The first object I proposed taking a picture of was the place
which Moslem tradition has fixed on as the tomb of Moses. I
do not believe it is so; but, as I was to pass it, I thought I might as
well have a picture of the building — nearly the only remains of
buildings in that part of the country. Ncby Musa is about an
hour and a half from the Dead Sea. up in the wilderness of Judea.
That was our first resting-place, and we arrived about one o’clock.
While the horses of the remainder of the party were resting I was
at work with my camera. Soon after leaving this we were in sight
of the Dead Sea. Far below us there it lay, and every eye was
strained to take in a vivid picture of it. I was already, as we rode
along, speculating on where I was to take my view from. Down
the steep precipitous path we ride on, keeping our eyes, whenever
we could, on the glistening distant lake. Hitherto we had felt no
intolerable heat : at Neby Musa the thermometer stood at 92° in
the shade. As we descended it got hotter.
%\\ Artist’s fetters to n §lonn$ llljotognepljtr.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Harmony ( continued ) — The Composition of Lines as Ele¬
ments of Harmony — Power of Lines in aiding Harmony
in the Expression or Sentiment of a Picture — Qualities
Common to the Various Lines — Of Spherical, Straight,
and Curved Lines in Combination — Illustration of
Harmony in the Composition of Lines — -Illustrations
selected from Hogarth’s “Analysis of Beauty.”
“To produce an agreeable effect, every part must bear a varied and proportionate
relation to all the rest." — H. Howard, R.A.
“ Fitness of parts to the design for which every individual thing is formed, either by
Art or Nature, is first to be considered, as it is of the greatest consequence to the beauty
of the whole.” — Hogarth.
“ The most harmoniously beautiful outline is that which approaches more or less
nearly that of the ellipsis. The curve or the circle is excess— the straight line is de¬
ficiency— the ellipsis is the degree between.” * — Haydon.
“ Forms of most grace have least of the straight line in them.” — Hogarth.
“ When you do dance, I wish you
A wave of the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that : move still, still so.
And own no other function.” — Shakespeare.
“ So varied he, and of his tortuous train
Curled many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve,
To lure her eye.” — Milton.
“ As to lines, I know of none that may not be graceful, elegant, and beautiful in
proper circumstances and situations, and none that are not the reverse when employed
improperly. ”t — Payne Knight. _ _
My Dear Fellow-student,
Having considered subordination, truth of light and
shade, expression, contrast, &c., as productive of harmony in their
artistic combinations, we shall now, if you please, turn to an element
of no less importance to the production of harmonious effects, viz.,
that which is to be found in the selection and composition of lines.
And here I can imagine some sceptical lover of the easy and
mechanical exclaim — “ selection and composition of lines ! Why
how can we select and compose when we are obliged to take them
just as they come? ” To such, you, my dear fellow-student may
briefly reply — for it is not worth while to waste many words on
such a benighted being — “by selecting lines which compose;”
after which reply most probably your scornful inquirer will turn
away muttering something about “all that bother and trouble for
getting a something which after all he don’t see the value of,”
which being very true, let him go, content that his ignorance
excuses his indolence, although both, like nearly everything else
that is mean, unworthy, and ignoble, have their origin in that love
of ease which does not sound quite so well when called by the
more forcible and, to my thinking, more truthful appellation —
laziness. And now let us proceed to business.
* Curves vary. Haydon refers to those which more nearly approach the spherical,
t As the reader will see, I agree in the main, although not altogether, with the sense
of this quotation. I do not think certain lines can ever be made, by any treatment,
“graceful, elegant, or beautiful;” but I do believe that the most beautiful may be de¬
stroyed "when employed improperly,” as my present letter is intended tp demonstrate.
427
)ecember 2, 1861] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
The boundary lines of vision, technically called outlines , are of
he utmost importance in a picture’s composition ; but, however
nes are formed — whether they be positive outlines, or simply lines
ndicated by the position of forms, or the grouping of lights and
hadows — they are no less objects of careful consideration. I shall
nore fully explain this when treating of lines, but our present
»bject is the consideration of such as elements of harmony.
As I have hitherto allowed one branch of our study to glide
gently into some other nearly akin to it in purpose, character, and
effect, suppose we now take up the consideration of lines as aiding
in the expression or sentiment of a picture — harmony of expression
having been the last subject of my previous epistle.
Now, the sentiments or feelings associated with straight or
angular lines are perceptibly different from those suggested by
circular and curved ones. In the square we recognise rude
simplicity, strength, solidity, and uniformity or equality ; in
curves we have motion, gentleuess, delicacy, and subordination ;
and in the circle we have, to some extent, a combination of the
qualities of both, although with a very decided leaning towards
those of the curve. Thus — as we may point out by way of illus¬
tration — in the figure of a man, more rudely simple in its outlines
as compared with the refined and variable contours of the female
form, we have frequent repetitions of the square, and more nearly
angular abruptness in its variations, while in woman the gently
swelling lines glide smoothly one into the other and are in the most
harmonious accordance with her gentleness, amiability, dclicacyy and
gracefully subordinate character. To perfect the illustration spheri¬
cal surfaces are to be traced in the contcairs of either form, although
most frequently in those of the woman. But here we have only one
of the great harmonies by which Nature unites the material to the
spiritual world. The philosopher might give you them in hundreds.
In further illustration, however, let us remember how commonly
we associate ideas of strength and power with angles and squares,
and how almost invariably we find objects of universally admitted
beauty made up of graceful undulating lines. In the Hercules, as
representative of physical power, we have the massive squareness
of jaw and shoulders, the abrupt swellings of huge muscles, the
head, well supported by the thick column-like neck, standing
squarely up, and the general appearance that of massive angularity
and squareness. Again: does not architecture show how straight lines
and right angles are the types of stability and strength only, and that
to make them unite in harmony and beauty we must combine with
them, as the very elements of such qualities, the spherical and the
curved. Thus a series of straight columns have their unity in the
arches which unite them as parts of a whole, and their straight
vertical lines are beautified with the curved ones of their capitals.
Dr. Darwin attributed the pleasing character of the sphere —
fancifully enough — to the fact of its being the form of the ma¬
ternal breast, so precious to the infant; and somebody else — even
more fanciful than the good doctor, thought the fact was accounted
for,— in common, perhaps, with “the milk in the cocoa-nut” — by
that of the world being round. But I venture to think a still
more satisfactory reason may be found in the absolutely perfect
unity and harmony of its parts, unity and harmony being the chief
component portions of all beauty. The peculiar expression of a
sphere is largely dependent ypon the position it occupies and the
use it serves. In the swelling contours of infancy it seems in per¬
fect harmony with the simplicity and innocent purity of the in¬
fant, while it is no less harmonious when, in forming the mighty
roof ot some huge cathedral, it emulates that glorious dome,
“fretted with golden fire,” the orbed expanse of heaven. In ancient
Assyrian and Egyptian art a winged orb signified eternal wisdom ;
and even now the circle is used to shadow forth both wisdom and
eternity. It has also been used as the symbol of kingly power, and
of the universality ol Christianity. Lines then having, as parts in
a picture, their own individual expression, good taste tells us that
such should be in accordance with the expression of the whole, for
the sake of power, unity , harmony, and their resulting beauty.
Let us now, passing over (just to serve our present purpose) the
more varied denominations, consider lines as separated into three
divisions — viz., straight, circular, and curved — and glance at them
separately as our elements of harmony in their combinations.
Circles blend very harmoniously together, but do not do so in
close combination with angles.
Curves are also harmonious in all their infinite variety, but, when
directly opposed to straight lines, they are said to be out of harmony.
Straight lines also blend in their associations, but do not mingle
harmoniously with the curved or serrated lines.
Compositions of lines which are complete in their parts are also
harmonious in their combinations.
To obtain contrast and variety, then, and not miss harmony, is
the aim to be adopted in our practical studies of lines.
To glance at the unity of variety in lines, let us take a beautiful
Greek statue, from time immemorial the type of harmonious beauty.
What variety and contrast do we perceive, and y’et how every
part aids the expression of the whole ! The contours are a suc¬
cession of delicate curves, undulating in “ wave”-like, “ wanton
wreaths,” from the delicate flexions and flowing lines of the neck
and shoulders to the no less smoothly graceful boundaries of the
extremities. Look at the eye ! — -
“ Where is any author in the world
Teaches such beauty as a woman’s eye ?”
See how the curved lid, so suggestive of the drooping sweep of the
lash, contrasts the circidar lines of the iris or pupil, the convex brow,
and the oval orbit! Then trace the bolder, yet perfectly delicate,
curve of the ear, the flow of the undulating locks of hair, the gently
swelling rotundity of the lips, the playful hollow separating them
from the rounded chin, and the perfect oval circumscribing the
face ; and here we have such a lesson in the harmonious combina¬
tions of lines as should not easily be forgotten. Well might the
poet sing —
“ From Harmony — from Heavenly Harmony—
This universal frame began ;
From Harmony to Harmony,
Thro’ all the compass of the notes, it ran —
The diapason closing full in man.”
It is said that Raffaele changed his taste in lines from studying
some such specimen of Grecian art as I have described, and, from
a stiff, formal manner, became, in his glorious works, a most elo¬
quent advocate for curvilinear and serpentine outlines.
Hogarth points out, in his famous “ Analysis of Beauty,” how in
the pine apple, the shape of which partakes of the oval and the cone ,
the outline contrasts harmoniously with the serpentine lines, and with
the cavities and round prominences of what gardeners call the pips.
Of this branch of composition, in the same work, he says : — “ The
way of composing pleasing (or harmonious) forms is to be accom¬
plished by making choice of variety of lines, as to their shapes
and dimensions ; and then again, by varying their situations with
each other by all the different ways that can be conceived ; and,
at the same time— if a solid figure be the subject of the composi¬
tion — the space or contents that is to be enclosed within those
lines must be duly considered, and varied, too, as much as possi¬
ble with propriety. * * * Nature, in shells and flowers,
&e., affords an infinite choice of elegant hints for this purpose ; as
the original of the Corinthian capital was taken from nothing
more, as it is said, than some dock-leaves growing up against a basket.
* * * St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the noblest instances
that can be produced of the most judicious application of every
principle that has been spoken of. There you may see the utmost
variety without confusion” [that is to say, harmonised], “ simpli¬
city’- without nakedness, richness without tawdriness, distinctness
without hardness, and quantity without excess — where the eye is
entertained throughout with the charming variety of all its parts
together. The noble projecting quantity of a certain number of
them, which present bold and distinct parts at a distance when
the lesser parts within them disappear — and the grand few but
remarkably well varied parts that continue to please the eye as long
as the object is discernible — are evident proofs of the superior skill
of Sir Christopher Wren.”
And here, my dear fellow-student, we will once more pause ; for
my lamp burns dim, the fire is nearly out, and the church clocks
are giving to the frosty air their varied voices in the solemn sound
of One. More of Harmony in the next epistle from yours, faithfully,
ALFRED H. WALL.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION.
AWARD OF MEDALS.
Silver — Best Portrait . A. Claudet, London.
Bronze — Second Best Group . II. P. Robinson, Leamington.
Silver — Best Landscape . F. Bedford, London.
Bronze — Second Best Landscape. . 1 Vernon Heath, London
r ( James Mudd, Manchester.
In this class the judges recommended two Bronze Medals to be
given — placing Mr. Heath and Mr. Mudd.
Silver — Best untouched Solar Picture Mr. Owen Angel, Exeter.
Bronze — Best coloured do. do. -f ^ oi ,
( Stafford Street, Birmingham.
Sir Francis E. Scott gives an extra prize to Mr. 0. G. Kejlander,
of Wolverhampton, for his works generally’ ; and the judges recom¬
mended the Society to give an extra Bronze Medal to Mr. Breese,
for his instantaneous stereographs.
±28
[December 2, 1801
THE BRITISH JOURN
Hates of % lltaittlj.
Great events or startling discoveries in photography now but
seldom disturb the “ even tenor” of its steady progress, and all eyes
are naturally turned to the coming Tournament of 1862. The Ex¬
hibition building itself is making almost marvellously rapid progress.
The appointment of Mr. Le Neve Foster (a member of the Council of
the Photographic Society) to the management of the Photographic
Department, is a guarantee that we shall not have an uninterested
or ignorant charge cV affairs. Mr. Foster has just returned from the
Exhibition at Florence, and, doubtless, brings with him many hints
which will be of value, both for adoption and avoidance in the ar¬
rangements which he is now commencing. The names of Mr.
Foster’s colleagues are not yet made known, but they will consist
of amateurs chiefly distinguished by their social position.
The Memorial of the Great Exhibition of 1851, by Mr. Durham
(another member of the Council of the Photographic Society), is
rapidly progressing towards completion, and will, we have little
doubt, be ready for inauguration soon after the opening of the
Exhibition of 1862 — though, probably, casts of three of the figures
around the pedestal will have to do duty at first for the bronze
statues. Mr. Durham has had the courage and forethought to try
the effect of the crowning figure of the Queen as “ Peace” in its future
position — one of the happiest, perhaps, it has ever been the good
fortune of a modern sculptor to secure — ere Anally dismissing it to
the caster’s hands, and has considerably altered and improved it.
This was the practice of the ancients, and it would be well if the
same practice were followed by modern sculptors more generally.
It is impossible for a sculptor working at a colossal model in a con¬
fined studio or shed to guess accurately its correct appearance at a
vast height above the ordinary level of the eye, and in an open space.
The last number of the London Review contains an excellent
article on photography as a fine art. Terse, logical, and vigorous
in style — calm and dispassionate in tone — it should carry convic¬
tion to any mind still halting between two opinions. In the
beginning of the controversy we directed attention to the im¬
portance of defining terms. We are glad to see that the writer
dwells upon this point, and also upon the incongruous place the
photographic pictures will hold if enumerated in the Industrial
Catalogue. The concession of a separate department, on the ground
that photography is an art sui generis , will be nullified if this be the
case. As there will be but two catalogues, the photographs must
necessarily be placed in one or other of them. The public neither
know nor feel interested in the question, and photographs coming be¬
fore them in the mechanical catalogue will help to associate in their
minds for ever the art with all other mechanical contrivances.
The writer of some “ Papers on Physiognomy,” in the Cornhill
Magazine, ascribes the want of trustworthy portraits as one of the
main causes that have retarded the science, and he trusts that,
henceforth, photography will adequately supply that want. With
such portraits, and engravings of portraits, as we have had, it has
been utterly impossible to get beyond the nebulous science of a
Lavater. We required the photograph. The physiognomist can¬
not be independent of portraits. Living faces are not enough for
him. For the purposes of comparison he needs marked characters
and picked specimens. Though it is a hard thing to say, portrait
painters, however great, “ are unreliable.” Most of them have a
mannerism. In the upper lip — a most important feature — they are
quite untrustworthy. Raffaelle had a favourite lip, without which
he hardly ever painted a face. So with Ivneller and Fuseli. “ Sir
Thomas Lawrence gives it with a vengeance to all his sitters —
curling the curves, and making the little drops in the centre almost
drip. Nothing short of the photograph can correct this uncertainty
and make the physiognomist feel that he is on sure ground. The
photographs produced by such men as Mayall, Dickenson, Lily,
Watkins, Williams, and others, leave little to be desired : nothing
more truthful and nothing cheaper. A collection of good portraits
is now within everybody’s means, and everybody is making a col¬
lection. Let us hope that something will one day come of these
numerous collections.”
Anent “Photography in Natural Colours,” M. Niepce de St. Victor
is said to have succeeded in fixing the coloured image so as to be
capable of resisting four-and-twenty hours’ exposure to light.
By the death of Mr. Clarkington, of Regent Street, another of
the few remaining early Daguerreotypists is lost to the photo¬
graphic world. Having travelled with success throughout the
South of France, he afterwards practised photography in the
Strand, and ultimately in Regent Street, where (possessing one of
the best appointed glass-rooms in London) he became known for
his successful portraits of theatrical celebrities. S. T.
AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Hirelings of S0nrties.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
An ordinary meeting of the above Society was held on Wednesday
evening, the 20th instant, at Myddleton Hall, Islington, — George Shadbolt
Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read by the Secretary
and confirmed by the meeting, the Chairman called on Mr. Ross, who
had kindly undertaken to exhibit a complete set of apparatus for taking
pictures by means of Mr. Sutton’s patent panoramic lens.
The whole apparatus was neatly packed in a case, measuring about 30
in. by 18 in., by 18 in., and furnished with divisions to keep each piece of
apparatus in its place in travelling. The size of the pictures yielded by
the lens was 12 in. by 4 in., embracing an angle of 100 degrees, and the
cost of the whole was stated to be £22.
While displaying the individual pieces of apparatus, as camera, lens
bath, pressure-frame, &c., to the meeting, Mr. Ross took occasion to
remark that the essential difference between this and the usual apparatus
for landscapes was, that everything in this was curved. The glass plates
upon which the pictures were taken were made expressly for the purpose,
and cut from cylinders blown to such a diameter as to suit the curve re¬
quired by the lens. This being the case the bath, camera, back, plate-
holder, pressure. frame, &c., must necessarily also be curved ; and, with
regard to the last-mentioned piece of apparatus, he directed attention to
the fact that no plate glass was required upon which to place the negative,
the negative itself being placed in the frame. A gentleman present
having alluded to the risk attending such a method of printing, Mr. Ross
stated that Mr. Bedford had taken as many as GO or 70 impressions from
one negative without breaking it.
Mr. Moens directed attention to the disadvantage of using gutta-percha
baths, which, as he imagined, could not be avoided in this instance, from
the necessity of having the vessel curved.
Mr. Ross expressed a hope that he should, ere long, be able to supply
curved glass baths, as he was then negotiating with a manufacturer with
that object in view. He had stated that ebonite would be too brittle a
material, as he had been using a tray made of it, and, having accidentally
let it fall, it broke into a thousand pieces.
Mr. Simpson and Mr. Ross, in reply to a question as to the coating of
the curved glasses with collodion, bore testimony to the fact that they
had found little or no difficulty in the operation.
The Secretary mentioned the want of a flexible transparent material as
a substitute for glass, and regretted there should be such difficulty in pro¬
curing plates of mica of uniform thickness and free from strife andscratches.
Mr. Simpson stated that one objection to the use of mica was that it
contained iron.
Mr. Garniiam thought the waxed-paper process a convenient one to
follow when using the panoramic apparatus.
In reply to questions from various gentlemen, Mr. Ross stated— 1st.
That the focus of the lens was five inches, measured from the centre.
2nd. That the curved wood- work was cut out of the solid, and clamped to
prevent warping. 3rd. That the lens certainly required focusing, as the
aperture was large in proportion to the focal length of the lens. 4th.
That its chief use was in taking a particular class of subjects, consisting
of extended views, &c. Some remarks were made relative to the cur¬
vature produced in the lines that should be horizontal, &c.
An animated discussion then followed on the form of shutter adapted
to the front of the camera in lieu of a cap to the lens.
Mr. Dawson advocated the use of a black cloth in front of the lens as
being quite as instantaneous as the arrangements then before the meeting.
Mr. Ross replied that he was aware that the plan alluded to by Mr.
Dawson was adopted by some of our first photographers, as, for instance,
Messrs. Negretti and Zambia, in taking their Crystal Palace stereographs,
and Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen, in his sea views. He submitted, however,
that the hinged shutter (now under notice), opening and shutting by
means of a milled head, or by raising it with the finger, possessed the
advantage of allowing the operator to regulate the exposure with greater
nicety, and also to direct the actions of the light with regard to the sky or
foreground of the picture for a greater or a less time as occasion required.
Mr. Dawson, without desiring to disparage the instrument in any way,
must object to its being called an instantaneous shutter, as it possessed
no advantages over black cloth.
Mr. Simpson was of opinion that the shutter would act as a screen to
the sky better than doth : anything at a given distance from the lens
would shade the sky.
Mr. Seeley had observed, in practice, that a stop had always the effect
of cutting off the corners of the picture.
The Chairman explained that anything in front of a lens would act as
stop or object. If it were so close to the lens as not to act as an object, it
would then perform the part of a stop. He proposed a vote of thanks to
Mr. Ross and the gentlemen who had taken part in the discussion, and
called on Mr. Martin to read a short paper On Simple Dried Collodion
without a Preservative Agent [see page 417], which he had undertaken to
do for Mr. Hislop, who was unavoidably absent on that evening.
Mr. Martin, before reading Mr. Hislop’s paper, exhibited two stereo¬
graphs taken by that gentleman, and sent by him to illustrate the capa¬
bilities of liis dry process without a preservative agent. He mentioned
)ecember 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
m
ilso the collodions used and the times of exposure ; but these were points
vhich could not be appreciated without an examination of the pictures.
The discussion which followed the reading of the paper was character-
sed by a singular misapprehension on the part of most of those who
jngaged in it ; for, whereas Mr. Hislop distinctly stated in his paper that
he claimed nothing as new, but desired only that the Society should partici¬
pate in the satisfaction he had himself experienced at having worked out
an easy and efficient mode of operating, it was repeatedly stated that
there was “ nothing new” in the process — a fact already fully admitted by
the writer of the paper.
Mr. Simpson said he had obtained pictures by simply washing the nitrate
of silver from the sensitised collodion film.
Mr. Dawson said that the finest dry collodion pictures lie had ever seen
were some taken by Mr. Sparling, and shown to him in Dublin, and they
were taken upon plates which had been simply washed and dried after
removal from the bath ; moreover they were kept for one month before
exposure, and for one month after, before they were developed. He (Mr.
Dawson) further said, in reply to questions from Mr. Seeley and Mr.
Bingham, that there was no sign of the film leaving the plate during
development, nor had any peculiar form of developer been employed.
The Chairman said Dr. Hill Norris had adopted a similar method of
preparing plates in 1854, and Mr. Barnes had subsequently done the
same ; this, however, to his mind, was a point of less importance than
the view taken by Mr. Hislop, with reference to the supposed inert con¬
dition of the albumen used in coating the plates before pouring on the
collodion. He (the Chairman) was satisfied that the nitrate of silver
came into direct contact with the albumen in virtue of its complete pene¬
tration of the collodion film, and had no hesitation, therefore, in regarding
the albumen as playing an important part in the formation of the picture.
Mr. Dawson described a simple experiment by means of which any one
might convince himself of the complete penetration of the nitrate of
silver through the collodion film. On one occasion he inadvertently placed
a sensitised plate in his camera back with the wrong side inwards, and he
found on developing, after exposure, that by reflected light from the sur¬
face of the film no picture was to be seen, but on looking through the glass
a picture perfect in all its details became visible, clearly demonstrating
that the actual image was on the under side of the film, i.e. the side in
contact with the glass.
Mr. Bingham remarked, in reference to the question whether the
albumen was really coagulated by drying before coating the plate with
collodion, that the point might be ascertained by treatment with water.
Mr. Martin stated that he had mentioned that point in his conversa¬
tion with Mr. Hislop, further suggesting that, if through the non-coagu¬
lation of the albumen any portion should dissolve off on treating the
plate with water, evidence of its presence might be obtained by the
addition of a few drops of solution of nitrate of silver, or bichloride of
mercury, which would produce a white, cloudy precipitate, if albumen
were present.
Mr. Simpson said it was well known that dried albumen was not coagu-
lable by heat ; the evaporation of the moisture, when plates so coated
were dried in an oven, prevented the coagulation.
The Chairman stated that Mr. McNab, of Glasgow, who was in the
habit of employing diluted albumen as a preliminary coating to his
plates, found that, if kept for any length of time prior to use, they were
apt to become mouldy in some places, causing spots in the picture — thus
tending to show that the albumen was not coagulated. He (the Chairman)
suggested to him the immersion of the plates in a solution of protosul¬
phate of iron to coagulate the albumen, and this was found entirely to
prevent the defect complained of.
Mr. Martin mentioned the fact that Capt. Dawson, of Trieliinopoly, had
adopted the use of protosulphate of iron with equally satisfactory results.
Mr. Simpson alluded to the importance of being furnished with a
collodion which would adhere to the plate for a process like that of Mr.
Hislop’s.
Mr. Martin said that there were some collodions which, while adhering
to the plate in a very satisfactory manner, had the singular property of
parting with their nitrate of silver in a very unequal and patchy manner,
notwithstanding the most careful and complete washing : he thought it
especially important to avoid such a collodion for working the process
now under consideration.
The Chairman thought the non-adhesion of the film not so dependent
on the character of the collodion as on the surface upon which it was
poured, as he had found that almost any collodion would adhere if the
plate were first coated with albumen.
Mr. Seeley was of opinion that gelatine would do better than albumen,
as it had less action on the bath than albumen.
The Chairman said there was no doubt that gelatine had less action
than albumen on the bath.
Mr. Moens mentioned that temperature materially influenced the
rapidity with which albumen affected the bath. He had sensitised albu-
menised paper at a temperature of 110° Fahrenheit, and had found the
hath solution turn black in half-an-hour.
Mr. Simpson directed attention to the fact that Mr. Hislop recom¬
mended the employment of acetic acid, doubtless with the object of assist¬
ing the coagulation of the albumen ; and when that plan was followed
with a paper bath, the discolouration spoken of by Mr. Moens was slower
in making its appearance.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Hislop was proposed and carried unanimously.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The second ordinary meeting of the above Society was held on Thursday,
the 14th instant, in St. Peter’s School-room, Walworth. The Rev. F. F.
Statham, President, occupied the chair.
The minutes of the last- meeting having been read and confirmed,
the secretary, Mr. A. H. Wall, addressed the meeting on the subject of the
memorial forwarded to the Royal Commissioners by the South London
Photographic Society, and which had been courteously acknowledged
by their Secretary, Mr. Sandford.
Mr. Wall said : — I have to inform the members that the memorial
addressed by this Society to Her Majesty’s Commissioners for the
Great International Exhibition was duly forwarded, and its receipt
politely acknowledged. But although a circular has been addressed
by the Commissioners to the Secretaries of the Sub-committees detail¬
ing the various applications for space, and urging such investigations
as may tend “to do credit to the present state of national and local
industry,” photography is as yet unrepresented. It is true that the
Commissioners have promised, since the receipt of this Society’s memorial,
that such a committee should be appointed ; but this promise is not yet
fulfilled, and precious time is, consequently, being lost. Of all classes of
exhibitors few need more time for the preparation of their various works
than photographers, especially when such preparations must be made at
the worst possible time of the year. It is, therefore, important, both to
the interests of the art and the interest of its professors, that any investi¬
gations which may be necessary should be promptly made, and such
decisions as may be arrived at quickly published, in order that British
photography may do honour to the national character. By way of hint
to such of our professional photographers as may have greater respect for
individual profit as opposed, in their thinking, to national gain, I may,
perhaps, venture to point out to them that, so surely as the prejudice
against English as opposed to foreign photography (which already shows
signs of existence) is proved by next year’s great show to be but too well
founded, so surely will the encouragement and patronage which photo¬
graphy has met with in this country be, tofa very serious and damaging
extent, taken from them and bestowed upon their continental brethren ;
while, on the other hand, if this country carry off the palm for photo¬
graphic excellence, u-e shall gain crowds of patrons from other lands, and our
art thus encouraged must necessarily march more rapidly upwards and
onwards to perfection. We cannot, I think, whether as a Society or as
mere individual lovers of our art, too frequently urge upon the photo¬
graphic world the vital consequence of preparing earnestly and thoroughly
for that glorious contest of nations of which this country will next year
be the theatre. Holding such opinions as I have ventured to refer to,
then, your Committee, at our last meeting, laid before you the memorial
you so unanimously adopted , fondly hoping that their active energy and
promptitude would find the most hearty welcome and appreciation in every
section of what the Daily Telegraph , in respectfully naming this Society,
calls “the great modern guild.” I have no reason to believe this is not
the case; but the editor of our late organ, The British Journal of
Piiotogearhy, strangely misconceiving the spirit and purpose of our
memorial, has not only protested against it as an individual member of
this Society, but has denounced it as illegal, and satirised it to the best
of his ability in the leaded type of a leading article. Mr. Shadbolt holds
that “such a document could not be adopted as that of this Society with¬
out previous notice of so important a measure being contemplated.” Now,
whether judged by our own laws or by precedent and custom, I hold
that the course we adopted cannot be questioned. If Mr. Shadbolt think
otherwise it is very easy to shoiv cause for such a belief, until which is
done little or nothing can be said in reply to this accusation. With refer¬
ence to the article in that gentleman’s journal, it indicates chiefly that
Mr. Shadbolt must have a very fertile imagination. Our memorial points
out that a Committee for the management of the photographic depart¬
ment is of vital consequenco, and urges that such a Committee be promptly
organised. Surely no one will deny either the necessity for, or the non¬
existence of, such a Committee. But our imaginative friend, the Editor,
trembling with fear lest what he calls “ a small (not to say a very small)
suburban society” should prove a second Curtins, and leap into “the
yawning gulf supposed to exist in the form of a vacant space where a
Committee for managing photographic affairs ought to be found,” quite
overlooked the fact that this Society, in its memorial to Her Majesty’s
Commissioners, never implied or intended that it should “sacrifice itself
by leaping bodily into the void space.” I trust, therefore, that this asser¬
tion will calm down the eager fears of our too susceptible censor, and
convince him that there is no fear of this Society taking undue precedence
of its elders, unless they choose, by retreating, to leave their southern relative
foremost in the van. I trust that, as a Society “established for the
advancement of photographic art and science,” we shall never be deterred
by the fear of misrepresentation from taking anjr steps clearly and closely
united with the duties we have voluntarily sought and generously
undertaken.
The President, in making a few introductory remarks, desired to
apologise for his absence on the occasion of the first meeting of the
Society for the session 1861-2. It was not necessary for him to say more
than that family matters of pressing importance demanded his atten¬
tion, which lie regretted the more, as lie had since been informed that
the unfavourable state of the weather on that occasion had caused a very
limited attendance of members. In reference to the remarks which Mr.
430
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
AVall had just read to the meeting, lie (the President) might say that the
feeling- which was uppermost in his mind was one of regret at the
evidence of ill-feeling displayed by the Editor of The British Journal
of Photography towards the framers of the memorial alluded to in a
leading article of that Journal, which article had called forth Mr. Wall’s
remarks. He (the President) could not but think that the Editor of
The British Journal of Photography ivas making charges without
due consideration, since he (the President) had always understood that
a similar course of action had been proposed for each and all of the
Photographic Societies ; and had this intention been carried out, greater
weight would have attached to the combined representations of a number
of Societies, and more solid advantages would doubtless have been
secured in the interest of photography. He (the President) could not but
be sorry that a subject which should have proved a source of harmonious
action among photographers, especially those of the metropolis, should
have acted rather as'the “ apple of discord,” and caused disunion among
those who should have been united. In justice, or lathci chaiity to the
gentleman who had made himself so unpleasantly prominent in the
matter, it must be assumed that he adopted his course of action from a
sense of duty, however much we might conceive him to be mistaken
therein. ,
The Chairman then announced that Mr. G. Wharton bimpson had
kindly prepared a short paper, which he would now read to the meeting,
On Mounting Photographs. [See page 420.]
[In illustration of the paper, the author exhibited a considerable collec¬
tion of fine photographs by Bej lander, Robinson, Heath, lliompson,
Mudd, &c., which were much admired, eliciting the especial commenda¬
tion of the President.]
Among so many rare gems it would be difficult to select any
one for especial notice : there were, however, some two or three which
attracted the attention of the meeting, as very apt illustrations of
the advantage of judicious mounting, 'lhe actual photographs, in the
instances alluded to, were cut into ovals of the size which would be yielded
bv the ordinary ninth and sixth size gilt mats ; but, being mounted as
they were, on a thin board with a lithographic tint, ot about the outside
dimensions of a whole plate, they were setoff in a remarkable, mannei,
and seemed to acquire additional importance and have then beauty
greatly enhanced.
Mr. Sebastian Davis asked if the carte de visits pictures, now so de¬
servedly popular, had been mounted on tinted mounts.
Mr. Hughes replied that the pictures alluded to by Mr. Davis had been
mounted in that way, but without any obvious improvement in t licit
appearance — the method being, in his opinion, unsuitable where so little
margin was displayed as in a carte de visile portrait.
The President felt that he was only giving expression to the feelings
of every one present when he acknowledged how much the meeting was
indebted to Mr. Simpson for the interest which lie had thrown around a
subject which, at the first glance, would seem to have been so barren, and
for the very efficient method he had chosen for illustrating Ins paper, by
the exhibition of so valuable a collect on of photographs. In view of the
general scope of Mr. Simpson’s paper, the truth of the adage, beauty
unadorned is adorned the most,” became somewhat questionable ; for, as
in society, a tastefully chosen dress, and the exercise of a refined judg¬
ment in the selection of ornaments, were found to add grace to and mciease
the attractions of even the best-looking either among men or women so he
conceived that in art, and especially in photographic art, a carefu ly chosen
and appropriate style of mounting not only displayed a good photograph
to the best advantage, but, in many instances, successfully concealed
defects in inferior photographs, which would otherwise have become un¬
pleasantly conspicuous. He desh-ed to corroborate in every point, and
bear testimony to the importance of Mr. Simpson’s remarks on the shape
which should be given to the photograph before placing it on the mount-
in"- board ; and, in reference to the securing of greater accuracy in cu. ting
ovals, he was of opinion that there was room for the introduction of an
ingenious and not too expensivj machine for shaping elliptical photo¬
graphs with a nearer approach to mathematical accuracy. Glasses had
been recommended as guides in cutting photographs, but. as some diffi¬
culty, and consequent expense, was involved in first shaping the glass,
it occurred to him (the President) that a good substitute for the purpose
might be found in a peculiar preparation, something like horn, which
was procurable at the artists’ colour shops. He (the President) regaided
that portion of Mr. Simpson’s paper which referred to the adhesive ma¬
terials employed in mounting photographs as of great importance ; tor
he had observed that, when paste or starch was made too thin, there was
a great tendency to the growth of fungi, and that wl10*] isinglass or g ue
was made too thick, there was a tendency to peel off. It. occurred to
him that it might probably be an advantage in the preparation of. starch
paste to triturate it in a mortar, with the object of removing gnttmess
and any insoluble particles. . . , ,
Mr. Simpson remarked that many amateur and professional photo¬
graphers had experienced difficulty in separating- a photograph fiom.t le
board upon which it was mounted when an occasion arose requiring it to
be done : he would, therefore, mention that he had always been successful
in his trials in that direction when lie had adopted the plan ot laying upon
the photograph a piece of clean white blotting paper, dripping wet, which
supplied just sufficient moisture to penetrate the picture. and admit of its
.complete separation from the cardboard. He was of opinion that the liorn-
[ December 2, 1 80 i
like paper shapes, suggested by the President, would be found too thin for
the purpose, glass having the advantage of perfect transparency, and a suf¬
ficient thickness to act as a guide to the knife. It was usual, also, In*
fore cutting, to use various sizes and shapes of openings, cut out in card
board, by placing them temporarily on the picture, to see which suited
the subject best.
Mr. Martin, in reply to the suggestion of the President relative to
trituration in a mortar in the preparation of starch paste, remarked, that
as starch generally occurred in commerce in a tolerable state of purity
from inorganic or siliceous grit, there would be no necessity to triturate
on that account ; and if the object in view was the mere mechanical con¬
tusion of the starch granules themselves, it was equally unnecessary, as
the effect of the boiling water used would be to cause the entire disrup¬
tion of these granules, resulting in the production of a paste possessing
complete homogeneousness throughout its entire mass.
Mr. Simpson corroborated the remarks made by Mr. Martin.
Mr. Howard said that his experience led him to give the preference to
dextrine as a material for mounting. In mounting small pictures he had
found it advantageous to correct the cockling, and, at the same time, to
impart an additional gloss to the surface, by turning the picture face
downwards on a piece of thick plate glass, and rubbing on the back with
a key.
Mr. AVall remarked that a glass bottle had been recommended for the
same purpose, but a still more appropriate instrument was an agate
burnisher.
Mr. Simpson expressed a hope that Mr. Blanchard would favour the
meeting with some remarks on the analogy assumed to exist between the
rules applicable to the mounting of photographs and some of the laws of
music.
Mr. Br.ANCHARD did not think that the matter alluded to by Mr.
Simpson admitted of any very elaborate statement ; briefly, it stood
thus: — A succession of straight lines in a photograph and its mounting
was apt to become as wearisome to the eye as a succession of thirds and
fifths to the ear in music; the object, therefore, to be aimed at was, by
the adoption of a tasteful and judicious style of mounting, to produce
a harmonious variety which should be pleasing to the eye. There was
one subject which had not been mentioned by any gentleman present
upon which lie should be glad to receive some information : he alluded
to the d'JJi ulty of separating a photograph from the cardboard upon
which it had been mounted when the mounting had been effected by
means of starch, he having had to soak the print as long as twelve hours
in water. He would mention also that he had found it convenient to cut
out his photographs with a very sharp knife upon plate glass; and in mount¬
ing carte de visits portraits he found it best to moisten the cards first.
Mr. AVall had experienced the same difficulty in removing starch-
mounted photographs, and would be equally glad to receive a suggestion
on the subject from any gentleman pi-esent.
Mr. Sebastian Davis regarded gelatine as the best material for
mounting. He prepared his solution by soaking the gelatine first in
cold water until it had swollen considerably, and then adding the hot
water, when it would be found to dissolve very freely. It should be
applied to the paper hot, and be brought into contact with the mounting
board just at the moment of setting. It offered the advantage of allowing
great facility of wnmounting, as it was only necessary to hold the
photograph over the steam of boiling water for a short time, and the
gelatine became at once soft enough to admit of the complete separation
of the picture from the board.
Mr. Simpson remarked that there was a considerable analogy between
Mr. Davis’s method and the plan followed when Scotch or Russian glue
was used as the mounting material. Some persons had recommended
metagelatine as a suitable substance for mounting : it was, however,
by no means in general use.
The President suggested, in reply to Mr. AVall’s remarks, that as it
was so difficult to remove the photograph from the card, it might per¬
haps be easier to separate the card from the photograph.
Mr. Simpson said he had resorted to that plan with advantage : he had
soaked the card by floating it on water, and when saturated with moisture,
turned the picture face downwards, and rubbed off the card with his
fingers.
The President thought it possible that starch-mounted photographs
might sometimes, near the sea, become stained blue from the action
of iodine.
Mr. Martin begged to remind the President that one of the essential
conditions necessary to the reaction to which he had alluded was, that
the iodine should be in the free state. Now it was fair to assume that any
minute traces of iodine contained in a state of diffusion through the
atmosphere in the neighbourhood of the sea would exist as iodide of
sodium, in which case the blue colour would not be produced. In refer¬
ence to the remarks of Mr. Blanchard and Mr. AVall, on the difficulty of
unmounting starch-mounted photographs, it had occurred to him (Mr.
Martin), during the discussion, that it would perhaps be possible to effect
a separation more readily by floating the card on a solution of some
weak vegetable acid, as for instance oxalic or tartaric acid, which would
have the effect, especially if the solution were warm, of converting the
starch into dextrine, and this latter substance would then become readily
soluble in the water. He merely offered this as a suggestion, sensible of
course that its value would have to be tested by experiment.
)ecember 2, t80i] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 431
Mr. Howard thought the acids suggested by Mr. Martin would cxer-
ise a deleterious action on the photograph.
Mr. C. Jabez Hughes directed attention to the advantage which a large
nargin was to small pictures in some instances, though, of course, the
ame proportion could not be extended to the larger sizes. Some persons
Ejected to moistening mounting boards on account of the destruction of
he glass. He (Mr. Hughes) had found india-rubber solution sparingly
ipplied to the corners of a photograph very convenient for mounting :
the pictures so mounted were also easily removable, by means of a paper-
knife, and the book or board was unsoiled by the solution.
The President, in conclusion, remarked that the subject introduced by
Mr. Simpson had assumed such unexpected importance in the discussion,
that it was not altogether improbable there might, one day, be consulting
photographers, to indicate merely the best style of mounting, just as he
had been told there were in Paris consulting barbers, who merely gave
instructions to the really working barber as to what style of hair-cutting
was most appropriate to a particular style of countenance.
The Secretary announced that, through the kindness of Mr. Hughes,
the Experimental Committee would meet at his house, as being a more
central point of rendezvous.
It was proposed by Mr. Wall, and seconded by Mr. Hughes, that Mr.
Wormald be elected a member of the Society. The proposition was car¬
ried unanimously.
The Secretary announced that, in accordance with Rule II., the next
meeting of the Society would be special. One of the subjects for con¬
sideration would be the appointment of a place of meeting in a situation
more convenient for the members of the Society generally.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 6th ult., — J. Sidcbotham, Vice-President, in the chair.
The Chairman said that it had been their custom, and he thought it was
a very wise one, to call attention to old matters which were published as
novelties. At the last meeting he had pointed out an instance of this
kind in reference to a camera described in The British Journal of Pho-
tograthy by Mr. Cramb. That gentleman had treated his observations
as a personal attack. He (the Chairman) should be sorry for such an
impression to exist ; but when an invention which had been before the
public for years was published as something original he thought it his
duty to correct it. Mr. Cramb might not have seen Mr. Dancer’s camera ;
but if he doubted the correctness of his remarks an instrument should be
forwarded for his examination. The Chairman also said that, since the
last meeting, he had made some experiments on the use of coloured glasses
for dark rooms, and had found that the green spoken of by Mr. Petschler
would not answer the purpose. He exhibited a sheet of paper which,
when sensitive, had been exposed under glasses of different colours : the
portion covered by green was considerably darkened. Where the light
had to traverse a yellow medium, its action was also observable, and those
two pieces of glass combined were insufficient. Ruby and orange
tints preserved the paper entirely ; and it therefore appeared that
some tinge of red must be present to prevent the passage of the chemical
rays.
Mr. Petschler said that in recommending the green glass he did not
intend it to be used alone. He assumed that there was in the first
instance a screen, which would of itself be sufficient, and that the green
should merely be used to modify the tint of light and render it more
pleasant to the eye.
In reply to an inquiry, the Chairman stated that he had found the
same results in transmitting light through the coloured glasses to sensi¬
tive collodion.
Mr. Nevill suggested that, if a modified tint of light for the eyes only
were required, spectacles of green glass would be a ready method of
obtaining it.
Mr. Noton then illustrated the preparation of plates upon his “ com¬
pound albumen ” method. [See page 404.] The excellence of the plan
adopted for coating the plate was strikingly evident ; and it was admitted
generally that one great difficulty in the use of albumen was removed.
In reply to inquiries, Mr. Noton stated that he used six grains of iodide
of ammonium and one and a-lialf of bromide of potassium in the albumen.
He had tried ten grains, hut with inferior results. Generally he found
that a drachm of water was sufficient for the white of one egg ; but no
positive rule could be relied upon, as albumen varied considerably in
quality. — Mr. Noton also developed a picture during the meeting, and the
result was perfectly satisfactory. Several negatives which had been
taken since the previous meeting were handed round, and a general desire
was expressed that the process should be thoroughly tried.
Mr. Tobler exhibited a blow-pipe he had received from Germany. The
blast was effected by squeezing an India-rubber bag, from -which the air
was thus propelled into a second India-rubber bag, furnished with a tube
for directing the current to the flame. The second bag contracted by its
elasticity when the first was released from pressure, and thus a con¬
tinuous blast was kept up. Mr. Tobler fused some chloride of silver upon
a lump of charcoal with this blow-pipe and an ordinary gas-jet.
Votes of thanks to Mr. Sidebotham for his experiments with the
coloured glasses, to Mr. Noton for his illustrated paper, to Mr. Tobler, and
to the Chairman, closed the proceedings.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The opening meeting of this Society for the session was held in George
Street Hall, on the 12th ult., the chair being occupied by TV. Scott
Elliot, Esq., There was an average attendance, the meeting being graced
by the presence of a few ladies.
The following gentlemen were admitted as members : — Mr. A. B. Fleming,
Mr. John Scartb, and the Rev. D. T. K. Drummond.
A paper was read by Mi-. T. B. Johnstone, giving an account of a new
difficulty in photography.
Although we trust that this “difficulty" has merely a local application,
it may be interesting to our readers to know what it was, and accordingly
we insert a digest of it.
Mr. Johnstone, who is well known in artistic and commercial circles in
Edinburgh, and who is an amateur photographer of some standing, had
occasion, during a temporary summer residence at the Bridge of Allan,
to set out with his camera to take a view of the Ochil Hills. He had
planted his camera at the side of the public road which leads to Blairlogie.
While his picture was being impressed, he was accosted by Lord
Abercromby (who was described as a fair-haired young man, who wore
his hat on the back of his head), along with two attendants, and in a
bullying tone was told by his lordship that he had no right to be there
with a camera. The reason his lordship assigned was, that his pony
might perhaps shy at seeing the camera. Mr. Johnstone answered his
lordship respectfully, but declined moving, on which the aggressors rode
away. His lordship next sent three men, one of them a county police¬
man, to order him away. Mr. Johnstone handed them his card, and
desired them to inform Lord Abercromby that he refused to do so.
Artists, Mr. Johnstone argues, may be excluded from private property ;
but if, according to Lord Abercromby, they have “ no right” to study art
on the high road, where, he asks, in the name of wonder, is art or nature
to be copied or studied ?
'I he sentiments of those at the meeting were decidedly adverse to
Lord Abercomby’s interference; and Mr. Harvey, R.S.A., said they were
all much indebted to Mr. Johnstone for his spirited resistance.
Mr. Walker briefly described the method of operating with the pano¬
ramic camera, which he stated Mr. Ross had kindly sent down for the
Society’s inspection. There were no specimens of its performance
accompanying it.
There being no other business the meeting separated.
OHORLTGN PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The members of this Society met on the 14th ult.,-— Mr. Wm. Griflithg,
Vice-President, in the chair.
There being no paper before the meeting, the Chairman proposed that
the evening should be devoted to a discussion of the wet and dry processes ;
and, judging from the energy with which the subject was taken up, the
suggestion seemed to be well-timed and agreeable.
The discussion was quite of a conversational character, and opened, of
course, with the consideration of glass, the prevailing opinion being that
good flatted crown is generally to be preferred for ordinary work, hut that
thin plate should always be employed for choice subjects, or for negatives
that are likely to be subjected to much work in the printing-frame.
A Member said it might, perhaps, bo better to always use thin plate,
as in that case photographers were probably less inclined to sacrifice a
plate to an inferior subject.
Next came the operation of cleaning. Here tvipoliand all dusty agents
were unnoticed, except to condemn them as being a fertile source of spots.
The majority of the speakers were in favour of dilute nitric acid for new
glass ; and many also advocated it for glass that had been used.
Mr. Wardley thought it the simplest and safest article that could be
applied for the purpose of cleaning glass : stains and impressions of former
pictures were not known to manifest themselves after its employment.
Mr. Fawcett said he always used equal quantities of water and com¬
mercial nitric acid for any kind of glass, new or old. His practice was
to rub it well over the plate with a tuft of cotton, rinse, and dry, and
afterwards polish with a bit of clean wash-leather. He said all glass
should be cleaned immediately before using it.
Mr. Wardley recommended those members who did not clean their
plates just before using them to store them away with their faces in.
contact, so as to prevent access of dust, &c.
In allusion to varnished plates,
Mr. Knott informed the members, that plunging them into boiling water -
would quickly remove any varnish. Avery adhesive film of collodion,
only would almost instantly yield to an application of wood naptha.
A Member asked if it were really essential to saturate the silver batkf
with iodide of silver?
In reply, several members said they usually dispensed with that
precaution, and had so far met with no evil result to induce its adop¬
tion.
Mr. Knott said the presence of iodide of silver in excess had given -
him pictures full of small transparent spots, or pin-holes, these spots
ceased to annoy him after he had removed the excess of iodide from the -
bath. He found that iodide of silver was less soluble in a hot than in a
cold solution of nitrate of silver. He first suspected this from the fact of
being able to obtain clear pictures in winter while he was frequently
43a
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 2, 1861
annoyed 'with spots during- the short months of summer. To test this he
warmed his bath, and found it became milky-looking : he then cooled it,
and the original appearance was restored — consequently when he had
reason to suppose there was too much iodide of silver in his bath, lie
made it hot, and passed it through a filter while in that condition, By
this simple operation the insoluble excess was of course removed. He
should be glad if any gentleman present could explain to him why
certain comet-like marks, which sometimes found their way into collodion
films, should, when developed with salt of iron, be opaque in the head or
nucleus and transparent in the tail, and the reverse when developed with
pyi'ogallic acid. The marks to which he alluded were apparently caused
by a bit of undissolved cotton or set collodion from the neck of the bottle.
Mr. Bogerson, replying to a member, said the presence of nitric acid in
the silver bath would cause streaks in the film.
The further discussion of the subject was adjourned to next meeting.
A vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the meeting separated.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A meeting- of this Society was held on the 6th ult., — G. H. Slight, Esq.,
Vice-President, in the chair.
Mr. Neilson was admitted a member.
Mr. Bow, C.E., read a paper On Photographic Distortion [see page 417],
illustrated by some large and beautifully-executed diagrams, which were
suspended on the wall.
After some remarks on the subject by several members, the Secretary
intimated that the meeting that day fortnight would be of a popular
character, to which the members might introduce their friends by means of
tickets, which he would duty forward to each member ; and that through
the courtesy of Mr. Moule, of London, the patent photogen would on that
occasion be exhibited in operation.
After the thanks of the Society had been awarded to Mr. Bow, the
meeting separated.
A popular meeting of this Society was held on the 20th ult., in Messrs.
Howells and Lyon’s large saloon, George Street. The hall was quite
filled with the members and their friends, a great number of ladies being
present.
The chair was occupied by J. D. Marwick. Esq., President of the
Society, who, in a few remarks, called attention to the remarkable degree
of success which had attended this Society since its formation in April
last, the number of members on the roll being above 70. Without anti¬
cipating the report of the Council, which would be read at their annual
meeting that day fortnight, he might say that they anticipated having
classes for their more inexperienced members, in order that they might be
brought as far as possible to the level of the rest.
Mr. John Lennie then exhibited a number of dissolving views, embrac¬
ing several views of Paris, statuary, &c., which were frequently applauded.
Mr. Moule’s patent photogen was next exhibited. Mr. Nicol briefly ex¬
plained the nature of this invention, showing that a small quantity of
a peculiar powder was ignited in the lantern-looking apparatus in a re¬
ceptacle for the purpose, and the light generated was of such a nature as
to admit of a photograph being taken with an ordinary camera in little
more than a dozen of seconds.
Some gentlemen selected from the audience then sat for their portraits,
and the results were such as to show that good portraits may be taken
altogether independent of daylight, and at a very cheap rate, without, of
course, the hitherto necessary and, to amateurs, disadvantageous glass
house.
A cordial vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. Moule for his kindness in
giving the use of the photogen ; to Mr. Lennie, for his exhibition of dis¬
solving views; and to Mr^Horsburgh, by whom the greater number of the
pictures had been taken.
Jbrctp Camgpnkenxe.
Paris, November 28th, 1861.
Tiie French Photographic Society’s first meeting of the season was
principally taken up by a report of the results of the late Exhibi¬
tion — which were very satisfactory from a pecuniary point of view —
and also by a discussion, of which I will say a few words presently.
Numerous pictures were presented to the Society at this meeting.
M. Jeanrenaud exhibited some new and very remarkable land¬
scapes which he had obtained with the Taupenot process. M. A.
Thouret, who had tried Major Russell’s tannin process, showed a
series of pictures, constituting in themselves the highest eulogium
on that method, which at last is beginning to receive the attention
it deserves.
MM. Bisson presented some specimens of the new collection of
views which one of them had brought back from his journey to
Mont Blanc and Mont Rosa. They are splendid panoramas, de¬
lightful pictures of the sites most sought after by tourists, and are
distinguished by the skill which marks all the works of those labo¬
rious artists. Lastly, M. Migurski passed round a large number of
portraits, groups, types, and views, all relating to his own country
(Russia). M. Migurski has experimented on most of the processes
which are known, and lias turned them to good account in the
execution of his very diversified collection.
Some new carbon pictures were presented by M. Charavct, the
proprietor of M. Fargier’s patent. They are inferior to those by
M. Fargier, although M. Chavaret has announced, as an improve¬
ment, a modification by himself of the process which he has
acquired. To use his own terms, he employs the salt of uranium
and sal ammoniac. We think he meant to say the azotate of
uranium and the bichromate of ammonia, which cannot advanta¬
geously be substituted for the bichromate of potash indicated by
M. Poitevin, as is proved by numerous experiments.
The long discussion referred to above need not be given here.
It arose from a laudatory account by one of the members of a visit
he had paid to the atelier of M. Dagron, the maker of the microscopic
jewels. Two points alone appear to me sufficiently interesting to
be reported. The first is that the development of this application
of photography to rings, pins, watch-keys, and other small objects,
is so great that M. Dagron employs 150 workmen. The second
important point is that, according to M. Dagron’s formal declara¬
tion, publicly made the other evening, that gentlemen by no means
asserts that he is the inventor of microscopic photography, nor of
the rectangular prismatic microscope, known under the name of
Stanhope’s. M. Dagron only claims as his own the idea of fixing
the photographic picture to the microscope, and the application of
this kind of photography to jewellery. As M. Dagron possesses
patents in France and in other countries, and as there is a lawsuit
pending before the French courts, this declaration is of importance.
M. Wotlily sent to the Society several pictures obtained with
his salt of silver printing process. From what M. Wotlily gives us
to understand, and from the analysis which has been made of them,
they must he executed with the help of the gallates of copper and
of iron. It is well to add, while on this subject, that M. Poitevin
published, some years ago, a formula, by which he produced pic¬
tures with gallate of iron. The paper — one side only — was placed
upon a solution of 10 grammes of perchloride of iron in 100 grammes
of water. Thus prepared, and then dried, it was put under a direct
positive on glass, and exposed to the light. The paper, at first
yellow, became white in all the parts corresponding to the lights
of the positive cliche, so that there was a yellow design upon a
white ground. To change the yellow into black, the sheet was
plunged at first into distilled water, and then into a solution of
gallic acid ; or else, according to the- tone desired, into an infusion
of nutgall, or into a mixture of gallic acid and pyrogallic acid.
It is, doubtless, by an analagous process that M. Wotlily prints
his pictures, which are, it must be added, very fine.
An amateur, the Abbd Guiraut, sends me the following observa¬
tion : —
“ If, for the space of five minutes, I place a sheet of albumenised
paper upon distilled water, it loses its albumen and its brilliancy.
If I place it for the same interval upon a 15 or 20 per cent, silver
bath, it preserves its qualites and its appearance. Profiting by this
fact, I have convinced myself that the poorer a bath is in crystals the
more it detaches the albumen. I have found also that nitrate of silver,
especially dissolved, coagulates the albumen. Starting from this
principle I break my crystals as small as peas, and, after ascertain¬
ing with the pese-sels the quantity of silver that the bath has lost, I
introduce therein these crystals. I stir the bath well, then filter it,
and, to my great satisfaction, it is purified, without the addition of
any foreign substance such as kaolin, aluminium, earth, &c., and
without the loss of a centigramme of silver. Afterwards, I have
only to add distilled water, so as to keep the per-centage at from
15 to 20.”
For correcting the reddish tones that are often seen in pictures
on albuminised paper the Abb£ Guiraut dissolves in alcohol as
much iodine as it can contain. He also prepares a two per cent,
solution of cyanide, a small quantity of which he preserves in a
phial. He pours the first solution into the second, till the latter
assumes a violet hue ; then he adds, drop by drop, the solution
which lie has kept apart, till the colour disappears. With five or
six grammes of this liquid per litre of water a bath is formed. The
picture is plunged herein till its lights and shades have taken a
good tinge, after which it is well washed.
I have before me a statutette, which has just been executed by
M. WilRme by means of his process for photo-sculpture. It is the
result of twenty-four images, which represent twenty-four different
Jecember 2, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
488
profiles, and from whicli the pantograph has fashioned the head,
according to the system described in one 9f my previous letters.
The hand of the artist has had but to complete the work of the
instrument, just as that of the retoucheur stops up the holes and
removes the blemishes of ordinary photographic images. It is said
that this ingenious invention is shortly to be worked on a large
scale for reproductions, the manufacture of bronzes, and also for
portraits. I have no doubt that it will obtain the favour of the
public. Perhaps, before long, every one will be wanting his photo-
sculptured bust, in addition to the visiting-card of the present day.
ERNEST LACAN.
New Yorlc , October 29th, 1861.
I HAVE called upon some of our prominent photographers for pre¬
cise information as to their present methods of working. I have
no difficulty in procuring the information desired, but I am some¬
what restricted in the communication of it to the public. — 1st. I
am desired to omit any mention of names. Our photographers,
like artisans generally, desire'Jheir neighbours and rivals to believe
that there are profound mysteries : very few are willing to confess
that they are no better off than others. Every ignorant man has
his tremendous secret : it is only the most intelligent who have
any modesty and feel that there is a narrow limit to their knowledge.
I know no animal more piggishly obstinate and self- contented
than your “ artist ” who threw away his lapstone only last week to
become a photographer.
The omission of our photographers’ names, inasmuch as they are
seldom heard among the readers of The British Journal of
Photography, I trust will not detract from the interest of, or faith
in, the account I shall give of practical photography here.
A largo majority of our photographers manufacture their own
collodion. The reason probably is in the fact that the ingredients
of collodion are everywhere cheap and accessible. Alcohol, suit¬
able for collodion of 95 per cent., is sold for fifty cents to one
dollar per gallon, and ether for twenty-five to fifty cents per
pound. Tho most ordinary proportions for ether and alcohol for
collodion is equal parts. There are those who prefer an excess
of one over the other, but the old dictum of “five to three” is
wholly abandoned. Every one here uses a bromide in the collodion.
In the early days of photography bromide of potassium was
universally employed ; now no one thinks of it, and only for the
reason that it requires too much water to be introduced into the
collodion in order to dissolve it. For a few years iodide and bromide
of magnesium were great favourites, chiefly on account of their
recommendation by one of our then high authorities, Mr. Moulton.
For developer, the sulphate of iron is in universal use. Pyro-
gallic acid was laid on the shelf six years ago.
The independent gold toning is adopted by all those who use
albumenisod paper.
1 present the following formulto as the most relied upon : —
Collodion.
Ether . 5 ounces.
Alcohol . 5 ,,
Gun cotton . . . 50 to 80 grains.
Iodide of ammonium . 50 ,,
Bromide of do . 20 „
Or with the above plain collodion —
Iodide of potassium . „
Do. of cadmium . 4 ,,
Bromide of do . 2 „
Or,
Iodide of potassium . 5 „
Bromide of cadmium . 2 „
The silver bath — 40 to 50 grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce
of water.
Developer.
Water . 20 ounces.
Sulphate of iron . 2 „
Acetic acid . 3 „
Alcohol . 2 „
In the remainder of the process there is nothing worth mention¬
ing, unless that the impression seems to be extending that it is
unnecessary in printing to use over fifty grains of nitrate of silver
to the ounce of Avater, for albumenised paper.
As a strengthener for negatives sulphide of potassium may be
found in every gallery.
CHARLES A. SEELY.
Camsparrimixe.
ig®* We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
IRON DEVELOPING, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly alloAv me, through your Journal, to correct Avhat
I am afraid is a Avrong impression conveyed by Mr. Hughes’s reply to Mr.
Hoav’s remarks on iron developed negatives, at the meeting of the North
London Photographic Association, held on the evening of the 23rd Oct.,
a report of which appeared in your Journal of Nov. 1st. Mr. How did not
claim for my collodion the mere property of giving dense negatives when
developed by iron, because (as Mr. Hughes justly remarked) that Avas
common to most good preparations of collodion ; but what he did claim
Avas what Ave must all consider the desideratum of collodion, density
without losiny half-tone, or sensitiveness without subsequent intensification.
With your permission I Avill give your readers my formula for develop¬
ment.
Bath. — Pure nitrate of silver thirty-five grains, distilled Avater one ounce.
Having made sufficient bath for use— say fifteen ounces — shake up with it
half-an-ounce of collodion (iodised in the proportion given on the bottle)
and five drops of glacial acetic acid ; let it stand for an hour or tAvo, occa¬
sionally shaking it ; after filtration it Avill be found fit for use.
Developing Solution. — Protosulphate of iron ten grains, glacial acetic
acid thirty drops, Avater one ounce, dissolve thoroughly, then add one
drop of strongest liquor ammonia. Intensity in the negative may be
carried to any extent, after well Avashing, by re-developing the impression
Avith a solution of pyrogallic acid tAvo grains and acetic acid one drop to
the ounce of water, mixed Avith a feAv drops of old nitrate of silver bath.
A better method is to add to the silver bath (to be repeated Avhen neces¬
sary) a drachm or so of a solution containing two grains of fused caustic
potash to an ounce of distilled Avater : in this case re-developing is gene¬
rally unnecessary.
Fixing Solution. — Cyanide of potassium or hyposulphite of soda.
The reasons Avhy I Avas induced to prepare this peculiar collodion were
these : —
Some three years since I Avas operating in India, and was annoyed at
the density, hardness, and length of exposure of the negatives I obtained
with pyrogallic acid. I loAvered the strength of the bath in order to see
if I could get better half-tone, but to no purpose. I iioav tried iron ; but
here the fault was the other Avay. I could get no density at all, unless
I blackened Avith pyro. ; and then the high lights still blackened out of
all proportion to the half-tone. This I found to be the result Avith all the
samples of collodion I could there obtain, which I attributed at the time,
and still do, partly to climate and to the unaccountable partiality AArhich
amateurs possess for ridiculously dense negatives. In this fix I was
compelled to turn to, Avith such materials as I could obtain, and make my
own collodion to suit the climate, when my difficulties at once vanished,
and I adopted the developer and collodion which I haA'e ever since used,
Avith the greatest success, both in India and in England. It is a curiorfs
fact that, although the ammonia and acetic acid form acetate of ammonia
in this developing solution, yet if acetate of ammonia, soda, or potash be
added, the same results are not produced.
Noav comes the point Avhere I cannot quite agree with Mr. Hughes. I
contend that there is no advantage in developing collodion negatives
(although advantageous to paper) Avith a weak solution of pyrogallic acid or
iron if after-intensification be necessary, because its action is quite uncon¬
trollable, seizing on those parts most acted on b}* light at the expense of
half-tone ; whereas, by making a normal solution of iron and acetic acid
the desired density of a negative may be secured to a mathematical
nicety beforehand, at one deAmlopment, by simply adding a proportional
quantity of liquid ammonia to the iron solution, thereby aAmiding
those annoying stains and markings so difficult to avoid in development.
In adding the ammonia, I find (supposing the normal solution to give a
flat negatRe) the proper quantity to add is just one drop to the ounce, as
more than that gives too much density, and causes it to act in a similar
manner to pyrogallic acid, in being uncontrollable in its action on the high
lights. 1 may add that the most of our eminent photographers are
taking the same vieAv of iron as a developer. The beautiful \news of
China, Japan, &c., published by Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, of Hatton
Garden (Avho use my collodion exclusively) are developed by my formula ;
so are the Art Union aucavs of the Crystal Palace, Sydenham ; and also
those Avonderful and Avell-known productions by Mr. Frith, of Egypt,
Nubia, &c., the quality of Avhicli needs no comment.
I trust this explanation will be acceptable to your readers, as they are
the results of my many years’ experience as a practical operator ; and, so
far from wishing to take up the valuable space in your journal unprofit-
ably, I can only say it was simply the earnest Avish I haATe to contribute
my mite to the general information on our beautiful art which induced me
to send the prints and negatives for inspection.
I am, yours, &c., HENRY MATHESON.
434
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 2, 1861
PRINTJVAS HING.
To the Editor.
glR — Some two years ago I devised a plan for washing photographic
prints, combining the advantage of a roller covered with sponge, washing-
in hot water, and leaving the proofs all night in running water.
Until lately, I flattered myself that my plan was infallible; but alas! T
now find that some of my most cherished pictures — which were printed
more than a year and a-half ago, and have since been mounted on card¬
board, and carefully kept in a portfolio in a warm room — are beginning
to show unmistakeable yellow spots. They are toned with chloride of
gold and carbonate of soda, according to the usual formula, and fixed in
the usual bath of hyposulphite of soda.
I suppose that most photographers, after fixing their prints and washing
them in several changes of water, leave them for the night in water —
running water, if available — and probably wash them in the morning in
hot water, before drying them.
Now, it is easy enough, if you have command of a tap, to arrange a box,
or, better still, an earthenware vessel, so that a small stream may be
caused to flow through it in almost any direction : the difficulty is to pre¬
vent the prints from sinking to the bottom, and adhering together. Can you,
or any of your public-spirited correspondents, suggest any mechanical
contrivance which will obviate this difficulty. — I am. yours, &c.,
November 21st, 1861. A SUBSCRIBER.
[We are strongly opposed to washing proofs in running water, and,
indeed, to very prolonged washing at all. The really effective way is to
•use many changes of water, taking out the prints and hanging them up
to drip for a few minutes between each change. It has been asserted
that this method is impracticable on a commercial scale : the validity of
this assertion, however, we cannot admit. This operation requires no
skilled labour, and is therefore not at all costly. When the prints sink in
water, it is an indication that the size is removed from the paper ; and
this is, in our opinion, highly injurious, both to the beauty and stability
of the proofs. — Ed.]
PHOTOGRAPHIC LOCALITIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am much pleased to notice that you are to present your sub¬
scribers, at the end of the year, with an Almanac similar to the one we
received last Christmas. I am sure it will be good and useful; but I
think you will greatly enhance its value if you would add to its usual
matter a good list of places, and how to get at them, suitable for obtaining
good views. A long list could easily be made up and condensed from
the various tours described in the Journal during the last three or four
years, and, no doubt, from other and original sources. A hint in the next
number of the Journal (if you think that necessary and advisable) would,
I am sure, bring you “no end of information.”
To amateurs, who have often to lose half of their one precious day in
discovering good sights, this information would be invaluable.
I am, yours, &c., A SUBSCRIBER.
London, lQth November, 1861.
[If our subscribers will favour us with any information on the subject
above indicated we shall be happy to “lick it into shape,” if possible.
At any rate it is not improbable that we may include something of the
kind from our own resources, if we do not receive the assistance contem¬
plated. The places named should be referred to the nearest important
towns, with approximate distance and readiest mode of access therefrom ;
also hints relative to the class of scenery or subjects to be obtained, e g. —
Seven Oaks, Kent. — Ancient mansion in Knole park — fine groups of
trees — rural spots — general undulating landscape, &c. From London 37
miles. Access by Mid-Kent railway to Bromley ; thence by omnibus or by
South Eastern railway to Tunbridge ; thence by omnibus 4 miles.
Chatsworth, Derbyshire. — From Sheffield miles by coach to Bakewell ;
thence by omnibus 4 miles. From Buxton miles (coaches daily). From
Matlock by rail to Rowsley ; thence 2 miles. From Manchester miles
by coach to Rowsley, &c. — Ed.]
J. M. — We fear, from what fell from Mr. Ross the other night, that it is too brittle a
substance to fit it for lens-mounting. See report of the North London Photographic
Association.
Sanitary James.— Ventilation of the dark room we think so obvious a desideratum
that it needs no recommendation from us to ensure its adoption. Any simple plan is
sure to meet with success.
j. o. T.— It is advisable, as a rule, to develop as soon as you conveniently can after
exposure ; but with some px-ocesses this operation may be delayed longer without detri¬
ment than with others.
Robt. Queen sly.— Any of the dry processes will answer for producing transparencies
by contact printing: perhaps the simple plan mentioned by Mr. Noton in our last num.
ber will answer your purpose best.
V. II.— Cr. D.— R. M.— Jas. Stone.— Photo.— Wo are obliged for your approval of the
article to which you allude. We have received, orally, many similar expressions of
opinion from those with whom we have come in personal contact.
Quaker. — An obvious misnomer. It is clear you do not quake about the matter, or
you would not take it so coolly. No direct information has yet been issued on the
subject. You are not the only one by many who have, in no measured terms,
condemned the pi-oceeding.
C. Larpey.— We do not see the use of a “swinging back’’ to your camera, if you use a
“panoramic” lens. If you have a sliding front so as to enable you to raise the lens you
can tilt the camera when requisite, and it will amount to the same thing as a “ swinging'1
back, as there are no oblique pencils with such a lens. For price, &c., we must refer you
to Mr. Thomas Ross.
j. B. — if you i-equire true stereoscopic effect — that is, the actual effect to an observer
of the scene viewed from the spot where you plant your camei-a— sliding the lens in front
will produce it accui-ately ; but, if you requix-e an exaggerated appeai-ance of distance
between the distant and nearer objects, you must move the camera also. The lens in¬
dicated is quite adapted for instantaneous pictures with suitable chemicals.
Rt. Andrew's. — See a paper by Mr. Simpson in the present number relative to mounting.
With regard to stereogi-aphs, we have long advocated the use of black or dark grey
mounting-boards, as far preferable to the light colours generally in use at present. They
may not look so well out of the stereoscope, but they certainly have a much better effect
in it. We have frequently discussed the subject befoi-e, and must refer you to back
numbers, which w’ill be revealed by the index.
D. S. R. — The various changes have been necessitated in older to keep up with the
advance of our art, and to meet the requirements of the time. We have handed your
note over to the Publislxei-, in whose department your suggestions more particularly lie :
we may, however, mention that what you designate an impolitic proceeding has not proved
so. Your pyrogallic acid cannot be restored to its original colour ; but it may very
probably not be injured so as to prevent your using it.
Unfair Usage. — We have to remind the Editor of Humphrey' s Journal that he has
again copied, without acknowledgment, from our columns an article written exclusively
for this Journal by Mi-. Wall, and which appears in our American contemporary’s issue
for 1st November, occupying four and a-half of his pages. Our brother Editor of flu
American Journal of Photography has treated us in a similar manner with respect to
an article by Dr. Maddox, occupying three and a-half pages.
H. H. H.— Proofs which have been treated with chloride of sodium, and the toning
deferred, are apt to be “flat” in appeai'ance. The affinity between chlorine and silver
is so great that, even when the former is in combination, it will act upon the latter if in
contact therewith for any length of time : it is therefore not improbable that the reduced
silver forming the proof may be to some extent acted upon by the chloride of sodium,
and, if so, it nxay interfere' with the deposition of the gold in toning. We do not think
the permanency interfered with, hut the brilliancy is somewhat nxpaired. It is not needful
to darken chloride of silver by light prior to its reduction by chemical agency.
T. B. — M. Joubert is quite “in working order” with his burnt-in pi’oeess upon glass,
and is l-eady to undertake any commissions. You had better address to him direct at
36, Porcliester Terrace, Bayswater, London, W. He x-equires a trnnspai’ent positive upon
glass to work upon ; but if you have negatives, and do not care to make your positives, be
will undertake that part of the opei-ation as well. The subjects suitable would, in a great
measure, depend upon the place to be ornamented. In your case— a glass door betxvecn
a ball and conservatory — we should select a group of fruit and flowers, a la Lance, such
ns were pi-oduced by Mr. Fenton, and exhibited at the last Exhibition of the London
PhotoTaphic Society. We have no doubt also that these would “ colour” well.
gUf3 All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E-
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
S. S. — Received with thanks.
Ao. NO 5. — Messrs. Johnson and Matthey, Hatton Garden, London.
Sarah Ridley. — Should not your name have been Betty Martin ? Your tale is o’er
wondrous for us.
Swartbrtdge. — If you are l-esident in London you cannot do better than take lessons
nt King’s College.
A.— If you will i-efer to our paper recently read at the Bradford Society (see page 357,)
you will learn our opinion upon the point.
Viator. — We have never noticed the kind of annoyance mentioned by your friend
in carrying plates in the manner dcsci’ibed.
Tnos. L. F. and Sammy. — We cannot direct you to any particular house: all three
you name are highly i-cspectable dealers.
Would-tie ExniBiTOR. — We do not think you have much chance : the 30th September
was the last day for receiving applications for space.
R Smei.lie. — See Volume II, new scries, page 250, October the 15th, 1858, in reply to
your first query ; and ibid, page 261), 1st of November, 1858, for the second.
Black Tips. — We do not approve of the use of kaolin for the purpose : it is wasteful
aud tedious. Adopt Mr, Barber’s plan, and simple decantation will suffice, instead of
filtration.
PAGE
LEADER: The British Journal Photographic
Almanac.— The Composition of the Photo¬
graphic Image. — Albumen Process _ Photo¬
graphy at the International Exhibition _
Moonlight Stereographs. — King’s College
Photographic Lectureship . 415
ON SIMPLE DRIED COLLODION WITH¬
OUT A PRESERVATIVE AGENT. By W.
HISLOP, F.R.A.S . 417
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC DISTORTION. By R.
H. BOW, Civil Engineer, Edinburgh . 417
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
CYANIDE OF POTASSIUM. By JAMES
MARTIN . 419
ON MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS. By G.
WHARTON SIMPSON . 420
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOLAR ATMOS-
PH ERE AS REVEALED BY SPECTRUM
"ANALYSIS. By S HIGHLEY, F.G.S.,
1’ . V-»5.» (&L| ( LWfitKilUu / . . . tfc
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. X. By J. ROTHWELL . . 423
STEREOGRAPHS: Critical Notice of Instan¬
taneous Views of Paris . 424
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION : By JOHN
THOMAS BROWN, Jun., Secretary of the
Birmingham Photographic Society . . 424
TABU
PALESTINE IN 1860. No. XI. By JOHN
CRAMB . 425
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . 426
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBI¬
TION : AWARD OF MEDALS . 427
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 428
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES: North London
Photographic Association — Discussion on the
Panoramic Lens, Ac. South London Photo,
graphic Society — Photography and the Great
Exhibition ; Discussion on the Mounting
of Photographs. Manchester Photographic
Society — Discussion upon Mr. Noton’s Com¬
pound Albumen Process. Photographic
Society of Scotland— A New Photographic
“ Difficulty.” Chorlton Photographic Society
— Discussion on the Wet and Dry Processes.
Edinburgh Photographic Society — Photo¬
graphic Distortion ; Exhibition of Moule’s
Patent Photogen . 428
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN. Letter from New
York. By C A SEELY . 432
CORRESPONDENCE . ... . 433
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, rt’C. . 434
THE BRITISH
JOTJENAL OF PHOTOGEAPHY.
No. 156, Yol. YIII. — DECEMBER 16, 1861.
Photography at the International Exhibition.— The
Royal Commissioners have appointed a Committee, consisting
of the Earl of Caithness, Mr. Kater, and Dr. Diamond, with
Mr. P. Le Neve Foster as the official representative, to manage
the photographic department at the Great Exhibition. It will
be satisfactory to our readers to know that all these gentlemen
are practical photographers and art-amateurs of no small repute,
and all directly connected with the Photographic Society. W e
are assured, also, that, as they all regard the classification adopted
as a decided mistake, they will exercise such power as they aie
entrusted with to remove, as far as possible, the offence wine i
photographers have generally felt at the position assigned to
their productions. We therefore bespeak for them the coidia
co-operation of those who do not regard photography as a me¬
chanical art. It is, in our judgment, a fortunate circumstance
that the Committee consists of but few in number, especially
when all its members are so thoroughly unexceptionable. M e
have reason to believe that no specific amount of space will be
allotted to any particular exhibitors of photographs , but that
those who have applied for space will be permitted to send in
pictures not exceeding a certain quantity the Committee re¬
taining the uncontrolled power of selection and rejection, so
that nothing unworthy shall find a place on the walls of the
Exhibition room. This will not only tend to elevate the quality
of the collection, but will be a positive advantage to the best
operators. Another “ straw” indicating the course of the wind
is worth notice. We have learned from a member of the Com¬
mittee of the Philosophical Instrument Department that applica¬
tions for space to exhibit cameras, lenses, &c., have been le-
ferred to his Committee. This also is satisfactory, as tending
to show the intended separation of the tools from the lesults of
their application. _ _
An Abuse of Photography. — It is always with regret that
we observe anything having a tendency to draw down contempt
upon or to degrade our beautiful art ; and, as a rule, w e pass
over such matters in silence. Some time ago we were sony to
see several foolish productions in the form of likenesses, in
which an enormous head was placed upon a diminutive body,
both being taken from the same individuals on separate nega¬
tives, and subsequently united. As these were identical in
treatment with certain lithographic portraits (!) which came to
us some years back from across the Channel, we have no doubt
that the photographs to which we now alludo had their origin
in the same locality.
Although we could not admire the taste of those individuals
who thus suffered themselves to be held up to public ridicule,
of course it was their own affair ; and, as we felt convinced that
the public in this country had too much refinement to allow of
such an application being remunerative as a commercial specu¬
lation, we were satisfied that the folly would soon die out of
itself. We have, however, within the last few days noticed a
still more offensive misuse of photographic skill ; and, as we
cannot for an instant suppose the person thus insulted to be a
consenting partv, we at once record our earnest condemnation,
feeling assured that it will meet with a response in the sentiments
of the majority of our readers. We may premise that we do
not at all admire the, gentleman who in this instance has been
made the subject of ridicule, and therefore our protest is per¬
fectly disinterested. We now proceed to indicate the nature of
the abuse under condemnation. _ . .
In the shop window of a certain firm in Regent street,
London, is (or was a few days ago) to be seen a sort of tray contain¬
ing about a dozen or more small photographs, known as cartes
de visile, all bearing the likeness, so far as the head is con¬
cerned of a certain noted dissenting minister, but having in
some instances appended thereto the body of a gorilla, placed
in an attitude commonly assumed by members of the Simian tribe ;
and as if to add to the scurrility, these were all labelled— “ ihe
Rev C H. Gorilla.” In others of these precious productions
the same head is attached to the body of a man bearing placards
hanging before and behind— in the manner jocularly described
as “ a walking sandwich”— and who, with hat in hand, is m a
begging attitude. The placards allude to a lecture on the
aorilla at a certain Tabernacle, and are, no doubt, some of the
very bills used on the occasion of a lecture which was really
delivered. , . „ ,
Surely there must be some simple remedy for such gross
impertinence. Of course our remarks do not apply to what
mierht have been done by a personal friend of the victim for a
little bit of private fun, though even then the practical joke m
this instance would not have been of a very refined nature .
but it is the publicity given to the matter which makes it so
obnoxious It is far worse than an ordinary caricature, Decause,
in the latter, however skilful the drawing, it is not the express
image of the person that is delineated, as is the case before us.
We have seen a good deal of harmless fun created m a private
circle by carefully cutting out the figures of a number of the
operator’s own personal friends — male and female, adults and
children— and then dexterously mismatching the heads and
bodies, attaching them neatly to a mounting card ; but in that
case the whole of the parties were participators m the fun, and
willing to lend a head or body, as the case might be, foi the
occasion . I twill, however, be at once admitted that what may be
done with consent and in a private circle with propriety may be¬
come highly indecorous if done without consent and in order to
excite ridicule in public. But the case we have cited is not even
so harmless as we have just indicated ; for a gentleman would
scarcely like to see his head upon a lady’s body exhibited to the
public gaze, and still less so one who is known as a professed
minister of the Gospel, but least of all would he like to see it
attached to the body of an ape. Lastly, we consider that the
insult does not rest alone upon the individual caricatured ;
but is almost equally offensive to every one who holds him in
esteem, as it is also to many others who, like ourselves, regard
him with simple indifference.
436
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 10, 18 0
Amateur Photographic Association. — We have much plea¬
sure in noticing the continued favour with which this Association
is regarded — the number of members having now increased to
nearly two hundred, including most of the names of highest
renown amongst amateurs; and, although hut little more than
half the members have as yet sent in their negatives, there are
about one thousand of the latter already in hand — all good,
but the majority are of a high standard of excellence. It is
probable that the time for distributing the prints and the prizes
will be settled at the next meeting of the Committee ; it is
therefore desirable that all who contemplate contributing nega¬
tives for competition should do so without further delay. It is
manifest that with such an immense number of negatives it is
quite impossible to get into full working order without some
little delay; but as soon as the prizes are chosen the general
distribution will commence.
It may not be amiss to remark, also, that members will be
enabled to procure copies of any of the prints sent in by their
brother members (in addition to those selected for their subscrip¬
tion) at a rate of charge for the extra copies that will be highly
satisfactory to the recipients ; thus a new feature will have been
imported into those of the ordinary exchange club.
Epilogue. — The present number (with which we"supply
title-page and index) closes the current volume. For the past
we have much to be thankful, “journalistically” speaking.
A glance through the pages of the volume now brought to a
close reveals the fact that the subjects on which we have
dilated are numerous and varied ; while amongst the names of
authors of many valuable papers we tind some of the highest
repute. Our position is therefore good, and still continues to
be progiessive both as regards circulation and contributions to
our pages. Judging from the many flattering remarks which
we aie constantly finding in the letters of our correspondents
we lia\e leason to conclude that we have been “ useful in our
geneiation, and, from the numerous expressions of good-will,
that kindly feelings attend our appearance. For the future we
aie full of hope. Those interested in our art increase and
multiply exceedingly in number ; and, though we have several
competitois in the field of photographic literature, there is ample
loom foi us all. Each one of us may find something special
foi oui hands to do in elevating, refining, and improving.
Many of the followers of our art are also cultivators of micro¬
scopical science amongst the latter, also, a strong feeling is
setting in favourable to the more extended application of photo¬
graphy as a means of delineating microscopic structure. We
have, therefore, thought it advisable to endeavour to draw still
more closely the bond of union between them ; and to that end
haA e ai ranged, as one of the new features of the volume of 1862,
to give reports of the meeting of the Microscopical Society of
London. We believe that this arrangement will be acceptable to
a great number of our subscribers. Let our motto be _ For¬
ward ! We shall not be found lagging behind ; and where we
are assured that there is good to be done, we shall struggle for a
place in the front rank of the battle. The last word is an omi¬
nous one ; for, though written in a spiritual and not in a literal
sense, the dark shadow of war hangs over us. We trust, however,
that as the New Year dawns brighter hours maybe in store, both
figuratively and literally ; mid, with the kindly wishes of the
present time-honoured festive season, we bid our readers _ “A
Happy Christmas.”
COLLODION SUBSTRATA.
By John Glover.
In the present state of dry-plate photography a few hints may not
bo out of place in connexion with supports for collodion films,
especially as one of the weakest points of this interesting depart¬
ment of our art is the liability of the collodion to become detached
in development, or in the final washing, more especially the latter.
11ns fact is one of the most perplexing character, when we bear in
mind the varying moisture of the atmosphere and the constan
change our chemicals are undergoing— the collodion especially
which, on trial, may give excellent and permanent results, but
after the lapse of a short time, may produce negatives sufficiently
satisfactory, but which cannot be saved from destruction durinir
final washing or drying. Of course this observation applies only
to operations without a substratum. J
The substances which have been found to be most efficacious as
supports for collodion films are— albumen, gelatine, and India-rub¬
ber. For some time past the general favourite has been dilute
albumen, rendered more fluid by addition of ammonia or acetic acid.
This, in careful hands, answers every purpose ; but, when it is used
every corner, of the glass must be coated with collodion, or the
nitrate solution will become contaminated— in fact, the action
takes place through the collodion itself in course of time.
Next on the list comes gelatine as a supporting agent, Maior
Russell s formula being decidedly the best. It has been so minutely
described m Ins work on The Tannin Process— with which it is sup¬
posed every photographer is familiar— that it requires no further
comment here.
After careful experiments with all three substances on the fore-
going list, I find a solution of India-rubber, of such a consistence as
will readily filter to be the most effectual and easy of application,
flowing with all the readiness of collodion. In coating with gela¬
tine or albumen the glass must be chemically clean, or either will
be repelled by the surface, and cause subsequent difficulty and
annoyance to the operator; but the solution under notice flows
equally well on the glass, even after unlimited contact with the
lingers, and without affecting the resulting negative. Not that
any sane individual would either practise or recommend anything
but strict cleanliness, but it is solacing to be enabled to ensure a
perfect and adhesive surface with the minimum amount of trouble.
Roth Major Russell and many others complain that India-rubber
films contract and split up on applying the necessary heat to
vaimsh the negative. This difficulty may be entirely obviated by
subjecting the coated plate, as soon as surface dry, to a considerably
greater heat than is required, previous to using spiritvarnish— bear¬
ing in mind not to continue it to such an extent as to produce
decomposition, but sufficiently long to dissipate all traces of the
s°lvent’ leaving nothing but a coating of pure India-rubber to receive
the. collodion 1 he error of previous experimenters has been the
subjection of the negative to a greater amount of heat than the
foundation previously underwent. An addition of about one grain
of . common resin to each ounce of solution is also a further prevent¬
ative against the evil in question, and it is then less dependent
upon the thorough heating than without such addition. I find the
best solvent for the purpose to be common coal tar naphtha— or
equal parts of it— and spirits of turpentine. Benzole, although more
agieeable to the sense of smell, is too volatile ; which is also the
case with chloroform, producing lines or streaks of unequal thick-
ness, similar to collodion containing too great a proportion of ether.
What I wish to urge is the superiority of India-rubber as a sup-
port for collodion, on account of the following reasons : — The great
facility with which it is prepared and applied; its unchangeable
qualities, as after .it is once properly filtered it never deposits sedi¬
ment. and keeps indefinitely ; its complete neutrality) however
long m contact with nitrate of silver; its insolubility in water and
very slightly in collodion, so that the thinnest possible coat is only
necessary ; and, lastly, its independence of the state of the glass
sun ace. “
• a well-ascertained fact that the nature of the surface receiv¬
ing the collodion considerably affects the sensitiveness of the film.
Most operators on ivory are aware that if the surface be slightly
roughened the requisite exposure is less than when it is polished.
4 mely-ground glass gives a more sensitive film than its natural sur-
face does. On the contrary, gelatine and albumen surfaces have a
decidedly retarding influence. This is not the case with India-
rubbei, as may be demonstrated by the following experiment : —
Coat the halves of three plates with each of the substances in
question; make them into dry plates by any of the processes; ex¬
pose and develop as usual, and observe the result.
Ihe appearance of the half covered by the albumen is that oi
eing less exposed than the. half left bare ; the gelatine presents
a gi eater contrast still ; while the India-rubber seems not in the
least to have affected the result.
In what I have written I do not wish to claim any originality,
my object being one of usefulness in calling the attention of my
photographic friends to a valuable agent, the claims of which have
been misrepresented through lack of the necessary amount of
research. J
December 16, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
487
ON WASHING POSITIVE PROOFS.
By George Shadbolt.
[Read at a Meeting of The Photographic Society (London), December 3rd, IS61.]
There are, perhaps, few photographic manipulatory operations that
are looked upon as so excessively tedious as that of the final wash¬
ing of the otherwise finished proofs. In fact, every kind of “ dodge ”
has been resorted to in order to lessen its irksomeness, and, if the
truth must be told, to shirk the trouble involved in a thorough
removal of the last traces of the fixing agent, and what it holds in
solution, and which, from its great solubility in water, requires an
enormous amount of that fluid to be applied with no little judgment
in order to effect the object in view. With most operators, the grand
panacea for defective washing appears to be considered as existing
in an unlimited supply of running water ; but, apart from the in¬
jurious action which a very long continued immersion in water
entails upon the photographic proof, by partial removal of the size
from the paper and other deleterious influences, I am altogether
incredulous about the removal of the double hyposulphite of soda
and silver by any length of immersion merely, even in a running
stream. I have frequently been called upon to give advice to those
engaged professionally in printing operations relative to this very
question, and have indicated a course of proceeding which, in no
single case, have I found to fail, nor has any one who has tried it
complained of it on account of inefficiency ; but I am bound to admit
that several have abandoned it because of the alleged extra trouble
involved.
The plan to which I allude is the employment of many changes
of water at moderately short intervals of time — say every ten
minutes — but being careful between each change of water to hang
up each print separately to drip for several minutes. By this
operation the print becomes divested of by far the largest portion
of the adhering fluid contaminated with the double salt of soda
and silver, and is in the best condition, on its re-immersion into
fresh water, to allow the small remainder of the deteriorated fixing
solution to become still further diluted.
I am ready to concede that this plan entails some extra trouble ;
but the question is, whether the advantage gained be not well
worth the trouble? I contend also that, in practice, the extra
labour is not nearly so much as is generally supposed, while it must
not be forgotten that the kind of labour requisite is not of any
costly value, but little skill being demanded for its performance ;
and, in addition, it by no means follows that we may not by some
ingenuity be able to reduce the amount of the extra labour, as we
now please to regard it.
For suspending photographic paper while drying after any of
the operations to which it has been submitted, I liave for many
years past made use of the wooden American clips, commonly
used for clothes pegs, and which are procurable at the rate of
about one shilling per dozen. By thrusting a common pin through
one side of the clip, near the open end, and turning it into a hook
by means of a pair of pliers, the clip itself can be readily suspended
across a cord, wire, or slip of wood, and the paper proofs are not
torn, but held between the jaws of the clip, just as they would be
by the finger and thumb. I propose, then, to apply these American
clips to economise our labour as follows, viz. after the first
soaking of the proofs in water, when fresh from the fixing bath,
I would hang each one up by aid of two of the clips— that is, one at
each of the upper corners of each sheet— in such a manner that one
angle of the sheet of paper should hang somewhat lower
than the other, in order to assist the dripping of the fluid,
which might be farther encouraged occasionally by the
touch of a glass rod for a moment. A washing cistern, of
a depth sufficient to receive the proofs in a perpendicular
position, should be placed under a tap, and have a hole in the
bottom near one of its corners, to let the water run out, and which
can be stopped by a plug or by any other convenient method.
Several metal or wooden rods, long enough to reach quite across
the cistern, should be provided, and admit of being supported
each upon a couple of hooks, at some little distance from a wall.
As each proof is removed from the first washing water the two
clips are to be attached, as already described, and these can be
hung by aid of their pin-hooks on to the rods. Each rod may lake
six or eight proofs. When all are hung up the water in the cistern
may be allowed to escape, and the cistern re-filled, during which
time the proofs will be losing the water adhering to them ; then
the rod on which the first prints were hung may be taken up
bodily with its suspended prints, and the latter lowered gently into
the fresh water, the ends of the rods resting on the sides of the
cistern.
I am aware that the prints will have a tendency to rise towards
the surface, but by very little care they may all be made to sway
in one direction ; and as soon as one set is properly in a second
rod may be inserted next to the first, and so on until the cistern
will hold no more. By the time the last has been set in the first
will have probably been in about ten minutes, and may be taken
out again and hung up as before, and the whole operation repeated
as many times as may be found needful- — probably about a dozen
times will be quite sufficient — so that in little more than a couple of
hours a considerable number of proofs may be more thoroughly washed
from the remains of the hyposulphites than are done by the pre¬
sent method in from six to twelve times as long a space of time.
It is much to be regretted that we do not possess any reliable test
for very minute quantifies of the hyposulphites remaining in the
prints. Personally I prefer that of the taste to any other. Nitrate
of silver and nitrate of mercury have both been used ; but I find
that, long after I have been unable to detect any remains of the
hyposulphites by them, after hanging up the print until surface
dry the small remaining drop of liquid at the corner is appreciably
sweet to the taste.
I am aware that a method of warming a suspected print is em¬
ployed by Mr. George Dawson, the recently-appointed lecturer on
photography at this College, when a slight scent of sulphur is
detected by him ; but I find my sense of taste more acute than that
of smell.
I have frequently sought to devise some means by which the
noxious hyposulphites might be converted into some innocuous
substance capable of ready removal ; but, unfortunately, this plan
involves decomposition — the direst evil we have to dread, as it
appears to be to the decomposition of the hyposulphite of silver
that most of our spoilt prints are due.
I fear that I may run some risk of being charged with taking up
your time with too trivial a matter for consideration, but I have
done so upon the grounds that small annoyances by constant
repetition become great evils ; and I have found from experience
that at this Society, as well as at some other societies, although the
paper read may perse be of little value, it not unfrequently originates
a discussion from which much that is useful and instructive arises.
I will therefore conclude, with a hope that my very slight sugges¬
tion may do so upon the present occasion.
ON VIEWING BINOCULAR PHOTOGRAPHS WITHOUT
A STEREOSCOPE.
By George H. Slight.
[Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, December 4th, 1861.]
Asthe convenient inspection of stereographs is intimately connected
with photography, and as by far the most convenient way of looking
at them is with the eyes alone, a few remarks on the subject may
be of use to those who do not, and therefore think they cannot, see
such pictures without a stereoscope.
The accomplishment — as it may be called — is a mere matter of
training the eyes, without apparently doing any harm to them,
and is very easily learned. When we use a stereoscope, both eyes
are directed as if we looked at one object at a moderate distance
from them ; but by means of the prisms of the instrument the
rays of light are bent, so that we are enabled in reality to look at
two different pictures, which from being really or intentionally the
exact appearance of an object as seen by both eyes combine
and give us the idea of looking at the object itself. If without the
stereoscope we look at a stereograph, adjusting the right eye to see
the right-hand picture, and the left eye to the left-hand picture — or
if, in a misplaced pair of pictures, as an uncut pair taken with a
twin camera, we look at the right-hand picture with the left eye,
and at the left-hand picture with the right eye — we have, in either
case, correct stereoscopic vision ; but, as with most people a little
training and practice are necessary, I shall describe what appears
to be as simple a method as any of accomplishing it. Take a pair
of well-marked stereoscopic pictures, or a pair of diagrams, not
joined together : place them considerably closer than if required
for the stereoscope — say about two inches between centres — and
hold them up at arms length, so that the eyes can be directed
immediately over them to any distant object; then instead of two
pictures we have indistinctly at first the appearance of three : each
eye sees two pictures, but the inner ones of each pair combine or
overlap and give the appearance of three in all. On allowing the
eyes to leave the distant object and rest on the pictures, the middle
one all at once becomes distinct, from the eyes focussing themselves
to it, and a stereoscopic image- is the result, the eyes being then
directed to the different halves of the picture. If the half pictures
438
TEE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 10, 1801
£ire misplaced, and lield out as beFoie, but tlie eyes dnected to a
real or imagiuary object about half way between them and the
picture, we again have the combination and correct stereoscopic
vision. * After a little practice no difficulty is experienced in looking
at ordinary stereoscopic slides by simply allowing the axes of the
eyes to diverge until the pictures combine. When any difficulty
is experienced — as when the pictures are mounted too widely apart
— the slide may be held obliquely until the parts combine, and then
gradually turned to the square, the eyes readily adapting them¬
selves to the varying circumstances.
A very curious phenomenon is observed when tlj,e eyes are thus
used. If in holding up a pair of pictures to be seen by what may
be called parallel vision, we gradually separate, them, and cause
the axes of the eyes to diverge more and more, the stereoscopic
image appears to increase in size, probably from the instinctive
connexion which exists between parallel and remote vision giving
an idea that we are directing the eyes to a more distinct object ; but
in cross vision, with misplaced pictures, the gradual separation of
the picture has the effect of making the eyes appear to look at
a nearer and nearer object, and an apparent dimunition in size is
the result. In either case the moving of the pictures several times
nearer to and farther from each other makes the illusion perfect.
The apparent reduction of size when looking at misplaced pictures
by cross vision as compared with parallel vision is, indeed, evident
at first sight ; so that, although this is a very convenient way of
judging of the stereoscopic effect of a negative taken by a twin
camera, it gives an erroneous idea of its magnitude.
OH THE MA nUFACTUHE OE PYROXYLIHE.
By John Nicol.
[Read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society of Scotland, December 10, 1861.]
Photography — child of but a few years — has astonished all who
have taken the trouble to think of it by the rapidity with which it
has attained its present position. But this it owes as much to the
time and circumstances as to anything of inherent expansive power
in itself. Had the chemist, in his never-ending search after some¬
thing new, not accidentally or otherwise discovered pyroxyline, and
through it collodion — and, having discovered it, had he not been
ready with his long list of iodides and bromides, photography would
have been in a very different position.
An analysis of the Photographic Exhibition of last year in this
city will perhaps sIioav more clearly the relative position which
collodion holds. On examining the published catalogue I find that
there were 764 pictures. Of these one is by the calotype or iodised
paper process, six are by the simple albumen process, 72 are by the
waxed-paper process, and the remaining 620 are by collodion in
some form or other. It will be evident that an article which plays
such an important part is very likely to have been the subject of
much attention, and such is indeed the case, more having been
said and written on collodion than on anything else connected
with photography — lenses perhaps excepted; and yet, I believe
that there is nothing which the photographer uses about which
less is really known, or which is less thoroughly understood.
Now it is not at present my intention to attempt anything
towards the removal of this obscurity, but simply to indicate — first,
the necessary conditions of a really good photographic collodion ;
and secondly, a simple and certain method of producing at will
these conditions.
The collodion should flow over the plate in a smooth oily-
like sheet, without any appearance of running in streams or ridges,
and, as it begins to set or becomes slightly dry, there should be no
trace of a clotted or gelatinons appearance. If at this stage the
finger be passed across the surface, it should not tear the film from
the glass in shreds, but remove only as much as it comes in direct
contact with, leaving at each side straight and not jagged lines.
It must not be contractile, so as to leave the edges of the glass
or be pulled into a state of minute net-work on hardening. When
perfectly dry it should present a hard glassy surface, which is not
affected by a pretty firm rub with the finger— be perfectly trans¬
parent — and show no trace of structure under the microscope, with
at least a quarter-inch object glass.
You will notice that the conditions alluded to are mechanical,
not chemical ; and, although photography is essentially a chemical
operation, yet, I have no doubt whatever that the absence of those
mechanical conditions is the cause of a large proportion of the failures
which so provoke and dishearten the photographer. A good collodion
is absolutely necessary to success ; and, after an experience of some
seven years in its preparation, I am convinced that the quality
depends entirely on the pyroxyline, the iodising material being a
matter of very little importance. Almost every conceivable iodide
anclbromide has been recommended, and our French neighbours
especially have exercised their ingenuity in mixing them by the
dozen ; but I am perfectly satisfied that one is just as good as
another, or as any combination — all that is necessary being suffi¬
cient of some soluble iodide to charge the film with iodide of
silver. No doubt some of the objectionable qualities to which I
have referred may be produced by some impure solvents, acid
ether, or any undue amount of water in the alcohol ; but ordinary
care will be sufficient to guard against those causes, and therefore
I may assume that with good pyroxyline good collodion is easily
obtained.
Pyroxyline or gun cotton is obtained by the action of nitric acid
of a certain strength upon lignine or cellulose, or more correctly
on both — as the former term is applied to the substance of which
the walls of the cells are built, and the latter to the substance
with which the cells are filled. They are, however, so much alike
that one term will answer very well for both. Lignine then con¬
sists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and exists in a state of
considerable purity in paper, and almost perfectly so in cotton.
What we know as “ medicated cotton ” is generally employed for
the production of photographic pyroxyline ; and, though many
other things, such as paper, cloth, and sawdust have been tried,
it is on the whole more generally successful.
If a tuft of cotton be immersed in ordinary commercial nitric
acid, or even in acid of specific gravity of 15*00, it gelatinises and
dissolves. If, however, sufficient sulphuric acid be added to with¬
draw a quantity of water from the nitric acid, no such change
takes place, the cotton remaining apparently unchanged. It is only
apparently so, however, as on being washed and dried it exhibits
properties of which it was not before possessed. Its weight is
increased sometimes by more than a half: it is soluble in acetic
ether, and in a mixture of ether and alcohol, and on the application
of flame it explodes with considerable violence, or burns with
great rapidity. Pyroxyline thus obtained differs to a certain
extent from what we are in the habit of considering a definite
chemical compound, and belongs t o the class of substitution com¬
pounds.
[After explaining at some length the nature of the chemical
changes involved in the manufacture of pyroxyline, and illustrat¬
ing the same by diagrams on the black board, Mr. Nicol pro¬
ceeded.]
Practically we may divide pyroxyline into three classes : — First,
one highly explosive, and scarcely, if at all, soluble in a mixture
of ether and alcohol ; secondly, one entirely soluble in that mix¬
ture, and leaving a strcutureless, transparent film when allowed
to dry on a plate of glass ; and thirdly, one which is almost entirely
soluble, but which yields on drying a film more or less opaque.
The first and last being useless in a photographic point of view, I
will confine myself to an indication of the method which I have
adopted for the production of the intermediate class, and one pos¬
sessing not only solubility and transparency, but also the other
essentials of a really excellent pyroxyline for photographic pur¬
poses.
It will be evident from what I have already said that the desi¬
deratum is to obtain a nitric acid of the proper strength. This is
very easily done by adding a certain quantity of sulphuric acid to
a certain quantity of nitric acid, when the former, in consequence
of its great affinity for water, withdraws that body from the latter ;
and, provided the proportions and specific gravities are properly
arranged, it gives us exactly what we require.
For a long time I experienced considerable difficulty in getting
commercial sulphuric acid of sufficient strength, the samples ranging
from 1*816 to T834 : the latter, although theoretically strong
enough, did not on mixing raise the temperature high enough,
and from some cause, which I cannot explain, the temperature
raised artificially failed to give the desired result. Latterly I have
had no difficulty in obtaining it from L840 to T850, which leaves
nothing to be desired.
Into a well-glazed porcelain dish, considerably deeper than an
evaporating dish, and holding about 30 ounces, I put lOfounces by
measure of sulphuric acid of specific gravity L840 : on this I pour
five fluid ounces of nitric acid of specific gravity T370, and two fluid
drachms of water. The temperature at once rises to about 150
degrees. If the cotton be immediately immersed, it gives what is
known as “ powdery collodion” — a state similar to what is pro¬
duced by age, and very suitable for certain dry processes ; but for
general purposes I let the temperature fall to 140 degrees, and
then, armed with two glass rods, an assistant adds, tuft by tuft,
five drachms of good cotton. As each tuft is added it is pressed
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
439
December 10, 1801]
nto the acids, and the whole kept moving about to ensure equal
xction. When the whole of the cotton is in, the dish is covered
with a plate of glass, and left so for ten minutes. It must, how¬
ever, be carefully watched during this time ; for the acids being
aot much above the dissolving point, actual solution occasionally
oegins at some point, but is immediately stopped by being pressed
with the rods. Although the five drachms of cotton does not
xbsorb the whole of the acid, that quantity must not on
my account be exceeded. The change taking place being the
inversion of portions of the hydrogen of the cotton and the
Dxygen of the nitric acid into water, the addition of a single half
Irachm is sufficient to change the nature of the product, and occa¬
sionally to produce solution of the whole. At the expiration of
ten minutes, I as rapidly as possible press the cotton between two
strong slips of glass, and plunge it into a large quantity of water,
where it is instantly teased out and rapidly moved about to diffuse
as quickly as possible the adhering acid through the whole volume.
Nothing then remains but to wash till every trace of acid is
removed. This is conveniently done by packing in a percolater,
and turning on a stream of water for a dozen hours, and drying
either by steam or otherwise.
It may seem that the quantity of material operated on is small,
but experience shows that larger quantities considerably affect the
result. But that is really no great objection, as with two dishes
and an active assistant the pyroxyline may be turned out at the
rate of five ounces per hour.
The sulphuric acid which I use at present has a specific gravity
of 1*50, to each ten ounces of which I find an addition of three
drachms of water to be necessary. I recently commenced a series
of experiments with a view to determine whether this held good
all through — that is, whether it might be safely affirmed as a rule
that success would be ensured by the addition to the formula already
given of six minims of water for each additional unit of specific
gravity above l'840of the sulphuric acid. I regret, however, that
want of time has prevented these experiments being completed.
Probably I may have an opportunity of again bringing the
subject before you on some future occasion.
STBEEOGEAPES.
Vieivs in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Sfc.
Photographed by Thomas Ogle, Preston.
In this series Mi-. Ogle, one of our most noted stereographic artists,
has even surpassed his former beautiful productions, and has made
his debut in delineating a class of subjects which we do not remem¬
ber to have hitherto seen as the fruit of his labour — we mean those
requiring instantaneous exposure. We will therefore begin with
them.
The first that demands our notice is a subject that reminds us
very strongly of the celebrated picture by Le Gray, so popular a
few years ago : it consists of a small sloop afloat in the English
Channel, off Folkestone, the waters of the sea rolling in towards
the shore in gentle wavelets bathed in a flood of sunshine, against
which the sky, mottled with fleecy clouds, appears dark by contrast.
Though very beautiful when viewed in the stereoscope it appears
sombre without, and like Le Gray’s picture reminds one more of
moonlight than sunshine, albeit highly artistic. It bears the No.
226.
In No. 265— Scarborough, scene No. 2 on the Beach — the sky with
natural clouds is perfectly rendered as being in umnistakeabU
broad daylight, but the exposure has evidently been a trifle longer
than in the last mentioned, as shown by the slightly blurred
outline of a rowing-boat in motion. As a picture of coast
scenery, with numerous boats of various kinds, figures, &c.., it
is capital.
Nos. 262 and 270 are more Scarborough Beach scenes — the former
looking upon- the castle from the bay, and the latter from the
north shore. This last is a very successful slide, containing views
of the bathing-machines, groups of donkies, with ladies and
children in various attitudes familiar to frequenters of the
seaside.
But perhaps the best of the instantaneous scenes, whether as
regards manipulation or composition — for both are really first-rate
—is one entitled The Railway-Boat, The Irish Mail-Boat, and
Shipping on the Mersey, No. 224. The grouping of the shipping
is very picturesque — the water clear — the sky, with a few clouds,
brilliant — and the steam pouring out of the funnels of the Irish
mail-boat transparent and real in the extreme, veiling —
and only slightly veiling — the ships in the distance seen
through it.
Pass we now to landscape scenes of a character with which Mr.
Ogle’s name is more familiarly identified ; and here we have one
which we could pick out as his work from amongst a
thousand.
No. 248, On Mill Beck Stock, Bowness, is one of those glorious
masses of foliage enclosing a stream of limpid water skipping from
rock to rock that every artist and lover of nature revels in with de¬
light. As a composition this slide is admirable. The figure of a
youth stepping across the stream forms the centre and focus of the
whole. On either side the stream, shrubs of the alder, ash, beech,
holly, and other kinds, together with undergrowths of ferns, &c., clothe
the banks. Beyond the lad, further up the gorge, a background of
the stems of some tall trees half shuts in the distance, which, how¬
ever, is partly visible, consisting of more and yet more shrubbery,
with here and there just a speck of sky. The immediate fore¬
ground consists of a mass of broken, rugged, lichen-covered rocks,
splitting the little stream into numerous channels, and here and
there a tuft of grass springs up with its long, graceful, feathery
flower, more gorgeous in beauty than any court lady’s plume. In
this beautiful specimen everything is sharp, clear, and distinct,
yet all harmonious and in perfect keeping, and without loss of
either “ breadth” or atmosphere. There is scarcely a particle of
pure white in the whole picture, yet for all that it does not lack
brilliancy : it is about as nearly perfect as anything in monochrome
can be.
Of Dovedale — charming, althoughit must be confessed somewhat
sloppjq Dovedale — that Derbyshire lamb-like lion — we have several
pleasing illustrations. In No. 215 the tortuous windings of the
River Dove between the high, rugged, but verdure-clad rocks, as
seen from Reynard’s Cave, are well displayed, and the whole
scene is highly picturesque. Those who would see the reality
have to encounter a pretty stiff climbing job, with somewhat
treacherous foot-hold. In No. 312, where the river is broader
and the banks less precipitous, there is a beautiful play
of light and shade. No. 311 contains the singular rocks in
the Dale called The Twelve Apostles, and No. 316 the
equally singular and still more pleasing ones known as
Tissington Spires. This subject is very artistically treated :
the contrast between light and shade is of the strongest; yet, deep
as are the shadows, they are beautifully transparent and full of
detail. In the middle distance a gentleman is seated, looking up
at the so-called “ spires,” and in shadowed foreground stands an
old woman, whom we recognise as having seen close upon the
same spot, in charge of a donkey or two, for the benefit of those
ladies who are too delicate or too dainty to traverse the Dale on
foot, soaked to the skin, as they must in that case of necessity be,
so far as the lower extremities are concerned. These slides will,
if viewed by those who have not been on the spot, make them
take the first opportunity of visiting it ; and to those who have
already been there they will recall most pleasant memories.
There are two very charming scenes at Matlock Bati-i — one
(No. 294) being a general view of Matlock Dale from the Heights
of Abraham. There are two slight drawbacks to this otherwise
pleasing slide : — first, the atmosphere was at the time of its exposure
a little too much laden with moisture ; and second, from the great
elevation at which the operator stood the light from the sky is
reflected too strongly from the tranquil surface of the river Derwent,
thereby introducing a somewhat “ patchy” appearance. Nearly this
same view taken from the garden of the Pavilion Hotel would be
more effective. No. 397, The Lovers’ Walks, from the Ferry , is,
however, a gem. A splendid oak tree, by the river’s edge, on the
left — the huge block of stone and ivy-clad hovel in the centre —
the tall Tors in the background — with the mass of alders and
other trees nestling at their bases, and here and there a willow
drooping into the river — compose very harmoniously.
Those who have ever visited Buxton cannot fail to recognise
many nice views in the public gardens in that museum of gossip,
idlers, and invalids. Nos. 156 and 170, The Serpentine Walks,
are perhaps the best.
With one more we must close the present notice. No. 292,
View in Chee-Dale, looking north, is a capital illustration of the
way in which the hard rock has been worn through by the
water, the bare sides of the rock standing almost or quite perpen¬
dicularly out on each side of the Dale. A party of ladies are
visible on the soft turf, and a mass of coltsfoot on a mud island
in the centre is a prominent object. The whole of the slides are
printed in Mr. Ogle’s well-known brilliant manner.
440
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 16, 1861
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC DISTORTION.*
By Robert H. Bow, Civil Engineer, Edinburgh.
Having calculated the positions of the points of emission, A', L,
J, and H, and the values of the angles which the emitted rays
make with the axis, the results given in the tables are obtained
thus : —
In Table I. — The results given in the first line are the values
to which the several radii are contracted, as determined by the
tangents of the angles of emission alone, and therefore for a
value of D F very great, or infinite. The second line of results
gives the absolute amounts of distortive contraction, obtained by
subtracting the values in the first line of results from the respective
undistorted values, viz., 1, 0‘75, 0"5, and 025. The third line gives
the per-centage value of the distortions, obtained by multiplying
the values in the second line by 100, and dividing by the undis¬
torted values of the radii. The fourth line gives the values of the
index n, calculated with reference to the ray nearest the axis,
r cc absolute distortion. The fifth line gives the per-centage
value of the contraction in the direction of the radius, as it acts at
the extremity of the radius, or the proportion of radial distortion
which would be produced on a very small object placed at the
distance r from the centre of the picture : these values are those in
the third line multiplied by the values of n given in the fourth.
The sixth line is similar to the third, and expresses the proportion
of lateral distortion of a body at the extremity of a radius, and is
only ,\th the amount of the radial distortion. But it may be proper
to give here the modes of arriving at these results.
By the results given in the second and third lines we see that
the absolute contractions of the radii vary nearly as the cubes of
their lengths, and that the per-centages of contraction are there¬
fore nearly as the squai-es of the lengths. But, to be more parti¬
cular, let us put n to represent the index of the power regulating
the absolute contractions which therefore oc rn : now if we con¬
ceive r to undergo a very slight elongation = A, the absolute
contraction will be increased from rn to (r + a)’* or becomes =
rn + n ru~l A -f — rn~- A3 + &c., and deducting rn, we have
n r”-1 a + — rn~“ A2 &c., which expresses the contraction
expended upon the part A added to the radius. Now as A may
be assumed smaller and smaller without limit (by the principles of
the calculus of infinitesimals), we may neglect all but the first
term, so that the absolute contractions of r and A will be as rn
and nr11-1' A, and the proportionate contractions, or per-centages
of distortion, will be obtained by dividing these by their respective
lengths r and A; therefore the per-centages of contraction are as
r"~1 and nrn~l, so that the proportion of radial contraction at the
extremity of a radius will be n times greater than the general
rate of contraction throughout that radius, as in the table.
We have chiefly spoken of that distortion which takes place in
the direction of the radius of the image. We have now to speak
of the distortion in a direction at right angles to the radius. Now
the per-centage amount of this lateral distortion (as we may term
it) will evidently correspond with the per-centage of change pro¬
duced in the whole circumference of the circle described by the
radius, and will, consequently, be in proportion to the per-centage
of distortion estimated over the whole length of the radius, and
this.has been shown to vary as rn~l. We thus arrive at the con¬
clusion that in the case of a small body at the extremity of any
radius, the per-centages of distortion of that body in the two
directions — first, of the radius, and second, at right angles to the
radius — will be in the proportion of n to 1, or nearly as 3 : 1. For
instance, if a small circular body exist at a distance from the centre
of the subject, then in the photographic picture the image of that
body would show a compression in the radial direction about three
times greater than in the lateral direction. This will be observed
in the case of the square and circular objects A B C D becoming
abed, shown in Fig. 4 ; but these objects are too large to give
the proportions very correctly.
When the distance D F is very great, the effect of the distance
from the centre at which every ray passes through the lens may
be neglected, so that the ratios of distortion become simply those
of the tangents of the inclinations of the rays after their passage
through the lens, and these are the ratios employed in Table I.
But when the distance DF is not great, we must take into account the
effect of the distance of the ray from the axis at the lens. When
D F is very short the amount of distortion becomes insignificant;
bo that it is evident that for every lens there is a range in the
* Concluded from page 419.
ratio of distortion dependent upon the value given to D F, and
varying from that borne by the tangents taken above down to
zero. Their intermediate ratios, required for the comparisons in
Table II., are obtained thus The length of any radius, F T, of
the image (see Fig. 3) is equal to L V + LT X tan. of TLT'
FIG. 4.
Diagram of the distortion produced by a plano-convex lens with a focu3 equal to about
3£ times its diameter. Angle of incidence of extreme rays= 30°. Index of refraction
= 1.5, rc=3. The undistorted image, drawn according to the scale of the centre, is
shown in broken lines : the distorted image is shown in continuous lines. The radial
distortion at extreme circle =30 per cent. Ditto measured over whole of longest
radius = 10 per cent. The lateral distortion at extreme circle = 10 percent.
Note. — In reducing the diagram to the size of the woodcut the curvature of the lines
has been made too great.
And when O A = 2, and R the radius of curvature of the lens — 3,
the amount of refraction by the second surface is so trifling that,
though it is taken into account in arriving at the inclination ot
L T, we may adopt this more convenient formula for I 1: —
FT = KD + D F (tan. of inclination of LT).
The comparative results in Table II. are for the purpose of
showing the power which one lens possesses to counteract the
tendency to produce distortion in another placed on the other
side of the same stop. And we see that when the amount cf
distortion produced on the radius drawn to the extreme standard
ray by one lens, at the distance D F measured — say to the chart
is equal to the amount produced by the other lens at tlm distance
at which the plane of the copy is placed, then the combination is
almost perfect in its action upon the intermediate spaces.also, and
is sufficiently so for all practical purposes.
From Table II., Example 2, we see that if we use the two lenses
with the radii = 3 and 4. Then when the object is at an infinite, or
say a great distance in front of the 4 rad. one, the image will be
free from distortion if made to fall on a screen placed 12T5 behind
the 3 rad. lens. Such an arrangement might be used for taking-
views, if there were any great object in having them so thoroughly
undistorted. We may make our unit of measure for this purpose
equal, say, to three-eighths of an inch. Then the lenses would have
diameter — J" inch, and each CT6495 from the stop, and the picture
at 4-556 behind the more powerful lens. The radii of curvature would
be=l"^ and 1*|. Of course a negative arrangement would have
to be introduced at the stop.
If only the lens of radius — 3 were used, with the stop and flat
side towards an object, at any distance , and the picture formed at 5
behind the lens, the principal radius would suffer a contraction
amounting to 7'676 per cent. : if formed at 10 behind, the same
would be distorted to an extent of 9‘213 per cent.: andif we suppose
it to be formed at a very great distance behind the lens, the dis¬
torting contraction would amount to 11-523 per cent. Of course
the per-centage of radial contraction at the extremity of the radius
would be n , or nearly three times the above.
441
)ecember 16, 1861]
THE
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
These results and the diagram. Fig. 4, will serve to convince us
4 the very great amount of distortion existing l P
akeu with plano-convex lenses; and I think it will be admitted
hat the amount of curvature in the lines gives us a very Drocfuced
dea of the excessive amount of radial contraction which p
n a body situated near the margin. fi;„tortimr
We have shown that it is possible to correct the & §
endency ; but, to bring about the very nice arrangemente required
vlien the flatness of field is brought into the question, we con
,hat there appears little hope of any universal instrument being
instructed to suit for copying charts to any sc . o-illed
L in Table II. is given, however, to show that we are not called
upon to change th/value of It, the rad. of curvature for eve,y
ihange of scale; for, by placing one iens nearer to the stop^v
mtrnlly lengthen its focus, or rather diminish its di istoiting power
compared with the other lens, and a considerab le range. ol scale
may thus be attempted. It is probable, however, that the various
changes would become so troublesome and comphcated, that t
would be better to construct a separate instrument foi each p
ticular scale ; and, before concluding, I have another o^bTdevoted
to propose suitable when a separate instrument <?
to each particular scale-a combination in which the correction . of
distortion is mathematically perfect, and the calculations very
81 One use to which the results in Table II. may be turimd is, to
warn us of the imperfections of some arrangements put forth as
producing pictures free from distortion. Thus, if we take two
lenses, say each with B - 3, with the stop and negative arrange-
ment exactly midway between them— winch, I bel > ?
represents Mr. Sutton’s symmetrical triplet— then, if t he chart
and the copy be on the same scale there will be no disto ,
since the distances are equal ; but if the chart be at a very gi
distance, and the image or copy at, say 5, then tb® distoition
the longest radius will be equivalent to an increase no
to 0-92324, or about 4.438 per cent, on the radius, or a marginal
i-i v . ,• 76-97 — 65-20 cent. — 18-05 per
radical distortion = - -ggr^j' X AUU’ p
cent. Or, taking a less extreme case, let the respective distances
of the copy and chart be 10 and 50; the extreme radii will be as
0-907873 to 0-890314.
Per-centages of contraction on the radii = 9’2127 and 10-9686.
Per-centage of enlargement of radius
0-907873-0-890314 on _ 1>q7
of copy = - 0-890314 X lou - i vi.
Per-centages of radial contraction at margin = p-q-efence^ 5'268
Radial scales for margin = 72‘362 and 67-094.
Per-centage of marginal radial enlargement = 07^094
In proposing such a combination Mr. Sutton [see Photographic
Journal, 1860, p. 58] takes for granted that, when the emitted lays
are made parallel to the corresponding incident rays, there is no
distortion. But this ignores altogether the effect of the size of the
lens, and is only true, in the case of the lenses being exactly alike,
when the scale of the copy is equal to the original, 01 when both
chart and copy are at great distances from the lenses in proportion
to their common diameter.
FIG. 5.
Suppose that the copy is to be in size J* of the original. Then
I make all the dimensions and distances of the parts on the chant
side of the stop equal to m times the corresponding dimensions
and distances on the copy side of the stop Thus m^4we have
P(Z = mPQ, F o = m- of, A B = m * a b, Rad. of lens D — m rad.
°f The introduction of a negative lens at 9 will not affect these
ratios; but I hope to arrive at a combination, such as^ 6 (the
lenses being still similar ), which will give a flat field without the
USIn° an-anghigV for^givenmimber of scales it will not be necessary
to use dSle that number of lenses, as one lens may in turn be
employed in combination with several of the others of similar
forms but of different dimensions.
Fin. 6.
5-268 X 100==7.84>
TABLE I.
Op Results Described at Page 440.
Radius of
Curvature of Lens
and its Distance
O D ft om Stop.
Rad. =3.
O D = l-732051
MR. BOW’S CHART COPYING LENS.
The combination which I propose for copying charts, &c., is as
follows : —
Particulars given.
Values of radii when
DF infinite .... .
Absolute cont.ofradii
Per-centage of conts.
over radii . -
Value of n .
Radial cont. at mar¬
gins or ends of radii
Lateral do. at do.
Rad. =3.‘]
OD=0'8660255
Values of radii, D F
infinite . .
Absolute cont.ofradii
Per-centage of conts.
over whole radii...
Value of exponent n
Radial contraction at
end of radii .
Lateral do. at do. ...
Rad. =4.
OD = 1'732051
Rad. = 6.
OD = 1-732051
0-8846
0-1154
11-54
2"94- —
5-33-90
6 11"54
Values of radii, D F
infinite .
Absolute conts .
Per-centage of cont.
over radii .
Value of exponent n
Radial contraction at
end of radii . .
Lateral do. at do.
•9259
•0741
7-41
2-85—
21-12
7-41
0-6994
0 0506
674
2-96+
1997
6-74
•7172
•0328
4-38—
2-83
12-39
4-38—
0-4850
00150
3-00
2- 937
8-80
3- 00
•9045
•0955
9-55
295
5 28-17
6 9 55
Values of radii, D F
infinite . .
Absolute cont.ofradii
Per-centage of conts.
over radii .
Value of n . • .
Radial contraction at
end of radii .
Lateral do. at do.
•7081
•0419
5-59
2-97
16-60
559
•4903
•0097
1- 94—
2- 76
5-35
1-94—
•9275
■0725
7-25
2-94—
5 21-32
6 7-25
•7187
•0313
4-17
2-94+
12-26
4-17
•4878
•0122
2-43
2-92
7.10
2.43
0-2480
0-0020
0-78
say2’94
2-30
078
•2486
•0014
0-57
saj-2-8
1-60J
057
•2484
•0016
0-61+
say2.94
1-88
064 +
•4906 ,'2488
•0094 0012+
1- 89
2- 93
555
1-89
0-49+
say2-93
1-44
0-49+
442
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 16, 1801
TABLE II. .
Of series of contracted radii of the image produced by different
]enses, arranged to show the degree of accuracy with which
the distortions — at different distances from the centre of the
picture, produced by one lens — may be corrected by a second
lens placed at the other side of the stop, when the distances
of the object and picture, the foci of the lenses, and their distances
from the stop are all property adjusted.
The diameters of all the lenses are taken = 2, and all are plano¬
convex.
The usual distance of the stop from the flat side of the lens=
1-732051, or such that the extreme ray passing through the stop
is inclined at 30°
The index of refraction = T5.
r> *
O E <3
Distance of Stop
from the Lens.
Radius of
mvex Side of the
Lens.
or the Distance
it or Image fro
ide of nearest Ier
Extreme Ray
1. from centre.
Angle = 30°
Third Ray
0-75 from centre,
igle = 23: "2-4S.
Second Ray
0.5 from centre,
ngle = 1G 6-127.
First Ray
.25 from centre.
ngle=8°-12-79.
REMARKS.
o
r-S> “
"3
fio®
oc
1-0000
•7500
•5000
•2500
No distortion.
( 1-732051
3
4-515
•9259
•7175
•4904
•2487
1 J
/■The rays cro?s this
(0-866026
3
oc
•9259
■7172
•4903
•2486
liens at only half
K the distances ( trora
f 1-732051
1 iiscoime) staled at
\head3 of columns.
3
12-15
•9045
•7081
•4876
•2484
' (1-732051
4
GC
•9045
•7081
•4878
■2484
f 1-732051
3
7-34
•9141
•7123
•4S88
•2484
(1-732051
4
20-
•9141
•7120
•4888
•2484
( 1-73205
3
4-25
•9275
•7182
•4906
•2488
(1-73205
6
oc
•9275
•7187
•4906
•2488
1-73205
3
5-00
•9232
•7163
•4900
•2487
1-73205
3
oc
•8846'
•6994
•4850
•2480
A PROLOGUE FOR THE SEASON.
By Valentine Blanchard.
[Read at a Meeting of the South London Photographic Society, December ]2, 1801.]
In the good old times, when good Queen Anne was on the throne,
no play was considered perfect without its prologue and epilogue.
In these modern days, however, they are quite out of fashion, and are
stowed away on the musty shelves of the bygones. Is it that we
have no Popes, no Addisons, no Goldsmiths to write them? or is
it that they might raise expectation too high, and call attention to
the literary shortcomings of the modern drama? We will not
pursue this investigation further, but we think we may with pro¬
priety borrow the word for our remarks. At every annual meeting
we have what we will call the “ Epilogue” in the Secretary’s report,
but thus far we have had no “ Prologue.”
Now, I do feel strongly impressed with the conviction that all
societies like ours might with advantage devote the first meeting
of the season to an introductory address, brieflyreviewing the past,
but more especially chalking out in bold outline the course for the
future. In the discussion which would follow this address many
new suggestions would be made, some of which might be adopted
with great advantage, and might tend to throw new life and vigour
into the meetings of the Society, giving at the same time increased
pleasure to the members.
I cannot help feeling that hitherto the course of our photo¬
graphic societies has rolled on too smoothly in the well-worn track
of routine ; and the time has come when we may, with advantage,
seek out new paths, even though the road may not at first be quite
so smooth — at least there will be the charm of variety, which will
tend to shake off the drowsiness and banish the listlcssness into
which some of us have fallen.
If we glance at the early history of the Parent Society, we shall
find it had its origin in the efforts of a few photographic enthusiasts
to remove the patent restrictions which held our beautiful art in
the chains of bondage. All honour to them for their successful
labours. The names of some of them have become as “ familiar in
our mouths as household words,” and others of them, alas! are
gone from us. They too, however, have left “ foot-prints on the
sands of time.” Years have rolled smoothly on since the London
Photographic Society first commenced its labours, and it has
gradually grown into a goodly body ; but it has scarcely, to my
thinking, used well the means at its disposal. The tendencies of
the age are ever onward, and woe to those who lag behind ! I
would like to see the Parent Society the avant courier of photo¬
graphy, and not a Lord Mayor’s coach, broken down by its own
stateliness.
If we look at the origin of our own small — not very small —
Society, Ave shall find that our worthy Secretary Avas maternal and
paternal progenitor, nay, even godfather and godmother as Avell.
We all owe him much for his untiring labours ; but I do think
some of us mistake the Avay to show our gratitude. In all seasons
Ave find him at his post, nothing keeps him from his duties — not
even the terrible Avind which Dickens tells us ahvays roars Avith
tenfold fury at Wahvorth. That he is right Ave all know; for on
one or tAVO occasions last season the speakers could scarcely be
heard, so lusty Avas the voice of Boreas in spite of his hoarseness.
No, Wall had plenty of the cement of the Roman in his frame, and
Avas therefore ahvays to be found — the right Wall in the right
place. I am sure, then, nothing Avould repay him for all he has
done for us so completely as a regular attendance on the part of
the members at the meetings of the Society. I think Ave can all
look back Avith pleasure to the past season. The attendance, how¬
ever, Avas not uniformly good. Some meetings brought but a
scanty array of members. Noav I do hold it to be an imperative
duty on the part of all Avho join a Society like ours — Avhere some of
the body put themselves to no small amount of trouble for the
pleasure or instruction of the rest — I hold it to be a duty, I repeat,
resting on each individually to repay the reader of a paper for his
trouble by being present. Surely this is not too much to give him
for his labour. I have felt this so strongly to be a duty, that
during all the time I have belonged to the Society I have been ab¬
sent but twice, and then I Avas a hundred miles aAvay.
We all knoAv Iioav easy it is to frame excuses for our absence.
We are only too ready to say — “ I do not feel much interest in the
subject for to-night’s meeting or — “Well, really I did think that
subject Avas used-up by this time : I shall hear nothing neAv, so
I Avill e’en stay at home.” Or Ave look, perhaps, at the state of the
Aveather, and find the Avind is in the east, and bloAvs Avith some¬
thing more than the breath of a zephyr through the balustrades of
the bridges, and with a shuddering tivitch of the shoulders at the
picture conjured up, and a vigorous poke at the fire to drive off the
sensation, Ave readily enough determine to remain at home, and
stifle any qualms of conscience by a promise made to ourselves to
read carefully the report of the meeting. If Ave Avere, however, to
put ourselves into the shoes of the disappointed essayist Avhen he
sees but one pleasant Wall and four blank ones as a greeting, we
should let nothing but illness keep us away.
But Avhilst I cannot help condemning strongly the indifference
displayed by some of our members — and I fear the fault is but
too common in other societies besides our oavu — I believe a cause
may be found Avithout much difficulty.
I can conceive nothing more pleasant or enjoyable than a
photographic gossipping club, where every one can come Avithin
the magic, genial circle, and cast in his scrap of information for the
general benefit, Avithout a feeling of apprehension and fear of that
most dreaded individual, the reporter, which, I feel assured, takes
possession of the boldest of us. I can speak from experience
here ; for I never get up to make a remark Avithout feeling a
palpable fog — a London one in its completeness — stealing gradually
over my mental faculties, and the subject which stood before me
clear as noon-day has now assumed, in consequence, such a strange,
distorted appearance, that I myself can scarcely make out the out¬
line ; and as for colouring, or details, alas ! they are entirely lost
to me. To resume, then: in such a friendly circle as I describe
each one speaks Avith freedom, and in the comparison of notes each
one is in turn a gainer ; for I do not belieATe that photographers
are, as a rule, miserly OArer their knowledge. I have, it is true,
occasionally met Avith a man Avith a book, carefully guarded, filled
with precious secrets, each one of which is Avorth its weight of
chloride of gold; but he has invariably shown himself a veritable
Marall , Avhose boasted photographic gems are but spoiled paper
443
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
December 16, 186 i J
ind wasted chemicals. I fear, however, this pleasant gossiping
:lub would scarcely prove practicable where the number of mem¬
bers is large. I do think, however, a little of its geniality could
be introduced into our meetings to thaw the slight frost sometimes
felt, and which I fear chills some of our members. Let it not be
understood that I desire to depreciate the importance of meetings
like the present. Such is not my object ; but I do think it
possible to introduce some new features which may enhance
rather than lessen their value.
I would like the Experimental Committee to be a Committee
of the entire Society ; for I feel assured that the members
generally would be benefitted by the change. During the past
season i heard of the labours of that body but twice. If my
memory serve me rightly only two reports were laid before the
members, one of which was passed as read ; that is to say, the
members were referred to the journals if they were desirous of
learning the contents of that report. I would have a subject
announced for investigation. Let it be some new process to test,
or some old photographic paradox to clear up. No matter what
the subject, let there be sufficient time allowed for experiment, and
then on the evening appointed for discussion each member could
come prepared with the results of his researches. We might then
reasonably anticipate a very animated and pleasant evening — the
more so if the subject chosen could be well illustrated by compara¬
tive results. If it were possible to make the experiments in the
presence of the members it would tend in no small degree to clear
up many of the conflicting statements that now exist on many
photographic subjects. This, at present, in most cases, would be
impracticable. If members would, however, find time for experi¬
ment, and set themselves to work, faithfully recording their
failures, at the same time carefully preserving their results for
comparison at the meeting, we could not fail to be gainers, and the
subject would, in consequence, awken the interest of all the members.
My great desire, however, is to see classes tor the study of che¬
mistry and optics organised in connexion with the Society. * I
do not think this proposition will be regarded as impracticable, for
we have already amongst us men whose attainments in these two
sciences stand deservedly high ; for not only are they well versed
in the theory, but they have daily to combine it with practice.
I feel assured these two gentlemen would gladly aid us in our
endeavours to make this Society more thoroughly educational than
it has hitherto been. The future of all photographic societies
should lie in this direction; for how invaluable to all engaged in the
practice of photography would be a knowledge of chemistry and
optics. Now, the professional photographer has few opportunities
for the acquisition of a knowledge of these sciences bejmnd the
fragmentary information which presents itself to him in the course
of his labours. Chemistry is not easily learned by solitary study :
it is always more easily taught in class. Besides, the expense is
an important consideration. When, however, it is shared by the
many, the difficulties are at once removed.
I feel assured that no one here will underrate the importance of a
knowledge of chemistry to all photographers. I know there are
some few who will say sneeringly — “ Well, I don’t care about so
much theory ; give me the practical part.” They, however, seem
to lose sight of the fact that they are very much in the condition
of the child in the mother’s lap — they are helpless until the food
is put into their mouths. Such men eagerly swallow all that
comes in their way, and then snarl by way of payment. No, we
all owe much to the chemist for his patient, plodding labours, and
for his microscopical powers of observation; and we long for the
time when we can follow him in his labours, and fully under¬
stand his power of producing those combinations — the language
of which, like the chords of a grand symphony, can be written
in characters wholly unintelligible to the mass, presenting to the
eye of the uninitiated a confused combination of figures and
letters — strange hieroglyphical signs, totally without meaning,
but which, when once the key is obtained, presents a succession of
harmonies ever new and varied, but so beautiful in their variety
that the beholder or listener never wearies. The photographer
without a knowledge of chemistry is like the man who plays upon
an instrument without understanding music, or rather like a man
who talks but cannot read. He knows collodion is collodion, but
ask him to spell the word or point it out when he sees it in print
and he stands mute and helpless. We long, however, for the time
when, instead of standing up as dunces not knowing all our letters,
we shall be enabled to read the language of chemistry with al
fluency that shall be as perfect as that of the accomplished
* Such classes have already been established in connexion with the Edinburgh Photo¬
graphic Society. See report of that Society in another part of this number. — Ed.
musician when he glances over the sheet of music, or with the
same ease that we would read an ordinary book. That this time
will come I do not doubt. Let us do our utmost to bring about
its speedy approach. It is possible to make photographic societies
more educational in their efforts. Let us all do our best, and
the mountain difficulty will become a mole-hill. I look
upon efforts in this direction as stepping-stones to something-
still higher. If the isolated labours of patient men have
done so much for photography, what may not be accom¬
plished in the future, when every earnest photographer is a
tolerable chemist, understanding well the uses of the tools placed
in his hands ! There is no limit to the possibilities of the future.
If men, single handed, have done so much in clearing up the mists
which enveloped photography in its infancy, and which are by no
means entirely dispelled now, what may not a body of patient
workers, made up of different organisms — the enthusiast, the wary
lover of proven facts, and the brilliant theorist — what may not
such a body do, made of such opposite materials, but all actuated
alike by a deep, devoted love of photography ! We can place no
limits on the future. The wild dream of to-day becomes the
commonplace fact of tomorrow. But a few years ago and we
had a lord — one of whom England is justly proud — ridiculing
the insane notion of burning smoke at the end of a long pipe; and
yet today the thing is so common that we never bestow a thought
upon it.
I ardently long for the time when there shall be a photographic
society so high in its standing that wealth shall have no key able
to unlock the door, and when only those can gain admittance who
have proved themselves worthy by their known attainments. The
members of such a society might, with just and honest pride, write
E.P.S. at the end of their names. The formation of the classes I
have mentioned would be a step in the right direction, and would
tend to make this dream of the future a bright reality. Gentlemen,
my Prologue is over.
- -
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION AND MOONLIGHT
PICTURES.
By John Ceamb.
I AVAS a little disappointed by the article on this subject in the last
number of The British Journal of Photography, by Mr. J. T.
Brown, Jun. I was really very sorry to see that he had on many
points so completely misunderstood me.
In my article On Photographic Competition I have said very
little about the Birmingham Exhibition, and not one icord about
the judges. The aim of my article was to show that the offer¬
ing of medals at Exhibitions had not been beneficial to them.
After instancing the Edinburgh Exhibition as having suffered
rather than benefitted by the offering of medals I said — “ Again,
only lately the Birmingham Society announced the intention
of holding an Exhibition, and aw-arding medals for certain
classes of pictures. Instead of a large collection, fully repre¬
senting the position of the art, the Committee could not get
as much as would make a decent opening till long after the
advertised time ; and, even after two months’ persistent appli¬
cation to the photographic world for contributions, it was a
complete failure, both as regards quantity and quality — perhaps
the most meagre Exhibition ever opened.”*
I had not the most distant idea of blaming any one, but
meant — and I think clearly said — that the plan of offering medals
had, I thought, been injurious. What can Mr. Brown mean by
saying my article impugned the character of the judges appointed?
I never even mentioned the subject of the judges at Birmingham.
I could not have done so ; as, if I am not much mistaken, there
never was any intimation of either who the judges were or any
notice of their award till the appearance of the notice in the last
number of this Journal. I have no doubt Sir F. E. Scott is all Mr.
Brown says he is, and I have formed a very high opinion indeed of
Dr. Anthony. These gentlemen were, no doubt, “ the right men
in the right place ” when acting as umpires in a photographic
competition. Who ever hinted anything else? That is the part
of Mr. Brown’s charge which I am most anxious to repel. Things
that are in their nature matters of opinion we need not expect
all the world to agree upon ; but, as I never alluded to the judges
at the Birmingham Exhibition, I must insist that it is very wrong
to say that I impugned their character, or directly or by implica¬
tion cast any reflection on the award made by them.
As to giving any explanation of what I meant by calling the
Birmingham Exhibition “perhaps the most meagre exhibition
ever opened,” I have merely to say that I thought it so ; and
*See The British Journal of Photography, page 405.
444
[December 10, 1801
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
wliy I hold such an opinion will, I think, appear by reference
to the catalogue. I never for a moment meant to blame the
Birmingham Photographic Society for this result. I intended
to charge the evil as against the plan hitherto adopted ot
offering medals. If I were wrong in doing so, Mr. Brown should
rather. I think, have pointed out the true cause. He does not,
after all, deny the facts stated in my brief notice as given
above. It would have been more to the purpose if he could have
done that. The readers of the Journal did not require to be told
that if I had sent pictures to the Exhibition that the quantity would
have thereby been increased, and perhaps the quality. That sneer
I am content simply to repeat.
Let me now, in a few words, dispose of the rather violent attack
on me in regard to my remarks on Mr. Breese’s pictures at that
Exhibition.
Before doing so let me say that Mr. Breese is not to be in the
smallest degree held liablo for the present discussion regarding
his pictures. It may be that he is indifferent to all that has
been written respecting them. He may esteem it as merely so
much gossip of the photographic busy-bodies ; and it may be that
this discussion causes him much pain and annoyance. Mr. Breese
himself has not written, or in any public place said, a word about his
pictures. As the lawyers would say, he is not “ in court” at all. It
is necessary to keep this in mind, because I think it bears on the
questions at issue.
Without further comment let me see what I am reported to have
said. Referring to Mr. Breese’s pictures, Mr. J. Cramb said : —
“ If that gentleman had a process by which he could take pictures
by moonlight, he submitted the question — Why were there so
many figures which had moved in his so-called instantaneous views
of the Queen’s visit to Birmingham, though it was evident they
were done with the full aperture of a double lens, there being only
a small part in the centre in passable focus ?”*
The reader should easily understand my meaning. I supposed
that all Mr. Breese’s pictures were done by one new, very rapid
process. I was justified in supposing so. All the pictures had
been mentioned in one batch through the same medium. In fact,
the views of the Queen’s visit were first spoken of by the editor
of a contemporary as wonders of instantaneous photography. My
question was a most pertinent one. How has it been met ? By
denying my premises that there were figures which had moved,
and that a double lens was used? No! But by explaining that
these views of the Queen’s visit were not — what the critic called
them — instantaneous, and done by Mr. Breese’s quick process,
but that they were produced four years ago. The meaning
of this statement I understand to be that the process Mr. Breese
now uses is different from the one employed in producing these
views of the Queen’s visit. The statement has no meaning at all if
that be not the signification. If that be Mr. Brown’s meaning my
question is answered, and the apparent difficulty raised by it is
removed. I did not say I absolutely doubted that Mr. Breese had
taken the moonlight views or could take them ; but I expressed, by
a question, my astonishment that if he could take moonlight views
why could he not take views in full sunlight instantaneously ?
It is to be regretted that Mr. Breese has not, in his own person,
come forward with a plain, intelligible statement of what he can do
by his improved process. I know that many most successful and
enthusiastic amateur photographers are averse to publication ; and
I can scarcely say it mendsthe matter that sometimes theirviewsare
drawn out of them in private circles, and then without their con¬
sent published more or less correctly by some hearer — an editor or
his friend it may be.
Mr. BroAvn complains that I pass over Mr. Breese’s other excel¬
lent pictures, and instances the Poiver's Court Waterfall. I did not
intend to give an expression of my estimate of the value of Mr.
Breese’s productions. I may say that I think them very creditable,
but much injured by the injudicious and indiscriminating flattery
of the editor to whom I have already made allusion, and by whom
I have been during the last twelve months systematically vilified,
for reasons with which it is needless to trouble your readers; but
ho could not be engaged in a more hopeless task than that he
seems to have appointed to himself. He cannot hurt my feelings,
not possessing the weapon necessary to reach my self-respect.
Let me, in conclusion, ask why Mr. Brown makes so much of the
few words uttered by me? The editors of La Lumiere and The
British Journal of Photography have more directly impugned
tho accuracy of tho statements about Mr. Breese having executed
moonlight views. Why allow them to escape and arraign me
before the London Photographic Society, as he did at the late
+ The British Journal of Photography, page 412.
meeting of that body ? I am not vain enough to think he values
the effect of my remarks as more injurious than the articles of the
two gentlemen named. No ! I can but think that ho (to use a
Scotch proverb) wishes to “loup the dike whare it is Highest."
I pray him not to try again, lest he may find that it is quite high
enough for him to get broken bones in the descent.
- —■ - -
NEW METHOD OP STRENGTHENING NEGATIVES.*
By M. Jourdain.
Having read in the Bulletin de la Societe de Photographic the
remarks of MM. Uavanne and Girard on the dangers of employing
poisonous substances in photographic manipulations, I have in¬
tended for some time past writing to you to request you to com¬
municate to the Society a method of advantageously replacing the
percliloride of mercury, which is a highly poisonous substance ;
but I desired first to ascertain whether my process was already
known.
After having employed all the ordinary means to thoroughly
develop my proof on the negative, after removal of the iodide of
silver and thorough washing with common water, when I require
an unusually dense and “hard” negative, fit for the reproduction
of an engraving (that is to say black and white), I cover the ne¬
gative alternately with solution of sulphide of potassium and sul¬
phate of iron, being careful to wash with abundance of water
between each operation.
I obtain by this process negatives with reserves or darker
portions so opaque that one cannot see the sun through them, and
which, consequently preserve perfectly the whites of the positive
proofs, leaving an image so clear and transparent that the positive
proof appears as if produced with printer’s ink.
- — * - -
PALESTINE IN 1860;
OR, A PHOTOGRAPHER’S JOURNAL OF a VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
By John Cramb.
No. NIL
( Concluded .)
The Dead Sea— The Jordan— Jericho— Return to Jerusalem.
The last number of my notes left me descending into the valley in
which the Dead Sea lies. Very extraordinary ideas we all had of
that sea. I had heard the most frightful descriptions of the deadly
miasma floating over it. I could not say that 1 had any clear idea
in what the horrors and dangers of an approach to it would con¬
sist; but I had some vague and dreamy notion that it was a very
“naughty place.” What did I think of it as the reality lay before
me? “It looks rather pleasant,” we said to each other. “Not
unlike a Scotch loch,” remarked one of my clerical companions.
There is a great absence of vegetation, though. The background
of hills lack variety of outline and elevation, and there is no
individuality in the hills. It w7as pretty hot, but not at all
intolerable, and we felt no very unpleasant sensations. As we
approached the lake, nature seemed everywhere making a des¬
perate effort to produce vegetation. Everything was parched and
stunted in appearance. Sheikh Salih busied himself collecting
berries, which he politely presented to me, at the same time par¬
taking of some himself, as if to assure me that they were wholesome.
When within about half a mile of the Dead Sea, we dismounted
— I to take my view, and the rest of the party to lunch. The
whole of the southern and western border of the lake was enveloped
in a dense mist. I determined, alone, to try a view across the
northern end of the lake, with the Moab mountains for a back¬
ground, and showing the mouth of the Jordan.
After I had exposed my plates, and, as I hoped, had secured the
image of this mysterious sea, I determined on carrying to my
distant home a more material witness of my visit, in the shape of
a bottle of the water of the lake. Having filled it and picked up
a few7 of the more marked stones on the beach, we were soon in
the saddle again, with our horses’ heads directed towards the ford
of the Jordan — the traditional site of the baptism of our Saviour,
and of many other important Scriptural events. I shall attempt no
description of tho Dead Sea, but so far as it came under my own
observation. There is room for much investigation and research
here. The American expedition, under Lieut. Lynch, has supplied
us with nearly all that we know of a truly reliable character. To
that narrative I would refer my readers.
* From La, Jtevue Photographiquc-
December 16, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH!.
445
As we rode across the plain, I particularly observed the very
numerous heaps of sand— dust is the more correct word, these
were of considerable height — formed, in some measure, like t ie
avalanche. Some little obstruction in the plain stopped a portion
of the flying dust, and it accumulated in various spots, till the
huge masses we saw were the result. That is what has become of
the once fruitful soil of the plain of Jericho. Thus the smiling
garden has become a barren waste !
Some failure in my saddle stopped me for a short time, ihe
Sheikh kindly waited to see all right, and we had a good-natured
race to get up with our companions. As we approached the
Jordan, we seemed to be riding up to the base of perpendicular
hills A brio-ht green belt of very close vegetation was pointed
out as forming the banks of the river. What increased force we
saw in the language of the Psalmist, where he refers to the
flourishing character of the tree planted by the river ! And in
the sudden transition from the parched, barren plain, to. the luxu¬
riant river’s bank, we have the answer to the question as to
whether there is any impediment to the growth of a plentiful
harvest on this now desert waste. Plant and irrigate it, and the
plain of Jericho will again become as “ the garden of the
Lord.” , T
Arrived at the ford of the Jordan, we again dismounted. 1 was
promised to be allowed to remain an hour.. The Sheikh seemed
very uneasy, and, long before the allotted time, was urging us to
re-load and make ready for departing. I soon had my camera in
position, and took several views— one of which included the mule¬
teers, the Sheikh and his man, and the rest of the party. That
turned out my last stereo., and it was the one which was published.
The River Jordan at this point is of considerable extent— per¬
haps about 400 feet in breadth,, and it is pretty deep. The water
is so sweet and agreeable to drink I had two bottles of it filled ;
and I was able to bring both of them, and also the bottle of water
from the Dead Sea, uninjured to this country.
After leaving the Jordan we turned in a nearly due westerly direc¬
tion towards Jericho. Our Sheikh had a fright and so might we had
wo understood the danger. Soon after we got. from under the cover
of the trees along the Jordan we saw something resembling human
beings, over some distant sand-hills. Well, thought I, and what. of
it? Our Sheikh, however, felt uneasy. Giving some hurried in¬
structions to our chief muleteer to keep the baggage animals
together, off our protector rode in one direction,, his attendant
having before gone in another. There were but. a few. minutes of
suspense ; for, as we rode silently forward in single file, we saw
that Sheikh Salih had come up with the imaginary robbers, and
that he and they seemed to be on friendly terms. I was informed
that it was a party of Bedouins carrying some prisoners to their
camp. We rode through them, and found our Chief had dismounted,
had spread out his mat, and was going through his devotions.
As I approached he saluted me— as I learned— praising God for our
deliverance. My American companion sneered at him as a cant¬
ing hypocrite, saying that the whole was a vuse to make us think
highly of his protection. I could not thus think of him. There he
stood, his honest, manly face expressive of gratitude to his God
and Father. I learned from my interpreter the Arabic words for
“ God be praised,” and, as well as I could, repeated them. The Sheikh
joined me in uttering them, and we again repeated them together.
He was pleased with my confidence, and I shall never, I hope, be
ashamed of having joined in the expression of heart-gladness with
this faithful, free son of the desert.
We arrived at Jericho just before sunset. Our tent was soon
pitched. It was too late for us to see anything of Jericho. As we
approached it we had looked for the palm — the solitary palm—
which we had learned remained the last of what had gained for it
the title of the “ City of Palm Trees.” There was not a vestige of
one to be seen.
A message was brought to us that the chief man of the village
desired the honour of our company. I rather unwillingly com¬
plied ; for I felt more disposed for sleep than to attend a levee.
We went, however, and found him in the midst of what I suppose
must be called his courtiers. A very dirty and ragged congre¬
gation they certainly were ! His Highness of Jericho has no fine
palace : he receives his guests under the ca*iiopy of heaven, and,
for economy’s sake, just outside the village coffee-shop. . He
ordered coffee and pipes for us, which he never paid for, we believe
the cafe keeper paid himself by the return order we gave. There
was no attempt at providing seats for us. Down we all squatted
on mother earth around the blazing fire, which illumined the
faces of the motley group. To remove the very appearance of
anything like doubting them, we had left all our servants at the
tent. A very extraordinary picture this group would have made.
I felt very sorry that I could not speak Arabic, and not much less
so that I could not smoke. I did not care either for their coffee.
I did, however, drink it : to have refused would have been danger¬
ous. One of our party spoke Arabic well, and could smoke and
drink coffee and eat all sorts of things nearly as well as the Arabs
themselves. He produced cigars for the Governor and some of his
attendants. Thev tried to smoke them as he did. Our friend
smoked their pipes ; and thus we fraternised with perhaps as law¬
less a set as one would care to meet. We bade them good night,
and made for our tent. I soon undressed and got to sleep. The
Arabs outside my tent were amazed as they saw me
undressing. Very foolish and unnecessary they thought this oper-
In the morning I was early astir. I took views of the villag'e
and plain — not an over comfortable place to work in, it proved.
The Sheikh had gone in the evening, and left his brother and some
attendants to protect us. It never occured to me, when I went
out to take my view, that I would require them with me. Utt I
went with my camera. They had been watching my movements ,
for, ere I had chosen my position for a view, I found my protectors
were around me, and that a very large congregation of the other
thing from which I required to be protected had arrived also. What
a jabbering, ragged, thievish-looking crew they were ! I soon per-
ceived that the Sheikh’s man was very careful to lift every article
I laid down and ; I was manifestly afraid of those who suiiounded
us, counting time as I best could, not daring to show an article, so
interesting as a watch. Those were the most knavish-looking fel¬
lows I had ever seen : yet even they were afraid of their lawful
rulers— their chiefs. Had I been working a wet process it would
have been a hundred-fold more difficult, and might not have been
easily accomplished at all. .
I returned to our camping ground and found all the baggage
packed ; but the tent had been, by my orders, left standing, as
wished to have a stereo, of it and its “ surroundings. I nuriiedly
set the cameras and stepped into the door of my tent, after having
uncovered the lens. My dragoman shut it up.
About nine o’clock we left Jericho for Jerusalem a bad time foi
travelling ; but 1 had no choice except to wait another day. I
was, however, anxious to get to Jerusalem to develop my views.
In all the journey from Bethany till we got to Jericho we had
never seen a human habitation. When we left Jericho we would
not see a house till again near Bethany ; for there is not now even
an inn to which a good Samaritan could take a pool wounded
traveller who had fallen among thieves. About half-way there
are the remains of some habitations, said to be the rums of the
inn.” I suffered a good deal for want of water on my return
journey to the Holy City. I was generally very easy on this point
— quite able, in fact, to endure the deprivation of it as long as an}
of our Arabs. My companions hurried in advance of the baggage,
which took me away from my dragoman and the water supply.
Bitterly did I regret it, as I was afterwards rather ill, resulting
I believe, from having drank some bad water, which, but
for my excessive thirst, I would have rejected. My cleiical
companions had wine and brandy, both ot which were useless
I arrived in Jerusalem about three o’clock, but too tired to do
any photographic work. It was a day before I could g'et my pic¬
tures developed. I found I had been overdoing the damping of
my plates. I had several failures in consequence, which much
discouraged mo. I was soon almost dangerously ill, and had to
cease all work. I was, however, glad to find, on summing up, that
I had a view of every place I tried secured. Where failure had
taken place was where I had exposed several plates. Weie I to
go over the same ground again I could, in every respect, be much
more successful. I cannot but feel pleased that I was,, so fai,
successful. The Jew photographer had been several times at Hie
Dead Sea and the Jordan with wet collodion, and yet had no view
of cither the one or the other. Another, and veiy successful,
British photographer, whose views in the East are deseivedly
admired, had not secured a view of the Jordan ; so I took en¬
couragement, and my health became better. I needed it all. My
dragoman — poor fellow !— got worse as I got better. I am afiaid
he drank too much wine. Temperance is a health-preserver an} -
where, but peculiarly so in warm climates.
I now for the present hurriedly bid my readers good-bye. I had
hoped to have carried my narrative throughout the rest of my
journey in Palestine, and return to this country. I have, however,
fulfilled the title of this series of papers, and given “ A Photo-
grapijer’s Journal of a Visit to Jerusalem.
446
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 16, 1801
j&craps ano fragments.
Photographic Book Illustration. — We are pleased to notice
that in the National Magazine, part LXII, for the present month,
an article on “ Ripon Minster” is illustrated by a small photo¬
graph of the Cathedra], to which the names of Messrs. Frith and
Hayward, of Reigate, are appended.
Photography from an “ Outside ” Point of View. — The con¬
stant reference to photography in the current literature of the day
tells a tale of the manner in which our art has, as it were, per¬
meated all sections of society; hut it is amusing to notice the odd
mistakes that frequently occur amongst the uninitiated. For in¬
stance, in the Reading Mercury , we find the following : —
“ Photography. — A very interesting discovery has been made in this
art, in the preparation of the glass negatives by the “ dry ” process. It
is now found that the negatives can be prepared and will maintain their
sensitive surfaces between two and three months unimpaired : hitherto
failures have been constant. This result has been secured by Mr. - ,
of - Street.”
No doubt the worthy Editor imagines his fellow-townsman to be
a great discoverer — probably as much to the astonishment of
Mr. - - as anybody else ; but only fancy any one having just
discovered how to keep “ dry plates ” sensitive for a few months !
Again : in Mr. Dion Boucicault’s new play, “ The Octoroon,” a
murder is supposed to be discovered by the accidental impression
made upon a daguerreotype plate of the persons engaged in the
act of committing the crime, in consequence of a camera having
been set up on the spot and blown down immediately after the
deed. Such trifles as developing the image are not considered,
neither the fact that no one was present to close the camera after
exposure, to say nothing of the plate having been exposed long
enough to spoil fifty plates before the deed could have happened !
In a critique on one of Mr. Thackery’s works, noticed in the
Athenccum, we have the following : —
“There is a superstition amongst many people that photographs are
likenesses, and that, however hideous the result may be, the photograph
only brings to light the ugly possibilities that lie dormant in the indi¬
vidual. Again, there is a notion that caricaturists produce the strongest
likenesses ; it being essential to the success of caricatures that every one
should * recognise them at a glance.’ Tn both cases candid friends mildly
insinuate against the ‘ vanity ’ which protests against accepting the
award. It is always easy to understand a dashing exaggeration ; it
saves trouble both to the artist and the public, and spares the skill and
patience necessary to produce or to discern the delicate shades of the
poco mem e poco pm needed to make a genuine portrait.”
This is scarcely fair to photography. Good photographs are like¬
nesses, and the very best of likenesses too, though we are fain to
admit that many of them are nought but hideous libels on humanity.
It is that insidious enemy, the truth — but not the whole truth — that
is told in the above extract; but we presume the writer would say
si non e vero e ben trovato.
Humphrey’s (American) Journal of the Daguerreotype and
Photographic Arts. — It is with pleasure that we find our con¬
temporary makes the amende honorable for what we regarded as a
serious offence. The following is extracted from his number of
the 15th November : —
“The British Journal oe Photography. — The Editor of the above-
named valuable periodical is respectfully informed that we do not intend,
in any instance, to copy an article from his pages without giving the
customary credit, and we follow the general custom of New York journals
in our manner of giving credit. Where a series of articles by the same
writer is continued from number to number we have been in the habit
of crediting the source when the series is completed, if we have not
previously done so at the commencement of it. This has been the habit
of this Journal always, and was never before excepted to.
“We arc quite ready now, and at all times, to admit the fact of our
indebtedness to our contemporary for many valuable extracts from his
pages, and are glad that he has at his command the services of so many
talented writers on photography.”
It is not always that we find a person convicted of error who has
Hie courage to repair it, and, therefore, the more gratifying when
it does occur. We cordially extend the hand of fellowship to our
brother editor; and we are convinced that he will perceive that the
omission of acknowledgment at the commencement of a series is of
far more importance to us than at its close ; besides, the articles
extracted of which wo made special complaint were each, to some
extent, complete in themselves. We are, however, now satisfied
that our contemporary’s omission was not at any rate intentional.
Hirelings nf Satieties.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The second meeting of the Session was held at King’s College, on Tues¬
day evening, the 3rd instant. H. White, Esq., occupied the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were elected members of the Society: —
Messrs. H. Greenwood (Liverpool), — Cole, John Tawse (Madras), Jacob
Montefiore, White, and Henry Castleman.
The Chairman then announced the names of the officers and members
of Council who retire in accordance with Rule 7, and also read the list
of names of the gentlemen nominated by the Council to fill their places,
viz. : —
Recommended by the Council for retirement : —
Vice-President — Professor Bell. Six members'of Council — Dr. Arthur
Farre, Messrs. Bedford, Crace, Delamotte, Maskelyne, and Stokes.
Recommended for election : —
Vice-President — Mr. Bedford. Council — Professor Sedgwick, Dr.
Wright, Messrs. Vernon Heath, Glaisher, Joubcrt, and Robinson.
For re-election : — Treasurer — Mr. Hamilton.
The Secretary then read the following letter he had received from Mr.
J. T. Brown, Jun., Hon. -Sec. of the Birmingham Photographic Society
Birmingham Photographic Society ,
December 2nd, 1861.
Dear Sir, — I intended being present at your meeting to-morrow evening,
with some of Mr. Breese’s stereographs, particularly his views of the moon ;
hut, at the last moment, I am prevented. I should have been more annoyed at
the delay but that I hope ere another meeting of the Society to be able to lay
before the members a view (or views) of the moon, taken either by myself—
aided, of course, by the appliances of Mr. Breese — or by Mr. Breese, in my
presence. Although I have no doubt in my own mind that the pictures are
what it is pretended they are, viz., views of the moon and clouds, taken by the
light of the moon at midnight — in one case through an open window of a room,
at which sits a lady whose features are not more than a silhouette, though the
lace sleeve and ornaments upon the table upon which she rests her arm are
distinctly rendered in every detail — still I wish to remove any shadow of
suspicion that may attach to Mr. Breese in consequence of his being so back¬
ward in explaining the means by which he produced them ; but when I tell you
that he is an amateur, and has spent a very large amount both of time and
money in bringing his ideas to perfection (though he does not so think them),
I do not think he is called upon to lay his ideas before the world without any
recompense. He has a very strong objection to give any explanation whatever
until he has completed his experiments ; and this is the main ground for his
remaining so quiet upon the subject, coupled with his generally unobtrusive
manner. The question of their being instantaneous I have disposed of in my
reply, in The British Journal op Photography, to the remarks of Mr.
Cramb, of Glasgow. Regretting not being able to make your acquaintance
to-morrow evening,— I am yours, faithfully,
H. Diamond, Esq., M.D. JOHN T. BROWN, Hon.-Sec.
Mr. Vernon Heath presumed lie should not be out of order if, before
the commencement of the business of the evening, he asked permission
to put two questions to the Secretary. The first was in reference to an
answer in the last number of the Society’s Journal with respect to the
Annual Exhibition of the Society. He would ask what were the inten¬
tions of the Council of the Society on that subject? The object of the
second inquiry was to ascertain what had been done in the interest of
ghotography in connexion with the International Exhibition of 1862 ?
e thought the time had come for the statement of something certain on
that point.
The Secretary replied that the Council of the Society had duly con¬
sidered the subject alluded to by Mr. Heath, and had determined that
there should be no Exhibition by the Society during this session. Mr.
Foster had been appointed to superintend the arrangements connected
with photography in the International Exhibition. He would be aided
by a Committee of three gentlemen, viz., the Earl of Caithness, Mr. Kater,
and himself (Dr. Diamond).
Mr. Vernon Heath asked if any other gentlemen had been invited to
join the Committee besides those named by the Secretary ?
The Secretary replied that the gentlemen named formed the complete
Committee.
Mr. Vernon Heath said that it was then too late to discuss the ques¬
tion as to whether the best means had been adopted for the furtherance
of photographic interests : if the Committee were then complete, he would
urge upon the gentlemen composing it the importance of well-directed
efforts, and wished to draw attention to the advantage which would
accrue from their soliciting and obtaining the aid of the best men of other
societies, who, by the exercise of their united judgment and experience,
would ensure a result which all present must feel to be desirable, namely,
that British photography should be well represented in the Great Exhi¬
bition of 1862. *
The Chairman stated that in the photographic department 2,400 square
feet of space were applied for by 250 applicants.
Mr. Thomas Ross was then called upon to read a paper descriptive of the
Panoramic Lens and Camera.
I have this evening the pleasure of laying before the Society a complete
set of the apparatus necessary for the production of panoramic photo¬
graphs, 10 inches in length, and including an angle of upwards of iOOdegrees.
December 10, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
447
The set of apparatus consists of a plate-box for one dozen plates, a
holder for the curved plates while being cleaned, a water-tight bath with
dipper, a camera with lens and tripod-stand, and a printing-frame, all
packed in a varnished pine case, with handles, and secured with lock and
key.
'fhe plate-box has slanting grooves suitable for plates of the required
curve.
Thr holder for cleaning the plates consists of a flat base-board, sur¬
mounted by a curved board lined with cloth, to prevent the glasses from
breaking or being scratched. At one end of the board is a fixed overlap
of wood for the plate to rest against ; at the other end is a hinged flap,
which enables the manipulator to clamp the plate safely and securely
whilst it is being cleaned.
The bath, which is made of gutta-percha, is curved rather less
than the plates for which it is required, to prevent the collodion film
from being injured during immersion. The bath is rendered water-tight
by means of a wooden top, lined with India-rubber, firmly compressed to
I it by three brass clamps. There are occasional objectors to the use of
i gutta-percha baths ; but, in order to meet the wishes of these objectors, I
am in treaty with a manufacturer for the production of curved glass
baths ; these will of necessity be more costly and more weighty than
gutta-percha ones, to the latter of which I must confess I sec no objec¬
tion when they are made of pure material.
The plate-dipper, which has the form of an elongated horseshoe,
slightly hooked at the extremities, is made of strong metal wire, thickly
coated with gutta-percha. A dipper made of pure silver, or of brass
wire thickly electro-plated, might be employed if preferred.
The stand is the usual folding tripod, with triangular brass top, to
which the camera is fixed by a bolt passed through the camera and
clamped under the triangle.
The printing-frame differs from ordinary frames in its being curved,
and in its having inner shoulders thickly lined with India rubber upon
which the negative plate rests. The back-board, which is hinged in the
middle, presses three or four thicknesses of soft pliable flannel against the
excited paper, and is kept in position by two strong springs in cross bars,
hinged at one end and hasped at the other. With this, as with the flat
frame, the operator may with the greatest facility examine the progress
of the print without the least danger of displacement.
The camera and lens require a more minute description, which will now
be given in detail.
The camera has a sliding body, which is adjusted by a screw motion
at the back, and secured in adjustment by a clamping screw on the top of
the camera. As it is important to place the camera parallel to the plane
of the horizon, two spirit-levels, placed at right angles, are fixed in the
top of the camera: by this arrangement the camera may be placed in a
proper position with more facility. The camera has a sliding front, to
which is attached a square box, with a hinged shutter, fitted with a clamp¬
ing screw. This shutter, which acts as a cover to the lens, may be used
both for instantaneous photography and for regulating the amount of
exposure required by different parts of the subject : it acts as a shield to
the upper portion of the lens, and may be made to obstruct the rays from
the sky, thus enabling the operator to produce fine effective clouds on a
sufficiently exposed plate. It is scarcely necessary to state that both
the plate-holder and the ground focussing-screen have the exact horizontal
curve of the field of the lens.
I now come to the description of the lens, which is unquestionably the
most remarkable part of the apparatus ; and I think I cannot do better
than quote the words of the inventor, as contained in that portion of his
specification which relates to the form of lens which I have the honour of
exhibiting this evening.
“.My invention relates to the construction of a compound achromatic lens for
taking photographic pictures wherein an unusually wide angle of view or
extent ot field is to be included. The compound lens is composed of two single,
thick concavo-convex lenses, made of glass, the curved surfaces of which are
portions of concentric spheres. They are secured to a suitable mount in such
a manner and position that the curved surfaces of both of them (that is to say,
all the four curved surfaces) are concentric, their common centre being a point
in the. axis ot the compound lens, and the lenses having their concave surfaces
opposite to each other. In the space or cavity between the concavo-convex
lenses is contained a transparent fluid of lower refractive and dispersive power
than the glass of which the lenses are made. Water is a suitable and convenient
fluid to employ. By assigning proper radii to the surfaces of the glass lenses,
the compound lens is rendered achromatic and convex, so as to produce real
images ot objects. The two glass lenses may be made of the same kind of glass,
and equal in all respects, but that is not a necessary condition. By using lenses
made of different kinds of glass, and giving their concentric surfaces suitable
radii, computed according to known principles of optics, the compound lens can
be made achromatic, and, at the same time, its spherical aberration can be
reduced.. The compound lens is provided with a central diaphragm, having a
central circular aperture of suitable size in order to give sharp definition when
objects at different distances from the lens are included in the view. This
diaphragm is placed between the lenses and within the fluid in such a position
that the centre of its circular aperture is at the common centre of the spherical
surfaces of the lenses.’’
. 1 he description of the diaphragm (so very insufficient in the specifica-
tion) 1 shall give from Mr. Sutton’s paper read at the last meeting of the
British Association, held at Manchester in September last : —
“ The central. diaphragm is another curious part of this instrument. It is
evident that, it it were merely furnished with a central circular hole, the sides
of the picture would be less illuminated than the centre. To meet this incon¬
venience I have made the central hole elliptical, and have placed in front of it
two upright thin partitions, radiating from the centre, and looking like the open
wings of a butterfly. These stop some of the light of the central pencil and
make it cylindrical, and at the same time they make the side pencils cylindrical
also, and of the same diameter as the central one. This simple contrivance
answers perfectly in equalising the illumination.”
I now turn again to the specification ; hut may here remark, that al¬
though the lens before you is substantially the same as that described by
the inventor, it somewhat differs from it in this respect, that the mount¬
ing has been improved and simplified. Mr. Sutton, describing the lens
with its original mounting, continues in his specification to state that
the simplest form (by-the-bye, the best foim) of panoramic lens and
mount is that in which the glass lenses are both alike in all respects, and
made of the same kind of glass. When this construction is adopted,
and the internal cavity filled with water, the lens will work with
sufficient accuracy for most practical purposes, if the following dimen¬
sions are employed, viz., if the lenses are both composed of the same light
flint glass, their inner radii may be one-lialf the length of their outer
radii ; if they be made of the same colourless crown or plate glass, their
inner radii may he two-fifths of their outer radii. Each lens is fitted
into a metal ring, provided with an external screw-thread, for the purpose
of screwing them fluid-tight into the intermediate ring or zone, provided
for that purpose with internal screw-threads at each end. This zone
slides freely within the boss of the flange, by which the entire lens is
secured to the woodwork of the camera, the sliding motion serving to
facilitate the adjustment of the focus. The cavity between the lenses
is filied with water or other suitable fluid, the ring being provided for
that purpose with stoppered inlet and outlet apertures.
I will now take leave of the specification, and observe that, as the
camera has sufficient screw-adjustment, a sliding adjustment to the lens
becomes unnecessary, and has therefore been dispensed with. The stop¬
pered apertures have also been done away with as unnecessary for filling
the lens with water, which operation may easily be effected in the fol¬
lowing manner: — Unscrew the front component of the lens, then pour
perfectly clear water into the reservoir till the water reaches the brim,
and slightly agitate the water to expel the air, then screw on the front
lens. The small bubble of enclosed air which has not been got rid of
will rise much above the spherical concavit3r of the lens, and thus become
of no consequence. The brass mounting is made with so much accuracy
that the lens, when screwed up, is perfectly water-tight.
Some persons have supposed a certain amount of difficulty to exist in
coating curved plates with collodion. There is, however, no I’eal diffi¬
culty in the matter. If Mr. Collis will be good enough to coat before the
Society a few of the curved plates I have brought with me, he will be
able to show you with what facility the operation may be accomplished,
and if any of the members present will try the experiment they will find
it exceedingly easy.
I beg to say, in conclusion, that I shall now have the pleasure of sub¬
mitting to your inspection the first panoramic negatives taken by Mr.
Harral, in order that you may judge what amount of success a first
attempt may meet with.
I must apologise for again introducing some prints which have already
appeared before you ; but as there may be some members present who
were not here at the last meeting, it may afford them some gratification
this evening to obtain a sight of the panoramic prints.
Mr. Ross exhibited the apparatus in explanation of his paper.
The Chairman, on the conclusion of the paper, asked Mr. Ross if
any means had been devised whereby the curved glass negatives
yielded by Mr. Sutton’s camera could be rendered fiat?
Mr. Ross replied that there had not, but it had been suggested to him
that it would be a great convenience if the film could be floated off and
spread upon a flat glass or waxed paper. In reply to a question b}r the
Secretary he (Mr. Ross) stated the price of the curved glasses to be 18s.
per dozen.
The Chairman proposed the usual vote of thanks to Mr. Ross.
Mr. Shadbolt then read a paper On Washing Positive Proofs. [See
page 437.]
Mr. Vernon Heath said that he had been for some time past following
a plan very similar to the one suggested by Sir. Shadbolt for washing his
prints, and could consequently corroborate that gentleman’s remarks in
every particular. There was this slight difference in his method of ma¬
nipulating, namely, that, after he had submitted the prints to what he
deemed a due amount of soaking and changes of water, he (Sir, Heath),
to “make assurance doubly sure,” placed each print on a plate of glass’
holding it at an angle of 45° under a copious stream of water from a tap’.
He was acquainted with a gentleman who washed his prints by placing
them in a square box, lined with porcelain slabs, the box itself being sunk
beneath the river which flowed through the garden. He (Mr. Heath)
must say that, though a continuous change of water was thereby secured,
he could not think it was as complete as by Sir. Shadbolt’s method, which
was one he could cordially recommend to photographers as being one
which, if adopted, would be found productive of great good, and in his
estimation conducive to the permanence of the photographs.
Mr. Sebastian Davis said that he had found it advantageous, in wash¬
ing the print after removal from the pressure-frame, to do so by floatino-
the print on the surface of the water rather than by complete immersiom
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 10, 1861
44 8
as in this way the free nitrate of silver was more completely removed
through the establishment of downward and upward currents in the fluid,
so thal the paper was exposed to a constant accession of fresh water un¬
charged with nitrate of silver; and this, he thought, was. carrying out the
same principle as was involved in the method of washing proposed by
Mr. Shadbolt, and so warmly advocated by Mr. Heath.
Mr. Martin, in allusion to a remark made by Mr. Shadbolt as to the
importance of a delicate test for minute traces of hyposulphite of soda,
said that it occured to him that, as the salt in question contained sulphur,
evidence of its presence might be obtained by adding an acid to the sus¬
pected solution, and then adding a few drops of solution of nitro-prusside
of sodium, which had the property of producing a beautiful blue colour in
solutions containing sulphur. He (Mr. Martin) was not sure that such a
result would be obtained in the present instance ; but Mr. Williams, who
was present, could, he knew, speak with more authority on the subject.
Mr. Williams replied that it was essential to the success of the reaction
named by Mr. Martin that the sulphur present should exist in the state
of sulphuret, which was not the case with hyposulphite of soda even after
the addition of an acid. He (Mr. Williams) knew a photographic firm
who adopted the plan of washing their prints with three changes of
water, and finally pressing them between folds of blotting-paper, which
last operation had an important influence in removing the final traces of
hyposulphite of soda.
The Chairman remarked that that was an expensive plan, as the paper
could not, of course, be used a second time.
Dr. Diamond said he had used blotting-paper in that way a second
time, and found it mottle the prints. The Count de Montizon had recom¬
mended to him the plan of laying the prints on glass, and dabbing them
while wet with a piece of cotton wool, which seemed to have the effect
of forcing water through the pores of the paper.
The Chairman was of opinion that the non-permanency of photographs
arose, not so much from remaining traces of hyposulphite of soda, as from
some peculiar action originating in the toning or fixing baths.
Mr. Shadbolt did not attribute fading so much to the hyposulphite of
soda as to the hyposulphite of silver which it held in solution.
The Chairman then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Shadbolt, which
being unanimously accorded the proceedings terminated.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 4th instant, — John Parry, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
Mr. James IP. Lynde and Mr. Robert Atherton were elected members of
the Society.
The Chairman read an extract from the last number of The British
Journal of Photography relating to a paper On the Albumen Process by
Mr. Cramb. as practised by him during a tour in the Holy Land, and he
(the Chairman) called the attention of the members to the exceedingly
short exposure which was said to be sufficient, and which was quite at
variance with his experience. If Mr Cramb had attributed this rapidity
of action to an amount of light peculiar to the country in which the pic¬
tures were taken he could have understood it, but he did not instance it
as at all affecting the result.
Mr. Noton said that the statement of Mr. Cramb, if it were intended to
apply to this country, did not at all agree with liis experience ; but he
felt certain that the temperature and amount of light under which the
pictures were taken must have had great influence. Pie recollected once,
when he was staying in a midland county, taking some portraits with
wet collodion. On his return home, the next day, he used precisely the
same chemicals; and, although he lived out of town, the exposure re¬
quired was at least twice as long. It was very easy, therefore, to arrive
at an explanation, or at any rate in part, of Mr. Cramb’s results.
Mr. Mann stated lie had frequently observed that the sensitiveness of
plates was greatly exalted at the seaside.
Mr. Brothers said that lie could not believe in many statements which
were made in reference to the effect of different atmospheres. He had
made it his business to inquire of many whose portraits had been taken
in Paris, and lie found it to be established that the sittings required there
were quite as long as lie found necessary in his own galleiy.
The Chairman exhibited negatives and prints of microscopic objects.
The substances were fossil coal, containing much bituminous matter.
The enlargement was about thirty diameters, and the negatives were
taken with wet collodion, which was exposed about thirty minutes.
Some objects might be taken in a shorter time ; but here there was much
colouring matter. In reply to an inquiry, he stated that there was no
difficulty in keeping a collodionised plate so long under exposure.
The Secretary stated that he thought the principle of printing by
development had been unnecessarily abandoned. It was true that good
uniform results had not hitherto been obtained ; but he had seen pictures
by that method which were everything that could be desired, and the
thing, therefore, was possible. He suggested that, as this was a process
which could be carried on in the winter, the members might most
profitably devote their spare time to its investigation ; but he wished to
warn them from jumping at conclusions, and insisted that nothing short
of a most patient and extensive series of experiments would be of the
slightest value.
The Chairman said that he had once witnessed an experiment by which
a print was obtained in five seconds: another exposed seven seconds
was completely overdone. He could not then obtain the particulars of
the process, and the secret had gone with the inventor.
Mr. Hooper inquired whether the Chairman knew if the surface were
iodide of silver, and on being answered in the affirmative stated that he
should consider five seconds a long exposure. There was no difficulty in
getting rapid results with an iodide, but the effect, so far as he had seen,
was bad. The chloride of silver, he thought, was the proper substance
to be used.
Mr. Tobler exhibited that which should have been a negative,
but which ivas a complete positive by transmitted light. His inten¬
tion had been to get a negative from an engraving : the light was
very deficient, and, after the application of a solution of sulphate of
iron, a very weak image appeared. The plate having been washed,
he applied a solution of pyrogallic acid of the usual composition :
instantly the picture was intensely blackened, and on looking at it by
transmitted light he found it to be a positive. He had since trie to repeat
the experiment, but had failed.
Some suggestions that the effect had been produced by over-exposure
were proved to be inconsistent, for it was agreed that the time was
barely sufficient for a good negative.
A further discussion on this subject followed ; but no explanation
could be given.
The Secretary announced that, as the first Wednesday in January
would fall on New Year’s Day, the next meeting would be held on
January 8 th.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held at 18, George Street,
on the 4th inst., when the chair was occupied by J. D. Marwick,
Esq., President.
There was a large attendance. The following gentlemen were admitted
by ballot as members of the Society: — Rev. D. T. K. Drummond, Dr.
Wilson, and Andrew Drybrough, Esq.
The Secretary then read the following report of the Council : —
REPORT.
In submitting this the first Annual Report, the Council have pleasure in con¬
gratulating the Society upon the very great prosperity which has attended it
during the short time it has been in existence.
Formed, as the Society has been, for the purpose of diffusing photographic
knowledge, the marked appreciation of efforts in this direction proves that the
anticipations of its projectors have been more than realised.
During the short period of the Society’s existence there has been a steady influx
of members. Scarcely a meeting has taken place at which one or more mem¬
bers havenot been added to the roll, which now contains the names of seventy
members. It is with regret that the Council have to record the death of one of our
most energetic members, Dr. Easton, who was called from among us after a very
short illness. His assistance and suggestions in conducting the affairs of the
Society were valuable, and his loss is lamented.
Since the formation of the Society, twenty meetings have been held, at many
of which original papers, several of them possessing great merit, have been read.
These have been published among the transactions of the Society in The
British Journal of Photography, the official organ of the Society.
The following list comprises the various papers alluded to : —
On the Mode on which the Society should Conduct its Operations. By Mr.
Marwick.
On the Fothergill Process. By Mr. Burns.
On the Collodion Process for Beginners. By Mr. Nicol.
On the Photographic Uses of Gold. By Mr. Davies.
On the Magic Lantern. By Mr. Taylor.
On the Waxed Paper Process. By Mr. Traill.
Photographic Trip to the Orkney Islands. By Mr. Traill.
On the Hot Water Process. By Mr. Slight.
On Photographic Composition. By Mr. Davies.
On Positive Printing. By Mr. Musgrave.
On Photographic Distortion. By Mr. Bow.
To these gentlemen, as also to Mr. Ramage and Mr. Lennie (for their dissolv¬
ing view entertainments), and to Mr. Moule (for the readiness with which he
acceded to their desire of procuring a trial of his patent photogen) the Council
would tender their cordial thanks.
An intiresting feature in the Society’s proceedings has been the organisation
of popular meetings, to which the members have had an opportunity of inviting
their friends, the entertainments on such occasions having been specially
selected for a mixed audience. The great success which has attended these
meetings, and the interest which they have excited, warrant the Council in
recommending the repetition of these at stated periods.
Another feature in connexion with the Society is the arranging of occasional
Saturday photographic excursions during the summer, lor the purpose of
friendly* trials of skill ; and from the evident pleasure the members have
derived from these during the past summer, the Council feel satisfied that
much good will result from a continuation of them during next season.
Instead of meeting twice a month throughout the year, as hitherto, the
Council recommend that during the months of June, July, August, and Sep¬
tember, the Society should meet only once a month, and this mainly for the
purpose of arranging excursions. They also recommend that, from the stand¬
ing and importance of the Society, an addition be made to the office-bearers,
aiid that in future they consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents, two Secre¬
taries, Treasurer, and twelve Members of Council.
This report was unanimously adopted.
December 16, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
449
The following office-bearers were elected for the ensuing year :
President— J. D. Marwick. •, t xT T5 mr
Vice-Presidents — George H. Slight and Robert H. Bow, G. .
Treasurer — Alex. T. Riven, C.A.
Auditor — F. H. Carter, C.A.
Joint- Secretaries — John. T. Taylor and Alex. Auchie, jun.
31embers of Council — Adam Mossman, James Ramage, Andrew Mure,
Alexander Auchie, W. H. Davies, William Lyon, John Nicol, Richard
G. Muir, David Cousin, iEneas Walker, James Falshaw, R. Patterson.
On the motion of Mr. Auchie,
A vote of thanks was awarded to the office-bearers for their past services ;
after which arrangements were made for teaching classes in the various
processes of photography practised at the present day. _
Mr Slight then read a paper On the Art of Seeing Binocular Pictures
Without the Aid of a Stereoscope. [See page 437.] This was illustrated
by diagrams and stereoscopic pictures. .
A conversation on the subject ensued, in which Mr. Bow, Mr. Fleming
(Leith), Mr. Walkei’, Mr. Nicol, Mr. Taylor, and others joined.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Mr Slight ; after which the
meeting separated.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The monthly meeting of this society was held in 51, George-street, on
the 10th instant, when the chair was occupied by William Walker, Lsq.,
and subsequently by Sheriff Moir.
A communication was made by Mr. Alexander J. Macfarlane On the
Application of Photography to the Delineation of Disease , with Panarks
on Microscopic Photography , in which he showed how photography could
be made useful in connexion with the various branches of the medical
curriculum. He also explained the means he had adopted to obtain
stereoscopic photographs of microscopic objects. He illustrated his
remarks by several pictures of ferns printed from direct contact, stereo¬
graphs of anatomical and pathological preparations, and ordinary and
stereoscopic photographs of microscopic specimens.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Mr. Macfarlane for his
communication.
In further illustration of the advantages to be derived from photography
in surgical cases, the Chairman exhibited a stereograph of some particular
disease in connexion with the eve, on which he had performed an opera¬
tion, and when the cure was completed he hoped to show them another
photograph, which would then be taken.
Mr. Nicol then read a paper On the Manufacture of Pyroxylins. [See
page 488 ] .
The Chairman said that although he was not chemist enough himself
to appreciate fully all Mr. Nicol’s remarks, yet on one thing they would
all agree with him, viz., that they were much indebted to that gentleman
for his kindness in coming forward to their assistance at such very short
notice as he had had ; and he had no doubt but that many ol those present
who had heard how thoroughly Mr. Nicol was acquainted with the
subject of the manufacture of collodion, would gladly apply to him when
they required that article, feeling satisfied they would get as good as
could be obtained.
Mr. Orange then exhibited a portable tent, which, by having an arrange¬
ment for holding a number of bottles, &c., packed inside, was said to
possess some advantages over others. It seemed, however, to be incon¬
veniently bulky for the amateur peripatetic photographer.
The thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr. Orange; after which
the meeting separated. _
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held on Friday, the 29tli ult.,
at the Odd Fellows Hall, Temple Street,— Mr. C. L. Haines, Y. P., in the
chair.
The circular convening the meeting having been read, and the minutes
of the previous meeting rend and approved,
A ballot was taken for John Anthony, Esq., M.D., who was declared
to be duly elected an ordinary member of the Society.
In compliance with a resolution of Council, the names of Messrs. J.
Lancaster (optician, Colmore Row), J. Oxford, and Brittain, were sub¬
mitted for removal from the roll of the Society, and on a ballot being
taken they were struck off accordingly.
The Hon. Secretary moved the following alterations in the rules, of
which he had given notice : — . Jf
“ That the number of members of Council be reduced from eight to four.
“That the meetings of the Society be held on the second instead of the
last Tuesday in each month.” And
“ That the hour of meeting be altered from eight o’clock to half-past
six."
Mr. Haines seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.
The Hon. Secretary read the report of the Council for the past session
as follows : —
REPORT.
Your Council, in presenting this their fifth annual report, have to congratulate
the Society on the continued success which has attended the efforts they have
made to render the meetings not only interesting but instructive.
During the past session several most important papers have been read,
comprising —
Failures in the Dry Collodion Process attributable to the Glass. By Hill
Norris Esci* jVI.D# _
The' Camera of Horrors; or , Difficulties and Failures in the Wet Collodion
Process. By 0. G. Rejlander. Esq.
The Relative Capabilities of the several Descriptions of Lenses to the various
Kinds of Work to which they may be Applied. By John Anthony, Esq., M.D.
W. B. Osborne, Esq., V. P., occupied one evening in making remarks upon
a paper read before the London Photographic Society, on Stains m the
Negative.- On each subject an interesting discussion took place.
Your Hon. Secretary, Mr. John Thomas Brown, Jun., also read a paper on
Art-Photography , and illustrated his remarks by various artistic productions.
To each of these gentlemen your Council feel that they are deeply indebted,
and beg to offer their united thanks. . „ . . .
One evening was partially devoted to the examination of a portfolio of the
works of Mr. Rejlander, Studies from Life, which that gentleman kindly laid
upon the table, and to whom, with others who have also forwarded prints and
apparatus for exhibition, your Council beg to tender their sincere thanks.
Your Council have much pleasure in announcing that the Exhibition at
Aston Hall has fully answered every expectation, except in so far as relates to
the sale of catalogues ; and, at the same time, feel that the best thanks of the
Society are due to the gentlemen forming the sub-committee for the energy
they have displayed throughout the matter. .
In conclusion, your Council would impress upon each member of the Society
the necessity for more combined action, so as to maintain it in the present
important position it occupies; and trust that the apathy and indifference
which your Council had to warn the Society against last session may be dis¬
placed by a more energetic attention to the interest ol the ait on the part o
each individual member, and by a large and increasing attendance at the meet¬
ings — a result which they anticipate will arise from an alteration in the hour ot
meeting. _ _
Ou the motion of Mr. Haines, seconded by Mr. Rejlander, the report
was received and adopted.
A ballot having been taken for the election of officers for the forth¬
coming session, the following gentlemen were declared to be unanimously
elected, i— -
President — John Anthony, Esq., M.D. Vice-Presidents Mr. G. L.
Haines and Mr. H. P. Robinson. Treasurer and Hon- Secretary, pro tern
Mr. John Thomas Brown, jun.. Council — Mr. 0. G. Rejlander, Mr. John
Turner, Mr. Hart, and Mr. Jones.
Mr. BiiovvN proposed a vote of thanks to the President A ice-Presidents,
and members of Council for the past session, and lie did this with the
greater pleasure as lie was fully aware of the difficulties they had to
contend with ; for although they entered upon their duties with a balance
in hand, still the prospects of the Society were somewhat unfavourable,
and it was only by great exertion that they bad succeeded in establishing
its position. On glancing over the list of members, he believed that no other
photographic society in the kingdom could boast such an anay of men,
each of whom stood pre-eminent in the peculiar branch of the art he prac¬
tised, and he (Mr. Brown) therefore felt that no energy should be spared
on the part of the members in maintaining for the Society so proud a
position. He thought this a fitting opportunity to call the attention of
the members to the concession made by the Royal Commissioners for the
Exhibition of next year, and hoped that they would so far accept it as to
forward specimens of their productions.
Mr. Turner seconded the proposition, which was carried unanimously.
Mr. Haines, in the absence of the President, responded, thanking the
meeting for the acknowledgment, and reminding the members that as
they entered upon the present session with more encouraging prospects
than the last, much more would be required on the part ot each, and
trusted that at the conclusion of this session they would have placed the
Society in a still more important position than it then occupied.
Mr. Rejlander said that he was one of those who had accepted space to
exhibit next year in the Great Exhibition. He had been very much sur¬
prised to see the new born zeal which, in the late discussion with the Royal
Commissioners, the Parent Society had shown in favour ot art-photography
--a department to which, as he knew from his own experience, they had
never before shown the slightest encouragement. It was only when the
present Exhibition had been projected that they came forward and
proudly asked for a place among the fine arts. Now, he knew some¬
thing about the fine arts, and something about photography, but he would
not ask that photography should have a place among the fine arts or
any arts. It was a thing of itself, combining both art and science, hut
not to be compared with any other art or science. He was quite satisfied,
therefore, that photographs should be exhibited — not among the fine arts,
but by themselves.
Mr. Haines then proposed a vote of thanks to the Hon. Secretary and
Treasurer, which was seconded by Mr. Turner, supported by Mr.
Rejlander, and briefly responded to by Mr. Brown.
Mr. Rejlander said he had to call the attention of the Society to a
serious difficulty he had recently met with, and which, as it completely
destroyed the negative for all practical purposes, he thought was of suf¬
ficient importance to occupy their attention for a short time. He alluded
to a decomposition or breaking-up of the collodion film under the varnish,
and in explanation laid before the meeting a photograph which he had
copied from a painting by Murillo. On inspection it would be found that
in the centre, and indeed almost all over the picture, were a number of
fine, hair -like, serpentine cracks. These were not in the varnish but m
the collodion film beneath it. He had made inquiries as to the cause,
and had been informed that it was his own fault for having varnished the
450
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
December 10, 1601
pictures before they were perfectly dry, or for not having washed the
cyanide off clean. ‘This might be so ; but it was very curious that there
were no cracks in the photographs he had taken five or six years ago,
when he was more careless than he was now. But, as a test, he had
a few days ago, taken two negatives, and having washed off just enough
of the cyanide to see that the plates were not greasy, had partially dried
and varnished them, and he should wait the result.
The Hon. Secretary suggested that the cracks might be caused by the
hvgrometric properties of the glass, or from the difference in the contractile
qualities of the collodion and the varnish, but thought they were referable
to the former cause.
Mr. Turner expressed a decided opinion that it was caused by the collo¬
dion used being old, or otherwise in an unfit state. It was well known
that a better picture could be taken by a mixture of old with new collo¬
dion in certain proportions than with new collodion alone ; but, when the
collodion used was too old, he had sometimes seen the picture eaten com¬
pletely off the plate with the varnish. He knew that most of the makers
of collodion would send it to different men in the district for sale; and the
large shopkeepers who had a stock of collodion long on hand were allowed
to send it back and get new in its place. Of course as soon as
the manufacturer got this old collodion he would mix it with the new :
they might be sure that he would not throw it away. But, though this
mixture might improve the new collodion for a time, it was a question
whether it would keep. In his opinion the only way to be safe at the
present day was for photographers to make their own collodion, otherwise
they might be disappointed by finding that, after a time, valuable pictures
would either disappear from the plate or, as in the case before them, be
spoiled by the cracking of the collodion.
The Hox. Secretary said that he was still of opinion, from the
appearance of the picture, that the cracks were caused by the porous
nature of the glass on which the negative was taken.
Mr. Beji.ander said he thought that could not be the case, as the glass
was the best plate-glass. He was of opinion that the injuries were caused
by some defect in the collodion, and he was now carrying on some ex¬
periments that would show where the fault really lay.
The meeting then adjourned.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Societjr held its usual monthly meeting on Thursday, the 5th ult.,
in the Beligious Institution Booms, — Mr. J. Jex Long in the chair.
The greater part of the evening was taken up with private business,
considering some alterations in the constitution of the Society recom¬
mended by the Council. Among other alterations it was arranged to
change the period for holding the annual meeting from March to January.
Office-bearers for the ensuing year were then nominated.
Mr. John Cramb intimated that he had decided upon retiring from all
active management in the Society. This resolution would not deprive
the Society of his services for any use he could be to it, but he believed
a successor could now be found. The members would all remember how
unwillingly he accepted the Secretaryship. He believed his retirement
at this time would not be injurious to the prosperity of the Society ; but,
if it should prove otherwise, his services, as far as his other engagements
would permit, were at the disposal of the Society.
The Secretary then exhibited some very fine specimens of photo¬
lithography done by Mr. Gibbons, of Glasgow.
Mr. J. Cramb exhibited an extremely simple form of printing-frame,
for the ten by eight size ; similar frames to these exhibited could be had
for twelve shillings a dozen. That he believed was the cheapest frame
ever described.
Two papers which were set down to be read by Mr. Cramb were post¬
poned, owing to want of time.
NEWCASTLE -ON-TYNE AND NORTH OF ENGLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Tnu above Society held a meeting in the Weaver’s Tower, New Bridge
Street, on Friday evening, the Gth instant. Mr. G. C. Warren occupied
the chair, and briefly introduced Dr. Lockhart, who read an interesting
paper, by Mr. Sutton, On Panoramic Photography . A new patent pano¬
ramic apparatus, and some beautiful views taken by the apparatus, were
exhibited to illustrate the paper.
[The substance of the paper having several times already appeared in
our pages, and one on the same subject by Mr. Boss being contained in
the present number, it is useless to repeat it again.]
It was unanimously resolved that the kindness of Mr. Sutton in so
readily consenting to furnish the Society with a paper, in selecting for it
a subject so peculiar and so interesting as his own panoramic lens, and
in so clearly and satisfactorily expounding that subject in the excellent
paper read, well entitled him to the best thanks of the Society; and that
the Secretary communicate to him a cop}'' of the resolution. It was also
resolved unanimously that the best thanks of the Society be given to
Mr. I1. Boss for his kindness in allowing them an inspection of his pano¬
ramic apparatus for the purpose of illustrating Mr. Sutton’s paper on his
panoramic lens. Some general conversation followed, and the meeting
terminated.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
Members are reminded that the next meeting will take place on Wednes’
day next, the 18th instant, when a paper by Mr. Bourne, descriptive of
his mode of working the Fotlieigill process, will be read.
BRADFORD PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
At a recent meeting of this Society a resolution was adopted, postponing
the contemplated Exhibition, proposed to be held this year, until Novern-
her or December, 1862. We are requested also to state that in future the
proceedings at the Society’s meetings will only be reported when, in the
judgment of the Council, matters of sufficient importance to justify pub¬
lication are brought before the meetings.
Jforaga Corresptmtieiuc.
Paris, December 11, 18G1.
A few days since the attention of the crowds that frequent our
boulevards was attracted by the words “ Exposition Disderi ”
figuring in gigantic golden letters on the balcony of the rooms at
the corner of the Rue Drouot, which were but lately occupied by
the Jockey Club. In all parts of Paris large posters announced the
opening of this Exhibition, the proceeds of which, arising from a
charge of fifty centimes for entrance, are generously destined for
the poor. Unwilling to be among the tardiest to respond to the
invitation, I immediately repaired to this extemporised museum.
I must confess that I came away wonder-struck, both at the number
and the merit of the works which are therein collected.
The walls of two very spacious rooms are entirely covered with
portraits of every dimension, from the simple visiting-card and
medallion to the full-length portrait of natural size. Several con¬
soles, covered with velvet, exhibit photographic enamels, albums,
and caskets. The ante-chamber has been converted into a sale¬
room. There are several attendants for the reception and guidance
of the visitors ; and, lastly, a special catalogue is sold at the door.
You see Discffiri does things liberally. Hosts of crowned heads,
warriors, writers, artists, medical men, and lawyers are to be found
there, with distinguished persons of every kind, and the represen¬
tatives of every class of society. So much for the subjects. As
for the execution that must be acknowledged as very remarkable.
The portraits amplified by M. Wothly’s method do great credit to
that process. That which characterises the pictures in general is
the care bestowed upon their printing, whereby, it must be
avowed, they are placed in contrast with the large part of the pro¬
ductions of our portraitists. It is true that when from twelve to
fifteen hundred pictures per day have to be delivered to the public,
and the labour has consequently to be entrusted to subordinate work¬
men and operators, as much care cannot be given to the printing
as Avben the operation is performed at leisure. Such admission,
however, being made, the fact still remains that in this im¬
portant matter our portraitists are often not sufficiently careful.
I have had frequent opportunities of examining portraits of En¬
glish or German origin, and have been struck by the superiority
they show in this point over our own productions.
While Disd5ri is inviting the public to his Exhibition, his bre¬
thren are not idle. All are busily occupied in preparing for the
great battle of New Year’s Da}r. Here and there there are spring¬
ing up new establishments, and yet the old ones are as crowded as
ever. There is also some talk of the formation of a company
which is to organise a sort of special bazaar, comprising an
operating-room for portraits, a photographic printing-office, a
depot for all the apparatus and chemicals employed in photo¬
graphy — in a word, everything connected with the art.
Delton — who is continuing alone the establishment which he had
founded in conjunction with Nadar in the Avenue de lTmperatrice —
has been entrusted with a singular commission. He is executing
for the Entreprise des Pompes Funebres (Metropolitan Burial Com¬
pany) all the objects which that Company hire out for funerals.
Death, as well as life, has its pomp and its humility. There are
eight or ten different classes of funerals, tariffied and specified as
merchantable articles are. In future, when a friend or a relative
shall present himself at the Mairie to make the declaration of a
death, the employee of the Company who is attached to the Mairie
will place before him a voluminous album, representing piece by
piece all the items belonging to any particular class, and
indicating their prices. Thus the person in question will be able
to make his choice, and to reckon up the amount himself. Is it not
an ingenious idea ? Such is the labour that Delton has courageously
undertaken — a labour which constitutes the saddest but not the
least lucrative application of photography.
December 10, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
461
Another photographer has received a mission of a different
kind : he has to reproduce all the stallions belonging to the
Imperial studs. The collection thus formed will he magnificent,
and at once interesting to the painter and to the amateur of the
turf.
It is said that the Minister of the Interior is preparing a regula¬
tion obliging every photographer to take out a publisher’s license,
for which a somewhat high price will he demanded. This measure
is said to he principally directed against the production and circula¬
tion of obscene pictures, for which photographic processes have
been largely used. The withdrawal of the license, besides judicial
condemnation and confiscation of goods, would he held threatingly
over the heads of those who might he tempted to lend themselves
to this ignoble commerce. For some time past the condemnations
for offences of this kind have increased to a degree that is deplor¬
able, as betokening a deep-grained demoralisation. It is humili¬
ating to see so beautiful an art debased to such shameful uses.
The first meeting of the Photographic Society of Marseilles took
place on the 30th of November. M. Leon Vidal, the Secretary, inau¬
gurated the meeting by reading a report of the Exhibition — a report
which is in fact a very well-written article on the present state of
photography in France. Then came various interesting communi¬
cations, among which a note from M. Oppenheim, of Dresden, on
t Imprinting process employed by him. M. Oppenheim prepares
wney by treating warmed milk with tartaric acid, and clarifying
with albumen. He makes the liquid boil, filters, and when it has
become cold adds to it five per cent, of iodide of potassium, and
again filters. This whey is mixed with albumen in equal quanti¬
ties. The sheets are placed upon this mixture for lialf-a-minute,
and then dried. The paper is sensitised by being placed on a five
per cent, nitrate of silver bath, without any acetic acid. After
remaining a minute upon this solution the paper is placed upon the
surface of distilled water, where it remains for the same time. It
is then plunged into a copious bath of distilled water. The first
water must be changed after the preparation of three or four sheets.
A few seconds’ exposure suffices, even in a diffused light. The
image should be scarcely visible on leaving the copying press.
It is developed with gallic acid, to which have been added
crystallisable acetic acid and a little nitrate of silver. Heat may
be emplojmcl to accelerate. It is fixed in a 20 per cent, hyposul¬
phite bath. The picture is fixed when the yellow tone has disap¬
peared. In case the tone is reddish, it may be concluded that the
exposure was too long, or that the bath did not contain enough
nitrate. The picture may be toned with chloride of gold. I must
add that M. Oppenheim’s pictures speak well for the process.
ERNEST LACAN.
New Yorle, November 15th, 1861.
Dr. Hays, who sailed for Arctic exploration from Boston, July
10th, 1860, has just returned from his tolerably successful expedi¬
tion. The Doctor had the enterprise to study photography before
he left, and went equipped with the paraphernalia of the art. He
brought home upwards of two hundred stereo, negatives, illustra¬
ting the most important objects about which there is a curiosity
among the people. The prints from the negatives, no doubt, will
shortly reach all parts of the globe. This photographic verifica¬
tion is a very appropriate climax and wind-up of voyages towards
the north pole: there is no need of anything further.
I have observed that Mr. Shadboltand others in England appear
not to agree with me regarding the pictures made by Harrison’s
new lens, and forwarded Avith these letters. The disagreement in
some respects is only a misunderstanding, Avhich, probably, Avould
not have arisen if my explanation of the action of the lens had
been accepted. It has merely been claimed that the lens Avould only
make an angular field of vieAv of 90°, the field of view being a circle.
No one who will give the construction of the lens a little careful
examination will fail to observe that such a lens Avill admit light
from all the objects Avithin the field of 90°, and after that theory
and practice have shown that the focus of objects may be brought
on a plane surface. I ask, therefore, that a final judgment of con¬
demnation be not yet pronounced.
Our Photographical Society had a very pleasant meeting on the
11th ult. A spectroscope, after the model of that used by Bunsen
and Kirchhoff, and just received from Germany, Avas exhibited by
Professor Joy: also the discoA^eries made by the spectroscope
Avere quite fully illustrated by draAvings. Dr. Draper, the President,
remarked that in the instrument and charts he recognised familiar
acquaintances: fifteen or sixteen years ago he Avas using such an
instrument in the University, and published similar charts. •
In practical photography we bad a great deal of praise of the
dry processes, and an exhibition of a box for dry plates. The
box is so contrived that the plate may be transferred from and to
the shield in the open light. The box is described and engraved
in the American Journal of November 15.
We Avere also much interested in examining photographic
apparatus and pictures Avliich Avere in' fashion in 1842-3. The most
curious of these are daguerreotypes in the hollow of a hemisphe¬
rical plate, for use in the magic lantern. The lens by Avhich
these pictures Avere made is a plano-convex of short focus. The
inventors (Wolcott and Johnson) Avere Avell aware of the desirable¬
ness of a glass surface for lantern pictures, and in 1843 made success¬
ful experiments with albumen on glass as a substitute for paper in
Talbot’s process. The experiments Avere interrupted by sickness,
and their labours Avere private, so that they never enjoyed the
fame Avhich Avas their due. CHARLES A. SEELY.
Re in ffioohs.
Manual of Photographic Colouring. By A. H. Wall.
London : Thomas Piper, 32, Paternoster Roiv.
To most of our readers the name of Mr. Wall will be a sufficient
guarantee that the contents of this Avork are well worth tlieir attention.
Portions of the substance of the lessons contained in it have already ap¬
peared in these pages, and those Avho have perused them will be Avell
acquainted Avith the very practical nature of the instructions given.
The passages to which ave make allusion have been re-Avritten and con¬
siderably extended, and a large mass of neav matter has also been added.
Mr. Wall has availed himself of the opportunity of adding such hints as
have been suggested by his correspondence with pupils during
the periodical appearance of his lessons. Of the author’s style our
readers have had frequent opportunities of judging, and are, therefore,
sufficiently familiar with it ; but, had Ave space to spare, Ave should
certainly have given an extract from his chapter on colouring landscapes,
which, Ave have no doubt, Avould have been peculiarly interesting to many
enthusiastic amateurs, some of whom Avill probably act upon the hints
therein contained, and reap ucav delight from their negatives during the
winter months, Avhen they cannot be at Avork in the field. To the pro¬
fessional student the Avork Avill be found equally valuable, and we
cordially commend it to all desirous of entering upon photographic
colouring of any kind. Before concluding, it may not be inappropriate
to remark that the author has not laid aside the pencil for the pen, as any
one may ascertain for himself by looking in upon our photographer and
colourist at 35, Westbourne GroA-e, BaysAvater, where knoAving brethren
of the camera go ostensibly to have carte cle visite portraits taken, but
really to pick up some information about colouring, well knoAving that
they have but to ask to be informed.
(ftymspoubeitte.
ij^We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
STEREOSCOPIC CAMERAS, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you have the kindness to ansAver me the folloAving questions
in your next impression, if not ti o late : —
1. In having a stereo, camera made is it advisable to haA*e it made
to take glasses half an inch longer and a quarter of an inch Avider than
the ordinary stereo, size? I think of using two pairs of lenses, four and
a-lialf inches and six inches focal length : AA-liat will be the best-constructed
camera I can have for the purpose?
2. I have a ten by eight-inch print: having lost the negath-e, can I
obtain from the print an equally good negath-e the same size? I also
should like to know Iioav to take a negative stereo, size, and if the relief
AA'ill be right from the same print?
3. I also Avlsh to knoAV the best preservative process that will last from
three to four hours ? And —
4. Whose dark tent do you recommend as the best for traArelling
purpose;! ?
The favour of answers to the aboATe Avill greatly oblige, yours, &e.,
W. Y.
[1. It is alAATays as Avell to haA'e a little extra margin upon jmur plates,
in order to avoid curtailing your sizes by flaws at the edges. You will,
hoAvever, find plates seven inches or seven and a-halT inches square
m
THE BRITISH* JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
[December 10, 1801
admirably adapted for taking two pairs of stereographs at the same or
different times, and effect a considerable saving of trouble in preparation.
2. You cannot take a negative from your print that will be equal t o the
original, more especially if you desire to have it of the same size. You
cannot take a pair of stereographs from one print.
3. We know no process superior to the honey process if you desire to
keep the plates sensitive for only a few hours.
4. If you will refer to our back numbers you will find illustrations and
descriptions of many excellent dark tents, and you will be able to judge
which is the most likely to suit your purpose. Look especially at Smartt’s
and Eouch’s, as types of two different classes : most others are analogous
to one or other of these. — Ed.]
MR. J. CRAMB’ S CAMERAS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I wrote a letter to you on the 26th August, regarding a reference
made by Mr. Sidebotham to the cameras described by me in The British
Journal of Photography, page 265. I am sorry to observe that Mr.
Sidebotham, at a late meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society,
repeats his former statement, utterly ignoring my letter. I cannot be¬
lieve that he has seen my explanation. Permit me, Sir, to call Mr.
Sidebotham ’s attention to my former communication, convinced, as I am,
that he will see the iniustice of the charges he has so persistently repeated.
I am, yours, &c., JOHN CRAMB.
67, West Nile Street , Glasgow, Dec. 9th, 1861.
AVOIDANCE OF THE USE OF HIGHLY ALBUMENISED PAPER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — My present letter arises from a remark you made, a few inonths
ago, when commenting on a paper of Mr. Lyndon Smith s against the
use of the highly-albumenised paper now so much in vogue. Uou said
(I quote from memory) that, while agreeing with Mr. Smith that its use
was an evil, you thought it was a necessary one, since it was impossible
to get detail in the half-tones and transparency in the shadows without
it. What Mr. Smith’s objections to albumenised paper were, I do not
know ; mine are — expense and, especially, toning difficulties. V hen, on
taking to the alkaline toning process, I had repeatedly to thiow away
whole batches of prints on account of mealiness and uneven toning, I fore¬
swore the use of the highly-albumenised paper, and determined to use
such as had only just enough albumen to keep the picture on the suiface,
trusting to other means for bringing out the detail and imparting trans¬
parency. After trying varnishing and French polishing, which answered
the purpose to a certain extent, but took too much time, I tiied a method
which I remembered to have been suggested years ago, long befoie highly-
albumenised paper was thought of, viz., rubbing over the print with a
mixture of wax and spirits of turpentine, and it gave such satisfactory
results I have kept to it ever since. That you may see how well
it answers I send two pictures treated in the way described. 1 first
smooth the grain of the paper by pressure or rubbing with some haul
smooth surface, and then apply the wax and turpentine . two oi three
rubs with a rag gives a fine polish and removes the stickiness. I cannot
give the exact proportions of the two ingredients, as they vary with
different kinds of paper : my rule is to use as much turpentine with the
wax as I can without its causing greasy marks on the paper, as I wish
the mixture to penetrate the surface of the paper so as to give trans¬
parency, but not to pass entirely through. _ .
It strikes me, too, that prints treated in this way will have then pei-
manency greatly, if not indefinitely, increased, as the wax on the suiface
and held in the pores of the paper will prevent moisture and air acting on
the picture and setting up chemical changes in its constituents.
I hope no one will denounce me as laying claim to novelty. I he sug¬
gestion dates back to the very infancy of photography on paper ; but as
amongst my rather numerous photographic acquaintance I have nevei
met with one who used the mixture, and the complaints about toning
difficulties are so frequent, I thought it would not be out of place to call
the attention of your readers to what would enable them to use paper
which tones rapidly and evenly without sacrificing detail and tians-
parcncy- 1 a“’ y°m'S' &A COUNTRY PARSON.
P S. _ The views I send were taken by the hot water process.
[The specimens received in illustration are highly satisfactoiy in every
respect — the manipulation perfect, the lights clean and blight, the shadows
clear and transparent, and the effect very good.
The waxing was suggested originally by a french photogiapher, and,
as our correspondent observes, some years ago ; but we believe it was not
thou Hit prudent to adopt the use of wax in this way when hut few piints
were toned with gold. AVe think the gold toning removes the chief objec¬
tion to the after-application of the wax. — Ed.]
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal Bent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
92?” Several papers in type are unavoidably postponed for want of room.
II. R. Nichols — In our next.
C. B. J. — He has entirely given up the art.
O. R. B — Received with thanks. We will forward the information, as requested.
J. A M. — If the chloride of gold shows an acid re-action to te^t-paper. it should be
neutralised with the carbonate of soda before adding the acetate to your bath.
Monmouth Operator — Mr. Bedford, Mr. Ogle, and Mr. Woodward have all of them
visited the spot you indicate, and brought away some excellent illustrations.
J. Burdon. — Had your communication been addressed direct to the Editor, instead of
to the Publisher— agreeably with the printed notice always placed at foot of this column
— the replies would have appeared in the current number. They will be given in our
next.
Enquirer.— The principal focus of a lens is that produced by parallel rays, or those
proceeding from a very distant object, e.g., the sun. Conjugate foci are tliose of any
object and its image, both of which are at a greater distance from the lens than the
principal focus under ordinary circumstances; though, of course, if the sun be the ob¬
ject, its conjugate will be equal to the principal focus.
W. Daniels — The lenses named you will find exactly such as we should recommend.
It is not necessary to have the glasses larger than ordinary, but convenient to do so ;
if, however, you have two pairs of lenses we advise you to have them mounted on one’
camera for plates 7 inches or 7J inches square, as it saves much trouble in preparation
of the plates, and they can be cut in two, if desired, after exposure and development.
J. II. S (Birmingh am).— We are not quite sure what you intend to indicate by the
words “grey solarisation.’’ Solarisation generally means the destructive action ex¬
ercised by over-exposure of the high lights, so that the deposit of silver will not form on
the parts of the plate so affected, leaving it nearly transparent. If you mean “grey
flatness ” from the bath being over acid, or from its containing an abundance of organic
matter, the remedy you propose and exposure to light subsequently will most probably
cure the complaint.
K. S. — We do not imagine the annoyance to arise from the presence of iron in the water,
but probably from sulphuretted hydrogen. To test for iron, add to the suspected water
gallic acid or prussiate of potash : the former will strike a blackish the latter a bluish
colour if it be present. For sulphuretted hydrogen try it with acetate of lead, which
would cause a dark-coloured brownish precipitate or cloudiness. You cannot remove
either of these impurities by filtration ; and, if present, you had better use rain water
for your first washing.
C. Bell.— We do not perceive any mystery in the fact that the photographs mounted
with arrowroot are more) difficult to remove from the mounts than when gelatine is
employed ; nor did we understand Mr. Simpson to have expressed astonishment thereat.
Arrowroot is a species of starch, and most of the paper used for alhumenising is foreign
paper which is generally sized with starch ; therefore the probability is that, from the
homogeneity of the sizing and adhesive materials employed, the whole fabric of the paper
is, as it were, held fast to the mount. Hot water will loosen the picture very quickly.
We introduced the use of gum-tragacanth for mounting more than six years ago. See
Journal of the Photographic Society.
J. L. P. — Pray don’t call them stereograms : it is a horrid word. Surely stereograms is
more euplionious ar.d more in accordance with similar words in the language.
Our province is not to flatter, but to tell truth even if it be not over palatable ; but in
the present instance we can honestly award commendation. Your improvement is
very marked. We must draw your attention to one or two points of difference in tho
requirements for stereographs and large photographs, in order that you may not mis¬
take our comments. The former should be soft harmonious pictures, and it is not of
much moment if they are somewhat “fiat ’’-looking when out of the stereoscope, pro¬
vided the subject delineated he really located in different planes, because in the stereo¬
scope these varying planes will he sufficiently defined ; but it is of importance that your
proof should not be “hard’’ or over developed, for, if so, an unpleasant “snowiness”
of effect is produced in the stereoscope Now, with single pictures, the reverse of the
preceding proposition, to some extent, obtains a picture that is too soft, lacks brilliancy,
and appears tame and “ flat.”
Of the proofs received Gannaehy Bridge is excellent as a stereograph — that is to say, is
very well executed, apart from the subject, which is also good ; but, as a single picture,
the effect is dull and heavy. The Mill at Abe'feldy, on the contrary, is capital as a
single picture, though even a shade under-exposed (witness the solidity of the falling
water) ; hut, viewed in the stereoscope, the “ hardness” of effect is increased. Do not,
however, mistake our comment : both pictures are very good, and far above the average
i i quality. You may certain'y regard youivelf as having arrived at “ the highest form,”
though not yet at the highest place in your class. Your “instantaneous” sea view is
very promising, hut not quite sharp enough. Your exposure was not rapid enough. You
have scarcely taken enough of your several subjects laterally : another half-inch in width
would be a great improvement. And, lastly, we advise your abandoning the practice of
cutting the proofs dome-shaped ; for stereographs that form detracts from the effect in
viewing the pictures in the instrument, though it perhaps makes them look smarter out
of it. We should much like information about your dry-plate work for instantaneous
pictures. If we correcily understand your remarks you have certainly made a step in
advance. We do not think that better results are to be obtained by the process you
name than by the one you now pursue, hut as good certainly : it is simply a question of
convenience to the operator which to employ. You have done so well that we should be
disinclined to advise any change, unless you experience some special inconvenience.
NOTICE TO AGENTS.
Orders for Additional Quantities of the Number of this Journal for January 1st
(with which THE BRITISH JOURNAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ALMANAC wiH be
PRESENTED) should reach the Publisher not later than the 28th December instant.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., should
he forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Rise , London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
c o N T
PAGE
LEADER: Photography at the International
Exhibition. — An Abuse of Photography. —
Amateur Photographic Association —Epi¬
logue . 435
COLLODION SUBSTRATA. By J. GLOVER.. 416
ON WASHING POSITIVE PROOFS. By
GEORGE SHADBOLT . 437
ON VIEWING BINOCULAR PHOTOGRAPHS
WITHOUT A STEREOSCOPE. By GEO. H.
SLIGHT . 437
ON THE MANUFACTURE OF PYROXYLINE.
By JOHN NICHOL . 438
STEREOGRAPHS : Critical Notice of Mr.
Ogle's Views in Derbyshire, Yorkshire,
etc . 433
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC DISTORTION. By R.
H. BOW. With Diagrams ( Concluded 1 .. 440
A PROLOGUE FOR THE SEASON. By V.
BLANCHARD . 442
PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION & MOON¬
LIGHT PICTURES. By JOHN CRAMB.... 443
NTS.
page
NEW METHOD OF STRENGTHENING NEGA¬
TIVES. By M. JOURDAIN . 414
PALESTINE IN 1860. No. XII. By JOHN
CRAMB. ( Concluded J . 444
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 44q
if i.’PfPiMf’O m? cnniuTTL'C! . t a _ °
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES: London Photo¬
graphic Society. —Manchester Photographic
Society.— -Edinburgh Photographic Society.—
Photographic Society of Scotland.— Birming¬
ham Photographic Society — City of Glasgow
and West of Scotland Photographic Society.—
Newcastle -on -Tyne and North of England
Photographic Society. —North London Photo¬
graphic Association.— Bradford Photographic
Society . 446
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN. Letter from New
York. By C. A. SEELY . 450
NEW BOOKS . 451
CORRESPONDENCE . 451
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, efre. . 452
T H E B R I T I S H
u
EDITED BY GEORGE 3HADBOLT.
YOL. IX.
LIVERPOOL :
HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, CASTLE STREET.
LONDON:
E. MARLBOROUGH & CO., 4, AYE MARIA LANE; HORNE & THORNTHWAITE, 123, NEWGATE STREET.
EDINBURGH: JAMES WOOD, 130, GEORGE STREET.
DUBLIN: McGLASHAN & GILL, 50, UPPER SACKVILLE STREET.
PARIS: GEORGE FOWLER, 6, RUE MONTPENSIER. NEW YORK: E. ANTHONY, 501, BROADWAY.
I N D E
FACE
174
70
434
134
215
235
352
447
473
Annual Reports.
Chorlton Photographic Society
London Photographic Society^ -
Manchester Photographic Society -
North London Photographic Association
Photographic Society of Scotland -
South London Photographic Society
A Visit to London anil the Exhibition, by a
Scotch Photographer - -
Acari Found in the Nitrate of Silver Bath,
Further Notes on, by R. L. Maddox
_ in the Nitrate of Silver Bath, by Colonel
Pike - - - -
Accelerators, Photographic Theory Applied to
Researches Relative to, by Eugene Sahler -
Acetates in the Preparation of Positive Papers,
On the Inconvenience of the, by M. Davanne
Adhesive Materials Employed for Mounting
Photographs, On the, by James Martin 305,
Albumen, On, by James Martin
Amateur Photographer in Portraiture, Recol¬
lections of an, by Noel IS. Fitch
American Inventions -
- Photographic Exchange Club
Anthony, Dr., On the Constitution of Photo¬
graphic Societies -
An Amateur’s Experience, by E. Borda -
An Artist’s Letters to a Young Photogra¬
pher, by A. H. Wall, 11, 29, 47, 08, 9!), 131, 212,
253, 314.
Autographs of the Sun, On, by Prof. Selvvyn
Award of Medals by the Photographic Society
of Scotland - - - -
Awards in the Photographic Department at
the International Exhibition - - 290
331
189
350
25!
103
1 55
28
32
27
85
72
Backgrounds, Hooded - 306
Beldon, J. Hot Water Process - - 275
Binocular Vision and the Stereoscope, by
William B. Carpenter - - - 122
Bishop of Brechin, Portrait of the - 28
Bits of Chat: Glass Houses, 328; Lighting the
Model, 353 ; A Chat over a Bundle of Cartes de
Visite, 411 ; Backgrounds, 449.
Blanchard, Mr., On the use of Bromides in
Collodion - - _ - 196
Rockett, J., On Photo-Micrography - 162
Borda, E., On Dr. Henry Draper’s Hot Water
Process _____ 210
Bourne, S., The Original Fothergill Process 6
Book Illustration, Photography in its Applica¬
tion to, by S. Thompson _ _ 88
Brewster, Sir D., On Zincography _ _ 72
Executed in the 16th Century, by Jacopo
Chimenti _ - - _ - 105
British Photography at the International Ex¬
hibition - - - - 231
British Association : Commemorative Photo¬
graph of the Meeting of 1861 - - 310
Bromide Question, A Contribution to the, by
George Dawson, A.M. - 304
Bromides in Collodion, On the use of, by
Geo. Dawson, A.M. 224
- On the use of, by Mr.
Blanchard _ 196
Bromides and Iodides of Silver, Researches on
the Photographic Properties of, &c.. by M.
E. Reynaud - _ _ -62
Butterfield, C., Where to go with the Camera
in Yorkshire - 67
- Places of Photographic Interest
in Yorkshire: Bolton Bridge - - 107
Burnt-in Photographs in Enamel Colours, by
F. Joubert - 101
Cabinet Pictures, by Vernon Heath _ 9
- by Ernest Edwards - 309
- by W. Hanson - _ 370
Camera, Auto-Polygraphic, Description of
the, by M. Leon Vidal - jp2
Cameras, New Fine Adjustment Motion for,
by N. Noton - jgg
Card Pictures, and How to Make Them, by S.
R. Divine - _ _ _ 272
Caution to Photographic Assistants - _ 35, 48
Celestial Photography : Presentation of Gold
Medal to Mr. Warren De la Rue - - 1 07
Chemical Effects of Light, by M. A. Poitevin 44, 59
PAGE
Chimenti, Jacopo, On the Stereoscopic Pictures
Executed in the 16th Century, by Sir D.
Brewster - - - - f05
C'laudet, M., On a Proposed Supplementary In¬
ternational Exhibition of Pho¬
tography - - 106
- The New Picture Galleries - 197
- On the Enlargement of Photo¬
graphs - 225
- - Rule for finding at once both
the Distances of Negative and
Sensitive Surface for any de¬
gree of Enlargement, and vice
versa - - 229
- On the means of following the
small divisions of the Scale
Regulating the Distances and
Enlargement in the Solar
Camera - - 385
Cleaning Mixture, A New - - - 177
- Glass Plates, by M. D. Van Monck-
hoven - 253
Clearing a Silver Bath, by Coleman Sellers - 44
Coagulation of Albumen - - - 462
Collodion, On the Manufacture of, by T.
Sebastian Davis - - - - 56
Collodionised Plates for the Tannin Process,
A Preliminary Coating for, by Major C.
Russell - - - - 2
Commemorative Photograph of the British
Association Meeting, 1861 - - 310
Constitution of Photographic Societies, On the,
by Dr. Anthony - - - - 32
Convergence of the Optic Axes in Binocular
Vision, On the, by Professor C. F. Himes - 371
Conversazione at University College - 52
Cooper, H., Jun., New Method of Printing - 405
- Printing on Resinised Paper
and Silk - - 444
Copyright in Works of Art - - 113
- (Works of Art) Act, The New _ 333
- r - Act, Observations on the recent, by
James Mure - - - 390
Corey, Charles, On the Recovery of Waste
Silver - 380
- On the Daguerreotype Process 60
- Reduction of Waste Silver - 266
Correspondence, Foreign, 16, 34, 52, 66, 95, 116
137, 156, 175, 198, 218, 238, 259, 279, 298, 317, 337
357, 374, 397, 418, 437, 457, 474
Correspondence, British , Award of Medals —
Tannin Process, 17. Mr. J. Cramb’s Cameras —
Print Washing — -India-Rubber Solution for Preli¬
minary Coating, 18. The Position assigned to
Photography at the International Exhibition of
1862 — Portable Backgrounds, 35. Print Washing —
Starch Mounted Prints, 36. Portable Backgrounds
—Micrometry — Chemical Problems, 53. Iodine in
the Bath — Transparencies for the Lantern— De¬
colourising the Printing Bath — Panoramic Lens —
Daguerreotype— Iron Printing, 54. Mr. Reynolds’s
Iron Printing Process — Photography and the
International Exhibition, 75. The Manchester
Photographic Society — Portable Backgrounds —
Per-Oxalate of Iron, 76. Early History of Photo¬
graphy, 79. Practical Suggestions, 96. Pyroxy-
line — Chemical Problems — Print Washing — Serum,
97. A Grand Idea, 98. A Little Lesson for a
Naughty Little Photographer- — Pinholes in the
Negative, 318. Chemical Problem in Connexion
with Albumen — Keeping Qualities of Tannin
Plates — Tanning, 119. Alcohol in the Paper Sen¬
sitising Bath — What a Lens will Cover, 120, 139.
The Proposed Supplementary Photographic Exhi¬
bition — Suburban — Dry Process, Dark Chambers,
Baths — Printing Transparencies, 139. Pinholes in
Collodio-Albumen Negatives — A Multiplicity of
Queries, 140. Equivalent Focus — What a Lens
will Cover, 157. Modification of the Fothergill
Process — Queries from the Operating Room, 158.
Suggestion for a Supplementary Exhibition of
Photographs — Multifarious Troubles, 159. Print¬
ing by Development — Transparencies for the
Lantern, 160. The Chimenti Pictures— Panoramic
Photography, 179. Mealy Papers, Post-Office
Regulations — Hot Water Prior to Development —
The South London Society’s Exhibition at the
Crystal Palace, 180. The Microscope — Multifa¬
rious Troubles — Queries from India — Stereoscopic
Vision, 181. A Mare’s Nest — Photographing
Correspondence, British — Continued.
Crystals, 182. A Few Facts Concerning the Pho¬
tographic Department of the International Exhibi¬
tion, 200. What the Royal Commissioners have
Escaped — Preservative Ca‘es — Hot Water Deve¬
loper, 201. Photomicrography — Melainotype
Plates — Effect of Ether in the Printing Bath, 2u2.
What a Lens will Cover, 220. Recovery of Waste
Silver — Accelerators — Exposure — Stereoscopic
Transparencies — Manipulation — ■ Manipulatory
Difficulties, 221. Mr. Hannaford’s Modification —
Fothergill Plates — Non- Actinic isilk, 222. What a
Lens will Cover — Acari in the Nitrate Bath, 240.
Photomicrographs — Anactinic Silk — Photography
and “All the Year Round” — -Manipulation, 241.
Reducing Silver — City of Glasgow and West of
Scotland Photographic Society — Artistic Back¬
grounds, 242. What a Lens will Cover, 260. Mr.
Wall defends his China Shop— Manipulative Queries
— Impure Hyposulphite, 261. A Printing Acci¬
dent — Collodion — Panoramic Stereographs, 262.
Faraday’s Portrait — A Light Question — The
“Bull” and the “Wall,” Photographic Patents,
281. Tannin Process — -“Printing” Queries —
Criticising the Critics, 282. “ Dignity ” and
“ Bunkum,” 299. Correspondence from India,
300. A Hint to Professional Portraitists — A Sick
Bath — Lens Queries — Hot Water Process, 301.
Printing Queries — • Mysterious Discovery, 302.
Dry-Plate Photography — A Sick Bath — Not “Ac¬
cording to Cocker,” 321. Indication by Commen¬
dation, 322. Scientific Researches, 339. Spots and
Varnish — Panoramic Photography — Opticians —
Artistic Backgrounds, 340. “ Our Weakly Con¬
temporary,” 341. Bromides in Collodion, 358.
Acari in the Nitrate Bath — The Daguerreotype —
Streaky Skies — Reduction of Waste, 359. Preven¬
tive for Solution of the Film — Manipulating Skies,
360. Bromides in Collodion, 376. Pure Water
and Toning— A Suggestion — Instantaneous Shut¬
ter — A False Chargeagainst Five Baths — Chemical
and Optical Queries, 377. Gurney’s American
Compound — Preserving Sensitised Papers, 378.
Acari in the Nitrate Bath, 398. Prevention of
Sulphurisation in the Fixing Bath — Methylated
Spirits for Collodion — Toning, 399. Bath Com¬
plaints, 400. The Alleged Rapid Dry Process —
Tannin Process, &c. — Domestic Furnace — Dr.
Norris’s Plates in India, 421. Nitrate of Silver —
A “ Move” in Backgrounds, 422. A Remedy for
Loosening of the Film— In Praise of Collodio-
Albumen, 439. AdherentCollodion, 440. A Good
Example, 459. Stainy Negatives — Adherent Collo¬
dion — Avoir-cfw-pois, 460. A Faulty Nitrate Bath
—Corrigenda, 477. Weigh the Siller— Blisters on
Dry Plates— Clouds on Dry Plates, 478.
Correspondents, Answers to, 18, 36, 54, 76, 98,
120, 140, 160, 182, 202, 222. 242, 262, 282, 302, 342,
360, 378, 400, 422, 440, 460, 473
Crombie, Mr., On the Rise and Progress of
Photography in New Zealand - - 393
Daguerreotype Process, On the, by C. Corey 60
Dallmeyer’s Stereoscopic Apparatus, by M. D.
van Monckhover. - - - 306
Dark Room and Photographic Laboratory,
On the, by M. D. van Monckhoven - 271
Dawson, George, A.M., On the Practical Work¬
ing of the Panoramic
Lens - _ 204
- - - On the use of Bromides
in Collodion - 224
- Photographic Printing
on Albumenised Paper 248,
266, 284
- A Contribution to the
Bromide Question 304
- On the Nature of the
Photographic Image, 324,
344
- A Lesson for the Learn¬
ed : a few words in
explanation - - 351
- On some of the chief
causes of the Fading
of Photographs - 402
- Notes on Instantaneous
Shutters - - 445
- Our Weights and Mea¬
sures, &c - - 463
Davanne, M., on Acetates in the Preparation
of Positive Papers _ 189
IV
INDEX.
PAGE
Davis, T. Sebastian, on the Manufacture of
Collodion - - - 56
Davies, W. H , Hints on the Nature of Pictorial
Beauty, and the Principles of Composi-
(ion - 3,23,147,165
De la Rue, W., Presentation of a Gold Medal to 107
Delineation of Microscopic Objects by Photo¬
graphy, On the, by Dr. R. L. Maddox - 362
Development of the Latent Image, obtained in
the Camera Obscura, by M.
D. van Monckhoven - 318, 404
- by Ammonia, by Major Russell 425
Dioramic Effects produced on Photographic
Pictures, by Dr. Taylor - 465
Dispute about a Negative. — Mason v. Heath 112
Divine, S. It., on Toning Baths - - 89
- Card-Pictures, and How to
Make Them - - 272
Draper’s, Dr. Henry, Hot Water Process, On,
by E. Borda - - - - 210
Dry Coliodion on Paper - 308
- Development of Dry Plates, by John
Glover - 367
- Process, on a Rapid, Printing Trans¬
parencies, and Remarks on “ Instan¬
taneous ” Photography, by William
England - 143
Early History of Photography - 79
Eastward Ho ! 66
Electric Spark, On the Study of the, by the
Aid of Photography, by O. N. Rood 190, 208
Emerson, Professor E., on Fused Nitrate of
Silver - 251
- Stereoscopic Pictures
tf a Large Size - 364
England, William, On a Rapid Dry Process,
Printing Transparencies, &c. - - 143
Enlargement of Photographs, On the, by M.
Claudet - 225
■ - Rules for Finding the Distances,
&c , by M. Claudet - - 229
- of Photographs, On the, by V.
Heath - 194
- from Small Negatives, by W. H.
Warner - - 310
Entremets : — In Search of an Operator, 13, 30, 49.
Ad Absurdum , 132. — Photography at Sales by
Auction, 278. — A Photographic Joke, 279. — Pho¬
tography at the Royal Dramatic College Fete, 295.
Lord Dundreary, &c., 296 — The “Sensation” Cab,
457.
Exhibition, The Prince of Wales’s Tour in the
East, Photographically Recorded
by Francis Bedford - - 288
- Awards in the Photographic De¬
partment at the International 290
- of Photography, Proposed Sup¬
plementary International, Letter
from A. Claudet - - 106
Exhibition Gossip, by A. II. Wall, 128, 149, 172,
186, 208, 230, 255, 273, 289, 316, 332, 351, 382.
Exhibitions: — Macpherson’s Views of Rome and
Sculptures of the Vatican, 315— Bedford’s Views
in Egypt, &c., 288 — Photographic Society of Scot¬
land, 10, 2s — Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society,
414— South London Photographic Society, 232, 315
Expeditious Method of Preparing Nitrate of
Silver from Old Baths - - - 250
Expenditure of Silver Used in Photography,
and the Saving that may be Effected, by W.
T. Mabley - - - - - 164
Experimental Committees - - 245
Experiments on Photography with Colour, by
the Rev. J. B. Reade - 386
Equivalent Focus of Photographic Lenses, and the
Angle of Subjects Included, by T. Grubb, 187,
205, 224, 247, 287.
Fading of Photographs, On some of the chief
causes of the, by George Dawson, M.A. - 402
Filterer, The Self-Regulating Pneumatic, by
J. Lex Long - 167
Fitch, Noel E., Recollections of an Amateur
Photographer in Portraiture - - 103
Fothergill Process, The Original, by S. Bourne 6
Fused Nitrate of Silver, by Professor E. Emer¬
son ------ 251
Gallic Acid, J. Martin, On - - 8
Gaudin, M Mc-A. : Increase of Sensibility by
Warm Development - 268
Glover, J , Remarks on the Tannin Process 326
- On Dry Development of Dry Plates 367
Grubb, T., On the Equivalent Focus of the
Photographic Lenses, &c., 487, 205, 224, 247, 287
Heath, V., On the Enlargement of Photographs 194
PAGE
Heiscli, Charles, On a Simple Method of tak¬
ing Stereo-Photomicographs - - 390
Heliochromy, by M. Niepce de St. Victor - 80
Himes, Professor C. F., On the Convergency
of the Optic Axes in Binocular Vision - 371
Hints on the Nature of Pictorial Beauty and
the Principles of Composition, by W. H.
Davies - - - - 3, 23, 147, 165
Hislop, W., Some Additional Notes on Plain
Washed Collodion for Dry Plates - - 442
Hot Water Process, On Dr. Henry Draper’s,
by E. Borda - - 210
- By J. Beldon - - 275
How the Matter Stands - 297
How to Tint Photographic Transparencies for
the Magic Lantern - - - - 448
In Search of an Operator - - 13, 32, 49
Increase of Sensibility by Warm Develop¬
ment, by M. Mc-A. Gaudin - - 268
^Instantaneous Dry Collodion, Prize for an - 109
- - - - Photography, by John Kibble 379
- Shutter, Description of an, by
• A. Mann - 243
- Shutter, by H. Petschler - - 330
— - Shutters, Notes on, by George
Dawson, A M. - - 445
Intensifying Negatives, Theory of, by M. D.
van Monckhoven - 246
International Exhibition for 1862, The Open¬
ing of the, from a Photographic point of
view, by S. Thompson - 185
International Exhibition, The Photographic
Apparatus and Appliances, by S. Highley, 331,
366, 413, 430, 450.
Joubert, F., On Burnt-in Photographs in
Enamel Colours - - - 101
Keene, Alfred, A New Rapid Dry Process 416, 463
Kibble, John, On Instantaneous Photography 379
Krone, M. Hermann, On the Preservation of
Sensitised Papers - 206
- - Uranium Process - - 2i0
Leaders. — Subjects of : In Memoriam — The Past
Year, 1. Restoration of Sensitiveness — New Photo¬
graphic Printing Process — A Tribute of Affection,
19. Congratulation and Defence, 20. Photomicro¬
graphy, 37. Iron Printing Process, by Mr, Rey¬
nolds — International Exhibition, 38. Celestial
Photography — The Photographic Society, 55. Mr.
E. J. Reynolds on Iron Printing — Photographic
Piracy, and Property in the Negative, 77- American
Correspondence, 78. Sensitive Dry Plates — Dr.
Taylor’s Dioramic Effects, 99. What a Lens will
Cover, 121. Crystal Palace, 122. Chimenti’s Draw¬
ings, 441. Photography at the International Ex¬
hibition — Carbon Printing and Prizes, 142. The
International Exhibition — Photographic Soiree,
161. Photographic Copyright, 162. The Interna¬
tional Exhibition, 183. iodide and Sulphide of
Silver — Photography and Periodical Literature,
203. Drawing-Room Photographic Albums, 204.
At the Photographic Society — American Notes, 22i.
Landscape Album — Redivivus, 224. On the Means
of Effecting Instantaneous Exposure — Description
of an Instantaneous Shutter, 243. Enlargement
of Photographs — Royalty Honouring Photography,
263. A Note on Literary “Annexation,” 264.
Photography one of the Fine Arts — A Postscript
on Literary ‘‘Annexation,” 283. Panoramic Photo¬
graphy — Spectres of former Impressions — Artistic
Copyright Act, 303. Photolithography — Qualitative
Analysis, 323. Auld Lang Syne — Photography in
Glasgow, 324. Purification of Water for Photo¬
graphic Use, 343. Aerial Photography, 344. Con¬
cerning Rapid and Instantaneous Exposures, 361.
The Solved Problem, 379. Clarification — New
Printing Process, 401. Photography in Disgrace,
402. Photographic Carbon Printing— Photography
and the Copyright Act, 423. Royal Condescen¬
sion, 424. Development by aid of Ammonia —
Photographic Copyright — Acari in the Nitrate of
Silver Bath, 441. Epilogue — Acari in the Nitrate
Bath, 461. M. Tissot’s Instantaneous Shutter —
A New Ally, 462.
Leake, C. J., Jun., Some Photographic
“Wliimseys” - 383
Lenses, Practical Instructions for Grinding 58, 85, 206
Light, Chemical Effects of, by W. A. Poitevin 44, 59
Long, J. Lex, Self-Regulating Pneumatic
Filterer ----- 1 67
Lyte, F. Maxwell, On Mealiness in Toning
and on an Hitherto Un¬
observed Cause of the
Fading of Photographs 142
PAGE I
Lyte, F. Maxwell, On Some of the Difficulties
which Present Them¬
selves in the Practice of
Photography, and the
Means of Avoiding Them 389
Mabley, W. T., On the Expenditure of Silver
in Photography, &c. - 164
Mactear, Andrew, On the successful applica¬
tion of the principles of
the Diorama to Photo¬
graphic Pictures - 110
- A Day with the Panoramic
Lens and Camera - 355
Maddox, Dr., R. L., On a Curious Discovery
Connected witli a N iti ate
Bath - - 189
- On the Delineation of
Microscopic Objects by
Photography - - 362
- Further Notes on the
Acari found in the Nitrate of Silver Batli 447
Malone, T. A., On the Nature of the Photographic
Image - - - - 467
Mann, A., Description of an Instantaneous
Shutter - 243
Martin, J., (See Photographic Chemicals)
graphy - - - 144, 169
- On Albumen - 251
- On the Adhesive Materials Used
for Mounting Photographs 305, 350
- - On the Nomenclature, Theories,
and Properties of Salts - 4U9, 428
Mason v. Heath : a Dispute about a Negative 112
Mayall v. Higby - 193
McLachian, Lachlan, On the Lighting and
Management of Light
in Photographic Gal¬
leries - - 227
- On the Ventilation and
Warming of Photo¬
graphic Galleries - 274
Mealiness in Toning, and on a hitherto Unob¬
served Cause of the Fading of Photographs,
by F. Maxwell Lyte - - - 142
Mealiness in Positive Prints, the Cause of, bv
J. C. Moens - - 39
Meetings (See Societies)
Microscopic Photography, by A. L. Neyt - 127
Microphotographs, by M. Dagron - 314
Moens, W. J. C., on the Cause of Mealiness in
Positive Prints -
Monckhoven, M. D. van, on a New Varnish for
Glass Positives - 61
- On a New Kind of
Photographic Dish 122
- Theory of Intensify¬
ing Negatives 246, 265
- C leaning Glass Plates 253
- Dallmeyer’s Stereo-
scopic Apparatus
306
Moser’s Images -
268
and Photographic
Laboratory
271
sitising the Plate
327
Latent Image ob¬
tained in the
Camera Obscura 348, 404
Moser’s Images, on an Observation of, by
M. D. van Monckhoven - - - 61
Mounting Photographs, on the Adhesive Ma¬
terials Employed for, by James Martin 305, 350
Mure, Andrew, Observations on the Recent
Copyright Act - 390
My First Photographic Trip to the Country 111. 146
Negatives Suitable for Enlargement, and the
Qualities they Should Possess - - 130
New kind of Photographic Dish, On a, by
M. D. van Monckhoven - - - 122
New Publications:
Portrait of H.R.H. the late Prince Consort 138
New Books: — Reviews of
Mor.ckhoven’s Traitd de Populaire de Pho-
tographie sur Collodion - - - 75
Photographic Difficulties, &c., by T. Cadby
Ponting ----- 337
Treatise on Photography, by C. Waldack 356
Chemistry, by W. T. Brande, D. C. L., &c.,
and A. S. Taylor, M.D., &c. - - 452
Harmonious Colouring - 474
INDEX.
v
PAGE
lew Method of Printing, by H. Cooper, jun. 405
feyt, A. L , Microscopic Photography - 127
Rupee de St. Victor, M., on Heliochromy - SO
Titrate Bath, a Curious Discovery Connected
with a, by It. L. Maddox, M.D. - - 189
Nomenclature, Theories, and Properties of
Salts, On the, by James Martin - - 409, 428
Totes of the Month, 13, 48, 133, 178, 217, 257,
297, 335, 373, 419, 456
1 Notes,” Harmonious and Discordant, by J.
T. Taylor. Photography in Edinburgh — The
New Photographic Printing Process, 43. Unde¬
veloped Images, 44. Large Pictures — Dry Collo¬
dion without a Preservative — Photolithography, 87'
Who should get the Medal — Muriate of Morphia
in Collodion, 129. The Song of the Shirt, 130.
Exciting Kays and Continuating Rays, 209. On
Enlarging, 270. Dried Collodion Processes, 285
Notes on Positive Printing, by E. Iteynaud - 86
Noton, M., New Fine Adjustment Motion for
Common Rigid Cameras - - 169
Ommeganck, M. C., Practical Course of 1 holo¬
graphy - - - - - 249
Oppenheim, M., On Printing by Development 42
Osborne, J. \V., of Melbourne, Details of a Pho¬
tolithographic Process, as
Adopted by the Govern¬
ment of Victoria, for the
Publication of Maps - 387
- On Some of the Difficulties
Connected with the Practice
of Photolithography - 425
Optics, Practical, of Photography,
by J. Rothwell - - - - 22, 61
Optical Laws Involved in the Construction of
Photographic Lenses, by W. K. Wason - 41, 81
Oxalates of Iron, Chemistry of, by Emerson J.
Reynolds - - - - - 99
Panoramic Lens, On the Practical Working of
the, by George Dawson, A.M. - 204
- and Camera, A Day with the,
by Andrew Mactear - - 355
- Photography, by John Parry - 286
- by Thomas Sutton 451
Parry, John, On Photomicrography - - 63
- On Panoramic Photography - 286
Petschler, H., Instantaneous Shutter - 330
Phantasmascope, The, by Coleman Sellers 366
Photographs, Illegal Use of— Mayall v. Higby 89
Photography, Early History of - 79
- - and the Copyright Act - 431
- for Travellers and Tourists, by
Professor Pole - - - -276
Photographic Chemicals, Notes on, by James
Martin - 8, 20, 40, 64, 78
, - Galleries, On the Lighting and
Management of Light in, by
Lachlan McLachlan - 227
- On the Ventilation and
Warming of, by Lachlan
McLachlan - 274
- Image, On the Nature of the,
by George Dawson. A.M. 324, 344
— - Image, On the Nature of the,
by T. A. Malone - 467
- Illustrations of India - -411
- Lenses, Optical Laws Involved
in the Construction of, by W.
K. Wason - - - 41, 81
- Pictures, On the Successful Ap¬
plication of the Principles of
the Diorama to, by Andrew
Mactear - - - 110
- - Printing, New Process for, by
Emerson J. Reynolds - 9
- - Reproductions, by A. H. Wall - 145
- ■ - Printing on Albumenised Paper,
by Geo. Dawson, A.M. 248, 266, 284
- Societies, On the Construction
of, by Dr. Anthony - 32
- - Theory Applied to Researches
for Accelerating Substances,
by M. Eugene Sahler - 270
■ - Troubles : their Causes and Re¬
medies - 324
- “ Whimseys,” by J. C. Leake,
jun. - 383
Photolithography, On Some of the Difficulties
Connected with the Practice of, by J. W.
Osborne, of Melbourne - 425
Photolithography and Photographic Engra¬
ving, by J. T. Taylor - 464
Photomicrographs, by Dr. R. L. Maddox 330
Photomicrography, by J. Bockett - - 162
PAGE
Photomicography, by John Parry - .63
- - - by W. Russell Sedgfield 286
Picture Galleries, The New, by M. Claudet - 167
Pictures by Woodward’s Solar Camera, and
Pike, Colonel — Acari in the Nitrate of Silver
Bath 2 473
How to Take Them, by Mr. Stuart - 433
Places of Photographic Interest in Yorkshire,
by C. Butterfield : Bolton Bridge - - 170
Plain Washed Collodion for Dry Plates, Some
Additional Notes on, by W. Hislop - 442
Plate, Coating and Sensitising the, by M. D.
van Monckhoven - - - - 327
Portraits and Portraiture, On, by S. Thompson 21
Poitevin, M.A., on the Chemical Effects of
Light 44, 59
Positive Printing, Notes on, by E. Reynaud 86
Pole, Professor, Photography for Travellers
and Tourists - - - -276
Practical Instructions for Grinding Lenses 58, 85, 206
- — Course of Photography, by M. C.
Ommeganck - 249
Preliminary Coating for Collodionised Plates
for the Tannin Process, by Major C. Russell 2
Printing, Toning, and Fixing of Direct Posi¬
tives on Albumenised Paper, by
Professor Towler - - - 409
■ - — on Resinised Paper and Silk, by II
Cooper, jun. - - 444
• - by Development, by M. Oppenheim 42
Principle of the Diorama applied to Photo¬
graphic Pictures - - - - 25
Pujo, M. l’Abbe, on the Means of Separat¬
ing Silver from the Hyposulphite of Soda
Bath . 40
Qualitative Analysis, by Emerson J. Rey¬
nolds, - - 825, 345, 265, 407, 427, 441
Rapid Dry Collodion Process, Description of
a, by Thomas Sutton - - 386
- - Process, A New, by Alfred Keene 446, 463
Reade, Rev. J. B., Experiments on Photo¬
graphy with Colour - 3S7
Recovery of Waste Silver, by Charles Corey - 380
Reduction of Waste Silver, by Charles Corey 266
Reproductions - 256
Resin Process, The, by Alex. Robb - - 1SS
Reviews, See Books and Stereographs
Reynaud, M. F,., Researches on the Photo¬
graphic Properties of the Bromides and
Iodides of Silver, Sic. - 62
Reynolds, Emerson J., On a New Process for
Photographic Print¬
ing - - - 9
- On the Chemistry of
the Oxalates of Iron 99
- On Qualitative Ana¬
lysis, 325, 345, 365, 407,
427, 411
Rise and Progress of Photography in New
Zealand, by Mr. Crombie - 393
Robb, Alex., On the Resin Process - 188
Rood, O. N., On the Study of the Electric
Spark by the Aid of Photography - 190, 208
Rothwell, J., On the Practical Optics of Pho¬
tography ----- 22, 61
Russell, Major, On a Preliminary Coating for
Collodionised Plates for the
Tannin Process - - 2
- The Tannin Process 26, 82, 1 30, 228
- On Development by Ammonia 425
Societies, Photographic — Meetings of
Amateur Photographic Association, 94, 134, 197,
279, 395, 436
American - - - - 34,473
Birmingham _ 32, 51, 73
British Association — Cambridge Meeting - 384
Chorlton - - - 15, 33, 93, 174
City of Glasgow and West of Scotland, 33, 74, 115,
154, 198
Edinburgh, 16, 52, 94, 115, 136, 153, 175, 197, 215,
395, 436, 470
Glasgow Photographic Association 354, 393, 434,
470
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire 455
London 31, 70, 113, 151, 194, 234, 433, 467
Manchester, 71, 114, 174, 237, 293, 335, 393, 434,47 ]
Marseilles - 74, 1 15, 154, 216, 237, 293, 416, 472
Microscopical Society - - 94,136,216,455
North London, 14, 50, 91, 116, 134, 173, 213, 372,
415,453
Photographic Society of Scotland 71, 114, 214, 469
South London 15,31,92, 135, 152, 195,235,392,454
PAGE
Sahler, M. Eugene, Photographic Theory ap¬
plied to Researches for
Accelerative Substances 270
- Relative to Accelerators 331
Scientific Photography, by M. D. Van Monck-
Sedgfield, W. Russell — Photomicrographs - 286
Sellers, Coleman, On Clearing a Silver Bath - 44
- On the Phantasmascope - 366
Sensitising the Collodion, On a reliable method of 413
Sensitised Papers, On the Preservation of, by
M. Hermann Krone - 206
Separating Silver from the Hyposulphite of
Soda Bath, Means of, by M. l’Abbe Pujo . 40
Silver Bath, Clearing a, by Coleman Sellers - 44
Stereographs, Reviews of
George Wilson’s - - - - 24, 65
Valentine Blanchard’s - - 46, 230, 310, 381
W. England’s - 428
Frank llaes’s - 271
Stereoscopic Pictures of a Large Size, by Pro¬
fessor E. Emerson - 364
Stereo-Photomicrographs, On a simple Method
of Taking, by Charles Ileisch, F.C.S. - - 390
Stuart, Mr., On Pictures by Woodward’s Solar
Camera, and How to Take Them - - 434
Stray Chapters for Photographers, by J. Martin.
Dialysis applied to Photography _ 144,169
Strengthening Negatives - _ - 96
Suggestion to Photographers - - 173
Sutton, Thomas, B.A., Description of a Rapid
Dry Collodion Process 386
- On Panoramic Photo¬
graphy - - - 451
Tannin Process, by Major Russell 26, 82, 130, 228
- Testimony in Favour of - 255
— - - - Remarks on the, by J. Glover 326
Taylor, J. T., “Notes,” Harmonious and Dis¬
cordant^, 44, 87, 129, J30, 269, 270
- - - On Photolithographyand Photo¬
graphic Engraving - - 464
Taylor, Dr., Dioramic Effects produced in
Photographic Pictures - - - 46;">
Tempus Omnia Revelat - 272
The Pencil and Etching Needle - - 347
“The Times” on Photography at the Inter¬
national Exhibition - 395
The Commercial Aspects of Photography, by
Stephen Thompson . 406
Thompson, S., On the Application of Photo¬
graphy to Book Illustration 88
- On the Opening of the Inter¬
national Exhibition - 185
- - On the Commercial Aspects of
Photography - . 406
Toning Baths, by S. R. Divine - - 89
Towler, Professor, On Printing, Toning, and
Fixing of Direct Positives on Albumenised
Glass - . . _ 409
Uranium Process, On the, by M. Hermann
Krone - - - . - 210
Varnish for Glass Positives, A New, by M. D.
van Monckhoven - - _ - 61
Vidal, M. Leon, Description of the Auto-Poly.
graphic Camera, by . _ - 102
Visit to London and the Exhibition 311, 353, 410
Wall, A. H. (See An Artist's Letters) —
- - — . Exhibition Gossip, 128, 149, 172, 186
208, 230, 255, 273.
—7 - On Photographic Reproductions 145
V ason, W. K , Optical Laws Involved in the
Construction of Photographic Lenses - 41,81
Our Weights and Measures, by Geo. Dawson - ’43
Where to Go with the Camera in Yorkshire, by
C. Butterfield 67
- Round About the
Cornish Coast, 192,
210, 234,256
- Round Launceston 275
- Round About
Exeter - 292, 312
- Exeter— the Taw
and Torridge 333,370
Zincography, Communication on, by Sir David
Brewster - - _ - 72
• •
Om
. -i.as -• • •
••Rv
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 157, Vol. IX. — JANUARY 1, 1862.
! Jh x Iffomoriam, J
! We have had in a few instances — and we are thankful
that they have been hut few — to record the departure from
amongst the dwellers upon earth of some whose names
have been unusually deserving of honour amongst the
photographic community. Sad as such a task must
always of necessity be, we would not forego its perfor¬
mance ; for, apart from many other considerations, when
one who has been accustomed to mingle actively amongst
us, taking part in controversial matters, has faded from
before our eyes, the little asperities which used to ruffle
the temper have become effaced, and the good points
alone live in our memory. But, if the task be melancholy,
when there is anything connected therewith that we
would willingly forget, how much more so is it when all the
remembrances are cherished ones, and such as we would
desire to record in enduring characters ! f
One of the most active labourers for the advancement
of our art in public estimation — himself a skilful operator,
a clever critic, and kind patron — has gone from his wonted
place, which shall know him no more. Of course we allude
to the beloved Consort of our Most Gracious Sovereign, who
was in very truth a photographer of the highest rank, in a
double sense. If as loyal subjects we mourn his loss, as
photographers we have an additional weightof sorrow to bear,
for as a brother as well as a Prince he claims our fond regret.
If our first greeting on the commencement of a new year
cannot be a joyful one, our first subject will, we are wrell con¬
vinced, have an intense though mournful interest for every
one of our readers, although we have not been able to com¬
municate anything that they will not have already learned ;
however, perhaps but few of them may have enjoyed the
opportunities that have fallen to our lot of being able
to verify, from personal observation, the enthusiastic inte¬
rest which the deceased Prince always manifested in the
photographic art — an interest, be it remembered, that was
not that of a mere wondering novice, but of the skilled
adept, as well as of the art-connoisseur. Long may his
| memory be cherished amongst us !
The Past Year. — In taking our usual retrospective glance at
the achievements of the year just past, the first fact that strikes
us prominently is the certainly superior excellence that has cha¬
racterised the prod actions of our best photographers when regarded
from an artistic point of view. Those who had formerly striven
after eminence in this direction have not slackened their efforts,
but have deservedly won fresh laurels in consequence of the
still further elevation in grade of the works of their heads and
hands ; while many who had attained to considerable mani¬
pulative skill without much art-culture have become aware of
their former deficiency, and, by careful study and painstaking
attention, have passed somewhat beyond the threshold of the
temple of the muses. This is, in our opinion, a highly satis¬
factory state of things, and is the first step towards winning for
photography its recognition as one of the fine arts. If anything
were wanting in evidence of the more general attention that has
of late been paid to the art-phase, it would be found in the
interest with which the valuable papers on this branch of study
which from time to time have appeared in our columns have
been received.
The next noticeable feature is the more frequent introduction
of figures and natural clouds into our landscapes than has
heretofore been prevalent ; and this again is probably owing to
the increased sensitiveness to which our collodion films have
been brought, chiefly by the work of a few of our chemically-
skilled brethren. Indeed, much attention has been directed to
the chemistry of photography, and the results of the labours of
the past year in this direction have been felt rather than seen,
the principal gain having arisen from greater attention to the
purity of the various materials employed and their more careful
adjustment to one another ; and by attention to this point a
considerable simplification of formulae has resulted. The
superior excellence of the “ instantaneous” subjects over those
of former years has doubtless arisen from the same cause, an
equal or even greater effect being now attainable with shorter
exposure than formerly ; and that is certainly not owing to any
greater rapidity in the action of our lenses, the tendency having
been rather to strive after their more correct delineation of
objects than their condensation of a larger pencil of rays of light.
This advantage of greater exactness in delineation is therefore
indirectly attributable to some extent to the increased sensitive¬
ness of our chemical media. That “ instantaneous” pictures
have been produced more perfectly during the past year few
persons who have had fair opportunities of examining them
will be inclined to dispute : not only has there been an increased
definition of details, but that sombre hue which of old was
peculiar to pseudo-instantaneous productions has almost, and
in many cases, entirely disappeared.
In our optical appliances there has been no striking novelty
to record ; but, while the principles upon which our lenses have
been constructed have suffered no revolution, we may justly
claim increased care in their manufacture as having been
attended to, and a more general attention given to minor points
of detail in construction.
Some further attention has been devoted to the nature of the
photographic image, and an attempt was made by Mr. Malone
to introduce a theory differing from that held by the majority
of our ablest authorities : in this, however, nothing definite has
yet been achieved.
We have had no lack of new modifications of dry processes,
and if the ardently-expected universal favourite has not yet
made its debut, many valuable facts have been ascertained, and
probably a foundation laid for the ultimate attainment of that
o
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1862
desideratum, an “ instantaneous ” simple dry process. Amongst
the more important of the suggestions in this direction we may
cite Major Russell’s tannin process, Mr. Noton’s compound
albumen process, Messrs. Petschler and Mann’s collodio-albumen
process, and Mr. Wardley’s suggestion for development of the
ima^e on dry plates without the addition of free nitrate of
silver, recently descanted upon at length by Mr. Simpson, in
a paper read at the North London Photographic Association.
Celestial photography has undergone considerable develop¬
ment, and received much attention, chiefly at the hands of Mr.
Warren De la Rue; and, as we noticed in our last, micro-
scopists appear to he again turning their attention to photo¬
graphy as a means of recording the numerous observations that
can be delineated by no other graphic art.
In apparatus many useful inventions and handy contrivances
have been introduced, but we much question whether there has
not been too great a tendency to complication manifested in the
construction of cameras.
Upon the whole, we do not think there is any reason to be
dissatisfled with the progress that has been made ; for it must
not be forgotten that the nearer we approach towards perfection
the smaller is the apparent advance that it is possible we can
make, while every step beyond a certain point is attended
with an immensely increased effort for its accomplishment. A
railway train at a high rate of speed may be driven by the
expenditure of a certain amount of fuel ; but the consumption
of double the quantity will make but a very small additional per
centage in the rate of speed attained. Again : if an “ exposure”
be of ten minutes' duration, a reduction of the time to one-half
appears to be a great advantage gained ; but that of reducing a
tenth part of a second of time to one-twentietli is comparatively
unimportant.
A view of the past year’s occurrences, however hasty, would
not be complete did we fail to notice the retirement of one who,
for some months after the commencement of the present volume,
was a fellow-labourer with us in catering for the entertainment
and advantage of our readers ; and it is no disparagement to those
who are still associated with us in this work to say that he was,
in our estimation, the most valued of our contributors. We long
sought to induce him to accept an equal responsibility with us,
or even to take our post at the helm, but without success ; and
the reason we were unable to persuade him will be at once
apparent when we state that our observations apply to our
highly-valued friend, now the Rev. T. F. Hardwick.
In conclusion, we feel it would be in vain to offer the usual
washes on the advent of another year, because, however much
we may hope for the continuance of peace and good will, the
most sanguine amongst us can scarcely expect it ; wre trust,
however, that should the nations now in expectation be unfor¬
tunately plunged in strife, that strife may not extend to the
peaceful followers of a civilising art, but that “ the winter of
our discontent” may be “made glorious summer by the Sun
* * *” — and “ all the clouds that have gathered o’er our
house” be, ere long, “ in the deep bosom of the ocean buried.”
- — -
ON A PRELIMINARY COATING- FOR COLLODIONISED
PLATES FOR THE TANNIN PROCESS.
By Major C. Bussell.
During the last few weeks I have been investigating various ways
of fixing the collodion film when used with tannin, and have ob¬
tained the following results : — ■
Gelatine solution, prepared with acetic acid, is much improved
by adding, for every ten grains of gelatine, two grains of iodide of
cadmium, one grain of bromide of cadmium, andaven^ small quantity
of iodine, dissolved together in a few drops of water. Besides
giving other advantages, this addition prevents the gelatine film
from being attacked by fungus when kept before being covered
with collodion, and therefore a large number of plates can be gela¬
tinised at once, and kept without any extraordinary precautions
against damp. No alcohol is required in the solution.
I have never observed that the gelatine caused any diminution
of sensitiveness, except when, from mismanagement, it permeated
the collodion to the surface and caused less opacity. This will
occur with a bad sample of gelatine, such as common glue, or from
using a thin film of decomposed and porous collodion on a thick
coat of gelatine, or from the acetic acid not being dried out.
Gelatine solution, prepared as now described, certainly does not, iu
my hands, affect sensitiveness in the slightest degree.
I have been using solution of India-rubber for some time past
with such success that I am inclined to agree with Mr. Glover that,
on the whole, it is the best thing to use. I cannot, however, agree
with him as to the cause of the cracking of the film ; for I have
never used India-rubber for this purpose without drying it by heat,
sometimes exposing it for a long time to a higher temperature than
that used in varnishing. At any rate, omitting to dry by heat is
not the only cause of the annoyance in question, for if the solution
be too thick no amount of heating will prevent subsequent split¬
ting : with a very thick solution the film will split while drying
spontaneously in a cool place. I formerly condemned the India-
rubber because I found that, while a thick layer caused the collo¬
dion to split, a thin layer, though free from this objection, did not
produce sufficient adhesion with some kinds of collodion, and my
purpose was to avoid the necessity of using a decomposed and
insensitive sample. The following method of working will, how¬
ever, be found to be quite satisfactory : — Cut raw India-rubber into
very thin slices and soak in benzole, one grain to each fluid ounce,
for twelve hours or more, and filter. After cleaning the glasses,
warm them to ensure dryness, and allow them to become cold again ;
then pour the solution in the same manner as collodion, and, before
the liquid has ceased to drip, dry by holding the plate vertically
before the fire at a short distance. The film produced in this way
is as bright as the glass itself, and is always perfectly free from
markings. Each plate, as soon as it appears dry, should be set up
before the fire, near enough to keep warm, that the drying may be
completed whilst other plates are being coated.
Before being covered with collodion the surface should, as in the
case of a gelatine film, be well polished with a velvet rubber, or the
collodion will not flow very freely.
In the usual way of working this thin film of India-rubber will
not always produce sufficient adhesion, but it succeeds perfectly
if diluted alcohol is used to moisten the collodion before develop¬
ment. So little tendency to loosening of the film is thus produced
that most samples of collodion may be used in this way without
any previous coating, but not quite satisfactorily, as the film will
sometimes be loosened and broken when washed after fixing. I
am indebted to a correspondent of the Photographic News for a
knowledge of this important use of alcohol. One part of ordinary
alcohol (not methylated) to two parts of water answers well, but
the exact proportion does not seem to be of much consequence.
This liquid flows so freely that it may be poured on the plate, and
spread over it by blowing gently. The same portion may be used
for a number of plates.
After pouring off, the greater part of the alcohol remaining on
the film should be removed by pouring some distilled water on and
off a few times.
Tannin plates on India-rubber treated in this manner will bear a
boiling developer without the film being loosened.
Benzole answers so well, if used as described above, that it seems
hardly worth while to try other solvents ; but I have been informed
that chloroform succeeds well. A long time ago I tried turpen¬
tine, but the result was not very satisfactory. I have not tried
mineral naptha, but, unless it produce a film hard enough to bear
polishing, benzole is to be preferred.
Collodion, decomposed by keeping, may be improved for use
with tannin by adding ten or twenty drops of benzole to each
ounce, or as much as it will bear without being rendered too %
impervious. The benzole throws down a gelatinous precipitate,
which is re-dissolved by shaking, and the collodion is rendered
much more close and horny in texture. If too much be added the
film will be almost impervious, and will repel water like gutta¬
percha. Some thin slices of India-rubber should be digested in the
collodion for some days before use.
This treatment does not appear to affect sensitiveness, but renders
old collodion available for printing transparencies, or for other pur¬
poses where time is not an object. No previous coating will usually
be required if diluted alcohol be used to moisten for development.
The effect of benzole and India-rubber in sensitive but somewhat
porous collodion will, I think, be worth investigating. Tannin
plates are often complained of as insensitive, Avhilst in my hands they
are much quicker than collodio-albumen, when a suitable collodion is
properly treated. When the sky or high lights appear before.de-
velopment on properly exposed plates the collodion is insensitive
January 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
3
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL BEAUTY AND
THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION.*
By W. H. Davies.
No. I.
It cannot be expected in a subject of this nature that I shall be
able to bring much of originality in the matter of it before you.
So much has been written and spoken of it that the fundamental
principles to be treated of tonight are matters almost quite
beyond the reach of criticism. They have become, as it were,
matters of fact or faith, and as such, however much they may
admit of elucidation and comment, stand in no need of aid to
establish them, least of all do they need words of mine to help
their establishment. While this is so in reference to the principles
f: by which pictorial representation is guided, it cannot be so said of
the ideas by which we are led to desire and taught to judge of
those representations; at least I so judge by the question put to
me by our worthy Vice-President, Mr. Slight, when I read my last
paper on the elementary rules of landscape composition. It was
to this effect — Why is it that we prefer, pictorially, a curve or
irregular line to a horizontal or perpendicular one ? Or, why is it
that we like one form or set of forms rather than another and quite
different set ? Why some are beautiful, and some are not ?
This question strikes at the very root of all imitative art, what¬
ever form it may assume, in whatever material it may be repre¬
sented, or by whatever means produced, and is therefore worth
consideration were it only to allow us to inquire into the nature of
Beauty, as to whether it is merely an emotion of the mind or one of
the attributes of nature — a physical entity, a tangible something;
or a metaphysical idea, an intangible nothing — as this underlies
the whole question, and upon a solution of it depends all philoso¬
phical criticism of the beautiful in nature and art, especially of
the latter.
It may not be possible here to go thoroughly into so abstruse a
question, but enough may be said to show superficially that that
attribute of things we call “beauty” is really a part and parcel of
their nature, and that however much it may be heightened or
lowered by the feelings and emotions then reigning in the mind of
the spectator it is still essentially different from the ideas raised
in him by gazing on it; or, in other words, that certain forms,
shapes, colours, or objects have the quality of making us like or
admire them in a high degree, while others have not this quality
in the same or perhaps any appreciable degree. While I hold
that in nature there is nothing absolutely ugly, yet I also hold
that we have a comparative scale which we apply to all objects
and consequently express ourselves in different ways about differ¬
ent objects or scenes ; and while so feeling we know that it is not
every or all of these objects which are capable of being represented
pictorially, and also that we must not judge nature and all kinds
of art by the same rules. Thus, while I say that a curve is better
pictorially than a straight line, and that lines in pictures should
never form right angles except for a special purpose— this, although
absolute in pictorial, is not so in decorative art, which must be
guided by its own rules, one of which, apropos to this point, is ■
that no ornamental design will be perfect that is not composed of
angles, straight lines, and curves, and right in preference to acute
angles. _ Another rule is that symmetry, proportion, and repetition
alone will give decorative beauty, while the same rule alone applied
to produce pictures would be a sure destruction of pictorial effect :
and we cannot, and do not attempt to apply any of these rules to
natuie, but only to the imperfect means we adopt to represent
the perfect and great in nature.
. The actual why it is that we prefer wavy, curved, and irregular
lines in a picture I do not know, unless it be that in nature we are
most accustomed to them : they are the principal lines, and reared
as it were among such lines and forms we insensibly prefer them,
on the same principle that the Bedouin loves the desert, the
Highlander his glen, and the Esquimaux his home among the
eternal snows of Greenland ; and, indeed, if we think for a moment
we will see that there is no possibility of the cosmopolitan looking
with the same eyes as do their denizens on the desert, the Hen,
and the iceberg: this therefore may be taken as a proof of*that
position. The beauty of the scene is not diminished to him, but
the emotions raised are full and overflowing in their case and
hardly above zero in his.
Straight lines also are not common in nature, and indeed may
be said to be absent, except in the cases of crystalline substances
and still or distant water, and where they occur on a grand
scale, as in sunsets at sea, where the long, low, and sometimes
* Head at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, December 18th, 1861.
parallel clouds come in repeating lines with the horizon, and the
heavy rolling swell of the waves, as they come heaving towards you
like a series of great rollers, alternately rising and falling, without
a break on their surface, as if they formed an undulating sea of glass
which kept moving on in resistlessmajesty by itsown volition. This,
were it only from the great size of the objects, the wide stretch of
space we take in at one view, and the almost indefinably awe¬
struck feeling with which we contemplate the silent and irresis¬
tible sea is very striking and very grand. But let any one attempt
to represent this pictorially, and we should see what a compara¬
tively poor affair it would be, without an object to break the
monotony of the long parallel lines or to give variety to the scene,
or without the motion and sounds of nature or sense of its mystery ;
and, even granting it all the beauty of colour we get in the best
sunsets, yet without the emotions raised by the spirit of the
hour and the associations inseparable from it-— which are im¬
possible to be rendered pictorially in a scene such as I have
sketched — it would be like looking at a doll-like corpse instead
of a scene almost sublime by its very monotony. Not so is
it with such portions of many-sided nature as are capable
of being represented pictorially by the great ones in art. Then
you have, as it were, a living, breathing reality — a window opened
in the wall through which, as through a glass, you see a chosen
bit of this world of beauty, of grandeur, or of ideality.
Cast now the retrospective eye of your mind over the human
race in its progress through all time, and over the globe, and we
may safely affirm that there is not a single object in Nature which
has been looked on by man or a single phase of her multiform
appearances that is not, or has not, been beautiful to some one or
other of our brethren in humanity — and that, therefore, we are not
wrong in saying that the domain of beauty is illimitable, although
there may be differences in the perception of it, because all our
ideas must pass through John Bunyan’s eyegate of the “ City of
Mansoul.” This gives us at once a key to the different opinions
held, and the ideas created by the same objects on different minds,
because our eyes are as our hands are — one man with his camera
and chemicals will give you a most excellent transcript of nature,
while his pupil say, or another, with the same materials, will supply
you with an unsightly blotched daub, although in course of time,
and with a wider experience and practice, he may, perhaps, sur¬
pass his teacher. Again : one man with a hammer only for tools
will block you out a vase or a jug with the most exquisite outline
and delicate curves, pleasing and gratifying the eye of the most
fastidious ; while another can do no better with the same instru¬
ment than break stones for the road, or hew a block from the
quarry for a sculptor, who again with bis hammer will knock
away, as Michael Angelo expresses it, the asperities and chip the
excrescences from it till he exposes to you the statue that was
hidden therein, but visible only to the mind of genius. So with
our eyes : one is trained to appreciate the most delicate tints and is
gifted with the most subtle organisation, while, alas ! every twen¬
tieth man we meet cannot distinguish between the hues which
give such pleasure to the perfect seer, so that it is needless to
expect that the same objects will affect all minds equally ; and, as
long as this is so, just so long will there be differences of opinion
as to what constitutes beauty.
In the wide domain of nature there are so many qualities which
excite this emotion, the limits of our comprehension seems to
be the only limit to our perception of its universality, and thus,
doubtless, it will ever be — the miud with the highest amount of
intellectual culture will ever be able to see and appreciate the
greatest amount of beauty in the most differing objects which
surround us, whether they may be merely mental or subjective — as
in such examples as truth, association, fitness, contrast, expression
— or objective, as in external nature with its life, forms, colours,
space, and variety, its trees, clouds, and rocks, all of which abound
with its presence : as for instance in the bursting of the bud and the
unfolding of its delicate leaves; in the dewdrops clustered on the
hedge-row or on the fairy-like gossamer web, sparkling like brilliants
as they are touched with the morning sunbeam ; in the graceful bends
of the grasses, as they turn their heads to bow to their vivifier ; in
the glory of the summer flowers, springing up like gems from the dry
earth, shaded by the delicate green of their leaves, and forced into
beauty by the contrast it affords to their brilliancy ; in the mellow
magnificence of autumn, with its winds sweeping over the ripe
corn, likening it to the billowy swell of the unquiet sea ; and in the
glorious colours painted by the hand of the dying year on the
foliage of the trees, on the grasses of the fields, and the heaths of
the mountains : all— all are filled with its presence ; and, as if to
show that Nature cannot exist without it as an accompaniment,
4
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1862
the very shroud of stainless snow in which she wraps the corpse of
the dead year is made in appearance fit to be the wedding garment
of a bride.
In another direction we may see the sullen majesty or the mo¬
narch mountain with a storm cap of cloud covering his hoary head
— the sweet placidity of the lake nestling at his feet : now a mir¬
ror in which he may gaze till he seems “ rocked on the skies of a
far nether world, ” and anon a stormy sea lashed to fury by the
wild winds that rush frantically down the valley bearing death and
destruction on their wings. These aspects of nature and a thou¬
sand others are in themselves beautiful and the causes of beauty.
Thus I think that, although I may not have demonstrated, in reply
to the Vice-President’s question, why we like particular forms and
lines — and perhaps could not without making an excursus into sun¬
dry metaphysical and out-of-the-way subjects for which you would
not thank me and which would not report well as the proceed¬
ings of a photogaphic society — yet sufficient has been said to show
that beautiful objects and the elements of beauty lie around us on
ever}’ side, and need only proper setting, as jewels do, to show
their loveliness to all beholders. This setting is for us, as for all
artists, pictorial arrangement, and without this the best materials
and most picturesque subjects are comparatively valueless. What
Avould we say of a merchant who, after spending a fortune on a
magnificent collection of goods, piled the whole in an olla podrida,
without regard to their use, or fitness, or harmony, or order — here
a Cashmere shawl enveloping a Stilton cheese, or there a jewelled
bracelet among a stock of Batavian pickles and spices, or yonder a
gold watch keeping time among a lot of samples of rare old vint¬
ages? You can easily conceive the converse of the picture : the
cashmere shawl undulating gracefully over sweetly-moulded female
shoulders, its delicately subtle curves and gorgeous yet quiet and
quaint combinations of colour shown now to the fullest advantage ;
and the bracelet, too, which had its place among the spices, now
transferred to her arm, flashing forth its jewelled radiance with
every movement; and our gold time-keeper changed from its duty
of decorating the black bottles to the task of adorning and com¬
pleting the bearer of them all, making a perfect picture well
arranged. On the other hand, we might easily make a very nice
arrangement with the Stilton, the wine, and a biscuit at lunch time :
that would be the fitness of things illustrated. Need I say more to
prove the necessity of a picturesque arrangement of our materials,
especially after having shovfn in my former paper that we are
restricted to one-half or less of the advantages of painters, they
having the power of rejection and improvement, and the assistance
of colour— -the first of which we have but in a limited degree,
the second and third not at all, being restricted to light and
shade and stern reality. And if we are to establish our claim
to the name of artist, and obtain for our art a pedestal in the
temple of fame, it must be by showing that, in the restricted
field we at present have, we can render more perfect service
to the world than drawing or engraving has ever yet done.
I say at present ; for who can say how soon the key to that
secret of nature may be found which will enable us to reproduce
every tint and gradation of that chromatic scale which the eye
naturally delights to revel in ? Then it will be found that it is we
who are the true artists of the real, and painters will have to take
to high art and become its exponents in the more transcendental
regions of the ideal.
I must now draw this part of the subject to a close; and, while
doing so, I hope you will not think that our worthy Vice-President’s
question has been uselessly or slightly put or deserved to be slightly
answered. Sometimes it is more pleasant to ramble quietly along
a country road taking a peep up each by-path, and plucking a
flower here and there- -
Where the tangled barberry bushes
Hang their tufts of crimson berries
Over stone walls, gray with mosses.
Sometimes it is better to so do than to rush with the speed and
directness of an express train to our destination, as we come to it
with a mind more tempered to a quiet, intellectual pursuit such as
we are at present engaged in.
In all the imitative arts invention holds the first place : without
it there is no originality. We cannot compose anything which is
not first conceived. The mental faculties must first create or
realise the idea which it is the province of composition to arrange
and dispose in a judicious manner. Invention, then, consists of the
choice of subject, the best time for representing it, and the selec¬
tion of such materials and circumstances as, combined together,
M ill develop the idea in the best way. Composition, on the other
hand, takes those materials, and, by a judicious disposal of them
in the most effective manner for the purpose desired, brings out of
the chaos of materials provided and selected by the invention the
perfect arrangements desired by the aesthetic faculty. Its chief
merit consists in making the arrangement of the finished woik of
art seem the most natural effect of mere chance, as if every object
were in its proper place, and that the Avhole — which is really the
effect of the most studied art — was merely a simple copy of what
must have been taking place on the spot at the moment chosen to
illustrate the idea. Good composition will, therefore, equally avoid
that simplicity of arrangement which is merely stupidity, and that
complicated grouping of figures and objects which is either the
same thing or affectation, and strive to hit the happy mean — the
best proof of the possession of which will be the discovery that we
are only struck by the truth of the picture to nature, and never
think of the composition at all. “ The best art is that which hides
the art employed in it.” Composition, then, being a matter of
arrangement or disposition, is, as such, and to a certain extent,
under the dominion of rules which have been formed from observa¬
tion of its principles, and which I will try to shadow forth in the
course of this paper.
It will be necessary first to speak of the principles concerned.
They are, as I showed in my last paper, four in number ; and, for
convenience, invention is taken as one of them. I recapitulate,
so that Ave may not Avander in our references, and because they will
be none the Avorse for being twice told, and ice none the Avorse of
twice hearing them.
The first is, that in all compositions in Avhich figures occur
there must be some story or incident to show or relate, hoAvever
trivial or slight, or however involved or complicated it may be.
The second is, that the most prominent, striking, or leading lines
of the picture must be so arranged as to have an agreeable outline
and not ungraceful form. Third, that it be so arranged as to its
light and shade that the principal object or incident comes natu¬
rally to occupy the most prominent part of the picture, and the
secondary portions to subside, by due gradation and subordination,
into their respective positions, so that it may produce a perfect
Avhole. Thus far photographers and painters equally need to apply
these principles. The fourth applies exclusively to painters, and
it is that the composition be susceptible of a harmonious arrange¬
ment of colour. Of course there are other subsidiary or secondary
principles Avhich can, in no Avise, be departed from — first among
Avhich must be ranked Picturesqueness, or that quality which
gives a picture, of AvhateArer materials it may be composed, the
attribute of pictorial effect. — 2nd. Breadth. This is an almost unde-
finable term for a very tangible reality: it is that quality Avhich
gives a picture unity of treatment, harmonious arrangement of the
forms and places of lights and shadoAvs, and concentration or
mass in contradistinction to spottiness and Aveak scattered effect. —
3rd. Contrast — by Avhich is meant the mode of producing relief by
projecting light against dark and dark against light, or light
against lighter and dark against darker. — 4th. Gradation —
Avliich breaks and harmonises the harshness of positive light
coming into immediate contact with positive dark, and, by
doing so through the Avhole scale of shade, produces just and
due subordination of effect betAveen all the objects in the picture.
It has also for its office the rendering of aerial perspective, and the
effect of distance, by softening imperceptibly the A-arious objects
as they recede from the eye.
These may be taken as the chief points necessary to be observed
and acted on ; but, as didactic illustration or enforcement is never
so effective as object teaching, I propose to take the various prin¬
ciples I have enumerated and comment on them seriatim, sub¬
dividing them, where necessary, for the sake of clearness. I beg
also to say, while showing the illustrations, that if any of the
members have any questions to put— not, of course, for debate,
but for elucidation — they may be put as I go along in as few
Avords as possible, as there are often little matters one omits to
mention and seeming contradictions, it may be, Avhich require
further statement, and so on, and which, if spoken of at the time,
while the subject is fresh, is apt to be better brought before you
and the sense better given and retained than if they Avere suffered
to pass, as they often are, and be lost sight of at the end of the
meeting in the discussion of more important matter.
My first proposition — that in all figure compositions there
must be some incident depicted, hoAvever simple it may be,
or however complicated— does not necessarily imply that we
must invent the story or incident, but infers that we may
choose it from any source, as Ave have always plenty of
variety to make a pleasing picture in the figure and the ac¬
cessories. We eannot, like the poet or the novelist, lead
anuary 1, 1869]
T PI E BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
he spectator through a series of incidents connected by narra-
ive, up to the point chosen to illustrate. No : we are fixed
o one incident to which all the rest must be subsidiary, to one
ction, and to one moment of time. Wo may indicate what
as gone before, and what maybe to come afterwards; but this
an only be by suggestion, not directly. What we can do is this :
f we have a group to photograph, we can determine what we
hall make them do, who is the most proper to be placed in such
md such a position and doing such an action, and so proceeding
.ill everything is arranged on this settled plan, together with the
nost suitable accessories, background, &c., to complete the picture.
The most common and, perhaps, the most needful purpose to
which photographers can put a knowledge of figure composition
is portraiture, although I by no means urge that as the only use
we can put it to. This would be a sad limitation of our art. In
he fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Florentine and Venetian
lainters were at their highest, and were famous for their style of
reating portraits — making the grave senators and nobles do duty
is apostles, sages, and heroes in appropriate pictures, but with
/ery inappropriate costume — using them pretty much as the camera
would do now-a-days with the ordinary dresses of the period, which,
lowever, were very picturesque. This style, although not impos¬
sible, is highly undesirable. There are, however, many of the
great painters whose portraits are perfect mines of study, and, by
taking them as models, we may learn a very great deal. I allude
to such men as Titian, Velasquez, Vandyke, Reubens, Rembrandt,
Netcher, Mieris, Metzu, Terburg, Lely, Jameson, Reynolds, Gains¬
borough, Lawrence, arid Raeburn — names which are but a small
sample of the choice you have, and who are all standard men. I need
hardly say I do not advise slavish copyism of their works, but rather
to study them, so that we may arrive at a knowledge of how the
various effects are got, and use them for our own purposes.
If the principal charm of a painter be his colour, he will not be a
safe guide for us ; but if his works engrave well — if they render into
black and white truly, and lose little of their charm in that medium
— that is the master we must study. What I want and insist on
is, that photographers should infuse their mind into their works,
as the old painters did, and as all great men in any art or science
do : we are not all admirable Crichtons, who can take the royal
road to success, and, therefore, if we expect immortality for
our productions or ourselves we must copy their example, for
works on which no thought has been expended will not live
long. But it may be asked — Are we to be expected to pro¬
duce works to rival or equal those great minds who stand pro-
nounced the masters of their art? I say yes : there is no reason
why we should not be able to develop as fine ideas, with as excel¬
lent composition and arrangement, and in our own medium and
way produce to the full as fine works as the best of the old mas¬
ters in all save colour; but, to do this, there is no way but by
j>atiently learningthe difficulties and surmounting them — by educa¬
ting the faculties to the highest — and by doing as they did, making
our art the business of our life : then we may expect to see a similar
spectacle to that visible in the world of painting. Here and there,
at intervals, we shall see a master arise whose works will draw
commendations from all men, and his name be famous — the worthy
master of numerous pupils all anxious to equal or surpass their
teacher, and all aiming at the highest qualities attainable in their
art. Such a sight will go far to assist in the more public recog¬
nition of photography as a fine art.
The second principle, as I said, is that the arrangement of the
prominent or leading lines of the picture should possess an agreeable
outline and a not ungraceful form. It must seem to you that, in
insisting on the main lines of a picture being of certain appropriate
forms, I am inclined to put too much value on this condition ;
but if you consider for a moment that these lines are really the
skeleton, the bony framework, as it were, of the picture, you will
see at once the necessity for the utmost care in the selection of them.
If we wished, like Frankenstein, to construct a perfect man, we
would not begin by giving him a crooked spine or a wry neck,
or one leg shorter than the other, or both like a pair of callipers, or
only one. No ! wre would take especial care at the foundation that
all the mechanical work should be perfect. Just so in a picture :
we ought to be careful to see that the foundation — its framework —
should be as perfect as possible, the more so that it is in the com¬
position mainly that the photographer can show what artistic
power is in him. Good manipulation, clean negatives, and clear
vigorous prints can all be got by attention, care, and practice in
the mechanical portion of our art ; but it is in the arrangement of the
subject, its breadth, its light and shade, its gradation, its treatment,
in short, that the mind and education of the artist shows itself.
While I thus urge attention to the very rudiments of composi¬
tion, I do so on the same grounds that we are taught to make our
glass plates clean, have our baths slightly acid, and so on — all with
the intention of producing good negatives. And with a similar
desire to have good pictures, I am anxious that those who have not
yet applied themselves to this study should do so now, so that
they may learn howto charm the aesthetic faculty, as well as how
to please the taste for manipulative skill ; and there is no doubt
that by mastering the principles and applying them it can be done.
All pictures may be analysed into lines, and by taking the figures
as lines we may determine exactly how our pictures may be made
up. We have a wide range of forms on which to work. There
is the circular and elliptical — as exemplified in the Cartoons of Ana-
mas and Paul Preaching at Athens , and in the Transfiguration , by
the same immortal hand— -the simple curve or semicircle, Hogarth’s
line of grace and beauty, the pyramidal, the wedge-shape, the dia¬
mond, the oblique line, and many others, besides the accidental
combinations which may be daily seen. Whatever form is chosen
you may proceed in your grouping as Haydon recommends in his
lectures on painting, and I will use his language as being infinitely
more to the point, and carrying with it more weight of authority
than I would dare to use : — “ Whatever be the inclination of the
line of the principal figure, or principal part of that figure, that
inclination as a line must be repeated by the inclination of other
figures on parallel but not equal lines except for a particular pur¬
pose. Then, on the principle of contrast, other figures taken again
as lines must reverse the inclination of the line of the principal
figure; and, by a judicious balance and repetition of one inclina¬
tion against another, always giving the inclined repetition of
the princial figure and all its parts the superiority, you will com¬
pose your composition in quantities and lines. This is the basis
or anatomy of all arrangements of any given number of objects in
painting and sculpture — [why not in photograqjhy ?] — and applies
to every species of art — landscape, animals, portraits, still life, sea
painting, or in any style or department where more than one ob¬
ject is to be arranged.” Can anything be more lucid or to the
point then these few sentences? He proceeds to say “ The
leading repetitions of line may be three — one predominant. The
leading lights may be three — one always brightest. There may
be three masses of shadow — one always the darkest.” Although
I would not have you to believe that all pictures are right which
are produced on these principles, or that it is impossible to produce
bad pictures if you act on them, yet they are valuable as being
the principles on which the greater number of the fine pictures
since the discovery, or rather rediscovery, of chiaroscuro and its
adoption by Leonardi da Vinci have been painted. They are to
us, therefore, proved principles, and, as such, worth adoption — al¬
though not to the exclusion of others as valuable. In the applica¬
tion of the triple system of repetitions, care must be taken that
these do not form straight lines or regular forms in any direction,
but rather be, as it were, if lines were drawn to connect them, an
irregular triangle with none of its sides equal; and also that they be
so broken, varied, and hidden, as not to be visible at a glance, but
so arranged as to need to be sought for rather than to court your
gaze.
As an illustration of the difference between graceful and un¬
graceful lines in a portrait, take this photograph, which may fairly
be called a perpendicular composition. It is in pose bolt upright,
stiff, and soldier-like — in fact no man of sense or taste would volun¬
teer to remain in that attitude a moment, far less for ever, or at
least so long as the negative lasts. You see at once there is no
ease, no grace, no picturesqueness in it. We associate in our minds
with that position constraint, exertion, pain, and perhaps pipe-clay.
He is a complete specimen of angularities, squareness, and perpen¬
dicularity. This is no portrait of the man : it’s a map or a chart
or a front elevation of him — not a picture in any sense of the
term. A picture has beauty — this has none; has grace — this has
none ; has background — this has none ; has accessories, it may be
• — this has none ; has arrangement — this has none, but bad arrange¬
ment : in short, as Micaicher says, “ its a — nothing particular.”
Contrast it with this portrait, where the body has an easy
bend and rests on one leg, the other, being rested, is ready for a
change; the pillar supports the arm, and although this is a con¬
ventional arrangement, it is here put to the best use ; the head well
poised and the eyes not staring at the camera ; the draperies well
arranged, so that the lines are sweet and flowing, and yet broken
where needed. It tells its own story. You see he has just come in
and, with his hat in hand, has rested at the pillar; but somethin^
occuning on his right has attracted his attention — he has lifted his
head, and so gazes earnestly in that direction, It is a good picture,
6
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1802
everything about it being* associated with ease, grace, comfort, arid
relaxation : the figure takes the form of Hogarth’s line of grace
and beauty, and the whole composition is pyramidal.
In these two examples the arrangements are of the most simple
kind : in the next, which is still a single figure, the composition is,
perhaps, as happy a specimen of how a portrait may be so com¬
bined with accessories as to become a fine picture, simply by
virtue of the skill shown in grouping and lighting them. It is a
photograph of the picture, by J. Noel Paton, of Luther in his Cell,
at Erfurt. In looking at this, you see the face and figure are suffi¬
ciently shown to be a portrait, while, by the early morning light
being made to pass in a diagonal line through the half-open window
— into which, with it, the convolvolus peeps to see the worn student at
his books — it catches and lights up his haggard face and disappears
faintly in the gloom beyond, giving sufficient force to the head,
while keeping the rest of the picture in due subordination to its
main object. I will not waste your time by a lengthened eulogium
on, or detailed analysis of, the composition of the picture, but rather
direct your attention to it as affording another method of using
the pyramidal form of design in portraiture, and to show out of
what simple materials (such as are to be found in most photo¬
graphers’ studios in fact) the artist can create a picture which we
may study with so much profit. The books, the table, the ink-
stand and pens, the lamp, the hour-glass, and other furniture of his
cell, and the figure itself, are all common enough : it is the con¬
summate skill displayed in the arrangement, the selection, the
grouping, the expression, that enchain us and compel us to recog¬
nise this as a great work of art. Turn your attention now to the
picture beside it, which is a good photograph of one of our well-
known philosophical instrument makers and chemists, with a portion
of his apparatus beside him, and you will see what the mere photo¬
grapher has done with the picturesque materials he had to arrange.
He can do no more than rest him supinely in a chair — can put into
his face no life, into his body no action, into the action no story,
into his apparatus no picturesqueness— can make nothing of him
at all, but construct out of him a mere map of a stolid bit of
humanity. Could you have a better example of the comparative
uselessness of good manipulation and vigorous prints compared
with artistic arrangement and fine treatment ? In the one case
the artist creates an interest in the subject; in the other it is quite
destroyed.
I would not be understood, from these remarks, to mean that
photographers have not produced good pictures of the same class.
Here is one, by Lake Price, of Don Quixote in his Study, which,
from the arrangement of the still life, the picturesqueness of the
light and shade, and the pose of the moon-struck Don as he medi¬
tates over one of the fine episodes of Amadis de Gaul, shows
the power the artist possesses over a rather indifferent model and
a difficult subject, and proves that photographers may compose
pictures which may, at least, be spoken of in the same breath with
Paton’s or any. of the others you see around you. A few better
known and easier obtained examples of the arrangement of single
figures, pictorially, may be gleaned from among the pictures°of
the Vernon Gallery, engravings of which have been~so widely
spread by the Art Journal, and which may be referred to as being
sufficiently well known to all present. This is PickersHU’s
picture . of A Syrian Maid, a half-length figure, which may
be studied with advantage, as a picturesque yet natural position
for a girl to place herself in. You have there no staring
at the camera or the spectator ; the lines of the figure and
of the drapery are sweet, graceful, and flowing — the action
simple and natural. Being an Oriental, and therefore skilled in
the language of flowers, it needs no great stretch of imagination
to see that in the bouquet she lias received a floral love-letter, which
she is perusing with evident pleasure to herself and us. The
arrangement ol the light and shade is very perfect m its gradation
from the brightest light to the deepest shade, while the reflected
lights and hall-tints aie cleverly managed. Any lady-sitter for a
portrait might easily be arranged so that the lines would fall in a
similar manner. Here is such a figure in full length. At the time
this was taken there was no thought of the Syrian Maid in my
head, but the position seemed to suit the figure, and so was chosen.
You will see at once, by making allowances for differences of
costume and personal appearance, that they are both arranged on
similar lines : the action is somewhat similar, and it produces
like it a pleasing effect. Charles Landseer’s Clarissa Harlowe
(engraved in the Art Journal ) is another and the last of the single
figure subjects I intend speaking of. You see the simple nature
ol' the materials is not very different from those of the Luther ,
the addition being mainly furniture, a bed and fire-place!
The principle on which the two pictures is arranged is the same :
the light comes from the same side and in the same direction.
The figure takes much the same form, although the colour is
here reversed, being dark in the one instance and light in the
other. The breadth of shadow contrasted with the gleam of
light from the sunshine of early morning is the same — the darkest
part of the picture being on the right, immediately under the
brightest light in both cases. The light face and figure, contrasted
with the darker tints of the wall behind, is simply reversed: the
general repose and harmony all assist to make a not very fine
picture in the higher qualities of expression teach us a good lesson
on composition.
As it is so late I will here close the present paper, and on a future
evening will take up the topics I have left untouched tonight— at
the same time feeling somewhat sorry that I have not been able
to complete the subject in one reading; but as it is a matter which
really requires much study, I have the less objection to trench
upon your goodness. Before sitting down I would like to indi¬
cate what the next paper will contain, in order that you may be
prepared for it. We have now a very excellent National Gallery,
which, although not by an}r means equal to the London one, is still
well worthy of being put to its proper use, viz., that of a place for
study. I will therefore, after completing the illustration of two and
three figure subjects, choose a few of the pictures we have there
as examples of the various principles I have indicated. They will
be No. 327, Duncan’s study of Titian’s Portraits of the Marquis de
Guasto, and his Wife Mary of Arragon ; No. 208, John Knox
Administering the Sacrament at Calder House , by Sir David Wilkie ;
The Marriage of St. Catherine, by Albano (No. 54) ; and also one
not there, Noel Paton’s Home: Return from the Crimea. And I
would advise all who care in any way about this matter to
examine those pictures thoroughly by the light of the examples
and principles I have given; as they must be sought out for and
by yourselves — they must be felt — they cannot be taught, except
in the most perfunctory manner.
(To he continued.)
THE ORIGINAL FOTHERGILL PROCESS.*
By S. Bourne.
Perhaps no process in photography has had more said or written
about it than that which we term the “Fothergill process.” At
one time the journals were filled continually with papers, discus¬
sions, and correspondence in reference to this popular discovery;
and I confess that I am most reluctant to add to what has been
written, and to trouble the Society with another paper on this
almost threadbare subject. But as I was requested to do so by
our worthy President, and as Mr. Hill would not let me escape, I
must make the best of it, promising that if any member should feel
disposed to compose himself for a comfortable nap until the reading
of it is finished, I will not disturb him. Apropos of this I may
remark, en passant, that a photographer living in the provinces, and
unaccustomed to attend the meetings of any photographic society,
has doubtless an imperfect idea of the feelings which sometimes
pervade these meetings. The reports in the journals, I fear, do not
always give a correct notion of the kind of reception a paper meets
with ; and the intimation at the end that a vote of thanks was
passed to Mr. So-and-so, for his “interesting paper,” gives but a
faint idea of the inward grumbling and uneasiness, the gaping and
listlessness, manifested by the majority while this same “interesting
paper ” was being read. In such a case the author of a paper has
an advantage in being absent, since he is likely to gain a more
flattering idea of the reception it meets with from reading the
report of the meeting in the journal than he would have done had
he been present. But if I may be allowed such a digression, I
should like to wake up some of the gentlemen who attend meetings
simply as critics or listeners, and ask how it is that they do not take
a more active part in furthering the progress of our art ? How is it
that, in a Society numbering over a hundred members, photo¬
graphers in the country get the impression that it contains only
some twelve or fifteen? Why are the names not seen, nor the
voices heard, of the great majority? Has nothing occurred in
your photographic experience capable of interesting and benefitting
your fellow-students? Why not, then, throw it into the common
stock, and instead of ceaselessly ringing the changes on a few
well-known, cherished, but over-worked names, step forward your¬
selves and put a shoulder to the wheel, and you will not only
receive the thanks of President, Secretary, and Committee, but of
♦Read at a Meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Dec. 10th, 1861,
January 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
hundreds whose isolation from all photographic intercourse causes
them to look forward to the proceedings of these meetings with
great interest.
The object which, in this paper, I have specially in view is not
to introduce another “ modification,” or to carry you through a
labyrinth of experiments to determine the value of this or that
“suggestion.” My object is of a more practical and, I hope,
useful character. It is simply to describe the exact method by
which the specimens now before you were produced, and which
method, I think, will be found to differ little from the simple and
excellent formula originally published by Mr. Fothergill.
In these days, when so-called photographic discoveries succeed
each other with such startling rapidity, we have scarcely time to
test the value of each new candidate for our suffrages before we
are summoned with a great noise to throw it up and pay our devo¬
tion at the shrine of one more worthy than all, and guaranteed to
give universal satisfaction. If we are young enough in photo¬
graphic experience, and green enough to obey the call, it is, most
probably, to find ourselves in a short time perfectly ready to relin¬
quish even that for the next new comer. Amidst this ceaseless
change and accumulation no wonder that the old and generally
best processes lie buried, if not forgotten. Such being the case,
if one can be found who, through all this change and universal
thirst for novelty, has remained faithful to an old, tried, but now
neglected favourite — and who, when the new dodges begin to pall
on a satiated public, comes forth and disentombs it, and exhibits
its sterling worth before his perplexed and disconsolate contempo¬
raries, confers as great, yea, a greater, benefit upon them than
the hero of some new modification. If the writer of this paper
can, in some measure, succeed in accomplishing this tonight as
regards the process in question, he fancies that neither his nor
your time will be thrown away, and that some at least will not
regret that they listened to yetfanother paper on this “ dry” sub¬
ject. You will judge, then, that I am not about to describe a
process that I have only just taken up. My connexion with the
Fothergill process dates from the day of its publication in The
Times by its discoverer, and since then I have attentively watched
its history, have tried it under a great variety of conditions, have
now by me more than 200 large negatives taken by it — many of
them excellent, and all, I believe, tolerably good — and up to this
hour I have never felt, nor still feel, any wish to change it for
another, or for any of its recent modifications. My method of
manipulation is as follows: —
I always use patent plate glass on account of its superior flat¬
ness and smoothness of surface — indeed, for large pictures, it is
indispensable unless you choose to incur the ceaseless risk of
breaking your negatives in the pressure-frame. I always use for
this, as I would for all other processes, a bromo-iodised collodion.
It possesses two advantages over the simply iodised, viz. : it will
bear a more thorough washing without materially impairing its
sensitiveness, and it is more impressible to feeble rays of light.
That which I almost invariably qse, and which produced the pic¬
tures in question, is Perry’s, of Sheffield. It may not perhaps be
better than some others, but when it has been iodised two or three
months it appears to be the exact thing required, of a consistency
suitable for large plates, producing a film perfectly uniform, and
while sufficiently porous in structure adheres firmly to the glass.
I may here remark that, in my humble judgment, collodion should
never be used soon after iodising, especially for a dry process.
When it has had time to settle and become clear as sherry, it not
only works free from all specks and comets but far more cleanly
and vigorously. The silver bath is of the strength of forty
grains to the ounce, and in precisely the same condition as required
for wet platos — faintly acid with acetic acid. Here an advantage
is possessed by this process over some others > if you wish to take
the portrait of a friend you do not require another bath. I
frequently take both positive and negative portraits with the one
I use for Fothergill plates. In preparing a batch of plates, I first
of all put my operating-room in the best possible order, having a
place for everything and everything in its place. This having
been done, the bath filtered, the washing-bath filled with distilled
or rain water, by its side collodion carefully decanted, clean blot¬
ting-paper arranged on the drying shelves, muslin tied over the
tap to regulate the force of the water, and all intruders shut out
(if any be present), I commence operations. The plates, of course,
have been cleaned and polished in another room, with a mixture of
ammonia, spirits of wine, and tripoli — no water being used. When
the plate is attached to the pneumatic holder, I take a broad
camel-hair brush, kept for the purpose, and remove every particle
of dust from the surface, coat with collodion, and sensitise in the
usual way. After draining well on the dipper it is immersed in
the washing-bath. For this purpose I use a vertical bath, pre¬
cisely like the one containing the silver solution, as this is by far
the most convenient, there being no necessity to remove the plate
from the dipper. As to the amount of washing required, I have
always contended that it should be regulated by the time the plates
are required to keep. I generally, in the summer, take out a large
number of plates for a fortnight’s excursion. I begin the prepara¬
tion of them a week or more before starting, and another week
elapses after I return before they are all developed. Here you
see they are required to keep at least a month — a fortnight before
and a fortnight after exposure. Now in the heat of summer no
“ four drachm ” system of washing will do this ; and even for
shorter keeping no advantage is gained, but great risk incurred
of stains and decomposition. I formerly washed the plates under
a tap as freely as in the collodio-albumen process, and the nega¬
tives I obtained, though requiring a little longer exposure, were of
a very clean and vigorous character. But the plan I now adopt,
while being more convenient and taking less time than the tap¬
washing, posesses all its advantages with increased sensitiveness.
It is simply immersing the plates in the vertical bath as described
above, moving up and down until the water flows freely, and
changing the water after every six plates.
The plate having been thus washed and allowed to drain the
albumen mixture is poured on. This is composed of white of egg,
one ounce; distilled water, two ounces ; ammonia,, eight minims;
chloride of sodium, two grains. The whole is beaten into a froth and
allowed to subside, and, when bottled, will keep for any length of
time — the older it is the better. I am aware that many operators
use albumen much more diluted than this, while others adopt Mr.
Hannaford’s modification of adding nitrate of silver to it. The
advantage of using a somewhat concentrated solution of albumen
consists in the tenacity and binding effect it imparts to the film,
making it almost as hard and indestructible as a Taupenot plate.
I shall not contest the matter with Mr. Hannaforcl as to the
advantage of adding silver to the albumen. I have but little
opportunity for making experiments, and when I have become fa¬
miliar with a formula which succeeds to my satisfaction I have little
disposition, as I said before, to change it; and in this instance, not
having experienced any of the drawbacks which Mr. Hannaford
proposed to remedy, I must own to not having tried his suggestion.
I am somewhat undecided as to the beneficial effects of a chloride
in the albumen, having obtained equally good pictures without it.
The chief advantage, perhaps, lies in its imparting additional
keeping properties, by converting the unstable nitrate of silver left
in the film into the more stable chloride. I formerly thought it
increased the density of the image, but longer experience inclines
mo to believe that it rather diminishes it, and gives a softer
picture. To proceed with the manipulation: — When the albumen
has been made to flow well up to every edge of the plate for about
a minute it is washed off freely under the tap. For a 12 by 10
plate I continue this washing about three minutes, holding the
plate by the corners. The more thoroughly this operation is per¬
formed the better; and the reason why so many find these
plates slow in developing is attributable to the preservative not
being sufficiently removed. Washing in a dish in two or three
changes of water will not do : a moderate force must be employed
either from a tap or jug. The plate is then set to drain on one
corner, and removed to fresh blotting paper in ten or fifteen
minutes, after which it should not be removed until quite dry.
Any irregular action in drying— such as completing the operation
by artificial heat when the surface is partially dry — will leave a
spoiling mark between the two actions, soon rendered visible by
the developer. I do not know that I need describe my mode of
developing. It is done in the usual way. I use pyrogallic acid,
l.§ grains; citric acid, § grain ; and 1 oz. distilled water— adding
the smallest possible amount of silver, until the details are all out,
when I intensify to the proper extent. This plan is analogous to
that described by Mr. Simpson at the last meeting, while I think
it has an advantage in reducing the time. So much, then, for the
manipulation.
It will be observed that the process, as I have described it,
differs not from that originally published by Mr. Fothergill, and,
as I hinted before, I more than question whether any of the “ modi¬
fications” — or, perhaps, more correctly, complications — since pub¬
lished are any improvement on his most simple and excellent for¬
mula. I have tried several myself, but have always gone back to
my “first love;” and, until something turns up in dry processes
altogether different from what we have at present, I shall not for¬
sake it again. I do not wish to disparage other dry processes, and
8
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1862
there is little fear that those who, like myself, are accustomed to
work one in particular, and succeed, will change it through any¬
thing' I may say ; but I cannot help remarking, for those who are
undecided, that no process appears to rne so simple as this none
can give finer results when properly manipulated, and it possesses
advantages which some others cannot claim. I have already men¬
tioned one or two, such as no special silver bath or collodion being
required ; and I may mention, in addition, that none of the horrid
blisters which sometimes disgust one with the otherwise excellent
process of Taupenot ever show themselves here, and its keeping
qualities are greatly superior. Over its new rival (the tannin) it
still holds its place. It is more sensitive, and there is no fear of
beholding your beautifully-chosen and developed picture meet with
instant destruction in the final washing ; neither have you to give
the plate a preliminary coat of gelatine to avoid it— a most unde¬
sirable and uncalled-for operation. The possibility of seeing the
picture, after all the labour and anxiety it has cost, leave the glass,
piecemeal, in the very last operation is to me a fault of such
magnitude that I would never have anything to do with a process,
however excellent in other respects, that rendered one liable to
this contingency: hence the great recommendation possessed by
those processes in which albumen is the chief preservative agent.
But I fully concur in the statement we often meet with in the
journals, in “Answers to Correspondents,” that it is not in the
process but in the man that the cause of non-success must be sought
for. It is undoubtedly true that good, if not equally good, pic¬
tures may be produced by any sensible dry process, when woiked
with intelligence and careful attention ; but it is equally true that
the most simple and certain of them must fail in the hands of
many — shall I be wrong in saying the majority — of those who
dabble in them. From what I have seen of the manipulation of
amateurs generally I frequently wonder how most of them ever
get a presentable picture at all. The dirty, slovenly, unthinking
way in which they go about their work is most unpardonable, and
becomes ridiculous when it is expected that from such an abuse of
all that has been written on photography, and such a transgression
of its delicate and inflexible laws, they shall produce something
worthy of admiration. I must confess that I have often been dis¬
gusted at the sight of negatives that have come under my observa¬
tion, and from persons, too, who had the reputation of great
achievements, and whose frequent communications to the journals
led one to suppose that they at least had attained an eminence
beyond the reach of ordinary aspirants. It is no uncommon thing
to see negatives marred or spoiled by long-tailed comets, caused evi¬
dently by dried pieces of collodion falling from the mouth of a dirty
bottle when coating the plate ; others defaced by a huge stain or
two from the corners, caused by dirty fingers ; in others, an inch
or more of the picture lost by the thumb-hold; others covered with
black specks and sundry embellishments (the sure products of
an unfiltered bath) ; some even varnished before the iodide of silver
has been removed ; while, to crown the whole, some adorn their
negatives with a few beautiful scratches, and, if the improvement
be not sufficiently marked, dab a few touches of black varnish
on the same places, which give to the resulting print fine contrasts
of black and white. The pictures which I have the pleasure of
presenting to the Society I believe will generally be found free
from these defects, and on the whole, perhaps, equal to the average
of dry collodion pictures. One fact about their production I must
not omit to mention, and that is that those measuring 12 -J- 10
inches were taken with one of Grubb’s lenses for 10+8 pictures.
Wishing to get a much wider angle of subject than usual I pro¬
cured one of these lenses, and was pleased to find that with it I
could cover a 12 + 10 plate very satisfactorily, and that, too, with a
^-inch stop. Unfortunately these specimens do not exhibit the
capabilities of this lens to the best advantage, as most of them
were taken in dull and even wet weather, which, of course, greatly
interferes with the sharpness as well as general excellence of the
pictures.
This paper, I fear, has already extended beyond the usual length ;
but if in closing I might be permitted another remark, it would be
this : that, although I have tonight been describing, and in some
measure advocating, an excellent and useful process, I would
prefer to advocate one capable of producing still better results.
The day, I think, has arrived when all our dry processes are
weighed in the balance and found wanting. However much we
may admire the beautiful productions which some of them have
wrought in the hands fif skilled workmen, we have seen some yet
far above them, and of such surpassing excellence as we can never
hope to attain by any dry process as at present known. Those
who have seen the marvellous productions of Mr. Wilson — who
have been thrown into ecstasies of delight as they beheld the
wondrous beauty, the delicacy, and harmony which characterige
nearly all of them — who have felt as if transported amid the real
scenes there depicted, as they s aw the charming landscape spread
before them, and its distant horizon melt almost imperceptibly into
fits own natural sky, or the flood of mellow light which beamed
from behind the golden cloud in which the sun was sinking to its
rest — who have felt a pensive silence as they stood by the shores of
an Aberdeen lake as the shades of evening fell upon, and wrapt all
surrounding objects in its deepening gloom — must have turned
from the contemplation of such pictures, or rather I should say
such realities, to their own poor productions with a feeling of dis¬
satisfaction and almost disgust. These have now lost their
charm and their power to please, and henceforth we can be con¬
tent with no process that does not give us all the grada¬
tions of a distant landscape in true and softened perspective—
that does not reproduce on the sensitive tablet every cloud that
may adorn the sky the moment our view is taken — that does not
fix the dashing waves and rising spray of the ocean, and at the
same time carry our eye over its wide expanse till it rest on the
diminutive bark which serves t6 mark the otherwise imperceptible
horizon as it touches and merges into clouds — and which does not
catch those transient beauties which frequently flit over the face
of nature like smiles o’er the features of a beautiful damsel. When
a dry process can accomplish this we will not be unmindful of its
claims; but with anything short of this Mr. Wilson has taught us
to be dissatisfied.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
GALLIC ACID.
Synonymes. — Gcr. Gallussaure, Fr. Acide Gallique.
Composition. — Cu Ha Ou.
Equivalent . — 170.
Preparations. — There are few families of plants to which we
are more indebted for useful products than tho one classified by
botanists under the generic name of quercus, for among its mem¬
bers we have quercus robur, yielding us “ heart of oak” for our
ships, and the bark of the same tree wherewith to tan our hides ;
quercus suber, whose soft and pliant bark we convert into coiks;
and, for the advantage of photographers, Ave have the quercus
infectoria, a plant whose branches and shoots being Avounded by
the puncture of an insect ( cynips gallce tinctorice , a species of Avasp,
seeking a place of deposit for its eggs), swell up into nut-like ex¬
crescences. These excrescences, knoAvn in commerce under the
names of gall-nuts, and Aleppo galls, contain large quantities of
tannic acid or tannin, Avhich, by oxidation under suitable treat¬
ment, is converted into gallic acid. Among the numerous oro-
cesses which may be adopted for the production of this acid, the
folloAving is selected, as being the simplest and most easy of
accomplishment. The Avriter Avould not, hoAvever, omit to mention
in this place that this is another of the photographic chemicals
which it Avill be found more advantageous to purchase than to
make: the subjoined details of preparation, therefore, will be found
especially useful to those Avho are “ beyond the reach of chemists’
shops.”
From tho someAvhat conflicting statements of the eminent
chemists who have written on this subject, it would seem that the
average yield of gallic acid from a known weight of gall-nuts is
about thirty-five per cent. ; and, bearing this fact in mind, any
convenient quantity of powdered galls may be taken, and being
made into a paste, with water, set aside in a shallow open pan for
some weeks, Avith full contact of air, the temperature being kept
up to between 7CP and 80° Fahrenheit, and loss by evaporation sup¬
plied by the occasional addition of more water, the pasty mass will
be found to swell and become mouldy, and as often as this occurs
it should be turned over with a stick so as to expose a fresh sur¬
face to atmospheric influence. When the oxidation is considered
complete, which will be at the end of three weeks or a month, the
thick dark-coloured paste is strongly pressed, in order to squeeze
out a quantity of highly-coloured liquid, and the remaining com¬
paratively dry cake is then boiled in water, and the solution
filtered while hot. On cooling, crystals of gallic acid are deposited :
these, which are somewhat impure for photographic use, may be
purified by boiling with fresh Avater, and a little animal charcoal.
The filtered solution from this second treatment deposits the gallic
acid in the form of slender, nearly white, silky needles, which, on
careful examination, are found to be prisms, belonging to the
doubly oblique prismatic system. These should be drained from
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1862.
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These folios will be found invaluable in preserving either
MOUNTS OR PHOTOGRAPHS.
ROLLING MACHINES FOR PHOTOGRAPHS,
WITH POLISHED IRON BOWLS, WHEEL SET SCREWS,
AND HIGHLY BURNISHED STEEL PLATE.
Size No. 1, to take in 18 by 12 . £$
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» 3 5 » 24 „ 18 . £ 9
Larger sizes made to order.
.
Mounted Photographs, rolled by this Machine, with instructions j
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N.B. In recommending this Machine to the Artist or Amateur,
it is gratifying to Messrs. B. B. to be able to report the numerous
testimonials from various quarters, after a fair trial has been made.
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i
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i 1
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according to quantity.
January 1> 1865]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
9
their mother-liquor and dried between folds of white blotting-
paper, and preserved in stoppered bottles for use. Gallic acid thus
prepared is the result of the decomposition and oxidation of the
tannic acid, which, existing ready formed in the gall-nuts, is re¬
garded as a peculiar compound of gallic acid and grape sugar,
which compound, being placed in circumstances favourable to fer¬
mentation, results in the liberation, so to speak, of gallic acid,
possessing the following
Properties— Crystallising in long silky needles of the form
described above, gallic acid is soluble in 100 parts of cold and 3
parts boiling water, a property which renders the purification of it
by recrystallisation a very easy matter, since nearly the whole of
that which enters into solution at 212° Fahrenheit is deposited in
crystals at 55° or GO0 Fahrenheit. The aqueous saturated solution
undergoes decomposition spontaneously, assuming a mouldy
appearance : this may be prevented by the addition of one drop of
oil of cloves, or by keeping a small piece of camphor floating in
the solution. Gallic acid is freely soluble in alcohol, but sparingly
so in ether, and a very convenient method of keeping the acid ready
for use is in the form of alcoholic solution of known strength.
The acid properties of this body are feeble, scarcely reddening
litmus paper: it possesses the other properties of an acid in a more
marked degree, forming definite salts, with alkalies, alkaline earths,
and tho oxides of the baser metals. On the oxides of the noble
metals, however, it acts as a reducing agent, absorbing their
oxygen and precipitating the metal, and hence its application in
photography to tho process of development. It is important that
distilled water should bo used in the preparation of solution of
gallic acid, as rain water containing ammonia or spring water
containing chalk cause the solution to become rapidly coloured on
the addition of nitrate of silver. Gallic acid possesses the property,
in common with pyrogallic acid, of precipitating metallic silver as
a black powder; though it should always be remembered that the
character of tho deposit produced by any developer is naturally
modified by tho proportion of acid used as a retarding agent, the
temperature at which the development takes place, &c.
Uses. — Gallic acid was originally employed as a developing agent
in the calotype and waxed-paper processes. It has more recently
been used for the same purpose in the collodio-albumen process,
and has even been recommended, mixed with acetate of lead, as a
developer in the wet collodion process : in the latter case it is of
course essential that free acetic acid should be present, to keep the
gallate of lead in solution. Gallic acid must be classed among
feeble developers as compared with protosulphate of iron and
pyrogallic acid, and is especially applicable in those cases where,
from under-exposure or insufficient illumination of the subject,
there is a probability that a rapid development by a more powerful
agent would give a disproportional intensity to the high lights,
before the detail in the deep shadows has been fully brought out.
In such cases it is found that the gradual (and if the expression
may be allowed) searching action of a moderate developer, like gallic
acid, may be much more advantageously brought iuto operation.
Impurities and Tests. — Gallic acid is a substance which is found
in commerce in a very tolerable state of purity, its principal con¬
tamination being colouring matter of an organic nature, the last
traces of which it is very difficult to separate in the manufacture.
It may contain traces of iron, acquired possibly by the deposition
of ferruginous dust in drying : this would be indicated by its
possessing a blacktsA colour. Though it is not very probable, traces
of tannin, i.e. tannic acid, may sometimes exist ingallic acid : evi¬
dence of its presence may be obtained by the addition of a solution
of gelatine to a solution of the suspected acid, when, if tannin be
present, a curdy gelatinous precipitate will be produced, whereas
pure gallic acid does not precipitate gelatine.
Effect of Internal Use. — Gallic acid is a powerful astringent, and
as such would doubtless produce violent constipation.
Antidote. — In the administration of an antidote for this body it
would be desirable to counteract the effect already produced, and
prevent the further action of what may still be contained in the
stomach. For this purpose a mixture of sulphate of magnesia
and calcined magnesia suggests itself, — gallate of magnesia being
insoluble and sulphate of magnesia a purgative.
CABINET PICTURES.
In our report of the November meeting of The Photographic Society
(London) we mentioned a display of some finely-executed photo¬
graphic landscapes, by Mr. Vernon Heath, of the firm of Murray
and Heath, of Piccadilly, London, which were upon the table. Be¬
yond noticing that they were of high excellence we had no oppor¬
tunity for more minute description ; but we have since been favoured
with some specimens for critical examination, and want of space
alone has compelled our having hitherto delayed our reporting on
the pictures. We cannot forbear observing, with pleasure, the very
rapid strides made by Mr. Heath in obtaining the rank of a first-
class operator. Only the other day he first appeared upon the scene
as an amateur, and now we see him in the front rank of our most
noted professionals.
The two specimens now before us command our willing admira¬
tion both for their artistic and manipulative skill. In one the central
object is the lock of a canal, and upon the bridge of the lock gates
stands a lady, while a gentleman is leaning against the lever by
which the gates are opened. Behind is a small permanent bridge
for carriage traffic, and trees shut in the horizon. On the left bank
of the canal is a cottage, overshadowed by a fine sycamore tree in
full leaf, and otherwise adorned with creepers, shrubs, and flowers
in pots — a very perfect reflection of the whole being visible in the
still water. We have very rarely seen foliage so finely rendered,
photogi-aphicaily, as in these pictures ; for, not only is the gradation
of half-tone perfect throughout the entire subject, but the trees are
not disfigured by that dark, sombre tone so frequently observable,
but assume their correct, or nearly their correct, value in chiaroscuro.
There is a little stiffness in the figures and a deficiency of sky effects
that would, if rendered, have materially improved what is, notwith-
ing, a very charming picture.
The companion picture appears to have been taken from the other
side of the bridge mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and con¬
sists of a pleasant residence situated on the banks of a fine piece of
water, upon which a boat is floating, with several occupants seated
therein — the whole being set in a back-ground of fine trees, includ¬
ing chestuuts, firs, laurels, sycamore, and a graceful weeping
willow.
The size of both pictures is about ten inches by eight. Mr.
Heath is a worthy exponent of English landscape scenery.
ON A NEW PROCESS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING.*
By Emerson J. Reynolds,
Assistant Chemist to the Chemical Society of Dublin.
In the commencement of the present year accident led me to the
study of the composition and properties of the oxalates of iron.
In the course of my experiments I observed the peculiar power
which light exerted on them, namely, that of reducing the oxalate
of the peroxide of iron to the state of protoxalate. On this pro¬
perty, possessed by these compounds, I have based the process for
photographic printing which I propose to have the honour of bring¬
ing before you this evening. Before entering on the description
of the process itself you will allow me to speak briefly of the
mode of preparation of some of the leading characters of two
oxalates of iron — the proto and per-oxalate. In this way I hope
to render what will follow more intelligible to you.
For our present purpose, then, it will be sufficient for me to say
that two oxalates of iron exist which are convertible one into the
other under certain conditions. The oxalate of the peroxide may
be prepared by dissolving hydrated peroxide of iron in a solution
of oxalic acid. When excess of acid is present a very soluble salt is
formed, the solution of which has a sweet taste, and, when ex¬
posed to the action of the solar rays, is decomposed into carbonic
acid gas which flies off, protoxolate of iron being simultaneously
deposited in the form of a yellow powder. This yellow oxa¬
late appears to be identical with the salt produced by adding-
oxalate of ammonia to a solution of proto-sulphate of iron.
Now, let me direct your attention to the fact that the peroxa-
late of iron is very soluble, while the protoxalate is insoluble,
or nearly so. To apply this principle to the purpose of printing
by light, all that requires to be done is to saturate paper in the
ordinary way with a solution of peroxalate of iron, to dry it in the
dark, and expose it under a negative photograph. When suffi¬
ciently exposed, it may be removed from the printing-frame, and
on being examined will be found to have acquired a dark colour
wherever the light has acted, that is, in the shades and semitones
of the picture. It may be remembered, as I stated before, that the
colour of the protoxalate of iron, which is the result of the action
of light, was yellow. Then it may be asked, how is it that this
deposit is of a dark colour? The answer to this is very simple.
Protoxalate of iron when formed under the influence of light,
without the presence of moisture, is deposited in the anhydrous
state. When in this condition it has a dark colour, but the moment
it is brought into contact with water the light yellow hydrated
* Bead before the Dublin Chemical Society, November 24th, 1801.-
10
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1862
salt is produced. It is precisely the same with a picture, for the
moment it is immersed in the water the dark outlines disappear,
and, instead, there is a yellow impression observed. So far,
however, the picture is almost invisible, consequently some
means must be had recourse to in order to develop it. I here are
several ways in which this object can be accomplished : perhaps
the simplest is by the use of the red prussiate of potash or ferricy-
anide of potassium. When the picture is immersed in a solution
of this salt, the parts exposed first become green and then blue :
of course the deposit is Prussian blue. Although this reaction
was useful, in the first instance, for the purpose of showing
me how far the actinic action had gone, yet it is. evident that
the colour produced would not do for the production of regular
pictures. Hence I was obliged to find some other developer
by means of which a grey or black photograph could be ob¬
tained. After some search I found a developer which accom¬
plished everything I wanted, and this was ammonio-nitrate of
silver. By treating the print with a solution of this salt I get a
deposit containing metallic silver in a finely divided state, which
being black gives the picture its proper intensity of lone. All
that now remains to be done is to wash well, dry, and mount, when
the picture is finished.
I have now given, step by step, the various means by which I
have worked ont the process. There are some modifications which
I have since introduced that I will now proceed to notice.
I frequently observed that the prints produced by the process
I have just described were wanting in the beautiful accuracy of
detail observable in pictures printed by the chloride of silver pro¬
cess. I immediately set to work in order to find out the reason of
this, and at last came to a correct conclusion as to the cause of
failure. I found that a solution of the peroxalate of iron was
capable of dissolving a very considerable quantify of the pro-
toxalate. Here lay the solution of the difficulty. The explana¬
tion was just this: — When the print is immersed in water, after
coming out of the printing-frame, the peroxalate is dissolved,
which, in turn, attacks the finer and more minute deposits of
protoxalate, dissolving them before it gets too much diluted
to exert its solvent power. The question now arose as to the best
measures to be taken in order to prevent the details from being
lost in such a manner. After a great number of experiments, I
found that the difficulty might be overcome in either of two ways—
one being to substitute the combination of peroxalate of iron with
oxalate of ammonia for the plain peroxalate, this compound salt
not having any action on the protoxalate. The second way was to
wash the print immediately on coming out of the printing-frame
with a solution of acid oxalate of ammonia, which immediately
formed the double salt referred to. By either means the desired end
maybe accomplished, and pictures obtained with their full amount
of detail. It is almost needless for me to add that the picture
can readily be toned with gold by means of the alkaline gold toning
bath generally in use amongst photographers. There now remains
some questions to which I wish to draw your attention. In the
first place, a query which naturally suggests itself is- — Whether
prints can be produced as rapidly by this process as by the old one ?
I can easily give an affirmative answer to this question, for I have
repeatedly taken prints from a negative on a fine day with as short
an exposure as if I were employing a sensitive surface of chloride
of silver. I have compared the relative action of the solar spectrum
on paper prepared with a solution of peroxalate of iron, and with
the usual sensitive surface of chloride of silver, and I find that the
oxalate is acted on from the green up to a considerable extent be¬
yond tho visible violet rays — in this respect somewhat resembling
chloride of silver.
Now, from what I have said, you will see that my process pos¬
sesses two great advantages over the ordinary one — in being both
very cheap and the prints produced by its aid requiring a very
slight amount of washing. This same operation of washing has
been the bane of photographers ever since the art was discovered.
We may form some idea of the trouble incurred in producing, or
endeavouring to produce, a stable picture, when an eminent writer
on the subject states that no picture can be considered at all safe
unless it lias undergone at least eight or ten hours1 continuous
washing with running water. I think no one will deny that my
process contrasts very favourably with this, when I state that a
picture, by its means, can be printed, developed, washed, dried,
and mounted — all within two hours, on a fine summer’s day. So
far as their permanency is concerned, I can only say that I have
exposed a picture during a period of three months, on every
opportunity, to.direct sunshine, and up to the present time I have
not observed any indication of fading. I may remark that the
cost of the production of a hundred pictures, by my process is
something ridiculously small when compared with the considerable
outlay incurred in printing the same number of pictures in the
ordinary way.
In conclusion, I may say that I trust photographers will try this
process for themselves, and ascertain whether it is worth following
or not. It must be remembered, however, that it is as yet in a
very imperfect state; but I hope, in the course of the ensuing
spring and summer, to be enabled to continue my experiments in
this direction, and if it is not found to be capable of practical ap¬
plication, at least it affords a curious instance of the use to which
the knowledge of an apparently abstract scientific truth may be
applied.
i 0 n *
SIXTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OP THE PnCTOGItAPIIIO
SOCIETY OP SCOTLAND.
This Exhibition, now open in the same place in which it has been
held for some years past — George Street, Edinburgh — presents no
contrast to that of last year, unless it may be in the great accumu¬
lation of cartes de visite portraits, of which, as might have been
anticipated, some are miserable in the extreme, some possess
average merit, and some few would satisfy all the requirements
of the most fastidious taste.
Although the catalogue shows that there are 85 artists exhibiting,
some of these are not exhibitors in the usual sense. Wilson, of
Aberdeen, for example, sends none for exhibition himself, although
a considerable number of his little souvenirs are contributed by a
printseller in this city. Some might be apt to question the pro-
priet}r of sending to a photographic exhibition works which for
some time have been articles of commerce, and as such available
for inspection at the various shop windows ; but a glance around
the room shows that were an expulsion to he made on such grounds
the number of pictures in this Exhibition would be sadly
reduced, for several “old familiar faces” and places, whose acquaint¬
ance we have long ago made in the show-cases at the stair foot of
the professional photographer, now kindly smile upon us from the
walls of this Exhibition. This peculiarity is very noticeable
indeed.
The varieties of process employed in the production of the pic¬
tures are few — indeed year alter year they are getting fewer and
fewer. How much this depends upon the system which this Society
adopts, of giving medals for the pictures which they consider best,
is a matter of opinion. A recent article on this subject in Tiie
British Journal of Photography, by Mr. JohnCramb, of Glasgow,
is felt by many in this city to be at least one of the best and most
suggestive articles that has yet appeared. It is evident iliat
awarding medals for merely pretty and artistic prints is not the
best method of advancing the interests of photography as a science.
Mr. Cramb or some one else might suggest the best means for
attaining this desideratum. This leads us to state that among the
various contributions to this Exhibition we look in vain for Joubert’s
patent enamel transparencies; photographs in carbon or any other
pigment ; specimens of Rarnage’s or any other person’s photo-
lithographs ; photographic engraving by any of the existing pro¬
cesses, whether photoglyphs or photogalvanographs. There are
no magic lantern slides, nor are there any of those huge produc¬
tions for which our Gallic brethren are celebrated (let us except a
painted portrait on a solar camera production as a base) ; in short,
we were about to add that there was nothing whatever new or
uncommon in the Exhibition, when our attention was directed to
some panoramic pictures alleged to be taken by a patent lens,
“ which includes an angle of 100°, or two-thirds more than an
ordinary lens will include.” This we learn from a printed slip
pasted on the pictures. An inspection of these (views in Jersey, Nos.
501-2-3-4) satisfies us that if these pictures are sent as specimens
of the performance of the panoramic lens a very great blunder has
been committed, for the want of definition is very great indeed.
The ferns and other objects in the foregrounds require the exercise of
no small amount of imagination to enable them to be “ deciphered,”
and the pictures generally are hazy and indistinct, forming in this
respect a marked contrast to almost all the other pictures in the
Exhibition ; and we would say, without hesitation, that if these are
the best pictures that can be produced by the panoramic lens,
photographers will do well to stick to their meniscus and Petzval
lenses for some time yet. Mr. Mudd, too, has entered the field with,
a panoramic picture— EsTcdale,from Birker Fell (324). This is a bril¬
liant, magnificent picture, evidently printed from two negatives
(B r jj x b i
January 1, 1082]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
il
although on one sheet of paper. As soon as Mr. Mudd chooses to
divulge the manner in which he manipulates such pictures, we
doubt not that ho will be favoured somewhat extensively by that
truest flattery, imitation — a consummation devoutly to be wished.
Among the non-resident contributors to this Exhibition are
Annan, Claudet, Vernon Heath, Hering, Abbot, Kirkland, S. Thomp¬
son, Bedford, Lyte, Mudd, Piper, Rodger, Robinson, and others.
Most of the pictures are by the collodion process — some few being
by modifications of it, such as collodio-albumen, tannin, malt, and
“ hot water.”
The Rev. D. T. K. Drummond practises chiefly the malt process.
ITis pictures exhibit considerable artistic judgment in the selection of
points of view ; and it only remains for him to adopt a process such
as that used by Mudd or Annan, by means of which he can get
better gradation of tone, an,d also to employ a smaller stop in his
lens than he appears to have done in some of his works, to enable
him to rise to a higher position than he otherwise would attain.
We are inclined to characterise Loch Lanza , Arran (101), .by
T. Annan, as the best landscape in the Exhibition. It is a pleasing
picture : the composition is good, and the manipulation perfect.
This picture is by the tannin process. The same artist also shows
some others, all possessing great excellence.
The collodio-albumen process still has its champion in Mr. Mudd,
who exhibits eighteen pictures, which are all worthy of that artist.
We have previously alluded to his panoramic picture as one of great
merit ; we doubt not that were it not for Loch Lanza , alluded to
above, this picture would have to be pronounced as second to none
in the Exhibition.
Vernon Heath’s pictures are worthy of admiration on account of
their clearness and general excellence. His shadows are not of
that inky blackness which pervades many pictures, and the selec¬
tion of subjects is made with the eye of a master. Old Mill on the
Almond (492) we think is his best, although many of his other con¬
tributions, especialty Turnpike , Glcnalmoncl, and Bridge on the Earn
(335-6-7), are perfect gems, and will not fail to attract attention.
W. Kirkland exhibits eight large-sized pictures taken by various
processes. A tannin picture, Holyroocl Chapel (590), is one of his
best, and is a noble work, combining breadth and brilliancy — the
point of view he has selected showing the value of an artist’s eye.
In this respect the picture, Cedar at Biel House (586), by D. Camp¬
bell, which hangs next to it, forms a strong contrast, being what
artists would call a front elevation of a tree, quite sectional in
effect. It is only fair to state that the photographic merits of this
picture considerably predominate over the artistic.
We can scarcely congratulate Mr. Ions on the merits of his pic¬
ture of Luins, Dunfermline Monastery (580), which gives the spec¬
tator the idea that it was taken not by midday, but by the feeble
light of a waning moon. It presents a contrast with its neigh¬
bour on the left, Brislington Church (576), by Thomas Tyley, which
is brilliant and sunny, although by no means picturesque.
Mr. II. P. Robinson exhibits four pictures, among which is his
famous picture, The Lady of Shalott, on which (as it has been
so recently and specially noticed in these pages) we add no com¬
ment beyond the remark that it is free from the “ clipped out”
appearance which his Holiday in the Woods of last year possessed
to a certain extent. One of his minor pictures, Early Spring (605),
a study by the river side, is a pleasing photograph, with excellent
distance.
Mr. Maxwell Lyte contributes fifteen pictures. There is a gran¬
deur and massiveness about his productions which stamp him as
a true artist, although his shadows, in many instances, are unna¬
turally black. This failing, however, characterised his pictures of
last year to a much greater extent than the present ; and, when
this defect shall have been totally overcome, few indeed will suc¬
cessfully compete with him. His subjects are chiefly mountain
scenery and glens in the South of France.
The past inclement season, together with the volunteer move¬
ment, may, perhaps, have prevented such valuable contributors as
Mr. Horatio Ross, Mr. Fenton, and others, from enriching the col¬
lection ; but we are glad to see some new names in the catalogue,
and among others that of S. Thompson, who exhibits twenty-
three pictures, mostly architectural subjects, no fewer than nine of
which are views of Melrose Abbey from various points. These
would form a collection of great value to the archaeologist. The
points of view preferred by Mr. Thompson, as well as his manner
of treatment, evidently indicate that he possesses true artistic
feeling. We would recommend him to try his hand at general
landscapes, in which department of the art lie would evidently be
as much at home as among architectural subjects.
Mr. Dixon Piper’s pictures, of which there are ten or eleven,
1ndicate perfect photographic manipulation, without, however,
corresponding taste in the arrangement of subjects.
Only one picture in the Exhibition purports to be by the hot
water process, viz., On the Water of Leith (390), by J. Nicol — in
which the gradation of tone and general merits of the picture
are excellent.
There are several pictures by the waxed-paper process. Herries>
as usual, shows in great force. His pictures are uniformly good
and are, without doubt, the best exhibited by this process. Mr.
Adam, also, exhibits several. We cannot see what there is in the pic¬
ture marked 585 that could induce Mr. T. B. Johnstone to waste
an evidently successfully-prepared negative sheet on a subject so
totally devoid of interest. Surely this artist could have picked up
in the environs of his native city a hundred specimens the worst
of which would be more interesting than his Mill on the Allan.
However, many people think that “ far awa’ birds hae bonniest
feathers.”
We cannot conclude the present brief notice of the landscapes
without adverting to a beautiful little “bit” by Annan, The last
Stooks of Harvest (62), in which the few sheaves tell of the
forthcoming harvest-home. A little brawling brook, rather
suggested than pourtrayed — a rocky precipice, almost hidden by
coppice-wood — last, though not least, a beautiful sky — will cause
the visitors to make the acquaintance of this (as a whole) pic¬
turesque photograph, which we observe by the catalogue is taken
by the tannin process. AUR. CHL.
ON LANDSCAPE.
A Passing Glance at Harmony of Proportion — Tone —
Why and How Colour is Suggested by Tone— Tone
as an Element in Expression — Black and White in
Connexion with Tone — Claude’s Sunlight and Turner’s
Scale of Tones.
“ All theories admit proportion to be an essential constituent of beauty.’' —
H. Howard, R.A.
“ The true excellence of ancient buildings I take to be a close study of natural laws
in their proportions.’’— Mr. Blashill.
“ Every hue and every shade has its corresponding shade of expression and recipro¬
cation, affording materials for the cultivation of feeling and taste — the sublimest
expression vibrating in all cases to the most delicate touch. * * By tone and colour¬
ing the artist is able to aid and excite the ruling and subordinate sentiments of his
performance in the manner of the musician.” — G. Field.
“ The subtler or more spiritual art of the painter, like that of the poet, resides in his
power of exciting or awakening congenial trains of ideas in the minds of the contem¬
plative, tasteful, or susceptible, and not, as is frequently and vulgarly supposed, in merely
addressing the optical sense, and imprisoning the fancy with w hat is before the eye ;
and tl ese trains of ideas will vary, as the minds addressed are more or less cultivated
or informed, or are lively, apprehensive, or dull.” — T. Landseer.
My Dear Fellow-Student,
Before quitting the subject of harmony let us take
a farewell passing glance at it once more in connexion with
proportion.
Proportions properly selected and combined are in each of the
fine arts a source of harmony. The musician seeks it in the
studious sub-divisions of his musical scale ; the architect seeks it
in his selection of such proportions as accord harmoniously in the
finished whole ; the sculptor takes the measurements of the most
famous Greek statues to form his canon of proportions as produc¬
tive of harmony; and the painter portions out the warm and cold,
dark and light, colours with an eye to this same result. In our
photographic pictures proportions are of course more or less
influenced by perspective, and it is also a matter over which we have
less control than those have who follow more purely creative arts.
But as a love of the beautiful should find a home in the breast of
every true artist, you cannot wisely omit studying proportion.
Here, however, I shall pretend to give you nothing beyond a few
stray hints, in order that we may pass on to matters of more
practical value to us as photographers.
Pamphillus taught of old that no painter could excel without a
knowledge of mathematics — thus urging, as is generally supposed,
the study of proportion. Vitruvius asserted that the proportions
of the human figure in its perfection should regulate the selection
of quantities in architecture, no proportions being so harmoniously
beautiful as these wer-e. The Greeks had certain statues which
were held as canonical in their proportions. Howard, when Presi¬
dent of the Royal Academy, said — “Unless on the supposition that
it contains in itself some inherent but unexplained charm, I know
not how to account for the satisfaction afforded us by the propor-
13
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1862
tions of some architectural mouldings and compartments in pre¬
ference to others where no mental associations can be readily
shown to exist. It is connected with the science of numbers, and
• perhaps, the principle of harmony itself.” Flaxman, in his
Royal Academy lectures, following Pamphillus, asserts that “ it is
impossible to see the numerous figures springing, jumping, dancing,
and falling in the Herculaneum paintings, the painted vases, and
on the antique bassi-relievi without being assured that the painters
and sculptors must have employed geometrical figures to determine
the degree of curvature in the body, and angular and rectilinear
extent^of the limbs, and to fix the centre of gravity.” But what¬
ever our opinion on this subject may be, its importance is too
widely and too generally admitted to permit a doubt of its value
as an element of harmonious beauty.
By way of practical illustration, it is said that when we associate
height and breadth to secure harmonious effect the breadth should
not exceed the height less than twice nor more than five times;
that when we associate unequal quantities we should govern the
fractions by dividing and sub-dividing by the number three, as in
the case of any building upon the plan of a Greek temple, in which
the entablature, colonnade, and steps are the three chief portions,
and which are in their turn divided into three unequal parts, as in
the three bands of the architrave and cornice, and in the shaft,
capital, and base of the columns, &c., &c. In the human body, and
indeed throughout all nature, it is said, we find the mysterious
three which nearly always govern the parts of harmonious and
beautiful objects. I do not pretend to explain these things, for my
betters have failed in doing so, but simply leave them for your
more careful consideration. I have jotted down the few hints
above, and strengthened them with two or three quotations and re¬
ferences, and you may now pursue the theme or leave it alone at
your own sweet will and pleasure. But beware of avoiding all
theory ; and consider that, if a little mental labour acts by strength¬
ening or educating the eye and mind to a better appreciation
of higher qualities, it does us good practical service. Though we
can only see the surface of the moving river, we know it is its un¬
seen depths which give it strength to reach the ocean goal.
The next subject to which we will devote our studies shall, with
your permission, be one to which 1 have several times referred
during my progress through my preceding letters, viz., that of TONE.
Buskin says: — “I understand two things by the word ‘ tone.’ First,
the exact relief and relations of objects against and to each other
in substance and darkness as they are nearer and more distant,
and the perfect relation of the shades of all of them to the chief
light of the picture, whether that be sky, water, or anything else.
Secondly, the exact relation of the colour of the shadows to the
colours of the lights, so that they may be at once felt to be merely
different degrees of the same light ; and the accurate relation
among the illuminated parts themselves, with respect to the
degree in which they are influenced by the colour of the light itself,
so that the whole picture may be felt to be in one climate, under
one light, and in one kind of atmosphere.”
Now. under the head of “ Subordination,” I have already pointed
out how tone should express distance, atmosphere, &c., and under the
head of “Harmony” I have shown how the depth of the shades must
be in accordance with the intensity of the lights — thus disposing of
one of Buskin’s two things.
But with regard to the question of colour as part of the second
thing I have something to say.
The painter, in making choice of colours, always considers, or
always should consider, the general character and colour of the
light by which the objects he depicts are illuminated. A morning
scene should have its own pale yellow light apparent as influencing
all the colours in regard to their purity, and so with an evening or
mid-day scene. Should the light be pure the colours are more
varied and brilliant, while should it be golden, or orange, or red,
they acquire a greater or lesser degree of sameness. The effect,
in short, is just such as you would obtain in viewing colours
through stained glass, as opposed to that you would get by view¬
ing them through white glass. But these colours have their
tones as well as their distinctive hues and tints, and with these
tones they are always instinctively associated. Thus yellow and
orange are called luminous, and blue and purple are associated with
shade, while green and red fill up the intermediate space. Both
philosopher and painter will agree in thus defining colours.
The application of the rule we thus obtain must now, I think, be
apparent. When our photographs have their greatest variety of
tones (do not, for goodness sake, fancy I mean the tones of the
toning bath), the effect is more nearly analogous to that of day¬
light, and such light scorns more or less brilliant according to the j
relationship of such tones to the more or less luminous ends of our
scale. But when the tones are less in number, the effect approxi¬
mates more nearly to that of some coloured light ; and this light
appears associated with that colour which is more or less connected
with shade, according to the character of the tones, as a wlwle , in
connexion with one or the other end of the scale aforesaid. Thus
one scale of tones may suggest a white light, another yellow,
another orange, another red, and another purple. The power of
expression thus gained cannot be too highly estimated. Suppose
your view represents the misty haze and dewy freshness of early
morning : is it no addition to its feeling and power of expression
when the scale of tones secured by the careful chemical and
manipulatory treatment of your negative suggests also the glow
of the rising sun flooding the landscape with its molten gold ? Or,
should the view chosen indicate the lengthening shadows and
more mellow radiance of the waning efriy, would it gain nothing if
the harmonising colour of the purplish-rosy light was indicated—
however remotely — in the subdued high lights and deeper shades
of the whole ? These are things which the painter thinks about
deeply and earnestly : is there any reason why they should be
sealed studies to the photographer ? I certainly find, in the pro¬
ductions of my professional and amateur fellow-students of photo¬
graphic art, various scales of tones ; but, as I intimated in my
previous letter, they rarely have more than one peculiar to them¬
selves. A sunrise .and a sunset have the same scale ; and a view
taken under the unclouded mid-day sun has no other. All this is
obviously very false to nature and very untrue to art ; yet I ask
you honestly — is it uncommon to photography ?
To proceed to another part of this subject. The amount of pure
black and white in a picture should be very, very small. Large
masses of white or black are equally destructive of tone, and very
little is most valuable to it.
Referring again to Buskin’s work,* we find him saying : — “ Not
only does Nature surpass us in the power of obtaining light as
much as the sun surpasses white paper, but she also surpasses us
in the power of shade. Her deepest shadows are void spaces, in
which no light whatever is reflected to the eye ; ours are black
surfaces, from which — paint [or print] as black as we may — a great
deal of light is still reflected ; and which, placed against one of
nature’s bits of gloom, would tell as distinct light. Here we are,
then, with white paper for our highest light, and visible illuminated
surface for our deepest shadow, set to run the gauntlet against
Nature, with the sun for her light and vacuity for her gloom.
Bearing the above in mind go you, my dear Fellow-Student, to
one of the great Claude’s paintings, in which a little round patch of
oil-stained, time-discoloured, once white paint is so dazzlingly bril¬
liant that the landscape appears flooded with its wondrous radiance,
and we seem almost to feel its fervid glow. Is that circular dab
of paint at all like the sun ? Or is it not rather like one of the most
absurdly feeble of conventional hieroglyphs? And yet how perfect
is the deception ! Ah ! that has nothing to do with the colour-
box, that sunlight of Claude’s. It is the light of his artist
mind in which we yet bask so pleasautly : it is, in other words,
the power of tone which gives this brilliancy to clingy paint
and discoloured varnish — nothing else. If you want yet other
illustrations go to the Turner collections, and when you come away
remember how much your white paper is purer than Claude’s white
paint, and how seldom Turner’s scale of tones embraces the two ex¬
tremes of black and white in any one of his magnificent productions.
And now I consign you to the festive pleasures of this jolly
season, and turn myself from the art of making pictures to that of
making preparations for what I heartily hope you will gratefully
enjoy for many hopeful years to come, viz. — “ A merry Christmas .”
Yours truly, ALFRED H. WALL.
- -
Portable Finishing Calender. — The large accession to photo¬
graphic business, consequent upon the carteomania, has rendered a
rolling press almost indispensable to every photographer. Hitherto
the high price has been a bar to their general adoption. Messrs.
Bury Brothers, of New Cannon Street, Manchester, have recently
introduced a very neat machine for the purpose. The plan is
excellent ; but the one we have seen was not so nicely finished as
is absolutely necessary for working correctly, and the handle is so
short that to roll a number of prints becomes hard work. We
would also suggest the use of a brass instead of a steel plate, as
equally efficient, and not so likely to get out of order. We offer
these as suggestions, which, when acted upon, Messrs. Bury
Brothers will have conferred an immense benefit on all photo¬
graphers who have a large amount of rolling to do.
* Modem Painters.
January 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
13
Hotcs of the IHonth,
The curtain has fallen on another year — say, rather, a funereal pall,
of which the bearers are countless. The empire of mind has lost a
true king ; and science and art has sustained an irreparable injury
in the loss of one whose sun has gone down while it is yet day.
The event is all too recent — a mournful light still broods above the
fallen luminary like the after-glow in the golden west — to estimate
the full extent of that loss. We know not— nor perhaps shall ever
know — what we lose in one whose influence was immense, and
that influence always exercised on the right side. The late Prince
Consort was decidedly in advance in seeing the incalculable value
and the refining social importance of art- teaching. Photography
loses much in losing the direct countenance and support it received
by his steady and intense interest in it. It spoke much for it
when a man of his large views would devote so much time to its
details. His visits to our Exhibitions were never cursory ones, nor
those of the mere dilettanti. May we never, in the unknown future,
have occasion to exclaim —
“ O for the touch of a vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still ! ”
The sculptors have their “ ]ittle-grievance” as well as others,
and are labouring under some anxiety as to the allotment of space
which will be made to them in the forthcoming Exhibition. Ac¬
cording to the present decision of the Commissioners no applica¬
tions will be entertained on behalf of works which are not so far
complete that their merits, as well as the space to be occupied,
can be exactly estimated. Some discretionary power seems de¬
sirable, especially in reference to sculptors of acknowledged posi¬
tion and reliable capabilities. The last day for sending in works
| of sculpture is fixed for the 31st of March.
One notable feature of the present season is the fnumber of
books illustrated by photography. Amongst them we enumerate
Photographs of English and Native Life in India, published by
Messrs. Lovell Reeve and Co. ; One Hundred Photographs of
Egypt, Nubia , and Ethiopia, by Francis Frith, with letterpress by
Mr. Joseph Bonomi and Mr. Samuel Sharpe, published by Messrs.
Smith, Elder, and Co. ; The Ruined Abbeys of Great Britain, il¬
lustrated by Fenton, Bedford, Sedgfield, and Wilson, with descrip¬
tive matter by William and Mary Howitt, published by A. W.
Bennett.
A magnificent work, in illustration of the great Picture Gallery
at Antwerp, is now in course of publication at Brussels. The first
livraison contains The Nativity , by Josse de Gand, one of the early
Flemish masters ; and the Vierge om Penoquet, by Rubens, the
greatest master of the same school. From the inherent difficulties
in copying paintings, the copy of the first-named is far more
pleasing than that from the greater master, Rubens. This, though
a pity so far as it concerns Rubens in a photographic point of view,
holds out a prospect of some very beautiful results with the Van
Eycks, the Van der Weydens, and the Hans Mendings, in the
Antwerp Museum. A new work on the Art Treasures of Russia, to
be illustrated by photographs, has been commenced at Paris, under
the auspices of the Emperor Alexander.
The Athenceum advocates an extension of the series of photo¬
graphs from Turner’s Liber Studiorum, published by Messrs.
Cundall and Downes, of New Bond Street, London, so as to embrace
the whole number of seventy-one drawings made by the artist
towards the one hundred of his original intention. Many more of
these works are in possession of the Trustees of the National
Gallery than those already reproduced from the series at South
Kensington. There can be no reasons urged against the extension
suggested, and renewed examination of those already published
confirms the belief that these marvellous works of Turner’s cannot
be too widely disseminated.
A recent number of the official journal at Rome contains an edict
from the Cardinal Vicar announcing that no one will be allowed
to exercise the art of photography without authorisation from
the Rev. Master of the Sacred Palace, from the Cardinal Vicar,
and from the police, under penalty of fifty dollars fine.
Amateur photographers are liable to the same. The clandes¬
tine publication of some very scandalous photographic repre¬
sentations, in which the heads of the Pope, the Queen of Naples,
Cardinal Antonelli, and other persons of high rank were placed
on the bodies of other individuals in such a skilful manner as to
deceive any spectator, has called forth this stringent measure.
Provision has also been made for the punishment of offenders of
this kind, and the author of the above publications has been cap¬
tured, and incarcerated in one of the Papal prisons. S. T.
(fintrenrets.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that the French term above
used is one applied to small dishes filling up the spaces between
the more important ones at a feast: we have therefore chosen it to
head such readable articles as, while fairly belonging to matters
photographical, are yet of a light and amusing kind.
Seneca tells us that “ uninterrupted labour deadens the soul.”
Even the sternly earnest Jesuits ruled that every two hours of
study should always be followed by relaxation ; and we do not
think that, when the deeply-learned and scientific student sits
gravely down to our more important dishes, he will object to do
so because the spaces between them are filled with smaller ones.
Our readers are numerous : we well know their tastes are varied ;
and it is our duty to cater not for this or that particular section of
their number, but for all. Some like this, some that ; and the
article which may be disregarded by one is likely to be sought by
another.
In lines remarkable alike for their philosophical spirit and the
simple eloquence of their unaffected truthfulness, a poet of the
people, whose vocation never permitted him to lose sight of the
sad but common fate of all his hapless race, and whose name is one
we might all aspire to claim — in short, a dustman — once wrote as
follows : —
“ Diflf rent people, diff rent 'pinions ;
Some likes hopples, some likes inguns ! ” —
acknowledging the force of which, we hope in this our new dish
something may be discovered for every taste. Within its scope
will be found, from time to time, a goodly variety of the lighter
kind of viands. Choice scraps gathered in our rambles through the
dominions of our different contemporaries; biographical sketches
from the lives of those whose discoveries or researches aided the
birth of our beloved art; epistolary contributions from such
amusing friends as the “ littery” Mrs. Spriggins, or that famous
inventor of key-hole photography, Paul Pry, and other equally
amusing contributors. With these we shall blend random records
of photographic adventure — tit-bits from new books — and, to be
brief, any such wholesome scraps as may deserve the welcome of
our guests, without pretending to vie in importance of either
interest or subject with such as are more elaborately prepared.
We shall now introduce our new dish for the new year with a
new sketch from a new contributor, trusting that, while acceptable
in our jwesent issue, it will, in combination with its successors,
prove an attractive feature of our present volume.
IN SEARCH OF AN OPERATOR.
Sitting without candlelight, some few evenings since, by my study
fireside, in the deepening gloom of a closing day, I was thinking in
a dreamy, listless, indefinite way about all kinds of things and all
sorts of people, when gradually from this chaos of moving shadows
came forth a more tangible series of ideas about my present pro¬
fession. I am a photographer, chiefly occupied in portraiture,
having a large private establishment — well, say, not a hundred
miles from the City of London — and employing several operators
and printers.
I was thinking, on the evening in question, then, about my new
profession, and of the odd mixture of individuals forming its
component parts. Miniature and portrait painters whose occupa¬
tion, like that of Othello, had gone — actors whose bright dreams of
histrionic fame had long since ended in their awakening at last, and,
as it seemed, too late, to the bitter consciousness of a mistaken
vocation — toilers in the lower and worst-paid walks of literature —
gentlemen who have come down in the social scale only to be more
proud of their losses than they ever were of their gains — imprudent
ones, whose wealth, having melted like ice beneath their dainty
feet, has left them struggling alone in the cold dark waters of
adversity — mechanics, with souls above their position, making
earnest and aspiring efforts to reach the higher level ; and mechanics
with souls beneath their position, clutching at any chance which
may appear to promise a life of indolence, and through which they
sink to that lowrer level they are better fitted to disgrace — chemists’
shopmen, escaping from the monotonous drudgery of life behind
the counter — speculative individuals, who try everything, and, as
the}’- say, “ mysteriously enough ” fail in each : — from these and from
every other source, downwards through all the various classifica¬
tions of individuals, trades, professions, and callings — even to those
gentlemen whose other vocations are best known to the detective
police — does photography gather its recruits. Truly we are a
motley race, take us for all in all ! and some of us might form a
THE BRITISH JOUHHAL OB' PHOTOGRAPHY. [January 1, 1862
regiment worthy of jolly Falstaff’s own ! But of all these give rae
the class I have not yet named — that which is formed by men whose
unselfish love of the art first made them amateurs, and whose suc¬
cess as amateurs first made them professional. These are the
labourers most worthy of their hire— the photographers who do
honour to the art, by raising it into loftier appreciation, and advanc¬
ing its honest claims both as a fine art and as a branch of science.
But in saying so let me frankly admit that I, for my own part,
joined the profession, not for love of it, but out of sheer vulgar
necessity. My camera was merely taken in hand, originally , for
providing what we artists call “ pot-boilers,” when that other then
much dearer profession — portrait painting — had failed me in my
sorest need. I did not therefore at first take kindly to the art by
which my own was rendered, to me at least, very nearly valueless.
If to professional photographers we add the amateur practitioners
of the art the variety becomes even greater, and may be said to
exist in every phase of social life, from noblemen of the loftiest
rank to the shabby half-beggar tramp who goes from door to door
with his few ounces of this or that solution in his pocket, and his
poor little home-made camera under his arm, offering to do glass
positives of family groups in your back garden for almost any sum
you may be inclined to tender him. And there is no less variety
in the productions than we find in the producers; for a wider
boundary line than that which divides the dirty-looking smudge of
the worst from the glorious pictures of the best cannot well
be imagined, although the intermediate space being filled with a
countless number of steps, leading upwards or downwards as the
case may be, the uninitiated are apt to overlook the immensity of
the difference. Pursuing such thoughts as the above, I was led to
think about my own experience as an employer, and to recall the
difficulties experienced some few months since when I was “ in
search of an operator,” an account of which, however, in consequence
of the length of these my preliminary observations, I shall defer
until the next number. R.A.S.
RUetings nf . Stf-defies.
MEETINGS
1st. — Bradford.
2nd. — Glasgow.
3rd. — Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
7th. — London and Liverpool.
8th. — Manchester.
IN JANUARY.
9th. — South London and Chorlton.
14th. — Photographic Society of
Scotland and Birmingham.
15th. — Edinburgh.
22nd. — North London.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
Ax ordinary meeting of this Society took place on Wednesday evening,
the J8th ult., at Myddleton Hall, Islington, — George Shadbolt, Esq.,
Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. Francis and Mr. C. Noble were ballotted for and duly elected
members of the Society.
The Secretary read an interesting paper, by Mr. Bourne, on The
Original Fothergill Process. [See page 6.]
Mr. Bourne accompanied his paper by the gift to the Society’s port¬
folio of some excellent landscapes taken on plates prepared by the
method described by Mr. Bourne, which was, in fact, nearly identical
with that originally published by Mr. Fothergill in The Times.
Mr. Suave, on the conclusion of the paper, said he thought that an
examination of the specimens would quite satisfy any one as to the full
capabilities of the Fothergill process for large plates.
Mr. Hill advocated the use of a bromo-iodised positive collodion for
negatives, and development by means of iron.
The Secretary and Mr. Siiave concurred in the opinion that a thin
collodion was most preferable for the pi'oeess under consideration.
The Chairman reminded the meeting that Mr. Hardwich had also
recommended the employment of a thin collodion. In reference to Mr.
Bourne’s remark on the “four drachm washing,” he wished to observe
that Mr. Keene, of Leamington, had recommended that quantity for a
stereoscopic plate, so that gentlemen were free to use a larger proportion
for larger plates, and still be carrying out the same plan of limited
washing in the removal or rather dilution of the free nitrate. His (the
Chairman’s) own experience on this head inclined him to entertain an
opinion different from Mr. Bourne’s, since he had successfully kept 9X7
plates ten months which had been washed with only four drachms of water.
Mr. Hill thought Mr. Bourne’s object was to convey the impression
that the average of successes was greater with a thorough washing,
Mr. Shave regarded the last washing, to remove the excess of albumen,
the most important: he thought it could hardly be carried to excess.
'flie Chairman remarked that Mr. Bourne had directed attention to
the importance of “a force of water” to wash away the albumen. He
quite agreed with Mr. Bourne and Mr. Shave on that point : he thought
too much water could not be used.
Mr. Bingham employed a watering-pot in that part of the process.
Mr. Hill suggested the importance of a continuous stream in pouring
the albumen over the plate.
Mr. G. Wharton Simpson and the Chairman directed attention to the
methods of using prepared albumen, as suggested by Mr. llannaford and
Mr. Barber, as calculated to ensure uniformity of sensibility.
Mr. Shave regretted the want of harmony among those who practised
the Fothergill process as to the proportion of albumen and water.
Mr. Hill said he used one ounce of albumen to five ounces of water.
The discussion terminated with some critical remarks, by Mr. Hughes
and others, on the artistic merits of the photographs presented by
Mr. Bourne.
Mr. Hislop wished to offer a few observations connected with his
paper, read by Mr. Martin at the last meeting of the Society. A variety
of opinions were entertained as to the effect of albumen on the nitrate of
silver bath, many gentlemen thinking it must inevitably impart colour as
in the case of albumenised paper. He (Mr. Hislop), in answer to that
opinion, begged to submit for inspection a two-ounce sample from a bath
which he had in use for two years, and into which hundreds of plates had
been plunged, the strength having of course been kept up by occasional
additions of nitrate of silver. Gentlemen could see that the solution
was quite colourless. In reference to the opinion expressed at the last
meeting that the previous coating of the glass with albumen materially
influenced the result, he would say that he had again adopted the
plan of ocular demonstration in evidence of the soundness of bis opinion
to the contrary. [Mr. Hislop then exhibited two plates (transparent
positives) in which the circumstances of preparation were precisely
similar throughout, except that one was previously coated with albumen
and the other not.] He would ask any gentleman present to say which
was the albumen-coated plate. He would say, finally, that in practising
the Fothergill process he had found the film of the collodion frequently
split off. This untoward result was entirely prevented by previously
coating the plate with albumen, and he (Mr. Hislop) contended that it
served no other purpose than that of retaining the film on the plate.
The Chairman had established by direct experiment a fact which he
believed completely negatived Mr. Hislop’s views on this subject. He (the
Chairman) had coated a plate with albumen, dried, then coated with collo¬
dion, taken his picture, and subsequently removed the whole of the collo¬
dion, and yet retained the picture intact, clearly showing that it (the pic¬
ture) was on the albumen film. And in reference to the distinguishing
of the two pictures submitted for inspection, he (the Chairman) must
admit they were more alike than he should have anticipated; but he
observed that one of the pictures possessed greater vigour than the other,
and he should be inclined to say that that was the albumen-coated plate.
Mr. Hislop admitted the correctness of the Chairman’s selection from
the pictures, but attributed the increase of vigour to an exalted sensibility
imparted by the albumen. In reply to a question from Mr. Evershed, of
Brighton, Mr. Hislop stated that he dried his albumenised plates.
Mr. Hughes had employed albumen-coated plates in the ordinary
negative collodion process with an iron developer, and must say that he
was at first quite charmed with the exquisite delineation and vigour and
the increased softness attainable by their use. He was, however, soon
obliged to abandon a process which seemed to promise so well, on account
of the fogging power imparted to the bath : the first few plates yielded
results such as would satisfy the most fastidious, but as the number of
plates increased the fogging increased, and lie was reluctantly con¬
strained to relinquish that method of working.
Mr. Evershed asked if Mr. Hughes dried his albumenised plates ?
Mr. Hughes replied that he continued the application of heat until the
plate, when viewed in one direction, seemed covered with minute cracks,
which he regarded as evidence of complete dessication.
Mr. Fry asked if Mr. Hughes diluted his albumen or used it pure?
Mr. Hughes stated that his albumen was pure and undiluted.
Mr. G. Wharton Simpson said that a correspondent had sent him some
pictures on glass, prepared with simply washed collodion without previous
or subsequent coating, and the pictures in his (Mr. Simpson’s) opinion left
nothing to be desired. His correspondent stated that he added ammonia
to his collodion with the view of producing a pulverulent structure in the film.
Mr. Hughes remarked that the ordinary effect of the addition of
alkalies to collodion was to render it more fluid.
The Chairman had observed that the addition of a small quantity of
collodion so treated to a larger quantity seemed to communicate the same
character to the whole. He thought that some catalytic action was
probably established.
Mr. Evershed had observed an article in The British Journal of
Photography, by a French gentleman, recommending the rubbing of
albumen over the plate previous to coating with collodion.
The Chairman thought that plan by no means so good as allowing
very dilute albumen to flow over the plate. It w'as generally admitted
that albumen caused the collodion film to adhere with greater tenacity
to the plate.
Mr. Hislop, in reply to a question from Mr. Simpson, said that he usod
half a drachm of acetic acid to three ounces of albumen ; and, in reply to
Mr. Fry, he further stated that he did not varnish the edges of his plates.
The Chairman passed round for inspection some very excellent stereo¬
graphs of Ilfracombe and North Devon, by Mr. Hill, the Treasurer of the
Society. Also others in illustration of the advantage to be derived frem
the employment of slightly albumenised paper and subsequent waxing,
January 1, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
15
as set forth in the letter of “ A Country Parson,” page 452, vol. VIII., of
The British Journal of Photography.
The meeting terminated with the usual votes of thanks to Mi.
Bourne and Mr. Hislop.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
evening, the 12th ult.,— Thomas S. Davis, Esq,, m the chair.
Mr. Simpson presented to the Society, on behalf of Mr. Warner, of Ross,
a series of photographs of Hereford Cathedral, and other subjects. He
also presented from the proprietors of the Photographic News a copy of
their Almanac for the ensuing year. ,
The thanks of the Society were accorded for both of these presents.
Mr. Wall, in alluding to the photographic Committee appointed by
Her Majesty's Commissioners for the approaching Industrial Exhibi¬
tion expressed considerable dissatisfaction at the smallness of the number
comprising the former body, and took exception to one gentleman s name
in particular, on account (as he alleged) of Ins not being known to the
nhotocrrapliic public in connexion with the art. He animadverted ratliei
strongly on the conduct of THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY (London),
asking why it was designated the “Parent Society?” *— and why, having
“ pledged itself to render Her Majesty’s Commissioners no assistance, it
suffered four of its chief officers to undertake the duties “it so resolutely,
not to say obstinately, declined ?” _
The Chairman trusted that the Committee would not be left with the
few names already published, but that more would be added, m order
that photographers generally might feel confidence in them.
Mr. V. Blanchard then read a) paper entitled A. 1 rologue for the
Season. [See page 442 of our last vol.]
Mr Martin would offer a remark on one part of Mr. Blanchard s paper
in which he had expressed a wish that more geniality and greater
freedom should prevail at the meetings ol the Society; he (Mr. Mai tin)
heartily concurred in that desire, and thought that one step towards its
accomplishment would be the abandonment of the formality of rising to
address the meeting. He was, of course, sensible that the carrying out
of his suggestion might, perhaps, lead to confusion, and would, therefore,
direct special attention to the necessity which existed for every gentleman
to address his remarks exclusively to the Chairman.
Mr. Wall feared that if Mr. Martin’s views were acted upon the meet¬
ing would resolve itself into a series of separate discussions, carried on by
small companies of two or three members.
Mr. G. Wharton Simpson said that whatever truth there might be in
Mr. Wall’s remarks, he thought there were many things said in separate
discussions which would never be said at all under other circumstances,
xnd he was of opinion that many valuable suggestions were lost simply
3ii account of the nervousness which possessed some gentlemen at the
idea of standing up to make a remark, which appearing to them at the
moment not worth the formality, might nevertheless have an important
bearing on the subject in hand. He was disposed, therefore, to take the
same view as Mr. Martin, and if that gentleman would put it into the
form of a motion he would cordially second it.
A motion in conformity with the above suggestion was then moved by
Mr. Martin, seconded by Mr. Simpson, and carried unanimously.
Mr. Howard said, with reference to the proposed modification in the
manner of conducting the discussions, he would submit that it was desi¬
rable that some restriction should be placed on the number of times that
one gentleman might address the meeting.
The Chairman remarked that if any members who could write papers
were, nevertheless, diffident about reading them, they might at once dismiss
that feeling, as it was an understood part of a secretary’s duty to read
the papers of members who would rather not do so themselves, and he
felt sure that Mr. Wall would willingly undertake such a task when
occasion required.
Mr. Blanchard said, in reference to the Experimental Committee,
he hoped it would be clearly understood that he had no desire
to depreciate their labours; on the contrary, he always regarded it as a
very important and valuable branch of the Society’s operations. He was
of opinion, however, that if the subject for investigation were clearly
announced, the members generally might experiment thereon, and on an
appointed evening meet and compare notes. With reference to the class
for instruction in chemistry, which he was so desirous of seeing esta¬
blished, he thought a sub-committee might be advantageously appointed
to ascertain the cost of apparatus, rent of room, &c., and the Society
would then have some accurate data to calculate from.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Blanchard for his paper was passed by accla¬
mation, after which the Chairman formally resolved the meeting into a
special one, for the purpose of considering the appointment of a place of
meeting more convenient for the members of the Society generally.
Mr. SmrsoN proposed that a sub-committee be appointed to collect
detailed information, and that the said Committee do report the result of
its inquiries at the next meeting of the Society.
Mr. Martin seconded the motion, which was adopted.
The usual votes of thanks were accorded, and the meeting adjourned.
" We believe that Mr. Wall is the best authority for the designation “Parent
Society," it having been — unless we are much mistaken — conferred by himself. He is
mistaken in supposing that The Photographic Society declined to render any assistance
to the Royal Commissioners. The Council merely declined to nominate a Committee, vut
can exercise no control over its officers in their capacity of private gentlemen. — Kx>,
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on the 12th
ult., — Mr. William Griffiths, Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed,
the adjourned discussion on the wet and dry processes was resumed.
Mr. Wardley said he wished to say a few words on a subject in which
he felt a personal interest, but which he thought it would not be out of
place to introduce at this part of the discussion. Mr. Wardley continued : —
Most of our members will have seen a leader in The British Journal
of Photography, of October 15th last, on Restoration of Sensitiveness , in
which occurs the following observations upon a certain portion of my
paper on the Taupenot process, read at one of this Society’s meetings : —
“ That an iodide will not restore the normal condition of a plate that has
received an actinic impression where anything approaching to reduction
lias taken place we are quite prepared to believe ; but we are somewhat
surprised to learn that Mr. Wardley has arrived at the conclusion that
no actinic impression can be removed by an iodide.” Before attempting
a reply to the above, it may perhaps be as well if I call your attention
to the paragraph in my paper which has called forth these observations.
It is this : — “A ray of white light falling upon a sensitive collodion plate
cannot be obliterated by an after-application of an iodide solution, or even
iodised albumen.” It is somewhat difficult to frame an answer to the re¬
marks of the Editor of our Journal, unless he will allow me to use the
term“ destructibility of the collodion image by an alkaline iodide,” instead
of “ restoration of sensitiveness.” When we destroy an impressed image
upon collodion it does not necessarily follow that we restore sensitive¬
ness. In the Daguerreotype process we certainly can destroy the image
and restore sensitiveness at the same time ; but not by means of an
alkaline iodide, but by free iodine or bromine. Restoration of sensitive¬
ness is a subject which I have hitherto refrained from touching upon.
The question at issue is : — Can the action of a ray of white light be ob¬
literated from a sensitive collodion film by means of an alkaline iodide,
provided such film be free from organic matter, except that which may
be contained in any ordinary collodion bath solution ? In consequence
of an offer made to publish my experiments to prove the position 1 took,
I now respond to the call ; but bear in mind that these experiments were
not intended to be applied to photography generally, but simply to have
a bearing upon the successful working of the Taupenot process. During
my long practice of this process, I have been assailed by various opera¬
tors declaring that the first preparation could be conducted in open day¬
light. I therefore tried several lots of plates so prepared, but I must
confess I never obtained a satisfactory negative upon any one of them :
all were more or less foggy and stained : some would not yield any kind
of picture. In consequence of my non-success, I went in for a series of
experiments, one or two of which were so conclusive that I discontinued
them. In the first experiment I coated a plate with collodion,
sensitised it, exposed one-half to daylight, carried it to the dark
room and washed it well with water, immersed it in a solution of
iodide of potassium for two or three minutes, drained and albume-
nised it in the usual way, and dried. This plate was then sensitised
in the acid silver bath, washed, dried, and exposed in the camera.
When developed, the two halves of the plate exhibited a great
difference. That portion which had been exposed to light during the first
preparation was foggy and stained; the other half, which had been pro¬
tected from white light, was bright and satisfactory. This experiment
may not be conclusive or correct, owing to the presence of organic mat¬
ter : to meet that objection I tried another plate without the albumen.
The transparent slide before you was coated with ordinary collodiuii, sen¬
sitised and exposed, then removed to a dark room, well washed with
water, solution of iodide of potassium poured on half of the plate, the
excess removed with a little water, and afterwards developed in the
ordinary way. I think you will say the iodide lias not had the least
influence upon the image to which it has been applied. You see it is
equally intense, and as full of half-tone as that portion which has been
treated with the solution of iodide. This fact was published years ago.
I am afraid that photographers of the present day are apt to underrate
the value of papers written by men whose names have disappeared from
the pages of our present photographic publications. On looking over the
photographic literature of our day we are often startled by some grand new
process or invention. Some of these may be of great value, and not a few
can be traced to early experimenters. Pardon this digression ; and in
conclusion and in support of what I have to-niglit advanced, allow me to
quote from a paper by Mr. J. G. Beny, On the Theory of Photographic
Development, published in Tiie Liverpool Photographic Journal,
February, 1H55 : — “We will take a plate of glass, collodionise and excite
in the usual way ; we will wash it in water, to remove the free nitrate of
silver ; we will then expose it in the camera ; we may again plunge it
into water, or even a solution of iodide of potassium, and replace it in
the camera, exposed to a fresh object ; and then, on the application of the
pyrogallic solution, mixed in the usual way, with a small portion of
silver, we shall evolve both the images impressed. They will be quite un¬
injured by the rough usage they have undergone, and are in everj’- respect
equal to what they would have been if manipulated in the usual wav.”
This quotation shows that theoretically I am not alone in this matter, W
have very much to learn of the theoretical part of photography, which ne¬
cessitates or imposes a duty on those who have time and opportunity to
pursue this department, in preference to inventing or adopting some trivial
> affair that can well be dispensed with. More theory will lead to greater things.
] 6
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 1, 1862
Mr. Fawcett quite agreed with Mr. Wardley that the first preparation
of collodio-albumen plates ought to be conducted in the dark room, other¬
wise the plates would generally turn out to be unsatisfactory. Some time
ago he was in the habit of preparing them in daylight, and met with
countless failures from fogging and other stains.
The Chairman said it was an undoubted fact that some operators con¬
ducted the first preparation in daylight and obtained good results. _ How
could that be accounted for ? He suggested that it might, be owing to
their probable use of free iodine in the iodised albumen, which most pho¬
tographers acknowledged would remove any actinic impression made
during the first preparation. Referring to that part of the editorial leader
in which it is stated that “if anything approaching reduction. has taken
place on a plate which has received an actinic impression, an iodide will
not restore its normal condition,” he said. the integrity of this statement
was fully borne out by facts ; but he might ask — Does not reduction in¬
variably occur when a sensitive surface is exposed, for however short a
time, to white light ? He was one of those who believed it did ; and with
a view to satisfying himself on that point he had, some twelve months
since, undertaken a number of experiments, one or two of which he Avould
briefly describe. A collodionised plate was sensitised in the ordinary
way, and exposed wet in the camera for such a time as was considered
sufficient to impress a negative. After thoroughly washing off the free
nitrate, a solution of pyrogallic acid (without free acid) was poured over
it for an instant. It was again washed, and the iodide of silver removed
by cyanide of potassium. Nothing was visible on the plate after this
treatment ; but on the application of the usual pyro. developer, mixed
with a few drops of nitrate of silver solution, a faint but perfect negative
made its appearance. Another plate similarly prepared and exposed was,
after well washing, treated with dilute nitric acid (one part acid to twenty
of water), again washed, and a solution of pyro. without free acid or
silver applied fora few seconds. It Avas then Avashed, fixed Avith cyanide
of potassium, and pyro. developer mixed AAfith silver poured over it ; but
not a trace of an image could be seen. Other collodion plates Avere pre¬
pared. After being taken from the silver bath they were Avell washed by
allowing a stream of water from a tap to run over them for at least ten
minutes, Avhen a drop from them gave no precipitate Avith a chloride.
They Avere then dried and exposed in the camera for times varying from
two to four minutes. Previous to developing one of them, a camel-hair
pencil, dipped in the dilute nitric acid, Avas draAvn across the middle of
the plate. They Avere then all treated exactly like the first plate men¬
tioned — that is, first with plain pyro., then fixed, and finally Avith pyro.
developer and silver. The result was that a picture was produced on
every plate except that which had received the maximum exposure. On
that part of the plate which had been touched Avith dilute nitric acid not
a trace of a picture could be obtained. One remarkable fact remained to
be noticed, namely, in every case in Avhich a washed dry collodion plate
had been exposed in the camera, and treated as described, the result had
invariably been, not a negative, but a faint transparent positive. In the
explanation of this singular fact is involved the proof that actinic light
acts essentially as a reducing agent. Take, for example, the sensitive
Avet collodion plate, and represent the film, chemically, as containing
before exposure, Ag I -j- (Ag I, Ag 0, No.J, -j- Ag 0, No. .. After ex¬
posure the parts acted on by light become Ag I + Ag 0 -f- Ag 0, No.s -f-
No.5 (set free) -j- Ag 0, No.5 — the picture being formed by Ag 0, sub¬
sequently reduced by the developer to the metallic condition. I11 the case
of the dry collodion plate previously adduced, Avliere no free nitrate or other
salt of silver is present in perceptible quantity, the film contains Ag I -j-
(Ag I, Ag 0, NO J ; and in that condition he believed it Avas more readily
susceptible to actinic influence than when Avet— an instantaneous ex¬
posure being sufficient to produce the change represented by Ag I -j-
Ag 0 + Ag I + (N Os set free). A long exposure Avould liaA~e the effect
of partly reducing to the metallic condition the newly-formed Ag 0, and
thus produce the effect known as solarisation or reversed action of light.
These vieAvs Avere offered not altogether as his own, but rather as the
result of his study of the works of Hunt, Miller, Barreswil, Davanne,
and others. He regretted (from the Avant of sufficient notice that this
subject would be brought forward) he Avas not prepared to enter into the
details of other experiments which had convinced him still more strongly
of their correctness.
Mr. Radcliffe said he had recently been experimenting in the same
direction, and had arrived at the conclusion that the image formed in the
collodion film was oxide of silver.
Mr. Knott did not think any reduction took place, but that the particles
of iodide of silver, under the influence of light, became endoAved Avith a
kind of polarity which enabled them to attract the particles of silver
thrown doAvn by the developer. Referring to Avhat he had stated at the
last meeting respecting the solubility of iodide of silver in a solution of
nitrate of silver, he wished to observe that the quantity a given strength
Avould dissolve Avas greatly affected by the proportion of organic matter
in the shape of alcohol and ether Avhich it contained. A bath Avhich had
been some time in use Avould hold in solution a greater quantity than a
neAv one, and would be more susceptible to variations of temperature.
Such a bath Avhen heated much over 60° would become milky, and when
reduced to a low temperature would deposit crystals of iodide of silver.
The best temperature Avould probably be 00° or thereabouts for ordinary
work.
Mr. Wardley said lie had often noticed that the drop Avhich drained
from the corner of a plate just taken from the silver bath assumed a
milky appearance, in consequence, he noAV supposed, of the evaporation
of the alcohol and ether from it, causing the iodide of silver to be pre¬
cipitated.
After some remarks by Mr. Knott, a member proposed that the dis¬
cussion should be again adjourned.
The Secretary dreiv the attention of the members to the rule Avhich
requires each of them to contribute one or more prints to the Society’s
portfolio.
Several prints Avere then presented, and the usual vote of thanks to the
Chairman closed the proceedings.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held its usual fortnightly meeting on the 18tli ult., Avhen
J. D. Marwick, Esq., President, occupied the chair.
Alexander Annandale, Esq., and James Slight, Esq., Avere admitted
members of the Society.
A magnificent album, of large size, was presented by R. M. Cameron,
Esq., a member of the Society.
A considerable portion of the evening Avas spent in altering and adjust¬
ing the laws ; after which Mr. W. H. Davies read a paper, Hints on the
Nature of Pictorial Beauty and the Principles of Composition. [See page
3.] This paper was illustrated by numerous diagrams, photographs,
and engravings.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Mr. Cameron and Mr.
Davies. It Avas agreed that, as the next usual day of meeting fell on Ncav
Year’s Day, the meeting should be postponed till the third Wednesday in
J anuary .
Jfnrttgn Carrcsponhcnte.
Paris , December 27, 18G1.
The meeting of the French Photographic Society of the 20th
instant Avas inaugurated by unpleasant news. It Avas announced
that the space allotted to the productions of French photography
at the approaching Exhibition at London Avas so limited that there
Avould be scarcely room for a few specimens from each. Decidedly
the Commission does not manifest an excess of good-Avill tOAvards
the neAv art. It appears to haAre forgotten the large hospitality
given in 1855 to the English photographers at the Palace of the
Champs Elysees. I think that if the idea emitted a feAv months
back of a subscription for a special Exhibition were at present
brought before our artists it Avould have some chance of success.
What will become of the amplification in presence of the scanty
space that is offered? Happy those avIio limit themselves to
stereoscopic pictures or to microscopic jeAvels !
M. Reynaud has made numerous experiments upon the iodide,
bromide, and chloride of silver. The results Avere communicated
to the Society the other evening, and are as follow : —
M. Reynaud’s comparative researches have led him to the con¬
clusion that, if the iodide of silver be slow in taking the impression,
it gives pictures which are dense and of great finish, and is espe¬
cially suitable for small-sized cliches.
The iodide of silver Avith cadmium is more rapid, but it often
produces a veiled effect. To avoid this inconvenience one or two
per cent, of chloride of zinc should be added to the collodion.
The iodide of silver Avith ammonium is not so sensitive, but it
gives images of great artistic perfection. The author has remarked
that the sensitiveness of the different iodides is proportioned to their
solubility in alcohol. To reach the maximum sensitiveness the
collodion should contain but little iodide.
The neutral silver bath generally gives veiled pictures. To remedy
this a little nitric acid is added-— one drop per 100 grammes, for
instance. The author has remarked that liyponitric acid augments
the sensitiveness. The carbonate of soda or of lime, employed for
neutralising the bath, appears to him to have very good results.
Bromides added to the iodides in the collodion allow of the
reproduction of certain details of colour, which, without their aid,
could not be obtained. The following is a formula recommended
by the author From three to four grammes of bromide of potas¬
sium and twelve grammes of iodide per litre of collodion.
At the same meeting the Secretary presented a very convenient
apparatus. It is a travelling alembic, by which, without loading
oneself with heavy and cumbersome luggage, distilled water may
be obtained on the spot— the furnace, the cucurbit, the Avorm, and
all the pieces of the apparatus, which are in copper, can be packed
one within another in telescope fashion, and form but a cylinder of
moderate size and weight.
In one of my recent letters I communicated the process of the
Abb6 Guiraud, according to which he adds crystals of nitrate of
silver, instead of kaolin, when the bath, after long use, wants
17
fanuary 1, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
mrifying. This process has been tried here successfully by differ-
:nt operators. I am glad to mention the fact, as it may be useful
)0 some of your readers.
As you may probably have seen by the report already com-
nenced in the Moniteur de la Photographic, our art was very well
-epresented at the Florence Exhibition. New names have gained
heir places by the side of those of Alinari, Dovizielli. Bernond,
Semplicini, and others well known. The stereoscope has spread
through Italy of late years, and the amplifications are as much in
favour with public and with artist on that side of the Alps as on
this. As to the visiting card, I do not speak of its acclimitation in
Italy, for it reigns in every country, symbolising in photograph}?’
the two leading features of our period, multiplicity of product and
cheapness.
I have already spoken to you, I believe, of a projected publication
which was to present objects of art, especially modern paintings,
in the size of visiting cards, The undertaking was begun and is
oeing continued. M. Micheletz is bringing out a considerable num¬
ber of his reproductions in this essentially popular form. The
Brothers Bisson, carried away by the current, are about to publish
their different collections of Swiss views in the same size. Just
imagine the chain of Mont Blanc or of Mont Rosa on a visiting-
card ! It must, however, be added that they are executed with a
skill which might save a worse idea, and that they form a most
elegant Lilliputian album, and a very pretty New Year’s gift.
Photography has recently been highly honoured in the person of
M. Niepce de Saint Victor. The Academy of Sciences has unani¬
mously awarded to our friend the Tremont prize, which was last
accorded to Rhumkorff. To give greater value to the recompense
the Academy has decided that the income of 1,000 francs attached
to the foundation shall be continued to M. Niepce during three
years. Hitherto numerous encouragements have been bestowed
upon photographers by the Government. Every year decorations
are given to the cleverest practitioners and experimentors. This
year it is the savants who have spoken, and, in general, their
judgment is based upon solid grounds.
As I have spoken of encouragements accorded to photography,
I cannot well close this letter without paying my humble but
heartfelt tribute to the memory of the enlightened patron it has
just now lost, and whose name I cannot write without emotion — I
mean Prince Albert. The news of his unlooked-for death has
caused a painful impression among all classes in this country, and
more especially among men of art and men of science. Photo¬
graphers who belong to these two divisions of society have felt
their loss not the least keenly. While the Prince patronised the
new art in England, he gave a kindly welcome to meritorious pro¬
ductions from other countries. Of the interest he took in the pro¬
gress realised in France, I can, perhaps, speak more feelingly than
another, having frequently been charged in the Prince’s name to
add to his rich collections the newest and most remarkable works
appearing here. Thus, in many circumstances, I have been enabled
to appreciate the elevation of his taste in matters of art — the
extent of his knowledge — and the delicate tact with which he
acknowledged services rendered. ERNEST LACAN.
- -
Carrrspffiitmitr.
i5i"We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. ^
“AWARD OF MEDALS AT EXHIBITIONS AND
ELSEWHERE.”
“ A considerable section of the thinking part of the community opposes all presenta¬
tion of prizes, medals, or, indeed, competition of any kind— holding that more harm
than good is done by them. And then, they say, in principle the practice is wrong,
appealing as it does to the base part of our nature.”— John Cramb.
Worth ! What is a ribbon worth to a soldier ?
Worth? Everything! Glory is priceless !’— Bdlwer Lvtton.
Sir, — And so Mr. John Cramb has discovered in some hitherto un¬
known locality, a considerable portion of the “ thinking” community
who silently (for surely by no representative voice or pen did they ever
before make themselves heard or known) oppose that emulation which
seeks only the glory of success ! Well, this certainly is the age of dis¬
covery ! But this great modern discoverer has contented himself with a
bare announcement, so that we are constrained to ask where this “ con¬
siderable section” may be examined by the curious wonder-lovers of our
day ? — how it (the “ considerable section” aforesaid) opposes the presen¬
tation of prizes, medals, or indeed competition of any kind i — and what,
according to its definition, constitutes “ the base part of our nature ?”
Now, if I offered Mr. John Cramb a prize in money for, say, the best
paper on moral philosophy, should I not appeal to his breeches pocket
only ? If, again, I offered that gentleman “ a piece of plate, ” would not
its value either rest in the honour it commemorated or in the money it
would !< fetch ?” If in the latter, I should not thereby get out of his
breeches pocket; and, if in the former, might I not as well offer him a
medal of silver, gold, or copper, or even a classic wreath of laurels,
plucked from my own back garden, wherewith to adorn his head — as
the homely saying has it — “ on high-days, holidays, and bonfire nights,”
after the fashion of old Greece ? We often hear that
“ The value of a thing is just as much as it will bring
and, for my own poor part, I think that a medal, which brings me the
gratifying assurances that all my laborious strivings to escape from the
common ruck of unaspiring mediocrity are, in the opinion of competent
authorities, crowned with success, must be of infinitely more worth to me
than the paltry and contemptible price I could sell it for in a broker’s
shop, or in that of a dealer in old gold and silver. Perhaps this is a proof
that " the base part” of my nature has been appealed to : perhaps it isn't.
Passing from this portion of the article under notice, and coming to
ideas not less singular, but more definitely acknowledged as the writer’s
own, it seems to me that Mr. John Cramb 5 s sole purpose is avowedly to
urge the encouragement of mediocrity ! It is not for the one best picture
that we are to award our medals, but for the best twelve, or six, or
eighteen. The artist who goes thoughtfully to his work, studying its
subject, watching it in all its various phases of changeful atmosphere and
chiaroscuro— who destroys picture after picture, refusing to be satisfied
with anything short of actual excellence— must give place to the gentle¬
man of the nimble fingers and active limbs who, never stopping to think
about such unimportant things, merely sees that his bath is properly
mixed, and his plates carefully prepared, and pops off a plate—
to use Mr. Cramb’s own illustration — as a rifleman pops out a
bullet. If, says Mr. Cramb, “ Societies desire to mark with their
approbation the power of producing good pictures rapidly * and
certainly, then it might be open for consideration if something of the
rifle competition kind of trial might not he worthy of consideration.” In
another passage, the author of this very novel suggestion proposes that
we should take a hint from the race-course. According to Mr. Cramb,
then, rapidity and certainty are the loftiest qualities of our art— qualities
which are to be fostered and encouraged above those which distinguish it
from the mechanical and commonplace— above the artistic, which is
merely intellectual— above the experimental, which is merely scientific.
Care and dexterity are to be set up as the loftiest pinnacle of success,
and all the aspirations of the photographer are to be cramped and con¬
fined within the narrow boundaries of the mechanical ! The great prin¬
ciples, based upon the encouragement of a laudable ambition, which
have regulated the proceedings of Eine Art Societies in all countries,
from the time of their existence, in the “ award of medals at exhibitions
and elsewhere.” are to be given to the winds at the bidding of this bold
Scotch gentleman ! You may, indeed, urge that such principles are at
the foundation of all that is good and great in the world— that they have
been lauded and appreciated from the earliest times — that from them
sprang the first great International Exhibition— that they reared each
of the puny and weakly infants of art in Greece and Italy, until theii
glorious prime inspired the world with awe and wonder — and you may
urge a great deal more in the way of such considerations ; but here
comes one of a race celebrated for noble ambition and intellectual aspir¬
in o-s (Mr. Cramb is a Scotchman I am told), whose unhesitatingly ex¬
pressed conviction is, that “in principle the practice is wrong, appealing
as it does to the base part of our nature,” and who thinks mediocrity
more worthy of encouragement than superior excellence. Fie ! Mr. Cramb.
Whether I consider your country, your position as an active and promi¬
nent member of a photographic society, or your pretensions as a photo¬
grapher, I am equally inclined to cry, fie upon. you!. Just think the
matter over, and then publicly recant. Many will think the better of
you for doing so, I am sure. And pray do not be angry with me ; be¬
cause whenever one publishes one s lucubrations (the term, at. any late,
applies to my own productions), one invites criticism and ciiticism, as
I very Avell 'know, will be sometimes adverse. Had your paper been
simply read at your Society, and had it there passed unchallenged, I too
should have been silent; but appearing in The British Journal op
Photography as an original (decidedly original) communication, .1 do not
think it ought to pass without a strong protest following in its rear.
Mr. Brown’s communication was hardly sufficient, referring, as it did,
chiefly to the attack upon the very excellent Society of which he is
Secretary. Trusting that you will not misunderstand my pnmuvo
mobile — or suppose I am a disbeliever in the old saying of Tot homines
quot sententice — I conclude. Truly yours, A. H. WALL.
TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
gIR) — Will you give me, through your valuable Journal, the answers
to the following questions. I have been working the tannin process, and
have got very good results. I have had a few failures, which I wish to
know the cause of.
* The italics are Mr. Cramb1 $.
18
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [January 1, 1803
1. Bath used, thirty-five grains.
2. Collodion, negative, for wet process.
3. Tannin used, fifteen grains solution of.
4. Developed with pyrogallic acid, three grains to the ounce of water,
with equal bulk of nitrate of silver solution, composed of nitrate of silver
four grains, citric acid six grains, water one ounce.
I fixed with cyanide of potassium.
Fault 1. Covered in the dark parts with little pin-holes.
Fault 2. The finished picture looks very green, like the colour of grass.
I used gelatine. I am, yours, &c., J. BUKDON.
December 1 Ith, 1861.
[Cyanide of potassium for fixing is quite inapplicable for this process,
as, indeed, for any one in which organic matter plays an important
part, because the intensity is so immensely reduced ; hence the green
colour complained of. But any alkaline substance has also a tendency to
loosen the film. The pin-holes may arise from insufficient filtration of
some of the solutions, or from the use of a bath of nitrate of silver in¬
sufficiently saturated with the iodide.-— Ed.]
INDIA-RUBBER SOLUTION FOR PRELIMINARY COATING.
To the Editor.
Sir,— In this instance “ J. C.B. ’’cannot have read the paper thoughtfully
or he would have gathered the information he requires. 1 have never
weighed the India-rubber or resin, but should give the following as the
nearest estimate : —
Pure India-rubber . 2 grains.
Common rosin . FJ ,,
Coal tar naphtha . 1 11. ounce.
Spirits of turpentine . 1 ounce.
This I should give as the minimum proportion of the solvent, and will
admit of considerable latitude. My advice is to employ the least possible
quantity of India-rubber to attain the required result. — I am, yours, &c.,
JOHN GLOVER.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
ff.-'gr' With, this number of the Journal is PRESENTED to our Readers “ The
British Journal Photographic Almanac” for 18G2.— The Almanac will be on Sale to
Non-Subscribers at the nominal price of 3d., and may be had from any of our regular
Agents, and through the Booksellers.
MR. J. CRAMB’S CAMERAS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reply to Mr. Cramb’s letter in your last, I am sorry to say that
his letter and explanation about his camera, dated August 26th, and pub¬
lished in your Journal of September 2nd, had escaped my notice, other¬
wise I should not have been so uncourteous as to take no notice whatever
of it. Mr. Cramb has evidently not seen one of Mr. Dancer’s cameras, or
I am sure he would at once acknowledge that the principle is the same as
his own. I do not — nor did I at the meeting of the Manchester Photo¬
graphic Society — accuse Mr. Cramb of copying from Mr. Dancer ; but
simply pointed out to the meeting the features in the figure and descrip¬
tion of Mr. Cramb’s camera, as published in your Journal, which years
ago had been adopted in a better form by Mr, Dancer. This was done in
no unfriendly spirit, but simply with the view of giving what merit there
might be due to the real inventor.— I am, yours, &c.,
JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.
Manchester , Dec. 23rd, 1861.
PRINT-WASHING.
To the Editor.
Sir,' — I, like many others, have experienced the difficulties of washing
prints. The following method I have used for the last four years with
success. Referring to the diagram—
The trough is made of 2-inch pine, A B G D, two feet long, one foot three
inches wide, one foot three inches at B D, and nine inches at A C. The
sides are grooved to receive the partitions, ef g h ij h , and in the
positions marked, the grooves being about two inches apart. Two or three
prints are put edgeways into each compartment. The water is supplied at
A, and, passing in the direction of the arrows, makes its exit at B
effectually. It removes all soluble matter in one or two hours, according
to the force of the supply of water. If the description be insufficient, I
shall be happy to give any information required. — I am, yours, &c..
II. R. NICHOLS.
[The preceding note testifies to the prevalence of the idea that running
water is an efficacious agent in l’cmoving the fixing agent, with its
matter in solution — an idea that we combatted in our paper read at the
last meeting of the Photographic Society, and published in our last issue.
Upon what grounds does our correspondent assert that the soluble matter
is effectually removed? How has he tested the correctness of the sup¬
posed fact ? — Ed.]
C. B.— Not l ill the summer.
C. Alfiert— We will write to you.
F. S. F. — A flat bath will do, though a vertical one is better.
Samuel Lever. — We had no notice of the intention to bring it forward.
T. K.— Received. We shall be glad to have the communication promised.
Pharez. — Standing figures require a lens of larger focus than that you name.
J.C.B.— We have handed your inquiry to Mr. Glover, whose reply we give in tbe
“ Correspondence ” column.
B. P. C. — Your note arrived a day too late for reply in our last; but we had answered a
similar inquiry to your own. See reply to “W. Daniels.’'
J. II. Slater. — Either alkali will do; hut, after neutralising, you will do well to expose
to sunshine, and filter — again making it very slightly acid before using it.
Photo. (Manchester). — See an important article, On a New Process for Photographic
Printing , by Mr. Emerson J. Reynolds, ol' Dublin, in our present number.
Geo. B. Shepherd.— Your prints appear to us to be mealy in consequence of too
weak an exciting batli. This you can easily test by floating a sheet of your paper on it a
second time after its being once excited and dried. 1 his will give a double dose of
nitrate of silver ; and, should our conjecture he correct, you ought to obtain a vigorous
print by this treatment. Of course we do not recommend this method of proceeding
except as a test. If you find it answer, your remedy will be to double the strength of
your nitrate bath. We cannot reply privately.
Un Pauvhe Homme.— 1. Take one table spoonful of good honey, and add to it two of
distilled water; beat and stir well, then filter through bibulous paper. If used within twelve
hours after the preparation of the plates, but little, if any, longer exposure is requisite.
2. Oxide of silver is formed by adding caustic potash to solution of nitrate of silver, also
by the addition of liquor ammonia ; but, as the oxide is soluble in the latter, an excess of
ammonia re-dissolves the oxide. 3. It is no doubt your paper that is in fault : it should
not turn red in the hyposulphite. Rive paper is generally preferred for alkaline toning.
Mr. C. Jabez Hughes, of Oxford-street, does keep it in stock, we have no doubt.
X. Z. — The addition of hydrochloric acid ought to throw down the silver in the form of
a chloride, which should be well washed in several changes of water, dried at a gentle
heat, and fused with twice its weight of a mixture of the carbonate of potash and soda
in a Cornish crucible brought to a red heat. Or the silver may be precipitated as a sul¬
phide, by the addition of sulphide of potassium. The black sulphide to he washed, dried,
and pulverised, and rubbed up in a moi tar with twice its weight of nitre. The mixture
is to be thrown into a crucible, little by little, the crucible having first been made red
hot. Deflagration ensues on each addition, and a small network of silver is reduced, and
will be found in the crucible.
J. L. (Perth).— You certainly are very docile, and very successful too. Your Gannachy
Bridge is excellent. A little more exposure would have perhaps helped to improve your
dark foliage somewhat, but you really are an operator far above the average of amateurs.
The Bumbling Bridge is an old friend : we have visited tbe spot, and planted our camera
on tbe point of rock depicted in your left corner, not without considerable risk. We lent
our negative to a professional brother, but have never received it back again — so that tbe
fate of ours is worse than yours of tbe other bridge. If your negatives will bear more
lateral enlargement, why not cut your paper differently, and, if needful, waste a little
rather than curtail your views ? Does not the grey margin arise from a thickened edge
of your collodion film (the lower edge in pouring off) obstructing the actinic rays moie
than the rest, of the negative ?— and thus the printing of that part is not so intense as it
need be, and consequently tones imperfectly. If this be not the cause, it may be in the
method of using your printing frame, so that a slight projection of the frame may
partially shade that edge from the action of the light. Whenever your hyposulphite of
soda batli is milky in appearance it is decomposed and in a dangerous condition. It is
free sulphur which causes the milkiness : it should be filtered or carefully decanted after
tbe deposit has settled, and a lump of chalk added to correct acidity. We shall be pleased
to h.ar from you on the other matter when you are quite ready. Thanks for your good
wishes, which we fully reciprocate.
*** The Position' Assigned to Photography at the International Exhibition
of 1862. — We regret to have been compelled, at the last moment, to withdraw the very
excellent letter of “ H. P. '* It shall appear in our next number.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, dbc., should
be forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Lise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
through Provincial Booksellers to their
its delivery in any part of Great Britain
The London Wholesale Agents are E.
Lane, ‘E.O. — When any difficulty is ex-
tlie orders should be sent direct to the
Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent
London Correspondents, ought to ensure
and Ireland on the day of publication.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria
perieneed in so procuring it punctually.
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32,
LEADER
ON A PRELIMINARY COATING FOR COLLO-
DIONISED PLATES FOR THE TANNIN
PROCESS. By MAJOR C. RUSSELL. .
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL
BEAUTY AND THE PRINCIPLES OF COM¬
POSITION. No. I. By W. H. DAVIES ....
THE ORIGINAL FOTHERGILL PRCCESS.
By S. BOURNE . . . .
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS;
GALLIC ACID. By JAMES MARTIN ...... 8
ON A NEW PROCESS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC
PRINTING. By EMERSON J. REYNOLDS. 9
CABINET PICTURES . 9
EXHIBITION . 10
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER ; ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . 11
PORTABLE FINISHING CALENDER . 12
NOTES OF THE MONTH . IS
ENTREMENTS . 13
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 14
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE : Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN. . . 16
CORRESPONDENCE . 17
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, etc. .... 18
CO NT TENTS.
.
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 158, Vol. IX _ JANUARY 15, 1862.
Restoration of Sensitiveness. — In the report of a meeting
jf the Chorlton Photographic Society which appeared at pp.
15 and 10 of our last number, some very interesting experi¬
ments bearing upon this subject were described by Mr. Wardley
and Mr. W. Griffiths, which we regret did not reach us in the
form of regular papers, instead of donversational remarks, as
from their importance they deserve a more marked and formal
record than they enjoy in their present position. In looking over
back numbers of a Journal the reader is apt to skip mere reports
of meetings as generaUy containing matter rather of passing than
of permanent interest, the attention being more frequently given
to distinct articles and papers ; and, therefore, it is that we would
have preferred had Mr. Wardley’s excellent observations been
treated as we are suggesting, and as they certainly deserved to
have been. On first perusing the report we felt a twinge of
conscience lest w e had inadvertently, in our editorial comments,
made observations that had been obnoxious to Mr. Wardley’s
sense of justice; so we immediately referred to the article
quoted at p. 355 of the last volume, by which, however, we
have been reassured, for we find that we carefully abstained
from expressing anything like doubt of Mr. Wardley’s observa¬
tions, confining our remarks to intimations of surprise which
we did, and do still, entertain at the results ascertained. It is,
in our judgment, a fact of considerable importance to establish
that “ reduction invariably occurs when a sensitive surface is
exposed for however short a time to white light,” as suggested
by Mr. Griffiths. This is not in accordance with our present
opinion, though we are quite prepared to change it upon proof
of its vrant of soundness. One of the chief difficulties with
which we have to contend in acquiescing in Mr. Griffiths’s
views, consists in the fact that no amount of exposure is suffi¬
cient to cause a visible reduction of pure iodide of silver in the
same way as occurs with bromide or chloride ; and another
mge stumbling-block to our apprehension exists in the
xbsence of any visible deposit, however minute, upon a
mllodio-albumenised plate when carefully examined by micro¬
scopic aid, from which we infer that the picture in this
sase partakes rather of the nature of a stain than a deposit.
How-ever, as we have already stated, we are quite open to con¬
viction, and shall look forward with pleasurable anticipations
to the resumption of the debate at the next meeting of the
Chorlton Society.
New Photographic Printing Process.— We solicit the atten¬
tion of our readers to a paper, by Mr. Emerson J. Reynolds
(which appeared in our last number), upon a subject of no trifling
importance — the production of photographic paper proofs with
salts of silver, and toned with gold, but with the very important
feature of an entire absence of the use of hyposulphite of soda
in any stage of the manipulations. The method of proceeding
will be found, on reference, to hinge upon the use of oxalate of
the peroxide of iron, in the first distance, in order to receive the
actinic impression, an insoluble oxalate of the protoxide being
formed under the action of light. So far there is nothing new*
the same agent having been employed by a French photographer
as a basis for a carbon proof, and by Dr. Draper, an American
gentleman, and others, for actinometrical purposes ; but Mr.
Reynolds has found, by experiment, that silver is reduced by the
protoxalate of iron from its ammonio-nitrate solution. Hence,
after removal of the unaltered peroxalate of iron from the paper,
he produces his picture by a species of development or toning,
the faint yellow picture being rendered black by the deposit of
silver from a wash of the ordinary ammonio-nitrate of silver
with which it has been covered : it then remains but to wash
the print in distilled or rain water, and the operation is finished.
The proof may, however, according to Mr. Reynolds, be toned
with gold in the usual wray.
In the earlier experiments it was found that the half-tones in
the finished picture wrere not equal to their appearance when
first produced, and it is no little triumph to have achieved the
knowledge of how to avoid this defect. An explanation of the
cause and remedy for this defect is given in the paper, and it is,
in our opinion, a matter of more moment than might at first
sight appear, because it not only applies to the process now
before us, but suggests a course of action with reference to the
ultimate production of satisfactory proofs in carbon — the chief
defect in which, as at present existing, is the absence of gra¬
dation of half-tone. It is by no means improbable that the
oxide of chromium, formed by the actinic action upon bichromate
of potash, and employed as a basis for nearly all the carbon
printing processes, may be soluble in a solution of the latter, in
a similar manner to protoxalate in the peroxalate of iron, which
would account for the degradation of half-tone likewise, and
may also very possibly be remediable, by the use of some
addition to, or modification of, the salt of chromium at present
employed. A satisfactory solution of the carbon printing pro¬
blem is of such vast importance that it needs no advocacy on
our part ; and wre feel assured that it will be sufficient to those
of our photographic brethren who have time and taste for ex¬
perimenting to suggest to them the desirability of ascertaining
how far the oxide of chromium may be soluble in a solution of
bichromate of potash, and whether it may not be possible to
wash away the unaffected bichromate of potash by aid of some
solution which will prevent its dissolving the oxide of chromium.
This once accomplished, we have little doubt that by following
the excellent plan of Mr. Osborne in preparing his impressions
for photo-lithographic purposes — that of applying the printer's
ink before removal of the superflous chemicals — direct proofs
upon paper in ordinary printing ink and with proper gradation
of tone may, ere long, gladden our eyes.
A Tribute of Affection. — We learned, recently', from Mr.
Rejlander that he purposes exhibiting at the International
Exhibition a new composition of an allegorical character, upon
which he is at present at work, intended as a tribute of respect
and affection for the memory of the late Prince Consort, who
20
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1802
was a very kind patron of this deservedly celebrated photographer-
It would not, of course, be correct for us to describe the intended
composition, even were all the details settled, but, though the
general scope of the subject has been arranged, there are many
points yet requiring much careful thought and consideration
before their final adoption ; for our readers know well that Mr.
Rejlander is an artist in the largest sense of the word, and all
his works are undertaken with a definite object in view — all the
parts of them being carefully arranged not only with an eye to
their individual effect, but to their influence upon one another
and their combination as a whole. Nothing is left to take its
chance. Every fold of the drapery is conned over and carefully
considered, by which we would not have it inferred that it is
mechanically arranged ; but though allowed to fall naturally,
unless it displays the effect intended it is draped and posed
and re-posed until the sought for classical curve is attained.
Nay, is a shoulder a trifle too forward, or the sweep of an arm
a suspicion of a shade out of the exact line of beauty, the
model must sit and sit again — no defect being regarded as
trifling— no labour too tedious to arrive at a mere complete
expression of the artist’s mind. And yet some of our critics
assert that it is the camera which does it all ! — there is no brain
work in a photograph !
There is something touching in the idea of making photo¬
graphy pay a tribute to the memory of one who, during his
life, did so much to advance, encourage, and elevate its status
and mission; and we are rejoiced that Mr. Rejlander, in carry¬
ing out his design, will have the benefit of one of the very best
photographic likenesses of the deceased Prince that has been
produced. The negative was taken by Mr. Rejlander on the
occasion of his visit to Osborne in March last, at the command
of His Royal Highness, and is a bust in profile against a light
background. Of course our readers will have divined that the
composition will be one of those combinations of portions of
many negatives for which Mr. Rejlander has won renown in
times past.
During our late interview, we had the pleasure of turning
over a portfolio containing many suggestive and interesting art
studies. One, entitled Libation, is particularly fine in pose and
drapery ; another, called Pity the Sorrows of a Poor Old Man, is
a perfect little gem; a third displays a bit of quiet humour, and
is designated A Fellow Feeling Makes Us Wondrous Kind, and
consists of a young man making phrenological researches over
the head of a girl with his right hand, while with his left, under
her chin, he raises her face, on which an expression of roguish
archness is unmistakeably depicted. Welsh Courtship is re¬
markable for its wonderful atmospheric perspective, and Adipose
for its exquisite perfection of figure, though the last-named is
only useful to the artist as a study.
Congratulation and Defence.— We congratulate the mem¬
bers of the Birmingham Photographic Society in their acqui¬
sition of Dr. Anthony as their President. We are convinced
from the known skill, scientific attainments, and energy of this
gentleman, that he is likely to exercise a very beneficial influ¬
ence in inducing photographers in the neighbourhood to unite
and work harmoniously for the advance of our art.
There is one point in the address delivered by Dr Anthony at
the last meeting of the Society on which we desire to offer a
short comment, not by way of exception to the advice given—
that of obtaining for the Society copies of all the foreign journals
— but directed against an implied neglect (unconsciously, per¬
haps, on the worthy Doctor’s part) with which we, as journalists,
are charged. The President says [see page 33] that he expects
our amour propre will receive a slight shock at the International
Exhibition, which will “ show us the necessity of being well
acquainted with the contemporary discoveries of our photo¬
graphic brethren throughout Europe.” Further : “ if these
foreign journals should be sealed books to some members,
I doubt not that others would undertake to give the Society,
from time to time, abstracts of the information contained in
these journals,” &c.
We have simply to remark upon this point that ice are regu¬
larly supplied with every foreign journal published, whether
French, German, or American, that treats of photography,
and never fail to give translations or abstracts of everything not
only that has value but that appears to have any interest what¬
ever for our readers. In addition to this, we have special cor¬
respondents abroad who furnish us with information of all that
is doing in their respective localities, so that we can tell our
friends beforehand that they will not find in the foreign journals
the anticipated information, or anything of value that they do
not also meet with in these pages. As journalists, we should
regard it as a lapse of duty not to keep them well informed
on the progress of our art in all quarters of the globe.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
James Martin.
CITEIC ACID.
Synonymes. — Ger. Citronsaure, Fr. Acide Citrique.
Composition. — C12 H5 On, 3 HO + 2 IIO.
Equivalent . — 210.
Preparation. — The sources of this interesting compound are very
numerous, being found in the leaves and wood of many shrubs and
trees : among these may be mentioned the lime, lemon, orange,
prune, gooseberry, currant, strawberry, lettuce, tobacco, mountain
ash, and others. In many of these it is associated with malic acid —
in some instances in equal proportions, but in the four first named
it exists in the free state, and mixed with little or no malic acid.
Accordingly one of these is selected as the source from which to
manufacture the acid for commercial purposes. The method is as
follows : — Lemon or lime juice in any convenient quantity is satu¬
rated with carbonate of lime — he. whitening or chalk — until it ceases
to effervesce and the solution no longer reddens litmus-paper. The
mixture is then thrown on a linen filter, and washed with hot water
until the liquid runs through colourless. The insoluble citrate of
lime which remains on the filter is then treated with a sufficient
amount of dilute sulphuric acid to decompose it — the result of the
reaction being sulphate of lime, which is insoluble, and free
citric acid, which remains in solution. The quantity of sulphuric
acid necessary to effect this change amounts to about 60 per cent,
of strong oil of vitriol to the dry citrate of lime : the acid should
be diluted with eight parts of water before adding it to the insoluble
citrate of lime. The separation of the solution of citric acid from
the insoluble sulphate of lime is effected by straining through linen,
as in the former case : the insoluble salt is, however, only slightly
washed with a little cold water, and the clear solution is then boiled
down until it attains a specific gravity of 1T3, at which point the
evaporation is conducted with greater care by means of a water
bath, and until it acquires a syrupy consistence, at which point it
will soon become covered with a pellicle of solid acid, when it
should be removed from the water bath and cooled down to the
crystallising point as rapidly as possible. To the reader who
possesses a slight knowledge of chemical manipulation this latter
direction may seem somewhat strange, as the most suitable method
for obtaining good crystals is generally considered to be the slow
cooling of strong solutions, or the spontaneous evaporation of weak
ones. The reason, however, is this : iu order to ensure the com¬
plete decomposition of the citrate of lime, an excess of sulphuric
acid is employed, and it is this excess of sulphuric acid which
would, at the elevated temperature acquired by the solution when
it arrives at the syrupy condition, decompose the delicate organic
acid, more or less, into a black mass. This undesirable result may
be avoided by making the citric acid suddenly assume the solid
state by rapid cooling. The crystals are purified by recrystallisa¬
tion, the mother liquors being treated with more chalk, after the
manner of the original lemon juice. There are certain details of
manipulation to be attended to in conducting the above process
which ought not to be omitted. With the object of separating the
mucilage contained in the lemon-juice it is found advantageous to
allow an incipient fermentation to set in and to strain the liquor
before the addition of the chalk is commenced ; and this latter
operation should be conducted nearly at the boiling temperature,
and be accompanied by constant stirring. Finally, in order to
decompose the acid citrate of lime which is at first formed, a little
caustic lime should be added after the cessation of the efferves-
January 15, 1869]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
91
cence, and, as before said, until the solution no longer reddens
litmus-paper. The decomposition of the citrate of lime by sul¬
phuric acid should also be accompanied by stirring; and in this
way a gallon of good lemon-juice should yield from eight to twelve
ounces of citric acid.
Properties. — Citric acid forms beautiful transparent, colourless
crystals, having the primary form of a right rhombic prism. Their
taste is intensely sour, and they are soluble in less than their own
weight of water at 60° F., and in half their weight at 212° F. —
soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in ether. In stating the composi¬
tion at the head of this article it will be observed that the formula
includes the anhydrous acid, three atoms of basic water, and two
atoms of water of crystallisation; and such is the composition of
the crystals obtained by the spontaneous evaporation of a cold
solution. The ordinary crystallised acid of commerce contains one
atom of water less. Citric acid is a tribasic acid, by which term it
is signified that if it be desired to prepare citrate of soda three
atoms of carbonate of soda will be required to neutralise one atom
of citric acid. Free citric acid retards the precipitation of the
noble metals by a reducing agent ; but, in combination with a base,
it becomes itself a reducing agent. In combination with ammonia
and metallic oxides it forms a numerous and interesting class of
salts, called ammonio-citrates ; and it is upon this fact that the
plan is based of removing the objectionable metallic spots which
sometimes occur in photographic paper by immersing the paper
first in a solution of one part of citric acid to ten of water, and
subsequently in water containing five per cent, of ordinary liquid
ammonia, specific gravity 880.
Uses. — The principal demand for this preparation is among
calico-printers : it is used also in pharmacy, and for domestic
consumption. By the photographer it is employed in the free
state and in combination, as citrate of soda. In the former con¬
dition it is introduced into developing solutions to moderate the
reducing action of pyrogallic acid on the salts of silver : it should
be remembered, however, that developers containing this acid are
weaker in their reducing action than those prepared with acetic
acid, and that the chief advantage to be derived from its employ¬
ment arises from the fact that chemical reactions take place with
greater energy at high temperatures, and the retarding action of
this acid is therefore found especially useful in summer weather
and in hot climates. Further information of a similar character
lias been given with reference to this acid, under the head of
“ Pyrogallic Acid,” and to this the reader is referred. It may be
mentioned for the guidance of the amateur abroad, who, being able
only to obtain lemon juice, would be tempted to apply it in deve¬
loping, that one drachm of good lemon juice is equal to three grains
of solid crystallised citric acid. It should of course be carefully
filtered from mucilage before use.
Impurities. — Citric acid will sometimes contain organic colouring
matter, which would at once be indicated by its appearance. This,
which may be called an accidental impurity (or at least one arising
through the recrystallisation not having been carried far enough),
is comparatively harmless. But the case becomes more serious
when, as sometimes happens, tartaric acid and even alum are
fraudulently mixed with the pure acid ; for the former, which is
the commonest mode of adulteration, materially affects its proper¬
ties as a photographic agent.
Tests. — The presence of tartaric acid may be determined by add¬
ing to a solution of the suspected citric acid in water a solution of
acetate of potash, which will occasion a precipitate of bitartrate of
potash, if tartaric acid be present. In performing this experiment
an immediate precipitate should not be looked for, unless the solu¬
tions be tolerably strong. A still more conclusive evidence of the
existence of tartaric acid may be obtained by adding to a solution
of the citric acid under examination hydrated oxide of iron to
saturation, and to the solution thus obtained an excess of caustic
potash. If the citric acid be pure the whole of the oxide of iron is
again thrown down, and the supernatant liquor will be colourless :
if, however, tartaric acid be present, oxide of iron will be held in
solution, and the liquor will be coloured. The presence of alum
may be inferred if a white insoluble ash remain after heating a
crystal of the acid to bright redness, until the carbon first formed
is dissipated by combustion. The combustion of the carbon may
be aided by the admixture of a little red oxide of mercury. Finally,
citric acid may be distinguished from most of the other vegetable
acids. by the effect produced, on the addition of lime water to its
solution : the liquid remains clear until it is heated, and then be¬
comes turbid, and deposits citrate oflime.
Effect of Internal Use. — This acid is used in medicine as a re¬
frigerant and antiscorbutic. It is an efficient substitute for lemon
juice, and is employed in making effervescing draughts.
Antidote. — So weak a vegetable acid as the one now under con¬
sideration is hardly likely to be taken in sufficient quantity to
require the exhibition of an antidote. Should such a contingency,
however, arise, the most suitable course to adopt would be to neu¬
tralise the acid by the administration of calcined magnesia, diffused
through water.
ON PORTRAITS AND PORTRAITURE.
By S. Thompson.
Since the Greek maiden made the first essay in portrait painting
by endeavouring to trace the shadow of her lover on the wall,
portraiture has passed — in the centuries intervening that poetic
myth and the photographic era — through many phases, styles,
schools, and mannerisms. Scarcely less in number have been the
media and pigments used. There were the illuminated missal, the
statues, the coins, and gems of antiquity. Portraits have been,
and are, painted in oil and water-colours, crayons, and other pig¬
ments — and now chemicals, with pencils of light, guided by hands
that have not lost their cunning because they have changed their
materials. The work, by whatever means, comes from within and
not from without, and is the reflex of the artist’s ideal. Then we
have, beside, portraits painted in words as only the true artist can
paint them. IIow Shakespeare painted them — beautiful creations
that they were ! And, in our own day, Tennyson as he only can
paint them ! —
“ - rare, pale Margaret,
O sweet, pale Margaret !”
contrasted with fairy Lilian
“ From beneath her gather’d dimple’
Glancing with black-beaded eyes. ”
IIow well he understands the immutable laws of breadth , harmony ,
and contrast — and employs them, too, as in “ the Gardener’s
Daughter ! ”
“ She stood —
A single stream of all her soft brown hair
Pour’d on one side : the shadow of the flowers
Stole all the golden gloss, and, wavering
Lovingly lower, trembled on her waist —
Ah ! happy shade ! — and still went wavering down —
* * * * half light, half shade.
She stood — a sight to make an old man young.”
Line upon line — tint upon tint — word upon word — looking round
which to choose ; each adding one of those little fine touches which
go to make perfection : trifles each, but, as a great sculptor once
said, all necessary to make that perfection which is no trifle.
Every stroke telling — clothing the dry bones with flesh and
blood until they become a living, breathing reality. Yes ! for, after
all, the ideal is the only real: things that are seen and patent to the
senses pass away and are not.
Then there are the various stages of mannerism through which
portraiture has passed, when portraits were less portraits of people
than portraits of satins and of laces and other frippery — huge
collars supporting, most uncomfortably, little flat, unmeaning
faces, like a small pip in the midst of an orange. Then there vras
the Hudson Bay phase, when people were robed with fur, and made
to appear as if they had either just returned from, or were about
to depart to, the North American colonies ; the flowered dres¬
sing-gown and literary phase; the “broadcloth without” and
full-bottomed wig phase ; followed by many others more or
less open to criticism. But, dress how you may, ye exquisites
of the present generation ! be sure posterity will have a laugh at
costumes which great lapses of time will inevitably make appear
absurd, uncouth, and ridiculous ! Portraits, too, sometimes tell
disagreeable tales. It was, we remember, once our fate to be a
particeps criminis in reducing the red face and decidedly plebian
look of a large portrait of a self-made wealthy and worthy manu¬
facturer to a proper degree of gentility (albeit at the expense of
the resemblance, which ought to have been most valued) for the
dining-room of a more aristocratic but less worthy son. Portraits
sometimes pass through many degradations — like cab-horses — ere
they at last come to adorn the club-room of a costermonger’s
harmonic. There is a story told of an old lady who hit upon a
happy device by which to avoid such sacrilege : the example is
worth following. Her husband was the last of his race, for
she had no children. She took all the family portraits out of their
frames, rolled them all up, and put them in the coffin with the
deceased. No one was more honourably accompanied to the grave
— and so he slept with his fathers.
Not less numerous are the varieties of portraits, presenting
quite a psychological study to the metaphysician Some persons
22
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
have quite a passion for sitting for their portraits — others an in¬
vincible repugnance ; and these — often the most worthy — submit¬
ting to it as a kind of infliction incident to their position, to be
endured with the same kind of philosophic resignation as that they
would exhibit if compelled to accept the Koran and plurality of
wives. There are others who are always excusing themselves to
themselves for sitting. This is really through a proper feeling. No
one would or should sit for a portrait for their own sakes. The
fact of sitting implies something which should have a higher
origin — in the region of the affections, or in private or public worth.
Portraiture was reserved by the ancients as a mark of great
honour. We are told they “used to cause those from whom the
commonwealth had received extraordinary benefits, either in war
or civil affairs, or for eminence in religion, to be represented in
marble or metal, or in a picture, that the sight of them by those
honours might be a spur to posterity to stimulate the same virtues.
This honour was first begun with their deities ; afterwards it was
paid to heroes, and, of consequence, to philosophers, orators, re¬
ligious men, and others, not only to perpetuate their virtues, but
also to embalm their names and memories.”
Portraits by photography are generally considered uncertain ,
which is not surprising when we consider how chameleon-like are
the flitting aspects of the human face. A passing thought — an
“ airy nothing” — will throw a shadow over the countenance at the
critical moment and alter the whole expression. Then there are
always particular aspects under which those at home like you best,
which may not have been caught. Sitters should always remember
that the photographer cannot, like the painter, work up a particu¬
lar expression ; and yet it is in those happy, evanescent gleams of
individuality of expression that photography is so great — far out¬
stripping the most gifted pencil of the'loftiest genius.
We have not the temerity to offer advice “ how to sit,” but an
old writer on art has so well counselled how not to sit that we
willingly re-enumerate his «o?i-poses : — “ Don’t, in your horror of a
sentimental, amiable look, put on yourself the air of a Diogenes, or
you will be like nothing human. Don’t put your hand into your
waistcoat, and one arm a-kimbo, like a Captain Macheath. Don’t
look up like a martyr, which some wonderfully affect ; and don’t
turn your head round as if in disgust with the body. Don’t put
your arm up as in command, or accompanied with a rapt look as if
you were listening to the music of the spheres. Don’t thrust out
your foot conspicuously as if you meant to advertise the blacking.
Don’t allow the artist to put you in any fancy attitudes. If you
are invariably not pleasant-looking don’t try to appear so, because
your portrait might be so unlike no one would know it, more par¬
ticularly if you have not the facial flexibility of Garrick, who sat
incognito to a painter several times, each time making up a different
face, until at last, the painter, foiled in every attempt, threw down
his pencils and said — -‘ You must be Garrick or the d - 1 !’ Don’t
have a roll in your hand — that always signifies a member of par¬
liament. Don’t have a finger on a book — that would be pedantry.
I don’t know what you will do with your hands, but don’t put them
into your pockets, or you lay yourself open to the criticism once
passed on an attorney who, from humble pretensions, had made a
good deal of money, and enlarged thereby his possessions, but
somehow or other had not very much enlarged his respectability.
To his pretensions was added that of having his portrait put up in
the parlour, as large as life. There it is, very flashy and very
true — one hand in his breast, the other in his small-clothes
pocket. It is market day : the country clients are called in :
opinions are passed, the family present, and all complimentary —
such as— ( Never saw such a likeness in the course of all my
born days!’ ‘As like ’un as he can stare!’ ‘Well, sure
enough, there he is!” But at last there is one dissentient —
‘’Taint like — not very — no, ’taint!’ said a heavy middle-aged
farmer, with rather a dry look, too, about his mouth, and a
moist one at the corner of his eye, and who knew the attorney
well. All were upon him. ‘ Not like ! — how not like? Say where
it is not like?’ ‘Why, don’t you see,’ said the man, ‘lie’s got
his hand in his breeches pocket : it would be as like again if he
had his hand in any other body’s pocket!’”
England has always liberally patronised portraiture. This is the
land where exotic and native portraitists have alike flourished.
Vandyke, Lely, and Holbein — to whom Henry VIII. made one of
his nobles apologise for some slight, bidding him to know that he
could make a hundred such as he, but it was past his poAver to
make a Holbein.
It is curious to reflect how little in past ages mankind knew of
their contemporaries. The form and features of many of those
who “moved the world” were as utterly unknown to those who
[January 15, 1802
lived in the same period as they are to us. The men of mark of our
own age are as familiar to us as “ household words.” We have
really no idea of what our race was like before the time of the
Reformation. What we see could not possibly be “ likenesses,”
because they simply are not humanity. Not until Holbein’s time
did we begin to see what men and women were. What our early
Henry s and Edwards were — what the Court and the people were
like — we cannot know : they are buried in the night of art, like the
brave who lived before the time of Agamemnon.
We sometimes hear people question whether portraits by
photography will continue to be as popular as they now are.
We might as reasonably ask whether railways will continue to lie
popular, and whether we shall not go back to the slow coaching
days. Photography ministers to a want deeply rooted in our
nature. So long as the affections and passions last, it must be
popular : so long as people marry and are given in marriage — so
long as friendship, love, heroism, genius, and goodness are attri¬
butes of humanity — so long will there be a demand for the fruits of
photography.
Kingsley has recently very forcibly asserted that “individual
character wonderfully sways the affairs of nations.” This unques¬
tionable fact raises the study of portraits from artistic to social
importance. The latent capabilities and applications of photo¬
graphy are as yet scarcely felt. Photography has a mission, and
that unquestionably a high one.
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
By J. Rothwell.
No. XI.
The topic which I purpose attempting to elucidate herein is the
very disagreeable, offensive appearances existing in almost all
photographic views which include distance : I mean that blank,
flat, misty indistinctness which usurps the place of distance. The
obnoxious effects resulting from the internal repeated reflections from
the surfaces of lenses, particularly when those surfaces are numer¬
ous ; and the fogging of those parts of pictures having weak light,
or in shade, arising from other parts having strong light.
A like effect also produced by strong actinic colours in certain
positions being reflected in such a manner that a portion impinges
on parts which represent colours of weak actinic power; and,
further, when there is a certain amount of mist or condensed
vapour in the air, it is much more opaque in the picture than it
appears in the actual view.
I believe it will not be disputed that, as a rule,, the foreground
and near objects seem to stand out well and satisfactorily when
the views have been taken with a strong light and clear atmos¬
phere ; and yet under the same favourable circumstances the distance
is not rendered with that distinctness which is highly appreciated
by the public, and which assists very materially in selling a picture,
whatever artists may think of its artistic properties. I he public
admire pictures which are natural — which represent nature truth¬
fully ; and so do I. Give me a picture in which I can see the most
distant object with the same distinctness as I can see the object
itself with the naked eye, under the conditions which are supposed
to be represented. Let us have no blank wall of mist hiding the
distance, and call that atmospheric effect, aerial perspective, &c.,
but a representation of space, of distance, of that wide expanse
bounded by celestial endlessness. If the object be to represent a
mist, whether it be a dense or light vapouring one, so be it.. Misty
pictures are not admired. People turn away from them with dis¬
taste. Even a pretty winter view, if cut short by a pall ot mist,
will be passed by to admire a snow-clad scene taken on a clear
day, including distance. But the difficulty with photography is
to picture truly matters as they are, and perhaps there is no
greater in the art than taking a view when there is. some mist in
the air, and representing that truly ; for the. mischief is that a light
mist is converted into a thick one, and a thick or strong one into
a dense, impenetrable fog, which completely shuts out the dis¬
tance, and thus deprives one of the pleasure of examining numei -
ous objects in the landscape, in consequence of which we turn from
the picture with disappointment. . .
Noav, as this is a very grave evil, and one almost universally
present in views, it becomes a question of the first importance to
discover the cause or causes, and, if possible, propound a remedy.
The chief cause of the mistiness of the distance being more intense
in a picture than what it ought to be, or than what it appears in
the real view, I ascribe to the colour of the mist or vapour. .1 say,
in consequence of mist being white it will make an impression oi
January lo, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
23
picture of itself (if picture it can be called) on a plate in a much
shorter time than clark-coloured objects on the same plate ; and if
the exposure be continued long enough for the image of dark-
coloured objects to be sufficiently impressed, then the action of the
white mist will have been so strong or accumulated as to obscure
or almost blot out the distant objects which should be seen through
that mist. As an argument in support of this, let us suppose there
are two objects to be photographed — one a white house, the other
an old dark brick building, both equally distant from the camera,
and, of course, illumined by the same light. Now every photo¬
grapher knows that a picture of the white house, with perfect
detail, could be obtained in a time so short that, with an equal
exposure, an impression of the dark building would scarcely be
visible at all ; but if the exposure were increased enough for the
dark building, then a great portion of the detail of the white house
would be blurred up or blotted out. Such, similarly, is the action
of mist. These effects or conditions would be more remarkable with
a weak light than a strong one — in fact, I can conceive a light
so weak that with a long exposure I could obtain a picture of the
white house, but no amount of exposure would bring the dark
building out ; therefore, on the other hand, a strong diffused light
must give the most perfect picture of all objects, whether light,
dark, or coloured.
There is another matter to be taken into account here in relation
to the action of light — namely, the apparent continually increasing
power from a light-coloured or strongly-illumined object over
that from a weakly-lighted object, or one in the shade, during
the time of exposure. If, with the two objects above-named, I
assert that the action of the light from the white house, during
a certain exposure, increases in geometrical ratio, while that
from the dark building increases in arithmetical ratio only, per¬
haps I may not be far wrong; and, if so, I think it may fairly
be inferred that the nearer pictures can be taken instantaneously
the more correct will be the result as regards representing
the lights and shadows truly. I do not mean to say that the
power of the light itself increases according to the above mathe¬
matical proportions, but that the results of its continued action
on the chemical film amount to such effects, or, in other words,
that the decomposition, deposition, deoxidation, or whatever else
it may be called, occurring on those parts of the film on which the
strongest lights fall, is effected in a shorter time than suffices for
the weaker lights. Thus in all cases when there are violent con¬
trasts of lights and shadows, the quicker the picture is struck the
better; and, whatever can be done to contribute to the same end
in the qualities or compounding of the chemicals, ought not to be
lost sight of.
With respect to the remedies or means of preventing or avoid¬
ing the above mischiefs, I have already indicated one, namely, to
take views with as short an exposure as possible, and also to take
advantage of a good light. If at any time these favourable condi¬
tions cannot be obtained, there is nothing for it but to Avait until
they can be secured. The same precautions apply in getting a
clear distance in addition to a clear atmosphere ; for it is spoiled
Avorlc, and a Avaste of time and material, to take pictures when
there is much mist in the air or a Aveak light, because it is
beyond our power to increase the latter or remove the former.
Photography, like all other human inventions, has its imperfec¬
tions and difficulties, and one of its greatest defects is its in¬
ability to depict coloured objects satisfactorily, especially when the
colours are numerous and of violent contrasts, photographically
speaking. See Avhat a simple skeleton-looking thing a photograph
of a beautiful many-coloured bouquet is ! It is not merely the
Avant of colours, but the obnoxious contrasts between certain
colours — some being muclfoverdone, Avitlx their details blotted up;
others underdone, Avith the details not visible. Hoav different,
how much more exquisitely pleasing, Avhen the fibres, yea, the
very filaments on the flowers and leaves, can be delineated to
satisfaction ! So Avith a portrait. IIoav vastly superior when
the dark portions of the dress are up, and yet the lighter parts
showing the detail, the thread, the very material of Avhich the
article is composed ! These same observations Avill bear on the
case of taking materials the surfaces of which are bright or highly
reflecting.
I have always considered that there is a great similarity between
taking a view including distance and a bunch of floAvers of many
colours — that is, in so far as relates to the contrasts ; but, in the
view, there is, besides the contrasts in colours, the contrasts of
high lights and weak ones, and also the highly actinic-coloured
mist, if such be present. Noav, as Ave cannot change the colour
or remove the mist, the next best thing Ave can do is to take the
.
opportunity of having a perfectly clear atmosphere, for, even in
that case, there Avill be plenty of what may be taken as mist ;
but, if a vieAv has to be taken when there is mist, it ought to be
done when there is sunshine or powerful light.
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL BEAUTY AND
THE PRINCIPLES OF. COMPOSITION.*
By W. H. Davies.
No. I.
Int grouping figures it may be taken as an axiom that it is more
difficult to group tAvo figures than either one or three : Avhen there
are more than three, the task becomes more difficult the greater
the number of figures to be dealt Avith. It is here that a know¬
ledge of the lines of arrangement, a sense of pictorial beauty, and
the skill of the artist in applying the knoAvledge is called into
play; for the camera and the sensitised plate is not like the palette
and brush, that can go leisurely about the matter and blot out a
bad line and substitute another and a better, or skilfully help the
inadvertance of a sitter, and in many Avays improve the effect by
adding to, or taking from, portions that may not be sufficiently
picturesque or that spoil the general arrangement. The photo¬
grapher must do these things at once ; and, before beginning to
impress the image on his tablet, he must have the Avhole effect in his
mind, or, better still, have it roughly sketched : then, having found
he must do it, do it at once. Fortunately he has this in his favour,
the accidental arrangements which groups take are often better
than could be devised impromptu, inasmuch as they bear the stamp
of naturalness and unstudied ease, and, as such, are better than the
most studied art, unless the art be Avell concealed; for nothing
annoys the gazer so much as to see the hand that moves the pup¬
pets.
From the arrangement of one figure to that of two the transition
is easy on paper, although not so in portraiture : the difficulties
increase rather in a geometrical than in an arithmetical ratio, and
the chances of success are correspondingly diminished. In the
composition of a fancy group the artist-operator can follow out his
own idea of the method of arranging the figures ; but it does not
always happen that professionals can do so with their sitters, Avho
will often perversely insist on being taken in a particular way,
whatever protest the photographer may make to the contrary — so
that Ave must be careful to avoid crediting him with all the horrid
things one sees on glass and paper, as they must often do them to
the order of their clients, unless, indeed, they prefer being Avith-
out such orders, and show to the Avorld the sublime spectacle of a
voluntary commercial failure at the shrine, of artistic success.
Among the examples of subjects Avith tAvo figures I have, un¬
fortunately, been unable to secure a sufficient number of choice
examples ; but some of them are very perfect. I should have
liked to have had some of Frank Stone’s best compositions, as they
are very fine, and he has been exceedingly successful with two-
figure pictures. This of Ary Scheffer’s — Mignon and her Father — is
one of his best, and is a fine example of sentiment, expression, and
arrangement, as the two companion ones of Mignon Aspirant de
del and Mignon Regretlant la Patrie are of single figures. His Dante
and Beatrice also is Avell worthy of study. This of the Morning
Ablution is a little gem, and perfectly photographic. If Ave turn to
the sculptors for a lesson, Foley’s Ino and Bacchus Avill afford us a
good one : it is exceedingly good and very graceful, and the pos¬
ture, though uncommon in portraiture, is one not at all difficult to
execute in photography. A sofa is neither an unusual nor an un¬
graceful object; and just suppose tbe semi-nude Ino to be clothed,
and lying on the sofa, toying and playing Avith the child, and you
Avill have conceived of a very complete little picture. In all of
these subjects, and in most of those I see around which I do not
speak about, there is ahvays some action in the figures — something
they are doing — thus fulfilling the first requisite of good composi¬
tion. But of Iioav many photographs can you say the same thing?
Look round the specimens brought together from various quarters
and judge, for they are fairly selected. It may be said that, in
advising you to use the known productions of the great men in
painting and sculpture as the basis of your own compositions,
I am counselling a kind of Avholesale annexation of their ideas;
but if Ave are to take the artists themselves to judge us Ave Avill not
find many?- to condemn — in fact all of them Avho have taught in the
matter have adA-ised their scholars to adapt the forms and spirit of
the best examples to which they have access to their own pur¬
poses, alloAving it to be a very venial offence indeed.
* Continued from page 3.
24
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1802
Those who are in the habit of studying the pictures in the
various exhibitions, if they have the analytic faculty and a
memory, will see dozens of pictures all referable to the same type,
although far from being considered copies by the artists them¬
selves °or by the hanging committee. Apropos to this subject
an artist-friend of mine has told me how lie got a suggestion
from Raffaele’s cartoon of Christ's Charge to Peter for the arrange
ment of an Irish funeral. The half-frantic Irish woman kneeling
by the side of the grave was Peter; the parish priest was made
tu take the place of Christ; and the audience and tombstones.were
supplied by the rest of the picture. He had seen the scene itself,
but the pictorial application of it was suggested by this cartoon,
which, as you see, by a change of costume is easily adaptable to
such a subject. ...
But as I must have nearly exhausted your patience, L will go no
farther with my illustrations tonight, and will reserve the con¬
sideration of subjects with more than two figures, and also the
other principles which have yet to be treated, for another opportu-
nitv. Meanwhile, I will conclude with Haydon’s analysis of the
cartoon I have referred to, in order to show how fully and accurately
a picture can be described and the composition dissected, so as to
show the use and value of every figure and almost every line, and
because you can have no higher examples than those cartoons :
they are standard, and ILrydon may be accepted as a first-rate
authority on this matter. He says : — “ In the hands of an ordinary
painter what could be done with Feed my Sheep ? Could any
man have believed that Avithout the graces of woman any subject
could have been made so delightful as Raffaele has done this ?
"What it wants in variety of character, as to sex and age, he has
supplied by exhibiting the various ways in which different tem¬
peraments are affected by the same thing — what in picturesque
variety of dress by infinite variations of the same dress affected
by variety of action, which is the result of different sensations
acting on the figure, and by harmony of colour ; and by arrangement
he has made it very little less full of attraction than any other of
the cartoons. Christ is the first figure which attracts notice, stand¬
ing in an unaffected and simple manner — not resting on one leg,
and throAving the Avhole behind like the eternal action of the run
of antique statues, but as all men stand when they are not stand¬
ing to be seen, and only as their convenience or ease induces them.
His expression has a mixture of melancholy and pathos, beautifully
touching : it is the finest head of Christ in all the cartoons. He is
pointing to a fiock of sheep, indicative of the text, and to the keys
in Peter’s hand as connecting him with the Catholic church — St.
Peter being the head of it. St. Peter is on his knees, watching with
eagerness the looks of his Divine Master, and listening Avitlr an
inquiring submission to the utterance of His will. St. John presses
forward full of anxiety and affection — his hands up as if in adoration
— his nose, eye, and mouth, action and expression, denoting regard
as lively and as delicate as the soul of the painter Avho conceived
and painted him.
“ Though Baffaele’s St. Johns are built on the St. Johns of all the
great painters, from Cimabue downwards, yet Raffaele added a
beauty they all missed, and Avhicb would have rendered all repre¬
sentation of him incomplete Avithout this addition. He seems to
say : — ‘Do not think that I have less love of thee than another :
believe me as intensely devoted, 0 ! Divine Master, as the apostle
to Avhom thou hast committed this charge.’ Another, by his side,
seems to lilt his hands in rather envious astonishment. The one
behind is rather pressing forward towards Christ with affection : the
next turns round to his companions Avith simple wonder and in¬
quiry, and, Avithout speaking, looks Avith a scrutinising vigour first
to ascertain Avhat the other thinks by his air, and before he ventures
an opinion ; Avhile the other, with graceful simplicity, is holding
his robe, and expressing also surprise, but mingled Avith pleasure.
The one immediately behind this last is too far off to comprehend
or hear exactly Avhat is passing, and, Avith his head half dropped,
lie seems in a breathless mixture of half eye half ear to make out,
as Avell as he can, what is happening in front : he is so placed that
lie could seo Jesus between the heads of the others, but is scarcely
near enough to hear. Of the remaining three the hair only of one
is seen, and the faces of the other two denote no particular emotion.
This skilfully exhibits the interest — dying away, as it Avere, the
further it is removed from the cause of excitement.
“ By studying carefully the figure of Christ as a composition, im¬
mense knowledge may be gained to all : it is a fine example of
management, so as to prevent a single figure coming flatly and
meagrely on i I ^background.
“On the left side avc see how rich and full it is by the great
vaiiety cf shapes ptoduced by the folds of the drapery : then comes
part of a sheep feeding, and then some weeds, while a creek run¬
ning in from the lake crosses the left hand at the thumb joint ;
and, again, the other line of the creek goes from the inside of the
elbow to the drapery. All these produce a variety of quantities
as to shape and figure, breaks the meagre line of a naked and
and takes off the perpendicular and angular ending of contour
which the drapery of Christ on this side Avould produce.
“On the other side of the right hand issues a mass of broad
drapery, and the flock of sheep by their heads and bodies break
the uniformity of shape Avhich there Avould be if it had nothing but
a flat surface. This is Avhat is called supporting a figure — prevent¬
ing it rising abruptly out of the background, which would be the
case Avere there nothing between the figure and the distant objects.”
STEBEQGRAPES.
An Artist's Gatherings in Cornwall, Devon, and the West of
England. Photographed by George Wilson, Aberdeen.
During the season of 18G1 one of our most renowned artist-photo¬
graphers, Mr. George Wilson, selected for his sketching-ground
the southernmost district of the island, probably as a contrast to
the (to him) more familiar but not less beautiful sections of
Great Britain, comprising the Scottish Highlands. In calling it a
“ sketching-ground ” Ave have perhaps employed a term scarcely
appropriate in connexion Avith Mr. Wilson’s productions, which are
rather finished pictures than sketches, the only thing in common
betAveen the tAvo being their rapidity of execution ; but Ave scarcely
knoAv what expression Ave could use that Avould be more definitive,
unless indeed Ave Avere to call it his al-fresco studio. lloAvcver,
whatever may be the proper designation of the place of temporary
sojourn for artistic purposes, the results of the artist’s labours are
more to our present purpose, and Ave propose describing some of
those which are noAv before us.
The Land’s End (No. 311) is as interesting in an artistic point
of vieAv as it is in a sentimental one. The broken columnar point
of rock, stretching far away into the ocean, Avith its smaller
detached masses forming Liliputian islets bathed with eddying
Avaters and foaming surf, and the rough angular points sharply
defined, contrast beautifully Avith the gently-rounded undulating
Avavelets of the ocean melting gradually into the far-off horizon,
indicated rather than seen through the naturally moist atmosphere.
Those avIio deny to photography its capability of rendering atmos¬
pheric perspective have only to look upon this subject to become
convinced that their notions are erroneous.
The Logan Stone (No. 309) is interesting rather as the repre¬
sentation of a natural curiosity than as a picture ; but
The Cheesewring (No. 307), though at least equally curious,
presents far more of the picturesque. There are three views of
this singular natural cairn of stones, consisting of some eight or
nine huge rounded masses piled one upon another, the largest
being at the top. The stunted herbage and lichen-covered rocks
add much to the effect, and still more the introduction (in that
marked A) of a couple of figures seated under the overhanging
stones of the Cheesewring, one of them, with extended arm, pointing
out to his companion something in the far distance.
Of The Viaduct on the Cornavall Railway at Saltash (Nos.
305 and 306), one view is taken from the shore, the other from
the river. Both Avill be valued by engineers as records of the skill
of Sir I. K. Brunei. During the construction of the Avork the
late Mr. Robert Howlett Avas emplojmd to photograph the same in
order to retain accurate representations of its progress, and Ave
accompanied him to Plymouth on the last occasion of his visiting
the spot for that purpose, shortly prior to the time of his death.
Perhaps this is the reason Ave take an interest in the subject
uoav before us, as we must admit that there is not much room
for the display of high artistic skill in its delineation.
What a contrast Avith the preceding is there in the next slide
we have to notice ! for, though only that very matter-of-fact
object — a vmssel of war in harbour — Mr. Wilson has converted it
into a charming picture, Avhether vieAved in or out of the stereo¬
scope. PI. M. Ship “ Impregnable,” 104 Guns, Guardslnp in
Hamoaze (No. 313), is seen through a vista in the branches of
an oak tree, the toAvering hull and stately masts being faintly
reflected in the water ; and the background of low hills in the far
distance and the building sheds of the dockyard on the right are
in good keeping — some smaller craft, especially a barque Avith
very raking masts, acting as foils to display the huge propor¬
tions of the man-of-war. A very excellent picture is also the
same vessel as shoAvn in an another slide (No. 313 a), without
■January IS, 1862 ]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
25
the framework of foliage, but wherein is a small sailing’ boat
violently rocked by the wavelets, the huge vessel lying tran¬
quil and stately.
Whilst on nautical subjects, we cannot forbear noticing (Nos. 316
and 317) Great-Gun Practice on board H.M.S. “ Cambridge,'" in
Hamoaze. In the former, the mirror-like surface of the water has
been just ruffled by the concussion of the air caused by the explo¬
sion of a single gun, the white smoke from which, in rolling rounded
masses, lias been delineated with perfect truthfulness — the reflec¬
tion of the vessel in the water, with her bare masts and rigging,
being grotesquely contorted, and rendered with charming accuracy,
while the reflected light from the sky, glancing under the vessel’s
stern, adds much to the effect as a work of art. No. 317 is a
representation of the same vessel firing a broadside, and taken
from a point more towards the stern : the very different effect
produced upon the water in this as compared with the former
subject is worthy of remark. There are several other capital
llustrations of marine subjects; but we can only spare space for
.he description of one more containing views of the “ Sheldrake”
\nd “ Charon” Gunboats in Ilamoaze , with Keyiiam Steam-
yard in the distance (No. 325). This is a capital slide. The
watqy and gunboats in the foreground, the long low workshops
ind steam chimneys in the far middle distance, backed by the
rounded hills with scattered buildings, and adorned with a sky
■shrouded in natural clouds, combining to make up a very fine
picture.
The Cathedral at Exeter has been well illustrated. The
WestFront being represented in No. 295, showing the beautiful mass
of figures which adorn it, though they would be more correctly des¬
cribed by calling it a “ view of the Cathedral from the west.”
No. 300 is a representation on a larger scale of The Great West
Door, including also about fifteen or sixteen of the surrounding
figures in alto relievo (alas ! that it should be so), sadly mutilated
by the corroding hand of Time. One-half of the massive iron door
is partially opened, showing a glimpse of the interior, which, how¬
ever, is scarcely discernible except it be viewed in the stereo¬
scope.
A fine view of The Choir of Exeter Cathedral is depicted in
No. 297, showing well the magnificent stained-glass window and
beautifully carved oak canopy of the Bishop’s throne. No. 296
is a view of the choir from the east end, showing, in addition to
the throne, the carved canopy of the pulpit, and, instead of the east
window, the organ occupies the central position, while the whole
extent of the splendid roof, over both choir and nave, stretches in
long perspective to the west window, a fragmentary portion of
[which is visible by the side of the organ. A view of The Nave,
looking East (No. 298), is nearly the converse of the preceding ;
but though without some of the interesting features of the pre¬
vious slide, their absence is to some extent balanced by a tine
chequering beam of sunlight falling upon the screen.
Want of space compels us to postpone to another opportunity
the notice of many others of Mr. Wilson’s recent productions ;
but before closing the present one, while upon Cathedral interiors,
we may appropriately make mention of two taken from Glou¬
cester Cathedral, which must not be passed over. The first to
which Ave allude (No. 301) is the representation of an extraor-
dinarily-fine painted window. This is seen between two rows of
plain cylindrical columns, united by semicircular arches, which,
without presenting any architectural beauty, are important
elements in the pictorial composition, and assist materially in
giving value to the play of light and shade.
No. 304 exhibits, in fine perspective, the beautifully-carved
root of The Cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral, the pavement
chequered with sunlight streaming in through the embrasures on
the right hand, lighting up. the roof well by its radiation, the
culminating focus of the long perspective being well defined by
a dark corner pierced by a small window, each forming an
appropriate, though not violent, contrast to the immediate sur¬
roundings ; but, dark as the corner is, it is full of detail. This is
a fine combination of contrast and harmonious subordination of
parts, and the slide will, unquestionably, be a favourite both
with the novice and the amateur.
bine as Mr. Wilson's “interiors” have always been since we
have had the pleasure of being acquainted with them, he appears
to us evei’y succeeding season to acquire increased skill in
their delineation. We are always fond of rambling through the
mazes of our old Cathedrals whenever we have a chance of
doing so; and we cannot but linger with much gratification over
such representations of their familiar scenes as those now
before us.
THE PRINCIPLE OP THE DIORAMA APPLIED TO
PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES.
We extract the following from the Glasgoio Daily Herald: — -
“Within the last day or two we have had the pleasure of inspecting
a highly interesting invention of our townsman, Dr. Taylor, of the
Andersonian University, by means of which the principle of the diorama
has been applied for the first time to photographic pictures. Photography
produces pictures admirably perfect in the form and proportions of their
objects, and unapproachable in truthful accuracy by any other species
of art. To give the charm of colour, and of changing light and shade
with the varied hues of morning, noonday, evening, or moonlight, along
with the fidelity of the photograph, seemed to be all that was requisite in
order greatly to increase the gratification derivable from the inspection
of such pictures. The translucency of photographs on glass fits them in
a greater degree than any other species of pictures for taking on in a
truthful manner changes of hue and shade by transmitted light ; even
the deepest shadows, from their semi-transparency, being capable of
being affected in their hue by the general change of colour of the light.
Dr. Taylor’s principle and its application possess the merit of extreme sim¬
plicity ; and considering the sudden and rapid development of photogra¬
phic art, it is somewhat astonishing that nobody had previously alighted
upon this secret. The Doctor’s problem was not merely to colour the photo¬
graphic plate — not merely to produce successive transitions of colouring
before the eye of the spectator, but to produce even the movement of clouds.
This, we can say from what Ave have Avitnessed, has been successfully
accomplished. The apparatus consists of an ordinary eosmoramic box,
with a slide in the one side of it, for holding the picture, and Avith lenses
on the opposite side, properly placed, through which the spectator looks at
the picture. The pictures are carefully dimmed, or rendered slightly opaque
in the light, to prevent the motion and forms of objects behind from being
too distinctly seen through them, and a little delicate and appropriate
colour is painted on the opposite side of the glass. The chief modification
and change of colour and shade are produced by the motion of a coloured
surface placed behind the picture, and strongly illuminated by a row of
gas-burners, the light from Avhich is kept from directly reaching the pic¬
ture. This surface, on Avhich the clouds and bands of graduated colour
and shade are painted, is stretched round a light frame of Avood, so as to
give it a cylindrical or drum shape. The drum is about five feet in
diameter, and is suspended by a cord from the roof. It is kept by the band,
or by means of some appropriate machinery, in a state of sIoav rotation,
so as to bring the differently coloured and shaded portions successively
opposite the pictures. The drum is placed at a distance of about nine
inches from the picture ; and the differences of distance betAveen the lem,
and the drum contribute much to the beauty of the aerial effects. By
this simple appliance Avonderful results are produced. Whatever per-
fpictive exists in a picture is brought out in a manner that the ordinary
methods of painting need scarcely hope to equal, and every object bulk?
out from the picture Avitli such completeness that one feels he could tako
a hold of it. It is scarcely to be doubted that this simple appliance,
which could be easily fitted up, so as to be both portable and elegant, Avill
yet be so mechanised, or arranged, as to become an agreeable means of
enjoyment in many private families. It is right to say that Dr. Taylor
has been ably and indefatigably seconded in his labours by Mr. Macnab,
photographer, West Nile Street, avIio printed and prepared some of the
plates, and in Avhose premises Ave had the pleasure of inspecting the
apparatus. The actual measurement of some of the plates Avhich we sarv
was 15 inches by 12 : the magnified size, as viewed through the lens, was
of course much greater.
“Dr. Taylor suggests that the same mode of \dewing stereoscopic
pictures in glass, by means of a moving coloured background, might be
folloAved, as it adds greatly to their effect. In this case a flat disc, turning
on its centre, and laid flat on a table, seems to be the best form for use.
The usual obscure glass used to cover the stereoscopic picture must be
removed, and a transparent glass, slightly dimmed, put in its place.
Much of the beauty of the effect depends, as a matter of course, on the
manner in Avhich the bands of colour and shade aro arranged on
the disc.”
The principle of the idea carried out by Dr. Taylor has of course
occurred to several scientific photographers, and been adapted to
various modifications of transparent slides. We ourselves pro¬
posed to Messrs. Negretti and Zambra the use of coloured glass for
the suggestion of colour in the transparent photographs used last
year at the Crystal Palace for the dissolving views — the glasses Ave
contrived being painted in transparent colours, arranged in various
modes, and were to he placed at some distance behind the slides,
betAveen them and the condenser. The idea of moving clouds had,
hoAvever, not occurred to us. We notice that at the Polytechnic
Institution (London) photographs of American scenery, by Mr. W.
England, are being exhibited during the Christmas holidays
amongst the dissolving views; and it is not improbable that
this feature of suggesting colour may be introduced there
also, as Ave were recently pointing out to him tho" advantage of
this addition.
20
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1802
THE TAJOTIW PROCESS.
By Major Bussell.
CHAPTER IV.
[B'j the special permission of the Author ice reproduce the following .]
Commercial tannin appears to be very uniform in its action, but some
samples contain more insoluble resinous matter than others. This
impurity is not injurious, but it increases the difficulty of preparing
and filtering the liquid. The solution may be of any strength, from
ten grains to thirty grains to the ounce of water, and within these
limits will give good results with any kind of subject. The stronger
the solution, however, in the case of a sensitive and newly iodised
collodion, the redder the image at the commencement of develop¬
ment, and the richer and more vigorours the picture — especially
so when the subject is badly lighted. If the plate is to be used for
a landscape containing dark foliage and sky in a good light, or for
any other kind of subject which gives great contrast of light and
shade, a strong solution of tannin on a new and sensitive collodion
causes a development so energetic and rapid as to be rather
difficult to control. It will therefore perhaps be better in such
cases not to exceed fifteen grains of tannin to the ounce, and not
to use a very freshly iodised collodion — at any rate until some
familiarity with the process has been gained, especially as regards
the management of the development. If less than ten grains to
the ounce be used on a sensitive collodion, the image is apt to be
feeble and slow of development. The strength of the tannin
solution within the above limits does not perceptibly affect the ad¬
hesion of the film to the glass when gelatine has been used.
Weigh out a quantity of tannin sufficient to fill three common
one-ounce, two-ounce, or three-ounce phials with solution of the
strength preferred. The third bottle may be larger than the others,
to avoid the trouble of often making fresh solution. Mix the tan¬
nin with the quantity required of distilled water in a glass vessel,
stirring with a glass rod until dissolved. If much resinous matter
be present it will, with entangled tannin, form glutinous lumps
which require some time and much stirring to break up. Should
but little resin be present, the solution will be complete in a few
minutes, when the liquid is to be filtered through paper. The
rapidity of filtering likewise varies with the amount of resin present :
should the filter become clogged, pour back the solution into a
glass, and change the paper. After being once or twice filtered no
further trouble will be given in the same way. Pour into the
bottles, and number 1, 2, and 3 ; add half a drachm of alcohol to the
ounce in 1 and 2, and one drachm to the ounce in 3. The use of
the alcohol is to preserve the tannin solution, and to enable it to
penetrate the collodion film more readily ; if the alcohol were
added before filtering it would dissolve much of the resin, which
would be gradually precipitated by the evaporation of the alcohol,
and be always clogging the filters.
Take two glass measures and place in each a small gutta-percha
funnel containing a fresh filtering paper; pour the contents of
No. 1 into one, and No. 2 into the other. Place three levelling
stands side by side : lift the end of the first excited plate with a
silver hook (or, which will do as well, with a piece of stick having
a sharp-ended foot nearly at right angles made by cutting off where
a small branch comes out), and when the end is out of the water
take the plate up with the fingers and place it on a pneumatic
holder. Wash under a tap for a few seconds to remove any dust
on the surface. Sensitive plates are often spoiled in this operation
by dirty water splashed from the sink. To avoid this, tilt up
under the tap a large plate of glass, or a piece of board or slate,
or a porcelain dish upside down, at an angle of 30° to 45°.
Rinse the film with a little distilled water to remove the saline
matters of the common water, and to prevent their being mixed
with the tannin solution; then, if the plate be small, incline it so
that the end at which the collodion left the plate is uppermost,
take hold of the two corners of this end with the right hand covered
with a clean cloth, detach the holder and wipe the back slightly
with the left hand, then, shifting it under a dry part of the cloth,
take hold of the two lower corners, and wipe again with the right
hand. The draining and wiping will take about half a minute.
The object of wiping the back is not only to prevent dilution of
the tannin solution, but also to prevent water coming into contact
with the points of thc levelling stand, and then carrying impurities
into the tannin solution. The object of covering the hands with
tin- cloth is to prevent water which has touched the fingers from
running on the sensitive surface, and also to avoid making the film
surface dry by the warmth of the hand, as this would impede the
How of the tannin solution. Take by the same corners as before
with the right hand ; these will now be surface dry, so the fingers
need not be covered by the cloth. Place on the left hand levelling
stand, and pour some of the solution No. 1. on the right-hand end
of the plate, taking care to leave the extreme corners 3 and 4 dry,
that the solution may not come in contact with the fingers.
The corners are here numbered the same as in the cut, at page 306, and the
gelatine and collodion are both supposed to have been drained at 3.
Should the edges have become too dry to allow the solution to
flow on them, pour a little into the funnel, and, while dripping,
carry along the dry parts with the nose just clear of the surface.
Bubbles are not easily formed by the liquid, and if formed, break
immediately. Replace the funnel in the glass and hold in the left
hand ; take the plate by corners 3 and 4 with the right hand, and
tilt so as to drive all remaining moisture before it into the funnel
from corner 2. Then pour on and off in the same manner some of
solution No. 2 ; pour on again and let it remain until the next two
plates have been treated in the same manner on the two other
stands. This way of working will give ample time for the solu¬
tion to penetrate the film, without causing any loss of time.
Should the glasses be large, after rinsing with distilled water,
hold the plate vertically, with corner 2 downwards, and wipe the
back round the holder slightly ; then take by corner 2 with the
left hand, covered with the cloth, the angle resting on the thumb,
the back supported by the fingers, and the plate in a nearly verti¬
cal position over the hand; remove the holder, and wipe again
with the right hand. Corner 4 is to be kept dry, since by lifting
it the solution is poured off at corner 2, which is the most con¬
venient way of working. The wiping cloth should be of cotton,
and, if used for this purpose only, will remain sufficiently clean for
a long time. When three plates have been covered with tannin
solution, pour off the first, when the surface will show oily lines
from the alcohol : these are of no consequence. Pour on and off
once more. Attach the pneumatic holder, and, when the solution
has nearly ceased to drip, set the plate upon filtering paper on the
draining stand on corner 1 : by draining on this corner the solution
is prevented from leaving those edges of the film which are most
apt to repel it, and at the same time a somewhat thicker coat of
tannin is formed on that part of the plate where the collodion film
is thinnest. This state of things is favourable to uniform intensity
of development.
Cover another plate with tannin in the same manner on the
levelling stand, then drain the next, and so on till all are set up to
dry. In using tannin solution always pour from the plate into the
filtering funnel, which is to be kept in the glass measure, except
when pouring on, when it is to be held in the left hand over the
plate. This involves no trouble or delay, as the liquid filters
through quite as fast as it can be used, and in this way dust is
prevented from accumulating in it. When a number of plates
have been prepared fill up No. 1 from No. 2, and No. 2 from No. 3:
by this means. dilution to any extent is avoided.
The glass measures and funnels never require washing, and the
filtering papers need only be changed when they work too slowly.
The solution may be returned to the bottles after use, as it does
not appear to be at all injured when the plates are entirely free
from nitrate of silver ; and this should always be the case, since
the presence of nitrate often causes stains, and the sensitiveness of
the plates, if dry, is not thereby increased — at any rate when the
collodion contains a sufficient amount of bromide.
The tannin solution sometimes becomes mouldy if kept, particu¬
larly when the alcohol has been nearly removed by evaporation
from frequent use. A drop of oil of cloves in each bottle entirely
prevents this tendency, and does not seem to produce any injurious
effect, unless undissolved globules of the oil are poured upon the
film. All chance of such globules may be avoided by allowing the
oil to remain at the bottom of the bottle, which is never to be
quite emptied, and by taking care not to apply the solution to the
sensitive surface without previous filtration. Undissolved globules
2T
January 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
of oil, if poured on with the solution, will adhere to the him, and
produce transparent spots of insensitiveness. A quantity of stiong
solution of tannin, which became very mouldy about lour years
ago, and to which oil of cloves was then added, settled quite clear,
and has remained in the same state ever since, and, although
dark in colour, gives as good results as the Ireshly prepaied
The plates, after being coated with tannin, should be left to diy
spontaneously at a moderate temperature, rather than by artificial
heat. In the case of the gelatine process, and most other dry pro¬
cesses in which the nitrate of silver is entirely removed, drying
strongly by heat is favourable to sensitiveness; but plates pie-
pared with tannin appear to be exceptional, their sensitiveness
being increased by drying up to a certain point, and beyond that
being diminished again. The amount of dryness which appears to
be most favourable is about that which the him will attain spon¬
taneously in the ordinary state of the air. It is evident from the
above that, however dried, the him should be uniformly dry
when exposed. Another objection to drying at a high temperature
is, that it renders the film more liable to loosen horn the glass when
moistened for development. On the other hand, it the him be ex¬
posed when in too moist a state the definition of the image will be
found to be injured. Great care should be taken not to expose the
plates to light whilst drying, as even the light from a dull lire will
soon injure them. Access of dust to the him whilst moist should
also be carefully guarded against; but, when the plates aie
dry, this point is of little consequence, as the suilace will beai
wiping. . , , r
The plates, when dry, may be kept in the way recommended foi
the gelatini.-ed glasses ; but they must, of course, be well piotected
from light as well as from damp. The quicklime will scaicely be
required, as the surface, when coated with tannin, does not, if
moderately dry, appear to be liable to become mouldy. It the
lime be use:!, the plates should be placed in the slides a tew hours
before exposure, that they may absorb a veiy small degree of
moisture from the air. The writer has not found the plates at all
deteriorated by keeping; but he has not tested them beyond a
month before exposure, and six weeks after exposure, but before
development. AVhether the gelatine will dimmish the keeping
quality of the plates, especially in hot weather, by keeping a trace
of nitrate of silver in combination, must be determined by ex¬
perience.
When the film is dry, the surface should present a bright and
highly-polished appearance. If the collodion has been made from
good pyroxyline, any dullness seen by reflected light is always the
result of some kind of mismanagement, and is most commonly pro¬
duced in one of the following ways : — I irstby adhesion of insoluble
salts of silver, from the plates having been placed in hard water, or
salt and water, before the nitrate was sufficiently removed by dis¬
tilled water ; secondly, by the film having been too much dried
before immersion in the nitrate hath ; and thirdly, from the use of
over-iodised collodion. In the first case the precipitated matter
will appear in smears following the direction in tvhich the plate
entered the hard water, or in which the water first flowed over it.
In the second case, the deposit will probably be confined to the
neighbourhood of the two edges which were upwards when the
coliodion was poured off, which edges will look blue and transpa¬
rent. In the third case, the loose iodide will be distributed more
uniformily over the plate, without the transparent edges at the
upper end. In the first case, if the precipitated matter is of small
amount, it may be entirely removed, and the plate made practically
as good as if no deposit had been formed on it, by attaching the
glass to the holder, and rubbing the surface with a tuft of clean dry
cotton wool. This should have a handle formed by binding round
a part of the wool with string, the end of which should form a loop,
to hang on a nail in the edge of a shelf or other convenient place.
If kept for this purpose only it may be used for a great length of
time. In the second and third cases, the plate will be improved by
removing the loose iodide in the same manner ; and in the second
case, the picture will be good on that portion of the film which
retains its opacity, and is not rendered more transparent by the
loss of iodide of silver. In the third case, a good result cannot be
expected, especially when the amount of loose iodide is large, and
has marked the film by bursting out irregularly.
In all cases it will be well to brush the surface of the excited
plate with the cotton wool before placing it in the slide, to remove
any particles of dust which may be present. If a new and horny
collodion was used pretty hard rubbing will cause no injury,
especially when the solution of tannin was sometvhat concen¬
trated.
AN AMATEUR’S EXPERIENCE.1'
By E. Borda.
For some time past my friend, Mr. Coleman Sellers, so well known
to the readers of your present Journal as an experienced and
enthusiastic amateur, has been trying to convert me to his wet
process, for field work. Though acknowledging the fine results
he has obtained, and how much more convenient it is than the
other wet process, I have met with such encouraging results ever
since last spring with the simple and beautiful tannin process,
that my friend “Humidus” has not yet progressed much with
the task he has undertaken with me, and I am rather inclined to
believe that one of these days “Siccus” may carry the day in
this friendly struggle.
But to give “ Humidus” his due, and let your readers benefit by
what my limited experience in photography may be worth, I wish
to give them the result of an experiment I have just made with
some gun cotton prepared by Mr. Sellers from bleached cotton,
and sensitised according to the formula he gave me, as 1 think the
result indicates two important points : — First, that the gun cotton
made from the bleached cotton, and in the manner explained by
Mr. Sellers in Humphrey's Journal of July 1st, 1861, is a very
superior article ; second, that photographers desirous of ob¬
taining very quick and even instantaneous collodion are more
likely to attain such a result by the proper proportions of pure
chemicals and the right kind of gun cotton than by the addition
either in the collodion or the developer of special chemical agents
not generally employed.
The cotton was bleached and made in —
Nitric acid . 10 ounces,
Sulphuric acid . 12 ,,
Water . 1 ounce,
at the temperature of 160°.
In four ounces of good alcohol I dissolved sixteen grains of
bromide of magnesium, which' dissolved entirely' without the
addition of any water ; I added forty grains of iodide of am¬
monium, which dissolved readily; then eighty grains of gun
cotton, and four ounces of the ether. The cotton dissolved very
quickly and left hardly any cloudy deposit. I substituted bromide
of magnesium for the bromide of ammonium in the formula of Air.
Sellers, because I had none on hand of the last bromide.
I tried the collodion eight days after it was made, and am con¬
vinced it was then instantaneous. I have no contrivance adapted
to my camera for instantaneous photography', but the following
result will, I think, convince you that I am justified in stating that
the collodion was instantaneous. I enclose a print from a nega¬
tive taken with it in a fraction of a second, with stereoscopic
lenses of short focus, and with a diaphragm one-eiglith of an
inch. The sharpness for the whole distance sufficiently' indicates
the use of a very small diaphragm, and the pair of dark bay
horses in the background is a sufficient proof that the impression
was obtained in a very short time. I uncovered and covered
again my lenses pretty nearly as quick as it can be done by hand,
and am satisfied in much less than one second, and, as you will
observe, the last ridge of mountains (some six miles distant) is
rather over-exposed. The negative was developed merely with
protosulphate of iron. How long this collodion will remain
very sensitive I mean to test from time to time. Although
passionately fond of the art I have but little time to practise it,
and cannot follow at regular intervals, as I should like to do, its
loss of sensitiveness.
I might have been tempted to say something about the tannin
process, but I find the results of my experiments to agree so much
with the well condensed description of it given by Air. C. W.
Hull, in the card of Alessrs. J. Stock and Co., respecting their new
dry plate box and holder, that I have but little to add.
I differ with him only in the propriety' of using albumen on the
edge to hold the collodion, as the object can be as well attained by'
varnishing the edge over the film after exposure, and before de¬
veloping, without introducing albumen in the bath, and which is
certain to do it no good. To keep a silver bath in good order, and
so that it can al way's be used for any process, is, particularly for
an amateur, a great desideratum. I would add that by drying the
plates quite quick as soon as they come out of the tannin solution —
baking them I may say- — -I find them to keep better and give me
more uniform results than if allowed to dry' spontaneously. With
great contrasts in a view, in a strong light, such as water, white
buildings, light-coloured rocks, dark foliage, &c., more softness is
obtained, and the equal development better regulated with a warm
solution of gallic acid and silver than with pyrogallic acid.
* From the American Journal of Photography.
\
28
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1862
SIXTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION OE THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY OP SCOTLAND.
[SECOND NOTICE.]
In our last we made some observations on the Exhibition as a
•whole, to which we added a notice of some of the landscapes.
We remarked on the great plethora of carte de visite portraits,
and, apropos of these, beg to offer a remark. It is felt and acknow¬
ledged that, especially in winter, these are a source of great
trouble to the professional photographer, the “ fash,” of course,
coming into operation after the camera operator has done his part.
Now, as it is notorious that these pictures are seldom, if ever,
used for their legitimate purposes, viz., visiting cards, the
suggestion here offered is— would it not be better to take direct
positives by two or four at a time ? It is not necessary that these
should be taken on glass plates, seeing that black enamelled cards
answer the purpose as well, if not better, and can be manufac¬
tured at a very small cost. By this procedure the public, we
doubt not, would be equally well pleased, and, in respect of get¬
ting them before leaving the premises, pei’haps better ; but to the
photographer himself what a gain would result ! In the first
place the customer sees the result at once, and not after time and
material have been wasted in producing prints on paper, and, as we
have said, goes away Avith the results in his pocket, leaving in the
artist’s pocket, or in his till, the quid pro quo. There is no calling
back in a few days ; no waiting for sunny weather ; no bad debts ;
no - in short the advantages consequent on these would be appre¬
ciated by the dullest photograjaher. A collodion positive, if Avell
taken, is a beautiful picture. Of course Ave cannot include in this
category many of those glass positives Avhich adorn or disgrace
the staiifoot of some of the so-called artists in Edinburgh ; but
Ave feel satisfied that Avere the Claudets, the Tunnys, the Rodgerses,
and the Ross and Thompsons of the art to bestow a tithe of their
attention on this hitherto-neglected branch of photographic art a
vast improvement would, doubtless, result. “ Every dog has his
day,” says the proverb; and carte portraits printed on paper may
yet yield to those taken on glass or card direct in the camera.
One is almost amused, Avhen standing before the numerous
frames of cartes in the Exhibition, to see the infinite variety of
posing displayed ; and here it is Ave see the difference of taste
among photographers. As a rule the lowest class try to secure
intense sharpness, coupled with a perfect display of all those
charms lent by the aid of the jeAveller and haberdasher, while
those of the higher class aim chiefly at pictorial effect, although
by no means blind to the effect of the necessary sharpness.
Among these cartes Ave would class those of Robinson (of Leam¬
ington) and Rodger (of St. AndreAv’s) as the best — the frame
numbered 174, by Robinson, being the best by that artist.
No. 194 — a collection of thirty portraits (by Dallas)— contains
many — say fully one-half — pictures which may be termed first-
class.
No. 225 — twelve portraits (by Musgrave) — are very fine. One of
them, however, the portrait of the Rev. Dr. Alexander, calls up ideas
associated Avith the guardian of a Freemasons’ lodge: the posing
is not graceful, and the sash and gown do not at all improve our
intellectual townsman.
Abbot, of Dundee, evidently takes Rodger as his model, and
follows very closely on his heels.
Nesbitt contributes a frame of twenty-four portraits, many of
which are of great beauty, especially his portraits of children.
A frame of nine portraits by T. Annan, of Glasgow, satisfies us
that, quite as much at home as this artist may be among land¬
scapes, he is equally so in portraiture, some of his pictures being
gems.
Among the large portraits there is an especial beauty in some
of Ilering’s — for instance, in that of No. 103, the portrait of a
lady. The face of the renowned Sam Cowell, as taken bv J. G. Mac-
andrew, is a perfect study— the comicality and character of the
man being excellently portrayed.
No. 4 — Can you do this , Grandpapa?- by an amateur, Avho
in Costly withholds his name— is the most perfect bit of drollery in
the room. Tt represents a little fellow, some four years old, in his
“ birthday suit,” apparently making a meal off his great too, look¬
ing at the spectator, Avith an aspect of irresistible humour, as Avith
lor in mouth he asks the question — Can you do this, Grandpapa?
In No. fi (by the same artist), Art on Photography, about Avhich
so much has been written of late, is here personified in the person
of the aforesaid juvenile, still minus his clothes, seated on a camera
nearly his own size, with pallet, brush, and malil stick in his hands,
and a dilapidated Venus in the distance. Of equal merit are two
portraits in the same frame.*
When speaking of cartes Ave omitted specifying those of Moffat,
which are quite equal to his large portraits, to one of which (459), a
portrait of George Harvey, R.S.A., Ave Avould call especial attention.
Claudet exhibits a number of portraits Avhich well sustain his
reputation. AVe may particularise tAvo as of special excellence
(Nos. 331 and 313) : it would be difficult to say winch of these
pictures is best, although, from the intrinsic difficulty of photo¬
graphing it, the former may be most meritorious.
A. M'Glashan, assisted by the artistic skill of D. 0. Hill, R.S.A.,
exhibits fourteen pictures, all of which are characterised by an
amount of breadth and largeness of treatment seldom seen. In
particular, Ave would call attention to bis portraits of the Lord
Advocate, Dr. John Brown, and D. 0. Hill and bis Avife. AVere a
comparison to be instituted between the Avorks of Claudet and
M'Glashan, Ave would say that the former might be compared to
the highly-finished pre-Raffaelite pictures, and the latter to the
masterly and rather sketchy treatment of some of our best por¬
trait painters, for they have much of the same breadth and sim¬
plicity of character. AFGlashan’s pictures indeed possess merit of
the very highest order.
Passing over many other excellent pictures Ave Avould direct
attention to some of the groups, a class of picture, perhaps, more
difficult to take Avell than any other. AVe would unhesitatingly
say that the best group in the room is No. 128, by J. G. Tunny.
It is what appears to be a family group of tAvelve individuals, in
which Mr. Tunny lias iirdeed made the most of bis subject, as the
grouping and general arrangement are very good, and every head
seems to have been specially focussed.
From the papers on art Avhich have appeared in The British
Journal op Photography, by AV. IL. Davies, Ave were induced to
take a more than passing look at liis pictures, and find some
among them which are Arery excellent. AVe may specify No. 447 —
a portrait of a gentleman — as being Arery much above the aArerage :
although it has by no means received justice in the printing, the
arrangement and general effect must be acknowledged to be
admirable.
It displayed very questionable judgment on the part of the
hanging committee Avlien they placed in such close proximity Nos.
Nos. 533 and 534 — the first by Orange, and the second by Claudet.
The former, The Earl of Morton, would have simply been passed
over but for this unfortunate arrangement, by Avhich be is made
to act as a foil to the other little gem by Claudet. Were we
inclined to criticise Mr. Orange’s picture of bis lordship, Ave might
say that it is a mere compilation of hard angularities ; the most
truthful portions of it being the stand of the bead-rest and the
legs of the chair.
No. 599, by A. Mitchell Innes, is a portrait deseiwing of great
praise for its general arrangement. It is a gentleman represented
seated on a rock, Avith a huge gnarled stump at bis side, and a
rocky landscape behind and around him.
It is matter of regret that, judging from the scanty attendance
of visitors, the Edinburgh public generally do not seem to be
aware of this collection of pictures in their midst. We fear the
managing committee are not sufficiently aAvare of the value of
“printer’s ink.” AVe have looked in vain for one of their adver¬
tisements in the most extensively circulated daily paper in Edin¬
burgh. It is however, Ave believe, advertised in some of the
others ; but, from Avhatever cause, the public do not seem to appre¬
ciate this Exhibition. AUR. CHL.
Bishop of Brechin. — Mr. Valentine, of High Street, Dundee, has
recently published a whole-plate-sized photographic portrait of the
Bishop of Brechin, the proceeds of which are to be banded over in
aid of a charitable fund.
American Photographic Exchange Club. — Our friends “ over
the water” have been following our lead. An Exchange Club has
been organised in New York, and is alleged to have been in suc¬
cessful operation for three or four months. It includes nearly all
the leading amateurs in that city, and strong hopes of its perma¬
nency are entertained. AVith this pleasant bit of intelligence
anent our peaceful art comes the Avelcome reassurance of peace
being secured — at least for the present — between the two great
branches of the Anglo-Saxon family. May it never be disturbed!
* We have strong reasons for believing these to he Rejlander’s productions. — Ed.
January 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
29
Roman Photographs for the Great Exhibition of 1862. —
The Athenceum, in its art gossip from Rome, says that Mr. Mac-
pherson and Signor Cuccioni are busy with their cameras; and
that we shall have, with the old photographic favourites, views of
many sites scarcely, if at all, known to the English tourist. Mr.
Macpherson is said to have made a great addition to his portfolio.
Phothograpiiic Periodical Literature. — We are glad to wel¬
come the appearance of a new member of the foreign representa¬
tives of Photography in Le Bulletin cle la Photographic Beige, which,
though small in size at present, will no doubt in due time reach
more extensive proportions. The first number made its debut on
the first day of the present year, and is to be followed by others
semi-monthly.
Real Enthusiasm. — A correspondent, who “particularly objects
to appear in print,” recently wrote to us in reference to one of his
views as follows: —
“To obtain the former I pretty nearly risked a broken neck, the best
position for the camera being very difficult of access ; moreover, fear is
an unknown feeling to a photographer in search of a good view point.
Often have I crawled round ledges of rock, with a yawning gulph under
me, grasping stout roots with the one hand, carrying my camera, &c.,
with the other, and having left my boots on terra firma behind me, till I
should come back — if ever.”
This shows so hearty a relish for our art that we cannot forbear
putting this “bit” of his note “in print.”
A Hint for M. Du Chaillu. — Amongst the novelties in the soi-
disant card-portraits, we notice one recently introduced by the
London Stereoscopic Company of the celebrated gorilla that is
expected by Mr. Layard, M.P. (according to the development
theory of the author of Vestiges of Creation ), to lecture upon Mr.
Spurgeon, upon the principle that “ one good turn deserves another.”
Scene : the lecture-room of the Royal Society, in A.D. 5862 — a
lecture-table, on which are a caraffe and glass, en regie — and a bust
of Mr. Spurgeon. Behind the table stands a learned gorilla, in an
attitude expressive of energy, with hand on the bust, addressing a
numerous and select audience of other gorillas. The object is an
embodiment of the joke of the “ Member for Nineveh,” as Mr. Punch
designates him. The photograph is evidently taken from a draw¬
ing of the subject.
We cull the following from the Athenceum : —
“ The London Stereoscopic Company have issued, among their later
enterprises, a series of instantaneous views of Paris — of buildings, boule¬
vards, street-views, and the like — taken, we infer, by French artists.
They are extremely sharp, vivid, brilliant, full of life and motion — the
very image of the actual places and events transferred and fixed for ever.
We have recently been looking over a good many French and Italian
photographs, and we must warn our English friends that in the coming
contests at South Kensington they must look for stern trials of strength.
The French artists have the advantage over us in marine and street sub¬
jects — the Roman and Venetian artists in landscape and structure. Our
figure photography is, perhaps, superior to the French or the Italian.”
The Paris views to which allusion is above made are the same
as we described in a previous number, and we have sincelearned that
they are not the production of a French artist, but of one of our
own countrymen bearing the very British name of English. This
fact will take a trifle oft the score of our continental friends and
add it to our own.
American Journal ofPhotografhy. — When recently noticing the
omission to which allusion was made in a paragraph in a previous
number, and which has been atoned by the parties indicated, we
pointed out that the same offence had also been committed by our
brother editor of the American Journal of Photography ; but we find
the contrast that, instead of an explanation, he still persists in the
practice. In his number for the 15th of November we find one
of our own papers, occupying six of his pages, without acknow¬
ledgment. Surely our friend cannot suppose that he has any right
to make use of what appears in our columns. The offence is the more
glaring because in the same numberof his Journal three other papers
are extracted from the pages of our contemporaries, but with
proper acknowledgment of the source whence derived. In order
that we may not be misunderstood we add that our name as
the author of the paper is given, and the fact that it was read at a
meeting of the Bradford Photographic Society is also mentioned ;
but, as it was published exclusively in this Journal, it could have
been derived from no other source. It may appear very flattering
to us that our contemporaries think tve can afford to have ou
pages rifled in this unceremonious manner ; but it is uncourteous
in the highest degree, and we are determined to point out the
offence whenever we notice its occurrence.
5|n Artist’s fetters to a ^(;oto|rap|er.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Tone : its Importance in Relationship with tpie Artistic
Expression of Light, Air, and Space.
“ I would wish you to forget who it is that speaks to you ; I only direct you to higher
models and better advisers. We car. teach you here but very little. * * We have
endeavoured to lead you to the admiration of nothing but what is truly admirable. If
you choose inferior patterns, or if you make your own former works your patterns for
your latter, it is your own fault.” — Sir J. Reynolds.
“ Much will the mirror teach, or evening gray,
When o'er some ample space her twilight ray
Obscurely gleams : hence art shall best perceive
On distant parts what fainter hues to give.” — Fresnoy.
My Dear Fellow- Student,
Before re-commencing our studies, permit me to
correct an error into which I inadvertently fell by describing
H. Howard, R.A., as President, instead of Secretary, to the Royal
Academy.
Let me now resume from the point at which, in my last, we
broke off. We were then considering the apparent impossibility
of representing nature’s vast scale of tones with the insignificant
range supplied by even the most extended resources of pictorial
art. You will remember that we have, once before, incidentally
touched upon this subject, and that I concluded m}r last epistle by
pointing out how gloriously certain great painters surmounted
these seemingly insurmountable difficulties in forcibly and elo¬
quently expressing the real effects of light, space, and air.
Mere relief is quite as much a question of tone as of contrast;
and although by relief we to a certain extent secure the effect of
space, it is space without air if it lack tone. Relief is, of course, a
very precious quality, and contrast, as we have already seen,
under the head of “ Subordination,” is also of no small value ; but
tone is their crowning charm after all.
If we expend all we possess on one plane of, say, middle distance,
as many do, by getting both white and black, and all their inter¬
mediate tones within its single boundaries, every other plane
must, of course, he sacrificed ; nothing can be more remote-
nothing can advance nearer : middle distance, extreme distance, and
foreground are all apparently removed an equal distance from the
eye, and the landscape is more like a map than a picture. If, again,
we more judiciously expend our means and give to three or four
planes what belongs of right to the more minute divisions of aerial
space, we certainly get distance, and secure the effect of air to
some extent, hut we entirely miss tone.* The scenes in a theatre
may get an effect almost as near the truth by the mere placing of
one set scene a few feet before or behind another. But where are
all the intermediate stages of distance ? Where is that harmonious
blending of parts — that insensible union of the extreme foreground
with the extreme distance which constitutes what we understand
in the term “Tone?” Remember how countless these various planes
of distance are in nature: branch is relieved from branch and bush
from bush ; even leaf stands apart from leaf in the nearest mass of
foliage. How numerous, then, must be the stages by which we
reach the far horizon, and how vain must be any attempt to give
anything like the harmonious tone of nature by adopting only
some three, four, or five distinctly-marked steps from foreground
to the extreme distance.
To secure the full extent of our scale of tones, then, we must
seek the utmost purity in the whites and blacks of our pictures;
or, in other words, we must take care that in their more prominent
plane certain small points of our negatives are to be as intense,
and certain others as transparent, as possible — from opaqueness to
perfect transparency, or pure glass, being the two extremes of
our scale. In Ruskin’s Elements of Drawing he tells his pupil :
— “There is no better test of your colour tones being good than
your having made the white in your picture precious and your
black conspicuous.” One of the finest photographic illustrations
of the value of tone was shown me some months since by Mr. V.
Blanchard in one of his negatives of a sunset view on the Thames.
This was composed almost entirely of the darker tones, and some
small touches of white, gleaming upon the edges of a picturesque
cloud veiling the sinking monarch of the day, was the only bit of
pure white in the picture : a minute touch or two of extreme dark
* “ The word 1 tone ’ is liable to be confounded with what is commonly called * aerial
perspective.' But aerial perspective is the expression of space by any means whatever
— sharpness of edge, vividness of colour, Ac., assisted by greater pitch of shadow— and
requires only that objects should be detached from each other by degrees of intensity in
propoi-tion to their distance, without requiring that the difference between the farthest
and nearest should be in positive quantity the same that nature has put.”— Buskin,
30
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 18G2
were supplied, if I remember rightly, by a boat or two ; and although
the* scale of tines intermediate between these two extremes was
™ very limited, the prints from this (I believe reoently-pub islied)
picture was full of harmonious gradations, and glowing, rich, and
Km nous, but not glaringly brilliant, air. If Mr. Blanchard pro¬
duces many such, Wilson’s laurels are much endangered. With
reference to the scale of tones to be chosen, whether it embrace
the two extremes and all their intermediate giadations7 01 whether
it be chosen from the more or less luminous poitions, its tones
should be proportioned to the space you may have to represent,
the sentiment you wish to express, the character of the light, <xc. ;
hut there must be no flat, ungraduated masses no jeiky tiansitions
from one plane of distance to another— no large proportions oi black
or white — in short, no want of tone.
Tone is as nearly allied to harmony as we have already seen
it is to aerial perspective ; it must not, theretoie, be thought meie
repetition if I now urge another consideration, which, like the pie-
ceeding one, was also touched upon in a previous letter, although
hut slightly. , , .. . o
Quoting from Ruskin, I said at our last meeting in these pages,
that “ the whole picture should be felt to he in one climate, under
one lio-ht and in one kind of atmosphere ; and referring again to
the same’ eminent authority, byway of illustrating this, in speaking
of an occasional want of tone in the pictures of Cuyp, and instancing
a large picture in the famous Dulwich Gallery, lie says [The
lying cow in the same picture, which is m most visible and painful
contrast with the one standing beside it, the flank ol the standing
one bein °' bathed in breathing sunshine, and the reposing one laid
in* with as dead, opaque, and iifeless brown, as ever came raw from
a novice’s pallete.” And speaking of another work by the same
master, he points out how “ while the figures on the right are
walking in the most precious light, and those just beyond them m
the distance leave a furlong or two of pure visible sunbeams
between us and them, the cows in the centre are entirely deprived,
poor things, of both light and air, and have nothing but brown
paint to depend upon.” These are instances ol the want of tone,
ns regards light and shade, and servo to show the e\il elfcct o
such discrepancies ; and are not peculiar to coloui, but may be
found in engravings and drawings in monochrome as well as in
photographs. Turner was always, especially in his later woiks,
more studious of tone in its relation to light and shade than to
colour, as we find in the engravings which have been executed after
his works, which lose none of their beauty ol tone when tianslated
into printer’s ink. His drawings executed in sepia are also
full of tone, as we may see in the photographs oi the Liber
Studiorum.
Ar ;ists frequently adopt a plan which might be applied with
advantage to a print from a negative deficient in tone, by covering
the more prominent high lights of their drawing with albumen,
applied with a small hair pencil, which, being removed after the
application of weak tobacco water to stain the whole sui face, lea\ es
the parts thus protected white and untinged. No brilliancy or
force would he lost in adopting this method, because, although
all the inferior lights were thus subordinated, eveiy othei part
would be proportionately darkened, and the gain would be necessai ily
great. This would generally secure a nearer approach to black in
the deeper touches, and always make your white prominent “ by
general depth of middle tint, by absolutely refusing to allow any
white to exist except where you need it, and by keeping the white
itself subdued by grey, except at a few points of chief lustre.”*
“ Rare things alone are dear in custom’s eye :
They lose their value as they multiply.”
Tone must not, however, be considered without reference to
the various qualities of different surfaces in the shadows
they receive and the light they emit, as may be seen in the
following quotation from Ruskin, who has written so much more
about tone, and so much better — to my thinking at least — that
1 shall now conclude with one other quotation from his Modern
Pointers: —
“ It is the constant habit of Nature to use both her highest lights
and her deepest shadows in exceedingly small quantity— always in
points, never in masses. She will give a large mass of tender
light ill sky or water, impressive by its quantity, and a large mass
of tender shadow relieved against it, in foliage, or hill, or building;
but the light is always subdued if it be extensive— the shadow
alwaj feeble if it be broad. She will then fill up all the rest of
her picture with middle tints and pale greys of some sort or
another, and on this quiet and harmonious whole she will touch
her high lights in spots. The foam of an isolated wave — the sail of
* Elementt of Drawing.
a solitary vessel — the flash of the sun from a wet roof — the gleam
of a single whitewashed cottage — or some such sources of local
brilliancy she will use so vividly as to throw everything else
into definite shade by comparison. And then, taking up the gloom,
she will use the black hollows of some overhanging bank, or the
black dress of some shaded figure, or the depth of some sunless
chink of wall or window, so sharply as to throw everything else
into definite light by comparision, thus reducing the whole mass
of her picture to a delicate middle tint.”
Seeing that so much tone exists in the pictures of nature, we,
then, have so to reproduce it in our photographs* that it is not
lost by over-exposure, over-developement, over-intensity, or over¬
looking the importance of such studies as now engage the attention
of yourself and your fellow-student,
ALFRED H. WALL.
- - -
(fintremets,
— *- —
IN SEARCH OP AN OPERATOR.
( Continued .)
My previous experience induced me to anticipate that this search
of mine would not be a brief one. I knew well enough that opera¬
tors were sadly too numerous, and therefore that applicants would
not be at all wanting; but I was certainly not prepared for the
crowd that besieged my studio on the day my advertisement made
its appearance in two of our daily and one of our photographic
journals. Some came in person, some sent friends, and many wrote;
but it was not until my want had again been made known in print
three several times that I secured the right man in my left vacant
place. But this, I believe, is the common experience of all who
employ photographers. My search went very far — with me at
any rate — to prove that while the number of those who have taken
to the art for a calling or profession is legion, that of those who
command a tolerable share of success in its practice is few ; that
while the former find small pay and an equally small demand for
their services, the latter are so seldom disengaged that he who
would catch them must either bait his trap exceedingly well, or
keep “ the crystal windows of his soul ” in an exceedingly widc-
a-wake condition.
I take my search, then, as beginning with that morning on which
the eager public rushed frantically to the newspaper offices to pur¬
chase my advertisement. ([ remember copies of the papers were
in great demand, but forgot exactly why.) I moreover remember
distinctly that the first sound which fell from my lips that morning
— I do not count snoring, which is more intimately connected with
the nose — was, “Fog again!” — an exclamation which, I will ven¬
ture to assert, was the first heard from the lips of more photogra¬
phers than myself on that occasion.
When I reached my studio there lay a little bundle of unopened
letters. I will give you the contents of two as samples of their
quality. (No. 1)—
To Mr RAS. Esqr.
sur, bas i see A advurtusmint wauling A hoprator in the times i size ths
Hoppertonety of Saying has i is in wants of A city wation i can have A good
carecter from my last place And is Avel up in the poseteve and negerteve and
can print yours respecterveliy
Gorge H -
Selery one pund a weak
I preserved the letter of a gentleman who could print “ yours
respecterveliy” as representative of no less than five similar
epistles ; but the following stands solus and represents itself
alone : —
If R. A. S. can offer a first-class salary, and ensure L. G. the treatment due
to a gentleman , he may obtain the services of L. G., who may safely assert that
he is one of the most talented operators in the world. L. G. will forward speci¬
mens if the reply of R. A. S. contains full and satisfactory particulars as to
salary , nature of required services , &c.
I forwarded the necessary particulars, but suppose L. G. did not
find them satisfactory, as I heard nothing further from “one of the
most talented operators.” The other letters contained nothing
uncommon; and putting aside the more promising for further
notice, I went about the business of the day, with which, however,
the fog interfered so completely that when the first applicant for
my vacant situation was announced I quite hailed his coming as
a very agreeable interruption to my dreary state of nothing-to-be-
done.
* Tone is far more easily secured by the photographer than by the painter.
January 18, 18G2]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
He came in the form of a very shabby, dirty, deeply-melancholy,
skeleton-like man. If ever the word crushed was written for the
reading, it was so in the aspect of that poor, thin, ill-clad, miser¬
able fellow. In his expression — in his neglected person — in his
ill-fitting, worn-out, carelessly-patched garments — in the reckless
tie of his dingy ragged neckerchief — in the low monotonous tones
of his mournful voice— in his movements, like those of one tediously
and wearily toiling under a heavy load — in the listless way with
which he applied for a situation he evidently never dreamt of
obtaining — in these, and in all the minutest details of his appear¬
ance, you read, as plainly as you may do here, that one terrible
word — crushed!
He briefly stated that he had called in consequence of my adver¬
tisement, of which he had that morning been informed, stating
that, although he had been out of practice for a long time now, he
used once to be employed daily in photography; that he would
come to me for the very lowest salary if I would only give him a
trial; that he did not mind what he did; and that he could refer
me to many gentlemen of standing and respectability in the pro¬
fession as to his honesty, sobriety, and general character. But
although he urged all this, he did so with that expressionless and
mechanical way with which I have heard not a few folk, in not a
few places, repeat over and over again words which constant re¬
petition had deprived of all real meaning and vitality. I questioned
him to learn how far his knowledge of the art and science extended.
Alas ! the poor fellow did not know that more than one developer
was ever used, nor what that one ever contained: he “always
used to huy it ready mixed for use at Mr. - ’s, in the town of -
who, however, would, he was sure, speak as to the quality of the
pictures he then used to produce, which, moreover, “ always gave
satisfaction.” This fact, coupled with the conviction that the man
had not a vestige of living energy left in him, and could never be
awakened to an active interest in any mortal thing, brought our
interview to a speedy close.
Through one of the gentlemen he named, however, I aftenvards
learnt his sad history, and found in it more than sufficient to
account for the poor fellow’s melancholy condition. He was liter¬
ally crushed by such a strange combination of evil circumstances
and misfortunes as happily fall to the lot of few, even amongst the
least favoured of baby Fortune’s human toys.
The next applicant was of a different class; — but I must reserve
his description for our next.
R. A. SEYMOUR.
URcthip of Sorictxts.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary general meeting of this Society was held on Tuesday even¬
ing, the 7th instant, at King’s College. The Lord Chief Baron, Sir
Frederick Pollock, occupied the chair.
The President addressed the meeting to the following effect : — Gentle¬
men, we meet here in accordance with the rules of the Society on the
first Tuesday in the month of January. The last meeting was on the first
Tuesday in the month of December ; and I need not remind you that there
has occurred since that time the greatest calamity almost that everbefel
this or any country at any time. It is proposed this evening that we
should proceed with no other business than that which is essential, in
reading the minutes of the last meeting, and going through the form of
business which cannot be dispensed with. I shall have the honour of
proposing to you this evening the. adoption of an address of condolence
and sympathy to Her Majesty. "NVe are not a chartered body : we are
the Photographic Society, consisting of the members of the Society, who
themselves appoint the Council to conduct their affairs and a President
to preside over the meetings. It appeared to the Council, in view of these
facts — and I entirely concur in the suggestion — that it would be better if
the address were presented, not merely from the Council, but from the
whole body of the Society — the sentiments which belong to the occasion
being those which are universal, and which belong to every individual ;
for it was not the Council — it was the Society — which the Queen and the
late Prince Consort, our Patron, benefitted, and every member is interested
in expressing sincere sympathy with the bitter and hopeless bereave¬
ment of Her Majesty, and the deep loss which the country has sustained
in being deprived of the best services of the Prince Consort. Gentlemen,
I propose that this evening we shall do nothing that can be dispensed
with, and devote the evening entirely to composing an address of con¬
dolence and sympathy to Her Majesty. When the formal business has
been gone through, I shall read an address, which has been approved by
tho Council, and it will be for you to say whether you will adopt and sanc¬
tion it, and, by an unanimous vote, entitle me to put my name to it, as
representing the entire body of the Society.
31
The Secretary- read the minutes of the last meeting, which were duly
confirmed.
The President then said : — Gentlemen, I have now to call your atten¬
tion to an address of condolence to Her Majesty, which has been approved
by the Council. It is submitted for your approval and adoption ; and I
need not say that if any one be desirous of suggesting any modification
calculated more fully to express the feelings of the entire Society, that
suggestion will be readily followed out. The aim has been to make it, as
far as possible, expressive of the peculiar connexion of the Photographic
Society with the condescension of Pier Majesty and the kind patronage
of the Prince Consort. I will now read the address : —
To the Queens Most Excellent Majesty.
We, your Majesty’s dutiful and devoted servants, the President, Council,
and Members of the Photographic Society, urged by feelings of the deepest
gratitude to your Majesty, and the late Prince Consort, our Patron,
humbly venture to address your Majesty to express how deeply, in com¬
mon with all your Majesty’s subjects, we deplore the unexampled calamity
which has befallen your Majesty and the entire nation. We, especially,
who have been guided by the practical judgment of His Royal Highness —
who have been assisted by his liberality, aided by his advice, stimulated
by his example, and cheered and encouraged by his presence and by his
praise, deeply lament the irreparable loss all society has sustained ; and
we humbly offer our sincere share of the sorrows of the whole nation, and
we pray that it may please the Almighty to pour into your Majesty’s
heart the only real consolation so great a bereavement admits of, and
that gradually your Majesty may derive satisfaction from the happiness
of .your family, the prosperity and honour of the countries you govern,
and the universal esteem and devotion of the subjects who have the
benefit of your Majesty’s rule.
The President then put the address to the meeting, by which it was
adopted unanimously.
The meeting was then adjourned to Tuesday, the 4th February.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary general meeting of this Society was held in St. Peter’s
School Rooms, Walworth, on Thursday evening, the 9th instant,—
Thomas S. Davis, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Secretary announced that the Committee had selected as one of
the presentation photographs [of this session Robinson’s Early Spring.
He had no doubt that this selection wouldjoe cordially approved of by
the members generally. He would take the opportunity, while address¬
ing the meeting, of expressing his regret that any remarks which he had
made at the last meeting in reference to the Committee appointed to
superintend the photographic section in the great Exhibition of 1862
should have been taken up so warmly by some of the members then
present. He thought himself also unfairly treated by the partial report
which had been made in one of the Journals: he considered that where
a full report was not given all notice should have been omitted, or if a
selection were made it should be such as would give a correct notion of
the general spirit of the observations made.
The Chairman said that the President had sent a note apologising for
his non-attendance. He then asked Mr. Simpson to read Mr. Fry’s
paper On Toning Positive\Prints * — a task he (Mr. Simpson) had kindly
undertaken on account of Mr. Fry’s unavoidable absence.
At the conclusion of the paper Mr. Simpson and Mr. Wall stated that
they had opportunities of inspecting some proofs obtained by Mr. Fry’s
method, and could corroborate that gentleman’s statements as to the
satisfactory nature of the results obtainable thereby.
Mr. Simpson, in reply to a question from the Chairman, stated that Mr.
Fry had not advanced any theoretical opinion as to the cause of his
success. He (Mr. Fry) had used phosphate of soda in a similar manner,
with equally satisfactory results.
The Chairman suggested that the conversion of the remaining free
nitrate into acetate of silver by immersion in the acetate of soda might,
perhaps, be one cause, as he assumed that the acetate of silver was
more soluble in hyposulphite of soda than the chloride of that base.
He (the Chairman) had found it disadvantageous to soak the prints in
an alkaline chloride previous to toning. He had observed defects
also arise from the paper being unequally absorbent.
Mr. SiMrsoN thought it was much to be deplored that the complaint
called “mealiness” was coincident with the benefits which it was hoped
would have been derived from the adoption of the alkaline method of
toning.
Mr. Henderson, though not a member of the Society, said he would,
with the permission of the Chairman, detail some experiments he had
made in connexion with this subject : — •
1. The print was subjected to frequent changes of boiling water
during ten minutes : it was then immersed in a bath of acetate of soda
two drachms, water ten ounces. It took sixty minutes to tone, and
was “mealy.”
* The Publisher received from the reporter for this Journal an intimation of a promise
having been made to him that the manuscript of Mr. Fry’s paper should be forwarded
to the Editor in time to be included in the present number ; up to the time of going to
press the paper had not been received by the Publisher.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1 80S
2. A print of the same character, from the same negative, was
washed fifteen minutes with cold water; toned as before, but took only
thirty minutes. It was less “mealy ” than the first one.
3. A similar print was washed ten minutes. It took twenty minutes
to tone, and the result was much better.
4. A similar print washed five minutes — toned ten minutes — was
very good when finished.
5. A similar print not washed at all took only six minutes to tone,
and yielded a better result than any.
He (Mr. Henderson) had observed that when his toning bath became
inactive, its activity was restorable by the addition of acetate of soda.
Mr. Price said he would be glad to know the proportion which should
be observed between the acetate of soda and chloride of gold.
Mr. Hannaford thought it unimportant so the acetate of soda were in
decided excess : he had used as much as 160 grains to the ounce.
Mr. Henderson, in reply to a question from the Chairman as to
whether he had observed the effect the proportion of acetate of soda had
on the mealiness complained of, said he had tried other acetates, among
them acetate of ammonia, but he inclined to the opinion that acetate of
soda was the most efficient preventative.
Mr. Hannaford remarked that there were two kinds of mealiness, one
of which he rather liked as giving an effect very suitable for some sub¬
jects. He had observed that when he had washed a print in water, and
simply immersed it in the acetate of soda bath before toning, there had been
no mealiness, though lie had not washed with chloride of sodium first- :
further, that if a print Avere slightly washed and immersed in chloride of
sodium it would be more mealy than if Avell washed and treated in the
same Avay. He thought it would be found that in all cases where the wash-
ing in water Avas imperfect, mealiness Avould occur, but Avhere the washing
Avas thorough, and a new toning bath employed, this untoward result
Avould not take place. In some instances he had found fixing in hot
hyposulphite entirely prevented mealiness. He might mention also
another circumstance which he had sometimes observed in washing large
prints, and that Avas that the Avater was repelled from some portions as
though the print A\ras greasy. In those cases he had found it advantageous
to add a little ox-gall to the preliminary washing water, which had the
effect of causing the Avater to flow evenly over the Avhole surface.
The Chairman had observed that, Avhen the free nitrate in the paper was
converted into chloride, the pictures toned unequally.
Mr. Simpson thought these inequalities arose from the unequal absorp¬
tion of the albumen by the paper.
Mr. Hart had great success in toning so long as he continued to use
distilled water freely in his preliminary washings ; Avhen, however, through
necessity he resorted to hard Avater containing lime and other salts, his
results were utter failures.
The Chairman concurred with Mr. Hart in advocating the use of
distilled AA'ater.
Mr. Simpson doubted not that Avater containing carbonates and chlorides
largely contributed to the production of mealiness ; still it should be
remembered that this phenomenon occurred on prints treated in every
respect the same as those upon which it did not occur — even on parts of
th e same sheet of paper. He did not think, therefore, that it Avas solely
attributable to the Avater. He would direct attention to the fact that
mealiness Avas not found to arise av i t h plain paper, but always on albu-
menised paper. There Avas another circumstance which had" not been
named: he had observed that a weak negative increased the tendency to
mealiness, but Avhere the action of light Avas most complete there Avas the
least mealiness.
Mr. Martin thought that the cause of mealiness might be found in the
more or less perfect reduction of the silver and gold to the metallic state
by the acetate or phosphate of soda employed. These salts, it Avas known,
acted as Aveak reducing agents on the salts of the nobler metals ; and the
remarks Avhich had been made that evening tended to proAre that where
the reducing salts Avere in marked excess mealiness did not occur. His
vieAv of the matter was singularly coroborated by Mr. Simpson’s last
remark as to the absence of mealiness when the reducing action of light
was most complete.
Mr. Leake said lie had one day produced an unusually bad batch of prints
through the eagerness of his assistant to get the toning done, he (the
assistant) having added a large quantity of chloride of sodium to the
preliminary Avashing Avater. The prints were so mealy as to necessitate
their complete rejection. He had found that when he omitted the im¬
mersion in an acetate of soda bath, previous to toning, the prints Avere
always mealy.
Mr. Hannaford had found it advisable in the preparation of the toning-
bath to add to the chloride of gold sufficient chloride of sodium to form
a doubles alt, and then sufficient carbonate of soda to make it alkaline : he
preferred also to keep his toning-bath in a concentrated form.
M. He NDERSON, in sensitising his paper, had found it possible to use a
solution of nitrate of silver containing as little as thirty grains, and
even twenty grains, to the ounce, merely taking care to float a longer or
shorter time according to the strength.
After a vote of thanks to Mr. Fry and to Mr. Henderson — the originator
of this method of toning — the meeting Avas resolved into a special one to
resume the adjourned discussion relative to the neAV place of meeting.
The Chairman called on Mr. Martin to communicate the information ho
had obtained on the subject since the previous meeting, and, after a short
discussion, a motion proposed by Mr. Simpson, and seconded by Mr.
Hannaford, Avas unanimously carried, to the effect that the" next
meeting of the South London Photographic Society should take place at
Sussex Hall, Leadenhall-strect, on Thursday, the 13th February.
The folloAving gentlemen, being duly proposed and seconded, Avere
elected members of the Society: — Mr. Vernon Heath, Mr. Henderson
Mr. Frederick W. Hart, Mr. Farringdon Lane, and Mr. Alfred Harman.
The meeting Avas then adjourned.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A Generad meeting of the members of this Society was held on Friday,
the 17th ult., — the President, Dr. Anthony, in the chair.
The usual business having been transacted, and Mr. F. Whitlock having
been nominated an ordinary member of the Society, Dr. Anthony read
the following paper : —
On the Constitution of Photographic Societies.
While thanking you for the honour you have done me in electing me as
President of this Society, permit me to make some observations with
reference to the formation and constitution of photographic societies in
general. I believe that considerable confusion exists in the minds of
many as to the scope and action of societies such as this ; and that it
has the effect of preventing many amateurs from joining in the formation
and Avorking of photographic societies in their respective districts. There
fore, I think the time Avill not be wasted in pointing out — first, Avhy the
aggregation of individuals practising photography into a society is
more capable of benefitting the art (especially in an educational point of
view) than the isolated efforts of the same individuals ; and next, Avhat
are the objects Avhich a society should propose to itself in order to be
both permanent and useful.
The photographic society of a district Avould naturally consist of pro'
fessionals and amateurs — the former having a large amount of experience,
and the latter (it is presumed) an equal stock of zeal — each having more or
less means at his disposal, and each a greater or less amount of scientific
knowledge. Supposing both to have a fair knowledge of the art in
question, it is manifest that the professional and the amateur could
respectively communicate knoAvledge and be of mutual service. The
professional, Avho has but little time at his disposal for experiment, could,
from daily practice of an adopted routine, and an observation of the con¬
stant recurrence of certain phenomena, explain aAvay the majority of the
difficulties which beset and perplex the photographic amateur, especially
at the commencement of his career ; while, on the other hand, the
advanced amateur has ample opportunities of reciprocating the kindness,
inasmuch as the talent and industry brought to bear by amateurs upon
photography Avithin the last ten years have greatly advanced the art :
and, as it is not unfair to suppose that the gains of professional photo¬
graphers are augmented in proportion to the perfection of their works, it
folloAVS that any means which should facilitate the interchange of ideas
betAveen professional and amateur photographers would be a boon to both
classes, and tend greatly to the improvement of the art in general.
No one, I believe, would pretend for a moment that the photographic
ait has reached its highest point of perfection ; and as discoveries, or
quasi discoveries, are made daily, it becomes a matter of the utmost im¬
portance that the statements made should be verified or disproved.
As this involves experiment, the verification is generally undertaken
by the amateur, and has for the most part been hitherto done in so
desultory a manner as to suggest the advantages which would be gained
if so-called facts and discoveries were regularly investigated, from time
to time, by a committee of a photographic society. [Such a mode of
proceeding would have this double advantage ; it would enable the results
of experiments to be clearly placed on record, and to go forth to the world
with considerably more weight than as the mere ijpse dixit of any indi¬
vidual.
This naturally leads to the consideration that, supposing discoveries
to be made by members of a photographic society and duly verified,
these discoveries would not only receive more attention from the pho¬
tographic world when endorsed by the society, but Avould be so unmis¬
takably placed on record as to obviate the possibility of any of those
impudent attempts at pirating the honour of a scientific discovery which,
I am sorry to say, have been but too frequent of late.
But another reason why a Avell-constituted photographic society has
the poAver of advancing the art is in the fact that a degree of emulation
is induced in its members, which emulation, if carried on in a fair spirit,
tends most powerfully to the educational advancement of every individual
member of the society, and so gets rid of a great deal of that apathy and
carelessness of manipulation Avhich are always found to obtain Avhere
amateur photographers are not in the habit of interchanging ideas, but
go blundering on, more than half inclined to lay the blame of each spot,
stain, or failure on some adverse demon.
I presume it to be perfectly evident that, supposing the necessity for
a protest should arise, the protest of a society Avould have the
greatest weight of which any protest or remonstrance would be sus¬
ceptible ; in act, efficient protests could hardly be made by individuals,
as their efforts Avould more resemble the uncombined attempts of a mob,
than the concentrated power of an organised and disciplined body.
It seems to me, then, from Avliatever point of view it is looked at, that
January 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
33
tlic formation of societies in different districts, by individuals who have
certain tastes in common for the prosecution of an art, must invariably
possess advantages which could not be enjoyed by the individual prac¬
tising the art entirely by the right of his own resources. The maxim that
“union is strength ” will be found to hold as true in photography as in
the “ bundle of faggots ” of the fable.
Trusting that you will agree with me as to the desirability of photo¬
graphic societies on the grounds I have set forth, let us next see in what
way a society could best be constituted so as to work out thoroughly the
purposes for which it is intended, and endeavour to apply the principle
(so far as our funds will allow) to the working of our own Society.
Premising, then, the advancement of the photographic art to be the main
consideration, I believe the following to be desiderata quite within the
scope of a society which is really in earnest, and which desiderata are,
to a great extent, unattainable by the mere individual.
A glass room, and small laboratory attached, either the property of the
society, or accessible for its purposes, in which experiments might from
time to time be made on questions which it might be important for the
society to verify, and in which rooms, also, lectures might be given and
practical instruction in photography afforded. In connexion with these
rooms it would be desirable that there should be a small collection of the
best works on chemistry and optics — many of which works, I have no
doubt, would be presented (at all events I may state my individual
willingness to contribute) ; but, in addition to these, it is most important
that the English, French, and German photographic periodicals should
be taken in, and, like the works I have named, made available for reference.
It would be absurd to imagine that we in England have a monopoly ol
discovery in all that is valuable in photography, and yet I am afraid
that we unconsciously hug ourselves with some such idea. I believe
that our photographic amour propre will receive a slight shock from the
forthcoming International Exhibition ; but it will do us good, stimulate
us to further exertion, and I hope show us the necessity (if any further
indication be needed) of being well acquainted with the contemporary
discoveries of our photographic brethren throughout Europe. If these
foreign journals should be “ sealed books” to some members, I doubt not
that others would undertake to give the Society, from time to time,
abstracts of the information contained in these journals, as well as in
special works on photography published in France or elsewhere — the
expense of such works to a society being very inconsiderable, Avhile I
believe that their utility would be very great.
There is no doubt that a certain knowledge of optics is desirable to the
photographer, while a knowledge of chemistry is all but indispensable. The
ordinary photographer may go on taking pictures of a certain kind, but
if he know nothing of the “ why and wherefore” of the curious pheno¬
mena continually manifesting themselves, he is precisely in relation to
the educated photographer what the organ-grinder is to the musician.
Therefore, it behoves a society to give its members all possible facilities
for acquiring chemical knowledge ; and I do not think I need enlarge on
the advantages which would accrue from the delivery of lectures on the
chemistry of photography, to which lectures the public might be ad¬
mitted on certain conditions, and of which I have reason to think it would
be ready to avail itself — the public mind in general being in a state of
Cimmerian darkness as to the phenomena of photography, beyond that it
is a something done by light, by aid of a machine, the dark closet being
universally considered as a most mysterious and unaccountable place.
So, while general ideas were being disseminated, as to the principles
of the art, and a knowledge was gradually being acquired of the powers
and capabilities of the working tools, it would be as wrell to consider if it
did not come within the province of a society to facilitate also the giving
instruction in the practical department of the art to those amateurs who
might be desirous of availing themselves of it ; and I do not doubt that
very many persons would be very glad thus to avail themselves of so easy
a mode of mastering the photographic alphabet.
Photography claims to be a line art ; and I believe it to be one, though
as yet in its infancy. No one who has watched, as I have, its progress
from the early days of daguerreotype, can fail to be impressed with the
wondrous change which has taken place in the character of the works
produced. Let any one look at the chronological gallery of early Italian
art at Florence, and he will find that it took a century to effect as much
change in the first rude, wooden efforts of the painters as photography
has accomplished in onc-tentli of the time. I believe in the future emi¬
nence of photographic art ; but art has its laws, and there is no reason
why we should not (as these laws have been made objects of special study)
avail ourselves of the knowledge which we may be sure all good painters
are careful to apply, for the world is getting very intolerant of sprawling
groups, and stolid portraits, and landscapes taken from the very worst
point of view. Men who aspire to be called “ artists ” ( whether they use
the brush or the camera ) must study most carefully the laws of composition
to which I have alluded. In some persons a taste for composition seems
to be intuitive ; but I am afraid that the majority of photographers know
very little about the. matter, and therefore 1 believe that a photographic
society causing lectures upon this subject, with illustrations, to be
delivered to its members might have the certain assurance that the true
artist-spirit would gladly hail and eagerly apply these laws of grace and
beauty.
As the mechanical appliances of the art are continually undergoing-
change, it is very desirable that all the best forms of apparatus should
come under the notice of photographers ; and I believe that it is quite
within the province of a society7 to invite the makers of instruments to
forward, from time to time, specimens for inspection : there is no doubt
that such request would be complied with, as being mutually advanta¬
geous to the maker and consumer. rIhe same would apply to specimens
of collodion, or to any new photographic material, which might be referred
to a committee for experiment, and reported on according to its ments.
One more point : I believe that there would be consideiable advantages
gained byr photographic societies throughout Great Britain devoting some
attention to recording in a book kept for the purpose all special objects
of photographic interest in its own particular district. This mattei (most
valuable of its kind), at first fragmentary, could soon be linked together
and tabulated, and being made accessible to tourist photographers, mem¬
bers of other societies, there might be a reciprocation of courtesies of the
most agreeable nature — of topographic information, which is as valuable
as it is generally difficult to get at. .
I could name a hundred points of detail worthy of the consideration of
this Photographic Society, but I think it best to keep to generalities; and
when I see what has been done by members of this Society gentlemen
whose works are deservedly acquiring a continental reputation I feel that
it is but fair, not only that the efforts of the Society7 should be directed to
the fostering of incipient talent, but that it should afford every facility for
the advanced photographer to become acquainted with contemporaneous
discoveries. .
I know that in a manufacturing town there are certain difficulties to
contend with in the carrying out the purposes of a photographic society ,
but I think these may be overcome by the employment ol a moderate
amount of energy. 1 can only say, on my own part, that I will spaie no
pains to render this Society efficient. I doubt not I shall har e the coidial
co-operation of the members of Council, as I trust 1 shall that of the
members of this Society in general — so that we may at all events have
the pleasing consciousness that “ if we cannot command success, we
can deserve it.” _ _
Mr. 0. G. Rejlander moved, and Mr. IT. P. Robinson seconded, a vote
of thanks to Dr. Anthony, which was unanimously carried. _
The discussion on the paper was postponed till the following meeting.
At the request of Mr. Turner, the Secretary read an article in The
British Journal of Photography of December 2nd, bearing the name
of Mr. C. A. Seely, prescribing formulae for the manufacture of collodion.
A short discussion took place, after which Mr. Turner promised to make
up a sample of collodion as per Mr. Seely’s formula, and offer some
comments upon it at the next meeting, and also exhibit a filter which he
was in the habit of using for his bath.
Mr. Rejlander laid upon the table a number of prints from negatives
which he had recently taken. They were' greatly admired by the mem¬
bers present.
A vote of thanks having been awarded to Mr. Rejlander, the proceed¬
ings terminated.
OHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary meeting of this Society7 took place on Thursday, the 9th
inst, — Mr. W. Griffiths, Vice-President, in the chair.
After the Secretary had read the minutes of the previous meeting, the
discussion on the wet and dry processes was resumed, which, although
interesting to the members, was not of sufficient importance to justify
publication.
The usual compliment having been paid to the Chairman, the meeting
was adjourned.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The Annual Meeting, Fourth Session, of this Society was held in the
Religious Institution Rooms, on Thursday, the 9th instant, — Mr. A.
Mactear in the chair.
In the absence of the Honorary Secretary, Mr. John Cramb, Mr.
Ewing was called upon to officiate.
The minutes of the previous meeting were then read, but owing to the
misunderstanding of a certain clause by some of the members, its appro¬
val, the official reports of the Secretary and Treasurer, the election of
office bearers, a proposition in regard to a new rule by Mr. J. Jex Long,
and others by Messrs. Spencer and Dodd, were postponed till next
meeting.
Mr. Spencer next proposed two gentlemen as members of the Society,
Mr. Anderson, Carlton Place Academy, and Mr. Edmund Brace, Glasgow.
As there was no paper read, a conversation followed, during which the
Chairman took occasion to draw the attention of the members to the new
arrangements for next year, which he hoped would benefit the Society
greatly, viz., the lessening of the rate of subscription, and the extra in¬
ducement held out in the form of presentation prints, through the kind¬
ness of Messrs. Brown, Cramb, and Long-, as intimated at the previous
meeting.
Mr. Robertson then offered to print twenty-five complimentary copies
from Mr. Brown’s negative, and Mr. Mactear volunteered to press them
in a superior style. These marks of respect towards the Society7 re¬
ceived the approbation of the members.
After the usual vote of thanks, the meeting was adjourned.
34
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1802
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.
Tiie subject of the composition of the photographic image was brought
before the December meeting of the above Society. We extract from the
American Journal of Photography the discussion to which the introduc¬
tion of the subject gave rise : —
Professor Seely having given an epitome of Mr. Malone’s address
On the Composition of the Photographic Image, delivered before the Pho¬
tographic Society (London), in November last,
Dr Leeds said he had observed that the rocks in N. C., enclosing gold-
bearing strata, were coloured or stained in a characteristic way, and that
practical miners there Avere guided by such indications in their searches
for new localities. These colours were modifications of the ruby-gold tin,
and he had long suspected that they were due to the presence of gold,
and perhaps in the metallic state.
The President : In May, 1858, I communicated to the Philosophical
Magazine , the particulars of an experiment which seems to have some
bearing on the nature of the photographic image. The experiment was
this : — I put distilled water in a clear glass flask, and through the water
diffused pure chloride of silver. The flask in this condition was placed in
the focus of a burning lens twelve inches in diameter, arranged so as to
condense the rays of a brilliant sun. The chloride of course was blackened
rapidly, and in half-an-hour I judged the exposure had been long enough
for my purpose of collecting sufficient of the blackened matter for exami¬
nation. The black powder when freed from the water seemed homogene¬
ous, but the test by the microscope showed that each little particle was
only black on the outside : the power of the light had not penetrated the
interior.
This blackened powder, when rubbed against the sides of a mortar with
the pestle, gave a well marked metallic streak : it had not, however, the
brilliant white lustre of silver, but a lemon-yellow tint. The powder
also was not acted on by nitric acid, but when it was fused it became the
ordinary silver. The black powder is, therefore, a metal, but not silver —
at least not silver as we know it. It is probably silver in a passive or
aliotropic condition : it is not a sub-chloride of silver.
Mr. Johnson : Did you test the powder by weighing before and after
the exposure ?
The President : The quantity operated on was too small to be tested
in that way. The non-etl’ect of nitric acid is the prominent fact, and it
was especially to this that I desired to draw attention by my paper.
Mr. Tillman then introduced the subject of his paper read at the previous
meeting, The Cause of Actinism , mainly for the purpose of hearing the
opinion of the President. It seemed to him important that as we trace
ail the phenomena of the solar spectrum to a common origin, the sun,
we should be able to show how these phenomena, apparently so diverse
and distinct, may be manifested through the action of a single medium,
the ether. He therefore repeated the principal points he had made in
relation to the different effects which may arise from the varying
motions of ethereal molecules. His deductions were that, while light
and colourisation were sensations arising from the harmonic relations of
undulations, heat and actinism arose from the direct and transverse
forces in these undulations.
The President concurred with the prevailing idea that light and heat
were produced by certain motions in the assumed matter, called ether.
Mr. Tillman’s theory seems to suppose that the rays which produce the
actinic effect are different from those which produce colouration and heat,
[t is a well-established fact that all parts of the solar spectrum have an
action on the photographic plate. [The President here exhibited a
daguerreotype pi ate on which was clearly shown the image of the
spectrum, complete in all its points. The action of the red and yellow,
however, seemed to be of a reversed order from that of the indigo.
The daguerreotype was one of two made in 1841 ; its mate was presented
to Sir John Herschel.]
Mr. Tii.i.man : I would modify my deductions so as to admit that all
the rays may give actinic effects; but, as the relative increase of the
transverse velocity arises from the shortening of the wave, we must
conclude that actinic force increases with the increasing frequency of
undulations.
Dr. Heueen : In waves which can be seen we observe their lengths
arc proportioned to their amplitude, hence a difficulty would arise with
regard to increase of a diverging force.
Mr. Tillman : The waves of ponderable fluids are controlled by the
force of gravitation, which, in the case of water, is acting at right
angles to the direct force. In regard to the action under consideration
we can find no analogy between the earth wave and the air wave or the
water wave.
Dr. Heuhen : Yet the ether theory is built upon analogies.
Professor Seely : The tendency of modern science seems to be towards
an explanation of all the phenomena of chemistry and chemical physics
by the well known laws of mechanical philosophy : it may turn out that
mechanical philosophy is the all-comprehending science. I would suggest
that there may he sympathetic vibrations of actinism, and that in this
direction wc may find some clue to the reproduction of colour in the
Jlccqucrcl process. I
Jforcign CmTCsponMna.
Paris , January 10 th, 1862.
M. Poitevin has just communicated to the Photographic Society
of Marseilles a very interesting paper on various substances which
are sensitive to light, and, consequently, capable of being applied
to photography. In the first place M. Poitevin gives the results
which he has obtained with alloxantin. In 1858 lie had ascer¬
tained that a mixture, in equal proportions, of concentrated solu¬
tions of alloxantin and bichromate of potash, when applied to
paper, was very sensitive to the action of light. With gums, the
same mixture applied to stone gives no serviceable result. M.
Poitevin sought to turn to account the unreduced chromic acid in
those parts which are not acted on. The following are the two
printing processes he imagined : —
First. — A sheet of paper coated with bichromate of potash and
alloxantin is exposed to the light under a positive picture, and
then plunged into a nitrate of silver bath. Chromate of silver is
formed in the parts not acted upon. A very fine red-toned positive
picture may thus be obtained, and then fixed by washing. The chro¬
mate of silver, however, undergoes a change after a few days, even
in the dark ; so, to render the image permanent, it is immersed in
a not very concentrated solution of iodide of potassium. Iodide
of silver and chromate of potash are immediately formed. The
paper is washed in distilled water, and the iodide of silver is sen¬
sitised, and forms the image on the sheets being plunged into a
very diluted solution of nitrate of silver. The picture is washed
in several waters, exposed for a few seconds to the light, and then
treated with a solution of gallic acid, which gives a very fine dark
picture, afterwards fixed with salted water and hyposulphate of
soda.
The second process consists in treating the paper (when exposed
under a positive, as explained above) with a mixture of a solution
of gallic acid and sulphate of protoxide of iron, or protochloride of
iron, which is prepared when about to be used, by pouring into
the sulphate of iron, dissolved, an excess of chloride of barium.
Immediately a fine image is produced, formed by the gallate of
iron in those parts in which the bichromate has not been decom¬
posed. For fixing, a few washings in common water suffice. A
very fine positive image is obtained, by treating in the same man¬
ner a glass coated with gelatine, dissolved in water, and to which
has been added a mixture of alloxantin and bichromate of potash
in equal proportions.
In the sun, the alloxantin precipitates the bichloride of mercury,
and a deposit of protochloride of mercury is formed. On coating a
sheet of paper with this mixture and exposing to the light under
a cliche , the film grows dark in the insolated parts when the pic¬
ture is plunged into ammoniacal water, or into water containing
hyposulphate of soda.
Alloxantin gives greater sensitiveness to the perchloride of iron
and to the ferroeyanide and ferrideyanide of potassium, which,
when applied to paper, are only reduced very slowly.
Alloxantin and ferroeyanide of potassium compose upon the
paper a pellicle, which grows green under the action of light, and
is brought back to blue by acids.
To obtain an excellent positive paper, coat first with a solution
of perchloride of iron and alloxantin, and dry in the dark. Then
plunge this paper into a solution of ferrideyanide and alloxantin.
This paper is very sensitive to the light. It takes, at first, a
Prussian-blue tinge, which whitens if the exposure be continued.
A solution of ferrideyanide gives to the parts acted on a very fine
blue tone. The image must be washed with common water, and
may be transformed into an ink design by being plunged into
wate rcontaining gallic acid, with an excess of ammonia.
A paper coated with a solution of alloxantin, plunged into a
nitrate of silver bath, and then dried, is very sensitive to the
light, and may be employed for the printing of pictures that are to
be afterwards developed with gallic acid.
M. Leon Yidal presented to the Marseilles Society some pictures
obtained with Major Russell’s tannin process, and made on the spot
several experiments calculated to show the advantages of that
method. Some glasses which had been sensitised on the 12th, and
exposed on' the 14th, of December were developed by him at the
meeting of the 30th with pyrogallic and acetic acid, to which had
been added a few drops of nitrate of silver. The development took
place as well as on the first day. A glass, sensitised on the 12th,
and exposed on the 30th, was developed with equal success.
M. Vidal purposes to pursue these experiments, and to repeat
them publicly at subsequent meetings
Tanuary 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
35
Van Monckhoven has just published a duodecimo volume, con¬
taining many excellent things. It is entitled — Traite Populaire
de Photographie sur Collodion. The work fully justifies its title,
and will be received with favour. ERNEST LACAN.
- -=*— -
Caution to Photographers’ Assistants. — At the Manchester
City Police Court, before Mr. Ellison, on Monday, the 30th ult., a
working optician, named Edward Donovan, was charged with ap¬
propriating to his own use the time and materials of his employer,
Mr. J. B. Dancer, the well-known optician, Cross-street. From the
evidence it appeared that the prosecutor’s suspicions were, in the
first instance, aroused by the disproportion between the proceeds
of his business and the expenditure attending it. During the
scrutiny which ensued, the name of Mr. J. J. Pyne, chemist and
druggist, also well-known in connexion with photography in Man¬
chester, was imported into the case, he having employed Donovan
to execute work which was done in Mr. Dancer’s time and with
his materials. With a view to elucidate the matter further, the
prosecutor, through a friend of his, caused a camera to be sent to
Mr. Pyne’s, with instructions to have the instrument fronted. It
was proved during the inquiry that the work was executed by
Donovan at his employer’s expense and he returned the camera
to Mr. Pyne, from whom he received 10s. remuneration. The
camera was then delivered to Mr. Williamson, Mr. Dancer’s friend,
and hence the present proceedings. It was stated, during the
investigation, that Mr. Pyne had infringed a patent of Mr. Dancer’s,
in consequence of the latter’s employe having partially applied a
peculiar mode of shutting off the light from the camera, and used
peculiar stops, which were the patented property of Mr. Dancer.
After a lengthened inquiry, the prisoner, by the advice of his
counsel, pleaded not guilty, and he was committed for trial.
Subsequently Mr. Pyne made a statement to the effect that the
accused had applied to him for work, which he had given, but had
not the remotest idea that the work was not done in the prisoner’s
own time and with his own materials. It is only fair to add that
the tenor of the evidence justified that impression,
Comspaiibnuc.
ij^= We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We oannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
THE POSITION ASSIGNED TO PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862.
To the Editor.
Sir. — It is sincerely to be hoped that the position of photography in
the forthcoming Great Exhibition of 1862 may not operate to its detriment.
But, at any rate, it will be only temporary ; for, the longer the subject is
thoughtfully considered and handled, the more certain will be the con¬
viction that it cannot be permanently excluded from ranking among the
fine arts. That photography must to a certain degree be mechanical is
willingly conceded, but so also is painting and sculpture; and we are
therefore not surprised at the saying of Sir Joshua Reynolds, “that he
worked harder than any day labourer.” "Who can doubt, then, that the
progress of painting a picture is “mechanical ?” But the question arises —
Why is a certain degree of contempt thrown upon the practice, ot photo¬
graphy, which, in so far as it produces its desired result quicker than
painting, is still less mechanical? In reality, there is something
more dignified in dealing Avith the great source of light and. heat than in
using substances compounded from the vegetable and mineral world,
though these produce colour and the other only light and shade. First,
it may be said, that photography is vulgarised lrom the immense propor¬
tion of those who practise it as compared with painting and certainly
with sculpture. In Paris alone they are said to exceed many thousands.
Next the soiled hands liaAre a great deal to do with the matter ; and lastly
the very facility with which the operation is performed is prejudicial to
its dignity as a fine art. In all great mechanical inventions, Avitli their
subsequent improvements, rapidity of production is specially aimed at,
and in these stirring days they Avould be valueless Avithout it ; but this
very circumstance reacts unfavourably upon photography, the greater
part of the Avorld being unconscious that the photographer Avho Avishes
to obtain excellence must exhibit nearly the same combination of excel¬
lencies as are required to make a good painter, though they are
exhibited in a someAvliat different manner. It appears to me that a
due consideration of these circumstances Avould incline those avIio have
hitherto paid little attention to them to come to the honest conclusion
that photography is really a fine art, to which the world is more indebted
than many are even yet willing to allow.
Such an invention must necessarily produce a great effect upon the
other arts — generally, it is to be hoped, for good. “ The Aralue of photo¬
graphy” — as Mr. Petit remarks in the preface to his Architectural
Studies in France — “ in conveying architectural character, combined with
the most faithful accuracy of detail, is uniATersally recognised. It is
applicable both to general outline and to minute ornament. It Avill
never supersede the Avork of the sketcher ; but it Avill Avorlc hand in hand
with him, and assist him, and above all it will keep him up to the mark
in his own Avork, for he Avill scarcely venture upon inaccurate represen¬
tations Avitli such a monitor by his side. But the superiority of photo¬
graphy is so great over any manual drawing that Ave can hardly
expect that the latter Avill be practised, except in the instance of those
avIio make ‘ Avorking’ draivings and architectural plans ‘ professional^.’ ”
Here then is a boundless field for the art. And I think it must be
admitted that Avood engraving has progressed very rapidly of late years,
OAving to the peculiar accuracy of photography ; and, beautiful as are the
draAvings of Roberts, who has delineated so many striking scenes in the
Holy Land, Ave feel that they are not quite satisfactory Avhen compared
with those by Frith and Robertson. Again : the copying of prints by
photography is not one of the least of its advantages, Avitli the additional
circumstance that on a reduced scale the effect is much increased by the
lines in the original engraving being almost imperceptible in the copy,
so that, when skilfully managed, there is in some degree the appearance
of an oil picture.
And much as we value the vigorous lines from the engraver’s hand,
and still more such admirable sketches of the old masters as may be seen
in the Louvre, it must not be forgotten that photography is more true to
nature by presenting no outline at all!
It must, hoAvever, be acknoAvledged that in one respect “ sun painting ”
is likely to prove prejudicial to art, unless some i-eticence is used. From
it pre-Raffaeleitism, as it is called, has received an additional impulse,
consequent on the exact truth of delineation Avhich accompanies it. A
writer in the Guardian, animadverting on the French Exhibition of last
July, remarks that the Charlotte Corclay of Raul Baudry, clever though
it is as a Avliole, Avas looked at and admired for the really remarkable
manner in which the slopping over of the Avater on to the floor of Marat’s
last bath Avas depicted, and for the details of the rush-bottomed
chair, and the extreme truthfulness and manifest care Avith Avliich
the neAvspapers and other adjuncts which lay around are painted,
than for the representation of the historic scene itself. “ The same” — as
the writer Avell observes — “might be asserted of many other subjects also,
and the same conclusion drawn from them as from similar characteristics
in our own school, viz., the tendency Avhich they seem to denote in the
efforts of modern art to paint down to these details, and to this careful
observation of minute nature (a thing excellent in itself) rather than to
paint by and through such a process up to designs of higher quality.”
It is sincerely to be hoped that photography may not prove a snare in
this respect, or a hindrance to the cultivation of genuine high art.
Before concluding, may I remark upon a circumstance apparently
unimportant in itself, but Avhich may have some adArantageous effects on
photographic prints, in bringing them out more effectively ? I allude to
the form in Avhich they are cut, Avhich is almost universally square,
merely in accordance, it is to be presumed, Avith ordinary custom. The
oval has, I believe, been adopted in a Icav instances, and has been
recommended for adoption at one of the London societies. It Avould, I
think, be exceedingly effective in small prints ; and, if they were mounted
on a paper of a somewhat dark colour, the oval shape would then almost
produce to the eye of a spectator the “appearance of a landscape seen
through a ivindow .” Many years ago the model of a room in the house
of an opulent Chinese was exhibited in the exhibition of productions from
that country, and in this the windoAVS Avere represented in an oval shape,
according to the national custom, Avith a distant landscape, a river, and
boats intervening. The effect, as I recollect it, was uncommonly novel
and pleasing — in fact, it Avould be so, for the shape of the human eye is
not square. I am, yours, &c., H.P.
Cheltenham, December 1 6th, 1861.
PORTABLE BACKGROUND.
To the Editor.
g1R _ I am going to make a portable background for portraits (half
plates and smaller), in the open air, and should feel much obliged if you,
or any amateur reader of your excellent Journal, Avould tell me the full
particulars Iioav to make it, i.e., the height and Avidtli, of what material,
what colour, the height and width of the two sides or Avings, the arrange¬
ments over head and width of ditto. — With best thanks for past favours,
I am, yours, &c., AMATEUR.
January 6, 1862.
[Make a framework of wood 1^ inches broad and J inch thick, the
framework to be seven feet high and four feet Avide at least. Make also tAvo
similar frames the same height and half the Avidth of the preceding, and
attach the tivo smaller frames to the larger one by stout Avebbing hinges,
so that they will fold together either way A fourth frame made lighter
(say of woo'd one inch by half an inch) and of dimensions four feet and tAvo
or three inches square, is to be hinged on to the top of the larger frame.
The last is to be covered on one side only with thin Avhite calico, the
other three frames Avith unbleached calico sheeting on both sides. One
36
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[January 15, 1863
side can be then covered with brown paper, or be painted of a neutral tint ;
the other side can be covered with paper having some design thereon,
such as a balustrade, a bookcase, or anything to suit the fancy. It will
be found that the whole is capable of being folded flat for packing away.
To set it up for use, having selected the side you intend to employ, bend
forward the “wing” on the side you wish to shade your sitter, and the
other “ wing” bend backwards : this will make the screen stand alone.
Now turn over the top piece, making the front rest on the forward
“ wing” at one of the angles, and this will form a sufficient shade over
the sitter’s head. Of course if you can find room for a larger screen
there is no objection to your increasing the width of all the portions.
Do not use a diagonal piece of wood to support the frame, as it is apt
to show in your picture, although covered over ; but you may strengthen
the frame, if needful, by short pieces of about six inches long at each of
the angles of the frame, thus . — Bn.]
PRINT WASHING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You ask how I have tested the stability of prints washed by my
method? The following is an experiment to which I have subjected
them frequently with constant results. I may here mention that for
convenience I suspend the print by two varnished wire hooks attached
to a slip of wood, which lies across the baths : this does away with fish¬
ing- for and fingering, it also serves for draining and drying, the prints,
with the assistance nf two lines, twelve inches apart, for the ends of the
sticks to rest on.
Experiment. — Cut a fixed print in half, from sky to foreground. One
half is suspended in the vertical bath, the other half in a pan six inches
deep, with a net stretched across at two inches from the bottom, upon
which the half print lies : the same supply of Avater furnished to each,
viz., fifteen gallons per hour being the quantity. At the end of —
First hour : —
Second hour
Third hour
Each piece drained. Nitrate of silver test applied.
The half from vertical bath call No. 1.
The half from horizontal bath call No. 2.
No. 1. Slight presence of sulphur.
No. 2. Very perceptible, also, to taste.
Silver Test
No. 1. No perceptible trace.
No. 2. Slight trace.
Permanganate of potash,
presence of hypo, slight.
Change.
Not applied.
No. 1. No trace. I No trace.
No. 2. Traces. | Fully evident.
Experiment No. 2. — No. 1. half cut in two, one part boiled in distilled
water one hour, and dried : to appearance the tAvo pieces Avhen joined
corresponded, sometimes the deep shadoAV a shade browner.
I continue the Avashing half-an-hour after all traces of hypo, have dis¬
appeared on applying the permanganate of potash test : as I do not find
the prints fade, I conclude vertical washing to be very superior.
I am, yours, &c., H. R. NICHOLS.
January 3rd, 1862.
[There can be no question that the vertical suspension of the prints to
be washed is an improvement upon the old method of merely laying them
in a horizontal position. — Ed.] •
STARCH-MOUNTED PRINTS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In your number of December 2nd is a report of a meeting at
Avhich the difficulty of detaching starch-mounted prints from the cardAvas
discussed, and various modes referred to, such as soaking in Avater for
twelve hours, rubbing the card at the back, oxalic acid, &c. All that is
necessary is, after damping, to warm the back of the mount at the fire for
a few seconds, when the print can be taken off without trouble or injury,
on the principle that it is Avarm Avater that is used to dissolve starch. I
experienced the difficulty the other evening, and was going to soak a
print for the night, Avhen a lady, Avho Avas present, suggested the above
mode, and laughed at me for my ignorance of the use of starch.
I am, yours, &c., JOHN Y. GOODWIN.
Bradford , January 0, 1862.
P. S. — I have not seen your Nos. for December 15 and January 2, in
which very probably some of your readers may have communicated the
above mode.
[In our number of 16tli December, in reply to a correspondent, “ C. Bell,”
avc pointed out the fact now mentioned, and expressed our surprise that
there should have been any discussion upon so simple a matter. Your
note itself being evidence that, amongst the male sex at any rate, the
behaviour of starch under the influence of hot water is not a familiar
phenomenon, avc print your communication for the general benefit. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Erratum.— In Mr. G. E. Eve's advertisement in The British Journal Photo¬
graphic Almanac, for “ Standard Therms” read “ Standard Thermometers.”
C. 0. — We will forward the note as requested.
C. Goldsworthy. — We unconsciously answered your query in our last number, Avhich
nee.
A. It.— You will be received with pleasure. In reply to your last remark, see answer
to 11 R. 0. B."
Amateur.— A¥e have no doubt that Mr. Morley, of Islington Breen, can asbist you
to dispose of the lens.
G. T— Yonr nitrate bath is evidently mueh too acid. Neutralise it with oxide of
silver or liquid ammonia, whichever you prefer.
Salax. — Salicine has not been applied to photographic purposes, so far as we are aware.
We have used it for display in the microscopic polari.scope.
M. L. A. — We have made arrangements to give them ; but they are intended by their
author to be entirely remodelled fir^t of all— and, in fact, re-written.
Timeo Danaos— Make a solution of cyanide of potassium, and drop into it tincture of
iodine until it begins to be discoloured, and apply the mixture to the stains.
R. 0. B. — AVe do not intend taking any further notice of such small game, not even to
“make game of them ’ — a proceeding which they effectually do for themselves.
R. Craven. — Photographs can be sent by hook-post to France at the rate of threepence
per four ounces, prepaid. See new regulations which came into force on the 1st inst.
P. Reid.— Glass positives display an immense amount of beautiful detail, it is true,
but the whites lack brilliancy to such an extent that compared with fine paper proofs they
always appear dull and flat.
Tedium. — You are not obliged to read it. Please to remember that what is a bore to
you may be (and we know is) sought for eagerly by others. It is not yet time to abandon
art-teaching to photographers— ^ very far from it.
Alex. Taylor. — We are obliged for your good wishes. We shall be happy to
receive your promised communication just whenever it is convenient to you, Ilo
not trouble yourself to be too particular about the “jottings send them as they are,
and we will put them into “ ship-shape” if needful.
Nemo sir impuxe lacesset. — All very well to make a reply if you please ; but why
do you follow the example you condemn ? AVe cannot insert the letter without consider¬
able revision. Stick to facts only, and we do not inind ; but omit your iuferences, which
we confess we do not think you are justified in drawing from the former.
M.D. — There is no essential difference between a portrait lens and one constructed
for the cartes de visite; but those specially arranged for the latter have generally a some¬
what longer focus and a flatter field — these modifications being attained by a slight
sacrifice of rapidity and sharpness of definition. You will do very well with an ordi¬
nary half-plate lens.
Forgetfulness. — Our worthy brother editor of the Photograpihic JVeivs has apparently
“forgotten” to make the usual acknowledgment for Mr. Bourne's paper copied from our
pages. We have on several previous occasions had to notice a similar proceeding, which
we have done privately, in the hope of its not being repeated, but without effect. We are
therefore compelled to do so publicly.
J. Bray. — Your negative is not so deficient in detail as it is wanting in vigour and con¬
trast. of light and shade. The cause is probably absence of sufficient light, and you may
take it as a rule that architectural subjects and landscapes are better in sunshine— the
former especially are apt to appear flat and tame w ithout it. If you have not varnished
your negative, you may improve it somewhat by further development, adding some free
nitrate of silver to induce a more dense deposit on the parts most acted upon by the
light.
F. S. F. — We were only able to squeeze in a very short reply to you in our last, and
that by telegraph, as w-e were just “going to press” when your note reached us. One
of the chief objections to the use of a flat bath for sensitising large plates is their great
liability to produce spots and streaks from the presence of dust or other fine particles in
the solution, which, in a flat bath, are almost sure to settle on the face of the film. In
a vertical bath, if these pests be present, they do not much interfere with your plate, as
they sink to the bottom, and if stirred up by the introduction of the plate, unless the
particles are very numerous, they subside again without injury.
A. Stewart. — Bo not cumber yourself with too many at starting, but have them of
first-rate quality. We should recommend a pair of those specially constructed for the
popular carte de visite portraits, as they are termed. They sliould be mounted side by
side in one camera, and the slide should be arranged for a “repeat” — that is, by using
a plate about seven and a-half inches square, with two exposures lour negatives will bo
obtained. This same arrangement will do also for stereoscopic portraits. In addition
have a three and a-quarter or three and a-half inch diameter double combination of
about eleven or twelve inch equivalent focus for larger-sized portraits, and you will
have quite enough to begin w ith.
D. L. — 1. A tumbler bottom will not do. 2. Chance is the best maker. 3. A single
combination is preferable to landscapes. 4. Your focus is fully long — 16 inches would
be enough, and it would work more quickly and include more subject. 5. AVe have no
practical experience in grinding lenses ; but you may rest quite assured that the work
which will do for astronomical, will certainly do for photographic, purposes. The lenses
should, however, be a trifle under-corrected for colour, consequently by somewhat
increasing the radius of your longest curve (30-8 in.) this will be accomplished, and the
focus shortened at the same time. You are of course aware that the convex side of the
combination must be turned towards your sensitive plate, aud the concave towards the
view, with a diaphragm in advance ot it about 2£ inches. 6. It is not of much conse¬
quence which of the two specimens of crown glass you use, but choose that most free
from striae. 7. No work in existence on the subject. 8. To the persevering there are
but few things impossible.
AV. Francis. — 1. No doubt your bath is overcharged with organic matter — probably a
superabundance of ether and alcohol. Add a few drops of liquid ammonioe, and shake it
up : this will form a little oxide of silver in the bath. Expose it to sunshine, if possible,
in a shallow flat dish; filter; and then make it very slightly acid with nitric acid.-- 2.
Camphor in the alcohol would be fatal to its use in an iron developer, if intended for a
glass positive picture ; and we should hesitate about its use for negatives.— 3. Peroxide
of iron is to be purchased at almost any druggist's under the name of “jewellers’ rouge." It
is made by throwing down the protoxide from sulphate of iron, by means of acauslic alkali,
and the precipitate exposed to heat in a crucible for some hours with free access of atmos¬
pheric air.— 4. The eliphantiuon process is a .method of painting on photographs. — 5
Daramur resin is not common resin : it can be obtained at the drysalters’. — 6. The back
combination of a portrait lens is not fitted for landscapes. — 7. Alcohol spoils it.— 8. Much
too difficult for a novice.
All Editorial Communications , Books for Review, Ac., should
he forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
he addressed to the Publisher, 82, Castle Street, Liverpool.
LEADER
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
CITRIC ACID. By JAMES MARTIN .
ON PORTRAITS AND PORTRAITURE. By
S. THOMPSON .
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. XI. By J. ltOTHAVELL .
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL
BEAUTY AND THE PRINCIPLES OF COM¬
POSITION. No. I. By AV. H. DAVIES ....23
STEREOGRAPHS . 24
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE DIORAMA APPLIED
TO PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES . 25
THE TANNIN PROCESS. Chapter IV. By
MAJOR RUSSELL . 26
AN AMATEUR'S EXPERIENCE. By E.BORDA 27
PAGE
EXHIBITION . - . 28
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC EXCHANGE
CLUB . 28
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 29
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER : ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . 29
ENTREMENTS . 30
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 31
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE : Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN . 34
CAUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSIST¬
ANTS . 35
CORRESPONDENCE . 35
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, <fcc . 36
CONTENTS
page
19
20
21
22
THE BRITISH
I
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 159, Vol. IX _ FEBRUARY 1, 1862.
Photo-Micrography. — In our last volume, p. 378, is an
article of a practical nature, the result of eight months’ steady
experimental work, from the pen of Professor 0. N. Rood, of
Troy, New York, upon the subject of photographing micro¬
scopic objects. Photo-micrography is, as the learned professor
justly remarks, generally acknowledged to be a valuable means
of accurately recording observations ; but we are not surprised
that only a few working microscopists have adopted it, for the
simple reason that the inherent difficulties render the records
when obtained, as a rale, of comparatively little value to others
than microscopists, while drawings, even if inferior in accuracy,
can at least be made so as to appeal to everybody. As this
gentleman is evidently working in earnest at the subject, and as
it is one of considerable interest, we propose alluding to a few
points in his paper in which our experience differs somewhat
from his own, with a hope that he will continue to prosecute
his experiments, and put to the test the suggestions which we
shall offer.
YVe notice that Professor Rood finds he can work with
advantage when employing only an objective without any eye¬
piece for enlargement, with the sensitive plate as far as five feet
from the object glass. With artificial light we found that
though a tolerable image could be formed at this distance with
an objective of not shorter than f-inch equivalent focus, yet it
was not equal in definition to one obtained at about three feet
distance, while with the higher powers this difference was still
more marked in character; consequently we regard three feet as
the maximum distance that it is at all advisable to adopt. The
reason why the lower powers do not display the same relative
amount of difference in result as is noticed with the higher
powers when applied in the two respective positions, is their
general difference of construction — the former consisting of two
achromatised pairs, so arranged that the anterior combination
transmits a pencil of rays through the posterior one in such a
manner that an error in one direction arising from irrationality
of incidence upon the first is exactly counterbalanced by a cor¬
responding error in an opposite direction by its transmission
through the second. Object glasses of higher power are not
constructed upon the same principle, and consist generally of
tlnee or more combinations, comprising sometimes as many as
nine distinct lenses.
The discrepancy between Professor Rood’s experience and our
own may possibly be explained by his use of the direct solar
lays, which fall nearly parallel upon the object glass, while with
artificial light — it being imperative to employ a condenser — the
rays are incident .upon the object at varying degrees of obliquity.
We have no hesitation in advising the abandonment of “ the
door on hinges carrying an achromatic lens for the purpose of
magnifying the image formed on the ground-glass while focus¬
sing, employed by Professor Rood, as being far inferior to a
Ramsden s eye-piece lor the same purpose, and which can be
mounted so as to be applied directly and centrically upon any
paitof the image. For a description of this arrangement see
this Journal for October 15th, 1858.
With regard to the importance of the most cafeful attention to
the illumination both in degree and kind, we fully endorse what
Professor Rood asserts upon the point ; but we would even add
something thereto. For sunlight a mirror is a sine qua non, but
with artificial light it is only an incumbrance and an absorbent
of much actinic powrer. In this latter case there is no difficulty
in placing the source of light accurately in the axis of the instru¬
ment, thus avoiding the loss hy reflexion. The arrangement of
the condenser is a matter of the highest importance, as inti¬
mated by the learned Professor ; and we have no douht that the
Wollaston doublet which he describes as having employed
proved very efficacious. But, although he has evidently appre¬
hended the necessity for limiting the angular aperture of the
condenser, as evinced by his mention of the diaphragm plate in
connexion with it, he has omitted to point out the fact that
in no case must the effective aperture of the condenser be per¬
mitted to exceed that of the object glass in use therewith; and,
further, that in reducing the aperture of the condenser it is
equivalent to a reduction of the angular aperture of the object
glass itself. This is a very important fact to bear in mind, but
one that is not generally understood.
Regarding actinic correction we are pleased to find that our
experience is corroborated by that of Professor Rood; and we do
not regard the absence of coincidence of the visual and actinic
foci of the microscopic objective of much importance, because
the allowance once ascertained remains a constant quantity,
provided that we ahvays work at the same distance between the
sensitive film and object — an arrangement which is practically
most convenient on many accounts.
The results obtained by Professor Rood are sufficiently extra¬
ordinary, but there is one statement which he makes that we do
not know how it is possible to reconcile with known facts,
without the assumption of some error of diction in his paper.
Fie mentions having obtained with a I object glass of 113°
aperture, and a Wollaston doublet of 44° aperture — conse¬
quently with what is in fact equal to a \ inch objective of 44°
of aperture only, as we have already shown — “sharp negatives
of the Pleurosigma angulatum magnified 1300 diameters with
well defined hexagonal markings.” So far, though this is
something to have achieved, we have no doubt of the accuracy
of his observations ; but he continues by alluding to the fact
that our friend Mr. Wenham had discovered by aid of a A -inch
objective that the markings to which allusion is made are really
due to spherical particles of quartz, and following in the wake of
this idea subsequently announces, when alluding to photograph¬
ing microscopic objects under the influence of polarised light, the
following, which we quote, viz. : — “The perfection with which this
apparatus (which he describes) operates may he inferred, when I
state that photographs of the cross and rings in starch granules
as well as of the Pleurosigma angulatum in a dark field were ob¬
tained by me without difficulty. Van Mohl remarks that with
inferior apparatus some very distinguished observers have been un¬
able even to see these appearances.” We cannot forbear asking —
Is it possible that this statement can be other than an error aris¬
ing from a complicated involvement of phraseology ? YVe have
studied the passage over and over again, and can make nothing
38
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
else of it than that it is intended to be inferred that photo¬
graphs of the black cross exhibited by the action of polarised
light upon the spherical particles of quartz forming the markings
of the P. angulatum have been obtained, as well as of those
produced in a similar manner upon the starch granule. We
must, however, demur — first, that microscopists do not by any
means concur in accepting Mr. Wenham’s conclusion relative to
the supposed spherical particles. We have personally examined
the object in question with Mr. Wenham’s own objective, both
adjusted by himself and independently of his manipulation,
and, though we have a high opinion of his skill and powers
of observation generally, we consider that in this instance at
least he misinterprets appearances.
But be it as it may on the point at issue, even supposing the
spherical particles really to exist, there is not the smallest
ground for presuming that any “ black cross” would be pro¬
duced on them by polarised light, and if produced that it would
be visible, in consequence of the excessive minuteness of the
said spherical particles, which, be it remembered, are so minute
that it is questioned by the majority of observers whether they are
spherical. But perhaps a stronger reason for objecting to this
assumption of a photograph of the black cross, under the cir¬
cumstances described, having been really effected lies in the fact
that the entire organism of P. angulatum (or indeed of any of
the Dictomacece) does not exert any depolarising action upon
polarised light at all, and that consequently it is not visible upon
the dark field produced by “ crossing ” the polarised analyser.
Of these facts we were well assured from many years’ exp e-
rience with the microscope and especial familiarity with the
object named. But we determined to go over the vdiole matter
again before writing this article ; and, having devoted no incon¬
siderable amount of time to the verification of our previous expe¬
rience, we finally brought the whole question before a pretty full
meeting of the Microscopical Society, upon which occasion our
experience relative to the non-depolarising power of the siliceous
articles of the Dictomacece was corroborated nemine contradicente.
We have of late had several inquiries from gentlemen de¬
sirous of pursuing photo-micrography, and allusion has been
made to the paper of Professor Rood by some of them : we
therefore deemed it necessary to record a caution to those who
may be intending to follow up the pursuit in the particular
direction which appears to be pointed out by him, lest they meet
■with serious disappointment ; and we have thought it due to the
learned Professor not to attempt to controvert his assertion with¬
out taking the precautions we have done. We are convinced that
there must be some misapprehension relative to the matter some¬
where, but where it is we are at present unable to say precisely.
Iron-Printing Process by Mr. Reynolds — It is quite
clear that, with reference to this so-styled new process, we have
been caught “ napping,” and we have no compunction in admit¬
ting it ; for truly it requires one’s memory to be of the bestand
one’s attention always on the alert to avoid being misled by
some of the thousand and one new (!) photographic discoveries
that are constantly being promulgated. Some of our friends
have, no doubt, an exceeding relish for the process of “ waking
up ” the editor ; so we must just take it quietly, remembering
what the sturdy farmer remarked when condoled with on account
of his being well drubbed by his wife and mother-in-law —
“ What’s the consequence ! it pleases them and don’t hurt me ! ”
First comes Mr. Hannaford, who, in the pages of our con¬
temporary, the Photographic News, marshals against us the
names of Sir John Herschel and our old contributor, Mr.
Burnett, as having both suggested the use of peroxalate of iron
as a basis for silver printing, though, with reference to the
latter-named gentleman’s experiments, Mr. Hannaford says he
cannot recall the where and when. And next comes our worthy
contributor, Mr. J. T. Taylor, who has a quiet shot at our
drowsiness in our own columns (see page 43). In addition to
the two experimentalists already named by the former, Mr. Taylor
[February 1, 1802
adds to them that of Dr. Halleur ; so that we take it the question
is pretty thoroughly settled that, so far as the use of a nun on io-
nitrate of silver for developing the image formed upon a sensitive
surface prepared with per-oxalate of iron is concerned, there is
not the faintest shadow of ground for calling it a new matter. Of
this we frankly admit we were oblivious until it was recalled to
our recollection ; but, having been recalled, we now distinctly
remember the circumstances attending the suggestion by Mr.
Burnett, and the fact of this salt having been employed by Sir
John Herschel.
With reference to the combination with oxalate of ammonia
we have some idea that this also entered into Mr. Burnett's pro¬
position ; but we are not aware that it had for its special object
the preservation of the integrity of the half-tones of the image.
With the evidence at present before us, we think that Mr.
Reynolds is entitled to credit for his demonstration, if not first
discovery, of this fact — one which, if capable of being fully estab¬
lished, is of considerable value, and, in our opinion, well worthy
the careful examination of all engaged in photographic printing.
International Exhibition. — Possibly ere these lines are
before our readers’ eyes, some of them will have received notice
of an allotment of a very small portion of space in the apart¬
ment to be devoted to the exhibition of photographs at
Kensington Gore. We regret to find that the entire wall
space is limited by the Royal Commissioners to 3000, and the
floor to 500, square feet; and what makes the matter more
obnoxious is the fact that the promised separate apartment turns
out to be only the half of one, about 150 feet in length, the
remaining half having to be occupied by the Educational Com¬
mittee. As a further aggravation, lenses, chemicals, cameras,
and all the mere mechanical appliances are to share the small
space that has been accorded ; while the unity of a photographic
department is utterly ignored, the foreign productions being
excluded^from being brought into immediate contact with those
of their English competitors. These mis-arrangements are
entirely the work of the Royal Commissioners ; the Photographic
Committee is not responsible for them, the latter body having
strenuously exerted itself to the utmost to procure their
rectification. We confess that we are scarcely surprised at the
result: it is too clearly in accordance with the spirit that has
been displayed throughout in the proceedings of the Royal
Commissioners towards photographers.
We understand that one of the principal impediments towards
the attainment of more consideration from the Royal Commis¬
sioners under which the Photographic Committee laboured, was
the very unreasonably large amount of space for which photo¬
graphers applied as a rule, while some of the individual demands
were simply preposterous. It has already been stated that one
asked for 20,000 square feet : another, a dealer in apparatus,
who was comparatively modest, wanted a counter of about ninety
feet long by six feet broad. Again ; it has been pretty clearly
ascertained that some asked for space for the purpose of sub¬
letting it, to exhibit articles for others — a course of proceeding
not to be tolerated for a moment.
Under these circumstances we cannot wonder that photo¬
graphers were somewhat regarded with an eye of suspicion ; but,
even taking all these things into consideration, we do not think
there was sufficient justification for the very supercilious treat¬
ment that they have received.
We have been informed, upon authority, that the French
photographers declined to have their works classed with the
fine art productions, and that their wishes had much weight
with the Royal Commissioners. Wre cannot, however, avoid the
impression that there must have been some misapprehension on
this point, on one side at least; and, judging from what has
elsewhere occurred, we do not apprehend that the Commis¬
sioners would have been so very complaisant as to have yielded
to the representations of our French brethren, unless their own
views had been in entire accordance with the desires expressed.
'ebruary 1, 1868]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
39
There is a point to which we would specially direct attention —
I that is, that every exhibitor will have the privilege of suggesting
three names towards forming a list from which the Commis¬
sioners will select a certain number to act as jurors in the class ;
1 and we desire to impress upon exhibitors the importance of not
i putting down the names of any persons for this purpose except
ithose in whom they feel that full confidence can be placed to act
; unbiassed by any kind of influence except knowledge of the art
and perfect impartiality.
The following is the form of notice of allotment of space
which is about being issued : —
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1862.
Class 14. Her Majesty’s Commissioners.
| Notice to Exhibitors. The Earl Granville, K.G., Chairman.
i No Utter can be attended to The Duke of Buckingham i Thos. Baring, Esq.
which is not headed with the . wr. w ft<_ i M P
\ Number of the Class in which c. A1LD - m
f the Exhibitor's works are to be Sib Charles AVentworth Thos. Fairbairn,
[ shoxon. Dilke, Bart. Esq.
F. R. Sanford, Secretary.
Offices , 454, West Strand, London, W. C.
1862.
Number of Pages.
£5 per Page.
Number of £ Pages.
£3 per £ Page.
Number of Lines.
Class 14. — Photographs.
III. — Particulars required for Shilling Catalogue.
Name of Exhibitor.
Address.
Briefest possible Description
of Articles to be exhibited.
The name, address, and description must not together exceed 16 words.
Class 14. — Photographs.
IY. — Illustrated Catalogue.
N.B. — Exhibitors intending to avail themselves of this Catalogue must
fill up the following Table.
The Programme of mode of publication is enclosed.
* request that the above may be reserved.
(Signed)
* Here insert I, or We.
Sir, — I have the honour to inform you that having considered the re-
j port of the Committee, to whom your demand for space in the forthcoming
Exhibition was referred, Her Majesty’s Commissioners will reserve for
you an allotment of square feet for the hanging of photographs
to be exhibited by you.
All photographs, both plain and coloured, intended for exhibition
i wifi be submitted to the consideration of the Committee, and will have
i to be delivered at the Exhibition Building, South Kensington, not later
! than the 31st day of March, 1862. You will duly receive instructions on
I this point.
Your attention is particularly called to the conditions* printed below,
which must be strictly complied with.
I have to request that you will have the goodness to return the annexed
l Form with all the particulars asked filled in, and signed, within ten
days from this date. If you fail in this particular the allotment now
[ made to you will be withdrawn, and applied to meet the numerous pres-
| sing demands made upon Her Majesty’s Commissioners for accommoda-
j tion in the building.
I beg to call jmur special attention to the enclosed documents referring
to the catalogues, and to point out to you the extreme importance to the
exhibitors themselves of such early assistance being rendered to Her
j Majesty’s Commissioners as will enable them to publish the several parts
°f the illustrated catalogue on the day ■ fixed for the opening of the Ex¬
hibition. I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant, F. R. SANFORD, Secretary.
■^conditions.
1. All plain photographs must be framed and glazed in plain f-inch
bead frames, and no other description of frame and no passe-partouts will
j be admitted. The margin must be kept under moderate limits, not ex-
I ceeding for large pictures 2£ inches, and for those under 8 by 6 inches 6A
! inches. If desired, several photographs may be exhibited in one frame.
2. No “ touched” photographs will be admitted.
3. All coloured photographs must be framed and glazed with a careful
regard to economy and space, or they will not be exhibited.
4. All photographs must be numbered, and accompanied with a state-
| ment giving the name of the photographer, the subject of the picture,
i and the process employed.
PARTICULARS REQUIRED FROM EXHIBITORS TO WHOM SPACE HAS
BEEN ALLOTTED.
X.B. To be filled up, detached, and returned within ten days, failing
ivhicli the allotment will he cancelled.
Class 14. — Photographs.
I- — Engagement to occupy the space allotted.
* hereby engage to occupy the space now allotted, and to
conform to all the regulations that may be laid down by Her Majesty’s
Commissioners. (Signed)
Class 14. — Photographs.
II. — Nomination of Jurors.
N.B. — Not more than three names
to be returned.
Decision 11 (/.) Tho British jurors will be
chosen in the following manner : —
Every exhibitor will name three persons
to act on the jury for each class in which
he exhibits, and, from the persons so
named, Her Majesty's Commissioners will
select three members of the jury for each
class.
Name of proposed Juror.
Address.
1
2
AN UNEVEN SURFACE OF CHLORIDE OF SILVER
THE CAUSE OF MEALINESS IN POSITIVE PRINTS.
By AY. J. C. Moens.
For some time past I have been convinced that the mealiness
complained of in alkaline toning is almost entirely attributable to
the way the prints are treated between taking them from the
printing- frames and immersing them in the gold toning bath.
The usual treatment is to put the prints into two or three
changes of water, in order to wash out the free nitrate of silver
from them. Now this water nearly always contains inorganic
matter, which converts the nitrate into chloride of silver, therefore
the free nitrate is partially removed and partially turned into chlo¬
ride. This chloride is left in the body of the paper, immediately
under the albumen, which no washing can remove : besides
this, the first and second waters are saturated with chloride, which
settles in the open pores of the paper (this is the reason why a
loose porous paper is more prone to the evil than a thin hard one).
It is therefore evident that, after washing in water containing
inorganic matter, the paper on which the picture is printed has two
conditions, being in fact mottled with an uneven surface of chloride
of silver.
Now, after this washing, the next step is to immerse the print
in the gold bath, and what is the result ? When there is an excess
of silver it is speedily toned, but the rest of the print takes a far
longer time, so that you have two toning processes at work, both
carried on for the same length of time : thereby you get two
results, which constitute the mealiness complained of. Of course
it does not show in full force till the print has been acted on by
the hyposulphite of soda.
I will now bring forward a few facts which will tend to prove
my theory : —
1. — Mealiness is never experienced with plain paper — the albu-
menised surface being the great obstacle to the proper removal of
all the excess of the silver salts.
2. — Nor in the old method of toning when the chloride is dis¬
solved before the toning takes place.
3. — Nor when you wash well with distilled water.
4. — It is very seldom experienced when you do not wash the
prints at all before toning.
5. — Whenever there is an accidental excess of albumen, such as
a streak running across the paper, or the edge of a sheet when the
drainings have accumulated and dried, — these parts always tone
quicker than the rest on account of the excess of chloride of silver.
6. — It is not so prevalent in thin paper, from which the silver is
removed more easily.
7. — It never appears if the print be immersed in hypo., and
the silver entirely removed before toning.
8. — If the silver be converted into an even film of acetate it
never occurs, according to the testimony of many given during the
last few weeks.
9. — AAflien the silver is entirely reduced by exposure to a strong
light it never occurs.
I repeat, then, it is absolutely necessary in alkaline touing to have
an even surface of chloride of silver or none : in either case you
get rid of the complaint. But, if you have a mottled and uneven
surface of chloride of silver, the print tones accordingly, and the
result is useless.
40
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 180 2
notes on photographic chemicals.
By James Martin.
CHLORIDE OP GOLD.
Synonymes. — Terchloride Gold. Perchloride Gold. Leo. ruber*
Auric Chloride.
Composition. — Au CI3.
Equivalent. — 308.
Preparation. — Gold-leaf dissolves readily in an aqueous solution
of chlorine ; and metallic gold, in a finely-divided state, when
brought into contact with gaseous chlorine and heated, unites
•with that element, forming a compound of a deep yellow colour,
which is the substance now under consideration. These methods
of preparation are, however, not found convenient in practice : re¬
course is therefore had to a mixture of hydrochloric acid three
parts, and nitric acid one part, called niiro-liydrocliloric acid or aqua
regia. This substance exerts a powerfully solvent action on me¬
tallic gold, and the resulting solution yields, on evaporation, chlo¬
ride of gold. Theoretically speaking, one equivalent of gold, one
equivalent of nitric acid, and three equivalents of hydrochloric
acid, should produce an equivalent of terchloride of gold, three of
water, and one of binoxide of nitrogen. The reaction may be re¬
presented by the following equation : — Au + N05 + 3 II Cl = Au
Cl3 + 3 HO + NO2. Experience has shown that a much larger
proportion of acid than the above is necessary, as the heat usually
applied to assist the solution dissipates a great deal of free chlo¬
rine which has not acted on the gold ; accordingly acid is added
until the whole of the metal has entered into solution.
When the metal is completely dissolved, the highly acid liquor
is evaporated to a suitable extent, and allowed to crystallise.
The amateur may sometimes be placed in such circumstances as
to render it necessary that he should prepare his own chloride of
gold, in which case more minute directions than the foregoing on
this point would be found desirable. Let it be supposed that gold
is not obtainable in any other form than that of the current coin
of the country, and that it be required, for example, to convert a
sovereign into chloride of gold. The coin should be placed (by
preference) in a small glass flask — but any convenient vessel will
do — and a mixture of three parts hydrochloric acid and one part
nitric acid poured upon it ; whereupon a very energetic action
commences, accompanied by the evolution of large quantities of
gas (NO2 ), which is binoxide of nitrogen, and this passes by oxida¬
tion into ( NO4 ) or nitrous acid, evidenced by its characteristic red
vapour. The solution soon acquires a deep yellow colour ; but
should the action appear to slacken, heat may be gently and cau-
tiou sly applied, and acid added, until the solution of the metal is
complete. The exact quantity of acid required for dissolving five
pennyweights of gold (which is about the weight of a sovereign)
cannot well be stated, as it depends so much on the strength of
the acids and the amount of heat applied. The writer has gene¬
rally found four ounces of metallic gold require from twelve to fifteen
or even twenty ounces of the mixed acids for solution : this would
give as the proportion for five pennyweights of gold about one and
a quarter ounces, though it would be found to be probably more in
practice. A clear yellow solution being at length obtained it
should be evaporated to a small bulk, diluted freely with pure
water, and solution of protosulphate of iron added thereto : the
proportion is not important, so that the iron be in excess. The
result of the reaction is the precipitation of the gold in a finel}T-
divided metallic state, and free from the copper with which it was
alloyed in the coin. The precipitate should be collected on a filter,
washed, re-dissolved in a small quantity of nitro-hydrochloric acid,
and evaporated cautiously to dryness on a water-bath, or until a
drop of the solution solidifies on the end of a glass rod dipped into
it. A sovereign weighs a little more than five pennyweights, i.e.
about 123 grains, ten grains of which are copper : the remaining
112 or 113 grains of gold should yield, by combination with chlo¬
rine, about 170 grains of chloride of gold.
Properties. — Pure chloride of gold occurs as a red crystalline
mass, very deliquescent, and freely soluble in water, alcohol, and
ether. The ordinary commercial article, occurring in yellow pris¬
matic or acicular crystals, contains free hydrochloric acid, and is
described by Brande as a hydrochlorate of chloride of gold.
If this salt be dissolved in water, and treated with carbonate of
soda until effervescence ceases, the hydrogen of the hydrochloric
acid becomes replaced by gdium, and, on evaporation to dryness,
a compound is obtained quite free from excess of acid, having a
beautiful bright-yellow colour, and being especially suitable for the
alkaline gold toning process. It is known in commerce under the
name of double salt of gold, or double chloride of gold and sodium;
and in its manufacture the addition of carbonate of soda is followed
by the addition of chloride of sodium, the proportion being so regu¬
lated as to make two grains of the resulting compound equal to one
grain of chloride of gold. It possesses the additional advantage of
beingnon-deliquescent, thus enabling small quantitiesto be weighed
at a time for the preparation of a quantity of toning-bath suited to
the requirements of the moment.
It must be conceded that the combination of c hloride of sodium
with chloride of gold offers to the manufacturer a tempting oppor¬
tunity for sophistication; but the best safeguard against that is to
purchase the preparation from a house of acknowledged reputation.
Uses. — Chloride of gold is employed in the daguerreotype process
and in the ordinary positive printing process to improve the tone
or colour, and give greater permanence to the photographs. Its
action in the former case depends on the deposition (over the whole
surface of the plate) of a thin film of metallic gold, which greatly
enhances the beauty of the picture, and communicates the proper¬
ties above referred to. With regard to its action in the second
case the opinions of chemists seem somewhat divided. It may
here, however, be briefly stated, in explanation of the action of
chloride of gold in toning (and these remarks refer especially to the
alkaline gold toning process, now so generally practised), that a
positive print, on removal from the pressure-frame, has an acid re¬
action to test-paper, arising from the traces of free nitric acid pro¬
duced by the reduction of the nitrate of silver by the organic matter
in the paper. The free alkali contained in the toning-bath would
certainly have the effect of neutralising this acid ; and, above and
beyond this, it would have the effect of converting a portion of the
chloride into oxide of gold (Au 0;i) — a compound readily decompos¬
able in the presence of the reduced silver already in the print, the
product of the decomposition being reduced metallic gold, which
is deposited in the dark parts of the picture. It should not, how¬
ever, be understood that the interchange of gold for silver is com¬
plete throughout the entire body of the print, though little doubt
can be entertained that the change, as above described, does^ar-
tially occur. It seems essential also that the whole of the chloride
of gold should not be decomposed by the addition of the alkaline
salt, but that a portion should exist in the original condition;
moreover, it has been ascertained that almost any salt, in which
the alkali is imperfectly neutralised through combination with a
weak acid, will answer the purpose, and hence the employment of
acetate, borate, and phosphate, as well as the carbonate of soda.
Chloride of gold is sometimes used to revive faded photographic
prints, in which case a solution of about two grains to one ounce of
water will be found suitable. The print should be immersed in this
solution; and, if exposed to the full light of the sun, a few minutes
are all that is necessary to effect a material restoration. The ope¬
ration takes much longer in the dark, and, when completed, the
picture should be again fixed in fresh solution of hyposulphite of
soda, washed, and dried.
Impurities and Tests. — The principal contamination of this salt is
hydrochloric acid, the presence of which may be inferred when the
crystals possess a bright-yellow colour, the neutred terchloride being
of a dark-red. If it be desired to separate tire chloride from the
hydrochloric acid, it may be done by treating the strong aqueous
solution with ether, which takes up the chloride of gold, leaving
the hydrochloric acid in combination with the ivatcr. The auro-
cldoride of sodium, though more likely to be free from hydrochloric
acid, is liable to the adulteration with chloride of sodium ; and, as
the determination of the extent to which this exists can only be
accomplished by a quantitative analysis, it is deemed inexpedient
to enter into an elaborate description of the means necessary to
that end. The safety of the amateur consists in his purchasing
the article from a house of acknowledged reputation.
Effect on Humanity. — This expensive salt is one not likely to be
employed for the purpose of suicide : should its solution, however,
be drank unwittingly and by accident, it would be found to be a
powerfully irritant poison, acting locally like nitrate of silver. Its
effect on animals is to produce ulceration of the mucous membrane
of the stomach.
Antidote. — Magnesia, albumen, milk.
- -
ON THE MEANS OP SEPARATING SILVER PROM THE
HYPOSULPHITE OP SODA BATHS.*
By M. I Abbe Pujo.
Every positive print, on immersion in a bath of hyposulphife of
soda, yields thereto a considerable quantity of silver. It may indeed
bo admitted that the sky, the whites, and the middle tints of the
picture compose at least one-half of the surface of a photographic
* Cosmos.
41
i’ebruary 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL 0 E P H 0 T 0 G R A P H V.
•rint, from which it follows that one-half of the silver with which
lie paper was charged has passed into the fixing' bath. Further:
a the most intensely dark portions of the print the greater part of
he nitrate and albuminate of silver are not decomposed, and these
alts again pass into the hyposulphite of soda bath. It may.be
(firmed, then, that fifty per cent, of the silver used in printing
emains in the fixing bath ; and, if the photographer have placed at
is disposal a process whereby he can separate this silver, he will
e enabled to effect a saving to that amount. I would propose,
herefore, to my brother photographers a simple and certain method
or the treatment of hyposulphite of soda baths.
Procure ctii ordinary earthenware jar, capable of holding about
our or five gallons. Into this pour all the hyposulphite baths until
hey have accumulated to some bulk. When it is desired to sepa-
ate the silver which they hold in solution, add thereto hydrosul-
,hate of ammonia* in excess, and stir the mixture vigorously. An
inmediate precipitate of sulphide of silver is produced, which sub-
ides to the bottom of the vessel after the lapse of a few hours.. A
mall portion of the supernatant liquor should then be poured into
. glass, and tested by the addition of a few drops of hydrosulphate
if ammonia. If it blacken on the addition of this reagent, it is an
widence that sufficient has not been added to the general bulk of
lie solution ; a further quantity must therefore, be poured in, the
nixture again stirred, and set aside for the precipitate to deposit.
Che testing operation is again repeated, and the addition of hydro-
mlphate of ammonia is again made until the supernatant liquor no
onger blackens on the addition of hydrosulphate of ammonia.
When all the sulphide of silver has subsided at the bottom of the
ar, the supernatant liquor should be drawn off by. means of a
jyplion, or carefully decanted, and the jar refilled with common
vater : it should then be stirred in order to wash the precipitate,
md having waited for its agglomeration, the supernatant liquor is
igoin decanted, observing to add this second washing water to
Jiat first drawn off. In this manner it should be washed four or
Ive times, but these latter washing waters may be thrown away.
The sulphide of silver is collected, dried, and roasted sufficiently
:o get rid of moisture and sulphur in excess, arising from the
iresence of polysulphides in the hydrosulphate of ammonia, or
;hrough the decomposition of the hyposulphite.
A weight of powdered chlorate of potash, equal to that of the
sulphide obtained is then mixed with four or five times its weight
>f chalk, to which mixture is then added the sulpiride. The whole
being intimately mixed, it is then introduced into the. crucible and
subjected to a bright red heat for fifteen or twenty. minutes.
The mass which results from this calcination is treated with
water : the chalk and the sulphate of lime which is formed will
remain suspended for some time if the liquor be agitated, while the
silver, which is in the granular condition, falls rapidly to the bot¬
tom of the vessel. It is possible, then, to separate the metallic
silver by levigation from all foreign matters.
The grain silver carefully collected may be fused in a crucible
and cast into ingots. The metal thus procured, which is very pure,
may be again converted into nitrate, and be- again allowed to pass
through its numberless photographic metamorphoses.
N.B. — 1. The precipitation of silver from hyposulphite baths
should be conducted at some distance from the operating room, on
account of the sulphuretted hydrogen liberated. 2. Chlorate of
potash and sulphide of silver explode when heated together; the
operator must not therefore forget to add a suitable quantity of
chalk to moderate the action.
OPTICAL LAWS INVOLVED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OE
PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES.*
By W. K. Wason.
The science of optics naturally divides itself into two parts : First?
the laws or principles which regulate the transmission of light, and
second, the instruments formed on those principles ; or first, the
theoretical, and second, the practical, part. The first of these
divisions has been allotted to me : the second is to be taken up in
a future paper by our Secretary, Mr. Taylor.!
When light falls upon a transparent body, such as glass, three
things happen First, a small portion of the light is absorbed by
* In the absence of hydrosulphate of ammonia, a solution cf sulphide of sodium may
be employed. It may be prepared in the following manner: — Evaporate to dryness in a
basin tlnte or four parts of the solution of hyposulphite which it is intended to treat,
l’ulverise the salt thus obtained with two-thirds of its weight of sawdu-t, and heat the
mixture strongly in a crucible. The mass, treated with water and filtered, yields a
solution of sulphide of sodium.
t Read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society of Edinburgh, January 15, 1862.
t And as my subject is thus subordinate to Mr. Taylor's, I Lave treated it according
to directions received from him, viz., “to begin at the beginning and make it as popular
as possible,"
the glass ; second, a part of tlie rays are reflected from tbe surface ;
and third, the greater portion of the light passes through the glass.
Absorption. — Absorption is a most interesting subject of study
and one which is engaging much attention at the present day ;
but, having little to do with photographic lenses, we will pass
over it very gently. If all tire light reflected from, tbe glass,
and all that passes through it, be again collected, it will be found
that a loss lias been sustained. Where this light has gone to no
man knows : all we know is, that it is lost — as irrevocably lost as
if it were utterly annihilated. This loss we call absorption. .
One thing to be observed by photographers is, that loss of. light is
greatly increased by increasing the number of surfaces. This is one
objection to triple achromatic combinations. But more of that anon.
nc. i.
Reflection. — When a ray of fight 0 D tails obliquely upon a polished
surface, A B, it is reflected or thrown off in the direction D E. The
ray C D is called the incident ray, and D E the reflected ray ; and
if F D be drawn perpendicularly to A B, the angle C D F is tbe angle
of incidence, and D F E the angle of reflection. The only law to
be remembered here is a very simple one, viz., the angle of inci¬
dence equals the angle of reflection, i.e. tbe angle CDF equals
the angle F D E.
Refraction. — All are, no doubt, familiar with tbe wonderful
phenomenon exhibited with “the half-crown? in the basin.’ A
person places himself so that the half-crown is just bidden by
the edge of the basin — or, in optical language, so that the ray
of light proceeding from his eye and passing over the edge of the
basin, may strike the bottom of tbe vessel just beyond the half-
crown. Water is now poured in, and the half-crown comes into
sight. This is caused by tbe bending of tbe ray of light at the
surface of the water. If a line be drawn perpendicularly to tbe sur¬
face of the water, it may be observed that tbe ray of light becomes
bent towards this perpendicular at the point where it enters the
water; and this holds good whenever a ray of light passes from
a rarer to a denser medium. This one passes from, the rare
medium, air, to the denser medium, water. But now, if the ray
be looked upon as passing from the coin to the eye — i.e . from
the denser medium, water, to the rarer medium, air — the case will
be changed. The ray, after reaching the surface of the water,
bends from the perpendicular instead of towards it as before.
And these two facts are all that require to be known for a popular
knowledge of the subject — viz., that rays of light in passing
obliquely into a denser medium bend towards tbe perpendicular,
and in passing into a rarer medium bend from tbe perpendicular.
Lenses. — Let a tube be placed perpendicularly over a tub or
other vessel of water, so as to command a view of some small
object, such as a nail fixed at the bottom of the water. Let tbe
water be whirled round by the band till it becomes hollow in the
middle and heaped up on the sides. The nail is no longer visible
through the tube, tbe ray of light passing down the tube being
bent towards the edge of the vessel. And as it can be shown in
tbe same way that every ray of light that falls on tbe surface
of the water will be bent towards the edges of the vessel, we
conclude that concave lenses, or those thinner at the centre than at
the circumference, scatter the rays of light. . Let us now cut our
section into two parts, and place them with tbe original, outer
edges in contact, and it will be seen that with a very little grinding
we have a good convex lens, and that this convex lens condenses
the rays of light. We can now classify lenses those thinner in
the centre than at the circumference are diverging lenses ; those
thicker in the centre than at the circumference are converging
lenses ; and those equally thick throughout are, with regard to their
qualities , entirely neutral.
Fifi. 2.
42
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1802
Prisms. _ As the prism is the key to all the lenses, of whatever
shape they be, we will now trace the passage of a ray of light
through the prism ABC. Let A B C be a section of a prism,
and DBa ray of light incident upon it. Instead of proceeding in
a right line to F it is refracted or bent towards the perpendicular,
and reaches the surface at G. Here, in passing from a denser to
a rarer medium, it bends from the perpendicular and comes to H.
If the double convex lens be looked upon as two prisms
placed base to base, the passage of the rays of light through it
will be easily understood; and the double concave one will pre¬
sent no greater difficulties if looked upon as two prisms placed
point to point, In both cases the rays will be bent towards the
base of the prism.
Focus. — The point at which a convex lens will bring to a focus
the rays of the sun is called the principal focus of that lens, and the
distance of this point from the lens is called its focal length. Hold
the lens up to the sun, and mark the distance of the little spot of
light from the lens : this will be the focal length of the lens.
FIG. 3.
If light from the point C fall upon the lens A B {fig. 3), it will
be brought to a focus at some point, F. The points C and F are
called the conjugate foci. Observe that if the point 0 be removed
farther from the lens, to C', the rays OAC'B will be more nearly
parallel than C A and C B, and will therefore be brought to a focus
at a point F' nearer to the lens than the point F ; and, generally,
as one focus recedes from the lens, the other approaches it, and
vice versa.
no. 4.
Formation of Images. — From the point A rays of light flow in
every direction, forming a perfect sphere of rays. The lens B D
intercepts a cone of these rays. This cone of rays is represented
by its axis A C, and its two boundary lines A B, AD. From
what we have already said of conjugate foci, it is clear that the
point A will have its conjugate focus at a point E on the other
side of the lens. A similar cone of rays ■will proceed from F, and
have its conjugate focus at G ; and a cone from H will have its
focus in L ; and from every point in the arrow cones of rays will
fall upon the lens, and be brought to foci in the line G L E, form¬
ing there an inverted image of the arrow.
FIG, 5.
Copying. — Now that we know how images are formed, and some¬
thing about the conjugate foci, we introduce the subject of copying
and enlarging. Let the lens in fig. 5 be able to bring the parallel
rays a B ,/D, of the sun to a focus at the point G ; and let an object
to be copied, say the arrow A F, be placed at twice this focal length
from the lens. A cone of rays from the point A will be intercepted
by the lens. Let these rays be represented by the boundary
rays A B, A D, and their axis A C. It is evident, that A B
will be refracted equally with a B, and will, therefore, pass
through the principal focus G. The ray A C passing through
the centre of the lens will suffer no refraction, and will,
therefore, pass on till it meets BG in E. It will be seen, also, that
A D will come to E, the power which could bend F D to G being
just sufficient to refract AD to E. The point F will have its
conjugate focus in H; and thus an image of the arrow will he
formed at H E equal in size to the arrow itself. We find, there¬
fore, that to produce an image equal in size to the object we wish
to copy we must place the object at twice the focal distance of
the lens, and the image will be formed also at twice the focal
distance. By removing the object more than twice the focal length
from the lens, a smaller image will be formed ; or, by placing the
lens at less than twice the focal length, that a magnified image is
obtained.
(To be concluded in our next.)
PRINTING BY DEVELOPMENT.
[The following paper, by M. Oppenlieim, of Dresden, was read at a
meeting of the Marseilles Photographic Society. We are indebted
for the details to our contemporary, Le Moniteur de la Photogruphie.]
PREPARATION OF THE PAPER.
Serum of milk, prepared by treating scalded milk with tartaric
acid for the purpose of coagulating the caseine, is clarified by
means of albumen, boiled and filtered.
When the liquor is cold, five per cent, of iodide of potassium is
added thereto, and it is filtered again.
(This serum of milk filters as freely as water.)
An equal quantity of similarly prepared albumen is added to the
iodised serum, by which means an iodised liquor is obtained, on
the surface of which the sheets of paper may be floated for half a
minute, and afterwards dried.
Papers thus prepared will keep for a great length of time —
indeed their qualities seem to be improved by age.
SENSITISING.
A sheet of paper, prepared as above described, is floated on a
bath of nitrate of silver of five per cent, to which no acetic acid
has been added.
[The author insists on this absence of acetic acid, because, ac¬
cording to his experience, this substance is not only useless for this
process but positively hurtful. He admits that it aids the formation
of a vigorous image for transparencies, but coarse and feeble
when viewed by reflected light.]
After a minute’s contact with the nitrate of silver bath the
paper is withdrawn and floated on the surface of some distilled
water contained in a flat porcelain dish, where it should also be
allowed to remain one minute ; after which it should be plunged
into another porcelain tray containing a large quantity of distilled
water : in this it should be allowed to remain five minutes.
The distilled water upon which the paper is first floated should
be changed after washing three or four sheets : the second water
serves for a greater number of sheets.
This double washing is necessary. The first should be effected
by simply placing the sheet on the surface of the water, in order
to avoid the spots of saline matter which attach themselves to
the back of the paper if it be completely submerged on withdrawal
from the nitrate of silver bath.
The albumen, in fact, not being sufficiently coagulated, becomes
partially decomposed on contact with water, and the spots referred
to are the consequence. This danger does not exist at the time of
the second washing, which completes the operation, it being then
only necessary to dry the sheets between folds of blotting-paper.
EXPOSURE.
The exposure should be effected in the pressure-frame : to diffused
light a few seconds are sufficient. The image should be just faintly
visible on withdrawal from the frame.
DEVELOPMENT.
This is accomplished by employing a solution of gallic acid, to
which has been added a little glacial acetic acid and nitrate of silver.
The first washing water will do for developing if it be previously
filtered through kaolin.
FORMULA FOR DEVELOPING SOLUTION.
Distilled water, with a little nitrate of silver. ..100 parts.
Gallic acid . . . . 1 „
Solution, containing fifteen per cent, of
nitrate of silver and five per cent, of
glacial acetic acid,, . „ . .
February 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
43
The development may be accelerated by the aid of heat, and
■when the proof has acquired sufficient vigour it is only necessary
to stop the development by freely washing with water.
FIXING.
For this purpose a tolerably strong solution of hyposulphite of
soda may be employed, and the immersion should be continued
until the yellow colour of the iodide of silver has disappeared.
The tone yielded should be a beautiful sepia colour, if the in¬
structions here given have been accurately followed.
Where the tone becomes red it may be safely inferred that the
time of exposure has been prolonged beyond what was necessary,
or that the nitrate of silver bath employed was deficient in the
silver salt. If it be desired, the print may be toned with chloride
of gold, which yields a colour somewhat resembling galena.
ADVANTAGES OF THIS PROCESS.
1. Possibility of printing several hundred proofs in a fixed time,
and in a number of hours which are sufficient generally to print
only a very few by the ordinary method.
2. Possibility of obtaining equally good proofs from feeble and
vigorous negatives, the character of the picture being so much
under control in the development.
3. Great economy of nitrate of silver and chloride of gold.
4. Increased permanency of the proofs.
The proofs which accompanied this description were shown to
the meeting and elicited the highest encomiums.
“NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT, ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
By J. T. Taylor, Edinburgh.
A perusal of the volume of The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy for last year suggests such a variety of topics on which to
descant, that were even an approximation to justice rendered to
them it would cause these “notes” to extend to a most unreasonable
length. Meantime, a few of these may be selected for the present
observations, to which may be prefixed a word or two as to the
appearance of the Journal itself.
When in January, 1854, the enterprising and practical Liver¬
pool Society started a journal of their own, I wonder if it ever
occurred to them that their modest though well-conducted organ
would ever attain the gigantic proportions it now possesses under
its improved name. There were some first-class men in the
old Liverpool Society, with one of whom, Mr. Mackinlay (since
Lieutenant), at one time the Secretary, I was privileged to be
on somewhat intimate terms ; and when I recently parted with
him at the railway station, on bis way to Canada, I felt that
a man had gone from among us who possessed, in a degree
seldom indeed to be seen, sound theoretical and practical know¬
ledge of photography. I have always found The British Journal*
* * * * I write this in
perfect cognisance of all that transpires through the Continental
photographic journals : indeed the quondam editor of the most
important of them — La Lumiere — I am glad to see has been for a
considerable period on the literary staff of the British Journal.
If Edinburgh be taken as a criterion, the circulation of The British
Journal of Photography must now be very great indeed.
In the literary department it only wants one thing to make it
perfect — which, even in the certainty of boring some readers, I
venture to suggest should be done— viz., publishing, in extenso or
in abstract, the specifications of all the patents obtained in con¬
nexion with the art. I have hinted at the possibility of some
being bored by such abstracts. Need it be said that at the
present day, as photographers are constituted, there are some
who would growl at everything? In my hearing, a few days
since, one young aspirant suggested that instead of having
articles upon the “art aspect of photography” it would be far
better to devote a few pages in each number to show how to pre¬
vent the bath from fogging, for that, he thought, was the most im¬
portant thing in photography ! “ Nay,” said another, “ any child
knows how to doctor a bath : the chief thing that is wanted is a
good dry collodion process ; and for my part I should not care were
nothing else treated of in the Journal !” “ Low grovelling ideas,
both!” said a third : “ A Journal of Photography should be mainly
devoted towards the elucidation of the principles of photogenic
action, leaving the readers to deduce the practice for themselves ”
— and so on. In the impossibility of moulding the Journal to suit
the whims and caprices of each reader individually, it is doubtless
* We are obliged for the favourable opinions expressed, but they are too compli¬
mentary to publish.
wiser to retain it as it is, namely, with something to suit every kind
of taste, from the metaphysical to the merely mechanical.
Photography in Edinburgh.
Passing from the Journal itself to its contents, it indicates a
general progress in the art. Although no new process has been
discovered, some new societies have been formed; and per¬
haps the writer of this will be pardoned for calling special at¬
tention to the Edinburgh Photographic Society, with the forma¬
tion of which he had something to do. Perhaps a slight explana¬
tion is desirable, seeing that at the time of its organisation another
society, viz., the Photographic Society of Scotland, was co-existent
in the same place. This latter Society, from which the greater
proportion of professional photographers kept aloof, was, to a
considerable extent, composed of persons of a somewhat high
social standing according to the rule which decides those matters
in this city of castes; and when, at the close of a paper, oppor¬
tunities were offered for throwing in their quota of information
to the general store, there was such an apparent reluctance to
imparting any of their knowledge, that latterly conversa¬
tions or discussions, which, if rightly managed, are the most
valuable feature of the evening, were suffered to dwindle away to
the necessary formalities. To organise a society where stately
formality should be supplanted by pleasant and profitable conver¬
sation was the aim of the projectors of the Edinburgh Society ;
and whereas in our respected parent, the Photographic Society
of Scotland, the absence of a paper might entail the necessity
for postponing its meeting for a month, such an event would, in
its precocious child, the “Edinburgh,” be hailed with pleasure by
some, as affording more time for the friendly interchange of opinions.
While deprecating the most distant idea of fault-finding with the
policy which the Council of the Photographic Society of Scotland
deems it best to follow, those connected with the Edinburgh Photo¬
graphic Society are still in the belief that the plan they are pur¬
suing tends more to create an interest in the art than is done by the
other. That there is no animosity between the two bodies is best
evidenced by the fact of Sir David Brewster, the President of the
Photographic Society of Scotland, having given his consent that he
be proposed as an honorary member of the Edinburgh Society, in
the list of the members of which his name now appears. This
young Society now contains in its list of members between eighty
and ninety names. _
The New Photographic Printing Process.
When reading an account of this alleged new process by Mr.
Emerson J. Reynolds, the sage remark of the ecclesiast that
“there is nothing new under the sun” was forcibly impressed upon
me. I at once recognised an old and favourite method of printing
which was published with very great minuteness in Wealds RudL
mentary Series — article “Photography” — in 1854. Mr. Reynolds’s
process of 1861 is so exceedingly like the other that, wore not such
cases of independent discovery far from being rare, it might lead
one to the belief of the last discoverer having inadvertently
received some of his ideas from the other source, while from the
very style of Mr. Reynolds’s communication I have no doubt
of his being an independent and highly intelligent discoverer of
this ferrotype process. I will transcribe and place in juxtaposition
the two processes.
Mr. Reynolds’s new process is
this : — Saturate paper with per-
oxalate of iron, dry, and expose
under a negative. Develop with
red prussiate of potash, and the re¬
sulting picture will be blue ; but by
the substitution of ammonia nitrate
of silver a grey or black photograph
may be obtained.
Dr. Halleur’s process, as pub¬
lished in Great Britain in 1854
[Weale, London], is as follows: —
Dissolve in water one or other of
the following salts : oxalate of iron
and ammonia, citrate of iron and
ammonia, or tartrate of iron and
ammonia, the oxalate being best
adapted for thepurpose. The paper
being sensitised with this, after ex¬
posure in the printing-frame under
a negative, is brushed over with a
solution of red prussiate of potash,
if a blue picture is wanted ; am¬
monia nitrate of silver, if a greyish-
black is wanted ; simple nitrate of
silver, if a blackish-brown is de¬
sired ; and so on with other re¬
agents, to suit the particular colour
that is preferred.
If memory serve me aright, the process in question emanates
originally from Herschel (vide Hunt's Researches on Light) ; but of
one thing I am very certain, viz., that Mr. 0. J. Burnett, of Edin-
44
[February 1, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
burgh, has explored this field of research in a manner that no other
experimenter has done, and it is above three years ago since I
received from him several sheets of sensitive paper, some of them
being prepared with salts of uranium and others with peroxalate of
iron, which Mr. Burnett recommended me to develop in the manner
now claimed as new. But the publication in Weale’s work, so long
ago as 1854, sets the matter entirely at rest.
I can say, from personal experience, that this process possesses
great value, from the variety of tones capable of being produced by it.
My next note will be one on a subject’ in which considerable
interest is felt by some. It may be entitled —
Undeveloped Images.
Some months ago, at a meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic
Society, I stated that there might be a theoretical objection to
the use of acetic acid in the developer, seeing that this acid can
discharge an undeveloped image when used alone, and that even
when mixed with pyrogallic acid it might have the same tendency.
The Editor of this Journal, in the leader immediately following the
number in which such remarks appeared, made some observations
on this doctrine, to the effect that I should most likely not be inclined
to endorse this opinion on more mature deliberation, seeing that the
remarks were made in connexion with plates on which an organic
body — albumen — existed in combination with silver, although that
by its action on a plate merely varnished with such a body as gela¬
tine a destruction of the latent image might take place.
Having made a series of experiments to decide this point,
I am perfectly satisfied that the Editor was right, and that I
was wrong. Under a great variety of circumstances, although
acetic acid may remove with more or less completeness the im¬
pressed though undeveloped image, I find it will not do so when
there is an albumenous combination, as in the case which called
forth the remarks in question, which, if I mistake not, was Mr.
Slight’s paper On the Hot Water Process. Following out Mr. Shad-
bolt’s hints as to the removal of such impressed image by iodine,
I took a Fothergill plate which had been inadvertently left
standing on a shelf exposed to the full action of daylight.
After it had been thus exposed for some weeks, I cut the
plate into three pieces — the first of which I treated with the
ordinary pyro. developer and silver ; the second with acetic acid,
previous to the same treatment; and the third with a peculiar tinc¬
ture of iodine which I use in the removal of stains, previous to treat¬
ment with the pyro. solution. The first two at once blackened, but
the third showed no symptoms of having been impressed. Subse¬
quently a beautiful transparency was printed on a film which had
previously undergone a lengthened exposure to light, which pic¬
ture, with a statement of the circumstances under which it had been
produced, was submitted to the Photographic Society here. This
subject is one of some interest, and I am waiting to see if any
gentleman will be public-spirited enough to furnish a regular article
on it. Curious things were done “in the da}^s of old” by a know¬
ledge that iodic and kindred fumes would so discharge an impressed
daguerreotype that no amount of exposure over the mercury would
suffice to bring it out. I still remember the day when an amateur
of considerable pretensions had invited three or four less successful
brethren to spend a day with him, to see him operate, with the
amiable intention of “crowing” over them. It is still vividly before
me how, time after time, he exposed — with no success — and I
doubt not to his own profound amazement. The only cause he
could assign was, that there must be electricity in the atmosphere,
which prevented the possibility of a picture being taken ! The
real cause, however, was found to be that a young fellow present,
who was desirous that his boasting friend should, as he expressed
it, “ have the starch taken out of him,” had slyly conveyed a small
quantity ol iodine into the camera, where, lurking unseen, it pro¬
duced its baneful effects of throwing a “wet blanket” over the
too-confident operator.
CLEARING A SILVER BATH.*
By Coleman Sellers.
In a paper, by Edwin Musgrave, read at a meeting of the Edinburgh
Photographic Society, Oct. 16th, 1861, On Positive Printing ,j* the
following passage occurs “ When the printing bath becomes dis¬
coloured by use, Mr. Tunny’s method of decolourising it will be
found the most certain. It is as follows Add one drop of satu¬
rated solution of citric acid to the bath, and shake it up. This, if
the bath be alkaline, will cause a slight deposit of citrate of silver,
and will immediately clear the hath (the italics are mine). The solu-
* From Humphrey's Journal.
+ Sec page 370, vol. viii., of Tub British Journal or PuoroGRArin'.
tion may then be filtered. If no deposit take place on the addition
of the citric acid, it shows the bath iR still acid. In that case one
drop of ammonia added to it will at once produce the desired effect.”
When “Fault-Finder” puts his kaolin into his silver bath dots it at
once clear it, or does it not rather render it very muddy V and does
it not become clear only after being filtered, or after the heavy
clay has settled to the bottom, taking with it the colouring matter?
The action of the clay, or the citrate of silver, or the chloride of
silver, used by some, is purely a mechanical action, and clears the
bath in the same way, without regard to the quantity used. When
I read the very well written and interesting paper ot Mr. Musgrave
I never for one moment supposed that the word immediately meant
that some magic effect should be produced, and that, presto l the
dark colour should vanish.
“ Fault-Finder” may be correct in thinking my description not
sufficiently clear, and, for his benefit as well as others, I will
endeavour to make it more so, premising that a silver bath acid
with citric acid is not liable to be discoloured, particularly if there
be from five grains to five ounces of citrate of silver in the bottom
of the stock-bottle, and that this citrate is shaken up whenever
the bath is returned from the dish into the stock-bottle. Now for
the formula.
Let “Fault-Finder” make a saturated solution of citric acid in
one ounce of water : to this add three drops of aqua ammonia,
F. F. F. Now, if his bath contain five ounces of silver solution,
let him add five drops of this acid citrate of ammonia to it, and
note if a slight flocculent deposit forms. (In parenthesis let me
say that I know of no measure to designate more nearly what I
mean by slight.) Shake this up and filter. If this do not answer
the purpose, let me advise “Fault-Finder,” by all means, to stick
to his kaolin as the very best method of clearing a bath; but at
the same time let me assure him that I do not use kaolin, nor do
any of my friends.
Thus much have I written to clear up the obscurity of my former
article; and now, in all kindness, I would volunteer a word or two
of advice to “ Fault-Finder.” The cook that tells yon that, in making
a potato-pudding, she uses eggs in proportion to the size of the
pudding — that when she makes a big puddiug she takes a good
many eggs, and that when she makes a little pudding she doesn’t
take so many — is, in all probability, a better cook than one who
must work to guage and number. She knows that an egg more or
less is not a serious matter, and she has no fixed rule to work by ;
yet her puddings may be all first-rate. So it is with photography.
There are many fault-finders who cannot work even to exact for¬
mulae, for they do not, in the first place, try to understand and
reason out the theory of the operation they are about to perform,
and modify it to the circumstances of their own particular case.
Photography requires not so much exactness in weight and
measures as it does in exactness of the knowledge of the effect
to be produced — a knowledge only to be gained by experience.
If “Fault-Finder” be an experienced photographer, and writes
his strictures in a fault-finding spirit, I have nothing more
to say ; but if he be young in the business, and desires know¬
ledge, let me advise him to select some other nom de plume—
one more indicative of an earnest desire to learn — and he will
find many persons always ready to help him. Photography
is a very fascinating art, but those who want to gucceed
in it must keep in a good humour and exercise great patience ;
and as “Fault-Finder” advances in knowledge he will find that he
has written what is not true in making the wholesale charge
against writers for this and other journals of keeping back their
knowledge from the public.
Most emphatically do I say that I have found all the processes
published in this journal under responsible names correct in every
particular as far as my limited experience would enable me to
judge; and I here once more thank Humphrey's Journal for much
valuable information, and find no fault even with “Fault-Finder.”
- »- -
ON THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT-*
By M. A. Poitevin.
All substances exposed to the action of light either absorb or
reflect it more or less ; and it is in this way that the luminous rays
communicate to them brightness and colour. The calorific rays
elevate the temperature of bodies exposed to their action ; but.in
neither case is the nature or chemical composition of the bodies
altered, while the third class of rays acting on certain bodies
alters the molecular arrangement of their particles : these are the
chemical rays. I propose, in this paper, to consider the effects
* From Le Moniteur de la Photographic.
February 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
45
produced by these rays ; for it is these which furnish us with the
various means of rendering permanent, or of printing on a suitably
prepared surface, the luminous image projected thereon, or which
is perhaps even momentarily formed.
It is necessary to this reducing action of light that the substance
j to be acted upon should be in contact or mixed with another sub-
: stance capable of furnishing the element acquired in the act of
, reduction, and which will form a substance more stable under the
action of light, and under the same conditions. For example
Hydrogen unites with chlorine under the influence of chemical
rays. Bitumen of Judea, certain oils, guaiacum resin, are oxidised
at the expense of the air, while, in a vacuum, or in an atmosphere
of other gases, light has no action upon them. Guaiacum resin
becomes blue in the chemical rays of the spectrum, and the yellow
and red rays cause it to lose the oxygen acquired in the first.
Gummy organic matters become oxidised on exposure to light
j in contact with chromic acid and alkaline bichromates, and become
thereby more insoluble in water.
With reference to the binary compounds decomposed by. the
action of light — those of gold and silver, oxides, chlorides, bromides,
iodides, &c., especially those reducible to the metallic state — it may
be said that the electro-negative element combines with some
body present, or is liberated in the gaseous form : those of iron,
uranium, lead, &c., in the highest state of oxidation, simply lose a
I portion of their oxygen.
Among salts the acid is sometimes decomposed : thus the
chromic acid of bichromates and the nitric acid of nitrate of silver
suffer decomposition when they are mixed with organic matter.
A similar reaction takes place in the case of the salts of the
sesquioxide of iron and uranium, which, in passing into the state of
protosalts, become energetic reducers of the salts of gold and silver.
But, as I have previously said, it is essential, in order that re¬
duction shall take place, that the body be mixed with a substance
in which at least one of the electro-positive elements shall unite
itself to the electro-negative element which becomes eliminated.
These are generally substances of organic origin in which the
affinities of hydrogen or carbon, which they contain, are not satis¬
fied ; they may therefore be regarded as combustibles, while the
substances to be reduced occupy the position of supporters of com¬
bustion. Those substances which are already in a state of per¬
oxidation — as gun-cotton, for instance — are not apt to facilitate
reduction by light, and, therefore, it is possible to dissolve nitrate
of silver, nitrate of uranium, perchloride of iron, &c., in collodion,
and submit the mixture to the action of light without the least re¬
duction taking place. I would direct attention to the fact that
nearly all the substances decomposable by light are either of a
yellow, orange, or red colour, or else one of their constituent
elements possesses one of these colours. I may mention, as
examples, chlorine, bromine, silver, gold, the bichromates, the per-
salts of iron and uranium, &c., &c., which have these colours, and are
all sensible to light, or else form combinations decomposable by light.
Many white compounds, slightly sensible to light, or upon which
it has no action, might, perhaps, become reduced if they could have
communicated to them the power of absorbing the blue and violet
rays ; this, however, is an entirely new course of study to which I
propose devoting myself, and to which I now direct the attention
of experimenters.
I will not now enter further into these theoretical generalities.
I propose to describe my experiments with certain reducing agents
upon sundry persalts, and the applications which I have made of
them in the production of photographic impressions in gallate of
iron, in carbon, and other inert or neutral colouring matters.
Alloxantin and Bichromate of Potash. — In 1858 1 was in a chemical-
factory where they were treating uric acid with the object of con¬
verting it into alloxan, alloxantin, and, finally, murexide. I wished
to try the action of light upon the alkaline bichromates mixed with
these substances, knowing beforehand that alloxantin had a great
affinity for oxygen. This last substance was the only one which
gave me a result applicable to photography.
I ascertained then that the mixture, in equal volumes of concen¬
trated solutions of alloxantin and bichromate of potash, applied to
paper, was very sensitive to light, and that the reduction of the
chromic acid is more complete than when using the bichromate
alone. I tried the same mixture with gum upon stone, but without
obtaining any useful result. With reference to the oxidised allox¬
antin, it did not produce any photographic compound ; I sought,
therefore, to withdraw a portion of the unreduced chromic acid in
those places where the action of the light had been well marked,
and I conceived the two following methods of operating: —
1. If a paper treated with bichromate of potash and alloxantin be
exposed under a positive, chromate of silver is formed in the parts
not acted on by light, but in a manner much sharper and cleaner
than if the bichromate beemployedalone. A beautiful positiveimage
of a red colour may also be obtained in this way, fixable for a short
time only, by a simple washing in water ; for the chromate of silver
undergoes a spontaneous change after a few days, even in the dark.
In order to render the image thus obtained quite permanent, I
immerse it in a diluted solution of iodide of potassium, by the action
of which iodide of silver and chromate of potash are formed. The
paper is then washed with distilled water, and the iodide of silver,
which forms the design, is rendered sensitive by plunging the sheet
in a very dilute solution of nitrate of silver. It is then washed in
several waters, and exposed for a few seconds to light. I then
treat it with a solution of gallic acid, which gives me a very beau¬
tiful black proof. It is then washed once with water containing
chloride of sodium, and finally fixed with hyposulphite of soda,
washed, and dried.
2. An impression, obtained as above, is treated with a mixture
of gallic acid and protosulphate of iron, or, better, of protochloride
of iron, prepared just before using, by mixing solutions of sulphate
of iron and chloride of barium in equivalent proportions. In this
way a very beautiful image is soon formed, composed of gallate of
iron, in those parts where the bichromate has not become decom¬
posed. A few changes of common water are sufficient to fix a picture
obtained in this way.* If the operation be conducted upon a glass,
covered with a mixture of thirty grains of gelatine dissolved in
eleven ounces of water, to which has been added two ounces of a
mixture of equal volumes of alloxantin and bichromate of potash,
a proof is obtained possessing a remarkable degree of sharpness.
This process, apart from the use of alloxantin, has many points
of resemblance to the ink process proposed by different persons. It
differs from these, however, in the fact of my using but one develop-
ingbath : the permanency of the picture is by these means increased.
Alloxantin and Bichloride of Mercury. — Solution of alloxantin does
not precipitate bichloride of mercury in the dark, but, in direct
sunlight, a deposit of protochloride of mercury takes place, accom¬
panied by a disengagement of gas.
Paper prepared with this mixture, and exposed to the light under
a negative, blackens in the parts acted on when plunged in a dilute
solution of ammonia or hyposulphite of soda.
Alloxantin exalts the sensibility to light of ferroc3,,anide and
ferricyanide of potassium, which, applied alone to paper, are re¬
duced but very slowly.
In this case the perchloride of iron is reduced to the state of
protochloride — a substance upon which theferrocyanideof potassium
does not act, while the ferricyanide produces with it the cha¬
racteristic colour of Prussian blue. Tannin and gallic acid blacken
only those parts where the perchloride has not been decomposed.
•Alloxantin bleaches the tannate and gallate of iron produced,
yielding an insoluble compound, which becomes blue on the addition
of ferrocyanide of potassium.
Alloxantin and ferrocyanide of potassium yield to paper a film
which becomes green under the influence of light. Acids restore this
green colour to a bright blue. Solution of sulphate of copper gives
a red colour onty in those parts which have not been reduced by light.
Alloxantin and ferricyanide of potassium gives a film which, after
partial exposure to light, becomes blue on the addition of perchloride
of iron in the parts subjected to the actinic influence ; and this
would seem to prove that the light has reduced the ferricyanide to
the state of ferrocyanide.
Taking this fact as a foundation, I prepared an excellent positive
paper, by applying at first a coating of solution of perchloride of
iron and alloxantin, allowing the paper to dry in the dark, and
afterwards immersing it in a solution of ferricyanide of potassium
and alloxantin. This paper is veiy sensitive to light. It becomes
blue at first, the ferricyanide forming Prussian blue with the
protochloride produced by the reducing action of light ; but a
solution of ferricyanide produces a very beautiful blue on the
exposed portions of the picture. Washing in ordinary water
suffices to fix these blue proofs, which may be afterwards readily
transformed into ink pictures by immersion in a solution of gallic
acid containing an excess of ammonia.
Alloxantin in solution precipitates nitrate of silver. Paper
covered with a solution of alloxantin, dried and immersed in a
solution of nitrate of silver, is very sensitive to light : it may be
advantageously employed for the production of proofs which are
intended to be immediately developed with a gallic acid.
* These proportions are altered, upon the assumption that the word centigramme is
substituted for centilitre in the “ Moniteur as it would be impossible to dissolve thirty
grains of gelatine in five grains of water, as ordered therein.
46
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1862
STEREOGRAPHS.
Instantaneous Views of London, dec. Photographed by
Valentine Blanchard.
London : C. E. Elliott, Alderrnanbury Postern.
In our retrospective summary of the past year’s occurrences in the
photographic world, we could not forbear remarking iipon the very
noticeable advance that had been made in the production of instan¬
taneous views. Until lately pictures of this class were rather
exceptional : now we find them not only frequent, but published
in series of considerable extent, and not confined to the work of
one or two but of several skilful operators. Besides Mr. George
Wilson, who is a veteran instantaneous photographer, and indeed
the originator of a particular class of works of this nature, we have
had recently to welcome the debut of several newer hands in this
branch of the art. It now becomes our duty to introduce
another to the notice of our readers in Mr. Blanchard, whose
works are before us, some of them being remarkably Wilsonian in
aspect : this is peculiarly the case with Nos. 51, 52, 66, and 87,
which are fine studies of clouds and water — and something more
than that, for they are charming compositions.
In No. 51, The Thames at Blackwall, looking towards
Greenwich, exhibits the Greenwich “reach” of the river just after
high water, when the said river looks its best, and by association
of ideas reminding one of whitebait enjoyed with a few genial
companions. A fresh breeze is blowing ; witness the direction of
several flags, the dancing wavelets of the stream — touched here
and there with what a sailor would call “ cats’-paws” — and the light
clouds scudding across the sky. The centre of the picture is
occupied by a barque afloat, “ stern on ” to the spectator, sails
triced up, and rigging all “taut:” she is riding at anchor, and
is destitute of cargo — as shown by the way in which she stands
out of the water — and has most likely just been taking in ballast
from the “lighter” alongside. On the left is a barge, fully-laden,
drifting down with the tide ; and in the background many low
warehouses and workshops on the shore at Millwall, with the tall
masts of numerous other vessels in the further bend of the river.
No. 52 is a view taken from the same spot as the preceding, but
looking down the Woolwich Reach of the River Thames. A
sea-going steamer is in full retreat in the centre, with a thin
wreath of black smoke coming out of her funnel, and leaving a
narrow “ wake ” of white foam behind her ; the water is agitated
by the swell from the steamer, two huge mooring buoys being
tossed hither and thither ; several colliers are seen at anchor in
the distance, with a vessel or two in full sail; the Surrey hills
about Charlton and Woolwich form the background; and the whole
is well finished by a summer sky, studded with some fleecy clouds.
Perhaps the most eminently characteristic slide taken from the
pier at Blackwall is No. 87— High Water — which displays all the
bustle of that exciting time at the spot indicated, when dock-
masters are driven half crazy, and everybody is in a hurry. Some
ships are making the best of their way inwards and others out¬
wards ; collisions are imminent ; and steamers are threading their
devious way in and out amongst the craft of all sizes and vessels
of more commanding presence, like Hansom cabs in a crowded
thoroughfare. The very sky, too, is in perfect keeping with the
scene : the wind appears to be dead ahead — the clouds scattered
right and left in every direction — vessels on every possible “tack,”
most having only a few sails set, for the breeze is evidently “stiff.”
Just in front is a river steamer in retreat full of passengers:
3'onder is another coming fast towards us : all is activity and
motion. It will be quite exciting to those whose lives are passed
much in seclusion.
In No. 87— Sunset at Greeniiithe — we have a marked contrast
to the preceding. The camera has been pointed directly towards
“the light that rules the day,” which, partially shrouded by a bank
of cloud, sinks slowly towards the horizon. It is low tide : the
water of the river is scant and sluggish, and a large mass of the
black slimy ooze on the banks is exposed to view — not smooth,
but scored and twisted by the sharp keels of many retreating
vessels and chafing hawsers. From the surfaces of the mud and
water the sunlight is reflected in a long, irregular strip. A collier
brig, aground, is seen on the left, and another, but half afloat, further
down ; and a couple of skiffs are being rowed close to the edge of
the Avater, creeping slowly against the stream. There is a warmth
and glow about this, with an air of repose, that is highly meritorious ;
albeit there are two or three trifling blemishes — very trifling — in
the negative.
No. 82— Sunset at Greenhithe — is another study taken from
precisely the same spot as the last-mentioned ; but the sun has
sunk lower down in the horizon, and is now shrouded and hidden
entirely from view by a bank of dark clouds with torn and rugged
edges, charmingly lit up with his last rays. There is a lurid
glare from the mud and water, proceeding from the twice-reflected i
light — no longer in an irregular strip, but diffused widely over the
surface. As an art-production this is very fine, and, with No. 87
as a commentary upon it, must be invaluable to a thoughtful art-
student in demonstrating the ever-varying effect of light and
shade.
Nos. 67 and 83 are different views of the celebrated “ Warrior,"
Iron-plated War Frigate.
No. 107 is a capitally-executed photograph of a lively scene— a
large ship entering the East India Docks, with the Passengers
Landing at Blackwall Pier from a couple of Woolwich steam¬
boats.
No. 98— Study of Clouds at Soutiisea— is very fine, so far as
the clouds are concerned, and the barque in full sail is admirably
delineated ; but the whole is, as a composition, far too prim and
formal.
Some sunset effects at Ryde are so “under-exposed” that
there is far too much “ room for the imagination ” left to suit the
popular taste at least.
There are numerous instantaneous street views in the metropolis;
but, as a transition one from the preceding class, wo may first
notice No. 125, The Houses of Parliament, from Lambeth. This
slide is more satisfactory out of, than in, the stereoscope. A
“wherry,” with four rowers and a steersman, are seen crossing
in front of the “New Palace:” Westminster Abbey also is visible
on the left. But there is an absence of sharpness about some parts
of this subject, where its presence is a desideratum, that is some¬
what disappointing : there is also a little evidence of marginal
distortion that is not pleasing. Still there are points about this
slide that will, no doubt, render it a favourite.
Of the street views in London we must candidly admit that they
are not equal to some of Paris that we recently criticised in these
pages ; but it must not be forgotten that the atmosphere of London
interposes difficulties from which the exponent of scenes in the
French metropolis is altogether emancipated. It would not, there¬
fore, be fair to judge them both by the same standard. There are,
however, some other faults about these that are not due to the in¬
feriority (in a photographic sense) of the atmosphere, and at the
existence of which we are a little surprised. We allude especially
to some of the points of view selected ; for, if a proportion of them
were owing to the choice being what is popularly known as
“ Hobson’s,” others of them were certainly not in that category.
However, we are glad to find a photographer who has the courage
to attempt so difficult a task as that of the delineation of scenes in
London streets.
Of all before us we prefer that of The Royal Exchange (No.
85), which gives a view not only of the Exchange, but of the
whole vistas down Cornhill and Threadneedle Street, with, the
immense number of passengers both on foot and on vehicles
of all descriptions which are constantly to be found in these
thoroughfares. Photographically the slide is excellent; but artis¬
tically it is somewhat deficient. The sun is shining, and is
located directly behind the spectator, and the two thoroughfares
already named, branching right and left, too completely balance
one another, while a line dropped from the “ grasshopper ” vane
of the tower would pass through the apex of the gable over the
entablature, and bisect the Wellington statue to a hair’s breadth.
We have frequently cast an eye on the very spot, to determine
which would be the best point of view for this subject ; and we
have long since arrived at the conclusion that it would not be found
at the first floor window of the Insurance Office, at the corner of
Charlotte Row, where we have no doubt this view was taken, but
by the Mansion House, at the corner of the west balustrade, which
would enable us to include the front of the Bank of England, or the
greater portion thereof: the time of da}' for the exposure should
be from two o’clock to half-past two in the afternoon. We may,
perhaps, be open to the charge of hypercriticism on the slide
before us, for it is in all other respects than those indicated very
excellent. I
No. 114— Hungerford Suspension Bridge— is admirable and
unexceptionable on either photographic or artistic grounds.
One without title or number we recognise as London Bridge
from NEAR the Statue, King William Street, with its stream
of vehicles, though pretty numerous, wonderfully clear for that
usually thronged locality. We regret that this has been taken
from the top of a house, as the parapet much interferes with the
effect of the view.
ebruary 1, 1863]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
47
There are many other familiar scenes, as Charing Cross — The
)st Office— The Quadrant, Regent Street — Palace Yard—
dckspur Street — Ludgate Hill, &c. But, ere concluding, we
lould say a word about the latter, which includes St. Paul’s
iathedral from a very unfavourable point of view; and, as we are
hquainted with two good ones, we may as well offer the suggestion
hr future advantage. With a lens of moderately short focus, we
elieve it would be possible to include a general view of the
|athedral from the first floor window of a warehouse at the com-
lencement of Cannon Street, either at Messrs. Behrens aud
iluinberg’s, or at the next more westerly one. The second'very
ivourable spot from which to obtain a good view is fortu-
ately a comparatively quiet one : we mean the Southwark end of
louthwark Bridge.
We have pointed out some few faults, it is true, in the street
iews; but we must in justice add that they are, on the whole,
leritorious, and give an excellent idea of life in the great
aetropolis.
- -
|n Artist’s feffra lo it
ON LANDSCAPE.
Sentiment — Introductory Considerations — Is the Highest
Art True or False to Nature? — Sir Joshua Reynolds’s
I Art-Creed and his Photographic Disciples — Hazlitt and
Ruskin versus Reynolds — Witnesses Examined on Either
Side, and their Evidence given in a Series of brief
Extracts from “Modern Painters,” the “Athen^um,”
“ Blackwood’s Magazine,” the “ Guardian,” &c.
“ There is nothing in nature, however mean or trivial, that has not its beauty, and
some interest belonging to it, if truly represented.” — Hazlitt.
“ Seek not for that which is easiest to imitate, but for that which is most important to
tell. * * * Conveying the impressions of nature into the mind of the spectator, and
chiefly forcing upon his feelings those delicate and refined truths of specific form, which
are just what the careless eye can least detect or enjoy, because they are intended by the
Deity to be the constant objects of our investigation, that they may be the constant sources
of our pleasure.” — Buskin.
“ Most of my visitors, fox or goose,
When they hear me speak of a picture’s use,
In bark or cackle their mirth let loose.” — Robert Brough.
“ We mistake men's diseases when we think there needeth nothing to cure them of their
errors but the evidence of truth. Alas ! there are many distempers of mind to be removed
before they receive that evidence,” — Richard Baxter.
- -
My Dear Fellow-Student,
Tone is so intimately allied to the expression of senti¬
ment that the consideration of the latter may now, I think, very
harmoniously succeed that of the former. But, before we turn to
its study, there are sundry questions of importance to be carefully
considered.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his thirteenth discourse, says: — “If we
suppose a view of nature represented with all the truth of the
camera obscura, and the same scene represented by a great artist, how
little and mean will the one appear in comparison with the other
where no superiority is supposed from the choice of the subject !
The scene shall be the same, the difference only will be in the man¬
ner in which it is presented to the eye.” Such belief as this was
in harmonious accordance with Sir Joshua’s particular art-creed ;
but, in the remarks to which the above quotation is introductory,
we find this wonderful supposed difference between the camera
picture and the great artist’s work exists solely in the power which
the latter has of exciting the imagination, and embodying such
circumstances as “contribute to the general character of the work,
whether it be of the elegant or of the more sublime kind.” Sir
Joshua’s creed actually seems to infer that Nature has no innate
elegance or sublimity, although she may express comedy or farce of
the lower kind well enough. To use this great painter’s own words —
“ The lower kind of comedy, or farce, like the inferior style of paint¬
ing, the more naturally it is represented the better; but the higher
appears to me to aim no more at imitation than Raffaelle in his
cartoons, or Poussin in his sacraments, expected it to be believed
that what they exhibited were real figures.” In this quotation wo
find that belief which, preserved in certain minds, now so obsti¬
nately denies to photography the position of a fine art. Mr. Sutton
follows this false prophet when he speaks of the truths of photo¬
graphy as inferior to the falsehoods of art. Sir William Newton
bows down before this presumptuous and irreverent creed when ho
denies that photography can ever be a fine art ; and that poor-
souled “mechanic,” Silvy, the photographer, assuming all the airs
of an aristocratic artist in the costly accessories of his stately
studio, believes in this when he claims for his own works, which so
frequently evidence the studious care and skill of an artist in their
posing, lighting, and composition, no position but that accorded to
purely mechanical productions. This creed wields the pens which
have been so busy against our art in the journals and daily papers
of our day. This was the creed of a recent writer in the pages of
the London Review ; and to a rooted conviction in the truth of this
creed is due the apathy and indolence with which so many good
photographers give to their hands alone an art which seeks its real
power and highest value only from their beads. Now, therefore,
let us pause before going further, and examine this creed — put it
on its trial, and see what it is made of, building our hopes upon its
falsity, and our degradation upon its truth, but yet examining it
without prejudice and without injustice.
A well known and highly reputed writer on the fine arts, William
Hazlitt, says : — “ The great works of art at present extant, and
which may be regarded as models of perfection in their several
kinds, are — the Greek statues, the pictures of the celebrated Italian
masters, those of the Dutch and Flemish schools ; to which we may
add the comic productions of our own countryman, Hogarth. These
all stand unrivalled in the history of art; and they owe their pre¬
eminence and perfection to one and the same principle — the immediate
imitation of nature. This principle predominated equally in the
classical forms of the antique and in the grotesque figures of
Hogarth. The perfection of art in each arose from the truth and
identity of the imitation with the reality. The difference was in
the subjects : there was none in the modes of imitation. Yet the
advocates for the ideal system of art would persuade their disciples
that the difference between Hogarth and the antique does not consist
in the different forms of nature which they imitated, but in this —
that the one is like, and the other unlike, nature. This is an error
the most detrimental, perhaps, of all other’s, both to the theory
and practice of art.” Here is one witness, then, against the
creed of Sir Joshua; and here’s “another more potent than the
first — •
Ruskin, speaking of certain common and well demonstrated evils
in art, says : — “ The cause lies in the painter’s taking upon himself
to modify God’s work at his pleasure ; casting the shadow of him¬
self on all he sees ; constituting himself arbiter where it is honour
to be a disciple ; and exhibiting his ingenuity by the attainment of
combinations whose highest praise is that they are impossible."
And he concludes that “ Every alteration of the features of nature
has its origin either in powerless indolence or blind audacity —
in the folly which forgets or the insolence which desecrates
works which it is the pride of angels to know and their privilege
to love.”
On the other hand, followers of Sir Joshua reply — “If people want
to see Nature , let them go and look at herself,” and ask, “ Why
should they see her at second-hand on a piece of canvas ?”* Or
assert, in the words of another false teacher, writing in Blackivood's
Magazine — “ It is not what things in all respects really are, but how
they are convertible by the mind into what they are not that we
have to consider." Just, as they might add, in the words of
the Chinese Emperor, denouncing the European’s perspective
drawing, “Wretched barbarian! I demanded of you a picture
of my city’s new street, and behold you produce me the street
itself!”
In that fine old magazine, the Guardian , we have another wit¬
ness for our side, who says : — “ Those who are most capable of art
are always most fond of nature, as such are chiefly sensible that
all art consists in the imitation and study of nature. On the contrary,
people of the common level of understanding are principally de¬
lighted with the little niceties and fantastical operations of art, and
constantly think that finest which is least natural. A citizen is no
sooner proprietor of a couple of yews but he entertains thoughts of
erecting them into giants, like those of Guildhall.” Going a little
further back into the past let us bring forth another witness, Dryden,
who says of painting and poetry : — “To imitate nature well, in what¬
ever subject, is the perfection of both arts; and that picture and
that poem which comes nearest the resemblance of nature is the
best. * * Our depraved appetites and ignorance of the arts
mislead our judgments, and cause us to take that for true imitation
of nature which has no resemblance of nature in it.” The evidence
of a great poet is worth the having. Dryden, I thank you ! — you
may stand down ! The next occupant of our imaginary witness-
Artcritic ia the Afhimxm.
48
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 1, 1802
box is burly old Dr. Johnson — not a great lover of art, it is true, but
a great thinker, mark you, for all that ; and the doctor says at once,
with an air of— there, I’ve settled it for you — “ Nothing can please
many and please long but just representations of general nature.”
Goethe, the great German writer, takes this witness’s place, and he
asserts — “If an artist turns to natural objects, uses all care and
fidelity in the most perfect imitation of their forms and colours,
never knowingly departs from nature, begins and ends in her pre¬
sence every picture that he undertakes — such an artist must possess
high merit, for he cannot fail in attaining the greatest accuracy,
and his works must be full of certainty, variety, and strength.” A
master from the Cork School of Design — Edward Sheil — next comes
humbly forward, and he says — “ Nature’s glorious forms, could they
be copied literally, are far too perfect and lovely in themselves to
be used as secondary things to any work of man.” We next sum¬
mon Carlyle, who appears, exclaiming, impatiently— “ May the
Devil fly away with the fine arts !” for, says he, truly enough, “The
fact is, though men are not in the least aware of it, the fine arts,
divorced entirely from truth this long while and wedded almost
professedly- to falsehood, fiction, and such like, are got into what
we must call an insane condition : they walk abroad -without keepers,
nobody suspecting their sad state, and do fantastic tricks equal to
any in Bedlam — especially when admitted to work ‘ regardless of
expense,’ as we sometimes see them! If that be ‘ ideal beauty' to
sa}- merely, ‘Good Christians, you observe well I am regardless of
expense, and also of veracity, in every form,’ too truly these poor
fine arts have fallen mad !” and so he shrugs his shoulders and
steps down. There are plenty more witnesses on my poor book¬
shelves ; but we will only hear one other — Mr. Burnell, the archi¬
tect — whose words are more cheering than those of the last witness;
for he says, hopefully and gladly — “ The main characteristic of the
artistic movement of our day is towards truth : it may be awkwardly,
and with somewhat of fear and trembling — with many ‘longing,
lingering looks behind’ to the idols our fathers were wont to
worship ; but still, on the whole, our artists are striving as earnestly
as may be to be themselves, rather than unreasoning copyists and
repeaters of the productions of other times.”
And so, for the present, we close the case. Now, what think
you? Do you not think photography can as faithfully render
the truths of nature as painting can ? And if so, surely you
must think with Ruskin, and Hazlitt, and Goethe, and Johnson,
and Dryden, and the other such witnesses, that “ the picture
which is looked to for the interpretation of nature is invaluable,
but the picture which is taken as a substitute for nature had
better be burned.”*
To return to Sir Joshua’s words as quoted at the commencement
of this epistle. It is undoubtedly true that two pictures might be
produced of one scene, with no difference save that which was
derived from the intellectual acquirements of the artist in the one
case, as opposed to the simple mechanical power of some piece of
scientific apparatus in the other ; and that the latter would be
strikingly “ little and mean” when compared with the former.
This we see illustrated daily in the artistic and non-artistic pro¬
ductions of our brother photographers. It is moreover true — as
Sir Joshua also asserts — that this superiority is greatest in the
power the artistic picture has “ of exciting the imagination,” and
embodying such circumstances as “contribute to the general
character of the work, whether it be of the elegant or of the more
sublime kind but it is not true — as my witnesses have said — that
we can only excite the imagination or realise the elegant and sub¬
lime by depicting impossibilities and creating things which are
purely imaginary.
Here, however, I must conclude ; but in my next— there being
no two opinions on this subject in God’s three great volumes of -
earth, air, and sea — let us turn to Nature, sure that we shall dis¬
cover in her pages, for every feeling and sentiment of the heart,
and for every aspiration and craving of the soul, an awakening
voice and strengthening influence.
Yours, faithfully,
ALFRED II. WALL.
The Charge of Theft at Mr. Dancer’s Workshop.— Edward
Donovan, charged with stealing tools and materials, the property
of Mr. J. B. Dancer, optician, Manchester (to which case attention
was drawn in our last number), was brought up for trial at the
Manchester City Sessions on the 9th ult. The prisoner was found
guilty, and was sentenced by the Recorder to four months’ im¬
prisonment
* MqHtrn Painters,
llotcs of tire Ittontb.
The somewhat startling announcement in the current number of
the Journal of the Photographic Society , that exhibitors in the
photographic department of the International Exhibition would
not obtain more than about one-eighth of the space for which each
had applied, and that the whole photographic space to be divided
was little more in magnitude than that of the Rooms in Pall Mall,
where the annual Exhibitions are usually held, has taken many by
surprise. That claims would necessarily have to be cut down,
perhaps a great deal — that inequalities in the claims must be
adjusted, and some degree of patience and self-denial exercised —
were things which all naturally expected ; but that such a large
proportion as seven-eighths of each claim, and therefore seven-
eighths of the whole proposed display, would be swept away, was a
contingency undreamt of in their philosophy. After all the formal
diplomacy that has characterised our “ little difficulty,” if such a
small cell in tlie Great Beehive is to be ours, it has certainly — but
for the principle involved — rendered itself amenable to classifica¬
tion amongst those things which give birth to such pungent
similes as that of “brewing a storm in a tea-pot.” Some unknown
Solomon suggests amalgamating some of the allotments, and
casting lots for them. We ourselves suggest the adoption of the
principle embodied in the new revolving shop-front : revolving
picture-frames might perhaps meet the dire necessities of the case.
We commend the idea to Mr. Fox, of Little Britain.
What a pi tyr it is this was not made known earlier. There
could then have been no reasons why the usual annual Exhibition
should not have been held. If 400 exhibitors are to display their
works or rather a selection from them — in so small a department,
the usual winter Exhibition could have been held without detri¬
ment to that in May, as if each exhibitor had reserved a few of
their pictures they would still have had as many as they are likely
to get space for. The pictures at the annual Exhibitions are
usually the new ones : those for the International Exhibition
need not necessarily be new ones, but rather the best ones that
each photographer, whether amateur or professional, possesses,
irrespective of date. It should be borne in mind that the masses
who will critically inspect or ignorantly stare at the photographs
displayed in May are just those who never find their way to the
annual Exhibitions. Moreover, the winter Exhibitions are a
source of sale and other advantages to the professional photo¬
grapher which this season will be quite lost, without any apparent
compensatory advantages. Thus many of the pictures will have
to stand over altogether to the following year.
The sale of cartes tie visite of the late Prince Consort has
been almost incredible. Good copies have realised greatly
advanced prices. Negatives of his late Royal Highness are now
held to be priceless in value by those who fortunately possess
any.
Mr.. C. Thurston Thompson has just produced a series of
negatives, about one hundred in number, from the choicest
examples of Cinque Cento, and other periods of early Italian art,
now in the South Kensington Museum, and which were purchased
from the Campagna Collection.
In connexion with photography in the open air, M. Lorens, a photo¬
grapher of St. Petersburg, has brought before the Academy a photo¬
graphic apparatus constructed by himself. By a special and very in¬
genious arrangement the inventor has so contrived that the plate
of glass, once covered with iodised collodion, does not leave the
camera until the image has been produced upon its surface. The
plate is then introduced, by a special mechanical contrivance, into
a kind of trough, composed of two coloured glasses,* and there
undergoes the operations necessary to the development of the
image. This apparatus, therefore, offers the double advantage —
1st, of preserving the prepared plate in a higher degree of sensi¬
bility than the ordinary process ; and, 2nd, of permitting the pho¬
tographer. to leave his darkened room, and thus facilitate the
work required to bo done out of it. M. Lorens, after having shown
and explained in detail the nature of his apparatus, made use of
the same by taking a view of the left bank of the Neva, and thus
afforded to the members of the class an opportunity of becoming
satisned of the accuracy of all the operations accomplished by
means of this very simple and ingenious arrangement. The
Academicans congratulated M. Lorens on his happy invention,
which, by simplifying photographic operations, will not fail to
increase the useful applications of the art of photography.
S.T.
* “Espec* d’auge composes do deux verres de couleur,"
February 1, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
49
mms anti fragments.
Doomsday Book. — It is proposed to apply Col. Sir H. James’s pho-
ozincographic process to the production of fac-similes of that por-
ion of Doomsday Book which relates to Hertfordshire — in a similar
nanner to the series relating to the County of Cornwall, previously
iroduced — if fifty copies, at ten shillings each, be subscribed for.
Amateur Photographic Association. — Prosperity sometimes is a
source of embarrassment. The number of negatives that have been
sent in by the members of the Amateur Photographic Association —
jpwards of thirteen hundred — is so great that during the winter
months it is a task of some difficulty to print a fair proof from each
one, in order that the judges may be able to award the prizes, the
former being a task which must obviously be accomplished first.
Photography Applied to Ethnological Science. — From the
Bulletin de V Academic des Sciences de Saint Petersbourg , we learn
that M. Yon Baer has presented to the Academy of Saint Peters¬
burg some photographs, taken under the direction of M. Severtsof,
representing Ivirghis and Tartars inhabiting the steppes of the
Ural. He has, furthermore, called the attention of his colleagues
to the methods pursued by him in these productions, and which
give them a real utility as ethnological studies. Each figure is
produced in profile, and in a front view, with the head uncovered,
and the hair shaven off, so that the measurements of the three
principal dimensions of the cranium can be taken without difficulty.
As it is much easier to take photographic portraits of a large
number of living individuals than to collect the same number of
authentic crania, it follows that photographs of this kind will
furnish an excellent method of determining the mean proportions
of the skull in different races of men, and of the limits of variation
in any given type. M. Yon Baer thinks this method should be
recommended to the attention of naturalists in their travels, as
being of real utility.
Photographic Diorama. — We (North British Daily Mail) were
recently shown the result of a discovery made by Dr. Taylor, of
the Andersonian Universit}7', by which most perfect aerial effects
were produced on photographic landscapes. The apparatus is
simply a box fitted with lenses and other appliances. The pic¬
tures we saw operated upon were mostly landscapes taken in the
East Indies by Mr. Andrew Williamson, of the firm of Williamson
Brothers and Co., Calcutta, the scenes themselves being selected
with great skill and taste ; also, a few magnificent Highland
views, photographed by the Doctor himself in the noble demesne
of the Duke of Argyle, at Inverary. The plates are of a large
size, and are taken on glass, to which it would seem that this
invention is best adapted. The object is to produce the various
atmospheric effects which are constantly occurring in the natural
landscape, such as the passing of clouds, sunset, sunrise, moonlight,
&c. ; and the success is as wonderful as the effects are pleasing. For
example, we are looking through the glass at an Indian river
scene. The glow of a tropical sun is gleaming in the sky and in
the waters ; the foliage and verdure on the river banks dazzle the
eye with the brilliantly-reflected light. But as you look a change
creeps over the atmosphere : the clouds which seemed to hang-
in the sultry sky apparently move and assume a dusky hue,
the waters look sombre and the landscape begins to wear a deeper
green, and gradually the light dies away and leaves you to enjoy
the cool and quiet of an evening on the banks of the Ganges or
the Hooghley. The operator has merely again to sa y presto ! and
slowly the clouds begin to be lighted up, the sun sends up his red
and gold from below the horizon, and as you gaze you have once
more a noon-day splendour shining over all. Some very fine
Hindoo groups were also operated upon with the most pleasing
effect; but perhaps that which struck our admiration most were
some avenue scenes from Inverary. The invention under notice,
of course, requires an apparatus and considerable space to work it,
and thus rather takes the place of an exhibition than of a common
picture. All that we need say of the modus operandi is that it is
extremely simple, and consists of a revolving cylinder, the edge or
rim of which is strongly coloured with those hues that are required
to produce the dioramic effects. A number of gas jets are so
placed as strongly to illuminate the cylinder and reflect its hues upon
the photographic plates. The effects produced are really surpris¬
ing. With such photographic plates and such an apparatus, a
person may never leave his own chamber, and yet in reality be¬
come acquainted with the peculiarities and beauties of foreign
climes, in all their varying hues and shades. We should add that
while the merit of this discovery or invention is due to Dr. Taylor,
he has been ably assisted in bringing it to its present state of per¬
fection by Mr. Macnab, the well-known photographer.
IF SEARCH OP AN OPERATOR.
( Concluded from page 31)
The next applicant was a tall, gentlemanly foreigner, who entered
my room with a bow such as no Englishman — not even a dancing
master — could achieve, and gracefully presented a short note of
introduction from one of my personal friends. As I glanced at the
glossy broadcloth and spotless linen of this resplendent personage,
and caught the rich glow of his massive gold chain and the
brilliant glitter of his diamond studs, I thought it wise to come at
once to the consideration of terms. With an amiable smile and
elegant inclination of his head he expressed his perfect willing¬
ness to serve me for such remuneration as I would proffer, and
seemed pleased to hear the sum I named — which pleasure, I must
confess, was more than I expected. Continuing the conversation,
I found — as indeed my friend’s note had stated — that Mons. E -
was a man of education, well versed in the rationale of the art he
professed. Not only was he acquainted 'with the optical and
chemical sciences in their applications to photography, but — a
most unusual thing among English operators — he had positively a
good knowledge of the laws which govern pictorial effect. When
he departed I was conscious of an indefinite sense of humiliation,
and tried hard to do something more than jerk my head in response
to the graceful ease with which he raised his curly-brimmed hat and
bowed himself smilingly from my presence. I made up my mind
at once to give this operator a trial.
Succeeding Mons. E - came a little individual, -who, either
through some strange freak or accident of nature, seemed to have
in his single person the oddly-combined head of a giant and body of
a diminutive boy. He had such a habit of rolling this huge head,
first to one side and then to the other, that I quite thought it
would every moment destroy his balance, and bring him to the
ground. He had heard I wanted “ a hoperator.” I inquired in
what branch of the art he had been employed. Well, he had been
“a doin’ the printin’,” but “nothin’ came amiss to him and if I
wanted to know “ wot a good negative or slap-up positive ” was,
he was my man. Moreover, he could put me up to “ a thing or
two ” which he believed everybody was not “fly” to. As to “the
speclimens ” he “seed” in my room down stairs — 11 there!" if he
“ couldn’t lick them — oh!-— that’s all!” “and, if yer like, I’ll tell yer
wot,” continued this eccentric applicant, with such a roll of his
tremendous head that I instinctively half put out my hands to
save him, “I seed one ir your rooms wot doesn’t seem to be used
over-much. Now, you jest ingage me, and make that ere room
into a slap-up air-cuttin’ saloon; cos, don’t yer see? why, that
ere’s the bisiness what I was ’prenticed to — there for yer !” * *
Those who are not familiar with the various descriptions of
operators may think this hasty sketch exaggerated and over¬
charged ; but members of the profession will recognise the indivi¬
dual described as representative of a class by no means rare.
Treading on the heels of the mysterious combination of the giant
and the dwarf came one not less peculiar, in the form of an
American operator, from the United States. Of course he
“ guessed ” I was in want of an operator, and of course he addressed
me as “Mister.” He sauntered leisurely into the room with his
hands in his pockets, deliberately leant his back against the chim¬
ney-piece, and removed a plug of tobacco from his sallow cheek,
before he spoke. Had he been in the profession long? “Wall,
he rayther guessed” he had. ^Vasn’t he one of the first to “set a
Daguerreian and photographic gallery a-goin’ in New York ? and
wasn’t New York, as was wall known, the first city in the world
to go a-head in the art?” Making a few inquiries, I chanced
incidentally to ask what kind of developer he preferred for his nega¬
tives, when he slowly drew his hand from his pocket, winked with a
cunning leer, and laid his finger along one side of his nose, saying,
“jest you give me an engagement, mister, and then you’ll see. I
guess I aint a going to stick up open in my winder what I sells in
a book over the counter.” * * I saw a number of operators after
this specimen of the transatlantic article, but at length decided
upon engaging the foreigner. Mons. E - had been with me about
three or four days, and I was congratulating myself upon having
secured a very able assistant, when one of the young ladies em¬
ployed in “ touching out spots” left in the evening, as I was
informed, in tears, and was not in her usual post the following
morning. A visit from this young lady’s brother on the succeed¬
ing day made me acquainted with the cause of her absence; and,
sending for Mons. E - -, I bluntly informed that elaborately got up
young man that here in England we held no evidence so conclusive
50
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [February 1, 1862
in demonstrating the gentleman as that respect with which a well-
bred man treats a respectable woman, and handing him his salary
informed him that his services would be dispensed with from that
hour. With an excellent show of virtuous indignation he proudly
declined receiving a larger sum than was due for the few days he
had been employed, and, gravely bestowing upon me even a more
elegant and graceful bow than he had ever before indulged in,
went his way.
So I again inserted my advertisement — again x-eceived a batch
of letters and a throng of applicants, from which I selected Mr.
T - .
Mr. T - was a constant reader of all the photographic
journals, and letter-writer in more than one. He had tested the
value of every suggestion they contained : he knew all the writers
in their pages, and all the various modification of modifications of
modifications of original processes. He could give me chapter and
page for the origin of every remark I made, and could tell me by whom
my opinions were supported and by whom they were denounced —
whether in this journal or in that, at this society or at the other; but,
Mr. T - could not, with ail his surface knowledge and specious
talk, take a negative that would produce a good print. In his nume¬
rous and varied expei'iments — a single trial sufficing to test each
process or modification of a process — he loaded the dark room
shelves with dirty plates and bottles of various collodions, de¬
velopers, and intensifiers — spoiled baths, wasted chemicals, but was
never the better for his misapplied labour. Now he had just got
the right thing — detail, half-tone, transparent shadows, opaque
high lights — only he could not keep the film on the plate. Now he
just wanted a little more intensity, and went to some entirely new
source for it ; and now he needed nothing but a little brilliancy,
which was to be found in an entire change of the system of de¬
velopment. In short, Mr. T - was one of those operators
whose failures may be traced solely to one cause, viz., a want of
perseverance, without which, however great and varied the know¬
ledge, success can never be achieved. In vain I tried to tie him
down to some one method of px-ocedure, and convince him that
success was within its scope. He gave it one trial, failed, and
turned to something new. So Mr. T. followed Mons. E.
Then I got a careless operator, who damaged my lenses, tumbled
over and broke my landscape camera — never having used one
before — put his foot through focussing glasses, got dark slides out
of order, spoiled baths, axrd contrived to annoy and teaze me until
I sometimes grew half frantic, and only felt easy and safe when he
turned his horrible back upon my place.
Then I got an operator who laughed to scorn every pictured
face that was not flat, with over-intensity in the negative — one
who never could be taught, and who, mysteriously enough, would
persist in calling an image well modelled, and brought out with
gradation and half-tint, “flat," and one made up of white paper
and black patches, “ round." At length I tumbled over a sensible
and earnest amateur, willing to be taught and anxious to learn,
and made of such materials an operator for myself, so weary grew
this my difficult and prolonged search for the ready-made article.
In concluding this slight outline of some recent experience, it
must not be thought that I ignore the existence of many and ex¬
cellent professional operators ; only, as I have before said, they are
in demand, and that demand is increasing, as you may easily know
if you will undertake to realise the fact by being — in search of an
operator. R. A. S.
Ileetnxp o f ^outfits.
MEETINGS
4th. — London and Liverpool.
5th. — Manchester, Edinburgh, and
Bradford.
6th. — Glasgow.
7th.— Newcastle.
r FEBRUARY.
11th. — Photographic Society of
Scotland and Birmingham.
13th. — South London and Chorlton.
19th.— North London and Edin¬
burgh.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary general meeting of this Society took place at Myddleton
Hall, Islington, on Wednesday the 22nd ult.,— Mr. C. Jabez Hughes
occupying the chair.
In opening the proceedings the Chairman expressed his regret at the
absence of the Vice-President of the Society, who usually occupied the
chair. He was also Sony to be obliged to announce the absence of the
Secretary on that occasion: in his absence the Society would avail itself
of the services of Mr. Shave, who had kindly volunteered to read the
minutes of the last meeting.
'The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
As there was no paper appointed to be read to the meeting, the Chair¬
man would direct attention to one or two objects which had been con¬
tributed for inspection of the members.
The first was an instantaneous shutter, by Messrs. Horne andThornlh-
waite, which consisted of a piece of mahogany a quarter inch thick, and
of the proportion of eight inches by three inches, furnished with a circu-
lar hole to which is attached a brass ring, fitting on the hood of the lens,
and intended to be used in the place usually occupied by the cap. The
edges of this mahogany are grooved, to admit of the sliding up and down
of a piece of brass of the same size as itself, and also furnished with a cir¬
cular hole of the same diameter as the lens to be used. At the moment
of exposure the piece of brass is raised so as completely to cover the
lens, and by releasing a catch the brass falls by its own weight, opening
and closing the lens by a continuous motion.
The other objects were a nitrate of silver bath and dipper and a tray
made of ebonite, manufactured by Messrs. Silver and Co. In refer¬
ence to these Mr. Moens remarked that in a discussion which he had with
Mr. Silvei’, that gentleman assured him (Mr. Moens) that these vessels
were quite free from the character of brittleness which had been too
readily imputed to them, and he suggested that those possessing that
character which had got into the market were probably some of the
earlier American productions. The freedom of the present specimens from
that quality was fully demonstrated by throwing them outlie floor, and by
other severe tests, which they withstood in a completely satisfactory manner.
Mr. G. W. Simpson said that he had used an ebonite bath for three
months, and the nitrate of silver solution had remained unaltered during
the whole of that time.
The Chairman then read a letter from Herr 0. Kohnke, of Schleswig.
The letter was addressed to the Secretary of the North London Photo¬
graphic Society, and contained some photographs illustrative of the pro¬
cess referred to. The writer said : —
“ Sir, — I take the liberty of forwarding enclosed to the honourable Society
of Photography of North London some specimens, which are taken without
chloride of silver paper, and without S03 natrum,* and which, in consequence
of their unchangeableness, will enter into competition with other photographs.
“These photographs possess the following valuable preferences : —
“1. They remain unchangeable against light, air, dampness, and other mat¬
ters to which they may be exposed.
“2. They are taken in the most simple manner.
“3. Several impressions may be taken quickly, should no essential retouch b«
required, in less than an hour, of one and the same negative.
“4. Any thick satin letter paper may be used.
“The discovery was made by myself, without the aid of Poitevin’s method;
and I should think is open to improvement, though based upon the most sure
and simple method of production.
“ My practical knowledge of photography is but of short duration, and pos¬
sibly the representation of the negative and copies may not satisfy the artists :
a practical man would, no doubt, with my means of discovery at his disposal,
obtain better results. The copies are left, as may be seen, without any artificial
additions.
“ Against some favourable offer the discovery is at the disposal of any photo¬
graphic society.
“ Begging your pardon for having addressed you in my mother tongue, as I
cannot find a proper translator —
“ Yours, obediently, (Signed) “O. KOHNKE,
“ Chemist by Trade.”
Some remarks were made by Messrs. Moens and Hill relative to the
propriety of an amateur society such as the North London Photographic
Society entertaining a proposition of the kind now before the meeting as
a matter of trade ; and, upon the motion of the Chairman it was finally
agreed that the Secretary be requested to write to Herr Kohnke, stating
that the Society was much interested by his communication and the
examination of his specimens, indicating, as they seemed to do, the
progress of photography in a new direction : the Society would be happy
to receive particulars, and the members would doubtless work out any
experiments which were necessary for the perfecting of the process, but
it could not entertain the matter with the view of negociating a commer¬
cial transaction.
Mr D. W. Hill (the Treasurer) exhibited a copy of the presentation
print for the current year, which was approved. The subject is The
Beach at Ilfracombe, taken by Bedford.
The Chairman then asked Mr. Simpson to furnish some interesting parti¬
culars in connexion with the progress of the arrangements now being made
for the exhibition of photographs at the International Exhibition of 1862.
Mr. Simpson said the particulars he had to lay before the meeting,
though brief, were full of interest. In the first place, he thought he could
assure those interested that the allotments of space would in a few days
be in the hands of the various intending exhibitors. Secondly, lie
thought it matter for regret that it was not intended, as was originally
expected, to make one grand exhibition of the photographs of the world,
but that the photographs of each country would be exhibited in the
division assigned to it. This arrangement had been acceded to by Her
Majesty’s Commissioners, in deference to the wishes of the French
Commissioners. Furthermore, to the exhibition of English photographs
it was intended to assign an amount of space which would not exceed
that usually occupied by one of the annual Exhibitions of the Photo¬
graphic Society ; and in thin small apartment it was intended to exhibit
not only photographs but apparatus also. He feared the limited space
would cause much inconvenience and disappointment, and the Committee,
* Hyposulphite of soda, doubtless— should be Na 0 + Sa 0a.
February 1, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 51
in assigning space to the various applicants, would be discharging a very
arduous task, and enjoying anything but a sinecure.: they would have
to make a broad definition of the characters which admissible photo¬
graphs should possess, and then exercise a sound discretion as to what
i should be admitted. It had been decided that none but untouched pho-
| tographs should be admitted. He (Mr. Simpson) could not help thinking
| that it would be found difficult to draw the line between touched and un-
I touched photographs ; and, as an instance, he would direct the attention of
members to the picture selected by the Committee lor presentation this
year to each member of that Society. There was abundant evidence of the
clouds in the sky having been touched in in the negative; but was such a
masterpiece of the art as that was to be excluded on that account. He
could assure the meeting that the Committee was working very hard,
and lie (Mr. Simpson) doubted not that the best possible arrangements
would be made under the circumstances.
Mr. Hill said he had understood that Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen, had
made application for space too late, and would, in consequence, be
excluded from exhibiting. This he thought a matter for regret, as such
photographs as he (Mr. Wilson) produced would reflect the highest credit
on the photographic productions of the nation. He (Mr. Hill) would like
to know how Mr. Wilson printed, as he never saw anjr prints of his
marked with the disease called “mealiness.”
Mr. SnursoN, in reply, said he thought Mr. Hill was in error as to the pro¬
bable exclusion of Mr. Wilson. He recollected having seen Mr. Wilson’s
name on the list at the office of Her Majesty’s Commissioners. He thought
his success in printing largely due to the superiority of his negatives.
An animated discussion then ensued as to the causes of “mealiness.”
The Chairman, Messrs. Simpson, Moons, Hill, Shave, Blanchard, Bing¬
ham, and Foxlee, took part in the discussion ; and the opinions elicited
and the experience narrated were of such a conflicting nature as to
cause some merriment at the meeting.
Mr. Moens had observed that when through partial washing he had
allowed some free nitrate to remain on the pictures they had toned more
I rapidity and were free from mealiness. He thought that the fact of the
paper being albumenised gave rise to a difficulty in removing the silver
| salts, and that where there was an excess of albumen, and consequent ex-
i cess of chloride, then mealiness occured. This might be corroborated by
the common experience of every-day practice, in which it was observable
that, when a print was taken on a piece of paper which had been hungup
to drain and dry after sensitising, there was generally about an inch or an
inch and a-half from the lower portion of the sheet which had a mealy cha¬
racter from the undue proportion existing in that part between the albumi¬
nate and chloride of silver, resulting in unequal toning, called “mealiness.”*
Mr. Simpson said that Mr. Moens’s rem'arks were confhmatory of those
made by Mr, Henderson at the last meeting of the South London Photo¬
graphic Society. There were two substances to be acted on bjr the gold
salt used in toning : the chloride of silver was assuming the blue and
slaty colour, while the albuminate of silver resisted the toning action
longer, retaining its peculiar brownish-red colour. He thought mealiness
arose from inequality of action among these substances, Pie might
mention that he had had the advantage of a conversation with Mr. T. R.
i Williams, of Regent Street, on this subject, and he (Mr. Williams) had
obliged him with his formula for albumenising, in which a much smaller
proportion of chloride was used than was generally adopted by com¬
mercial albumenisers.
The Chairman very pertinently remarked that in the alkaline gold
toning process photographers possessed a register of the relation between
the chloride of silver and the albuminate of silver, as it was observable
that where the minimum of albumen existed, and the chloride of silver
was consequently in excess, the pictures assumed a bluish colour, and
where the albumen was in the ascendant the pictures were red. He (the
Chairman) thought that the complaint now under discussion might be
most readily remedied by attending to those conditions best calculated to
ensure an equality of action over the whole surface of the print. In
reply to a question from Mr. Hill, the Chairman further remarked that
mealiness was of rare occurrence on slightly albumenised paper. He had
j observed that the more highly the paper rvas albumenised the greater was
| the tendency to mealiness. The Chairman suggested, moreover, that
I gentlemen might satisfy themselves practically on many of the points
J now under discussion. One very instructive form of experiment was
! to print a tolerably large picture, cut it in half, immerse one-lialf at once
into chloride of sodium solution, and remove all free nitrate of silver
I from the other by the most careful washing; then tone the two halves in
: the same bath and mark the result. It would be found that the half
treated with chloride of sodium toned most rapidly, and assumed a
bluish tinge, while the half so completely washed would take a much
longer time to tone, and would, when finished, possess a tone suggestive
of brown and red.
Mr. Hill had treated three samples of paper exactly ' alike in every
particular : two were satisfactory, and the other mealy.'
Mr. Bingham thought the difference depended more On the albumen
than the paper. . .
Mr. Simpson suggested that .the; parf; played by the paper was in deter¬
mining in what manner the- albumen should lie on it ; for, after it was
once coated with albumen, its qualities, good or bad, did not materially
influence the resulting picture.- In qualification of this opinion, however,
* Mr. Moens has since thrown the substance of his remarks into the form of a paper,
which will be found at page 39.
it might be stated that thick porous papers were more likely to give rise
to mealiness than the thinner and smoother kinds.
The Chairman supported the views entertained by Mr. Simpson, main¬
taining that the structural character of the surface of the paper deter¬
mined the quality in that particular possessed by tlie albumen surface.
Mr. Foxlee, notwithstanding Mr. Moens’s experience of the effects
produced by different kinds of water, stated that he had not observed any
difference in the resulting prints whether he used common water or
distilled in the preliminary washing. He had worked with samples of
papier Saxe which were very good when freshly albumenised ; but, after
the lapse of a few months, the same paper yielded mealy prints.
Mr. Blanchard’s testimony on the subject of mealiness having been
solicited by the Chairman, he (Mr. Blancliard) observed that he was
deeply sensible of the difficulty of obtaining good prints at all times.
His experience led him to conclude that the use of chloride of sodium in
the preliminary washing was disadvantageous. He had found that when
an uniform condition of the surface of the print had been secured by long-
continued washing, it was comparatively unimportant which salt was
employed, as he had obtained equally satisfactory results with the
acetate, phosphate, borate, and carbonate of soda. When he had first
established these conditions, which experience had proved to be con¬
ducive to equality of chemical and mechanical- constitution over the
whole surface of the print, he was always successful. He thought that
the preliminary washing and the toning should be conducted in a
leisurely and thorough manner, as he had constantly observed that when
these operations were hurried there was a greater proportion of mealy
prints. If he were asked to state decidedly which salt he preferred for
toning he would say the acetate of soda.
The Chairman remarked that hasty Avasliing would produce an un¬
equal deposit of chloride, and mealiness would be the consequent result.
Mr. Moens having spoken in favour of hot toning,
The Chairman remarked that the prints he exhibited to that Society
about two years ago, in illustration of a paper by himself On the Alkaline
Gold-toning Process , were all toned with hot solutions.
Mr. Simpson conceived that a hot toning bath would act more ener¬
getically on the albuminate of silver, making it tone as rapidly as the
chloride of silver, and thereby securing uniformitjr of action.
Before adjourning the meeting the Chairman said lie would pass round
some very excellent stereographs of Conway and neighbourhood, taken
by Mr. Bass ; and, while the members were examining them, he would take
the opportunity of saying that the Treasurer had directed his attention to
the desirability of having the benefit of the experience of others laid
before the Society’s meetings, and if members would kindly bear this in
mind, and prepare papers descriptive of their photographic doings (they
need not be long : a short paper was better than none at all), he ventured
to hope that there would not be another evening during the session
similar to the present one, in which no paper had been read.
The meeting was then adjourned to Wednesday, the 19th instant.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of the Society was held on Tuesday, the 21st
ult, — John Anthony, Esq., M.D., the President, in the chair.
After the transaction of the ordinary business of the Society, Mr.
Frederick Whitlock was elected an ordinary member of the Society.
The President said it afforded him much pleasure to announce that Mr.
Claudet had been elected by the Council an honorary member of the Society.
The discussion of the paper, On the Constitution of Photographic Societies,
read by the President at the meeting of the 17/h of December, and ad¬
journed to the present, took place, and, after some preliminary remarks,
the question of providing a glass room and laboratory accessible for tlie
purposes of the Society was considered.
Mr. Rejlander was of opinion that as each member of the Society
possessed a glass room, it would be better that the members should meet
alternately at them than go to the expense of the rental, which would
have to be paid during the whole year, while possibly the use of it for a
few days only would be required.
A suggestion having been made that some difficulty might arise from
such an arrangement, and that very few of the professionals could spare
the entire use of their rooms even for one da}*- during the season,
Mr. Rejlander still thought that some of the amateur members, whose
rooms were only occasionally occupied, would place them at the service
of the Society.
The President said perhaps the Secretary would he best able to give
them information as to the probability of carrying out such an arrange¬
ment. For his own part he thought that a Societ}r occupying the im¬
portant position which this one did should be independent of individual
members for a resting place. It was most essential that a better position
should be provided for its meetings, where the library of tlie Society
might be kept, and would always be available for reference during any
important discussion, and where the members could test practically any
new suggestion that, from time to time, might appear in the various
periodicals devoted to the art.
The Secretary, in reply, stated that he was not aware of any room
readily available. He had made inquiries, but could not meet with one
anywhere suitable. He thought if the suggestion which he threw out at
the last meeting could be acted upon, that they should endeavour to
make an arrangement with the Council of Queen’s College to hold their
[February 1, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
meetings there, and to have the occasional use of the laboratory, &c.,
that it would be beneficial to both, as perhaps the Professor of Chemistry
might be induced to give lectures on the chemistry of photography, a
department of the art in which the members were generally deficient.
He would suggest that the Sub-Committee be appointed to make inquiries,
and to report upon the subject.
Dr. Anthony fully concurred with the Secretary. A parallel case
existed at King’s College, London, which had opened its doors to the
Parent Society, and the union had been mutually advantageous.
After some further conversation it was resolved — “That the President
and Secretary be appointed a Sub-Committee to wait upon the Chemical
Lecturer, and Mr. Sands Cox, the Secretary, of Queen’s College, inquire
in how far it will be possible to carry out the proposed arrangement, and
report thereon to the next meeting.”
On the question of procuring foreign periodicals the President called
the attention of the members to the editorial comments upon that por¬
tion of his paper, which he proceeded to read. He had no wish to charge
the journalists with neglect, but they were, in a great measure, dependent
upon their special correspondents . He could cite, too, many instances to
show that these gentlemen were not, in all cases, thorough exponents of
the questions that continually arose in their localities, and if any one
would refer to the information rendered to its readers by any photographic
journal of what was being done in the art abroad, they would agree with
him that, in the small amount of space devoted to them, no correspondent
could fairly give even a faint outline, and might easily, in condensing,
much misinterpret the subject. He need scarcely remind the members
of the large circulation of the English photographic journals abroad,
sufficient evidence of which appeared daily ; and while the views of
English photographers were thus disseminated among foreigners, it was
only fair that the former should be placed in an equal position with
regard to what was being done by the latter. Every step in advance of
what had been done, whether in optics or chemistry, was important, and
while they possessed the valuable works of Hardwich, surely, side by
side with them, they should have those of men who occupied an analogous
position in France, Germany, &c. ; and the foreign journals, which must
contain the discussions of the various societies, though they also contained
much that was copied from ourselves, still were very little quoted by the
English journals, He considered that the Society should be in posses¬
sion of all literature on the subject throughout Europe ; and in that a
Society had an advantage over an individual — as the latter obviously
could not afford to purchase all the works that appeared. Of course the
foreign journals would contain reviews of British works, and it would be
well to know in how far they could justify their observations. Important
discussions must, from time to time, take place in Munich, Italy, &c.,
and the information they derived from those places was of the most
meagre description. Photographers ought to glean something from the
Italian journals, but they were almost inaccessible.
Mr. Hart thought the foreign journals would be available to very few
of the members ; but to that it was replied that no doubt those of the
members who could do so would take up the various journals, and explain
anything that was new or important.
Mr. Rejlander said that he had not found the foreign correspondents
forward much that was important. He considered that it was the duty
of reporters and correspondents to give fair reports of the progress of the
art. He agreed that it would be of immense importance to the photo¬
graphic world if the foreign journals were more widely distributed
throughout the country. They should be able to form a more compara¬
tive estimate of the position of various countries and operators with regard
to the art. Experiments must he carried on abroad ; and, if the formulae
were published, it would be easy, had the Society a laboratory and glass
room as suggested, to test practically their value. For his own part he kept
no secrets ; and, while anxious to get everything as perfect as possible, still
he wished to concentrate the whole of his energies on the subject in hand.
The Secretary reminded the members that the meeting was fully
competent to order a copy of any of the journals named to be procured ;
but as some difficulty seemed to exist as to the mode of obtaining them,
it was decided that the matter should stand over for further consideration,
and in the meantime inquiries should be instituted on the subject.
At this stage the continuation of the discussion was adjourned to next
meeting, and the President invited Mr. Turner to exhibit to the meeting
the apparatus he used for filtering the bath.
[The discussion on Mr. Turner’s apparatus is unavoidably postponed
till our next number.]
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual meeting of this Society was held on the 15th ult., — James D.
Marwick, Esq., President, in the chair.
After the minutes of the previous meeting had been read and approved
of, the President, in the name of the Council, proposed that the following
gentlemen should be elected as honorary members: — Hon. Henry Fox
Talbot, Sir David Brewster, the Earl of Caithness, Professor Piazzi
Smyth (Astronomer Royal for Scotland), Dr. Lyon Playfair (Professor of
Chemistry, Edinburgh), George Shadbolt, Esq., London.
This proposal was unanimously agreed to.
A paper on the first principles of optics, entitled Optical Laws Involved
in the Construction of Photographic Lenses, was read by Mr. W. K. Wason.
[ See page 41.] The paper was illustrated by a variety of large diagrams.
A vote of thanks was unanimously awarded to Mr. Wason.
CONVERSAZIONE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE.
The Professors of the London University entertained a numerous
company of scientific gentlemen at the College, in Gower Street,
on the evening of Tuesday, the 14th ult. The Library and Museum
were thrown open on the occasion, and the former of these we
thought especially suited to the purposes of a conversazione. It is
out of our usual province to notice such gatherings as that to which
we now allude ; and we should not do so now except to express our
unqualified admiration of some photographs by Albert, of Munchen,
from Kaulback’s original etchings (or, more properly speaking, drain¬
ings) of illustrations of Goethe’s works. These pictures, which were
contributed by Professor Harley, measured twenty-seven inches by
twenty inches, and their peculiar merit consisted in the accuracy
with which the photographer had succeeded in imitating the tone,
texture, and other characteristic qualities possessed by the original draw¬
ings; so complete, indeed, was the deception, if we may be allowed to
call it so, that we should have been disposed to regard them as drawings,
as a matter of course, had they not been specially labelled photographs.
It may be mentioned that, notwithstanding their somewhat extended
area of 540 square inches, each picture was perfectly sharp to the edges,
and the detail in all the parts was of the highest order.
It was much to be regretted that no description of the process by which
they were obtained, or statement as to the construction, focus, and
diameter of the lens, time of exposure, &c., accompanied cither of the pic¬
tures. We cannot help thinking that had some of our brethren been
present who are so prone to decry the mechanism of photography, they
would, in view of these masterpieces of the art, have been disposed to
moderate their censures.
M. Joubert worthily occupied a very large table at the head of the
library in the exhibition of his now famous burnt-in photographs on glass.
These have been so fully described, however, in previous numbers of this
Journal, they do not require a special notice in this place ; and we only
allude to them, therefore, in connexion with the large photographs of M.
Albert, as illustrating the prominent place which photography is gradually
but persistently asserting for itself in the “circle of the sciences.”
It has come to be so naturally looked for, that something would be felt
to be wanting at any soiree or conversazione where photography was not
duly represented.
Among the works of art may be mentioned an elegant bust of the Prin¬
cess Alice, by Mrs. Thorneycroft, to which a peculiar interest is attached,
it having been the last thing touched by the lamented Prince Consort.
Messrs. Smith, Beck, and Beck exhibited their microscopes, Mr. Ladd his
RuhmkorfF’s induction coil, and Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite then-
apparatus for spectrum analysis. This latter attracted considerable
attention, and kept Mr. Martin, who represented that firm, actively
lecturing during the whole of the evening. The sodium, lithium, and
barium spectra were beautifully exhibited by the apparatus.
Jforagu Corrcspontrinur.
Paris, January 28 th, 1862.
Like many others I had for years past followed the works of Mr.
Maxwell Lyte with interest. At the different Exhibitions, both in
France and in other countries, I had admired his fine landfcapes —
so artistically conceived, so delicately rendered ; and haying fol¬
lowed him in his progress from good to better, I had finished by
thinking he had attained that pitch where progress needs must
stop. But I was in error. The other evening the specimens
intended by Mr. Maxwell Lyte for the Exhibition at London were
submitted for the inspection of the members of the French Photo¬
graphic Society, and every one, like myself, was amazed at their
perfection. The subjects are those which the author is so fond of,
and which he so well understands, being sites taken among the
Pyrenees. We noticed particularly the Lake of Gaub, the Bridge
of St. Sauveur, the Valley of Argelee, the View of Pau, &c. All
these pictures are of a larger size than that hitherto adopted by
Mr. Lyte.
A few years since M. Louis Rousseau, a naturalist attached to
the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, made photographic reproductions
of some parts of the scientific wealth in the midst of which he was
living, and that for the purpose of contributing to popular
instruction. The idea was good : the execution was difficult.
M. Rousseau, however, laboured with activity, and his efforts were
honourably encouraged. Particular circumstances interrupted his
labours ; but, fortunately, an employee of the Museum of Natural
History, whom M. Rousseau had initiated in his essays and pro¬
jects, thought it well that the work should not stand still, and
therefore continued it with much intelligence and skill. The col¬
lection with which this artist, M. Potteau, has favoured us, after
submitting it to the Photographic Society, is very numerous and
interesting. The part which struck us especially, on account of
its requiring but little special knowledge for its appreciation, was
that comprising types of the different races of mankind. Thanks
February 1, 1869]
53
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
to his persevering activity, M. Potteau has been able, without
leaving Paris, to bring together specimens of most of those races.
He is ever on the watch. Every time a foreigner presenting
characteristic features enters the garden, M. Potteau allures him
into his operating-room, and lets him not depart till his full-face
portrait and his profile have been taken. All the faces are exe¬
cuted with the same apparatus, and the models are always placed at
the same distance from the objective, in order that the differences
may be better appreciated. It is not artistic effect that the author
seeks, but correctness.
I have before me M. Reynaud’s paper on the various iodides and
bromides employed in the preparation of photographic collodion, of
which I said a few words at the time it was read. The whole
paper is too long to be summarised here, but I can give its con¬
clusions. The author lays down this general rule as resulting from
his experiments : — the quantity of iodine contained in the collodion
(not only the free iodine, but that also existing in the iodides em¬
ployed) should be in the average proportion of one gramme per
| hundred cubic centimetres of normal collodion.
It is advantageous, in ordinary cases, to employ together the
iodides of potassium, of ammonium, and of cadmium. When maxi¬
mum sensitiveness is desired, care should be taken that the collodion
contains but very little free iodine.
If the film of collodion get spotted during the sensitising,
| although its opaline hue indicates that it does not contain too
much iodide, yet the defect may be attributed to a too great
excess of iodine. If the colour of the collodion be not more than
an orange yellow, the operator may be sure that the effect is
caused by a too large proportion of iodide of ammonium as com¬
pared with the other iodides.
Lastly, if the collodion grows veiled, iodine should be added till
an orange-yellow colour be obtained. For this purpose an alcoholic
solution of iodine is employed, so that the colour of the iodine may
be judged of by simply shaking.
With regard to bromides, those of ammonium and of cadmium
j appear to the author to possess the most largely that property
which leads to the use of these bodies in photography, and which
is that of increasing the sensitiveness of collodion to red, orange,
yellow, and green rays. The bromide of potassium gives to the
collodion a finish similar to that produced by the iodide of that
I metal, without, however, diminishing the sensitiveness. The
proportion of bromide which appears to M. Reynaud the most
suitable in wet collodion is three or four grammes per twelve
! grammes of iodide and one litre of normal collodion. Too much
! bromide would produce a whitish veil, which would take away all
i vigour from the picture.
M, Reynaud recommends the use of the iodide of ammonium, be¬
cause it possesses mixed qualities, allowing it to be employed
I alone, or in combination with a little bromide of ammonium,
He also mentions the liability of the sensitive film to become
spotted at the moment of immersion in the sensitising bath,
and attributes that defect to the decomposition of the iodides
of ammonium into iodide of silver. The undulations of the bath
in movement are marked upon the film, and irregularities
in the surface ensue. The use of a vertical vessel is a means
of avoiding this accident. The same spots are also produced
when the collodion contains a considerable quantity of free iodine,
which is manifested by an orange tint. Lastly, these spots are
also found when the collodion contains too much iodide, especially
if the silver bath be rich and new.
The 31st of December was dark and cloudy throughout the day,
so that it was impossible to take any photographic observations of
the eclipse. Fortunately it was not so everywhere. I have
received from M. Vernier, jun., of Belfort, some interesting images
of the different phases of the phenomenon. Were your photo¬
graphic astronomers more fortunate than ours of Paris ?
ERNEST LACAN.
(farmjjair’trrttu.
t**We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
PORTABLE BACKGROUNDS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In your last number, viz. 158, at page 35, an inquirer asks
about “Portable Backgrounds," of which you have given him every
information ; but it occurs to us that it could not affect the interests of
your Journal, and doubtless would be of considerable importance to our¬
selves, besides being a possible convenience to your correspondent and
others, if, in addition to giving them instructions, you referred them to
us, who fairly expect to execute orders for those things in consideration
of the great expense incurred in advertising.
If you will kindly refer your inquirers to our firm, you will greatly
oblige. We are, yours, &c., J. T. & G. BULL.
Great Queen Street, London, W., lQth January, 1862.
[As a rule, correspondents always prefer having their apparatus from
dealers to making it for themselves ; and therefore, while affording the
information sought, we generally refer also to advertisements if ice
happen to have noticed them. We have nothing whatever to do with the
business of the Journal, and had forgotten that such articles as we
described were “ in the market ” until the receipt of your note, when the
name recalled the fact that they were described by one of our staff in
the “Record of Photographic Inventions.” Messrs. Bull’s advertisement
will be found in our advertising columns. — Ed.]
To the Editor.
Sir, — Your description of a background is almost literally that of one
which I made, and find not to answer. Perhaps you will allow me to
point out to “ Amateur ” a few of its defects, whereby I may perhaps save
him some trouble. In the first place, I found a frame seven feet by
four a most inconvenient thing to carry in or out of the house, requiring
much careful steering to get it round the corners without digging pieces
of plaster out of the ceiling and walls and getting the handles and hasjis
of doors through the canvas. I also found that seven feet high was not
quite enough to admit of taking cartes de visite on the same scale as those
of professionals, ivithout showing the top of the background. Again : it
would not stand the least wind without blowing down, unless stayed with
cords; and, lastly, having, I think, like most amateurs, only one room, to
which I am expected to confine all my “ mess and litter,” as my appa¬
ratus is irreverently called, I found that taking out the background raised
such a dust as to render the room quite useless for some hours.
I am trying to scheme a substitute, but at present do not see my way
clearly, and shall be glad of any hints,
January 20, 1862. I am, yours, &c., ANOTHER AMATEUR.
[Supposing you have a frame-work fixed out of doors, or any place
where you can hang a background, pieces of old oil-cloth make a capital
support for your surfaces. — Ed.]
MICROMETRY.
To the Editor.
Dear Sir, — In your Leader on “ Micrometry ” in the number for Sep¬
tember 16th, which has just reached me, the name of the originator of
the application of photography to this subject seems to be passed over.
Prior to Morfitt, and prior to Maltwood, is (as you may see by referring
to page 240 of the fourth volume of the Microscopic Journal, April 1856)
the claim of Yours, faithfully, WILLIAM HODGSON, M.A.
Moore College, Liverpool, New South Wales,
Nov. 22nd, 1861.
CHEMICAL PROBLEMS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you oblige me by answering the following queries : _
No. 1.— Suppose I have a plain salted paper, and sensitise it upon a
nitrate of silver bath of just sufficient strength to convert the chloride ol
ammonium into chloride of silver and leave no nitrate over and above _
and suppose one minute is required to do so— will floating for two minutes
with the nitrate of silver of half the previous strength have the same effect ?
No. 2. — Does this conversion take place instantaneously ? and, if not
how long floating does it require to effect it ? ‘ *
No. 3. — Suppose I float a sheet of paper on chloride albumen, and wish
it to take up the albumen and salt in the proportion of three of albumen
to one of salt, how many grains of salt must I use for each ounce of solu¬
tion consisting of equal portions of albumen and water? Q.
[No. 1. — We have some doubt whether you have correctly expressed
what you desire us to understand. As you have put the question no
general reply would suffice. Of course there is no difficulty in calculating
how much nitrate of silver will exactly decompose a given quantity of
chloride of ammonium, and this quantity dissolved in water might be
made of such a strength as to occupy the time of one minute in the con¬
version. By doubling the amount of water, the relative strength of
the solution would be doubled ; but it does not therefore follow that two
minutes would be the time required for the conversion in the latter case
But a more important difficulty exists to carrying out your supposition •
the exact quantity of chloride of ammonium taken up by each sheet of
paper after being floated on a solution for a given time would not be
known, different sheets having differing absorptive powers, and this holds
good even of parts of the same sheet. It is not very difficult to determine
the average quantity taken up by each sheet composing a number ; but
this is not enough for our purpose.
No.. 2. — The conversion does not take place instantaneously, though
sometimes pretty rapidly ; and the time occupied is influenced by the
strength of the solutions, but not necessarily in arithmetical proportion.
No. 3. — To three ounces of albumen and three ounces of water add
one ounce of salt. The water simply dilutes the albumen and is
dissipated on drying the paper. Its effect is not to alter the proportion
between the amounts of albumen and salt, but to make the paper retain
a less quantity pro rata of each. — Ed.]
54
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
IODINE IN THE BATH.
To the Editor.
gIK _ I have been experimenting with iodine in the nitrate of silver
bath/ as recommended by l’Abbe Laborde, viz., putting a very small
piece' of iodine, weighing about the sixth part of a grain, into the bath,
and allowing it two or three days to produce its effect. The result was
far beyond my expectation. The plates had always (before the use of
the iodine) become covered with a white veil of reduced silver, as well
as sundry black marks, of which it was impossible to get rid without the
iodine. I should have mentioned that I was working with instantaneous
collodion — Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite’s, I think. I would strongly
recommend to all your correspondents to try this method. Hoping that
my communication will be useful, I am, yours, &c.,
January 24th, 1862. . CHARLES E. BURTON.
P.S. — In my next I will give an account of my experience with regard
to development with iron without free nitrate of silver.
[M. Girard has shown that this practice is not based upon sound
theoretical principles, and is only advantageous when the bath is some¬
what alkaline — a condition that can be as well or better remedied by the
proper application of nitric acid. — Ed.]
TRANSPARENCIeTfOR THE LANTERN.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Any of your readers who may feel inclined to amuse themselves
by the production of pictures suited for the lantern may obtain beautiful
tones and transparent whites, by using that ubiquitous liquor, beer, as a
preservative. Proceed thus : Coat, excite, and wash ; then apply the
preservative, and dry before a dull fire. It is noiv ready for exposure
under a negative, which, near a good gas light, should take from fifteen
to forty seconds, or even more, according to the density of the negative.
It must now be slightly washed, and the ordinary pyrogallic acid
developer, with a few drops of silver added, poured over it, when, in the
course of two or three minutes, the picture will be out all right. I am
aware there is nothing [new in all this ; but the success of the results
attending this simple plan is such as induces me to give it for the benefit
of your readers. T.
DECOLOURISING THE PRINTING BATH.
To the Editor.
Sir, — On the information of a friend, I liav© discharged all colour from
my paper sensitising bath by the following simple means : — Make a solu¬
tion of common kitchen salt in tvater, and add a drop or two to the
coloured nitrate bath; then shake well up and filter. Do not add too much
of the salt solution, as it will waste the silver. As I thought this might
interest some of your numerous readers, I have troubled you with it,
although it may not be new. I am, yours, &c., A. R. T.
[The method is well known to many. — Ed.]
PANORAMIC LENS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Seeing in your Journal a somewhat unfortunate notice of some
pictures in the Edinburgh Exhibition, taken by the above lens, I ex¬
amined them more carefully than I otherwise would have done, and find
that they are indeed deficient in definition in some parts ; and some more
so than others. But I cannot see how it can be otherwise. To be at all
sharp, the picture must be received on a plate, curved not only horizon¬
tally, but vertically — in other words, it must be taken in part of a hollow
sphere, such as a watch glass ; and as this will be attended with diffi¬
culties of no slight kind, I fear this lens will not be of much use to the
practical photographer. To me it seems a mathematical impossibility that
it can take a correct picture on a plate curved only horizontally.
Edinburgh, Jan. 24th, 1862. I am, yours, &c., MENISCUS.
[The critique was by a very practical photographer, and we have no
doubt the allegation was well founded. But there are, nevertheless,
many subjects of a particular class for which the panoramic lens is well
adapted. It must not be forgotten that all objects in a landscape cannot
be in the same plane, and, consequently, some must be a little out of focus
whatever the lens employed ; and this is correct in an artistic point of
view. By a judicious use of the focussing arrangement which is sup¬
plied by Mr. Ross with the “ panoramic” (although its inventor repudi¬
ated the necessity for it), we arc not of opinion that there need be any
offensive indistinctness in subjects to which the lens is adapted. — Ed.]
DAGUERREOTYPE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — What of the daguerreotype process this long time ? Is it for
ever dead ? As I have a great itching to try my hand at it I should be
glad if you would give me such information about it as would enable me
to succeed with it. I may state that I can take both positives and ne¬
gatives by collodion, but the mysteriousness and difficulty said to over¬
hang the daguerreotype strongly induce me to make a trial of it. I am
further induced to this step by an inspection of the loveliest set of little
portraits you ever saw, executed by this process — so delicate, so trans¬
parent, so pearly in the whites. Do, Mr. Editor, ask some of your
correspondents to favour me with a few hints how to produce them.
I am, yours, &c., MARY B -
[We publish your note as the readiest way of obtaining a reply for
you. We do not personally practise or admire the process, and bclicYO it
to be nearly defunct.
[February 1, 1802
IRON PRINTING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A most interesting process of iron printing has recently appeared
in the pages of The British Journal of Photography as being newts
discovered by a gentleman in Ireland. I beg to state that I discovert!
this process more than a year ago, as I will furnish documents to prove
to your satisfaction, if required ; and, on the principle of rendering honour
to whom honour is due, I claim any credit that may attach to this dis¬
covery. I am, yours, &e., B. T. MACDONAJ.l
London, Jan. 11th, 1862.
[See Leader : also article by J. T. Taylor. — Ed.]
- — <v— - —
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
itsT A correspondent sent to the Publisher a note, enclosing an advertise¬
ment for this Journal. Unfortunately they have been mislaid. The Publisher
inserts this notice in explanation of the non-insertion of the advertisement, and
he would feel obliged by the writer’s forwarding another copy of the advertise¬
ment and instructions.
L. A. — We shall notice it in due course.
C. Farley. — Received. Thanks for your good wishes.
T. R. — The idea is good : we shall make a “ note ” of it.
S. S. Lees. — We have handed your query to Mr. Highley.
Amaphous. — We are unable to comply with your request.
J H. S. (Birmingham). — Quite correct. Mount upon black or dark grey,
and you will get a capital effect.
A Subscriber. — The Publisher cannot at present supply a portion of the
numbers you require- Several numbers of the last volume are “ out of print,”
but are in course of being reprinted.
Old Hypo. — -We do not find that the editor you name commits so grave an
error as you attribute to him. If you will look again you will find that he
protests — perhaps not so energetically as he might, but he does protest.
A. B. (Workington). — We have never heard of anyone having photographed
the interior of an iron mine; but from what we have seen of the effect of the
illumination of a mine by means of ordinary blue fire (Bengal light), we have
no doubt it would be possible to produce a picture by its aid.
A Constant Reader. — Your query is not one of a photographic nature,
but we would readily have given you the information if it were in our power.
You can, however, ascertain who is the patentee of the articles named by
application at the Patent Office, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane.
S. W. A — The first-named maker’s lens is very good for a cheap lens; but
certainly not nearly equal to that of the other maker: the latter does well for
copying also. We have no further news of Osborne’s photographic process
than that we have already published. Mr. Ramage, of Edinburgh, has done
some very good things in this direction, but has not published his method.
Stereo. — The article you mention as having appeared in the pages of our
several contemporaries is from Silliman’s Journal, though not so acknowledged
by someofthem. We had it before us several months back, but not considering
the suggestion of value we did not care to reproduce it. We shall probably
comment thereon shortly, as it rather oddly charges us with a misapprehension
which certainly did not exist with us.
J. W. P. — The negatives that are perfectly yellow, to which you allude, are
probably such as have been developed with an iron salt, aud subsequently
intensified by pouring on a solution of perchloride of mercury, by which a
deposit of the proto-chloride of mercury is obtained on the proof; and this after
being well washed is converted into the yellow iodide of mercury by the appli¬
cation of a solution of iodide of potassium.
J. M. — The markings of which you complain arise from your collodion being
loo gelatinous in character, possibly from less of ether ; this is very apt to be
the case when iodised with a cadmium salt. The addition of a small quantity
of pure ether will remedy the defect if owing only to the first-named cause ; but
if it be partly owing to cadmium as an iodiser, add from five to ten drops of
chloroform to each ounce of collodion. This will precipitate the pyroxyline in
the form of gelatinous beads ; but they become redissolved on shaking up the
bottle, and afterwards the collodion will flow evenly and smoothly. Your
portrait is not in good focus.
Ciiirurgicus. — 1. To architecture only — not so good in our opinion for
ordinary landscape work as the single combination. — 2. A lens constructed for
a ten by eight plate is of shorter focus then that generally used fora twelve
by ten plate, and the former consequently delineates a subject upon a smaller
scale then the latter, and therefore includes as much of the subject on the small
plate as the other does on the large plate. To meet your requirements you
had better have the lens for the smaller size, and use it for the larger plate when
you are in the predicament named. You will perhaps lose a little at the angles,
but you can cover the effect by rounding the corners of your prints.
E. B. — The plain paper print is mealy, insufficiently printed, and over¬
toned : the former is caused by insufficient printing, upon which no toning can
be effective. This is the case also to some extent with the albumenised paper
print. Alkaline gold toning has a tendency to produce purple, not black tones :
the latter can be more readily attained by printing very deeply, and toning with
an acid gold bath. The coloured specimen is not a bad first attempt by any
means; and the print on plain salted paper is about right for colouring in
water. You should carry a deeper wash of colour, say raw sienna and madder
pink, over the flesh, to give a little more of the flesh and blood appearance, and
a little less of the chalk or paper; and then stipple over such tint with the
colours you now use.
CONTENTS.
page
LEADER . 37
AN UNEVEN SURFACE OF CHLORIDE OF
SILVER THE CAUSE OF MEALINESS IN
POSITIVE PRINTS. By W. J. C. MOENS.. 39
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
CHLORIDE OF GOLD. By JAMES MARTIN 40
ON THE MEANS OF SEPARATING SILVER
FROM THE HYPOSULPHITE OF SODA
JDAXH. By M, L’ABBE PUJO , , ...... 40
PAGE
OPTICAL LAWS INVOLVED IN THE CON¬
STRUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES. 41
“ NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT,
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. By J. T. TAYLOR 43
STEREOGRAPHS . 4G
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER : ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
■WALL . 47
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . £0
CORREjSPQKBEJtC'E, &C, . . 53
No. 160, Vol. IX.— FEBRUARY 15, 1862.
Celestial Photography. — Our readers will no doubt be
pleased to learn that the gold medal of the Pioyal Astronomical
Society lias just been bestowed upon Mr. Warren De la Rue,
for his successful application of photography to automatic
registration of celestial phenomena. This is the highest
honour in the power of the Council of the Astronomical Society
to award, and it is with no little satisfaction that we find that
august body so prompt to recognise the value of our art as a
faithful and infallible witness of the exact appearances of phe¬
nomena some of which are so transient in their nature that
there is no time for comparison of notes between two or more
observers before the phenomena themselves have disappeared.
; It is not assumed that Mr. De la Rue was the first to apply
photography to the illustration of celestial bodies. Mr. Bond,
assisted by Mr. Whipple, in America ; Mr. Hartnup, aided by
Mr. Forrest and others, at Liverpool; Mr. Hodgson and Mr.
Crookes, in London ; and probably some others, were labourers
in this branch of science before the former. But in beauty and
certainty of the results obtained — in the successful adaptation of
apparatus to the special requirements of the astronomer — in the
detection of certain important truths deducible from the photo¬
graphic records obtained — and, above all, in the particular
branch of heliography, Mr. De la Rue’s labours are pre¬
eminently conspicuous.
Amongst the most interesting discoveries made by the inter¬
vention of photography, applied as we have intimated, we may
cite the ocular demonstration, by means of the stereoscope in
connexion with the lunar photographs, of the spherity of our
satellite, and of the nature of many of the more obscure mark¬
ings upon its surface, clearly distinguishing elevations from
depressions. More recently similar treatment of the solar
images has shown that the faculoe or spots on the sun’s surface
are really due to elevations of the outer regions of the photo¬
sphere ; and, further, that by the invention of an ingenious
micrometer, capable of application to the images of the celestial
! bodies, very accurate measurements can be effected, and
already the discovery has been elicited that in the ordinarily
accepted diameter of both the sun and moon some corrections
have to be made. We greatly rejoice that so worthy a recipient
of honour as Mr. Warren De la Rue, whose labours have
been both valuable and superlatively disinterested, has not
been neglected, and their graceful recognition does equal
honour to himself and to the Astronomical Society.
The Photographic Society. — We cannot but regret that
the last meeting of The Photographic Society was brought
so unexpectedly and abruptly to a conclusion by the President
quitting the chair, without affording to the members an oppor¬
tunity of making, any remarks upon the Report which had been
read, or upon the balance sheet which was upon the table, but
which was not seen, we believe, by many others than the officers of
the Society. In alluding to this subject, we would premise that
we do not for a moment mean to cast any ill-natured reflections
upon the estimable gentleman who so kindly presides over the
Society, and whose attendance must cause no small sacrifice of
personal comfort to one who has attained a time of life when most
men are disinclined, even if able, to attend meetings, still less to
take an active part in the proceedings ; therefore there is an addi¬
tional debt of gratitude due to one who not only does this, but who
is frequently engaged for many hours previously in performing the
onerous duties of a judge. As will be seen in another column,
immediately after the Report had been read, and the new members
of Council and officers had been considered as elected, with a few
brief words of acknowledgment, the President inadvertently
vacated the chair, but returned for a few moments more, at the
instigation of a member of the Council, to propose the reception
and adoption of the Report — a few hands being held up when
the affirmative question was put, and none in response to the
negative, and so the affair ended. We presume that the agenda
paper was either absent altogether or deficient in the informa¬
tion that a motion upon the reception of the Report had to be
made. We express regret that such a contretemps as we have
described should have occurred — not because it manifests an
amount of carelessness on the part of the officers of the
Society, though that is objectionable enough, but because we
are aware of the existence of a great amount of dissatisfaction
amongst many of the members, whether well or ill founded
we do not decide ; however, as it exists (and of this we have no
doubt, very many members having expressed the same to us
pretty emphatically), it was a great mistake, under the circum¬
stances, not to give an opportunity for free vent to such feelings.
Some at least of the sources of irritation would have been re¬
moved by explanation ; others may have arisen altogether from
some misapprehension; but, under any circumstances, it is
worse than useless to attempt to stifle the expression of such
feelings. Now, from a personal knowledge of some of the facts
connected with the subject, we have no hesitation in affirming
that nine-tenths of the malcontents would have been satisfied
had discussion been encouraged.
Part of the discontent arose from the circumstance that at the
previous meeting no business was permitted to be done, as a mark
of respect in connexion with the address of condolence, by which
omission a list of officers and members of Council intended to be
nominated in opposition to the “ home list,” so as to ensure a bona-
fide election, was prevented from being tendered in accordance
with the rules. Some complain that they have no copies of the
rules, and know nothing about the provisions : others object that
they do not know anything about the real position of the Societ}*,
whether it is increasing or decreasing in number of members, or
even of how many members it consists. These are only a few
of the complaints made, but they are sufficient to indicate their
general character.
With respect to the Report that was read, many objected
that there were several matters assumed as facts which were
very questionable and in this we cannot but concur' — indeed,
but for the informal way in -which the motion for the reception
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1862
56
and adoption of the Report was conducted, had no one else
anticipated us we should certainly have objected to its adop¬
tion : the reception might have been admitted as a mere matter
of course.
As an instance of the assumption of a questionable fact, it is
stated in the Report that the negotiations with the Royal Com¬
missioners were brought to a successful issue — most persons
interested being of opinion that the issue is pre-eminently
unsatisfactory. We do not question that the Council of the
Society adopted the best alternative left to it, but that the
negotiations brought about anything approaching to success
is unhappily far from being the fact. How, indeed, can such an
assumption be entertained when no concessions have been made
by the Royal Commissioners- — not even the separate apartment
promised — no separation between pictures aud apparatus — no
modification of the objectionable classification — and, to crown
all, the total space afforded to the display of the art being
simply contemptible ?
With regard to this subject we urged upon the Secretary the
importance of inaugurating an ordinary Annual Exhibition of
the Photographic Society, in addition to the International
Exhibition ; and, on mentioning the matter to some members
of the Council, we found them favourable to such a project. We
also suggested an application to the Crystal Palace Company as
better than nothing; but there were several serious objections
to this course of proceeding. Another idea was also started in
connexion with the following'’ announcement in several of the
daily newspapers, viz.
International Supplementary Exhibition.— A responsible company
has been formed to erect, from the designs of Sir Joseph Paxton, a Sup¬
plementary Exhibition building at Kensington, for the accommodation of
persons who may fail to obtain space in the International Exhibition.
The design is likely to answer a useful purpose, and is being prosecuted
by sound men in a business-like way, and with the approbation of the
Royal Commissioners, the idea being to afford facility for the^sale of goods
displayed in both buildings.
But here again difficulties arise, so far as the Photographic
Society is concerned. Lastly, we suggested that application be
made to the authorities of King’s College to ascertain whether
it would be possible to obtain the use of the large hall there for
the purpose during the summer vacation, and thus effect the
object, at the same time avoiding the expense of a separate
soiree ; hut this, we presume, has also turned out to be im¬
practicable, as we find that the soiree has been fixed to take
place there on the 25th April next.
We cannot avoid thinking that it would be but an act of ordi¬
nary prudence as well as justice on the part of the Photographic
Society to obtain some exhibition room at almost any reasonable
cost, in order to avoid a reduction of its income, as well as to
remedy as far as possible the disappointments to which the whole
body of photographers have been subjected ; and we have heard
that a gallery is obtainable at the corner or Pall Mall end of
the Haymarket, hut the truth of this assertion we have not
actually tested. We are, however, of opinion that very strenuous
exertions ought to be made by the authorities of the Photo¬
graphic Society to effect this object.
We altogether deny the correctness of the following statement
in the Report as to contemporary photographic societies : —
“ The number of these have gradually diminished as the advantages of
one central and representative body have been recognised throughout the
country.”
Two or three societies have ceased to exist, it is true; but
others have been established, and, what is of more importance,
some have received very considerable accessions of members
during the past year. To have borne out the assertion to
which we object, it would have been incumbent upon the
framers of the Report to have shown that the number of mem¬
bers of the Photographic Society is now greater than it has
ever been a position which we think it would be proud to
establish.
ON THE MANUFACTURE OF COLLODION.*
By Thomas Sebastian Davis.
There are few investigations in connexion with modern photo¬
graphy that possess greater theoretical, chemical, and practical in¬
terest than those associated with the manufacture of collodion. The
interest and importance of the subject are not exclusively derived
from scientific considerations, but are intimately associated with
the greater or less facilities that the compound is capable of afford¬
ing for the production of artistic effects. It is true that the picto¬
rial merits of a photograph can only partially constitute the standard
for a just estimation of the exact value of a collodion or process;
yet it is equally undeniable that the conceptions of a cultivated
taste may be fairly expected to realise a nearer approximation to
its sentiments when aided by the more appropriate agents. Re¬
garded in this aspect, the manufacture of collodion, and the
characteristic results dependent thereupon, constitute a theme of
recurrent interest, and one which from time to time should be
brought under our notice, in order to adapt its qualifications to the
current requirements of the artistic photographer.
The preparation of collodion embraces the consideration and
realisation of two especial qualifications : the one the production
of a medium that will possess the necessary physical properties of
yielding a homogeneous and even film after evaporation from
a smooth surface, and the other the power of giving an image pos¬
sessing the nearest approximation to a true representation of the
varied gradations of light and shade, as seen in nature. The for¬
mer requirement directs our primary attention to the constitution
of the plain collodion, and the latter to the nature of the salts best
adapted for receiving the actinic impression. I purpose in the pre¬
sent paper detailing the methods by which the above conditions
may be most satisfactorily attained, according to the result of my
own varied experiments in connexion therewith. It may be well
here to remark that the special formula which I am about to ad¬
vocate is the one which I have especially found advantageous to
adopt in working the wet collodion process, with iron developers,
and the washed albumen dry-plate processes generally. It is one
by which a collodion may be prepared in every respect adapted for
yielding the best results with pyrogallic acid development ; but
under such circumstances the necessary impression of the latent
image is received with less rapidity than upon films prepared with
one or two commercial collodions particularly distinguished in this
respect. It may be judged, therefore, from the latter observations,
that I neither advocate or recommend the practical or artistic pho¬
tographer to make his or their own collodion. But this I would
emphatically urge — that no modified form of development, nor any
description of a dry-plate method of preparation, should be esteemed
of scientific value unless it be capable of being successfully prac¬
tised in combination with acollodion of known chemical composition.
To turn in the first instance to the consideration of the manu¬
facture of the pyroxyline, I may notice that its introduction into
photography previously resulted from the discovery of M. Schor,
bien ; that the elements of nitric acid are capable of combining with
certain vegetal fibres; that the compounds resulting therefrom
possess new and remarkable properties. The development of this
fact led to the knowledge of the practical value of gun-cotton, and
consequently to the specification of a patent taken out in our
country in the year 1846 by a Mr. John Taylor, of the Adelphi,
for the manufacture of explosive compounds. In this specification
we have a detailed description of the means by which “gun-cotton"
of the most explosive character may be successfully prepared. I
shall venture to make one or two extracts therefrom, inasmuch
as they will contain some practical hints equally applicable
to the manufacture of photographic pyroxyline : — “ The vege¬
table matter,” it states, “ which is found best suited for the
purpose is cotton, in the state in which it comes to this country,
but cleared from any extraneous matter, it being desirable to
operate only on the clean fibre of the cotton, which should be dry.
The acids which I employ are nitric acid of from D45 to D50 spe¬
cific gravity, and sulphuric acid of 1*85 specific gravity. As far as
my experience goes the best mode of using them is to mix them
in the proportion of one measure of the nitric acid with three
measures of the sulphuric acid, in a convenient vessel of glazed
earthenware or other material not acted on by acids. By this
mixture great heat will be produced. The mixture will be allowed
to cool until it reaches a temperature of from sixty to fifty degrees
of Fahrenheit. It should be introduced as open as practicable ;
and, in order to ensure the cotton being fully impregnated with the
acids, and every part equally and fully subjected to the action
* Read at a Meeting of the South London Photographic Society, Feb. l-3th, 1S62.
February 15, 1862
the BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
thereof, the cotton, when in the acids, is to be moved or stirred
by means of a rod of glass, or other matter not acted on by the
acids. The acids are then to be poured or drawn on.
The cotton is afterwards to be washed, opened out, and dried, winch
■ may be conveniently done by spreading it thinly on surfaces in a
i room heated by steam or otherwise to about 180° Fahrenheit, ana
when dried it is fit for use. I would remark that nitric acid alone
produces on cotton an effect similar to that produced on cotton by
the mixture of acids above mentioned. But, in carrying out the
invention with nitric acid alone, the cotton should be removed
and washed immediately after it has become soaked with the acid ;
but I believe that so good a result cannot be obtained by the use
of nitric acid alone, and the product is more costly. It will be
gathered from the above extract that the principle of the manu¬
facture of gun-cotton is not dependent upon the relative. propor¬
tions of the mixture of the acids, although the preference is given
by the patentee to the three to one ratio, as more recently advo¬
cated by Mr. Hardwich. The explosive cotton made in acids of
the above strengths is unsuited for the manufacture of collodion,
inasmuch as the product is insoluble in a mixture of alcohol and
ether. If, however, we only dilute the acids to a suitable extent
or what is analagous thereto, take acids of a less specific gi avity ,
and act upon the cotton therewith, we shall obtain a pyroxyline
soluble in an ethereal mixture of alcohol, and distinguishable from
the former, when saturated with water, by a semi-transparent ap¬
pearance and a tendency to partial disintegration. Provided we
carry the dilution of the acids to too great an extent, the texture
of the cotton will be entirely destroyed ; if to the extreme degree,
it will be completely dissolved as soon as immersed in the acid
mixture. The disintegrating or solvent power of the dilute acids
increases with an elevation of their temperature, so that it happens
that an acid mixture in which the fibre of the cotton would be
scarcely altered at a low temperature might entirely dissolve the
whole at a higher one. As it is found that a more fluid collodion
can be manufactured from a pyroxyline made at elevated tempera¬
tures, it follows that the strength of the acids must be correspond¬
ingly less diluted when used at higher temperatures, in oidei to
produce a given action upon the same vegetal fibre.
The essential element for consideration, therefore, in the manufac¬
ture of pyroxyline adapted to meet the requirements of the photo¬
grapher is the proportionate dilution of the acids that will give the
best results when brought into union with the normal cotton at some
fixed temperature ranging between 130° and 150° Fahrenheit. The
above rule will equally apply to the case whether the nitric acid be
used in its free condition or be liberated from nitrate of potash by
the chemical action of the sulphuric acid thereupon. As far as my
own experience has led me to a preference between the use of free
nitric acid or the employment of nitrate of potash, I must confess
that I consider a slight advantage in respect to uniformity and
suitability is gained by the combination of the two. Without,
however, dwelling upon this point, I must now proceed to the
statement of the means by which I manufacture a pyroxyline
equally adapted for the production of collodion to be used for the
wet and dry plate process. . .. ..
To make the pyroxyline : — Take 3f ounces (avoir.) of ordinarily
dried end pounded nitrate of potash and mix it in an earthenware
iar with 10 J fluid drachms of water. Pour upon this 4J fluid
ounces of nitric acid, of specific gravity 1'42, and 8k fluid ounces
of the strongest commercial sulphuric acid, specific gravity about
1*845 and intimately mix the whole with a glass rod. As
soon as the mixture is at the temperature of 150° to 145° Fah.,
introduce 100 grains of finely-divided cotton, in small quantities
at a time, taking especial care that each quantity is saturated
with the acid before the introduction of the next, and allow
the whole to remain at rest, standing upon a non-conducting-
surface for about ten minutes. After the lapse of this in¬
terval press the cotton with the glass rod against the bottom
of the vessel, and pour off as closely as possible the fluid
mixture. The pyroxyline should then be quickly washed
in three or four changes of water, and subsequently in se¬
veral additional ones, with the precaution of pressing as much
of the moisture as possible from the cotton between each
change : by so doing the cotton will be quickly and thoroughly freed
fronAhe slightest trace of acidity. As a precautionary measure
one or two of the latter washing waters may be rendered slightly
alkaline by the addition of a few drops of ammonia : that used for
the final cleansing should be neutral and distilled. I he cotton may
now be allowed partially to dry spontaneously, but the last traces
of moisture should be driven off by the aid of a hot water
bath. As the quantity of water in the above formula constitutes
the element of success or otherwise in the manufacture of the
pyroxyline, it may be as well to refer to the extreme ranges and
the resulting effects. If we add twelve fluid drachms of water
instead of the ten and a-half recommended the result would be
that the greater portion of the cotton would be dissolved in the
acid, and the remainder, if washed and dried, would be found to
dissolve but sparingly in ether and alcohol, and yield a powdery,
incoherent, and unsuitable film. If, upon the other hand, we were
to reduce the quantity of water to eight fluid ounces, we should
find that the cotton would be scarcely altered in its appearance
when washed and dried— have but little solubility in an ethereal
mixture— and yield a film possessing a “ crapy ” texture. It thus
follows that all the more characteristic pyroxylmes may be pro¬
duced by a comparatively trifling alteration in the strength of the
acids. When, however, the water is added to the extent given m
the instructions, the detached particles of cotton will give a milki-
ness to the first washing water; it will present, when wet, a semi¬
transparent appearance when held up to the light ;. and after sub¬
sequent desiccation will dissolve easily and without . leaving
a residue, either in glacial acetic acid or an ethereal mixture ol
alcohol. From this pyroxyline the plain collodion is to be made
Ether, methylated (sp. gr. 720 to 730)... 4£ fluid ozs.
Alcohol (sp. gr. 837) . p
Pyroxyline . grams. .
The methylated ether referred to above can be commercially ob¬
tained of either the above strengths : the alcohol is the ordinary
rectified spirit of 56'60 over proof of the distiller. .
The sensitising solution to be added to the plain collodion is i a
question of importance, second only to the manufacture of the
pyroxyline. I deem it exceedingly desirable that care should be
taken that the addition of the sensitising solution to the plain
collodion should not be attended with the slightest precipitation ;
rather that the slight milkiness which the plain collodion may
retain even after long standing should immediately disappear upon
the addition. In order to ensure this effect I recommend that a
weaker alcohol should invariably be used in the manufacture of
the plain collodion than that which is employed as the solvent for
the salts. 1 am aware that the greater facility with which the
Sctlts employed are dissolved by the weaker spirit has led to a
practice at variance to the one advocated ; but under such circum
stances a precipitate generally occurs. The composition of the
iodising solution is to be as follows :
Iodide potassium . 6 grains.
Iodide cadmium . 18 „
Bromide potassium . 2 „ (in excess.)
Chloride ammonium . 2 „ „
Alcohol (sp. gr. -805) . . . 1 fluid ounce. .
I give the preference, for chemical and photographic reasons, to
the combination of iodide of potassium and iodide of cadmium over
the combinations of other iodising salts ; and the stability and
solubility of the latter combines conveniently with the instability
and sparing solubility of the former. The alkaline iodide is,
moreover, eminently qualified to give a great and excessive vigour
of intensity, whereas the metallic salt by itself imparts an image
of the opposite character. A combination of the two in the above
proportions yields probably the best image that can be realised by
the use of iodides alone. The preference may be given to the
potassium iodide over the ammonium, inasmuch as the former is
less liable to decomposition and the consequent liberation of free
iodine than the latter. The iodide of sodium is almost identical
in its action and properties with iodide of potassium ; but, as the
latter can be obtained with greater facility in a state of purity,
convenience suggests its employment. The effect of adding
chlorides and bromides to the combination of the above salts
is to lessen the exaggerated contrasts which are likely, to
attend the use of a plain iodised collodion, to give greater im¬
munity from stains and fogging, and, what is ol considerable
moment, permit a longer exposure where, necessary for the
delineation of objects situated in shade, without the preven¬
tion of the vigorous rendering of the higher lights. Ihe
beneficial effects of the chloride of ammonium will be but trifling
as far as regards the use of the collodion for the wet process. It will
give, however, greater sensibility, increased brightness of the nega¬
tive and general correctness of tone to the plates, fiom which the
whole of the free nitrate of silver has been washed away for the
purpose of applying a preservative. With respect to the introduc¬
tion of the potassium bromide in preference to the bromide of
ammonium, it may be remarked that, although it be less sparingly
soluble in alcohol, yet for negative pictures in combination with
58
THE BRITISH JOURNAL 0 F PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1862
mixed alkaline and metallic iodides, it is sufficiently so to produce
the desired effect. By its use we prevent tlie possibility of double
decomposition, which, under certain circumstances, may otherwise
take place. The salts, as described, should be dissolved without heat
in about three-fourths of the alcohol, and, after havingbeen frequently
shaken therein for two or three days and carefully filtered, the
remainder of the spirit may be then added. The iodising solution
is to be mixed with the plain collodion in the proportion of oue
volume of the latter to three of the former ; and it will be found
that the resulting compound will meet every possible require¬
ment of the artistic photographer, with the exception of very
rapid sensibility. In furtherance of the object of obtaining
increased sensibility I have tried many published and original
experiments, but without meeting with any marked success unac¬
companied with some serious inconvenience. The generality of
these experiments have been directed to the introduction of such
salts into the sensitising solution as form, by double decomposi¬
tion with nitrate of silver, insoluble compounds more or less affected
by actinic power. The salts which can be successfully introduced
for the purpose are obviously limited to those which are partially
soluble in a mixture of alcohol and ether, and afford insoluble com¬
pounds when the electro-negative element enters into combination
with the metallic base. In accordance with the above conditions
I have selected for my experiments the acetates, malates, citrates,
succinates, benzoates, arsenates, arsenites, cinchonates, &c. The
only instances in which I have obtained any indications ofincreased
sensibility have been in those in which the salts introduced have
possessed an alkaline reaction. Amongst these I may especially
mention the arsenite of potash. As the silver salts of a
character so formed are prone to reduction under the influence
of the ordinary developing agents, their employment is to a greater
or less extent attended with a general fogging of the picture. In
following out some experiments in connexion with sensibility, I
introduced the ter-chloride of gold into the sensitising solution, in
the place of the less soluble chloride of ammonium. The exaltation
of sensibility caused by this addition was both marked and decided ;
but the known facility of reduction to which this salt is subject,
apart from the influence of light, under the action of pyrogallic and
protosulphate of iron solutions, defeated the possibility of its
successful application. So great is the aptitude of this salt
to reduction that the introduction of a single plate covered
with a film containing a mere trace thereof is sufficient to
render a large quantity of the nitrate of silver bath solution inap¬
plicable for further photographic purposes. It was, therefore, with
some surprise that I subsequently found that Mr. Barnes, in his
excellent and able Manual upon the use of collodion upon a thin
substratum of albumen as a dry plate process, had not only tried
but suggested the use of chloride of gold as an accelerator many
months before the date of my experiments. As a general result of
my researches in this direction I am inclined to endorse the opinion
heretofore expressed, that at the present moment we must use, even
if we arenotto rest satisfied with, collodions of ordinary sensibility,
•and that we have not as yet discovered any “accelerator” of unex¬
ceptional utility. We may, however, perfect the manufactui’e of
such collodions by a critical study of those minutiae to which
I have endeavoured to direct attention in the present paper.
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION'S FOR GRINDING LENSES.
PERHArs the branch of science connected Avith our art Avhich is
least familiar to the majority of its professors is that Avhich relates
to the optical questions involved; and amongst those Avho are
acquainted Avith the theoretical principles of optical science, very
few indeed knoAv anything about the practical method of construct¬
ing lenses. That some information upon this subject will be of
interest to our readers Ave cannot doubt. Even those Avho Avould
not for a moment contemplate the idea of attempting to manufac¬
ture their own lenses, will still be glad to be acquainted with the
mode in Avhich they are produced : Avhile others who have a taste
for experiment may like to try their skill in this direction, if only
as a matter of curiosity : Avhile a still more select few — whose
inventive faculties are active, and Avho fancy they could contrive
certain arrangements of lenses Avhich would be of high photogra¬
phic value, if they could only get their ideas carried out by some prac¬
tical mechanician — may have in these articles the information
afforded to them by which they may become independent of any¬
thing but their own industry, in putting their schemes to the test
of actual trial.
Wc 1 lave made arrangements for the publication of a short scries
ot articles explanatory of the mechanical details involved in the
actual manufacture of the glass parts of lenses of various kinds,
believing that such Avill be more or less acceptable to a large pro¬
portion of our readers. We shall not treat of theoretical questions
in these papers, as they Avould be foreign to our present purpose,
and may well be left for separate consideration ; but avc shall, in as
lucid a manner as possible, give the modus operandi adopted by the
artisan in the actual production of lenses such as are required by
the photographer.
We Avill commence Avith a description of the method of grinding
a convex lens of croAvn glass. The first operation consists in
bringing the piece of glass selected into the form of a circular disc
a trifle larger than the size of the intended finished lens. This
is effected by cutting or rather chipping it into shape by the aid of
a tool something like a pair of scissors in form, and called by the
workmen “shanks.” This tool is made of soft iron, and is used
much as a pair of scissors Avould be — the principal difference con¬
sisting in the fact that in the latter the fulcrum of the lever is
placed betAveen the hand and the object operated upon, Avhile in
the former it is at the extremity of the tool — and the glass is placed
betAveen it and the hand of the operator. The following cut will
give a better idea of the appearance of a pair of shanks than avq
can convey by description
alone. As it Avill be per¬
ceived that it Avould be
next to impossible to hold
a flat disc of glass Avith out
some assistance Avhile
grinding it to a convex
surface, the next thing to
be done is to attach some¬
thing to it to be used as a handle, and the substance employed for
this purpose is a cement, made as folloAvs, Adz. : —
Into a pot or ladle put half a pound of common pitch, and melt it
over the fire ; then stir in a table- spoonful of fine wood ashes, and a
piece of tallow about the size of a nut. Keep the whole simmering
for at least a quarter of an hour, and stir Avell, so that the Avhole may
be thoroughly mixed ; then pour it out on a piece of Avct stone, and
keep it Avell kneaded about until nearly cold.
While preparing the cement, or, if it be ready, for some time be¬
fore using it, place the piece of glass on the hob of a common fire
grate, Avhich must contain burning coke or charcoal ( not coal, as
the flame or heat from coal is apt to cause the glass to fly), in order
to make it gradually and sufficiently hot to cause the cement to
adhere firmly. Then take a lump of the cement, enough to form
nearly a hemisphere Avhen applied to the glass disc, and knead it
into form on the glass, thus causing it to afford
a good finger hold. Before doing anything
more to it the Avhole must be allowed to stand
for an hour or more, until it has become quite
cold.
Tt is noAv necessary to bring the exposed surface of the glass to
an approximately correct spherical curve by grinding it in a con¬
cave metal “ tool," by the aid of coarse emery poAvder. The tool
is in form very like the “ cup” of the well-knoAvn toy, the “ cup
and ball,” as will at once be perceived from an inspection of the
folloAving cut. The upper side is indented Avith a cavity having
its surface accurately ground to correspond
Avith a sphere of a given radius ; the lower
or outer side is left in the rough, and is
furnished Avith a projecting piece or boss,
upon which is cut a male screAV of a certain
definite size — every “tool” in the Avorkshop
being furnished Avith a similar projecting
screw, and all of them of the same size, so
that the same handles and sockets will fit any of them. The
optician’s Avorkshop is furnished Avith
firmly attached to the floor, and
steadied by means of Avooden stays.
At the top of each post is a metal
socket, furnished Avith a female
screAV, into which the male screws
of the several tools fit. In addition
to these posts, there is in some con¬
venient part of the workshop a kind
of sink lined Avith lead or slate, and
having in it several square boxes
or sockets (rising from the bed of the
sink) into Avhich the “ rough tools”
for the first grinding are laid.
The tool of the proper curvature
intended to be used having been
a number of upright posts,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
59
February 15, 1862]
arranged in its place in the sink, and some coarse emery powder
and water having been placed into the cavity, the glass, with the
: cement attached as before described, is placed in the tool, glass
i downwards, and worked about with the hand all over the tool in
every direction, at the same time causing it to revolve slowly, by
twisting it with the thumb and fingers. At first the glass only
touches the tool on the extreme edges of the former ; but gradually
i a dull grey ring is formed near the edge by the glass becoming
partially ground away, and this ground ring increases in breadth
i until only a small central spot is left polished, and finally that also
disappears, and the whole surface acquires an uniform rough grey
appearance. Of course, in working the lens about on the tool a
quantity of the emery and water gets forced over the side of the
tool and falls into the sink, which is, in fact, placed for the express
purpose of collecting it, partly to prevent making more mess than
j is needful, and partly for a more important purpose, which will be
[ named hereafter. After being roughly shaped, the embryo lens is
) now transferred to a similar, but this time carefully figured tool,
! screwed on to the top of one of the posts before-mentioned. Into
I this tool some fine emery powder, moistened with water, is placed,
and it is gradually smoothed all over its surface by aid of a piece
j of common glass, of any kind that has been previously brought into
! shape in the rough tool, precisely in the same manner as the intended
| lens — the same piece of glass serving for very many times for the
i purpose. Its object is to coat the tool evenly with the emery,
and at the same time break up any accidental lumps that
may have found their way into the fine emery, and which, if
not dissipated, would cause an infinity of trouble by making a
! number of scratches on the lens. When the emery is evenly
i spread, and not till then, the lens is introduced and worked in a
I similar manner to that previously described, but with more care ;
and, when a nice even surface of an uniform grey appearance is
produced, both the tool and the lens are carefully washed free of
all the emery in use, and the same tool is replaced and supplied
with some still finer moistened emery powder, and another grinding
of the lens is proceeded with, precisely as before. The emery is
thus changed five or six times, in some cases, where a very perfect
surface is required, finer emery being used at each time of chang¬
ing, until at last the lens is ready for being polished, so far as that
surface is concerned. A description of the polishing process we
must defer till our next communication, as also the method of
constructing the tools, which we have judged it better to suppose
already in existence, because when their object and the method of
using them is understood it is much easier to comprehend the
design of the various proceedings necessary in constructing them ;
and there is always greater facility in describing an instrument
when its rise is known than is the case when we have to do so
with that of which the reader is entirely ignorant. We shall,
therefore, in our next explain how the tools are to be made, and
then continue with the finishing of the lens.
ON THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT.*
By M. A. Poitevin.
( Continued from page 45.)
Before using the salts of uranium as reducing agents for persalts,
I had, in March, 1857, tried the action of light upon lactate of
uranium, which has been indicated in the Annals of Chemistry ,
by Mellon and Rissit, 1848, page 281, as being very sensitive, and
reducible to the state of oxide by the action of light ; I knew,
besides, that the yellow salts of protoxide of uranium were brought
into the state of green salts of protoxide of uranium, and that their
solutions reduced those oi gold and silver ) but I did not know
the application which had been made in England of the nitrate of
uranium to replace the citrate of iron, in the chrysotype process of
Herschel.
I prepared then some paper with a solution of lactate of uranium,
and exposed it to light, under a negative. A very sharp image
was formed, of a brown colour, which disappeared on being washed
with distilled water. With the object of fixing it, I employed
several re-agents, without success : there was nothing but nitrate
of silver which would fix it and blacken it at the same time.
This experiment seemed to me very curious, and as admitting
of useful application in printing positive proofs. I did not, how¬
ever, continue these researches, too much occupied, as I then was,
every day, in perfecting some photographic impressions of which I
hoped to make an industrial application.
It was not until some little time after that M. Niepce de St.
Read at a Meeting of the Marseilles Photographic Society, Jauuary 31st, 1862.
Victor began his photographic researches on the salts of uranium,
the results of which were laid before the Academy of Science, but
which I only became acquainted with through what appeared in
the Photographic Journals for August, 1858, and March, 1859.
These labours of M. Niepce were not conducted from a chemical
point of view — the proof of which is, that he explains the reduc¬
tion of the salts of gold and silver by the salts of uranium exposed
to light, as being produced in an inclosed chamber which had been
exposed to light, thus confounding the effect with the cause.
I did not renew my experiments with the salts of uranium until
the early months of 1859 : I then, however, succeeded in perfectly
satisfying myself as to the nature of the reaction which I had
observed in 1857. I established anew the fact that the salts of
peroxide of uranium applied to paper were reduced by light to the
state of protoxide, upon which solutions of the salts of gold and
silver produced a deposit of metal ; and, further, that ferrocyanido
of potassium formed very beautiful red positives upon nitrate of
uranium paper exposed under a negative. I fixed these by a
simple washing with pure water, or with water slightly acidulated.
I also changed the red colour into a blackish violet, by treating
the proof with a very weak solution of perchloride of iron, which
transformed the ferrocyanide of uranium, which is red, into ferro-
cyanide of iron, which is Prussian blue. The mixture of these
colours produced a violet of more or less deep shade. By prolong¬
ing the action of perchloride of iron upon these proofs, I obtained
a blue print which I could at pleasure convert into an inky black
(gallate of iron), as I have previously stated.
The experiments upon nitrate of uranium employed alone upon
paper are very numerous and well known. I am unable to say
anything new on this subject, and will, therefore, confine mj'-
observations here to the application of this salt mixed with others
in the state of persalt, with the object of accelerating their reduc¬
tion by light.
Nitrate of Uranium and Bichromate of Potash. — When a solution
of nitrate of uranium is added to a solution of bichromate of pot¬
ash, a pale yellow precipitate of chromate of uranium is produced,
soluble in excess of the nitrate. Paper covered with this mixture
is yellow : it whitens at first in the light, then becomes rose-
coloured, and on treating the paper with a solution of nitrate of
silver, chromate of silver is formed on all the parts affected by
light. It is the same reaction as this which is produced by em¬
ploying alloxantin and bichromate of potash, and which may be
printed in the same way. Only it should be observed that here
the nitrate of uranium is not in the state of protosalt in the inso-
lated parts, for it will reduce the nitrate of silver ; but, after it has
been exposed to light, it renews the oxygen to tbe bichromate of
potash. A solution of ferricyanide of potassium colours of a
brownish red the parts unaffected by light, through the formation
of ferrocyanide of uranium. A solution of ferricyanide does not
produce any apparent effect ; but, on subsequently treating the
paper with a solution of perchloride of iron, Prussian blue is formed
in the parts impressed by light.
A solution of tannin does not produce any apparent effect ; but, on
the subsequent addition of perchloride of iron, ink (tannate of iron)
is formed only on the actinised portion of the paper.
Nitrate of Uranium and Bichloride of Mercury. — Paper prepared
with this mixture is very sensitive to light, which reduces tbe
bichloride to the state of protochloride of mercury, which may be
darkened by a solution of hyposulphite of soda, or by water ren¬
dered slightly ammoniacal.
Nitrate of Uranium and Perchloride of Iron. — This mixture applied
to paper is discoloured very quickly by light : from yellow it
becomes white. Protoxide of uranium is first produced in the
insulated parts, reacts upon the perchloride, which it reduces to pro¬
tochloride : the solutions of gold and silver are reduced by this
protochloride of iron. Ferricyanide of potassium colours the unim¬
pressed portions brown, owing to the formation of a mixture of
ferricyanide of iron and uranium. Ferricyanide of potassium forms
Prussian blue on the actinised portion of the paper: this reaction
is very clean and sharp aud might be utilised, since it is easy, as I
have already said, to change this blue into tannate or gallate of
iron. Solutions of tannin, gallic acid, pyrogallic acid, &c., produce
ink on the parts which have not been acted on by light, that is to
say, where the perchloride of iron is not reduced. This reaction is
also very sharp, and it is this especially which I have endeavoured
to utilise, and upon which I have based this method of obtaining
photographic impressions, which I published on the 20th of May,
and which is inserted in the Bulletin of the French Photographic
Society of June, 1859, page 157, ct. seq.
I continued my experiments on the reduction of different persalts
60
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 16 1862
of iron, with a view to their application to this kind of impressions :
nearly all may be employed, and even the sesquioxide itself mixed
with a reducing- agent ; but it is the nitrate of the sesquioxide which
is most easily reduced after the perchloride. I sought also lor less
expensive reducing agents than alloxantin and nitrate or lactate
of uranium, and I have established the fact that glycerine, nitrate
of ammonia, and, above all, tartaric acid, may be advantageously
substituted. It is tartaric acid which I have used ever since, and
on the 18th of May, 1860, I made another communication on a
second process of printing in gallate of iron and Prussian blue,
with specimens upon paper and upon -woven fabrics : this also
appeared in the Bulltein de la Societe Francaise de Photographie,
June, 1860, page 147, et. seq.
POSITIVES.
Proofs obtained in this manner, and by using a positive for the
impression on paper, are always wanting in sharpness on the sur¬
face of the paper, which is so penetrated by the colour as to look
better when viewed by transmitted light, thus indicating the
quality of the paper employed. If it be desired to obtain sharp
proofs in this manner it will be found necessary to employ collo-
dionised paper, which I prepare as follows Upon a wr ell-cleaned
glass I pour a film of ordinary plain collodion, immerse in water,
and when the greasiness is gone, withdraw it, wash repeatedly with
acidulated water, and to the still moistened surface I apply with
moderate pressure, so as to ensure contact over the whole surface,
a sheet of paper which has been previously coated with a solution
of gelatine, containing ten per cent, perchloride of iron and three
per cent, tartaric acid. If the pressure has been properly applied,
it will be found, on withdrawing the paper, that the collodion film
adheres to its surface. This paper is very sensitive to light and
yields very sharp and vigorous proofs. It was during the course
of these latter experiments that I observed the impermeability
communicated to paper by this mixture of perchloride of iron and
tartaric acid, which impermeability is immediately destroyed by
light. I had hoped to make an useful application of this observa¬
tion to the production of impressions by means of lithographic
inks, charcoal powuler, &c.; but while endeavouring to effect the sub¬
stitution of glass for paper, I discovered the new and curious fact
that light communicates to these preparations hygroscopic proper¬
ties, which led me to, and which is the basis of, my second method
of taking impressions in carbon and other inert powders, and for
which I obtained a patent on 28th June, 1860, and which process
I published on 26th October, appearing in the Bulletin de la Societe
Francaise de Fhotographie, November, 1860, page 304.
THE DAGUERREOTYPE PROCESS.
By Charles Corey.
I ENTIRELY agree with your correspondent, Mary B- - , as to the
great superiority of the Daguerreotype process for portraits over
all others. There is in photography no mode of representing the
human face that does so much to soften the awful truth-telling of
the camera as that of the too-much-neglected discovery of Daguerre.
I have by me now some pictures taken by this process fully fifteen
years ago, and for delicacy, brilliancy, and general harmony of
effect there has been nothing in the subsequent discoveries to
equal them.
If you have no better information at hand, I shall be happy to
answer your appeal to your readers by a short account of the
method of procedure.
As nearly the whole of the work is dry, and the result of vapour
only (and, therefore, an additional recommendation may be enume¬
rated, inasmuch as the fingers and clothes are kept from being
soiled), it is imperatively necessary that the whole apparatus be
in a perfectly working condition ; for the many makeshifts of the
solutions of silver for glass positives are inadmissible here.
The picture being produced by the known affinity of mercury for
silver — the light parts formed by a graduated deposit of it, upon a
surface of polished silver — our first position must be obtaining the
needful boxes for iodine, bromine, and mercury. The large outlay
and cost of plates has gradually deterred many from its use, and
led to the awful degradation to which portraiture has in part sunk.
The plates (of copper coated with silver), supposing them to be used
for the first time, are chemically, as well as mechanically, cleaned by
being rubbed, laterally, or from side to side, upon a buffof drab cotton
velvet or moleskin, stretched tightly upon a flat board, and having
lamp-black, previously freed from its inherent grease by being burnt
in a crucible, dusted upon the buff through fine muslin. When per¬
fectly bright and finished, by the use of another and clean buff, and
leaving its markings across the plate (laterally as before said), it is
lightly dusted with cotton or a camel-hair brush to remove all loosely
adhering particles, and, whilst rather warm from the friction, it is
laid upon the opening of the iodine box and the glass cover with¬
drawn. At the lower portion of this box a glass reflector is placed,
by means of which the gradual coating of the polished plate with
the iodine vapour maybe watched. When it has attained a bright
rose colour — say in about two minutes or more — it is enough, and
the glass cover may be replaced. There are many methods of
charging this box with the vapour of iodine, but 1 have found a
few grains of purified iodine in a watch glass, at the centre of the
bottom of the box, the best.
When thus coated the plate possesses a certain degree of sensi¬
bility; but the time of exposure would be so great as to render it unfit
for portraiture in this state. The world is indebted to the labours of
Mr. J. T. Goddard for eliciting the accelerating efficacy of bromine,
thus reducing the time of exposure from minutes to seconds in the
camera. Bromine was formerly used as a liquid, the bromine being
diluted with water. Its effect was greatly heightened in intensity,
beauty, and rapidity by the addition of chlorine ; but as this appli¬
cation involves the use of a Wolf’s apparatus, with connecting glass
pipes and bottles, and Welter’s safety tube, it is out of the question
for tyros, particularly of le beau sexe. We will, therefore, adopt the
handy form of Mr. Bingham’s bromide of lime, which must be scattered
with greater profusion than the iodine over the bottom of a similar
box. The plate must now be exposed to this vapour untii the hue
has become of a blue tinge : being returned to the iodine box for
an instant only afterwards, it is ready for the slide of the camera.
It is surely unnecessary to say that these operations are to be con¬
ducted in an entirely dark room, the only light that is to be used
being a square hole in a shutter that has been covered over by
white paper, in front of each box, and this too in a north aspect
where the atmospheric light is greatly modified.
The exposure will vary according to the manner in which the
proportions of the vapour of iodine and bromine have been balanced,
and may be roundly stated to vary from ten seconds to twenty,
or even thirty.
The plate is then carried back to the dark closet, and placed
in its proper receptacle in the top of the mercury box, and a lighted
spirit lamp put under the iron cup at the bottom, into which clean
mercury has been poured. The heat is to be gradually raised till
the thermometer indicates 120 degrees: a few degrees more or less
is of little importance. An imperceptible vapour of volatilised
mercury gradually rises, and condenses slowly upon the surface of
the plate wherever the light has eaten away the fugitive coating
of bromo-iodi.de of silver — thus forming the gradation of the picture.
The effect is to be watched by occasional but not too frequent
peeps at its progress, by the help of a lanthorn with an amber glass
front. When fully developed it must be removed, as the mercury
continues to vapourise, even when the heat is discontinued. As a
rule, it is better to under-expose and gradually develop, rather than
to force a picture out by a rash and precipitate heating of the mercury.
When the development is complete it is slipped easily and slowly
into a basin containing a solution of two ounces of hyposulphite of
soda to a half-pint of water, and may then be allowed for the first
time to see the day-light.
So soon as the superabundant purple covering of iodine and
bromine is dissolved away, it may be lightly washed and placed
upon a stand that will admit of being so accurately levelled that a
large quantity of hyposulphite of soda and gold may be retained
upon it. This solution is thus prepared : — Dissolve thirty grains of
hyposulphite of soda in four ounces of water, and sixteen grains of
chloride of gold in other four ounces of water. When thoroughly dis¬
solved, pour the gold into the soda salt, stirring assiduously the while.
Set it aside and it will change from a brownish yellow to quite white,
and it is then fit for use. Bour on as much of this as the plate will
hold without spilling and apply the heat of the spirit lamp underneath
until it almost attains the boiling point. The gold will thereby be
deposited in the form of a thin and invisible coating on the surface,
greatly heightening the effect of the picture. Nor is this all : as gold
is infinitely less subject to the action of the oxygen of the atmos¬
phere than silver — for we know the latter tarnishes readily, whilst
the other does so but slowly — the thin pellicle of gold acts as a
protective coating to its surface, and its subsequent keeping either
under rough usage or exposure to air will reveal if it has been
properly gilt or not.
As the solution is exhausted each time it may be thrown away ;
the plate to be taken by its corner with a pair of pliers, a quantity
of distilled water flushed over it, and then being reared up, still
held by the pliers, whilst the spirit lamp is held to the back, the
February lo, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH Y.
61
leat expels the moisture gradually to the lowest corner, leaving
;he plate quite free from stain, ct voila tout , certainernent le chef
I f oeuvre of the art of portraiture.
I Mr. Atkinson, of Liverpool, had some time ago a large assort-
nent of the needful apparatus, and, as he is a clever operator, he
would no doubt willingly afford further information.
PBACTICAL OPTICS OP PHOTOGBAPHY.
By J. Rothweee.
No. XII.
The way in which light is reflected
internally from the surfaces of lenses
is explained by examining the adjoin¬
ing figure, e f is the lens, which we
will suppose to be a common view
liens ; g h the stop in front of the lens ;
(A is a bright or light-coloured object,
or one from which light is strongh
reflected, and the image of which is
| focussed at C ; B is a weakly-lighted
lobject, or one in shade, of which the
I image is at D.
Now suppose a ray or pencil of light
from A going through the aperture a
of the stop, along the line of direction
x a, and striking the front surface oi
I the lens at a, it will be reflected at a
\ in the direction a h; and supposing
! x h to be the radius of the convex 01
back surface e b d /emerging from tin
back surface at h, except a small poi
I tion which, instead of emerging, wil
j be reflected back to the front surface
at c in the direction be, a portion o
it will then be reflected a second time
by the front surface at c in the direc¬
tion c d, and emerging at a will pro¬
ceed and fall on the image of B at D, the effect of which will be
to fog and obscure the image D. Now suppose the power of the
light from A to be ten times as strong as that from B, and one-
tenth of that light (that is from A) to be internally reflected, then
it is evident that the light which goes to form the image I) and
that which goes to obscure it are equally strong ; consequently no
very clear or satisfactory picture could be obtained under those
conditions. Commonly, when a picture is fogged at all, it is worse
in the middle than towards the edges. The reason of that is
easily explained, I think; for, if an object be situated beyond A
near the margin of the view, the pencils from it strike the lens so
obliquely that the internally-reflected light is turned the contrary
way to that I have explained above, and therefore does not fall
on the plate at all, thus leaving the margin of the picture com¬
paratively free from diffused light.
In the diagram the stop is represented as being at a consider¬
able distance in front of the lens — in fact equal to the radius of the
convex surface, which is more than the usual distance. By a little
investigation it will be seen that, according to what has been ex¬
plained above, the extent of space in the centre of a picture
which is fogged is influenced by the distance of the stop in front
of the lens ; thus when the distance is increased the fogged space
is enlarged, and when the stop is brought nearer the fogged part
is diminished. Therefore it must follow from this that the best
position for the stop, with a view of avoiding fog in the centre, is
that it be in contact with the lens. With respect to the best posi¬
tion of the lens for avoiding a fogged centre, that represented is
worse than if the convex side were towards the objects. It has
always been found, I believe, that a compound arrangement,
whether of two or three lenses, gives a picture more fogged in the
centre than a single lens under like circumstances — which is just
what might be expected — and, further, that the greatest part of the
evil is caused by the back lens. Although the subject has often
been referred to, I do not think the mischief caused by diffused
light in the camera, or what is reflected by the internal surfaces of
tubes or by a faulty system of mounting lenses, has received that
attention which its importance demands from practical photogra¬
phers, and which, I have no doubt, has a good deal to do with
pictures being fogged about their central parts.
Any person wishing to convince himself practically of the truth
of what I have advanced in this paper may do so as follows : —
Take a picture of a building in such a manner that the building
covers the whole length of the plate, both horizontally and verti¬
cally, thus shutting out all the sky, and it will be very clear and
free from mistiness. Then take a second with the toj) of the
building in the middle of the plate, the upper half of the view
being sky, when it will be seen that at the middle of the top part
of the building — that is, about the centre of the view — there will be
more or less mistiness. If in a third picture, with the building
covering only one -fourth or one-third the plate vertically, it will
be comparatively free from mistiness, much more so than the last,
although there is much more strong light from the greater extent
of sky — thus proving conclusively that the central mistiness is the
result of internally-reflected light from about the centre of the
lens. In these experiments I am supposing the atmosphere to be
clear, but the sun not shining. But if the sun were shining on the
front of the building, there would be less mistiness in the second
picture. Why? Because the direct sunlight would increase the
power of the light reflected from the building, say five times, but
such would not be the case with the light of the sky ; for, if the
sky be bright, there is no great difference in the photographic
power of its light, whether the sun be shining or not. Therefore,
I repeat it once more, if a very clear sharp picture be desired take
it in strong sunlight with a small stop, and let the stop be in con¬
tact with the front of the lens,* and the Ions a single one. Many
things have to be considered as regards the position of the camera,
the time of day, the peculiarities of the view in relation to the
manner in which the various objects in it are illumined, &c. Every
photographer knows the difficulties of avoiding black patches and
inexplicable blanks in some kinds of views — all which result from
the way in which objects are lighted, together with the colours of
them, the position of the camera, and the direction in which it is
pointed from that position, and also the state of the chemicals.
Suppose a view of a river which opens out into the sea, including
rising banks on both sides, be desired, in what direction should the
sun be shining, and in what position should the camera be placed,
for producing a picture which would be most admired generally ?
In such a case I should wish to have the sun shining not straight
down the river towards the sea exactly, but somewhat obliquely
across it, say from the right bank. I would place the camera on
the left bank — not close to the water’s edge, but high up the bank,
and pointed in the direction for including the extent of view
required. By this means a view pretty evenly lighted would be
obtained, but still not deficient in shadows ; and, by having the
camera high up the bank, there would be less mistiness about the
centre of the picture than if it were close to the edge of the water —
for this reason : that if the camera were close to the water its
elevation above the surface would only be a few feet, and there¬
fore the angle of reflection of the light from the surface would be
great, and, when that is so, a greater amount of light would be
reflected than when the angle of reflection is small.
This brings me to another point which I know has puzzled
many photographers, and probably opticians too — namely, that a
distant part of a flat surface, whether it be water or land, always
appears in a picture much lighter than the foreground in compari¬
son to what it ought to be. For instance, if the middle distance
seems right as regards the exposure, the foreground is underdone
and the distance overdone. I believe the principal cause of this to
be as follows : — It is well known that when the angles of inci¬
dence and reflection are large — say from 60° upwards — a greater
amount of light is reflected from any flat surface than when those
angles are small, say from 30° downwards. This is readily seen
in a photograph of a lake or river. A greater quantity of light is
reflected from any given extent of surface — say a circle of three
feet diameter at a distance of 100 yards — than would be reflected
from the same space at ten yards distance.
My special aim in these papers has been to point out the defects
and evils dependent upon the optics of photography, and how to
remove or avoid them. If I have not satisfied the expectations
of some, still I hope my writing will have done the art some little
service; and with this I conclude the series, leaving plenty to be
done by every one who takes the subject up.
ON A NEW VAENISH FOB GLASS POSITIVES
By D. Van Monckhoven.
Every one knows that, as a rule, glass positives are varnished at
the back with a black compound consisting of bitumen of Judsea
dissolved in turpentine. This practice is subject to several incon¬
veniences.
• If this advice were sound why then use a leus larger than the stop ?— Ed,
62
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1862
Spirit of turpentine, however pure it may be, even when it has
been distilled, becomes resinous when exposed to the air, particu¬
larly under the influence of light. This alteration takes place more
rapidly when the collodioffised glass being covered with varnish
the excess of varnish is returned to the bottle which contains
the store. Thus the varnish, good to begin with, does not last long
without becoming sticky and liable to scale off, and, further, the
time required in drying becomes more and more prolonged.
One great defect of this varnish is its becoming detached in scales,
especially under the influence of considerable changes of tempera¬
ture ; but it is possible to reduce, and even to remedy entirely, this
defect, by adding to the turpentine some shreds of India-rubber.
Some years ago I pointed out how spirit of turpentine may be
replaced by oil of naphtha, produced by the distillation of gas tar.
But this naphtha, good when recently prepared, becomes worse and
worse. Instead of evaporating in a few minutes, it at length
requires half-an-liour to produce complete dessication.
The following is the formula for an excellent varnish, which dries
almost instantaneously, and which possesses all the qualities requi¬
site for photographic purposes Place in a bottle
400 parts, by weight, of Bisulphide of carbon.
32 „ „ Bitumen of Judaea (Jews’ pitch).
1 j, ), Gutta-percha, or of caoutchouc,
in very thin shreds.
After the lapse of some hours, especially in the summer time, the
solution is complete. The mode of using it is as follows : —
The plate, after removal from its last washing bath, is drained
for several minutes, then covered with a solution of gum arabic in
water and allowed to dry completely.
Without the use of gum the varnish rapidly penetrates the film,
more particularly in the summer time.
The glass being dry, it is to be covered with the varnish above
described as rapidly as possible, for the film dries almost instan¬
taneously. If the varnish do not seem to be sufficiently thick,
the quantity of bitumen may be increased.
It is as well to operate in the open air, for the bisulphide of
carbon while _ evaporating, possesses an intensely disagreeable
odour ; but this defect is amply compensated by the rapidity with
which the film of varnish dries and its adherence to the plate.
I would add one observation. It is that glass positives have
much better effect when taken upon blue glass. Such proofs have
greater softness and present a more velvety appearance. But
on the Continent coloured glass is only with difficulty procurable,
and still more so at a low price, even if routine, which so much
stifles progress, were not a sufficient reason against its adoption.
RESEARCHES ON THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROPERTIES
OP THE BROMIDES AND IODIDES OP SILVER, WITH
ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES
UNDER WHICH THEY ARE OBTAINED.*
By M. E. Reynaud.
The numerous photographic processes at present known are
founded on the sensibility of the salts of silver to the action of
light. Among these salts chemists have recognised as being most
applicable to photography the iodide, bromide, and chloride of
silver, on account of their possessing the required property of sen¬
sibility to actinic influence in an exalted degree. Photographers
have therefore naturally directed their attention to these salts, and
by consequence to those salts which produce them by double
decomposition in the collodion film. It will be found expedient
therefore, to study the different properties of the iodide, bromide’
and chloride of silver, according as they are produced by the
decomposition of one or other of the soluble iodides, bromides or
chlorides, or by the direct action of iodine, bromine, or chlorine
The following are my researches in this direction, which I now
have the honour to lay before the Society.
I shall confine myself in the first instance to the study of the
principal salts employed in the wet collodion process. Iodide of
silver first presents itself to our notice, this salt being the basis of
sensitised photographic collodion.
It is well known that Iodide of silver is obtained by the double
decomposition of an iodide and nitrate of silver contained in the
sensitising bath. We have then to examine the different properties
of iodide of silver, according as it is produced under one or other of
the following conditions : —
. }• If tl?e collodion contain in solution either iodide of potassium
iodide of ammonium, cadmium, &c., or several of these iodides
together, or an excess of iodine.
* Frpm tbo BvXUtin dt Jq SoQktt Franchise dc Photographic,
2. If the sensitising nitrate of silver bath be acid, neutral, or
alkaline.
Let us suppose for a moment that the silver bath is slightly acid,
as is the case in ordinary practice, and let us begin our studies by
the examination of the photographic properties of iodide of potassium.
A well-known fact is the slowness with which iodide of silver,
resulting from the decomposition of iodide of potassium, receives
luminous impressions. A collodion which contains only this iodide
is certainly one of the slowest kind ; but it possesses special pro¬
perties which may be advantageously studied.
Let us first mention the property of yielding pictures having
great density in the high lights — a property which renders it espe¬
cially suited to the reproduction of old engravings, in which the
paper, which has become yellow through age, acts but feebly on
the sensitive film — and in general to all those subjects which acquire
marked contrasts in the negative, to the exclusion always of tbo
reproduction of animated objeots by reason of the slowness of
which we are now speaking.
Another property of the collodion prepared with iodide of potas¬
sium is an extreme delicacy, which delicacy is proportionate to the
rate at which the silver is precipitated during the process of
development. This second property recommends the collodion so
prepared for the production of small negatives intended for sub¬
sequent enlargement.
I propose to return to this subject, and to examine in detail the
molecular condition of the reduced silver in negatives, with special
attention to the processes and the preparations emploj^ed. These
researches will, I think, possess considerable interest in connexion
with the solution of .the problem of enlargement.
Iodide of cadmium possesses photographic properties which are
much opposed to the preceding iodide in relation to its rapidity of
action ; for the iodide of silver which it forms is one of the readiest
to receive the luminous impression. But, on the other hand, it
possesses the serious defect of yielding foggy pictures. This defect
may be remedied by the addition of bromide of cadmium ; but a
still more effectual means of avoiding the foggy effect without
altering the sensibility is to add a few drops of chloride of iodine,
or a very small portion (about one or two per cent.) of chloride of
zinc.* Without the addition of bromide this collodion, although
possessing an unusual degree of sensibility, will have the defect of
being insensible to the red, yellow, and green rays of the spectrum.
I must now speak of the iodide of ammonium. This iodide pos¬
sesses such mixed qualities that it will yield a very good collodion
when employed alone, or better with a slight addition of bromide of
ammonium. Notwithstanding that this collodion is not so sensitive
as that produced by iodide of cadmium, it is preferable to the latter
on account of the artistic perfection of the images which it yields.f
I ought not to omit mentioning, however, one of its great de¬
fects, which consists in the facility with which it produces spots in
the sensitive film at the moment of immersion in the sensitising bath.
Several experiments on this subject have proved to me that this
effect is caused by the rapidity with which iodide of ammonium is
decomposed into iodide of silver at the moment of immersion, by
which means the liquid veins of the nitrate of silver bath in motion
imprint themselves upon the plate. It is especially that part of
the film nearest the edge of the dish which becomes spotted in
this manner, which may be accounted for by the fact that the
veins of the liquid repelled from the plate become broken on con¬
tact with the edges of the dish. The result is an inequality of
action upon the iodide, which becomes reproduced upon the film by
reason of the readiness with which the iodide is decomposed under
the influence of the nitrate of silver. The natural inference from
these facts is that this effect might be diminished by the employ¬
ment of a vertical bath, especially if the plate be gently immersed
in the bath. Experience confirms this opinion.
The same spots are produced also when the collodion contains a
marked quantity of free iodine.
Finally, the same effect is produced when the collodion contains
a too large proportion of iodides, especially if the nitrate of silver
bath be strong and new. These phenomena always depend on the
relative qualities of pyroxyline, ether, and alcohol contained in the
collodion.
The three iodides which we have examined are nearly the only
ones which are employed in the preparation of collodion for the wet
process. Iodide of iron and iodide of zinc are sometimes introduced. J
* The use of a very acid bath will also produce this result.
.+ I ought to mention here a remarkable coincidence which exists between the sensi¬
bility of the three salts now under consideration and their solubility in alcohol, the least
sensitive iodide of potassium being also the least soluble in this liquid, while the iodide
of cadimum, the most sensitive, dissolves in alcohol with remarkable facility.
i I cannot here enter into an examination of the iodides of organic bases nor of the
iodides of other metals of the first section lately brought into use.
February 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
63
Iodide, of iron does not seem to me to be an advantageous iodide
for the preparation of collodion. A great deal has been said about
its rapidity, but, for myself, I must say that I have not observed it
to be remarkably sensitive, at least not as indicated by M. Eugene
Sabler, when preparing this iodide in the collodion itself; but
sundry experiments induce me to suppose that the same result
may be obtained by other iodides in the same condition.
I will say only a few words on the iodide of zinc. Its properties
are very much allied to those of iodide of cadmium. It has not
seemed to me advantageous to use it alone, but I have obtained very
good collodions by the use of this iodide in conjunction with others.
It remains now, before treating of the different bromides, to
examine the action of free iodine in collodion. A well-established
property of this substance is the power which it possesses of pre¬
venting fogging. A colourless collodion — that is to say, containing
no free iodine, and sensitised in a neutral nitrate of silver bath —
always yields foggy pictures. In order to remove this effect it is
necessary to acidify the bath, or to add free iodine to the collodion,
which indirectly produces the same result.
In this case, also, chloride of iodine will be found very useful,
since at the moment of sensitising it produces chloride and iodide
of silver, and sets free a certain quantity of nitric acid in the film.
A number of experiments have convinced me that, when a
variety of iodides are introduced into collodion, the properties of
the mixture do not accord with the properties of each iodide taken
separately. For instance, the iodide of potassium — the slowness
of which, when employed alone, is well known — appears to me, on
the contrary, to increase sensibility when employed in conjunction
with the iodides of ammonium and cadmium. I propose to indicate
certain general rules which may serve as guides in the preparation
of a good photographic iodising liquor. These rules are deduced
from observation enunciated below ; and, while leaving the operator
free to choose which iodide shall predominate, they will serve as a
basis, and will indicate the modifications necessary to introduce
into the formulae to suit the variation of circumstances : —
1. The quantity of iodine contained in collodion (I mean by this
not only free iodine, but also that which exists in the iodides em¬
ployed) should be in the proportion of one per cent, at least.
2. It will be found advantageous to employ in ordinary cases
the iodides of potassium, ammonium, and cadmium together.
3. When it is desired to obtain the maximum of sensibility, care
should be taken that the collodion contain no more than a trace of
free iodine.
4. If the collodion film become spotted during the sensitising
process, while its opaline appearance indicates that it does not
contain an excess of iodiser, the defect should be attributed to too
great an excess of free iodine ; but, if the colour of the collodion has
not passedbeyond a yellowish orange, this effect cannotbe attributed
to anything else than to too great a quantity of iodide of ammonium
in proportion to the other iodides.
5. Finally, if the collodion fog, iodine or chloride of iodine
should be added until it acquire a yellowish orange tint (I would
recommend in this place that the photographer should supply him¬
self with an alcoholic solution of iodine, in order that by simple
agitation he can judge immediately if the proper tint be imparted
by its addition).
I would now say a few words on the influence of the nitrate of
silver bath on the phenomena above described.
A silver bath rigorously neutral always gives foggy pictures ;
and, in order to remove this fogging effect, it is necessary, as
I have already said, to add thereto a small quantity of acid.*
Nitric or acetic acids may bo employed, but I prefer the
first to the second, on account of the acetate of silver which results
from the use of the latter, and which dissolves at first in the bath,
but after a prolonged use is precipitated by the iodide of silver,
with which the bath saturates itself more and more. The acetate
then remains suspended in the bath in the form of minute crystals,
the unpleasant action of which on the sensitive film is well known
and easily recognised, since the picture becomes literally covered
with minute holes.
The use of nitric acid is not attended by this inconvenience ; but
it must be added to the bath with great caution on account of its
energetic acid properties (one drop is generally sufficient for a
pint and a-lialf of nitrate bath).
There is another acid, the action of which on the nitrate of silver
bath seems to have escaped observation (many experiments have
however, satisfied me of the advantage to be derived from its
* The nitrate of silver of commerce (crystallised) almost always contains sufficient acid
to preclude the necessity of adding any to it.
use) : I allude to hypo-nitrous acid. A nitrate bath, to which
has been added nitric acid charged with nitrogenous compounds,
seemed to me to possess the property of giving great density in
the dark parts of the negative, while the clearer portions were free
from any fogging effect ; but what appeared to me more re¬
markable than this was that the sensibility, so far from being
diminished, was rather augmented under these circumstances. I
have not been always able to corroborate this fact, not having
experimented sufficiently ; but I would direct the attention of
photographers thereto, in order that they may verify the results
which ought to be obtained by this body, especially in its applica¬
tion to instantaneous photography.
I will not occupy space by describing the well-known means
employed to neutralise a too acid bath. I will content myself by
simply condemning the use of ammonia in such a case. The neutra¬
lising action of this body being too intense, frequently gives rise
to those accidents which result from the use of an alkaline bath.
Carbonate of soda or carbonate of lime are, I think, the bodies to
which we should give the preference under these circumstances.
It only remains for me now to speak of the action of bromides.
It is known that the bromide of silver is, compared to the iodide
of that metal, less sensible to those colours which are least refran¬
gible, such as the yellow, red, &c. It is principally on this account
that the bromides are employed in collodion.
The bromides of ammonium and cadmium are those which seem to
me to enjoy this property in the highest degree.
The bromide of potassium communicates to collodion a degree of
delicacy similar to that which is produced by the iodide of that
metal, without at the same time diminishing its sensibility.
The proportion of bromide which seems to me most suitable in
the wet collodion process is one grain for each four of iodide.
Too much bromide will give rise to a superficial white fogging,
which deprives the print of all vigour.
I now conclude these researches. A great deal still remains to
be said on these matters, especially with reference to the influence
which the progressive saturation of the nitrate bath by iodide of
silver has upon the alterations which time produces in the col¬
lodion, &c. I propose to make these the subject of a second series
of labours, which I shall have the honour of laying before the
Society, should it deem them worthy of attention.
ON PHOTO-MICRO G-RAPHY.*
( Or the Delineation of Microscopic Objects by Photography .)
By John Parry.
Having been requested by many members of this Society to describe
the method I employ for obtaining the micro-photographs I have
from time to time brought to the meetings, I will now endeavour
to meet their wishes.
First, I must say that I do not profess to introduce, any parti¬
cular novelty. All those engaged in these pursuits with whom 1
have had means of communication, and others who have described
their methods in the Journals, adopt nearly the same means ;.yet
there are little matters of detail which cannot well be explained
without reference to the apparatus.
The camera I use differs but little from an ordinary one, a micro¬
scopic power being adopted instead of the usual lens.
I think it will be best, first to describe the instrument by the aid
of the diagram, and afterwards I will take it asunder and explain it
in detail.
* Keacl at a Meeting of the Manchester rhotographic Society, February oth, 1662.
64
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
A is the body of a camera : one that could be elongated— say
eighteen or twenty inches — would be all the better.. To this is
attached a conical brass connecting piece B, on to which screws a
tube C carrying the power F, and also another achromatic lens of
longer’ focus G inside. Sliding outside this tube is another, D,
which carries the object H, and is moved in rough or line adjust¬
ment quite independently of the tube C containing the lens. To
accomplish this there is a loose collar having a clip screw under¬
neath, and an adjusting screw working in a nut soldered to the
outer tube. In front, the outer tube has a perforated plate of brass
soldered to it, and in front of this is another similar plate held to
the former one by two India-rubber bands, which thus clip the
object H, and hold it in position. Until I adopted the above
arrangement I had great difficulty in placing and keeping the object
in position. I find it very convenient, as the object may be moved
about in any direction, and afterwards left steady in its place. I
is the condenser. The one I use is a plano-convex lens of about 1 \
inches focus, the convenient working distance of which I find to be
about one inch from the object, and from four to five inches from
the light, Iv — in this case an Argand gas-burner.
I improve the field and get much better definition by placing a
stop or diaphragm betwe'en the two powers or lenses at N ; but
of course this shuts out a large portion of light, which, in some
cases, is very objectionable. I also find it convenient to place a
stop in the body of the camera, and which stop is very easily and
conveniently changed at the back of the instrument.
In working instruments of this description the most important
thing to attend to is the light. I have usually taken it up in the
winter season, and not having the apparatus for producing the
oxyhydrogen or oxycalcium light, have had to content myself with
the best light I could get from a good Argand gas-burner. However,
I have tried an Argand paraffin lamp, and am of opinion there is
something in the light from paraffin much better for this purpose
than gas.
I have already said that the adjustments of the tubes carrying
the lens and the object are quite independent of each other, and so
they must be to obtain the best effect. First, the light must be so
adjusted as to get the best possible effect on the screen before the
object is put into the clips, and, afterwards, the adjustment of the
focus for the object is accomplished without disturbing the arrange¬
ment previously made for the light.
A very convenient mode of illuminating objects in the day-time
is by the use of a concave mirror, and with it to use the light from
a white cloud, which will be found quite strong enough for most
objects. Solar light may be used in the same way; but, as it will
require constant adjustment and great care, I have rarely made
use of it.
The lens or power I find most useful consists of a compound
achromatic arrangement by Powell, of one inch focal length, com¬
bined with an achromatic lens of four and a-half inches focus : this
latter is one of Pioss’s stereoscopic lenses. The two combined pro¬
duce a much flatter field than the single combination. I do not
use the eye-piece of the microscope.
The photographs are taken with collodion, and usually developed
with iron and pyrogallic acid, and afterwards strengthened with
bichloride of mercury.
Some objects are very easily managed, whilst others of a similar
class are most difficult ; for instance, many sections of wood are
too transparent, especially if mounted in balsam, and only to be
photographed by a peculiar arrangement of the light ; others are
so strong in colouring matter that it would require all the light
that could be brought to bear upon them to bring out the details.
Sections of fossil wood are in general easily taken, whilst sections
of coal fossils are amongst the most difficult I have had to contend
with, in consequence of the great amount of bituminous matter
contained in them. Such objects as the trachea of the silk-worm
are better taken with artificial light considerably stopped down.
The average time will be — for gas light,, ten to twelve minutes ;
for daylight, three to five minutes ; and for solar light, five to ten
seconds. The coal fossils to which I have alluded took from twenty
minutes to half-an-hour by gas-light. .w ; ]
I omitted to state that I use a flat table instead of the camera
stand, placing the camera or condenser, and light or reflector inj jine.
One difficulty we have to contend with is that all substances,
however thin they may be, have two surfaces, and those surfaces
are rarely if ever alike : we can only focus the surface nearest the
lens, and almost invariably the other interferes /with the defina.tion
on the ground-glass. • . - P-i . • ^
In adjusting I always use a lens about an inch focus, contained
in a tube of the same length, so that when placed on the ground-
[February 15, 1802
glass it is in position for securing an image in distinct vision on the
other side of the ground-glass. It is absolutely necessary to use
a lens, as it is quite impossible to adjust with sufficient accuracy
with the unassisted sight. Indeed wo require something better
than the ordinary ground-glass to receive the image, but I have
not yet succeeded in that. A washed and dried collodion film is
the next best, but it again is too transparent.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM.
Synonymes. — Hydrobromate potash. Fr. Bromure de potassium.
Ger. Brorn. Kalium.
Composition. — K. Br.
Equivalent. — 119.
Preparation. — There are three or four methods by which this
very important salt may be prepared : they are, however, so exactly
similar in their details to the methods described at pages 262 and
233, vol. viii., for the preparation of Iodide of Potassium, that it will
be unnecessary to do more in this place than merely mention the
materials employed. 1. A. solution of bromide of iron (obtained as
directed at page 233, vol. viii., only substituting bromine for iodine)
is accurately decomposed with carbonate of potash: the mixture is
boiled, filtered, evaporated, and set aside to crystallise. 2. Ilydro-
bronric acid is saturated with potash and evaporated. 3. Bromine
is dissolved in solution of potash until the liquid becomes perma¬
nently coloured : the solution is then evaporated to dryness, the
residue heated to redness and redissolved in water, the liquid
neutralised with hydrobromic acid, and evaporated again. Or 4.
Sulphuretted hydrogen gas is passed in excess through the solu¬
tion of bromine in potash obtained in method 3, so as to convert
the bromate of potash into hydrobromate : the excess of sulphu¬
retted hydrogen is expelled by heat, the solution filtered from
sulphur, and evaporated to a small bulk to crystallise, any excess
of hydrobromic acid being neutralised with potash or of potash
by hydrobromic acid.
Properties. — Bromide of potassium crystallises from its aqueous
solution in brilliant cubes, which are sometimes elongated into
prisms or reduced to a tabular form. Its specific gravity is 2*4: it
is white and fusible, readily soluble in water with production of
cold, slightly soluble in alcohol. Treatment of the dry salt with
sulphuric acid causes the liberation of the red fumes of bromine.
Uses. — Bromide of potassium is employed for the purpose of
producing by double decomposition a deposit of bromide of silver,
which is precipitated fir conjunction with iodide of silver, when
the prepared surface which it is intended to expose to light is
immersed in the sensitising bath of nitrate of silver. There is a
great want of harmony in the opinions held by experienced photo¬
graphers as to the usefulness of this salt. It has been supposed to
increase the sensibility of the film and the density of the image,
while the detail in the foliage of a landscape has been considered
more perfectly rendered when it is introduced into the paper or
collodion. This conclusion, however, seems to have been arrived
at without due consideration of the attendant circumstances, since
more carefully conducted experiments tend rather to prove that,
while greater strength is given to the image, there is in fact a
diminution of sensitiveness; and it is probably this latter property
belonging to the bromide of silver (resulting from the introduction
of bromide of potassium into the film) which, by lengthening the
exposure, has produced a more efficient action of the light upon
the iodide of silver with which it is associated, and thus has given
rise to the opinion that bromide of potassium is more suitable for
foliage than iodide alone. .
Impurities. — Bromide of potassium may occasionally be contami¬
nated with iodide of potassium, chloride of potassium, sulphate of
potash, carbonate of potash, and bromate of potash. The iodide of
potassium would arise either from intentional sophistication pr
from the original bromine having contained iodine. The chloride
and sulphate of potassium have their source in the carbonate of
potash used in the manufacture : the bromate results from inade¬
quate care in the making of the salt, and ought not to occur. The
following are the appropriate
Tests. — If the. sample under examination contain iodine it will he
readily indicated by the characteristic blue colour which will be
produced on the addition of starch to a portion of the salt which
has been previously treated with sulphuric acid. The detection of
chlorides in combination with bromides, however, is by no means
so easy, and requires a more accurate and quantitative method
of proceeding. It is as follows: — 100 grains of the salt are dis-
February 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF P IIOTOGRAPHY.
66
solved in four ounces of water, and decomposed with excess of
nitrate of silver: the precipitate produced is washed, dried, and
weighed. If the salt under examination he pure the weight of
the precipitate will he 158'8 grains; hut if chloride of potassium be
I present the weight will exceed this amount by about 33 grains for
( each ten per cent, of the chloride. Evidence of the presence of
sulphate of potassium may be obtained by the addition of chloride
of barium to a solution of the salt, when a white precipitate will
i he produced if the specimen under examination contain a soluble
j sulphate. Carbonate of potassium may be assumed to be present
if the salt become very damp after exposure for a short time to
the air, especially if, in addition to this, a solution of the salt, in
pure distilled water, should become milky on the addition of lime
water. The presence of bromate of potassium may be inferred if a
known weight of the dry salt be found to lose weight after fusion.
Effect of Interned Administration. — No case of poisoning recorded.
On animals it acts by producing convulsions, congestion of the
f lungs, &c. In doses of from three grains to ten grains it acts on
man as a stimulant, alterative and deobstruent.
Antidote — or Treatment — Promotion of vomiting, and the exhibi-
i tion of albuminous and mucilaginous drinks, such as eggs, milk,
linseed tea, &c. — Taylor.
S TEREO GRAPHS.
i Scenes on the River Thames — Views of Vessels of the Channel
Fleet — Illustrations of Scottish Scenery.
Photographed by George Wilson, Aberdeen.
It is with much satisfaction that we find Mr. Wilson recording
some of the picturesque effects observable upon the surface of the
metropolitan river ; for, notwithstanding it has been spoken of
disparagingly as “ a huge unquiet cesspool,” there are phases of its
existence which are well worth the study of both the poet and the
painter. Although those who are familiar with the aspect of “ Old
Father Thames,” and who daily scan his features, might at the first
impulse be inclined to say with regard to them — “One day telleth
another, and one night certifieth another,” — such an idea would be
dissipated in a moment on recalling to memory how different is the
appearance presented at the present day to what it used to be some
quarter of a century ago. Then there were but fewr river steamers,
and scarcely a solitary sea-going one, to stir up the thick deposit
of mud at the river’s bottom by their constant movement. In those
days it was not only possible, but also a common amusement with
young men of scarcely any nautical experience, to take a boat at
“Searle’s” for an hour or two, and row about between Vauxhall and
London Bridges, undeterred by any fear of danger, except, perhaps,
of a “ capsize” in “shooting” one of the arches of old Blackfriars
Bridge when the tide was strong. Now, how different ! He would
be looked upon as a bold man who would do such a thing, and his
want of taste would excite no small astonishment ; for, truly, a blind
man wandering about the road in Cheapside would scarcely be more
unsafe, and it would be a strange fancy indeed that could enjoy
the unsavoury odour arising from these waters on a July afternoon.
Still, as we have said, there are many glimpses of the picturesque
to be had, if taken at the right place and time. Who, for instance,
can view without enthusiasm old Greenwich Hospital, with all
its romantic associations, and regard otherwise than with satisfac¬
tion the noble purpose to Avhich it is now devoted. Mr. Wilson
gives us a pretty view of it in No. 326, with a brig in full sail up
the river, the masts and sails of which break the monotony of the
roof line to the right, while the two domes of the building perform
a similar office for the corresponding parts on the left.
The Thames at Greenwich (No. 329) exhibits a scene familiar
to those who frequent its banks. The tide is about a quarter flood:
on the farther shore are vessels of several kinds — boats, barges,
and brigs — lying high and dry; a factory on the left, with a jet of
steam from the busy engine showing a white streak against the
whitish sky ; the rounded tops of some elm trees on the other side
of the marsh peep above the bank ; in the centre of the stream a
brigantine is being towed up by a tug boat, from the funnel of
which a cloud of white steam is “ blowing off,” — the man at the
wheel being distinctly visible amidships, which is his usual place on
board these vessels ; on the right, alight boat with a spritsail is scud¬
ding across the stream; on the left is a solitary rower making the
best of his way to the nearshore ; between the two is a boat quietly
drifting, its occupant standing up and watching the little sailing
cratt already mentioned ; while in the immediate foreground is an
empty lighter, only just afloat, which the man at the head is
struggling to get into the stream by pushing with the oar against
the bottom. All the parts of this subject are capitally balanced
and well contrasted : the broken reflection of the barge forms a
capital foil to the crisp outline of the craft itself.
In The Thames at Greenwich (No. 331) we have an ordinary
sailing barge proceeding up the river just in front of “ The Crown
and Sceptre ” tavern, of whitebait renown, with an undulating-
background of the trees in Greenwich Park. The tremulous ripple
on the water is admirably pourtrayed, and the vessel itself is none
the less picturesque for being old and somewhat weather-beaten,
with here and there a patch on the sails, and two or three men on deck,
one of them evidently on his way towards the stern of the vessel.
Nos. 332 and 334 are also both capital slides and full of life — the
former being especially harmonious and delicate in gradation of tone.
Dropping Down with the Tide (No. 330) is the picture of a
brig, fully laden, just starting on her voyage, with her jib and
lower foresails having been cast loose hanging in festoons, and a
couple of sailors in the foretop in the act of unfurling the topsail —
all bespeaking the immediate preparation for speedy flight; while
behind, and visible across her bows is a sloop with every rag of
canvas that she can show set and bulging with the force of the
wind. Here again the harmony of contrast is most effective.
In 327 and 328 we have Barges Coming Up with the Tide :
both are good, but the former particularly so — the reflection of light
from the water, with its dimpled surface, throwing up vividly the
dark sails of the vessels and the houses in shadow on the opposite bank.
Amongst the illustrations of the Channel Fleet are three of
H.M.S. “Revenge” that are worthy of especial notice — that
numbered simply 318 being the most perfect as a picture. The
Revenge is the flag-ship, of 800 horse-power, and mounting 91
guns. The long hull and tall masts, with the tracery of rigging,
are well displayed by a background consisting of a bank of snowy,
rounded masses of clouds. The low hills on the shore are crowded
and studded with numerous dwellings, and the rapid movement of
the waters in a steady stream is distinctly apparent. In that
marked 318 c the point of view is from a different spot ; and though
the background of clouds is wanting, the black smoke from the
chimney of the floating bridge partly obscures the masts and
rigging in a very picturesque manner. In other slides we have
“ The Royal Adelaide,” “ Conqueror,” and “ Centurion.”
Amongst the Scottish scenes the first we come to is one of
those peculiarly beautiful combinations of clouds and water for
which Mr. Wilson is so famous. The one before us is Loch-in-
Darb, Morayshire (No. 342) ; and though in a similar style to those
formerly produced of the Loch of Park, it is superior to the latter
in execution and equally fine in selection of subject.
Balmoral Castle, from Craig-an-Gowan (No. 12), is the best
illustration of our Sovereign’s Highland home that we have yet
seen, and reveals what no other one has hitherto done — the charm
of its situation — located as it is in a wooded but elevated valley, with
a pleasing view extending over many miles of moorland scenery.
Locii Avon, Banffshire (No. 337), is a singularly wild and
lonely spot, more curious than beautiful.
Loch Insch (No. 356) is seen from under the overhanging branches
of some birch trees. The slight haze from the water veiling the dis¬
tant hills is truthfully artistic; but this otherwise fine slide is some¬
what marred by the darkness of the foreground— apparently a hay
field — which has clearly not received a sufficient amountof exposure.
The Wolf of Badenocii’s Castle, or Loch-an-Eilan, is as
singular as it is beautiful. The so-called castle is a fragmentary
ruin of an edifice built in the midst of a small lake, and is seen
from the shore through an opening between the stems of a cluster
of silver-birch trees, more of them being visible along the opposite
shore of the lake : the distance is closed in by a range of low hills
which tend to add an atmospheric attraction to the composition, the
contrast between the near and distant ones being very marked.
Craigellaciiie Bridge, on the Stey (No. 349), is a scene
thoroughly Scotch. The precipitous rugged rock, clothed with a
thick plantation of Scotch firs, is washed at its base by the waters
of the Spey, across which is thrown 'a light iron bridge. In the
foreground is a clump of trees, amongst which the graceful larch
is conspicuous.
Still more national in character, and far more beautiful, are
three which we have reserved for a closing notice of this series
Pines in the Forest of Rothiemurchus, Strathspey (No. 353), is the
title of a slide of the highest artistic as well as illustrative value.
The scene is a gorge in the mountain side, where a gap has been
made by the removal of some of the trees for their timber, the
lower part of the stems of many others denuded of branches prior
to their becoming a prey to the woodman’s axe, the rough and
tangled roots clinging in many places to the bare rocks, with
scanty soil stored in the crevices, and here and there clothed with
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1862
66
patches of fern, while across the tops of the trees the feathery
masses of thousands more are seen dinging to the opposite bank
of the gorge, clothed in a veil of moist atmosphere.
The “ Lion’s Face” Rock, Invercauld, Braemar (No. 48), is
equally beautiful with the preceding, but more delicate. At the
base of a rounded pillar-like rock is a dense plantation of young
fir trees of different kinds, like a mass of green feathers : on the
right and left are two firs of sturdier growth and differing varieties ;
and so perfect is the delineation of the whole, that not only
would a botanist find no difficulty in naming them, but the truth¬
fulness of aspect is so great that it is only when the slide is taken
out of the stereoscope that one is satisfied that the vivid green
colour of the foliage really exists only in the imagination. A copy
of this slide should be in every collection.
Another scene in Braemar, The Lum of Dee (No. 144a), is a
gem of the first water : we intend no pun, although a mountain
stream is a component part of the subject. The stream, though
apparently not a turbulent one, has worn a deep channel in the
angular rocks which form its bed in a zig-zag course, a handsome
stone bridge is thrown across from bank to bank, a few small shrubs
and several large pine trees are picturesquely disposed, and the
whole scene is viewed between two enormous stems of those natives
of the higher and colder regions. On a near projecting promontory
of rock a boy is seated, by whose presence a good idea may be
formed of the grand proportions of the scene.
A Scottish tour with Mr. Wilson is a treat of no ordinary cha¬
racter, possessing the advantage of being enjoyable at all seasons
of the year ; and certainly the interest is not diminished if
physically you happen, to have gone over the ground before.
EASTWARD HO!
HlS Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and suite, left town per
S. E. Railway, on Thursday, the 6th inst., en route for the East.
The Princess Alice accompanied His Royal Highness to the Station.
The suite in attendance consists of Major-General the Hon. R. Bruce,
Lieut-Colonel Iveppel, and Major Teesdale, R. A., Equerries; the
Hon. Robert Meade, Dr. Minter, the Rev. Dr. Stanley, and Mr.
Francis Bedford. Though so short a time lias elapsed since Mr.
Bedford was specially summoned to Osborne (on the 22nd ult.) and
requested to accompany His Royal Highness on this interesting
tour, which will extend over a period of five months, Mr. Bedford
leaves 'England provided with every requisite necessary for sueh
an undertaking — duplicate sets of apparatus, a chemical “army of
reserve,” &c., &c., most of the heavy cases of which have been
despatched per Peninsular and Oriental Company to Alexandria.
The bare mention of “ Eastern travel ” summons up a crowd of
historic and sacred associations, which ever dwell around the far-
famed and almost fabulous East, Horeh, Carmel, Etham, Nazareth,
Bethlehem, the Jordan, the brook Ivedron, and Hemnon’s vale-
names around which are entwined all the poetry of the Bible — and
olive-crowned hills and citron groves— camels and caravanserais —
picturesque groups and primitive tents — arid deserts and Bedouin
Arabs — the Nile — the Sphynx- — the Pyramids — until the mind
whirls with teeming images and “thick-coming fancies.”
That Mr. Bedford will come back richly laden from the gorgeous
East it would be superfluous to express a hope or belief. It is a
matter of congratulation that photography is — with this instance
before us — not likely to languish for want of Royal Patronage.
We can fairly say, with regard to the compliment to the profession
in Mr. Bedford’s person, “ palmam qui meruit ferat .” S. T.
Jforercfit Comsgonbcntc,
Paris, February 11, 1861.
Our photographers are at present in some agitation in consequence
of a judgment just pronounced by the court of Police Correctionnelle
under the following circumstances: — MM. Mayer and Pierson
had made a large number of portraits of political men. A Paris
photographer, M. Thidbault, executed counterfeits of several of
these portraits, printed them in the form of visiting cards, and dis¬
posed of them in the way of trade as if the cliches had been Ms
own. MM. Mayer and Pierson prosecuted. Now the Tribunal
of Commerce, which had to judge the matter, decided against the
prosecutors, on the ground that the law concerning works of art
and intellectual property is inapplicable to photography, “which
cannot be ranked among the fine arts, but must be considered as
au industrial art.” The tribunal based its decision upon the fact
that photographic operations depend upon the use, with moic or
less ability, of mechanical processes and apparatus; and it added
that Daguerre, in giving the secret of his discovery to the public,
had rendered it freely applicable by all. At the same time the
judges recognised that MM. Mayer and Pierson, having sus¬
tained a real injury commercially, were entitled to sue M. Thiebault
for damages before the civil court.
Thus photography is denied to be an art, and is placed on the
same level as common industries ; so that photographers like the
Bissons, Baldus, Ferrier, and many others who, with great cost
and fatigue, and often with serious peril, travel in the East, in
Russia, to the summit of Mont Blanc, will be liable to see the
pictures they have obtained with such effort piratically copied by
the first comer without their being able to claim any redress from
the law. In the e}7e of the law thejr are but clever workmen :
talent, taste, and artistic feeling count for nothing in their labours.
And, further, Daguerre having given publicity to Lis discovery, all
the transformations and improvements which it has since undergone
belong of right to the public. The law serving as a basis for this
decision is of 1793. May we not ask whether the progress of
modern discovery does not necessitate new laws? and, if a place
among the fine arts be denied to photography, whether it has not
at least a right to special legislation? Some measure in this
sense would be but just, and it would spare our magistrates the
painful embarrassment in which the present insufficiency of the
code places them.
This important question was discussed at the last meeting of the
Marseilles Photographic Society. That body intends taking some
steps for the purpose of calling attention to the subject.
M. Reynaucl, with whose studies on the iodide and the bromide
of silver you are already acquainted, has communicated to me some
observations relative to pyroxyline. He says that a powdery cotton,
when too much attacked by the acid and salt employed in its
preparation, gives a friable and uncohesive film which offers
but a feeble resistance to the liquids it is treated with, and
produces hut indifferent images. It is not easy to determine at
once whether any given cotton will produce such a result.
To ascertain this, a small quantity should be dissolved in a
mixture of alcohol and ether, in about the proportion of one
gramme of pyroxyline to 20 cubic centimetres of alcohol and 40 of
ether. After sufficient repose, so that the undissolved fibres may
sink to the bottom, a small glass plate is covered with the collodion.
The coating, when formed, is broken with the finger ; and the
aspect of fracture’gndicates the quality of the cotton. If the fracture
shows a layer without cohesion, if the portion separated does not
stick to the glass, the operator may be sure that the cotton is bad.
If, on the contrary, the collodion is broken off with difficulty, and
the separated portion adheres tightly to the glass — if, in a word,
the layer has the appearance of a thin sheet of parchment — then
the cotton possesses the requisite physical qualities.
It should also be carefully ascertained whether all trace of the
acids employed in the preparation of the cotton has been washed
awajr. For this purpose a little of the cotton is put into a phial
with a certain quantity of water, and shaken up. A slip of litmus
paper is introduced, and immediately reveals the presence of acid
in the water, if any there be.
~ With the aid of litmus paper the operator should likewise ascer¬
tain that the ether is free from acid. The presence of alcohol in
the ether, which is frequent, of course does but little harm ; hut
the quantity of water therein contained is more important.
At the last meeting of the Marseilles Society a discussion arose
with respect to the use of the tannin process. M. Meynier com¬
plained of his want of success in several trials of that process, at
the same time that he had obtained very good results with a dry
collodion, to which had been added twenty-five per cent, of benzole.
M. Leon Vidal, who has studied these methods thoroughly, re¬
marked that tannin gives excellent results, but that it is necessary
to take certain precautions. He mentioned rigorous cleanliness as
indispensable. The defect that occurs the most often consists in
numerous spots which proceed in general from drops of nitrate that
have slipped in between the collodion and the glass. To avoid
these spots M, Vidal, after he has well cleaned the glass, passes a
pencil impregnated with gelatine along the borders. He lets the
gelatine dry and then coats with the collodion. The layer is thus
firmly fixed in a sort of framework, and the inconvenience referred
to is avoided.
As I am speaking of M. Vidal, I will add that I have just seen
several carbon pictures obtained by him with M. Poitevin’s pro¬
cess, and which are perfectly successful, both for modelage and for
harmony of tone. ERNEST LACAN.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
07
February 15, 1862]
INHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA IN YORKSHIRE.*
By C. Buttekfield.
f a middle station of life is that which affords the best chance of con-
entment and happiness, I can imagine no happier being, nor one more
;o be envied, than a man of moderate means who can slip away for an
occasional day from his business or profession, and can devote that day
ardently, and from pure love of the art, to the pursuit of photography in
the country. I need not dwell on the pleasure of being borne swiftly
along, early on some fine spring or summer’s morning, far away from the
smoky town, the noise of whirring wheels, and the hustling of busy
crowds. The young day looks bright and fresh, and the air is cool and
refreshing, thanks to the risjng dew still lingering on the hill-tops ere it
is finally drawn away by the advancing sun. There is a charm in our
favourite art that I think is found in no other. He who really loves it
for its own sake, even if he have long passed the summit of the
hill of life and is rapidly nearing the dark vale at the foot, will feel,
on such a morning as I have described, that his pulse beats more healthily,
his spirits are impi’oved, and, what is worth all else besides, for a few
short moments he will feel young again, his thoughts will revert to the
days of his youth, he will forget the hard truths a life’s experience has
taught him, and the hollowness and selfishness of the world ; youthful
hopes and aspirations, long since trampled mercilessly down and lost,
will return ; the shadow will go back on the dial of life, and momentarily
point to the time when all was sunshine, and no cloud had fallen to spoil
the beauty of the opening scene. It is worth much to the man of busi¬
ness to experience this, and I know of nothing but photography that
will cause him to do so. The artist tastes something of it, but his excur¬
sions are the business of his life, and must become, like all other business,
monotonous.
There is no doubt that much of the photographer’s pleasure arises from
scenery, change, and pleasant associations. All these we may have on
any ordinary excursion among the woods, fields, and picturesque lanes
of this country ; but the photographer has, in addition, an occupation, a
labour of love. He does not stroll idly on, now plucking a flower, now
beheading some tall plant with his stick after the manner of idle gentle¬
men in general : all very nice, doubtless, especially the feeling of being
idle and irresponsible, and having nothing to do. But make the aforesaid
stick-beaiing individual into an enthusiastic photographer: give him a
camera and “ legs,” and a box of dry plates, to carry in place of his stick,
and you make an idle man into a happy one. We cannot be happy
without something to do. Instead of our friend’s eyes being confined
to the lane in which he walks, or to the hedge bounding the next field,
they will wander round the whole horizon, pry under every ivy-covered
arch, and into every miniature glen and watercourse on his route. He
will be constantly on the look-out for “bits.” 'When he finds one his
camera is planted in a twinkling, and, having commenced operations, he
employs the only bit of idle time he has, while the plate is being ex¬
posed, in looking at and admiring the view he has chosen. The hours
fly by like magic, and as his happy day draws to a close, and the fading
light warns him to pack up for home," his only regret is that he had not
time to expose a few more plates.
There are, I hope, few here who will not heartily sympathise in the
little picture I have drawn, and who are not looking eagerly forward to
the time when we may once more see the face of the country bright
with the flowers and sunshine of spring.
It has been suggested that a series of papers should be read on the
scenery of different parts of Yorkshire, especially bearing on those places
most suited to a photographer, and I have been asked to contribute. I
have chosen for the first subject a district which is, I believe, very little
known. I am sorry this should be the case, as I nowhere know scenery
more beautiful or more adapted to photography. I allude to the valley
of the Ure, from the neighbourhood of Ripon northwards towards its
source. I visited the district in the spring of 1857, and it is my purpose
this evening to give you a short sketch of the route and the objects of
photographic interest, in order that any one choosing the same ground
for the coming summer may have some little idea as to what he may
expect.
Starting from Bradford by the first train — as all photographers should —
I booked first for Ripon. Most of you have been there, no doubt, and seen
Studley Park and the noble Abbey of Fountains. I need not dwell on
these, except to say that all those who have not been there ought to go
at once, and those who have been there already will not, I am sure, need
any aid from me to recall the place to their recollection. I may however
mention, in passing, that the abbey was founded by Thruston, Archbishop
of York, in 11?2, and is perhaps the finest ruin in England. Leaving
Ripon it is necessary to return for a time to those primitive and unci¬
vilised conveyances called coaches, because as yet the village to which
I am bound has escaped being run over by that screaming iron
civiliser — a locomotive. There is something very strange now-a-
days in travelling by coach, but very pleasant in fine weather, espe¬
cially to a photographer. Giving him credit for an artist’s eye,
he is not sickened by the eternal straight line bounding his course :
the road takes curious whims and fancies — now a dip into some pleasant
hollow — now over the brow of a hill when common sense would have
suggested going round the foot — now taking a sweep sideway for no
* Read at a Meeting of the Bradford Photographic Society, February 7, 1802,
purpose, apparently, unless to go as near as possible to that cool, fresh-
looking little stream. I have a very foolish fancy about these old roads.
I like to think that when they were first made there was not such an awful
amount of science as at present — not so much squinting through weird¬
looking, spider-legged theodolites ; not so much planning and staking,
and working by line and rule, then as now. I like to fancy that roads were
once footpaths, and that those paths were once green fields or pleasant
woods. I can then understand how the want of a track, perhaps from one
farm or homestead to another, should create that track, and how friendship
or desire of companionship thus linked together these two places. No need
of line and rule for this ; and one sees at once why the path should diverge
from the straight line if a pleasant stream diverted the first visitor’s atten¬
tion. I cannot account for the strange vagaries of some I’oads on any
other principle. • — To return, however. Half-way between Ripon and our
first stage is Tanfield, a nice village vegetating on the river’s bank.
There is nothing much of photographic interest there excepting, perhaps,
an old gateway called Tanfield Tower. It is the only remaining relic
of a once princely mansion belonging to the Hanleys. The entrance
gate is now fitted with a door in front and rear, and is used for a stable
or for something equally as ignoble. Sic transit, & c. : now up, now down.
From the gate, whence aforetime marched high-born ladies and gallant
knights, now struts a dunghill cock, in his own estimation just as proud
and stately.
Mounting the box-seat again, and travelling a few miles further, I came
to my destination for the night — the village of Masham. (I beg pardon,
I believe it is a market town.) Now as it was, I should say, nearly nine
o’clock at night, I found almost every one in bed, even in the inn I stayed
at. Luckily a moderately intelligent commercial traveller, who had
wandered so far out of his course, was just as averse as myself to going
to bed a^ nine o’clock, and so we managed to put off the evil hour to
something like our usual time.
At no very great distance from Masham is Hackfall. I drove to the
place next day. There is some little difficulty in obtaining permission
to photograph it; but it is astonishing what a little oil, judiciously
applied, and a silver key, will do. The officials were determined utterly
to ignore my apparatus. The place is rather too artificial for my taste,
still there are undoubtedly some very fine views to be obtained from
occasional points : possibly, however, I may have been influenced to a
certain extent by the fact that on the occasion of my visit the day was
not so fine as I could have wished.
After leaving Hackfall I returned to Masham, and then passed suc¬
cessively through Bedale, Leyburn, and Wensley. At the latter place
there is, or was, a fine old tree on the village green, which reminded
me very forcibly of that beautiful picture — An English Merry-making in
the Olden Time.
Passing onwards I came to the ancient castle of Bolton, which is in
good condition, as far as the walls are concerned at least, but does not
make a very good picture in consequence of the scarcity of trees
in the neighbourhood. A view, however, should be, taken if for
nothing else than the fact that the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots was
at one time confined there. I subsequently saw and lay on the very
bed tradition says she once pi’essed. I must not omit to mention here
the magnificent falls of the Ure. Some traveller — I forget who — calls
these second only in beauty to the falls of the Nile : as a matter of course
there is a great difference in the width. The falls of the LTre make a
ver}r beautiful picture for the stereoscope, especially when the water is
low. The stratum consists of flat slabs of limestone, which appear to have
been worn away into a kind of low terraces or steps : the water pours
down these in succession with a force jnoportionate to its volume, which
varies considerably at different times. It is, I believe, these very falls
which Turner painted, and which painting has since been litho¬
graphed.
At the close of the day I arrived at a place called Nappa Hall. Here I
took up my quarters for a few dajTs, Avitliin easy distance of some of the
wildest scenery in Yorkshire. One need never be at a loss here for views :
every mountain pours into the valley some tributary rivulet, tumbling
through wild-looking gorges and over precipitous ledges of limestone.
There is WrerdraAv Force, with its unbroken fall of 100 feet into a deep
basin — the slow Avorlc of ages. One of the most beautiful pictures con¬
ceivable is produced here AA-hen the sun is shining in a proper direction.
The force with Avhich the column of Avater descends from the rock above
creates a continual mist Avhich, under the rays of the sun, exhibits a splendid
iridescent appearance never to be forgotten if once seen : pit v it cannot
be photographed ! Then there is Mill Gill Force, Whitfield Borce, Gale
Force, and a host of other nameless falls — a detailed description of all of
Avhich Avould be too wearisome.
Wensleydale, the A-allev through which the Ure Avinds its Avay towards
Ripon, is little else than a series of vieAvs from one end to the other.
Clumps of dark picturesque firs break and diversify the prospect, and
contrast finely with the masses of limestone rock which continually crop
out to the surface. The distance is distance indeed — clear and sharply
defined. Miles and miles away the AAdiole district is such as a photo¬
grapher Avould delight in. Some of the views for large plates are worthy
the camera of a Fenton. But, as it is very probable that he will not visit
them, let those Avho live nearer essay to take them; and, even if they only
partially succeed, I am sure they Avill never regret their “ Tour in
Wensleydale.”
68
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
traps anb Jfragmeiffs.
We understand that the Hon. Robert Meade (a son of the Earl
of Clanwilliam, and nephew of the late Lord Herbert of Lea), who
accompanies the Prince of Wales to the East, is also an amateur
photographer, having been formerly a photographic pupil of Mr.
S. Thompson.
Amateur Photographic Association. — When we last made
mention of this body we notified that upwards of thirteen hundred
negatives had been received by the Secretary. The reception is
now closed for the current year, so far as the United Kingdom is
concerned ; but about three weeks’ grace has been accorded to some
of the more distant colonies, in order that some negatives now on
their way to this country may not be excluded. At a meeting of the
Committee the other day, an album containing seventeen hundred
and fifty prints from negatives now in stock was laid upon the table.
The selection of the subjects for prizes will necessarily consume
some time ; but the work will be proceeded with at once, and they
will have been decided most probably within a month from the
present time. All negatives (except those specified above) re¬
ceived after that date will be carried to the account of the ensuing
year. Several important matters for the benefit of the members
are under consideration, of which, when decided, due notice will be
given.
American Photography at the International Exhibition. —
Mr. Charles A. Seely says: — “The differences between the Com¬
missioners of the London World’s Fair and the photographers
appear to have been satisfactorily compromised, and the photo¬
graphic department of the Exhibition will now be attended to with
the goodwill and support of all concerned. The photography of
continental Europe will, no doubt, be fully represented, and the'
photographic exhibition will be extensive and brilliant. But the
American department will probably be a vacancy. Congress
has just refused to make appropriations for the encouragement
of American exhibitors, and our photographers are supposed to
be too much engrossed with the affairs at home to care anything
about what is going on in Europe. Let us console ourselves with
the fact that in former competitions we covered ourselves with
glory, and with faith that in the future friendly contests we shall
still retain our strength.”
The first number of a ne\v Belgian Photographic Journal
appeared on the 15th ultimo, which is to be continued montldju It
is to be supported by several photographic amateurs of acknow¬
ledged repute, including the names of MM. D. Van Monckhoven,
Professor Donny, LI. Romberg, and others. The first number con¬
tains an introductory address, an extract from Mr. Ilardwich’s
Manual , The jurors’ report of the Photographic Section of the
Belgian Exposition of 1861, and sundry small notes and memoranda.
It is singular that in our last we had to draw attention to the
appearance of another journal under precisely the same title, but
emanating from another source, and announced to appear semi¬
monthly. We perceive that the two journals contain the same
articles, somewhat verbally modified, with the exception that the
jurors’ report appears only in the journal for the 15th ultimo. This
looks as if some change in the intentions of the promoters had
occurred.
Fraunhofer’s Lines. — Professor Zantedeschi, of Padua, in a
communication addressed to our contemporary, Le Moniteur Photo-
rjraphique , says — in opposing an assertion of Dumas, to the effect
that “ Fraunhofer’s spectrum has not, up to the present time, dis¬
played any appreciable change, and that, consequently, the solar
light itself has not undergone any alteration” — “ I conclude that
this Parisian chemist ignores the existence of my memoire, pub¬
lished at Monaco in 1837, De mutationibus quos contingunt in spectro
solare fixo .” He continues that, having recently made use of a
camera with a constant aperture, a fixed position and distance, for
a prism of flint glass of sixty degrees, and an immoveable plane of
projection in order to make sure that the solar spectrum is abso¬
lutely fixed, he is thoroughly convinced that in Fraunhofer’s spec¬
trum there are both fixed and variable lines. He remarks: — “The
moveability of the lines proved to me it was an indication of the
influence of the medium through which the solar light passes, and
of the variations to which bodies in a state of combustion are
subject, and this led me naturally to suspect the modifications
which arise not only in the solar photosphere, but also in the entire
universe, and I at length concluded therefrom that the spectrum
is a very perfect photoscope — that it is a faithful mirror which re¬
flects the most delicate images of incandescent bodies, and the
changes to which our planetary system is incessantly submitted.”
[February 15, 1803
Au Artist’s fetters to it gottng jpltotojjriipljer.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Sentiment (continued) — The False and the Ugly cersus
the True and the Beautiful in Art— On the Various
Kinds of Expression Peculiar to Various Scenes, &c. —
How to Look at Nature.
“ Talk of improving Nature when it is Nature — nonsense ! ” — E. V. RipinoHle.
* * “ Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her : ’tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our lire, to lead
From joy to joy; for she can so inform
The mind that is within us — so impress
With quietness and beauty — and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men
Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings.” — Wordsworth.
“The picture which has the nobler and more numerous ideas, however awkwardly
expressed, is a greater and a better picture than that which lias the less noble and less
numerous ideas, however beautifully expressed. No weight, nor mass, 1 or beauty of
execution can outweigh one grain or fragment of thought ! * * ♦ The greatest
picture is that which conveys to the mind of the spectator the greatest number of the
greatest ideas. —Ruskin.
My dear Fellow-Student, — We have now reached a point from
which we may consider that element of art which has greater
claims than any of its predecessors upon our attention. The pur¬
pose of my last letter — purely hitroductory to this — was to show,
by weighter evidence than my own, how truthfulness is not so in¬
consistent with the artist’s loftier aspirations, as certain dogmatic
oracles and indolent reasoners would have us imagine. Step by
step we have progressed through our studies upon no other ground
than this ; it was the opening assertion of my first letter, and will
he found as the sum and substance of all our studies in my last.
I never did believe in that common opinion which exalts the false
and unreal at the expense of the true and good, which says of that
portrait which perpetuates the most amiable, or graceful, or tender
feelings of the heart, or the fitful gleams of passion, it is false or
flattered ; and of that landscape which catches the expression of
Nature’s spiritual loveliness, it is ideal and fanciful. Sooth to say,
we are not apt at any time in recognising Truth and Beauty, hut
are prone to give their names to the false and the ugly ; thus we
habitually call truths harsh, and stern, and cold, and hard, and
beauties untrue and imaginary. The actual loveliness of Nature in
her more spiritual aspects, shames that of the finest picture as much
as the sun does a rushlight ; and yet those who turn their blind eyes
to the first without a single throb of pleasure, or the faintest,
feeblest glow of vapid enthusiasm, grow frantic with delight when
looking with distended optics upon the last, and glow like a furnace
in their presence. If it were not so we should hear none of this
strange nonsense about the ideal system of art which has been so
serviceable to the opponents of art-photograpliy, and which, thank
goodness ! seems, in its wearisome and childish old age, to he dying
of death-blows given by stout and strong Mr. Ruskin, and the less
eccentric and more able pens and pencils of his disciples. It seems
to me that one of photography’s noblest and most truly religious
missions may be to herald the dawn of that day when Truth and
Beauty shall he recognised as one and the same thing, according to
the promise of our glorious creed — itself quite as full of beauty as
it is overflowing with truth. When the art of which we are fellow-
students was in its earliest infancy, we must all remember how the
world was full of its praise, and how all the critics clapped their hands
with delight at the aspect of hideous black and white patches of light
and shade, crying aloud “ How ugly ! and how truthful!” Whereas
now, when our journals and societies, our opticians, and chemists,
and mechanics, and artists, have, by their united and harmonious
efforts, made photographs something vastly more truthful and
beautiful, the literature of the day is full of open and covert
attacks, in which sarcasm and ridicule and shallow argument are
all three engaged spitefully trying to prove that our darling art is
both ugly and false. Heigho ! it was ever so. All history teaches us
the fact ; and it forms the yet strong foundation-stones of many a
grim and time-hlaclcened old ruin which ought long since to have
been swept from the memory of our race. This, however, is by
the way, for -we have now to consider the subject of pictorial senti¬
ment or expression.
Pictures may he regarded as language, which is the vehicle of
thought, and, as I have before said, may either convey the most
uninteresting and commonplace ideas, burn with the fiery glow . of
eloquence, or melt into the soul-subduing sweetness of poetical
beauty, Hugh Blair, speaking of eloquence, ridicules the use of
February 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
)rnamental language when unsupported by sentiment, and com¬
pares it to the contriving of gestures and dresses for that which
wants a body ; and the same might be said of a picture which,
having all the beauties it has been the purpose of my previous
letters to develop and describe, yet lacked the great crowning
charm of sentiment or thought. The sentiment of a picture may
be unaffected and simple, profound and philosophical, elegant and
graceful, or wild and terrible ; but sentiment of some kind or
another it must possess before it can be received by the fine art critic
and patron as a work of real artistic merit. Sentiment has already
received notice from us in connexion with the expression of light,
air, and space, and with aerial perspective, and with harmony in
the composition of lines and tones, and with tone, so that we have
now chiefly to consider it in connexion with the selection and the
treatment of our subject.
Suppose, then, with the purpose of producing a photographic
painting or picture, we have selected the season, day, and hour
for taking a certain picturesque view, have pitched our tent and
erected our camera in a spot so carefully chosen that we have
every chance of securing artistic chiaroscuro and sufficient con¬
trast in the parts and planes to produce the proper effect of space,
relief, &c., &e. Now our view must naturally have certain things
more or less peculiar to it alone, and these must have their
associated sentiments or thoughts. In the first place we perceive
its geological peculiarities, with the vegetation common thereto,
and trace out those features which, being the more prominent, are
more strikingly expressive of such peculiarities. We next look
out for the thoughts associated with these more prominent charac¬
teristics, and then we consider whether such are in harmony (do not
lose sight of all I have already said upon this subject) with the
chiaroscuro , the selected season, the hour, &c., &c., just as the case
may chance to be. But the great sentiment of the whole may not
reside in these natural features, but rather in some one or more
due purely to accident, or to accessories associated with incidents
of rustic life, or to atmospheric influences, &c. Yet we still consider
the general aspect of the whole in relationship with the same, and
choose such points of expression as may either prove most salient
to the eye and mind, or are most susceptible of being made so by
judicious treatment ; always taking care that, in choosing the
leading sentiment of our work, we are guided by its intellectual
importance alone, and that when chosen it governs every other
consideration more or less, so as to secure both subordination and
harmony. Thus we may seek our picture-thoughts in those so
peacefully suggested by the gentle undulation of sunny acclivities
and shadowy hollows over which the ghostly images of the passing
clouds seem to glide so smoothly on their way ; in the flinty ridges,
jagged peaks, and rocky fragments of scenes more desolate and
grand ; in the low lying marshy soil, rich with luxurious and varied
vegetation amidst which the silver rivers gleamingly trace their
serpent paths ; or in the abruptly changing varieties of square
lofty cliffs, with huge angular fissures and caverns, steep ascents,
and deep dark narrow dells ; or we may seek the leading idea
in the broad gleam of sunlight which brings out prominently
from the midst of an otherwise cloud-shadowed scene some scrap
of picturesque beauty in the foreground and middle distance, or
from the ghostly mystery which steals upward with the gathering
mist, giving a wild, strange grandeur to the shadowy mountain
forms,, and filling our lonely minds with the awful immensity of that
hazy, illimitable, space into which all about us appears to be so
swiftly and so silently disappearing ; or again from the strange
loveliness with which some gay and brilliant sun-irradiated scene
will come to us through the quiet gloom of the grey-wliite vapour,
as the wind lifts, one by one, the shadowy veils 'which concealed
it, and bears them, in white floating masses or torn and fleecy
fragments, up from the valleys along the sides of the sloping hills,
and on over the mountain tops, to die away at length into the clear
cool blue of early day in the bright unfathomable sky. In these
and m the thousand and one such sentiments may we photographers
find beauty without foregoing truth. Thus, in effects of light, effects
of season, effects, of air, effects of mist, effects of cloud, effects of
tne countless accidents of torrent, tempest, and passing rain, &c.,
or tne equally numerous incidents of human interest, we may seek
tne thoughts or sentiments we need to make our sun-pictures
vortliy the most ambitious of our aspirations. Only let us seek
Iruth, and so perfect our appliances that there will be no difficulty
in grasping the most refined and subtle of its expressions, and
non our art shall speedily rise into the highest rank, and be readily
welcomed as the worthy equal of the loftiest in some of their most
ambitious Teachings. For this end we are allneeded — the theoretical,
the practical, the experimental, the artistic, the scientific, and the
mechanical ; and there is so much promise in what we have done
through combined action in societies, and in such pages as I am now
writing for, that despair or despondency appears to me little short of
criminal.
To continue : the sentiment is, to a certain extent, always
influenced by our choice of the spot occupied by the camera or, in
other words, the point of view. For instance, the grandeur and
sublimity of a mountain would be more strikingly felt if viewed
from the depths of a valley than if seen from an eminence ; the
depth of some wild glen would be far more impressive if we ap¬
peared to be gazing down into its sunless gloom from the height
of some beetling cliff ; and the low horizon, secured by a camera
not occupying too lofty a perch, would best express a flat level
country, or the vast plain of the desert-like ocean. Such consi¬
derations, however, will be too prominent in practice to need fur¬
ther elaboration here.
Throughout all nature — in every season of the year and in every
hour of the day — we see the sentiment of each scene continually
varying. The light and shade is full of expression, ranging
“ from grave to gay, from lively to severe spring, summer,
autumn, and winter, each have their vast individual range of sen¬
timents ; and the misty exhalations of early morn and dewy eve,
with their long sweeping shadows and low-lying streams of
yellow or orange light, have, like the broad glare or grey cool bril¬
liancy of mid-day, their own peculiar sentiments appealing to
their own scale of mental associations and human feelings. To
seek out these, in their more powerful manifestations, in spots,
and at times powerfully imbued with harmonising and according
qualities, is our chief business, then, as landscape photographers.
To examine natural scenes with such views as these we need that
cultivation of mind and eye which I have before urged the impor¬
tance of, and such must be earnestly sought and carefully secured
by all who would become photographic artists in something more
than name. Thousands have toiled up mountains and hills with¬
out bearing away a single memory of aught beside the time occu¬
pied in the ascent, and the effect of the same upon their feet and
legs ; and, standing at length upon the topmost level of their cloud¬
piercing heights, have only thought of how far and how much they
can see, without hearing one of those solemn though still small
voices speaking to their nobler passions, or seeing those glorious
ministers of love and beaixty which lie before their mental eyes,
pointing “through nature up to nature’s God!” Just so thousands
have gazed upon scenes of the most wondrous beauty, and seen
nothing but a village called so-and-so, by such-and-such a river,
near what’s-the-name wood. Ah ! how differently is it with the
artist ! Place Buskin on that mountain height, and let him describe
some of the thoughts and feelings which come thronging to the
painter’s mind eager to be embodied in his pictures, and thus
brought powerfully home to the lazy minds and darkened vision of
those who having ears do not hear, and having eyes do not see.
With what deep feelings and glowing love Buskin touches upon all
he sees, telling us in his own simple and powerful and beautiful way —
“ Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth what violent,
muscular action is to the body of the man. The muscles and
tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountains, brought out with
fierce and convulsive energy, full of expression, passion, and
strength : the plains and the lower hills are the repose and the
effortless motion of the frame, when its muscles lie dormant and
concealed beneath the lines of its beauty, yet ruling those lines in
their every undulation. This, then, is the first grand principle of
the truth of the earth. The spirit of the hills is action ; that of
the lowlands repose ; and between these there are to be found
every variety of motion and rest — from the inactive plain, sleeping
like the firmament, with cities for stars, to the fiery peaks,
which, with heaving bosoms and exulting limbs, with the
clouds drifting like hair from their bright foreheads, lift
up their Titan hands to heaven saying, ‘ I live for ever ! ’ ”
No less beautifully does he describe the sunny slopes of the undu¬
lating hills, comparing the woods upon their gently swelling out¬
lines to the bending plumage on the bosom of a bird ; or revel in
pictures of the wild and desolate Alpine scenes and those “ pure
and holy hills ” that link the earth to heaven, and whose real
living expressions are spoken of as fountains of feeling yet un¬
opened and chords of harmony yet untouched by art. Again, how
the angular outlines, sharp edges, eccentric fissures and markings or
rounded water-worn aspect of the rocks, appeal to a crowd of accord¬
ing thoughts when seen in his glorious word-pictures, and how he
dwells upon those monster crags and “walls of living rock, mighty
surges of tempestuous earth, dim domes of heaven-girded snow,
where the morning first strikes, and the sunset last lingers, and the
[February 15, 1862
ro
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
stars pause in their setting, and the tempest and the lightning
have their habitation” — which seem to rise before us, awe-inspiring,
God-adoring, as he speaks, and in their native, naked reality, laugh
to scorn the wildest flight of the most powerful imagination of that
poor little morsel of conceit avIio boasts so loudly of improving
nature! Yours truly, ALFRED H. WALL.
Mr. Vernon Heath (of the firm of Murray and Heath, of
Piccadilly, London) has retired from the business hitherto carried
on by him, and intends devoting himself entirely to professional
photography in landscape and portraiture, in both branches of
which he has proved himself a proficient. We are informed that
Mr. Heath’s place will be filled by Mr. Charles Heisch, a gentleman
whose name will be familiar to many of our readers as President
of the Blackheath Photographic Society, and author of several
important articles on photographic subjects. Mr. Heisch is also
Professor of Chemistry in the Middlesex Hospital Medical College
which office he will still retain.
Hirelings rrf Sonrfits.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held at King’s College, on Tuesday)
the 4th instant, —the Lord Chief Baron, Sir Frederick Pollock, President)
occupied the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The President directed attention to, and recorded the thanks of the
Society for, the following matters of interest placed before the meeting: —
Mr. Browning, Secretary of the Photographic Society of Dublin, ex¬
hibited some very interesting stereographs taken in Ireland.
Captain Allan Scott presented to the Society a numerous and valuable
assortment of stereographs taken in India, representing natives of
different castes and stations of life, each engaged in a characteristic
operation : among- the number were some excellent photographs of
Indian scenery.
Mr. Thomas Clark Westfield, of Higli-house, Keston, Kent, presented
to the Society a took containing six stereographs, illustrative of letter-
press, describing the Japanese and some of their manners and customs.
The photographs were well executed, especially those of the Emperor's
Palace and Two Japanese Ladies.
Dr. Wright exhibited and described a new form of water-tight gutta¬
percha hath contrived by himself. The bath differed from the ordinary
forms in being furnished with hinged bolts attached to its sides, which
bolts slipped into slots cut into each end of the top piece or cover of the
bath, so that when the nuts which were attached to the ends of the bolts
were screwed down the top was maintained in the closest possible
contact with the bath. The top of the bath when not in use as a cover
admitted of being so placed as to act as a support to the bath while
operating.
The Secretary of the Photographic Society of Scotland sent copies of six
stereographs, illustrative of the application of photography to the delinea¬
tion of various stages of disease.
A Member having asked if the Society were furnished with a suitable
receptacle for such gifts as it had received that evening, the Secretary
explained that the donations received from time to time by the Society
were carefully preseryed in a locker provided for the purpose in the hall
of King’s College.
The President requested the Secretary to read rule vii. of the Society,
referring to the election of new members of Council and other officers.
When the Secretary had read the rule,
The President explained that the object thereof was merely to remind
the members that the form required by rule vii. had been duly carried out
[see The British Journal op Photography, vol. viii, page 446] by the
public announcement of the names of those officers who would retire and
the names of those proposed for election. That list had been openly
exhibited at King’s College for modification by any member who desired
to do so, and in the interval which had elapsed since the 3rd of Dacem-
ber, 1861, no desire for alteration had been expressed. In view of this
fact, he (the President) was disposed to concur with the opinion enter¬
tained by the Secretary, which was, that it would be a useless formality to
put the names of each and all of these gentlemen to the ballot. He (the
President) knew of no greater improvement which had occurred during the
last forty years than the omission of useless formalities in conducting
the public business of the country. Speaking as a lawyer, he could say
with considerable satisfaction that many forms which were once deemed
imperatively necessary had recently been, so to speak, amputated from
the proceedings with which they were once connected : many proclama¬
tions and formal announcements which were once regarded as essential
were now entirely omitted. He need not, he felt sure, before such an
assembly, enlarge on the value of time: be would simply remind them of
the proverb — “ tempus a per me us." And in reference to the matter then
before the meeting he (the President) thought that the Society would be
only acting in accordance with the spirit of modern improvement if it at
once declared the gentlemen named on the list unanimously elected,
seeing that no other result was likely to follow the introduction of the
ballot-box. He begged to propose, therefore, that the list be carried as
the result of that evening’s proceedings.
The President then took the sense of the meeting on the proposition
which was in favour of the election of the gentlemen named in the* list. *
The Secretary then read the
ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1862.
In submitting the ninth Report of the progress and prospects of the Photo,
graphic Society, the Council have good reason to look back with satisfaction
to the past year’s proceedings, and to anticipate an unusual success in the
future.
The balance sheet herewith presented exhibits a far more satisfactory condi¬
tion of the finances than has been shown for some years.
In 1858 the deficiency on closing the year’s accounts amounted to £’>G. In
1 859 it was L'SS ; and in 1860, the large sum of £384. The balance sheet for
the past year exhibits a marked improvement, in so far that the receipts of the
year are slightly in excess of the expenditure. This result is the more grati¬
fying, as it has been chiefly brought about by means which prove that the art
and science of photography is becoming more appreciated by the public as its
capability, its beauty, and advantages become better known and more clearly
understood.
In the year 1S58 the public Exhibition of Photographic works, held under
the auspices of the Society, left a deficiency of upwards of A'lOO. In 1859 the
loss sustained was only trifling, but the Exhibition of JSGO showed a serious
deficiency of £\25.
Now it was highly important that the annual displays should he continued :
so the arrangements of the past year’s Exhibition, and its mangement, received
particular care in order that every possible saving might be effected, and the
high character of the Exhibition still maintained. The Council have much
pleasure in now reporting that a profit of £36 was the result due to the
increasing appreciation by the public of the beautiful works collected together.
The publication of the Journal also shows a small balance on the year’s
account. Although issued for the convenience and information of nrembers of
the Society, it lias been accepted as a chief literary authority on photo¬
graphic subjects; and this position it still maintains, notwithstanding the
numerous photographic periodicals which have come into existence since its
first establishment.
During the first year a most important matter unexpectedly claimed the
attention and compelled the interference of the Council in order to vindicate
the position of the members of the Society. It strongly proved how necessary
it is that a central representative body, such as the London Photographic
Society may rightly claim to be, should watch over and vigilantly guard the
interests of the professor and the scientific position universally accorded to
photography.
In the intended Exhibition about to he opened at Kensington it was pro¬
posed that the results of photography, and the apparatus by which these
results are produced, should not be classed with the fine arts, hut be included
among mechanical contrivances, fitting in between horological instruments and
ships’ tackle. Against this proposition the Council entered an indignant pro¬
test, and their expostulation received the almost unanimous assent of photo¬
graphers both in this country and on the continent.
By some confusion of ideas, it appears to have been considered by those
who first proposed the objectionable arrangement that pictures taken by light
were merely mechanical results, in so far that they were produced by the
agency of the camera, and that therefore they should not he classed with
pictures and other works of art. It seems to have been overlooked that such a
definition must have banished these latter also into the limbo of mechanical
products, as they are produced by means of the eye of the artist, and the
human eye is simply the most perfect camera known, lens, diaphragm, focus¬
sing apparatus, sensitive plate and pictures, which, as Locke writes, “when
drawn in our mind are laid in fading colours,” and even high art cannot pre¬
tend to accomplish anything without an eye. On any other grounds, as the
display of true artistic power, and appreciation of what constitutes a real
picture, the proposition of the authorities was still more untenable, and the
Council have much pleasure in stating that the impropriety of the proposed
arrangement was at length admitted, and that a plan by which photographic
works are accorded a position more suitable to their importance has been
adopted ; and the Council cannot refrain from here mentioning how deeply the
Society is indebted to the President for his personal exertions and his invaluable
advice and assistance in conducting this important matter to a satisfactory
issue. On the settlement of the above difference, the Council willingly agreed
to afford every possible assistance in the arrangement of the department, and at
the request of the Royal Commissioners, two members of the Committee, the
Earl of Caithness and Mr. Kater, together with Dr. Diamond, were ap¬
pointed to advise them in their decisions as to the photographic department.
The Council have, however, still to express their regret that the position
assigned to their department in the building at Kensington is far from satis¬
factory. Every endeavour has been made to get this disadvantage remedied ;
but it would appear that no other space is at the disposal of the Commissioners,
as they have expressed their wish to do all honour to Photography, and pro¬
mised, under the new arrangement, to associate it as nearly as possible with
the Fine Art department. The whole space appointed to English exhibitors
for the display of photographic pictures is under 3,000 square feet, and that for
aratus and chemicals about 500 feet more.
he applications for space were so numerous that a very much larger extent
could be easily filled ; indeed, one person alone requested an allotment equiva¬
lent to six times the whole available amount.
It was hoped and anticipated throughout this country that the photographic
results of all nations would be exhibited together ; and the advantages afforded
by such facilities for direct comparison are obvious. The objections to such
an arrangement, it is stated, came from the heads of the foreign department :
how far this was due to their wish to avoid the objectionable arrangement of
their artistic contributions originally contemplated cannot now be known. . It
may be fairly assumed that photography -will form one of the most interesting
parts of the new Exhibition, especially as the one great object is to take stock
71
sbruary 15, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
the progress made since the first gathering together of the results of human
ill and industry in 1851.
In alluding to these wonderful structures there is one honoured name which
ontaneously arises in the mind whenever and wherever they are mentioned,
has often been said that the lamented deatli of the Prince is, at this time
pecially, felt as a national affliction, on account of the great work now in
ogress, which is so identified with his name. Yet, throughout the whole
ne that the Prince Consort so nobly filled that high position, of which we
>w recognise the greatness by sadly noticing how vast is the blank which his
ss has left, his efforts were unceasing to advance and assist everything that
as good and worthy, so that had that
“ Sweet nature gilded by the gracious gleam
Of letters, dear to Science, dear to Art,”
>en spared to us yet a little longer, it must still have seemed, whenever the
tal summons came, that then his loss could least of all be borne.
During the past year there have been recorded no great discoveries in photo-
aphy as a science, and comparatively few improvements in it as an art ; but
5 progress has not been less marked than during former years, for it has now
itered on, and made great advance in, that most important phase in the
.‘velopment of every art, by its application to useful purposes.
But a few years ago photographs were a scientific curiosity ; now photography
vals the electric telegraph or the railway in the multiple interests it subserves,
be lawyer receives the photograph of a signature as evidence; the doctor exhibits
le results of his skill by photographs of the case before and after treatment ;
ie engineer judges of the progress of his works from daily scraps of paper
hich the post brings him from the recording camera ; and Government so
mfides in the value of the results obtained by photographic aid, that attain-
lent of the art is encouraged, and its practice profitably employed in all
epartments where exactness in representation and reproduction is required,
o great, indeed, is its utility now become that every improvement in the pro-
iss, however trifling in itself, acquires importance by its side application.
To the .Royal Society there is yearly apportioned a Government grant of
loney to be expended in furthering scientific investigations for the benefit of
ie country.
The Committee of the Photographic Society, pointing only to the practical
.•suits hitherto attained under unfavourable circumstances, would venture to
lggest that assistance should be granted by Government towards improve -
ients in the processes of photography. It would serve to determine many
ifficulties, and tend to increase the advantages now derived from the various
rnployments of the art in different departments of Government.
A yearly grant, if o dy a tithe of the money saved by substituting photo-
raphs for the mechanical drawings formerly made in all ordnance, naval, and
ther departments in the art, world assuredly more than repay the expenditure.
The avidity for small full length photographs has, during the last year, so
emarkably increased, that this development of public taste appears almost
/orthy of historic note. And these little pictures, equally perfect and pleasing,
indicate the correctness of the popular predilection in their favour. They
ecall, not merely the features, "but the attitude and habit of the sitter, and are
ndeed “the abridgement of all that is pleasant in man.”
As now produced they admirably illustrate how conducive to the pleasures
•f the many photography may be made, whilst equally valuable to the highest
ntellectual investigators, or of recording the results of mechanical skill.
During the past year twenty-four new members have been elected, and it is
nticipated that a still greater addition will accrue from those who have hitherto
elonged to the societies which have ceased to exist.
The numbers of these have gradually diminished as the advantages of one
entral and representative body have been recognised throughout the country.
The Committee trust that the confidence so generally expressed in the
’hotograpl ic Society of London, as representing the interests of the art and
irogress of this science, may be always maintained.
The Secretary, at the request of the President, read over the list pub-
ished at p. 446, vol.viii., of this Journal, and, while doing so, incidentally
nentioned that Mr. Bedford had been appointed to accompany H.1UT.
he Trince of Wales for the purpose of superintending the photographic
iroceedings connected with the tour of his Royal Highness in the Holy
jand.
The Lord Chief Baron thought it only right to say how much he felt
honoured by his re-election to the office of President by the Society. He
ould only say, in reference to the slight service he had rendered, and
vhich they had been pleased to acknowledge, in connexion with the
rosition assigned to photograpTry in the Exhibition of 1862, that when
ic. saw that resistance was required to what appeared an insult to photo¬
graphy he willingly placed at the disposal of the Society all the powers
ic possessed, in the endeavour to persuade those in authority to modify
heir proposed arrangements. The -worthy President then, after an-
louncing the next meeting for the 4th of March, vacated the chair ; but,
m Mr. Durham reminding him that the Report had not been formally
•eceivcd or adopted, he resumed it for an instant, and asked the members
f it were their pleasure that the Report should be adopted ?
A few hands being held up, and no objection made, the resolution was
leclared carried without dissentients, and the meeting, in some little
surprise, then adjourned.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A.N ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday, the
3th instant, — Mr. Wardley in the chair.
Mr. Parry read a paper On Micro-Photograpliy . [See page 63.]
The Chairman said that he had been much gratified by the pleasure
afforded to them by Mr. Parry that evening. The subject was one which
he had always feared as involving the use of much complicated apparatus ;
but ho now found that the pursuit they had heard described was one
■within, the reach of all photographers — that it was simple in character
and full of interest. The sensitiveness of the photographic process to be
employed appeared to be very important ; and he asked Mr. Parry whether
he had tried the addition of iodide of iron to collodion ?
Mr. Parry replied that he had not.
Mr. Neville said Mr. Parry’s want of a good substitute for the ground-
glass of the camera might be met by dabbing putty upon plain glass. If
it were applied carefully, a surface of great delicacy could be obtained,
much finer than any ground-glass he hod seen, and the coating become
perfectly hard.
The Secretary said that Mr. Cheetham, a fiiend of his, in working
with the microscope had found that he obtained much finer definition by
causing the light to pass through a prism before it reached the object,
using certain of the coloured rays ; for instance, he found that by aid of
the gre.en rays lie could discover markings which were not seen at all
before. Although this green light would not of course do for photographic
purposes, it was possible that the violet rays might be employed with
advantage for some objects.
Mr. Neville thought that the only reason why these markings had
appeared was that the eye was relieved by the green light.
The Secretary said that it would be recollected that Mr. Petschler had
at one of their meetings spoken of a green shade for the dark room,
stating that he could by its aid judge more correctly as to the quality of
a negative. The use of a similar medium in the microscope might, he
thought, act upon the same principle.
Mr. Parry said that in his paper he had alluded to taking pictures by
transmitted light only ; but he intended this summer to work with reflected
light, so as to take opaque objects. Some special arrangement for lighting
up the subject would be necessary, and lie sketched the plan he thought
of adopting. He proposed to employ an annular reflector behind the
lens glass so as to throw back the light which had been transmitted to it
upon the object, adapting a central screen for stopping its passage in that
direction. The lighting up of the object was the most difficult part of
this application of micro-photography.
Mr. Hooper said that a fiiend of his had shown him a very simple and
efficient method of lighting up opaque objects in the microscope. He
coiled a piece of platinum wire outside the lens, and then, by connecting
it to a galvanic battery, brought it to a heat which emitted the required
light.
Some objections having been made to this method, Mr. Hooter said that,
before the next meeting, he would endeavour to see his friend and get
him to exhibit his apparatus.
Mr. Parry observed, in reference to instruments for the purpose he
had that evening brought before the meeting, that one great difficulty was
to get the lens properly corrected for the chemical rays ; but this could of
course be readily done by experiment, just as they were once obliged to do
with our ordinary photographic lenses.
Mr. M'Lachlan said that the most simple way to deal with a lens that
was not so corrected was to make a dark frame on purpose, which should
afford the required variations from the ground-glass.
Mr. Wardley said that, in reference to photography generally, Mr.
M‘Laclilan’s plan would not answer, because the same alteration would
not correct a lens when the focus was much vai’ied.
Mr. Rogf.rson said that whatever variation took place was a matter of
no practical importance. He had adopted the same plan as Mr. M’Lachlan,
and had found it to answer the purpose.
The Secretary inquired whether any of the members had seen an
advertisement issued by Mr. Grubb? It consisted of a copy of the first
page of The British Journal of Photography, and was, he thought,
the finest thing of that character he had seen. It approached the
original size, but the definition was excellent, and the lines perfectly
square. The negative was, however, taken with a portrait lens which was
very expensive.
Mr. Wardley had lately been much struck with the performance
of a Dallmcyer lens ; in copying the definition was quite marvellous. He
had not tried it in the production of negatives which approached the
dimensions of the original, but would, before the next meeting, take a
copy of the full size.
After some further discussion cn the relative value of different lenses
votes of thanks to Mr. Parry and the Chairman closed the proceedings.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The third meeting of the sixth session of this Society" was held in the
Society's Hall, George-street, Edinburgh, on Tuesday evening last. The
chair was occupied by Horatio Boss, Esq.. Vice-President.
The first business transacted was the moving of an address of condo¬
lence to her Majesty on her recent bereavement ; and, in introducing the
subject,
The Chairman made some very excellent remarks. It was needless,
he said, for him to dwell upon the value of the late illustrious Prince. With
the exception of her Majesty herself, the nation could not have sustained
a greater loss than it had done by the death of the Prince Consort. That
Society, in particular, was called upon to express its feelings on such an
occasion, as they all remembered that when they first met together
with the object they had hitherto endeavoured to carry out with energy —
that of promoting the art of photography — they were desirous of having
a patron who, from his position, would confer honour and respect on the
73
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Society. He (Mr. Eoss) had been appointed to communicate the wishes of
the Society in that respect, which he did through his Eoyal Highness’s pri¬
vate secretary ; and the Prin ce, in the kin dest mann er, and with th e readiness
he had ever evinced in doing anything which would further the advance¬
ment of the arts and sciences, at once consented to become their
patron. When they first proposed to have an Exhibition, and were
doubtful if they could ever organise one which would be worthy of the
support of the public, he had again appealed to his Eoyal Highness, and
asked him to encourage them by permitting some of his collection to be
exhibited. He had responded by sending some of the best pictures he
had in his possession, and he continued to do that until their progress
had been such as to necessitate no further call from them upon his Eoyal
Highness. They all felt his loss deeply, whether as a nation or as indi¬
viduals; and it was the Society’s first duty to move an expression of
its sympathy with her Majesty on her loss.
Sheriff Moir then read a short address of condolence, which was
unanimously approved of.
Award of Medals for the Best Pictures in the Exhibition.
The Chairman stated that he had this year again, with the assistance
of Sheriff Moir and the Secretary, Mr. Adam, been requested to award
the prizes for the best pictures in the Exhibition. This task they had
found a very difficult one from the great number of fine pictures present ;
indeed he thought this was the best Exhibition they had yet had, not
only in respect of portraits, but also of landscapes and of that new branch
so largely represented in the Exhibition, cartes de visite.
It was not to be considered possible that their award would give satis¬
faction to all ; for, as he had said, it was with great difficulty they could
come to a conclusion in the matter from the number of excellent pictures
exhibited : still, they had acted conscientiously and to the best of their
ability.
In portraiture they had awarded the medal to Messrs. Hill and
M'Glashon for their picture, Portrait of Dr. Brown and another gentle¬
man (No. 295).
In landscapes they had again awarded a medal to Mr. Mudd: they
considered his picture On the Toy, at Dunkeld (No. 54), the best landscape
in the Exhibition.
The other medal — that for the best frame of carte de visite portraits —
they had awarded to a gentleman who had also previously received
a medal from the Society, Mr. H. P. Eobinson.
In making these awards he must again inform them that they had
acted to the best of their ability.
A communication by Sir David Brewster, on the subject of zincography,
was then read by Mr. Kinnear, who stated that it was an extract from Sir
David’s article on the recent progress of photographic art in the current
number of the North British Review. The extract was as follows : —
“ One of the most valuable applications of photography is that of Sir
Henry James, in 1855, to the reduction of the ordnance maps from the
scale of 25 inches to the mile to six inches to the mile, which was
required for the engraved county plans. In 1859 the accuracy of the
plans thus reduced was called in question in Parliament by Sir Denham
Norris ; but a committee appointed by Government, and presided over
by Sir Eoderick Murchison, reported that the greatest deviation in any
part of the plans from perfect accuracy does not amount to the l-400th
part of an inch, and that this small error is not cumulative. The com¬
mittee also reported that this application of photography would, in
the course of the survey, effect a saving of at least 1)32,000. The
accuracy, indeed, obtained by this method of reduction is much greater
than it could have been by any other process. It bad one defect, how¬
ever, which occasioned considerable expense. Before the reduced plans
could be transferred either to the waxed surface of a copperplate or to
stone or zinc plates, it was necessary to make tracings of them in ink —
a process both tedious and expensive. Sir Henry James, therefore, intro¬
duced, in 1859, the chromo-carbon process, by which he was enabled to
produce photographs which could be at once transferred either to copper,
stone, or zinc ; and as zinc was the material generally employed, he gave
it the name of photozincography. We have new before us several beauti¬
ful specimens of this valuable process, which show its value in copying
old deeds, and especially the finest line engravings, reproducing in the
most perfect manner the lines in their darkest parts. At the Ordnance
Survey Office, Sir Henry is now engaged in copying the original manu¬
script of Domesday Book, county by county, and also the folio edition of
1062 of the Plays of Shakespeare.”
This communication was accompanied by the exhibition of several
specimens of photozincography.
Mr. Taylor begged to hand round for inspection some specimens in a
similar direction. Some of these, he said, were by Mr. Osborne, of
Australia, and some by Mr. Damage, of Edinburgh; and, from an ex¬
amination of the whole, he thought they would be satisfied that those
produced in Edinburgh were at least second to none of the others.
The Chairman remarked that they were indeed beautiful, and asked if
Mr. Taylor could inform them how they had been done ?
Mr. Taylor said that he believed Mr. Eamage had no immediate in¬
tention of divulging his process ; but Mr. Osborne’s process was as
follows : — A sheet of paper was coated with gelatine and bichromate of
potash, exposed under a negative to the action of light, and then blackened
[February 15, 1802}
over with lithographic ink. When subjected to the action of water, those
parts unacted upon by light allowed of the ink being removed from them ■
but where the light had acted, being rendered insoluble, retained the ink' n
and the picture was then ready for transferring to the stone, and im¬
pressions thrown off by the printer. The whole time occupied bv Mr.
Osborne, from receiving the map or plan to be reproduced to the uctual
passing through the lithographic pross, he believed was four hours, and
this included the photographic operation too.
Mr. T. B. Johnstone corroborated the remarks of the preceding speaker
and exhibited specimens showing the various stages of progression from
the prepared paper to the impression in ink.
Sheriff Moir thought that, from the various specimens exhibited and
the remarks made about photozincography and photolithography, that
was a most important application of the art, and he should like if
some member would read a paper on the subject at an early meeting, and
bring before them, all that was publicly known on the subject.
At the request of Sheriff Cay, seconded by Mr. Burnett, Mr. Taylor
agreed to read a paper on photolithography, premising that it would
only be a compendium of what was already published, without any original
matter.
Professor Archer exhibited some specimens of Joubert’s patent glass
photographs, in connexion with which the following notice of them, by
Sir David Brewster, was read. There was at the same time exhibited
some specimens of M. Camersac’s new process of photographic enamel¬
ling. The account of these was as follows : —
A very important branch of photography, hitherto partially studied, is
now beginning to excite much interest, namely, the reproduction of
photographs upon the surfaces of porcelain, glass, and other substances,
into which they are burnt and permanently fixed.
M. Lafon de Camersac seems to have been the first person who prac-
tised this interesting application of photography. On the 11th of June,
1855, he communicated a paper to the Academy of Sciences, On the.
Transformation of Heliographic Pictures into Indelible Paintings, Coloured
and Fixed by the Processes of Ceramic Decoration ; and he exhibited to
the Academy specimens formed in the oxides of copper, iron, and manga’
nese, and in cobalt and gold, fixed by fusion in a muffle upon glass and
enamel. Selecting for grounds either metals or subtances used for pottery,
he employs vitrifiable compounds for tracing the image on them ; and he
operates on the images thus obtained by metallic salts, and those furnished
by the resins. With pictures produced by the aid of collodion, albumen,
gelatine, Ac., he developes the image with nitrate of silver till the half¬
tints are overdone and disappear, and the deep shades are covered with a
thick deposit having the appearance of a bas-relief. The proof being then
placed in an enamelled muffle, the organic matters disappear under the
action of a proper heat, and the fire cleans the image and restores all its
delicacy. The heliographic image thus treated may receive any kind of
colouring; may be transformed into gold and silver, as well as into blue
or pui’ple ; and may even be burnt into porcelain with the furnace colours.
Having prosecuted for seven years the solution of the problem of
the perfect fixation of the image, M. Camersac communicated to the
French Photographic Society, in September, 1859, the general results at
which he had arrived. On tender porcelain, soft enamel, and delf ware, he
formed the image with metallic oxides, and fixed them by fire in the
muffle. In hard porcelain, biscuit, hard enamel, glass, and crystals, the
metallic oxides have their fluxes added to them; and on these different
substances, whether white or tinted, he forms the image in gold or in
silver with their fluxes added to them, and he fixes in the muffle, in
silver he forms the image in gold, or in a combination of lead and silver.
In paper, parchment, gelatine, ivory, wood, and prepared cloths, he forms
the image with any colouring matter, and he fixes it with gum, gelatine,
albumen, glue, oils, and varnishes.
A portrait of the Queen, and another of the late Prince Consort, were
lately burnt in on enamel by M. Lafon de Camersac, and painted in colours
burnt in by one of M. Claudet’s artists. These pictures, which are excel¬
lent likenesses, were exhibited at the last. Photographic Exhibition in
London, and were much admired. In July, 1857, Mr. Tunny exhibited
to the Photographic Society of Scotland pictures on glass, parian, and
porcelain, by his newly-discovered process of vitro-lreliography ; and Mr.
M‘Craw also showed specimens of a process giving similar results, which
he intended to patent under the name of vitrotype. In November of the
same year Mr. Tunny described the process which he employed; but,
though he burnt the pictures into enamelled glass, he failed in producing;
them without the disagreeable yellow tint, the consequence of the presence
of silver.
Early in 1861 M. Joubert communicated to the Society' of Arts A
New Method of Producing on Glass Photographic and other Pictures in
Enamel Colours. The following is the process which he employed : — A
saturated solution of bichromate of ammonia, five parts, is well mixed
with three parts of honey and three of albumen, and thinned with from
twenty to thirty parts of distilled water. This solution, when well filtered,
is poured upon a piece of well-cleaned glass, and, when it has been dried
in the dark in a gas stove, it is placed with its face downwards on the
subject to be copied in an ordinary pressure-frame. The subject, which
must be a positive picture on glass or transparent paper, will, alter ex¬
posure to the light, give a faint negative picture upon the bichromate
coating. An enamel colour in finely-divided powder is gently rubbed
upon the coating with a soft brush till the picture is seen in a perfect
78
mitive form A mixture of alcoliol with a small quantity of nitric or
S c acid Ts poured over the picture, and drained off at one corner,
fhen the alcohol has evaporated the glass is immersed horizontally m
large pan ofclean water, and left till the bichromate is ^mpletely
issolved, and nothing remains upon the glass but the enamel colou .
/hen dried near a heated stove, it is ready to be placed m the kiln oi
umin" In this process enamel of' any colour can be used, so that a
ariety of colours may be printed, one after the other, in order to obtain
perfect imitation of a picture. 11RPfi
M. Joudert suggests that his process may be advantageously used
x the decoration of private houses and public buildings.
Mr Taylor thought that, in regard to priority of invention in the
nnmcllpd rdiotoo-raphs, Mr. Burnett was entitled to the palm, as, if he
ecollectedParight, Mr. Burnett was in the field a considerable time be-
° Mi\ 8 Burnett1 *s aid &th at was indeed the case, for he had published
everal articles on the subject before Camersac made his ,C0““"Pca*1^'
Mr. Burnett entered into some details m connexion w^h this discovery
A letter was read from Herr Otto Kohnke, On a New Mode of
'holographs loithout the use of Chloride of Silver oi • Eyposulphi te of
ioda ■ but as this letter was substantially the same as that published in
ur last, among the transactions of the North London Photographic Asso-
iation, we do not again publish it. The result of the application was
imilar in the case of both Societies. i ip
Mr. Tunny stated that the Society had some money to spare, and 1 e
nquired whether they were inclined to set aside any of it foi Phasing
i really good and permanent printing process? He wouid lecommen
hat the carbon process of M. Joubert receive favou^le consideration,
is from what he had seen of its results, he believed it Capable of supplant
ng the ordinary method of printing for at least several purposes _
Several remarks on this proposal were made, but it seemed to be decided
hat, in the meantime, the Society should take no steps in the matter.
After the usual votes of thanks, the meeting separated.
ebruary IS, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
With a small quantity
of solution of iodine.
BIRMINGHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
In our last we were enabled to give only a portion of the proceedings of
he meeting of this Society held on the 21st ult. We now give the re-
nainder of the report.] , i
Mr. Turner exhibited, and proceeded to explain, the filter he had ^usec
vith the most perfect success for the last seven years. It consisted of a
itoppered globular funnel, capable of holding from 40 to 50 ounces,
vliich was inserted into the centre neck of a triple-necked receive ,
mown among chemists as “ Wolff’s bottle,” winch would contain from 80
:o 100 ounces. To one of the side-neck corks was attached a flexible
;ube, and through the cork of the opposite one a glass i syphon t was intio-
luced. Each evening, on concluding work, he was m the habit of pouring
he whole contents of his porcelain batli into the upper globe, the fifnne
end of which was stopped with cotton wool. On replacing the stopper no
dust could possibly enter, and all that was required each morning was to
blow the fluid out of the lower receiver through the syPll01]ffl B,{vk®-®pi”if
his bath in this manner he had never experienced any difficulty m ob¬
taining clean pictures with certainty. _ By filtering through c0“on -
instead of paper, there was a large saving m the quantity wasted m fact
with the former there was no actual waste, as wliat silver was left -o
wool could be re-used for redevelopments. He believed that the chief
aim of a photographer should be to keep everything around him in the
highest state of cleanliness ; and though there was little possibilit}
anything passing into the lower receiver, still he was m the habit of
thoroughly cleaning both vessels once each month. ,
Mr. Rejlander asked if in the process of blowing out any extraneous
matter was passed into the bath ? „„„
Dr. Anthony said there was not, as the breath did not convey any
deleterious matter into it. • ,
Mr. Turner reminded Mr. Rejlander that the breath did not pass into
the liquid : the pressure was only exerted on the surface.
Mr. Hart had been in the habit of filtering his bath, but used an appa¬
ratus different from the one shown by Mr. Turner. _ His consisted of an
inverted bell-like funnel standing in a flattened circular receiver, f Lc
bad an objection to the stopper, as it prevented the ether and alcohol
evaporating, which was essentially necessary, particularly alter a haul
day’s work. Both winter and summer he kept his bath m a water tioug i,
by which lie could arrange the temperature as required. _
Dr. Anthony considered Mr. Turner’s by far the most scientific appa¬
ratus for the purpose lie had seen, and far preferable to the one employed
by Mr. Hart, as by Mr. Turner’s mode no organic matter could possibly
get into the bath ; and the tendency to spontaneous decomposition— that
fertile source of pin-holes in pictures — would by this system be obviated.
There was also another point in its favour : it enabled the operator to see
when there was any tendency to milkiness, as the bath should always
be clear, and any milky appearance would at once indicate that some¬
thing was wrong. He was an advocate for boiling the bath and this
should be done in a wide-moutlied vessel — as when the bath was charged
with ether, spirit in large quantities was required to make the developer
run, the use of which was a constant source of annoyance m the deve¬
lopment.
Mr. Rejlander said he would apply the money test, and buy one, if
Mr. Turner would state where one could be obtained.
Mr. Turner said he had always been in the habit of boiling his bath,
as it removed any tendency to greasiness ; but he did not take the precau¬
tion either to warm his bath or Ins operating room. In reply to Mr.
Rejlander he said the cost of the filter was £l. Though this seemed a
large outlay, still he had saved the cost many times over by its use. He
could undertake to supply them at ten shillings each if a number were
rem-1 Rejlander laid upon the table a number of photographs studies
from life, which showed in how far photography was really the hand¬
maid of art. They were greatly admired, and the members present ex¬
pressed a decided opinion that Mr. Rejlander had gone very far towards
placing photography among the fine arts, each of his works being so
thoroughly characteristic, and bearing the impress of careful study in
all its details. .. . , ,,
Mr Turner also exhibited three portraits, which were remarkably good
in tone and of a great depth of focus. In reply to a question from the
President, he stated that the negatives were taken with a half-plate
LCThe°Uformula3 for collodion and developer given by Mr. Charles A.
Seely, at page 433 of The British Journal of Photography, having
Mr. Turner, as promised, proceeded to remark that it would be abso¬
lutely impossible to work the collodion after coating the first few full
plates, supposing that it was prepared with anything approaching 80
grains of cotton to the 10 ounces, as recommended It would, by evapo¬
ration, become so gummy in its nature that, instead of an even film being
obtained, the surface would be left in a series of ridges. He (Mr. Turner)
was in the habit of making up his own collodion and had never used
more than 5 grains of cotton to the ounce. The following were the pro¬
portions and formulae he used : —
Rectified ether . 5 ounces.^
Absolute alcohol . 3 ounces.
Gun cotton . 40 grains.
Iodide of potassium ..40 grains./
Though this collodion would not keep longer than perhaps tlnee months
(up to which period it would work well), still, by the addition of a little
new to the old, he had invariably found that he could obtain the best
results; and it was seldom that any error could arise m pioducmg a
o-ood picture with such an admixture. He could always get a denser
picture with iodide of potassium than with cadmium or ammonium,
and used iodide instead of bromide, as with iodide the collodion was
suitable either for positives or negatives. The bath Mr. Seely suggested
for use — forty to fifty grains — was far too strong, besides being a neutral
one. The bath he (Mr. Turner) used, and which he had found from expe¬
rience to be the best proportions, he prepared from the following formula :
Distilled water . ; . •• 20 ounces. \ 2?oi7ec£, and, when cold,
Nitrate of silver, 36 grains to the I to each ounce add two
ounce, or . . . • - • la ounces. J- dr0pS 0f nitric acid.
Iodide of potassium, dissolved m _ 1 Filter before use.
distilled water . 4 grains. /
With this collodion and bath, the time of exposuie under oidinaij cncum-
stances was from eight to ten seconds. The developei named by Mr. Seely
next claimed observation, and in this, as in the previous formulae, lie
would call the attention of the meeting to the . disproportion existing
between the various constituents : — two ounces of non to the pint of water
was most extraordinary. With a sensitive collodion, and the developer as
strong as here recommended, it would be impossible for the operator to
be sufficiently quick in his movements to get to wash the plate if pro¬
perly exposed. The developer being too strong was a constant source of
stains. Twelve grains of iron to each ounce, for positives, and fifteen for
negatives, was a good proportion. He believed that by using a weak deve¬
loper there was more certainty of obtaining a good picture ; in fact, lie did
not believe that a refined picture, or fair blacks and whites, . could be ob¬
tained by the use of a strong and quick developer for positives, though
such an one might be obtained by chance. The following formulae for
developing solutions were the ones he used :
For Positives, No. 1 . For Negatives, No. 2 .
Distilled water . 20 ounces. 20 ounces.
Xron . 4 drachms. o drachms.
Alcohol absolute . 1 ounce. 1 ounce.
Acetic acid . 6 drachms. 6 diachms.
Glacial acetic acid . 3 drachms. ^ drachms.
For redeveloping he always used iron as per No. 2, and obtained very
vigorous pictures ; but, if not sufficiently dense, lie intensified, aftei veil
washing with a weak solution of bichloride of mercury. The pictures
be liad that evening exhibited were produced in the manner and with the
formulae he had stated. , , ,
Mr H art said he manufactured his own collodion, and used only four
grains of cotton to the ounce. He did not think it possible to work the
collodion with anything approaching eighty grains. He was in the habit
of using a forty-grain bath, but never an acid one, unless absolutely neces-
sary— alwavs a neutral one. If it fogged in the first few pictures, as it
sometimes 'would, he never interfered with it. He used a developer of
twenty grains of iron to the ounce for positives, and fifteen grains for
74
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 186^
negatives ; but varied the proportion according to circumstances. Ho
used a stronger developer for liis positives, because he could thus work
them more expeditiously ; and, being used to it, could always stop it
at the right moment by washing. He agreed with Mr. Turner that
a better picture could be obtained by a iceak than a strong developer. He
used iron first and pyro. afterwards for redeveloping, and intensified
with plain silver and water. He found great difficulty with the pyro.,
as it neutralised the intensity of the silver. He found the addition of
citric acid to the redeveloper acted better. He always filtered his silver
before using, but did not like bichloride of mercury for intensifying.
Mr. Rejlander was of opinion that a weak developer was necessary
to the production of half-tone in the picture.
Dr. Anthony said that a very strong bath was a fertile source of
fogging, and with forty-five to fifty grains lie could never get a clear
picture : forty to forty- five grains required a large quantity of acid. He
agreed with Mr. Turner that the collodion made from the formula he
quoted would not keep. Iodide of potassium might produce a vigorous
picture, but a bromide or other salt of cadmium was necessary for a
stable collodion. For copying purposes he had always got a greater
contrast from using a weak developer, and for reproductions he con-
sidei-ed weak pyro. best, giving the image plenty of time. By the use of
a weak developer for portraits there was too great a contrast of light and
shade, and no half-tones; but half-tone was readily obtained by a strong-
developer. The late Mr. Lacey, of Hyde, used a strong developer, and the
great beaut)'- of his pictures was attributable to his great adroitness in
sweeping the developer over the surface, and thus giving every portion an
equal chance. He (Dr. Anthony) had been somewhat surprised to find
that a strong developer produced a very far superior picture to a weak
one, but in using a strong one everything depended on the expedition of
the operator. He would show the members that much greater richness
could be produced by increasing- the quantity of spirit in, and flashing- a
strong developer across, the plate : there was a penetration of detail
which could never be attained by using a weak one. He would remind the
members that all the best pictures were taken without intensifying,
which gives crudity.
A short discussion upon the strength of the bath for sensitising paper
took place, during which Mr. Rejlander threw out the hint that it would
be advisable to paper-sal ters to print in the corner of each sheet the num¬
ber of grains and the salt used, as being a great boon to the consumer ;
after which Dr. Anthony exhibited two transparent positives produced
by strong development. The meeting was then adjourned.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The adjourned annual meeting of this Society was held on Thursday
evening, the Oth instant, at the Religious Institution Rooms, — Mr. A.
Mactear in the clia:r.
The meeting was a purely business one. After the election of two new
members, the meeting proceeded to the election of office-bearers for the
ensuing year.
It was intimated that Mi1. Kibble declined to accept the Presidentship
of the Society for the next year. The following officers were elected: —
Vice-Presidents — J. Jex Long and A. Mactear. Treasurer — A. Robertson.
Secretary — James Ewing. Council — Messrs. Wilson, J. Spencer, Jun.,
Renfrew, Robb, Brown, J. Douglas, Turnbull, and Ralston.
Brief viva voce reports for the past year were then given by the Trea¬
surer and Secretai’y.
A motion to compel those who exhibit any novelty at the meetings to
describe the manner of their production was altered by its mover, Air.
J. J. Long, to a simple request for such description, which was passed by
a majority.
The meeting was then adjourned.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF MARSEILLES.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Friday, the 31st
ult., — M. Gabriel, President, in the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
The President announced the names of members newly elected,
viz. : — M. de la Blanclffire, of Paris, and M. E. Villot, of Avignon
(corresponding members) ; AIM. Coullet, Aynaud, Oddo d’ Hambeton
and Yuccina. He then produced the correspondence received, and read
a copy of a letter addressed to AI. Niepce de St. Victor, offering the
congratulations of the Society upon the occasion of the award in his
favour, made by the Academy of Sciences, of 500 francs annually for
three years. He also read the answer of AI. Ni&pce de St. Victor,
expressing his gratification at the Society’s kindness in making the
communication to him.
AI. de la Blanclffire forwarded to the Society a copy of his Repertoire
Enc ij elope digue de la Photographic, on the occasion of his election as a
member of the Society, for which gift a vote of thanks was passed.
AIM. A. de Roux and E. Loire laid before the meeting some very fine
impressions of marine views of Alarseilles — the first taken by the dry
collodion process — and some portraits by the wet collodion method,
which were much admired for their beauty, and the President thanked
those gentlemen for exhibiting the same.
AI. Jacquemot, the assistant secretary, then read a paper communinifiil
by AI. Poitevin, On the Chemical Effects of Light* [see page hit], which
was listened to with great interest. When the reading of the paper was
concluded,
AI. Vidal, the director of the scientific discussions, called the attention
of the meeting to the curious chemical effects detailed in the paper, and
proposed a vote of thanks to AI. Poitevin, whose clever re earch< s htu]
thrown so much new light upon the phenomena of photographic
science. — Agreed to.
The Secretary then read a paper upon The Printing of Positives}
forwarded to the Society by AI. Reynaud, of Paris.
AI. Vidal, in proposing a vote of thanks to the author of the paper,
recommended the process to the special attention of those who practise
this art, as containing matters with wliioh they should make themselves
well acquainted.
The President then requested AI. Reitziere to read the judgment given
against AIM. Alayer and Pierson, by the Correctional Court of Paris, on
the Oth ult.
This having been done,
AI. Vidal explained, in a few words, the reasons which had led the
Committee to bring before the meeting a question so interesting to the
art. He regretted that the legal decision was calculated to do a serious
injury thereto, and therefore hoped, as it must necessarily lead to new
debates upon the question, a more complete examination would he entered
upon, and that it would be found that the decision of the Court could
not be sustained.
AI. Reitziere then clearly showed how injurious this decision would
prove. He referred to those who had devoted years of experience and
travel, encountered danger, and incurred expenses, who, by this judgment,
were liable to lose the profits of so much enterprise through the selfish¬
ness of other persons. He illustrated his statement by reference to
the remarkable undertaking of AIM. Bisson Freres in the production of
their views of Alont Blanc and its neighbourhood.
AI. Suchet concurred in the views of the last two speakers, and added
that AIM. Dalloz and Rondu — two gentlemen of eminence as lawyers,
whose opinions in such cases have great weight — consider that the copy¬
right in photographic prints ought to be recognised. The speaker added,
that -without criticising the judges of the Correctional Tribunal, it was
a proper course for the Alarseilles Photographic Society no less to defend
the art than to encourage it, and to give, under the circumstances, its
testimony of sympathy, and also endeavour to interest the Legislature,
against the effect of the late decision — thus affording to the sufferers the
moral support of the Society.
M. Vidal requested the sense of the meeting on the proposition of AI.
Suchet, whose proposal was then unanimously adopted.
AI. AIeynier drew the attention of the meeting to his views on
the intensifying of negatives by means of alkaline sulphides. He
did not see any necessity whatever for the use of sulphate of iron:
any alkaline sulpliuret appeared sufficient to obtain a very dense
negative without affecting the whites. He also directed attention
to some experiments which he had made with collodion washed and
treated with tannin, and also with collodion to which resin had been
added, both of which had furnished him with rapid and constant results.
The addition of benzole to collodion, with which he had experimented,
appeared to increase the sensibility when employed in the wet state —
two comparative experiments having been made, one with the addition
of about 25 per cent., and the other without any addition.
M. ALdal, after having thanked AI. AIeynier for his communication,
explained the causes of failure experienced by his honourable colleague
in the use of tannin. He availed himself of that opportunity of showing
to the meeting some negatives 9£ X 7 J, taken from negatives, on dry
collodion, by the tannin process. [These negatives were very good.J
M. Vidal then remarked that the greatest care was imperatively necessary
if it were desired to avoid spots. He thought that they were sometimes
caused by the introduction of a few drops of nitrate of silver bath between
the glass and the collodion film. In order to guard against this defect,
he (AI. Vidal) had adopted a very simple plan, since which he had been
almost entirely free from such causes of failure. It consisted in passing
round the edge of the plate after it had been thoroughly cleaned a pencil
dipped in a solution of gelatine or collodion. After this gelatinous border
had set the collodion was poured on, and the film by its means was so
firmly retained upon the plate that no fear need be entertained as to its
becoming detached. The rapidity of the tannin process was quite
sufficient, since a very intense negative was obtained in twenty-five
seconds.
In continuation of the experiment commenced at the meeting of De¬
cember, AI. Vidal developed a negative which had been exposed on the
14th December, and with equal success. lie showed also a plate sensi¬
tised on the 12th December, upon which he had obtained a very satis¬
factory picture on the 31st January in less than a quarter of a minute.
They therefore retained their sensibility unimpaired for full six weeks
after sensitising, and were also unaltered in other respects. The impres¬
sion was also equally brilliant.
AI. Vidal promised to describe the whole manipulation connected with
* The paper above-mentioned is the second from M. Poitevin on the same subject*
The first paper appeared in our Number for Peb. 1st.
t This paper will appear in our next— Ed,
February 15, 1862J THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 75
his process very shortly, so as to enable the Society to judge of the pro¬
cess for strengthening negatives by means of sulphide of potassium.
He produced two qiositive prints taken from the same negative — one
before the intensifying process was used, the other after its application.
The meeting thanked M. Yidal for his experiments.
M. Hudelot, on behalf of M. Pongon, exhibited an improved pressure-
frame, and the President requested MM. Hudelot and Tenis to report
on the same at the next meeting.
M. Yidal drew the attention of the meeting to the subject of a
design formed by the Committee for publicly distributing rewards
to successful practitioners, a report on which would be brought for¬
ward at the following meeting. The members were requested to think
over the matter and to aid the Committee with their ideas thereon.
He then proposed, on behalf of the Committee, that a gold medal,
of 500 francs value, should be offered for the production of a pro¬
cess for the preparation of dry plates, by which instantaneous pic¬
tures could be obtained, enforcing his remarks by calling attention to
the importance of the subject, and announced that the conditions of the
award, to be made at the endof 1863 , would be laid before the next meeting
of the Society. Tie also suggested that a medal of 250 francs value might
be properly awarded to the candidate who made the nearest approach to
perfection in the process, al though absolute perfection might not be reached ;
in which case the period for the award of the large prize might be carried
forward to the end of 1864, ivith an augmentation of 300 francs.
This proposal was unanimously agreed to.
Some members of the Committee then undertook to report finally on
the subject, and settle the terms of the competition, after which tile
meeting was adjourned.
|lefo |ioohs.
Traite Populaire de Photographic sur Collodion , &c., par D. van
Monckhoven.
Paris : — Leiber, No. 13, Rue de Seine, St. Germain.
To those who are familiar with French photographic periodical literature
the name of M. van Monckhoven, as the author of a popular treatise
upon an unprecedentedly popular art, will be sufficient guarantee for its
utility and excellence. Our readers will probably have noticed in the
letter from our esteemed Paris correspondent, which appeared recently,
an intimation that the work before us is highly appreciated by Parisian
photographers. Almost simultaneously with the receipt of M, Lacan’s
letter we were favoured also with a copy of the work direct from the author,
from whom also we have special permission to make certain extracts, of
which permission we shall certainly avail ourselves shortly for the
benefit of our readers.
One of the peculiar features of the work consists not so much in its
copious illustration by woodcuts (as that is one common to many
similar productions in this country), but in the fact that the illustrations
are, many of them, of a character which enables the student more
readily — or perhaps we should say with less disadvantage — to dispense
with personal instruction in order to acquire the art ; for a large propor¬
tion of the cuts consists in admirably-executed illustrations of operators
in the act of performing the needful manipulations — simple enough to the
skilled operator, it is true, but presenting almost insurmountable diffi¬
culties to those who have no opportunity of seeing them performed before
attempting them from description. To all such — and their number is con¬
siderable — the work before us will be found indeed a boon ; for, in addition
to the graphic nature of the important illustrations, the whole subject is
treated in a popular manner, in simple language, yet upon principles that
are perfectly sound.
The present treatise is not entirely the woik of M. Monckhoven,
inasmuch as it consists of an abstract of his larger one, the Repertoire
General de Photographie, made by the author’s two friends, MM. A. T. Du¬
pont and F. Deshays, the manuscript having been finally carefully cor¬
rected by the author of the original work.
After glancing at the various photographic processes, a chapter is
devoted to a sort of expanded programme of the course of operations
recommended in the treatise, showing what the operator has to do, leav¬
ing the how it is to be done for detailed instructions in the chapters
which follow. These Heat respectively of the substances which enter
into the composition of collodion — the preparation of photographic collo¬
dion — cleaning the glass plates — of the dark room and laboratory — how
to coat the glass and sensitise the film — photographic apparatus — the
glass room, and how to take pictures — the development of the image —
fixing and strengthening the image — varnishing. Then follow chapters
on dry collodion — on direct positives — on the stereoscope — and on
positive paper printing. To these are appended twelve notes on import¬
ant subjects, with special references to preceding parts of the work, with
which it would be needless to trouble the debutant, but which are highly
useful when he becomes somewhat familiarised with his work.
The author is desirous of his treatise being published in English, and
was good enough to make overtures for our undertaking the translation
and editing the same. The work is one which, without being superior to
several already published in this country, is exceedingly good, is written
in a novel style, and would, no doubt, prove popular. We trust that
H will yet appear in an English dress.
MR. REYNOLDS’S IRON PRINTING PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — So much has recently appeared in the pages of your
valuable Journal, relative to the process for printing photographs
which I proposed some time ago, that I am sure you will permit
me to offer some explanatory remarks respecting it.
What I wish to do now is, not to uphold the novelty of the pro¬
cess in question — for no one can be more convinced than I am now
that it is not new — but rather to assist in rendering “ honour to
whom honour is due,” and to prove that, although a similar process
was already in existence, yet until the week after the publication
of my paper I was not aware of the particular subject having been
broached before.
With regard to the first point, as to who is the original discoverer
of the process, I think, judging from your own observations and
those of others, that Sir J. Herschel is really the author of it. If
such be the case, it is evident that all subsequent observers must
be placed in pretty nearly the same position that I am.
In your last number I saw a letter from Mr. 13. T. Macdonald, in
which he claims piiority of discovery to me, and, therefore, “ any
credit which may attach to this discovery.” I doubt much whether he
would be so anxious now to put in his claim, as he says himself that he
made the observations only about a year ago, so that he must be
added to the list of whatmight be called supplementary discoverers.
It now remains for me to endeavour to prove to your satisfaction
and that of your numerous readers that I really worked out tins
process from the first without receiving any assistance from the
observations of others — in fact, without being aware of such
observations having been made. The whole matter originated in
the following manner : — Some experiments were being carried on
under my direction in the laboratory of the Dublin Chemical
Society, having a particular object in view which it is not neces¬
sary to state here. In one case a solution of oxalic acid was added
to an alcoholic solution of certain organic bodies, in which a per-
salt of iron was known to be present. No precipitate was observed
at first ; but, on looking at the mixture after it had been exposed to
diffused light for a few days, a lemon-yellow crystalline powder
was found to have deposited. It was of importance that the com¬
position of the precipitate should be ascertained : this was done,
and I found it to be an oxalate of the protoxide of iron. Follow¬
ing up the subject without any ulterior object beyond wishing to
gain some precise information respecting these salts, it occurred to
me that the power which the solar rays possessed of reducing
the peroxalate of iron to the state of protoxalate might be made
use of in a photographic sense. This I have done, with what results
you are already aware. Having made the commencement the sub¬
sequent steps of the process are such as -would suggest themselves
to any one engaged in a matter of the kind who was only moderately
acquainted with the reactions of the proto- andper-saltsof iron, more
particularly to one continually engaged in analytical operations.
Such is my explanation of the whole matter. However, I do not
ask you to trust simply to this statement, but would refer you to
a paper of mine on The Oxalates of Iron , which appeared in a
late number of the Chemical News (No. 110, vol. 5), for a confirma¬
tion of what I have said here. You will find therein described
with the necessary minuteness the method adopted to ascertain
the exact nature of the reaction which eusues on treating protox¬
alate of iron with ammonio-nitrate of silver. You will likewise
see that I took advantage of the reaction for the purpose of de¬
termining the correct formula of the protoxalate of iron which
has recently been incorrectly stated.
Trusting you will excuse me for occupying so much of your
space with what may be considered a merely personal matter,
I am, yours, &c., EMERSON J. REYNOLDS.
Dublin , February 1 1th, 1862.
[We may have something to say on this subject in our next
number. — Ed.]
PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — There can be no doubt that, as far as the forthcoming Inter¬
national Exhibition is concerned, the Exhibition of Photographs will be
far from satisfactory. Now, however, it is only possible to regret the
decision to which the Royal Commissioners have come on the subject,
and to put in a strong protest against such treatment of an art which,
it is no exaggeration to say, all conditions of men, in some way or other,
daily make use of and are thankful for.
76
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[February 15, 1862
I do not propose to enter into an argument on the position of photo¬
graphy amongst the fine arts. As far as the present case is concerned
the Commissioners have prejudged the whole matter, and it is therefore
needless.
But I would remind you that this summer, which will find us still
protesting against our grievance, will also find London, and indeed the
whole country, more crowded with foreigners and photographers than is
likely to be the case again for many years. And this summer English
photography will exhibit its progress and condition during the last ten
years in a space somewhere about the size of the rooms in Pall Mall,
and in the good company of lenses, tents, chemicals, cameras, and the
Education Committee. To improve the matter, it has been thought
better not to hold the annual Exhibition.
Under these circumstances, I strongly urge the necessity of holding a
separate Exhibition of Photographs, in order that all who may lake an
interest in the subject may have a fair opportunity of judging of the
skill of English artists. I believe that if photographers will but make
up their minds to this, it would not be difficult to find the means. Indeed
three plans for doing so almost directly suggest themselves.
From the known liberality of the directors of the Crystal Palace I
have no doubt that arrangements might be come to for suitable
exhibition space at Sydenham. And I do not see that the objections to
this are many or great.
The proposed supplementary Exhibition offers another opportunity for
a display of photographs.
Again, the ordinary annual Exhibition might be held in the rooms in
Pall Mall (or other suitable rooms) in the summer. The advantage of
either arrangement would be that copies of photographs might be pur¬
chased on the spot.
I do not urge these as good plans. Doubtless if the matter were
taken up, other and better suggestions would be made. But I do urge,
and urge most strongly, that English photographers should not let this
grand opportunity pass of showing to their continental brethren a
worthy collection of their pictures, and of proving to the world at large
that photography does deserve to be classed with the fine arts.
To you, sir, and to your readers, I commend this consideration : it can
he in no better hands. — I am, sir, yours, &c. E. E.
Cambridge, February 10th, 1862.
[The preceding letter accords very closely with the remarks which -we
have already made in our leading article. We consider that the Council
of the Photographic Society will be guilty of neglect of duty if it does not
find some legitimate vent for the effective exhibition of a mass of valuable
pictures already prepared in the expectation of finding a home in the
World’s Fair. The Crystal Palace would be better than nowhere, but we
fancy a much better locality might be found than at Sydenham. — Ed.]
I first took about an ounce of each (which leaves an excess of TS of an
ounce of acid), and having dissolved the latter in distilled water I added
the iron, and boiled the whole together for about an hour, keeping up the
®^PP'}r water, and conducting the whole operation in the dark. I then
filtered it through bibulous paper, when the fluid came through perfectly
black, while the precipitate was of a brownish red. I did not wash it
the piecipitate being, according to Mr. Reynolds, very soluble, so that it
must have contained much free acid.
I next placed a small portion of it in a test tube, which I nearly filled
with water, and shook well up and set it aside in the dark for twenty-four
hours, when I found the whole had settled to the bottom. I then placed
some more on a china plate, and dried it in strong sunlight, when instead
of forming a yellow powder ” it merely became a few shades browner
I have been over the experiments repeatedly, and have tried adding the
iron and acid according to their respective equivalents, and after boiling
together, adding the excess of acid and filtered through calico, but with a
like result ; and I am driven at last to request Mr. Reynolds to give me
moie information on the subject — it having been my intention to go
through a regular course of experiments on the subject.
It will be a great boon to photographers in general if a cheap salt,
such as the one m question, can be made to supersede the silver: it is
however, by many believed that it will never rise to be anything beyond
an interesting experiment, as it is thought to be far less stable and more
easily oxidised by the chemical agents more or less always present in
the atmosphere than the salts of silver. J
, 1 am> y°uls, &c., MARTIN HENRY PAYNE,
2nd Feb. 1862.
[No wonder our correspondent has failed, having thrown away the
solution of the salt made in what he calls the black fluid, and preserved
only the excess of insoluble per-oxide of iron.— -Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Bothered. — Oxide of silver will correct it.
LEEos.-We gave all the information that had reached us.
Or ™1.xture °/ th.e,two kinds suit you best we imagine
turbed a^ a jo~keH f°rg0ttcn hlS youth ev,dentl-v> or he would not be so dis-
S. D.— I. W._ c. J. F. — Typo. — M. Growler. — F Smith _ and several
others. Received. See leader in reply. ITH’ and several
n P'71* Not W01'th a straw. — 2. Take number five of the lenses named _ I
GTdr\vT°,° mucl? Chl0ride:. half the quantity is enough named-3'
1 • L. YY e do not intend taking part in the controversy. We regret that our
Tb^T ”“'‘°"edlhreini but it was not a matfer under Tr font™"
k., LAKE- "e have made arrangements for some original articles by the
Indicate!”1 ^ "am'' “ W'" not therefore be >» translate whaTyou
THE MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
To the Editor.
Dear Sir, — In common with several of your subscribers I shall be
glad to know what the Manchester Society is doing in the matter
between Messrs. Dancer and Pyne, both of whom are, I believe, on the
Council of that Society. It has been referred to in police reports. I
should also add that I always look out for reports of the Manchester
meetings, and some time has elapsed since I was gratified with the
sight of one. I am, yours, &c., PHOTOPIIILUS.
February 8th, 1862.
[The first matter referred to in the above communication is one falling
peculiarly within the province of the Council of the Society to deal with.
With respect to the second point named, we have had an explanatory
note from the Secretary stating that as the whole of the evening of the
8th ult. was occupied with an exhibition of pictures on the screen, there
was no report to send for publication. Our correspondent will find the
proceedings of the last meeting duly reported in the present number. — Ed.]
PORTABLE BACKGROUNDS.
To the Editor.
Dear Sir,— In thanking you for your detailed description of the
making of a portable background for out-door portraiture, I also wish to
thank your correspondent, “Another Amateur,” for pointing out to
me a few of its defects; but I cannot see how they are to be avoided in
both our cases, as it would never do to lceep it out of doors — so I think I
shall commence to make one according to your description, but before
doing so I shall call on the Messrs. Bull, of Great Queen Street. With
thanks for past favours, and hoping I am not too late for your next,
February 10th, 1862. I am, yours, &c:, AMATEUR.
PER-OXALATE OF IRON.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In the Journal for the first of January there is an interesting
article by Mr. Reynolds, On a New Process for Photographic Printing, by
employing the oxalate of the per-oxide of iron instead of nitrate of silver
for sensitising the paper. If Mr. Reynolds would kindly give some more
definite directions for making that salt he would greatly oblige me and
perhaps many others of his readers. He merely says — “The oxalate of
the per-oxide may be prepared by dissolving hydrated per-oxide of iron in
a solution of oxalic acid;” and further directs an excess of acid to be
given.
nl'otop-ranbc • imt : ‘ intention to award medals tor the best
andved 2. not aware that any absolute decision has yet been
GROTtus.-Messrs. Murray and Heath will no doubt attend to your in
K ourS o“J„7as aT?adTarrtiyofeU dKir' &rra °f "&ther it'
Querist.— I ou cannot produce stereographs, properly so called from an
remove the .tains ‘y) ™a,d- int° a thick Cream with water wi!1
lemove tne stains, it you are not too much in a hurry
J 7a,F£ lltZn?UC'1 a, S-,“S0S“Pic le™ « you mention will no t do
to allow all Of Li h “?Ral T* 1 y?U ai'e recluiring too many applications
That which U Wt f ^ finalities for each purpose to be comprised in one lens,
that which is best for architectural subjects so as to ensure freedom from dis
beSi f°? (:inStanta-ous ” pic^sfthe'rmerbetng
combination lens with n nS" ^ nln h y°n refiu*re f°r cartes de visite a double
separate lens forZtZ'my field' We should advise you to have a
separate lens foi the latter purpose, and a pair of stereoscopic lenses as well.
Ad ^ditorial, Communication. s, Books for Review <&c should
MeXntn, N GE°RGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
to ie Letters 0,1 the Business of this Journal
to_be_addressed to the Publisher, 82, Castle Street, Liverpool.
London Co r r e sp o nd e nt s7mght*t o en sure ittfdpfiv, Proyinoial Booksellers to their
and Ireland on the day of publi eating tLdelf,er? ln anV Part of Great Britain
MARLBOROUGH & d 4,AvT& L^ndoUVllolesale Agents are E.
perieneed in so procuring it uunetnam? iXane’ B.C.— When any difficulty is ex-
Publisher, HEMRY direct to the
CONTENTS,
LEADER .
ON THE MANUFACTURE OF COLLODION 55
By THOMAS SEBASTIAN DAVtk ' c„
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOr GRTNDTNr °
LENSES (With Diagrams)
ON THE CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT.
By M. A. POITEVIN . ™
T ^^„®^GUURREOTYPE PROCESS. By C.
bUltiiY . . .
PRACTICAL OPTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.’ ’ By
J- ROTHWEUL. No. XII . 61
n.,w„.?£VV VARNISH FOR GLASS POSI-
VAN MONCKHOVEN . 61
R^JiAI[CHE8 0N THU PHOTOGRAPHIC
UROTUR'ITES OF THE BROMIDES AND
IODIDES OF SILVER, &c. By M. E. Reynaud 62
„„ PAGE
ON PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY. By J. PARRY 63
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM By JAMES
MARTIN .
STEREOGRAPHS . .' .
EASTWARD HO ! . " . 66
PARIS CORRESPONDENCE: Letter Bom Paris.
By M. LACAN . 66
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER : ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . 68
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 70
NEW BOOKS . .. . 75
CORRESPONDENCE U . 75
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac .
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 161, Vol. IX.— MARCH 1, 1862.
Mr. E. J. Reynolds on Iron Printing. — In our last we pub-
sliecl a letter in explanation from Mr. Reynolds relative to the
apposed new iron printing process suggested by him; but, as it
ime to hand only just before “going to press,” we had no time to
lquire into the accuracy of the statements therein put forth.
Fe have now done so, and are convinced that Mr. Reynolds
as no plagiarist, although he had long before been forestalled
i the bulk of his photographic investigations relative to the
eroxolate of iron. On reference to Mr. Reynolds’s article in
le Chemical News, to which he solicits our attention, we find
•me points which may be of interest to our readers, and there-
>re cull the following extracts : —
“ About a year and a-half ago, in the course of some experiments, I bad
Rained a solution of a persalt of iron in strong alcohol. On adding
:alic acid no precipitate was observed at first, but, after being exposed
ordinary light for a few days, a yellow crystalline deposit was observed :
i examination of the minute precipitate was sufficient to convince me
at it was a compound of oxalic acid with protoxide of iron. Not finding
ly information on this subject in the ordinary ‘ Handbooks,’ I referred
Berzelius’s Traite de Chemie, and found that Dobereiner had noticed
is remarkable reaction which took place under the influence of the
lar rays many years ago. Following up the subject, without any
terior object beyond -wishing to obtain some information respecting
ese salts, it occurred to me that the power which the actinic rays pos-
ssed of reducing the peroxalate of iron to the state of protoxalate
ight be made use of in a photographic point of view. It would be out
place for me to speak now of the modus operandi of my process for
•inting by light based on this reaction, as a notice of it has already
ipeared in a late number of this Journal. It is sufficient to say that the
suits of the experiments which were necessary in working out the pro-
ss have given me the means of establishing the correct formula for
:alate of the protoxide of iron.” *****
“ Reactions of the Oxalates of Iron. — Under this head I merely wish to
■aw attention to the theoretical explanation of the change which occurs
i exposing oxalate of peroxide of iron to ordinary light; and likewise
demonstrate the nature of the reaction which takes place on treating
otoxalate of iron with ammonio-nitrate of silver.
“ According to Dobereiner, the following equation represents the
ange which takes place on exposing solution of peroxalate of iron to
o light : —
C12Fe4024 = (C4Fea08) + C02.
“ The sensitive surface which I use in printing by light is the ammonio-
L'ric oxalate, which has no solvent action on the deposit of protosalt
fmed under the influence of light; whereas, if the plain peroxalate
sre used, the moment water was applied to the paper it would dissolve
d attack the oxalate of the protoxide, over which it exerts considerable
Ivent power. I only mention this to show my reason for using one
It in preference to another.
“ The equation which Dobereiner has given for expressing the de-
mposition under the influence of the solar rays is, doubtless, quite
rrect when the persalt is in solution ; hut, when the persalt is in the
lid state and exposed to the rays of the sun, it blackens. If the black¬
ed powder be now immersed in water the yellow protosalt is im-
ediately produced. This fact was first noticed by Dr. Pliipson, and I
ive frequently had occasion to corroborate the observation. It appears
me to be very probable that this black substance is the protoxalate in
e anhydrous condition, which, on coming in contact with water, assimi-
tes two equivalents, thus becoming the ordinary hydrated oxalate. I
ive not yet had timo to verify this supposition.
“ With regard to the reaction between ammonio-nitrate of silver and
otoxalate of iron, I think the following equation will show more clearly
an words can the nature of the decomposition which occurs. The ex¬
perimental grounds on which it is based have been already given in the
first part of this paper: —
(Fe0,C203 ) + (AgO, NO, + NH40 )=
Fe„03 + Ag+ (AgO,C203) + NH40 + (NH40,N04.)
“I need only remark that the excess of ammonia holds the oxalate of
silver in solution, from which it is precipitated on neutralising the free
alkali.”
M. Mc -A. Gaudin, the editor of the French Photographic
journal, La Lumiere, has shown much interest in connexion
with Mr. Reynolds’s paper. He has reproduced also much of the
discussion, and in the last number of his Journal makes the
following observations with reference thereto. After alluding
to Mr. Hannaford’s remarks, he says: — “ He is perfectly correct
when he states that the development of the impression by
means of nitrate of silver would form chloride of silver in the
paper which a simple washing would be insufficient to remove,
and which, sooner or later, -would deteriorate the light. Mr.
Reynolds, on the other hand, says that these chlorides ought to
be eliminated by the excess of ammonia which exists in the
ammonio-nitrate of silver. This salt has always an alkaline
reaction on test paper ; but if it contain in reality free ammonia,
this ammonia, capable indeed of dissolving easily chloride of
silver, will decompose also the oxalate of iron, producing free
oxide of iron, which would colour the paper yellow without
remedy. But will ammonio-nitrate of silver, worthy of this name
• — that is to say, prepared with excess of ammonia, then boiled —
dissolve chloride of silver ? It appears to me doubtful. I am
unable at present to throw any light relative to this fact ; but
without reckoning, like Mr. Reynolds, on the free ammonia,
which I do not believe exists, I think however that the solvent
power of the ammonio-nitrate of silver would be sufficiently
strong to remove naturally the slight traces of chloride of silver
formed spontaneously in the papers of commerce.
“ I have continued to make experiments, in order to arrive
at producing by this process proofs without recourse to nitrate
of silver. I have proved that the peroxalate of iron is more
sensitive writh a slight excess of oxalic acid, and, above all,
when combined with some organic matter such as gelatine ; and
I expected even by this last addition to obtain impressions that
would well resist the washing, in consequence of the coagulation
of the gelatine. I have been deceived in my expectations.
Washing with water causes the impression to disappear rapidly,
and almost entirely, leaving only a general yellowish tint,
which, with tincture of nut-galls, forms a negative image.
“ Impressionability is always very slow, and I begin to be¬
lieve that this process, which at first had attracted me, offers
no superiority over the iron processes already published.”
Photographic Piracy, and Property in the Negative. —
We have frequently felt our indignation rising when noticing
in some shop windows in the metropolis, exposed for sale,
numerous photographic portraits that were palpably only copies
from proofs upon paper which had unquestionably been taken
without the consent of the owners of the original negatives ;
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 180$
78
for no one would be so suicidal as to place sucli inferior pro¬
ductions in the market, to the detriment bo h of his pocket and
reputation. As bearing upon this questii n we would direct the
attention of our readers to the report of a trial which will be
found in another column, the well-known eminent photo¬
grapher, Mr. Mayall, being the plaintiff in the action. The
issue we regard as certainly satisfactory; for, though a point of
law is reserved, the learned Judge has not hesitated to pronounce
upon the equity of the case. This brings us to the considera¬
tion of another question of no trifling importance, viz., in whom
rests the property of the negative ? It is not quite so easy to
answer this question satisfactorily as might at first be supposed.
Of course we are presuming that no specific agreement has
been entered into respecting it. There can be no question
as to the right of property when a photographer has taken the
negative of a landscape on his own account, and with his own
materials ; but we refer more particularly to negatives of
portraits taken in the ordinary course of a professional photo¬
grapher’s business.
It is a common practice to make a certain charge for one
copy of a portrait, subsequent copies being usually supplied, and
reasonably so, at a very much reduced rate. We presume the
understanding is pretty general that the higher sum paid for the
first copy is to cover the cost of taking the negative. It may be
contended that as this higher sum is charged for taking the
negative it therefore becomes the property of the sitter or
purchaser of the original photograph; but, on the other hand,
it must not be forgotten that also, as a rule, extra copies are
offered to be supplied at a lower rate, though at one higher than
would pay for the mere cost of printing — therefore this would
seem to imply a property of some kind on the part of the ope¬
rator or his principal. The question for solution then is, what
amount of interest can each party to the transaction claim
according to law, and who is entitled to the custody of the
negative ? Regarding the latter, we apprehend that custom
would rule in the absence of any express stipulation, and there
can be no doubt that custom is in favour of the retention by
the photographer of the negative.
But then arises another difficulty. If the negative be the
property of the photographer and not of the photographee, what
is to prevent the former from publishing as many proofs from
any negative as he may please, possibly to the intense annoyance
of the original? Of course we do not imagine that any of our
artist-photographers of high standing would attempt to adopt
such a course ; but the case supposed is quite within the range
of probabilities, and will, no doubt, have to be decided one day
or other. There are several other points of view from which
these questions might be argued, and we may ere long return
to them.
American Correspondence. — We have much pleasure in
introducing to our readers, as our special American Correspon¬
dent, Mr. Coleman Sellers, whose first direct communication
will be found in the present number. Mr. Sellers, besides being
a photographer of no mean repute, is connected with the
engineering profession, and in frequent communication with
many men of scientific pursuits in the American States. Mr.
Sellers proposes to keep our readers au courant with all that
passes of interest in our art on his side of the Atlantic. It
would be a work of supererogation to bespeak for him a hearty
welcome.
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS.
By James Martin.
PEOTOXALATE OF IRON.
Synonymes — Ferrous Oxalate.
Composition — Fc 0, C2 O3 + 4 HO.
Equivalent — 108.
Preparation. — Though the attention of photographers has but
recently been directed to this substance, it has been known to
chemists and mineralogists for many years. In works on the
latter science it is described as being found in brown coal Btrata,
in the form of Humboldtine or iron-resin, possessing a yellow colour,
and a specific gravity of 213. It rarely occurs in capillary crystals;
generally in crude masses, of fibrous granular or compact texture,
somewnat liarder than gypsum. It is easily friable, and vs lieu
heated on charcoal yields a vegetable odour and a black residue
(Fe3, O')) which is magnetic, 'there aie two ways of preparing
this substance artificially, the simplest is by the decomposition of
protosulphate of iron by means ol oxalate ol ammonia. A solutiou
of 139 grains of protosulphate ol iron is made in four ounces ol dis¬
tilled water, and to this, when filtered, is added a solution of 71
grains of oxalate ammonia in other lour ounceB of distilled water.
The interchange of the proximate constituents of these two solu¬
tions results in the formation of sulphate of ammonia, which
remains in solution, and protoxalate of iron, which is precipitated
in the form of a yellow powder difficultly soluble in water. The
same substance may be obtained by acting on clean iron wire
with a solution of oxalic acid : hydrogen gas is at first
disengaged, and by degrees the liquid deposits a bright yellow
powder of protoxalate of iron. This solution of iron in oxalic
acid possesses a sweetish astringent taste, and, during its prepara¬
tion, and before the acid is completely saturated, if set aside and
allowed to cool, yields yellowish-green prisms, very soluble and
efflorescent, which appear to be an acid protoxalate of iron, or
probably an oxalate of the black oxide of iron, i.e. ferroso-ferrric
oxide. The fact, however, which is most interesting to photo¬
graphers is that the same salt precipitates spontaneously on exposing an
acicl solution of per oxalate of iron to the sun's rays.
Properties. — These have been incidentally described in treating
of the preparation. The salt is soluble in excess of oxalic acid, and
also in a solution of peroxalate of iron ;* and, although precipitated on
mixing moderately strong solutions of the appropriate reagents, it
cannot strictly be regarded as absolutely insoluble in water.
Uses. — The protoxalate of iron has as yet received no direct
application in photography.
Impurities. — This salt can hardly be said to have taken a position
as a commercial article, and would doubtless, therefore, if purchased
at a chemist’s, be supplied in a state of virgin purity. .
Tests would, therelore, be hardly necessary. Should it be desired,
however, to submit a specimen for examination, it may be men¬
tioned that 108 grains being heated to redness should leave a
residue of 40 grains of peroxide of iron.
PEROXALATE OF IRON.
8 ynonymes — Ferric Oxalate.
Composition— Fes O3 C2 O3.
Equivalent — 116. t
Preparation. — According to the authorities cited by Gmelin—
namely, Bergman and Bucholz — this salt is produced when hydrated
ferric oxide, i.e. peroxide of iron, is treated with oxalic acid not in
excess, or when oxalate of ammonia is added to a solution of a
pet salt of iron. In the latter case the alkaline oxalate, which
should not be in excess, results in the gradual production of a pre¬
cipitate of a lemon-yellow colour nearly insoluble in water, and
separating in the form of an ochre when boiled with water. This
may be regarded as the normal peroxalate of iron, and it is this
salt which, on being treated with excess of oxalic acid, yields a solu¬
tion which, when exposed to ordinary daylight, becomes gradually
of a yellowish-green colour, continually gives off carbonic acid, and
deposits crystals of ferrous oxalate, till all the iron is converted
into that salt, and the liquid becomes colourless.
Pi operties." — -In considering these, it is important to understand
clearly the distinctions between what is usually described by che¬
mists as peroxalate of iron and that which seems likely to come
into use among photographers. The former is described as a diffi¬
cultly soluble yellow powder, long in subsiding from the mixed
solutions in which it is produced, and which is taken up again by
excess of oxalic acid. (It may be mentioned, incidentally, .that this
property which oxalic acid possesses, of dissolving the insolu 0;
persalts of iron, gives rise to its application in the removal ofmon-
moulds, which it does without injuring the texture of the fabric so
treated.) To resume : the latter salt, which may be called the
photographic salt, is an acid solution of the former, having & 3e
lowish-green colour, which it gradually loses on exposure to hg 1 >
suffering decomposition into carbonic acid and protoxalate 0 iron.
* This latter fact has an important hearing on the method of printini' with pei ox»late
of iron, the exposure of which to light pives rise to the format on of pro o which!
through the decom) osition of a part of the p. roxalate. ft.e lmniers on in w. te
follows the withdrawal from the pressure-frame allows the composed p '
enter into soution, when it exercises a solvent art on on ^Jed b,
destroys the sharpness of the outlines of the picture. This result maj be
washing the print in acid oxalate of awinowa instead of m water.
79
March 1, 1803] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
which is deposited from the solution in the form of a yellou y powder,
which is the hydrated salt. If, however, paper be saturated with
the persalt, dried, and exposed to light, the protosalt resulting from
the exposure is not yellow, but of a dark greenish tinge : this is the
protosalt in the anhydrous condition, which speedily assumes the
yellow colour on immersion in water.
Uses. — These will be found fully described in a paper read by
Mr. Emerson J. Reynolds before the Dublin Chemical Society, and
published at page 9 of the present volume. The advantages to
accrue from its use, as therein set forth, seem to be bheapness,
rapidity of production, and increased permanency in the photo¬
graph. These points, however, can scarcely be regarded as fully
established until the accumulated experience of a number of photo¬
graphers has been brought to bear on the matter.
Impurities. — Under this head similar remarks apply to those
nade in reference to the protosalt. The only defect likely to occur
n a purchased article would be a deficiency of base, arising from
nadvertent exposure to light; to avoid which the amateur had
>etter prepare his own salt — a very simple operation, requiring
nly a limited supply of apparatus.
Tests. — A rough estimate of the value of solutions of this salt
nay be formed by the vivacity with which it disengages carbonic
cid gas on exposure to direct sunlight.
[Our next number will contain an article on this subject from
he pen of Mr. Emerson J. Reynolds.]
- — O-. -
THE EARLY HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Ye publish, by permission, the following correspondence, involving
aany points of interest worthy of recording in connexion with the
arly history of photography on paper. Already several whose
ames have been associated from the commencement with the rise
nd progress of our art have passed away from amongst us ; and
t is advisable to secure the testimony of some who are still living
dative to the earlier investigations, in order that our history may
ot in the future bo at fault relative to certain matters ol fact : —
From Lyndon Smith, Esq., to the Rev. J. B. Eeade.
^ e Leeds, Bee. 12, 1859.
Pear bin,— l am preparing a lecture on photography, to be read before
le Church Institute here, and I am taking the liberty of writing to ask
m a question or two about your early connexion with the art. My
ading certainly inclines me to think that photography on paper owes
ore to you than to any one, and that Fox Talbot has received far
'O large a share of the honour of the invention. I should like to know,
nvever, when you first used iodide of silver, and what led you to sub-
itute it for the chloride? Talbot seems to have used it first for fixing
id says it is quite insensitive to light. Did you take the idea from the
iguerreotype ?
Then, as to gallic acid, you did not (I believe) use it first as a developant,
it simply because it gave you greater intensity. Did you not discover
lat developing property after Fox Talbot’s publication of his method?
have been told you are a Leeds man : may I take the liberty of asking
hether this is true ? I shall only be too glad to greet you as a towns-
an. I trust you may find time and opportunity to satisfy me on these
nnts ; and any other information in the history of the art will be thank-
y received. Again apologising for thus troubling you, believe me
sar sir, yours truly, ’
Rev. J. B. Reade. LYNDON SMITH.
Fioni the Rev. J. B. Reade to Lyndon Smith, Esq.
Ellesbro' Iiectory, Trirtg, Dec. 16, 1859-
Dear Sir —Let me say, first of all, with reference to the close of your
) e, that, like other Yorkshiremen, I ani proud of my county and of
y native town ; and I only regret that my distance 'from Leeds will
fevent me from being present at the Grammar School anniversary on
0 “Yi \ lnstant» a 110tice of which I have just received. I will also
act iat your note lias been delayed for a few days in consequence of
i ei i or in the address. I left Stone a few months ago, after residing
°£i, , y twenfy years, and I have now taken the adjoining Rectorv
Ellesbro , on the presentation of Lady Frankland Russell, and Trin’g
my post town. So much for preliminaries,
our photographic queries will receive a general reply from the account
my Early Experiments in Photography,” of which I beg to forward
in a cojiy. It was published in the Philosophical Magazine for Mav,
^ * ’i °Fa * heard of Talbot’s legal proceedings, and it naturally led
i2J,nS PU«ed in the witness-box by. the defendant, Laroche. I
10 1 ogr a ph i e ^pli e nomeiia! ^ PaP°r’ Which Contaills one or tvvo allusiulls to
klVra^Tnsh&'r 7 ry claimJt0 bo thc first to suggest the use of gallic
er Thosp a -L +1 0 . PiePar°d paper, and hyposulphite of soda as a
d Khrm • >(i . ai°. 10 Tke-vstoncs ,°t the arch at which Davy and Young
w vai-ffW j tr°l> aS ma^ Sa^ 111 ^10 Lnguage of another science, we
y v i y the tones as we please, but here is the fundamental bass. My
use of gallate of silver was the result of an inference from Wedgwood’s
experiments with leather. Mrs. Reade was so good as to give me a pair of
light coloured leather gloves that I might repeat Wedgwood’s experiments;
and, as my friend Mr. Akerman reminds me, her little objection to let me
have asecond pair led me to say — “ Then I will tan paper.” Accordingly, I
used infusion of galls, in the first instance, in the early part of thc year
1867, when I was engaged in taking photographs of microscopic objects.
By a new arrangement of lenses in tiie solar microscope I produced a
convergence of thc rays of light, while the rays of heat, owing to their
different refractions, were parallel or divergent. This fortunate dispersion
of the calorific rays enabled me to use objects mounted in balsam, as well
as cemented achromatic object glasses; and, indeed, such was the cool¬
ness of the illumination, that even infusoria in single drops of water
were perfectly happy and playful. ( Vide abstracts of the Philosophical
Transactions, Dec. 22, 1836 ) The continued expense of an artist —
thougli at first I employed my friend, Lens Aldons, to copy the pictures
on the screen — was out of the question. I therefore fell back, hut with¬
out any sanguine expectations as to the result, upon the photographic
process adopted by Wedgwood, with which I happened to he well ac¬
quainted. 1 was a weary while, however, before any satisfactory impres¬
sion was made either on chloride or nitrate paper. I succeeded better
with white leather ; hut my fortunate inability to replenish the little stock
of this latter article induced me to a] ply the tannin solution to paper, and
thus I was at once placed, by a very decided step, in advance of earlier
experimenters, and I had the pleasure of succeeding where Talbot
acknowledges that he failed.
Naturally enough, the solution which I used at first was too strong;
but, if you have ever been in what I may call the agony of a find, you can
conceive my sensations on witnessing the unwilling paper become in a few
seconds almost as black as my hat. There was just a passing glimpse of
outline — “ and, in a moment, all was dark.” It was evident, however,
that I was in possession of all, and more than all, I wanted, and that the
dilution of so powerful an accelerator would probably give successful results.
The large amount of dilution greatly surprised me, and, indeed, before I
obtained a satisfactory picture the quantity of gallic acid in the infusion
must have been quite homoeopathic ; hut this is in exact accordance with
modern practice and known laws. In reference to this point, Sir John
Herschel, writing from Slough, in April, 1840, says to Mr. Redman, then
of Peckliam (where I had resided), and now a photographic artist in Corn-
hill : — “lam surprised at the weak solutions employed, and how, with
such, you have been able to get a depth of shadow sufficient for so ver}’-
sharp a re-transfer is to me marvellous.” I may speak of Mr. Ledmau
as a photographic pupil of mine, and at my request lie communicated the
process to Sir John, which, “on account of the extreme clearness and
sharpness of the results,” to use Sir John’s words, much interested him.
Dr. Diamond also, whose labours are universally appreciated, first saw
my early attempts at Peckliam in 1837, and heard of my use of gallate of
silver, and was thus led to adopt what Admiral Smyth then called “a
quick mode of taking had pictures ;” hut — as I told the Admiral in re pi}' —
he was born a baby. Whether our philosophical baby is “out of irs teens”
may he a question — at all events, it is a very fine child, and handles the
pencil of nature with consummate skill.
But of all the persons who heard of my new accelerator, it is most
important to state that my old and valued friend, the late Andrew Ross,
told Mr. Talbot how first of all by means of the solar microscope I threw
the image of the object on prepared paper, and then, while the paper was
yet wet, washed it over with the infusion of galls, when a sufficiently
dense negative was quickly obtained. In the celebrated trial, “ Talbot versus
Laroche,” Mr. Talbot, in his cross-examination and in an almost breathless
court, acknowledged that he had received this information from Ross,
and from that moment it became the unavoidable impiession that he was
scarcely justified in taking out a patent for applying my accelerator to
any known photogenic paper.
The three known papers were those impregnated with the nitrate, the
chloride, and the iodide of silver — the two former used by Wedgwood
and Young, and the latter by Davy. It is true that Talbot says of the
iodide of silver that it is quite insensitive to light, and so it is as he
makes it; hut when he reduces it to the condition described by Davy,
viz., affected hv the presence of a little free nitrate of silver, then he
must acknowledge, with Davy, that “it is far more sensitive to the
action of light than either the nitrate or the muriate, and is evidently
a distinct compound.” In this state also the infusion of galls or
gallic acid is, as we all know, most decided and instantaneous, and so I
found it to he in my early experiments. Of course I tried the effect cf
my accelerator on many salts of silver, but especially upon the iodide,
in consequence of my knowledge of Davy’s papers on iodine in ilie
Philosophical Ti ansactions. These I had previously studied, in conjunction
with my chemical friend, Mr. Hodgson, then of Apothecaiies’ Hall. I
did imt, however, use iodised paper, which is well described by Talbot in
the Philosophical Magazine for March, 1S38, as a substitute for other sen¬
sitive papers, hut only as one among many experiments alluded to in my
letter to Mr. Bray ley.
My pictures were exhibited at the Royal Society, and also at Lord
Northampton's, at his lordship’s request, in April, 1839. when Mr. Talbot
also exhibited his. In my letter to Mr. Brayh-y I did not describe
iodised pictures, and, therefore, it was held that exhibition in the
absence of description left the process legally unknown. Mr. Talbot
consequently felt justified in taking out a patent for unitin'? my hwvn
80
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1802
accelerator with Davy’s Jenown sensitive silver compound, adopting my
method (alreadv communicated to him') with reference to Wedgwood’s
papers and adding specific improvements in manipulation. Whatever
varied opinion may consequently be formed as . to the defence of the
patent in court, there can be but one as to the skill of the patentee.
It is obvious that, in the process as conducted by me with the solar
microscope I was virtually roithin my camera , standing between the object
and the prepared paper. Hence the exciting and developing processes
were conducted under one operation (subsequently patented by Talbot),
and the fact of a latent image being brought out was not forced upon my
attention. I did, however, perceive this phenomenon upon one occasion,
after I had been suddenly called away, when taking an impression of the
Trientalh Europoea —and surprised enough I was, and stood m astonish¬
ment to look at it. But with all this, I was only, as the Judge said,
“very hot .” I did not realise the master fact that the latent image which
had been developed was the basis of photographic manipulation. The
merit of this discovery is Talbot’s, and his only, and I honour him
greatly for his skill and earlier discernment. I was indeed myself fully
aware that the image darkened under the influence of my sensitiser, while
I placed my hand before the lens of the instrument to stop out the light,
and my solar mezzotint , as 1 then termed it, was in fact brought out and
perfected under my own eye by the agency of gallic acid in the infusion,
rather than by the influence of direct solar action. But the notion of
developing a latent image in these microscopic photographs never crossed
my mind even after I had witnessed such development in the Trientulis
Europoea. My original notion was that the infusion of galls, added to the
wet chloride or nitrate paper while the picture was thrown upon it, pro¬
duced only a new and highly-sensitive compound , whereas, by its pecu¬
liar and continuous action after the first impact of light on the now
sensitive paper, I was also, as Talbot has shown, employing its property
of development as well as of excitement. My ignorance of its piopeiti.es
was no bar to its action. However, I threw thebcdl, and Talbot caught it,
and no one can be more willing than myself to acknowledge oui obligations
to this distinguished photographer. He compelled the uoild to listen to
him, and he had something worth hearing to communicate ; and it is a
sufficient return to me that he publicly acknowledged his obligation to
me with reference to what Sir David Brewster calls “ an essential part of
his patent” [vide North British Review, No. 14, Article— 11 Photography”).
Talbot did not patent any valuable fixer. Here I had the advantage of
having published my use of hyposulphite of soda which Mr. Hodgson
made "for me in 1837, when London did not contain an ounce of it for
sale. The early operators had no fixer. That was tlieir fix; and, so far
as any record exists, they got no further in this direction than ‘[imagining
some experiments on this subject.” I tried ammonia, but it acted too
energetically on the picture itself to be available for the purpose. It led
however, to the am monio -nitrate process of piintmg positives, a
description of which process (though patented by Talbot in 1843) I sent to
a photographic brother in 1839, and a quotation from my letter of that date
has already appeared in one of my communications to Notes and Queries.
On examining Brande’s Chemistry, under the hope of still finding the
desired solvent which should have a greater affinity for the simple silver
compound on the uncoloured part of the pictuie than foi the poition
blackened by light, I happened to see it stated, on Sir John Herschel’s
authority, that hyposulphite of soda dissolves chloride of silver. I need
not now say that I used this fixer with success. The world, however,
would not have been long without it ; for, when Sir John himself became
a photographer in the following year, he first of all used hyposulphite of
ammonia, and then permanently fell back upon the properties of his other
compound Two of my solar microscope negatives taken in 1837, and ex¬
hibited with several others by Mr. Brayley in 1839, as illustrations of my
letter and of his lecture at the City of London Institution, are now in the
possession of the London Photographic Society. They are, no doubt, the
earliest examples of the agency of two chemical compounds which will
be co existent with photography itself, viz., gallate of silver and hypo¬
sulphite of soda ; and my use of them, as above described, will sanction
my claim to be the first to take paper pictures rapidly and to fix them
permanently. . . ,
Such is a short account of my contribution to this interesting branch ot
science and in the pleasure of the discovery I have a sufficient reward.
I have thus written with perfect freedom to a fellow-townsman, and
at his request , otherwise I should not have troubled the world with my
5 t(j now place it in your hands, and remain, my dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
Lyndon Smith, Esq. j- B. READE.
From Lyndon Smith, Esq., to the Rev. J. B. Reade.
Leeds, Dec. 23rd, 1859.
Dear Sir,— I am really very much indebted and obliged to you for your
kind letter containing so much valuable and useful information, and feel
ashamed to have put you to so much trouble ; but this only convinces
me that your attachment to art and science must be strong indeed to in¬
duce you to go so much out of the way at the request of a stranger. I
am now quite satisfied that your claims to be considered the photo¬
grapher are most abundantly proved, and I shall not have the slightest
hesitation in expressing the same in my lecture ; and 1 am sure it will
be as great a pleasure to my audience to know that a townsman holds
so distinguished a place amongst the pioneers of the art as it is tojinyself.
Believe me, dear Sir,
Yours, most truly,
Rev. J. B. Reade. LYNDON SMITH.
From Lyndon Smith, Esq., to George Siiadrolt.
Leeds, Feb. 19 th, 1862.
Dear Sir, — I received your note this morning relative to some corres¬
pondence (between the Rev. J. B. Reade and myself) at a time when I
was preparing a lecture on photography for the Mechanics Institute
here, and which, it appears, you wish to publish. As far as my share
goes you are quite at liberty to publish what you think fit : though, ae
my letters were penned “off-hand,” there may be inaccuracies or strong
expressions which may require correcting. I have forwarded you by
post the long and interesting letters of Mr. Reade, which give an admi¬
rable exposition of his early experiments ; and I must say that my
opinion, formed at the time of the correspondence, is still unchanged—
that he is really the inventor of the calotype process, and that lie has
certainly not received the credit due to him. *
Believe me, dear Sir, yours truly,
G. Shadbolt, Esq. LLNDON 8MITH.*|
From the Rev. J. B. Reade to George 'Shadbolt.
Ellesbro’ Rectory, Bring, Feb. 24, 1862.
My dear Sir, — I return your pi’oof slip with a few corrections ; and I
have added, injustice to Talbot, a distinct answer to the question from
Mr. Smith as to my “ substitution ” of iodide of silver for that of chloride.
I did not propose such substitution, because I worked much better with
the other papers. I now know that the real cause ot my failure was the
too great strength of the infusion of galls I used with it. In point of fact
the same objection applies to Talbot’s patent as specified. His sensitising
solution of gallic acid is found by subsequent and improved practice to be
nine or ten times too strong ; and it produces, therefore, such an unstable
equilibrium as to cause the surface of the paper when exposed in the
camera to be generally decomposed before a picture can properly be taken.
Also, under the patented directions for iodising the paper, so large an
excess of iodide of potassium remains in it that the subsequent addition
of the gallo-nitrate forms only a larger quantity of iodide of silver, in¬
stead of producing the sensitiveness aimed at. The specification, there¬
fore, fails as a working process. I occasionally succeeded pretty well with
iodide of silver formed on glazed cards, because in this case I used acetic
acid to expel carbonic acid from the white lead, and this acid, as we
have since learnt, retarded the action of the accelerator; but I knew
nothing of the reason in those early days.
I often took very pretty little impressions ot feathers by the light and
warmth of an argand lamp. The first camera picture which Loss saw
was one ofmy greenhouse at Peckham, with the gardener standing outside,
and at my request he made me a short-focus aehromatic object-glass in¬
stead of the combination I was then using. In fact, the first. achromatic
camera was made for me. I have therefore done some little in the
“ pioneerinp1 line, ” as Lyndon Smith calls it; but I hope I shah not be
accused of°pusliing myself unduly forward when I merely answer the
questions of friends. — Believe me to be yours, very truly,
George Shadbolt, Esq. J- B. READJs. ^
[We cannot forbear adding a few words to the .preceding cor¬
respondence, which we think proves beyond question that photo¬
graphers owe a debt of gratitude to the Rev. J. B. Reade, whose
name in connexion with the earlier discoveries deserves to be
“familiar in their mouths as household words.” We trust that
henceforth he may receive that meed of acknowledgment so justly
his due. — Ed.]
HELIOCHROMY.*
By M. Niepce de St. Victor.
The principle upon which I base my experiments is that of.M.
Edmund Becquerel, into which I believe I have introduced an im¬
portant modification which enables me to obtain, in the first place
more brilliant tints upon a white ground ; then after obtaining t h
colours we can, by a second operation, temporarily fix them-.-tna
is to say, we can retard for several hours the distinctive action 0
light. Heliochromic colours are obtained on a film of chloride o
silver formed on a metallic plate. We may chlorise the siive
plate by various means : at present I employ for the purpose hyp
chlorite of potash. This alkaline bath, although very variable
composition, generally gives fine tints, only the gloun ?
image remains rather sombre even in spite of the °Pera*[ . •
re-heating the plate, and furthermore, from various causes, c
colours predominate.
This chlorisation does not give results identical with thos ,
cated by M. Becquerel in his memoire of 3rd July, lo04.
* Presented to the Academie des Sciences.
arch 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
81
>t even better on the score of sensitiveness than that I employed
the time when I reproduced the colours of a doll. The bath
hich I used at that time was composed of half sulphate of copper,
d half proto- and deuto-chloride of iron, dried and diluted with a
nth part of water. After this chlorisation, which had undergone
e action of re-heating, we can operate with sunlight in a quarter
an hour in the camera.
We know that, in order to obtain colours on a white ground, it is
cessary, before exposing the plate to the light, to heat it until
e chloride of silver assumes a rose colour, or to replace the action
< heat by that of light under a compound screen, as indicated by
. . Becquerel in his memoirc already cited. I conceived the idea of
<ating the chlorised plate, before its exposure to light, with a film
J-med of a saturated solution of chloride of lead, obtained directly
i »m the metal, with which is to be mixed a quantity of dextrine
jfficient to form it into a varnish of a certain consistence. The
a rnish is allowed to remain on for twenty-four hours, and it is
1m poured off for use again, after several days. This varnish is
f read over the entire surface of the plate. After it has been sub-
r tted to the re beating it is drained off at one of the angles, and
ti plate is dried over a spirit lamp ; then the plate is ready for
eposure to light.
The colours appear under the influence of light with much greater
i ensity than when the plate is not covered with the varnish— -as
r ,y be observed by varnishing only one-half of the plate. The
pund of the varnished part is white because the chloride of lead
Is the property of whitening chloride of silver under the action of
1 ht (especially if the chloride of silver has been heated), and the
c ours are better brought out ; and, what is more (and this is
€ traordinary), the blacks of an engraving are often reproduced
\ th great intensity. The same phenomenon occurs sometimes on a
r le-coloured plate before exposure to light.
After obtaining the colour the plate is heated over a spirit lamp,
r sing the temperature carefully as high as possible without
s >rching the varnish, which sometimes happens very quickly on
1 5 parts upon which white light impinges directly, especially if
t; chloride of lead be too acid or too concentrated.
Under the influence of heat the colours are seen to acquire
gnerally more intensity, particularly if the light has affected the
e:ire thickness of the film of chloride of silver : in the opposite
cie, heat turns the blues to violet and the blacks to red, but this
r ult seems to me very remarkable. It is by this action of heat
o the varnish, influenced by light, that we obtain the temporary
fiity of the heliochromic colours.
[f we apply the chloride of lead varnish after obtaining the
c ours, they are enlivened, but they are preserved for a much
s>rter time than when the varnish is applied before obtaining
turn ; their production is not however retarded.
Generally all substances applied as a varnish on the film of
c oride of silver, whether before or after obtaining the colours,
d-ken under the light the whites of these impressions; whilst all
t : salts of lead (and above all the chloride) whiten them. It is
r^uisite to avoid using the chloride of lead too concentrated, as
i that case it produces too much white chloride.
Several substances — as, for example, sulphate and nitrate of
c>per applied with dextrine on the film of chloride of silver before
t> exposure to light — enliven and make certain colours predomi-
rte; but none fix them for so long a time as the salts of lead,
t ! chloride in particular.
[ hope, at length, with this varnish containing chloride of lead
t be able to suppress almost entirely the re-heating operation at
a times when the plate has been chlorised, whether by the gal¬
lic pile or in an acid bath, such as that above indicated ; but in
ti alkaline bath that I have employed in these later experiments
i s needful to give a slight re-healing to the plate before applying
t } varnish. If the plate be entirely brought back to the rose tint
ti colours are more rapidly produced, the lights are white, but
t j tones are generally less brilliant ; on the other hand, their fixity
i greater.
Summary, — -lstly. Chloride of lead applied upon the film of
c. oride of silver before exposure to light produces in part the
eset of re-heating — that is to say, that white light whitens the
1 hts, and permits the acquisition of much more lively tints than
>ien the plate is brought to the rose tint by heat alone. — 2ndly.
-ie action of beat after that of light produces in the chloride of
s ver protected by the varnish containing chloride of lead a tem-
jrary fixation of the heliochromic colours. — Srdly. White light
Antons chloride of silver in contact with chloride of lead instead
( turning it to a violet tint, as would be the case were it alone.
-4thly. The destructive action of light is retarded : it acts more
slowly, since it requires ten to twelve hours of diffused light to
destroy the colour, which it ordinarily does in a few minutes,
though this is but a relative permanency. — 5tlily. Such is the
condition of heliochromy at present, if the problem of fixation be
not yet resolved, one may at least fairly hope that it will be so
some day.
OPTICAL LAWS INVOLVED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES*
By W. K Wason.
Advantage of Short Focus. — If the lens in fig. 4 (which is repro¬
duced below) had been thicker in proportion to its length, it
would have refracted the rays of light more powerfully : the
points A H and F would have had their conjugate foci E L and
G nearer to the lens, and therefore a smaller image of the
arrow would have been formed. This shortness of focus and
consequent smallness of image causes the lens to work more
rapidly, as may easily be seen. When the image produced is
large, the light from the object is spread over a great surface,
and therefore the actinic power at any given point is small ; when
the same light is concentrated on a small surface the actinic
action is powerful, and therefore a picture is produced in less time.
Firs a
Spherical Aberration— The lens B D ,fig. 4, has (as given above),
for photographic purposes, two defects. These two defects are
often confounded with each other, under the same name —
“ spherical aberration ’’—although they are quite different both in
cause and effect. I have already stated that all the rays from A
that fall upon the lens B D (fig. 4) are brought to a focus in the point
E. But this is not quite correct : it is found by experiment that the
rays which fall towards tlie circumference of the lens have their
focus at a point nearer to the lens than the point E, and the! i'ays
which pass through the lens near its centre have their focus more
distant than E.
Now this defect might be got rid of if we could obtain a lens which
would refract more powerfully towards its centre and less so nearer
its circumference : the point L would be drawn nearer the lens, and
the points G and E carried further from it. This greater refrac¬
tive power must be obtained by increasing the curvature of the lens
at the centre. Now the ellipse furnishes us with such a curve as
we require. We therefore make the outer curve of our lens ellip¬
tical (fig. G), and such, that the rays of light (if they do not suffer
FIG. 6.
a second refraction at the inner surface of the lens') may be re«
fracted to G, the further focus of the ellipse. To hinder the rays
* Concluded from page 42.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
82
March 1, 18(52
from being refracted on leaving tlie lens, the inner surface is part
of a circle drawn from centre G with any length of radius. The
rays of light will meet this inner surface at right angles, and will
therefore suffer no refraction on leaving the lens, but proceed
direct to G. Thus a single lens may be formed capable of des¬
troying spherical aberration ; but, from the difficulty of grinding an
elliptical lens, a combination of two lenses is generally used for the
purpose.*
The second defect will be observed by again referring to fig. 4,
where the image of the arrow is seen to be curved. This curvature
of the image is sometimes erroneously called “ spherical aber¬
ration,” but its proper designation is “curvature of the field.”
The cause of this curvature is easily understood. The point A
(being nearer the lens than the top and bottom of the arrow) will
have its conjugate focus L at a greater distance from the lens
than the points E and G. Now it is clear that this cannot give
a distinct image on the flat glass which photographers generally
use. If they focus for the centre, the outside will be out of focus ;
or if they focus for the sides, the centre will be out. Now I find
it stated in some works of high standing in photography! that the
lens I have just described will destroy curvature of the field, I fear
however that such a statement is erroneous ; we must therefore
depend on a combination of lenses for overcoming curvature of the
field.
Physical Optics. — Every person is so well acquainted with the
solar spectrum that I need scarcely say anything about it. By means
of a prism P a beam of light B is broken up into rays of seven
different colours, viz., violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange,
and red. Now, instead of trying to trace all the seven rays in their
passage through lenses we shall find it much clearer to fix our atten¬
tion principally on the two extreme ones, knowing that the others
will be found somewhere between these. Observe then that the ray
which is most bent out of its original course is the violet V, and the
one which is the least bent is the red R. Now this breaking up of
the rays of light takes place in their passage throughlenses as well
as in their passage through prisms, and must be corrected, or the
lens will be thereby rendered comparatively useless.
FIG, 8.
* The author is apparently misinformed relative to the supposed difficulty of hi i dirifj
an elliptical le- s. '1 he real cause of its neglect consists in the fact that an oblique pencil
of rays passed through such a lens would not he corn cted for spherical aberration, and
oblique pencil# are precisely those most in uso by the photographer. — Ed.
t See article Photography in “ Orr’» Circle of the Sciences,” page 24.
Now let us see how one lens or one prism may be made to correct
this breaking up of the rays (or dispersion as it is called) of another [
lens or of another prism. Let the beam of light A B fall upon the
prism, a b c ; and by the law of refraction we expect it to be bent
to C. True, the centre of the beam of light will pass along the
dotted line B C, but the red rays, as they suffer least refraction,
will be bent to D, and the more easily refracted violet rays will be
found at E. Here again the rays in passing out of the prism
suffer a second refraction, and while the centre rays come to F the
red and violet rays will fall, the one outside and the other inside
the point F. If another prism a c d, made of the 6ame material
and of the same form as a b c, he now placed as in the diagram,
the dispersion caused by the first prism will be corrected. The
mean ray B C, after reaching C, instead of being bent to F will con I
tinue its course to G ; the red and violet rays will both be bent up and
down to G, and all the rays again meeting at the point G will there I
form white light, and be refracted as such in the direction G H. I
But G H is parallel to x y, the direction in which A B was pro- I
ceeding before it met the prism. We have therefore gained no
advantage by using those two prisms of tlie same form and of the |
same material. But if instead of making both prisms of the same I
material and of the same form, we make the first prism of crown
glass, and the second of a smaller angle and of Hint glass, the ]
dispersion may be overcome and part of the refraction retained, I
Flint glass refracts more than crown glass, that is, the whole of |
the rays are more bent out of their course when they fall upon
flint glass than when they fall upon crown glass. Flint glass also
produces a larger spectrum than crown glass. Flint glass has
therefore greater refractive and greater dispersive power than
crown glass ; but the dispersive power is greater in proportion
than the refractive power, and therefore a thin pi’ism of flint glass,
while it is able to overcome the dispersive power of a thicker prism
of crown glass, will not destroy all the refraction. Rays of light
falling, therefore, on such a combination of prisms will emerge I
colourless, but bent out of their course.
The image thus produced is not perfectly free from colour, but
is found to be tinged with pui’ple on the one side and green on the
other. This is called the “ secondary spectrum,” aud is evidently
caused by the coloured spaces in the spectra of crown and flint
glass not being respectively equal to each other. To get rid of
this secondary spectrum some opticians employ a third lens ; hence
we hear of triple achromatic combinations. But it then becomes
a question whether the loss of light by absorption, when using
such compound lenses, will not counterbalance any advantages
derived from having a completely achromatic combination.
THE TANNIN PROCESS.*
By Major Eusselt,.
CHAPTER V.
[By the special permission of the Author we reproduce the following .]
Jp to this point there is no risk of failure if the foregoing direc-
Ions are carried out with the ordinary attention to cleanliness
recessary in all processes ; and except in those matters on which
ispecial stress has been laid, great latitude of treatment is
idmissible. In the exposure and development, however, great
•are and experience are required to ensure the best.results. With
egard to the time of exposure, much difference will be found in
he sensitiveness of the plates, according to the mode of prepara-
ion. The principal causes of insensitiveness have been already
riven : they are the use of a simply iodised collodion, or of an old
Sample, or of a bath much more acid than is required to keep the
uctures bright. Should two, or all, of these unfavourable condi-
ions be combined, the insensitiveness will be very great. The use
if an alkaline, neutral, or insufficiently acid bath, _with a nearly or
[uite colourless collodion, will also produce insensitiveness to half*
ones as well as fogging. The writer has prepared plates by the
netliod given in the preceding pages more sensitive than those he
an produce by any ot her dry process with which he is acquainted,
onsistently with obtaining vigour and brightness, and he believes
hat this process will he found to give brilliant and vigorous
esults, combined with soitness and good half-tones, with gi cater
icility and certainty than any other process when the subject is
eebly lighted. _ ,
The observance of a few simple precautions will ensure good
esults, whatever be the light or the nature of the subject ; but the
ame qualities which are iavourable in the case of a badly-lighted
ubject make more care necessary to produce the very best results
* Continued from page 27.
I
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
83
March 1, 1862]
when the subject is well lighted and contains great contrast, such
as dark foliage at a short distance and sky.*
Could we always ensure the exact accuracy of the time of expo¬
sure it would be easy to give a formula for a developing mixture
which would always succeed with any given kind of subject. In
the case of dry plates this is impossible, as the time of exposure
must always be more or less uncertain, unless, as in the wet pro¬
cess, each plate be immediately developed, and so the proper time
of exposure be ascertained for the next. In the ordinary way of
working all that can be done is to give general rules, and to indi¬
cate the effects of different modes of treatment, which, to produce
the best results, must be slightly varied in almost every case.
The following formulae will be found to produce developing fluids
suitable for this or any other process. j*
(1.) Pyrogallic acid . 96 grains.
Absolute alcohol . 1 ounce.
Pour the alcohol, which should be anhydrous, or at all events as
strong as can be obtained, into a two-ounce bottle with a good
flat rim. If the bottle be full it will be difficult to pour without
waste. Add the pyrogallic acid, which will dissolve immediately;
shake up to equalise the strength of the solution, and add two or
three drops of ether (this is not necessary). The solution will
scarcely alter in colour in six months, and its use is much more
convenient than constant weighing out. Treated in this way the
pyrogallic acid will contain its full strength, which is not the case
when it is dissolved in water, or even in strong acetic acid. Five
minims of the solution contain one grain of pyrogallic. If it is to
jo used for wet collodion, measure the required quantity, dilute to
;he proper strength, and add the required quantity of acid.
(2.) Nitrate of silver . 10 grains,
Citric acid . 10 to 60 „
recording to the strength of the tannin solution, heat of the
weather, nature of the subject, Ac.
Distilled water . 1 ounce.
The advantages gained by using the acid in the silver instead
>f in the pyrogallic solution are very great. When the plate is
'ather under-exposed, and only a little silver is required with
trong pyrogallic, the half-tones come out much better than when,
in the common method, a large quantity of acid is present. On
he other hand, when the plate is over-exposed, a strong solution
f acidified silver can be used with a small quantity of pyrogallic
without causing turbidity in the liquid, or throwing down any
Dope irregular deposit likely to injure the details of the picture.
Ihis acid solution of silver will be found exceedingly useful to add
o the developer in the wet process, when, from the nature of the
ollodion or the feebleness of the light, the image comes out per-
ect in detail but of insufficient intensity; or it may be used with
'yrogallic to intensify negatives developed with iron. If, as is the
suai practice, plain nitrate solution be added to the developer —
nless the amount of acid has been unnecessarily large for the first
tage of the development — the least addition of the nitrate causes
■mnediate turbidity, and a muddy deposit falls at every part of the
im: not only so, but the silver itself is thrown down in a coarse
ranular state, giving less density and destroying all delicacy of
etail. No such effects follow the addition of nitrate of silver
ccompanied by a sufficient proportion of acid.
The development of plates prepared with tannin may be made
t least as rapid as in the wet process by using a strong developer
t once; but this mode of proceeding is not advisable in the case
f negatives, as it determines the character of the picture so
rpidly that if much over or under exposed it will be entirely
poiled. In all cases this treatment prevents the attainment of
lie best possible results, except by accident. The following
lethod of development will be found preferable, and, if conducted
fith care and skill, will allow of great latitude in the time of
xposure : —
For a stereoscopic plate allow one drop of (1) to fall into a glass
leasure, holding the stopper against the lip to prevent the liquid
-om creeping down the outside of the bottle ; pour two or three
rachms of distilled water into the same measure ; then filter
trough paper in a small gutta-percha funnel into the glass which
The writer lias not yet found time to investigate thoroughly the conditions and
entment which give the very best kind of pictures with the last-mentioned kind of
injects, but believes that they can be obtained by this process of as good a quality a*
y any other, judging by the specimens which he has already produced, and by the great
ower we have of regulating the quality of the negatives by the use of different collo-
mns and solutions ot tannin varying in strength, and by the time of exposure and the
ature of the developer. 1
t Albumen and collodio-albumen plates will require in (2) the substitution of acetic fo
tuc acid, which, being a solvent of albumen, is apt to cause blisters. The acetic act
lUSt l)e 111 1 :ircr« pnnnorh _ a. a— . i • i -. . .
, ~ vii tuuumeu, is apt to cause Dusters, x ne acetic aci<
lUSt be ill large enough proportion to prevent turbidity in the developer, and til
alution should be used direct from the bottle, to avoid loss of acid by evaporation.
is to be used in developing. Pyrogallic solution should always be
filtered, especially when used soon after being made or diluted ;
otherwise any particles of insoluble matter in the solution, how¬
ever small, if of a porous nature, will cause “comets” on the
negative from being more strongly imbued with pyrogallic acid
than the fluid which surrounds them.
Pour a few drachms of (2) into another filter of the same kind,
which, with a glass measure, should be kept ready for the purpose.
The above-mentioned funnels and glass measures, excepting the
one used in developing, never need he washed nor the papers
changed until they filter too slowly. These filterings may be
conveniently managed as follows : — Cut a square piece of thin
board, such as a piece of a cigar box, a little larger than the top of
the glass measure : make a hole in the middle, of such size that
the nose of the funnel will go through about an inch, or more,
according to the size of the funnel, and push in with sufficient force
to make the wood adhere firmly. The funnel can now be lifted
with its support from one measure to another ; and, should it' be
required to move the glass while filtering, a finger placed on the
wood will keep the funnel in its place. When silver is to be added
to the developer lift the funnel, pour a little of the solution into it,
and bold over the developing glass, counting the drops to regulate
the quantity added. The fluid having been before filtered through,
will ensure its being clean.
A still easier way of adding the silver is to place the funnel in
the retort holder, the nose being an inch or so above the top of
the glass measure. When any of the solution is required, with
the right hand pour a little of what has been filtered into the funnel,
and hold the developing glass under with the left till the required
quantity has dropped, when the other glass takes its place again.
This is as easy a way as any of adding small quantities of silver;
but, if preferred, the solution may be dropped direct from the bottle.
In the absence of a retort stand, a piece of thin board having a
hole to receive the funnel will do as well, if laid on a box of the
right height, with some heavy object on it to keep it in its place.
Whilst the solutions arc filtering, take the plate which is to
be developed and moisten it in this manner: — Lay it on a levelling
stand and pour distilled water along the nearest edge of the glass ;
spread carefully over the surface with a perfectly clean glass rod
(bent at one end, and a little longer than the width of the glass),
taking care not to touch the film except at the edges, and not to
let the end of the rod project beyond the edge of the plate, as this
would lead the water over the side : should this happen, remove
the water from the back of the plate with blotting-paper. The
extreme corner or corners which are to he handled should be left
dry : this will keep the fingers and also the negative clean. Let
the water remain until the film is thoroughly penetrated, which is
known by its being equally whitened. This will take from two to
four minutes: the more quickly the water has been spread the less
time will it require to remain. The water should not be left very
long on the plate, as, when gelatine of insufficient strength has
been used to hold thick collodion, an hour’s soaking in water may
loosen the film, even although the developer would have no such
effect.
Should it be preferred, the plate may be moistened by dipping it
in a bath of distilled or common water. In this case, after a few
seconds’ immersion, lift it out of the water and allow it to drain on
the dipper until the upper corners are nearly or quite surface dry,
otherwise water which has touched the fingers may flow on the
sensitive surface, and produce a mark of non-development; or, to
be quite safe, the corners to be handled may be touched with ne
gative varnish before the plate is dipped. After moistening by
dipping, wipe the back of the glass to prevent water flowing
from the points of the stand into the developing glass.
When the plate is moistened, mix by stirring one drop of the
silver solution with the dilute pyrogallic; pour off the water, but
not too closely, or the edges may become surface dry. The tannin
remaining does no injury. Pour the mixture on the right-haud end
of the plate, and incline the latter so as to drive off all the moisture
before the developer into tlie glass. The same method of pouring
must be repeated after every addition of pyrogallic or silver, to
avoid producing unequal intensity. Pour on again at the other end
of the plate, and repeat the pouring on and off several times,
watching as the image appears. If any part come out more slowly
than the rest from the imperfect mixture of the developer with the
water previously 011 the plate, pour afresh over that place two or
three times, that the whole may start nearly simultaneously. If
nothing appear in three or four minutes add more pyrogallic.
This should be filtered by dropping on the filter and washing
through with a little water; or it may be measured in a minim glass
84
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1862
and poured on the filter, the measure being then rinsed with a little
water, which is afterwards to be also poured on the filter. View
the image carefully by transmitted light every time the de¬
veloper is poured off: on looking through it the proper treatment
will soon be seen ; but it is of great importance not to add pyrogallic
too fast, as, should the plate be over-exposed, such a proceeding
will establish the character of the picture too quickly to admit of
control. Should there appear too much contrast and deficiency of
half-tone from under-exposure, add the slightly diluted and filtered
pyrogallic drop by drop, watching the effect; if, on the other hand,
the image appear quickly and is full of detail, but looks flat from
want of contrast, add more acid silver in the same way. For a
third case the film, from great over-exposure, may begin imme¬
diately to redden all over, showing the image but faintly: if so, pour
away the developer and replace with a few drops of acid silver
diluted with water. In such a case the small trace of pyrogallic
left on the film will be quite sufficient to complete the develop¬
ment, when silver enough has been added. If the image show
about the right amount of contrast, and the half-tones begin to
appear at the proper time, the pyrogallic and silver solutions may
be added together; and if at any stage of the development too
much of either solution has been inadvertently used, the developer
must be instantly poured away and replaced by a fresh mixture
made in the correct proportions.
The developer first used will sometimes become turbid, especially
when strong pyrogallic has been applied with very little silver,
previously to the appearance of the image. When the plate has
been under-exposed, however, the pyrogallic should not be added
too late, or the character of the picture will have become established,
and the half-tones will not admit of development. Experience is
the only guide as to the right time to add pyrogallic in any particu¬
lar case. Should the slightest turbidity appear, reject the old
solution as soon as the image is sufficiently out to show what kind
of developer is required: a fresh quantity mixed in the proper-
proportions will be pretty sure to go right without the precaution
of washing the plate and developing glass. The fluid will become
more and more dark-coloured with each fresh addition of silver,
probably until it is as dark as port wine, but it ought to remain all
the while bright and clear.
This mode of developing admits of either or both solutions being-
dropped into the empty glass while the developer is on the plate,
and the latter may then be poured in without any bad effect.
Should several plates have been exposed similarly, the subjects
being also similar, three plates, especially if small, may be de¬
veloped at the same time; but, in case they should require different
treatment, two extra clean measures should be ready, so that each
plate may, if necessary, have a separate developer. The method
of development above described is purposely made slow at first ;
but, as soon as the kind of developer required is indicated, it may be
finished more rapidly, by strengthening with such proportions of the
solutions as experience shows to be needed in any particular case.*
The only failure which the writer at first experienced with tan¬
nin was that of blurring, or encroachment of the sky or highest
lights on the more transparent parts of the negative as a halo or
red stain. This, when it once appears, prevents all half-tone from
coming out in the parts affected, farther pushing of the develop¬
ment only deepening the stain. This cause of failure depends on
the development, and is scarcely at all affected by the state of the
bath or collodion. After every thing but the right one had been
tried, it was found that this annoyance could be prevented with
certainty, even where there had been great over-action of light,
by very simple means — that of using more acid in the silver
developing solution. No one proportion can be given as suitable
in all cases ; but the following rule will be found to be practically
sufficient : — The minimum quantity of citric acid used with each
grain of nitrate of silver should be about one grain of acid for every
ten grains of tannin contained in one ounce of its solution. It will
scarcely be found advisable to use so small a proportion as this for
landscapes containing sky, or other kinds of subjects containing
great contrast of light and shade, or for any subject in very hot
weather, as in these cases more acid is necessary than would other¬
wise be required. The best guide is the appearance of the finished
negative. The slightest trace of the above-described blurring is
a proof that not nearly enough acid has been used.f Again, on
* When the proportion of silver is very small, the developer may be left at rest on
the plate for a long time ; but, when much silver is present, this treatment will cause
mottled markings to appear, if such exist in the texture of the collodion film.
+ Unless gallic and pyrogallic acids have both been used on the same plate. This
treatment will always produce the fault in question when the subject presents much
contrast and a strong solution of tannin has been used, thoug'h the silver solution may
be acid enough for use with pyrogallic alone.
looking along the surface when dr3r, at a small angle towards the
light, the whole should be as bright as glass; and duluees on the
transparent parts least affected by light, if at all marked, is
another indication of the same fault in the developer, except in the
case of an under-exposed negative much pushed in the develop¬
ment with the strong pyrogallic and little silver: in this case wo
may expect a slight deposit, even though a proportion of acid suffi¬
cient for properly-exposed plates may have been used. Under these
circumstances, a more highly acid solution than would otherwise he
required may he used for the first stage of development, or, if it he
thought desirable, a few drops of a ten-grain solution of citric acid,
or a little acetic acid, may be added with the iirst drop of acid
silver. When the half-tones are out, no more acid will be required
to intensify than in ordinary cases. It will be found convenient to
keep ready several bottles containing silver solution of different
degrees of acidity, from one and a-half or two grains to four or
more grains of citric acid to the grain of silver.
Each bottle should have its own filter and glass measure. The
acid silver solution appears to keep well: a horny, semi-transparent
substance is sometimes formed in the liquid, hut the action which
produces this effect does not seem to alter perceptibly the quality
of the solution. In determining the proportion of acid to be used,
it should be borne in mind that too much is far less injurious than
too little. Four grains of acid to one of nitrate will give excel¬
lent results on plates prepared with tannin solution fifteen grains
to the ounce ; although this quantity is much greater than is
usually required. No fear need be entertained that a large propor¬
tion of acid will prevent the half-tones coming out; for, if the pro¬
portion of silver in the developer he kept low till the half-tones
appear, much less acid is present at this stage, even with a very
acid solution, than in the ordinary method. The only injurious
effect of an unnecessarily large proportion of acid will be a slightly
colder tone of colour, which is of no- consequence in a negative.
The power of regulating the result by the above mode of de¬
veloping is so great that, when assisted by the peculiar properties
of tannin, it enables us to produce a good picture with almost any
collodion.
If the right exposure, within the necessary limits, has been
given, and the development properly managed, the finished nega¬
tive will resemble a good one produced by the wet collodion pro¬
cess ; but the definition, as in the albumen process, may he
expected to he more perfect from the impression being taken
on a smooth and polished surface instead of on an expanded
and spongy substance with a somewhat irregular surface, which is
afterwards contracted and rendered smooth by drying. The
greater part of the film will appear by reflected light of a yellowish
brown colour — except the sky and high lights, which will be dark,
and the deepest shadows, which will be transparent, and will
appear black when a dark object is held behind the plate. In
ordinary subjects, however, this transparent appearance should he
confined to a few touches. On looking through the plate the picture
Avill be bright and vigorous, but soft and full of half-tone ; and
should the sky or high lights he solarised, they will he of a deep
purplish red, which stops light in printing much better than the
pale solarisation often produced in other processes. The parts
which appear quite black and opaque when examined by diffused
light, will be found to be really translucent when placed close to
the flame of a candle or lamp. The blackest parts, when looked
through in this Avay, will resemble very dark, transparent stains in
the glass, without a trace of granulation, and showing all the de¬
tail. The kind of negative described above can only he produced
by the wet process when the collodion and bath are in good order;
but plates prepared with tannin, being much less dependent on the
state of the collodion and bath, will give results of the above kind
with much greater certainty.*
No other process can he less liable to fogging and stams than
this one, the former never appearing unless the hath be alkaline or
insufficiently acid, or unless the light has got access to the plate;
while the latter, if the nitrate be entirely removed, can scarcely he
produced by any treatment short of splashing impurities on the
film.
It is of great importance to have the developing glass and glass
rod used to guide the flow of the developer from the measure to
the plate thoroughly clean before commencing. For this purpose,
make a solution of about twenty grains of any soluble iodide to
the ounce of water, with as much iodine as will dissolve. The ex¬
act strength is of no consequence, but the solution should be of a
deep port wine colour. Keep about a pint of this in a bottle ; and,
* The details in the shadows of a tannin negative should all be faintly Viable, even if,
from under-exposure, they cannot be made intense enough to print.
March 1, 1865 j
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
85
after developing, fill the glass containing the rod with the liquid,
pour into another glass of the same size, and immerse the edge or
lip to clean it outside and inside, and then return the solution to
the bottle. The glasses may be now left till required for use, when
they are to be rinsed with water, rubbing with the finger. The
entire removal of any deposit which may be present is of no con¬
sequence, as the silver is now converted into iodide in the inert
state, and exercises no greater effect than is produced by the film
itself in the parts unaffected by light. This liquid is safer to use
and more efficacious than nitric acid or cyanide, since when the
latter are used any deposit not entirely removed will still affect
the developer. The superior energy and penetration of the iodine
solution may be proved by dipping the nose of a gutta-percha
funnel, which from long use with nitrate solution has become
stained with reduced silver, into nitric acid or cyanide solution.
No very perceptible effect will be immediately produced ; but, if it
be dipped into the iodine solution, the deep stains will be quickly
changed to a primrose colour. Stained gutta-percha trays may,
with this solution, be so effectually purified in a few minutes, that
paper negatives may be developed in them with the same cleanli¬
ness as in a new glass dish. Care must be taken not to allow the
iodine and iodide to touch a sensitive plate. A trace of the fluid
will do no harm in the glass which receives the mixed developer ;
but the glass measure and rod should, after cleaning with iodine,
be well rinsed before being used to apply water to a plate prepara¬
tory to development. The cleaning solution will stain the skin
when undiluted ; but it may, nevertheless, be used to remove re¬
duced silver from the fingers, as its application greatly facilitates
the subsequent action of cyanide, which will then quickly remove
both silver and iodine. A little iodide and iodine should be added
to the solution when its paler colour shows that it has been weak¬
ened by long use.
Unless a very thin solution of gelatine has been used with a
thick collodion, the film will show no tendency whatever to be¬
come loose during development. Should this fault appear, the
negative will not be worth finishing, and in future stronger gela¬
tine or thinner collodion must be used. There need be no risk of
failure from this cause.
When the development is complete, wash till all oily appearance
is removed; for, if the plates be placed in hyposulphite with oily
markings upon them, these will be visible to some extent after¬
wards, in this or any other collodion process. The film, being
amalgamated beneath with leather, is so strong that it cannot be
injured by a heavy stream of water: even if purposely torn, the
water will not penetrate between the film and the glass. Cyanide
must not be used for fixing, as any alkaline liquid will loosen the
film. The strength of the hyposulphite is of little consequence ;
but it need not be strong, as the fixing is more easy and rapid than
in the case of other dry processes. Strong hyposulphite will not,
however, produce much effect upon the intensity of the nega¬
tive, if the collodion be of such a nature as to keep the image in
the film and not on the surface.
In this, as in most other dry processes, the film will sometimes
become slightly loosened in the final washing, especially when the
gelatine has been too weak or the collodion old and powdery : a
new collodion, giving a horny film, adheres more strongly when
used on gelatine. Slight loosening at this stage seldom affects the
negative when dry; but it may generally be prevented by adding
a little tannin solution to the hyposulphite. This addition causes
turbidity, and afterwards a red colour ; but does not destroy the
solvent power of the solution, nor does it appear to produce any
injurious effect. Should the above-mentioned loosening occur
through any mismanagement, it will be better, in the case of a
good negative, to finish the washing by covering the plate with
distilled water for some time on a levelling stand, to remove as far
as possible any soluble matter under the film, otherwise such mat¬
ter may show slightly when dry. After being washed, the plates
are to be set up to dry on blotting-paper.
If any loose deposit appear on the surface of the film it may be
removed, when quite dry, with a brush made of eider down, which
is much less liable to injure the surface than cotton wool or the
softest hair brush. Eider down is often to be found in coats, quilts,
&c., which are lined or filled with it. To make a brush pick out
the largest pieces singly, find in each the small quill by which it
was attached to the skin, collect five or six, and form into a small
brush by bringing the quills together and twisting this end round
between the finger and thumb with a little solution of caoutchouc
in turpentine, or other cement. Make a sufficient number of these
small brushes to form a round ball of down about the size of a
walnut. Bring the cemented ends together and insert in a fowl’s
quill, which has been cut off near the end and split in two or three
places; then bind the quill round firmly with waxed thread. This
brush ought not to be often required to remove loose deposit, but
is always useful to clear off dust before varnishing, and if applied
lightly will do no injury.
The film, if on gelatine, will never crack or split off on drying,
nor has the writer seen an instance of its doing so when gelatine
has been used, except when a very weak solution of tannin wa3
employed in the vain hope of preventing the loosening of the film.
If the collodion be unsuitable for this purpose, it will become
wrinkled almost as much with three grains as if thirty grains to
the ounce had been used, and in the former case the development
is very feeble. Dispensing with the gelatine does not seem at all
advisable, -when, by its use, absolute security from all mechanical
difficulty can be obtained at so little trouble. Before varnishing,
dry the plates well by artificial heat, and varnish when sufficiently
cooled. In most cases the cracking of negatives is caused by
their being varnished while damp. After varnishing, keep the
plates at a higher temperature than the sun can ever cause, until
the varnish ceases to be soft and sticky at that heat, to prevent
their adhering to the paper in printing.
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR GRINDING LENSES.*
We concluded our last article upon this subject when the first
surface of the convex lens was supposed to have been brought to
the correct figure after having been worked in the proper tool with
several changes of emery, each successive sample being finer than
that which preceded it, so that the surface of the glass has been
gradually brought to present a very smooth, regular, grey appear¬
ance, when it is ready for the polishing. In order to effect this
operation the lens and the tool have both to be carefully washed
free from any trace of emery and dried. The tool is then heated,
and a little common pitch is smeared lightly over the surface of
the tool, and a piece of clean silk (of the species known as sarsenet)
is to be pressed by the fingers into close contact with the inside
of the tool, to which it is made to adhere by means of the pitch.
When the silk adheres firmly and evenly all over the surface, the
tool is set aside to become perfectly cold, in order to avoid loosen¬
ing the silk when it comes in contact with the water used with
the polishing material. When the tool lined with silk has become
perfectly cold, a small quantity of putty-powder (peroxide of tin)
is made into a thin paste with water and spread evenly all over the
silk lining of the tool : the figured but unpoiished lens is then
worked therein by hand precisely in the same manner as in the
grinding or “figuring” operation. The time occupied in polishing
varies greatly — say from twenty minutes to three or four hours —
and the variation is inversely as the time consumed in the grind¬
ing operation. Thus the more correct the figure and perfect the
surface before polishing, the more rapidly can this operation be
performed, and vice versa.
We may observe that lenses which will polish rapidly are
generally more correct in performance than those which require
a long time to effect the operation.
In opticians’ workshops, where there are many lenses to be
worked to the same curvature, there are usually duplicate and
triplicate tools of precisely the same size and curvature, viz.,
one for the first rough grinding, one for the figuring, and one for
the polishing operations. This is a simple matter of economy,
because the enormous waste of labour that wrould be entailed by
inserting and removing the silk every time it is required to polish
a number of lenses and prepare for grinding others would far out¬
weigh the extra cost of the additional sets of tools; but where only
one or two lenses of any particular curve are required the case is
entirely different, and the economical course is to expend the extra
labour.
When there are tools kept expressly for polishing only, instead
of using silk as above described another material is more
frequently emploj'ed for the lining. It is a woollen fabric, called
b}r the opticians “ lapp, ” and is a species of thick cloth, appearing as
if partially felted, of a whitish colour : it is known also as “ dread¬
nought,” and is the same as was used formerly to be employed for
making the top coats of the old watchmen. This “ lapp ” is pressed
into the metal tool in the same way as the silk, and is made to adhere
(o it in a similar manner ; but, instead of using pitch for the pur¬
pose, the “ pitch cement,” described in our last article, is substi¬
tuted. It takes more care and time to set in the “ lapp ” than is
required for the silk, as it does not accommodate itself so readily
to the form ; but, when once properly adjusted, it is not liable to get
* Continued from page 59.
86
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1862
out of order. For tlie purpose of adjusting it to the proper curva¬
ture the corresponding tool for concave glasses of the same curva¬
ture is applied to it before the cement has hardened ; and, by work¬
ing this in a manner corresponding to that followed in grinding
and polishing the lenses, the correctness of the figure is ensured.
When the lens is polished it becomes necessary to detach it from
the cement which has served as a hold for the fingers during the
various operations which have been described ; and this is effected
by striking it a smart blow on the edge with a wooden mallet,
when the glass immediately separates. It is needful to allow the
cement to become quite cool before removing the lens, or portions
of the cement are apt to adhere to it, and leave it in a dirty state.
Should this mischance occur, the particles of cement are readily
removeable by soaking the glass in spirits of turpentine.
It is obvious that the lens has to be subsequently wrought on the
other side, whether that surface is to be convex, concave, or plane ;
and, as a preliminary proceeding, another lump of cement has to
be attached to the curved side previously finished, and this is done
in precisely the same way as in the first instance.
It is evident from what has already been described that it would
not be possible to grind the lens to a true figure without the tool
in which it is ground being true also ; and it may now be proper to
explain how the tools are made, and the method adopted in order
to ensure accurate sphericity of surface.
Having determined the radius of curvature which it is desired
to give to the tool a piece of flat thin brass is laid upon a table,
and with a pair of compasses set to the desired radius an arc of a
circle is marked upon the piece of brass. In case a piece of flat
thin brass is not to hand, a piece of flattened tin plate may be sub¬
stituted. It sometimes happens that we want a curve of longer
radius than our compasses will reach : in this case, by means of a
wooden rod, and a couple of stout needles placed in it at right angles
to its length at the proper distance apart, the operator is enabled
to strike the arcs required upon the piece of flat brass or tin plate.
This is then to be cut accurately to the portion of the circle struck
by the compasses or its substitute, and if the radius be not too
long it may be cut, if preferred, in the lathe. It is necessary to use
both the convex and concave pieces, as they require to be brought
into correct form by working them with a curvi¬
linear motion one against another, with a little
emery or pumice-stone finely ground. The annexed
diagram represents the piece of brass which
is cut into the two gauges—the piece indicated
by the letter A being used for the tool for convex, and B for that
for concave lenses.
When the gauges are ready, the next proceeding is to procure
a piece of wood of even texture, and such as will bear turning in
a lathe: mahogany, beech, or box-wood answer very well for the
purpose. The dimensions of the wood must of course depend upon
the size of the tool to be made. This must be properly fixed by
means of a chuck in a lathe, and the face carefully turned out until
the gauge A fits the hollow space when placed therein, cutting the
axis of motion up to the extreme edge of the cavity. The super¬
fluous wood on the outer side may be turned off, and a boss be left
or added at the back, upon which the screw will eventually have
to be cut. When brought as closely to the desired form as
possible, this wooden pattern must be taken to the metal caster, in
order to have the form reproduced in either brass or iron. The
former is most costly, but is more quickly brought into a true
form : the latter is, of course, the cheaper, but takes more time to
work.
Having procured the metal casting, the screw in the boss
is first to be cut, and the embyro tool is then to be reversed
in position by screwing it with the newly-cut screw into a
chuck in the mandril of the lathe. The metal tool is then
to be turned in the same manner as was directed for the wooden
pattern, and from time to time tested with the gauge, until the
cavity in the face of the tool fits the gauge accurately, when the
latter cuts the axis of revolution.
When this is accomplished the still incomplete tool is to be
removed from the lathe, and screwed on to the top of one of the
posts described in the former part of this article, at p. 58, and
melted lead is to be poured into the cavity, into which, before
becoming set , a piece of wood, armed with a brass screw, may be
inserted, to be used as a handle in the next operation.
When cold, the lead is to be lifted out of the tool and some
emery and water placed in the hollow space : the lead is again
to be inserted and worked over the face of the tool in the manner
already described as employed for grinding the glass itself. This
operation is to be continued until the face is perfectly true to
figure, and it is known to have arrived at this stage when it pre¬
sents a dark or nearly black colour all over.
A word or two of precaution may be added with regard to the
emery used in grinding the glasses, which must bo kept a little
damp during the operation ; and it is of importance that it should
be pretty evenly damped all over the tool alike, otherwise it is apt
to produce deep cuts and scratches all over the glass.
With regard to the emery it is necessary, at first, to purchase
it ready sorted ; but, when familiar with his work, the lens-grinder
usually prepares it for himself. But the method of doing this we
must leave for description in our next.
NOTES ON POSITIVE PRINTING.*
By E. Keynaud.
Tee important influence exercised by the circumstances under
which printing takes place is well known to photographers. In
fact, a negative which, under a certain set of circumstances, will
yield a comparatively worthless and mediocre print, will, under
more favourable though perhaps only slightly varied conditions,
yield a proof in every degree satisfactory.
It is easy, therefore, to appreciate the value of researches which
tend to determine the conditions suitable to the varying qualities
of negatives, in order to obtain the best possible result.
I propose briefly to lay before you the facts with which experience
has furnished me on this subject. There are three principal elements
to consider in this place.
1. The intensity of the light.
2. The nature of the paper employed.!
3. The proportion of free nitrate of silver which it contains.
1. The intensity of the light in which printing is carried on
should always he proportioned to the intensity of the negative. A
negative which has been under-exposed possesses, as is well known,
many portions quite transparent, which produce in the positive
prints the deepest blacks : the “ high lights” of the picture are hard,
and the middle tints destitute of detail and softness. Such a nega¬
tive requires to be printed in a bright light to give a good proof:
direct sunlight is in this case the best. If, on the contrary, through
over-exposure, the negative possesses a dull, flat uniformity, in which
the middle tints of the lighter parts are effaced, and those of the
shadows too much brought out, such a negative printed in a bright
light would yield a cold and monotonous proof. A feeble light,
however, will admit of the production of a good print. The .fol¬
lowing is an excellent method of obtaining light of a convenient
degree of intensity when ordinary daylight is very bright : it con¬
sists in placing between the glass of the pressure-frame and the
negative one or more sheets of white paper of homogeneous nature
and more or less transparent, by which means the light becomes
diffused and softened, and its action so modulated as to result in
the production of a good picture. I ought to mention here that the
proportion existing between the lights and shadows of a negative
is the point which should be considered in coming to a conclusion
as to the amount of light to which it should be exposed, and not
the absolute density of the high lights. Indeed, a negative may
have some parts extremely dense, and yet, if the exposure in the
camera have been continued too long, the general character of the
negative will present so few contrasts that a feeble light will,
notwithstanding, be the best for it.
Thus — to recapitulate-— a feeble light, having an equable action,
and giving very little contrast in the extreme lights and shadows,
is best for negatives of an uniform character ; a brilliant light
giving, on the contrary, a more uniform image, is more suitable for
hard negatives — that is to say, those in which ike high lights are very
opaque and the shadows very transparent.
These phenomena being modified by the nature of the positive
paper, it is necessary to study this and examine the influence exerted
by its constituents on the beauty of the proofs.
Let it first be observed that the presence of a large propor¬
tion of free nitrate of silver has a similar influence to an increase in
the power of the light. Thus a paper sensitised on a bath of 20
per cent, will, with the same negative and in the same light, yield
a proof possessing less of contrast than if it had been sensitised on
a bath of only 15 per cent.
It follows from this that a paper sensitised on a strong solution
of nitrate of silver is most suitable for hard negatives (i.e. under¬
exposed), while that prepared with a weak solution is to be pre¬
ferred for negatives of a feeble and uniform character.
* Read at a Meeting of the Marseilles Photographic Society, January 31, 1862.
+ I mean by this not so much the molecular structure of the paper as the preparation
by which it is rendered fit for photographic purposes— that is to say, the bleaching ana
sizing.
March 1, J862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
87
It should always be observed that, as the vigour and tone depend
upon the excess of nitrate of silver, the proportion of this may not
be sensibly diminished below fifteen per cent., if it be desired to
bring the toning and fixing of the print to a successful and satis¬
factory issue.
Let us now examine the effects produced by the preliminary
preparation of the paper. Positive paper may be divided into two
very distinct classes : —
1. Salted paper.
2. Albumenised paper.
1. Ordinary salted paper contains simply a certain proportion of
a soluble chloride.
2. Albumenised contains, besides the chloride, some organic
matter, viz., albumen.
After sensitising, the first contains chloride of silver, the surface
being covered with a film of free nitrate of silver.
The second, besides the two salts, contains a large proportion of
a particular body very little known — a body similar in composition
to that which is produced when albumen is added to a solution of
nitrate of silver. This substance has been described in an able
article by M. l’Abbd Pujo, in which he states that it (which the
author calls albuminate of silver) has the property of giving dense,
hard pictures.
It is to this substance, also, that albumenised paper owes the
property of giving proofs having more contrast and greater sharp¬
ness than those obtained by simply salted paper.
It is understood, therefore, that the proportion which exists
between the albuminate and chloride of silver contained in the
albumenised paper exercises an important influence upon the
positive proofs — a large proportion of albuminate being suitable
for dull, flat negatives ; and, on the contrary, a large proportion of
chloride being suitable for hard, dense negatives. Or, in other
words, the proportion between the albuminate and chloride influ¬
ences the result in the same manner as an excess of nitrate of silver
or the intensity of the light ; and it is upon the establishment of a
due proportion between these four elements that success in positive
printing depends.
It is impossible to determine exactly the proportions to observe
between these elements, according to this or that intensity of
negative : it is by experience alone that we can learn the practical
rules to which we must conform in this particular.
In a paper which I hope soon to have the honour of laying be¬
fore the Society, I propose to describe the influence of the above
elements on the toning and fixing of prints — that is to say, the tone
and vigour which they acquire in the gold toning bath and the
hyposulphite of soda solution.
“MOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT, ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
By J. T. Taylor, Edinburgh.
Large Pictures.
It was once my lot to spend a couple of days in the pretty town
of - , and seeing in a bookseller’s window a life-sized photo¬
graph, with an intimation affixed that it was the production of Mr.
A - ■, the photographer, from whom particulars might be learnt,
I lost no time in ascending a long and wearisome flight of stairs,
at the end of which I found the “ saloon,” which truth compels me
to state was merely a garret-looking room, with some window-
sashes inserted in the roof, vice slates removed. A few minutes’
conversation with Mr. A - satisfied me that Nature had been
in a merry mood when he was made, and that, to make amends for
some important deficiencies, she had given him a most lavish de¬
velopment of what phrenologists call No. 10. The conclusion that
he was entirely innocent of being concerned in the production of the
large picture was irresistibly forced upon me ; but in the course of
conversation I asked him with what sort of camera he took his
large portraits, and if 1 could see it? To which he replied he was
sorry he could not favour me with a sight of it as he always kept
it atl his country house, but if I wished a portrait life-sized he
wou cf take a small one of me and eularge it : it was a very pecu¬
liar process he said, and would occupy nearly a fortnight, and for
pictures of this class he was always paid in advance. Mr. A -
being suddenly called away, the boy who was blacking up my
shilling’s worth (for I had invested to that amount) turned to me
with a grin, and opening a closet door, “Ecod !” said he, “ this be
measter’s country residence, and here be his life-size camera !” —
pointing to an old packing-box with a flange for a quarter-plate
lens screwed on the end. “But,” continued he, “measter beant up
to working it : summat always goes wrong when he experiments
with it. Mr. L - , an amateur, does all measter’s life-sizes.”
Accident the same day threw me in the way of the said amateur,
whom I found to be a shrewd and well-informed maR — a sort of
sleeping partner in A - ’s concern. We talked a good deal
about enlarged portraits and Woodward’s patent solar camera.
He strongly supported Mr. Shadbolt’s view that the condenser
being ram-achromatic would necessarily affect the definition of the
enlarged picture. From this view I dissented, as I hold that
aberrations in the condenser, whether chromatic or spherical, would
only affect the equality of illumination, and not the definition of
the enlarged picture.
My new friend always took his enlarged pictures by the following
method, which previous experience enables me to state is perhaps
as good, and certainly more simple, than any other : — A sharp and
rather feeble negative is inserted in the slide of a quarter-sized
camera : this is placed up against an evenly-lighted sky, a sheet
of ground-glass, a white sheet, or anything else of an uniform
white shade. No light is admitted into the room but what passes
through the negative (which I need scarcely say is placed next to
the sky,). A sheet of whitepaper, or ground-glass, if desired, is
made to receive the magnified image, which, after being adjusted
as to size and sharply focussed, is made to fall upon a sheet of
iodised paper, and after an exposure of about twenty minutes, it is
developed with gallic acid, to which a few drops of silver solution
have been added. By comparing some prints taken in this way
with some by Woodward’s solar camera, I am constrained to admit
that the former seem more agreeable.
But the method which to me seems the best and most manage¬
able is by the magic lantern, with, of course, an achromatic object-
glass and oxyhydrogen light. The other evening, with an
arrangement of this kind, I took an enlarged portrait of Mr.
Marwick, the respected President of the Edinburgh Photographic
Society, which I feel satisfied could not have been surpassed in
sharpness had it been taken direct. In printing by development
no subsequent toning is required, as by the exercise of a little
judgment when developing almost any kind of tone may be had.
These photographs must (preferably) be jDrinted on non-albumenised
paper.
Objections have been taken to the flat, lack-lustre appearance of
such prints. Now, with judgment and proper manipulation this
need not be the case. But those who object to such “deadness”
may obtain any amount of brilliancy by coating the picture when
dried and mounted with the following encaustic paste, which also
acts most beneficially in preserving the photograph from deleterious
atmospheric influences : — Dissolve Ceylon elemi in oil of lavender,
and add to it wax which has been previously softened by the addi¬
tion of a little of the same oil. Noav add a very small quantit}1, of
oil of cloves so as to make a pomade of such thickness as to be
easily applied with the finger. After it is spread allow it to dry
for five minutes, then polish with a piece of woollen cloth. For
this encaustic we are indebted to M. Clausel.
Dry Collodion without a Preservative.
Tins is a subject which appears to be distracting some portion o
the photographic world at present. It is undoubtedly the simplest
of all dry collodion processes. As some doubt appears to prevail
as to its authorship, allow me to quote from a letter published by
Mr. Geo. R. Muirhead, of Glasgow, dated August 4th, 1854 : —
“ I have found that lisrht acts almost as energetically on a dry surface as on
wet, and that if a plate be well ivaslied in water (after removal from the nitrate
bath) and allowed to dry, it will remain unaltered for a lengthened period,
provided it be kept from light or deleterious gases. Before developing the plate
must be dipped in the silver bath, as the photograph will not develop without
the presence of free nitrate of silver. If the plate be not thoroughly washed it
will blacken all over when the developing solution is applied.”
About the time this letter was published, I remember receiving
from Mr. White, optician, Glasgow, similar instructions for “ dried
plates,” with this addition, that he recommended the use of a
solution of iodide of potassium, as an effectual means of getting rid
of the free nitrate. With this modification of Mr. White’s I have
taken many excellent collodion pictures, both positives and nega¬
tives.
Photolithography .
It was not without good reason that I urged the propriety of pub¬
lishing photographic patent specifications in The British Journal
of Photography. Its numerous readers lose many a chuckle by
this deprivation, for the ignorance of the non-photographic public
88
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1862
as to what has really been discovered is so great that patents are
applied for and obtained which outrage common propriety.
In the famous trial, Talbot versus Laroche, the Lord Chief Baron,
in his charge to the jury, said —
« The ground on which a patent was granted was this: — A party says, ‘ I
have got a secret, and I will tell the public what it is if you will pay me the
price of a monopoly for a certain number of years,’ and the public get for that
monopoly the present use of the patent through the inventor, and at the end
of his time they acquired the means of using the secret from the specification.
The law is, that if the thing patented be not new then the patent must fail.”
Now, no reader of this Journal requires to be informed that bichro¬
mate of potash in combination with gelatine, gums, &c., as a
photographic surface is anything but a novelty. Mr. Fox Talbot’s
two communications to the Athenceum in April, 1853, in connexion
with photographic engravings ; Rousseau and Masson’s communi¬
cations in March, 1856, in connexion with photolithography ;
besides the numerous communications of Poitevin, Osborne, Col.
Sir Henry James, and others, set the matter at rest. And yet, in
1861, a patent is obtained by Messrs. Beatty and Alexander, of
Dublin, securing, among other things, their sole right to this com¬
pound ! Their specification is somewhat sweeping in its demands,
seeing it embraces not only the bichromate and gelatine, but also
transfer inks — metal plates-— carbon in powder* — printing incolours —
“ and especially we claim the application upon the surface on which
the photographic proof is obtained of an acid resisting varnish on
being washed. * * * We also claim the covering with lithographic
transfer ink any surface having thereon a photographic proof, then
washing away the unlighted parts, and when clean taking an impres¬
sion of the same on transfer paper and making a transfer of it on
lithographic stone.” Now what must Col. James and Mr. Osborne
think of that? Of course they — together with Mr. Ramage of
Edinburgh, who follows out this branch very largely — will imme¬
diately acknowledge the superior, because later, claims of these
Dublin gentlemen, and suspend their business operations accord¬
ingly.
A circular at present on the table beside me gives notice that a
reward of £105 will be paid to anyone giving information as to
infringement of this comprehensive patent ; and I accordingly
claim this handsome reward by hereby informing upon — myself!
I have often used bichromate of potash in combination with gum,
and intend doing so again when it suits my convenience. Seriously,
I think it is scarcely fair for the Patent Office to take money from
every person who may rush to them with their supposed novelties ;
but I presume they leave each applicant to defend his own assumed
right, and, if this be so, then for them “ the more the merrier !”
Distortion.
In the course of my reading I have stumbled upon a paper in
some of the journals which is certainly of a most suggestive
character. It is by Mr. J. H. Dallmeyer, a London optician — I
take it, a well-known one. The paper, as a whole, as well as some
statements in particular, merit far more than a passing notice such
as they could receive just now, especially as in the few “ notes ”
struck at present the discordant seem to predominate over the
harmonious. The subject of distortion, then, must remain over till
next “ Notes.”
- -
PHOTOGRAPHY IN ITS APPLICATION TO BOOK
ILLUSTRATION.
By S. Thompson.
Tiie application of photography to book-illustration is not by any
means a new or novel idea ; but its value has hitherto been scarce
sufficiently appreciated. We have had works published from time
to time which have pressed it into their service ; but either from
injudicious selection, imperfect photography — as practised by the
illustrators, who have in many cases been also the authors — or want
of adaptation to the subject, its scope and capabilities have not been
duly and fairly estimated.
I rejoice to see, in many directions, a movement towards a wider
and more discriminating appreciation of its value in this walk of art.
I have faith in the future of photography, in any and all of its
applications, and I fearlessly predicate that it will create for itself
a sphere of action in this direction. I expect to see the time
arrive when we shall look curiously at announcements of new works
in order to know whether they are to be illustrated by John Tenniel,
J. D. Watson, our favourite Birlcett Foster, or some equally famous
photographer. I can admire them all — diversity is charming !
The drawings of one of these — so full of power, so graceful and
tender— capuot be ranked too highly ! But for verisimilitude, for
subtle power in raising the keenest emotions, by presenting to us
facsimiles of places we have seen and loved, photographic pictures
are beyond compare. Samuel Prout — no mean authority — once
said, “I would rather have a photograph of any place that i8
dear to me than all the pictures of it that were ever painted.” No
picture produces an impression on the imagination to compare with
a photographic transcript of the home of our childhood, or any other
scene with which we have been long familiar. It may not be pic¬
torial in itself, but it will have the power to moisten the eye, and set
the heart dreaming of by-gone days. It may be that only “ the
vision of one happy day lingers around that image,” or we may
remember it as long as we remember the stars in Heaven. “ The
secret of our emotions never lies in the bare object, but in its subtle
relations to our own past. No wonder the secret sometimes escapes
the unsympathising observer, who might as well put on his spec¬
tacles to discover odours.”
I regret to be compelled to observe a great want of that
catholic spirit which should prevail in every department of art.
Book-illustration by photography-^ appears to be taken as an inva¬
sion of another domain, the which has elicited some amount of
ignorant criticism. It was ever thus : the party of conservatism
and that of innovation are very old, and have disputed possession
of the world ever since it was made. But photography has not been
nu's-sent to an earth-world where all the seats are taken. I say —
not unadvisedly — ignorant criticism, because some of the reviewers
of the work referred to have betrayed an almost Cimmerian dark¬
ness in regard to the conditions involved in the production of a
really good photographic picture.
It will not be thought too much to assert also that an education
of the eye is as necessary to estimate the comparative merits of
photographs as of paintings. To the trained eye a hundred things
force themselves forward for attention which are as invisible to
other eyes as the difference in the manipulation of Turner, Etty,
Wilson, and others, is to other than artists or connoisseurs. Try
and remember — and there are few who cannot do so — the first gust
of youthful uneducated admiration of some painting which the
trained eye iioav regards with a sterner, juster appreciation.
Photography has its difficulties — not perhaps like that of drawing
a foreshortened arm— which, though different in kind, are not
less in degree. To the initiated, many photographs display great
difficulties contended with and surmounted, and much art in the
fine nuances which constitute the great difference between one
artist and another. A reviewer of this work, in the Spectator,
apparently wishing to condense the subject into a nutshell, asks,
with withering sarcasm, “if the work of a machine can for a
moment be compared with the work of a creature possessing heart
and brains ?” Tried by a rigid logic, I find no fault with his
conclusions : logically they cannot be other than what they are.
But I object in toto to liis assumptions : starting from false pre¬
mises his conclusions must necessarily be false. He has first to
prove how much of a really beautiful photograph is the work of
“ a machine.” Alas ! how many of us become violent partisans
when we ought to be simply earnest students !
I cannot now do better than quote the language of Mr. and
Mrs. Howitt, in their preface : — “It appears to us a decided advance
in the department of topography thus to unite it to photography.
The reader is no longer left to suppose himself at the mercy of the
imaginations, the caprices, or the deficiencies of artists, but to have
before him the genuine presentment of the object under conside¬
ration. We trust that this idea will be pursued to the extent of
which it is capable, and that hereafter we shall have works of
topography and travel illustrated by the photographer, with all the
yet-to-be improvements of the art, so that we shall be able to feel,
■when reading of new scenes and lands, that we are not amused with
pleasant fictions, but presented with realities.”
It remains but to speak of the photographs illustrating this work
as being many of them very beautiful, though of very unequal
merit. I like those by Bedford and Russell Sedgfield (by whom
the whole were printed) best. The Strict, Bolton Priory (Sedgfield),
is a gem. Raglan Castle — Grand Staircase (Bedford), is exquisitely
beautiful — so brilliant — so soft — so perfect. I regret to see
some of Wilson’s, of which I know him to possess finer ver¬
sions of the subject. '’Prentice Pillar, Roslin Chapel, is, however,
very good: also Holyrood Abbey. Chepstow Castle (Bedford) is
a remarkable example of photographic composition. Most land¬
scape photographers know the inherent difficulties in making a
picture of a general view, to embrace which you must retire some
distance, constituting nearly two-thirds of your view “foreground,
* Ruined Castles and Abbeys of Great Britain. By William and Mary How.tt-
Illustrated by Bedford, Sedgfield, Wilson, Fenton, and others. London : A. \V. Bennett,
5, Bishopsgate Without,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
89
March 1, 1862]
mcl that foreground bald, flat, and uninteresting. In this example,
die judicious use of a rustic gate and of a perfectly unconscious
igure, well-placed, has metamorphosed it into an excellent picture.
Furness Abbey (Fenton), though somewhat too dark, is a very
artistic photograph.
With regard to the prose portion of the work, a most interesting
subject — “The Ruined Castles and Abbeys of Great Britain” — has
been treated with much care and precision, and contains some
graceful writing ; how interesting a subject is best told in the
passage which I here quote as being both an example of the
style and scope of the book : —
“Whilst recalling for a moment the past glories of these memorials of
a vanished condition of human society in these islands, we have felt
strongly not only the fiagmental beauty of their remains, but the lessons
and encouragements that they afford us. They stand amid the fair land¬
scapes of England as if meant only to stud them with gems of additional
loveliness ; but from amongst their ivy-mantled walls, where huge trees
strike their roots into their once hallowed or dreaded pavements, and the
wild rose and the wall-flower fling their hues and fragrance from traceried
windows once gorgeous with emblazoned glass, there come to us whispers
of retribution, and of the profound purposes of Providence. In no coun¬
try besides our own do we meet with such numbers of the graceful
skeletons and fractured bones of the once proud forms of Papal greatness.
We are so accustomed to regard these with the eye of poetry and pictorial
effect that we almost forget at times the stupendous power of which they
are the signs, and of the great conflict and victory of which they preserve
the remembrance. Plow little do we realise the state and the veneration,
amounting to terror, with which these superb palaces and temples of a
gigantic priesthood were surrounded ! -With what feelings an ignorant
and simple population gazed on their sculptured towers and quaintly-
chiselled pinnacles, and, at the sound of their matin or their vesper
anthems, prostrated their souls before an overshadowing dread, which
drew its triple force from the powers of earth, of heaven, and of hell — which
came armed with assumptions more than regal from the King of kings,
and Plis Yiceregent sitting afar off on some distant throne, around
which, in the clouded imaginations of the long-bowed-down multitude,
flashed the lights of Deity, and beneath which roared the fires of
delegated damnation. How little do we now realise the deep reverence
which like an aura rose up from the broad lands and wealthy farms, the
dark, vast forests alive with deer and wild cattle, from the streams and the
mountains that lay around the palaces of these satraps of that spiritual
king, and set them above the steel-clad barons, themselves so haughty and
august ! No longer with the same palpitating souls do we behold the great
mitred abbot issue with his train like a very army, with crozier and cross
and banner borne before him, and with glittering battle-axes following on
stalwart shoulders, as he went forth to attend as a great temporal and
spiritual peer in Parliament. No longer do we drop, with all our kith and
kin, on our knees, and as the solemn dignitary slowly passes by on his
plump mule, in caparison of damask and gold, receive the blessing from
his extended hands. Those hands ! which could to the general belief
open the gates of Paradise, or lock them up at pleasure — open the place
of purgatorial or of more consuming fires !”
* * S X -X- % V: %
“ And now, from these fallen haunts and tabernacles of the past
spiritual dynasty, come up more reconciled and musical voices. The
wrath and the resentment have died out, and we remember only the
beauties and the benefits. We recall the works of literature preserved,
the science delved after, the arts cherished, and the benevolence practised
towards the poor. We seek, though yet with unequal success, to revive
the architectural genius which evolved these fallen fanes ; amid their
crumbling stones and clasping ivy we seek for principles of grace and
truth ; and these point us smilingly to that inexhaustible source whence
mediaeval builders drew their laws of forms — to all-informing, God-
informed Nature. To these voices, to this great school-mistress, we
cannot listen too much or too frequently, amid the beautiful remains of
the Castles and Abbeys of England.”
ILLEGAL USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS : IMPORTANT TO
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Feb. 18.
^Sittings at Nisi Prius, at Guildhall, before the Loan Chief Baeox
and a Special Fury.)
MAYALL V. IIIGBY.
Mr. Vaughan Williams and Mr. Blaine were counsel for the plaintiff;
Mr. M. Smith, Q.C., and Mr. Aspland for the defendant.
This was an action by Mr. Mayall, the well-known photographer, of
Regent-street, to recover the original photographic portraits of several
distinguished persons, and also damages for the illegal use which the
defendant had made of them in copying and selling diminished impressions
in the form of cartes de visite.
Mr. Mayall was called, and gave the following evidence : — In 1857 Mr.
Tallis, the publisher of the Illustrated News of the World, called upon me
and asked me to lend him a number of my portraits of eminent men, for
the purpose of engraving and publishing weekly in his paper. I agreed
to lend them to him on condition only that he would return them as soon
as engraved. It was subsequently arranged that I was to have an adver¬
tisement inserted in his paper gratis. I handed over to him, from time
to time, about 200 photographs for engraving ; among them were Lord
Brougham, Prince Dhuleep Singh, Mr. Serjeant Shee, the Prince Consort,
Lord Campbell, the Rev. J. Bellew, and other distinguished persons.
They were all engraved and published in the Illustrated News of the
World weekly. Some of them were returned after being engraved. I
also lent him photographs which, to the best of my belief, have not been
engraved. Among them were the Earl of Dartmouth, the Duke of Rut¬
land, Mr. Bernal Osborne, Mr. Tom Taylor, the Rev. Baptist Noel, Prince
de Joinvillc, Lord Rosse. and others. The photographs were taken byr me
by arrangement. Lord Brougham and others came to me for their por¬
traits. I stated to them that the negatives were my property, and I
asked their permission to publish them : they gave me their consent. In
many cases permission was refused. On all the photographs produced
permission was given. I took the portraits at my own expense, and gave
a copy to the parties who sat for them.
The portrait of Lord Brougham in an oratorical attitude was produced
and handed to the jury.
Witness continued : — Mr. Tallis became a bankrupt in 1860, but his
paper continued as before. After his bankruptcy I found that reduced
copies of my photographs were being sold. I had not myself published
or authorised to be published any copies of them. I found that Mr.
Bennett, of Bishopsgate-street, was selling them, and I called upon him
and ascertained that he was publishing them for Mr. Higby, the
defendant. Mr. Iligby afterwards called upon me and offered to sell me
the photographs and the negatives he had made from them for £250. I
stated I would give him no definite answer till I had consulted my legal
adviser. On his calling again I refused to hold another conversation with
him.
In cross-examination: — I have sold a few copies of the original of Lord
Brougham and a few others to their private friends at £2 2s., with an
express understanding that they were not to be copied. I sold no copies
of Prince Dhuleep Singh except to himself. No offer that I can recollect
was made for Sir John Pakington. (Laughter.) Alderman Carden was
returned by Mr Tallis. _ As soon as I found that the portraits were being
sold I wrote to the assignees of Mr. Tallis, saying they were my property.
The evidence of Mr. Mayall was confirmed by his secretary, and wit¬
nesses were called to prove the value of the photographs and of the
reduced copies of them sold by the defendant.
On behalf of the defendant, Mr. Smith stated that he should prove that
Mr. Higby had bought the portraits from the assignees in bankruptcy of
Mr. Tallis under the impression that they had a good title to them, and
that he had paid considerable sums for them, and was acting in a perfectly
bona-fide manner.
The Chief Baron said that after the evidence that had been given
there was no pretence for saying that any property in the photographs
passed to the assignees ; that the defendant, though acting boncifide, had
no right to them, and must look to the assignees for his remedy. ’
It was ultimately arranged that a verdict should be entered upon the
count in detenue for the plaintiff for 40s., upon the understanding that the
photographs should be given up to the plaintiff; and, after direction from
the Judge, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff of £25 upon the
count charging the defendant with illegally using the photographs by
making and selling reduced copies of the same, the question being reserved
for the Court whether any such action would lie in the absence of any
law of copyright relating to photographs. — Times. J
Toning Baths. — Mr. S. R. Divine, in a communication to
Humphrey's Journal (American), makes the following remarks : _
“Different samples of chloride of gold will vary in the degree of
acidity, and the amount of carbonate of soda or other neutralising
material cannot he definitely prescribed. A very safe way of pro^
ceeding is to immerse a slip of litmus-paper in the solution — the
acid causing it to turn red— and to add bicarbonate of soda till the
litmus will retain its blue colour. The soda should be in solution,
saturated, and should be well shaken up after each addition!
Enough gold must be used to tone the prints moderately quickly!
I have no faith in the various nostrums that are frequently added
with chloride of gold to secure fine effects. Gold is the only toning
agent known at present that is of any value. All that makes
it necessary to add a neutralising substance is to influence the
rapidity of precipitation. A certain class of metals require to be
in an acid solution to be precipitated by reagents, others in an
alkaline, and some are readily thrown down in an acid, neutral, or
alkaline state. Gold in the form of chloride is precipitated slowly
by silver from an acid solution, more rapidly from a neutral, and
still more rapidily from an alkaline liquid. The size of the granules
of metal that are thrown down also varies with these circum¬
stances. Attention to these facts will instruct us in the true
theories of toning, and from true theories rightly applied results
the highest order of practice.”
90
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1862
^rtbfs $Mtors to it grunt# ^fwtojjrapjm-.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Sentiment ( continued ) — About Sky and Cloud Photograph-
ing — Illustration from Nature — One Common Source
of Failure — The Harmonious Working of Collodion,
Bath, Developer, &c., Essential to the Powerful Ex¬
pression of Sentiment.
“ It is a strange tiling how little people in general know about the sky. It is a part of
the creation in which Nature has done more f r the sake of pleasing man — moie for
the sole and evident purpose of talking to him and teaching him — than in any other of
her works, and it is just the part in which we least attend to her. * * * There is not
a moment of any day of our lives when Nature is not producing scene after scene,
picture after picture, glcrv after glory, and working still upon such exquisite and con¬
stant principles of the most perfect beauty, that it is quite certain that it is all done for
us, and intended for our perpetual pleasure. * * Sometimes gentle, sometimes
capricious, sometimes awful — never the same f r two minutes together ; almost human
in its passions, almost spiritual in its tenderness, almost divine in its infinity, it is
surely meant for the chief minister of what is immortal in us, as it is the chief minister
of chastisement or of blessing to what is mortal.”— Ruskin.
My dear Fellow- Student,
But the great source of sentiment and spiritual beauty
lies in those phenomena of sky and cloud and vaporous exhalations
which we have neveryetdone thorough justice to in our photographs.
Not that, even with our present appliances, it is impossible to do
so, hut because we have hardly yet began to recognise the import¬
ance of such as the real source of poetical loveliness. Not long
ago we were quite content with leaving white paper* to represent
the sky, but to our credit we saw the absurdity of this directly it
was pointed out, and at once abandoned the funny mistake ; but
we have not yet began to register the actual aspects of that
wondrous realm of eternal beauty, up into which the tiniest bird
soars unchecked, and down through which the far-away and
mightiest worlds of the universe show like twinkling specks of
fire. The fairy visions of “the blue firmanent aloft and wide,”
with its myriad forms of sublimity, beauty, and grandeur, form the
brightest A’isible realm of eternal loveliness that can attract and
delight the artistic eye. And yet with too many of our photo¬
graphers this fact is one entirely overlooked. If not so far behind
the taste of the day as to view white paper “ skies” with the bliss
of contented ignorance, they think it quite sufficient to keep it from
being glaringly prominent, and to preserve the effects of tone and
the partial truth of space by one uniform grey tint, or ditto
prettily graduated. But why not be more ambitious ? We have
sufficient warranty for our attempts in occasional successes in this
direction ; and we know where our chief difficulties — certainly not
small ones — are to be met. The reward I can assure you is one well
worth all the labour and study which, as scientific or artistic pho¬
tographers, we can devote to our task ; and the loftier claims of
landscape photography as a fine art will date from that happy day
on which we begin to secure truthfully the natural phenomena of
sky and cloud, no less than those of land and water. Not one
without the other — a correct properly-exposed sky, with a false
under-exposed landscape, or a hard, opaque, storm-gloomy sky,
with a clear, bright, luminous landscape; but one grand harmonious
whole, in which every breath of the sky sentiment lives and moves
in the landscape also.
I remember when out with the camera once calling the attention
of a friend then working the wet process to a grand effect of
sky and cloud, which I challenged him to secure. Streams of
golden glory from the hidden orb of day charged with their line
of levelled spears the shadowed masses of opposing cloud. But the
gloomy, motionless legions, obstinately defiant, held their own,
save in two distant points where the radiant foe rent asunder their
phalanx-like troops, and came streaming through the infinity of
space in two well-defined unbroken lines. The effect was indeed
superb, and my friend cried exultingly that he had brought with
him a little very old collodion for plate cleaning, which would be
just the thing for a trial ! — that he would just add a little acid to
his bath and weaken his developer, and go a-head ! He did so, and
thus got what ho in his enthusiasm called a “ glorious negative ! ”
In the print from this negative there was very much to admire,
certainly; but the light had lost its palpitating vitality, the
shadows their aerial transparency, the space its infinity — nothing
was registered save the more vigorous contrasts, and these were
woefully exaggerated. 'Where the defeated sun-spears should
have melted away in the thickening vapours which gradually closed
against their further progress, the photograph gave abrupt ter¬
minations and sudden contrasts; and where the gleaming lines shot
through the azure of the sky, strong in their luminous intensity
“‘White paper is not the least like air.”— Modern Painters
they were swallowed up in white patches, alike representative of
these and of the wondrous depths in which they existed. There
was a wild stormy effect in the dark masses, and a lightning-like
gleaming here and there, where the sunlight touched with pallid
fire their dark extremities ; but all the delicate and minute detail,
all the exquisitely tender tones, and soft, melting touches of ghostly
light and shade, where the vapours died imperceptibly into the blue
void, or the fierce light came stealing so weakened and subdued
through the cloud shadows, more or less faintly, according to their
position, and to the greater or lesser degree of transparency — theso
and the various degrees of tenderly refiected light, and a hundred
other fairy-like charms constituting the great beauty of the whole,
were altogether lost and destroyed. Now, if my friend had been
about to photograph, say some delicate work of fragile art, in some
semi or more than semi-transparent material, full of faint delicate
detail and subtle tones of light and shade, he would have laughed
to scorn the idea of using the old collodion, the acid bath, and
the weak iron developer, which lie thought the right things for a
magnificent sky picture, full of details, and aerial tones, infinitely
more delicate and refined than those of the most fairy-like of
wondrous modern art-creations. This was the source of his failure,
and is the source of most such failures ; and is representative of
our great difficulties in the pursuit of truthful sky effects. I
have now, my dear fellow-student, pointed out our foe. Wilson,
Blanchard, and many others, rare and occasional successes, give
us hope. Our chemists and artists must find the weapons. And
the reward !— language is not eloquent enough to describe this: so
I will e’en be silent. But if you read that portion of Buskin’s
Modern Painters which treats of sky and clouds, you may form some
idea of its probable value.
The study of pictorial sentiment or expression or feeling, how¬
ever, is not confined — as the above hints — to mental cultivation, or
to selections from nature, or choice of light, season, &c., &c., but
has its elements in every mechanical stage of our picture-creating
progress : in the choice of lens, the selection of collodion, condition
of the bath and kind of developer — in the printing, the toning, and
even in the mounting. It is not my province to enter full}’ into
these questions, which I leave to those having greater experience
and therefore better claims to enlarge upon them ; but they are all
essential to real success. As you well know, one collodion, under
certain conditions of hath, exposure, and developer, will give us
delicate transitions of chiaroscuro , plenteous detail, and clear,
transparent shadows, leaving, as a rule, the intensity required for
attainment in an after-process ; while another gives under the same
conditions more vigorous contrasts, less detail, less transparency
in the blacks, and almost or quite sufficient intensity after simple
development. Collodions, moreover, lean to one or other of these
descriptions more or less, so as to produce a large variety of dif¬
ferent qualities. The choice of collodion as an element in the
expression of sentiment meets us, then, on the threshold of our
mechanical practice. For this landscape, in which contrast and
vigour are the predominating qualities required, Ave can spare that
refinement and delicacy of chiaroscuro and detail Avhich this or that
heavily-bromised collodion may give, but require clear, glass-like
shadows and that amount of intensity which is very apt to degene¬
rate into hardness and crudity if sought in the intensifying process
alone. To he brief : the foundation of the qualities you seek in
expressing sentiment should always, I think, exist in the collodion.
Another element of expression lies in the developer — I presume you
use iron — as influencing the amount of detail and its more or less
definite character, &c., an essential difference existing in the action
of various developers of different degrees of strength, as I need
hardly add. Again : the condition of the bath influences the picture,
and may also prove a source of power in varying the relative cha¬
racter of the lights and shadows in some cases; for instance, the
positive absence of black altogether from the print being sometimes
an advantage of no small moment to the sentiment expressed.
There is, also, a great source of poAver in expressing sentiment ii^
the many influences which may be brought to bear in our printing
and toning, as Rej lander has so ably shoAvn, and also in the colour
of the proof — a fact which has been someAvhat strangely overlooked.
We can obtain various hues and shades of purple, ranging from the
cold and bluish to that Avarm golden tone which would do so much for
the sentiment of a sunset photograph. We have a wide range of
browns of various degrees of warmth, and a goodly variety of greys,
neutral and otherwise ; and then again we have black in its purity.
In a previous letter I have shoAvn hoAV tone will suggest colour
and the sentiments therewith associated, but iioav we deal direct
with colour itself. I must reserve this consideration, however, for
my next. ALFRED H. WALL.
March 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
91
Straps 'crab Jragttmrfs
Huttings of Sotitfits.
Enlargement. — M. Arthur Chevalier has just published a little
treatise on enlargement, practically and theoretically discussed.
Albumenising. — Messrs. Lewitsky and Schpakoffsky have in¬
vented a piece of apparatus for continuously albumenising a sheet
of paper of indefinite length.
Celestial Photography. — M. D. van Monckhoven is about to
proceed to Italy to superintend the erection of photographic appa¬
ratus for the automatic registration of astral phenomena.
Views in tiie Pyrenees. — Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte’s large-sized
views in the Pyrenees, recently taken for the French Emperor, are
to appear at the International Exhibition amongst the French col¬
lection.
New Mode op Printing. — M. Wothly has presented to the
French Photographic Society some proofs (by a new process'
obtained by the use of the sulphides of sodium, antimony, and
lead, which he expects are absolutely permanent.
Mason v. Heath. — Litigation in connexion with our art appears
to be on the increase. At the time of “ going to press” an action
is pending in the Court of Common Pleas touching the property in
a negative photographic portrait of his late .Royal Highness the
Prince Consort. We are of course only partially informed upon
the merits of the question ; therefore any opinion thereon would
be as yet premature. We shall probably give the details of the
trial in our next issue.
Photographically Illustrated Work. — We have recently seen
one of the most tasteful publications for the drawing-room table
that has hitherto appeared. Messrs. Negretti and Zambra have
lately brought out a work on Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia, of a
small quarto size, illustrated bv one hundred photographic stereo¬
graphs taken by Mr. Francis Frith. — The descriptive letterpress,
by Mr. J. Bonomi, is interspersed with numerous wood-engravings,
and is further enriched by numerous critical notes from the pen of
Mr. Samuel Sharpe. The whole is elegantly bound, and accom¬
panied by a folding stereoscope.
Piienakistiscopic Pictures. — M. Dumont has presented to the
French Photographic Society a new invention for procuring twelve
negatives, showing the successive phases of an object in motion.
The end proposed is not only to obtain natural moving stereoscopic
images, but also to secure with certainty the best phases of objects
in. motion in an artistic point of view. The object is effected by a
revolving cylinder with twelve facets thereon to carry the sensitive
plates, and, by an ingenious contrivance, these are exposed succes¬
sively only when brought exactly into a position at right angles to
the axis of the lens.
Life-sized Portraits. — We have recently inspected, with con¬
siderable pleasure, two half-length life-sized portraits at the estab¬
lishment of Messrs. Negretti and Zambra, being the likenesses of
Mr. Negretti and his wife. They are by far the most effective of
this kind ever attempted in this country ; and for mural decoration
have quite sufficient definition without any aid from the pencil.
That of Mr. Negretti is entirely untouched, while that of the lady
has the net which confines the hair painted in. The treatment in
both pictures is artistic, and the half-tones all that can be desired.
We have been informed by M. Claudetthat he is turning his atten¬
tion in the same direction, and has certain productions of the kind
“ on the stocks,” as the dockyard phrase runs.
On this subject we find the following in the Athenceum : —
“ It will interest English readers to know that the Trince of Wales employed some of
Ms short stay m Mun'ch in sitting to Herr Albert, t lie court photographer, for one of
his life-size photographs. The portrait of his Royal Highnrss is to appear in the Exhi¬
bition, and cannot fail to attract attention. Wc believe Herr Albert is the only photo¬
grapher who has produced portraits the sizeofiife: they are certainly his invention,
and we have not yet seen them imitated. The Prince of Wales’s portrait was fin shed
in five hours' time, and it is at the Piince’s own desire that it is to appear in the
Exhibition. ’’
We think it a great pity that the worthy editor of the Athenaeum
does not keep himself better “posted up” in matters photographic.
We know that he lias the opportunity. Were be to do so lie would
not have fallen into the error of supposing that Herr Albert is the
inventor of life-sized photographs, still less that lie is the only pro¬
ducer of such pictures. As to the invention, it rests with our
countryman and good friend, Mr. F. H. Wenbam, who brought the
matter before the Photographic Society in 1853 or 1854 (we quote
from memory only), and a paper by him on lliis subject may be
found in the Journal of the Photographic Society of the date
specified.
MEETINGS IN MAHCH.
4th. — London and Liverpool.
5th. — Manchester, Edinburgh, and
Bradford.
6th — Glasgow.
7 tli — Newcastle.
11th. — Photographic Society of
Scotland and Birmingham.
13th — South London and Choriton.
19th. — North London and Edin¬
burgh.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
An ordinary meeting of this Society took place on Wednesday evening,
the 18th ult., at Myddleton Hall, Islington, — George Shadboit, Esq.,
Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman announced that this was, in accordance with one of the
rules of the Society, the appointed evening for the nomination of Officers
and Committee, who would be elected at the next, which would be the
annual, meeting of the Society ; these formal proceedings, however, he
thought might be deferred until a later period of the evening. He (the
Chairman) had brought for the inspection of the members a couple of
American stereoscopic pictures, among which was the portrait of Mr.
Coleman Sellers. These were examined with interest by the members.
Mr. Simpson exhibited some prints from negatives taken on simply
washed collodion. The subjects were Shakespeare' t House , at Stratford-
on-Avon, and Ann Hathaway' s Cottage , at Shottery, near Stratford-on-
Avon : the latter was taken with a lens of 15 inches focus and an ex¬
posure of three minutes. The pictures bore good evidence of the possi¬
bility of preparing dry collodion plate.s without a preservative.
Mr. Seeley, who had been unsuccessful in his experiments in this
direction, said he would feel obliged if Mr. Simpson would furnish him
with the formula.
Mr. Simpson stated that some kinds of collodion were more applicable
than others for this purpose, but that it seemed to be a necessity that
one bromo-iodised should be employed. For the rest, that which adhered
most firmly to the glass was to be preferred.
The Chairman, in the absence of other matter, volunteered to read a
paper by M. Niepce do St. \ictor, On Heliochromy. The paper had
recently been read before the Academy of Sciences of Paris. [See page 80.]
In opening the discussion at the conclusion of the paper, the Chairman
remarked that there were several important points in the paper he had
just read, not the least among which was the power of being able to
retain the colours on the plates for some hours.
Mr. Seeley said that some few months ago he had been assured by a
gentleman connected with the photographic department, at South Ken¬
sington that they had there once obtained a portrait of a sapper whose
scarlet coat was reproduced with almost natural brilliancy : the colour
remained four days and finally vanished.
The Chairman remarked that it was not uncommon to obtain negatives
having a reddish tinge, and other single colours had been produced, but
the difficulty was to expose the plate and obtain all the colours.
Mr. Hughes reminded the members that it was important to avoid
those errors which arose from enthusiasm in connexion with this subject.
A coppery tone in a picture had otten been called a red image ; and it
should be always stated whether the colours respectively named were
visible by transmitted or reflected light.
Mr. Simpson knew of an early collodion picture which he believed was
in the possession of Dr. Diamond, in which many colours were very
accurately rendered. It was a direct positive, which, having been deve¬
loped with pyrogallic acid, had yielded a blue sky, a red-brown brick
house, and dirty green foliage. The colours were still retained, although
the picture was done eight years ago !
Mr. Dawson had often observed a variety of colours in pictures taken
bv the collodion processes : he had always regarded them as the result
of iridescence. The effect was especially observable while the pictures
were wet.
The Chairman thought the production of colours, such as blue, green,
and brown, in one negative, comparatively common ; but did not remem¬
ber to have heard of the reproduction of a yellow colour. This he
regarded as a severe test of the capabilities of heliochromy : it would
consequently, be a great triumph when it was accomplished.
Mr. Hughes directed attention to the fact that M. Niepce de.St. Victor
had stated that black fines were produced on a white plate : that might
be regarded as a negative effect, and equivalent to the reproduction of a
yefiow from a yellow.
Mr. Simpson alluded to the mention made by Mr Malone, in his remarks
on ruby silver, that black lines were reproduced on a white ground of
chloride of silver.
The Chairman, noticing that most of the recorded experiments iu
heliochromy were described as being performed with silver plates, re¬
gretted that, as there were now so few daguerreotypisis, and that silver
plates bad gone almost out of use, but few amateurs were likely to repeat
these experiments.
Mr Hughes thought that one important effect of the publishing of re¬
searches in this curious branch of the photographic art, was to sustain
the faith of photographers in the ultimate possibility of taking pictures
in their natural colours. He could not doubt but that the published
92
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1862
records were but a small part of a very elaborate series of carefully-con¬
ducted experiments, involving the exercise of much patience and perse¬
verance on the part of those who undertook them : they should therefore
at all times be received with deference and encouragement, as being
likely to lead to important results.
In continuation of the train of thought suggested by Mr. Hughes, Mr.
Simpson expressed a hope that as the silver plate had been the pioneer in
monochrome photographic pictures, it would perhaps become the pioneer
in polychrome or heliochromy.
The discussion on this subject subsiding, Mr. Eoss asked if the photograph
of Ann Hathaway' s Cottage was taken with a single or double combination
lens ? He was led to infer from the brilliancy and general character of the
picture that a single landscape lens had been employed. He might men¬
tion that Mr. Bedford, who had “ gone to Jericho ” and other cities in
Palestine with the Prince of Wales, had taken with him a fifteen-inch focus
lens, and one of twenty-inch focus, stating that he much preferred an
ordinary single combination for general purposes to any of the compound
forms, because it produced a more vigorous and telling picture.
Mr. Hughes asked if distorted lines were a necessary accompaniment
to the work of the orthographic lens, or were they mainly evident at the
edges of the field when the lens was “ strained ?”
Mr. Boss replied that although with the orthographic, as with the
ordinary single combinations, the lines produced at the margins of the
picture were not, strictly speaking, absolutely free from curvature,
unless the lenses were strained to cover a surface larger than they were
constructed for, the curvature was so slight that it would be scarcely
perceptible.
Mr. Dawson could support the statement made by Mr. Boss in reference
to Mr. Bedford’s preference for the ordinary landscape lens by informing
the meeting that Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen, had abandoned the use of
compound lenses for his general work, and returned to his single combi¬
nations.
Mr. Boss remarked, in reference to the pictures of large angular extent
recently taken by Mr. Wilson, that it was well known that all lenses, if
worked to the full extent of their capabilities, yielded circular pictures,
from which rectangular ones might be cut, having a certain diagonal ;
and so long as that were maintained, any shaped picture, from the square
to the long parallelogram, might be cut out of the circular field. He
thought there were a great many misstatements put forward in reference
to angle of field.
The Chairman thought that clear and concise information on these
points should be embodied in our manuals of photography.
Mr. Seeley remarked that a friend of his had taken good quarter-plate
pictures with the front achromatic lens of an opera glass, which was, he
believed, of similar construction to an ordinary landscape lens.
Mr. Boss could readily understand this, and thought it extremely pro¬
bable, as there were circumstances, i.e., conditions of glass, which would
necessitate the adoption of the same form of lens as that used for an opera
glass by an optician constructing a photographic lens. The form and
curves of lenses were determined by the specific gravity for the dispei’sive
power, the index of refraction, and other properties of the glass.
A somewhat desultory discussion then ensued, gentlemen reminding
each other of the simplicity of their first cameras, “spectacle glasses,”
“cigar boxes,” &c. At its conclusion,
Mr. Boss remarked that every construction of lens had its peculiar ad¬
vantages, and that it was a mistake to suppose that a great variety of
capabilities could be combined in one instrument. For instance, for
architectural subjects, when you could not get far enough off, the ortho¬
graphic lens would admit of the camera being turned upwards. For
copying, as for the reproduction of straight lines, the triplet suggested by
Mr. Sutton was useful, and for rapidity the single combination.
The Chairman thought it a great point gained to get an eminent
optician to admit that any one lens will not do everything .
At the suggestion of the Chairman the meeting then proceeded to the
nomination of Officers and Council for the ensuing year. Notice was
given of an intention to propose an alteration in the rules to allow the
appointment of two Vice-Presidents instead of one, as at present.
Although an animated discussion ensued on this subject, it was natu¬
rally of such a nature as to render it interesting to the members of this
Society alone, and not having any photographic interest it is therefore
needless to enter into the details of the discussion. The following was
the result of the nomination : —
President: Mr. Woodward. Vice Presidents : Messrs. Shadbolt, Dawson,
Hislop, Moens, and Boss. Treasurer: Mr. Hill. Secretary: Mr. Barnett.
Committee: Messrs. Simpson, Barber, Shave, Nicholson, Bedford, Man-
waring, Bingham, Foxlee, and W. W. King. Auditors: Messrs. Foxlee
and Ilislop.
It is understood that the names of those gentlemen who are nominated
for Vice-President but not elected are to be considered on the list to select
from for Committee men.
The election will take place at the next meeting, which is appointe d
for the 19th instant.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at the new place of meeting,
Sussex Hail, Leadenhall-street, on Thursday, the 13th ult. The Bcv. F.
F. Statliam, President, occupied the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the
President directed the attention of the members to some presentations
which had been made to the Society.
Messrs. Smyth and Blanchard, whose excellent instantaneous stereo¬
graphs of London were noticed in the pages of this Journal a short time
since, presented a photographic copy of an oil painting by Mr. A. F.
Patten, now exhibiting in the gallery of the British Institution. Size of
original painting, 20 X 10: size of photograph, 8 X 0. The picture
possessed unusual merit, and formed a valuable addition to the Society’s
portfolio.
Mr. Thomas Clark Westfield presented a copy of his work on Japan and
the Japanese , their Manners and Customs : with an Account of the General
Characteristics of the Country , its Manufactures and Natural Prod actions ;
originally delivered as a lecture at the Marylebonc Literary and Scientific
Institution. The work was illustrated by stereographic pictures.
The President remarked, in allusion to the pictures, that that mode of
illustration gave a degree of precision and accuracy to works of that kind
which they had not hitherto possessed, as he thought the pictures usually
contained in works of travel were more indebted to the imagination than
to reality.
The Secretary then directed the attention of the meeting to the fact
that the Committee of the Society were engaged in what he hoped would
prove successful negotiations with the Crystal Palace Company, for the
purpose of holding an Exhibition of Photographs and Photographic
Apparatus supplementary to, and simultaneous with, the one to be held
at the World’s Fair. He thought it should be understood that this was
not necessarily in opposition to the Kensington arrangements, but that
by its means a more adequate representation of photographic interests
would be secured.
The following new members, introduced by Mr. Martin, were duly pro¬
posed, seconded, and elected : — Mr. J. J. Cole, Mr. B. Harmer, Mr. Shuter,
Mr. Haskins, Mr. C. W. Wood. Mr. Robinson, of Leamington, was also
elected a member of the Society.
Mr. SiMrsoN, though sensible that he was not quite in order, would
submit that the first business of this evening, now that the Society was
assembled in its new place of meeting, was to propose a vote of thanks
to the President and the Committee of St. Peter’s School, Walworth, for
the kindness they had shown to the Society in permitting the gratuitous
use of their school-rooms as a place of meeting.
The proposition was cordially responded to by the members and carried
by acclamation.
The President, in reply, stated that he was sure the Committee of the
school would share with himself the feeling of pleasure which lie enter¬
tained at having afforded a temporary refuge to this rising institution :
that feeling alone was a source of gratification to him, and it was of
course an additional pleasure to have the small favour thus cordially and
publicly acknowledged.
Mr. Davis also proposed a vote of thanks to John Rennell, Esq., for the
gratuitous offer of a room at Kennington in which to hold the Society’s
meetings.
This motion was also unanimously carried.
Mr. Howard, the Treasurer of, the Society, proposed that the Society
should offer for the acceptance of the Committee of St. Peter’s School the
long board which had hitherto served the purpose of a table at the Society’s
meetings.
This having been agreed to by the members,
The President, in reply, doubted if the financial position of the Society
was such as to justify it in making presents, but thought that if the
members so willed it the Committee would accept their hoard in exchange
for their lodging. He then called on Mr. Davis to read his paper On the
Manufacture of Collodion. [See page 56, et scq.]
Mr. Davis illustrated his paper by exhibiting samples of pyroxyline
prepared under different circumstances, demonstrating their solubility in
a mixture of alcohol and ether, and directing special attention to the
mechanical condition of the cotton after treatment with acids. That
cotton which retained its fibrous character, appearing but little altered
by the acids, communicated a corresponding character to the collodion
made with it, which was tenacious and contractile ; while the cotton
which, from its breaking readily into short pieces, seemed most acted
on by the acids, yielded a collodion film of what is called a “ powdery”
character. Mr. Davis ignited some samples of pyroxyline on white
paper, showing the varying amount of carbonaceous residue yielded
according to the increase or diminution in the strength of the acids
employed.
The President, at the conclusion of Mr. Davis’s paper, said that the
meeting would be allowing an act of great injustice if it did not pass a
cordial vote of thanks for Mr. Davis’s very able paper, which, though it
had taken a comparatively short time to read, must have taken him (Mr.
Davis) a long time to prepare. He (the President) need not represent to
that meeting the importance of the subject which had been brought under
their notice : all present were fully aware of it, and he was sure that
photographers generally would hail, and that with gratitude, any
researches which tended to facilitate and improve the manufacture of
this important requisite. And he thought the paper now before the
meeting was one of great usefulness, especially to those who, from their
geographical position, were unable to buy collodion.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Davis was unanimously passed.
93
PHOTO GRAPHY.
arrJterfqlUTwMd. means several distinct colours had been
°bAs Useemed probable that no discussion would follow Mr. Davis’s
T;: Hughes said he rose in compliance with an invitation. He
vpviowpd the whole subject of the manufacture of collodion. He
descanted on the largeness and vastness of the subject the impoitance
whfph attached to having the materials in exact proportions, of uniform
which attaoneu b _ v,f nr-ids to take place at
n p^fip nravhv Ld of allowing the action of the acids to take place at
astated temperature. Too much care could not be exercised m adjusting
me tliod r econim end ed^ b^1<cliffcren< t authorh
ties The general tenor of Mr. Hughes's observations may be
natliered from what has been said above, the details of the addiess
beinc merely an account of what comes within the experience of most
photographers who undertake the manufacture of collodion. In lefeience
to the& matter more immediately before the meeting, he would ask Mr.
Uavis—first, why ho suggested the use of part nitric acid and part mti ate
of potash in his formula for the preparation of pyroxyhne ? and, secondly,
hisPreason for the introduction of chloride of ammonium into the collodion .
Mr Davis not replying immediately to Mr. Hughes s queries,
Mr.’ Simpson said that the difficulty of stating accurately the proportions
most conducive to success was matter for regret. He would give a
formula which in his hands had proved highly satisfactory . Pyroxylme:—
Nitric acid (sp. gr. 1.420) and oil of vitriol equal parts. Cotton, about lo
or 20 grains to the ounce ; temperature 150° ; period ol immersion, ten
minutes ; wash and dry. Pyroxyline so prepared was entirely soluble
in varying proportions of alcohol and ether. He had used half-and-hal
as effecting the most perfect solution.— Iodising compound:— iodide ot
potassium and iodide of cadmium equal parts— or, better, the iodide of
potassium might be replaced by iodide of sodium,. which was more
completely soluble in absolute alcohol He (Mr. Simpson) had tried
chlorides in collodion, and found the only result to be an increase of that
silvery whiteness so desirable for positives. He had tried also various
omanic compounds without obtaining any appreciable increase of
sensibility So far from that, he had found that collodions so treated
rapidly lost their sensibility, and that the bath became soon injured
He regarded bromides as accelerators in the case of iron development.
Mi'°Hannaford thought the formula just described a very good one :
he had used it with marked success. He was a little surprised at. Ill.
Hughes’s incredulity as to the quantity of bromides used by American
nhotoaraphers. He (Mr. Hannaford) had used two grains of bromide to
the ounce of collodion. The introduction of a chloride he thought move
appropriate to the dry processes than the wet. The advantages attending
its use arose from its association with the iodide of silver, as it was now
an established fact that the presence of one or more salts of silver (not
necessarily the nitrate) besides the iodide was sufficient to yield a sensitive
drv plate Speaking from recollection, he thought chloride of ammonium
was insoluble in absolute alcohol. Perhaps Mr. Davis could say whether
^Mr VDAVis°said that lie obtained evidence of the solubility of this salt
in alcohol by digesting it with alcohol, filtering, and adding a solution of
nitrate of silver, which invariably yielded a white precipitate of chloride
°^Mr Eidmans, rightly appreciating the weak point of Mr. Simpson’s
formula, as practised by Mr. Hannaford, asked the latter gentleman, if
he employed a hydrometer in testing the specific -gravity of the acids
he employed, as the repeated use of the same acids without such an
examination would, he thought, be far from yielding an uniform result
Mr. Hannaford -was understood to reply in the negative. He further
stated that some photographers had obtained very good results by mixing
a number of collodions prepared by different makers.
Mr Wall having tried a sample of collodion made by Mr. Hannaford
in the manner he had named, found it of very superior quality, and was
disposed therefore to recommend the formula for its preparation.
Mr. Henderson bad found the addition of iodide of silver to collodion
increase its sensibility. „ .. . , ■, ,
Mr. Davis reminded tlic lust speaker that iodide of silver liad been
added by Dr. Diamond to collodions containing iodide of potassium.
Mr. Simpson said Mr. Hadow, an early worker in the collodion process,
had added iodide of silver to collodion, and had obtained an increase
of sensibility. In reference to the surprise expressed by Mr. Hughes at
tlie large proportion of bromides used by the Americans, lie might
remark in corroboration of what Mr. Hannaford had said, that he had
used two grains of bromide to the ounce of collodion, with increase of
sensibility and without diminution of intensity. At a recent meeting o
the Drench Photographic Society, the proportions of equal parts ot
bromide and iodide had been recommended by good photographers.
Mr. Valentine Blanchard, in connexion with this subject, bad some
curious experiences to report. He had been making some experiments
with the view of ascertaining the nature and proportion ot .materials
which would yield him the greatest amount of delicacy in the middle tints
of his picture when taking a portrait. He had used one grain of ^rornide
to five of iodide, and obtained a good result; the singular point, however
was this, that on reversing the proportions, five grams of bromide to
one grain of iodide, he had obtained an equally satisfactory impression,
and this too in England, which would lead to the mfeience that
geographical position did not influence the result, as had been hinted
during the discussion. . . , . +t,voo
Mr. Harmer said he had employed three grains of bromide to the
grains of iodide, and had obtained a good intensity : he did not find tne
result affected by the nature of the base of the respective salts.
A variety of opinions were then expressed on the proportion ot iodides
and bromides advisable for addition to collodion. On the subject ot
S° Ah’. Hannaford thought methylated ether might he employed, but
not methylated alcohol. ,
Mr. Simpson thought methylated alcohol of sp. gr. ‘80o redistilled
would be found sufficiently pure for all practical purposes.
Mr. Henderson said he had found bromo-iodised collodion most suit¬
able for cold weather, t .
The President reminded the meeting that the time for its session had
almost expired, and that as Mr. Davis had yet to reply, if other, gentle-
men had remarks to make, the discussion had perhaps better be adjourned.
Mr. Valentine Blanchard, acting on the suggestion, moved an adjourn¬
ment of the discussion. , , .
Mr. Fry, in seconding the motion, expressed a hope that more promi¬
nence would be given to the best means of obtaining instantaneous
collodions, and that Mr. Davis might perhaps he induced to state the
absolute ratio as to sensibility existing between his collodion and others.
Mr. Davis in replying to the queries which had been made, early in
the evening, ’said, first— that his reason for employing part nitric acid
and part nitrate of potash was that they could not always depend on. the
nitric acid purchaseable at the shops : it contained frequently lov ei oxides
of nitrogen, as nitrous and hyponitrous acids, &c., and he thought the
nitric acid liberated from nitrate of potash purer than that, and was also
particularly active in the nascent state at the moment of liberation.
Another convenience arising from the adoption ot his. formula was, that
there was no necessity for the application of artificial heat the heat
evolved raising the mixture to 165°, he reducing it to 145 by suiroun
The President then announced that besides the adjourned discussion,
the attention of the members would be occupied at the next meeting by a
paper from Mr. Noel Fitch, entitled Experiences of an Amateur
Photographer.
The meeting was then adjourned.
OHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary meeting of this Society was held on the 13th ult.,— Mr. W.
Griffiths, Vice-President, in the chair. . , , f
The minutes of the previous meeting received confirmation, and a tew
items of the Society’s private business were disposed of.
The Chairman then opened the discussion on dry collodion processes.
He said they were then about to interchange opinions and ideas on a
branch of photography that was full of interest for all lovers. of landscape
work. The columns of the journals during the last five or six years bore
testimony to the importance in which it was held, and at the same time
to the difficulties and disappointments peculiar to it. These had., it was
true been greatly diminished by the discoveries of laupenofc, -Hill
Norris and others ; but still all were not satisfied that they had ob¬
tained’ the utmost amount of perfection possible. "W hat was desired
was a process simple and easy in its manipulation, equally sensitive
ith the wet, tolerably certain in its results, and possessed ot
o-ood keeping properties. These were desiderata “devoutly to be
wished ” and towards their successful accomplishment every plioto-
o-rapher should devote at least a portion of Ins energies. He then detailed
some experiments on simply washed and dried collodion plates, and said
he thought that coating the sensitive film with albumen or any other
substance was a step in the wrong direction,, as such substances always
had the effect of diminishing sensitiveness, independently of the extia
amount of labour entailed in their preparation. IIis opinion was that their
experiments ought to be directed to the addition of substances to the collodion
itself: something had already been done in that way, and with sufficiently
encouraging results. The perfection of a collodion him was that in which
iodide of silver was intimately associated with another salt of silver, such,
as the nitrate, acetate, bromide, chloride, & c. It was a mistake to sup¬
pose that an organic substance per se increased the sensibility ot iodide
of silver The effect produced bv resin in collodion was simply mechani¬
cal. On dipping in the nitrate bath the resin (insoluble in water) became
precipitated throughout the substance of the film in the state .of a tine
powder ; and, in the act of that precipitation, each particle carried down
with it a portion of nitrate of silver, which was retained with too much
force to allow of its entire removal by the ordinary subsequent washing
Some kinds of collodion (without tlie addition of resin), simply washed and
dried would produce very good results, and m those casesitwould.be
found upon investigation that a small portion of the pyroxyline composing
them had, from the temperature or strength of the acids employed in
its manufacture, been converted into a resinous substance, as piOYSd by the
94
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1863
later researches of Mr. Hardwich. These were the collodions generally
preferred for dry processes, and to which the term “powdery” had been
applied. Collodion of the opposite or horny character was believed by
competent authorities to be without action on nitrate of silver. If che¬
mical action was understood that was no doubt true ; but the fact was
patent to all that such a collodion simply washed and dried would pro¬
duce pictures, though not always successful ones. In that case also its
action must be referred to as mechanical only, retaining, though with
less force, a small quantity of free nitrate of silver in its pores. Some
might object to that as not possible after the thorough washing usually
given to the plates ; but any one might prove for himself the correctness
of the statement, by stripping off the film from a glass, putting it
into a test tube, with a little distilled water, and, after well boiling, filter,
then test the clear liquid Avith a chloride, and distinct evidence would be
obtained of the presence of silver. In fact he believed it to be more
difficult to wash out every trace of free nitrate from a film of collodion
whilst attached to the glass , than to remove it entirely from paper that
had been dipped in it, and that would be found a matter of no small
difficulty if simple washing in distilled water were resorted to. Assum¬
ing what he believed to be the fact, that iodide of silver was totally
incapable of chauge under actinic influence without the presence, in
immediate contact, of some other salt of silver, an explanation was at
once afforded of many of the strange anomalies met with in working
the various dry processes. Referring to iodide of silver, he said
it was susceptible of change under light or not according to the manner
of its formation. If it were produced by precipitation from a solution of
the nitrate or other soluble salt of silver, and with excess of the silver
salt, it would be darkened by light, but not so if the precipitant were in
excess : and yet the two iodides were identically the same in their chemi¬
cal constitution. The difference in their properties he accounted for in
this way: — Every particle of iodide of silver precipitated from a solution
in which nitrate of silver was in excess carried down with it a portion of
the latter (for which it had, like all precipitates so formed, a kind of me¬
chanical affinity) ; and however much it might be washed it would still
retain sufficient to make it susceptible to actinic influence. The same
thing occurred when iodide of potassium or other precipitant was in
excess: a portion of if was in like manner carried down in mechanical
combination, and from which it was almost impossible by washing to
entirely free it. But iodide of potassium, not being a salt, like nitrate of
silver, susceptible of change when exposed to light, the iodide of silver
formed in that way did not darken on exposure; for it could not be ex¬
pected that two stable iodides, whose affinities were both satisfied, should
react on or decompose each oilier. The latter or insensitive iodide could
be converted into the former or sensitive iodide by adding to the
smallest trace of nitrate of silver.
Mr. Wardley said it was generally understood that a powdery film was
best adapted for dry work ; nevertheless his experience led him to pre¬
fer a collodion that gave a slightly horny film. He could not say he had
found powdei}r collodions more sensitive than such as he was in the habit
of using, nor could he say the powdery kind had in his hands produced
greater density of image.
Mr. Hoopbk objected to the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Wardley.
lie had a firm preference for the so-called powdery film, and had long
considered it quicker in the camera, or otherwise more sensitive to the
developer, than the horny sort of film. He had never experienced any
difficulty in obtaining a sufficient degree of density. The addition of
resin to most collodions gave such a film as he had a partiality for in dry
collodion work.
Mr. Rogerson and Mr. Knott expressed themselves in favour of the
horny descriptions, and said they could build up negatives on it quite
equal to their desires.
The discussion was continued with great spirit up to the ordinary hour
of closing, and the business terminated with the usual compliment to the
Chairman.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on the evening of the 19th ult., — J. D. Marwick, Esq.,
the President, in the chair.
The following gentlemen were ballofted for and admitted as members : —
Sherriff Hallard, Messrs. Robert Miller, Wm. D. Hart, Henry Jobson,
James Rome, and Charles Robb, Jun.
The business of the meeting consisted of a lesson to the junior members
in the manipulations of the wet collodion process, by Messrs. Nicol and
Jlors burgh.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of the Committee of the Amateur Photographic Association
was held on Monday the 10th ultimo, at 26, Haymarket, London. The
Right Hon. the Viscount Ranelagh in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been rend and confirmed,
The Secretary read a letter from the Earl of Caithness, expressing his
regret that he could not be in town to attend the meeting. The Secretary
then laid before the meeting sample copies from the negatives sent in to
the Association, the number of which, up to the date of the meeting, was
1756, which, together with foreign and colonial ones on their way to this
country, will probably amount to about 2000, and will, it is fully antici¬
pated, even after the process of weeding by the referees, show a total of
not less than 1500 good negatives.
A question respecting the further reception of negatives having been
raised, it was decided that the Catalogue should not yet be sent to
press, but be kept open until the 1st of March, as members residing
abroad and in the colonics had scarcely had sufficient time to forward
their plates.
It also having been suggested that a gold or silver medal is hardly the
most useful or acceptable form in which a prize can be given, it was
resolved that in each case (at the option of the recipient) a silver tankard,
or other piece of plate of equal value, should bo substituted.
Ou considering the propriety and advantage of holding an Exhibition
and soiree, the chairman kindly offered to place at any time a suitable
room at the disposal of the Society.
It was decided, in reference to the selection and distribution of the
prints, that each member should be requested to select three times as many
pictures as he may be entitled to for bis subscription, arranging the
selected numbers in a preferential order on his list, placing those pre¬
ferred at the commencement, and so on.
It is confidently hoped that by this arrangement — although members
may not in all cases have every print most desired — they need under no
circumstances have awarded to them pictures which they do not value.
The time for which the award of the prizes should take place was next
discussed ; and it was resolved that it should not, if possible, be deferred
later than the 15th instant.
The idea of establishing a Photographic Art Union in connexion
with the Association was introduced by the Secretary. The subject was
considered to be of considerable interest ; but there being many important
questions involved, it was deferred for further discussion till the next
meeting.
After the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman the meeting separated.
MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.
The Annual General Meeting of the above Society was held in King’s
College, London, on Wednesday evening, February 12th, — Mr. Farrants,
President, in the chair.
The minutes of the preceding meeting were duly read and confirmed.
The Secretary announced the receipt of numerous presents.
The Chairman announced the presentation to the Society, by Mr.
Peters, the banker, in addition to the preceding, of his valuable instrument
for microscopical writing and engraving, accompanied by an Ibbetson’s
Geometric Chuck, capable of producing every variety of bi-circloidal
figures. The Society was honoured in being the depositary of such a
splendid present, and it remained for the members to deal with such
munificence, as it deserved.
Mr. Matthew Marshall thought that so extraordinary a gift ought not
to pass into the possession of the Society in the ordinary way, by the mere
record of a vote of thanks to the donor. Mr. Marshall had had the
pleasure of seeing some of the performances of the instrument which
were executed by Mr Farrants. He would move their most cordial thanks
to Mr. Peters for his valuable present. Mr. Marshall hoped that some
member would second the proposal with more ability for doing justice to
such a task than he possessed. He did not know whether Mr. Peters was
present or not : if not (Mr. Marshall smilingly remarked), so much the
better for him (Mr. M.), but he hoped he expressed his feelings in com¬
mon with every member of the Microscopical Society.
Dr. Lankester was happy to second tbe motion, and was sifre every
one must feel that such a contribution as that of Mr. Peters’s was not only
an acceptable gift, but also an honour to the Society ; for when a gentle¬
man constructed a beautiful and complicated instrument like the one
before them, and committed it to the care of a body of men, as Mr. Peters
had done, it showed that he placed much confidence in their ability to use,
and disposition to take proper care of it.
A vote of thanks by acclamation was then awarded to Mr. Peters.
Mr. Lobb mentioned that a most cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Peters
had also already been passed at the Council meeting.
The Reports of the Council and of the Library Committee were read and
The President then delivered, as usual, au address on the past
doings duly adopted, and the thanks of the meeting awarded to the
Auditors.
and future prospects of the Society, which, on the motion of Mr. Burr,
seconded by Mr. Tomkins, was ordered to be printed and circulated
amongst the members.
The thanks of the Society were next awarded to the late Treasurer,
Mr. H. 13. Ward, for his services during the long time he had held the
office
A ballot then ensued for Officers and new Members of Council for the
ensuing year.
Mr. Hodgson, in reference to a remark in the President’s address,
initiate 1 a discussion relative to the propriety of continuing to distribute
,o the members copies of the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,
which, he contended, entailed a very unreasonable expense on the
•iociet3r’s funds, and proposed that the question of publishing the trans¬
actions of the Society in a separate form be considered. Ultimately, after
a long discussion, the matter was referred to a Sub-Committee tojrport
upon at the next Council meeting.
65
[arch 1, 1&62]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Jforctgn CoiTcsponL)cnxe.
Paris , February 25 th, 1 862.
l PRETTY large number of new pictures obtained by M. Pretsch,
villi bis engraving process, were presented to the trench Photo¬
graphic Society at the meeting of the 21st of February, iliese
icw specimens, though somewhat wanting in vigour, were ex¬
amined witli interest. The desire was expressed tliat the able
irtist would take his subjects from nature instead of limiting his
efforts to the copying of engravings and lithographs.
A letter from M. Joseph Balsatno to the Society was read, in
•eply to Dr.Sclmauss’s article, which the Moniteur de la Photographic
published on the 15th of October, 1861. In that article our colla-
ljorateur made known the unsuccessful results of the experiments
that he made in accordance with the instructions given by M.
Balsamo about a new process for printing with phosphorus, and he
lwelt on the contradictions contained in the communication of the
[talian author. Several English experimenters have, if I mistake
not, confirmed the conclusions of the German chemist. M. Bal¬
samo repeats that the facts announced by him are real, but does
not give any proofs, nor does he destroy the arguments of his
opponents.
A somewhat long discussion took place on the judgment pro¬
nounced in the affair of Mayer and Pierson versus Thiebault, as
that judgment did not recognise the misdemeanour of piracy
in the reproduction of the cliche. Those, however, who took
part in the discussion did not appear to have studied the sub¬
ject very well. It was said that the tribunals by this judgment
threatened photographers with ruin, as they thus deprived them
of all protection against piratical imitators. This is an error. As
is remarked in the Moniteur de la Photographie, the judges had to
decide whether the law of 1793, on artistic and literary property,
was or was not to be applied : they had to decide whether the de¬
fendant had or had not committed a misdemeanour provided for in
that law. Their decision was in the negative; but they reserved
to Mayer and Pierson, whose cliches had been reproduced, all their
rights in the civil courts. The artistic property was denied, but not
the material property. I do not know what is the jurisprudence
which regulates these things in England; but it will certainly
always be difficult to judge affairs in which photography is con¬
cerned according to a law enacted many years before the birth
of the new art, and which consequently does not provide for
numerous wants to which that art has given rise.
A letter received from the Abbe Laborde has definitively resolved
one of those questions of property which so often arise among
photographic inventors, and which, when even they are not
carried before the tribunals, have not the less their importance.
I spoke to you, at the time of its appearance, of the process
of M. Fargier, at present prosecuted by M. Charavet. This
process is simply that of M. Poitevin, which is based on the
use of gelatine and of bichromate of potash; only instead ot at¬
tacking the gelatine by the surface exposed to the light in
order to dissolve the uniusolated portions, M. Fargier turns over
the film and attacks it on the under surface. That is all the differ¬
ence. Now, in the letter I have just spoken of, the Abbe Laborde
claims this mode of manipulating as his own, and, in proof of his
assertion, refers to a communication from him which appeared in
the Bulletin de la Societe for 1858. I record this fact with all the
more pleasure, because the acquirer of Fargier’s process has as¬
sumed towards M. Poitevin an attitude which has called forth a
warm expression of disapprobation from all those who are ac
quainted with the useful labours of the modest inventor.
A little apparatus called a lampascope is at present to be seen in
the shops here. It is nothing but a very simple system of magic
lantern, applicable to all kinds of lamps. The images magnified
and thrown upon a screen are produced with photographed views
upon glass. MM. Ferrier and Soulier have furnished from their
rich stereoscopic stores an ample collection for the new apparatus.
The invention has been favourably received by the public, and is
likely to prove a profitable application of the art.
ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , Februai'y ls£, 1862.
In addressing you for the first time, permit me to congratulate the
manj’ readers of your valuable Journal on the prospect of peace and
continued friendly intercourse between our respective countries.
We on this side of the Atlantic have enough to contend against in
our domestic troubles without waging war with the nation nearest
iD kin to us. We feel that our rulers have done right in the Trent
affair, and few can be found who do not rejoice at the prospect of
peace. In the Northern States of the Union — though we have sent
out hundreds of thousands of armed men and our papers are filled
with war news — such an impetus has been given to business by
the expenditure of vast sums for munitions of war that we can
scarce realise how great a contest is in progress near our homes.
The photographic art has had its share of business, and with the
professional operators the war has been quite a source of profit.
What countless numbers of sun-pictures have been exchanged at
the anxious pai ting of Iriends from those whom the chances of
battle may keep from ever meeting again on earth !
Great men, too, are coming into notice each day, and everybody
desires to see the faces of the makers of our history. This want
is filled by the charming cartes de visite — a style of portraiture fast
driving all others from the field.
With the introduction of card pictures has come the first need
really felt of good processes of printing and toning albumen paper.
This, just now, is the all absorbing subject of thought with those
who want to excel, and countless are the number of secret formulae
held by their respective originators. There seems, however, to
be two general principles acting as guides. The first is heavy
salting, strong silver baths, and deep printing under intense nega¬
tives. The second is what is fast becoming very popular, viz.,
ammonio-nitrate of silver in place of the plain silver solution.
There are many ways of using this, the best of which seems to be
as follows : — Prepare, say, twenty ounces of eighty-grain solution
of nitrate of silver : to ten ounces of this add aqua ainmoivre until
the oxide of silver at first precipitated is just redissolved ; then add
the reserved ten ounces, and nearly clear the solution with nitric
acid. I say nearly , for care must be taken to have the solution
alkaline, but not too much so. Finally add half-an-ounce of sul¬
phuric ether. This serves to coagulate the albumen, and prevents
the alkaline bath from soaking it off. This bath is called the
ammonio-nitrate solution ; but it is not what is usually so designated,
being rather oxide of silver in an alkaline solution of nitrate of
ammonia, and not oxide of silver in aqua ammonite. * Paper
is either floated on this for four minutes or is immersed in
it for an equal length of time. One thing, however, has occurred
to me in experimenting with this and similar formulae — that on no
account must paper so silvered be dried over a gas-burner. If
heated to excess it loses all its sensitiveness, and prints of a dull
lead colour. Every kind of toning bath seems to work well with
paper prepared as above, but the preference is given to alkaline
chloride of gold — some adding ether to the hypo-fixing bath.
Next in interest to printing are the many ways of adding strength
to the negative, it being deemed desirable to have rather strong
contrasts between light and shade — not sudden contrasts, but a
just gradation of intensity from the very opaque high lights to
transparent deep shadows. The limit of this letter will not permit
me to dwell on this matter, nor more than to allude to what has
been done in copying drawings and engravings. At Washington,
under the auspices of the Government, all work on the improve¬
ment of the Capitol. &c., is executed from photographic copies of
the engineer’s drawing, and most admirably have the}7 been done.
In conclusion, I must say a few words about our amateurs. Each
day is adding to their number and to their usefulness. The Ama¬
teur Photographic Exchange Club is in active operation, and has
proved the source of great good feeling and warm friendship
among its members.
We are very proud of many of the specimens exhibited — one
of the most curious ones being a specimen of micio-photography
in the shape of a stereoscopic picture of a grain of felspar, mag¬
nified to the usual stereograph size, and showing wonderful relief
and clearness. It is the work of Professor Rood, of Troy University
Troy, N. Y., who is an earnest and enthusiastic microscopist.
A friendly controversy is in progress between “ Humidus” and
“ Siccus.” But little has }Tet been written on the subjects in our
journals; but the writer ot this, one of the only champions of the
“ wet,” has succeeded in dragging a few of his “dry” friends into
print— with more hope of benefitting the world by the publications
of their ideas than in any hope of converting them to his opinions.
But (as a witty friend in Washington writes) — “ It is a ‘ wet pro¬
cess’ to do any kind of field photography now.” Nothing but
one endless spell of cloudy, rainy weather discouraging to photo¬
graphers, used as we are to a clear blue sky the greater part of the
year.
Hoping my letter may be of interest to your readers, I beg to
subscribe myself, with due regard, COLEMAN SELLERS.
* This kind of bath, for sensitising albumenised paper, was suggested about two Tear*
back by our friend Mr. Hardwick,— Ed.
96
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Strengthening Negatives. — At a recent meeting of the American I
Photographical Society, Professor Seely said, with regard to this |
subject : — “ The negatives developed by sulphate of iron commonly
require to be strengthened for printing, while those developed by
pyrogallic acid have generally all the density to be desired. There
are, however, to balance this failure of sulphate of iron, so many
advantages — cleanliness, cheapness, rapidity, evenness, and deli¬
cacy of working, &c. — that in America, at least, it has become
the universal developer. While abroad pyrogallic acid is still in
common use, at an early day we adopted the sulphate of iron ; and
hence in America the strengthening of negatives being more
practised and studied is better understood. Some of the most use¬
ful strengthening processes have been invented here. The ordi¬
nary strengtheners are chlorides, iodides, bromides, or sulphides.
Their action is explained by supposing that the negative element,
in whole or in part, combines with the silver of the image, and if
the base to which the negative element was combined is insoluble
in the fluids present it is also precipitated, and thus further in¬
creases the opacity. When bichloride of mercury is used a com¬
pound of silver, mercury, and chlorine is left on the plate. When
sulphide of potassium is employed, sulphur only is added to the
body of the silver. Any of the halogen elements also may be
used in the free state as vapours, or in their appropriate solvents,
and thus be added to the silver image. On account of its low
equivalent we should infer, what our experience confirms, that
sulphur will add less strength than any of the other elements
which have been used. The prompt action of strengtheners ap¬
pears very reasonable when we consider that the silver of the
image is in an extremely subdivided form, thus presenting the
greatest surface for the chemical reaction. The subject so far
seems quite plain, yet I am satisfied that a closer scrutiny would
show that there is much to be learned. The chemical behaviour of
any one of our strengtheners is worthy of further research and
careful reflection. Many of the strengthening solutions have a
solvent power over the matter of the image. This fact explains
the harshness and unevenness of some strengthened negatives.
A precipitate is generally soluble in an excess of the precipitant.”
- — - - —
Corrrspoithnm.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. ^
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Having practised landscape photography for the last four
years with tolerable success, and under peculiarly favourable cir¬
cumstances, I venture to offer the following practical suggestions
which are not found in any of our “abc” books, and which may be
of use to some of your less experienced readers, who are no doubt
preparing their cameras for the spring campaign.
Keep a sort of field book in which to record the particulars con¬
nected with each negative. The following is a good form : —
Unless you do this, or have a wonderful memory, you will lose the
benefit of most of your experience.
Don’t be in a hurry in fixing your camera: consider well
the grouping of your picture, the lights and shadows, and
the position of the horizon, and decide whether you will place
your plate perpendicularly or horizontally —
or
The selection of the view is the part of the process which show's
that a good photographer is not merely a skilful manipulator.
A clear day, with light clouds, is decidedly the best. For near
objects— foliage especially— sunshine gives too strong a contrast
[March 1, 1862
of light and shade ; but for more distant foliage, sunshine is per¬
haps preferable.
It is difficult to get a good picture with the sun in front of the
camera: a side light — or, as the sailors say, “rather on the quarter"
— is best for general effect.
It is a good plan to affix a square wooden shade to the front of
the camera, of such size as to obstruct all the light which is not
required for your picture: it should be coated inside with dull black.
This will generally add to the clearness of your picture.
Wipe the inside of your camera carefully with a damp cloth
When you place your “ dark slide” in position to receive the
sensitised plate, put something under the top part of it, so as to
raise it to a slanting position, and thus to allow the descent of any
drops of the hath solution which may be upon the face of the
collodion film.
To Expose the Plate in the Camera. — Try to ascertain by experi¬
ence how long you can leave it exposed without losing the dis¬
tance — (here you will find the advantage of your field book). Study
well the use of stops. You can seldom get the details of a fore¬
ground with a very small stop without exposing your plate too long.
A larger stop gives you a bolder picture, but at the risk of spoiling
the distance : practice alone will teach you how to make a com¬
promise.
In taking a picture of foliage, wind is your great enemy; there¬
fore, when you have drawn up the slide and exposed the plate,
stand by with the cap of the lens in your hand to shut out the
light if a gust of wind come on, and expose again as soon as it
is over. You cannot get a good picture if the leaves are in motion,
and it is better to run the risk of the plate drying before develop¬
ment. You can find out pretty well by experience how long you
can keep the plate without drying between sensitising and deve¬
loping it.
To Develop the Picture. — If the plate has been subjected to a long
exposure on a hot day, it should be re-moistened in some way.
Some people dip it again into the sensitising bath : to this plan
there are objections. Others place the plate on a level and cover
it with distilled water, which is poured into and mixed up with the
developing fluid : this is a good plan. But I have generally
found breathing upon the collodion film immediately before pour¬
ing on the developer sufficient to prevent stains.
You must judge for yourself whether you will develop with
pyrogallic acid or sulphate of iron. For a near view, with much
detail, in general shadow — as, for instance, a bank with fern roots
or grass, or a rock with lichens — I have found a thick bromo-
iodised collodion, with a long exposure, developed with iron, and,
if necessary, intensified with pyrogallic acid and nitrate of silver,
gives by far the best results. In this case the iron brings out
details which the pyrogallic acid will not touch, and gives a softer
picture ; but, for sky and more distant scenery, probably the pyro¬
gallic acid is the best. If you use the iron developer be careful
to throw it on rapidly and evenly, and to keep it moving, and to
throw it off and wash the plate quickly with water as soon as
the details appear, otherwise you are likely to have a stained or
muddy-looldng picture. If your negative appear to have sufficient
intensity after washing off the sulphate of iron, leave it alone ; but
you will generally require to intensify it with pyrogallic acid and
nitrate of silver, in which case be sparing of the nitrate of silver,
for you are apt to impair the clearness of the image by using it
too strong or too long, and to get a flat picture with no aerial per¬
spective.
Never use doubtful chemicals ; and remember that the maxim,
“ fiat experimentum in corpore vili," is not applicable to photography.
To Print from the Negative. — After all this is the most important
part of the affair ; and it requires much skill, attention, and ex¬
perience to print a good landscape. A clever printer may make
a good picture sometimes from an unpromising negative. If you
are indolent, or pressed for time, or find this part of the process
tedious and uninteresting, you may send your negatives to a pro¬
fessional printer, and get any number of black or lead-coloured
prints, and probably at less cost than you could do them yourself.
But if you are an artist you will make the prints yourself and will
find much scope for the exercise of your taste and ingenuity in so
doing. If your sky be too dark from long exposure, you may paint,
with a camel-hair pencil and Indian ink, a few clouds on the
haclc of the negative ; a few lines near the horizon done in this
way will sometimes wonderfully improve a landscape. Some
part of your picture may require a longer exposure to the
light than the remainder. You may do this by cutting a piece of
card-board, so as to expose a part while screening the rest of ^the
picture from the light. In this case keep the card-board in motion
97
Bareli 1, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
-not fixed upon the printing frame. Or you may “ vignette”
our picture, which has sometimes a very pleasing effect. There
re several ways of doing this.
When your picture is sufficiently printed to he removed from the
•rinting frame, you may produce various effects by partial exposure
o the light. You may tone down lights that are too conspicuous,
elieve the monotony of a chalky -looking sky, and greatly improve
rour picture without impairing its identity. Indeed there is much
I,o be learnt and invented in this part of the process ; and it is a
pity that artistic printing is not more encouraged at our exhibitions,
where the authorities insist upon “ untouched negatives.”
I am inclined to agree with Mr. Thomas that there are few nega¬
tives which are not better printed in direct sunshine : of course
they require careful watching to prevent their being overdone.
Prints made in direct sunshine are more permanent, i.e., lose less
in the fixing bath than those taken in the shade or on a dull day.
Your albumenised paper should be used soon after it is dry.
Do not be too sparing of your hyposulphite of soda, but throw
away your fixing solution as soon as it has the slightest yellow
tinge.
Do not leave your prints so long in the fixing bath as to lose the
distance and half-lights.
In washing your prints, if you adopt the plan described in this
Journal a short time ago by the Editor (which is no doubt excellent),
I recommend an occasional change of warm water.
I am, yours, &c., A SUBSCKIBER.
February 28, 1862.
[We heartily commend the foregoing to our less experienced
readers : the general tenor of the advice given is sound and
thoroughly practical. — Ed.]
PYROXYLINE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — On reading the paper (in your Journal of 15th inst.) by T. S.
Davis, On the Manufacture of Collodion, I find in one place that which
I think must be an error, and further on a quantity given which, if not
an error, is so great a departure from all precedent with which I am
acquainted, that I take the liberty, as a constant reader, to ask you to set
me right on these two points. First, in the second column, page 57,
ninth line from the top — “ eight fluid ounces ” I conclude should be “ eight
fluid drachms and further on the formula is given for the collodion as
follows : —
Ether (methylated) . 4| fluid ounces.
Alcohol . l£ „ ,,
Pyroxyline . 6£ grains.
This gives but one one-twelfth grains pyroxyline to the ounce of spirit,
whereas in all formulae that I have ever seen the quantity given is from
four to six grains to the ounce of spirit. What I wish to know is
whether the quantity, “ six and a-lialf grains," is an error ? or whether it is
a speciality of this complete formula that it will give good results with
so small a dose of pyroxyline as is stated ?
February 18, 1862. I am, yours, &e., THOMAS R.
[We handed your note to Mr. Davis, who has kindly forwarded the fol¬
lowing in reply. — Ed.]
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reply to your note of Saturday permit me to say that “ eight
fluid ounces," second column, page 57, ninth line from top, should be
“eight fluid drachms," as rightly surmised by your correspondent from
the context ; and that “four and a-half fluid ounces of nitric acid ” in the
first column, page 57, twenty-three lines from the bottom, should be
“four and a-half fluid drachms of nitric acid.” In the formula for the
plain collodion “ drachms ” should be again substituted for “ounces," as
follows : —
Ether methylated (sp. gr., &c.) . 4§ fluid drachms.
Alcohol (sp. gr. -837) . U ,,
Pyroxyline . . . 6^ grains.
Your correspondent will thus see that the quantity of pyroxyline dis¬
solved in each fluid ounce of the sensitised collodion will amount to six
and a-half grains, when made according to the corrected reading.
Possibly you might notify in the next number of The British Journal
op Photography that at the places above referred to, for “ ounces ” should
be read “drachms," and oblige. — I am, yours, &c.?
JStochwell, Feb. 25th, 1862. THOS. S. DAVIS.
CHEMICAL PROBLEMS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In answer to my third question, page 35, you say — “To three
ounces of albumen and three ounces of water add one ounce of salt.”
But will this give the proportions I required, viz., three of albumen and
one of salt? as, according to Stockhardt, only one-eighth of white of egg
is solid albumen, the other seven-eighths consisting of water. If such be
the case, will not these seven-eighths be evaporated upon the paper’s
drying? Can the dried albumenised paper therefore have the albumen and
salt in the required proportions ?
Will you kindly inform me what is considered to be the atomic weight
of albumen, that is to say, of white of egg?
With respect to question No. 1, I will endeavour to state more correctly
what I want to know. A paper floated upon a solution of chloride of
ammonium, 54 grains to the ounce of water, would require the nitrate of
silver solution to be 170 grains of water, to convert the whole of the
chloride of ammonium into chloride of silver (taking these numbers
as their atomic weights). It is perfectly immaterial to the question
what quantity of chloride of ammonium the paper has taken up,
or the time required for it to be wholly converted into chloride of
silver, as a certain length of time will effect it ; but if, instead
of a solution of 170 grains nitrate of silver to the ounce of water, I
use only an 85-grain solution, will floating for any length of time,
however long, convert the whole of the chloride of ammonium into
chloride of silver ? The quantity of chloride of ammonium on the sheet of
paper is very very small compared with that of the nitrate upon which the
sheet is floating; but will this quantity of nitrate make up by longer
floating for its deficiency in strength ? In fact, must the two solutions be
according to their atomic weights ? Q. R.
[You have in the preceding yourself used the word albumen in two
different senses, but that is immaterial, as we now comprehend your
query. Assuming that you want to obtain on the paper one part of a
chloride to three of pure albumen, you must needs first analyse the white
of egg to ascertain how much chloride it naturally contains, as this is
variable in quantity. Undoubtedly the seven-eighths of water would be
evaporated on drying the paper ; but we are convinced that in any formula
for a photographic purpose, by albumen simple white of egg is intended to
be implied, consequently for that purpose our original reply would meet
your requirements. White of egg being not a definite compound, but a
mixture, cannot be measured by an atomic weight.
Provided that you have a sufficient quantity of nitrate of silver in the
baths, the whole of the chloride in the paper will be converted into
chloride of silver, by allowing a sufficient length of time for the purpose,
almost irrespective of its degree of dilution ; but, practically, by allowing a
longer time for floating on a weaker solution, the same results do not follow
as with a shorter time on a stronger solution, because in the former case
a larger quantity of the silver salt is abstracted than is contained in its
relative proportions of water, and the actual quantity of surplus free
nitrate of silver left on the sensitised chloride will be less with the weaker
solution — a state of matters which materially modifies the results of print¬
ing and toning.
This may or may not be an advantage under certain circumstances.
See a paper by M. Reynaud in the current number. — Ed.]]
PRINT WASHING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You will much oblige by giving me your advice on the
query as under, in the Journal, at your earliest convenience. I have a
cistern of twenty-nine by nineteen inches in dimensions, and a tap with a
good supply of water over it. How can I best adapt these to the washing
of prints ? Of course I do not think of placing prints in direct contact
with the lead. I know you have given considerable attention to this
subject. I am, yours, &c., G11DIPUS.
Oxford, Feb. 17th, 1862.
[See a paper on the subject in our number for 15th Dec. last; also two
communications from Mr. H. R. Nichols, in current volume, pp. 18 and
36. Have some wooden rods reaching quite across the cistern, and
suspend your prints to them so that they may be totally immersed in
the water. A syphon also of much larger diameter than the inlet pipe,
placed with its bend about an inch from the top of the cistern, may
be of use to produce automatic action of emptying and filling ; but we
consider this far inferior to the plan of lifting out the proofs by the rods
and letting them drip while the water in the eisternis changed. — Ed.]
SERUM.
To the Editor.
Sir,— In your issue of February 1st, you give a description of a new
mode of printing by development, by M. Oppenheim, of Dresden, which,
if in practice it is found to answer, appears to me (an amateur) a beautiful,
valuable, and simple method. But, alas ! at the first onset, the description
of the preparation of the paper does not specify the quantities to be em¬
ployed. It states that serum of milk prepared by treating scalded milk
with tartaric acid for the purpose of coagulating the caseine, is clarified
by means of albumen, boiled and filtered.
Will some one of your numerous readers throiv a light upon the relative
proportions of milk, tartaric acid, and albumen ? — I am, yours, &c.,
“NON SIBI.”
[The quantity of acid is not material, a very small quantity being suffi¬
cient to cause coagulation of the milk. Dissolve your tartaric acid in a
little water, and add it drop by drop to the hot milk, stirring all the time
until you find coagulation has well set in. If there be a trifle of acid in
excess it is of very little moment. The white of one egg will clear a
quart of milk well ifjiropeity applied ; but if you use five or six eggs the
result will be the same, as the albumen has to be coagulated by heat in
clearing the serum, and is removed by filtration. Any cook will show
you how to do it. — Ed.]
THE BRITISH JjOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 1, 1802
A GRAND IDEA.
To the Editor.
SIR __As you occasionally have a few telling “ tit bits, ” or, as I may
ear photographic facetiae, I clip the enclosed from the Northern Daily
Express, February 18th, 1862, considering it to be one of the best pieces
of pure' writing connected with our art. You will see by this that we in
the north are rather a step in advance of our brethren down south. Our
townsman can photograph the very essence of (soft soap?) ideality.
Talk of table-turning and spirit-rapping after this !
Feb. 18th, 1862. I am, yours, Ac., NEWCASTLE.
FINE ARTS.
BY ROYAL
LETTERS PATENT.
BRILLIANT SUCCESS 01*
Mr - ,’S NEW STYLES IN PHOTO-PORTRAITURE.
THE ELPIIANTETION PROCESS (Patented),
THE EXQUISITE IVORY TYPE PROCESS (Patented),
New and Beautiful Styles in the Fashionable
“ CARTES BE VISITE,”
With every other Approved Style of the Art, either Plain,
Sepia, Tinted, or in Colours.
THE LADIES’ DEPARTMENT
of the Establishment is under the
Direction of Mrs. - .
Assisted by Miss - .
Studio and Show Rooms,
- STREET, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.
“Mr. - 's best efforts make tangible to our senses the
purest essence of ideal beauty.” — Newcastle Guardian.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Truro. — We have forwarded the note as requested.
Timid Joe. — You are not obliged to append your name for publication.
Tyro. — Mr. Hughes’s Manual is a good one, and will no doubt serve your
purpose.
B. J. A. — They are all very good; but we prefer those of the second on your
list for both purposes.
G. D. M.— Your citric acid is in excess: in this weather one-fourth part of
your present quantity is ample.
Jos. Burt. — We will consider the suggestion, but we do not at present per¬
ceive how it can be carried out.
Geo. P. suggests that the season tickets kfor the' International Exhibition
should each bear a photograph of its owner.
D. C. — Bromide of cadmium, two grains; iodide of cadmium, five grains;
odide of potassium, four grains ; alcohol, two ounces.
Disappointed Exhibitor. — We have descanted upon the subject in our
last leader, which was “ at press” when your letter arrived.
M. A. R. — Your paper sensitising bath has no doubt become too weak by
use. Replenish it bv adding some crystals of nitrate of silver.
Grotius.— It is simply an instance of a popular writer treating on a subject
with which he is not familiar. He is evidently not a photographer.
H. J. S. M. — It would be premature to make any such announcement just
yet, even were it actually decided upon, which we believe has not been done.
Novice. — Take some lessons from Mr. Dawson, at King’s College. You will
find that a much better plan than applying to a private operator for the
purpose
Fk. R. — We are not acquainted with any photographer of the name you
mention— -at least so far as we can make out the name, which is_not clearly
written.
W. S. (Belp^r). — 1. A pair of aplanatic single combinations. — 2. Double com¬
bination, with diaphragm between the lenses. — 3. No ! Too slow, and needlessly
expensive.
W L. (York). — !. Too long focus; eight inches from back lens would be
ample. — 2. Fair, but not nearly equal to a good English lens.— -3. Good flatted
crown will do. Personally we prefer it to patent plate, though it requires
more care in printing to avoid breakage in the pressure-frame.
O. S. D. — You may render the albumen very fluid by the addition of citric
acid. Allow it to stand for a night, and then neutralise the acidity by theaddi-
tion of liquor ammonise in slight excess. It can be filtered through bibulous
paper, and will keep good for some months in a well-stoppered bottle.
F. O. L. — The large proof is insufficiently printed: hence the cold bluish
tone and general flatness. The stereograph negative has been over-developed:
hence the hard, snowy effect of the lights. The subject of the latter is well
chosen, but the former has too little sky and too much of unmeaning foreground.
Mounter. — An unexceptionable adhesive material for mounting photo¬
graphs is still a desideratum. If you are inclined to publish what you find
successful we shall be happy to afford space ; or, if you intend bringing the
article into the market, we shall be happy to test it as you desire, and testify to
its efficiency if we can do so truthfully.
G. W. T. — -To use opal glass you should prepare the smooth side as for a dry
plate by any of the ordinary dry processess; then print upon it with a negative,
giving rather a short exposure. The development should be pushed rather more
than for a negative; and, after cleaning with hyposulphite of soda or cyanide of
potassium, and being well washed, it may, if desired.be toned with a weak solu¬
tion of chloride of gold.
Arc. Nit. — We have repeatedly given formulae for the treatment of residues
in order to recover the silver from waste solutions. You will find all you
desire in Hardwick’s Manual, which you mention as being in your possession.
It is surely as easy to look into that book as it is to write to us. We are
always willing to assist in any real difficulty, but you are notin such a position
according to your own showing.
A. Coleman. — M. Joubert’s method of carbon printing produces the best
results that we have seen as regards half-tone, but the modus operand i has not
been made public.
A Member of the North London Photographic Association. _
You are rightly informed that the presentation print has been decided on: the
subject, On the Beach at Lynmouth — the artist, Francis Bedford. You must
recollect that many good copies from one negative take some time to print,
and the artist named lias many other matters of importance to attend to as
well; therefore it is not likely that the copies will be ready for presentation
immediately. Due notice will be given when that is the case.
Chirurgicus. — When you ask about a portable camera, do you mean one
light in weight and easy to carry? or do you require it to fold up into a small
compass ? In our opinion the former is a desideratum, the latter of but little im-
portance — especially as you cannot have an effective folding camera unless it is
heavier than an effective rigid one. A folding camera is a nuisance in the
field : it takes time to set up and to pack away every time you have to shift your
position. We have forwarded a note to you addressed simply “Bristol,”
not knowing your special address.
L. B. — In our opinion the argument held by the advocates of the word
stereo gram is unsound. Firstly, ypapya means literally a letter, not a
drawing. Secondly, if we adopt stereogram we ought, iu order to be con¬
sistent, to say photogram, lithogram, autogram, & c. &c. Now, as the two last-
named words — not being Greek words, though derived from that language — were
in common use as English words long prior to the invention of photography and
telegraphy, and further, as photograph and stereograph were adopted in ac-
cordance with existing forms of w ords, it is rather too absurd to attempt now to
revolutionise the nomenclature simply because telegram became a necessity for
distinction’s take.
W. G. G. — Your pyroxyline appears to be very good : you must be sure this
is thoroughly free from any traces of acid. The presence of a small quantity of
water in collodion is almost a necessity, if you use iodide of potassium — a sine
qua non. You cannot do better than follow Mr. Hardwich’s formula, viz.; —
Take 48 grains pyroxyline; pour on fluid ounces of alcohol, sp. gr. ‘805; then
add of ether, sp. gr. • 725 , 4| fluid ounces. For the iodiser, use alcohol, sp. gr.
•81G; and dissolve therein, without heat, to one ounce of the alcohol iodide of
cadmium 9 grains, iodide of ammonium 9 grains, bromine of ammonium 4
grains. The above will do for both purposes. To be added in proportions of
one to three of collodion.
W. Daniels. — You have no need to deprecate judgment of the quality of the
lenses on account of the print enclosed in your note, which shows them to be
everything that can be desired. You err in fancying that there is more subject
in one picture than in the other; but there are parts in each not contained in
the other. You need a little farther separation of the lenses. We think if you
place their centres three and one-eighth^inches apart, you will obtain all you
require. Remember you must trim off a portion of your pictures, and you will
certainly find three inches of width correspond in the two. You are pro¬
gressing very well.
To prepare plates to keep for twenty-four hours only, sensitise as usual, drain,
then pour along one edge of the plate some honey syrup, and make it flow
easily, steadily, and regularly in one wave right across the plate : it will drive
before it any surplus of the nitrate bath that may be remaining on the plate Let
a portion of the syrup flow off from the opposite side to that on which it was
poured, then restore the plate to a horizontal position and leave it so for at
least one minute, then set it up on edge and resting on one angle to drain, the
face of the plate being towards a piece of glass against the wall. After it has
drained for half-an-hour, remove the last drop of syrup at the lower coiner
with blotting paper, and the paste is ready for the dark slide.
To make the syrup — Take distilled water, say ten table-spoonsful, fresh ;
liquid honey five table-spoonsful. Make the water hot, and stir together. Filter
through filtering paper.
'To develop — Immerse the plate for an instant in distilled water ; remove it
and pour on a sufficiency of pyrogallic acid one grain, citric acid half a grain,
distilled water one ounce. Fix with hyposulphite of soda.
%* Several of the preceding replies are in answer to letters which arrived
too late forourlast issue. Several communications have been delayed by having
been sent to our publisher instead of direct to us, as requested.
$51“ sill Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., should
be forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
liise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of t7ds Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
Lo. don Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MABLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONT
PAGE
LEADER . 77
NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS:
PROTOXALATE OF IRON A PEROXALATE
OF IRON. By JAMES MARTIN . 78
THE EARLY HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY 79
HELIOCHROMY. By M. NIEPCE DE ST.
VICTOR . 80
OPTICAL LAWS INVOLVED IN THE CON¬
STRUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES.
(With Diagrams). By W K WASON ..81
THE TANNIN PROCESS. CHAPTER V. By
MAJOR RUSSELL . 82
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR GRINDING
LENSES . 85
NOTES ON POSITIVE PRINTING. By E.
REYN \UD . 86
“ NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT,
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, By J. T. TAYLOR 87
ENTS.
PHOTOGRAPHY IN ITS APPLICATION TO
BOOK ILLUSTRATION. By S. THOMPSON. 88
ILLEGAL USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS : 1M.
PORTANT TO PROFESSIONAL PHOTO¬
GRAPHERS . 89
TONING BATHS . 89
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER : ON LANDSCAPE. By A H.
WALL . 90
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 91
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 91
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris By M. LACAN. Letter from Phila¬
delphia By COLEMAN SELLERS . 95
STRENGTHENING NEGATIVES . 90
CORRESPONDENCE . 96
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac . 98
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 162, Vol. IX— MARCH 15, 1862.
Sensitive Dry Plates. — It is with considerable satisfaction
lat we find progress being made towards solving the problem
f producing “ instantaneous ” impressions upon dry plates,
’hat this has been done occasionally we have several times
sen able to bear testimony from actual inspection of the nega-
ves ; but although we do not ascribe such results merely to
>rtunate accidents, the conditions requisite to ensure success
i this direction have been, until lately, so little known,
lat nothing like certainty can be said to have existed
ith respect to them. We have recently had an oppor-
mity of examining a number of proofs from stereoscopic
egatives, taken upon some of Dr. Hill Norris’s dry plates,
lat evince the existence of a very exalted degree of
msitiveness in the prepared plate before exposure, inasmuch
3 we have drifting clouds, waves of the sea, vessels afloat,
sople in motion, &c. &c., all delineated more or less perfectly- —
ot as yet equal in manipulation to some from wet plate nega-
ves which we have very lately noticed in these columns, but
irtainly exhibiting in a manner not to be doubted that a very
arked advance in exaltation of impressionability in a short
iace of time has already been accomplished. We know that
sveral sagacious experimentalists are at work upon this sub¬
let; and we hope that by the close of the forthcoming season
e may be able to announce the possibility of taking, with
?rtainty, properly lighted subjects upon dry plates of con-
iderable size with the exposure of a portion of a second of time.
Dr. Taylor’s Dioramic Effects. — In another column we
ive Mr. Mactear’s description of Dr. Taylor’s dioramic ap-
aratus as applied to the exhibition of photographs ; and we
o so with the greater satisfaction because, hitherto, in con-
equence of an imperfect comprehension of the arrangements
dopted (with which we became acquainted only through the
•ages of the Glasgow Daily Herald , kindly furnished by Mr.
lacnab — see p. 25), we have inadvertently withheld a proper
leed of acknowledgment to Dr. Taylor for the great ingenuity
isplayed by him in his clever contrivance.
Our thanks are due to Mr. Mactear for his expression of the
ollowing conviction, viz. — “ The Editor surely has not fully
:omprehended the description of it, or he would not have at-
empted to pluck the laurels from another.” While we regret
hat he should have adopted the latter clause in the preceding
[notation, which we extract from his paper, wre can honestly affirm
—firstly, that we quite misunderstood the mode of application of
he cloud effects, &c. ; and secondly, that we had no idea of
ippropriating any laurels, much less those belonging to another.
)ur remarks upon the subject were very few (as our readers will
>erceive by turning to p. 25 of the current volume), and they
vritten under a misconception.
It sometimes happens that an original idea occurs in more
[uarters than one, so that we have occasionally to point out
his fact to a second or third independent observer in conse¬
quence of prior publication , though not necessarily of prior
observation ; and, from a want of correct information, and labour¬
ing under a misapprehension, we concluded the present case
to have been an instance of the kind. We are, however,
pleased to be able to withdraw such an opinion, and cheerfully
to acknowledge our belief in the originality of Dr. Taylor’s
contrivance; also that he has been the first to make this plan
public. His plan we now understand to be as follows, namely : —
Semi-transparent glass pictures, slightly tinted, illuminated by
light reflected from a surface painted to represent clouds, Arc.,
the reflecting surface being at some distance behind the pictures
and out of the focus of the eye-lens ; the surface representing
the clouds, &c., being for convenience wound round a cylinder,
which may be revolved to impart the effect of movement to the
clouds; and, lastly, the reflecting surface being also semi-trans¬
parent, so that additional effects may be introduced by lighting
it also from behind.
THE CHEMISTRY OP THE OXALATES OF IRON.
By Emerson J. Reynolds.
There are few sciences which in their infancy have attracted so
large a share of public attention as photography. This highly
pleasing combination of science and art has won its way with a
rapidity unexampled in the history of scientific progress ; and yet
it is not difficult to understand how it is that such has been the
case, when we consider how many powerful incentives were and
are at work — all tending in the one direction — to aid in its
advancement.
From the earlier time of Fox Talbot down to the present day pho¬
tographers might readily be grouped into three great classes. In
the first class we have the professional photographer, who makes
the practice of the art his means of subsistence, and under the
wholesome influence of commercial competition does all that lies in
his power to produce pictures as near perfection as possible — in
many cases, doubtless, influenced more by real artistic feeling
than by the mere hope of pecuniary reward. Again, there is
another class — and a very large one — I mean those who, having
time and probably money at their disposal, practise the art
simply as a delightful and highly intellectual amusement : to
these amateurs photography owes much of its present position.
And, finally, we have the true philosopher becoming fascinated,
and endeavouring to bring to bear the principles of exact science
in order to aid in the general onward movement. We have thus
three incentives to future progress, viz., great commercial impor¬
tance, the activity of enthusiasts, and the application of correct
scientific principles to the explanation of known facts.
However, the reader may naturally ask “ what has all this to
do with the chemistry of the oxalates of iron ?” It has this much
to do with the subject of the present paper that my previous
remarks enable me to define clearly to whom I wish to address
myself more particulaily. It is to be remembered, therefore, that
the present paper is only written for the purpose of conveying
some information respecting the oxalates of iron to those members
of the first and second classes who may wish to prepare these
salts with a view to testing their photographic capabilities. To
the scientific chemist I cannot hope to convey much that is new.
In the following remarks I have thought it better to describe
the mode of. preparation, and some of the principal properties,
both of oxalic acid and of the hydrated peroxide of iron, as they
100
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
are connected directly or indirectly with the preparation of all
the compound salts. »
OXALIC ACID.
Composition. — The anhydrous acid is represented by the formula
C2 03. It is only known to exist in combination with water or
some other body capable of playing the part of a base. The
formula for the crystallized acid is C2 03 HO + 2 aq.
Equivalent. — 63.
Preparation.— Oxalic acid is prepared artificially upon a large
scale by the oxidation of starch, sugar, or other analogous organic
substances, by nitric acid. The process which yields the best
results on the small scale is that of M. Schlesinger, which is recom¬
mended by Berzelius. It is as follows : — Four parts of dry loaf
sugar are placed in a flask, and thirty-three parts of nitric acid of
1*38 sp. gr., poured in. The whole is now heated until all efferves¬
cence ceases. The solution is then placed on a water bath, and
evaporated to about the one-sixth of its original volume. The acid
crystallizes out on cooling the liquid, and must be purified by
re-crystallization. A careful manipulator will readily obtain a
yield of acid corresponding to rather more than half the weight
of the sugar originally employed.
Properties. — As thus obtained, oxalic acid crystallizes in trans¬
parent four-sided prisms, which are soluble in 8 parts of water at
60° F., and in their own weight of boiling water : they are like-
Avise soluble in spirit. The aqueous solution has an intensely sour
taste and powerfully acid reaction, and is, moreover, highly
poisonous.
With regard to the salts formed by the union of oxalic with
metallic oxides, it may be generally stated that the oxalates of the
alkalies are soluble, Avhile those of the alkaline earths and of the
protoxides of the heavy metals are almost all insoluble : again, the
oxalates of many of the peroxides of the metals are either very
soluble per se, or become so by the addition of an excess of acid.
There are several exceptions to this rule, but generally it will be
found correct.
HYDRATED PEROXIDE OF IRON.
Composition. — Fe2 03 -f 3 HO.
Equivalent , — 107.
Preparation. — Many processes are known by means of which this
oxide can be prepared Avith more or Jess convenience, and likewise
in varying states of purity ; but I will only mention one here, Avhich,
Avhen properly performed, leaves but little to be desired in point of
easy manipulation and purity of product. However, to secure this
desirable result, great care should be taken in the selection of
materials, more particularly of the protosulphate of iron, which
should be pure, and not the rough green vitriol of the shops. Take
of r
Protosulphate of iron . 8 ounces.
Pure sulphuric acid . 6 fluid drachms.
Pure nitric acid . I a fluid ounce.
Distilled water _ . 12 fluid ounces.
Caustic liquor of ammonia, quant, suff.
To ten ounces of the Avater add the sulphuric acid, and in the
mixture, with the aid of heat, dissolve the sulphate of iron, mix the
nitric acid Avith the remainder of the water, and add it to the solu¬
tion of sulphate. Next, concentrate by boiling, until the liquid
passes from a dark to a red colour, with the evolution of much gas.*
Now dilute Avith Avater, and add the ammonia in excess? the
hydrated peroxide Avill be thus precipitated, Avhich must be thrown
on a calico filter, and well Avashed Avith boiling Avater ; it should
then be allowed to drain, and preserved in the moist state.
PEROXALATE OF IRON.
Composition.— Neutral salt, Fe2 03, 3 C, 03. The formula for
the acid salt has not been correctly determined.
Equivalent. — 188.
Preparation.— I prepare a strong solution of the salt in the follow¬
ing way Take of
Oxalic acid 2 ounces
Distilled Avater . 8 fluid ounces.
Hydrated peroxide of iron, quant, stiff.
The oxalic acid is placed in a porcelain capsule Avith the water,
and heat applied until the acid is completely dissolved : when this
is accomplished, the peroxide of iron is gradually stirred in, little
b) little, until solution ceases to take place. The mixture is now
filtered from the excess of peroxide, and carefully preserved, aAvav
from the light. ’ J
fiT"|,Te^ is the peroxi.loof nitropen, which forms a definite compound w
r hos olpbatfl of iron, but is insoluble in solution ofthe persulphate ; so that, at themorr.
" the complete .onver.ion ol the former salt into the latter, the gas is suddenly liberat
[March 15, 186*1
Properties. — It is to be remembered that the above solution con¬
tains the neutral peroxalate dissolved by free acid, any unneessary
excess of the latter being avoided by the mode of preparation.
The neutral peroxalate is a lemon-yellow, almost insoluble powder.
The solution, in excess of acid, possesses an intensely sweet taste,
and, as prepared by the above method, is of a deep brown colour :
if the solution be diluted it is a greenish-yelloAv.
The most remarkable property Avhich is presented by this solution
is that of being immediately reduced under the influence of the
solar rays. If exposed to direct sunlight the liquid will be observed
to lighten in colour, and, at the same time, carbonic acid gas will
be seen rising in little bubbles ; but no precipitate will be observed
for some time. However, after a feAv minutes, a yellow crystalline
powder av i 1 1 gradually deposit, and the action will continue until
all the peroxalate is decomposed.
If paper be floated on the surface of the peroxalate solution for
a few minutes, then dried in the dark, and exposed under a negative
to light, blackening Avill be observed to have occurred on those parts
unprotected from the light. If the print be noAV Avashed Avell in
Avater, and then placed either in solution of ammonio-nitrate of
silver, or solution of the red prussiate of potash, a black or blue
picture Avill be respectively obtained. On carefully examining the
picture it will be found that the details are very deficient. It will
be remembered that when the solution of peroxalate is placed in
the light, though gas is given off, yet it is only after some time
that the protoxalate of iron is deposited, and then it appears as a
crystalline poAvder, giving the idea that it had separated from a satu¬
rated solution. I found on further experiment that such Avas really
the case, the peroxalate having dissolved the protoxalate imme¬
diately on being formed, and therefore not having alloAved it to pre¬
cipitate until a saturated solution Avas formed. On this principle
the destruction of the half-tones is readily accounted for. The
remedy for this serious eA’il consists in the use of the salt next to
be described, instead of the plain peroxalate, as a sensitiser.
AMMONIO -FERRIC OXALATE.
Composition. — Fea 03, 3C2 03 + 3(NH40, C2 Os) + 6 HO.
Equivalent. — 428.
Preparation. — This beautiful salt may be easily prepared in the
folloAving Avay : — Take of
Crystallized oxalate of ammonia . 437 grains.
Oxalic acid . 386 „
Distilled Avater . .. 6 fluid ounces.
Hydrated peroxide of iron, quant, stiff.
Place the oxalic acid, oxalate of ammonia, and water together in a
porcelain capsule and apply heat. When the temperature of the
liquid is raised nearly to the boiling point, stir in some of the oxide
of iron. This, by uniting Avith the acid oxalate of ammonia already
in solution, forms the very soluble salt which it is our object to
prepare, and thus permits the solution of the excess of the rather
difficultly soluble acid oxalate of ammonia, Avhich is much less
easily dissolved than the neutral oxalate. When no solid salt remains,
the clear liquid is kept at the boiling point, and the hydrated per¬
oxide stirred in until it ceases to be dissolved. A solution Avill be
thus obtained Avhich may be directly used to sensitise paper Avith ;
or, if it be desired to obtain the ammonio-ferric oxalate in the solid
form, it has only to be evaporated to a small bulk, Avhen beautiful
green crystals Avill separate.
Properties. — The double oxalate of ammonia and peroxalate of
iron, prepared as above directed, remarkably resembles in its crys¬
talline form chlorate of potash, though it may be obtained in small
slightly rhombic octohedra. The salt, Avhen exposed to light,
turns yellow, by the formation of the oxalate of the protoxide :
this change is especially quick in the poAvder, the greenish-yellow
colour of which changes almost instantly to an ochre-yellow in
sunshine. The aqueous solution, likewise, Avhen exposed to light,
gives off carbonic acid gas, becomes decolourised, and deposits
ferrous oxalate, in the form of a yellow powder. This salt dissolves
in rather more than its oavii weight of Avater at 60° Fahrenheit,
and in *79 parts at the boiling temperature, forming a solution of
a beautiful emerald green colour.
The double oxalates of potash or soda Avith the peroxalate of
iron are prepared in a precisely similar manner to the above salt,
though both are much less soluble in water than the ammonia
compound, and, moreover, are not nearly so Avell adapted to photo¬
graphic use as the latter.
The description of these oxalates would hardly be complete
Avithout reference being made to the protoxalate of iron. It is
the result of the action of light on the foregoing salts, and the
study of its properties and relations is, therefore, a matter of some
importance.
March 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
101
PROTOXALATE OF IRON.
Composition. — Fe 0, Ca08 + 2 HO.
Equivalent. — 90.
Preparation.— This salt may be formed by precipitating a solu¬
tion of protosulphate of iron by means of oxalate of ammonia, or
by the actinic decomposition of any of the preceding compounds
of the peroxide.
Properties and Uses. — 'The protoxalate of iron, as prepared by
either of the above methods, is a lemon-yellow powder, which, if
deposited from a solution of the peroxalate, is crystalline. It is
insoluble in water or excess of oxalic acid, though, as I mentioned
before, it is soluble in solution of the peroxalate.
When treated with solution of red prussiate of potash it first
becomes green, and then blue. Treated with caustic ammonia,
it first becomes greenish-white, then green, until it finally becomes
brown, owing to the protoxide precipitated absorbing oxygen, and
being converted into the peroxide of iron: if gallic or pyrogallic
acid be added before the change is quite completed, a brownish-
black or inky colour will be the result. According to my expe¬
rience the best and most permanent black is obtained by treating
the protoxalate with very dilute ammonio-nitrafe of silver: the
deposit consists of equal equivalents of metallic silver and peroxide
of iron, oxalate of silver being simultaneously formed, which is
dissolved by the ammonia of the developer. If the protoxalate
be ignited in the air, the organic acid will be burnt off, and the
residue will consist of pure peroxide of iron, which, in consequence
of its extremely minute state of division, may be used with advan¬
tage instead of tripoli, or in grinding lenses, as, if ordinary care
be taken in its preparation, there is no possible chance of gritty
particles being present.
ON BURNT-IN PHOTOGRAPHS IN ENAMEL COLOURS'1
By F. Joubert.
Having been invited by our excellent Secretary, Dr. Diamond, to
exhibit, this evening, some specimens of my photographic transfer
on glass, in enamel colour burnt in, so that a novel application of
photography might be placed under the notice of the Society, I shall
endeavour, briefly, to give some information respecting the process
itself, and to point out in what direction it might receive great
development.
But, previous to entering into the subject immediately before us,
I would take this opportunity of casting a retrospective glance at
the origin of the discovery of photograph}’1, having had the advan¬
tage of watching the progress of the invention almost from the very
first essays of the inventor.
Although not intimately acquainted with Daguerre, my late and
regretted friend the Chevalier Bouton, his partner at the Diorama,
first mentioned to me the subject which at that time engrossed
Daguerre’s thoughts almost exclusively ; and one of the first speci¬
mens brought under my notice was a portion of a figure with
draperies of such exquisite refinement and definition of texture as
to cause a feeling of perfect admiration amongst the few friends to
whom Daguerre showed it.
It is well known that before his name became associated with the
production of sun-pictures , as they were first designated, Daguerre
bad acquired considerable repute as a landscape painter, and he
had exhibited at various times, amongst other fine works, some
interior views of old buildings, which denoted in the artist, besides
other great qualities, a complete understanding of the theory of
light and shade as applicable to a picture. Daguerre, being
ambitious of spreading his works upon a larger scale, conceived
the idea of attaining a perfect representation of natural objects, the
size of life, lighted as though they were the real scenery, through
an arrangement or system of windows much the same as that in
use for lighting panoramas; but he painted a picture upon a flat
plane instead of a circular one, by means of which he was enabled
to introduce side-lights also with great effect.
The success of the Diorama in Paris was immense, and many
persons may yet remember, among other pictures, one representing
the Valley of Unterseen in Switzerland, and a view of the Royal
Chapel at Holyrood, both of which were, I believe, exhibited later
in London at the Diorama in Regent’s Park.
Daguerre had for many years been in the habit of using both
the camera obscura and the camera lucida. The first-named one
was particularly serviceable to him in obtaining an accurate repre¬
sentation of the scene he required to paint for his diorama, with all
the gradation of light, and he used a camera o! cura of very large
proportions for the purpose. Many a time in observing upon the
* Read at a Meeting of tho Photographic Society, March 4th, 1862.
white drum in his dark room the beautiful definition of objects
outside, which the opening of the room-door caused to disappear
immediately, Daguerre had been heard to exclaim — s: Ah ! that
means could be found to fix such an image!” and with his ardent
and enterprising mind he had imagined to try the effect of a sensi¬
tive paper, without, however, alighting upon the right medium.
He tried several agents, and actually by accident obtained, one day,
a faint outline of objects upon a sheet of paper, which outline
remained some little time, even when exposed to the light, before
it passed away. This was assuredly an important step in the right
direction ; but after trying many experiments, rejecting them, re¬
sorting to new ones day after day, and having already, it must bo
said, far progressed towards the discovery of the object he had in
view, a circumstance occurred which was destined to have a great
influence in bringing the invention to a positive result. Daguerre
called one day on a well-known optician of whom he had purchased
his instruments, and to whom he had, from time to time, made a
confidential communication of the progress of his researches. The
optician said to him — “ I believe, M. Daguerre, I know a young
man who is trying for the same thing that you are trying for : he
is extremely clever, and I should much wish you to know him : he
might perhaps be of use to you.” This was M. Niepce.
Daguerre was so struck with the results that Niepce had arrived
at, that he offered to him to combine their efforts, and very soon
after the invention was brought before the public by the great
astronomer Ai ago in a paper read at the Academy of Sciences ;
and shortly after this, in a series of experiments made by Daguerre
himself in a government office, where a vast and select assemblage
had been invited, these experiments were perfectly successful. The
French Government rewarded Daguerre nobly for his discovery,
and also acknowledged the claims of Niepce by granting him a
pension for life.
Daguerre’s invention, ingenious as it is, would scarcely have led
to the immense development that we now witness in photography.
By a very singular coincidence, about the same time, and perfectly
unknown to Daguerre, Mr. Fox Talbot, in this country, after having
worked alone with great perseverance and courage, brought out
the “ Talbotye,” which has changed its name and become better
known as “ Photography.”
It was very natural to expect that many persons, considering
the beautiful results of the new discovery on the one hand and the
admitted want of permanency of the photographic prints on the
other, should exert themselves to find a mode of giving durability
to that which, from its transient nature, was undoubtedly destined
to perish sooner or later. The Daguerreotype image being liable
to be affected by damp, or by rubbing off, had to be carefully pro¬
tected by a piece of glass being fastened in front of the image : the
Talbotype proofs also were at first frequently found to fade away
after a short time if exposed to the bright light.
A better method of fixing the proofs is now generally adopted;
but who can tell for certain how much of the best fixed photo¬
graphic prints will remain on the paper twenty years hence? A
mode of preserving the photographic image intact from any at¬
mospheric influence was generally wanted ; and, soon after the
introduction of the method for taking a photograph upon glass by
means of the collodion process, many were the attempts at fixing
the image by fire, under the notion that the metallic principle of
the nitrate of silver would run into the substance of the glass
when heated sufficiently, so as to combine with the glass itself,
and retain the image when looked at by transmitted light.
This, however, was not the case. 1. Although some portion of
the silver was retained in a yellow tint on the glass when taken
out of the kiln, the greater portion of the photograph had dis¬
appeared ; for the organic substance of the collodion was burnt off,
and left no trace on the glass in many instances. It was thought
that by fixing another piece of glass in front of a photographic
image copied in a positive by the albumen or other process, a
certain degree of permanency could be obtained, and some very
interesting results were arrived at by that means. Then the
usual mode of printing on ceramic substances was also tried, but
failed for -want of a medium to apply the pigment required for
printing off. In the manufacture of earthenware, as every one
knows, the image to be applied to decorate the ceramic wares is
first printed from an engraved copperplate on what is called
tissue-paper, or very thin paper, in vitrifiable colour or colours,
and applied before the colour has had time to set upon the objects
to be decorated. The same process has been in use for decorating
glass ; but the expenditure of time and money required to obtain
first an original plate stood in the way of any great progress
being made in that direction.
103
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1863'
Having been for many years professionally acquainted with
printing in connexion with the fine arts, and having observed the
immense development the new art of photography has taken, and
the large field it has opened for representing all sorts of subjects —
of animated as well as still life — it occurred to me that if a means
could be found to print the photographic image on glass as easily
as it is done on paper, and through the agency of some chemical
composition which would admit of employing ceramic or verifiable
colours, and burning them in, a great result would be attained,
and a new and considerable branch of industrial art might thereby
be opened. Considering the numerous and various attempts
which have, from time to time, been made to introduce a substitute
for glass painting in the decoration of houses, I believe it can be
said that a want was generally felt for supplying the growing
taste for pictorial decoration ; for glass painting is an expensive
process, and requires also a considerable time to obtain a perfect
result.
The invention which occupies us now is resting upon this sin¬
gular fact, that all saccharine or sticky substances seem to be
easily absorbed by light. In consequence, a certain convenient
solution being pi’epared, sensitive to the light in order to obtain
the image, photographically; if to this solution there could be
added a principle which would combine the property above alluded
to with the sensitive property necessary to obtain the facsimile
representation of the object to be copied, then the application of
an enamel colour of pigment would become an easy and almost
mechanical matter. To render this more easy of comprehension
I shall now read that part of my specification which relates to
placing the image on the glass and fixing it by fire : —
For this purpose, I proceed in the following way : — A piece of
glass, which may be crown or flatted glass, being selected as free
from defect as possible, is first well cleaned, and held horizontally
while a certain liquid is poured on it. This liquid is composed of
a saturated solution of bichromate of ammonia in the proportion
of five parts, honey and albumen three parts of each, well mixed
together, and thinned with from twenty to thirty parts of distilled
water, the whole carefully filtered before using it. The prepara¬
tion of the solution, and the mixing up with other ingredients,
should be conducted in a room from which light is partially ex¬
cluded, or under yellow light, the same as in photographic ope¬
rating rooms, so that the sensitiveness of the solution may not be
diminished or destroyed.
In order to obtain a perfect transfer of the image to be repro¬
duced, the piece of glass coated with the solution, which has been
properly dried by means of a gas stove (this will only occupy
a few minutes), is placed face downwards on the subject to be
copied, in an ordinary pressure-frame, such as is used for printing:
photographs.
The subject must be a positive picture on glass, or else on
paper rendered transparent by waxing or other mode, and an
exposure to the light will, in a few seconds, according to the state
of the weather, show, on removing the coated glass from the pres¬
sure-frame, a faintly-indicated picture in a negative condition.
To bring it out, an enamel colour, in a very finely divided powder,
is gently rubbed over with a soft brush until the whole composi¬
tion or subject appears in a perfect positive form. It is then fixed
by alcohol, in which a small quantity of acid, either nitric or acetic,
has been mixed, being poured over the whole surface and drained
off at one corner.
When the alcohol has completely evaporated, which will gene¬
rally be the case in a very short time, the glass is quietly immersed,
horizontally, in a large pan of clean water, and left until the
chromic solution has dissolved off, and nothing remains besides
the enamel colour on the glass : it is then allowed to dry by itself
near a heated stove, and when dry is ready to be placed in the
kiln for firing.
- -
DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTO-POLYGRAPHIC CAMERA
Invented by M. Leon Vidal,
And Exhibited nt the Marseilles Photographic Society, February 28, 1862,
'I nid apparatus I have designated nuto-polygraphic from its being
able to produce without any addition a considerable number of
views. It is also particularly portable. Forty-four prepared plates
contained in two racked boxes, arranged above and below the
camera, can be successively brought into the focus of the lens and
returned to their places; or, even if but one box contains the pre¬
pared plates, those impressed can bo passed into the lower one.
Ilw apparatus intended for views npon quarter plates is also appli¬
cable to the production of stereographs, either on separate or
double-sized glasses.
The cuts Avhich accompany this description give an idea of the
apparatus.
B is the camera in which the plates are exposed. A is a racked
box sliding smoothly in grooves on the camera B. This box is
closed by two sliding lids, a and b, opening in opposite directions;
M'arch 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
103
the lower lid b having a long narrow opening, allowing the glasses
to pass through when brought opposite to the groove for expo¬
sure S fixed in the dark slide, in which also the focussing screen
works. The lid a carries a graduated scale R, equal in number of
gradations to the plates which the box will contain.
In order to operate and expose, for instance, the seventh plate
we slide out the lid a in this position, and draw out completely
the lid b. The plate then being no longer retained falls on the
upper surface of the camera. To bring it in correspondence with
the opening in the chassis it is sufficient to slide the box A in its
grooves until the little knob f which moves the index e is on the
seventh division of the graduated scale placed on one of the grooves
on the side of the cambi’a; immediately the glass falls into the chassis
where it is in focus. A spring F, which corresponds with an ex¬
ternal knob, retains it at any desirbd height ; another spring H,
which can be tightened or loosened at will, ensures the glass being
brought exactly in focus against the rabbet S, as soon as it has
fallen into its place.
After exposure the camera is turned over on the two axes T,
sustained by a vertical crutch D, which itself turns on a cone by
which a very light travelling foot is terminated, and the box A
then occupies the lower position ; the openings being brought to
coincide by the assistance of the graduated scales, it is sufficient to
draw back the knob H ter- release the glass, which falls back into
its place.
When it is desired to cause the plate to fall into the other box
situated below, the turning/ over of the camera is needless; it
suffices, after having conveniently arranged the lids and the posi¬
tion of the box A', to draw the nobs H and F ; the plate will then
fall into it.
By the aid of properly graduated edges this apparatus is easily
adapted for taking a series of panoramic views, the motion in
every direction permitting views of all kinds to be taken either
horizontally or perpendicularly.
The index points out always the number of plates already im¬
pressed without its. being requisite to make memoranda or to
remember the number at which we left off.
The apparatus has been protected by a patent.
RECOLLECTIONS OP AN AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER
IN PORTRAITURE.*
By Noel E. Fitch.
Some few years since I started one morning, a full blown photo¬
grapher, with a complete set of apparatus of the value of £3, and,
judging from the number of gentlemen who have commenced their
photographic life with this most wonderful stock of appliances, I
presume the originator of the idea of a “ complete set ” must now
be reposing from all earthly toil on a handsome fortune. You all,
gentlemen, recollect with what delight you proceeded to take your
first, your maiden picture: most of you, I doubt not, have it still.
My first production consisted of a quarter-plate portrait of a most
obliging friend., who kindly consented to be taken in the garden of
my house: the background is a brick wall. It was raining steadily
at the time, and, as the experiment was of considerable duration, I
am inclined to think the operator had the best of the fun. Failure
now followed failure, collodion wasted,, baths spoiled, accidents
happening, instruction books reading, and so months passed by,
until by experience acquiring some dearly bought knowledge, I
have arrived at that condition when, if I cannot take a good nega¬
tive, I fancy I can recognise one when I see it, and appreciate the
trouble, adjustment, nicety, and balance of each and everything,
from the plate itself to the final washing requisite in its production.
However’, in due course the poor “complete set” was at length
discarded ; and, after a. series of annoyances and disappointments
with respect to lenses, having possessed myself with cheap instead
of good ones, I equipped myself entirely afresh, built a glass-room,
and entered heart and hand into the delightful amusement of taking
my friends’ and their friends’ portraits.
Individually, I never could see the. “fun” of being taken, but
my hobby having brought me into contact with a great number of
people, I have come to the conclusion that with some the desire to
see themselves represented in chloride of silver becomes absolutely
a disease. I was once taking the card portrait of a gentleman, and
after having taken him thrice was proceeding to wipe my hands as
a signal that I had completed the operation, on seeing which he
informed me that he was not tired and was willing to be taken in
a dozen different attitudes. I pleaded lack of time, another oppor¬
tunity, &c., and thus got out of the difficulty, evidently much to his
* Read at a Meeting of the Soulh London Photographic Society, March 13th, 1SG2.
disappointment, as he was in full uniform, being a member of a rifle
corps. He subsequently met me, reminded me of my promise, and
I then had to take him thrice again, and was compelled to tell him
at last that I could do no more. On another occasion a young lady
had the honesty to tell me that to her the operation was a pleasant
and agreeable one, and begged me at any time that I might be m
want of a sitter, either for experiment or a study, to send for her,
and she would be delighted to come. There were, however, cer¬
tain facial objections to my so doing, and consequently I have not
availed myself of her offer.
Another young lady was so determined to have herself taken that
although suffering severely from the toothache, she first paid a
visit to the operating-room of a dentist, and from thence imme¬
diately came to mine. This portrait does not represent a happy
cast of countenance ; in fact, I may assert that out of the very many
portraits that I have taken I have never yet met with one sitter
who disliked the operation , and but few who had much consideration
for the operator ; for, whether practised as a profession or as an
amusement, too much of it becomes irksome, especially with the
thermometer showing 90° of heat in the dark room.
I can scarcely believe that when people are having their portraits
taken they give a thought that the operator, when focussing, can
see them and their actions most distinctly on the greyed glass; for,
if such a consciousness pervaded them, how much amusement we
amateurs and professionals would lose ! Desiring to get a certain
effect of light and shade on the face of a gentleman, I desired him
to look and turn his head somewhat to the left, but as he was
slightly deaf I had to suit the action to the word by going up to
him and with my hand turning his head in the direction I wished it
to remain; but I had no sooner enveloped my head in the velvet
than curiosity overcame his prudence, and round came his head to
look into the lens of the camera. This operation being repeated
several times I was at length, of necessity, compelled to take him
“ full face ” and thus spoil the general effect of the portrait. I
assure you it amounted at last to the ludicrous to see the old
gentleman so persistently gratifying his curiosity, although it has
since occurred to me that a certain amount of fear might have been
mixed up with his feelings on account of the novelty and formi¬
dable appearance of the instrument before him.
It is scarcely fair to reveal the secrets of the camera with respect
to the fair sex ; but, as by far the greater number of my young lady
sitters repeat their visits only to have their new dress taken, one
cannot help taking a very long time in focussing for the purpose of
watching how very particular they are in the set of it. How that
stray piece of trimming is brought forward ; how that part is ar¬
ranged or set out ; the head daintily felt all over to ascertain that no
trace of disorder is there either in the net, hair, or ornament; and
then the final effort to compose the entire person and dress for the
most pleasing attitude and expression. Then, again, if your sitter
is possessed of great personal attractions, you can gaze your full
upon the charming picture presented to you on the screen (notwith¬
standing she is standing on her head), in all the perfections of
colour and rotundity, and only regret when the plate has to be
inserted which as yet fails in copying so beautiful a shadow in all
its integrity of life and colour. It is these little episodes in por¬
traiture that give so great a charm to it in the eyes of an amateur.
Our worthy treasurer, Mr. Howard, in a paper read by him some
time since, portrayed with vivid truthfulness some of the mani¬
pulative difficulties of an amateur photographer in portraiture as
distinguished from the easy pleasure of those gentlemen who
prosecute that part of the art represented by the various dry pro¬
cesses ; but while he told you of baths neglected, and glasses to
be cleaned, developer to mix, and the sundry other, calls upon
the amateur, he omitted to mention to you — on account, I believe,
of his limited experience in the matter — a most serious and destruc¬
tive difficulty applicable, I may almost say exclusively, to the
practice of an amateur — I mean the familiarity which exists between
the amateur operator and his sitter. This may or may not have
occurred to other gentlemen, but, personally, 1 affirm it is a great
drawback to my success and tries my temper most dreadfully. It
may be taken as an axiom that without patience there can be no
successful photographer ; for, to attempt to take a picture of any
sort without a large share of it in your composition is in my
opinion simply folly, and in scarcely any science does the motto
that “ Patience and perseverance overcometh difficulties" apply so
forcibly as to photography. From beginning to end it is the same :
success or non-success, the same thing applies : each step we take
is one in which we have identically, some time or other, failed
before. Now the light is bad : how patiently we try to use what
there is, or wait with equal calmness for a better ! Now a dirty
104
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1862
plate ; now badly exposed or developed ; or the front toned, fixed,
or washed imperfectly. Still we go on, and the thousand and one
difficulties which we all experience more or less are usually success
fully surmounted simply by patient determination.
But to me the greatest — in fact the insurmountable — difficulty is
the friendly sitters who honour an amateur by being taken. With
gentlemen who practice the art as a profession there is not this
difficulty to contend with to anything like the same extent. I
have observed (for I have the entree to several studios) that the
sitters are for the most part placid, quiet, and obedient : the ope¬
rator does with them what he will, and their dismissal takes place
the momenthe informs them of his success. Any pose that he thinks
artistic or elegant to that will his sitter submit without a murmur;
and, even if they place themselves in some eccentric or particular
position, a little polite and judicious management soon sets things
straight, and the artist nearly always has his own way. That
occasionally frumpy and disagreeable people do enter glass rooms
there can be no doubt; but the quietude that usually reigns there
subdues them mostly, and in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred
satisfaction if not felt is at least expressed. I have seen the case
frequently of people who have lost their temper in the waiting-
room calmly regain it under the mesmeric influence of a Ross or
Dallmeyer lens. That momentous second when the cap is removed
from the lens must, I suppose, have something to do with it ; for,
when you come to think, it is really a serious question whether you
are to be represented with a scowl upon your face or with all the
calm benignity of your better-tempered self. With amateurs,
however — or rather in my individual instance — the case is different.
My sitters care nought for me, will not be posed, insist on moving,
nay, even speak during the operation — treat the whole affair as a
good joke, imagine that each failure caused by themselves is my
amusement, and usually wind up the entertainment by asking for
impressions by the dozen. I assure you this is no romance. It is
purely the fact ; and did I choose I could call upon a gentleman
now present to bear me out in the assertion. Curiosity leads some
to open the door of the dark room to find out what I am about
during that most critical of all periods, development: others remove
negatives, recently taken, from the rack on which they are placed
to dry, and, by incautiously touching, spoil them: all complain of
the heat ; and the last questionis “When can they have the copies?”
You will have the kindness to remember that I do not exactly com¬
plain of this. I am only sometimes a little annoyed that I am not
allowed to take my friends my way, instead of being compelled
(out of politeness, I must say) to take them their own ; for I recently
took the card portrait of a gentleman, by profession an artist,
engaged on the leading illustrated paper of the day, and whose
occupation consists in representing people with elegance of appear¬
ance and easiness of pose, who selected for himself the most
eccentric, if not the mostinelegant, position it is possible to imagine;
and, notwithstanding I represented this to him in language perhaps
more forcible than refined, he insisted on retaining his self-chosen
attitude, asserting as a reason for so doing that it was “ charac¬
teristic of himself.” I need scarcely tell you that I had no pleasure
in taking the negative, or that an accident happened to it in the
printing-frame. I console myself somewhat, however, with the
knowledge that the obligation is mutual, for if I take any friends
con amore they supply me with sitters ; but still people should
remember that amateur photography is not the cheapest hobby a
man can amuse himself with, and they should be somewhat mode¬
rate in their demands for impressions.
A friend of mine having a relation, an officer in a cavalry regi¬
ment, asked me if I would kindly take his portrait : of course I
consented to do so, and took a very successful one. The sitter
was .a very good one — quiet and still, with a face even in repose
thoughtful and expressive ; and altogether, it being a very good
day, the picture was liked most immensely. Fifteen impressions
from this half-plate did I give, and then was asked for more. This
I playfully declined to do, but forwarded the negative to mv
friend, with instructions as to where any number of copies could
bo obtained by the very simple process of paying for them. I
could give you numerous instances of this sort of thing — this want
of consideration towards amateurs generally, not only in photo¬
graphy, but in water colour drawing, and in fact in anything which
may bo cither an amusement to some or a source" of profit to
others. I once, I assure you, had a friend bring me, beside himself,
hia wife, and three children, of the respective ages of 6, 4, and 2
years, to have their portraits taken, without asking me if I would
take them, and specifying, as regards the children, that they should
>e taken like the Sleeping Child , which I shall have the pleasure
ot handing round to you this evening, and which they appeared
to admire very much. I declined to make the attempt absolutely,
and he departed in peace with a portrait of himself and wife only.
And this reminds me, gentlemen, that if I were to give you all
my recollections of children offered and declined, I should possibly
detain you here longer than you would wish. How my neigh¬
bours, even, who can see my glass house and guess at its use,
and who possess (which of course it is) the prettiest little child in
the world, will politely send the muslin’d and mottle-legged little
thing, with a polite request that I would behind enough to take its
portrait. How also each little one is warranted to stand or sit
like a lay figure ; and the black looks we have to put up with
from mamma, when we politely but firmly decline to make the
attempt, unless her “lively beauty” be converted into a “ sleeping”
one, when of course there is not much difficulty in the matter: in
fact, I think every fond parent desiring to possess photographs of
their children should provide themselves with one of those extra¬
ordinary little instruments, with that most extraordinary name,
invented by Mr. Skaife, or else patiently wait until their little
ones arrive at a really “taking” age. Strangely enough, too, it
happens that photographers who have children of their own very
seldom indeed have photographs of them : no one likes the work,
and it is put off from day to day with the usual result of such a
proceeding.
The absolute hard work amateurs do, and call it amusement, is
really wonderful. Not for them is the handy youth to clean
glasses, clear up the room, filter baths, wash bottles, or do the
numberless little offices connected with photography — not for
them is an assistant to sensitise paper, print, tone, fix, and wash —
no, the whole work falls single-handed on the poor amateur, who
simply consents to do all of it, and bear the expense of it too, for
his love of the art; and all he asks in return is some reasonableness
and consideration at the hands of his friends, and some encourage¬
ment for his efforts. To an amateur the most tedious part of pho¬
tography is the printing and toning; and 1 firmly believe that
visitors generally imagine that having obtained “the glass,” as
they call it, there is nothing more to be done. I have, however,
lately found the printing so tedious, that I have given the nega¬
tives to their several owners, who have them printed by a pro¬
fessional printer — of course very much better than I could do
them myself for them.
Next to the satisfaction usually given by us amateurs to our
sitters — I don’t think we have much to complain of on that account ;
I find most of mine, at least, easily pleased — but the part that
frequently surprises me is this. It happens with me, as also with
several friends of mine, that, having taken one negative, there is
some very slight defect in it which induces me to take a second,
which, may be, turns out infinitely superior as an artistic picture.
The two negatives are printed, and a proof of each submitted for
selection : almost invariably the better one is rejected. Whether it
is, as your Secretary may inform you, that the second picture is
too sharp, or from an absolute incapability of appreciating that
which is better, I must leave to wiser heads than mine to deter¬
mine. Recently, a professional photographer, with whom I am
intimately acquainted, showed me some card pictures, with which
he acknowledged he was very much dissatisfied. They were cer¬
tainly not up to the standard of his productions. After hesi¬
tating for some little time, he finally sent them home, expecting
of course to hear complaints of them; but, much to his surprise,
he received in a day or two a very good order for impressions
from the same negatives.
Usually people admire the best and most artistic portraits of their
friends ; but, strange to say, are not so critical with portraits of
themselves — in fact, they sometimes, like Narcissus, fall in love with
their own reflection, and, with the usual blindness of that condition,
fail to see most patent defects in the picture.
Some short time since I was spending an evening with a friend,
and photography forming the subject of conversation, a gentleman
present said “he certainly admired photography, but out of the
great number of portraits he had seen, he had rarely met with one
representing the face with a pleasing expression : some appeared
staring, others in pain, and but very few absolutely truthful; and
in furtherance of this (although to my mind a perfect refutation)
he pointed out some really beautiful productions on the walls of
the room.
One portrait, however, he admitted to have seen, nay to possess,
which comprised all that he wished, which was indeed all a pho¬
tographic portrait should be, viz., truthful to nature, pleasing in
expression, and graceful and easy in pose : in fact, he said he
happened to have it in his pocket. I naturally asked permission to
see so great a gem, to admire and imitate, to beg, borrow, or steal
March 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
105
it, so that I might call it mine, and thus have for my model this
wonderful type of all that was perfect. He consented, and as in
the schoolboy tale of the “ chameleon,” he produced the card, and
lo ! it was himself, badly taken, and as badly printed ; and, as to
truthfulness of expression, the man had hair of that colour which
cannot be represented by photography, and carried on his face a
most decided smirk. I could not restrain a smile, and coldly
telling him I did not think much of it, he replaced it in his pocket,
and did not speak to me again the remainder of the evening.
Fortunately photography stands in no need of begging admiration :
it has grown from a very small seed, is growing, and will, I feel
sure, continue to do so while the world lasts, more especially
while it receives the august patronage it has hitherto secured.
Gentlemen, I submit for your inspection a few photographs, the
best that I can do. Be merciful while you strike. Remember, if you
please, that I am only an amateur, compelled to work at odd times,
and those frequently at some distance apart. The main object I
had, however, in bringing them this evening was to show you the
results produced by my old faithful friend pyro., as a developer.
It is said that this is the “ iron ” age, and that, I suppose, has
something indirectly to do with the use of that metal as a re¬
ducing agent ; but, irrespective of the double process necessary in
its use, I have always found that I could do everything I desired
with pyrogallic acid. The whole of the portraits now before you
were taken in a glass-room, with the sitter facing due south, the
slides being totally opaque, and the front admitting scarcely any
: light at all ; and, without wishing to “bore ” you, I will shortly
tell you my mode of taking them. The lenses are Ross’s, the bath
40 grs. to 1 oz., without any addition whatever. The collodion,
Ponting’s negative, and the developer 1 £ grs. pyro. to the oz. ; the
smallest quantity of glacial acetic acid, with which to ensure a
clean picture, and a little alcohol to make it flow easily. Fix by
pouring saturated solution of hypo, on the plate, not by immersion.
From this I seldom vary, save for experiment ; and as I never in¬
tensify by adding silver to the developer, but produce my nega¬
tives by one (albeit prolonged) development, I do not think I shall
resort to other means. Results surpassingly beautiful have been,
and are, produced with iron, but the tendency with many manipu¬
lators is to produce hard negatives with violent contrasts. I And
my way simple, and to me tolerably certain ; and, although it may
be old-fashioned, it answers my purpose in all that I wish. Too
much light I find a decided objection with pyrogallic acid ; and it
is a matter of surprise with geptlem^rx who have visited me to
find all my light received through the top only, and even that for
the most part through stippled glass. I like to see the light fall
on the sitter, so as to give a gloss to the hair : it looks to me
natural and familiar, for in these days of Maccassar and pomades
it is always visible, either by day or artificial light. I suppose,
however, it is simply a question of taste, or, perhaps, with me, a
very “ questionable ” taste. Although the aspect of my room is
certainly not the best, on account of the sun, I am almost of
opinion that it produces greater roundness of feature than any
other, and should certainly choose the same aspect on building
another.
Before I conclude I should like to draw the attention of photo¬
graphers to the great advantage of the automatic washing system.
Many friends who have seen my arrangement have immediately
constructed one with success, and have found on testing that, with
the occasional use of a sponge, the prints have been perfectly
washed. The contrivance is very simple, and may be made by
any gentleman at the expense of a few shillings : it will last for
years, and is not at all likely to get out of order. I have a diagram
here which will perhaps explain to you its construction. It is
simply, as you will observe, an oval wooden tub with an orifice
made some two inches from the top. Through this is inserted a
leaden pipe of about f-incli bore, which is then brought to the
bottom of the tub through a false and perforated bottom of zinc.
The portion of the pipe immediately in connexion with the outside
of the orifice is then bent into two elbows, taking care that the
second is slightly below the first : it is then continued any length
you please. Immediately the water rises above the first and
higher elbow the syphon begins to work, and rapidly empties the
tub from the bottom. The false bottom is only to prevent the
prints being sucked up the pipe. I am aware there is nothing new
in this ; but it may have escaped the notice of many gentlemen,
and I wish to bear my testimony to its advantages, as all that is
necessary is to place it below the tap of a cistern, in such a manner
that the influx may give a rotatory motion to the prints, with
the projecting limb over a drain, and regulate the supply so that
it shall empty itself, say three times in the hour.
One word with respect to varnish, about which we have lately
read so much. I have for a very long time used varnish prepared
after a receipt of a very practical friend of mine. I can vouch for
its usefulness, cheapness, and capability of standing any amount
of sun-heat. Obtain from any colourman some best white hard
carriage varnish, and dilute the same down with methylated
alcohol. Warmth is necessary for its application, and the right
proportions are soon ascertained after a few trials. Should it
become cloudy on adding the alcohol, in a few days it will become
absolutely limpid and may then be decanted — immediate filtration,
however, having the same effect. Gentlemen, I thank you for
your attention.
ON THE STEREOSCOPIC PICTURES EXECUTED IN THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY BY JACOPO CHIMENTI.*
By Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S.
In 1859, when Dr. John Brown and his brother, Dr. A. Crum
Brown, were visiting the Museum of Wicar, at Lille, their atten¬
tion was called to two pictures of a man sitting upon a low stool,
and holding in his left hand a pair of compasses and in his right
hand a line reaching the ground. These two pictures appeared to
be exactly the same as if the one had been copied from the other.
They were each about twelve inches high and eight and a-half broad,
and were placed close to one another like the pictures in a stereo¬
scopic slide. Dr. A. Crum Brown, on his return to England, sent
me the following account of these two pictures which, I think, was
read in his presence at a former meeting of this Society : — “ These
two drawings,” he says, “are by Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli, a
painter of the Florentine school, who was born in 1554, and who
died in 1640. They are drawings of the same person from points
of view slightly different. That on the right hand is from a point
of view slightly to the left of that on the left hand. They are so
exactly on the same scale that by converging the optic axes I
succeeded in uniting the two so as to produce an image in relief.
They united so easily and completely that I could not help thinking
that they had been drawn for the purpose of being looked at in that
way. So far as I could judge, the difference between the pictures
was greater than would be produced by a change of the position
of a spectator, equal to the distance between the two eyes, so that
the stereoscopic effect was somewhat exaggerated. I think if we
had a photograph of the pictures it would be much easier to prove
their stereoscopic character than by merely referring to them ;
and, if the photographs were of such a size that they could be
transposed and put in the stereoscope, any one could see it.”
I had no sooner received this very interesting communication
from Dr. Crum Brown than I took measures for obtaining a photo¬
graph of this stereoscopic picture.
[Sir David here detailed the steps which he had taken to procure
these photographs, in the prosecution of which several difficulties
presented themselves. Having alluded to some correspondence
which passed between him and Sir Charles Phipps, he continued.]
When I received this letter I was writing the article “ Stereo¬
scope” for the Encyclopedia Britannica and I inserted in it the
remarkable discovery made by Dr. Crum Brown. I had previously
shown in my Treatise on the Stereoscope that Galen had, fifteen
hundred years ago, proved that in looking at solid bodies the pic¬
tures given by each eye were dissimilar, and that with both eyes
he saw these two pictures combined.
In illustrating these views of Galen, Baptista Porta gives a
figure in which we not only see the principle of the stereoscope,
but a representation of the binocular slide by three circles, two of
them indicating the right and left eye pictures and the middle one
the other two, united by the eyes, and producing the figure in
relief which we actually see.
The work of Baptista Porta containing this diagram was pub¬
lished in 1593, and Jacopo Chimenti lived 47 years after its
publication. It was therefore probable, as I stated, that in
executing the stereoscopic picture Chimenti was illustrating the
binocular diagrams of the Neapolitan philosopher, and was the true
inventor of the ocular stereoscope — that is, of the method of
obtaining a solid representation of any object by uuiting right and
left eye pictures of it by converging the optic axes to a point
nearer the observer than the pictures.
This opinion was founded on the supposition that Chimenti’s
two figures were truly stereoscopic ; and, as I know* that Dr. Crum
Brown was thoroughly acquainted with the subject of binocular
vision and the theory of the stereoscope, I had no doubt that
he had seen a figure in perfect relief by uniting the two plane pic¬
tures of it.
* Read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society of Scotland, March 11, 1862.
10G
[March 15, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Having failed in procuring a copy of these pictures, I had no
means of testing the accuracy of Dr. Brown’s experiments ; but it
appears that in June, 1860, Mr. Wheatstone applied to Professor
Kahlmann, of Lille, and obtained from him a photograph of
Cliimenti’s drawings. In the letter which accompanied it Professor
Kahlmann states “ that the copy had been taken of such a size as
to be suitable for examination in the stereoscope ; ” and he adds —
“ that at the first sight of it, and without the aid of any instrument,
it would be seen that the two pictures were not stereoscopic. ”
The photograph thus described was accordingly placed in the
stereoscope by Mr. Wheatstone and his friends in London, and
they all found it not to be stereoscopic. Copies of the photograph
were also sent to Paris with the same result, as will be seen from
the following extract from The British Jourital of Photography
for August, 1860 : — ■
“It will, doubtless, be in the recollection of our readers that lately an intimation was
thrown out by Sir David Brewster relative to the supposed antiquity of the knowledge of
stereoscopic principles, the supposition arising from the fact that an artist, named
Jacopo Chimenti, who lived in the sixteenth century, had executed a pair of pictures,
which are at presentpreserved in the Museum at Lille, and which it was alleged, on be¬
ing viewed in such a manner as to allow each eye to see only one of the designs, pre¬
sented a stereoscopic effect. It is very unfortunate that when an announcement of any
supposed fact is once made and subsequently proved to be erroneous, it is almost
impossible to correct the false impression as thoroughly as is desirable ; because there
must always exist many persons who read the assertion but not the contradiction, while
those who see the contradiction without the previous erroneous statement, can play but-
a very unimportant part in its rectification. Under these circumstances we conceive it
to be advisable to draw special attention to a paragraph in the letter of our Paris cor¬
respondent, M. Ernest Lacan, which was published in our last number, and from which
we learn that, in order to settle the question satisfactorly, our countryman, Mr. Bingham,
who is a resident in Pans, took photographic copies of the alleged pair of stereographs,
and laid them before the members of the French Photographic Society at the July
meeting.
“ When placed in the stereoscope the two pictures united perfectly, but did not present
the smallest effect of relief.
“ We think it is fair therefore to presume that, whatever may have been the object pro¬
posed by the artist in executing the two similar pictures, it was certainly not from any
knowledge of the stereoscopic phenomenon, and that Sir David Brewster was in this
instance wrong in his conjecture. It is but right to add that Sir David had not had
ocular demonstration of the alleged fact when he threw' out the suggestion.”
The following is the letter of M. Lacan, at that time the
Editor of La Lumiere , above referred to : —
“ The letter in which Sir David Brewster spoke of the two drawings of Chimenti ex¬
isting in the Lille Museum, and presenting, according to the illustrious savant, the
stereoscopic relief, has been reprinted in the Lumiere and other special journals. We
were all asking each other if the invention which so greatly honours Wheatstone and
Brewster really dated from the sixteenth century ?
“ Mr. Bingham, who has just returned from Lille, conceived the happy idea of repro¬
ducing the two designs in question to otfer them to the Society. We all examined them
with care, but no one detected in them the slightest difference. They appeared to all
perfectly identical. In the stereoscope they are superposed, but without any effect of
relief. For the present, then, we must be permitted to doubt that they were intended
for the application Sir David attributes to them.”
Upon authorities so high Dr. Brown’s observation of the stereo¬
scopic effect of the pictures were pronounced incorrect ; and though
[ was utterly ignorant of the existence of the photograph in Eng¬
land, excepting in the collection of the late Prince Consort, and had
never either seen or heard of it, I have been charged by Mr.
Wheatstone’s friends with dishonesty in not having retracted the
opinion which I had published — not as my own, but on the
authority of Dr. Brown.
In reply to this charge I observed “ that I had not only never
seen the photograph in question, but had never heard directly nor
indirectly any other opinion about them than that of competent
judges, who found them to be stereoscopic ; and I added that the
evidence of Mr. Wheatstone and his friends, who were interested
parties, was comparatively of little value. I still believed that the
pictures were truly stereoscopic.”
The paper on which this opinion was printed was hardly dry
when I received, through the kindness of Professor Kahlmann, the
photographs which had excited so much interest, and which I now
submit to the inspection of the Society. As in all stereoscopic
pictures it is difficult to perceive any difference between the right
and left eye picture when they arc taken at the proper angle; but
when they arc combined by converging the optic axes to a point
between the picture and the eye, as done by Dr. Brown, their
stereoscopic character is instantly seen. As very few persons,
however, are able to unite the pictures in this way, I had a copy of
them taken by Mr. Moffat, and the pictures transposed in order to
h“ viewed in the Stereoscope. This transposed picture is now on
tlm table, and I have no doubt that every person who looks at it in
th«‘ stereoscope will see the figure in relief, though it is more dis-
tmet when seen by the convergence of the optic axes, as Chimenti,
ot course, intended it to be seen. As the photograph now before
us has been reduced to about one-fourth of the original, the stereo¬
scopic reliel, as observed by Dr. Brown, in the Museum at Lille,
must have been more distinct than in a reduced copy taken photo¬
graphically.
L is hardly necessary to observe that a stereoscopic picture
executed by the hand must he very imperfect compared with those
obtained by the binocular camera. The artist fixes only certain
points in his copy of the original drawing, and joins these points
as skilfully as be can ; but, if the original be stippled or drawn only
in points, and if with bis compasses be places these points in his
twin copy at the proper binocular distance from the same points
in the original, the stereoscopic relief will be as perfect as if the
two pictures had been taken in the binocular camera.
I hope to be able to show such a stereoscopic picture to the So¬
ciety ; and also copies of Cliimenti’s drawings of the same size as
the original, and with all the lines, points, and shades more dis¬
tinctly separated than they can possibly be in the best reduced
photograph.
Some of those persons who have not seen the stereoscopic effect
of Chimenti’s drawings, in consequence of not knowing how to see
it, have been surprised at finding two perfectly similar drawings —
as they believed them to be — placed side by side; and have been
led to conjecture that one of them may have been a copy by a
pupil of the Florentine artist. Both the figures, however, bear the
name of Chimenti ; and, as we have seen, the one is as esentially
different from the other as the binocular views of a solid statue.
SUPPLEMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION.*
Letter fromM. Claudet to the Secretary of the London Photographic
Society, on the question of a separate Exhibition of Photo graphy
as an Annex to the International Exhibition of 1802.
To the Secretary of the London Photographic Society.
107, Regent Street, February 20, 1862.
Dear Sir, — There seems to exist a strong feeling among
photographers that there should be this year, as usual, a special
Exhibition of Photography upon a scale sufficient for showing the
state of the art, and adequate to its present magnitude and
importance.
Although I fully recognise the necessity and advantage of such
an Exhibition, I would be sorry if it Avere undertaken without the
concurrence of the parent Photographic Society. I do not say
that if a respectable and competent committee were formed to
carry out the plan, independent of that Society, I would decidedly
refuse to contribute to the Exhibition ; but I consider that, for the
success of the Exhibition and for the dignity of photography, it
would be regretted if it were established under any other direction
than the one which has for several years so successfully presided
over the Annual Exhibition of London.
There can be no question that if a separate Photographic Exhi¬
bition offer any chance of success, it must be uuder the influence
and management of the London Photographic Society ; and I do
not see what reasons there could be for its wishing to abstain from
giving its support to the undertaking, when the general desire of
photographers is for their usual Exhibition, considering that they
cannot find in the International Exhibition of 1862 sufficient room
for showing the various styles and characters of the present state
of photography.
Therefore I should be glad if you would submit to the next
meeting of the Council the reasons which make me believe that
such a separate Exhibition is desirable for the advantage of photo¬
graphy — that it can be established in no spirit of opposition to the
International Exhibition, and without appearing in the least to
find fault with the arrangements of her Majesty’s Commissioners
respecting the space allotted to photographic productions.
When we consider that a single building, however great it may
be, is to contain the works of art, science, industry, and manufac¬
tures of all the world, it could never have been expected that all
applicants should have been admitted, and that there should have
been space enough for bolding all their productions. It is indeed
to be wondered how the Royal Commissioners have been able to
grant 3000 square feet for the display of photographic pictures.
Supposing that the vertical space for banging photographs should
be 5 feet (and it can hardly be so much for a convenient sight),
that gives a length of 600 feet, or about &th of a mile of Avail in the
building. Such a space certainly is as much as could ever have
been devoted to a single branch of productions. Therefore it
Avould be unjust to complain, and unreasonable to ask more for
photography alone. There is no remedy on that score.
But if, OAving to the great number of photographers who are to
exhibit, every one has a space in Avhich be cannot display his
specimens of every kind of photographs, how can he show his
* Read at a Meeting of the Photographic Society, 4th March, 1862.
March 15, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
JOT
capabilities? One of the new features of photography is the en¬
largement of small photographs by means of the solar camera.
Now suppose that a photographer would have to exhibit only two
portraits as large as nature, in suitable frames, one of a lady and
one of a gentleman, these two portraits would occupy the entire
space allotted to the most favoured.
Foreign photographers, working in a more favourable climate,
where they can operate nearly every week all the year round with
the sun, will be able to exhibit those kinds of enlarged pictures,
portraits, or landscapes ; and if with immense difficulty, under our
cloudy sky, we have been able in England to produce such photo¬
graphs, we shall be prevented by want of space from exhibiting
them at all.
Besides, every photographer who exhibits painted portraits
must also exhibit copies of the black photographs which have
served to the painters, in order to show the accuracy of the
likeness. How can he display the number of pictures exem¬
plifying the various styles of the art ? Must he not show
how he can treat every subject of portraiture — groups, old
and young of both sexes, children, white and dark dresses,
uniforms ; in fine, all that is constituting the difficulties of photo¬
graphy ? The fact is that photography for the whole United King¬
dom cannot be fairly represented at the International Exhibition in
3000 square feet : it cannot but be incomplete and unsatisfactory.
I consider that it is the duty of the Photographic Society of
London to protect the interests of the art it represents, and to en¬
deavour to prove to the world who is invited to London that
photography in this country has had its share in the wonderful
progress made since the Great Exhibition of 1851 ; that notwith¬
standing the absurdities of ignorant and prejudiced writers, the
jealousy of incapable soi-disant artists, it has attained the high¬
est perfection, and deserves to be ranked among the fine arts.
The opportunity should not be lost. Let it not be said that
those who come to London from all the centres of civilisation and
knowledge, in order to witness the progress of arts, sciences, and
manufactures — the wonderful feats of an era of peace and reason — •
had no other means of judging of the state of photography in Eng¬
land than to see in some parts of the building of the Great Exhi¬
bition, not an exhibition of photography, but only, as it were, a
catalogue of all those who have worked in the hope of being able
to exhibit their productions.
When it is known that, besides the few specimens of every
photographer admitted at the palace of the International Exhibi¬
tion, there is somewhere in London a special and complete Exhibi¬
tion of Photography, there is no doubt that all those who take an
interest in the progress of the art will come and visit this Exhibi¬
tion. There nothing will distract their attention, and they will be
able to devote all their mind to study and examine the works of
photography, guided by a catalogue full of all the particulars
required, and aided by any explanations they may require from
competent officers appointed for that purpose.
The Photographic Exhibition should be in London ; and it is
supposed that a proper and convenient building may be found in
some central part of the town, capable of holding all the numerous
and varied works which will be proposed for the Exhibition of
Photography.
A very simple scheme to secure the success of the undertaking
in a financial point of view would be an entrance fee of 2s. 6d., Is.,
to 6d., for specified days and evenings, added to a moderate rent
charged to every exhibitor in proportion to the space occupied.
This would, it may be well supposed, not only cover the expendi¬
ture, but leave a surplus at the credit of the account.
Before engaging the building and organising the Exhibition, it
would be necessary to open a list of guarantors for the success of
the Exhibition, in order that the Photographic Society should in
no case be exposed to suffer from any excess of expenditure
over the receipts. Nothing should be done before having ascer¬
tained, by another list, the space demanded by every exhibitor,
and having received his engagement to fill up the space occupied,
and pay the amount according to the price fixed.
I propose that the Council of the Society will allow that the
question of a separate Exhibition under its superintendence should
be discussed at the next meeting; and I hope that the reasons I
have given for its propriety, and showing its advantages, will
induce the Council to have the plan carried out.
The immense concourse of visitors who will be attracted to
London during the time of the International Exhibition of 1862, as
was the case at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, will
flock to all the minor exhibitions, so that it cannot be doubted
that a well managed and complete Exhibition of Photography will
prove to be an excellent commercial speculation, and afford to the
Photographic Society the occasion of increasing the fund which is
so essential for the protection and welfare of the art of photogra¬
phy in England.
I am, dear Sir, yours very truly,
February 2 lstf, 1862. A. CLAUDET.
P. S. — I see, in this day’s number of the Photographic News , that
the South London Photographic Society is proposing a Photo¬
graphic Exhibition at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. Certainly
such an Exhibition would be better than no Exhibition at all, and
the proof of it is that for several years there has been an Exhibi¬
tion of Photography there, and that, besides this gratuitous dis¬
play, several professional photographers think it their interest to
pay very high rents to exhibit their specimens in various courts of
the Crystal Palace in order to get customers among its numerous
pleasure-seekers. But I am convinced that the Crystal Palace is
not the proper place for a serious Exhibition of Photography. We
want an exclusive Exhibition in London, under our own manage¬
ment, where people will go for no other purpose than to examine
the productions of photography, to judge of its progress, study
both its scientific and artistic characters, and compare the various
styles of the art. This cannot be done in the midst of singing,
concerts, and all the frivolous gaieties of the Crystal Palace.
CELESTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
Presentation of the Gold Medal to Mr. Warren De la Rue,
F.R.S., dc., by the President of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The following interesting and eloquent address was delivered by
Dr. Lee, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, on the 14th
ult., on the occasion of the presentation of the Gold Medal awarded
to Mr. De la Rue, chiefly in consideration of his eminent services
to astronomical science in perfecting the use of photography as a
means of automatically recording certain celestial phenomena : —
Gentlemen, — In the Report which has been read to you, you have been
informed that the Council have assigned the gold medal of the Society to
our worthy Secretary, Mr. Warren De la Rue, and, as is the custom, it is
now my duty to explain to you in a few words the grounds of their
decision.
You all know that for many years Mr. De la Rue has devoted the
energies of his mind, a large expenditure, and such leisure as he could
abstract from the complicated cares of an extensive and well-known
commercial concern, to the earnest cultivation and systematic pursuit of
practical astronomy, and that he has been one of the most frequent con¬
tributors to our evening meetings upon a variety of subjects, all re¬
quiring much knowledge, skill, and labour in their treatment.
Discoveries in the regions of science so crowd upon us in our own
times that valuable inventions and striking results soon fade from the
memory, and are lost in the brilliancy of those that rapidly succeed them.
I must therefore request your indulgence whilst I lay before you
what it is that Mr. De la Rue has done to entitle him to receive, and
the Council to award, the highest honour which it is in the power of the
Royal Astronomical Society to bestow.
Mr. De la Rue has not only conducted the usual observations which
are made at most private observatories, but he has directed the resources
of a rare mechanical genius to improvements in the most approved
methods of polishing the specular of reflecting telescopes, and perfecting
the mechanical arrangements by which operations of such refined nicety
are performed. •
On this subject there can be no higher authority than Sir John Herschel,
who, in an article On the Telescope , published in the Encyclopaedia Brit -
tannica, says : — “ Such is Mr. De la Rue’s mechanism, which has afforded
very admirable results in the production of specula thirteen inches in
aperture and ten feet focal length, the perfection of which is enhanced by
his practice of bestowing the same care and precision on every step of the
figuring of the speculum from the grinding, the smoothing on a bed of
hones — or rather a slab of slate cut into squares carefully brought to the
same figure — and to the figuring of the polisher itself, which berng thus
previously rendered almost perfect, the speculum is saved the rough
work of having to figure the polisher for itself on every occasion of
repolishing.”
But it is in celestial photography that Mr. De la Rue has made his
most important discoveries, and displayed an unfailing fertility of
mechanical invention.
Wisely acknowdedging the growing vastness of the several depart¬
ments even of the same science, he has latterly, in a great measure, re¬
stricted his researches to the delineation of the various aspects of the
heavenly bodies through the medium of photography.
It is only by acknowledging and adopting the principle of the division
of labour that great results can be obtained, either in the pursuits of
commercial industry or abstract science. The days of the admirable
Crichton have long since passed awa}T. Indeed, Lord Bacon himself, in
the Novum Organum, well observes, in anticipation of the influence of
108
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1862
this general principle: — “Then men shall begin to find out their own
powers when all will not essay to do the same things, but each man will
employ himself in the work for which he is most apt.”
Mr. De la Rue’s claim to the special notice of astronomers, as a
delineator of celestial objects through the medium of photography, does
not rest on the absolute priority of his application of a well-known art in
a new direction. It Is rather based on the fact that by methods and
adaptations peculiarly his own he has been the first to obtain automatic
pictures of the sun and moon sufficiently delicate in their detail to ad¬
vance our knowledge regarding the physical characters of those bodies,
and admitting of measurements astronomically precise.
Admiral Smyth informs me that the late Mr. Bond, of Cambridge, in
the United States, in the year 1845, with the assistance of Messrs.
Whipple and Bond, obtained good pictures of Lyra and of Castor, and
that in this year Signor De Yico made an unsuccessful attempt to
photograph the nebulee in Orion.
Mr. Glaisher, writing in 1851, as reporter upon Philosophical Instruments
in the Great Exhibition, Class X., and upon Mr. Bond’s daguerreotype of
the moon, taken in 1850, and which was placed in the Exhibition of 1851,
says upon photography : — “Let us now view photography in its applica¬
tion to science — a process by which transient actions are rendered per¬
manent, and which enables Nature to do her own work, or, in other
words, which causes facts permanently to record themselves — is too well
fitted for the purpose of science to be long overlooked ; but the difficulties
to be. overcome in its application have been and still are great, and the
results proportionably few in number. We consider, however, that the
commencement of a systematic application of the photographic process to
the purposes of astronomy is indicated by the daguerreotype of the moon,
by Mr. Whipple ; and great, indeed, will be the benefit conferred upon
astronomical science when we obtain permanent representations of the
celestial bodies and their relative positions, through the agency of light.”
Enlarged copies of Mr. Bond’s photographs were laid before the Royal
Astronomical Society in May of the same year. At the meeting of the
British Association of Science held at Ipswich, in July, 1851, under the
Presidency of the learned Astronomer Royal, a daguerreotype of the
moon was shown to the members of the mathematical section by Mr.
Bond, assisted by Mr. Whipple, from the image formed in the focus of the
great equatorial of the Cambridge United States Observatory ; and his
Royal Highness the Prince Consort, whose loss we now so deeply deplore,
was present on the occasion and inspected the daguerreotype.
On the subject of the connexion of photography and chemistry with
astronomy some interesting remarks appear in the admirable lecture on
the sun, delivered by the respected Professor Walker before the British
Association for the Promotion of Science, under the Presidency of our
esteemed member, my Lord Wrottesley, in 1860, at Oxford.
There are several references to celestial photography in the various
volumes of the Comptes Bendus which can only be brought to your notice
in the form of notes.
Respecting this photograph of the sun, the index of the Comptes Bendus
has been searched all through under the heads of “Arago,” “Photography,”
“ Soleil, ” “Fizeau,” “Foucault,” “Daguerreotype,” and “Faye,”
and no mention has been found whatever of the sun picture in 1845, and
there has not been found any reference to it excepting the plate in the
body of the original work itself.
It was the sight of these very promising photographs of Mr. Bond’s
which first gave the impulse to Mr. De la Rue’s labours in this direction.
In 1852 he availed himself of the collodion process invented by Mr. Archer
in the preceding year, and succeeded in obtaining a good picture of the
moon. In 1853 Professor Phillips obtained Talbotypes of the moon at
York. In 1854 lunar photographs were secured at Liverpool under the
supervision of Mr. Hartnup. In 1855 the Rev. J. B. Reade, who has
distinguished himself in photography, obtained special notice and honour¬
able mention at the Paris Exhibition for his photographs of the moon.
Others, also, have been taken at Rome by Signor Padre Secchi ; at Brighton
bv Mr. Fry ; and in the vicinity of London by Mr. Huggins. All these
photographs possess merits of their own, and give decided promise of
future and greater success.
Admiral Smyth, ^ in the Speculum ITartwellianum, pp. 249-50 and 285,
speaks of Mr. Bond’s labour in celestial photography, particularly pointing
out that, in 1857, a photograph was sent to the Astronomer Royal taking
in the whole field between Mirza and Alcor, with such exactitude as to
show their angles of position and distances.
Mr. Do la Rue's success in obtaining photographic pictures of the moon,
possessing great sharpness of definition and accuracy of detail, is owing
to the happy combination of a variety of causes. Possessing a large
mirror of such exquisite defining power that but few existing telescopes
'• lual it in accuracy of definition, and brought into figure by his own
hands, and by peculiar machinery of his own contrivance, lie was at once
freed from those imperfections in the actinic image which arc of necessity
inherent in the very best refractors, corrected the most accurately for
chromatic dispersion.
Mr. De la Rue at first had no clock-work apparatus to govern the
motion of his telescope, and lie discontinued his selenographical experi¬
ments until lie had removed from Canonbury to Cranford — a change of
residency which, for the interests of astronomy, he had for some time
previously m contemplation. He then furnished his telescope— his own
m * Uoubl° sense— with a clock-work apparatus, which, from time to
time, has passed through numerous alterations, and is still in course of
improvement. The mechanical problem before him, as the Fellows of
this Society well know, was one of extreme complexity ; for not only
must the motion of the clock-work be perfectly smooth and equable, but
it must also be capable of acceleration and retardation to keep pace, so
to speak, with the ever-varying velocity of the moon in the heavens — a
variation compounded of its diurnal motion and its ever-changing velo¬
city in its orbit.
Lastly, by a rare and happy combination of chemical with mechanical
skill, the time necessary for the exposure of the collodion film was mate¬
rially shortened. The final result is this : — That images of the moon
have been repeatedly taken in the focus of the mirror, admitting very
considerable amplification, and exhibiting details on the moon’s surface
sufficiently clear to admit of delineation under a microscope provided
with a camera lucida, and thereby furnishing materials for more accu¬
rate selenography than has heretofore existed.
Neither must we altogether omit that, by stereoscopically combining
images of the moon taken in different phases of her librations, Mr. De
la Rue has brought to light details of dykes and terraces and furrows
and undulations on the lunar surface of which no certain knowledge had
previously existed, and which I have had the pleasure of seeing in his
observatory at Cranford.
I must now turn to a department in celestial photography Avliere Mr.
De la Rue stands almost alone. I speak of heliography. In April, 1854,
Sir John Herschel, in a letter to Colonel Sabine, recommended that daily
photographic records of the sun should be obtained at some observatory.
Accordingly, the Royal Society placed at the disposal of the Ivew Com¬
mittee a sum of money to promote that object, and Mr. De la Rue was
requested to administer the grant.
It becomes necessary to mention that Arag‘0, in his elegant and popu¬
lar work on astronomy, translated by two eminent Fellows of our Society,
states that MM. Fizeau and Foucault, in 1845, obtained a photographic
image of the sun and two spots on its disc, delineated with much appa¬
rent sharpness and accuracy ; but, however this may be, it is certain that
no uniformly successful method of taking images of the sun had been
devised until Mr. De la Rue took up the problem for investigation. But,
great as had been the difficulties in obtaining a really accurate and avail¬
able picture of the moon, they sink into insignificance when compared
with those which had to be overcome in the photography of the sun.
To obtain any automatic picture of the sun’s photosphere available for
practical purposes, it was found necessary to institute a series of preli¬
minary experiments before actual operations could be successfully com¬
menced. At first, nothing but burnt-up and solarised pictures could be
obtained by any method that had hitherto been devised, or with any the
least sensitive of the media that could be procured. Now, with the help
of the Kew photoheliograph, as devised by him, and described in volume
XY. of the monthly notices, heliography is the easiest and simplest kind
of astronomical photography. The method devised by Mr. De la Rue will
enable anjr photographer, of common average skill to take excellent
heliographs. Professor Selwyn, of Ely, succeeds in getting pictures of
the sun with the apparatus made for him by Mr. Dallmeyer, after the
pattern of the Kew photoheliograph.
Mr. De la Rue announced, at the last meeting of the Society, that by
applying the stereoscope to the examination of the sun’s disc — as he had
formerly done in the case of the moon — he had discovered that the faculao
on the surface of the sun are to be found in the outer or highest regions
of the solar photosphere.
I ought not to conclude without alluding to Mr. De la Rue’s observa¬
tions on the solar eclipse of 1860. But it must not be forgotten that one
daguerreotype picture was taken by Dr. Busch of the solar eclipse in
1851 ; and of the solar eclipse in 1860 four small pictures were taken
during the totality by Professor Monserrat, under the direction of MM.
Aguilar and Secchi, at Desierto de las Palmas, in Spain.
Mr. De la Riie, during the progress of the same eclipse, took many
large and exquisitely-defined pictures, and secured two during the tota¬
lity. I have no need to enter into details, as he has already described
at several meetings of this Society the numerical results that follow from
the discussion, and the comparisons of the photographs which he took
on that occasion.
Mr. De la Rue has invented an ingenious micrometer, and which he
has lately exhibited at one of our meetings, by means of which he fully
confirms the hypothesis that the coloured protuberances belong to the
sun, and render it almost certain that the commonly-received diameters
both of the sun and moon require a correction.
More recently still photographic pictures of the sun have been obtained,
not only exhibiting its well-known mottled appearance, but showing
traces of Mr. Nasmyth’s “willow leaves,” and, by the aid of the stereo¬
scopic pictures, rendering it certain that the faculae are elevations in the
sun’s photosphere.
I need not enlarge on the wonderful discoveries which have been made,
and the astonishing results that have been obtained, by Newton and his
successors in this the most fertile and exact of all the applied mathema¬
tical sciences, neither would it become me, an humble but zealous
worshipper of science, to hazard conjectures as to the future progress of
astronomy ; but I may, perhaps, be permitted to remark, that while our
great national and public observatories — indeed I ought to say those of
the civilised world as well— are day by day adding to that enduring
March 15, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
109
record of the transient phenomena of the heavens which will enable
future ages to reach the final finish and last perfection in the calculation
of the tables of the motions of the moon and the planets — to eliminate
any element of error, however minute — and to detect any latent pertur¬
bing force, however feeble its effect — yet it is to private observatories, and
to observations made in the remoter regions of starry space, that we are
chiefly led to look for new discoveries. It augurs well for the future
that there is no lack in our own day of such establishments, or of accom¬
plished observers to use them. It is almost, if not altogether, needless to
bring before you the names of Sir James South, Admiral Smyth,
Lord Rosse, Mr. Lassell, Lord AVrottesley, Mr. Davies, Mr. Car¬
rington, and a host of others familiar to many of you. The elliptic
motions of binary stars round their common centre of gravity, the colours
of others, the discovery of new planets, the calculation of cometary
orbits, the laws of change in the variable stars, the sudden burst upon
the sight of some stars and the gradual evanescence of others, will afford
for many generations suitable and exhaustless subjects of sustained
astronomical research. The instant splendour and gradual decay of cer¬
tain stars is one of the most wonderful facts recorded in the history of
astronomy. It was Hipparchus who first, I believe, noticed the sudden
appearance of a star of singular brilliancy before unknown. By this
strange discovery he was urged to construct a catalogue of stars visible
to the naked eye, “ that posterity might know whether time had altered
the face of the heavens.” In 1572, Cornelius Gemma observed a star, in
the chair of Cassiopea, transcending Venus herself in brightness.
The art of photography is of the very highest importance in the pro¬
motion of exact science. It stereotypes, so to speak, for the use of all
time to come, the present aspect of the heavens.
As astronomical observations ranged in tables record the present posi¬
tions of the heavenly bodies, so photography registers their present aspect.
It may be that the pictures of the sun now taken will enable future ages
to test the prediction of the poet —
“The stars shall fade away.
The Sim himself grow dim with age,
And Nature sink in years.”
I trust that I am not guilty of a breach of confidence if I mention
(though I am not authorised to do so) that Mr. Babbage, who was one of
the original members of this Society in 1820, and one of its first Secre¬
taries, has informed me that, although he feels that he has not sufficient
acquaintance with photography, as well as with other subjects, to enable
him to do justice to Mr. De la Rue, still, in his opinion, the additions
made by Mr. De la Rue to science are fully worthy of any acknowledg¬
ment which a medal may indicate.
I cannot resist taking the same liberty with the opinion of Sir James
South — who also was one of the original members of the Society in 1820,
and a member of the first Council and President in 1829 and 1830, and
the founder of the noble Kensington Observatory, which will for ever
immortalise his name — who says that, “ in his opinion, the decision of the
Council of the Society in decreeing its medal to Mr. De la Rue meets
with his approbation, and he heartily approves of the decision.”
I am permitted by the Lord Chief Baron, Sir Frederick Pollock, the
President of the Photographic Society, and who has been for many years
one of our esteemed members, to mention that he maintains a great
respect for the labours of our medallist and of their results, and a high
opinion of him as a man Avho is singularly devoted to science.
An old and invaluable friend remarks — in writing on the merit of Mr.
De la Rue — that “he has turned the eye of photography upon the sun, and
has brought away results which no other eye could see. When by smoked
glasses, dark glasses, or reflection from water, you diminish the light of
the sun, you proportional^ diminish all other light, and the red horns —
the protuberances — cannot be seen ; but when there is a total eclipse of
the sun, its light is stopped, and the mountains in the sun become visible.
Mr. De la Rue has availed himself of ingenious contrivances to overcome
difficulties. ”
I am permitted by Sir John Ilerschel — who became one of the original
members of the Society on the 12th January, 1820, and was one of the
three first Secretaries under the Presidency of his illustrious father, and
himself President in 1827 — to mention that Mr. De la Rue has deserved
exceedingly well the medal of the Astronomical Society by his
admirable execution of those large and highly-finished specula which
he has wrought and polished by machinery, invented and constructed by
himself ; ancl which, though grounded on Mr. Lassell’s rotatory principle,
is by no means a servile imitation of Mr. Lassell, inasmuch as several
distinct improvements have been introduced, tending to distribute the
polishing action more equally over the whole surface of the metal. One
of these improvements consists in his interposition of a plate between the
supporting plate and sliding plate of Mr. Lassell’s traversing slide, which
being made to revolve causes the traversing movement of the speculum
to take place — not across the same diameter of its area, but at every
stroke across a different diameter ; and he also obviates the irregularity
of the motion of Mr. Lassell’s polisher on its centre by governing that
rotation by mechanism, instead of leaving it to be determined by the ex¬
cess of external over internal friction. Both seem to me to be very
judicious and real improvements.
Of course! need not to you record Mr. De la Rue’s merits as an artist,
manifested in his beautiful representations of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars;
nor as a photographer, in attacking with so much perseverance, skill,
and excellent success, the difficult problem of solar photography, which
he has carried out on a very large scale in projecting spots on a disc
a yard in diameter.
klr. De la Rue’s photographic depictions of the red protuberances at the
eclipse in Spain, I suppose, are considered decisive as to their belonging
to the sun. And his photographs also show other evidence of very
extensive atmospheric luminosities, which greatly enlarge our ideas of the
material extent of the sun’s atmosphere. He has also obtained stereo¬
graphs of the faculse, and verified Nasmyth’s “ willow leaves,” &c., &c. ;
and a paper giving the result of his labours during the eclipse expedition
to Riva Bellosa has been presented to the Royal Society, and is to be
considered in filarch of this year.
The Rev. Charles Pritchard has communicated his enlightened idea of
the splendid discoveries which may soon be revealed to us. He informs
me that Mr. De la Rue has made that certain which before him amounted
to no more than a hope, by showing that pictures of the sun and moon
could be taken possessing accurate and delicate and measurable detail.
He has shown that there is now the strongest ground for hope that, by
the aid of photography and the stereoscope, the “ rose-coloured promi¬
nences" above the photosphere will be ultimately and at all times made
visible as existences above the other portion of the solar atmosphere, just
as the faculse have been made prominent already.
The depth of the sun’s spots may also be hoped now to be brought into
tangible view.
The different planes of Saturn’s rings will also come into relief, and
we may soon hope to know, by the same stereoscopic aid, whether the
belts of Jupiter are or are not portions of his dark body, or clouds in his
atmosphere above.
We may hope, also, ere long to see the mountains and elevated conti¬
nents of Mars rise up into solidity before our delighted gaze.
If, then, we take collective note of all Air. De la Rue’s long and vai-ied
labours since the 14th Alarch, 1851, when he became one of our members —
such as the perfecting of the figures of mirrors, the graphic observations
of the planets, the incomparable photographs of the moon, the invention
of the photoheliograph, the observations on the solar eclipse, the inven¬
tion of the new method of obtaining numerical data, the application of
the stereoscope to the examination of the surface of the moon and after¬
wards to that of the sun — sure am I that the Society at large will
unanimously approve of the award of their medal made by the Council.
It may, however, be said by some ingenious critic that photography is
only an art which bears but indirectly on the promotion of astronomy,
and that the reward of its successful manipulation is rather the province
of those Societies to confer which cultivate the art of photography or the
science of chemistry. But I cannot allow of the justice of this view.
What should we now say of the early Fellows of the Royal Society if
they had delegated Newton, when he invented the telescope that bears
his name, to the Company of Spectacle Alakers for his meed of praise ?
What should we now think had the barren honours which grace
scientific discovery been denied to such mechanical inventors as Had¬
ley, or Dolland, or Sir AYilliam Ilerschel, or Lord Rosse, or Lassell? With
them the name of De la Rue, I feel, will hold no inferior place.
Air. De la Rue, in compliance with a resolution of the Council, I have
the pleasing duty of placing in your hands the highest tribute to merit
which they Have it in their power to bestow. The instruments made or
improved by you — the important uses to which you have applied them —
and the liberality with which you have communicated the results of your
discoveries to the public — all indicate, in the opinion of the Council, a
mind highly cultivated, the energy of which has been directed during
many years to the attainment of scientific perfection.
But the immediate cause of their approbation is your unceasing efforts
and delicate manipulation in reducing the new and wonderful art of pho¬
tography to astronomical purposes, and in rendering chemistry an
assistant to astronomy.
Alay Divine Providence, “ the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is holy” — may “ the Great First Cause least under¬
stood” bestow upon you health and intelligence, and every social bless¬
ing, in order that you may be enabled by your thoughts and words and
actions to continue to augment His honour and glory, and the benefit
and the happiness of all our fellow-creatures ; but, as I am in private
duty bound to pray, the more especially for the benefit and happiness of
your brothers — the members of the Roj'al Astronomical Society.
PRIZE FOR AN INSTANTANEOUS DRY COLLODION.
At a meeting of the Alarseilles Photographic Society, held on the
28th ult., the following programme was issued for the guidance of
those who desired to compete for the Society's prize for the in¬
vention of an instantaneous dry process : —
Programme of a Competition Open to all Nations for a Prize of 500
Francs for the Invention of an Instantaneous Dry Collodion .
Oxe of the subjects which at present commands considerable attention in
the photographic world is that of a dry collodion process, possessing, in
addition to certainty in the results, the equally important condition of
rapidity.
Hitherto results have been obtained which afford the highest satisfac¬
tion, and which encourage the hope that a brilliant future is open to this
110
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY;.
[March 15, 1862
new art— a future prolific in resources, and yielding still greater triumphs
than have been already attained.
Up to this time one of the indispensable conditions of rapidity, or
instantaneity, has been the adoption of a wet . collodion process. _ How
much greater would be the degree of perfection if results of a similar
nature and excellence were obtainable by a dry collodion process !
Desirous of contributing as much as possible within the limits of its
abilities to the progress of the science, the Photographic Society of
Marseilles has, at its meeting of the 31st January, 1862, decided on the
institution of a general competition for the discovery of an Instantaneous
Dry Collodion Process; that is to say — Of a collodion which , em¬
ployed in the dry state, shall admit of the production in full sunshine of a
street v:ith figures in motion, similar, for example, to the Boulevard de
Strasbourg, taken by MM. Terrier and Soulier , which shall be regarded as a
standard of comparison.
1. The prize to be competed for shall be a gold medal of 500 francs
value, and the competition shall terminate on the 31st December, 1863..
2. The samples of plates and descriptions of processes destined for this
competition should be addressed, stamped, to M. Leon Vidal, Secretary
of the Society, 2, Rue Mazagran, Marseilles, and may be sent on the 1st
of June, 1862, and will be admitted up to the 15th of August, 1863.
3. The parcels sent shall consist of sensitised stereoscopic plates, con¬
tained (to the number of one dozen) in a grooved plate-box, carefully
sealed and light-tight : dimensions of the glass nine centimetres by twenty
centimetres.*
4. A paper, descriptive — 1st, of the nature of the process; 2nd,
the metuOd of development — must accompany each package.
5. The first of the above conditions will be required to be rigorously
fulfilled only in the case of that process which merits the prize. The
Society will publish the formula and the process employed, but not in
such a way as to deprive the inventor of his exclusive right of property
therein: he will, in fact, be able to work his process profitably, and to
improve its value in any way he may think fit.
6. The comparative experiments will all be made on the arrival of the
sensitised plates, with the same instrument (a quarter-plate combination,
full aperture, of four and a-half inches focus), and under the same con¬
ditions of light.
7. The half at least of the members of the jury shall assist at the
opening of the boxes and in the experiments, which shall be made with
every possible and suitable precaution.
8. In order to test the keeping qualities of the plates, the development
of some of them will be postponed from fifteen days to a month, according
to the indications of the papers attached.
9. The keeping qualities both before and after exposure will be care¬
fully noted, in order to aid the decision of the jury in those cases where
they will have to choose between several instantaneous dry collodions
possessing the other conditions named in the programme.
10. Should a case arise in which a prize of 500 francs cannot be justly
awarded, but which at the same time merits some acknowledgment, a
medal of 250 francs value will be accorded to the person who has or has
not taken part in the competition, but has nevertheless contributed by his
researches to advance the discovery of a dry collodion possessing uniform
and rapid qualities ; and the prize of 500 francs will be carried on, with
an augmentation of 300 francs, to the end of December, 1864.
11. All the questions arising out of this competition shall be decided
by a jury of examiners, composed of fourteen members of the Society.
The following are their names: —MM. Gabriel (President of the Society),
Leon Vidal (Secretary of the Society), Brenmuller (Photographer), A.
Guilbault, Hudelot (Cap. d’Etat Major), Joseph Jacquemet, Alexander
Lufevre, Ernest Loire, Meynier (Professor of Chemistry), Alphonse de
Proux, Arthur Taylor, Charles Teisseire, Thobert (Photographer), and
Tissot.
ON THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF THE PRIN¬
CIPLES OF THE DIORAMA TO PHOTOGRAPHIC
PICTURES.!-
By Andrew Mactear.
I have much pleasure in bringing before your notice, this evening,
a few remarks on a new feature in our art. I need scarcely say to
you that photography places before our wondering gaze, at our own
firesides, scenes from every clime (which it would never likely be
our lot to behold otlierways), unapproachable by any other art for
its unerring truthfulness. We have views in the Holy Land, on
which we look with reverence and awe, from their sacred associa¬
tions— -in sunny Italy, where the arts once triumphed in all their
glory — in gay volatile France — in America, with its Niagara Falls
and extraordinary scenery — Switzerland, with its glaciers and
avalauches — England, with its many pleasant scenes — Scotland,
“With its brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood.”
And many other places, rendered sacred cither by history, classic
lore, or pictorial beauty.
* Tim is ciiinl in English measure to 3J by 7£ inches.
♦ Read at a Meeting of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society,
6th March, 1802.
Amongst the many rapid strides which our art has been making
within the last few months, it has been my exceeding great
pleasure to see and examine one of these strides at the house of
our friend, Mr. Alexander Macnab, viz., the photographic diorama,
invented by Professor Taylor, who has been ably assisted by Mr.
Macnab in bringing it to its high state of perfection.
Previous to the introduction of stereoscopic slides, a good single
photograph was considered by the true lover of nature as some¬
thing wonderful; hut, when good binocular views came forth, the
wonder and pleasure increased, from the fact that the scenes
became more natural. Le Gray’s sea and sky pictures have given
place to Wilson’s stereoscopic views of the same kind; and, as a
marketable commodity alone, stereographs are sold as one thousand
to one of the single views. From the fact that everything
approaching the nearest to Nature herself is sure to command the
marked attention and approbation of the most highly cultivated
mind, I may safely say that single transparent photographs,
coloured with taste and seen through Dr. Taylor’s dioramic
medium — which gives an extraordinary stereoscopic effect, coupled
with the various coloured skies and clouds from the revolving
cylinder, which moves at the will of the operator — are, as yet, the
most pleasing pictures which have been submitted to the most
artistic or scientific mind.
I will now call your attention for a very short time to this new
feature in the art, while I describe the apparatus.
1st. — There is a large box, in the front of which are placed the
cosmoramic lenses : at the hack, instead of the focussing screen, is
placed the coloured picture, which has been slightly dimmed to
subdue the bright colours from the revolving cylinder.
2nd. — Half-a-dozen jets of gas are placed at the top of the hack
end of the box, and under a reflector. Wonderful effects are pro¬
duced by the management of the stop-cock — from brightest day¬
light blending into twilight, which ushers in the beauteous Queen
of Night, who sheds her gentle light on everything around.
3rd. — The revolving (vertical) cylinder (on which is painted
effective skies and clouds, beginning with an open clear atmos¬
phere onward changing to stormy effects) being kept in slow motion,
and seen through the dimmed photograph, is quite magical ;
morning, noon, and night pass before you within a very few
minutes of time. I observed the grand purpose of dimming the
photograph, from a part of one of them being left undimmed : the
bright colours on the cylinder were too harsh and distinct, while
the dimmed parts rendered the illusion perfect. The photograph
being placed between the lenses and cylinder, and at unequal dis¬
tances, gives an indescribable atmospheric effect, which is greatly
enhanced by the passing clouds casting their shadows as they steal
across the picture, especially the sunset —
“When the setting sun with yellow radiance lightens all the vale.”
I cannot close my remarks without noticing a few of the pictures
which were shown ; —
1st. The Old Town of Calcutta , with its thatched houses and pool
of water in the foreground.
2nd. Indian River Scene, with its curious shipping.
3rd. Heathen Temples, with worshippers.
4th. Indian Burying place , with its peculiar tombs — photographed
by Mr. 'Williamson, of Calcutta: very interesting and choice subjects.
5th. Avenue Scene at Inverary Castle, by Dr. Taylor : very
artistically chosen.
6th. Another similar.
7th. Old Oak in Cadzoio Forest, by Mr. Kibble. You could
scarcely take away your eyes from this one — it was nature’s very
counterpart. To the above were added a few scenes by myself from
Moray's Fairy Glen, Dunoon. Although these were done some
time ago, I could not help feeling and saying, like William Tell —
“ Ye crags and peaks, I’m with you once again.”
There were a great many others, all worthy of praise.
1 would like to see some of Mudd’s, Wilson’s, Bedford’s, Heath’s,
Fenton’s, and other great masters’ pictures by this mode : it would
be a trial of no ordinary kind.
There are members present who have seen the apparatus, and
who, I am confident, will corroborate all I have said : they will
recollect the pictures I have named, and I hope they will give their
ojflnion to the meeting. I only wish those members who have not
seen it had only a glimpse or two of it ; that pleasure may yet be
given them, however, sooner or later.
Since writing the above, Dr. Taylor kindly invited me, in com¬
pany with Mr. Macnab, to see some further improvements he had
made in his apparatus since I had seen it. Thinking that the
previous arrangements were all that could be desired, I was
astonished at the additional effects produced by very simple
§
March 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Ill
means. Daring a very sultry sky effect vivid flashes of lightning
occur ; and in the moonlight effects some clouds are seen drifting
faster than others across the scene, while the moon is wading
through the murky sky.
These effects are produced by the same revolving cylinder ; but it
has now got skies painted on its inside face, done with great taste
and judgment in their harmony. Occasionally a discordant part
occurs which increases the effect wonderfully — clearly showing the
artistic mind of the Doctor. All these changes are made by
simply having a powerful gas jet inside the cylinder, which is used
only when the outside gas is not used (except when gradually dissolv¬
ing one effect into another, and giving flashes of lightning, which is
done by merely turning the stop-cock to a check and back instantly).
A large glass gas shade (placed over the gas on a usual support) is
painted with skies with a moon in the centre, and this being moved
quicker or slower than the motion of the cylinder, gives the appear¬
ance of the wading moon and drifting clouds.
This opportunity presenting itself to me, I feel it my duty to
notice a remark by the Editor of The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy that this invention is not new, and that he had recom¬
mended a similar plan to Messrs. Negretti and Zarnbra. Now, it is
right to give all honour to whom honour is due, and we must
“ render unto Csesar the things which are Caesar’s and I say,
most respectfully, that the plan of putting a stationary coloured
glass behind an uncoloured photograph, with the reflector behind,
is as unlike Dr. Taylor’s mode, as night is from day ; in fact, the
one has an unchanging and the other an ever-changing sky. The
Editor surely has not fully comprehended the description of it or
he would not have attempted to pluck the laurels from another. I
am sure of this, as the editor is well known to be a friend of the art,
and, as Marc Antony says, “ he is an honourable man.”*
MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIP TO THE COUNTRY.*
By a Member of the Edinburgh Photographic Society.
Now that a few bright peeps of our friend the Sun give us promise
that we shall soon have photographic weather again, perhaps the
story of my first attempt at photography beyond the range of
my dark room may afford a few hints to those young amateurs who
have, as I had at that time, rather more enthusiasm than judg¬
ment, and more headstrong belief in their own capacity to overcome
the difficulties inseparable from out-of-door photography, than
a knowledge of what they consist.
In Scotland we are not allowed many holidays, and most of
those we have are carefully christened by our orthodox shepherds
“ fast days.” If the name has anything to do with the acts per¬
formed on those days, it must be on the principle of a lucus a non
lucendo, as in general they are rather looked forward to as days to
be enjoyed and marked with a white stone.
The particular day to which I draw your attention was com¬
menced by me in anything but the spirit of fasting, although if
you had been at my shoulder during the time consumed in “doing”
breakfast you would have said I was making preparation for a very
prolonged fast day : sans doubt there’s no breakfast for a hungry
man like a Scotch one. The preliminaries having being gone
through, and the meteorological department attended to for the
twentieth time, I took a last look to see that everything was right
and in its place.
As my field roll may be of service in many respects, on Dr.
Culverwell’s principle of “ What to eat, drink, and avoid,” I will
annex it. It consisted in the first place of a home-made collap¬
sible camera to suit my three-inch Ross lens. I had the notion I
could do most of those little matters far better than the makers;
and, although my camera was clumsy, it was at least satisfactorily
made, and answered its purpose well. It was light ; and although
not very portable, could yet be packed away easily enough in my
capacious tent, which was made in this way : — I had a stout box,
about 32 X 23 X 7 deep, which had done duty in sketching before,
and I arranged four light iron tubes about half-an-inch external
diameter, and about twenty-nine inches long, which were made to
fit into keepers at each corner of the box, on the top of which four
pillars the lid was fixed in the same way. The lid, by the-bye, had
about one inch of the seven in depth nailed all round the edge of it
in which the upper keepers were fixed, and which allowed of four
stout hooks-and-eyes being screwed on outside which fixed the
whole affair together after everything was packed inside. On the
outside of the bottom of the box I had the feet hinged : they
* See Leader. — Ed.
+ Read at a Meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Sooiety, March 5, 1862.
were exactly like the four legs of an ordinary kitchen table, but
lighter, and with no top rail at the hinged junction of them
with the box, but both had for rigidity bottom rails about
eight or nine inches from the spikes. One of the pairs of
legs, however, was made to hinge inside the other, and the
bottom rail of the widest one was a piece of light hoop-iron to
allow both to be flat on the bottom of the box when not in use ; and
when in use, with its iron spikes driven into the ground, and
the legs projecting beyond the line of the box itself about six inches
on each side, it looked the very picture of stability, as indeed it was.
I have tried many forms of tent., but that is the best I have yet
seen for a journey. You might, as I have done, pack in it a Kinnear’s
12 X 10 camera, two boxes, with glass sufficient for a fortnight’s
or a month’s journey, bottles, chemicals, baths, and — wash-houses I
was going to say — but my cistern was a half-gallon camphinejar,
made of zinc, square in form, into which I got a small gas-cock sol¬
dered, and with a champagne cork in the top, it formed a cistern fit
for a prince — a flat Wedgwood-ware bath for the silver, another for
washing (I objected on principle to gutta-percha), 20-ounce bottle
of silver solution, 12 ounces of iron developer, crystals of hypo.
ad lib., chamois leather and cloths, and any quantity of ounce-
bottles of all the other things that might be needed for a journey
to the Holy Land, or anywhere else beyond the reach of chemists.
By-the-bye, my utmost proposed stretch was less than three miles,
to a picturesque castle which had been for some time the residence
of Queen Mary and her court.
Well, revenons d nos moutons : just as I had completed my pre¬
parations, I heard the well-known footsteps of my friends, Emerald
Green — whom we nicknamed “ Hercules,” from his strength (of
neck) — and Flake White, who rejoiced in the sobriquet of the
“Corinthian,” from his possession of a remarkably “nobby” head of
hair, -which we insisted he dressed into the shape of the architec¬
tural capital from which he derived bis classical cognomen. After
the usual compliments were passed, the “traps” looked to, and the
weather scrutinised for the twenty-first time, we prepared to
start.
I omitted to say that our tent or developing-box had two stout
portmanteau kind of leather handles made to fit the hands. Green
was a short wiry fellow, and he and I took the handles quite
stoutly ; and you can hardly conceive how conceitedly we stalked
off with the mysterious box of appurtenances, all the small boys
round about offering to give us a “lift” if we’d take them with us.
One impudent young scoundrel was sure he’d be able to do as well
as “ Hercules another insinuated that we should spoil all the
“ fotygrafs” if we didn’t take him with us. But with an air of con¬
tempt and a proud consciousness of superiority^ we moved on “ with
the wide world before us.” By the time, however, that we had pro¬
ceeded about 250 yards wre found it wouldn’t balance. Well, we’d
change hands — so — pretty good for the next 150 ymrds or so. “ I say,
‘Corinthian,’ take a lift here : this is rather heavy,” says Hercules.
“All right! here you are!” The camera-stand is handed
over, and the “ Corinthian ” becomes porter, while after a
bit I begin to feel considerably used up. “The box ain’t
properly balanced : the handles are not in the right place.
Bah ! we’ll take a rest,” says I. “ This is rather queer ! A rest
before we have got to the toll-house [said toll-house being within
a quarter of a mile from my door] ! We rested, and shortly started
again, but we had’nt gone much farther till the “ Corinthian ” pro¬
claimed it to be “ deuced heavy !” “ Suppose we try it upside
down,” I interjected: “it may balance better, especially as the
handles seem to have been fixed on rather low, making it top-heavy ;
perhaps it will trim better.” No sooner said than done : of course
the hooks are strong enough, so off we wentagain. “Ah ! that’sbetter.
That’s something like the thing: it balances better now.” And so
we proceeded for about a score of yards, when — must I say it — crash
went the box, out flew baths and bottles and lens and camera, and
“in the twinkling of a bedpost” the road was converted into a
negative printing-bath. The silver bottle broke, and made a nice
mixture with the developer, and the small bottle of pyro. assisted
the whole to make a mess of inky blackness known to those who
are fond of trying mixtures. The fabulous quantities of differ¬
ent kinds of collodion that disappeared in the smash I am afraid to
speak of in case I should not be believed ; but those who have
gone out for the first time, fully provided against all failures, will
be able to estimate it. We stood fixed in astonishment, and
our feelings had well nigh developed themselves into despair when
I started up with “Why dwell on it, boys ? in with the debris ! ”
and in the ivhole — not the broken — lot went.
(To be concluded in our next.)
m
THE BRITISH JOURNAL 01 PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 16, 1862
A DISPUTE ABOUT A NEGATIVE.
MASON V. HEATH.
On the 28th ultimo an action was tried in the Court of Common Pleas, ^
Guildhall, between Mr. Mason, of Paternoster-row, London, photographic
publisher, and Mr. Vernon Heath, lately sole representative of the firm
of Murray and Heath, of Piccadilly, the dispute having reference to the
possession of a negative portrait of H.R.H. the late Prince Consort.
It appeared from the evidence that the plaintiff had made application
for permission to publish a photographic portrait of His Royal Highness
in a work entitled The British Portrait Gallery, and in reply had
received intimation, through the agency of the Prince’s private, secretary,
Mr. Ruland, that the permission sought was conceded, but stating at the
same time that His Royal Highness was about to sit for a portrait for
another purpose to Mr. Vernon Heath,' and, in order to save the Prince
unnecessary trouble, the plaintiff was directed to communicate with Mr.
Heath, and make his arrangements with that gentleman for taking the
additional negative. In consequence of this communication, plaintiff
sought an interview with the defendant : the account of what took place at
this interview was, however, as given by the respective parties concerned,
very contradictory.
The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had agreed to take the negative
for him in duplicate : that the price to be paid for the two negatives was
discussed, though not definitely settled, the plaintiff proposing to pay one
guinea per negative, as he had been in the habit of paying for the same
kind to Mr. Kilburn, Mr. Mayall, Mr. Williams, Mr. Watkins, and other
photographers of high standing; but in the event of Mr. Heath having
to attend at the palace to execute the work, he (the plaintiff) would be
content to pay a guinea or two in addition for the extra trouble incurred :
that the defendant said he knew Mr. Kilburn, and would consult with
him regarding price to be charged, or would refer the question of price to
M. Claudet or Mr. Lake Price.
The defendant averred that the plaintiff had not given a truthful account
of the interview; that the latter had at first come to him with a statement to
the effect thathe (the plaintiff) had to submit Mr. Heath’s name in conjunc¬
tion with those of two other photographers for selection by the Prince — a
statement which defendant knew to be untrue, having previously been
informed by Mr. Ruland of the nature of the intimation sent to plaintiff;
that defendant felt himself insulted by plaintiff’s conduct in this want of
veracity, and at first declined to negociate with him ; that subsequently,
however, he did discuss the matter, but positively denied any undertaking
to produce two negatives, or that any actual agreement about price to be
charged was arrived at.
In due course, on the Tuesday following the interview already spoken
of, His Royal Highness sat to Mr. Heath in that gentleman’s studio in
Piccadilly, upon which occasion four negatives were taken, proofs from
which having been submitted for approval to Her Majesty the Queen, one
of the negatives specially indicated was assigned to Mr. Mason, one to the
Social Science Congress, one was directed not to be published, and the
fourth, wo believe, was appropriated to Mr. Heath’s own use.
The plaintiff stated that he sent repeatedly to Mr. Heath’s for his nega¬
tives, without being able to obtain them.
Defendant showed that he was not empowered to part with any until
nearly a month after they were taken, and then only with one to the
plaintiff, for which he informed him he should make a charge of fifteen
guineas. He admitted that for a negative of an ordinary sitter his charge
would be five guineas, but alleged that under the circumstances of the
case, the Prince having (as he assumed it) declined to sit except to him¬
self, he was fully justified in such charge.
Many witnesses were examined on both sides, including some whose
names are well known to most of our readers — as for instance Mr. Kil-
bum, Mr. T. R. Williams, Mr. Herbert Watkins, Mr. Melhuish. Mr. C. J.
Hughes, Mr. Simpson, and others ; and amass of evidence was given that
in our opinion had little or no bearing upon the real point at issue between
t he parties — such as the excellence of the one negative allotted to the plain¬
tiff, the number of proofs that could be taken from it in a given time, the
price that would have been charged for the negative to the plaintiff had
the witnesses taken it, and so on — whereas, except by the principals to the
suit, no evidence was offered as to the existence or otherwise of any specific
contract, and none that the question of price had been referred to either
of the gentlemen proposed.
'I he trial occupied the entire of one day’s sitting of the Court.
The verdict appears not very clear, being as follows: “We find that
there was no contract for twro negatives, but think the plaintiff ought to
have the one negative on payment of five guineas.”
The preceding verdict appears very like “Not guilty — but he is
admonished not to do it again ; ” and may well be classed with the cele¬
brated verdict that was actually proposed by a country jury in a case of
theft, viz. — “ Not guilty, if he leaves the town.”
1 nless some private arrangement be made between the litigants it is
not improbable that the whole question may be re-discussed in a higher
court.
Thn following letter from the defendant’s solicitors appeared in the
at y Telegraph, in reference to the report of the trial as given in that
w ioh, we must admit, presented very little information relative
° 10 P01tRs m dispute and the merits of the question at issue
MASON v. HEATH.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
Sin, — We shall be obliged by your permitting us to correct some important errors in
your report of this case in youi impression of to-day. Probably the lateness of the hour
at which the case ended, and the somewhat involved nature of tha verdict, were Un-
cause of your reporter failing in his usual accuracy.
By your report it would appear that Mr. Mason had engaged Mr. Heath to take the
late Prince Consort’s portrait for five guineas ; that Mr. Heath afterwards charged fifteen
guineas ; that this charge was the real subject of the contest ; and then the report sajs,
“ The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for one negative on payment of five gui¬
neas.’’ In fact, the action was brought expressly for an alleged contract to deliver two
negatives. Mr. Heath’s case was — that he had no contract with Mr. Mason at all ; that
the Prince Consort had himself selected him, and was coming to sit to him for portraits
for his Royal Highness’s own purposes ; that he authorised Mr. Heath to deliver one
negative to Mr. Mason on a proper payment ; and that he had never engaged to deliver
two ; and that all the other negatives taken were the Prince’s own property. Mr. Heath
also contended that fifteen guineas was a reasonable sum to charge for the one.
The jury found averdict, not for the plaintiff, but for the defendant (Mr. Heath), on the
ground that there was no contract to deliver two negatives, as alleged in the declaration.
They added to their verdict an expression of opinion that Mr. Mason should have the
one negative on payment of five guineas ; and the Judge on this reserved leave to the
plaintiff's counsel to move to enter the verdict for him, with nominal damages of £20, if
the Court should he of opinion that any effect could be given to this part of the finding ot
the jury upon the pleadings. — We are, sir, yours, &e.,
PARKE & POLLOCK, Solicitors for Mr. Vernon Heath.
Lincoln's Inn fields, March 1.
Since the preceding was in type we have received the following : —
MASON v. HEATH.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Mr. Mason, the plaintiff in this action, has, in letters to some of
the daily papers, reiterated what he stated in the witness box, and,
although the jury by their verdict discredited Mr. Mason’s account of
what had passed between us, these statements may, if uncontradicted, do
me serious injury.
Permit me, therefore, to repeat what I said in the witness box, viz. : —
It is not true that I received or accepted any kind of order from Mr.
Mason, and it is equally untrue that I ever told him, or implied in
any way, that I had two negatives for him. Of this I convinced the
jury by other evidence besides my own. Mr. Ruland, libraidan and
secretary to His Royal Highness, gave evidence that His Royal High¬
ness, who had seen certain photographic portraits taken by me, had
himself expressed his intention (without any sort of application from
me) to sit to me for some portraits he desired to have taken, before he
consented to the application made by Mr. Mason ; and that Mr. Mason’s
application having been renewed at this time, His Royal Highness had
arranged that an additional negative should he taken for his publication.
Mr. Mason thereupon received directions to furnish me with the neces¬
sary particulars for its execution. I will say nothing here upon that
portion of my own evidence which detailed the manner in which Mr.
Mason attempted to mislead me as to what his instructions really were.
Mr. Ruland proved that the Prince sat to me in my studio on the 2nd
of July, that he attended him, and that four distinct negatives were taken.
Mr. Ruland also proved that His Royal Highness stated, in reply to an
inquiry from me, that he would not then come to any decision as to
whether Mr. Mason should have any one of the four negatives, and that
Mr. Mason was to be so informed.
A month afterwards His Royal Highness’s decision was communicated
to me in a letter which was read in evidence. By this letter, in the
clearest and most explicit terms, I was instructed to let Mr. Mason have
one of the four negatives. This I communicated my readiness to do,
and named a price for its delivery which I still consider a very reason¬
able one — one, at all events, which could not be governed by any agree¬
ment or bargain he may have previously made with other persons for
other portraits. It was at this juncture, and no doubt in ignorance of
the actual circumstances under which the Prince came to me, Mr. Mason
set up a claim for two of the four negatives. My instructions were clear.
I had but authority to deliver one, and hence the action — an action which
was expressly brought upon an alleged contract on my part made the 29th
of June, to deliver two negatives for a price named. I was advised, and
believed, that the facts herein stated were sufficient for my defence; hut
as Mr. Mason still thinks the question unsettled, permit me to say that,
for the purpose of putting my position beyond doubt, at an early stage of
the action I wrote to Windsor for further instructions, and received the
following reply from Mr. Ruland, dated —
“ Windsor Castle, Nov. 21, 1861.
“ As far as the question is concerned as to what number or which of
the negatives taken by you in July last you were to give up to Mr. Mason,
I can only refer you to my letter of the 5tli of August, in which I dis¬
tinctly stated and described as plainly as possible the particular and only
negative which, in compliance with His Royal Highness the Prince
Consort’s commands, you were to hand over to Mr. Mason for publication
in a certain work, a copy of which had been submitted by Mr. Mason
when he first applied for the permission to insert a portrait of His Royal
Highness into the said publication.”
Mr. Mason, in his letter to the daily press, challenges some jurymen to
state the actual meaning of the recommendation attached to the verdict.
I cannot, therefore, help remarking that I believe that the jury would
have considered any such recommendation superfluous had they known
that I, and all connected with me, had used our best efforts to prevent
the action being tried. The following proposals were actually made : —
March 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPH^.
113
In the first place I stated my readiness to refer it to the President of the
Photographic Society; then (after His Royal Highness’s death) to Sir
Charles Phipps ; and then, at the suggestion of Sir Charles Phipps, to
another gentleman ; and in every instance I offered unconditionally to
put my case in the hands of the persons named. It should be stated
further, as can be proved by my letters, that I should have been too glad
to let Mr. Mason have the negative at any time, upon any terms, had he
been willing to content himself with the only one I had the power to
give him. — I am, yours, See., VERNON HEATH.
43, Piccadilly, London, 5th March, 1802.
COPYRIGHT IN WORKS OP ART.
(House of Commons, 13 th Feburary, 1862 J
The Solicitor-General, in committee of the whole House, moved for
leave to bring in a bill on this subject. Having shown what was the
present state of the law of copyright, he said the object of the present
measure was to give copyright in paintings, drawings, and photographs.
The copyright would last for life and seven years afterwards. With
regard to the question between the author of a work and the purchaser,
it was provided that the purchaser should have the copyright as a matter
of course, unless it were expressly reserved in writing at the time of
the sale. Another object of the bill was this : — It was found that a con¬
siderable traffic was carried on in spurious pictures, which were palmed
oft' upon the public under the names of artists of eminence, whose repu¬
tation suffered at the same time that the public were imposed upon. It
was proposed to make that a positive misdemeanor, and to prohibit it
under penalties. There were some questionable penal clauses in the
former bill which would not be found in the present ; but in other
respects it would be the same. He would only add that it was of con¬
siderable importance, if the principle of the bill were approved of, that
it should pass without delay ; for otherwise foreign artists, who would
have a copyright in their works in their own countries, would in the
forthcoming Exhibition be placed in this position, that they should either
withhold their works or be exposed to the danger of having their copy¬
right invaded, and, therefore, it seemed to him a good opportunity for
introducing a supplement to the existing Act.
Sir M. W. Ridley said that the learned Solicitor-General’s predecessor
had' introduced a bill of a similar character last session, which had a
wider range than the present ; and as some objectionable matters had
been eliminated from the former, he merely wished to ask whether the
learned gentleman would make the present bill apply to plastic art,
which would be equally necessary with regard to the exigencies of
the approaching Exhibition.
The Solicitor-General replied that there was a law of copyright in
existence touching the matter referred to by the hon. member. Casts
and models were already protected in this country for a period of 28
years from the time of their first production, and, by virtue of the
treaties relating to international copyright, foreign artists would have
their works of sculpture protected by7, that Act of Parliament. The only
reason why the former bill included plastic art was, that it had been
proposed to repeal the existing acts. But many provisions of the
former bill were deemed to be objectionable, and therefore they thought
it better that the present bill should merely establish a copyright in that
branch of the fine arts in which it had not existed, and thus prevent the
fraudulent practices to which he had referred.
Leave was then given to bring in the bill, which was subsequently read
a first time. It ivas read a second time on the 6th inst., and the next
stage of the bill is at present fixed for the 17th inst.
Ultclhtgs of
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at King’s College, on Tues¬
day, the 4th instant. James Glaisher, Esq., F.R.S., occupied the chair.
The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed, after which
Mr. Charles Frederick Bayley was elected a member of the Society.
The Chairman directed the attention of members to some well-executed
photographs of London Churches, and especially to those of St. Raul’s
Cathedral. The pictures were taken and exhibited by Mr. J. J. Cole,
architect to the Stock Exchange, who intends ultimately to make a com¬
plete. set of the Churches of London, giving especial prominence in the
series to the works of Sir Christopher Wren. If Mr. Cole is equally
successful throughout the entire list of London Churches (the photogra¬
phing of which involves no small peril to life and limb), architects will
doubtless gladly avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded of
furnishing themselves with copies of the series, while photographers will
be no less gratified to see their art receive so useful an application.
M. Joubert exhibited some burnt-in photographs in illustration of a
paper which he read that evening before the Society.
The Secretary read a letter from Herr Koncke on a new printing pro¬
cess, the details of which he was desirous of selling to the Society.
The Chairman remarked that as Herr Koncke admitted that his process
was at present imperfect, his statement in reference to the permanency of
the prints must be received with a great deal of caution, lapse of time
being required to substantiate such an assertion.
Mr. Shadbolt desired to remind the Chairman that it was one of the
rules of the Society not to discuss secret processes : he would move,
therefore, that discussion on this subject be not encouraged, especially as
the matter had previously been laid before another Society.*
Mr. Watson submitted some specimens of albumenised paper for
examination, in quantity sufficient for each member to take a sheet and
practically test its qualities.
The Chairman then requested M. Joubert to read his paper On Burnt-In
Photopraphs in Enamel Colours. [See page 101.]
At the conclusion of M. Joubert’s paper the Chairman invited discus¬
sion on its subject matter, remarking that the members could not but
feel indebted for the interesting facts which had been brought under their
notice, and highly gratified by the sight of the very beautiful specimens
exhibited in illustration of the paper. These latter, he thought, left but
little room for improvement: still there was room, and he was of opinion
M. Joubert would not rest until he had attained perfection.
Mr. Siiadbolt congratulated M. Joubert on the progress he had made
since he last had the pleasure of examining his specimens. One marked
improvement was the substitution of enamelled opal glass for ground-glass ;
he would, as a furthei improvement, suggest the possibility of avoiding
the reversal of the pictures by taking advantage of the method usually
followed when it was desired to take a direct transmitted positive in the
camera — that of exposing the negative for an instant to daylight just
after commencing the development.
M. Joubert expressed himself indebted to Mr. Shadbolt for the sugges¬
tion, which he thought a good one : he would certainly carry it into
practice. He stated, however, that at present he obviated the incon¬
venience of reversal by taking a transmitted positive in the camera
through the glass on which the negative was taken.
A Member asked, in reference to a coloured photograph on glass ex¬
hibited by M. Joubert, whether, in the production of that variety of
colours, it was necessary to possess the skill of an artist?
M. Joubert replied that the pictures were not produced in colours at
first, but in monochrome. The subsequent application of the ceramic
colours certainly did involve the exercise of some taste and skill, though,
perhaps, not so much as that required by an artist in paiuting an original
picture with no outline to guide him.
The Chairman announced that Mr. England would exhibit some in¬
stantaneous and other views of Paris and America. They would be
enlarged on the screen ten feet square by the aid of the magic lantern,
so as to be seen by all the members at once. Mr. England had not pre¬
pared a paper on the subject, but would be happy to answer any questions
put to him as to the process followed in the production of the pictures.
A very desultory discussion then ensued in the darkness necessary for
the exhibition of the pictures, and during the course of which it was elicited
that the original negatives of the instantaneous views of Paris were
taken by the wet collodion process, with a Dallmeyer’s three-and-a-
quarter-inch focus stereoscopic lens ; and that in the production of the
transparent positives now under examination the tannin process was fol¬
lowed, developing with pyrogallic acid and a very small proportion of
silver, which he found most conducive to the production of that beautiful
warm tone which gentlemen present so much admired. The shutter
he used differed only from the most simple forms in being placed inside
the camera and close to the plate rather than outside the lenses.
The members were entertained for more than half-an-hour by the in¬
spection of these photographs ; at the end of which time
The Chairman read a letter from M. Claudet [see page 106], on the
inauguration of an Exhibition of Photographs under the auspices of the
Society, with the object of compensating for the deficiency of space in
the building of the International Exhibition at Kensington.
When the reading of M. Claudet’s letter had been concluded,
Mr. T. Sebastian Davis said that as he had been foremost among a
band of gentlemen connected with the South London Photographic
Society in negotiating with the Crystal Palace Company on a matter
similar to that which formed the subject of M. Claudet’s letter, he felt, in
a measure, bound to address the meeting. He deprecated the idea which
had somehow obtained that the Society of which he was a member had
come forward in opposition either to that central Society or to the com¬
mittee of the photographic department at the Exhibition. Such he could
assure the meeting was bjr no means the case. The South London Photo¬
graphic Society had come forward cautiously, with the view of opening
up an opportunity for the more efficient exhibition of the capabilities of
English photographers before the large multitudes of people who would con¬
gregate from all parts of the globe ; to exhibit these productions, in fact, on
a scale commensurate with the acquirements of British photography in
1862. He was aware that there was to be an Exhibition of English pho¬
tographs at Kensington, but every one knew it was most inadequate for
the purpose; and, in the absence of any more central and, at the same
time, inexpensive accommodation, he thought that photographers could
not do better than avail themselves of the handsome offer made by the
Crystal Palace Company, which was the gratuitous use of a space in one of
their galleries in every way suitable for the purpose. He (Mr. Davis)
was under the impression that the central Society was in a manner
pledged to aid only the photographic arrangements connected with the
International Exhibition, so that it could not honourably come forward to
join in any other project of a similar nature. If, however, that were
happily not the case, he (Mr. Davis) was sure he should only be expres-
* See page 50 of present volume
114
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1862
sing the sentiment of the South London Photographic Society when he
offered to lay before the Council of that (the central) Society the details
of the communications which had passed between the South London
Photographic Society and the Crystal Palace Company in connexion with
the subject. . ,
The Chairman, in reply to the latter portion of Mr. Davis s remarks,
said he was not aware that the Society was compromised in such a way as
to prevent its joining in any kindred project, which he, therefore, thought
himself justified in declaring it was free to do.
Mr. Shadbolt, without animadverting in any way on the conduct of
any other Society, either provincial or suburban, would direct the atten¬
tion of that Society to one point, which was, that in his opinion the Photo¬
graphic Society would be yielding the position which it ought to occupy
before the world if it allowed such an Exhibition of Photographs as that
then demanded to be inaugurated by any other Society than itself. He
(Mr Shadbolt) had received numerous expressions of opinion in writing
from various parts of the kingdom (and of this he had informed the
Secretary), to the effect that a supplementary Exhibition of Photographs
was absolutely necessary ; and that it was highly desirable — and, in fact,
only proper — that the initiative in the matter should be taken by the
central Society.
Mr. Durham concurred in the opinion expressed by Mr. Shadbolt, but
assured the meeting that there was great difficulty in obtaining a suitable
place in which to hold the Exhibition ; for, at the very time of year when
they were most wanted, the only rooms in London advantageously
situated were engaged. He (Mr. Durham) was sure the Council would
be much obliged to any gentleman who would point out a proper room for
the purpose.
Mr. Shadbolt intimated that the difficulty put forward by Mr. Durham
would perhaps prove a serious one in ordinary times, but now it only
existed to be overcome. If M. Claudet’s suggestion as to guarantors were
followed out, he thought there would be no difficulty in obtaining a room.
He thought the locality not very important so it were not far from the
centre. He would suggest the room known as the German Fair, opposite
the Polytechnic; or perhaps accommodation might be found in the Poly¬
technic itself, using the Cavendish Square entrance.
The Chairman said the Council were desirous of inaugurating such an
Exhibition as the one now under consideration. He regarded Mr. Shad-
bolt’s suggestion as a good one, and thought that gentlemen present,
without going through the formality of appointing a Committee, might
gather information as to the most suitable place for the purpose, and
report to the Council. The complete execution of M. Claudet’s plan
would involve a large space; but, as reporter and examiner in the Exhi¬
bition of 1851, he could not but be aware that the real progress made in
photography since that date would not be adequately represented without
more extended space than that allotted to the purpose at the Exhibition
building.
Mr. Nottage, with the view of arriving at a definite conclusion on the
subject, suggested that this meeting should appoint Mr. Shadbolt and M.
Claudet as a sub-committee to make inquiries relative to the matter now
under discussion, and report the result at the next meeting of Council.
Mr. Henry Pollock regretted the absence of M. Claudet, who could
have taken an impoitant part in the discussion. Without impugning the
patriotism or public spirit of that class of gentleman who would be
likely to act as guarantors, he still thought that their number would be
very limited, and that there would be great difficulty in obtaining even a
f :w to come forward in that character, when it was remembered that there
would be no financial advantage accrue to the guarantors. Bearing in
mind, also, the facts that no building was as yet appropriated for the pur¬
pose, that no list of exhibitors was extant, and that even the preliminary
advertisements had not yet been issued, he (Mr. H. Pollock) thought it
was lmrdly likely that the Exhibition could be opened by the first of
May ; and as an enterprise such as was then contemplated had better be
let alone than half carried out, he thought matters had better be so
arranged that visitors from abroad and from the provinces should have
lather to complain of the quantity than the quality of the photographs
exhibited. Do also thought it far from wise to appoint a Committee not
connected with the Council.
Dr. Wrigiit thought the last speaker had not rightly understood M.
Clandet’s letter, in which it was intended to convey the idea that it was
not imperatively necessary to open the Exhibition exactly on the 1st of
M av, but only some time during the time of the International Exhibition.
\ arious places suitable for the exhibition of photographs were then
suggested in a somewhat desultory manner; one gentleman remarking,
in reference to St. James’s Hall, that he, in connexion with a bazaar
committee, had hired a room in St. James’s Hall for three days and had
been charged ninety pounds for that short time.
'1 he Chairman, in conclusion, sa:d that the subject had been discussed
ftt some length at the last meeting of the Council, and he hoped that if
any gentleman should hear of a room possessing the necessary qualities
lid would kindly communicate with the Secretary of the Society.
The meeting was then adjourned to Tuesday, the 1st of April.
. MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
\n ordinary monthly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday,
the 5th iustaut, — Mr. Parry, Vice-President, in the chair.
Mr. Kershaw presented six photographs for the Society’s portfolio.
One of these was a copy of an engraving taken by Mr. Dallmeyer’s
triplet lens, and was nearly the size of the original. The margin was
perfectly straight and square, and the definition in all parts was beauti¬
fully rendered.
The Chairman said that Mr. Sidebotham, who was unavoidably absent
had requested him to present a copy of the titlepage of the Photographic
News, very nearly the size of the original, and taken with one of Mr.
Dallmeyer’s triplet lenses by Mr. Wardley. This, as in the case of Mr.
Kershaw’s photographs, exhibited qualities rarely met with in full-sized
copies.
The Secretary remarked that he could appreciate the difficulties of
obtaining such copies as these, he having had some experience in that
direction. Copies were easy enough so long as a considerably reduced
result was desired ; but, when it was sought to obtain a negative ap¬
proaching the original in size, then no lens but one of very superior capa¬
bilities would answer.
The Chairman said he had also been requested by Mr. Sidebotham to
lay before the meeting a print he had received from Mr. Woodbury, of
Batavia. The negative was taken in a stereoscopic camera with two
lenses, and at two operations, so as to obtain a panoramic effect. It was
quite impossible for the unassisted eye to detect the junction of the two
exposures. So complete, indeed, was the union that it was considered
there must be some error in the description, and that the whole had been
exposed together. By the aid, however, of a powerful lens a faint line
was discovered which showed there had been two exposures. He (the
Chairman) had himself tried a similar thing, but with one lens. He first
of all focussed for one part of the picture, then for the next after turning
the camera upon its centre, making a mark to denote the point to which
it was to return after the first exposure, and he thus obtained a pano¬
ramic picture ; but he had not taken the precaution to use a spirit level,
and he therefore had one part of the picture higher than the other. His
experiment, however, was sufficient to show that the thing could be done
if the camera were arranged perfectly level. Some doubts were entertained
as to whether it was really intended to be understood that a binocular
camera was employed ; and the method by which such an exact junction
was obtained seemed to require further explanation.
Mr. Petsohler suggested that the picture might be produced by
causing the camera to turn upon a point coincident with the stop, if a
single lens were used, or with a point mid-way between, if double lenses
were employed. This he illustrated by a diagram upon the black board.
Votes of thanks to Mr. Sidebotham, Mr. Kershaw, and the Chairman
closed the proceedings.
Since the meeting, the Secretary has seen Mr. Sidebotham, and has
ascertained that Mr. Woodbury used an ordinary binocular camera with¬
out any special arrangement. One-half of the picture was taken with
one of the lenses, the other being closed, and then the other half with the
second lens, the camera having been turned to a point previously
registered. In focussing for the two exposures it is necessary to make
the one picture slightly overlap the other, but this does not cause a
line of demarcation, the light gradually softening from one image to the
other. The chief thing is to take care that the camera is perfectly level.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
The monthly meeting of this Society was held in the Hall, 51, George
Street, Edinburgh, on Tuesday evening, the 11th inst. The chair was
occupied by Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S., President of the
Society.
The room was decorated with pictures selected from the recent Exhi¬
bition for presentation to the members. These included the select works of
Mudd, M'Glaslion, Heath, Annan, and others, mentioned in the notices
of the Exhibition which lately appeared in our pages, as being chief con¬
tributors to it.
The Secretary having read the minutes of the last meeting, Sir David
Brewster read a paper On the Stereoscopic Pictures Executed in the 16 th
Century, by Jacopo Chimenti. [Seepage 105.]
The photographs alluded to by Sir David were handed round among
the members, one of whom (Mr. J. T. Taylor) has furnished us with the
following remarks : —
“ The particular copy of these interesting pictures which I saw was un¬
transposed, just as taken, and, from Sir David’s description, requiring
convergence of the optic axes before it could be seen in the proper relief.
Now possessing, as I do, the power of viewing the picture stereoscopically,
whether they are mounted in proper positions, or transposed, it was no
difficult matter for me to apply this faculty to the pictures in question.
I accordingly examined them first with the axes of the eyes parallel, just
as we examine a properly-mounted stereoscopic diagram without the stereo¬
scope. In this position it did not require more than a second’s inspection
to make it evident that the effect was pseudoscopic, exactly as it should
have been from Sir David’s description. I then caused the axes of my
eyes to converge, and the converse of the former result was apparent —
the image stood out in perfect stereosity. How Professor Wheatstone and
his friends could arrive at such a different conclusion in sueli a very
simple matter of fact as the present one, is to me somewhat inexplicable;
and that these pictures were examined by the members of the French
Photographic Society, ‘with the greatest care, but without detecting in
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
315
March 15, 1862]
them the slightest difference, augurs indeed but little for the qualities of
their perceptive faculties. There is no doubt whatever of their being
possessed of all the necessary stereoscopic relief — such relief as, with our
eyes at their present distance apart, we are accustomed to see every day.
The effect might have been more astonishing and decided had Chimenti
drawn his figures from the widely different points of view selected by
many stereoscopists at the present day, with the view of producing
‘sensation effects;’ but I think he has shown more truth and good taste
by following what appears to be the natural way of determining the proper
relief. Sir David Brewster is entitled to the thanks of the Edinburgh
photographers for giving them an opportunity of seeing and deciding on
the merits of these famous historical pictures.”
There was no conversation or discussion on the subject, but Professor
Archer, in seconding Mr. Scott Elliot’s motion of a vote of thanks to
Sir David Brewster for his paper, took occasion to observe that, while
recently examining some antiquities in the Koyal Institution of Liverpool,
his attention was directed to an instrument which he and those who
examined it along with him thought to be a stereoscope. It was a long¬
shaped box, with two lenses in the end. He was uncertain as to the exact
date when it was made, but he thought it was in the year 1670.
Professor Archer then exhibited a large and interesting collection of
photographs of objects of interest in the Madras Presidency, taken by the
government photographer, Captain Tripe, and which had been placed in
the National Industrial Museum in Edinburgh. One of these was a
panoramic picture, several yards in length, of the inscription round the
basement of the great pagoda at Tanjore. These photographs were
examined with much interest.
The award of the medals for the best pictures in the Exhibition was
then to have been made ; but, in the absence of the recipients, the
Secretary was requested to transmit them.
The works selected from the Exhibition this year were distributed
among the members.
Mr. C. J. Burnett then exhibited a variety of prints prepared with
uranic and other salts, and toned with platina, palladium, and gold. He
accompanied these with a description, which he was requested to write
for insertion in the Society’s Journal.
The meeting was then adjourned.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday, the 5th
instant, — George H. Slight, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The following gentlemen were admitted as members: — Messrs. John
Cruikshanks, John M‘Crindle, and John M'Kelvie.
One of the members then read a paper entitled My First Photographic
Trip to the Country. [See page 111.]
The paper elicited some interesting and humorous conversation, in
which several members also gave their “ experiences ” of photographic
visits to the country.
It was intimated that one of the Society’s popular evenings would be
held that day week, when Professor Piazzi Smyth would, by means of
the oxy-hydrogen lantern, exhibit and explain the photographs he had
taken whilst in Teneriffe.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Thursday, the
6th inst., in the Keligious Institution Rooms. Mr. Mactear, Vice-President,
having to describe the apparatus recently invented by Dr. Taylor, Mr.
Robb was called upon to officiate as Chairman.
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read by the ex-Secre-
tary, Mr. John Cramb, the private business of the Society, as intimated by
circular — the election of President — was entered on, and resulted in the
choice of Mr. John Douglas.
The Chairman then called upon Mr. Mactear to open the business of the
evening, by reading a paper On the Successful Application of the Dio¬
rama to Photographic Pictures. [See page 110.]
Mr. Mactear, after giving a lucid description of the apparatus invented
by Dr. Taylor, expressed his willingness to still further elucidate the
subject by answering any questions which might be put to him.
Mr. John Cramb, in reference to the paper, said he considered Mr.
Mactear had done a legitimate service, not only to photography, but to
the Societ3r, in thus bringing the matter before their notice, as, although he
had read accounts of it in different prints, still he had some difficulty in
forming a proper opinion as to its real merits ; and, as it had already been
made the subject of discussion by another party, he also was desirous to
learn what claim the invention had to originality. Was it in looking at
a picture through a magnifying glass ? If so, in that there was nothing
new. The invention, so far, would suit any class of pictures ; but why was
the photograph selected ? He could imagine simply because it approached
the nearest of any picture to nature. Then, in regard to a coloured me¬
dium, there was nothing new in that, as a coloured medium by which
different effects could be produced had been suggested long ago. It
appeared to him that the only claim to invention the apparatus had lay
in the idea of the revolving cylinder by which various aerial effects could
be produced.
Mr. James Cramb wished to know whether an exact scale in regard to
the size of the picture exhibited was preserved, or whether the same
apparatus would suit any picture taken, irrespective of distance ?
Mr. Mactear, in reply to Mr. James Cramb, said he had no doubt that
such points had been duly taken into consideration by Dr. Taylor, whose
knowledge of such matters was anything but superficial.
Mr. James Ewing remarked, in reference to what Mr. John Cramb had
said, that he was not at all disappointed at the claim to originality being
disputed, as the principles of the diorama had been long understood, and,
as everyone knew, had been applied on a large scale. Nor was he of
opinion that the paper claimed such invention ; but, as was broadly stated
in the heading of articles he had read on the subject, the invention con¬
sisted in the successful application of the principles of the diorama to photo¬
graphic pictures. He did not perceive any similarity between the
coloured glass proposed (which he understood to be a fixed effect) and
the present application, as by the introduction of the revolving cylinder
the varied effect of light and shade, cloud and sunshine, were produced.
It was quite apparent that much of the merit lay in the artistic obscuring
of certain parts of the picture, leaving yet sufficient light to penetrate
even the deepest parts of the shadow, so that the objects on the earth
were in a measure tinted by the varying aspects of the sky. He was
highly pleased with the application, and thought it was indeed a stride.
Mr. James Cramb thought that the stock effects on the cylinder would
not suit all pictures, as by the revolution clouds belonging to one picture
would merge into another.
Mr. Robertson, who had seen the apparatus, replied that it was not
necessary to keep the cylinder in perpetual motion — that it could be regu¬
lated by the slightest touch — and the sky most in keeping with the picture
shown could, by a gentle motion, be kept long enough before the eye to
permit of its being looked at. He thought there was one important point
overlooked in the paper, and that was the under reflector, which threw
up the light from below, thus economising a certain portion of illumina¬
tion which otherwise would be lost.
The Chairman thought there could be no end to variety, seeing that the
cylinder could be made to any extent, and that the pictures could be so
finely coloured.
After a spirited conversation on the subject, in which Messrs. Brown,
Kennedy, Dickson, and others took part,
Mr. John Cramb said that he wished to call attention to an article in
the North British Eevieio, from the pen of Sir D. Brewster, purporting
to be ’a history of photography during the last 15 years. He could not
but notice the inadvertence of the author in not noting the name of the
late President of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Society. Mr.
Cramb contended that Mr. Kibble’s name should be recorded as the first
to produce an instantaneous picture on a dry plate (collodio-albumen).
His picture of the Express steamer was the first, and was a really won¬
derful production ; and not for that alone, but for the execution of the
largest pictures on one plate that have yet been exhibited, viz., thirty by
forty inches. Mr. Kibble’s name deserved an important and honourable
place in a history of the progress of our art.
Mr. Mactear begged to second the remarks of Mr. Cramb, as he thought
that if any gentleman deserved to have his name recorded in connexion
with photography it was Mr. Kibble.
Mr. Robertson, whilst agreeing with the remarks of Messrs. Cramb
and Mactear, thought that Mr. Kibble’s pictures were the largest up to
the present time, but that he had read lately in an American print of
larger pictures being produced.
Mr. Cramb and Mr. Mactear seemed to be unanimous in opinion that
such rumours should be regarded with caution, as most of the pictures
so spoken of were generally found to be in different parts.
After a vote of thanks to Mr. Mactear for his paper, and a similar com¬
pliment to the Chairman, the meeting adjourned.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF MARSEILLES.
A meeting of the above Society was held on Friday, the 28th February, —
M. Gabriel, President, in the chair.
The President, after having announced the admission of M. Dupont as
a subscribing member, acknowledged the presentation to the Society, by
M. Leiber, publisher, of Paris, of the Popular Treatise on Photography,
by M. van Monckhoven.
M. Poitevin promised by letter to present shortly a pamphlet relative to
the various processes published by him at different times.
The thanks of the Society were accorded to MM. Leiber and Poitevin.
M. Leon Vidal, director of the scientific discussions, requested the
assistant Secretary to read the fourth mimoire of M. Niepce de St. Victor
on heliochromy. Although this memoire had been already presented to
the Academy of Sciences, and published in the various journals, bethought
it right to read it, in consequence of the delicate compliment paid by the
author to the Marseilles Photographic Society in addressing to it the
original manuscript with his own hand.
The reading was listened to with much interest, and the President ex¬
pressed the thanks of the Society to M. Niepce, after having remarked
upon the importance of the researches.
M. Jacquemet, the Assistant Secretary, read the report of the commis¬
sion (MM. Hudelot and Terris) on the pressure-frame invented and pre¬
sented by M. Ponson, as follows : —
“ The first condition which a pressure-frame should satisfy, and that
116
[March 16, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
which M. Ponson’s fulfils to perfection, is perfect contact between the
negative and the paper. This is accomplished by means of two wooden
shutters covered with velvet, which are articulated to the pressure-board
in a novel and ingenious manner. The shutters, instead of being con¬
nected by hinges, are separate, each one being connected to the pressure-
bar, which is attached to it by two hinges placed perpendicularly to the
axis of this bar. This novel arrangement possesses considerable advan¬
tages. If one side of the negative happen to be thicker than the other,
the shutter turns on its hinges, and the pressure is equalised.
“ When one of the shutters is raised to examine the proof, no move¬
ment is communicated to the other shutter, no matter what may be the
size of the negative as compared with the frame ; and there is no fear of
its sliding when examining the proof — an accident which frequently hap¬
pens with the pressure-frames of ordinary construction.
“In conclusion, the Committee are of opinion that M. Ponson’s patent
pressure-frame is adapted to replace, advantageously, those in ordinary
use.”
The Report was unanimously approved.
M. Hudelot said that the mode of closing the pressure-frame'appeared
to him capable of improvement, and delineated before the meeting the
form of an automatic catch, with a fine-threaded screw to regulate the
pressure.
The thanks of the Society were accorded for the suggestion.
M. Jacquemet communicated the result of his experiments on dry
collodion.
The reversed Taupenot process — that is to say, collodion upon glass
previously covered with sensitised albumen — had given no result sus¬
ceptible of any new or useful application. The image thus obtained
appeared more rapidly on development than when the collodion formed
the subjacent film.
He then indicated the employment of opium introduced into the collo¬
dion to preserve the sensitiveness when dry, which substance had appeared
to him to possess a preservative property similar to that of resin. He
exhibited in corroboration a stereoscopic plate remarkable for delicacy of
detail, and obtained in full light in two or three seconds of time, proving
that collodion thus prepared preserves exalted sensitiveness. M. Jacquemet
proposed to endeavour to ascertain before the next meeting whether opium
acts as a resin, or whether the active principle Is due to the morphine or
narcotine therein contained.
The President thanked M. Jacquemet for his interesting communi¬
cation.
M. Vidal described a piece of apparatus of his own invention [see page
102], for which he received the thanks of the Society.
The nomination of a Committee to report upon this apparatus was
postponed to the next meeting, some of the parts not being at the time
quite finished.
M. Terris described to the Society a sensitising bath which he used
for albumenised paper. To a bath of nitrate of silver, 25 grains to the
ounce, he added a certain quantity of nitrate of ammonia, which he alleged
to preserve the albumen on the surface of the paper; and asserted that
his toning was good even with so weak a bath as indicated, in proof of
which he exhibited a series of beautifully-toned cartes de visite. M.
Terris also exhibited a series of reproductions, which were much admired.
M. E. Loire also exhibited some well executed proofs.
Thanks were accorded to both of these gentlemen.
The Assistant Secretary read the programme of an offer of a prize
of 500 francs [see page 100], which was unanimously adopted.
M. Vidal read a letter from MM. Mayer and Pierson, thanking the
Society for its intervention relative to their process.
A letter to the Minister of State expressive of views in favour of pro¬
perty in photographic copyright was then read, which was unanimously
approved.
Retore closing the meeting M. Vidal informed the members that he
had been successful in finding a suitable place of meeting for the Society,
in conjunction with all the other scientific societies in Marseilles, which
would also be appropriated to a permanent exhibition of paintings and
works of art, amongst which photographs would find a place.
After some congratulatory expressions and words of encouragement,
which were cordially received, the meeting separated.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
T i if. members of this Association are informed that the next meeting will
be held at Myddelton Hall, Islington, on Wednesday, the 19th inst., when
officers for the ensuing year will be elected.
Attention is called to the following By-Laws: —
h That the subscription of 10s. fid. per annum being due on the 31st March,
and payable in advance, should be paid to the Secretary before the 28th April
next ensuing, and that the delivery of the Journal be discontinued to those
members whose subscriptions are in arrear on that day ; but on the payment of
the same any tunc during the current year, the back numbers of the Journal
shall be forwarded.
2 I hat a member elected at any time during the year be entitled to the num¬
bers of the Journal from the 1st of April inclusive.
I be 1 rensurer will be in attendance to receive subscriptions from those
gentlemen who may be desirous of obtaining receipts on that evening.
JOHN BARNETT, Hon. Sec.,
37, Devonshire-street, Islington, N.
Straps imb Jfrnpmnts.
M. D. van Monckhovsn’s Manual. — Arrangements have already
been concluded for publishing this popular work in the Dutch and
German languages, and we believe also in English, and negotia¬
tions are on foot for its appearance in a Russian dress.
Useful Substitute for Ground Glass.— Many of our readers
will be glad to learn that a varnish is now in the market by which
the effect of very finely ground glass can be produced either upon
simple plain glass or that on which stereographic pictures have
been printed, by merely coating the plate with the varnish pre¬
cisely in the same way as collodion is applied. The solvent of the
material, left on the plate in a very finely divided state, is of a
very volatile nature, and therefore little or no heat is requisite
during its application, provided that the plate be perfectly dry.
This varnish we saw at the establishment of Messrs. Horne and
Thornthwaite, Newgate Street, London, a few days back, when
accidentally calling in there ; but we believe it is not of their
manufacture though on sale by them.
Fine Arts’ Cotyright. — The bill just introduced into Parliament
for securing copyright during the life of the author and for seven
years after his decease, in paintings, drawings, and photographs,
imposes also certain penalties, viz : — 1. Upon any person who shall
fraudulently affix any name, initials, or monogram upon any work of
fine art. — 2. Who shall fraudulently offer for sale or exhibition any
work of fine art having thereon the name, initials, or monogram of
a person who did not execute the work. — 3. Who shall fraudulently
dispose of any copy or colourable imitation of any work of fine art as
having been executed by the author of the original work. — 4. Who,
during the life of the author, shall, without his consent, offer for
sale any work of his (which lias been disposed of by him), or copy
thereof, altered by some other person , as the unaltered work of the
author. The copyright of any drawing or painting that has been
sold to pass to the purchaser with the work, unless reserved to the
author by express agreement in writing.
Jferap URrresponbtitfe,
Paris , March lH/f, 1862.
The judgment pronounced by the tribunal of the Police Correction-
nelle in the affair of Mayer and Pierson is still occupying attention
here. The Marseilles Society has just come to a decision which is,
I think, the only right one in the present state of things, and
which indeed 1 had myself suggested in the Moniteur de la
Photographie. The Society has resolved to write to the Minister
of State — who is the President of the Commission entrusted with
the elaboration of a new law on artistic and literary property — to
call his attention to photography. The following is the draft of
the letter adopted at the meeting of the 28th ult. : —
“ Monsieur le Ministre, — As your Excellence is at present
engaged upon the revision of our legislation on literary and artistic
property, the Photographic Society of Marseilles has considered
itself called upon to recommend to your favourable attention the
interests of the art which they encourage. Without pretending to
assimilate it with the arts of pure creation, it must be acknowledged
that photograph}*-, while it is a useful and powerful auxiliary to
those arts, does also itself demand a certain amount of research
and artistic investigation. And yet, in the present state of things,
men of taste and talent and study are liable to see greedy imitators
snatch from them, almost with impunity, the fruit of long and
painful labour, in which the intelligence has borne the larger part.
Our jurisprudence, enchained by a legislation already of old
date, and anterior to the discovery of photography, is unable
to afford to the works in question the efficacious protection of
penal repression. We trust, Monsieur le Ministre, that, thanks
to 3rour enlightened and equitable intervention, this unfortunate
position may shortly he modified. It is therefore with full
confidence that the Photographic Society of Marseilles expresses
to your Excellence the desire that photography may be included by
name in the new bill relative to literary and artistic propert}*-.”
At the same meeting the Marseilles Society settled the pro¬
gramme of the prizes for the improvement of the dry collodion
processes, of which I have already spoken. The idea is good, and
it is desirable that other photographic societies should follow the
example. In general experimentalists are rather disinterested, but
the offer of prizes would certainly increase their emulation. I
must add that for the Marseilles prizes foreigners will be admitted
to compete as well as natives.
March 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
117
The initiative taken by the Proven9al Society has already pro¬
duced useful effects. At the last meeting M. Jacquemet made
known the results of the researches which heffias been making.
Various experiments have led him to employ resins, which were
first suggested some years ago by the Abb 6 Despratz, and which
are at present coming more and more into notice again. M.
Jacquemet has tried opium with collodion. That substance ap¬
pears to him to act as do resins, with respect to the preservation of
the sensitiveness. Some stereoscopic pictures exhibited by the
experimenter, and obtained with a full light in from two to three
seconds, show that, with collodion thus prepared, one can operate
very rapidly and obtain images of remarkable delicacy.
M. Terris likewise communicated to the Marseilles Society a pro¬
cess for sensitising albumenised positive paper by means of a five
per cent, silver bath containing a certain quantity of nitrate of
ammonia. This salt enables the albumen to be maintained at the
surface of the paper. The toning can be done very well notwith¬
standing the feebleness of the bath.
M. Leon Vidal presented to the same Society the model of an
apparatus of which he is the inventor, and which he calls auto-
poly graphic.*
Two very interesting trials will shortly take place. First, the
appeal of MM. Mayer and Pierson from the judgment which has
been so much talked of, and then the affair of photography with
carbon between MM. Poitevin and Charavet. The curious part
of the latter affair is that it is M. Charavet that has begun the
attack, thus forestalling M. Poitevin, who on his side was prepar¬
ing to prosecute. The issue does not appear to me to be doubtful.
One of the photographic novelties most in request at the present
moment is the carte de visite portrait of Dumollard, the murderer of
servant girls, who has just been executed. His wife, whose por¬
trait has also been taken, is less in request. What gives a greater
vogue to these pictures is the fact that the police have forbidden
their sale in public, although it is permitted to cry about the street
the various cornplaintes of which the atrocious wretch forms the
subject. _ ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , February 23, 1862.
Since my last letter, a correspondence with the principal cities of
the United States, with especial reference tp the collection of infor¬
mation for you, has brought some return ; anij those to whom I have
written, being enthusiastic, are willing and glad to furnish each their
items of news, so that soon 1 shall be able to lay before your
readers the exact condition of the art in the various sections of
our country, and the peculiarities of the formula} used.
The war, as was intimated in my former letter, has had a great
influence on photograph}*-. At the commencement of the troubles
with the South the trade in stereoscopic pictures was in a very
flourishing condition; but the sale of this class of prints soon fell
oft’, so as to render their manufacture for the market quite limited.
As soon, however, as the first monetary crisis had passed, and
people had begun again to invest some little of their spare funds in
th c fine arts (?) cartes de visite became all the rage, and stereographs
were considered dead stock. At this juncture Mr. Langinheim,
whose business had been principally in stereographs, was forced to
look about for some new use for his camera, and, more as a joke
than in earnest, he began to make magic lantern slides of war
scenes. These were all copies of well-executed engravings, which
had been touched-up previous to being photographed. The sale
of these copies exceeded his most sanguine expectations, and now
he has a large number of persons (mostly women) engaged colouring
and mounting them ready for the lantern ; whilst in almost every city
and town are wonderful exhibitions of war scenes under the attrac¬
tive name of “ stereopticons.” But the fun of the thing is that the
innocent spectators for the most part imagine they are looking at
photographic pictures “ taken on the spot.”
Speaking of copying brings to mind one fact in relation to pho¬
tography worthy of note .In the infancy of any art or science too
much is attempted by one individual; and the producers of portraits
are called upon to copy drawings, photograph machinery, and do
up on cardboard our country mansions. It is not surprising that
they fail at some of these so different processes. But soon the
wants of society warrant the subdivision of the art into separate
and distinct departments, and now there are several well-conducted
establishments especially for copying purposes. Three of these
are at Washington, under Messrs. Mathiot, Walker, and Wood, who
in the order named conduct the photographic department of the
Coast Survey, Treasury Building Extension, and Capitol Extension.
A very perfect specimen of copying lately produced is the restoration
* See page 102 in the present number,
of one hundred lost pages to an old and rare edition of the Bible.
The prints are on ammonio-nitrate plain paper, the sheets being
silvered by immersion, and printed on both sides : it is the work of a
Mr. Subert, of Philadelphia. Mr. A. Id. Hemple, who has made copy¬
ing a speciality, gives me the following as the process best suited to
the purpose : — He uses a collodion made from bleached cotton, pre¬
pared at a high temperature in weak acids — the collodion sensitised
with iodide of ammonium only, no bromide being used. Bath, fifty
grains to the ounce, very acid with nitric acid. His exposure is very
short, using a three-and-a-half Jamin view lens. He exposes a
fourteen by eighteen-inch plate (the print being in the full glare of
the sun) about thirty seconds, with an aperture of one-quarter of
an inch. He develops with iron and clears with cyanide, then
strengthens with bichloride of mercury' and hydrosulphate of am¬
monia. This is essentially the same process as is recommended
by Mr. C. Waldack, in his admirable treatise on photography.
By-the-by, thislast-named gentleman writes from Cincinnatti that
he expects soon to dispose of his establishment at that place, when he
will visit Europe, where his interests require his presence, and
where he hopes to have more time and opportunity to prosecute his
studies. He gives a gloomy account of the condition of the art in
the west, and says the only real progress is among amateurs. He
sends the following as the formula of a good negative collodion: —
“ To sixteen ounces of alcohol add one hundred grains of iodide
of potassium and fifty grains of bromide of potassium, previously
dissolved in a very little water ; then add sixteen ounces ether, and
let it settle. Separate the clear part by means of a syphon, and
add sixty grains of iodide of cadmium. If the liquid be a little
milky the cadmium will clear it up. Why? is what l do not
know. Finally add from two hundred to two hundred and sixty
grains of cotton.” I send the above as from a high authority —
from one whose aim is to advance science.
Some of our “dry” amateurs are just now highly elated at the
prospect of soon possessing the true “ elixir of life,” viz., an
instantaneous dry process. Their hope is founded on Dr. Draper’s
process, made public at the last meeting of the American Photo¬
graphical Society. His modus operandi is to use the ordinary tannin
dry plates, which he soaks in very hot water before developing , and
treats the hot plate with a cold pyrogallic developer. It is
claimed that the exposure has been shortened to one-twentieth
the usual exposure. Mr. Hull and others say that the same good
effect is apparent when wet plates are so treated. About two
years ago the writer of this worked for some time in very cold
weather with two silver baths of the same strength, one moderately
warm for sensitising, and the other very hot — say about 200°.
Into the hot solution the plate was plunged after exposure, and
then, while still hot, was treated with the ordinary cold iron
solution. Good results were obtained, but no advantage sufficient
to warrant the complication was made evident.
Canada will soon lose an enthusiastic patron of the arts in
genera], and photography in particular, in Mr. T. E. Blackwell, the
Vice-President and Managing Director of the Grand Trunk Rail¬
way, who resigns his position on account of ill health. He will take
home with him to England specimens of the work of a great many
of our American photographers, and to his order many very fine
pictures have been made of the works connected with the railway,
also of Niagara; and Mr. Notman, of Montreal, made for him last
year some good pictures of the great eclipse of the sun. In my
next 1 hope to speak more precisely of what Dr. Smallwood, of
Canada, has done in the micro-photography of snow flakes.
It is with pleasure we have seen a letter from Mr. L. Lomas,
urging an exchange of prints between amateurs of England and
America, which letter was published at length in Humphrey's
Journal. It is proposed, in my letters to The British Journal
of Photography, to give the name and address of successful
American amateurs who have consented to exchange print for
print with any in England who may send them pictures; and
as soon as the names and addresses of those similarly inclined
in England are known, the initiative packages will start from
this country (at least, if we ever have a glimpse of sunshine
through the endless cloudy weather we have had of late). At
present we have only the name of Mr. Michael Ilannaford, of
London, who shall soon hear from us. And now permit me to
introduce to your readers Mr. James Hunter Blockly, P. 0.,
Philadelphia, Pa., a gentleman of exquisite taste, and plenty of
leisure for his experiments. His forest scenes will be particularly
interesting. Fearing I have already intruded too much on your
valuable space, I beg to add to the list of amateurs willing to ex¬
change the name of
COLEMAN SELLERS,
118
THE BRITISH .JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1862
tint,
33T We are at all times -willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
A LITTLE LESSON FOR A NAUGHTY LITTLE
PHOTOGRAPHER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Receiving my newly-arrived copy of the American Journal
of Photography, and turning over the old friends which came upon
me thick and fast in its pages, I paused to scan an article that I had
not before seen, an extract from the Photographic Notes — the said
extract being a curious critique, IN rhyme, upon “ Euclid in the
Stereoscope,” signed “ Lictor Caledoniensis.” Now, if rugged old
“ Bell-the-cat” Douglas ever read anything like this critique in
rhyme I can forgive him for saying —
“ Thanks to St. Rengan ! son of mine,
Save Gawain, ne’er could pen a line
for it is difficult to conceive anything more saddening to a parent’s
heart than the simple possibility of a son degrading himself by
perpetrating such lines as these. In justice to the American
editor I must add that he denounces the critique as “ doggerel,”
and states that he merely inserts it “ to make its subject” (or
rather its excuse) “ more prominent,” just, I suppose, as the
rotting carcasses of gibbeted felons used to make prominent the
beauty of justice in olden time. The critique has, perhaps, some
three or four lines in praise of the stereoscopic slides which give
it a title ; and all the remaining — for it is a somewhat long affair —
are devoted to a malice- venomed attack upon The British Jour¬
nal of Photography, its editor, and its staff of writers — vulgar
adjectives and coarse personalities forming its sole magazine of
war. Falstaff threatened Prince Hal, saying —
“ I’ll have ballads made on thee, and sung to scurvy rhymes.”
And as precisely the same threat is used in the article cited, you
may easily imagine that my teeth and knees are rattling against
each other, like so many pairs of nigger castenets, at the bare
prospect of my terrible position, just as, doubtless, stout Prince
Hal’s did.
Having puzzled myself with conjectures as to the probable
author of such a precious production I have arrived at the con¬
clusion that it is no less celebrated an individual than he of the
“cabbage laurels” — he of mighty repute — the gifted bard of the
glorious Moses! Henceforth not Moses’s alone — the Notes' only
contributor and — scissors excepted — its misanthropical, toil-worn
editor’s only assistant — an
“ Hibernian bard of deathless fame,
Known by his wond’rous patron’s name.”
I am well aware that for years past you have abstained from
taking any notice of attacks from this quarter directed against
yourself, but that is no reason why I, who am a pretty constant
contributor to your pages, and have no part in the feelings of
those who shrink from the infliction of well-merited chastise¬
ment, or imagine there is a great accession of dignity in assuming
the self-complacent armour of self-asserted superiority or assumed
invulnerability to certain attacks, should be equally forbearing,
and, unless you purpose taking up the cudgels in my defence, I
make an earnest request that you will grant me space for the inser¬
tion of this protest, a request that I do not think you can in justice
refuse, seeing that, as one of your staff, I come in for a very
unmerited share of abuse.
There are, unfortunately, dirty little boys whose elements of
happiness lie in the mud and filth of the kennel, who make them¬
selves in a terrible mess, and are apt to annoy the more cleanly
and respectable passengers by throwing dirt about. This is wrong
conduct, undoubtedly ; but, having a meaning as foul as the act
is in itself, can hardly be said to deserve pity. On the contrary,
that naughty little fellow’s best friend — even his dear mamma —
would box his cars and scold him, and send him supperless to bed.
And are there no dirty-little-boy journals, periodical pages soiled
with worse than the kennel’s foulness? Serials full of scurillity
and personal abuse, which, out of very kindness, we ought to birch
into cleanliness and respectability. Let those think of this who
may feel inclined to question the policy of admitting such epistles
as those of “ Paul Pry,” “ Auld I jCus,” and others, into your columns.
years back your Jersey contemporary has been earning a most
unenviable notoriety among its readers by the rabid intensity and
spitefulness of its attacks upon this Journal. Alsit invidia — why is
this ? In vain I try to find a cause ; and, as a dernier ressort, I
am compelled to seek it in the secret flattery implied by open
envy. In sober truth there is nothing else to which it can be
attributed. Flippant Mr. Sutton tells us he attacks this Journal
because he dislikes, or, as he says, “ condemns the incompetency of
the Editor but, if this be the sole cause assignable, surely it mustbe
a very humiliating confession foryour Jersey contemporary to make.
Because I condemn or dislike one certain Frenchman, shall I blacken
his nation, and abuse his countrymen ? I have seen a savage little
animal in the nursery bite and kick at all his harmless inno¬
cent little brothers and sisters, because nurse wouldn’t let the self-
willed little rascal have his own naughty way ; and it seems to
me that this wicked little boy professes to bite and kick such of
his photographic brethren as may chance to be engaged on the
staff of this Journal with the same evil little feelings, because
he can’t have his own way.
When Plato spoke of the slanders used against him by his foes,
he said, calmly, “ My life shall be such that no one shall believe
them,” although he well knew that the rhinoceros hides of these
bitter enemies were proof against such living evidence, and that
his very uprightness of life itself originated their enmity. So with
this jealous-pated, foolish, little Jersey jangler: the thickness of his
hide and the origin of his enmity being known, you may regard
the poor little fellow’s overflowing evil passions simply as tho
barometer of your own increasing success and good repute. It is,
therefore, only in pure pity that I now venture (for perhaps the
last time) to give this unruly little fellow the following advice.
So come here, Master Tommy. Now, ain’t you ashamed to
appear before me in such a filthy pinafore? — don’t cry, and don’t
screw your dirty knuckles into your eyes — don’t, sir! — it’s all for
your good ! Why can’t you be a good clean little boy, and make
your pretty little toy-inventions, and your funny little sayings,
and your really useful panoramic lenses, and your other praise¬
worthy small discoveries, without dirtying yourself and your Jersey
pinafore by raking up dirt from mud-pools and sewer-kennels, and
seeking such low companions as the poets-of-the-puff-palpabl6"
employed by Jew slop-sellers. As to your complaints against
“ Paul Pry” and “Auld Lens ” — of whom you appear so un forgetful,
and against whom you seem so rampant — well, if they did laugh
at you, and quote some of your funny sayings to make others laugh
also, don’t you know that people always do laugh when they see
the spiteful and malignant allied to the puny and the impotent. If
you think yourself so much wiser than our friend the Editor, is that
any reason why you should be contemptuous of him, unless you
think, as may-he others do also , that any one with less wisdom than
you possess must be contemptible indeed ; but if — whatever the
known or secret reason for your malice and ill feeling — you will
persist in disliking and abusing him, pray is that any
reason why you should extend such feelings to the Journal
he edits, and all the writers in its pages, and call them, as you
do in your puff-poet’s recent rhyming critique, “ elderly ladies,”
writing “ unmitigated trash,” with a “ silly style,” while “ in
crazy conclave rudely screeching?” Don’t you know that wild¬
ness of diction and malice defeats its own purpose by appear¬
ing childish and ridiculous, just as tearing a stage passion to
tatters generates more laughter than horror among sensible
spectators ? In conclusion, the best advice I can offer you is
that given by Epictetus — who says, “ If any one speak ill of thee,
consider whether he has truth on his side ; and if so, reform
thyself, that his censures may not affect thee.”
And now, master Tommy, you may go, and I hope the little
lesson you have just received will produce a proper effect by
making you henceforth a more cleanly, respectable, and better-
behaved boy. There, go along, and think about what I have
said, until you are prepared to thank for an improved and contrite
spirit “ Paul Pry,” “ Auld Lens,” and
ONE OF THE CALUMNIATED “ STAFF.”
PIN-HOLES IN THE NEGATIVE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have been very successful in the collodio-albumen process during
the past season, some of my negatives being perfect. My plates have given
me equally good pictures from June last to the end of November, although
sensitised on the 7tli of the former month; and I have now some of the
plates prepared on that day which I am keeping to find out how long
they will keep good. These keeping qualities are invaluable to an
amateur ; but there is one defect I am troubled with in some, I may say
in many, of the plates, and that is avast number of pinholes in the
skies, or wherever else the film has been strongly acted upon by the
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
119
March 15, 1862]
light. Some have told me that I have not filtered the developing solu¬
tions sufficiently : this I have tried without success. Some say these
pin-holes are occasioned by dust ; hut I think this hardly possible as they
are so numerous and close together. Many acknowledge that the cause
has not been discovered. I thought it might have been occasioned by
the water, so I tried the final washing in distilled water, rain water, &c.,
but there was no difference.
I have observed the same thing with some collodions in the wet
process, and have attributed it to the iodising solution being too strong.
I should be very much obliged to you to enlighten me on the subject,
and tell me the cause and the remedy .-—-I am, yours, &c.,
March 3rd, 1862. COLLODIO-ALBUMEN.
[It would not be philosophical to attribute pin-holes in the negative to
any universal cause : they arise from different ones at different times.
Your nitrate of silver bath may contain minute particles of oxide of
silver diffused therein : this would account for the holes. Your use of
distilled water for the final washing is not enough, if the cause be in
small particles of chloride of silver, which would be formed during the
first washing : filtration of the developer is no doubt a good precaution,
but this is of very little use unless you have made your developing
solution with distilled water , a very important precaution frequently over¬
looked. And lastly, in adding solution of nitrate of silver to the developer,
you should not take a portion of the sensitising bath for the purpose, as
that contains in solution iodide of silver, which becomes precipitated
under the action of developing the picture in fine particles over the
plate, almost immediately on being poured on it. You should keep an
unused solution of nitrate of silver specially for the purpose of adding
to the developer. — Ed.]
CHEMICAL PROBLEMS IN CONNEXION WITH ALBUMEN
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you allow a neighbour of “ Q. R.” to ventilate in your Journa
the question of the proportions of salt and albumen, as given in page
53 and 97. I am as perfectly convinced as you are “ that in any formula
for a photographic purpose, by albumen , simple white of egg is intended to
be implied,” and moreover, that in albumenised paper, when the water
is evaporated by drying, the white of egg merely becomes solid by this
evaporation, and this dry white of egg retains the same impurities it had
before, with the sole exception of the water which was one of its consti¬
tuents ; and thus “ solid albumen ” or “ dried albumen ” is not pure
albumen, but simply dried ivhite of egg. You are therefore in error by
“ assuming that ‘ Q. R.’ wants to obtain on the paper one part of a
chloride to three of pure albumen ,” unless you consider dry white of egg to
be such. The word “ pure ” has never been used by him : he simply wants
the albumen as it exists upon the dried paper to be as three to one of the
added chloride. You proceed to say : — “ You must needs first analyse the
white of egg to ascertain how much chloride it naturally contains, as this
is variable in quantity.”
Mulder’s analysis of white of egg gives the following constituents, with
their proportions for 100 parts: — Carbon, 53.5; hydrogen, 7 ; nitrogen,
15’5; oxygen, 22; sulphur, 1*6 ; and phosphorous Q'4. Where, then, is
any “chloride it naturally contains” to come from — all these constituents
being elements? But assuming that more recent analysis has proved
Mulder to be incorrect, and that white of egg contains even a lai’ge
portion of a chloride, comparatively but few persons are acquainted with
the fact, and therefore, in writing to obtain information respecting the
quantity of salt to add to the albumen, they simply mean how much must
they themselves put in to give the requisite proportions, without any
reference to the constituents of white of egg.
The quantity of salt you give is 160 grains to the ounce of white of egg,
viz., 1 to 3; but the whole of the water in the albumenised solution,
whether existing in the white of egg, or added for dilution, will be eva¬
porated upon drying the paper, which paper will then be coated with a
mixture of dried white of egg and salt. Let us, for the sake of argument,
say that one-half of the white of egg is water : an ounce, upon evapora¬
tion, will leave half-an-ounce of dried white of egg upon the paper, but
the salt contained in the other half, viz., in the water, will not be eva¬
porated, and thus, remaining on the paper, will, in conjunction with that
in the dried white of egg, make the proportions 160 grains to the half-
ounce— that is, one of salt to one and a-lialf of albumen. Are you there¬
fore correct in saying “ our original reply would meet your requirements,”
when that was one of salt to three of albumen ? Stockhardt says, in
speaking of white of egg : — “ On evaporation we obtain from it one-eiglitli
of solid albumen ; the rest is water.” Where is this large proportion of
water to come from, if Mulder’s analysis be correct ? — as he gives only
7 parts hydrogen and 22 oxygen, making together but 29 parts out of
100, and these are in such proportions as to constitute but very little
water.
The Abbe Pujo, On Positive Printing upon Albumenised Paper, says : —
“ Under ordinary conditions five cubic centimetres of albumen solution
contain nine grains of pure albumen.” What does he mean by pure albu¬
men ? Does he mean simply the white of egg deprived by evaporation
of the water which enters into its composition, and therefore dried
albumen ?
How much dried or solid albumen is left upon evaporating white of
egg? Stockhardt says “one-eighth.” If the Abbe Pujo means by pure
albumen the white of egg dried by evaporating its water (and in no other
way does it remain on albumenised photographic paper), 9 grains left out
of 5 cubic centimetres is not so much as one-ninth. The question as
to the proportion which dried albumen bears to the white of egg in its
normal state is of much importance, as upon it depends the proportions
which the albuminate, chloride, and nitrate of silver will bear to each
other in a given strength of sensitising solution.
One ounce of albumen (white of egg) =480 minims, will, according to
Stockhardt, leave 60 minims of dried albumen upon evaporation ; and
to have this in the proportion of 3 to 1 of salt, 20 grains of salt must be
added to each ounce of white of egg, irrespective of the quantity of water
with which it may be chosen to dilute it. — I am, yours, &c., G. S. T. P.
4 th March, 1862.
[We are most happy to give an opportunity of discussing this or any
other question of interest to our readers, in evidence of which we insert
your communication ; but if you admit that, for photographic purposes,
simple white of egg is meant by “ albumen, ” we cannot perceive how you
can question the accuracy of our reply to “ Q. R.’s ” query 3, at p. 53. If
he meant simply dried albumen, certainly nothing in his communication
would lead a reader to infer that.
In quoting Mulder’s analysis, do you not substitute the words “ white
of egg” for “ albumen?” Unquestionably the whole of the constituents
of the water contained in white of egg are omitted in the result quoted,
which applies only to the albumen without water.
If you take dried ivhite of egg, break it up into very small particles, and
treat it with pure distilled [water : you will dissolve out a portion of
chloride of sodium, besides some other salts. We believe the quantity
to be variable, as also that of the water in the original animal production;
consequently we do not perceive any discrepancy between the assertions
of Stockhardt and the Abbe Pujo.
We are of opinion that if you will evaporate to dryness given quantities
of white of egg at dilferent periods of the year, or taken from different
sources, you will not find the dried residuum bear a constant proportion to
the original bulk. — Ed.]
KEEPING QUALITIES OF TANNIN PLATES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Perhaps testimony as to the keeping qualities of tannin plates
may be interesting to some of your readers.
I prepared some 11x9 and 8^ X 6£ dry plates by the tannin process last
May, and, as I did but little photography in the summer, they were not
exposed until October, when they proved perfectly good, and produced
negatives as clean and uniform as any wet collodion. I have one or two
of them unexposed now ; and on the 20th of last month I took an interior
of a church on one which, being under -exposed, stood four hours’ deve¬
lopment without a sign of stains. They have been kept in a by no
means dry place all the winter. I used a five-grain solution of gelatine
as a preliminary coating, and a fifteen-grain solution of tannin. I be¬
lieve success to depend in a great measure upon soaking the plates a long
time in water : that will throw down a precipitate with nitrate of silver
before the tannin is applied. I use a deep wooden trough, with a rack to
carry eighteen 11 X 9 plates, to lift in and out. This is filled with pump
water, and the plates immersed and coated with tannin at leisure. A
little slate cistern would be a better thing.
I have seen inquiries for a substitute for ground-glass in your Journal.
I have obtained a beautiful fine coating by mixing some iodised collodion
with Horne and Thornthwaite’s benzole crystal varnish, and coating a
plate with it in the same way as collodion. I have used no other
focussing screen for a long time. — I am, yours, &c., T. W. V.
TANNING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In the interesting correspondence published in your last number,
relative to the early history of photography, there is one phrase employed
by the Rev. J. B. Reade that I presume ought to be read in a figurative
instead of a literal sense. When the lady objected (very naturally) to
supply a second pair of kid gloves for her husband to destroy, in what
she very likely considered his nasty experiments, he states that he
exclaimed — “ Then I will tan paper.” I cannot understand how it is
possible to tan paper. Perhaps, if I am in error, you will have the kind¬
ness to correct me, and oblige vours, truly,
Braintree. ‘ CHARLES TYRREL.
[Probably a figurative expression was what the rev. gentleman meant to
employ ; but there was in it more that was literal than at first might be
supposed. In the photographic dark ages we did not indulge in the luxury
of foreign papers, and one of the favourite kinds was a species of thin
drawing paper made by Whatman and Co. But although it was thin
for a drawing paper, it was a very thick paper, as we should now consider
it, for photographic printing, and bore much the same relation to some
of the finer kinds now in use that a blanket does to a piece of cambric.
Now this paper was sized with some kind of gelatine, enough being
contained in a sheet to mount one or two photographs, as any one may
prove by extracting the size from some of it by means of hot water ; and
if we regard the sizing material as an essential part of the paper, which
assuredly it is, then it is no figure of speech to assert that we may tan
the paper by the addition of tincture of galls, seeing that the latter will
certainly thus act upon gelatine— Ed.]
120
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[March 15, 1862
ALCOHOL IN THE PAPER SENSITISING BATH.
To the Editor.
Snj _ I see a printing process given by your American correspondent
as a new discovery, in which an ammonio-nitrate of silver bath is used
with the addition of ether to coagulate the albumen of the paper.
This process was known to myself and friends about six years ago, and
was abandoned almost as soon as proposed. Alcohol was used instead of
ether, but of course the principle is the same.
The paper decomposed with great rapidity after excitation, and some
prints an amateur friend of mine has now in his portfolio, taken some
years ago by this method, have all faded bodily. I should therefore re¬
commend great caution in the adoption of this and similar printing
processes. — -I am, yours, &c., LYNDON SMITH.
Leeds, March 7th, 1862.
WHAT A LENS WILL COYER.
To the Editor.
Ser, — From your last report of the meeting of the North London
Photographic Society I see that Mr. Ross considered it necessary to tell
the members that the field covered by a photographic lens is circular. I
have frequently observed that you also, in your notices to correspondents,
have had to explain this fact to your readers. Now, it might save you
and such correspondents much trouble in future if, in cases of a similar
nature, they would apply the simple principle called that of “ sufficient
reason.” It may be taken for granted that nothing happens without a
sufficient reason; and, as a lens is symmetrical with respect to vertical,
horizontal, and all other directions whatever, there is no reason why the
picture produced by it should be larger in one direction than in another,
and therefore, by the above principle, it will not be so; hence the di¬
mensions being the same in every direction, the picture is circular. The
application of this simple principle in many cases would lead to this
conclusion. There is no “sufficient reason ” why Mr. Shadbolt should be
so frequently bored by trivial questions, or that the valuable time of a
man like Mr. Ross should be spent in explaining what a moment’s con¬
sideration would make clear to a person of the slightest nous.
Mr. Ross also made some remarks on the pictures recently taken by
Mr. Wilson with Dallmeyer’s triplet. From what he said I infer that it
is his opinion that a single combination would give as large an angle of
field. He did not say this directly ; but yet it seems to me that he
wished this conclusion to be inferred. Let us look into the matter. The
pictures taken are 7£ by 4£. The diameter of the very least circle from
which they can be cut is, therefore, s/ (7.5)2 + (4.0 )*, or 8-7 inches, i.e.,
nearly 8£ inches. But further: Mr. Dallmeyer showed me, a few days
ago, a picture as nearly as I can remember eight inches square taken by
this lens so that the circle from which it was cut must have been eleven
inches in diameter. The picture did not show the slightest indistinctness
at the corners.
I think that no single lens can be produced in which the diameter of
the field covered will bear to the focal length of lens used the ratio of
eleven to seven.
A friend of mine, who is using Mr. Dallmeyer’s new stereo, lens of 4r4„
focal length, tells me that it will cover a five-by-four plate very well.
Will any single lens do this ? — I am, yours, Ac., D. HORNBY.
[We must remind our correspondent that there are comparatively but
few persons who possess a knowledge of the data upon which he ex¬
pects them to exercise their reasoning faculties. With regard to the foci
above quoted we believe him to be in error, and that he has probably
reckoned the distance of the plate from the posterior lens. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
I. . B. A. — Two or three minutes as a rule.
Df.mosthenes. — The idea has already been carried out.
Expectant. — M. van Monckhoven’s work will appear in English shortly.
An Am an. — You will find what you require in the July number of our last
volume.
Green. — We should say very — to be taken in by such a transparent
falsehood !
J. T. S — You will find all the information you desire in another column, in
the report of the trial.
Robert Cecil. — Send your inquiries and we will help you, if we can. No
need to forward the negatives : proofs from them will do quite as well.
F. A. — We have no reason whatever to doubt the truth of any of the state¬
ments mode in the correspondence to which you refer. See note at conclusion.
H. It. It. — There is no comparison between the names you quote that is
worth a moment’s consideration. S. B. and B. by all means, for both stand
and objectives.
Novum. — We must decline the notice for which you ask, on the ground that
it would be too uncomplimentary to be of any service to you. Persevere and
you may deserve one on a future occasion.
J. A. Laurie. — You will find full information relative to the preparation of
peroxalate of iron, as used by Mr. Reynolds, in this number, upon unquestion¬
able authority — that gentleman’s own.
P A. — You had better sell the camera you now have and procure one to
suit your purpose : an alteration will not be anything but a make-shift after
■11. Apply to Mr. Morley, of Islington Green.
Ciias. Cowell — You are quite right in your statement that the name even
of the reverend gentleman is unknown to many photographers : that is the
vcry rcasou we have endeavoured to rectify the injustice.
Mandeville. — 1. See the report of the meeting of the Photographic Society.
2. Of the English kinds we prefer Hollingworth’s. 3. Yellow, in preference
to green, by all means.
Samuel. — We cannot undertake to test a lens for you : our time is much
too valuable for such an occupation. If you purchase it from the maker you
name you may rely upon its being what it is represented to be.
F. M. B. — 1. Do not be too much in a hurry: remember that you have as
yet heard but one side of the question.— 2. He his absent from this country at
present, but is expected back before the middle of the summer. — 3. He has quite
abandoned the art.
C. D. M. — With every desire to assist we cannot give private replies — our
work would never be ended : as it is we are always writing. Send your
inquiries in such a form as we can reply to through the Journal, and we will do
our best to help you.
William Clowse. — We regret the necessity at present existing for the use
of albumenised paper — the shadows upon plain paper appearing in general too
opaque for artistic effect. If we could realise the acquisition of glazed shadows
and plain lights, we should have advanced a material step in the right direction.
N. S. (Belper.) — 1. The same method of development will do very well for
Fothergill plates : it is not needful to substitute acetic for the citric acid. — 2.
We did mean the kind you indicate. —3. Your writing is a little obscure, so that
we are unable to make out the adjective applied to the word camera, conse¬
quently we are not in a condition to reply to this query.
Somerset. — Mr. Wenham is a scientific amateur, and makes no apparatus
for sale. We regard Woodward’s camera as a blunder in many of its details :
see Journal for 1858. You require no special apparatus for enlarging beyond
what you can make yourself if you understand the principle; and, if not, you
would scarcely be able to use any apparatus that might be made for you.
S. C. — We like fair play and freedom of speech as well as any — much better
than some ; but we see no reason why the first may not be obtained without the
abuse of freedom which degenerates into licentiousness. We cannot admit
your note in its present form. If you are content that we shall eliminate all the
personalities and imputations of base motives, we will insert your note ; but
not otherwise.
Novice. — The reason why cyanide of potassium is preferred for fixingpositives
on glass is, not that it requires less washing then hyposulphite of soda, but
that the silver deposit which forms the lights of the picture is left of a much
whiter colour than when the last-named solvent is employed to remove the
iodide of silver. Cyanide of potassium acts strongly upon organic matter;
hence it is not so applicable for fixing negatives which are developed by pyro-
gallic acid, the intensity of the deposit being materially weakened thereby.
L A. — The Amateur Photographic Association is not a society for meeting
and discussing questions connected with the art, but is rather an exchange club
on a large scale, with some additional advantages. It is not intended to inter¬
fere with any of the existing societies : it offers no advantages which they do,
while it fills a gap left vacant by them. So far from being antagonistic it is, on
the contrary, supplementary. Write to Mr. Melhnish, 26, Haymarket, London,
and he will forward you a prospectus if you desire it.
S. J. (Belfast.) — First-rate glass positives are really quite as difficult to take
as good negatives : some think more so. There is not much absence of half¬
tone in the specimen received, but certainly a want of vigour. The fault is
probably chiefly in the collodion, and partly in the bath. You had better try
a collodion that gives a creamy film when excited : one that is opaline in appear¬
ance has not enough iodising solution for your purpose. Your bath also is most
likely tooacid with nitric acid for negatives. There is an excellent little manual
lately published by Mr. C. Jabez Hughes, which costs but a trifle, and we would
advise you to procure it. If you have any difficulty in procuring a suitable
collodion, add about one grain more gun cotton to each ounce of what you
are now using, also one grain more of iodide of ammonium or cadmium to the
same quantity.
T. W. V. — We should recommend you not to change the lens you now have :
you may get as good but not a better one for landscapes. For interiors and
for copying pictures, that you have indicated by B will suit you best probably ;
but a good portrait combination, with a diaphragm between the lenses, will also
answer the purpose. We have often stated (what we now repeat) that there is
no lens in existence which is best, or even equally good, for all purposes ; so
that instead of changing your lens perhaps you had better get one in addition.
For general purposes we prefer that which you designate by C ; but it possesses
the same defect for architecture and copying as the lens you have. That you
call A has a similar fault, but in the opposite direction ; it is, however, very
portable, and is very useful for external architecture where you are too close
for your convenience to your subject. Your choice should therefore be between
A and B if you retain your present lens also.
(§q§T All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, (&c ., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street , Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should he sent direct to the
publisher. HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool. _
CONTENTS.
ILOX
LEADER . 99
THE CHEMISTRY OF THE OXALATES OF
IRON. Bv EMERSON J. REYNOLDS .... 99
ON BURNT-IN PHOTOGRAPHS IN ENAMEL
COLOURS. Rr F. JOUBERT . 101
DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTO-POLY GRAPHIC
CAMERA invented by M. LEON VIDAL _ 102
RECOLLECTIONS OF AN AMATEUR PHOTO¬
GRAPHER IN PORTRAITURE. By NOEL
E. FITCH . 103
ON THE STEREOSCOPIC PICTURES EXCU-
TED IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY BY
JACOPO CH1MENTI. By SIR DAVID
BREWSTER, K.H., TB.B . . . 105
SUPPLEMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHIC EX.
H1BITION. By M. CLAUDET . ICO
CELESTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY . 107
PRIZE FOR AN INSTANTANEOUS DRY
COLLODION . 109
ON THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION OF
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE DIORAMA
TO PH oTOGRAPHIC PICTURES. By A.
MACTEAR . no
MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIP TO THE
COUNTRY. By a Member of the Edinburgh
Photographic Society . Ill
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 113
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 116
Correspondent;#, Answers to Correspondents, %fcc, 118
THE BRITISH
JOUBNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 163, Vol. IX. — APRIL 1, 1862.
What a Lens will Cover. — At the February meeting of
the North London Photographic Association a discussion arose
relative to the angular amount of subject capable of being
included by lenses of various forms ; and, as it is a subject that
appears to mystify the majority of our photographic brethren
very considerably, we propose making an endeavour to throw a
little light on the same. Some time back, in reply to one of
our correspondents, we made an attempt to elucidate the matter
by aid of a diagram (see Vol. VIII. p. 39), and at the meeting
to which we have above referred Mr. Ross pointed out some of
the bearings of the question ; but, from inquiries since received,
we find that by many the matter is still not understood.
In our last issue we published a communication from Mr.
D. Hornby (current vol., p. 120), elicited in consequence of the
discussion at the North London Society, to which we added
a note to the effect that we believed he had been misin¬
formed relative to the equivalent focus of the lens, which he
assumed covered a much larger area than a single combination
of equal focal length. Mr. Hornby in his communication
draws attention to the fact that, though Mr. Ross did not
actually assert as much, he left it to be inferred that a single
combination would cover as large a field in proportion to its
focal length as the triplet manufactured by Mr. Hallmeyer. We
do not doubt that Mr. Ross did intend such a conclusion to be
drawn ; but, whether this be so or not, ice are prepared to make
the assertion that such is really the case. In consequence of
Mr. Hornby’s letter we have been induced to make certain
investigations_and calculations, which we propose to lay before
our readers in order to try and set this one point at rest if
possible.
We may premise, however, that we entertain a very high
estimate of the skill, as practical and theoretical opticians, of
both Mr. Dallmeyer and Mr. Thomas Ross, not deeming either
of them to be superior to the other, though perhaps preferring
the lenses made by the one for certain purposes, and those by
the other for other purposes. Each have their own special
merits ; but, as we have long contended, no lens is or can be the
best for all kinds of work. It is not therefore a question
between the makers, but between the several forms of lenses
which they usually supply.
From the note appended to Mr. Hornby’s letter it will
have been observed that we dissented from the conclusion at
which he had arrived, and our reason for such dissent we
indicated presumptively — that is to say, we believed an error to
have been committed in the estimate of the equivalent focal
length of the lens quoted. It has been chiefly to the verification
of this point that our inquiry has been addressed. How far we
were correct in our conjectures we will endeavour to point out.
In order to ascertain the equivalent focus of a combination of
lenses, the simplest method of accomplishing it is to compare
the size of the image of an appropriate object formed by the
compound lens, with that formed by an ordinary spectacle lens
not widely differing in focus from the former. And, first, we
proceed to ascertain the principal focus of the latter, which is a
very simple affair, thus : — Take any convenient object, such as
a small engraving or a page of clearly-printed letterpress,
fastened against a flat surface. Mount the spectacle lens in
any way so as to adapt it to a camera, then draw out the body
of the camera and adjust the object until a sharp image of the
latter, of exactly the same dimensions as the original, is formed
on the ground-glass. The distance between the lens and the
object on one side should be exactly equal to that between the
lens and the ground-glass on the other if the operation has
been correctly performed, and the half of this distance (that is
between the lens and object) is the principal focal length of the
spectacle lens in question. Another method is as follows : —
Remove the e}re-picce and erecting lenses of a small tele¬
scope, and examiue therewith some fine lines or printed
characters, as if using a microscope. Measure accurately
the distance between the lower lens and the object : to this
distance, when ascertained, add that from the shoulder of the
screw on the tube-mounting to the surface of the lens, and
then this total is to be measured from the shoulder of the screw
when replaced in the tube, and a mark made on the outside of
the tube, so as to show where the image of tbe object-glass must
be formed in order to be viewed by the eye-piece of the telescope.
If the telescope be now adjusted upon a distant object so as to
show it distinctly — taking especial care to have the upper draw-
tube drawn out to its extreme limit, and making the adjustment
by one of the lower joints — the distance between the mark on
the tube and the centre of the object lens will give the principal
focal length of the latter nearly enough for all practical pur¬
poses. Now, by substituting for the objective belonging to the
telescope an ordinary spectacle lens, the length of the principal
focus of the latter can be very closely ascertained. In this last-
described way we proceeded in our examination, and found the
spectacle lens we employed to be 81 inches focus, or, expressing it
decimally, 8’25 inches. Mounting the lens thus tested in a tem¬
porary manner to adapt it to the camera, we selected two upright
objects — the white edges of two windows in a house — and on
attempting to focus them on the ground-glass with the whole
aperture of the spectacle lens, the definition was so unsatisfac¬
tory that we reduced the aperture to about three-eighths of an
inch, when a fairly distinct image was formed. The places
occupied by the edges of the window were marked upon the
ground-glass with a pencil, and on measuring accurately their
distance apart, it was found to be 4-6 inches (4 A). The single
lens was then removed from the camera and replaced by one of
Mr. Dallmeyer’s triplets (No. 2685), which we had borrowed.
The distance between the back lens and the ground-glass when
we had focussed the same object as before, without moving the
camera from the spot which it had occupied in the previous ex¬
periment, proved to be 7*25 inches- (7^); but the distance
between the same window' edges, marked as before in pencil on
the ground-glass, was on trial found to be extended to 4-95
iuches (I-hAt), therefore (the equivalent focal lengths of lenses
IQ-2
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 18C2
being in direct proportion to the diameters of the images
formed by each) it is clear that the triplet possessed an
equivalent focus greater than that of the single uncorrected
lens. How much greater is ascertained by the proportion
4’0 : 8-25 :: 4 95 : 8-87; consequently the focus of the triplet
is equivalent to SWu inches — that is, upwards of 8f inches.
Now, although Mr. Hornb}'- does not say so directly (to repeat
liis own phrase), he wishes it to he inferred that the lens of which
he wrote was only seven inches equivalent focus. We have
no doubt that he wrote in perfect good faith ; but, as his
letter is liable (unintentionally no doubt) to mislead, we feel
bound to correct such errors as wre believe to have been made.
This brings us to another source of probable misapprehen¬
sion.
Mr. Hornby alludes to a picture that was shown to him,
eight inches square, sharp up to the corner, taken with the lens
of seven inches (8f inches) focus ; but he does not describe the
character of the picture — that is to say, whether it- was a land¬
scape or a reproduction. As we cannot doubt the fact asserted
to have been observed, wre come to the conclusion that the pic¬
ture was a reproduction, probably of a map or engraving, and
that it bore some considerable proportion to the dimensions of
the original. If this conjecture be correct, the explanation is
simple enough. In order to obtain an image of the natural
size the original must be brought to a distance of twice the
principal focus from the lens, the conjugate focus being then a
like distance behind the combination : the field covered will
be increased in size to four times the cwea or twice the
diameter of the normal field. Now the size of the field
quoted might very easily be covered by a lens of 8| inches
focus, even it the copy were only two-thirds of the dimensions
of the original.
Although to the initiated it is easy enough to calculate from
any given parallelogram that a lens is known to cover properly
what limits ol variation in the relative proportions of length and
breadth are admissible (every circular lens covering a circular
field), it would be as well to quote always the diameter of such
field ; and we have reason to believe that single combinations, if
properly constructed, will cover at least as large a circular space
upon a flat surface as any multiple combination that has
hitherto been produced.
e have much more on this subject yet to discuss, but limits
of space will not permit us to do so on this occasion. We will
therefore conclude for the present with a practical suggestion
that we consider worth attention. Most landscape photo¬
graphers admire subjects that are nicely vignetted, an additional
artistic value being usually imparted by this treatment. Again :
considerable desire is frequently expressed to include more of a
subject than is usually done with most lenses as at present used.
\\ by, then, not take advantage of the fact that all photographic
lenses cover a circular field, and thus accomplish to some extent
both objects by the same means. Let the plates he sufficiently
laryc in their longest dimensions to include the whole circular
diameter covered by the lens, and when printing from the
negative vignette the subject in more or less of an elliptical
firm : this would admit of oblong plates being used with¬
out inconvenience. Suppose, for instance, an operator is
working upon ten by eight in. plates, for which he is using
a liltccn in. focus lens: if he also carries with him a lens
el only nine in. focus to replace the other upon occasion, and has
:m ellipse drawn in pencil upon his ground-glass screen, it will
ohen happen that he can take a very charming subject as a
whole, including a wide angle of picture, by arranging it for
Vignetting, when otherwise he would be constrained to include
only a portion of it. Of course there will be some cases in
which this mode of avoiding the difficulty will be inapplicable,
',l|t three times out of four it would be successful. We com-
m.'n,l ilt(^ idea to Mr. Wall : if he once tides it we shall probably
y° ’U 'mi i d with an article On the Advantages of Vignetting a
Crystal Palace. — We are requested to mention that the
Crystal Palace Company, being desirous of collecting photo¬
graphs for exhibition during the ensuing summer months, has
given permission to the South London Photographic Society to
hold its contemplated Exhibition there. Those of our readers
who are desirous of contributing thereto will find particulars of
the regulations in our Report of the South London meeting,
and any further information desired will no doubt be furnished
by our friend, Mr. A. II. Wall, Hon. Secretary of the South
London Photographic Society.
- -
ON A NEW KIND OF PHOTOGRAPHIC DISH.
By D. Van Mokckhoyek.
Last summer I devoted my particular attention to the acqui¬
sition of large proofs from small negatives : the results of my
investigations will be published in the course of the current year.
One of the chief difficulties with which I bad to contend and to
conquer was in connexion with the dishes. I operated with paper
of 44 by 3G inches dimensions. I found it impossible to albu-
menise these sheets when dry ; but, after having left them for a
fortnight in a very damp cellar, the albumen took better, though
still not in a satisfactory manner. There was also another diffi¬
culty with regard to the dishes. In fact with dishes having glass
bottoms it is requisite to have the plates of glass and frames very
thick, which cause the dishes to be excessively heavy, and in
addition fragile. It is desirable therefore to find some other kind.
Here then are dishes which cost scarcely anything, which can be
used for baths of all kinds, and which can be carried with the
greatest ease, being extremely light in weight.
For some years past there has been made, especially in England,
a fabric coated with India-rubber, and which, besides costing only
tenpence per square foot, is made light and completely impermeable.
Neither the silver bath, nor cyanide of potassium, nor hyposulphite
of soda will attack it or remove even the glaze. It is with this
material that waterproof clothing is made. The cutting only is
difficult; but, as it is wide and very long, it is possible with it to
make enormous dishes, and this is how to do it : — Procure a board
of the length and breadth of the desired dish, and attach to its
edges, with hinges, sides of a breadth equal to the desired depth
of the dish. These sides are held in position against the edges by
means of hooks, so that they form a very light wooden dish, in
which the waterproof cloth is placed, carrying it right over the
edges of the wood, where it is retained by means of pins.
I believe that no one will find it an expensive dish when I say
that one of about 39 inches square has not cost me more than
eight shillings. I repeat also that it is not injured by any of the
liquids employed for photographic purposes, and that it can be
cleaned with the utmost facility.
ON BINOCULAR VISION AND THE STEREOSCOPE.*
By William B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S., &c. &c.
The first portion of this leGture was devoted to an exposition of
the principles of binocular vision, which may be briefly summed
up as follows : —
1. Objects are seen through a single eye with their proper outlines,
colours, and lights and shades, but we have no certain appreciation
of the relative distances of their different parts ; and our notion of
the projection or solidity of any object of three dimensions viewed
through a single eye is the result of a mental interpretation of its
aspect, as judged by the (virtually) flat picture formed of it on the
retina. — In illustration of this position the lecturer directed the
attention of his audience to a series of photographs of various works
of art in relievo , which, when viewed with one eye in such a manner
that the “mount” was cut off and nothing but the photograph
was visible, impressed the mind with the assured conviction of
solidity, no stereoscopic relief being more perfect. He also pointed
out that the characters of particular surfaces come out much more
strongly in this manner than they do when the photograph is
viewed with both eyes jointly: thus the metallic lustre of a pair
of bronze gates was made most unmistakeably apparent in one
picture, and the glister of a pool of water on the sandy shore in
another. Every single photograph, the lecturer remarked, should
be looked at with one eye only, because it is essentially the repre¬
sentation of the object or scene as seen with one eye. When we
use both eyes we are forced to recognise the flatness of the picture,
and the illusion is destroyed. — A yet more remarkable proof of the
* A lecture delivered at tlie London Institution on March 19th, 18(32,
April 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
123
want of power of the single eye to appreeiate the true nature of
solid forms was shown by the lecturer. The interior of a paper
mask, painted like the exterior, was placed in such a manner as to
be viewed with one eye only, the light being so thrown into it as
to avoid shadow ; and every one who thus looked at it was im¬
pressed with the belief that he saw the projecting exterior of the
mask — this “ conversion of relief” being the result of an erroneous
mental interpretation of the (virtually) flat picture really seen.
2. The certainty of the appreciation which we form of the
solidity of any near object of three dimensions, when we look at it
with both eyes conjointly, essentially depends upon our receiving
from it two dissimilar images with the two eyes respectively, and
upon our mental combination of those images. This is proved by
experiments precisely the converse of the preceding ; for, if we
draw two outline perspectives of any geometrical solid as it pre¬
sents itself to each eye respectively, and then place these two dis¬
similar pictures in an instrument which shall throw their images
upon the corresponding points of the two retinae, so far is the dis¬
similarity of these pictures from being a source of confusion or
embarrassment, that it forces on our minds the resultant percep¬
tion of solidity which wo do not derive from either outline sepa¬
rately. Thus, in the subjoined figure, the visual combination of
the upper pair of perspectives gives the notion of a projecting
truncated pyramid, with the small square in the centre of the
larger one ; whilst the combination of the same two perspectives
reversed in position gives the perception of a hollow or receding
pyramid. To the instrument by which this combination may be
most conveniently made, the name “Stereoscope” (seeing solid) Avas
given by its inventor, Mr. Wheatstone. Two forms of this instru¬
ment are in general use: — the reflecting stereoscope of Mr. Wheat¬
stone, and the lenticular stereoscope of Sir David Brewster. As the
respective claims of these two eminent men of science in regard to
this invention have lately been again brought under discussion, the
lecturer thought it right to place before his audience the real facts
of the case. [The notes and some parts of the text of what follows
were omitted in the delivery of the lecture from want of time.]
Thus, then, in the invention of the Stereoscope, three separate
stages may be distinguished ; and I am anxious to fix your atten¬
tion upon these, since your right estimation of the respective
merits of the two principal claimants will depend upon your precise
perception of what each has contributed to the general result: —
1st. The recognition of the fact that the images of any near object
of three dimensions seen by the right and left eyes respectively
are sensibly different , in virtue of the dissimilarity of the two retinal
perspectives.
2nd. The conception of the idea that the dissimilarity of the retinal
pictures of such an object, so far from being a cause of embarrass¬
ment, is actually the most certain source of our appreciation of its
solidity or projection.
3rd. The experimental verification of that idea, by an instrumen¬
tal contrivance for throwing on the two retinae the two dissimilar
perspectives of the solid, and causing them visually tocoalesce, so as
to impress the mind with the image of a single object in vivid relief.
Now it may be freely admitted that in the first of these posi¬
tions there is no essential novelty. Every person of common
observation is aware that the visual image of any near object of
three dimensions sensibly varies with the position of his eye, so
that by moving bis head a few inches he obtains a view of it
different from that which he had before; and hence every one who had
either thought of the matter, or had made the simple experiment of
looking at a projecting solid first with one eye then with the other,
may have so far anticipated the invention of the stereoscope as to
have recognised the dissimilarity of the two images so received.
That recognition, however, seems for the most part to have had
reference to the fact that more of the right side of a projecting
object could be seen with the right eye, and more of the left
side with the left eye. Thus I have been informed by por¬
trait painters that they were quite aware of their being able
to see further round the face with both eyes than they could with
either one; and it was pointed out by Harris, nearly a century ago,
that — “by the parallax, on account of the distance betwixt our
eyes, we can distinguish, besides the front part, the two sides of a
near object not thicker than the said distance, and this gives a
visible relievo to such objects, which helps greatly to raise or
detach them from the plane in which they lie : thus the nose on the
face is more remarkably reused by our seeing both sides of it cd once."
Now this is the very nearest approach to the second principle
that has been yet found in any of the older writers on vision ; and
to what does it actually amount? Really to nothing more than
an imperfect recognition of the first. For you will observe that
Harris makes no mention of the necessary dissimilarity of the
retinal pictures of every near object of three dimensions, but merely
states that by means of the parallax of the two eyes — that is, of
the difference of their points of view — we are enabled by their con¬
joint use to see both sides of any object not thicker than their
distance; and to objects of such thickness or breadth he expressly
limits his statement.
Of the second idea, which constitutes the essential principle of the
stereoscope, I unhesitatingly affirm that no real trace has yet been
detected in the works of any writer on Optics or on Vision
anterior to 1832. To Sir D. Brewster it was most assuredly quite
unknown ; as is evident, not only from the absence of the slightest
hint of it in that part of his Natural Magic (1833) in which lie
treats of the curious phenomena I have described to you under
the name of “conversions of relief,” and in the section of his
Optics (1831) in which he treats of binocular vision,* but also from
the very high appreciation lie at first expressed (as I shall pre¬
sently show you) both of the novelty and ingenuity of Mr. 'Wheat¬
stone’s invention; and this not only on its first promulgation, but
after having had ample time to look into the history of the subject.
Of this second principle the earliest public enunciation is contained
in the 3rd edition of Mr. Herbert Mayo’s Outlines of Human Phy¬
siology ; published in 1833. That author, who was at the time a
colleague of Mr. Wheatstone, as a professor at King’s College, in
a short notice of Mr. W.’s experimental researches on binocular
vision, describes the following (p. 288) as one of their most remark¬
able results: — “ A solid object being so placed as to be regarded
by both eyes, projects a different perspective figure on each retina :
now if these two perspectives be actually copied on paper, and
presented one to each eye, so as to fall on corresponding parts, the
original solid figure will be apparently reproduced in such a man¬
ner that no effort of the imagination can make it appear as a re¬
presentation on a plane surface.”
In this extract we have the clearest evidence not only of the
distinct conception of the essential principle of the stereoscope, but
also of the experimental verification of it ; and it has been admitted
by Sir D. Brewster himself, f as proving that “Mr. Wheatstone was
acquainted with the principle of the stereoscope in 1833,” though it
makes no mention of any instrumental method of combining the pic •
tures. Mr. Wheatstone, however, has furnished the unimpeachable
testimony of the late Mr. 'Murray X to the fact of his having
completed his invention, both of the “reflecting ” and of the “piis-
matic refracting ” stereoscope in the year 1832. And I have my¬
self seen a letter from Mr. Martin, the son of the painter of
Belshazzar's Feast, in which lie recalls to Mr. Wheatstone's
recollection the fact of his having made drawings for his stereo¬
scopes, when the instrument was first exhibited by Mr. W heat-
* Although an image of every visible object is formed on the retina of each eye, yet
when the two eyes are capablcof directing their axes to any given object, it always
appears single. There is no doubt that, in one sense, we really see two objects, but
these objects appear as one, in consequence ot the one occupying exactly the Mine place
as the other.” (Op. Cit.. p. 300). Sir D. lhewster could scarcely have written these last
words if he had even thought of the dissimilarity of the two retinal pictures; far less
if he had arrived at the faintest conception that in this dissimilarity lies the source of
the binocular perception of solidity.
+ See his letter in The Times , dated Oct. 22, 18->0.
t The following letter from tire late Mr. Murray (of the well-known firm of Murray
and Heath) who was formerly assistant to Mr. Xuvman, the celebrated philosophical
instrument maker, of Regent Street, was published by Mr. Wheatstone in The Times, in
a letter dated October -JO, ISofi “ From an examination of the accounts furnished to you
by Mr. Newman, <f Regent Street, during the time I was in his establishment, and which
were prepared by myself, I am enabled to assign tlie date of my first knowledge of your
stereoscopes, both with reflecting mirrors and refracting prisms, to the latter part ot 1832.
124
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1802
stone in the private circle of his friends ; and in which he states
that from particular circumstances he is able to fix the date of
this occurrence in the winter of 1832. Sir D. Brewster, who has
admitted it to be obvious that Mr. Wheatstone did combine the pic¬
tures before 1833, and has further expressed his readiness to “place
implicit confidence in Mr. Wheatstone’s statement that he did it by-
means of the reflecting instrument,” can hardly repudiate Mr.
Wheatstone's assertion, backed by such independent testimony, as to
the completeness of the invention of the “refracting” as well as of the
“reflecting” stereoscope as far back as the year 1832 ; notwith¬
standing that it was not until 1838 that Mr. Wheatstone com¬
municated to the Royal Society his first series of Contributions
to the Physiology of Vision , in which the reflecting stereoscope was
fully described and its principle investigated. That he should not
have earlier found time to record his researches in the form he
deemed best for their publication is not surprising, when we bear
in mind that during this interval he was engaged not only in a
great variety of the most important scientific inquiries, but in the
prosecution of those labours which resulted in the Electric Tele¬
graph. And it is also to be borne in mind that the photographic
art was not at that time capable of furnishing for the stereoscope
those marvellous pictures which now constitute its principal source
of interest : so that, for several years after the invention of that
instrument, its use was limited to mere outline diagrams of
geometrical solids, and to such perspective representations of real
or imaginary scenes as the comparatively imperfect labours of the
draughtsman could furnish.
It will scarcely be credited by those who are only acquainted
with Sir D. Brewster’s later writings on this subject, that no one
was more ready in the first instance to recognise the merits of Mr.
Wheatstone’s invention than Sir D. Brewster himself ; for the
stereoscope having been brought by Mr. Wheatstone before the
physical section of the British Association, at its meeting in 1838,
we find in the Atheneeum of Sept. 8th the following statement of
what passed on that occasion : — “ Sir D. Brewster was afraid that
the members could scarcely judge from the very brief and modest
account given of this principle, and the instrument, devised for
illustrating it, by Professor Wheatstone, of its extreme beauty and
generality. He considered it one of the most valuable optical
papers which had ever been presented to the section.” If any
confirmation of his then opinion be needed, it is furnished by Sir
John Herschel, who followed up Sir D. Brewster’s commendation
by characterising Mr. Wheatstone’s discovery as “ one of the most
curious and beautiful for its simplicity in the entire range of ex¬
perimental optics.” The interest which was taken by Sir D.
Brewster in the new line of inquiry thus opened up is evidenced
by the memoirs on the subject which he successively communicated
to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1843 and subsequent years.
In these he discussed the theory of binocular vision, on the basis
of his own previous doctrines, endeavouring to show that the
phenomena of the stereoscope are to be explained by the optical
rather than by the mental relations of the images ; and he also
pointed out various additional means of producing stereoscopic
effects ; but he did not then , even whilst controverting Mr. Wheat¬
stone’s theoretical conclusions, say a single word in disparagement
of his claim, either to the discovery of the essential principle of
the stereoscope, or to the invention of the instrument itself. In
fact, it would be difficult to give stronger testimony in Mr. Wheat¬
stone’s favour than the following, spontaneously offered by Sir D.
Brewster in his memoir of 1843 : — “ In prosecuting this subject,
my attention has been particularly fixed upon the interesting paper
of my distinguished friend Professor Wheatstone, ‘ On some
remarkable and hitherto unobserved Phenomena of Binocular
Vision.’ It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this paper,
or to admire too highly the value and beauty of the leading discovery
which it describes — namely , the perception of an object of three dimen¬
sions by the union of the two dissimilar pictures formed on the retina .”
Among the various means devised by Sir David Brewster for the
combination of the two perspective projections, one was selected
by him as alike simple and easy in its construction, effective
and convenient in its application — namely, the substitution for the
mirrors of the reflecting stereoscope* of the two halves of a double
* A refracting stereoscope with prisms had been constructed, as we have seen, by Mr.
Wheatstone in 1832 ; and, according to Sir D. Brewster’s own canon that “priority of
.ubiicntion is not priority of invention,” Mr. Wheatstone is entitled to the full merit of
laving devised t'.at arrangement, although he did not make it public until 1852. And
I nn assured by Mr. Malone, who executed the photographs sold by Mr. Newman for the
refl.-rtin* stereoscope as fur back as the year 1840, that there existed at that time in Mr.
New man's shop a refracting stereoscope of Mr. Wheatstone's construction, with a pair of
h ■' s placed above it to magnify the pictures. Into the question whether or not Sir D.
“ •'« Uor had or had not become acquainted with this instrument, I do not think it desir-
II ' ' rinee it mainly turns upon the nature of the private communications which
l’-‘ iSC<1 between the=c two gentlemen, whilst still in friendly relation with each other.
convex lens, separated and turned back to back, so as to form two
lenticular prisms : these form on the two eyes magnified images of
the two pictures placed respectively before each, and, at the same
time, bring these images into visual coalescence. An instrument
constructed upon this plan for Sir D. Brewster, by the late Mr.
Andrew Ross, was exhibited at the meeting of the British Associa¬
tion in 1849; but it did not attract at first much attention on the
part either of scientific men or of manufacturing opticians, and Sir
D. Brewster had to seek in Paris for an appreciation of his lenti¬
cular stereoscope which it failed to obtain in this country. lie
was fortunate enough to convince the eminent optician, M. Duboscq,
of the practical value of his modification ; and the instruments
displayed by that maker in the International Exhibition of 1851,
together with the beautiful photographic pictures which were
shown by its means, excited an interest on the part of the public,
which soon, as has been truly said, “ warmed into a passion which
has scarcely since cooled down.” No one can be more ready than
I am myself to recognise the obligation of the public to Sir D.
Brewster for the vast amount of instruction and enjoyment which
it has derived from those varied applications of his lenticular stereo¬
cope, which the simultaneous development of the photographic art
has made so familiar. But, in estimating the amount of that obli¬
gation, we must not lose sight of what is primarily due to Mr.
AVheatstone ; and it is with great regret that I have now to call
your attention to the singular change which took place in Sir D.
Brewster’s appreciation of Mr. Wheatstone’s merits and claims at
the time when his own came into competition with them. The
first announcement of this change was made in the North British
Review for May, 1852, in an article of which the ostensible purpose
was to exalt its author,* Sir D. Brewster, at the expense of Mr.
Wheatstone ; the assertion being then for the first time put forward
that the essential principle of the stereoscope had been enunciated
whole centuries previously by several writers on optics ; so that (it
was asserted) Mr. Wheatstone could claim no more than the merit
of contriving a clumsy method of carrying that principle into
operation, which had been completely superseded by the re¬
viewer’s own more simple, more convenient, and more effective
instrument. The following is the opening paragraph of this
article : —
“ The history of science presents us with numerous cases where an important
idea or an ingenious invention have long failed to attract the attention they
have merited, and where the development of the one, and the improvement of
the other, were requisite to bring them into public notice or practical use. An
original idea may derive all its importance from the discovery of its useful ap¬
plication, and a rude instrument may be forgotten by all but its author, till a
more fortunate inventor reproduces it under a new form, and with more
valuable and extensive properties.”
The reviewer then alludes to the history of the microscope and
the telescope, and thus continues : —
“ Like these valuable inventions, the stereoscope has had its infancy and its
manhood. At first a simple experiment exhibited with a rude and imperfect
apparatus, it was soon forgotten ; and it was not till the discovery of its true
theory and its valuable applications, and till the invention of new combinations
by which these applications were to be effected, that it was brought into public
notice, and made one of the most popular and interesting instruments which
science has presented to the arts.”
Now, so far was tho original reflecting stereoscope of Mr.
Wheatstone from being “a rude and imperfect apparatus,” that,
for the purposes of scientific investigation, as well as for the pro¬
duction of the finest stereoscopic effects, it remains unrivalled by
the lenticular ; and nothing but its want of portability and the
comparative costliness of the large photographic pictures it is
fitted to exhibit, prevent its superiority from being generally
recognised. So far, again, was Mr. Wheatstone’s invention from
being “soon forgotten,” that it has been specially noticed, and its
importance fully appreciated, in every standard treatise on phy¬
siology I am acquainted with — English, French, or German, — and in
nearly every work of authority upon physical optics, from 1840 to
the present time, besides being exhibited and commented on to
their classes by the best-informed teachers both of physiology and
of physical science in every country. Further, Mr. Wheatstone
himself was continuing his researches in the same direction ; and
in 1852 he communicated to the Royal Society a second series of
researches on binocular vision, which, for their scientific merit, and
for their important bearing on the most interesting questions of
the psychology as well as the physiology of the visual sense
(questions too recondite to be generally intelligible), leave Sir D.
* Although this article was anonymous, the subsequent incorporation of a large part
of it into Sir I). Brewster's Treatise on the Stereoscope not only removes any doubt as to
its authorship, v hich might have been suggested by its tone of self-laudation to those
who are unacquainted with Sir D. Brewster’s style, but fully justifies me in publicly
attributing its authorship to him.
April 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
125
Brewster and his purely optical investigations far behind.* And 1
can assert, from my own knowledge, that the production of those
stereoscopic photographs which have given quite a new value to
the instrument had been accomplished, not only privately by Mr.
Fox Talbot, on Mr. Wheatstone’s suggestion, but by those who
practised photography as a matter of business, some time before
there is any evidence that Sir D. Brewster turned his attention to the
matter. So much, then, for the extraordinary assertion that but for
Sir D. Brewster the stereoscope would have been “ soon forgotten.”
I shall not detain you with examining at any length the
assertions of Sir D. Brewster in regard to the approximations to
the essential principle of the stereoscope which he affirms to be
discernible in the works of previous writers. You may judge of
the honesty of his representations by these two facts: — that he
makes out from the words of Harris (which I just now read to you)
that he had come to perceive as a general fact that “ the relievo is
produced by the combination of the tv/o dissimilar pictures given
by each [either] eye,” whereas Harris says no such thing, but
something essentially different ; and that he asserts that Aguilo-
nins was acquainted with the dependence of the appearance of
solidity upon the dissimilarity of the pictures of the objects, when
the fact is that the solids (ra crrepea) of which Aguilonius speaks
are not actual solid objects, but the imaginary solids formed by
lines drawn between the angles of the objects (which may be
plane surfaces) and the eye. Aguilonius was puzzled by the dis¬
similarity of these crrepea when the object is placed nearer to one
eye than to the other; and attributes the union of the two dis¬
similar pictures to a “common sense,” without the slightest hint
of the notion that in this union lies the essential cause of our
perception of solidity. f It is not a little singular, moreover, that
Aguilonius, like Euclid, Galen, Baptista Porta, Leonardi da Vinci,
and other writers who discussed the subject of binocular vision,
drew their illustrations from objects with rounded surfaces, such as
spheres or cylindrical columns. These, it is obvious, are the very
last objects they would have chosen if they had wished to draw
attention to the dissimilarity of the perspective projections; since
the retinal picture of any such object placed equally in front of both
eyes will be identical , except as regards any shadows its surface
may present.
_ Let me cite, with reference to these and other asserted anticipa¬
tions of Mr. Wheatstone’s discovery of the essential principle
of stereoscopic vision, the following very true remark, long since
made by a distinguished scientific man with regard to a beautiful
invention of his own, of the merit of which he complained that
others were attempting to deprive him : — “It has always been the
fate of new inventions to have their origin referred to some remote
period ; and those who labour to enlarge the boundaries of science,
or to multiply the means of improvement, are destined to learn, at
a very early period of their career, that the desire of doing justice
to the living is a much less powerful principle than that of being
generous to the dead.” You would scarcely anticipate from what
has gone before that the invention to which these remarks apply
was the Kaleidoscope, and that the inventor was Sir D. Brewster !
Surely a scientific man who had himself suffered from the depre¬
ciation of which he thus complains, should be the last to practise
it towards a brother philosopher whose discoveries he had at first
so warmly appreciated.
Before quitting the subject of these asserted anticipations, I
must draw your attention to certain statements recently put
forth by Sir D. Brewster in regard to two drawings by an Italian
artist of the sixteenth century named Chimenti, which are pre¬
served in the Museum at Lille, and which were reported to Sir D.
Brewster as being apparently right and left-hand pictures suitable
for the stereoscope, and as producing an effect of relief when
superposed by the convergence of the optic axes. On the strength
of this report he publicly committed himself to the assertion that
these pictures must have been drawn for the purpose, and that their
existence distinctly proves the principle of the stereoscope to have
been known to Chimenti ; and, notwithstanding the published ex¬
pression of a decided opinion on the part of the Photographic
Society of France^ that photographic copies of these drawings
* Sir D. Brewster speaks of the Pseudoscope of Mr. Wheatstone as “a most capricious
and unsatisfactory instrument, which often fails to show what it ought to show.” So far is
it from deserving this contemptuous description, that, as I have shown in the Edinburgh
Review for October, 1858, it is an instrument of the most singular value, as furnishing
the means of testing the degree of tenacity with which our minds hold to their habitual
appreciation of the forms of the several objects around us, notwithstanding the reversal
of their retinal images, which, on the purely optical doctrines of Sir D. Brewster, ought
rn every instance to produce a “ conversion of relief.”
+ In fact, he expressly states that when the object is placed directly in front of the
eyes, the crrepea or optical pyramids are similar.
1 SeeTiiE British Journal of Photography for Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, ISO©.
placed in the stereoscope do not present any true stereoscopic
relief, Sir D. Brewster has reiterated that statement in the most
positive manner a few weeks since, without having himself seen
either the originals or photographic copies of them.* Since that
time he has obtained such copies ; and. he now repeats as positive
facts — first, that the pictures are truly stereoscopic ; and, second,
that they were drawn on stereoscopic principles ; which I shall
presently show you to be two very different propositions, having
no necessary connexion.
You will yourselves have the opportunity of judging whether
these pictures do or do not give a true effect of relief; for, by the
kindness of Mr. Wheatstone, who has long had photographic copies
of them in his possession, I am enabled to exhibit them in the
stereoscope before you. In looking at them you will doubtless
observe that certain parts do present the appearance of projection,
and this is unquestionably owing to a dissimilarity of the two
pictures. There is, in fact, no more delicate test of the dissimi¬
larity of any two pictures than their stereoscopic comparison,
which will show a difference of level in the conjoint image
wherever there is the smallest departure from identity. Thus, as
Prof. Dove, of Berlin, has pointed out, a difference maybe detected
between a genuine and a forged bank note, which the most careful
ordinary comparison would not serve to distinguish ; and it has
been found to be difficult for a compositor to set up with the same
type two lines consisting of the same words, with such exactness
as not to show an inequality of level in the conjoint image when
viewed stereoscopically. Now, I am authorised to state it as the
opinion of several eminent artists, that one of the drawings in
question is the work of the master and the other an inferior copy
by a pupil ; and I am assured by some of the most eminent por¬
trait photographers of this metropolis that they are quite satisfied
that these pictures were not drawn with any idea of giving stereo¬
scopic relief. That these gentlemen do not wish their names to be
drawn into the discussion, you will readily understand from a sample
I shall presently give you of Sir D. Brewster’s mode of dealiug
with antagonists who venture to dispute his dicta. f
But even if it were true, as Sir D. Brewster and his friends of the
Photographic Society of Scotland assert, that these pictures when
combined in the stereoscope give a true effect of relief, the assump¬
tion that they were drawn to he so combined , and that Chimenti was
the “inventor of the ocular stereoscope,” is altogether gratuitous.
It seems to be altogether forgotten that, when the pupils of an
Academy are set to draw from the living model or from a statue,
any two of their drawings, done to the same scale, and from points
of view ten or twelve degrees distant, will necessarily pair in the
stereoscope, and will produce the effect of relief ; and that multi¬
tudes of such drawings have been executed from the earliest
period of art-study to the present time, without the smallest con¬
ception that such a use could be made of them. If a master and
a pupil were making two such drawings from the same model, it
would not be at all out of accordance with the practice of artists
for the master to put his name to the drawing of the pupil, touched
up (if necessary) by himself.
Having thus disposed of these asserted anticipators of Mr.
Wheatstone from among the dead, I now turn to the claimants set
up by Sir D. Brewster from among the living. Mr. Wheatstone
having found, on the publication of his second memoir in 1852,
that his first (of 1838) was far from being generally known, caused
it to be republished in the Philosophical Magazine ; and it then, for
the first time fell under the notice of Mr. Elliot, a teacher of
mathematics in Edinburgh, who forthwith announced his own
claim to priority in the idea that the union of the two dissimilar
retinal pictures is the source of our appreciation of the relative
distances of different objects. This idea, and the means of putting
it to an experimental test, occurred to him, he states, in 1834; but
he did not carry it out till 1839, and he then constructed, not a
stereoscope, but merely a pair of pictures which he superposed by
the convergence of the optic axes ; and these pictures consisted,
'In commenting upon this statement of Sir D. Brewster. I was unfortunately misled
by a letter from Prof. Kulilmann, of Lille, to Mr. Wheatstone, into charging Sir D.
Brewster with dishonesty in asserting what lie must know to be untrue from an inspec¬
tion of photographic copies of these pictures, which I believed to be in his possession.
“ This,” says Sir D. Brewster, in his usual style of invective, “ is a falsehood invented
by Dr. Carpenter.” Having given adequate authority for my statement that the photo¬
graphs had been forwarded to Sir D. Brewster, but having been assured by him that he
had not received them, I frankly retract the charge of dishonesty, and express my regret
at having been led to make it; but I do not plead guilty to having invented the falsehoodt
+ As Sir D. Brewster has assumed that Mr. Wheatstone and his friends (among whom
he includes ev< ry person who coincides with him in this opinion) cannot see the stereo¬
scopic effect of these pictures because they require transposition, I have separated and
transposed them without in the least improving the effect; and the fact that the pic¬
tures are seen nearly as well in one way as in the other — some parts being seen in relief
when they are placed L and R, and others when they are placed R and L — shows that
the pictures are not truly stereoscopic.
120
[April 1, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
hot of perspective projections of solid objects, but of landscape
sketches with three distances, which distances, by this super¬
position, were rendered distinguishable.
Thus, whilst Mr. Elliot may fairly claim to have made a very
near approximation to the essential principle of the stereoscope,
he did not apply it to the reproduction of solid forms, and did not
devise any other method than squinting at the two pictures for
bringing them into apparent superposition.
Another candidate for the same honour has more recently ap¬
peared in the person of Mr. George Maynard, formerly of Caius
College, Cambridge, now of Toronto, who published in the Toronto
Times, October 8, 1856, an article On the Bathoscopical Effects of
Binocular Vision and the Principles of the Stereoscope, which he
states to be a reproduction, with a little amplification, of an article
he had published in 1836 on the same subject.
So far as can be judged of his first article from his second and
amplified edition of it, I have not the slightest hesitation in affirm¬
ing that Mr. Maynard advanced nothing that was new to any
person acquainted with that doctrine of the appreciation of the
relative distances of near objects by the sense of convergence of
the optic axes, which has been long familiar to physiologists. Of
his knowledge even of the dissimilarity of the two retinal pictures
1 can discover no distinct indication. That the union of these two
dissimilar pictures has any connexion with our notion of solidity,
there is not the faintest hint ; and to the invention of any kind of
stereoscope Mr. Maynard puts forward no claim whatever. Thus,
therefore, he is really out of the field.
Let me now recall to your recollection the following dates, the
accuracy of which is beyond all reasonable question : —
In 1832 Mr. Wheatstone completed the construction both of the
reflecting and of the prismatic refracting stereoscopes.
In 1833 Mr. Wheatstone published in Mr. H. Mayo’s Physiology
the essential principle of the stereoscope.
In 1834 Mr. Elliot states that he thought of an approximation to
the essential principle of the stereoscope, and of a means of
experimentally testing it.
In 1836 Mr. Maynard published a paper which related simply to
the estimation of distances by the conjoint use of two eyes.
In 1838 Mr. Wheatstone published a full account of his investiga¬
tions on binocular vision, and of his invention of the reflecting
stereoscope.
In 1839 Mr. Elliot experimentally tested, by the ocular super¬
position of two pictures, his imperfect notion of the principle of
the stereoscope ; but he did not invent a stereoscope of any kind.
In 1849 Sir D, Brewster published his invention of the lenticular
stereoscope.
In 1852 Mr. AVheatstone published his invention (actually com¬
pleted in 1832) of the prismatic refracting stereoscope.
In 1852 Mr. Elliot prublished an account of his experiment of 1839.
Thus it is obvious that alike in the conception, the verification , and
the publication of the essential principle of the stereoscope, Mr. Wheat¬
stone's priority is indisputable ; and you will scarcely be prepared to
credit me when I state that within the last few weeks it has been
asserted by Sir D. Brewster, with a full knowledge of those dates,
that “ Professor Elliot and perhaps Mr. Maynard have as good a
chum as Mr. Wheatstone to the invention of the stereoscope.”
ri his extraordinary assertion affords a melancholy proof of the
extent to which a perverse determination to see things in a wrong
light can carry a man, whose scientific eminence and academical
position give a weight to his assertions in public estimation which
ought to make him doubly, triply careful of their correctness.
W bile Sir D. Brewster was thus doing all in his power to depre¬
ciate Mr. \\ heatstone’s scientific merits, and at the same time to
exalt his own— so as to endeavour to make it appear that his own
claims as the inventor of the lenticular stereoscope were at least on a
level with those of the real discoverer of the essential principle of
Hlcrcoscopic vision— he did not venture himself to put forward a
claim to the invention of the stereoscope. This claim, however, was
put tort h in his behalf by the “London Stereoscopic Company,”
which was established not long after the Great Exhibition of 1851,
and which advertised most extensively in the periodicals and serials
of the time in terms like the following : —
“LONDON STEREOSCOPIC COMPANY.
“No Home without a Stereoscope.
“ This delightful invention of Sir D. Rrewsteu’s is unapproached for the
exquisite entertainment it affords in the social and domestic circle,” &c., &c.
W ith variations according to season and circumstances, this
’ u: rtisement was repeated, not merely for months but for years
; y of it in the Athenaeum for December, 20th, 1856) ;
l!l aak any person who is competent to understand the meaning
of language, whether it does not most explicitly claim for Sir D.
Brewster the whole merit of the invention of the stereoscope f The
advertisement has been recently justified by Sir D. Brewster* and
by Mr. Nottage (the manager of the London Stereoscopic Company)
on the ground that it was intended to apply solely to the particular
instrument manufactured and sold by that company, and that, as
they did not manufacture or sell Mr. Wheatstone’s instrument, they
were in no way called upon to include it in their advertisement.
Such an excuse, as you must at once see, could only be admissible
if the Stereoscopic Company had announced itself as “ established
for the sale of Sir D. Brewster’s Lenticular Stereoscope,” and had
expressly limited their claim in his hehalf to the invention of that
instrument. There -was no reason why they should be required to
manufacture and advertise Mr. Wheatstone’s reflecting stereoscope
if they did not find it to their commercial interest to do so ; but
there was a reason why they should not have announced Sir D.
Brewster as the inventor of the stereoscope — namely, that truth
and honesty forbad their doing so. If their advertisement was
justifiable, then, if Mr. Wheatstone were to construct a new form
of kaleidoscope, and a company were to he established for its
manufacture and sale, he might be rightly advertised as the inven¬
tor of the kaleidoscope ; so the inventor of the screw-propeller might
claim to have introduced steam navigation ; and every person who
devises a new telegraph instrument is to be regarded as the inven¬
tor of the electric telegraph.
What has been the effect of this reiteration on the popular mind,
I have had abundant opportunities of judging. f That large portion
of the public press which had no special information on the subject
accepted the statement as an uncontrovcrted fact, and, of course,
carried their readers along with them; while they furnished the
advertisements of the “ London Stereoscopic Company ” with
choruses of praise to Sir D. Brewster and the company, of which
I give you the following sample : —
“ The two become one, and produce effects unknown to art. No family or
school should be without one. It is one of the wonders of our age.” — Britannia.
“ Sir David Brewster, for this charming discovery, deserves the thanks of the
nation.” — Morning Chronicle.
The collocation of these two sentences is not mine, but is that of
the advertiser;! and I put it to you what other possible meaning
their union can convey, than that Sir D. Brewster deserves the
thanks of the nation for the charming discovery that the two
become one, and produce effects unknown to art ?
I fearlessly ask, then, if I have gone one whit beyond the facts
of the case in asserting that Sir D. Brewster not only “permitted
others to represent him as the inventor of the stereoscope, Ӥ but
that “ he has allowed his own hook to be made the medium of
diffusing, year after year, an advertisement virtually attributing to
himself the invention of the stereoscope, which he well knew to be
untrue ? ” ||
Of the effect of this continued misrepresentation upon the public
mind, we have a signal exemplification in the fact that Mr. Thomas
Jones Barker last year advertised a picture entitled The Intellect
and Valour of England, in which English intellect was typified by
Sir D. Brewster announcing to a group “ his discovery of the
stereoscope.” Sir D. Brewster states that, immediately on seeing
this advertisement in The Times, he wrote to Mr. Barker, informing
him that he was “not the discoverer of the stereoscope, but only
the inventor of the lenticular stereoscope now in universal use,”
and he forwarded a copy of this letter to The Times, in whose
crowded columns its brevity might readily cause it to be overlooked
by others, as it was by myself. Sir D. Brewster seems to think
that this tardy disavowal should be sufficient to remove from the
public mind that erroneous impression of his claim to the invention
* “ The Company,” says Sir D. Brewster, “manufactured and sold my stereoscope, and
their advertisement of it was literally and perfectly correct.”
t Thus, in the article “ Stereoscope,” in Knight's English Cyclopaedia, we find all that
Mr. Wheatstone has done dismissed in a few lines, with the statement, given on Sir D.
Brewster’s authority, that “ writers in every age knew the two facts that the pictures on
the retinae of the two eyes are dissimilar, and that by the union of these two flat distinct
pictures we obtain the vision of solids;” whilst nearly a column is devoted to the account
of Sir D. Brewster’s own contributions to the inquiry, which are treated as of much
higher value.
t They are thus placed at the head of a Catalogue of Binocular Pictures of the London
Stereoscopic Company , which is bound up with Sir D. Brewster’s Treatise on the Stereo¬
scope (published in 1856), and which is issued in every copy of that book sold across Mr.
Murray’s counter to the present time, as I have lately taken means to verify.
S This assertion I made explicitly more than three years ago in the pages of the
Edinburgh Review; yet Sir D. Brewster took no notice of it whatever, until, in a lecture
recently delivered at Bristol, I used a very strong term of reprobation in reference to the
claims he has put forward, and allowed others to put forward in his behalf. The word
“nefarious” was uttei'ed without due premeditation ; and I gladly avail myself of this
opportunity of expressing my regret that it escaped me. I most certainly should not
have used it, had I been aware of the disclaimer which Sir D. Brewster inserted in
The 'Times of .Tune last.
li Letter to the Bristol Baity Post, Feb. 12, 1862.
April 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
127
of “ the stereoscope,” which he affects to attribute to the fact of
his being “ the inventor of the lenticular stereoscope, and the first
person that gave the true theory of the stereoscope ” (as regards
which last point he may not, being an interested party, be an im¬
partial judge) ; and he not only altogether refuses to admit that
the continued reiteration of the claim in his behalf, explicitly put
forth and extensively diffused for nearly ten years by the London
Stereoscopic Company, has had anything to do with it, but he
so far justifies and sanctions that claim as to encourage its con¬
tinuance !
I put it to you, therefore, whether it is not due to Mr. Wheat¬
stone that those scientific men who have studied this question, and
who have followed all the stages of it from its commencement,
should freely express their convictions upon the subject, without
being deterred by the unsparing vituperation which Sir D. Brewster
considers to be the language befitting his scientific and academical
position.
It is doubtless unpleasant to be styled (as I have lately been*)
“malignant, vulgar, and coarse,” and to be held up to public
odium as the “ malicious ” utterer of the “ grossest untruths with
every opening of his mouth ;” but I had much rather put up Avith
this, than shrink from the advocacy of a cause Avliich I am satisfied
to be that of truth and justice. I have been asked Avhy I have
specially put myself forward in behalf of Mr. Wheatstone, instead
of leaving him to fight his own battle? I reply, simply, that I
have had so strong an interest in his researches on Binocular Vision,
from the first announcement of their results nearly thirty years
since, to the enunciation of those of still higher importance —
psychologically as well as physiologically — contained in his second
memoir, that I should be doing violence to my sense of right if I
did not give him such support as my advocacy can afford. I have
no personal quarrel Avith Sir D. Brewster, f and have no umvortby
purpose to serve by disputing his assertions. He might Avell rest
on his OAvn Avell-earned fame, Avithout refusing to others Avhat they
may justly claim. But Avhenever I see a man, however eminent in
position or distinguished for attainments, using his prestige with
the public either to grasp what is not his oavh or to detract from the
merits of another, I feel strongly moved by the English love of fair
play to strike a blow in defence of the assailed party — Avhoever lie
may be — and to aim it Avith more vigour in proportion to the
measure of injustice attempted ; and I consider it the more incum¬
bent upon any scientific friend of Mr. Wheatstone to speak openly
and fearlessly upon the points in dispute, because he is Avell knoAvn
to have his OAvn mind so constantly engrossed by researches of the
greatest importance to public as Avell as private interests, as to have
but little time or thought to spare for the defence of his purely
scientific claims. The philosopher to Avhom (more than to any
other living man) Ave OAve the Electric Telegraph, is one Avliose
righteous cause any one may be proud to advocate.
MICROSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHY,}
By A. L. Neyt.
The attractive and mysterious study of the infinite minutenesses of
creation, by the microscope, has induced me to seek some practical
method as a substitute for drawing by the hand or by means of the
camera lucida — a method at the same time more rapid and more
exact. Up to the present time microscopists desiring to publish
their observations are constrained to draw them and entrust to
engravers Avho are strangers to the science the task of retracing
these designs. In this Avay the most important details arc often
neglected or inaccurately rendered; for it is very difficult to an
artist, and even to many microscopic observers, to avoid giving
their oavh conceptions Avhen they desire to depict those parts which
the microscope has not perfectly resolved. From Avhencc it arises
that neAv discoveries often give rise to discussions, and, as it is
difficult to preserve an object sometimes more than a feAv hours, it
becomes impossible to submit it for the examination of other ob¬
servers, Avith the object of arriving at a definite conclusion on the
subject. I haAre thought that photography could remove these
* See Sir D. Brewster’s recent letters to the Bristol Daily Post.
+ Sir D. Brewster has endeavoured to make it appear that my charges against him in
regard to the stereoscope have been put forward in retaliation for his criticism (in the
North British Review for 1856) on my Manual, entitled The Microscope and its licve-
lations. In this imputation he seems to judge of my motives by his own — the fact being
that I had felt called on to express myself pretty strongly upon the injustice of his
claims in the fourth (1S53) and fifth (1S55) editions of my Human Physiology, long before
the appearance of the critique in question. The remarks I there made were prompted
(I well recollect) by the article to which I have referred in the North British Bevieiv for
185-,, and by the reiteration of the advertisement of the London Stereoscopic Company,
attributing to Sir D. Brewster the invention of the stereoscope,
t From the Bulletin Beige do la PUotographie.
obstacles by furnishing a rapid and faithful means of reproducing
the observations made by the microscope.
At the time I commenced my researches I Avas not aAvare that
M. Bertsch, of Paris, Avho has rendered much service to science, had
previously produced several photographs of microscopic objects.
An English photographer, and also another in Munich, have been
equally occupied in tin's direction ; but no one lias at present repro¬
duced living animalcules, such as infusoria , and it is upon this branch
of the science that I have directed my efforts. I Avould here sub¬
join some examples of my labours.
The apparatus Avhicli I have employed is the heliographic
microscope of M. Bertsch, constructed by M. Hartnack, a Avortliy
successor of the celebrated Oberhaeuser, bis uncle. This instru¬
ment is Avonderfully perfect both in its mechanical and optical
arrangements. The-general aspect is similar to an ordinary solar
microscope. It may be divided into the following parts : —
The mirror Avith parallactic movement, used to reflect the solar
rays in a constant direction, is replaced by a large prism Avliich
gives a complete reflection and offers less resistance to the Avind.
It is, therefore, beautifully steady. The effect of reflecting mirrors
is lost at a distance on account of their being tinned. The achro¬
matic condensing lens is 2f inches in diameter ; in the focus of
Avliich are placed three converging lenses, Avhich may be moved
either separately or together, according to the poAver of the object-
glasses employed.
I have attached to this, two diverging lenses complementary to
the focus of the condensing lens in order to obtain a ray of parallel
light in those cases Avhere lenses of large field are used, such as are
necessary to obtain great sharpness. The apparatus is achroma-
tised in such a Avay as to make the yellow and violet rays coincide,
these latter being the actinic rays. In ordinary apparatus, as is
Avell known, it is the yellow and red rays Avliich are reunited ; but
in this case too much heat is developed on the object to be repro¬
duced : besides Avliich, Ave should haA'e a visual focus Avliich Avould
not correspond Avith the chemical focus, and this Avould give rise
to an almost insurmountable difficulty in focussing, an operation
always sufficiently delicate, Avithout the addition of obstructions
Avhich may he avoided. The microscope constructed by Hartnack
transmits all the rays horizontally : Ave are obliged, therefore, to
work on a vertical plane, Avhicli is very troublesome Avhen operating
on liquids, such as is necessary to be done in reproducing infusoria.
The little glass Avhich covers the object is retained, it is true, by
the drop of Avater ; bu1-, if it be a little too heavy, the whole of it
slides insensibly from its normal position, and hinders the Avork.
If this do not happen there is yet another obstacle Avhich presents
itself. The Avater has a tendency to form near the edges of the thin
covering glass a greater depth than at the centre — that is, it accu¬
mulates at the edges by capillary attraction. The animalcules seek
refuge incessantly in this greater depth of Avater, finding here
greater liberty, and they are, consequently, always going out of
the field. To obviate this inconvenience I have brought the plane
of the instrument into a horizontal position, interposing under the
focus an illuminating prism, and then immediately above the object-
glass a second prism (this may be in quartz and as small as pos¬
sible) Avliich sends the rays in a horizontal direction. In this way
the difficulties detailed above may be removed, and, for the re¬
mainder, they are no more than have existed hitherto. The loss
of light arising from the interposition of two prisms amounts to
nothing.
Immediately under the object are placed a graduated series of
diaphragms. I add to these, either at the point Avhere the rays
leave the instrument, if I use it horizontally or in the dark cham¬
ber (if I have it bent), a compensating prism. I throw the image
on the focussing-glass of an ordinary camera Avithout a bottom,
and I focus. This done, it remains to regulate the focus. By
varying the position which it occupies a greater or less intensity
of light may be obtained. When the focus is brought to bear
exactly on the object, the image of tlie sun is formed at the same
time upon the screen or ground-glass. By throwing the focus a
little behind, a blue point appears in the centre of the field, which,
however, disappears in the enlargement. The adjustment of the
lenses should be arrested Avhen this point spreads itself OA'er the
AA'hole surface of the image, since Ave haA'e arrived by this means
at the maximum amount of chemical illumination. The remainder
of the operation consists in receiving the image on the sensitive
surface, in the same way as in taking an ordinary portrait or land-
cape — the microscope in this instance acting as the object-glass.
While I am uncoveriug tlie sensitised glass in the camera I inter¬
cept the light by means of a yellow coloured glass, taking great
care that the room is Avell shaded from light. I then Avithdraw the
128
THE BRITISH JOUKNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1802
yellow glass suddenly in order that every part of the picture shall
be equally exposed. The length of exposure (other circumstances
being equal) varies with the enlargement required. In good sun¬
light3 a linear enlargement of twelve hundred times may be
obtained in seven or eight seconds at the most. Those of about
three hundred times do not require more than the fraction of a
second. Sometimes I replace the yellow glass by a shutter, in
which the duration of the exposure is regulated by a little wing
similar to that which is applied to the striking of a clock.
The process which I regard as the most suitable for the purpose
now under consideration is the wet collodion process. The re¬
mainder of the operations is in every respect similar to the ordi¬
nary known methods of operating.
In the reproduction of infusoria a great difficulty presents itself —
namely, their very rapid movements among themselves — the effect
of which is augmented by the enlargement. Notwithstanding the
rapidity of the operation, it is still too long to secure the vibratory
motion of the cilice. To kill them by poison is not quick enough,
and deforms and distorts some of them by convulsions. In order
to attain the object in view I have recourse to the electric spark
or to a galvanic current. I attach to the stage the two poles of a
Daniell’s battery or of a small induction coil in such a way that the
poles shall be in contact with the drop of water. The circuit is
interrupted near the source of the current which I have near my
hand. I follow the movements of the infusoria on the glass by
means of the yellow glass. When I consider the position favour¬
able, I complete the current by simple contact. The animalcule is .
killed as with a thunder-stroke in the place I have chosen. I then
expose. With a little practice this operation becomes simple and
easy.
When it is desired to reproduce objects of a yellow or brown
colour — which colour does not admit of the passage of actinic rays
— I avail myself of a small polarising apparatus, which I introduce
under the object at the point of focus. In this manner I can
modify the general tint and render it more photogenic.
The application of photography to the reproduction of microscopic
observations may be made, I think, to render great service to
science, by allowing the possibility of supplying the public at a
low price with plates illustrative of microscopic investigations, —
these plates having hitherto been of much too high a price.
It will be possible also to furnish impressions of these plates on
copper, engraved by the ingenious heliographic process of M. Clias.
Ndgre. These plates will possess incontestable accuracy and a
delicacy to which the hand of man could never attain, and would
be producible at a very much deduced price when compared to
ordinary engravings. I send with this communication some proofs
of crystals illustrating the phenomena of polarised light.
[Want of space obliges us to postpone until the next number the
expression of the high opinion we entertain of the interesting
labours of M. A. L. Neyt. — Ed. Bulletin Beige de la Photogrciphiei]
- - — <*>— -
dhljiHfiait C&assijp
THE BUILDING.
Intending to solicit the pleasure of our reader’s company in some
proposed gossipping rambles about the Great Exhibition of this
notable year, we venture to bespeak some attention for a little
preliminary gossip about sundry matters therewith connected.
In the first place, then, we have before us various photographs
of the building in which this “world’s fair” is to be held. Now,
forjudging the actual merits of any architectural work commend
us to your photograph. There is the thing ! Not as the sanguine
architect or imaginative draughtsman conceived it, butas it actually
exists ; not as we might see it from some impossible point of view,
but as we do see it from some come-at-able spot in actual existence.
Captain Phillpotts, at the Society of Arts, the other evening, read a
paper laudatory of Captain Fowke’s design, and illustrated it with
a large drawing of the building as it might possibly appear if
situated in tho midst of a vast open space, with nothing to inter¬
cept the view save one or two picturesque trees and groups of
pedestrian and equestrian figures in particularly gay attire. But
how different is the story told by these unprejudiced truth-speaking
witnesses- — these photographs ! Of what use is it to rear a building
in which insignificant parts are only lost in the finished beauty of
a magnificent whole, if as a whole it never can be seen? "You
remember Albert Smith’s story of the amateur’s photograph of
Bkmbowrg Cathedral (was it Strasbourg, by-the-by?) — it was there
you know, only you couldn't see it because of the fog. Well this
docs not appear more funny to us than tho neglect of visible parts
for the perfecting of an invisible whole ; and to this charge — on
the evidence of these dumb photographic witnesses — we fear
that Captain Fowke is open.
The critics just now are very busy, and very loud in their ex¬
pressions of opinion, favourable or adverse, cold, lukewarm, or
red hot; but all their criticism seems to be directed more or less
to the building as a whole, or, iu other words, as (save in architects
drawings and the shoals of engravings therefrom) it never will be
seen. But what say our photographs ? Let us turn to them.
These huge domes certainly have a very imposing appearance.
Their vastness is very conspicuous — in fact, too conspicuous;
for, were they better adapted to those portions of the building
which support them, it is not their size which would constitute
their most striking element of effect — for quantity is not more
valuable than quality — but rather general grandeur of effect
and beauty of proportion. A contemporary, speaking on the
same subject, says that “ enormous diameter, disproportioned to
height, is no more admirable in a building than in an alderman.”'*
And we fear (however painful and humiliating the fact may be to
such of us as are of aldermanic proportions) that this assertion
cannot be gainsaid. The domes, then, are not so fine or grand in
these sun-pictures as they seem either iu the official wood-engrav¬
ing or in Captain Phillpotts’ drawing, f but rather appear out of
keeping or harmony, looking as if they had belonged originally to
some loftier and differently-constructed building, and were here by
mistake or accident: therefore, we say again, for judging the
actual merits of any architectural work, commend us to your
photograph.
The principle facade is a very different thing when drawn from
the ideal point of view referred to and when depicted as seen fro m
the Cromwell Road, standing in a place whence the upper and
lower parts immediately before you cannot be seen at once, and
the building stretches away into perspective on your light hand
and your left. This again is very apparent in our photographs,
although not even hinted at in the ideal views. But the views
from any of the various aspects in these photographs only serve to
sti eng then the above impressions; and those of the principal entrances
situated, somewhat unusually, in the side fronts — that is to say,
in Exhibition Road and in Albert Road — do not tend to their re¬
moval.
On entering the building you perceive a peculiarity of the site
which, as the larger portionof the ediheeis intended to be permanent,
can scarcely prove an advantage, viz., that the ground it stands
on is quite four or five feet below that surrounding it, which itself
lies nearly forty feet lower than the level on which the 1851 build¬
ing stood. It is true that this will originate a very striking and
doubtless picturesque feature in the shape of a raised dais at each
entrance, from which, standing amid flowers and fountains and
other elegant decorations, we shall be first greeted on our visit
to the Exhibition with a very comprehensive and imposing view
of the greater portion of the place, with all its varied wealth of
art and industry, and its crowd of holiday visitors. Still, as
durability and comfort must prove items of considerable import¬
ance, this plan may turn out objectionable.
But, as from other sources, or from personal inspection, our reader
is doubtless familiar with all the details of the building, we shall
with a few more particulars conclude this little bit of preliminary
gossip. The building extends from the Horticultural Society’s
new gardens to the Cromwell Road in one direction, and from the
Exhibition Road to the Albert Road in another. Its external
length is 1,200 feet, and its breadth is 700 feetj— nearly double the
dimensions of the Crystal Palace of 1851. The picture galleries
will be found extending along the front of the building — right and
left as you enter — and along the east and west sides (we hope to
visit them, as photographers, in your much-esteemed company).
The nave is 80 feet wide, 1,200 feet long,£ and 100 feet high, mea¬
suring to the angle of the roof; and the two transepts, of the same
height, are 85 feet wide by 700 feet long. When we wish to visit
the courts appropriated to manufactures and to the competing
nations, we shall seek the spaces adjoining the nave, north and
south, and the galleries by the nave and transept. When we are
hungry and athirst we shall seek that locality called the refresh¬
ment department, and find it in a line parallel to the nave. When we
want photography we shall have to go here, there, and everywhere,
and take it a little meagre bit at a time, in consequence of other
* The A rt World.
t Not that their grandeur is remarkably impressive, though, even there.
I Even these measurements do not include the separate portion appropriated to ma¬
chinery, which is about 1,000 feet long by 220 broad.
I Including the vestibules under the domes.
129
April 1, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
countries insisting upon exhibiting their photography in their own
department, and under their own classification , instead of proudly
securing it the distinguished honour of appearing as Class 14 in the
English mechanical section. We have something to say, however,
in a gossip about this shortly. And here we may leave alone
the building as it now stands, for with all its faults it is un¬
doubtedly the production of a very talented gentleman; and when
we consider that this vast edifice, ranging over twenty-one acres
of ground, is the wondrous work of only twelve short months, we
ought not to criticise too closely or detect mistakes too readily.
Besides, we owe Captain Fowke some warm gratitude for his
arrangement of one of the best-lighted picture galleries in the
world — that of South Kensington. Bon jour. A. H. WALL.
“NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT, ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
By J. T. Taylor.
Who Should Get the Medal?
TilE recent award of medals for the best pictures in the Exhibition
of the Photographic Society of Scotland furnishes subject matter
for a few remarks. Among other medals, one for the best portrait
in the Exhibition was awarded to Messrs. D. 0. Hill and A.
MGlashon. Mr. Horatio Ross, in the course of making his award,
stated that he could not say how the medal should be awarded to
these two gentlemen, or whether it might not be advisable to give
two medals — one to each of them: this he stated would, he had no
doubt, be satisfactorily adjusted afterwards.
From these and other remarks it would appear that the medal
was awarded to the two gentlemen mentioned as being partners in
the production of the prize picture. How, then, comes it that at
the next meeting of the aforesaid Society we find the medal
awarded to Mr. D. 0. Hill exclusively, ignoring the claims of the
photographer and admitting those only of the artist? If the
Council had a reason for this why were the members not made
aware of it? But if their reasons would not stand investigation
would it not have been better to have dispensed with a public
presentation of the medal, and sent it privately to Mr. Hill in an
envelope ? In a purely photographic society it is surely too much
to overlook the claims of the photographer in those of the artist.
In order that the readers of The British Journal of
Photography may understand something of this matter, allow
me to state that the picture to which the prize was awarded
was a portrait of Dr. John Brown, of Rab-and-his- Friends' celebrity,
with his cousin, Dr. John T. Brown. It will be recollected
that in the notice of the Exhibition which recently appeared
in these pages, this picture was characterised by your critic
as possessing peculiar merit. Not only that, but all the other
pictures of these gentlemen were favourably noticed, both for
their artistic ability and their photographic merits. If the one
was great so was the other. The photographic difficulties in con¬
nexion with such large-sized plates were most meritoriously
encountered and successfully overcome, to say nothing of their
excellent qualities in other respects. Mr. D. 0. Hill occupies a
high social position in Edinburgh, and in his public capacity as
Secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy exercises great influence
in the artistic world. Mr. M'Glashon, on the contrary, although
most highly respected as a citizen, is by no means so prominent as
a public man ; but surely this could not have had any influence in
what many of those interested in the matter have considered a
seeming partiality in the award.
As the Photographic Society of Scotland has taken the initiative
in awarding medals for the best pictures, the remarks which follow
may be considered as upon the system generally rather than on
this Society’s policy in particular.
Two excellent papers on this subject have been contributed to
the world — the one by the Editor of this Journal, which, although
short, was exceedingly to the point ; the other by Mr. John Cratnb,
of Glasgow. The former calls attention to the anomalous pro¬
cedure adopted by a society in its determination to give a silver
medal for the prettiest picture in an Exhibition, while inventions
and discoveries in the art were to be rewarded by a bronze medal.
This scarcely requires any comment ; but let us see how it looks
when reduced to practice. The better to do this, we will assume
that collodion has not yet been published as a medium on which to
take a photograph. Paper, for landscape negatives, and silvered
plate, for positive portraits, still hold the sway ; and for the best
productions in these silver medals are awarded — when a public
benefactor appears and freely communicates a collodion process,
and for this, the labour of months, perhaps of years, the results
of mental toil and unremitting experiment — for this discovery
which gives employment to thousands, and almost revolutionises
photography, he is supposed to have received an adequate acknowr-
ledgment in the presentation of a bronze medal ; while another
man, who, it may be, by the merest haphazard, manages to take
the best of a series of pictures by this bronze process, receives as
his reward a medal in the pure Potosi metal. That the obvious
tendency of this is to discourage scientific research is evident.
If the odious distinctions of silver and bronze medals are to be per¬
sisted in by photographic societies, let me suggest an alteration in
their respective awards, and recommend that silver medals be
given for inventions and discoveries and bronze (if any medals at
all) for meritorious pictures. Who would say that a medal of the
baser metal would be a suitable acknowledgment to Sir David
Brewster for one of his inventions, by means of which an impetus
totally incalculable in its magnitude and results has been given to
photography — I allude to the refracting (or ordinary) stereoscope.
For an invention of this nature I could only suggest a medal of
gold , seeing we are unacquainted with a nobler metal.
One morning, a few years ago, I met my friend, Tom Pepper, saun¬
tering out beyond the south side of Edinburgh, with a stereoscopic
camera under his arm; and, knowing that only two days previously
he scarcely knew a camera from a lens, I accosted him — “Ilillo! Tom,
where are you bound to with the camera?” “Oh,” replied he, “I
am going to photograph — by the royalroad." “But how?” “Well,
you see, T have got a loan of Brown’s camera, which requires no
focussing, the lens being fixed at the right distance for views; and
I have bought a packet of Hill Norris’s plates, which are prepared
ready to hand, and R. A. tells me that a fine view of Craigmillar
Castle can be obtained from a gate at the south side of it : so I
intend taking the castle, which I can scarcely fail in accomplishing
if I point the camera at it.” “ Well, but how about the exposure,
and the developing, and the printing?” “That’s easy enough,”
replied Tom : “the time of exposure is printed on the packet, and
Jones, who does a trade in developing the negatives of amateurs,
will develop all mine for a trifle. Mrs. Carson, the photographic
printer, will afterwards print as many as I desire.” The result of
all this was, that Tom that morning obtained a view of such excel¬
lence that, when sent to the Formosa Exhibition, by universal con¬
sent he was awarded a medal ! For zvhatf
But a glance over Mr. Cramb’s paper* brings me back to the
original subject. The paper itself I need not criticise. Notwith¬
standing all that his brother Secretaries of the Birmingham and
South London Societies have written in reply, Mr. Cramb’s position
is felt by many — at least in Edinburgh- — to be impregnable. Mr.
Cramb, after some remarks on the tendency of competitions, urges
the propriety of the conditions of competition being laid down so
clearly that, as on a race-course or at a flower show, any one may see
who is the successful candidate. He asks — “ What is required to be
rewarded ? ” and expostulates against being asked to run a race
without knowing the course or where the winning-post is.
Now let us see how Mr. Cramb’s remarks apply to Mr. M'Glashon's
picture. A medal is awarded it : no “reason why” is announced.
The picture is the joint production of two gentlemen — one of
whom, an artist, receives the medal ; the other, who is a photo¬
grapher, is ignored. Was this medal awarded for the grouping of
Dr. John Brown and his cousin ? or was it for the photographic skill
displayed in the execution of the picture ? Whether for the one
or the other I think with Mr. Cramb that it would be well that the
conditions of competition were so definite that any one aware of
them could, by using his eyes, satisfy himself. With respect
generally to the system of giving medals, I would urge on the
Council of the Photographic Society of Scotland to consider the
propriety of discontinuing it, as its tendency is injurious. In my
own narrow circle of acquaintances I am aware of several excellent
photographers who decline to contribute to the Edinburgh Exhi¬
bition, alleging this as the reason.
Passing from the result of collodion, let me now sound a brief
note on collodion itself
Muriate of Morphia in Collodion „
I observe from a contemporary that Mr. Bartholomew has given
publicity to an old process of Mr. Mackinlay’s, on whose authority
a verbal communication was, some two or three years ago, made
of it to the Photographic Society of Scotland. I allude to the
supposed new discovery of the advantages of a solution of muriate
of morphia in collodion. Mr. Tunny, of this town, I know did
* On Photographic Competition. British Jocrxal of Photocraphy, Tol. VIU.p, 405
130
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHONOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1802
make several experiments with it in consequence ; but whether the
advantage claimed for it, viz., greatly exalted sensitiveness, was
realised by this experienced photographer, I cannot at present say.
But, as regards its novelty — verb. sap.
The Song of the Shirt.
“ My Kate she is a winsome wife ;
There’s nane sae free frae evil,
Except upon a washing day,
And then she is the - .” — Old Song.
Such thoughts were doubtless passing through the mind of Mr.
Macalton as, one evening, I met him on the Mound, apparently
homeward bound. In a state of great excitement he accosted me
thus : — “ I am really afraid to go home to night, for I have been
trying my hand at photography to day, and my wife will take the
very head off me : she nearly did so last time on far less provoca¬
tion. See here, and here, and here ! ” And sure enough my friend’s
hands, face, shirt collar, breast, and waistbands were in a deplor¬
able condition : gallic acid and silver had done their worst on
him. To avert the storm, I walked home with him, and we were
smilingly received by his pretty wife, who soon, however, seemed
to discover what was wrong ; but, with woman’s tact, she
evidently reserved her fire till the fitting time.
According to agreement I introduced the subject of dirty shirts
and silver stains generall3g of course making light of the matter.
Mrs. M. eagerly caught at the bait. <£ Was it possible to remove
such stains ? for Mr. M. had made such messes of his shirts ! The
washerwoman had boiled them and rubbed them, but the spots wTere
as black as ever. That tiresome photography had surely been
invented to break poor women’s hearts ! ” I assured her that it
was a very trifling matter, and that if she would allow me I
would give her a lesson in the art of removing such stains. This was
eagerly responded to; and, while Macalton’s soiled linen was being
procured, I selected from his stock of chemicals the following : —
Spirits of wine . 2 ounces.
Iodine . ^
Nitric acid . V-l drachm of each.
Muriatic acid . . . J
A camel’s-hair brush charged with this solution was applied to
the blackest spot we could select, which was at once converted
into a yellow one (iodide of silver) with blue edges. It was now
ready for being treated with any of the solvents of iodide of silver;
accordingly, after a slight rinsing, a weak solution of cyanide of
potassium was applied, which at once restored the part to its original
whiteness. I explained that a recent stain might be removed by
a strong solution of cyanide of potassium alone, the solvent action
of which, however, was said to be much increased by the addition
of a small quantity of iodine, and recommended that, in case of
emergencies, he should keep these solutions ready mixed up.
Stains on the hands were at once removed by the foregoing
application : not so, however, a black spot on M’s lip, which I
thought it safer to treat with a solution of iodide of potassium. A
hot solution of oxalic acid entirely removed a huge iron stain from
a shirt sleeve; but muriated acid, followed by rinsing in warm
water, will be found as efficacious as any other application. A
solution of bichloride of mercury applied to a stain of the most
desperate character will apparently cause it to disappear fora
time; but it is not removed , and may at any time be recalled from its
latent condition to resume its former intensity: hence this potent
substance is not recommended for the purpose of removing stains.
Believing that some of the readers of The British Journal of
Photography may be in the same plight that Mr. and Mrs. Macalton
were, these remarks are penned for the benefit of those concerned.
ON NEGATIVES SUITABLE FOR ENLARGEMENT, AND
THE QUALITIES THEY SHOULD POSSESS.*
Negatives intended for enlargement should unite in themselves
certain peculiar characteristics not usually possessed by those
produced with a view of printing paper positives, since ordinary
negatives possess neither sufficient delicacy, or purity, or trans¬
parency^ lliese are, however, indispensable conditions, to which
the first importance should be attached when it is desired to pro¬
duce good enlarged prints either on glass or paper.
I lie most observable distinction of a negative suitable for ampli¬
fication is its transparency, which should be such that the lightest
traces of a delicate design on paper may be seeu through its
darkest parts.
llu: image, when examined by reflected light, should not be
dull . on the contrary, the best negatives for this purpose are bril-
I rom the Bulletin Beige de la Photographic.
liant, though slightly fogged in their lightest tints, but perfectly
free from the numerous metallic spots which are easily observable
in those negatives which have been slow in developing. The
transparent parts, then, should be very pure, while the most opaque
portions should admit of being read through.
It is necessary that the model should be carefully lighted, in
order to preserve as much as possible a true resemblance, and to
avoid too deep shadows, which always give hard proofs of an
unpleasant aspect.
The best negatives are often those which are produced under a
cloudless sky. Meantime, in no case should the light fall directly
on the sitter : it should be transmitted through some light material
such as silk or tarletan, forming the curtains of the roof which are
spread above the head of the sitter. The glass sides of the room
also should admit but very little direct light.
The lighting, in order to produce the most generally favourable
effect, should be so disposed as to fall on certain salient points of
the figure ; and, with the object of avoiding the exaggeration of
certain portions which might arise through this means, there
should be placed near the sitter, and on the side opposite to that
from which the light comes, a blue screen, stretched upon a frame,
which will have the effect of materially softening the shadows.
The characteristics here given are but general, but the desired
result may be easily obtained by introducing slight modifications ;
and, to give an example, we would say that a carte de visite
negative, in which the apple of the eye can be distinguished or in
which the pupils are well defined, good detail in the hair, the
dress well rendered and gracefully disposed, the general tone pure
and transparent, with vigorous portions bringing out the round¬
ness of the figure — such a negative, we would say, is susceptible
of furnishing a magnificent enlarged proof on a sheet of paper 22
by 18, or even 31£ by 234 inches.
It is absolutely necessary to use thin glasses, white and as
colourless as possible. Ordinary glass will not do, on account of
the distortion to which it subjects the image. The negatives
should not be varnished ; but they should be carefully washed and
dried equally.
Without giving in this article the details of manipulation, we
have nevertheless thought that it would be useful to indicate the
principal characters which should belong to this class of negatives.
We will conclude by recommending our readers not to attempt the
production of large negatives with lenses of short focus ; for in all
cases the subject which it is desired to reproduce should not be
larger than a quarter- plate for ordinary solar cameras, and then it
should be taken with a whole-plate lens. (
THE TANNIN PROCESS.*
By Major Russell.
CHAPTER VI.
[By the special permission of the Author we reproduce the following.]
Dry plates prepared with tannin give very good results when used
for printing transparent positives by superposition. The action of
the tannin and pyrogallic acid tends to produce a deep red colour,
and the citric acid to give a blue tone ; hence, by varying the pro¬
portion of the latter, we can produce at will a great variety of
tints between a nearly pure neutral and various shades of purple.
Gallic acid, if used for developing, gives a green colour, so that
if a brown tone be desired it can be produced by using first gallic
acid and then pyrogallic : this, however, can only be done success¬
fully when the tannin has been used in weak solution, not more
than ten grains to the ounce, and when the negative is of rather
low intensity; otherwise blurring will be produced round the dark
parts of the positive (see note, page 84).
Plates prepared as described in the preceding pages will be
found too sensitive to use in this way with direct daylight of
ordinary power, one second’s exposure, inside a north window, just
before sunset, being quite sufficient if the negative be of that in¬
tensity v, liich gives the best results. Plates so prepared may
however be used for printing by ordinary daylight, if exposed
horizontally on a table in a room which has a north aspect, care
being taken to intercept the direct light from the window before
uncovering the negative. Old collodion answers better than new
in a strong light, from its giving a less sensitive film ; but it is
more liable to injury from pressure against the negative, being
comparatively soft and porous.
Thirty grains of tannin to the ounce, on a horny collodion, makes
a very hard film, little liable to injury in printing, and gives very
vigorous and richly-toned positives. About three grains of citric
acid must, in this case, be used for development with each grain
* Continued from page 85.
April 1, 1803]
I3t
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
of silver, or the tone will be too red, and there will, be danger of
blurring and loose deposit, especially if the negative be intense.
Should it be found difficult to use acid enough to prevent loose de¬
posit without giving too cold a tone to the picture, acetic acid may
be partially substituted for citric acid; but this difficulty is not
likely to occur. Acetic acid may be used in the same way to
produce a slight difference of colour.
It will be found difficult to obtain good results with certainty
when daylight is used for printing, on account of the variation of
light. By developing in the manner recommended for negatives,
we can indeed correct the effects of under or over-exposure within
certain limits : but it is scarcely worth while to take this trouble,
especially as the shade of colour will vary with the kind. of de¬
veloper required to suit the exposure. An over-exposed picture,
for instance, which requires to be developed with, acid silver, and
only a small trace of pyrogallic, though good in other respects,
would be of too cold and inky a tone. The best wajr of working is
to find, by experiment, a time of exposure and proportion, of de¬
veloping fluids which produce, in the case of eacn negative, the
intensity and colour desired, and then to use the developer of full
strength at once : by this means the development will be made
very rapid, and, if an uniform artificial light be. used at a meas.uied
distance, the best results will be obtained with great certainty.
Plates prepared as described for negatives are, from their sensi¬
tiveness, well adapted for printing, by artificial light.
Tannin plates need no toning with gold, and not only have, the
advantage of producing very beautiful colours, but they admit of
use with much more intense negatives than would be suitable, in
the case of other dry processes. A negative so intense as to . give
solarisation, with hard, wiry edges in the general way, will, if
used to print on tannin plates, produce soft pictures, in which the
only defect will be too red a tone in the dark parts, lliis redness
may be neutralised by more acid in the developer,, and the result
will then be good, except that the lighter parts will be somewhat
cold in tint. Judicious management of the exposure and develop¬
ment will so control and balance this difference of colour, that the
effect will not be unpleasant in many subjects. To obtain absolute
uniformity of colour in the light and dark parts it will, however,
be advisable to use a negative of rather low intensity.
Negatives produced by the tannin process are, when a collodion
giving a strong film has been used, better adapted for printing
transparencies than those obtained by any other dry collodion
process, from being much less liable to injury : they are also some¬
what more durable than wet collodion negatives, the coagulated
gelatine giving greater strength to the film below, and better ad¬
hesion to the glass; nevertheless, the suriace is not so hard that it
can be used unprotected, like albumen, and it therefore requires to
be defended by varnish of some kind.
%\x Artist’s fetters to a goiing °|j)otograpl)er.
OU LANDSCAPE.
Sentiment ( continued ) — Colour as Obtained by the Toning
Process — “Colour” as the Engraver Understands it
Value of these as Elements of Expression — The wel¬
fare of Photography Largely Dependent on its Culti¬
vation as a Fine Art.
<< Fycit hue and shade has its corresponding shade of expression and reciprocation,
affording' the materials for the cultivation of taste ; the sublimest expression vibrating in
all cases to the most delicate touch .''—George Field.
“ The subtler or more spiritual art of the painter, like that of the poet, resides in the
power of exciting or awakening congenial trains of idtas in the minds of the contem¬
plative." — T. Landseer. _
My Dear Fellow-Student,
Although my last concluded with a promise to speak
in this of sentiment as associated with actual colour, the subject
is one of so indefinite a character, is so open to dispute and doubt,
and so difficult to establish upon sufficiently stable ground without
plunging into a vast field of speculative and argumentative mattei,
that we had better, just now, I think, leave it alone to a great
extent. I desire to speak only of such principles here as are more
readily applied in practice, and which, judged by their efiects, are
universally appreciated, rather than those in which halt-formed
theories battle for precedence, and the imagination exerts an undue
share of influence.
We habitually associate the rich gloom of a warm subdued light
with solemn religious feeling, while cold dull light and. heavy
black shadows instinctively conjure up images of mourning and
gloom, and the sunny brilliancy and variety of strong illumination
in which the very shadows — in a weaker light so dead and black —
seem palpitating with the life of light, never recall any but pleas¬
ant and cheerful associations. From time immemorial also good
and evil have been associated, the former with light and the latter
with darkness : thus the Sclavonians called the principle of evil
the “ Cherni Bog ” or black god, and that of good the “ Beil Bog ”
or white god. And that we should avail of these facts to ex-
piess more powerfully the sentiments of our pictures, as we
should avail of every other means to the same end, cannot be
denied. Take, say a landscape full of the spring’s joyous promise,
with its bright green, its clear sky, and its pure and bril¬
liant sunshine, and with flashing water, thickly encrusted with
myriads of twinkling stars, dazzling in their changeful brilliancy :
surely the delicate warmth of certain tones we wot of must be
in more harmonious accordance with such a scene than the colder
or more neutral ; just as in a wintry scene, with that same water
bursting angrily through the embraces of its gentle banks, sweep¬
ing in the strength of its stormy might over the once smiling land¬
scape, and spreading ruin and desolation around, would be more
forcibly expressed in the colder and blacker tones of our baths.
But, apart from the expression of sentiment by positive colour,
the indication of colour by tone is an element of no less importance.
It has been thought the very perfection of photographic printing
when the colour of the proof resembled that of an engraving; but
the fact that the open stipple or lines of an engraving are entirely
dissimilar from the flat, even, wash-like tints of the photograph
seems to have been in very many cases entirely overlooked. The
lines or dots are indeed black; hut the spaces between — representing
varied quantities of the element, white — give great transparency,
and convert the whole into greys of more or less delicacy or
intensity, although the lines or dots are all alike black. By this
means the engraver renders what he terms “colour,” translating
each peculiarity of actual colour by some corresponding peculiarity
of shade or tint, in a way precisely similar to that adopted for
representing the chiaroscuro. To emulate the mere colour of
printer’s ink, therefore, with the idea that we thus come nearer
the beauty of a good engraving, must be a very funny mistake.
Neutral greys are quite different affairs to blacks; for all I here
denounce is that heavy unpleasant effect given by too large a
proportion of black in the finished proof. I pray you avoid it.
If photographers only knew the importance the artist-engraver
attaches to “ colour” in his proof — how anxiously he avoids mono¬
tony, leaden-heaviness, and gloom — how carefully he seeks crisp¬
ness, and transparency, and brilliancy — it would be a hint worth
taking. Truth and variety of texture are not more important in
his eyes than truth and variety of colour, and all his work is carried
out with the process of printing ever before him. In rendering,
say the high lights of water, and those of a white chalk cliff, or
white building, the engraver would never dream of using a white
of the same intensity for both, well knowing that on the polished
surface the white should possess the greatest intensity, and that
he could only obtain this by subduing the light upon the unpolished
surface, and that all effect of colour would be gone if white paper
were the sole representative of both.
The engraver — I speak of the artist-engraver, not the mere
mechanical cutter of metal or wood — generally complains that
the photograph lacks tone and “ colour,” that is to sajr that its tints
are too monotonous and too uncertain in their relationship, that
various degrees of shade and tint are represented by tones not suffi¬
ciently diversified, and that there is a great deal too much pure
white and pure black for real pictorial beauty. He thinks this
constitutes a radical and incurable peculiarity of the photographic
production which must always prevent it from competing with real
works of art, and when he is startled by the sight of some such pro¬
duction as ltobinson’s Early Spring, he speaks of it as the offspring
of some wonderful lucky chance not likely to occur twice or thrice
in a life-time. Now we must alter all this: we must show the
engravers and the painters that, although we ourselves have been
to a large extent unconscious of the latent art-power of photo¬
graphy, that, as a sister art to their own, it is quite worthy the
high positiou which the whole body of photographers have recently
and publicly claimed for it.
Already photography may vie with any of the fine arts for the
extent and importance of its applications. In moral and educa¬
tional qualities, also, its influence is as large ; and, as a branch of
commerce, both directly and indirectly, few can be found who will
deny its value ; but in each and in all of these departments the
greater its progress as a fine art the greater its importance to the
country and to its professors. It is no part of my present purpose
to point out these facts in detail. It must suffice to add that, in per-
132
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OR PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1802
fecting the truthful character of the art’s productions, we serve the
meanest and most mechanical of its applications, as well as the
highest and most intellectual ; that to widen our English field of
practical excellence is to create and extend the commercial value
of the art both in this country and as an article of export ; and that
while diffusing the knowledge of all that is rare and perfect in
architecture, sculpture, and painting, by reproductions of the most
unerring fidelity, we must do more for the art-education of
a people and the refinement of public taste than has fallen to
the happiest lot of even the most favoured of yet known arts.
But, to make all this more widely felt, and to spur it into more
vigorous action and prominence, we must not refuse the art that
mental culture, upon which— as in these letters I have endeavoured
to show — real excellence is so very largely dependent. The senti¬
ments which exist in nature, when in their most expressive stage
of development, must be duly sought and recognised before they
can be depicted and rendered prominent in our productions. The
thought which lives in sculptured stone must be sought in its
phase of greatest power. The tones of a fine-art engraving cannot
be altered in their relative scales without danger to the sentiments
embodied, and can be well copied only by the appreciative and
experienced artist ; and to translate the poetry of painting into
monochrome requires the best efforts of the art-gifted intellect.
As thought should characterise our studies, so should its result
characterise our productions. Conceptions of nature’s excellences
and beauties can no more be developed in the camera and dark
room without mental agency than they can on the canvas and in
the sculptor’s studio ; and all works of fine art must soon occupy
one dead, stagnant level of mechanical perfection and contented
mediocrity if the standard of its ambition be not an intellectual
one. Our landscape photography bids fair to become peculiarly
English in its already partially recognised superiority ; and we cer¬
tainly urge its very highest interest in bending ourselves earnestly
to the cultivation of the moral and intellectual qualities of the art.
My next letter will turn to studies more closely associated with
mechanical than with mental elements. Perhaps my fellow-
students may think the former ought to have preceded the latter;
but I have preferred working from the top downwards, because by
so doing I hoped to awaken attention to the value of studies now
first introduced publicly to the photographic world in these pages,
and so have a better chance of making readers into students, and
students the more ready to go on with me to the end. The first
lessons of art should be those which teach us to appreciate art
productions in all their various qualities of excellence; and the
next should show to what these are due. These two lessons are
now occupying our attention ; but it is to be hoped that your camera
and chemicals are not in the meantime idle, and that theory is
progressing hand in hand with practice. ALFRED H. WALL.
(Lnitremets.
AD ABSURDUM.
Iv you would learn the more wonderful discoveries of the age, and revel
in those novel creations of art and science which soar highest in the ever-
widening realms of the possible, and startle and amaze the most, go — -not
to those pages which profess to chronicle “the fairy tales of science and
the long records” of Time’s more marvellous achievements; not to royal
and (if we may use the term) unroyal scientific societies ; not to museums
of science or offices of patents, or the studios of modern philosophy ; but
— to the advertising columns of our daily papers. In the same way, if
you want to learn all that is most astounding and rare in the progress of
photographic art there is nothing for it but to seek the same source. As
to the photographic journals — bah! — why they are furlongs behind the
advertisements. For instance, here are a few selections. In one we find
a new process announced as “ removing from the surface of the picture all
superfluous matter .” In another, culled from the Daily Telegraph, wo
find a remarkable “ newly-invented apparatus ” which not only restores,
or enlarges, or diminishes and improves “ faded and inferior photographs,"
but positively also colours them in water or oil colours ; and what is much,
very much, more — mirarile iuctu ! — absolutely does so — “ from descrip¬
tive. particulars !! I” ilow wc should like to see this wonderful piece of
apparatus, which of course understands all you say to it, and takes up
the sable or lays down the hog-hair, or puts both aside for the copying
camera, upon receiving the necessary “ descriptive particulars.” What
will become of the colourists should tins “newly-invented apparatus ” be
universally adopted? But even this apparatus must be doomed, for here
is another startling discovery, announced in tho advertisement sheet of a
provincial paper : —
“Nitt am. Important Discoyfry. — Photographic portraits in their natural
ro t he - - , established for the purpose of supplying the public with large -
highly-finished , everlasting family portraits in their natural colours. To be taken
daily, and in the evening by the chemico-clectrical light, in a style hitherto unequalled l”
Another quotation from the advertisements of the Liverpool Daily Post
informs us that at Messrs. S - and F - ’s “ art and photographic
studio” portraits are “ taken instantaneously," and, lest there should be
any mistake about the matter, also states that instantaneous means about
two or three seconds. In reply to Messrs. S - and F — - - a rival
photographer delicately insinuates, through the same channel, that —
“It is a fact well known to scientific, professional, and amateur photographers that
really instantaneous photographs can only he obtained under the favourably combined
influences of sunlight and clear atmosphere ; and no artist in England can fairly expect
or promise to take portraits instantaneously in a glass gallery, even under the most
favourable circumstances, especially at this time of the year.
“ Mr. S - , not wishing to mislead his patrons and the public, does not profess to
take portraits instantaneously, hut guarantees to take photographs in from one-fourth to
one-third of the usual time, by a judicious use of the salts of cadmium, and an extra¬
ordinary (juick developing process."
And in reply to this side-wind of an attack Messrs. S - and F -
return indignantly to the charge with —
“It is denied that instantaneous photographs can be taken in Enplnnd ; but
Messrs. S - and F - think it necessary to state that they can give at least one
hundred references to most respectable families in town who will certify to the perfect
truth of this announcement.
“ The remarkable process by which these portraits are obtained is the last discovery of
one of the most eminent French photographers of the day, who communicated it to Mr.
F — ■ — — on his visiting Paris in the beginning of the present year for the purpose of ac
quainting himself with every progress in the art of photography."
But the remarkable process by which “instantaneous” pictures are pro¬
duced in three seconds appears to have created so much attention that
the rival who denied that really instantaneous photographs could be taken
in this country at once proceeds to announce that —
“P. C. S - lias now fairly tested his salts of cadmium and quick developing pro¬
cess, and takes CARTES DE VISITS IN HALF A SECOND between Eleven and Two
o'clock ; and in from One to Five Seconds between Nine and Eleven and Two and Five
o’clock ; and in dull weather in double the above time.’’
On another occasion — with eyes distended and hands uplifted in an ec-
stacy of admiring wonder — comes a writer in the Liverpool Daily Post, say¬
ing in a loud voice: — “We have recorded in our columns, at different
times, the achievements of our photographers, and have often had
occasion to applaud their efforts; but an announcement by which we
were startled a few days ago, and which opened up to our imagination a
whole world of ideas, has proved to us that Liverpool has not yet shown us
all it can do in this ever-increasing and improving branch of photogra¬
phy. The announcement to which we allude is that of ‘ instantaneous
album portraits.’ Fancy the charm of having your likeness taken
whilst smiling, speaking, weeping, scolding even if you like ; in fact, with
any expression most suitable to your character or dispositiou, instead of
the unavoidably sulky, staring, or squinting look which so often resulted
from your being inexorably admonished to fasten your gaze unwaver¬
ingly and unwinkingly upon some particular object. What an indes¬
cribable blessing to be able to enter a room and sit comfortably down, or
stand nonchalantly conversing with a friend, and before you have the
slightest idea that the thing is even commenced to be told you are already
taken ! We have been shown some splendid specimens produced by this
wonderful process, and must in all honesty declare that nothing can be
finer as works of art, or more pleasing as a round and soft delineation of
feature. We are convinced that when we state the artists to be Messrs.
S - — and F - we need add nothing in their praise, these gentlemen
having won for themselves a reputation which is every day increasing.”
And so relapsing into a silent doze of happiness and content the dreamily
imaginative writer contemplates the “whole world of ideas ” embodied
in the “indescribable blessing” of being photographed in three seconds !
(We wonder how many such seconds go to minutes in the present state
of actinic matters !) However, such of our readers as are anxious to
emulate these Liverpool wonders are hereby informed that through the
agency of our friend “Paul Pry” and his wonderful new “key-hole
apparatus,” ice have discovered this grand secret of “ one of the most
eminent of the French photographers,” who derived it from one of the
most eminent of the Laputan photographers, and forthwith, and in these
favoured pages, shall it be made public.
The Laputans are, in fact, the originators of all those miraculous dis¬
coveries to which we have herein referred. To these ingenious people we
owe the secret of making books by machines — -hence came the machine
already described as the copying and colouring ; and also the secret of
softening marble to serve for pillows and pincushions; and, above all, the
secret — since then of so much service to Laputan instantaneous photo¬
graphy— the secret of “the most eminent of the,” &c.,— the. secret of
Messrs. — — the secret of — extracting sun-beams from cucumbers I The
announcement of the methods to be adopted for performing this last feat,
however, we reserve for its most recent discoverer, “Paul Pry, P.K. H.P.,”
as also that of its application to instantaneous photography. R. A. S.
[Since the above was written we have received a note from Paul Pry
in which that gentleman declines to make public “the Laputan cucum¬
ber process,” stating that he should very much prefer selling the secret
for £80, to be raised by subscription, in which manner he hears that at
least one other equally valuable discovery has been purchased by photo¬
graphers. We shall be very happy to receive as many guineas as our
readers may send us for this purpose. — R. A. S.]
The Prince of Wales. — We learn that Mr, Bedford took a
photograph, while in Egypt, of the Prince’s party, with the train
of camels, &c., just after the ascent of the Great Pyramid.
April 1, 1809]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
133
Holes of the Iflontb.
Before these pages are in the hands of the readers of The British
Journal of Photography, the last “sending-in day” will be past,
and photographers— like John Banyan’s Christian — be relieved of
their burthen of sins, or contributions, good and bad, at the doors
of that huge creation of Capt. Fowke, which, however abortive as
an architectural essay, is imposing by virtue of those feelings
which magnitude alone will always inspire. The total number of
exhibitors in Class 14, Section II., is one hundred and sixty-live.
Mr. Philip H. Delamotte is engaged in illustrating the official
catalogue.
Sir David Brewster has written a sketch of the history and
progress of photography, which has appeared in the last number
of the North British Review.
The exclusive privilege of taking photographic portraits at the
International Exhibition has been put up for public competition by
tender.
Mr. William Simpson has returned from India with a collection
of water-colour drawings, photographs, and sketches of the
scenery, architecture, and manners and customs of the people
throughout Her Majesty’s Eastern Empire.
At a Secret Committee of the Belgian Chamber of Representa¬
tives, a few days since, M. Doley proposed to grant certain
indirect indemnities to the representatives. One was, that they
should each have a card with a photographic portrait, which
would give them a right to a free passage on all the railways in
the country. No vote was come to on the matter.
The inclusion of photographs in the measure now before the
House of Commons, called “The Copyright (Works of Art) Bill,”
is a public recognition of the status of the art so long contended
for. Engravers and sculptors justly complain of that portion of
the bill relating to them. We venture to hope that whatever is
done will be done quickly, that this much-vexed question may be
placed on some settled basis.
Kaulbach, the celebrated painter, of Munich, will be represented
at the forthcoming Exhibition by his drawings illustrating the
most remarkable subjects in the works of Goethe. These are
very large but extremely highly-finished in chalk. It is compli¬
mentary to photography to know that, if the artist should decide
not to send them, they will be seen by means of some admirable
photographic facsimiles which have been taken of the actual size
of the originals by M. Albert, of Munich, whose large photographs
in full-length portraits are now attracting so much attention. S. T.
Messrs. Fothergill and Branfill have recently photographed five
views in the superb city of Genoa. These, as specimens of photo¬
graphy, are said, by a writer in the Athecenum, to be as exquisitely
clear, fine in tone, and sharp as can be desired, though it is question¬
able if the finest points of the city have been chosen either for
picturesque effect or historical interest. The exception is the good
representation of the famous Pieta of Michael Angelo that stands
in the Allegro di Poveri. As memoranda of the present condition
of the city in the localities represented these works will be ac¬
ceptable to travellers.
The fourth estate will soon find it necessary to keep a registry
of births, deaths, and marriages, if its members would preserve
genealogy from getting confused. Every week or two ushers
another bantling into the world. So frequently do they come it
is a matter for wonder who is to keep them all. But some form
happy or unhappy unions — as did the Morning Star and Dial — and
others, one by one, retire from mortal view. Another little bark —
the Art-World — has just been launched on the sea of literature,
perhaps to founder soon on some hidden rock, or perhaps to float
securely down the stream of time. Who knows ? Do serials,
like human beings, think all men mortal but themselves? It
is with all, we fear,
“ Only our partial eye
That lends a brighter sunbeam to the wave
On which we launch our own adventurous bark.”
The Art-World especially aims at making “photography” one
prominent feature of its pages. We heartily rejoice at anything
that helps to give photography a recognised status. It is the thing
of all others most wanted. It is that which every photographer
most earnestly desires. But at the same time we would beg to
suggest that its conductors should strive for a greater degree of
accuracy in their facts. In the first number, which contains in
that department both an article and a review, there are statements
which will excite a smile from some, and the last-named contains
a downright untruth. We commend to them a more rigid censor¬
ship of the photographic part of their venture.
Straps anh fragments.
Head of John the Baptist. — This beautiful photographic art
production of Mr. Rejlander has been enlarged by him, and re¬
produced in lithography : it is about to be published by Mr. James
Wood, of George Street, Edinburgh.
Photography and Ethnology. — The Russians have taken
photographic portraits of the various inhabitants of the Steppes
of the Oural, with a view to ethnological studies. One view gives
a profile, and another a full face ; and the subjects of the opera¬
tion were shaved, so as to exhibit the true form and dimensions of
the skull. — Intellectual Observer.
Photographs of London Churches. — We were under a mis¬
apprehension in reference to the very excellent photographs of
some London Churches noticed in our report of the Photographic
Society’s meeting on the 4th March, page 113. It is not, as we had
hoped, the intention of Mr. J. J. Cole to photograph a complete
set of the Churches of London, but only a selection of the master¬
pieces of Sir Christopher Wren.
St. Paul’s. — We have been favoured by Mr. C. E. Elliott, of
Aldermanbury Postern, with a stereograph of St. Paul’s Cathedral,
taken from the Surrey side of Southwark Bridge, as suggested in our
critique of Mr. Valentine Blanchard’s illustrations of the metropolis.
It is an excellent photograph, quite equal to those before noticed,
showing the venerable pile to advantage slightly veiled in a thin
wreath of smoke ; and affording a most convincing proof that pho¬
tography can render atmospheric effects perfectly, for there is no¬
thing of fogginess or indistinctness about it.
Photography on the Alps. — Remarking upon the views of the
Swiss Glaciers, lately produced by Messrs. Bisson Freres, M. Mc-A.
Gaudin says: — “We can only with difficulty form an idea of the
amount of trouble, fatigue, and care necessary in order to ensure
views such as these. Sometimes it is requisite to spend eight suc¬
cessive days in the snows , without the power of doing anything, use¬
lessly longing hour after hour for a simple effect of illumination.”
It is expected that the subjects to which allusion is made will
figure in the International Exhibition. Amongst others, mention
is made of a panorama of the Mer de Glace , taken on three nega¬
tives, as being peculiarly fine.
Calumny. — The Solicitors of M. Silvy, have issued the following
notice by advertisement in The Times: — “ Reward, One Hundred
Pounds — Whereas, a calumny, of a nature most injurious to the char¬
acter and reputation of Mons. Camille Silvy, of 33, Porchester-terrace,
Bayswater, having been (for a short time past) extensively circu¬
lated in society, this is to give notice, that the said calumny is
wholly and entirely false, without the slightest foundation, and
that the above reward will be given to, or placed at the disposal
of, any person or persons who will enable the said Mons. Camille
Silvy to trace the said calumny to its source.”
Derision. — Will photographers endorse the sentiments of the
following letter, which appeared lately in The Times? — “Not far
from the truth. — To the Editor.— Sir, — I am told to understand that
you go to ask our Emperor to open your Exhibition. I hope in
charity you will bring him into the building blindfooled, and so he
will save the miserable indignation we have suffered from looking
at your horrid building. Hi ! Hi ! we mock ourselves at you when
we see from the park the big Dome built on boards and half hid
by the big shed. Oh the ugly brik and the frightful shed to call
all Europe to see ! Why you host so much ? If you only say we
build the shed then no one laugh. Even the little boy, the guide,
he say ‘dam ugly.’ I have, &c., Jules Pirer. Leicester-square,
Hotel Sabioniere.”
Literary and Philosoitiical Society, Liverpool. — A Jubilee
Soirde of this Society — one of the oldest literary associations in
the country — took place in the magnificent suite of rooms in the
Town Hall, Liverpool, on Thursday, the 15th ult. The company
numbered about 1800. Mr. J. Moule had kindly furnished his
patent photogen apparatus for the evening, and numerous very
excellent photographs were taken b}r its aid by Mr. Keith, of Lord
Street, Liverpool. As it was the first time that our art has been
publicly practised at night in Liverpool, much interest was attached
to the display, which, even under some adverse circumstances, was
very successful. Rejlander’s Two Ways of Life (of which the
Publisher of this Journal possesses a magnificent copy, which was
exhibited), a large portfolio of Mr. Rej lander's choicest photo¬
graphic art-studies, an album (containing numerous choice
specimens of photographic art) contributed by the Editor, together
with various other unique productions of the camera, lent an ad¬
ditional charm to the otherwise large collection of works of art
brought together on this interesting occasion.
134
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 186
Uteetiirgs .erf Snfieti.cs,
MEETINGS
1st. — London, and Liverpool.
2nd. — Manchester, Edinburgh, and
Bradford.
3rd. — Glasgow.
4th. —Ncwcastle-on-Tyne.
IN APRIL.
8th. — Photographic Society of
Scotland, and Birmingham.
10th. — S. London, and Chorlton.
16th.— -Edinburgh, and North
London.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
A Committee Meeting was held on Thursday, the 20th tilt., at 26,
Haymarket, to select the prize pictures for the season 1861—2, — —Sir Thomas
Maryon Wilson, Bart., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, and
the principles upon which the prizes were to be awarded discussed, a cer¬
tain number of the pictures, selected by the various members of the Com¬
mittee as entitled to competition, were laid upon the table, and their
several merits and qualifications descanted upon without any of the mem¬
bers of the Committee knowing, until subsequent to the award, by idiom the
pictures were produced. After much deliberation the following award was
unanimously adopted. The selection occupied so much time that all
further business was postponed until the following meeting.
AWARD OF THE PRIZES
By the Committee of The Amateur Photographic Association.
The Committee — being fully impressed with the responsibility attaching
to the faithful discharge of the duty of selecting negatives to be distin¬
guished for their superior excellence, by the award of prizes, in accordance
with the intimation given in the prospectus issued at the time of the con¬
templated establishment of the Association — has examined proofs from
every negative admitted by the referees, to the number of upwards of
1800, about 200 having been rejected.
The task of selection, though a pleasing one, involved no small amount
of labour, extending over many hours for several days — a fact that it is
necessary to record in order to account for a few days’ delay in publish¬
ing the result arrived at.
The Committee very soon became impressed with the conviction that
there was no lack of pictures possessing merit that might be appropriately
recognised by conferring prizes upon their producers ; but this, so far from
facilitating the task of selection, materially enhanced the difficulty.
Where so many are worthy it is not easy to determine which one is so in
a pre-eminent degree.
One source of embarrassment that could scarcely have been foreseen,
and therefore not provided against, arose in consequence of the fact that
the number of pictures varying in dimensions from 9 by 7 inches to 10 by
8 inches, constituting Class B, formed an overwhelming majority over
the other two classes of single pictures put together — that is to say, of
pictures 12 by 10 inches and upwards, and of by 6J inches and under,
in dimensions ; and it is somewhat singular that in Class B — that which
is by far the most numerous — the standard of merit is also considerably
higher than in the other classes. The occurrence of this circumstance
involved the consideration whether it would be just to award the
prize of the highest value to a picture that might be inferior to
another merely because of its possessing a few more square inches of
surface, and secondly whether it would be correct to make an altera¬
tion of the arrangement originally laid down. It was unanimously
determined that it would be judicious upon a future occasion not
to define too rigorously the special sizes of the pictures to which
each prize should be confined, but to leave the judges more discretion
upon this point ; because, under the present arrangement, if too strictly
interpreted, it would he possible in an extreme case for a work of mediocre
character to receive a higher reward than one of surpassing excellence.
It is true that greater latitude in the power of selection, untrammelled by
considerations of sizes of the pictures, would still further complicate the
question of choice, because, cceteris paribus, a large plate involves more
skill in its production than a small one, and that it is intrinsically more
valuable will not, it is presumed, be questioned. But it would be difficult
to determine with certainty the exact amount of extra manipulative ex¬
cellence that should he considered sufficient to elevate a smaller plate so
as to render it equal in value to a larger one.
Before deciding upon the prize pictures it was needful to lay down cer¬
tain principles by which the selection should be governed. As the chief
end and object of photography may be regarded as for the purpose of dif¬
fusing the love of art, and at the same time of gratifying the taste encou¬
raged, naturally the artistic quality of each production was deemed of
the first importance; but, as the highest powers of art conception are of
little value without the powers requisite for its appropriate expression,
artistic excellence, if uncombined with manipulative skill, would be
but of little account in a photograph. Perfect manipulation was therefore
fixe 1 upon as tlio second important point to be reckoned. Ilapprily these
t\v 1 points have in the productions before the Committee come but rarely
into competition.
Bearing the above-named principles in mind, it was soon discovered
that, good as some of the productions in Class A undoubtedly were, they
wcic surpassed by many in class B. It, was further noticed that in
class A, although it contained but a moderate number of pictures, the
best of them were of a comparatively uniform average of merit. To meet
these difficulties it was determined by the Committee, with the sanction
of the Referees, to divide the twelve-guinea prize equally between three
negatives which were deemed to possess equal claims to recognition — an
arrangement which would leave the best picture, without regard to si/.'*,
to receive the highest award. The productions named below were con¬
sequently adopted as the prize pictures, viz. : —
*. On the Teith, near Callander, by W. Church, jun.
■f f . Hoar Frost: a Park Scene, by the Earl of Caithness.
f|. Corfu, from the Island of Vido, by Major J. D.
Shakspearc. •
Instead of the Twelve Guinea Medal three smaller ones, of the value of
Four Guineas each, to the respective producers of the above- named works.
Class A.*— Nos.
The Seven Guinea Medal.
Class B. — No. On the Banks of the Severn , near Winterdyne, by
Major Gresley.
The Five Guinea Medal.
Class C. — No. Yt". Fishing Party on the Coquet , Cumberland, by
Henry St. Vincent Ames.
The Three Guinea Medal.
Class D. — No. 2’VV Floral Festoons in Nature's Garden, by G. S.
Penney.
It would be an act if not of injustice, certainly of remissness, on the
part of the Committee were it to abstain altogether from honourable
mention of some others of the contributions to the stock of negatives
placed temporarily at the disposal of the Association ; hut there arc so
many of them which might with propriety enjoy that distinction, that it
will be impossible to name more than a small selection therefrom without
extending this notice to an inordinate length.
Besides that by Major Gresley on which a prize has already been con¬
ferred, the one numbered V4 Is perhaps, if possible, even more artistic
in selection of subject, but not quite so perfect in execution. Y and
are also particularly worthy of commendation ; and indeed the whole ot
this gentleman’s contributions display the work ot a true artist.
Mr. A. C. Ainslie’s, No. Y°, is very artistically rendered, exhibiting a
field-gate in the shade of a handsome tree ; and scarcely less so are 1 he
Gate of Corfe Church, Somerset, ’f ; The Grove at Barton Grange, 0 ;
and The Waterwheel at Corfe, Y0*
Mr. W. Prideaux’s Fishing House, M0) E a photographic gem.
Mr. E. Edward’s Cleft in the Bock, near Aucher Church, Derby, §£,
elicited much admiration ; as also his Cloisters at Netley Abbey, %l , and
many of his views in the Isle of Wight.
Captain Plaiffin’s Arab Girl Sitting by the Wayside, YY, is a highly-
interesting figure subject, admirably treated; and his landscapes, 1 f 4
and 1|4, are deserving of especial notice.
Mr. R. C. Grice’s Market Woman at Aix la Chapelle, YtL is a good
companion to Captain Plaiffin’s Arab Girl. These belong to a class of
subject that offers much scope for photographic illustration..
Lieut. J. A. Papillon’s Chinese illustrations are unusually interesting-
some, exhibiting the garden scenes, pre-eminently so.
Lieut. -Colonel Yerschoyle has contributed many valuable negatives.
The Cheddar Cliffs, Yff°, and Pier at Lynmouth, Vb°> are excellent.
Mr. Ebbage’s Kenilworth, Y> and scenes at and near Warwick;
The Earl of Caithness’s Avenue at Weston, ;
Mr. D. C. Brown’s Scenes at Warkworth, V and V ;
Mr. H. Whitfield’s Vale of Neath, \° and ;
Mr. J. A. C. Bran fill’s Pont Aberglaslyn , lf °> and Pass of Llanberris,
if s ; — all elicited much admiration, as well as many of the subjects by
Major Russell, and medical ones by Dr. Budd. The stereographic
subjects are also many of them considered very fine.
In conclusion, the Committee congratulates the members upon the
discovery and utilisation of so many valuable negatives, of which but an
insignificant fraction is indicated in the above list.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The Annual Meeting of this Society was held at eight o’clock on Wed¬
nesday Evening, the 19th ulfc., at Myddleton Hall, Upper Street, Isling¬
ton, — George Shadbolt, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following* gentlemen were elected members of the Society :
Messrs. J. Homersham, W. Spicer, R. P. Jones,— Toulmin, and D. Hornby.
The Secretary, at the request of the Chairman, then read the following
ANNUAL REPORT.
In addressing you on the Fifth Anniversary of the North London Photo¬
graphic Association your Committee has little but congratulations to. offer.
The success of the Association has been steady and progressive. The
number of its members exceeds one hundred, and theie are this evening
several new names for election. The meetings have been well attended ;. the
papers read have elicited more than ordinary interest; and tne discussions
have been conducted with greater freedom, ability, and energy— all tending to
demonstrate the progress of our art and the social feeling pervading our Society.
The financial statement is satisfactory, showing a balance more than suffi¬
cient to defray all the liabilities of the Association. . ...
Your Committee regrets the unavoidable delay in the distribution of the
presentation photograph, but rests assured there will be ample compensation. m
1 the size and beauty of the picture; and your Committee takes this oppoitunity
April 1, 1863]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
135
of thanking Mr. Bedford for his liberality in supplying so superior a photo¬
graph at a mere nominal cost to the Association.
Your Committee will be happy to receive contributions of unmounted photo¬
graphs towards the completion of the first volume of the “Album” for circu¬
lation among the members, and begs leave to tender its best thanks to Mr. Bourne
and other gentlemen who have already kindly presented specimens to the “ folio.”
Arrangements have been made by your Commitee to provide at least one
paper to be read at each meeting; and will, when practicable, announce its
subject at the previous meeting, that members may come prepared to enter more
largely into the discussions which invariably ensue, and which will tend to
render the ordinary meetings even more attractive than at present.
The attendance of members of othgr Societies has been large; and your
Committee will esteem it a privilege at all times to welcome those who, although
not subscribers to the funds of this Association, come forward to aid by their
presence and information the progress of photographic art.
Your Committee, in resigning office, is happy to state that its duties have
been both light and agreeable. The readiness evinced by the members to com¬
municate information, and the exceedingly pleasant tone pervading the discus¬
sions, have rendered the recurrence of the meetings a source of pleasure, and
yonr Committee trusts that a state of affairs so satisfactory may long be cha¬
racteristic of this Association.
Dr. Treasurer in Account with the North London Photographic Association. Cr.
Balance from last year .
Subscriptions .
£11 10 G
60 18 G
Journals, Rent,
Printing, Ac, ...
Balance 19th March
Stationery,
. £3G
2 3
6 9
£62 9 0
£62
9 0
Balance . . .
£26 G 9
March 19, 18G2.
D. W. HILL.
We have this day examined the Trea¬
surer’s accounts , with thebulance sheet, and
find tlie same to be correct.
W. HISLOP,
E. W. FOXLEE
} Auditors.
1
The Report and the statement of accounts were received with expres¬
sions of the highest satisfaction by the members, and it was moved by
Mr. Hislop, and seconded by Mr. Goslett, that they be adopted. The
motion was carried nem. dis.
The Chairman stated that Mr. Hughes had at the last meeting given
notice of his intention to move that Rule 5 of the Socict}r be altered, so
as to admit of the election of two Vice-Presidents. lie (the Chairman)
heartily concurred in the proposition, as lie thought it not a mere matter
of ornament but one of utility that two gentlemen should be elected
to hold office as Vice-Presidents. Perhaps, as Mr. Hughes was unfor¬
tunately absent, some gentleman would put the motion to the meeting.
It was moved by Mr. Simpson, and seconded by Mr. Moens, that Rule
5 be altered in accordance with Mr. Hughes’s proposition, as stated to
the meeting by the Chairman.
This motion was also carried unanimously.
Messrs. Martin and Goslett having been appointed scrutineers, the
election of officers then proceeded, and resulted as follows: —
President — Charles Woodward, Esq., P.R.S., &c.
Vice-Presidents — George Shadbolt, Esq. ; George Dawson, Esq.
Treasurer — D. W. Hill, Esq.
Honorary Secretary — John Barnett, Esq.
Committee — Messrs. E. Bedford, C. J. Moens, G. W. Simpson, W.
Hislop, T. Ross, T. A. Barber, D. Bingham, and E. W. Foxlee.
On the motion of Mr. Hislop, seconded by Mr. Foxlee, a hearty vote
of thanks was accorded to the Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary,
and Committee for the efficient manner in which they had conducted the
business of the Society during the past year.
The motion was carried by acclamation.
Mr. Martin exhibited a “Fothergill” plate upon which an impression
had been taken after the plate had been prepared for two years.
The Treasurer announced that the presentation print — subject, The
Beach at Ilfracombe, by Mr. F. Bedford — was now ready for delivery.
Members who were present could take their copies home with them. He
could not forbear calling attention to the very beautiful way in which the
whole of the copies were printed — not a single faulty or mealy-looking
one amongst them; in fact each was & facsimile of the others, their
uniformity of excellence being something marvellous.
The formal business of the meeting having been concluded, the
Chairman announced that Mr. England had very kindly undertaken to
exhibit his instantaneous views of Paris and America, illuminated by a
mixture of ordinary coal gas and oxygen.
The most interesting facts in connexion with these photographs will
be found noticed at page 113. Mr. England modified his method of
showing the pictures on this occasion by first using the lenses of the
lantern in the same way as at King’s College on the 4th instant, and
then by removing the non-achromatic lenses and replacing them by an ordi¬
nary quarter plate double achromatic combination. Although the picture
produced (at the same distance from the screen) was smaller, the absence
of distortion at the edges and increase of sharpness in the details of the
picture were so marked as to elicit warm expressions of approbation
from the members.
Mr. Hislop said he had exhibited pictures of the same size with a
similar effective arrangement of lenses, illuminated, however, by an
ordinary paraffine lamp, which lie found amply sufficient for the purpose.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. England for his great kindness
in exhibiting so interesting a series of photographs.
The meeting was then adjourned.
NOTICE.
In consequence of the 23rd instant having been fixed for the soiree of
the Microscopical Society, to be held at King’s College, at which many
of the members of this Society will be present, the next meeting of the
North London Photographic Association has been arranged to be held on
the 16 th instant, when a paper On Micro Photography will be read.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at the City of London
College (late Sussex Hall), Leadenhall Street, on Thursday evening, 13th
ult., — G. Wharton Simpson, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen, proposed by Messrs. Simpson, Martin, and
Davis, were elected members of the Society : — Messrs. T. Mills, C. T.
Newcombe, Thos. Lloydd, P. Cawston, Edgar Brock, and Fred. Fitch.
The Chairman suggested that in the absence of Mr. Blanchard, who
was to have opened the adjourned discussion on Mr. Davis’s paper read
at the last meeting, it would be advisable, though not perhaps strictly in
order, to ask Mr. Fitch to read his paper first. He would, however,
before that ask the Secretary to read some particulars relative to the
South London Society’s Exhibition of British and Foreign Photography.
The Secretary then read the following statement : —
The Committee of tlie South London Photographic Society have great pleasure in
announcing that they have made arrangements with the Directors of the Crystal Palace
Company for holding at Sydenham, during the current year, an Exhibition of British and
Foreign Photography. The Company have placed at the command of the Committee an
eligible and well-lighted portion of the Palace, and they are, therefore, desirous of holding
such an exposition of photographic art and science as shall worthily illustrate the present
vast development of this great modern discovery. They are inclined to conceive that, at
the present period, photographers arc especially interested in exemplifying to the world
the high artistic standard to which their works have attained, as well as the more freely
acknowledged practical character of its results. In the International Exhibition of 1802
the spirit of emulation will be mainly directed to a fiiendly recognition of the compara¬
tive progress made by photographers of different nations, and the limited space at the
disposal of the Commissioners will be awarded accordingly. At the Sydenham Inter¬
national Exhibition, upon the other hand, the leading design will be the promotion of
the progress cf photography itself, to be attained by an exposition of its most artistic
specimens, a popular illustration orthe scientific principles involved in their production,
and a display of the vatied and highly ingenious philosophical apparatus which have been
employed in the attainment.
The Committee of the South London Photographic Society in inviting, therefore, your
hearty co-operation in furtherance of the success of the Exhibition, beg to draw your
attention to the appended regulations with the least possible delay.
Rules for Exhibitors.
The South London Society's Exhibition of British and Foreign Photography, to be held
at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, wi 1 be opened on or about the 15th of May, 1862, and
will continue for a period not exceeding six, or less than three months.
All pictures intended for the Exhibition must be framed, glazed, and mounted, with a
suitable margin. The names of the subject, process, aud artist, must be written legibly
at tlie back of each picture, together with any especial observations, to be inserted in the
catalogue.
Photographs for exhibition must be delivered free of charge on or before the 1st of
May at the Palace ; each package to be addressed as follows
From (Name)_
( Address _
Carriage Paid.
GEORGE GROVE, Esq.,
South London Photographic Exhibition,
Crystal Palace,
Sydenham.
The cost of the return carriage, and all risk of breakage or injury to the pictures or
frames, wall have to be sustained by the exhibitors ; every reasonable care will, however,
be exercised, in order to prevent the occurrence of damage.
The Directors of the Crystal Palace Company w ill present to each exhibitor, upon the
recommendation of the Committee, a season ticket available for six months, to be applied
for to the Secretary of the South London Photographic Society.
Tlie Committee of the South London Photographic Society, having entered into art
arrangement w ith the Directors of the Crystal Palace Company to exclude all photographs
unworthy of public exhibition, reserve to themselves the right of selection.
Coloured photographs will be admissible only when accompanied in the same frame
with untouched specimens. This regulation will be strictly adhered to in every instance.
An adjoining but separate gallery will be appropriated to the reception of pictures,
Ac , illustrating the principles or history of photography, and tlie exhibition of apparatus.
Cases for tlie protection of optical and philosophical instruments w ill have to be provided
by tlie exhibitors.
The prices of copies of pictures exhibited intended for sale should be forwarded to the
Secretary, so that they may be described accordingly in tlie catalogue kept in the gallery
for the purpose. A commission of 20 per cent, will be charged upon all sales effected.
ALFRED II. WALL. Hon. Secrotary.
Mr. Noel E. Fitcii then read his amusing and interesting paper,
liecollections of an Amateur Photographer in Portraiture. [See page 103.]
The Chairman having directed attention to the very superior quality
of the photographs (portraits and copies of engravings) with which Mr.
Fitch had illustrated his paper, an animated though somewhat desultory
conversation ensued on the amount of top-light which it was necessary
to cut of! in order to secure a good effect.
Mr. Fitcii said lie had two feet six inches over the head of his sitters
absolutely opaque, while six feet of the glass roof in advance of that were
stippled in order to admit a diffused light.
Mr. Howard had great pleasure in contributing his testimony in favour
of the varnish used and recommended by Mr. Fitch. White hard varnish
could be obtained at a moment’s notice from the oil shop, and, being
diluted with methylated spirit, was ready for use. He had found it stand
almost any amount of solar heat in the pressure-frame, and it was also
extremely hard. 11c (Mr. Howard) thought it no disadvantage that heat
136
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1863
was necessary to its successful application, as lie had observed that many
of the varnishes applied without heat became soft and tacky under the
influence of the sun’s rays.
Mr. Wall felt great pleasure in corroborating the statements of Mr.
Fitch and Mr Howard on the subject of varnish.
The Chairman said, without exactly remembering the proportions, that
white hard varnish was composed of lac, sandarach, and copal. . He had ob¬
served that those varnishes which did not require heat at the time of apply¬
ing them were generally very soft, brittle, and readily affected by solar heat.
Mr. Martin, sharing in the general admiration of the highly-successful
copies of engravings exhibited by Mr. Fitch, asked that gentleman to favour
the meeting with some details as to the method followed in their production.
Mr. Fitch, in reply, stated that the materials and manipulation were the
same throughout as he had used for portraiture, the only difference being that
he placed the print in full sunshine, which, notwithstanding that the object
was so near the lens, he found to diminish the time of exposure considerably.
Mr. Davis thought that in the early part of the day it was very well to have
the sitter facing the south, but not so when the sun was high in the meridian.
Mr. Wall intimated that the angle at which the light falls was de¬
terminable by the direction of the shadows on the face.
Mr. Howard, without desiring for a moment to detract from the high
merit of Mr. Fitch’s productions, must observe that every amateur ivas
not so favourably situated as that gentleman. He (Mr. Howard), though
devoted principally to dry collodion photography, had occasionally at¬
tempted the taking of portraits without a glass room, and the difficulties
under which he laboured were such as to render success almost impossible.
He might mention that he had on some occasions hung up his background,
carefully posed his sitter, and retired to his dark room for the sensitive
plate. On emerging with it he had had the pleasure of discovering his
sitter actively engaged in supporting the background, blown down, in the
meantime, by the wind. Ladies, too, he found it almost impossible to
keep in position, as there was always some final touch required to ribbon
or ornament ; or perhaps a slight shower of rain had come on during his
absence in the dark room, and on his reappearing the lady bird had flown.
Mr. Harman thought it unnecessary to add silver to the developing
solution : if pictures produced by iron development were hard, it gene¬
rally arose from carrying the development too far. He (Mr. Harman)
thought the advantage of iron developers was that they admitted of
shorter exposure, whereby a more agreeable expression was secured.
The Chairman thought that Mr. Fitch, in saying that he used an iron
developer in dull weather, was admitting by implication the superior
energy of iron as a developing agent.
Mr. Fitch said he believed that if pyrogallic developers were properly
mixed they would be found as energetic as iron : too much acid was
generally added to retard its action. He could not say the proportions,
as he usually mixed the ingredients until he found them work well. In
reply to a question from Mr. Davis, Mr. Fitch further remarked that in
toning he added carbonate of soda to the chloride of gold until effervescence
ceased : he was careful to wash for two hours and sponge before toning, and
maintained his toning bath at a temperature of 65° Fall. In washing he used
five or six changes of water, being of opinion that the object in printing
should be the permanent retention of the prints in all their pristine beauty.
Mr. Howard thought there was now good evidence in favour of the
effectiveness of the alkaline method of toning. It had been in use nearly
three years, and the prints produced by its means were not yellow ;
moreover the prints sold in the shops possessed an uniform and superior
excellence compared to those on sale some three or four years back.
The Chairman then announced that, in the absence of Mr. Blanchard,
Mr. I jane would open the adjourned discussion on Mr. Davis’s paper.
Mr. Lane said lie doubted if the point of view from which he regarded
the manufacture of pyroxyline was one immediately connected with the
objects of that Society. He was a civil engineer, and he vrould be glad
to know if, by attention to the details of manufacture, it would be possible
to obtain the explosive variety in a form possessing greater constancy of
character? His object was to apply it to the purposes of tunnelling, as
it possessod great advantages over common powder for that purpose. In
using the latter article so many gaseous products were generated by the
explosion that an hour and a-half sometimes elapsed before the men could
resume their labours in the tunnel. Nothing like that time was required
when gun-cotton was employed for blasting. But the great drawback
was this: lie (Mr. Lane) had experimented with two charges done up for
him by Messrs. Hall, the eminent gunpowder makers; one charge was
unnecessarily violent in its action, and the other produced scarcely any
effect. It would thus be seen that no reliance could be placed on the
article supplied in commerce as gun-cotton. Messrs. Hall had about £100
worth of the article sunk in the river which flowed near their factory, and
he (Mr. Lane) was sure they would be glad to learn of some means
whereby they could render it commercially available.
Mr. Harman suggested that the same pains were not bestowed on the
preparation of explosive as of soluble cotton.
The * ' it airman added that if as much time and attention were given to
the details of manipulation in the one case as in the other, explosive
cotton could hardly be supplied at a price suitable for the purpose to
which Mr. Lane had alluded. The cxperienceof photographers went to show
that the best pyroxyline was obtained when operating on small quantities.
Mr. Davis reminded the meeting that he had recommended in his paper
that not more than 100 grains of cotton should be operated upon at a time.
Mr. Lane said he had experimented with gun-cotton sixteen years ago,
and, having heard that the Austrians had adopted it for their small arms
and rifled ordnance, he thought that some marked improvement had been
attained in its manufacture.
Some remarks were then made in reference to some verbal errors in
Mr. Davis’s paper, which, if they had not been corrected in the journals,
were so self-evident that the readers would naturally make the correction.
For instance, three volumes of iodising compound were ordered to one
volume of collodion: the proportion should of course be reversed.
The Chairman directed attention to the fact that pyroxyline made with
a larger proportion of water than vas usually ordered yielded a collodion
possessing a milky opalescent appearance, and which always yielded a
negative of great intensity.
Mr. Davis entirely agreed with the remarks made by the Chairman.
He (Mr. Davis) had from the first advocated less water than Mr. Ilard-
wich. He had found no advantage accrue from the use of a large pro¬
portion of bromides in collodion. The true use of bromides might be
illustrated by comparing the pictures obtained when they were introduced
wdth those obtained by collodion containing iodide of potassium alone.
In the latter case there would be found great extremes of light and shade,
while in the former there would be found a softness in the middle tints,
and sufficient exposure might be given without losing vigour.
Mr. Harman had observed, in developing with pyrogallic acid, that it
was not necessary the collodion should contain a bromide ; but, when
iron salts were employed as developing agents, the introduction of a
bromide became advisable.
Mr. Davis entertained similar views, and had observed that a collodion
containing all bromide of cadmium was much slower than when simply
iodised.
The Chairman had noticed that with bromide alone four times the ex¬
posure was necessary than when the collodion contained four grains of
iodide of potassium and one grain of bromide.
Mr. Davis thought the direction in which photographers should ad¬
vance was that of aiming to communicate greater sensibility to collodion.
A somewhat desultory discussion then took place on the various
causes of streaks on the plate and the methods of avoiding them, Mr.
Fitch expressing it as his opinion that when the bath had that property
inherent in it, any remedy short of a new one would be found unavailing.
The meeting was then adjourned.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society held its usual fortnightly meeting on the evening of the
19th ult. R. II. Bow, Esq., Vice-President, occupied the chair.
A paper, entitled Hints on the Nature of Pictorial Beauty and the Prin¬
ciples of Composition , Part II., was read by Mr. W. H. Davies. [We are
reluctantly compelled to leave over Mr. Davies’s paper till our next number.]
When the reading of the paper was concluded,
Mr. Horsburgh stated that there was one great difficulty in carrying
out the suggestions of Mr. Davies: it was that of getting all the subjects
in sharp focus when they were arranged for the best pictorial effect.
Mr. Davies thought this difficulty was easily overcome, and pointed out a
group of fifteen or sixteen gentlemen, taken by Mr. Tunny, all of whom were
in perfect focus, although situated at varying distances from the camera.
Mr. Horsburgii said that in this case Mr. Tunny had the advantage of
operating in the open air, admitting of his removing the camera to a
greater distance ; and, besides, he believed Mr. Tunny took his groups
with a single-view lens, which secured greater depth of focus. He also
thought it would be very desirable that the glass-houses of photographers
were much larger than many of them are, to enable groups to be more
artistically arranged.
A Member stated that the group by Mr. Tunny just alluded to had
been taken by a Voigtlander orthoseopic lens, that being the lens Mr.
Tunny preferred for such pictures.
The rest of the evening was spent in practical lessons in grouping,
some artists who were present kindly arranging groups of two, three, and
upwards, explaining at the same time the principles of composition in¬
volved, and further elucidating the points embraced in the paper.
The cordial thanks of the members were awarded to these gentlemen,
as also to Mr. Davies for his paper.
MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.
The ordinary general meeting of the above Society was held in King’s
College, London, on Wednesday evening, March 12, 1862, — Mr. Farrants,
President, in the chair.
The minutes of the preceding meeting were duly read and confirmed..
Dr. Guv read a paper On the Preservation and Mounting of Objects in
Capillary Tubes, and exhibited several interesting objects, among which
were some globular crystals of arsenite of zinc.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Dr. Guy.
Mr. Richard Becic read a paper On the Scales of the Podura and Some
Allied Insects, and illustrated his subject with numerous large diagrams from
magnified drawings, obtained by using the camera lucida attached to the
eye-piece of the microscope. He also presented seven slides to the Society.
Mr. Charles Brooke heard with great pleasure the account given by
Mr. R. Beck of the result of his studies of the scales of the exceedingly
interesting insect, the podura. The structure of the scales had been a
bone of contention, and numerous modes of separating the scale for
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
137
April 1, 1862]
viewing them had been described. Mr. Bowerbank pursued the plan of
crushing the insects gently between two pieces of glass, so as not to
! cause the exudation of the juices of the insect, and yet obtain an adhe-
j rencc of the scales. There was one mode of proceeding which he (Mr.
Brooke) had practised many years since, and which, he believed, had never
appeared in print, viz., he placed a live podura upon a slide with a little
test tube over it, upon which the insect began to hop on the slide, and
continued to hop until tired. In the hopping process he deposited scales
upon the glass slide, and falling and treading upon them partially oblite¬
rated the markings. He had many slides in his possession, by which it
was palpable that each so-called scale was an uniform membrane : they
were, in fact, epithelium plates with an imbricated structure, about in
length and breadth like a number of rows of fingers placed one over the
othei’, invariably exhibiting a flat form and not the tubular form exhibited
by Mr. Beck. The appearance of the tubular form was an illusion con¬
sequent upon a peculiar illumination. In some of the podura scales which he
(Mr, Brooke) had procured, and which had evidently been trodden upon by
the insect itself, there was the selfsame obliteration of markings which
Mr. Beck had depicted in his diagrams, and singularly enough attributed
to moisture. There was occasionally a single plate standing out by itself,
and others rubbed off — in some cases a considerable portion presenting
the appearance of a smooth transparent membrane, having no markings.
"Wherever there was a single plate standing out it was always exactly
parallel to the others. If they were taken, as he (Mr. Brooke) believed them
to be, somewhat of the shape of the finger, the appearance of white light
described in Mr. Beck’s diagrams, would be the effect of light passing
through a transparent cylinder, terminating with a round end like the
shape of a finger, and that appearance would be the natural appearance
of that structure— a fact remarkably easy of verification by the prepara¬
tion of slides in the way he (Mr. Brooke) had described. He had
many years ago examined podura scales under a twelfth objective, as
opaque objects, and found that when they were turned under side up
they had a perfectly smooth appearance ; but whenever they were turned
outside uppermost, they had the markings which, he contended, proved
them to be longitudinal epithelium plates with an imbricated structure.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Mr. Richard Beck.
The Chairman then announced that the Committee for the purchase of
books at the sale of the late Professor Quekett’s effects had, in purchasing-
some desirable lots, been obliged to purchase several works, copies of
which were already in the library of the Society.
The works allud ed to were then put up, seriatim, for competition among the
members, and elicited alively exhibition of acquisitiveness which contrasted
with the usual grave demeanour exhibited at the meetings of this Society.
The following circular was distributed amongst the members : —
“ Quekett Memorial Medal Fund. — The Council of the Microscopical
Society of London, desirous of testifying their esteem for the late Professor
Quekett, and to commemorate the value of his services rendered to the
Society for nearly twenty years, have resolved to raise a fund, the interest
of which, after payment of the books and instruments purchased for the
Society at the late Professor Quekett’s sale, shall be devoted to the pur¬
chase of a Medal, to be called the 1 QueJcett Medal,' and to be given at
the discretion of the Council (if possible annually) to such member of the
Society who, in the opinion of the Council, has best promoted the interest
of microscopical science.
“Gentlemen interested in the above scheme are invited to forward
their subscriptions to the Treasurer, or to the Regent Street Branch of the
Union Bank of London, on the account of the Quekett Medal Memorial.”
A list of subscriptions to the amount of above £100 wras appended.
Jfamp (korrcsponbcntc.
Paris, March 21th, 1862.
Mr. Warren Df. la Rue having forwarded to the Academy of
Sciences the photographic pictures and designs executed under his
direction on the occasion of the eclipse of the 18th of July, I860,
M. Faye (one of the first and most urgent in recommending the
application of photography to such observations) has just presented
to the Academy an interesting report thereon. He insists upon
the importance of an idea suggested by your talented fellow-
countryman, and which would give an additional value to the re¬
productions in question.
The distance of the planets is so great that they always appear
completely flat. It would be impossible to apply to them the
usual stereoscopic process; for, even by placing oneself at two op¬
posite extremities of the earth, the angle obtained would be
insufficient. Instead of varying the point of view, Mr. De la Rue
varies the instant of observation. In this manner it is the object
itself which changes place and not the apparatus. Two images
of Mars obtained at two hours’ interval correspond, for that planet,
to a rotation of about thirty degrees. It is as if the photographer
had made so much of the circuit round the planet in order to obtain
the two photographic images. When placed in the stereoscope
the two images produce a very striking effect, of which I was
enabled to judge the other evening, as two copies had been pre¬
sented to the French Society of Photography.
At the same meeting (Friday, the 21st), the President read the
report of the Committee charged with the awarding of the prize
for carbon printing processes, which had been offered by the Due de
Luynes. The whole prize (2000 francs) was adjudged to M. Poite-
vin. The committee proposed, however, that a medal of 600 francs
should be given to M. Fargier out of the funds of the Society, for
the modification introduced by him into the original processes.
A numerous collection of views, groups, and types was presented
on the same evening. These had been taken in Nova Zembla, by
a French missionary, Father Gavet. They are far from being per¬
fect in execution ; but the wonder is that they could be taken at
all in such a climate, and in a country where a journey of 400
leagues is necessary to procure the most indispensable substances.
As to their subjects these pictures are interesting.
M. Mathieu Plessy recommends a two-per-cent, bath of acetate
of soda for positive pictures before toning them with gold salt.
A staff officer, M. Champlonis, who was in the Syrian expedi¬
tion, brought back some views which he had taken on -what he
calls icet-dry waxed paper. When he has sensitised his paper, he
puts it wet between two sheets of blotting paper, taking care to
place first in a double sheet of white paper. In this manner the
prepared paper is maintained in a certain degree of humidity,
which is advantageous in a warm country. Before developing he
again puts the sheet into the aceto-nitrate bath.
M. Hermann Khrow recommends that a small quantity of hypo •
chlorite of lime should be added to the chloride of calcium which
is put into the apparatus for keeping waxed paper. The same
gentleman gives an account of an experiment he has made. He
has sensitised paper by placing it upon a bath of nitrate of
uranium, in the proportion of one part of nitrate to seven parts
water. His paper was still good after a year, He had to prolong
the exposure, and to develop with alcoholised nitrate of silver.
M. Potteau — whom I have already had occasion to mention in
speaking of the collection of types of the human race, which he
hascontinued with perseverance — has justpresented to the Academy
of Sciences a new and curious reproduction. It is a copy of the
bones of the paw of a Plesiosaurus, which were found, separated,
in the environs of Havre. M. Valenciennes — your scientific men
are so wondrously patient ! — succeeded in reconstructing with these
bones almost the entire hand of the gigantic Saurian. M. Potteau
has reproduced the specimen very skilfully, and with that mathe¬
matical precision which scientific subjects demand.
At the late Photographic Exhibition in the Champs Elysees the
fine pictures sent by M. Albert, of Munich, attracted much atten¬
tion. They were large portraits and ravishing copies of drawings
by Ivaulbach. It appears that during his stay at Munich the
Prince of Wales posed at this artist’s studio for a natural-sized
portrait, which is to figure at the Universal Exhibition. M.
Albeit makes use of the amplifying process with convergent
light, and employs Woodward’s camera. He operates upon
iodide of silver, and develops with gallic acid.
Some time ago there died a M. Sarvageot, who was celebrated
for having made a choice and immensely valuable collection of
artistic curiosities. During his lifetime, even, he had offered it to
the Louvre Museum, on condition that he should remain its curator,
as he wished to enjoy to the end of his days the pleasure of con¬
templating and caring for his beloved rarities. The Administration
is at present having the museum engraved in its entirety. To
secure greater accuracy, the artist charged with this important
work has decided to employ the heliographic process of M. Niepce
de St. Victor. It will be one of the most important works which
photography has aided to produce. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia, J\farch 8, 1862.
Could I but find the means of writing with a dry pen and dry
ink, I might hope to do justice to the dry fever now raging in
our midst. This fever has been in existence for some time past;
but it seems to have only become fully developed since the publi¬
cation of Dr. Draper’s process of treating tannin plates.
In my last letter I made brief allusion to this process, but could
not then saj1- with how much favour it had been received, and even
now the accounts reaching us are of a very contradictory nature.
The majority, however, seem to endorse it; and only 3-estcrday I
was assured by a very reliable amateur that he had exposed two
tannin plates prepared at the same time, givingone three minutes’
exposure, and the other only five seconds’, the light being the same
in both cases. The first was developed as usual, but was under¬
toned, while the five seconds’ exposure yielded, when treated with
cold developer on the hot plate, an excellent negative. This is all
very remarkable, and may lead to good results. Certain it is that if a
138
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1862
developer with the silver in it was heated to 200°, the silver would be
thrown down before it could be put upon the plate ; but, by heating
the plate to 200°, and heating the developer to about 909, and pour-
in^ as little as possible on the hot plate, a violent reaction must take
place, and all the good effects of a very hot developer be produced.
It would not, perhaps, be admissible for me in my communications
to you to express my own opinions on photographic form nice, only
so far as I endorse some generally-expressed sentiment ;* and in the
present case I must say that very many intelligent amateurs are
free to confess that while Dr. Draper’s way of developing is a great
boon, yet it does not go to the bottom of the matter. The tannin
process is in high favour, but they think it is far from being all
that is wanted, and even with this hot development does not fulfil
all the requirements of a rapid dry process. They seem to think
that a dry plate quite free from nitrate of silver can never be a
quick plate. Hence they look with favour on any preservative
material that will yield them a film in nature the same as when
wet. Some of Dr. Hill Norris’s instantaneous dry plates have been
experimented with by various operators, and they seem to consider
them still as very far ahead of any dry plate yet produced. Mr.
George Quincy Thorndike sent me three of them last week, and a
rare treat it was to develop them.
While giving the ideas and opinions of amateurs on the dry-plate
subject, let me give their sentiments on the international exchange
of prints. Mr. Robert Shriver, of Maryland, close to the borders
of “ Dixie’s Land,” and within ear-shot of the Southern war,
writes that if this international exchange is to be a “ free fight,”
please to count him in. His views among the Cumberland
mountains and on the Potomac river are very, very beautiful ;
and I have near me now a cattle scene, the cows standing in clear
water, with a background of high rocks and a foreground of a
pebbly beach : it is one of his gems. He works with the wet pro¬
cess exclusively, and seems to think no dry process capable of
giving him such charming gradations of tone as the wet always
gives. I have authority, too, to add the name of Mr. F. F.
Thompson to the list of those willing to exchange. Both the
gentlemen above named are very prompt, and are enthusiastic
amateurs, and I enclose their addresses.
In regard to printing and toning albumen paper, I have to
corroborate my former statement in regard to the very general
use of a bath of ainmonio-nitrate of silver with ether for sen¬
sitising albumenised paper ; but, as a general thing, the amount
of the sixty or eighty-grain solution converted into ammonio-
nitrate is not more than one-third of the whole bulk. There
are very many kinds of toning-baths used, but still the simple
solution of chloride of gold, made very slightly alkaline with
bicarbonate of soda, is the one most in vogue. Some, however,
are adding chloride of uranium with marked success ; but two
prints now before me, from Farris’s gallery, on Broadway — remark¬
able for the artistic pose of the figures — are of a very rich black
tone, and have been treated with an alkaline citrate of soda in
a hot bath, very similar to that which Mr. Hardwich has always
recommended. I cannot refrain from saying a 'word or two about
these same prints : they are card pictures of two children, the
elder perhaps ten years and the younger not more than five — both
of thcirf beautiful girls, and full of animation. The youngest is
loaning forward over a pedestal, which is partially hid by the folds
of a curtain ; there is a look of earnest wonder on her bright face,
and her plump hands, so full of dimples like her cheeks, are a little
crossed, so as to hide the ribbon by which is suspended her hat and
plume. The background is dark but plain: there is no object to
attract the attention from the interesting, wondering face. I
asked Mr. l’calc, who arranges the sitters and attends to the
artistic part of the gallery, how such a happy hit had been made.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, “she was a wild little elf; but I held her
attention by a bold feat of prestidigitation: I kept her still ten
seconds while 1 swallowed the focussing cloth!'1"' He then told me
that he had 1 >ccn spending some weeks in the camps near Washing-
t "ii, and had done a large business among the soldiers — making
photographs a little larger than the usual card size, so as to be en¬
closed in commercial envelopes. He says that his sleight of hand
did not fail him even among horses, and he had obtained many
good equestrian pictures by inviting the attention of the animal to
til wooden box ill which lie bad oats, and which he could so
shake as to produce a sound like throwing corn into a feed trough.
I give these two instancesas useful hints to the unfortunateoperators
who have to photograph babies and horses. Speaking of card pic¬
tures, th'’ best are now being taken wit h half-size lenses, in place of
the qnarter-sizc heretofore used, with much increased sharpness and
on o, , .Him v, invite indniilunl opinion, provided that it be expressed as
p.nwn and not asserted tu established fuel. — Ko.
depth ; and I think the taste for elaborate backgrounds is on the
decline, most persons preferring the plain screens to fancy ones.
There has been much controversy going on as to what is tho
best way of strengthening a negative, some claiming that with
good collodion there is no need of resorting to strengtheuers. But
still they are used by nearly all; and, while some discard bichloride
of mercury in toto, others are using it in weak solution, and follow¬
ing its action with bromide of potassium, two grains to the. ounce.
Business has been unusually brisk with photographers in our large
cities, but they have been put to their wits’ ends by the continued
cloudy weather. Happy am I now to say that sunny days are
once more coming — two and three in succession ; and soon we may
hope to clear off old scores of printing when our clear blue sky is
without clouds for weeks at a time, as it is in spring and summer.
As the clouds are breaking away above us, so the political clouds
seem rising, and a bright glimpse of sunshine is tinging the
southern horizon. Most joyfully will we hail the day that will put
us in communication with our photographic friends south; for, as
Professor Frazer very justly remarked at the Franklin Institute a
few days ago, science is cosmopolitan, and we must honour a man’s
scientific attainments even if we hang him for treason. Most
gladly do we hail the news of peace with England, and when
quiet is once more restored at home, most earnestly do we hope
it will find us friends with all the world.
On Monday evening next, the 10th instant, the American Photo¬
graphical Society is to meet; and gladly would I delay this letter
until Saturday’s steamer that I might make use of the Secretary’s
kind offer to forward me on the 11th the minutes of the meeting of
the 10th ; but with a stormy sea between me and my readers delay is
dangerous; so I must close my letter without the budget of news
that may reach me in a day or two. By-the-by, I must not forget
to say that much good is being done by the makers of albumen
paper, who sell with their paper printed directions in regard to
toning and fixing, thus conveying to those of their customers who
“ do not take the papers” information that might not soon reach
them. Sorry am I that there are too many who depend on the
photographic art for a living who are quite guiltless of ever spend¬
ing money on the journals ; and I might add, as Professor Seely
did, many hard things about their wilful ignorance. But it would
be waste of time : they would never see what I should write.
With solar cameras some are using mirrors silvered with pure
silver, and great advantages are claimed over the mercury plates
in durability, &c. Both Dr. Draper and Mr. Rutherford have done
much towards perfecting this kind of mirror, especially for telescopes.
I must squeeze into the end of my last sheet the memorandum
that skylights are now being made of ground-glass, facing in some
cases the south, instead of plain glass pitched so as to admit only
the northern light. COLEMAN SELLERS.
CM
Portrait of H.
B
ubliriH bents.
. H. the late Prince Consort.
Edinburgh: James Wood, 130, George Street.
There is, perhaps, no more striking illustration of the high estimation in
which the late Consort of our beloved Queen was held by all classes of
her subjects than the enormous demand that has been created for the
numerous portraits of this estimable Prince which have been published
both before and after his decease. It was only as we “went to press”
with our issue of the 1st ult., that we sat in the Court of Common Pleas, at
Guildhall, to watch the progress of an action — which was reported in our
last number — having for its chief issue the possession of a negative
portrait that had been taken but a short time before H. R. H’s. departure
from this world. This must have been a costly affair on both sides,
and is evidence of the value of such a memento.
We have just had the pleasure of examining a lithographic portrait of
the lamented Prince Consort, carefully copied from a photograph taken
by Mr. O. G. Rejlander, of Wolverhampton — the lithograph having been
drawn by Mr. Schenck, of Edinburgh, for Mr. James Wood, publisher,
of that city. When we say copied from Mr. Rejlander’s excellent
photograph, we do not mean merely copied ; for, while all the im¬
portant parts are faithfully rendered — the likeness itself being wonder¬
fully preserved — the subordinate parts have been very artistically kept as
subordinates, and the general entourage — to employ a convenient and ex¬
pressive word from our French neighbours — treated with a somewhat more
free and sketchy interpretation than photography alone admits. We do
not by these observations intend to convey the idea that there is anything
hastily or carelessly done : far from it. There is, on the contrary, a most
conscientious attention to the highest finish, but nothing over-done ; and,
as both lithographer and photographer are in the best sense of the
word artists, each one has added something to the value of the production
as a work of art. Those who desire a pleasing but faithful likeness, and
prefer a proof in printer’s ink to a photograph, cannot do better than pro¬
cure a copy of the lithograph npw before us.
April 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
136
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. ^
WIIAT A LENS WILL COVER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reference to the communication of your correspondent, D.
Hornby, contained in the last number of Tiie British Journal of Photo¬
graphy, will you permit me to state that, although I made some remarks
(which appear in your report of the meeting of the North London Society,
but not in that of any other journal that I am aware of) upon the pictures
taken by Mr. Wilson, I most emphatically declare that I studiously
avoided making any remarks whatever upon the lenses of other makers,
as such remarks from me would have been out of place. I may inform
your correspondent that I never publicly discuss the merits of other
makers’ productions. I may be allowed this opportunity of saying
that it is a very rare occurrence for me to address any of the Societies of
which I have the honour to be a member ; and further, that upon no
occasion do I so address a meeting without first having made myself
at least somewhat acquainted with the subject under consideration.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not in any way disparage
the invention of the “triplet,” as I have myself been engaged lately in
its manufacture. I believe it to be a most valuable instrument for some
subjects connected with the photographic art, more particularly for copy¬
ing maps, prints, &c., and for some architectural subjects, in which lines
are required to be absolutely straight and parallel.
1 am not aware that I said anything which would lead your correspon¬
dent to the conclusion that I believe single lenses would give as large a
field of view as the triplet ; if so, I have not been correctly reported, and
this I do not imagine to be the case, as I have found that the gentlemen
connected with the photographic press generally report such matters
with a fair amount of accuracy. It is quite evident to my mind that
your correspondent is not acquainted with all the circumstances of the
case, otherwise he would not have been led into the inference he drew.
However, as I have neither the time nor the inclination to become in¬
volved in the mazes of a long correspondence, and, having recorded my
protest against a statement arising from misapprehension, but which I
sincerely believe was made in good faith, I am now anxious to dismiss
the matter, hoping Mr. Hornby will become possessed of more of the
details connected with the subject, and then he will, in all probability,
come to the conclusion that the very statement of a fact in which he has
anticipated me will prove to he in perfect accordance with the truth.
I am, yours, &c., THOMAS ROSS.
2 and 3, Featlierstone Buildings , High Ilolborn,
London, March 2Ath, 1862.
THE PROPOSED SUPPLEMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHIC
EXHIBITION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — M. Claudet is quite right, and the South London Photographic
Society gentlemen, in my humble opinion, quite wrong. The Crystal
Palace is not the place for a Photographic Exhibition, and I apprehend
their attempt to establish one there will not be a “great success.”
There has been, as M. Claudet states, an Exhibition of photographs at the
Sydenham Palace for several years. Now I should be glad to know how
many daily visitors disturb the monotonous and solitary life of the unhappy
policeman who keeps -watch and ward over that department. Judging
from my own observation, he can have very little difficulty in answering.
Now this neglect of the Crystal Palace Exhibition on the part of the pub¬
lic does not prove their indifference to the art, but simply that there are in
the building more attractive objects to the general taste ; and that while
according to photography all honour and credit, and admiring its beautiful
results, they prefer the attractions of a Blondin, a Grisi, or the fountains.
I quite agree with M. Claudet that an Exhibition of Photography must
be exclusively such, where people will go for the sole purpose and object of
examining and studying its productions ; and also that it must be in Lon¬
don — not in the country — and under the auspices of the Parent Society.
I demur, however, to the suggestion of charging rent to the exhibitors
for any space they may occupy. Such a charge, I daresay, would not be
seriously objected to by the profession; but it would most undoubtedly
have the effect of excluding amateurs, for they would not pay for space.
With respect to the admission fee, I am of opinion that one shilling
during the day, and sixpence in the evenings, is the price that will bring
most visitors; and it would be unwise to have a half-crown day.
No doubt if a few gentlemen come forward as guarantors, it would be
surer; but I really do not think there need be any fear of pecuniary loss
to the Society this year at all events. Energy, activity, and judicious
ventilation through the medium of the press, is all that is required to en¬
sure success.
I hope the Society may soon hear of a suitable room for the proposed
Exhibition, and that at their next meeting they may be in a position to
announce their intention of opening it on the first of June next.
London, March 2bth, 1862. I am, yours, &c., SUBURBAN.
ENLARGEMENT.
To the Editor.
Sir, — For some time past I have employed a process for enlarging
similar to the one described in The British Journal of Photography for
the 1st of March, under the head of “Notes, Harmonious and Discordant.”
My success has been very good, but the chief difficulty I find is in the
paper employed. With Saxe paper, simply iodised with iodide of potassium,
and sensitised with aceto-nitrate, I can enlarge a carte de visite negative
to cover a sheet of paper 17 X 22, the exposure required being, on a dull
day, about eight minutes. The detail and finish is beautiful ; but in drying
they lose all their brilliancy, and sink so much into the paper that no
varnish or polish will do them any good. Marion’s Ileliovelin paper
gives a somewhat better result ; but the exposure under the same condi¬
tions is three-quarters of an hour. Towgood’s paper gives capital results,
but the exposure is thirty times as long as that given to the Saxe paper.
Turner’s paper gives almost perfect results, but the exposure required is
the same as Towgood’s, and its small size (19 X 15 ) prevents it from
being used where a rather large enlargement is required.
Can you or any of your correspondents kindly give me any information
respecting any paper or process which is very sensitive without allowing
the picture to sink in the paper?
Apologising for trespasing on your time, — I am, yours, &c., F. Y. B.
March 14 th, 1862.
[You do not appear to have tried -what we regard as the best English
paper for printing upon — Hollingivorth' s ; and if you prepare this by float¬
ing on salting solution containing ■ gum tragacanth, you will find the
image keep well on the surface. — Ed.]
DRY PROCESS— DARK CHAMBER— BATHS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am desirous of trying a dry process, and have waited in vain
for the enthusiastic praises on Mr. Hislop’s “revival.” I am afraid your
great guns do not look upon it with much favour, and, for that reason
only, I am going back to your suggestion on page 358, Vol. VIII. (Fother-
gill process).
But I cannot find in your back numbers Mr. Hannaford On the Fotlier-
gill Process, nor Mr. Barber’s suggestions referring to that paper.
At page 174, Vol. YI., I find — Sensitive Dry Collodion Process, by
Hannaford. Can this be the paper?
In quoting Mr. Barber’s suggestions for the albumen solution, you
say — Vol. VIII., page 359, lOtli line — “And a sufficient quantity of oxide
of silver dissolved in ammonia. The sufficient quantity should be de¬
termined by trial.”
How am I to try ? as the paragraph does not tell me the object of the
oxide of silver and. ammonia.
If I send a dark chamber six feet high, of solid wood, to Calcutta, what
wood would suit the climate ? I thought inch pine plank.
Two years ago I doctored my bath (it contained aqua dis. 1 ounce,
nitric acid ,/0 minim, alcohol 15 minims, and nitrate of silver 30 grains —
the silver saturated with iodide of potassium), by adding oxide of silver
drop by drop, shaking well between each drop, exposing the same to day¬
light for three days, then filtering and acidifying with nitric acid. I ob¬
tained a bright clear fluid, but no picture, it being lost in a dense fog ; but
the bath at the present time is as clear as ever. What can I do with it?
The oxide of silver was Thomas’s : can it now be of any use, it being
two years old, whereas you are always saying it should be freshly pre¬
cipitated? Take pity on an unfledged bird — quite A. GOSLING.
March, 21st, 1862.
[The mode of operating suggested by Mr. Hannaford, orally, at one of
the meetings of some society, -was to have a small portion of free nitrate
of silver on the plates, and pouring thereon the albumen solution con¬
taining free liquid ammonia — thus converting the nitrate of silver into
the oxide, which is soluble in ammonia. Mr. Barber’s suggestion
was to add to the albumen solution a given quantity of ammonio-nitrate
of silver instead, as that would be more likely to ensure uniform results —
a suggestion which plainly commends itself for its soundness. The use
of the oxide of silver is to render the albumen sensitive to light, as it forms
a compound with that substance which turns black on exposure thereto.
We apprehend that the more oxide of silver the albumen will bear without
causing the plates to fog the more sensitive they will be.
We do not consider pine plank at all suitable for India. Moidmein teak
is the best material for your purpose ; and, if you have the chamber framed,
half-an-ineh or even less will be thick enough for the panels.
It is probable that your bath may contain organic matter oxidised by
the nitric acid. If so, you had better convert the silver into the chloride,
and reduce it subsequently to the metallic state. We presume it is faintly
acid to test paper.
Your oxide of silver is still available. — Ed.]
PRINTING TRANSPARENCIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have a camera specially constructed for taking small views or
copying fine engravings. 4 liese negatives I take on wet or dry plates, as
suits my purpose. Now, I want to reproduce them as positives for the
magic lantern. As 1 have a good lens — Dallmeyer’s No. 1 B — I manage
to get a good negative, brilliant, sharp, and full of detail.
1. AVhicli process would you recommend as giving the best results?
140
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 1, 1863
Wet collodion, and by transmitted light in copying camera, or with dry
plates in same ; or with dry, and by superposition in pressure-frame ?
I see some recommend camera-printing; but does the wet collodion give
clear and transparent proofs ? If so, I have a good camera for the purpose.
Which dry process is best for obtaining the negatives on the small
plates — “ tannin,” or the one without preservation, by Langue ?
My plates are 4J inches square ; would you advise me in the tannin
process to gelatinise them, for preventing the film from slipping, or can
it be managed without ? Is it necessary to gelatinise them ?
Our Rector’s brother has taken several transparent views for the lantern,
he tells me, on albumen, and by superposition ; but they appear specky
and not satisfactory to my taste, while some of Negretti and Zambra’s
manipulation appear clearer. I have purchased small lots as samples
lately — some by Mr. Highley are exquisite. However, thinking you
would kindly aid me, I have thus ventured to take up your valuable
time ; and, if you will kindly notice my questions, it will be much
esteemed by your subscriber, G. T. J.
Salop , March 21st, 1862.
[Very good results may be obtained in the camera, but better by
direct contact printing ; for which purpose we believe the tannin
process to be decidedly the best, as it is noted for producing clean
shadows and warm, pleasant tones. For the sized plates you name, we do
not think you will need to give a preliminary coating with gelatine. — Ed.]
PIN-HOLES IN COLLODIO-ALBUMEN NEGATIVES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I think that if your correspondent would iodise his albumen with
ammonium in preference to potassium, and also if he were to thoroughly
saturate his aceto-nitrate bath with iodide of silver, he would be no
longer troubled with pin-holes. The bath should be saturated with
iodide of silver before adding the acetic acid. Last year I was very much
troubled with the same complaint, but having this year tried the above
modification, I have not as yet noticed any. I may add that Mr. Ackland,
of Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite’s, was my informant.
London, March, 1862. I am, yours, &c. S. CONWAY.
P.S. — The enclosed is a specimen print from an untouched collodio-
albumen negative, clearly showing the absence of pin-holes.
A MULTIPLICITY OF QUERIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you again allow me to trespass on your valuable time
by asking the following : — 1. AVhich is flint and which is crown glass of
portrait combination? 2. Can I get flint and crown glass from Mr.
Forrest thick enough for flenses? 3. Can I get the peroxide of tin
from the chemist ? 4. Can you give me an easy method to find the exact
thickness that \, J, and } lenses ought to be ground to? 5. Is the 'front
combination joined by Canada balsam? 6. Are the grinding tools best
made of brass or iron ? 7. How to prepare paper portraits for oil painting ?
8. Will the positive silver bath do for iron negatives? 9. What length
of background do I require for carte de visite portraits ?
With many thanks for past favours, I am, yours, &c ,
21st March, 1862. B. R. J.
[1. The convex lenses : those on the outside of the combinations
as arranged in the mounting are crown or plate glass, the others
are flint. 2. No doubt you can. 3. Yes. 4. It must depend upon the
refractive and dispersive powers of the glass employed : we cannot give
you an easy method of finding what you require : you must study the
theory of the subject, 5. Yes. 6. Iron will do very well, but perhaps
brass is the best. 7. See Wall’s Manual of Photographic Colouring. 8.
It is not well adapted for it, being generally used with nitric acid, which is
objectionable. 9. The same as for any standing figure — 7r} to 8 feet. — Ed.]
F. J. M. — We have nothing to do with the contemplated Photographic Exhibi .
ton at the Crystal Palace; but if you will write to our contributor, Mr. A. H.
Wall, 35, Westbourne Grove, Bayswater, we believe he will give you every
information.
Speculum. — You will perceive, by a notice under the head “Meetings of
Societies,” that the subject of photo-micrography will be discussed at the
North London Photographic Association on the lGth inst. See also an article in
the present number.
Portable Bath. — The so-called ebonite, that was tried by Mr. Ross and
found to be brittle, was not the genuine article, which is not brittle. You will
be able to obtain the right sort from the patentees, Messrs. Silver and Co., Bishop-
gate Street, London.
Spirit-Rapper. — Mr. Peter Le Nkve Foster is the proper medium for your
remonstrances to be conveyed to the spirit world, or higher intelligences of the
International Exhibition Photographic Department. We hope they will not
rap out a negative.
T. G. P.— 1. Already answered. 2. We have sent this to Mr. Wall, who says
in reply : — “ The varnish most commonly used is the white lac. It should be
used before a fire or after warming the surface; and is best applied with a
small piece of soft linen rag, and a light sweeping touch. It is somewhat
difficult to manage.” 3. Print transparencies by the tannin process in
preference.
J. Horsfield. — There is no need to make any apology for seeking our ad¬
vice. If you want to stop down the lens you name for portraiture, put the
stop in contact with the front lens; if for landscapes, place it between the two
combinations, at a distance proportionate to their respective foci — that is to
say, if the front lens be to the back as 2 to 3, the stop should be two-fifths of the
whole distance between them, and nearer to the front lens.
Robt. Barclay. — We have lately examined the universal microscope intro¬
duced by Messrs. Smith, Beck, and Beck, and can warmly recommend it as
efficient and very moderate in price. If you require an instrument in addition
to your larger one, you cannot do better then procure one. The objectives to
your larger instrument are not adapted to use with the “universal,” nor would
those of the same makers be so.
Resin. — 1. Better use two single combinations for landscapes. We know
nothing about the lenses you name. 2. We are not connected with photography
commercially in any way, and have no idea of the value of negatives : write to
the parties you indicate, and they will no doubt reply to your question. 3. See
reply to query 1 . With a little ingenuity you might make a stereoscopic camera
for two lenses for your own use ; and you could obtain a pair of landscape
lenses for much less than you name. Your own tripod you could also construct.
Your supposed test for rapidity will most probably deceive you : try foliage in
shadow, or a yew tree any how, and then let us know about rapidity. As there
is no indication of locality in your note we do not know where “ this place ” is.
W. S. (Belper.) — 1. Mr. Hare, of Pentonville, advertised such a camera as
you inquire about. We believe it to be well made and efficient. He would,
no doubt, make one to your own pattern if you desire it. We recommend,
however, a form introduced by Murray and Heath, of Piccadilly, called Mar¬
riott’s camera, made to take plates about seven inches square, upon which
two pairs of stereographs can be taken — provision being made for shifting the
lenses before exposing the second half of the plate. There are several ad¬
vantages attending the use of this camera, especially for dry plates. 2. Your
manipulation appears to be very good. To judge from the specimens received
the exposure might have been a trifle longer with advantage. The development
is quite sufficient, the materials good, and properly prepared. Your artistic
qualifications will however bear c onsiderable improvement : to begin with, you
want shade, especially over the heads of your sitters. We perceive you have a
railing and stone steps behind your sitters: these would well support a piece of
white calico, in the form of a canopy, to shade the direct vertical light. A screen
also should be placed on one side or other — not close enough to be included, but
to moderate the light on one side ; and your step railings would also carry a good
plain background — a piece of red or green baize for a dark one, a blanket for a
light one, unless you are inclined to have one made on purpose. Tire lady in
the chequered dress is the best posed. The pose of that one in which the dog is
included is very ungraceful, as it makes her appear much shorter than she is in
reality : the attitude is stiff and formal, and, owing to the absence of shadow,
there is no foreshortening of the figure rendered visible. 3. The four and a-half
inch are most useful.
o>-
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
' Erratum. — In Messrs. Bury Brother’s advertisement, “ Cards for Album.
Portraits,” an obvious typographical error occurred in our last number.
For “Printed by Steam Power, 2000 per day,” read 20,000. It would have
occurred to the reader that the former number was quite inadequate for the
capabilities of such an establishment. The corrected advertisement appears in
the present number. _
R. L. — We shall have much pleasure in introducing your name as you desire.
L. It. — We will consider it, and if vie think well of the idea inform you in
our next.
Thomas Robinson — We arc compelled to postpone your communication
until our next, for want of space.
Old Subscriber. — Number 3 is not at all suitable to your purpose : you
have quite mistaken the intentions of the advertiser. Apply to him direct.
Ag. O N. O 5. — We have had similar complaints of the conduct of the writer
you name with reference to similar proceedings. We are not surprised : it is of a
piece with the rest of his policy, or rather impolicy.
Cyanide. — It would be unwise to act as you propose. Carry out your part
of the understanding and put him in the wrong: you will then have the game
in your own hands eventually, though you must bide your time.
An Amateur (Dublin). — A half plate portrait lens, of an English make,
reversed in position — that is, with the back lens towards the negative. Stops in
contact with the front lens.
I. J. ( Bristol.) — A scries of white blinds on light wooden frames, about a foot
in depth, arranged at intervals along the glass roof like the leaves of a
\ cnctian blind. They should be capable of removal in cloudy weather.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, Ac., should
he forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Pise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, HENRY GREENWOOD, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONT
PAGE
LEADER . 121
ON A NEW KIND OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
DISH ByD. VAN MONCKHOVEN . 322
ON BINOCULAR VISION AND THE STEREO¬
SCOPE. By WILLIAM CARPENTER, H.D.,
FR8., 1c &c . 122
MICROSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHY. By A. L.
NEYT . ..127
EXHIBITION GOSSIP: THE BUILDING
Dy A. H. WALL . 158
•‘NOTES,” 31 ARMONIOUS AND DISCORD
ANT, ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. By J. T.
TAYLOR . 129
ON NEGATIVES SUITABLE FOR ENLARGE¬
MENT, AND THE QUALITIES THEY
SHOULD POSSESS . 130
ENTS.
PAOB
THE TANNIN PROCESS. CHAPTR VI. By
MAJOR RUSSELL . 130
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER : ON LANDSCAPE. By A.
H WALL . 131
ENTREMETS: AD ABSURDUM . 132
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 133
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 134
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Paris. By E LACAN. Letter from Phila¬
delphia. By COLEMAN SELLERS . 137
NEW PUBLICATIONS : Portrait of H.R.H.
the late Prince Consort . 183
CORRESPONDENCE . 139
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDED TS, 4 c . 149
T H E B R ITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 164, Vol. IX _ APRIL 15, 1862.
We have much pleasure in announcing that we have made
arrangements with Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte for original contri¬
butions to The British Journal of Photography, which
will appear from time to time, the first being included in the
present number. Mr. Lyte’s name, as an experienced
scientific photographer, is too well known to need any com¬
mendation from us.
By inadvertence we omitted to make earlier a similar announce¬
ment with regard to M. D. van Monckhoven, from whose pen
original articles have already appeared in the current volume,
and others will follow in due course.
We may also mention that we have in preparation a short series
of articles entitled — Where to Go ivith the Camera.
Chimenti’s Drawings. — Our readers have doubtless noticed
the controversy between Sir David Brewster and Dr. Carpenter
that has been carried on relative to the question of whether a
pair of pictures, alleged to have been executed in the sixteenth
century by Chimenti, were or were not intended as illustrative
of the laws of binocular vision.
Our issue of the 15th ult. contained an abstract of a paper read
by Sir David Brewster at a late meeting of the Photographic
Society of Scotland, and our last a report of a lecture delivered
by Dr. Carpenter at the London Institution, both bearing on the
same subject. Although we were favoured by the latter with
the loan of photographic copies of the drawings, we abstained,
as is our general custom, from offering any opinion until both
sides of the question were fairly before our readers ; but it now
becomes our duty to give evidence upon the facts that are before
us. That the two pictures differ from one another but slightly,
there cannot be a doubt ; and personally we have none that the
producer of them did not intend them to illustrate the phe¬
nomena of binocular vision, because, had he done so, Whatever
other errors of construction he might have fallen into he would
certainly not have committed <*oe that is very palpable to the
careful observer — we allude to the vertical difference existing
between corresponding parts in the two pictures. Assuming
Chimenti to have been the author of both the drawings, and
that he was acquainted with the importance of the two points of
view to the due appreciation of stereosity, he can scarcely have
failed to have known, also, that in the vertical direction there
should have been no difference. The pictures represent a
young man seated on a low stool, with the left arm and leg
extended towards the spectator : a pair of compasses are in the
left hand, while the right hand is raised, as if holding a sheet
of paper, and the right leg doubled under the figure. There is
a kind of epaulet to the doublet, and, on measuring the distance
between it and a point in the skirt in one copy, it is considerably
shorter than in the other — so much so that an interval between
the last-named poiut and the stool of from one-eighth to one-
fourtli of an inch is included in the same distance in one
copy and excluded in the other. Again, the vertical length
between the left knee and foot is greater in one copy. This
of itself is a very important feature towards deciding the
question before us ; but, taken with others, it becomes of
greater moment. In one copy the figure is looking downwards
much more than in the other, and, when in the stereoscope, if
the bodies are made somewhat to coincide, the heads wiH not
combine at all. By shifting one a little out of the perpendicular,
some kind of combination may be brought about between the
two heads ; but in this condition the heads present a pseudo-
scopic effect, while the bodies are altogether thrown out of
adjustment. The stool is in one copy quite horizontal; in the
other the top slopes downwards towards the back of the figure.
That some kind of relief is apparent when the two pictures are
placed in the stereoscope we admit ; but we cannot, with the
utmost latitude of imagination, concede the assumption that the
artist proved himself by these drawings to have been at all
acquainted with the theory of binocular vision. What, then,
can have been the reason for executing two copies of one sub¬
ject, and mounting them side by side? Now, however difficult
it may be to answer this question, we cannot perceive that such
difficulty adds to the strength of the stereoscopic theory
assumption. But we have, for the sake of argument, tempo¬
rarily supposed both drawings to have been executed by the
same hand : is there, however, any sound reason for coming to
this conclusion ? It has been very plausibly suggested by Dr.
Carpenter, in his lecture, that they may be studies of the same
subject executed by Chimenti and his pupil simultaneously from
a living model; and, if this conjecture be correct, it will fully
account for the amount of apparent relief in some parts as well as
for the discrepancies in others. It is altogether incomprehensible
to us how so an acute observer as Sir David Brewster can have
failed to have noticed the latter ; and we are certainly of opinion
that Professor Wheatstone’s reputation as the first discoverer of
the stereoscopic principle remains intact so far as the evidence
of Chimenti’s pictures can influence the question.
Since writing the preceding, the photographs to which
allusion is made above were laid before the Photographic Society,
as will be noticed in our report of the meeting ; and our view
was universally corroborated by many with whom we discussed
the matter after the conclusion of the business of the meeting.
A visitor present during the sitting who made some suggestions
deprecating the conclusion arrived at, fortunately had with
him photographic copies of the same pictures, which copies we
understood to be those that had been in Sir David Brewster's
possession : and we considered them better for the purpose than
those we had from Dr. Carpenter, as they presented the ap¬
pearance of having been taken direct from the paintings, while
those we first saw seemed to be copies of tracings made from
the same. However, we took the precaution of comparing the
two sets, and found them to agree together completely, so that
there is no room left for any supposition of either having been
tampered with.
One more remark, and we have done with the subject. There
were several artists present at the meeting, and no fewer than
three of them expressed the opinion that one of the copies was
evidently by the hand of a master — the lines being firm and bold
— and that the other was as evidently by a less practised hand,
there being evidence of indecision and weakness of handling.
142
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 186s
Photography at the International Exhibition.' — We
should almost imagine that the Royal Commissioners are
desirous of discouraging to the utmost extent of their power
the practice of photography. Not content with heaping con¬
tumely upon the productions by classing them with machinery,
and cramming them into an absurdly insufficient amount of
space, they, while asking for tenders for the exclusive right of
taking photographs in the building, with singular inconsistency,
refuse to afford the smallest accommodation for preparing and
developing plates. They also impose the restriction that operators
shall only be permitted to work before ten o’clock in the morn¬
ing, and even this small amount of liberty to be subject to with¬
drawal at the caprice of the Commissioners or their officers.
Why do they not prohibit the practice of photography within the
building altogether? Should they do so, we fancy we know
somebody who would take pleasure in outwitting them. There
would be plenty of scope for the ingenuity of our Liverpool
friend who converted his hat into a camera, and his umbrella
into a tripod — (see No. for 15th July, 1858) — to say nothing of
Mr. Slcaife and his pistolgraph, by which (as he advertises) he
can take portraits (or views) without the knowledge or consent
of the individuals concerned !
We remember a good story in connexion with the Crystal
Palace, when first opened at Sydenham. An amateur, innocent
of the existence of any exclusive photographic privilege, quietly
set up a camera in the grounds, but was soon pounced upon by
a policeman with an intimation that he must desist unless he
had a written order from Mr. Delamotte permitting him to
operate. The photographer had just uncovered his lens (he was
working the calotype process), and attempted to argue the point ;
but, finding the policeman imperative, he left the camera in charge
of the policeman while he went to seek Mr. Delamotte ! Of course
he did not find him — told the policeman so on his return after
the lapse of about twenty minutes — and reluctantly (?) shut up
his lens and removed his camera; but, singularly enough,
when he attempted to develop his sheet of paper he found a
very good negative of the building, notwithstanding the fact of
the camera having been in custody during the exposure, and we
are not sure that he valued the negative any the less in conse¬
quence of the ingenuity he had to exercise to obtain it. With¬
out exactly justifying the proceeding we could not help being
very much amused thereat ; and it would not surprise us to find
analogous ruses resorted to, if need be, during the forthcoming
season.
What pretence there can be for discouraging photographers
in the rigorous manner at present in contemplation we cannot
imagine. Should the artistic copyright bill now before Parlia¬
ment become law, there can be no pretence of the repressive
system being for the protection of those exhibiting works,
which are valuable on account of their designs.
Carbon Printing and Prizes. — The reward of 2000 francs,
offered a few years back by the Due de Luynes for the best
photographic printing process in carbon, was, at the meeting of
the French Photographic Society, held on the 21st ult., adjudged
to M. Poitevin by the Committee charged ■with that duty ; and
an additional prize from the funds of the Society, in the form of
a medal of the value of 600 francs, was also conferred upon
M. Fargicr for his ingenious modifications of the original
process.
A fatality appears to attend upon the system of offering prizes
for the supposed encouragement of objects photographical ; for
very rarely indeed do the awards give universal or even general
satisfaction. So on the present occasion M. Charavet, the
purchaser and proprietor of M. Fargier’s process, protested
vehemently against the judgment of the Committee, and that in
a manner which seriously ruffled the serenity of the members
present at the meeting ; and, if report speaks truly, M. Charavet
concluded by making his exit from the room in a towering
passion.
Is there no rose without its thorn ? — no honey to be had
without somebody being stung by the bees ? We have long been
convinced of the impolicy of entrusting the award of prizes to a
number of persons conjointly, not any one of whom is personally
responsible for any particular decision. It is, in our opinion,
far better to leave the matter entirely in the hands of ope
individual, whose attainments are such as to command respect,
and whose integrity is unquestionable. Unsuccessful competitors
rarely, under such circumstances, complain of injustice, but
rather attribute their disappointment to want of judgment only.
Whatever mistakes may be made by the Photographic Society
of Scotland with regard to prizes, it certainly acts most wisely
in this particular point at least.
ON MEALINESS IN TONING, AND ON A HITHERTO
UNOBSERVED CAUSE OP THE FADING OF PHOTO¬
GRAPHS.
Bj F. Maxwell Lyte, F.C.S.
Two different kinds of mealiness may occur in albumenised prints —
one being produced by an inequality of action in the toning bath,
the other by a deposit which takes place in the body of the paper.
The first of these may result from an unequal distribution of the
albumen over the surface of the paper, from having been dried in a
damp atmosphere, from an imperfect whipping of the albumen,
from the use of stale albumen, from an excess of salt in the paper,
or from the nitrate not having been properly washed out before
the paper was placed in the salting bath previous to toning.
Should the paper not have been rapidly dried, or should the albu¬
men have been imperfectly whipped, the absorption of the albumen
by the paper will be unequal, and a coating of variable thickness
produced. Now, as a general rule, it may be said that the thicker
the coating of albumen the redder the proof will tone, from the fact
of its being less easily penetrated by the toning liquid, so that when
an uneven coating of albumen is given to the paper the proof
when finished will show a mottling of red and darker colour.
The use of stale albumen — the alkalinity of which acts on the size
of the paper — seems to tend to a like result of unequal absorp-|
tion.
An excess of salt in the albumen, or an imperfect washing out of 1
the nitrate before the salt bath previous to toning, causes a deposit
of chloride of silver on the face of the proof which shields its surface
in parts from the action of the toning bath ; and the former of the two
last-mentioned causes also produces a porosity of the surface
peculiarly favourable to mealiness. All these causes may be
resumed in two words — “unequal absorption” of the toning bath.
The other cause of mealiness, viz., the deposit in the tissue of the
paper, seems mainly to belong to the use of stale albumen. It has
been the practice with many of the preparers of albumenised paper
to let the albumen get a little old, with a view of obtaining a finer
and more equable coating. Be this as it may, stale albumen always
gives a paper which rapidly embrowns on keeping, and some
compound of silver seems to form in it which is insoluble in hypo¬
sulphite of soda, and leaves in the fixed and washed proof the
deposit above alluded to.
One cause of the failing of positive proofs has remained hitherto
unnoticed — that is, the employment of hyposulphite of soda by the
paper-makers as an antichlore. It is obvious that the use of this
material must induce a deposit of sulphur in the tissue of the paper,
and it is highly probable that a slight excess of hypo, usually
remains. I have before me a sample of cardboard which is so
sulphurised that it is possible literally to extract the sulphur from
it by sublimation. A piece of a proof pasted on this board, and
placed in a damp situation, would become in a few months mottled
all over with yellow patches. With this destructive element in
our cardboard mounts, how can we expect our prints to stand ?
This fact will account for many of, if not all, the anomalies which
are found to occur in the fading of prints. Very often when a batch
of proofs have been finished and mounted some will stand perfectly,
while others fade rapidly.
Again: this fact accounts for another peculiarity — that photo¬
graphs have been found to fade more rapidly in the portfolio than
when framed or hung up.
It is obvious that, if a picture be packed in a portfolio with the
silver surface in direct contact with a sheet of sulphurised card¬
board, it could hardly be placed in a position more certain to ensure
its fading.
April 15, 1862]
143
THE
BRITISH JOURNAL
OF
PHOTOGRAPHY.
ON A RAPID DRY PROCESS, PRINTING TRANSPAREN¬
CIES, AND REMARKS ON “INSTANTANEOUS” PHO¬
TOGRAPHY*
I3y William England.
As it is most desirable that everything coming under the obser¬
vation or practice of the photographer tending to the advance¬
ment and development of the art should be made known, I venture
to occupy your time with a few remarks. An additional induce¬
ment to me to ask your attention is the interest you manifested
in the pictures which I had the honour of exhibiting before you at
the last meeting of this Society. It is to the method by which those
pictures were produced that I propose to call your attention. I
do not pretend that I have much to say with which many gentle¬
men present are unacquainted, neither can I lay claim to much
that is original, therefore it is chiefly to the details of manipulation
I shall confine my observations.
The process I adopt is that known as “Major Russell’s Tannin
Process.” I have tried many others, but have not been success¬
ful. Taupenot’s gives impressions too hard and strong in the
lights, faults which the utmost care in developing has not over¬
come. The same, too, may be said of the Fothergill process so far
as my experience proves, besides the many difficulties of mani¬
pulation ; such, for instance, as washing the plates too much or
too little, and the unevenness of development, due no doubt to the
albumen coating being porous in some places and horny in others,
causing the print, when finished, to present a very patchy ap¬
pearance. I do not say that all these faults are to be placed to
these processes. Probably by very long practice they may be
overcome and good results obtained ; but I really believe that the
simplicity of the tannin process places it at the head of all other
methods, and that with it finer results may be obtained, not only
as transparencies for the lantern or stereoscope, to which it is so
well adapted by the soft and beautifully warm tones produced, but
also in the production of negatives.
Much has been said and written upon the long exposure required
for tannin plates, and the great inconvenience of the film leaving the
glass during development. In answer to the first objection, I may
say that with a slight modification, to which I shall presently
refer, and the choice of a suitable collodion, I have been able to
reduce the time of exposure to the average length given to wet
collodion developed with pyrogallic acid ; and I have no doubt
that were it possible to prepare a solution of iron, or some other
equally energetic developer, suitable for developing tannin plates,
pictures might be produced absolutely instantaneously. As to the
film leaving the plate, I at first found some difficulty, particularly
with very new collodion. I could not make up my mind to
albumenise or gelatinise my glass, previous to coating with collo¬
dion, as recommended by some operators, not only on account
of the time it occupies, but also of the difficulty of getting a plate
so prepared free from spots and dust. 1 can now, after considerable
practice, prepare plates of large, and then cut to stereoscopic, sizes
without injury to the delicate film, by which means a saving of
time is effected.
The collodion most suitable, as far as my experience enables me
to speak, is prepared in the following manner. To five parts of
ether and three of alcohol, add sufficient pyroxyline to give a toler¬
ably thick film. So soon as well settled, decant into another
bottle, and measure off two portions of ten drachms each. To one add
forty grains of bromide of cadmium, and to the other thirty grains
of iodide of ammonium. Shake till dissolved, and put by to settle.
When throughly settled, add one drachm of each to six parts of plain
collodion. I have tried various methods of iodising, and prefer
this mode to any other, not only on account of its being more free
from the production of spots, but also that immediately after
iodising it is in as good a condition for working as the usual
collodion after being iodised some days.
During a great number of experiments in trying to increase the
sensitiveness of dry plates, I found that the addition of honey
has a remarkably accelerating effect, and by rendering the film
less horny assists materially the development of the image. I am
quite aware that the use of honey in photography is not new :
we all remember the charming productions of Mr. Maxwell Lyte.
But honey used simply or in combination with acid, as in the
oxymel process, leaves the plates tacky and liable to injury from
dust. This is not the case by using it in the proportions I shall
presently recommend in combination with tannin. By following
this method, and using collodion prepared as before mentioned,
the time of exposure for stereoscopic pictures in a good light
would average not more than from ten to fifteen seconds.
* Read at a meeting of the London Photographic Society, April 1st, 1SG2.
After cleaning and coating the glass, sensitise in a forty-grain
bath, and wash in a second bath of distilled water, to which has
been added thirty or forty drops of acetic acid. The plate may remain
in the latter while a second is being prejrared. The plate, is then
thoroughly washed under a tap, and coated with the tannin solu¬
tion, composed of fifteen grains of tannin and fifteen grains of
honey to the ounce of water. It is then ready to be placed in
the box to dry.
I may here remark on the great care necessary to avoid stains.
If possible a silver dipper should be used, being more convenient
to hold the plate in washing. When necessary to handle the plate
do so with a piece of blotting paper ; also, in coating the plate
with tannin, lay a piece of paper between the plate and fingers.
The drying-box I find convenient has three shelves, and up one
side is fixed a tin tube, under which a spirit-lamp may be placed.
After the necessary number of plates has been placed in the
box, it should not be opened till they are perfectly dry, otherwise
a stain will appear across the plate where the action of drying-
lias been checked by the admission of cold air to the box.
Daguerreotypists will readily understand this from the difficulties
they may have experienced in drying off Daguerreotype plates,
particularly the larger sizes.
To prevent the film leaving the glass, an excellent plan is to
pass a sable pencil, previously dipped in a solution of white wax
and benzole, round the edge of the plate to the extent, say, of
one-eighth of an inch. This for the purpose- is far superior to
spirit varnish. The plates may then be stowed away ready for
use, and, if properly prepared, will keep six months.
On removal from the camera, place the plate in a bath prepared
with ten grains of nitrate of silver and five drops of acetic acid to
the ounce of water, allowing it to remain in about one minute. By
the adoption of the plan above described for dry plates the action
of the developer is almost as rapid as in the wet process. Develop
with the usual three-grain solution of pyrogallic acid. The develop¬
ment is so similar to that with wet collodion that I need only remark
that no fear need be entertained of the film breaking up, the edges
being kept perfectly dry and tight by the wax border.
The second subject of my paper is the printing of transparen¬
cies. The mode of preparing the dry plates is much the same,
except that for this purpose old collodion must be used. If of a
dark red so much the better ; otherwise in printing from a strong
negative it is impossible to get an impression clean and well-
defined, on account of the tendency of new collodion to solarise
and present a weak and foggy impression. Better tones will also
be obtained by reducing the coating solution to ten grains of tannin
and five grains of honey to the ounce of water. The developer
should likewise contain citric instead of acetic acid, as recom¬
mended by Major Russell ; and unless a considerable amount of
silver is added, the print is sure to be red or reddish-brown instead
of purple. Pictures for the lantern should be thin, very clean, and
well defined — not developed so deeply as those for the stereoscope.
I will conclude by making a few remarks upon instantaneous
photography; and here I may say that a very large amount of
patience is necessary, and that failures are very plentiful — bad
light, the absence of the sun at the identical moment when the plate
is most sensitive, the variations in the quality of the chemical agents
employed, and, above all, the difficulties that attend the nitrate
bath, which will sometimes unaccountably persist in giving foggy
impressions. Again, sometimes we get beautifully clear plates but
with very little impression beyond the high lights. Now all this is
very disagreeable ; but such is the case at present, and will so con¬
tinue to be, I fear, until we have a dry process sufficiently sensitive.
Where time of exposure is no object, of course we do not iyieet with
these troubles.
The collodion used in taking the negatives of the impressions I
have the honour of placing before you was prepared in precisely
ll.c same way as before mentioned, except that, in iodising, I use
three grains of bromide of cadmium and the same amount of iodide
of ammonium to each ounce of collodion.
I am an advocate for the liberal use of bromides, having expe¬
rienced their beneficial effects, particularly in photographing ob¬
jects presenting violent contrasts of lights and shades. Under
such circumstances I should use the bromides considerably in
excess of the iodides.
The nitrate bath should be of the strength of fort}- grains,
saturated with iodide of potassium, and perfectly neutral.
I need scarcely remark that the utmost care is necessary in the
preparation of the bath, also in the selection of nitrate of silver,
which should be pure recrystallised, otherwise the amount of acid
to prevent the plate fogging will materially injure the sensitive-
144
THE BRITISH JOUBN
ness. We do not experience this so much in. ordinary working,
where the time of exposing the plate is not limited. With every
caution in preserving the bath from injury, I have never been able
in working instantaneously to use it more than five or six .days ;
after that its sensitising properties diminish rapidly, but it is still
verv good for general purposes. Another important point, too, is
to expose the plate within a very short time after its removal from
the nitrate bath, or it will lose much of its sensitiveness. Here is
one great cause of failure, as oftentimes the sun disappears behind a
cloud just as the plate is ready. There is no remedy but to try
again.
A word or two may here be said upon the form of lens best
adapted for rapid working. For street views and public buildings,
I find it a great advantage to be provided with three sets of double
achromatic of the respective focal lengths of 5.1, 4J, and3§ inches.
By this means one is enabled to enlarge or reduce the image to the
size suited to the plate. I prefer using the first named, being with
that enabled to use a larger stop ; but in copying architectural
subjects in crowded localities want of space oftentimes compels one
to resort to a lens of shorter focus and consequently a smaller stop.
Tn all cases it may not be convenient to be so liberally provided.
To those not having at command a variety, I would recommend a
lens of 4£-inch focus as being the one most useful. Cannot some
of our best opticians construct for us a lens which would enable us
to vary the size of our picture where distance, or rather the want
of distance, confines us to one spot? What, for instance, displays
worse taste than copying a public building, leaving out foreground
and sky? And yet "the operator is sometimes reduced to this or
leave out altogether.
I have made many experiments in the mode of exposing the
plate, in placing the shutter in front of the lens ; also immediately
behind it; and, lastly, near to the plate, which answers perfectly.
I have found, by using the drop in front of the lens, a want of
definition in the corners of the negatives. I mentioned this fact
some time since to my friend, Mr. Dallmeyer, and should be pleased
to hear if he had devoted any attention to the subject. By
placing the shutter on the dark slide, and having a contrivance to
lessen the size of the slot, we can get different lengths of expo¬
sure, which is sometimes an advantage, although, of course, it is
advisable in all cases to give the shortest amount of exposure the
sensitiveness of the plate will allow, otherwise moving objects will
not be well defined.
The developer I generally use is protosulphate of iron, two
ounces; water, one pint ; acetic acid, the least possible amount,
which I determine according to the temperature, varying from
four to eight drachms. Should too much be added, it is not so
easy to develop objects in the shade. After the impression is fully
developed, strengthen with pyrogallic acid.
I have now, gentlemen, given you the details of my mode of
operating, and should I not have made myself sufficiently under¬
stood, I shall be happy to answer any question. In conclusion, I
beg to thank you for your patient attention, and to assure you
that I shall be pleased if what I have said should elicit further
information from the members present.
STRAY CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By James Maetin.
CHAPTER III.
DIALYSIS APPLIED TO PHOTOGRAPHY.*
Science is indebted for the discovery of the process termed
“dialysis” to the patient and laborious investigations of Professor
Gral rain, F.R.S., and Master of the Mint, who has communicated
to the world the interesting and valuable results in an original
memoir on the subject, published in the Transactions of the Royal
Society for 1861.
The process which has been distinguished by the above title
depends for its successful practice on the power which animal
membrane possesses of effecting the separation of liquids of differ¬
ed degrees of diffusibility, by means of a species of endosmotic
action; and is found especially useful in separating from one an¬
other the two classes of bodies known to chemists as crystalloids
and colloids.
L’o make this statement more fully comprehensible it is necessary
to go s imewhat into detail, and in some sort to folloAV the history
of the successive discoveries which have led to the promulgation
cl " hat may now be regarded as a perfected process.
Ill" I ..r r. <*.n s to himself the light oftianslition of tlie present, all previous, mid
- "u matters connected with the chemistry of photography, conti i-
lmte-1 bv him to this Journal. * ■ ■
AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [April 15, 1802
First, however, a word in reference to the two classes of sub¬
stances named above.
Crystalloids are generally substances susceptible of crystallisation,
of which common salt may be regarded as the type : they are marked
by a readiness of diffusibility through water, especially when com¬
pared to the second class of substances, colloids, which are allied to
isinglass in their character, anpl amorphous in structure. The
general distinction between the two classes of substances is, doubt¬
less, one of intimate molecular constitution.
The memoir referred to contains, besides a description of the
process which more immediately forms the subject of the present
communication, details of the earlier methods adopted by the author
in determining the relative diffusibilities of various substances.
These methods were distinguished by the names “ vial diffusion ”
and “ jar diffusion.”
A more thorough appreciation of the interest attaching to these
investigations will become possible if, at the outset, we acquire a
correct idea of the meaning of the term “ diffusion ” — a term simple
enough in its ordinary acceptation, but possessing in this con¬
nexion a peculiar significance.
If water be exposed in a shallow open vessel to a dry atmosphere,
it is said to undergo evaporation , i.e ., its vapour becomes diffused
through the atmosphere. This phenomenon may be regarded as
the analogue of saline diffusion ; for, if a solution containing about
20 per cent, of common salt bo carefully conveyed by means of a
pipette to the bottom of a tall jar, or other vessel of water, in such
a manner as to avoid mechanical admixture, it will be found on
examination after the lapse of three days, or even less time, that
the salt has become so far diffused through the entire mass of water
as to have reached nearly to the top of the vessel ; that the solid
salt has, so to speak, evaporated into the superincumbent liquid,
just as much as the liquid in the instance above referred to evapo¬
rated into the gas air. Without aiming at the accuracy of a
definition, diffusion, then, may he regarded as the evaporation of
a solid into a liquid.
The method of manipulating which we propose to consider is
one which has grown out of, and been adopted after, an experience
of sixteen years. It will readily be imagined, therefore, that the
earlier experiments were of a very simple nature.
In the Philosophical Transactions for 1850, page 25, Mi1. Graham
refers to the manner in which his earlier experiments were con¬
ducted. He gives to the plan which he then followed the name
of “ vial diffusion.” The salt whose diffusive qualities were to
be tested was dissolved in water in a certain known proportion,
generally 10 or 20 per cent., and being placed in a two or three
ounce vial, was carefully lowered to the bottom of a glass jar, about
8 or 10 inches deep, and 4 or 5 inches wide, — the jar having been
previously filled nearly to the top with distilled water. It was
then set aside for a longer or shorter period, at the end of which
the outer liquid was examined.
In the case of a 20 per cent, solution of chloride
of sodium, allowed to diffuse for eight days, Mr.
Graham observed that 58 ’68 grains had passed
out into the larger jar, the portion so diffused
being called the diffusate (fig . 1). Other sub¬
stances besides chloride of sodium were experi¬
mented upon, and the conclusion deducible from
the results was that these substances differ mate¬
rially from one another in the rapidity with
which they diffuse. Solutions of the following
substances, each containing the same proportion
of solid matter, were allowed to diffuse for eight
days, with every precaution for securing unifor¬
mity of treatment, and with the following results
VIAL DIFFUSION.
Substance. Diffusate.
Chloride of sodium . 58‘68.
Nitrate of soda . 5T56.
Sulphate of magnesia . 27-42.
Sugar . 26’74.
Gum . . 1324.
Albumen . 3‘08.
A mere glance at the above table, in view of what has been said
before, will be sufficient to demonstrate that, although “diffusion”
may not avail to effect a complete separation of any two substances
submitted to its action, it is nevertheless sufficient to determine a
partial one, especially in a case where a highly diffusive substance,
like chloride of sodium, and a feebly diffusive one, like albumen,
are mixed together. And it is upon this obvious conclusion that the
suggestion intended to be put forward in the present paper is based.
FIG. 1.
April 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
145
Before adverting to this, however, it may he briefly stated that
the results obtained by Mr. Graham in his experiments with “ jar
diffusion” tend to corroborate those obtained by “vial diffusion.”
The method of manipulating in the former case has been already
alluded to, and as it does not bear directly on the point under
consideration it will be needless to enter into further detail.
It has been said above that the process of dialysis depends for its
successful practice on the property which animal membrane possesses
of separating crystalloids and colloids. Professor Graham, however,
in addition to this says : — “ The most suitable of all substances for
the dialytic septum appears to be the commercial material known
as vegetable parchment, or parchment-paper, which was first pro¬
duced by M. Gaine, and is now successfully manufactured by Messrs.
De la Hue and Co. This is unsized paper, altered by a short
immersion in sulphuric acid, or in chloride of zinc, as proposed by
Mr. T. Taylor. Paper so metamorphosed acquires considerable
tenacity, as is well known ; and when wetted it expands and
becomes translucent, evidently admitting of hydration. A slip of
25 inches in length was elongated 1 inch in pure water, and l-2
inch in water containing one per cent, of carbonate of potash. In
the wetted state, parchment- paper can easily be applied to a light
hoop of wood, or, better, to a hoop made of sheet gutta percha, 2
inches in depth, and 8 or 10 inches in diameter, so as to form a
vessel like a sieve in shape (jig . 2). The disc of parchment-paper
used should exceed in diameter the
hoop to be covered by 3 or 4
inches, so as to rise well round the
hoop. It may be bound to the hoop
by string or by an elastic band, or
by a second and smaller hoop of gutta¬
percha', but should not be too firmly
secured. The parchment-paper must not be porous. Its soundness
will be ascertained by sponging the upper surface with pure water,
and then observing that no wet spots show themselves on the oppo¬
site side. Such defects may be remedied by applying liquid albu¬
men, and then coagulating the same by heat. Mr. De la Rue recom¬
mends the use of albumen in cementing parchment-paper, which
thus may be formed into cells and bags, very useful in dialytic
experiments. The mixed fluid to be “dialysed” is poured into
the hoop upon the surface of the parchment-paper to a small depth
only, such as half-an-inch. The vessel described, the dialyser , is
then floated in a basin containing a considerable volume of water
(fig. 3), in order to induce the egress of the diffusive constituents
fig- 3. of the mixture. Half a litre
(about 18 oz.) of urine, dialysed
for twenty-four hours, gave its
crystalloidal constituents to the
external water. The latter,
evaporated by a water-bath,
yielded a white saline mass.
From this mass urea was extrac¬
ted by alcohol in so pure a con¬
dition as to appear in crystalline
tufts upon the evaporation of the alcohol.”
A consideration of this last fact, in connexion with the table
given above, beaded “ Vial Diffusion,” will suggest to the reader
the applicability of this process of dialysis to meet the requirements
of those photographers who albumenise their own paper.
(To be concluded in our next.)
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS.*
By Alfred H. Wall.
We have in photography a discovery which is to art what the
printing press was to literature; and of the great masters in art it
may be more truly now said than at any other time — “ Their con¬
ceptions are no longer pent up in galleries open to but a few :
they meet us in our houses, and are the household pleasures of
millions. Works designed for emperors, popes, and nobles find
their way, in no poor representations, into humble dwellings, and
sometimes give a consciousness of kindred powers to the child of
poverty.” The engraver may translate into monochrome every
line and tint of a painting accurately enough ; but so surely will
his own individualism, his own peculiar “manner," find expression
in his reproduction, that even the finest of such are no less repre¬
sentative of the original painting than of the copyist and engraver.
The truth of this seems very widely and generally recognised.
The Athenaeum remarked not long since, when speaking of the
•Bead at a meeting of the South Loudon Photographic Society, April 10th, 1662.
pictures at Hampton Court: — “Copies multiplied by this— the
photographic — process w-ould render more service to students than
any lithographs or line engravings now current ;” and The Times ,
otherwise no friend to the art-claims of photography, said not
long since: — “A photograph of a drawing in black and white, sepia
or gray, is hardly distinguishable from the original ; and even
when the original is in red chalk, the photographic reproduction,
darkened as it is, has a precision and spirit that give it a value
beyond the most careful copy that can be made by hand.” Of
paintings the same influential authority says: — “The practice of
having their pictures photographed is largely spreading among
our painters, and the fact shows, what no man who has the
painter’s feeling needs proof of, that photographs of pictures have
qualities that more than make up for their inevitable untruthfulness
in rendering certain colours. They render the spirit and expres¬
sion of the originals with an effect that may well drive the en¬
graver to despair. * * What line engraving can stand beside
even the most unsatisfactory of these photographs as a repre¬
sentative of the original for those who love, above all, the essence
and spirit of a picture ?” But without further quotations it will be
at once apparent that a branch of art which can reproduce with
such extraordinary fidelity, rapidity, and comparative cheapness,
"the noblest and grandest works of high art — extending their in¬
fluence, multiplying their admirers, and inspiring with their per¬
fections the loftiest art-patron and the lowliest art-student — must,
sooner or later, exercise remarkable power in educating aud
refining the popular taste in art.
The capability of photography as a reproductive art agent
being admitted, there is another view of the subject to which I am
desirous of next briefly calling attention.
In the year 1773 you would have found in all London only two
small shops devoted to the pi i n't trade. These dealt chiefly in
engravings imported from Germany, Flanders, Holland, and France ;
while the very few inferior English engravers in this country could
scarcely preserve themselves and their families from destitution.*
So rapidly did the art emerge from this degraded condition that
only nine years afterwards it was stated in the House of Lords
that, as articles of export , engravings produced the country £200,000
per annum. This great change was chiefly brought about, we
must remember, by the application of engraving to the reproduc¬
tion in monochrome of paintings and other similar works of art.
William Hogarth, our great English painter, was the first to bring
the obscure and ignoble art into high esteem and popular favour,
by applying his skill as an engraver to the reproduction of his own
immortal works ; and, by thus demonstrating the commercial,
educational, and industrial capabilities of engraving as allied to
painting, awakened a spirit of enterprise which speedily created a
new and very flourishing branch of trade. f Now, if the most im¬
portant element of this branch of trade is, as appears probable,
about to pass into the grasp of photography, it is of absolute
national importance that so valuable a department should be pro¬
perl}'- cared for, cultivated, and encouraged. The difference
between exporting and importing the productions of any art is the
difference between wealth and poverty for its professors — the
difference between ignoble obscurity and honourable eminence for
the art. Remembering this, it surely becomes members of a
Society like our own to give such department careful study, and
its process their full share of culture.
If “the highest value of the arts of design consists” (as was
said by one of our recognised authorities on the administrative
economy of the fine arts) “ not in their power to minister to the
luxury and splendour of the few, but in their eminent capability
to promote the fitting culture and education of all,” then may
photography fairly lay claim to such value. Indeed, in the mere
act by which the Art and Science Department of the South Ken¬
sington Museum resolved, in 1858, to publish at cost price photo¬
graphic reproductions of works by eminent masters, the claim of
photography to such distinction was publicly recognised and
acknowledged. In the face of such facts as these, then, it seems
difficult to understand why Her Majesty’s Commissioners for the
International Exhibition could have evinced so little policy, fore¬
sight, or common sense as they did in classifying the tools of the
art and its productions as the result of equal skill and intelligence.
If only in this one of its very numerous and valuable applications,
the art had the very strongest claims to receive at their hands a
more than common share of honour and encouragement, instead of
* Roquet.
+ Alderman Boydell — once the poor engraver, afiti wards as a follower in the steps o
Hi garth, the great print publisher — being at the Royal Academy dinner, his health w as
drunk by Sir Joshua Reynolds, at the suggestion of Buike, as “ the commercial
Maecenas of England."
146
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1802
this act of injustice and discouragement. For these reasons, there¬
fore, I bring my subject unhesitatingly before you this evening,
trusting that both upon this and upon future occasions it may
receive from us that meed of interest and research to which it has
so paramount a claim. For myself, as I have no new facts to
advance, no scientific experiments to chronicle, no very great
experience to speak about, some apology maj^ be due, which I now
duly proffer. My further remarks will be chiefly devoted to a few
practical hints, rather intended to elicit in discussion more valu¬
able conclusions and opinions than to stand upon their own con¬
sequence. There is one circumstance of some significance, how¬
ever, which I may mention before proceeding. In the last French
Exposition of Photography there were nearly two hundred
specimens of reproductions of drawings and paintings by celebrated
masters : in the London Exhibition there were, perhaps, not a
dozen. I shall first speak —
Of Copying Engravings.
Choice rare prints are costly things, and their reproduction, as
a commercial speculation, would doubtless frequently prove very
remunerative. But the cost of copying and reproducing by en¬
graving such works, say, as Marc Antonio’s Adam and Eve ,
which sold for 150 guineas, or the celebrated sabre portrait of
Rembrandt, which fetched £600, would be so serious a con¬
sideration as to be unworthy of any enterprising print publisher’s
attention; and thus many an invaluable work of art passes secretly
out of existence. Aided by the camera this need no longer be the
case, as few or many copies may be reproduced at an expense
fairly proportioned to the number required. These old engravings
are frequently so stained and discoloured as to render their copy¬
ing a matter of no small difficulty; it may, therefore, be serviceable
if I give a method, which will be found most effectual and easy,
which restores the whites, and the clearness, sharpness, and
strength of the lines. It is simply taking equal portions by
weight of strong muriatic acid and water, and adding three parts
of this to one of the red oxide of lead. The discoloured prints
are then steeped in this and taken out when restored.
In copying from a flat surface the question of focus is very much
simplified; but, as with a good lens the engraving is apt to appear
tolerably sharp on the ground-glass when the perfection of sharp¬
ness is not yet reached, one ought not to be too easily satisfied.
The collodion should give good intensity and not be too new : a
slight addition of free iodine secures transparenc}^ in the blacks.
I prefer copying in direct sunlight, and developing with a weak
iron developer (iron eight grains, acetic acid twenty minims) not
too new, intensifying afterwards with pyro. and silver. The collo¬
dion, although it should not be in what would be called its best
state (for portraits or views), should record the most delicate lines
with great clearness and precision. Of course over-exposure, over¬
development, and everything which tends to mar the perfect
transparency of the blacks, or destroy the more refined details of
the graver, must be avoided, — pure white and clear blacks being
the elements of success. (1 feel ashamed to mention these simple
things here, although they may be useful in some quarters, per¬
haps.) When the destruction of the print is of small consequence
and the margin is very much torn, stained, or discoloured, this may
of course be cut away and the print be placed against a piece of
white board or paper for copying. In selecting a print for copying
we should remember that there is a vast difference between a
really good proof and those feeble, chalky impressions from worn-
out plates which are to be found in the shops of cheap printsellers.
But copying engravings isavery simple matter compared with the
Copying of Paintings.
Here more real and tangible difficulties meet us — difficulties
which in theory look so truly formidable that one can only
wonder when in practice they arc so gloriously overcome.
I lie amazing success with which Mr. Thurston Thompson
has reproduced the wonderful creations of Turner’s genius
in the specimens before us, must convince us that such
difficulties only exist to be conquered. But the victory
is not always easily won. It is only after long experience
and many experiments that in photographing the more difficult
paintings we succeed in making every step in the process a
triumph over some enemy or another, until the end is gained —
getting over this in the exposure, mastering that in the "develop¬
ment, securing something else in the intensifying, and managing
other points in the printing, so as eventually to secure what, after
all, some worthy gentleman amateur, who has just mastered a
shilling manual, and taken his fourth “picture” from nature, will
perhaps sneeringly denounce as only a copy. Knowing that the
bromides are more sensitive to the colours called non-actinic, and
the iodides to those of the other end of the scale, it at once strikes
us that the judicious combination of both, with reference to the
warm or cold characteristics of the painting, is the most hopeful
thing for success. In a general way the bromised collodion will
give the most satisfactor}'- results.
And here 1 must pause. The simple fact is that I have now
only just time to lay down my pen and start for this evening’s
meeting — my paper, in consequence of the accumulating business
of the Society’s Exhibition, having been delayed until there was
not sufficient time remaining for its conclusion. I must therefore
beg your pardon, and come at once to a few experiments made to
test the power of certain combinations of the iodides and bromides
in rendering certain coloured diagrams.
I took a sample of collodion and bottled off twelve separate
ounces in twelve small bottles. No. 1 contained five grains of
bromide of cadmium and two and a-half grains of iodide of am¬
monium. No. 2 contained five grains of bromide of ammonium,
No. 3 five grains of bromide of cadmium and two grains of iodide
of potassium. No. 4 contained as much of the iodide of potassium
as it would take up. No. 5 contained five grains of iodide of
ammonium. No. 6 two and a-half grains of bromide of ammonium,
and as much of the iodide of potassium as it would take up. No. 7
contained one grain of bromide of cadmium, ditto bromide of
ammonium, and as much as it would take up of the iodide of
potassium. No. 8 contained two grains of bromide of cadmium to
as much of the iodide of potassium as would dissolve. No. 9 con¬
tained the same proportion of the iodide of potassium, with two
and a-half grains of iodide of ammonium. No. 10 contained iodide
of ammonium four grains, bromide of cadmium one grain, iodide of
potassium and bromide of ammonium ditto. No. 11 held five
grains of bromide of cadmium ; and No. 12 one grain of bromide of
cadmium, two grains of bromide of ammonium, and five grains of
iodide of ammonium.
Desiring merely to test the qualities of these various samples
for reproducing the correct chiaroscuro of the coloured diagrams, I
simply developed with iron without intensifying, and shall now
lay the result before you in the twelve negatives and twelve prints
from the same.
In conclusion, 1 promise to resume this subject at some future
time, when, my engagements being less numerous and urgent, I
shall be able to devote a larger share of time and attention to
some experiments of a more conclusive character. I think in the
specimens of my experiments some foundation will be found in a
discussion of greater value than my paper — even had it been com¬
pleted — could have boasted.
Thanking you for your polite attention, I now place the subject
in your hands.
MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIP TO THE COUNTRY.*
By a Member op the Edinburgh Photographic Society.
We retraced our steps. No jubilant contempt for the small boys
this time ! No turning up of our mental noses at their juvenile
jokes ! We had over-exposed ourselves too much for that. Fortu¬
nately for our peace of mind we found that they had moved away
on their holiday-making — some to church and some to play. In
twenty-five minutes from the time of reaching home we were off
again with an entirely new batch of baths and solutions, lightened
considerably of many of the superfluities, and the bottles and
general impedimenta distributed as much as possible among our
pockets; for we began to discover the truth of the axiom in
physics, “ that it is not so much the actual weight, but the concen¬
tration of it in one spot, that crushes the bearer,” be he human,
equine, or ruminal.
Our developing box was lighter, and we were much heavier in
spirit when we again started. But the slight breeze that awaited
us and the bright sunshine which tempered its coolness made our
walk very pleasant. Before we had got one mile of the three that
we had promised ourselves, notwithstanding all our care, we began to
need a rest ; and where could we more pleasantly spend an hour than in
the little village of Bonnyneuk (a place of about a dozen houses) ?
Besides, it was so picturesque, and the number of “ bits ” to be had
so many, that we cheated each other into the belief that we must
try a plate or two, were it only to see if the new stuffs would
work. Was there not a new bath (Hennah’s, by-the-bye), and new
developer, and untried collodion, and so on. On a willing mind
persuasion acts easily, and we in a few minutes pitched our
camp in a pasture field facing a highly-picturesque corner of the
* Concluded from page 111.
^pril 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
147
tillage. There was a partly broken-down outside stair, on which
m “ auld wife ” sat nursing a baby, and a thatched gable, some
)arts on end, a barrow which had come to an untimely end,
several farm tools, and a whole legion of juvenile joskins. Up
we set the box on its legs : the rods were fitted, trays placed
and everything made ready for the yellow cloth being thrown over
it, when — 0 temporal — one of the urchins pulled the “Corin¬
thian’s ” coat, and quietly asked for a “ hapenny work o’ sugar
bools ! ” Think of the immaculate Flake White — the nobby
“ Corinthian ” — the R.A. of a year or two hence — being taken for a
peripatetic vendor of children’s “goodies!” It was too much.
With an expletive more emphatic than polite he requested the
youngster to be off ; and as we heard the colloquy we burst into
such a hilarious jolly fit that he was fain to join in our guffaws.
But before wo were well done with our laughter, up comes a depu¬
tation of the older children to know what we did sell if not
“ sweeties ?” It was no use saying that we had nothing to sell,
for, if we had nothing to sell, what did we need with a stand ?
We stood our ground against the host of inquisitive questions,
and got the yellow cloth — bright with all the glories of gamboge
or chrome — drawn over the stand.
I may mention that we had a firm opinion that all the books
must be wrong in recommending black cloth over the yellow.
Was I not great in chemical authority? and did I not know that
yellow had no actinic action ? and if so, what was the use of work¬
ing in the dark ? Besides, had I not tried the box in my own room,
to the great detriment, I confess, of sundry “ anti-macassars,” &c. ?
So of course it must be all right.
To work we went. “ Hercules ” got the picture focussed and
the figures arranged with the help of the “ Corinthian.” I got the
plate ready and exposed it. I must here abridge all the
difficulties we had of explaining to the said “figures” that
we only wanted a picture of them — a matter we could hardly
get them to understand. The ancient dame with the child wanted
to know what we could want wi’ a pictur’ o’ auld John Tarn-
son’s byre an’ granary ? and as for herscl’, what wad she do
in a picture ? The picture was exposed, and I disappeared,
head and shoulders, into the tent, and developed a fair-look¬
ing picture, which, however, appeared remarkably white, and
when brought to the light and fixed showed a dense veil
of fog. Then came the usual string of interrogatories. Was it
the bath? or the developer? or the collodion? We tested for
each, and still no results, or rather not a whit better, till,
trying a last plate, and holding my head up, wondering
what could be the matter, and staring right up, I felt some¬
what astonished to meet some direct rays of the sun through
our immaculate new yellow cloth. Peste! was it not annoying
to lose two hours of the best of the day and have no results?
However, to work we went, and wrapped a large plaid round it,
leaving here and there a corner for light; and now we found the
work go on well. The next plate after that was all right, but, on
consulting our watches, as well perhaps as our inclinations, we
found there was no time to go to our old castle ; so we moved our
camp a little nearer, and having succeeded in interesting one of our
villagers by portraitising her eldest and youngest “ hopes ” as
accompaniments to “a cottage door” group, we got a roomy dark
place used as a hen house to employ as a dark room, and plenty
of water. We proceeded to make the best use of our time.
I need not detail the whole of the plates covered, but will
mention two. We had succeeded in getting a picture of an
exceedingly fine patriarchal goat, which by some occult means had
persuaded himself to stand steadily and quietly for a couple of
minutes beside the girl who held him. It was a superb picture,
with the corner of a lately-shorn wheat field, a ragged thorn, and
the mountains beyond looming hazily in the distance : everything
about it was perfect, even to the apparent browsing of the goat,
which after all was only the old patriarch stretching his head to
reach the grass — a feat which he did not accomplish. I proceeded
with the development, and had brought it just about right : one
more drop of silver audit would bo complete, when — birr — splutter
— went one of our good dame’s hens, which had been on the roost
unknown to any of us, right over the plate I held in my hand, and
need I say that the “ counterfeit presentment” of our friend the
billy-goat was obliterated in the flapping of a wing. This was a
complete disheartener. We announced to our fiiends that we
would take but one more picture, and then be gone. There was a
general demand among the villagers that we should take their
“pictures:” so we agreed to try a group of as many as chose
to stand, they having been very kind to us.
“Now is the chance for you my future R.A.’s,” said I, “Show
your power of skilful disposition of figures : you never had such an
opportunity !” To work we all went : they to arrange and dispose
the material, I to get the plate ready. When this was done, and
our favourite the goat put just in the proper place — (you should
have seen the patriarchal gravity with which the bearded and
long -horned gazed with his mild eyes at our preparations, looking
all the time as humble as a sheep) — I uncovered the lens, and stood
with my back to the group, for fear of disturbing any of them. I
had been in this position for twenty-five seconds (I like to be
particular), when I heard a shout from Emerald Green of “Look
out, camera !” I half turned, but it ivas only in time to see the
goat, which had broken from the little girl, running full tilt against
the person of the “ Corinthian,” who stood beside our developing
box. Down went he and it, and, in the rush forward to save it from
destruction, I kicked the legs from the tripod, tripped myself
over the prostrate form of Mr. Flake White, and received the
weight of the lens and camera on my legs, which saved it, while
all else was apparently smashed. “Hercules” lifted me up (after
the camera, by-the-bye) : the “ Corinthian ” managed to scramble
from between the lid and legs of the box, and found himself but
little the worse. My knee was sprained. The tent was not injured,
the shock having merely jerked out the supporting rods and caused
it to collapse ; but the negatives we had taken that day were in
it, and, with the exception of one, were all smashed.
I can say no more. I leave you to imagine the picking up of the
pieces — the limping home crestfallen — and, when there, having to
describe how all the results of our long-boasted first day’s photo¬
graphic trip had “ vanished, nor left a wreck behind ” — save the
lesson we received !
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL BEAUTY AND
THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION*
By W. H. Davies.
Part II.
The previous portion of this subject was unavoidably curtailed,
owing to press of business on the night on which it was read. To
prevent me again occupying you too long I will refer in detail to
one only of the subjects containing three figures of the class to be
avoided, and for the present leave it.
Compositions of three figures have always been favourites with
artists, ancient and modern ; but I doubt much whether a search
through all the galleries and portfolios in Europe would produce a
match to this specimen of good photography and bad composition :
aud it is by no means an exceptional case. The portraits, as you see,
are those of three smart school-boys — brothers. I cannot call it a
group of them, for they are not grouped; nor a picture, for it has very-
few pictorial attributes ; nor a composition, for it is not composed.
However, there they stand, each in the same dress, and each with
his necktie in the same uncrcased folds : their belts at the regula¬
tion height — all in the same attitude — all staring full front at you :
each with the first button of his tunic reflecting a spot of white,
and, by a strange coincidence, the last buttons repeat the spots of
the first as if to order, the intermediate being dark. Each holds
his books in the right hand and the edge of the tunic in the left —
the left-hand boy being varied very slightly ; and, as if the upright
figures of the boys were insufficient to secure perpendicularity, we
have here introduced the photographic pillar on one side and the as
inevitable photographic curtain on the other, securing in this way
the rectangularity of the design. Thus we have five perpendiculars,
inclusive of the pillar and curtain ; and at right angles to these —
1st, the dark line of the Balmoral bonnets of the same pattern ;
2nd, the light line of faces ; 3rd, the dark line of neckties ; 4th, the
bright white of the linen collars, newly starched for the occasion ;
5th, the line of white spots reflected by the top button of the
tunic ; 6th, the dark centre line of their belts ; 7tli, the line of
light formed by their hands and the light reflected from the lower¬
most buttons ; and 8th, finishing with the dark line of shadow
below, which is hardly broken by the slightly-patterned carpet on
which they stand — the whole forming a complete series of rect¬
angular lines, without a single curve or irregular line in the
picture, and the boys being so like each other one cannot
help comparing them to the Siamese triplets— not twins. Think
you Mulready, or Collins, or Wilkie, or Webster would have so
maltreated those fine boys ? Never ! I could show you what they
have done with similar boys, and depend upon it it was nothing
like this. They have taken more trouble with the arrangement
of their pictures — have put thought into them — studied the
composition, the light and shade, the pictorial effect of them — made
* Heal at a meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, March -5th, 18G2,
148
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1862
pictures of their boys, in short— not mere front elevations of them,
aSI know that objection will be taken to the trouble and expense
involved in taking so much care as I insist on with a mere 10s. or
20s. group of portraits. Why not place them in front of the lens —
take them at once — and be done with them? But, if such giants
in art as Titian and Tintoretto, Vandyke and Rembrandt did not
disdain to study and practise the laws of composition, think you
they would have made the name or fame or (let me whisper it)
cash they did? Why, Titian records of one picture that he did a
little to it every day for seven years till it satisfied him. Of
Mulready, one of our greatest living artists, it is recorded that he
kept one of his pictures beside him thirty years, always doing a
little to it till he thought it complete. While, with more immediate
reference to portraiture, Deschamps tells us that Rembrandt’s sitters
were compelled to wait patiently his long intervals, of indecision
as to choice of position, dress, attitude — in fact, till he had in¬
vented the picture ; and that his sitters might consider themselves
fortunate if they escaped some cutting sarcasm from Rembrandt if
they objected to the pose or arrangement he chose for them, as he
always expected that every model should submit quietly to his
notions, or renounce the honour of forming the subject of one of
his immortal masterpieces.
The inference I would have you draw from these facts is, that
the utmost stretch of skill the photographer has should be used in
all his productions, and that the best technical workmanship is as
nothing against the want of artistic knowledge ; and if he has not
as yet mastered the elementary laws of composition he should
begin now. “It is never too late to learn,” for, when you are
arranging a picture, it is as easy to do it well as ill, if you have the
requisite knowledge, taste, and skill.
The third proposition or principle — “ that the picture be so ar¬
ranged as to its light and shade that the principal figure or incident
comes naturally to occupy the most prominent part of the picture,
and the secondary portions to subside by due gradation and subor¬
dination into their respective positions, so that it may produce a
perfect whole” — seems almost like an axiom; but our worthy Secre¬
tary’s orders are to treat the subject as if the whole of the members
of the Society were profoundly ignorant of the subject, therefore
bear with me while I urge the necessity of this almost self-evident
proposition.
Photographs are different from pictures produced by hand mainly
in their fine detail and finish. The exquisite gradation which the
shadows from natural objects take in the camera are unapproach¬
able by any hand-work of man’s that I know of ; and, from the
earliest ages of painting till Turner’s time — Claude, perhaps, ex¬
cepted — no artist had succeeded in giving a proper rendering of
the truth of nature, and even he failed to give all its infinite gra¬
dations. So that if we would view a true reflex of nature we must
go to the glass screen of the camera : there it will be seen that the
shadows of objects, whatever may be their colour, are deepest and
strongest in the immediate foreground, and that they gradually
get lighter as the extreme distance is approached by the eye till
they disappear in the uniform grey, blue, or purple of the distance.
The most prominent part of such a picture as I have indicated
would be near the foreground, where the brightest light in the
picture was in contact or proximity to the deepest shade ; but the
position in which this comes in the picture on the ground-glass
may not bo the point needed by the artist for his composition, and
it then becomes his business to arrange his subject so that this
indispensable matter may be made right, and the most prominent
object in the subject to be arranged or composed brought to
the place most suited for it. Suppose, for instance, that a portrait
is the subject: what we want to see in it is — firstly, the head and
face ; and, secondarily, the figure and dress of the person. We
want to know him in the portrait as we do in the life ; and, to ar¬
rive at this, we make the most essential part, the head, to take the
principal position on the plate, and, if we have the assistance of
the whiteness of a shirt-front or a lace collar, to call immediate at¬
tention to it, we, in addition, gain the value of contrast between it
and the delicate half-tints of the face, while the whole forms but
one mass of light ; and wo keep down or subdue the rest of the
person in order that the dress and other unimportant et ceteras do not
fight for precedence with the principal. The face being a light
object, we cause the background behind to be darker, in order to
get the effect of relief. Were a tint the same as the face chosen,
it would necessarily have the effect of being inlaid — be a drawing,
as it were, of a face on the background. The same principle
carried through the picture — always keeping in mind that there
must bo no brighter or more strongly contrasted mass than the
face, and subordinating all the rest to that — will give you an
effective picture. It were well to bear in mind that the most
prominent tints are the lightest, and the most retiring the darkest;
and that in a properly-balanced composition the portione of abso¬
lute white and absolute black should be almost infinitessimal.
Having thus summarised the leading propositions, we will pass
the secondary principles shortly in review before attempting to
apply them to finished composilions.
Picturesqueness is the first of these, and is a term of rather
difficult definition in words, although there are few things more
easy than that of determining its presence in pictures by those who
know what it is. It does not depend on the presence or absence
of one or more objects in a picture, but rather in the arrangement
of them, and in the point of view from which they are taken ; and
not alone these but also in the forms of the objects themselves.
In the paper I read before you on landscape composition (vol. VIII.,
page 396), I tried to show that it was in the avoidance of strictly
rectangular and parallel lines, and in the use of curved, wavy, and
opposing lines, keeping in view that the objects themselves should
be treated as if they were lines. This is the groundwork of
picturesque combinations. We must have repetition of these lines
through the picture ; but they must be varied in value, each repeti¬
tion being fainter and more of an echo, as it were, of the original
or main line. To give these value there must be opposition of
other lines in different directions, and it is by a judicious use of
these that we secure picturesqueness of form. There must be
balance in a picture; but it must be the balance of parts and
masses rather than of forms. Above all, there must be variety
of line, of form, of plane, and in another direction of position of
expression, of occupation, of character, and of size; and with all
these, unless you have true harmony and opposition both of parts
and of light and shade there will be no picturesqueness and little
beauty. Withal, there is no general recipe for any of these
qualities, and picturesqueness may be called, paradoxically, one of
the intangible attributes which is felt rather than seen, and
easier to be seen than taught. You cannot have a better idea of
what picturesqueness is than by taking a look at a sketch by
Turner and at another by an architect’s journeyman of the same
place. The artist would tell you all about it — what it had been —
what it was — and give a hint of what it was coming to. The other
would give you the hard details and dry outlines of the spot —
much as a verbal and verbose topographical dictionary might do;
while the artist, by his disposition of light, his exquisite gradation
of tint, his aerial perspective, and arrangement of figures just in
the right place, would give it all the charm of a poem or a romance
without losing the truth.
Breadth I have mentioned as the second of the subordinate
principles necessary to be observed in artistic composition, and it
has in common with picturesqueness the quality of intangibility. I
have defined it as that quality which gives a picture unity of
treatment, harmonious arrangements of the places and forms of
lights and darks, and which concentrates or masses them, instead
of allowing them to be scattered over the picture in a spotty
manner. Breadth is the opposite of weak scattered effect: it gives
largeness and space in a picture whether its size be measured by
feet or by inches. In photography its results are best obtained
by attention to these requirements; and, when the subject is well
chosen, there is hardly a limit to the ranging of the eye over the
expanse of the landscape where, with an infinity of objects intri¬
cately involved, all are seen without the slightest confusion. You
will recollect that in speaking of light and shade I urged the
necessity of keeping the principal place of the picture for the
principal object, and showed that with one simple light on a
portrait we would get an effective picture : this would also have
great breadth. But if we have more than one mass of light there
must be three, and on the management of those lights will depend
the amount of breadth attainable in the picture. The same rule
as to the shape of the lights applies equally in figures and in land¬
scape. As a general rule avoid giving prominence to minute
detail in the foreground — especially if it be of a spotty or sparkling
character — and cause the general effects of the picture to pre¬
dominate over those of the details. By attending to this in the
taking of the negative, and if spots are unavoidable — as is often
the case — by toning them down with a pencil of sunlight, we will
obtain the desirable quality of breadth.
I have defined the third of these subsidiary principles, Contrast,
to be the mode of producing relief by projecting light against dark
and dark against light, or light against lighter and dark against
darker. In photographs contrast is often too easily got to the
great detriment of the harmony and completeness of the picture,
April 15, i8G2] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 149
more especially if it has been taken in sunlight, where we most
generally find our lights and shadows intensified, thus causing a
1 greater appearance of contrast than is to be found in nature, espe¬
cially as the different colours do not affect the chemical surface
equally. Excess of contrast is utterly destructive of breadth ; but
by its judicious use we may, like Rembrandt, give intensity to our
lights and depth to our darks. The more delicate the contrasts
we can produce the better, inasmuch as much of the beauty of a
picture depends on the delicacy of its contrasts.
This, however, may be better discussed under the remaining
head, Gradation, which name expresses almost all that it is. The
infinite number of shades between white and black, with all the
various tones from brown-red to slate-blue which we can get in
photography, allow of such a scale of variety that we can be at no
loss either for gradation or tone. The camera lens is for us the
true softener of lights and shades, and is the cunning workman who
traces the delicate shadows on the roundness of beauty’s cheek or
on the dimples of innocent childhood, with such subtlety that we
have nothing left to desire, and can only wonder at the exceeding
accuracy of the result ; but, while we are enabled to do this so per¬
fectly, we have limits laid down which wo have not yet reached.
The loveliness of the sky, with its marvellous kaleidoscope of
cloudland, is almost a terra incognita to us : we are approaching to
it, but have yet made nought but shadows of its wondrous
beauty. The beautiful foliage of the forest, the park, or the
garden is almost equally unrepresented; and it is in the hiding and
melting of one tint and shade into another till they reach the line
Avhere they melt into sky and there begin a new succession of
gradations of ever-varying beauty that Ave find our greatest
difficulty, and of which avc have made but slight progress in
representing.
We have thus dismissed the fundamentals Avith Avhich Ave started,
and Avill iioav return to our task of dissection ; for, in the artistic
as in the medical and physical Avorld, there can be no reconstruction
without having discovered the “how to do it.” We must analyse
before Ave can recombine Avith anything approaching certainty ;
and, as I have before remarked, this must be done by the aid of
rules such as I have endeavoured to sIioav. Sir Joshua Reynolds
says “that rules only encumber the weak, and that nothing can be
repeated Avith certainty unless it follow some well-knoAvn rule.”
The pictures I have chosen for this purpose have been selected
Avith a vieAV to their being serviceable in the arrangement of pho¬
tographic groups, and the first is that by Joseph Noel Paton,
entitled Home. It
represents the re¬
turn from the Cri¬
mea of a mutilated,
Aveary, travel-soiled
soldier to the hom<
he has left but ;
short year before
His Avife lias sAvoon
ed, overpoAvered b;
a mixed play o
feeling, when, oi
attempting to em
brace him, she dis
covers the absenci
of that arm he ha:
left in the (renchc
of Sebastopol ivhicl
should now hav<
supported her. Hi
mother, Avith quick
er perception, ha:
seen it at once, an<
is bowed Avith sor
roAv on his shoul
der, while his chile
slumbers in contented ignorance in the cradle beyond. The time
chosen is twilight, and the room is irradiated by the cheerful,
ruddy blaze of the sea-coal fire. As it is mainly to the composition
I intend to confine'my remarks, no further notice Avill be taken of
the invention, light and shade, or sentiment involved in the picture.
It Avill be observed that the general shape of the composition is
angular, and that the leading line being angular it is repeated
three times, and slightly varied on each repetition: first in the
nearest leg of the soldier, again in the leg bejmnd, and again in
the line of the Avife’s figure, going off with varied curves and angles
in her skirt and dress ; but, as too many lines in that direction
Avould be apt to make the Avhole composition fall over to that side
of the picture, the artist has introduced the counteracting lines
of the soldier’s body and greatcoat and the bent figure of the
stricken mother, Avhich, Avith the square and someAvhat rigid lines
of the table in the right corner, carried up to the top of the picture
by the bed curtains, assist to support the picture there. On
reaching the ground the eye meets with an agreeably-curved
object in the helmet, staff, and bundle, Avhich give variety of
line there and assist in filling the vacant space between the
figure and the table, and produce the necessary contrast of
form with the horizontal boarding of the floor and the perpendicu¬
lars of the table and greatcoat beside it. On the other side of the
picture, the perpendicular is repeated by the projecting line of Avail,
the uniformity of which is broken by the clock, the mirror, and the
cast shadoAv of the chair, and it is again Amriedly repeated and car¬
ried round by the latticed AvindoAv and cabinet. The horizontal
lines are begun in the immediate foreground by the flooring boards,
are continued past the hearth, Avith its irregularly cracked sur¬
face, to the side of the picture, by the handle of the tongs, and
Avhich are again repeated, going upAvards, by the distant chair, the
slight oblique of the soldier’s thighs, and curved-ended table in the
right corner. You will observe that neither of these lines are so
purely or rigidly horizontal as those of the floor, by Avhich the
requisite variety as Avell as uniformity is gained. As Ave still pro
cecd upwards, the bracket on Avhich the clock hangs, the shelves,
and the cornice of the cabinet again repeat, in another variety ol
line, the horizontal direction, Avhich the eye is finally led to lose in
the distance by the inivard crossing lines of the rafters leading it to
the AvindoAv and the distance beyond, which is reposing in the quiet¬
ness of the descending night. Observe, too, that, in common with
all good pictures, Ave have the inAvard tendency given to mostly all
of the principal objects. The figures are all on different planes: so
are the objects. There is no confusion: everything has its proper
place and room as Avell as reason for its being there, and the Avhole
composition recedes from the eye, just as it Avould do in nature, by
reason of its admirable perspective and execution.
(To be concluded in our next.)
- — -
(hdnbttion dmssijp
ABOUT THE CLASSIFICATION QUESTION.
To resume our gossip. — When, someAvhere about this time last
year, Ave first read in the Gazette Iioav all the productions of our
beautiful art Avere to be classed Avith agricultural implements and
ship’s tackle in the World’s Great Fair of 1802, Iioav astounded and
indignant Ave all Avere! What a cry went forth against the
monstrous injustice of such an absurd classification! and Iioav sure
most of us felt that it must have originated in some mistake which
Avould be speedily discovered and promptly rectified ! Then, when
we were at length convinced that there really was no mistake at all
in the matter, and that the authorities resolutely adhered to their
unreasonable decision, how glad we were to read the Lord Chief
Baron’s powerful protest, and to see the seemingly resolute oppo¬
sition of the central society, and to find the different sections of
the press speaking out very nearly unanimously on our behalf!
As to what followed — why, “the least said the less to mend,” and
so let the past sleep undisturbed. I shall think my thoughts and
be silent.
But let us glance at our art as it probably appears to those who,
like the Commissioners, judge it from the view-point of an outsider.
It is sometimes very interesting to try and see ourselves as others
see us, and, moreover, it is generally very profitable when we can
succeed in doing so.
John Bull is only too apt to associate his ideas about the real
value of every mortal thing with what it represents in so much
hard cash, and to narroAv his conceptions of the great and good
to the most high in price and the most rare in the markets. Now,
photographs are certainly cheap, and they are by no means rare.
Twenty-one shillings will purchase John B. twenty whole length
portraits; and he may pick his favourite photographer from a vast
croAvd of anxious rivals. For a few shillings he can secure a larger
specimen of the art, either a figure or a landscape subject ; and
the most ambitious and laboriously-produced works of the most
skilful photographers rarely secure a sufficiently remunerative sale
at one, two, or three guineas each. Some, I know, attribute this
to the inferiority of photographic pictures as works of art, but they
are mistaken. Large publishers will inform you that the commer¬
cial success of photographic publications can rarely be traced to
their intrinsic merit as works of art, but rather to some novel
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY. [April 15, 1802
feature, or some interesting associations, or some connexion with
passing events in which the public mind chances to be unusually
interested. Vile pirated copies of carte portraits, and worthless
stereographs, manufactured wholesale by armies of ill-paid boys
and girls, pay much better than the slow, studious, and self-executed
work of real artists engaged in striving to elevate and advance
photography instead of building their temporary success upon its
degradation. There are signs that the photographic market must
be speedily glutted with these inferior productions, and when it is
there will certainly be a change for the better. Public taste will
then demand works of real excellence, and John Bull will not
grudge that hire of which he knows the intellectual labourer to be so
nobly worthy. To raise the standard of the art, then, is to advance
the prosperity and welfare of its professors; and to encourage and
stimulate all engaged in this generous labour is the duty of every
true lover of photography.
Injudicious, thoughtless friends are frequently as mischievous as
actual enemies ; and in photography we have a large class of
operators and writers who do no small mischief in this direction.
These will persist in talking, within hearing of John Bull, as if the
process was the one thing needful, and every imaginable excel¬
lence was due to the proper condition of the chemicals and simple
mechanical skill. I read in these pages, not long since, how at a
meeting of the Birmingham Photographic Society one of its members'*
coolly attributed the great success of the late Mr. Lacy to — mirabile
clictu! — to the skilful manner in which he flowed the developer over his
plate! ! Being very familiar with Mr. Lacy’s peculiarities of mani¬
pulation — and knowing how in the dark room his mind was ever too
absorbed in studying the growing details, half-tones, and general
pictorial effects of his negatives, sometimes even to give suf¬
ficient thought to the manipulatory processes, although these are
gone through almost instinctively by the practised hand — the
Birmingham gentleman’s funny remark was, I can assure you, very
amusing indeed both to me and to others as familiar with Mr.
Lacy, who was far too good an artist to give the hand precedence
over the head. Another writer, recently, following, as I was sorry
to see, in the steps of an active friend-foe and “ brother secretary,”
seems to recognise photographers as belonging to two classes
only — the scientific or experimental, and the practical or mechanical
— ignoring altogether the third and most important class, viz., the
artist. As Lake Trice once said — “The practical result — without
which the art would remain an optical and chemical theorem —
is a picture ; ” and it is something more than scientific accuracy of
formula and mechanical dexterity of hand which are required in
its production, or else photography has small right to the claim we
advance for it as an intellectual, fine, or beautiful art. John Bull
never hears the scientific discoverer of new pigments lauded as
the real producer of his artists’ paintings — he never hears the
painter speak of any great work of art as due solely to skilful
stippling or an ingenious method of putting on colour; and yet
both stippling and putting on colour are certainly not less difficult
than coating a plate or sweeping on the developer, &c. So when
he hears from the mouths of photographers themselves that in such
gigantic efforts of the intellect as the mere acts of exposing,
developing, and printing require, the greatest difficulties of our
art arc found — and that these thoroughly surmounted, perfection
stares you in the face — Avhy what wonder if John Bull shrugs his
shoulders and says decidedly — “ photography is not a fine art."
But John Bull’s great leading authorities in all questions of art
aro the R.A.’s, whose decision is said to have ruled the Com¬
missioners in their very strange classification. Now, in relation
to this question, it may not be amiss if we just glance back to a
little matter of history in connexion with the R.A.’s, or what the
late deeply-lamented Prince Consort used to call “the aristocracy
of art.”
( The controversy between the Photographic Societies and the
Exhibition Commissioners cannot but remind all who may be
acquainted with art-history of the once hotly-fought battle which
raged between the Royal Academicians and the engravers, and
which thus fell out : — Four artists, from four different nations — but
never an engraver amongst the four — each and all being duly
shielded under the benign protection of George the Third, formed
the original constitution and organised the first laws of our Royal
Academy. And they agreed amongst themselves that engraving
was not a fine but a mechanical art; and was, therefore, to be
excluded from their aristocratic circle. Thereupon, the engravers
banded together and proclaimed war.
At. that time a more kindly and republican spirit of brotherhood
muted foreign artists, by whom engravers were recognised and
• A gentleman well known by his really beautiful productions, too.
received into their older and more stable academies, as younger
and less ambitious, but nevertheless very worthy, brethren. . But
with a contempt for all foreigners, which was quite British in its
quality, the newly-fledged academicians scornfully said, when this
was urged as a precedent for them “ The example of foreign
academies can have no weight in the argument, because they are
constituted on a wrong principle, and maintained by the funds and
under the dictation of Government.” In other words, the foreign
societies were all wrong and they alone were right. But the
engravers — who were not at all inclined to give vent to their pro¬
test and then relapse into supineness and inaction — fought on; and,
gaining their ground inch by inch, at length, by words and works,
won the general public to their side. . To satisfy the public, the
academicians then cried out, with a firm well-grounded faith in
popular ignorance of art matters, that this part of their institution
was based upon a law regulating the Royal Academy of Painting
at Paris— the academy “ constituted on a wrong principle !” Any¬
thing for a quiet life. But not so. No peace for the wicked : no
peace until you become just and do right ! cried the engravers.
And they soon proved this rash assertion to be a simple falsehood—
a mere attempt at imposition. But, when driven, from their
Parisian stronghold, the bewildered academicians cried out Oh
no ! they meant not the Paris Academy— of course not— but that of
St. Luke at Rome ! Then, again, cried the unyielding engravers—
If you go to Rome, do as Rome does ! and showed how at that
very Academy of St. Luke its members had overruled the old laws
of their institution, and, in a full assembly of their body, admitted
an engraver purely upon his merit as an engraver. And then
the academicians of London did as certain ladies are wont
to do— that is to say, being unable to reason, they began
to scold; and they abused engraving and engravers to their
heart’s content, calling the poor art “ignoble, mechanical,
and contemptible ” — said its followers were “ men of no genius,”
mere “ artisans,” “ servile copyers of other men’s work,” &c., &c. ;
in short, said exactly all those generous things of engraving and
engravers which have been recently dug up and cleaned to look
like new for the special benefit of photography and photographers.
Still all was vain. Even abuse failed; and the poor academicians
were at length reluctantly compelled to admit a few engravers as
associates, taking good care, however, by the passing of a spick-
and-span new law, to exclude them from the Royal Academy s
lofty honours and great advantages.* The field was won, but yet
it Avas but a barren victory : the engravers remained dissatisfied,
and nine of their most celebrated brethren publicly pledged them¬
selves “ never to become candidates for election into that body of
artists” until the value and status of their art Avas more honour¬
ably recognised. They eloquently and most loyally petitioned the
King, bufhe only referred them to the academicians. Mr. John
Landseer also appealed formally to the academicians, setting forth,
exactly as Ave might set forth in a plea for photography, 1)oav the
art Avas one of great national importance — Iioav it was advantageous
to commerce, and served to spread vastly and make more Avidely
popular the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture and how
it made the great artist of Avorld-Avide celebrity by its faithful re¬
productions. ' Then, after urging the necessity in so important an
art of supplying “ that powerful stimulus of honourable distinction by
which the progress of other arts have been accelerated and ennobled,”
he cleverly used his soft-soap brush, and insinuatingly added
“ inferior men— mistaking the present for the possible state of
engraving” (or, as Ave might say, photography] — “might confirm
the degradation of the art in England by stamping it with the re¬
proach of an art Avithout theory— if such a thing might be— and
fixing it in the condition of a mere trade, obedient to the beck and
subservient to the vdeAvs of ignorance and avarice.” But they —
the superior men — recognising the advantage of uniting the manual
and mental applications of the art, Avould, said Mr. Landseer, purify
a stream “ Avhich should communicate a just and general taste in
all the arts to the public at large.”!
As my end is iioav attained in calling your attention to Avliat has
been said and done for an art not one whit superior in either its com¬
mercial and educational importance or intellectual pretensions (and
far more narrow in its applications) to that Avhich this Journal repre¬
sents, I shall leave off gossiping about the R.A.’s and the en¬
gravers for the present, and detain you only a little while longer.
It is for us to raise photography — not the Commissioners — by
encouraging and emulating and stimulating to reneAved exertions
* Abstract of the Instrument of Institution of the Royal Academy of Arts.
+ The Academy has since abandoned the position described, although quite recently,
and now elects two engravers academicians. Is not this good argument for our art ? We
have good firm ground under us and ought to hold it strongly, malgre all the Commis¬
sioners and R.A.’s in the kingdom.
151
April 15, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
such men as Rejlander, Lake Price, Robinson, Bedford, Mudd, Wil¬
liams, Wilson, and others — feeling that it is to their patient and labo¬
rious study in producing works of high character to which we owe
the best hopes for the future of our art. We shall not raise
photography by making prominent the mechanical at the cost of
the mental, nor by sneering down honourable rivalry and generous
competition for artistic honours ; but by recognising the high
practical mission of the art, and bidding it God-speed before a
good strong puff from the united breath of pictorial, optical, and
chemical science.
Just before I go give me leave to read you — by way of a parting
hint upon the importance of bringing the public up to your stand¬
ard instead of going down to theirs — the following quotation from
Lord Shaftesbury’s “ Letter Concerning the Art and Science of
Design”* : —
“Without a public voice, knowingly guided and directed, there
is nothing which can raise a true ambition in the artist — nothing
which can exalt the genius of the workman, or make him emulous
of after- fame, and of the approbation of his country and of pos¬
terity ; for with these he naturally, as a freeman, must take part —
in these he has a passionate concern and interest, raised in him by
the same genius of liberty, the same laws and government, by
which his property and the rewards of his pains and industry are
secured to him and to his generations after him. Everything co¬
operates in such a state towards the improvement of the arts and
sciences — and for the designing arts in particular, such as architec¬
ture, painting, and statuary. They are in a manner linked toge¬
ther : the taste of one kind brings naturally that of the others
along with it. When the free spirit of a nation turns itself this
way, judgments are formed, critics arise, the public eye and ear
improve, a right taste prevails, and, in a manner, forces its way.”
Many little matters concerning photography’s progress in con¬
nexion with the Great Show were to have found their way into
the present gossipping paper; but, as I think it is really quite long
enough, adieu. — A. H. W.
HReihtjgfS af Samius.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at King’s College on
Tuesday the 1st instant, — James Glaisher, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Chairman said that, at the last meeting of the Society, it was
decided, at the conclusion of the discussion as to a supplementary Exhibition
under the auspices of this Society, that gentlemen who could obtain
information as to the situation and cost of a room suitable for the pur¬
pose should kindly send the result of their inquiries to the Secretary. In
the interval which had elapsed no such information had been received, and
it had been decided in Council that evening to appoint a Committee for the
purpose. The gentlemen who had been appointed were Messrs. Claudet,
Heath, and Shadbolt, who, he doubted not, wnuld exhaust the subject by
their diligent investigations, and soon determine whether the Society was
to have an Exhibition Avortby of itself or not. The Council had desired
him (the Chairman) to name this to the meeting as the final result of their
deliberations.
The following gentlemen were then ballottcd for, and duly elected
members of the Society : — Major Stuart Wortlcy, of Naples ; Mr. Horatio
Nelson King, of Bath.
Some photographs of the eclipse of December 31st, 1861, taken at
Trinidad, wrere then exhibited by Mr. George Wharton Simpson. They
were accompanied by the following letter : —
Dear Sir, — I beg to hand you for exhibition at the meeting this evening a series of
photographs of the eclipse of December 31st, which I think will interest members present.
They were forwarded to me frem Trinidad, having been taken bv Mr. William Tucker,
of Guapo, whither that gentleman, together with Lieut, ie Messurier and Messrs. Gauger,
Dcvenish, and Anderson, had, at the suggestion of Mr. Hind, gone to take observations
of the eclipse. Considering the arrangements for photography were ertii eiy of an im¬
promptu character, the results will be regarded, I think, as satisfactory. * A quarter-
plate camera was attached to a Lercbour’s telescope, of a focal length of 01 centimetres
(24 inches). The first contact occurred at 7h. 14' 30"a.m., and the first negative was taken
at 7h. 19' . Ten others of different stages in the progress of the eclipse were taken, the
last at 8h. 53' 10". The exposure was instantaneous with a collodion containing equal
parts of iodide and bromide, developed by iron. — Yours, dear Sir. very truly,
GEO. WHARTON SIMPSON.
Hugh Diamond, Esq.,M.D.
Secretary Photographic Society.
The Secretary said that it had been suggested to him that the
Society should take a more active part in the presentation of petitions
to Parliament on the subject of copyright in photography. When this
was mentioned by the Secretary to the President, Sir Frederick Pollock, he
(the Chief Baron) had replied that he thought the matter could be more
advantageously brought before Parliament if he had an interview
with the Solicitor-General on the subject. ScA'cral photographers had
Avritten to the Solicitor-General praying that the contemplated changes
♦Published in 1773.
might not become Lav, as it Avould exercise a pernicious influence on their
business. It had been found, hoAveArer, on inquiry, that the writers were
gentlemen (?) who reaped benefit from pirating the original productions
of others.
Mr. England then read a paper descriptive of the method followed by
himself in the production of the instantaneous vieAvs of Paris, &o., exhi¬
bited at the previous meeting of the Society. [See page 143.]
At the conclusion of the paper, the Chairman invited discussion on its
subject matter ; but, as no response was made, the Chairman, after a suit¬
able pause, specially asked Mr. Shadbolt to open the discussion.
Mr. Shadbolt said he had nothing to add to the A’cry able paper by
Mr. England, which was sound in principle, and further had been proved
to be so in practice. He would, hoAvever, remark in reference to the instan¬
taneous shutter shoAvn by Mr. England, that it Avas perhaps the best lie
(Mr. Shadbolt) had ever seen. He thought its peculiar merit consisted
in placing it very near to the sensitive plate, a position which admitted
of the whole of the lens being in use for every part of the image, Avhile it
had the further advantage of exposing parts of the picture in rapid suc¬
cession. He thought those Avere points Avhich did not recerve the amount
of attention of Avhich they Avere Avorthy from photographers generally ;
but the advantage of the arrangement Avould become clear to the minds
of all, upon a little consideration. That shutter reminded him of a some¬
what similar arrangement suggested and used by Mr. Kibble, of Glasgow.
The arrangement adopted by the latter gentleman differed from that then
under examination only in having a lateral instead of a vertical motion ;
the object of Avhich Avas to have the shutter moving in a direction exactly
opposite to that of the objects in the picture — a plan found especially useful
in taking instantaneous photographs of steamboats, &c. The adA’antage
of the arrangement had not appeared so forciblj’ to Mr. Shadbolt’s mind
Avhen first mentioned to him as now ; but the recurrence of the subject that
evening, and the examination of Mr. England’s shutter, had convinced
him (Mr. Shadbolt) that it Avas the best possible contrivance for the
purpose. In reference to the remarks of Mr. England on instantaneous
dry plates, he (Mr. Shadbolt) assumed that most members present were
cognisant of the accounts published by Dr. Draper in America relath’e to
instantaneous dry plates, he considered those accounts might safely be
received cum grano salis, as it Avas quite likely that what the Americans
called instantaneity might not accord Avith English views on the subject.
Tannin plates had been obtained so sensitive as to take pictures with a
feAV seconds’ exposure ; in this case, however, deA’elopment by means of
hot (140° E.) pyrogallic acid solution had been resorted to, and he was of
opinion that, if that method Avere applied to the process described by Mr.
England, pictures might thereby be obtained with much shorter exposures.
Mr. England had tried the effect of heat with the object of expediting
the development. It had doubtless had that effect ; but it at the same
time melted the wax which he had placed round the edges to secure the
films, and the i-esult Avas the destruction of the picture.
The Chairman felt assured it was unnecessary to do more than hint at
the propriety of thanking Mr. England for exhibiting his pictures at the
last meeting and describing the method of production at the present one,
in order to elicit a hearty response from the meeting. He (the Chairman)
at one time Avas not very sanguine as to the production of dry plates suited
for instantaneous photography ; but after what he had heard that night
he thought he might entertain a reasonable hope of seeing the desire of
all earnest photographers fulfilled. He was sure the meeting would accord
by acclamation its thanks to Mr. England for his interesting paper.
In reference to the photographs of the eclipse exhibited that CA'cning,
Mr. Shadbolt would be glad to have the Chairman’s opinion as to whether
he regarded them as good specimens of celestial photograph}’.
The Chairman, in reply, said he had forborne making any remark upon
them — first, because the arrangement by which they Avere taken Avas an
impromptu one, and thereby not calculated to j’ield the best results ; and,
secondly, because observations of that kind were not of any practical
value in an astronomical point of vicAv. It Avas necessary that the eclipse
should be an annular one for the results to be useful. He might briefly
say that he did not consider the photographs good ones.
Mr. Shadbolt explained that his object in putting the question was
not to throAv discredit on the productions, but rather to elicit, for tho
advantage of the members, the opinion of a gentleman who could speak
with authority on the subject. Mr. Shadbolt then drew the attention of
the meeting to the alleged stereoscopic pictures supposed to have been
executed in the sixteenth century by Jacopo Chimenti. He might s.-u*
that lie did so at the request of Dr. Carpenter, who had recently delivered
a lecture at the London Institution, in which he had expressed opinions
totally opposite to those held by Sir David Brewster; and lie (Mr.
Shadbolt) hoav desired to add his testimony to that of Dr. Carpenter,
by saying that he had examined the photographic copies (which
he then begged to hand round for examination) A’ery carefully, both
in the stereoscope and out of it, and he felt bound to say that
though he had observed some little relief, it was by no means such as
would be produced by any person draAving two pictures with a knowledge
of the theory of binocular A’ision. [He then entered into details, for
Avhich see Leader, p. 141.] The explanation of the matter which he
regarded as the most plausible was that suggested by Dr. Carpenter in
his lecture, namely, that probably Chimenti and a student drew the
pictures at the same time from a living model, from nearly the same point
of view, and that the stereosity was an accident, occurring Avithout the
painters uecessarily knowing anything of binocular vision.
152
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1802
Mr. England said he had seen the original pictures in the Museum
»t Lille, and possessing* as he did the power of uniting stereoscopic
pictures without the aid of the instrument, lie was of opinion that the
apparent stereosity arose from the outlines of one picture having been
traced from the other, and these outlines being slightly interfered with
by the colouring in some parts having a little overlapped.
Professor Macdonald said he was present at the meeting when Sir
David Brewster read his paper : he had obtained copies of the pictures
from Sir David a day or two previous to the lecture, but had not yet
separated them (he handed them to the Chairman). He (Professor Mac¬
donald) possessed the same power as Mr. England in being able to unite
stereoscopic pictures without the aid of the stereoscope. There was
considerable misapprehension about the power* of the stereoscope : the
production of stereosity depended more on internal cerebral arrangement
than was generally supposed. Dr. Carpenter had shown him some
printed matter, arranged for the stereoscope, where an attempt had been
made to produce duplicate effects, and yet some lines, when united in
the instrument, produced a stereoscopic, while others produced a pseudo-
scopic effect. He (Professor Macdonald) accounted for this by the fact
of the focal length of the two eyes seldom being the same. His own
case was an illustration ; and he thought this fact would, in some mea¬
sure, account for some being able to see these pictures stereoscopically,
while others could not.
Mr. Shadbolt asked if the pictures seen by Mr. England at Lille
were coloured? The photographs bore no evidence of having been copied
from anything coloured.
Mr. England replied in the affirmative.
The Chairman said that the want of agreement in the focal length of
the eyes would not affect the power of seeing stereoscopically, as there
was not one pair of eyes in a hundred the focal length of which
were exactly the same ; and yet by far the greater number of persons
could see stereoscopically with the instrument, owing to the wonderful
capability of adaptation to circumstances which the eye possessed. He
(the Chairman) would remind the meeting of the experiment with a
needle and a sheet of black paper, in which, if a circular hole were
made in the paper by means of the needle, and the paper were brought
within the focus of one eye having elliptical vision (the other being
closed), the hole resolved itself into a vertical line, while if the paper were
extended beyond the focus of the eye the hole became a horizontal line.
Mr. Shadbolt wished to observe, in reference to the remarks which had
fallen from Professor Macdonald, that if persons who were able to see
stereoscopic pictures, as a rule, were unable on examination of these
pictures of Chimenti’s to see them stereoscopically, they might fairly be
regarded as non-stereoscopic ; and in those cases, too, the Professor’s
observations relative to internal cerebral organisation did not apply.
The discussion on the above subject drawing to a close, the Chair¬
man informed the meeting that an opinion had been expressed by
the Society’s Council that evening to the effect that it was very
desirable that members should unite their efforts with the object of
making the Society's meetings more interesting than they bad been for
some time past. It was thought that tables might be disposed in
different parts of the rooms, with stereoscopes and other objects of pho¬
tographic interest for examination bv the members. Members themselves
might furnish those and pictures illustrative of their varied experience.
Altogether, he thought that a combined effort in the direction he had
endeavoured to indicate could not but result in the advancement of the
objects for which the Society was established; and he felt assured it
would be undertaken “out of a common feeling of general good to all.”
The Chairman then stated that at the next meeting, which would take
place on the 6th May, Mr. Vernon Heath would read a paper On
Enlarged Photographs. He (the Chairman) had much pleasure in announc¬
ing, however, that previous to that, namely, on the 25th of the present
month, the Society would hold its annual Soiree ; for which occasion the
Secretary would be glad to receive objects of interest for exhibition on
that evening.
The meeting was then adjourned.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at the City of London
College, Leadnnbnll Street, on Thursday, the 10th inst., — the Rev. F. F.
Statharn, the President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. Martin exhibited some highly successful stereographs by Mr. Alfred
Pettitt, of Crasmero, Cumberland. Among them may be mentioned the
graves of Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge, as having considerable
literary interest attaching to them ; but the most remarkable, in o photo¬
graphic point of view, were those which at a first glance were scarcely
comprehensible, so incongruous did the shapes appear, and yet on intro¬
duction into the stereoscope they resolved themselves into the most
brillinntly-transparent stalactites of ice. These stereographs elicited
general admiration.
Mr. J. ,T. Cole exhibited some stereographs contained in cases so con¬
structed as to give the idea of a book. The cases were much admired.
The following gentlemen were elected members of the Society: —
Messrs. Lloyd, J. Macnrty, and W. Larchin.
Mr. T.S. Davis said hcannounced with pleasure to the meeting that such
arrangements had been made -with the Crystal Palace Company as were
calculated to ensure a successful result in the matter undertaken by the
Society. The Sub-Committee were, however, still desirous of enlisting
the co-operation of other societies and of individual members of this one
in order to secure an Exhibition in every way worthy of the position
which the art of photography had attained.
The President announced that the soiree of the Photographic Society
of London was appointed to take place at King’s College on Friday, the
25th instant, and that the Secretary, Dr. Diamond, had kindly promised
that any members of that Society desirous of attending should have cards
of invitation forwarded to them on forwarding their names and addresses
to Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Davis proposed, and Mr. Wall seconded, a vote of thanks to Dr.
Diamond and the Council of the Society for their kind invitation. The
motion was passed unanimously.
Mr. Wall (the Secretary) having been called on for his paper On
Photographic Beproductions — [see page 145 1 — said he must preface it by
an apology for its incompleteness, which arose from the number of calls
which had been made upon his time in connexion with the organisation
of the Crystal Palace Exhibition.
About midway in the reading of his paper, Mr. Wall paused to exhibit
some photographs of rare excellence obtained by Mr. J. J. Cole, through
the kindness of Mr. Thurston Thompson, whose productions they were.
They consisted of a series of copies of some of Turner’s most celebrated
pictures, taken direct from the original oil paintings, as also some inte¬
resting copies of terra cotta bas-reliefs. The Turners were shown on this
occasion for the first time in public, and called forth the warmest expres¬
sions in favour of their high merit. Special attention was directed by the
Secretary to the copy of the Ship on Fire, as being an illustration of the
difficulties in copying from oil paintings successfully overcome, as thoso
who had seen the original would doubtless remember that the amount of
red and yellow which it contained was very remarkable.
At the conclusion of the paper the President intimated that the
thanks of the meeting were due to the Secretary for his important
paper, and also to Mr. Thurston Thompson for the valuable assis¬
tance he had rendered in allowing the lecture to be illustrated with
such appropriate photographs. In reference to that he might ob.
serve that Mr. Thompson had caused the pictures to be specially
mounted for the occasion, and that the meeting was consequently in
the position of a jury, called on to express an opinion as to their
merits. He felt assured that that opinion would be unanimously in their
favour, since he was of opinion if the great artist himself had attempted
a copy in sepia he could not have succeeded better than Mr. Thompson
in reproducing every detail and general effect by photography. He (the
President) thought Turner’s pictures the most difficult to copy photo¬
graphically ; but since they had been done so successfully, he thought it
would be comparatively easy to reproduce the paintings of other artists.
The succeeding discussion having assumed a conversational character,
confined particulaily to the artistic merits of Turner’s productions, the
meeting was reca'led to a sense of its photographic duties by
Mr. FIoward, who said that, if offered a choice, he should have pre¬
ferred copies of such paintings as Webster’s, and others, possessing greater
distinctness of detail than those of Turner’s. He (Mr. Howard) was of
opinion that the want of distinctness in the pictures then before the
meeting was one of the points which prevented them from becoming
popular.
The President agreed with the latter part of Mr. Howard’s remarks,
and, in reply to some observations by Mr. Davis, said he should be sorry
if any remarks of his should be taken to imply an undervaluing of the
productions of our English Claude. He referred especially to the suit¬
ableness of Turner’s pictures to show the triumph of photography in
overcoming, not only the difficulties inherent in the reproduction of any
oil painting, but even in the very indistinct ones of Turner, desiring it to
be inferred that if those could be successfully copied surely those of other
artists could be reproduced with comparative facility. The Chairman
then invited discussion on the other portions of Mr. Wall’s paper.
Mr. Martin said he should like to ask Mr. Wall what effect was pro¬
duced on old engravings intended to be copied when treated with the
mixture of hydroc hloric acid and red oxide of lead, described in bis paper ?
Mr. Wall replied that the yellow tint of age was entirely removed, and
the blacks appeared to be brightened and intensified.
The President asked Mr. Wall to which of the twelve mixtures enu¬
merated in his paper he gave the preference?
Mr. Wall was not quite prepared to give an unconditional preference to
any one combination. He thought they possessed special advantages
suitable for a variety of circumstances, and required only the exercise of
judgment in their application.
Mr. Simtson, in reply to a question, remarked that, although Mr.
Thompson had not published his method of manipulating, it might
reasonably be inferred that it was not widely different from that adopted
by other operators who had obtained equally successful results. Mr.
Simpson further stated, in compliance with a request from Mr. Fitch,
that his experience in that department of photography was not extensive:
he could, however, recommend with confidence the use of bromo-iodised
collodion in reproducing any dark oil painting. He (Mr. Simpson) had
that morning made an experiment to verify one which he had made somo
years ago, and had found bromide of silver alone less sensitive to light
April 15, 1863]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
153
than iodide alone, and that a combination of bromides and iodides was
more sensitive than either. With an exposure of four minutes in full
aperture of a portrait lens he had not obtained a trace of a picture with
bromide alone, but with one grain of bromide and four grains of iodide
he had had a good impression.
Mr. Davis said that when the subject of collodion was under the con¬
sideration of the Council of the Central Society, Mr. Hardwich had
recommended a collodion prepared with French pyroxyline iodised with
a mixture of bromides and iodides. From his (Mr. Davis’s) own expe¬
rience he should recommend an old collodion for copying large pictures,
as in that case the light was so much reduced that long development was
necessary to bring up the required intensity. Now old collodion would
bear this without becoming fogged. He would therefore repeat that an
old collodion in which some organic change had taken place was the best
for the purpose.
Mr. Blanchard was of opinion that one of the features in the method
of Mr. Thompson was, that he placed the painting to be copied in the
same relation to the source of light as was originally intended by the
painter ; and that point he should be happy to demonstrate, if Mr. Wall
would allow him to direct the attention of the members to that photo¬
graph which best illustrated his opinion. Mr. Blanchard then selected a
photograph, which bore evidence of that peculiar heaping up of colour for
which some of Turner’s pictures were so remarkable. In doing this Mr.
Blanchard said he considered that the success which had attended these
reproductions was due in a great measure to that peculiarity of the artist.
The quantity of colour laid on had produced shadows, occasioned by the
pure light falling upon them in a proper direction, which at once re¬
deemed the picture from anything like flatness. He (Mr. Blanchard) had
further ascertained, by his own experience, that it was imperatively
necessary that everything opposite the picture should be darkened, so
that the direct sunlight should fall upon the picture only in one direction.
With regard to the kind of collodion to be used, he could say that he had
not observed that the use of bromides had given a very marked increase
of sensibility : their chief advantage, and the secret of success in their
use, arose from the tendency which they had to lessen contrast. He
believed Mr. Thompson used equal parts of bromide and iodide ; and he
(Mr. Blanchard) felt assured, from his own experience, that all those
copies were done in direct sunshine, and that Mr. Thompson would never
waste his time in attempting them by any other light.
Mr. Simpson, in corroboration of the opinion expressed by Mr.
Blanchard, said that in copying the Cartoons at Hampton Court Mr.
Thompson had had them placed outside in the open air. He (Mr.
Simpson) was loath, however, to admit that the only pyroxyline suitable
for the purpose was obtainable in Paris, though it must be admitted that
Mr. England had expressed himself to the same effect in reference to
pyroxyline suitable for his purpose.
Mr. Blanchard, in continuation of his remarks, said that the greatest
brilliancy was generally obtainable when the light impinged on the pic¬
ture at a long angle. That plan, however, was not applicable to Turner’s
pictures, where the colour was laid on so thick. It would be found in
practice that separate arrangements and experiments had to he made for
each picture.
Mr. Davis remarked that he had been very successful in his reproduc¬
tions since he had used a Dallmeyer’s triplet.
Mr. Wall said he had received a letter from Mr. Maddison corroborating
the statement made by Mr. Davis.
Mr. Howard would remind the meeting that excellent copies of maps
were exhibited at one of the London Photographic Society’s Annual
Exhibitions some years since, before triplets were thought of. That he
mentioned for the encouragement of those who did not possess such an
arrangement cf lenses.
Mr. Harman asked Mr. Wall to state the proportions in the iodising
compounds of the collodions used in taking numbers 1 and 7 of the
photographs he exhibited, since he (Mr. Harman) regarded those as the
most successful copies of the pictures.
Mr. Wall read the proportions given at page 116.
Mr. Blanchard, returning to the subject of bleaching old prints, asked
Mr. Wall if he had tried chloride of lime ?
A brisk discussion followed this question, in which Messrs. Wall,
Davis, Martin, Blanchard, and the Chairman took part, the conclusion
arrived at being that the effect produced depended on the bleaching
action of chlorine, — Mr. Davis finally promising to experiment in that
direction, and lay the result before the following meeting of the Society.
Mr. SiMrsoN hoped that, notwithstanding the delay caused by adverse
weather, some copies of the presentation print would be ready for distri¬
bution by the succeeding meeting of the Society.
Mr. Davis said he would take that opportunity of informing the Society
that the experimental Committee intended experimenting on the use of
warm developers, and how far they actually increased sensibility; and he
expressed a desire that other members of the Society would institute
similar experiments, and communicate the results to him (Mr. Davis),
in order that they might be embodied in the report of the Committee.
The President asked if any steps had been taken with the view of
bringing together the numerous foreign and English photographers who
would visit London during the International Exhibition ? He thought
that the Parent Society should take the initiative in such a matter.
Mr. Wall was not aware of any arrangement being in progress with
the object in view named by the President. He (Mr. Wall) was of opinion
that it should be the result of the combined action of all the British
photographic societies.
Mr. Blanchard having promised a paper On the use of Bromides in
Collodion, the meeting was shortly after adjourned.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The fortnightly meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday, the 2nd
inst. The chair was occupied by J. D. Marwick, Esq., President. There
was a large attendance.
The following gentlemen were balloted for and admitted as members: —
Stephen Adam, Esq., Afton Lodge; Isaac Anderson Henry, Esq.,
Trinity; J. C. Fraser, Esq., C. A., Register House; William Forrester,
Esq., Treasurer, George Ileriot’s Hospital ; Alexander Hill, Esq., Print-
seller to the Queen ; R. M. Smith, Esq., Bellevue Crescent.
The meeting was devoted to an exhibition of portable tents for photo¬
graphy. These were explained by Mr. Nicol, who introduced the subject
in the following remarks : —
On Portable Photographic Tents.
At the present time the great problem in photography is not how to take
good pictures. Heath, Mudd, Wilson, and many others have already
shown us how to do that. The great photographic riddle, to the reading
of which all eyes are directed, and in which the hands of all photographic
experimentalists are engaged, is a method of getting instantaneous pic¬
tures on dry plates; and, judging from what those hands and those eyes
have already accomplished, I think it requires no great stretch of prophetic
vision to say that, before the close of the forthcoming campaign, our
dearest wish in this direction will be accomplished.
Believing this, as I do, you may think that the question of tents is
rather an unnecessary occupation of your time ; but it is not so, because we
have not yet attained to the nrucli-desired process, and our love for photo¬
graphy will not allow us to be idle while waiting for it. And besides,
even if we already had it, there are still circumstances in which wet work
would be desirable. A happy pic-nic in a lovely glen, the members of
which in all probability could never again be got together, could not be
trusted to even the most certain dry plate : we must see the actual nega¬
tive beyond the reach of accident, and this the ivet alone will enable us
to do. In addition to this there is, to the out-and-out wet collodion man,
a charm in the delightful springing into being of a wet picture that the
dry process will never give, and which will always command numerous
followers. On this account, then, I have thought it well to ask the Council
to devote to me this evening, and hope to make it sufficiently interesting
to justify it in acceding to my proposal.
My object in bringing the subject before you, and in exhibiting the
various tents now in the room, is twofold. Photographers may be
divided into two classes : — one with more money than inventive ingenuity,
or perhaps I should say constructive ability ; and the other with more
constructive ability than money. By bringing together the productions
of a number of the principal manufacturers who have turned their atten¬
tion to this useful photographic appliance, I desire on the one hand to
show those of the first class what has been done, and enable them, when
they haye made up their minds to buy, to select that which will answer
their purposes best ; and on the other hand, the members of the second
class will, by comparing one with another, be able, when they set about
constructing a tent for themselves, to pick out of each the best parts, and
so succeed in making as nearly a perfect thing as their circumstances and
ability will admit.
The difficulty of getting together a sufficient number of tents was
greater than I anticipated. All the makers to whom I applied were very
courteous, and several sent off their productions immediately. Some,
however, stated that the demand was so great that they were in arrears,
and could not comply with my request in time. Others were so busy
with the preparations for the Great Exhibition that they could do nothing
in tents just now. And one — Mr. II. Francis — refused to send anything,
giving as his reason that some years ago he exhibited before the London
Photographic Society a camera which one of the members of the Council
a few days after patented in his own name, and that since then he had
refused to let any of his productions come before any photographic
society. This may or may not be strictly correct, but I am quite sure
that Mr. Francis does not know the members of the Edinburgh Photo¬
graphic Society, or he would decidedly have made an exception in your
favour.
Tents as generally met with naturally divide themselves into two
classes : — operating chambers into which the arms and head, or arms only,
are put, and tents proper, large enough to admit the whole body of the
operator. For the working of small plates the chamber is perhaps
superior to the tent, as from its lightness and portability it is much more
easity managed ; but for large plates the tent is undoubtedly better. I
have seen large plates successfully wrought in a chamber, but I am quite
sure that any one who has experienced the comfort of having freedom of
motion, and the ability to move about which a large tent gives, would
never tie himself up to work a large plate in a chamber.
A number of chambers were then exhibited and their various pecu¬
liarities explained. Leake’s, in consequence of its extreme lightness, was
much admired, and Jeffery’s also attracted attention. The latter
154
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1802
mieht be made a little stronger. A chamber shown by Mr. M'Glaslion,
in which the plate on which the prize picture was taken was prepared,
was also very good. There were also a number of tents, each good in
its way Among others, Smartt’s was considered very simple, roomy,
and well ventilated. Mr. Nicol said that if the. makers would line it
with yellow instead of black, and reduce the price fifty per cent., they
would confer a boon on photographers. . .
After an interesting discussion on the merits of the various tents
exhibited, a vote of thanks to Mr. Nicol brought the meeting to a close.
CITY OF GLASGOW ANlT WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held in the Religious
Institution Rooms, on Thursday last, the 10th instant,— Mr. Andrew
Mactear, Vice-President, in the chair.
After the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved of,
the Chairman called upon Mr. J. Jex Long to explain his new appliance,
— The Pneumatic Self- Regulating Filterer. [Owing to the late hour at
which Mr. Long’s paper reached us we are obliged to leave it over till our
next number.] By the aid of diagrams and a lucid description, as also
by the exhibition of the apparatus in working order, the members of the
Society were put in possession of a really simple, ingenious, and new
application of apparatus ali-cad}1, in every photographers laboratory.
The members took occasion to compliment Mr. Long in very warm
terms.
Mr." Long remarked, in reply, that if the apparatus found favour in their
eyes, and the practical application of it proved beneficial, he was amply
rewarded for any trouble he had been at in bringing the subject before
their notice.
Mr. J. Spencer, jun., exhibited and explained a collodion filter, which
was handed round and examined by the members, several of whom were
already in possession of the apparatus, and testified to its utility. Regret
was expressed that the name of the inventor of suen a useful appliance
was unknown.
Mr. Brown exhibited a portable tent which, he remarked, although
home-made, was not his own contrivance. Its use was the best test of its
value. He had used it on many occasions and found it exceedingly
serviceable.
A conversation followed, during which different styles of portable tents
were spoken of.
The Secretary (Mr. Ewing) said that, talking of tents, he thougnt then-
value could ordy be tested by actual trial, and the best means of estab¬
lishing such was by having a holiday set apart for the purpose. He was
sorry the photographers of Glasgow had allowed last year to pass without
such a recess, seeing the midsummer holiday of the year previous had
proved such a success. He would desire the Society, as a body, to recog¬
nise the propriety of having such a holiday.
The Chairman cordially agreed with Mr. Ewing, and requested that that
gentleman would name a committee for the purpose of arranging a trip
at which amateurs and professionals could attend.
Mr. Ewing then named five gentlemen, who expressed their willingness
to act in concert.
LIr. Mactear gave notice of a motion for a new rule; after which he
handed to the members present the presentation photographs, printed by
Mr. Robertson from the negative by Mr. Brown.
These gentlemen were awarded a vote of thanks for the fulfilment of
their promise.
After the usual compliment to the Chairman and gentlemen amateurs
who exhibited on the occasion, the meeting separated.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF MARSEILLES.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Monday, the 31st
ult. In the absence of M. Gabriel, M. Leon A idal, Secretary of the
Society, occupied the chair. .
M. Teisseire, in the performance of the Secretary s duties, read the
minutes of the previous meeting, which having been confirmed the Pre¬
sident announced the following names of gentlemen newly elected as
members of the Society: — MM. Pointier (active member) ; Bertier de
Draguinan; Larnouroux fils, Calcutta; He Courcival, officer of French
Chasseurs ill Algeria; Captain Nicolas, of the Genie , at loulon (corres¬
ponding members) ; MM. Millon, Melchior, Eymin Henri, Millon, M.D.,
Mecklenburg, Ferrier Poullin (subscribing members).
The President then commenced the opening of the correspondence of
the month. He read, among other letters, one from Mr. Shadbolt, pre¬
senting to tin' Society, in the name ot Mr. Greenwood, a copy of the
brochure, in English, on the Tannin Process, by Major Russell.
M. Key Gabriel, member of the Society, desired to undertake the
translation of this little work.
Another letter from M. Courcival, officer in the regiment of French
( !,i jcurs at Patna, expressed the desire which the writer had to join
the S njicty, and promised occasional communications on the subject of
his photographic experience.
A third communication was from M. Ernest Lacan, and was accompanied
by a gift to the Society of the first proof of a medal, engraved after a
dee rn of which he was the author, representing in profile the three heads
of MM. Ni5pce Niccphore, Daguerre, and Talbot, designed from authentic
portraits xvhich he had succeeded in collecting. M. Lacan promised to
send to the Society an engraved copy of this medallion. This communica¬
tion was received with acclamation.
A prospectus from M; Potonie, of Berlin, relative to the establishment
of an International Photographic Exchange, was distributed among the
members present.
The thanks of the Society were accorded to the above gentlemen for
their gifts and promises.
The President, in speaking of the various monthly publications, called
the attention of the members of the Society to the experiments which he
had deemed worthy of attention in the various French and foreign jour¬
nals sent to the Secretary of the Society during the last two months. He
directed special attention to the experiments on dry collodion processes,
which -were frequently under discussion, moi-e particularly in reference to
the progress which had been made, which, according to English publica
tions, had approached very near instantaniety. M. Vidal expressed a hope
that this degree of perfection would soon be attained, and by a process of
sufficiently constant character. He informed the Society that even in
Marseilles itself some highly satisfactory trials had been made in that
direction, and these would doubtless soon be communicated.
Passing to another class of subjects, M. Vidal called renewed attention
to the question of property or copyright in photography. lie was glad to
be able to inform the Society that the British Parliament had been
occupied in the passing of an act in which the art of photography would
take its place by the side of the creative arts, and receive from English
law a protection equal to that which would be accorded to the painter
and the designer. The bill had passed its second reading, and its accept¬
ance was then beyond a doubt.
The President desired the members to charge themselves, from time to
time, with the preparation of a written report on the contents of the va¬
rious photographic periodicals, which proposition was approved by the
members.
M. Teisseire said he gladly undertook the task for the following meet¬
ing, so far as the French journals were concerned. M. Vidal promised to
continue to inform the members on matters of interest contained in the
foreign journals.
The President called on
SI. IIudelot, who communicated the results of some experiments he
had made by placing behind the collodionised plate black and white
surfaces. The conclusions to which these experiments had led him were
to the effect, that for a comparatively long exposure it was necessary to
put behind the plate a black surface (velvet or cloth-paper for instance),
and that for an instantaneous picture a white surface was necessary, or,
better still, a highly burnished silver plate. He (M. IIudelot) also
described the theory which had led him to these conclusions.
M. Teisseire exhibited positive proofs of some landscapes taken in the
neighbourhood of Marseilles, which were remarkably successful, and
elicited unfeigned admiration: The proofs were obtained from negatives
on dry collodion, by the Taupenot process. M. Teisseire was invited by
the President to describe the details of a process which had enabled him
to obtain results of such passing excellence, and which he seemed to
accomplish with ease and certainty.
The President, in reviewing the explanation given by M. Teisseire,
directed attention to the advantages possessed by the dry processes, and
urged the members to make new efforts in that direction.
M. Eissot presented to the Society six reproductions of engravings, of
which he was the author. These proofs were very successful, the
printing of them, especially, being perfect.
M. E. Loire exhibited two portraits and some reproductions, which were
new evidence of the steady progress he had made in the art.
The President, in the name of M. Guilleminot, of Paris, showed some
iodised paper, prepared according to the Oppenheim process, and offered
samples to those members who desired to try its qualities, simply stipu¬
lating that they should make known the results of their experiments at
the next meeting of the Society. On behalf of the same gentleman ho
showed also samples of tinted mounts.
The President then asked permission to make a short communication
in his own name. In spite of his numerous engagements he had gained
time to try a few experiments on the vegetable substances best calcu¬
lated to increase the sensibility of collodion, and, above all, to cause it
to retain that sensibility. He had made comparative experiments on
simply iodised collodion, and on the same collodions treated w.tli a few
drops of different essential oils. Oil of cloves, for instance, admitted of
the production of a very sensitive collodion : it was the same with the
oils of roses, citron, and others. Simply iodised collodion did not give
an image in the dry state without an exceedingly long exposure.
The Society thanked MM. Hudelot, Teisseire, Eissot, Loire, Gabriel,
Guilleminot, and Vidal, for their interesting communications.
The President proposed, in the name of the Commission, a project in
reference to the general statistics of the art of photography in France.
The statistical statement would comprise the whole range of this new
art. It would come within its province to ascertain what new branches
of industry had been opened up by photography— what were their different
productions — what was the amount of capital engaged in the prosecution
of those trades, and in the art of photography generally — what was the
approximate number of practical photographers and amateurs — what
were the various publications to which the new art had given birth —
April 15, 1862]
T H El BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
155
■what sales were effected — what was their commercial value — what
were the applications of photography, & c., &c. The statistics thus
obtained (continued the President) would prove that the art of photo¬
graphy was one more worthy of protection than had been hitherto deemed
necessary, when, by the examination of statistics conscientiously prepared,
it was shown that the special industries of that art deserved to be classed
by their importance in the first rank of national industries. He desired
the members to make, in reference to this subject, such notes as they
thought best calculated to assist the Commission.
The project being put to the meeting, was adopted, and the Commission
was desired to prepare a special report on the subject for the next
meeting.
The President introduced another subject, which had been brought
under discussion at the meetings of the Commission. The subject
had reference to unity in photography. That (saidM. Vidal) was a great
question — the solution of which would be very advantageous to photo¬
graphy. Hitherto that unity had existed but partially : it was desirable
that it should become more general in practice, as it had been attempted,
for example, to bring about unity or uniformity in weights and measures.
He (the President) directed the attention of other societies, both French
and foreign, to the subject, and promised, so far as the feeble efforts of
the Photographic Society of Marseilles were concerned, to state as soon
as possible the basis of this unity which was so desirable, and henceforth
to strive towards the realisation of that perfection by every possible
means. The idea would be further elaborated and communicated to tho
Society, the object of the Commission being merely to mention it casually,
if the expression might be allowed.
M. Vidal (the President), before closing the meeting, thought it right to
inform the members of the Society that the Horticultural Society of the
Mouth of the Rhone and the Artistic Society had given in their unanimous
adhesion to the project of Union of Societies of Encouragement. He then
explained the project which the Society had formed in reference to a per¬
manent Exhibition, and creating in that locality of united arts a photo¬
graphic laboratory under the auspices and by the aid of the Photographic
Society, without, however, the latter becoming financially involved.
The laboratory would be under the director of an operator, who would
have to reproduce all the engravings, sculptures, Sec., deemed of sufficient
interest to be exposed from time to time in the permanent Exhibition.
The operator would prepare the course of public instruction in photo¬
graphy which would be carried out in the large room ; he -would give
practical lessons to amateurs ; he would prepare dry plates by the Taupe-
not, tannin, and other processes ; he would also sensitise positive paper
and prepare the various products, which he would keep at the disposal of
the members of the Photographic Society ; lie would further execute
the enlargements from small negatives with which he might be entrusted,
by means of an apparatus and appointments, ad hoc. He would have the
superintendence and the direction of the experimental laboratory of the
Society, and of the labours of verification of the special Committee. M.
Vidal further remarked how much the art of photography and the advance¬
ment of the Society would be assisted by the existence of such an appoint¬
ment as he had named.
The proposition, after some slight discussion, was unanimously ap¬
proved of.
The meeting was shortly after adjourned.
AMERICAN INVENTIONS.
In a recent number of Humphrey' s\Journal we find the following : —
A subscriber in New Jersey writes to us as follows : —
“ In England they are saying a great deal just now about Sutton’s
panoramic lens, which, as I understand it, is for taking pictures to include
120° of the horizon at one operation ; but it must be taken on a glass plate
bent round to be all at once in focus, and that the printing press be also
curved to the same shape ns the glass. Is not this the idea?
“Now, if I am not mistaken, some years ago, when in Tennessee, I
think I read in Humphrey' s Journal about an instrument having been
invented in New York by a Mr. Ross, a correspondent of II. J., for a
similar purpose, but not in any particular similar in construction to that
of Sutton, if I recollect right. The American instrument was stated to
be of the simplest description, having no box at all, and ought not to be
called a camera, as it was only a ‘ block of wood with a long mortice in it,
through which the light was admitted to the lens, and the picture was
made on a flat glass plate.’
“This is certainly simple enough, if true — a fiat glass being cheap and
to be had anywhere, while a curved glass for Sutton’s lens would have to
be got from the original maker’s, at the buyer’s risk, and at a great
expense. Now, what I would ask is — Did such an instrument ever exist?
Or is it like the Hillotype, that had so very celebrated certificates of its
existence from leading daguerreotypists of that day ?
“ Sheriffs, parsons, and many others, signed and certified to the existence
of the Hillotype, and where is it now ? Is this the case of the 1 block of
wood ’ instrument ? If such an instrument exist in this country, in
whose hands is it? — and why is it not known in New York galleries, if
nowhere else? Surely it would be invaluable for taking large groups,
which arc so difficult with common lenses ; or would not Sutton’s answer
for that purpose ? The ‘ block of wood ’ was said to be capable of taking
the whole circle of the horizon on three flat plates, and this is also claimed
for Sutton’s lens, although he has latterly drawn it back to 100°, or 20°
less than one-third of the horizon. "Where can a production of the
wonderful ‘ block ’ be seen — if such exist — if the block itself be not
accessible to ordinary mortals ?
“tSince writing the foregoing I have been assured, by an operator in
Lewis’s gallery, that the block instrument does exist : that there are more
than one in existence, and that he has seen them, as well as pictures
produced by them, both positives and negatives on glass —flat ylass plates,
— and that neither the instrument nor its productions can be bought, the
latter being only given to the inventor’s friends.
“ I have seen two specimens — one one-third of the horizon, and another
on three glasses containing the whole, exclusive of the overlapping where
glasses join : the overlapping is about two inches.
“ The inventor says everyone can invent one for himself; but the fact
is, Mr. Sutton must get rid of his bent glass, as those I saw were flat.
Can you not get him to give us some account of it ?
“1 have written this article for your journal, as not only myself, but
many others, Avould be glad to hear that Old Jersej' will have to try again
before it beats New Jersey.”
[Mr. Ross has the instrument, as our correspondent saj’s, but he is not
yet ready to give it to the public, or render any account of it whatever.
He is, as some of our readers know, rather eccentric in his views of
matters and things, and cannot be hurried in any way or shape — not even
to gratify his brother photos. — Ed. H. </".]
There are hut few steps that have been taken in advancing our
art that have not, according to Cousin Jonathan, been first accom¬
plished on bis side of the Atlantic ; but, owing to his well-known
modesty, he is always backward in bringing them into notice until
they have become well established in what he calls the Old Country.
Now, touching this same panoramic lens, we certainly cannot be
charged with sharing the enthusiasm of its inventor in supposing
that it is destined to supersede all other lenses, but neither have
we ever questioned its absolute novelty and its great ingenuity'
It is so consonant with the YAnkee character, also, that such
productions should not b c purchaseable. We also beard tell of this
American instrument some two or three years back — surely time
enough to have perfected it; but, like the Hillotype, we have little
expectation of ever seeing it.
Straps aiffi fragments.
Cartes de AYsite. — We have been favoured by Mr. H. P.
Robinson, of Leamington, the author of Fading Aicay, Red Riding
Hood, and several other ideal art-photographs, with two of the
most charming productions in the carte portrait style that we have
hitherto seen. Besides being excellent as portraits and as photo¬
graphs, they are truly works of art.
Copyright (Works of Art) Bill.— On the 31st ult. this measure
— so important to the interest of photographers — was read a third
time and passed in the Lower House of the Legislature. In the Bill
just printed for the House of Lords, the following important addition
has been made to the first section : — “ Provided also, that there
shall not be any copyright under this Act, in any copy or repetition
of any such painting, drawing, photograph, or negative of a photo¬
graph, after the copyright in the work itself so copied or repeated
shall have ceased, either by the expiration of the period for which
the copyright is hereby given, or because the same may not have
been duly reserved to the author or acquired by any other person
upon or before a sale or disposition of such work.”
Photographic Gossir.— At the Architectural Exhibition a Mr.
Skidmore has been trying — with some share of success — to prove
that all stone architecture has been originally derived from metal
architecture , some ofliisprincipal witnessesbeing photographs. - It
is said the celebrated sculptures of fine old Worcester Cathedral are
to be “restored;" and as restoration, in a case where so little re¬
mains, must literally mean the substitution of modern works as near
the originals as guesses can take them, we ask anxiously has any
one negatives of these interesting and invaluable relics of England's
earliest art? Such negatives are likely to be earnestly asked for
by architects and archaeologists. - The present discussion about
the site of the Holy Sepulchre, carried on in the Art World by Mr.
Fergusson and Mr. AA alter Thornbuiy, might be very much simpli¬
fied by the production of photographs from the localities disputed
about. - Speaking of the Art World , it is not a bad comparison
that in which photographs of Halifax Chapel — from under-exposed,
unsatisfactory negatives— are likened unto “smoked glass.” -
AAre wonder who will photograph the opening ceremonial of
the International Exhibition? - Ought we not to get a photo¬
graph of the beautiful State Paper Office before they pull it
down ?
156
THE BRITISH JOURN
Photographing the Powers Below. — It is rather interesting
to find that wherever human enterprise and energy create
extraordinary monuments to their own honour and glory, photo¬
graphy is sure to have something to do with the matter. In the
first trial journey of the contractors "along the new underground
railway in London, the notabilities — parliamentary, civic, com¬
mercial, &c. — in accordance with the above principle, were duly
and properly photographed upon reaching the terminus — prints
from the negatives taken being eagerly sought after as memen¬
toes of the novel if not perilous transit.
Greek and Egyptian Photographs. — Messrs, Colnaghi, Scott,
and Co. are about to publish a splendid series of photographs, made
in Egypt and Greece, by C. G. Fountaine, Esq. These are taken
from admirably-selected points of view of the countries in question,
and present the ancient remains and famous localities with impres¬
sive grandeur. The effect chosen for representation is generally a
softer one than that preferred by Mr. Frith in his noble collection.
The Pock Temple of Abou-Simbel ; the Eastern Colonnade of
Philas ; the Ilypaethral Court and Hieroglyphic Wall at the last
place — are rendered with the greatest force and delicacy. Not less
delightful are those from Karnac, Edfou, and Luxor. — Athenceum.
Moon Photographs, Silvering Glass, &c. — The following-
remarks, copied from the American Journal of Photography , are
by Mr. Rutherford : — “ My study and practice of the applica¬
tion of photography to astronomical purposes began in 1857. In
that year I made my first stereo, view of the moon. In 1858 I
succeeded in producing perhaps the most perfect view yet made.
Since that time, although I have often attempted, I have not been
able to do so well. The chief difficulties under which I labour are
the disagreement of the chemical and visual foci of the telescope
and the atmospheric fluctuations. Moreover, the moon has north
and south motion as well as east and west, and the machinery
attached to telescopes are devised only to make corrections for the
latter motion. These motions would do but little harm if we had
a much more rapid process. Two and a-half years ago I read an
article in Comptes Rendus, by Foucault, in which he advocated a
reflecting telescope of which the reflector is a silvered glass
mirror. He claimed, with Steinheil, that all but three per cent, of
light would be reflected by such a mirror. Mr. Fitz and I at once
attempted such an instrument, and the work was soon completed,
with the exception of the silvering of the mirror. The tube is
thirteen inches in diameter and ten feet in length. The whole
instrument, now complete, weighs thirteen pounds. The telescope
is of the Cassagranian style. The silvering was done this winter,
after a week of study and experiments. The solution was thirty-
two ounces of water, in which seventy grains of ammonio-nitrate
of silver were dissolved, and the necessary quantity of milk sugar
added for the precipitation. About one-fifth of the silver was
deposited on the mirror in half-an-hour, the rest precipitating on
the sides of the containing vessel. Since the instrument was
completed there have been but few suitable evenings for a trial,
and those at an early hour. But, on account of the trembling of
the earth in the city, I am afraid that any success is hopeless.
These movements are greatly multiplied in the reflecting tele¬
scope. This is the only difficulty with the new instrument, for it
gives good definition, and thirty-six times more illumination than
my refractor.”
Jfarcrgir CorrespanLieiue.
Philadelphia , March 23 rd, 1862.
To quote from a New York letter: — “We are all in ‘ hot water ’
here. Try Dr. Draper’s process, and you will soon be xoarm in
your praise of it.” Much positive information has reached me, all
tending to prove that it is the greatest discovery in the art that
has been presented to us for several years. It is one of those
remarkably simple discoveries which we cannot but wonder have
not been developed sooner. As far as I have been able to learn,
it has only been applied so far to tannin plates ; but there can be
very little doubt that it will be of equal advantage in the treatment
of other dry plates. At the last meeting of the American Photo¬
graphical Societ3r, the only one who seemed to be doubtful as to the
advantage of the hot water was Mr. Rutherford, who merely said
it had not been so successful in his hands as with others ; and he
asked for further information regarding it. Mr. C. W. Hull comes
boldly forward at once, and, in the last number of the American
•Journal of Photography , in an article from his pen, bears the strongest
I' ^timony in favour of it. Mr. Hull has, however, been remarkably
successful with dry plates manipulated in the usual manner ; and
AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [April 15, 186q
his charming proofs from dry plates would leave little room for
improvement.
In a corner of the last sheet of my last letter I said a few words
about skylights : since then I have made inquiries from various
sources in regard to them. One operator, who has been connected
with the art for years, says he does not like the high skylights.
He prefers them of ground-glass in clear weather, but would like
to have plain glass for cloudy -weather. He objects to the very
lofty lights on account of the shadows not being so decided.
With a glass roof about ten feet high, and a side light extending
to within five feet of the floor, he claims to be able to produce the
most pleasing effects. I asked him about the blue glass with
which several rooms have been glazed, and his only objection was —
“ I don’t like any light that causes one lady to say to another,
‘ Oh ! how horrid you look ! ’ ” Having made the pose of his sitters
an especial study, he was able to give much information as to the
proper management of the light. For vignettes he places his sitter
far back, not under the glass roof, and places on her lap a piece
of blue glazed muslin — the dull side uppermost — thus throwing a
blue shade up under the chin.
Speaking of vignettes, Mr. F. F. Thompson sent a very interesting
one from New York a day or two ago. The background had been
white, and, after the head had been printed, it was covered, and the
remainder of the card printed very black; thus showing on a black
card a gradual fading into the clear white of the centre, where the
head was clear and sharp on this white ground, just like an
opening through a very dark cloud.
The great fault with card pictures is the great sameness of the
attitudes. Each operator has his set series of positions, into one of
which his subject must be forced. When fancy backgrounds were
in vogue this sameness was intolerable; and the seated or standing
figure before a plain, dark screen was a pleasing relief. It has
often been a matter of astonishment to me that some enterprising
photographer, who has earned some celebrity for artistic taste and
good work, has not opened, in connexion with his regular gallery,
a separate establishment, with a neat front door, no show cards
displayed, but, by means of a simple silver plate, the world should be
told that John Smith, photographer, was to be found within. Here,
with comfortable parlours and dressing-rooms, every effort should be
made to please visitors, who should have certain hours appointed
for each, just as a dentist makes his appointments in advance.
Many, very many, would gladly pay five times the cost of an
ordinary picture to have the satisfaction of not waiting hours for
their turn, as is now the case. In our crowded galleries may be seen
every day plenty of distressed, anxious faces of visitors, wearied
with waiting, and in no condition to put on their very best looks.
The card pictures have become so important a branch of the
photographic art, that we find several of our leading papers pub¬
lishing two-column articles on the subject. The Philadelphia Press
had a very interesting article on the subject, showing the com¬
mercial value of these pictures ; for, as an article of manufacture
and trade, I daresay we shall soon see General M'Clellan, Presi¬
dent Lincoln, and so forth, quoted in the price-current lists, as
follows: — “Card pictures rather uppish: some slight advance on
former rates. Note the sale of 2000 portraits of Mrs . Lincoln in Ball
Dress to one party at two dollars per dozen. Considerable inquiry
for proofs from the suppressed plates, but owners refuse to sell.”
I cannot but notice that the name “ cartes de visite ” is being rather
dropped and the plain English card-picture used instead. Our
language is quite capable of expressing all our wants, and there
is little need of our befogging ourselves with the belief that card-
pictures are not visiting cards but are cartes de visite.
Some day I want to tell your readers all about some large book¬
binding establishments which are now almost exclusively engaged
on albums for these pictures, and a short sketch of the way they
are made may not be uninteresting. In this country of ours we
are very apt to do everything we can by machinery, and the ma¬
chinery is often quite as interesting as the work produced. Some
English writer in speaking of this tendency in America to do
everything by machinery says : — “ They can do so readily ;
for in America they use machinery to make the machines
for making their machinery.” — i. e. the work from begin¬
ning to end is done by machinery. To illustrate this — if
I may be pardoned for digressing from photography — one firm
having received an order for many thousand projectiles for
rifled cannon to be delivered at the rate of one thousand each day,
in the short space of two months had designed and executed
machinery to produce the required number, so that now these shot
are being made at the required rate, and are drilled and tapped for
the fuse-plugs by four machines, attended to by three men ; and
April 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
157
these thousand shot per diem have their lead cups cast on to them by
machinery, with only two men to manage that part of the
operation. This is occurring under my own eye, and illustrates the
enterprise of our people in introducing mechanical contrivances.
While on the subject of machinery, I must add that several new
styles of rolling-machines for photographic purposes are in pro¬
gress of construction — some of them adapted for amateurs, and
so simple in their design as to be furnished at a low price. Some
very excellent cast-iron printing-frames have been made — the
frame being a very light casting, or rather two castings, with a
sheet of woollen cloth between to make a soft bed to receive the
negative, and the hinged backs are made by cementing flat sheets of
tin. to the woollen cloth with gum shellac, and afterwards solder¬
ing on stiffening pieces to which are attached the holding-down
spring. The cloth itself forms the hinge. I could send a sketch
of these and other useful little devices, but I fear the kind
Editor would object to printing them. In photography applied
to the arts one machine-maker writes to inform another that some
device he is using is the property of the writer, and warning him
against the continued use of it. Upon being applied to for further
information relative to the invention, he encloses a stereograph of
one of his machines, on which is clearly seen his patented device
and the notice of the date of patent. No letter is required: the
picture tells the whole story.
There has been a good deal of talk about the merits of “ com¬
posed” pictures, and many of our connoisseurs banish from their
collections the made-up semi-theatrical pictures of the shops. But
the members of our Amateur Photographic Exchange Club were
thrown into convulsions of laughter a few days since by the receipt
of a stereograph from Professor Rood, the gentleman who has made
such fine stereo-microscopic pictures, and who wrote about the
Pleurosigma angulatum. The subject was the Ghost Scene in Hamlet.
The scenery was card-board, inked in with marking ink ; the stage
an office desk; the foot-lights cut out of paper and stuck along the
front; and the actors stuffed owls and blue jays, with paper
spectacles and card-board swords. There is no good reason why
those who like them should not be gratified by scenery, composed
pictures, comic or instructive.
Photography is following the army south, and very many good
operators are finding employment in portraiture in the camp, while
at the same time occasionally very interesting camp scenes reach us.
One of the camp photographers tells me that his dark box folds up
so as to be readily carried on horseback, and he finds no trouble in
managing his various solutions in the field. He has in his dark box
two baths side by side — one containing the silver solution and the
other salt water. After development with iron he immerses the
plate in the salt bath, then coats with glycerine, and fixes and
strengthens at his leisure. His iron solution is carried in small
bottles securely stopped to exclude all air, and contains, besides the
usual amount of acetic acid, one drop to the ounce of formic acid.
He treats his bath in a very simple way to keep it in good order —
boiling it down in a porcelain bottle (which he carries for the
purpose) to about one-half its bulk, then adding water and some
fresh crystals of silver; finally shaking up with it some freshly -
prepared iodide of silver which has been well washed, but has not
been exposed to the light — this iodide of silver in its flocculent
state acting mechanically to carry down many impurities. He also
stated that, in his experience at home, he foundhis bath immediately
after filling, full of minute crystals of nitrite of silver, which seemed
to cover each plate with minute pinholes. This condition of the
bath he could always correct with iodide of silver and then filtering.
While on the subject of baths let mo add that, as there is no
doubt clean plates conduce to clear solutions, it is of the utmost
importance to have a good method of cleaning glass. What seems
to be most in favour in New York just now is a solution consisting
of equal parts of commercial nitric acid and water, to which a
quarter of an ounce of mercury per pint of acid is added, making
an acid nitrate of mercury. This solution can be kept in an
open vessel in the room, and the plates, whether varnished or
not, can be thrown in and should remain there for some days until
needed : they can finally be washed under a stream of running
water, and stood up to drain. They may then be used without
polishing. There is claimed for plates so cleaned an entire im¬
munity from all metallic iridescence under the films in the clear
shadows.
At the last meeting of the American Photographical Society Mr.
Pike stated that he was working tannin plates which, after being
well washed, had been immersed in a five-grain solution of silver ;
and that plates so prepared were quicker and more reliable than
the ordinary tannin plates, but would not keep so well. As
some have advocated coating the plate before applying the collo¬
dion with thin albumen, to cause the film to adhere, Mr. Hull
asseited that he had been in the habit of running a narrow margin
of albumen around his plate, and that the portion so covered with
albumen was not nearly so sensitive as that on the clean glass.
Hus is an important fact, and is an experiment worth trying.
I had intended devoting a portion of my letter to the various
strengthening processes in vogue; and to have alluded to Pro -
, fessor Seely’s experiments with palladium and iridium ; but too
much space has been already occupied, and I have only room to
subscribe myself, with due regard, COLEMAN SELLERS
Crrrmpittmur.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
EQUIVALENT FOCUS.
To the Editor.
biR,-in your Leader on “ What a Lens Will Cover” you deduce from
certain experiments, &c„ the equivalent focal length of a No. 1 triple lens
supplied by me as _ 8-82, which, however, is considerably in excess of
the true amount. Having recently been requested to determine the
exact equivalent focal length of a No. 1 triple for one of our first metro¬
politan artists, who desired to use it for enlarging purposes, I took occa¬
sion to compute the focal length with all possible care and accuracy, and
in? 'i°ve T 8-1f- ■ I1may mentiou that the original calculations upon
which the No. 1 triple is based assigned the value of 7-3, but owing to
some slight variation frequently occuring in the optical properties of the
glass, as obtained from Messrs. Chance, the focal length may varv by a
fraction over or under 8. I unhesitatingly assert, however/that in no
instance has a lens of the land been supplied by me, the focus of which
oH. i he constant and daily-increasing demands upon m37 time and
attention do not permit me to point out the several sources of error in
the deductions by which }rou arrive at the above results, but I doubt not
that on verification of previous experiments you will discover a dis
crepancy somewhere, and that the final and correct result arrived at will
very nearly, if not quite, coincide with my statement.
In the aiticle lefeired to 3011 also come to the conclusion that a certain
picture shown to Mr. Hornby was a reproduction. This conjecture also
I must beg to contradict. The picture in question is a View of Wirmina-
ham Church , taken by Mr. Ernest Edwards, a member of the Amateur
Photographic Association.
I have already stated elsewhere that Mr. Wilson, and perhaps not a few
otlicis 'with mm, aie of opinion that the Xo. 1 triple covers more than a
single view lens, in proof of which he has sent me two “ views” taken from
the same spot, with the No. 1 triple and with a view lens. The former
includes about one-fifth more of subject, and the definition at the mar-in
is of the two superior. So much for the facts of the case. Another
important point in connexion with this last-mentioned subject should be
borne in mind, Hz.. When taking a view with the single combination
(no matter of what form) including an angle of about 40°, the au-Ie of
deviation or displacement of objects at the extreme margins of picture
amounts to no less than 4°, and of course so much on each side of the
axis. Ihose vlio adiocatc the use of single view lenses for even lar—er
angles, would do well to remember this.
I am, yours, &c. J. II. DALLMEl'ER.
[We will certainly re-examine the experiments we made at as earlv an
opportunity as we can make. Meanwhile we are proceeding with some
others in reference to the question at issue : up to the present time, how¬
ever, we have no reason to alter the opinion already expressed relative to
the “ angle of view” capable of being included respectively with the
triplet and single lenses. Certainly the triplets are of the highest value
for certain purposes, but we cannot admit that they are better than, nor
even so good as, well constructed single combinations for general land¬
scape purposes. It is not a question between Mr. Dallmever’s lenses and
Mr. Anybody’s, but between triple combinations and single for certain
other purposes ; and we have no doubt that we should for the purpose
specified have no fault to find with single combinations constructed by
Mi. Dallme3ei, whoso talent as a theoretical and practical optician we
have already stated we hold in very high esteem.— Ed.]
WHAT A LENS WILL COYER.
To the Editor.
Sir,— When I made the communication on which you commented in
your last, 1 was aware that all opticians, in estimating the focal lengths
of their lenses, measure from the surface of the lens nearer to the back
ot the camei a, instead of from that point which would coincide with the
optical centre of a single lens equivalent to the compound. 1 was not
ho wo vu, piepaied to lcaiu that a difference ot more than lj inches could
158
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 1802
exist between the so-called focal length and the equivalent or true one of
the lens in question. . . ,, . , , , ,,
It appears to me that your method of determining this focal length
introduces several elements of error, of which I will mention two
1st. As to the determination of the focal length of the spectacle lens.
The longitudinal aberration of such lens is proportional to the square of
its diameter ; therefore, when not stopped . down, the aberration will be
very considerable. Within the limits of this aberration you cannot say
what is the focal length, and therefore an error to the extent of the
aberration may creep in ; and as the aberration is great, so may the error
be. That it is impossible to determine the focal length of an uncorrected
lens, like that you used, is experimentally seen by taking up any cheap
opera-glass or telescope. It may frequently be turned through more than
an inch without either increasing or diminishing the distinctness (or
rather indistinctness) of any object seen through it. That the lens you
used was guilty of great aberration you admit ; for you say afterwards that,
in making use of it in the camera, “ the definition teas so unsatisfactory
that you reduced the aperture to §ths of an inch,” and that then “a
fairly distinct image was formed.”
2nd. The distortion produced by the spectacle lens would also be very
great ; and, therefore, in measuring the distance between the images of
the window bars formed by it, another great error might be introduced,
unless care were taken to measure the icidest distance between them.
But could not the focal length of the triplet have been calculated
directl}'- by the first method you indicate (for the determination of that of
the spectacle lens) on page 121. Or, what seems a simpler method still,
has suggested itself to me ; and as I do not know that if has appeared
before, perhaps j’ou will allow me to describe it fully.
Choose any long horizontal line, as neai'ly as possible the height of the
camera — say the top of a wall : proceed as if to take a view of this, and,
having obtained a distinct image of it, take the following measurements : —
1. The length of the line ( i.e ., the top of the wall). 2. The length of
its image on the ground-glass. 3. The distance between the planes of
the wall and ground-glass. Then divide 3 into two parts proportional to
1 and 2 respectively : the latter will be the focal length required. Thus if
the length of the top of the wall is (a) inches, of its image on the ground-
glass (b) inches, and of distance betwreen wall and ground-glass (c) inches,
we have to divide c into two parts proportional to a and b respectively.
These arc — - — c and — - — c ; and therefore the focal length required
a + b a + b
is — -k c _ inches. This method is exceedingly simple, the only
a -b b
measurement that requires extreme care being that of the image on the
ground-glass. The planes of the wall and ground-glass should be practi¬
cally parallel, and the camera-stand opposite to the middle of the lino.
Then, assuming that the distance of the wall from the camera is not
small, so that a pencil from any part of it may be considered made up of
parallel raj's, by this method you easily obtain the focal length with
slight chance of error — in fact, the only chance is incorrect measurement
of the image on the ground-glass.
I have not tried my lens by this method, but intend to do so shortly ;
but a friend tells me that he has tested his by the first method (that
given by you), and finds its focal length 7$ inches. I must confess that
even this is more than I had expected, and fancy that the focal length,
as measured in the usual way, must therefore be more than seven inches.
That I made another slight mistake in my last I must also confess;
but as, by some provide ntial dispensation, frequently happens, the errors
are such as compensate each other. I stated that a picture eight inches
square had been taken with the lens : the truth is it is ten by eight.
The picture was not a reproduction, but a view of a church, and exceed¬
ingly sharp a nd distinct it is to the very edges. A print from the
negative is in the Amateurs’ collection at Mr. Melhuish’s, 26, Haymarket.
There, however, it is cut down into an elliptical shape — longer axis, ex¬
ceeding nine inches. The negative was taken by E. Edwards, Esq.
(whose pictures in that collection were generally commended). He
tells me that he uses Mr. Dallmeyer’s triplet continually for ten by
eight plates, and always considers them well covered by it.
I have jus t seen two pictures taken by Mr. Wilson from precisely the
same spot, for the purpose of comparing this lens with the single one
with which he had previously been working. A far greater angle is in¬
cluded in that taken with the triplet, with, to say the least, an equal
amount of distinctness.
That it is an advantage, and a very great one, to w v\ i a lens of
large angular field, I was painfully convinced this summer, whilst in
Boucn and other continental towns, where I was exceedingly “cabin’d,
eribb’d, and confin’d,” most of my pictures being spoiled through my not
being able to get in just a little more. It is in architectural subjects, far
more than in landscapes, that I have always felt that deficiency, which
T am sure is partially remedied by Mr. Dallmeyer’s triplet.
I am, yours, &c., D. HORNBY.
[1. This objection might be sound, were no precautions taken to
ascertain approximately the amount of longitudinal spherical abberration.
But, supposing an error to have been made, as the focus of the centre of
an uncorrccted lens is longer than that of the margin, this error must of
necessity have been in favour of the triplet, as the focal length of the
spectacle lens was determined with the larger aperture ; but in focussing
the window frames the diaphragm was used : it is therefore scarcely
possible that the actual focus of the spectacle lens could have been
shorter than we observed it to be, while it is possible for it to have been
somewhat longer; and as the distance between the window frames de¬
picted on the ground glass was greater with the triple than with the
single lens, it follows that, if we committed an error of the kind supposed
by our correspondent, the triplet must have had an equivalent focus still
greater than that we calculated to have been the case.
2. We omitted to mention that the diaphragm we used we placed in
contact with the single lens, and therefore there was no distortion by dis¬
placement. We have no objection to the method preposed by our
correspondent for ascertaining the equivalent focus, provided the “wall”
be at a sufficient distance; but then we fancy the trouble will at least
not be less than by either of the other methods suggested. The phrase
“the focal length measured in the usual way,” we would amend by inter¬
polating the word “erroneous” after “usual.” We will endeavour to
obtain a proof of the church mentioned from the entire plate, without
being trimmed at all. This is a question we mean to push to “an ab¬
solute focus ” before we have done with it. We do not question the
superiority of the triplet for architectural purposes. — Ed.]
MODIFICATION OF THE FOTHERGILL PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir,— Your answer to A. Gosling’s query in the last number of The
British Journal of Photografiiy, respecting a modification of the Fother-
gill dry process, is not strictly correct. The method was specifically
given, with the why and wherefore, in the report of the South London
Society on the dry processes, and not orally suggested at a meeting.
I mentioned that it was the practice in manipulating these plates to
leave a portion of free silver thereon after washing, and that on pouring
on the albumen solution, which, as commonly used, contains a large
excess of ammonia, the silver would form a soluble compound with the
preservative, and not an insoluble precipitate, as was generally stated.
Thus if a portion of albumen solution be placed in a measure, and a few
drops of silver be added, the white precipitate of albuminate of silver at first
formed would quickly be dissolved by the ammonia. I therefore argued
that, instead of partial washing, and the subsequent combination of the
free silver with the preservative taking place on the plate, it would evi¬
dently be neater to thoroughly wash, and flood the plate with albumen
solution containing a definite quantity of silver.
The exact formula, given as nearly as I can recollect, was this : — ■
Thoroughly wash after sensitising, and thoroughly drain : pour the pre¬
servative on and off five or six times, and again thoroughly wash : drain,
and dry. The preservative was made thus: — Albumen, one ounce;
water, five to ten ounces ; thirty-grains solution of silver, one draebrn —
part of the bath may be used for the purpose — and sufficient ammonia
added, drop by drop, to dissolve the albuminate of silver. Beat, or well
shake, and the solution will get limpid in the course of a few hours. The
preservative thus made may be used over and over again, so that the
quantity given will coat a great number of plates.
I cannot see that Mr. Barber’s suggestion of forming ammonia-nitrate
of silver before adding the albumen instead of after, makes any difference
in the resulting mixture. It is certainly neater, but the end is the same.
I should mention that the addition of silver to the albumen preservative
had been suggested by Mr. Bartholomew, in a letter to the News, some
time before I remarked on the subject ; but I need scarcely say it entirely
escaped my recollection, even after it came under my notice at the time.
This was probably owing to the fact that the reasons for the formula
were, not given, and, therefore, it is possible I may have passed it over
with a single glance, thinking it only another of the novelties we see so
frequently in the pages of our photographic journals. — I am, yours, &c.,
MICHAEL HANNAFORD.
QUERIES FROM THE OPERATING-ROOM.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I shall feel obliged if you will answer the following in your next
Journal : —
1. If I mix equal quantities of iodised collodion over six months’ old
and the other freshly-iodised, will it be of the same sensitiveness as if
the collodion were three months’ old ?
2. I wish to dissolve some nitrate of silver in plain collodion. How can
it be done ?
3. Which method do you think best for decolourising the nitrate print¬
ing bath- — kaolin or citric acid ? If the latter — how ? I now have some
kaolin in my bath ; but I find it rather troublesome in the filtering.
4. Wishing to test the permanency of my prints, I put portions of my
worst pictures in a bottle with a little water at the bottom, and corked it
up tightly (according to Mr. Hardwich’s Manual), and kept them three
months. They are all nearly covered with yellow patches (as you will
see by the two enclosed pieces). The other portions which 1 kept in a
portfolio are all quite unaltered. Please to inform me of the cause. I
use a seventy-grain silver bath, and the carbonate of soda and gold
toning, and sometimes the acetate of soda and gold, which keeps — as per
Mr. Hughes’s book. I wash the chloride off before toning, and also
wash a little after the toning, and I use the hypo, one ounce to four of
water, and immerse for fifteen minutes ; but I do not mix it fresh every
April 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[15-
time. I thought of mixing a quantity, and using a portion of it every
time I print a batch, and then throwing it away.
5. Do you think that the best way, and can I keep a fresh solution of
hypo, for any length of time?
I generally wash in a syphon trough for about six hours. — With
thanks for past favours, I am, yours, &c., AMATEUR.
April 8th, 1862.
[1. We are not in a condition to give any authoritative reply to this
question in general terms ; but we apprehend much would depend upon
the constituents of the collodion as to the condition of it after the lapse of
three and six months respectively. Some kinds may alter much at first
and but little subsequently ; others may keep well up to a certain point,
but go off rapidly when once decomposition of any kind has “set in.”
Again, the time of year would no doubt influence the result.
2. Dissolve the crystals in alcohol, and add as much as you desire to
the collodion.
3. That with citric acid. First make the bath decidedly alkaline by
the addition of liq. ammonia; ; then add solution of citric acid, until the
precipitate carried down has decolourised the bath ; then decant and filter.
4. We have no doubt that the yellow stains are due to imperfect wash¬
ing, which the experimentum crucis that you have applied has discovered.
This is another instance in favour of our frequent condemnation of the
lazy method of washing. You may depend upon it the economy is bad.
5. We know no reason why you should be unable to keep an unused
solution of hyposulphite of soda for an indefinite time. You will find a
practice which we adopt for the fixing bath very convenient. It is as
follows, viz. : — Into abottle full of the crystals of hyposulphite of soda pouv
as much water as it will hold, let it stand and shake it up alternately
until the solution becomes saturated. When about to use it, mix one
measure of this saturated solution with two measures of water. — Ed.]
SUGGESTION FOR A SUPPLEMENTARY EXHIBITION OF
PHOTOGRAPHS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I send up by this same post some sketches illustrative of my idea
of what might have been done, or may be done now, for an Exhibition of
Photography. Height is not wanted, but length, breadth, and a good
light. Take (say) the ground in Leicester Square, and run up a wooden
building after the manner of the sketch, with boards overlapping, and in
their full lengths, so that nothing need be cut or wasted, while the out¬
side rails would be a protection to keep off idlers and boys. The windows
for light may be composed of sash-frames the usual size for houses, so
that they could be used for that purpose when done with.
way places that I am working about, I only occasionally hear of what is
going on, or I should have tried to have hit on something of this sort
before. There used to be a place in Old Bond Street, the Western
Exchange, with a good light.
This is the time Herr Paul Pretscli’s pliotogalvanographic move ought
to have been in operation, and, by taking copies of the various articles in
the Exhibition for catalogues and illustrated papers, it would have had a
good chance of success. I am, yours, & c., J. F.
March 28th, 1862.
MULTIFARIOUS TROUBLES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — If you would kindly answer me the following queries, in the next
number of The British Journal of Photography, you would greatly
oblige me : —
1. Sometimes in intensifying a negative with pyrogallic and silver, after
developing with iron and fixing with cyanide, there forms a reddish-brown
film over some parts of the plate which effectually prevents it from
printing. At other times a bluish film covers the transparent parts of the
negative, such as the shadows under the chin and under the arms, &c.,
which takes away all the detail, and when printed gives quite a fuzzy
appearance. I noticed this very strongly on two or three men with large
beards and whiskers, which -were rendered as if they had a roll of flannel
round their faces. What is the cause ? The enclosed print of the chance-
of a church shows the fault of the red film before intensifying. The picl
ture was beautifully detailed in all the shadows.
2. When washing my albumenised prints, after removal from the hypo,
bath, I have noticed small blisters all over the albumen.
3. In the Development Printing, given in your impression of February
1st, M. Oppenheim says : — “To this iodised serum of milk add, an equal
quantity of similarly prepared albumen,” &c. What does he mean by
“ similarly prepared ?” Is it to be treated with tartaric acid, boiled, and
filtered? oris it to have iodide of potassium added ? Or, if neither of
these, what is the wray to prepare it ; for the word “similarly" may be
applied cither to the “tartaric acid,” or the "boiling and filtering,” or
the “iodising,” or the “clarifying” by means of albumen. 1 began to
try the process, but wras cut short here. Again, when the nitrate of silver
and acetic acid were mixed in the gallic acid solution, it turned the colour
of wine and water. Is this right ?
4. Please to give me your opinion of the enclosed negative of Warr/rave
Eectory. It was taken with an ordinary market half-plate lens, single
combination, half-inch stop, developed with iron, and intensified with pyro¬
gallic and citric acid, toned with chloride of gold and carbonate of soda.
[The sky- was blocked out in consequence of a stain.]
I am only an amateur, young in practice, and shall therefore be glad
of your opinion on these matters. S. S. L.
[1. The brown stains and foggy blue film no doubt both arise from im¬
perfection of manipulation ; the former probably from a trace of the iodide
of silver not being quite removed from the film, while the latter may
160
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[April 15, 186*2
have something to do with the iron solution. A more thorough washing
between each operation is what we should advise, and the use of hypo¬
sulphite of soda as a fixing agent, in preference to cyanide of potassium.
2. We believe blisters in albumenised paper to arise from defective
paper : most likely there is something wrong with the sizing.
3. “ Similarly prepared albumen” evidently means “ iodised albumen”
not treated with tartaric acid, &c. The gallic, acid should not have be¬
come discoloured. The fault is, most probably, in the acetic acid, which, if
added in the quantity directed, wasof insufficient strength : add more acetic
acid next time. You should use distilled water for the gallic acid solution.
4. Your lens is undoubtedly good : we doubt whether you would be able
to improve upon it. Your picture is also good, the point of view well
chosen, and the manipulation clean. You may become a first-rate pho¬
tographer if you go on as you liaye begun. — Ed.]
PRINTING BY DEVELOPMENT.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have been endeavouring to carry out the formula for Printing
by Development (as given in a late number of the Journal), by M.
Oppenheim, of Dresden, and have met with results somewhat different to
those I expected. I therefore give you a statement of my modus operandi
and the difficulties I have met with, and shall be very glad to be set
right if I have made any fundamental mistake in my process, or to
receive any suggestions you can give me that may aid me in carrying
out this process, if in your opinion it is capable of realising the advantages
attributed to it.
My mode of proceeding is thus : — I first made a ten-grain solution of
tartaric acid, and, having heated skimmed milk till it steamed freely, I
commenced dropping into it the tartaric acid, stirring meanwhile. As
coagulation proceeded I tasted the mixture frequently, and found it neutral
to the taste. I continued dropping the acid in till coagulation ceased and
a slightly acid taste was perceptible. I then roughly filtered the curds
away and set it to cool. When cool 1 filtered it, and 'added twenty-four
grains to the ounce of iodide of potassium, which it dissolved very freely.
I next took some albumen, and, having mixed it to homogeneity, I
commenced dropping in the tartaric acid, and continued it (as I had done
with the milk) till coagulation ceased and a little acid was perceptible to
the taste, when I filtered it through paper, and added an equal quantity
of the iodised serum to it. The mixture was a full lemon colour. I then
took Canson’s plain negative paper and floated on the iodising solution
thirty seconds, and pinned up to dry.
The next morning I found that the inner surface of the glass vessel
into which I had put the iodising solution was covered below the surface
of the fluid with small sparkling crystals, which I filtered out, but have
not tested, beyond proving that they have no acid reaction. The iodising
solution, in twenty-four hours later, was quite full of mouldiness, and good
for nothing. On looking at the paper I found that free iodine was
liberated on the surface, and a light-brown colour produced, which was
driven off by heating the back of the sheet at the fire ; but, as often as I
do this, on cooling the brown colour reappears, so that both the iodiser
and the paper are imperfect. I have thought of neutralising both the
serum and the albumen with ammonia before mixing them. Is it pro¬
bable that I should gain anything by doing so ? The expression in the
formula given — “ similarly prepared albumen ” — led me to treat it with
the acid. Did I do right? Ought the iodising fluid to have keeping
qualities ? Can it be used more than once or twice ? I shall be obliged
by any information you can give me, ct for any other process for iodising
paper (for enlargements) that is both certain and tolerably quick.
I am, yours, &c., THOMAS ROBINSON.
( You have omitted referring to the volume and page where the process
about which you inquire may be found, an omission which entails much
loss of time and also needless trouble on us. It was an error to have
added the tartaric acid to the albumen, and on mixing the latter with the
iodised scrum, decomposition of course ensued. The crystals you found
were, most probably, tartrate of potash and free iodine liberated.
Since the preceding was “ in type” we have received another letter,
referring to this subject, from “ S. S. L.,” which see.— Ed.]
TRANSPARENCIES FOR THE LANTERN.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Having had some experience in the production of transparencies
for the magic lantern, I beg to submit to your readers the method of pro¬
ducing clean, sharp pictures. I give the preference to thin, flatted crown
glass— it must be free from scratches and air bubbles, and well cleaned
and dried immediately before use. Good negative collodion, bromo-iodised,
and with one grain of resin added to each ounce. The nitrate bath : — forty
grains nitrate of silver, distilled water one ounce, saturated with iodide of
silver, glacial acetic acid ten minims. Let the collodionised plate re¬
main in the bath three to four minutes, then wash it well with clean
water: drain and dry by artificial heat. The exposure under a negative
vanes from one to ten seconds in the shade. To develop, immerse
i lie plate in water for one minute, drain, and pour on enough to well cover
the film of a ten-grain solution of nitrate of silver; let it remain on
hall. a minute; pour ofl the superfluous silver solution, butnotto drain the
P 1 intending to exhibit the picture with the oxy-hydrogen light, de-
'i'>p with pyrogallic acid two grains, citric acid one and a-half grains,
watei one ounco, alcohol ten drops. If pai’affin or Argand lamp-light be
used, I prefer developing with protosulphate of iron twelve grains, acetic
acid twelve minims, water one ounce, alcohol five drops. Fix with cyanide
of potassium. In either case varnish with mastic spirit varnish. If to be
coloured, paint on the plain side of the glass. — I am, yours, kc.,
April 8th, 18G2. H. R. NICHOLS.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Paris Correspondence. — Up to the hour of going to press M. Lacan’s
letter had not arrived. This is the first of our esteemed Correspondent’s
interesting letters which has failed to make its appearance at the proper time.
A. J. — Received : thank you !
Coleman Sellers. — Received: reply shortly.
C. Raydon. — We shall probably continue it in our next.
J. E. — Correspondents should write on one side of the paper only.
Tyro. — We always prefer to employ collodion containing a bromide as well
as an iodide.
Albumen. — We have no doubt that simple white of egg is intended in the
formula given.
M. M. — The award was announced in our last issue, which was at press
when your inquiry arrived.
An Old Calcutta Subscriber. — Received: your letter, with replies,
will appear in our next publication.
Fras. Vincent.— See numbers for August 15th, September 15th, October
1st and 15th — all of the year 1859.
Siccus. — If you obtain all you desire with your present process we advise
you not to change. Let well alone.
0. O. O.— For large plates plain paper is, in our opinion, far better for prints
than the albumenised paper : for small ones the latter is a disagreeable necessity.
G. P. — The number of good negatives is very considerable; but it is some¬
what singular that the ten-by-eight size presents an overwhelming majority of
them.
Ramoth. — Y'our exposure has evidently been too long, and the light thrown
too full upon the sitter. Arrange matters so that the light may fall more
obliquely..
R. D. — The addition of iodide of silver to your iodising solution is really
superfluous. We remember when it was considered a great advantage ; but
experience teaches us otherwise.
Y. M. — You must mount the object, as if for microscopic examination, in
Canada balsam before you can use it in the way you propose; but, even then,
we fear it will not be sufficiently transparent.
Querist Again. — You had better decline the lens about which you inquire,
and wait until you can afford to buy an unquestionable one : you will find that
the most economical course in the long run.
North Londoner. — Y'ou will have perceived by our last report that the
presentation print is ready for delivery, and may be obtained from the Treasurer
on application, by those who have paid their subscriptions.
F. L. D. — 1. Put more pyroxyline into your collodion. 2. Use pyrogallic
and acetic acids for your developer, and do not hurry the development. 3.
Print slowly in a weak light; and never mind the toning, which is unnecessary
for your object.
Truant. — You will, no doubt, have found many improvements during the
two years of your absence ; and it is no wonder that you are a little “at sea.”
Your best plan of getting up in all that has transpired is simply to look through
the file of the journals.
Spectator. — Those who fancy they know everybody are sometimes mis¬
taken ; and the worthy Secretary was in this predicament when he intimated
that the Earl was not known as a photographer. We can prove to you that if
he were not known he deserved to be so, which is more than can be said of some
who are known.
Salvator. — A Nicol prism is better than a tourmaline, both for polariser
and analyser, if you are particular about the purity of the tints; because the
tourmaline, being itself coloured, somewhat modifies the tint shown. The
field of view is, however, larger with the tourmaline. Many of the animal
membranes, in particular the dermal appendages, are highly active on polarised
light.
Amateur. — The best and most portable tent is certainly not the cheapest in
regard to cost. If you consult our last two volumes you will find descrip¬
tions and illustrations of nearly every kind that has been introduced. If you
adopt a dry process of any kind you do not require any tent ; but if .the WPt
one, perhaps Rouch’s box will best suit your requirements. But we advise you
to examine the different forms for yourself. Yrou must have read very little if
you require information relative to “the comparative merits of the wet and dry
processes, and the cost, mode of use, and equipment in either case.” These points
have been repeatedly discussed in our columns ; and to answer all, would
require that we should write a manual. There are several good ones in the
market, and we recommend you to procure one at once.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, dec., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Pise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONT
PAGE
LEADER . 141
OH MEALINESS IN TONING, AND ON A
HITHERTO UNOBSERVED CAUSE OF
THE FADING OF PHOTOGRAPHS. By F.
MAXWELL LYTE, F.C.S . 142
ON A RAPID DRY PROCESS, PRINTING
TRANSPARENCIES, AND REMARKS ON
“ INSTANTANEOUS ” PHOTOGRAPHY.
By WILLIAM ENGLAND . 143
STRAY CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
CHAPTER III. DIALYSIS APPLIED TO
PHOTOGRAPHY. By JAMES MARTIN .. 144
ON PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS. By
ALFRED II. WALL . 145
ENTS.
PAGE
MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC TRIP TO THE
COUNTRY. By a Member of the Edinburgh
Photographic Society. (Concluded) . 146
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL
BEAUTY AND THE PRINCIPLES OF COM¬
POSITION. PART II. By W. H. DAVIES., 147
EXHIBITION GOSSIP: ABOUT THE CLASSI¬
FICATION QUESTION. By A. H. WALL.. 149
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . „ . 151
AMERICAN INVENTIONS . 155
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 155
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE: Letter from
Philadelphia. By COLEMAN SELLERS.... 156
CORRESPONDENCE . 157
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, AG .... 160
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No, 165, Vol. IX.-— MAY 1, 1862.
The International Exhibition. — About the time these
lines will he before our readers’ eyes, the first steps will have
been taken towards the commencement of the ceremonial for
inaugurating the opening of the International Exhibition ; and,
as the majority of our readers will clearly not be present, they
will no doubt be gratified to learn that, through the aid of their
favourite pursuit, they will stand a fair chance of being hereafter
eye-witnesses of the scene by what we may designate a scientific
second-sight.
Many have doubtless already learned, from the pages of the
daily newspaper press, that the exclusive right of taking photo¬
graphs of and in the building during the continuance of the
Exhibition has been purchased for a large sum by the London
Stereoscopic Company. It would not be discreet to name the
exact amount paid for the privileges conceded, but we may
mention that the sum of fifteen hundred guineas was paid down
on signing the contract : the total amount the Commissioners
will ultimately receive under the arrangement entered into
will certainly be upwards of three thousand pounds. For this
handsome sum several of the absurd restrictions proposed to be
insisted on, and to which we drew attention in a former article,
have been rescinded, and every reasonable concession has been
made by the Royal Commissioners, to the intent that the work
may be thoroughly and usefully performed.
Most extensive preparations have been made for photo¬
graphing the opening ceremonial, and the chief posts for the
execution of this important duty will be occupied by very able
and responsible officers of the Stereoscopic Company.
An erection fifteen feet high is, while wre are writing, in
course of construction immediately in front of the Portuguese
department, for the purpose of commanding a view of the throne
when all the exalted personages who will take the initiative part
in the impressive ceremony of the inauguration will be grouped
together, and the task of obtaining a permanent record of the
event will be entrusted to Mr. W. England, whose admirable
instantaneous views, which we have recently described, are
sufficient guarantee for his peculiar fitness for this very respon¬
sible post of honour. Of course he will be attended by an
appropriate staff of assistants.
On either side of the -western dome, where the address is to
be read, will be stationed Mr. W. Russell Sedgfield and another
photographic artist. The selection of Mr. Sedgfield to take a
prominent part in the task of securing a photographic repre¬
sentation of this imposing spectacle is a happy and appropriate
one.
Another “base of operations” somewhat further removed in
the nave will be situated so as to embrace the orchestra, and
give a coup d'ceil of the whole. This very important post
will also be occupied by a highly accomplished and artistic
photographer, Mr. Stephen Thompson, with whose photographic
works some of our readers are familiar, and wre may presume
that all are so with his literary productions, seeing that his corn
tributions appear in our eolumus. Mr, Thompson will likewise
be accompanied by his subordinates. From two other “posts
of observation,” one to the extreme right and the other to the
extreme left of the orchestra, a sort of cross fire will be main¬
tained in the reverse direction to those already indicated,
bearing upon the spectators of the scene, amongst whom we may
safely calculate upon a majority of ladies being included. It
will be the task of the operators occupying these positions — we
ought rather to have said the privilege — to secure a record of
such a collection of beauties as perhaps never before for abun¬
dance can have been equalled : there is probably no other
country in the world than our own where ladies form so large a
proportion of the attendants at any public ceremony, and cer¬
tainly none in which the sw'eet English faces can be surpassed.
Acting as a foil and in curious contrast to these will be the
Japanese Ambassadors, with their tawny complexions and
splendid costumes.
The first proofs from the various plates secured are to be
immediately fonvarded by express to Her Majesty at Balmoral.
Orders have already been received by the contractors from one
firm alone for no less than fifty thousand prints ; and we under¬
stand that any attempt at piracy will be stringently prosecuted,
The time of year is much in favour of photographic success,
the actinism being perhaps at its maximum during the month
of May. We sincerely trust that the weather will be propitious
for the occasion.
Having glanced at the active phase of photography in con¬
nexion with the Exhibition, let us now advert to its passive
existence there, which is far from presenting anything like so
satisfactory an aspect. Our readers are already aware that the
promised separate apartment has been reduced by one-half, but
probably few of them know that, in order to gain access thereto,
they will have to execute a feat about as fatiguing as going up
the Monument ; and that, having accomplished the perilous
ascent,” with its accompanying evolution of vital heat, they will
find due care has been given to secure them from taking cold,
the temperature of the room in which the photographic collec¬
tion will be displayed being, even in the middle of April, a trifle
under that of the calidarium in a Turkish bath. We may there¬
fore safely conclude that only a smaU per-centage of the visitors
to the Exhibition will see the specimens of English photography
at all ; while those of our foreign exhibitors, being displayed in
their respective departments, will be sure of being seen, if not
examined, by everyone. Truly this is a worthy ending to the
mismanagement of the whole affair from the commencement.
Before concluding, we may mention that the jurors selected
by the Royal Commissioners to adjudicate upon the merits of
the photographs exhibited are Lord Henry Lennox, Professor
Tyndall, Dr. Diamond, M.Claudet, and Mr. Thurston Thompson,
Photooraphic Soiree. — On Friday, the 25th ult., the annual
soiree of the Photographic Society was held in the large hall
at King’s College, London, at which a very numerous gathering
of members and visitors, including a considerable proportion of
162
[May 1, 1802
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
ladies, assisted. Prominent amongst the specimens displayed
for the entertainment of the company was a very large collection
of, or rather selection from, the works belonging to the Amateur
Photographic Association. In addition to the immense album
containing about eighteen hundred pictures, and a smaller
one with about two hundred, there was a large portfolio of
separately mounted specimens and several heaps of stereoscopic
slides ; and, to crown the whole, the slopes down both sides of
the long hall were more than half filled with separate mounted
specimens of the Association prints. There were of course
many other contributors, but each to a very much more mode¬
rate extent than that we have just noticed.
M. Claudet exhibited a goodly array of his elegant portraits,
both coloured and plain ; a few photographically enlarged, which
were very effective ; and two or three life-sized pictures, that
can only by a very extreme stretch of courtesy be considered
as connected with photography at all. These, if we are rightly
informed, were produced by projecting the enlarged image from
a small photographic negative upon a paper screen, sketching in
the outline by hand, and then filling in the details, &c., with
colour — also by hand.
Mr. Mayall contributed a number of whole-plate and extra¬
plate portraits of celebrities, executed in his usual happy
manner ; and these were additionally interesting from having
the names conspicuously appended to each one.
Mr. Williams contributed only a few specimens, but those few
were artistic gems. They included a finely-vignetted head of
the Earl of Tankerville, and an elaborately-coloured portrait of
Mrs. Windham.
Mr. Thurston Thompson’s reproductions from Turner’s pic¬
tures attracted much attention ; but we must candidly admit
this was in a great measure owing to the fact that a very
numerous proportion of the spectators could not at all make out
what they were intended to represent, and mystery notoriously
has its attractions. That the task of reproducing such works
as those of Turner in monochrome is a most difficult one
nobody would be likely to deny ; that Mr. Thompson has exe¬
cuted his part of the work as perfectly as the photographic art
would permit him to do, most people who understand the sub¬
ject will readily concede ; but that Turner’s pictures, photo¬
graphically rendered, are, to the general public, of much interest,
we could not now admit, had we previously entertained any
doubt upon the subject. As studies for artists they may be in¬
valuable ; but as pictures for the public they are almost valueless.
Mr. Stephen Thompson displayed some of his cabinet pic¬
tures in a convenient and novel manner — two being slid into
light leather frames, hinged together like the sides of a portfolio,
so that when closed the pictures faced one another. This allows
of their being conveniently examined in the hand without risk
of injury.
Messrs. Caldesi and Montecchi’s collection of illustrations of
antiquities, chiefly from the marbles in the British Museum,
taken on plates of large size, were much admired.
Mr. llockin exhibited a proof from an untouched heliogra¬
phic copperplate, being the representation of one of Albert
Durer’s works.
Mr. II. P. Robinson’s Lady of Shalott, and one or two other
of his compositions, attracted much attention.
Unfortunately many of the works had no names or descrip¬
tions appended, and consequently we are unable to indicate
many that we should otherwise have noticed. We recognised,
however, the works of Mr. Rej lander and Mr. Mudd amongst
them.
Messrs. Murray and Heath, Negretti and Zambra, and many
others, exhibited stereoscopes, with beautiful transparent slides;
Mr. Ross a complete set of panoramic camera and apparatus ;
Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite a very large collection of
apparatus and photographic chemicals, in addition to a table
filled with microscopes.
1 here was plenty of animated and interesting conversation.-
Amongst other scraps of information we gathered was one that
Mr. Bedford's tour in Egypt and Syria, in attendance upon the
Prince of Wales, is as satisfactory in a photographic point of view
as otherwise. He has already secured eighty interesting nega¬
tives, of which upwards of fifty are views on the banks of the
Nile. Mr. England showed us some very promising portraits of
stereoscopic size taken upon dry plates, with exposures
of ten and twelve seconds. The details were fully out,
and the half-tones everything that could be desired. Mr.
England is still continuing his experiments with a view to
competing for the prize offered by the Marseilles Photographic
Society for the best instantaneous process. And, now, time and
space warn us to conclude our remarks.
Photographic Copyright. — An idea has occurred to us that
may be of some use in case any accident should defeat the
measure of justice now under the consideration of the legis¬
lature, by which photographic copyright is proposed to be
secured in common with that of other works of art. It appears
to us that advantage may be taken of a law already in existence,
by which spurious copies of any photographic work may be
branded unmistakably with the merited stigma of piracy; and
though this may not altogether put a stop to the nefarious
practice now unhappily so common, it will, in all probability,
exercise a very wholesome restraint. The law to which we
allude is that which renders it illegal to employ a facsimile
or even a colourable imitation of a trade mark. Of course, if
photographs are not works of art, they are manufactured goods,
and as such would be privileged to protection by the addition
of a distinguishing trade mark. Now an appropriate trade
mark might be readily affixed to every copy issued, in the form
of an impressed stamp of the initials or monogram of the artist,
previously to the photograph being mounted ; and, as it is illegal
to copy a trade mark, few would be inclined to attempt to do
so, while the issue of an unmarked copy would at once betray
its spurious character.
OK PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY.*
By J. Bockett.
The term “ photo-micrography ” is used in contradistinction to
micro-photography — the latter process being that by which larger
images are greatly reduced, to be again magnified in the micro¬
scope : in the former, the minute objects themselves are enlarged
by means of the microscope’s objectives, and the enlarged image
thrown upon a sensitive collodion plate.
The uses to which this application of microscopical and photo¬
graphical science can be made available appear to be various. In
botany, woody fibre, ducts, cells, starch, are all capable of being
depicted. In physiology, muscular fibre, its markings ; blood, its
discs, nerve papillae, &c., are all to be delineated. I would here
particularly direct your attention to the structure of insects,
photographs of which under this process appear to give some of
the most pleasing and useful results. Another use to which this .
science can be applied is the furnishing the groundwork to the
draughtsman who, by dividing the enlarged photograph into
squares, can, by careful drawing, produce larger drawings thereof,
which must be free from any extraneous finish which, perhaps, is
sometimes used where drawings are taken direct through the instru¬
ment by means of the camera lucida, or neutral tint glass. Might
not copies of photographs so taken be passed round a class during
a lecture with more facility than having a series of microscopes
with several (all must be more or less different in their preparation)
of the same objects upon their several stages? Again, would not
such objects, if conveniently mounted, find a place in the several
carte de visite albums with which nearly everybody is now provided ?
At all events, the matter seems to have engaged at different times
the attention of several eminent scientific men, and the only
wonder is that, seeing such talent expended upon the subject,
photographs of enlarged microscopical objects are not more often
seen than at present is the case. Lately, in nearly every scientific
paper, some inquiry or reference is made to attempts or results ’
obtained ; and as there may be many among you here who are
possessed of instruments which they would like to use for the
* Read at a meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Ap*'il 16th, 1862.'
May.l, 186$].
THE .BRITISH JOURNAL 0 V P H 0 T 0 G R A P H Y.
[163
purpose, were they 'certain, that they could do so without injury, I
beg to submit the humble contrivance before you, which completely
answers the purpose, and leaves the microscope intact when the
operation is over.
I have great diffidence in meeting a society of gentlemen dis¬
tinguished for their position in photographic studies, such as the
North London Photographic Society is, and trust that you will
kindly look upon me as an individual wishful to obtain, as well as
to accord, any information. With your permission I will describe
the contrivance before you, and point out the why and the where¬
fore of several of its parts which have, during the last three or
four years, been added to or altered.
The instrument consists of — 1st, a deal plank or base-board,
about four feet long, upon which at one end is firmly and evenly
screwed an ordinary half-plate camera. The body of this camera
as it was originally constructed did not cause the disc which Avas
thrown upon the screen to appear large enough, and the difficulty
was obliged to be met by having an inner body made which fitted
the fore and after part of the old camera. At the back of the
base-board a piece of wood is screwed in which there is a slot,
through which the screw for securing the position of the camera
when drawn out is inserted. When this is tightened, all chance
of the focus (when once found) being lost is avoided. To the front
of the camera is affixed, by means of an ordinary adapter, a piece
of brass-tubing three inches in diameter, having one end filled in
with a disc of brass, in the centre of which is fitted a brass collar
carrying a piece of tube sprung similar to a telescope joint. We
now come to the focussing-screen, a proper material for which is
extremely necessary. The original ground-glass was far too
course, putty gave a very uneven surface, sensitised collodion was
too transparent, flatted glass too rough, and white opal flashed
glass too thick. So, at last, I ground myself a piece of glass with
emery sifted through two thicknesses of linen, and combined the
siftings with a portion of putty powder: this gave me a very fair
ground surface, and answers the purpose better than anything that
I have tried hitherto. In the sprung collar already alluded to is
adapted a tube which fits the inside of the body of the microscope
and is thrust through the collar. To the end so inserted into the
camera another piece of tube can be fitted which will, if necessary,
carry the eye-piece belonging to the instrument employed. I
would here remark that I have never been successful whilst
employing this e}'e-piece arrangement : of course the image is very
much amplified, but the loss of light is very great. At the other
end of the base-board three holes are cut to hold the feet of the
microscope, the body of which has already been brought into
exact juxta-position with the orifice in the large tube attached to
the camera. The feet are firmly secured by three large wooden
buttons. The objective best to use for all ordinary purposes, and
which should undoubtedly be employed, if the object be to produce
pictures for either of the purposes before pointed out, I find to be
the one-inch, and the manipulation therewith is not very difficult ;
but, as the chemical and visual rays do not coincide, care must be
taken to find how much farther away from the object the glass is
to be turned after a sharp picture is shown on the focussing-screen.
In practice I found it advisable always to take two pictures — one
focussed sharp for the top of the object, and the other focussed
sharp for the bottom thereof. Between these two extremes satis¬
faction is generally obtained. The magnifying glass I use for
focussing consists of a double convex glass, an inch and a-half
itj focus, fitted to a brass tube, and so adjusted as to be in exact
focus with the rough side of the screen. In the arrangement
before you the field that this instrument gives upon the focussing-
screen is small ; but I have preferred to have the whole of the
adjustments, both quick and slow, within reach, having intended to
take the pictures for inserting in albums, and having the idea that
further enlargement from the small negatives could be obtained
by meaus of an enlarging camera.
Although I have at present but very-few specrmeTrs ta lay-before'
you, my time being very limited — and in fact, the matter having
again taken hold of me from the extreme success that appears to
have welcomed Professor Eood, of America, and Mr. Parry, of
Manchester — I still hope to achieve during the forthcoming summer
better and more difficult subjects than those which I have done.
As you will see by the subjects before you I have selected those
of a peculiarly difficult colour to photograph, viz., a dark brown ;
such being, I think, the average colour of the chitine of insects and
many wood sections. As regards the exposure requisite for an
impression, I shall touch upon that when wre treat of the
manipulation.
In the apparatus just described, nothing is added to it
either for illumination or for centrilisation of the image after
it is magnified ; and, I am afraid, seeing the many improve¬
ments that appear to be made, and likely to be made, in that
direction, that I may be guilty of only going over very old
ground. I allude more particularly to Professor Rood’s
Apparatus, described in No. 153 of The British Journal of
Photography; to Mr. Parry’s (of Manchester) mention of a
a-plate lens for the reception of the image, in No. 160 of the
same periodical; and also to Professor Neyt’s efforts, lately
described, and which I do not thoroughly comprehend, and
other communications which have from time to time ap¬
peared in your Society’s Journal. Before, however, discussing
these matters I will, as briefly as possible, give the manipulation
adopted in my own case : —
1st. — The glass employed should always be patent plate.
2nd. — Cleaning same, for which purpose I always use old
collodion, which consists of a mixture of all sorts which have
become too old for use.
3rd.— -The collodion to be used should give a remarkably tough
film, one that will bear any amount of intensifying without, after
having obtained a good picture, finding that it splits across in
contracting, or dries off the plate. The best I have found to
answer is half Thomas’s ordinary negative with half Ponting’s,
and I would also add Mawson’s new iron negative collodion (this
latter being perhaps the best of any), all of which are used with
a slightly acid bath.
4th. — The developer, which is simply a fifteen grain to the
ounce solution of protosulphate of iron, together with fifteen
minims of acetic acid, and one ounce of water. If this does not
come up to the mark, intensify with pyrogallic acid and silver
solution before fixing them : fix in saturated solution of hypo.
Should the negative after this be not sufficiently dense, I employ
a solution of iodine in water, with sufficient iodide of potassium to
procure a solution of the iodine, and then pour on until the film is
changed to a greenish colour, again using the pyrogallic and
silver. Of course great promise must be given that the negative
is worth this outlay of time and patience, as in nearly every
instance it is possible to decide at once when the iron developer is
poured on.
I now arrive at a very essential part of the operation, viz., the
exposure; and I will frankly confess that the whole of those that I
have done have been by diffused daylight. The light from the
sun would, if brought to a correct focus or point upon the object,
very soon unsettle the balsam with which it is mounted ; and I
have always found that a piece of white card, slid in the groove
which carries the under stage plate, enabled me to arrange the
illumination of the object, and, at the same time, protect the lens
in use. Direct sunlight has the disadvantage of causing unneces¬
sary glitter, which is extremely difficult to manage, even if the
whole of the connecting tube is blackened ; and, although the
difficulty might be obviated by using black cloth to line the body
of the microscope, still some small portion must remain unprotected
to admit of a range for focussing by the rough adjustment.
I cannot reconcile the time of exposure given by the current
literature on this subject at all. In all the photographs of insect
structure and woody fibre before you the exposure -was from four
to five and some eight minutes, and some would have borne
another thirty seconds with advantage. Yellow, such as the
cricket’s tongue and palate of slug, appear to take just as long ;
but in the case of the Diatoms, taken with a quarter-inch objective
of 95° aperture, made by Anderson, the exposure was almost instan¬
taneous, the mere fact of raising the dark shutter and lowering it
again being sufficient.
Although I have repeatedly attempted it I have never got satis*
factory results with artificial light, although I have doue away
with the mirror and used two bull’s eyes for concentration. The
exposure I have tried has varied from ten minutes to thirty, and
164
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1862
although a picture has been formed, still nothing from which a
satisfactory print could be got has been obtained.
The lamp used is before you, which is of a somewhat novel
character, and is one which I have had constructed for my other
microscopical purposes.
I believe the great difficulty to be overcome appears to be the
difference between the visual and chemical focus; and although
when that difference is once ascertained, it is very possible to
keep a record of it, still more or less it appears to vary with every
object — the thickness of the object and its covering very pro¬
bably being the cause. Although this also appears to have been
combatted by means of employing a lens posterior to the objective,
I have not had any experience in its effect, and should be much
obliged by any gentleman stating the benefit of his own experience
with an objective so fitted.
I am well aware that it is almost hopeless to expect to secure
photographs that shall vie with the objects themselves as seen in
the microscope ; but still the desire to secure a representation of
such objects must, I am sure, be more or less implanted in the
mind of any gentleman given to microscopical pursuits.
Again, the extreme beauty of some of the objects prepared for
the microscope wmuld, I am certain, well fit them (as photographed)
to be used as a basis upon which designs might be made for
ornamentation or otherwise.
The doubts and uncertainties which from time to time arise, too,
in microscopical examination, might also perhaps be solved, could
we, as it were, commit them to paper. By the aid of photography
they would be open to discussion as viewed by everyone, and in
all probability the verdict of the many would, perhaps, ultimately
convince the few.
These ideas somewhat crowd upon me when we take into con¬
sideration the microscopical examination of those beautiful struc¬
tures the Diatomcicce. Some, no doubt, among you having spent
many a pleasant hour in bringing out the lines and depressions
exhibited upon nearly all of them. Of course the higher the
power used the more delicate becomes the operation of finding the
focus, as in the higher powers that point must be in a very circum¬
scribed space. Still, for obtaining the ultimate resolution of the
structure of any object, it would be necessary to push the magni¬
fying power.
I am afraid that in the arrangement before you there is little
that is new — the one novelty only being that it keeps the micro¬
scope intact, and that the object can quickly be found and focussed.
Neither am I in a position to say what is the effect as regards the
lengthened exposure when polarised light is used, or whether
dark ground illumination exercises a retarding effect upon the
sensitised film. These are queries upon which I should gladly
hear the opinion of some other more able operator; and if my
statement shall in any way have contributed to wile away half-an-
hour, and be the means of causing any suggestions towards the
manipulation or use of the microscope to be brought forward, I
shall be glad. With these concluding remarks, I beg you will
accept my thanks for your patient hearing of what I fear to many
must indeed be old news.
ON THE EXPENDITURE OP SILVER USED IN PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC OPERATIONS, AND ON THE SAVING THAT
MAY BE EFFECTED*
By William Tudor Mabley.
In’ the early days of photography but little was thought of the
expenditure of salts of silver: we were only too happy if we
gained satisfactory results, irrespective of expense. As the art
advanced it was observed that but a very small portion of the
silver employed entered into the composition of the picture ; and
those who practised it largely began to turn their attention to the
saving of that which had been allowed to flow away from the sink.
A.t presect professional photographers, for the most part, econo¬
mise their expenditure of silver solutions, but the great bulk of
those who practise the art as amateurs do to this day throw away
a considerable quantity, which may be easily saved : there are
indeed some among professional photographers who still do so.
1 ho purpose of my observations this evening will be to show
what quantity of nitrate of silver is taken up by floating paper for
printing purposes, how much of that quantity may be recovered,
and what savings may be effected from other sources of waste.
It has been assorted that only five per cent, of the silver
employed in sensitising paper goes to form«the picture. This. may
bo; but what I propose now to do is to state the amount that can,
* Read at a meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, April 2nd, 1852.
in ordinary manipulation, be recovered with very little trouble, and
without any great aptitude for chemical operations. It must bo
understood, therefore, that larger quantities than those I shall
mention may be obtained if the processes be followed out with
chemical accuracy. I may state that the results I 6hall bring
before you are reliable, they having been arrived at by working
with considerable quantities, and having been verified by repeti¬
tions.
To carry out the first point — viz., the expenditure of silver — I
floated fifteen whole sheets of paper ; and this I did the one after
the other, so as to avoid any error which would arise from allow¬
ing the solution to remain any length of time in the dish, or from
the pouring of it backward and forward. These fifteen sheets
were floated upon a bath of nitrate of silver, containing fifty-six
ounces, at seventy grains to the ounce. Immediately this was
done the solution was again measured, and was found to have lost
seven and a-half ounces ; but, at the same time, it had decreased
in strength down to sixty-two grains to the ounce. The original
bath, therefore, contained 3920 grains of nitrate of silver, and the
bath, after the floating of the paper, 3007 grains — showing a
diminution of 913 grains, and an appropriation by each sheet of
sixty grains, or one drachm, which, with nitrate of silver at four
shillings the ounce, is just sixpence in money value. It must,
however, be remarked that the result will somewhat vary accord¬
ingly as the paper has more or less albumen, more or less chloride,
or is thick or thin. The paper that I used was of an average
quality of albumenised paper, and the result may fairly be taken
as an example.
I now proceed to state how much of this may be recovered.
The first thing is to save the drippings. The most convenient
method of doing this, to my mind, is to suspend the paper from a
cord, which is placed in an inclined direction over a board, or any¬
thing that will carry a cup to receive the drippings : the remaining
moisture may be drawn off by a piece of bibulous paper. In this*
manner I saved from the fifteen sheets of paper one and a-half
ounce of solution, containing eighty grains of nitrate of silver.
The next point is the recovery from the washing of the prints
before toning. This operation of freeing the prints from nitrate
of silver is not so easily accomplished as might be expected. It
adheres to the paper very strongly, and the bulk of it can only be
removed by at least three changes of water. The prints should
soak in the first water for fifteen minutes, and be afterwards moved
about : the operation is greatly expedited if hot water be at hand.
Prints washed in this manner gave for the fifteen sheets of paper
a solution which yielded 350 grains of chloride of silver. .
I now come to the hyposulphite fixing bath, which is thrown
away more frequently than the water used for washing prints.
This, for the fifteen sheets of paper upon which landscapes had
been printed, yielded 180 grains of metallic silver. The methods
adopted for precipitating silver from the washings and fixing baths
are to be found in all books on photography. I may, however,
mention that it will be found desirable to keep two stock jars — one
for the washings, and one for the fixing baths. From the former
of these chloride of silver may be precipitated by the addition of
common salt ; but such a proceeding cannot be adopted in the
latter, as chloride of silver is soluble in hyposulphite of soda.
Another course must, therefore, be adopted, and the most simple
is to add sulphide of potassium, and thus precipitate the silver
as a sulphuret.
My reason for recommending the use of two jars is, that when
chloride of silver can be precipitated, it is of a known value ; the
sulphuret, however, arising from the use of sulphide of potassium
is a variable compound, and the quantity of silver it contains can
only be ascertained by trial. Sulphide of potassium has, however,
a ver}’’ disagreeable odour, and the operation should, therefore, be
conducted out of doors. There are other methods which do. not
involve this inconvenience, and for which I refer to Hardwich’s
Photographic Chemistry , &c. ; but the plan I have mentioned is
the most simple, as the precipitation may be done in the old way,
and may be continuous.
If an excess of chloride in the one case, and sulphide in the other,
be kept in the jars, the operation goes on, and it is easily ascertained
whether they he exhausted, by removing a small portion of the
clear liquid, and testing it with a fresh solution of chloride or sul¬
phide. As the latter substance, however, is sometimes slow to
act in the case of weak solutions, a small quantity of sulphuretted
hydrogen gas may be used ; but a better method is one which I
have adopted at the suggestion of Mr. Caro, an ingenious chemist
in the establishment of Messrs. Roberts and Dale. It is simply
this : — Take a test tube, and partly fill it with some of the clear
May 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
165
1 solution ; in tins place a small quantity of caustic soda, so as to
make the solution caustic, drop in a fragment of grape sugar, and
heat the whole over a spirit lamp or gas-hurner: if there be a
trace of silver present it is immediately precipitated in the metallic
| state.* This method is indeed the best that can be adopted for
i dealing with the bulk of the solution, if the trouble of heating it be
not regarded.
So far the savings treated of have reference to the printing pro¬
cess; but there are other sources of loss to the photographer. For
[ instance, it is a common practice to wash out vessels which have
I contained nitrate of silver at the sink. I find that a dish for float-
I ing a whole sheet of paper, and which is 24 inches by 20, retains
upon its surface a quantity of solution, at sixty grains to the ounce,
which after close draining yields 25 grains of chloride of silver ; and
when we consider how often this operation of washing dishes,
measures, bottles, and other utensils takes place, it will be seen
that a great loss is sustained.
Again : it is a very common practice to throw away filter papers.
I find that such a piece as this, and which is 8 inches in diameter,
retains 15 grains of nitrate of silver, the solution used being 60
grains to the ounce.
In preparing dry plates, which have to be washed after leaving
the silver bath, there is much to be saved. In washing a series
which gave a combined area on one side of 480 inches, and which
were sensitised in a 30-grain bath, the washings afforded 35 grains
of chloride of silver.
There is also a continual waste by spilling solutions, and these
may be recovered simply by keeping blotting-paper at hand to
absorb the fluid.
In developing collodio-albumeu plates a large quantity of silver
is often required to get up the intensity, and a very small quantity
of this goes to the picture: as it is renewed when it becomes dirty
a great sacrifice is made. This refuse may be added to the stock
jar containing the hypo, baths.
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL BEAUTY AND
THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITIONS
By W. H. Davies.
Part II.
Our next analysis is of a much more complex, although appa¬
rently more simple, character of picture, and, being one which
shows the iitventive power of the artist, deserves our careful
consideration. Observe that it was Titian’s business to make
portraits of the Marquis de Guasto and Ms Wife , Mary of Array on.
And here we see the boldness of genius; for, instead of two
plain, uninteresting figures, he has made of so simple a subject a
* Mr. Mabley illustrated this experiment.
+ Concluded from page 149.
picture in which we can take great pleasure without a thought
that they are merely portraits. The skilful introduction of the
Goddess of Beauty and her son is made symbolical of the loves of
the principals in the composition; and, as if he felt that they would
otherwise have had no purpose in being where he has placed them,
he has introduced the servant bearing a basket of fruit, suggesting
refreshment — the introduction of which balances the figure of the
lady, and prevents the composition from being one-sided.
I need hardly point to the varied turns and positions of the
heads, as they explain themselves ; but note the easy way in which
the almost photographic closeness of position is managed. Were
you to place any five figures so , there would be no difficulty in
focussing the whole of the heads.
It is a specimen of a totally different form of composition from
that of the Home , being a good example of the circular, and one
which we will find valuable as a study for our purpose. Although
I call it circular, it is by no means rigidly so, although the lino
of the heads, which we must take in this example as our leading
line, suggests circularity most decidedly : it may more properly be
called the elliptical, as the circle is in perspective. Although the
mass of the lines are of a flowing, graceful character, yet Titian
knew too well that there must be contrast ; and accordingly he
attains that by placing a perpendicular line near the centre of the
picture, which by its very rigidity makes the upright mailed figure
of the Marquis appear comparatively graceful. As a contrast to
these perpendiculars, you will observe the horizontal line formed
by the arm of the lady, and continued across the picture by the
straight bundle of rods or arrows which the Cupid carries on his
shoulder, and which serves as a basis or support to the whole com¬
position. Although this suggests the horizontal, notice how care¬
fully the artist has broken the line in various parts to prevent its
being obtrusive or objectionable — first by the boy’s head, then his
hand ; then again by the sphere, the lady’s hand, and the curved
line of her arm ; then by the drapery which leads by the shoulder
to her head, which forms the second point on this line, and brings
us directly to the strongly-pronounced and masculine head of the
Marquis. From this point the line divides the outermost, catch¬
ing the basket of fruit and the head of the bearer of it, and sweeps
inward by the graceful little Cupid in the foreground, returning to
the globe from which we started. You will observe that I have
not spoken of the head of Yenus, but would now instance this as an
example of the scientific knowledge of Titian in bringing her within
the circle, and apparently breaking it, but in reality creating an¬
other within the outer — thus getting the needed repetition of the
circular line on that side of the picture. Note how skilfully too
he has avoided bringing any of the heads immediately under the
other, thus giving the appearance of accidental combination to
what is in reality the result of the most masterly, scientific con¬
trivance.
We will turn now to the Marriage of St. Catherine , by Albauo,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
lofi
[May 1, 1802
a picture of eight figures, which is likewise a circular compositions
and a much plainer example of it. The circularity of the basis of
the picture will be at once apparent.^ Starting from the figure of
the Pope on the right, the composition sweeps inwards and out¬
wards to the Virgin and infant Jesus, where it again returns by
the St. Catherine to the figure of St. John, who most exactly
balances the kneeling Pope, and whose hand serves as an index to
direct us at first sight to the point of interest of the picture, thus
fulfilling the requisite I have already insisted on of the desirability
of leading the eye at once to the principal object in the picture.
The figure of the Pope would have a strong tendency to fall out
of the composition did not the rigidly upright line of the pillar at
his back at once prevent this. As we found in Noel Paton’s Home
the line of the floor carried right across the picture by the tongs and
other horizontals, so here we find the foreground horizontal lilies
repeated similarly by the cushion on which the Pope kneels, balanced
by the legs of the kneeling St. John, the lines of the steps, and higher-
up by the moulding on the architecture, finishing with the palm
branch in the hand of the floating angel. The perpendiculars are not
carried across the picture, but the balance is got by the mass of
foliage on the left and supported by the cross of St. John — thus
illustrating another of our principles, viz., that mass rather than
form should produce the necessary balance— although this is not
carried out through the picture. The figures of the St. John and
Pope being both oblique and outwards in inclination are almost
equally balanced — and at first sight the cross might seem to follow
this inclination too rigidly 5 but a moment’s investigation will
convince that if it had been placed on the opposite angle*
bringing it cutting against the principal figure, it would have
been very objectionable. This picture in the figure portion may
be looked on'as an example of the principle of balance carried out
almost to formality, and which is yet picturesque by the skilful
breaking of the lines of the composition. Floating boys, of course,
would be difficult to be got as objects in a photographic group ; but
their absencejn the composition would not spoil it for our use as a
guide.
Ihe next and last ot our etchings from the Scottish National Gal¬
lery is that of John Knox Administering the Sacrament at Colder House,
the last work
from the hand
of our immor¬
tal country¬
man, Sir D.
Wilkie, and
of which hit-
lamented and
untimely de¬
cease preven¬
ted the com¬
pletion. How¬
ever much we
may regret
the loss to the
world of what
promised to
be the artist’s
chef d' ivume,
for our pre¬
sent purpose
it is better
that it is left
so, as we are
thus enabled
to see the ac¬
tual ground¬
work of lines
drawn by the
artist on his
canvas, and
on which he
has placed his
figures and built his composition. We find in the first place that,
like Leonardi da A inci, injiis Last Supper , he has divided his pic¬
ture by a central perpendicular line, on which he has placed his
principal figure, Knox, and that he has also divided it horizontally
into four equal parts by lines. The upper line of the table is
brought slightly below the central horizontal line, and the heads of
,nox ant Ike standing figures in the picture are near the one
a >ovr , but observe here that he only uses this line to give what
ma\ paradoxically call a varied uniformity ub no two of the
heads are exactly the same height, or occupy precisely the
same position in relation to each other, which is (broadly
stated) the fundamental principle of all picturesque composition.
Mark, while looking at the picture, that the heads of the
standing figures, with the book and tray on the left of Knox,
make an agreeably varied concave curve ; while those to his
right form another but different form of the same curve, till it
reaches the highest figure of that group, where it changes to a
convex. Knox’s head is purposely left isolated to give it import¬
ance, while the rest of the figures are grouped in twos and threes.
This is a very important feature in this picture. As noticed
in the others, all the objects and figures have an inward tend¬
ency in the direction of the Central idea of the composition
and point of interest of the picture. As a proof of this,
try the reversal in idea of one of the foreground pictures,
and place him with his feet outwards, and you will at once
discover the incompleteness of the composition. The long un¬
interesting line of table has been skilfully broken and hid by the
figures and objects which come on and in front of it, and which
prevent it in any place becoming disagreeable. Starting from the
right-hand figure, the feet of the foreground figures make an
irregular semicircle, leaving the space in the centre only open,
which leads the eye directly up to the commanding figure of Knox.
It may be urged that it would be impossible to group and focus
correctly such a number of figures, and in so many planes, which
may be partly granted ; but still I can show you as difficult feats
of focussing by using orthoscopic and single combinations with
sensitive chemicals instead of the ordinary portrait lens. Would it
not be better, then, that where groups of scholars, church sessions,
municipal bodies, and such-like pictures are wanted, that there
was at least the attempt to group them picturesquely instead of
in the usual regimental rows we are accustomed to see. Surely
that were “a consummation devoutly to be wished for.”
I have thus indicated what seem to me to be the chief points
necessary to be observed and acted on in the composition of pic¬
tures, whether produced by the chemicals and work of the painter
(for all colours are chemicals, and several of them produced by the
highest development of the science) or by the chemicals and work
of the photo¬
grapher. I
know that
irtists proper
object to
this classifi¬
cation ; but
the time has
rived for in¬
sisting on it,
especially a3
we see those
in power put¬
ting our work-
quietly down
g that of
echanics
nd machi-
ery. If the
same rules of
arrangement
apply to the
two arts in
mostly every
case, with the
single excep¬
tion of colour,
where can be
the great dif-
erence be¬
tween them?
But I expect
no concession
on tins matter that we do not conquer ; and it rests with you to
prove, by the application of the laws I have indicated, that we
mean to compel recognition of our claims by the sheer force
of quality, and by showing that in a newer, fresher, and, in some
respects, better field, our art is as well fitted to teach through
the eye as is that of our brethren who have so long held that
monopoly. Remember that there was a time in the history of
painting when its professors neither enjoyed their present amount
of reputation nor had they done so much to deserve it; for
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
I6T
May 1, 1862]
painters have had to grope their way through the long, lanky
saints and disjointed apostles of the Byzantine and Greek artists
of the earlier centuries, up to the advent of Cimabue and Giotto,
and improving through their disciples up to Brunelleschi, Ghi¬
berti, Mantegna, Massaccio, Perugino, and culminating in Leonardi
da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Raffaeile, Domenichino, and Titian.
Surely this ought to afford us good grounds of hope, for our art
has hardly taken more years to grow to what we know it to be
than painting has taken centuries. Looked at in this light, it seems
to have been, like Minerva, born full-grown, armed, and equipped.
Let me hope that we will adopt her spirit of wisdom, and go on till
we reach perfection,
THE SELF-EEGULATING PNEUMATIC FILTERER.*
By J. Jex Long.
In all our operations there arc three great and material points
that demand our special attention and calculation, viz., simplicity,
economy, and certainty.
In the arrangement of the apparatus lam about to exhibit to you
I have endeavoured to combine all three. IIow far I have suc¬
ceeded I leave to your able judgment.
1st. The management requires so little skill that the most
inexperienced tyro will find no difficulty in using it.
2nd. It involves no additional expenditure, as every manipulating
room already contains the necessary vessels, &c.
3rd. When once set agoing it needs no further attention, but
continues its action with the greatest regularity and certainty, no
matter how long the operation may require for its completion.
It has also another great recommendation, as almost an unlimited
quantity may be filtered through a small surface of the filter. As
air is the regulating power, I have named it the “ Self-regulating
Pneumatic Filterer.”
It is a well-known fact that liquids will not flow from a vessel
except air is admitted to fill up the vacancy ; for, if you take a bottle
filled with Avater, and invert it, the Avater does not run from it in a
continuous stream as through a funnel, as the air exerts an upAvard
pressure, thereby preventing the liquid from falling ; but the Aveight
of the column of Avater forms a partial vacuum at the upper part of
the bottle, a bubble of air is drawn up through the Avater, and in
consequence a like quantity of Avater Aoavs from the bottle, and so
on in succession.
Taking advantage of these facts, I place the liquid to be filtered
into a common stoppered jar or other vessel having a smooth cir¬
cular rim, as shown in fig. 4, A a (which forms a part of the decant-
ing apparatus to which I shall presently allude), and proceed to fold
a plain filter of sufficient size to extend about half-au-inch over the
•Jtead at ft meeting of the City of Glasgow and AVest of Scotland rhotograpliic Association.
April 10, 1S62.
rim of the jar A. The outer fold of the paper I double several
times (as seen at B b,fig. 2), and place it into the funnel C. I then
invert C Avitli the filter B over the rim of A (as seen in fig. 1),
holding it Avith the left hand, and, by the assistance of the right,
steadily but quickly invert the Avhole ov&r the vessel D to receive
the filtrate, supporting A by the ring of a retort-stand, as shoAvn
in fig. 3. Bubbles at once begin to ascend through the liquid in
A as the liquid descends through the filter into D, the air forcing
its Avay through the space betAveen the funnel and the rim of the
jar A, formed by the several folds in the paper filter, as shown at
¥>b,fig. 2. It Avill tioav continue its action Avithout any further
attention Avhatever.
The saving effected in filtering silver and gold solutions by this
method Avill be apparent to you all, as the surface of a crown piece
Avill suffice to filter any quantity.
When the precipitate is bulky, it Avould be better to alloAv it to
subside, and decant the solution. Fig. 4 sIioavs a simple method
and apparatus. The long end of the tube H is draAvn out a little
smaller and bent up at the point : this prevents the current from
disturbing the precipitate.
Place the vessel E in a raised position, so that the longest tube
in A stands below the end of the tube II. Apply suction at F : the
liquid Avill pass over from E to A, on the principle of the syphon,
until the liquid in E falls to the point of tube H. The liquid in A
can then be filtered, as before described, Avith facility.
THE NEW PICTURE GALLERIES.
By A. Claudf.t, F.R.S.
[We have been favoured by M. Claudet Avith the following
pertinent reply to an impertinent and, Ave must add, ignorant,
attack upon our art, Avhicli Avas transferred to the pages of the
Journal of the Photographic Society. — Ed.]
The Journal of the Photographic Society has inserted in its No. 118
(Feb. 15), an article from the London Review , in Avhicb, alluding to
the rage for photographic cartes de visite, a Avriter has draAvn a
sarcastic description of these “ New Picture Galleries,” Avith the
apparent intention of turning generally into ridicule the mode of
producing portraits by means of photography.
Although, by printing this article Avithout comment, the Photo¬
graphic Journal has shoAvn that the art can Avitness such attacks
Avith the greatest indifference, I had hoped that in the folloAving
number of the Journal some member of the Photographic Society
Avould have replied to it; but as that has not been done, I desire
to express the indignation I feel at the unqualified aspersions of the
critic in question.
If the Avriter of the article on “ The Picture Galleries” had been
content to criticise the unsuccessful attempts of inapt practitioners,
he might have found ample ground for exercising his Avit, and
Avould have been perfectly justified in endeavouring to deter in¬
capacity from meddling with photography. In doing so he might
have rendered a signal service to the art. But he has generalised
his remarks, striking, not the failures, but the art itself and its
principles, accusing it of all the miserable productions of those
avIio are incapable of understanding it; and he has arrived at this
strange aud absurd conclusion, that no true likeness can be taken in
this .way.
Does this conclusion agree Avith the remarkable fact that every
one has his likeness taken by photography in preference to any
other process? For, notAvithstanding its supposed defects, it is
the surest Avay to obtain likenesses perfectly true and character¬
istic, and in this respect more satisfactory than those which are
embellished by the portrait-painter, Avhich, according to our critic,
are “ the residt of study and generalisation, qualities lacking in an
Ordinary pihotograpli."
Still, there is a class of persons who iustinctiA'ely hate photo¬
graphy as heartily as socialists hate aristocracy — those AA'hose
features are either common, ugly, or unmeaning, and those of both
sexes avIio recollect, naturally not AAlthout regret, the time wdien
they did not wear a Avig or dye their hair. We may Avell imagine
Avhat their feelings are when they look at themselves in their
toilet-glass ; and, surely, if these fragile manufactures Avere a new
invention, they Avould be likely to receive more destructive bloAvs
than praises for their catoptrical performances. It is, indeed, for
this numerous class that portrait-painting is more true than photo¬
graphy, and that photographic likenesses are nothing but caricatures.
If so many have obvious reasons for being dissatisfied Avith
their lot in the dispensation of the graces of nature, it is not
surprising that they should generally complain of their appearance
in a carte de visite.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1862
168
We find that our photograph Is ugly, therefore we have been
disfigured by the artist, or rather by his camera. To convince
ourselves that it must be so, we look at the likenesses of our
friends; and as we have a great number of friends who, like our¬
selves, ’are exceedingly plain, we exclaim, in delight, “ Oh ! it’s no
use to deny it, photography can only produce caricatures !" Of
course, if we have been ill-treated, it is the fate of every one and
the fault of photography. Decidedly this art is detestable : let us
turn it into ridicule !
Our task will be very easy. We have only to stop at certain
shops in Regent-street, where are exhibited for sale the most
heterogeneous assemblage of cartes cle visile of emperors and em¬
presses, kings and queens, princes and princesses, the Pope and
his cardinals, bishops, generals, ambassadors, ministers, _ orators,
philosophers, preachers, actors, dancers, acrobats, pugilists, and
o-orillas all in a row of perfect egalite , fraternite. Are not the
Greater’ number of them miserable specimens of photography,
printed in a horrid gingerbread tint, 11 some out of focus , the gener¬
ality ladly posed , and standing or sitting in the centre of perfect chaos.
Panels of w alls, doors , jars of conservatory flowers , tables, and other
articles of furniture, lean, roll, and tumble about the apartment, as if
spirit-rapping teas going on, in every position out of the perpendicular.
The central figure may be in focus and straight; but even if she escape
icith no distortion, such as a monster hand or foot, or a cheelc that seems
afflicted with the mumps, all her entourage is reeling about her , as if
she had been taken in the saloon of the big ship during the great storm."
I suppose that this lively and most picturesque description is
perfectly correct, and I have no doubt that the critic of the London
Review has seen such hideous photographs, and has not exaggerated
their defects for the mere pleasure of appearing witty ; but what
has all that to do with photography? Is it absolutely necessary
or unavoidable that the camera should produce pictures distorted
and out of focus ; that the persons should be badly posed, and standing
or sitting in the centre of the perfect chaos, and surrounded with pieces
of furniture, leaning, rolling, and tumbling about the apartment, &c. ?
If these defects are the result of bad instruments, and of the
ignorance and stupid management of clumsy photographers, it is
perfectly ridiculous to accuse the art of being their cause. Never¬
theless such a theme has been thought a subject fit for a serious
paper, and an intelligent man has not found it an un genial task to
disparage an art so beautiful and so perfect as photography for
the poor satisfaction of running down what is generally admired.
At all events, it was unworthy of the London Review to have per¬
mitted the publication of such diatribes against the greatest feat
of modern philosophy and ingenuity, and one of the most marvel¬
lous discoveries of our age.
In stopping before the shops exhibiting photographic cartes de
visite, you have seen nothing but caricatures. Be it so. But is it
owing to the ugliness of the photographs, or to the ugliness of
the persons represented ? It may be either, or it may be both ;
but, whatever it is, that has nothing to do with photography.
If, after a walk along Regent Street, you had chosen to describe
the strange diversity of the perambulating multitude, would you
have found much to say in praise of the refined expression of
countenance of every one you had met — of the beauty of form of
every individual, male and female — of the distinction of their
bearing, the elegance of their manners, and the taste of their
dress? I rather think that you would have returned home very
little charmed with your physiological study.
Among those who had passed before your eyes, judging only
from their external appearance, might you not perchance have
mistaken a nobleman for a farmer, a legislator for a publican, a
bishop for a schoolmaster, a clergyman for a waiter, a Russian
prince for a commercial traveller, a banker for a tea-dealer, an
eminent writer for a toast-master? But if, instead of the reality,
you had seen only the photographs of these persons, with their
distinguished names written at the foot of their carles de visite,
would you not exclaim, “ Oh ! these cannot but be caricatures! it
is just what might be expected from photography?”
In plain truth, photography caricatures because it represents
too faithfully the individuality, and because too many individu¬
alities are nothing but caricatures of mankind. No doubt a
clever painter might be able to represent the same individuals
in such a manner that they would all appear gifted with the mien
appropriate to their mind, rank, and station : the nobleman aristo¬
cratic in his bearing-r-the legislator exhibiting the inind of a
Solon — the bishop venerable and dignified — the clergyman evan¬
gelical and modest — the Russian prince noble and elegant — the
banker important and grand — the writer full of thought and
inspiration.
Photography represents people as they are, and painting as
they ought to be, or as they would like to be. The last may be
more agreeable to the persons represented; but the first is more
satisfactory to those who want the truth, and do not care for the
fiction of poetical treatment. In description there is nothing like
good, plain, and intelligible prose. For truth there is nothing like
a mirror. And is there anything more resembling a mirror than
the camera of the photographer?
Ask a mother whose son is travelling in distant lands and seas,
which likeness she prefers — the carte de visite, or the painted por¬
trait of her dear boy ? She may be proud of the latter in its
splendid frame, and in showing it to her friends she may exclaim,
“ Don’t he look handsome ! What an agreeable and distinguished
expression !” But depend upon it, when alone, that mother, with
tears in her eyes, will be thinking of her son : she will look for him,
not on the wall of the drawing-room, but in that elegantly -bound
album containing some thirty or forty “ so-called likenesses," and, in her
case, very justly so called, for among them she finds the real and
truthful image of her absent son. With what rapture at the end
of twelve months will she open a letter from the young man con¬
taining another carte de visite taken at Calcutta, Hong-Kong, or
New Westminster, showing him with a grown beard, in his new
garb adapted to the country, looking full of health and spirits !
Imagine, on the other hand, the pleasure of the son when, in re¬
turn, his beloved mother has enclosed him in a letter her own
carte de visite, and, perhaps, that of an equally dear sister. I
can guess what will be the first and irresistible impulse of his
heart : in transport he will press these precious cartes de visite to
his lips ! And thou, cold sarcastic critic, hast no other name for
photography than “ caricature !” Mais vous n'etes done qu'un bar-
bare!
Have you ever understood what is photography ? Have you
studied the beautiful and unerring principles upon which it is
based ? If you had, the most imperfect photographic production
would be a source of admiration to you. The great Newton him¬
self would have been in ectasy had he the good fortune to witness
such an unexpected result of some magic property unknown to
him of that light he had pi-ofoundly investigated daring his life,
and the principles of which he had so successfully unfolded.
We see the forms of all the works of creation by the light they
reflect. The rays being refracted through a lens that nature has
placed in front of that wonderful instrument called the eye, form
on the delicate membrane of the retina the image of all external
objects. The eye in reality is a camera obscura, and photography
is nothing else. The only difference between the two is, that in the
eye each separate ray communicates on the retina the particular
colour belonging to it, while in the photographic camera only one
ray, called the actinic, can act upon the photographic surface : con¬
sequently the retinal image has all the colours of nature; and the
photographic image has no colour, being only like a mezzotint en¬
graving. In every other respect the result is the same — the forms,
proportion, and perspective in the camera being as perfect as those
depicted on the retina.
Now, the science of optics teaches us how to construct lenses
producing an image as perfect as that formed by the lens of the
eye. If so, why should a photographic picture be distorted more
than a natural one? Therefore, let the photographer produce a
perfect lens; and if he knows how to use it, he will produce a repre¬
sentation of objects in their exact forms. With such a lens, and
operating upon a very highly sensitive preparation, he will be able
to take a portrait in a few seconds, and, in truth, even instanta¬
neously, catching the fleeting expression of the moment. There¬
fore, if he has the skill and taste to light his model artistically, to
place it in a natural and becoming position, waiting only for a
suitable and pleasing expression of the countenance, he will pro¬
duce, not a caricature, but the most satisfactory portrait, and by
careful management, I have no hesitation in asserting, a flattered
likeness of every one.
Notwithstanding the remarks of our critic, the features of women
can be photographed as successfully as those of men. Of course,
in bad photographs out of focus and improperly lighted, the
strongly marked and hard outlines of men may, without losing all
their character, bear a greater amount of defects than the delicate
forms of youth and gracefulness. But the apparatus, chemical mani¬
pulation, and artistic arrangement which are capable of producing
a perfect photograph of men will do ample justice to the most
refined and beautiful features which may grace the other sex. In
fact, photography, which can represent the cylindrical curve of a
marble column, or the roundness of an ivory ball, only by means of
an almost imperceptible gradation of tint, can also by the same
May 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
means delineate the softness of youth and grace with a perfection
which no painter is able to approach by the most delicate touches
of his brush.
We have to consider photography as any other art — in its capa¬
bilities of perfection, and not as the performance of those who do
not understand it. Would it not be the height of absurdity to con¬
demn music because all the day long we hear shrieking songs and
the horrid whistling of ragamuffins, as to condemn photography
because at every corner we see disgusting photographs ? Music
out of tune is as intolerable as photographs out of focus. But we
must submit to the annoyance to which we are exposed not only
in our walks, but in the drawing-room, where, after having been
treated with the sight of the elegantly-bound album of cartes de
visits , we are invited to listen in silence to the screaming song of
the young lady of the house with an accompaniment on her piano
out of tune. If so many desire to be musicians, why not so many
desire to be photographers, when to be so they have only to buy
an instrument?
If we wish to hear good music, we go to the opera and the con¬
cert-room ; and if we want to have and to see good photographs,
let us go to some respectable gallery, and not to the “ dusky abode”
of some miserable charlatan. Probably there are in London pho¬
tographic establishments fit to receive good company, where the
art is practised with skill and taste, and where correct and pleasing
portraits are exhibited.
Our critic has adopted another course, if we may judge from the
following description he has given of his photographic trip : —
“ Which of us is so fortunate as not to he able to recall sufferings in the
inferno of some eminent photographer? — to recollect how, while ivaiting
our turn to pass into the dusky abodes beyond , we surveyed , in all the
misery of protracted anticipation , the shadoivy forms of those who had
before passed under the operation , searching , like bereaved relatives in a
Morgue , for the disfigured appearance of a friend. ”
Certainly the writer must be pitied; but has he not richly de¬
served his fate, if, wishing to have his portrait enshrined in his
friend’s album, he has selected for the operation such a strange
place as the inferno of a photographer?
How can we explain his bad fortune, except by supposing that,
having only the Sunday for leisure time, he has been obliged to
choose, among the numerous suburban anti-sabbatarian “artists,”
an eminent photographer of Wapping to portray his features by his
painful process, and while waiting for his turn in his dusky abode, he
has seen the portraits of some fair creatures as vulgar as cloivns at
Bartlemy Fair ? — almost all having a cast in the eye, others having an
unmeaning grin, or a silly smile, or a surly frown ; one of the young
ladies looking saucy, another melancholy , and another having that dan¬
gerous look that Petruchio himself would not dare to marry her.
Perhaps, after all, if the critic has got a bad photograph, he has
been a most fortunate man, and may be congratulated about his
Sunday photographic trip. I am sure he did not leave his heart in
the dusky abode of Wapping in looking at the portraits of the fair
creatures exhibited in the “saloon” of the artist. At the same
time, wishing a lucky chance to all “fair creatures,” we warn them,
if they wish to be married, never to risk themselves in any dusky
abode, or to visit the inferno of the eminent photographer in which
our critic had to endure such dreadful sufferings.
ON A NEW “PINE ADJUSTMENT” MOTION APPLIED
TO COMMON RIGID CAMERAS.*
By M. Noton.
Cameras constructed on the Kinnear principle have an advantage
over the ordinary ones, in a great facility for focussing, by means
of their long screw.
This disadvantage of the common rigid camera I have now
neutralised by the simple contrivance Avhich I this evening lay
before the Society.
With lenses of 16-inch focus, and upwards, attached to a com¬
mon camera, the adjustment is often troublesome and uncertain,
generally requiring both hands to move the sliding end carrying
the ground-glass : the binding-screw being then slack there is a
risk of a slip, and, if not detected, a picture not sharp.
The “fine adjustment” motion at once releases one hand
entirely, which, with those who use a magnifying glass, is a con¬
siderable advantage. Then, having once arrived at the adjust¬
ment of the focus, the certainty of its remaining so is satisfactory.
This motion applied to all cameras would make the rack and
pinion in portrait lenses not wanted. They could thus be much
simplified, reduced in weight, made more compact, and at less cost.
* Read at a meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, April 2, 1S62.
109
Si. The comparison between the visual and actinic focus also could
be made precisely. Supposing the adjustment-screw to have 25
threads to the inch, and the nut divided into four divisions, each
one would represent the one-hundredth part of an inch on the
ground-glass.
Explanation of the Mechanical Details.
A, sliding end of camera. B, piece of sheet brass through
which the binding-screw 0 passes as usual, except that the bolt
and nut is larger to allow a hole to be drilled and tapped down
the centre of it for another small milled-headed screw, I), capable
of confining the sliding part A to the rod E; also a hole, at right
angles, through the square under the bolt head, for the rod E to
slide through easily. E, a milled nut turning upon the screwed
end of the rod E, and enclosed in the small fixing G.
In preparing for work the nut C and screw D are both slackened :
the back of the camera is then at liberty to be moved outwards
or inwards by hand, as usual, and the view roughly focussed. D
is then tightened, and the exact adjustment of the focus completed
by turning the milled nut F. The nut C may then be tightened,
and D eased, or not, at pleasure.
STRAY CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By James Martin.
CHAPTER III.
DIALYSIS APPLIED TO PHOTOGRAPHY.*
It is a fact very generally known to those who albumenise paper
on a large scale, that there is an absence of uniformity in the
character of the sheets of paper forming parts of the same ream,
although they be floated throughout on the same batch of salted
albumen prepared at the outset in quantity amply sufficient to
coat the entire ream of paper.
This want of uniformity has manifested itself, not so much in the
physical appearance of each sheet, as in the result of the chemical
treatment incident to the printing and toning of the paper ; and the
inference deducible from these results has been that the paper in
the course of albumenising absorbs the albumen and the chlorides
unequally, so that the proportion adhering to the sheets or remain¬
ing in the albumenising pap is not the same at the end as it is at
the middle or beginning of the preparation of a ream of paper.
The difficulties in the way of resolving this question have hitherto
proved insurmountable, in the ordinary way, by photographic
operators, and the reason will appear upon a review of the facts
of the case.
The mixture to be submitted to a quantitative examination is one
of albumen and soluble chlorides. If nitrate of silver be added with
the hope of obtaining an insoluble chloride of silver from which to
estimate the amount of chlorides contained in the mixture, it unfor¬
tunately happens that albuminate of silver will also be thrown
down, and so vitiate the result.
If, on the other hand, a known and measured quantity be eva
porated to dryness and calcined, with the object of carbonising
the organic matter and afterwards weighing the chlorides which
remain, failure again is the result if (as is generally the case) the
mixture contain chloride of ammonium ; for this salt is volatile at
the temperature which would be necessary to effect the complete
oxidation of the carbonised albumen.
Under these circumstances it is proposed that photographers
should avail themselves of Professor Graham’s new discovery,
* Concluded froin page j jj.
THE 13 It I T 1 S H J O U li N A L O P II OTOG R A P II Y.
[May 1, 1802
IP)
and dialyse their albuminous liquors. The process is especially
applicable to this purpose, since it has been ascertained that albu¬
men is nearly the most feebly diffusive substance, while chloride
of sodium is one of the most easily diffusible ones.
In conducting the experiment, however, the writer would urge
the importance of divesting the mind of the idea of filtration.
Dialysation is not filtration: it is a kind of transfusion or exosmosis;
though as endosmosis goes on at the same time, it may perhaps be
more correctly termed acmosis.
The difference between the operations of
filtration and dialysis will become, perhaps,
more obvious after a consideration of the
following facts : — It not unfrequently hap¬
pens, in medico-legal inquiries, that it be¬
comes necessary to separate such substances
as mineral and organic poisons, like arsenious
acid, metallic salts, strychnine, morphia, &c.,
from the contents of the stomach and intes¬
tines, where the}’ may be probably mixed
with such matters as milk, porter, egg-albu¬
men, gum, jelly, blood, &c. ; and there are
few chemists who have had this operation
to perform who are not very sensible of the
difficulties attending it, if it be attempted to
accomplish it by the ordinary process of
filtration. Since the completion of the valu¬
able researches of Professor Graham the separation of these sub¬
stances may be effected with perfect ease.
Sketches of the Bulb Dialyser employed by Professor Graham,
and copied from the Philosophical Transactions for 1861, are
appended for the guidance of those who may desire to test the
value of the suggestion now put forward. For their further aid,
also, one or two precautions should be mentioned.
1. Whichever form of dialyser be employed, care should always
be taken to have a great disproportion between the water iu the
dialyser and the water in the outer vessel. Graham recommends
from five to ten times the quantity. The rule is, that the wider
the dialyser and the greater the quantity of distilled water used
in the outer vessel, the more rapid and effective is the diffusion.
2. Hot distilled water will be found more effective than cold for
the purpose of softening the parchment-paper previous to stretch¬
ing it over the hoop ; it has the effect of bringing it more com¬
pletely into the colloidal condition.
The method of operating which the writer would suggest is as
follows : — Two ounces of the albumen to be examined should be
diluted with an equal bulk of water, and poured into a 6-inch
dialyser, which should then be placed in the flat glass dish or basin,
with the bulk of water as described.—*, e. five to ten times the
quantity, say two pints — and set aside for twenty-four hours. At
the end of this time the diffusion may be regarded as sufficiently
complete to yield a result approximating to the truth.
The diffusate being collected and evaporated to the bulk of, say
10 ounces, should be acidified with nitric acid (this should cause
but a very slight turbidity, arising from the action of the nitric
acid on the trace of albumen, which has diffused), the liquor may
now be filtered, and the filter being washed with distilled water
in order to ensure the collection of the whole of the soluble salts ;
solution of nitrate of silver should be added until it ceases to produce
a precipitate. This point may be best ascertained by performing
t lie operation in a glass flask, which may be heated in order to aid
the agglomeration of the precipitated chloride. When the reaction
is completed, two circular filters, accurately counterpoising each
other, should be folded one in the other, placed in a funnel, and the
precipitated chloride collected thereon. This precipitate being well
washed and dried, together with the two filters which have passed
through the same treatment, the outer filter is separated and placed
in the scale pan with the weights, while the other filter is weighed
with its adhering chloride of silver. In this way greater accuracy
is attainable than if cue iilter be used and the chloride scraped off —
an operation not easy to perform effectively. The weight of chlo¬
ride of silver yielded by the dialysis of two ounces of albumen being
ascertained, the proportion of chloride of ammonium or chloiide of
sodiumpresent becomes a simple calculation, based upon the follow¬
ing facts : —
144 grains chloride of silver 36 grains of chlorine.
36 ,, chlorine = 50 ,, chloride ammonium.
36 ,, chlorine = 60 ,, chloride sodium.
A rule of three sum will enable the experimenter to ascertain by
means of these facts the number of grains per ounce of soluble
chlorides in his albumen at any stage of the process of albumenising.
PLACES OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INTEREST IN YORKSHIRE.*
By C. Butterfield.
BOLTON BRIDGE.
Who has not been to Bolton Bridge — my theme for this evening? 4
should like to see the man — at least if he is a York shir era an, not a
Hottentot — and has the full complement of eyes and limbs. Whether the
subject be trite or not, Bolton Bridge must be “ sung,” and I will fulfil the
task to the best of my ability. You will uot complain, provided always I
use my best endeavours to convey information. Any amusement that
may squeeze in, like little boys in a crowd between the legs of the big
ones, will doubtless act like jam to powders, and help you to swallow the
other.
Bolton Bridge ! What recollections of nights of preparation and days
of pleasure these words bring before me ! — chequered, alas ! as all out-door
pleasures in England must be occasionally, by remembrances of mornings
giving fair promise and ending in rain and disappointment. But, then,
rain falls everywhere sometimes, except in Paradise : so Bolton Bridge
may be pardoned. Pic-nic parties and photographers are very apt to
growl at rain ; but they should both remember that showers rhyme to
flowers, and they can’t in reason expect one without the other.
Your first real entrance into Bolton, whether you come from Skipton,
Harrogate, or Addingham, you may consider as taking place at the bridge
itself ; and, to mark the fact, the Commissioners of Roads have kindly
placed a toll-bar ingeniously situated so as to catch you whichever way you
come — of course more for your guidance than for the paltry pence. ([
should like to know what the summer’s receipts are at that bar !) Here,
then, is the bridge from which the village takes its name. Every photo¬
grapher looks at the arch and wishes he could take a picture of it — the
river (the Wharfe) seems to flow so nicely underneath ! It cannot be
done, however. Taste revolts at its stiff outline, look which way you will.
Supposing you to have started early in the morning you will, no doubt,
be hungry ; or, if not, you can “do with a glass of bitter.’’ Well, if you
are disposed to be lofty in your ideas and prefer a hotel to an inn, you
will remain on the west side of the river : if, on the contrary, you are a
sensible man and alone, or with a male friend or two only, you will cross
the bridge to the east side and find yourself approaching a long, low
whitewashed building, yclept the “Red Lion.” Whatever kind of a beast that
may be, you will find nothing beastly inside. The rooms are low, certainly,
and old-fashioned — can such a thing exist as a real inn new-fashioned? —
hut the glimpses you get of juicy Yorkshire hams and baskets of freshly-
laid eggs swinging here and there from the dark oak rafters, will lighten
them up wonderfully; and, if you are partial to being waited on by a neat,
blooming, country girl, instead of a whey-faced man, garnished with a
white napkin, your good taste will be gratified.
After your breakfast, or “ bitter,” or what not, light your pipe — mind I
said pipe, not cigar: no right-minded photographer of pedestrian inten¬
tions ever brings cigars with him — light your pipe : walk through the
passage : if you are tall, stoop or your head and a particularly low beam will
become introduced to each other. At the end of the passage is a door
always open, and going through you will find a smooth level of green turf :
call it a garden if you will — it has the charm of one, though I can hardly
tell whence the charm comes, as it is mostly turf, unless the pleasure arises
from the purely rural look of everything around, and that freshness and
beauty so grateful to a town dweller. A few minutes rest here, then
fetch your apparatus, pass through the wicket in the garden wall and into the
fields beyond : keep along the course of the fiver for some distance, and,
on rising a somewhat steep hut short ascent, you will find a seat just where
you want it, which you can sit down upon and recover your breath, if you
have lost it, and meanwhile look at the prospect beneath you. You are
sure to photograph it — for the stereoscope at least ; and very nice it looks.
Beneath your feet and flowing towards you lies the river, at a little distance
a line of stepping-stones strung across it: by the way, when I was there
last one of the steps was rather a long one — about three yards — a stone
having been washed away. To the left of the stepping-stones stands the old
Abbey or, more properly, Priory of Bolton, just in the only place any
right-thinking man would have put it — a sort of promontory made by a
good-natured bend in the river. Perhaps abbeys were thought of in the
creation scheme, and these little places left, just as coals were buried,
because they would he wanted. If I am wrong, never mind, the monks
knew what was right, and took good care to have it.
We are only looking at the Abbey yet, however; hut go down the hill
* Read at a meeting oftbe Bradford Photographic Society, April 2nd, 1802.
May 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
171
through that short wood, cross the stepping-stones, and mind you don’t slip :
its not pleasant getting wet and having to go to bed till your clothes dry
on such a day as this. Ah ! here we are ! Now this is worth coming for !
Who would not be a photographer ? But, stay : just sit down on the edge
of that mouldering old stone, and let me tell you something about the
holy ground you stand on, that you may not run irreverently about, and
carry home a box-full of views and no knowledge. Listen while I tell you
how Bolton Priory was originally not at Bolton at all, but at Embsay, a
village yet lying between Bolton and Skipton.
The Priory was founded in 1120, and transferred to Bolton about thirty
years after ; because — so says tradition — the grandson of the founder
(commonly called the “Boy of Egremout”) was drowned at a place
shortly to be described called the Strid or Stride. Grief for her only son
made bis mother a willing listener to the suggestions of the Prior and
Canons that Bolton would be a pleasant place, and near the scene of her
son’s melancholy death. The translation took place, and Bolton Priory was
reared up. Century after century passed away, and Prior after Prior
enjoyed his days and nights undisturbed ; but a time came and also a man
who lacked gold, and who looked with greedy eyes on the fair domains of
Bolton. The decree went forth; and in 1540 the last Prior, Bichard Moone,
voluntarily abdicated and resigned his charge into the hands of Henry
VIII., first “ defender of the faith.” Two years afterwards he sold the site,
together with three lordships, seven manors, and sundry advowsons, lands,
and tenements, for the sum of .£2490, to Henry Earl of Cumberland. Our
favourite Bolton did not appear to be highly valued then, even allowing
for all difference in the value of money.
Now that you have patiently listened while I spoke, rise from your seat
and follow' me round the old place, keeping your eyes wide open for the
best points of view. Is not the churchyard a beautiful spot? A holy
quiet rests over it, seeming to impress every one. It is not often you see
any so insensible as not to give way to quiet and peaceful thoughts in this
place. Even children hush their laughter and speak low, seeming to feel
the influence of the past upon them. It appears almost a sacrilege, but
there is one view you must take from here, and for which purpose you
must introduce your camera amongst the graves of generations passed
away. The view I mean is one looking across the river, and having for a
background a peculiar scarp on the hill-side, bare of vegetation, and finely
contrasting with the rich green of the foliage around: more than this, the
contrast is not lost in the photograph.
After giving due time to the Abbey let us take to the road, and, keeping
near the river, walk onwards till you see a sweep in the path to the right
(mind I don’t mean a chimney-sweep), leading to a wooden bridge over
the stream. Take my advice, cross this bridge, instead of going the usual
way straight forward. You will be well rewarded by the numerous bits of
river-side scenery you will meet with : besides, I want you to have the
advantage of a convenient place I found for frying the result of your plates
(if dry) aud learning how the exposure has been. Immediately after
crossing the bridge turn to the left over a style ; and mind, if there are two
paths, always choose the one nearest the river. About lialf-a-mile ormore
from the bridge you crossed, you will take, as I told you, the path to the
left or nearest the river, and you will directly after feel quite sure you are
wrong, as there scarcely seems a road at all, only a projecting ledge of
rock. Instead of being quite wrong you are just right, and you will see
immediately, in the face of the rock, a low aperture. Now, if you happen
to have with you such a thing as an end of wax caudle, light it and move
onwards into the darkness of the cave — if you choose to call it so. What
the place has been I cannot say ; but it penetrates under ground about
ten yards, and, as there is a bend in its course, you have a natural dark
room and a river of clean water at the door. I almost always take the
necessary articles and develop one picture there to see that all is right,
and I advise you to do the same.
I once met with a very annoying accident near this place. In climbing
a crumbling bank I slipped and fell. My prepared plates were encased
in a grooved dark box; but the weight of the plates dashed against the lid,
forced it open, and let in our great enemy and best friend — light ! I
instantly covered the mouth of the box with my cap, utterly regardless of
contusions received in the fall. All the plates I had were contained in
that box, and I was detexunined to save them, if possible. Luckily, the
place was rather dark, and what light there was would not be very actinic,
in consequence of the dense foliage around. 1 found, on reaching home,
that my plates were no worse, with the exception of a slight shade at one
end, which I had margin enough to be able to cut off.
After ascertaining at this cave that your plates are all right, move for¬
ward once more, still keeping near the rivei*, and taking views where your
taste leads you. Gradually you will see the river — hitherto a wide stream —
growing narrower at every footstep. Flakes of white foam, borne slowly
along on the surface, tell of a fierce struggle taking place higher up — a
struggle sometimes less savagely contested than at others, but never
ceasing. As you approach nearer you hear, borne along by the wind, the
sounds of the fight — now low, now swelling higher and higher, till at
length emerging from the trees amidst which you have hitherto walked, a
clear space opens before you — the arena where, for ages before man's eye
rested on the scene, the air has trembled with the sounds now humming
in your ears. You are close by the far-famed and fatal Strid. Around,
under your feet, on the ground where you stand, are proofs of the mighty
power of the waters. Here are no sharp edges — no pointed angles: the
rocks within sight are all smooth and rounded — silent witnesses of the
awful floods that in the depth of winter tear resistlessly through this then
deserted valley. Now you see why this open space — why these numerous
water- worn hollows, many of them as regularly circular as if cut by the
hand of man. The river, grown too large for the narrow channel through
which it now flows, rushes out on to the rocky plain you stand on, and, in
its joyous release from thraldom, whirls, plays, and eddies round the rocks,
producing by its action the empty hollows you wonder at, and writing
down a lesson for future geologists not likely soon to be effaced.
Halt now on the brink of the rushing water. Let us stand here — just
where the cleft stream chafes eternally against the dividing rocks. Although
now calm, enough remains to show you what that force could do in anger.
Boiling and seething like a cauldron your eye is insensibly caught,
fascinated, and whirled round in harmony with the eddies below. Gaze
not too long : draw back, ere the brain becomes bewildered and giddy, and
you are lured down into the death beneath — certain death it is. Often
have I amused myself by dropping in sticks, or tightly-corked bottles, and
have watched them for a moment before they disappeared and were seen
no more, drawn into the caverns underneath where we stand — caverns won
from the solid rock in the lapse of centuries. It was here that the “ Boy of
Egremont’’ was drowned ; and if tradition speaks truth, photographers
are indebted to this Strid for the very existence of Bolton Priory.
If you choose — after what I have said — to jump the narrow chasm, well
and good: 1 do not object. 1 have often and often done it myself, both
backwards and forwards, and familiarity breeds contempt. The jump is
nothing; but be sure your nerves are steady and your eye true, that you
do not slip on landing. If you do - 1 have done with you, and hand you
over to the coroner and jury.
Supposing you to have crossed over safely with your camera, Ac., climb
up the walk on the opposite side, keeping to the right, and almost at the
summit you will find a seat placed to look at a fair vista opened out up
the river. In the foreground is a sort of obelisk of stone — natural, not
artificial — called, I believe, the “ Hawk’s Rock ;” but I cannot learn the
origin of the name. The view is very pretty, aud worth taking for the
stereoscope.
Walking forward up the river some distance further you will arrive at
Barden Tower, a particularly inartistic assemblage of stones and mortar,
interesting only in an antiquarian point of view. It was originally a sort
of hunting lodge, and, having fallen into decay, an inscription tells us it
was rebuilt by the Countess of Pembroke, who was born there, and her
work has in turn gone to decay also.
Beyond this tower, up the same side of the river, there is a tributary
stream that will well repay a visit, as there are some very pretty falls in
the ravine through which the stream runs. Near here, also, are said to
be the remains of a village so old that nobody knows anything about it;
but it is supposed to have existed some time before the Conqueror, and
ages before chimneys were invented, as there is the mark of the fire in
the centre of what once was the floor of a hut.
But we will leave Barden and its remains, and crossing over the river
by Barden Bridge go back on the other side, that we may, lower down,
diverge from our course and visit another celebrity of Bolton, the “ Valley’
of Desolation.” There is one road to this which I much prefer, and
which seems not much known. Often as I have been there I never yet
met any one save a labourer or native of tiie district. No excursionist or
pic-nic parties seem to know of it-- no enamoured pair, straying uncon¬
sciously from their party, seem to have discovered its recesses. There is
little fear here of being disturbed by any well-dressed idlers from llkley or
Harrogate who have come over for the day, and think, forsooth, a camera
is infra dig., and you lose caste by being seen photographing ; but we can
afford to laugh at such puerilities. "When their day’s so-called pleasure is
over, and ours, also, has come to a close, who is to be envied? He who
arrives at home jaded by his purposeless sauntering? or he who feels his
nerves braced by healthy exercise and natural excitement, and who, more¬
over, is looking forward anxiously to a further reward in the plates his
magic box contains?
But to return. The road I speak of will be easily found by attending
to what I say. After passing the Strid in returning towards the Abbey —
travelling by the wide road, not the footpath — you will have to cross a stone
single-arch bridge over a tributary rivulet. Just before crossing it — on
the side nearest Barden — you will see on the left hand, half hidden by
overhanging bushes, a narrow path : this path leads direct to the Valley
of Desolation, and some of the most beautiful vistas in Bolton are to be
found on the route. The path winds high up on the sides of a deep
ravine clothed from base to summit by the freshest and greenest foliage.
The brook below affords some magnificent little bits of wild scenery; but
they are difficult to take : — a long exposure andiron developer are needed
to bring out the beautiful foreground details. Grand ferns arch their
graceful fronds over the stream, while dark rocks frown out from the
sides — every nook and crevice being held in possession by some wild plant
luxuriant in its damp solitude. It is a treat to a lover of nature to know
of this spot. He cannot but be gratified by its solitude and calmness,
only heightened, not disturbed, bj* the soothing perpetual hum of the
stream below. Of the Valley of Desolation itself little can be said save
that it is the one green place in the midst of what seems more like a world
in a state of preparation than anything else. All around, except just in
this valley and the road we have come, nothing meets the eye in the
immediate neighbourhood but a bare and blasted expanse of country,
apparently producing nothing but stones and sheep. As if to heighten
172
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May ], 1862
the effect, a scathed and blackened trunk, riven and dashed to earth to
moulder and decay in some wild winter’s storm, stands bleak and solitary —
a witness to the power that destroyed it.
At the upper end of the valley, facing a pretty waterfall, a summer-house
has been built — a quiet place enough in summer, but the rustic bridge
spanning the stream is held in its place by strong iron chains, telling the
silent tale of many a lonely struggle with that element now so gentle and
playful, seeming as though a child’s hand might divert its course.
Leaving behind us this out-of-the-way place, let us come once more into
the beaten track. Unless peaestrianism be a habit with you, and your
limbs have by use become inured to a day’s continuous exertion, you will
not now be sorry that each pace shortens the distance between yourself
and your inr.. Again you cross the wooden bridge — again pass the grey
mouldering walls of the old Priory, looking all the more soft under the
rays of the westering sun. You give a glance towards it, but your thoughts
are bent on other things. Visions of warm preparations of the suspended
hams and eggs you saw this morning flit before your mind’s eye, and dis¬
turb that equanimity and calmness which the contemplation of such scenes
requires. Nearer and nearer looks the bridge, par excellence; and, nestling
on one side, you see the long lowr roof of your much-longed-for resting-
place. Amongst the smoke of its chimneys, which, think you, is the one
surmounting the vast arch of the old kitchen fireplace ? I warrant there
is something there just now more interesting than all the priories in
England ! It is sad to acknowledge it, but one’s perceptions of the sub¬
lime and the beautiful are sadly weakened by a fasting stomach.
After washing and making yourself comfortable, and having disposed of
the viands laid before you, take your pipe and stroll into the garden I
■described this morning. If you are wise you will not return home to-night,
but, after your calm quiet evening is passed, you will retire to rest in the
cleanest bed and most old-fashioned bedroom conceivable. There you
will find that sweet repose to be earned only by a day of exercise and occu¬
pation. Do not commit the enormity of developing any of your plates iu
the bedroom. Nothing has brought our art into bad report amongst land¬
ladies more than this dirty practice. Wait till you get home. Mind,
however, that you are up with the lark tomorrow morning ; and, before
the sun has fairly left the eastern shore aud started on his voyage west¬
ward, go out into the clear morning air (I will allow you a cigar now, if
you like), stroll onward to the Abbey again, and, iu solitude and undis¬
turbed, ponder over the days gone by, ere Henry’s desecrating hand
levelled the greater part of the fair fane above you. In this you will want
no help from me, nor would a companion be desirable. Farewell, there¬
fore. My task is ended. We may some day meet again, and once moro
wander in fancy amid the shady paths and quiet scenes of Bolton.
(L'tHHlion (boss ip.
ABOUT £ s. d. — THE GRACIOUSLY CONCEDED “SEPA¬
RATE APARTMENT”— THE CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE
JURORS.
Those to whose labour, thought, emulative energy, capital,
patriotism, and skill the success, nay the very existence, of this
vast exposition of the world’s art, science, and industry is due, are
to pay for their admission tickets , or to be excluded from the building !
So say those miracles of sagacious wisdom the Royal Com¬
missioners. Of a verity great are they at turning a penny! How
deftly they clutch every little chance which may be converted
into a source of pecuniary profit! An enterprising tradesman
offers to provide cases for the season tickets gratuitously, in return
for the privilege of puffing his wares thereon; and, eagerly
availing themselves thereof, these very Royal Commissioners
instantly issue a public announcement stating that such cases may
be procured at their shop — I mean their “ office" — for the low
•charge of one shilling each ! An exclusive right to photograph
portraits somewhere within or just without the building having
been created, this also is put up for sale in order to secure “ a
valuable consideration.”* And then, again, in that very suspicious-
looking sole right to photograph the objects assembled within the
building (just purchased by the London Stereoscopic Company at
the eleventh hour), not content with enforcing terms universally
■condemned as meaninglessly absurd and unjust, they must needs —
•cunning bargain-drivers that they are— stipulate for being them¬
selves provided with a few copies from each negative free of
charge! Of this scheme The Times pointedly said: — “If in the
tenders for refreshments the contractor was called upon to specify
how many free dinner tickets each day woidd be placed at the dis¬
posal of the Commissioners ‘ for distribution, but not for sale,’ the
public, we think, would express their opinion very freely upon the
nature of such an agreement; and we confess we are at a loss to
see the difference in principle between such an agreement and that
which the Commissioners expect to make with the photographers.”
Tlir Art Journal says the Commissioners “are not likely to get much from this
v nrer. People will base too nmch to see and do to sit for their portraits ; and of course
> 11 re must be nn extra charge, to enable the artist to pay the Royal Commissioners. "
Quite agreeing with The Times, I cannot feel at all sure that the
Commissioners — they are such cunning fellows! — have not really
made some similar economical arrangement as that hinted at for
saving their individual larders during the season. However this
is all settled now, and the Stereoscopic Company are busy with
their preparations for photographing the opening ceremony. All
success to their efforts ! The subject is indeed a grand one ! But
this display of huckster spirit in the Commissioners — however cre¬
ditable to or in accordance with a dealer in smallwares — is hardly
the right thing in so high and eminent a quarter. One might
easily imagine the whole of this mighty allair to be neither more
nor less than a monster dodge of Barnum’s rather than the glorious
eftoit of a great, wealthy, and generous nation — a cunningly-de¬
vised pretext for scraping together a little ready money rather than
a mighty scheme for the spreading of peace, prosperity, and kindly
feeling among all the peoples of the earth. These Royal Com¬
missioners almost make one think well of the Frenchman’s sneer,
and believe that we really are the nation of shopkeepers he said
we were. There is one rather pleasant thing, though, in such sordid,
ignoble hueksterings ; for there is some consolation for photo¬
graphers in knowing that those who have so publicly degraded
their art in its classification are not more scrupulous in as publicly
degrading themselves, their own high office, and the country to
which they belong.
And now let us turn and look at this graciously conceded “ sepa¬
rate apartment,” for which a little time since battle was so stoutly
done. . The very loftiest position they could accord any art the
Commissioners have conceded to photography ; and who cau say of
this art noio that it is not high art — attic art — when it is located in
the garret? Lou have to ascend seventy odd steps before you
reach British photography’s hard won “ separate apartment,” and
it strikes me, from the inefficient arrangements made for its venti ¬
lation, that when, in the dog-days, you get into this “separate
apartment, you will not be sorry to escape out of it again into the
lower, better ventilated, and less exposed portions of the building.
It is a large, lofty gallery, the larger portion of which is occupied
by the educational department ; it is well lighted, but — unfortu¬
nately for M. Joubert, who will in consequence have no small diffi¬
culty in exhibiting his burnt-in transparencies — is entirely so lighted
from the top; and it contains the works of that huge advertising
clock surmounting the central entrance. Speaking of this clock,
by-the-bye, photographers are not perhaps aware that the ex¬
tended period awarded them for sending iu their productions was
due, not to the kindly considered delay suffered by them from the
protraction of the dispute about the classification, and the conse¬
quent shortness of the time in which they had to get ready their
works, but to the fact of a hole having to be made in the wall for
the accommodation of the works of this clock (which saved the
expense of the more classic and artistic adornment originally in¬
tended for its place), and to the packing-cases of the exhibitors
being in the way of the workmen. British photography, then,
stowed away at the top of interminable flights of stairs, in an ill -
ventilated, hot gallery, will, as we may safely conclude, only be
visited by those specially interested in its productions; while
foreign photography, occupying positions in which it cannot pos¬
sibly be overlooked, will reap the lion’s share of the valuable privi¬
leges and advantages of the Exhibition. This is in accordance
with the justice and prudence which has also given foreign painters
most important advantages over their English brethren, and
chosen a foreign leader for the musical display of the opening.
Now all this ought to prove, even more conclusively than ever, how
important to the interests of British photography it is that the art
should be well represented in one or two additional photographic
exhibitions during this most rare occasion. It is earnestly to be
hoped that at the Crystal Palace Exhibition, or at that projected
by the Central Society, we may retrieve that which wre shall cer¬
tainly lose at the International.
We now come to gossip about how this “ separate apartment ” at
the top of the big house is likely to be filled. I fear you will say
that it might have been better filled; and that as it is filled it will
not carry off the palm from its rivals down stairs in the parlours,
nor show too much advantage in contrast with its superiors in the
drawing-room. I most earnestly hope that I may be disappointed
in this foreboding thought ; and, indeed, I may be prejudiced un¬
wittingly, for am I not one of that great army of disappointed
would-be exhibitors, who hunted for their attractive models,
laboured to secure their good negatives, and studied to make their
artistic pictures only for the bitterness of a refusal from the ap¬
pointed Committee. I hope I shall find no worse pictures than my
own there, and then I, and doubtless my copartners in distress
May 1, 18C2]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
173
also, will have found ample consolation. The hanging is, while I
write, rapidly proceeding. Many old favourites will re-appear :
this is already apparent. Vernon Heath, Mudd, Wardley, Breese,
Sidebotham, Lieut. -Col. Stuart Wortley, Lyndon Smyth, Dixon
Piper, and others, will represent landscape art with their Lest
efforts. Rejlander and Robinson will be the chief representatives
of what we term “composition” photography, and it will suffer
nothing in such hands. Claudet, Owen Angel, Smith and Blan¬
chard, and others, will represent the solar camera branch ; but the
dull dark weather, of which we have had so tedious a continuation,
has evidently exercised a serious influence upon the display of'
these novelties, and some, I know, have had to fill their allotted
space with productions some distance below the standard which a
little preliminary bright weather would have enabled them to
attain. As other countries will exhibit solar-camera pictures
obtained under far more favourable circumstances, this should be
remembered. In connexion with these enlarged pictures, I may
mention that space had been secured by Mr. F. Hart for the exhi¬
bition of an improved solar camera, for which he has obtained, or
is about to obtain, a patent, and which was also to be illustrated
by some of its productions ; but I am not sure whether Mr. Hart
has got his preparations completed in time for securing their ad¬
mission. Those who have heard much of Mr. Breese’s instanta¬
neous photographs will be glad to hear that this gentleman
exhibits two tables of the stereographs so admired and wondered
at in the Birmingham Exhibition. More of the pictures, however,
anon.
And now we see before us the men in whose judgment photo¬
graphers have most faith, by whom they desire their productions
should be judged, and their relative degrees of merit stampod as
sterling, genuine coin — I mean the Jurors, elected, as M. Claudet
asserts in a contemporary, because recommended by at least “a
considerable number of exhibitors.” Doubtless your imagination
conjures up the names of those who in past and similar offices have
best fulfilled such or similar duties ; or possibly you may seek their
names in those which have been most familiar in the pages of our
journals as earnest strivers and workers for the honour and ad¬
vancement of the art; or you may, perhaps, seek them in the most
able and accomplished of our practical photographers. Well, here
are their names, and I leave you to judge why and how they have
been elected : — First, A. Claudet — I could not have suggested a
better name; next, Professor Tyndall— for the scientific branches,
a good man and true; thirdl}', Thurston Thompson, certainly a
very talented photographer ; and lastly, his pupil, Lord H. G.
Lennox, of whom, save as an occasional exhibitor, I know as much
as I did of another nobleman, the policy of whose election I had
the temerity to question in connexion with the Committee for the
Photographic Department. As, however, in the eyes of some of us
titles of nobility are sacred things, not to be lightly named by
undistinguished sons of “ common people,” I had better quit this
subject, perhaps.
So far, mine has not been a genial nor a cheery task. I could not
admire the building, to which my first gossip was devoted ;
I did not feel altogether amiable towards the Commissioners in
dwelling upon the classification question in my second gossip ; and
for this, my third, the subjects are not better calculated to produce
a contented, good-natured, condition of the photographic mind.
But I know there are brighter days coming, when you and I, my
dear reader, shall dwell upon the beauties of nature as translated
by art, and trace in productions from the cameras of every land
the sure and certain signs of photography’s future powers in art,
science, and industry. — A. H. W.
Suggestion to Photographers. — In The Scientific American we
find the following: — “A radical defect in nearly all likenesses
taken by the new method now in use, arises from the fact that the
sitter being in a novel situation unconsciously assumes a con¬
strained and unnatural expression of countenance, and having no
means of correcting this, it is, of course, repeated in the picture :
hence so few sitters are entirely satisfied with their photographs.
The improvement we suggest is designed to obviate this defect,
by attaching to the camera an ordinary plane mirror, so adjusted
that the sitter, instead of staring into blank space with a feeling of
what a ridiculous part he is playing, shall look at his own reflec¬
tion in this glass during the entire operation. He will thus be
enabled at once to assume and retain his ordinary expression of
countenance, or take any other that best pleases himself. The
picture will be an exact reproduction of the image in the mirror,
aqd cannot fail of being perfect in every respect.”
MEETINGS
1st. — Glasgow.
2nd. — Newcastlc-on-Tync.
6th. — London, and Liverpool.
7th. — Manchester, Edinburgh, and
Bradford.
^acidies.
IN MAY.
8th. — Chorlton, and S. London.
13th. — Photo. Soe. of Scotland
(Ann.), and Birmingham,
21st. — North London, and
Edinburgh,
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
An ordinary meeting of this Society took place at Middleton-Hail,
Islington, on Wednesday evening, the 15th ult. George Dawson, Esq.,
V. P., occupied the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. R. W. H. Smart, of Chiswick, was elected a member of the
Society.
The Chairman called on Mr. John Bockett to read his paper On Photo-
Micrograph]] . [See page 162.]
The meeting listened with great interest to Mr. Bockett’s communica¬
tion, which was appropriately illustrated by the exhibition of the appa¬
ratus used by that gentleman (a drawing of which is appended at page
163, where the arrangement is described), and also by a numerous col¬
lection of very successful photo-micrographs obtained in the instrument.
The Chairman having invited discussion on the subject of Mr.
Bockett’s communication,
Mr. Shadbolt expressed the great gratification afforded to him
by the paper which had just been read having been brought forward,
bearing as it did on matters of great interest and high importance to
scientific men. He thought Mr. 3oekett had done well to exhibit the
apparatus by which he bad accomplished satisfactory results. In reference
to these he might remark that he considered the photographs of palates
of the slug and other molluscs very good : the Heliopelta, and the Isthmia
nervosa were also good, hut remarked that photographs, however good,
could not do more than faintly indicate the forms without approaching to
the brilliant frosted-silver-like texture of those interesting organic bodies.
He had one or two suggestions to offer in connexion with the matter in
hand ; and, as Mr. Bockett had expressed a desire to he regarded as one
equally desirous to receive and impart information, lie felt assured he
should not he out of place in stating these suggestions to the meeting.
First, in reference to focussing : — A difficulty was always experienced in
getting the focus of the object-glass actually upon the surface of the
screen, as the image was visible through the ground-glass, even if not quite
in contact with its surface. Gentlemen present would remember that M.
Claudet had announced this fact some time since, and lie (Mr. Shadbolt)
would therefore recommend the use of uRamsden’s eye-piece for ihe purpose
of focussing, it being so constructed as to preclude the possibility of error
in that part of the operation. Accuracy, he might further explain,
was secured by the application of a clamping screw, so that the eye-piece
being once adjusted for any given thickness of focussing-glass, it became
thenceforth impossible to get definition in the detail of any image which
was not brought to a true focus on that glass. Secondly, in reference to
sunlight: — Many amateurs had employed the direct solar rays in photo¬
graphing microscopic objects. He believed Mr. Delves was the first, and
lie had been followed by Mr. M’enhain, and others, and by this means
instantaneous pictures were taken in many instances. Diffused dav-
liglit was, of course, used in focussing ; and the exposure was so quick,
by merely turning the mirror to the sun, that no damage occurred
to the object. It would have come within the experience of those
who have practised this branch of the photographic art to observe
that such objects as parasites, animal tissues, &c., were seldom well ren¬
dered. In the photograph of the tongue of the blow-fly, then before the
meeting, it could be noticed that the detail was wanting. The principal
beauty of the object consisted in some spiral vessels near the surface.
Those were not rendered, neither were the tracheal vessels ; and this not
because they were out of focus, hut the yellow character of the investing
membranes had produced the effect of under-exposure. Those were defects
in the process which members would perhaps say it was useless to men¬
tion unless a remedy were proposed. He was glad, therefore, to he able
to indicate what would probably overcome the difficulty. It had been
suggested that polarised light should be employed for that purpose,
so as to throw upon the object highly actinic rays, with the view
of neutralising the noil-actinic effect of the yellow membranes. That,
however, would he a mistake, as no amount of actinic light thrown upon a
yellow object would make it more actinic in its effect on a sensitive sur¬
face, since its antagonism (so to speak) to actinic rays, consisted in the
power which it possessed of absorbing those rays. Notwithstanding all this
however, he (Mr. Shadbolt) was of opinion that the difficulty might he’
overcome by introducing something to degrade the light, and thereby
lengthen the exposure so ns to admit of the production of minute details
in the object without getting the effect of over-exposure in the surround¬
ing light. He would suggest for that purpose a piece of yellow glass
and thought that polarised light when applied might have a similar action.'
In the third place he (Mr. Shadbolt) had only to observe, in reference to the
arrangement of Mr. Bockett’s apparatus, that he thought the tube too
174
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1862
small, and, as a substitute, be would recommend the use of a larger tube
or a conical box attached to the camera, and either of those should be
lined with black velvet, to prevent reflection.
Mr. Bockett explained that the microscope he had applied to the pur¬
pose was one which he regarded as a hack, and he was therefore sensible
that the arrangement of apparatus of which it formed a part admitted
of considerable improvement. He agreed with the suggestion made by
Mr. Shadbolt.
Mr. Garnham thought it would be better to take away the tube of the
microscope altogether, and adapt the object-glass at once to a tube of
much larger diameter. He could not see that that alteration would
increase the difficulty of obtaining the focus.
A variety of observations were made as to the relative advantages of
large and small tubes, and the probability of light being reflected from the
sides, unless suitable precautions were adopted, when
Mr. Burr reminded the meeting that one object aimed at in Mr.
Bockett's arrangement was the use of the apparatus already in the pos¬
session of an amateur with the least possible addition to the expense.
Mr. Ross intimated that the collimation of the instrument was all that
could be desired.
It was stated by Mr. Shadbolt that the difficulty of reflected light
inside the tubes might be overcome by pasting a piece of black velvet on to
a piece of brown paper, and then coiling both up until they fitted the tube.
The Chairman thought the conical box in front of the camera the best,
as it was obvious, from the size of the image on the ground-glass, that
some of the rays must strike against the sides of the tube.
Mr. Bocicett suggested that if the apparatus were much increased in
length the means of adjusting the focus would be beyond reach, and that
would, therefore, have to be accomplished by some other and special
arrangement.
In reply to a question from Mr. Bockett,
Mr. Shadbolt said he would not put a lens behind the object-glass :
he would explain the arrangement he thought best. Mr. Delves found
that by moving the camera one-eighth of an inch back he was enabled to
make the required allowance for the over-correction in ordinary micro-
scopic objectives. He (Mr. Shadbolt) had experimented with some of the
parasites of the water-rat, mounted in glycerine and water, the object
having an appreciable thickness ; by focussing for the surface nearest to
the objective, he found on taking a photograph that he obtained an image
of the further surface, and on measuring the variation, by means of the
fine adjustment of the microscope, he found that in order to compensate
the actinic variation of a §-inch object-glass, it was needful to withdraw it
the one-fiftieth part of an inch further from the object after focussing, in
consequence of the over-correction. He (Mr. Shadbolt) would take this
opportunity of showing the members a daguerreotype of a microscopic
object taken by Mr. Hodgson in the year 1841. It was a very perfect
representation of a section of endogenous wood. He described Mr.
Hodgson’s arrangement to have been a vertical camera, with a micro¬
scope objective, the object being illuminated by aid of a concave mirror.
The daguerreotype was examined with much interest by the members.
Mr. Bockett remembered to have seen at one of the Exhibitions of the
Photographic Society a daguerreotype copy of the proboscis of a blow
fly, in which the ramifications of the spiral vessels were very delicately and
accurately rendered. This had been taken through the eye-piece of the
microscope.
Mr. Ross mentioned that Mr. Kingsley used very powerful condensers
in taking his photographs of microscopic objects, and when such was the
case instantaneous exposure was necessary to prevent the object from
being burnt up when direct sunlight was used.
The Chairman, speaking in reference to the collodion used by Mr.
Bockett, presumed it was of a structureless character ; but he did not
think that the method suggested in the paper just read was the best means
of attaining the object aimed at. If it were desired to attain a really
structureless collodion, it was necessary to operate in the preparation of
the pyroxyline upon a mixture of acids, at a temperature net lower than
100° F, and so weak that two-thirds of the cotton became dissolved in the
acids. If then the undissolved cotton, after copious washing, be dissolved
in a mixture of five parts of absolute alcohol and three parts of ether, a col¬
lodion would be obtained perfectly free from structure, capable of carrying a
large amount of iodides, whereby its sensibility would be much increased,
and adhering so tenaciously to the plate that it might be washed with
great violence under a tap. He (the Chairman) thought the iodides of
cadmium and ammonium the best to be used for that purpose, and he had
found them bear any amount of intensifying.
Mr. Shadbolt wished to protest against the opinion advanced by the
Chairman in reference to the supposed structural character of a mixture of
Ponting’s and Thomas’s collodion. He thought the question of structure
one not so immediately dependent on the character of the collodion as was
generally supposed, but rather on the kind of manipulation to which it
wus submitted. It was quite easy to produce evidence of structure even
in a structureless collodion; the presence or absence, in fact, of the
character under consideration depending as much on the length of time
given for the film to set after coating, as on the proportion and strength
of the alcohol and ether in the collodion.
1 he Chairman reiterated his opinion that the structural or structureless
character of the collodion depended entirely on the kind of pyroxyline
used, regardless of the proportions of alcohol and ether.
Mr. Shadbolt said he admitted that it was an advantage to have a
collodion yielding a film certainly free from structure, but it was also
advantageous to know how to get rid of it when it did occur.
The discussion on this subject having been brought to a close,
The Chairman announced that Mr. Moens had presented to the Society’s
portfolio five photographs of Eastern scenery. Mr. Bockett had also pre¬
sented a collection of photographs of microscopic objects to the Society.
Votes of thanks were accorded to each of those gentlemen.
A short discussion then ensued on the subject of a photograph of
Whippingham Church, introduced by Mr. Shadbolt to the notice of the
members for the purpose of verifying some remarks which he (Mr.
Shadbolt) proposed to bring under the notice of the members at a subse¬
quent meeting of the Society if opportunity served, and, if not, in the pages
of The British Journal of Photography.
The meeting was then adjourned.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Wednesdays the 2nd
ult., — John Parry, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
Mr. Wardley exhibited a camera, by Dallmeyer, fitted with four lenses,
for carte de visite pictures. An arrangement in this camera for instan¬
taneous exposure, and in which the closing was brought into action by
the elasticity of India-rubber bands, was much admired, and the general
workmanship commended.
Mr. Mabley read a paper On the Expenditure of Silver used in Photo¬
graphic Operations , and on the Saving that mag he Effected. [See page 104.]
A short discussion followed the reading of Mr. Mabley’s paper.
Mr. Wardley agreed with the statement that it was very difficult to
wash the prints free from nitrate of silver, especially in cold weather.
He had also observed that if hot water were used before the application
of cold water, the prints were liable to become brown. The waste
developing solutions he poured into a separate vessel, and the reduction
took place without any addition. He thought it would be a great advan¬
tage to photographers if jars of considerable capacity could be procured —
of a similar shape to the old precipitating glasses, of a greater diameter
at the bottom than at the top.
Mr. Noton exhibited A New 11 Fine Adjustment ” Motion Applied to
Common liigul Cameras , and read a description. [See page 169.]
Mr. Parry read a letter from Mr. Sidebotham, enclosing a panoramic
picture which he had received from Mr. Penny, of Cheltenham, who
begged him to mention to the meeting that he had published, long since,
the principle of obtaining views of this character by turning the lens
upon an axis. This picture and its rival from Batavia, shown at the
March meeting, were compared : both were pronounced to be excellent,
but to the latter was awarded the highest praise.
The Chairman stated that since the previous meeting he had tried
several experiments with panoramic pictures, but found the task more
difficult than he had expected. He then explained the plan he had adopted,
having erected the camera with which the experiments were performed.
The centre of motion was placed under the plane of the ground-glass, and
adjustable stops were provided, so as to ensure the double exposure
according to the focussing.
The Secretary exhibited a series of instantaneous pictures which Mr.
Pyne had forwarded. They were taken by a professional photographer,
upon Dr. Hill Norris’s dry plates, and it was unanimously agreed that
they were a great success.
The proceedings terminated with votes of thanks to the Chairman and
to the gentlemen who had provided matter for the meeting.
CHORLTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held on Thursday, the 10th ult.,
— Mr. W. Griffiths, V. P., in the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed, and the Chairman
requested the Secretary to read the
Annual Report.
In submitting the Report of the past year, the Council refer with pleasure to
the satisfactory financial position of the Society, the Treasurer’s accounts
showing a small balance in hand.
It is not proposed to dwell on the proceedings of the year any further than
to direct attention to the fact that the meetings have been well attended, and
more animated and instructive than the paucity of papers read would lead the
members generally to suppose, and to the more important fact that the dry
process par excellence is yet undiscovered — or, if discovered, unpublished.
Several suggestions have been put forth during the year towards the accomplish¬
ment of this really coveted end ; but, so far, complete success is not attained.
The Council would urge upon every member having the necessary time and
opportunity the absolute necessity of making repeated and energetic efforts in
this direction. Photographers should not cease in their efforts until a process
is in .their hands that unites in itself simplicity of manipulation with some¬
thing approaching to certainty of success, combined with the maximum sensi¬
bility that it is possible to obtain in conjunction with good keeping qualities.
This, in the opinion of your Council, is one of the photographic problems of
the day, but the solution of which requires either considerable knowledge and
tact in experiment or rare good fortune in accidental discovery.
A reference to the minutes of the Society will show that you have given some
time to the consideration of dry processes, and will also prove that facts that
were previously unknown to many of you have been elicited. These, of course,
have been fully appreciated, and are matter for congratulation.
May 1, 1802]
.THE BRITISH JO URN
A summary of the year’s proceedings is given as required by rule 3.
June 13, 1861. — The President delivered an inaugural address, in which he
dilated on the objects and advantages of photographic societies. The address
was followed by a lively discussion on alkaline gold toning.
September 12. — The first meeting after the summer vacation was opened with a
consideration of the question raised by Her Majesty’s Commissioners in reference
to Photography and the Great Exhibition of 1862, when you protested against
the proposed scheme. Mr. Wardley then read a paper On the Taupenut Process.
October 10. — The discussion on Mr. Wardley’s paper was continued.
November 14. — The Chairman (Mr. Griffiths) proposed a discussion on wet
and dry processes, which was carried on with great vigour.
December 12. — Mr. Wardley replied to some remarks made by the Editor of
Tiie British Journal op Photography, in which he described some
interesting experiments. Mr. Griffiths also detailed experiments of a very
instructive character.
January 9. — Discussion on the wet and dry processes continued.
February 12. — Discussion on dry collodion processes introduced with much
detail by Mr. Griffiths.
March 13. — Society’s private business.
The Council, in concluding their Report, feel it to be only just to the Editor
and also to the Publisher of The British Journal of Photography to
record their sense of the unvarying kindness and courtesy with which they have
always been met in their business with those gentlemen.
The Report having been adopted, the members proceeded to elect
officers for the ensuing year.
President — Mr. John Hey wood.
Vice-President — Mr. Wm. Griffiths.
Secretary and Treasurer — Mr. C. Adin.
(Council — Messrs. W. Hooper, L. E. Whaite, W. Radcliffe, John
Fawcett, and J. Rogerson.
The business of the meeting having been disposed of, the usual vote of
thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the members adjourned.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on Wednesday evening, the 16th ult., when the chair
was occupied by George H. Slight, Esq., Vice-President.
William Johnston, Esq., was admitted a member; after which, Mr. J. T.
Taylor introduced — in the following remarks —
The Invention of the Stereoscope , and the Chimenti Drawings.
As this, at present, is a “ sensation ” subject in scientific circles, I
thought it well to bring it before the notice of the Society. The subject
is somewhat complicated, and, from the position of the gentlemen
involved in it, of considerable interest. On the one hand is Sir David
Brewster, the honoured President of the sister Photographic Society in
this city ; and on the other, Dr. Carpenter, with whose writings many
of you are doubtless familiar.
With respect to the invention of the stereoscope the following appears
to be the case pretty fairly put : — Sir David Brewster claims that the
lenticular or ordinary refracting stereoscope is his invention, and that
he published this invention in 1849, previous to which time no similar
instrument was in existence. This Dr. Carpenter meets by stating that
another instrument for showing similar effects, and of which the alleged
invention of Sir David Brewster was only a modification, was invented
and published to the world by Professor Wheatstone, in 1838, or eleven
years previously. It is also stated by Dr. Carpenter that a prismatic
refracting stereoscope, or one similar to that invented by Sir David
Brewster, was constructed by Professor Wheatstone in 1832, or seventeen
years before Sir David Brewster’s invention, although the same was not
published till twenty years after. There is no doubt whatever that the
fiopular stereoscope of the present day, by whomsoever invented, is the
enticular or prismatic or refracting one. The next question is, does this
particular class of stereoscope bear such a relation to the other, or reflec¬
ting, stereoscope (the priority of discovery of which is not called in
question) as to be considered a modification arising out of, or suggested
by it? oris it quite a distinct instrument? If the latter, as in science,
priority can only be rightfully awarded to him who first publishes ; and
Sir David Brewster having published in 1849, he has clearly an
advantage over Professor AVheatstone by three years.
This 1 conceive to be, in the fewest possible words, a fair statement of
the question at issue. Sir David Brewster claims, not the invention of
the stereoscope, but of the refracting stereoscope.
With respect to Chimenti’s drawings, Sir David Brewster states that
they are so drawn as to combine and give the effect of relief; and this is
met by Dr. Carpenter, who states that they do not possess stereoscopic
relief, but that if they did it does not follow that they were drawn with
a knowledge of stereoscopic principles. These drawings have been sub¬
mitted to many gentlemen competent to judge, who say they are not
stereoscopic ; but they have also been submitted to many gentlemen
equally competent to judge, who say they are stereoscopic. Indeed, one
of the best stereoscopic photographers in Scotland told me that he was
inclined to believe that the person or persons who made the drawings
must have done so in perfect knowledge of the effects to be produced by
coalescing the pictures, and that it could not have been done by a mere
haphazard dissimilarity in the drawings. On the other hand, another
gentleman, who is very well qualified to judge of such matters, says that
the one on the left is the rough, ready, and rapid sketch of a master, with
all its imperfections ; the other is the more careful copy of the pupil, with
AL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 175
its perspective corrected — as witness the stool. The line of the tape is
corrected ; but the expression of the head is lost : — more careful but les»
masterly ; greater labour, but worse artistic results — the differences
between the two, however, being sufficient to produce general stereoscopic
effect.
It may interest some of you to hear the opinion of one of the fathers of
photograph}', the Rev. J. B. Reade, expressed a few days ago in course-
of some correspondence with a gentleman here, who, at my request,
kindly allowed me to make such use of it on this occasion as I might
deem proper ; and whether or not you agree with the sentiments ex¬
pressed by the writer, you will all at least agree that the opinions of a
gentleman occupying such an exalted position in the history of photo¬
graphy is entitled to the highest consideration. He says: —
“ Though their true character is denied by some, yet the solidity given to the figure bv
converging the optic axes settles the point at on- e. * * * I sent a copy of
the drawings to my friend, Mr. - ,* who had not heard of the controversy, and I
did not allude to it, as I wished for his simple opinion ; and he has a very good eye, and
is an expert photographer. He says in his note to-day: — ‘I tried the stereoscopic effect,
and was much struck with the skill of the artist who could so well draw a pair of pic¬
tures. They certainly bear the stereoscope wonderfully well.’ The stereoscopic effect is
certainly very striking in the relative positions of the string, the legs of the compasses,
and the right thigh ; hut iho right leg is nearer the eye, both being above the thigh and
in advance of the string. By reversing the figures all this is at once changed. The
compasses are behind both the string and the thigh, and their left leg is nearer to us
than the right ; so that this part shows the stereoscopic effect to great advantage, and
can scarcely, under the known philosophy of the time, be the result of mere accident. ’
I Slid not intend to have expressed any opinion on these topics myself;
but as I have already, on another occasion, stated my belief as to the
stereoscopic effect of these drawings, I may now state that I cannot,
after repeated examination of them, come to any other conclusion than I
formerly did, which was, that however the pictures have been produced
— whether the one by the master, and the other, an imperfect copy, by
the pupil, or whether drawn with the intention of being combined — the
effect is certainly stereoscopic.
I cannot think with Dr. Carpenter that both pictures may have been
taken at the same time by two different individuals seated slightly apart,
as there is every indication of the one picture being copied from the other :
and it is altogether against the doctrine of chances to suppose that so
many peculiar points of difference between them can he the result of
mere accident or carelessness in copying.
A lengthened conversation on the subject ensued, which will bo
reported in our next number ; as also some discussion on the comparative
merits of dry versus wet collodion plates for amateurs.
The meeting was numerously attended.
Jtrrerp Comsponbmrc.
Paris, April 20, 1802.
An amateur, M. Civiale, has just made a very interesting commu¬
nication to the Academy of Sciences. In the current of the year
before last, and of the preceding year, M. Civiale had produced
panoramic and detached views of a large portion of the Bernese
Oberland, as ■well as the western slopes of the chain of Mont Blanc.
Last summer he was again at work among the Alps, following the
same course, and doing his utmost to supply facts for geology and
physical geography. This year lie has presented to the Academy
four panoramas of the eastern slopes of Mont Blanc and of the
northern slopes of Monte Rosa; likewise an album of detailed
views from the valleys of Zermatt, Courmayeur, Ferret, and Berard.
M. Civiale has introduced into his dry waxed-paper process an
important modification, which I referred to a few months back.
Instead of using wax alone, he now employs four parts of paraffin
with one of wax.f The paraffin gives to the pictures greater
delicacy, and allows the exposure to be shortened by one-third,
while the wax helps to postpone the moment of fusion for the
paraffin, and prevents crystallisation.
M. Civiale’s work comprises two distinct parts — the detached
views and the panoramas; which latter take in mountain chains in
their general aspect, giving a clear idea of their configuration, and
determining the geodetic elements of the different points. The
picturesque occupies but the second rank.
The first panorama, composed of eight pictures, is taken from
Mont Carmet, uear Courmayeur. It is comprised in an angle of
170°, and represents the ensemble of the Mont Blanc chain from the
Col des Fours to the Col Ferret, over an extent of about thirty-two
kilometres from south-west to north-east. The standing-point is
one of the summits of Mont Carmet, 2,0(12 metres above the level of
the sea. This height rises about eighty feet above Mont Cramont,
and is in a favourable position for reproducing the panorama.
The second panorama, composed of twelve pictures, is taken
from Gornergrat, above Zermatt. It is comprised in an angle of
* The name here omitted is familiar to most photographers.
+ M. Civiale has been anticipated in the use of paraffin by Mr. Burnett and also by
Dr. Maddox in this country, both oi these gentlemen having employed it some rears
since. — En.
176
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1862
247°, and represents the chain of Monte Rosa from the Rothhorn
and the Gabelhorner to the Strahlhorn, extending about fifty-three
kilometres from north-west to north-north-east. The standing-
point is 3,136 metres above the level of the sea. The numerous
o-laciers and masses of snow surrounding the summit of Mont
Gornergrat sheds over the whole panorama a diffuse and dazzling
light, which greatly increases the difficulties of the photographer.
The third and fourth panoramas are both taken from the same
point of the Gagel, 2,707 metres above the sea, and embrace the
whole circumference from the summits of Monte Rosa to those of the
Bernese Oberland, hidden in the mist at the far end of the valley of
St. Nicholas. These panoramas were taken in two days; but, as
in each case the apparatus was placed on the same spot and in the
same manner, the two views form a single panorama, and could be
combined without any difficulty. The third panorama stretches
from north-north-east to south-south-west, and is comprised in an
angle of 208° 30'. It is composed of ten pictures, representing the
Rothhorn, the Glacier of Findelen, the solid masses of Gornergrat,
Riffelhorn, Riffelberg, and a few summits of the principal chain of
Monte Rosa as far as Mont Cervin.
The fourth panorama running from south-south-west to north-
north-east, and included in an angle of 168°, is composed of eight
pictures, representing the secondary chains of Monte Rosa, which
overlook the narrow valleys of Zermatt and St. Nicholas from the
Grand Cervin to the Glacier of Findelen.
The series of detached views presents the Valley of Zermatt,
different summits of the chain of Monte Rosa, a grand view of the
Riffelhorn, the Glaciers of Gorner, of the Breithorn, of the Petit
Cervin, of St. Theodula, of Furgge, of Zermatt, &c. ; the Valleys
of Aoste and Courmayeur, the Vale of Vein, the Glacier of the
Breuva, the Vale of Ferret, the environs of Barberine, the Valley
of Berard, the Circus of Berard in detail, Buet, Fitz, &c. An ex¬
planatory heading and reduced pictures of the panoramas complete
the album.
Disderi has just published a volume, entitled L'art de la Photo¬
graphic t, which I have looked through with care. It will certainly
be appreciated by a large number of persons. The work is divided
into three parts. In the first, which is consecrated to the materiel
of photography, the author gives a clear description of the
apparatus employed by him, and shows what can be done with
each of the instruments when skilfully handled. The second part
treats of the collodion processes. The formulie are precise, and
the details sober but sufficient. These processes, though few, are
good, for they have enabled the author to produce works which
have established his reputation. In the third part, which contains
considerations on the esthetics of photography, Disderi develops
his ideas and the results of his experience. The volume is com¬
pleted by an appendix, summing up the principal processes for
operating upon dry collodion ; and it is preceded by an intro¬
duction %om the pen of M. Lafon de Carmarsac, who has had a
large share in the literary preparation of the book — at least in that
which is not purely technical. The book is well written, and,
though intended for instruction, is interesting.
While speaking of Disderi I must mention a project which he
has conceived, and, indeed, begun to put into execution. The
public are taking more and more to amplified portraits; but many
photographic portraitists are unfavourably circumstanced for this
kind of work, which demands space, sunshine, and very costly
apparatus. In his two establishments Disderi has more than
enough room for the various applications of photography; besides,
he has had considerable experience in amplifying pictures by
Wothly’s process, which is his property. Disderi has therefore
offered his brother photographers to undertake for them the ampli¬
fication of portraits at a fixed tariff of prices. Several photo¬
graphers have already sent him cliches to be amplified. I do not
see anything to prevent the enterprise from succeeding.*
In the revived discussion concerning the drawings by Chementi
belonging to the Musde Wicar at Lille, Sir David Brewster has done
me the honour of mentioning my name in connexion with what I
wrote to you at the time Mr. Bingham presented two reproductions
of those drawings to the Society of Photography.
My respect for the illustrious savant would lead me to bow to his
opinion in all matters of pure theory. I would not even venture
upon a discussion as to what was the guiding thought of the artist.
I merely proffer the observations I made in a recent and very atten¬
tive examination of the two drawings in question. My opinion is,
that the left-hand drawing (in following Mr. Bingham’s reproduc-
• Although lie doe 3 not exuctly say as much, M. Lacan appears to imply that under¬
taking commercially enlargement from negatives by other photographers, and for their
use, is a new idea. If he will refer to our advertising columns, he will perceive that
this practice has already been in operation for somo time in England.— Ed.
tion) is a copy of the other, executed by a pupil of Cbimenti.
Throughout I detect the hesitation and want of firmness of an un¬
practised hand. Several details, boldly struck off by the master,
are awkwardly rendered by the copyist. Let me point in particu¬
lar to the fold in the sleeve of the arm holding the compasses, the
fold above the knee, and the line which marks the pocket. One
feels that the pupil endeavoured to copy faithfully, but that, in the
absence of the requisite skill, the hand faltered. Might not the
differences which some attribute to a change in the point of view
arise from the inaccuracy of the copy? I believe they might, and
all the more so as in the second drawing the head is less bent :
this could not come from a difference in the angle of vision. These
observations are not exclusively my own : they have also been
made by many painters to whom the reproduction of the drawings
have been shown.
Reference is also made to what I had said by the Rev. J. B. Reade,
in a letter which he has just sent to the Journal of the Photographic
Society. He thinks that the stereographs of which I had spoken
may not be the same as those which he has seen himself, and of
which the Journal of the Photographic Society publishes a litho¬
graphed copy. I can assure him that they are certainly the same;
but I must add that the reproduction inserted in the above-named
Journal are too imperfect to enable one to judge of the originals.
The details that I have spoken of above, and which are very im¬
portant, are not at all correct.
And now let me speak of an innovation which may perhaps open
up new paths for the photographic art, and which in any case
merits attention. A manufacturer of fish oil at La Rochelle has
been trying to apply the albumen of fishes’ eggs to the preparation
of photographic papers. One of his friends, who is an operator,
has made some experiments, Avhich have given pretty satisfactory
results. In the specimen of the paper that I have seen the layer
is strong and supple, has something unctuous about it, and presents
the appearance of gelatine. It is too yellow in colour, but might
be made paler, by the use of chlorine, for instance. It is evident
that fishes’ eggs contain something else besides albumen, and per¬
haps the new coating might prove useful in certain processes. It
is at least a thing to be tried.
A few months since photography seemed on the point of being
put down among the mechanical arts. The tribunals of Paris and
Turin denied to its productions the protection accorded to the
works of art. At present everything is getting right again. A
bill before the British Parliament admits it among the fine arts,
and the Court of Appeal has just set aside the first judgment in
the matter of Mayer and Pierson. The following are the principal
points of the new judgment: —
Considering that photographic designs cannot necessarily and in
every case he considered as devoid of all artistic character, nor be
ranked among purely material works ;
That, in fact, these designs, though obtained with the aid of a
camera and under the influence of light, may yet, in a certain
degree, be the product of the thought, mind, taste, and intelligence
of the operator ;
That their perfection, independently of manual skill, depends
largely on the reproduction of landscapes, the choice of a point of
view, on the combination of the effects of light and shade, and
likewise, in portraits from life, on the arrangement of the costumes
and accessories, all which things are left to artistic feeling, and give
to the work of the photographer the stamp of his individuality;
Considering that if the processes invented by Daguerre are
public property, and that therefore every one may employ them,
it nowise follows that those works which, with the help of these
processes, are produced by the art and intelligence of the photo¬
grapher, are likewise public property, &c. ;
The Court sets aside the first judgment, and condemns the
imitators. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , April 8 th, 1862.
During the past two weeks but little has been added of interest to
our stock of information concerning the hot water development of
tannin plates, as proposed by Dr. Draper. I have before me letters
from amateurs who work the tannin process exclusively, and while
some say they have tried the hot water with no good result, others
are as decided as ever in favour of it. Those, however, who have
failed may have erred on the side of too great contrast of heat and
cold — that is, they may have had the water too hot; for one writer
says he treated one end of a plate with hot water and the other
with cold, and the hot end developed fully as to detail, but as
feeble as an ambrotype; while the cold end came up as well in
detail, more intense than the hot end, showing, however, a slight
May 1, 186&]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
177
increase of intensity at a part of the cold end that had had an
accidental flow of the hot water over it. He argued from this that
too great a heat was detrimental to the latent image, and that the
greatest good could only be obtained from a moderate increase of
temperature. All this goes to show that it is like many other great
discoveries, and that only after long and patient experiments, con¬
ducted under various circumstances as to the conditions of the
chemicals used, &c., can the true value of the discovery be made
manifest.
Having so often alluded in former letters to the general use here
of ammonio-nitrato of silver for albumen paper, I am loath to
occupy more of your space with the subject. There is reason, how¬
ever, to believe that the very name of the so-called ammonio-
nitrate solution may lead many into error concerning it. I think
that in my first allusion to it I said it was more properly a solution
of oxide of silver in nitrate of ammonia. The additions of ether or
alcohol to assist the coagulation of the albumen is not a necessity
of the case : many are using the solution without any such addi¬
tion. But in such cases the solution is, as a general rule, made
much richer in silver than when the ether is added — some using kt
as strong as one hundred grains to the ounce of water. From
careful inquiry as to the exact condition of various silver baths
used here of this kind, I think I am safe in saying that, if a solution
of nitrate of silver sixty or eighty grains to the ounce be made, and
to this solution nitrate of ammonia be added, taking care to keep
the solution very slightly alkaline, the exact equivalent to these
so-called ammonio-nitrate solutions will be produced. In no single
case have I seen baths of this kind become discoloured from use ;
and, what is remarkable, the range of strength for good work is
very much increased. At my suggestion, and in order to test the
matter for the information of your readers, I requested an operator
here to make up a new bath, eighty grains to the ounce, and to use
this from day to day without adding any more silver to it until
his prints should begin to show the want of silver. He worked the
solution down too low for successful floating, and still the prints
showed no symptoms of mealiness. The solution at this time
showed by the hydrometer thirty grains to the ounce, and I cannot
say how much longer it might have been used to advan¬
tage.
While on the subject of prints, I must mention some stereoscopic
views of Niagara and its vicinity soon to be published by Mr. E.
Anthony, of Broadway, New York. They are from a new set of
negatives, and deserve more than a passing notice. Anyone who
has visited the Falls cannot have failed to notice how difficult it is
to represent on paper or canvas the wonderfnl grandeur of the
scene. Everything seems large in proportion, and it is not until
one has walked himself tired, and looked up at the falling mass of
water, and looked down the deep abyss, and spanned it in every
way with his eye, thus gradually learning true distances, that the
mind can estimate and fully realise its grandeur. Many of the
pictures above alluded to are from new stand points, and, besides
being charming prints, seem to express more of the striking fea¬
tures of the view than any stereograph heretofore published. Some
of them will prove particularly interesting to geologists ; for the
huge masses of rock laid bare by the wearing back of the falls,
through countless ages, is given with all the pre-Raffaelite perfection
in detail that the camera only can give ; and one is prompted at
first sight of the picture to turn to Sir Charles Lyell’s graphic de¬
scription of the geology of the Falls, and to trace with his aid the
nature and condition of the strata laid bare. I was glad — very
1 glad — to see these prints, and to hear that they were soon to be
published ; for I began to fear that the card-pictures wrere fast
driving the wonderful stereographs from the market.
Amateur photography here seems, however, to be devoting itself
almost exclusively to the production of stereoscopic pictures, and
i the last exchanges of the Amateur Photographic Exchange Club
show a decided improvement among all the members; and now it
is only to be hoped that our friends “over the water” will share
with us this pleasure of exchange.
Visiting our public galleries and asking what kind of work they
are doing, we receive the constant answer, “ card pictures and
these same card-pictures seem to be a great trouble to some of the
minor establishments. One of our German friends, who has a
small glass-room, said the other day : — “Oh! we have so mooch
troubles now ! We have to print on two kinds of paper, and tone
in two kinds of toning baths, and the business is not worth
mooch !” On the other hand, we see our more enterprising photo¬
graphers spreading their rooms in all directions, and not only en¬
larging their reception-rooms and show-windows, but adding extra
glass roofs. In to-day’s Press 1 have read an article on the subject
of card-pictures, written, no doubt, by Dr. M'Kenzie : it was sug¬
gested by the great increase in size of one of our first-class es¬
tablishments.
In applied photography I must mention some good copies of
cards of Indian arrow-heads, designed to be forwarded to some of
the European museums. It is a step in the right direction when
amateur collectors of curiosities will have their collections so faith¬
fully copied, and can send them to their co-labourers in the same
scientific work. But it is to the machinist and manufacturer in metal
and stone that this wonderful art is of the greatest benefit. An
extensive manufacturer of iron railings and fancy castings once
told me that the introduction of photography into his works was
of the greatest use to him — that it had proved even cheaper than
the old process of lithographing. That to have all his articles
produced on stone, he had not only to depend on the truthfulness
of the draughtsman, but, in order to reduce the cost on each print,
he was always obliged to have many hundreds of each struck off
at one time, while of many of the articles he would want to dis¬
tribute but few, and hence his shelves were always encumbered
with a useless stock. On the other hand, his negatives took
up but little space in a fireproof room, and he was obliged to keep
no great stock of prints on hand. So with locomotive builders.
Upon the construction of some new style of engine, a finished
drawing might be made in a few weeks: this drawing would then
be some weeks more in the hands of the lithographer, and, finally,
when the style of engine was old, and further improvements secured
to warrant a new print, the proofs would come to hand, and even
then would be found to have been incorrectly drawn, and be almost
worthless. Now, however, the camera is to the engine-builder
what the ordinary letter-copying press is to the merchant. The
latter keeps the copies of his letters— perfect facsimiles — even to
the undotted “ i’s ,” and the uncrossed “ t’s while the locomo¬
tive builder runs his finished engine on to the track, photographs
it in as many positions as he pleases, and even before the ponderous
machine has reached its destination he writes to its purchaser,
enclosing a bill of lading, and photographs of the finished machine.
It has been a matter of some debate Avhether machinery should be
so taken as to exclude all other objects than the machine itself ;
and, as in many cases the accidental introduction of surrounding
objects tends to confuse the picture of the machine, it is desirable
to paint out the back-ground. This has been done in a novel way
of late. A large amount of machinery had been made for the
Russian navy yards, and some good prints 14 X 18 were preserved.
It was desired to produce some 8 X 10 negatives of these same
machines, to add to a uniform collection of that size prints. The
large prints were stretched face down on a drawing-board and
gummed on the back ; when dry, they were cut loose and turned face
up, and again stretched ; next, they were worked up with Indian
ink as perfectly as possible ; and, finally, the machine was cut away
from the back-ground by running the point of a sharp knife around
the entire outline of each part. The gum on the back caused them
to cockle out of shape, but, on laying them face down on a wet sheet
of blotting-paper, they soon become straightened out, and could be
transferred with ease to a wet sheet of very white card-board, and
finely pressed down by rubbing each part with a burnisher. These
cut-out pictures were then reduced by aid of the camera to the
required size, and with a much improved appearance.
With my next letter I will enclose some of these reduced prints,
and the proofs from which the touched-up pictures were taken.
But when I do write again, it would be better for me to count my
sheets of paper beforehand, and not begin on a full quire, else I
may be led into always giving you more than you have room for,
and we would be the losers by crowding out valuable matter.
" COLEMAN SELLERS.
A New Cleaning Mixture.— Professor Joy, at a recent meeting
of the American Photographical Society, gave a description of a
new mixture for the removal of grease spots, and for polishing
glass and metal, which he had found in a recent scientific periodi¬
cal. It may be of use to photographers. Moisten calcined magnesia
with pure benzine until the whole is wet enough to yield a drop of
the liquid when pressed out : it can be kept in wide-mouthed
well-stoppered bottles until required for use. Shake out a small
quantity upon the grease spot, and press lightly with the finger :
then brush off and repeat, and let a portion remain until the benzine
has evaporated. Glass, mirrors, and metal can be cleaned with a
piece of cotton and benzine magnesia. Stains upon maps, prints,
books, gold, silver, tin, Brittauia metal, brass, &c., are thus readily
removed.
178
[May 1, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
|lotcs of tljc RUmtb.
The same date these pages bear will record the opening of. the
(in every sense) Gh'ecit Exhibition of 18G2: the world’s fair — ■
nothing more — nothing less : the industrial produce of all the
nations that on earth do dwell — of all those upon whom the
primseval curse of labour — so often converted into a blessing — has
fallen. From the uttermost ends of the earth people ol every
tongue or race have sent whatsoever work their hands have found
to do. To wander amidst its mazes during the few last days of
preparation ere the opening was to witness a scene not easily for¬
gotten. As statue after statue was bared to the gaze, was, but for
the noise, to realise a dream of the “Arabian Nights : ” with the
. noise and hum of many tongues, we can remember no better com¬
parison than the Tower of Babel.
Grumbling — that inalienable privilege of Englishmen — may be
exercised by photographers with all the force imparted by a
righteous cause. The eyrie in the Southern Tower, to which
Photography has been banished — like a refractory child for cor¬
rection — is so excessively hot, from its situation, that few will be
able to stay there long enough to inspect the pictures, if they
should by any chance find their way into such a remote region :
and the way is not by any means easily found. Unlike other
departments which have spacious flights of stairs, the entrance to
ours is so small and mean as to be easily overlooked, resembling
the entrance to servants’ apartments more than anything else.
Indeed, on our first visit we passed and repassed it again and
again without finding it. Then comes “such a getting up-stairs
as never was seen ” — enough to discourage the most indefatigable
sight-seer. The Royal Commissioners have elevated the art with a
vengeance ! There can no longer be any doubt of its being high
art ! The temperature there was upwards of eighty degrees on the
24th ult. What it will attain to in the dog-days we dare not
predicate. We overheard the poor sapper and miner stationed
there bewailing his hard fate, evidently thinking the lines had not
fallen to him in pleasant places. It is but fair to add that blinds
will ultimately be fixed, and some ventilation attempted ; but still
it must be the “hot-house” of the building. Descending the
staircase, and pacing along the cool vistas below, the con¬
trast is forced upon the mind most painfully. Foreign photo¬
graphers will have much the best of it in situation, being each
in their national department. One lingers about the cool recesses
in which they are placed, while in the other case the foremost
feeling is to get away as soon as one can. Every one would wish
the Commissioners, in the character of host, to do the correct thing
by our foreign visitors ; but it is not usual when receiving guests
to dismiss your own family to the attic. It is most unfair to their
fellow-countrymen. Once more, save us from our friends ! ! !
Much noise is made about the sum paid for Frith’s really splendid
painting of the Railway Terminus', but little can be said about the
commercial inferiority of photography when so large a sum as
three or four thousand guineas has been paid by one firm for the
simple privilege of photographing the Exhibition. Perhaps pho¬
tographers can find consolation, as the poor student who, forced to
live in an attic, found comfort in the thought that he was nearer
the stars. Or will they, like Disraeli, say— -“the day shall come
when they will be listened to?”
The show is not on the whole so extensive as we expected, but
every inch granted has been filled. Photographers would have
liked their works kept more together ; but we must assume it could
not be, and some “skying” was inevitable. In Mr. Bedford’s case
(almost the only one) the pictures are admirably kept together.
Some of Messrs. Colnaghi’s people were employed, and entirely
unqualified praise cannot be given them. A large table from
Messrs. Lock and Whitfield has been placed in one of the very best
places, by an “amendment of allotment,” in some mysterious
manner — which is a gross injustice to other exhibitors, thus giving
one undue preponderance, more particularly when some of the
works of T. R. Williams are thrust into a corner, and miniatures
by Mr. Thomas Garrick were refused admission altogether.
Mr. V ernon Heath is said to have constructed one of the most
perfect studios in London, and announces for publication, on the
1st of May, the last portraits for which his late Royal Highness
the Prince Consort ever sat.
Lord Henry Lennox's motion for inquiry into the expenditure of
the public money on the national art-galleries has come to nothing.
The sum of £1500 has been put down for photography at the South
Kensington Museum during the past year, and no details given.
Mr. Bedford’s “ Eastern Scenes” are to be published by Messrs.
Day and Son. S. T.
.traps anb fragments.
Mason v. Heath. — This was an action tried at the Guildhall
before the Chief Justice, when a verdict was found for the defen¬
dant [ante page 112]. The case was again brought before the
Court of Common Pleas on the 17th ult., Chief Justice Erie and
the other Justices sitting in Banco. Mr. Montague Smith, Q.C.,
moved to enter the verdict for the plaintiff on leave reserved.
The facts are already before our readers. Rule nisi granted.
Photography in America.- — In a note recently received from
Mr. Coleman Sellers, he says : — “ In this country, I know not why,
we cannot dispense with the bromides. I have tried it often, and
the result was that unless the picture was exposed for nearly
double the usual time no detail could be obtained in the shadows.
The two pictures of machinery — one a lathe and the other of a
wheel- press — show how we are illustrating our machinery.”
Photographic Dissolving Views.— The Easter programme of
the entertainments at the Polytechnic Institution (London) con¬
tains the following : — “ New and charming series of semi-stereo¬
scopic views of the boulevards, public buildings, imperial palaces,
and streets of Paris as it is, by Mr. England (artist of the London
Stereoscopic Company), who has made these pictures truly ‘life¬
like’ by the introduction of the gay Parisians, their vehicles, their
police, and military, who fill the busy thoroughfares of this beau- .
tiful city. N.B. — These views will be shown by an entirely new
set of achromatic lenses, manufactured by Mr. Dallmeyer, and the
description will be given by J. L. King, Esq.”
The Japanese Ambassadors. — The Japanese ambassadors have
had their portraits taken at the photographic establishment of M.
Nadar, Paris. The ambassadors showed the most lively interest
in the operations, desiring even to enter the laboratory, and asking
explanations about everything they saw. One of the officers of
the suite took the album of the establishment, and drawing from
his pocket a brush and ink requested M. Nadar to sit for his por¬
trait. M. Nadar also called for a pencil and paper, and the two
draughtsmen set to work sketching each other, to the delight of
the ambasadors, who went from one to the other examining the
progress of the work. Notwithstanding the politeness which is
due to strangers, “we are constrained,” says Galignani, “to declare
that in the trial of skill between Europe and Asia, the latter could
not boast of superiority.”
The Exhibition Building. — The Daily Telegraph , in a recent
leading article, gives vent to the following just estimate of the
aesthetic qualifications of the big Brompton Factory : — “We have
tried our very hardest not to grumble at the proceedings of the
International Exhibition Commissioners ; but we admit that it has
become latterly impossible for us to preserve a due state of con¬
tentment and equanimity at the doings of the gentlemen at South
Kensington. We have put on our rose-coloured spectacles; we
have banished the gall from our inkstand ; we would, if we could,
write with a quill plucked from the wing of a dove ; we would
most willingly look at everything connected with the undertaking
from the airiest, cheerfullest, hopefullest point of view ; but, after
all, we can’t shut our eyes and our ears to the things we see and
the things we hear. We must grumble a little. We must be cruel
for a moment, only to be kind, since our complaints may haply
move the Commissioners to amend the errors of their ways, and
give us in future no cause at all to grumble. Let us hasten, how¬
ever, to state, that we are not about to make the unhappy building
itself a bone of contention. With one profound sigb, with one
grievous gulp, we swallow the hideous goods-station, factorv-run-
mad-looking thing— the dish-cover domes and the preposterous
sheds called annexes. We are willing to be friends with
Fowke. Habet — he has got it. He has clutched the sceptre
and the sway. He has proclaimed himself Lord Paramount of
English art-edifices, and we must defer to his supremacy.
Engineers and artillerists have just now got the upper hand ; and
perhaps Captain Fowke’s next achievement will be a cupola
British Museum, or an armour-plated National Gallery. He has
put the Sheepshanks Gallery into an engine-boiler: perchance
some day he will construct a factory chimney as the permanent
home of the Turner Collection. For the nonce, however, we
accept Fowke ; we do not demur to Dilke ; we throw ourselves at
the feet of Cole ; we recognise South Kensington as the grove of
Academe, and the International Commission as the incarnation of
resthetic wisdom, sagacity, and good taste. The timid grumbling
we this way give vent to has no reference to the construction of
the Exhibition building, or to the contents of the Exhibition itself,
It bears merely on a question of pounds, shillings, and pence,”
May 1, 1802]
179
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Photography and Diplomacy.— The Italian correspondent of
The Times, writing from Turin on the 14th of April, says:— “A
diplomatic mission to Persia is expected to set out from Turin
in a short time. It is to be accompanied by a scientific deputation,
including military gentlemen cincl a photographer.'" What the duty
of this gentleman will be is not stated; but it is evident, from the
mere appointment of such an officer, that the important aid which
ofir art is capable of rendering on occasions such as that alluded
to is not undervalued by the Italian Government, but receives,
on the contrary, due consideration at their hands.
Interesting Festivity. — At Brunswick, on the 22nd February
last, Messrs. Voigtlander and Son worthily celebrated the com¬
pletion of the 10,000th photographic lens manufactured by that
eminent firm. We append a translation of an article on the sub¬
ject from the German Rcichs Gazette : — •
In the large hall of the Odeon we had occasion, on the 22nd of Feb¬
ruary last, to witness a festival which, as to its importance to German
art and industry, may worthily be placed side by side of the celebration
which Mr. Borsig, of Berlin, gave to his workmen on the occasion of the
completion of the one-thousandth locomotive engine. In the optical
establishment of Messrs. Voigtliinder and Son the ten-thousandth photo¬
graphic instrument had been completed already towards the end of the
past year ; and in the celebration of this event the head of the firm, Mr.
Frederick Voigtlander, regaled his workmen with a splendid supper, fol¬
lowed by a grand ball, which was kept up until a very late hour, and was
in all a very happy affair. The ten-thousandth instrument had been re¬
tained for the occasion, and stood finely decorated in the hall, surrounded
by Austrian and Brunswick flags, transparencies, &c., headed by a portrait
of Mr. Voigtlander. At supper a large silver cup was presented to Mr.
Voigtlander by the oldest workman, and an appropriate address made by
Mr. Rossing, also one of the oldest men. After the ball Mr. and Madame
Voigtlander were serenaded at their residence. As we spoke of the
importance of this celebration, we perhaps owe a proof of it, which
will be the more welcome as nearly everybody is interested in photo¬
graphy. When Daguerre made his famous invention he was confined
to taking lifeless objects ; for, as is universally known, at that
time only lenses of weak power of light were used. It was not until
Voigtlander came out with his double lenses, made according to the
calculation of Professor Petzval, that it was possible to take portraits.
The grand achievement was then universally applauded, and the
inventor awarded by a medal struck expressly for this purpose in
Paris. It was only a natural result that owing to the great suc¬
cess of Voigtlander many manufactories of such lenses were opened
in all countries ; but up to the present day the lenses of Voigtlander have
preserved their old fame, the best proof of which is the 10,000tli lens, and
the fact that they are found in all the first establishments in the world.
The manufactory of Messrs. Voigtlander and Son has recently been vastly
enlarged, and yet it is impossible to satisfy the daily increasing demands.
They count on making 2,000 lenses this year, whilst the 10,000 have been
produced in twenty years, which gives an average of 500 a-year. Besides
these lenses the firm produces also a very large number of opera-
glasses, which they also made first with achromatic eye lenses. These are
principally bought in England, where they are universally known by the
name of “ Voigtlander,” and at races will be found in every gentleman’s
hand. It would lead us too far to enumerate all the different branches of
the establishment, and we will therefore confine ourselves to mentioning
that, even twenty-five years ago, Mr. Voigtlander produced telescopes
which, according to the judgment of Gauss, Schumacher, and others,
were found equal, and even in some respects superior, to the renowned
Fraunhofer telescopes. The present proprietor of the establishment,
which was founded one hundred years ago by his grandfather, has always
been on the alert to extend the business as much as possible, and has suc¬
ceeded in doing this principally by his connexions with other countries.
We meet thus here the rare combination of artistic effort and commercial
enterprise. We conclude this report, which we felt ourselves bound to
make, by the hearty wish that we may soon be able to congratulate Mr.
Voigtlander on the completion of the next 10,000th lens.
B We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. YVe cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
THE CHIMENTI PICTURES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Pray let me give my reasons for differing from you in opinion
respecting the interesting pictures by Chimenti ; and I am the more
anxious to do so because the lithographs just given us in the Journal of
the Photographic Society do not decidedly carry on the face of them the
proof of my assertion that the right-eye picture is a copy of the other, and
is not, as you suppose, the simultaneous work of another artist on a
right-hand chair.
The able lithographer, to whom we are much indebted, has not copied
the stereographs touch by touch. It would he almost impossible to do so.
But the faithful photographic rendering given to us by Bingham exhibits
far too many minute points of exact resemblance in the originals to make
it possible for the second picture to be other than a copy of the first. I
feel sure that your own examination of the photographs will conduct you
to this conclusion.
But while designed coincidences and, perhaps, somewhat inferior
handling establish the character of the copy, designed differences equally
prove it, to my mind, to be a right-eye picture. The parts of the picture
which require special alteration for this purpose are those which lie in;
different planes parallel to the paper — as, for instance, the string, the
legs of the compasses, and the knees ; and here we find, as a simple
matter of fact and measurement, that the required conditions of relative
distance for a right-eye picture are well maintained — so well, indeed,
that, like Dr. Carpenter’s truncated pyramids, not only do the compasses
advance or recede by near or distant convergence of the optic axes, but
the legs themselves so change places with the change of vision, that the
nearer leg by one convergence becomes the more distant by the other. A
pair of compasses in a modern similar picture could not obey the laws of
vision better than Chimenti’s.
We must admit, however, that if we deal rather hardly with the old
artist and put him into a stereoscope, which is a very crucial instrument,
then defects which the naked eye had almost passed over become so-
apparent as to throw doubt upon his right eye. But, as these defects are
in the unimportant parts of the picture, and not where the distance from,
near to far points is considerable, wc seem to be justified in the sup¬
position that right and left eye jiictures were intended to be drawn, ltis-
quite another question whether they were intended to he viewed as a pair .
If they were, then the early artists, besides the parallax of near objects,
which of course they saw, would have been equally with ourselves
struck with admiration at the depth and solidity of their work, and the
third dimension, with the charms of relief, would have been felt then as
now in all its power; and, had it been thus seen and felt, could it by any
possibility have been forgotten ?
A naval friend of mine, accustomed to the use of instruments, after
reading the above, suggests the following solution : — “ The artist repre¬
sents himself as looking intently at the string with the left eye, and about
to use the compasses for measuring the parallax of the string, when re¬
ferred to another part of a more distant plane, by reversing the sight to
the right eye.” I cannot deny this. Can you? The principle, being
thus known, is applied to the right and left-eye pictures which represent
its illustration ; and the fact of our now making these pseudoscopic in
their principal distances by transmission, takes them out of the category
of accident and guess work. — I am, yours, &c., J. B. READE.
Ellcsbro’ llectory, Tring, April It >tli, 1802.
[The supposition of the pictures having been taken by Chimenti and a
pupil simultaneously was Dr. Carpenter’s rather than ours; but we
thought it a very plausible solution of the apparent mystery. We
examined the photographs very carefully, and cannot at all concur in the
view taken by our rev. correspondent, when he assumes that the coinci¬
dences and differences were designedly made so. That is, in fact, begging
the whole question at issue. Nor can we assent to the proposition that
the defects arc in the unimportant parts, unless, indeed, such a term can
be applied to the parts of a man's head. Again, our correspondent makes
no attempt to explain or justify the vertical differences, which are alone
quite sufficient to indicate the absence of knowledge of the principles of
binocular vision in the artist. — Ed.]
PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — It is more than probable that the New Jersey correspondent of
Humphrey' s Journal would not have been so enthusiastic in claiming
priority of the invention of the panoramic lens on behalf of an American
citizen had he known that gentleman to be “a Britisher.” Such, how¬
ever, is the fact. Mr. Ross is a native of Scotland, and a near relative
(I believe a brother) of Mr. Ross, of Edinburgh.
That he did produce an instrument capable of representing an extended
picture upon a flat plate of glass you already know, and, if not, the
specimen I now send you will testify. This specimen was sent to me by
Mr. Ross, from America, so long back as 1857. 1 regret that I have not
now by me, also, a large amount of correspondence from him, a great
portion of which, however, did appear from time to time in the pages of
the British Journal of Photography, then called the Liverpool Photo¬
graphic Journal.
Frequent mention was made therein of the capabilities of this instru¬
ment, which he had called the “ scioptric ” camera : but not enough was
given of its structure and mode of working to justify making the matter
public.
I have purposely refrained from calling Mr. Ross's invention a pano¬
ramic lens, as it is st\’led by the New Jersey writer, because I believe
that both in this idea and also that of Mr. Sutton such title is a misnomer ;
as it is the method of mounting any kind of lens in the camera, and the-
extension of the plate, whether concave or flat, beyond the range of such
180
[May 1, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
lens (unless either plate or lens be shifted to take in the section of the
horizon), that complete the panoramic effect. _
The lens here, you will perceive by the specimen, had no particular
merit but appears to have been of very ordinary character. The peculia¬
rity must have been, I conceive, in the form and mode of using the
camera ; and I am now about to hazard a conjecture as to the actual
construction of this apparatus.
Certain lines upon the picture, you will observe, that are uniformly
vertical, denote that there was lateral motion during the exposure.
It is possible that the camera was nothing hut “a block of wood, with
along mortice cut in it;” but then the light, I apprehend, was not
“ admitted through that.”
I surmise that the camera itself was fitted upon a centre, but allowed
slight motion, and that during exposure it was slowly rotated ; and at the
same time the flat prepared plate was as slowly drawn through “the long
mortice,” so as to present a fresh surface just as rapidly or slowly as the
lens in its transit delineated a fresh object. This may be easily conceived
by covering the whole concern with a black cloth, attaching a string
to the plate-holder, and by securing this to a nail, the mere act of rotating
the camera would gradually draw the plate through.
The supposition that this or something analogous to it was the mode
of operating, is fully confirmed by the time of exposure marked upon the
back of the photograph. The shadows from the buildings clearly indi¬
cate that the sun was shining brightly ; and yet the time of exposure is
stated to have been 4 minutes 35 seconds — a most unreasonable time for
a positive on glass, unless some unusual operation was going on at the
time, such as continually presenting a fresh point of view.
As I have always found Mr. Boss most gentlemanly and considerate,
it is possible these crude notions may have the effect of causing him to
correct me should I be wrong, and so to give to the world the result of
his experiments. A very little improvement in this contrivance would,
I fancy, give it a vast superiority over the curved apparatus.
This latter may be a great boon to workers on waxed paper; but, as
regards operators upon glass, it seems calculated only to benefit makers
of, and dealers in, material.
The real merit— -if any such there be — of first producing a panoramic
camera belongs, in fact, to M. Lerebour, by a priority of ten years at least.
So long back as 1846, a semi-circular camera made by him was shown
in London. The front of it was made of flexible Mackintosh cloth. The
lens being fitted on a pivot in the centre, was capable of being rotated
by an endless screw adapted to the teeth of a cog-wheel at the bottom
of the centre-point, and the whole was worked by a small winch.
As no other photographic material was known in those days but the
silver plates used for M. Daguerre’s process, these were easily made as
long as required, and as easily bent into the form necessary, with this
additional advantage, that all round the back was a series of brass
screws, that could press forward, if needed, any portion of the plate
when an adjacent object might not be in true focus — an arrangement, it is
needless to say, quite inadmissible with glass plates. I know not if the
front of Mr. Sutton’s camera be constructed like this ; for, having, as
actors say, “ retired into the obscurity of private life,” 1 have never seen
one of them. I am, yours, &c. C. COBEY.
[The camera described by Mr. Corey as Lerebour’s was, we believe*
though made by him, the invention of M. Martens, and we remember
examining one of them in the possession of our friend Mr. Hodgson, in
1851. The specimen received possesses all the worst features of a pano¬
ramic picture ; in fact, the subject is quite unfit for panoramic delineation,
as the curvature of the horizontal lines cannot fail in a street view to be
most offensively prominent.
Mr. Sutton’s panoramic lens certainly performs its work much more
scientifically than any rotating lens and moving plate, the whole picture
being taken simultaneously. Nor is there any reason why adjusting
screws to vary the distances of parts of the plate from the lens should
not be employed, when the former consists of any flexible material. Of
course the faults of delineation inherent in panoramic pictures must exist,
no matter what kind of lens be employed. — Ed.]
[We are of opinion that what is termed “ mealiness” does frequently
arise from several different causes, of which that indicated by our corres¬
pondent is undoubtedly one.
We know not whether the post-office authorities have the power
(legally) to do what is indicated; but we cannot regret the exercise of it
in such cases. The misfortune, however, is that the many will suffer in¬
convenience in consequence of the malpractices of a few disreputable
scamps.
The portrait was taken by our friend Mr. Mayall ; and we happened to
notice that a pair of lenses made by Mr. Dallmeyer for card portraits
were used, but we did not observe either their focal length or diameters.
—Ed.]
HOT WATEB PBIOB TO DEVELOPMENT.
To the Editor.
Sib, — Having seen in some of the photographic journals the use of hot
water prior to development advocated as if the suggestion were of recent
date, I beg to say it was known to me and several of my photographic
friends four years ago. The circumstances of my first using hot water
for dry plates are the following : — Having plates prepared with gelatine,
and finding a difficulty in getting clean sharp pictures (small blisters
appearing all over the piate, arising from the swelling of the gelatine), I
used hot water with the view of removing the gelatine from the plate
prior to development, and to my astonishment the picture began to make
its appearance. I therefore continued the hot water till it was a perfect
picture, without any other substance, and repeated the experiment with,
the same success. A paper was written on the subject, and read before
the members of the East London Photographic Society, and addrossed to
Mr. Crookes, the then Editor of the Photographic News. That gentleman
took no notice of it — no doubt thinking it to be an East London blunder —
or the subject would have been before the public four years ugo. I
believe the first picture to be in the possession of Mr. Nichols, in whose
laboratory the experiments were first tried.
April HQth, 1862. I am, yours, &c., H. E. CHALKLY.
[We insert this note as received, though evidently imperfect in infor¬
mation, no particulars being given to show of what material the picture
alleged to have been developed was formed. A dry plate generally indi¬
cates the removal of all free nitrate of silver, but in the instance quoted
we presume this cannot have been the case. We hope to be able to
afford more detailed information in our next. — Ed.]
THE SOUTH LONDON SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION AT THE
CBYSTAL PALACE.
To the Editor.
Sib, — Will you kindly permit me to call the attention of intending
exhibitors to an alteration which has been made in Buie 7. Instead of
sending plain copies in the same frames with the painted photographs it
is requested that I hey be sent separately.
The reasons for such alteration are so ably stated in the enclosed letter
from M. Claudet, that I venture to ask you to publish that also, as con-
taining hints worthy the attention of managers of photographic exhibitions
generally.
I may just add, perhaps, that while we shall gladly exhibit specimens
in which the combined talents of the painter and the photographer have
produced pictures worthy of their united efforts, neither “ daubed” photo¬
graphs, nor those which have the “ tea-boai’dy” smoothness, too commonly
admired by vulgar taste, will be likely to find admission.
I am, yours, &e.,
35, Westboume Grove, ALFBED H. WALL,
Bayswater. Hon. Sec. South London Society.
Alfred H. Wall, Esq., Hon. Sec. South London Photographic Society.
MEALY PAPEB.— POST-OFFICE BEGULATIONS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I enclose sample of a mealy print as taken from the frame, and
before washing or toning. I think it confirms my opinion that mealiness
is not caused by washing, toning, or fixing ; but arises from bad quality of
paper, or in the albumenising.
In passing through the post-office this morning I saw a notice to the
effect that stereoscopic slides will be examined, and, if indecent, stopped
or forwarded in sealed envelope, of course charging extra postage. Of
course I should not advocate either the transmission, sale, or production
of those slides; but I do not think the post-office authorities have the
power of selection, any more than that they could stop a newspaper con¬
taining a divorce case, or open letters to see if they contained anything
improper.
I am very much pleased with that small portrait of yourself which I
saw at the North London meeting ; but I would like to know by what lens
it was takeu — whether half or quarter-plate. I notice that the whole
figure is sharp. I am, yours, &c., H.
Sir, — Although I have expressed the opinion that the Crystal Palace
was not the most eligible place for an exhibition of photography, as an
annex to the International Exhibition of 1862, 1 think that, if no con-
venient locality can be found in some central part of the metropolis, this
opportunity of displaying the photographic productions which cannot be
admitted into the building at Kensington should not be refused.
Therefore, in answer to your favour of the 7th instant, I beg to say that,
far from having any idea of opposing the plan proposed at the Crystal Palace,
I will be glad to give it my concurrence in furthering its object, by becom¬
ing a contributor to the Exhibition, and adhering to the rules of the
prospectus you have sent me.
Bespecting these rules, however, I venture to call the attention of the
Committee to one — the seventh — which seems to me objectionable, as
capable of spoiling the general effect of the Exhibition in an artistical
point of view. I think that coloured and black photographs being inter¬
mixed will injure each other, and produce a disagreeable appearance. No
man of taste would ever think of hanging in his drawing-room paintings
and engravings together. He will devote one room exclusively to one
kind of pictures, and another room to the other kind, because both will
gain by being exhibited separately.
May 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
181
It is very proper that no painted or coloured photograph should be
admitted without an untouched original, to prove that the artist has not
changed the character of the photograph — in which case the painted or
coloured picture would have nothing to do with photography, only exhibit¬
ing the skill of the painter. Therefore I approve the obligation that every
painted or coloured specimen should be accompanied with its original
photograph, but only for the inspection of the Committee ; and, when both
admitted, they might be placed each in a different department of the
Exhibition — all the painted pictures in one and the black photographs in
another. In the catalogue they might both have the same number and
description, by which visitors could be referred, in order to compare the
two, if they wish it.
The fact is, that an exhibition of photography should be composed only
of black untouched photographs ; and persons interested in the science
and progress of the art should not be distracted by the sight of paintings
showing only the talent of the artist who had been employed, to please
those who do not care for photography. But as this last class is very
numerous, they might have the satisfaction of examining exclusively, if
they liked, the kind of pictures more in their taste. Therefore, I think
that the effect of the Exhibition would be much improved by placing all
the real photographs in one department, and all the daubed ones in
another. This I submit to your consideration.
I am, dear Sir, yours very truly, A. CLAUDET.
107, Regent Street, April 9, 1802.
— * —
THE MICROSCOPE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have just noticed in the pages of a contemporary a report of
the meeting of the North London Photographic Association, in which
there is evidently a serious mistake committed. Mr. Thomas Ross is
made to say, in reply to an appeal from the Chairman, “ that his know¬
ledge of the microscope was limited.” I have no doubt that Mr. Ross is
a very i-etiring and unassuming man ; but surely it would have been
mere mock modesty for him to have made such an assertion, as few, if
any, can know more of the microscope than Mr. Ross.
I am, yours, &c., W. H.
[Our correspondent is quite correct in his conjecture about Mr. Ross’s
abilities in the direction indicated. The usual reporter for our contempo¬
rary was not present at the meeting, and a stranger performed the duty :
hence the mistake, no doubt. What Mr. Ross did say was — “That he
bad but little experience in photographing microscopic objects .” — Ed.J
MULTIFARIOUS TROUBLES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — If “ S. S. L.” (page 159) pours over the plate, after developing
with iron, a solution of one grain of iodide ef potassium, one grain of
iodine, one ounce of water, and then well crashes the plate, he will have
no reason to complain of the reddish-brown stain.
The blue stains I fancy are the result of not completely washing off the
cyanide before using the pyrogallic acid solution. I have found these
latter troubles only when the bath has become much weakened by use ;
but, as I always use hyposulphite of soda, I cannot speak with certainty.
I am glad to see that you are going to push the question of the field of
view of the triplet versus single lens to an “ absolute focus.” 1 am
wavering between the two for landscape purposes. C ceteris paribus, I
need not tell you that a wide angle is an immense advantage.
I am, yours, etc., R. G.
QUERIES FROM INDIA.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You will be doing myself, and probably many other amateurs in
this country', a great service by replying to the following inquiries : —
1. Is it better to use acetic acid in the silver-sensitising bath for bromo-
iodised collodion than nitric acid? Mr. Thomas — who is, I believe, an
authority in these matters — recommends nitric acid; and so does Mr.
Hockin. Mr. Hardwich, I observe, recommends acetic acid. Most of Mr.
Thomas’s collodions are, however, simply iodised with the iodide salts, and
it has occurred to me that it is with reference to this peculiarity that he
recommends nitric acid for the sensitising bath. I am strengthened in this
conjecture by finding that Mr. Thomas has recently recommended acetic
acid in the silver bath for his magnesium collodion, which contains, I
believe, a bromide. Your opinion on this point will be useful to many
who, like my'self, are ignorant of the chemical principles involved.
2. When a bath is acidified with acetic acid, what is the best way to
neutralise it ? Can oxide of silver be used ? And supposing cai’bonate
of soda had once been used for neutralising it, can oxide of silver be used
afterwards ?
3. What is the geueral tendency of fcromo-iodised collodions — to render
the bath alkaline or acid? And when once the bath has been acidified
with acetic acid, can nitric acid be afterwards used, in the event of the
bath requiring acidification?
4. Is there any permanent advantage to be gained by putting a weak
solution of caustic potash into the bath when protosulphate of iron is used
as a developer for negatives ? Would caustic potash (even in minute
quantity) deteriorate the bath ?
5. Is there any advantage in adding strong liquor ammoniae to proto¬
sulphate of iron when developing negatives, as recommended by Mr. H.
Mattheson in a recent number of your Journal? And is there any
peculiarity in Mr. Mattheson’s collodion or iodiser which specially adapts
it for such a developer?
6. Is the protoacetate of iron as easy to develop with and as good a
developer for negatives as the protosulphate of iron followed up by
pyrogallic acid? Kindly give a formula for a protoacetate of iron de¬
veloper suitable for this climate, and for a bromo-iodised collodion ; and
mention whether it will or will not be necessary to intensify a negative
so developed with pyrogallic acid and silver.
You will kindly bear in mind that neither amateur nor professional
photographers in this country have one-half the advantages of their
brethren at home in pursuing their delightful art. We labour under all
sorts of disadvantages in this country, and are ignorant of many little but
really essential points, which, being commonly known among operators in
England, are never deemed worthy of being alluded to in the journals. The
consequence of this is that we plod on in the dark, depending on our own
experiences, which, as you can imagine, are sometimes dearly bought.
It is found, I believe, that a bromo-iodised collodion is the only kind
that can be in a manner depended upon throughout the year in India.
So that if you can find space for this letter and the answers required — and
if you can give aDy useful hints regarding the use of such a collodion
(the great difficulty is to get sufficient intensity) — you will much oblige
AN OLD CALCUTTA SUBSCRIBER,
Calcutta, March 3rd, 1862.
P.S. — I gather from the journals that iron is coming into very general
use for development of negatives, especially on the Continent. If you
can give a good formula for an iron developer I shall be obliged to you.
Should the iron solution be allowed to remain on the plate until all the
details are out ? or should it be poured on and thrown off immediately after
the details begin to show ?
[1. Acetic acid in the nitrate of silver bath is more conducive to the
production of density in the negatives than nitric acid, and bromides in
the collodion have an opposite tendency : hence the two, when properly
united, produce an equilibrium. Your conjecture is therefore well applied.
2. Carbonate of soda will neutralise the bath that has acetic acid in
excess, forming therewith acetate of soda. Oxide of silver may be used, and
acetate of silver will be formed and partly dissolved ; but probably needle¬
like crystals of acetate of silver will also be formed, and these require to be
removed by filtration. You may employ one, after the other has been used
on a previous occasion ; but it would be superfluous to use both immediately
following one another. A bath thus treated with either will have a
tendency to produce dense negatives.
3. Good bromo-iodised collodion ought not to render the bath either
acid or alkaline. We see no valid reason why nitric acid should not be
employed as you propose.
4. No.
5. We are not acquainted with the constituents of Mr. Mattheson’s
collodion, and we have never tried the plan proposed by him. We do not
perceive any special advantage likely to be gained thereby.
6. We do not consider the protoacetate of iron so useful a developer as
the protosulphate of the same base, and it is more unstable, especially in
a hot climate. To prepare it dissolve twenty-five grains of protosulphate
of iron in an ounce of water, and tw'enty-five grains of acetate of lead in
a like quantity of water : mix the two and stir. A white precipitate
of sulphate of lead will be formed, and the protoacetate of iron left in
solution, which must be filtered before use. The following is Mr.
Heisch’s formula for a collodion which would be suitable for the above
developer: — Pyroxyline eight grains, pure ether five drachms, strong
alcohol one drachm : to the preceding add two drachms of iodiser, made
of alcohol two ounces, iodide of ammonium thirty grains, bromide of am¬
monium ten grains, chloride of calcium three grains. The negative will
probably be dense enough, but, if not, may be intensified with the
usual pyrogallic developer and a few drops of s’ilver solution.
The following is a good iron developer, viz : — Protosulphate of iron
twelve grains, water one ounce, glacial acetic acid thirty minims. It may
be kept on the plate till all the details are out.
We do not imagine you will require to use an iron developer, because
you complain of want of intensity, and because, generally, iron developers
are more useful in cold weather. They are chiefly used here and in
France in order to obtain softer negatives than we get with pyrogallic
acid ; but we do not, personally, deem this needful, as we are of opinion
that soft negatives may be obtained by either kind of developer, if pro¬
perly applied. We are, however, convinced of the advantage of iron
developers in cold weather ; but always avoid them when the weather is
hot. — Ed.] f
STEREOSCOPIC VISION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — It is very convenient and pleasant to be able to see a stereo*
scopic picture stereoscopically with the “ naked eye.”
182
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 1, 1802
I have observed, however, when doing so, the following fact, which, so
fir ns I know, has not yet been publicly stated, viz. : That to get a true
stereoscopic effect with the unaided eyes, the prints must not be reversed
I they are when taken with a bi-lens camera. If they are reversed and
‘ e then combined by the unaided eyes, distant objects come forward out
of their plane, just as they do in the stereoscope , if they have not been
reversed when taken by the bi-lens camera. Doubtless this might have
been anticipated, but I should like to see the matter explained by one of
J* ma"y •. SAMUEL EVEKSHED.
Brighton, April 25th, 1862.
[There are two methods by which stereoscopic vision can be obtained
-with the unassisted eyes— that is to say, by squinting inwardly or by
squintiim outwardly. In the former case, the effects described by our
correspondent occur, but not so when the latter expedient is adapted.
Inward squinting produces the effect of a small and nearly placed solid
model; outward squinting, on the contrary, a large and distant one. These
phenomena have been discussed before to some extent, but are quite
unfamiliar to many. — Ed.] .
A MARE’S NEST.
To the Editor.
S1R) _ AYhat, in the name of all that is photographic, can the editor of
your contemporary, the Photographic News, mean by a most extraordi¬
nary assertion which lie makes in his last number? After a rather
complimentary notice of an album for photographs, which he has received
from M. Bourquin, he says : —
“ A correspondent of a daily paper remarks on this notice: — ‘Is it for the sake of the
postal revenue, or from a desire of the authorities to patronise obscene art — or do they
lack the legal power to destroy such pernicious things ? Her Majesty’s customs at once
seize and destroy all obscene prints and the like productions, whether imported with
merchandise or in passengers’ baggage, and occasionally the police and the Society for
the Suppression of Vice show activity in prosecuting the miscreants who, for gain, pander
to the morbid passions and sensual vice. Your readers may blush for their country
when they read such a public official notice, if the Postmaster-General does not ; and I
hope that the notice may be withdrawn for a mere stringent one.’ ”
I really am perfectly amazed at the preceding : it appears to me per¬
fectly astounding. — I am, yours, &c., A. MAYER.
[If our correspondent had only read to the bottom of the column he
might, perhaps, have discovered that the contretemps is most likely due
to the compositor having, when setting up the “formes,” mismatched
the heads and tails of the paragraphs, though it certainly does look droll
.as it stands. — Ed.]
PHOTOGRAPHING CRYSTALS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I do not “ propose ” to do anything with polarised light in taking
photographs of crystals : I merely allude to what I have done by its aid.
Before anything was known publicly about Mr. Crookes’s experiments
(some years ago) 1 was working at the same subject, and took my results
to old Murray, who at that time -was at Newman’s, and he quietly opened
a drawer and took out similar photographs which Mr. Crookes had left
with him a day or two beforehand. I then gave my attention to photo¬
graphing thin urinary salts, and obtained faces well marked, that were not
so without the aid of polarised light. I used a reflecting bundle of thin
glass for the polariser, a Barker’s selenite stage, and a Nicol’s prism
behind the object-glass (no eye-piece). I am, yours, &c.,
TO, Dean Street, Soho, London, W., S. HIGHLEY.
April 15 th, 1802.
[The preceding arose in course of correspondence, and we have thought
it' worth recording, which we have done with the permission of the writer
of the note. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
To Advertisers. — Several Advertisements have reached the Publisher too
late for insertion in this number.
H J. D. — About fifteen feet will do, but eighteen feet is better.
T. A. — We must decline your proposition, with thanks for the offer.
Ciias. Lavey. — You will find what you seek in numbers 132 and 135.
L. C. J.— Of course he is wrong. Wait a little, and we will show you where.
0. P. R. — We have never seen the work to which you allude: if you will send
it for our inspection, we will give an opinion.
A.— We have been watching the progress of the experiments carefully, and
may have something to say on the subject shortly.
Puzzled Beginner.— It is evident that your so-called dark slide is not
properly light-tight: witness the same fogging on the edge of each plate, with
the extra dip ot one corner. You should examine your camera to see whether
light does not leak in somewhere.
Inquirer. — Our contemporary assumes (unwarrantably in our opinion)
that he is not called upon to acknowledge^the articles translated from lw
Bulletin de la Societe Franeaise dr Photographic, upon the ground that they
were read publicly at the meetings of that body : hence the fact you notice in
a recent number.
Scrutator. — The pose is not badly designed, but imperfectly carried out.
The attitude indicates repose, but there is a rigidity about the right leg that
belies the reality of the idea. During sleep the whole body sleeps — the hand
and the foot as much as the head. So, also, in abandoning oneself to rest, the
whole body is in quietude.
T. H. S. — If you omit saturating the nitrate of silver bath with iodide of
silver, you will be liable to having your plates riddled with minute pin-holes.
A very simple way of iodising your bath is to coat aplate with iodised collodion,
immerse it in the bath, and leave it there all night. Rain water will do very
well. Boil for half-an-hour and filter if need be.
Jas. Robson. — No wonder your are unable to verify the accuracy of the
assertion practically ; because it is not founded on fact. The gentleman you
name knows little or nothing of scientific matters, and perhaps least of all as
regards optics ; and in the assertion made recently he has simply made a mis¬
take, as we may possibly have reason to show ere long.
Dry Plate. — Major Russell, we understand, has made several important
improvements in the tannin process, which will give greater sensitiveness, and
has devised a mode of treatment by which the preliminary coating may be
dispensed with. These improvements will be published in due time. You
cannot do better, in the meantime, than make yourself familiar with the
process as originally published in Major Russell’s book.
P. P. — No doubt your bath was charged with organic matter of some kind,
probably albumen — when the oxide of silver produced by the addition of the
ammonia would probably have formed a compound with the organic matter,
being the gelatinous white precipitate which you describe. In your second
experiment the liquor ammoniac was no doubt in excess; and as oxide of silver
is soluble in excess of ammonia, of course no precipitate was apparent. Had you
added but a few minims of ammonia you would have found a greyish-coloured
precipitate.
Disappointed Buyer. — Advertisers are not, as a rule, addicted to claim¬
ing too little for the qualities of their goods ; but in your case the claim seems
to have been grossly overdone. We can only advise you to try another house.
There are many which may be relied on whose names are to be found in our
advertising columns. We are happy to notice that the one of which you
complain is not there ; but, if it were, we could not help it, for we have nought to
do with that part of the Journal.
A Constant Reader. — W. T.— 1. Your disaster is by no means an un¬
common one, where the varnish employed is of foreign manufacture, owing
to the goodness of the spirit used as a solvent. Some kinds of pyroxyline are
more or less soluble in very strong alcohol ; and no doubt that you have
employed is of this kind. Your remedy would be, either to reduce the strength
of your varnish by adding thereto some common spirits of wine, or, what is
better sl^ll, by coating your negatives with albumen just after the final wash¬
ing, ana well drying before applying the varnish. — 2. There is no doubt that
the front lens of the combination you name will cover the sized plate quoted.
W. S. (Belper.) — 1. It is difficult to define for another which is the best
Ross provides an exceedingly handy one, so do Horne and Thornthwaite, also.
Hare, and Murray and Heath. — 2. You should not cut and transpose your
transparencies, but print them in their proper positions at once. You cad
either cut your negatives or print at two operations as you prefer. The proofs
should not be cemented to the ground-glass, but have a piece of thick paper
fastened near to their edges in order to prevent actual contact, and the two
pieces of glass should then be cemented together by pasting or glueing a dark
paper binding over the edges. Instead of ground-glass, you will find it easie
to use a varnish sold by Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite to produce a simla
effect. — 3 and 4. Cold nitric acid will dissolve the silver, but the application
of heat will hasten the solution. You are not likely to produce nitrite of
silver in the operation, and if you did it would be of little consequence
unless you found it to cause foggy proofs, in which case the addition of a
little pure acetic acid would remedy the defect. It is not easy for a novice to
detect the presence of nitrite of silver, except by the effects above indicated.
Received. — We have received an important article On the Equivalent Focus
of Photographic Lenses , &c., from Mr. Grubb ; but we are reluctantly com¬
pelled to postpone its insertion till our next number.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, dec., should
be forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Pise, London, N,
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher.
CONTENTS.
Nemo.— Your article, though well written, is not adapted to our columns,
which arc occupied exclusively with matters connected with photography.
Send your address, and vc will [return the MS., which may suit one°of our
purely literary contemporaries.
Verdant Green. — You cannot develop a dry plate of any kind properly
without the addition of free nitrate of silver at some stage of the process _ least
<>f all Dr. Norris’s plates. You had better obtain some good manual, of which
there sre several in the market.
Stbreo. Personally we regard the arrangement of Mr. Emerson’s adjusting
lereoicope as a useless complication; for not only is a special adjustment
needlul to he made for each individual, but also for many stereographs', in order
to take advantage of the principle involved.
TAOTS
LEADER . 161
ON PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY. By J.BOCKEXT 162
ON THE EXPENDITURE OF SILVER USED
IN PHOTOGRAPHIC OPERATIONS, AND
ON THE SAVING THAT MAY BE EF¬
FECTED. By WM. TUDOR MABLEY.... 164
HINTS ON THE NATURE OF PICTORIAL
BEAUTY AND THE PRINCIPLES OF COM¬
POSITION. PART II. By IV. H. DAVIES.
( Concluded i . 165
THE SELF-REGULATING PNEUMATIC
FILTERER. By J. JEX LONG . 167
THE NEW PICTURE GALLERIES. By A.
CLAUDET, F.R.S . . . 167
ON A NEW “ FINE ADJUSTMENT ” MOTION
APPLIED TO COMMON RIGID CAMERAS.
By M. NOTON . 169
STRAF CHAPTERS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS.
CHAPTER III. DIALYSIS APPLIED TO
PHOTOGRAPHY. By JAMES MARTIN.
( Concluded) . ]69
PLACES OF PHOTOGRAPHIC INTEREST IN
YORKSHIRE : BOLTON BRIDGE. By C.
BUTTERFIELD . 1J0
EXHIBITION GOSSIP: ABOUT £ s. D.— THE
GRACIOUSLY CONCEDED “ SEPARATE
APARTMENT."— THE CONTRIBUTIONS
AND THE JURORS By A. H. WALL.... 172
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 173
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE : Letttrfrom
Paris. By M. LACAN. Letter from Phila¬
delphia. By COLEMAN SELLERS . 175
NOTES OF THE MONTH.. . . 178
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 178
CORRESPONDENCE . 179
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac . 182
T H E B II I T I S H
OUMAL OF PHOTOGEAPHY.
No. 166, Vol. IX. — MAY 15, 1862.
The International Exhibition. — Words are altogether
nadequate to convey any just idea of the intense disgust with
which we made our first acquaintance with the locality to which
English photography has been condemned. Not contented with
sneering at and heaping every indignity upon our art with regard
to classification, the Royal Commissioners have broken faith
with photographers in not keeping the pledge which they made
— nominally as a concession — in undertaking that photographs
should be exhibited in a separate apartment, but have added
this above all, that the portion of an apartment shared with
maps, plans, and a heterogenous mass of objects exhibited
by the Educational Commissioners, has been also cumbered
with a quantity of photographic apparatus, and the whole is so
contrived that it is little short of a miracle when any one who
happens to be aware of the existence of such a department can by
diligent inquiry and perseverance manage to find his way to it.
We can only liken the said apartment to an attic, high up above
the picture galleries, access to which is attainable exclusively
by means of a kind of back staircase, the entrance to which is
carefully hidden away so as to escape observation as much as
possible. The opening to the staircase when found looks
merely like the doorway to some lumber closet ; and, if by acci¬
dent the unconscious visitor should chance to stray through the
dismal portal, his first impulse would be immediately to retire,
under the impression that he would be intruding iuto the place
for the receptacle of ladies’ shawls, &c., — an impression which
was confirmed on the occasion of our visit by our seeing two
female attendants receiving the attentions of a policeman,
several cloaks, mantles, &c., being thrown carelessly over the
railings which we subsequently discovered led to the staircase
up which it was our then business to proceed. Let not our
readers imagine, however, that although we had attained to the
gate of this photographic paradise, it was any easy task even
then to find our way, for, being under the conviction that we
had stumbled upon a cloak-room we made diligent inquiry of
the gallant policeman, and he directed us to some imaginary
spot on the other side of the building; but, just as we were
moving off, one of the female attendants corrected the police¬
man’s mistake, and we found that we had actually to proceed up
the staircase leading out of^the dingy hole in the wall.
Should any of our readers determine on making the perilous
ascent, we may as well help them to find the way by mentioning
that the apartment is said to be in the southern tower — that if
they will proceed through either the British or foreign picture
galleries until they are at the junction of the two, over the
central entrance in the Cromwell Road, by careful search along
the wall they may find the inviting entrance we have already
described. Let them proceed boldly if they can find any stair¬
case leading upwards, particularly if it be such an one as
reminds them of the ascent to the servants’ bedrooms in a house
of moderate pretensions. Truly the foreign exhibitors have been
wise in their generation not to consent to their photographs
being detached from their own particular sections ; for, without
exception, they have hung them not only favourably for in¬
spection by photographers, but also in such a manner that
casual visitors cannot fail to see them — a very important
advantage.
We are almost of opinion that British photographers would
have been better off if totally^ unrepresented than they now are
under the treatment they have experienced at the hands of the
Royal Commissioners. But this is not the whole of their
grievance ; for, on at length reaching the long-souglit-for portion
of an apartment, we at once perceived that the gentlemen under
whose superintendence the hanging was supposed to have been
conducted have scarcely done justice to any of the exhibitors.
Mr. Bedford has, perhaps, been most fortunate in this respect —
or, to phrase it more correctly, we ought perhaps to say least
unfortunate ; for nrnst of his productions are kept in one mass,
and are placed against a screen, where they can be inspected —
that is, provided it be attempted by not more than one or, at
most, two persons at a time. But the majority of the ex¬
hibitors in this department have their pictures mixed up
together in the most incongruous and inextricable confusion
wherever, from their being in separate frames, it has been
possible to disarrange them. If we add to this that, in order to
economise space, a very insufficient amount of margin has been
permitted, that the pictures have been crammed together as if
to pack them for a sea voyage, and that the view of them is
frequently more or less intercepted by cases of apparatus, our
readers may form some notion of the advantage of being an
exhibitor at the International Exhibition.
We admit that the apartment is still in a very imperfect
state of arrangement, even as intended to be ; but nothing can
remedy the evils of which we complain except by entirely re¬
hanging the collection, and then only a partial rectification of
matters could be effected.
With regard to the intrinsic merits of their collection, as a
whole, British photographers have no cause to be ashamed.
The standard of excellence is high — pre-eminently so in land¬
scapes.
There are certain points in which our foreign competitors
surpass us; though it is very difficult to make a fair comparison
when one has to make half-an-hour's journey between one set
of pictures and another. There is also another consideration :
the modes of treatment are sometimes very different, though
neither can be said to be absolutely superior to the other.
The very incomplete and backward state of the photographic,
as well as many (we had well nigh said most) other departments
in the Exhibition, precludes the possibility of our giving any¬
thing like a detailed account of what is intended to be shown.
But we do not purpose to bring our present article to a
close without special mention of some of the productions dis¬
played ; and, as a matter of courtesy, we shall commence with
those of our guests.
The Russian Collection is of very moderate extent, so far
as at present appears, and consists chiefly of portraits, which
184
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 16, 1862
are, however, well executed. The northern gallery is where
these are to be found.
The Norwegians show but few, principally portraits.
Amongst the Italian Photographs (chiefly to be found on
the ground floor near the Roman court) are some cleverly-executed
architectural subjects of very large dimensions, and they are
remarkable for the ingenious manner in which the joints in the
paper upon which they are printed have been concealed. This
has been effected by cutting out the photographs and pasting
them upon a sheet of white paper, the joints being always at the
edge of some building. No attempt has been made to tone the
glaring white of where the sky ought to be, so that, as art pro¬
ductions, they are very bad, and offensive to good taste.
We apprehend that in the Prussian Court, when displayed,
there will be something worth attention in the way of greatly
enlarged proofs : when we saw them but very few were sus¬
pended, many having been taken down to make room for other
articles that had arrived, and the bulk of the collection was in
a heap upon the floor. We obtained permission to turn a few
of the frames over, and, as far as we could judge of them in
that condition, it has led us to express the opinion already given.
They will be hung in the south end af the western transept, on
the ground floor.
From Holland, if we mistake not, there were two masses
of portraits, arranged as a sort of background to a couple of
pianofortes ; but they were in so unfavourable a position for ex¬
amination, and when we found them the light wras so bad, that
we were quite unable to judge of their merits.
Of the French Collection — which is far the most important
of the foreign ones, numerically speaking, and probably also in
other respects — we have deferred mention to the last. In its
extent we should judge it to be as great as the British display.
It may be found in the gallery of the French court, on
the south side, and very near to the centre of the building —
easily accessible from the foreign picture gallery. The collec¬
tion is exceedingly well hung, the productions of each artist
being collected in masses : all are fairly and distinctly visible,
most of the pictures being convenient for close inspection.
Indeed, in this respect the contrast between the French and
British arrangement of the works is most mortifying to the
latter. The quality of the pictures is also excellent, and, like
that of our own collection, of a generally high standard.
We cannot forbear mentioning in detail some of the French
as well as of the English productions. And, firstly, we may
observe that in landscapes we may honestly affirm that England
is entitled to rank highest ; for not only is there is nothing in
the French collection that surpasses our own — as regards land¬
scape work — but the best of those in the French department
are taken by one of our own countrymen, Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte,
though, having been executed by commission for the Emperor
Napoleon, they are included with the productions of his own
subjects* In addition to Mr. Lyte’s, there are some other fine
landscape productions: for instance, a series of magnificent
Egyptian views, by M. Gammas — superior, in our judgment, to
those formerly taken by Mr. Frank Frith of his largest size.
M. Eugene Jouet exhibits some very soft, delicate, and artistic
landscapes, as also groups of fruit; and M. Jean Renaud very
excellent bold landscapes, taken by the Taupenot process.
Amongst the landscape operators we must also include M. Silvy ;
but we do not find any works of his but such as we have before
noticed in some of the Annual Exhibitions of the Photographic
Society. M. Silvy also exhibits a few of his genre subjects, to
which the same observation will apply. M. Muzet has some
very graphic views.
M. Warnod has produced some very fine instantaneous sea
P^ces, or rather marine subjects, of considerable dimensions, for
this class — consisting chiefly of vessels in full sail entering and
leaving some dock or harbour. The natural skies, waves, &c.,
are admirably pourtrayed, and there is nothing of the sombre
appearauce so common with many of the “ instantaneous” views.
Our countryman, Mr. Bingham, appears in the French court
as an exhibitor of fine reproductions of paintings — a speciality
with this artist.
M. A. Ken exhibits two or three fine panoramic views (not
taken with the panoramic lens).
MM. Bisson’s productions are well known already in this
country, and those in the present collection are similar to, if not
the same with, some we have before noticed — chiefly of high
Alpine scenery.
In portraiture our French competitors treat their sitters in as
different a manner from ourselves as they do their landscapes.
They endeavour to infuse sentiment, or rather sentimentalism,
sometimes verging on the theatrical, while an Englishman
holds the latter in considerable disestirnation. However, a
very commonplace model is sometimes rendered less insipid by
this course ; and, as a rule, there is generally a good deal of the
artistic about the French portraits — though not more than is the
case with our best operators. But certainly in the collection at
South Kensington there are fewer bad specimens exhibited. Those
of M. Caijot struck us as amongst the best. Disderi has some
well-executed large portraits ; but they appear to us to be much
indebted to the pencil for their effect. Nadar’s collection con¬
tains a beautifully-executed study of a hand, both negative and
positive having been produced by the illumination from the
electric light.
Amongst the curiosities we notice carbon prints as well as
burnt-in enamel proofs, by M. Lafon de Camarsac, that deserve
attention ; some variouslv-tinted proofs upon uranium-salted
paper, byM. Charles Negre ; and, lastly, a novelty, by M. Laffon,
in the form of hand-screens made of white silk stretched upon
a light frame, photographs being printed upon the silk itself,
the pictures being positives both by reflected and transmitted
light.
The British Photographs, as we have already intimated,
are in a very unfavourable state for criticism : we can therefore
do little more than mention the names of some of the exhibitors
and a few of the subjects shown, for many, although extremely
good, are old acquaintances that we have already described in
our pages.
On first setting foot in the room we encounter at the top of
the staircase Mr. Mayall’s display, including some large and
highly-interesting daguerreotypes of the Exhibition of 1851 in
Hyde Park. These are not well displayed, from their position
causing the light to be reflected unpleasantly from the polished
surface of the plate ; but they are well worthy of inspection, if
only to show how much more picturesque was the coup d'ceil on
that occasion than on the present one, so far as the interior of
the building is concerned. Besides portraits, coloured and
plain, Mr. Mayall has also attempted something in composition
of genre subjects. Of these, Some of the Bye-Ways of Life,
Love and Labour, and The Great Light Comes In at the Smallest
Window, are worth notice. The Bridge of Sighs is a well-
intended failure.
Mr. Bedford’s exquisite gems are some of them new — others
we have seen before. His works are always pleasing.
Rujlander, Wilson, Mudd, Blanchard, and Robinson all
exhibit some of their peculiarly excellent works ; but we did
not perceive any with which we were not already familiar. Of
Stephen Thompson, Lyndon Smith, Wardley, and Vernon
Heath we may make the same remark, with the exception of the
latter, whose scenes On the Banks of the Almond, and On the
Turrit, Perthshire, we have only before casually glanced at upon
one occasion, at a meeting of the Photographic Society.
Mr. T. R. Williams, Mr. Hennah, and M. Claudet represent
portraiture; and they do so very worthily. The latter has some
enlarged specimens, but they are by no means faultless in
manipulation— a fact that many would at first sight overlook in
consequence of their artistic excellence.
We are at some loss to understand what is meant by a
placard attached to some portrait groups photographed by Mr.
May 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
185
M'Glashon, the announcement being to the effect that they are
“ contributions towards fine art in photography, by D. 0. Hill.”
We presume that Mr. Hill posed the groups which Mr.
M'Glaslion photographed ; but how these are to bo regarded
as more specially conducive to fine art than the groups by several
of our artist photographers, who are also portraitists, we cannot
make out. We have seen at least as good, nay, better, groups —
by which we mean more artistic ones — by Lake Price, Rejlander,
Robinson, and several others.
There are amongst the landscapes several from the Amateur
Photographic Association ; but what can the Secretary, Mr.
Melhuish, have been about when he sent in such an abomination
as the frame containing the prize pictures ? They are utterly
spoilt by the mounting; and, if that were not enough to con¬
demn them, the way in which they are grouped or, rather,
thrown higgledy-piggledy together, would complete that consum¬
mation. Now we know the pictures to be really good ones;
but nothing could withstand the depressing influence under
which these works have suffered. We shall certainly counsel
their being re-arranged, if possible.
Mr. Macdonald exhibits a very excellent scene in a Hamp¬
shire lane, Mr. Reeves Traer some photo-micrographs that are
highly commendable, and Mr. Olley some that have been pro¬
duced by a different method of illumination, and which are
certainly inferior to the others.
Mr. Fox Talbot, Herr Pretsch, Colonel Sir Henry James,
Mr. Ramage, and Messrs. Walker and Son show various speci¬
mens of photographs in printing ink or carbon, by their
respective processes.
The last we shall mention here is a fine collection of stereo¬
graphs printed on glass, by Mr. Breese, of Birmingham, several
being “ instantaneous” views — all excellent, but we name espe¬
cially The Sea off Eype, Bridport, and Sunlight after a Storm.
Of the moonlight views we only observed one that was alleged
to be so, and this a rather faint picture of a white statue.
We must, however, state that we had to remove a huge calico
covering to get at what we did see ; and, besides, the light being
at the time very bad, and the stereoscope scarcely to be used,
we had no fair opportunity of judging respecting the merits of
the pictures, more than that the productions are certainly fine
ones as a rule.
In conclusion, we must not omit to draw attention to a series
of fine enlarged transparencies of the annular solar eclipse, taken
by Mr. Warren De la Rue, which are not condemned to the
photographic lumber attic, but may be found in the north
gallery, near to the entrance, towards the dining saloon, and in
close proximity to the philosophical instruments. We may
safely affirm that these will be highly attractive.
Since the preceding was “ in type, ” we have observed with
pleasure that the reporter for The Times newspaper has stumbled
upon the condemned hole in which English photography is
doing penance, and thanks to his notice we may hope that some
visitors will be attracted to the spot. We have no cause to be
dissatisfied with his estimate of the productions, and reproduce
the paragraph to which we allude from the impression of the
lOtli instant : —
“ We mentioned yesterday, with the praise they deserved, the very fine
collection of French photographs in the south gallery, though we now
learn that some of the very best in this display are by English artists
resident in France. Some remarkably good ones are sent by Mr. Max¬
well Lyte, an amateur, whose pictures may be at once known by the
words “ Lux fecit" — a true photographer’s pun on his name and art.
Mr. Bingham, too, one of the best of the Paris professionals, sends some
fine specimens, which go far to keep up the general excellence of the
French show. There is a special class devoted to English photography
in the building, which contains some of the finest specimens of the
photographic art ever brought together. There was no class devoted to
photography in 1851, and there was near being no exhibition of the art
on this occasion, in consequence of the most unfavourable place assigned
to it. As it is, the London Photographic Societjf have refused to exhibit,
and, but for the efforts made by the most eminent photographers, the art,
as regards England, would haye been unrepresented altogether. The
photographic collection is placed along with the class devoted to educa¬
tional appliances, in a large room in the upper floor of the tower, between
the English and foreign picture galleries — about the most inaccessible
and unfavourable spot to which it could be banished, but to which we
feel now justified in calling the attention of visitors, as containing a col- *
lection which will repay a long visit. Here are collected the finest
portraits of Williams, Claudet, Watkins, and Mayall, Caldesi’s copies of
miniatures and cartoons, the exquisite views of Bedford, Fenton, Cundall,
Downes, and White, and the fancy pieces of Robinson. Frith also sends
specimens of three great views in the East, which were taken for Negretti
and Zambra. Some of the best exhibitors in this class are to be found
among the amateurs, of whom there are many, such as Colonel Sir Henry
James, the Earl of Caithness, Lady Jocelyn, Colonel. Verschoyle, Colonel
Stuart Wortley, Sir A. Macdonald, &c.”
THE OPENING OP THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL EXHI¬
BITION OP 1802, FROM A PHOTOGRAPHIC POINT OP
VIEW.
By Stephen Thompson.
Imagine a sea of human heads, surging and undulating in restless
expectation, crested by a snowy foam of “ loves of white bonnets,”
all new, like the bright May-day which shone down upon them.
Imagine in the midst a little tower, some twenty feet high, covered
with crimson baize, and looking not much unlike one of those time-
honoured temples dedicated to immortal Mr. Punch and his consort,
Mrs. Judy. Such were the erections, five in number, planted at
various points of view by the London Stereoscopic Company, for
the purpose of photographing the opening ceremony of the 1st of
May, so far as such scenes in the interior of a building are capable
of photographic treatment, with the present resources of the art.
It would be superfluous and unwise to attempt any verbal de¬
scription of a scene upon which some of the best -writers of the
daily press have tried their powers. Take it for all in all, it was a
spectacle not to be easily forgotten, combining with it, as it did,
the dignity of a historical event. As we gazed down the nave,
and above and below, at the vast assemblage, the mind wandered
back to another bright May morn, now eleven years syne, and
looked in vain for many a bright face which graced that still most
memorable day. What an array of events have passed across the
world’s stage in the interim ! The Russian war was begun and
ended — the Crimean tragedy played out — Magenta and Solferino
inscribed on history’s page. Again the scene shifts to the plains
of India. More of the tragic than any other phase has characterised
the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of time. There is no pause in
Nature : another brief interval, and again the nations meet in
peaceful conclave. Here, around, on every hand, from the utter¬
most ends of the earth, from dry land and sea — yea, and under the
sea — are spread around the world’s work : that labour — cunning
device — of which there is none beyond the portals of this our
earthly home. How wide, too, the held embraced ! The French¬
man sends his latest knick-knacks — the Esquimaux his peculiar
habiliments — the Italian his loftiest inspirations — the savage of the
South Pacific his weapons of war and of husbandry — the Arab of
the Desert his primitive tent and richly-designed prayer cloth,
fashioned as his fathers fashioned it ages before, upon which he
turns his face towards Mecca at sunrise and sunset. Such exhi¬
bitions are the apotheosis of labour; and the labour here displayed
is most impressive. Human labour ! how vast! How much foJ
use ! how much for ornament ! How much that will speedily pass
away ! “ A vain show ! ” mutters the cynic. Not so. The hues
will fade, the metal rust, the marble crumble, and all at last find
their way to the great marine-store dealer; but the moral qualities
evolved in their construction are for eternal purposes. These are
but the instruments — the machinery — for the training of patience,
industry, endurance, conscientiousness, prudence, untiring perse¬
verance — the little things over which a faithful stewardship will
be rewarded with one over things which do not pass away.
Of course the conditions essential to the obtaining of faultless
negatives are quite opposed to the circumstances under which the
photographs of the ceremony were taken. Nothing but absolute
install taneity would give a perfect picture ol the excited mass of
human figures, and absolute instantaneity was simply an impossi¬
bility. Nevertheless, some twenty negatives, of various degrees
of excellence, were secured for the Company during the day. One
of the greatest difficulties was to have a plate ready at the most
opportune moments, which generally would occur just before or
just after the sensitised plate was available.* The heat in the
place erected in the nave was excessive, and adequate ventilation
quite incompatible with the exclusion of light. The lenses were
* An instantaneous dry process is the great desideratum for such work,— S. T.
186
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 16, 186Q
fogged as with a va]:>our of steam, so that each time before expo¬
sure they had to be polished at the last moment. Most of the
negatives were taken with the full aperture of Voigtlander lenses.
The whole of the negatives were developed with a strong solution
* of iron, and intensified with pyrogallic, after fixation.
The vibration from the music was very great, and we experienced
not a little difficulty in making ourselves mentally deaf to its great
excellence, by a strong effort of the will, in order to give full atten¬
tion to manipulative details.
The earliest proofs were sent to her Majesty at Balmoral ; another
set to the Princess Frederick William of Prussia (our own Princess
Royal); and a set, by particular request, to the Emperor of the
Brazils. Proofs were also much sought after by the illustrated
papers, for the purpose of engraving.
There can be no occasion to carry the readers of The British
Journal of Photography through the usual after-process of
washing, varnishing, &c. The day closed with heavy showers ;
but long after the hum of buzzing crowds had died away in the
building the rain subsided, and the young May-moon stole out of
a cave of clouds and shone peacefully down on turret and tower ;
and as the lights died out one by one into darkness, the statuary
became almost spectre-like under the influence of its pale, weird
light. Diana might be seen still reposing, Cordelia gathering her
children around her, and The Wrestlers strapped together still
brandishing their deadly knives.
In the open space beneath the western dome, beside the throne,
the cold moonlight slept sadly upon the noble bust of one who, of
all others, was not destined to see this day— who, of all others,
could have best appreciated its lessons — and whose spirit, sug¬
gested by the marble lineaments of Noble, seemed lovingly to
haunt the scene it should have adorned; — one whose cultivated
judgment would never have permitted the flagrant violations of
good taste which disfigure the arrangements, and one who, had he
lived, would never have suffered such gross injustice to have been
done to an art which he loved and admired.
A oft sip.
THE OPENING, AND WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY HAD TO DO
THEREAT - A FIRST VISIT TO THE ENGLISH DE¬
PARTMENT - SOLAR CAMERA PORTRAITS.
Amidst wonders of sight and sound, the pageantry of rank and
wealth, and the spectacle of a mighty multitude gathered together
from all quarters of the globe, the Great International Exhibition of
1862 has been opened to the world. The petty jealousies, jobberies
and meannesses, with which even the noblest and loftiest of human
undertakings seem almost necessarily associated, were all forgotten
in the majestic ceremonial of that opening. In the features of its
pageant much that was commonplace and even ridiculous — much
that showed Dutch metal to be better appreciated than sterling-
gold— might undoubtedly be found ; but those are not to be envied
who, amid the overpowering grandeur of sentiments, vivified and
strengthened by the mingling harmonies of music, poetry, and
colour, could dwell on such poor things as these. Tempting, how¬
ever, as such a scene must be to an enthusiastic scribe, the
numerous well-written descriptions of contemporary pages forbid
any indulgence in this direction, and we — that is, you and I, my
dear reader — will only consider what photography had to do
thereat.
Of course photography was there : where is it not ? In the fes¬
tivals of peace and in the carnage of the battle-field — at the
inauguration of a village pump — and at the coronation ceremony
of a nation new-born to liberty and power — the camera-chronicler,
which cannot falsify, will of a surety be found. In five different
portions of the Exhibition Avere stationed on the opening day five
different operators— good men and true photographers Avere they
all. This band of genuine historical artists, appointed by the
Stereoscopic Company, was composed of Mr. England, Mr. Russell
Sedgfield, Mr. Stephen Thompson, Mr. Taylor, and another gentle¬
man, with their proper subordinates and assistants. A variety of ne¬
gatives Avere secured of various degrees of excellence, but failures
Avere not altogether unknoAvn. Some of the pictures AArere in¬
stantaneous, some ought to have been instantaneous, and some
were not instantaneous by any means ; but they are all full
of interest, and av ill undoubtedly be eagerly purchased in more
countries and capitals than our own. But while the rich patrons
of industry Avere thus celebrating its triumphs within the building,
the common rank and file of the patronised industrious Avere so far
like them Avithout the building that they too Avere being photo¬
graphed, and by as good a photographer as one need desire for the
work. Mr. England within that vast unfinished house that Fowko
built, and in his temporary toAver of baize and wood, had greater con¬
veniences and advantages in taking his great croAvd than Mr. Blan¬
chard in another unfinished house that Fowke (luckily for the
landlord) did’nt build, and in his temporary tower of scaffold poles,
could venture to boast about. But that the latter had some ad¬
vantages over Mr. England Avill not be doubted by those who see
in the photographs ol the opening ceremonial Iioav huge masses of
gloomy shadow Avere contrasted with floods of unsubdued sunlight;
and how, Avhile one portion of the croAvd could not be taken too
quickly, another portion (not to be separated from the first) must
have required a tolerably long exposure to get them properly out
iu the negative. Then, again, the unfinished building in which
Mr. Blanchard found his vantage ground was filled with spectators,
and their curiosity and interest could not have been of much
assistance in instantaneous photography. Besides the day Avas hot,
and the spectators Avere thirsty, and there Avas no one to cut their
Avay through the crowd to the nearest pump, and the house had
no Avater laid on. So the carefully-preserved and inexpressibly-
valuable can of clean Avater which Mr. Blanchard had put so
prudently aside Avas discovered in its secret hiding-place, and
remorselessly drained of its last precious drop ! Doubtless, Iioav-
eArer, there was hot, hard, anxious Avork on that day for all the
photographers engaged in chronicling the opening ceremony.
The Exhibition being open, however, Ave may as Avell now pay it
a visit and look after photography therein. We find the foreign
representatives of the art-science scattered about all over the place :
on the stairs ascending to some of the galleries — in the main body of
the building — in the principal gallery, &c., &c. But seeking
British photography proper, we soon become confused and lost in
our futile search. No written notice directs you to its Avhereabouts —
no one can inform you Iioav to reach its lofty abiding-place. You
ask a policeman Avhere it is : he says “ Yesser ” first, and shakes
his head despairingly immediately afterwards. At last you pounce
upon a boy selling catalogues, and buy the “Industrial” one, from
Avhich you learn that Class XIV. — “ Photographic Apparatus and
Photography” — Avill be found in the central tower and gallery, north
court. Then you go up the broad, decorated, and gradually-ascend¬
ing staircase, leading to the magnificent abode of the happy fine
arts ; reaching which you look in vain for any continuation of your
upward path. At length, through a low, square, primitive-looking
opening, you see a A?ery narrow, dingy staircase Avinding steeply
up beside a distemper-coloured brick Avail, and looking merely like
the Avay to some ignoble trap-door opening out upon the roof.
Seeing no other means of rising in this world, up you go, Avonder-
ing Avhere on earth it will conduct you to. Presently you are in a
chaos of books and desks and globes and maps, instructive toys,
and other numerous aids to early education — threading your Avay
in and out of which, you are straight among the photographs, in
company Avith perhaps one other unfortunate, or perhaps two. I
must honestly confess that there really Avere as many as two people
there together for quite ten minutes, Avhen I paid it my first visit.
Some people like figures, looking upon these as the most reliable
of facts. If you can’t picture a building so that it may rise vividly
in the imaginations of your readers, tell them Iioav many feet it
measures there, Iioav many inches here, and Avhat are the dimensions
of the principal entrance, so shall your description be found perfectly
satisfactory, and be very much admired. It is the cheapest and
easiest Avay out of a difficulty that I am acquainted Avith. So I
will give just a taste of figures. Counting the names of British
exhibitors in the Industrial Catalogue (a very difficult task
this), under the head of Class XIV., you will find them 149.
About thirty exhibit apparatus, chemicals, and materials, and
the rest contribute (as the Photographic Catalogue sIioavs) in
all about one thousand frames, containing portraits, vieAvs, ex¬
perimental results, reproductions, composition pieces, &c., one
frame frequently containing a large number of specimens. In
the French we have our principal rivals, and in their department
the catalogue sIioavs us some feAV over a hundred contributors — of
which tAventy-fAe have sent chemicals, apparatus, &c., &c., and
the remainder about five hundred frames of specimens, or more,
perhaps. Austria contributes to Class XIV. ten who exhibit pic¬
tures, and tAvo exhibitors of apparatus. Grossherzogthum Baden
sends one set of photographic contributions. Bavaria has two
photographers in her department (but the productions of Albert of
Munich are Avorth a visit). Frankfort-on-Main e has one exhibitor,
and so has the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Prussia shows eleven who
> contribute pictures, and seven who have sent apparatus, materials,
May 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
187
&c. The Kingdom of Saxony has sent us the contributions (worth
examining) of two photographers. Wurteniberg’s photography
has a single representative, so has that of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Greece has the works of two photographers to grace her classical
department. Italy sends the works of six, the Netherlands those
of two, and Norway those of one only. Portugal sends one poor
photograph of a pen drawing. Russia boasts five photographic
contributors, whose productions are worth a visit. Sweden boasts
three, and Switzerland four. So much, then, for the figures only.
I now propose dealing with the pictures exhibited in the various
British and foreign departments, for the purpose of comparing
results and ascertaining progress. Beginning with the English
department, we will, if you please, first devote our attention to the
specimens of
PORTRAITURE.
Going back to the fine, large, lofty attic we were just now
describing, we find the workmen busy up aloft making, as we de¬
voutly hope, some arrangements for improving the ventilation (so
great has the heat been in this room that it has been more than
even some of the apparatus could safely stand), and also — as we
hope no less devoutly — some alterations to subdue or diffuse the
light, which glares on the glass of frames hung near the ceiling to
the utter extinction of every chance of seeing pictures so situated.*
A pair of small boys are shouting, for the benefit of two or three
visitors to the photographic gallery — “ Fortygraphy Cat’logue !
sixpence each!” I purchase one and begin my examination of
the portraits, sorely tempted to desert them for the landscapes;
but honourably persevering in the plan I have laid down above of
taking one branch of the art at a time, and examining it in con¬
nexion with each of the several foreign departments before going
to another. The pictures are numbered thus : — In the Industrial
Catalogue there is one number given to each contributor, with
which all of his or her productions are labelled, and this num¬
ber is placed in the left-hand corner of the frame, while the number
under which each frame of pictures is given in the “ Catalogue
of the Photographs ” will be found in the right-hand corner.
The catalogue numbers begin at the north-west corner of the
room. At the first glance it strikes one that, considering the vast
number of rejected applicants, and the claims which many of these —
Garrick, for instance — had to the consideration of the appointed
Committee, the space has certainly been unequally and unfairly
divided. Some of the contributors of frame after frame of vulgar,
hard, commonplace, Avorked-up black and w bite portraits, one as
like another as the scratchy mechanism of inartistic “ touching ”
can make them — and others Avho fill the larger parts of screens
with some hundreds of cartes de visite some distance beloAV medio¬
crity — might surely have surrendered at least some portion of such
discreditably-filled space to their rejected betters. In saying so,
however, you must not lose sight of the possibility I mentioned in
my last gossip about myself.
Let us take first the uncoloured solar camera enlargements.
M. Claudet’s specimens, although weak and spiritless enough, have
been under the brush of a painter who has expended a large share
of careful, judicious work upon them. At the first glance you
would pass by these pictures as untouched, perhaps, but a second
glance betrays the artist’s brush. They are perfectly free from
distortion, and their general effect is anything but unpleasant. One
of the best of these productions is a vignette head of a lady, which
is quite untouched, and possesses much roundness and delicacy :
it is the production of Messrs. Smyth and Blanchard.
This abrupt break-off means that a note from the Publisher
informs me that if my “Gossip” does not reach him by this post it
will assuredly be too late. So we will resume our chat on the 1st
of June. A. II. W.
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
LENSES, AND ON THE ANGLE OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED.
By Thomas Grubb.
The question of “What a Lens will Cover” is one of considerable
interest to photographers to have fully and impartially, as Avell as
usefully , discussed. I am glad, therefore, to see a prospect of its
being so treated in this Journal. It is, however, a question of by
no means that simple character which may at first sight appear;
and, in this stage of the discussion, I think it most desirable, as
Avell as important, that Ave should understand clearly Avdiat the
interpretation of the question is or is to be.
So far as the discussion has proceeded, it appears (Avith the ex¬
ception of an argument on the best means of ascertaining the
* Since writing the above I have been informed that a canvas awning will be stretched
over the glass of the roof.
correct focus of a combination) to have been pretty nearly con¬
fined to the question how far an orthoscopic, triplet, or a single lens
will cover the most. The meaning attached by each writer to the
Avord “cover” Ave are left to gather from his treatment of the
question ; while, in this proposed covering — whether it be of subject
or sensitised surface — quality is nearly ignored, and quantity only
considered. In other Avords* the question heretofore mainly dis¬
cussed has been — how far the orthoscopic, triplet, or single com¬
bination, as at present constructed by the best makers, is that
which Avill transmit — undiminished by the margin (or setting) of
the lenses — a lateral pencil subtending the greatest angle to the
central (or axial) one.
The solution of such a question can be considered of practical
utility only under the supposition that to each of the lenses had
been given by its respective maker that aperture AArhich Avould
cause the entire series to give equally distinct- images with these their
extreme lateral pencils. That this is not done I infer from direct
comparative observations made Avith the several kinds of lenses
as obtained from the best makers ; and therefore I am led to con¬
clude that the determination of AArhat a lens will cover, irrespective
of the quality of the lateral image, is more likely to lead photo¬
graphers astray than to afford them useful data, Avhile the efforts
of manufacturers are liable to be turned into a useless direction,
and to the supplying lenses of increased angular covering of field —
the additions so made being practically useless, though neces¬
sarily expensive.
Let it not be inferred from the foregoing that I assume that any
of those avIio have previously made a communication on the sub¬
ject would Avish the question to be discussed otherwise than in a
useful manner. There are, hoAvever, some matters in the Avay of
statements Avhich I cannot subscribe to as being correct, and to
Avhich, as tending to confuse, I shall take occasion to refer as I
proceed.
Now, it must be evident to every one conversant Avith the sub¬
ject that the question of Avhat a lens Avill cover is, in the absence
of an interpretation, very indefinite, and particularly so as re¬
spects the single combination.
It is also evident that the discussion has already taken the form
of a question as to what lens Avill cover the most surface ? This, if
coupled Avith a due regard to the quality of the image, is a much
more practicable, as Avell as useful, manner of conducting the
inquiry; while a better definition of it seems to be this — What
construction of lens (extant) Avill cover (include?) a large given
angular field Avith the greatest distinctness? But to remove
all ambiguity touching the words “ cover, or include,” it should be
understood that either Avord has reference to the subject included,
not to the image. I expect there can be no difference of opinion on
this point, but it is Avell to be precise. The object of a photo¬
grapher is to be able to include a large extent of subject ; and the
extent is, by the camera, measured by the angle which it (the
object.) subtends. Assume that a theodolite is placed before an
object to be photographed (which Ave may suppose to be a build¬
ing), and that the angle it subtends to the instrument is found to
be say 40° ; if the camera now be made to take the place of the
theodolite, and that it (the camera) includes the building, it is
clear that 40° are included by the camera.
The establishment of the question to be discussed upon clear
premises must be highly conducive to its profitable discussion.
We have next to consider the most direct and satisfactory method
of obtaining that Avhich for the present I shall call the equivalent
photographic focus either of a lens or combination.
The method which I have long since used for this purpose has
the advantage of being based on correct principles, and of being-
abundantly accurate and Avithin the convenient reach of every
photographer. But I shall not mention it at present, because I
think that the principles on Avhich it is based are at present, gene¬
rally speaking, not understood; and for proof of this I need not
travel farther than the columns of this Journal, and the incipient
discussion upon the question of “ Avhat a lens will cover, and to
Avhich I shall noAV take the liberty of adverting.
From the circumstance of Mr. Hornby stating the nominal focus
of a lens instead of the correct, Avhere it was most important that
the true focus should have been given, coupled with bis subsequent
explanation, viz., “that he was aware that all* (?) opticians, in
estimating the focal lengths of their lenses, measure trom the sur¬
face of the lens nearer to the back of the camera,’ I conclude
that he has been given to understand that such a mode of mea-
* I am not professionally an optician, and Mr. Hornby may be correct here if
he do not intend to include me in the category ; but if he did iutend it he is assuredly
wrong. — T. Q-.
188
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 16, 18«3
surement, while wrong, would be equally so for all kinds of lenses,
and that he was not informed that while the “ optician’s” inode of
measurement was very incorrect, and in favour of the triplet, it
was (though nearly correct) still slightly in error against the
single combination; and, consequently, that a comparison of a
triplet and a single lens, instituted under such measures , would be
very erroneous and very unfair towards the single lens.
Should Mr. Hornby try the simpler of the two methods given by
the Editor for ascertaining the focus of a spectacle lens, he may
find it capable of much greater precision than he has supposed.. A
practised eye can estimate very closely the place of least confusion,
instead of being, as he supposes, lost in the mazes of aberrations.
The case of the opera-glass, adduced by Mr. Hornby, does not
apply. The “range” he there alludes to is due almost entirely
to the power of the human eye to bring either parallel or mode ¬
rately diverging rays to a focus.
The method proposed by Mr. Hornby for ascertaining the focus
has, like most others, its disadvantages. First, there is probably
not one photographer in ten so circumstanced as to be able to
apply it with convenience ; secondly, it does not tell the focus
with sufficient accuracy except the “ wall" be at a considerable
distance, and therefore be the more inconvenient. True, the
quantity sought might be readily deduced, but photographers, as
a class, don’t like this kind of work, and won't practise it.
There is, however, a curious fact connected with the proposal
by Mr. Hornby of this his method for ascertaining the focus, viz.,
that it includes a principle which he is evidently not aware of, as
he condemns the same principle in another place by insisting on its
exclusion from the Editor’s proposed method for ascertaining the
same thing, viz., the true focus. To explain: Mr. Hornby, warned
perhaps by some kind friend of an enormous distortion being pro¬
duced by the single lens, writes (as his objection No. 2 to the Editor’s
method of determining a focal length) — “The distortion produced
by the spectacle lens would also be very great, and, therefore, in
measuring the distance between the images of the window bars
formed by it, another great error might be introduced unless care
were taken to measure the widest distance between them.” Now,
that which Mr. Hornby condemns so emphatically in the Editor’s
method of trial exists in full force in his own.
I trust Mr. Hornby will take these remarks in good part, and that
he will believe me when I say that I do not attribute more error to
have been entertained by him than probably there is held by many
others at the present time. There are atmospheres in which we can
scarcely live without being affected by them. I can congratulate
Mr. Hornby on being in good company; for there has been just
put into my hands the last number of a contemporary periodical,
wherein in a leading article there are no fewer than three errors, and
on the same subject. First, the focus, as measured from the back
lens to the ground-glass is stated to be “always shorter” than the
true, whereas in the single combination it is a little longer.
Secondly, the equivalent focus of a compound (triplet) is stated to be
one-fourth the, distance between the object and image, when these
are of equal size. Now, I have long since shown in this Journal
that we cannot obtain the focus of such a compound in this way.
Thirdly, it is stated, that when the diameter of the circle of satis¬
factory definition is equal to the equivalent focus of the lens, it
(the lens) then includes sixty degrees in a circular picture. Now a
simple diagram will show that it would only include about fifty-
three degrees , and that to include sixty degrees the diameter of the
circle covered should be about one-sixth more, or say seven inches
nearly , for a lens the focus of which is six inches ; or, by reference
to a table of sines, we may find the double tangent for thirty
degrees, and a radius of six inches to be = 6-934 inches (for the
diameter of circle including sixty degrees).
Perhaps Mr. Hornby will kindly inform us in his next communi¬
cation how he has become “sure” that the “just a little more ”
(extent of covering) so valuable occasionally to a photographer,
is got by the use of a triplet lens. The angle included by a triplet
is as defined as that included by any other lens, and not to be
increased without altering the distance of the lenses inter se.
'1 he single combination alone presents the power of getting the
‘‘ little more,” or a great deal more , if required, by simply approach¬
ing the stop towards the lens.
1 shall conclude with a reference to Mr. Dallmeyer’s last letter.
A little time will now probably tell how far Mr. Wilson is
more correct now than on a former occasion respecting lenses.*
But what does Mr. Dallmeyer mean by the following, which seems
* I <Io not dispute the fact, but I arraign the inference, except so far as it applies to the
l.. a lensas used. Mr. Wilson, in his experiment, has evidently used a triplet con-
2 "" hide a large angle, ami a single combination not constructed (or mounted)
with rcfersucc to same — T, Q,
to admit of no misunderstanding, and which I extract verbatim
from his letter, and hope to see reprinted in large type, that those
who run may read ? —
“ When taking a view with the single combination (no matter of what form),
including an angle of about 40°, the angle of deviation or displacement of
objects at the extreme margin of picture amounts to no less Ulan 4°, and, of
course, so much on each side of the axis. Those who advocate the use of
single-view lenses for even larger angles would do well to remember this !!”
Now, as one of those who not only advocate but use the single
view (aplanatic) lens for much greater angles than 40°, I shall
certainly take Mr. Dallmeyer’s advice so far as remembering what
he has stated in the above extract ; but, except he can show cause
to the contrary, I shall hold it to be no more true than a previous
statement of liis to the effect that the triplet was quicker acting
than the orthoscopie or the single lens, used with (their respective)
stops of equal size, while I shall remember it as one of the most con¬
siderable photographic blunders on record.
THE EE SIN PROCESS.*
By Alex. Robb.
To every amateur of photography a good dry process is of great
consideration — one that will combine (as Mr. Long remarked at the
last meeting) simplicity, economy, and certainty. Such a process
has great advantages over the wet — especially to those whose
holidays (like my own) are few and far between — as it enables
them to economise time, with the comfort of having little to carr}r.
The process that I have the pleasure of bringing before you this
evening is called the Resin Dry Process.
Most of you will remember reading of this process in the jour¬
nals some twelve months ago, but since then it seems to have
been forgotten. Why, I cannot say; for, with the little time that
I have been able to give to it, it has given me as fair results as
any dry process I have tried. f One advantage in its favour is its
sensibility, the exposure being, compared with the tannin, as one
to three, and with wet collodion about three to one.
I will now give you the manner in which I piepared my dry
plates: — To ordinary negative collodion, about six months iodised,
I added half a grain of a bromide and half a graiu of common resin
to each ounce. I tried a new collodion, hut it gave me inferior
results. After the resin is dissolved, settle and decant. How long
the collodion will keep after being resinised I cannot say : that
which I used was not more than a week old. I slightly warm a
perfectly clean plate (unclean plates are a great source of failure),
coat, and allow the collodion to set well, if too long before being
immersed in the nitrate bath the plate becomes unequal in iodide.
I allow it to remain for five minutes in a bath composed of nitrate of
silver forty grains, water one ounce, and slightly acid. I then wash
it well in three or four changes of water in a fiat tray, drain, and
dry at a moderately high temperature. The exposure in the
camera is from double to three times that of wet collodion.
Before developing I run a camel’s-hair pencil with spirit varnish
round the edge ot the plate. I notice that Mr. England recom¬
mends white wax dissolved in benzole as being better. I intend
trying this, as I find sometimes that the varnish is not effective,
the film being tender and apt to leave the glass in washing. I
next place the plate in a dish of water for hall a minute, drain, and
take sufficient of developing solution —
Pj’rogallic acid . 2 grains,
Citric acid . 2 „
Water . . 1 ounce—
to cover the plate, flow it over once or twice and dram back into
the measure, then add one or two drops of a ten-grain nitrate of
silver solution, and mix it with the glass rod. I next place the
plate on a levelling-stand, flow the solution over it again, and
move it backwards and forwards until the image appears, which,
if rightly exposed, will be in about half-a-minute.
Tire full development may be completed in about fifteen minutes.
If the image appear quickly, it will be necessary to weaken the
developing solution and add more silver; it slowly, more of the
pyrogailic and no silver, which will prevent the negative from
becoming hard.
I would, however, give this caution — never to leave the plate
while developing, as the formation of stains is apt to occur, which
no washing wilt remove, and the film is too tender to allow of
rubbing with cotton wool, either when wet or dry. I therefore
* Read at a meeting of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society,
May 1st, 1862.
+ Mr. Robb cannot have been a very diligent reader of this Journal to make such an
assertion. He has entirely overlooked the articles by Mr, Glover, Mr. Corey, and others,
on the resin jivocess, — EP.
May 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
189
develop one at a time, and finish before beginning another. Gallic
acid I have never tried, but intend doing so, as it may tend to
keep the plates cleaner. I fix with hyposulphite of soda.
This process, I think, has the merit of simplicity, economy, and
certainty. Its simplicity is that of the wet process, requiring no
preservative, and with small plates up to half size no previous
coating; and, for these same reasons, its economy is apparent. For
certainty, I said before, that iu my hands it has given me as good
results as any dry process.
It has been said that discoloration of .the nitrate bath will take
place with resinised collodion. I have sensitised two dozen of
plates in one bath, and no perceptible change has taken place ;
neither has it in any way interfered with it for the wet process. I
would not, however, recommend a bath for the wet and dry pro¬
cess to be the same, as the amount of acid required for dry plates
renders it a doubtful bath for wet negatives.
I should be glad to see .any gentleman of experience take the
process up, and be the means of bringing it to greater perfection.
Its being more sensitive than other dry jrrocesses ought to be a
great recommendation, and for dry plates a step in the right direc¬
tion ; for I have no doubt the time is not far distant when dry
plates will be as sensitive as wet ones.
Had time permitted I should have tried one or two experiments
with this process, such as that of development and redipping the
plate in a five-grain nitrate solution for increased sensibility, and
I have no doubt but that some improvement might be gained
thereby.
ON THE INCONVENIENCE OF THE ACETATES IN THE
PREPARATION OF POSITIVE PAPERS.*
By M. Davanne.
Some manufacturers of albumenised paper have a habit of intro¬
ducing into their albumen either acetic acid or soluble acetates ; or
perhaps in certain kinds of fermentation, sometimes set up in the
albuminous mixture, acetic is naturally formed. In all cases the
presence of acetic compounds in the paper exercises an adverse
influence by giving rise to the formation of needle-like crystals of
acetate of silver, which remain either on the surface of the print
or on the surface of the negative, and are likely in this way to
bring about the loss of one or the other.
An instance of this kind recently occurred in my own experience,
under circumstances which I have thought it useful to record, in
order to place other photographers on their guard against a similar
danger.
I have employed for some time past, without being aware of it,
a paper charged with a soluble acetate : the acetate of silver thus
produced remained either in the paper or in solution in the bath,
and when the latter became impoverished it was filtered into a
dish, and a solution of known strength, somewhat concentrated,
added in order to bring it up to the required standard. Some sheets
of paper were prepared upon this bath by the feeble light of the
laboratory, and all the prints and negatives exposed on that day
were covered with crystals and needles, which blackened on ex¬
posure to the light, and which might have caused me the loss of
all my negatives, if I had not promptly remedied the evil by wash¬
ing. An analysis soon convinced me that I had to do with acetate
of silver : the acetic compounds could not have arisen except in
the preparation of the paper. But how were they formed all in a
moment in such great abundance when no sensible change had
taken place in the temperature, vdien the bath was free from
fogging, and when I had only just added a fresh quantity of solu¬
tion of nitrate of silver ? The very simple reason is that, contrary
to what takes place among most other salts of silver, the solubility
of the acetate of silver is diminished just in proportion to the degree
of concentration of the nitrate of silver, and that at the moment
when, to a positive bath almost saturated with acetate of silver
but still not containing crystals, a more concentrated solution of
nitrate of silver is added, an immediate formation of silky crystals
takes place which are at once deposited on the papers.
On observing this reaction an easy remedy suggested itself: — ■
When it is desired to restore the bath to its primitive volume and
strength, dry nitrate of silver should first be added in a suitable
quantity. After it is dissolved, the bath is exposed to the cold
night air, and on the following morning the crystals formed are
separated by filtration, after which the necessary volume of water
is added. In this way a very concentrated bath is first formed,
which allows the principal portion of the acetate of silver to deposit,
and after the subsequent dilution no fear need be entertained as to
its crystallisation.
* From the Bulletin de la Societe Francaise de Photographic.
ON A CURIOUS DISCOVERY CONNECTED WITH A
“NITRATE RATH.”
By R. L. Maddox, M. D.
I venture, through your indulgence, to offer the following remarks
on a subject connected with both photographical and microscopical
science, and trust they may not prove unacceptable to the gene¬
rality of your readers. Very possibly others may have had their
attention directed to the point in question, yet I am not aware of
such having been published. Should you find me to be forestalled,
may I beg you to append a notice of the same.
In the early part of December a twenty-cunce nitrate of silver
bath, forty grains to the ounce, which had been in use during 1861,
and placedfor a month previousinastopperedbottle, was returned to
the bath, and set aside in a cupboard partitioned off in my working-
room so as to convert it into a dark chamber. It remained unopened
until the 12th of last month. The bath is of cemented glass, covered
outside with asphalte varnish, and kept in a vertical wooden case
with the cover shutting down to half the depth of the bath.
When the solution was returned to the bath, half a sheet of white
foolscap paper was first folded down on the top, and then the cover
placed over it. The bottle was a perfectly clean one kept to receive
the nitrate bath when filtered, or when the sides of the bath were
to be cleaned. The bath, after cleaning, was always washed out
finally with boiled and filtered or simply filtered fresh-caught rain
water — not out of the butt. I am thus particular in these details
for reasons that will appear.
Late on the afternoon of April 12th I moved the bath from the
dark cupboard to the table in the room. On removing its cover,
lifting off the paper, and looking along the surface of the liquid (as
is my habit) to see if any scum be visible and remove the same
by a little blotting paper wrapped round a strip of whalebone, I
noticed on the surface numerous bright glistening points, the mass
altogether in length about 1J inch and f in width. Supposing
these to be crystals, I proceeded to remove them with the blotting
paper ; but I could not gather them up, for they floated by and
opened out on the surface. A thin piece of wood was then turned
up, and with this a few of the points were lifted out. Examining
these with a doublet, I found them to be insects with beautifully-
curled and long straight hairs. Sixty-six were in this way taken
from the surface of the solution. Not knowing exactly what to do
with them, some were placed in spirit of wine and acetic acid,
which happened to be at hand, and the rest in water in a test-
tube. These were replaced in the dark cupboard; the others left to
diffused daylight. On the first appearance they looked like very
miniature fat sheep with eight legs, curled and straight feathers
from the back, a long depending snout, which was always turned
down in the liquid, and some with a very short tail or tubercle.
On a slip of glass they
resembled a particle of
fat of a dirty yellow co¬
lour, the snouts and legs
of the parentals being
darker and more defined
than in the rest of the
progeny. Sunday inter¬
vening, they were further
examined on the Monday.
Those in the acetic acid
were all at the bottom of
the tube. Their colour
had altered to a darkish
brown. Of those in water
afew were at the bottom
the rest floating on its
surface. None were found
in the stoppered bottle,
which had also been kept
A few were now mounted iu a cell with a little alcohol and
water, and placed under the compound microscope, but I could not
discern their general structure. They appeared to be covered with
a granular deposit. Concluding this to be some silver compound
entangled at the surface, it became a question how to remove it.
At first washing with water and a fine sable pencil was tried ; but
the insects got so injured, and were so exceedingly tender, that
this plan was set aside, and they were soaked for a short time in a
solution of cyanide of potassium. This quickly cleared off the de¬
posit and also seemed to abrade or break up the substance of body ;
lor they became more tender, so that I could not keep the form at
all perfect under the slightest pressure. Alcohol mixed with the
in the dark, wrapped in paper.
190
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1863
cyanide solution answered no better. Others were now placed in
a solution of iodine in iodide of potassium. Thisturned them yellow ;
and, on being replaced in a watch-glass with a little water, gave a
well-marked precipitate of iodide of silver. They were now re¬
moved to a solution of hyposulphite of soda. By alternately treat¬
ing them to these baths, and finally washing, the general structure
was rendered very visible under the microscope, though still very
fatty in appearance. Wishing to preserve some of the specimens,
I proceeded to put them upon the usual slides — first trying washing
in spirits of wine, then drying, soaking in turpentine, and setting up
in Canada balsam diluted with benzole. I could not set them out
in this, as the parts gave way very readily from the tenacity of
the balsam, and portions were rendered too transparent. Others
were first cleared of the deposit, soaked in glycerine and camphor
water, and finally mounted in the glycerine and gelatine medium;
this proved the most successful, though I found that they still so
retained their fatty quality that I dared not use sufficient pressure
to flatten out their rotund bodies, ere the skin gave way. They
gave me considerable trouble, although long accustomed to put up
objects of various kinds. Further observation led to the opinion
of their being Acciri , though not like any I was acquainted with.
The insects are very visible to the unaided eye, being a little
larger than the cheese mite. They are variable in size. The sexes
are evident, the females being provided with a curious short pro¬
tuberance or tubercle at the end of the abdomen, nearer the dorsal
surface ; and at a slight distance from it, on the under surface, when
seen sideways, are two thin projecting flaps which meet at the free
edges, thus forming a sort of deep and long triangular space, sack,
or groove, protected at the anterior entrance with a few short
crossing hairs. Looking down on this structure it has an elliptical
form : the edge of each flap has from four to six reddish marks —
query glands or booklets of apposition. ( Vide pencil sketch) In
this pouch I was fortunate enough to find a body suspended, which I
considered to be an extruded ovum ( vide photograph No. la). Pres¬
sure in several cases, especially after the cyanide solution, forced
out larger ova or ovisacs through the same groove. The ova or
ovisacs in some were eight in number: in others I could find only
six (in one of the photographs, No. 3, four are easily distinguished).
The males are rather smaller than the females — no projecting tubercle,
no groove nor pouch. In some I found a very curious struct ure visible
only from the abdominal surface, but the exact plane of which,
even by the most careful focussing, I could not decide on, as it was
only seen when the two surfaces were closely pressed. It was oval
in shape, with a slight projecting limb from the upper part of the
oval on each side. In the centre of the ellipse was a well-defined
line, and, abutting against this, on each side, short, slightly-curved
marks or lines, looking somewhat like the gizzard teeth of some
insects ; but whether it belonged to the digestive or genital system
I could not satisfy myself. Many attempts were made by pres¬
sure to separate these parts, but yielded no good result, the whole
breaking up into a sort of fatty sarcode. The outer surface of the
skin is covered with minute granulations, which, seen edgeways,
are resolved into very minute points — not cilia , being much shorter
and stouter. The long curled hairs on the back, and the straight
ones near the posterior end of the body, are finely barbed or fea¬
thered. The insects are provided with a pair of terrible, strong-
looking mandibles, each composed of two claws with irregular
teeth, lour or five that interlock. The labia are notched at the end
like a small reversed a set in a larger V (vide photograph No. 4).
The legs are furnished with sharp bristles, the ends of the foot
padded, and on some ot the feet I noticed a sort of short rod with
a knob at the end. No eye spots were visible.
Ibis description of the insects is very imperfect. I had pur¬
posed to have enclosed a drawing, with measurements, &c., but
severe indisposition has disappointed me in the attempt, which the
!YtC0.TPany*n£ miserable photo-micrographs must replace. Of their
life-history I know nothing, nor do I attempt to advance a theory
ot how they came into the bath. After the strange incidents met
with by the late Mr. Cross, the celebrated electrician, of the Quan-
tock Hills, when forming crystals by the agency of his small but
numerous-celled water battery, we may well pause before the
poital ol cieative power, without bringing to our aid equivocal or
spontaneous generation, as some of the critics of his labours ven-
. "n;! 11111 casonably to apply to him. No doubt the ova were there
V,1 ie, exa(T conditions to furnish forth their dormant energy,
though strange to us may seem those conditions:— the liquid a solu-
i _ 1 ° a caust‘c salt capable of seriously injuring animal mem-
creawffi °a8t i1U °"(™\yes 5 the light nil or non-actinic; the
a gem s of w3 hlg^ly orSaniac(1> yet not high in the scale-
ft genus of Atachmdo:. Few, I think, would look for animal life in
their nitrate baths ; yet these remarks may, if of no further use,
now call the attention of photographers to the fact of its support¬
ing living organisms, even to fatness, and elicit perhaps more of
their history and structure.
As a plea for the poverty of the prints, I had nothing at hand
but very old paper to print on. The day of taking the nega¬
tives was most tantalising : sunshine by fits, with a plenitude
of rain, and those fits only of a few seconds’ duration. In fact,
everything had to be tempered with much patience. The appa¬
ratus, extemporised for the -purpose, had its defects ; the small
plates were, by a modified “ dry process,” prepared for other pur¬
poses. Of the eight taken, enclosed are prints from six : the other
two — one of a crushed insect, and a repetition of the plate with
two insects — I do not send.
Bearing on the subject of life in strange places and curious con¬
ditions, and enjoying what we deem poisons, is a short remark in
the 3rd number of the Popidar Science Review for this month — Mr.
Attfield having found Acuri nourishing themselves on extract of
nux vomica, and even feasting on strychnine. In the article
l‘Acarus ” (Microscopic Dictionary) I cannot find among the described
species any that exactly correspond with these. The projection or
tubercle, at the end of the body, is named in the Acarus liippopo-
dos, found on the ulcer-crusts of horses’ legs, but the curious pouch-
groove I do not see noticed. If new, perhaps you may venture to
be sponsor, for I feel too uncertain about the baptismal registry of
others to propose a name. The microscope used for the observa¬
tions was Smith, Beck, and Beck’s, with objectives two-third and
one-fifth : for the photographs their one-fifth, and an achromatic of
lower power of my own making. The micro-camera was put
together with an old microscope, Abraham’s achromatic prism for
a mirror, a Coddington lens (which, by the way, was fractured
across the groove entirely through the glass) as a condenser, and
a small pocket camera for the sensitive dry-plate. Therefore, yon
will please not criticise the prints, as they are but rude specimens,
and not examples, of what can be done with care in photo-inicro-
grapliv.
[Although Dr. Maddox speaks disparagingly of his photo¬
graphs, they are excellent illustrations of the Acari discovered by
him in so singular a habitat. So good are they in the essential
points that no woodcut, however excellent, could possibly do them
anything like justice. We have therefore attempted but one, just
to give our readers some notion of the form of these curious
strangers, the details displayed by the microscope and recorded in
some of the more enlarged photographs being incapable of repro¬
duction in our pages. We shall take an opportunity of exhibiting
the photographs themselves at some of the meetings of the Pho¬
tographic Societies. — Ed.]
ON THE STUDY OP THE ELECTRIC SPARK BY THE AID
OP PHOTOGRAPHY.*
By Prof. Ogdex N. Rood, of Troy, N. Y.
Photographic images of the electric spark between the carbon
electrodes of the voltaic pile were obtained on silver plates in
November, 1840, by Prof. B. Silliman, jun., and Dr. W. H. Goode.
These observers remarked the greater actinic activity of the nega¬
tive spark as compared with the light from the positive electrode,
which I believe is the earliest recorded observation on this point.
These authors also noticed a double concentric structure in the
impression from the electric spark similar to that described in this
paper. .
Photographs of the stratification and luminous discharges in
Geisler’s tubes were obtained in the spring of 1860 by Professor
W. B. Rogers, of Boston, operating with one of Ritchie’s . coils.
These results were communicated to the British Association at
their Oxford meeting in June, 1860.
Similar photographs were obtained by Gunther and Dove, and
presented by the latter to the Prussian Academy, on the 27th of
May, 1861. A photographic camera was employed, and an ex¬
posure of from 3£ to 6 minutes.f In the same number of Poggen-
dorff’s Journal, W. Feddersen, in a highly interesting article on
the electric discharge fiom the Leyden jar, states that, by means
of a concave mirror silvered according to Liebig’s process, he
obtained fine photographs of the electric spark, even when the
mirror wras in rapid rotation. Photographs of the spectra from the
spark of Ruhmkorffs coil have also been obtained by Prof. W. A.
Miller.
* From the American Journal of Scienceand Art.
+ Pogg. Annaten, vol. cxiii,,“.No. vii.
May 15, 1863]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
191
In all these cases the electric line was photographed from a
position at right angles to its motion, a side view being obtained.
My object in the present article is to describe a very simple and
easy method of obtaining remarkably fine photographs of the elec¬
tric spark from a point of view parallel to the direct ion of its
motion, the pictures being as it were transverse sections of the
spark and of the electric brush in all its variety. The very short
duration of the electrical discharge renders its study by ordinary
means difficult and uncertain : while photography, by revealing a
mass of new details otherwise invisible, and furnishing a permanent
record, which can be studied at leisure, offers advantages that
cannot be too highly estimated.
Method Employed. — M. E. Becquerel showed, several years ago,
that paper coated with the bromide of silver is sensitive to the light
of the electric spark ; the discharge of a battery of four Leyden jars
in its immediate neighbourhood causing a slight darkening. When
a single spark was allowed to strike the paper no effect was pro¬
duced.*
In experiments on instantaneous photography with the wet
collodion process, I was often encountered by the well-known
fact that, while those portions of the sensitive surface which had
been acted on by a very bright light darkened strongly under the
developing solution, adjacent parts, where the action of the light
had been somewhat feebler, remained cpiite transparent and free
from a deposit of silver. This rendered it probable to me that if
the electric spark were made to strike directly on the sensitive
surface, only those portions would be affected which were in
immediate contact with the luminous atmosphere. Actual experi¬
ment confirmed this idea to a most surprising degree. When a
single spark was allowed to fall on the sensitive surface, under
the action of the developing solution, a fine, intense, and sharply-
defined image, full of delicate details, was produced. The sharp¬
ness and perfection of these images was such that they bore
examination by the microscope under a power of 40 diameters,
while there was not the least difficulty in enlarging them by means
of photography as high ns 20 diameters. The enlarged negatives
then furnished good prints on paper. Sometimes the small original
images were accompanied by an irregular partial halo caused by
the diffused light of the spark, but this for the most part was so
faint as in no way to interfere with the distinctness of their
outline.
The question naturally arises whether these delicate and beau¬
tiful images are produced by the action of the light on the sensi¬
tive plate, or are owing to a decomposition of the silver salt by
electrical agency : in other words, whether these pictures are pho¬
tographs or electrographs. That they are due to the action of light
the following experiments will render probable.
(1.) Sparks were allowed to fall on sensitive plates, and their
form was observed by the aid of a lens of one inch focal length :
on developing the latent images they corresponded in shape with
those observed.
(2.) A glass plate was coated with plain collodion, free from
iodide or bromide, and allowed to remain live minutes in the bath of
nitrate of silver. It was then removed, and single sparks were
allowed to fall on different portions of the wet collodion surface.
Under the action of the developer the well-known spark images
appeared.
A simple clean glass plate without any coating at all was placed
in the nitrate bath for a few seconds. On its removal, and while
still quite wet, sparks were discharged on different portions of its
surface. When the sulphate of iron developing solution was
poured over it, as usual, clear sharp images of the spark were
obtained !
As plain collodion, free from iodide and bromide, as well as simple
glass plates moistened merely by the nitrate bath, have not been
considered by photographers as sensitive to light, these unexpected
results rendered it probable that the electrical discharge produced
a decomposition of the nitrate of silver. I was, however, enabled
to prove that these surfaces really are sensitive to light, in the
following manner : — A plate coated with collodion, free from iodide
or bromide, but saturated with a solution of nitrate of silver from
the bath, was placed in a camera which was directed towards a
window with a bright sky beyond. The lens used was the “ por¬
trait combination,” its focal length being six inches, with an aper¬
ture of 1^ inches : the exposure lasted ten minutes, the full aperture
being used. Under the sulphate of iron solution, a distinct image
of the window, of no great intensity, was obtained. Next, sunlight
was concentrated by a “bull’s-eye” condenser on a little stand, which
+ Pogg. Anal., vol. lir., p. 54.
to avoid too great heat was arranged so that its surface was about
half-way between the lens and its focus, the bright 6pot on the
stand covering an oval space 2 of an inch in diameter and two inches
long. A plate merely moistened by immersion in the nitrate bath
was placed on the stand for ten seconds, and then developed by the
sulphate of iron solution, which brought out an intense image of
the oval spot.
(3.) The image of the positive spark falling on a plate merely
wet with nitrate of silver has a peculiar and definite form. If this
form is really traced by light we should expect that the light would
be able to act on another sensitive plate placed directly under and
in contact with the first. Tin's was found to be the case. A glass
plate coated with sensitive collodion, on its removal from the nitrate
bath, was covered with a piece of the very thin glass used for
microscopic purposes, the latter having previously been moistened
by a solution of nitrate of silver : sparks were then discharged on
the covering plate of thin glass. When the latter was removed
and the collodion surface developed as usual, images of the spark
were obtained. The definition was much impaired, and the intensity
lessened. When the thin glass was blackened so as not to transmit
light, and the experiment repeated, no images were produced, not
even by allowing a large number of sparks to strike the same
spot.
Apparatus for the Production of the Photographs. — For the gene¬
ration of the electricity a small cylinder machine was used. The
diameter of the cylinder was seven inches, its length ten inches :
the prime conductor exposed a surface of 200 square inches.
The apparatus for throwing the spark on
the sensitive plate is seen in the diagran
A brass rod It It', terminated by a freshly
polished brass ball six-tenths of an inch i
diameter, is supported over the centre of tli
sensitive plate and insulated in the manm
seen in the woodcut (fig. 1). The rod is gr;
duated and held in position by a bindin
screw. The sensitive plate is supported o
a silver disc, which is in metallic connexic
with the rubber of the machine. A wea
spring of platinum foil rests on the collodi
film and connects it with the silver disc,
is connected with the prime conductor.
The manipulation was as follows : — A glass plate three inches
square was carefully cleaned, coated with collodion, and sensitised
in a bath of nitrate of silver of 40 grains to the ounce of water.
The plate on being taken from the bath was held in an upright
position, so that it could drain for one or two minutes : it was then
placed on the stand, and the machine very slowly turned, until an
apparently single discharge had been effected, when the plate was
removed about three-tenths of an inch, and the operation repeated
until twenty sparks had fallen upon it. The plate was then de¬
veloped and fixed as usual. After each experiment the brass ball
was wiped to remove dust, <fec.
The pictures produced in this way are apt to be too intense,
whereby the interior details are often unobscured. Some care must
therefore be taken in the selection of a collodion : that which is
suitable for “ ambrotypes” is to be preferred. The following for¬
mula auswered well in my hands : —
Plain collodion . 8 ounces.
Iodide of potassium . 40 grains.
Bromide of ammonium . 20 do.
This collodion should be used while still new, as it then is sen¬
sitive and not too intense in its action.
Form of the Positive Spark when Drawn from the Prime Conductor by
a Short Thick Metallic Pod.
The positive electrical spark under these circumstances consists
of a combination of two figures, viz., a star and one or more
rings. The relation which they hold to each other is modified
by the distance the spark travels in the air; that is, by the
tension of the electricity. The two figures are usually arranged
with a considerable degree of symmetry. The very marked
difference in these two components, and the fact that the annular
form is, as I shall show, characteristic of the electrical brush,
seems to indicate that each simple spark cousists of two or more
successive discharges of different intensity. The woodcuts show¬
ing the forms of the spark were executed from photographs enlarged
nine diameters ; in them the bright portions of the spark are of course
represented by dark shading, &c.
1 92
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1809
FIG. 2-
Distance of the brass ball from the sensitive plate Tyinch. The
most general form is that seen in diagram 2, at .1. The starlike
figure is very distinct. One of the rings is included within its area,
and faintly indicated by a deeper shade: the other ring is some¬
times seen circumscribing it.
A .2. The rays are larger and the external ring is plainly visible.
Tu and Tv .4. The rays increase in size, and the ring is well
developed.
Like the above, except that the rays begin to grow irregular.
-tV Rays quite irregular : both rings distinctly visible.
A, A, A, ItV, ItV The star loses its regularity, and the rings are
no longer symmetrically disposed.
1 A. No spark passes over : it is replaced by the electrical brush,
or rather by discharges intermediate between the brush and
the true spark, fig. 2, I.
These produce a strong impression on the plate, and yield intense
sharp figures, consisting of three parts: — An external sharply-de¬
fined circle, within a series of dots arranged in a circle ; and finalty,
innermost of all, a broad ring which may pass by delicate gra¬
dations into a star. ■ This would indicate that the partial spark
consists, under these circumstances, of at least three successive
discharges of electricity of different tension. The circles on the
plate seem to have exactly the same diameter they possess in the
air. This is strongly suggested by the following experiment : — If
the plate is held obliquely the partial sparks gene- F|G 3>
rally pass near its surfaces for some little distance
before actually coming in contact with it, and
their path is marked by comet-like tails (see fig.
3). The diameter of these tails is the same with
that of the circles. This is also true of the brush.
Electrical Brush. — When owing to distance or the use of a pointed
wire these partial sparks become reduced in intensity we have the
electrical brush : its form is slightly removed from the last. The
middle circle of dots vanishes as well as the projections from the
broad inner ring; and we have two concentric rings, the smaller
one being most strongly marked. If the brush be still further
reduced in intensity, the external circle becomes very faint,
and finally disappears, and but a single circle is left. — Fig. 2,
nr, iv.
Electricians have long since arrived at the conclusion that the
electrical spark passes by insensible gradations into the electrical
brush, and I find that photography furnishes a beautiful confirma¬
tion of this view. Thus the figures I, II, III, IV, Fig. 2, are selected
from photographs forming the first members of a series which would
illustrate the gradual conversion of one of these forms into the
other, and the other members could easily be added.
We have seen that while the electrical brush is characterised by
the annular form, electricity of higher tension generates star-like
figures, the rays being larger in proportion to the tension up to a
certain point. Now the constant occurrence of a combination of
these two forms, in the photographs of bright sparlcs, points out, I
think, clearly, that these sparks consist also of more than one dis¬
charge ; moreover, the ring, where it cuts the rays of the star, can
often be traced under them, as though superposition had taken
place. Again, when the bright spark travels some distance the ring
is generally not symmetrically placed, as though the discharge pro¬
ducing it had followed a slightly different path. Indications are
constantly observed which lead to the idea that even the star itself
j® produced by the overlapping of two stars, having rays of dif¬
ferent size and different intensity.
The wet collodion film offers, of course, a certain amount
of resistance to the passage of electricity over its surface,
and thus furnishes us with the different indications above
described.
Finally, as the researches of Riess, Kirchhoff, Helmholtz,
and Feddersen, have shown that the electrical discharge is
oscillatory and wave-like, I am the more inclined to regard
these photographic figures as produced by a series of consecu¬
tive discharges of different intensity.
Before passing on to the next point of interest, I will allude
to a curious modification which the positive partial spark
undergoes if the machine be turned rapidly, so that a large
number of them fall quickly on the same spot: see V, fig. 2.
Many of the partial sparks are arranged radially around the
point under the brass ball, the pointed portion being turned
outward.
f To be concluded in our next.)
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.
By Our Own Pioneer.
ROUND ABOUT THE CORNISH COAST.
There are few districts that afford more scope or offer such temptations
to the photographer as the “ Bochj Land of Strangers" — such being the
name given to the comity of Cornwall by John Norden, the “ chronicler,”
of 1586, of whom his rivals said — “ He wrote much not to be depended on
or found elseioh ere." The term “Land of Strangers” probably referred
to the Jews, who were working the tin and copper mines; and some
writers of the same period have said — “ Where silver or copper is found
to be, there for certain a Jew you will see.” However, of this it is cer¬
tain, were its beauties and capabilities half so generally known as they
ought to be, it would be pretty extensively visited by photographers ; for
its magnificent headlands, bold and wave-lashed bluffs, sea-worn caves,
extensive sands, deep and silvery bays, magnificent slopes, and jutting
crags, are not to be excelled, and, in many instances, not to be rivalled,
on any other part of the English coast ; while to these may be added an
unlimited series of pictorial beauties in graceful landscape, bold and
broadly-defined church towers, quaint old bartons and mansions, stone
and timber bridges, and other artistic “bits” well adapted for the “pencil
of light,” and forming (as the playbills would say) “ a combination of
unparalleled attractions." And now, from the increased facilities of the
road and rail, this most romantic and southernmost county in England
can be reached “ in next to no time.” Having (like, the previously-named
John Norden) perambulated, viewed, and delineated much of the said
county, I purpose — to the best of my humble ability — pointing out to
artists and amateurs, and pioneering them to places of note, remarkable
scenes, and such objects of interest as maybe adapted for photographing
and sketching — pointing out how they may be reached, and where the
best accommodation may be obtained.
All intending visitors from the south should make for Exeter, by
way of Bristol, or by the South-western line through Honiton (the
land of “bridal lace”), the said South-western line conveying pas¬
sengers from London to Exeter for 14s. 3£d., being nearer than
the Bristol line by twenty-three miles. From Exeter the line goes
on to Plymouth — then to Bodmin, where j’ou can ’bus it to all parts of
the Cornish coast ; or, should the tourist prefer stopping a day or so at
Exeter and have a look round the “ever faithful city,” he can then go
on by omnibus to Launceston, and from thence to any part of the coast
desirable.
Twice a week conveyances go from Launceston to Camelford, which
would be a good place to fix upon as a central station, visiting in succes¬
sion Tintagel, Boscastle, St. Teatli, St. Breward, Trevalga, Port Isaac,
and the far-famed quarries of Bowithick andDela Bole ; while the tower¬
ing crags and spray-dashed peaks of the rock-bound coast — the “ home
and haunt of the wild sea mew”— -are all within easy and convenient
distances.
Camelford — from Cam-allan, the crooked river — was a place of note
and notoriety previous to the Reform Act, which, to a great extent, as
“commercials” say, “shut it up.” The inns and temperance coffee¬
house offer good accommodation, while at the stationers’ and printers’
every information can be obtained as to the places of note in the district ;
and 'if Sir Rowland Hill would like to see a clean, respectable, and good-
looking post-office, he had better post down to Camelford. A prestige
hangs over the old borough of by-gone days, as being the first place for
which Lord Brougham sat in the Commons House of Parliament, and as
contiguous to the spot (Slaughter Bridge by name) where King Arthur,
of round-table fame, received his death-wound.
A silver gilt mace, used by the Mayors of Camelford in their glorious
days of bribery and beer, much defaced and battered, whether from knock¬
ing down refractory free members, or repeated callings to order by thumps
on the table, or pure accident, is not known. It is remarkably well
chased and engraved, of handsome elegant porportions. It remains with
some curious documents, in the care of the Town-Clerk, and is well worth
the inspection of the antiquary. Some have surmised that the chasing,
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
193
May 15, 1862]
gilding, and carving of the royal arms, and heraldic national devices, was
the “cunninge worke” of Elias Gamble, the master of William Hogarth :
it is evidently of an earlier period than the date engraved on it.
Cam el ford from the high ground on the left of the turnpike; the old
ivy hall, by the bridge ; the old school, from the green ; Rough Tor and
Brown Willy in the distance ; with sundry old cottages, and gable-end
houses in nooks and corners, form broad, bold, and effective objects for
the single lens, or for stereoscopic effect. Leaving the town by the
Bodmin road, and taking the lane on the left, short round by the turnpike,
you come to the Church of Advent, or St. Alhawyn. This makes a good
picture from each side, the lofty and peculiar tower standing out in bold and
strong relief. Leaving the church and following the cross lane to the Bod¬
min high road, the “old stone steppes,” and gap of the 11 Camel- ford” in the
river course at the flat of the hollow of the hill, will give two good pictures :
that to the right, towards Camelford, of an old mill, water leap, and
broken wooded background ; while that to the left gives the far-famed
rocky mounds and dashing falls of rushing water, known as the “ Devil’s
Jump.” This grandly wild and Der-Frieschutz-looking bit of Cornish
scenery — immense masses of large-grained granite mixed with the por-
pliyritic — rise in wild confusion on cacli side of a deep ravine ; while huge
masses of felspar and quartz break the rushing of the wild and bounding
flow of water, as it tumbles headlong into the dreary waste of marsh and
bog, where lies concealed the junction of the granite with the slate.
Now, from one of the granite-bound sides of this wild ravine to the other,
his Satanic Majesty was said to jump— performing, in fact, the feat of the
double trapez, and, therefore, depriving Leotard or Blondin of any claim to
originality in that daring act. Passing on to the Bodmin road, a couple
of miles will bring you to the “ Leather Bottle,” when the turn to the
right will lead to Michaelstow Church Town, the tower and steps from
the village green making an admirable picture — the distinctive feature
of most of the Cornish churches being the open space around them, so
that the camera can be planted near or distant, according to the
wish of the operator ; while the proximity of a cottage or two, and the
general civility of the inhabitants, render any assistance or a supply of
water for the Avet process easily obtainable. Retracing the road to the
“ Leather Bottle,” a lane right before you, opposite the blacksmith’s shop,
leads up to 8t. Breward, the church founded bj' William, son of Lord
Breward, of Oddcombe, consecrated Bishop of Exeter in 1224. The road
to St. B re Avar d from the “Leather Bottle” presents many excellent sub¬
jects — an old bridge from the ford of tire river, with the mine gearing and
engine shaft in the distance ; an old mill and water course, with the rough
boulders and granite crags ; and Brorvn Willy, 1368 feet abovre the level of
the sea, forming the extreme background. The rise at the highest
winding of the road brings you to one of those wild and exquisite “bits”
that reminds you at once of some of the Continental sketches in the old
landscape annuals of thirty years back, when Turner, Harding, Bon-
nington, and Prout were in full sAvay.
Looming to the right, the eye Avanders over Advent, with its graceful
and conspicuous church toAver — Camelford and the De la Bole Quarry, to
the middle distance beloAv, in conjunction Avith Lanteglos, St. Teath, and
Endellion, filling up the left. Ascend the crest of the hill to the Church
Toavu, Avhen you come upon the mine with its imposing and picturesque
array of machinery, Avindlass and shaft, engine-house, timber, water-
courses, stone supports, chains, props, ropes, blocks, and tackle. These,
as they seem mingled in endless confusion, make admirable and distinc¬
tive pictures. The church toAver is a fine specimen of bold rough granite
work, while its situation close to the high road, with a bank in front
where the camera can be placed, offers every facility for a first-rate vieAv.
There are tAvo good inns in the village, and several excellent subjects
may be obtained round the church toAver and rectory. Returning to
Camelford, about a mile from the toAvn on the road to St. Teath, you
come to a turn or bend Avhich brings the toAver of the church of Lanteglos
from out the centre of a fine group of trees — the Ioav dwarfed Avail of
heavy masonry, the rustic gate, and tangled leafy hedge to the right and
left, making up a good foreground. FolloAving the road to the church
gate, and ascending the hill on the left, a fine effective picture of the
church and rectory may be taken — the old familiar distances of Rough
Tor and BroAvn Willy filling up the back. Following the lane for half-
a-mile a gate in the corner of a hedge-roAV will open up a A'ieAv of the long-
straight slate heaps from the De la Bole Quarry : these with the strag¬
gling and irregular dottings of cottage sand houses on the crest line of
the horizon, Avith the large white building called Quarry. House — the
chimney shaft of the engine, sloping banks, and Ioav hedge-roAvs — Avill
give a good and telling subject. Three miles from Camelford, on the
Wadebridge Road, is St. Teath. At the turn of the ocav road and up
the vale some splendid landscape bits may be obtained: and at the Inn,
by St. Kcav church toAver, civility and good accommodation is found.
St. Teath itself and St. Teath church tower Avill bear taking from several
points. Here, as in most other parts of the Cornish district, a multitude
of effective little bits Avill present themselves on every side to the eye
of the artist, and are so exceedingly numerous that it is impossible to
indicate them all; many of the places being named after saints, martyrs,
and confessors, avIio led" the life of hermits in CornAvall and Devon, and
are fully described in the Avritings of Giraldus Cambrensis and William
of Worcester.
Leaving Camelford by the upper road, rounding the “ Sportsman Inn,
by John Coumbe,” and passing the “ union,” a couple of miles will bring
you to the higher side of the celebrated De la Bole Quarries, an
immense excavation in the solid stone, some 350 yards long by aboAre
100 in width, and worked to the depth of some 300 feet, flhe slate pro¬
cured is of different quality, according to the depth of excavation : it is
divided and subdivided Avith great expertness by the quarrymen into
pieces of suitable size and thickness fur roofing and other purposes. This
excavated “hive of living industry” is a magnificent sight, and a great
variety of interesting pictures may be taken from various points. Per¬
mission to do so may be obtained from the resident superintendent at the
quarry house. About two miles further on the Boscastle road, a direct¬
ing board points the Avav to the “ BoAvithick Quarries — of more interest,
perhaps, to the photographer than De la Bole, from less liability to inter¬
ruption, and vieAvs being obtained of greater variety and extent. There is
an abandoned quarry on the right of the road, Avith the massive frame-Avork
and machinery overhanging the pit iioav filled up, and Avith Avater, while
the sides in many places are darkened and tinted to Ararious hues by the
trickling stream pouring doAvn the sides to the depths beloAv. In other
parts there are immense blocks of granite, rising to a height of 100 feet or
more, and in many instances presenting bare OArerhanging blocks and
longitudinal sections of 20 to 30 feet. 1 hese, Avith the stunted furze grow¬
ing on and overhanging the tops and points, Avhile the close-creeping ivy
clings gracefully to many parts of the rocky facial, av i 1 1 give in breadth,
boldness, and shadoAv, pictures Avith all the force and solidity of Salvator.
Five or six different vieAvs may be taken of various parts of these gigantic
specimens of human skill, enterprise, and toil.
At Trebarmoutli, close to these quarries, a small and clean inn affords
good accommodation, and several A'iews of the slopes and headlands
toAvards the North Atlantic, may be here obtained — Padstorv Point and
Newland being Avitliin vieAv. It is scarcely possible for a written de¬
scription to convey an idea of the innumerable points in, round, and
about this district. On one side you have an immense hill of slate and
granite piled up layer upon layer, Avitli a solitary cottage or hut erected
in the midAvay or on the top. Turn a short distance, and you haAre im¬
mense boulders of granite tAventy to forty feet square, overhanging,
perhaps, some abandoned pit ; Avhile a move a Lav feet right or left may
give you a magnificent bluff, with irregular slopes coming doAvn to
the Arery edge of some immense guiiv; Avhile in some of the
lower portions, under and around the village of Pcngelly, the
refuse of the quarries is so lavishly piled around, and in
such immense quantities, that the spectator might be led to imagine
he Avas viewing the field of the battle of slates after the engage¬
ment. For stereoscopic purposes, I belicA'e many of the subjects are
not to be met with elsewhere — having the advantage I haAre before
mentioned, that you can place the camera near or distant, and in many
instances get a good position on a leA-el with the subject, half-AA-ay up, or
above ; and this, I need not repeat, is a convenience not often to be met
Avith. Four miles from this is the renowned Tintagel, Dundagel, or
Bosithney — a place about which an immense amount of fiction has
been engrafted on a very small amount of fact. Joseph of Exeter, a
priest of the “City of the Red Earth,” and avIio Avent Avith King Richard
to the Holy Land, as a sort of “oavii correspondent,” and made on his
return Archbishop of Bordeaux, says : —
“From this blest plat e immortal Arthur sprung,
AA'liose Avond'rous deeds shall be for ever sung —
Sweet music to the ear. sweet honey to the tougue.’'
From Avhich it is evident Priest Joseph had heard of old Merlin's pro
phecy, the said Merlin being “your dashing firebold man” of thatr
age. The church, castle, island, and Avaterfall are the great objects o 1
interest. The church, from the open space around and proximity to the
cliffs, makes a good object from various points and sundry distances. For
near views the massive toAA-er, old Saxon chapel, and Norman doorwaA’s
present themselves ; Avhile in various panoramic vieAA-s it can be included
as a prominent and telling object. In the interior will be found the Saxon
chapel founder’s tomb, piscina, carved screen, font, and interesting speci¬
mens of the Anglo-Saxon style of architecture, with some carved
“ standards” or scat ends. It has been restored, and stained-glass Avin-
doAvs introduced, designed and executed by the vicar, an artist and
antiquary of much taste.
Arthur’s Castle — sometimes termed “ Dundagel,” the Castle of Deceit _
is the great “go” of the district. The King himself, like Philip Quarle’s
monkey, lived such a long time ago that many doubt if he ever lived
at all ; but the castle is certainly a most extensive specimen of rock,
ruin, and romance, and must be seen to be duly appreciated. If
the panoramic lens and camera were brought to bear upon it, some
photographic marvels [might be produced : hoAvever, Avith the ordinary
instrument, good stereoscopic and other pictures can be obtained. In
the village, several old houses offer themselves as aa-c11 worthy the artist’s
notice and attention. Tavo good inns and several private houses offer
accommodation for visitors, Avhile the key of the “ island gate,” or
detached citadel of the old castle, can be found at the Mill Cottage.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER.
( Sittings in Banco before the Loan Chief Bargs, Mr. Barov Martin, Mr.
Baron Bramwell, and Mr. Baron Wilde.)
2IAYALL V. niGBY.
Thts case was tried before the Lord Chief Barou at Guildhall, when a
verdict was found for the plaintiff, leave being reserved to the defendant
to move. — The case was again before the Court on Tuesday, the 6th inst.
194
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1862
The declaration alleged that the defendant had wrongfully taken and
kept possession of certain photographic portraits of eminent persons,
belonging to the plaintiff, and copied them and sold them, and thereby
depreciated the value to the plaintiff of the originals, and the declaration
also claimed an injunction to restrain the defendant. The second count
was in detenue.
The plaintiff and defendant are photographic artists. The former
some time past lent to Mr. Tallis, late proprietor of the Illustrated News
of the World, a considerable number of photographic portraits of the
celebrities of the day for the purpose of having them engraved and pub¬
lished with that paper. Tallis became bankrupt, and the messenger of
the Court sold the [photographs to the defendant, who took reduced
copies of them and sold them.
Mr. M. Smith, Q.C., moved for, in pursuance of leave reserved and
obtained, a rule to set aside ihe verdict and enter it for the defendant, on
the ground that the right alleged and the right to the injunction were
not proved.
Mr. Y. Williams, in showing cause against the rule, said: — No ques¬
tion of copyright, either at common law or by statute, arises here. The
plaintiff complains that his right of property in the photographs lias been
interfered with without his consent. That right has been defined to be
jus utendi etfruendi. The defendant, getting possession of the portraits
wrongfully as against the plaintiff, had multiplied copies of them in a
reduced form and afterwards sold them. He had obtained from a Mr.
Bennett LTOO for some, and it was quite clear that the plaintiff's pro¬
perty is depreciated in value in exact proportion to the profit made by
the defendant. Those persons who had purchased copies from the de¬
fendant were not likely to purchase from the plaintiff. The latter is,
therefore, entitled to substantial damages, although he has been content
to take a verdict for nominal damages as sufficient to sustain the in¬
junction granted by Baron Bramwell at chambers. Baron Parke, in
“ Boosey v. Jeffreys.” the great case on copyright, 4, House of Lords
Cases, said : — “ The author of a literary composition has an undoubted
right at common law to the piece of paper on which his composition is
written, and to the copies which he chooses to make of it for himself or
for others. If he lends a copy to another his right is not gone; if he
lends it to another under an implied undertaking that he is not to part
with it or publish it, he has a right to enforce that undertaking.” And
Lord Chief Justice Erie in the same case says : — “ The author has remedies
for the wrongful abstraction of copies : he ma3r prevent publication, he
may acquire back the copies wrongfully made, he may sue for damages if
any are sustained.” In these passages (continued Mr. V. Williams) pic¬
tures may be substituted for literary compositions, as is shown by the
case of “ Prince Albert v. Strange,” 18 L. J., in which Lord Cottenham
applied the same principles to the case where copies of the Queen’s and
Prince Albert’s etchings were surreptitiously obtained, and the publication
of them advertised.
Baron Bramwell. — Suppose, Mr. Williams, a man discovered some
inscriptions upon stones and brought them home, could another take
casts of them without his consent and publish them? By so doing the
value of the stones would be greatly depreciated.
The Court then called upon
Mr. M. Smith, who argued that the plaintiff was not entitled to damages
on the first count, cr to an injunction, and that the plaintiff had not
shown that he had the exclusive right of publishing copies of the portraits.
He had lent them to Tallis for the purpose of their being engraved, and
after that any one could copy and publish them.
Mr. Ashland followed on the same side, contending that the plaintiff
was not entitled to an injunction to the extent prayed, as it would prevent
the defendant from selling negatives which were his own property, and
because the plaintiff had recovered damages in respect of that very
matter.
The Court decided that although the negatives continued the defen¬
dant’s property, the selling of them would be an act of injury to the
plaintiff, and therefore, apart from any question of copyright, the sale of
them would be actionable; therefore the injunction might issue under
the 79th section of the Common Law Procedure Act, 1859. The Court
also said that it might have been otherwise if the plaintiff had received
full damages in respect of the sale of all the negatives, but the actual
damages were nominal only in respect of the right. — Rule discharged and
injunction to go. — Times.
Htcetxnp of Sonetirs.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at King's College, on
Tuesday evening, the 6th inst., — Peter le Neve Foster, Esq., in the chair.
'The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were balloted for and duly elected members
of the Society: — Messrs. W. H. Warner, of Ross; A. B Brown, of Gib¬
raltar : L. Caldesi, of Pall Mall ; M. Hanson, of Leeds ; and J. T. Brown,
Hon. Sec. of the Birmingham Photographic Society.
Mr. Glaisher exhibited a positive appearing somewhat in natural colours,
taken by Hr. Diamond in 1851, saying that there was much that was curious
and interesting connected with the picture, which he (Mr. Glaisher) need
hardly inform the meeting was obtained entirely by accident ; and it was
much to be regretted that Dr. Diamond had no explanation to offer on
the subject beyond saying that such results were by no means of nnfre*
quent occurrence with the collodions of that day. It might, however, be
mentioned that the developer contained formic acid, and the collodion
arsenate of quinine. It would be seen, on examination of the picture
(which was passed round for that purpose), that the sky was of a distinct
blue tinge, the trees green, the cottage white, the roof brick red, &c., &c.
He (Mr. Glaisher) would also call attention to a second picture, a stereo¬
scopic negative taken about two months since by Dr. Diamond. It
would be seen that in one half of the plate the sky was red, and in the
other blue, by reflected light. In neither case could any real explanation
be offered; all that could be done therefore was to direct the attention of
members to the pictures themselves, and allow the sight of them to exercise
their own silent influence, which he (Mr. Glaisher) trusted would result
j in the prosecution of researches tending to the perfecting of the science of
heliochromy. While standing lie would take the opportunity of expres¬
sing the pleasure he felt at the recognition made by the Chairman of the
very interesting collection of photographs lent for that evening by the
Amateur Photographic Association. He had reason to believe that they
were brought there in compliance with the wish of the Council expressed
at the last meeting, to the effect that there should be exhibited at every
meeting of the Society some objects of general interest which might
serve as topics for discussion, whether a paper were read or not. The
book then on the table contained some 1800 photographs by different
amateurs, some of them possessing rare merit; and he (Mr. Glaisher) had
much pleasure in recollecting that previous to the formation of the
Amateur Photographic Association, when Mr. Melhuish had consulted
with him as to its probable success, he had expressed it as his opinion,
that, if the amateur could by such means get back some small return for
the money spent in nitrate of silver, he rvould be encouraged thereby to
spend it again for more, thus increasing his own pleasure at a reduced cost,
and incidentally advancing the interests of the science of photography.
The Chairman called on Mr. Heath to read his paper
On the Enlargement of Photographs.
Mr. Heath said he was sure he should receive the indulgence of the
Chairman and the members generally when he told them that, owing to
the occupation of his time in the cause Mason versus Heath, he had been
unable to prepare a paper. He would, however, endeavour to carry out
his own real and anxious desire, which was to place before the meeting
some notes on the subject of Enlargement worthy the attention of the
Society ; to which end he might say that he had, during the last three
months, taken some 250 positives and negatives with the view of ascer¬
taining the most suitable characters to be possessed by negatives for that
purpose.
His present design was to lay before the Society, in a simple manner,
his own method of working, so that those who felt sufficient!}’ interested
might take it up at his (Mr. Heath’s) point and carry it on to perfection,
since he entertained the conviction that (for amateurs at least) the future
of photography would be found in small pictures, with subsequent
enlargement at the convenience of the operator.
Those who had tried wet collodion, for landscape purposes, would bear
him out when he reminded the members that its numerous advantages
were much detracted from by the enormous weight of apparatus and
materials which it was necessary to take for pictures — say 12 x 10. He
might observe that, when leaving London for Scotland, he had had his
luggage weighed at the Great Northern Railway Station, and he had to
pay for 350 lbs. excess over the weight allowed by the Company. All
this might, of course, be avoided by taking small pictures and enlarging
them afterwards.
During the progress of the cause Mason versus Heath, he had been
asked if a small negative could be increased in size. He had since then
taken some 200 negatives, by two operations, from a negative of Mr.
Mason’s, and had not obtained one up to the mark ; but the experience
thus gained had enabled him to state distinctly the kind of picture most
suitable for enlargement. He would describe his method of manipulating.
The camera he used he had brought with him, and the members could
see that it was, in fact, two bellows cameras, with a Dallmeyer’s triplet in
the centre. He had, however, with the object of avoiding frequent cal¬
culation, attached to the side of the camera a graduated scale, the zero
of which corresponded with the equivalent focus of the lens. He was
thus enabled to dispense with the necessity for focussing altogether.
The negative to be enlarged was placed at one end. The required
enlargement being known, the scale, which moAred with the sliding bodies
of the camera, was adjusted to the point indicated by the graduations.
A transparent positive was taken of half the final enlargement required.
This positive — which, while possessing every minute detail contained in
the original, should have scarcely any intensity — was then placed in the
position of the original negative, and still further enlarged to the size
required. A bromo-iodised collodion, such as he usually employed for
landscape purposes, was used, and the development effected by means of
a five-grain solution of proto-sulphate of iron.
He might observe that he had been uniformly successful in obtaining
the positive, but that greater difficulties attended the production of the
final negative having all the required qualities in perfection.
[Mr. Heath here handed to the Chairman some negatives and positives
obtained by his method. They were much admired—one specimen
May 15, 1869] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 195
especially, in which, the softness of the shadows was really superior in
the enlarged picture to the smaller original negative.]
He wished to direct special attention to one picture, the head in the
original of which was not larger than a fourpennv piece. It was then
enlarged to three inches in diameter, and might, bethought, he regarded
as a better picture than the original. Many to whom he had shown the
pictures had expressed the highest gratification at the results he had
been able to obtain, but he (Mr. Heath) was not so fully satisfied.
He regarded what he had done as only a step in the right direction,
and hoped to receive considerable assistance that evening from the re¬
marks of those gentlemen who might take part in the discussion. His
repeated experiments had very clearly indicated the kind of negative to
be obtained; but he had experienced great difficulty in intensifying,
and would be glad to hear the experience of members on that point.
He had tried long development with iron, subsequent treatment with
bichloride of mercury, and other means, but still he had failed. Amateurs
would find that method of working a great convenience : it was therefore
very important that what was obscure should be cleared up.
Mr. Warner, of Ross (who, he was glad to hear, had been elected a
member of the Society that evening), had very kindly sent some en¬
larged photographs side by side with the originals, so that members
might see the advantages attending the method adopted by that gentle¬
man, which was precisely similar to his own.
He should not be stating anything new to the members when he re¬
minded them that it was possible to take small portraits with an exposure
of two seconds, while large ones required a much longer exposure, en¬
tailing many disadvantages, all of which might be avoided by taking a
small picture with the short exposure and enlarging it afterwards. It
was very desirable to cut down the working apparatus for the field to
the smallest possible dimensions for the convenience of tourists, and
subsequent enlargement could be adopted or not at pleasure.
In the discussion which followed, Mr. Heath, in reply to a question
from M. Claudet, stated that he illuminated his pictures while enlarging
always by the north light, never by sunlight", and that his camera was
placed at an angle of 45° — that an image the same size in the original
required an exposure of about three-quarters of a minute.
The Chairman said Mr. Warner had exhibited similar photographs to
those then before the meeting at the International Exhibition, but they
were not there stated to be enlarged photographs.
Mr. Heath remarked that Mr. Warner had enlarged successfully,
using a south light, with a ground-glass one foot from the negative, by
which means he had avoided that chalkiness in the whites which was so
objectionable. He (Mr. Heath) had also practised with long exposure,
and he could corroborate Mr. Warner’s statements as to the advantages
of lengthened exposure.
The Secretary exhibited a picture, i.e. a negative, which was originally
deficient in intensity, but which had been brought up to the required
point by simple immersion in hyposulphite of soda for twelve hours.
The effect was evidently due to sulphuration, and he merely mentioned
it in connexion with intensifying in the hope of furnishing a hint to Mr.
Heath, who had expressed earnest wishes for information in the matter.
A spirited interchange of question and answer then ensued between
M. Claudet, Mr. Heath, and others, on the subjects of equivalent focus,
and relation between lens, image, and object to be copied; at the con¬
clusion of which,
Mr. Shadbolt intimated that an apology was in some sort due to Mr.
Heath for the rather interruptive character of the discussion, suggesting
at the same time that the object of Mr. Heath's communication relative
to the appliances to the copying camera was to render the instrument
practically serviceable rather than to discuss the optical question. He
(Mr. Shadbolt) would ask Mr. Heath whether in the course of his experi¬
ments he had found parallel or converging rays produce the best results?
Mr. Heath replied that in his earlier experiments he had fixed his lens
in the roof of a shed made for the purpose, placing a large cone around
it on the roof, and using such rays as were thus obtainable from a zenith
light, whether tlic sun were shining or not. Subsequent experience had,
however, convinced him that it was best to have the camera and lens
placed at an angle of 45°, towards a north light.
In reply to a question from M. Claudet, as to wdiether direct sunlight
was not to be preferred, if obtainable,
Mr. Heath observed that with direct sunlight there was an unequal
diffusion of light, and also an image of the sun itself produced upon the
negative — results very much to be deprecated, and, of course, avoided.
M. Claudet said that from his own experience lie warmly advocated
the use of the solar camera and direct sunlight.
Mr. Heath, with equal ardour, set forth the advantages belonging- to
his own arrangement.
Mr. Shadbolt pointed out several of the defects of the solar camera,
especially with regard to the dispersion introduced by the condensing
lens, aggravated by the passage of some of the rays obliquely through the
negative, and maintained that with such an arrangement it was impossible
to produce a reasonably defined copy. If the condenser were made
achromatic the evil would be to some extent palliated, but not cured,
Mr. Dallmeyer concurred in the observations of the last speaker, and
dissented totally from the views entertained by M. Claudet. The disper¬
sion and confusion described had in every specimen of solar-camera proofs
that he had seen produced fuzziness to a very disagreeable extent. Mr.
Heath’s productions presented a much greater approximation in definition
to the originals. With reference to the long exposure mentioned by Mr.
Heath as being required, he (Mr. Dallmeyer) might state that he had made
for Mr. T. R. Williams a lens expressly for enlarging to a definite extent —
that is to say, in a definite ratio. A specimen of its work was on the table,
and others were in the International Exhibition.
The discussion finally resolved itself into a friendly challenge between
M. Claudet and Mr. Heath, between whom it was agreed that each
gentleman, working from the same negative, should pn-oduce a picture
enlarged eight times by their respective methods, and that the relative
merits of the resulting pictures should be determined by the members
present at the next meeting of the Society.
Mr. Heath, in conclusion, desired to remark that the subject had
resolved itself into this — his (Mr, Heath’s) method versus the solar
camera ; and he thought that before coming to any definite conclusion
on the matter, it was necessary to consider various statistics in con¬
nexion with the latter instrument; as, for instance, how many dap^s in
the year could work be done with the solar camera? &c., &c. In refer¬
ence to his own arrangement, he could only say that he had w-orked all
through the months of January and February, regardless as to whether
the sun shone or not ; and he was glad to be able to look upon it as a cer¬
tain and simple way of producing enlargements from small negatives,
while he could not avoid the conclusion that the solar camera was a failure.
M. Claudet, a little sarcastically, inquired of Mr. Heath whether he
had ever worked with the solar camera? To which the rejoinder was —
“ No! but I have seen your results.
The Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Heath, which was
unanimously accorded, and announced that at the next meeting, to rake
place on the 3rd of June, M. Claudet would read a paper in which he
would speak —
1. Of the Enlargement of Photographs.
2. Pule for Finding at Once the Degree of Amplification.
3. A New Mechanical Diaphragm.
The meeting was then adjourned.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held at the City of London
College, Leadenhall Street, — Thomas Sebastian Davis, Esq., Vice-Presi¬
dent, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were elected members of the Society : —
Messrs. Brookes, Clifton, and Wm. Cornish, Jun., of King’s Road, Brighton.
Some copies of the presentation print — Robinson’s Early Spang — were
supplied to those members who desired to furnish themselves with the
same on that evening.
Mr. Harmer exhibited some photographs and stereographs illustrating
the opening of the International Exhibition, taken by the Stereoscopic
Company, and kindly lent for that evening.
The Secretary (Mr. A. II. Wall) reminded the members that as this
was the last meeting but one of the present session, it was necessary for
them therefore to nominate officers for election at the next meeting. He
would take the present opportunity of announcing his intention to resign
the post of Secretary to the Society. He must say that it was with
much regret he made this announcement ; but he was in a manner driven
to it by the increase of his own business, which now made such impera¬
tive demands on his time that he felt he could not retain the position he
held in the Society, and do justice to the duties belonging to it. He.
trusted, therefore, that the members would accejit his resignation, and
appoint some other gentleman as Secretary.
The Treasurer (Mr. Howard) made a similar announcement to that
of Mr. Wall, and stating that he was sorry that his connexion with the
Society as its Treasurer should seem to terminate abruptly, having now
filled that office for three years. He might say that although the duties
of the office were not of the easiest, still they had been undertaken
and performed with pleasure, as they had brought him into communica¬
tion with gentlemen animated, like himself, by a love for photography;
and the intercourse he had thus enjoyed had been to him a source of im¬
provement and advancement in the art to which they were all devoted.
Still he could not avoid the conviction that to do full justice to the
duties required of him would take more time than he now felt him¬
self able to spare for the purpose. He must, therefore, while saying
how glad he should bs to continue a member of the Society, express bis
desire that lie might be excused from acting any longer a-> its Tr asurer.
He would make a formal resignation of his office at the next meeting.
Mr. Simpson felt that he was only giving a distiuct expression to the
murmurs of dissent with which these two announcements were received
when he said that lie hoped these need not be received as formal resigna¬
tions, but only as intimations of what might happen if Mr. Wall and Mr.
Howard could not. unhappily, be persuaded to continue in their respective
offices. It would cause unfeigned regret to all the members of the Society
that two such efficient officers should relinquish the duties they had
hitherto performed with such great eclat to themselves aud with the
highest satisfaction to the Society generally.
The Secretary had much pleasure iu announcing that the private view
of the photographs sent to the Crystal Palace Photographic Exhibition
196
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1862
•would shortly be opened, and each member of the Society would receive
an annual ticket admitting him to the Crystal Palace to view these and
the" other attractions of the Palace, at any time. This boon had been
handsomely accorded to the members of the South London Photographic
Society by the directors of the Crystal Palace Company.
The Chairman then invited Mr. Blanchard to read his promised paper
On the Use of Bromides in Collodion.
Mr. Blanchard expressed his regret that he should have to appear before
the meeting that evening with an apology. He was sorry to be obliged
to say he had prepared no paper, though he had performed a number of
experiments on the subject which he intended to introduce to the meeting
that evening, and those he would describe as clearly and briefly as possi¬
ble, directing attention in some instances to the deductions which might
fairly be made from the results, and leaving the members to draw their
own conclusions from the experiments as a whole. In further extenua¬
tion of the absence of a written paper by himself, he might say that he
had worked at the experiments con amove , as his own earnest wish was
to arrive at some definite conclusion on the subject ; and this he hoped
would be even more readily obtained by eliciting from the members
generally the result of their own experience, than by writing an elaborate
paper, the chief points of which he would then endeavour to lay before
the meeting.
With the view of aiding the judgment of the members, and placing the
matter more clearly before them, he ivould observe, by way of introduc¬
tion, that the circumstances under which all the experiments were
performed wrere, as nearly as possible, exactly alike, the object being to
compare the results obtainable by using different proportions of bromides
and iodides mixed, and those obtained by iodides alone. As his (Mr.
Blanchard’s) object in undertaking this series of experiments was to
satisfy some doubts which existed in his own mind on the subject, mem¬
bers might rely on the accuracy he had practised in conducting them, and
the care he had exercised with the object of making them a truly com¬
parative series. He might observe that, notwithstanding all this, some of
the results had not been altogether satisfactory to his mind ; and he
therefore w'ould ask the members to accept his description of them as
they then stood, and allow him to resume the subject at an early meeting
in the next session of the Society, as he thought that, during the recess,
he could prosecute his experiments under favourable circumstances, and,
as he hoped, be able to come to some definite conclusion on the matter.
The experiments he would then describe were performed by pouring-
two samples of collodion on different halves of a stereoscopic plate, sensi¬
tising in the same bath, exposing an equal length of time at the same
time, and developing with the same developer. The bath used for all
these experiments was a nearly neutral one and quite new, giving good
instantaneous pictures in his usual rvay of operating. The developer was
a thirty-grain solution of protosulphate of iron, with as small a proportion
of acetic acid added as was consistent with keeping the shadows of the
negative clear.
^Experiment 1. — Iodide of cadmium . 2£ grains.
Iodide of ammonium . 2j» ,,
Bromide of cadmium . 1
Plate 1.
and
Experiment
-Iodide of cadmium . ) OJL
Iodide of ammonium . J ’ 2 ”
That half of the plate which contained the bromide, it would be seen,
produced a clean, clear picture, while that with the mixed iodides alone
was misty and unsatisfactory.
{Experiments. — Iodide of cadmium . 2^ grains.
Iodide of ammonium . 2£ ,,
Bromide of cadmium . 2 ,,
and
Experiment 4. — Iodide of potassium . 3J ,,
When it was remembered that these two collodions had received
exactly similar treatment throughout, a glance at the results on the same
plate was sufficient to demonstrate most forcibly the advantage of the
bromo-iodised collodion. No. 3 might, he thought, be called a good
picture, while No. 4 had scarcely a trace of one.
/'Experiment 5. — Iodide of ammonium .... 2J grains.
Plate r3 J Bromide of cadmium .... 5 ,,
and
(Experiment G. — Bromide of cadmium .... 5 ,,
The contrast in these two experiments was almost as striking as in the
preceding pair — No. 5 having yielded a satisfactory impression, while No.
G w'as as deficient as No. 4 in detail, though the general character of
each failure (Nos. 4 and G) was different.
fliese experiments (Nos. 5 & G and 3 & 4) went far he (Mr. Blanchard)
thought to establish the fact that neither iodides nor bromides alone
should be employed, but that success would be found to attend a judicious
combination of the two, having at all times due regard to the bases of
each salt. He was inclined to think that where bromides were used in
large proportions a fair proportion of iodide should also be used, as cal¬
culated, lie hud found, to give a greater creaminess and opacity to the
film, they must all feel that while it was perhaps possible for a simply
iodised collodion to yield instantaneous pictures in the hands of expe¬
rienced operators, a collodion containing a bromide being found after it
win a little aged to be equally sensitive, and possessing other advantages,
the preference would generally be given to the latter.
Plate
(Experiment 7. — Iodide of potassium . 3A grains.
Bromide of cadmium .... lj ,,
and
Experiment 8. — Iodide of potassium . 3J ,,
Experiment 7, containing the bromide, had yielded, as would be seen,
a somewhat veiled or masked picture; while experiment 8 — the iodide
alone — was also by no means satisfactory. Another plate —
(Experiment 9 . Same as experiment 7.
and
Experiment 10 . Same as experiment 8 —
was therefore prepared and exposed two seconds instead of instan¬
taneously. The results in that plate, it would be seen, were more marked,
and abundantly demonstrated, in his opinion, that a simply iodised collo¬
dion, freshly iodised, did not yield so good a picture as a bromo-iodised
collodion six months old. His (Mr. Blanchard’s) practice was in accord¬
ance with the opinion he had then advanced, as he generally employed for
his instantaneous pictures a collodion containing one-third of bromide.
There wras still one other experiment, the result of which he (Mr.
Blanchard) would have been glad to have shown ; but, on washing the film
after development, the whole escaped from the plate, and he had not had
time to repeat it. He saw enough, however, to make a brief statement
interesting to the members.
( Experiment II — Iodide of potassium . . . . 3J grains.
Bromide of cadmium . . . . „
and
Experiment 12 — Iodide of potassium . . . .3J „
The development of these pictures was effected by pyrogallic acid two
grains, acetic acid ten drops to the ounce. No. 11 had yielded a thin,
clear picture; but the experiment No. 12, containing iodide alone, had
produced a reduction of silver all over the picture, completely veiling all
the detail, and showing, when held up to the light, a ruby-red colour,
which is generally indicative of an alkaline bath, or over-exposure. He
intended to make further experiments in this direction during the recess,
and hoped to be able to lay the results before the members early in the
next season.
Plate G.
The Chairman having invited discussion on the subject of Mr. Blan¬
chard’s communication,
Mr. Harman said he had experienced similar accidents to the film in
washing off, as described by Mr. Blanchard. He had invariably found
the film bear less development when a pyrogallic developer was used.
Mr. Wall said his experience corroborated the statements made by
Messrs. Blanchard and Hai-man.
The Chairman said there w-as great diversity of opinion on the subject
then before the meeting. First, in reference to sensibility, there were
two conditions to be considered in coming to a conclusion on that point —
namely, the collodion and the developer, and their mutual relation or
suitableness to each other. If a pyrogallic developer and a simply iodised
collodion were used in conjunction, an equal amount of sensibility was
obtained as when a bromo-iodised collodion and iron developer was used.
Another point for consideration was the chemical equivalents of the
various salts, as the effects would vary with the particular bromide or
iodide employed — that is, a far greater effect wrould be produced by an alka¬
line bromide, for instance, than by bromide of cadmium. The character
of the pyroxyline also was an important element in those considerations,
and must not be lost sight of. If a pyroxyline were used which gave a
very dense image when iodised simply with iodide of potassium, he should
advocate the addition of a small quantity of bromide of potassium, with
the object of reducing that excessive density and producing greater clear¬
ness of picture. He had observed that if bromide of cadmium were added
for that purpose even double the quantity did not effect the same reduc¬
tion of intensity as half the quantity of an alkaline iodide. Then, as
to sensibility, it was quite unnecessary for him to remind the members
how easy it was to be misled by a slight variation in the focal length of
the lens employed. He concurred with Mr. Blanchard in his statement
as to the bromides maintaining greater clearness of image during develop¬
ment: he was further of opinion that bromo-iodised collodions were easier
to develop, and moreover the collodion retained its sensibility much longer.
The point at issue, however, was — was greater sensibility obtained with
a bromo-iodised collodion and iron development than with a simply iodised
collodion and pyrogallic development ? He assumed that Mr. Blanchard
did not regard that fact as firmly established beyond any possible doubt,
and looked forward, therefore, with some interest to the report he had
promised on his more mature researches.
Mr. Blanchard thought the experiments, so far as they had been
carried, clearly indicated that there were many advantages arising from
the use of bromides.
Mr. Davis suggested that the condition of the hath might have been spe¬
cially favourable to one collodion and not to the other on the same plate.
Mr. Simpson explained that Mr. Blanchard had prepared a bath
for these comparative experiments which was of a fair normal cha¬
racter. and such as would yield good pictures, under ordinary con¬
ditions ; and that he conceived was giving a fair chance to any
collodion disposed to behave well, and had the advantage of secui
ing uniformity of treatment for all the samples. The members were
doubtless aware that Mr. Sutton had recently been experimenting
on the subject, and had arrived at some rather strange conclusions
thereon. Mr. Sutton regarded iodide of potassium as the most sensitive
May 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
197
iodiser, as he had found that collodion containing five grains of bromide
required three hours’ immersion in the bath before it acquired that rich
creamy appearance which was generally considered indicative of the com¬
pletion of the reaction between the iodiser and the bath. A few minutes’
immersion .produced only a pale blue tint in the film. He (Mr. Sutton)
therefore expressed it as his opinion that when a large proportion of
bromide was used a great deal of it remained undecomposed in the film,
and that the sensitiveness was not in consequence increased. He even
went so far as to say that he regarded bromides as retarders, rather than
accelerators. It was sufficiently obvious that Mr. Blanchard’s experience
was in complete opposition to that of Mr. Sutton’s ; but as far as his (Mr.
Simpson’s) experience had gone he could only say that it corroborated
the statements advanced by Mr. Blanchard. There was one singular
point which was not quite so fully cleared up as it might be : — A mixture
of bromides and iodides gave increased sensibility, while bromides alone
were extremely insensitive: this required explanation. He (Mr. Simp¬
son) when conversing with Mr. England on this subject had elicited the
statement that in his (Mr. England’s) opinion a bromo-iodised collodion
was three times more sensitive than a simply iodised collodion, and it
was generally observed that those who practised the art professionally
gave the preference to collodions so prepared.
The Chairman suggested that as collodions containing bromide re¬
quired longer immersion in the bath, that point ought also to be con¬
sidered in connexion with their relative sensibilities.
Mr. Harman had always been in the habit of giving two minutes longer
immersion to a bromo-iodised film than to a simply iodised one; and he
had observed that when the withdrawal from the bath had been effected
too soon, the creamy appearance of the film increased while in the dark
frame, thus indicating that the reaction between the bromide and the
nitrate adhering to the surface was still proceeding.
Several other members briefly stated their individual experience on
the subject before the meeting, which was unanimously in favour of the
use of bromo iodised collodions, and therefore simply corroborative of the
statements made by Mr. Blanchard and the other gentlemen who had
taken part in the discussion.
The Chairman expressed a hope that Mr. Blanchard would renew his
experiments, and favour the Society with an early report of the results.
Thanks were accorded by acclamation to Mr. Blanchard for his
interesting communication.
Mr. Simpson exhibited a negative on a honey and tannin dry plate,
obtained in seven seconds with a lens of six inches focus and a half-inch
diaphragm.
The Chairman showed a negative obtained by a modified developing
process with warm pyrogallic acid, without silver — a method which he
conceived shortened the process considerably.
The next meeting having been announced to take place on the 12th of
June, the proceedings terminated.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of the Committee of the Amateur Photographic Association
was held on Monday, the 28th ult., at 20, Haymarket, — George Shadbolt,
Esq., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed,
The Secretary laid before the meeting the printed catalogue of the
Association pictures, the Committee expressing their decided approval
of it.
A question having been raised by the Secretary relative to the price
which should be charged to members and subscribers for the Prize Pic¬
tures (now the property of the publishers), it was decided, with their
consent, that eacli member and subscriber should be entitled to select one
copy of each of the prize pictures at the same rate as the other Associa¬
tion prints ; but that for any additional copies it should be left to the
publishers to regulate the price to be charged.
The subject of a Photographic Art Union in connexion with the
Association was again discussed and adjourned.
The Secretary having pointed out to the meeting the unavoidable delay
which had occurred in obtaining the first year’s negatives, and conse¬
quently in the award of prizes, the preparation of the catalogue, and the
distribution of the prints, it was decided that the Association year shall
henceforth commence on the 1st of June instead of the 1st of May, and
that subscriptions for the ensuing year will, therefore, not be due until
the 1st of June next.
It was also decided, in reference to the selection of the prints by mem¬
bers and subscribers, that they may select them from any of the Asso¬
ciation negatives which the publishers may have in hand, irrespective of
the year in which they may have been received ; and, further, that
upon payment of their subscription members and subscribers may at once
select their one or two guineas’ worth of prints, as the case may be.
The proceedings of the meeting then terminated.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The concluding meeting for the current session will be held on the 21st
inst., upon which occasion a paper will be read by George Dawson, Esq.,
Y.P., On the Practical Working of the Panoramic Lens , illustrated by
specimens.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
We resume our report of the meeting of this Society, held on the 1 0th
ult.
After Mr. Taylor had made his remarks, introducing the subject of the
Cliimenti drawings [vide page 175 in our last number], he handed round
the room several photographs of them for the inspection of the mem¬
bers.
Mr. Taylor stated that, as through the courtesy of Mr. Moffat he was
in possession of the negative, it was his intention, had time allowed, to
have projected the two pictures on the wall by ir eans of two identical magic
lanterns, so that the exact points of non-coincidence might be more easilv
appreciated. That, however, was not convenient for him to do at
present.
Mr. Davies stated that, in his opinion, the slightest examination of
the two pictures with a critical eye would at once show that they were not
the work of the same artist. In the one picture there was the rapid,
broad, artistic touch, not too careful of being overcorrect in drawing, but
very certain as to the result wanted. The cast shadows on the one pic¬
ture would be seen to be firm, broad, and well drawn. On the other they
were looser and less carefully marked, and, in the case of the farthest off
arm, almost omitted; but, on the other hand, that was the most careful.
The stool was placed in true perspective, the string was drawn straight,
the head was slightly corrected in position, while the expression was
entirely different. Both drawings were sketchy; but the one seemed to
show the master, who in a sketch could afford to despise all but the heart
of the subject. The other was feebler, more careful apparently, but reallv
far less true. He need hardly draw their attention to the fact of the leg
in one of the pictures being very much out of position and out of drawing,
as that matter must be visible to all. One tiling would be evident, which
was, that the picture with the most imperfections was the one which
gave the greatest evidence of artistic power, while the more carefully
drawn picture was by far the feebler in execution, which pointed to two
hands as being concerned in the production of the two pictures. If
Cliimenti had understood the principles of binocular vision, and had in¬
tended this as an exposition of it, or even a sketch to see if it were
correct, he would have been very careful to see that all the mechanical
portions of his drawings were correctly to scale, which a glance would
show was not the case. He (Mr. Davies) would by no means be inclined
to dispute the stereosity of parts of the pictures; but while the one part
was in the other was out, so that, on the whole, his opinion was decidedly
against the idea that those pictures had been drawn in illustration of the
theory of binocular vision.
Mr. Bow was inclined to think they were never intended to be stereo¬
scopic, as they varied as markedly in a vertical direction as in a horizontal ;
and that in a horizontal direction the variation was sometimes such as
would give a wrong character to the relief, the effect being a most dis¬
agreeable and imperfect combination. He thought there was something
very deceptive in the power of the stereoscope as a test of the dissimilarity
of two pictures, since he had found that if two identical prints of a sub¬
ject in which the perspective was well marked were viewed in the stereo¬
scope, they would combine and give a very strong impression of varying
distances — not from any real stereoscopic power of the instrument, but
from its neutralising the stereoscopic power of the eyes to delect the fact
of the pictures being plane surfaces.
A Member inquired, when a person was enjoying a number of beautiful
stereoscopic pictures, combining them, as many could, with the eye, un¬
aided by a stereoscope, on whom should he be-tow his gratitude for the
discovery — modern certainly — in that form of development?
Mr. Taylor was not aware who was the inventor of the ocular
stereoscope.
After some remarks by Dr. Dickson (of Carnoustie) and the Chairman,
Mr. Taylor said that, in accordance with a request made at the pre¬
vious meeting by one or two members who were desirous of knowing the
comparative merits of the dry versus t lie wet collodion processes, that
subject would, during the few minutes that yet remained before the hour
of separation, be discussed. While willing to state the case for any one
side himself, he would have been at a great loss had [not Mr. Davies,
to whom they had recently been much obliged, kindly offered' to take
the opposite side, no matter what it might be. On a friendly contest
between them to decide the matter, he was glad that the worst side had
fallen to his opponent, pro. tem. ; for he might state that, for amateurs
especially, the. dry process possessed very many advantages over the wet,
and it would be more than a task for the ingenuity even of Mr. Davies to
establish the contrary. In the early days of the art an objection had been
made as to the wiry hardness of pictures by dry processes ; but, at the
present time, that he thought would scarcely bo urged, as it was patent to
all that as good pictures could be got by the dry as by the wet process.
They all knew that some of the finest pictures in the recent Exhibition in
Edinburgh were by dry processes ; nay. for the last three years, prizes
have been awarded to such pictures. That might, perhaps, settle the
question of quality ; but, apart from that, there was the great certainty
of success. In proof of that he might adduce the success attending one
member who he then saw present in the room, who recently, during a
visit to the Highlands, exposed forty Fothcrgill plates, only two of them
turning out unfit for commercial purposes ; and he was aware of another
friend who, when he went to the country with a dozen plates, always
198
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 18G2
expected at least eleven good negatives. After narrating some incidents
connected with trips to the country in which the two processes were
tested, he spoke of the convenience of keeping a stock of plates prepared
ready for exposure at any time. With a parcel of these one could go to
the country unencumbered by any of the tents which they had seen at
the last meeting — the best of which, no matter how ingeniously con¬
structed, was still an encumbrance to an amateur. While the dry plates
were advantageous, in being always ready for exposure, they also pos¬
sessed the advantage of keeping, after they were exposed, until such time
as the operator might find it convenient to develop them. He was aware
of a gentleman who took a supply of Hill Norris’s plates to Sweden, and
developed them with perfect success after his return home. Mr. Davies
would, doubtless, tell them of the great superiority of wet collodion
for the purpose of securing instantaneous pictures ; but they were all
aware that instantaneous pictures were said to have been repeatedly taken
on dry plates. Mr. Horatio Ross had said that the picture of the Express
Steamer, by Mr. Kibble, of Glasgow, although going at full speed, and
taken on a Taupenot plate, showed every rope quite distinctly. Dr.
Norris, too, was said to manufacture plates which were as rapid as wet
collodion; and their American brethren were said to be taking instanta¬
neous views on tannin plates. Perhaps his friend Mr. Davies would meet
that by quoting the American Hillotype, by which, many years ago, pho¬
tographs were taken in their natural colours, but which, up to the pre¬
sent time, had not been seen by any one. But times had changed since
then, and he did not think the Americans could be bamboozled now as
they were then. He would, for the present, assume their instantaneous
tannin process to be a fact, although he confessed that neither he nor any of
his friends had found an equal amount of success in that particular process.
Mr. Davies, in reply, stated that on this matter, as on manj’’ others,
there might be truth on both sides, and an opinion on each. However,
far from taking umbrage at the picture drawn by Mr. Taylor’s fertile
fancy of the cumbrous impedimenta of the wet photographer, he would
rather try to damp his enthusiasm on the dry subject. Mr. Taylor, he
said, seemed to look at the trouble and weight of his opponent’s side
through the magnifying, and at his own through the diminishing, end of
the telescope ; and, more than that, he seemed to invariably calculate on
a 12 X 10 camera for the wet, and a stereo, for the dry process. That
was all very well in debate, but in practice it was different. The half
dozen of double slides in their pocket for a 12 X 10 would be found rather
a bulky pocketful. Mr. Taylor had laid great stress on the dry-plate
pictures taking the prizes at the Exhibition of the Photographic (Society
of Scotland ; but he knew as well any person that there were landscapes
in that Exhibition which no dry plate ever did or could come near. He
would take some of those of Mr. Vernon Heath’s for examples, and def}" a
dry plate, taken by whoever it might be, to give the detail and delicacy
of those specimens he alluded to. Again : he insisted on his friend
exposing forty plates and getting thirty-eight out of them ; but they all
knew that the gentleman alluded to would have got forty if he had been
working wet collodion — in fact, that was not a question of processes but
of men. They might give some men either of the processes, or any, and
find no results ; but with others certainty was nearly the rule. But why
confine the question to landscape? Where, in portraiture, or grouping
of figures and moving objects, was any dry process ever the most rapid?
Emphatically nowhere ! It was true that Mr. Taylor had alluded to Mr.
Kibble’s picture of the Express Steamer at Full Speed ; but, in the first
place, those who had seen that picture could say that Mr. Horatio Ross’s
statement of every rope being distinctly visible must be taken with a
reservation : the ropes might be there, but so blurred that they would not
pass for more than what Mr. Ross had claimed for it, a passably instan¬
taneous dry process. But, altogether, Mr. Taylor was unfortunate in his
instance. Who, for example, would be prepared for a ninety-hours’
development, as we have it recorded of that picture? Only think of a
development extending over ninety mortal hours ! The thing was pre¬
posterous. As many seconds would almost suffice by the wet process.
So with exposure and the rest of it. The dry plate was all very well when
they could get the trees and water and figures steady for five or fifteen
minutes to order; but as those objects would persist, iu nineteen out of
twenty cases, in moving just when the operator did not want them, then
they would see they had no refuge but in the wet plate. He (Mr. Davies)
was by no means disposed to adopt as a fact the American statement as
to the instantaneous tannin process. Should it, however, be proved,
no one would hail it more joyfully than himself. In the meantime,
his judgment, like Mahomet’s coffin, should be suspended. He (Mr.
Davies) would sum up his observations by admitting that if there was less
trouble in the field with the dry process, there was more in the preparations,
with the added uncertainty of results which more than counterbalanced
tin: very few additional pounds weight, which he would have thought Mr.
Taylor’s herculean shoulders would hardly have felt; while, with the wet
process, there was the inexpressible charm of seeing what you had got at once
and on the spot, and, if the picture was badly chosen, you could at once
change for a better point of view, and then they had always the chance
"1 introducing lije into their pictures. He hoped, however, that the wet
blanki t he had been compelled to administer to Air. Taylor would not dry
up hi-, enthusiasm for either of those very useful photographic processes.
Owing P> the lateness of the hour there was no further discussion.
Tho meeting then separated.
The same Society held one of its popular evenings on the 5th instant,
when there was a very numerous attendance of the members and their
friends. J. D. Marwick, Esq., President of the Society, occupied the
chair, and introduced Andrew Mure, Esq., Advocate, who delivered a
lecture on A Tour in Rhine land, which was illustrated by transparencies
prepared by Air. Ramage, and exhibited by means of the oxy-hydrogen
lantern. There was a considerable number of ladies present.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting was held in the Religious Institution
Rooms, on Thursday, the 1st instant, — Air. Hugh Wilson in the chair.
After the minutes of the previous meeting had been read and approved,
the private business of the Society was entered upon, relative to a new rule,
which was postponed till the following meeting.
The Chairman then called upon Air. A. Robb to read his paper On the
Resin Process. [See page 188.]
On the conclusion of the reading of the paper a number of prints were
handed round, taken from negatives prepared by that method. These
gave rise to an animated conversation. As the process was new to most
of the members, Air. Robb was subjected to numerous queries relative to
the manipulation of the plates, &c., which were cheerfully replied to.
The members present were of opinion that the dry method under dis¬
cussion — so simple and economic in point of time and material — gave
results superior to many of the dry processes in vogue, as the gradation
of tint from the highest light to the deepest shadows was finely rendered,
without that hardness of outline peculiar to dry-plate photography.
Mr. Robb received a cordial vote of thanks for his interesting paper.
Air. Gillillan was elected a member of the Society, and two other gentle¬
men were entered upon the roll, to be ballotted for at the next meeting.
After I he usual vote of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting separated.
Jfarap Carrckponhciue.
Paris, May 10th, 18G2.
Some time back I spoke of a process which had then just been
communicated to me by its author, Dr. Sabatier, for transforming
into transparent positives upon glass the negatives in the camera.
In that process the practical difficulty was in arresting the
formation of the negative image in time to make of it a positive.
The author has sought the means of doing so, and has succeeded
in finding it. Instead of iodising his collodion solely with the
iodide of cadmium, he now employs the following formula; —
Centi-
Grammes. grammes.
Collodion . 120 00
Iodide of cadmium . 1 00
Iodide of potassium . 0 50
Bromide of cadmium . 0 40
Bromide of potassium . 0 20
These two iodides have not the same sensitiveness, the iodide of
cadmium being the most rapid, and the iodide of potassium the
slowest of all the iodides that are used. It follows that the first
is acted upon and developed in the laboratory much more promptly
than the other, so that the negative formed with the iodide of cad¬
mium appears in all its details, while the iodide of potassium is
still at such a point of its development as will permit the formation
of a positive. All the other operations remain such as the author
first announced them ; only for the toning of the image which had
been fixed he employs a method quite in opposition to received
ideas. After the fixing he washes his glass, and then covers it
with a half per cent, solution of sulphuret of potassium. The pic¬
ture immediately takes a very fine dark tone. It is then promptly
washed, dried, and coated with picture varnish diluted with five
times its volume of essence of turpentine.
This toning with sulphuret of potassium must of course augment
the sulphuration, and yet, though the author has submitted his
finished pictures to numerous causes of destruction, he has not
perceived that they have lost any of their original hue.
In my last letter I spoke of the favourable judgment delivered
by the Court of Appeal in the matter of Mayer and Pierson. I
cannot resist the desire I have of giving you some passages from
the pleading of Maitre Alarie; for to his outburst of eloquence was
largely due the victory won. Alaitre Alarie not only ranks amongst
our greatest barristers — our foremost jurisconsults — he is also a
man of high artistic intelligence : it was that which gave to his
words the greater authority.
“ That which at first,” said he, “ had struck the mind was the
photographic instrument. He who used it was thrown into the
May 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
199
shade : he disappeared and was counted as nothing. But that is a
wrong on one hand — a falsehood on the other; for thereby he is
ousted from a possession which from him has taken its lustre. * *
What then is art? Who shall define it? Who lix its starting
point and its boundaries? Who say to it thus far shalt thou go
and no farther? I ask philosophers, for they have sought an
answer, and we may read with interest that which they have
said on art in its varied manifestations. Art, say they, i.s the
beautiful, and the beautiful is the true in its material reality.
If in photography we show forth the true, and if the true in its
materiality charm the eye, how is it then no art? If all the cha¬
racteristics of art are found in it, how can we say that it is no art?
I protest, then, in the name of philosophy. * * * Daguerre’s
invention had been bought by the State. Then came a day
when Niepce and Arago promised to reveal before the assembled
Academy of Sciences the secrets contained in that discovery.
The Academy of Fine Arts demanded to be present, and under
that double patronage this child of light made her entrance into
the world; far then from thinking that her filiation to science
would one day be disputed in the name of science — her filiation
to art in the name of art. Thus she came into the world under
the protection of science and of art, who seemed to have adopted
her, if indeed she was not their own child. * * * True, the
photographer creates not, invents not, as the painter d >es — at least
not to the same degree. But when he will take a view or landscape,
does he set about it without discernment as a common workman
would do? No! he does what the painter does, if he is a man of
genius — if he is a man of sentiment — if he is a man of taste. He
blends in happy harmony light with shade. Like the painter, he
makes his picture in his mind; and when he has formed it there he
takes his apparatus that it may give him that which his fancy has
seen, and which he seeks to transfer to his work.”
I must stop there, for I might quote the whole. The influence
which it exercised on the minds of the judges is proved by the fact
that the judgment produces several passages of it nearly word for
word. After reading this fine speech, and M. Claudet’s letter,
which you published in your last number, I wonder whether it will
again be said that photography is no art, and that photographers
are but common workmen.
Mr. L6on Vidal, who has just passed a few days at Paris, has
communicated to me some important projects which he has already
begun to put into execution, and which are calculated to give great
development to photography. The intelligent Secretary of the
Marseilles Society has already proved that he knows how to estab¬
lish firmly that which he undertakes. We have no doubt that
success will attend the efforts he is making.
ERNEST LACAN.
New York, April 25th, 1862.
Haying left Philadelphia, on a short trip to New England, I now
write from New York, after a peep into most of the photographic
places of interest.
Amateurs are full of the quick dry processes, and most are quite
enthusiastic about warm water (they used to call it hot) for wetting
the plate. At the last meeting of the American Photographical
Society this warm water of Dr. Draper’s was the subject of much
of the evening’s business : it seemed evident from the experience
of most present that the water should not be much hotter than 80°,
and that the bath should be very acid. Mr. Thompson said that
his plates were all made in a succession of six plunge baths — the
first one containing silver, the four next water, and the last one
tannin. He could thus make twelve plates in one hour. Mr.
Henry T. Anthony, however, proposes a plate sensitised as usual,
and when well washed flowed with a solution of five grains to the
ounce of a solidified milk — an article of commerce in New York,
but unknown in the rural districts, where cow’s milk is preferred
as an article of diet.
I have seen many of these dry-plate negatives, and they work
quickly and are full of detail. Their keeping qualities are not yet
known. This solidified milk has been made by boiling down and
adding sugar : most likely it differs from ordinary milk in the coagu¬
lation of all albumen. Those who have tried both milk and the
solidified article say the latter is not so harsh as the former.
Photographic art in this city is having a large share of patro¬
nage. The down-town galleries are gradually moving further up
the great thoroughfare, Broadway. Card pictures are all the rage,
and there are many novelties in the way of card albums. Mr. E.
Anthony tells me that their trade in cases has fallen off consider¬
ably; but the trade in card pictures is increasing very rapidly.
They are now printing 100 sheets of paper each day, producing
,8600 card pictures. The one3 that sell best are soldiers and popu¬
lar statesmen ; but literary and theatrical characters are in demand,
as are also small copies of engravings. They have published
two small pictures, one called Young America , and the other
Young Africa, or the Bone of Contention. This latter is a first-rate
picture of a young darky, and is in great demand both north and
south.
One curious circumstance in relation to the sale of these pictures
is that in many of the cities of the northern slave states, where
there is said to be a strong union feeling, portraits of the southern
generals are very much more in demand than are those of the union
army.
Among the stereoscopic pictures few are sold except the new
instantaneous ones that may be made ; and Mr. Anthony’s recent,
as well as all his old instantaneous views, show that an assertion
made at a meeting of one of the London Photographic Societies
was not quite the thing — viz., that “in America they were per¬
haps content with only a moderate degree of instantaneity.”
I had the pleasure yesterday of riding to the Harlem River with
Messrs. Anthony and Thompson. I took my wet collodion fixture
with me, and Mr. Thompson scrambled over the hills with his dry-
plate box and his dozen plates, lie had a good time of it compared
to my labour; but I knew what I had got, and was well satisfied
with my afternoon’s work. Mr. Anthony contributed some of his
very quick collodion, and there was great trouble in keeping the
plates from fogging, until the yellow glass window was covered
with two thicknesses of yellow envelope paper — and then we got
on bravely with very short exposure : we were not aiming at
instantaneous work. I cannot say too much in praise of Mr.
Anthony for his liberality in imparting information : the afternoon
was one long lesson to me, and left me deeply in his debt for
knowledge gained.
We hear more now of iron-plated ships than we do of pictures;
and on a visit to Captain Ericcson, designer of the Monitor , I
found him deeply engrossed in his plans for other ships on the
same plan.
Professor Rood has made some very interesting experiments in
photographing the electric spark, and has shown, in an ingenious
way, that the impression on the plate is due to the light of the
spark and not to any decomposing property of the fluid. He pre¬
pared a sensitive plate, and while wet, allowed well-defined sparks
to strike it : these, developed, gave certain distinct images, always
having the same characteristic form. He then covered the film
with a sheet of thin glass wet with nitrate of silver: the spark
striking this impressed the film below. Hethen substituted a yellow
glass similarly prepared, and the film was not impressed at all.
His account of the experiment was published in the last number of
Silliman’s American Journal of Science and Art, and is worth read¬
ing.*
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holms, of Boston. “ the autocrat of the
breakfast table,” writes to me that Dr. Dean, of Boston, has made
some very fine photo-microscopic sections of the spinal column, of
his own preparing. Photo-micrography has engaged the attention
of many of our sc '.rants, and has produced much good in a scientific
way.
By-the-by, it has been said by some photographer just returned
from America that there was no pyrogallic acid to be had in New
York — that he had searched diligently for it in all the stores, tic.
This is news to us. It is always to be had in large quantities, and
has been used ever since photography has been known. It is a
great deal used in the wet process to strengthen, after a picture
developed with iron has been cleaned and washed.
I shall tomorrow go to Hartford, Conn., an 1 then to Springfield,
Mass., and on my return home will be able to say more about pho¬
tography in Yankee land.
Mr. Ladd, the publisher of Humphrey s Journal, tells me that his
May number will be in a new form, being in the shape of a news¬
paper, having more room for matter and more room for advertise¬
ments, and the general scope of the journal will be enlarged so as
to include some sciences near akin to photography. It may be
better for him; but I do not like the newspaper form for scientific
periodicals, on account of the difficulty of binding. It may meet
with favour, as I hope it will, in spite of its shape.
I have a memorandum book full of matters of interest to vour
readers; but I must look them over at home and sift the good from
the bad before jotting them in my letters to vou.
COLEMAN SELLERS.
* We have ha t Professor Itood's paper in type for a month back. It wUl be found in
the present number, page 190.
200
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[May 15, 1862
Straps anti Jfragments.
Exposing Shutter. — We have received several communications
expressive of approbation with regard to the convenience of the
shutter for exposing two or more card portrait lenses at one time,
introduced and described at a recent meeting of the Photographic
Society by Mr. Dallmeyer.
Photography at the International Exhibition. — The Duchess
of Cambridge with the Princess Mary, the Crown Prince of Prussia,
and Prince Oscar of Sweden, eacli in turn stood on the steps of the
throne at the International Exhibition, on Saturday, the 3rd inst.,
surrounded by the members of their respective suites, and admir¬
able photographs of the various groups were taken by the artists
of the London Stereoscopic Company. Photographs of the open¬
ing ceremony have been forwarded to Her Majesty, as we intimated
in our last would be the case, and duplicates have also been sent
by desire to H.E.H. the Crown Princess of Prussia.
Convenient Camera. — Mr. Ross has just introduced a very
convenient camera for stereoscopic pictures, and adapted also for
taking views of about 7 X 5 in. The sliding front carrying the
pair of stereoscopic lenses can be replaced by another for a single
lens of longer focus, the internal division removed, and the whole
frame thrust forward about four inches by means of a bellows
arrangement, steadied by lateral metal and wooden stays, and the
focussing effected by a rack and pinion near the back in both con¬
ditions of the camera. It is a very convenient arrangement, and
a camera thus constructed is adapted for lenses of from live to ten
or more inches of focus.
Astronomical Photography. — At the last meeting of the Royal
Astronomical Society Mr. Warren De la Rue exhibited engravings
Irom negatives of the spots on the sun, taken at his Observatory at
Cranford, by his 13-inch reflector, on the 24th September, 1861.
The engravings were obtained from the original negative by means
of light and electro -metallurgy ; the electro-copper block, being
absolutely untouched by the graver, was used for producing the
printed impression at the ordinary typographical press. The
process for obtaining the block was similar to, if not identical with,
that of M. Fontaine. A metal plate, being coated with gelatine
and bichromate of potash : is exposed under the negative, it is then
soaked in lukewarm water to remove the unaltered gelatine, &c. :
it is then covered with solution of pyrogallic acid to harden the
gelatine, which presents a proof in intaglio. When dry, a solution
ot gutta percha in bisulphide of carbon is poured on the impression,
and a thick sheet of gutta percha warmed on one side is immediately
applied, and the whole placed under a press. On removal from the
press the gutta percha matrix in relief is coated with plumbago,
and submitted to the electrifying process.
The Law of Copyright. — A few weeks back we mentioned the
fact of Mr. Mayall having obtained a verdict in an action he had
brought for the recovery of certain prints from some of his photo¬
graphs, which prints lie had lent for the purpose of engraving.
These prints having been erroneously sold, were copied by means
of fresh negatives being taken from them by the purchaser of the
prints so lent by Mr. Mayall. We likewise pointed out that the
result of that verdict did not in any way establish the existence of
copyright in photographs. A rule nisi having been granted by the
Court of Exchequer, calling upon the plaintiff to show cause why
the verdict he had obtained upon one of the counts of his declara¬
tion should not be altered, it was at first expected that the question
of copyright would come under discussion; but the Court after¬
wards expressly stated that copyright was not the point of con¬
sideration, and was quite beside the question at issue between the
parties. As, however, it seems to be erroneously supposed by
some persons that a copyright exists in photographs either by the
common law or under t lie Engraving Acts, it may be useful to
point out how the matter stands. If any such right is claimable
in a photograph after its publication , it can only be by analogy to
copyright in books, which the House of Lords has, upon more than
one occasion, decided does not exist by the common law, but only
by statute. These cases were argued in the presence of the
common law judges. Upon the last occasion the Lord Chief Baron
Bollock was present, and he expressed a very decided opinion
against the existence of copyright by the common law. He
said : — “ I think the common law cannot create new rights, and
limit and define them, because in the opinion of those who ad¬
minister the common law such lights ought to exist according to
their notions of what is just, right, and proper. Weighing all the
arguments on both sides, and looking to the authorities up to the
present time, the conclusion I have arrived at is, that copyright is
altogether an artificial right, not naturally and necessarily arising
out of the social rules that ought to prevail among mankind assem¬
bled in communities, but is a creature of the municipal law of each
country, to be enjoyed for such time and under such regulations as
the law of each State may direct, and has no existence by the common law
of England. It would follow from this that copyright in this country
depends altogether on the statutes which have been passed on this
subject.” Again, in a recent case in Ireland, which arose out of a
photograph having been made from recollection of an oil picture,
The Death of Chatterton, the Master of the Rolls in Ireland said; —
“ I apprehend it is clear that by the common law copyright or pro¬
tection exists in favour of works of literature, art , or science to this
limited extent only, that while they remain unpublished no. person
can print them, but that after publication they are by common law
unprotected.” It is therefore quite certain that the common law
affords the author of a photograph no protection in the shape of
copyright after it has been published. The question then arises
whether any statute affords him such a protection ? Unfortunately
in the present defective state of our laws of artistic copyright
there is no authority for saying that any such protection exists :
on the contraiy, “The Copyright (Works of Art) Bill,” which has
passed the House of Commons, and is now in the Lords, expressly
recites as a fact, “ that by law, as now established, the authors of
paintings, drawings, and photographs have no copyright in such
their work.” We trust that such an injustice will now be speedily
remedied by that bill being passed in such an amended form as
is requisite for the protection of all parties whose interests it
affects. — Athenceum.
(Ehmspaitfreim.
33f*We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. _
A FEW FACTS CONCERNING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC DEPART¬
MENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — There are some physicians who, after taking an unfavourable
view, fear to tell the patient the worst, and hold out hopes and hazard
a prognosis which the circumstances of the case do not justify. Such a
course is always deserving of censtu’e. It is far more wholesome to know
the full extent of the disease or disaster. Being every day at the Inter¬
national Exhibition, I perhaps have more extensive opportunities of
taking a correct diagnosis than many. Would it were possible to give a
more flattering account; but the worst fears have been realised. Every
day, while the picture galleries and other departments have been well
filled with gazers, I have now and then run up the photographic stairs,
and the echo of my own footfall has been the only sound that greeted
my ear. A silence as of the grave prevailed. Not a soul to be seen, save
sometimes one or two persons there for some special purpose.
I have never at any time believed that the general public felt so suffi¬
ciently interested in photography as to seek out its displays. I have
always thought that ’02 would be an opportunity of creating such a
feeling amongst that large class who never find their way to our annual
Exhibitions. This illusion is dispelled in a way which makes it a matter
for both congratulation and anger. I am constantly stopped by people
asking their way to the display of photographs. Even while in my dark
room, developing, I am disturbed by policemen rapping outside, when a
colloquy something in this fashion ensues: — “ Rat-a-tat-tat.’’ — “Who’s
there ?” — “ X 99. Please, can you tell us where is the photographic de¬
partment? The people do bother us so, and we don’t know where to direct
them.” No wonder!!! Sometimes people just go in the recess at the
entrance, and looking round at the coarse brick wall, conclude it is only
a staircase for the egress of workmen to the roof, and turn away again.
There is no inscription up whatever, as there is to every other depart¬
ment in the building. One day we found a lady taking her luncheon on
the stairs. It appeared it was not her first offence. Not wishing to
seek the refreshment department, she said “ she always found this a
quiet retired spot [quite unconscious of anything to be seen above], and
coukfiimmediately return to the picture gallery.”
But the coup de grace was reserved for Saturday last. While copying
Woolner’s beautiful statue of Constance and Arthur the morning before, I
had observed carpenters at work at some suspicious looking pigeon-hole,
stands, racks, &c., and on Saturday took the pains to go to see if my
suspicions would be verified. I found the whole of the recess or entrance¬
way at the foot of the stairs under the charge of two or three girls, and
dedicated to the inglorious purpose of a receptacle for sticks and umbrellas
of visitors to the picture galleries ! ! Some gentlemen just at that mo¬
ment took a glance up the stairs, as if mentally inquiring if there was
anything above. The inquiry was anticipated by one of the aforesaid
May 15, 1863]
201
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
girls, in this fashion— “ 0! that’s only a likeness place up there ! ” I for¬
bear comment.
On the other hand, while conversing with a friend, M. Angerer,
photographer to the Imperial Court of Vienna, who has some fine speci¬
mens in the Austrian department almost under the western dome — a
place where everyone sees them ; indeed it is scarcely possible for every
visitor who enters the building not to do so — I have heard such excla¬
mations as the following: — “Dear me! how beautiful! AVe have not
anything so good by our photographers !”
It would be vain to attempt to tell them that there is an attic in the
southern tower, about half-a-milc from this spot, where some good Eng¬
lish photography may be seen. Some of the foreign photographers are
quite astonished when I explain to them that Maxwell Lyte is an Eng¬
lishman, for Maxwell Lyte is the greatest gun in the French department.
He has worked on a larger scale than formerly, with immense success,
and his two large frames of Pyrenean views are by far the best shown.
I took M. Angerer one day into our department, and, without making
any remark, pointed out works by various hands in different parts of the
room, lie turned round and counted on the tips of his fingers four, five,
and six — meaning that they had as many different places; and he seemed
perfectly horror-stricken, venting his disgust in some German phrases
which will scarcely bear translation. He then recommenced adding
notes to his voluminous pocket-book. I imagine he will have much to
regale his countrymen with on his return to Vienna. — I am, yours, &c.
WHAT THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS HAVE ESCAPED.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Under an article headed “Photography at the International
Exhibition” (April 15th page 142), while discussing the short-comings
of the International undertakers, you conclude the paragraph with the
following : — “ To say nothing of Mr. Skaife and his pistolgraph, by which
(as he advertises) he can take portraits or views without the knowledge
or consent of the individuals concerned ! ”
It is long since I gave up advertising to do that sort of business.
Times are changed since the profession of a bravo was worth an
honest man’s while. If novelists can be relied on, patrons in the good
old times were more liberal to an expert who jobbed in the dark than the
same class of patrons are now-a-days to those who job in the light. In
other words, a higher figure was more willingly conceded to poinard a
hated object than is now paid to pistol a carte-de-visite hater.
It is now more than two years ago since I was beguiled into anegocia-
tion by a fair temptress located not a hundred miles from Portland-place,
who wished to know my terms for pistolling an ill-natured husband, who
persisted in refusing to let her have his photograph on any conditions.
After casting up this bear’s liabils, time of day when he walked abroad,
sun’s altitude, and the Avliereabouts of St. Marylebone Church’s
shadow, &c., &c , — I said the fee, in £ s. d., was so much — at which the
lady paused then begged to defer having her brute done for in that way until
she had further considered whether it were worth while to pay so much
for a thing — so little. I take it for granted the lady concluded as Mr.
Weller senior would have done, for from that day to this I have heard no
more on the subject, and as far as I am concerned the churl has remained
unrobbed of his picture to the present hour. But as this does not prove the
11 as he advertises" to be other than “ trade brag,]’ I take the liberty of
forwarding for your inspection two pistolgraphic studies, copies from
originals now in my possession, taken by one of my pupils.
The first represents an equestrian party — a gentleman and three ladies
on the trot in Hyde Park. Who this party were I know not, nor did my
pupil who took them ; nor were the party aware, I believe, of their being
taken — success, in the result, not being dependent on their being so,
even supposing this victimised party, previous to their? setting out
on their usual morning drive, had been cautioned not to loiter by the
way, as a photo, robber was believed to be lurking somewhere in the
Park. Of course they knew what a photographic camera was ; but they
did not suspect that yonng gentleman knew “the time of day” as well
as they did before he looked at his watch, as they drove past him in Rot¬
ten Row, and, possibly, they are yet guiltless of any knowledge of their
having been done by the rather “ flashv-looking repeater” — although
the likeness of one of the party, malgre its smallness, possesses as much
recognisable individuality as though it had been done in one of the first-
class carte de visite studios in London.
The second and larger photographic proof is much less distinct. As a
photograph it is a failure. Nevertheless, considered historically, it is not
devoid of interest. In the background appears a building of a certain
style of architecture; in the foreground, to the left, a horse in gig
harness ; behind which is perceived a second horse, bestrode by a postil¬
lion in dark jacket and light “breeks.” The tail-band of the second
horse brings the eye to the dark outline of a coach-box, across the seat
of which is stretched a hammer-cloth (where P is damaged by a scratch),
behind which two hats appear — showing the owners thereof to be sitting
vis a-vis — a white parasol, beneath which are sitting two ladies, behind
whom stand two footmen with cravats and waistcoats as white as the
two ladies’ veils, and with faces as dark. Following the dark outline of
the taller footman, the eye arrives at a wheel in the foreground to the
right, between the spokes of which a leg belonging to some invisible
body is perceived to be in the act of trying to establish a foot — with what
intention may be gathered from the following: —
In 1860 The Times informed the public that Her Majesty would leave
Buckingham Palace about 4 p.m., to open the prize rifle shooting at Wimble¬
don. Wishing at the time for a pistolgraphic portrait of the Queen, I
despatched one of my “familiars” to the locale of the Palace, with instruc¬
tions to procure a cab and seat himself outside thereof along with the
driver, taking the precaution, in order to avert a possible catastrophe, to
inform the cabman of his object, and be sure to cover the little instru¬
ment with his hand when Pier Majesty passed. My pupil had just got
seated and adjusted his piece as the royal party drove briskly up in an
open carriage, when click went a trigger, and the deed was done !
If the position and light had been as favourable on this occasion as it
was when the Hyde Park equestrians were done, there can be little ques¬
tion but that this little picture would have possessed a value superior to
any other photograph for which the Queen might have voluntarily sat. As
it is, it is simply a registered fact of a carriage party en route at a certain
epoch ; and though none of the faces of the party are recognisable by
reason of their being under-done, the circumstantial evidence of the
accessories, by those familiar with the royal equipment on that occasion,
will be admitted as tolerable proof of the occupants’ rank.
1st, there is the postilion ; 2nd, shape of the open carriage ; 3rd, the
pattern of the parasol ; 4th, livery of the two footmen behind ; 5th, the
incident of the three tallest figures — viz., gentleman, lady, and footman —
being at the left side of the carriage, whilst the three shorter figures
occupy aline to the right But, whether this arrangement was accidental
or designed, investigation alcne could prove.
Such being the result of the only attempt on Her Majesty with which
I have been concerned, I submit that with improved opportunity it would
be next to impossible for the Queen to escape being pistolgraphed to
perfect recognition, sooner or later, if she continued to drive out in pub¬
lic during daylight as she has hitherto done.
Such speculative subjects, however, are rather within the province of
those amateurs whose necessities do not oblige them to undertake the
charge of so many babies as I am obliged to do.
When our numerous amateur photographers have medalled each other
into practical excellence in still-life subjects, they will be flying at higher
game. Killing sheep is one thing — but deer stalking is another.
I am, yours, &c., THOMAS SKAIFE.
[In adverting to Mr. Skaife’s assertion of his capacity for taking por¬
traits, &e., “without the knowledge or consent of the individuals con¬
cerned,” we inserted the words “as he advertises” because we quoted
the words of his advertisement — not to throw any doubt upon his assertion,
which we knew to be well founded ; and, had we not known its truth
before, the specimens received would have proved it to our satisfac¬
tion. — Ed.]
PRESERVATIVE CASES, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — If you would kindly answer the following queries in your next
Journal, or as soon as convenient, I should feel greatly obliged.
1st. Can I mix a small quantity — say six or eight ounces — of fixing
solution, and with the same fix two or three album portiaits a day for a
week ? or must I mix a fresh quantity every time ? I am able to devote
but little time daily to photography.
2nd. Is a preservative case with quick lime likely to injure the results
at all in the subsequent processes ?
3rd. Majr the picture be printed and put back into the preservative
case and kept a few days or a week without injury ?
4th. What is the cause, when working with the same collodion and
intensifying with a preparation of bichloride of mercury, of some of the
pictures drying with small cracks in the film, while some drv quite
perfect ? — I am, yours, &c., A SUBSCRIBER.
Salisbury.
[1st. It is the keeping from day to day of the fixing solution which is
apt to render your proofs unstable. You will find it a convenient plan
to keep a wide-mouthed bottle filled with saturated solution qf hypo¬
sulphite of soda: mix one part of this with two parts of water: throw it
away into your waste solution at the end of each day’s work.
2nd. Paper kept too long in any of the preservative cases is apt to be
less brilliant when printed than when used fresh.
3rd. Yes, but not longer.
4th. Clearly some difference in manipulation. Probably the film may
be thicker in one case than in the other. Again : the washing may be im¬
perfectly done in some instances. — Ed.]
HOT WATER DEVELOPER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reply to your note, I beg to inform you that the mode by
which I prepared the plates was with bromo-iodised collodion bath, 35
grains nitrate silver to the ounce of water, very acid with acetic acid,
plate slightly washed, then coated with warm gelatine solution — the for¬
mula for which was 150 grains of gelatine to 16 ounces of water, alcohol
1 i oz. The water used was that as supplied by the East Loudon Water
Works Company, and boiled in a copper vessel. My first impression was
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
203
[May 15, 1862
that the water contained iron ; but, on being tested, no traces were per¬
ceptible. The matter, therefore, why the picture should appear without
the presence of organic matter, remains unexplained. Plates prepared
with albumen were subjected to the same treatment; but in no instance
could the slightest trace of a picture be seen, though, on applying the
developing agent, the action was extremely rapid. Under these circum¬
stances I used hot water as a developer for pictures under-exposed. I
also believe Mr. Nichols’s instantaneous dry process to be founded on
the hot water principle. — I am, yours, &c., H. E. CHALKLY.
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A slight inaccuracy appears in the last number of j'-our Journal,
wherein it is stated that 1 said that I had seen a daguerreotype copy of
the proboscis of the blow-fly showing the ramfiications of the spiral
vessels delicately rendered, and that it was taken through an eye-piece.
I certainly maintained the latter part of the foregoing ; but I must
have been misunderstood when a daguerreotype plate was asserted as the
sensitive medium whereon same was depicted. The picture I referred to
was No. 528 of the Photographic Society’s Exhibition of 1801, when,
turning to the catalogue, I now find it thus described: — “Extremity
of blow-fly’s tongue — Powell and Lealand’s quarter-inch object glass.
No eye-piece employed.” So I was in error.
If you think it necessary to correct the statement, the above are the
facts of the case.1 — I am, yours, &c., JOHN BOC’KETT.
May 6th, 1862.
MELAINOTYPE PLATES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Being far out of the reach of advice or assistance on photographic
subjects, I take the liberty of requesting yours under the following
difficulties : —
I have lately been trying to work with “ melainotype ” or japanned
metal plates, which are extremely convenient for positive pictures,
especially for lockets, &c., if they worked properly. I have been informed
from several quarters that these generally work as well as glass plates,
but am surprised to find in them an extraordinary want of sensibility,
generally requiring four or five times as long as a glass plate, and even
then the image comes out dark and often dirty. I have observed that the
collodion seems to have a propensity to set in hard diagonal streaks much
more than on ordinary plates. I have taken great care in cleaning these
plates thoroughly by rubbing them with alcohol, which, I am informed,
is the proper and only way of cleaning them ; but it seems the more I
rub the worse is the result obtained. What surprises me most is, that
now and then, though very seldom, without any particular care, the
image comes out well. I have corresponded with other photographers on
the subject, who cannot tell me more than that they are accustomed to
use them and never experience the results I mention ; however, as there
must be some cause for my want of success, perhaps you will be kind
enough to consider the subject a little and let me know your opinion. I
must beg you to observe that I do not speak of the results of a few trials,
but of a long-continued and obstinate, though unsuccessful, endeavour to
ascertain the cause of my failure.
The other difficulty I labour under is the following : — In a late number
(156) of The British Journal of Photography a method is given of
varnishing pictures with a mixture of bees wax and turpentine. I have
in vain essayed this plan (after always duly hardening the paper by a
solution of gelatine) ; but I find that the rubbing with a rag after the
application of the bees-wax, instead of giving it a polish, wipes it clean
off the paper again. Please explain what mistake I make, as, doubtless,
some must exist in my method of proceeding.
Hoping you will vouchsafe a few lines in your next number in expla¬
nation of these difficulties, and requesting your pardon for boring you
with such a lengthy communication. — 1 am, yours, &c.,
Cordova , liiver Plate , March 14 th, 1862. JOHN S. 0 - N.
[The supporting surface certainly does exercise an influence on the
results of a collodion photograph, but wre scarcely think this is detrimental
in your case. We presume, however, that the climate is such that the
temperature is usually high where you are located, and if so, that is very
probably the cause of your failure. Melainotype plates being made of
metal, more easily acquire and lose heat than glass ones, and consequently
the thicknesses of your films would be more apt to vary. Hence, also,
the ridges of which you complain. It is not improbable that a larger
proportion of alcohol in your collodion might assist you by rendering
evaporation a little slower.
You will be able probably to judge whether our conjecture is likely to
be appropriate to your case, by considering whether those with whom
you have corresponded arc located in more temperate climates than your
own.
Y ith regard to the polishing with wax, you should have used white
hunt wax, not ordinary bees-wax, and the gelatine solution should not be
too strong — three or four grains to the ounce of water are sufficient.
t hie thing more, which is hardly worth mentioning, except for your
"wn sake. If your letters arc sent, as in the present instance, without
prepayment of postage, the probability is that we shall refuse the next,
not being inclined to pay one shilling for the honour of replying to you in
the Journal.— Ed.]
EFFECT OF ETHER IN THE PRINTING BATH.
To the Editor.
Sir,— In writing to you on the 4th instant I find 1 omitted to state that
I had added about two drachms of ether to the eight ounces of bath (for
printing). I did not think it of any importance at the time, but I now
find that therein lies the cause of the addition of ammonium to the print¬
ing bath producing no precipitate immediately, although after about ten
minutes a slight muddiness, which slowly increases, is perceived. I
observe that the addition of methylated spirit has the same effect.
Apologising for my negligence,— I am, yours, &c.,
May 10th, 1862. p, p
[The observation above made is worthy of record, as presenting at any
rate a not well known phenomenon. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
#35“ We regret to be again compelled to holdover Mr. Wall’s admirable com¬
munication — An Artist's Letters to a Young Photographer. Among other
! articles in type is the conclusion of the series of chapters On the Tannin Pro¬
cess, by Major Russell.
D. C. — Bromide of cadmium will best serve your purpose.
C. — You can see some of Mr. Breese’s stereographs at the International col¬
lection. See Leader.
W. & D. D. — Operators such as you desire are in great demand: we know
of none at present disengaged.
Reuben O. — We do not find that the arrowroot paper is popular — in fact,
with the present infatuation for highly albumenised paper, it lias no fair chance
of success.
A Subscriber.— See report of the London Photographic Society’s meeting
in the current number. We shall probably also have something on the subject
in our next.
R. Jones. — We have no practical experience in the daguerx-eotype process
and therefore never met with the phenomenon to which you allude ; but we should
judge that it arose from electrical influence.
E. Matthews. — Iodide of ammonium is, to some extent, soluble in alcohol,
and is not precipitated therefrom on the addition of ether. If you use ordinary
alcohol, which contains a small portion of water, you will find the ammonium
salt quite sufficiently soluble.
S. L. — The larger lens will suit you best for your landscape camera. You
will scarcely be able to manage without a sliding body for the portrait camera,
as there is not often enough motion in the rack of the lens to suit great varia¬
tion in distance between the sitters and the camera.
Would-be Subscriber. — If you will send your address to Mr. Melhuish,
26, Haymarket, London, enclosing 13 penny postage stamps, he will return you
a printed catalogue of all the pictures (about 1,8(JU) belonging to the Amateur
Photographic Association, from which you may select your specimens.
Beta. — We should recommend your applying for advice in open court of
your municipal authorities, stating the circumstances. If there are any police
magistrates and local newspapers, the mere publishing the facts will probably
remove the grievance ; but we have little doubt that you have a remedy by
action at law, if you arc inclined to resort to such a measure.
Scrutator. — It is not a little singular that in Punch of the 3rd instant there is
a capital illustration of the truth of the remarks which we made with reference
to your specimens upon which you desired our opinion. In the admirable
drawing of the figure of Peace seated upon an Armstrong gun, note how the
idea of quiescence pervades the whole figure, one trifling point excepted — so
very trifling as almost to escape notice at first : we mean the thumb of the left
hand, which is a little too strained to be in perfect keeping with the fingers.
Although a mere sketch, it is a capital study of pose for a photographic
portraitist.
P. P. — We had not quite apprehended what you intended to convey : we did
not presume that you had used the whole of the eight ounces of solution. The
only explanation we can conjecture from the data is, that the crystals of nitrate
of silver must have been preposterously acid. With regard to the ratio of
speed between the three kinds of lenses which you mention, nothing but actual
experiment could be depended upon for certainty ; but we anticipate that No.
3 would be quickest, No. 2 a trifle slower, and No. 1 about half as long
again as No. 3. We possess just such an one as you describe as No. 3, and it
is as quick a lens as can be desired ; in fact, an admirable one for ordinary
portrait work.
[fgr All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, c&c., should
he forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Eise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street , Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher.
CON TENTS.
LEADER . 183
THE OPENING OF THE GREAT INTER¬
NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1802, FROM
A PHOTOGRAPHIC POINT OF VIEW.
By STEPHEN THOMPSON . 18.3
EXHIBITION GOSSIP: THE OPENING, AND
WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY HAD TO DO
THEREAT— A FIRST VISIT TO THE ENG¬
LISH DEPARTMENT -SOLAR CAMERA
PORTRAITS. By A. H. WALL . 186 I
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC LENSES, AND ON THE ANGLE
OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED. Bv T. GRUBB 187
THE RESIN PROCESS. By ALEX. ROBB . . 188
ON THE INCONVENIENCE OF THE ACE¬
TATES IN THE PREPARATION OF POSI¬
TIVE PAPERS, By M. DAY ANNE . 189
FAGS
ON A CURIOUS DISCOVERY CONNECTED
WITH A “NITRATE BATH.” By R. L.
MADDOX, M D . 189
ON THE STUDY OF THE ELECTRIC SPARK
BY THE AID OF PHOTOGRAPH V. By
Pi-of. OGDEN N. ROOD, of Troy, N.Y . 190
WIIRE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA : ROUND
ABOUT THE CORNISH COAST. By OUR
OWN PIONEER . 392
COURT OF EXCHEQUER . 1S3
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 191
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE : Letter from
Paris. By M. LACAN. Letter from New
York. By COLEMAN SELLERS . 198
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 200
CORRESPONDENCE . 200
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, . . 202
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL
No.
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
167, Vol. IX.— JUNE 2, 1862.
Iodide and Sulphide of Silver. — In the letter from our
valued Paris correspondent, M. Lacan, which appeared in our
last issue, is a statement which, if left altogether unchallenged,
will probably subject us to some amount of what is vulgarly
termed “ chaff.” Of course the assertion is that of Dr. Sabatier
and not of our worthy colloborateur, who is merely the exponent
of the learned doctor’s explanation of his method of producing
direct positives in the camera.
The use of the salts of cadmium and potassium in conjunc¬
tion, if not actually claimed as a novelty, is advocated for a reason
assigned to which we demur as not proven and inconsequent.
Iodide of potassium instead of being, as alleged, the “ slowest”
of all the iodides used, is by some of the best English authori¬
ties believed to be the “ quickest,” when pure and freshly mixed ;
and this quality is not supposed to attach to the iodide of silver
formed therefrom in the nitrate of silver bath, but from the
accidental attendants upon its formation. Indeed, iodide of
silver alone must be the same substance whether formed from
one iodide or another, and can differ only in being associated
with the various results of double decomposition. Now, if this
doctrine be sound, the iodide of silver resulting from the simulta¬
neous action of the nitrate of silver bath upon a mixture of the
potassium and cadmium salts must be an uniform substance
surrounded by, or in contact with, an uniform mixture of the
nitrates of cadmium and potassium, and as such there can be
no difference in the action under the developer of the particular
particles of iodide of silver that are generated by each of the
iodides employed under the circumstances detailed. At least
such is our opinion, and we consequently fiud the explanation
offered as the rationale of the experiment very insufficient.
We may remark that the association of the cadmium and
potassium salts was practised several years since by our former
fellow-labourer Mr. Hardwich, but for very different reasons to
those now advanced. It was found in practice that a collodion
sensitised with cadmium salts alone had a tendency to induce
alkalinity of the nitrate bath after continued use, while that in
which potassium salts alone were present had an opposite
tendency: hence a judicious mixture of the two would, it was
conjectured, conduce to greater stability of the collodion when
iodised, and on trial this conjecture was found to be correct.
The use of sulphide of potassium as a toning agent for glass
positives is not more novel than the application of the two
iodides, nor is there any need to dread its injurious influence
on the permanency of the glass proofs treated therewith ; for, as
Dr. Percy formerly remarked, sulphide of silver is a very stable
substance when alone, and, further, as existing on the trans¬
parent positive, it is sure to be well protected by the varnish
from the most active of the destructive agents. Perhaps some
of our readers may be surprised to learn that we employed hydro¬
sulphate of ammonia (which would act similarly to sulphide of
potassium) successfully for toning positive proofs upon plain
paper several years back, and vre read a paper on the subject
before the London Photographic Society, illustrated by
specimens. The paper itself was published at the time in the
Journal of the Photographic Society, and may be found in Vol.
III., p. 237, by any who may feel curious about the matter. We
may add that the tones produced upon plain paper were ex¬
tremely good and pleasing. Upon albumenised paper we were
not successful. But, unfortunately, though the proofs stood well
so long as they were kept perfectly dry, the action of moisture
was fatal to their permanency, the well-known yellowish hue
being superinduced in exact proportion to the degree of humidity
to which the proofs were exposed.
Why so stable a substance as sulphide of silver should thus
change is not easily determined ; but it is presumed that its
intimate connexion with the organic matter of the paper in the
proof, in addition to its finely-divided state, may have much to
do with it. It is, however, evident that the same influence
would not be exerted upon the substance forming the image of
a transmitted positive upon glass : hence our reason for
believing that no fear need be entertained of injury on account
of such pictures being treated as described by Dr. Sabatier.
Photography and Periodical Literature. — There are
few' circumstances which tell their silent tale of the widely-
spreading increase of our art more unmistakeably than the con¬
stant reference now made to it in the ephemeral literature of
the day ; but it is equally true that any article on the subject
very rarely appears (except in the journals specially devoted to
photography) in which erroneous, it not truly absurd, ideas con¬
nected with it, escape promulgation.
It was but recently that we perused an article, entitled “ The
Carte de Visit e,” in Mr. Dickens’s popular serial, All the lear
Hound, published on the 26th of April last, which, as we antici¬
pated, dealt with the subject in an amusing and jocular strain.
But here, again, we were doomed to disappointment — not that
we expected rigid exactitude in an article intended for sheer
amusement, but the writer must needs, before concluding,
wind up with what is evidently intended for a piece of serious
criticism of some photographic works existing in bis own
imagination, and equally serious advice to the general bod)' of
photographic portraitists, whom our author coolly declares “ do
not yet quite understand their trade"!!!
It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe that the word italicised
is not so in the original ; but it may help to a solution of the
not very original instruction (!) which follows, consisting of
commonplace remarks on the point of view and the importance
of — what do our readers imagine? — shadow! Surely here is a
discovery ! But still more amusing remarks than these are to
be found in the article cited. The author asserts of the selec¬
tion of pose that “ it is exercised by some of the best French
photographers but of M. Silvy he says— “ almost he alone in
this country seems to understand the immeuse importance of
shadow as an ingredient in a successful portrait.
We are quite ready to admit that, numerically, inartistic por-
204
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 2, 1862
traits may form a majority; but is it not equally true of every
calling that those who pre-eminently excel are a minority ?
One is constrained to wonder whether our original author ever
saw the productions of T. R. Williams, II. P. Robinson, May all,
Claudet, Kilburn, Hennah, Watkins, &c., &c., &c. Perhaps, if
they would apply to him very humbly, he might be induced to
form a class, at which they could attend and learn from him
the immense importance of — shadow. The word shadow sug¬
gests its opposite, and surely a light breaks in upon us. Day
and Martin, the celebrated blacking-making firm, used to “keep
a poet.” Perhaps M. Silvy — keeps an author.
Drawing-room Photographic Albums. — Perhaps one of the
reasons why the card portraits are so popular may consist in the
facility with which they may be mounted in elegantly-got-up
albums, which are to be procured in such great abundance in
every civilised locality. We think there can be no question
about the probability that card portraits and the albums in¬
tended for their reception have mutually tended towards the
popularity of each other. The possession of a few portraits
naturally induces a desire to find a fitting receptacle for them,
and nothing more handy than the albums, as at present in vogue,
could have been devised for the purpose ; moreover, they are in
themselves so attractive in appearance that it is not surprising
they are frequently selected for presenting to friends on the
numerous social red-letter days which, by such gifts, are
appropriately and gracefully recognised. Then comes the
reactionary influence. Of what use is an empty album ?
Evidently it must be filled : hence the increasing demand for
card portraits. M e are not sure whether it might not be a
paying concern for an enterprising photographic portraitist to
present gratuitously some of these trifles (if judiciously done),
trustiug for remuneration to the natural desire to have the
pages filled, and the probable increase of occupation to which
such a desire gives an impulse.
An idea has occurred to us which we think worth throwing-
out for our numerous professional readers to act upon if they
please, by which a fresh field may be opened up for the disposal of
some of their productions. Why not get up some tasty albums
in a similar style to those at present used for portraits, and con¬
structed in a similar manner, but to receive one picture of a pair
of stereographs ? Depend upon it if such albums were in the
market a host of negatives that are at present almost useless
would be again available. In many stereoscopic negatives one
of the pair may have become injured in use, and so inapplicable
to stereoscopic purposes. A very large number of persons who
do not possess, or do not care for, a stereoscope would be de¬
lighted with such an album as we suggest. Every one who
makes, a summer trip likes to preserve some record of the
localities visited, and many who would not buy stereographs
woull gladly fill an album. It may be thought that any size
would do ; but great success is to be anticipated, not only from
uniformity of dimension, but from the existence, also, of a lar^e
stock of views to commence upon. We are convinced that this
idea is worth working out.
ON THE PRACTICAL WORKING- OP THE PANORAMI
LENS.*
By George Dawson,
r Lecturer on Photography at King's College, London.
for? 5! ,iB+mTt t0 b°thoro?S^ practical. I do not, there
lore, intend to discuss the scientific principles on which tli
panoramic ens has been constructed; nor, indeed, is this com-
■H-ssary , inasmuch as Mr. Sutton, the inventor (to whose papS
of h? «,T! ’ !ias °a SCT-a °1CC1asions fu!,y entered into that portio
use of ! exl;.lail'ed tllG circumstances which compel th
use Of a curved glass for the reception of the negative. For m
apparatus ^differ ?? extra?rdinaiT appearance of the who!
for the practice i ^ 10 tl’aultlons and ordinary requirement
- i actice of photography, prejudiced me strongly agaim
n meeting of tlje North London Photographic Association, May 21, 1862.
the estimation of it for practical utility. The difficulties attending
the coating with collodion and evenly developing curved surfaces
seemed to me almost insurmountable, and it was with strong
misgivings as to the result that I determined to spend a few days
of my holiday in trying the capabilities of the lens, and how far
the difficulties above indicated could be overcome. 1 have suc¬
ceeded beyond my expectations, |and can now truly say that there
is no pleasure greater than that of agreeable disappointment. The
specimens before you, good, bad, and indifferent, are my first
attempts. Some of them — the architectural for instance — in sub¬
ject and treatment are far from artistic, and evidently unfitted for
the panoramic lens ; others again, such as the general landscapes
(deducting for faults of inexperience), have a breadth of effect and
completeness totally unobtainable by aid of any other form of lens.
I was well aware before commencing operations of its unfitness
for rendering pure architecture ; but 1 wished to satisfy myself,
by experiment, of the extent of error and distortion arising from
the necessary curvation of the glass. On examining the specimens
you will observe that, except in cases where a straight row of
houses runs across the plate, the horizontal curvature is quite
inappreciable by the eye, and I can vouch for it that for ordinary
landscapes the effect is apparently perfectly natural.
I now proceed to the principal object of this paper, viz., the
practical details. My short experience of a few days will not
warrant me in saying that my mode of procedure may not bo
considerably modified by future practice and improvement in the
apparatus. On the latter point I have some suggestions to make,
which will fall in their proper place at the close of this paper. It
would have been more satisfactory to myself, and probably to you,
could I have been able to lay before you a larger number of speci¬
mens ; but it was impossible for me to get together more than
eleven plates, on all of which. I took pictures once, and some twice.
Failures are awkward things to deal with in any way. I shall not
detail mine ; but if the instructions and precautions about to be
given seem in some respects too minute, you may be assured they
are for the purpose of avoiding failures experienced by myself.
The Camera and Lens. — The camera having two spirit levels
fixed at right angles on its upper surface — a plan, by-the-bye, I
should like to see introduced into all cameras — is readily adjusted
to the level. The lens when unscrewed in the middle should be
filled with distilled or boiled spring water. If ordinary water be
used the consequence will be that, in the course of an hour or so, the
air contained in the water agglomerating into a multitude of little
bubbles will adhere most obstinately to the inside surface of the
lens, and cause irregular refraction and confusion in the image.
Care also should be taken that the stop inside the lens — an ingenious
contrivance called, I think, the “ butterfly stop," from its not bearing
the most distant resemblance to that insect — be adjusted with its
longer axis quite horizontal : this is in the direction of the greater
length of the plate.
Cleaning the Plates. — The plates should be ground or roughed on
the surface all round, to the distance of about inch from the
edge. This may be readily and quickly done by filing a
rectangular notch in a piece of copper — an old penny piece will
do very well — and rubbing along the edge with some rather
course emery powder and water. The collodion will hold on to
this rough part with great tenacity, and prevent, what is otherwise
almost inevitable, the total destruction of the film during some
part of the after process. The thorough cleaning of the surface
is a much more difficult operation than with plate-glass, arising
probably from its being originally unpolished. Nevertheless, the
fact is certain, and recourse must often be bad to strong solution of
soda, and afterwards nitric or sulphuric acid, to remove the last
traces of dirt. In all cases, when the plate has once been varnished,
strong acid will be required to remove impurities from the rough
edge of the glass. A padded cushion for the purpose of polishing
is sold along with the apparatus ; but I have found it more con¬
venient to dispense with this, and in one hand, covered with
chamois skin, to hold the plate and polish with the other.
Coating the Plate. — The collodion should possess no glutinous
or contractile properties, and still contain a large proportion of
alcohol to allow the film to set slowly, and thus give more time for
covering the plate evenly. The operation will scarcely be intel¬
ligible from a mere description. I bold the plate in the left hand
balanced on the tips of the fingers and steadied by the thumb of
the same hand resting with gentle pressure against the corner.
Pour on that end a body of collodion sufficient (but not in great
excess) to cover the whole : then with a tremulous motion of the
hand, which prevents streaks, and by gradually tilting the held
end, direct the wave of collodion evenly and slowly till it reaches .
J une 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
205
the other end. At the moment of its arrival there, pour off the
excess from the corner into the bottle ; but this must be done very
quickly, and the plate turned back into its original vertical position,
otherwise ridges will be formed diagonally across, and will be
very conspicuous in the finished negative. Excite in the usual way.
The time of exposure seems to me to be rather less than that
required for Ross’s 4J-inch single lens. The longest exposure,
under a rather dull leaden sky, was 20", and the shortest, under
more favourable circumstances, 2" or less — in fact, as fast as I could
open and close the shutter. Still you will observe in the latter
cases very considerable detail in the dark green foreground, and
the driving clouds in the distance show their outline and shading
very distinctly.
The Development. — First, with pyrogallic acid. — Dilute a onc-
grain-to-the-ounce-of-water solution of pyrogallic acid with four
or five times its bulk of water, which pour over the plate in the
same manner as the collodion was applied. Tilt it backwards and
forwards till the picture has begun to develop evenly all over.
A stronger solution, with a few drops of nitrate of silver solution
added, may then be applied without danger of streaks and
uneven development, until the requisite intensity has been
obtained.
Second development, with iron. — In some of my preliminary
experiments I developed with pyrogallic acid, and would have
continued to do so from choice had not my collodion contained
a pretty strong proportion of bromide, which I find contributes
much to slowness and to thinness of negative with that developer.
I had no alternative, then, but to use an iron salt ; and as, under any
circumstances, it is rather difficult to cover even a flat plate
always evenly with that solution, the difficulty is much increased
in the case of a curved surface. I have therefore devised and
constructed, very roughly as you see, a kind of rocking dish of
gutta-percha, the bottom having the same curve as the plates.
Two ounces of about a fifteen-grain iron solution poured into this
was amply sufficient for one negative. The plate, gently dropped
in and quickly rolled about, will develop very evenly. The iron
solution thus used need not be thrown away, but with the addition
of another ounce or so will serve over and over again without any
seeming bad effects. The negative may now be washed gently ;
intensified to the proper degree with pyrogallic acid and silver ;
fixed in the usual way, by pouring on and off a saturated solution
of hypo. ; and, finally, well washed.
It was occasionally inconvenient for me to intensify immediately
after the iron development, on account of scarcity of water, and
for other reasons. Under such circumstances I fixed with hypo.,
after the application of the iron developer, partly washed, and
then stowed the plates away in the box for future treatment at
home when more at leisure. I am not sure but this mode of
re-development gives a more vigorous picture than the other,
provided the iron developer has acted long enough to bring out
all the details : it is, at all events, more convenient for field-work.
It requires great care and some precautions, but may be safely
done in the following manner : —
After drying and slightly warming the plate by the fire, apply
with a camel’s-hair brush Soehnee or other varnish all round the
edge to the depth of one-eighth inch or thereabout, taking care to
fasten in the same way the edges of all incipient cracks or rents
in the film. This prevents water, &c. from finding its way under¬
neath the collodion, and renders it so strong and adhesive that the
plate may now be washed without danger and intensified to any
extent with pyrogallic acid and silver.
Having thus detailed, I hope clearly enough to be understood,
the manipulations I have found to be the best for insuring good
negatives, I would now suggest some improvements in the
apparatus which will make this object more easily attainable.
With respect to the lens and camera nothing better fitted for
their purpose could possibly be devised. They are perfect. The
former, being only rather over five inches focus, gives exquisite
definition to the very edge of a reo! angular field + 4J inches,
comprehending an angle oi about 105 degrees; and the camera is
in every way well fitted for giving effect to this enormous angle.
In one of the specimens on the table — Pultcney Bridge — I had
the curiosity to measure the angle included after trimming the
print for mounting. It was rather over 07° and is of course pretty
nearly the same in all other cases.
On the other hand the material of the bath — gutta-percha — is
apt to contaminate the nitrate of silver (especially in warm
weather) with organic matter. I do not see any formidable
difficulty in constructing receptacles of glass covered only externally
with gutta-percha; or, indeed, what prevents them from being
cast in solid glass ? I object also to its shape. The sides, as you
may observe, are arcs of two concentric circles of nearly the same
radius as the curve of the glass. The practical effect of such an
arrangement is, that during the act of immersion or removal of the
plate, unless extraordinary caution be used, the film is liable to
come in contact with the inner surface, and suffer injury. I propose
that the side against which the plate leans should be of the same
curve as, or rather larger, than the glass, and the opposite side an
arc of a much larger circle, or indeed quite straight. We can
thereby prevent the least chance of any part of the sensitised sur¬
face from becoming injured by coming in contact with the sides.
A larger quantity of silver solution will necessarily be required ;
but that I consider not only no disadvantage, but an actual gain,
inasmuch as the bath will keep in good working condition for com¬
paratively a much longer period.
Plates, Defects In. — If 1 call your attention now more closely to the
specimens on the table, you will see that some of them are sharp
and well defined up to the very edge of one side of the plate, but
less so towards the other end. This arises from no defect in the
lens — which, as I have said before, seems perfect — but from some
slight variation in the curve of the plates. A variation of less than
Tl2 inch in the curvature will throw the image considerable out of
focus, when working with a lens of which the range of focus from
near to distant objects is very limited. I feel certain our glass
manufacturers can easily get over this difficulty, so I need say no
more about it. In all other respects a limited range of focus is
advantageous, for, the point of best definition having been once
ascertained and marked, no more focussing is required.
Allied to the previous defect, and partly dependent on it, is the
difficulty of obtaining an even pressure on the printing-frame.
No matter how many folds of flannel or felt may be interposed
between the prepared paper and the pressure-board, there will still
be some part of the proof not so well defined as the sharpness of
the negative would lead uk to expect. An air-cushion of Macintosh
cloth, or other air-tight material, and covered on one side with
thin felt or fine flannel, seems to me a simple and certain remedy.
In conclusion, I trust Messrs. Sutton and Ross will receive these
suggestions of mine in the same spirit in which they are offered,
viz., a desire to improve and extend the use of a lens and camera
which have proved highly satisfactory in my short practice, and
which in subjects of a particular class will, I believe, exercise no
small influence on the future of photography.
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
LENSES, fAND THE ANGLE OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED.*
By Thomas Grubb, M.R.I A.
Having in my late communication on this subject stated my ideas
on the course best calculated to arrive at a general and useful
solution of the question, I shall, with the exception of a short
digression, confine my present letter to the consideration of
“what a lens will cover” in the limited sense in which the
question had been previously entertained in your pages.
The digression just alluded to I feel to be required in conse¬
quence of Mr. Dallmeyer’s assertion, so emphatically announced in
his late letter, respecting the four degrees ot “ displacement of
objects” at either side of a picture, including 40° when taken with
a single combination lens. Now, it Mr. Dalltneyer be correct in
this assertion, two things follow of necessity : —
1st. A view subtending 40° to the optical centre of such a lens
will have its picture subtending 32 only to said centre.
2nd. Two pictures of the aforesaid view of 40°, one taken with
a single combination and the other with his triplet lens, of no
distortion (both lenses being of the same equivalent focus), will
differ in size by a quantity corresponding with the difference of
32° and 40°, angular measurement.
Now, assuming for a moment all this to be true, there is no
visible reason lor Mr. Dailmeyer introducing his statements in a
letter purporting to be one in reference to “ what a lens wfill
cover,” except we are to understand that he means to take the
angle of picture for and instead of the angle of view, aud thus
to persuade us that a lens which actually includes 40 of
view only includes 32° ; or, perhaps, he chooses to consider the
word “cover” in the non-useful sense to a photographer. I there¬
fore think it best once more to emphatically remind the photo¬
grapher of the useful as well as proper interpretation of the word
“ cover” in the question at issue, viz., that it refers to the angular
extent of view included, and has no reference to the size of the
resultant picture or the angle which it subtends to the lens.
* Continued from page 1S3.— -Received 10th May, 1SG2.
2G6
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 9, 18G9
But rejecting that which, for the sake of argument, I had assumed
to be true, I desire to close this digression by a statement which
photographers who have single combination lenses would do well
to place in juxtaposition with that of Mr. Dallmeyer respecting
the 4° on each side of a field of 40° — viz., that I intend to show
in my next communication that the said distortion instead of
being 4° is not 1° ; and in fact is little more than a sixth part of
what Mr. Dallmeyer has so authoritatively asserted. If the lens
had the distortion attributed to it by him it would, indeed, be
not much better than useless lumber.
In resuming the consideration of the question of “ what a lens
will cover” (well or ill), I would firstly describe one or more of the
most simple and obvious methods of ascertaining the same for any
individual lens : — Procure a camera of about double the linear di¬
mensions in its field which the lens under trial is understood to be
generally adapted to cover, and, in attaching the lens, take care
that no part of the camera interferes with the extreme lateral
pencils. The field of the camera must be at least so large that
when the picture is taken the negative will show four “blank
corners but it will save subsequent calculation if it also show
blank ends. The camera should be placed level, and the lens cen¬
tral ; and in taking a photograph rather a smaller-sized stop than
ordinary should be used. A long line of house-tops, with their
usual accompaniments of chimney-tops, at a distance of not less
than 100 times the focus of the lens, the camera being placed at a
window, or so as to bring the line of chimney-tops into the hori¬
zontal line of field, are favourable circumstances for trial ; and if
some defined object — as a window, a chimney-top, &c. — occupy the
two extremes of field on the horizontal line, so much the better.
A photograph being now taken, showing at least the “ corners”
to have been unaffected by the lens, place a theodolite on the
camera, or in its place, and measure the angle subtended by those
objects the images of which are found in the negative to occupy
extremes of the field. The angle so measured will (if the photo¬
graph show blank edges close to where the images are situate)
evidently be the angle of circular field included or covered by the
lens. Should, however, blank corners only be present in the photo¬
graph, we must have recourse to a calculation, for which reason I
recommend the camera to have a field sufficiently large in the
horizontal direction to show blank ends in the photograph.
Observations and Modifications on the Foregoing Method.
A theodolite not being within the reach of every one, the follow-
ing substitute is capable of abundant accuracy : — Lay a straight
ruler edgeways on the top of the camera, or on a level board
occupying its place : bring the ruler into line with one of the two
objects whose angular distance is to be found : draw a line on the
board parallel to this position of the ruler : do the same for the
other object, and measure with a protractor, &c., the angle formed
by these two lines.
Another and a better mode of obtaining the angle sought is by
using the camera instead of the ruler, as follows : — On the centre of
the focussing-glass draw a vertical line : bisect one of the two ob¬
jects— or, rather, its image— in the camera with this line : draw a
line on the board or table parallel to the camera’s side, and do the
same for the other object, and measure, as before, the angle of the
two lines thus obtained.
The advantage of obtaining the angle of subject included by the
method described (or its modifications) is that, while it is very simple
in principle, no debateable elements are introduced ; its disadvantages
being that it requires a camera having a length of field almost
double that which would be required for the same lens used in
ordinary.
I would further observe here that if is not necessary, in using
tliis method, to take a picture, as we may vieio it. It will be found,
however, that the visual determination of the extreme field is still
more open to uncertainty from its shadowy nature than the photo¬
graphic ; besides which, we have in the one case no record for
comparison, while we have a very effective record in the photo¬
graph. The visual observation of the “ blank” (or dark) corners is
best made by viewing them at a considerable distance — say several
yards — from the camera.
It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe that the measure of the
field covered within the blank margin must, from its penumbra!
character, be more or less indefinite, and that the larger the aper¬
ture of stop used the greater is the indecision, and vice versa. It
is, therefore, desirable that some standard for the size of stop used
in such experiments be adopted. Now, when the focus of the lens
is about fifteen inches, and the angle of view included is 40° or
upwards, a stop of half-an-inch aperture is probably as large as
can well be used. This would give say onc-thirtieth part of the
focus of the lens as a standard for the size of stop for trials of
lenses of varying' foci ; and, as lenses of the same kind increase in
foci, they cannot be expected to include quite proportional angles,
so those experiments (especially if they be comparative) which
are made with lenses of nearly equal foci will be, cocteris paribus ,
the most valuable.
Having now shown how the question of “ what a leus will
cover” can, in its simple form, be readily experimented on, and
sent you a couple of very rough negatives on paper to show that
a single combination can be made to cover more than a triplet of a
first-rate maker, I reserve the more general consideration of the
question for my next communication.
ON THE PRESERVATION OF SENSITISED PAPERS.’
By M. Hermann Krone.
Our practical studies upon this subject have clearly demonstrated
that sensitised papers do not keep perfectly by merely being dried
and placed in a box, but that it is indispensably necessary to main¬
tain also in the box a feeble current of gaseous chlorine which
converts the recently-reduced particles of silver into chloride of
silver. It is on this account that we have never been able to pre¬
serve our highly-albumenised papers, after sensitising, in boxes
containing chloride of calcium alone, while chloride of lime em¬
ployed alone in our boxes has always yielded highly satisfactory
results. A mixture of these two bodies —
3 parts chloride of calcium,
1 „ chloride of lime —
enables us to keep our sensitised albumenised papers or printed
proofs for a much longer time than is ever necessary ; for, of these
two bodies, the latter perpetually exhales gaseous chlorine, and
the former absorbs all moisture that may be present.
Let us further add that an excess of gaseous chlorine causes the
paper to lose all its gloss, and diminishes the sensibility of the
chloride of silver — that is to say, brings it into the state of pure
chloride of silver without an excess of nitrate of silver.
Papers thus preserved print much more easily and acquire richer
tones in the chloride of gold bath. The traces of nitric acid libe¬
rated during this preservation seem to us to exercise no adverse
influence on the paper, while it all remains dry; and, provided the
prints be well washed previous to toning, we have found our
preserved prints retain perfect purity in the whites, without the
slightest tinge of yellow. We cannot say the same thing of paper
preserved by chloride of lime alone ; for these proofs acquire, after
a short time, slightly yellow tints in the whites, especially when
the chloride of lime has become moist and watery through long use.
The more completely the paper is impregnated with salted
albumen, or the more the albumen contains chloride of silver pro¬
duced by sensitising, the more difficult becomes the preservation
of the paper, and the greater the necessity to add chloride of lime
to the chloride of calcium in the box : the thinner and more super¬
ficial the film, the more readily will the paper remain white, even
without artificial preservation, and when it is kept only under a
press. A paper in which the albumen has been coagulated previous
to sensitising keeps much better than one not coagulated ; for
albumen (like all organic bodies) reduces the salts of silver to the
metallic state more slowly when it is coagulated than it does when
in the soluble state.
- -
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR GRINDING LENSES.+
At the commencement of these articles, page 58, we mentioned the
use of a sink lined with lead or slate, in which the rough tools are
placed when bringing the glass roughly to form, and intimated
that, in addition to the prevention of more mess than was abso¬
lutely necessary, it was intended to subserve another purpose
which would be explained hereafter. We now give the explana¬
tion, which is, that it is intended also to collect, for future use,
the emery employed in the first roughing operation ; and this
rough emery, by being abraded in the roughing operation, becomes
more or less reduced to a finer powder, and a portion of it conse¬
quently becomes fitted for finer operations. Of course that which
is worked over into the sink is mixed with abraded particles of
glass and other extraneous substances. This is all, however, col¬
lected and carefully washed in the following manner -A laige
earthenware pan, capable of. holding several gallons, is neaily
filled with water, and the emery, &c., from the sink is added and
well stirred up for some time with a stick. It is allowed to settle
for three or four minutes, to permit the emery to subside, the coarse
* From The Bulletin de la Societe Frangaise de Photographie.
+ Resumed from page 85.
June 2, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
particles of which entangle and carry down with them those that
are more finely divided, while the glass and other foreign matter
is left diffused through the water, and this may be poured away
as useless. After repeating this operation with fresh quantities of
water two or three times, the process of separating the emery
itself, according to the degrees of fineness, may be proceeded with.
Six or seven pans similar to that already in use are to be pro¬
cured and ranged in order side by side. Water G poured into the
first, and, after being well stirred up, the wnoJe is allowed to
settle for about thirty seconds, and the still turbid liquid is
poured off into pan No. 2. Water is again poured into pan No. 1,
and stirred as before. The water in No. 2 is then poured into No.
3, and then that from No. 1 into No. 2, just emptied. No. 1 is
I again filled and stirred, No. 3 is emptied into No. 4, No. 2 into
No. 3, and No. 1 into No. 2. This operation is continued until all
the pans are full, and the sediment is allowed to fall in each. Of
course the quantity left will be greatest in No. 1 and least in No. 7,
the former being the coarsest and the latter very fine. These
washings are carefully preserved for future use.
It may be remarked that the harder the glass used for the for¬
mation of the lenses the greater the quantity of fine emery that is
produced, and the more it is in demand.
It will now be in due course to describe the method of grinding
concave lenses, which, when intended for the purpose of achro¬
matizing convex lenses of crown or plate glass, are usually made
of flint glass. Many of the details of manipulation are almost
identical with those employed for convex lenses; but of course
there are certain modifications introduced of necessity when the
central part instead of the edges of a disc of glass has to be ground
away.
The “tool,” instead of being in the form of a basin or cup, as
before described, is, in this instance, more like a mushroom, and is
represented below. The method of its construction is precisely
the same as adopted for the con¬
vex tool, being first turned in the
lathe out of a piece of hard wood,
from which pattern a casting in
iron or brass is taken, the screw
cut in the boss, as in the former
instance, the metal tool turned
in the lathe to as correct a curve
as possible in that way, and
finally brought to a true figure by being screwed on to a post and
ground with emery by aid of the corresponding tool for convex
lenses. The operation of grinding is much easier with the tool for
concave lenses fixed to the post than by reversing this operation,
as the whole of the hand of the workman is able to grasp the glass or
tool in this case, and to exert considerable pressure upon his work.
As in the case of convex lenses, three tools of the same curva¬
ture are generally in use in the optician’s workshop — one for
roughing, one for figuring, and one for polishing.
Besides convex and concave surfaces, others that are perfectly
plane are required by the optician, the natural surface of the glass
not being sufficiently true for optical purposes. Of course it will
be understood that plane tools will be required for plane surfaces,
but one set of these will do for various sized lenses ; whereas,
each curve requires its own special tools. Great care must be
exercised in grinding and polishing a plane surface, in order to
avoid making it untrue near the edges of the lens, which are apt
to become abraded unduly. Sometimes to avoid this inconvenience
small pieces of waste glass are cemented all round the edges of the
lens, which are removed after the lens is finished.
When lenses of large diameter are to be ground, it is customary,
after the tools have been well figured, to divide their surfaces into
somewhat more or less irregular square portions by cutting chan¬
nels right across the grinding surfaces, at right angles to one
another. The object of these channels is to serve as receptacles
for the surplus grinding material — the emery powder — which is
otherwise apt to accumulate in parts, and interfere detrimentally
with the due figuring of the lenses.
In constructing achromatic or diactinic lenses, the components
that is to sav, the convex and concave lenses — are usually
cemented together by means of Canada balsam, applied when the
lenses are hot. The precautions to be observed in heating the
lenses have already been pointed out.
The consideration of the forms and relative powers of lenses for
photographic purposes forms no part of the object of this series
of articles, but belongs rather to theoretical optics, the scope of
our present mission being fulfilled if we have made clear the
mechanical operations involved in the grinding of leuses.
207
THE MICRO GRAPHIC ALBUM OF M. A. L. NEYT.*
The taste for microscopic studies has considerably increased of
late years. The degree of perfection which has been arrived at
in the construction of the apparatus has, doubtless, contributed
largely to this result ; but while many persons seek in this pursuit
the simple gratification of natural curiosity, others (aiming at
higher and more serious objects) have enlarged the domain of
science, and, like new Columbuses, have discovered an entire
world, the existence of which had hardly been conceived before.
M. Neyt, in a previous number of the Bulletin , has enabled us
to appreciate some of the difficulties attending the reproduction of
Infusoria. Our readers will remember the ingenious application of
electricity there made for .the instantaneous fixation of the image
of the animalcule at the moment of its appearance in the field of
observation. This was certainly one of the most fortunate results
of the process. The optical instruments should, doubtless, possess
the most minute conditions of exactitude and perfection; the pho¬
tographic substances destined to receive the luminous impression
should also, on their part, offer quite special qualities; and in
these different directions there had formerly been great researches
to make. But these difficulties once conquered, there remained
only to overcome the instability to which enlarged images are
subject when projected on a screen, and when the enlargement is
very much cut of proportion to the size of the negative — the
slightest vibration of the instruments inducing a jumping move¬
ment of the image, making it three or four thousand times as
large : the rolling of a carriage or the slightest wind communicates
to the house in which the operation is conducted movements
which, if they are only the hundredth part of a millimetre, are
sufficient to disturb the image in proportion to the enlargement by
dispersions of several centimetres, and the image is not secured
because it is disfigured.
The engraver invariably gives erroneous ideas on the subject of
proportions, while direct reproduction, as worked by M. Neyt,
guarantees almost a mathematical accuracy. It happens, also,
that very important organs of the Infusoria become modified at
certain stages of their existence ; thus, for example, those bodies
distinguished by naturalists under the name of nucleus , which is
known to represent the sexual organs of the female of these
animals. It is not absent at any stage of the existence, but its
characters are very different according to the time that the
examination is made. Now, this organ plays a very important
part in comparative physiology, since, from the constitution of the
nucleus of Infusoria, a conclusion has been arrived at contrary to
that which had long been accepted, viz., that these animals are in
no way excepted from the general law which regulates reproduc¬
tion in the chain of organic life.
To continue : — The nucleus, which, by its transparence, its fra¬
gility, and its polymorphism, has often misled the most compe¬
tent draughtsmen, is found most perfectly rendered in the prints
of M. Neyt. We speak equally of the pulsating vesicles and of
the cilire which play such an important part in the organisation of
Infusoria. The importance of that process will be readily under¬
stood which admits of the immediate securing, without prepara¬
tion or without deformation, faithful images of the various changes
of the ovule and the spermatozoa which it contains, samples of
which are easily obtained by treating the nucleus with acetic acid
or other reagents.
Regarding them merely as objects capable of gratifying natural
curiosity, the proofs produced by M. Neyt are not less worthy of
attention ; they afford the most fantastic unravelling of monsters,
without analogues among the larger animals. Here are the Acan,
which cause the itch in man and horses. Their mouths are terrible
suckers ; their entire bodies bristle with on armour of points; their
paws are terminated either by suckers or by claws, to assist them
in attaching themselves to their victims. M. Neyt shows them to
us enlarged to 122,500 times, which allows us to become acquainted
with their most minute organs as easily as we can distinguish the
parts of larger animals, and with that immutable exactness of
photography which is here their principal merit, and which leaves
no room for the least uncertainty. Here also arc the Acari of the
scarab and the xylocope, and many others ; for each animal
nourishes its peculiar parasite, and these ’n their turn are not
exempt from the law ot nature — caters and eaten ! Diatoms . also,
arc presented to our notice — bodies which possess no less interest
to the simply curious than to the savan. Pleurosigma in lanceo-
lated rhombs, striated obliquely with an admirable regularity, and
whose real size is about the 250th part of an inch, are here enlarged
almost 150,000 times ; the Triceratium, an aggregation of little
* Condensed from the Bulletin Beige de la Photographic.
208
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 2, 1862
globules arranged in a triangle ; the Arachnoidiscus , from Peruvian
guano, a marvellous Diatom of a roseate form, whose elegance
and richness of colouring are but faintly recalled by the splendid
windows of our cathedrals ; Grammatophora subtilis, enlarged
1,800 times, the image of which, enlarged to this proportion, is
not far from three-eighths of an inch, which does not however
prevent the distinguishing certain regular designs resembling some
of the letters of the alphabet — a fact which gives to these Infu¬
soria the name which they bear.
Imagination loses itself among these ciphers. We remain lost
in wonder as we reflect that these infinitely minute beings possess
organs almost as complicated as our own, arteries to circulate
fluids, instincts, a nervous system, a brain capable of a certain
action, and to which nerves having a degree of tenuity which can
hardly be imagined transmit certain sensations and certain voli¬
tions ; and that not only do they possess the organs necessary for
supplying their most elementary wants, but they have scales of a
most brilliant colour, graceful appendages, elegant streaks and
markings — in fact something for ornament and beauty, independent
of utility, properly so called.
The effects of polarisation, obtained with certain substances,
possess also deep scientific interest ; and these reproductions lose
a great deal by being deprived of those colours which constitute
the principal attraction of the phenomena of polarised light.
ON THE STUDY OP THE ELECTRIC SPARK BY THE AID
OP PHOTOGRAPHY.*
By Prof. Ogden N. Rood, of Troy, N. Y.
Form of the Negative Spark when Drawn from the Prime Conductor
by a Short Metallic Rod.
The production of Lichtenberg’s figures has been considered as
indicative of a real difference between positive and negative elec¬
tricity. Riess, who has examined this subject with great care,
found that, in addition to the marked difference in the two forms,
the diameter of the positive figure is to that of the negative as 2‘77
is to 1. The same physicist has lately made an elaborate exami¬
nation of Priestly’s rings, which are formed when a large number
of sparks strike on polished plates of metal, and arrived at the con¬
clusion that the set of rings generated by negative electricity is
quite different from that produced by positive.! It consequently
becomes very interesting to ascertain whether such difference also
prevails between the photographs of the two sparks.
The apparatus was arranged as before and sparks of negative
electricity fell on the sensitive surface.
The form of the negative spark was found to be quite different
from that of the positive: it was destitute of rays, circular in shape,
and often made up of a number of minute circles placed without
symmetry. For short distances it was much larger than the posi¬
tive spark, and never nearly so well defined.
FIG. 4.
cations of internal structure. Fig. 4. 1.
At. Similar to above.
Tn. Discs broken up into a number of small circles. See .3.
iff. See diagram .4.
Yu. The same as above : sometimes the form at A is produced.
A. No spark passes over : the partial discharges produce no
figures, but merely a general blackening of the plate under
the developer.
Jf the sensitive plate be placed on the prime conductor charged
with positive electricity, and sparks be drawn from the surface
of the plate, the negative figure is produced: if the plate rest on
* Concluded from page 192.
+ Togg. Annalen, rol. cxiv., No. 10, p. l!3.
a conductor charged with negative electricity and sparks be drawn
from it, the positive form is obtained: and finally, if the plate be
coated on both sides with collodion and insulated with a brass ball
before and behind it, one of them being also insulated, while the
other is in communication with the ground — if now a spark of
either kind of electricity be allowed to pass from the insulated ball
to the plate, and from the plate to the second ball, we obtain, as
would be expected, on the opposite sides of the plate, the negative
and positive images by development.
It is well known that when the knob of a jar, charged with
positive electricity, is touched by a thin plate of pitch, a yellow
star-like figure is produced by sprinkling the plate with a mixture
of powdered sulphur and red lead; while, if negative electricity be
used, a rounded red figure is formed. These figures bear the name
of their discoverer, Lichtenberg. The method employed by Riess
is much better calculated to give accurate results than the common
one just mentioned. A small square plate of copper is coated thinly
with black pitch on one side: the point of an insulated metallic rod
touches the centre of the pitch surface, while the other side of the
plate is in metallic connexion with the ground. If now a spark
from a jar charged with positive electricity be allowed to pass over
to the pointed rod, and the latter still insulated be removed, then,
by sprinkling the pitch with a mixture of sulphur and red lead, the
star is generated in great purity. Very perfect red negative figures
are, of course, formed in a corresponding manner.
In repeating these experiments after the manner of Riess, I was
struck with the resemblance existing between the red negative
disc and the photographs of the negative spark. There is also
much general resemblance between the positive yellow star and
the photographs of the positive spark. This is greatly heightened
if the yellow positive figures are produced in the following ways : —
The pitch plate is held at such a distance from the ball of the prime
conductor that no spark can pass over, the machine is turned and
the brush is allowed to strike it for an instant. On powdering the
plate a multitude of small yellow stars very much like the photo¬
graphs appear. They are often surrounded by small red circles,
such portions having become negative by induction.
The results obtained with Leyden jars, and in a partial vacuum,
as well as by the use of metallic plates, I propose to detail on a
future occasion.
- -
(£dj ib ilia n (Gossip.
PORTRAITURE :— RESUMED NOTICE OF THE SOLAR
CAMERA AND ENLARGED PORTRAITS, BRITISH
AND FOREIGN.
In writing these gossipping papers you must know, my dear
reader, I am perfectly conscious that I am doing a very unusual
thing. Our modern oracles, the critics, like those of an elder time,
are most frequently heard without being seen : they bestow the
laurel or inflict the lash — praise their friends — denounce their
enemies — or create both the one and the other — from behind the
shield of the anonymous. In defence of this practice it may be
urged that the critic who writes of a friend’s or an enemy’s pro¬
ductions (and who amongst us is without such friends or enemies?)
can denounce or praise them the more honestly and impartially
from the fact of his being unknown ; and that there must be many
reasons why a critic should hesitate either to praise or denounce,
however justly, the works of a friend or an enemy, if that enmity
or friendship chanced to be a well-known fact. On the other side
it may be said, and very truly, that, shielded by an anonymous
position, specious ignorance may usurp the place of knowledge —
prejudice that of impartiality — and superficial acquirements assume
the complexion of first-rate connoisseurship ; and that, by mis¬
leading the public, and thus lowering the artist’s standard of
excellence, such soi-distant critics may do an incalculable amount
of mischief. Now, without pretending to be very oracular or
learned, I do earnestly hope to establish a character for
honesty, and I am perfectly willing to run all risk of misrepre¬
sentation and all chance of detraction if my efforts only blend
successfully with those of others associated together in these pages
for the advancement of photographic art. I have, therefore,
paused here before resuming my remarks upon the pictures at the
International Exhibition, just to point out the above considerations,
and to say in a blunt, sti’aightforward way— “Here am I, and there
are my opinions : take the latter for no more than your knowledge
of the former convinces you they are worth.”
Once more, then, we are in the Exhibition. Forcing our way
through mountain waves of crinoline, which hem us in on either
June 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
209
side, we struggle out of the crowd towards the miserable hole in
the wall through which Ave reach the British photographic part of an
apartment. We go up the stairs leading direct to the photographic
end of the room this time ; but, as we reach the last few steps, we
stop alarmed ! What are these — so gloomy and so strange in their
appearance — that look not like the ornaments of a staircase, and yet
are on it? A placard informs us that they are “photographic
backgrounds !”* and, shrugging our shoulders, we pass on.
As we go we cannot help wondering a bit. First, we wonder
how photographers can associate with their beautiful, truthful, and
exquisitely natural images, things so glaringly, staringly, brazenly
defiant of the most simple and rudimentary elements of drawing,
chiaroscuro , taste, composition, and perspective. Then, remember¬
ing that in none of the carte cle visile portraits exhibited in foreign
departments is there any evidence of such abominations existing
among the photographers of other countries, f we wonder what such
photographers must think of us when they find themselves greeted
on the very threshold of the British photographic department by
such abominable specimens of bad taste and inartistic ignorance.
Lastly : we wonder who is responsible for their presence in such a
place, where space was so precious, and from which such a crowd
of would-be exhibitors were excluded.
This, however, you may think, has nothing to do with the en¬
larged portraits of which I ought to be speaking. Nevertheless, it
has, for the wall of this staircase was the very best place on which
the life-size productions could have been exhibited ; while as they
are now situated, so narrow is the lane between the screens, that
you must either examine them by kneeling down, or half break
your neck by throwing your head back to do so. On the wall of
the staircase life-size pictures' might have been viewed from the
proper distance, and seen as only such pictures can be seen to ad¬
vantage ; while the space they now occupy might have been filled
with smaller productions, best examined from a nearer stand-point.
I cannot help thinking that chance had a great deal more to do with
the arrangements of this department than any other quality, al¬
though it is a sad thing to say, considering the importance of the
task and the men who undertook it. But where are the “ forty-
graphy cat-logue ” boys? Hushed are their voices, so few were
the visitors! A microscopically small, hurriedly-written pen-and-
ink notice informs us that catalogues may now be obtained at the
educational end of this solitary and deserted room. Alas ! is it not
the sign of our realised expectations ? No ! the room is not quite
deserted ; for on a chair in one corner is a respectable female — -fast
asleep! The signs multiply. Undisturbed, save by the startling
fall of a paint-brush close to our feet from the hand of a solitary
workman perched up aloft, we continue our labour. How the great
heat has affected some of the apparatus ! There is the top of a
Leake’s tent twisted and curled like a piece of baked paper ; and
many of the cardboard mounts, despite glass and backboards of
frames, are in a similar condition.
Before quitting the solar camera productions we may as well
briefly notice some large portraits taken direct in the camera. The
finest of these specimens are those exhibited by Mr. T. C. Newcombe —
vigorous, brilliant, and round : if they have any fault it may, per¬
chance, exist in a slight leaning towards hardness. Next to these
in merit are those exhibited by Maull and Polyblank ; but, from
wanting more perfect gradation of half-tints in the flesh, the heads
lack roundness — otherwise they are very bold and effective. Among
the most inartistic of these are the “half-life-size” portraits of
Cramb Brothers, one of which is' specially remarkable for the fact
that if the figure chanced to be cut in halves, each half would be
an exact facsimile of the other.
Let us now make our way to the south-west gallery, and see
what the Frenchmen can show us in the way of large portraiture.
* * Well, here we are. The French have fewer pictures but
much more space, and we find the place tolerably full of visitors.
Mayer and Pierson have a fine show of life-size pictures, some of
which we have seen before at the rooms of Mayer Brothers, in
Regent Street. We have little — perhaps nothing — in this way to
equal these. Some are untouched ; but most of them are largely
indebted to the brush of the artist. Some are described as being
taken direct in the camera ; but most of them are enlarged from
smaller negatives. I must stop here and recommend those who
are engaged in “ touching ” photographic portraits — as it is termed
— to take a lesson from the touched pictures of Mayer and Pierson.
* In the Catalogue these are described ns “artistic backgrounds."
t Pictorial backgrounds will be found in very many of the foreign carte dr risiir pic¬
tures ; but they are sketchy and indefinite, falling into their places behind the figure
instead of thursting themselves impertinently before it; and, above all, they show no
such execrable drawing— no such conflicting lights and eccentric, lawless patches of
shadows— as deform these.
Our touched pictures are, as a rule, simply spoiled pictures, in
which all the beauty and truth of the photograph is sacrificed to a
love of tea-boardy smoothness, smart, dexterous manipulation and
metallic polish. These touched pictures look like the untouched
pictures executed by Williams; and that is about the highest
praise you could award them. They look unlike any thing but a
photograph, whereas ours commonly look like anything but a
photograph. M. Claudet’s pictures are evidently of the same
school ; but while this gentleman’s have a weak, feeble, washed-out
aspect, those in the French department have — although none the
less soft and delicate — quite sufficient vigour and force of effect.
Disddri exhibits some very fine life-size pictures; but these being
hung high and fairly in the line of the light, one bobs about in vaiu
to get a good look at them and escape the blank opaque white
glare of light on the glass. M. Alophc — who describes himself as
both painter and photographer — also exhibits some very fine
enlarged pictures; which, however, display but little artistic feel¬
ing in the general effect of pose and arrangement — much less, in¬
deed, than those of exhibitors who style themselves simply photo¬
graphers. Pierre Petit exhibits one very excellent large produc¬
tion ; Deblane and Lelarge exhibit some very good large photo¬
graphs obtained direct in the camera ; and some equally good
productions (enlarged) are also exhibited by Count Olympe Aguado,
and by Viscount Olympe Aguado.
From the French gallery — still in search of large portraits — w®
make our way to the north-west portion of the building, to examine
the Austrian photographs. Some splendid untouched and very
large portraits, taken direct with Voigtlander’s lens, No. 8, are ex¬
hibited here Ly Ludwig Angerer. Although sometimes wanting
in delicacy, these pictures are as a whole strikingly brilliant, round,
and forcible, their great fault being an almost utter want of artistic
feeling and effect in the arrangement of the sitters and accessories.
The printing and tone of these are admirable. Some of the smaller of
Angerer’s enlarged photographs are exhibited in an album, which
should certainly be examined. If your lingers should be silver-
stained you will see how anxious the good-looking, intelligent
youth in charge of them will be to turn over the leaves for you, or
how promptly he will plant immediately before }'0u a significant
“please not to touch,” in large and very black letters.
From the Austrian — being in the immediate neighbourhood — we
next go to the Russian photographs. Denier, of St. Petersburg,
contributes the larger number of life-size photographs here, and
very beautiful they are. They are certainly touched — some slightly,
some scarcely at all ; but, like Mayer and Pierson’s, they are touched
with the most extreme care, delicacy, and genuine respect for the
photograph. One or two of the vignettes have the heads relieved
by delicate bits of clouds melting tenderly away into the white of
the paper, thus destroying harsh contrasts between the stronger
darks of the portrait and the white of the margin, and tending to
unite harmoniously the former with the latter. This effect seems
to have been got in the original background, which probably was
all white, save the delicate bit of clouding before which the head
of the sitter was placed.
It may not be taken amiss, perhaps, if I interrupt progress here
to tell you how I have managed to get an effect precisely similar.
Give the centre of a plain white background a coating of size,
then work in, with soft white chalk and prepared charcoal, your
delicate hit of cloud, and, to prevent it rubbing off, put this part of
the background before a good fire so that the size will melt, and in
again becoming cold and hard, of course tix the chalk and charcoal.
This is a similar method to that sometimes adopted for fixing
powder colours on paper prints.
But the finest enlarged prints, as pictures, are some life-size
half-length portraits, which arc not yet hung. They are finished
in chalk, and are the most artistically beautiful things in the Ex¬
hibition. One of An Artist at Work in his Studio is marvellously
striking for life-like roundness, breadth of chiaroscuro, and general
force of effect. It is iust such a portrait- ns wc might expect from
the hands of Yand\ ao himself. The background is made up with
casts and other accessories of a painter's room ; but all, in their
subordinate relationship, giving character without robbing the
head of its prominence, or the composition of its breadth. There
is no feebleness, no want of power here, and still less is there any¬
thing approaching coarseness or hardness. This picture should
certainly not be overlooked by the photographic portraitist. A
Portrait of a Lady — a bust rather larger than life — by the same
artist, is an excellent picture, too, but wants balance in the compo¬
sition ; and, to some extent, considering the subject, delicac}’ in the
half-tints, although the pose is very picturesque, and the general
effect very harmonious and pleasing. M. Fagans, of Warsaw, ex-
[June 2, 1802
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
210
Inbits some large brilliant prints, which have much vigour and
distinctness, but too little softness and modelling. This artist has
also two other pictures which seem to attract a large share of
attention. G. de Rumine exhibits some fine large pictures, which
he describes as photographed on canvas in carbon.
The department claimed by Belgium being handy we adjourn to
it next, where we find some very splendid life-size portraits by
Ghemar Brothers, of Brussels — a whole length of le Comte cle
Flandres being among the finest that we have yet seen.
From Belgium to Denmark is now so short a distance that we
are there in “something less than no time,” and find some good
enlarged pictures by George E. Hansen, of Copenhagen, touched
here and there, but very slightly, with a sharp-pointed black
crayon, the colour of which assimilates very closely to that of the
photograph.
Getting into the south-west transept we find photography from
Bavaria, and are at once attracted to the small enclosed space in
which are exhibited the magnificent life-size photographs (touched)
sent by J. Albert, of Munich. One of a dog is very real and
laughably natural, besides being a beautiful photograph. Not to
fatigue you I will here close my present communication. In the
next we will finish this “ Gossip ” about the large pictures, and
turn to the remaining branches of photographic portraiture.
A. H. WALL.
ON THE URANIUM PROCESS.*
By M. Hermann Krone.
The best and most rapidly printing papers, giving brilliant results
under good negatives, are always those which in the first instance
have been treated with a solution of nitrate of uranium (one of
nitrate to seven of water), dried rapidly, and immediately placed
again, foi one moment only, on the surface of the same bath.
These sheets remain good for a long time when they are contained
in a dry, dark box. After one year they have lost a great deal of
their sensibility : they give then results which readily distinguish
them from good proofs, by their decreased vigour, and by the
yellowness of the whites, which never disappears, and which
becomes, after a few days, under diffused light, of a reddish-brown.
It is impossible to fix these proofs by ordinary washing like proofs
upon paper recently prepared.
In order to obtain the most beautiful and vigorous proofs we
prolong slightly the exposure to the sun under the negative: we
develop with a solution of nitrate of silver of one-half per cent.,
slightly acidulated with nitric acid, with a subsequent addition of
ten per cent, of alcohol. The print is then washed with distilled
water, and toned in a bath containing one grain of chloride of
platinum to 1000 grains of water. The proof is allowed to remain
in this bath only a few seconds, and, when it is observed to blacken
and acquire the necessary vigour, it is briskly removed, to wash it
rapidly with a copious supply of water. By this means the prin¬
cipal part of the picture is retained on the surface of the paper.
The vigour may be further increased by rapid drying, waxing, and
varnishing.
ON DR. HENRY DRAPER’S HOT WATER PROCESS.*
By E. Boro a.
Your remarks respecting the rapidity of tannin plates, developed by
Dr. Draper’s hot water pi’oeess, suggests a point which it is of great
importance to ascertain.
Is a tannin plate developed by that process quicker, or even as quick,
as a wet plate ? I am of opinion that it is far from having yet been
proved conclusively : it is a complex problem to solve. The difficulty
arises from one singular fact, which every practical tannin worker cannot
fail to have discovered. The rule so often given, that the exposure
required by a collodion worked with tannin is a constant multiple of the
time required by the same collodion used wet, is not confirmed by
experience, It may appear so with a slow collodion, the margin of
exposure of a tannin plate developed cold being so wide ; but with quick
collodion it does not hold out. A collodion rapid wet, is not propor¬
tionally as rapid with tannin, compared with a slow collodion.
I have found collodion which was very rapid wet to be fully as slow
with tannin as some collodion which would have required, if wet, many
times the exposure of the former to give a similar result. Tannin appears
to equalise the length of exposure, and the merit as to rapidity of a collo¬
dion used with tannin is to be found on a different basis from the same
quality being possessed when used wet. How far this property may be
extended to other dry processes I am not prepared to state, but I have
fully tested it with tannin. It is not to be inferred from this that a col¬
lodion may not be found which, while very rapid wet, will be equally so
* From the Bulletin de la fi> 'ocictc Francaise de Photographic.
+ From the American Journal of Photography.
with tannin. As a general rule, however, it is a mistake, and therefore
the photographer must not rely too much on the rapidity of a collodion
used wet to govern the exposure of his tannin plate prepared with it.
After making a first attempt to develop some tannin plates by Dr.
Draper’s process, and meeting with no success, I repeated the experiment,
and it resulted most encouragingly, with an exposure shorter than under
the same circumstances the same collodion would have required wet at
the time the plate (four months old when exposed) was prepared. This
would naturally lead me to the conclusion that Dr. Draper’s process is
quicker than wet collodion if the fact above-mentioned had not been
well known to me. Here is a new and vast field open to the experi¬
menter. As to loss of sensitiveness by time, it is so slow that in four
months I have been unable to detect any.
My complete failure, at my first attempt, to develop by Dr. Draper’s
process arose from several causes. I used the water too hot, the deve¬
loper too cold, too much silver and proportionally too little citric acid.
These are all important points which, while they add to the difficulty of
developing a tannin plate successfully without some practice, becomes
with skill and judgment elements enabling the operator to control the
best result with more certainty. I have, in a former communication,
stated how the exposure could be carried much further than was strictly
necessary to obtain a well-defined negative without injury, provided the
development was regulated accordingly. Dr. Draper’s process increases
the margin in the opposite direction. It seems as if almost any exposure
within reasonable limits, either very short or very long, could by judi¬
cious development give a good negative with a tannin plate.
The temperature of the water in which the plate is soaked before
development is a new element, and a never-failing indication enables us
to regulate it. The same developer gives a different tint to the negative
according to the exposure, which tint alters from bluish-black to bright
purple red, and is the more red that the plate has been more over-exposed.
This same sensitive indication applies to the hot-water process, a proper
tint being soon ascertained with a constant developer and too high a
temperature having the same effect as too much exposure, so that if the
image appears too red the temperature is too high. Really almost every
day reveals, in the beautiful tannin process, the most useful and inte¬
resting features.
I thought that the enemy after abandoning his Munson Hill and
wooden guns, would be satisfied with the “ madness” of his pursuers
and abandon the field; but introduces two redoubtable champions which
“ Siccus ” is perfectly willing to meet, with as many more as he or they wish
to enlist on fair ground. Sellers tells us that Mr. R. Shriver has come to
the conclusion that nothing hut the laet collodion can give the superb deli¬
cacy of shades the wet always gives. This is rather sweeping. If Mr.
Shriver has given a fair trial to dry processes, and to the tannin in parti¬
cular, his opinion is the more worth quoting that he is an excellent pho¬
tographer, and his stereographs amongst the best I have ever seen ; but,
if he has not, his conclusion has no weight. The same applies to Mr. T.
R. Peale, who assumes the wet to be the most perfect condition of the
collodion film. I would for ever regret that the ephemeral condition of
collodion (wet) should prove the most perfect. But an assumption may
do to discuss abstract questions : it becomes an axiom when self-evident.
In the present instance it amounts to nothing.
The relative value of the different processes must be established by a
comparison of the results they give. Two years ago, a Committee being
appointed to decide for a prize photograph amongst the many productions
at the Manchester Exhibition, a print by Mr. Mudd, from a Fothcrgill
negative, was decided to be the best. Repeatedly prints from dry plates,
albumen, collodio-albumen, tannin, &c., are mentioned in the accounts of
the different exhibitions through Great Britain as deserving the palm.
The albumen transparencies of MM. Ferrier and Soulier, from albumen
negatives, have not been surpassed. Nor are dry processes a “ madness"
or a “ fashion: ” they are older than the wet, and used far more extensively
for field-work. Therefore I would conclude by stating, what no one can
deny, that the relative merits of negatives obtained, wet and dry, are at
least an open question, and to be decided by time and careful compari¬
son, and not by mere assertions.
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.*
By Our Own Pioneer.
ROUND ABOUT THE CORNISH COAST.
This remarkable ruin (Boscastle), and all connected with it, seems to in¬
crease in interest every year. The “ Idylls ” and popular romance of the
blameless King Arthur and his table round have given additional import¬
ance to the scene, and rendered it more than ever famous by the gifted
Laureate’s creations. Enid, with the “meek, blue eyes;” Elaine, the lily
maid of Astolal ; evil Vivien, witless Merlin, and sorrowing Ginnevere —
come fresh to the imagination while looking on the ruins. The singular
romance of old Nordens with respect to the island, and the doings of
Uter pen Dragon, the father of Prince Arthur, are fully entered into in
the works of Carew, Hals, Whittaker, and Tanner’s Notitia Monastica
for Cornwall.
By the side of the cliff, looking towards Penzance and the Gull Rock,
the gearing of a slate quarry, called “ Gillow,” rises, as it were, from the
deep ; while the dash of wave upon wave, with broad serpentine streaks
* Continued from page 193.
June 2, 1803]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
211
of woolly foam, can be taken by any instantaneous process with marvel¬
lous effect — in fact, the advantage of placing the camera is almost
peculiar to this place. The variety of paths and windings in the sides of
the cliffs leading to and from the quarries is not to be met with on any
other part of the coast : similar effects may be seen, but there is no
getting at them. Passing further along the line of cliff, and keeping the
tower of Endellion church in view, a second quarry, called “Lamb’s
House,” is arrived at. Here, in addition to the bold and massive craigs,
overhanging some hundreds of feet, you have the usual quarry appendages
of whyms, brattices, stages, pulleys, chains, girders, gioinings, platforms,
strutts, and supports, all of which form massive and distinct foreground
objects. Move about twenty yards to the left, and from a mound near
the quarry path you have a fine picture of broken foreground, the
undulating middle distance relieved by occasional bits towards Port
Isaac and Endellion ; while, stretching away to the extreme right, New-
land Quay, Pentire Point, and the Gull Rock, fill out a most interesting
subject. More than a dozen pictures may be obtained between Tintagel
and Trebarwith. At the latter the sands and deeply-indented cliffs are
truly magnificent. These cliffs rise in some places to an immense
height; while darkly-shadowed hollows, of twenty or thirty feet in
diameter, break away underneath, giving, in a bright sunshine, powerful
contrasts of light and shade. The sands at any time are first-rate objects.
If the tide is up, you have the play of waves advancing and retreating on
the rock-strewn beach ; if the water is low, you have picturesque groups
of men shovelling up sand, with boys driving along strings of donkeys
loaded with the same in baskets or crates. A smack or fishing-boat close
in shore occasionally adds to the picture.
Above Trebarwith Sands is the village of Trenow — a place apparently
built anyhow : its quaintness and irregularity make it a great object of
interest to the photographer. Cottage gables, of rough rude masonry,
with all-on-one-side chimneys and flagged slate tops, are here to be found
in perfection ; deep windows, broad doorways, with pent-house falls,
covered here and there with creeping ivy ; irregular broad stone steps,
dwarf walls, with old rough oaken gates and palings, and a choice
of distances (land or seaward), offer many good stereoscopic bits of
effect.
A winding path from the village of Trenow leads down to the new
road and turnpike, and, in a distance of about a mile, the artist will find
more than a dozen pictures worth taking — the most prominent of which
will be Harvey’s Mill from the road, with a high background shutting
out any room for sky ; the mill and house, flanked with some graceful ash
trees; the water-wheel and leet-course a prominent object. Further on
to the right, a deserted quarry, somewhat similar to the one described at
Bowithick, will make two or more good pictures. Every wind and turn
in this road will give some subject of interest.
Leaving the deserted quarry, pass the bridge for about 100 yards, when
a sharp turn to the right (up hill) leads to Iiockhead. Here, from
a gate, two fine views may be had — the first looking towards the sea, with
Tintagel Church appearing on the brink of the cliff, the island rising
some short distance to the right, the cottages at Trenow, with their pic¬
turesque gables and roofs, coming out on the left — Trebarwith in the fore¬
ground, with the ravine and valley beneath. Turn round, without mov¬
ing from the spot, and you have a circular engine-shaft, engine-house, and
water-wheel (with large massive portions of rock and slate lying about in
confused heaps), a high furzy background completing the picture. Fur¬
ther to the left, a water-wheel of large size, with wooden water-course
and timber supports, with the usual accompaniments of mine machinery
and mine gearing, may be taken. Here there would be fine scope for the
panoramic lens and camera in the sea view, with Tintagel Church in the
distance. I have often noticed that when the view has been clear and
well-defined, the clouds and sky have been flat and tame, making it a
matter of much uncertainty as to getting the view and sky equally good.
It is in such cases as this where artists and photographers would find
the advantage of tinting in a washed sky to the proofs, or printing in one
to suit the view.
The view above described has evening skies, or early morning ones,
of great beauty, while the foreground and objects are misty and ill-
defined. All these pictures would require a tent for the wet process, aa
the distance from any cottage or house is too great. Innumerable odd
bits of immense projecting rock, covered with ivy and weed — a bend of
a road, the rise of a hill, or a gap in a hedge — may be here found in
perfection.
Returning to Tintagel, the artist’s attention should now be directed to
the subjects near the village. Leaving the lane that leads to the Castle
and the newly-built house on the left, follow on towards Boscastle to the
first turning, leading to a field or down, called “Rocky Park.” Here is a
bold, massive, projecting bluff, called “Willa Park,” with rugged, pre¬
cipitous sides, ofttimes magnificently illuminated by the rays of the set¬
ting sun, giving a glorious picture of solitary grandeur. Further on
is Willa Park Point, with an old tower on the top, overlooking the deep,
dark abyss, called the “ black pit,” and a rugged, precipitous line of coast,
dreary promontories, and sandy beaches, with the great point of high cliff
rising above 700 feet, the desolate heath, called “Tresparrot Down,”
rising upwards of 800 feet above the level of the sea — the immense eleva¬
tion causing the rough land below to have the appearance of a level sur¬
face. From this point the tower of Trcvalga Church comes in as a
good object for the photographer, though not very noteworthy for the
antiquary : it was given by Bishop Brewere to his Chapter of Exeter
in 1242.
Passing down to the cliffs below the church another slate quarry7 will
be found, affording several good pictures. In the village are several old
Elizabethan houses, well situated for delineation; while near Valency
Bridge is a fine rock section, f ull of contortions, and the carbonaceous mineral
to which the colour of slate is attributable. Another immense indenta¬
tion will be found close at hand called “Bossiney Haven,” one portion of
the rock on the left having an aperture washed through by the sea, that
gives it the appearance of a rude pillar and arch. This subject makes two
fine pictures right and left, either from the flat sands or a turn in the
rocky descent, where there is a most convenient bank of rock and turf
to place the camera upon. Two large masses, called the “ Sisters,”
here stand out detatched from the main, with a fine curl of wave and
spray playing about the sides and base : here is good shelter to put up a
tent for the wet or instantaneous process. These views, with the broad
blue expanse of the Bristol Channel, the restless sweeping and breaking
of foaming surge upon the silvery sands, together with the rugged and
fantastic indentations of the rocks, give subjects of great interest peculiar
to this coast alone.
Passing into the main road, a lane on the left towards Tintagel leads to
the far-famed Tresillet waterfall, better known as “Nathan’s Cave” — to
antiquaries as “ St. Nighton’s Kieve.” A board nailed on a high pole directs
to the farm-house where the key7 is kept. This waterfall is an immense
cascade tumbling through a gully in the rocks and boulders from a great
height, pitching down to the ravine below in noisy confusion. From the
darkness of the recess and overhanging brushwood the light is much ob¬
structed. On the upper part of the bank, and overlooking the fall, are
the roofless remains of some old habitation of byrgone times, portions of
the walls still remaining, covered with vegetation, and the subject of
much curious tradition ; some conjecturing it to have been a religious
cell of hermit or recluse, who devoted hitnself to a life of fasting and
prayer in behalf of shipwrecked mariners. Another account ascribes it
to have been the residence of two mysterious ladies who had evidently
seen better days, but of whose history7 all were in ignorance. None knew
whence they came or their mode of life. After a few years of solitude
and sorrow the eldest of the strangers died, and the survivor was also
found, a few months afterwards, locked in the embrace of death, her gTey
head resting on her wasted, shrunken hand.
Returning to the main road by the valley several subjects present
themselves that any7 good dry process is fit to cope with, as the place is
quite free from interruption, and little offering that is at all liable to move
— Baker’s Mill and Brown’s Mill, with the overlapping craggs, being both
good subjects. These places in and about Tintagel and Boscastle have
been visited by few, geologists and antiquaries having been the princi¬
pal visitors to this wonderful land of rock and ravine, metal and moorland.
As railways intellect crowded and busy places only7, they cannot be
expected to penetrate but by7 slow degrees to those parts of England
where the population is small, the towns detached, and the country ex¬
ceedingly broken and irregular ; consequently artists and photographers
have but seldom visited this locality of romance and beauty, owing to the
difficulty of access.
About three miles from Tintagel is Boscastle or Forrabury, a place of
some note in Henry VIII. ’s time. Bottreaux Castle was the baronial
dwelling of the lord of that name : little now remains but a neglected
mound. The new roads that have been cut within the last few years
around and about this most romantic spot are highly favourable for
photography, as their position and elevation enable the artist to direct
the camera towards many7 capital subjects that could not have been
taken from the old low road of former times. '1 lie tower on A\ ilia Park
Point, built by the late lord of the manor for pic-uic parties, is a capital
place to plant the camera and operate with the wet process. In many
places around, the rocks of Boscastle have been washed into caverns of
one and two hundred feet in depth by the sea, where parties enter in
boats and then light up torches to hunt seals. The church is an object
of much interest, with a tower of three stages without moulding or
capital — a silent tower, the bells having been lost in a stonn at sea
within sight of the coast. The rector of Morwinstow, in his poem, the
“ Silent Tower of Bottreaux,” alludes to the subject ; —
“ The ship rode down with courses free,
The daughter of a distant sea ;
Her sheet was loose, her anchor stored,
The merry Bottreaux bells on board.”
On nearing the land, the pilot heard his native bells at Tintagel ringing
out a merry peal, thanked Heaven for the prosperous voyage and the
apparent certainty of reaching the port in safety7 by7 the evening tide ;
but the captain, a wild, reckless, Taul .Tones sort of fellow, turned his
piety into ridicule and desired him to thank Heaven oh land, but at $ea
to thank a good captain. Barely had the words passed his profane lips
when one of those fearful storms peculiar to this part of the coast ar se,
and the ship was driven with fearful violence on the rocky gulph of the
black pit, going down with the captain, bells, and crew. The pilot with
much exertion swam on shore and was saved. The sound of the bells
was heard in the pauses of the storm, like a muffled peal tor the late of
the vessel ; and now, in the fearful tempests that assail this rock-bound
place, the sound of the bells is said to be distinctly heard : so that the
silent tower with its legend, is a more useful warning to the living than
a full harmonious peal.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Juno 2, 18G2
ft 12
There are several inns at Boscastle, and many private houses where
accommodation can be obtained. The place is so full of objects fit for
the camera that a week might be spent there and many subjects not then
be taken. The entrance to the harbour, with Pelley Point to the right and
the Old Tower to the left, is a bit perfectly unique in its way, the slate-
rock here having been wave-washed into more than the usual jagged
forms. Long Island and the Macher Pock — immense detached masses —
are a short distance off. A couple of miles or so from Boscastle you
come to the church of Lesnewth — very interesting, of Norman, early
English, and perpendicular features. Not far from this will be found
ano'ther church, called “ Minster,” in a very picturesque and secluded spot.
One fine landscape subject in particular, with a fall of water at least 150
feet — a small foot-bridge in the lower part of the valley, a single plank
resting on an immense block of stone, rude hand-rail, with a couple of
stunted ash trees — make a good effect for the stereoscope. On the rocky
masses, in various parts of the valley, the heath, shield fern, columbine,
bergamot, mint, several kinds of mosses, fern-few, wild madder, and
a great variety of other plants, grow in luxuriant profusion, and heighten
much the effect of the landscape pictures. On Tresparrot Down road are
several old cottages of more than usual excellence ; and close to the
road side the Down itself, with the old finger and directing posts, grassy
mounds and furze heaps, with the distant cliffs and homesteads, present
some fine distinctive bits, the broken ridges and heaps giving strong
shadow and effect to the foreground. Here, in a round of about seven
miles, more than one hundred pictures might be taken by any process
(wet or dry) with ease and certainty — including subjects of rock, glen,
and moorland — not to be excelled in any other part of the kingdom.
OH LANDSCAPE.
The Importance of Lines as Elements of Expression,
Harmony, Motion, Balance, Breadth, Repetition, &c. —
The Balance of Lines. — Leading Lines of a Compo¬
sition.— Contrasting Lines.' — Unity of Outline.
“ Weigh part with part, and with prophetic eye
The future power of all thy ‘ lines’ descry.” — Fresnoy.
“ It is the essence of composition that everything should be in a determined place,
perform an intended part, and act in that jjart advantageously for everything that is
connected icith it.” — Ruskin.
My Dear Fellow-Student,
Points may attract the eye of a spectator, but of
themselves they cannot retain it : lines both attract as points and,
as lines, hold possession of the vision, which instinctively travels
with them to their end. This power of guiding and retaining the
eye of the spectator, as it were almost at will, is of rare impor¬
tance to the artist. Availing himself of this fact, he has secured
a new power to aid him in securing unity ; in obtaining energy,
action, and spirit, or otherwise strengthening expression ; and in
giving prominence, space, or depth, and other elements of pictorial
excellence, grouped under the names of Motion, Balance, Breadth,
Harmony, Repetition, Subordination , &c.
But lines are as dangerous for evil as they are powerful for good,
if chosen in ignorance of pictorial laws. Run the eyes rapidly
up straight even lines, and plunge them headlong over unexpected
precipices, or keep them moving up and down parallel bars, like
wretched animals in a cage, and you will very speedily disgust and
weary their proprietors. Let your lines, on the contrary, undulate
in a variety of graceful curves, and the eyes drink in a sense of
freedom and gently flowing ease. They move over their smooth
and harmonious paths as delighted with their insidious beauty as
the ear is with similar swelling and sinking harmonies of sound.
Still, the great ruling power of a picture is — as I said in my last —
its sentiment; and the flashing lines and lightning-like angles of cer¬
tain forms may he as effective and attractive, when combined icith
according images, as the more independent and sweetly-blending
variations of curvilinear forms; while even & judicious use of repeat¬
ing lines not only sometimes serve to express retirement, &c., but
has a positive beauty of its own, in giving unity and expressing
repose. In illustration of this quality, Buskin points out how
Turner applied the principle involved in several of his greatest
paintings, and says: — “ In general, throughout nature, reflection
and repetition are peaceful things, associated with the idea of
quiet succession in events : that one day should be like another
day, or one history the repetition of another history, being more or
less results of quietness ; while dissimilarity, or non-succession,
010 results of interference and disquietude. Thus, though an
echo actually increases the quantity of sound heard, its repetition
of the note or syllable gives an idea of calmness attainable in no
other way: hence also the feeling of calm given to a landscape by
the voice of a cuckoo.” Here, again, wo see how perfect is the
union between the e}re, the ear, and the mind.
“ But,” says the non-artistic photographer, “ of what possible
use is all this information, when, owing to the peculiar character
of my art, no practical good can be derived therefrom? I may
polish and refine my taste, and I may strengthen and improve my
powers of observation by such studies, it is true, but in these
pages I want the practically useful; and as I have not the draughts¬
man’s power of choosing lines how can 1” — and so on, forgetting
while he speaks that, although the lines of nature are unalterable
in themselves, he cannot move his camera a few yards to the right
or left of any view without effecting an immediate and striking, if
not entire, alteration in the composition of its lines. Every trivial
change in the position of the lens will vary more or less the
combinations, character, and qualities of the line — concealing the
jerky and angular, Leaking up the too uniform and uninterrupted
lengths of line — converting horizontal into oblique, acute into
obtuse angles, and sometimes angles of the most formal and ugly
character into curves of the most pleasing and attractive.
There is one thing, however, very certain: if he does not under¬
stand these elementary principles of pictorial art, there is then
small chance of his ever producing really artistic pictures, what¬
ever our confrere (Mr. Taylor) may say to the contrary. Chance
was not more likely to effect the newly-made inexperienced
operator’s process of exposure, development, and printing from
negatives, than chance was likely to favour the Mr. Tom Pepper of
the “Notes, Harmonious and Discordant” in his choice of light and
shade, point of view, and general picturesque effect. Indolent
people are apt to attribute to chance things due to hard mental
labour, as a kind of excuse for themselves ; and envious folk are
prone to underrate the superiority of a rival as rather due to some
lucky accident than to greater capability or energy. But I should
be sorry to class Mr. Taylor with either the one species or the
other.
The Balance of Lines next claims some explanation, which
may, however, be very briefly given. If your composition shows
a series of inclined lines all slanting in one direction, like the
straight lines of your first copy-book at school, the effect will be
strikingly offensive, because they are without balance or com¬
pensation ; whereas, if one or two opposing lines he introduced,
the equilibrium is restored, and the whole will probably group into
a form more or less approaching the pyramidic. Thus all lines
require to be duly balanced. If in a group of trees the stems have
all one inclination, they must he varied, either by a change of
position, by taking in some other object to restore the balance, or
by effecting an actual alteration by the aid of some moveablo
feature of the view. The artist who has made up his mind to secure
a certain scene will not be very easily baffled in carrying out its
pictorial treatment. Mr. Robinson, for instance, carried a large
water-worn stone some distance to aid the balance of his com¬
position in my favourite photographic picture, Early Spring.
In photographs we frequently see a want of balance in the arrange¬
ment of lines representing shipping, and many an otherwise good
instantaneous sea picture has been ruined for want of attention to
this law. It is not at all necessary in balancing lines that the
quantities should be considered, as the question is not one of pro¬
portion hut simply one of equilibrium. The lines of clouds, or
waves, or those of rigging may frequently be used to get over
difficulties in this way, when the straight masts of stranded boats,
or similar things, present objects which it seems otherwise almost
impossible to compose. On land we have many resources to meet
such requirements in figures— cast shadows, broken branches, rustic
implements of labour, large stones, &c., &c., &c. Balance is, of
course, required in all the parts of a composition, as well as in the
arrangement of lines.
The Leading Lines of a picture are such as at once conduct
the eye to that point which is most interesting and important to
the feeling or sentiment of the whole. To illustrate this let me
refer to two or three well-known productions — Gericault’s Wreck
of the Medusa for one.* The great key to this work — the point
which really tells the story, and gives reality and force to the
effect— is a mere speck of a sail, seen fitfully upon the gloomy
horizon between the rugged outlines of the heaving and sinking
hills of water. Before us is a fearful crowd of dead and dying
men. The living cling to the fragile refuge of their hurriedly-con¬
structed raft ; the dead lie in all their horrible rigidness of limb
* This picture will also illustrate the skilful balance of lines.
June 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
213
and ghastliness of hue, just as days ago they died, uncared for and
unnoticed. We hear the sudden and frantic shriek of joy -which
announces “ A sail ! A sail ! ” — and we see how some start like
galvanised corpses to their feet, and turn their wild eyes “o’er the
sea” — how some struggle desperately, hut vainly, to rise and
prove for themselves the scarcely credible joy — how others turn
their glazing eyes listlessly in the direction of promise, inaudibly
sighing “ too late, too late ” — and how others, dead to all further
joy or grief, deaf to all earthly sounds of hope or fear, brood like
statues above their dead, giving no sign of life but the mechanical
clutch which retains a corse upon the heaving raft, and the dull
faint light which gleams in the vacant blood-shot eyes. How can
that mere speck of a distant sail tear the attention from such a scene,
and make it go at once to its seemingly most unimportant point?
The few leading lines supplied by those eagerly outstretched arms
do the work at once ; and the eye no sooner catches sight of the
picture than it flashes over the sickening terrors of the scene, and
goes straight and swift to the tiny sail so full of delight and joy
and life and comfort. This is one illustration. Another may be
found in Leonardo Da Vinci’s picture of The Last Supper, in which
almost every line in the picture, the creases of the table linen,
the beams of the ceiling, &c., all tend to one point — that in which
the solemn tenderness of divine love irradiates the Saviour’s gentle
face. Another may be found in West’s painting of the Death of
Wolfe, where we see the victory which suddenly lights up the
dying hero’s eyes forcibly indicated with lines formed by the out¬
stretched arms of the pointing figures and the episode to which
they directly lead the spectator’s eye.
Contrasting Lines. — Variety being a matter of no small im¬
portance, the lines should not fail to do their share of duty in this
direction also — contrast being, perhaps, more important in the
composition of lines than in parts of seemingly greater conse¬
quence. For the sake of contrast it is by no means illegimate or
without good precedent to introduce lines entirely out of harmony,
although the successful introduction of such discords require very
great skill in the artist, in order that they should, while serving
his higher purpose, not become too glaringly conspicuous or assume
an undue share of importance. Ruskin says of the good painter:
he gives “forms of the most rounded and melting tenderness ; and
suddenly, as you think by a freak, gives you a bit as jagged and
sharp as a leafless blackthorn. Perhaps the most exquisite piece
of subtle contrast in the world of painting is the arrow point, laid
sharp against the white side and among the flowing hair of
Corregio’s Antiope." By studying the composition of eminent
masters, we shall always find monotony in the chosen lines stu¬
diously avoided.
The importance of lines in aiding the expression, and their own
peculiar qualities of harmonising and contrasting, we have already
considered under other heads. So that we will now turn to the
unity of linear composition.
Unity of Outline. — While abrupt breaks and angular jerks
may sometimes, for the sake of contrast, find a place in your com¬
position, we ought so to combine and unite all the several lines ol
the component parts that they exist only as belonging to the
whole. If you confine curved lines to this corner, oblique ones to
that, circular to another, and horizontal to a fourth, you will have
four several distinct parts; whereas if the lines of various kinds be
intermingled and blended, or united in some predominating form,
this will no longer be the case. “ The character of the whole
composition may be broken, or various, if we please, but there
must certainly be a tendency to consistent assemblage in its
divisions.”
In studying from nature, apart from the resources already hinted
at by which the photographer may overcome difficulties, he may
also avail himself of shadows in which ugly or mischievous lines
may be prudently buried, and of the outlines of shadows which
frequently give valuable lines to the composition, or of the various
forms of clouds. Unity of outline again demands that the prin¬
cipal objects grouped within the line their combination suggests
should tend to form imaginary lines which also compose well.
Various forms have been suggested to which these lines should
tend, and in figure subjects such are generally adopted, but in
landscape the great variety of objects and the vast number of
their combinations preclude the possibility — even if it were desir¬
able— of giving the preference to the few forms more generally
recommended, such as that of the cone or pyramid, the oval, circle,
&c. And here for the present we will conclude.
A. H. WALL.
HUctiirp of Satieties.
MEETINGS
3rd. — London, and Liverpool.
4tli. — Manchester, Edinburgh, and
Bradford.
IN JUNE.
6th. — Newcastle-on-Tyne.
12th. — Ann. Meeting SoutliLondon,
and Chorlton.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The final meeting of this Society for the Session 1861-2 was Held at
Myddleton Hall, Islington, on Wednesday evening, the 21st ult.,— George
Shadbolfi Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed
the following gentlemen were ballotted for, and duly elected members of
the Society Mr. John Sinclair (of Tottenham), Mr. William Cornish
and Mr. John Turner.
t The Treasurer (Mr. Hill) presented two proofs to the portfolio of the
Society. The negatives were taken by the metagelatine process, and
the subjects were Mailing Ahheg and Steep Hill Castle. The thanks of
the Society were accorded to Mr. Hill for his gift.
The Chairman then called on Mr. Dawson to read his paper On the
Practical Working of the Panoramic Lens [see page 204], at the conclu¬
sion of which, discussion being invited,
Mr. Seeley, referring to the method of coating the plate described by
Mr. Dawson, thought it possible that an unequal evaporation of the
ether and consequent unequal drying of the film would take place
through the contact of the warm fingers : it was therefore desirable that
some means should be devised for holding the plate other than that
recommended.
Mr. Dawson replied that he avoided results such as those described by
Mr. Seeley by keeping his fingers in constant motion, so that no one
portion of the plate became unduly warmed.
V ith the view of meeting the difficulty the following suggestions were
made : —
Mr. Moens — India-rubber finger stalls.
Mr. Shadbolt — A diagonal holder for the plate.
Mr. Bingham — A curved pneumatic holder
The Chairman further suggested that there was good reason for keeping
the plate in a vei tical position, owing to the superior gravity of the vapour
of ether. The position suggested by Mr. Dawson was certainly the best.
Mr. Hill said lie had always used a circular level with perfect success,
and did not see that the one used by Mr. Dawson was any better.
I he Chairman and Mr. Sh ave agreed in regarding the level as an un¬
necessary appendage to the camera, the former stating that he had always
successfully levelled his camera without the use of such an instrument.
Mr. Martin’s opinion being solicited by Mr. Moens, he (Mr. Martin)
intimated that a circular or straight level might be useful or not according
as it was carefully made and accurately fitted to the camera. The essen¬
tials in such an instrument were that the inner surface or bottom of brass
and the inner and top surface of glass should be exactly parallel to each
other ; and, further, if the level were permanently fastened to the camera
by cutting out a place to receive it, care should be taken that this surface
should also be parallel with the two first named. When those conditions
were successfully attained, he thought a level would be found a conve¬
nient and useful addition to the camera.
The Chairman and Mr. Hill, referring to the plan of diluting the de¬
veloping solution suggested by Mr. Dawson, gave it as their opinion that
it would cause many stains, especially in a curved plate, as there were
parts which must inevitably be left dry.
Mr. Simtson, describing "the plan followed by Mr. Heath, said that it
consisted in first washing the plate with distilled water, and then adding
that water to the weak pyrogallic solution before pouring it on the plate!
If this were tried, he (Mr. Simpson) thought it would not be found to
stain, especially if the bath were a new one.
Mr. Reiner suggested that citric acid would be found better in the
developer than acetic acid.
Mr. Dawson replied that it necessitated a longer exposure.
Mr. Hill entertained the opinion, in reference to iron developers used
in conjunction with hot water, that too small a proportion of acid was
generally recommended: he had found it necessary to add a large
quantity of acetic acid.
Mr. Bingham thought that diluting the developer would answer the
same purpose.
Mr. Hill deemed it unnecessary to carry so many cloths for cleaning
the plate. He had found one cloth, and some clean cotton wool for
finishing off, amply sufficient : and if any flue came from the wool it
might be removed by a camel's-hair brush.
Mr. Seeley having suggested leather for the final polish,
lhe Chairman- said there was a great difference of opinion as to the
propriety of using leather at all. He (the Chairman) regarded it as a
great source ot dirty plates.
Ml Shave would he glad to know if Mr. Dawson, after his recent
expei ience with the panoramic lens, preferred a fiat or curved surface?
Mi; Dawson replied that he regarded the panoramic lens as a special
lens lor special purposes— as, lor instance, the reproduction of a general
mcw which it was desirable to have on one plate; but, for ordinary
214
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 2, 1802
landscape purposes, lie thought the landscape lens in general use a very
efficient instrument. _ .
Mr. Moens thought it very desirable to avoid taking panoramic views
on five or six plates, and would be glad to know the price of the curved
plates?
Mr. Simpson : Eighteen shillings per dozen.
Mr. Dawson, in illustration of the difficulty of getting the plates, of the
right curve, showed one on which he had never been able to get a picture,
as it always gave one portion out of focus; that plate was therefore of no use.
Mr. Shave inquired if it were not possible to attain greater accuracy in
that particular by having recourse to the method of bending over a
cylinder to the proper curve ?
Mr. Simpson said that the original intention at the time of the inven¬
tion of the camera was to have adopted that plan ; but, as it had not been
done, he concluded there was some insuperable difficulty.
The Chairman, apropos to the difficulty of getting the plates properly
cleaned, as mentioned in the paper, conjectured that the plates had lines
running in a longitudinal direction, arising from their being blown in a
cylinder, while in crown glass such lines would necessarily be flashed
out through the rapid circular motion Imparted at the time of blowing.
Mr. Foxlee having heard that it was necessary frequently to re-fill the
lens with water, said he would be glad to learn Mr. Dawson’s experience
on that point.
Mr. Dawson had worked only three days successively with the lens,
and could not therefore give any very valuable testimony on that point :
in that short time, however, lie had not found it necessary to re-fill the
lens. There was one point, however, of great importance, which was
that it should be filled with distilled water, as if other water than that
were used bubbles would be found to adhere to the lens, for which there
was no other remedy than turning out all the water and beginning
again ; moreover, the curves of the lens were made upon the assumption
that pure water would be used.
A Member having suggested the filling of the space', between the
lenses with alcohol,
The Chairman explained the reason of the unsuitableness of that
liquid by reason of its inferior gravity and different refractive power. In
reference to the form of the bath he conceived that its present form was
imparted with the object of saving weight in travelling, and though the
exception taken to it by Mr. Dawson had a very reasonable foundation,
he (the Chairman) thought the difficulty might be met more conveniently
than by making one side of the bath straight. He would suggest that
the inner curve should be the arc of a circle having a longer radius than
the outer one, and that the ends, instead of being finished off square, should
be joined as the two horns of a crescent, thus : In that way the
plate could not strike against the sides in being withdrawn from tlie
bath. Possibly, for a vessel of such a shape, they were limited, at least
for the present, to the use of gutta-perclia.
Mr. Simpson saw in that nothing to regret, since if the gutta-percha
were pure, no action would take place on the nitrate of silver bath. He
had had one in use four years, and had not observed any deleterious
action take place.
Mr. Martin said he supposed that the bath spoken of by Mr. Simpson
was one purchased some years ago, before adulteration was as exten¬
sively practised as it was by the manufacturers of sheet gutta-percha :
the makers of gutta-percha baths for photographic purposes were
dependent on the integrity of the manufactures of the sheet, and so long
as that came into the market in an impure state, he (Mr. Martin) thought
that the baths made with it were not suitable for containing nitrate of
silver. He would unhesitatingly advocate the use of glass on all occasions.
Mr. Hill had found the gutta-percha baths sold by Messrs. Burgess
and Key all that could be desired.
Mr. Simpson had been assured by the Gutta Perch a Company that the
material employed by them for making photographic vessels was quite pure.
Mr. Moens suggested ebonite as a suitable material of which to make
the new form of bath for panoramic purposes suggested by the Chairman.
Mr. Dawson said that any member might satisfy himself on the point
at issue with great facility. It was only necessary to prepare a thirty-
grain solution of nitrate of silver ; pour one-half of it into a glass bath, and
the remainder into a gutta-percha bath ; allow both to stand for three or
four days, and then apply Mr. Barber’s test— -which he (Mr. Dawson) con¬
sidered a very efficient one — for organic matter. He would remind the
members that the method of applying that test consisted in making a
portion of each solution slightly alkaline by ammonia, and then exposing
to light. If that course were adopted with solutions from vessels such as
ho had described the difference would be obvious.
Mr. Simpson bad applied the test suggested by Mr. Dawson, and, as he
thought would be seen, in a rather more effective way. He had cut the
gutta-percha into shreds and introduced them into a bottle containing
nitrate of silver solution, which solution he had afterwards used as a
nitrate of silver bath without having the result in any way marred by
the presence of organic matter. Ho should mention, however, that he
did not make the solution alkaline before exposing it to light, and the
gutta-percha employed in the experiment was a guaranteed specimen of
pure gutta-percha.
Mr. Dawson pointed out that the omission of the alkali was the omis¬
sion of the real test : he assumed that there were some samples of gutta¬
percha which produced the effect usually attributed to organic matter,
and others which did not do so.
Mr. Moens observed that Mr. Bedford had told him that lie used
gutta-percha baths.
The Chairman said he could not see any reason, either on the score of
economy or cheapness, why gutta-percha should be used when glass wu
obtainable.
Mr. Bingham, with the view of meeting the gutta-percha difficulty,
suggested that ordinary baths of that material should be varnished with
a solution of pure gutta-percha; he was reminded, however, that shellac
had been found so brittle as to break and crumble off, spontaneously,
from the contraction of the gutta-percha.
The Chairman handed round some prints which had been presented to
the Society’s portfolio, by Mr. W. W. King.
Mr. Barber, by way of illustrating the caution with which recommenda¬
tions to mix or otherwise use the collodion of any particular maker
should be received, handed round a specimen of iodised collodion sup¬
plied by a maker whose preparation of that article usually remained
colourless for a great length of time, but which in that and some half-
dozen other bottles in his possession bad spontaneously acquired a very
deep colour.
The Chairman directed attention to some views lent to Mr. Hill by the
Stereoscopic Company for exhibition that evening, also to the album of
the Amateur Photographic Association. These engaged considerable
attention and commendation.
Mr. Simpson showed a picture printed in iron and toned with pyro-
gallic acid, which so nearly resembled a silver-printed and gold-toned
picture that it was difficult to distinguish the one from the other.
The Chairman, with the object of eliciting further discussion, asked if
any member present bad tried Mr. England’s modification of the tannin
process?
Mr. Seeley reported the results of his experiments, which were to the
effect that though lie had found the pictures develop rapidly they did not
keep clean, nor did they keep well after exposure.
Mr. Simpson said his experience was opposod to that of Mr. Seeley : be
had tried the process and was much pleased with the result. The plates
developed cleanly and rapidly. He regarded it as a great improvement
on the tannin alone.
Mr. Martin — to whom Mr. Simpson had shown his experimental nega¬
tive — corroborated that gentleman’s description of the satisfactory
character of the result.
Mr. Barber had tried that process by dissolving bis tannin in lac finish.
He liked the result better than by plain tannin.
A Member said he would be glad to hear the opinion of the Chairman
as to whether the honey had a chemical as well as a mechanical action
in that process.
The Chairman doubted not but that such was the case, honey or grape
sugar being recognised by chemists as a reducing agent. A remarkable
illustration of that point sometimes occurred in working the honey pro¬
cess in warm weather : the exposed plate being set aside for some time
would be found to have developed itself.
Mr. Simpson showed a proof from a stereo, negative by the tannin pro¬
cess proper, one half of which had been developed immediately after
exposure, and the other half having been kept fifteen days. In the first
instance a very good picture was obtained, and in the second a most
confused blurr.
Mr. Barber said lie had tried iodide of quinine in liis collodion and
sulphate of quinine as a preservative on his collodion instead of tannin,
but with indifferent results.
Mr. Simpson exhibited a proof from a picture taken by the collodio-
albumen process. It liad been exposed forty-five seconds at half-past six
o’clock in the evening, and had yielded a good picture by hot develop¬
ment, though the usual exposure would have been three minutes for
ordinary development to obtain a picture of a similar character.
Mr. Hill thought there was a great deal of misapprehension as to
the right temperature implied by the term hot development.
Mr. Moens believed that a temperature of 80° was the correct thing.
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to Mr. Dawson for
his paper.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.
This Society held its annual meeting on the 13th ult., — Mr. Walker in
the chair.
Robert De la Condamine, Esq. was elected a member.
Professor Macdonald made some remarks on stereoscopic vision, in
which he expressed his belief that the drawings of Jacopo Chimenti had
been drawn for the purpose of producing stereoscopic effect.
The Secretary then read a letter to Sir David Brewster on the subject
of these drawings, by Professor Tait, who occupies, the chair of Natural
Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, and will be known to some of
our readers as first wrangler at Cambridge.
The following is a copious abstract : —
“ I have very carefully considered the Chimenti sketches, and I have con¬
cluded that they must have been drawn with the intention of making pictures of
the same object from slightly different points of view— in other words for a
stereoscopic effect. From this it would appear impossible to think otherwise
than that some form of the stereoscope, or (as is more probable) that some equi.
valent form of squinting, was known to the artist.
“ Several competent authorities whom I have consulted entirely agree with *
me on this point.
June 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
215
“ The case of the Chimenti drawings is different from that of the rude stereo¬
scopic landscape of Professor Elliott.* In the former case a known figure is to
be represented; and, therefore, when we find the drawings artistically constructed,
so as to give six or eight different distances correctly, the chances of Jhis result
having been aimed at are very high indeed. It is very difficult to give anything
like a satisfactory mathematical investigation of so vague a question; but I
think the following simple calculation will give you an idea of the amount of
the probability.
“ Let us suppose that in copying by eye merely an artist may make with
cqunl\ probability any error lying within certain limits. Suppose, also, that a.
portion of the drawing will give the proper stereoscopic effect (approximately)
if the error in it is not more than -^th of the possible error.
“ Thus the chance that five or seven distances (owe of the six or eight being
necessarily correct, however the pictures be drawn) are correct, may be called
10s or 107 to 1 — that is, the probability that the pictures were drawn with a
binocular intention is something like 100,000 to 1, or 10,000,000 to 1. You may
feel quite justified, putting the exigency in its feeblest form, in asserting that
it is at least 1000 to 1 that the sketches were designedly drawn as views by sepa¬
rate eyes, or a single eye displaced.
“ In conclusion, I may again express pry complete moral conviction that the
drawings were executed to be used one by each eye — whether by ordinary
squinting, or by the use of an instrument, it is of course impossible to tell ; but
I do not think this has much bearing on the important question of binocular
vision, since if the squinting process was known 200 years ago, the invention of
a stereoscope to help it is a small matter in comparison.”
No remarks being made on the subject, the Secretary then read the
following Annual Report.
In accordance with the rules of the Society, the Council have to present their
report at the conclusion of the sixth year of its existence.
They regret that it is not in their power on this occasion, as has previously
been the case, to offer their congratulations to the members on the continued
progress of the Society.
In common with many kindred institutions, and with the country at large,
they have to lament the death of his late It. II. the Prince Consort, the patron
of the Society. As is known to the members, it was considered to be the duty
of the Society to present an address of condolence to Her Majesty.
The Council regret also to have to report that the monthly meetings have not
been so successful as might have been expected in a Society holding so high a
position, and including among its members so many ardent photographers.
The Council are aware that an idea is generally prevalent, and has affected other
photographic societies as well as this, that the object for which it was insti¬
tuted has now, to a large extent, been fulfilled, and that the interest of the
meetings and the usefulness of the Society will be partially nugatory until
some new and important discovery is made in one or other of the departments of
the art. While admitting that such a discovery would give a great impulse to
the art, and necessarily increase the attractiveness of their meetings, the Council
cannot avoid repeating an observation made by them on a previous occasion,
that there is ample opportunity for maintaining the interest and success of the
monthly meetings, in the free and unreserved communication by members of
the results of their investigation and experience in connexion with known pro¬
cesses ; and they would again urge upon members to assist them in this way in
maintaining the efficiency of the Society.
Looking to the experience of the past year, the Council are disposed to recom¬
mend that in the meantime the regular meetings of the Society should be limited
to three, to be held on the second Tuesdays of December, February, and April ;
and that, in addition to the reading of papers, an effort should be made to add
to the attractiveness of the meetings by the exhibition of works, interesting from
their novelty or successful manipulation — the Council having power to call
extra meetings whenever they think advisable to do so.
As the Society is aware, the Annual Exhibition was opened in Mr. Hay’s Fine
Art Saloon, George Street, in December last, and continued open about three
months. Like all similar exhibitions, it suffered from the prevailing public
depression caused by the lamented death of the Prince Consort, and has resulted
in a loss to the Society of about £40.
The exhibition itself, it is scarcely necessary to remind members, was one of
the best which has been held under the auspices of the Society. On this occa¬
sion three silver medals were offered as prizes. For the best portrait or group,
the prize was awarded to Mr. D. O. Hill, R.S.A., for his artistic picture of
Dr. John Brown and his Cousin Dr. John Taylor Brown ; for the best frame of
six cartes de visile, Mr. II. P. Robinson, of Leamington, was the successful
competitor; and for the best photograph of any other kind the medal was
awarded to Mr. Mudd, for his beautiful picture of The Tay above Dunkeld.
The Council have alluded to one cause of the unsatisfactory result of the
Society’s last Exhibition, in a pecuniary point of view. They have also for a
considerable time been aware that the present place of exhibition is not well
situated for the purpose, and that this operated largely against the success of
their Exhibitions. While, therefore, it is very far from their wish to recom¬
mend that the Society should discontinue holding their Exhibitions, notwith¬
standing the loss which has been sustained this year, they would suggest that
it should be left to the Council to fix whether or not there should be an Exhi¬
bition next year, according as they may succeed in finding rooms better
adapted for the purpose, or may othenvays have reason to expect that the
Exhibition will not be attended with loss to the Society. In the event of an
Exhibition being held, the Council would recommend that the Society’s silver
medal be again offered tor t lie best portrait or group and the best landscape ;
and, in addition, that a medal be given for the best instantaneous picture, em¬
bracing figures in motion, and of a size not less than seven inches by nine inches.
As recommended at last general meeting, the Council selected from the Ex¬
hibition, aud distributed among the members, a number of valuable photo¬
graphs. Any member who may not. from residing in the country or othenvays,
have received his copy, will do so on application to the Honorary Secretary.
As required by the laws of the Society, the President, the Senior Vice-Presi-
* Given in Sir D. Brewster's Treatise on the Stereoscope, pp. 56, 57.
The introduction of the word equal will cause our result to be too small ; but we
thus err on the sale side.
dent (Mr. Sheriff Moir), the four senior members of the Council (Messrs. Scott
Elliott, Walker, Kinnear, and Moffat), the Honorary Secretary, and the Hon
Treasurer, retire upon this occasion, but are re-eligible.
The Council would suggest that the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, be
re-elected to their respective offices ; that Mr. Kinnear, who filled the office of
Secretary so satisfactorily, be elected a Vice-President ; and that the vacancies
in the Council be filled up by the re-election of Mr Elliott, and the election of
the Rev. T. D. K. Drummond, Mr. Moir, and Mr, Tunny.
The Treasurer’s accounts are herewith submitted to the Society, and a state of
the funds is annexed, showing the sum at the Society’s credit to be £356 9s. 7d.
as compared with £386 18s. lid. at the close of the preceding year.
State of Funds at 1st May, 1862.
Ralance due by Royal Bank . £375 10 1
Arrears of Subscriptions considered recoverable . 5 5 0
£380 15 1
Balance due for Photographs purchased . £22 6 6
Balance due to Treasurer . - . 1 19 0
- 21 5 6
Amount of Funds . £356 9 7
After some discussion as to the propriety of reducing the stated meet¬
ings of the Society, it was agreed to limit the meetings of the Society to
three, as suggested in the report, but to leave it in the hands of the
Council to call extra meetings, should they think fit.
On the motion of Major Bell, seconded by Professor Macdonald, the
Report was unanimously adopted.
The following is a list of the office-bearers elected for 1862-3
President. — Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S., &c.
Vice-Presidents. — Messrs. Horatio Ross and C. G. II. Kinnear.
Council. — Messrs. Alex. Young Herries, T. 13. Johnston, J. Ramsay
L’Amy, Findlay Anderson, William Scott Elliott, Rev. D. T. K. Drum-
mend, Messrs. George Moir, and James Tunny.
Honorary Treasurer. — Mr. II. G. Watson.
Honorary Secretary. — Mr. A. F. Adam.
Honorary Auditor. — Mr. John Cay.
On the conclusion of the ordinary business an exchange of photographs
among the members took place.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
This Society met on the evening of the 21st ult. The chair was occupied
by Mr. Bow, C.E., and, subsequently, by Mr. Slight (the two Vice-
Presidents).
The following were admitted members : — Messrs. James H. Hamilton,
Daniel MTvay, Alexander M'Glaslion, and James Anderson.
The subject for discussion was the tannin process. It was introduced
by Mr. Taylor in a few general remarks ; followed by
Mr. Nicol, who explained the various contrivances for preventing the film
slipping off the glass plates. The gelatine solution usually employed for
that purpose was, he asserted, objectionable when it got on the back of the
plate, as it would deteriorate the silver bath. The best solution for effecting
the purpose he found to be India-rubber dissolved in benzole not stronger
than two grains to the ounce. When it was stronger there was a danger of
the film cracking. He had also tried Mr. England’s modified tannin preser¬
vative solution, which contained an equal proportion of honey and tannin,
and he found the results to be a very greatly increased sensitiveness.
Unlike what might have been expected, from the well-known deliquescent
properties of honey, the preserved film was beautifully hard, and pos¬
sessed a surface of such a polish as to make it a matter of doubt, at first
sight, on which side the film really was. He found the exposure to he
the same as for wet collodion developed with pyrogallic acid.
Mr. Taylou suggested that, seeing it was out of the question to em¬
ploy iron as a developer on a tannin plate, a considerable improvement
might be effected by developing with a solution of gallic acid to which a
solution of sugar of lead had been added.
Mr. Bukns said that lie had that morning exposed sonic plates prepared
in various ways. He used a landscape lens eight inches focus, with a quarter
inch stop. The time of exposure between five and six o’clock in the morn¬
ing, with a Fothergill plate, was three minutes, — the resulting picture
being a little over-exposed. One of Mr. England’s tannin plates at the
same time was exposed twenty seconds, and was overdone. To another
lie gave ten seconds, and he found it rather under-exposed.
Mr. Lennie stated that he had tried the development of tannin plates
with iron ; but the pictures were very flat and quite without force.
Major Bell exhibited a number of stereoscopic prints by this process.
They were much admired.
After some general conversation on the subject,
Mr. J. T. Taylor said that within the last few days he had, in a letter
to the President, who was at present in London on public business, re¬
signed bis office as Secretary. Ever since the formation of the Society,
by himself and three other gentlemen, he had held that office, the duties
of which he had discharged to the best of his ability ; and during that
period he had received valuable assistance in furthering the efficiency of
the Society from many of the members, to whom lie tendered his thanks.
His own business, however, would prevent him in future from paying that
attention to the interests of the Society which would be required by the
office of Secretary : and a circumstance had occurred since they last met
which would certainly not diminish the duties of those who heid office in
216
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 2, 1862
the Society : he alluded to the virtual demise of the Photographic Society
of Scotland, which seemed to have abandoned the field to them by a reso¬
lution passed at their annual meeting the previous week, limiting the num¬
ber of meetings of that cnce famous Society to three in the year in future.
The Edinburgh Society now numbered above one hundred members, and,
as they were aware, met twice a month. To preserve the Society in
that state of prosperity it would be necessary to have some one in his
place who could devote more time to the Society’s interest than he, who
had an increasing business of his own to attend to, could be expected to do.
Mr. Nicol said he must urge Mr. Taylor to reconsider his decision.
They were not in a position to dispense with his services at present.
The Chairman stated that the subject would be brought before the
Council at their first meeting, and they would try and induce Mr. Taylor
to continue in office at least till the next annual meeting.
Mr. Taylor, in reply, said he had considered the subject pretty
thoroughly, and the result was that he thought it best for the Society’s
interest to retire at present when they were entering on a slack time, as
his successor would be thoroughly seasoned by the time the hot work of
the winter meetings set in.
After some further conversation the subject dropped. A Committee
was appointed to organise an excursion to the country ; after which the
meeting separated. ^
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF MARSEILLES.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Monday, the 5th
ult., — M. Gabriel, President, in the chair.
After the reading and confirmation of the minutes of the last meeting,
and the nomination and election of new members, the President opened
the correspondence of the month.
He read letters from M. Delterre, editor of the Bulletin Beige de Photo¬
graphic, and M. Mechet, of Paris. The latter announced the despatch of
two micrographic apparatus, which he desired to submit to the examina¬
tion of the members of the Society. They were described as being
automatic, and intended for the production of negatives suitable for en¬
largement. As they had not, however, arrived, they could not be re¬
ported upon until the succeeding meeting.
The President read a passage from a letter in which M. Yidal, the
Secretary of the Societ}', described the cordial reception which he had
met with in the photographic world of Paris, and announced some very
interesting communications for the next meeting of the Society. The
President availed himself of that opportunity of expressing his regret at
the absence of M. Vidal, and of thanking him at the same time for the
zeal he had displayed in the service of the Society while in Paris, not¬
withstanding that his departure for the capital had been caused by other
business.
The rules and regulations of the English and Foreign Photographic
Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London were also read to the Society.
M. Key, photographer, laid on the table a part of the translation which
he had undertaken of Major Russell’s little work on the tannin process.
As soon as it was completed it. was intended to place it among the
archives of the Society.
The President directed the attention of the members to a copy of a
new work by M. Disderi, entitled L' Art Photograpliigue. It was in¬
tended shortly to publish this work, and the copy now presented by the
author to the Society was referred for examination to the special Com¬
mittee for publications.
The Society thanked M. Disderi.
M. Teisseire presented several very successful positive proofs which
lie had obtained from dry collodion negatives (Taupenot process). He
showed, besides, some proofs of the same subject, some of which were
obtained by the wet process and others by the diy, and directed atten¬
tion to the superior intensity and delicacy of detail in those obtained by
the dry method. He concluded, from the evidence afforded by the pictures
exhibited, that this latter process should be always used in the repro¬
duction of woven fabrics or engravings, which would offer less marked
contrasts — like old pictures, for instance. The communication greatly
interested the Society.
M. Teisseire then proceeded to the analytical examination of the
monthly publications, and laid on the table the brief resume of his labours.
The duty of analysing the French publications for the following meeting
devolved upon M. Jaequemet.
The President then announced that the French Photographic Society
had decreed to M. Poitevin the prize of 2000 francs, founded by M. Le
Due dc Luynes.
The members of the Society received this announcement with great
satisfaction, and expressed a desire that, by way of testifying their
sympathy for M. Poitevin, a letter of congratulation should be addressed
by the members of the Committee to that savant. The motion was unani¬
mously adopted.
MM. Teisseire and Iludelot described their views on the subject of an
instantaneous shutter.
M Jacquemet mentioned that M. Roux, whose successful working of
the Paupenot process they were acquainted with, now obtained by the
tannin process (which he at first regai'ded as incapable of yielding good
results) negatives equally satisfactory. He followed the method formerly
indicated by M. Vidal, with the modification that he always plunged the
plate after exposure into a bath, containing two per cent, of nitrate of
silver, before submitting it to the developing action of the pyrogallifl
acid. M. de Roux would in future work none other than the tannin
process : he had sufficiently tested it to be able to guarantee its con¬
stancy. While regretting that the absence of that able experimentaUtf
deprived the Society of the detailed communication of his labours, M.
Jaequemet submitted a very satisfactory negative which he had obtained
from an oil painting, by. a dry collodion tannin plate, adopting exactly
the method followed by his colleague.
M. Teissiere showed some positive proofs of a very agreeable tone
which he had printed on albumenised paper sensitised in a bath of
ammonio-nitrate of silver of five per cent, strength, submitted by M.
Ferriss for examination by the Society.
M. Jaequemet exhibited a dark box, invented and patented by M.
Cristin, a photographer of Marseilles. The apparatus, which appeared
at first sight very ingenious, is intended for a variety of photographic
operations, such as sensitising, developing, &c. ; and M. Jaequemet under¬
took the examination of it, promising a rdport thereon at the next
meeting of the Society.
The President then announced, with the highest satisfaction, the
recent decision of the Imperial Court of the Chamber of Appeals of
Correctional Police at Paris, which, in the matter of Mayer and Pierson,
by reversing the original decision, tended to place photography among
the creative arts, and admit it to the same legal privileges as painting.
The decision was read to the meeting.
The President thought it almost unnecessary to enlarge on the
importance of the decision, in furtherance of which the Society had raised
its voice. And without desiring to under-rate the value of the judicial
movement, lie was nevertheless of opinion that photography would re¬
ceive, by means of a new law relating to property in literature and art,
a still more substantial recognition than it had yet received; and he
reminded the Society of the efforts which it had recently made with that
object in view in its letter to the Minister of State.
Before the close of the meeting the members proceeded to the nomina¬
tion of the members of the Committee appointed to collate and arrange
statistics of the photographic art in France. Their labours would com¬
mence from the date of the next meeting.
The meeting was then adjourned.
MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.
An ordinary general meeting of this Society was held at King’s College,
London, on '\Vednesda3q the 14th ult., — R. J. Farrants, Esq., President,
in the chair.
Mr. Charles Brooke, in alluding to the various presents to the Society,
said, in reference to a bust of the late Mr. Andrew Ross, presented by his
son, Mr. Thomas Ross, considering the vast improvements which Mr.
Ross had effected in the construction of the microscope, and that to him
mainly the Society was indebted for the great perfection of rlie deep
objectives, the Society should not receive the bust of so eminent a man in
tlie manner of an ordinary present. The Society should tender especial
thanks to Mr. Thomas Ross for so interesting a memorial.
Dr. Lankester, in seconding Mr. Brooke’s motion, said that the Society
was not only indebted to the late Mr. Ross for the work of his hands, but
also for the work of his brain — inasmuch as a more skilful and masterly
article was never written than that upon the microscope in the Penny
Cyclopaedia — and on that ground, also, he was entitled to their gratitude.
Every member must be glad to see some memorial of so eminent a man,
and especially such a life-like bust.
The Rev. J. B. Reade thought the Society was also indebted to the late
Mr. Ross for leaving a son so well qualified to follow in his father’s footsteps.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Thomas Ross was carried by acclamation.
Dr. Beared read a paper On a Flukeworm in the Heart of a Turtle.
The Chairman said that in the specimen in his hand he could perceive
the ventral sucker. He took exception to the proposed name, viz., Mo¬
nostoma, and believed that it should be Distoma; but that was a question
which Dr. Leared must settle as he would. The specimen he (the Chair¬
man) had in his hand was not the only specimen in which the second
sucker could be seen. Although he might be mistaken if he depended
upon one specimen only, he could not when he found the same occur¬
rence in many.
Dr. Leared felt great deference for the President, and observed that
he had examined very carefully the specimen and submitted it to Dr.
Cobbold, and both thought the appearance arose from the parenchyma
being pushed out, which, therefore, produced the appearance of a second
sucker.
The Chairman said that, in the specimen in his hand, the worm was
in profile, and the funnel-shaped form of the sucker was well shown, and
that he had more than one specimen of the same kind : he (the Chairman)
therefore thought that it was not a mere pushing out of the parenchyma.
Mr. James Smith read a paper On Microscopic Stereography, and the
making of Stereographic Slides of Microscopic Objects.
Mr. George Shadbolt read a communication from Dr. Maddox, of
Southampton, descriptive of Acari found living in the nitrate of silver
bath of the photographer. [See page 189.] The paper was illustrated
with many very excellent photographs taken by Dr. Maddox.
Mr. Wenham asked whether Mr. Shadbolt had had an opportunity of
comparing Dr. Maddox’s insects with those which Mr. Cross found somft
years ago in an acid preparation ?
.Tune 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
217
Mr. Shadbolt said lie liad not, and believed that it was precisely the
object of Dr. Maddox in bringing the subject forward to obtain informa¬
tion from those who had seen the Acarus Crossi.
Mr. Wenham said that Mr. Cross found the Acarus electricus or Crossi
— as the insect was called — in great quantities, having a pearly appearance,
in solutions of nitrate of copper, and he thought it was a question
whether the insects were actually in contact with the corrosive solution
or were encased in coatings of air.
Dr. Lankester said that Dr. Maddox’s paper was a very interesting
one, having regard both to the nature of the insect and the place in
which it was found, and thought the Society must refer to their entomo¬
logical friends for the history of the creature. There was a great analogy
between the creatures found by Dr. Maddox and Mr. Cross’s. The
Society was very properly referred to the supposition that the animals
had been developed from ova, under some circumstances. Mr. Cross
had also shown that Acari would live under circumstances which to
higher animals would be fatal; others were known to feed upon poisons,
such as strychnine, and capable of eliminating from it hydrogen, oxygen,
and nitrogen, and of converting, even, into fatty matter poisonous and
acid solutions. He (Dr. Lankester) recollected being, many years ago,
very much astonished at finding a iarge number of organisms in the
sulphuretted hydrogen waters of Harrogate, and among them many
forms of Conferva:, which he described at the time, and which were then
interesting in consequence of the place in which they were found. He
was reminded of a paper, by Dr. Pereira, in the Pharmaceutical Journal,
on Fungi, found in solutions ©f mineral substances. Dr. Maddox’s
paper opened up an inquiry into the forms of animal life which were not
destroyed by that which destroyed the higher forms of life.
Mr. Wenham said there was one great distinction between the animals
of Dr. Maddox and the Acarus Crossi; for those of Dr. Maddox were
found on the surface of the solution of nitrate of silver, while the Crossi
were found deeply immersed in the solution of nitrate of copper.
The Rev. J. B. Reade thought that the word “ on” used by Dr. Maddox
in his communication gave a different notion of the nature of the creature
and its habitat to that of the Crossi. The photographs exhibiting its
structure, its mandibles, and other portions of its body, proved that it
had something different to feed upon than the solution of nitrate of
silver. It was questionable whether Dr. Maddox had stated distinctly
that they were found in the solution as water spiders were found.
Mr. Shadbolt said that the paper clearly said “ on” the surface.
The Rev. J. B. Reade said then that he thought Dr. Lankester had
imagined that the creatures were actually existing immersed in the. solu¬
tion, and could float about as water spiders and other creatures did. If
the members adhered to the author’s word “ on” they would not necessarily
come to the conclusion that the creatures fed upon the fluid.
Mr. Slack mentioned that in the experiments of Mr. Cross the crea¬
tures did not survive unless they got out of the liquid.
Mr. Wenham said he recollected that Mr. Cross mentioned that when
the creatures were detached from the positive pole of the battery they
perished, and that seemed to have confirmed the notion that they must
have been enveloped in a film of air.
Dr. Lankester did not think that Acari could be developed only upon
strychnia, any more than other creatures could continue to exist in
nitrate of silver ; and the question therefore arose what was the nature
of the material on which the creatures fed ? There must have
been other agents than nitrate of silver contributing to the creatures’
nutrition.
Mr. Shadbolt, in reply, stated that the conditions under which the
creatures were found were very distinctly expressed in the paper : — “When
the solution was returned to the bath, half-a-shcct of white foolscap paper
was first folded down on the top, and then the cover placed over it.”
The only possible materials upon which they could have fed must have
been either the nitrate of silver or the portion of the paper which
was over the surface. Dr. Maddox found that on treating them with
iodide of potassium they produced the well-known yellow precipitate of
iodide of silver. In reference to the paper which had been read by Mr.
Smith, he (Mr. Shadbolt) said that he had received from Dr. Maddox
two stereoscopic photographs of a minute specimen of the Iiacliata,
which were very effective in the stereoscope. The mode he adopted
was suggested by Professor Rood, of Troy University, in the United
States, and was a stage turning on an axis to the right and left ;
but the plan suggested by Mr. Smith appeared to be more simple.
There was no reason why Mr. Smith should not have photographs with
detail quite sufficient for every purpose of stereography.
Mr. Webb presented the Society with a slide engraved by an instru¬
ment made by himself, in principle the same as that of Mr. Peter’s, which
is just now exciting so much curiosity in the International Exhibition.
The slide contained the 4,137 letters of the fifty-one verses of the first
chapter of St. John in the AJ0th °f an inch, and excited general admi¬
ration.
In reference to Mr. Webb’s productions, we have before us two slides,
the one Avith the Lord’s Prayer and the other Avith a verse of “ God Save
the Queen,’’ very beautifully engnrved ; and, for the information of
many who have expressed a desire to obtain specimens of minute
writing, Ave may mention that avc have been informed that similar
"slides may uoay be procured from the London opticians.
The meeting then resolved itself into the usual conversazione.
Holes of Ijrt Hfontjr.
The full tide of a busy London season has noAv fairly set in, to
which is Euperadded the attractions of the International display,
and most photographic studios are Avorking at “high pressure.”
The jurors appointed for the various departments of the Exhibition
are painstakingly investigating the claims of exhibitors to pre¬
eminence. Those of the photographic department might have been
seen at an early hour one morning last week prosecuting their
labours amidst dust and paint, for the place is still unfinished.
One unlucky Avight let an enormous paint-brush full of wet paint
fall from his scaffolding upon the irreproachable hat of Lord
Lennox, crushing it to ruins. His lordship apparently did not
en joy the joke.
The absence of the Presidents of the two Water Colour Societies
was remarked on the opening day at South Kensington. These
gentlemen had offered on the part of the bodies they represent to
superintend the hanging of their OAvn pictures, fondly believing
they Avere more competent for the task than any one else. How¬
ever, they Avere snubbed by the officials, and when invited to swell
the pageant of the 1st of May, very properly declined the honour.
Messrs. Day and Son, the well-knoAvn lithographers, are pub¬
lishing a work entitled Masterpieces of Industrial Art and Sculpture
at the International Exhibition of 18G2. It Avill consist of 300 plates
of the most choice examples, foreign as well as nature, in sculpture
and decorative art, executed in the highest style of excellence
attainable in chromo-lithography. The Avhole of them will be
from photographs taken expressly for the purpose, which will then
be destroyed. The edition is limited to 2000 copies. The price of
the Avork Avill be fifteen guineas, thus representing a sum of
upwards of £30,000. This important Avork — more complete than
any of the kind )ret published — Avill be the most magnificent,
useful, and interesting souvenir of the Exhibition, rendering with
exact ^ fidelity7-, both in form and colour, the chef d'ceuvrcs of the
Avorld’s progress in art and industry.
Many additions are yet being made to the foreign photographs
at the “ World’s Fair.” We commend to the lovers of the
beautiful some studies of heads just hung in the Indian depart¬
ment. Some coloured photographs in the Hungarian Court will
prove amazing and amusing.
An useful chapter might be made of the curious applications of
photography to be found throughout the Exhibition building.
One of the most elegant is its application to the adornment of
porcelain and other vases, &c. By some process they are made to
sIioav through transparent media, but are not get-at-able, being
bound up in the manufactured article.
The light in the Exhibition building, except under the domes
and a feAv other places, is not found to be favourable for photo¬
graphic purposes. The exposure required is 60 long that single
vieAv lenses, except in the best lighted spots, are useless — manv
very many, of the objects requiring an exposure of ten minutes,
even Avith double combination lenses of large diameter.
From letters dated “Damascus,” Ave learn that Mr. Francis
Bedford Avas in excellent health and spirits, as also were the Avhole
party; and doubtless in the course of another fortnight Mr
Bedford Avill be (D.V.) again amongst us. He had, up to the
latest date, acquired 130 twelve by ten good plates. The lovers
of superlatively good photography have unquestionably a great
treat in store.
Some photographs from Japan, uoav on view at Mr. Hogarth's,
in the Haymarket, are very interesting and curious, as displaying
the physical character, costumes, and manners of that people, and
as attesting the extreme fidelity of Japanese art. These photo¬
graphs render Avhat Ave find iu their pictures Avith a resemblance
which is startling. The Japanese Court at the International
Exhibition is full of things displaying the soundest principles of
ornamental art. A learned savant in such matters, Avhose judg¬
ment every one must respect, is loud in his praises of the exquisite
Avorkmanship displayed, even to the fashioning of a button or the
simplest ornament. Let no one be deterred by the somewhat
sombre exterior of this department from giving it a close in¬
spection.
An interesting application of photographic art has been made by
Messrs. roAvell and Co., in the ornamentation of glass vases which
are noAv in the International Exhibition. These vases consist of an
external envelope of fine flint glass, and an external coloured glass
representing marble, Ac. : betAveen these two portions lightly-
printed photographic impressions of statues, &c.. have been in¬
cluded, producing the effect of sculpture upon marble. S. T.
218
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Scraps anb fragments.
English Lenses. — We are pleased to find that the photographic
lenses produced by our English manufacturers are becoming duly
appreciated on the Continent for their superior excellence.
Amongst other evidence of this fact, we cannot forbear citing a
paragraph from a note we recently received from M. Monckhoven,
who says: — “I ordered some objectives of Mr. Dallmeyer, and
have lately received them. They are the best that I have ever seen."
The underlining is in the original.
|fiT lITtmonmn. — We regret to have to record the decease,
on the 30th April last, of Mr. J. W. G. Gutch, a gentleman who
was once a candidate for the editorship of this Journal, and who
has contributed occasional articles to the pages of a contemporary
descriptive of his photographic tours. Mr. Gutch was born in
Bristol, and was a surgeon by profession, having been educated at
the Infirmary in that city; but after being for some time in
private practice in Florence, he accepted the pleasant and varied
but somewhat laborious life of a Queen’s Messenger, and as such
bore the despatches of our Ambassadors from most of the capitals
of Europe where we are represented by plenipotentaries — including
Paris, Madrid, Vienna, St. Petersburgh, and Constantinople. It
was, we believe, while engaged in the last named mission that he
was struck with a paralysis, and had to retire from the service on
a pension. Still, of a refined taste, and genial disposition, he bore
his sufferings (which were at times most acute) with the greatest
patience, and occupied himself in literary and art matters, having-
been, amongst other things, a very ardent photographer. Under
the patronage of the late Prince Consort (to whom, by his own wish,
the work was dedicated), Mr. Gutch published for twenty-one years
an almanac, entitled The Literary and Scientific Register , which was
a little encyclopa3dia in its way, and show-ed how varied and use¬
ful was the knowledge its compiler possessed.
Mr. Heath’s Exhibition. — The Royal Commissioners of the
International Exhibition having done so much for the elevation
of photography by putting it into the “garret,” Mr. Vernon
Heath — no doubt impressed with the conviction that his pro¬
ductions stand but little chance of being seen there — has opened
a private Exhibition of his own works, at his own studio in
Piccadilly. The collection comprises about forty landscapes of
varying but, in all cases, considerable merit; together with some
portraits, including the last one taken of his late R.H. the Prince
Consort. A small printed slip by way of catalogue is provided
for the convenience of visitors. Many of the subjects wre have
before noticed; but there are some new to us. No. 8, On the
Banks of the Almond , Perthshire — and No. 13, On the Turrit , Perth¬
shire , we casually mentioned as being in the International collec¬
tion. Both of these are fine specimens of landscape photography.
The former, contrasted with No. 23, is an excellent illustration of
the requirement of brain work of no mean order in a photographer ;
the two subjects being almost identical — the point of view being-
hut slightly altered — the result in one case is admirable, and in the
other commonplace. It is but right to add that No. 23 was taken
to please a friend, and No. 8 to please the operator, as we are
informed. No. 10, Burn , St. Fillan's, is, though not a picture, a
fine study of rock, water, and heath. No. 22 is a very pleasing-
subject, being a highly picturesque Peasant's Cottage at Monzie,
Perthshire , and admirably suited to photographic delineation. We
were surprised when informed that a diametrically opposite
opinion has been expressed by an Edinburgh critic of the Exhibi¬
tion there; but we learn that, as if to revenge the disestimation,
more copies of that picture were sold than of any other in that
collection. Our readers will do well to look in at Mr. Heath’s.
The Progress of Photography in Philadelphia. — We cull
the following extract from a local newspaper — The Press — received
from our worthy American correspondent, Mr. Coleman Sellers : —
“ Heaven, always beneficent, and, in the best sense, democratic —
dispensing its bounty alike upon the high and the low — has, in the
development of this art (photography) turned painter for the poor
man’s home. Thus, while for ages the princes and nobility of
earth could boast of their ‘works of the old masters,’ we, through
modern photography, have great objects minified, and small ones
magnified, by the golden pencil of an older and a greater Master,
with a rapidity that makes their possession a source of pleasure
and improvement in every household. It is gratifying to us that,
in this race for superiority in the various branches of the Daguerrian
art, Philadelphia, if she has not achieved a decided pre-eminence,
has at least kept equal pace with any of the cities of Europe or
America. The sale of photographs, especially the carte de visite
[June 2, 18G3
size, has become an important item of trade. By this means, in
conjunction with the photographic album — which is another
invention for all future time — the most celebrated personages in
every part of the world are made familiar to all whose tastes run
in that direction. We were not aware until yesterday that the
sale of cartes dc visite in London and Paris was largely of American
celebrities, the pictures being executed here to the older of the
transatlantic dealers. For some months past Mr. Gutekunst, of
this city, who is confessedly unsurpassed in general photography
in this country, and in the production of the popular carte de visite
unrivalled, has fulfilled a large number of foreign orders of this class.
A brief outline of the formula or system observed in waiting upon
applicants for sittings may not be uninteresting. On entering the
reception room, the sitter is furnished with a ticket containing the
number of his ‘ turn,’ and specifying the kind of picture desired.
If a lady, the next step is to proceed, by an easy stairway, to the
ladies’ dressing room, on the second story — a handsome apart¬
ment, furnished with all requisite conveniences, and supplied with
entertaining books to pass the time pleasantly while waiting. A
similar apartment is also appropriated for gentlemen unaccom
panied by ladies. On the arrival of the ‘turn’ designated by the
number, notice is given by the operators, and the subject for a
photographic operation is directed .to some one of the three ‘ sky
lights,’ or operating rooms. Here the ‘negative’ is obtained,
or glass plate with the portrait impressed upon it in reverse.
We may also state here that every negative is marked with the
number of the ticket given to the sitter, which number is also set oppo¬
site to the person’s name, upon a register kept for this purpose, so
that if duplicates are called for any time within a year (that being
the limited time for preserving the negatives), they can be pro¬
duced without delay. The room where these negatives are stored
affords a startling idea of the extent to which photographing is
carried on in this establishment, the present number of negatives,
accumulated within the past year, exceeding thirty thousand .”
jtorciqn (LorrcsponiJcntc.
Paris , May 28th, 1862.
Under the title Traite de VImpression Ph otograph ique sans sets
d'argent M. Poitevin has just published a brochure recapitulating
those labours which have earned him his well-merited reputation.
The object aimed at in those labours was the obtaining of perma¬
nent pictures. M. Poitevin has solved that difficult problem, and
has thereby acquired a glorious title which will remain attached
to his name. While on this subject it may, perhaps, be not unuse¬
ful to offer your readers a brief sketch of the history of carbon
printing. I will speak only of what has been done in France, as
the labours of your own investigators must be better known to
you than to me.
The first process of the kind published was by M. Poitevin, and
was patented in 1855. It is still employed by M. Lemercier for
photo-lithography, and by M. Fargier for the printing of positives.
It consisted in the application to paper or other substance of a
mixture of alkaline bichromate, and an organic body (especially
bichromate of potash and gelatine), together with colouring matter.
At the same period M. Testud de Beauregard, an amateur, made
known the results of a process which he published in 1857, but
which gave but insufficient pictures. This process reposed, as did
that of M. Poitevin, on the use of bichromate of potash with an
organic body and carbon.
In 1858 Messrs. Gamier and Salmon patented a process which,
after being modified by them, came to the use of the same sub¬
stances — alkaline bichromate, an organic hod}7, and a colouring
matter. These gentlemen had made mention of a process which
they afterwards abandoned, and into which citrate of iron entered.
So far it was always the same principle, the only real difference
being in the details of manipulation ; but in following up his
researches, M. Poitevin, “ the common father of all these processes”
— to use the expression of the Commission of the Luynes Prize —
had discovered a new reaction, which, while simplifying the ope¬
rations, produced results far more perfect. In 1860, therefore, he
published his process of printing with perchloride of iron and
tartaric acid. Finally, at the same period, M. Fargier again took
up the bichromate of potash and gelatine method, modifying,
however, the transfer of the image by a manipulation previously
suggested for another purpose by the Abb6 Laborde.
Such is in substance the history of carbon pi-ocesses in France.
Two only have remained in practice, namely, the bichromate pro¬
cess and the perchloride of iron and tartaric acid process, already
June 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
219
improved by experience. Thus the honours of the fight belong to
the author of the brochure we spoke of in beginning.
The little book contains other curious information on the trans¬
formation of Daguerrean picturesinto photographic cliches ; chemical
engraving, sunk and raised; photography on glass coated with
gelatine; various collodion processes; and, lastly, the system of
gallate of iron printing — numerous specimens accompanying the
letterpress, and give a further interest to the publication.
A photographic portraitist, M. de Lucy, has just introduced a
somewhat ingenious modification into the card portrait. The
public would prefer to see these cheap and favourite portraits
coloured if the prices were not thereby greatly augmented. M. de
Lucy has made a toning bath so composed that when the positives,
previously prepared, are plunged into it the parts corresponding
to the face and hands take a reddish-brown tinge, which is a very
good imitation of the flesh tone. This chemical colouration has
the advantage of preserving the modelage intact; and, as it re¬
quires no after work, the author can sell his tinted pictures at the
same price as the others. The idea is well received.
From several German photographers, whose names are little
known, I have just received some card portraits which are re¬
markable for their printing. It must be acknowledged that French
portraitists are not sufficiently attentive to this branch of their
operations; and if some produce cliches of really artistic worth,
nearly all neglect the positives to such a degree that the pictures by
foreign photographers leave far behind them in this respect the best
productions of our foremost artists. Let us hope that the speedy
adoption of carbon-printing will change this state of things, which is
calculated to give unfavourable notions of the skill of our operators.
The meeting of the French Society of Photography, which Avas
fixed for the 16th of this month, is postponed. As you have re¬
ceived a report of the last meeting of the Marseilles Society, which
also had been deferred in consequence of M. Leon Vidal’s absence,
I will content myself with calling attention to the persevering
and successful essays communicated by those who are studying
the dry processes. This is a new and happy direction given to
the labours of our photographers, who, until now, have been too
much attached to the wet processes. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , May 11 Ih, 1862.
My last letter to you was written in New York : since then I have
visited many cities in New England, and now once more address
you from Philadelphia. Outside of New York I found but little of
interest in the way of photography. The country towns are
always behindhand in adopting the latest improvements and dis¬
coveries in the art; and I am inclined to believe the country ope¬
rators do not invest much money in photographic literature, at
least not in the journals of the day. They generally depend on
picking up information from the itinerant vendors of wonderful
formulas, and from the handbooks published from time to time.
Divine’s new book — which gives some very good instruction — sells
rapidly; in fact, the publisher tells me the edition has been exhausted.
Now that I am away from the noise and bustle of New York,
and can look back at what I there saw, sifting the good from the
bad, and treasuring up the choice items of information for future
use, I feel that the art as conducted in the large establishments of
that city must be considered as the highest grade of photographic
portraiture in this country. There are hundreds of establishments
there where work of the poorest character is turned out, but the
good class of work is falling into the hands of those best able to do
it; hence such large establishments as Brady’s, Fredericks’, &c.,
are pressed almost beyond their ability, and that too almost exclu¬
sively with card pictures. Messrs. Anthony are printing 3600 of
these pictures every day, and yet they are behindhand in suppl¬
ing some orders.
I visited their factory in company with Mr. He nr}* Anthony, and
was struck with the great care taken to produce good work. As
we entered the printing-room the prints of the day before were
being assorted — those not perfect enough for sale being torn up
and thrown up into a scrap pile; and that scrap pile, had the pic¬
tures not been torn, would have been a good place to spend an
hour or two in. Mostof the printing is done by women, one man
having charge of the toning.
Mr. Anthony has introduced many novelties into his way of
working, and has very wisely kept to himself his most valuable
formulae. Yet he is a kind friend to amateur photographers — ever
ready to lend them a helping hand; and I have to thank him for
much valuable information. His washing arrangements for his
prints is on quite an extensive scale, the most noticeable feature
being the management of the jets and currents of water in the
different tanks. His theory being that as paper floats before it has
been in the hypo., the preliminary washing is all done in tanks,
having the water distributed by jets on top, while the final
washing to carry off the hypo, is conducted in a tank so arranged
as to have the water ascend from below, thus lifting the water¬
logged prints and keeping them in motion. I should not neglect
to say that the syphon principle of intermittent emptying of the
tanks is in general use.
I find that acetate of soda is much used in toning, the toning
solutions consisting of acetate soda, common salt, chloride of gold,
and sometimes, for over printed proofs, chloride of lime. But little
attention is paid to exact quantities ; but, as one operator expresses
it, he “takes a small handful of each salt, and adds them to about
five quarts of water, and then pours in fifteen grains of gold.”
Mr. Anthony tells me that the use of salt in the toning solution
is a preventive to irregular toning, and avoids the red stripes
arising from streaks of thick albumen on the paper.
Tn a former letter I mentioned glass roofs, and gave, as the ex¬
perience of a first-class operator, an objection to blue glass; but
while in New York I saw many instances of portraits taken under
such light, which could not have been obtained in any other way.
One very old gentlemen, whose eyes were painfully affected by
strong light, showed me his portrait taken by Fredericks, and
assured me that it was the first good one he had been able to get.
It was remarkably well executed, the eyes well expanded, aud
no painful contraction of the brows.
Dry collodion is engrossing as much of the attention of amateurs
as ever, and we are still on the eve of that wonderful instantaneous
dry process; but I am free to confess as yet it has not been
reached, to my knowledge, this side of the Atlantic. Dr. Draper’s
warm water has been only an approximation to the desired end,
and it does not seem to answer for many of the other dry plates
besides tannin.
A great want is felt of a very perfect arrangement for changing
dry plates in the field, and considerable originality is being dis¬
played in the outfits of the various amateurs. Wood has been
preferred as the material for constructing these cameras and boxes,
although there are many made of biass. In fact, the first cameras
made in the United States were of that metal.
While at Springfield, Massachussets, my business was with the
U. S. Armoury. This celebrated manufactory of rifles has been
carried on with closed doors since our Avar began, as visitors
interrupt the workmen and distract their attention. But being
provided Avith a pass from Major Dyer, the commandant, and
having four days to devote to this one establishment, there Avas
time to enjoy some of the charming views over the Connecticut
\ alley from Armoury Hill; and in one of my rambles over the
ground I found a dark tent, deserted and out of order, but to the
eye of a photographer looking like Avork. At first I hoped there
might be some kindred spirit among the officers of the Avorks —
some amateur ; but none could be found. In the Major’s parlour
his Avife showed me some good views, but could not say by Avhom
they Avere taken ; in fact no one seemed to take any interest in the
artist, AvhocA*er he might be. At last, just before I left there, I
happened to ask the Major’s coachman, as he Avas taking me to the
hotel, to whom that mysterious dark tent belonged? He soon
informed me that some photographic firm in the town Avere the
owners, and that before they had taken to the art they had been
employed in the Armoury. To them I went, and found quite a room-
full of pictures; for their “art-gallery Avas open everyday and
evening.” But of all the uncommunicative individuals I ever
encountered they were the most so. I could make nothing out of
them ; and Avhen they boAved me out l dare say they congratulated
themselves on getting rid of a very inquisitive visitor.
One half-day avc spent in the Cemetery of Springfield, and
secured thirteen good stereoscopic negatives, proofs from which
shall be sent to the Editor of The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy, Avhen they can be printed. Speaking of that gentleman
reminds me that several persons in New A'ork called my attention
to a remark of his before one of the societies, to the effect that “it
Avas quite likely that what the Americans called instantaneity
might not accord Avith the English views on the subject.” I
explained to them that Mr. Shadbolt alluded to dry plates and not
to Avet, and that the claim for quickness in Dr. Draper’s process
gave grounds for supposing just Avhat he had asserted ; for I have
not yet seen any proof at all of a perfectly instantaneous dry plate
having been produced here or in England, assuming as a criterion
the best Avet instantaneous pictures made by Messrs. Anthony.
These gentlemen use a drop shutter falling very freely, and in
some cases have used a spring; but their experience is in favour
220
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[Juno 2, 1862
of the wooden drop. Their collodion, as I have tested myself, has
qualities peculiarly fitted for quick work ; and this quickness is not
only due to the purity of the chemicals used, but to the addition of
other chemicals to their collodion not generally used. Most sin¬
cerely do I hope that they will relieve me from my promise of
secrecy on this score, and then I shall tell you how they work.
The instrument they use has an opening of about three-quarters
of an inch diameter, and gives a clear field, in which can be inscribed
a square of three and one-half inches, all the objects being in focus
to the extreme corner.
I have now before me a large number of interesting communica¬
tions relating to scientific photography ; but I must keep them for
another letter.
Mr. T. E. Blackwell, of Canada, has just passed through Phila¬
delphia on bis final tour through the States, collecting his reminis¬
cences of America. He brought from Canada the negatives of the
eclipse of last year as observed by Mr. Notman for him; but un¬
fortunately two of the negatives were broken on the journey, and
the series is thus injured.
One of the gentlemen to whom I am indebted for valuable
information intended for these pages, writes to me saying that be
wants “ Strasburgh Cathedral (on paper), and if I could get the
inside of the Arch of Titus, the side with the golden candlestick (I
have the other side), I should be happy.” If any kind friend will
send me these for him I will repay him fourfold in kind, and will
promise him the thanks of one of our first men of science.
I mentioned in a former letter Dr. Dean’s work. He is preparing
a work on the nervous system, and its illustrations will be from
the photo-micrograpliic copies of the sections of the various nerves.
Thus I have before me now sections of the Medulla oblongata from
human subjects, as well as various animals of low grades. Some
are said to have been on tannin plates, and some very fine prints
have the memorandum “ ammonio-nitrate print” on them. He
has shown great skill in the production of his proofs, which are
remarkably clear and full of delicate detail. His expertness in
preparing the sections for the microscope has been mentioned by
many who are able to judge of such matters. I must heie state
that my correspondence with The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy, and the consequent correspondence at home for matter
to make up these letters, has brought under my notice a large
number of amateurs who are devoting themselves exclusively to
scientific photography.
The Amateur Photographic Exchange Club has been conducive
of much good to its individual members, as is evinced in the im¬
provement shown in their proofs. Some of the least enthusiastic
adhere to the specified times of exchange, while others, who “ have
the fever bad,” exchange several prints each week. A grand
excursion is talked of this summer ; but the Club is made up of
hard-working men, and I fear it will not be possible for them to
make the time suit all.
It is thought that the Southern ports now in our possession will
soon be re-opened to trade, and then I shall have some photo¬
graphic news from the South to communicate. Sincerely hoping
that this will soon take place, I am, with due regard, yours, &c.,
COLEMAN SELLERS.
<£0ms}?0Rimu.e.
lUS 'We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
WHAT A LENS WILL COVER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — My attention has been called to a contribution from Mr. Grubb
in your last number, in which he honours (?) ine with some remarks of a
personal nature — a matter which will cause me very little uneasiness ;
but, as I am a professional optician, with all my energy and every
moment of my time absorbed by the duties of my calling, I have neither
leisure nor inclination for entering into an optical controversy.
For the information, however, of those whom it may concern, I subjoin
the grounds of my statement.
Some few years since, when Mr. Grubb introduced his “Patent Apla-
natic Lens,” I had occasion, in connexion with my late father-in-law,
Mr. Andrew Ross, to institute a comparison between it and the ordinary
meniscus form of view lenses, both as regards the quality of definition
and extent of field covered, also the amount of distortion produced by each.
The lenses referred to were both of about the same diameter and focal
length., viz., three inches diameter, fifteen inches focal length, aperture
three quarters of an inch; and, although definition is not the question
at issue, I may obseive, in passing, that the conclusions arrived at then
were to the effect that a well-constructed meniscus lens of the ordinary
form was in no way inferior to the “ patent aplanatic’’ in this rasp* ot, u
three-quarter inch stop being perhaps the largest which can ever be used
with a fifteen-inch-focus lens for landscapes or architecture ; and with
this aperture the ordinary form exhibits no signs of spherical aberration,
and consequent imperfect definition.
As regards the amount of field covered, when the stops are situated at
the same distances from the lenses, both being of the same diameter, the
«rre Cixvers^quite as much as the other. If, however, Mr. Grubb places
his diaphragm nearer to the lens to cover a “great deal more,” he can
only do so at the, sacrifice of flatness of field and correction of marginal
pencils ; and I believe this will obtain to the same extent as in a well-
constructed combination of the ordinary form.
Next, to ascertain the amount of distortion, as produced by each of the
two forms of view lenses. This appeared to me most readily obtainable
by simple projection ; for which purpose I traced the course of two rays,
comprising a pencil of three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and at an
angle of twenty degrees with the general axis of the lens, when I found
that in both cases the amount of deflection of such a pencil towards the
axis amounted to about four degrees. I happened to have these diagrams
still in my possession, and it was by reference to them I made the assertion.
I now leave Mr. Grubb to show that the above does not obtain in his
“ patent aplanatic,” and perhaps he can point out by what mysterious
property his lens, unlike the ordinary view lens, is exempt from the pro¬
duction of (barrel- shaped) distortion.
In concluding this, the only letter I shall write on the subject, I would
request those interested in this matter to look to results, as being perhaps
the best proofs which can be adduced. — I am, yours, Ac.,
19, Bloomsbury Street, J. H. DALLMEYER.
London, May 20, 1802. ^
To the Editor.
-Sir, — From the importance which Mr. Grubb attaches to the useful
discussion of this question, I presume his last communication is but
introductory to others : if not, I must confess that I look upon it as
another instance of a mountain in labour bringing forth a mouse.
I shall be much pleased to see the question discussed by one so able as
Mr. Grubb ; but I think it is to be settled rather by the results of practice
than by the interpretation of a mathematical formula.
Will you allow me to say a few words on points raised by Mr. Grubb’s
letter, after which I shall not trouble you further on the matter.
At the outset he raises a distinction between the amount of subject in¬
cluded, and of sensitised surface covered. Now, if a lens is free from
distortion, the one is directly proportional to the other; and as the best
lenses are made so as to act without perceptible distortion, I think this
distinction needless.
I still think that the illustration I gave (that of the opera glass) is
applicable to show the difficulty of the attempt to ascertain the true
focal length of an uncorrected lens. Of the power of the eye to bring
parallel or moderately diverging rays to a focus the experience of every
moment tells us ; but that such divergence is very small we also know,
for assuming least distance of distinct vision to be ten inches, and
diameter of pupil one-fifth of an inch (about its mean diameter), we may
say that in a pencil falling on the eye at its greatest possible divergence,
so as to yield a distinct image, the ra3rs are almost parallel. Now, if the
object-glass of an opera glass, having a determinable focal length of a few
inches, be moved by a very small fraction of an inch from that position
in which the rays fall parallel on the eye, I think the divergency would
be too great for distinct vision. Again : although the eye has this power
of adaptation, it is a work of time, as is apparent by turning the e}re
quickly from a very distant object to one very near ; but on turning the
adjusting-screw of a bad opera glass continuously, no such lapse of time
can occur, nor is it necessary.
I think that, by the means I stated, the true focal length of a lens may
be ascertained within five minutes ; and if photographers object to this
I cannot but suppose they are altogether indifferent to the matter, and
for such no method at all need be given.
That “ kind friends ” did warn me of the distortion produced by a single
lens I admit. First taught this by my Cambridge tutors and text-books,
I have been subsequently warned of it by the kindliest of all friends to
the photographer — the journals. Surely Mr. Grubb does not wish us to
suppose that his knowledge is not derived from like sources, but is innate :
if so, we shall henceforth read a well-known maxim, thus-—
An optician “is born, not made."
And, now, I must say that I never saw a more decided case of the
“ crying of stinking fish ” than is deducible from Mr. Grubb’s next
remark, which concludes thus “ That which Mr. H. condemns so empha¬
tically in the editor’s method of trial exists irt full force in his own."
Surely he must be too scrupulous ! That a maker of lenses (one of the
chief requirements of which is freedom from distortion ) should thus
openly proclaim that the same amount exists as in an ordinary spectacle
lens, is too much to be realised (as Lord Dundreary would add) “ by the
same man on the same day." When I wrote the paragraph quoted I knew
a lens to which the same objection did not apply in full force, and I may
almost say, did not apply at all ; and I thought also, and still think, that
such objection would not “apply in full force” to Mr. Grubb’s own
lenses, although his excessive scruples would lead us to think otherwise.
June 2, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
221
Mr. Grubb seems determined to misunderstand me. I never for a
moment supposed that the angle included by a triplet was not defined,
but that on urgent occasions it could be coerced into doing more than it
was wont to do at other times. Only one who has been “ born ” an
optician could even dream of such a lens. The fact stated by Mr. Grubb
— that by a change of the position of the stop he can vary the angle in¬
cluded — does not make the power of the lens any the less definite, if, as
I suppose, there is a limiting angle beyond which such power does not
extend. What I wished to express was this : — 1 frequently found that
the lens with which I was working would have enabled me to get much
better pictures had it included a little larger angle, and that I had sub¬
sequently found a lens that did include a larger angle than the other,
and would consequently have given better results. “ That’s the idea.”
I see from the Amateur Photographic Association catalogue that Mr.
Edwards’s pictures, to which I before alluded, are stated to be 9 X 7 ;
and on inquiring of Mr. Melhuish, he told me he could not get them
larger than this, so as to be satisfactory. My remarks relative to them
in the last were almost word for word as I had received them — not im¬
mediately from Mr. Edwards (as T was not at home when he called), but
from a friend with whom he left the message.
I have sent my triplet to a professional photographer in Cambridge, who is
experimenting with it. I will let you have prints as soon as I receive any.
I am glad to know that Mr. Dawson is testing the merits of various lenses,
with reference to the above question. — I am, yours, &c., D. HORNBY.
[Our correspondent will perceive that his conjecture relative to the
introductory nature of Mr. Grubb’s communication in our last issue is
correct, and he will no doubt be gratified to learn that the issue will be
settled strictly by practice, ft is but fair to Mr. Grubb for us to state
that we were in possession of the continuation of his paper, which
appears in the present issue, before our last went to press ; but want of
space compelled its postponement.
We are not “troubled” by Mr. Hornby’s letters, and trust that should
he see cause to address us again on the present or any other subject be
will not hesitate to do so. Let us have full and free discussion by all means.
There are several remarks which we feel it necessary to append to the
present letter, in order to clear away misconception.
We have, for the moment, personally withdrawn from the discussion,
preferring always to give place to contributors and correspondents ; and
when entering upon it we had no idea of others taking it in hand.
If there be any room for comment or further elucidation when they have
done we shall again take the subject up. We shall leave the various
issues raised in the present letter to be answered by Mr. Grubb, though
we perceive several propositions assumed as admitted facts that are either
questionable or erroneous.
In correction of misapprehension, we may remark —
Firstly — That Mr. Grubb was an accomplished mathematician and
non-professional optician long before optical science was enlisted in
ministering to the photographer’s art.
Secondly— That the Mr. Grubb, the maker of lenses, is not our con¬
tributor, but his son.
Thirdly — That no comparison at all was made in Mr. Grubb’s article
between an aplanatic and a spectacle lens ; and that no distortion what¬
ever is necessarily attendant on the employment of the latter.
Fourthly — That if Mr. Hornby will read some contributions from Mr.
Grubb, which appeared in vol. vii., pp. 33, 45, and 92, he will perceive
at once why the method of ascertaining the equivalent focus of an open
combination by equality of size in the image and object is inapplicable.
And lastly — That, by the courtesy of Mr. E. Edwards and Mr. Mel¬
huish, we have been enabled to ascertain that the lens No. 2295, by
which the former took the picture of Wippingham Church , is of 7 85
inches equivalent focus, and that 9 by 6J inches is the maximum size of
a parallelogram that can be cut from the field covered. On this we shall
have more to say in due time. — Ed.]
RECOVERY OF WASTE SILVER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you or Mr. Mabley be kind enough to answer the following
questions referring to his paper in The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy for 1st May? : —
In the method of recovering silver from waste solutions by means of
caustic soda and grape sugar, how much soda must be added to make the
solution “caustic;” and does “caustic” mean only alkaline?
Can this plan be used for both washings and hyposulphite baths, and
may they be mixed together?
Is the metallic silver precipitated pure enough to redissolvc without
fusion? If so, the trouble of heating the liquid is not to be compared
with that of fusing the chloride or sulphide in the usual way, and 1 think
this method will be of much service to many amateurs. — I am, yours, &c.,
May 20th, 1862. L. F.
[“Caustic” does not mean merely “alkaline.” Prop a little of the
solution on the back of your hand and you will soon become aware of the
difference by its acting upon the cuticle. We apprehend the method is
applicable to both solutions, but should not recommend their being
mixed together.
As we have not experimented in the manner described, we are at
present unable to state whether the silver reduced is sufficiently pure for
re-solution in nitric acid without fusion. Possibly Mr. Mabley will
kindly reply to your inquiries— Ed.]
ACCELERATORS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you have the kindness to inform me what the most powerful
accelerator for collodion is, as 1 have tried iodide of iron, but even with
that addition find the collodion very insensitive as compared with some in
the market — Mawson’s, for example, giving a picture in half the time.
I added four drops of a saturated solution of iodide of iron to the
ounce of collodion : is this sufficient ? I #m, yours, &c., B. W.
[It is quite a mistake to suppose that the addition of anything at
present known to collodion will act as an accelerator. Pure chemicals
carefully prepared and used with intelligence, are the only real accelera¬
tors. See papersby Mr. Blanchard and Mr. England lately published. — Ed.]
EXPOSURE.— STEREOSCOPIC TRANSPARENCIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — 1. I herewith enclose you three proofs of Breadsall Priory for your
inspection. I shall be glad if you will tell me what you think of them.
They were taken with a psir of lenses of four and a half inches
focus, with smallest stop but one. Length of exposure: — No. 1, two
minutes; No. 2, two and a-half minutes ; No. 3, three minutes. It was
the first time I had tried the lenses with dry plates. I think No. 3 is
best in point of exposure. The process I used was the original Fothergill,
as described by Mr. Bourne in The British Journal of Photography.
You will perhaps notice (especially in Nos. 1 and 2) that the house is
wider in one picture than in the other. I found the reason of that, I
believe: the brass setting on one of the lenses allows the lens to be
nearer the ground-glass than the other. I focussed the pictures with the
camera and rack motion alone, and not with the lenses.
2. Will Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite’s albumenised paper (the same
as the enclosed prints) do for the development printing process ?
3. What kind of frame should I have for printing stereoscopic transpa¬
rencies in two operations? I suppose the frame should be half as long
again as the plate, Avith some arrangement for stopping off the light from
that half of the sensitive plate to be used for the second operation.
Belper, May 21 st, 1862. I am, yours, &c., W. S.
[1. The subject chosen requires long exposure because of the great
contrast. It Avould have borne even more exposure than No. 3 Avith ad¬
vantage, which, hoAvcver, you haAre over-developed. No. 2 is from the
best point of \'iew. No. 3 Avould haA’e been better if taken from a spot
more tOAvards the right hand. You Avould probably have found the ex¬
posure of No. 3 enough had you developed Arerv slowly. — 2. We see no
reason Avhy it should not. — 3. Yes ; but it involves also shifting the glass
upon Avhich the proof is being taken. — Ed.]
MANIPULATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly ansAArer me the following questions?
1. What is the action of acetate of soda in the iron developer? and
should it be used in the same proportion winter and summer?
2. After fixing a negative once in hyposulphite, and re-intensifying
Avith pyrogallic and silver, does it require fixing again in the hyposulphite?
3. What causes some prints to turn of a pinkish hue in the toning bath ?
4. What must I do to preA’ent the negative fogging after diluting the
collodion Avith ether or ether and alcohol?
5. Can you tell me the cause of the stains in the enclosed prints?
I am sorry that my ignorance compels me to trouble you so much.
Thanking you for past favours, I am, yours, &c., E. B.
[1. The formation of a small quantity of acetate of iron. It is supposed
to produce intensity, but, in our opinion, it is useless.
2. No: only thorough washing.
3. Impossible to decide Avithout further information. A deficiency of
chloride and excess of albumen will sometimes produce this effect.
4. I fthc negative “fogs ” under such treatment, add a drop or two of
dilute tincture of iodine to the collodion, just to turn it a light straw colour.
5. Yes: incomplete removal of the nitrate of silver before fixation, or
too Avcak a fixing bath. It is a case of photographic measles. — Ed.]
MANIPULATOR Y 1 >1 FFICTLTIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You Avould greatly oblige me bv answering the fulloAving queries
on certain difficulties I experience in amateur photography: —
1. In varnishing a negative I use what I have always heard is the
best, Yernis Scehnee; but 1 have no sooner poured it oA'er than a number
of small specks begin to appear, and Avhen they fall on the face in the
portrait they spoil it. How is that to be avoided? Would filtering the
varnish ansAver? and Iioav should it be filtered?
2. In toning prints I use an acetate of soda toning bath, with which I
can tone one or two prints Avhen I have occasion, returning the solution
into the bottle; but what 1 Avish to know is, 'will the hyposulphite bath
be injured by being used in the same Avay?
3. I have always strengthened negatives, after developing Avith iron,
with pyrogallic acid, two grains to the ounce, and a few drops of nitrate
of silver, mixing a sufficiency in a small glass, and I used t > pour the
mixture on quite clear : of course it grew turbid after long pouring. But
iioav the moment I mix the silver with the pyrogallic solution the mix¬
ture becomes black, and I have tried different samples of pyrogallic acid,
distilled and other Avater, but all to no purpose. Can you understand
why this should occur Avheu it used not to do so?
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 2, 1802
222
4. I have some Ponting’s and other good collodion, which is in
securely-corked bottles, and has been iodised for three years. Can I
use this old collodion in any way, or must it be considered useless ? It
is quite limpid, and pours out pleasant^. I thought of mixing it with
freshly-iodised collodion : would that do any harm? — I am, yours, &c.,
May 20th, 1862. W.
[1. No doubt your varnish has contracted insoluble particles of matter
from being repeatedly used: filtration is probably the only remedy. To
accomplish this you must exclude the air to prevent evaporation. See
paper by M. Mc-A. Gaudin, Yol. VIII., p. 236.
2. We do not admit the accuracy of your implied assertion that you
can use the toning bath and return it to the bottle without injury ; and
the use of the hyposulphite of soda bath “ in the same way” would be to
lay a sure foundation for a number of faded proofs.
3. Your present non-success is easily accounted for — higher tempera¬
ture. Remedy : more acetic or citric acid. Use distilled water.
4. We see no reason why the collodion need, of necessity, be useless.
Try it, and even if you find it somewhat slower than formerly it may
still be serviceable. If bad, you had better not mix it with fresh : if
good, there is no need to do so. — Ed.]
MR. HANNAFORD’S MODIFICATION.
To the Editor.
Sir,— In The British Journal of Photography for April 15th, page
158, Mr. Hannaford says : — “ Add one drachm of a 30-grain solution of
nitrate of silver to the ounce of albumen, then add ammonia till the
albuminate of silver is dissolved.” What is the silver thus dissolved?
— nitrate, albuminate, or ammoniate? And what effect will it have
on the plate? I have been working twelve by ten in. plates by the
formula of the hot water process. It has given very good results and
few failures, but works very slow. The enclosed view was exposed fifty
minutes — full daylight — a Ross’s single lens 22 inches focus, half-inch
stop. (Would the addition of silver to the albumen shorten the time of ex¬
posure?) This view was taken last week, and the plate was prepared and
sensitised last June, and the keeping properties are all that can be desired.
If you or your correspondents can suggest any means to shorten the
length of exposure I should feel obliged.
I have tried the orthographic lens, but find it much slower than the
single lens. Can you inform me whether any other lens would work
quicker? — I am, yours, &c. AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.
[If you will refer again to Mr. Hannaford’s note you will find it clear
enough. The compound dissolved by the addition of ammonia is the ivhite
cloudy precipitate Yvliich occurs on the addition of nitrate of silver to
albumen. Its action is no doubt accelerative on the plate. We recom¬
mend you to employ, in preference, the plan suggested by Mr. Barber,
viz., to add ammonio-nitrate of silver to dilute albumen, say one drachm
of a 30-grain solution of ammonio-nitrate of silver to an ounce of albu¬
men and five ounces of distilled water. With a lens of such long focus
you might have used an aperture of almost double the diameter, cer¬
tainly three-quarter inch. The time you mention is preposterous : there
must be something amiss with your chemicals. We do not expect you
could get any lens to work more quickly than the one you now employ.
It must be your collodion, bath, or developer that is in fault. — Ed.]
FOTHERGILL PLATES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — W'ould you have the kindness to answer me the following queries
through the medium of the next number of your valuable journal ?
1. Can a Fothergill plate be washed too much after the albumen has
been applied? I expend a quart over a 6£ by 3J plate.
2. Is the use of decomposing rain water for the above, and also for the
washing after the nitrate bath, sufficient to account for stains and sundry
other irregularities in the developing process, such as the picture being
for a negative very faint and weak, no intensity, and yet showing tolerably
well as a positive ? Or is this latter owing to the plate being left too long
before immersion in the nitrate bath, after it has been coated with collo¬
dion ? I use - ’s negative.
3. Do you think I should find greater regularity and certainty in the
tannin process, combined with sufficient intensity and keeping properties?
Should I do well to change? I have got some satisfactory results with
the Fothergill process.
As my time for the practice of photography is limited (I have only
three months, and plenty of work for my camera), it is important that I
should be in good working order for the field as soon as possible.
May 21tli, 1862. I am, yours, &c. G.
[1. Some authorities say that the plate cannot be washed too much
either before or after the application of the albumen. We should consider
a quart of water after the albumen a small dose : we fancy half-a-gallon
is nearer to the quantity we use. — 2. You cannot really mean decomposing
rain water, but water containing organic matter in a state of decompo¬
sition. This is quite unfit for the purpose. It accounts for the stains,
and may do so for the weakness of the image; but this may also arise
from other causes (acidity in the nitrate bath, for instance), but not from
being left too long before immersion. — 3. If you were succeeding with
your present process we should advise you not to change; but, as you are
only partially successful, you will probably do well in adopting the tannin
process, which is excellent both in principle and practice. — Ed.]
NON-ACTINIC SILK.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I beg to enclose for your inspection a sample of a new preparation
of varnished silk for the dark room, tents, &e. I have found it to bo
superior to any kind of yellow glass, &c., by actual trial with a wet plato
in the full sunshine. All the other materials 1 tried gave a deposit on
developing, more or less, except the new silk, which does not snow the
slightest trace of actinic action. 1 intend to manufacture it for sale, as I
think it will be a valuable article to photographers generally.
The negative may be seen at Messrs. Murray and Heath’s. If you should
be passing that way and will call and see it, I think you will be convinced
of the efficiency of the medium. Should you deem the silk worthy of
notice, a word in its favour in the Journal will much oblige, yours, &c.,
2, Canterbury Terrace, Beresforcl Street, C. W. SMARTT .
Walivorth, S., May 21th, 1862.
[The specimen received is of a deep orange colour, but we have not
had an opportunity of testing its efficiency. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Erratum. — In Mr. ThompsonVpaper on the opening of the Exhibition, in
our last number, a typographical error crept in. In page 1SG, first column,
line 23 from top, for “ Cordelia ” read “ Cornelia.”
R. Smith. — Received. Under consideration.
Nathan. — We have already declined the honour.
Alpha. — Certainly you can, if you go to work the right way about it. Read
the papers recently published by Dr. Maddox and Mr. Rockett in our pages.
Jules Jadin. — R. F. L. — Maria. — Thanks for suggestions and good
wishes. We will endeavour to see if any of the former can be made available.
Roving Rob. — We understand that Mr. Smartt has made an improvement in
his tent with regard to the window, and shall probably have particulars shortly.
Gregory' L. — It did not reach us in time for our last issue ; and, if truth must
be told, we were not sorry, being what our Yankee brethren call “ crowded out.”
Pyro. — For ordinary portrait work in warm weather we prefer a pyrogallic
developer; but in the winter time we have found some advantage in the substi¬
tution of an iron salt.
A. F. — Do you wish us to publish your account of the transaction ? If so,
you must send your name and address, as we are not acquainted with the facts,
and cannot be responsible for them.
R. S. T. — Yonr pose is very awkward and inartistic. Put the picture far
enough off to prevent your observing the details, and you will find it remind
you of a pair of tongs leaning against a door.
Maude. — You have scarcely had practice enough to “run alone” yet. Do
not be too eager to get out of leading strings. Stick to your formulae, and work
by rule until you are quite familiar with your work.
Geo. Dines. — The makers of collodion named in your list are all producers
of excellent materials except No. 3, and he is simply a seller of the articles made
by others ; but, for aught we know to the contrary, what he sells is good.
M. D. — The lenses of the maker named are good, but we have not tried the
particular kind you specify. The others to which you allude are higher priced ;
but they are not dear. We should advise you to stretch a point and procure one
of the latter.
Bromide. — Wait a few months and most likely you will find “the wind sets
from the opposite quarter.” There is scarcely any one point upon which the
writer you name has not held diametrically opposite doctrine at different times.
He is certainly wrong in his present mood.
JAcobus Lex. — Your manipulation is now excellent : we shall be glad to
have the details of your method of working minutely described for the benefit
of our readers. Your Hill of Chtny and the Water Mill are first-rate pro¬
ductions. We fear there is no absolute immunity with regard to the spots in
paper. We believe the rollers mentioned are well adapted for stereographs.
F. Barnes. — Your choice appears to be between several evils, one of which
at any rate would be fatal to the attainment of your object. Upon the whole,
we think you had better be content to dispense with living subjects, and
manage to convey the idea of magnitude by the interposition of something used
by man in order to indicate the scale; for instance, a cart or wheeled carriage
of some kind would answer the purpose.
R. T. — The idea of enclosing collodion in hermetically-sealed tubes for
foreign use is good, but, unfortunately for you, not new. The practice has
been long ago adopted by Mr. Hockin, of Duke Street, Manchester Square,
London ; and, if we are not mistaken, samples of his collodion so packed may
be found in the photographic garret at the International Exhibition. We can
quite understand that you may have overlooked it in such a locality.
A Member of the North London. — The reason that the nitrate of
silver solution does not run freely over the plate is not from its age, but its
newness : it has not acquired enough alcohol. The addition of a little pure
alcohol would no doubt remedy the evil ; but we cannot think that the solution
would not flow readily if you gave plenty of time — say ten minutes. We are
unable to suggest any better place than you name to procure albumenised paper.
P. W. — We can perceive no valid reason why your positives should turn dull
and brown on drying, if you have correctly described your method of working.
Perhaps you have added methylated spirit to your developer : this might have
a detrimental influence. We know of no better positive process than that
described at page 40 of the British Journal Almanac. If you are using pure
alcohol in the developer try a change of collodion ; and if you still find fault with
the result, then try the following developer, viz., protosulphate of iron fourteen
grains, nitrate of potash ten grains, water one ounce, acetic acid thirty minims.
CONTE NTS.
PAGE
LEADER . 203
ON THE PRACTICAL WORKING OF THE
PANORAMIC LENS. By GEO. DAWSON.. 204
ON THE EQUIY'ALENT FOCUS OF PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC LENSES, AND THE ANGLE
OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED. By T. GRUBB 205
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR GRINDING
LENSES . 206
ON THE STUDY OF THE ELECTRIC SPARK.
BY THE AID OF PHOTOGRAPHY . 208
PAGE
EXHIBITION GOSSIP: PORTRAITURE, Ac.. 208
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA . 210
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO¬
TOGRAPHER. By A. H. WALL . 212
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 213
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 21
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 218
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 218
CORRESPONDENCE . 22
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac . 322
T PI E B R ITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 168, Vol. IX. — TUNE 16, 1862.
At the Photographic Society.— The last meeting of the
Photographic Society was, on several accounts, a singular one,
having been devoted to the consideration of a subject but very
remotely connected with our art, it being rather the application
of it to other than photographic purposes. Certain propositions
were advanced which, to say the least, were open to question;
yet, instead of inviting discussion upon the paper read, which
was avowedly opposed to the views promulgated at the preceding
meeting, the Chairman appeared to be somewhat ludicrously
anxious to prevent it altogether, discouraged it effectually, and
pronounced a decision ex cathedra that we arc mistaken if he
do not hereafter see occasion to modify. We are not so simple
as to question the mathematical attainments of Mr. Vignoles.
His reputation is not unknown to us ; but we have yet to learn
that from data, the chief one of which is an inconstant quantity,
constant results arise. Now we imagine Mr. Vignoles to have
overlooked the necessity for ascertaining whether his data were
trustworthy before pronouncing judgment. Time will show
whether we are right. However, to proceed : — Our friend, Mr.
Mayall, having satisfactorily to himself and some others de¬
monstrated that there was nothing new in the principle or
application of Woodward's solar camera, by the exhibition of a
solar microscope constructed for photographic purposes for
Dr. Carpenter by the late Mr. Willatts, at Mr. Mayall’s instiga¬
tion, appropriately (!) concluded by deprecating any opposition
to a new invention, alluding to the said solar camera. Finally,
Mr. Warner (of Eoss), not being at all convinced by M.
Claudet’s reasoning, attempted to elicit some further informa¬
tion, but was incontinently cut short by the Chairman upon the
ground of its being late, and who thereupon pronounced the
decision before alluded to, and immediately afterwards vacated
the chair.
A word of explanation on the method adopted by M. Claudet
for shifting the screen and image alluded to in his paper On the
Enlargement of Photographs (page 225) may not be amiss. The
way in which the various portions of the negative are brought
to bear upon the centre of the lens in succession is by means of
two motions at right angles to one another and to the axis of the
lens, just as with the “ mechanical stage” of a table microscope,
corresponding motions being applied to the screen carrying the
canvas or paper upon which the drawing is being made. These,
when in use, of course are moved in opposite directions.
It may probably be remembered that at the previous
meeting of the Society, a trial of skill between Messrs. Claudet
and Heath, relative to enlargement from small negatives, was
arranged. The results were laid before the June meeting.
Each gentleman enlarged to four diameters a proof from one
of his own negatives and from one of his opponent’s — the two
negatives employed being the same in each case. M. Claudet's
specimens were upon plain, Mr. Heath’s upon albumeniscd
paper. Those of the former retained much half-tone and were
generally clear in the lights, but were very deficient in definition :
those by the latter were somewhat hard, the half-tone being
rather deficient, and the lights not quite so clear as they should
be ; the definition, however, was very good. Optically, there¬
fore, Mr. Heath came off victorious; but artistically M. Claudet
bore the palm. Now had Mr. Heath been content with plain
paper we fancy his half-tone would have been better, and his
“ hardness ” not so prominent, while his definition was suffi¬
ciently good to have borne a trifle of degradation without much
detriment to the enlarged proof. The question is scarcely yet
settled in practice — theoretically we never had any doubt
about it.
American Notes — There are one or two matters in our
American correspondent’s letter in the current number upon
which comment from us may be appropriate. With respect to
the observation made by Mr. Sellers on salting plain paper, lie
says, “some will immerse the paper and allow it to soak, while
the majority only £ draw it’ once through a strong salting solu¬
tion.” From the expressions employed he seems to convey
the intimation that this difference merely arises from habit or
education, and that it is not material which method is adopted.
We can scarcely concur in this view. The “majority’ certainly
work upon sound principles in this instance, fur the soaking
tends to produce the impression in the fabric of the paper,
causing a sufficiently vigorous proof when viewed by trans¬
parence, but flat and weak when examined in the ordinary way.
The additional brilliancy of proofs upon albumenised paper is
owing as much to the image being confined to the surface as to
the extra smoothness of the surface itself. rl he same prin¬
ciple holds good with plain paper : the more the image is kept
on the surface the more brilliant it is.
The suggestion for the drying rollers to be employed for
paper proofs appears to be worthy of attention.
The mention of Dr. Smallwood’s photographs ot snow crys¬
tals induces us to recal to the recollection ot our readers the
very beautiful photographs of similar bodies produced several
years back by our friend Mr. Glaisher, of meteorological
celebrity. These were very numerous, and of considerable dimen¬
sions, being about six inches in diameter ; but we believe they
were not taken directly from the microscopic objects themsplves,
but from enlarged drawings of the same — photography having
been employed only for the multiplication of the pictures.
We find that some remarks we made at one of the meetings
of the Photographic Society appear to have given umbrage to
some of our American brethren, and we are obliged to Mr.
Coleman Sellers for having correctly interpreted our observation.
We allude to what was said about “ instantaneous impressions
upon dry plates. We had no idea of asserting that the
American notion of “instantaneous proofs generally differed
from our own; but that applying the term to any works which
we had seen upon dry plates must be regarded as an excess of
courtesy. We have not forgotten several excellent instanta¬
neous views of Broadway, New York, which we received from
Mr. Anthony, and noticed in Yol. vii. p. 114, but these were
taken upon ordinary moist collodion. The point under discussion
when we made our remarks were, on the contrary, the attain¬
ment of a sufficiently sensitive dry film for receiving instanta¬
neous impressions.
224
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 16, 1862
Landscape Album. — With reference to the hint thrown out
in our last, we have been favoured by Mr. Warner, of Ross,
with some interesting specimens of small landscapes and archi¬
tectural subjects upon cartes de visite, for insertion in the handy
albums now so popular for portraits ; and he also informs us
that he contemplates bringing out shortly just such an album
as we suggested, to take in one of a pair of stereographs.
Many specimens of Mr. Warner’s present series are very pleas¬
ing, which comprise scenes from all parts of the kingdom : they
are certain to become popular, but the introduction of a special
album adapted for them will, we fancy, give an astonishing
impetus to the demand for them.
Redivivus. — Since our last we have been informed of the
formal dissolution of the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland
Photographic Society ; but our regret, in making this announce¬
ment is materially softened by our being able at the same time
to intimate the probability of the Society arising phoenix-like
from its ashes, with renewed youth and vigour. We publish in
another column a note bearing upon the subject.
ON THE USE OF BROMIDES IN COLLODION.
By George Dawson, A.M.
Lecturer on Photography at King's College, London.
The question of bromides in collodion has again, I see, become the
subject of strong contention in some of your contemporary journals.
About five years ago, when the pyrogallic-acid developer for nega¬
tives was almost exclusively employed, I, in conjunction with a
friend -well versed in photographic chemistry, went through a
peries of experiments for the purpose of settling the point at issue.
\\ e worked independently of each other with different chemicals,
and only compared notes at the end of the series. Our conclu¬
sions were pretty nearly alike in all points ; but in this opinion we
were perfectly agreed, viz., that the use of a bromide, combined
with an iodide, had a retarding instead of an accelerating effect,
and tended strongly to the production of feeble negatives. It
should be bornp in mind that we worked only with pyrogallic acid
and the potassium and ammonium salts. This conclusion, forced
on us by the facts, seemed the more surprising inasmuch as a pie-
\ mus seiies of experiments in connexion with the waxed-paper
process showed that the addition of bromide, in the proportion of
one to two of iodide, reduced the time of exposure by nearly one-
half ; while farther addition began again to exercise a retarding
and fogging effect. We made some attempts to reach the cause
of this curious anomaly, but failed in our endeavour.
Having had occasion during the early part of the present
spring to repeat my experiments, considerably modified and on a
more extensive scale, both with iron and pyrogallic developers,
and with the iodides and bromides of different metals, I still remain
of opinion that with a pyrogallic developer the presence of a bro¬
mide in the collodion is a positive injury, and remarkably so when
conjoined with the iodide of potassium or ammonium. With the
iodide of cadmium the effect is slightly different. For instance,
supposing we have dissolved a sufficient quantity of pyroxyline
tree from all trace of acid, in pure fresh-washed ether, and the pro¬
per proportion of alcohol, specific gravity -805, and iodised with
cadmium, we shall find great difficulty, even in a slightly-acid
bath, of obtaining anything better than a faint, blurred, foggy
lu'g.itive, until the collodion has been kept for several weeks. The
addition of one grain of any bromide to each ounce of the collodion
at once corrects the fault ; and, although it does not seem to me
o increase the sensibility, it undoubtedly gives greater clearness.
But pyrogallic acid as a preliminary developer is fast giving place
to iron, ami here it is that the advantage of bromides is very con-
spicti >ua. My experience will not warrant me in saying that their
present •• increases the sensibility of collodion or the opposite; but
y do give a clearness and incipient vigour to the image, which
' Hy raised t-> a fine gradation of tone by subsequent redevelop-
inrnt w itli pyrogallic acid and silver.
The value of the bromides in the dry processes is undoubted,
JJ " 1 1 ‘greasing the sensibility and clearness of the negative.
m i;, be used, T dare say, in something like the same propor-
wn l have found the best for the waxed-paper, viz., one of bro-
jodide. 1 do not pretend fo explain this seeming
< V’fuVy' 1 nevertheless certain, and deserves a more
c well, and methodical investigation than it has hitherto received,
au. Button, while d • this subject, has said:—
“The film of bromide of silver is very slowly formed in the
nitrate bath, requiring, sometimes, as much as a couple of hours to
convert the whole of the bromide of cadmium into bromide of
silver. But the film of iodide of silver is fully formed after the
plate has been immersed a few minutes in the bath. If, then, a
plate is removed from the bath after it lias only remained on it a
few minutes, some undecoinposed bromide of cadmium will remain
on the film, and this will, no doubt, render it less sensitive. But
we are now speaking of a pure neutral nitrate bath. Suppose the
bath or the film to contain traces of a strong acid, such as nitric or
oxalic, it is then easy to see that this will attack the cadmium and
liberate the bromine, allowing it at once and promptly to combine
with the silver, and form bromide of silver in the film. The proof
of this is, that if you add nitric acid to a solution of bromine of
cadmium you at once liberate bromine and form nitrate of cadmium
in the solution. It appears, therefore, that a strong acid in the
film (produced by free iodine or oxalic acid in the collodion or
nitric acid in the bath) assists the rapid formation of the bromide
of silver, and thus renders the bromo-iodised collodion more sensi¬
tive.”
This is very ingenious and plausible; but let us examine the
theory a little more closely. Is it true that the bromide of silver
is less rapidly formed than the iodide? The change indeed is
in both cases effected immediately a sufficiency of the nitrate has
come in contact with the other salt, and the presence of no acid
will hasten or retard the decomposition. Although a bromised film
will not assume the creamy appearance of an iodised film, it does
not follow that the whole of the bromide has not been converted
into bromide of silver, since there is no more difficulty in the
nitrate permeating the film and decomposing the bromide than the
iodide. All photographers must have observed that some speci¬
mens of collodion fully iodised will, even after a lengthened im¬
mersion, give a pale opalescent film, while others containing less
iodine will show greater density and creaminess. I believe the
nature of the collodion itself lias more to do with this than the
quantity of iodide or bromide which it may contain.
Again : let us suppose the collodion contains free acid. Surely
the effect of this would be to decompose the bromide and iodide —
not during the few minutes immersion in the bath, but previous to
the coating of the plate, whilst the collodion was reposing for
weeks or months, as the case might be, in its bottle. When de¬
composition of this sort takes place, and it can only occur under
the conditions mentioned, it will make itself very manifest in the
high colour of the collodion ; and every one knows that this state of
things is anything but conducive to sensibility. In short, an acid,
whether in the bath or in the collodion, cannot, in any way con¬
sistent with chemical laws, assist in the formation of bromide of
silver. The great affinity of bromine for silver renders their
combination complete the instant they come in contact; and it is
only the nitric acid thus set free that will combine with the base
of the other metal, both being in the nascent state. Should any
free nitric acid have been in the bath before the plate was im¬
mersed it will remain there in quantity as before. The same is
true of oxalic or any other acid. Neither oxalate of cadmium nor
ammonia (or whatever the base of the bromide is) will be formed
during the immersion of the plate, whether the acid exists in a free
state in the collodion or in the bath. In the former case the
oxalate is already formed before the plate is coated, and in the
latter there is no tendency to its formation. If, therefore, it be
true, as Mr. Sutton asserts, that the formation of a bromised film is
hastened by the presence of free acid, we must look for the expla¬
nation in a different direction to that which he has indicated; and
probably we shall find it depends more on mechanical than chemical
action.
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
LENSES, AND THE ANGLE OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED.*
(DISPLACEMENT AND DISTORTION.)
By Thomas Grubb, M.R.I.A.
The prominence which “displacement” and “distortion” have
assumed in the discussion of “What a Lens will Cover” induces
me to relinquish the order in which I had intended to treat the
question at large, and to devote this article to redeeming the pro¬
mise made in my last, of showing Avhat the displacement and
consequent distortion is (and is not) in the case of a single combi¬
nation view lens.
I reply shortly in a letter (for insertion under the head of
“ Correspondence ”) to Mr. Dallmeyer’s of last number. Here I may
* Continued from page 206,
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
225
say shortly in reference to it that I consider I have fairly thrown
down the gauntlet in reference to the question. He has asserted
that which would (if true) be highly damaging to a certain class
of lens. His assertion is that, “ when taking a view” (under cer¬
tain given circumstances), “ the angle of deviation or displacement
of objects at the extreme margin of picture amounts to no less
than 4°” (on either side). I have said it does not amount to 1°, and
I estimate the true quantity for a certain lens of the class at about
one-sixth part of his asserted quantity, or say forty minutes of
a degree instead of four degrees. Now, Mr. Dallmeyer has had
ample time, after being warned of his error, to reconsider his
statement. In his letter of reply (while he tacitly adheres to it),
he neither repeats nor proves it. Instead thereof, ho indeed offers a
quasi proof by proposing that I shall prove that which I know to
be wrong, and assumes that if I don't, he must be right!
I now proceed to show, from the results of actual experiment
and data derived therefrom, not merely that the deviation (and
consequent distortion) is not what Mr. Dallmeyer has stated, but
also what both these are, and that with all the accuracy practically
useful.
But, to avoid all liability to be misunderstood, I desire to premise
that I am perfectly alive to the circumstance that Mr. Dallmeyer
has said nothing respecting distortion. ’Tis only the soft impeach¬
ment of “ displacement” of the objects which he has as yet urged ;
but, as in the case before us, distortion follows “ displacement" as
surely as marriage includes a wife (or husband), so surely does Mr.
Dallmeyer, in limine, warn photographers against (his fancied) dis¬
tortion, although for the present he only says “ displacement.”
Mr. Dallmeyer in his concluding paragraph recommends persons
interested to “look to results” (I find I cannot help referring to
his letter). Now, I shall begin my “expose” by exhibiting a
double diagram, the result of a careful experimental examination
into the matter. The data on which this diagram is based will be
G
given in due time. That portion of the diagram corresponding
with Mr. Dallmeyer’s assertion is marked D, and that corresponding
with actual trials is marked G. The lines of each represent a corner
quarter of afield of 40°, of which C is the centre common to both.
The dotted lines show the size which a lens of no distortion and
of same focus would cover, when including 40°.
I would, firstly, appeal to the hundreds of photographers who
are using single combinations (aplanatic and non-aplanatic)
whether they ever experienced, except with a tilted camera, a dis¬
placement or distortion having any pretensions at rivalling the
side marked D of the diagram in a quarter of a field of 40° ?
Leaving this not very knotty question without any doubt as to its
solution, I proceed to describe how the results given on side G of
the diagram have been obtained.
A No. 3 Dallmeyer triplet, purchased with special care in refer¬
ence to its being first-rate, of nominal (or “back”) focus of 12
inches,, and aC aplanatic of nominal 15 inches focus (the actual
foci being 14-02 and 14-51 inches, and the surface covered when
including a field of 40°, differing by only Affh 0f an inch), were
mounted so as to be readily used seriatim with a camera of 17 by
14 inches, the ground-glass of which was marked with a central
horizontal line of divisions of tenths of inches. The camera was
placed in a window commanding a general view, and on an appa¬
ratus which allowed of the camera being turned on a centre
beneath, and an instrument equivalent to a theodolite was placed
on top : by the aid of these the camera could be turned through
any desired angle with an accuracy equal to one minute of a
degree.
The triplet lens being now attached, the image of a certain well-
defined object was made to coincide with the central division of
the scale on the ground-glass, the theodolite reading zero. Next,
the camera was (by the aid of the theodolite) turned through suc¬
cessive angles of 4°, 8°, 12°, 16°, 20°, 24°, 28°, and 30° on each side
of the centre, and the divisions and parts of the scale on the
ground-glass over which the image had moved were registered at
every operation, and the results tabulated. The triplet lens was
then removed and the aplanatic lens attached, and the same pro¬
cess repeated. The mean of the readings for both lenses, together
with the true tangents for the focus of each lens and their differ¬
ences, are given in the annexed table.
A.
1 B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Angle
Tabular
Difference
Tabular
Difference
from
Mean of Measures.
or true
of
Tangents
of
Centre.
Tangents
Columns
for Focus
Columns
for Focus
A. & D
of
B & F.
Triplet.
Aplanatic.
Difference
of Triplet.
Triplet.
Aplanatic
Aplanatic.
4°
0-98
1-015
[-0-025
0.98
o-oo
1-015
o-oo
8°
1-96
2-025
[-0-065
1-97
-o-oi
2 040
0-015
12°
2-98
3 035
1-0-055
2-98
o-oo
3 085
0 050
16°
4-03
4 065
\-0~035
4-02
+0-01
4-162
0 097
20°
5.12
5-10
-0-020
5-10
+0-02
5-283
0183
24°
6-26
6-17
-0-090
G-24
-f-0-02
6 460
0-290
28°
7-35
7-27
-0-080
7-45
—o-io
7-715
0-445
30°
8-15
781
-0-340
809
+006
8-380
0-570
From this table I find the “displacement” of the image of the
aplanatic to be — for a pencil incident on the lens at 20° from the
axial — 40* minutes of a degree only ; and from this datum, and
assuming the displacement for different distances from the centre
to be as the squares, the double diagram D G is constructed. Had
I used the ratio indicated by the table (which is higher than that
of the squares) the difference between D and G in the diagram
would have been still greater.
I have now given a convincing and tangible proof, capable of
verification by any one who chooses to take the trouble, of the
very great error of Mr. Dallmeyer’s assertion. Perhaps, however,
the proofs I have adduced will be rendered still more complete and
satisfactory when, without attempting to disturb that 4° of deflection
of the pencil which seems to be Mr. Dallmeyer’s great stumbling-
block, and with which I was in all probability acquainted many
years before he was — and, further, when, without pointing to any
“mysterious property” in my lens, or enlisting any kind of black
art (even the photographic) in the service, I show, not only that
the aforesaid “ deflection of the pencil” of 4° is entirely compatible
with a displacement of the image of only 42 minutes, but, in
addition, that the lens would without said deflection possess an
unbearable amount of the opposite hind of distortion.
These can be readily shown. I shall not, however, further tres¬
pass on your space in the present number, but reserve the matter,
simple as it is, for a portion of my next communication.
ON THE ENLARGEMENT OP PHOTOGRAPHS.*
By M. Claxtdet, F.IhS.
The possibility of enlarging small photographs is at present
engrossing the attention of the photographic world; and there is
no doubt that it is a considerable advantage in many respects.
Small pictures are obtained with the greatest facility', and with a
perfection which cannot be obtained by large lenses and compli¬
cated apparatus. For taking views the operator need not encum¬
ber himself with a heavy baggage, and he may carry all. his
appliances packed in a moderate compass. Small glass negatives
are less subject to be injured or broken in travelling, and may be
contained in a light box. For taking portraits the preparation oi
plates is very simple and rapid, the pose is nearly instantaneous,
and consequently the expression is not constrained and unnatural.
Small lenses operating at a great distance from the sitter give an
image without distortion and exaggeration of perspective. All is
* More accurately 38 minutes. The tabular error of the aplanatic— see column G.
for an angle of 20° from the centre (or a field of 40°), is 0-183 inches, which is exactly the
difference between the tangents of 19° 22' and 20° — lor that lens.
+ Read at a Meeting of the London Photographic Society, June 3, 1862.
226
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 16, 186 2
perfect in small pictures; and before an audience of experienced
photographers I need not do more than mention the fact that if we
enlarge such small pictures we can obtain portraits of great
beauty, characteristic in countenance and correct in forms.
The solar camera is the means by which we are able to enlarge
photographs, and if we could depend upon the sun more than it is
possible in our latitude and climate, nothing would be easier than
this operation ; but unfortunately the sun does not shine every
day, and we may be sometimes waiting for its beneficial influence
during many long weeks.
This difficulty has induced some persons to replace the light of
the sun by artificial light, and the electric light has been tried
with some success; but this is a very difficult and expensive pro¬
cess which very few operators could practically employ.
During the mouths preceding the reception of photographs at
the International Exhibition, wishing to prepare enlarged photo¬
graphs for my contribution, I was constantly watching for the
appearance of the sun, and I may say that during five months I
hardly saw it more than ten or twelve days. Still I have been
able to produce all the specimens which have been admitted at the
International Exhibition. They are all from negatives of cartes de
visite, enlarged seven or eight times; and I hope the result will
prove what can be expected from the solar camera during the
clear days of the fine season.
The enlargement of negatives, however, has some limits, when we
wish to produce, black photographs. I think that an enlargement of
from six to eight times is the greatest proportion which ought
to be employed. But if you wish to enlarge cartes cle visite to the
size of nature, the small defects imperceptible in the negative are
magnified to a degree so apparent that the picture requires
considerable touching and correcting in order to give to it
the appearance ot a perfect and clean drawing worthy of being
framed. These corrections, however, can be made without alter¬
ing the character of the photograph, which has all the qualities
of the small carte de visite, preserving the proportions of all the
forms and the natural expression of the countenance. The result
is far preferable to all the attempts made for producing at once
large portraits with lenses of considerable aperture, which require
a long sitting, distort the proportion of the figure, and, if the model
has not moved, inevitably exhibit the forced expression of a sitting
too much prolonged. Although, as photographs, many parts of
the figure which may be in the right focus require very little
touching, still the greatest part is so ill-defined and so much out
of proportion that it is absolutely necessary to modify them con¬
siderably. The touchings of enlarged photographs, at all events,
can be done without altering any proportions ; and when these
pictures are destined to be painted or coloured they are even in a
better condition for the artist than more strongly-marked photo¬
graphs of a large size taken direct.
Large photographic portraits in general are not very agreeable
in effect, and, to please the public, they require colour. The
more perfect the photograph is the more it shows all the defects
of the face. It is not very desirable to exhibit all the roughness
and every wrinkle of the skin in black lines. For this reason
some artists, not understanding the impossibility of imparting
the same degree of softness to the whole picture by it, have recom¬
mended to operate a little out of focus. Certainly if all the parts
of the picture had the same focus it would be of some advantage,
for the artistic effect, to obtain an image in which every part
would be slightly out of focus to the same degree — just enough to
soften the hardness of the lines ; but this cannot be obtained,
because if some parts which would have been in the right focus
were softened by a slight alteration in focussing, this would render
the other parts already in bad focus perfectly confused and in¬
distinct.
The principal object of taking photographic portraits as large
as nature is to give to the artist a ground to paint upon, containing
a correct representation of all the features, forms, and draperies,
which he can follow until the picture is so far advanced that a
short sitting of the person is sufficient to impart the exact colour
of the eyes, hair, and complexion. But it is evident that as soon
as the artist has begun, and the more he advances in his work, his
colours cover and hide the photograph, and that it becomes very
difficult for him to go on without losing the likeness if he had not
always before his eyes another copy of the same photograph, to
which he can constantly refer in order to see when he is erring,
and which enables him to correct any false touches of his brush.
Tt would really seem that a skilful painter does not strictly want
t > paint upon the photograph — that lie might as well trace the
enlarged photograph upon his canvas to form the base of his
painting, and to keep the photograph for his guide. In this case
lie might paint upon a canvas properly prepared to receive the
colours, and not affected by the strong shadows produced by the
nitrate of silver upon a surface of paper which has had to undergo
a quantity of washings and manipulations. Without speaking of
the immense difficulty of producing a photograph upon a surface of
paper large enough for a portrait of natural size, the chemical
substances forming the photograph are capable of affecting the
durability and constitution of the colours forming the picture.
Considering all these difficulties, and while Avaiting in despair
for the sun which was to enable me to produce enlarged photo¬
graphs, it occurred to me that if I could supply the artist with a
canvas upon which, while the image of the negative was thrown
upon it by the light of the sun, and in its absence by the light of
a gas-burner, I could trace every part of the picture witli a black
pencil, this would form for the painter a base even better than any
photographic impression ; and being supplied with such a perfect
lightly-drawn portrait, and with a photograph for his guide, he
would have all that is necessary for his work.
I have tried the experiment, and it has answered beyond my
expectations. In the British department of Photography at the
Industrial Exhibition may be seen several portraits as large as nature,
which have been painted on canvas upon which a small negative
had been enlarged by pencil-drawings. I have done it myself;
and when I add that I am quite incapable of drawing, it must be ac¬
knowledged, from an inspection of the result, that being entirely due
to the help of photography it is one of its most useful applications.
The artists whom I have employed to paint these enlarged photo¬
graphs have found them preferable to those produced by the
chemical operation upon paper, because they have been able to
lay their colours in all their brilliancy without being impeded by
the dark shadows of the ordinary photographs.
As an example of the result, I call the attention of the meeting
to a portrait of a boy painted in pastel, and to another of Professor
Faraday painted in oil — both of which have been completed with¬
out sitting. Those to whom the features of the eminent Professor
are familiar will be able to judge of the correctness of the likeness,
and to appreciate this new mode of applying photography to the
production of large portraits.
I have thought that this mode of forming the base for large por¬
traits upon canvas — the usual and most suitable surface for the
work of the painter — deserved the attention of photographers, who,
to satisfy the want of the public, are obliged to employ artists to
produce painted portraits. If it is found that this mode of opera¬
ting is capable of results entirely satisfactory, and that it can be
effected at any time Avhen Avanted, Avithout the light of the sun,
surely this must be considered as a great advantage in one of the
most important applications of photography, which consists in
furnishing the artists with a perfect base for painting portraits —
having all the truth and character of painted photographs, and so
easy to be obtained.
Having been the first to practise this process, the idea of A\dncli
I have no doubt must have occurred to many others, and the pro¬
ductions having been received in the British department of Photo¬
graphy at the International Exhibition, I have considered it my
duty to explain before this Society how these large portraits have
been obtained, in order to prevent any misconception as regards
their nature.
It is knoAvn in optics that Avhen an image is considerably en¬
larged by a lens the centre only of that image is in correct
proportion, because the screen being flat and the image being
curved the parts thrown on the margin of the screen have a focus
nearer than the screen, and, consequently, being represented on
the screen at a farther distance, they are out of focus and en¬
larged. In order to obviate that defect the negative should pre¬
sent, alternately, all its various parts to the centre of the lens, and
at every change, horizontally and vertically, a different image
should be taken. Having taken the various parts forming the
Avhole picture, and cutting them all in order to mount them in one
picture, we obtain a representation Avithout distortion. When Ave
Avish to draw the picture by hand, Ave have only to bring the
various parts of the canvas in the place corresponding with the
movements of the negatives, and Ave have a perfect picture of the
Avhole.
This plan has another advantage: it enables us to enlarge a ne¬
gative to a degree at which, by the limited centre of light of the
condenser, it Avould be impossible to light the Avhole picture.
The arrangements by which I move the negative vertically and
horizontally Avill be better understood by the inspection of the
apparatus and its action.
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
227
OF THE LIGHT ING AID MANAGEMENT OP LIGHT IN
PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERIES.*
By Lachlan McLachlan.
The construction of galleries for the taking of portraits has never,
in my humble opinion, received that attention which its great im¬
portance demands. Their present construction is to a great extent
wrong, inasmuch as they do not answer the purpose for which they
were originally intended, namely, the production of vigorous and
truthful portraits, copies of statuary, &c., &c., at any hour of the
day when there is sufficient light.
I may ask in what respect are galleries superior to the open air
for the taking of portraits ? They are superior in two respects: —
First, they are not subservient to the weather ; and, secondly, they
give the light a certain direction according to the slope of the roof.
But in every other respect they are much inferior to the open air.
Why? Because we have to deal with the refraction caused by the
glass and the reflection from everything in the room, which makes
it very painful to the sitter, who is placed in the midst of ablaze of
light. Yet there are many worse evils than these to contend with.
The reflected light is scattered in every nook and crevice in the
room. It enters the lens, pervading every shadow, reflecting from
the background upon the sitter, and quite overpowering all that
beautiful gradation of light that gives rotundity to the figure.
The picture depends more upon the combination of light than it
does upon the manipulation or chemicals; in fact, the light with
ordinary care makes the picture, and good chemicals, lenses, &c.,
are nearly valueless unless the sitter he properly illuminated.
We have searched into the chemistry of photography, and we
have greatly improved the apparatus used in the art; but it is a
notable fact that the portrait gallery remains stationary, no
improvement whatever having been effected in it. I have most
unceasingly endeavoured to point out to many of my professional
friends the great defects of most of the present structures.
The great error in their present construction is, that the balance
of side and top light is seldom, if ever, taken into consideration.
In the majority of galleries which I have seen, whatever amount of
side or front light there was, the roofs bad nearly the same incli¬
nation, just as if there were no side light. This I have proved to be
a great error, and a greater detriment than may at first appear ;
for if we do not screen off a large portion of our side light, the pic¬
ture is sure to be flat ; for it is only by a certain amount of top and
side light that we round the figure. It is a nice calculation io
balance the one against the other : and ff we have too much of one
or the other it is so much light thrown away.
I am willing to admit that under peculiar circumstances of
light, chemicals, &c., results sometimes are obtained which seem
to us nearly perfect; but how rarely is this the case ! The excep¬
tion is only found amongst a few professionals who have made the
management of light their particular study. Under the present
general system a perfect combination of light will perhaps be lost
in an hour, or less. We have done nothing special to bring about
this unity, and, as a consequence, we can do nothing to retain it —
to avail ourselves of its effect. This should not be so.
I will now endeavour to describe the means which I employ to
relieve myself and the sitter, at once, of the intolerable nuisance of
an oppressive and unmanageable light. We will suppose a gallery
faces the south. The plan I adopt to keep out the sun’s rays, and to
govern the light at pleasure, is this : — I take pieces of thin wood :
place them hanging from the roof, in a south-west direction ; but,
before doing so, I obtain the highest altitude of the sun, and calcu¬
late the rake of roof, to ascertain the due distances to place them
apart. Yet there is a simpler plan which can be adopted. First
of all decide how deep you would like these pieces or strips : then
fix two or three of them in their places, and as near as you think
will do : then watch if they arrest the rays of the sun ; if they do
not, place them nearer together till the sun is excluded (I allude to
the direct rays). Do the same to the front or side light, provided
you have the sun there: you will then find that this method far
surpasses the use of white blinds, brown paper, or other numerous
contrivances — in fact, you will feel conscious of having overcome
one of the greatest difficulties in your profession. If the sun cannot
introduce itself directly it will do so indirectly, and, consequently,
scatter its rays in every direction. This is undesirable : certainly
it is an improvement, but not a remedy.
What we want is a concentration of light, with power to give it
any direction at will. I have accomplished this by means of
placing pieces of thin wood fixed in grooved rods, which rods are
placed across the long blinds, so as to form compartments. These
* Read at a meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, May 7th, 1862.
divisions are made to move at pleasure, which is easily done by
connecting rods that may be made to move in sections, and to any
required angle : by this method I have absolute control over the
light.
The plan is the result of many years’ constant study and obser¬
vation ; and, from the practical application of it, 1 am enabled to
say that I can accomplish the results here stated. Of course
judgment must guide us in the particular application of it, as well
as in the working. For instance: when the light is focussed upon
the sitter on a very bright day all the high lights are exaggerated.
But the remedy is easy : by reversing the light the image will
gradually change, and you may do so until you obtain an excess
of half-tone if desired.
It is absolutely essential that we should have perfect command
over the light in our art — as much, at least, as the painter possesses
over his brilliant and well-mixed colours ; and before we can rival
the painter in perspective, we must be able to delineate or paint
with the light, exactly as a studious and artistic painter does with
his brush.
In order to claim for the photograph a place amongst works
of art, we must be able to command at will as complete control
over the background as we now can over the figure. Ask an artist
to give you a delicate drawing of a statue upon apiece of soiled or
smoked paper : he would naturally consider you a fool ! And yet
that is precisely what the photographer does. His back light
is the smoke, and, until he can get rid of it, his pictures will ap¬
pear as if they were sunk into what ought to he a background.
In effect it is a palpable misnomer. Besides, it is lamentably
deficient of the requisite light and shade which all artistic back¬
grounds ought to possess. Sometimes we see the light and shade
(when there are any) quite reversed, thus clearly proving that
the light is not under our control.
I will now endeavour to describe my plan of a background, which
enables me to obtain any effect of light and shade I please, much
easier than the painter can with his brush. I have four frames
made exactly as the one yon stretch your present material upon,
with which you require two other frames, about twenty inches
wide. These must each have a piece framed in the middle, with
a slot about half an inch wide. Take and secure firmly two of your
large frames to the edges of your two smaller ones, and you will
have a skeleton box : place the third and fourth frames inside,
allowing them to be moveable, with a handle or knob, which works
in the slot of the narrow frames, by which means you will be able
to fix the moveable frames in any position or angle you please
between the others : cover the back-fixed frame with black velvet,
and also the sides and top with the same material, to prevent the
light entering from any source but the front. The two inner
moveable frames must be covered with very open gauze or net.
When you want to use this background, draw up and fix the front
moveable frame forward to its full extent, and secure it theie. The
principle involved iu the arrangement is this: the back-giound is
partially transparent, and allows the light striking upon it to pass
through its meshes, so as to become absorbed by the black velvet
at the back, and thus that halo is avoided which is so often seen
around the margin of the figure, and which, perhaps, as much as
anything else tends to flatten the picture and give it the appeai-
ance of having been taken separately and placed upon the back¬
ground. The object of the front moveable frame is to allow us to
remove it out of harm’s way when done with. The front or outer
frame might have been used for the front gauze screen, but it
would continually be liable to injury. .This, skeleton box also
serves to hold a series of landscape and interior backgrounds for
cartes de visile : of course it must be undeistood that these views
roll up to admit of the other frames passing. I may state that
this box moves on castors. . .
With regard to the amateur’s gallery, it is made exactly ou. the
same plan, and at a great saving in cost, besides effecting portability
and greater efficiency than if glass were used. Calico can be adopted
with strings which are made to answer the place of lods. The whole
may be fixed on four horizontal rods, and supported by four others
fixed in the ground. The strips of calico can be made with eyelet
holes in one end ; the other end may have a piece of elastic webbiug
so as to stretch and keep it tight. The top ends must be fixed on hooks
placed at the proper distances: the lower ends must be left loose,
and a piece of tape or cord sewed to every one,, so that when we
pull the one end of the cords we can give the pieces of calico any
ano-le we please. The same process can be applied to the sides or
front. Now you have only to attach a piece of calico on one side of
your tent, which is intended to shade the. face of the sitter on one
side. Without it the face would be quite flat. If the amateur
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1C, 1862
32S
select some shady nook for a background lie will have a gallenj
very much superior to that of the professional.
lu conclusion I may state that, haying spent a considerable
amount of time and money on this subject, I have thought it due
to myself to patent the invention with a view to mere reimburse¬
ment; but I freely give it to all amateurs, and shall be happy to
afford them any assistance they may require.
THE TANNIN PROCESS.*
By Major Russell. *
[By the special permission of the Author we reproduce the following .]
CHAPTER VII.
A few remarks may here be made on the merits and demerits of
some of the best known dry processes. The gelatine and meta-
gelatine processes aie simple, develop with great clearness, and
can be made to give good results. The great objection to them is
their strong tendency to blistering ; this renders it difficult to pre¬
pare a collodion which will adhere sufficiently to the glass, will
produce an uniform film free from mottled markings, and, at the
same time, will give a tolerable degree of sensitiveness. Different
proportions of ether and alcohol in tire same collodion will produce
blistering or mottling, and the latitude in this respect is so small
that the same plate, if large, will sometimes produce blisters at the
upper part from too much ether, and mottling at the lower corner
from too little. Even if, by a method to be presently described,
sufficient adhesion be secured to admit of the use of a sensitive
collodion, the development is usually slow, and less range of tone
is obtained than when the film is coated with tannin.
The collodio-albunren process will produce excellent results, with
some degree of certainty; but involves great trouble, and is liable
to the same objections as the gelatine process, though in a far less
degree. Sensitiveness is much less affected by the use of a
powdery collodion, and mottling of the film is not so apt to show
in the picture, especially if thick albumen be used. Even in this
process, however, a little too much ether added to the collodion,
after evaporation by use, to prevent mottling, will sometimes cause
blisters to appear when everything worked well previously. One
of the greatest objections to the process is the difficulty of pro¬
ducing anything like a perfect coating of albumen, from the for¬
mation of gelatinous lumps and filaments in the liquid after filtra¬
tion. The difficulty of filtering the albumen, if thick, and its
tendency to form small bubbles, which adhere to the film with
great tenacity, are also hindrances. These difficulties can be
overcome by good manipulation ; but the coating with albumen
alone will, if carefully performed, take more time than the use of
both gelatine and tannin in the tannin process.
Another objection to the collodio-albumen process is the liability
of the surface of the albumen to contract stains from the nitrate
bath. These may generally be avoided by using nothing in the
albumen which will render it more absorbent, and drying the film
strongly by artificial heat before the second excitement, although
the development is thereby rendered slow and troublesome. If
sugar, treacle, or nitrate of magnesia be used with the albumen
the development is facilitated; but the liability to stains is, from
the porous nature of the film, so greatly increased that in some
states of the bath they can hardly be avoided. When any dry
porous surface is immersed ill the nitrate bath there must always
be a chance of its contracting stains, and the liability will vary
with the degree of porosity and the state of the bath. The tannin
process gives better results with badly -lighted subjects than the
collodio-albumen, and has other obvious advantages ; nevertheless,
it must be allowed that pictures produced by the collodio-albumen,
in skilful hands, arc of first-rate excellence, and time and experience
only can decide between the two methods.
Fothergill's process is much simpler and less troublesome than
the collodio-albumen, and is free from some of its faults. The
■ 'y <>f forming a good coat of albumen and ofavoidingbubbles
and filaments is got. rid of, and a newer collodion may be used
without producing blisters. On the other hand this process lias
defects oi it- own, one of which is an increased liability to stains.
*n the ordinary way oi working Fothergill's process it is difficult
obtain great sensitiveness without approaching the limit at
which these stains begin to show, from the contact of nitrate of
silver and albumen upon the film. The process is also dependent
1 . A ’’ " x> degree on the quality of the collodion used, which,
' 'T' ' rer,dcr8 the development very slow and feeble. Not
, , ", and high lights become pale from solarisatioii
tty dark parts of the subject are sufficiently exposed, but
ic tilm 13 apt to bo loosened in developing, and if so will never
adhere again properly, or, worst of all, will split off in drying. All
these faults appear to occur frequently with those kinds of collo¬
dion which gives the greatest sensitiveness. The tendency of the
film to split off is so great on large plates that nothing but a very
powdery and insensitive collodion can be used : varnishing round
the edge will prevent the film from washing off, but not from
loosening or splitting off when dried. If a preliminary coating be
used, this process will give rather more trouble than the prepara¬
tion by the tannin method, and will still leave the quality of the
result dependent on the condition of the collodion, as before shown.
Negatives of the highest degree of excellence may be obtained
by the albumen process with some kinds of subjects ; but it is
difficult to produce a perfect film, and to dry a layer of sufficient
thickness, free from dust. Plates prepared by this process are in¬
sensitive, and appear to be quite incapable of taking sky and
foliage or dark objects together, without rendering the former pale
from solarisation.
Glycyrrhizine, used as a preservative on collodion, appears to be
very uncertain in its effect. If the collodion be not in exactly the
right state, even when a sample prepared for the purpose is used,
the development is sometimes so feeble that scarcely anything
can be brought out with any exposure.
After trying in vain to modify the collodion for dry processes in
such a way as to overcome the difficulty of obtaining sufficient
adhesion to the plate, without loss of sensitiveness, the writer
thought of ascertaining the effect of an exciting bath, containing
half its bulk or more of alcohol. This greatly diminished the
difficulty, rendering the film very non-contractile (even when the
collodion was new, and contained a large proportion of ether), and
not diminishing the sensitiveness. For some time this answered
well ; but the alcoholic bath gradually acquired the property of
dissolving iodide of silver, and in time this solvent power increased
to such an extent as to render a collodion film transparent in a
few minutes. Keeping a quantity of undissolved iodide of silver
in the solution did not entirely prevent the destructive action,
even when the iodide was stirred up, and the bath used in a turbid
state. After being evaporated nearly to dryness, and re-diluted,
the bath worked well again. Something like the above-described
action, in a modified degree, often takes place in a bath which has
acquired much alcohol from the collodion forming on the excited
film streaks of less opacity in the direction of the dip. When this
tendency has become so strong that it cannot be counteracted by
moving the plate laterally immediately after immersion, the solu¬
tion should be boiled in an open thin glass, or porcelain vessel,
over a lamp, till most of the alcohol is driven off. The lamp should
stand in a dish large enough to hold the nitrate solution, in case of
accident. After being boiled, the bath can again be diluted with
water to the proper strength.
It seems desirable in most, if not all, dry collodion processes to
use some preliminary coating to secure adhesion, and thus to
render us independent of the exact mechanical state of the collo¬
dion. Several such coatings have been proposed. India-rubber,
dissolved in benzole, answers the purpose so far that it usually
prevents blistering and loosening from the glass ; but, un¬
fortunately, as soon as the finished and dried negative is warmed
for varnishing, the film often splits in cracks all over, without
being detached from the plate : this is probably the effect of
unequal contraction. Wax, dissolved with the India-rubber, tends
to prevent the liability to split, but produces a dull, granulated
surface ; and some of the wax is dissolved by the ether in the
collodion, producing in the latter, if present in any considerable
quantity, a tendency to gelatinise on the plate from precipitation
of the wax by evaporation of ether : this state of things gives rise
to a mottled texture. Marine glue dissolved in benzole, in which
it is very sparingly soluble, is even more addicted to cracking than
India-rubber. Albumen is sometimes used for this purpose, but, in
its ordinary state, is not to be recommended ; for not only does the
first contact of the collodion render it permanently insoluble and
incapable of afterwards swelling, like gelatine, into the pores of
the collodion, but it is too close in texture for the collodion to
penetrate, and the adhesion of the latter is therefore imperfect.
Albumen has also a far more injurious effect on the bath than
gelatine, and it can be easily proved that the nitrate solution
penetrates beneath the collodion by coating a glass with meta-
gelatiue (which is readily soluble in cold water), drying, covering
with collodion, and dipping in the exciting bath, when, in a short
time, the solution of the meta-gelatine will be made evident by the
loosening of the film. Again, the effect of the albumen, acted on
by nitrate of silver, is likely to be prejudicial to the picture; for
the same soluble matter which injures the bath will, if any of it
June 16, 1863]
329
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OB’ PHOTOGRAPHY.
remain in the film, cause rapid deterioration by keeping, liability
to fogging, and a muddy, yellow tone in the negative. The
above-named matter shows its presence in imperfectly-washed
collodio-albumen plates, but is more easily removed from a film
of coagulated albumen on the surface than from one below the
collodion.
The following is the method of using albumen referred to in
Chapter II. : — Beat up one ounce of albumen with 30 grains of
nitrate of magnesia, or, should this not be at hand in the dry state,
30 minims of strong nitric acid, accurately neutralised with mag¬
nesia or carbonate of magnesia ; dilute with 3 to 5 ounces of water,
and filter. The nitrate of magnesia is not necessary, but appears
to facilitate the coagulation of the albumen, and to render its ad¬
hesion more perfect both to the glass and to the collodion, par¬
ticularly to the latter, by making the surface more porous (though
the washing alone, after coagulation, will secure this to a great
extent). Coat the glasses and dry exactly as described in the case
of gelatine. When the plates have been dried for a short time, at
a heat of 100° to 120° (a little hotter than the hand), plunge them,
still warm, into a dipping bath, containing 30 grains of iodide of
cadmium to each ounce of water and as much iodine as will dissolve.
After about one minute remove from the bath, wash under a tap,
soak in a dish of water till most of the colour has disappeared, wash
again under a tap, dry by heat, which will remove any iodine not
washed out, and keep and use exactly as in the parallel case of
gelatine. The albumen solution will keep any length of time, if a
few drops of oil of lemon peel (essence of lemons) be dropped.into it,
and will be found to improve by age. The iodide solution simply
requires filling up as it wastes by use, but should be kept in a bottle,
to prevent evaporation of the iodine. The albumen film, prepared
as above, will enable us to use a new and horny collodion for any
dry process, and the albumen appears to be without effect on
nitrate of silver, consequently no fear need be entertained of its
injuring the bath. Gelatine, however, answers so well when tannin
is used, that it is questionable whether it is worth while to adopt
a method involving so much additional trouble. The only fault
which can be found with the coagulated albumen film, bey7ond the
trouble of preparing, is the difficulty of removing it when the
glasses are cleaned after taking negatives : carbonate of soda acts
but slowly, even when used in strong warm solution.
Gelatine may be used instead of albumen as a preliminary coat¬
ing for other dry processes, and will answer tolerably well with
some kinds of collodion. With other kinds, however, it is ntft to
be depended on, as it is liable to be dissolved or softened too
much in the different washings, or during development, unless this
be prevented by the coagulating effect of tannin.
A thin film of gelatine, dried and rendered insoluble in a strong
solution of tannin, may be used with success in many dry processes ;
but this method is as troublesome as that already described with
albumen, and is likely to injure the bath by the introduction of a
trace of tannin.
It was during his experiments with gelatine, as a preliminary
coating, that the writer, about a year ago, first thought of trying
the effect of tannin 'on dry collodion. Having for years been in
the habit of using gallic acid with all dry processes, either mixed
with the preservative solution or as a final wash, to facilitate the
development and increase the brightness of the picture, and ren¬
der it less liable to solarisation, it struck him that tannin, a body
of somewhat similar nature, might answer the same purpose. It
was accordingly substituted for gallic acid, in a solution of gum
arabic — at first in small proportion. This experiment proving
successful, the tannin was afterwards used in the same way in larger
and larger proportions, with the effect of still further improving the
negatives. Eventually the tannin solution was employed alone,
and apparently with advantage ; for although gum arabic, mixed
with tannin solution, gives a little more sensitiveness to the dark
parts of a feebly-lighted subject, there is always a greater tend-
ency.to fogging, particularly when the picture contains much sky,
or strongly-lighted objects. Citric acid in the solution corrects
this tendency, but probably destroys any extra sensitiveness other¬
wise obtainable.
Gum arabic used alone produces less tendency to blistering than
metagelatine, but more than tannin; and its partial substitution
for, or addition to, tannin solution, gives a slight tendency to
blistering or loosening of the film, even when gelatine has been
used as a previous coating. Again, the gum, unless throughly
washed out, renders the developer turbid in cases were tannin
would have no such effect, and solution of r um does not filter so
easily as that of tannin. Hence, on the whole, it seems better to
use the latter alone, as it fulfils every requirement, acting mechani¬
cally in keeping open the pores of the collodion, and giving,
perhaps more effectively than any other known substance, that
organic reaction without which a sensitive collodion cannot be
worked when freed from nitrate of silver and dried. If 30 grains
of tannin to the ounce be used, the film will be restored to a very
porous condition when moistened previous to development, as will
be shown by its whitening ; and the development will then be very
rapid and energetic. The action of tannin in stimulating the de¬
velopment is most remarkable, being much greater than that of
gallic or pyrogallic acid used in the same wray, although the first-
mentioned substance is a far feebler reducing agent than either of
the others ; indeed, tannin has scarcely any developing power,
even when mixed in strong solution with a large proportion of
nitrate of silver, and if applied to a plate fully exposed in the
camera it will only bring out the sky faintly in an hour or so.
The properties of tannin and gallic acid differ also in another re¬
spect : if we increase the strength of tannin solution on new and
sensitive collodion, it will give increased vigour and intensity' from
1 grain to 30 grains to the ounce of water; whilst gallic acid acts
very differently, showing a kind of alternating action. This is not
seen on applying the solution of different degrees of strength up to
saturated solution in cold water to collodio-albumen plates, either
because the greatest strength does not go beyond the limit of
greatest intensity, or because the film does not retain enough gal¬
lic acid to pass that limit, the remainder ciystallising out. If,
however, we dissolve gallic acid in the proportions of 1, 2, 3, and
4 grains to the ounce in different portions of a solution of meta-
gelatine containing alcohol, and coat with these four excited and
washed collodion plates, we shall find, on development after similar
exposure, that within these limits the increase of gallic acid first
promotes and then diminishes intensity'. Again, this alternating
action may be shown in the following manner: — Excite a piece of
iodised Talbotype paper, remove the nitrate by' washing well in
common water, dry, and fold in three equal parts ; float the middle
part on saturated solution of gallic acid in cold water, then im¬
merse the part at one end in the same, and hang, till throughly
dry, with that end downwards which is wet on both sides, expose
in the camera and develop : the middle part will be found to be far
more intense than either end. The same alternating action shows
its effects, when plates prepared with gallic acid are dried by
artificial heat, by the unequal intensity produced. If the strength
of the gallic acid solution be that most favourable to intensity7, any
concentration by evaporation and heat will produce faintness in the
developed image: this effectwill be seen in the parts which were the
last to dry. If the same alternating action be possessed at all by
tannin, the limit of greatest intensity7 is not at any7 rate soon
reached. The writer can at present form no hypothesis to account
for these phenomena. Perhaps a careful comparison of the action
of pyrogallic acid with that of gallic acid and of tannin, in solutions
of different strengths, might throw more light on the subject.
BULE FOB FINDING AT ONCE BOTH THE DISTANCES
OF NEGATIVE AND SENSITIVE SUBFACE FOB ANY
DEGBEE OF ENLABGEMENT, AND VICE VEBSA.*
By M. Claudet, F.B.S.
In a former paner, which was published in the number of the
Journal of the Photographic Society for March, 1861, I have given a
new theory for the measurement of the focal distances on one side
of the lens, and the distances of the object on the other side. I
have explained why both these distances must be measured, not
from the surface of the lens, but from a point before it, which is
the nearest distance at which an object may be placed for producing
the largest image possible, and another behind, which is exactly
the focus for parallel rays giving an image as small as possible. The
space between these points aud both sulcs of the lens is a nonentity,
being in fact nothing more than the thickness of the partition
dividing the two sides of the camera-obscura without lens.
These two points are the zero of the scales of measurement for
the focal distance and distance of object. A hen these two points
have been determined, if we find two other points at which the
object must be placed before the lens to produce behind it an image
of the same size, these two points form the other extremity of the
scale, and that scale is the unity7 which serves for measuring all the
distances and determining exactly the proportion between the size
of the object and that of the image.
To facilitate all the calculations these scales are divided in one
hundred equal parts.
When we want to have an image of the same size as the object,
we have only to place both the object and the screen on the 100th
* Bead at a meeting of the London Photographic Society, June 3, 1602.
230
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 10, 1862
division of each scale. For an image double the size of the object
we place the object on the half of the scale precisely on the division
50, and the screen destined to receive the image at a distance
equal to two unities, or to -jgg divisions. For an image half the
size of the object we reverse the proportionate distances.
If we want to enlarge the object 100 times we place it on the
division 1 of the scale, and the image will be at a distance equal
to 100 times the unity.
All intermediate distances and proportions are calculated and
fixed in the same manner.
Let us suppose that we have a portrait on a negative which is
twenty times smaller than the natural size, and we want to enlarge
the image to its natural size. AVe have only to place the negative
on the 5th division of the scale, and the sensitive surface for the
image at a focal distance equal to twenty times the unity.
If we wish to enlarge the same negative only five times we place
it at once on the 20th division of the scale, and the screen for the
image exactly at a distance equal to five unities.
These few examples will be sufficient to show how all the calcu¬
lations can be effected by means, firstly, of a scale marked with all
its divisions fixed on the table containing the camera, and, secondly,
by means of a tape long enough to extend to twenty-five or thirty
unities, and marked ail over its length with these unities and sub¬
divisions.
The scale fixed in the camera contains on each of its 100 divisions
the number indicating the corresponding distance of the screen, and
the tape upon which all the distances of the screen are marked
indicates also the corresponding divisions of the scale fixed in the
camera; so that if the two measures have been once for all correctly
constructed, it is no more necessary to examine on the screen if the
image is in good focus : it must necessarily be so, and that will
save an immense amount of trouble and all possible errors.
I think that nothing is more interesting than to examine and
study the law by which these scales of measure are regulated. AVe
can see the curious progression of foci, which increases and di¬
minishes exactly in the same proportion as the distance diminishes
and increases. The two quantities, whatever they are, being-
multiplied one by the other, must have for product the unity form¬
ing the scale ; and if that unity is divided in 100 parts, the product
must be equal to 100— so that, knowing any distance either of the
image or of the object, we have only to divide 100 by the quantity
known and the quotient is the other. For example: if the dis-
; of the image is found by the tape to be 17‘67, we have only to
divide 100 by 17*67, and we have 5-66 for the distance of the object.
STEREOGRAPHS.
“ The Attractions of a Country Fair."
Photographed by Valentine Blanchard.
Published by C. E. Elliott, 5, Aldermanbury Postern, London.
AVe have seldom experienced more pleasure in the examination oi
stereograpbic productions than we have enjoyed with the series
now before us, which, in the vernacular of the day, may be appro¬
priately designated a “sensation” series. These productions—
recording a phase of country life, albeit familiar enough in our
b vi-h days, now fast passing away — are as novel as they are ex-
('"Unt, and manifestly testify to the skill and perseverance of the
photographer, whom we are informed took the negatives during
soiif! ol the cold days of last March. This is the more satisfactory,
as the possibility ol delineating crowds of people, in all the excite-
inont ot a fair, by instantaneous exposure, surrounded by somewhat
Unfavourable circumstances, is now placed beyond a doubt. These
are no mere black patches of outline, like those which are sometimes
shown a > “instantaneous” pictures, but quite intense enough and
full of detail and half-tone. They are not only good for instan¬
taneous pictures, but good unreservedly. AVe do not affirm them
V’ be perfect, for some few of the figures show movement during
tbo exposure, rapid as it must have been; but good they certainly
arc — very good — and full of interest.
'I ho lirst we shall notice is called
■ 1 ‘ in; Fair, No. 133, and represents one of the streets in
WiBbeacfa, Cambridgeshire— evidently a main thoroughfare; and
near to the footway are numerous open stalls belonging to the
vendors of “apples, oranges, spiccd-nuts, ginger beer,” and other
com utibles obtainable at such places. In the centre of the street
is a row ol booths and shows, while crowds of people, young and
old, males and females, throng the intervening spaces. The
countenances of some are very amusing, and they would certainly
y their friends. A few have evidently noticed
flr 18 W0I'k> and are watching his operations:
among the last are a policeman and one of the stall- keepers.
AVinn’s Travelling Theatre, No. 137, introduces us to the best
part of such an establishment — we mean the platform outside —
where all the performers in the play and the afterpiece are congre¬
gated together in picturesque confusion — the chief tragedian, the
“funny man,” the danseuse, the pert soubrette, the high priestess of
Thalia, a couple of little girls, and the clown. The artistic (!)
background is adorned with numerous striking scenes, supposed to
be illustrative of the “play,” and on the left is a side-door open,
and showing its construction to he but a light frame of wood
covered with canvas : it is kept open by a couple of halberts leaning
against it, and several people, evidently part of the audience, are
entering to take their places, in order to witness the entertainment.
In this slide only a few of the outside spectators are included, but
several of the faces amongst them are visible.
The Clown’s Address, No. 136, is another view of the same
“ theatre” from a different point, and including many spectators.
In the foreground there is quite a small sea of beads, all turned
towards the clown, who stands at the bead of the gangway, in the
act of addressing the owners of the said beads, while pantaloon
looks on. Evidently the address is an eloquent one, for it is notice¬
able in this slide that not a single face from amongst the spectators
is turned towards the photographer.
The Female Blondin’s Travelling Circus, Nos. 134 and 135,
are two entirely different views of the same subject from opposite
directions. The platform, with its background of paintings — in this
case representing impossible feats of equitation and gymnastics — is
occupied by the members of the company, including the female
Blondin herself, a smartish-looking young woman in a white wreath
and uncommonly short petticoats, surrounded by several acrobats,
including a little girl and two boys, one a mere infant. Several
musicians occupy the farther corner behind a huge placard, on
which we can distinctly trace the words “Female BLONDeN ” at
the top and “laughable farce” at the bottom. The heads of the
spectators of this show are covered principally with little round
hats, indicative of female heads beneath. In No. 135 the male part
of “ the company” on the platform forms a majority, and the “ bit
of a boy ” is seated on the learned pony. Here a placard announces
“ Admission to the Performances one - ? ” — the hiatus being
caused by the obtrusiveness of a big drum. A man in plain
clothes is standing at the lower end of the sloping gangway, with
arm extended, addressing the spectators.
It must not be forgotten that these views are no mere transcripts
of “ scenery, machinery, dresses, and decorations” (as they say in
the play-bills), got up for the occasion, but are the veritable
presentments of actual events.
It needs but little of the skill of “second sight” to predict that
these productions will he amongst the most popular that have yet
been published ; and we can honestly assert that, as a skilful mani¬
pulator, Mr. Blanchard has added another leaf to his well-earned
wreath of laurels.
([•tin bit ion (S o 3 s i jj,
IN THE BRITISH DEPARTMENT— PORTRAITURE
( Continued) .
Here is a change ! The shilling admissions have commenced. The
day of our visit is AVhit Monday, and, behold ! here is even the once
lonely and deserted hiding-place of British photography full — abso¬
lutely full — of evidently gratified and interested visitors. You may
say it does not take many to fill it, which is very true ; but if you
had been up here time alter time and found it a lifeless solitude at
each of your dreary visits, you would think with me that its present
busy, bustling aspect is quite a cheering sight. The cameras, the
lenses, the pictures — all have their little groups of talkative ad¬
mirers, and the stereoscopes are in a perfect state of siege. I really
think if I had now to speak of those “backgrounds” on the staircase I
should do so in a more lenient and charitable spirit, so genial a
change does this make in one’s feelings.* How far the alteration in
the room’s aspect may be due to the fact that two large notices — one
over the homely entrance, and one running up over the stairs — now
announce the whereabouts of this department in hold, white letters
on a blight red ground, I know not.
* It may be urged, perhaps, that, for a reason to be found in the advertising columns
of this Journal, I should have passed over these profile and background accessories with¬
out notice, were it not that by so doing I should have omitted a portion of that duty which
I undertook in writing these papers- — a duty which, in my last, I promised to fulfil despite
all possible chances of misrepresentation and detraction. Let me be judged in all matters
simply by the character of my assertions. If my statements are palpably true, whether
they emanate from me, or Irom any one else, is a matter of small moment; while, if they
are false, they show blacker against me, from the very circumstance I have just alluded
to, than they possibly could against anyone else. Meaning no wrong I fear no ill.
Absit invidia, — A, H, W.
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
231
Another change, which is infinitely less gratifying, makes itself
felt when we look round at the pictures. The dangerous foe of the
picture-gallery — the enemy from which the exquisite water-colour
drawings of Turner, Hunt, and other great English masters were
so quickly, and we must hope effectually, rescued by a timely,
but not by any means too prompt an application of American cloth
to their backs — in short, damp has got to the photographs, and
here revels unchecked in its malignant influence. The charming
little tinted vignettes of T. R. Williams are disfigured and defaced
past recognition. That this gentleman’s colourist imprudently and
somewhat liberally used a non-permanent white in tinting these
beautiful productions is now made apparent by the black patches
and marks which have taken the place of high lights in the faces
and on the white drapery. The same may be said of pictures
tinted very similarly in water-colours, and exhibited by Mr. Kil-
burn. Many other water-colour pictures palpably exhibit, although
in a slighter degree, signs of the same destructive influence — those
paintings which have least body-colour in their composition being
least injured. Nor is the change thus effected in many of the un¬
coloured photographs less melancholy. Rusty spots and yellow
stains are breaking out over the surface of many ; while whites
which, at our last visit, were pure and clean, are now rapidly
assuming the autumnal yellow of declining days. The tinted pic¬
tures of Messrs. Kilburn and Williams are “ past praying for,” being
utterly ruined and spoilt; but luckier exhibitors should adopt some
of the usual remedies without loss of time.
There is yet another change to be noticed in reference to this
department. An improved and more complete edition of the
catalogue has been published, to which has been very judiciously
added some brief notice of the art as it was in 1851 and as it is in
1862. The progress made in these eleven years is very gratifying
and very wonderful.
As we have been dwelling upon the greatest novelty at some
length, we must now quit the large portraits and discuss por¬
traiture as a whole ; for if we give too much time and attention to
one branch of the art, others will most certainly lack as much of
both as they deserve.
In this — the British department — Mr. T. R. Williams stands fore¬
most as a portraitist. His pictures are distinguished by nearly all
the best qualities of the best photographic portraits; and, for their
rendering of the texture and character of flesh, they are as nearly
perfect as anything I know. The exposure is, undoubtedly, the
great secret of successfully rendering texture. A second more or
less is thought by inartistic operators to be a trivial matter; but
my own observation and experience confirm the opinion I express
in saying that too much care and nicety of judgment cannot be
exercised in regulating the exposure in the camera if the artist’s
great pictorial quality, texture, be sought or desired. I have, for
instance, seen my plate at one stage of the development exhibit a
negative which would give all the softness, semi-transparency, and
general characteristics of flesh very correctly ; but then parts in deep
shadow have been without detail, and I must have either left them
in this unsatisfactory condition or, by pushing the development
further, seen the fleshiness of the face and hands gradually fading
away. Take a portrait of Mr. Hardwich, which Mr. Williams
exhibits with several others on one of the screens, and compare
the flesh of this with that of other portraits in the room, and I am
sure you will agree with me in asserting that none can compete
with this and similar pictures in the expression of that soft, semi¬
opaque, luminous character peculiar to flesh. In many of the
pictures what should be flesh looks hard, rigid, metallic, and
opaque. You could never imagine the living blood being seen
below its outer surface, or fancy the subtle play of the muscles
beneath its downy covering as you readily can in such exquisitely-
finished productions as those of the quite unrivalled Mr. Williams.
There is an occasional want of good composition, however, in the
arrangement of Mr. Williams’s figures and tasteful (not profile)
accessories which I here venture to point out, although they are
so fine and rare as examples of pictorial texture and finish. Such
faults can only arise from wanting a better appreciation of the few
and simple rules by which composition is governed, and which
may be so very easily acquired that the seeming want thereof has
but :mall excuse in one so able and so tasteful.
There is a large display of the fashionable card or album portraits.
Among the best are those sent by Kilburn — among the very worst
those exhibited by L. Birnstingl ; and these are so bad that their
admittance into such a collection must be very universally con¬
demned. Some are full of spots and stains — others are frightfully
under-exposed, many over-exposed, all are ill posed ; and either
the guarantors of the Exhibition, whose portraits these are said to
be, are, on the whole, a very vulgar and un-gentlemanly-looking
class of people, or the pictures (?) of L. Birnstingl have slandered
and maligned their general appearance after a very gross and un¬
justifiable fashion. One might easily imagine these two frames of
dingy, out-of-sharp, ill-lighted, badly-developed card-portraits had
been taken bodily from the door-posts of some cheapest photo¬
grapher of the least aristocratic thoroughfare, and borne by flying
mischievous Pucks to the screen on which they now hang, in de¬
spite of some astonished “touter,” or, as the cant phrase has it,
“barker,” and to the great horror of all good and respectable pho¬
tographers. Although not altogether good as photographs, a very
picturesque collection is formed by Ross and Thompson’s card-
portraits of children. Young Lochinvar — a chubby little bov,
mounted on a rampant rocking horse, with a dimpled little laugh¬
ing-faced girl behind him, seated on the fiery charger, and twining
her chubby arms prettily round the gallant young chieftain’s neck
and waist — is particularly good. Other similar ideas are equally
humorous and amusing, and will win for the playful fancies of
Messrs. Ross and Thompson golden opinions, and, doubtless, plent}’’
of work in this particular direction, which is not altogether easy
work either. In the pictures of children especially, however, we
want more refinement of chiaroscuro, and greater delicacy and light¬
ness in the general effect: these seem to have been commonly under¬
exposed, and have, consequently, a slight tendency to hardness
and patchiness, with, from the same cause, a lack of transparency
or detail in the darker shadows. The backgrounds might be less
sombre and heavy with advantage to the pictures. These gentle¬
men also exhibit some bold and forcible studies of expression
which are very successful, although, like the card-pictures, they
bear signs of being rather under-exposed. The card-portraits of
Maull and Poly blank are very commonplace; those of Mr. H.N. King-
are not quite so good, perhaps ; others by Mayland, of Cambridge,
are very good indeed ; and some by Beard, of King William Street,
only require a little more softness to be their equals.
Coloured portraiture is very strong in its muster, and the speci¬
mens thereof are chiefly exhibited by our London establishments.
Among the very best are the pictures coloured in oil, exhibited by
Mr. Kilburn. which have all the characteristics of first-class paint¬
ings, with neither the tea-boardy kind of smoothness and polish
which deform some of the works in their immediate vicinity, nor
the thin, timid, ineffective glazings and chalky lifelessness which
characterise others not far from them. The masterly touches and
the bold, firm method of execution displayed in some of these por¬
traits is quite refreshing after the morbid conventional colouring
and the wavering uncertain mode of handling, or ignorantty-
confident presumption of touch, which we are only too much
accustomed to see associated with coloured photographs. Among
the worst of the painted specimens are the hard, staring, and
metallic productions contributed by Beard, and the tawdry,
theatrical, French conventionalities of Mayer Brothers, of Regent
Street. Heath and Beau, although rather crude and gaudy in
their combinations of colour, exhibit some very good miniatures.
Locke and Whitfield’s (old friends all) are very fine, although every
picture is spoilt by the eyes being so peculiarly enlarged that
they produce an effect the very reverse of natural or beautiful.
No. 829, by T. R. Williams, is very charmingly coloured. Kilburn ’s
demi-tinted pictures in water-colours were very neatly executed,
and looked so until the damp destroyed them ; and some vignettes,
by Williams, seemed tinted with careful delicacy and much pretti¬
ness of effect until the same active agency ruined and destroyed
them also. Mr. Sutton (Regent Street.) exhibits some rather
prettily-tinted little miniatures: neatness and quietude being their
best qualities. Mr. Green has some very life-like and artistically-
executed pictures, painted somewhat roughly, but which are very
fine nevertheless, if not the finest here. You must not examine
these with a microscope ; but then there is no particular reason why
you should do so. Ivilburn's water-colour pictures are decidedly
inferior to those in oil. Here, however, I must again bring these
gossiping criticisms and descriptions to a close, lest they grow
wearying, as such things may when unduly prolonged.
BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE INTERNATIONAL
EXHIBITION. *
[We extract the following from the Official Catalogue of the pho¬
tographs exhibited in the British Department, as affording the best
official information obtainable relative to the collection. — Ed.]
“In the Great Exhibition of 1851 photography had not sufficiently ad¬
vanced to be placed in a separate class: photographs, and the apparatus
used in producing them, were included among philosophical instruments,
232
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 1C, 1802
It has now a class of itself (XIV). The art was, in 1851, represented by
a large number of Daguerreotypes, some Talbotypes, or sun pictures, as
the v were then frequently termed, and by a few specimens of the albu¬
men process on glass. The collodion process, to which is due the enor¬
mous development which has taken place since 1851, was not known
previously to the opening of the Exhibition in that year. Photographers
were anxiously looking for some material which should be free from the
defects of the paper on which the Talbotype negatives were taken.
Albumen on glass had been tried with some success. Archer turned his
attention to the use of a film of collodion, and was experimenting upon
it previous to the opening of the Exhibition ; and Dr. Diamond, in com¬
pany with him, took a portrait with some collodion given him by that
gentleman, as early as September, 1850. A collodion portrait, taken by
Mr. Archer, assisted by Messrs. Fry and Horne, early in May, 1851, and
what is termed a positive picture,* was placed in Messrs. Horne and
Thornthwaite’s case in the Exhibition, with their Daguerreotype and
Talbotype apparatus. Towards the end of June in that year Mr.
Rippingham, by permission, placed in this case some prints from negative
collodion plates, the collodion for the purpose having been given him by
Mr. Archer. The description of the process was published by Archer, in
March, 1851, when it appeared in The Chemist. In the jury report
no other notice is taken of these pictures than that “Rippingham has
exhibited several Talbotypes, being a series of untouched jmsitives from
collodion negatives on plate-glass.” Xo medal was given— indeed no one
could have then foreseen the influence which these experiments were to
exercise on the photographic art — and the jury may well be pardoned for
passing them over. In a short time, however, the simplicity of the pro¬
cess and the beauty of the results caused its almost universal adoption,
though numerous improvements had, in the meantime, been made in the
negative paper processes, more especially that known as the wax-paper
process, invented by Le Gray.
The photographs in the present collection are, with some few exceptions,
all produced by the collodion process. The exceptions are noted in the
catalogue, and they consist of a few Daguerreotypes (Nos. 900 to 905),
views of the International Exhibition of 1851, Talbotypes (Nos. 101, 423,
436 to 444), pictures from albumen negatives on glass (Nos. 7,r8, 9, 10, 101),
and from wax-paper negatives (Nos. 134, 174*, 180, 181, 184 to 195, 199,
200, 203 to 206, 564 to 566), the others being modifications of the collodion
process, known as dry or preservative processes, the object being to set
the operator free from the encumbrance of tents or other contrivances
necessary when working with collodion away from home. Nos. 16*, 29,
88, 91, 103, 104, 105, 113 to 118, 124 to 126, 133, 139, 143 to 145, 296,
297, 308, 333, 347, 369, 388, 390, 428, 461, 465, 479, 480, 502*, 651, 652,
688. 705 to 707, 725, 729 to 731, 746 to 749, 751 to 753, refer to specimens
produced by such processes.
The early positive prints on paper were produced by the nitrate of silver
process, still in use, but were untoned and of a reddish colour, and were
liable to. fade. The toning process first adopted gave more agreeable tints
to the pictures, but rendered them even more liable to fade than before,
though, with very careful manipulation and good washing, there are
pictures which, under favourable conditions, have resisted change.
Photographers and chemists have endeavoured to investigate the causes
of this change, and the alkaline gold toning process now in use produces
pictures which, if not absolutely p ermanent under every possible condi¬
tion, are, with ordinary care, sufficiently so for all practical purposes.
Many experiments have been made to use other materials for printing
than nitrate of silver. A series of such experiments is shown in Nos. 778
to 783, 785 to 788, and 794 to 797. The silver process, however, is that
universally adopted by photographers. Many attempts have been made,
with more or less success, to print from the negative in carbon, the basis
of printer’s ink, or other indestructible materials, and thus give the
I raph the permanence of a print from an engraved plate. This has
been sought to he accomplished either by producing photographically an
■octal plate or prepared lithographic stone, from which prints
® IV 1 ' 1 dten in tb" ordinary way with printer’s ink, or by so treating
the paper chemically that when submitted to the action of light under a
! jative print, as the case may be, carbon or some other
flnely-MTided material shall adhere only where required to form the pic-
tmy. Fox Talbot shows photographic etchings, both on copper and steel,
entirely produced by photography and etching, but untouched by the
graver (Nos. 507 to 532). Paul Pretsch calls to the aid of photography
the electrotype process, and shows specimens obtained by these processes
combined. He produces not only the engraved plate, but also blocks for
•,;irl l"" Fmtyi£. capable of being used with letterpress: bis specimens
av- numbi'p'd . i to 42, 45 to 48, 161, 162, 505, 506, and 539 to 544.+ Sir
ii nry James, the Director-General of the Ordnance Survey, also shows a
1 ; ]|" t< mis photozincography, by which flu: photograph be-
comes trail- b : 1. d to a zinc plate, and can thus be multiplied in printing
!•" , 1“'* proc< Bs IS used by the Government in the Ordnance Survey
for the production of mapg, plans. .O, enlarged or reduced in the camera,
«ny both in time and money is effected by it. Specimens
t« including a modification termed photopapyrograuhy as well as of
photolithography, and showing its adaptation to the reproductLn of en-
rr I?lh2 T nh0WD in ",e )lrcsent Inhibition, though the
N-n , " ' 1’ Portraits, so common now-a-days, are taken. Some
5^^^«EjSSE4^?iSSu?i,a,?,4gSSSp.*"a so™ *«* »
gravings, printed matter, and MSS., whether old or modern, are seen in
Nos. 69 to 77. Pouncy (No. 44), Cecil Walker and Son (No. 547), and
Joubert (on the table at the east end of room, under the name of “photo¬
types”), exhibit specimens cf direct printing in carbon from the photograph,
without the intervention of any metallic plate or stone. The basis of all
these processes is the peculiar action which light causes upon a mixture
of gelatine and bichromate of potash. Contencin (No. 62), Field (78), and
Ramage (504), show specimens of photolithography, the image being
impressed photographically on the stone. Field’s process is based on the
special action of light on a surface of bitumen of Judea covering the stone,
an action investigated in the early days of photography by Daguerre,
who subsequently abandoned it for that process which now goes by his
name.
The printing of positive transparent pictures on glass was, for a long
time, exclusively practised in France : it is now done in England, and
specimens are shown on the tables of Mr. Breeze and of Messrs. Negretti
and Zambia. A statue in one of Mr. Breeze’s pictures is taken by
moonlight. Mr. Joubert, on a table at the east end of the room, shows
specimens of photographs in verifiable colours burnt in on glass, both
monochrome and polychrome. Microscopic photography, i.e., micro¬
scopic objects enlarged, is shown by Nos. 545, 546, and 548 to 563 ; whilst
Nos. 17, 18, 22*, and 927, refer to microscopic photographs, or photo¬
graphs which require tlie aid of the microscope to inspect them. Enlarge¬
ments b}r the solar camera are represented in Nos. 166, 277, 278, 282,
283, 288, 294, 295, 645, 646, 650, 657, and 658; whilst Warner (102, 106,
123, and 127) shows architectural and other views printed from enlarged
negatives.
On the south wall, and on tables, are exhibited the painted and coloured
photographs and stereoscopic Daguerreotypes.
- ■»! -
(Bx Ur it in it.
EXHIBITION OF THE SOUTH LONDON PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Although not a very large collection, that of the above Society
at the Crystal Palace is, at least, a very satisfactory one. Nearly
every branch of the art has its able representatives, both as
regards its productions and its processes; and, although many
very desirable names are absent from the catalogue whose pictures
would have been very valuable to the effect of the whole, on the
othe: hand, many are there whose presence in our photographic
exhibitions we have not before had the pleasure of greeting. We
doubt not that, as a very attractive addition to the many attrac¬
tions in science, art, and industry contained in the beautiful Palace
at Sydenham, this Photographic Exhibition will be largely appre¬
ciated.
Some of the works exhibited have already been censured and
praised, defended and criticised, in our own and in contemporary
pages ; of these, therefore, u7e shall say nothing, unless the little
we can add to what has already been said chance to be more or
less original. The catalogue shows us between sixty and seventy
exhibitors of somewhere about five hundred specimens. A large
number of these are reproductions from paintings and engravings,
contributed chiefly by Mr. Henry liering, of Regent Street, who,
with another enterprising photographic publisher, Mr. Gladwell, of
Gracechurch Street, contributes a larger number of specimens than
have been received from any other individual exhibitors. The pic¬
tures of the latter gentleman are very remarkable, and will excite
no small interest in very varied classes of spectators. Many of the
former’s copies are from indifferent prints, which have already had
their little day, and are not of sufficient artistic merit in themselves
to render their reproduction and perpetuation by photography a
matter of any great interest or particular desire, although others are
from choice copies of first-class engravings, rare and valuable in
themselves, and nearly all are extremely fine as examples of
photographic reproduction, being sharp, crisp, brilliant, and clean,
with the more delicate tints and lines well preserved, and the
deeper and more forcible passages given with all the intensity and
vigour of the very best and earliest proofs from the original plates.
Among the reproductions, which are the first things to greet us
on commencing our inspection, we find a very interesting one in No.
16, A Page from an Early Neivspaper (date 1759), exhibited by F.
Newbeny and Sons, and containing the advertisement of the well-
known Dr. James’s powders. W. Jeffreys (Nos. 24 to 26) exhibits
some very interesting reproductions of etchings by Albert Durer,
and one of a sketch by Turner, the same of which Air. Ruskin
gives a partial copy in his Elements of Drawing to illustrate the
increased effect gained in expressing character by judiciously
adopting the laws of pictorial composition. Some poor, weak,
woolly-looking specimens of reproductions, by Mr. T. Gregory,
June 16,T862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
233
prove that, for copying prints, the waxed-paper process is not
exactly the right thing in the right place.
The next screens introduce us to portraiture. Some large por¬
traits by Mr. C. T. Newcombe (the same as this gentleman
exhibits in the International photographic garret), taken direct,
are very bold, round, and vigorous, but lean rather towards the
coarse and hard. This is more observable in the portrait of that
very charming actress, Miss Sims, than in the picture of Messrs.
Toole and Bedford, the comedians: the former, we should think,
was a little spoilt in the printing.
Mr. Wright, who exhibits some rather inferior specimens of
commonplace portraiture, and some very poor attempts at group¬
ing and composition, ancl which, moreover, have been exhibited
more than once or twice at other exhibitions, or we are very much
mistaken, ostentatiously parades himself as being both artist and
photographer. A contemporary once remarked of this same gen¬
tleman that he had much to learn in both art and photography,
and we are of precisely the same opinion.
Some carte de visile pictures by Messrs. Maull and Polyblank are
certainly not the kind of productions we ought to expect from so
old and flourishing a photographic firm. Excelling in no one
photographic or artistic quality — many of them awkwardly posed,
few of them sharp, and none of them either delicate or forcible —
little can be said of these save that they are anything hut the
photographs we ought to expect from such a source.
Some card portraits, by Mr. Wall, are wanting in brilliancy and
roundness, and have a little too sombre and heavy an effect for
pictures of such a size and character; but the vignetted heads are
very soft and delicate, and one picture of a mother bending over a
little toddling child, indicating an almost instantaneous exposure,
is very successful. The best card-portraits on this screen are those
by Mr. C. T. Newcombe, and they are, undoubtedly, very excel¬
lent specimens. In these little pictures there are no such staring
monstrosities as deform the stages of booths at country fairs, and
may degrade photographic portraiture to a very similar level. The
accessories are, like the portrait, real, and could never be mistaken
for anything at all resembling the flat profile “ set pieces” of the
theatre : the backgrounds — generally plain, or nearly so — are
neither cut up with staring lines of pure black and unqualified
white, nor rendered painfully prominent by representing a mass of
incongruous objects crowded into a small space, which the figure
itself should have no difficulty in filling if well photographed and
artistically posed. As a protest against the too commonly adopted
abuses we have ventured above to denounce, Mr. Newcombe’s capital
pictures, like those of nearly all our best and most tasteful por¬
traitists, are refreshingly welcome.
As an example of the reverse side of the question there is No.
35, a large frame of card-pictures by Messrs. Bullock and Co., of
Leamington, in which, with photography by no means bad, we
have in combination, one or two of the most comical attempts
at pictorial background painting we have yet seen. These back¬
grounds are like nothing so much as the curly, well-gummed, much
elaborated landscapes sometimes seen in the shop windows, or hung
on the door-posts of certain artists — “in hair." Messrs. Bullock and
Co. should take a lesson from the card-pictures ot their talented
fellow-townsman Mr. Robinson, whose tasty little bits ot unpre¬
suming landscape backgrounds (sketched by himself) are about
the best models to which Ave could direct their attention.
Occupying the post of honour in the centre of the screen we
are examining, hangs No. 37, a very large composition picture,
Officers of the 8 Mh Regiment, valued at 150 guineas, and exhibited
by Mr. Brothers, of Manchester, representing a group ot forty-one
figures in various perfectly natural positions, but ranged in one
long line right across the picture : the size of this picture is about
48 X 21 inches. Having heard so much of this production, and
never having seen it before, we must confess to being very con¬
siderably disappointed. It is ingenious, displays great patience
and perseverance, is a mechanical wonder, perhaps ; but how it
came about that the Athenceum and other journals could award
such high praise to this picture for its artistic qualities we know
not. There is certainly an absence of affectation, a simple unpre¬
tending ease about the positions assumed which is very praise¬
worthy, very natural, and very pleasing, but little else we fear can
be said in its praise. The background is very neatly executed
with the parallel rule, indian ink, and compasses of some unam¬
bitious architectural draughtsman, and is, so far, geometrically
correct, perhaps, but — as is common to such work — has neither the
depth, relief, nor genuine breadth of chiaroscuro which combine to
form the picturesque. The portraits are all touched and are all
very flat and feeble in effect. For ingenuity, patience, good posing
of individual figures, and, above all, for the bold attempt, we can
conscientiously praise the producers of this large “ composition”
picture ; but we cannot avoid pointing out that something more is
required to constitute real artistic excellence in so ambitious and
difficult a department of the art.
J. de Mouxy exhibits a small case containing a photograph on
ivoiy, coloured, a vignette printed on a dark instead of a white
ground, and two copies from prints, glass positives. The ivory
picture is very nicely painted, but the vignette is ruined by the
brush of an “ artist,” who seemingly “touched” it with an idea
that “all flesh” was brass, very highly polished, and the ground is
much too dark.
A great number of large and excellent photographic bust por¬
traits of literary, operatical, and theatrical celebrities are exhibited
by Mr. J. Cf. Macandrew. These are very round and vigorous in
effect, and, with but few exceptions, are all well deserving of
praise, although in some cases the tones of the prints are too
coldly black, and in others the negatives have suffered from under¬
exposure.
No. 55, A Holiday in the Woods, by Mr. II. P. Robinson, is, to our
thinking, the most masterly, perfect, and beautiful specimen of
artistic and photographic composition that has yet been executed.
The lights and shadows in every part of the whole are in harmo¬
nious keeping ; the grouping is managed with the most con¬
summate pictorial knowledge and skill ; the story is most eloquently
told in all the various actions and incidents; the just perspective is
preserved in the relative sizes ot the figures; and almost the only
fault discernible is that which indicates a want of mechanical
skill and ingenuity in so contriving that the outlines made by the
scissors in cutting out the different figures should be lost or con¬
cealed, after the fashion of Rejlander. But, turning from this
charming picture to No. G4, another subject-piece by the same
artist, we are struck with dismay. Can it be possible that so
feeble an attempt can emanate from the same source? Here we
have a vacant-looking damsel, who, kneeling in her night-dress
before a table, lays her finger unmeaning!}* upon a smudge on a
shield, which, seemingly cut out of pasteboard, bears the heraldic
lion in a rampant condition on its front, and is placed conveniently
for the purpose upright before her. This is called “Elaine," and
bears a quotation from the Laureate’s “ Idylls of the King.” In
the first place, the exquisitely beautiful picture painted by Tenny¬
son is not realised even in the faintest degree. The vivid fancy
which pictures the danger of her warrior —
“And ah! God’s mercy ! what a stroke was there
And here a thrust that might have killed
and slirinkingly realises in the suggestions of the foemau’s blows
upon his shield all the teirible dangers of the strife — is exhibited
neither in the attitude nor in the expression of Mr. Robinson’s
model. In the next place the costume might have been historically
correct, and have been very much more picturesque in effect than
the indefinite any -period drapery in which this young lady’s form
is so completely lost. Dion Cassius’s description of Queen Boadicea
— generally given in any work on British costume — would have
furnished Mr. Robinson with many useful hints on this subject. In
the third place heraldic devices upon the shield were only invented
when, locked up in complete steel, the warriors had no other re¬
source left by which to make themselves known to their friends
and followers, therefore the rampant lion is out of place. And, once
again, the shape of the shield is one which we have every reason
to believe our rude forefathers never adopted— all the British
shields of which we have any account or relies remaining being
flat and circular, ornamented more or less with metal knobs and
bosses. In the British Museum a shield exists which might well
have served as a model for Launcelot’s.
No. 65, A Sleeping Child, by N. E. Fitch, one of our most suc¬
cessful amateur portraitists — whose amusing and useful paper we
recently published — represents a little fellow tired-out with play,
and so falling asleep. The flesh is very flesh-like, w hich is more
than can be said of all photographic portraits : the modelling is
remarkably fine, and the general effect very picturesque and pretty.
No. 73 'is Mr. Robinson’s now well-known Lady of Shalott.
Many valuable suggestions and just criticisms, as well as many
that were unjust and valueless, have already been proflered in
these and contemporary pages regarding this beautiful picture —
the poetry and sentiment of which are in perfect accordance with
those of the poem. The solemn gloom beneath the canopying
willows, through which the palid white-draped form of the lady
comes slowly and noiselessly gliding in her coffin-like boat is very
expressive, and one has but to imagine the using mists which
wait to veil her for ever from our eyes, and the sickly, greenish
234
[June 16, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
frleam of the fading twilight seen through the dark coles of the
trees and reflected in the water, to realise all the force and effect
of the embodied sentiments. The picture has faults which have
already been pointed out by other critics, and nothing now remains
for 'us to add to the list save mentioning the frequent, formal
repetition of parallel horizontal lines, and the unsubdued glare
of the killingly-white and opaque patches on the water, . the
latter being the most seriously defective of all its chronicled
shortcomings. Despite its failings (and what picture, be it paint¬
ing or photograph, is altogether without such) this is a very fine
specimen of the art’s more ambitious and latest aspirings, for
which, in behalf of photography and of its best and most earnest
friends, we very heartily thank our clever fellow-labourer Mr.
Robinson. If the reader desires to contrast a successful artist-
photographer’s works with an unsuccessful artist-painter’s, let him
visit this year’s Exhibition of the Royal Academy, and look at No.
359, a small oil picture, which is either a very palpable copy from
Mr. Robiuson’s Lady of Shalott, with a few alterations (which are
not improvements), of the most trivial description, or a most
unusually remarkable and astonishing coincidence of idea and
execution. The painting is as inferior to the photograph in all
the higher, as well as in all the less important, qualities of such a
picture as it well could be. R. A. S.
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.1'
and there that numerous interesting little “bits” as pictures for the stereo¬
scope can only be got at by the artist and operator visiting the various
little hamlets from directions obtained on the spot. Otterhain, about two
miles from Wainhouse Corner, has much that is available for photography.
Three fine views of the church may be taken : it is well situated for the pur¬
pose. These may include the rectory, old mill, barton, and various road¬
side scenes of tangled brake, shady lane, and dock-bound nooks — many of
the docks growing about here in clusters of seven or eight feet high. To
the east of Otterham, about four miles, is Warbstow. It was here on
Warbstow Barrow, an old fortification, with traces of outworks on three
sides, that John Wesley preached to assembled thousands. From the summit
of this strong earthwork the view is most imposing and grand, and would
be a good test for any panoramic lens, as the scene is uninterrupted all
round. On one side is the broad expanse of sea, Lundy Island, Hartland
Point, Moorwinstow, and a white house called “Chapel,” — built among
some trees, and an object in this district for thirty miles round, with the
intervening broken masses from Kilkhampton to Stratton ; on the other
side the eye glances over Bridestowe, Oakhampton, and various villages
with their churches and towers, to the Devonshire Dartmoor hills ;
while sweeping round to the left of Rouglitor and Brown Willy you have
Launceston, Werrington, Boynton, Whitstone, Holsworthy, and the high
and most conspicuous tower of Mary Week Church, — Warbstow Church,
with Treneglos, lie in the hollow below. A cottage just at the edge
of the Barrow road might be used to prepare wet plates. An inn at
Can worthy Water can be made a resting-place ; and from that the tourist
or operator can pass on to Launceston, Stratton, Holsworthy, Bade, and
various other intermediate places.
- » — -
By Our Own Pioneer.
ROUND ABOUT THE CORNISH COAST.
Those tourists and artists who have time at command may make a
variety of studies round and upon Tresparrot Down, where a small
inn affords good quarters ; and, as many conveyances are often passing
by, luggage could be sent on to Bude or Launceston. Groups of sheep,
cows, horses, and goats, may be taken on several parts of the moorside;
while blocks of three or four cottages, an old barton, sheltered by trees,
and broken dwarf walls, fill up the distances. The guide or directing-
posts about here are, for stereoscopic purposes, better calculated to pro¬
duce roundness and effect than any to be met with elsewhere ; the
fingers or boards on which the names of places are painted being very
broad, and the lettering bold and clear — black on a white ground — the up¬
rights strong and solid, mostly erected at the fork of two or more roads,
with a good way-side cottage, water-well, old outhouse, and a tree or so
to fill up the sides; while, in some cases, broad openings in the hedge
show in the distance an old church tower and white-washed village.
Ah ait two miles from the Down, or the inn — which is generally known as
“Sparrot Post” — is a place called St. Gennis, which will give a good series
of pictures. The Church Town, as it is called, is an admirable subject.
It may be as well to note that all places -where the church is erected, if
there be only one cottage or so, are invariably called “ Church Town.”
The St. Gennis Church is a small building of early English character,
without a tower, — the west end having a low ivy-bound, pent-house
top. This the antiquary may regret, but the artist will like it, as it adds
much to its picturesque appearance. The great bluff called “Cambeak,”
and the Dazzard Head, with the fine point of Tremoutha Haven, are about
two miles from here ; but Crackerton is the most noticeable point of all —
tin broad, deep bay surrounded on one side by slopes covered with ver¬
dure, a few jutting craigs, and some goats ; the other side having a
wild, precipitous, and savage aspect ; the bluffs to the right, rising in
gigantic proportions, while the left shelve down gently to the old quaint
mill, with its timber-lect, and dark water-wheel ; the scattered huts of
a few labourers and one or two boatmen, add to the scene and form a
go d point. This view has been (pictorial ly) spoiled by the erection of a
n house in all the ugly proportions of plaster, red bricks, and the
’’‘ ■"•d Btiffni is of line and rule : the best thing in its favour is that, from
the loft window over the stable many instantaneous views could be
tak.'ii (permission would he readily granted for using the same), when all
tenting would be superseded, and such pictures as the following could be
“waves dashing over a sandy beach” — “waves breaking
among the broken cliffs” — “rising waves and foam-dashed rocks” —
e« beating up in full sail,” &c., &c. ; or, should the tide
ho out and the weather calm and serene, an immense expanse of
looking towards Lundy Island — sand-gatherers with donkeys, and
1 v - •** 1 w. men hauling in sea-weed— large masses of wreck half-buried
in the sand- -mossed and darkened sides of huge boulders heaped round
and about in that confusion so much desired by the artist— these can be
old
i.vl in perfection ; while up the valley rough stone water courses,
l'M,t 1,1 '• 1 ' • !; ! '• s and banks overgrown with briar and young ash’
to bo met with at different turns of either the high or low road. ’
piece calk 1 "Wainhouse Corner” is a convenient resting-place.
1 1 ■ is pl< nty of room in the inn, and a good supply of water for any
l'h"t .graphic purpose. From here High Cliff may be conveniently reached,
• 85 f< et above the sea : the wild roaring of the dashing
ftnd the shrill scream of the sea birds being the only sounds.
nanJ®# 1,1 many Cornish places begin with “Tie,” “ Pen ” and
i Ot —a3 Iresnewth, Penhale, Polperro— and are so scattered about here
Continued from page 212.
Illcftinqs of Sandies.
LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The final meeting of this Society for the session of 1861 -2 tookplace at
King’s College, on Tuesday evening, the 23rd instant, — Professor C. B.
Vignoles, Esq., F.R.S., in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The following gentlemen were ballotted for and duly elected members
of the Society : — Messrs. Lenthall, Thomas Fenn, J. MacLcan, and
Charles Roberts.
The Secretary reminded the members that Mr. reter Le Neve Foster,
who occupied the chair at the last meeting, had stated that the prints
shown by Mr. Warner, of Poss, were not taken from negatives obtained
bv enlargement. He (the Secretary) now desired, at the request of Mr.
Warner, to correct that statement : the negatives were enlargements
from pictures about 3^ X 2 J.
The Chairman directed attention to the following objects of interest
sent for exhibition that evening : — An instantaneous shutter, exhibited by
Mr. Dallmeyer ; some photographs of Turner’s pictures, by Mr. Thurston
Thompson ; a large collodio-albumen view of St. Paul's , by Mr. Sands ;
views of Australia, by Mr. Haigk ; portraits of the Japanese Ambassadors,
exhibited by Mr. Kater, and photographed by Messrs. Caldesi and Co.,
views of Genoa, by Messrs. Fothergill and Branfill ; view of Cripple's
Home , by Mr. Greenish ; and some oil-coloured enlargements, by Mr.
Gilling. The latter were full-length portraits of the kit-kat size, or
about 24 X 19, enlarged from cartes de visite: the colouring was of a
high order of merit, and was stated to have been effected without alter¬
ing the likeness.
Among the portraits of the Japanese Ambassadors some were taken in
an entirely new size for full-length portraits, and were called the “ new
album portrait.” The dimensions of the actual photograph were 6 X 3J
and the length of the figure about 5 inches.
Mr. Dallmeyer observed, in reference to the instantaneous shutter,
that, although it afforded him great pleasure to introduce the apparatus
to the meeting, he ought to say that it was not his own invention, but
had been constructed by Mr. Mann, of Bruce Castle, Tottenham: it
possessed the advantage of allowing a more effective exposure in a given
time than any shutter yet introduced. He would call attention to a
modification of it constructed in such a way as to serve also as a hood
for the lens. It would he seen that the portion first opened was the
greater area of the field, and that first closed was the lesser area; so that
it really gave a longer exposure in the same time than any other shutter —
the springs being delicately adjusted, also, there was not the least shaking.
M. Claudet then read his papers On the Enlargement of Photographs,
and Bide for Finding at once both the Distances of Negative and Sensitive
Surface for any Degree of Enlargement , and vice versa [see pages 2 25 and
229], which were illustrated by throwing the enlarged images obtainable
from negatives and jiositives on to a moveable screen which he had
brought for the purpose, and also on the wall of the room. The arrange¬
ments necessary for these illustrations, which were ver}T effective,
occupied so much time that the discussion which followed was neces¬
sarily a very brief one. Before it commenced, however, M. Claudet
somewhat astonished the members by removing the cracks from spoilt
negatives by an operation of extreme simplicity, which consisted in
rubbing charcoal powder over the negative with some cotton wool. In
opening the discussion,
The Chairman felt constrained to exjiress the great pleasure it had
afforded him to listen to M. Claudet’s very interesting paper, and he
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
235
was sure he should be only giving1 expression to the feelings of the mem¬
bers generally in saying so. M. Claudet’s contributions to photographic
science were by no means few or unfrequent, and were always of a
valuable kind. The present communication was, he thought, in every
way worthy of those hitherto received from M. Claudet. He (the Chair¬
man) would be glad to hear any remarks which members had to offer on
the matter then before the meeting.
Mr. Heatii desired to say a few words in reference to M. Claudet’s
paper. It would doubtless be remembered by those who were present at
the last meeting that he (Mr. Heath) had undertaken, with the view of
demonsti’ating the advantages of his method of operating, to produce an
enlarged picture from the same negative as M. Claudet; and, in sub¬
mitting his results to the meeting, he must say that, in his own opinion,
he could not have had a better advocate for his (Mr. Heath’s) method
than M. Claudet himself. He (Mr. Heath) had explained his method of
operating at the last meeting : he would not therefore occupy the time of
the members that evening by going into detail, but would simply observe
that it consisted in taking a transparent positive one-half the enlarge¬
ment required from the original negative, placing that positive where
the negative first stood, and enlarging it to twice its size, by which
means he, of course, obtained a negative from which he could print
any number of pictures such as he then submitted for the in¬
spection of members. Those operations were capable of being per¬
formed in any weather by directing the camera towards the north
light : and therein, he thought, consisted one of the points of superiority
of his (Mr. Heath’s) method over the one followed when the solar camera
was used ; for, whereas M. Claudet had only that evening used the word
“ despair ” in reference to the delay in his operations, caused by the
absence of direct solar rays, he (Mr. Heath) would take his pictures on any
winter’s day with perfect success. In submitting his results for inspec¬
tion by the members, he wished to say that it was not done with any
antagonistic feeling, but solely with the object of arriving at a decision
on a scientific subject, by eliciting the truth connected with it. He
would then put into the President’s hands the pictures he had obtained for
that evening’s meeting, and, without indulging undue conceit, he might,
he thought, be pardoned for saying that he did so with the utmost confi¬
dence. M. Claudet had brought a similar enlargement, which he sub¬
mitted in the same spirit of friendly rivalry ; and he (Mr. Heath) would,
without hesitation, pass them together round to the members, and let
them view each as a whole, or take any similar part in the two pictures
and compare them. He thought they would not be long in coming to a
decision as to which was the better picture.
A Member observed that Mr. Heath’s method of operating was known
to everyone before the solar camera was introduced.
Mr. Heath, in reply, wished it to be distinctly understood, that although
he had the pleasure of originating the discussion on the subject at the
last meeting, he did not claim anything new, except a few minor details
in his method. He would say again that, when compared with the solar
camera, it possessed marked advantages — he being able to do his work at
an}T time, and those who used the solar camera being dependent for suc¬
cess on direct sunlight. It should be remembered, also, that M. Claudet’s
method was one of development, Avhile he (Mr. Heath), having once
obtained his negative, could print any number of copies in the usual way.
He wished to make one other remark in reference to focussing. At the.
last meeting he had used a lens made by Mr. Dallmeyer, who supplied
the equivalent focus of it : he (Mr. Heath) had used a scale attached to
his camera, the graduations in which were made in accordance with and
founded on the equivalent focus of the lens, lie could not help thinking
that this was a simpler method than the scale and tape suggested by
M. Claudet. As evidence of its accuracy in working he would direct
attention to the thread marks in the curtain of the picture, which he
then handed to the Chairman.
Mr. Mayall said he had been engaged a great number of years in the
practice of photography, and in the exercise of both the methods of
enlargement under the consideration of the meeting that evening, and,
as the result of his experience, he had come to the conclusion that,
although the solar camera possessed one or two defects, he still had no
doubt that the solar camera, after undergoing sundry improvements
now in progress, would be far superior to any other arrangement for
enlarging. He might mention, notwithstanding the difference of opinion
entertained by Mr. Shadbolt on this point, that it had the advantage of
admitting of enlargement to almost any extent without distortion. He
(Mr. Mayall) could not but regard the method followed by Mr. Heath
as roundabout, when, by means of the solar camera, an image even
twenty-five feet high might be obtained, quite free from distortion.
The present requirements of the solar camera, in order to make it a
perfect instrument, were, lie thought, a lens precisely adapted to the con¬
denser, larger and purer paper, or paper better albumenised. When
those desiderata were secured, he felt no doubt that solar camera en¬
larged pictures would be obtained far superior to any other method. He
must say that, remembering that he had some years ago given great dis¬
satisfaction to the Society by asserting that the solar camera was not
new, he had come with some little curiosity to sec and. hear the proceed¬
ings at the present meeting. He held in his hand a duplicate of a solar
camera, made some fifteen years ago for Hr. Carpenter, by Mr. W illatts,
of Cheapside; and he might mention that that was, in point of fact,
the origin of the present solar camera for enlarging portraits. He
was aware that he might go back still further, and revert to the days of
Tully’s solar microscope ; but he thought the present instrument was
sufficient to illustrate the fact that Woodward’s solar camera was not a
new invention. He had shown that very instrument to Mr. Woodward
when he was in London, with the view of undeceiving him as to the
idea he seemed to entertain of his being the original inventor. He (Mr.
Mayall) thought there was sufficient interest attaching to the little
apparatus which he then exhibited to make it a suitable thing for him to
offer for the acceptance of the Society which he had much pleasure in
doing, merely stipulating that Mr. Willatt’s name should be mentioned
as the maker, and the fact stated that it was of similar construction to
the one made also by Mr. Willatts for Dr. Carpenter. He (Mr. Mayall)
intended to have brought some photographs on plain and salted paper,
which would have happily illustrated and supported the opinions he had
expressed, but he had been unfortunately prevented. He might say, in
conclusion, that in justice to a new invention or application of an old
one, they ought to push it forward to perfection rather than go back to
what they already knew to be imperfect and troublesome. He had
obtained with pure paper, by the method he advocated, results as good in
one or two hours as those obtained in the pressure-frame from a nega¬
tive. He knew that there were several eminent investigators then
engaged in experiments, with the object of perfecting the solar camera,
and he had no doubt their efforts would be ultimately crowned with
success. He might add that the efforts made by Mr. Atkinson, of
Liverpool, to render the solar camera suitable for use in this country
were in every way deserving of praise.
Mr. Warner, who advocated Mr. Heath’s method of manipulating,
reminded the members that M. Claudet said he had waited nine months
for the sun; now he (Mr. Warner) had commenced his operations on a
rainy day in February, using a quarter-inch stop. He thought the
reflected light obtained from wet objects had materially tended to the
success of his operations.
Mr. Heath, in reference to a remark which had been made during the
evening-, craved permission to explain that in introducing his method to
the notice of the Society he had been actuated solely by the desire to
communicate what had proved in his hands a superior method to any
hitherto in use for enlarging small pictures to 12 by 10 ; and as such was
the case an unprejudiced glance at the subject must convince anyone that
it was not a question of his method versus the solar camera method,
since he had not questioned the value of the solar camera at all, but had
only stated what he conceived to be the advantages of his own.
The Chairman, in rising to propose the usual vote of thanks to
M. Claudet, desired incidentally to remind the members that there were
other countries on which the sun shone with greater brilliancy and
frequency than in England, and there the solar camera might doubtless
be worked with unvarying success. In reference to M. Claudet’s
focussing scale, he might, as a mathematician, express his opinion that it
was mathematically correct. He was sure the members would unite
with him in passing a cordial vote of thanks to that gentleman for his
interesting and valuable communications.
The thanks of the Society were unanimously accorded to M. Claudet.
Mr. Mayall would briefly observe that direct sunlight was not impera¬
tively necessary in working a solar camera, but that the reflected light
obtained from a bright white cloud was sufficient.
Mi-. Dallmeyer alluded to a contractible stop invented by Mr. Dafft
about four years ago, intended originally as a torsion valve, but which he
(Mr. Dallmeyer) thought if applied as a diaphragm to a lens would be
found to act even more efficiently than the one described by M. Claudet.
The thanks of the Society having been given to Mr. Mayall for the
instrument he had presented that evening, the proceedings terminated.
The next meeting of the Society will take place on Tuesday, 7th Nov.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The final meeting of this Society for the session 1861-2, took place at the
City of London College, on Thursday Evening, the 12tli instant, — the
Rev. F. F. Statham, President, in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Borchert, who, while declining
to continue in office as a member of the Committee, expressed the
pleasure he had enjoyed in intercourse with the members of it with whom
lie had been associated, and also the gratification afforded him in wit¬
nessing the success of the Society in its Exhibition of photographs at the
Crystal Palace.
Mr. J. J. Cole desired to withdraw his name from the list of the Com¬
mittee, but would freely place his chambers in Essex Street, Strand, at
their disposal, when a central place of meeting should be found desirable.
The President then called on the Secretary to read the
ANNUAL RETORT.
At the conclusion of this, the third year of its existence, your Committee hare much
pleasure in assuring you of the satisfactory and promising aspect of the Society's affairs.
At our last three or four meetings we elected sixteen new members, many of whom
have already displayed the most laudable activity in forwarding the interests of the
Society. At no one of our pleasant monthly meetings have we lacked either an inte¬
resting and useful paper, or the elements necessary for originating an animated discus¬
sion ; and ouv Treasurer's account will show that, despite unusually heavy expenses,
we have, for the first time, a balance in our favour. The papers read were as follows : —
Oct. 10. — Photography at the International Exhibition of 1S62. C. Jabez Hughes,
Vice-President.
Oct. 10.— On the Photogenie Action of Colour, Thomas Clarke.
236
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 16, 1862
Snr 14 -On Mounting Photographs. G. W. Simpson, Vice-President.
Dcc' jo— A Prologue for the Season. 4. -Blanchard.
t Mil o —On Mealiness in Toning. S. Fry. .
p'eb 91 _ On the Manufacture of Collodion. S. Davis, Vice-President.
13— The Experiences of an Amateur in Portraiture. N. E. Pitch.
tY, il 10 -On Photograph 'c Reproductions. A. II. Wall. Hon -Secretary.
g ' _ On the Use of Bromides in Collodion. V. Blanchard. .
Tile Committee take this opportunity of thanking the authors of the above for their
cenerous labour in the Society’s behalf. It is hoped that the useful little papers which
were first introduced to our meetings by Mr. Hannaford, under the title of “Photo¬
graphic jottings,” will not be entirely absent from our next year s list of papers as they
01 Th^Soc/et veins' another source of gratification in the successfully-organised Exhibition
at the Sydenham Crystal Palace, which, it is hoped, will be the first of a series of annual
exhibitions, each at least equalling it in the number of contributors and in the quality of
the conti ibutions • for it should not be forgotten that painting, sculpture, engraving, and
other branches of fine art, all date their prosperity and influence from the establishment
of periodical exhibitions. The present Exhibition of this Society has been brought to its
very satisfactory position mainly by the untiring energy of the Exhibition Sub-Committee,
to t lie members forming which, and to the Secretary of the Society who assisted them,
the best thanks of the Committee are very gratefully awarded.
The Committee also desire to express their thanks to those gentlemen, friends and
members of the Society, who have kindly contributed to the folio during the past year.
*■ Special thanks are also due to Mr. Samuel Fry, Mr. C. Jabez Hughes, and Mr. J. J. Cole,
to whose kindness the Society is indebted for the gratuitous use of apartments in which
the Committee and Sub-Committee have held somewhat frequent meetings.
Availing themselves of the present opportunity, the Committee also desire to thank the
exhibitors whose productions are now at the Society’s Exhibition.
Among the few sources of regret which have arisen during the past season have been the
retirement from an active participation in the proceedings of the Society in consequence
of a change of residence— of our Vice-President, Mr. C. Jabez Hughes ; and that of one
of the most active members of the Experimental Sub-Committee, Mr. Hannaford. We
have another source of such feeling in the fact of our Secretary and Treasurer having
tendered their resignations. The Society owes its existence primarily to the efforts of
these "entlcrnen, and having now he'd office tor three years, their retirement cannot but
prove a sou- ce of regret to the members generally. It is part of this evening’s business
therefore to elect their successors.
In reviewing, as is usual, the progress of photography during the past year, we find
«urh progi ess'chieflv made palpable in an artistic direction. No new scientific facts of
particular importance have been developed in connexion with the art— no particular
novelty in process or apparatus has been introduced to notice ; but in every depai tmeut,
artistic, chemical, and optical, very rapid strides have been made in the direction of
pictorial truth and beauty. Every paper read at our own meetings, and nearly every paper
,ead before kindred associations, have had their bearing more or less direct on the per¬
fection of photographs as pictures; and in the photographic journals the principles of art
in their applications to landscape and figure compositions have received regular and
contour <1 attention. We think this is an advancement in the right direction.
The claims of photography as a fine art have been put prominently forward since our
lost annual met ting, and no* little controversy has arisen in all quarters from the fact of
the Commissioners of the International Exhibition having classified photography under
the term “ mechanical.” The Central Society took an active part in opposing such an
arra gement, and called upon all Societies devoted to the art to join them in protesting
against its injustice. In reply to a circular letter from Dr. Diamond, the South London
Society, while thanking and applauding the Council of the Central Society for the energy
and character of its proceedings, and fully approving the object thereof, expressed a
hope that it (»hc Central Society) would not take such steps as might tend to exclude
British photography from competing upon equal terms with its foreign brethren and
rivals. The c mtroversy between the Commissioners and the Council of the Central
8odi tv. which commenced in the May previous, having terminated very unsatisfactorily
in August last, and all appearances seeming to argue the entire neglect of the interests
ol pictography, so far as regarded its connexion with this country and the Great Exhi¬
bition, the South London Society took action in the matter, and memorialised Her
x f . • ■ • « t % s Commissioners, urging the importance of making immediate arrangements
ulii. li might induce photographers to co-operate in the production of such a result as
should best serve the art, and do most honour to the country. Steps similar to those
proposed in the memorial were taken by the Commissioners, and shortly after their
S ‘, refarv Mr. Sandford, politely acknowledged its receipt.
Much dissatisfaction lias been pretty generally and pretty justly expressed with the
jv mion assigned to British photography in the international Exhibition. The art has
1>- on located in the smaller portion of a comparatively small apartment, situated in the
mo.f remote part of the building, and approached by a most uninviting entrance, with
s arc lv a notice to indicate where it may possibly lead to, the said entrance appearing
rim c like the opening to a ventilating shaft than anything of greater consequence.
Despite the insult to which photographers generally have been subjected in the eata-
b-gue classification, however, photography is to the full ns attractive as any other portion
< t the great show, and will undoubtedly carry off high honours, of which the share of
this country will be by no means insignificant; for, contrary to public expectation,
British photography ranks proudly with the best, of its foreign companions.
The nut-door meetings, which were so pleasantly taken advantage of during our past
recess, wilt be resumed during the present, only instead of meeting once a month, it is
posed thnt we met t once a week ; and, to avoid some of the chances which led to no
elmicinu and disappointment last year, the dates and places of meeting, with
the h>mr at which we shall assemble, xx ill be announced before the close of this evening’s
proceedings.
P • presentatmn print selected for the past year, in pursuance of the plan adopted by
managing (5 iramittee, of selecting from the works of some eminent photographer
.. specimen illustrative - f n distinct phase cf the art in connexion with some one dis-
• selected from the works of Mr. H. P. Robinson, of Leamington,
Ixung a landscape by the wet process.
At tin conclusion of the reading of the Report, the President invited
Mr. Howard, the Treasurer, to read his Report.
Mr. Howard snid that numerous engagements had prevented his draw-
in j up a formal report. He had much pleasure, however, in submitting
hi - B tinner sheet. It would probably he remembered that the last balance-
>ht 1 show d n deficit of £3 10s., the present one, however, he washappy
to announce, showed a surplus of j69 lfis. lid. [This intelligence was
received w ith enthusiastic expressions of gratification by the members.]
ibnted this surplus to the fact that the Journal was not now sent
to the members ns heretofore ; but ho felt asshred that the members
w id 1 e nsider that an equivalent had been fully secured by the issuing
to each member of a season ticket for the Crystal Palace. ITis (the
T' - i,U] ncoounts had been carefully examined by the gentlemen
(Messrs. Harmer and Hart) appointed as auditors, and if, after exarni-
1 '■ , ! tbe balance sheet, which he now handed round, any member
desired tnrthor information, he should be happy to give it.
' BUM AW, after the unanimous adoption of the Reports read by
the Secretary and Treasurer, felt that the members would all agree in
regarding them as highly satisfactory in every respect ; and he thought it
matter for unfeigned regret that, after the rendering of such reports, the
Society should have to consider the resignation of the two officers who were
mainly instrumental in bringing about a I’esult so gratifying. The mem¬
bers generally would not be insensible to the magnitude of the labours
undertaken by these gentlemen in concert with the Committee of the
Society, and it could not fail to be a source of satisfaction to them, as a
body, to reflect on the complete success which had attended the South
London Photographic Society’s Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. While
expressing what he felt must he the sincere regret of every member
at the resignation of their excellent Secretary, Mr. Wall, he felt sure
he need not remind them of his unflagging diligence. That gentleman
had been present at every meeting, prepared the minutes of all the
proceedings, and during the intervals had exerted himself in securing
papers for the meetings which were to follow’. His (Mr. Wall's) services
had been so efficient in every way, that without derogating from tho
capabilities or willingness of a possible successor, he doubted if they
should find a gentleman so well suited to the duties, aud he would
suggest that Mr. AVall be invited to retain the office, and that an Assist¬
ant- S ecreta ry he appointed to share his labours. He (the President)
was sorry that he should have to give expression to similar senti¬
ments with reference to the Society’s worthy Treasurer, Mr. Howard.
As, however, that gentleman felt that his numerous engagements
were incompatible rvith his continuance in office, the members must
indulge the hope that they would find an efficient successor in
Mr. N. E. Fitch. He (the President) might be allowed to say
for himself that he should like also to have withdrawn his name,
siuce he felt that gentlemen might be found better acquainted with
the science for the advancement of which the Society was founded,
than himself; moreover, his duties in the large parish of which
he had the spiritual charge prevented him from giving that attention
to the subject which he desired; he should long ago have stained
his fingers with the nitrate of silver if time permitted. If, hoAvevcr,
the members thought that the little attention he could bestow, and
the exercise of common sense, as distinct from practical knowledge of the
subject, would be useful to them, his services were at the disposal of the
Society, and he would allow his name to remain attached to the office of
President, upon the condition that his occasional attendance only should
be expected.
Mr. Clark Westfield had much pleasure in proposing votes of thanks
to the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and in doing so he felt
sure he was only giving expression to the sentiments of the members
generally.
Mr. Simpson, in rising to second the proposition of Mr. AVestneld,
could only re-echo the expressions of regret made by the President at the
resignation of Mr. Wall and Mr. Howard. He might add that he had
endeavoured to induce Mr. AVall to continue in office with the assistance
of an aspirant who would enter his noviciate under that gentleman’s
guidance, and if now he was finally unsuccessful he was glad to be able
to propose Mr. Harman as Secretary.
Mr. Martin seconded the proposition.
Mr. AVall, though willing to take all the honour, if any one else would
do the work, would say that there would he practical difficulties in the
way of such an arrangement. Members, for instance, if addressing
letters to him as Secretary, would not altogether like being replied to by
another person : on the whole, therefore, the gentleman who undertook
the labour should also have the honour.
After some desultory discussion, the following gentlemen were elected
as officers for the ensuing year : —
President — Rev. F. F. Statham.
Vice-Presidents — Mr. Davis, Mr. G. W. Simpson, and Mr. AVall.
Committee— -Messrs. Ackland, Blanchard, Foxlee, Harmer, Howard,
Leake, Martin, and Newcombe.
Treasurer — Mr. N. E. Fitch.
Secretary — M r. Harman, 3, Albert Cottages, Hill-street, Peckham.
Mr. Martin proposed, and Mr Simpson seconded, that the Committee
meetings should take place on the same evenings as the general meet¬
ings of the Society, one hour before the commencement of the usual
proceedings.
The proposal was adopted, Mr. Wall only dissenting therefrom.
The thanks ol the Society were recorded for the services of those
gentlemen who, as Vice-Presidents, had been so constant in their at¬
tendance at the meetings, and so active in forwarding the arrangements
connected with the Crystal Palace Exhibition.
After a somewhat lengthened discussion, the following jolaces were
appointed for the out-door meetings of the Society during the recess.
These meetings are appointed to take place on the first and third Satur¬
day in every month, as near one o’clock as possible:
1. J ack Straw’s Castle, Hampstead Heath, to be reached by omnibus ; or
2. Richmond Station, by rail from AVatcrloo Station.
3. Charlton, by North Kent line from London Bridge.
4. Beckenham Station, by Mid-Kent line.
5. The Eagle, Snaresbrook, from Shoreditch Station.
fi. Barnet, by omnibus, or by Great Northern Railway.
Mr. Martin proposed a general meeting of the members at the Crystal
Palace on the last Saturday in September.
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
237
The first meeting of the Committee will take place on the third Friday
in September, at 433, Strand, at seven o’clock, to consider the arrange¬
ments connected with the general meeting proposed by Mr. Martin, to
take place at the Crystal Palace.
After this announcement the meeting separated.*
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The ordinary meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday, the 4th
inst., 1862, — John Parry, Esq., “Vice-President, in the chair.
Mr. Consterdine presented two views for the Society’s portfolio, and
which were interesting as illustrating the process of Messrs. Petschler
and Mann. The pictures were much admired ; and, although the exposure
given for the negatives was considered to be beyond that required for
collodio-albumen, the process certainly improved in general estimation.
Mr. Wardley remarked that the length of exposure required was,
perhaps, due to the condition of the collodion. In the Taupenot process
that was not an element that affected the result; but it was otherwise with
this, for which a sensitive collodion was required for the most rapid results
Mr. Consterdine also showed some pictures obtained by the microscopic
apparatus, explained by Mr. Parry at a recent meeting of the Society, and
the instrument which he had constructed was handed round the room.
The Chairman showed the last result of his experiments in panoramic
photography, with an ordinary view lens. In the negative exhibited to
the members the joining of the two pictures could scarcely be perceived.
He stated that he was persevering with that method of obtaining pictures,
and should be able, he believed, to produce satisfactory specimens at the
next meeting, and he would then go fully into the subject. At present
he would merely observe that the two pictures were taken with one lens,
and that he did not cause them to overlap each other.
Mr. Noton stated that he had an aceto-nitrate bath, which after it had
assumed the brown tint which follows the immersion of albumenised
plates, became quite colourless ; but upon adding acetic acid it again
became discoloured.
Mr. Wardley said that the usual bath for the Taupenot process always
behaved in that manner when the acetic acid had gone off by evaporation :
the more acid that the bath contained the dai’ker would he its colour.
Taupenot plates, he added, might be excited in a neutral bath which would
retain its purity, but they would not keep.
Mr. Offer asked whether that plan would not also induce blisters ?
Mr. Wardley thought not. In reference to blisters, he observed that they
might frequently be avoided by increasing the strength of the silver bath.
Mr. Noton said that during the last cold weather he had been troubled
much with blisters.
Mr. Wardley said that in all photographic processes great attention
should be paid to the temperature of the laboratory, when it fell below
60° difficulties were certain to arise.
Mr. Hebert had observed that humidity in the atmosphere was a great
cause of blisters: he had noticed that steam arising from the hand during
the coating of the plate often induced them.
Mr. Petschler said a deposit of moisture must of course take place
if the plate were colder than the atmosphere.
Mr. Rogerson said that photographers were in the habit of holding the
plate too near the mouth, and a condensation of moisture was therefore
inevitable. He thought it a good plan to warm the plate slightly before
coating it with collodion. It was also a common practice to hold the plate
at one corner, and there the film was always loose because the moisture
from the thumb prevented the collodion from actual contact with the glass.
It Avas generally thought that much in photographic operations de¬
pended upon the temperature of the room, to Avhich Mr. Rogerson added
“ and that of the operator.”
Mr. Petschler exhibited some prints taken from negatives on Dr.
Norris’s dry plates. The subjects were exceedingly interesting, they being
groups of ladies and gentlemen taken during a recent excursion of the
members of the Field Naturalists’ Society.
Mr. Noton said that in working with his double albumen process he
had been making some attempts to get iodide of silver into the film by
placing it in the albumen previously to coating the plate — his object be¬
ing to open out the material.
Mr. Wardley thought if the thing could be accomplished Avithout
detriment to the picture that it would not be likely to answer the end in
view. He thought that it Avould rather tend to harden the film.
Votes of thanks having been accorded to Mr. Consterdine and the
Chairman, the meeting Axras brought to a close.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A special meeting of this Society Avas held in the Religious Institution
Rooms on the 29th ult.
After the minutes of the previous meeting had been read by the Secre¬
tary, and approved of by the Society,
The Chairman read the requisition for a special meeting, signed by ten
members, in accordance Avith rule 17, for the purpose of considering a
motion for the dissolution of the Society : he also read the circular calling
the meeting. Having done so, he remarked : — It is now my painful duty to
* Note,— -Mr. Worman will oblige the Secretary by furnishing his address.
call upon the gentleman who is to propose the motion for the dissolution
of a Society of Avhich at one time Ave had so much hope ; but which, owing
to a feeling of dissatisfaction having arisen among its members, has
suffered much from causes too Avell known, as also the utter failure of all
attempts to overcome that feeling. Such being the case, although the
most extreme measure, it seems to me now the only one we can adopt.
Mr. Hugh Maofarlane then read the motion — “ That this Society be
dissolved, its rules having been found unsatisfactory and deficient by the
majority of the members.”
Mr. John Spencer, Jun., seconded the motion, which being put to the
meeting Avas individually and unanimously carried.
A conversation followed on the best means of disposing of the Society’s
property and funds.
On the proposition of Mr. James Stuart, a Committee of three gentle¬
men was appointed to wind up the Society’s affairs.
Mr. J. Jex Long proposed a vote of thanks to the Secretary, Mr. J.
Ewing, which Avas seconded in very complimentary terms by Mr. Mactear,
Mr. Ewing briefly replied, craving a vote of thanks for the members of
the Council and other office-bearers, Avhich Avas Avarmly awarded, and also
to the Vice-President for his conduct in the chair.
The City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society was
thus dissolved.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF MARSEILLES.
The final meeting of this Society, for the session 1861-2, took place on
the 2nd inst., under the presidency of M. Gabriel, Avho, after the admis¬
sion of neAV members, congratulated the Society on the steady increase
which Avas observable in their numbers.
The Secretary, having opened the correspondence, mentioned the
letter of congratulation addressed to M. PoiteA’in in accordance Avith the
expressed wishes of the members at the last meeting.
Letters were read from the following gentlemen : — M. Oppenheim, of
Dresden, on some precautions to be observed in working his process for
transparent positives on glass ; and M. Cathala, of Paris, advising the
Society of the despatch of some samples (since received) of photographic
products, chemically pure.
M. Vidal, in thanking M. Cathala in the name of the Society, directed
the attention of the members to the happy results likely to follow the
employment of pure chemicals. Manufacturers, at least, would be freed
from the imputation which generally attached to them as each new failure
occurred, and amateurs and professionals would work with a fuller assu¬
rance of success, inasmuch as they would have at their disposal absolutely
pure products, the proportions of which, according to certain determined
formula!, would yield almost invariably the same combinations.
A special Committee, composed of MM. Jacquemet, Vidal, Meynier, and
M. Cathala, and report upon them at the next meeting.
MM. Gazin and Co. gave notice, by letter, to the Society, that in future
they Avould supply all salts of gold and silver under the guarantee of a
commercial assayer.
M. Vidal expressed his gratification at this notice, tending, as it did, to
support the observations he had made relative to the products sent by
Thobert, Avould make a comparative examination of the products sent by
M. Cathala.
M. Jacquemet desired to read a letter from Dr. Sabatier, on positives
by reflection and transmission.
The second part of this memoir elicited marked attention from the
Society. M. Vidal reviewed what was most interesting in this commu¬
nication, and urged the members to experiment on a process the practical
utility of Avhich was incontestable, if the phenomena indicated by Dr.
Sabatier Avere produced in a constant manner.
A memoir, entitled Photography in the Army, was laid on the table, but
tfie advanced hour precluded the possibility of reading it. M. Hudelet
was invited to make a summary of the contents, and report thereupon at
the next meeting.
The thanks of the Society were accorded to Dr. Sabatier.
The President laid on the table two pamphlets presented by their
authors to the Society — one on enlargement, by M. Charles Chevalier,
and the other a resume of the various processes of producing photogra¬
phic impressions Avithout salts of silver, by M. Poitevin. These gifts
were received by the Society with thanks.
M. Jacquemet proceeded to open the French publications of the month,
and directed especial attention to the various efforts made to perfect the
dry collodion processes. This resume, habitually made by M. Jacquemet,
interested the Society very much. One process for transparent positives,
by M. Poitevdn, commanded special attention. This process, as it
borrowed also the aid of light during development, the same as Dr.
Sabatier’s, possessed the greatest interest. The thanks of the Society
Avere accorded to M. Jacquemet, aud M. Tissot was invited to undertake
a similar task for the next meeting.
The members generally were then invited to introduce any matters of
interest they might have to bring before the Society.
M. Meynier introduced an instantaueous shutter of the most perfect
action; also some instantaneous views which he had taken by its aid.
A! . Cliazal showed another of a different construction from M. Meynier's,
the distinction being that in this one the lenses were closed by two discs
moA'ing round a central axis, which opened and shut the lenses by a
simple movement of one-half a rotation on tlie axis, while that of M.
238
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 16, 1862
Meynier was closed by a kind of trap-door, which opened from the bottom
to the top, and closed itself rapidly by the pressure of combined levers.
The detailed description of these pieces of apparatus will accompany
the report of the Committee appointed to examine them and report upon
which form is to be preferred. This Committee is composed of MM.
Hudelot, Guilbault, Taylor, Teisseire, and Eey.
M. Vidal exhibited, in the name of the inventor, M. de Gerin, a camera-
stand, called by the inventor “ En-cas PhotographiqueJ ’ This stand, in
fact, resembled most completely an umbrella in its case, on withdrawing
it from which it developed itself into a solid, light, and convenient stand.
31. Vidal descanted on the advantage of being able to walk with this stand
through the streets of a city without having the appearance of carrying
anything but an umbrella, and asked permission to show his own poly¬
graphic apparatus, mounted on a similar light and convenient stand. He
(31. Vidal) showed also three complete cameras for the l, |, and stereo¬
scopic plates, each of which may be used on the same stand.
A Committee was appointed to examine and report upon these, and also
on the camera stand of 31. de Gerin. The drawings and descriptions of the
apparatus will be attached to the report, which will be finally published.
A micrographic apparatus by 31. 31eclien, of Paris, was also shown by the
Secretary, and a Committee appointed to examine and report upon it.
31. Vidal desired to communicate some successful experiments he had
made by washing a Taupenot plate with a solution of three per cent, of
tannin after the final washing and sensitising. The advantages which
he found accrue were that the exposure was diminished 75 per cent., and
the development considerably expedited. He showed a negative obtained
in that way in his polygraphic apparatus, and directed attention to the
black character of the image, which was generally of a deep brown when
albumen alone was used.
The members were invited to experiment on this modification.
31. Jacquemet read the report which he had made upon the valet-griffe,
patented by 31. Cristin, by means of which it was possible to collodionise,
sensitise, place in the camera back, and, after exposure, develop, fix, and
wash without the fingers touching the plate : —
“ This very ingenious instrument will be found very useful for those
who prepare plates for the dry processes. The reporter having himself
tried this accessory apparatus is satisfied of its good qualities, and would
submit that the valet-griffe of 31. Cristin is in every way worthy of the
approbation of the Society.”
Before closing the meeting, the Secretary announced to the Society
that the Art-Union, of which the Society formed a constituent part, was
definitely dissolved.
The late hour necessitated the postponement of other matters until the
following meeting.
The 1’resident showed some remarkable plants by 31. Guillemot.
3r. Ca/.alis showed some interesting panoramic views, taken from the
Zoological Gardens of 3Iarseilles, after the examination of which by the
members the meeting separated.
jfomqit Coricsponhenxe.
Paris, June 10th, 1862.
I sec in the last number of The British Journal of Photography
a note by Mr. Shadbolt respecting Dr. Sabatier’s communication.
For myself, I care not to reply to the observations therein con¬
tained, and that for two excellent reasons — the first being that I
did but transcribe the author’s own explanation; and the second,
that it would ill become me to discuss the opinion of such a
practised experimenter as Mr. Shadbolt. I will therefore keep to
my reporter s role, and say that the majority of our photographers
are of Dr. Sabatier’s opinion as to iodide of potassium, and agree
in considering the collodion prepared therewith as less sensitive
than that prepared with iodide of cadmium. The fact has been
adverted to by several writers. In his study on the iodides and
bromides M. Revnaud said lately: — “A well-known fact is the
slowness with which the iodide of silver resulting from the de¬
composition of the iodide of potassium receives the luminous im¬
pression.”1'' As to the iodide of cadmium the same author adds: —
“The iodide of cadmium possesses photogenic properties opposed
to that of the iodide of potassium as far as rapidity is concerned, for
it. is ono of the promptest in receiving the luminous impres¬
sion.”
It might possibly be that the want of rapidity attributed by our
photographers to the iodide of potassium arises from impurity in
the article as it is found in commerce ; and in that case Dr. Sabatier
would' be all the more excusable for sharing an erroneous opinion,
living in a little village, and has at his command only
means which are within the reach of a modest and laborious
amateur. I may add that in a recent communication he tells me
of important modifications which he has introduced into his pro¬
cess, and which greatly simplify it. They consist in letting in the
* Mondtur dt la IViotographie, first year, No. 22.
light upon the glass at the moment when the negative has reached
its summate of perfection. The image immediately becomes posi¬
tive, and is developed admirably. To secure success it is necessary
that the negative should not be completely finished at the moment
when the diffused light is admitted ; that the sensitising bath
should be rigorously neutral ; that the development should have
been done with pyrogallic acid, to which no other acid than acetic
had been added. The alkalies provoke the positive formation,
which is, on the contrarjq opposed by the nitric, sulphuric, and
hydrochloric acid, and even by citric acid.
The fact on which the modification is based is that pyrogallic acid
— which in the camera reduces the iodide acted upon — combines with
it, on the contrary, when submitted to the action of diffused light.
M. Poitevin has also imagined a process for obtaining direct
positives. He employs a collodion containing less iodide than
that generally used for the obtaining of negatives. He sensitises
in the usual manner, and exposes the film to the light for a few
moments, without its changing its aspect on that account. He
washes the plate in abundance of water, and when he wishes to
operate, he pours upon the prepared plate, still damp (or which he
wets if it has grown dry), a solution containing four grammes of
iodide of potassium, very pure, to 100 grammes of water. An
alcoholic solution of iodide may be made with the same proportion,
if the film is dry. All this must be done in the dark. The plate
is now placed in the camera, then washed in distilled water, and
plunged into a two and a-half per cent, nitrate of silver bath. By
pouring upon the image thus produced a solution of pyrogallic
acid, with an addition of lactic acid, all the parts not acted upon
are developed in black. The developing is done as for ordinar}'’
cliches, and the fixing also. 31. Poitevin has modified this first
process by substituting for the pyrogallic acid in the development
sulphate of protoxide of iron, acidulated with citric or tartaric
acid.
M. Poitevin thinks that many alkaline and saline substances
destroy, under the luminous influences, the effect produced by the
first insolation of the sensitised collodion film. He mentions, in
the first place, the cyanide of potassium, which is more active than
the iodide ; the bromide of potassium, which acts but little ; the
cyanide, saturated with iodide of silver; the bichromate of potash,
especially acidulated with sulphuric acid; diluted hydrochloric
acid ; and, lastly, iodine in vapour, which completely destroys the
first insolation.
The French Society of Photography has not had any meetings
since the end of April. I have therefore nothing to communicate
from that quarter. The fact is that all our photographers, whether
investigators, experimenters, or professionals, are exclusively
occupied with the Exhibition at London. I know no one but
Pierre Petit who has preserved sufficient libertj* of mind to look
in any other direction than that in which all thoughts are turned.
He has gone to Pome. True, the occasion was favourable. He
desired to complete his gallery of the Episcopate, and he knew
that he should find assembled in the capital of the Roman Catholic
world a crowd of prelates called thither at this period by the
duties of their mission. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , May 25, 1862.
An English lady about visiting America, in selecting presents for
her transatlantic friends, purchased a neat ivooden stereoscope. She
paid more for it than for some of the more elaborate papier-mache
ones. She would not buy the latter kind, as “ they were too
common in Birmingham.” But, on reaching our shores, she found
that what was so common in England was very uncommon with us.
It is so with correspondents from foreign countries : we are apt
to make no mention of the matters of every-day occurrence at
home, although they might be the most interesting items of news
to our readers. Photography, essentially the same all over the
world, has modifications peculiar to each country and even to each
city ; and it is a matter of curiosity to note their peculiarities,
even to the simple act of holding a plate while flowing. Thus a
New Yorker expresses surprise that a Philadelphian should hold a
plate by the left hand lower corner, and pour on at the right hand
upper corner ; and thinks it should be poured at the lower right
hand corner, flowing around the plate and back off the same corner.
It is all a matter of habit or education in either case ; and we can
generally work best in the way we have been most used to. The
same may be said of salting plain paper. Some will immerse the
paper and allow it to soak in the water, while the majority merely
draw it once through the water, salted forty-five grains to the
quart. Some float their plain paper on the ammonio -nitrate solu-
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
239
tion ; but, in that case, they prepare it very much the same as the
bath now used (and before described by me) for albumen paper,
while others adhere to the old method of brushing on with cotton
wool or Canton flannel. I believe the articles called here “Yankee
clothes-pins,” or the spring clips for holding clothes on to the lines
while drying, are in common use in England for photographic pur¬
poses as well as in America.
Now another invention designed for the laundry has presented
itself as a valuable assistant in our art : I allude to what is here
sold as the vulcanised rubber rolls for wringing clothes. These
simple and useful machines have been made in various ways, the
essential principle of all being in the use of two rubber rollers
pressed together by elastic bands : between these rollers the
clothes to be dried are passed, and the water is squeezed out with¬
out injuring the fabric in the least. In Professor Seely’s laboratory
I saw one of these little machines in use to dry gun-cotton; and at
the Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia, also, one was on exhibition.
The person showing it to the members, in proof of its merits,
stated that the most delicate material was uninjured by the pres¬
sure. To demonstrate which he had a number of pieces of a very
rotten newspaper — rotten in politics as well as in material — soaking
in the tub : pieces of these he passed uninjured through the rollers,
thus suggesting an excellent way of drying off prints and expelling
the bulk of the water and hypo.
Since the advent of the card-pictures there has not been as
much use for the solar cameras as before. Still those who have
made a speciality of this class of work have plenty to do. This
is the case with Broadbent and Co., of Philadelphia. Mr. T. A.
Wenderoth, one of the partners, and the inventor of what is known
as “ivory types,” has given a great deal of attention to the busi¬
ness of amplifying, and with remarkable success. At first he used
the Woodward camera with the reflector : he has, however, dis¬
pensed with the mirror, and has his instrument mounted in a room
about twelve feet square, the whole room being arranged to turn
on a pivot, with a circular iron track provided with gearing to
cause the rotation. TIis condensing lens is double, and is eighteen
inches in diameter : the direct rays of the sun passing through
this fall on the cliche , which is so placed as to be covered by the
condensed circle of light. The half-size quick-working lens is
placed at such a distance from this that the continually decreasing
circle of light just fills the opening of the object-glass, while the
condensed rays come to a focus on the back lens of the combination.
A blackened diaphragm below the back lens does away with the
solarised spot (common to many enlarged prints), and does not
interfere with the quickness of printing. I have seen a print two
feet wide by three feet long made from a half-size negative in one
hour. Asageneral thing he uses negatives whole size — i.e. 6£ inches
by 8£ inches — and allows the light to fall on this in a circle inches
diameter. He objects to the use of a mirror, as it lengthens the
time of exposure very much. His pictures are remarkably sharp,
and of fine gradation of tone. These large prints are rather
heavy to transmit by mail, but I shall send one to the Editor of
The British Journal of Photography by the first private oppor¬
tunity. Mr. Wenderoth considers that he is working under the
Woodward patent, even though he has dispensed with the re¬
flector, stating that to Mr. Woodward is due the use of a con¬
densing lens in front of the negative — at least so far as this
country is concerned.
The ivorytypes, as painted by Mr. Wenderoth, are always in
demand, and compel a degree of application to his brush not at all
conducive to his good health. He has a great number of assistants
in the painting-room, but the large woi'k he does himself. His
conveniences for heating the glass plates preparatory to cementing
the picture to the glass, have resulted from a long series of expe¬
riments. Now he lays the largest plates on to his heating appa¬
ratus with no fear of causing them to crack by unequal heat-
ing.
In one of my first letters to The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy I hinted at Dr. Smallwood’s photography of snow crystals.
A long and interesting letter from that gentleman relates how, in
the biting cold of a Canadian winter, he has, year after year,
watched these perfect crystals asthey fall — the thermometer twenty
degrees below zero. The tiny gems are caught on black velvet,
and in this intense cold are transferred to the microscope. Here
certain definite forms show themselves. These forms being of
two general shapes — one always present when the electric condi¬
tion of the atmosphere was positive, while the other form as uni¬
formly present in a negative state of the air — the fact of the electric
condition differing with the form of the crystals he proved through
many years’ experiments. I have seen photographs made by him
directly from the crystals in that coldest of cold climates, and he
deserves great credit for his experiments in that direction. It may
be interesting to some of your readers to know that in his experi¬
ments to determine the electric condition of the atmosphere, he
demonstrated what the following extract from his letter will ex¬
plain : — “You must remember that snovj flalies do not possess any
regularity of form, nor do they give rise to any electrical fatmos-
plieric) phenomena ; while, on the contrary, the snow crystals
possess mathematical nicety, and the electric phenomena are of
a very intense kind, sparks often passing from the conductor to
the receiver, of one inch or more in length, for hours during our
winter snow-storms — the thermometer often ten to twenty degrees
below zero.”
Mr. John P. Gilliss, of the Naval Observatory, Washington, has
just completed his diffraction apparatus. He describes it as “ con¬
sisting mainly of a heliostat with a lens 18 inches focus, showing the
sun’s image on apertures in a thin metal plate. From the camera
only an intensely bright point or line will be seen (,£„ inch 25 feet
off I will generally use), in the centre of a blackened disc of wood
18-inch diameter, shaded by a projecting rim of pasteboard. A tele¬
scope 18 inches focus, mounted as an altitude, and azimuth instru¬
ment, with a shade in front adapted to receive slides with the aper¬
tures, is used in forming the images. The images can be received
either directly on the collodion or magnified to any amount before
entering the camera. The camera is a small one made for the
purpose (quarter-plate). It can be put at any distance from the
telescope, and the two clamped at any angle of elevation.
Instead of the diffraction shade one may be substituted with
a prism for Fraunhofer’s lines.” He is also engaged making
copies from a sel of original drawings and models, by Mr. Engel,
of caustic curve wave surfaces in crystals. This collection is the
result of many years’ labour, and hitherto not copied.
When I commenced this letter I had in view the description of
several mechanical adjuncts to photography ; but, after writing a
few words about patent clothes-pins and wringing machines, I
dropped the subject without describing a punch for cutting out
proofs ready for mounting which has been introduced into some of
our best galleries. In this little machine the punch is forced up
from below through the die-plate, which is on top. These die-
plates are made for cutting ovals 6X8 inches, squares for card
pictures, and other shapes. The prints are placed under the die-
plate face up, and adjusted to position, the whole picture being in
sight. A quick motion of a lever below forces up the punch, cut¬
ting the print with neatness and despatch. The same instrument
has been used for cutting out bank-notes.
There are three descriptions of cameras for taking card pictures: —
1st. Those having two ordinary quarter-size lenses: the holder to
these is adapted to 6£ X 8J inch plates, and the holder slides ver¬
tically, making the pictures first on one end and then the other of
the plate. 2nd. Those having two half-size lenses, placed one over
the other : the holder is also arranged for X 8Yhich plates, but
it slides sideways, and the pictures thus made cannot be mounted
as stereographs. 3rd. By far the best arrangement is to have
four lenses made especially for this kind of picture, and of exactly
the same focus. The lenses are set back in the box, and there is a
door to shut in front of all of them at once. The camera has a screw
focussing adjustment, and the glass used is about 8X14 inches.
The holder slides sideways, and there are eight negatives made
at one sitting.
While speaking of cameras it would be well to mention that
bellows boxes for stereoscopic cameras are made very light and
portable. In order to have them shut up close, the separating
partition is made of black ribbed silk, which winds itself upon a
roller by a watch-spring arrangement on the front of the box, just
as spring tape line measures arc arranged. I mention these various
contrivances — not claiming them as anything peculiar to this
country, but as a mere statement of facts, and to enable my
readers to fully understand how we work here.
A photographer from New York State, who has been for some
time driving a brisk business at the camps below Washington, sends
some good stereographs taken in that neighbourhood, and says
that the soldiers are very good customers as long as their money
holds out. His work with ambrotypes alone yielded him about
fifty dollars each day.
The trade in card-pictures is increasing rapidly, and now there
is a large demand for small copies of engravings, some large
establishments being engaged exclusively on this class of work.
It would not do to end a dry letter with anytbiug about dry plates,
so, with due regard, I subscribe myself
COLEMAN SELLERS.
240
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[June 16, 1862
Snaps a n'a jfrajgnratfs.
Photo-paptrogeapht. — The annual report of the Government
Topographical Department states that it is intended to copy, by
means of Colonel Sir Henry James’s process of photo-papyro-
graphy, the despatches in cipher deposited in the royal archives
of Simancas, in Spain. These despatches are likely to prove
remarkably interesting, relating, as they are supposed to do, to
important events of the time of Queen Elizabeth. Specimens of
the above process have been recently placed in the libraries of the
Houses of Lords and Commons.
Varnish for Negatives. — Several photographers have recently
spoken very highly of the “white hard varnish,” as being, when
largely diluted with spirits of wine, one of the very best varnishes
for negatives. Hearing that in very many places this varnish —
usually sold at about a shilling or less the pint — cannot be pro¬
cured,’ we give the following description of its composition ob¬
tained direct from a manufacturer. Take one gallon of spirits of
wine, two pounds of gum-sandarach, half a pound of gum-mastic,
and two ounces of gum-anima ; mix in a clean vessel, dissolve
slowly with heat, shaking it frequently. When the gums are
dissolved, strain the varnish, and it is fit for use. For photo¬
graphic purposes fully twice this quantity of spirits of wine may
be used.
Fine Arts’ Copyright.— The Bill by which protection for pho¬
tographs is proposed to be afforded, has been referred to a select
Committee of the House of Lords — a proceeding by which we fear
delay, at least, may be apprehended as regards its passing into a
law ; perhaps even a total discomfiture of the advocates of the
measure. We understand that Lord Overstone spent some time
lately in Mr. Heath’s studio, making himself acquainted with the
details of photographic manipulation. We wish that some half-
dozen of our best landscape photographers would agree to take
negatives of the same subject — say, for instance, Buckingham
Palace — and send a proof from each negative to be laid before the
select Committee : this, we fancy, would convince the sceptical
that the artist’s individuality is sufficiently impressed on his
works.
Viewing Stereographs without Stereoscopes. — The following
scrap is from Humphrey's (American) Journal: — “ Only one point,
the serio-comical one, I will take the liberty of ‘contro versing’ here,
and Sellers will laugh with us. I refer to ‘ the foolish abuse of the
eyes,' as this simple sentence may deter some from trying the ex¬
periment. Of course it will injure the legs of the babies to make
them stand up straight before they have got bones. But it will
not injure the eyes of people who have got their little Charlies, or
Horaces, or Colemans (nor other old folks or fogies who have not
got any such), when they try to see stereoscopically and afterwards
practise it, more than it will injure the ankles of ladies in trying to
learn skating, or the fourth and fifth finger of a piano pupil in learn¬
ing to trill with them, or the neck of a young fresco-painter at work
on a ceiling, or the arms of a pharmaceutical tyro in mixing the
unyuetilum mercurialis! No matter how they cry, ‘It pains! it
pains!’ — Respectfully yours, “Carl Meinerth.”
Tmf. Exhibition of Sketches from “ Punch.”— The simple pro¬
cess by which Mr. John Leech has enlarged his celebrated sketches
may be a very ingenious one, but its adoption must be a matter of
surprise to all photographers. The critics generally seem to think
the printing from the original blocks upon elastic plates, which are
then stretched equally in every direction until the sketch is five
times its original size, must make each of them, as the Morning
U-mhl states, “a faithful repetition of the illustration as it appeared
in Punch ;’ but we think il the Editor of the Morning Herald were
himself subjected to a similar process of enlargement, it is very
probable that he would thus become an unknown, although a very
remarkable, personage, even to his own most respected progenitor.
A comparison nl these sketches, (tinted in oil by Mr. Leech),
with thu originals in Punch, will show that the former owe more
to the efter-touch of the artist than to the enlarging process he
adopted, which must, from its very nature, be depreciative of the
vigour, spirit, and character of the originals. To adopt such a
bungling expedient for enlarging when the work could have been
done most thoroughly and effectually by the more sure, economi-
cal, and equally simple photographic process, is a blunder which
l think our very talented and popular designer could not
committed. The Exhibition, however, is one of the best,
and will doubtless, prove one of the most attractive, in the
Camspntt brute.
We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal; We cannot give private replies except to personal
friend3. ^
WHAT A LENS WILL COVER.
To the Editor.
Sib, — In reference to the letter of Mr. Hornby, published in your last
number, I beg to say that it does not appear either to require any reply
at my hands, or to have disturbed any point in a previous letter of mine
to which it refers. There is indeed one novelty in Mr. H.’s letter, viz.,
the comparing of an optical truth to “ stinking fish the former of these
is much more to my taste to digest than the latter. Instead of taking
Mr. H.’s letter to pieces, I conclude it is much better preserved as a whole —
“ To all an example — to no one a pattern."
In reference to Mr. Dallmeyer’s letter, I think its tone is adequate to
show that had I not been somewhat brusque in announcing my dissent,
it had a good chance of being passed by as unworthy of notice. I have,
therefore, dealt honestly, if not complimentarily, with him, and I reserved
my final judgment for his replju His letter has by no means dissipated
the “blunder,” and I refer to my article on “displacement,” &c. (written
for insertion in your present number), as indicating on whose side the
error lies. Mr. D. has no right to require of me to prove that my lens has
no distortion until he can show that in some one instance, at least, I have
said so (which I never have, but have constantly asserted the contra^).
When I have stated that it has less distortion than the ordinary single
combination, I have done so partly from my own deductions, and partly
from the observations of others, including Mr. Bedford.
Instead of proving his case, Mr. Dallmeyer has introduced some irrele¬
vant matters. I believe it will be conceded that the judgment of a dis¬
interested party is to be preferred to that of a highly-interested one, and
I desire to place in juxtaposition with Mr. D.’s examination of the apla-
natic lens a single extract from one of the many communications I have
received respecting the aplanatic ; and when I mention that the writer is
Mr. Bedford I shall have said enough as to his capability of judgment and
previous experience with other lenses. Mr. Bedford, just before proceed¬
ing on a photographic excursion, in 1858, for taking negatives of 12 X 10,
was by my then agent lent one of the first half-dozen 3-inch aplanatics
sent to London for sale ; and on Feb. 2, 1859, be wrote me as follows ; —
“ I had the opportunity of testing its capabilities during a photographic
excursion to Tintern and Raglan, and with it I worked to my own very
great advantage, and Avith so much satisfaction, that although I had two
other lenses with me, I do not think that I used them on more than one
occasion. Your lens, although made to cover only 10 X 8, answered
perfectly for plates 12 X 10, as the specimens I shall send you will show;
and I considered it a great advantage to get so great an angle as its short
focal length gave me, Avliile there is certainly much less bending of the
lines, and consequently less distortion than 1 have hitherto been accus¬
tomed to meet AArith. I was able, too, to Avork always with the medium
stop, even on pictures 12 X 10, Avliioh enabled me to shorten the time of
exposure.”
There is one more paragraph of Mr. D.’s letter Avliieh I would here
allude to. He informs (?) us that if, for the purpose of covering a large
field, the stop be approached nearer to the lens than the previous (or best
distance) the lateral pencils will suffer in distinctness. Had Mr. D. referred
to the price list of the aplanatic lenses, be might have seen that the in¬
structions there given relative to the stop are based upon that fact; but
Avith that fact I here desire to couple another, which 1 intend shortly to
show in that manner Avhich I admit to be the most satisfactory — that is, by
actual “results,” and with a simple mention of Avhich I shall conclude — viz.,
that if a triplet and an aplanatic of the same focus be charged Avith stops
of equal size, and the stop of the aplanatic be approached to half its best
distance from the lens, the aplanatic Avill be, in such case, a quicker
acting lens, cover a much larger field, and still retain greater distinctness
(in corresponding lateral pencils) than the triplet. — I am, yours, &c.,
Dublin, June 6, 1862. _ THOMAS GRUBB.
ACARI IN THE NITRATE BATH.
To the Editor.
Sib, — The interest evinced by tlie members at the meeting of the
Microscopical Society on the subject of tlie Acari found in my collodion
nitrate bath, and reported in your last number, induces me to offer the
following remarks, not for the purpose of raising any controversy, but to
assist the little word “on,” and the answer kindly made by yourself to
the objections against its employment. By this word I meant that the
insects Avere all seen on the surface of the fluid in the bath AA'hen looking
doAA'n into it ; of course I could not there further examine them, as the
glass was covered outside Avith asphalte varnish. When removed and
placed on water, and examined through a lens, looking across its surface,
the body appeared to rest on tlie fluid, Avhile the mouth apparatus dipped
into the same. I looked in vain for a bubble of air by which they might
be buoyed up. The floating seemed to depend on the feathery and spring
hairs of the body and legs. When soaked six days in water, the insects
gave unmistakeable signs of the presence of silver, upon removal to water.
June 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
241
after their immersion in solution of iodine in iodide of potassium. I
cannot indisputably say where this came from ; but I imagine, from the
ordinary position of the head, and the change of colour when placed in the
iodide solution, that the bodies were saturated with a salt of silver,
Whether or not the general finely-granular appearance was occasioned
by the solution of any salt of silver drying on their surfaces — and this
would imply contact, even, say by capillary attraction, with its solution — •
I cannot state ; or whether they rose from the bottom of the fluid — im¬
prisoned in air, as suggested by Mr. Wenham might be the case in Mr.
Cross’s Acari — I cannot contradict. Yet there appears some difficulty
with those having the ovum suspended from the pouch, of which you
have a photograph, unless we suppose the parent to have remained in¬
cased with its extruded ovum — an opinion perhaps hardly tenable.
If they did not enjoy their bath, and were not really in contact with it,
could they have thrown out any defensive exudation from their fatty
sarcode bodies which could have decomposed the nitrate of silver and
precipitated it inert on their surfaces? From all the insects being found
together — none on the sides of the bath — -we can, I think, hardly suppose
that their food could have been the under paper cover to the vertical
bath, unless they all fed at once or at fixed times. The powerful
mandibles may have been, under the circumstances in which they were
found, of scarce more real use than the horns of a tame cow.
Again : the mixed vapours emanating from an often-used collodion
nitrate bath we should suppose not the most favourable for the well¬
being of insect life. The bath was in good condition, as tested by the
photographs sent; so what they fed on remains — unless we adopt the
solution as affording the supply — an enigma.
In the edition for 1844 of Noad's Lectures on Electricity I find an ex¬
cellent account of the experiments conducted by the late Mr. Cross, which
led to the discovery of the Acarus Crossi, and an engraving of the animal.
In the appendix is a notice of the results obtained by Mr. Weekes and also
by Mr. Noad when attempting similar experiments.
In the first experiment the solution consisted of soluble glass super¬
saturated with hydrochloric acid. In subsequent ones the Acarus made
“its appearance in electrified solutions of nitrate and sulphate of copper,
sulphates of iron and zinc, also on the wires attached to the poles of a
battery working in a concentrated solution of silicate of potassa, also in
fluo-silicic acid, appearing on the naked platinum wire at the bottom of
the quartz in the glass basin at the negative pole.” In the Appendix we
are led to suppose the agency of electricity to be necessary to the pro¬
duction of the Acarus Crossi. In the case to which the above remarks
allude we are, to the best of my belief, divested of its agency. It will, I
fear, be impossible to clear up the doubtful points : some may contend
for one thing, some for another, hence it perhaps will be best to take
Solomon’s advice, and “leave off contention before it be meddled with.”
— I am, yours, &c., It. L. MADDOX, M.D.
Woolston, June 6th, 1862.
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Trusting you will not deem me troublesome, I beg to ask your
acceptance of the few photo-micrographs enclosed, and which I have
just done. A very curious effect is apparent upon two of them, which I
have attempted to explain away in the enclosed note, viz., that both the
Coscinodiscus and Araclmoidiscus projected images of their markings
upon a portion of the film absolutely in darkness. Will you kindly say
whether you think my theory correct or not? — I am, yours, &c.,
Kentish Town, JV.W. June 6th, 1862. JOHN BOCKETT.
A SINGULAR EFFECT OBSERVED IN PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS.
In the June number of the Intellectual Observer there is an extract
from an American scientific paper Silliman's Journal, for January,
1862, giving some remarks tending to define the nature of the exquisite
markings shown with high power object-glasses upon most of the
Diatomacece ; whereby it would seem that their surface is covered with
depressions or cavities, and that the cause of uncertainty as to their
nature arise from the facts that most of them as set up for microscopical
slides are mounted in Canada balsam, which possessing a certain refrac¬
tive power has the property of transforming each cavity into (for the time
being) a lens. This is very apparent when the Triceratrium, Isthmia,
Coscinodiscus, and some other larger species, are examined, with a good
glass, evidently the hexagon al depression s being filled up with some portion
of substance of which the entire specimen is composed, and that again, even
if I may use the word, submarked. The foregoing was very forcibly illus¬
trated upon photographing some of these species of objects last week — the
apparatus being formed of a very ordinary student’s instrument, the dia¬
meter of the body being only one andaquarter inches, and the disc projected
upon the film being about three and aquar ter inches. Now, when focussinga
slide of Araclmoidiscus, and also the Coscinodiscus, although the circum¬
ference of the field distinctly divided some of the Diatom discs, I was
surprised to find that in all the cases where the division took place that
the object itself had projected its own speciality beyond the field. From
this, is it fair to assume that the quasi lenses formed by the cavities filled
with balsam refracted and projected the rays of light received from the
mirror upon a portion of the film absolutely in darkness, seeing that the
field excluded those parts which are clearly depicted upon the film?
If such be the case, it would go far to prove that the markings upon the
Diatomacce are cavities and not perforations, and that the cavities ex¬
hibited upon certain seeds offer an analogy to similar cavities on the
Diatoms — with this exception, that in the one they are formed upon an
opaque body (the seeds for example), and in the other upon a substance
nearly as transparent as glass. Should such prove to be the case it
would afford another proof of the good that may be arrived at by means
of photo-micrography.
Collodion employed, Mawson’s negative, one month old ; developer,
iron and citric acid, intensified with silver ; fixed, hypo. ; exposure,
one second (using the sun) . The tube of the microscope was lined through¬
out with card-board, blackened with Hughes’s dead-black varnish.
[Four specimens (magnified about 200 diameters) accompanied the
preceding note, viz. : — Transverse Lection of Bush, Biddulphia Pulchella,
Araclmoidiscus, Coscinodiscus ; but, with the exception of the first, and a
small portion of the last-named, they are, in our judgment, not in chemical
focus — the portion of the valve of Coscinodiscus at the upper part of the
picture being pretty well defined, but all the other Diatoms more or less
indistinct.
We do not think our correspondent is correct in his theory — indeed, we
do not perceive the possibility of a lens of any kind, located some eight
or ten inches from an obstruction (the microscope tube), refracting rays of
light, as it were, “ round a corner ” so distant therefrom. It appears to
us that the definition being apparent in what Mr. Bockett imagined to be
“ absolute darkness,” is really in the penumbral portion of the field, that
had lie viewed it a little obliquely he would probably have been able to
see the image on the focussing-screen ; but, what is of more importance
in our judgment is, that the better definition being at the margin of the
field, and consequently at a greater distance from the lens than the central
part of the field — knowing, also, that microscopic objectives are usually
slightly ovei'-corrected — it indicates that he would have produced better
defined photographs had he made a little more allowance for correction
of focus, by withdrawing the plate a shade further off, or by turning the
“ fine adjustment ” a division or two more so as to withdraw the objec¬
tive a shade further from the object.
The paper cited contains an ingenious hypothesis, but capable of being
explained otherwise in one particular. We had it in contemplation to have
discussed the same at the Microscopical Societ}', but we chanced to take
the paper to the annual meeting, when none but formal business is
transacted prior to receiving the President’s address.]
ANACTINIC SILK.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I herewith beg to enclose a second sample of my prepared silk.
It is the same in principle as, but prepared by a method which renders it
more homogeneous than, the first sort, and I think it will therefore be
preferable. The print enclosed is from the negative I mentioned in my
former note. By it you will see that the only portions of no action are
the ones covered with the new silk. — I am, yours, &c.
2, Canterbury Terrace, Beresford Street, C. W. SMARTT.
Walworth, S., June 4th, 1862.
[The specimen of silk received is of a deep orange colour, homo¬
geneous in appearance, and the protective action on chloride paper
appears to be perfect, which is not the case with old yellow silk, yellow
tammy, glass, &c. — Ed.]
PHOTOGRAPHY AND “ALL THE YEAR ROUND.”
To the Editor.
Sir, — Not long since, a majestic, strong-minded female, at the head of
a train of giggling misses, sailed in full swell of crinoline into my recep¬
tion-room; and, after making arrangements for the taking of all their
several cartes dc visite, began to tutor me as to how I should pose and
light, particularly insisting upon the blinds being drawn so as to exclude
all light from entering at the top of my glass-room, and the greater part
from entering at the sides. In vain I argued that all the force and effect
of a portrait depended upon a judicious proportion of top light ; and strove
to show that the kind of light she desired could neither give relief to the
features nor secure roundness in the head and figure. My arguments
were treated with quiet scorn; my ignorance very palpably insinuated ;
and, at length, by way of an incontrovertable cleneher, the resolute dame
acknowledged that she was indebted for her conclusions to the authority
whose impertinent assertion that photographic portraitists (always except¬
ing M. Silvy) “do not yet quite understand their trade” was quoted in
your last. It is a great pity that the shoemaker will go beyond his last;
and I for one thank you, Mr. Editor, for calling attention to the folly and
presumption embodied in the otherwise very amusing and cleverly-
written article on “The Carte de Yisite,” which appeared in All the Year
Bound. — I am, yours, &c., A BAYSWATER PHOTOGRAPHER.
MANIPULATION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have just received your last issue, and in it vour answers to
my inquiries. With regard to the fifth answer I am still in doubt, for I
am very careful in the washing of the prints. I give the three changes
of water, and out of the last, which is perfectly clear, I put them into salt
and -water, about one tea-spoonful of salt to one quart of water, and
allow them to remain in that for eight or ten minutes ; then remore them
242
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[June 16, 1802
into clean water, out of which I put them into the alkaline toning bath,
each print separately. The moment they are put into it the stains appear
and remain unchanged. The fixing bath is one ounce of hypo, to five
ounces of water. . ..
Again : what must the tincture of iodine be diluted witfi i
In your answer to “P. W.,” page 222, you seem to condemn the use
of methylated spirits in the developer for positives. Is it also bad for
negatives? — I am, yours, &c., B. B.
June 2nd , 1862.
[Certainly the prints received were affected by photographic measles ,
hut this effect cannot have arisen before they came in contact with the
hyposulphite of soda : you must therefore allude to some other stains
than those we noticed. Perhaps you hung them up to drip with clips
that had previously come in contact with hyposulphite of soda solution.
Tincture of iodine should be diluted with alcohol.
The objection to methylated spirit in the developer does not apply to
negatives: its action is to degrade the brilliancy of the lights in a
positive, hence the reason for avoiding it. — Ed.]
REDUCING SILVER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reply to your correspondent, I beg to state that the method
of precipitating silver from a caustic solution by grape sugar affords a
perfectly pure metal : but this is of course assuming that no organic mat¬
ter is held mechanically in the fluid from which it is to be obtained. If
there be such extraneous matter, it must be separated by filtration, or the
metal subsequently fused. Under any circumstances, however, it will be
prudent to calcine it ; being in a finely-divided state, it is soluble imme¬
diately in nitric acid.
You have warned your correspondent that a solution may be alkaline
without being caustic. I may add, for the information of those who may
not be aware of it, that the soda spoken of is not that which is commonly
used in photography, and which is a carbonate, but that which is sold as
caustic soda : of course caustic potash will answer equally well.
Manchester, June 10, 1802. I am, yours, &c., VVM. TUDOR MABLEY.
CITY OF GLASGOW AND WEST OF SCOTLAND
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — You wall no doubt be sorry to learn that, in consequence of the
incompatibility of certain members, it has been found necessary to dissolve
the City of Glasgow and West of Scotland Photographic Society. I there¬
fore think it right to inform you (lest any of your readers should imagine
that interest in the photographic art had died out in this quarter) that a
committee of gentlemen have already been appointed, with a view to the
formation of a new society, on a more comprehensive basis, wherein the
progress of the art may be studied and discussed with forbearance and
self-respect. I trust the constitution of the new society will be officially
announced to you very shortly. In the meantime, I am sure the gentlemen
engaged in its formation will be glad of the assistance and co-operation of
all earnest photographers in this part of the country. — I am, yours, &c.,
Glasgow, May 30, 1862. _ EDMOND BRACE.
ARTISTIC BACKGROUNDS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Tn a recent number of your Journal we find some criticisms in an
article entitled “ Exhibition Gossip,” in which some unjust and unjusti¬
fiable remarks are made on our artistic backgrounds.
On looking for the name of the writer of the article, we were somewhat
surprised to find the name of a gentleman who advertises similar back¬
grounds to our own in your Journal.
We would simply ask Mr. Wall if he thinks it fair or in good taste to
avail himself of the opportunity which his position as a contributor gives
him of decrying the productions of others engaged in the same line as
himself ; and we would ask you, Sir, if you think it fair or in good taste
to allow any contributor who thus advertises to abuse unjustly our pro¬
ductions, and thereby, by implication, praise his own.
As regards our backgrounds and accessories, we will simply say they
are used and praised by many photographers of higher artistic reputation
than Mr. Wall, and have been commended both by your own and other
journals. — We are, yours, &c., j. T. & G. BULL.
5 1, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
London, W.C., 5th June, 1862.
] We rarely read the particulars of advertisements in our own or con¬
temporary columns, and were not aware that Mr. Wall advertised as in-
dirated by our present correspondents, or we should most certainly have
excluded the remarks of which the latter complain. The name of the
writer wee a guarantee of bis good faith, and the estimate was only that
of bis individual opinion, which, but for the circumstance now first brought
muter our notice, there was no valid reason for suppressing. We admit
that be committed an error as regards good taste in this matter.
The private letter in which the preceding was enclosed, and which we
received from the Publisher, has no special address, either to the Pub¬
lisher or Editor : but it is couched in such peremptory language that it
won 1 certainly have ensured the rejection of the enclosure, but that we
prefer fairness an 1 justice to other considerations : this is the sole ground
upon which we accord it admission. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
&T We regret that want of space unavoidably compels us to omit the letter
of “ Inexperience,” and a variety of other matter.
J. G. F. — Received.
Fred. B. — We will inquire for you.
Hypo. — About one ounce to four of water.
O. E. — Flattened crown or patent plate glass we prefer to sheet.
C A. F. — We do not perceive any advantage in what you propose.
True Blue. — We will assist you willingly by advice, if you state your case.
J. S. — We have not received the letter to which you refer as having been
sent last month.
Cedo Nulli. — We shall be happy to lay the matter before our readers, if
you will afford us the means of so doing.
C. R. — We imagine that your lack of intensity is owing to an insufficient
quantity of nitrate of silver with your developer.
Querist. — Your lights are too white and your shadows too black, indicating
under-exposure and over-development of the negative.
S. M. — You will find Mr. England’s article in the current volume, No. 161,
page 143. The details are too elaborate for repetition.
R. S. M. — Your cyanide solution is much too strong, hence the destruction
of your half- tones. Add twice the quantity of water to your solution.
William Read. — We prefer old collodion for cleaning glass plates to any
other material. See report of the last meeting of the North London Photo¬
graphic Association.
Homo. — Count Montizon took excellent negatives of many of the animals in
the Zoological Gardens several years ago. We possess a proof of the hippo¬
potamus taken by him.
D. C. — Put the necessary quantity of pyroxyline first into a clean bottle'
then add the alcohol, and lastly the ether: you will find this render the pyroxy¬
line most readily soluble.
Tyro. — You have pushed the development too far, hence the snowy effect
of which you complain ; the details are all present, so that but for your over
anxiety to attain density, you would have done well enough.
Printer. — Certainly we approve the use of a pretty warm iron to smooth
the finished proofs: if by any chance the toning is partly due to sulphur, we
believe the hot iron gives the print a better chance of stability.
X. — 1. A single combination is not adapted for portraiture. 2. A square
camera for the operating-room is most convenient, as it allows the plate to be
exposed either horizontally or perpendicularly without turning the camera.
Reginald A. — We really cannot advise which folding camera you had
better choose, for we regard all folding ones as objectionable except for very
large plates ; and there is no end of trouble in putting them up and taking
them down.
F. Jones. — Your queries are so very elementary that it is evident you know
next to nothing of photography. Buy any of the cheap manuals and you will
find replies to every one: if you then are in difficulty about details we will try
and help you.
Lucy. — We do not think you would have much chance of employment as an
operator, however well you may manipulate- There is a prejudice (if such it be)
againstladies beingengaged in that capacity. Asaprinter you have more chance,
the feeling being quite in your favour.
W. M. (Sheffield.) — Under-exposure and over-development are the causes of
the snowy appearance both in and out of the stereoscope. Probably you
would succeed better by using the developer a little warm — say about 80°. Add
but little silver solution to commence with, and do not mind spending time
over the operation.
Verdant Green. — 1. Render the bath slightly alkaline by the addition of
liquid ammoniac, then drop in solution of citric acid, and shake up. A precipi¬
tate will be formed, and the solution gradually become colourless. When this
is the case the operation is complete. — 2. See Mr. England’s paper in our issue
for 15th April last.
Conway. — Your lenses are good, and the distance between them correct.
There is not much amiss, either, with your negatives ; but the printing is some¬
what deficient : you had better use a stronger silver solution for exciting your
paper. The chief thing wanting to improve your negatives is a little sunshine
to throw effective shadows. One of them you have over-intensified, and it is
probable that no after intensification was needful. It often happens that a
negative is dense enough after development with the iron solution alone ; but
when you use pyrogallic acid to add to the density, use double the quantity of
acetic acid to that you at present employ.
Sambo. — We know very little (in fact, scarcely anything) about the com¬
mercial part of photography-- nothing about amount of salaries given to
operators ; but we do know that good operators are at present in demand both
in London and the provinces. You had better advertise in the photographic
journals, and perhaps also in the Athenaeum. Your specimens evince consider¬
able ability ; but there is plenty of room for improvement. The printing is
commendable : the negatives are, however, generally rather “ hard” — Nos. 8 and
10 especially. Your pseudo-negro friend (the standing figure) is the best of
your specimens, both as regards pose and manipulation. No. 4 is harmonious
in tone, and, but for being too full-faced, fairly posed : the head of the child is
also rather too near to that of the lady. Nos. <3 and 9 are soft and good ; No.
11 is awkwardly arranged — all of a heap in one corner ; No. 7 is very stiff, and
the table on which the microscope stands much too small. We see no reason
why you should not get an engagement : many worse operators than yourself
obtain employment.
c dir t
PAGE
LEADER . 223
ON THE USE OF BROMIDES IN COLLODION.
By GEORGE DAWSON, A.M . 224
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC LENSES, AND THE ANGLE
OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED. (DISPLACE¬
MENT AND DISTORTION.) By T. GRUBB 224
ON THE ENLARGEMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHS.
By M. CLAUDET, FRS . 225
ON TH E LIGHTING AND MANAGEMENT OF
LIGHT IN PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERIES.
By LACHLAN McLACHLAN . 227
THE TANNIN PROCESS. CHAPTER VII.
By MAJOR, RUSSELL . 228
ENTS.
PAGE
RULE FOR FINDING AT ONCE BOTH THE
DISTANCES OF NEGATIVE AND SENSI¬
TIVE SURFACE FOR ANY DEGREE OF
ENLARGEMENT, AND VICE VERSA. By
M. CLAUDET, F.R.S . 229
STEREOGRAPHS . 230
EXHIBITION GOSSIP. By A. H. WALL.... 230
BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE INTER¬
NATIONAL EXHIBITION . 231
EXHIBITION . 232
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA . 234
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 234
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 238
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 240
Correspondence, Answers 19 Correspondents, Av, 240
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL
No.
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
169, Vol. IX.— JULY 1, 1862.
On the Means of Effecting Instantaneous Exposure. —
In the preparation of films of collodion for instantaneous
delineation, the very exalted sensitiveness already attained to,
and the reasonable hope that still farther advances will he
made in this direction, enhance the importance of adopting
some contrivance for ensuring rapid exposure of the plate.
The mere removal by hand of a cover of any kind from the
lens, and then quickly replacing it, occupies far too much time
for our purpose. Objects in motion, especially when at but a
short distance from the camera, are apt to be blurred in outline,
if not altogether indistinguishable, from deficiency of definition,
if attempted to be photographed in this manner. The same
may be said of arrangements by which a shutter in front of the
lens is opened and closed by hand; in fact, there are some
subjects which have of late been depicted in which crowds of
people and vehicles in active movement have formed a promi¬
nent feature, but in accomplishing which many failures had
first to be submitted to, chiefly in consequence of the absence
of a perfect arrangement for effecting rapid exposure. A little
consideration devoted to this subject may therefore prove pro¬
fitable to many of our readers, especially at the present time.
Such a contrivance as we have in view should possess certain
qualifications. It should be so under control as to be readily
brought into action at any desired moment ; it should not cause
the camera to vibrate, at anyrate before the exposure has been
completed ; and it should allow the whole of the intended
aperture of the lens employed to act as simultaneously as
possible, in order that the actual duration of the exposure may
be reduced to a minimum. These are the desiderata , and if we
cannot secure the whole of them we must endeavour to include
the most that we are able.
Several arrangements and modifications, more or less inge¬
nious, have from time to time been suggested in the journals,
and exhibited at some of the meetings of the various photo¬
graphic societies ; but we do not remember any occasion when
the advantages and disadvantages of the various contrivances
have been fairly contrasted one with the other. We therefore
now propose to do this to some extent. It will probabty be
found in practice that it will be most convenient to be provided
with two distinct arrangements to one camera, in order to meet
best the exigencies which may arise — that is to say, one for a
short but variable exposure, the other for that of the shortest
attainable duration of time coupled with the entire and simul¬
taneous unveiling of the lens.
At the last meeting of the Photographic Society (London),
Mr. Dallmeyer exhibited and described a shutter designed by
Mr. A. Mann, but our attention was at the time otherwise
unavoidably engaged, or we might have made some allusion to
the subject in our last issue. We have, however, just perused
the descriptive article published in our contemporaiy, the
Journal of the Photographic Society, and as it enters somewhat
argumentatively into the question we reproduce the bulk of the
entire article, as follows : — •
DESCRIPTION OF AN INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTER.
By A. Mann, M.A.
The importance of being able to photograph objects by an expo*
sure of a fraction of a second seems to be now so generally
appreciated as to render any arguments in its favour altogether
superfluous.
It is well known that for the purpose in question, in addition to
very sensitive chemical preparations, it is important to have a lens
capable of being used with a large aperture, so as to admit a con¬
siderable amount of light into the camera in a verjr limited time.
The quick-acting lenses, however, now manufactured by the first
English opticians, seem admirably adapted to supply the wants ol
the photographer in this respect ; but it occurred to the writer,
some time since, that none of the arrangements used for affording
the exposure rendered sufficiently available the advantages which
these lenses possess. The most common method of giving what is
termed an instantaneous exposure is by removing a plate or some
opaque substance from before the lens by lifting it up or drawing
it to one side and replacing it as quickly as possible.
A little consideration will show that this does not afford the
kind of exposure required for the purpose.
On referring to jig. 1, where AB represents an object in front of
a double combination lens used with the full aperture, a b the
image formed on the prepared plate, and 5 the shutter placed just
in front of the lens, it will be seen that as soon as the shutter
begins to rise and uncovers the edge of the lens, as represented m
the figure at D, part of the rays forming the edges of the pencils
emanating both from A and B will enter the lens and be refracted
to a focus at a and b respectively. The same will be the case
with the pencils of rays emanating from all intermediate parts of
AB ; so that, as soon as the shutter begins to rise, an image is
formed over the entire plate, very feeble at first and confused by
the diffraction suffered by the rays in passing through the narrow
opening, but gradually getting brighter until the lens is entirely
uncovered, when the illumination reaches the maximum. This,
however, is no sooner attained than the shutter must again begin
to descend, gradually cutting oil the light, and, units approaching
the edge of the lens, again causing indistinctness in the image by
diffraction. In this way, instead ot the requisite amount of light
being admitted in the least possible time, a prolonged partial
exposure is obtained. But it is also well known that the eftect of
Q44
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1862
an exposure of this kind upon a sensitive plate is different from
that produced by the same amount of light admitted in a much
shorter time. In the latter case the tendency is to produce an in¬
tense and vigorous negative, but in the former a flat and feeble
one ; and want of intensity is one of the chief difficulties to be con¬
tended with in the prosecution of instantaneous photography.
These causes, it is true, can only exert an influence for a. very
short time ; but as that is all the time allowed for the formation of
the latent image, it becomes a matter of importance to attend to
them. If the shutter be removed to some distance in front of the
lens, as indicated at s' in the figure, an excess of exposure may be
given to the foreground of a landscape; but the same objection
applies as before for rapid work, since the field of a view will be
longer in being entirely cleared. These remarks apply principally
to the use of double combination lenses with the stop in a central
position, such being now universally used for quick work.
With a view to the obviating of these disadvantages, the writer
contrived the new shutter tiie properties of which he is now about
to describe. This consists essentially of two opaque plates or
membranes (both being used), provided with rectangular openings
at a distance from each other equal to that between the lenses.
These plates are so placed that each covers up one-half of the lens,
and the exposure is afforded by their moving simultaneously in
opposite directions in a plane at right angles to the axes of the
lenses, which are thus uncovered from the centre outwards, and
again covered up from the edges toward the centre, by the plates
still moving onward. In this way the principal part of the lens
remains uncovered from first to last, thereby affording nearly the
maximum illumination to the image during the whole time of
exposure.
The difference between the amount of light admitted into the
camera during an instantaneous exposure by this contrivance, and
that admitted by the ordinary one, will become more apparent on
comparing the amount which will pass through one-half of a lens
when uncovered by a plate sliding from the centre towards the
edge, and from the edge towards the centre respectively. Now,
as tbe arnouut of light admitted in any case must be proportional
to the area of the lens exposed, and also to the time it remains
exposed, it will be proportional to the product of these. If the
respective amounts of light admitted into the camera in these two
cases be calculated by the application of mathematical formulas,
they will be found to be very nearly in the proportion of three to
two; and since even in the most perfect lenses the margin is of
less value than an equal area at the centre, we shall not be guilty
of any exaggeration at least in adhering to these numbers.
In uncovering the lens by the new shutter above described, one
limb will descend during the time (supposing the exposure be of
the same duration in both cases) in which the single shutter rises,
and the amount of light admitted by it in that time will be repre¬
sented by three, compared with that admitted by the single shutter
as two; but during the same time the other limb will have moved
up and admitted the same amount of light through the other half
of the lens, so that by the time the single shutter will have un¬
covered one-half of the lens the other will have uncovered the
whole of it, and have admitted thrice as much light in that time.
In this way three times as much light will be admitted into the
camera during one half of the time of exposure, and during the
other half the lens remains entirely uncovered, while with the
ordinary shutter the amount of the lens uncovered during that
period varies between the half and the whole surface. Combining
these two, and taking into account the close proximity of the new
shutter to the lens, the respective amounts of light admitted in the
two cases during the exposure will be found to be about as two
to one.
If, instead of in front of or behind the lenses, the arrangement
be placed in a central position between them, the advantages
which will arise from its use are still more apparent when a stop
is used. Take, for instance, the case of these instantaneous views
of Paris, which were taken by Dallmeyer’s compound stereoscopic
lenses with a half-inch stop. Here the whole field of view would
have been cleared by the time each plate had moved a quarter of
an inch, while a single plate in front would have to move through
a space of about two inches.
Before constructing this shutter, the writer had recourse to a
contrivance placed inside the camera, immediately in front of the
® u ' b'lc, which, by pulling a cord, caused a longitudinal aperture
t > descend in front of the prepared plate and permitted the maxi¬
mum power ol the Ions to act upon tbe various parts of it in suc¬
cession for a very short time. There are disadvantages, however,
attending rho use of this contrivance which render it available for
instantaneous pictures only, and but for a certain class even of
these. Suppose, for instance, that this slit be an inch in depth
and the plate four inches, then each portion of the plate will be
uncovered only one-fourth of the whole time of exposure; and if a
large moving object has to be photographed so as to fill up a con¬
siderable portion of tbe picture, some of the parts will continue to
move after others have been impressed, which must lead to dis¬
tortion and indistinctness of the image. In such a case it will be
seen that, by tbe shutter already described, the same amount of
exposure may be given in one-third of the time, since all the parts
of the image are formed simultaneously. The only circumstance
in which this is suitable is for an instantaneous sunlight view,
comprising a number of small or distant objects, and where a
change in their relative positions is of no importance.
The most important application, however, of quick photography
is to subjects which are not necessarily in motion, but very apt to
move, and where the exposure need not be altogether what is
understood by the term instantaneous, but may last from one to
two or three seconds. For this purpose the writer believes the
new shutter will be found very well adapted, as it is concealed
from view and entirely under the control of the operator, thus
enabling him by a gentle touch to uncover all the lenses simul¬
taneously (if he uses more than one) at the proper moment, and,
devoting all his attention to the sitter, to cut off the light the
instant any motion is perceptible, as a slight deficiency in the ex¬
posure may be compensated for to a certain extent in the develop¬
ing. The shutter may be placed either inside the camera behind
the lenses, or outside in front of them, in which position it is
provided with a folding hood, which projects considerably in front
of the lenses and acts as a shade.
The exposure may be effected in several ways, according to the
convenience of the operator. One is by gently pulling a string,
which uncovers the lenses by causing the plates to glide in
opposite directions ; and the light may be shut off by tightening
the cord to make them pass onwards, or by allowing them to re¬
turn to their former position by a retrograde motion. When
extreme rapidity is desired, the plates are first drawn into the
proper position by tightening the cord, and are at the proper time
let loose by touching a small trigger with the finger, when they
flash across the lenses and give the requisite amount of exposure.
With this arrangement, and sufficiently sensitive preparations,
especially with the dry process, the use of a stand might be dis¬
pensed with ; and if a view-meter were fixed on to the top of the
camera, the operator, as soon as a chance presented itself, might
take aim and pull the trigger. Some of the peculiarities of this
form of shutter, then, are — that it may be applied to one or any
number of lenses, is perfectly under control, and affords a con¬
venient mode of uncovering the lenses for ordinary work in the
studio. When used for instantaneous work, it will admit about
double the amount of light into the camera that the ordinary form
will in the same time, or give an equal exposure in about one-half
the time; or, in other words, produce equal results in that time on
preparations about half as sensitive as those required by the ordi¬
nary form. By producing a well-illuminated image during nearly
all the time of exposure, it will assist in counteracting the tendency
to feebleness, characteristic of instantaneous negatives. When it
is desired to give an excess of exposure to the foreground of a
picture, it may be done by simply introducing a blackened card in
front of the upper half of the lenses during part of the time they
remain uncovered. In conclusion, it may not be out of place to
mention that the principle here involved is patented, but that the
manufacture of the instrument in its various forms has been under¬
taken by Mr. Dallmeyer, who is now supplying the public with it ;
and if it be found to meet the wants for which it is intended, the
writer will not consider his labours thrown away.
Some of the observations in the foregoing article are sound
enough; others may be more or less questionable. Amongst
the latter we class the assertion that “ the most important
application however of quick photography is to subjects which
are not necessarily in motion, but very apt to move,” especially
if it be coupled with any presumed superlative superiority in
the shutter described for exposing to subjects of the class
indicated. There are, however, many points about it which
proclaim its fitness for “instantaneous” work; but we are not
convinced that it excels the “guillotine” arrangement for this
purpose. In one respect it is certainly inferior, in that the
whole effective aperture of the lens is with the former only
progressively brought into action, while with the latter the
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
245
reverse is the case. In point of fact we have progressive
opening of the lens substituted for progressive impression of
the image, and we cannot forbear remarking, en passant, that
we consider Mr. Maun lias greatly exaggerated the probable
inconvenience likely to arise from the last-named circumstance.
The opening and closing of the lens commencing at the
centre instead of at the margin we regard as an important con¬
sideration ; but it is one that has not been overlooked by other
and more early experimentalists than Mr. Mann. To give one
instance, we may point to Mr. Skaife’s shutters, which have
precisely the same advantages as are possessed by those now
under consideration, though accomplished by a different course
of proceeding. It would be quite practicable to have either
Mr. Skaife’s or Mr. Mann’s shutters and the “guillotine”
shutter both in use with one camera, so as to employ either at
will : they are therefore on a par in this particular also.
We have left for the last the consideration of another point of
no trifling moment : we allude to that contained in Mr. Mann’s
concluding paragraph relative to his having patented the principle
involved in the construction of these shutters — a fact which we
regret to learn on more accounts than one.
We have before now taken occasion to complain of the very
loose manner in which the granting of letters patent is con¬
ducted — a laxity injurious both to the public and to patentees
themselves, the former being generally the most injured. In
the case before us we believe the patentee to be the victim, for,
in addition to the fact that the principle involved (that of the
lens being first exposed at its centre) being included in Mr.
Skaife’s patent, we have other reasons for concluding that the
patent is in this instance iuvalid. On reading Mr. Mann’s
description we were at once struck with the fact that not
only the principle involved in the construction of his shutters
had already been applied to the same photographic opera¬
tion, but that the form of its application is almost identical
with one brought under the notice of the Photographic
Society but a short time after its establishment, between
eight and nine years ago. On reference to the Journal of
the Photographic Society, Vol. I. page 142, published on the
21st December, 1853, we find it recorded in the report of the
meeting held on the 1st of the same month that “Mr. Monte-
fiore Levi exhibited and described an instrument for rapidly
opening and closing the lens;” and in the following number,
published January 21st, 1854, at p. 102, there is a description
of the same (signed G. Montefiore Levi), with an illustrative
woodcut of the apparatus as applied to one lens. The applica¬
tion of the same to a binocular camera is so manifest a corollary
that we presume no one would dream of claiming a patent right
for that alone. Even at the time specified — namely, in 1853 —
the principle of this arrangement had already been applied to the
microscope, though not, so far as we are aware, to photographic
purposes. In the International Exhibition of 1851, M. Nacliet,
the well-known optician, of Paris, exhibited a microscope, the
stage of which, instead of being furnished with the usual re¬
volving diaphragm -plate, containing apertures of several different
sizes, had a diaphragm not revolving, and with but one opening,
which was, however, capable of expansion and contraction by
merely turning a milled head. At the time specified we had
the opportunity of minutely examining one of these ingenious
diaphragms in the possession of our friend the late John
Queckett, Professor of Histology, and afterwards Curator of
the Huuterian Museum in the College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s
Inn Fields, London.
The diaphragm consisted of two thin plates of blackened
metal (each pierced with a rectangular opening), and sliding
one over another, the square apertures being placed with their
diagonals parallel to the line of motion, so that as the plates
were moved uniformly in opposite directions, by means of racks
and pinion, the centre of the aperture remained in the same
spot, while the size of the same was variable at will. We do
not mean to contend that the application of this principle to
photographic apparatus would have been incapable of being
patented ; but after its application in this w. y many years ago,
and the publication thereof at the time, we do contend that to
have granted a patent recently for the same thing is an injustice
to the public and a misfortune to the pseudo patentee.
EXPERIMENTAL COMMITTEES.
Tiie time of year having arrived when photographic experimen¬
talists are generally most active, it may not be amiss to offer a
few remarks upon experimental committees. There are few
documents looked for by the great mass of photographic amateurs
with more interest than the “ reports ” of experimental commit¬
tees, whether the subject discussed be the qualities of collodion,
the excellence of lenses, or an inquiry to ascertain the best dry
process. At the same time it must be admitted that there are
but few, if any, such documents in existence that are not almost
universally disappointing. Why this is the case it is by no
means difficult to decide, after a little consideration of the
ordinary course pursued in the formation and conduct of such
commissions as have been from time to time inaugurated by
various photographic societies. Avoiding all personality, it
may be not unprofitable briefly to pass in review the pro¬
ceedings of certain committees that have existed within the
recollection of most of our readers, with a view to discovering
the weakest points, in order that, on some future occasion,
when it may be in contemplation to constitute a new one for
any special purpose the known “ stone of stumbling” may be
removed.
Let us commence, then, with the Collodion Committee, which
certainly w’as not lacking in men of photographic experience and
skill ; neither was that Committee deficient in numbers, nor was
there any general want of enthusiasm amongst its members.
And yet, of all the reports that have been published, as
emanating from experimental committees, that upon collodion
not only failed to give satisfaction but produced absolutely more
dissatisfaction than any other of its kind. Now, in the first
place, we take it that an error was committed in the mode of
nomination ; and, secondly, in the inconveniently large number
of its members. It may be assumed as an axiom that a
numerous committee is unwieldy in action, takes much energy
to set it in motion at all, and, when it is going, requires still
more to keep the several members from straggling, and follow¬
ing “ pleas not on the record.” In nominating the members of
the Collodion Committee, some were evidently included only
because others of equal repute were previously appointed, and
it was considered invidious to select A, and not B and C. Some
at last were proposed — aye appointed — without having been
consulted at all about the matter, whether it would be agreeable
or whether they would serve. We believe that we are correct
in asserting that no general meeting of the Committee ever was
held, and no distinct plan of operations agreed upon. W’hat
good, then, could be expected from such a haphazard course of
proceeding '?
With regard to the Scotch Lens Committee, some offence
was taken by the opticians, who objected that the committee was
self-constituted, and that the efforts of its members w ere directed
chiefly, if not entirely, to the ascertainment of one particular
qualification of lenses, to the exclusion of others of equal, if not
greater, importance. We are at a loss to perceive the force of
the objection that a committee was self-constituted. If the
members be able men, it matters but little by whom they are
appointed : if not, their decision is but of little value.
More recently, we had in London a Committee for the pur¬
pose of ascertaining the best dry process. The result of its report
— if disappointing to many — was not surprising to us at any
rate. Instead of facts we were presented with opinions, and some
of them not very decided. We by no means quarrel with this
result. Not having been able to arrive at a definite conclusion,
it was honest and straightforward of the members to say so. In
246
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
this particular case we regard the end proposed as one which
offered but small chance of being attained. The best dry process
is not a very definite term, until we determine in what pre-eminent
excellence consists — a matter at present very unsettled in photo¬
graphic pursuits. Had the inquiry been to ascertain whether
any one dry process greatly excelled all others in the beauty
and certainty of its results, we apprehend that there would have
been no difficulty in finding a distinct and decided verdict — in
the negative.
Let us now consider what should he the course to pursue with
regard to the appointment of experimental committees, so as to
render them effective for the end proposed, viz., the ascertain¬
ment of certain facts, and the expression of intelligent opinions
founded thereon. Clearly, to this end it is not sufficient that
tire members should be good operators : they ought especially
to possess acuteness of observation, great judgment, and be ge¬
nerally free from prejudice or commercial interest in the inquiry
undertaken. As a rule large numbers are fatal to decided re¬
sults. We would therefore generally confine the number to
three : in some special cases perhaps five might be admitted as a
maximum. Only those who have proved themselves to be
skilled in the subjects of investigation should be chosen, and if
they involve questions relating to more than one branch of
science a special representative of each should be comprised in
the commission. There are some inquiries that demand for
their solutiou a much larger number of working operators than
three or even five ; but this difficulty is easily met by the expe-
pedient of associate commissioners. Let the three or five members
specially selected meet and discuss first of all their intended
mode of conducting the inquiry entrusted to them : then let them
ask for the assistance of others, if it be needed, to undertake the
conduct of such experiments and in such a manner as the chief
commissioners may dictate ; and let each of the associates make
a written report of his share of the work to the chiefs, who,
with these reports before them, may compare the results with
their own work, and will then probably be in a condition to make
a general report that may be well digested and founded upon
well-directed investigations — consequently will most likely be of
considerable value. In such report each operator should have
due credit for his share in the general result; therefore the
names of each and every individual who may have taken partin
the investigations should be duly recorded. Of course, in many
of the questions that might engage the attention of experi¬
mental committees the assistance of associates would not be
requisite ; but the special utility of such an arrangement, when
adopted, would be the apportionment of the divisions of labour
to those best qualified — notin their own opinions, but in those of
others — to perform them. The ascertainment of particular facts
by some, of other facts by others; and, what is of at least equal
importance, the judicial function would be exercised by those
specially endowed with the capacity for correctly determining
the relations between cause and effect.
Jn a comparison between different processes the value of the
mode of proceeding that we have been advocating will become
at once apparent. Let us suppose a dry process committee to
be formed, and toconsistof, Ictus say, Sir Frederick Pollock,
Ur. Ilardwich, and Mr. Bedford. Having determined upon the
various processes to be compared, they would probably request
r.tlomcp, advocates of their respective methods of
operating, who had proved by their uurhs that they did not
uphold any particular plan from mere caprice, to operate before
them. The various demonstrations would, probably, suggest
certain inquiries as to matters of fact, which would be either
ondi rtaken personally by some of the members of the committee,
be entrusted to some one or more of the associates to report
:: Now, with such a committee as we have imagined — with
icientific acuteness of Mr. Hardwich and the practical
manipulative skill of Mr. Bedford — error of either kind could
detection; while in the summing up of the
cvi'l, nee, giving each portion its due weight as a preparatory
[July 1, 1862
measure to the framing of the report, the experience of the Lord
Chief Baron could not fail to be of importance.
Of course, we are not proposing that the particular three
gentlemen named should really form a committee. We know
that it would be, to say the least, a highly improbable event.
But we mention their names as representatives of the classes of
persons that we believe it would be judicious to induce to act in
combination in such a matter.
We have discussed this question at much greater length than
we had intended when commencing it ; but we have opened up
only a very small portion of the considerations which might
profitably be entertained in connexion with it. We cannot avoid
thinking that much good might arise from pursuing it further.
SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY.
By M. D. Van Monciihoven.
THEORY OP INTENSIFYING NEGATIVES.
There are several methods of intensifying negatives. In one class
of operations silver is added to the nitrate adhering to the film,
while in the other the high lights of the subject (or blacks of the
negative) are made nuclei for the reception of new matter. The
endeavour will be in these articles to give the theory of both.
Let us first treat of those methods which have been in common
use up to the present time.
The greater number of photographers have hitherto employed,
in place of pyrogallic acid, a dilute solution of protosulphate of
iron. The formula which is generally found most successful is as
follows : —
Distilled water . 1000 parts.
Sulphate of iron . 40 to 50 „
Crystallisable acetic acid . 30 „
Sulphuric acid . 1 „
Alcohol or acetic ether . 25 „
The sulphate of iron of commerce, which is generally very impure,
should not be used for this purpose, but the recrystallised sulphate,
which has a clear brilliant emerald green colour. When, however,
any impurity exists, the green is more or less brown, arising from
the formation of a sub-persalt.
Many photographers, instead of four or five per cent, of sulphate,
diminish this proportion still more, and do not use more than three
per cent. This proportion should bear relation to the degree of
concentration in the negative nitrate of silver bath. Thus, if the
bath contain eight or ten per cent of nitrate, a three-per-cent,
solution of sulphate of iron should be used ; but if the bath con¬
tain no more than six or seven per cent, of nitrate, the solution
of protosulphate of iron should be increased to a strength of four
or five per cent.
If this developing solution be mixed with a perfectly neutral
solution of nitrate of silver, after the lapse of a few minutes the
sulphate of protoxide of iron will be found to have appropriated
all the oxygen of the nitrate of silver, and the metal will be
deposited in the shining metallic state.
The name of “reducing agents ” has been given to all those salts
which by virtue of their affinity for oxygen reduce the salts of
silver to the metallic state. It must not, however, be concluded
that all such salts are suitable for developing negatives. We have
experimented with the most powerful reducing agents to be found
in chemistry — such, for instance, as hypophosphorous acid (P.O.),
phosphorous acid (P 03), the protosalts of uranium and titanium,
the hydruret of gai'cyle, eugenic acid, and oxyphenic acid. All
these salts are not equally successful, and we do not propose to
consider their action in this place, although we shall reserve for
the pages of The British Journal of Photography the account
of the curious experiments we have made with these new reducing
agents.
It must no longer be supposed that the substances suitable for
developing negatives are necessarily solids. We are about to
describe how we have developed with hydruret of gaicyle (which
is a liquid), and still further to show that we have produced a nega¬
tive by means of a gaseous reducing agent.
The prevailing rule, then, will be found to be this: — Substances
having a strong affinity for oxygen reduce the salts of silver to the
metallic state, and, as a consequence, develop the latent image pro¬
duced on iodide of silver by the action of light.
To this, which is one of the fundamental truths of photography,
we would invite the reader’s best and most thoughtful attention.
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
247
The sensitive film consists of iodide of silver, with an excess of
the nitrate of the same metal. A very small proportion of iodide
in relation to the nitrate is sufficient.
What takes place during the brief moment that the light is
acting on the film we know not. It is true that some writers,
anxious to give some explanation, have pretended that the iodide is
decomposed into iodine and metal, or into iodine and sub-iodide of
silver ; but the truth of this hypothesis must be admitted to be
improbable. Others have entertained the opinion, that under the
influence of light the iodide acquires a new physical property
which enables it to act as a centre of attraction to the molecules
of silver set at liberty by the reducing agent, added after the
action of light. This hypothesis is much less compromising : it is,
in fact, equal to saying “ things are because they are."
Were wre simply to state all that we really and certainly know
on this point, it would be that light produces such a modification
on iodide of silver, either physical or chemical, that the iodide
being brought into contact with a certain solution depositing
metallic silver attracts the metal to those parts where it has been
modified.
Furthermore, the deposition of the first molecules of silver takes
place with comparative difficulty, but, being once commenced, it
proceeds with great rapidity, owing to the attractive power of the
nuclei first formed ; from which it follows that the development,
at first slow, increases very rapidly only to be quickly diminished
by the weakening of the reducing agent. But if this exhausted
developer be replaced by a fresh quantity, after having previously
added some nitrate of silver, it continues with new energy.
The iodide of silver, then, which is found in the sensitive film, is
but the motive power of photographic action, the whole of it being
found after development. In one word, it serves only to evoke the
action of light ; but it is the mixture of the reducing agent and the
nitrate which is in excess on the surface of the plate that will
constitute the image.
This being admitted, if after a first development it is desired to
induce a second, it is found convenient to call this second treatment
the “intensifying” of the negative.
For this purpose protosulphate of iron has been in use some
years. It is employed in large excess, and in a concentrated solu¬
tion. By mixture with the nitrate of silver which adheres to the
surface of the glass, it reduces immediately all the silver to the
metallic state. The reaction takes place so rapidly that the mole¬
cules of silver set at liberty have not time to arrange themselves
upon the light-modified iodide of silver: a small portion only is so
deposited, while the remainder floats freely in the liquid.
On diluting the concentrated solution of protosulphate of iron
with a large quantity of water, and pouring it over the surface of
the glass as it comes from the camera, the silver of the nitrate,
instead of being precipitated in one mass as with the concentrated
solution, is deposited much more gradually, and the particles
arrange themselves for the most part upon the iodide altered by
light, and the negative also possesses much greater vigour.
The action being slow, the stopping of it is quite under command,
and is effected by immersing the plate in water. On this account,
the majority of photographers use protosulphate of iron for de¬
veloping collodion pictures.
However, the image does not acquire very great vigour. In fact, of
whatever strength the solution of protosulphate of iron may be, its
action upon the nitrate is nevertheless too vigorous or energetic to
admit of the whole of the reduced silver being deposited upon the
modified iodide. It is not thus with pyrogallic acid: here all the
silver is deposited on the modified iodide ; also, generally speaking,
an image developed with pyrogallic acid has much greater vigour
than one developed with protosulphate of iron.
Pyrogallic acid, then, ought to be exclusively employed if the sole
consideration in making the choice be the vigour of the negatives.
But it is not so. The use of sulphate of iron allows the time of
exposure to be reduced one-third, and the subsequent intensifying
enables the operator to impart great density to the negative.
Other considerations have already been advanced. It seems that
the sulphate of iron not only admits of a shorter exposure, but yields
a softer picture. We will not, however, enlarge upon this point of
detail, which, like many others, would be out of place in this article.
It is then a perfectly established fact that the silver reduced by
the action of the sulphate of iron upon the nitrate of silver is
deposited upon the modified iodide ; and moreover that this silver
possesses the property of serving as centres of attraction for new
particles, if, after the "action of the first reducing agent, a second is
brought into contact with the glass. This is called “intensifying
the image,” as we have already said.
The following is the method of accomplishing this operation.
We would, however, observe, parenthetically, that although the
method of operating differs almost with every photographer, the
theoretical fact upon which it is founded is always the same.
Two solutions are prepared : —
Water . 1000 parts. Water . 1000 parts.
Pyrogallic acid 2 ,, Nitrate of Silver 50 „
Glacial acetic acid. 40 „
A small quantity of the pyrogallic acid solution is poured into a
developing glass, and to this is added a few drops of the second,
stirring the while in order to effect complete admixture. It must
be used immediately, as the pyrogallic acid, beginning to oxidise
itself at the expense of the nitrate solution, soon becomes clouded
and coloured, and a deposit of metallic silver takes place.
It is exactly at the moment when the reaction between these
two substances begins that the attraction of the particles deposited
by the first development upon those about to be precipitated is the
most energetic ; if, therefore, the pouring of the mixture on the
plate be delayed until the solution becomes darkened, a part of its
intensifying power will obviously be lost.
Many photographers throw the intensifying mixture on to the
glass while the sulphate of iron is still on it; others drain off the
principal part; while others, again, not only drain but wash with
distilled water, so as to remove the iron more completely, and even
wait until the washing water is thoroughly drained away. This
is effected by standing the plate against the wall, preparing the
mixture of pyrogallic acid and nitrate, and then pouring it on the
glass for which it is prepared — of course on the sensitive film.
This latter is the method which, from a theoretical point of view,
seems to us to be the most rational.
After what has been said above, it is easy to understand the
action of an intensifying mixture. The silver is precipitated where
it has already been deposited. The action, instead of being ener*
getic, takes place slowly, and an image of great vigour is produced
from a very feeble one. The action can be arrested at any time by
plunging the plate into water.
We have said that chemical analysis proves most satisfactorily
that not a single atom of the iodide of silver has been removed or
reduced. This is not the place to enlarge upon the theory of this
mysterious action of light upon the iodide of silver : there is, how¬
ever, one fact which we may not pass over in silence, by reason of
its singularity.
If, instead of producing the image in the ordinary way, we dis¬
solve in the collodion (necessarily free from iodides or bromides*)
fifteen grains of nitrate of silver, pour this collodion on the plate,
and immerse it in a bath of iodide of cadmium containing two per
cent, of the iodide, a film of iodide of silver will be formed. But,
strange to say, this iodide is non-impressible by light, even when
the excess of iodide has been removed by repeated washing.
It is very different when, in the ordinary process, all the excess
of nitrate of silver is removed by repeated washing of the film.
If such a film be submitted to the light, and afterwards to a
mixture of pyrogallic acid aud nitrate of silver, an immediate
image is formed.
It seems, then, that the iodide of silver tenaciously retains a
portion of the nitrate of silver with which it has boon formed;
that it probably forms iodo-nitrate of silver, the existence of which
we have demonstrated some years since, directing especial atten¬
tion to its extreme sensibility to light.
This view of the case is supported by the fact that a plate pre¬
pared by immersion in an alkaline iodide hath, washed, plunged in
the nitrate bath, and washed again, is sensible to light, although
very much less so than in the presence of an excess of nitrate of
silver ; and, secondly, that a plate prepared in the ordinary way,
washed on withdrawal from the nitrate bath, passed into a bath of
iodide and washed again, is completely insensitive to light — that is
to say, that the reducing mixture will not develop the least trace
of an image.
There are some curious results from this fact. I would say, in
fact, that if it be not desired to preserve a negative indefinitely, it
is not necessary to remove the iodide of silver ly hyposulphite of
soda, cyanide of potassium, or any other fixing agent whatever.
It results, in fact, from our recent experiments that if, at the con¬
clusion of the development, the operator content himself by simply
washing the film, as there will remain some traces of nitrate of
silver, the light will render the unaltered iodide grey or slightly
fogged. But if, on withdrawing from the washing bath, a diluted
solution (containing one grain to a pint and a-lialf of water) of
iodide of potassium be poured over the plate, the very slight excess
* Gun cotton 1 part, alcohol 50 parts, ether 50 parts, and nitrate of silver 1 part.
248
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1862
of nitrate of silver which the iodide of silver retains, and which was
the cause of its rapid alteration, is removed, or rather converted
into iodide of silver, and positives may be printed from it with
impunity. The iodide becomes only slightly darkened, to such an
extent as not to affect the image in the least— a fact which at first
sight seems paradoxical. .
Nevertheless we would direct attention to our expression, if it
be not desired to preserve a negative indefinitely.” In those cases
where it is desired to keep them we should certainly recommend
the removal of the iodide by a fixing agent.
We have given, then, the theory of intensifying. It would have
been easy for us to have cited other illustrative instances, which
in the end would have come to the same thing. Such, for example,
as the process in which after a first development the plate is
carefully washed, immersed in the negative bath, and then diluted
cither with fresh sulphate of iron or pyrogallic or gallic acids. It
is easy to see that these are fundamentally the same kind of facts —
at least in a theoretical point of view, the only one with which we
have to occupy ourselves in this place.
(To be continued '.)
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
LENSES, AND THE ANGLE OP SUBJECTS INCLUDED.*
(DISPLACEMENT AND DISTORTION.)— Continued.
By Thomas Grubb, M.K.I.A.
In resuming the continuation of the subject I would first correct
the error of a word in my last. For the word “ distortion," at the
end of the last paragraph but one, I must beg my readers to
substitute “ displacement," and to excuse my inadvertence should
it have put them to any trouble to discern what was meant.
Having given in my last article the results of actual trials, show¬
ing what the displacement of a certain single combination is for
fields of various angles and extending to 60°, I now proceed to
show how the displacement of the image there shown to belong to
a pencil subtending 20° to the axial (viz., 38 minutes of a degree,
or rather less than one-sixth part of that asserted to be the case)
is perfectly reconcilable with a deflection of the said lateral pencil of
4° and upwards.
FIG. 2.
In the diagram, fig. 2, A represents a plano-convex lens; B a
diaphragm; C a central pencil of rays, which, passing through the
lens, is brought to a focus at c on the surface represented in section
by the line S S, placed vertically to the pencil C c.
Let the dotted line L l be the direction of a ray proceeding from
a lateral object, and which, if the lens and stop were absent, would
pass through the place of the optical centre of A and touch the
Biirfnce S S at l , this point l is evidently the true point of represen¬
tation— frre of displacement — for the corresponding point in the
object (viz., the point from which the ray L l had proceeded).
Next. Suppose the lens and stops in situ , the ray L can no
longer proceed to l ; but other rays proceeding from the same
point, and all but parallel with L l, will pass through the stop B
and the lens A. At the latter they will suffer both convergence
md di flection, and finally be brought to a focus close to the sur¬
face SS at a point m, a little nearer the centre of the field than the
Point l- Ntw, 1 being the strictly correct point (or that of no dis¬
placement , it follows that the distance l m on the surface of repre-
•entatli n is tbe true measure of the displacement produced by the
bow for the ray L /, and so for all images subtending the same
angle to the axis which that ray does.
The figure is constructed for an angle of 20° or half of a field of
•In , and the displacement is shown as accurately as the scale will
Permit, supposing the lens to be an “ aplanatic.” I apprehend
* Continued from page 22-5.
that the simple inspection of the figure is adequate to show the
perfect compatability of four degrees of deflection with thirty-eight
minutes only of displacement. It may be not amiss to mention
here that, should the lateral object be very near [e.g. in the case of
copying), the ray L l and pencil M will not be quite parallel; but
this will cause the displacement to be still less than for objects at
mere ordinary distances.
I now come to show what would be the result if the “ four
degrees of deflection ” were not present.
In that case the pencil M would suffer convergence only, and pro¬
ceed in the direction of the point n. It would converge to a focus
before reaching the surface S, by the quantity on, and finally, on
reaching that surface, form an indistinct image (or spot instead of
point) displaced five times as much from the true point l as it
would be had it suffered the four degrees of deflection.
The practical effect, therefore, of getting rid of deflection of the
lateral pencils, if such were practicable, would be of a two-fold
and very prejudicial nature. Instead of that near approach to
perfect flatness of field which the lens really possesses, we should
have a field of considerable curvature, and therefore not fitted to
include a large angular field on a flat surface ; and, secondly, there
would be a displacement (by enlargement) in amount five times
that of the present. The distance of the stop from the surface S,
and not the focus of the lens, would govern the size of the image,
and the displacement would reduce the intensity of the lateral
pencil in a field of forty degrees to about two-thirds of what this
is under existing circumstances. In short, the lens would be
changed from very good to very bad, and we should have the
“ unbearable amount of displacement ” spoken of in my last article.
My next I propose to devote to the subjects of intensity and
quickness.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING ON ALBUMENISED PAPER.
By George Dawson, M.A.,
Lecturer on Photography at King's College, London.
In spite of the varied and precise information which has from
time to time been communicated to the public by many of our
ablest photographers on the printing and toning processes, much
ignorance still seems to prevail in quarters where it ought not to
be expected, and also (with more excuse) among our rising genera¬
tion of young photographers. Indeed, if I may judge from the
general tenor of the column headed “Answers to Correspondents”
in The British Journal of Photography, and from the frequent
communications I am expected to make in reply to inquiring
notes, enclosing all sorts of hideously diseased prints under the
sun, failures in this respect would seem to arise more from our
correspondents’ carelessness and culpable neglect in not perusing
and taking advantage of the published experience of others than
from the small amount of manipulatory skill required to ensure
success. Printing, like all other photographic operations, requires
a head to direct as well as hands to work. To the mere observer
and quasi-photographer the manipulatory part seems the be-all,
and end-all. They forget that success is mainly due to the head
that knows the nature of, and can control, the many delicate
chemical processes which are called into operation.
My object in this paper is not to enter fully into tbe minutest
details of the printing process, but to point out as succinctly as I
can most of tbe conditions of success which do not seem sufficiently
attended to by those who are perpetually complaining of slaty, red,
mealy, or feeble prints. The mere manipulation varies so with the
kind of dishes, &c., employed, and is so easily acquired, that every
one likes to carve out a method to suit his own convenience.
The first requisite is a good negative — that is to say, sharp and
well-defined in all its parts. Viewed by transmitted light it should
be opaque,, or nearly so, in the highest lights, and gradually de¬
scending through all the gradations of half-tone to clear, trans¬
parent glass. From a negative possessing these characteristics
we may obtain almost by any recognised method of printing and
toning a vigorous if not a brilliant proof. But one of a feebler kind,
or more translucent in the high lights— always provided there be
good gradation of tone — may, by careful management, be made to
yield beautiful prints of a softer character. These are eminently
adapted for stereoscopic purposes, as they get rid of the snowy
glare which often spoils the illusion of otherwise fine stereographs.
All Wilson’s negatives that I have seen are of this class, and every
one must admire the charming brilliancy and softness of his pic¬
tures. Even negatives considerably fogged, or containing some
deposit of silver on the deep shadows, need not be rejected; for it is
quite possible from these, if they possess sufficient gradation, to
July 1, 1869]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
949
obtain very fair prints. They require different modes of treatment,
which will be mentioned under the head “Printing.” On the other
hand, all negatives (except copies of prints and similar objects)
which, by transmitted light, exhibit a sudden transition from
opacity to transparency are ot no value by any treatment.
Paper, Selection of.-— A first-class paper is invaluable, and, un¬
fortunately, not always to be obtained. One may readily detect
by the eye inequalities of albumenising and like defects sufficient
to condemn it; but the real printing properties of a paper can
only be ascertained by actual trial. The best chance of securing
the right quality is to pay the highest price at a first-class house
which sells largely, and is therefore not likely to have an old stock
on hand. Even then disappointment will sometimes follow, but
not intentionally. Above all things the photographer should
avoid buying job lots, which may have a fine appearance and
appear to be cheap. They generally consist of odds and ends of
different kinds of paper, requiring, as will be seen, different treat¬
ment, and will, in the end, be found too dear.
At the present time there are several varieties in the market
which answer well for different classes of negatives. The highly
albumenised thin Rive and Saxe papers are the best for stereo¬
scopic and carte printing. The latter being the more sensitive of
the two, may be used with great advantage for printing dense
negatives and for ordinary work in dull weather. The former, pos¬
sessing greater strength and thickness, will also suit well forlarger
prints, as it is not very liable to be torn or broken in the washing.
As respects final tone and vigour, both kinds are very much alike ;
but they should never be printed together, nor toned in the same
dish. The Saxe requires rather deeper printing, and often much
less time in the toning bath, to acquire the same vigour and tone
as the Rive. For large pictures the thicker qualities of Saxe, less
highly albumenised, is now generally employed. It is very strong
in texture, gives fine tones from warm sepia to black, and will bear
almost violent handling and washing without sustaining injury.
The preparers of albumenised paper are generally blamed,
often, I think, unjustly, when bad samples of paper happen to be
sent out. They are responsible for all streaks and irregularities
on the surface, and for the quality of the albumen. In this respect,
if I may be allowed to speak only from experience, two of our prin¬
cipal makers, J. A. Spencer and J. Sanford (and probably others,
if I knew them), display great care and skill. Seldom are we
troubled with streaks, or our pictures jaundiced with stale albu¬
men on a good paper which has passed through their hands. But
we must bear in mind that without a good foundation or ground
for the albumen all their care and skill is useless. Despite their
vigilance in the selection of the paper, they are, to some extent,
at the mercy of the foreign manufacturers and agents, who do not
seem always to have considered it the wisest policy to supply the
best article at the best price. There have, however, been great
improvements lately in the uniformity of the samples which have
come under my notice. Indeed I may say I have not met with
one actually bad , out of the many tried. It is to be hoped, now
the manufacture is better understood, that this improvement will
be permanent.
Albumenised paper deteriorates, and some kinds more rapidly than
others, by age. If kept in a dry place it may retain nearly all its
original brightness for four or five months; but it is better, where
practicable, to use it up sooner. The deterioration generally be¬
gins to manifest itself by minute red and white mealy spots on the
surface, which may not be seen till the picture has passed through
the toning bath, and in general diminished brightness of image.
PRACTICAL COURSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY.*
[Communicated to the Antwerp Scientific Association
by M. C. Omjieganck, Director of the Association.]
Resume of the Lessons on the Toning of Positive Prints on Paper.
Critical Examination of the Various Formula :.
A POSITIVE print on paper cannot be preserved in the condition
in which it is taken from the negative : it very soon becomes uni¬
formly black all over. It must therefore be submitted to an opera¬
tion which, by removing the excess of silver salt, renders it insen¬
sitive to light. Up to this time only one salt has been found which
efficiently accomplishes this object: it is the hyposulphite of soda,
which has, however, the disadvantage of communicating to the
print anything but an agreeable tone ; and, in order to correct this
defect and impart the tone generally observable in published
pictures, the operation must needs be complicated by a second
reaction known under the name of toning.
* From the Bulletin Beige de Photographic.
The great number of the formulae is in itself an indication of
their want of efficiency ; but what more particularly perplexes
beginners is the laconic character usually given to the descriptions
of the manipulatory details.
Those who make their first experiments in photography often
go from one formula to another, using a great deal of chloride of
gold, nitrate of silver, and paper, and stop, sometimes, completely
discouraged.
We have experienced so many difficulties in this way ourselves
that the task of teaching others to avoid them becomes a very
pleasant one. As there has not been a formula described which
we have not minutely tried, a critical examination of the principles
will not be without interest for those who, venturing into this
labyrinth, desire to be led out of it.
Formula A. — When plain albumenised paper alone was used
the proof was placed for an instant in chloride of gold, where it
almost instantaneously became blue: it was then plunged into
hyposulphite of soda. This method is not used now, the proofs
yielded by it being of a mealy character.
Formula B. — About the same time chloride of gold was em¬
ployed, added to a fixing bath of hyposulphite ot soda, or in a
separate and final bath. The brownish proof was immersed in the
following bath until a violet tint was produced: — Fifteen grains
chloride of gold dissolved in eighteen ounces of water, and poured
into a solution of a quarter-of-an-ounce to three ounces hyposul¬
phite of soda in eighteen ounces of water.
The greater number of proofs treated in this manner have faded,
and especially those which were printed deepest, or toned in too
old a bath. This toning was slow, costly, and uncertain.
The use of acetate of lead, of acids in the hyposulphite of soda
bath, or of old hyposulphite baths charged with silver, will yield
tints as black as charcoal, which please some persons, but which
are, nevertheless, not very agreeable, and by no means permanent.
Formula C. — Toning by means of a solution of fifteen grains of
chloride of gold in thirty-five ounces of water, used alter the fix¬
ing by hyposulphite of soda, gives meagre tones, and proofs
without vigour, especially on albumenised paper.
The substitution of perchloride of iron for chloride of gold in
formula B is tempting on the score of economy. W e cannot, how¬
ever, recommend it ; for a hyposulphite bath after one year s ex¬
posure to the air, had not lost all the salt of iron dissolved, and
the proofs toned therewith always contain iron attached to the
vegetable fibre of the paper, however prolonged the washings
have been : besides the tone is generally flat and disagreeable.
All these processes are now completely abandoned : the toning
is now actually carried on before the fixing by hyposulphite. The
bath is neutral or slightly alkaline: the chloride ot gold used is
completely deprived of hydrochloric acid, and is also partially
reduced to an inferior state of chlorisation. The liquid is some¬
times colourless, sometimes slightly green.
The almost exclusive use of albumenised paper, and the difficulty
of obtaining a suitable tone by any of the earlier methods, has
given rise in these days to a host ot formula).
Formida E. — A preparation which has been much in use, and
which yields good results as to colour, is made as follows: — Dissolve
fifteen grains chloride of gold in eighteen ounces of water, and pour
this solution into eighteen ounces ot water in which have been
dissolved sixty grains nyrposulphite ot soda: when colourless
add fifteen grains hydrochlorate of ammonia. If the chloride of
ammonium be first added to the chloride ot gold, as indicated by'
various writers, a feeble result only is obtained. Ibis toning bath
requires the proofs to be only lightly* printed under the negaii\e;
moreover, it does not change the colour of the proofs in the hypo¬
sulphite. Notwithstanding the large quantity of sal-ammoniac,
may not this bath be regarded as a sulphurating one even to the
point of losing the prints ? Do we not here bring a large quantity
of silver salt in contact with a small quantity of hyposulphite ?
This salt of silver is a chloride, it is true, in the presence of an
excess of soluble chloride (sal-ammoniac).
Experience has shown that this method of toning requires great
precaution, and that serious doubts may be euteitained as to the
permanency* of the proofs coloured by this method, especially in
inexperienced hands.
Formula B. — The acetate of soda formula of the Abbe Laborde
is much employed for albumenised paper, for which it is more
suitable than other preparations which may be offered to the notice
of photographers. It is the acetate of soda which here acts the
part of a reducing agent on the chloride of gold. The following is
the method by which we have advantageously prepared this bath :—
Dissolve first one ounce of acetate of soda in three and a-half ounces
250
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1862
of water ; add fifteen grains of chloride of gold, and watch care¬
fully for* the moment when the solution becomes colourless— a
change which takes place very rapidly at this degree of concentra¬
tion, and which may be even accelerated still further by means of
a salt water bath, when the quantity is made up to thirty -five
ounces bv the addition of thirty-one and a-half ounces of water.
If it be warmed too much the bath becomes green and entirely
decomposed.
The proofs undergo a good washing as indicated in the prepara¬
tion of the toning by hypochlorite of lime. (Formula H.)
Formula F. — The use of of phosphate of soda, introduced by Mr.
Maxwell Lyte, has had, and still retains, justly merited favour.
When properly prepared it gives good results. Phosphate of soda,
as an alkaline salt, reduces the chloride of gold, and exerts a penetia-
ting action on the coagulated albumen — an action which is greatly
favoured by the solvent power of the phosphate over the albumen.
When prepared as described in the greater number of treatises
proofs are obtained of a mealy character, and covered with red
points.
In order to succeed, 200 grains of neutral phosphate of soda
(2 Na 0, Pos. H 0) (26 II O) should be ground in a porcelain mortar:
this is the ordinary phosphate, which is slightly alkaline (restoring
the blue colour of reddened litmus-paper). One grain chloride of
gold, dissolved in one and a-half ounces of water, is then added;
trituration is continued until the liquid becomes colourless (it will
be found necessary to accelerate this reaction in winter by the ap¬
plication of heat) ; water is then added to make up the one and
three-quarter pints, and, if necessary, the solution is filtered. The
proofs are then submitted to washing as described in formula H.
Formula G. — A toning bath, applicable to albumenised paper or
otherwise, and which works very rapidly, may be obtained by com¬
bining the formulae of M. Laborde with that of M. Maxwell Lyte.
The following is the method of manipulation : — First, dissolve in
eighteen ounces of water 150 grains phosphate of soda and seventy-
five grains acetate of soda; secondly, in eighteen ounces water
dissolve fifteen grains dry chloride of gold. At the time of toning
equal volumes of the two solutions are mixed in quantity to suit
the requirements of the moment. One hour afterwards the bath
is ready. It undergoes spontaneous decomposition, however, and
will oidy serve for one operation. Carbonate and bicarbonate of
soda are also employed for neutralising chloride of gold ; but their
use is attended with difficulty, and is not always successful.
Secret remedies are to be as much avoided by the operator in
toning as in collodion. The substances already known give suffi¬
ciently good results without having recourse to the contents of
flashily-labelled bottles, for which ten times their value is demanded.
We employ exclusively a bath analogous to that of M. Le Gray.
We do not hesitate to say that the following quantities are alto¬
gether impracticable : — Three and a-half ounces of water, forty-five
grains hypochlorite of lime, and fifteen grains chloride of gold.
No proof can resist the decomposing action of this bath: it would
be ruined in a short time.
The following is a complete description of the method of operat¬
ing which we follow, which, above all, is the most economical, and
which gives results leaving nothing to be desired: —
Formula If. —
Chloride of gold . 15 grains.
Carbonate of lime . 150 „
Chloride of lime . 23 ,,
Water . . 7 pints.
Preparation : — Dissolve in aqua rerjia (nitric acid one part, hydro¬
chloric acid two parts) metallic gold ninety grains; after solution
add thirty grains of common salt to prevent decomposition during
evaporation; evaporate by a gentle heat until the saline mass
contains no more free water. It is not necessary to push the
evaporation to complete dryness: a trace of acid does not much
signify. Dissolve the salt of gold thus obtained in three and a-half
minces of water — distilled if possible; if not, rain water — and a
solution will be obtained containing about forty-five grains to the
ounce.
The advantage of this is, that it is no longer necessary to weigh
everj time small quantities of chloride of gold are required, nor is
v to pr< serve it from moisture. This salt of gold, gene-
™v called chloride, is a hydrochlorate of chloride of gold : thus —
An = 1 equiv. gold weighing . 19670
( I, ) 4 eqnivs. chlorine weighing . 142‘00
J (1 equiv. chlorine weighs 35'50.)
H 1 equiv. hydrogen weighing . 1-00
Total . 33970
— or, in round nnmbers, metallic gold 200, chlorine and hydrogen
140, making together 340; reducing we shall havolO -(- 7 = 17;
multiplying by 6 we shall have, . old 60, chlorine and hydrogen
42, together 102: 90 grains of gold, then, will yield about 150
grains of the hydrochlorate in question. Two and a-half drachms
of the solution are taken and triturated in a porcelain mortar with
150 grains of carbonate of lime. If it be intended to use the bath
at once, these ingredients should be left itr contact for one hour; if
on tire morrow, ten minutes will be found sufficient. By this treat¬
ment the chloride of gold abandons its acid and some of its chlorine.
The whole of the operations should be conducted by the heat of a
water bath in winter.
Carbonate of lime being nearly insoluble, a slight excess of it is
not so important as an excess of carbonate of soda. This reaction
being completed, 23 grains of chloride of lime are added : this
latter salt should be specially prepared and preserved in closely-
stoppered bottles, on account of its tendency to become moist and
decompose in damp air. After that add 35 ounces of water,
filter, and then add 5 pints more water, and preserve in stop¬
pered bottles. When this bath loses its toning properties, either
through age or exhaustion, it may be restored by the addition of
about four drops to the pint of a ten per cent, solution of chloride
of gold : when the bath has lost its smell, it may be restored by
adding a little chloride of lime, previously diffused through water.
On a subsequent occasion we shall treat of the different papers,
and of the proportions of nitrate of silver to he used for the pre¬
paration of positive papers. We would here remark that it is only
by the use of fused nitrate that the middle tints, which make the
charm of a good picture, can be preserved.
On being withdrawn from contact with the negative the proofs
are soaked in the smallest possible quantity of water during ten
minutes, then agitated for two or three seconds in a large quantity
of water, and finally immersed in the gold bath, where they are
kept in constant motion until they have acquired a decidedly blue
tone. They are then plunged into a bath containing ten per cent,
of hyposulphite of soda.
The tone of the proof changes at once to a violet-brown; but as
soon as it is properly fixed it returns to a bluish-black. Finally, the
prints are washed as before described. The hyposulphite bath
will only serve for once.
The complete deprivation of free nitrate by washing, or treat¬
ment of the proofs with chloride of sodium or other analogous salt,
does not make them tone any better.
EXPEDITIOUS METHOD OF PREPARING- NITRATE OF
SILVER FROM OLD .13 ATHS.
The substance of the following paper is gathered from a very
interesting article, by M. Mc-A. Gaudin, in a recent number of La
Lumiere. The subject will be at once recognised as an important
one to photographers, both professional and amateur; and on that
account we have deemed it desirable to lay the matter before the
readers of The British Journal of Photography.
It is only necessary to say, by way of introduction, that silver
residues are divisible into two classes — one having served for sensi¬
tising collodion films and paper for printing, while the other is
derived from waste in fixing and developing. The process under
consideration refers only to tlie former.
Professional photographers have always on hand a large quantity
of bath solution set aside for various reasons from time to time, and
they are reminded by the writer of the somewhat complex treat¬
ment to which they must usually be submitted when it is desired
to bring them again into the normal condition of crystallised nitrate
of silver.
The method proposed by M. Mc-A. Gaudin is intended to obviate
the necessity for such elaborate proceedings, and is based on the
following chemical law: — If solutions of any two salts be mixed, a
mutual interchange (usually called double decomposition) of acids
and bases invariably takes place, if, by that mutual interchange,
an insoluble salt is formed; and this law holds good for feebly
soluble salts, even when they have not been dissolved separately
and previously to admixture. It is, in fact, sufficient merely to
digest the salts together with water, aided by ebullition, in order
to ensure the reaction taking place.
Such is the principle involved. There are in addition one or
two facts which should he taken in connexion therewith, to assist
the reader in appreciating the ingenuity of the process.
Among metallic sulphates there are two which are remarkable
for their insolubility, viz., the sulphates of lead and baryta: all
other sulphates are more or less soluble. Sulphate of silver itself
is nearly insoluble, but it dissolves sensibly in water aided by heat,
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
251
and, moreover, it cannot exist in the presence of a soluble salt
either of lead or baryta. The reaction takes place but slowly on
account of the insoluble sulphate which accumulates like a sheath
round each particle and hinders the continued solvent action of the
water. The mechanical agitation, however, produced by the
bumping and bubbling action during ebullition, breaks up this
outer coating and the action continues.
Supposing that it is desired to convert several pints of old bath
into crystallised nitrate of silver, the writer recommends the addi¬
tion thereto of a solution of sulphate of soda, by which means a
precipitate of sulphate of silver is produced carrying with it the
iodide previously held in solution. In order to save trouble in
subsequent manipulation it is further recommended that the solu¬
tion of sulphate of soda should be one of known strength, contain¬
ing, in fact, ten per cent of sulphate : if the necessity for using
crystallised sulphate in such a case be simply alluded to, the method
of preparation will readily suggest itself to the reader.
The whole of the silver having thus been precipitated in the
form of sulphate, collected on a filter and washed, it is ready for
transformation into nitrate, which is accomplished by placing the
thick pasty magma in a flask, and boiling it with a five per cent,
solution of nitrate of baryta.
In reference to the proportions, it may be observed that the
relative chemical equivalents of nitrate of baryta, sulphate of
soda, and sulphate of silver, require that there should be added to
the pasty mass of sulphate of silver two and a-half times as much
of the five per cent, solution of nitrate of baryta as there was of-
the ten per cent, solution of sulphate of soda used in the produc¬
tion of the precipitate.
It will be obvious that when the reaction is complete an insolu¬
ble sulphate of baryta will be found in the flask, and a solution of
nitrate of silver — this latter, however, very dilute, containing
probably from three to six per cent. : by evaporation, however,
the salt may be obtained in crystals.
The very diluted condition in which the solution of nitrate of
silver is obtained by the foregoing method seeming to the author
materially to reduce the advantages of the process, he was induced
to try the nitrate of baryta in crystals. The same obstacle of
course presented itself which was mentioned in the commence¬
ment of this paper, viz., the formation of an outer and pro¬
tective coating of sulphate of baryta round each crystal ; but
the mechanical agitation produced by boiling eventually over¬
came this difficulty, and it was found that if to a mass of
sulphate resulting from the use of one and three-quarter pints of
the ten per cent solution of sulphate of soda two and a-half ounces
crystallised nitrate of baryta be added, and enough water to make
thirty-five ounces, when the reaction is completed a ten per cent,
solution of nitrate of silver will be obtained.
It remains only to filter this solution, when it will be ready for
use. The precipitated iodide having been re-dissolved during the
reaction, the degree of acidity should of course be regulated ; and
this point being attended to, the bath solution thus obtained differs
only from a freshly-prepared bath in containing a possible trace of
nitrate of baryta — a salt which will exercise no appreciable in¬
fluence on the result, any more than the nitrates of potassium,
cadmium, or ammonium. J. MARTIN.
FUSED NITRATE OF SILVER.*
By Professor E. Emerson.
(< Commercial crystallised nitrate of silver is frequently contami¬
nated with traces of an impurity, which is probably produced by
organic matters falling into the nitric acid employed in dissolving
the silver. Repeated recrystallisation is required to remove this
substance. If allowed to remain it injures the sensitiveness of the
film to obscure radiations, makes the negative weak and metallic,
reverses the action of the light, and produces either foggings or
markings of various kinds, the result of irregular reduction of
silver. ” — Ha rdwich .
I can furnish an illustration of the truth of the above passage
by detailing the experience of a young friend of mine, who is
deeply interested in amateur photography. Ilis silver bath was
carefully made with pure rain water and crystallised nitrate of
silver, iodised in the usual manner, and was used at first at a
temperature of 50° Fah. The collodion was a sample giving-
intense results in my own practice; but in my friend’s hands the
result, in every case, was very weak and metallic. The following
changes were then made, in a course of careful experiments ex¬
tending through three weeks : —
From Humphrey's Journal.
1. The acidity of the bath was varied.
2. The strength of the developing solution was modified.
3. The amount of acetic acid in the developer was varied.
4. The sample of sulphate of iron was changed.
5. Alcohol and ether were gradually added to the silver bath.
6. The bath was exposed to the sunlight for a day, after being
made neutral.
The result of each of the foregoing cases was feeble negatives.
7. The temperature was now raised to C0° Fah.
8. I he bath was boiled down, and carefully diluted again with
pure pump Avater, and slightly acidified ; but Avitli no change for
the better.
9. The developer Avas again varied in several Avays. No im¬
provement.
10. Care Avas noAV taken to see that the bath Avas fully iodised.
11. The temperature Avas raised to 70° Fah. for all the solutions.
12. The bath Avas again exposed to sunlight for a day ; until,
finally, every condition had been repeatedly changed, except that
ot nitrate of silver, and the uniform results Avere great sloAvness,
and a weak and metallic image.
13. The nitrate of silver Avas uoav carefully fused, and the bath
again made with pure pump water. The immediate and perma¬
nent results Avere rapidity and intensity with the same samples of
collodion.
ON ALBUMEN.
By James Martin.
Quasi- Synonymes. — White of egg; proteine, sulphurised and
phosphorised.
Composition (of pure albumen). — C40o, H62o, Nico, O120 P, S2.
Equivalent. — 5412.
Preparation. — It is almost unnecessary to say that this substance
does not admit of artificial preparation, being a natural product
existing ready formed in the Avhite of eggs, abounding also in the
blood and chyle, and more or less in all the serous fluids of the
animal body. It also exists in the sap of vegetables, and in their
seeds and other edible parts. Notwithstanding this, however, there
is a certain sense in which this natural product has to be prepared
or modified to render it suitable for photographic purposes, and
with the method adopted in doing this Ave may occupy a feAv lines,
though the bulk of this “Note” av i 1 1 most appropriately be filled
by a consideration of the properties of albumen.
Most of our readers Avill haAre observed that when the shell of an
egg is broken, the Avhite has a natural tendency to separate itself
from the yolk, so that the exercise of a very small amount of dex¬
terity on the part of the operator Avill enable him to collect the
Avhite of egg in one vessel and the yolks in another.
Albumen so obtained is generally too thick for photographic
application, and requires copious dilution for most dry-plate pro¬
cesses ; and, Avhen not diluted so freely (as in the preparation of
albumenised paper), requires not only the addition of some reagent,
but also brisk mechanical agitation to impart the necessary degree
of fluidity.
In the preparation of albumen for the Fothergill process, after having
carefully separated the yolk and germ, it is usual to add to the
Avhites of (say) half-a-dozen eggs. tAvo ounces of Avater and forty
drops of solution of ammonia. The Avhole is then briskly stirred
Avith a glass rod for a few minutes and set aside for tAvelve hours,
at the end of which time the thread-like portions av i 1 1 be found to
haATe agglomerated into one mass at the top of the liquid, thus
facilitatingtheircomplete separation. The fluid is finally made quite
clear by straining through muslin, and afterwards stored in bottles
for use. It will keep for many months in this condition so long as
the presence of an excess of ammonia is maintained. It will be
observed, on commencing the treatment with a glass rod mentioned
above, that the albumen is somewhat thick and glutinous, and that
it acquires the necessary fluidity much sooner than is usual Avhen
simply “beating up” eggs Avith a fork. This is attributable to the
ammonia, Avhieh has the property in common with the fixed
alkalies, potash and soda, of causing albumen to become thin.
More recent experiments have shoAvn that this property is also
possessed in a remarkable degree by glacial acetic acid, which
effects the complete disruption of the cells containing the albumen ,
and it may therefore be employed with even greater advantage
than the ammonia, as it is found that albumen prepared by treat¬
ment — first with acetic acid and afterwards rendered alkaline with
ammonia — is much clearer, more limpid, and has better keeping
qualities than that prepared 1-13- ammonia onlv*.
In preparing iodised albumen for the collodio-albumen process a
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1802
252
somewhat different course is adopted. In addition to water,
acetic acid, and the various iodising substances, the albumen is
recommended to be whipped into a complete froth by means of a
bundle of quills or a silver fork, and, the froth having been allowed
to stand all night, the clear liquid which accumulates underneath
is decanted into small bottles for use. Dr. Taupenot. whose name
this process sometimes bears, suggested a mixture of albumen and
honey fermented in the original collodio-albumen process. The
above method, however, as being more facile and ready, is now
generally adopted. It requires the addition of a small piece of
camphor to prevent spontaneous decomposition.
A very similar method is adopted in the preparation of the cdbumen
for albumenising paper. The whites of any convenient number of
eggs are mixed with an equal bulk of water (sometimes less,
according to the requirements of the case), salted, and whipped
into a complete froth by means of quills. Acetic acid is, we fear,
almost invariably added previous to the “whipping up;” the
propriety of doing so is, however, extremely questionable, as in
certain conditions of the sensitising bath it gives rise to the for¬
mation of black spots.* Ammonia is also sometimes added to
assist the desintegration of the small membranous ceils in which
the albumen is contained. The clear portion which subsides is
decanted for use.
For the albumen process on glass a similar method of preparing
the albumen is applicable, except that a very much smaller pro¬
portion of water is added (about one-eighth), and sometimes even
none at all, and the ammonia is added much more sparingly —
namel}’, one drop to five ounces.
Properties. — The ordinary properties of white of egg, which is,
perhaps, the most convenient form in which to study albumen, are
too well known to require description in this place. It will be the
task of the w’riter, therefore, to refer as briefly as possible to the
more recondite and peculiarly chemical characteristics of this
interesting substance, striving in the description to answer the
question— What is Albumen?
Albumen is described by Berzelius as a combination of proteine
with sulphur and phosphorous and phosphate of lime. It is the
most important part of, and is found dissolved in, the serum of
blood. It forms two isomeric modifications, in one of which it is
soluble in water, while in the other it is nearly insoluble in that
liquid. In this latter condition it is called coagulated albumen, and
in the former, to distinguish it from the first, non- coagulated or
soluble albumen. The conditions of albumen yielded by a raw and
a cooked egg will give the best idea of these two modifications of
the same substance.
I he more recent researches of chemists lead to the conclusion
that pure albumen is a white insoluble substance, free from taste or
smell, and that the condition in which animal albumen is generally
met with in nature — i.e., in white of egg and serum of blood — is
•attributable to the solvent action of a minute trace of alkali which
is always present. The white flocculent precipitate which falls
when scrum of blood or white of egg (being exactly neutralised
y acetic acid) is largely diluted with water, may be regarded as
pure albumen.
A more accurate appreciation of the constitution of this substance
.1 arrived at by a consideration of the analyses of proteine ob¬
tained from different substances, and published by Mulder:—
Hydrogen..
Nitrogen ..
Vegetable
Albumen.
Fibrine.
Animal
Albumen.
Cheese.
Atomic
Weight.
. 54-09
55-44
55-30
55-159
40
, 6-87
6-95
6-94
7-176
62
. 15-66
16-05
16-02
15-857
10
22-48
21-56
21-74
21-808
12
55'29
7-00
16-01
21-70
Hie l ist column of figures on the right hand gives the average
constitution <6 proteine obtained from various sources, and the
analysis of which has been conducted with great care; and, if to
tins be added 0-4 phosphorus and 1*6 sulphur, we shall have the
per-centnge composition of pure albumen.
Tim behaviour of pure albumen under the influence of heat and
chemical reagents has not been minutely studied : the substance
c“08en lorsueh investigation has generally been white of egg or
fmniin of blood. The following observations, therefore, will be
understood to apply to the first of these two natural products,
8Peak‘DS ™lth chemical accuracy, is not pure albumen, as
'Mil be seen by what follows.
The most remarkable fact in connexion with the interesting
substance now under consideration is its property of becoming
Of
! J °* thc Inconvenience of the Acetates in the Preparai
solid, or coagulating, on the application of heat, or the addition
of acids (especially strong mineral acids) and metallic salts —
a property which renders it especially applicable in photo¬
graphy.
The temperature required to effect this change varies with the
degree of dilution. If, as is the case with an egg, the albumen be
very thick, a temperature of 145° is sufficient to make it assume
the familiar opaque white appearance which is so well known : if,
however, it be largely diluted with water, boiling becomes neces¬
sary, and the albumen separates during the operation in the form
of a white flocculent precipitate.
Albumen enters into combination and forms for the most part
insoluble compounds with the mineral acids and metallic salts.
Among the latter its combination with nitrate of silver, known as
| albuminate of silver, is the most important to the photographer
Questions have sometimes arisen as to whether this really is a
definite chemical compound of albumen with nitrate of silver; and
these questions have been regarded as answered by the fact that
those organic matters which do not combine chemically with the
silver have no influence on the colour of the compound produced
by the action of light, whereas the result of the exposure to
light of the combination of albumen with nitrate of silver is a
redness in the tone of the reduced silver. The exact chemical
constitution of the compound formed is, however, involved in
doubt.
If white of egg be evaporated to dryness at a temperature never
exceeding 125° Fahr., or, still better, in a vacuum over sulphuric
acid, a hard, translucent, yellowish brittle mass is obtained, which
contains besides albumen the other constituents of white of egg.
If this be reduced to fine powder and treated with ether, traces of
a fatty substance are separated. A subsequent addition of weak
alcohol removes nearly all the other foreign substances. When
thus obtained albumen forms, after drying, a white or perhaps
feebly yellow-tinted powder, tasteless and inodorous, and destitute
both of acid and alkaline reaction, if by means of diluted alcohol
the slight trace of alkali which it contains has been successfully
eliminated. In this condition, also, it does not coagulate even at
the temperature of boiling water (212° Fahr.). Treated with water
it softens, swells, and dissolves by degrees, and on the addition of
more water forms a colourless, tasteless, mucilaginous liquid.
Albumen thus dissolved in water is precipitated by alcohol. If the
alcohol emjfioyed is not very strong or in large excess the precipi¬
tate will be again soluble in water : otherwise, however, the albu¬
men will be coagulated. Ether also coagulates this substance,
which is insoluble in oil of turpentine and in fixed oils. A portion
of the sulphur which it contains exists in a very loose state of
combination, as is shown by the readiness with which silver is
blackened on contact therewith. It combines with acids and bases
in the same way as proteine ; but these combinations have
not been minutely studied on account of the difficulties arising
from the too great facility with which acids induce the coagulation
of the albumen.
If our usual plan in treating of the various substances used in
photography were adhered to in writing on albumen, the next
division to be noticed would be its Uses. These, however, so far
as photography is concerned, are sufficiently enlarged upon under
the head Preparation, and with its domestic uses most of our readers
are well acquainted. Pursuing the divisions previously adopted
we come to the heading Impurities, under which little can be said,
since it is doubtful if minute traces of alkali, phosphate of lime,
and soluble chlorides can be strictly regarded as impurities in a
natural production which necessarily cannot have been submitted
to any commercial sophistication previous to its reaching the hands
of the consumer, who himself removes it from its natural recep¬
tacle just at the time of using.
If the existence of impurities be not admitted, the next division,
Tests, becomes of course inapplicable ; though it might perhaps be
observed under this head that, as the per-centage or relative pro¬
portion of dried albumen and roater in lohitc of egg varies with the
time of year and the source of the eggs, good white of egg should
yield on an average from ten to fifteen per cent, of dried albumen,
which when treated with water will almost invariably give evi¬
dence of the presence of chloride on the addition of nitrate of
silver.
The effect on the human body need not be enlarged on in this
place, most readers being practically acquainted with the efficient
manner in which it supplies the “ waste of tissue.”
In reference to the Antidote, it may almost be safely remarked
that it is impossible to have too much of a g^ood thing ; and anti¬
dotes, therefore, would be unnecessary.'
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
258
Finally, it may not perhaps be inappropriate to direct attention
to the necessity for accuracy in the use of the terms white of egg,
albumen, pure albumen , dried albumen, coagulated albumen, and the
like, as much misapprehension and loss of time may he "saved
thereby. The writer trusts that in what has preceded these
remarks he has written what will enable the reader to realise the
necessary distinctions.
- •*»- -
CLEANING GLASS PLATES.*
By M. D. Van Monckhoven.
In photography glasses are empffiyed with ground edges — that is
to say, glasses which after having been cut with a diamond have
afterwards been ground on their edges by means of a fine file
aided by oil of turpentine. The object of this operation is to pre¬
vent the operator from cutting himself upon the sharp edges of
the glass.
In place of crystal sheet, ordinary patent plate or even flatted
crown glasses may be used, especially for the smaller-sized (under
half-plate). Patent plate being more perfectly polished than
flatted crown, is also more easily cleaned.
Whatever be the kind of glass employed the following is the
method which should be followed in cleaning them, whether they
have been used before or not : —
A mixture of equal volumes of nitric acid and water is made,
and the glasses covered therewith on both sides by the aid of some
cotton-wool fastened to the end of a stick ; and as each plate is
successively treated in this manner they are placed against the
wall to drain.
Instead of nitric acid a solution of carbonate of potash of the
strength of one pound to one pint and a-lialf of water may be
advantageously used. The liquid acts energetically upon plates
which have been previously used, and is free from the objection to
which nitric acid is open, namely, that of staining the hands
yellow.
It is always a good plan to clean a number of plates at the same
time — as many as twenty for instance — because it is necessary to
allow the alkaline or acid solution to act as long as an hour. The
plates are then submitted to the action of a strong current of
water, and rubbed at the same time on both sides with a sponge,
in order to remove all impurities. It is almost unnecessary to add
that they are finished by allowing the water to flow in all direc¬
tions, copiously, on the inclined plate to carry off every trace of ,
dust. They are then placed in a grooved frame, similar to fig. 25,
FIG. 25.
SUPPORT FOR CLEANED PLATES.
which precludes the necessity of description, where they are
allowed to drain and dry. The photographer should furnish him¬
self with several of these draining frames of different sizes, for they
will be found very convenient.
The glass having been cleaned, is not yet sufficiently pure to
receive the collodion : it is further necessary to resort to a more
complete polishing.
For this purpose an oak plate-holder, of the form A B, fig. 2G,
and of suitable size, should be used. At the end B is placed a piece
of wood about the thickness of a crownpiece. A groove, c cl, ad¬
mits of a second piece, e, fixed underneath by a clamp-screw
(fig. 27), to fix the plate a b, of any size within the dimensions of
the plate-holder.
In addition to this, there should be near at hand a box containing
powdered tripoli, which is found in commerce in a state of tolerable
purity, and a bottle furnished with a tube of small bore (fig. 28),
containing alcohol (1). The glass being fixed on the plate-holder
(fig. 26), a few drops of alcohol are poured upon it, and then, by
* By special pevnvssion of tlie author we give a translation of some portions of Dr.
Monckhoven's Traite Populaire de Photographie, the English copyright of which has
been purchased by Messrs. Horns and Thornth waite, London, who are about to publish
an English edition.
FIG. 28. FIG. 27. FIG. 26.
TRIPOLI BOTTLE AND PLATE-HOLDER.
means of a little cotton-wool or unsized tissue-paper, also mois¬
tened with alcohol mid dabbed in the tripoli powder, it is rubbed all
over carefully, avoiding contact between the fingers and the glass.
The rubbing is repeated, but without pressing too hard, until it has
entirely evaporated and the plate is dry. The excess of adherent
tripoli is removed by means of a dry linen cloth set apart for this
especial purpose, and the final polish is given with an exceedingly
dry buckskin or chamois leather, which should also be used ex¬
clusively for this operation.
The plate is then removed from the plate-holder, its edges and
back wiped, and placed in a grooved plate-box. Care should be
taken that that side of the glass which has been polished for the
reception of the collodion film should in each case face the same
way, in order to avoid errors in pouring on the collodion.
The plates should never be cleaned more than twelve hours he¬
lp1® using, especially if the box in which they are contained is
likely to be carried about, as in that case they would again become
covered with minute particles of dust.
%\\ %xi\%U f tilers to it goung |fljotognij)Ijtr.
ON LANDSCAPE.
Light and Shade — Chiaroscuro — Breadth.
To constitute a picture, there must be a fortunate combination or careful arra'npement
oflir.es and forms ; and a favourable moment must be chosen for catching the light and
shade most appropriate to the subject." — G. Barnard.
“ The most learned arrangements of light and shade may astonish, but there is a charm
in the chiaroscuro of nature which carries ii resistible sway." _ Burnet.
“ I think I shall be perfectly well able to prove that ‘ mere natural light and shade ' is
the only fit and faithful attendant of the highest art: ‘ mere natural light and shade ' is a
very much finer thing than most artists can put together." — Buskin. '
“ The highest finish is labour in vain, unless, at the same time, there be preserved a
breadth of light and shadow." — Sir J. Bci/nolds.
“ There is an evident tendency in nature towards one focus, or spot of bright light and
one portion of shadow, or concentrated dark ; and. when in art these are in opposition a
greater and more brilliant effect is the result-1'*— G. Barnard.
“ The pleasure arising from composition, as in a fine landskip, &c., is chiefly owing to
the dispositions and assemblages of lights and shades."— Hogarth.
0 Breadth is here described, and the ore quotation therefore aptlv gives point (photo¬
graphically) to that immediately above it. ’ .
My dear Fellow-Student,
George Barnard, in his excellent work on Land¬
scape Painting , says:— “As in art we make but a selection from
nature according to the degree of taste and ability possessed by
the artist, it is of the first importance that he should early attain
the power of examining natural scenes, with the view of represent¬
ing those lights and shades calculated to express the sentiment he
wishes to convey ; and, as in his previous attempts in the choice or
arrangement of lines or forms, he has doubtless found the advantaee
of adopting some well-digested system of study, embracing the
experience of ages, so, in the further prosecution of his labours, will
he find that a like system tending to direct him in a judicious selec¬
tion of the lights and shadows of nature, will greatlv facilitate the
acquisition of a just knowledge of pictorial effect.” This will serve
as an admiralfle introduction to the consideration of our present
subject, viz., Chiaroscuro.
In connexion with kindred branches of studv, we have alreadv
dwelt upon certain provinces of this quality of the picturesque, and
it has also been touched ou in portions of some very useful and
practical papers read by a very active and praiseworthy member
254
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1862
of a very active and praiseworthy photographic society,* so that
we have the less to consider now in my present epistle. In the
first place, let us consider Light and Shade.
In going to nature we should consider, first, the character and
colour of the light, because these will inevitably influence the
general effect of the chiaroscuro. As the light changes, if we watch
attentively, we shall perceive variations in the aspects of different
scenes which will perhaps astonish us by their great number and
diversity : from these we must select that which is most consistent
with our preconceived design. We shall see, as the light
strengthens, that objects which, in a weaker light, were absorbed in
the greater masses come out more distinctly, asserting their indi¬
viduality, and exercising a very marked effect,. f°r good or evil, on
the composition and sentiment. Where, owing to the peculiar
character of the scene, a strong light can exist without creating
equally strong reflected lights — as in many close scenes is the
case — a strong light is to be avoided ; for the picture will otherwise
want tone and harmony, and exhibit a patchy effect. I need not
add that too weak a light has a tendency to generate a dull, heavy,
monotonous effect, because, in common with the rest of us., such a
discovery as this was doubtless one of your first lessons in land¬
scape photography. The selection in reference to light and shade,
&c., is to the photographer what design is to the draughtsman, and
the first is so like the last, that the best of our critics are puzzled
in examining the greatest works of art to tell where one ends and
the other begins, and most writers on art use the terms as synony¬
mous, as may be seen in many of the quotations I have introduced
to you. In Lockhart’s Life of Sir Walter Scott , you may remember
ho shows how the great novelist’s artistically keen appreciation of
the picturesque is mirrored in his faithful factotum and gamekeeper,
Tom Purdie. Speaking to the factor’s wife, Tom says — “When I
first came here I was little better than a beast, and knew nae mair
than a cow what was pretty and what was ugly. I was euif
enough to think that the bonniest thing in a country side was a
corn-field enclosed in four stane dykes ; but now I ken the difference.
Look this way, Mrs. Laidlaw, and I’ll show you what the gentle¬
folks like. See ye there, now, the sun glinting on Melrose Abbey!
Its no aw bright, nor its no aw shadow neither; but just a bit
screed o’ light, and a bit claud o’ dark yonder like — and that’s what
they ca’ picturesque : and indeed it’s unco bonny to look at !” Tom
was right : the picturesque is largely due to effects of chiaroscuro.
Nor, by-the-by, was he far out in his comparison of himself with the
cow at one stage of his existence. This anecdote, moreover, illus¬
trates how soon after it is once recognised the picturesquef makes
itself appreciated.
We may here pause, perhaps, to define briefly a few of the terms
used in reference to light and shadow. High lights are the more
brilliant touches of light found on surfaces most prominently ex¬
posed to its influence : these blend with the half lights which are
placed next to the middle tints , which glide into the half darlcs
which join the darlcs , which are softened into the outlines, or are
made delicate and transparent, despite their intensity, by the re¬
flected lights. Then there are the cast shadoivs — or shadows cast by
objects in direct light — which are of all shadows the most variable
and the least manageable, although, at the same time, the most
valuable; lengthening as the day shortens — altering as the sun
moves — varying with the seasons — changing with the surfaces on
which they are thrown, with the character of the light, and with
the shapes of the objects casting them. Cast shadows are either a
source of power and beauty in the composition or the contrary,
according to the use your judgement and knowledge enables you
to make of them. Some of the finest effects, in a pictorial sense,
may be traced to these cast shadows, just as the ancient artist,
Pansias, is said to have obtained a most wonderfully picturesque
ami expressive effect in painting a sacrifice by throwing the shade
of the animal about to be slain upon the crowd below it.
'I’d preserve the truthfulness of the light and shade we should
■remember, when intensifying our negatives, that, as all colour is
more or less a privation of light, tone and harmony, as well as
absolute truthfulness of effect, must require that no coloured object
in the negative should have the same relative amount of intensity
as white objects should possess. Truthfulness of light and shade
is also truthfulness of form; every variation of shade, from the
most delicate to the most powerful, merely representing a corres¬
ponding variation of surface — the two in fact being, in this respect,
inseparable. Transparency in the shadows of your negative is a
▼cry important quality to the proper rendering of nature’s light
* Mr. \V. H. Davies, of the Edinburgh Photographic Society.
* IT,.' term ha' been traced, like most art, terms, to the Italian language, in which
pittoresco signifies like a picture.
and shade. The more nearly the deepest shadows approach the
condition of bare glass, the darker will be the more strong and
vigorous shadows of the nearest objects, and, consequently, the
more truthful will be your representation of depth, space, and re¬
lief. To lose these little vigorous touches of intensity is to lose
at least three or four retiring planes in your middle distance.
While intensifying we should also remember that to express
truthfully retiring space, not only must the deepest blacks be
found in your nearest objects, but also your purest whites — the
atmosphere which tends to make one lighter also tending to make
the other darker, until, in the remote distance, objects assume,
more or less, the form of flat masses devoid of both lights and
shades.
But all this hears reference purely to light and shade, and we
must now consider that subject of which these merely form a part,
viz., Chiaroscuro.
Chiaroscuro means, strictly speaking, light and dark ; because,
although shadow maybe described as the dark of a picture, the pic¬
ture lias other darks, such as results from dark — but perhaps well
illuminated colours — which are not shades or shadows. Since every
part of a picture works either for or against the whole, cither
strengthening its pictorial qualities or weakening them, wc may be
sure the chiaroscuro needs to be well managed, and that its importance
cannot well be over-rated. One of the chief things to be sought in
the composition of the light and dark is that quality the absence of
which we have all heard. so frequently* denounced, and the presence
of which is invariably lauded — the quality which makes its influence
felt in the mind of every spectator, and with which we are all
familiar under the title of Breadth.
To avoid confusion in the parts, and secure simplicity and unity
of effect, the lights and darks of the picture should be grouped into
separate masses. By this wre are not to understand merely the
sweeping of all the lights into one corner, or of all the darks into
another, but rather the melting of these two great pictorial divi¬
sions one into the other without any loss of the power and grandeur
resulting from their separation into masses. To attain this lights
should be associated with lights, and darks with darks, the more
intermediate tints serving to blend these extremes into one har¬
monious whole, one principal light and dark being preserved, to
which all others are to he subordinated. Still this unity should
be so as to secure sufficient proximity of position or contrast be¬
tween the focus of light and dark, which every good composition
possesses, and the absence of which is apt to create insipidity and
poorness of effect. We have already considered the power and
importance of such contrasting points of light and dark in giving-
focus and space to the picture.
Certain modes of grouping the lights and shadows of a picture
have been founded from time to time upon the most successful
works of our great painters, but these and their modifications are
so numerous that we need only' bear in mind such as are most com¬
monly and frequently adopted ; for our practical experiments,
blending with our knowledge of the principles to be embodied, will
be sure to suggest many fresh adaptations or many minor altera¬
tions, more or less meritorious, but necessarily varied from the
diversity of our subjects, and the required adherence of our art to
“the whole truth, and nothing hut the truth.”
In some cases the lights or darks assume a wedge-like form —
this species of composition may be found in many of Stanfield’s
pictures — in others they group to form a dome-like shape ; in
others, again, a point of light gradually emerging from a mass
of half-tint and dark is seen, or a principal point of dark gradually
absorbed into a mass of half-light tints. Sir Joshua Reynolds
believed, as many now believe, that the only true principle is
that of securing one chief light and two attendant lights: these
to be well varied — so grouped as not to appear formal, and so
associated with the surrounding tints as not to appear patchy.
In many of Turner’s pictures we see a great mass of light find¬
ing its focus of brilliancy in immediate contrast with some in¬
tensely dark object, which, echoed by small points of dark of sub¬
ordinate intensity, stands boldly out as the most prominent object
of the composition. Much clearness, brilliancy, and force is
thus obtained. In other works by this master we find all this
reversed, a brilliantly light object assuming the place of the dark.
Claude’s pictures exhibit effects similar to those of Turner. Sir
Joshua Reynolds points out the masterly arrangement of chiaroscuro
to be found in nearly all the pictures of the great Dutch masters,
as many able critics have also done. F useli, speaking of Corregio’s
chiaroscuro , compares it to the “bland central light of a globe im¬
perceptibly gliding through lucid demi-tints into rich reflected
lights and shadows.” This description is very suggestive. Titian
July 1, 1869]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
955
instanced a buncli of grapes as the finest example of breadth, from
the perfection with which the two great masses of light and shade
were grouped, while every individual grape possessed its own
peculiar light, shade, and details. The presence and absence of
breadth have also been compared — the former to a flock of sheep
massed together, and so forming a prominent object in the land¬
scape, and the latter to the same sheep scattered one here, one
there, and so losing importance, if not altogether escaping notice.
The importance of this subject is alwa}7s recognised.
Some writers have endeavoured to establish certain rules fixing
definitely the relative proportions of light and dark to be combined
in a picture, generally allotting about one quarter to light, another
to dark, and the remaining half to middle tint. This is folly, as
such proportions must necessarily depend upon the subject selected
and the sentiment or feeling you desire to convey. It is enough
if we secure focus and breadth — two things which cannot well be
separated — and make the proportions of light or dark such as will
give power and force to the expression of sentiment. In chiarosctiro
the motto should be, masses, not sp>ots. I need not add, perhaps,
that your masses must not be formal, or equal in quantity or posi¬
tion, or that their shapes should be pleasing, and not too strongly
defiued. Here, then, we leave our present subject. In my next we
will review the ground we have occupied, consider the practical
bearing of the whole, and then — adieu. A. II. WALL.
TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR OF THE TANNIN PROCESS.
We learn from the official organ of the French Photographic So¬
ciety that M. Aimd Girard presented, at the April meeting of the
Society, a copy of his translation into the French language of
Major Russell’s work on the Tannin Process, to which the fol¬
lowing observations were appended : —
“ Shortly after the introduction of the Taupenot process, a new
one was devised by Major Russell. Based upon ingenious reactions,
taking advantage of the property possessed by tannin of coagulat¬
ing gelatine, and acting as a preservative to the sensitive collodion
film, this process appeared from the first to offer great promise of
success.
“This prognostication has been realised from the earliest days
of its appearance; and soon, received in England with a kind of
enthusiasm, the tannin process is found in this country at least
employed in photographic excursions almost to the exclusion of
all other dry processes.
“ However, the tannin process is still but comparatively little
known in France ; only some modest extracts of it having brought
a knowledge of its principal points to the knowledge of photo¬
graphers.
“ In consideration, on the one hand, of this ignorance of a process
which appears a priori very good, and, on the other, of the remark¬
able success which it has attained in England, it has appeared to
me that it would be of some interest to place before the photo¬
graphic world a literal and complete translation of the brochure
that Major Russell has lately published in London.”
(Ftbtbitro a 6.0 s sip.
THE PORTRAIT S-continued.
“No ‘touched’ pictures will be admitted.” Resolutely and briefly
thus said the Committee of Class XIV, Section 2, in their published
“ conditions,” and, therefore, we must suppose photographic por¬
traits elaborately worked up in monochrome stare out upon us at
every turn we make in the British Photographic Department.
Here they are in crowds. Some with all character and variety ol
texture sacrificed to a vulgar love of tea-boardy polish; others
flattened out into the semblance of our so-called “profile accesso¬
ries” by smooth, even washes of India ink and cut-out “French”*
backgrounds ; and others so be-scratched with a pin point brush
that modelling, texture, drawing, relief, and every quality for
which a good photograph is so singularly remarkable, is irretrieva¬
bly ruined and destroyed. The best of these touched pictures are
exhibited in the foreign courts; but their finest specimens (and
some, as I have before said, are truly fine) do not equal a first-
class untouched print by a good artist. Let us not encourage the
painting of photographic lilies and the gilding ot photographic
gold, or offer a premium for bad photography by exhibiting it
doctored and patched under the brush of some mechanical stippler
in India ink in exhibitions to which it should be an honour to con¬
tribute, and to the exclusion of works more purely photographic.
* Why so oalled I know not.
I really believe if it were possible tomorrow to produce photo¬
graphs representing the colours of nature as perfectly as we now
represent her light and shade, some of these photographers would
send them to the colourist to be painted over in oil or water
colours, and others would admit them so coloured to their exhibi¬
tions — so blind is ignorance, so presumptuous is conceit ! *
Mr. Mayall is very largely an exhibitor of “ touched ” photo¬
graphs, and they are amongst the best; but place them beside
this same gentleman’s untouched portraits of the late Prince
Consort and Lord Brougham, and how poor and inferior is the
effect of the former ! Amongst the worst and most numerous of
these are, I consider, those exhibited by 11. N. King. Quo warranto.
In the French department the portraits are very numerous.
More uniformly good than the English, they are not yet up to the
standard of our best portraitists. Indeed, in no one of the foreign
collections will you find photographs equal to those of T. R.
Williams. For the artistic qualites of pose, arrangement, &c., the
French portraits are better than those exhibited in any of the
various photographic departments; but they sometimes — often,
perhaps —touch upon or fully enter into the affected and theatrical.
The card-pictures here are, on the whole, superior to our own.
The backgrounds are faintly defined and sketchy ; the accessories
are either real or look so. We see no staring “ profile ” furniture, no
ridiculous “ set pieces” branded by every genuine cast shadow and
every touch of the sitter’s hand or drapery as a palpable falsehood ;
while, as a rule, the French portraits are well rounded (or in other
words, well lighted), well posed, and in good taste. The worst
of the French coloured portraits, almost, are the unnatural,
theatrical-looking masses of body-colour exhibited by Mayer and
Pierson, the superiority of whose “touched” pictures I have
already admitted, and the beauty of whose charming card-pictures
I am equally ready to acknowledge. Some quietly-coloured and
exquisitely natural-looking heads, by Numa Blanc, hanging near
these, are amongst the best coloured pictures; but the display of
coloured photography is smaller and very decidedly inferior, on
the whole, to that of the English department. Some portraits,
small and large, by A. Ken, are very fine . the tone of these pic¬
tures — a pearly neutral tint — will be sure to attract attention.
The late Mr. Lacy informed me that he paid a tolerably large sum
to M. Ken for the secret toning process by which this tone was
produced ; but I have since been informed, by a personal acquaint¬
ance of the French artist, that the formula may be obtained of the
latter for a sum comparatively trivial. If so it is well worth pur¬
chasing. E. Delessert exhibits some very excellent photographs,
and so does Carjat. The French carte de visile portraits read many
lessons to us, which I hope we shall duly receive and be the
better for ; and, by way of return, let our French brethren learn
from us many valuable lessons in the art of taking landscapes and
making genuine pictures of purely natural scenery. Among the
portraits here are some peculiarly interesting, in the shape of a
collection on china, glass, enamel, and “ all kinds of ceramic sub¬
stance,” by the well-known French experimentalist Lafon de
Camarsac, whose first process for the production of such works
was published in 1855. These are strikingly excellent, and for
insertion in lockets, brooches, or bracelets, are very effective and
pleasing. I cannot say as much for some portraits in carbon by
the same, although these also are among the best I have seen.
Some very good portraits taken by the electric light are exhibited,
by Nadar.
We have some good portraits in the Russian class 14 : those
“ photographed on canvas,” and painted by G. Rumine (a resident
in England), are particularly fine. John Mieczkow&ki (how on
earth is it pronounced in English ?) has sent us some very good
photographs which, as he informs us, were “made in the month of
December, 1861, in very short and cloudy days,” and are “ unre-
touched." Some very good card-pictures are exhibited by Una
and Hoffert.
Rome has produced some excellent portraits — vignetted card-
pictures — of the kind just now so popular in Paris, and likely, of
course, to be no less popular in London (as significant signs already
intimate to the professional photographer). Portugal also exhibits
some very good portraiture. The pleasant little island cf Jersey
has its photography represented in a very prominent position by
the portraits of H. Mullins, which are very good, although we think
sundry and various spots might as well have been touched out
before the specimens were exhibited. We should prefer less pro¬
minence in the objects of his backgrounds, and also a little more
* Is not our contributor “ saddling the wrong horse ?” The public demand coloured
photographic portraits, professional portraitists meet that aemaud to cam their bread,
not to teach art. — Ed.
256
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1862
variety of tone in the chiaroscuro of some (I am now speaking of
this o-entlemau’s cartes de visitej. Mr. Mullins’s backgrounds, how-
ever°are generally used with some appreciation of their suitability,
which is something to say now-a-days. Greece has sent us some
din'W sulphur-toned portraits, by F. Margaritus, which hardly sup¬
port our conventional ideas of “ Grecian beauty.” These are marked
for sale : they are not likely to be “ joys for ever ” to their purchasers,
even if in the estimation of such they matj be “ things of beauty.”
There are some singularly fine portraits in the gallery of the
Indian department, possessing many of the best characteristics
peculiar to pictures by T. B. Williams, and very interesting as
illustrative of physiognomy and costume — things which are seldom
done justice to in bad photographs, as these will go far to show
when contrasted with others in the same department. These fine
productions fill two small screens, one on either side of the gallery.
Some portraits quite as interesting in certain respects, although
far from equalling them as photographs, will be found in the South
Australian division, exhibited by the General Committee. The
faces here are far more comic than repulsive. Others to which a
similar description will apply may be found from New South
Wales, from Queensland (hideous specimens of humanity), from
Natal (specimens by Dr. Mann to show the eccentric variety
of natural head-dresses adopted by the Kafirs), and from many
other foreign lands.
We find in our rambles about the huge building no end of
dingy yellow portraits. Brazil contributes to the number a
collection of cartes de visits and other portraits on paper and glass.
New Zealand has a goodly show of them, amongst which are
two large frames containing portraits of all the gentlemen form¬
ing the “Houses of Kepresentatives,” grouped into the shape
of two large spades, or hearts, or something between the two.
These are by Crombie, who also favours us with a woodcut of a
oue-storey wooden house with a shop below it, and “ Crombio’s
Eoyal Photographic Gallery” in large letters along its front.
British Columbia supplies its quota to these dingy or fading me¬
mories of far-away faces, taken on leather, cloth, glass, and paper.
Time warns me to conclude our present gossip, and I must defer
noticing some few remaining collections of portraiture belonging
to other departments until our next. Before closing this article,
however, I may as well add that there are those who could tell to
whom the medals are to be awarded, although I suppose the
names of the fortunate exhibitors will not be known until the 11th
of July, when, at a state ceremony — which, by-the-bye, is to be
made another source of increase to the Exhibition Fund — and at
one o’clock in the day, and in the Exhibition building, or in the
Horticultural Garden, his Eoyal Highness the Duke of Cambridge
will duly award the honours of this great and peaceful fight to its
well-deserving victors. There is something in connexion with this
event to the lull as wonderful as other great events of the year.
The exhibitors may absolutely have tickets to see their works on
this one occasion — gratis! A. H. W.
- — ♦ -
Eeproductions. — Messrs. Cundall, Downes, and Co. are about to
publish, for Mr. S. Solomon, a series of photographs after drawings
of Jewish ceremonials. The artist has, with remarkable ability
and good judgement, given himself to the representation of inci¬
dents in the history of his people, and with such success that his
works are looked for with interest. The series in question will
comprise — 1. The Presentation of the Child for Circumcision on
the Eighth Day. 2. The Marriage : this is performed under a
canopy, which represents the canopy of Heaven. 3. The Week of
Mourning : the nearest relatives of the deceased remain in the
; for seven days after the death. 4. Carrying the Scrolls of
the Law in the Synagogue. 5. The Eve of the Sabbath, — the
mistress of the house lighting the Sabbath lamp, while the child¬
ren ate singing the psalms for the reception of the Sabbath. 6.
.'lho Eve of the Passover: the head of the family repeating a his¬
tory of the least, while the table is spread with various symbols,
i. 1 he Fast for the Destruction of Jerusalem: the Synagogue is
d> vested of all ornament; the Eabbi, sitting on the steps of the
Ark, chants the Lamentations of Jeremiah; the building lighted
only with small tapers, one held by each of the congregation. 8.
The Day ol Atonement: the chief minister with the scarf or tali th
drawn over his hea l, and the congregation kneeling. 9. The
least ot Tabernacles : it is the custom to build a small wooden
room in the open air, which the people decorate with evergreens,
and sit in tor seven days. 10. The Feast of the Dedication of the
Temple : the minister represented lighting the lamps; the cho¬
risters chanting. — Athcnceum.
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.*
By Our Own Pioneer.
BOUND ABOUT THE COBNISH COAST.
If the artist should determine ou rendering his collection of Cornish
coast views complete up to Moonvinstow — the most northern part of the
county — he can, after taking Canworthy Bridge, and some excellent
“ bits ” round and about Warbstow, proceed on to Jacobstow, keeping
Mary Week Tower, a point of sight for many miles round, in view all the
way. At the fork of three roads will be found ouo of the best specimens
of the bold and massive guide-posts so peculiar to this county, and so
well adapted for the stereoscope.
On turning the road, to the left, the tower of Jacobstow Church comes
in view, rising, in fine proportions, from a dark screen of foliage — the
rectory gate and overhanging clump of noble elms coming in on the
right, and the blacksmith’s shop, dwarf wall, and malting-house making up
a good foreground. Several views may be taken in this little wooded
hollow, the church forming the principal object in each. Passing a lane
by the foot-bridge, and ascending the newly-made road, on stopping at
the last gate, by the old ruined cottage, and looking back, a most exten¬
sive scene presents itself, stretching from Launceston on the right to
St. Gennis on the left. A further walk of about a mile past the road
to New Mill, across a road stream, with a good cottage subject in a
gully, surrounded with wood, the last turn on the crest of the hill
brings in full view the tower of Mary Week. Passing some bars, or
wooden gate, and over a couple of fields, you come up to the church itself,
with one of the best-built decorated towers in the county : it is well
placed for taking, and from many situations will give telling and effective
pictures.
The only place in the village of any interest is the remains of the old
religious house, founded as a “ lodging for masters” by Dame Thomasine
Bonaventure, originally a poor girl of the place, employed to tend sheep
on Mary Week Down. Her comeliness attracted the attention of a London
merchant, who made her bis wife. At his death she again married, and
again became a widow ; when, for the third time, she married, and
became the wife of Sir John Percival, Lord Mayor of London, whom
she outlived, and retired to her native village of Mary Week, and
passed the remainder of her days in acts of goodness and mercy —
clothing the poor and releasing prisoners. Her will, bearing date 1512,
is still extant, and the well-known shield of the City of London carved
over the doorway of the religious sanctuary or “lodging for masters”
alluded to.
Mary Week Down, with Whitstone Church in the hollow beneath, will
make a very effective subject. On a clear day the panoramic effects
around this district are truly magnificent. From the north-east corner of
Mary Week Churchyard a most extensive view may be obtained, taking
in Bude with its white silvery rows of cottages — the immense headland
of Henna Cliff on the north, Stow Point in the extreme distance, Marham-
churcli village and Marham Church itself coming in as good central
objects. Betracing the road, seaward, Poundstock, and the rocky beach
below the Church Town, will give one or more good pictures ; then to
Widmouth, a broad expanse of sand, immense bluffs right and left, a
good foreshore, with detached rock about the centre, and often good
groups of men, horses, and waggons carting away sand. About a mile
from this, on the Bude road, is the village of Marham church, a very pic¬
turesque spot. From this to Bude itself is one uninterrupted series of
interesting subjects, either by the road or canal banks. Much that is
good for pictures is bad for health, consequently many of the old-fashioned,
low, quaint-looking cottages and farm-houses that artists and painters so
much covet, are being pulled down, and something very healthy , but very
ugly, erected in their place.
Bude — with its sands and sea, castle and canal, breakwater and
rocks — offers most temptingly to photographer and artist. A re¬
sident professional photographer, -who has a convenient glass-house
and produces some good pictures, will be found civil and obliging
to any artist or amateur who may give him a call. The subjects
round and about are so numerous and apparent that I can only say look
and choose.
A point much in favour of Bude is its quietness. The ships that get
in are few, and generally lying in positions on the sand or canal most
favourable for photographing. Better and more certain pictures can be
obtained here than in larger crowded ports. There all is bustle and con¬
fusion, and just as you imagine a good quiet point has been seized, two
or three intruders approach to see wliat is doing, and you find your chance
of a picture gone. At Thorne’s establishment a car, drawn by a mule,
can be hired, and the operator and requisites for the wet process conveyed
to any point he may desire. Pictures of waves dashing over the break¬
water, waves breaking across the sands, boulders, and many others of
interest, may be secured instantly.
Half-an-hour’s walk across the fields, or through the village of Poughill
leads to Stratton — a place of considerable note from the contests that took
place between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. I here are plenty of
inns to put up at — from the “ Tree,” by Mrs. Ash, to the “Ring of Bells ;
or good anchorage and stowage may be had on board the “ Ship.” For so
small a place, the number of public houses is large: perhaps the proximity
of the salt water makes the inhabitants thirsty. A general view of the
* Continued from page 234.
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
257
town from the hill below the Union, the church tower standing well out
from among the various buildings, with high banks thickly wooded,
broken ground right and left, will give a capital picture, every part so
situated as to be capable of being brought out in fine relief. Another
good one can be obtained from Stamford Hill, the spot where the great
engagement of 1643 — between the Cornish Royalists, headed by Sir
Beville Granville, and the Cromwell party, headed by the Earl of Stam¬
ford — took place. The spot may easily be-recognised, as it is close to the
road ; a tablet erected against the mound records the circumstance.
From this situation a fine panoramic expanse lies open to view. Marham
Church, with the high ground about the “ incline,” to the left; Flexbury
and Poughill, with its church and tower, to the right ; Bude Castle-house
and the line of white cottages ending with the “Falcon,” make a middle
distance, backed by the grassy downs and slopes ; while bearing away to
the extreme right, are Bude Haven, Sir Thomas Acland’s cottages, the
breakwater, high and deeply indented cliffs with look-out tower on top, a
sloop or two anchored in the channel or high and dry on the sands, with
an immense expanse of bluff and headland receding away in the extreme
distance, the great North Atlantic Ocean closing all in, with a sunset, in
particular, of unsurpassed magnificence.
The tower of Stratton Church, from the front of the “Ring of Bells” and
from the Launcels Road, taking in some good cottages and trees right and
left, is worth securing. The inside of the church will also photograph
well, having the favourite points, plenty of room, and plenty of light.
A fine monument can be included of a knight in armour, Sir Ralph de
Blanchminster.
About a mile on the Kilkhampton road is a most picturesque old mill, the
approach to it being down a very steep road. The old stone bridge overhung
with ash and wild briar — the rough run of water, with the mill just seen
between the trees — is an excellent specimen of quiet effect. Equally good
would be a near view of the mill. Before leaving Stratton a visit might
be made to Launcels, and pictures taken of the church from the lych
gate, with the fine overhanging trees, and the interior with the carved
speccot pew.
On the road to the “Red Post ” is a turning that leads to the “incline ” —
an immense mass of engineering ingenuity used for raising up the boats
and barges from the Bude canal to the higher one that passes on to Hols-
wortby, Tamerton, and other places in Devon. The immense pieces of
massive machinery, in chains, pulleys, ropes, and blocks, stand out in
well-defined clearness. It is a first-ixite subject, and if you take into
consideration the expanse of landscape, distance, rock, and sea that could
be included in connexion with it, a scene equally good and extensive it
would be difficult to find elsewhere. The boats as they come up the
incline and slide into the upper canal — with the men guiding and un¬
coupling the same — is an interesting scene ; though these boatmen have
not the brigandish cut of the Birmingham canal men, as they lean, pipe
in mouth, on the wooden companions of Crawley and Co.’s flying
fleet.
An inn — the “ Red Post ” — close to this will be found clean and comfort¬
able ; and a short journey past the blacksmith’s shop at Launcel’s Cross,
through Grimscott, will bring the tourist to Kilkhampton, some four or
five miles north-east of Stratton. The church, the scene of Ilervey's
Meditations, has been lately restored by Lord John Thynne, the rector’s
father, and numerous noble descendants of the Grenville family have con¬
tributed a splendid series of “in memoriam ” stained windows. The old
carved pulpit is a fine specimen of handici'aft, while the arches of the
three aisles are supported by pillars of slight and elegant proportions.
There is a noble tower and west doorway ; but the great point of attrac¬
tion is the south entrance, with the Anglo-Norman semicircular arch with
its bold, zig-zag moulding. I much question if a successful photograph
could be taken of it, on account of the arch being in a porch. I have
known such subjects, on trial, to be found impracticable. The village
views, with old houses and tower, arc good.
The distance to Stibb, Sandymouth Cliff, and other parts of this inte¬
resting coast is but trifling — some two miles or so; while in the deep
hollow of the valley is a little sheltered spot, called Combe, close to the
sea, and from its peculiar situation well arranged for photographing. It, is
worth a visit, and is only a short distance from the remains of the once mag¬
nificent abode of the Grenvilles, called Stowr. About three miles further
north is Moorwinstow Church, and Moorwinstow Church Town — the most
northern point in Cornwall, about ninety miles from the Land’s End. In
this parish is the source of the Tamar, which, after pursuing a southerly
direction for nearly forty miles, falls into Lynlier Creek, and forms the
great harbour of Hamoaze at Plymouth. The Lynher, Looe, Fowey, and
Fal, with the Alan River and Dosmery Pool, would offer to photographers
a mine of artistic wealth. The situation of the church at Moorwinstow
is peculiarly romantic — close to the cliffs, with cottage and old lych-gate
at the entrance. The east end, including the great point and bluff, and
the west, taking in the Elizabethan vicarage, are good and effective sub¬
jects ; so also is the broad down, with the irregular group of cottages in the
corner. At this time of the year the play of the sunlight and shadow on
the ocean views and wild cliffs of the Cornish coast are broad and varied,
while the same applied to its moorland and river scenes constitute the
very poetry of landscape, and may be met with in endless variety from
here to the Land’s End, and from the Land’s End to the Rame Head.
From this Exeter can be reached by the North Devon Railway, or a coach
may be taken from Bude to the Copplestone Station.
t! lofts of the piontb.
The full tide of one of the most brilliant London seasons ever
known — a season presenting a series of unparalleled attractions —
leaves but little time to photographers for the addition of any new
facts to the store of photographic knowledge. They are, as a
rule, too strenuously engaged in the 'practice of their art to allow
of time for theorising.
It is said that never before have so many eminent men in every
department of science and art been gathered together under one
roof as at some of the conversaziones held during the past month.
We have much pleasure in announcing the safe return of Mr.
Francis Bedford from the East. The whole part}r have returned in
perfect health, with the exception of General Bruce, who has
suffered severely from fever contracted during the heavy rains
to which they were exposed at Lebanon. So rapid was their
transit from place to place, that the extent of ground traversed in
the time they have been absent would seem incredible, did we not
take into account the facilities afforded to royalty, and the means
set at the command of an individual of such exalted rank as the
future sovereign of the British Empire.
Mr. Bedford had much to contend with in all the difficulties inci¬
dental to Eastern travel. Heat, dust, rain, agitation, and exposure
to a blazing sun on the backs of mules and constant travelling, are
not particularly conducive to a perfect balance of such sensitive
agents as photographic chemicals, and made it no small matter to
keep them under perfect control and prevent them from breaking
out into opefr insurrection. The total number of plates secured is
upwards of one hundred and ninety ; but the number which will be
published is one hundred and seventy, the remainder being of too
private a nature for general publication. The series includes some
of the loveliest, most picturesque, and desolate scenes of nature,
and the ruined remains of some of the most ancient, interesting,
and grandest works of man — Cairo, the Nile, the Jordan, the Dead
Sea, and the Lake of Genneserat, the district of Lebanon and
the Mount of Olives, Damascus, Joppa, Nazareth, Jerusalem, the
Plains of Mamre, Athens, Constantinople, and Malta. One of the
public west-end galleries will be engaged for the display of the
whole series as a separate exhibition, which will be opened during
the present month. Thus the public will not have to wait for the
far-off Winter Exhibition ; and it is also a matter for congratulation
that there will be at least one good display of English photo¬
graphy during this all-important season, in a position where it is
likely to be seen. These views are announced for publication by
Messrs. Day and Son.
One of the most extraordinary collections of art-treasures ever
} et gathered together is that now displayed at the South Ken¬
sington Museum. It was a happy thought, and deserves all praise.
The thoughtful observer can now, fresh from the study of modern
art at the International Exhibition, step across the way and study
the art of the past.
The Builder pays a just tribute to photography for its splendid
reproductions, exhibited in the Roman Court of the Great Exhi¬
bition, of some of the grandest works in ceiling painting that art
has ever produced. The photographs are said to reveal to students
much of the art and mystery of Raphael’s rapid and masterly
manipulation that the}” could form no conception of while the
works were at so great a distance from the eye. We more par¬
ticularly allude to those of the Farnese Palace.
Signor Beato’s photographs, taken during the Chiuese war and
the Indian mutiny, are now on view at Mr. Hering’s, in Regent
Street, London. The collection not only gives views of all the more
interesting and best known spots connected with the mutiny and
the war, some of which are panoramic, but also depicts the terrible
sight of a battle field as it remained after victory and defeat ; show¬
ing the dead strewn thickly about the field they fought to gain, their
sun-dried corses and bleached bones showing horribly distinct, and
all the varied circumstances of their retributive slaughter.
In the South-east Transept of the Exhibition Building is a
model of a house with an apparatus (purporting to be designed for
photographers) for conveying persons from the ground floor to the
roof. The platform upon which people are to take their place
(after paying their money), and the means used, are very similar
to those employed in the ascent and descent of the shaft of a
coalmine. In these “sensation” days — when people like things
so highly seasoned — the days of Magenta d}'e, and colours beyond
anything in the chromatic scale — the idea may be worth adopting ;
we commend it to the London Stereoscopic Company or some other
of the large portrait establishments. S. T.
258
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 1, 1862
Straps ant) -fragments.
Tax upon Photoorapht. — It is rumoured that the French
Government have it in contemplation to levy a tax upon photo¬
graphy — every print to bear a tax of five, ten, or fifteen centimes,
according to its size.
The Excavations at Rome.-— We hear that the photographers are
already busy on the Palatine Mount, depicting these disinterred
temples and relics of ancient art. The discoveries are said to be
very remarkable for their beauty, and of great historical value.
Photographic Society Club. — The members will dine together
at “ The Star and Garter,” Richmond, on Friday next, 4th inst. —
the President, the Right Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, will take the
chair at six o’clock precisely. Upon this occasion, photographers
who desire to join the party, are invited to communicate with the
Honorary Secretary, Hr. Diamond, Twickenham Plouse, Twicken¬
ham, who will make arrangements accordingly.
The Copyright (Works of Art) Bill. — The following have
been named of the Select Committee to which this Bill has been
referred : — The Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, Duke of Argyll,
Marquis of Westminster; Earls St. Germans, Derby, Stanhope,
Carnarvon, Grey, Somers, Ellenborough, Ellesmere; Viscounts
Sydney, Hardinge, Stratford de Redcliffe ; Lords Overstone, Cran-
Avorth, Wensleydale, Chelmsford, Taunton, and Wodehouse. The
Lord Chancellor has been appointed Chairman of the Committee.
Novel Idea. — In Messrs. Dickenson’s Exhibition, in Bond Street,
some very large photographs, seemingly coloured on ivory, attracted
our attention. Ivories of this size being very expensive, and very
difficult to treat photographically, Ave proceeded to examine them,
when Ave found that the head and face only were on ivory, the
figure and background being on the usual plain salted paper. It
appears the heads are printed on a piece of ivory cut to the re¬
quisite size and shape, and this is then very carefully inserted
into the mounted paper photograph.
Two Ways of Putting it. — The folloAving appeared lately in the
Daily Telegraph Avhen alluding to the Philosophical Instrument
Department of the International Exhibition: —
“First among exhibitors in this scientific department Ave are inclined
to place Mr. Ross, if only because he, Avitli perhaps the single addition
of Mr. Dallmeyer, can challenge comparison Avitli the great Voigtlander
himself for photographic and other lenses.”
How differently these matters appear to different observers. We
should rather liaATe Avritten — “The only one amongst the foreign
exhibitors of photographic lenses Avhose productions can challenge
comparison Avitli those of Ross and Dallmeyer is M. Voigtlander.”
Sale of Photographs at the International Exhibition. —
The Standard says : —
“ Yesterday also Ave Avere enabled to inspect a number of stereographs
and cartes de visite just issued by the London Stereoscopic Company. It
is pleasant, as showing a love for art and a desire to possess mementoes
ol the Exhibition, to be able to state that all their Avorks, and especially
the slides, are going off very fast. Among those just issued avc notice
particularly a stereograph of Gibson’s Venus, for which there is a perfect
rush ; a slide of Minton’s majolica fountain, another of the south-eastern
picture gallery, one of the entrance to the staircase in the Avestern dome,
one of '1 homas’s Lady Godiva, and one of the naA'e from the western
dome. 'I he cartes include the statues in the Italian Court, the dais as it
Avas, the orchestra as it Avas, the Prince of Prussia and suite on the dais,
tbo machinery annexe, and the foreign half of the nave. The portraits
of the Prince and his suite, as Avell as that of Sir C. W. Dilke, are really
excellent, although so small.”
A Hint worth Knowing. — A correspondent says: — “Visiting
tic studio of your contributor, Mr. A. H. Wall, at 35, Westbouvne
Grove, when the gloom of evening bad sent home that gentle¬
man s operator, and closed his business for the day, as I thought,
a lady, desperately anxious to secure a portrait of a son leaving
England on the folloAving morning, made her fluttering ap¬
pearance, breathless with haste. Of course, I expected her
Immediate dismissal. Not at all. Mr. Wall merely apologised
fi>r leaving me, and soon exhibited as good a negative of the
outward-bound juvenile as he could have produced at an earlier
bom- of the day. Expressing surprise, I Avas at once informed
that this was done by simply dipping the plate, after its re¬
moval from the silver bath, into another bath containing the
usual pyrogallio developing solution, by Avhich the sensitiveness of
the plate was singularly increased, and the density of the image so
great as to render after-intensifying almost unnecessary. Mr. W.
SAi<l he frequently got good pictures of very young children by this
p au Avhen be must have failed by the adoption of any providing a
1 -S3 sensitive medium. When the picture so taken comes from the
camera it is of course partially visible.” — [“Facts are stubborn
things ;” but so, also, are editors, especially when they have ex¬
perimented in a certain direction and have arrived at conclusions
opposed to those of their correspondents. We have no doubt of
Mr. Wall’s skill either as an artist or an operator, but we dissent
altogether from the conclusion that a plate treated as described
above gains in sensitiveness. We have tried many careful ex¬
periments Avitli a view to solving the problem assumed to have
been proved in the affirmative — a scientific friend making parallel
experiments at the same period, notes being compared subse¬
quently — and the results arrived at by both of us tallied remark¬
ably. We both found that sensitiveness Avas neither increased nor
impaired ; nevertheless our friend frequently pursued the practice
afterwards, as sometimes it effected a convenient saving of time
subsequent to exposure. — Ed.]
Photography and Commerce. — The influence photography has
exercised vastly increasing the demand for so many articles of
commerce has been more than once hinted at in this and various con¬
temporary journals. It has been computed that not less than the
enormous quantity of tiventy tons of nitrate of silver is consumed
annually by photographers. In the button manufactories of Prussia
the trade has recently received a fresh and most important impetus
by the introduction of micro-photographic studs, buttons, &c.
The number of these novel productions produced daily for home
consumption and exportation is said to be something startling.
Not long since, for instance, studs and buttons containing portraits
of Garibaldi Avere sold by the hundred thousand at a time. The
large demand for photographic book-marks continues, although
Avhen Ave knoAV that the rate of remuneration for providing and
inserting these photographs does not average more than a penny
each, the wonder is how that demand is supplied. The immense
sale of cartes de visite and stereographs, as articles of commerce, is
Avell knoAvn. Again : it seems likely that OAving to the great demand
for albumenised paper, and the increased purity of the albumen
used by most of the best manufacturers, photography is likely
to exercise a very serious influence upon the egg market. In
one establishment alone — that of Mr. J. A. Spencer, of Shepherd’s
Bush — avr find that half a million of eggs are used annually in
the preparation of photographic papers — rather an alarming fact
for our pastry manufacturers, and for very many others Avho are
large consumers of albumen. This fact has been commented upon
in the Official Illustrated Catalogue of the International Exhibition
in the folloAving paragraphs: —
“ It may be interesting to observe that it is one of the productions the
demand for which lias arisen entirely since the former Exhibition of 1851.
At that time photography Avas quite in its infancy, and feAV or no pictures
Avere exhibited that could compare Avitli those met Avith at this moment
at every turn. Photographs Avere then obtained generally from ‘ paper’
negatives, Avith the exception of a few from ‘ albumen on glass ;’ collo¬
dion, which is iioav so generally employed, only having been discovered
during the time of that Exhibition, of course had not been brought to
the perfection it noAV possesses.
“ The proofs from the negatives thus obtained Avere exclusively ob¬
tained upon Avhat is now called ‘ salted paper,’ being merely good writing
paper, saturated Avith a dilute solution of soluble chloride, or brushed on
one side Avith a stronger solution of a similar salt.
“A year or tAvo after, one of the leading French photographers,
observing the universal Avant of sharpness upon these papers, suggested
and made use of papers, the salting solution of Avhieli contained various
proportions of albumen, the action of Avhich Avas to keep the material
employed in the production of the image upon the surface of the paper,
instead of, as heretofore, partly penetrating into its substance, thereby
insuring a sharpness and brilliancy in the proof that had not been before
attainable.
“When this method of preparing paper Avas first employed, every
photographer probably prepared paper for his OAvn use ; but experience
proved in this case, as in all similar ones, division of labour to be most
economical.”
JjOrttgtt Corrcspouhtnxc.
Paris , June 2 Qth} 1862.
I have read Avith regret in the last number of the Journal of the
Photographic Society an article by Mr. Burnett, in which there is
some mention of experiments in toning Avith bichloride of platinum
and carbonate of soda, together Avith much recrimination against
tAvo men Avho haAre rendered useful service to photography. I
mean MM. Niepce de St. Victor and Lafon de Camarsac. The
first mentioned gentleman has already, three years since, been
the object of attacks from Mr. Burnett, who accused him of
plagiarism, apropos of the uranium processes. Now Mr. Burnett
returns to that discussion and renews his insinuations, although it
has been publicly declared in the name of M. Niepce that he no-
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
259
wise claimed to have been the first to employ the salts of uranium
in photography, that he had simply studied those salts from a
scientific point of view, and that the application he had made of
them to positive printing had been but the consequence of expe¬
riments having another object and range, it is therefore clear
that our friend in no way pretends to the priority of which his
adversary is so energetically tenacious.
As to M. Lafon de Camarsac, his publications go back to 1855,
and his photographic enamels were already noticed at the Paris
Exhibition. If Mr. Burnett did not see them, he should at least
have informed himself about the matter before entering upon a
discussion for priority with their author.
I have spoken of the discussion here because, after all, certain
historical points, which have their value, are involved, and because
it would be regretable for such unmeasured attacks to remain
without an answer.
I have just received a letter which causes me, ^confess, some
sad reflections on the slowness with which we in France profit of
the advantages presented by modern discoveries. The letter I
speak of, which is from M. Devylder, of Ghent, informs me that
public gratuitous lectures on photography have just been insti¬
tuted in that city. The municipality of Ghent have understood
how useful a serious study of photography may be to the indus¬
trious classes ; the Government has aided in the realisation of
this innovation, and at present ninety pupils are already inscribed.
The professor, M. Devylder, is a man of instruction and experience,
possessing all the qualifications necessary for the mission entrusted
to him. It must be admitted that at Paris we are behindhand in
this matter. The new art is not, as yet, specially taught in one
school. There are certainly some professors of chemistry who,
of their own accord, dwell somewhat at length on the most im¬
portant manipulations of photography, such asM. Edmond Becquerel
at the Conservatoire des arts et metiers , and his confrere of the Ecole
cles Ponts et Chaussees ; but that is very different from a practical
and connected course of lectures. And yet we know what services
photography might render especially to engineers. The order of
the Minister of War, which had induced the hope that a course of
this kind would be established for the officers of our army, has had
for its sole result hitherto the sending a few isolated pupils, to
Disderi. It is deplorable that we should be always left behind
by our neighbours in such innovations. I know but of one com¬
plete public course which has up to the present time been held in
France— I mean that which M. Lfion Vidal opened last year at
Marseilles. Yet the success with which it was attended was of a
nature to call forth the initiative of our administrators. Neither
teachers nor pupils would be wanting.
You have, no doubt, seen in the Moniteur de la Photographic the
announcement of a project which is already being realised — I
speak of the Comptior International des Photographes. The idea
seems to me to be a good and useful one. To create a European
centre for at least the commerce of photography ; to provide that
commerce with outlets abroad ; to encourage the exchange of pro¬
ductions, and the circulation from country to country of the apparatus
and substances employed in manipulations ; to maintain permanent
international exhibitions in the larger cities ; and, in a word, to ci eate
an institution which should be a medium of intercourse between
manufacturers and photographers, and between the lattei and the
public, would be to offer to our art very powerful means of de¬
velopment. It is evident that unless such an institution sacii-
ficecl everything to the general interest, and placed itself in the
most liberal spirit at the service of all, it would miss its aim and
fall of itself. From a careful study of this present project, how-
ever, I believe it will not miss its aim, and I therefore commend it
to the attention of your readers.
From reports I hear, and which I am inclined to believe, I hope
soon to be able to announce to you that the great problem of a dry
collodion, giving instantaneous pictures, has been finally solved.
I am not permitted to say more on the subject at present, and
indeed I am even somewhat indiscreet in writing these few words;
but it is so agreeable to announce good news, that I have not been
able to withhold my pen.
There was much talk here lately of an improvement that, it was
said, had been made in heliographic engraving. In the principal
journals wonders were recorded of a process due to MM. Baudran
and de la Blanchere. I hastened to examine the facts, and I am
forced to say that they had been singularly exaggerated. The
specimens I saw (two portraits, demi-plate) are well executed, but
it is still to the practised hand of the engraver that the result is
due. The plates have simply been retouched with skill.
ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , June 9, 1862.
Some few months ago it would have been considered as heresy for
your correspondent to have said that the true instantaneous dry
plate bad not been found in the tannin and hot water; but as time
rolls on we find some of the most enthusiastic in its favour still
giving long exposures and using cold water. Those who possess
short focus quick- working lenses seem to produce very good work
with short exposure, such as forty to fifty seconds, in bright sun¬
light. At the time “Siccus” and “Ilumidus” made a trial on the
rocks and trees of Ilarlam River, New York, “ Siccus” ivas armed
with a Ross’s instrument of three or four inches focus, while
“ Humidus” used a Jamin’s view lens, six inches focus. The dry
plates had an uniform exposure of two minutes, and were all good ;
while the wet plates, after the yellow glass window had been
covered with two thicknesses of yellow paper, were good, and had
not more than five seconds’ exposure each, were developed with
protosulphate of iron thirty grains to the ounce, and required no
strengthening of any kind. The result shows that the wet pro¬
cess then used would, with a suitable instrument, have yielded
instantaneous negatives, while the tannin was very slow indeed.
The slowness was, however, compensated for by a decided advan¬
tage in the portability and comfort of the dry plate arrangement.
It has been often remarked that there is a want of uniformity in
the result of various experiments with hot water, as proposed by
Dr. Draper. Some have advocated the use of water as hot as 200°
Fahrenheit, while others say that 80° is the limit of heat to be used
advantageously.
A letter (received soon after Dr. Draper’s process was made
public) from one of our most celebrated amateur photographers, and
one who has tvorked the tannin process since its first introduction,
says, under date March 22nd, 1862 : — “ The hot water and tannin
plates do not work in my hands as represented in the journals.
A plate which had been sensitised nearly two months was exposed
in the camera, behind Jamin’s short focus combination, with the
usual small stop (aperture about a quarter inch) for thirty seconds.
Then one-half the plate was placed in water, just under the boil¬
ing point, or about 200° Fahrenheit, for about thirty seconds, tilted
slightly so as to wet about one inch beyond the immersed portions.
Then the other end was wetted with cold water (about 50°), and the
whole developed in a tray with pyrogallic acid and silver, as usual
for tannin plates. The result is a good negative on the cold icater
end — a little darker at the centre inch, which had a sudden flow
only of hot water (too sudden to heat it) ; and the hot end is a pale
positive, full of details, but very weak. It confirms what was pre¬
viously known, viz., a moderate increase of temperature is favour¬
able to rapid development, but a high temperature is destructive
to the latent image.” Continuing the subject of dry plates, he
remarks: — “Tannic acid is not expensive in cost, trouble, or
temper. I have used the same solution of tannic acid as a bath
for one year (by the aid of lumps of camphor to prevent mouldiness).
See how easy the plates are prepared” [here he sketches a suc¬
cession of five vertical baths, 1st silver, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th water, and
the 5th containing tannin] “ and when dried are always ready ;
but, of course, they are not as quick as the same collodion when
fresh by at least one-half, thirty seconds being the least time I
have obtained a good negative in : not quick enough to be certain
of good figures, but still producing good results for landscape
figures, if not portraits.” In a letter just received he remarks
“that he has used albumen under the collodion with success, and
prepares it as follows : — one ounce of albumen, four ounces water,
one drachm aqua ammonite; and keeps it fresh for months by lumps
of camphor.” I make the above lengthy quotations from his letters,
as they show that his experiments demonstrated what has since
been conceded, viz., that the hot water must be only about eighty
degrees of heat. There is one doubt yet hanging over the subject :
people are in the habit of guessing at temperature, and few are
aware that the hydrant water in most large cities, during the
summer, is constantly eighty degrees Fahr. I know this to be a
fact from having spent much time experimenting with Giffard’s
Injector for supplying water to steam boilers, and the temperature
of the cold water was continually noted. If now the ordinary
tannin plates are converted into iustantaneous dry plates by the
use of eighty degrees hot water , why have thej7 not alwa}'s been
rapid during the summer mouths ?
Mr. Henry T. Anthony proposes a modification of the tannin
plate, which, if it prove quite as good as the few experiments with
it seem to promise, he will manufacture for sale as Dr. Hill Norris
does. He has intrusted the formula to a few amateurs, and it is
now being carefully tried under various conditions. So far it pro¬
mises well.
200
[July 1, 1802
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Much as the solar camera is used in this country— and there are
many in each city — it is surprising how little attention has been
given to it by scientific men. Some few have patched up tempo¬
rary contrivances for the purpose; but none have, to my knowledge,
investigated the theory of the condensing lens, and noted what
effect it has on the chemical focus of the portrait tube. Some
days ago, wishing to possess an enlarged proof from a good nega¬
tive, it was sent to a photographer who has a very large solar
camera, consisting of an eighteen-inch condensing lens (not achro¬
matic) in combination with a half-size portrait tube. The sunlight
is reflected into the condenser by a mirror five feet long and twenty
inches wide. The negative furnished was remarkably sharp, but
the proof returned not at all so. This want of sharpness can only
in this case be referred to derangement of the chemical focus.
Several good opticians say that the condenser acts only as an
illuminator, and can exert no influence over the chemical focus of
the portrait tube used in combination with it. This opinion they
have given without any study of the matter, as they say them¬
selves. But as far as i have been able to judge myself from the
examination of several instruments with chromatic and achromatic
condensers, I incline to the opinion held by most of those using
the cameras that,’ it is absolutely necessary to use an achromatic
condenser, or to correct the focus of the plain condenser so as to
use its chemical and not its visual focus. In America the solar
camera has become a permanent institution, very few good ope¬
rators ever taking larger negatives than 8£ by 6^, depending upon
their solar camera for even 8 by 10 or larger sizes. In some cases
enlarged negatives have been made, from which the proofs are
printed directly. An instance of this kind is given by Mr. Anthony,
who, having an order for a number of prints of a ba’fee-ball club,
took to the field his half-size portrait lens, made an almost instan¬
taneous negative, then enlarged it, making a positive glass trans¬
parency, and from this glass proof producing in the solar camera a
negative of the required size. The reason why this course is not
pursued as a general theory is because we have so little cloudy
weather that we can depend on using the solar camera most of the
time, and there is a great objection to the large silver baths
necessary to produce the large negatives. I think I mentioned in
a former letter that in making card-pictures from old photographs
and Daguerreotypes, the negatives are made quarter-size, then
printed life-size with the solar camera. The enlarged proofs are
worked up with Indian ink, and from these touched-up proofs the
required number of card-size negatives are made. The great fire
in Troy, New York, was in full view of the Troy University, and
Professors Rood, Emmerson, and Himes have all produced good
stereographs of the burned district. They say that the smoke was
a source of trouble to them, and that before it had cleared away
^ ankee enterprise had begun the work of rebuilding. Soon a new
city will spring up, phoenix-like, from the ashes of fallen Troy.
A curious race is being run between the engravers and photo¬
graphers in the publication of portraits of prominent men. Before
the advent of card-pictures our generals and popular statesmen
were either illustrated by expensive engravings or cheap coloured
lithographs. The photographed card-portrait called for a smaller
and a cheaper engraving to compete with it. Soon some very
good copperplate vignette heads were produced, and sold for about
one-halt the retail price of the photographs. These are now being
copied by second-rate photographers, and sold to the retail dealers
at about twenty for one dollar. What will be the ultimate effect
ol this competition on the art is hard to tell. It results now in the
masses being furnished with plenty of good pictures at a low rate.
I hero is continual complaint made by photographers that these
card-pictures are ruining this business, that they are driving the
ainhrotype out of the market, and hence they are losing all the
profit they used to make on fancy cases, while the number of per-
vns employed in the principal establishments is increased, and
other expenses increased in proportion. In former letters I have
mentioned how little is being done with stereoscopic pictures in
the market. It is thought that the only proper way to revive this
branch of business is to produce some new form of instrument
more convenient than the ordinary hand lenticular stereoscope —
vune instrument so arranged as to admit of loose pictures being
placed in it and exhibited in succession.
Mr. Seely sa\ s that the next number of the American Journal of
t9raphy, which should bear date June 1st, will not appear until
1 ' loth of .1 une, and will be dated July 1st. For this delay he pro-
1111 g°°d and sufficient reasons, one of which is that he desires
•h® volume to begin July 1st. He is writing a book, to be sent
' ns '■mbsrnhtafl in place of the delayed number, as akind of peace-
"ti'-nng. Mr. Ihompson, the Secretary of the American Photo¬
graphical Society, is off to the wars. At present he is located at
Baltimore. Being captain of an artillery company in New York,
he was one of those who hastened to offer his services when tho
President made his call for more troops a few weeks ago. This
last call, made at a time when little expected, seemed to create
just such an excitement as did the first call for three months’
volunteers after the fall of Sumpter. With half-a-million Northern
men in the field, the wonderful resources of the country were shown
when, at a fresh call, three hundred thousand more men responded
to the summons.
At the battle before Richmond General M'Clellan used balloons
and the electric telegraph in combination, but it was a matter of
regret that photography could not have had its share in the recon-
naisance. Quite an ingenious device has been arranged by a
Philadelphian for balloon photography, consisting of camera with
an electro -magnetic apparatus attached, so arranged that two plates
can be put into the camera at once. The exposure can be made in¬
stantaneously by the electric current, and the plates can also be
changed by the same means. It was designed to be attached to a
small balloon, which could be rapidly sent aloft, held in position by
cords, two plates exposed, and hauled down for development.
Dr. Dean, of Boston, spent some time with me on his way from
Washington to Boston. He had some very fine specimens of his pho¬
tographic sections of the Medulla oblongata ; and in his forthcoming
work on the nerves he promises that the illustrations shall all be pho¬
tographs on albumenised paper. With his microscope he has used
both wet and dry plates — the latter were tannin — and his testimony
was decided in favour of the wet for sharpness , his first impression
having been that a hard, dry film would present the best surface
for the minutest detail of his subjects; such, however, proved not
to be the case, the wet plates developed with iron producing the
softest and most interesting pictures. His microscope is one of
Smith, Beck, and Beck’s; but he does not use their powers, having
had made in Boston a three-inch objective. He had great trouble at
first from an unequally illuminated field : his difficulty was over¬
come by placing between the reflecting prisms and the object a
common burning-glass (about one inch from the object). The use
of tin's condenser was suggested to him by Professor Rood, and
corrected- all the fault of unequal illumination.
The remarks in the March number of the Bulletin de la Societe
Franchise de Photographic , concerning the pictures from Nova
Zembla, “that photography by its wonderful results has become
in the bands of the missionary one of the most powerful means of
conversion in these savage colonies,” reminds me of the statement
of one of our amateurs. He says: — “Photography is good in a
moral point of view. I used to play billiards all day on Sunday:
now I spend the same day photographing.”
COLEMAN SKLLERS.
(6o.rresp0nlr.e1ra,
fcgvWoare at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
WHAT A LENS WILL COYER.
To the Editor.
Sir, — -The accompanying photographs (negatives and positives) are, I
expect, however rough and faulty, adequate to show two things, each of
which appears to be a matter of some interest at the present moment to
photographers, viz.: — Firstly, that there is a lens extant which will cover
as much and considerably more than the triplet; and, secondly, that that
lens (not the triplet) has not the distortion imputed to it by some
of your correspondents.
Negative and positive No. 1 are from a No. 3 Dallmeyev triplet.
Nos. 2 and 3 are from the patent aplanatic single combination.
The nominal (or “back”) focus of the triplet is twelve inches. The
nominal focus of the aplanatic is fifteen inches. The actual focus of the
two combinations may be found ( by measuring a small central portion of
their relative photographs) to be nearly coincident. Nos. 2 and 3 were
done with different lenses, both being aplanatics. The stop used with the
several lenses had invariably four-tenths diameter of opening.
In taking negative No. 2, the stop was approached a quarter of an inch
nearer to the lens than what I call the “ best distance.” This gave a
picture of equal size with that of the triplet lens.
In taking negative No. 3, the stop was approached as close to the lens
as the mounting (“the portable mount”) admitted. The camera was
always close to the same window, and negatives Nos. 1 and 2 were taken
on the same evening — No 2 last, and after 5 p.m. The exposure was
made as nearly as possible the same (allowing for the estimated difference
of the light) .
July 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
261
Noav, the first point to which I have alluded, viz., that the aplanatic
can be made to cover a larger field than the triplet, is evident from com¬
parison of photographs Nos. 1 and 3 ; and, as the true photographic focus
for a field of small angular dimensions of all the lenses used is about 14^
inches, and a field of ten inches includes about forty degrees, the “ dis¬
placement” of objects (by the single combination) for a field including
forty degrees can be ascertained approximately by measuring the distance
of any two definite points in the image (each about five inches from the
centre and ten inches asunder) of the photograph taken with the triplet
lens (of no distortion), and comparing that distance with the distance
between the corresponding points in the photographs taken in the single
combination. If there were really four degrees of displacement at each
side in a field of forty degrees, as has been asserted, then the distances
taken as above directed should prove to be as ten to eight. I estimate
their ratio at little more than a sixth part of that.
There are two other points of comparison which, although I touch
upon, will be more satisfactorily discussed on other occasions. One of
these is the superior intrinsic intensity of the single combination, which
appears to ooze out in comparing photographs No. 1, and 2 ; but of this,
I admit, there can be no certainty established except from simultaneous
exposure.
The other of these points is of a much more decided character, and
respecting which there can be no mistake, although in some degree
masked by the roughness of the image — due to old materials, including
paper at least two years iodised — viz., that, in the negatives especially,
there may be observed a very great difference in the distinctness of the
lateral portions in favour of the aplanatic lens.
I had nearly forgotten to mention that the larger photographs of 17 by
14 include, in the case of those marked 2 and 3, about G5 degrees in the
longer dimension, and that the two prints of 10 by 8 inches, from a 10 by
8 collodion negative, taken with a seven inches focus lens, include 73
degrees in the longer dimensions — the diameter of the stop used being
exactly xVu or J-inch diameter. — I am, yours, & c., THOMAS GRUBB.
Dublin , May 29 th, 1862.
[We took the preceding letter and illustrative photographs to the last
meeting of the Photographic Society with the intention of exhibiting the
latter, but there was no opportunity of so doing, the sitting having been
unusually protracted, and anything like discussion almost entirely sup¬
pressed. The following particulars of the proofs received must therefore
suffice for the present ; but, should any of our readers desire personal
inspection, we will endeavour to afford it.
Three of the prints are upon paper of 17 X 14 inches dimensions, the
impressed parts occupying about half-an-inch less each way. The nega¬
tives of Nos. 1 and 2, which accompany the proofs, are upon waxed-paper,
and therefore, to those accustomed to collodion, the comparative want of
“sharpness” is annoying. The foci of the several lenses employed are
remarkably near to one another — two corresponding points in each of the
proofs measuring respectively —
In No. 1 (by the triplet) . 7| inches.
In No. 2 (by aplanatic) . 7| ,,
In No. 3 ( do. ) . . . 7§ ,,
There are four dark corners in No. 1 and No. 2, the extreme diameter of
the circle, including penumbra, being in both cases about eighteen inches ;
but in No. 1 (by triplet) the penumbra is somewhat more encroaching.
No. 3 has no dark corners, but the image is perfectly visible up to the
extreme angles. With regard to lateral definition, Nos. 2 and 3 are
certainly superior to No. 1 ; but in all, as we have before remarked, the
medium employed leaves much to be desired.
With regard to “ displacement of the image,” we find the extent to be
as follows, viz., points distant lOf inches in No. 1 are but 10§ inches in
Nos. 2 and 3. The whole extent of field in No. 1 occupies in No. 3 seven-
eighths of an inch less, so that the displacement increases rapidly as you
extend the field. In general landscape subjects this is quite immaterial,
but for architecture it would probably be objectionable. — Ed.]
MR. WALL DEFENDS HIS CHINA SHOP.
To the Editor.
Sir, — -I could very contentedly leave the matter of dispute between
Messrs. J. T. and G. Bull and myself in the hands of your readers, were
it not that these gentlemen have thought fit to characterise my comments
upon their “artistic backgrounds” as “unjust and unjustifiable.”
Perspective and drawing are not mere matters of taste ; and when I
assert that their simplest rules are violated in certain productions, ten
out of every twelve educated persons who inspect the same can, if they
so please, either convict me of error or convince themselves of ray vera¬
city. For iustance, everybody knows that the vanishing point* is on the
horizontal line, and that the horizontal line, or line of the horizon, indi¬
cates the height of the spectator’s eye ; and, therefore, when everybody
sees the profile accessory (say it is a bookcase) with lines which should
converge to a point upon the horizon going ambitiously upwards to some
point a very long way above the horizon, why everybody will say that is
a great mistake, being such a view of the bookcase as a bird would com¬
mand, and not such as rve poor “ eartli-treading mortals” usually obtain.
Again : a moment’s thought will tell even those who are profoundly
ignorant of perspective that we see more of the top of anything the lower
it is placed, and that when it is exactly level with the eye the top is no
* Sometimes, but incorrectly, called the point of sight.
longer visible — a rule which, simple as it is, these backgrounds invariably
ignore, giving in flights of steps ascending to within but a short distance
of the horizontal line as much space to the top of the bottom step as to
that of the highest, &c., &c.
In conclusion permit me to recal an anecdote told of that once talented
and admired actor, the elder Kean. Being on the stage the audience, to
express their sense of certain private matters then just made public,
began to hiss with a thousand-goose power, but paused when, advancing
to the footlights, the great tragedian reminded them that they were there
to judge his acting, not his private character, and that Ae was there to
act, and not to defend himself from detraction and slander. Seeing at
once that it was not “ fair or in good taste ” to persecute the actor in his
public career for matters belonging purely to his private life, the audience,
it is said, ceased hissing and the play proceeded without further interrup¬
tion. The application of this anecdote I leave to your readers and to
the Messrs. Bull, merely adding that it is not usual to accuse others
of meanness or of prostituting their pen3 to the advancement of
injustice and the propagation of falsehood without some better authority
for doing so than is to be found in mere possibility, or even proba¬
bility ; and that those who would so abuse their privileges, and so use
their pens, would be more likely to do so behind the shield of the
anonymous than to emulate the example of yours, &c.,
35, Westbourne Grove, Bayswater. ALFRED II. WALL.
MANIPULATIVE QUERIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly answer the following queries in your next issue?
1. What is the best material for a portable background to give a
medium colour in the positive print? I should like to obtain something
suitable without the addition of colouring, if possible, unless you can
recommend a dye which would answer the purpose — colouring matter
which would rub or peel off being objectionable.
2. In the intensifying of negatives with iodine, pyrogallie acid, and
silver solutions, is it essential or better to expose the negative to daylight
after applying the iodine and before the application of the pyrogallic
developer ? I find it so ordered in The British journal Almanac for the pre¬
sent year, but not named in the papers read before the various societies.
3. Is the solution recommended by Mr. M. Lyte, and published at page
120, Vol. VIII., of The British Journal of Photography, for decolour¬
ing the nitrate bath for albumenised paper, uninjurious to the nitrate
solution ? 1 find that the sensitising of papers subsequently still
colours the solution, and therefore wish to know if the continued use of
the decolouring agent is at all injurious, and also whether you think it
preferable to the method recommended by Mr. Tunny for the same pur¬
pose, to wit, citric acid ?
4. I have spoiled about a quart bottle of collodion by the admixture of
iron developing solution. I suppose the only remedy is to throw it
away. Also some nitrate of silver solution by the addition of phosphate
and acetate of soda instead of phosphate and carbonate. Please say'
what I can do with this. Apologising for this trouble, — I am, yours, &c-,
Liverpool, §th June, 1862. INEXPERIENCE.
P.S. — In answer to a correspondent in your last number you say that
the returning to the bottle, for subsequent use, of hyposulphite of soda
bath would be “a sure foundation for a number of faded proofs.” Am I
to understand that the immersion of two or three prints renders the bath
unfit for future use, provided this was the extent of my requirements at
the time of its preparation ?
[1. A blanket for a light one, a piece of green baize for a dark one —
the darkness depending on the yellowness of the green.
2. Decidedly better, if not indispensable ; probably not named because
the operation is frequently performed in the light.
3. The addition of anything to the nitrate of silver bath to decolourise
it weakens it to a small extent, and therefore it is not advisable to do it
oftener than needful. Mr. Maxwell Lyte is an experienced chemist, but
we are not aware that the plan he proposes is better or worse than that
employed by Mr. Tunny. If you coagulate your albumenised paper by-
floating it on alcohol — methylated will do — and drying it, you will
probably- find your sensitising bath not discolour so rapidly.
4. Your collodion, we fear, is quite useless. The nitrate of silver you
can use for printing, or precipitate the silver by- the addition of an iron
developer. Wash the precipitate and redissolve it in nitric acid.
5. We do not advise the use of hyposulphite of soda for more than one
day; but by keeping some chalk in the solution you may, to a consider¬
able extent, guard against the ill effect of using it over again. — Ed.]
IMPURE HYPOSULPHITE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have been much troubled lately in printing owing to the im¬
purities of the hyposulphite of soda. I have purchased three different
samples with the same result. On dissolving it in distilled water, a
white flake precipitate is thrown down in large quantities. It injures
the white of the picture, causes an eruption of blisters (on the paper),
and is alkaline. Have you met with it or heard of it before? — lam,
yours, &c. H.
June 1 6th, 1S62.
[We have neither met with the annoyance personally nor have had
i complaints about it. — Ed.]
202
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [July 1, 1802
A PRINTING ACCIDENT.
To the Editor.
SIBj — A few da}^ ago I was mixing citric acid and silver for the tannin
process ; at the same time, also, some bath solution for paper; and filtered
the latter with the same filter-paper as the former had just gone through.
In printing I observed much less time was required than the same nega¬
tives had previously taken. The day was cloudy, and not at all good for
printing. The parts darkened were a red-brown. I enclose you one print
of those referred to, the right one of a stereograph of Scrooby Church ,
which is historically connected with America, it being from Scrooby, and
Austerfield, a village about two miles from it, where the original founders,
the Pilgrim Fathers, were natives, and proceeded from. If you think it
would in any way interest your transatlantic friends, I shall be happy to
exchange with them stereographs of both the above. — I am, yours, &c.,
Bawtry, June 21, 1862. _ HENRY PERCY.
[The effect produced is precisely what might have been anticipated.
Possibly our American correspondent, Mr. Coleman Sellers, may respond
to the proposal. — Ed.]
COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Encouraged by the kind replies that you give in The British
Journal of Photography to all kinds of photographic queries, and find¬
ing myself “ in trouble,” I have taken the liberty of forwarding to you by
this post a small bottle of collodion, part of some which I prepared very
carefully, and with as pure materials as I could obtain ( absolute alcohol,
&c.) ; but, although it looks very well, I have not been able to get a pic¬
ture with it, as I find that it fogs under pyrogallic developer, and only
after a very lengthened exposure is a slight outline visible.
The collodion has been iodised about three or four weeks — about four
grains iodide of cadmium to the ounce ; and, as I have prepared a toler¬
ably large quantity (for an amateur) I shall be extremely obliged if you
can suggest a remedy.
Apologising for so troubling you, I am, yours, &c., W. B. C.
Liverpool, 23rd Jane, 18G2.
[Your collodion requires more pyroxyline : it is not possible to give a
definite quantity that will always suffice, as the pyroxyline, however
carefully made, will vary a little, We think you may add about two
grains more to each ounce of collodion ; but you should also add to the
mass of which you have sent us a sample a few drops of diluted tincture
of iodine, just enough to turn the collodion of a faint straw colour, and
we apprehend that your troubles will be removed. — Ed.]
— « —
PANORAMIC STEREOGRAPHS, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly answer, through the medium of The British
Journal of Photography, the following queries : —
1. Where can I find a description of Dr. Henry Draper’s liot-water
process?
2. I use a transfer-box; and, for drying tannin and honey-tannin
plates before putting them therein, I use a common light-tight plate-box,
wi th a ventilator, which requires considerable heat to dry them thoroughly.
V ere I to shut it close and put a vessel of lime or potash inside, would
that sufficiently absorb the moisture and dry them without having any
deleterious inlluence on the sensitive surface? and what would be the
best substance to use?
3. Why are stereographs always made of such a small size? I can
bring togc ther with my eyes two pictures of a much larger size than the
standard ones, and I see no reason why refracting stereoscopes should not
be made to hold larger pictures.
‘L * 'an stereographs be taken with the panoramic lens of the full size
M course, however, on separate plates)? If so, though the stereoscope
c' >l*l d nut take in the whole picture at once, a very simple piece
<■1 mechanism fixed to the ordinary stereoscope (and which when
not required could bo removed) would show them like a moving
panorama. In taking stereographs from an elevated position (with, it
may be, a beautiful panorama all round), the great drawback is the
comparatively small angle cne view will take in; and even should
separate slides be taken, it is difficult, when viewing them, to preserve
the connexion of one with the other. With this proposed arrangement
however, such views, taken from the same station, by simply moving
»"nnd the camera so far between each picture (or what would be much
ri ii practicable, taken with the panoramic apparatus), could be
Viewed, as I have before said, as a moving panorama. It can be adapted
to any length of joined pictures, and I am only sorry I have not time
t 1 write a description of the addition T would propose ; but, should you
d*' si re such, I shall be happy when I have leisure to do so.
* 111 rry to trouble you with so many questions, hut hoping that in
an early number of the Journal they will receive your attention, — I
>'ours, &c., PANORAMIC-STEREO.
Haddington, June 17 th, 1802.
I lu the American Journal of Photography — though it is rather a
J . l'.' CftH it Dr. Draper's process; his modification of Major Russell’s
nuned chiefly to the suggestion of plunging the
exposed plate into warm water prior to development.
2. You might use, probably with advantage, a glass vessel full of
sulphuric acid to absorb the moisture.
3. Most persons cannot combine larger pictures, and indeed there is
little occasion to do so ; for, provided that they be viewed at a distance of
six inches (by aid of lenses if needful), they appear of natural size.
4. Stereographs can of course be taken with the panoramic lens, and
we believe its inventor has in contemplation the contrivance of a stereo¬
scope in which to view them. We shall be happy to receive a description
of your ideas on the subjects. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Rupert. — Received with thanks.
A. B. C. — You will find Mr. Hockin’s Manual fulfil your requirements.
J. O. and C. L. F. — We will endeavour to meet your wishes in an early
number.
Roving E.ob. — Perhaps upon the whole the tannin process would suit your
present requirements best.
Chas. Reid. — We do not prefer an iron developer in warm weather, but do
so decidedly in the winter time.
G. B. — Of the three artists (!) which you name Nos. 1 and 2 can only be so
designated by courtesy : go to No. 3 by all means.
Lotty. — Apply to the stain a few drops of the following, viz., solution of
cyanide of potassium, with a few drops of tincture of iodine added.
Matthew. — Pneumatic holders are of various forms, but most can be
procured of any of the dealers in apparatus either in London or in the provinces.
Amateur No. 2. — We regret to learn that you have been treated rudely at
the establishment you mention; but you know the old adage, “You cannot
make a silk purse of a sow’s ear.”
W. J. — We know of no practicable plan of filtering a solution of India-rubber
in benzole unless it be very fluid, in which case it might be done through a
stratum of pounded glass or fine-washed silver sand.
R. F. — We are obliged for the specimens received, but as we cannot notice
them favourably we remain discreetly silent : you are far behind your com¬
petitors in the branch of photography which you have selected.
C. Jones. — It is quite immaterial whether your protonitrate of iron is made
by aid of nitrate of barytes or nitrate of lead, so far as the ultimate product is
concerned: it is merely a question of convenience in the production.
M. D. — If your sample of gold salt is really neutral to test-paper there is no
absolute necessity for the addition of carbonate of soda; but we never found
a sample that was not acid, except the double salt of gold and sodium.
James G. Mac Andrew. — Your communication having been sent to the
address of the Publisher, instead of the address of the Editor, has prevented
its insertion in the present number, but it shall receive due attention in our
next.
Equus. — The best plan to adopt in taking portraits of horses is to prepare
everything in the ordinary way, and just before the moment of exposure to get
an assistant to sound a shrill whistle, which appears to attract the attention of
horses and renders them for several seconds immovable in an attitude of
attention.
Reuben. — We shall be hapoy to publish your formula provided that it
contains any valuable novelty ; but if it is merely a novelty without any special
advantage, we do not perceive its utility. However, if you forward it, you must
leave it to our judgment to deal with as circumstances demand: we cannot
pledge ourselves “ in the dark.”
Provincial. — We are informed by one of “our staff” who is frequently
there, that the lofty lumber-room devoted to English photography in the
International Exhibition is visited by a few on the one shilling days. Our
foreign neighbours have been “wise in their generation” in having declined
to contribute to a general gallery.
A. 8 T. — The Traits Populaire de Photographic, by Dr. Monckhoven, could
no doubt be obtained of Ballihre, in Regent Street, and the price would be
probably about four shillings; but Messrs. Horne and Thornthwaite, of
Newgate Street, have purchased the English copyright, and it will probably Le
presented in our own language shortly.
Doubtful. — We have no doubt that if you apply to Mr. Dallmeyer direct
he will tell you whether the lens is one of his manufacture. We fancy he never
sends one out without his name and a number attached. His carte de visite
lenses have been highly spoken of by some of our best operators, therefore we
think you have been deceived in the one you have been offered.
Verdant Green. — Your’s is a case of mealiness — not measles, the causes
of which are various; but old prepared albumenised paper is a prolific one.
We apprehend that there is a deficiency of chloride in the albumen. Some
operators declare that immersing the proofs in a bath of acetate of soda before
the toning bath is a good remedy ; but we are sceptical relative to the accuracy
of their observations. We should recommend re-albumenising the paper.
[§igr All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, <&c., shoidd
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
liise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONT
LEADER . 243
EXPERIMENTAL COMMITTEES . 245
SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY. ByM.D. VAN
MONCKHOVEN . 246
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC LENSES, AND THE ANGLE
OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED. (DISPLACE¬
MENT AND DISTORTION.)— Continued.
Il7 THOMAS GRUBB, M.R.1 A . 24S
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING ON ALBUMEN¬
ISED PAPER. By GEORGE DAWSON, M. A. 248
PRACTICAL COURSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Bv M. C. OMMEGANCK . 249
EXPEDITIOUS METHOD OF PREPARING
NITRATE Of fcilLYER TROJi Oit> BATHS. 250
NTS.
FUSED NITRATE OF SILVER. By PRO¬
FESSOR E. EMERSON . 251
ON ALBUMEN. By JAMES MARTIN . 251
CLEANING GLASS PLATES. By M. D. VAN
MONCKHOVEN . 2J3
AN ARTIST'S LETTERS TO A YOUNG PHO.
TOGRAPHER. ON LANDSCAPE. By A. H.
WALL . . 253
TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR OF THE TANNIN
PROCESS . 255
EXHIBITION GOSSIP. Bv A. H. WALL. . . . 255
WHERE TO CO WITH THE CAMERA . 256
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 257
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 2 8
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 258
CvnwpowRnce, Awnmi W Cjrr«sp9nd«uts>, SOI
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL
No.
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
170, Vol. IX.— JULY 15, 1862.
Enlargement of Photographs. — The problem of how best
to amplify photographs is one which gathers importance day by
day, more especially with respect to portraits, and also landscape
scenery in which living objects are included. From the earliest
introduction of the calotype process the idea has been con¬
stantly “ cropping out and though from time to time evaded
in consequence of certain difficulties which have required time,
perseverance, and intelligence to overcome, the solution of the
problem cannot be much longer postponed, because while the
demand for instantaneous subjects continues to increase, it is
coupled with a desire to obtain pictures of a size that do not
require the aid of a lens to display the beauty of the details.
There are many reasons why the fulfilment of the conditions
needful to obtain productions of the kind indicated involve the
use of lenses of short focus for taking the original negatives,
some of which we now propose briefly to glance at — we mean
the reasons, not the negatives.
If we desire to take a picture of an object, or number of
objects, located in a plane or shallow concave surface, we may
employ for the purpose, without detriment a lens of considerable
diameter, provided that it be well corrected for spherical and
chromatic aberrations, and consequently its focal length may be
proportionally long ; but if the subjects to be depicted be not
located in one plane or concave surface, having on the contrary
considerable variations of distance, then no perfection of the
lens can compensate for the confusion arising from the extent
of variation in the points of view as reckoned from one margin
of the lens to its opposite side. This is a fact so readily
demonstrable that we are surprised at any one not at once per¬
ceiving it. For instance : suppose we are using a double com¬
bination lens of (say) four inches in diameter ; if now we cover
up the lens with a piece of cardboard, cutting a circular aper¬
ture or merely a segment off from each side of about one and
a-half inches wide, the centres of these apertures will be two
and a-half inches apart. A pair of stereographs may be taken
with such an arrangement upon two separate plates in succes¬
sion, by merely exposing first with one segmental opening and
then with the other. Now, nearly every photographer is aware
that the two stereographs forming the pair differ iu the relation
of certain corresponding points to one another, so that if we
place one picture over the other, and view the two by trans¬
parence, if certain points coincide, others cannot do so at the
same time. If instead of taking two stereographs in succession
we expose one plate by opening both segmental apertures simulta¬
neously, we produce a negative resembling the two pictures
superposed as before described ; but if we use, instead, during
exposure the whole aperture of the four inches diameter lens,
we add still further to the confusion by in effect superposing a
number of other pictures, each one differing somewhat from the
two first supposed. It is clear, then, that in order to avoid this
confusion we must reduce the effective aperture of the lens.
All this has been insisted on years ago by Sir David Brewster,
though we are not aware that he put the matter in a popular
form, and certainly he coupled with his demonstration a recom¬
mendation which was at the time impossible for professional
photographic portraitists to have adopted if they hoped to earn
their bread at the same time. The fact pointed out was, how¬
ever, none the less true.
If we reduce the actual aperture of any7 given lens, we reduce
its angular aperture, and consequently the intensity of the
image formed at its focus, at the same time ; or, in other words,
the more acute the point of our pencil of light, the less intense
is the line that it will draw — the more obtuse, the darker the
line we can make. It is evident that a pencil of small may be
cut with a point as acute or as obtuse as one ot large diameter,
and so it is with a pencil of light ; but in both cases the length
of the cone will be greater with the large pencil than with the
small one. If then it be needful to employ pencils of small
diameter in order to avoid confusion arising from difference of
points of view, and to use large angles of aperture in order to
ensure intensity of the image, it follows as a necessity that the
focus must be short , or our conditions are not fulfilled. For the
production of instantaneous pictures intensity of the image is
no less a sine qua non than sensitiveness of the chemicals ; in
fact, we must endeavour to ensure the combination of as many
favourable circumstances as possible, in order to have any
chance of producing “ instantaneous ’’ results. One step more
and our train of argument will be complete. Short focus lenses
imply not only small-sized pictures, but images depicted upon a
small scale, two conditions not otherwise necessarily connected;
if, then, we desire large pictures including objects in motion —
as with the existing state of our chemical knowledge avc are
unable to produce films of sufficient sensitiveness to receive
an impression from very acute pencils of light — we cannot
dispense with a lens of large angular aperture, and therefore,
following out the chain of reasoning adduced above, we must
produce small negatives, and consequently must also, to attain
our end, subsequently' enlarge them. lime and space forbid
our carrying on the subject further in our present issue, but we
hope to do so in our next.
Royalty Honouring Photography.— We feel considerable
gratification in being able to announce to our leaders that
H.R.H. the Prince of "Wales has just been elected President of
the Amateur Photographic Association, he having in the kindest
manner signified, through the Earl of Caithness, his consent to
confer this distinguished honour upon that body — an honour
the more to be appreciated in consequence ol its being the first
of the kind emanating from the future sovereign of these
realms. And, iudeed, it is not alone amongst the members of
the Association that it will be a cause of rejoicing; but every
follower of the photographic art will participate in the satisfac¬
tion which such a gracefully courteous act of condescension
implies, namely, a deep feeling of interest in the progress of
photography.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1862
261
Her Majesty the Queen has always been a kind patron of our
art, and her late Royal Consort was so keen a follower of it
that photographers especially experienced a double cause of
sorrow at his decease. That his eldest son should endeavour
to fill the void left by his Royal Father in this, as in more
important matters also, was, perhaps, more than our brethren of
the camera could reasonably have expected; and therefore they
will no doubt appreciate in a higher degree the fact that the
young Prince is himself a member of their fraternity.
Our readers will find in our usual columns recording the
Meetings of Societies a report of the meeting at which the Prince
of Wales was elected. While on the subject of the Amateur
Photographic Association, we may mention that, in accordance
with a permissive regulation, the recipients of prizes for the
first year of its existence elected to receive, instead of medals,
the following articles, bearing appropriate inscriptions, viz. : —
Article. Recipient.
An elegant claret jug . The Earl of Caithness.
Ditto . . Lieut.-Col. Shakespere.
An antique silver inkstand . Wm. Church, Jun., Esq.
A pair of silver goblets . Major Gresley.
An elegantly engraved silver goblet... II. St. Vincent Ames, Esq.
A silver inkstand . George S. Penny, Esq.
On perusing the official report of the last meeting we notice
an omission, no doubt arising from the modesty of the Hon.
Sec., Mr. A. J. Melhuish, whose duty it is to issue the same :
we mean the warm commendation accorded to him by the
Council for the very efficient manner in which he has performed
his duties during the past year — his services being the more
worthy of recognition from the honourable and judicious way
in wk_ h he has kept scrupulously distinct his identity as
a member of the firm to which the printing for the Association
has been entrusted, and his office of Hon. Sec., in which he
has acted entirely as the intelligent and efficient agent of the
Council. We have deemed it but an act of simple justice to
him to put this fact on record, knowing that there is no other
person having a knowledge of the facts in a position to do so,
except by directing Mr. Melhuish to insert in the official
report of the next meeting that which he might feel seme
delicacy about doing regarding himself.
A “Note” on Literary “ Annexation.” — We regret to
find that some of our photographic contemporaries, when
pushed for matter wherewith to fill their space, are not
contented with begging and borrowing it in every direction,
but have latterly taken to - well ! suppose we call it appro¬
priating without license or acknowledgment, by way of putting
the case mildly, after President Buchanan’s method of desig¬
nating “ slavery” by the phrase “involuntary servitude.”
It is no wonder that American phraseology arises in our
mind in connexion with this subject; for, not long since, when
remonstrating against the injustice of which we complain in
another quarter, wre were curtly informed by the editor who dealt
with our property in the way “ which the wise convey do call,”
that he had no intention of not acknowledging the articles, but
that he should do so, according to the American method, at the
end of the senes. Now, as some of the articles “involuntarily
contributed ” are each complete in themselves, and are merely,
for the sake of convenience, put under a common heading — as,
for instance, “Notes on Photographic Chemicals”' — without any
one necessarily being at all connected with any other, and
moreover, as the “ series ” — if it can be so designated — may
1 "'hlv la f for several years, our readers can judge what sort
of acknowledgment we are likely to obtain.
I ntil recently we have not had reason to complain of similar
linfaii treatment at the hands of our English contemporaries,
0110 1 of late the depredations have increased to
such an extent that we arc not inclined to remain silent on the
subject anj longer. So long as the nefarious practice was pur¬
sued only by a little “ penny trumpet ” it did not much matter ;
but when the editor of our weekly contemporary, the Photo¬
graphic News, stooped to lay violent hands on articles and
reports of meetings from our columns, and when on our
privately remonstrating with him he professed to regard his
insertion of the words “ abstracted from the organ of the
Society ” at which such paper was read as a concession to our
squeamishness (!), we certainly imagined that we had seen the
worst phases of “involuntary contribution” in our own country.
But we were mistaken. Even our old antagonist, tho editor
of Photographic Notes, abstained from this injustice, at least;
and, although he has in two recent numbers of the periodical
over which he presides copied, verbatim et literatim, the report ol
a meeting, and an article to which we shall presently allude,
without any acknowledgment of the source whence derived, we
believe that he has done it under a misapprehension of our
right, influenced by the unwarrantable conduct of “ our London
contemporary ; ” and further, we do not doubt, that if we were to
point out to him the facts of the case, notwithstanding his ini¬
mical feeling towards us personally, lie would, without hesita¬
tion, make the acknowledgment due. Our reasons for enter¬
taining these opinions are simple enough. Although the editor
of Photographic Notes copies largely from foreign journals,
when he judges the matter to be worthy of reproduction, we
do not remember ever having detected him so doing without
honourably notifying the source of his information in plain
terms ; whereas the present editor of the Photographic News
has done so, and continues to do so, repeatedly without acknow¬
ledgment. To give one instance, out of many, we may point to
an article a portion of v hich appeared in the last June number
of the Neivs, translated from Le Bulletin Beige de Photographic ;
and in the same number he gives the wdiole of an article which
appeared in our issue for the 15th ultimo, contributed by Mr.
Dawson as one of our staff, and this without any kind of acknow¬
ledgment, except a casual allusion, at the commencement of an
article of his ovm in a previous column, to “our Liverpool con¬
temporary.” Why Liverpool contemporary ? Why not Man¬
chester, or Birmingham, or Edinburgh, or, for that matter,
London (for our constituency in the metropolis is much larger
than in the other localities named), unless it be to disguise the
identity of The British Journal of Photography?
If the distinction between meum and teum be so very obscure
in the mind of one who, being on the spot with us, knows well
enough that lie has no right whatever — not even a shadow of
pretence of right — to the article appropriated, is it surprising that
an editor at a distance, perceiving that the said article appeared
also in a journal other than our own without acknowledgment,
should imagine that there was no special property existent
therein ?
The editor of the Photographic News has assumed a right to
appropriate what he may please of any articles read in public,
and with or without the consent of the authors, whether he may
have been present at the reading in person, or by proxy, to take
notes or not.
We shall not stop to discuss this assumption at present, but
it is certainly a new feature in periodical literature for an editor
to appropriate in the unceremonious manner adopted by the
conductor of the Photographic News an article from a contem¬
porary that has never been even read in public — -and more, which
has been contributed, under a business arrangement with its
author, exclusively for our own pages. We have as much right
to reproduce one of our contemporary’s leading articles witn
comments of our own, and a mere casual reference to “ our
London contemporary,” as he had to act in the manner oi
wdiich we complain. The evil does not stop with his publica¬
tion. We have upon more occasions than one seen reproduced
in foreign journals articles thus unfairly appropriated, and in
them accredited to our “ abstracting contemporary,” who even
so recently as in his first July number reproduces without
acknowledgment an article (which will also he found in our
current number) from the pen of one of our foreign contribu-
265
July 15, 1862] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
tors, from whom we have a communication drawing our attention
to the fact, and stating that he (the author) did not give any
copy, or permission to copy, to our too industrious appro priator.
The editor of the News borrows so largely from the columns of
our American contemporaries that he lias no doubt in his own
mind adopted the “ American style,” and, as usual in a new
convert, gone a little beyond. To avoid misconception we
would here remark that we are well convinced there are honour¬
able men in America as elsewhere, but certainly we have been
unfortunate in our experience of the editorial portion hitherto :
it is not in one but in two cases in which we have been met
with the “American stjle” of reply.
We have a notion that the contemporary of which we now
complain has already discovered that he has in the special
instance to which we particularly advert gone a little too far;
for in his number last cited we find the almost unprecedented
circumstance of two reports of meetings fairly acknowledged.
Is this intended as an attempt to disarm our just indignation?
One remark more before we close. We are informed
that it is a practice amongst some newspaper officials to
copy reports of certain public meetings from one another
without special acknowledgment, because such reports are
not taken for any one paper specially, but by reporters on
their own account, who supply copies to all comers for a
consideration. This is not the case with us. We employ
gentlemen to take special reports exclusively for our use,
where they are not furnished officially by the secretaries
of the societies the meetings of which are reported ; and in
the latter cases they are also exclusively supplied — hence our un¬
doubted property even in these reports. Finally: we never have
objected to any amount of appropriation from our columns —
and in some cases they are habitually drawn upon to a pretty
heavy extent ; but we must append the condition that in all
cases our consent is accorded only when a simple acknowledg¬
ment is made to — The British Journal of Photography.
- -
SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY.
By M. D. Van Monckhoven.
OH INTENSIFYING NEGATIVES.*
In our preceding article we have given the theory of ordinary in¬
tensifying, and alluded briefly to several points in the theory of
the production of photographic images. In an article to appear
very shortly we propose presenting to the readers of The British
Journal of Photography a complete statement of our ideas on
this subject. Our present intention is to give an explanation of
the other methods of intensifying used in photography, both past
and present.
If the proportions given by good writers for the preparation of
collodion, nitrate baths, and developers, be carefully followed, and
if the time of exposure be exactly suited to the subject which it is
desired to reproduce, it will be found that the negative never
requires any intensifying ; but it happens under some circumstances —
for example, when the exposure has been too short — that the dark
parts are wanting in vigour. It is in such a case that the follow¬
ing methods of intensifying will be found most appropriate. Not
that we wish to say that they should be employed, but that they
can be when necessity arises ; and it is from a scientific point of
view only that we propose to examine tire subject.
1. The plate is immersed in a hath of bichloride of mercury for
a very short time : the silver constituting the image becomes of a
blackish-violet. The following is the change which takes place : —
We have silver on one side, and a bichloride on the other. The
chlorine combines with the silver, changing it into a violet sub¬
chloride. This film placed under a red glass becomes red, and
blue under a blue glass. In one word, it is susceptible of taking the
colour under which it is exposed to light, and is the same violet
chloride which was used in the heliochromic experiments of MM.
Becquerel and Niepce de St. Victor. It is unnecessary therefore
to say that a glass thus intensified soon changes by exposure to
light. The bichlorides of copper, titanium, tin, diluted aqua-regia,
bichloride of platinum and palladium, act in an exactly similar
manner, as is represented by the following equation, in which M is
a metal, or a radical analogous to a metal : — M Cl -J- 2 Ag = Ag.,
Cl + M Cl.
* Continued from page 24S.
Let us continue with the example of the bichloride of mercury,
as that is the substance which is generally used for this purpose : —
If instead of leaving the film for only a very short time in the
solution, it be allowed to remain much longer, it whitens and be¬
comes very opaque, and this arises from the fact that the sub-
chloride first formed continues to absorb chlorine passing into the
state of white chloride. Further, the protochloride of mercury
liberated is also deposited, and the silver of the film becomes
finally a mixture of chloride of silver andprotochloricle of mercury.
Ag + 2 Hg Cl = Ag Cl + Hg2 Cl.
Such a plate would seem to he very sensitive to light : it under¬
goes change, however, but very slowly. It is known, in fact, that the
salts of silver in presence of the salts of mercury alter very slightly,
and this is regarded as a proof in favour of the hypothesis that
light changes them into sub-salts.
It is possible subsequently to change the chlorides of silver and
mercury into black or yellow salts, possessing sufficient imperme¬
ability to light to admit of the printing of positives. One of the
methods consists in diffusing over the film recently washed and
while still moist a current of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which dis¬
places the chloride with formation of the black sulphides of mer¬
cury and silver, and hydrochloric acid, which latter evaporates
during the drying of the plate.
2. HS + Ag Cl + IIg2 Cl = 2 II Cl + Ag S + Hg2 S.
After this, light has no sensible action, and this way of intensifying
is the most vigorous and successful known. Instead of sulphu¬
retted hydrogen any other sulphurising bath maybe used — solutions
of the alkaline sulphides, sulphide of ammonium (NH* S -f- HS),
and hyposulphite of soda; but generally the blacks are not so
vigorous as when sulphuretted hydrogen gas is employed.*
The application of ammonia after the action of bichloride of
mercury gives also an intense black film, which is,' however, socn
altered by light. The reaction probably gives rise to the formation
of the compounds of mercury represented in the two following for¬
mulae : — IIg2 O and TIg2 Cl -j- Hg NH2. These two unstable bodies
are easily altered by light.
Instead of blackening the mixture by sulphuretted hydrogen it
may be rendered yellow by treatment with an alkaline iodide. This
is the only instance known in chemistry in wJiich, iodine displaces chlorine.
Attention has, however, been recently directed to this fact by an
illustrious chemist, although in 1856 it had been already recorded
at page 204 of our Traite Generate de Photographic.
On being withdrawn, then, from the bichloride of mercury bath
the washed plate is submitted to the action of a solution of iodine
or iodide of potassium, when the chloride of mercury iustantly
changes to the state of yellow iodide ; and, as the reader will know,
the yellow salt exercises an influence on chemical light precisely
analogous to black. Silver seems to enjoy the same property.
This method of intensifying — so curious in a scientific point of
view — is practically worthless : the iodide of mercury slowly
volatilises, and at the end of a few months the image is composed
solely of iodide of silver.
8. We stated at the beginning that, generally (and with reason^,
the use of bichloride of mercury had been abandoned.
It is possible to sulphurise the silver directly, by means of a
solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia, or an alkaline sulphide ; or,
belter still, by pouring over the plate a solution of ten grains of
sulphur in one pint of bisulphide of carbon. In either case sul-
phurot of silver is formed, and this of all salts of silver is the most
permanent.
4. A diluted solution of chloride of gold, or chloride of gold and
sodium, poured upon the plate after fixing and washing, communi¬
cates to the negative the highest degree of opacity. It is best to
use a very dilute solution of gold, poured into a flat glass dish, in
which the plate can be allowed to remain several minutes.
The silver constituting tlic image evidently acquires a very tbin
film of gold, while other portions seem to pass into the state of
violet chloride, without which there would be nothing to prevent
the quantity of precipitated gold from being too great. On re¬
moving and analysing the film, variable proportions of silver, gold,
and chloride are always obtained. Tlie following is the equation
which represents the decomposition : —
6 Ag -f 2 Na Cl Au, Cl, 4 HO = (Ag, Cl) « + 2 Au -f 2 Na Cl
* Tlie opinion lias Veen very generally received that all paper proofs, either posit ive
or negative, formed of sulphide of siher. must needs undergo spontaneous c l ni ge. v> e
have, however, some prints re n posed of su ] hide of silver which have remained per-
mament for several years. Many hyp* theses have l cen effered on the sulphurisat;on cf
prints by old hyposulphite baths. Messrs. Bardwicli, Davanne, and < ui selves l ave
written and published a great deal on this subject ; lut the sulpfcuric-acids are so little
know n that w e have probably taken the effect for the cause. lu our new work we sLall
entirely modify our published ideas cu this point.
266
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1862
The bichlorides of platinum and palladium act in an analogous
manner. ,
The foregoing includes, in a few words, the theory of intensifying
negatives. Many other methods have been proposed and followed ;
but, scientifically speaking, they are included in those cases we
have already described.
In our first article we have touched on several points in the
theory of the action of light on iodide of silver. We are at
present re-arranging all our manuscript, and in an early number
of this Journal we shall publish a summary of our knowledge on
this subject.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING ON ALBUMENISED PAPER.*
By George Dawson, M.A.,
Lecturer on Photography at King's College, London.
The Sensitising Bath may be made of the ordinary crystallised
nitrate of silver, and should be of the strength of ninety grains
to each ounce of distilled water. Indeed this kind of silver is
better suited for the purpose than the fused or recrystallised neu¬
tral nitrate, inasmuch as the former has not had all the free nitric
acid expelled, a considerable trace of which it is important the
bath should contain. Hence, the bath ought to be tested, and, if
neutral to test-paper, one drop of nitric acid added for every three
ounces of solution. It is rapidly weakened by use, and should
never be allowed to get below seventy grains to the ounce. This
point may be readily ascertained to within a grain or two by
the small hydrometer silver meters sold in the shops. They are
not quite accurate, but sufficiently near for all practical purposes.
When the solution becomes discoloured from frequent use, shake
it up with a little kaolin for a few minutes, and filter. Before using,
again test for acidity, as some samples of kaolin contain carbon¬
ates, &c., which are apt to give the bath an alkaline or neutral re¬
action. If so, add nitric acid, as before, till acidity is clearly in¬
dicated.
The proper time for the albumenised surface of the paper to re¬
main in contact with the solution in order to be effectually sensi¬
tised depends, in some measure, on the nature of the paper, but
mainly on the quantity of chloride in the albumen. For Spencer’s
and Sanford’s papers the following may be considered a good ave¬
rage time in summer weather: — Thick Saxe five minutes, thin Rive
four minutes, thin Saxe three minutes. In cold weather rather
longer time will be required. A prolonged contact with the
silver bath lias a tendency to damage the whites of the pic¬
ture, to bronze the deep shadows, and to reduce the time during
which the paper may be kept white and clear before printing.
The sensitised papers should not be dried by the fire, but hung
up in the dark room to dry spontaneously — to facilitate which,
the room in which the operation is conducted must be rather warm
and free from moisture. Nothing conduces more to destroy their
keeping properties than a moist atmosphere. For this reason, as
soon as perfectly dry, and if not required for immediate use, they
should be preserved in a cool place, between folds of very dry
blotting paper, and pressed down to prevent contact with light
and air. It is during this stage of the process that the quality of
the paper and of the albumen can most readily be detected. If,
after the lapse of a day, and sometimes even a few hours, the back
of the sensitised sheet presents a reddish-brown appearance, the
paper is in fault. If, on the other hand, the back preserves its
whiteness whilst the albumenised surface is strongly tinged with
yellow, the albumen has become stale, and the appearance we ob¬
serve is due to the sulphuret of silver, formed by the nitrate com¬
ing in contact with sulphur, and the sulphuretted hydrogen gene¬
rated by the partially decomposed albumen. A good sample should
keep quite white and clear for at least two days in summer and
twice that time in winter. It may, indeed, be taken as a rule,
with few exceptions, that the better the quality of the albumen-
iscd paper the longer it will keep, and the more vigorous and bril¬
liant the prints will be.
Preservative folios are sold which contain chloride of calcium,
or some other substance having a great affinity for water. These
will preserve sensitised papers for a much longer period than
before indicated, sometimes for a month or more. But there is
this danger attending their use : should the paper, immediately
on its removal from the folio, be placed on the negative and sub¬
mitted to the pressure-frame, it will very probably, after a few
minutes contact, pucker up in several places from unequal expan¬
sion, and utterly spoil the print. This arises from the fact that
the paper, deasicated by the chloride of calcium in the folio, and
* Continued from page 249.
therefore at its maximum of contraction, expands considerably in
the ordinary hygrometric condition of the atmosphere, and has not
room to do so regularly under pressure : hence the puckering.
The danger is, however, easily obviated by removing the papers
from the folio, and placing them loose in a drawer or dark
cupboard an hour or so before they are used. They will thus
absorb their natural amount of moisture from the atmosphere, and
become quite fitted for their purpose.
Printing. — In order to obtain the best results, regard must be
had to the nature of the negative. As a rule, the process should
he conducted in the shade. The best prints from good negatives,
whether on thin or thick paper, are always so obtained. But if
the negative, although having the right exposure, be too dense
and over-developed, some modification in the details will be
necessary to improve the harmony and brilliancy, which would
otherwise be deficient. For this purpose select a sensitive paper,
such as the thin Saxe or Rive, which has been left for a longer
time than ordinary on the sensitising solution, and print in a
STRONG light. The direct rays of a summer sun will not be
objectionable, provided the glass of the printing-frame and of the
negative are quite clean and free from scratches ; otherwise these
defects will throw a shadow over some parts of the sensitised
paper, causing thereby an irregularity of illumination, painfully
apparent in the print when removed from the frame. To obviate
this annoyance, the printing-frame should not be placed with its
surface perpendicular to the rays of the sun, but in such a position
that they may fall at an angle. By occasionally turning it round, and
thus varying the angle, these shadows will fall on different points,
and will hardly, if at all, be discernible. Over-exposed and some¬
what fogged negatives are very fit subjects for this kind of treat¬
ment. They can thus be made to yield proofs which, on an
insensitive paper and in a feeble light, are totally unobtainable.
Care, however, must be taken to stop the printing at the proper
stage — in this case a very narrow one — between feebleness and
obliteration of the half-tones by over-printing.
Under any circumstances the colour of the print, when taken
from the printing-frame, is a good criterion by which we can
determine whether the sensitising solution is sufficiently acid. A
generally pervading slaty blue denotes that it is not acid enough.
A uniform redness in the half-tones and shadows shows either that
the paper is bad or too much acid is present. The right colour is
reddish sepia in the half-tones, and a darker sepia, with a slight
tinge of blue, in the shadows. In the first case the prints, when
toned, will lack vigour and contrast, and are apt to turn out
mealy; in the second case there will be difficulty in altering the
tone from what it is; whilst the last is that which produces with
great certainty almost any tone we may wish to obtain.
It must not be forgotten that different kinds of paper sensitised
on the same solution may, and generally do, show many varieties
of tone on their removal from the printing-frame. Those which
do not come up to the standard need not, on this account, be con¬
demned. A little more or a little less acid may make all the dif¬
ference. It is, therefore, important, when the proper proportion
of acid and nitrate for a certain paper has been once found, to work
with that paper alone, and especially to avoid sensitising and print¬
ing at the same time with mixed varieties.
(To he concluded in our next.)
REDUCTION OP WASTE SILVER.
By Charles Corey.
So much has been written from time to time on this subject in
your pages, and the topic has been so freely and ably discussed,
that it would, at first sight, appear that there could be little, if
anything, to be added thereto.
But although many of the different methods proposed have been
ingenious — some apparently simple, a few fallacious; though most
of them were based upon sound theory, yet few, if any, have been
sufficiently practical to be of real service to the unchemical, though
painstaking, photographer. In the last number of your issue is an
admirable, because correct, deduction of the changes arising from
the double decomposition that would ensue by the addition of the
salts of the sulphate of soda and nitrate of barytes. Every prac¬
tised chemist must be struck with the ingenuity of the idea and
the satisfactory result of the experiment. But it would be amusing
to see the small amount of successful pictures to be obtained
therefrom by the majority of practitioners, the whole of whom
must have a large quantity of the materiel upon their hands, to say
nothing of the difficulty of producing in a sufficiently pure state a
July 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
267
“ fair crop of crystals,” even to those who have some experience
in the laboratory.
The very paper next ensuing, on Fused Nitrate of Silver, proves
how subtle are the changes that take place in fusing pure ni¬
trate of silver, and that even the initiated may be placed hors de
combat by an ambushed enemy in his silver bath. As I think that
the results of many years’ practice in reducing waste silver in
every variety of form, with a degree of success that has been the
means of producing pictures of acknowledged good quality,
whether in the form of negatives or the subsequent printing there¬
from, may be of value to your readers, I will proceed to lay the
facts before them.
Every practitioner in the art of photography will admit that
the silver contained either in spoilt baths for printing proofs, or for
sensitising plates, as proposed to be operated upon by the double
decomposition of the salts of soda and barytes, forms a very small
portion of waste ; for there are few so inexperienced that they can¬
not correct the faults of either, so long as any considerable portion
remains. The chief source is that arising from the needful copious
washing of prints, anterior to their being toned. This has been
stated by one who should be an authority, as recorded in your
earlier pages, to form sixty per cent, of the amount of silver used.
My own opinion is, that while this is overrated, the amount so
washed out is very large — probably forty per cent. As it is better
to wash the prints chiefly in hard water, so as to judge by the tur¬
bidity of the water how much more washing is needed, it is diffi¬
cult to define what is the actual condition of the silver so washed
away — much of it, doubtless, is nitrate, whilst the milky portion
is chloride, upon which sulphate of soda would have no action.
In fact, nearly all the precipitates, if of sufficient quantities to re¬
cover, take the form of chloride, upon which nothing but fire will
act effectually, so as to thoroughly extricate the silver.
To the sink, then, that is attached to every dark room must be
affixed an India-rubber tube, terminating in a large and deep jar.
Into this every liquid suspected of containing any trace of silver
(save and except hyposulphite and cyanide solutions, to be treated
as will be afterwards described) must be thrown ; so, also, slips of
paper that have been cut off good prints, or the entire paper of
spoiled ones, must be thrown after having been burnt. The jar,
when filled, should have one handful of common salt stirred into it.
This will throw down all the silver contained therein in the form
of chloride ; but, inasmuch as chloride is most readily produced, so
also it is the most difficult to resolve into its elements. We must
further operate upon it, even while in this state.
Were we to proceed to the agency of fire while in the condition
of chloride alone, the chlorine is expelled so reluctantly, even by
the force of the fiercest fire, that I have seen silver driven through
the pores of the pot in minute globules, like quicksilver, rather
than be induced to run down in its fused state to the bottom of
the crucible.
A very simple expedient will entirely obviate this. Keep
always in the jar a plate of sheet zinc. It has nearly as great
an affinity for chlorine as the silver, and will absorb a very large
portion of it. This is satisfactorily proved by the zinc being
gradually eaten and corroded away ; but as the chloride of zinc is
soluble, whilst the chloride of silver is not, the former is washed
away in the clear liquid at the top, leaving what silver was held
by the hydrochloric acid in the very manageable form of oxide,
yet not sufficiently pure to be acted upon by nitric acid, as it might
be if wholly pure ; but it is too much contaminated by remaining
chlorine to be so treated.
As the precipitate readily falls to the bottom, the clear, super¬
natant liquid may be baled out again and again, until the jar has
been filled and salt added five or six times over ; then, after baling
until the precipitate is becoming disturbed, the remaining liquid
must be again set at rest in a smaller vessel, and most of the clear
liquid further poured off. The semi-liquid mass is now to be
thrown upon three or four paper filters, and when all is collected
the so-filled papers are to be dried in an oven. The hyposulphite
solution, as well as the cyanide, contains a far less proportion ;
but if these have poured into them a saturated solution of common
sulphuret of potassium, called by old chemists “ liepar sulphuris ,”
the quantity deposited will more than repay the cost of the potash
salt, and must be added to the previous precipitates.
Our pupil must now make friends with some obliging operative
dentist, who will be sure to have a furnace just suited to the pur¬
pose ; and also let him purchase two of what are known in the
trade as “ five-penny pots,” and half a pound of good pearl ash.
Tho dried filters are now to be broken up in a mortar, and mixed
with equal quantities of the pearl ash. One of the pots is to be
filled with the mixture, and, when put into the clear fire of the
furnace, to be banked round with coke, broken into bits about the
size of an egg.
The heat of the furnace being raised, the mixture will gradually
fuse and boil, and when it has sunk down in the pot a little more
may be added, until the fused potash fills three parts of the pot,
care being taken that it do not boil over. Should it threaten to
do this, the heat must be lowered by opening the door of the
furnace ; if this do not check it enough the pot must be lifted a
little from the fire. When it has remained fused sufficiently for
all organic matter to be consumed — and this will be known by short
puff's of gas ceasing to be emitted — the pot must be lifted by a pair
of tongs adapted for the purpose, and having an iron shovel ready
warmed upon the ground, the fused potash, &c., like liquid fire,
must be poured into it, and the pot, whilst hot, must be recharged
and heated as before. Whilst the second charge is progressing,
the first will have become sufficiently cool to be broken up, and
the bright metallic silver separated from it. A close inspection of the
brown caustic potash will reveal many pure particles of silver still
held in it: let it be put by for subsequent melting the same day,
for it absorbs water so rapidly as to endanger the pot if left till
the day following. The second charge must now be poured out
into the shovel, again as before, but at no time of the operation
should the fused potash be poured into water, as tried by myself at
my first effort. The quantity of water was small, the liquid fire
decomposed it, resolving it into its component gases, which when
alone are not explosive, but combined are frightfully so. A dis¬
charge like that of a piece of heavy ordnance followed, dissipating
every trace of the water, and with it very nearly destroying the
eyesight of both myself and assistant.
When the whole of the mixture has passed through the fire,
and as much of the silver collected as can be picked out of it, the
fragments of the potash must be gathered up and put into the
pot, which should not be suffered to get cool, and put into the fire
again, and the heat once more raised, so that the mass be again
thoroughly melted up. After so remaining some time, and the
ebullition having gradually decreased, the pot is to be taken from
the fire, and now left to grow cold. When cold enough that it can
be touched, and the pot be broken up, a final button of silver
will be found at the bottom, and if it have been kept fused long
enough the potash will be found quite free from bright specks of
silver, and may be thrown into the waste jar to aid future
operations.
The silver having been collected and weighed, must be washed
in dilute sulphuric acid, to clear away all remains of adhering
potash ; then washed again in rain water, and dried.
Should it be the intention of the operator to dissolve it again,
instead of carrying it for sale to the refiner — who will depreciate it
and give but little for it for fear of its impurity — an evaporating
dish must be procured, and placed in a large iron ladle half filled
with sand.
To each ounce of silver pour in two ounces of nitric acid and
one ounce of distilled water : put the ladle over a moderate open
fire, and the heat will speedily dissolve the silver, emitting very
pernicious red fumes of nitrous oxide, the whole of which will pass
up the chimney. When dissolved the liquid will gradually evapo¬
rate away ; but if the heat be so great as to cause ebullition after the
silver is dissolved, the ladle must be lifted oft the fire and allowed
to cool a little, and then be replaced, until the whole of the acid
and water be entirely evaporated. When nearly dry the heat
should be much raised, until the dried and crumbling mass will
slowly fuse and melt. When all is fused, take the ladle and dish
from the fire, and allow both to cool; then weigh the dish and its
contents. If the dish has been previously tared, the contents will
be found to bo nearly oue-half more than the metallic silver was.
When its weight is ascertained it is easily dissolved in the requisite
quantity of water, to make the solution of one drachm or half-a-drachm
to the ounce, as the case may be. Should the cake of nitrate present
a green appearance from the presence of copper, the melted condition
must be kept up under greater heat, until the green is charred into
a perfectly black. This is oxide of copper, insoluble in water, and
may be separated from the solution by filtering. If the charring
has not destroyed the whole of the copper, the solution must be
evaporated again and the charring repeated ; but as this also
drives off a portion of the nitric acid, leaving an insoluble oxide
of silver, it is better to put up with a faint trace of the copper, as it
will be less prejudicial than the waste of the silver by' expelling
the copper too much.
A writer in these pages has asserted that a considerable trace
of copper does no harm to printing. I have proved this to be cor-
2 68
[July lo, 18C*i
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OR PHOTOGRAPHY.
rect. Objections have been raised to the presence of nitrite of
silver in the bath for plates, engendered by over-pressure of the
heat, thereby driving off certain atoms of nitric acid, even by so
unquestionably learned an authority as Mr. Hardwich ; but I quite
concur, with Professor Emerson, that a bath that will not produce
deep and effective pictures may be readily made to do so by con¬
verting its silver into the fused state, and redissolving it , probatum
est.
The residue of gold, a great deal of which is left in the toning
baths after prints are finished, may be recovered in a nearly simi¬
lar manner. Into every portion of nearly exhausted toning baths
pour the remains of iron developing solutions. The iron speedily
precipitates almost all remains of gold, and if oxalic acid be added,
so as to take up any iron that may remain in the form of insoluble
oxide, and further precipitate what gold may yet be unacted upon,
it can be washed, filtered, collected, and melted up with pearl-ash,
in a similar manner as the silver was done; but it will require a
long collection of waste-baths to repay the operation.
ON AN OBSERVATION OF MOSER’S IMAGES.’
By M. D. Van Monckhoven.
It is well known that photographic images are formed upon pure
silver disseminated through a transparent film of pyroxyline, albu¬
men, or other porous matter. The reader will recall also the cele¬
brated observation of the sculptor Rauch, who, having left an
engraving in contact with a glass, saw at the end of a certain
time a reproduction of that engraving on the glass.
It is now some years since we have observed a similar fact. A
glass plate upon which a picture has been taken, and afterwards
cleaned off, presents the same image after cleaning when the
breath is allowed to condense on it : it also as rapidly disappears
when the condensed moisture has evaporated.
We have recently again observed the same phenomenon. The
glass upon which the picture was taken was of a greenish colour,
and contained a small quantity of lead, while the base was soda.
It bore a portrait taken on collodion in 1857, and had been kept
since thatjime in a very dry and dimly-lighted garret with more
than fifty other glasses.
A few weeks since all these glasses were cleaned. By chance
we discovered one which, under the influence of the breath, gave
an image of very great intensity. Many would have called it a
Daguerreotype portrait. _ This image viewed by reflected light
appears as a negative. It exactly corresponds therefore to that
of the collodion film. This was the only glass among the whole
lot which illustrated this phenomenon.
According to instructions drawn from good sources, it would
seem that this phenomenon occurs occasionally among professional
photographers who keep, their negatives. Regarding the subject
iiom the same point of view as the theory of the Daguerreotype,
it would seem to be desirable that their attention should be
directed to this fact, especially in view of the curious experiments
to which they have given rise.
The glass which we propose to describe was covered with
iodised collodion, immersed in a bath of nitrate of silver to make
it sensitive to light, and being placed in an ordinary apparatus
was exposed to the sitter. The negative obtained was double,
the new image and a second underneath very weak, recalling the
invisible image impressed upon the glass.
The experiments were recommenced a few days afterwards,
under the fcai that we had to do with one of those phenomena of
the storing up of light such as have been described by M. Niepce
de Saint Victor, affording always two images— one newly obtained,
and a second underneath very weak, but very perceptible not¬
withstanding.
We were much pre-occupied with the fact, when the idea
occurred to us to work in the dark without exposing the glass in
the camera. We could see only this time, after fixing, a very
faintly perceptible image.
It is well-known that the polarised light resulting from reflection
by metallic surfaces does not possess the same properties as that
obtained trom non-metallic reflecting surfaces. We availed our-
srdvrs of this property to make the image above described visible.
It is sufficient in fact to examine the film by meansof aNicol’s prism
at the proper polarising angle, and by turning the prism in such
a way as to extinguish the light reflected by the glass Greater
success may be ensured by blacking the back of the glass The
silver constituting the image not participating in the properties
of ordinary polarised ljght, the image, which would not have been
* From Cosmos.
visible to us had we not suspected its presence, became extremely
visible, not only to ourselves, but also lo those persons who at
first saw nothing. This means of detecting silver may through
its extreme sensibility become very useful to ascertain, for
example, if light in ordinary photographic processes really decom¬
poses iodide of silver, or whether it merely imparts to it new
physical properties.
What, then, can be the mysterious cause of the production of an
image upon the surface of the glass, and which afterwards gives
the property of reducing the iodide of silver? It is certainly not
an instance of the phenomenon of storing up of light ; for, if it
were so, all the glasses bearing a photographic image for a certain
length of time, and exposed to the light, ought to give evidence of
similar properties. If it be a molecular modification of the surface
of the glass, iu what conditions does it operate? — from whence
comes its power of acting on the nitrate of silver ?
It is only by collecting and discussing a great number of facts
that we shall be able to eliminate a reasonable hj'pothesis on this
series of phenomena.
INCREASE OF SENSIBILITY BY WARM DEVELOPMENT/
By M. Mc-A. Gaudin.
The process of the day is warm development, which seems to
admit of the use of dry collodion in all the applications of photo¬
graphy. The subject is of the first importance, and merits our
best attention.
The numerous drawbacks belonging to wet collodion are well-
known to those who carry their nitrate of silver bath with them.
If the nitrate of silver becomes completely dry on the plate, it
dissolves the iodide of silver forming the sole photogenic film ; but
between complete solution and partial action there exist all
imaginable degress of alteration, and from these all the various
accidents which occur every time there is too much delay either in
taking the impression or developing.
The management of plates is, in small establishments, an ever-
recurring cause of spots, where a person is not kept specially for
sensitising, as is the case where operations are conducted on a
larger scale ; but amateurs are obliged to perform the whole series
of operations themselves, and therefore if they do not adopt all
possible precautions, they will have at every instant black streaks,
beginning at the edges and spreading themselves across the
picture. The camera-backs which are not furnished with glass
corners produce also streaks of the same character. The best
means of counteracting the effect of the fingers is always to wash
the hands with great care before beginning to sensitise a plate ;
but this occurs so often that it is either forgotten or done too
hurriedly and imperfectly, so that the hyposulphite and the
developer easily penetrates the skin. It would be much more
simple to employ a holder for the separate operations of fixing and
developing. Such is the method followed in developing by
sulphate of iron, and might be adopted with equal advantage when
using reducing agents having pyrogallic acid as a basis.
Since it is the nitrate of silver which produces all these accidents
let us remove it, subject to its being replaced later in the process,
and we shall radically remove the cause of the evil. Each reader
will be ready to exciaim, “the plate will lose all its sensibility !”
Such, however, is not the case, as my oft-repeated experiments
will prove, and as the success of the dry collodion tannin process
will abundantly corroborate.
I have said, latterly, after having long entertained a contrary
opinion, that the presence of nitrate of silver in the collodion does
not contribute in the least to its sensibility, and, in proof of this,
I have shown that a stereoscopic plate completely sensitised, then
washed one half in a vessel filled with water slightly acidulated
with acetic acid, and immersed in the bath after receiving the
impression, gave pictures of equal intensity on both halves of the
plate. It is true that by operating in this way I do not entirely
remove every trace of nitrate of silver; but the proportion is
certainly reduced from r^th to *£Tth, and it is this which prevents
this small quantity, even when dry, from acting on the iodide of
silver in such a way as to diminish its sensibility. The plate, then,
can he dried without becoming decolorised, and furnishes a nega¬
tive by prolonging the exposure ; but the decrease of sensibility
arises entirely from the impenetrability of the collodion.
This is proved also by the details of Major Russell’s tannin1
process, in which before pouring on the tannin great care is taken
to remove all the nitrate of silver, and when the collodion thus-
prepared is dry, it gives proofs free from spots, but with a great
* From La Lumitre.
July 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
269
diminution of sensibility. In this instance, again, I believe that the
diminution of sensibility arises entirely from the drying of the collo¬
dion ; for here is Dr. Draper who claims to have given to dry collo¬
dion prepared with tannin as much sensibility as is possessed by
the collodion in the moist state and covered with nitrate of silver.
According to his experience, also, we are led to conclude that the
presence of nitrate of silver is in no way connected with sensi¬
bility, since by having recourse to certain substances, whereby the
primitive molecular arrangement of the collodion is preserved or
maintained, the sensibility which belongs to wet collodion is still
retained. It remains to be ascertained if the use of honey and
warm water acts in any other way than in preserving and re¬
establishing the penetrability of the collodion, in such a way as to
render the iodide of silver accessible to all the re-actions. The
following is an extract from Dr. Henry Draper’s method : —
“ This process consists essentially in keeping the plate warm during deve¬
lopment, the developer being employed at a temperature equal to that of the
room in which the operation is conducted. I have obtained a view of a street,
with a lens of one and a half-inch opening, with an exposure less than a second,
by keeping the plate at a temperature of 200° Fah. during development.
“ In a communication made to the American Photographical Society at its
last meeting in February, 1862, 1 have explained the whole details of this pro¬
cess. It may be briefly described in the following manner : — ■
“ The plate is prepared in accordance with the instructions given by Major
Russell ; only the film is retained on the plate by the means usually adopted
in America, that is to say, by painting the edges with a solution of albumen
containing one part of the substance to six of water. After exposure the plate
is immersed in warm water. The ordinary developer is poured, without being
warmed, over the surface of the plate as soon as it comes from the water, and
the operation is continued in the ordinary manner. If the plate becomes
decidedly cold before the negative is sufficiently developed, warm water is
again poured over it and the development continued.
“ In an experiment made in the presence of two of the most distinguished
members of our Society, Messrs. Hull and Cottenes, in my father’s laboratory
at the University, in using water heated only to 130 degrees Fall, we were able
to reduce the time of exposure to a twentieth of the time required by a plate
of the same size, prepared in the same manner, exposed with the same dia¬
phragm, and developed in the ordinary manner with the water coming from
a tap. The time of exposure in the camera depends on the heat of the water
in which it is immersed before development. The shorter the exposure the
warmer should be the water. 1 have used this process now for six months.
I tried it at first on plates prepared by Dr. Hill Norris’s process, for the
reproduction of the image of the sun in my large reflector of sixteen inches
diameter. A great many members of the Society were deeply convinced of the
great advantages which this method offered for obtaining portraits, &c., and
they added that, although they had many times employed warm developers,
they had never seen these give a rapidity equal to that obtained by working
upon a warm glass with a cold developer.
“ If warm development alone produces an increase of sensibility it will be
found to be a great advantage, since, if it be applied to wet collodion, an
advance will be made towards the perfecting of our art.”
The efficacy of Dr. Draper’s method has often been contested in
England : meanwhile the comparative experiments which are
cited do not seem to leave any doubt on the subject.
To recapitulate. If the great increase of sensibility obtained
by warm development be confirmed by experience, we shall, by
attention to such details as varnishing the edges of the plate, and
uniting all the recognised conditions for the best results, be finally
in possession of a rapid dry collodion — all that is necessary being,
as I have, I believe, already mentioned, the addition of a little
resin to the collodion to increase its porosity and ensure the adhe¬
rence of the film to the glass, also the addition of honey to the
solution of tannin, and the soaking of the plate in warm water
before development, according to the directions of Dr. Draper and
Mr. England.
By these means photography on collodion will be relieved of
many troublesome details ; and supposing even that the dry
plates do not keep longer than a few days, there is never¬
theless great latitude for their preparation, and considerable
certainty in the development, and these points alone will consti¬
tute a great acquisition for the practice of photography.
“NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT, ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
By J. T. Taylor.
Exciting Rays and Continuating Rays.
This subject, intended to have been discussed in these “Notes”
some time since, but overlooked until now, has been recall edto
my mind by an observation which a member of the Edinburgh
Photographic Society is alleged to have made at the last meeting.
He stated that when working in a tent into which, from imperfec¬
tion of construction, white light was admitted in such quantity as
to damage the sensitive plate, he would destroy the action of this
white light by increasing the size of his yellow window, so as to
admit a large quantity of yellow light. This, it is to be presumed,
would effect one of two things : first, that of charging, so to
speak, the white light with yellow rays, so that the sum of both
should be inadequate towards effecting a decomposition of the
iodide of silver in the sensitive film; or, secondly, that of des¬
troying by the yellow light the decomposition set up by the white
light. The former hypothesis is untenable for a moment; the
latter — that of the destruction of the effects of actinic by diactinic
light — is deserving of some consideration. I am not aware
whether this gentleman made this statement as a fact deduced
from his own experience, or merely gave it as the ipse dixit
of another. I have a perfect recollection of a contribution to the
British Association meeting of 1847, by M. Claudet, in which,
alluding to the Daguerreotype process, he stated that the action
of white light on these plates would be destroyed by submitting
them to the action of red or yellow light. But the conditions of
the two surfaces — the metallic and the collorionised — are by no
means alike. Nay, the changes instituted in two Daguerreotype
plates — one merely iodised and the other bromo-iodised — is very
different from each other.
It was possibly in consequence of M. Claudet’s communication,
that some opticians were induced to make their lenses with a
slight over or under correction, on the supposition that the action
would be quicker than when the foci of the yellow and blue were
identical. Experience, however, has failed to bear out this suppo¬
sition. But were the reasoning, or rather the assertion, of the
Edinburgh gentleman correct, what a power would be placed in
the photographer’s hands ! For example: an over-exposed plate
could, by judicious timing under a yellow glass, be reduced to
“exactly the proper thing;” and an accidental admission of sun¬
light into a box of some dozens of prepared plates by the prying
of some inquisitive friend, would be rendered perfectly innocuous
by such a simple means as a second exposure to the same agent
(this time through a yellow medium) by which they were formerly
destroyed, or, as anti-teetotallers the day after the “ spree” would
talk of curing their head-ache, by “swallowing a hair @f the dog
that bit them.” In fact it would be better to keep plates, previous
to exposure, in a box with a yelloAV glass lid. All these results
follow legitimately from the premises laid down ; but, unfortunately,
it is a subject which has two sides.
I have hinted that the conditions of the Daguerreotype and
collodionised plates are different, and that two Daguerreotype
plates — one merely iodised and the other bromo-iodised — are
very different from each other in the manner in which light acts
on them. That they are so will be seen from the researches of
M. Becquerel, who established the following theory: — That rays
which cannot produce a sensible impression upon a prepared sub¬
stance, out of the sphere of all radiation, may continue in a very
energetic manner an action which different rays have begun to
exercise upon it. The one he calls the “exciting,” and the other
the “ continuating ” rays : the more highly refrangible rays, the
violet and blue, of course were the exciting, the others being
the continuating ra}Ts.
To give an idea of the powers of the continuating glass, let me
detail the following experiment, one of many made by Becquerel : —
A sheet of paper was sensitised by successive washes of bromido
of potassium and nitrate of silver. From this two pieces of similar
size were cut, placed in succession under a negative, and were
each subjected to an exposure of one second to a northern diffused
light. One of these papers was then removed from the negative
aud placed under a sheet of orange-coloured glass, and so exposed
to a diffused northern light for four hours. When examined after
that time it was found that those parts on which the light had
acted during its momentary exposure under the negative were
entirely blackened, while the parts which had been protected from the
original action of the white light remained as white as before. The
other paper which had been kept in the dark was still in the same
state. The inference from this is obvious. The momentary ex¬
posure to the light had induced a change in those parts on which
the light fell, and the sheet of paper being removed and wholly
exposed to the action of orange-coloured light, had those parts
in which a change had been induced blackened in consequence of
the property which coloured rays possess of carrying on the pho¬
togenic action ; while, from the inability* of these rays to affect a
part not previously impressed, the whites of the picture were not
affected in the least degree.
Lerebours says this experiment is conclusive : for, on the one
band, the image developed under the coloured glass in the absence
of the object must have existed on the paper invisibly traced by
the instantaneous action of the direct radiation ; on the other
hand, the part which had remained unchanged, notwithstanding
270
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1862
the action of the coloured glass, must therefore have been insen¬
sible to that action. It is therefore established that certain rays
exist which are incapable of exercising primarily an action upon
the paper, whilst these rays are very well calculated to continue
that action when it has been begun by other rays. _ _
To ascertain the action of yellow light on a sensitive collo-
dionised plate, I yesterday exposed a dried stereoscopic plate in
the camera a sufficient time to impress a picture. Having re¬
moved one from the camera I exposed one hall to the action of
yellow light under a suitably coloured glass, of course carefully
shielding the other half from all light whatever. The experiment
was repeated several times, and under glasses of various shades of
yellow and red; but in no single instance, be the exposure what it
mi<rht, could I perceive the slightest tendency to a destruction of
the° action of the original light. I next tried an experiment more
directly akin to the admission of stray light into a tent. For this
purpose I made in a tent a small aperture, so adjusted as to pro¬
duce, by superposition, a feeble print on a wet collodion plate in
one minute. I then repeated the experiment, with the addition of
an admission of yellow light of a perlectly diactinic quality, this
produced a picture differing in no respect from the former; nor did
it produce any sensible effect when the quantity of yellow light
was increased to such a degree as to flood the interior of the tent
with yellow light. Nor is this to be wondeied at, foi no meiely
luminous agency is sufficient to arrest and neutralise decomposition
once set up in a collodion film. Having satisfied myseli that I
had arrived at a legitimate conclusion, although diametrically
opposite to that which on the authority of my brother member I
should have found, I next tried the converse of the first experiment,
by only a partial exposure of the plate in the camera, trusting
to see the continuating glass make amends for under-exposure
by bringing up all the details. Here, again, for the sake ol
comparison, I shielded half of the plate from the action of
the yellow glass. The result has been decidedly unsatisfactory,
a prolonged exposure to the coloured light producing an equal,
and not an effect relative to the original force of the impres¬
sion. The subject is very interesting, and I intend to return
again to it. I would in the meantime advise any who have been
so unfortunate as to get light on their sensitive plates not to en¬
deavour to restore them by an exposure to yellow light, but to adopt
the more certain and expeditious method of pouring over the surface
of each a weak aqueous solution of iodine and iodide of potassium,
without which, or some similar substance, the iodine will be very
sparingly soluble. After washing, a solution of nitrate of silver
applied, secundem artern , will restore the original sensitiveness.
In connexion with the action of light on a sensitive surface, Pro¬
fessor Draper has found that this action continues for a short time
after the withdrawal of the light. If, for instance, an exposure of
say nine seconds be necessary to impress a particular picture, then
the result will be equally well attained by an exposure of six
seconds, allowing the cover to remain on the lens for three seconds
more after the first three seconds’ exposure, the sum of the whole
being equal to nine consecutive seconds.
Tho subject is curious, and ultimately may lead to useful results.
On Enlarging.
The subject of enlarging is one possessing more general interest
than that of either exciting, continuating, or any other kind of rays.
It is one on which many “notes,” both “harmonious and discor¬
dant,” have been sounded again and again, and of which it is at
the present day scarcely possible to make too much. Since last I
wrote on this subject 1 rejoice to find it has been on its trial at a
meeting of tho London Photographic Society — a trial the result of
which will give considerable impetus to this branch of the art.
Until a few months ago I did not adequately appreciate the
great importance of this branch of photographic manipulation.
About that time, however, I was privileged to see and examine
what had been done in this way by a gifted honorary member of
the Edinburgh Photographic Society, Professor Piazzi Smyth,
Astronomer Iioyal for Scotland. When travelling in Russia, some
time ago, this gentleman took a series of views in that country,
one of which was handed to me to look at. It was a stereoscopic
picture possessing a somewhat flat appearance. In the distance
was a town or city, but so reduced as not to be specially noticeable
as a chief feature in the picture. Several pictures, panoramic and
otherwise, were then passed through the lantern, projecting, by
tho aid ot tho lime-light, brilliant and well-defined images on the
screen. My astonishment wras excited when I was informed that
these views had all been extracted from the flat and commonplace¬
looking view which I had just examined. Bit by bit they had
been magnified and impressed upon plates, the result being that
the walls, gates, churches, and public buildings of Moscow were
passed before the eye with that beauty which an achromatic lan¬
tern and lime-light alone can give.
Negatives taken for this purpose must possess the extreme of
sharpness and line gradation, without possessing average density.
With regard to the best kind of lens for this class of negative,
there seems no doubt that the ordinary corrected meniscus pro¬
duces results equal, if not superior, to the most expensive compound
arrangemement of portrait lenses. With a given aperture, one of
the most unpretending of view lenses has produced a landscape of
more general good definition than a compound quarter-plate lens
which cost upwards of six guineas. The distortion of marginal
curvature is here of no consequence, as it can be remedied in the
enlarging. The great point is to secure intense sharpness. I
have in my possession a stereo, negative, by Burns, which was
taken with a meniscus lens, and which can bear inspection without
deterioration with a magnifying glass of '5 of an inch.
But to this subject I must again revert.
PHOTOGRAPHIC THEORY APPLIED TO RESEARCHES
FOR ACCELERATIVE SUBSTANCES;
A photographic amateur, M. Eugene Saliler, in a communication
to the Revue Photographique , says: —
Before making experiments on the employment of accelerative
substances I have sought, in order to avoid groping in the dark,
to determine a priori what it would be possible for such substances
to be ; and for this I have been obliged to go back to the formation
of the photographic image, and endeavour to obtain a clear and
precise explanation of the reactions produced under the influence
of the luminous rays.
Chemical formulae have conducted me to the following hypo¬
thesis, which clearly explains a crowd of facts of which it was
difficult to take a record — a hypothesis confirmed up to the present
by some experiments which will form the subject of a second com¬
munication when 1 have terminated the entiie series of analytic
tests which I propose to carry out.
The nitrate of silver which covers the sensitive plate undergoes
fust the reducing influence of light; the nitric acid which is liber¬
ated in a nascent state acts as an energetic oxidiser on the film of
iodide of silver, and transforms it into an oxy-ioclide (Ag I, AgO)
more or less charged with oxygen in proportion to the activity of
the luminous rays.
The protoxide of silver at the instant of its formation is yellow
like the iodide ; the impression is therefore not visible after expo¬
sure. The different degrees of oxidation explain why certain parts
appear before others, and with more intensity, when the plate is
submitted to the developing agents : the office fulfilled by these
agents is to absorb the oxygen. If an oxidation had taken place
the iodised film could not be reduced by protosulphate of iron,
gallic acid, &c., &c.
The result of experiments made by M. Millon tends to show that
pure nitric acid does not displace iodine from an iodide ; but that
when mixed with a small quantity of nitrous acid, which adds con¬
siderable energy to its oxidating powder, the separation is effected
immediately.
The nitrites are accordingly employed with good reason as acce¬
lerating agents, since there results from the decomposition of the
film of liquid which covers the plate a mixture of nitric and nitrous
acids which augments the oxidating force.
In order that the reaction should be complete, the silver baths
should contain an excess of nitric acid, otherwise the reduced
silver proceeding from the decomposition of the nitrate which
covers the plate would attach itself to the film of collodion and fog
the image. The free nitric acid prevents this deposit by effecting
a new combination. This chemical action explains —
1. Why certain iodides produce greater sensitiveness than
others. They may contain an excess of base, or, by double de¬
composition in the silver bath, may produce basic nitrates ; in
which case one part of the nascent nitric acid is neutralised, which
obviates a retarding force in the production of the impression.
2. Why a negative passes into a positive proof by a prolonged
exposure. During the time that the least active rays exert their
developing action on the free nitrate of silver, the violet, indigo,
and blue rays have finished their action ; the iodine, completely
eliminated, is found in contact with oxide of silver, a substance of
but little stability, which displaces in its turn the oxygen, and
produces afresh iodide of silver.
July 15, 1861]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
27
According to this hypothesis it is easy to determine what would
be accelerating substances.
Reducing agents accelerate the decomposition of free nitrate of
silver— -they can therefore be employed; and phosphite of potash
has already succeeded with me in the wet process.
Oxidisers ought to be employed for the dry processes. I have
not yet made any trials ; but I am of opinion that chlorate of pot¬
ash may be useful, as also chlorites aud hypochlorites.
ON THE DARK ROOM AND THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
LABORATORY.*
By M. D. Van Moncichoven.
In the practice of photography three different rooms are necessary:
one well lighted in which the sitter is placed, another of com¬
modious dimensions which serves the purpose of a laboratory, and
a third made quite dark, in which are performed all those operations
which may not see the light of day. We shall speak of the first
iu a subsequent chapter : at present we propose to describe only
the laboratory and the dark chamber.
The laboratory should be of such dimensions as are adapted to
meet the wants of the photographer. Amateurs generally take
plenty of room, because in most cases it costs them nothing ; but
professional photographers are oftener obliged to content them¬
selves with a small room, which frequently serves the double pur¬
pose of dark room and laboratory.
However this may be, it is best to have a large room on the
ground floor, where preparations can be made, positive proofs
printed, &c. In this room should be placed tables furnished with
drawers.
As in the course of this work we shall mention as we proceed
the various pieces of apparatus which are necessary, our readers
will learn the various utensils which should find their place in the
laboratory.
The dark chamber should be, on the contrary, very simple.
Two or three tables are sufficient; and as to the light, it should be
completely blocked out by pasting black paper over the windows
in such a way that nothing can be seen in the room. The opera¬
tions are conducted by the aid of a candle, or, better, by a gas jet
surrounded by a square lantern of yellow glass. Notwithstanding
that for many years the greater number of authors have recom¬
mended this arrangement, we have always preferred to have our
dark room furnished with a frame of yellow glass 23f by 7^, and
this we cover with a sheet of very thin white paper, in order to
impede the passage of the direct solar rays. A hinged frame is
fitted in front of this square of yellow glass in such a way as to
admit of its being totally or partially coveVed, in older to diminish
or increase the amount of illumination at pleasure.
FIG. 29.
DARK CHAMBER.
It is necessary to select glass of a deep yellow colour and avoid
the paler kinds.
The drawing (Jig . 29) represents the dark chamber which we
have used for many years.
The entrance is at the bottom of the room, and the door is for
greater security covered with a black drapery. A cistern of water
furnished with a tap supplies the necessary means for washing,
and nderneath this is placed the sink, with a pipe to convey the
* From Traite Populaire de Photographie.
waste water outside. On one side should be placed the dishes used
for nitrate-of~silver bath and for sensitising albumeuised paper, and
on the other those which appertain to fixing and other operations
incompatible with the nitrate of silver solution. Shelves should
also be be fitted up to support funnels while filtering, bottles, &c.
A second reference to Jig. 29 will show the arrangement by
which the amount of light is regulated; it will be seen, in fact,
that by lowering the yellow frame, which is shown in that position
in the drawing, the room becomes inundated with light. This
frame need be adapted only when the plate is immersed in the
nitrate of silver bath, and during the development of the image.
When the required intensity has been attained in the last opera¬
tion, the plate is washed and the frame lowered in order to see
more clearly. If the sun shines on this window, it is absolutely
necessary to paste over it some thin paper to stop the too direct
rays.
STEREOGRAPHS.
Australian Botanical Illustrations, dc.
Photographed by Frank IIaes.
London : McLean, Melhuish, and Haes, 20, Haymarket.
The educational value of the stereoscope is perhaps one of its
most striking features as presented to the mind of the philosopher,
and the last one noticed by the ordinary observer. The former
views it as a powerful engine with which he can both acquire and
convey information, the latter regards it as a delightful toy ; aud,
what is no less singular, they are both right in their respective
estimates, only that each one perceives but half of the truth :
indeed part of its value consists in the fact that it cannot amuse
without instructing, nor instruct without affording amusement at
the same time — not that it in anyway resembles those nondescripts
which are constructed to do double duty, performing each one
imperfectly, but is rather to be likened to charity, which benefits
both giver and receiver, and sheds a collateral blessing into the
bargain.
We have run somewhat “off the track,” as our American friends
would phrase it, but it is a natural accident. We have frequently
desired to know something about the aspect of Antarctic vege¬
tation, and behold we have benefitted by what was certainly not
intended for our gratification when originally executed.
Slides such as these before us must be of immense advantage to
botanists. Stereographs, besides preserving the forms of vegeta¬
tion in the most perfect manner, enjoy the additional excellence of
presenting not only the fac simile oi the living specimen of a plant,
but convey at the same time an incontrovertible record of its sur¬
roundings — a point of no mean importance to a just estimate of its
position in vegetable economy. But we must leave moralising, and
write a few words about the several slides themselves, and firstly
we notice
Tiie Tree Fern (in the Botanical Garden at Sydney), the con¬
necting link between the ferns and the palms. This is a beautiful
specimen of photographic skill, taken under favourable circum¬
stances, the foliage as feathery, albeit as crisp and sharp, as in
nature, with a pleasing background of various trees and shrubs of
the exogenous class.
The slide to which we particularly allude is that one in which a
fine specimen of the tree fern is growing on the sloping bank of
a narrow slip of water, with a younger plant just beyond, and tho
stem of a tree, akin to the willow in form, immediately behind it.
There is another slide upon which a similar plant is depicted; but
though good in execution it is not equal iu composition to the one
we have especially indicated.
The Bourbon Island Palm is a very pleasing specimen, with
the gracefully-fringed fan-like leaves contrasting well with tho
small wliite-fiowered herbaceous plant directly in lrontof it. I be
background of this is, to our fancy, somewhat marred by the
stopping-out of the sky.
The Striped Aloe, apparently an Agave, is a magnificent
sample of its species, picturesquely located, surrounded by
numerous small flowering plants well known in this country, such
as the fusciiia, alyssum, petunia, &c., and backed by a glorious
denizen of the forest in full leaf — the chequered light falling upon
the broad fleshy leaves of the aloe giving increased value to the
high lights of the same, which are brilliant without hardness, and
mark the plant as most promiuent of the group before us.
Most unfamiliar, yet attractive, is The Norfolk Island Shade
Tree, consisting of a somewhat rounded mass of enormous, dark
and shining crisp leaves, in form not unlike those of the beech tree,
but upon a gigantic scale. This is a highly attractive slide.
272
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1801
The Lilacs Dracena: Nutans is the prominent object of another
slide very picturesque in treatment. Besides the singular aspect
of this principal feature in the group, the contrasting foliage of
the neighbouring specimens is very happy, as is also the effect of
light and shade in the whole.
The Madagascar Poison Nut Tree is too much under-exposed,
and consequently too “hard” in effect, and the group of Gum
Trees (Eucalypti) not well defined. Tiie East Indian Wild Date
Trees are also somewhat under-exposed.
For an example of the elegantly grotesque in the vegetable
kingdom there are few things that can surpass the FiLiCES
Playcerium Grande, located at the fork of the main stem of a
large forest tree. There are several other objects in this slide
worthy of attention : the whole combines well, and the photo¬
graphy is excellent.
Appended to the preceding are two Views from the Sydney
Observatory — one looking towards Botany Bay, embracing a long
range of subject, but somewhat deficient in the distant parts, the
other looking north-east.
We can recommend these slides as worthy of a place in the
collections of those desiring to possess illustrations of the various
parts of the habitable globe, as well as to those who make more
special selections for the purpose of promoting the study of
natural history, particularly as regards the botanical branch of
the subject.
CARD PICTURES-AND IlOW TO MAKE THEM.*
By S. R. Divine.
The great call for cartes de visile demands the best facilities for
producing them, and numerous contrivances and adaptations in
the way of instruments have been made with the view of rapidly
multiplying small photographs. The double quarter tube camera
being the one most generally used, I shall have something to say
of my experience with it. I have a pair of quarter lenses with a
box and holder to take four negatives on a four-fourth plate. My
first attempts in using it were anything but satisfactory, and I had
more than once made up my mind to abandon it altogether; but,
being persistent in experimenting with it, I gradually became
more successful in its use, till now I am entirely satisfied with it.
In selecting a double tube instrument care must be taken to get
tubes that work in exactly the same time, otherwise the negatives
will differ in intensity. Another difficulty sometimes occurs when
the two tubes do not work to the same visual focus (in most of the
new quarter lenses with long focus the chemical and visual foci
are not perfectly concident) ; and I have known cases in which it
became necessary to make the ground-glass of two jfieces, one
being placed nearer the lenses than the other in order to correct
the difference between the foci. But, after the instrument is per¬
fectly adjusted, it requires practice to get good results with it.
Great care must be taken in flowing the plate, and the collodion
should be as thin as is compatible with good intensity.
The most perfect part of the surface of a collodionised plate is
about the middle, but the four negatives for card-pictures are on
the corners. Again, the film on one end of the plate is thicker
than on the other. I tried a difference of exposure between the
thick and thin ends, but the results were so variable that I have
adopted the plan of always placing the thin end downward and
exposing it first, and afterwards exposing the thick end the same
length of time.
The solution of silver on the plate flowiug downwards allows the
thick end to dry a little, and it is not so sensitive when its time of
exposure arrives. By this management the difference in density
is more nearly compensated than by any other method of exposure.
Should there still he a difference, however, it can be very much
modified in the development. The two pictures that appear first
and with greatest density are to be less developed by tilting the
plate and allowing the solution to run to the other end until all
tour pictures appear equally distinct.
By careful manipulation in this way quite a great difference may
be compensated. But however careful the management, it is not
always that the four negatives are equally good; and the operator
who gets two or three first-rate negatives on a plate should be
satisfied and use them in printing. A friend of mine, who is one of
tlie best practical operators of my acquaintance, uses for card-
pictures a single half-size tube, with a box and plate-holder for
takmg three negatives side by side in a direction lengthwise of
he four-fourth plate. With this arrangement lie informs me that
tbero is no difficulty in securing negatives equal in density and
*From Humphrey's Journal.
every other good quality ; but, of course, three exposures are
necessary, and the method is not so rapid as when two or four
tubes are used. I have made a great many card-pictures from
single negatives, but the time required in printing makes it
an unprofitable business.
Among a portion of the photographic profession there is an
objection to quarter tubes for taking card-pictures, on account of
their not covering a field sufficiently large. This objection has
some weight against the old quarter lenses in use ; but the new
ones which are now made for cartes de visite are all, I think, that
can be desired. I find that one of my tubes will cover a half-size
plate with very good illumination and sharpness.
I will now make a few observations on the silvering, printing,
and toning of albumen paper. I have made numberless experi¬
ments on albumen pictures, and will give what experience has
taught me. The silvering solution must be very strong — from
100 to 130 grains to the ounce of water. The negative must be
much more intense than for plain paper. In using a strong solu
tion it is necessary to print considerably darker than when a
solution of fifty or sixty grains is used. The toning must be done
with chloride of gold made neutral or slightly alkaline.
A receipt which will prove a good one is to make a standard
solution of chloride of gold one grain to the ounce of water ;
another standard solution of bicarbonate of soda three grains to
the ounce; and, when toning, to add equal quantities of each to a con
venient quantity of water blood warm. The gold should be added
in such quantity that the prints will tone in from five to ten minutes.
The brilliancy will be lost if the toning bath is too slow in its
action. Much of the success in albumen printing depends upon
the quality of the paper used. I have been trying nearly every
kind in the market, and there is such a difference in them that
I have resolved to make my own paper hereafter. I shall be
glad to communicate the results of my experiments.
TEMPTJS OMNIA REVELAT.
A truth palpable to photographers from the first, and repeatedly
urged both in this Journal and in our contemporary, the News,
seems at length to have reached the public mind. We quote the
following remarks from an able article written by Blanchard
Jerrold in Lloyd's Weekly News : —
“In the course of the discussion on exhibitions at the Society of Arts,
Mr. Nelson suggested that the machinery of all nations, the silks of all
nations, and the jewellery of all nations, should be grouped together ;
and Lord Granville ‘ admitted that, for the jurors, or for students, such
a classification as Mr. Nelson had recommended would be a saving of
trouble, but that was all.’ All ! Surely his lordship’s admission justifies
the proposed classification. Surely international exhibitions — if they
have anything serious in them — should be adapted to the convenience of
jurors and students ! Yet Lord Granville remains wedded to the present
classifications, which reduce the Exhibition to the level of a bazaar. It
must have galled his lordship, then, and his fellow-commissioners,
when Prince Napoleon said that ‘ he might, perhaps, express a desire
that in future universal exhibitions the buildings constructed might allow
the products to be grouped with greater method — not only by nations,
but also by categories — in order to facilitate, by thus bringing them in
contact, their comparison, and the progress that resulted from it.’
“Lord Granville holds that a building arranged as suggested by Prince
Napoleon could not possess any architectural beauty or unity of design.
He and his fellow commissioners have at any rate proved that the pre¬
sent classification will not always inspire either beauty or unity. On
the other hand, the Sydenham Crystal Palace, with its distinct and
separate Fine Arts courts, shows a broad and brilliant general effect. It
would be as wise to compare Captain Fowke’s building with Sir Joseph
Paxton’s Crystal Palace, as to set the Pantheon in Oxford-street beside
the Louvre. The new classification would give a silk court, a furniture
court, a pottery court — each designed for the purpose to which it was
destined. Such an arrangement would tend to increase the interest and
instructiveness of an exhibition ; while it would afford splendid opportu¬
nities to the architect. Such courts would present to the visitor a series
of charming contrasts.
“ Our argument may be again illustrated by the Great Agricultural
Show at Battersea-park. The cattle part is interesting mainly because the
horses, for instance, are classed, without reference to their origin ; thus,
the racers are in company, and so are the hunters, the roadsters, and the
cart-horses. The prizes are marked upon them, and the visitor is thus
enabled to compare the reasons which have led the jurors to their decisions.
“The advantages of such a system are not to be buried and forgotten,
because the royal commissioners decline to see them. We may inform
these gentlemen that the Society of Arts discussion found its way into
the French papers, so impressed were our neighbours with its importance ;
and they may have discovered by this time that it was a grave mistake
not to enter, with liberal courtesy, into the most important question,
which Prince Napoleon, in a few happy words, brought before them.”
July 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
273
dBseJrilniiflu diassip.
THE DAMP .'-THE PORTE AITS — GENRE SUBJECTS—
PHOTOGRAPHIC CRITICISMS IN THE
“ DAILY TELEGRAPH.”
“On! drat these room-attics!” says Mrs. Howard Paul’s char¬
woman ; and, like that poor old victim, our complaint must now be
the evils which “ come of damp attics,” for here, in the sky-parlour
of the Exhibition — as I have before said — damp is rampant. Blank
spaces, whence coloured specimens have been removed, stare out
at us, and at each visit the yellow livery of decay becomes more
and more conspicuous in the photographs. This evil is a serious
one, and attacks the public appreciation of the art in the weakest
point.
The Daily Telegraph remarks on this appearance : — “ It is not a
pleasant indication of the quality of photographs, on the perma¬
nence of which we depend for reminiscenses in future years of
scenes and faces which are present, and which are dear to us.
Every practitioner should be able to assure his patrons that each
portrait is sufficiently washed to stand exposure to light for any
duration of time.” Light is all very well, Mr. Critic ; but how
about damp , when it is so great as positively to reduce some of
the cardboard backs of the mounts to a condition of pulp? It
strikes me as being small detriment to photography to say that
its productions will not escape tests to which neither water-colour
drawings nor even engravings could be safely submitted ; and
there can be small hopes of so printing and toning, or, as the
Telegraph says, “ washing ,” that such tests as the alternate extremes
of damp and heat* beget can be triumphantly withstood for
several months together. As Shakespeare’s grave-digger hints —
damp is more sorely, surely, and powerfully destructive in its in¬
fluence than many think it is ; and we must remember that, if it
had been allowed to pursue its ravages unchecked, the water¬
colour drawings in their far more cautiously, carefully, and thought¬
fully prepared galleries down stairs would have had small reason
to boast a permanence superior to that of these photographs, which,
at any rate, displayed no signs of fading until some weeks after
the damp had began to make most alarming progress among the
paintings.
In answer to this defence it may be said that some of the pic¬
tures are more and some less affected, and many, as yet, not at all
affected ; and that those upon the screens have not escaped. But it
is not the positive mechanical action of water only that is doing the
damage : — noxious spirits , more potent than the combined damp and
heat which beget them, are also at work; and these do not confine
their ravages to the walls alone. Prints executed at the same
time as the fading specimens, and under precisely similar circum¬
stances, although exposed to light and air, are still brilliant in
tones and pure in the whites, and doubtless will remain so. When
we consider the tedious delays which characterised the manage¬
ment of Class XIV. in this country, and the little time at the worst
part of the year in which our photographers had to prepare their
specimens, it is small wonder if some prints were, as our critic of
the Telegraph says, prepared without sufficient “ care in fixing the
image,” and these would, of course, the more readily and quickly
succumb to the destructive evils I have named. Again : many of
our photographers still adhere to the old method of toning, and
we may expect the pictures of these also to be in advance of their
companions “on the road to ruin,” while many specimens, perhaps
— simply because they were better protected in the “fitting up”
than others — may be the last to follow in their wake, or, weather
permitting, will, we hope, escape altogether.]- The mischief is not
only done in some cases, but is also now a-doing , and my object in
making these remarks is to remind you that the test, which our
contemporary the News calls “ a test upon a grand scale,” is not
a fair one, and is, therefore, one to which it is a very unfortunate
thing that our photographs were ever publicly submitted. Already
we hear the few visitors who find their way to the British photo¬
graphers’ share of the Exhibition garret, joking about “ light come,
light go,” and misquoting the national bard in remarks concern¬
ing showing the eye to grieve the art; coming like shadows, so to
depart.
Let us now turn again to the pictures, and conclude rapidly the
notice of portraiture in the foreign departments. M. Allport has
* From the f.ict that on Tuesday the heat in the shady gallery indicated by the ther¬
mometer was 75 5, some idea may he gleaned of what it must have been in the photo¬
graphic department.
+ If exhibitors would communicate particulars in cases where their prints display
signs of rapid decay, or in others in which they remain undamaged — especially if they
continue so— stating process of toning, &c., and how fitted up, we might then judge ipso
facto, and come to more definite conclusions.
contributed from Tasmania some good portraits of the natives.
Our volunteers may greet their brethren of Victoria in some large
groups sent by Bachelder and Neil. Some very good card-por¬
traits are contributed from Switzerland, by Vaugnat. Copenhagen
has also sent some portraits, one picture being a very large
group, by Emile Lange, after the style of Brothers, of Manchester.
Adelaide contributes, among others, a portrait many will think worth
seeking. It is an unusually large glass positive of John M‘Dongall
Stuart, whose adventures and discoveries have so interested
us, and whose dauntless perseverance and courageous spirit of en¬
terprise we have all admired. And here we really must quit the
portraits altogether and turn to other branches of the art-science
yet unnoticed. Before doing so, however, it may be as well to
confess that many excellent works have escaped notice. Piobin-
son’s beautiful card-pictures, being few, and not occupying a very
prominent position, were not included, as they should have been,
with those I ventured to call the best in the British department.
Ilennah, of Brighton, well deserved a word of praise. M. Joubert
exhibits some very good pictures. Mr. Eastham’s large group —
Treaty of Commerce xcith France — is among the best of its
kind, and M. Bassano’s no smaller group of military officers is deci¬
dedly amongst the worst. The first thing which catches the eye in
this large picture is a huge mass of light pavement on which these
warriors are placed, which, having a huge, staring, geometrical
dark pattern, dwarfs the figures by contrast, and offends the taste
by its ugliness. In the next place you observe that, for all the
signs of roundness or texture exhibited, the row of coats might
have been cut out of scarlet paper, and the row of boots out of
black sticking-plaster. In the third place, you see the large amount
of confusion and discord which keep the lights and shadows of the
neatly-executed architectural background from agreeing among
themselves as to where the primary light comes from, and where
the cast shadows ought to go. M. Bassano should remember that
the absence of light is also the absence of intense colour, and then
he would not paint the shadows of scarlet coats the colour of
crimson silk when seen in the light. Among the very best of the
“ touched ” pictures, however, are those executed by this same M.
Bassano. There are some other portraits which we must not pass
unnoticed. These were photographed by M'Glashon, aided by the
contributor. D. 0. Hill, a name well known and respected among
artists as that of the Secretary to the Pioyal Scottish Academy of
Painting. Unsurpassed by any in the Exhibition for boldness,
force, and rotundity, they are far from being faultless. The qualities
which harmonise so well with a bold, masculine head standing out
bodily from the surface, hardly contribute to the expression or feel¬
ing which should characterise a group of pretty girls affectionately
making much of her they fondly call “Cur dear old nurse;” and.
great as is the relief obtained by vigorous, indeed somewhat harsh,
contrasts of light and shade, I humbly venture to suggest that it
should not be obtained by sacrificing those intermediate tints
which secure delicacy and texture. Hie best picture, so far as re¬
gards the expression of sentiment, is also the worst photograph —
it is called The Story of the Bruce , in which an imaginative
boy glows with generous patriotic fire at the adventures of his
country’s hero; and his mother turns to look admiringly upon his
boyish enthusiasm. A group of Dr. John Brown and his Cousin —
which obtained the silver medal of the Photographic Society of
Scotland last year, is the best photograph in this collection. D. 0.
Hill is a strong champion for the cause of “ fine art in photographv,”
and well deserves our heartiest thanks.
And so — with regard to the photographic portraits at the great
World's Fair of 1862 — exeunt omnes.
What shall we term the next branch of the art to which I would
now fain direct your attention? Shall it be composition photo¬
graphy, a term by which the painter understands one thing and
the photographer another ; or shall it be designated genre, a term
which is surely indefinite enough in itself, although we all under¬
stand the kind of subject which it indicates. Of these the reader
will select that which best pleases him. I think the latter prefer¬
able, although it may not always prove strictly applicable to the
subject before us. Here British photography stands pre-eminently
foremost and alone ; thus claiming for itself more aspiring and
bolder flights than any of its foreign competitors. First in its
-ranks stands 0. G. Rejlander, one of the most imaginative and
skilful of all true artists. How it is that these pictures should be
hung all but out of sight — unless it was so contrived lest sucli
works should convey too convincing a proof of photography’s
claims as a fine art — I cannot guess ; but there they are, placed
high above their inferiors, with the glare of strong light so full
upon them that to see them fairly, or see them at all unless you
274
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1862
are in special search of them, is quite out of the question. Night
in London is the name of one of these pictures, which is full of
the most eloquent pathos and expression. A poor vagrant, “Joe,”
houseless, hungry, and friendless, has crept with his dirt and rags
into the inhospitable shelter of a dilapidated entiance_porch, and,
crouched in an attitude suggestive of despairing wretchedness,
snatches one of his fitful tastes of that cheap, but to him very
nearly forbidden, luxury, sleep. The pose, the deep masses of
shadow, and the feeble light, all help the story. There the poor
desolate outcast sleeps upon the cold damp stone, forgetting even
those dreaded persecutors, the churlish voice and heavy foot which
will assuredly bid him “ move on,” whining and shivering, to some
poor shelter equally unsafe and uninviting.
“ Who whines in the bleak cold street'?
Is it one of your silken spaniels
Shut out in the cold and the sleet?
My dogs sleep warm in their baskets,
Safe from the darkness and snow.
*****
These are only homeless children
Who are wandering to and fro.
*****
And so Lazarus lies at our doorsteps,
And Dives neglects him still.”
In addition to this we have mur old favourites, The Wayfarer >
The Scripture Reader , and other well-known pictures. Some
appear new, but to criticise them in their present position is simply
impossible.
Mr. Robinson s pictures next claim notice. These are better
hung. The Lady of Shalott , well criticised in a recent notice
of the Exhibition of the South London Society, is a picture full of
many beauties, although undoubtedly possessing many faults. The
Daily Telegraph does not approve of it — says “the whole merit” of
this picture “ lies in the cleverness of a pose plastiquef which must
mean that, in the opinion of this sage scribe, its “ whole merit ”
is nothing more than such merit as consists in lying placidly
down in a boat prepared to receive you, and permitting an artist
to arrange certain draperies and point a lens at you for so many
seconds. The imagination which conceives such a subject, and
the skill which carries out its conceptions, in selecting the scene,
the hour, the general effect of chiaroscuro , the model, the pose, &c.,
&c., are all as nought in the eyes of our critic of the Telegraph
compared with the wonderful effort required to prostrate yourself
in a required position, and keep still while your portrait is taken.
How hard it is to see through the spectacles of old and confirmed
prejudices ! And yet this writer has some conception of the diffi¬
culties of this branch of the art, as we shall see in the following
quotation from remarks upon The Holiday in the Woods , of
which it is said — “ Almost as much trouble must have been
expended on the building up of this scene, on the bringing together
of • all its constituent parts, on the drilling of its actors, on the
subordination of its accessories, and on the careful eliminating of
all petty ‘accidents,1 — which, although likely to pass unobserved
in a tableaux vivant, are apt to grow painfully obtrusive in a
permanent picture — almost as much trouble, we say, is apparent
in the mere posing and scene setting,* and arrangement of proper¬
ties, in this composition, as a practised draughtsman would have
found in placing the whole group on paper and canvas. There is
something absurd in all this preparation for a mechanical and
instantaneous operation. It is anti-climax — a reversal of the order
of things." So says the critic of the Telegraph. Let us take
breath, and then look at the meaning of all this, if indeed it has
any real tangible meaning to look at.
Question. — There is something absurd in the production of this
picture by photography, you say, Mr. Clitic : please to tell me
why ?
Answer. — Why! why because there is os much trouble in pro¬
ducing it by that means as there is by any other !
Question. — But supposing, when so done, it is such a picture as,
while equalling others in most respects, infinitely surpasses them
in the one great quality of simple truthfulness ; and that, moreover,
unliko the drawing, it can be reproduced by hundreds at a time
when once done.
Answer. — “The simple truthfulness of these and kindred works
is worth a hundred feats of artistic arrangement.”!
But this critic is guilty of many other amusing contradictions,
which, doubtless, brought a smile to tire lips of all its photographic
readers, but which it is no part of my present business to point
• It ji'pnts n» if our kccn-sighted critic could not detect the difference between a
photograph from natural scenery and one from painted profile set scenes. Truly a wise
young judge 1
♦ Quoted also from the same article from which the previous extracts vrerc made.
out. I fear that photography, so far as regards the general public,
will not escape a ban which has done more to retard the universal
knowledge of art in this country than anything else, viz., the
confident, unhesitating dogmatising of critics profoundly ignorant
of the subjects on which they profess to write, but well able to
write “smartly,” as the saying goes — use technical phrases
readily, and please indolent readers by taking the trouble to
amuse them : sparkling but shallow.
R. A. S., in his remarks upon another of Mr. Robinson’s produc¬
tions, also exhibited here, pointed out certain very palpable errors
in the choice of costume and accessories, which a contemporary
hastened to pounce upon and hold up to ridicule, because one or
two of the same errors were to be found in the descrijrtive portions
of the poem from which the subject — Elaine with the Shield of
Launcelot — had been selected. Two blacks, however, do not make
a white, and R. A. S. had a perfect right to point out in the
picture anachronisms which several of the reviewers did not fail
to point out in the poem. I must certainly endorse my fellow-
labourer’s remarks so far as regards this work of Mr. Robinson’s.
The notice of these subjects must be resumed on the first of next
month. A. H. W.
ON THE VjEN TIL ATING AND WARMING OF
PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERIES.
By Lachlan McLachlan.
In your number of the lGth ult. I drew the attention of your readers to the
defective arrangement of light as existing in the present construction of
galleries. The evils shown therein are very far from being the only ones :
we have others of various descriptions, amongst which that of bad venti¬
lation is one which we have to complain of and to contend against. From
my professional experience of these evils, I know what the majority of
them are in respect to comfort. Let it be distinctly understood that I do
not allude to elegant furniture and costly fittings. I know many estab¬
lishments where the arrangements appear comfortable, and may be con¬
sidered perfect. Such comfort , so far as it goes, is all very well, pi’ovided
no improvement he neglected that would tend in a much greater degree
to the real comfort of the visitors.
1 will attempt to describe, as far as my ability will allow me, what kind
of places I have found photographic portrait galleries to be; and, if my
description be true, I believe that nineteen persons out of every twenty
will support me in the statement which I here make. I unhesitatingly
assert that we have not expended our money to the best advantage, but
neglected to do that which is of the most vital importance; in fact, we
have sacrificed improvement on the altar of attraction.
A photographic gallery is a place where no person would wish to
remain longer than absolutely necessary. On your entrance, during
winter (under natural circumstances), your reception is too cool to be
pleasant, and in summer much too hot to be agreeable. "When the sun
shines on the glass it heats the air in the gallery so much as to become
absolutely oppressive, and to be totally unfit for respiration for the shut-
up professional. Well may visitors complain of the inconvenience they
suffer from the contaminated air of close, ill-ventilated galleries, solely
arising from air respired and perspired in for hours together. How can
we possibly expect to obtain a correct and pleasing likeness when the
sitter is nearly overpowered with vitiated air? After repeated trials we
succeed in obtaining a likeness, but, mark you ! at what a cost to our¬
selves ! I will say nothing of the discomfort patiently submitted to by
the sitter.
It is a very easy matter to obtain a map of the face with a lens, but a
most difficult thing to get a true and characteristic portrait. Nothing
less should satisfy a thorough professional. To give an artist a fair
chance, all disturbing influences ought to be removed; for, if the sitter
feels uncomfortable, the likeness must inevitably reveal it. This should
tell us that, instead of surrounding the sitter with every imaginable dis¬
comfort, we ought to tax our ingenuity to the utmost to make our
galleries the most comfortable rooms that science can enable us to
do ; and when we succeed in doing so, I am quite certain the outlay
will bear fruit in more ways than we can possibly contemplate. In the
first place it will be conducive to our own health, and of considerable
pecuniary benefit also ; moreover, the inducements will be much greater
to those persons who now raise objections to sit, in consequence of our
present defective arrangements. In proof of this, I may instance the
temporary falling off of business during sultry days.
I wish now to draw your attention to the sad and defective system of
ventilating the great majority of our establishments. Probably no sub¬
ject connected with our profession has received so little attention as this.
Assuredly it ought to be a primary object, in the construction of our
galleries, to ensure a constant supply of air, as conducive to our own
health and vigour.
These things are allowed to continue simply because they are so; but
shall we continue such gross imperfections, or make them matters of the
past? There should be proper provision made for the admission of fresh
air, as well as for the escape of that which is vitiated. Sometimes this
can be accomplished very simply ; at other times it is most difficult, as no
two buildings can with any certainty be ventilated alike. Under the most
July 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
275
favourable circumstances spontaneous ventilation can never be depended
upon ; for, when the exterior atmosphere is in a state of repose, the cur¬
rents necessary for effective ventilation cannot be maintained ; and even
when there is sufficient external air the course of the wind, and even cur¬
rents in the room, will often prevent the escape of the contaminated air,
and the cold air from without will as often pass in as the impure air pass
out. But happily we can command really effective ventilation by me¬
chanical means, and at very little cost.
1. There must be openings made to admit, in sufficient quantity, cur¬
rents of the purest air obtainable, which should be from the shady side of
the building when possible. An even supply could be maintained by
cutting a piece of glass out of the bottom of each pane and inserting
wire gauze in its place. The openings could be regulated at plea¬
sure, or entirely cut off by sliding panels. There must also be ample
provision made for the escape of the vitiated air. Two openings
12 inches square in the most favourable place of the ceiling would
be sufficient for a room 24 feet by 12 feet, and 12 feet in height. Under
each opening there should be a cap, projecting about 4 inches all round,
which should be made moveable to and from the ceiling at pleasure.
These will more effectually enable us to extract the impure air. We should
also be able to contract the openings, if desirable, at any time. By
creating heat in the ventilator we can ensure perfect ventilation. Where
there is gas that can easily be managed, by placing a burner in each
opening, which can be regulated to the particular circumstances of each
case. The cost would be a mere trifle, and not at all to be compared with
the benefits conferred.
Photographers would be greatly benefitted by an even atmosphere
maintained throughout the year. This can be accomplished by a system
of hot water pipes, that would regulate our rooms in winter to an equal
temperature, and would, I have no doubt, prevent a large per centage of
our failures — in fact, it is in the end the cheapest method of obtaining
heat, as the attendance on fires is saved and dust prevented. By this
means we could obtain warm water in our dark rooms or in any other part
of the building, which would be a most valuable acquisition.
I have ventured to trespass thus much on your space in the hope of
drawing increased attention to the subject of ventilation, to which, it
seems to me, a large share of our successes and failures can be attributed ;
and, if this communication will awake in any of your numerous readers a
desire to inquire into and improve their respective arrangements, I shall be
much gratified, and shall believe that I have not written altogether in vain.
THE HOT WATER PROCESS.*
By J. Beldon.
The process which I shall describe to-night, and illustrate with speci¬
mens, is that known as the “Hot Water Process.”
This process, like many others, is claimed by two inventors — the
first Dr. Ryley, and the second Mr. Parry.
Dr. Rylev, to substantiate his claim, wrote the following interesting
letter to the Photographic News, of 2nd November, I860 : — •
The Hot Water Process. — Sir, — Permit me a space in your columns, in order to
draw your attention to a paper recently read by Mr. Parry before the Manchester Photo¬
graphic Society ; and in doing so, it will be necessary to bring before your notice a series
of experiments commenced between two and three years ago.
While making some experiments with albumen as a preservative, I found that if all
free nitrate was washed from the collodion film, it so far retarded the action of the
plate that I could scarcely get a picture with half-an-liour’s exposure. The thought
then struck me that this was due to the altered structure of the film, and not to
chemical action ; and that if the plate was redipped in the nitrate bath to coagulate the
albumen, I should restore its sensitiveness: this I did, and found great sensitiveness
and uniformity of action the result.— (See Liverpool and Manchester Photographic
Journal ,+ July 15, 1858.
Still carrying out nty experiments I thought, if correct in my theory, I should succeed
by making use of collodion iodised with iodide of cadmium, as the free nitrate of that
metal left in the film would be sufficient to coagulate the albumen without any further
process, and so great was the sensitiveness that I took a portrait of my son in a few
seconds ; but there is this drawback, that the film blisters all over when the metallic
iodides are used.
Still believing my theory correct, although strongly opposed by the Chairman of the
Noi th London Society, who maintained that a chemical, not a structural, change was
the cause of sensitiveness, another thought crossed my mind, that the most simple
means of coagulating the albumen would be the best. Therefore, after taking my plate
from the bath, and washing it from all trace of free nitrate, and then coating it with
albumen, I plunged it in a bath of water just below the boiling point for a few seconds ;
and when dry I got a negative in less than thirty seconds with a Ross's telescopic view
lens. — (See Photographic News, October 29, 1858.)
Now, sir, you w ill not wonder at my surprise in finding my process, announced in 1858,
described by Mr. Parry as something new in 18G0.
In conclusion, I may remark, that I shall endeavour shortly to lay before your readers
details of some recent interesting experiments as to the best mode of producing the
required structural changes. Jno. Ryley, M.D.
Islington, October 30fA, I860.
I should have been glad of showing you the manipulation ; but hot
water at this time of the year, and in the present room, would not be
tolerated, and might bring the society into hot icater. For this reason,
I will describe the process as minutely as is consistent with brevity, so
that any one with proper care cannot fail to get beautiful negatives.
In the first place an ordinary positive bath will be the most useful and
constant. I may remark here that, last autumn, the bath I was then
using contained only 20 grains of silver to the ounce of water, and with
it I got some as good negatives as I have done with a bath at 40 grains.
I coat the plate with any7 good negative collodion, and let it set well, then
immerse in the bath, and leave it there for a few minutes, say two minutes.
* Read at a meeting of the Bradford Photographio Society, July 2, 1862.
+ The titlo by which The Britsh Journal of Photoqraphy was then designated.
When the plate is free from streakiness, take it out of the bath and
wash it well all over with common or distilled water.
The plate is now ready to receive the albumen solution, which is made
as follows -White of 2 eggs, water 3 ounces, and ammonia 20 drops,
well beat up, and then filtered through sponge.
Take five drachms of this solution and pour it on the edge of the plate,
and let it flow in one wave to the opposite edge, and then backwards and
forwards until it shows a perfectly even film on the plate ; drain the plate
for about a minute, during which time you can get your hot -water ready,
and pour it into a pint j ug.
You now take the plate and put it on a stand, and pour over it the hot
water. The reason 1 recommend pouring the hot water over the plate is
this: when you use a glass, bath, or dish, it is liable to break, causing
a loss of the plate and a loss to the pocket of about six or seven shillings.
I have had one broken ; and, as I do not wish to run the risk of a bath
breaking every time I prepare a number of plates, I have adopted the
above method of washing on a stand, and I find it to answer equally as well.
When the plate has drained from the hot water you can let it dry of
itself, or finish with a little heat. I prefer the latter method. You will
know when the plates are dry by looking through them to see if they are
all of one colour : should there be patches of a rather creamy appearance
let them dry a little longer. The plates are now ready for exposure. '
The exposure, with a Lerebours’ lens, fourteen inches focus, one-half
inch stop, varies from four minutes to twenty, or more, according to sub¬
ject. The plate being exposed, I put it into a dish of clean water so as
to moisten the film and then develop with the following: — 12 grains
pyrogallic acid, 1 drachm glacial acetic acid, and 7 ounces water.
I take five or six drachms of this developer and add to it a few drops of
plain nitrate of silver solution, then pour it on the plate, and keep it moving
until the picture is perfectly out and of the proper density. Should
the developer become muddy, wash the plate and apply a fresh solution .
The development of a good negative requires about ten or fifteen
minutes. Wash the plate and fix with hyposulphite of soda one ounce,
water six ounces; then wash the plate under a tap for five minutes.
When the plate is dry varnish it with any good varnish.
The negative is now finished, and if when held up to the light it show
so dense that you cannot see through the high lights, you may conclude
that it is not sufficiently exposed, or it is over-developed. A negative of
this class gives very hard positives, and can never yield the soft vigour,
if 1 may use the expression, which distinguishes Mudd's pictures above
all others. Mr. Mudd has said that a good negative is dense in no part,
and I can fully endorse that statement. A negative which is not so
dense gives a very harmonious print, and the eye is not struck with
patches of black and white mingled in the picture. I lay more stress on
this part of my subject than perhaps is really7 necessary, but my7 reason
for so doing is to put y7ou on your guard, so that yrou may avoid soot and
whitewash prints, which have now, deservedly, gone out of date.
I am confident that this process, worked carefully, will give you plates,
both for keeping qualities and results, equal to the best process known.
The failures and remedies are the same in this process as in any other
dry process where albumen is used.
I hope before the next meeting that many of you will have been in
“hot water,” and, should y7ou be satisfied with the results, I shall con¬
gratulate myself upon having enlisted a few into the regiment of hot-
water workers.
[The paper was illustrated with some very7 good pictures. We may-
add that Dr. Ry-ley’s process was first published in our columns.
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.*
By Ouu Own Pioneer.
ROUND LAUNCESTON.
At the present time, Lanson, Launceston, or Dunlieved — the town of the
swelling hill — possesses considerable interest from the fact of the Duke
of Northumberland’s property, the fine old park at Werrington, with
the mansion, having been purchased for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, as a
shooting-box ; and there is a rumour that the Northumberland property
in the borough has been purchased also — a good omen for the future of
the neighbourhood. With this, and the line of railway about to be
carried out. the old town may7 revive and again look up. To reach
Launceston there is the omnibus from Exeter, the coach from Bideford,
and various conveyances from Tavistock and Plymouth : and a choice of
inns and hoarding-houses to stop at when there. Should the artist pre¬
fer picking up something by7 the way, he can halt at Oakhamptou, if
coming from Exeter, and will find the following worth his notice : —
Oakhampton from the bridge, taking in the old chapel and bell turret ;
ruins of the castle, and others of more or less interest. Seven miles
further is Bridestowe, with the remains of a fine Norman gateway leading
up to the church. To the east is Sourton Down, with the church coming
in as the principal object. Some cottages, and a dark moor backing the
quarries, about here, are good busy subjects, full of interest. One between
Lew Down and Bridestowe — from the great extent of excavation and its
numerous sections, engine-house and offices, with all those adjuncts of
broad and narrow plank-ways, stops, supports, and fine contrasts of light,
shade, and colour, from the deep and uneven breaking up of the rock —
will offer several peculiar and excellent pictures. The place is close to
* Continued from page 257,
276
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1802
the roadside, with ample choice of situation for placing a camera or
fixing a tent. ,
At Lew Down there are two good inns, and many good subjects
around : the church of Lew Trenchard, the old house at iSydenham, with
its church and monuments erected to the memory of the Tremaine family.
Some two miles on the Lifton road is an old gateway, leading through
a well-wooded avenue to a place named Hayne, in a small but finely-
wooded park : it was here the unfortunate King Charles rested and
secreted himself on the failure of his cause in Cornwall. The interior
has much old carving, in good preservation, and one room is said to be
in nearly the same state as when the fugitive monarch used it. At Lifton
there are many good subjects. The church and town seen through the
arch that forms the tramway of the lime quarry — a view with extensive
distance to the north-west, from the high ground leading down to Poulston
33ridge — is a varied combination of wood and water, with Launceston
Castle looming high up in the distance : it is in this said looming that the
old castle and its formidable keep of terrible strength comes out in a way
that defies rivalry.
Over Poulston Bridge you are out of Devon and into Cornwall. The
town of Launceston fully bears out to the artist and photographer that
the “good is not new, and the new not good.” Here all the good is old
and time-worn ; the new, stiff, formal, and matter-of-fact. The Church
of St. Mary’s, in the centre of the town, is a remarkably fine building,
highly decorated, with an elegant Gothic tower, and fine porch with well
sculptured ornaments. On the stone carving running round this church
are a quantity of shields, containing about 152 letters, one letter to each
shield. It is in praise of St. Mary ; and, when read on from the com¬
mencement, gives, as each letter follows the other, “Ave Maria gratis
plena Dominus tecum sponsas,” &c., &c., till the laudation is conqolete.
In various views this church comes in as a most telling object. The castle,
or rather the magnificent ruins, are finely adapted for either the pencil or
camera. At various distances it assumes very peculiar shapes ; and the
keep, situate on an immense mound, looks like a cylinder springing out
from a large globe — the high ground on which it is placed giving a
double elevation to this noble wreck of perished greatness and bygone
times. The close views may be comprised in the Gateway, the Witches’
Tower at the south-east angle, and the ruined walls of and around the
keep. From the archway and entrance to the town from the east there
is a fine view of the castle : the keep as a middle distance — St. Mary’s,
with its elegantly traced tower, on the right — St. Stephen’s by Launces¬
ton, as it is termed, conspicuous in the extreme distance, backed by the
extensive chain of downs near Egles-Kerry, that extend across the country
from Launceston to the Bristol Channel — in the centre of the foreground the
old arched gateway, with its deep mullioned window laced around with
ivy, dark slate roof, and vane, high old-fashioned chimneys rising here
and there in satisfactory situations — the projecting sign-board of the low
roofed inn — remains of the old town wall, with its broad coping of rough
masonry — with the bold overhanging foliage of some fine trees right and
left — fill up and complete a very interesting picture. Another good
point is Jroin Newport Bridge, coming in from St. Stephen’s. Here the
keep rises most majestically over and above the surrounding houses —
St. Mary’s Church, now on the left, with castle and keep standing out
against the sky, clear, well defined, and uninterrupted — the foreground
composed of low thatched houses, some fine poplar trees, and the old
three-storey building at the entrance to the tan-yard — the rough masonry
of the parapet of Newport Bridge coming in right and left. Let the artist
now turn his back to the castle, and, instead of going up the hill to St.
Stephen’s, turn sharp round to the right, following the narrow road for
about 200 yards, when he will come to a high bank on the right of a lane,
and from this there is a most extensive and busy view of old Dunheved,
dilfering entirely in aspect from the two previous ones, the steepness of
the town being clearly indicated by the houses rising line above line, and
again bringing out in towering bold relief the ruined ivy-bound remains
of a thousand years. The Church of St. Thomas — old and time-worn —
with many cottages and ancient houses, the tower, and some old gables
reflected in the stream, will form a good subject. On the crest of the
hill is St. Stephen’s, a building of the sixteenth century, with a Gothic
tower of noble and elegant proportions, in a situation that will afford near
or distant views. Opposite the church is an open space where the fair is
held, from which spot many good views may be secured ; and directly in
front is an inn, from the upper windows of which some good instan¬
taneous pictures might be taken, as a room could be secured for preparing
the plates. A short distance farther on, to the right of the main road, a
broad gate, with more pretence to strength than elegance, leads into
Wcrrington Park, a place that dates from the time of William the
Conqueror. For studies of trees, detached or in groups, there are few
places in England to be named with it. On the right of the lodge as you
enter, a road winds up an immense embankment or wooded terrace,
ending in a sort of nondescript erection termed a triumphal arch. The
architectural pretensions of Wcrrington House are contemptible, but the
woods, glades, leafy screens, noble avenues, and all that combines the
beautiful in nature with the secluded, is to be met with here in perfection
and profusion — the river winding like a snake of silver through the
centre of the park, and thereby placing one part of the estate in Devon,
the other in Cornwall. From the terrace several fine pictures can be
taken, including the house on the Devon side, the church to the left on
the summit of some rising ground, overlooking the two conspicuous
mounds called “ Wilsworthy Barrows,” with North Tamerton on the right,
while below on the plateau of the park stands the house — mean and
insignificant in itself — but the fine dark masses of foliage, relieved by the
intermingled meadows and grassy slopes, the stone bridge and river,
gigantic trees of some centuries growth, will furnish pictures with re¬
flected tones, serial distances, and compound masses of landscape beauty
rarely to be met with. From the high terrace mentioned the operator
can place the camera at pleasure and select a variety of points, a con¬
venience and opportunity that no other place can offer. The lower part
of the park is equally rich in scenes of sylvan interest, either from the
bridge, the drive to the mansion, or pathway to the church. From this
path, sheltered by immense clumps of trees, interesting groups of deer
may be taken. We lately saw some fine specimens taken from an
avenue of bending boughs, a leafy thicket fringing the slope down to the
winding river’s edge, while on the sun-lit mound of grass and flowers
many of the herd were quietly feeding. The church is on the top of the
hill: it originally stood close to the mansion, but was removed, piecemeal,
from there some eighty or ninety years back, and re-erected in its present
position. In the jumble of reconstruction and rebuilding it has, ex¬
ternally and internally, established a sort of architectural order entirely
its own. The interior is like a large whitewashed and plastered room,
with a flat ceiling to match. In each side wall, north and south, is a
recess, to be reached and entered only from the exterior : these are the
pews for Werrington House. The pulpit is the only accessory that
gives any idea of a church. There is some fruit and flowers carved in
wood over the altar most exquisitely rendered — worthy of, and probably
by, Gibbons. The font is also finely cut in marble : it was a gift of the
Percy family. The exterior has something of the appearance of one of
the toys built by children from blocks and pieces taken out of a box and
termed “architectural models;” while in a niche of the tower, as if to
prove the truth of the saying, “ nothing new under the sun,” there is a
“ steel shirt ” of one of the Dukes of Cornwall. The church, both inside
and out, will make pictures, if not artistically good, decidedly curious. In
removing this building from its position close to Werrington House, the
graves and homes of the dead could not be removed, consequently the
greater part of the lawn of the above-named mansion is on the mouldering
bones and dust of hundreds of a bygone age. At the present day the
removal would not have been allowed. A short distance from where it
now stands is a place called “ Ladies’ Cross,” said to be the spot rendered
famous as the scene of meeting between King Edgar and the beautiful
Elphreda, the daughter of Orgarius, a renowned Cornish duke.
Yelm Bridge and Yelm Quarries — the moss-covered boulders and
woody ravine on one side of the bridge, with the quaint, gabled houses
and fine trees on the other, broken rocky foreground and dash of the
stream as it darts from one huge mass of granite to another — will give
several varied and interesting subjects. A week or more may be spent
round Launceston and the neighbourhood by amateur or professional
photographers, and a great number of first-rate subjects secured.
PHOTOGRAPH Y FOR TRAVELLERS AND TOURISTS.*
By Professor Pole, F.R.S.
It is the natural wish of most persons who visit a new locality to bring
back pictorial representations of the scenery ; and this want is usually
met in one of two ways — either by published views or by sketching. In
well frequented places, published views are generally to be had, and
command a large sale ; and the accuracy of these publications has of late
been much increased, and their circulation much promoted, by the more
general introduction of landscape photography, and the great increase of
professional practitioners.
But the facility of obtaining views in this way is not without its
drawbacks. In the case of engravings, both the accuracy and the
artistic merit may be anything but satisfactory ; ordinary photographs,
though they must be tolerably true, may not represent the particular
objects, or show them in the particular way the purchaser may desire ;
and it need hardly be said that there are vast numbers of localities
visited by both travellers and tourists, particularly the former, where
neither engravings nor photographs are to be found, and of which it is,
for that very reason, most peculiarly desirable to get accurate views. To
meet these difficulties, the only resource has usually been hand-sketch¬
ing. Now, the power to sketch well is undeniably one of the greatest
advantages a traveller can possess ; but, unfortunately, though drawing
is now one of our stock school accomplishments, only a small minority
of those who travel are able to transfer efficiently to paper what they
see • and even in favourable cases, though clever and artistic pictures
may be produced, the faithfulness of the representations must always be
more or less uncertain.
Doubtless, the idea must often have occurred to almost every traveller,
what an advantage it would be if he could himself take photographs,
where he likes, of what he likes, when he likes, and how he likes. But
such an idea must soon have been dismissed, from the supposed incom¬
patibility of this with ordinary travelling arrangements. The usual
notion of photographic operations comprehends a fearful array of dark
rooms, huge instruments, chemical paraphernalia, water, and mess,
which’ no s°ane person, out of the professional photographic guild, would
think of burdening himself with on an ordinary journey, and which only
a practised adept could use if he had them; and so the idea of a
* From Macmillan's Magazine,
July 15, 1863] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
277
traveller’s taking views for himself on his tour is generally dismissed at
once as an impracticable chimera.
Now, it is the object of this article to show that such a view of the
matter is a delusion, and that any traveller or tourist, gentleman or lady,
may, by about a quarter-of-an-hour’s learning, and with an amount of
apparatus that would go into the gentleman’s coat pocket, or the lady’s
reticule, put himself or herself into the desirable position we have named.
It is not our intention to write a treatise on photography ; but we must
state generally what the operations are, in order to make our explana¬
tions intelligible.
The process, then, of taking a photographic picture consists essentially
of three main divisions, namely — 1. Preparing the plate ; 2. Taking the
picture; and 3. Developing the image; and the most common and best
known arrangements of these is as follows : — A glass plate of the proper
size is coated with collodion, and made sensitive to light by dipping in a
bath of a certain solution. It is then, while it remains moist, placed in a
camera obscura, and exposed to the image formed by the lens ; after
which, hut still before the plate has had time to dry, it is taken out, and
treated with certain chemicals which have the property of developing the
image so obtained. The plate is then what is called a “negative ;” from
which, after it has been secured by varnish, any number of impressions,
or “prints,” may be taken at any time.
Now, it will be seen, by the words we have printed in italics, that,
according to this method of operation, the whole of the three parts of the
process must be performed within a very short space of time ; and, since
the first and third require to be done in a place to which daylight cannot
enter, a dark room, supplied with a somewhat extensive assortment of
chemical apparatus, must be provided close to the place where the picture
is taken. This method, from the necessity of the plate remaining moist,
is called the ivet process. It is alwaj’s employed for portraits, and has
the advantage not only of great beauty of finish, but of extreme sensi¬
tiveness, requiring only a few seconds’ exposure in the camera.
The wet process was the first, and, we believe, for some time, the only
collodion process in use. But, in a happy moment, it occurred to some¬
body to inquire whether it was really indispensable that the plates should
be kept moist during the whole operation ; and it was found that, by cer¬
tain modifications of the process of preparing them, they might be allowed
to dry, and that some time might elapse between the preparation and the
e xposure, as well as between this and the development. The immense
advantage this promised to landscape photography led to extensive inves¬
tigation ; and several processes have now been perfected which will
secure this result. Plates may be prepared at any convenient time and
place, and may be carried about for months, ready for use at a moment’s
notice ; and, after the picture is taken, they may also be kept some time
before development. The only juice we pay for this advantage is the
necessity for a little longer exposure in the camera ; which, for land¬
scapes, is of no moment at all.
The bearing of this discovery on our more immediate subject will be at
once apparent, as it gets rid of the necessity of providing, on the journey,
for the preparation and development, with all their cumbersome and
troublesome apparatus, and limits what is necessary to the simple
exposure, or taking of the picture. And another advantage of still more
importance follows from tins — namely, that the plates may be prepared
and developed, not only in another place, but by another person. The
knowledge, care, and skill required for photography, as well as the stains
and all other disagreeables attending it, refer almost exclusively to the
preparation and development ; the exposure to take the view is an opera¬
tion of the simplest kind, which anybody may learn in a few minutes,
and which is attended with no trouble or inconvenience whatever.
Limiting, therefore, the traveller’s operation to the taking of the pic¬
ture, let us consider what this involves. The first question which affects
materially the portability of the necessary apparatus is the size of picture
to be taken. We are accustomed to see very large and beautiful photo¬
graphs of scenery and architecture ; but these would be impracticable for
the traveller, as the dimensions of the plate increase so materially every
portion of the apparatus. Differences of opinion and of taste may exist
as to the degree of inconvenience it is worth while putting up with ;
but the writer of this paper, after considerable experience, has come to
the conclusion that the smallest size in ordinaiy use — namely, tho
stereoscopic plate — is by far the most eligible one for travelling. The
object is not to make large and valuable artistic pictures — that we must
always leave to the professional man — but it is simply to preserve faith¬
ful representations ; and this may be done as well on the small as on the
large scale, and with infinitely less trouble. For, though the size is
small, the delicacy of detail procurable with well-prepared plates, even in
a large extent of view, is something marvellous, as may be easily seen in
some of the magnificent stereoscopic views that are to be had in the
shops ; besides which, the stereoscopic effect gives an air of reality to
the view which greatly enhances the value of the representation.
The camera for taking stereoscopic views has now been reduced, by
ingenious contrivances, to a very portable size. The one used by the writer
is nine inches long, five and a-half inches wide, and three inches high —
about the dimensions of a good-sized octavo book. It weighs a little
over two pounds, and hangs by a strap round the neck in walking with
no inconvenience. The stand folds up into a straight stick, which is
carried easily in the hand. A stock of eight plates, in slides ready for
use (sufficient generally for a day’s operations), go into two folding
pocket cases. The tourist can thus walk about without the slightest
sense of incumbrance, and is prepared, at any moment, to take a perfect
stereoscopic view of anything he sees — an operation which will occupy
him from five to fifteen minutes, according to the light, and the time he
may take to choose his position.
Considered as adding to the baggage of the traveller, these things arc
hardly worth mentioning — as, with the exception of the stand (which
travels well in company with an umbrella), they will all lie snugly in a
spare corner of a portmanteau. Of course, however, a stock of plates
must be added. A dozen of these, with appropriate packing, will occupy
about eight inches long, four inches wide, and one and a-half inches
high ; and from this the space occupied by any number it is proposed to
take on the journey may be easily estimated. Suppose there are five
dozen — a pretty fair allowance — these, with camera and all complete,
will go into a very portable hand-box, or into one of the small black
leather bags now so common.
If the operator chooses to go to a little extra trouble, it is highly’- satis¬
factory to be able to develop the plates on the journey, which may con¬
veniently be done in the evenings, at a hotel or lodging, and the appa¬
ratus for which adds very slightly to the bulk of the preparations. A
small case of bottles, five inches square and two and a-half inches thick,
together with one or two small loose articles, are all the author takes
with him. The development of a plate takes five or ten minutes, and is
a process easily learnt ; and the satisfaction of being able to see, the same
evening, what one has been doing in the day, is quite inducement enough
to do it.' But still, we repeat, this is not necessary, as the development
may be left to another person and to another time.
We think we have shown how every traveller or tourist may be his
own photographer, with much less trouble and difficulty than is generally
supposed ; and we must add that this is no untried plan. The writer of
this article has been much in the habit of travelling ; and, for years past,
when he has gone on a journey, the little camera has been put into the
portmanteau as unassumingly and as regularly as the dressing-case. It
has travelled in all sorts of countries, and has cast its eye on scenes
which camera never looked at before : it has been a never-failing source
of interesting occupation and amusement, and has recorded its travels in
hundreds of°interesting views, some of much excellence, and very few
otherwise than successful.
But it may be asked — since the advantage and usefulness of this plan
are so undeniable, how is it that we do not see it in more frequent use ?
Simply for the reason that the dealers in photographic apparatus have
never yet had the enterprise to establish a manufacture and sale of dry
prepared plates in such a way as to ensure their popularit}-.
The manufacture and sale of photographic apparatus and chemicals is
now becoming a very large branch of commerce ; but many of the large
numbers of tradesmen who prosecute it appear to have a much more ear¬
nest view towards the profits of the business than to the advancement of
the art ; for, since the death of poor Mr. Archer (to whom we owe almost
entirely the present state of photography, and who lost a fortune in its
improvement), nearly every advance made has been by private indivi¬
duals. We must not be misunderstood. There are many people who
profess to sell dry plates, and these may often be found to possess many
of the requisites they should have ; but few can be depended on, and
none combine all the qualities which are necessary to give the system the
full benefit of its inestimable value. Some will not keep long enough
before exposure ; some will not keep at all after exposure ; some fail in
sensitiveness ; some spoil soon after they are opened ; to say nothing of
the constant liability to stains, irregularities, blisters, and all sorts of
troublesome and annoying defects, which not only spoil the operator’s
work, but — what is of more importance— destroy all reliance on his
operations, and so discourage him from undertaking them. c are
not sure whether some dealers may not be obtuse enough even
to encourage defects, from the short-sighted notion of increasing the
sale ; but this we can say— that we know no maker who will guarantee
the sincerity of his wish to make good plates, by consenting to allow for
them if they turn out bad ones. If this state of things arose from im¬
perfection in the art we should not grumble, but could only urge
improvement; but this is not so. It is well known that dry plates cun
be made, satisfying all the conditions we have named, and which, with
care and system in the manufacture, might be rendered thoroughly trust¬
worthy. It is only the indolence or obstinacy of the trade that prevents
their becoming regular articles of commerce.
We do not wish, however, to discourage the traveller who may wish
to adopt this admirable aid to his wanderings ; for the object to be gaiued
is so important that it is worth striving a little for. In the present state
of the matter, he must either learn to prepare liis own plates— which,
after all. is no great exertion — or, if he buys them, lie must at least learn
to develop them, and must, at the same time, lay in with them a certain
stock of patience and temper to meet disappointment: aud we can assure
him that, even at this price, he will find himself amply repaid. But we
again urge that the case ought not to stand thus. The application of
the dry processes to portable photography offers a boon almost inestimable
to. but yet quite unappreciated by, the traveller and the tcurist ; and it
only needs the zealous and earnest co-operation of the dealer, by so con¬
ducting the manufacture as to render it perfect and trustworthy, to raise-
this application into a branch of commerce of an extent, importance, and
profit, little inferior to any in the trade.
278
[July 15, 1802
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Straps ;mi) Jfraqmwts.
Bromide in Collodion. — A member of the North London
Photographic Society says in a note lately received : — “ I have been
using bromo-iodised collodion lately with iron developer, and think
it considerably slower than the simple iodide, though I think, as a
rule, you get softer and better pictures. I much prefer fixing the
negative before intensifying.”
The Pyrogallic Bath. — A correspondent, referring to the
Editor’s remarks upon this subject in our last, reminds us that Mr.
Archer referred to washing the plate with the pyrogallic solution
immediately before exposure as a means of increasing the sensi¬
tiveness of the plate, in the second edition of his little book on
The Collodion Process on Glass, published in 1854.
The Solar Camera. — One of our staff writes: — “In a recent
letter received from Mr. Atkinson, the well-known manufacturer of
these, we were assured that he has applied artificial light in their
use with uniform and continued success, and that enlarged prints
by bis plan may be secured all the year round with the greatest
regularity and despatch. Such a consummation is, at any rate,
‘most devoutly to be wished.’ We ourselves had a negative
detained by a professional operator with this instrument, for want
of light sufficiently intense and uniform, some four or five months.”
The Rev. J. B. Reade, F.R.S. — A card-portrait of this gentle¬
man — whose name is connected with the very early history of our
art, as an experimentaliser and discoverer of several of the most
important principles involved in its successful practice — has just
been published by Messrs. Harvey, Reynolds, and Fowler, of
Leeds. As there is always existing a considerable amount of
interest relative to the personal appearance of those to whom we
feel indebted for gratification, especially with reference to our
peculiar hobby, we may safely predict a large demand for copies
of the portrait under consideration.
Obituary. — From the American Journal of Photography , just re¬
ceived, we glean the melancholy fact that Mr. L. M. Dornbach,
aged 30 years, expired at his residence in Brooklyn on the 23rd
ult. The death of Mr. Dornbach was in consequence of injuries
received by an explosion of gun-cotton, which occurred while he
was pressing down the cotton in a case with a heavy stick, when
a thrust, probably heavier than usual, ignited the mass. Mr.
Dornbach was well known in America, and to some in this country,
as a manufacturer of photographical chemicals, and as a writer on
photographic subjects, — some of his contributions having been
copied into this Journal from American sources. We call attention
to this untimely removal from the scene of his labours of another
active photographic worker, not only as a record of his departure,
but also as a caution to those who have much intercourse with the
highly explosive material, gun-cotton.
New Publications. — The Recent Great Floods in the Fens , photo¬
graphed by Mr. Valentine Blanchard, will soon be laid before the
public in some of the most interesting and picturesque phases
of their devastating influence. — The Lady Gocliva Procession at
Coventry was photographed by Mr. Smith in a series of stereoscopic
slides, the publication of which will, doubtless, shortly be announced.
— Mr. Bentley announces a new work called Sinai Photographed ,
which must certainly prove very interesting, giving, as it will,
photographs of the various rock inscriptions which mark the route
of the Children of Israel through the desert and away from the
bondage of the Egyptians. — Messrs. Day and Sons are busily
procuring photographs of the Master-pieces of Industrial Art and
Sculpture at the International Exhibition of 1862. These photo¬
graphs being coloured after the originals, are then to be faithfully
reproducd in chromo-lithography to illustrate a new work bearing
the above title, by J. B. Waring, the dedication of which has been
graciously accepted by the Queen, and the copies of which are to
be limited to 2000, or such smaller number of copies as may be
subscribed for before the close of the Exhibition.
Disderi’s Formulae. — Messrs. Harvey, Reynolds, and Fowler, of
Leeds, give the following formula! for the silver baths, developing
solutions, &c., as recommended by Disderi, from his extensive
experience, as producing the best results. The manipulatory
details do not vary particularly from those in general use. Silver
bath for winter : — Pure nitrate of silver sixteen drachms, distilled
water twenty ounces. Silver bath for spring and autumn : — Pure
nitrate of silver thirteen and a-lialf drachms, distilled water
twenty ounces. Silver bath for summer: — Pure nitrate of silver
ten drachms, distilled water twenty ounces. Iron developing
solution for negatives: — Protosulphate of iron sixteen grains,
glacial acetic acid (50°) sixteen drops, distilled water one ounce.
Pyrogallic developing solution for negatives : — Pyrogallic acid four
grains, glacial acetic acid (50°) forty drops, distilled water one
ounce. Solution for giving intensity, &c., to feeble negatives, to
be used after the iron developer has been washed off : — Nitrate of
silver fourteen grains, glacial acetic acid (50°) sixteen drops, dis¬
tilled water one ounce. Solution for intensifying and clearing ne¬
gatives that lack vigour, &c., from over exposure : — Bichloride of
mercury one and a-half grains, hydrochloric acid three drops, chlo¬
ride of gold one and a-half grain, distilled water one ounce. To be
used after fixing. This solution should not be employed if a large
number of prints are desired from the negatives, as from long ex¬
posure to the sun the negatives thus treated become opaque and
hard in their details.
A New and Valuable Contrivance. — A contributor says : —
“At the studio of Mr. Hemans, in Coventry Street, we were recently
shown a new camera designed by that gentleman for taking the por¬
traits of children, and so contrived that the obtaining of the focus
and the exposure of the plate are secured at almost one and the same
instant of time, and without the operator moving from his place at
the back of the camera. Three lenses, possessing exactly the
same qualities of focus, &c., are made use of — two for producing
two images on the exposed plate, and one for securing the focus on
a piece of ground-glass, which is all its own. Of course the interior
of the camera is separated into the necessary divisions. To do away
with the black cloth, one of Ramsden’s eye-pieces is fixed to a
sliding shutter and arranged in connexion with the focussing-glass.
The two lenses are covered and uncovered at once by a shutter
acted upon by a rod with a milled head, turned from the side. The
professional photographer, who knows the difficulties of getting
children’s portraits only too well, will appreciate Mr. Hemans’
ingenious contrivance. We well remember how frequently we
have obtained the focus of some too lively and intelligent child,
and if we could, on the instant of obtaining it, only have exposed the
plate all would have been well; but there has been the casting off
of the black cloth, the removing and depositing in a place of safety
of the focussing-screen, the getting and putting on of the cap of
the lens, the putting in of the dark slide, the exposing of the plate,
and then — the doing of this all over again! because that plaguy
morsel of liveliness and intelligence had been following all our
motions with his head and eyes, and so was entirely out of focus.
(Bnixmcuts.
PHOTOGRAPHY AT SALES BY AUCTION.
In these sales there is much that is very amusing to the photo¬
grapher. The puzzled auctioneer vainly strives to seem quite at
home with the articles he is putting up, and quite innocently makes
the funniest of funny remarks in his endeavours to extol their
various attractions and peculiar excellencies. Occasionally he —
the photographer — smiles to see some raw but enthusiastic novice
“just going to begin ” purchasing articles at about ten or twenty
per cent, above their fair market value — bidding, perhaps, as we
once saw not long since, twenty, thirty, or forty pounds for some
huge single lens under the fond impression that he is obtaining a
treasure worth four times that sum at the very least, because he
had inquired the price of a first-class portrait combination not much
larger at an optician’s, and remembered how the optician’s answer
quite took his breath away, so enormous was the sum he named.
Poor fellow ! to him a lens is a lens. What knows he of double
and single combinations, spherical and chromatic aberration, French
or English or other makers, &c., &c. ? and his face beams with
smiles as he pays his cash, takes the huge, unwieldy-looking pho¬
tographic mortar under his arm, and goes his way rejoicing.
Then there are those never-failing attendants of all sales — the
sons of “Israel/’ — the keen of eye, and scornful of lips — looking
cunningly at the auctioneer whenever a bid goes beyond the
bounds of the reasonable, or shrugging their shoulders with a
look of intense pity and astonishment directed towards the
unreasonable bidder. These worthies have not yet mastered
the mysteries of photography ; and, taking care to keep on the
safe side, they bid no more for a lens by Alexander Ross than
they would for one of the commonest French makers’, and
regulate their bids for other pieces of apparatus simply and
securely by the value of the probable materials of which they
are made. These, again, are a great source of amusement to the
photographic observer.
But although, in the metropolis at any rate, photography very
frequently makes its appearance at auction sales, it is only now and
July 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
279
then that bargains of a genuine kind are met with thereat. We
have known more than one cunning fellow who regularly pur¬
chased new apparatus to put into sales as second-hand, and so
reaped no little profit. Ipswich contains a gentleman of repute
who did not think this kind of “dodge” beneath his notice, and
who now boasts of large sums reaped by such ingenious morsels
of speculation. We have heard the same stories told of American
auctions. Bargains, however, are met with, and we know several
photographers who earn a very good income by attending sales in
which photographic apparatus form one or more of the lots; but
these are as well initiated in the mysteries of auction rooms as they
are in those of photography : hence their success.
We duly attended, on behalf of this Journal, the recent sale of
Mr. Lake Price’s apparatus, &c., and now make our readers
acquainted with the result. The backgrounds and accessories for
the glass room commanded, on the whole, very fair prices. Of the
former we heard more than one photographer present exclaim,
deprecatingly — “ How faint and indistinct ! I would not give
much for that!” — a feather which told how their taste blew in
these matters. The stuffed animals so intimately associated with
Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday, as seen in the specimen pho¬
tographs exhibited at the same time, made their appearance, with
others, and were sold for somewhere about two pounds for the lot.
Baths, dishes, printing-frames, glasses, and camera-stands followed,
and seemed to command a ready sale. A number of cameras by our
best makers, many having contrivances of an attractive and inge¬
nious character, followed in due course, among which was a very
valuable instrument for pictures 30 by 30, which, with a
handsome mahogany stand, sold for £23. A very fine collection of
lenses was sold at very fair prices indeed, and also twenty-five
of Mr. Lake Price’s finest negatives — some, such as Don Quixote
in His Study , and the Robinson Crusoe series, already well known,
and others yet unpublished. The proceeds of the sale amounted
to between seven and eight hundred pounds. Among the
unpublished negatives was one, called The Old Falconer , which
is as fine a specimen of art-photography as we have ever had
the pleasure of inspecting; whosoever got it for £20 had a bar¬
gain. Most of the negatives were knocked down to purchasers
who did not attend the sale. The auctioneers were Messrs.
Puttick and Simpson, Leicester Square.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOKE.
A FRIEND of ours, being with an exploring party in Assyria,
played the following joke off upon his companions (you must
know that our friend was with the party as draughtsman, and to
aid his labours, like one wise in his generation, also made use of
his skill as a photographer) : — Returning with some sketches and
photographs one day, he exhibited what was regarded by the whole
party as one of the most marvellous and interesting of their many
valuable discoveries. This was seemingly a paper negative from
one of those peculiar Assyrian sculptures which speak so mutely,
but eloquently, of the mighty peoples of old. Strange to relate,
it was palpably intended for an image of Nebuchadnezzar in the
hour of his degradation to the level of a beast, and was as faithful
a realisation of the Bible description as could be imagined. Great
was the joy of the little party, and noisy was the stir it created ;
until the artist and photographer laughingly exhibited a very cle¬
ver and deceptive water-colour sketch, on rough granular paper,
from which the pholograph had been obtained. Not long since,
attending, in a country town, a lecture upon recent discoveries in
Assyria, we were amused by seeing one of the prints from this
negative brought forward as illustrating the literal truths of the
Great Book. How it was obtained we know not : many copies
were certainly circulated among the personal friends and acquaint¬
ances of the artist, and some one of these may be responsible for
the hoax for aught we know to the contrary. It made a profound
impression upon the audience, and may yet turn up again in some
very similar manner. A negative from the original drawing is
now in the possession of Mr. A. H. Wall. R. A. S.
Hirelings nf Satieties.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of the Council of the Amateur Photographic Association
was held on Monday, the 7tli instant, at 26, Haymarket, — the Right
Hon. the Earl of Caithness in the chair.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The Secretary then laid before the meeting the prizes of the Associa¬
tion, consisting of a highly ornamented claret jug, and a plainer silver
mounted ditto, three silver goblets, and two silver inkstands.
The Chairman having reported that his Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales had graciously condescended to become the President of the
Association, he was elected by acclamation, and the Secretary was
directed to address a letter to his Royal Highness expressive of the great
satisfaction experienced by the Council at his condescension.
The following Vice-Presidents were elected, viz. : — The Most Noble
the Marquis of Drogheda, the Right Hon. the Earl of Caithness, the
Right Hon. the Earl of Uxbridge, and the Right Hon. the Viscount Rane-
lagh. Also, Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzgerald de Ros and John Gooch, Esq.,
members of Council.
The Secretary then laid before the Council the names of the follow¬
ing Members and Subscribers who have joined the Association since
the last meeting : — Dr. Diamond, G. \V. Simpson, Esq., Lord Carew,
Lady Carew, the Hon. Naussau Joscelyn, Colonel Challoner, Major J*.
Wingate, Captain J. C. Bonamy, Captain R. J. Henry, Captain Arthur
Burnaud, Captain Fairlie, Rev. W. Law, Rev. W. Eardley, Rev. H.
Sal way, John Gooch, Esq., W. L. Banks, Esq , W. W. King, Esq., 0.
King, Esq., W. M. Barnes, Esq., F. Chambers, Esq., F. Beasley, jun.,
Esq., C. Walters, Esq., W. Jeffrey, Esq., W. II. Bullock, Esq., S. J.
Wethrell, Esq., R. A. Cayley, Esq., R. B. Bonman, Esq., G. Burd, Esq.,
W. Y. Owen, Esq., J. II. Page, Esq., W. Weare, Esq., J. W. Fall, Esq ,
C. J. Tozer, Esq., W. H. Harton, Esq., Miss. E. Scott, C. Topham, Esq.,
G. Hamilton, Esq., Miss Clough, C. R. Jones, Esq., A. Eichholtz, Esq.,
C. T. Dickenson, Esq., II. Boycott, Esq., D. White, Esq., Jas. Page,
Esq., A. Fewtril, Esq.
The Right Hon. Viscount Ranelagh having inquired whether pro¬
fessional photographers were eligible as members, was informed by the
Secretary, that amateur or non-professional photographers could alone
become members of the Association. This having given rise to a
discussion upon the mode of admitting members, it was decided that
henceforth candidates for admission as members or subscribers must be
proposed and seconded by existing members, and elected by the Council.
After the consideration of other matters relating to details of adminis¬
tration, &c\, the proceedings of the meeting terminated.
Jxrreigu Ccrrcsponbcirte.
Paris, July 11 th, 1861.
The French Society of Photography held its last meeting for the
season on Friday, the 4tli inst. What proves the attention that is
being given to instantaneous processes in France, as well as in
England and America, is the fact that three communications were
made that evening on instantaneous shutters and an apparatus
similar to Mr. Skaife’s pistolgraph. The first shutter was pre¬
sented by M. Humbert du Mollard, and is intended for stereoscopic
objectives. It is simply a blind lifted by means of a knob, which
sets a little cog-wheel in motion. A spring which the operator
pushes allows the stuff to spread out rapidly and without the
slightest jerk. The system is simple, and works easily and surely.
M. Antonini, an officer of the Chasseurs, has contrived an appara¬
tus of quite a different construction, which he has found very
serviceable. His shutter is composed of two copper discs, joined
together by a semi-circumference of the same metal, which turns
on a fixed pivot. A metallic rod, with a head to it, communic.ites
with a clamp, which keeps the whole motionless when the objective
is uncovered. On turning this rod the clamp is displaced, and tho
whole of the shutter, drawn by a weight fixed at the top, makes a
circular movement as it falls, so that the light passes rapidly over
the whole surface of tho lens through a crescent-like aperture
between the lower disc and the semi-circumference. It is very
difficult to describe such instruments without diagrams. I hope,
however, that this explanation will not be incomprehensible. M.
Antonini's model was constructed in a somewhat rough style, by a
soldier, and yet it works perfectly well. The pistolgraph presented
by M. Brivis, which is much the same as Mr. Thompson’s, is more
complicated, so I will not describe it : besides, the readers of The
British Journal of Photography are sufficiently acquainted with
the kind of instrument, to render description unnecessary.
M. Adolphe Martens, Professor of Natural Philosophy, amongst
whose favourite studies photography holds the principal place, has
been experimenting on the tannin process, and that with admirable
success. To develop the image, he pours the cold solution upon
the warmed glass. The same gentleman communicated to the
obtains from it effects as energetic as from sulphate of iron. His
meeting a method of developing with pyrogallic acid, by which he
modification of the developing bath consists in the addition of
alum. The bath is composed of 380 cubic centimetres of non-
calcareous water, ten of alcohol, and one gramme of pyrogallic acid.
To twenty cubic centimetres of this mixture, he adds twenty-five
grammes of alum, dissolved in 500 grammes of water.
280
•THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[July 15, 1862
M. Voyteau exhibited a new system of screen for graduated
grounds/ It consists of thin sheets of transparent paper, each with
an oval aperture in the middle ; these are placed one upon the other
in such a manner that the sheet with tiie smallest aperture is at
the bottom. The ovals being of graduated sizes, it follows that
the light has to pass through a thickness increasing from the
central opening to the margin, which corresponds with the margin
of the picture. In this manner an harmonious gradation is ob¬
tained, and the printing can be done just as for plain grounds.
I have lately seen, in M. Martens’ operating-room, a series of
views taken by that gentleman during a recent tour in Switzerland.
These landscapes are nowise inferior to the works which have
established the reputation of this veteran of French photographers.
If M. Martens has sent nothing to the Universal Exhibition, it must
not be supposed that he has ceased to practise an art in which he
has been so successful. He has thought — for he is a philosopher
as well as an artist — that he has hitherto had his fair share of re-
wai'ds, having obtained the grand medal in 1851, and, somewhat
later, the decoration of the Legion of Honour. He has, therefore,
left the place to new comers. Is this from pride or from genero¬
sity ? The talent of M. Martens allows us to admit both suppo¬
sitions.
Apropos of the Exhibition, nothing positive is yet known of the
recompenses awarded to French photographers. Two nominations
for the cross are talked of, and one of the names mentioned will
certainly be well received in England. I cannot, however, speak
more precisely at present on a subject which, naturally enough,
occupies the thoughts of so many. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , June 23, 1862.
With summer has come abundance of sunshine, and photographers
are rejoicing in the flood of bright light — helping them in their
glass rooms, at their printing windows, and, most of all, with their
solar cameras. Speaking of the last-named instrument, I will
take the liberty of quoting a part of a recent letter from Professor
0. N. Rood, of Troy, New York, bearing date June 11, 1862: — •
“For a long time past I have been in the habit of enlarging nega¬
tives by photography from five to twenty diameters, and am of
opinion that but little detail is lost if the operation be properly
conducted. The first copy or positive I make with a bright light
and as short an exposure as possible ; the second copy or nega¬
tive is, on the contrary, exposed as long as practicable. When
this rule is observed there is no difficulty in obtaining an enlarged
negative nearly double the intensity of the original one. The
lenses ought to be plano-convex, and similar in make to those
used in microscopes. As you state, I often employ a lens of rather
long focus, nearly in contact with the negative, for the purpose of
obtaining a larger circle of illumination. It should be adjusted
so that its focus for parallel rays falls a little behind the objective,
its use being much the same as the large bull’s-eye in the magic
lantern.” lie appends to his letter a sketch of this arrangement.
This letter was written in answer to one from your corres¬
pondent, desiring his opinion regarding the solar camera. The infor¬
mation he conveys in his letter is useful; but he does not give an
answer to what I most desired to know, viz.., Does the condensing
lens of the solar camera, if chromatic, interfere with the chemical
focus of the portrait tube used in the system? My letter to him
may have been written in too much haste, and no doubt the
questions were not clearly put. With us, direct printing with the
solar camera is much more in vogue than the enlargement of
negatives, as I have before said. In my own limited circle of
acquaintances I can find none who dispute its value, and all seem
to concur in the opinion that enlarged prints from small sharp
negatives are better in every respect than prints from large nega¬
tives. This is in especial reference to portraiture; for compa¬
ratively little has been done with landscapes. Mr. 0. H. Willard
made a trip to the mountains of Vermont and to Niagara, two
years ago, and brought home with him a large number of views
6i X 8i for his solar camera, and these he enlarged to the full
size of ordinary Saxe-papcr, producing remarkably fine pictures.
In ordinary landscape photography, where prints are to be made
by contact with the negative, there seems to be much trouble
experienced in bringing up the detail of the foreground without
fogging the extreme distance. Those negatives made for the
solar camera which I have had an opportunity of examining, were
made with collodion giving no intensity but plenty of detail — were
being also made quickly, and not forced in the development, and not
over-exposed in the distance.
From time to time we have been promised a sight of those
wonderful view lenses, of short focus, which Mr. C. C. Harrison
has been making. Some have doubted their very existence ; but
those who have been allowed to try them are loud in their praise.
I have before me about thirty stereographs made with these lenses
by various operators, and all are striking pictures. Among them
I might mention an interior of Anthony’s store, in Broadway.
The nearest objects are not five feet from the camera, and all, to
the extreme end of the long room, are in focus ; and, from the large
angle embraced by the instrument, the whole room seems in view.
Mr. Nelson Wright, Broadway, New York, has made arrangements
to manufacture these lenses. The factory is under the immediate
superintendence of Mr. C. 0. Harrison; and Mr. Wright says they
have now determined on the prices, length of focus, &c., lor two
sizes — one for taking stereoscopic pictures, and the other to cover
an 8 X 10 plate.
The first will have a focal length of about two and one-half
inches, a circle of light of five inches, and will make a negative in
about 12 or 15 seconds. These lenses will be matched in pairs,
and will be sold at about <S'50 per pair.
The size for an 8 X 10 plate will have a focal length of eight
inches, a circle of light of 16 inches, and will square a perfect
10 X 10 picture. Mr. Mathiot, of the United States Coast Survey,
Washington, some weeks since experimented with one having
a focal light of twelve inches, and it would make a larger and
better copy than his orthoseopic of twenty-four inches focus, and
would work in half the time.
In mentioning these lenses. I can give no opinion regarding
them, save from the work done by them in the hands of others ;
and I am free to confess that I have never seen better, nor even
so good work, as far as the instrument is concerned. I have a
landscape, with horses in the foreground, said to have been made
with these lenses in less than one second, and with an opening of
only one-eighth of an inch.
Some doubts have been expressed as to the correctness of their
principle of construction ; but with these the old adage holds
good — that “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” The
chemistiy of photography is doubtless an experimental science ;
and, to some extent, so also is the optical department of the art.
Were this not so, theory and mathematical calculations might long
ago have pointed out the most perfect form of lens : as it is,
each change for the better is the result of experiment, suggested
of course by theory, but perfected by careful trials of forms and
qualities of glasses.
In applied protography, we may mention that photographic
enlarged copies of the wood-cut illustrations of medical text-books
are being used in some of the colleges, and meet with favour.
The prints are from negatives 14 X 18, and can be readily seen by
the students in all parts of the class-room. Mr. A. Hemble, of
Philadelphia, has made a considerable number of these pictures.
When I look back at what has been said about quick dry plates —
how sure we have been that the true process had been discovered,
and, again, bow disappointed we have been when these quick
plates proved so very slow — I cannot help thinking that the
subject is, and has been, the all-engrossing pursuit of our amateur
photographers for months past. The accounts of Dr. Draper’s hot
water process are as contradictory as ever. But if my letters to
The British Journal of Photography were examined, it would
be found that each alternate letter seemed to bear testimony now
for and then against it. These letters are intended, as far as
possible, to be the index of the state of the art in America, and
must therefore echo the sentiments of our ’leading photographers.
In my last I quoted a letter to show how little good was t:o be
derived from the hot water; and now, this week, two professionals
of Philadelphia return home from a trip among the mountains of
Pensylvania, and they are full of the hot water process. One
says he graduates the heat to the time of exposure : the shorter
the exposure has been the hotter he uses the water to soak in.
He has made good tannin negatives with five seconds’ exposure.
In writing of this hot water soaking and cold developer, I have
always called it Dr. Draper’s process, and all on this side of the
Atlantic think that to him is due any credit that may be attached
to it. Hot development, i.e., the developer heated, has been
used by many in America, the idea, perhaps, having been de¬
rived from European journals. Some weeks ago, my attention
was called to an article in one of the English journals, accusing
July 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
281
us of taking to ourselves the credit of what had been long known,
used, and published in the English journals, and even copied into
the American journals. This was all in allusion to Dr. Draper’s
discovery, and one of my letters to The British Journal of
Photography was quoted in support of the assertion. To show
how grossly ignorant is your correspondent in all that relates to
the art as published, he is referred to an article copied into the
American Journal of Photography last August, in which the hot
water is mentioned. This is all very true as far as the hot water is
concerned; but, unfortunately, the writer of the article in question
insists that after the plate has been soaked in very hot water, the
developer (here he gives the formula) must be poured on .very hot
too. This, of course, is Dr. Draper’s process, only with a very slight
difference, that slight difference being the important part of Dr.
Draper’s claim. I should not have alluded to this, had I not been
urged to do so by many of my dry friends, who do believe in
the hot water and cold developer, and who, claiming some
knowledge of written photography, say that Dr. Draper was
the first who published the process. Independent re-discovery
of old things is going on all over the world, and it would be
strange if mistakes were not sometimes made in ascribing merit
to discoverers.
In my letters to The British Journal of Photography I shall
at all times state what we do and how we do it, and others may
decide in what country the ideas have originated. With us it is a
standing assertion that nothing American is ever adopted in
England unless some authority can be hunted up to prove that
it is an old idea — at least on the Continent, if not in England : vide
recent adoption of rotating iron turrets on iron-plated ships in the
British navy. There is another case in point. Years ago Mr.
Rembrandt Peale, of Philadelphia, placed a picture anonymously
in one of the London exhibitions. It was much admired and cre¬
dited to this or that English artist. Finally, when it was an¬
nounced as the work of a young American, the press acknowledged
that they were mistaken, but claimed it as the work of a pupil of
“our great painter, Benjamin West!” — forgetting that West him¬
self was an American.
The Philadelphia Press of June 21st tells us that a new applica¬
tion of miniature photographic portraits has originated with
Messrs. Whilt and Yost, the extensive Bible manufacturers, of
Market-street, Philadelphia. In their Bible — the text of which is
conformable to the standard of the American Bible Society — they
insert, as usual, blank leaves, suitably headed and divided for
notices of births, deaths, and marriages. Such records in a family
Bible constitute good evidence in our courts of law. In addition
to these they are introducing the novelty (patent applied for) of
placing several card-boards, perforated for the reception of small
photographic portraits, to follow the family register, thus accom¬
panying the record with resemblances of the loved ones whose
names are entered there. The idea is ingenious, and will, no doubt,
meet with favour. The specimen alluded to is a superbly-bound
quarto illustrated Bible, in clear pica type, with index, concord¬
ance, metrical version of the Psalms, with places, after the register,
for the reception of thirty-two cartes de visite.
Among the American amateurs are many who have studied and
practised photography for the purpose of accomplishing some one
scientific object: this ended, they have abandoned the art. As an
instance of this, I will mention Captain Rodman, of the United
States Ordnance Department. This gentleman demonstrated the
practicability of casting cannon of unusual size by cooling them
in a peculiar manner. He casts them hollow and cools them from
the inside. In his experiments with various kinds of iron at the
Fort Pitt Foundry, it was necessary that he should submit the
different qualities of iron to various tests, such as would show its
tensile strength, also its ability to resist crushing force and burst¬
ing pressure. To keep a more perfect record of these experiments
he called photography to his aid, and made pictures of his spe¬
cimens both before and after each experiment. These photographs
are preserved on a file, and from them were made the illustrations
which accompany his valuable work on the subject of metal for
cannon and on gunpowder. All the labour of making the first of
these photographs fell on Capt. Rodman himself, until he was able
to teach one of his junior officers to do the work to his satisfaction.
You have, no doubt, seen by this time, that the publisher of
Humphrey' s Journal has abandoned his quarto form, and come back
to the old octavo. I for one am glad of it. It was in that journal
your correspondent began his experience as a writer, and he has
to thank Mr. Ladd for the care with which his articles were put
in print. When the journal was converted into a newspaper sheet
it was like parting with an old friend. COLEMAN SELLERS.
Cnmsptfufrtiur.
FARADAY’S PORTRAIT.
To the Editor.
Sin, — In a paper read by M. Claudet, at the last meeting of the London
Photographic Society, On the Enlargement of Photographs, and published
in The British Journal of Photografiiy of the lath ultimo, it is stated
that M. Claudet exhibited a large portrait of Professor Faraday as an
illustration of the success of the apparatus he employs.
I must say I was not only surprised, but shocked, on reading the de-'
ception practised on the meeting; and, as I chance to know exactly how
the said portrait was produced, will you kindly allow' me a portion of
your valuable space to inform the readers of the Journal.
The canvas as delivered to the artist certainly had some scribbling
upon it, but so execrably bad that every touch of the pencil had to be
obliterated, and the whole drawing done by the artist from a small pho¬
tograph by his side. The painting, I admit, is wrell executed ; but M.
Claudet must not try to mislead the public with the idea that either his
apparatus or drawing has anything to do with the result, the whole
credit being due to the artist who began and finished the portrait the
same as he usually does from nature ; and if the others in the Inter¬
national Exhibition, of which M. Claudet speaks, have been executed in
the same way as Professor Faraday’s, then I hold they have no right to
be there, and the space ought to have been more suitably occupied with
something pertaining to photography. — I am, yours, See.,
44, Regent Street, London , June 26, 1862. J. G. MACAXDREW.
[Wc do not imagine that M. Claudet was aware that his sketch on the
canvas had been obliterated, but presume he was really under the im¬
pression that it had been of service in conducing towards the result
attained; but, with regard to the other point raised, even supposing the
painted portraits to have been produced exactly in the manner described
by M. Claudet, we hold that they are quite erroneously included in the
photographic collection, being only connected with the art in so remote a
degree that it requires a very long stretch of courtesy to recognise their
affinity, certainly not their kindred. — Ed.]
A LIGHT QUESTION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A few days ago I wTas surprised by hearing from a professional
photographer what wTas to me a novel theory in regard to light, which,
if true, ought to be better known, but which, if not true, ought to be
checked. I take the liberty, therefore, of asking a small space in your
columns for its consideration. The theory is to this effect : that if white
light be unavoidably admitted to a tent or other operating chamber
through the pores of the cloth which forms the tent, or otherwise, in
such a quantity as would be sufficient to fog a sensitive plate under
manipulation, the prejudicial eflect of that light may be prevented by
increasing the quantity of yellow light — say by enlarging the surface of
the window through which yellow light is admitted.
Now, according to all my old notions about light, such an idea seems
entirely wrong, as I have been under the impression that light of every
kind or colour has some amount of actinic influence ; and although
yellow light of a particular shade has so little as to render it practically
harmless to sensitive plates if kept within proper limits — even it may be
used in too large a quantity, and its effects rendered visible by fogging ;
but, even supposing the increased amount of yellow light to do no harm,
how can it counteract the white light ?
There is no doubt that no more water can be put into a vessel than
will just fill it, and that sand may be introduced and the water displaced
to a very large extent ; but, because this principle applies to ponderable
substances, does it follow that it also applies to light?
I fancy that light, being impondeiable, may be admitted in any
quantity into a chamber, and still leave room for more, of any colour;
but unless there could be displacement of the original light by the admis¬
sion of coloured rays, as in the displacement of water by sand, I cannot
see how the actinic influence present all along is to be kept from acting.
I am quite in the dark : can you enlighten me ? — I ant, yours, &e.
Edinburgh, . July S, 1862. G. H. SLIGHT.
[See paper by Mr. Taylor in this number. We shall probably have
somewhat to say on this subject in our next. — Ed.]
THE “BULL” AND THE “WALL.”— FHOTOGRAPHIC PATENTS
To the Editor.
Sir, — Our friend Wall has been rather severe lately on the profile
columns, vases, &c., supplied by Messrs. Bull and others. Now these
said articles are very useful in their way, and can be used sometimes where
solid ones could not; and the public do not, except in a few instances,
stop to consider whether they arc in perfect drawing or in keeping.
Still, if they were painted nearer to nature, with less intense shades and
glaring high lights, they would give greater satisfaction, and not offend
the eye of taste. The patrons of the art photographic would then have
with their portraits accessories that would seem to belong to the picture,
and not, as at present, forming no part of it in an artistic sense.
In writing thus I have no further interest than the general good, as I
paint my own for u so only, and not for sale.
282
[July 15, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Can you tell me, Mr. Editor, wherein consists the'novelty of Mr. McLach-
lan’s patent for the arrangement of blinds for the glass room ? That same
arrangement of vertical blinds on iron frames I have seen in use m Chel¬
tenham seven years ago, and used them myself at Gloucester a little time
after, also down here frequently— that is, if I understand rightly the de¬
scription given in The British Journal of Photography. I am, yours, &c.
Swansea, Juy 9 th, 1862. THOMAS GULLIVER.
TANNIN PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir —In Major Russell’s instructions for development it is advised
that from one to six grains of citric acid be used to each grain of silver.
Although the weather has been very cold recently, I have found that, with
equal weights of silver and citric acid (however small the quantity
added to the pyro. developer), there has been great tendency to fogging of
the high lights. I spoiled several pictures before dreaming of the cause.
TAree°grains of acid, however, to the ounce gave excellent results.
I must add that I used a weak solution of tannin, thus reducing the
minimum of acid. With a stronger solution of tannin, and hotter wea¬
ther, I should fancy, therefore, three grains of acid to one of silver would
be insufficient. The pictures developed with the larger proportion of
acid are much sharper than the others.
The acid not only retards development, but apparently causes the
silver to be deposited in much finer particles. This may be of interest
to those who take their negatives with a view to subsequent enlargement.
I am, yours, &c., D. H.
“PRINTING” QUERIES.
To the Editor.
Sm, — Will you be kind enough to inform me, through your Journal—
1. How much nitrate of silver a sheet of albumenised Saxe or Rive paper
takes up from the sensitising solution (strength 80 grains to the ounce) ?
2. Is it an essential that paper should be rolled after albumenising?
My reason for asking the latter is the being in a part of the country
where eggs can always be had fresh and in plenty, and commercial
albumenised paper generally being not much to be depended upon, I have
often thought of trying to prepare it myself, but the idea of machinery
has frightened me off it. I suppose that pictures rolled after mounting
would come to the same thing.
3. What is the cause of the appearance of the enclosed print? and
what is the disease ? — I am, yours, &c., N. B.
[1. The quantity consumed depends to a considerable extent on the
amount of chloride in the albumen. If you reckon three grains of nitrate
of silver for each grain of chloride in the albumen you will not be wide of
the mark ; or, without reference to the absolute strength of your nitrate
solution, but assuming it to be sufficiently strong to work with the paper
which you are using without its becoming unduly impoverished, you will
find about two and a-half drachms consumed by each ivhole sheet of paper.
2. Subsequent rolling will do.
3. A malignant case of “photographic measles,” arising from too weak
a solution of hyposulphite of soda for the fixing bath. Your stereograph of
the Jed but for that fault would have been a charming production. — Ed.]
CRITICISING THE CRITICS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Do you not think it is somewhat indecorous to bring the name of
T. R. Williams so constantly and prominently before your readers ? Of
Mr. Williams’s excellence I make no question ; but when, in number
after number of your Journal, he is held up before us by name as the super-
excellent example, I cannot but consider it unfair to other photographers.
The converse of the same strikes me, though in a minor degree, with
regard to M. Silvy. You lose no opportunity of “ having a cut ” at him,
whereas I think there can be no doubt whatever in the mind of any un¬
prejudiced person of the very high degree of beauty exhibited in that
operator’s portraits, though I have so often been disappointed in his
work for private persons of no note that I now never recommend him. I
have no interest whatever, nor any prejudice either, for or against any
photographer: it is simply a sense of justice which makes me address
you. — 1 am, yours, &c., AN AMATEUR.
[We arc always glad of an opportunity of “ seeing ourselves as others
see us,” because it enables us cither to correct our own errors or the
misapprehensions of our readers, should any exist. Will our corres¬
pondent oblige us by indicating by quotation of volumes and pages
where we have “ constantly and prominently” placed Mr. T. R. Williams’s
name before our readers? — say half-a-dozen times, by way of sample.
Certainly we l ave not deemed it needful to suppress the mention of this
gentleman’s name when it has been coupled with praise by some of our
contributors, entertaining, as we do, a high estimation of his skill as a
photographer ; but we have as certainly never “ held him up as the
super-excellent example,” for the simple reason that there are several
(though, we admit, not very many) professional portraitists whom we
place in the same rank with Mr. Williams.
We fear our correspondent is not more accurate in his assertion with
regard to the other gentleman to whom he alludes. We have no preju¬
dice against M. Silvy personally ; indeed, we barely know him by sight,
and are not acquainted with him. If we had a desire to act towards him
as our present correspondent imagines, opportunities are not wanting
for the purpose.
M. Silvy wrote an article in the pages of a contemporary calculated,
in our opinion, to degrade our art. We felt it our duty* to oppose that
article, and acted accordingly. We read a foolish article in All the Year
Bound, in which the author preposterously asserted that the only photo¬
grapher in London who understood the art of lighting his subject was M.
Silvy — an assertion which, besides being ridiculous, conveyed a gross
libel upon several of M. Silvy’s superiors in artistic skill (according to
our judgment) — and we wrote, not in condemnation of M. Silvy, but of
the author of an article which was either a most glaring puff or the off¬
spring of presumptuous folly. That some at least of M. Silvy’s portraits
do not possess “a high degree of beauty,” our correspondent himself
admits, he having been “ often disappointed ” in them. We cannot assert
as much, never having experienced disappointment owing to having had
no particularly exalted expectations ; but we have often seen portraits
by that operator which do not possess any beauty at all, and which are
certainly inferior to many by Robinson, Williams, Kilburn, Mayall, and
several other English photographers — consequently we reaffirm that
which we before asserted, namely, that the attempt to attribute to M. Silvy
alone a knowledge of chiaroscuro could only have proceeded either from
the desire to write a “ puff” or from sheer ignorance. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*** A number of Articles, in type and M.S., are left over for want of room.
J. J. — Declined with thanks.
A. — We are unable to comply with your request.
Atticus. — We have not seen any Grecian views.
Chas. Lavey. — Add a drop or two of dilute tincture of iodine.
Received. — 0. C., L^ivis., R. F. T. Also several others, too late for reply.
T. Jameson. — We have never heard of any photographer of noteof the name
mentioned by you.
Sambo. — Send one of your spoiled prints, and we will try if we can discover
the cause of your unsuccess.
Admirer. — Mr. Rejlander is now permanently located in London, and
may be found daily at No. 6, Haymarket.
S. M. W. (Falkirk.) — The Editor’s address may always be found in the last
page of the Journal above the list of “Contents.’’
C. M. T. — We have been informed that the subjects taken by Mr. Bedford
in the Holy Land will be published in due course.
J uvenis. — It is an indication of your having added too much iodising solu¬
tion : a little more plain collodion will rectify the inconvenience complained of.
S. M. W. — Exposing your proofs to daylight while in the toning bath is a
fruitful source of discoloration, and the specimen you have sent bears the
appearance of having been thus spoiled.
Glasgow Photographic Society. — “A. R.” says: — “Anew society is
to be commenced very soon. The busy season has kept us from getting started ;
but I expect we shall get on well by-and-by.”
G. L. — 1. We have very recently given the information for which you ask:
see number 120, 15tli February last. — 2. Send a small portion of the material,
and we will see if we can throw any light upon your doubt.
Thomas Quincy. — You have been misinformed. The gentleman to whom
you allude, though a professional photographer, is not a professional portraitist.
He has repeatedly declined to undertake that branch of the art.
Islingtonian. — The Mr. George Dawson whom you have heard lecture at
the Institution is only a namesake of our contributor ; though, oddly enough,
both have appeared at Myddleton Hall, but in different parts of the building.
Novice — No. 1 is a bad case of “ measles.” — No. 2. Your exciting bath was
too poor in silver. No 3. Paper contains particles of metal : if you hold it up
to the light you will perceive that each white speck contains an opaque nucleus.
Dry Plate. — You can scarcely adopt a better formula for your iodising
compounds for the pupose you indicate than that of Mr. Heisch, which is as
follows: — alcohol one ounce, fifteen grains iodide of ammonium, five grains
bromide of ammonium, one and a-half grains chloride of calcium.
Roving Rob. — We recommend you to procure a tourist’s ticket for a month
by the Great Northern route. You can take it for the whole distance, and may
break your journey once, if not twice, sleeping one night at York and the
second at Perth, if you do not arrive in time to go on.
Provincial. — We regret that you will not arrive in London at a time
when the North London Photographic Association is holding its meetings, as
we should have been happy to have introduced you as you desire; but, if you
will send your address when in town, we will endeavour to meet your views
otherwise.
John Raven. — We can tell you how to apply your preservative solution to
a much better purpose than dry plate photography, viz., add a little flour, and
put it into a frying-pan over the fire: when cooked it may be eaten. Do you
fancy we are so simple as to publish such an absurdity as a recommendation to
use a solution (?) of butter, albumen, and salt as a preservative? You must be
either attempting to hoax us or or be the victim of a hoax yourself.
g|-gr All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, d?c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street , Liverpool.
CONT
PAGE
LEADER . 263
SCIENTIFIC PHOTOGRAPHY. ByM.D. VAN
MONCKHOVEN . . 265
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING ON ALBUMEN¬
ISED PAPER. By GEORGE DAWSON, M.A. 266
REDUCTION OF WASTE SILVER. By C.
COREY . 266
ON AN OBSERVATION OF MOSER'S IMAGES 268
“ NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT.
By J. T. TAYLOR . 269
STEREOGRAPHS . 271
CARD PICTURES, AND HOW TO MAKE
THEM. By S. R. DIVINE . £72
ENTS.
PAOE
TEMPUS OMNIA REVEL AT . 272
EXHIBITION GOSSIP. By A. H. WALL,... 273
ON THE VENTILATING AND WARMING
OF PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERIES. By L.
McLACHLAN . 274
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA . 275
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR TRAVELLERS AND
TOURISTS. By PROFESSOR POLE, F.R.S. 276
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 278
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 279
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 279
CORRESPONDENCE . 28
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac . 282
THE BRITISH
JOUENAL of photogeaphy.
No. 171, VOL. IX. — AUGUST 1, 1862.
Photography One of the Fine Arts. — Our readers will,
no doubt, be gratified at learning that Photography has at
length been recognised as one of the Fine Arts ; not that we
can affirm as much of our own knowledge, nor do we very clearly
perceive how the case is made out ; but our friend the Sec¬
retary of the Photographic Society — himself also a juror appointed
by the Royal Commissioners for the International Exhibition —
says so; and, consequently, being so great an authority, he surely
ought to know. However, to avoid any possible chance of mis¬
leading our readers, we will quote Dr. Diamond’s own words
from his last leading article in the Journal of the Photographic
Society : —
“ But the fact of all others, and before all others, on which
the photographer will dwell with pleasure, is the public recog¬
nition which his favourite study has obtained. After a long
battle with the guardians of established rights, the Italy of the
Arts, as we may now fairly term photography, has made good
her pretensions, and received her place. We are a class of
ourselves ; we take our place -with oil-painting, with sculpture,
with engraving, with design. We do not blame the conser¬
vators of privilege who contested our right to the rank we have
now secured. We are a very young art : the sisterhood are
proverbially and properly jealous of intruders: our pretensions
were high, and we will not raise any objections, now that we
have gained our point, against those who put us to our proba¬
tion. It was their duty to see whether we had enough vitality
in us to bear the day of trial and to work down opposition. We
have done it. Our Palestro, our Volturuo, have been fought
and won : peace has been made.”
If we take these words in their natural sense we can come to
no other conclusion than that stated at the commencement of
this article.
Photography, “the Italy of the Arts,” has “received her
place” * * * “ with oil-painting, with sculpture, with
engraving ” — a very broad and distinct assertion ; but we should
have been better satisfied had our worthy friend assigned his
reasons for making it, or pointed out when and where the
desired recognition occurred: certainly there is nothing in the
rest of the article cited to indicate either time or place. We
should have probably been, for the present, contented with the
bare announcement from such an authority, but for its sur¬
roundings. Subsequent to the paragraph we have quoted, there
is an account of the award of prizes on the lltli ult. : prior to it
an allusion is made to “ a selection of fine pictures from many
nations, unrivalled for number and for beauty,” at “ the Palace (!)
in Cromwell Road.” Where can this be ? Surely our good
friend cannot be so beside himself as to dignify the miserable
union-workhouse-looking edifice, with the huge dish-covers at
either end, by the designation “ Palace.” This cannot be. He
has too much good taste for that — unless, indeed, he has been
altogether in an atmosphere of nitrous oxide, and his imagina¬
tive, poetical fancies have been stimulated thereby ; but, if so, we
tremble for the position photography has so recently obtained as
one of the Fine Arts, when the exhilirating effects have passed
away and sober truth confronts him with stern reality. There
is one other fact which adds uncomfortably to our misgivings :
we give in another page an analysis of the “ award of medals”
and “ honourable mention,” compiled from the official document
issued by the Royal Commissioners, and in the original we find
that rewards for photographs, apparatus, and photographic chemi¬
cals, are all mixed up in inextricable confusion ; consequently, if
the large number of exhibitors noticed in Class XIV. be regarded
as a recognition of the Art-claims of photography, we do not
perceive how the conclusion can be avoided that opticians,
camera-makers, and chemists are Artists as well as their
brethren the producers of pictures. Truly, however, this
award of prizes is another proof, if any more were wanted, of
the persistent determination of the Royal Commissioners to
ignore photography as a Fine Art ; for, unless we are grievously
misinformed, prize-medals are not given to exhibitors in that
section of the collection at South Kensington.
We have no intention of criticising the propriety of the
several awards made by the jurors; but we cannot forbear
asking one question : — If photography be now publicly acknow¬
ledged as a Fine Art , how does it happen that Mr. O. G.
Rejlander — whose claim to the title of “ artist ’ is second to none
in our guild — is only recognised by an “honourable mention? ”
A Postscript on Literary “Annexation. — The editor of
our contemporary, the Photographic Aries, has published two
whole pages of what we presume he means for a defence in reply to
our allegations against him. We regret that we are unable to
afford the space to gratify him by reproducing it (with acknow¬
ledgment) in extenso. Our readers would no doubt have been
edified at the extraordinary style of his reply, which he seems
to think ought to hinge chiefly upon the difference which
formerly existed between the proprietor of this Journal and the
Photographic Society relative to the title — “ I he Photographic
Journal" — which our legal adviser informed us we had a perfect
right to use (an opinion that a legal member of the Society s
Council admitted to be sound law), and which we discontinued
because we agreed, at the request of our opponents, to be bound
by the award of an arbitrator instead of compelling the issue to
be tried in a court of law. Y\ hat this has to qo with our present
complaint we are at a loss to perceive; but, as we find no proof
adduced of innocence of the charge which we made but, on
the contrary, that which is virtually an acknowledgment of it
we presume that the two pages of original matter with which we
have enabled our antagonist to fill his space have been called
up “for strategic purposes.” It is not easy to unravel the
tangled web of reasoning, if such it can be called, in winch
he indulges. Three or four things are, however, apparent : —
Firstly. That although the editor of the Photographic News
admits the name of this Journal to be a modest one (which is
true), somehow he does not like it (perhaps for the reason that
it is modest), and would have preferred its being called The
284
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1862
Photographic Ishmael — a vagary in which we can scaicely indulge
with, propriety. He says, also, it “dubbed itself The
British Journal of Photography — a feat that we should like
to have seen it perform, though we are not quite sure that we
understand the exact process of “dubbing.”
Secondly. The editor of the Photographic News affects to
imagine that we are ashamed of our connexion with Liverpool,
and insinuates that he would not feel so — (we should think not) —
knowing full well that we are proud of it. But when our
articles are copied by him, or any one else, we have a right to
demand that they shall be acknowledged as extracted from this
Journal under the name of our own choosing. In any other
kind of reference that he may please to make to us of course we
have neither the power nor the inclination to prevent his adopt¬
ing his owrn eccentric nomenclature.
Thirdly. Our charge is characterised as vague , and it is
“ simply and entirely denied but our opponent also declares
his intention of doing it again, and asserts that he promised (!)
Mr. Dawson beforehand that he would do it. Our vague charge
was — and is — that the editor of the Photographic News appro¬
priated, without due acknowledgment, a specified article, the
property of the Proprietor of this Journal ; that he has
acted in a similar manner on some former occasions, with
the simple difference that the articles unlawfully abstracted
were paid for by money’s worth, instead of actual cash. We
would not insult Mr. Dawson by even so much as an inquiry
whether or no he had consented to the reproduction of his article,
much less sought it, as implied by our contemporary — for we
know Mr. Dawson to be an honourable man. We presume this
charge is sufficiently definite.
Fourthly. We are accused of “ eking out our case ” by a
reference to unacknowledged translations from the foreign jour¬
nals ; and are told to mind our own business in reply. We can
well afford to let the foreign journals take care of themselves,
and only mentioned the fact in order to show the animus of our
contemporary, and thereby remove the possible plea of “inad¬
vertence ” which he makes — for we presume that he will scarcely
plead habitual inadvertence. But it so happens that we have
the written evidence of the author of at least one paper so treated,
with whom we have an engagement still in force, and who would
have been committing a breach of his engagement — an act of
which we believe him to be incapable — had his assent been
accorded to its reproduction without acknowledgment of the
source whence obtained. Is this sufficiently definite, or does our
contemporary desire any more instances ? We can supply them.
As a commentary upon our remarks relative to the injustice
of the practice of reproducing without acknowledgment, wre may
point to two instances illustrative of its effects. The News, as
we before intimated, appropriated in this way an article from
Cosmos : this was reproduced in the following number of Notes,
and credited to the News. We regret also to find that the
editor of La Lumiere has, with a few introductory words of his
own, translated the article by Dr. Maddox from this Journal, On
Acari in the Nitrate Bath, without acknowledgment, and the
same is reproduced in the following number of Cosmos, credited
to La Lumiere. We think we have now shown pretty clearly
the immorality of this unfair dealing.
In conclusion, we have to inform our contemporary that, if
lie do carry out his threat of “ doing it again,” we shall assuredly
tell him of it again, if not take further proceedings. Verb. sap.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING ON ALBUMENISED PAPER.*
By George Dawson, M.A.
Lecturer on Photography at King’s College, London.
The toning cannot be delayed long after the prints have been
removed from the frame. Both processes should be begun and
completed in the same day, for they have now been in contact
'' hie varnish of the negative and the pad of the pressure-frame,
both of which arc conducive to speedy decomposition of the silver
compounds on the surface and in the texture of the paper. Let
* Concluded from page 26<5.
them be well washed, away from daylight, in a vessel under the
tap — frequently changing the water, till all trace of milkiness has
disappeared. This will take from ten to fifteen minutes. They
are now less sensitive to light than before the free nitrate was
removed by washing, but still they will not bear with impunity
exposure to weak daylight, except for a very limited period. The
importance of thorough washing cannot be too strongly insisted
on, not merely because it facilitates the toning and prevents meali¬
ness, but because in the after-fixing bath free nitrate of silver is
certain to generate sulphuric acid, to the permanent detriment of
the pictures. Some writers have recommended a final wash in
weak acetate of soda, which experience shows is useful for a car¬
bonate of soda toning bath ; others, a weak solution of common
salt, which will certainly remove all traces of nitrate by converting
it into chloride ; but unless the whole, or nearly all, the nitrate has
been previously washed away, a thin film of chloride is likely to form
on the surface of the print, which will interfere with the regular
action of the toning bath. A final washing may therefore be
dispensed with, provided the others have been well performed.
For the toning bath many formulae have been at different times
proposed. Having tried all the most promising methods, I am
disposed to think several of them may be specially fitted for
different kinds of paper, and for obtaining variety of tone. Since
the universal cry of mealy prints was raised last summer, arising
from the use of alkaline gold, I have always adopted the follow¬
ing formula, and find it answers equally well for thick or thin
papers. It seems also to suit better than any other for the Rive
and Saxe now in the market. It is not by any means necessary
that it should be alkaline; on the contrary, from the small quantity
of free acid in the chloride of gold, it will generally be found when
recently mixed to have a slightly acid reaction. This is of some
importance in preventing the precipitation of metallic gold on the
bottom of the containing dish, which usually takes place in an
alkaline hath, while, at the same time, it does not prevent, but rather
hastens, its deposition on the print. Take
Distilled water . 20 oz.
Acetate of soda . 200 grains.
Chloride of gold . 2 „
Dissolve the acetate of soda first in the water, then add the gold,
and set aside the solution for at least an hour before being used.
Net more than six stereoscopic or twelve carte prints should be
immersed in the above quantity at the same time, and they must
be moved about and turned over continually to prevent irregularity
of action. It is impossible to state any precise time for the com¬
pletion of the toning. Much depends on temperature, on the
quantity of gold present, and on the quality uf the paper. Thin
Saxe and Rive, under favourable circumstances, will sometimes be
complete in five minutes, but under other conditions may take
more than half-an-hour. Thicker papers require longer time. A
convenient arrangement to enable the operator to judge of the
depth of tone attained is a small contiguous window, with a yellow
blind, which may occasionally be removed to admit a stream of
daylight. By the light of a taper or gas the different shades of
colours cannot readily he distinguished. When the depth seems
sufficient — that is to say, a little more than they are intended finally
to retain — remove one as a test into the fixing dish of hypo., at
the same time stopping the action of the gold on the rest by with¬
drawing them in a mass from the solution. If in the course of a
minute or two the one in the hypo, changes to a tone considerably
redder than desirable, allowr the other to remain some little time
longer in the toning bath. Experience is the best, and I may say
the only, guide to determine this point. The danger to be avoided
is in carrying the action too far, for it must not be forgotten that
they darken considerably in drying. Indeed, beyond a certain point,
they lose instead of gaining vigour in the gold, and are certain by
prolonged immersion to assume a weak slaty-blue appearance far
from pleasing.
The bath, after use, should be bottled up and kept in the dark
room. Acetate of soda, being itself generally slightly alkaline, may
not only neutralise the free acid of the chloride of gold, but cause
absolute alkalinity of the whole solution. This is not of much
importance, so far as the toning properties are concerned; hut it
has a tendency to precipitate after a time on the sides of the bottle
some of the gold not appropriated by the last batch of prints. A
strong light, high temperature, and exposure to the air, seem also
to encourage the same disposition. Care, therefore, should be taken
to add on each occasion of use only about as much gold as will
tone the prints on hand, — keeping in view the general fact that
each full sheet, 23 by 18 inches, requires one grain of gold. With
occasional filtering, when necessary, I have used the same bath
August 1, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
285
almost daily for upwards of two months, only adding acetate when
more water was required, and gold in proportion to the number
and size of the prints. The gold must be added and well mixed
before the prints are placed in the solution, and if at any time the}7
seem to tone slowly from a deficiency of gold, remove them until
more has been supplied.
Fixing. — It is not of much importance to wash the prints again
before fixing, unless the toning bath happens to be acid. In which
case a thorough washing in ordinary water is necessary to prevent
a sulphuretting action in the hypo. Supposing, then, the toning-
bath is neutral or alkaline, the prints may at once be thrown into
a solution of —
Hyposulphite of soda . G ounces,
Water . 1 pint,
and moved about therein until all the superfluous chloride and
other silver salts have been dissolved.
With the above strength of solution, five minutes will be sufficient
for thin and ten minutes for thick paper in warm weather. But
if the temperature falls near the freezing point it is better to leave
them twice that time, inasmuch as chloride of silver quickly enters
into combination with hyposulphite of soda at the ordinary sum¬
mer temperature, but much more slowly in extreme cold. A weaker
solution of hypo, than here given is often recommended, sometimes
as low as 2 oz. to the pint. I cannot help thinking this is a grave
mistake. Weak solutions are undoubtedly a fertile source of
measles. At all events experiment shows that paper having a pre¬
disposition to that disease, and charged with a full proportion of
chloride and albuminate of silver, will be found studded with these
ugly brown specks of sulphide of silver after having passed through
a very weak solution of hypo., whereas a similar piece of paper in a
strong solution will remain properly bright and translucent.
Special care must be taken to keep the fixing-bath free from
acid, or, which amounts to the same thing, prints imperfectly
cleared of free nitrate of silver. If neutral, or, better still, slightly
alkaline, it may be used many times — in fact, theoretically, until
the hypo, has taken up an equivalent of chloride of silver. But as
the paper, besides chloride, contains other silver compounds— such
as the albuminate, &c., whose reactions are very little understood
and which may exercise an important influence in limiting its fixing
properties — it is safer, therefore, not to push it near to that point,
and when in doubt to make another. One full sheet for each half
ounce of crystallised hypo, of the above strength (always excepting
a state of acidity, when, under any circumstances, a sulphuretting
action is sure to ensue), will be quite within the limits of safety
from measles and other consequences of imperfect fixing.
In washing the prints a very common plan is too often adopted
of placing a large number in a dish and allowing a stream of water
to run through them for several hours, in the hope that they will
wash themselves. For reasons which I need not enter into at pre¬
sent this system is fraught with mischief. A very efficacious
method, but which entails greater trouble, is to throw them into a
large shallow porcelain dish or earthenware pan filled with water —
to move them about and separate them for a minute or two till
they have all been in contact with the water, and then pour off and
drain for two minutes more. Let this be repeated six times.
Afterwards they may be allowed to soak for half-an-hour and again
drained. In the course of two hours, after draining at the end of
each half hour, no test that we can apply will discover the least
trace of hypo., so that they may be considered perfectly washed,
and hung up or spread out to dry in the usual manner.
“NOTES” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORDANT, ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
By J. T. Taylor.
Dried Collodion Processes.
When, in a former communication, I stated that the subject of
enlarging was one of the most important of the day, it was by no
means intended to assign a place of inferior importance to that of
dried collodion plates. The convenience of collodion — as a me¬
dium — compared with albumen, starch, and gelatine, will not, I
think, be denied ; and to the perfection of this film, as regards its
sensitiveness and certainty, when used both wet and dry, it is well
that all eyes should be turned — all efforts made.
Many suggestive hints, for the attainment of this desideratum,
have recently been made, e.g. saccharine preparations in combina¬
tion with gums — tannic and gallic acids — hot development, &c.
And how stands the matter at present? Dr. Hill Norris is stated
to have solved the problem — the great problem — of a rapid, sure,
and efficient dry process; and, so far as I have tried his plates, I
think nothing more is wanted than the knowledge of how they are
made. Some years ago this gentleman patented a process for the
preservation of dry plates, which consisted in coating them with
certain gums soluble in water. The collodion film being porous, this
varnish served the two-fold purpose of filling up these pores, so as to
make them subsequently permeable by a suitable reducing agent, and
also acting the part of a varnish proper, by preventing atmospheric
and other deleterious influences from acting on the film of iodide of
silver. In patenting this process, Dr. Norris showed that he had not
attained a due amount of Birmingham wisdom. For, in the first
place, and for reasons I cannot at present enter into, I do not think
his patent was valid. And secondly, granting that it was, the pub¬
lished specification puts it in the power of every amateur to go
and do likewise ; and some photographers are not so particular as
to attach much importance to the law of meurn and tuurn, when it
stands between them and a successful result. Dr. Norris has since
evidently learnt wisdom ; for, having discovered how to manufac¬
ture plates of considerably increased sensitiveness, he has wisely
kept his own secret. If he does not feel himself in a position to
give his process to the world, he has taken a plan which all
business men — those to whom “bread and butter” is a considera¬
tion — must highly approve, viz., retaining the how to himself, and
supplying his plates to the public for a consideration. Let U3
hope he will some day see his way clear to publish his process.
Mr. Sutton, of Jersey, hazards a theory as to the preparation of
dried sensitive plates, viz., the quantities of bromides and iodides
being present in the collodion in their equivalent proportions.
The secret of sensitiveness, he thinks, consists in the presence of
iodide of silver along with some other sensitive salt of silver. The
iodide itself is not sensitive to light, but acts by its presence
in exalting the sensitiveness of the other silver salt which is ex¬
posed in contact with it, by catalytic action. Now, in the present
state of my knowledge, I would be inclined to the opinion that it
is the “other salt” of silver that exalts the sensitiveness of the
iodide. Iodide of silver, without the addition of chloride, bromide,
or fluoride, is sensitive, no matter how prepared. In the daguerreo¬
type it is slow without chlorine or bromine, but in the collodion
film it is, to some rays at least, nearly as sensitive as in combina¬
tion. I allude to a sensitised plate carefully washed in distilled water.
Still there is a great deal in what he says. Mr. Burnett, in a
pamphlet which he published some few years ago, but which is
little known — if known at all — in the photographic world, advocates
the construction of a sensitive film on similar principles. He lays
it down as a principle that there must be “some other” salt of
silver present, without being explicit as to any* equivalent com¬
bining proportions existing between them ; and that may be the
turning point after all. I have constructed accurate tables of the
equivalents of the various bromides and iodides, which, together
with fluorides, will enable me to investigate this question with a
certain degree of method, and to report at an early period.
I have alluded to Mr. Burnett. It may not be time wasted to
give a brief outline of his sentiments and suggestions on* this sub¬
ject, the more especially as few of the readers of The British
Journal of Photography are conversant with them; and, in doing
so, I will give much of it in his own language. He lays down
some “outside principles” on which his attempts at improving
photography are based: — Such as — that our sensitive films must
contain at once two different classes of silver compounds; that,
while the salt employed to form our sensitising bath must neces¬
sarily be a soluble one, it is by no means essential that the salt of the
same class, to be left in the films when ready for exposure, should be
a soluble one, but, on the contrary, it is on many grounds infinitely
better that it should be an insoluble one ; that this desired substitu¬
tion of an insoluble salt for a soluble one, is readily attainable by
associating with the iodide the soluble salt of some acid whose
compound with silver oxide is an insoluble one. then, after sensi¬
tising as usual, washing away the free nitrate and other soluble
products. These seem to be the principles on which Mr. Burnett
proceeds, and, in carrying them out, he gives a variety of spe¬
cimen-formula? which, although possessed of interest, cannot be
introduced here. However, some of his remarks apropos to the
subject more immediately on hand are suggestive, and I quote
them verbatim : —
“ As to the more readily manageable mode of introduction
alluded to, we have only to prepare and seusitise as usual, and
then transfer our plates, after sensitising and before washing out
free silver, to a bath containing a solution in water (or in water with
a little alcohol or ether added) of the succinate, oxalate, fumarate,
* This point was suggested long since, hv Mr. Ileisch, in a paper read before the
Blackheatli Photographic Society. See this journal lor June 1, 1S53, p. 137,— Ed.
286
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1862
The centre of revolution I place immediately under the lens.
The first picture is taken by moving the quadrant to a stop at A,
and by uncovering the first portion of the plate in the dark slide.
The second picture is taken by bringing the quadrant back to the
stop at B, and pressing the dark slide forward until it uncovers the
other half of the plate. I need not say that the instrument must
be very firmly fixed on its stand ; for, if any movement take place
but those I have named, the result will prove a failure.
The body of the camera is fixed on quadrants, made of metal,
working into each other. The lower one is furnished with stops,
A and B, at the ends, which have to be adjusted with great care. It
was my intention to have made these adjustments by means of
screws ; but I found it better to solder on the ends of the lower
quadrant two pieces of metal (after trial by marking), and to com¬
plete the adjustment with the file.
I find no difficulty in the use of the instrument. It is quite as
easily worked as the ordinary single lens stereoscopic camera.
The pictures are a few I took near Bolton Abbey, in Yorkshire.
In some of them the joining of the two pictures cannot be traced :
in others it shows as a dark line, caused by the back slide being an
old one and a little loose.
The angle I use is about 80°, but that will depend on the aper¬
ture in the body of the ca¬
mera and the lens used for
the purpose. I have no
doubt that the lens 1 used
would cover a much larger
angle if the camera were so
constructed.
The pictures are well
adapted for book-illustra¬
tion, and also for other pur¬
poses; and, when it is knowm
that any one having a single
lens stereoscopic camera can
easily convert it into a
panoramic one, I have no
doubt many will do so.
[The accompanying illus¬
trations, 2 and 3, repre¬
sent Mr. Parry’s camera in
plan view and elevation.
The back a is that ordinarily
’ used when taking stereo¬
scopic pictures with one
lens. This back, and the
body of the camera b, are
mounted upon a brass plate
c, which turns upon a centre
pin d placed beneath the
lens, and carried by the
quadrant e, which is sup¬
ported by the stand. Upon
this quadrant are fixed the
two stops A B, against which
the plate is alternately
brought when turned upon
the centre pin d. The plate
c carries a rib g projecting
into a groove formed upon
the quadrant e, which two
parts constitute a guide for
preventing the back of the
camera from rising.]
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS.
Produced by W. Russell Seugiilld.
We are pleased to find so able a photographer as Mr. W. Russel
Sedgfield making an attempt to introduce amongst the general
public a series of photographs of microscopic objects. We learn
that in conjunction with his late assistant, Mr. F. G. Eliot, he has
opened a photographic printing establishment at Narbiton, where,
in addition to the ordinary work carried on in such places, he
proposes producing for book illustration photographs of natural
objects as seen under the microscope, and others of a like class.
We are convinced that this is likely to be a profitable speculation,
for the reason that amongst microscopists alone there is a public
sufficient to consume a large number of photographs of the class
above indicated, in whom there is no need to create a taste for
them, because it already exists, and, in addition to those who
phosphate, bezoate, citrate, or tartrate of soda, ammonia or potash
(solubility in collodion being here unnecessary), till the silver has
been all precipitated, and then washed with plain water (or water
containing a very little carbonate of soda, potash, or ammonia, to
facilitate the adhesion, or to prevent coagulation of albumen, to be
afterwards applied, and, it may be, to increase sensitiveness), and
then coat with plain gum arabic or other similar protector, and
dry. In collodion, both dry and wet, we should gain immensely
by thus securing the presence of a uniform and sufficient quantity
of fixed insoluble silver oxide in the film. In dry collodion we
facilitate and render much more certain the preparation of the
plates, and improve them in other ways.”
With regard to chlorides and fluorides, as additions to the iodides,
Mr. Burnett has not arrived at any decided conclusion ; but he seems
to regard them as useful. He gives the equivalents of fluoride
(75), and chloride (91) of cadmium, from which one would think
he had been trying them in their combining proportions, and, if
so, then Mr. Sutton’s idea is not new. Mr. Burnett divides his
salts into salts of the first and second class, these belonging to the
latter, although “ chloride of silver plays the part of a salt of the
first class towards the silver oxide salts in ordinary printing pro¬
cesses; while in the Daguerreotype and collodion processes it and
also the bromide, and in collodion the fluoride also, seems to act
occasionally as a salt of the second class. In the Daguerreotype
the remarkable sensibility of the film, when produced by iodine
alone, would seem to indicate that even the silver iodide was
capable of playing both parts at once.”
Mr. Burnett has also forestalled Mr. Sutton in regard to the idea
of catalytic action. “It may be,” says he, “that the iodine vapours
may not only themselves have combined with silver, but have
catalytically, or otherwise, caused oxygen to combine with it,
producing, it may be, an oxy-iodide — a combination or a mixture
of oxide and iodide.”
Hoping that there are many earnest labourers in this field beside
those gentlemen named, the subject must for the present be allowed
to drop.
- — <> — - -
ON PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY.'
By John Parky.
At our last meeting I undertook to lay before the Society on this
occasion the result of some experiments I was then engaged in
on the production of Panoramic Pictures taken with the single
lens stereoscopic camera. At that time I had satisfied myself
that the thing was practicable, but was then engaged in adjusting
an instrument I had made for the purpose. After two or three
failures with experimental cameras made of wood, I resolved to
make all the lower or moveable parts of the instrument of metal,
and the results, together with the instrument, I have the pleasure
of bringing before the meeting this evening.
The inode of operation I will endeavour to explain by the
diagram.
* Bead at a meeting of the Manchester Photographic Society, July 4th, 1S62.
August 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
287
already appreciate correct representations of those things which
so deeply interest them, there are others who are almost as
anxious to make their acquaintance.
A particular description of the specimens before us would be
unintelligible to the majority of our readers, but the skilful
execution of some of them deserves the highest commendation.
Amongst these we may particularly point out the palate of one of
the Mollusca taken with a half-inch, and a valve of the Arachnoidis-
cus Ehrcribergii with a quarter-inch objective,, of Smith, Beck, and
Beck’s cheap form of microscope, in both of which the definition
of detail is very fine. With the one-inch object-glass specimens
of a more cosmopolitan character have been delineated, such as
transverse sections of different lands of wood , the head and antennae of
a moth , weapons of offence belonging to some of the dipterous
insects, and entire portraits of others not less disagreeable, to say
the least — such as the common hug and louse: perhaps we ought
to have wrapped up the mention of such plebeians in scientific
nomenclature, and designated them as members of the genera
Cimex and Pediculus. To these may be added that ugly-looking
customer the sheep-ticlc.
A very effective photograph is also made of the crystals of ice
on a window pane magnified to two diameters.
It will be readily perceived, from the few samples which we
have quoted, that there is material provided both for the learned
and unlearned. That there are some specimens better than others
is a matter of course; but the general character of the whole far
exceeds the average of what we have hitherto seen.
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC
LENSES, AND THE ANGLE OF SUBJECTS INCLUDED.0
(.INTENSITY AND QUICKNESS.)
By Thomas Grubs, M.R.I.A.
It may not at first sight appear how the intensity and the quick¬
ness of action of a lens are matters necessarily connected with the
question of what the “ lens will cover,” but a little consideration
will show that, in order to institute a correct examination (compa¬
rative or other) of the capabilty of this covering , we should be
thoroughly acquainted with the principles on which lenses are, or
can be, placed under circumstances of equal or equivalent aper¬
tures. A question may arise as to whether such equalisation
should be made in reference to quichiess of action or to angular
aperture; but “ quickness” in a photographic lens appears to be
held in such importance that I shall assume it to be the basis of
the equalisation.
Ido notrecollectthat the subjecthas been distinctly treatedin any
photographic journal, while there is occasional evidence of misun¬
derstanding and misapprehension respecting it. As a striking
instance of such I would refer to Tiie British Journal of Photo¬
graphy for February 1, 1861, where the triplet lens is stated to be
a quicker-acting lens than the orthoscopic (although it has four
additional cemented surfaces and a greater thickness of glass), and
where it is further stated that the said triplet is quicker-acting
than the single combination (under equal-sized stops respectively
placed), although it has eight additional surfaces, four of which
are w?icemented ones.
I shall not stop here to criticise the reasoning from which con¬
clusions are drawn directly opposed to the well-established results
of previous experiments ; but as the lenses referred to are pre¬
cisely those which are likely to be the subjects of comparison in
trials of what can be “covered,” it is important that the means of
placing such compounds under circumstances of equality as to
aperture shall be fully and clearly understood.
Now, every lens has its quickness of action pro. tern, dependent
iqmn two sources — first, the intrinsic intensity of its transmitted
pencil ; secondly, the angular aperture (or aperture in proportion
to the focus) in use. The former of these two sources is evidently
non-variable in any lens, the latter variable at pleasure by stops.
It would appear from the experiments of Professor Stokes that the
first lens in a photographic combination, except it be made of rock
crystal, absorbs a larger proportion of the actinic rays than any
succeeding lens. But we need not enter into this question here, as
one lens at least is in every case in use, and the diminished inten¬
sity due to using more than one in a photographic combination,
will probably be subject to the same law as that to which light is
considered to be, and which is simply shown by the following
example: — Suppose the first lens to transmit 9-10ths, then (T°„)2 or
8l-100ths will bo transmitted by two such lenses, and (-fa)3 or
icVfffh represents the intensity after passing through three lenses.
* Continued from page 248.
The loss (inevitable) of intensity by the employment of each
succeeding lens in a combination is only to be compensated by the
use of an increased angular aperture, whereby there results an
inevitable loss of what is termed “ depth of focus” — a matter
secondary only to quickness in importance to the photographer.
I shall now relate the particulars of an experiment made with
considerable care, for the purpose of ascertaining the relative
intensities of the pencils transmitted by the triplet and single com¬
bination.
A ten-by-eight-inch camera was provided with an internal sliding
box having a central partition, and so arranged that the No. 3
triplet and the C aplanatic, already mentioned in a former paper,
could be focussed upon the same ground-glass, and thus form tho
means of taking a “bi-lens” stereoscopic picture with these two
lenses (dissimilar in all respects but that of focal length). Stereo,
pictures were taken of various objects, the exposure being pur¬
posely under that which would be likely to yield a good picture.
With the latter precaution the results were exceedingly regular.
It was immediately found that, by applying stops of equal dia¬
meters to the two lenses, the triplet’s stop being placed as
designed by the maker, the aplanatic was always decidedly quicker-
acting than the triplet; secondly, when the triplet was supplied
with an inch stop, and the aplanatic with a g inch, the aplanatic
became the slower-acting; and, finally, when the stop in front of
the aplanatic was ||ths of an inch diameter, aDdthe stop inside the
triplet was one inch diameter, the lenses were so equal in quickness,
that it was impossible to say which was the quicker-acting.
The stop of the triplet, when placed as last mentioned, i.e., in
converging rays, being equivalent to a larger stop placed in parallel
rays, to ascertain the equivalent I measured pretty carefully the
focus of the triplet’s first combination, and the distance from its
optical centre to the stop. These showed that the stop of 1 inch
diameter inside was nea. ly equal to one of Loth outside, or, mote
accurately, T08 inches. This gave for the aplanatic and triplet 0 94
and 1 *08 inches relatively for the diameters of equalising stops, and
these quantities, inverted and squared, give the relative intensities
of their pencils, which are just as 75 to 100, or as 3 to 4.
The loss of actinic intensity thus found for the two additional
lenses of the triplet agrees very nearly with the probable loss of
light by the same. Referring to some carefully-conducted experi¬
ments on the latter, made in 1857, and in which 2, 4, 6, and 8
plates of thin “ crystal ” or colourless glass were used, I find that
the mean of the results gives i90Vuths only transmitted by one
such plate, or iVVths by two plates, and two such plates would
evidently transmit more of either light or actinism than two
cemented compounds.
The results of the experiments with the triplet and aplanatic
lenses may be summed up shortly as under : —
Triplet. Aplanatic.
Proportional sizes of stops ( placed as usual) pro- \
ducing equal quickness . (
The same if both stops were placed outside or 1 j. Q.gy
in parallel rays . f
Relative intensities (87- — 1003) . . 75 to 100
And the triplet, if charged with equal-sized stop as the aplanatic
of the same focus, is at once a slower-acting lens and one of less
depth of focus than the latter — the triplet stops being placed as
intended by the maker.
I have not experimented upon the relative intensities of tho
triplet and orthoscopic lenses. The difference must be slight, but
the advantage must, nevertheless, for the reason already stated,
be on the side of the orthoscopic lens.
The ordinary portrait combination is generally considered as a
very quick-acting lens ; but this is due to its capability of being
used for those subjects to which it is peculiarly suited with a very large
angular aperture. When used with only the same angular aper¬
ture that the single combination or the triplet will bear, it is a
slower-acting lens than the single combination, and that in nearly
the same proportion as the triplet.
From these considerations we mayperceive tliedifferencebetween
intensity and quickness — intensity beiug understood as a quality of
the pencil after passing through the lens, unalterable for auylens,
aud independent of the aperture used ; while quickness of action is
derived from an intensity of the image, compounded of tho bright¬
ness of the object and the intensity (great or small) of the pencil
and the aperture (angular) of the lens pro tcm. in use.
i While on the subject of intensity and quickness I would seek to
remove a misapprehension which my private correspondence with
photographers shows to have a very general existence, and which
it is very desirable should be removed. It is this, viz., that for
288
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1862
the so-called instantaneous stereoscopic pictures, for the cartes de
visite, and also for copying, lenses of short foci are desirable, as being
quicker-acting. Here is an example of one of those many cases
where truth and error are so mixed up that it requires some little
judgment to separate the one from the other. It is quite true that
a short focus lens is quicker-acting than a longer, provided the
same aperture be used with both. It is^also quite true that a
photographer having satisfied himself that a certain description of
lens, of a certain focus, will bear a certain aperture and no more
when covering a certain sized field, he will be dissatisfied with
the result of attempting with a similar lens of twice the focus to
cover the same angle of field, using the same angular aperture of
the longer focus lens — which alone would give equal quickness of
action. All this is of course quite true ; but the conditions involved
are not the same as those which apply to the case of producing
pictures not differing in size by lenses of differing foci.
In producing the ordinary stereo, or carte pictures, or in copy¬
ing, the actual size of the field to be covered remains the same
whether we use a long or short focus lens, and, therefore, as
we increase the focus we reduce the angular extent of the required
covering. Now the limit in practice to employing a large an¬
gular aperture of the lens lies (with every kind of lens extant) in
the lateral pencils, and by increasing the focal length without in¬
creasing the actual size of the required picture, we lessen the
angular extent which the lens is required to cover ; and this, in
practice, is found to admit (while retaining equal distinctness for
the picture) of increasing the aperture of the lens in use beyond
that which the focus has been increased , thus constituting the longer
focus lens (for such conditions and for such work) practically a
quicker -acting lens. In every instance which I can recollect, where
the photographer has, at my suggestion, tried two foci of lenses
for those “instantaneous” pictures, the longer has been retained
as best. With these observations I conclude for the present.
dWTjiH Hair.
H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES’S TOUR IN THE EAST
Photographically Recorded by F ran CIS Bedford.
At the German Gallery, in New Bond Street, London, there has
recently been opened, by Messrs. Day and Son, perhaps the most
important photographic exhibition that has hitherto been placed
before the public, whether we regard it as an aid to history or as
a collection in which unity of design has been a ruling principle in
the artist’s mind.
Most, if not all, of our readers will remember that Mr. Bedford
accompanied, by royal command, the heir to the British throne,
during his recent tour in the Holy Land, for the express purpose
of bringing away with him records of the principal places visited ;
and permission has been graciously accorded by Her Majesty both
for exhibiting and publishing proofs from the negatives secured.
It is almost a work of supererogation to say that the task has
been executed in a highly creditable manner, for those who are
acquainted with Mr. Bedford know that he would do it well, or not
at all ; but only those who are well informed relative to the difficul¬
ties under which a photographer labours in a climate such as obtains
in the localities in which the subjects before us have been taken,
can really appreciate the amount of judgment and skill brought to
bear in order to obtain the admirable results arrived at. The pho¬
tographs are faultless as works of mere manipulative skill — some
distortion, arising from the camera having been here and there un¬
avoidably tilted, being excepted. This alone is no slight merit
to have achieved, when surrounded by the adverse circumstances
encountered ; but, in addition, it is to be remembered that, besides
being faithful transcripts of the scenes visited, many, not to say
most, of these photographs exhibit also a high degree of artistic
skill, for which Mr. Bedford is pre-eminently celebrated, and are
executed with that exquisite neatness and finish that stamp them
unmistnkeably with the impress of his own individuality.
Although the present is not quite the first instance in which the
works of a single photographer have formed an entire exhibition —
Mr. Fenton’s Crimean photographs having enjoyed priority in this
peculiarity — wo may fairly assert that never before has so large,
s< » harmonious, so fine, and so intimately connected a series been
collected together. We have not forgotten Mr. Fenton’s Crimean
collection; but those individual specimens were connected but
loosely, and, in many cases, scarcely connected at all, the bulk of
th m being portraits. Neither have we forgotten Mr. Frith’s col¬
lection, illustrative of localities common to both ; but, so far as we
are aware, Mr. Frith’s pictures were never publicly exhibited as a
series, and even when the work was published which contained
them, the grave error was committed of not arranging the subjects
in any kind of order, topographical or otherwise.
Mr. Bedford’s views are remarkably even in execution, and evi¬
dently cast in similar moulds — the prominent feature being that of
unobtrusive softness, if we may employ such an apparent contra¬
diction as prominence and unobtrusiveness in the same sentence.
Tn a considerable number of the negatives clouds have been skil¬
fully introduced by hand — in others a few judicious touches which
rather suggest than define the existence of atmosphere.
We notice one very useful and interesting practice adopted by
Mr. Bedford. Most of the negatives have scratched upon them,
in an obscure corner, the date when each was taken, which forms
a very desirable, record, photographically considered, and when
examining the several pictures one learns not only where the
royal party went, but the precise day on which it might ha\e
been found at each of the spots depicted. #
Though by far the greater number of the specimens aie land¬
scape or architectural subjects, yet a few and these not the least
interesting — figure-subjects are to be met with. Amongst these
are a portrait of Abd-el-Kader (No. 103) ; a group of the Innce of
Wales , and several Members of his Suite , at 1 hebes (ho. 34) , a group
of Albanians, Soldiers, showing the ordinary military di ess, at
Durazzo (No. 128); and A Group of Gipsy Oil-Carriers, belonging to
the same locality (No. 129). The two. last-named are particularly
noteworthy, highly interesting, and picturesque.
Here and there we meet with a specimen or two recalling moic
familiar scenes, by the same artist — such as No. 126, G atarro, a
seaport of Dalmatia, with the fort, and part of the Via Dolorosa,
which might well pass for a Welsh scene ; or bo. 88, Bamas—the
Upper Source of the Jordan and Chapel of St. George, which reminds
one of Derbyshire. No. 83, Kan Minyeh, the reputed site of ancient
Capernaum, exhibits a beautiful bit of light and shade, and so does
No. 3, A Street in the City of Cairo, though this is peihaps a trifle too
deep in the shadow. No. 16, Philce, the Outer Court in the Temple of
'Isis, is also peculiarly Bedfordian in treatment ; as also No. 2o, View
through the Great Gateway into the Grand Court of the Temple oj Ecijou.
It would be an admirable lesson for those who absuidly contend
for the mechanical nature of our art to compaie Mr. Bedfouls
view of the Hypcethral Temple at Philce, generally called Phaiaoh s
Bed, and Mr. Frith’s view of the same object taken from nearly
the same place — both excellent, but the sentiment and expiession
entirely different in the two renderings. .
At Nabulus an excellent photagraph was obtained of the
Ancient Samaritan Pentateuch (No. 79); whileof ruined temples with
their deeply-cut hieroglyphics, telling of . deeds of heroes long since
passed away — when the veil of mystery is now and again lifted. by
the learned student of Eastern lore, there are enough to provide
materials for much investigation.
No. 49, Jaffa , the ancient Joppa, recals immediately the Angel s
directions to Cornelius to send to Joppa for Simon whose suiname
is Peter, lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by
til© SGci-Sld©.
The Jerusalem views are of course especially interesting from
their associations ; but in addition to this they are mostly excellent
as mere views. How soft and suggestive, for instance, is No. 52,
A General View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives ! Who can
look unmoved on No. 63, The Mount of Olives, or fail to speculate
upon the precise spot where our Saviour used to sit with His
disciples? Who, again, can view without emotion the Garden of
Gethsemane, as shown in Nos. 67 and 68? — or omit to conjecture
where Mary stood when she turned at the voice of Our Loid and
pronounced the word Rabboni ? . .
Apart from localities named in sacred history, there are others in
and about Jerusalem that claim the attention of the. visitor. I.he
Pulpit in the Enclosure of the Mosque of Omar (No. 58) is an exquisite
photographic study; and so also is No. 59, the Mosque El A vsa.
There are many excellent illustrations of Constantinople, amongst
which the Fountain of the Seraglio is a particularly pleasing su jec .
We have noticed but hastily a few of the. most striking examples
in this admirable collection. Those who visit it will not be likely
to content themselves with a hasty glance; for, after having gone
through in order, whenever one looks up to take a general survej,
the spectator seems irresistibly drawn first to one side, then to
another, to examine more closely this or that striking object.
We have no need to wish the proprietors success. If they cannot
command they have certainly deserved it; and we doubt not tnat
they will meet with their deserts.
August 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
280
(Snssijj.
THE AWARDS OP THE JURORS.
The great evil and injustice of the classification must now make
itself more widely felt. Looking over the awards of the Jurors, I
cannot help thinking of a certain good old friend of mine, who,
taking up a picture to which I had somewhat proudly called his
attention, lauded it, as the saying goes, to the skies; but, turning
to one of the most wretched daubs that ever provoked contempt or
laughter, he spoke of it in precisely the same terms, and with
exactly the same amount of enthusiasm.
The awards of the photographic Jurors may be in perfect accord¬
ance with the way in which such have been distributed by other
Jurors in other classes, and their method of recognising merit may
also be in perfect harmony with a classification which places such
a strangely and widely-varied number of excellencies all under the
one head, “ Mechanical ” — recognising the merit of the artist as of
one and the same grade as the merit of such as manufacture his
apparatus and materials.
The difficulties in the way of the Jurors in making their awards
were serious and complicated. They had to recognise degrees of
merit so varied and numerous that to represent them fairly by any
possible method of distributing two kinds of awards was simply out
of the question, while to alter the foolish plan laid down by the
dogmatic Commissioners may, for aught I know to the contrary,
have been equally impossible. Still, it does seem absurd, -when
we consider that medals are the highest awards, and that “ honour¬
able mention ” is the lowest, to find these bestowed indiscrimi¬
nately for “ superior arrangement of head-rests;” for “beauty of
action of rolling presses,” and “for artistic excellence;” for the
“manufacture of photographic albums,” and for “great artistic
excellence in combined pictures;” for such works as Rejlander’s,
Tivo Ways of Life, full of widely and readily-recognised intellect and
genius, and for “cheap and excellent apparatus." The highest
honour these Jurors could have bestowed upon Rejlander, Robinson,
Bedford, Wilson, and their brave aspiring peers, -would have been to
omit their names altogether from the list of awards, asserting in
their forthcoming report that they could never award to an artist,
for works full of poetry, sentiment, and feeling, the same recognition
they were compelled to extend to the mechanic for good cabinet
work, fancy bookbinding, and commonplace mechanism. This
would have been brave, true, and praiseworthy; and we might
then have been proud of those who (if the Commissioners are to be
believed) were elected by the great body of photographers them¬
selves to protect the art, and to assert its real dignity and
capabilities, and not to set the seal of an ignoble acknowledgment
to a most degiading, unjust, and ridiculous classification.
After such a lame and comical fashion, the Jurors may have been
thoroughly earnest and conscientious in their awards. Far be it
from me to assert that they actually were not, although there are
certain awards which, when viewed by the light afforded by cer¬
tain others, hint one of two things on the part of those who ruled
them, viz., incompetency or private feeling. A glance over the
awards will, I feel sure, make this plain to every impartial judge.
Can it be that I am bilious, morbidly irritable, envious, in want of
my dinner, of a discontented nature, cr what not, that I cannot for
the life of me feel so satisfied and pleased with the awards of these
Jurors as others profess to be? I start up with a - when I
see backgrounds, cheap cameras, and Rejlander’s glorious pic¬
tures altogether under the head of “ Honourable Mention !” J
could not feel quite hearty in congratulating those whose talents
I admire and respect upon the receipt of one of those same medals.
I am almost inclined to write mournful notes of condolence to
Messrs. Bedford, Robinson, and Wilson, sympathising with them in
their misfortune, and proffering my deepest commiseration ; and
another to 0. Gf. Rejlander, expressing similar feelings, but never¬
theless congratulating him, inasmuch as he did escape the crowning
insult of a medal, and, I have heard, very nearly escaped the lesser
indignity called “honourable mention.” Heaven save the mark !
These difficulties in the way of awarding medals have been
met with before, and many only see one way of putting mat¬
ters right: the knot they can not untie they would cut, and so
do away with such awards altogether. Nowr, for myself, I do
not quite see the force of this. A medal is valuable (as I have
before urged in these pages) — although its value must always
depend upon its rarity, upon the character of those who award
it, and upon the standard and class of excellence it is in¬
tended to represent. To say that I am the successful one out
of fifty able aspirants for certain honours is something to bo
proud of. To say that I am the victor chosen from a hundred
rivals by competent and highly esteemed judges is some¬
thing of which I may be more proud. But if, in either case,
the decision rested with the aforesaid good old friend of mine,
however conscientious and honest he might be in awarding me
the medal or “ mention ” — as the case might be — and however
proudly I might exhibit the same in my 6hop-window, show-case,
or advertisements, I should be secretly conscious that I had very
little to be proud of, and that there was a good deal of humbug
and nonsense about the whole affair. From this the reader may
glean my opinion about the awards of Jurors in Class XIV.
In the British Department “artistic excellence” is rewarded
with a medal in three instances only, the successful competitors
being Messrs. Mayall, Robinson, and White ; while the same
qualities are rewarded by “ honourable mention” not less than
thirteen times. The names of those so distinguished areBarrable,
Brothers, Green, Hering, Hill, Vicountess Jocelyn, Kilburn, Locke,
McLean, Melhuish and Ilaes, Rejlander, Ross and Thompson,
Lyndon Smith, and Sutton. Mayall, therefore, as an artist — and
according to the opinion of the Jurors — is superior to Rejlander !
This, in my opinion, is a very funny and original discovery.
It should please us to find medals more sparingly awarded in
Class XIV., I think, than in others : they evidently represent merit
more rare in character than can be found in less artistic produc¬
tions. For the same reasons, we should not find fault, perhaps,
with the larger share of medals carried off by our French rivals.
In the English Department, medals have been awarded to about
one in six : in the French they have been given to one in four.
If this indicates that the English standard of photography (pure)
is higher than that of the French productions, well and good ; if it
indicates anything else, ill and bad.
In these papers I have ventured to claim for our Department the
highest artistic amb: ion, and this seems almost to be admitted in
the awards — inasmuch as, while we have “artistic excellence”
among “ Reasons for the Award ” in the British Department given
sixteen times, in the Foreign Department such a reason is only lound
in the French twice (one medal and one “mention’ ), and in the
others once — that solitary exception being claimed for Russia by
Wieczkowski, “ for good portraiture and artistic effect.”
In the British Department — perhaps because the Jurors hoped, by
such a step, to mark their sense of the unjust and singularly
levelling character of the classification, and separate the higher
order of intellectual excellence from the lower, despite the Com¬
missioners — or, perhaps not ; but in this department no medals have
been awarded for photographic apparatus.* “ Honourable mentions”
are liberally bestowed for apparatus, but no medals. The aim, if it
be such as I have imagined, was good, but the mischief of such a
plan lies in the fact that medals for apparatus were given in Foreign
Departments; aud the public will, therefore, imagine that the
French and others excel us in the manufacture of apparatus, which
is notoriously not the case. Surely' the 1 rench have not here
stolen a march upon the English Jurors.
There are about 400 contributors to Class XIV. from all countries.
The number of awards is 232, including both kinds of award— one in
five being the average of medallists, and one in three being the
average of those who have obtained “honourable mention.
In the awards for apparatus there is much food for dissatisfaction.
The value of certain discoveries seems also to have been overlooked.
Instantaneous photography has to a large extent received the en¬
couragement it deserves. In short, merit — and demerit in some
cases — of almost every kind has been more or less fairly and
thoroughly recognised and rewarded. Some of the distinctions
implied in the published “reasons ’ for the awards are rather haid
to understand; some of them are more cr less out of focus; and
some leave you in a state of blissful uncertainty as to where and in
what the particular excellence recoguised had its beiug.
But, after all, the awards might have been worse, you know—
which is a nice little piece of consolation, seldom inapplicable,
and always of a very elastic description. That they might have
been better is also more or less true ; but in either case let us chari-
tablv remember the difficulties which, being neither small nor fe.s,
hemmed in the Jurors, and which may have had more to do \\ ith the
general result than tve are yet aware of. It would be well pco haps,
before coining to a conclusion, to read that glorious and immortal
old fable, called “ The Old Man and his Ass.” I dare say we shall
know all about it by the time the medals have been duly distributed,
and the reports of the Jurors duly’ made public.
I must resume my review of the pictures in myr next, ns these
remarks have already' exhausted my supply of space. A. H. V .
* Excepting for lenses, which, of course, take higher rank.
390
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1803
JURORS’ AWARDS IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC DEPART¬
MENT OP THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
Notk. — The letters ah c, attached to some of the names in the succeeding list, indicate
the following peculiarities
a — Photography applied to science.
h — Photography applied to copying.
c — Photographic printing in carbon, enamel, kc.
For Photographic Excellence.
MEDALS.
United Kingdom.
Amateur Photographic
Association.
Beckley . I
Bedford, F .
Breese, C. S .
Colnaghi & Co . a
De la Rue, W . b
Fenton, R .
Frith .
Heath, Vernon .
James, Col. Sir H.,
R.E . c
London Stereoscopic
Company .
Mayall, J. E .
Mudd, J .
Negretti & Zambra ...
Piper, J. D .
Tretsch, P . c
Robinson, II. P .
Rouch, W. W .
Sidebotham, J .
Talbot, W. H. Fox...c
White, H .
Williams, T. R .
Wilson, G. W .
Australia.
Osborne . .
Canada.
Notrnan .
India.
Simpson, Dr .
Jersey.
Mullins .
Victoria.
Daintrce .
Haigh .
Nettleton .
Austria.
For general photographic excellence.
For a valuable series of photographs of spots
on the sun, and for the application of photo¬
graphy to astronomical science.
Photographs. For landscapes and interiors of
great excellence.
For a series of instantaneous views on glass
of clouds, waves, &c.
For a valuable series of large photographs of an¬
tiquities, copies of cartoons, miniatures, &c.
For the application of photography to astro¬
nomical science.
For great excellence in fruit and flower pieces,
and good general photography.
For views in Egypt taken by himself.
For excellent landscape photography.
For specimens of photography, photozinco¬
graphy, pliotopapyrography.
For great excellence in photographic views,
and especially a series of stereoscopic pictures
of Paris.
For artistic excellence in photographic produc¬
tions.
For very excellent landscapes produced by the
collodio-albumen pi’oeess.
Beauty and excellence of photographic trans¬
parencies, and adaptation of photography to
book illustration, &c.
For general excellence in the pictuies ex¬
hibited, especially in landscape photography.
For a series of specimens of photographic
printing by various means as improved and
invented by himself.
For good photographic manipulation, and
great artistic excellence in combined pic¬
tures, as well as in carte de visite portraits.
For small photographs taken with his new
binocular camera with Hardwich’s bronio-
iodised collodion.
For beautiful landscape photography by the
collodio-albumen process.
For photographic engravings on copper and
steel produced by the action of light alone.
For great artistic excellence in landscape
photography.
Photographs. For excellence in photographic
portraiture, &c.
For the beauty of his small pictures of clouds,
shipping, waves, &c., from nature.
For the photolithographic process invented and
patented by himself.
For excellence in an extensive series of photo¬
graphs.
For a valuable series of portraits of the native
tribes.
For general photographic excellence.
For an extensive series of photographs illus¬
trative of the colony.
For stereoscopic and other views in the colony,
excellent in photographic treatment.
For excellence of photographic views in the
colony.
Angcrer, L.
Baden.
Lorent, Dr.
For general excellence and great definition of
the portraits exhibited.
For a beautiful series of large pictures of great
photographic excellence.
Bavaria.
Albert, T . a
Belgium.
Fierlants, Ed. ... .
France.
Aguado, Count 0 .
Aguado, Viscount 0...
Alophe, M .
Baldus, E .
Bayard and Bertall ...
Bingham, R . a
Bisson, Brothers .
Braun, A .
Camarsac, Lafon De..c
Cammas . \
Davanne and Girard..
Delessert, E .
DisdSri .
Fargier . c
Ferrier .
Gamier and Salmon. ,c
Jeanrenaud .
Lyte, Maxwell .
Marville... .
Muzet .
Nadar .
Negre, C . c
Niepce de St. Victor..c
Poitevin, A . c
Robert .
Warnod .
Greece.
Constantin .
Italy.
Alinari, Brothers .
Van Lint, E .
Prussia.
Oehme, G. & Jamrath
Wothly, J .
Borne.
Cuccioni .
Dovizielli, P .
Russia.
Denier .
Saxony.
Maneeke, F .
Sweden.
Manerke .
For a valuable series of reproductions of pic¬
tures and objects of art.
Photographs. For excellence in a series of
photographs taken by the albumen process
for the government.
Enlarged photographs. For specimens of en¬
largements from small negatives.
Enlarged photographs. Pictures of shipping,
&c., enlarged from small negatives.
Photographs. For excellent photographs,
especially as regards artistic arrangement.
Large photographs. For large views of monu¬
ments, views from nature, reproductions, &c.
Photographs. For excellence of photographic
pictures.
Photographs. For excellent reproduction of
pictures and other objects of art.
Photographs. For panoramic views of Mont
Blanc, pictures of monuments, &c.
Photographs. For pictures of natural flowers,
views, &c.
For photographic reproductions in enamel.
Photographs. For large views, on waxed-
paper, of Egypt and its monuments.
Photographs. For pictures of photographic
excellence.
Large photographs. For large views of monu¬
ments in Paris, untouched.
Photographs. For excellency of enlarged and
other pictures.
Photographs. For pictures done by the car¬
bon process.
Large photographs on glass. For excellent
pictures on glass, instantaneous views in
Paris, &c.
For the carbon process invented by them.
Photographs. For excellence of photographic
views, &c.
Views in the Pyrenees. For excellence of
landscapes in the Pyrenees.
Photographs. For photographic pictures of
objects of antiquity, landscapes, &c.
Views of the Isere. For good landscape
photography.
Photographs. For pictures obtained by the
aid of electric light.
For heliographic pictures on steel.
For heliographic engravings on steel, and
various specimens by processes described by
himself.
Carbon photographs. For carbon pictures and
photolithographs, &c.
Photographs. For landscapes and copies of
works of art, &c.
Photographs. For views of shipping, natural
clouds and waves, &c.
For views in Greece of great excellence.
For great excellence of photographic produc¬
tions.
For excellence of pictures exhibited.
For excellence of photographic productions.
For excellence of large pictures by the process
invented by himself.
For general photographic excellence.
For general photographic excellence.
For general photographic excellence.
For excellence of photographs.
For excellency of photographs exhibited.
United Kingdom.
Barrable, J. G.
Brothers, A. ...
Burnett, C. J. .
HONOURABLE MENTION.
.... For artistic excellence.
.... For artistic excellence, and for a photographic
group finished in water colours.
...b For experimental researches in photography,
as exhibited in the specimens of printing by
uranium, platinum, palladium, copper, &c.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
291
August 1, 1862]
Caithness Earl of .
Cramb, Brothers .
Cundall, Downes and
Co. a
Dancer, J. B .
Gordon, E .
Green, B. E .
Hemphill, Dr. W. D...
Ilennah, T. H .
Her in g, H .
Hill, D. 0 .
Jocelyn, Viscountess..
Kilburn, W. E .
Lock and Whitfield...
Macdonald, Sir A .
May land, W .
Olley, W. H .
Eamage, J . c
Eeeves, A .
Eej lander, 0. G .
Eoss and Thompson...
Eussell, J. Sedgfield..
Smith, Lyndon .
Smyth and Blanchard
Sutton, E .
Thompson, S .
Traer, J. E .
Wardley, G .
Warner, W. II .
Wortley-Stuart, Lieut. -
Col. A. H. P .
Columbia , British.
Claudet, F .
Guiana , British.
Tucker .
India.
Sellon, Capt .
Jamaica.
Sellon, Capt .
Melbourne.
Cox and Lukin .
New Brunswick.
Bowren and Cox .
New Zealand.
Crombie, J. N .
Queensland.
Challingor, G .
Wilder, J. W .
South Australia.
Hall, Eev. — .
Tasmania.
Allport, M .
Victoria.
Bachelder and O’Neill
Charlier .
Davis .
Johnson .
Austria.
Lemann, C . a
Leth . c
Melingo, A .
Oestermann, C .
Eupp, W . a
Tiedge, T .
Widter, A .
Bavaria.
Gypen and Frisch ...
For photographic landscape, especially the re¬
presentation of hoar frost.
For a series of views in Palestine.
For photographic reproductions.
For microscopic photographs, landscapes, and
portraits.
For excellent views in the Isle of Wight.
For artistic excellence in coloured photoglyphs.
For excellence of views of antiquities in Ireland
For photographic portraits.
For artistic excellence.
For great artistic merit in photographs ex¬
hibited.
For artistic effect in landscape photography.
For artistic excellence in coloured photographs.
For artistic excellence in coloured photographs.
For excellence of photographic landscapes.
For good photography in views, &c.
For photographs from the microscope by the
reflecting process.
For applications of photolithography.
For microscopic photographs.
For artistic photographic effect.
For artistic portraits.
For views of the ruins of Chichester cathedral
after the fall of the spire. For good stereo¬
scopic views.
For landscapes. &c., artistically taken.
For a series of instantaneous views for the
stereoscope.
For artistic excellence in coloured photographs.
For excellence in architectural photography, &c.
For excellence of photographs of microscopic
objects, &c.
For excellent landscapes by the collodio-albu-
men process.
For photography in a series of enlargements
from small negatives.
For views of Vesuvius during the eruptions of
1861-2.
For a series of views in New Westminster.
For photographic views in the colony.
For a series of views in India.
For a valuable series of photographs of the
fish of the Island.
For photographic excellence.
For photographic views, being the earliest
taken in this colony.
For views in the colony.
For excellence of photographs.
For excellence of photographs.
Ethnological studies of the aborigines.
For interesting pictures exhibited, including
stereoscopic and other views.
For photographs of volunteers, &c.
For portraits of the aborigines of the colony.
For excellence of photographs in Melbourne
and Fitzroy.
For a collection of photographic views.
For excellent reproductions of objects of art
and archaeological subjects.
For a new carbon process, and copies of wood
engraving accomplished b}r the same.
For general photographic excellence.
For illustrations of Buda-Pesth, the metropolis
of Hungary.
For his valuable application of photography.
For a large collection of photographic pictures
of peasantry, costumes, &c., from South
Hungary.
For general excellence of pictures exhibited.
For excellence of pictures exhibited.
Belgium.
Ghemar, Brothers ...
Mascre, J . a
Michiels, J. J .
Neyt, A. L .
Denmark.
Hansen, G. E .
Lange, E .
Striegler, E .
France.
Aleo .
. Berenger, Le Marquis
de .
Berthier, P . a
Blanc, N .
Bobin, A . a
Breton, Madame
Carjat and Co. ..
Charnay, D .
Charavet . c
Collard .
CremEre .
Dagron, E . a
De Clercq, L .
Delondre, P .
Delton .
De Champlouis .
Gaume . a
Jouet, E .
Ken, A .
Lacker bau er .
Laffon, J. C .
Lemercier . c
Mailand, E .
Masson .
Mayer and Pierson ...
Michelez, C . a
Moulin, F .
Pesme .
Potteau .
Eichebourg .
Eoman, D .
Silvy . . .
Tournachon, A., jun...
Villette, E . a
Italy.
Eoncalli, A . a
3 fecklenburg- Schwerin.
DethlefT .
Netherlands.
Eyck, Dr. J. A. van. a
Norway.
Selmer .
Persia.
Pesce, Luigi .
Portugal.
Silveira, J. W .
Prussia.
Minutoli, Von . a
Schauer, G .
Bussia.
Mieczkowski, J .
Eumine, G .
Sweden.
Unna and Hoffert .
Switzerland .
Georg .
Poncy, F .
Vuagnat . .
For general excellence of photograph}’.
For photographic copies of pictures, &c.
For general excellence of photographs.
For excellent specimens of photographic micro¬
graphy.
For excellence of photographs.
For excellence of photographs.
For his portrait of the Princess of Denmark.
For delicacy in landscape photography, &c.
For good landscape photography on waxed-
paper, &c.
For excellent reproduction of works of art.
For good artistic arrangement in portraiture
and excellent photography.
Photographic reproductions of maps and plans
with great accuracy.
For archajological views, &c.
For excellent photographic portraits.
For excellence of photographs exhibited.
For his carbon pictures.
For excellence of photographic views.
For instantaneous pictures of animals, &c.
For microscopic photography applied to bijou¬
terie.
For excellence of photographs exhibited.
For excellent views obtained by the waxed-
paper process.
For instantaneous pictures of animals.
For views in Syria, obtained by his “ wet-dry’’
process, as described by himself.
For reproductions of photographic pictures for
glass in churches, &c.
For landscape photography.
For good photographic portraiture.
For excellence in microscopic photography.
For studies of still life — photographs on silk.
For specimens of photolithography, &c.
For excellent photographic landscapes by the
waxed-paper process.
For excellence of photographs exhibited.
For excellent photography.
For reproductions of works of design, ancient
and modern, &c.
For excellence of photographs exhibited.
For excellence of photography.
For excellence of photographs exhibited.
For good photography in portraiture and
objects of art.
For excellence of photographs exhibited.
For good photographic pictures.
For instantaneous pictures of horses and other
animals.
For large photographic pictures obtained by
Dubosq’s electric light.
For excellence of microscopic reproductions.
For excellence of pictures exhibited.
For his photographic copies of etchings by
Eembrandt, the size of the originals.
For a series of pictures of the peasantry of the
country.
Views of Teheran, Pevsepolis, and other locali¬
ties iu Persia.
For excellence of photographs.
For a valuable series of reproductions of ob¬
jects of art.
For excellence of pictures exhibited.
For good portraiture and artistic effect.
For a series of views in the East, and general
photographic excellence.
For general photographic excellence.
For general photographic excellence.
For general photographic excellence.
For general photographic excellence.
292
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1802
United States.
Dexter .
Wurtembiirg.
Sprosser .
Zollverein.
Exhibitor not identified
For a series of busts of the Governors of States
in America.
For photographic excellence.
For excellence of photographic impressions.
For Apparatus and Chemicals.
United Kingdom.
Dallmeyer, J. H.
Ponting, T. C .
Ross, T .
Austria.
Dietzler, Ch .
Tonti, Ch .
Yoigtlander and Son...
France.
Bertaud .
Bertsch, A .
Darlot .
Derogy .
Dubosq, L. J .
Duvette and Romanet
JIanse Towns.
Kruss .
Prussia.
Busch, E .
Sobering, E . '
MEDALS.
For excellence of lenses, and introduction of a
new triplet lens free from distortion, with
chemical and visual foci coincident.
For the excellence of his iodised sensitive
collodion.
For superiority of his photographic lenses.
For photographic lenses of excellence.
For the alethoscope, with the photographs
exhibited therein.
For great excellence of photographic lenses.
For excellence of lenses.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For an arrangement for altering the focus of a
lens.
Photographic apparatus. For photographic
appliances, lamp, &c.
Photographs. For excellent architectural views
of Amiens cathedral.
For photographic lenses of great excellence.
For excellence of lenses and photographic
apparatus.
For chemical products and photographs.
HONOURABLE MENTION.
United Kingdom.
Austen, W. ..
Bland and Co.
Borquin and Co.
Bull, J. T. and G .
Cox, F. J .
Davies, T. S .
Hare, G .
Highley, S .
Hockin and Wilson ...
Jlopkin and Williams
1 lorne&Thornth waite
McLean, Melhuish &
Co . !
Meagher, P .
Moule, J .
Murray and Heath ...
Ottcwill, T., and Co...
Skaife, T .
Solomon, J .
Wright, Dr .
France.
A1 bites, T...
Briois, C. A
Garin .
Hcrmagis ..
Koch .
Lecu, F. N.
Marion .
Millet, A. ..
For superior arrangement of head-rests, and
beauty of action of rolling-press for photo¬
graphs.
For very excellent workmanship and arrange¬
ment, especially adapted for India and
foreign countries.
For general excellence of articles exhibited,
especially for photographic albums, of their
own manufacture.
For photographic accessories and backgrounds.
For general excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellent arrangement of his photographic
manipulating camera fov field purposes.
For excellence in the manufacture of cameras.
For excellence of apparatus exhibited.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellence of photographic chemicals.
For general excellence in articles exhibited.
For general excellence of photographic appa¬
ratus, and arfLfic exce lence in coloured
photographs.
For great excellence and cheapness in the
apparatus exhibited.
For his apparatus for taking portraits by night.
For superior arrangement and work in articles
exhibited, and especially for usefulness of
Smartt’s tent.
For excellence in the manufacture of cameras.
For a pistolgraph and a series of productions
called pistolgrams.
For the introduction of many useful aids to
photographic manipulation, as exhibited.
Portable photographic apparatus for held pur¬
poses, combining tent, &c., adapted for rail¬
way travelling.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellence of chemicals used in photography
For excellence of photographic chemicals.
For excellence of photographic lenses.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellence of photographic paper.
For excellence of photographic lenses.
Plessy, M .
Puech, L .
Quinet, A. M.
Rolloy, Fils ...
FranJcfort.
Hamacher .
Prussia.
Beyrich, F. ...
Kunzmann, II.
For excellence of photographic chemicals.
For excellence of photographic chemicals.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For excellence of articles exhibited, especially
for his photographic varnish.
For excellence of articles exhibited.
For photographic paper.
For photographic paper.
- 4» -
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.
By Our Own Pioneer.
BOUND ABOUT EXETER.
Summer time has now more than arrived : bud, bough, and all the various
delicate foldings of Nature’s leafage are thoroughly developed and out.
The most glorious part of the four seasons is gladdening alike to youth
and age. World-workers of the pent-up cities and towns are glad to
escape for a few weeks, or even for a few days, and wend their way up
and down glens hemmed in with hazel and bright green sward, gaze
at the lofty pine, rest beneath the silvery beech, or court the noonday
shade afforded by the spreading branches of the gnarled and vigorous
oak. Many amateur photographers are now glad and ready to avail
themselves of the few spare days at their command to seek fresh subjects
for their folios and collections. The best known and important places
have to a great extent been worked out and done over and over again.
Taking pictures of such is consequently no novelty. On the production
of a proof to astonish a friend, it is rather annoying to be met with the
remark — “Oh! I have seen that place before. Tom Cyanide was there
last year, and took some splendid views.” Or — “ Oh! I’ve seen that in
shop windows.”
All this is unpleasant ; added to which, crowded places are high charg¬
ing places, and that is also unpleasant. I therefore purpose to point out a
series of “nooks and corners,” and a variety of picturesque spots that
have not been overdone, that may be conveniently and easily reached,
where the operator will be free from interruption and annoyance, and where
clean and homely accommodation is to be met with on fair and reasonable
terms. Exeter I again select as a starting point; and, as a popular
authoress, the daughter of a celebrated artist, has pronounced Devonshire
cottages to be objects equally worthy the attention of poet, painter, or the
lover of the romantic, few places can offer such effective samples as the
“ land of the red earth ” — Devon, the garden of England. The best speci¬
mens are quickly vanishing. Speculating builders and improving land¬
lords, with the increasing extension of the rail and iron-way, are great de¬
stroyers of thatch roofs and cob walls : photographers should, therefore,
be on the alert, and secure some few remaining good bits before they are
gone for ever. Should the tourist come on b}r the Bristol and Exeter line
he would do well to stop at the Tiverton Road Station, where he will find
a comfortable and convenient inn ; or at Samford Peverell, on the road to
Tiverton. The church, from the banks of the canal is a good subject. A
couple of miles further there is another church — Halberton — a fine build¬
ing of the fourteenth century, restored some years back, principally at the
cost of one of the sons of Sir Thomas Ackland. A mile to the left, beyond the
church a turn in the road leads to the canal banks, some short distance
from Tiverton, with several excellent subjects on the way, backed by the
Black Down hills, and an extensive and magnificent view of Taunton
Yale. Tiverton (the town of two fords) is celebrated for its grammar-
school, church, castle, lace factory, and from having been represented in
Parliament for so many years by Lord Palmerston. There are several
good inns, and some clean, well-conducted refreshment houses. Blundell’s
School, founded 1604, is world famed, well situated for taking, and makes
two good pictures. The fine Gothic Church of St. Peter dates from the
fiffeenth century, is highly ornamented externally and internally, with a
decorated nth side chapel of the date 1518. The church tower rises to
a great height, ac i from the top presents a fine panoramic view of the
surrounding district. Good pictures may also be got from the river banks.
The remains of the castle (an old gateway with ivied walls and towers),
formerly the abodes of the Earls of Devon, is a fine architectural specimen
of the prevailing style of the twelfth century : it stands close to the road
on the north side of the town, and will yield three or four good subjects,
as will also a new church built within the last few years. The lace fac¬
tory, Lowman Bridgy Tiverton Bridge, from the river banks, the tower
of St. Peter’s in the distance — not forgetting Greenway’s Almshouse in
the high street — are also worth taking. The late John Cross, the talented
and successful paint r of some of the prize cartoons for the Palace at
Westminster, passed much of his time at Tiverton, and painted many
of his best pictures the. e.
Exeter, some thirteen miles from here, can be reached by taking the
Bickleigh Road, and passing on through Stoke Cannon and Rewe. At
each of these places much that is good and effective may be taken. Or the
road from Tiverton to Cullompton may be followed. This place is situated
on the River Culme. The Church of St. Andrew has been restored within
the last few years : a building of the fifteenth century, with a finely
painted and carved screen, and decorated aisle on the south side, built by
John Lane, 1528. From the grounds of the vicarage it makes a good
picture, with every facility for placing the camera either there or in the
August 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
293
High Street, from which a fine view of the massively -built and highly-
decorated tower may be obtained.
Bradninch, a short distance from the Hele Station of the Exeter rail¬
way, has a couple of good subjects in the old church and rectory. King
Charles was here in 1644, and remained at the latter place for some time.
Hele Station, with the paper mills, is a good subject; while across the
line, to the right, about three miles, you come to Killer ton Park, the seat
of Sir Thomas Acldand, but which presents no particularly noteworthy fea¬
tures. Poltimore House, the seat of Lord Poltimore, is close at hand,
offering a good distant effect ; while the church and old Alms-Houses are
very good subjects. Bramford Speke, not far off the road, gives some good
bits in old cottages and hedge-row scenes, the church and tower coming
in most effectively in the distance. Some few years back it was a familiar
name to all readers of the current news of the day, in the celebrated case
of Gorham and the Bishop. Exeter is now close at hand, where the
tourist can please himself as to remaining, or make his way down Fore
Street Hill, and on to the banks of the ship canal, bound for a point called
Turf, where the said canal commences, and to which place the Corpora¬
tion of the “ever faithful city” repair to enjoy themselves — a sort of
Greenwich whitebait house, with the advantage of fresher air and fish
obtained from purer water. The subjects to be met with will be : — The old
turreted tower of Alphington Church, backed by the lofty Haldon Hills;
Exminster and station, with a broad expanse of marsh — one of those
picturesque buildings, erected on the South Devon line, to carry out the
atmospheric plans, and generally known as Brunei’s “follies;” Topsham,
with its square-towered church rising from a compact mass of houses ; if
high water, a few small craft at anchor under the town walls — if low, a
vessel here and there heeled over on one side, with waggons and horses,
&c., &c., and the usual busy scene of loading and unloading.
There is also Powderham Castle and park, the seat of the Courtenays,
Earls of Devon — the park, some nine or ten miles in circumference, having
extensive wooded glades and magnificent groups of trees and deer. The
Castle itself is supposed to date from the time of the conquest. On the line,
slightly to the left, we come to Starcross, a place that has within a very
brief period risen from mud and mussels into cleanliness and consequence.
Close to the station there is another of the “follies” that comes in well,
either from the sea-wall or beyond the jetty, taking in the long strip of
marsh and sand, called the Warren — the sails and masts of various small
craft coming out well in the distance. On the right are Powderham Church
and Vicarage, with the Belvidere or Prospect Tower, rising from the
■wooded heights behind. Looking towards the city, a low long Canaletti-
sort of effect is seen — the Norman Towers of the old Cathedral, dating
from 1050, rising in clear relief against the sky. From the solid line of
buildings surrounding St. Leonard’s and Heavitree, the high ground of
Honiton cliff stretching away to the right, the left filled in by St.
Thomas’s and the neighbourhood — these, with the lights and shadows of a
sinking sun, on a clear summer’s evening, with a variety of objects and
masses reflected and reversed in the clear water of the canal, present a
scene which, for beauty and effectiveness, it would be difficult to surpass
— reminding one forcibly of the works of Callcott, Callow, and the
younger Clint.
Ilt.cetin.gs of Societies.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
An ordinary meeting of this Society was held on the 4th July last, —
Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., in the chair.
The Chairman introduced Mr. Dallmeyev’s shutters for short exposures
to the meeting, and explained an arrangement of his own, which had been
before the Society at a meeting in 1858, and reported at page 289 of the
Liverpool arid. Manchester Photographic Journal for that year.
A discussion upon these contrivances followed, and general opinion
awarded to Mr. Sidebotham’s the first place. As this arrangement has
been lost sight of in recent observations on the subject, we will again
allude to its principle of construction.
Attached to the front of the lens is a disc, provided with a central
aperture. Eccentric to this, and turning upon a centre of motion, is
another disc, also provided with an aperture. To one of these discs is
connected a coiled spring, which, upon being liberated from a distended
condition, causes its disc to revolve rapidly, during which revolution the
two apertures become for an instant coincident, and thus effect the ex¬
posure. When the spring is distended the disc is held b}r a catch, so as
to close the lens, and its liberation is effected by a slight pressure of the
finger, no shaking of the camera taking place until the exposure has been
effected.
Mr. Parry then read a paper On Panoramic Photography. [See page 286.]
Several panoramic pictures, taken by Mr. Parry, were handed round,
affording most abundant proof of the success which has attended that
gentleman’s perseverance and ingenuity in this almost untrodden path of
photography. In some of the specimens the closest inspection of the
ordinary observer could not detect the junction of the two pictures ;
those even in which it could be seen, owing to the defect of the apparatus
mentioned by Mr. Parry in his paper, were great successes.
In reply to Mr. Montefiori, Mr. Parky stated that, after the stops of
the camera were properly adjusted, they were correct for all pictures.
He had to. expose a great many plates before the correct positions could
be determined ; but that once accomplished the camera was always in
TL he Chairman remavKed t licit Jfr. Penny caused one picture to overlap
the other, but Mr. Parry worked the edges up to each other as closely
as possible. J
Mr. Wardeey said he thought it would be better to let them overlap a
little with a soft edge.
Mr. Parry explained that a soft edge necessarily followed, and that he
found an overlapping to be injurious.
I he Chairman said that he thought the members were great] v indebted
to Mr. Parry for the instruction he had afforded them. Pictures produced
by the method he had described were not only superior to any which
could be obtained by a panoramic lens, but they possessed the merit of
involving no additional skill or labour in their production.
A vote of thanks was then presented to Mr. Parry.
1 lie Chairman stated that he had been following up his experiments
with the view of producing dry plates as quick as those issued by Dr.
Norris, and he had met with results which induced him to believe lie
should be able, at the next meeting, to announce some success and to de¬
scribe the process.
A conversation followed on the uses of bromides in dry-plate photo¬
graphy.
Mr. Wardley stated his doubts as to their value ; at an}’ rate, he was
piepaied to say that they were of no use in the collodio-albumcn process.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings.
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF MARSEILLES.
Another meeting of this energetic Society was held on Wednesdav, the
2nd ult., under the presidency of M. Gabriel.
After the leading and confirmation of the minutes of the previous
meeting, the President proceeded to the admission of new members, and
to the opening of the correspondence of the month. The following letters
were read : —
1. A letter from M. Poitevin, in reply to the congratulatorv address
sent to him by the committee of management.
2. A letter from 2.1. Devylder, Professor at the lioyal Athenaeum of
Ghent, announcing his intention of opening a class at Ghent for the
practical study of photography.
M. ^ idai., in thanking M. Devylder for the good-will expressed
in his communication, alluded to the desire entertained by the
Society that the example set by M. Devylder might be followed in
all the great centres of Europe. He availed himself of the present
opportunity to remind the members that classes, such as that in¬
tended by M. Devylder, would be inaugurated as soon as the locale
of the Art Union was settled — that is to say, in five or six months.
3. A letter from Messrs, de Jongh and Bargignac, photographers, pre¬
senting to the Society two proofs taken by them of the Chefs Tourcgs
which had lately passed by Marseilles.
The President delivered these very successful proofs to the members
of the Society, and thanked Messrs, de Jongh and Bargignac.
M. Tissot directed the attention of the Society to the interesting
experiments which had appeared in the various publications of the month
of June, having for their object the perfecting of a dry collodion process,
and remarked that the dry processes were becoming more and more
generally used to the displacement of the wet collodion process, which had
already come to be regarded as rudimentary in its character, and to which
recourse would very soon be had only under exceptional circumstances.
He described the method adopted by Mr. Baynham Jones for effecting the
adherence of the film to the glass in the tannin process, which consisted in
adding malt to the solution of tannin with which the plate was covered —
a plan, he said, worthy the attention of the numerous amateurs who were
daily experimenting in the tannin process. He (M. Tissot) also described
several other processes and formulae with equal precision and clearness.
The President thanked M. Tissot for his active co-operation in the
labours of the Society, and asked M. Hudelot to undertake the task of
analysing the various photographic publications which would appeal-
prior to the next meeting.
The members generally were then invited to lay before the Society any
communications they might have to make.
M.PIudelot exhibited some instantaneous stereoscopic views taken by
the aid of M. G. Authoui s portable laboratory. These animated scenes,
illustrating life on the quays of the Port of Marseilles, attracted con¬
siderable attention.
M. Vidal showed a positive on glass, bearing evidence of much too
long an exposure, which he had obtained by exposing a four-months’
prepared tannin plate to an ordinary moderator lamp for about 30 or 40
minutes. He showed another which had been exposed only 15 minutes,
in which the detail and intensity were perfect — the conditions being, of
course, the same as in the former instance.
The object which M. Vidal had in view in showing these pictures was,
not so much to invite attention to any new fact, as to insist on a fact
which, in the present condition of the various dry processes, was of great
importance, and the manipulation of ivliich had not commanded a due
amount of attention. He alluded to the indifference with which light
coming from an ordinary candle was regarded in the preparation of dry
294
[August 1, 1802
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
nlatpq He could, however, assure the members that such light was quite
sufficient to fog all the plates brought under its influence and he thought
nne of the pictures which he then exhibited was a good illustration of his
statement. It was, therefore, important to preserve the plates from all
contact of the slightest trace of the most feeble light. _ Finally, M. ^ idal
thought that, regarding his experiments from a practical point of view,
the use of lamp-light would he found very serviceable in printing glass
^The Committee appointed to examine the communications of Messrs.
Cathala, Mecliet, Meynier, and Chazal, having concluded their investiga¬
tions submitted their report for the approval of the Society.
M.’ Jacquemet, Secretary and Reporter to the Committee charged with
the examination of the cliemically-pure products of M. Cathala, read the
report of that Committee. After describing the various experiments by
which the purity of these products was established, and after a few prac¬
tical considerations, the report concludes thus : —
« Where is the advantage in a theoretical or scientific point of view of know¬
ing that ordinary chemicals and those which are perfectly pure have, under
certain conditions, given the same results? To the careful and thoughtful
operator in his art it is far more important to have at his disposal substances
about the purity of which no doubt can exist in his mind, which allow him
to conduct the most delicate researches with complete confidence, and which,
even in an economical point of view, will enable him to realise a profit which
he certainly could not do by other means. We are, therefore, of opinion that
the cliemically-pure products of M. Cathala are indications of an improvement
in the right direction, which should receive every encouragement from our
Society.”
M. Gilbault read the report of the Committee on the instantaneous
shutters of Messrs. Chazal and Meynier. The Committee finding points
of merit in both, the report recommended both to the approbation of the
Society.
In reference to instantaneous shutters, M. Vidal took occasion to
remark that the two kinds now in use were far from perfect, and that
there was a better Reliance of arriving at perfection in this particular if it
were possible to construct a shutter opening from the centre to the
circumference, in such a way as to constitute a senes of continuous
diaphragms. He showed by diagrams the necessary imperfection attend¬
ing those shutters which have been in use up to this time.
Several members gave it as their opinion that the construction of such
a series of diaphragms in the form of a shutter ivould be very difficult.
M. Vidal propounded the idea and put it forth with the conviction
that there was no material difficulty which actual genius could not over¬
come in the domain of the possible.
M. Tissot, in reading the report of the Committee on the micrographic
apparatus of Messrs. Desjardin and Mechet, directed attention to the in¬
genious application of ebonite in the apparatus, and concluded by saying
that “ these perfect and well-constructed pieces of apparatus have seemed
to the Committee adapted to render great service in certain special appli¬
cations of the photographic art.”
All these reports having been approved by the Society, the President
ordered that they should be entered in the minute book.
A model of a new pressure-frame vras exhibited for examination
by M. Sorrel, who received the thanks of the President for his com¬
munication.
Before the close of the meeting, Messrs. Hudelot and Tissot laid on the
table their carle-de-visite portraits.
M. Vidal availed himself of the opportunity thus afforded him of
reminding those members who had not yet deposited their portraits of
the desirability of doing so before the inauguration of the new place of
meeting, where the whole of them would be placed in one frame.
A member pi’oposed the infliction of a fine on those members who did
not comply with the requisition previous to the closing of the next
meeting.
An amendment was made to the effect that one franc be paid for each
day after the 15th August next in which the members failed to comply
with the requisition.
This measure being unanimously adopted, the meeting separated.
SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Mr. Davis desires to inform his fellow-members that he has obtained the
permission of Sir Thomas Wilson, of the Amateur Photographic Associa¬
tion, for the next out-door meeting of the above Society being held in his
park and private grounds at Chorlton. A dark room will be at the dis¬
posal of such members as may desire to use it.
Use of Sugar, &c., in the Tannin Process. — Mr. Hull said he
had been making trials of sugar, honey, &c., which had been recom¬
mended for the tannin process, and had found no advantage in
them. If sometimes they gave a little gain in sensitiveness it was
not sufficient to compensate for the extra trouble and risk. He
preferred the tannin process in its simplest form. Other members
followed Mr. Hull to the same effect, fully endorsinghis conclusions,
and adding that plates which contained foreign matter would not
he likely to keep so well. — American Journal of Photography.
Smips iwtr Jfmgmwts*
The Copyright Bill passed through Committee in the House of
Lords on the 15th ult.
Photography and the Fine Arts. — An Exhibition of pictures,
statues, and other works of fine art, now opened at Spa, exhibits
photographs as belonging to the same high class.
Joke for Photographic Portraitists. — “ What is that which
you never had until after it was taken from you ?” asks Fun. The
brief reply to this seemingly puzzling query is “ Your Portrait.”
Spectrum Discoveries. — It is now ascertained that rubidium,
an alkaline metal, supposed to have been extremely rare, exists in
the ashes of beet -root, tobacco, coffee, tea, and grapes. In fact,
this metal is one of the most widely-diffused bodies in nature. —
Athenceum.
Bromides in Collodion. — Referring to the dispute concerning
the value and use of bromides so employed, Mr. Heisch says very
pithily: — “I do not consider that the truly relative sensibility of
two collodions to light can be tested if diiferent developers are
employed.”
Amateur Photographic Association. — In obedience to the
wishes of Her Majesty, we understand that H.R.II. the Prince of
Wales abstains from accepting the office of President of any
society until he has attained his majority, and therefore, for the
present, becomes only the Patron of the Amateur Photographic
Association.
A Useful Hint. — In a recently-taken card-portrait we were
pleased to notice the natural effect obtained by cleverly blending
what seemed to us the real with the merely imitative : — A naval
officer sitting by the (painted) sea-side resting himself upon a rock
looking very like the real thing, although it was only a huge block
of coal coated with brown paint.
A New State Officer. — The works of Mr. Bedford go far to prove
that another State officer must shortly be created. While Court
dignitaries indifferent countries are defining the duties of the Couvt
photographer, the public at large cannot do better than admire the
very admirable memoranda of the latest Royal progress which have
been penned by the industry and skill of the artist who took part
in it. — Times.
Universality of the Carte-de-Yisite Portraits.— There was
recently, on board the Ramsgate boat an instance illustrative of this.
Two families met as strangers, grew intimate in the course of the
short journey, and when one family were going ashore at Margate
leaving the other to proceed to Ramsgate, perhaps never to meet
again, they were seen exchanging cards in order that the members
of either family might send the other copies of their cartes de visite!
Photographic Reproductions. — Longmans and Co. have just
published some interesting reproductions of “ leaves in Saxon
handwriting on Saint Swithun” executed by the aid of photozinco¬
graphy, accompanied by an essay, by Mr. J. Karle, wherein those
who are interested in the early history of this ancient and never-
to-be-forgotten saint may read of his life and adventures, and how
his memory-preserving tradition of the forty days’ rain, with which
we are all familiar, came into being.
Astronomical Photographs.— In Class XIII. at the International
Exhibition, some very fine specimens of enlarged transparencies,
from photographs of the eclipse of 1860, are exhibited by Mr.
Warren De la Rue. These have been generously presented — as
very valuable aids to education, and very interesting additions
to the scientific collection — to the South Kensington Museum,
where arrangements will he made for their advantageous exhi¬
bition and careful preservation. — Athenceum.
Mr. Breese’s Transparencies. — “Until the 1st of May, this year,”
sajTs the Athenceum , with a feeling akin to that which induces a cer¬
tain bird to imagine nothing exists which its sand-blinded eyes do
not see, “Mr. Breeze was unknown to photographers : he is now,
at one bound, in their foremost rank. His moonlight effects, how¬
ever produced, are of a very high order of beauty. The legitimacy
of his process ” (what process?) “may be open to dispute. There
can be no question as to the charm of his ordinary work, either in
clouds, water, or land: one picture, of a rock landscape, is one of
the finest photographs ever produced.” A contemporary congra¬
tulating himself upon the simple fact of a medal having been
awarded to Mr. Breese — which is anything but an astonishing one,
considering the charming truth and beauty embodied in these fine
productions — somewhat “twistically” recognises in the fact of such
an award a “ tacit acceptance ” of the reality of “ the moonlight
photographs about which so much cavil has been made.” The
above quotation from the Athenceum will show how far such a con¬
clusion — however true or false— is from public recognition,
August 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. '
Another Hint. — When a glass positive is of that pale grey-
feeble kind in which coat, face, and background are too monotonously
alike, there is a very simple but effective remedy which all who
have once tried will certainly praise. Blacken a piece of glass
over the flame of a lamp or candle, and with a small soft brush
apply the sooty pigment so obtained to the coat, hair, or whatever
else in the picture may need darkening, taking the black over both
lights and shadows. When varnished the coat will be a rich black,
the face will be improved by contrast, and that which was a feeble,
washed-out, unattractive-looking portrait will appear a first-class
positive. This simple scheme lias been frequently sold as a
valuable secret. It is also of service when copying “faded
or inferior” photographs.
Photography and the Civil List Pensions. — The just-published
list of pensions, to the amount of £1,200, which have been given
between June, 1861, and the same date of the same month in 1862,
charged upon the Civil List, shows us the grounds upon which
such tangible recognitions of public service are granted. Disco¬
veries and labours by which the public have been greatly served,
or the progress of art or science accelerated, are therein given as
reasons for such rewards or acknowledgments ; and when those
who have so obtained our well-deserved gratitude and esteem have
passed away without receiving either an adequate reward or suffi¬
ciently legitimate recognition, the pensions are awarded to widows
or to surviving sons or daughters. Without other comment we
simply ask if art, science, and the public have ever received more
tangible or more valuable services than those rendered by photo¬
graphy ? And if this question be answered in the only way in which
it can be truly answered, we ask one other question, and that is :
If those to whoso discoveries and labours the full value of photo¬
graphy, as a public benefactor, is primarily due, will ever receive
from the hands of the government such recognitions or rewards as
are here honourably granted to other noble labourers equally, but
not more, worthy ?
Royal Visit 'to the Arcade (Ryde). — On Tuesday morning
last, by special appointment, Her Royal Highness the Princess
Helena and Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise honoured Mr.
C. Jabez Hughes, the celebrated photographist, with a sitting, at
his studio, in the Arcade, Union-street. Their Royal Highnesses
were attended by Major Elphinstone and Lad}’ Caroline Barrington.
Their Royal Highnesses were taken singly and together, and the
artist was singularly fortunate in catching the very living resem¬
blance of their features, while the tasteful arrangement of the
surrounding objects has, in addition to the most correct likeness,
given an elegance to the tout ensemble, which redounds greatly to
the credit of the artistic talent of Mr. Hughes. This gentleman
has, upon many previous occasions, been honoured with the
commands of Her Majesty ; having photographed Prince Leopold
at Osborne, and also by the express commands of the Queen taken
a variety of views of the interior and exterior of Whippingham
Church. On the previous day the Countess of Desart and Colonel
Biddulph favoured Mr. Hughes with a sitting. We congratulate
Ryde upon the accession of such a talented successor to our late
friend and gifted townsman, Mr. Lacy, as the gentleman who now
occupies his studio. It would scarcely be doing justice to the
taste and liberality of Mr. Hughes if we did not, in . concluding,
mention the finished manner in which the whole of his establish¬
ment has been fitted up : the antique furniture, the richly falling
draperies, indeed everything requisite for the sanctum of a virtuoso,
has been gathered together in the lofty and beautiful studio of Mr.
Hughes. — Isle of Wight Times.
Cement for Photographic Dishes, &c. — Take one ounce of
isinglass, such as is used for clearing wines, that, is to say, of the
best quality, and steep it in rain water until it is thoroughly ex¬
panded ; after this point has been arrived at, the water is poured
off, and then a sufficient quantity of alcohol is added so as just to
cover the isinglass, which, by the application of a gentle warmth,
is by degrees dissolved. In another vessel take three ounces of
alcohol, and, by a similar application of heat, dissolve therein. one
ounce of powdered gum mastic. The two solutions, are mixed
together, and to these add one ounce of gum ammoniac already
reduced into small particles either by the knife or the mortar. By
heat and frequent shaking this gum also dissolves. rlhe solution
or mixture is then evaporated to the consistency of ordinary glue
which is used for veneering or similar purposes. It is then poured
into small bottles for future use. When about to use this cement,
the bottle containing it is placed in warm water, or on a thin layer
of wood or cardboard on the stove, by which means the cement
becomes fluid. The fractured surface, if not thoroughly clean, must
be well washed first with soap and water and afterwards with
295
alcohol, but if the vessel has been newly broken it is not necessary
to take this precaution. The edges of the broken parts are next
warmed, and then the glue is applied. The pieces are now brought
into apposition and kept there until the glue is thoroughly con¬
creted, which will take place in a few days. All the articles used
in this cement have to be the purest and best of their kind in order
to succeed in its preparation satisfactorily ; but it can certainly be
relied upon when so prepared. — Humphrey's Journal.
Photography and the Volunteers. — The Daily Telegraph describes
how, at a review of the City of London Rifle Brigade by His Royal High¬
ness the Duke of Cambridge, when the gentlemen volunteers had been
very highly complimented, and His Royal Highness was about to leave the
square, Colonel Warde introduced to him Sergeant D. Combe, of N Com¬
pany, a photographic artist, who offered for his acceptance a photographic
album, bound in green and gold, containing admirably-executed photo¬
graphs of Lieutenant-Colonel Warde, the late Lieutenant-Colonel Mon¬
tague Hicks ; the Honorary Chaplain, the Rev. Thomas Dale, M.A., Canon
of St. Paul’s ; Drs. Attkins, May, and Prophert; Captains and Adjutants
E wens and Smith; Sergeants Major Southgate and Talbot; Musketry In¬
structor Grainge ; the captain, lieutenant, ensign, and one sergeant, one
corporal, and one private of each of the sixteen companies forming the
brigade; and a group of the cadets. The album bore the following dedi¬
cation : — “ To His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., G.C.M.,
G.G.C., H.K.P., General Commanding-in-Chief, Colonel of the London
Rifle Volunteer Brigade, these photographs of the officers, staff, non-com¬
missioned officers, and some of the privates of the London Rifle Volunteer
Brigade, are, by gracious permission, most respectfully dedicated by the
artist, by His Royal Highness’s most obedient servant, D. Cojibe, Ser¬
geant of N Company.” His Royal Highness took the book up on his sad¬
dle-bow, examined the photographs, expressed his admiration of their
execution, and, having graciously accepted the gift, thanked Sergeant
Combe for his appropriate present. This may perhaps serve as a hint to
other enterprising photographers, who are also members of rifle brigades
which have colonels of high rank and social importance.
(£ntrcwrts.
PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE ROYAL DRAMATIC COLLEGE
FETE.
The gorgeously-attired herald having, with sound of trumpet and
solemn proclamation, duly opened the fair, its fun, frolic, and noise
immediately burst into being. Photography came out strong on
the occasion. There were cartes de visile of every imaginable shado
of merit, vended with smiles of sweetness and words of great
temptation, by their fair originals ; some of which cartes were
increased in value from the low sum of eighteen pence to that of
half a guinea, simply by the addition of a lady’s autograph — so
beautiful must be the penmanship of these fair daughters of the
stage! Then there was a lecture— a “ powerful " lecture— on photo¬
graphy, by Professor Toole, T.R.A. ; and there was a photographic
establishment conducted by little Toole and by big Bedford — the
former, as photographer, taking upon himself the reception and
exposure, and the latter as developer, illustrating in his own persou
a remarkable instance of his powers in this department. To crown
all, there vras the first introduction of “ a new, novel, and original”
photographic process, which, being “patent," was not made public,
and which would turn out fifty carles per minute ! The inventor
of this “ wonderful invention” was an unaccountably hairy counte¬
nanced Count, who, on account of his countless scientific discoveries
was of great account in his own country (Russia), and who re¬
counted for our edification how he derived the first hints sugges¬
tive of this singular discovery from these identical pages, which it
appears are in high repute in Russia !
This great artist in hair and general effect was of a very singular
appearance, as great geniuses frequently are. Knowing that gun¬
cotton was intended to supersede the use of gunpowder in war, he
saw no reason why the latter should not take the place of the
former iu photography ; and, as a creamy film was very desirable
in the preparation of the plate, what could be better for such a pur¬
pose than cream itself! ! From such simple facts — strangely over¬
looked in our country — arose this marvellous discovery, which
Messrs. Toole and Bedford have now so widely advertised as the
“ gunpowder and cold cream process,” and which was so success¬
fully practised by them at the Crystal Palace on the 19th and 21st
ult. Cartes produced by this admirable, simple, and efficient pro¬
cess are to be termed “Toole and Bedford’s new, novel, and original
photographic carte blanche:'
Another astounding photographic wonder was exhibited by the
Russian Count aforesaid, who appeared to be of Yankee origin- (for
this occasion only). This was a wonderful piece of apparatus,
290
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
[August 1, lb 02
worked by steam, which, through the agency of “ bottled sunshine,”
produced portraits at the rate of— we are almost afraid to say how
many thousands per hour. By merely placing “ a written descrip¬
tion" in a funnel attached to the apparatus, and turning on the
steam, it immediately turned out a most faithful photographic
portrait of the individual described. The Russian Count, we
believe, was indebted for the original idea of this ingenious instru¬
ment to a certain advertisement of a similar apparatus still
appearing daily in the Telegraph and other of our contemporaries ;
and this idea, it was stated, was worked out by the joint labours
of himself and Lord Palmerston. Some one said that the Russian
Yankee Count was C. J. Smith, of the Adelphi Theatre, an amateur
photographer.
In photographing from the life, Mr. Toole has already won high
honours ; but, though we have no wish to convert Mr. Bedford into
a “ hot developer,” we must say, without irony, that, as a
developer, he was rather slow. Still old developers cannot be
expected to exhibit the same activity as young ones do; and Mr.
Bedford has now devoted so many years of his life to the develop¬
ment of mirth and harmless fun on the stage, and to the develop¬
ment of that quality which, the old proverb informs us, invariably
springs from laughter, that he must be, as the saying goes, “ no
chicken :” and so bravo “ developer ” too !
The most satisfactory event in connexion with photography at
the Royal Dramatic College Fete was that of its success in bring¬
ing grist to a mill which makes the bread of those who “ strut and
fret their hour upon the stage, and then are heard no more.” All
honour to the labourers in such a cause, and great success to the
cause itself, will be sentiments as gladly echoed by photographers
as by any other section of the community.
Hie “ Powerful ” Lecture on Photography.
By Professor Toole, T.R.A.
“Come, now, let us have a little nonsense.” — Sydney Smith.
Professor Toole’s photographic establishment, with its attractive
announcements and large display of photographic portraits, was
situated on the right hand in the north nave from the centre
transept. The lecture commenced at about 2 p.m., to an audience
composed of between fifty and sixty individuals, and was as
follows : —
“ Ladies and Gentleman, — Permit me to say that this (the
apparatus in question) is the invention of a Russian nobleman,
whom I shall have the honour of introducing to you in a few
minutes, and I may say that it has been the sole object of his life
to see this apparatus brought to perfection; and such indeed is
the perfection to which it has been brought, that, after you have
given me your attention for a few minutes, I guarantee to all
a perfect likeness.” Then, turning to the doorkeepers, the learned
Professor called out that “ there was room for six more,” explaining
to the company “ that it was necessary to get the full complement,
or the pictures would be spoilt.” The six more having arrived
Mr. Bedford proceeded to place the ladies in the front, for “the
better effect of the picture,” and Mr. Toole then proceeded : —
“Now, ladies and gentleman, allow me to focus you (laughter):
quite still for ono moment, if you please — thank you, thank you,
ladies, that will do very nicely.” The plate being brought out by
Mr. Paul Bedford, Mr. Toole requested the company again to keep
quite still, “only for two seconds, if you please, ladies,” whereat a
lady laughed : he therefore informed her that if she laughed it
would cause him “ to go through the whole operation again.” lie
then explained to the company how this lens and camera had the
very great advantage of taking “round the corners” (laughter),
and repeated the operation again, requesting the ladies "to be
“ perfectly still,” to “ look” as amiable as angels, and be as still as
statues. Mr. Bedford next raised the cloth, Avhile Mr. Toole
anxiously examined his watch, till at his (Mr. Toole’s) sign the
doth again dropped over the lens, and the operation was complete.
Mr. Bedford then informed the company that “they might laugh
and talk,” while he disappeared with the plate into the developing
room.
The able lecturer then resumed, saying — “ Now, ladies and
gentleman, while Mr. Bedford is developing the plate (and I may
say that developing, in connexion with plates, has been a particu¬
lar study of his for the greater part of his life) I will explain the
process. This, as I said before, is the invention— the marvellous
invention— -of a Russian nobleman, Count Sarakowitcbemof ” (the
count v, as here duly introduced as a venerable gentleman, with a
profusion of hair all over his head and face, decorated very liberally
with orders and medals, and in a very singular costume trimmed with
fur.) “As I said before, it has been the sole object of his life to see
this invention brought to perfection, which you will not doubt when
I inform you that he travelled all the way from Russia on foot, in
consequence of which feat he felt very much fatigued. But to the
process.
“The double oxide of potassium or cadmium (which ever you
like) is a vegetable substance, obtained from mustard-and-cress
seed, grown in a warm situation on a blacking bottle (laughter),
constantly kept damp with paragoric elixer. In three days it
forms into a small leaf, which must be subjected to the gas evolving
the decomposition of the felocusinsicumdecorriswesublimate. If
carried further, it becomes a crystallised substance, in the form
of a white powder, known as the Epsom salts of commerce.
(Laughter.)
“ I must next explain a fact with which you are all doubtless
familiar. If you take a small glass plate, and hold it before the
kitchen fire till it becomes so hot that you must drop it, and then
look hard at it for about two seconds, your likeness will become
perfectly impressed upon it. (Laughter.) You must then have
ready a solution composed of equal portions of gunpowder and
cold cream. (Roars of laughter). With this mix a spoonful of
Germanfluis. The Russians generally prefer klatucum, to which
the nobleman present has a very decided aversion ” (the nobleman
present here expressed this aversion very energetically) ; “or you
may use, instead of this, a few carefully-fried postage stamps, as
scraps secretum. (Roars of laughter.) Into this mixture you dip
the plate, and let it remain therein until the photograph is done,
when you are done too, and the picture is ready for a beautiful
blue and gold frame — and, to use the sublime words of the poet
Byron, ‘ There you are !’ ”
Mr. Toole was then interrupted by the advent of the well-de¬
veloped developer, with the developed portraits securely enveloped
in envelopes ready for delivery. While these were being dis¬
tributed, the elegant photographer and lecturer informed his
patrons that the autograph of both Mr. Bedford and himself would
be found on the back of each portrait, and also informed them that
“ should any individual lady or gentleman present not approve of
their portrait they could instantly convert it into the portrait of
‘any other man’ or woman by presenting it to them.” Upon
taking out our portrait, Ave saAv printed on the back of the frame,
in large letters, “taken in,” and turning it round to look at the
likeness we saw our own face most faithfully represented in the
natural colours, and in a little bit of elaborately ornamented looking-
glass ! Again : looking at the back of the picture Ave found, under
the large letters of “ TAKEN IN,” “ The Crystal Palace ” in
very much smaller type.
“LOUD DblfDItEAEY” AT THE INTERNATIONAL
EXHIBITION.
Scene— The Photographic Garret, South Kensington.
The Lord Dundreary loquitur.
Well, I’ve got up here : only sneezed twenty-one times, and one
sup-sup-pressed. What’s all this photo-tographic- - ? Can’t
say that again : no time to sneeze in the middle of it. I learnt the
Greek lingo at Eton, and s’pose it means to write about one’s
phoes. That’s not bad ! Why one should Avrite about one’s foes I
can’t tell. I wouldn’t. One should pray for them, I’ve heard.
Don’t think some Fowke did though : sent them up stairs instead.
Not bad ! The why they sent ’em up stairs I can’t tell. I shan’t
come again, I know !— that’s flat. No, not flat : it’s up stairs.
Let’s see. Coll-coll-odion : can’t say that again, for the life of
me. Plere’s gelatine. Jelly tin ! yes, that’s it. My brother’s
wife says jelly moulds are made of tin. That’s not bad! But
tannin — what’s that? One man calls it tanning: is that right?
Lie is from Manchester, and must knoAv if it isn’t. I’d tan him, if I
had him ; but I haven’t. Tanning with alcohol : that’s Hollands,
isn’t it? I like Hollands, but tannin isn’t sugar; and I like sugar.
Aunt Sally — no, she’s not my aunt : never mind — says I Avas born
with a sugar spoon in my mouth. Was I? Hot developers!
Why not hot? I like Hollands hot. Wouldn’t currie do? currie
is hot. No: try cyanide. That’s it- — hide: yes, they tan hides,
don’t they ? Ha ! ha ! One mustn’t laugh at one’s own joke — must
we? Don’t you? Oh! here’s a cam-amera! What’s in it?
Let’s see. [Gets into the photographic closet, and — is shut up.]
August 1, 1862]
297
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Holes of the Illontb.
In the photographic world, the two principal events of the past
month have decidedly been the award of medals and certificates of
honourable mention, and the opening of the Exhibition at the
German Gallery of Mr. Francis Bedford’s photographs, taken during
his tour in the East with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
Of the first-named ceremonial the daily press has furnished the
fullest details. Class XIV. — in the absence of Baron Gros, as
Chairman, and Lord Henry Lennox, as Vice-Chairman — was headed
in the procession by Dr. Diamond, M.D., F.S.A., Secretary of the
Photographic Society, in the scarlet robes of a doctor of medicine.
The noble stature of the worthy doctor in this imposing costume
led to many erroneous guesses as to his identity ; and one old lady,
officiating as chaperone to a number of “ country cousins,” affecting a
more extensive knowledge of the upper ten thousand than her com¬
peers, was heard to point out “ that tall gentleman in the scarlet
robes ” as the Duke of Devonshire in the dress in which he had just
been installed as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge !
Ancient as the custom is, the propriety of giving medals is very
questionable. Queen Elizabeth never permitted her subjects to
accept foreign ones, always preferring, as she quaintly expressed
herself, “ to bell her own sheep.” The Saturday Review has some
pertinent remarks on the subject of giving medals at all, and con¬
tends that the principle at best is a very doubtful one, as the medals
so seldom go to those who have earned them. We cannot forbear
one quotation — “ Painters and sculptors are excluded from medals :
art is its own exceeding great reward, we suppose. It is only the
tradesman or manufacturer who cares for the copper medal, and he
can only value it for its advertising capabilities. If there is any¬
thing to be rewarded, we should say it ought to be the head-work,
not the mere possession of capital and the power of paying wages
and keeping a shop. The designer of a first-rate sideboard, or
shawl, or ribbon, deserves a prize for a very intelligible reason ; but
we cannot understand why the manufacturer, who simply owns the
machinery which produces them, or who keeps the shop where the
lace is sold, is to be medalled. Nor are the Jurors consistent even
in following their own principle, and their inconsistency comes out
in various ways. There are many objects in which the designer is
everything, and which are, in fact, works of art. Some Jurors
seem to have seen this, and have given medals to the artists only :
others not so. In one case the smith who executed the work got
it ! There are other and more serious faults to be found with the
awards. Again : why should the artists who have executed monu¬
mental effigies be included, and the sculptors of ideal statues be
excluded ? It may be said that the former is furniture, and the
latter high art. But where can this line between decorative
manufacture and art be drawn, or ought it to be drawn at all ?
Was not one object of this very Exhibition to show that art —
even the highest art — was to be wedded to manufacture ? It
comes to this : — Raffaelle and Michael Angelo are artists, and
are, therefore, above being medalled ; but, as to Cellini and Palissy
and Della Robbia, they are mere tradesmen and manufacturers,
and we will give them a medal, because they are artisans and not
artists. Our opinion is, that this distinction between art in
pictures and statues and art in manufactures, is treason to art.
These inconsistencies come out most emphatically in some de¬
partments. An old and long established concern, a Staffordshire
pottery, is for sale. Some capitalist — say a London Alderman —
whose only knowledge of pastes, glazes, and lustres, is the paste
of a pie, the glazing of a ham, and the lustres which hang over
a Mansion House dinner table — purchases it. He buys the whole
concern — the old patterns, the traditional methods and secrets,
and the skill and artists attached to the works — and he exhibits
some beautiful productions at Brompton, but nobody knows or
cares about the humble artist who has done the work. The medal
goes to the enterprising capitalist, who, had it suited his purpose,
was just as likely to have invested in a promising bone-boiling
concern!” One class of Jurors has very properly given medals
to Messrs. Armstead, Veclite, Willms, and others, — the artists of
Messrs. Hunt and Roskell, Elkington, &c.
The Jurors of Class XIV. have not altogether escaped rendering
themselves amenable to one of these charges, in bestowing the
medal for the best series of instantaneous street views ever
executed — the Paris views, by Mr. W. England — upon the London
Stereoscopic Company, who have not the remotest claim to any
share of the merit due, either photographic or manufacturing.
Doubtless, notwithstanding all that has been said, medals will
continue to be popular ; but too much care cannot be taken in the
awarding, or base coin may be made to pass current, borrowed
plumes worn, and even the ancient fable about a certain animal in
a lion’s skin re-enacted.
At any rate, the Commissioners secured a very fine day in a vear
that has hitherto been little less unpropitious than I860 the which
was humourously accounted for by Mr. C. T. Smith, at the Dramatic
College Fete, gravely stating that he had contracted for all the
sunshine, and the only remedy was to flgve your portrait taken at
his establishment.
Of the second event (the Exhibition at the German Gallervi if
would be but feeble “Dundreary ” sort of praise to say that Mr Bed
ford has added another laurel to his already well-earned chaplet of
fame. To every photographer we say-“Go and see the spoil of
this peaceful crusade ! See how far good photograpliv can no—
how far qualities not essentially photographic can make themselves
felt in photographs.” The reviewer in The Times has none
straight as the crow flies” to their distinctive excellence • _ “ mv
Bedford has not only solved the difficult problem of obtaining the
halt-tone, but succeeded in rendering the carving and raised hiero
glyplncs m the shade of the interior of a building. * * *
That disappointing paleness which disfigures many photographs
seems, in this instance, to have been altogether avoided.” ° 1
Mr. Bedford had the honour of submitting the proofs to Her
Majesty at Osborne, on the 18th ult. The Prince of Wales and
four members of his suite who accompanied him on the tour _ Dr
Stanley, the Hon. Robert Meade, Major Teesdale, and C'apt Grey—
paid an early visit on the day of the private view, and were
received by Mr. Bedford before the visitors arrived. The Prince
manifested the most lively interest, and expressed his entire satis¬
faction in the display. David Roberts — whose opinion is worth
something— has expressed himself warmly upon the artistic merits
of this interesting series. Probably it is to the enlightened policy
pursued by the late Prince Consort that we owe them. When
some future Macaulay shall write the life of Albert Edward the
First they will have an historical interest also. S. T
HOW THE MATTER STANDS.
A Dialogue between Mr. British Journal of Photography and
Mrs. Photographic News.
Mr. British Journal : I regret to find, Mrs. News, that vou persist in
stealing my property. Why, you are worse than our American and
Jersey contemporaries.
Mrs. News : Well, I’m sure ! Steal ! ! What did I ever steal of yours
I should like to know, that I had not a perfect right to appropriate?
Besides, I never appropriated anything — leastways, very little : and a<= to
stealing ! well, I’m sure— ha! ha !— why, I never heard that vou'd got any
thing ivorth stealing. [Here Mrs. News sneers at Mr. British Journal’s
Grandparents, parents, and general antecedents, as is usual with certain
irritated old ladies.] Stealing, indeed!— ah, ah! oh, oh! How about
the stealing of the title of another journal?— ha ! ha! Your only an^rv
because I called you a Liverpool Journal! Liverpool Journal!! Liverpool
Journal ! ! ! and you are a Liverpool Journal ! ! ! ! You know you are ! he '
he! he! Stealing! Why, I wouldn't condescend to speak to you, you
nasty, inferior, abusive, underhand, lying, Isbmael thing vou! I wouldn’t
if it wasn’t that I think I’d better do it. Stealing, indeed ! I’ll let vou
to know, Mr. British Journal, that you always was a nasty, abusive
quarrelsome thing : instead of being like me, a nice, quiet, orderly person'
as I always am. You know I am. Ask Mr. Pouncy, and Mr. Cramb "and
Mr. Roth well, and ever so many more ; to say nothing of the Parent
the Glasgow Societies, and one or two others. I'm too much of a lady
to talk to the likes of you ; so hold your tongue, you nasty, scandalising
thing you! But you'll get what you deserve — see if you don't, now you
insane fellow! And you'll call me a “ wealdy contemporary,” will' you
as you have done ever and ever so many times?
Mr. British Journal: The joke appeared only once in the letter of a
correspondent.
Mrs. News: Now don't you try to stop me — don't ! — you Liverpool Jour¬
nal, you ! Remember I’m a London Journal, sir, and treat me with
respect as your superior. I say you called me a “weakly contemporary ”
ever so many times ; you are always insulting me — you know vou are.
But its only because you’re a jealous contemporary — a Liverpool con¬
temporary — a Liverpool Journal, ha! ha! ha! How do you like that
now? he! he! lie! Weakly contemporary. Vastly funny, is'nt it?
Wealdy contemporary ! Stealing from you! Yes, indeed. Oh! yes, very
likely. What do I care what you arc? You may be the King of th*c
Cannibal Islands for aught I care : you may indeed ! How about the
hiding Sutton gave you ? Did'nt I chuckle at his doing what I wished to
be doing — he ! he ! he ! How about not letting me have the papers from
the North ? How about the American complaint ? How about the
oapers at the Parent Society ? How about the man in the moon, Tim-
auctoo — or any other man ?
Mrs. News here laughs hysterically, shakes her fist in the face of
Mr. British Journal, and weeps a3 she pathetically wiuds up with—
298
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, 1802
ghe’s sure she never did anybody any harm, and she wishes everybody
would leave her alone.
[We insert the above sketch from the pen of an occasional contributor,
simply because it so humourously embodies the singular combination of
spite and egotism with which our contemporary, the News , replies to the
just but damaging accusation contained in our last. — Ed.]
Paris , July 2 &th, 18G2.
The application of photography to wood engraving has been the
object of repeated experiments, but hitherto nothing very practical
has been arrived at. Here is another artist, M. Baroux, who thinks
he has solved the problem. His pictures have for their first
advantage that of not being inverted. They are clear, and the
contrasts between the lights and the shades is distinct. The wood
is not attacked by the preparations it undergoes ; and in case the
picture is not successful, it can be easily wiped out with a wet
cloth. The wooden blocks keep their hardness and polish after the
preparation, so as to allow of cliches being taken by impression after
the engraving has been finished. The photogenic layer is suffi¬
ciently thin for the graver to do its work with facility. The image
may even be retouched before engraving, either with a pencil or
with Indian ink. This is all I know on the subject, the process
that M. Baroux employs being kept a secret.
I have just seen two collections of photographic pictures, which
the recently-organised Comptior Internationel des Photographes is
about to make known in France, and which seem to me destined to
be very successful. One is by M. Albert, of Munich : it is the repro¬
duction of Kaulbach’s cartoons, representing the principal scenes
from Shakespeare. I think the immortal poet has never been
better translated, and this time the translation will be understood
by every one. There is especially one page which is admirable : it
is the Death of Ccesar. This composition will strike the attention
of the French public all the more, as one of our good painters,
Gdrome, has lately treated the same subject. It must be admitted
that his inspiration is inferior to that of the celebrated German artist.
The other collection consists of reproductions of the principal
works of modern German paintings. It is executed in three sizes —
full-plate, half-plate, and carte de visite ; so that it will soon become
popular. It is by M. Gustavus Schauer, of Berlin. It is to be hoped
that the same establishment will shortly introduce the productions
of English photographers, which are not yet so well known in
France as they deserve to be.
M. Leon Vidal is organising, at Marseilles, a large enterprise,
which offers important advantages to photography. He is en¬
deavouring to bring together under the title of Union des Arts,
all the Societies at present existing at Marseilles, and at the same
time to create such others as may be necessary. The object of
the founder is to aid, by all available means, the development
of the artistic feeling and the encouragement of intellectual
labours, and to group round a common centre everything tending
to that end. This plan he has explained in a brochure , which I have
received. It is too extensive for me to do more than indicate
here; but I may add that photography has a privileged place in
M. Vidal’s projects. He has established a photographic laboratory
on the premises of the Union des Arts, which is intended not only
for the reproduction of the remarkable works admitted to the per¬
manent exhibition which will be opened and kept up by the Society,
and to which photography will of course be admitted, but also to
furnish adepts in the new art with the means which they often
lack. PI aced under the auspices of the Photographic Society of
Marseilles, the laboratory will be directed by a skilful operator.
All the operations which constitute the material phase of the art
will be there executed: cleaning of lenses, preparation of com¬
bined or mixed productions, and of sensitised papers and glasses,
development of negatives, printing and fixing of pictures,
amplifications, &c., &c. Practical lectures on photography, illus¬
trated by manipulations, will be delivered regularly. Nothing, in
a word, will be neglected in order that this special establishment
may be as complete as possible, and that photography may derive
lrom it the most serious advantages.
I hear that Dr. Sclmauss, of Jena, has just found a new and very
simple method for dry operations. For certainty of result, rapidity
ot execution and perfection, it is said to surpass all those which
have preceded it. Although Dr. Sclmauss has not yet published
anythi ng on the subject, we are too well acquainted with his merit
an l the porsev ranee of his researches to entirely disbelieve the
report. Wo shall, doubtless, soou have further and more precise
particulars, ERNEST LAGAN.
Philadelphia , July 8th, 1802.
Our great national holyday, the fourth of July, is passed, and a
clear blue sky, and little wind, gave photographers a good chance
of making use of the day. It is on such days as this that the gal¬
leries do their heaviest business, and extensive preparations in
advance are made in carefully-prepared collodion and plenty of
clean glass, to accomplish the largest amount of work with the
least trouble and delay. I have heard of a large number of photo¬
graphic excursions planned for the fourth, and, no doubt, a goodly
number of dry plates were exposed.
In last week’s report of the issues of patents there are two
granted which relate to photography : one, No. 35,G05, is to C. C.
Harrison and Jos. Schuitzer, of New York City, for a lens for pho¬
tographic cameras. The claim reads as follows : — “ We claim the
combination of two sets of cemented lenses, as represented in the
accompanying drawings, the exterior surfaces of which shall form
part of the same sphere, the axes of which shall be coincident, and
the other curves of which shall be so proportioned to the focal dis¬
tance of the combination and to the refractive and dispersive
powers of the glass, and in their construction, that the images
found at the focus shall be achromatic, and that said image shall
be upon, or almost exactly upon, a plane without distortion of form,
and including a larger visual angle, substantially as before des¬
cribed and represented.” The other patent is granted to William
Southworth, of Newcastle, Maine, for a multiplying camera. The
claim seems to refer to some peculiar device for moving the lenses
in various directions to multiply pictures on the same negative. The
number of patents granted in America for photographic apparatus
or processes is small — not because they are not applied for,
but because the Examiner of this department has abundant informa¬
tion at hand to judge of the originality of the claims made. The
American Patent Office differs from the English in one essential
particular. In the English office patents are granted without any
examination, and the validity of the patents rests with the deci¬
sions of the courts of justice. A patent which lias been contested
and has passed through the various courts is, of course, valuable.
In America, the Patent Office has connected with it various grades
of Examiners who eacli have separate classes of invention in their
respective departments. Thus photography is classed with the
fine arts, and in the office of the Examiner, Room No. 5, may be
seen every journal in the world relating to photography, and all
books published in every language on the subject. The Examiner,
too, is an amateur photographer of the highest standing. All appli¬
cations for patents are referred to the classes to which they belong,
and are submitted to a rigid examination: — 1st. As to whether any
similar thing has been patented in this or any other country by
any other person ; and, 2nd, whether it lias been published in any
journal two years previous to the date of the application, so as to
have become public property. This examination, of course, causes
the rejection of many claims, and saves much after-litigation ; but
the decision of the Commissioner of Patents is not final, and the
true validity of the patent rests with the decision of the courts,
should it ever come to trial, as is the case in England.
I find that several of our paper-makers are turning their atten¬
tion to the manufacture of photographic paper, and some samples
now before me, for examination, look well enough, but have not yet
been tried.
The solar camera controversy in England is watched with in¬
terest from this side of the Atlantic. The argument against the
instrument, based on its uselessness in cloudy weather, does not
hold good with us; and those of our operators who have dispense 1
with the reflector, say that bright cloudy weather can be made
available. Some few have used a developing process in the
absence of the sun ; but, as a general rule, that kind of printing has
not met with much favour. In regard to the validity of Wood¬
ward’s patent, in America it seems to be generally admitted.
Some few have said they would contest it, but in all cases which
have come to my knowledge, the parties have compromised before
the case has come to he tried.
M. Claudet’s paper On the Enlargement of Photographs has been
read with pleasure and instruction. His allusion to his use of the
solar camera in preparing canvas for painting, by sketching the
outline of the image in crayon in place of a photographic impres¬
sion, calls to mind a use of the camera in the arts, an account of
which may be new to some of the readers of The British Journal
of Photography. At the Merimac Print Works, Lowell, Massa¬
chusetts, the pantograph was first used for engraving on the
copper roller — i.e., for transferring the design to the roller. A Mr.
Whipple is said to have made the application, and ultimately intro¬
duced it in other works here? and even taken it to England. The
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
299
August 1, 1862]
principle upon which this instrument depended for accuracy was
based on using a copy of the design, say six times the size of the
figure to be engraved. To produce this enlarged copy the solar
camera was, and is, used in the following manner : — Above a flat
table, in a dark room, is placed an ordinary whole-size portrait
tube. Light is admitted to this through a box, which shuts out
the direct rays of the sun, and utilises the perpendicular rays from
the sky. Above the portrait tube is arranged a sliding frame, to
carry the design, which is drawn on tracing-paper, and serves the
purpose of a negative. All the parts of the apparatus are so ad¬
justed as to produce on the table an image of the required size.
A sheet of white paper, or rather a sheet of whitened metal, is
placed on the table, and on it is traced the outline of the projected
image.
About two years ago Mr. James Hunter, of Hestonville, Phila¬
delphia,- conceived the idea of using photography for this same
purpose in his extensive print works; and with that view he studied
the art, aided by your correspondent, and soon became one of the
shining lights among amateur photographers. He does not
propose to use his solar camera to produce enlarged pictures by
any photographic process, but to use negatives in place of the oiled-
paper pattern now in use. He borrows new shapes from nature,
and combines the work of his designer with most charming pic¬
tures of flowers, leaves, and trailing vines. He has been much in¬
terested with experiments in photographic portraiture, and has
converted a large conservatory attached to his house into his
operating-room. This room has glass on all sides but one, and,
by an ingenious arrangement of curtains, he is able to direct the
rays of light in any way he may think best to produce any desired
effect. He tells me now that he contemplates building a room on
purpose for this work, which shall form part of a library and be
over a complete workshop.
On the 4th instant Mr. Hunter was my companion in a photo¬
graphic ramble up the Schuylkill. His place in the country is, every
4th of July, the scene of a grand festival in honour of the day,
and the last was no exception to the rule; but, leaving our
wives and children to enjoy the company, wre stole away to try
some dry plates — thinking, too, that a fast horse would take us to
some picturesque locality, and we should be back to dinner. We
drove in the direction of Schuylkill river, passing through the
romantic grounds of what was Joseph Buonaparte’s residence during
his stay in America. The first view we deemed worth taking,
however, was Tom Moore's Cottage , on the banks of the Schuylkill.
It is a small stone cottage, well white-washed ; and this glare of
white gave no promise of a good picture. We tried it, however,
and how well my plate developed I leave for our kind Editor to
determine from the enclosed print. If he likes it, and any of the
admirers of the poet desire copies of it, they know rvliere to send
exchanges, which shall be duly honoured.* Then we continued
our drive up the river, stopping at Manayunk, for pictures of that
thriving town, and so on to what is known as Flat Hock Dam.
This is the second dam of the slack water navigation of the
Schuylkill. Below the falls are rapids, and the river is about a
quarter of a mile wide: its bed is full of rocks, and its banks rise
quite steep and rugged. It is here that the Beading railroad
burrows nine hundred feet through the stone, in what is known
as Flat Bock Tunnel. There were so many good views in this
locality that we spent much time there, used up all our dry
(tannin) plates, then striking off into the country, by a new road,
got out of our way, and did not reach home until evening, in time
to see them setting the long tables in the maple grove for supper,
which was gladly accepted, as dinner and supper by two hungry
mortals,
From all letters received since that day I opine our national
holyday was well used by our amateurs. One writes from New
Hampshire that he had hired a room formerly used by a practical
photographer, and he should spend the fourth under his skylight
“doing up” his wife and little ones in all sizes of pictures.
Thompson says he is home from his regiment on furlough, and
that he and Henry Anthony spent the fourth in the woods, and
that Mr. Anthony used his solidilied milk plates (described in my
letter from New York), and had secured some charming views.
Speaking of Mr. Anthony and his milk plates reminds me that
while in New York he showed me a large collection ot glass trans¬
parent positives, made by all the known dry processes, and many
on wet collodion too. He has tried the various processes in vogue
from time to time in order to find the best one lor that kind of
work, and this collection is the result of those experiments. He
• An excellent stereograph of a not very picturesque object, but full of interest from
« associations,— Ed.
had also improvised many modifications of these formulas, and
recorded the effects. I was, however, most interested with a pro¬
cess which he had tried about three years ago, and which he has
often urged upon amateurs to experiment with, viz., making
transparent positives without silver. He made a solution of Cox’s
sparkling gelatine, say fifteen grains to the ounce of water, and
dissolved in it ten grains of bichromate of potash. With this he
coated a glass and dried by heat, exposed under a negative (a
strong negative is best), and then immersed it in water, washing
well to get rid of all the free bichromate. He then coloured the
transparent plates with any of the chemicals whose reaction with
the bichromate will produce colour. Different parts of the picture
can be coloured differently, and very pleasing effects produced at
very little cost. He mentions this in a recent letter to me, calling
my attention to it, as he says he has heard others are working on
this plan now as something new.
Mr. Shadbolt, in his remarks on photography in America, in
The British Journal of Photography for June 1G, alludes
to my letter in the same number, and says that in salting plain
paper the “majority” certainly work on sound principles in not
soaking the paper in the salt water. I most heartily coincide with
Mr. Shadbolt in this matter, and think that the most brilliant pic¬
tures are the most superficial ones.
Writing now with the thermometer at 92° in the shade prompts
me to drop the heavy scientifics of photography, and end my letter
by an anecdote of an Arch Street photographer. One of the
enterprising firms who do a good business in fifty-cent ambrotypes
was applied to by a lady who prided herself on her correct judgment
in matters of art to furnish her with half a dollar’s worth of
portraits in his best style. She had her sitting, but would not take
the picture, remarking that a picture so quickly taken could not
be good— that a friend had told her that long exposures were best,
and that she would try another place near at hand. The “artist”
followed her out, and, observing her enter a neighbouring establish¬
ment, sent the rejected ambrotype after her by bis boy, with a state¬
ment of the case to his friend for his guidance. His rival taking the
“ cue,” descanted on the merits of long exposure, and seated
her ladyship before a camera with an empty plateholder in for five
minutes, and then sold her the picture made by his neighbour,
which she pronounced very good ! With due regard, I subscribe
myself COLEMAN SELLEBS.
Corrcsponbcirtf.
jU5“Weare at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal, We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends, _
“DIGNITY” AND “ BUNKUM.’’
To the Editor.
Sir, — I simply claim the privilege of a correspondent in addressing
you in reply to a few remarks aimed at myself, personally, by my “ friend
Simpson” (if I may use the familiar expression of another cont-.m-
porary editor), in the last number of the Photographic A eics .
My friend appears to have an odd notion ol “ dignity — a characti I Stic
appertaining to the position of editor which lie tries t<> persuade lus
readers he posst sses in an eminent degree — when lie thinks it consist* nt
with “ dignity” and good taste to rake up the embers ol the old quarrel
between the Council of the London Photographic Society and my>elf, as
a part of his long and windy reply to the charge made against him of
appropriating articles without acknowledgment.
I willingly accept all responsibility in connexion with the proceedings
which attended the dispute as to title between the Journal of the Photo¬
graphic Society and this Journal; hut what the revival of that sulject
has to do with the charge of literary “annexation ” which you have made
against your contemporary — and which also you have substantiated — 1
cannot for the life of me perceive. Where i- its relevancy to the matter
now' in dispute? Some two years and a-lialf ago, fur business teason- of
my own, I claimed to use a title not in existence when 1 adopted it. The
law of the laud — as interpreted by an eminent legal authority who was
applied to for an opinion when iny adoption of that title was disputed —
would have borne out my light to its u>e: and had I been a> much
given to litigation as “ friend Siuq son " is to “ appropriation,” he would
have had a different story to relate as to the result of that dispute:
the Photographic Society’s funds would have been considerably further
“eased,” aud this Journal would now have been in the quiet possession
of the title of The Photographic Journal. Had a friendly note been
sent to me by my respected friend, the Editor of the Society’s Journal,
instead of a legal missive from the Council’s Solicitors. I would have made
a present of the disputed title to the Council, and thus have sa ed the
heavy drain on the Society's funds, to which so lugubrious an allusion
300
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 1, lb02
has been made. But the principals in that quarrel have long since
“ buried the hatchet.” Upon more than one occasion regret has been ex¬
pressed to me by my then opponents at the “ unwisdom ” of the proceedings
instituted to restrain me from using the title chosen; and, at the revival
of this little “ domestic tale ” by one who desires above all things to hang
by its shirts, well may the Council of the Photographic Society exclaim
— “ Save me from my friends !”
However, the dragging-in of this long-forgotten subject served one end
for my friend : it helped him to pour forth four mortal columns of
“ skimmed milk,” with which he saturated his pages on Friday last ; and
if he can find no better pabulum for his unfortunate readers, it will soon
be time to resuscitate the obnoxious title of “ our wealdy contemporary.’’
Through you, Sir, I would advise the Editor of the Photographic News
to be simply honest in the use of his literary “ acquirements .” He ought
not to attempt to palm off upon his readers for original matter that which
he has quietly appropriated from home and foreign contemporaries. So
far as regards this Journal — being well acquainted with the heavy pecu¬
niary expenses incurred in the production of the reports and papers
which appear in our columns — I will certainly act on the advice so
meekly tendered to you by this very modest journalist, and “ mind my own
business” to this extent, that if he continue his raids upon our columns
without proper acknowdedgment — which he is now not likely to do — I
shall be forced to show him that The British Journal of Photography
is not a newspaper, and let him feel that there is such a reality in this
country as the law of copyright. We borrow not at all from the columns
of the News: we are our own providers. I advise its conductor to “go
and do likewise.”
The Editor of the Photographic News boasts of his large journalistic
experience. This is not the first time he has written and talked “bun¬
kum ” on that point. My own experience of five-and-twenty years in
connexion with the newspaper press has at least taught me literary
honesty, and the teachings of a higher literature should ever prompt us
to “ render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's.”
The very frequent omission of due acknowledgment of the sources
whence my friend draws so largely liis “ supplies,” are no cases of mere
“oversight,” as he would have us believe. There is here what Mr.
Cobden would call a slight “ inexactness.” Homer may have nodded ;
but he of the News is too wide-awake for this plea of “oversight.”
Apparently original articles by Dr. Monckhoven, M. Mc-A. Gaudin, M.
Beynaud, or “ any other ” foreign photographic celebrity, look well in
the columns of the Photographic Neivs ; but its innocent readers ought
to be informed that many of such unacknowledged articles are mere trans¬
lations of papers contributed to — and possibly paid for by — say the Paris
or Belgian scientific journals.
I shall leave the remainder of the ‘ ‘ leather and prunella ” of my friend’s
long namby-pamby article to be dealt with by yourself; merely adding
here that it is perhaps not always meet to “ answer a fool according 10 his
folly.”
Expressing my regret at the introduction of mere personal matter
into our columns, and the occupation of so much space that might have
been more usefully employed, I am, yours, &c.,
THE PUBLISHER.
CORRESPONDENCE FROM TNDIA.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Since my return to India, in November last, I have looked for¬
ward with pleasure to the bi-weekly arrival of your Journal, and am, at
times, indebted to it for useful hints.
I have, for some years past, found pleasant occupation for many an
otherwise weary hour in the practice of photography, and I shall be
much obliged if you will pass your opinion upon the few enclosed speci¬
mens of my late productions.
I almost entirely confine myself now to stereo, pictures, chiefly from
motives of economy, but also from deeming the result more pleasing. I
work with a pair of double lenses, and also with a pair of single view
ditto, both by Ross. The former I should use more frequently than I do,
perhaps, for rapid pictures, but for a defect which you can probably put
me in the way to remedy.
Print No. 1 shows a light patch in the centre, which I invariably get if my
view is well lighted — even with a rather small stop, too — unless I adopt
the precaution of placing a brown paper diaphragm of nearly one inchin
diameter close in front of the front lens. I, first of all, tried prolonging
the brass front of the lens by means of a tube, as the projecting front of
Ross’s stereo, portrait lenses (at least of those I have, and which I got
from Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen) appeared shorter than that part of other
makers’ lenses; but I did not find this improve matters.
Prints No. 2 were taken with the same lenses, but with the brown
paper diaphragm added There is a little woolliness about the centre,
arising from imperfect focussing, perhaps; but do you think the lines are
straight enough at the margin, as 1 thought the additional paper
diaphragm in front might make them incline a little?
Print No. is a specimen of what Air. Sutton’s alcoholic collodion can
<lo tii bother one. I was puzzled by these veiny streaks for some time,
and wondered how water could have found its -way into my iodiser or
collodion, as 1 had seen something similar before from adding water to
dissolve iodide of potassium ; but at last I fairly trapped Mr. Sutton’s
pet alcoholic. Does it require ether, or an addition of positive collodion, or
should it be thrown away ? I find great difficulty in getting negatives
perfectly clean this hot weather (thermometer at 100° in the shade) :
its either a streak in the sky (as in No. 4), or lines, or dots, or daubs, or
stains, or something or other.
The system of exchange now adopted at home must work very satis¬
factorily. Can you put me in the way of an exchange, if you think my
productions would be valued by anyone but myself?
Our good friends at home constantly request us out here to take groups
of the natives, but they little know what a labour it is. Only point a
camera at a native, and notwithstanding his natural grace, suppleness of
limb, and easy carriage and bearing when taken unawares, from fear of
being shot, or converted into some uncouth animal by means of necro¬
mancy, he becomes, on seeing you, as rigid as the camera-stand, or
moves away altogether, or neither moves nor stays. All the posturing
and explaining and reasoning and coaxing or offers of money you can
bestow upon him in the course of an hour or two will not induce him to
unbend if once on the qui vive; but catch him flying and he adds to a
picture, no doubt.
My water-tight bath has a top of India-rubber fastened to a piece of
wood ; but, from the combined effects of heat, and the monkey-like fancy
on the part of a native to screw down the top till he could screw no
tighter, and so forcing the glass into the rubber, the latter has become
sticky and soft. Can you suggest any method of rendering it hard
again ?
No. 5 I thought the best picture I had taken in my last jaunt. The
negative certainly promised well, but I find it difficult to get a brilliant
print from it. I always develop with iron, even in the hottest weather,
and am trying to dispense with the addition of silver so as to prevent the
snowy appearance which most of our Indian photographs have, more or
less. Can you promise me any encouragement that 1 shall succeed?
I correct my negative bath with oxide of silver and nitric acid, and I
use Horne and Thor nth waite’s collodion, which I find very good, espe¬
cially their ready iodised quick portrait collodion ; but I do not know what
it is iodised with, and 1 find my bath gets soon acid. Would not iodide of
cadmium do it, and, if so, how is it best to doctor the collodion? Iodide
of ammonium will not keep in this country, so I cannot add any, ^having
none, and I do not wish to be often meddling with my bath. Would
opium in the collodion be useful ? We have plenty of that.
I wash my prints under a tap in a flat dish with holes in the bottom,
the stream being sufficient to run over as well as through the bottom of
the dish. I empty the dish too, frequently, and wash for six or seven
hours, and even longer if the prints exceed ten or twelve in number.
I fear it would be asking too much of you to test one or two of my
prints and favour me with the result. I have some photographs, printed
in 1857, in my album which show no signs of change, though merely
washed in frequent changes of water by hand; but still I am not quite
satisfied that even now, with a better arrangement, perhaps, I quite rid my
prints of that detestable hypo.
I admit, though I have several years’ experience, that I cannot print
yet. The tone of the prints enclosed is not by any means what I aim at,
though these even were once fair to look upon and full of promise until
that blighting lijqio. dissolved away their beauty, and showed how
evanescent it was — not even surface deep.
I decolourise my printing silver bath with oxide of silver, acidifying
with acetic acid. Is this a good plan ? I also, when in a very economical
mood (for an amateur), evaporate my print-fixer to the proper strength
for negative -fixer by exposing it to the sun. Can any harm result from
this?
I have a twenty-guinea Voigtlander lens, scarcely used, and too large
for my pocket. Would Mr. Morley, or any one else, buy it, or give me the
equivalent in photographic material, if I could send it to him, and he was
satisfied as to its being as good as new ? The foci are non-coincident.
Can you tell me where I can obtain good albumenised paper for stereos. —
not too thin ? And which dry process can you recommend for India ?
But I have trespassed too far on your time and kindness, I am sure,
already, and must close my epistle with an apology for so doing. At the
same time, though requesting you will favour me with some notice in the
next number of The British Journal of Photography, if you cannot
grant me all the information I want, any hint you can throw to “ Bombay
Amateur ” in your notice to correspondents will be accepted with thanks
and esteemed a favour. — And now, reiterating my apologies for troubling
you at such length, I am, yours, &c., BOMBAY AMATEUR.
Tanna, near Bombay, June 9th, 1862.
[Your double-combination lenses no doubt produce the central fogging,
from reflection from the inner surface of the mounting tube. Observe if
it be a good dead black ; and, if not, line it with black cloth or velvet,
putting the smooth side of the cloth in contact with the tube. The slight
bearing inwards of the lateral lines in No. 2 is due not to the stop but to
tilting the camera.
We are not sure that you are correct in condemning the alcoholic collo- j
dion ; but it strikes us that absolute alcohol, being very hygroscopic, it may
in a moist atmosphere have absorbed a considerable proportion of water.
Put into it a few shreds of dry gelatine. If there be any water present
they will absorb it and swell, and the collodion may be poured off. At
any rate, do not throw away the collodion : it will always do to clean
your glass plates with at the worst.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
301
August 1, 1802]
Using citric acid in the developer may save you some streaks and
stains, because in a hot climate acetic acid evaporates very quickly, and
thus parts of the plate may have too little to save them from being
unequally acted upon.
The top of your bath may be covered over the India-rubber with gutta¬
percha-tissue, or oiled silk ; or, perhaps, better still, with parchmentised
paper, which you may make for yourself. We fear, however, that you
cannot remove the stickiness.
You have every reason to be satisfied with your productions, No. 5
especially. No. 4 is also good. A little more skill in printing would
enable you to get more brilliant proofs from your negatives.
Iodide of cadmium has not a tendency to produce acidity in the nitrate
bath, and we should not advise you to interfere with the collodion. If
your bath gets acid you can correct it with oxide of silver. We advise
you not to add anything to your collodion, but to use it pure as you
procure it.
Your prints stand very fairly a pretty severe test to which we have
submitted them. We believe them to be sufficiently washed, but we
fancy you do not allow them to remain quite long enough in the toning
bath to secure them from change in the hyposulphite of soda.
There is no harm in employing hyposulphite of soda that has been used
for fixing proofs previously for the fixation of negatives. No doubt Mr.
Morley would meet your wishes. We have had good albumenised paper
from many dealers ; but we cannot say where you can male sure of always
getting it, because the fault is sometimes in the fabric of the paper itself.
We strongly advise the tannin process as most certain for a hot climate,
and next to it the collodio-albumen process.
Lastly. With regard to exchange, we advise you to join the Amateur
Photographic Association. Your negatives will then get well printed and
utilised, and you will be saved much labour at little cost. We have no
doubt that your subjects would be popular. — Ed.]
A HINT TO PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITISTS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have just seen announced for sale the card-portrait of the
Bev. Mr. Beade, and read with pleasure your commendatory notice of
it. I have no doubt but it will meet with a quick sale. But why are
not the portraits of other photographic celebrities put within our reach
as well — portraits of poor Scott Archer, Fox Talbot, Daguerre, Niepce,
Hardwich, &c.? Surely they would be gladly purchased by every lover
of photography, and have prominent places in our albums. Perhaps
they are to be had ; but as I have no recollection of seeing any notice
of the like, I ask the question, hoping you will not think my doing so
impertinent. — I am, yours, &c., J. H. ERC.
[A good idea, but, unfortunately, the time has already gone by for
securing the lineaments of some named in your note : there is, however,
no reason why a beginning should not be made at once, and before others
connected with the rise and progress of our art shall have passed away.
— Ed.]
A SICK BATH.
To the Editor.
Sir, — 1. On commencing last week at my photographic amusement,
the baths I made up a few months previous, and only worked twice, and
was in good working order when left up (but I strengthened them before
use up to 35 grains), when I tried them next day — in taking off the
negative of a friend — every plate was weak and foggy, and I could not
press the intensifying far enough ; in fact, not two shades deeper than it
appeared after the first development. I used two developers, the first
was —
Protosulphate of iron . 10 grains.
Acetic acid (glacial) . 12 minims.
Boiled rain water . 1 oz.
Second developer —
Pyrogallic acid . 1 grain.
Citric acid . i do.
Water, same as above . 1 oz.
With a few drops of 20 grains solution of silver to intensify.
I used Keith’s (Liverpool) negative collodion — Perry’s (Sheffield), which
is a negative and positive collodion — and Ramsdcn’s collodion. The above
developers I worked both strong and weak; also used the pyrogallic
alone. The collodions were all fresh — Perry’s only iodised a week.
After all, flatness and fogging were the results. As to light, I do not
think it. could get in at any place. I looked for it well, for I considered
the fault was in the silver. I got the latter from one of the first bouses in
Dublin. I wrote about it to them, and they said it worked well with them.
I forgot to say after the first bath failed, 1 made a new one, coated a plate
with collodion, and left it in the bath all night. Next day tried it, but
met with the same result. I made another, and the same result followed.
2. Should the baths not work, what is the easiest way for me to
remove the silver from the bath, and prepare it for use again ? and will
the remainder of 3 ounces that I have not made into baths — about 1 oz.
— do to excite my albumenising paper on ? Is it good enough ?
3. Are my baths properly made up for the negative work, and would
you recommend me Maddison’s collodion before the three first named ?
In conclusion, I hope, sir, you will excuse my many queries. I have
often before got into little difficulties, but have taken pleasure in working
myself out of them at some expense. An answer, when time permits
will oblige. — I am, yours, &c., T. G. P.
Trim , Meath , Ireland , 10th July , 1862.
[1. You say nothing about acidity or alkalinity of your bath. It is not
improbable that it is slightly alkaline, and, if so, the remedy is obvious : —
add cautiously a drop or two of dilute nitric acid, and try again ; or, add
to your collodion enough dilute tincture of iodine just to tinge it of a
straw colour. But if your bath is already acid , and yet produces foggy
proofs, you may conclude that it contains organic matter that renders it
unfit for use as a bath for collodion, and you had, therefore, better
discard it for that purpose.
2. Read Mr. Corey’s excellent article in our last impression. The
remainder of your nitrate of silver will do very well for exciting paper.
3. Your baths appear to be prepared in the proper way, and we have
no fault to find with any of the collodions you name. — Ed.]
LENS-QUERIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The subject of long and short focus lenses is a very important
one, and demands mature consideration at the present time.
Allow me to ask you, as a practical man, the following questions.
Being a novice, I write for information : —
1. At what distance from the sitter should a 4i-inch focus Dallmeyer
lens be placed ?
2. Would it not be straining this or any lens to come within the equi¬
valent distance to the focus ?
3. A lens being at the right focal distance, would you not obtain a more
perfect portrait by going still further back ?
4. Can you get a portrait in such perfect proportion with a short-focus
lens as with a long, for a portrait precisely the same size l
5. Would not a long-focus lens be as quick for the same size of portrait
as the short, considering its distance from the sitter, and the relative
position of the ground-glass to each lens ?
6. Is not the centre of the lens the only part free from distortion ?
If you consider these questions worthy of notice, I shall feel obliged
by your replying to them. — I am, yours, &c., AN ARTIST.
Cheltenham.
[1. What you call a 4§-inch focus lens would be probably about 6 inches
equivalent focus, in which case a distance of ten feet would do well enough,
and even something less might, if need dictates, be adopted.
2. Unintelligible. You misunderstand the term equivalent focus, which
indicates the focus of a single lens that would produce an image of the
same size as the image formed by the compound one of the same object
at the same distance from the lens.
3. Obscure; but we presume you mean to ask, for instance, whether in
case cited in No. 1, if you remove the lens to twelve feet from the sitter,
you do not get a more perfect picture than at ten feet distant ? Probably
less visible distortion, but not necessarily a more perfect portrait in other
respects.
4. No.
5. Not unless the diameter of its aperture were fully as large in pro¬
portion, and scarcely so even then.
6. Not of the double combination. — Ed.
HOT WATER PROCESS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The hot water process seems to trouble more than Brother
Jonathan. For my own part I have every reason to believe Mr. H. E.
Chalkey to be the originator of the hot water manipulations. Perhaps
some of your readers may have noticed in The British Journal of Pno-
tograi’iiy (May 1st and loth) notes from that gentleman, stating the
origin of the hot water process. I have used it ever since July, 1S57, in
dry-plate photography before and after development with hot and ccld
developers, all depending on the subjects to be photographed and -expo¬
sure convenient to meet the case. It is a mistaken idea that the sensitive
properties of the dried collodion film are not influenced by tin hot water
treatment. I fearlessly state that in my hands I can vary the exposure
from ten minutes to absolutely instantaneous exposure, or, in other
words, to as rapid as the action of the eyelid. I frequently try the fol¬
lowing experiment upon plates set aside for the purpose, and fi r testing
their keeping properties. The plates mentioned have been prepared four
years and four months.
The plate is cut originally into two equal triangular portions, one of
these (No. 1) I expose for ten minutes, and develop in the usual way ; the
other triangular piece I divide into two, by a cut parallel to the base,
making one small triangular piece (No. 2\ and a four-sided piece No. 3.
Twelve hours before exposure a' No. - 1 treat it with hot water, and
expose for ten seconds, and again submit it to hot water and develop with
a cold developer. No. 3 is treated in a similar manner, but the exposure
is only one second, and a icarm iron developer is employed. Ibe general
result of the three portions is similar— that is, clean, sharp pictures at
all times.
[August 1, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
The three exposures of the portions of the plate are conducted at the
same time, using similar lenses — say portrait lenses of four and a-half-inch
foci -with a quarter-inch stop between the lens, or ordinary view lenses
of five-inch foci and a quarter-inch stop. I must here state that in all
cases the view lenses give the best pictures in my hands. T should wish
to know whether other dry-plate experimentalists have noticed the
deterioration of the impression in keeping the plate after exposui'e. I
find in many cases (but not as a rule) that the plate regains its former
normal state in six or eight weeks, and may be exposed again, and, when
developed, no trace of the former exposure is to be seen — the same
having repeatedly occurred, to my great annoyance, when I have not
developed within a limited time, say three weeks. — I am, yours, &c.
H. R. NICHOLS.
“PRINTING” QUERIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am much obliged to you for your information regarding the
fault of the print of the Jed, as it has entirely removed my difficulty.
I am not very clear as yet on the head of query 1st, and will thank
you to dispel a little more of our Scotch mist. Hardwich mentions that
each quarter-sheet of albumenised paper, eleven by nine inches, removes
one fluid drachm and a-half from the bath, equivalent to about one grain
and three-quarters of salt, including droppings. Now, by multiplying
that by four gives me seven grains of salt for the whole sheet, and
reckoning three grains of nitrate for each grain of chloride in the albumen
gives me twenty-one grains for the whole sheet. Now, where am I
wrong, as wrong I must be? I trust that you will put me right in your
next number.
Enclosed are some prints. I will thank you to correct me if they are
wrong in any way as to tone, &c. — I am, yours, &c., N. B.
Jedburgh, July 22nd, 1862.
[Your calculation is not necessarily wrong ; indeed it is not wide of
the mark, if you bear in mind that the quantities specified are only
approximate — about so much. Now, if twTo and a-half drachms be used
for each sheet, one ounce of silver solution (containing eighty grains of
nitrate) will sensitise three wdiole sheets and one-fifth ; and if each sheet
contains seven grains of chloride, and three grains of silver are appro¬
priated by each grain of chloride, we have 21 X 3,2 = 67.2 grains out of
the eighty accounted for. But the albumen also consumes a portion of
the silver solution, and some is lost by dripping, &c. Again : it is probable
that two and a-quarter drachms may be nearer the actual quantity con¬
sumed by each sheet, in which case about seventy-four grains out of the
eighty will be accounted for — quite as near an approximation as we can
expect where there arc so many indefinite quantities.
Your stereographs are good, though the printing of that in which the
bridge is seen is a little mealy, probably owing to the paper having re¬
mained rather too short a time on the silver solution. — Ed.]
MYSTERIOUS DISCOVERY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Can you tell me what the following mysterious paragraph,
quoted from the Journal of the Photographic Society, bears reference to?
“ After a long battle with the guardians of established rights, the Italy
of the Arts, as we may now fairly term photography, has made good her
pretensions and received her place. * * * * We have done it. Our
ralestro, our Volturno, have been fought and won : peace has been
made ! ”
1 . What have we done ?
2. What have we won ? And
3. When shall we get it? — lam, yours, &c«, BOTHERED BOB.
[1. “ Put our foot in it.” 2. A snubbing. 3. We have it. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*** We have again been compelled to leave over till our next number several
articles which are in type.
F. — Received : thanks.
Screed. — “ Bide a wee : ” we shall see.
T. O. — We will try and ascertain for you.
C. E. E. — Received, but too late for notice in this number.
Alfred Smith. — Note received : photograph not yet to hand.
Rudolfe. — You will have found that we anticipated your wish in our last.
E. E. — Want of space compels us to postpone a notice of your specimens
till our next.
R. B. — Your portraits are too flat in appearance — an effect produced by the
entire absence of shadows. Shut out some of the light from one side of your
sitters.
Robert A. — Your sensitising bath is too weak: probably it has become so
by use. Add some crystals of nitrate of silver— say twenty grains to each
ounce of solution.
C. C. F. — Oxyof.n.— Au. Cl. — Thanks for your offers; but we have no
desire to do more than obtain justice. We have no animosity to gratify: there
is plenty of room for both.
Cuts. Morgan. — Your albumen is deficient in chloride; hence the weak¬
ness of your proofs, and their reddish tone. Instead of two grains to each ounce,
you may use ten with advantage.
C. r.o. Rowed. — We are unacquainted with the commercial value of nega¬
tives •, it is a matter upon which we have no experience. We are in a similar
condition with regard to salaries given to operators.
Saucy Sue. — We do not deny the correctness of your worn de plume. No
doubt you are well informed of the matter; but — our contributor really is a
married man, whatever you may think to the contrary.
S. Coiien. — You may depend upon the genuineness of the articles sold at
the establishment you name, so far as their being the veritable productions of
the makers whose name they bear : more than this we cannot say.
J. C. — There is not any publication recently out, with which we are acquainted,
that is wholly devoted to the subject of “ instantaneous photography.” You
will find all the most recent information on that subject in late numbers of this
Journal.
An Anxious Learner.— You have not used a sufficiently strong silver bath
for exciting your paper : probably it has been weakened by such an enormous
dose of citric acid as you have used to clear it. Your negative appears to be a
very fair one.
Rachel Graham. — We are not aware if Mr. Blanchard’s stereographs of
A Country Fair are to be had in Wales ; but a note to his publisher, Mr. Elliott,
of No. 5, Aldermanbury Postern, London, will, no doubt, be attended to. The
photographs can be sent by post, and a post-office money order will pay for them.
J. A. S. — We do not mind trouble in aiding our correspondents in any real
difficulties ; but when they can obtain the information they desire from any
good manual, it would be manifestly unfair to our readers generally to occupy
the space required for mere elementary matter. It would take at least a page
to answer properly all your queries, and you will find them copiously explained
in Hughes’s Manual, and several others of a like character.
Pitcairn. — Your proof is a very fair specimen for a young hand; but it
has faults, though not bad ones. You have a little over-developed your nega¬
tive, producing a spotty appearance on the rhododendrons or laurels, for we
cannot distinguish which. The sky is rather weak, but the definition is good
throughout. The lens is an excellent one, and the manipulation clean and
careful. The subject is uninteresting and leaves no scope for artistic skill ;
but, such as it is, you have made the most of it. The lens you have employed
will cover nine by seven inches well, and by management, upon occasion, ten
by eight inches.
A. B. (^Workington). — Your two specimens of stereoscopic photography, de¬
lineating iron ore pits, are, no doubt, interesting, and are very fairly executed.
We doubt, however, whether they will be popular, as there is but little of the
picturesque or beautiful about them. Do you not err in describing them as
underground ? Are they not simply deep excavations open at the top? and, if
not, how did you illuminate them? Your note was subjected to considerable
delay in reaching us in consequence of your having forwarded it to Liverpool —
an error that we are surprised to find some of our correspondents occasionally
fall into, seeing that a notice appears in every number with information where
to address editorial communications.
W. Daniels. — Before positively deciding that it is your nitrate of silver
that is in fault we think you ought to try it with another sample of collodion.
Perhaps your exposure has been too prolonged: try a plate with a short ex¬
posure. If your bath still is in fault, render it alkaline by the addition of
liquor ammoniae, and expose it in a glass vessel or a shallow dish to direct sun¬
shine. A black deposit will fall, which must be filtered out. Then make the solu¬
tion very faintly acid with dilute nitric acid. Develop your honey plates with
citric ac d, one grain; pyrogallic acid, one grain; distilled water, one ounce. If
the weather gets warmer, increase the proportion of citric acid. We shall be
happy to receive your stereograph, but not if it puts you to any needless
trouble or expense. No apologies needful for seeking advice : it is always will¬
ingly accorded.
W. D. C — Your packet of card-portraits[proves that you have considerable
manipulative skill. The printing of some specimens is a little weak and flat,
and there are some artistic errors that you will easily remedy when once your
attention is drawn to the points involved. Your balustrade produces an ugly
horizontal line, because you always use it at right angles to the camera : as a
rule you will find it “ composes ” better when viewed obliquely. It is particu¬
larly obnoxious in Nos. 2 h, 8, and 9 ; and an equally bad effect appears in Nos.
10, 11, and 12, from the horizontal line in the wainscoating of the wall. It is
very objectionable to overload the background with accessories, especially with
a pedestal and vase on one side, and a pedestal and column on the other., as in
Nos. 1 a, 1 b, 3, and 4: there are too many lines distracting the attention from
the figure. As a rule the pose of most of your figures is good, it being natural
and easy — in Nos. 13a, 13 b, 14, 3, 5, 2 b, and 8, particularly so ; and in these the
photography is also good. Your groups, however, are imperfect. In No. 11 the
lady should have been turned more towards the operator’s left hand : this would
have allowed the child on the knee to have been in a good position without being
so constrained. The older boy should have stood on the other side, and the girl
might have been seated close in front on a low stool. A reversal of the positions
of the two children in No 12 would also have improved the group. Your skill
(especially for an amateur) is such as to keep you no doubt well employed by
your friends ; and we fear that if you improve much more you will have too
much to do. »
|g||r All Editorial Communications, Books foe Review, &c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Pise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
Con T
PAGE
LEADER . 283
PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING ON ALBUMEN¬
ISED PAPER. By GEORGE DAWSON, M.A. 284
“NOTES,” HARMONIOUS AND DISCORD¬
ANT, ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. By J. T.
TAYLOR - 285
ON PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY.’ By JOHN
PARRY . 286
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS . 286
ON THE EQUIVALENT FOCUS OF PHOTO¬
GRAPHIC LENSES, AND THE ANGLE OF
SUBJECTS INCLUDED. (INTENSITY AND
QUICKNESS.) By T. GRUBB, M.R.I.A... 287
EXHIBITION . 288
ENTS.
PAGE
EXHIBITION GOSSIP. By A. H, WALL .... 289
JURORS' AWARDS IN THE PHOTOGRA¬
PHIC DEPARTMENT OF THE INTER¬
NATIONAL EXHIBITION . 290
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA. By
OUR OWN PIONEER . 292
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 293
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 294
ENTREMETS . 295
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 297
HOW THE MATTER STANDS . . . 297
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 298
CORRESPONDENCE . 299
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, <fcc . 302
V
JOURNAL
THE BRITISH
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 172, Vol. IX.— AUGUST 15, 1862.
Panoramic Photography. — We have been favoured by Mr.
Parry with specimens illustrative of his paper read before the
Manchester Photographic Society, which paper was published
in our last issue, page 280. The subject of each picture con¬
sists of a waterfall and rocks (all different), occupying the whole
of the plate to the almost total exclusion of sky, consequently
very trying to the success of the plan adopted in taking them.
In one the line of demarcation between the two portions is very
perceptible, in another but slightly so, and in the third scarcely
to be detected at all. It is therefore quite possible, by careful
manipulation, to obtain sufficiently accurate representations of
scenery adapted for this kind of treatment with an ordinary
single or bi-lens stereoscopic camera, and this without inter¬
fering with its original purpose of taking stereographic nega¬
tives. It is of course evident enough that the perfect integrity
of the perspective is sacrificed quite as much by Mr. Parry’s
plan as by that of Mr. Sutton with his panoramic lens, though
the character of the variation from strict accuracy differs some¬
what. By the former, the image of a straight row of buildings
with horizontal lines would be such as to represent parallel
lines as converging towards points at each end, and forming a
very obtuse angle in the centre. By the latter the same would
appear as two arcs of a circle with their concavities towards
each other ; but in both cases the attempt to delineate such an
object would be simply a misapplication of the respective
arrangements.
There is one evident advantage possessed by the panoramic
lens over its competitor, viz., that the whole picture can be ex¬
posed at once, and that without any chance of failure on
account of the possible existence of the perpendicular line of
demarcation ; but it is questionable whether this is not more
than counterbalanced by the fact, that no additional apparatus
is requisite to the possessor of a stereoscopic camera except
what he can make for himself, and, even if he has to set himself
up ab initio , the latter is the less costly of the two, and admits
of greater general accuracy in focussing.
Mr. Parry is, therefore, entitled to commendation, not only
because he has successfully practised a plan by which a desirable
result may be accomplished in a manner different from that
hitherto employed, but because he has shown photographers how
they may turn to profit that which has hitherto been lying useless,
or, what is the same thing, only partly used, just as a clever
manufacturer makes a profit out of the waste of his competitor.
We are of opinion that for the success of Mr. Parry’s plan it
is not absolutely requisite that the camera should turn on the
lens as a centre. Theoretically it is correct no doubt, but prac¬
tically we believe that the camera may turn on any convenient
centre ; and, if so, the arrangement of adjusting pins may be the
work of but a few moments.
Of course the class of subjects most suited to the kind of
delineation here proposed, is that in which there is no very
prominent object in the exact centre possessing horizontal
lines: in other respects there need be scarcely any restriction
Specters of Former Impressions. — We published in our
number for July 15 (page 268) an article by Dr. van Monckhoven,
read by that gentleman before the Academie des Sciences, On
an Observation of Moser's Images. The method employed by the
learned doctor for rendering the somewhat spectral image
more perceptible to the eye — that of taking advantage o^ the
phenomena of polarised light — is most ingenious, and it wtnld
be highly interesting to ascertain whether its application to the
collodio-albumeu plates fixed before development, as introduced
by Mr. Young, of Manchester, would elucidate the problem
as to whether any actual reduction of the sensitive com¬
pound employed does or does not occur under the actinic
action.
The special point of interest involved in the subjects of Dr.
van Monckhoven’s observations would be an inquiry into the
cause which influences the production of the exceptional phe¬
nomenon of the persistauce of an apparently obliterated image,
and upon this point we have a few remarks to make. Some
time back, when working at micro-photography, we noticed a
plate, which we had exposed and developed, upon which were
some ugly stains. The slip of glass was thrown aside, and,
when again used some time afterwards, we found precisely
similar defects. It was again treated as before ; but, on once
more trying the same slip of glass after carefully cleaning
it, we still found the stains appear in precisely the same
places. Struck with so remarkable a circumstance we sub¬
mitted the glass to microscopical examination after being
well cleaned, and found that it presented a very minutely
granulated surface, as if the roughness of the grinding had
not been entirely taken out by the polishing process. It is
necessary to remark that the slips of glass employed were those
generally used for mounting microscopic objects, being three
inches long and one inch wide, and cut from the waste portions
of sheets of patent plate glass. Subsequently we came across
several others slips of glass which behaved in a similar manner,
and when we met with them we always found, on examination
by the microscope, that they presented the peculiarity of
surface above indicated. Now it appears to us that if the
condition of surface that we have described be- found to
exist upon plates which preserve the spectral images, we
may reasonably conclude that the minute but closely-located
cavities retain still more minute particles of reduced silver,
insufficient, indeed, to be detected by the unassisted eye, but,
when associated in the order of an image of any kirn1, enough to
make an impression upon the chemicals (each particle acting as
a nucleus of chemical action), and so to reproduce a kind of visible
echo of the original. It is not improbable, if our conjectures are
well founded, that soaking such plates in a mixture of cyanide
of potassium and iodine would be sufficient to remove the spec¬
tral impulse. We have already communicated these conjectures
to Dr. van Monckhoven, and shall feel curious toi cam his ideas
thereupon. _
Artistic Copyright Ait. — We congratulate our readers on
their having at length obtained, by the passing of the Artistic
Copyright Act, the means of protecting their works from being
pirated by those who prefer robbery to work, or who have
neither the wit nor the skill to produce anything original of the
smallest value. It is full time that a stop should be put to the
nefarious practices of those who trade unfairly upon the mental
304
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1862
labours of others ; and we are rejoiced to find that the long-
desired measure of justice to the chief ornaments of the photo¬
graphic guild has been placed within their reach. We have,
of course, carefully looked through the provisions of the Act,
in order to ascertain precisely how photographers are affected
thereby ; but we have found so lucid an exposition of the
principal points in the pages of the Athenceum that, instead of
summarising them, we shall extract the observations of our
contemporary as follows : —
“ Last week we furnished our readers with the most important clauses
of this statute. It must be borne in mind that it only relates to ‘ every
original painting , drawing and photograph,' which shall be or shall have
been made either in the British dominions or elsewhere, and which shall
not have been sold or disposed of before the 29 tli of July last. — The term
of copyright granted by the Act is for the author’s life and seven years
afterwards ; but the benefits of such copyright will be lost without
registration of the work, because it is expressly enacted that ‘ no pro¬
prietor of any such copyright shall be entitled to the benefit of this Act
until such registration ; and no action shall be sustainable nor any penalty
be recoverable in respect of anything done before registration. Prac¬
tically, therefore, the grant of copyright is made subject to the perform¬
ance of the condition precedent of registration. It is consequently of
the utmost importance to every author and proprietor of a copyright
picture, drawing, or photograph, that it should be registered immediately
upon its completion.
“No one need be alarmed at the trouble or cost of registration. It is
an affair of the most simple and inexpensive description. The office ap¬
pointed for registering under the Act is at Stationers' Hall, which is in
‘ Stationers’ Court,’ on the north side of Ludgate Hill. It will only be
requisite to obtain, fill up, and sign a printed form. To this a sketch,
outline, or photograph of the work registered may be annexed. The form,
properly filled up and signed, must be left at Stationers’ Hall ; a fee of
one shilling paid to the registrar ; and this will include the whole mystery
and trouble of registration. Let it be clearly understood that it will not,
under any circumstances, be requisite to produce the picture or other
work in which the copyright is claimed to the registrar either at
Stationers’ Hall or elsewhere ; and that neither the author nor any other
proprietor of a copyright work can be required personally to attend for
the purpose of registering it. Practically, we make no doubt that the
registration of an artist’s works will be entrusted to his frame-maker,
and that the author of a work will never find it requisite to quit his own
studio for the purpose of such registration. At the time of registering a
work, we think it will be found most advisable to obtain from the
registrar a certified copy of the entry of the work registered, because
such copy under the, hand of the registrar and seal of the Stationers’
Company ‘ shall be received in evidence in all courts, and in all summary
proceedings, and shall be primd facie proof of the proprietorship of copy¬
right or licence as therein expressed.’ Besides, the production of such
certificate by the proprietor of a copyright work will aid its authenticity,
and consequently add to its pecuniary value. The registrar’s fee for a
certified copy of the entry in the register is five shillings, the same as it
is for a similar certificate of an entry as to a literary or musical copyright
work.
“As to the persons who are entitled to be registered as the proprietors
of a copyright in a picture, drawing, or photograph, they are 1. The
author of any such work who has executed it on his own account, not as
a commission, and has not sold or otherwise disposed or been dispossessed
of his copyright therein. 2. The purchaser of an author’s copyright in
his work executed on his own account. 3. The employer for or on whose
behalf a picture, drawing, or photograph shall have been executed, and
who accepts the same, after its completion. 4. The husband of an
authoress of any such uncommissioned and unsold work. 5. The legatee,
execu.tcr, administrator, assignee in bankruptcy, or other person in whom
the corn-right may have been vested by bequest or operation of law.
In the event of any entry in the register being either wrongfully or
erroneously made, the person who shall deem himself to be aggrieved by
such entry may apply to one of the Superior Common Law°Courts in
Term time, or to a Judge thereof in vacation, for the purpose of expung¬
ing or varying such entry ; and such Court or Judge has power to order
the entry to be expunged, varied, or confirmed, either with or without
costs , as to such Court or Judge shall seem just.
. “ The sale of copyright in a picture, drawing, or photograph must be
made by some note or memorandum in writing, to be signed by the pro¬
prietor of the copyright, or by his agent appointed for that purpose, in
writing. And when an artist first sells or disposes of his picture, or exe¬
cutes it on a commission, if he means to retain the copyright, he must
remember that he can only do so by its being expressly reserved to him
by agreement m writing, signed at or before the time of such sale or disposi¬
tion bj the purchaser, or the person who commissioned the ivork, as the case
may be. Any such agreement may form part of the receipt given for the
purchase-money : a duplicate of such receipt should be made, so that each
p.u ty may retain one, to be signed by both the vendor and purchaser or
owner of the work. To obtain the protection of the statute, the first and
Bttbs# ljlcut purchaser of a copyright mad, as it seems, register his
ssajnmcnt thereof.
“And now one word of caution to artists, amongst many of whom it
seems to be imagined that any slight variation in the design or colour of
a picture is sufficient to render it an original work. Nothing can be more
erroneous than this artistic construction of the meaning of an ‘ original
picture,’ and it is of great importance to artists that they should correctly
understand and appreciate their position on the subject. According to
the law as it now most justly stands, in every case where an artist is not
the proprietor of a copyright in the picture executed by him, it will be at
his peril if he copies or repeats the design, or any material portion of it,
ivithout the consent in writing of the proprietor of the copyright in the
original work. Apart from the penalties imposed by the statute for any
such act of piracy, the proprietor of the copyright would be entitled to
sue the offender for such damages as the proprietor could prove he had
sustained by the infringement of his copyright.
“ If artists will but take reasonable care to secure their copyrights, and
also bear constantly in mind what is just as regards the interests of the
purchasers of their works, neither they nor any honest dealer need fear
the operation of this new law of Copyright in Works of Art ; on the con¬
trary, we believe it will prove a great boon to all honourable men, and
that fraudulent manufacturers and dealers will be the only sufferers, to
the inestimable benefit of British art and artists, as well as of the public
generally.”
We have underlined a few words iu the preceding, as we
fear that the writer had for the moment forgotten the possibility
of photographers “ repeating a material part of the original”
and yet not infringing the copyright. The second clause in
the Act stands thus : —
“ Nothing herein contained shall prejudice the right of any person to
copy or use any work in which there shall be no copyright, or to repre¬
sent any scene or object, notwithstanding that there may be copyright in
some representation of such scene or object.”
We can scarcely venture to hope that this clause will escape
giving rise to litigation. Of course, if a second person takes
a second likeness, for instance, of some noted individual, posed
in the same attitude as when taken by a previous operator, it is
clear enough that no infringement of the original or earlier
negative will have occurred ; but, if an operator commissioned to
take a negative, takes two at the same instant, by means of a
bi-lens camera, and then supplies one to his principal and retains
the other himself, we apprehend that in equity there will be no
doubt that he does infringe the copyright of his employer.
We shall be curious to learn what decision upon the point will
be given in law should it have to be tried.
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BROMIDE QUESTION.
By George Dawson, M.A.,
Lecturer on Photography at King’s College, London.
Experiment has not yet solved the difficult problem, whether,
under circumstances where great rapidity is required, a bromide
combined with an iodide is advantageous or not in wet collodion.
The truth is that we understand but very little of the nature of the
delicate chemical and mechanical conditions conducive to sensi¬
bility. Hence our experiments are, to a considerable extent, a
mere venture in the dark. So sudden and intricate, also, are the
decompositions induced by actinic influence aided by a developer,
that they escape our notice, and we can only guess at their order
and nature when the effect has been produced. We are never sure,
even in conducting two consecutive experiments, with apparently the
same chemicals and in the same manner, that all the conditions
are identical. Under such circumstances of apparent similarity,
conflicting results are often obtained. Less likely is it for two in¬
dependent operators, with time, chemicals, actinism, &c., all more
or less different, to arrive at identical conclusions. One gentle¬
man, for instance, experimenting with seemingly pure materials,
obtains rapid and excellent results on a bromo-iodised film only.
Straightw-ay he rushes to the conclusion, that the same must hold
good in all instances. Another gentleman, with the other chemi¬
cals of apparently the same kind, finds an iodised superior in every
way to a bromo-iodised collodion. Both may be right in their de¬
ductions, and to reconcile them we must suppose there are condi¬
tions — unnoticed or, perhaps, unappreciated by the operator — pre¬
sent in the one case which were absent in the other. Nevertheless,
it is only by varied and patient experiment we can hope to resolve
our doubts. The most rapid actinic effects that have come under
my notice have been on a simply iodised film with a pyrogallic
developer. But I am not prepared to say that a bromo-iodised
collodion and iron developer may not be capable of at least equal
rapidity. One advantage in favour of the latter, which is entirely
August 15}- 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
305
consistent with my own experience — and now, I believe, generally
admitted — is the essential service obtained by the use of a bromide
and iron developer in the case of impure chemicals. A bath, for
instance, containing an excess of organic matter, and in conse¬
quence yielding foggy pictures with a simply iodised collodion
and pyrogallic developer, will often act well on the addition of one
grain of any bromide to the same collodion, and using an iron de¬
veloper. A curious instance bearing strongly on the point has
just occurred in my own practice, and may perhaps be worth
recording. Had the fact been related by another, without confir¬
matory evidence, I should feel disposed to class it in the same
category as the alleged “moonlight pictures,” and similar photo¬
graphic canards. A photographer of long standing, who was pre¬
sent and assisted in making the mess, is ready to vouch for the
strict accuracy of the following details.
I had added about fifty grains of citric acid to some eighty ounces
of old used-up collodion baths, previous to the solution being
evaporated down for exciting positive paper. During the process
of filtration about half the quantity was accidentally spilt on the
laboratory floor — nota(very clean one, for neverto my knowledge has
it been once washed. Some dirty dusters and other cloths nearest
to hand were instantly thrown and pressed down to absorb as much
as possible of the solution. After sponging and rubbing for a short
time till they were quite saturated, the filthy black liquid was
wrung from them into a jar, in order to be precipitated as a chloride.
But, as in the course of recent experiments several extraordinary
instances of a bromide counteracting the baneful effects of impurity
of chemicals had come under my notice, I filtered the collected
liquor through double filtering paper, for the purpose of trying
its effects on a bromo-iodised collodion plate. I scarcely expected
any kind of success. It nevertheless, to my great astonishment,
worked rapidly and very clean, giving great intensity and half-tone,
without any subsequent redevelopment. The collodion was of a
rather spongy nature, made from cotton, in acids at a high
temperature, and iodised with two grains of iodide of cadmium, two
grains of iodide of ammonium, and one and a-lialf grain of bromide
of cadmium. The same collodion, simply iodised with equal parts
of cadmium and ammonium, neither with pyrogallic acid nor iron
would yield anything better than the merest shadow of a picture,
barely visible through fog. This bath I have had now in daily
use for more than a fortnight, and it still works as well as any bath
I ever made from the purest nitrate of silver.
I do not recommend any one troubled with bad baths to throw
them down on a dirty floor, and slop up again, for the pur¬
pose of curing them. His experience may not turn out so satis¬
factory as mine. I mention the fact for the purpose I have stated,
viz., to show the protection bromide affords to iodide of silver, or
vice versa, against at least some hurtful impurities. In this sense
the bromide may be said to be an accelerator ; but how it acts is a
mystery which, I fear, Mr. Sutton’s newest theory — no more than
his old — will be unable to solve. In the waxed-paper, oxymel, tannin,
and several other dry processes that have come under my close
observation, free iodine acts to some extent, but less energetically
in the same direction ; but I doubt whether it increases the sensi¬
bility. Both protect the sensitive surface from the baneful influ¬
ence of organic matter almost always present in the dry processes,
and give greater transparency in the shadows and intensity in the
high lights. The iodine probably effects its object by liberating
free nitric acid when brought in contact with the nitrate of silver.
A bromide under similar circumstances, although it does not
liberate acid, besides conferring clearness and intensity, conduces
also to greater sensibility, and that in a very marked degree.
How it acts we know not. We may call it “ catalysis” or any other
hard name we please, but we only thereby show our ignorance.
ON THE ADHESIVE MATERIALS EMPLOYED FOR
MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS.
By James Martin.
Photographs, however perfect they may be, are now scarcely
considered complete unless they are also carefully .and appro¬
priately mounted, either on cardboard or plate paper, so as to admit
of their being passed through rolling presses, in order that they
should acquire that finishing gloss which such treatment is so well
adapted to impart, and which is so decidedly preferable to the
polish communicated by any other means. In this respect the
mounting, and the material employed to effect the mounting, of a
photograph may not inaptly be regarded in the same light as the
security of the setting to a costly mosaic or cameo ; and in this
point of view the latter, i.e. the nature and properties of cement
or the adhesive material, will acquire no small importance in the
eyes of those who value the productions which have cost them so
much trouble to obtain.
The reader will readily recall to mind the fact that the materials
employedfor this purpose are all of organic origin, and, being so, are
prone to undergo those complex metamorphoses usually known by the
names of “fermentation,” “ putrefaction,” “eremacausis,” or “decay.”
These changes give rise to the formation of microscopic fungoid
growths, minute animalcules, and to acid products ; which latter,
aided by air and moisture acting in concert on the delicate com¬
pound of silver, gold, and organic matter, constituting the photo¬
graphic image, prove most disastrous to the permanency of the
positive proof.
In view of these facts it is thought that the readers of The British
Journal of Photography will consider a page or so profitably
occupied in the consideration, not so much of the method of mounting
photographs, as in the study of the abstract, physical, and chemical
properties of the substances generally used for that purpose.
The treatment of each substance ought, I think, to comprehend
a statement of the natural sources of the article as found in com¬
merce — the method adopted either in its collection or manufacture —
the extent and nature of the impurities likely to be found therein —
with the means of ascertaining these points — aiming throughout
the whole to indicate that substance which, by simplicity of
composition and comparative permanency in constitution, seems
to recommend itself to the scientific photographer as possessing
those qualities best adapted for the purpose nowunder consideration.
The various substances which will, later, comeunderconsideration
have each been advocated from time to time, with more or less
warmth, by photographers both of limited and extended experience.
The writer, however, would abstain from distinctly recommending
either the one or the other, choosing rather that the description
given of the abstract qualities and a knowledge of principles should
guide the reader in the selection of the most appropriate substance.
Let us first consider
Starch, or Fecula C24 H„0 020. — This is one of the most
abundant of proximate vegetable principles, occurring in the form
of minute white shining grains in the cells of almost every plant.
Wheat, rice, and potatoes are, perhaps, the most prolific sources of
thisinterestingbody : it occurs, however, in the rhizomes of Maranta
arundinacea (the arrow-root plant), in the stem of Sogus rumphii
(the sago plant), and many others — sago, tapioca, arrow-root, and
tons les mois being only varieties of the same substance, the
composition as given above applying to all of them. The methods
of preparation vary with the source whence the particular kind of
starch is derived — the object aimed at, whether effected by-
mechanical or chemical means, being the disintegration of the
cellular envelope and the liberation of the contained starch. In
the manufacture of
Potato Starch this is effected by rasping or pounding the sliced
tubers, and washing the pulpy mass on a sieve. The abundant flow
of water effects a complete separation between the starch granules
and the torn cellular tissue; the latter remainingonthe sieve, while
the former is carried through and settles at the bottom of the
vessel as an insoluble soft white powder, which requires repeated
washing with cold water and drying at a gentle heat.
Wheat Starch maybe obtained on a small scale in a similar
manner by mixing flour to a paste with water, and washing the
mass upon a sieve. On the large scale, however, it is usually
prepared by steeping grain in water for some time, when the lactic
acid formed by the fermentation of the sugar in the grain acts as
a solvent on the gluten and disintegrates the mass, allowing the
starch to deposit at the bottom of the vat. There are other
soluble matters, such as sugar and gum, separated in this way by
repeated washing after the lactic acid fermentation, and the starch
is finally collected and dried.
Rice Starch is prepared by adding a weak alkaline solvent to
ground rice. The preparation of starch from this source is become
an important branch of manufacture, and great accuracy is practised
in making the solution of caustic soda, which, acting as a solvent on
the gluten in the rice, should not contain more than 200 grains to
the gallon of water. When the required action has been allowed
to continue long enough to produce its full effect the supernatant
liquor is drawn off; and, as in the case of potato and wheat starches,
the white granular deposit is collected and dried.
As has been already stated, other kinds of starch are obtained
from various sources; but the principle involved in the preparation
is the same throughout, and the resulting products possess the
following properties in common : — So common, indeed, and familiar
is the appearance of starch, that it seems almost superfluous to
allude to it in the forms of arrow-root and potato starch as a soft.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 18 (12
800
white, glistening powder, and wheat and rice starch in the form of
hard columnar masses, seeming, at first sight, to possess almost a
crystalline structure. This latter character, however, it does, not
possess, as the microscope abundantly demonstrates. Examined
by this instrument, it is shown to be composed of a number of
little rounded transparent bodies, having a central spot called the
hilum, surrounded by a series of parallel rings. The relative sizes
and shapes shown by the microscope — especially by the aid of
polarised light — in examining starches are unfailing indications of
the source from whence the sample under examination has been
obtained, and in this way it can be ascertained whether the adulte¬
ration of a high-priced starch with a low one has been attempted —
as, for instance, arrow-root with potato starch, or any other equally
profitable sophistication.
The microscope shows starch to be composed of connected and
distinctly separate globules. The method of manufacture has also
shown that these globules are insoluble in cold water. If, however,
boiling water be poured upon a mixture of starch and water, a thick
glutinous mass of paste is produced (well known to every house¬
wife), owing to the bursting of the envelope of each granule of
starch. The slight opalescence possessed by the mixture arises
from the presence of the enveloping membrane of each grain.
Copious dilution with water will admit of the passage of this thin
gelatinous starch or cimidin through filter-paper. It is precipitated
from its solution by infusion of galls, alcohol, and many metallic
oxides. Tincture of iodine produces a characteristic deep indigo-
blue colour, always regarded as most reliable evidence of the pre¬
sence of starch.
There is something about the simplicity of constitution of starch
and its freedom from natural and artificial impurities which,
regarding it from a strictly chemical point of view, would seem to
recommend it as a fit substance to be employed for mounting pho¬
tographs; and as it cannot be doubted that the nature of the paste
used for this purpose exercises an important influence on the final
preservation of the prints, it cannot be altogether unprofitable to
investigate the possible changes to which such preparations are
subject.
In reference to the substance in question, it may be briefly stated
that starch paste is prone, under certain conditions of temperature,
to pass into a state of putrid fermentation, a condition forcibly
indicated by its smell, in which state it should by no means be
applied for mounting photographs. The precaution therefore to
be adopted in the use of starch paste is always to have it fresh.
( To be concluded in our next.)
HOODED BACKGROUNDS.
By An Old Hand.
From the first introduction of positive portraiture up to the
present time there has been much difference of opinion with
regard to appropriate backgrounds, some taking the plain, others
the decorated side of the question — a question open to all, and the
issue a mere matter of taste. Painted walls, painted screens,
calico of various shades, white blankets, brown blankets, brown
paper, brown holland, paper-hanging designs in distemper, ema¬
nating from kindred imaginations, have all been resorted to with
more or less success.
In the early clays of portraits on silver plates, when Daguerre’s
process was the only one in use, an operator at Shields and New¬
castle was in the habit of producing remarkably good effects by
the following simple means A platform large enough to accom¬
modate sitter, chair, and camera was erected in the back yard of
the house, sufficiently high to command a full flood of light.
Behind the sitter, and projecting overhead and at the sides for
some five or six feet, Avas an old salt-\vater-soaked and storm-
stained sailcloth. With this simple contrivance this operator, who
had been a first-class house decorator and imitator of woods and
marbles, was in the habit of producing pictures Avhich, for artistic
effect in light and shade, Avere immeasurably superior to any of the
productions of even the reported best Daguerreotype artists of the
day. A play of full, medium, or subdued light on the object Avas
regulated by the sailcloth being brought more or less fonvard, and
forming, as it Avere, a deep or shalloAv canvas recess. All the im¬
pressions taken with tliese appliances had invariably a slight tint
of blue behind the figure or objects— not the dead opaque dusting
of a body colour,, but a bright light tint, burnt in as it were,
on the plate : this tone on the background Avas regarded as a
marvel by other professional operators, Avho were completely
puzzled. The colour of tho faces, dusted on Avith a tuft of cotton-
avooI (the method then in use), could be plainly perceived from the
deadening of the polish of the plate ; Avhile the back, in addition
to the unmistakeable tone and tint of blue, had all the metallic
lustre of the bright silver surface. This is mentioned in order to
show and prove that the effect of light and shade, imparted to
groups and objects taken by the camera, is not by any means a
neAv contrivance, but was knoAvn and in use long before the dis¬
covery and introduction of collodion.
The following method of preparing and arranging the studio
and operating-room will be found to yield the same kind of effects,
with the addition of more variety in the character of the back¬
grounds themselves, as they may be repeatedly changed at the
Avill of the operator : — The first articles necessary are three open
frames made of three-quarter or inch deal — one frame ten feet high
by seven feet Avide, the other tAvo five feet wide by ten feet high : the
larger frame to have the narroAver ones hinged to it, one on each
side : each frame to be covered Avith broAvn holland, tacked on to
Avithin an inch of the outside edge, and then the holland pasted or
glued doAvn close to the edge, and, Avhen dry, pared off clean Avith
a sharp knife. If the frames are hinged Avith a rule joint top and
bottom, and coloured black at the backs, they can be turned and
will open either Avay, and thus ansAver a double purpose. To the
centre or broadest frame should be tacked a piece of black thick
calico, five or six yards long and tAvo yards Avide, fastened along
the full width of the centre frame, leaving tAvo loose five feet ends
to hang over the sides right and left. Some pieces of lead seAvn to
each corner of the ends will keep this top or hood cloth steady in
its place when the side Avings are fixed at the desired angle. If the
room is sufficiently high, a frame covered Avith holland and coloured
black on the under side may take the place of the top cloth, and
can be raised or loAvered as needed ; if, on the contrary, the space
is confined, two lines or rods can be carried the length of the room,
and a dark cloth thrown over to form the recess, taking care no
light enters at the top or back edges. With this simple arrange¬
ment, and placing the sitter or object more or less in the recess,
shadows softly slight or deeply intense may be produced. For
carte- cle-visite subjects this plan is peculiarly adapted, and in the
hands of any one Avith a good eye for effect will yield very satis¬
factory results ; and, if it be desirable to add to the above arrange¬
ments fittings, furniture, and a choice series of inexpensive orna¬
ments, combining beauty, utility^, and good taste, there is nothing
to be compared with carton pierre, an article extensively used in the
decoration of French theatres and ball-rooms. Carton pierre is a
composition of clay, paper, oil, and gelatine mixed in certain pro¬
portions, and then moulded into the required form. Wall panels
and subjects in relief may be seen in the Great International Exhi¬
bition, and prove its fitness for the purposes here mentioned, while
its cheapness Avill enable the majority of professional photographers
to supply themselves with good imitations of objects of art and
decoration Avhen costly carving and sculjffure Avould be unattain¬
able. One of the characteristics of the present age consists in the
revival of those ornamental forms that Avere once common through¬
out the land. It is quietly, step by step, creeping into each
English home, both high and low, and entirely superseding the
line-and-rule forms of the last age, and will eventually be adopted
by all Avho have any regard to taste, completely superseding
pasteboard ornaments and stage profileism.
DALLMEYER’S STEREOSCOPIC APPARATUS.
By Dr. D. van Monckhoyen.
Dr. Monckhoven has in course of preparation the fourth edition of
his Traite General de Photographie , in which he purposes describing
all the best forms of apparatus.
The learned doctor is particularly pleased Avith the stereoscopic
apparatus lately introduced by Mr. Dallmeyer, and knoAving Avell
the gratification experienced by inventors in finding that their
efforts are appreciated, he has, Avith that readiness to acknowledge
merit which so amiably distinguishes him, requested us to insert his
description of the apparatus in question in this Journal — a request to
Avhich Ave readily accede, especially as the illustrations Avill, no
doubt, be acceptable to many of our provincial readers, who have
fewer opportunities of seeing for themselves the varieties of appa¬
ratus introduced from time to time.
We uoav give place to Dr. Monckhoven, Avho says : —
Mr. Dallmeyer’s stereoscopic apparatus has already for some
time enjoyed Avell-merited success both in Germany and England.
It is Avith this instrument that the instantaneous vieAvs of the
Boulevards of Paris were taken by MM. Ferrier and Soulier.
August 15,' 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
307
Everybody acknowledges Messrs. Dallmeyer, ' Morz, Secretan,
and Voigtlander as opticians of the first rank in Europe. We un¬
derstand by the word optician not a mere mechanic, but a man
acquainted with theory and practice, who does not arrive at jper- j
fection by groping in the dark, but possessing sufficient ability to
create designedly an instrument that his practical skill can ulti- 1
anately develop at length to something approaching absolute j
perfection.
Having learnt through the English journals that Mr. Dallmeyer
had made considerable improvements in the binocular stereoscopic
apparatus, we lost no time in procuring one of his manufacture,
and the result of our experience therewith has been so satisfactory
that we have caused illustrations of the apparatus to be produced,
persuaded that a minute description thereof will be of use to those
who have not had an opportunity of examining if.
fig. 1.
F!G. 4.
Fig. 1 shows the entire apparatus A B C D, representing the body
of the camera, made of polished mahogany: the angles are pro¬
tected with brass corners, to protect it from injury by heat, &c.
The camera is attached to the tripod by means of a nut and
screw. At the back B is the ground-glass (not shown in the
figure), and this part of the instrument is made a fixture, as being-
more convenient, when focussing, than the ordinary method of con¬
struction. The front part F, carrying the objectives, is made to
adjust by aid of the racks 0 0 and pinion c attached to the base E,
which is united with aud forms part of the moving portion of the
camera, whilst the pinion c is attached to the lower prolongation
of the dark chamber A C. The focussing is therefore a simple
operation.
Whilst examining the image on the ground-glass the pinion c
is turned by hand. The piece F which carries the object-glasses
can be raised or lowered at will, and fixed by the nut a.
When it is desired to remove this sliding-front, the object-
glasses are to be first of all drawn out, as shown in the right hand
one of fig. 2.
fig, 2.
The inside of the camera (Jig. 4) is ingeniously ar¬
ranged. When using the two objectives it is necessaiy to
separate the two images by means of a diaphragm; but,
on the contrary, when
employing the ca¬
mera for groups or
single views, this
diaphragm should be
capable of removal.
To accomplish this
end the diaphragm
is made pliable (fig.
G), and'fits into the
groove {a Jig. 4) be¬
longing to the mov¬
ing part B of the
camera. By draw¬
ing the bolts b and
cl on the fixed part
of the camera, it will
be readily perceived
how, when length¬
ening and shortening
the camera, the pli-
able diaphragm accomodates itself to these movements, always se¬
parating completely the
interior into two distinct
compartments.
The sliding back (fig.
7) carries a plate seven
and a quarter inches by
I four and a half inches,
and is furnished with a
plate-holder {Jig. 8) for
stereoscopic sizes, the
corners being as usual of
silver wire. We advise
the use of glasses of the
larger size even for ste¬
reoscopic subjects ; for, though larger than needful, a margin is left
for defects which usually occur at the edges, and the same sized
plates are of service when the triplet object-glass is employed.
FIG. 7.
The sliding back (fig. 7 is deserving of particular notice, from the
ingenious contrivance for withdrawing the excess of nitrate of
silver, as shown in fig. 0. The silver wire a steadies the plate
which rests also at c on its extremity only. The nitrate of silver
which accumulates runs down the groove b coated with wax; anj
This front can be replaced by another, which carries the triplet
objective. {Fig. 3.)
308
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1862
even when using the smaller plate-holder (Jig, 8) the liquid
can only run down into the groove. It is an ingenious ar¬
rangement, which we com¬
mend to the cabinet makers.
The camera is capable of ex¬
tension from three and a half
to seven inches.
The objectives carry on
their outer shades an instan¬
taneous shutter, consisting of
a simple board, which is
shown in Jig. 1 as closed,
and as open in Jig. 10. The
part C B is attached to the objectives : it is of polished ma-
fig. 9.
hogany. A king® furnished with two milled heads of brass, b b,
fiq. io.
carries the shutter 0 R. One great advantage of this shutter is
that the sky is less exposed than the lower part of the image :
thus it is easy to obtain an instantaneous view in which the very
clouds themselves are represented. Some skill is requisite in
manipulating this apparatus. We apprehend that in opening and
closing the shutter a movement is liable to be communicated to
the plate, and it is needful to possess both skill and coolness in its
use. This part has not our entire approbation, and we are con¬
vinced that a better arrangement can be found.
We now come to the lenses, which are double combinations of
1} in. and in. opening, and 3£ inches focal distance from the
back part of the combination. Fig. 2 shows the opening where
the diaphragms are placed, one of the latter being represented in
Jig. 5. These diaphragms are numbered and so arranged that each
one when in use involves an exposure twice as long in time as is
requisite with the next larger one, that marked with X excepted.
These lenses can be used with their entire aperture, and we were
quite delighted with them on the first occasion when we examined
them. We focussed a tree situated about ten yards from the lens,
and the background of the landscape located about a mile and a
half behind was still perfectly sharp. In a second experiment we
focussed the same tree at the same distance, and the people who
passed between the tree and the lens were all depicted with a dis¬
tinctness truly satisfactory.
lhat which the English call “depth of focus” is, then, here ad-
mirahly attained. As double lenses for views — that is to say with
< e lnition and intensity of light united— we have never seen any
which have been comparable to them.
The employment of diaphragms permits the use of the same
lenses for reproductions and for enlargements, which require great
delicacy. Already this end is attained with a diaphragm of
medium size, and they have one great advantage over ordinary
single lenses in admitting of greater correctness of the lines and
much more light.
DRY COLLODION ON PAPER.*
A new edition of M. Marion’s Practice of Photography on Paper is
now in course of publication ; and, as it has been enriched by a
new and very interesting chapter, we have thought that our
readers would gladly be made acquainted with its contents.
Among negative processes, that on dry paper is alluded to
in many good treatises on photography as destined to a brilliant
future ; such is also the opinion of many distinguished amateurs
who are successfully practising the processes known as waxed-
paper, turpentine-waxed paper, or paraffine paper. Being our¬
selves fully impressed with the truth of these opinions, and
impelled also in that direction by the nature of our business, wo
have continually sought for means of giving to paper greater
rapidity and more delicacy.
We believe we have attained this result by a mixed process,
collodion and paper, which we propose now to make known for the
first time.
The application of collodion to paper has the advantage over
collodion spread upon glass of being easier of manipulation, and
more certainly and constantly successful ; besides which it gives
greater relief to the figures. The advantage which it possesses
over waxed-paper we have alluded to above : it consists in greater
rapidity and delicacy, with the same facilities of operation.
Tourists will find, in adopting the use of collodionised paper, the
united advantages of several processes on paper and glass,
without any inconvenience : they will be able, as with waxed-
paper, by supplying themselves with our preservative portfolios,
to carry into the field a great number of sheets provided with all
the elements of sensibility, and ready to receive the luminous
radiations.
Our secret consists in incorporating the collodion with the paper,
and in forming with the two substances a more sensitive, compact,
and homogeneous surface, and of converting it — if we may so
express ourselves — into a harder kind of felt.
The following is the formula of the collodion which we apply to
the paper : —
Rectified ether . 1,000 parts.
Soluble cotton . 10 „
Ceroline . 1,000 „
Iodide of potassium . 20 „
Bromide of potassium . 5 ,,
Iodide of cyanogen . 2 ,,
After the iodides and bromides are dissolved we add 21 parts of
pure ammonia.
In order that the solution of the iodides and bromides shall take
place without difficulty they should previously be reduced to pow¬
der in a mortar. After solution, filter, when the collodion will be
ready for use, although it will be better to let it stand for four-
and-twenty hours. The whole of the contents of the bottle should
not be poured into the dish at the time of using, the deposit which
it contains being likely to prejudice the result. For those who
would avoid the trouble of making the preparation, we have manu¬
factured not only the collodion, but also the collodionised paper.
The collodion, after being allowed to deposit, and after being
filtered, is poured into a porcelain tray, and into this the selected
sheets of paper are plunged. We would recommend No. 530 of
our catalogue.
It is not necessary that the dishfshould be as large as the paper :
sheets measuring 23 X 18 may be collodionised in a dish not larger
than 18 X 12. The following is the method of proceeding : — The
sheet is held by the two extremities : one end is immersed in the
liquid as near as possible without dropping it, and while with the
right hand the paper is drawn towards the operator, the left hand
makes an opposite movement, and lowers the sheet gently, forcing it
at the same time to penetrate the liquid — the right hand continually
drawing the sheet through the collodion by its anterior edge.
When the posterior edge just grazes the liquid, the left hand re¬
leases its hold and comes to the assistance of the right hand in
entirely withdrawing the sheet, which is now completely saturated
with collodion, with the exception of the small border in front,
which remains dry and white, and by which the sheet is hung up
to dry.
* From Cosmos.
FiG. 8.
August 15, 1863]
309
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
The paper is removed while it is still moist, and it is preserved
In that condition until just at the moment of sensitising, having
previously passed it into the cylinder. It improves by keeping0;
and we can state that it is not until one month after preparation
that it is suscejitible of giving good proofs.
There is no alteration in the method of sensitising, developing,
and (fixing. The proportions for the aceto-nitrate bath are : —
Water . 100 parts
Nitrate of silver . 7 „
Acetic acid . . 10 „
The gallic acid, for development, should be a saturated solution, to
which has been added a few drops of fresh solution of nitrate of
.■silver. The hyposulphite of soda for fixing should be made with
water 1,000 parts, byposulphate of soda 400 parts. Indeed a
saturated solution may be safely employed, since far from en¬
feebling the high lights of the negative proof-— as happened in the
old processes — hyposulphite imparts to them, on the contrary, a
greater intensity without vitiating the whites, i.e., the shadows.
Let us observe, also, that after sensitising it is necessary to
wash abundantly in rain water, and that after this it should be
carefully sponged, or rather pressed between two folds of blotting
paper, which should not be used again for this purpose, but which
may nevertheless be made to serve for ordinary drying purposes.
Moreover, the drying of the collodionised and sensitised paper
should be expedited by changing the blotting-paper frequently;
and when it is almost dry it should be placed in the preservative
case, which will completely absorb the remaining moisture. Paper
thus enclosed will keep for several days ; but as far as possible
we should recommend no more to be prepared than will meet the
requirements of the occasion. We refer to Chapter Y. of this
work for the directions to be followed in the series of operations
necessary to the production of a negative proof ; and as the
method of sensitising is not yet given, we will reproduce it here
with all necessary details.
The aceto-nitrate of silver bath is poured into a flat porcelain or
glass dish, and when all air bubbles have disappeared the collo¬
dionised paper is floated thereon, taking care to avoid the produc¬
tion of fresh air bubbles. It is gently raised by the corners in
order to assure the operator that contact between the paper and
solution is complete over the entire surface ; and when the
evidence on this point is satisfactory the paper is forced under¬
neath the liquid by means of the stalk of a quill from which the
feathers have been pulled off. It very soon changes from the
colour it possesses, and becomes almost white, by the transforma¬
tion of the iodo-bromide of potassium and cyanogen into iodide of
silver. Small air bubbles will make their appearance on the upper
surface of the submerged sheet. It is very necessary to remove
these as fast as they show themselves. The stalk of a quill pen,
with the feathers pulled off, is, on account of its elasticity, the
thing which we have found answer best for the purpose. When
the paper has become quite colourless, it is taken out, drained, and
throAvn into a dish partly filled with rain water. Several sheets
may be washed together in the same dish ; but more than one
sheet should never be sensitised at a time. Plenty of water
should be used, and great care exercised in the washing. We
have already described the method of absorbing the moisture from
and drying the paper.
Our process of negative collodionised paper depends, as will be
seen, on the introduction into the collodion of wax and ceroline,
which imparts a greater aptitude to combine with the paper, and
also aids its preservation in the dry state after sensitising. W ith-
out the addition of these substances and of the iodide of cyano-
gen the collodion will not unite so intimately with the paper: it
will infallibly become detached in one or other of the numerous
immersions to which it is submitted before the proof is completely
finished.
The negative fixed, washed, and dried, should be waxed ; al¬
though, when the negative is weak, we have found it advantageous
not to wax it.
We ought not to omit mentioning that the collodion after serv¬
ing for a number of sheets becomes thick, which necessitates its
being mixed with some thinner collodion in order to restore it as
near as possible to its normal condition. 'Phis addition of weak
collodion should be made when the collodion already in use fails to
penetrate the paper and leaves on its surface small glutinous
patches which are slow in. drying. It is difficult to fix beforehand
the proportions in which ibis admixture should be made. Expe¬
rience alone can guide the operator ; and our process is so new
that we cannot speak with precision on this point.
CABINET PICTUBES.
Photographed by Ernest Edwards.
We have been favoured by Mr. Ernest Edwards with some speci¬
mens of his photographic skill, accompanied by the request that we
should criticise and report on them in the pages of this Journal in the1
ordinary manner, altogether regardless of his position as an ama¬
teur. On looking over the subjects received we find scarcely a
single one that has not already attracted our notice on a former
occasion, when assisting at the selection of the prize pictures of
the Amateur Photographic Association ; and this is not surprising,
seeing that they possess generally the merit of artistic as well as
photographic excellence. What can be more charming as a study
than The Cloisters of Netley Abbey? The shadows deep, yet
transparent, and full of detail — the half-tones mellow — the rough
stonework of the ruin rich in chequered light and shade cast by
the sunbeams passing through spaces in the other parts of the
building, and broken and rebroken by the irregularities of surface
upon which they fall.
The Side Aisle of Netley Abrey is another gem in which all
the qualities named in the preceding are to be found, with the ad¬
dition of well-executed foliage ; ivy trailing over the arches and
columns in soft and harmonious delicacy — not spotty and hard as
is too often the case ; the cast shadows also beautifully transparent ;
and the whole subject finely broken up in outline without confu¬
sion. There is a fault — though but a slight one — a little leaning in¬
wards of the perpendicular from tilting the camera; not very per¬
ceptible, it is true, on account of the form of the arch at the upper
part, but still discernible by a critical eye.
The East Window, Netley Abbey, is equally good as a
photograph, very beautiful in itself, but rather too formal, owing
to the point of view having been too directly at right angles
to the centre of the window. In this picture the ivy clus¬
tering about the tracery of the window is exquisitely rendered.
Of Wiiippingham Church, Isle of Wight, we have nothing to
say in praise, regarding either the subject or its treatment artisti¬
cally. An incomplete structure, with unglazed windows, and not
devoid of numerous scaffold poles and such like surroundings, is
net exactly adapted for poetical treatment. Nothing could have
been expected of it in this way, and we are hound to say that no
disappointment lias ensued. Of the manipulative skill there is no
lack, and we onl}T regret that it should have been applied to the
delineation of so uninteresting a subject.
The curious excavation in the natural rock, known as Anchor
Church, Derby, embowered in masses of foliage, is rather an object
of curiosity than beauty. It has evidently been taken in a bad
light, and the effect is consequently sombre and rather flat: still
by those who have visited the spot it will no doubt be prized.
The Cleft in the Rock, Anchor Church , Derby , is at least as
brilliant as its companion is tame. It is one of those multiple clefts
so common in Derbyshire, where huge slices of the rock seem to
have been selected and hewn out by nature ready for removal, and
then left to have their angles rounded by the wearing of the ele-.
ments, and to be converted into things of beauty by the graceful
overgrowth of an abundant vegetation. Eemsand brambles, heaths
and creepers, little angular stems and graceful festoons, unite to
adorn the rugged features of the rocky masses glowing in the sun:
light — each receiving an access of elegance from the contrasts
presented, just as the furrowed and wrinkled visage of a benevolent
old patriarch looks still more benevolent when surrounded bv the
smiling faces and waving locks oT a bevy of fair grand-daughters.
This is truly a charming picture in every sense of the word.
There is considerable merit in a landscape entitled The 1 1 amble,
Bursledgn. The distance appears really distant, with a due propor¬
tion of atmosphere. The foliage is good, though perhaps a trifle too
dark. The water is the weakest part, reflecting the light of the sky
rather too directly and exclusively, and a vessel afloat is somewhat
indistinct from movement. But. even with the failings indicated, it
is a production of which not a few professionals would be proud.
An instantaneous view of a Steamer at Ryde Pier is deserving
of high commendation. The vessel, as also a brig in the distance,
are sharp and clear as can he desired ; the waves, too, are natural ;
and though the nearer parts of the pier itself are out of focus, the
subject has been carefully and judiciously vignetted in the print-
ino*; thus the little defect is subdued to a minimum, and the treat¬
ment, adopted the most appropriate that could have been selected.
Vignetting has also been resorted to with two others of tl e
specimens before us, and in both cases most judiciously. In one,
a somewhat commonplace subject — King’s College, Cambridge
from the Back — has been made picturesque by this means ; and in
310
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 180-1
the other— the Statue of Silence, in the Fitzwilliam Museum, at
Cambridge— the value pictorially has been materially enhanced.
The Shield of Achilles, in the same museum, shows what Mr.
Edwards can do in the still-life direction. Each effect of the play
of light on this splendidly embossed work of art has its lull value.
Lastly, we must not omit to notice a very fine interior , about five
inches by four inches in dimensions, without label, but which is
evidently an extensive library stretching away in long perspective,
adorned on either side with numerous busts, the vista culminating
in a full-length statue. This is a very successfully-executed spe¬
cimen of a difficult class, soft and delicate in reflected light, and
altogether an unquestionable witness to the skill of its producer,
who can well afford to have waived his privilege as an amateur to
be dealt with gently, and who would, even as a professional opera¬
tor, take rank of no mean order. We can honestly congratulate
photographers in having Mr. Edwards amongst the fraternity.
- «*_ -
ENLARGEMENTS FROM SMALL NEGATIVES.
Photographed by W. H. Warner (of Ross).
London : H. S. Warr, 63, High Holborn.
Of all photographic enlargements that we have hitherto seen there
are but few that equal Mr. Warner’s specimens, when regarded
simply as photographs, unaided by the pencil of the artist ; for not
only do they excel in definition, but the preservation of half-tone
is superior to that generally attained in the enlarged repro¬
ductions.
It is true that the increased dimensions are not excessive, being
in general about three diameters. It is true, also, that the defi¬
nition is not equal to that which might possibly be obtained by
taking the original negative of the larger size. But it is unques¬
tionable that the convenience of taking negatives of stereoscopic
size for pictures of nine by seven inches is very great, and involves
other advantages in addition ; and it is by no means certain that
the extra definition of some parts of the subject that it is possible
to be secured would add to the value as works of art.
Mr. A rarner, at a late meeting of the Photographic Society
[London), explained that his mode of operating agreed generally
in principle with that described by Mr. Vernon Heath, and we
endorsed the correctness of the statement. The proofs before us
fully justify the accuracy of the views enunciated.
Amongst the specimens before us are the Reredos at Hereford
Cathedral, in Avhich the subject of the sculpture in each compart¬
ment is very effectively given, the wdiole forming a capital study —
the Water Gate, Raglan Castle — Tintern Abbey — Font at
Kilpick Church, Herefordshire — Woodbine, a Study — and
“ Nigger” Boys ; — all from stereoscopic negatives enlarged about
three diameters.
We understand from Mr. Warner that he undertakes, as a matter
of business, to produce enlarged negatives for amateurs and pro¬
fessionals. The specimens received are duplicates of those lately
in the International Exhibition which were spoilt by the damp
walls. Certainly those before us exhibit no signs of fading.
COMMEMORATIVE PHOTOGRAPH,
Illustrative of the Manchester Meeting (1861) of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, under the Presidency of William
Fairhairn, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., &c.
Designed and Photographed by A. Brothers.
London : Day & Son, Gate Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
Manchester: A. Brothers, 14, St. Ann’s Square.
We have had historical painters, and why not historical photo¬
graphers ? Certainly, if accuracy of delineation be a point of
importance, artists of the latter class have a much greater chance
of permanent occupation than the former. Already the initiative
has been taken, and the specimen before us bears internal evidence
that it will not be a solitary specimen of its kind, for the simple
reason that it is a highly successful experiment.
We learn that the original picture of which that before us is a
copy was designed and executed by Mr. A. Brothers, by commis-
!l0n from Dr- Fairbairn, President of the Association for the year
lb()l, who was, no doubt, desirous of preserving some record of his
most distinguished colleagues ; and it was a happy thought of Mr.
i others to combine the portraits into a very pleasing group
ocatcd in an apartment of the President’s own residence, at Ard-
wick. But, in order to effect this, considerable ingenuity had to
be exercised ; for it would have been manifestly impossible to have
collected together the two-and-twonty persons composing the
Klcmp in sue L a manner as to have allowed of their being success*
fully photographed, supposing all to have possessed the almost
superhuman power of remaining perfectly quiescent for a suffi¬
ciently long time together under the conditions that would haye
been requisite. The plan adopted was, therefore, that originally
introduced by Mr. O. G. Rejlander, of printing portions of
the composition from many different negatives, and in the
case before us this involved no less than forty separate print¬
ings for the original picture, which was 19£ inches in height by 3d
inches in breadth. It will, therefore, at once be perceived that the
artist had to contend with no ordinary difficulties in carrying out his
design ; for, apart from the mere printing, each portrait, though
taken separately, had to be arranged in such a manner as to har¬
monise with all the others, to bear its relative size in accordance
with the position it was intended to occupy in the group, and yet
to be in attitude and general arrangement characteristic of the
individuals. None but those who have made the attempt can
rightly appreciate the labour involved in a task of this kind, in
which the mere attainment of accuracy in artistic requirements of
light and shade is no small triumph to have achieved. The w-liole
grouping is w-ell managed — each portion, as it were, leading up
to the principal figure (that of Dr. Fairbairn) — and the lines well
balanced; no straight row- of heads in any direction, and, as a rule,
the attitude of each individual natural and easy — the least so being
that of Mr. Curtis, the Mayor of Manchester, whose chain and badge
of office probably imposed some constraint upon his freedom of
pose. That some minor defects might be pointed out we are
ready to admit — as what human work can be free from them ? —
but too much praise can hardly be accorded for the very
great degree of both artistic and manipulative skill that has
been judiciously exercised in the production of so interest*
i ig and valuable a record. The original picture having been
completed, a negative of a reduced size wras taken, being 9£
Inches by 15£ inches, from which the proof under examination wa
printed ; and Ave have little doubt that an extensive demand for
copies will arise, especially amongst the members of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science, when they learn that
they are obtainable.
The group consists of likenesses of the Chairmen of sections
and office-bearers for the year 1861. In conclusion, we cannot do
better than give a list of the names, in order that our readers may
be able to knoiv what an interesting portrait gallery is within
their reach.
The portraits are those of the following gentlemen : — J. F. Bate¬
man, C.E.; Sir R. Murchison, F.R. S. ; C. C. Babbington ; Rev.
W. V. Harcourt; Rev. T. R. Robinson, D.D. ; R. D. Darbishire ;
Sir David BreAvster, K.H., F.R.S. ; Alderman Neild ; Professor
Airy; Lord Wrottesly, F.R.S. ; General Sabine ; Joseph Heron;
Professor Miller ; M. Curtis (Mayor) ; Alderman Mackie ; Wm.
Newmarch; Wm. Fairbairn, LL.D., F.R.S.; Professor Hopkins ;
Professor SedgAvick ; John CraAvford ; Professor Willis ; and
Professor Phillips.
STEREOGRAPHS.
The Inundation in the Fens.
Photographed by Valentine Blanchard.
London : C. E. Elliott, 5, Aldermanbury Postern, Cit}r.
A calamity such as that Avhich lately befell an agricultural district
in Norfolk by the bursting of a sluice is one not easily to be
forgotten, nor is the interest concentrated upon the submerged
district confined to the suffering inhabitants alone ; for, apart from
natural sympathy Avith those Avho are literally washed away from
their homes, there Avas considerable excitement but recently
existing relative to the question Avhether the engineering skill
engaged in attempting to repair all the mischief Avhich ensued
Avould prove equal to the task involved, and for some time the
issue appeared to be extremely , doubtful, several failures in
attempting the damming out of the Avater of the German Ocean
having been experienced before success Avas achieved, so far as to
prevent the repeated irruptions Avhich had occurred at every
successive high tide since the catastrophe.
Of course until this important first step Avas gained, no possibility
existed of the release of the flooded district, extending over an
area of about six miles in length and four miles in breadth, from
the domination of the waters ; but, this once attained, the remainder
is but a Avork of time.
It Avas a happy idea of Mr. Blanchard to secure such incontro¬
vertible Avitnesses of the devastation as the series of sterographs
now before us. They will tell their tale of truth when time sufficient
shall have elapsed to make oral or written testimony liable to the
August i5, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
311
suspicion of exaggeration ; and for this reason many having a
personal interest in the calamity will be glad to avail themselves of
the opportunity now offered of securing some at least of the
specimens. But these will not be the only claimants for them; for
unpromising as such a class of subjects would at first sight appear
to be when regarded with an eye to the picturesque, yet under the
influence of Mr. Blanchard’s skill as an operator for “ instantaneous”
effects, and as viewed by his camera, they certainly do exhibit
artistic excellence in a very considerable degree. For instance : —
No. 150 (Sunset after a Storm), displays a wild waste of waters
roused into a miniature sea by the wind, the wavelets tipped by
a golden glow of light streaming from under the rugged masses
of stormy-looking clouds. A solitary boat, with a mast around
which the sail is brailed up, with two passengers, floats in the
middle distance, and, far away at the horizon, trees and buildings
are just dimly seen, breaking the monotony of the line, while in
the foreground a post and a couple of rails stand out of the water,
testifying to the shallowness of the temporary ocean. The boat’s
motion has a little marred the sharpness of this specimen. — Again :
No. 156 (A View Looking Towards Smeeth-road Station,
Sunset) is something more than the name alone implies. In this
we are looking across a narrower portion of the lake. The waters are
tranquil, and evidently very shallow, for the long grasses show
their more aspiring heads above the water in two or three series
of lines. On the left foreground is a boat in full sail, sharp and
distinct as can be desired, containing a couple of men. In the
middle distance are three or four haystacks standing partly out of
the water : beside them a boat is being rowed away from the
spectator, the oars stretching right and left. A long strip of land
to the left stretches half-way across the distance, interrupted by
but a single house, while the other half of the background is well
broken up with houses and elm trees, lopped in the barbarous
fashion so common in our hedgerows. A few light clouds bestrew
the sky, and behind one the sun has partly sunk down, leaving
about three-quarters of its orb visible though slightly veiled, and
this is “ led up to,” as it were, by a slight additional strip of light
upon the water. It is a charming slide, full of atmosphere and
picturesque effect.
The View from the Middle Level Bank (No. 151), with the
Methodist Chapel in the distance, shows a farm-house and home¬
stead, rendered untenable by a couple of feet or so of water in the
basement. The straw-yard enjoys just sufficient elevation to afford
a dry footing ; and here are a couple of youths in conversation — one
sitting on the railing, the other standing opposite to him, with the
skirt of his coat blowing out in the wind.
Neaps Farm, Evening (No. 148), is very characteristic of the
Beene. A square unpicturesque-looking house standing in the water,
which reaches up to just below the lower window-sill, is backed by
a barn and surrounded at some little distance by trees and hedges,
showing above the water, while a boat with five persons in it has
just sailed through the nearest hedge. The land is seen just like a
thin line across the water in the distance.
No. 152 shows Tint Broken Sluice — the shattered remains
of the frail protection against the waters of the sea.
There are several excellent views of the Coffer Dam, in which
may be seen the “ navvies ” at work throwing in the bags of clay,
the pile-driving engines, blocks and pulleys, engineers superintend¬
ing, panels being slid into their grooves, waters surging and
foaming through the openings, displaying scenes of bustle and
animation which few could look upon without interest. Two of
these are especially excellent: — No. 153, in which a group of cele¬
brated engineers is comprised ; and No. 155 — that in which there are
three men in the foreground (for there is another slide bearing the
same number and description though quite a different scene). Ihe
one to which we particularly allude is most admirable as a photo¬
graph, of great interest to engineers, harmonious and full of detail
and half-tone, clear, distinct, and effective.
Appended to each slide is a short extract from The Times,
descriptive of the scene of the inundation, and written in the month
of June last, which, as an appropriate conclusion, we may with pro¬
priety’ quote. It is as follows: —
A brief description of the present inundations may not be considered cut of place here.
A glance at the map of England will show an immense district lying between the hilly
parts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, and extending across the northern parts of Cam-
bridgeshire. This large area is intersected in various directions by drains or aitincial
livers, the object of which is to carry off the superabundant water into the natural or
tidal rivers. A hasty glance at this district, during a rapid joui ney by rail, will at once
reveal its noteworthy characteristics. A vast plain presents itself to the eye, with
nothing to break the monotony but an occasional farm-house, or a row of stunted
willows, with here and there the tall shaft of some engine busily employed in throwing
the water from the drains into th« regular channels leading to tlie rivers. The whole of
this district has been reclaimed from the sea in comparatively recent times, and as,
consequently, it it all below high water mark, the outlets into the rivers are guarded by
sluices that have hitherto been considered models of engineering skill. They are con¬
structed to let off the upland waters, but to prevent the tide from entering. The cause
of the present calamity is the bursting of the latest of these magnificent erections — the
sluice built at St. Germains, where the middle level drain empties itself into the Ouse.
This drain was formed some sixteen years ago, to carry off the water of an inland sea
called Whittlesea Mere, and has been so successful in its operation that the whole area
of the old sea is now under cultivation. The scheme was however strongly opposed by
the landholders in Marshland Fen, the scene of the present inundations, for the drain
came across their lands, putting them to serious inconvenience without any corresponding
benefit, for it did not drain their land in the slightest degree. At the time of the forma,
tion of the drain, we remember an old man saying, “ They will have no difficulty in
draining Whittlesea Mere, but the day will come, mark my words, when they will hare
a Marshland Mere inslead." This prediction, though laughed at at the time, has now
come to pass; for, on the breaking ot the sluice which guarded the outlet, the tidal waters
rushed into the drain and filled it from bank to bank. Every one saw that the banks
could not sustain the extra pressure ; for the drain was in the position of a basin, eo full
that another drop must make it run over. At the weakest point, accordingly, the water
spurted through like the stream from the hose of a fire engine, and in a short space of
time there was a gap a hundred feet across, and a torrent of water rushing over tho
unfortunate land; and a district of six miles long by three and four broad, which a few
weeks ago might be considered as the most fertile in England, is now a salt water lake
four feet deep.
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS.
Want of space compels us to postpone a notice of some very
excellent examples of photographs of microscopic objects taken by
Dr. Maddox, in connexion with whose name our readers will re¬
member the singular discovery of living Acari found in the nitrate
of silver bath. We may for the moment, however, state that
numerous excellent negatives of these interesting objects were
taken by Dr. Maddox ; that these negatives are now in the custody
of Mr. Baker, philosophical instrument maker, High Holborn,
London ; and we understand that he has authority to print, and
supply the public with, proofs from these negatives. We purpose
giving a more detailed notice of them in our next.
A VISIT TO LONDON AND THE EXHIBITION.
By A Scotch Photographer.
With pockets well filled with metropolitan guide-books and maps,
together with light literature, sandwiches, and other Scotch com¬
forts for the journey, away I started per night express train for
London.
Now, when a Scotchman makes his maiden visit to the metropolis
every object on the journey is possessed of interest ; accordingly,
when morning light revealed the country through which we were
being so rapidly whirled, I found myself comparing the aspect of
“ merry England” with that of its more northern sister kingdom.
It must at once be obvious, even to the most cursory observer,
that harvest operations are in a much greater state of forwardness
than in Scotland; but, to one accustomed to look upon nature in
her more rugged and sublime aspects — to see hills, glens, torrents,
and lakes all gloriously intermingled — here wild mountains and
there smiling hamlets — to such an one the contrast between these
and the flat, scarcely undulating, richly-clad fields and placid
rivers of England is very great.
Arriving in London about mid-day ou Sunday, one or two things
somewhat surprised me : chief among these was the comparative
fewness in number of the shops which were open. Without enter¬
ing into the theological aspect of the questioir, it may he remarked
that I had expected to see, if not a majority, at least a large
number, of shops open pursuing the ordinary course of business;
but, with some few exceptions, they were shut, and business
appeared suspended.
The drinking customs of the English metropolis on Sunday
evening seemed extremely unlike those of Scotland, where, under
the exercise of a stringent Act of Parliament, no public-houses are
allowed to he open on that day, but where, nevertheless, in spite
of this barrier, numerous cases of inebriation, in every stacfo. may
be seen at all hum s mi 1 he Sni day ' his, of course, being the result
of secret tippling. In London, on the contrary, no attempt seems
to be made to Tide Sunday evening carousals, as the crowded
benches outside of many of the public-house doors testified. Tho
most noticeable feature in connexion with this matter seemed to
be that, among all the open aud avowed drinking, I d?d not see a
single drunken person during my stay. How is this ? In Edin¬
burgh, where the strong arm of the law is supposed to have taken
care that all the sources of supply are shut, a stranger going on
Sunday through certain portions of the town, either morning or
evening, cannot fail to meet with many deplorable cases of
inebriety. A solution of the problem has been offered to me. It is
this: — In London the staple drink on Sunday evening is ale and
porter, and, according to my informant — an old Scotchman, long
resident within the sound of Bow bells — “ London y ill is just ditch-
water, compared to Edinbro’ y ill : a bodie might drink it till they
hurst, without being fou’. It’s grand for sleekening the drowth ;
hut it gangs uae higher up than the Btamach. i_ _ _
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August J 5, ISO*!
S i S
There is a dry collodion process well known in some districts of
Scotland, in which ale plays the part of the preservative varnish.
A London gentleman once told me he had not found it succeed
to his satisfaction. Might I suggest that real Scotch ale is as
unlike swipes, and as superior to it for this purpose, as Smith, Beck
and Beck’s eighth-of-an-inch microscopic object-glasses are to a
French two-and-twenty shillings one. It is nomen et preterea nihil.
Before describing who and what I saw in general in London, it
may not be amiss to devote a short time in making some remarks
upon the great subject of the day — the Exhibition. It shall be
my endeavour to give my country brethren my sentiments on the
subject as impartially as I can; and if my opinions run counter to
those already expressed by competent judges (as I know they will
in many instances), it must just be attributed to my waVit of know¬
ledge, and not to their incapability of judging. I doubt not
that a longer residence in London would have so elevated my
taste that I might have perceived many beauties in objects in
which, at present, I confess to have discovered none. A little
education of the taste sometimes alters it very materially. Some
people are said in course of time to get their musical taste so
highly cultivated as to prefer the Highland bagpipes to the finest
orchestra; and it is quite possible that a longer stay in the
metropolis might have altered my taste too. In connexion
with the Exhibition, I might eventually have been enabled to
appreciate a piece ofliterature for which I honestly confess I have
not language at command adequately to express my present
opinion— I mean the “Official Illustrated Catalogue,” the seventh
part of which, comprising Classes XIII. to XVII. inclusive, is at
present before me. It contains philosophical, photographic, horo-
lopical, musical, and surgical instruments, processes, and ap¬
pliances. Now, turning to “Photography,” let us see what is out
of keeping with the most ordinary taste. Pages first, second, and
third contain on an average eleven entries, one or two lines being
generally devoted to each, except where particular explanations
are entered into, as in the case of Burnett and two or three others.
Let one such entry suffice as a specimen [3065]. Cramb
Brothers, Glasgoio. — Photographs on ivory; views in Palestine;
half-life-size portraits, not enlarged.” This is all right enough,
and just as much as a catalogue ought to say; but turning over
the next leaf what do we find? Prefaced by a similar two-line
notice of what is contributed by “A. Claudet, i07, Regent Street,”
we have a long list of all the medals M. Claudet has obtained,
with woodcuts of the four surfaces of two of them; the whole of
the rest of the page, with nearly a third of the page following,
being occupied, not with a detailed list of what M. Claudet has
contributed, but with nearly a verbatim copy of a paper read (and
published in this Journal above a year ago) bv Sir D. Brewster
before the Photographic Society of Scotland, on the various dis¬
coveries made by M. Claudet, Now, without questioning M.
Claudet s “inventive faculty and talent for original research, com¬
bined with mechanical skill and dexterity of manipulation,” I do
question his taste in transferring to the pages of a catalogue such
an eulogium as Sir D. Brewster, when presenting a medal for one
of the best pictures in a provincial Exhibition, thought it proper
to pronounce.
ihe Illustrated Catalogue seems a mere advertising medium, to
which those who can afford to pay lor the most space in which to
detail the qualities and prices of their wares have the greatest
advantage. M. Claudet is not, however, singular in inserting
inattei totally irrelevant to the proper functions of a catalogue, as
a glance over other portions of the volume in question, especially
in the surgical instrument department, will at once attest.
Leaving the Catalogue, let us now enter the Exhibition itself;
and in the meantime, passing by other matters, let us climb to the
attic to which photography has been condemned. Talk of high art !
In all conscience it is high enough here ! It is elevated, I believe,
at least thiity or forty feet above its cousin of the canvas and
white lead.
1 >n cnteiing the room, the photographic visitor thinks that
he Inis, by some mistake, got into the Avrong place entirely ; for he
is, on all sides, surrounded by elaborately-parted portraits, both in
oil and water colours. I he only thing in common with photography
" Inch mam of t hem secin to possess is the fact of their being painted
on paper, which might or might not have been capable of receiving a
photographic picture before it Avas charged with pigments. To the
country photographer, who cannot afford to keep a “painter” at a
lew hundreds per annum, this is very distasteful, and to the strict
moralist it is very hateful ; but to those avIio come to the Inter¬
national Exhibition as to a great educational establishment its
cliects arc exceedingly pernicious, as may be gathered from a
fragment of conversation overheard: — “ Au say, Tummas, be these
real phutugraphs ?” “ ’Coorsc they be — arn’t this the phutugraphic
place ?” — “ Well, Avhen the young master, Mister ’Gustus, took our
Moll Avitli bis tAventy guinea machine, he said he could not take her
red hair and blue eyes as they should be; ’cos as Avhy, says lie,
colours can’t be took at all.” “Aye, but, you see, here they are in
their nateral colours. Oh ! it’s a grand place is Lunnun !” And the
good folks go aAvay fully impressed Avith the fact that photographs
is tools in London in their nateral colours. I do not care to enlarge on
this subject or to speak of the connexion of individual pictures
therewith, as some painful particulars are already before the photo¬
graphic public. In a place devoted to the exhibition of photographs
all merely painted pictures should have been excluded. “ Them’s
my sentiments,” as the excellent Mrs. Spriggins Avould have re¬
marked had she been still alive.
As hanging in the vicinity of the entrance, Ave shall begin a
brief notice of a feAV of the pictures Avith M. Claudet’s name
attached. The first thing that strikes one is the beauty of some
of this gentleman’s females. - But here Ave must leave the
artist and set off at a tangent, promising to return to the Exhibi¬
tion again as soon as possible.
I Avent to Rotten-roAv one day — at the proper hour — to see some
of the aristocracy. The gentler sex of that class are renowned for
their beauty. Of Avhat beauty in a female face consists, I do not
care about risking an opinion on at present. Those Avho Avant
some ideas on this subject should read Burke on The Sublime and
Beautiful , or Alfred II. Wall, or any other Avriter, avIio will reduce
it to lines and curves quite mathematically and artistically. Well,
in Rotten-roAv I saw bona-fide dukes and duchesses, real live
lords and ladies, and “ gentles of every degree.” The gentlemen
are Avonderfully like other folk. An Edinburgh baillie once
hazarded a remark in public that the Lord Provost of Edinburgh,
Avhen present at the opening of the Exhibition in a grand neAv civic
robe, “ looked like a nobleman this, you observe, is a tacit admis¬
sion that noblemen are not at all like other folk. Now my organ
of admiration not being so fully developed as that of this func¬
tionary, I really could not take upon myself to distinguish a noble¬
man from a gentleman’s gentleman — apart from dress. Indeed, I
think that in an air of conscious importance “John Thomas” has de
cidedly the advantage over my lord. But the ladies ! — bless their
faces ! — ’twas them I came to see. Among the British aristocracy
are said to be the finest women in the Avorld, and some representa¬
tives of the class in Rotton-roAv certainly were very fine. A some¬
what close inspection of a feAv satisfied me that they Avere indebted
as much to art as to nature for the splendid appearance they made.
These ladies evidently possess the art of knoAving how to
dress, and this, in contradiction to the trite remark that
“ beauty unadorned is adorned the most,” is the grand
secret after all. It is said that “the tailor makes the man|;”
but not so much is this the case as the fact that the
modiste and milliner make the Avoman — not to hint, even in
the most indirect manner, about the numerous Madame Rachels
and other face enamellers Avhose assistance at the toilet may he
more general than Ave, Avho are not of the “ upper ten thousand,”
may be aware of. While in Rotten-roAv I had hoped to see tho
famous “ Anonyma, ” Avith her jewelled Avhip, handsome greys, and
smart tiger ; but I did not. Some of the female aristocracy are,
from Avhatever cause, A?ery beautiful ; but I should be sorry to assert
that equally beautiful Avomen, per se, are not to be found out of
this class. - With these remarks Ave return to the Exhibi¬
tion, and once more climb to the photographic room — a visit to
which Idie Times has at last found an opportunity of sajdng “ Avill
Avell repay the trouble of the ascent.”
As a fitting sequel to the introduction of mere paintings into a
professedly photographic exhibition, one naturally expects — and
certainly is not disappointed — to find photographs in monochrome,
in every degree of doctoring, from the touching-out of a white
spot to a universal stippling all over. As I have remarked, this is
a species of dishonesty that should not for a moment have been
tolerated — a sentiment which I am sure all true well-Avishers to the
art Avill at once endorse.
(To be continued.)
- - - ... r
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.
By Our Own Pioneer.
ROUND ABOUT EXETER.*
A road opposite the Starcross station will lead on to Mamhead, the scat
of Sir Lydstone NeAvman. The church in the grounds, not far from the
house, is a capital subject, and can be taken from several points: the
* Continued from page 293.
August 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
313
interior has a monument to the memory of the brave Sir Robert, who fell
at Inkermann. Much that is interesting may be got on the outskirts of
the park, occasionally bringing in the house or church. From the high
rising ground around here fine panoramic views may be obtained.
Looking towards Exmouth, Sidmouth, Ottery, Honiton, and Lyme
Regis, the new road should now be followed overlooking Haldon and
the race-course. The people at the turnpike will point out the track for
Chudleigli. All this district will be found intersected with narrow lanes,
forming, at times, a complete puzzle as to the right one to follow in
order to reach the point of destination, and several interesting subjects
will meet the view before arriving at Chudleigli. Here there are several
good inns, and two or three private houses, where accommodation can be
obtained, as a rest of a day or so would be necessary (weather permitting)
for collecting the objects of interest in the neighbourhood. Chudleigli
Rock, Ugbrooke Park, and the remains of the old palace of the Bishops,
have been visited by hundreds ; they have been sketched, painted,
photographed, and described over and over again ; and yet, in the groups
of lofty and majestic trees, moss-covered and lichen-bound masses of
rock, tangled breaks of leaf and briar, and all the luxuriant wildness
of undisturbed nature, there are hundreds of points left — many of
the lesser and most effective ones being passed by unheeded, in order
to secure the “great one.” I would, therefore, counsel the tourist to
look out for the former, and he will find himself amply rewarded and in
possession of some first-rate subjects, not a whit the worse from having
been neglected and unheeded by others. The church, new schools, with
the bridge and cottage, on the road to Ugbrooke, are good. The views
from the skirts of the park overlooking the town are also remarkably
fine. The great beauty of the scenery about here consists in its extraor¬
dinary abruptness and irregularity, including immense masses and blocks
of blue limestone, known as Chudleigli marble, and high banks and wide-
spreading trees, forming in many instances a sort of frame-work for most
delightful bits of landscape distances. Some two miles on the Hennock
road, and towards Cannonteign, will be found an old mill, which can be
taken from the east, west, north, or south, and will yield excellent pictures
from either point, with no obstacle to mar the taking. From this mill the
road is wonderfully steep and narrow up to Hennock, where good subjects
will be found in the church, some detached moorland-like cottages,
whitestone rock, and the beautifullj'-wooded valley below, with the time
and storm-battered crest of the great Skat Tor. A few miles will now
take us to the old Elizabethan mansion, called Cannonteign House, gar¬
risoned by King Charles in 1645, and taken by Genei’al Fairfax. It is a
fine old specimen of the period, and well placed for photographing: it is
now used as a farmhouse, the noble proprietor living in something modern,
snug, and ugly, not far oft'. The mine, called Wheal Exmouth, is close at
hand. It has a tall shaft, with some pretension to elegance of design,
and forms a telling subject, either close or from various distant points of
what is justly called the “Romantic Valley of the Teign ” — a valley full of
picturesque beauty, rising banks of thick-leaved copse; projecting clifts —
bold, broad, and massive — covered with botanical specimens so enrapturing
to a pre-Raphaelite, who tries to paint them, but is beaten by the camera ;
with the tortuous course of a bounding crystal stream, strewn with huge
masses of stone, and arched over with thick canopies of foliage, are here
to be found in profusion ; while some cottages and an old mill, between
Christow and Bridford, are equal to any subject ot the same kind in an)r
part of England. At the former place the fine old church (about to be
restored) will, with the buildings used as a school, make an excellent
picture. On the road to Bridford, the old church and tower, from the lane^on
the west, is worth notice. From this to Moreton Hampstead is about five
miles, the road again maintaining the prestige of Devon — shady lanes and
secluded by-ways.
Moreton Hampstead, called Morton or the Moortown, is a small place
on the Dartmoor border. It has some good inns and lodgings, and much
to interest the artist round and about. To its elevated situation and
exposure to the pure and bracing breeze may be attributed the general
healthiness of the inhabitants — their greatest enemy having been fire,
which on more than one occasion has made sad havoc with their thatch
and cob. The fine old church has within the last few years been
thoroughly repaii-ed, restored, and reseated. It will make a good inte¬
rior, while the eastern belt of magnificent trees material^ add to the
effect of an exterior view. A fine old elm and cross can be taken in from
one point ; and from a lane on the right of the turnpike the tower, with
its bold and decided moorstone masonry, comes out in fine relief. A
house next to the postoflice is worth taking as a “ memento,” as in it was
born the celebrated calculator, George Bidder, who, when a boy, on being
asked how many cows’ tails it would take to reach the moon, turned the
tables on his would-be clever interrogator by wittily and promptly answer¬
ing — “ One, if it were long enough.” The old building ot the seventeenth
century, with the arched arcade (formerly used as a poorhouse\
with the mill on the road to Wray Barton, are all good and worth
looking after. Little more than a mile along a leaty, shady lane stands
North Bovey. A quiet and clean room can be had at the little inn of this
small village, which would be a desirable place to make head-quarters,
visiting day by day the attractive points of the neighbourhood Manaton,
Lustleigh, and the far-famed Lustleigh Cleave, they are close at hand,
and offer to the artist much that is first-rate. North Lovcy Church is
not well placed for photographing, and comes in much better as an adjunct
in some of the distant views. Three miles off is Manaton, another moor
village, situated, with its old church, in a position singularly wild and
beautiful, surrounded by grotesquety-shaped hills, high cairns, immense
rocks, and rich ivy-covered tors : one immense specimen, formed of five
or six layers of granite, and rising to the height of forty feet, is known
as Bowerman’s Nose. About a mile from Manaton will be found the
much-visited and lauded spot called Becky Fall. A timbering bridge (as
all wooden structures are called) leads to it from the lane. This hill
stream, after flowing some distance from its source, tumbles some 90 or
100 feet over a granite ledge into the wild rocky dell below. Right and
left interesting subjects abound, from the abruptness and peculiar
character of the locality. From this, the tourist had better retrace his
course back to North Bovey, and then try Lustleigh. It is one of the few
remaining places that have been proof against the invasion of speculative
builders : the gigantic masses of rock and immense granite boulders seem
to have acted as a complete barrier to the innovations of these gentry of
the line and rule ; and, for the sake of art, and as one of Time’s hallowed
spots, rude and untouched, long may it so continue. The church, with
its old gateway and poi'ch, is good from several points, and likewise the
interior : it also forms a telling subject as seen from^the gap in the wood,
under the Raven’s Haunt — an immense mass of ivy-hung rock, forming
a safe retreat for those dark-feathered birds. On) the Horsham estate is
an immense collection of large blocks of rock and granite, called the
Steps : of this, and from this, some good pictures may be got. 'There
are other points of interest about — as the Bovey Brook, the Bay (a
woody recess filled with Avater), and a peculiar rock called the Nutcrackers.
These can be visited, and then a return made to North Bovey — this time
past the rectoiy, where will be found a boulder of great magnitude, and
familiarly known as the “Parson’s Brown Loaf.” Vegetable nature in
this locality is full of ornamental beauty : the tender bud, the full-blown
flower, trailing and climbing plants — are all to be found round here on
the trunks of trees, or on the huge masses of rock, in great profusion, and
add considerbly to the minuteness and peculiar charm of these scenes of
rock, wood, and bramble.
The next point from Bovey is C'hagford, an old town, once of note in
the early days of woollens and serge. Here are several good inns, and
visits may be made to some remarkable places in the village itself. The
church first claims attention, and can be well seen either east or west.
The Three Crowns Inn, with the old ivied porch, is said to be the spot
where fell, as Clarendon relates, Sidney Godolphin, the good and brave,
during an attack on the town by the Royalists. Chagford is rich on the
score of antiquity, and is, therefore, often visited, especially by artists.
But much that is adapted for the pencil and brush is not suited for the
camera : I have, therefore, been careful in these descriptions, of only
referring to or describing subjects fit for photographing. There are tors,
circles, bridges, rock pillars, and cromlechs in the immediate neighbour¬
hood, and scenes of more or less interest; in particular Gidleigh, with
the church, rectory, and cottage, and a most picturesque “bit,” the
remains of an old Norman castle. Before leaving Chagford, it would be
well to give a look round Holy Street, at the back of the old factory,
and thence to the lonely village ofThrowleigh — worth a visit for the church
alone, which, in conjunction with the old houses to the east, and the
priest’s door south, is a most inviting subject. A track through the
fields, at the base of the moor, will lead to Sticklepath, where there
are two good inns, and from which place visits can be made to South
Taw ton, Zeal, and Cawsand Beacon ; while Bclstone, with its church
built of massive blocks of moor-stone, gives an example of wildness and
solitary grandeur not to be found in any other part of the country. The
great point at South Tawton is the lime quarry ou the Oxenbam estate,
an excavation of considerable magnitude affording employment to a large
body of men, and offering from its open and peculiar situation mam-
notable points for the photographer: — the temporary wooden watercourses,
tramway, kilns, gulleys, blacksmith's shop, and that side of the worked-
out portion of the rock now filled in with water; the fine tower of the
old church rising majestically from the dark leafy mound of beech and
elm, and reflecting its upper stages with the battlements , and pinnacles
in the deep clear stream that flows below. Returning to Sticklepath, and
taking a road to the left at the end of the village, past an old cross, the
ascent may be made to Cawsand Beacon, in bygone days the wild home
and haunt of wolves, the inhabitants of Sticklepath and Zeal enjoying
the right of turf-cutting over sundry acres of the moor in return for
destroying and keeping the road free from those wild and ferocious
animals. Should the day be clear, the summit of this beacon commands
an extensive and amazingly-fine view, stretching even as far as the
Quantock Hills in Somersetshire, and distinctly bringing in High
Hampton, Hatherleigh, with the memorial obelisk on the moor ;
Iddesleigli, with its white-towered church ; Okehampton, Bow, and
Crcditon ; while to the east arc Teignmouth, Mount Pleasant, and the
mouth of the Exe. This will, of course, depend on the clearness of
the day ; but the two near views directly under Cawsand, bringing
in Throwleigh in one, and Belstone in the other, are particularly
good. On returning to Sticklepath, a conveyance will be met with for
Exeter three times a week. The places described and visited, and this
route, are arranged with regard to time. Thus, if the tourist has but a
week to spare, he can return from Chudleigh or Moretonhampstead : if a
fortnight or more, he may fill up the whole time at each locality. Every
photographic necessary can be procured in Exeter at the London
prices.
314
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 18C2
It will be found, as the writer has before suggested (in another work),
that a plentiful supply of strong cord and a good sharp pruning-knife
are requisites of much consequence in taking pictures where briars,
brambles, and miscellaneous foliage abound — as they will often be in
requisition to hold back branches, and to cut down sundry small and
unsightly leafy projections that often cross and mar the most prominent
part of a good subject.
Ai Artist’s fetters tu it |l(ran$ Hbfognijjjjer.
A REVIEW AND A FAREWELL.
“I am truly sensible how unequal I have been to the expression of my ideas. To
develop the latent excellencies, and draw out the interior principles, of our art requires
more skill and practice in writing than is likely to be possessed by a man perpetually
occupied in the use of the pencil and palette. * * Still such difficulties ought
not to deter artists from putting their thoughts in order as well as they can, and from
giving to the public the results of their experience.— Sir Joshua Reynolds.
My dear Fellow-Student or Reader, — I commence my last
epistle thus because I am well aware that while all my fellow-
students have not been my readers, so all my readers have not
been my fellow-students. To those who, like myself, were
studying how best to combine the excellencies of art with the
truthfulness of a scientific process, my previous letters have been
specially addressed ; but in this I would fain speak to all who have
done me the honour of an audience.
In bidding farewell to the subjects which have occupied our
attention, I trust to be forgiven if I dwell for a moment or two
upon myself, and my aims in writing these letters.
My task had several novel features. To those who, familiar
with the facts I have advanced, only master their principles in
order to apply them to the arts of drawing and painting, much
that I have written would have been unnecessary, while, of course,
much that I have omitted speaking of would then have required
notice. Explanations, for instance, which were required, not only
to demonstrate facts, but to show how, and with what amount of
legitimacy, their principles could be applied to the productions of
a new art-science, would not then have been required. Works
written on the subjects chosen for these epistles, and for such
students, seldom contain more than a statement of the principles,
and a description of their application to this or that one particular
branch in imitative art of which they treat; and it is so common
for the authors of such to give the simple facts without any
explanations, that I am not acquainted with more than one writer
(Ruskin) whose works do not give the same particulars, and in
almost the identical words, which are common to each and to all.*
But in addressing readers Avho had, perhaps, never previously
turned their attention to these matters, or had but a very indefinite
notion of the necessity or advisability of such studies, I had not
only to state principles and urge their application, but have also
had to point out their importance and explain the foundations
upon which they rested. That I have performed this task imper¬
fectly cannot be denied, and my only excuse is that which will be
found in the quotation heading this epistle.
These letters have not been without their opponents. Those
who were content to stagnate at the dead level of mechanical
excellence were also inclined to resent an intrusion which
denounced their apathy, and extolled above their own loftiest
acquirements the intellectual qualities which they were inclined
to underrate and neglect. Those, too, who (led away by a blind
roverenco for established authorities, or from having acquired
erroneous ideas of the province and true value of the imagination
in art), were emphatic in denying to photography the position of
a fine art, would not be likely to see anything very praiseworthy
or desirable in the efforts of one who strove to prove that photo¬
graphy might one day be rocognised as a worthy associate in some
of arts most imaginative, poetical, and aspiring vocations.
In selecting the many quotations to be found at the head of
theso epistles, by which I have “larded my lean book with others’
fat,” I have had an eye to the class of opponents above named,
viz., those who have respect for no authorities but such as have
been long established and widely recognised ; and, I think, while
these quotations form a tolerably long and valuable list of our
highest authorities, they also go far to establish the views I have
ventured to advance.
And, next, with reference to the subjects treated of. In the first
place, I endeavoured to show what constituted the proper object of
This may perhaps be accounted for in n quotation from The Times, which says— “ It
Ti°nC 1 Cii V , "ith facts that we cease to require explanations of them.
thlTgrouml argC’ t0 ^t'vton's time, had no curiosity to know why an apple fell to
a fine art, and the relative degrees of value which should be at¬
tached to various excellencies in the representation of natural sce¬
nery. Following this, came arguments intended to show that all
the higher and most universally lauded qualities of a picture were
not only in perfect harmony with the most absolute truthfulness,
but were in themselves part and parcel of that truthfulness. The
third letter treated of truthfulness with reference to the represen¬
tation of air and space, and the expression of poetical sentiment
and beauty ; my fourth, of truthfulness in the effect conveyed to
the eye, by a proper subordination of parts ; the succeeding one of
subordination as connected with contrast ; and the sixth, of the
same subject, as affected by truthfulness in the details; from
whence we glided into the kindred theme of harmony. Continuing
this, we then considered harmony in all its various relations, and
I endeavoured to show that the quality was pre-eminently a na¬
tural one, and was, therefore, only to be secured in such pictures as
were absolutely truthful representations.
Still adhering to this subject, we next gave attention to the
value of lines in a picture, and the power of selection possessed by
the photographer in reference to such, so as to combine with strict
truthfulness a greater power of expression. Our next theme was
tone, which again was shown to be only another part of truthfulness
as representing the exact character of the light by which the selected
landscape was illuminated, with all its attendant effects, senti¬
ments, and associations of ideas. The conclusion of this branch
of our studies brought us to another letter, which was devoted to
the loftier truths of sentiment. Here we touched ground of a
ticklish character, and I thought it wise for us to stop and acquire
a little confidence before advancing, by consulting a string of
trustworthy and authorised guides. The various valuable opi¬
nions thus gleaned being favourable, we felt — at any rate I did —
that these loftier aspirations were still in perfect keeping with our
primary aim of entire and absolute truthfulness ; so we turned to the
sentiments associated with natural scenery to see if therein was
aught which could baffle for ever and a day the enthusiasm and
perseverance of a true artist-photographer — winding up this por¬
tion of my task by a glance at the harmonious working of hath,
collodion, and developer essential to the practical rendering of
some of nature’s most delicate, hut powerfuly suggestive and imagi¬
native sentiments. Lines being powerful auxiliaries in giving
force to the sentiment or expression of a picture, we next turned
our attention in this direction, and chiaroscuro being no less valu¬
able, when judiciously employed, for the same end, this was the
chosen subject of letter the last.
Now, it will be observed in this brief review of the ground over
which we have passed, that one word sums up the goal to which
each of all these several studies must necessarily tend, and that
they have all one common end or aim, which is — Truthfulness!
Aiming earnestly and studiously at this, its attainment will com¬
prise most of the many invaluable qualities advocated in my letters,
and will be in perfect keeping with, and in powerful aid of, that
greatest and most vital quality of all, which is the most ambi¬
tious aim of the greatest artist, and the most praiseworthy ac¬
quirement in the eyes of the truest critic, the eloquent and power¬
ful expression of “ every feeling and lesson of the creation.”
The value of such studies, when carried out in our practice, my
dear fellow-student, will not only be made visible in our work, but
will also be recognised in the refinement and the exquisite delicacy
of our improved susceptibilities. Mrs. Jameson speaks of a land¬
scape-painter who once told her that “ sitting down on one occa¬
sion to make a study of foliage, his attention was attracted by a
group of feathery grass and weeds by the hedge-side, and he was
so touched with the inexpressible grace with which nature had
thrown together their flowing lines and various forms, that he sat
for many moments contemplating them without venturing to put
his pencil to the £aper, until he felt his eyes moisten with devout
admiration and love!” Whereupon, she adds: — “It is, in truth,
one of the greatest advantanges in a cultivated taste in art, that
it multiplies a thousandfold our enjoyment in the beauties of na¬
ture — wakes up our attention to innumerable minute and transient
effects of grace, which we should otherwise pass by unperceived.”
To the timid and diffident, who have contemplated the numerous
qualities which combine in forming a really artistic picture with
some alarm at their great variety and number, I would say, club
them altogether and call them Truthfulness, remembering, as Carlyle
says, that “ unity of aim, aided by ordinary vigour of character,
will generally ensure perseverance ;” and that “the weakest living
creature, by concentrating his powers on a single object, can
accomplish something” which the strongest, by dispersing his
over many, will fail to command.
August 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
315
For myself, and in conclusion, I have uttered my opinions and
expressed ray feelings without reservation or fear, purely because
I am convinced of their truth and importance; and if in so doing
I have (as we are all apt to do) underrated those opinions which
are antagonistic to my own, my esteem for the acquirements and
talents of those opposed to me has been none the less ; and I hope
that on their part and my own we shall all be ready to lose every
remembrance of our controversial differences in a common zeal for
the perfection of our common art.
And now, with thanks for your attention, and with a very
pleasant remembrance of the many kindly expressions of encour¬
agement which have reached me from different parts of the
country during the continuance of these papers, I once more sign
myself your grateful fellow-student, ALFRED H. WALL.
€ * Ij i fa i 1 i o ii 's .
MACPHERSON’S VIEWS OF ROME, AND SCULPTURES
OF THE VATICAN.
It is but recently that we found occasion to notice an Exhibition
the entire contents of which were the work of Mr. F. Bedford.
We have now to call attention to a still more extensive collection
at present on view at No. 9, Conduit Street, Regent Stx-eet, the
whole contributed by Mr. Robert Macpherson, whose head quarters
are in the city which he so ably illustrates. There are upwards
of four hundred specimens in the collection executed with judgment
and skill, Mr. Macpherson’s name alone being sufficient guarantee
for their artistic excellence.
Amongst the collection illustrative of the Vatican are six inte¬
riors of the Hall, the remainder consisting of representations of
its world-renowned contents — for the most part photographed
without removal, Mr. Macpherson having enjoyed some unusual
facilities to enable him to execute the work.
The larger portion of the collection consists of views of Rome
and the surrounding neighbourhood from almost evei-y possible
point of interest — the various temples, columns, tombs, arches,
statues, and even some paintings, having been reproduced.
Numerous also are the general views, such as those of Civita
Vecchia, Ninfa, Sermoneta, Poi'to d’Anzio, and the Pontine
Mai’shes, as well as others of a more particular character. In
short, there is scarcely any object of interest in and around the
Eternal City of which a record cannot be obtained from this
collection, which we must remind oxxr readers will only remain
open until the 23rd instant.
EXHIBITION OF THE SOUTH LONDONS PHOTOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY.*
In our last review of this Exhibition we pointed out what we
conceived to be certain errors in respect to the costume and
accessories of Mr. Robinson’s picture of Elaine , and in doing so
we have drawn down upon our devoted heads the serious in¬
dignation of a contemporary, “If,” says the writer in question,
“ Mr. Robinson’s picture errs in tliis matter, why so does the
poem, and the critic” (our hapless self) “ is under such circum¬
stances right.” This little word “if” seems to infer that the
critic alluded to is more familiar with Tennyson’s poem than
with his school-boy history of England ; and this opinion is yet
further confirmed by the style in which our simple refei*ence to
sundry commonplace historical facts is described as “historical
and learned lore — the consideration of which would demand a
comparing of dates and costumes.” This reminds us of the old lady
who thought a boy of sixteen who could absolutely read and write
must be a marvel of learning, simply because she at sixty could do
neither the one or the other.
To resume our review. Some card-portraits, No. 416, by Mr.
John Hawke, of Devonshire, exhibited in frames which are much
too “loud” for the quiet beauty of their contents, are the most
brilliant, clear, and vigorous specimens we have seen : they are
equally fine as specimens of good negatives and good printing. —
No. 499, a frame of portraits by Mr. Leake, jun., although not so
good as many of this gentleman’s which we have seen, are, never¬
theless, excellent pictures.
Some specimens of instantaneous work, by Mr. Buxton, rather
incongruously grouped, are very picturesque. — A number of Mr.
Bedford’s splendid geological, architectural, and pictorial studies
nearly fill the whole of the next screen. In examining these we
are struck with the fine choice of light, and the artistic care with
* Concluded from page 234. This review has been in type for some time, but owing
to pressure on our space we have been compelled to hold it over till now.
which, in almost every case, the point of view has been selected.
We never have to look for the source of illumination in Mr. Bed¬
ford’s pictures, and are never in any danger of making a mistake
as to what parts retire from and what parts advance towards the
light. To this may be primarily attributed the great brilliancy
and fine breadth of chiaroscuro which characterises very nearly, if
not quite all, these works. Mr. Bedford is evidently a strong
believer in sunshine. We could linger for hours over this collec¬
tion, studying therefrom such a mass of botanical, geological,
architectural, and artistical lore as we should find in very few
libraries of books, and in no other “ libraries” of pictures.
A series of pictures by Jackson Brothers. These works seem to
be produced by photographers who combine with their keen per¬
ception of the picturesque and their skilful readiness of securing
effect an occasional carelessness and inartistic blundering which
may belong to an individual “brother” or to the Jackson Brothers
collectively, but which rather tend to puzzle a critic. Some of the
photographs exhibited by these gentlemen are little gems of pic¬
tures which remind us strongly of certain works by the fine old
Dutch painters; others make interesting and attractive, by clever
pictorial treatment, subjects of the most familiar and ordinary,
indeed in some cases most unpicturesque, character; some are
spoilt by white skies, some are “ chalky,” and some are very
commonplace ; but the best, which are by far the most nu¬
merous, well deserve the high praise which has more than once
been bestowed upon them in the pages of a contemporary
The prices attached to these pictures are too far below their worth.
— Mr. Blanchard’s pictures are those which have already received
wrell-merited laudation from our hands. — Mr. Lennie, of Edinbui’gh,
contributes specimens of instantaneous photography, some of
which are very beautiful. — J. Spode sends some otherwise good
views, which are in one place, at least, so monotonously uniform in
tone and so deficient in brilliancy that they serve as famous foils to
some fine pictures hanging near, which are altogether as full of lu¬
minous power and vigorous contrasts of chiaroscuro : the latter are
by J. H. Morgan. — A very pretty little vignette, although far from
faultlesss as a photograph, is exhibited by E. Edwards, together
with many other specimens, possessing very various degrees
of merit. — Some copies from etchings by Albert Durer, photo¬
graphed by Mr. J. M. Dodd, are very successful. — Mr. Olleys
contributes some excellent specimens of microscopical studies, en¬
larged by his new “ reflecting process,” which will prove vei'y
interesting to all who love to investigate these minute wonders of
creation. The foot of a spider, the eye of a fly, sting of a bee, and
transverse sections of plants, will be found among these, together
with other similar curiosities no less attractive.
Thomas Annan has sent some pictures which are among the
greatest treasures of the Exhibition. In these, the picture does
not abruptly terminate at the horizon, leaving a blank white space
of paper, but has its crowning charms of melting cloud and ferial
space, printed in separately, it is true, but in thorough keeping
with the general effect, and of the most priceless value, as giving
an aspect of reality and artistic power. — Mr. Warner exhibits a
number of very fine Venetian views, produced, we believe, by one
of our most skilful amateurs. — Some architectural novelties by
Ponti, of Venice, aie also exhibited, being views from this same
romantic city, cleverly coloured by thin washes of body colour,
laid on with great mechanical skill, and producing a very pleasing
result. — Some very large photographs, by F. C. Earl, are strikingly
good. In size these are about 18 X 24. They combine vigour,
brilliancy, and clearness to a remarkable degree, and give such
views of Willey Court and its belongings as must delight the
heart of the owner thereof. The most picturesque is a grand¬
looking view of a beautiful fountain, representing the story of
Andromeda; and the picture least to our taste is that large view
of Raglan Castle exhibited for so long a time in the window of
Murray and Heath, of Piccadilly. Inspecting this formal-looking
picture, the first thing that strikes one is that, while it would, if
nearly equally divided, make two very excellent pictures, as one
there is a want of keeping and harmony which spoils the general
effect. One-half the picture (divided from top to bottom by the
perpendicular line of the tower and its perpendicular reflection in
the moat) is dark, one-half light, and the negatives from which
the parts are printed do not (as they should always do) possess
the same characteristics. The joinings, cut to a serpentine line,
are very ingeniously contrived.
Mr. Cole’s series of photographs of the works of Sir Christopher
Wren have a very soft, harmonious, and pleasing effect. There
is not that vigorous intensity of contrast which, when judiciously
secured, bring force and brilliancy to the proof; but, without
316
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1802
degenerating into monotony and flatness, there is that pecu¬
liar unity and truthfulness in the general effect of tone which,
although quiet and modest, is most pleasing, more rare, and very
admirable. — A Memorial Design is artistically depicted by Mr.
Tyley in three good photographs. — Edward Haigh has some ad¬
mirable specimens : one of the Botanic Gardens , Melbourne (from
whence all this gentlemen’s productions have been sent) is very
soft, clear, and delicate, its fault being due to our old enemy the
wind. — Flowers from Nature , by Mainwaring, show with what
success great difficulties in the grouping of colours for photograph¬
ing may be overcome. One frame full of these productions exhibit
them tinted in water colours, but, save in one or two exceptional
cases, the colouring is not an improvement. — A few delightful
little bits of artistic study are exhibited by A. E. Ainslie.
Some recent arrivals in the shape of solar camera enlargements
are contributed by Mr. Atkinson, of Liverpool. They are good,
and being produced by the calcium light, can be taken in a
darkened room or cellar as readily and with as much certainty as
with the strong sunlight we have hitherto believed indispensable
for the proper use of this instrument. “ What’s in a name ?” may
be asked in reference to the term “ solar” in this case. These pic¬
tures are touched with chalk. — Mr. John Lamb contributes some
pictures, not altogether perfect as photographs, but still good and
and interesting, as showing what can be done by the development
printing process, so strongly recommended by Mr. Sutton. We
do not like some of the tones ; but variety in this respect has been
purposely got to show that the power of regulating such matters is
as great by this process as by that more usually adopted. — Mr.
Bartholomew exhibits some photographs illustrative of his experi¬
ments in various novel directions: these are not otherwise in¬
teresting either as pictures or as photographs. Mr. Bartholomew'
is a clever experimentalist, who, like others who resemble him,
would, doubtless, rather make one scientific discovery than a very
large number of artistic pictures, and must therefore be judged
rather as the valuable experimentalist than as the artist whose skill
afterwards gives to such experiments their real and practical value.
— The modified process of Petschler and Mann has produced some
pictures of great merit, which have natural skies, and are altogether
most effective and pleasing specimens of landscape art. — Among
the most picturesque and attractive specimens are some which,
owing to their late arrival, have not received that prominence of
position which they thoroughly deserve. These are landscapes,
by A. K. Macdonald, full of such sentiment, beauty, and truthful¬
ness, as must arouse all Mr. Wall's enthusiasm on behalf of such
high qualities of the picturesque. The frames in which these
pictures are hung tend to spoil them, being of the same gaudy
kind as those in which Mr. Hawke’s specimens are placed. — Mr.
Skaife contributes a neat glass shade protecting his pistol-camera,
and illustrating by various specimens and apparatus its mode of
taking life. The enlargements from the minute negatives do not
strike us as particularly good or pleasing.
Mr. Glad well contributes some grand large photographs from
Borne. Certainly nothing but a photograph can convey a genuine
conception of the mighty works and wondrous genius here em¬
bodied. The Moses of Michael Angelo, from the Vatican, done over
and over again in sketches and engravings, by artists of all coun¬
tries and of every degree of merit, can only be truly realised to the
mind when seen de facto, or in a photograph : as the subject of one
huge picture here exhibited it is quite awe-inspiring. It makes
us understand the ardour of Etty, who, having made a sketch of
Angelo’s glorious masterpiece, which would have been poor if com¬
pared with this photograph, and having lost it on the road from
Bologna to Florence, lit a lantern, and retraced his steps along the
wild and lonely mountain path, after nightfall, in order to recover
it. Among the magnificent specimens sent by Mr. Gladwell we
recognise the fine works of Alinari, Cuccioni, and others, wdio are
also exhibitors at the International Exhibition.
Some prints from enlarged negatives, by Mr. Warner, illustrative
of the process explained by Mr. Heath at a recent meeting of the
London Photographic Society, are good on the whole, although
not equally so.— Glorious bits of cloud-land on glass and paper, in
which we seem to trace hills and valleys, plains and mountains,
formed by the ever-changing vapours through vast regions of space,
are contributed by Mr. Kibble. — Selections from Mr. S. Thompson’s
excellent Cabinet Photographs have already been described and
criticised in these pages.
Mr. R. Gordon largely increases the show of first-class landscapes;
but he does not seem to be thoroughly awakened to the mistake of
white skies. — Mr. Frank Howard’s stereographs, by the Fothergill
process, are good specimens of careful manipulation and excellent
photography. — Lyndon Smith’s specimens are not what one might
expect from this clever artist. — Some vignetted card-portraits, by
Mr. Wall, are good, and a photograph from one of this gentleman's
humorous pen-and-ink sketches, by Mr. Ash, is very amusing. — Mr.
Ernest Edwards is a valuable contributor. — Mr. Fothergill and
Mr. Braufill contribute some admirable examples of pictures by the
tannin process — (the doctor does not always patronise his own
medicines). — Mr. Penny has sent some excellent specimens of the
same. — Views in the East , by Mr. G. C. Buxton, are remarkabW
good. — The calotype process— seemingly one of the most neglected
— is not without worthy representatives in this Exhibition, chief
amongst whom are Mr. Baynham Jones and Captain Sellon.
Coloured photography occupies a minor position. Mr. Macandrew
exhibits some capital specimens. — A very fine picture of a Spanish
Girl is contributed by M. Ado Lafollie, with a portrait of Piers St.
Aubyn , both these being most artistically painted in oil. — A neatly-
tinted picture is exhibited by Miss E. P. Barlow. — Some pictures
painted in water-colours, by Mrs. Macandrew, are very cleverly
executed. — A well-rounded, vigorous, life-sized head and bust,
painted in oil on a photograph, enlarged from a quarter-plate
negative, is contributed by Mr. A. II. Wall. The likeness, judging
from the small untouched print, is well preserved, but there is a
want of mellow harmony in the blending of the flesh-tints. — Some
inartistic, vulgarly-coloured (?) portraits, by G. Triptree — hard,
unnatural, and metallic — are funnily enough advertised for sale at
£1 IDs. coloured, and 10s. plain : one of these being described as a
Portrait of the Artist, IP. A. C., leads us to wonder whether the
young ladies visiting this gallery are likely to purchase a por¬
trait of a semi-military gentleman so eager to dispose of his
“counterfeit presentment” in the uniform of the “Honourable
Artillery Company;” or if not, what is likely to create a sale for
this portrait ? Is it possible that he is “ a celebrity ” and we don’t
know it ?
In concluding this review of a young Society’s first Exhibition,
we must not forget to congratulate its members upon the very
large amount of success achieved.
The catalogue is a wrell-intentioned failure, due, we understand,
to some blunder on the part of officials at the Crystal Palace.
R. A. S.
- - - -
€rbibifion (Bassip,
REVISION OF THE AWARDS AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE MEDALS. &c. — FRENCH AND ENGLISH GENRE
STUDIES.
It is rumoured that a revision of the awards commented upon in
our last “ Gossip” will certainly take place, and that the improve¬
ments in a new application of the art made by M. Joubert will
not, after all, be overlooked. The name of a gentleman to whom
these scrupulously careful Jurors have awarded the “honourable
mention” certificate has been removed from the list, for the
simple, but certainly sufficient, reason that such gentleman merely
applied for space and never exhibited at all.* Notices posted iu
the building also inform us that the medals and certificates will not
be distributed until after the closing of the Exhibition, when the
occasion will be an excuse for another public ceremony, the wit¬
nessing of which may be obtained for the low charge of £l per head !
And, now, my dear reader, give me your imaginary arm, and let
us once more stroll into the great international shed. By-the-bye,
is it not sad to hear that this huge mass of ugliness and vile taste
is to have its unattractive face enamelled and painted, its dispro¬
portionate frame veneered and polished, and that it and its crino¬
line domes are to stand, a monument of shame to the nation, for
ever and a day, if it will last so long?
We were examining the composition or genre studies, and were
gossiping about the specimens exhibited by Robinson, Avhen we
last quitted them; and, to resume, we therefore make our way into
the British Department.
The large blank, bare spaces on the wall look very melancholy.
All the water-colour photographs seem to have departed, and none
but the more permanent oil-pictures remain, although some of these
which were executed without sufficient body in the colours show
signs which tell us that the photographs beneath are rapidly
departing. Oil-coloured pictures which have been painted more
solidly remain unaltered in the slightest degree, and there are
some of these which we ought heartily to wish less permanent,
* The allusion here made is to Mr. Beattie, of Dublin, whose name has been removed
from the list of exhibitors to whom have been awarded “ honouiable mention." The
name of Sir A. Macdonald has been added to the same list. So far as respects these two
names, the list of awards published in our last number will be found to be correct,— Ed.
August 15, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
31 T
especially two wretched chalk and indigo productions exhibited
by T. R. Williams, who, as we before said, also exhibits other
specimens which are very tastefully coloured. There were plenty
of folk toiling and grumbling their way up the steep stairs, and the
room is now tolerably full of people, who are pleased with the pic¬
tures, and puzzled by the apparatus, and loudly express the feelings
engendered by both. There are many photographers present, as
we can tell by the scraps of conversation which reach us, and it is
pleasant to find therefrom that, like good boys, they all read their
journals, especially The British. This is by the way, however, and
we must begin our inspection of the pictures.
Mr. Robinson’s picture Fading Away has been so often cri¬
ticised, that I must confine myself to saying that, in my opinion,
it is a composition which he has not yet surpassed. As to the
objections brought against it by certain morbidly, delicate critics,
who seem to think the great mission of a fine art is alternately to
tickle them into laughter and soothe them into dreaming indo¬
lence, I can only add that I don’t agree with them, and think
some of the most sad and melancholy scenes in life are calculated
to give birth to the very noblest thoughts, and rouse in us the most
humanising feelings. I could say a great deal on this subject ;
but, don’t be alarmed ! — I won’t. The Top of the Hill is a very
charming little picture, full of homely and placid sentiment ; but
we must wish the model had been more beautiful. (I hope models
don’t read the photographic journals). Here they Come! is a good
idea well carried out. In most of Mr. Robinson’s composition
pictures the scissors are too pointedly suggested, and patchwork
too prominent in reference to the mechanical combination of the
several parts — not at all in reference to the keeping or harmony
in an artistic sense, for in this they are singularly faultless. The
paste and scissors are terrible evils, and I heartily wish they could
be avoided altogether. Rejlander seems inclined to discard them,
for most of his recent pictures have been executed without their aid.
Mr. Mayall has once again entered the ranks of genre photo¬
graphers, and, so far as the photography goes, equals, or surpasses,
the best of his fellow-labourers ; but in this department of the art
good manipulation ranks as the lowest quality, and more intel¬
lectual requirements are first in demand. Judged by such a
standard, Mr. Mayall does not here seem likely to obtain very high
rank. In making this assertion, I have not lost sight of the fact
of this gentleman having obtained a medal for the very qualities
I ventured to suspect the existence of. One of the Bye-ways of
Life is a simple story well told, and the models seem to have
entered into the spirit of the subject. Love and Labour is simply
a very good photographic group of an aged rustic labourer and a
little girl. This picture says, with the famous knifegrinder —
“ Story, sir ! why, Lord bless you! I have none to tell.” The Great
Light Shines Through the Smallest Window is a formal group of the
same old man and the same little girl, in which the models sit one
precisely opposite the other, with a background so arranged as to
repeat the same formal appearance. Of course the child is reading
the Great Book of Life, and the old man is listening. But, so far
as regards the expression of any particular feeling or sentiment in
either face, the book might be any other book, and the picture
receive any other title. Italy of the Past reminds us of nothing
but stage grouping and poses pilastiques. A Rival in the Camp is a
well-worn subject humorously treated. A Real Ten Pounder is
chiefly interesting as containing the portraits of Alfred Crowquill
and Mr. Mayall. The Bridge of Sighs is one of the most ludicrous
blunders and failures in this department of artistic photography
which I hope we shall ever see again.
There are some good studies of this kind by Charles Critchett,
Ross and Thomson, Heath and Beau, and a few others, but none of
these demand very special notice. Among the pictures of the
Amateur Photographic Association there is a charming little pho¬
tograph of an Arabian Girl at a Well. A Group of Fruit, &c. (356),
by Fenton, is a very artistic and beautiful picture. If 1 remember
rightly it was said of this picture that the grouping was by Lance,
the great painter of such subjects. — Two buxom little servant girls
snatching a luxurious bit of chat, while with bare round arms and
faces full of animation they are drawing water, is a very amusing
little subject, cleverly photographed by J. P. Kaiser, and exhibited
by the Amateur Photographic Association.
In pursuance of the plan I have laid down for these gossiping
papers, let us now seek subjects of the same kind as those we have
been reviewing in the foreign departments. As we are leaving the
British “ garret” there is a heavy shower of rain heard on the roof,
and before we reach the stairs we pass through one or two minia¬
ture shower baths.
We find matters worse in the French Department; for here the
rain has altogether destroyed a portion of the glass, and two of
the screens are concealed by cloths to shield them from its
damaging influence.
The one medal awarded for artistic excellence has been won by
M. A.lophe, who with M. Silvy are the only exhibitors of genre
studies here to be found. “Tableaux de genre” upon the outer
covering of a large album points out the whereabouts of M.
Alophe’s productions in this branch of the art, wherein we find nude
and semi-nude female figures, devoid of grace, expression, or senti¬
ment, arranged in all sorts of awkward and angular positions before
a painted background representing a garden, dished up with the
usual architectural accompaniments of water, bridges, terraces,
fountains, &c., &c. Some other studies of figures follow these, and
greatly surpass them. The Dying Wife is decidedly good. A Girl
Thoughtfully Contemplating her Wedding Dress is also good. A Man
Soliciting Charity is a charming picture of a very sweet model ; and
the final page of the book is certainly the best of all as a piece of
artistic composition and excellent photography. — M. Silvy exhibits
The Evening Star and Picoli Suonatarin — two pictures which were
exhibited in London years ago, and in which it almost seems as if
all M. Silvy’s ambition for such effects had been exhausted. They
are both very excellent productions, and the latter is very pictu¬
resque and well managed.
And now we will bid adieu to this branch of the art, as repre¬
sented in the great International Exhibition.
Before laying down my pen, however, having received several
inquiries from readers of these papers, I may add that the address
of M. Ken is 10, Boulevard Montmartre, Paris. A. H. W.
/ovcici it (borresp mike arc.
Paris, August 6th, 1862.
One of our most talented photographers, who employs the tannin
process with great success, has given me the following formula,
which he has found by experience to be the most effective : —
Distilled water . 500 grammes.
Tannic acid . . 4 ,,
Rectified alcohol . 25 ,,
Dissolve and filter.
EXCITING BATH.
Water . 1000 grammes.
Nitrate of silver . 60 „
Acetic acid . 10 „
The collodion is the same as for the wet process, only it is
advisable that it should contain but little bromide. Sensitise the
plate, wash it in distilled water, let it dry, and then pour on it the
tannin solution, which should be allowed to dry in a place free
from dust. When the glass is quite dry, put a little painter’s
varnish along the edges.
The duration of exposure in the camera is ten or even fifteen
times longer than in the wet process; but, if the glass be well
heated before the development, the time of exposure may be
considerably shortened.
DEVELOPING SOLUTION.
Water . 500 grammes.
Pyrogallic acid . 5 „
Acetic acid . 50 „
Wash the glass and then pour on it a little of this solution pure.
Let it drain off, and pour on it more of the solution, with the
addition of a few drops of the silver solution of three-per-cent,
strength.
Fix with the hyposulphite.
This same artist — whose proofs have attracted much notice at
the different Exhibitions, not only on account of the artistic feeling
they display, but also on account of their beauty of tone — has
likewise given me the formula'1 he employs in printing : —
Distilled water . 1000 grammes.
Nitrate of silver (fused) . 70 „
Pure ammonia . 7 or 8 drops.
Mix thoroughly, allow it to settle, and then filter.
PREPARATION FOR THE PAPER.
Water . 1000 grammes.
Albumen . 1000 „
Chloride of ammonium . 1£ ,,
Beat up to a froth, and then allow it to settle.
The paper may remain several minutes on this salting bath, but
not more than two or three minutes on the silver bath.
It is a very important point in photography, aud one demanding
most particular attention, to know the modifications required in
318
TIIE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
the processes in consequence of change of climate. Travelling
operators incur too many disappointments not to seek the means
of avoiding those at least which arise from the external circum¬
stances of the place where they may be, by availing themselves
of the experience of excursionists who have preceded them.
I have requested a photographer, who has recently visited Al¬
geria, and who has brought back a most interesting collection of
instantaneous views, to favour me with the observations he made on
this subject, and I here give you a concise account of the same: —
In all the parts of France through which he passed on his way
to Algeria, M. Guyot (the photographer above mentioned) was
able to operate with the same proportions as at Paris ; but when
he got to Algiers his glasses had become quite red. He found
it indispensable to employ a silver bath of five per cent, instead of
seven— to diminish the proportion of iodide by one-third, and to
increase that of bromide to the same extent. The collodion he
found it necessary to prepare with four parts of ether to five of
alcohol, with six grammes of cotton per litre instead of eight
grammes. With these modifications M. Guyot succeeded in taking
three hundred negatives, representing races, fantasia, Arab
dancers, &c., — all subjects requiring extremely rapid, if not instan¬
taneous, execution. It is indispensable for this kind of work to
employ a silver bath rendered completely neutral by adding from
time to time a drop of liquid ammonia. M. Guyot also recom¬
mends to develop with iron and intensify.
I have just received a note from Amsterdam, from which I learn
that Messrs. Maxwell Lyte and Vernon Heath, who sent specimens
to the Exhibition now open in the capital of the Netherlands, have
obtained the same success as their works have procured them
everywhere else. Our French photographers were also represented
there by the Marquis de Berenger, Bisson Brothers, Ferrier and
Soulier, &c. The Exhibition will be prolonged to the 1st October.
There is much talk of a new process for instantaneous dry
collodion. I have seen several most favourable specimens of the
results obtained. Unfortunately I cannot explain the means
employed, as I have not been able to ascertain them. In the
present instance the inventor is a person whose name inspires an
unlimited confidence, so we must wait as patiently as we can till
he shall please to make known his new process. E. LACAN.
Philadelphia, July 28, 18G2.
It is always a matter of interest when a new photographic
establishment is opened with any pretension to excellence; but
more interest still is felt when some long-established and perhaps
celebrated firm moves to a new locality, and into rooms fitted up
with especial reference to the convenience of their customers and
of their operators. It is, of course, presumed that their own
experience and the experience of others will be called into play
to aid in producing what may be considered the most perfect
general arrangement. Some new aspirants for public favour have
hoped to establish a thriving business on the one claim of “sky¬
light on the ground floor;” but we find the masses flock to those
operators who do the best work, quite regardless of the number of
steps to be climbed in seeking the sun’s bright painting-room.
Broadbent and Co. — vdiose names have been mentioned in con¬
nexion with the solar-camera in a former letter to The British
Journal of Photography, have moved about two blocks higher up
Chesnut-street than their old stand. From their long experience
in the business, and their high reputation, a description of their
new outfit may be in place, as affording a sketch of a first-class
American phonographic establishment. Some surprise was expres¬
sed by their friends because they ignored the now prevailing fashion
of large show-rooms on the ground floor, where samples of their
work could lie seen behind huge plate-glass windows. The}’- have,
however, made ample amends for this deviation from fashion in their
lavish expenditure on the rooms above. The building they occupy
is No. 3, on Chesnut-street, and is three stories high. They make
use of the whole of this large edifice above the first floor, having a
frontage of fifty feet, and the premises run back fifty-two feet to
an open yard.
rI lie entrance from the street is in the centre of the building by
an caiy flight of stairs. One half of the second floor is occupied by
their large show or reception-room and the ladies’ dressing-room —
the latter not taking up much space, but replete with all the neces-
sarv conveniences, and under the care of attentive waiting-maids.
1 heir fine collection of specimens makes this room very attractive,
a large portion of them consisting of coloured photographs, princi¬
pally lvorytypes. The remaining portion of this same floor is
devoted to their painting-room and apartments for mounting and
assorting their prints. The entrance to their sky-light gallery is by
[August 15, 1802
a broad flight of stairs from their reception-room, terminating in a
pleasant and well-furnished sitting-room. Here, also, is a dressing-
room for gentlemen, and a private dressing-room for brides or
ladies in fancy costumes.* They have two separate sky-lights, both
facing the north, and to the arrangement of these I would call
especial attention.
As I have before stated, Mr. Wenderoth, one of the partners in
the firm, lias always been celebrated for his ivorytypes and other
coloured photographs, and it is natural lie should endeavour to
produce pictures which would bear colouring to the best advantage.
He would, of course, endeavour to avoid the deep shadows below
the chin and eyebrow, and would avoid, too, if possible, the Bevei e
high lights on the top of the head, tips of the ears, and on parts so
far removed from the front of the picture as would seem to call
for retreating shadows to give rotundity. He would try also
to light the floor well, and show the carpet up to the feet of his
sitters. To accomplish all this as far as possible, he uses, in com¬
bination with his sky-lights, very large side-lights facing the north.
The glass window starts three feet from the floor, and is ten feet
wide by seven feet high, where it unites to the lowest part of the
sky-light. This is also ten feet wide, and runs up twelve feet at an
angle of 30°. The side-light is glazed with blue glass, the sky-light
with white ground-glass. Below this ground-glass sash slide are two
other sashes glazed with blue glass: these are commanded by cords
andpullies, so as to readily run out of the way. The idea is to dispense
with the blue light in cloudy weather. The sitters are not placed
below this sky-light, but well back from it, so as to receive the
light more directly on the face, and not on the head. The rooms
being so very large — about twenty-five feet square each — there is
abundance of space for posing groups or selecting good light for
single sitters. Their screens and back-grounds are all well made
and are provided with large casters, the wooden wheels of which
are about five inches diameter. The screens are also provided with
iron handles, that there may be no excuse to soil them with dirty
fingers. No artificial “properties ” are to be seen — no profile book¬
cases; but all their furniture is of black walnut — oiled, not varnished
— and of the most substantia! character.
On the same floor with the sky-light are two dark rooms, and a
large room for washing and toning prints. This room lias a water¬
tight floor of asplialtum, and is provided with six washing tanks,
four feet square each, provided with the usual automatic syphon
emptying arrangement, and the water is supplied by jets. Here,
also, is the large stone-ware sink or tank for cleaning plates in the
nitrate of mercury solution. The printing-room is in the fourth
storey back, and has an uninterrupted southern exposure of fifty
feet. On this floor also is a dark room for the operator who attends
to the copying, and a yellow-lighted room for silvering paper,
besides the store-room for negatives. In the printing-room is a
small apartment partitioned off for the solar camera. Before de¬
scribing the arrangement of this, however, I will say a few words
about their general management of business.
Since the advent of card-pictures, there has existed a great deal
of confusion in many of our galleries in the preservation of nega¬
tives, and as to the prompt execution of orders for printing. The
every-day work from new negatives may be done without delay,
but the business is confused by the constant demand for duplicates
from old negatives. At Broadbent and Co.’s this part of the
business has been made the especial object of attention of Mr.
Broadbent, the senior partner, and of Mr. Taylor (who has re¬
cently entered the firm), and both of whom are noted for their
methodical and energetic attention to the minute details of busi¬
ness. They have introduced the good plan of issuing tickets,
making regular appointments of sitting-time any number of days
in advance, so that all can be accommodated to the time best
suited to them, and they are sure of being waited on at the hour
specified without delay. Their system of books shows clearly all
orders, aud their order of precedence; and no work can be longer
than three days before delivery, in any weather. There is an air
of comfort and refinement about the whole establishment truly
grateful. The sitting-room tables being covered with the newest
literature of the day, seem to court a little delay, and invite peo¬
ple to be before their appointed time that they may enjoy a little
quiet reading before being taken.
It gives me great pleasure to speak well of this firm, and to
chronicle its advancement. Mr. Broadbent himself has been in
the business (first as a daguerreotypist) for twenty years, and all
who know him bear testimony to his uniform kindness to all those
be has to deal with; and I would mention, for the benefit of some
in the same artistic line of business I wot of, that his courtesy has
been a source of much gain, financially, and has also secured to
him a host of warm friends.
August 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
319
In the arrangement of the solar camera Mr. Wenderoth has
shown considerable mechanical ability. The frame of the instru¬
ment is made of wrought iron tubing — none of it less than two and
a-half inches in diameter ; and it is as easy to move, and seemingly
as solid in its structure, as an equatorial telescope. It moves on
hardened centre-pins, and its 18-inch achromatic condenser receives
the direct rays of the sun without the intervention of any reflector.
Part of the instrument projects into the open air above the roof,
and the other part swings within the dark-room, the light being
shut out by a flexible diaphragm, which does not impede its motion
in the least.
Letters received during the last few weeks show that the subject
of the solar camera is now interesting some of our savans; but, as
yet, they can only theorise, as few have put up fixtures of their
own for experiment. One writer says : — “With regard to the use
of a condensing lens, I would venture to suggest — 1st. That the
light falling on the negative would be white, with the exception
of an exceedingly narrow border to the circular disc ; therefore its
chromatic aberration should have no effect. 2nd. That even were
the light falling on the negative of different refrangibility at differ¬
ent places, if the copying lens is correct they should all come to
the same focus ; otherwise it would be impossible to focus white
light, for such contains all the colours, and each would be brought
to a separate focus. 3rd. The position of the condensing lens can
have no effect on the focal length of the copying, although it has
a very important effect on the amount of light. The proper place
for the focus of the condensing lens is between the front and back
lens of the copying combination, at a distance from each pro¬
portioned to its focal length. By changing the condensing lens
from this position it will be easy to reduce the intensity (contrast),
should the negative be too intense. The light through the dense
parts of the negative being more completely dispersed than that
passing through the transparent parts, a smaller proportion will,
therefore, be lost in the former case.”* I make this quotation
without giving the author’s name ; for his theory differs so much
from the practice of those using the instrument, that experiment
may lead him to a different conclusion.
I say my correspondent’s theory differs from the practice of those
using the instrument. I should rather say of some ; for I have
recently seen very large and very sharp proofs printed with a
chromatic condensing lens, and I have been assured by Mr. Richards,
who made them, that they were printed in the visual focus of his
instrument, and, having examined this condenser, know that it is
not achromatic. The Mr. Richards alluded to is F. de B. Richards,
who — artist by profession — was lured away from his brush by the
charm of sun-painting, and now has rooms on Chesnut-street, oppo¬
site the State House. Some years ago he made a tour through
Europe, and on his return wrote — Europe; or What I Saio: Being
Random Sketches from the Portfolio of an Artist. The book was illus¬
trated by photographs of places of interest. His principal business
has been enlarging ; and for some years he was employed by New
York operators, as well as by Philadelphians. His cameras — he has
two — were built by a Mr. D. SJiive, who has a patent for his arrange¬
ment, and who claims that all using the solar camera by direct light,
and not by reflected light, are infringing his patent. Of this I
know nothing, and “ tell the story as it was told to me.”
These two cameras are arranged on the top of the house in a re
volving tower. The operator has his seat between the two instru¬
ments, controlling their movements by two balance wheels — one
of which regulates the vertical movement of both instruments
simultaneously, and the other rotates the tower on its base. The
room is large enough and the screen so arranged as to be able to
print on paper eight feet square. The largest proof I have seen,
however, is 6 X 4J feet, very clear and sharp — fully as sharp as the
lines in nature. Both of these instruments have 18-inch chromatic
condensers, and print from whole-size negatives. Examining some
of the negatives, and comparing them with the prints made from
them, I cannot but be convinced that the direct printing process —
i.e ., dispensing with the reflector — permits the use of a much
stronger negative than can be used with reflected light.
In future letters to The British Journal of Photography I
hope to be able to speak more specifically on the subject of solar
cameras. In my investigations, thus far, I have been obliged to
listen to the experience of others, and take their work as proof of
the correctness of their methods of working. But still the trou¬
bles of solar-camera printings have been ascribed to so many
different causes, that I feel like one groping in the dark, and
only regret that I have neither the time or opportunity to ex¬
periment for myself.
* We shall remark upon this in our next— Ed.
Professor Edwin Emmerson, of Troy, the inventor of the stereo¬
scope which was to combine pictures four inches square, writes
saying that he is about visiting England on his way to France,
where he will remain several years. He solicits the acquaintance
of amateur photographers in England, and will bear letters to Mr.
Shadbolt, who will, no doubt, aid him in making the acquaintance
of our English friends. Mr. Emmerson is an enthusiastic amateur,
and well versed in the art as practised in this country.
It may be a matter of interest, and worth mentioning, that
taxation — the fruit of our rebellion — and the expenses of the war,
will touch but lightly our practical photographers. They will be
obliged to take out a license, at a cost of ten or fifteen dollars, ac¬
cording to their profits, whether over 500 dollars or over 100') dollars
per annum. Their expenses are, however, increased (it is to be
hoped only temporarily) by the scarcity of change and the high
value of silver currency. Already nitrate of silver has advanced
from one dollar to one dollar and fifteen cents per ounce, and chlo¬
ride of gold in the same proportion. This increase of cost, should
it be permanent, can be more than met by an increased economy
in the waste solutions. It is to be regretted that more care is not
taken to prevent the waste of such a large quantity of silver as
daily finds its way to the city sewers. In the very large establish¬
ments there has been a great deal of improvement in this respect,
and it is quite common to see in connexion with the first washing
tank a deep barrel, into which the water enters at the middle, auci
is drawn off at the top, the barrel holding in solution common salt.
Or, in some places, the water is poured into barrels containing
shreds of copper or granulated zinc, and, in some few cases, iron
turnings. In very few places, however, has there been any attempt
to recover the gold from the old toning solutions. Mr. Waldack
sayrs he finds this an important object in his business.
Speaking of Mr. Waldack reminds me that his sequel to his
work on photography, treating of card-picture making, has now-
taken the place of Devine’s book (which is out of print , and is meet¬
ing with a ready sale. It contains a good deal of useful informa¬
tion. He mentions the use of ammonio-nitrate of silver for albumen
paper ; but remarks that it cannot be used in warm weather. 1
think he must be mistaken in this assertion, for now, at midsummer,
it is used in all the principal establishments in Philadelphia.
Mr. E. Borda has published, in the American Journal of Photo¬
graphy, his recent experiments on quick dry plates, and states that
they were instituted at the suggestion of Mr. Henry T. Anthony,
of New York. It is this plan I alluded to in my letter from New
York — or in the one immediately succeeding it — when I stated that
Mr. Anthony had in view the preparing of dry plates for sale.
His idea was that fuming the dry tannin plates with ammonia
would quicken them, lie mentioned it to some of the members of
the Amateur Photographic Exchange Club. Mr. Borda thinks that
it is a step in the right direction, but asserts that the fuming will
do as well after exposure, and before development, as before ex¬
posure. This being the case, Mr. Anthony at once came to the
conclusion that science would be advanced by making it public :
hence he permitted Mr. Borda to write on the subject. Mr.
Borda’s experiments go to show that, to use it successfully, an
additional amount of citric acid is required in the developer to
obviate the tendency to fog. Some of our other amateurs have
not been so well pleased with it as Mr. Borda has : but they have
not paid as much attention to the subject as he has.
Mr. Anthony himself sent his exchange pictures for this month
made with his solid milk preservative, and his proofs are unexcep¬
tionable— so full of fine detail in the shadows, and there is no snowy
effect on the high lights.
We are looking for some of Mr. Harrison's new globe lenses to be
in the market next week. He has, no doubt, been delayed in
finishing them by the very great demand for his ordinary quarter-
size portrait tubes, in sets of four, for card-picture making.
Glancing at my memorandum-book with astonishment at the
number of items not yet alluded to, seeing that my letter has reached
such an extraordinary length, l hasten to close, first stating that
having tried the gum roller wringing machines for drying proofs.
I am satisfied that even albumen prints are much improved by the
operation — being condensed, and the albumen surface rendered
quite smooth and even. The allusion to their use in a former
letter has induced several persons to try them.
The response of some of my friends, in answer to inquiries for
Strasburg Cathedral and the Arch of Titus for Dr. Holmes, shows
that stereographs should have been specified — large proofs onlv
having been offered.
Apologising for the length of my letter, I am, with due regard,
yours, COLEMAN SELLERS.
320
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 15, 1802
Straps anb Jragments.
New Publications. — Mr. Hogarth, of the Haymarket, has pub¬
lished some photographs of Normandy by Mr. Robert Murray, an
artist known in connexion with some fine Egyptian views. - A
new series of studies from nature for the use of artists, by Mr.
0. G. Rejlander, have been announced.
Honour to a Liverpool Amateur Photographer. — We are
glad to find that Mr. J. A. Forrest, of Liverpool, so long and so
favourably known as an enthusiastic amateur photographer, and
as a manufacturer of photographic glass, has been awarded a
medal in Class XXXIV. at the International Exhibition for “excel¬
lence in artistic design and colour,” in connexion with stained glass
for ecclesiastical architecture and for other purposes.
Photographic Papers. — Many photographers, in complaining of
the difficulty they experience in obtaining good papers, trace all
their troubles to the introduction of the alkaline gold-toning pro¬
cess; but we have lately heard many of the manufacturers of
photographic papers assert that there really was a very marked
alteration in the quality of the papers they procured, dating from
about the time when the alkaline-toning process was first intro¬
duced.
The “ Liber Custumarum.” — The Court of Common Council of
the City of London is greatly concerned to find that many leaves
have been extracted from the Liber Custumarum in the civic library.
After many efforts to regain the missing portion of the work from
the British Museum, where it appears they have been discovered,
and many indignant protests of the Corporation against their
unjust detention, the question has been reluctantly adjourned by
the Court. If any one had suggested how readily facsimiles of
the extracted leaves could have been procured by the aid of pho¬
tography, the Council would, we doubt not, have very readily
listened to the same ; and, as one member of this Court is a profes¬
sional photographer in the city, we are rather surprised to find this
suggestion was not made.
Hints to Colourists. — Being with an old friend of ours, an ex¬
perienced and clever artist, who formerly enjoyed great repute as a
miniature painter, he showed us a sketchelly-executed photographic
miniature, coloured on a very thin, close-textured, plain salted Saxe
paper, which had a surface closely resembling that of ivory. This,
we were informed, was obtained by coating the back of the paper,
before mounting the print, with isinglass, three grains to the ounce
of water., and afterwards passing it through the rolling press.
The same gentleman also stated that he could make the washes of
colour bite more readily and adhere more firmly on the albumen-
ised paper, so as to enable him to put one wash over another by
first using a solution composed of fifteen grains of gelatine with
half a teaspoonful of alcohol to the ounce of water.
A Photographic Volunteer Corps. — In emulation of the artists,
lawyers, and others, several photographers, who are also volunteers,
recentlymetat Mr. Wall’s studio, 35, Westbourne-grove, Bayswater,
to consider the possibility of organising a rifle corps, to be composed
of amateur and professional photographers. The feeling of unity
and fellowship which must necessarily characterise corps composed
of gentlemen engaged in the same pursuits, and animated by the
same interests, must be greatly conducive towards that esprit de
corps to which the volunteer movement will the more surely owe
its permanence and degree of utility. From a feeling of patriotism,
therefore, as well as from the interest we otherwise take in this
movement as photographic representatives, we shall be happy to
assist by receiving the names of those willing to join the cause.
French and English Science and Photography in 1855. — In
a popular and amusingly written little work by Blanchard Jerrold,
called “ Paris under the Dees," we find the following brief compari¬
son of English and French photography in 1855. Our readers
being now able to judge the relative progress made by the two
countries in this art since that date, by their visits to the Great
Exhibition, we give the extract: — “Nor can our neighbours aspire
to teach us any new scientific truths. No living Frenchman has
added to the store of knowledge facts at once so important and
numerous as those with which Faraday has enriched the world.
But here, again, we may note that ingenuity which almost amounts
to genius, and which is a Gallic characteristic entirely. In all
scientific studies which require delicate manipulation — nice adjust¬
ment — their skill is pre-eminent. Tested by their discoveries,
French scientific men cannot rank high, but, estimated as students,
they are beyond all praise. The French, again, are fine makers of
optical instruments. They have also a great reputation as builders
of models of machinery; but, directly a machine is required for
work, their skill must yield place to the Englishman or the Belgian.
Again : they are exquisite photographers, and in this art all those
qualities which distinguish a Frenchman are needed. The fine
manipulation — the nice taste in the selection of details — the en¬
thusiasm in favour of the process for its intrinsic beauty — all these
qualities are present, and favour the French photographic student’s
advancement. One of the most eminent photographers of Paris
discriminated truly between his countrymen and the English in
this matter. He said that in London photography had been pursued
for the sole purpose of making money, whereas in Paris there
were photographers who pursued the art because they loved it.
Of these enthusiasts my informant was an apt example. He had
spent forty or fifty thousand francs in experiments. He had
expended all the money he had obtained from government con¬
tracts in the pursuit of improvements, and had succeeded, when I
looked over his portfolio, in producing landscapes the delicate half
shades of which recalledTurner. They were splendidlight-and-shade
reflections of the exquisite landscapes of Brittany. As he walked
with me through his atelier , he proudly showed me the colossal
baths and other apparatus with which he produced his photographs
of the Louvre and other public places. He was generally up in the
morning at half-past five o’clock, and at six was prepared for his
first negative. His photographs fetched high prices, were valued
by the French government, and were bought by Prince Albert;
yet he seemed pleased at his success only because it gave him the
means to pursue his studies, and approach still nearer to perfection
in his darling process. And he was right in distinguishing the
French photographer from the English photographer, — attributing
high motives to the one and mercenary motives to the other.”
We think the author of the above was somewhat unjust to the
English photographer, and that his admiration of the French pho¬
tographer’s generous enthusiasm led him unduly to exalt the one
side at the expense of the other. Even in 1855, English amateurs,
as self-denying, as reckless of pecuniary loss and gain, as indus¬
trious, and as fervent in their love of photography, might have
been pointed out, as was this French professional ; and certainly
English landscape photography — if we are to judge by results —
was then, as now, decidedly in advance of the French.
International Photographic Company. — A somewhat novel idea has
just begun to assume shape and form. M. Potonie, of Paris, has organ¬
ised, or is organising, an International Photographic Company, the great
purpose of which is to take the initiative in all matters which may “ con¬
duce to the security and prosperity of photography” as a branch of com¬
merce. By its aid depots for the exhibition and sale of all kinds of pho¬
tographs, photographic literature, photographic apparatus, chemicals, and
other photographic goods, such as papers, frames, fittings, albums, cases,
&c., &c., are to be established in all the principal cities of the world. The
managemeut and principal, establishment will be at Paris, as being the
more central spot for the purposes of importation and exportation. It is
urged in the circular now before us that the extraordinary development
of photography in all its artistic, scientific, and industrial phases, demands
such an undertaking as the present to give full publicity to its many and
continually-increasing improvements, applications, and more valuable
productions, and to make their value more speedily and widely felt and
appreciated all over the world. M. Potonie has secured for the Parisian
establishment premises in the Rue de Bondy, 46, Boulevard Saint-
Martin, and agents are already established in Berlin, Copenhagen, War¬
saw, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, Breslau, Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon,
New York, Adelaide, and Calcutta. The company will be composed
of sleeping and active partners, each of whom will embark at least
five hundred francs in the scheme. This, or any larger sum em¬
barked, is to bear interest at the rate of five percent, per annum, such
interest to be deducted before any other claims are discharged from the
funds of the company. An annual report is to be laid before the com¬
pany for approval, and the profits are to be divided at the end of every
year as follows : — Ten per cent, is to be put aside to form a reserve fund,
which is never to accumulate beyond one hundred thousand francs, and
at the end of the ten years — to which period the existence of the company
is to be limited — this reserve fund will be fairly divided among the share¬
holders. After this, forty-five per cent, is to be assigned to M. Potonie
as manager, and the same per-centage is to be divided among the share¬
holders pro rata. There are rules providing for other contingencies,
such as the dissolution of the society, &c., into which it is not necessary
here to enter. The scheme has many objectionable features, and not a
few difficulties in the way of its being successfully carried out ; but hav¬
ing laid it before our readers, we shall now leave it in their hands. In a
private letter from M, Potonie, other features of more general interest
to photographic students are touched upon, such as the probable estab¬
lishment of an organ, to be called the Cosmopolitan , to be printed in
all the chief languages of the world, and to collect into a focus all the
various and isolated scraps of useful and important information which
are now scattered so widely ; but, considering that we now have more
than one journal in existence doing precisely the same thing in this
country, this portion of the speculation would not be quite so novel as
M. Potonie appears to think it.
August 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
321
ttortspitbeute.
KrWeare at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
DRY PLATE PHOTOGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — One of the most useful pieces of apparatus that I have is a
rack for draining plates after the various operations of gelatinising,
washing, & c.
Although you have described several, yet (perhaps from a prejudice
akin to that of the crow, who always thinks her own offspring the
fairest) I fancy you would serve your readers by an insertion of this
description.
Take two strips of half-inch deal (A and B) say thirty-six inches long
and two inches broad. At distances of one and a-half inch insert pieces
of varnished wire or rods of glass (coc) about four inches long. Lay
along the bottom of each row of these pegs strips of glass ( defg ) for
the plates to rest upon.
A sketch will remove any misconception of the above details.
AH
/ \
/
the back at the points c c.
It will be seen that this rack will suit any sized plate.
For washing plates after sensitising I have a long wooden tank, with
racks like the above fixed to the bottom. The tank is tilled with water,
the plates stand on the rack, a cover fits on the top making the whole
light-tight, and the plates may be left to soak for any length of time. I
like this plan much better than that by dishes. — I am, yours, &c.,
D. HORNBY.
A SICK BATH.
To the Editor.
Sir, — “T. G. P.’s” failures, described in No. 171, so closely resemble
mine that I venture to call your attention again to the subject, and, by
giving you a little more detail, hope you will be able to put us on the
right road for amendment.
My bath had stood idle for three years, was acid, and gave, foggy
pictures. I shook it up with a little oxide of silver, and exposed it for a
week to light. I could not detect any change, the oxide of silver alone
falling to the bottom. After filtering 1 carefully made it slightly acid
with nitric acid, and succeeded in getting some beautifully-delicate, sharp
negatives, but no intensity in the sky, it being almost clear glass (a
longer exposure gave fog). This was with Ponting’s collodion and
following iron developer : —
Protosulphate of iron . 30 grains.
Glacial acetic acid . 30 minims.
Alcohol . 20 ,,
Water (distilled) . * . 1 ounce.
I then tried to intensify 'with the following, first washing thoroughly : —
Pyrogallic acidj . 10 grains.
Citric acid . 5 ,,
Distilled water . 10 ounces.
To every drachm of pyrogallic I added four or five drops of forty-grain
solution of silver, and the result was an immediate precipitate ol an
orange colour, afterwards changing to black, which covered the plate.
I quickly washed away the precipitate, and noticed that the clear glass
was slightly tinged yellow. Fresh solution mixed in a clean glass gave
the same precipitate, but the glass was now of a deeper orange but no
more intensity in the lights. By washing and applying fresh solution
the plate became covered with a black muddy fog, and the clear glass a
deep orange. In other cases I doubled the quantity of acid and lessened
the quantity of silver, but with the same result, i then tried the follow¬
ing developer as an intensifiev, with three or four drops of silver ; —
Pyrogallic acid .
Citric acid .
Alcohol .
Distilled water .
But the old fault remained.
Nitrate of silver ..
Glacial acetic acid
Alcohol .
Distilled water ...
1% grain.
i »
20 minims.
1 ounce.
I also prepared a fresh bath as under : —
. 30 grains.
. I minim.
15
1
minims •
is not this
too much ?
ounce.
The result still the same. It may be suggested that I should try a
pyrogallic developer alone, but I wish to work with a short exposure.
I am desirous of recovering silver from waste solution, but cannot
obtain sulphide potassium, grape sugar, or caustic soda. What is the
latter? can it be the common pearl ash? Will loaf sugar answer in place
of the grape? and how can I prepare the sulphide of potassium?
I hope you will not think me unreasonable in asking so many
questions, and cast my queries into the fire, but rather take com¬
passion on ignorance. 1 am, yours, &e. I. T. R. Y.
August <dth, 1862.
[An acid bath will not give foggy pictures, unless there be organic
matter present; and, if it were acid, as you state, the oxide of silver
would at any rate be partly consumed in uniting with the acid. How-
ver, you seem to have got the bath pretty well in order, but your trouble
appears to arise from deficiency of strength : a bath three years’ old is
likely to be materially reduced in strength. The intensifying developer
has insufficient citric acid, in proportion to the pyrogallic : for the present
weather you may double the quantity of the citric acid, leaving the
other ingredients as before. This is shown by the solution turning dark
on adding the silver solution : it should remain perfectly clear in the dark
room for at least a minute and a-half to two minutes, or there is not enough
citric or acetic acid.
For what — in the name of all that is photographic — did you add alcohol
to your silver bath? It is a great mistake, and we do not approve of
the addition of acetic acid either.
Where can you be located, not to be able to procure the chemicals
mentioned? Any one who deals in photographic chemicals will be sure
to keep them. It would be quite useless to give }’ou instructions for
preparing sulphide of potassium, as you are evidently not sufficiently
acquainted with chemical manipulation to perform the experiment. Pearl
ash is not a salt of soda, but of potash. Loaf sugar cannot be substituted
for grape sugar to reduce silver, but you may obtain the latter from honey
by washing it with alcohol, which dissolves the syrup, and leaves the
grape sugar in a somewhat crystalline form ; but you had better procure
it ready prepared, as well as your other chemicals. See advertisements.
— Ed.]
NOT “ACCORDING TO COCKER.”
To the Editor.
Sir, — Allow me, as a constant reader of your Journal, to ask whether
there are not some errors of print or otherwise, in the article On Albumen,
by James Martin, in your number for July 1st.
1. I read, page 251, “ Composition (of pure albumen). — C . H
N , n n , 0lao, P, S,.” “ Equivalent . — 5412.”
llow is this equivalent number obtained from the given formula? I
make by it 5444, thus : —
C4„o ^ 2400
11 , 620
N10 1400
0,,„ = 960
5444
2. In page 252, I read: — “The last column of figures on the right
hand gives the average constitution of proteiuc obtained from various
sources, and the analysis of which has been conducted with great care :
and, if to this be added 0 4 phosphorus and 16 sulphur, we shall have
the pcr-centage composition of pure albumen.
-Vs the phosphorus and sulphur to be added will be equal to 2, and as
the last column is already 100 (being the per-eentage composition uf
proteine), the addition I make out will be the composition of 102 of albu¬
men, and not of 100 as stated.
3. How arc the numbers obtained in the column headed ‘ ‘Atomic weigh t s ?
The formula given at the commencement of the article is simply these
numbers increased ten fold. Why, then, is the added phosphorus and
sulphur increased in the formula in different and differing proportions —
the former eighty- fold, and the latter by merely the addition of a fourth ?
— Your kindly enlightening me will oblige, AN IGNORAMUS.
[We have handed the preceding note to Mr. Martin, the author of the
article cited, and append the following as his reply. — Ed.]
1. The sum is not added up “according to Cocker.” Thanks are
due to “Ignoramus ” for pointiug it out.
2. For \w-centage read average. Accuracy in stating the composition
of albumen was not aimed at, nor indeed in view of the following facts
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[August 16, 1860
802
does it seem possible. Berzelius (who himself quotes from Mulder) has
the following in his Traiie de Chimie: — “ On burning albumen in the
combustion tube with oxide of copper, mixed with oxide of lead to retain
the sulphur in the state of sulphate, the following results are obtained : —
Found.
Atoms.
Calculated.
Carbon .
... 5484 .
. 400 .
. 54-7 0
Hydrogen .
... 7-09 .
. 620 .
. 6-92
Nitrogen .
... 15 83 .
. 100 .
....... 15-84
Oxygen .
... 2123 .
. 120 .
Phosphorus ...
... 0-33 .
. . 1 .
. 035
Sulphur .
... 0-68 .
9
. 072”
In the second edition of Fownes’s Manual of Chemistry, published in
1848, at page 536, the preceding analysis of albumen by Mulder is again
quoted, hut the following formula deduced therefrom: — C40o, HS10,
Ni0, 0120, P, St. When such doctors as Mulder, Berzelius, and Fownes
disagree, I must confess myself unable to decide ; and such, indeed, would
seem to be the feeling entertained by the editors of the later editions of
Fownes’s Manual , Doctors H. Bence Jones and A. W. Hoffman, who,
doubtless, sensible of the caution and reserve with which the formula of
albumen has been received by chemists, in the sixth edition of that work,
which I have before me, furnish only the per-centage composition, and
abstain from deducing any formula therefrom.
3. The numbers given in the article in question are correctly quoted
from Mulder’s analysis, published by Berzelius, and obtained by him,
no doubt, in the usual manner followed when it is desired to deduce a
rational from an empirical formula. For details on these points
“Ignoramus ” should consult some elementary work on chemistry.
INDICATION BY COMMENDATION.
To the Editor.
Sik, — Having left town just after writing you the note which appears in
your journal of the 15th ult., I did not see your comments thereon till this
evening. My communication was written hastily, and in an off-hand,
unpremeditated manner, intended merely as a gentle remonstrance to
yourself, and not as a formal accusation of either favouritism on the one
hand or injustice on the other. I ought, perhaps, to have been more
particular in my expressions. I should not, for instance, have used the
word constantly as applicable to your praise of Mr. Williams ; for I cer¬
tainly am not prepared to respond to your challenge of looking out number
and page where you have mentioned his name. I can only say that I am
a very regular reader of your J ournal (which no one values more than I
do), and that the impression left on my mind is that you have very often
lately spoken of Mr. Williams' — or, what is the same thing, allowed your
contributors to do so — in a way that has led me to believe that you recom¬
mend him as our best portrait photographer. Now I repeat that I do not
for one moment question Mr. Williams’s excellence : all I question is the
propriety of extolling him by name in a public journal devoted to photo¬
graphy. Of course your readers suppose you to be a first-rate judge of
such matters, and there could be nothing unfair in your recommending
any one as earnestly as you might choose in private; but I still think it is
unfair to do so, or to say anything which appears like doing so, in public
print. I can say, for instance, for myself, that, from what I have read in
your Journal, I shall recommend Mr. Williams, and I don’t think I should
have done so otherwise, simply because I have never happened to see any
of his productions. As for M. Silvy, I had no idea that he wrote, or was
in any way accessory to the writing of, the article in All the Year Bound ;
and, if it be true, I can only say he ought to be ashamed of himself, and
that he is placed far beyond the pale of my sympathy. 1 still contend,
however, that he has published some cartes de visite which are very
beautiful. Compare his portraits of the late Prince Consort and the
Princess Alice with any others published of the same. Is there any
comparison? But this is, perhaps, irrelevant. All I complained of (if
you can call it complaining) is the praising or dispraising any one by
name in a public journal supposed to be an authority on the subject.
Even in this, however, I freely admit that my opinion is valueless in com¬
parison with that of an experienced editor like yourself; and, if I have
given offence by the expression of my ideas, I beg to apologise, and assure
you that no one appreciates the manner in which your Journal is con¬
ducted more than yours, &c., AN AMATEUR.
[No apology whatever needed : we are always glad to have an outside
opinion. We do not assert that M. Silvy wrote the article we quoted ;
but we have a strong opinion that it was written for him, or at his insti¬
gation, and that is all we stated. We have not seen the portraits to which
you allude, and therefore cannot make the comparison ; but we have seen,
only yesterday, one, by M. Silvy, of the Prince of Wales, and readily
accord to it our highest commendation : ,it is very good indeed. If you
will again refer to such articles as contain the mention of Mr. Williams’s
name, we apprehend that you will find the approval is accorded to works
publicly exhibited by him : how then can they be indicated with propriety
except with his name attached? — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
»*• Several articles are left over, owing to pressure on our space. Among
tlirse arc — A Bit of Chat about Glass Houses — The Photographic Apparatus
"v/ Appliance! at the International Exhibition (by S. Highley) — A reprint of
the new Act relating to Copyright in Works of the Fine Arts, &c., &c.
Erratum.— Norbiton — and not Narbiton, as printed in our last — is the
proper name of the locality where Messrs. Russell Sedgfield and F. G. Eliot’s
photographic printing establishment is situated.
F. T. C. — See number 170.
C. W. Smartt. — Received, with thanks.
George Coombe. — Received. Inquiries being made.
C. Redman. — We are obliged for your offer, but must decline it witlt thanks.
R. D. — Disease : “ Photographic measles.” Remedy : Stronger solution of
hyposulphite of soda for fixing.
Auguste Lemoine. — Itecevez nos meilleurs rcmerciements pour votre
complaisance ; les nouvelles seront bien interressente.
R. J. F. — The connexion hinted at “may or may not ” exist ; but we believe
such “puffs direct” from the quarter indicated have little or no weight with th«
sensible portion of the photographic public.
Charles Davis — A quiet hint was tried in vain upon more occasions than
one. If you will forward the letter we will address it for you, so that it shall
reach the gentleman indicated ; but he objects to have his address given to
strangers.
J. H. S. — Add dilute nitric acid continuously as you propose. An hour’s
exposure will do unless there be a large quantity of organic matter. It is a good
plan to leave the bottle in the light all day, and pour off and filter on the
following one.
W. H. — We have not overlooked the personal remarks to which you allude ;
but we invariably disregard everything of the same kind. We have little doubt
that the writer entertains the poor opinion which he expresses ; and, at any rate,
in England every man has a right to his opinion, and usually expresses it. We
shall most certainly not retaliate.
W. H. W. — The loss which you have sustained is serious. We fear the
damage sustained by photographic exhibitors generally, owing to the effect of
the damp walls of the “ garret” on their pictures, will he considerable. It it a
matter of regret that the Commissioners cannot be made liable for the wilful
neglect of precautionary measures in anticipation of the ravages of the insidious
enemy. The exercise of a little judicious foresight might have prevented such
sad results.
- ? (Montrose). — We cannot at all make out your initials, and have
had a tough job in deciphering your query; but have at length come to the
conclusion that you desire to know whether we advise a single or double com¬
bination lens for instantaneous sea and sky subjects. It is a class of subject
upon which we have not personally experimented ; but our opinion, based upon
the results obtained by others, is decidedly in favour of good single lenses for
this kind of work.
W. & P. — Artistically, enlarged positives are better than those taken of a
large size at once by means of a large lens, and there is no end of advantage to
the sitter. For colouring, especially, the advantage is all on the side of enlarge¬
ment. A quarter-plate lens of either of the English makers you name will do
for both purposes : the other makers’ lenses are also excellent, but we prefer
those of our own countrymen. Your note was forwarded to the address of the
Publisher, who will reply privately to your business query — that not being in
our department.
R. F. — The whole affair of Jury awards in the photographic department ( so
far as the pictures are concerned) is, in our opinion, such an absurdity as to
put it beyond the pale of criticism. The Jurors had a difficult task to perform;
but it was perhaps impossible for one, or even two, to make head against their
coadjutors, backed by the Royal Commissioners, or the best plan would have
been to have abstained entirely from awarding medals for the pictures, and
to have apportioned them amongst the exhibitors of apparatus and chemicals
only. This would have been a just rebuke to the Commissioners for their
absurd classification.
J. Bray. — We fear that the accident which you describe has quite unfitted
your silver solution for the purpose to which you apply it, and unfortunately
there is no remedy for it but reducing the silver, and reconverting it into the
nitrate anew. First add to it some liquid ammonia, just enough to make it
slightly alkaline ; expose it to the sun-light ; a dark-coloured precipitate will
fall ; filter this out by aid of blotting-paper; then dissolve some protosulphate
of iron in distilled water, and add it to the solution. The silver will be thrown
down in the form 6f a brilliant whitish powder. Wash this white powder in
several changes of water, allowing it to settle between each change; then add
dilute nitric acid, and, by the assistance of gentle heat, dissolve the powder.
The solution will be nitrate of silver.
AU Editorial Communications , Books for Review, cfic., should
he forwarded to the Editor , GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to he addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should be sent direct to the
Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONT
PAGE
LEADER . 303
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BROMIDE
QUESTION. By GEORGE DAWSON, M.A. 301
ON THE ADHESIVE MATERIALS EM¬
PLOYED FOR MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS
By JAMES MARTIN . 305
HOODED BACKGROUNDS. By AN OLD HAND 306
DALLMEYER’S STEREOSCOPIC APPARA¬
TUS. Ry Dr. D. VAN MONCKHOVEN .. 306
DRY COLLODION ON PAPER . 308
CABINET PICTURES. By E. EDWARDS. .. . 309
ENLARGEMENTS FROM SMALL NEGA-
TINES. By W. H. WARNER . 310
COMMEMORATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY. By A.
BROTHERS . 310
EH TS.
riOB
STEREOGRAPHS— THE INUNDATION IN
THE FENS. By V. BLANCHARD . 310
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS . 311
A VISIT TO LONDON AND THE EXHIBI¬
TION. By A SCOTCH PHOTOGRAPHER . . 811
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA. By
OUR OWN PIONEER . 312
AN ARTIST’S LETTERS TO A YOUNG
PHOTOGRAPHER. BF A. H. WALL .... 314
EXHIBITIONS . 315
EXHIBITION COSSIP. By A. H. WALL .... 3'. 6
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 317
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 320
CORRESPONDENCE . 321
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac . 322
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 173, Vol. IX.— SEPTEMBER 1, 1862.
Photolithography. — Mr. Macpherson — whose illustrations
of Rome we noticed in our last as forming an exhibition at
Conduit Street, Regent Street, London — has been successful
also in the practice of photolithography ; and, in a conversation
which we recently held with him, he •was good enough to
describe his method of working, at the same time giving per¬
mission for its publication for the benefit of the art. As in
many instances with valuable processes, this one also is en¬
hanced by its simplicity, as the following description will
demonstrate : —
Take a lump of bitumen of Judea (Jew’s pitch), about the
size of a walnut, and put it into a bottle, after having slightly
broken it up. Pour upon it some ether — say about half filling
the bottle — and shake the whole well up for several minutes.
The ether will, of course, become coloured by dissolving a por¬
tion of the bitumen : this is to be poured off into another bottle,
and is not of any service in photolithography, as it contains
certain resinous matter not sensitive to the action of light. A
second portion of ether is now to be added, the bottle well
shaken up, and the bitumen allowed to settle. It must be re¬
peatedly shaken, and left at rest many times during the day,
and on the following one may be poured off for use. It is with
the dark-coloured liquid thus prepared that the sensitive film is
obtained.
A lithographic stone, properly smoothed and prepared as if
for use in the ordinary manner, must next be procured, and is
to be coated on the surface with a film of bitumen by pouring on
its etheral solution, just as if forming a film of collodion. When
dry, it is to be covered with a negative photograph on glass, and
exposed to direct sunshine, if possible, for about an hour (more
or less, according to circumstances), and is then to be removed,
in order to fix the image which will have been formed. The
negative should be one with abundance of detail, and free from
fogging or other defects.
The fixation of the image is effected much in the same way
as in other photographic operations — that is, by dissolving out
the unaltered sensitive medium ; and in the case before us this
is readily performed by aid of the menstruum originally used for
holding it in solution while coating the stone, viz., ether. But
as this liquid evaporates with great rapidity, and it is requisite
to take precautions against unequal action, we have to conduct
the fixing process in a peculiar manner. For this purpose we
make use of a gutta-percha tray or dish, very little larger than
the dimensions of the stone to be operated upon. Two pieces
of stout string are tied completely round the stone, one near to
each end ; and, for convenience, a third piece may be extended
at the back of the stone, joining the other two, so as to act as a
handle wherewith to raise the stone.
A sufficient quantity of ether to fill the dish to a depith of
about one quarter of an inch is then to be poured in, and the
impressed stone immediately to be inserted therein, face down¬
wards, the pieces of string being sufficient to keep the face of
the stone from coming in contact with the bottom of the dish.
The whole is then to be waved gently backwards and forwards
with a rocking motion, so as to cause the ether to wash the
face of the stone free from the unaffected bitumen ; after which
the stone must be quickly raised, and turned face upwards, and
a small quantity of fresh ether, kept in readiness for the pur¬
pose, must be dashed over the face of the stone, in order to
prevent a new deposit from the evaporation of the ether which
has just been used to dissolve off the superfluous bitumen.
An ounce or so of ether, in a glass beaker, will answer for this
purpose ; and, until required for use, evaporation may be
checked by keeping the beaker covered with a piece of glass.
If the various manipulations have been correctly performed,
a very perfect positive impression of the original should now be
visible upon the stone, and nothing further is required of the
photographer; but the stone may be handed over to the litho¬
grapher, to be treated with acid and gum-water in the ordinary
way, — the impression readily taking the ink from the roller.
We are informed by Mr. Macpherson that by this process
every detail and proper gradation of half-tone can be obtained.
His visit to London having been hastily undertaken, he did not
bring with him his specimens ; but he assured us that he bad
not seen photolithographs produced by any other process that
equalled them in these respects.
It will, of course, be perceived that there is one drawback to
the results obtainable as above described. The subject is
necessarily reversed, as regards right and left sides : but this
is a defect that can be met by taking negatives on purpose
through the glass, instead of on the surface next to the subject.
To those of our readers who have a little time to spare, and
are desirous of engaging in a promising field for experiment, we
heartily commend a trial of this process, as likely to afford them
much gratification. One recommendation that it possesses
above most other photolithographic processes is, that it does
not of necessity demand a knowledge of lithographic manipula¬
tion in the photographer.
Qualitative Analysis. — Amongst photographers, as a class,
the majority are totally unacquainted with the science of
chemistry ; but of a large proportion of this majority many arc
eminently qualified to receive instruction therein, provided it
be offered in an attractive and practical form. The desirability
of making photographers acquainted with chemistry, as a
science, we presume but few of our readers would question : and
the habit of neatness and care in manipulation needful in
photographic pursuits is conducive to facility in performing
chemical operations: while the craving for information on
chemical matters is evinced by the very numerous inquiries we
are called upon to answer in every number of the Journal. As
a step towards meeting an ever-increasing demand, we propose
commencing a short series of initiatory articles On Qualitative
Analysis, with a special view to affording assistance to our
readers in testing the quality of the chemicals with which they
have to deal ; and to this end we have made arrangements with
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1802
324
a gentleman particularly well qualified to impart information of
the kind desired — Mr. Emerson J. Reynolds — to write a short
series for this Journal especially calculated to convey the requi¬
site knowledge in a clear, concise, and natural manner. The
enunciation of a proposition, followed by a demonstration, is
generally pretty readily understood and remembered, and a
step is gained which forms a firm starting-point for a further
advance. At certain points we cannot progress without the aid
of various pieces of apparatus, hut by constructing these as
they are required, and explaining their object to the students,
we attain our end without requiring them to be embarrassed
with them from the commencement of the journey. This is
sufficient to indicate the course in contemplation, and we have
only further to add that the first article of the series will be
found at page 325.
Auld Lang Syne. — It is with no little gratification that we
find ourselves enabled to present our readers with a contribution
from the pen of our much-esteemed friend and late collaborateur,
the Rev. T. F. Hardwich, who has for the last twelve months or
more been restrained from indulging in photographic pursuits
by the more urgent demands of duties of a higher calling. We
are sure that our readers will accord a hearty welcome to one
who has been called with truth “ the photographer’s best
friend;” and we trust that, having once again “ broken the ice,’
he may now and then “put in an appearance” in our columns’
Photography in Glasgow. — "We are happy to have it in our
power to announce that the City of Glasgow is no longer with¬
out its Photographic Society. Our readers will recollect that
the old Society was dissolved last May, and that at the time we
notified this fact we stated that steps had been already taken to
constitute one as its successor. This is now un fait accompli,
and the new Society, instituted in the month of June last
under the designation of the Glasgow Photographic Asso¬
ciation, will hold its first meeting for ordinary business at No.
75, St. George’s Place, Glasgow, on Tuesday, the 4tli instant,
under the Presidency of Mr. Kibble, upon which occasion he
will deliver an opening address.
One of the Vice-Presidents has promised to give an account of
a summer excursion with the panoramic camera, accompanied
with illustrations of its use ; some specimens, the result of a new
process, will be exhibited ; Mr. Spencer has promised to bring
forward a new system of mounting lenses and other apparatus ; —
so that the bill of fare is an attractive one. Moreover, we have
authority to intimate that gentlemen desirous of joining the
Association are invited to attend, and will be received with a
welcome. That the Society promises to be an active one we
think will be admitted, especially when the names of those
gentlemen holding office are known, a complete list of whom
we append, viz.: — President , Mr. Kibble; Vice-Presidents,
Messrs. Mactear and Macnab ; Treasurer, Mr. Archibald
Robertson; Hon. Secretary, Mr. Edmund Brace; Council,
Messrs. J. Spencer, Jun., Duncan Brown, J. Stuart, A. Robb,
J. Ewing, and J. Jex Long.
PHOTOGRAPHIC TROUBLES ; THEIR CAUSES
AND REMEDIES.
Dear Sir, — At the time we were working together in the con¬
duct of the Journal I promised you that I would note down any¬
thing ot interest which occurred to me, and occasionally send you
a communication. 1 am sorry, however, to say that I have done
'Ciy little photography this season beyond giving a general super¬
intendence and advice to a friend residing in the neighbourhood.
Card-portraits appearto be as much in demand as ever, and it is
evident that the bromo-iodised collodion succeeds remarkably well
j Plctures of that size. Working, as we have done, on small
]> .Ucs, no difficulty was experienced with the pyroxyline: any
'auety giving sufficiently intense negatives answered. If my
pi at ticc m the art had always been similar, much vexation might
ia\e icon spared, and various matters relating to flowing qualities,
a*, lesiveness, straight lines, and a thousand other inconveniences,
allowed to take care of themselves; for the sulphate of iron deve¬
loper ensures the adhesion of the film, and if unevennesses and
waves of bath solution are seen before development, they will not,
as a rule, be visible afterwards. The iodide of silver, used alone,
has many disagreeable propensities as regards developing ; but
when combined with the bromide the reduction of silver is rarely
irregular. I quite agree with Mr. Dawson that the most exquisite
sensitiveness is obtained by the iodide alone ; but in this case there
are many objections, for the pyroxyline suitable to such a result is
a contractile kind, giving no intensity, and very liable to mishaps
in development. A beginner would spoil the majority of his pic¬
tures by using it; and if he attempted to add to the intensity by
employing an “organic” pyroxyline, so termed, all the extra sensi¬
tiveness would be lost, and the bromo-iodised collodion would then
work more rapidly than the simply iodised. * Taking everything
into account, the bromo-iodised is evidently the better collodion
for the card-pictures, and the definition is, as a rule, superior. I
see, by examining the albums, that some operators still employ
simple iodide ; but the majority are evidently in favour of the com¬
bination.
My friend encountered a difficulty at the very outset : his first
half-dozen pictures, in a new bath, developed well, but those that
followed were covered with transparent pin-holes. Half-an-hour’s
consideration made it perfectly certain that the holes were caused
by little pointed crystals of iodide of silver which slowly separated
from the bath solution and projected visibly from the surface of
the film. At least four minutes are occupied in forming these
crystals, so that if the picture be completed in two minutes from
the time of dipping the plate there are no spots. In three minutes
they show slightly, whilst in six minutes the plate is thickly stud¬
ded with them. If my memory serves me it was Mr. Thomas, of
Pall Mall, who, several years since, attributed these spots to super¬
saturation of the bath with iodide of silver; but the question is
whether a new or an old bath is the more liable to it. My expe¬
rience teaches me that it often occurs in a newly-mixed solution,
saturated with iodide in the usual manner, and then weakened by
dipping many plates successively. The first pictures are clean,
the last spotted ; and if the bath be set aside until the following
morning, it will correct itself, and the balance be restored by a
deposit of iodide on the sides of the gutta-percha trough. Organic
matter in the bath will enable it to retain more iodide of silver in
solution — even alcohol exercising an appreciable influence in that
direction. The spots disappear at once on adding to the bath a
fifth part by bulk of a simple thirty-grain solution of nitrate of
silver ; but as this cannot always conveniently be done, it is well
to know that the same object may be attained by working quickly
and finishing the picture before the crystals have time to form.
Another difficulty was the following: — The negative became
injured on applying the spirit-varnish. When the chemicals were
newly mixed all went well ; but, after a few weeks’ keeping had
caused a little decomposition and discolouration of the collodion,
the varnish was found to attack the film. Those who study the
chemistry of pyroxyline are aware that the varieties of that sub¬
stance standing low in the series (near to xyloidine) dissolve in
strong alcohol, but that the higher members do not. In collodion
iodised with alkaline iodides there is a constant descent of pyroxy¬
line from high to low, oxides of nitrogen being liberated, and
entering into combination with the base in the form of an alkaline
nitrite. Hence we can understand why a newly-mixed collodion
should yield a film capable of resisting the varnish; whilst the
same, after keeping, partially dissolves. The remedy which my
friend found most satisfactory was the addition of half- a- drachm
of water to each ounce of the varnish, so as to reduce the strength
of the spirit to that point at which it loses its solvent action on
the weaker kinds of pyroxyline.
I am sorry not to be able to send you a longer contribution; but
placed as I now am in the midst of a population of 5,000 working¬
men, I find it impossible to give the art that attention which is
necessary for successful experimenting. Yet I may truly say that,
although unable to take many pictures, I still retain pleasant
reminiscences of photography, and recall old friendships with even
more gratification than at the time experienced. Thus do we live
in the past and in the future quite as much as in the present.
T. F. HARDWICH.
ON THE NATURE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE.
By George Dawson, M.A.,
Lecturer on Photography at King’s College, London.
It is easily demonstrable that the decomposition of any haloid
salt of silver such as the iodide, bromide, &c., by the combined
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
325
action of light and what is usually called a developer, resolves it
into metallic silver. On this point there is no dispute. A drop of
nitric acid on a photographic image developed by gallic or pyro-
gallic acid, protosulphate of iron, or any other substance having a
strong affinity for oxygen, will at once "demonstrate the solubility
of the deposit, and another drop of hydrochloric acid will convert
the newly-formed nitrate into chloride of silver. It is not easy to
trace the part played here by actinism, nor what molecular in¬
visible change it has effected in the sensitive film. We only know
that it is of such a nature as to encourage a deposition of silver
from the nitrate present in the film or added thereto with the de¬
veloper, and that in proportion to the duration and intensity of its
action. If it were possible to ascertain the fact it would probably
be found that the amount of pure iodide of silver in a sensitive
film is the same before exposure to light and after the image has
beep fully developed, the metallic or opaque deposit being entirely
derived from the free nitrate. Many circumstances favour this
view'. The actinic effects alone may not be, and generally are not,
visible till the reducing agent has been added, and then only when
nitrate of silver is present and has been decomposed. It is a sin¬
gular fact connected with this that the haloid silver salts are sensi¬
tive to the direct action of light, so far as we can see, in an inverse
order to their capability of producing a dense precipitate by the
combined action of both light and a developer. Take, for instance,
the two extremes — the iodide and the chloride of silver. However
long we expose the former to light the visible effect is scarcely
perceptible, but a momentary exposure followed by a developer in
contact with free nitrate of silver ensures instant decomposition.
With the latter it is very different. The prolonged action of light
does indeed, more or less, visibly affect them all under certain
conditions, but the nature of this change we can only at present
guess at. The chloride blackens readily in daylight, but nitric acid
or any other test we may apply fails to detect the presence of
oxide or of metallic silver, and although many attempts have been
made, both dhectly and indirectly, to ascertain the precise nature
of the reduction, we are still very much in the dark. We know by
most undoubted evidence that light abstracts chlorine from the
chloride, thereby effecting some sort of decomposition; but whether
by continued action it has the power of removing the whole, is the
question not yet satisfactorily answered.
The following experiments bearing on the point were commenced
in the early part of last year, and would have been published
sooner had I been able to complete another series of a confirmatory
kind, which, being interrupted by unforeseen circumstances, cannot
now be proceeded with, this season, on account of the long-con¬
tinued daily attention required to ensure a reliable result. They
were made in the strictest good faith, with no bias on my mind
towards the subchloride, metallic, or any other theory.
Experiment A. — In a Winchester quart bottle, made of thin and
very transparent glass, were dissolved forty grains of pure nitrate
of silver in forty ounces distilled water.
Experiment B — In a similar bottle was dissolved an equivalent
weight (fourteen grains) of chloride of sodium in the same amount
of distilled water.
Experiment C.~ The same as A, with the addition of one grain
of gelatine dissolved in the water.
They were all exposed on the projecting ledge of a wall, directly
facing the south, from about the 20th of March to the 15th of June,
1861, without intermission, and protected from the ingress of rain
and other extraneous matter by loose cone-shaped covers, like
extinguishers, placed over their mouths. Every morning during
that period (not more than four or five days excepted) a small
portion of very dilute chloride of sodium, in distilled water, was
added to A and C, and a similar solution of nitrate of silver to B.
The bottles were then well shaken up, and left in the light. In
very bright weather, if the finely-divided chloride had nearly sub¬
sided before evening, the bottles were again shaken up, for the
purpose of exposing the greatest possible surface to the action of
the light, but no more silver nor sodium salt added.
In A and C, where the nitrate was in excess, turbidity never
entirely ceased during the hours of daylight; but the liquid was
always clear and transparent in the morning. Than this, nothing
could more beautifully show the action of the disengaged chlorine
in decomposing the free nitrate — an action always more energetic
during the hours of brightest sunshine, and gradually ceasing
towards nightfall. After a few days both had a decidedly acid re¬
action, and gave other evidence of the presence of nitric acid in a
tendency to agglomeration of the precipitated chloride into clots.
On the other hand, in C, which was also acid from the formation
of hydrochloric acid, the latter peculiarity was not so discernible,
and the precipitate had always subsided within a few hours, with¬
out reference to the brightness of the day. Another fact worth
noticing in the course of the experiment was the difference of
colour in the blackened precipitate of each of the bottles. In the
course of a week or so, in A, it had assumed a deep dead black.
In B, the. same with a slight tinge of blue. These characteristics
they retained to the end. In C, which contained organic matter,
the precipitate was black for some time, but gradually began to
bronze, till at the end of the experiment it presented a dark cop¬
pery metallic lustre.
At the beginning of June A and C still contained a slight excess
of nitrate of silver, and B of chloride of sodium. From this time
I ceased adding any more chloride to A and C and nitrate to B,
partly for the reason that the bottles were now full, and partly be¬
cause I wished each to retain an excess of its original salt, so long
as they were exposed to daylight. But I still continued them in the
sunshine for another fortnight, shaking them up daily as before.
(To be concluded in our next.)
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS.
A SERIES OP LESSONS WRITTEN WITH A SPECIAL
VIEW TO THE REQUIREMENTS OP PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By Emerson J. Reynolds.
In analytical chemistry, as in all other sciences, the progress of our
knowledge has been slow but sure. We no longer burn the mid¬
night oil in toiling after what we now know to be a “ delusion and
a snare;” and yet, to the labours of those veteran pioneers of scieuce,
the alchemists, we owe a great amount of our information, regard¬
ing the deportment of metallic bodies one towards another — in fact,
many of the reactions by which we distinguish substances in the
present day were in reality discovered in ages gone by, while
endeavouring to torture the baser metals into gold. Since those
early times, young science has been daily gaining strength and
vigour until, in the present day, we may truly be somewhat proud
of the beautifully philosophical method of analytical research of
which we are now in possession. It is with the view of asfisting
those of our readers who are anxious to make themselves acquainted
with the elements of qualitative analysis that we write the follow¬
ing paper. It shall be our endeavour to 60 treat the subject as to
render it easily comprehensible by those who are but slightly
acquainted with chemistry, and to enable them to follow up the
study both as a youthful acquirement and an agreeable recreation.
Without further preface, we shall commence with a few words
about apparatus.
The apparatus required in qualitative analysis is of an exceed¬
ingly simple and inexpensive nature; in fact, many of the articles
in domestic use, such as tumblers, wine-glasses, saucers, &c., toge¬
ther with a small spirit lamp, a little glass tubing, and a few test
tubes, will be found sufficient for almost all analytical operations.
However, as some of our readers might probably wish to obtain
their apparatus regularly from the instrument makers, we subjoin
the following list : — One dozen test tubes, test tube stand, filtering-
paper, spirit lamp, litmus-paper (blue and red), small retort stand,
two or three small glass funnels, platinum wire and foil, blowpipe,
two small German beakers, porcelain crucibles, glass tubing, glass
rod, file, evaporating dishes, and wash bottle.
With a little ingenuity the student might easily substitute for,
or dispense with, many of the pieces of apparatus enumerated
above, and use those made by himself from simple and inexpensive
materials. Thus, a spirit-lamp may be constructed by taking a
small two-ounce phial and fitting it loosely with a cork, which is
then to be perforated by means of a redhot wire, and the passage
thus made enlarged by a round file until of a sufficient size to admit
easily a piece of glass tubing, about the one-eighth of an inch
internal diameter, and two inches long. The glass tube is now
pushed through the aperture in the cork, and it then only remains
to pass some cotton wick through the tube, nearly filling the phial
with the spirit generally known as “finish:” insert lightly the
cork, carrying the tube and wick, and — light your lamp. Again,
to take another example A capital blowpipe may be made by
taking an ordinary tobacco pipe and fitting the bowl with a cork,
which is then perforated as before described, and a tube about two
inches long introduced : this tube having previously had one
extremity drawn out, in the flame ot the spirit-lamp, to a fine
point, the cork is then placed in situ , with the fine point of the tube
projecting outwards, and the blowpipe is finished. V ith these
two instruments we can then mould brass tubing into numerous
useful pieces of apparatus, viz., test tubes, retorts, receivers, tube-
funnels, &c., with some practice and a small amount of skill.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1862
026
Such is a brief and necessarily very imperfect notice of the
apparatus required in pursuing qualitative analytical investiga¬
tions ; however, we prefer to postpone the description of many
pieces of apparatus until such time as they may be essential to the
performance of the analytical process. We, moreover, intend to
adopt, to some extent, the same plan in speaking of the method of
performing the several operations of filtration, decantation, evapo¬
ration, fusion, &c., for two reasons : — In the first place, our space
would not permit of our treating this part of our subject in detail ;
and, secondly, it would be to a considerable extent superfluous
information, as photographers are continually in the habit of making-
use of these methods of separation, solution, &c., in the daily prac¬
tice of their art. However, when any particular treatment is
necessary in the course of analysis, we shall specify the method to
be adopted.
We cannot impress too strongly on the mind of the student the
necessity of cultivating habits of extreme cleanliness, neat and
delicate manipulation, together with care and accuracy in the
observance of results. “Nothing,” says Dr. Johnson, “is to be
considered a trifle, by which the mind is inured to caution, fore¬
sight, and circumspection. The same skill, and often the same
degree of skill, is exhibited in great and in small things.”
Qualitative Analysis may be defined as being the means
whereby chemists are enabled to ascertain the existence in a body
presented for examination of one or other of the constituents of the
solid crust of the globe, without any reference to the relative pro¬
portions in which they may exist in the compound. Systematic
qualitative analysis teaches a fixed scheme of procedure, of a purely
inductive nature, by means of which, and the application of a few
simple tests, we ascertain with certainty not alone the presence, but
likewise what is often of equal importance, the absence of whole
classes or groups of bodies.
Every reader of this Journal is, doubtless, well aware that the
whole inorganic or mineral world is divided into two great sections,
bases and acids — bases, such as potash, lime, or oxide of iron, having
the power of uniting with acids, as sulphuric or nitric, with greater
or less degree of energy or intensity, the result of the union in each
case being the production of a neutral “ salt,” which is well exem¬
plified in the sulphates or nitrates of potash, lime, or oxide of iron,
in which the prominent properties, both of the acid and base, are
completely destroyed, thus forming a connecting link between the
two great classes. It is to be remembered that many different
kinds of “ salts ” exist, such as double salts, acid, and basic salts,
sulpho-salts and many others, about which we shall have some¬
thing to say hereafter ; for the present, when we speak of a “ salt,”
we must be understood to mean a vinary compound possessing all
the characters of strict neutrality, unless otherwise specified.
In qualitative analysis it is the custom to make two separate
examinations of the compound presented for analysis : one for the
detection of the base or bases present ; the second for the dis¬
covery of the nature of the acid or acids existing in combination
with the basic constituents. Now, before enumerating the metallic
bases and describing their distinctive characters, it may facilitate
the comprehension of what follows if we state briefly the more
important principles on which chemical analysis is based. For
this purpose, then, it is to be understood —
1. That a salt is a compound of either two simple atoms — as chlo¬
rine and sodium in common salt — or else of two active compound
molecules — as oxide of silver and nitric acid — which, when united,
form the well-known salt, nitrate of silver. Either of these forms
of combination is termed a “ vinary compound.”
2. When two salts, such as nitrate of silver and chloride of
sodium, arc dissolved separately in water, and the solution then
mixed, under certain circumstances, a complete transposition of
the constituents takes place, giving rise, in this particular instance,
to the formation of chloride of silver and nitrate of soda. This is
known as “reciprocal decomposition.”
3. If, as in the case just cited, the solutions of two salts be
mixed which are capable, by mutual decomposition, of affording a
compound insoluble, or neatly so, in water, no doubt need exist
but that such a body will be formed. On the other hand, if they
cannot yield a compound insoluble in water, it is yet a debateable
point whether complete deconqiosition or interchange of particles
takes place or not.
4. Potash, soda, and ammonia, by reason of their superior
affinity for all acids, are capable of displacing the metallic bases from
their combinations with them; but, if certain forms of organic
matter be present, this decomposition will frequently be interfered
with.
l he basic groups are five in number, each group being composed
of the following metals
First Group.— Silver, sub-oxide of mercury, lead.
Second Group. — 1st Division: — Antimony, arsenic, tin, gold, pla¬
tinum. 2nd Division: — Mercury, lead, bismuth, copper, cadmium.
Third Group. — Nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron, zinc, uranium,
aluminium, chromium.
Fourth Group. — Barium, strontium, calcium.
Fifth Group. — Magnesium, potassium, sodium, lithium, ammo¬
nium (?).
It may be observed that many metals are omitted from this list
for the simple reason that they are scarcely ever met with, except
in rare minerals, and never in photographic chemicals. The above
arrangement of the basic groups is not in the least arbitrary, nor
depending on the fancy of the chemist for its construction, but is
based on strictly philosophical principles, derived from our know¬
ledge of the deportment of these bodies when placed in contact
with others termed “ class re-agents.”
In systematic qualitative analysis we do not apply tests at ran¬
dom to the substance under examination, but proceed in a more
methodical manner. Each of the groups above mentioned possesses
a re-agent peculiar to itself, by which some characteristic effect is
produced. If, for instance, we add to a solution the re-agent for
the first group, and observe no change, we pass on to the second ;
and if this test does not produce any alteration, we pass on to the
third ; and so on until we obtain a definite result, which we must do
if the water holds any mineral matter in solution. This method of
analysis, therefore, “consists in adding to the solution of a com¬
pound of five, six, or more constituents, successively, other sub¬
stances which enter into combination with one or other of these
constituents, forming insoluble compounds. This is done in a
definite order, just as if each were contained in a different drawer,
the opening of which required a particular key, appropriated to
itself.”* Such is the particular value of class or general re-agents,
though their use can hardly be said to end here, since the colour of
the precipitate produced often saves us the trouble of looking for
several members of a group. Thus, the general re-agent for the
second group precipitates seven of the metals as dark compounds,
and four of a yellow colour; if now we are analysing a solu¬
tion, and addffhe class re-agent for the second group, and we obtain
a yellow precipitate, we may at once assert positively that neither
of the seven metals which produce dark compounds can be present,
so that, by the principle of exclusion, we at last arrive at the wished-
for result, with a far less expenditure of time and trouble than if
we proceeded in an irregular manner. There are likewise a num¬
ber of re-agents called “ special tests:” these are used to distin¬
guish the individual members of each group one from the other.
We have now arrived at such a point that we may lay before
our readers the plan we purpose pursuing in teaching qualitative
analysis. In the first place, then, we shall endeavour to make the
student thoroughly acquainted with the means of detecting each
of the groups with ease and certainty; we shall then pass on to the
detection of individual members of each group. The acids — both
inorganic and the more common vegetable acids, which are like¬
wise divided into groups — will then be treated of in a manner
precisely similar to that adopted with the metallic bases. Then,
after making a few observations regarding analysis in general, we
may pass on to the use of the blowpipe as a quick and ready
general test. And, finally, we shall have something to say rela¬
tive to the newly-discovered method of “ spectrum analysis.” as
applied to the detection of the constituents of the baser groups,
founded on personal experience with the spectrum apparatus.
In most works on analytical chemistry the student is first made
acquainted with an immense number of re-actions of different bodies;
and, though afterwards the connexion is pointed out, yet the author
has frequently remarked the puzzled expression of a junior student
if asked how he would separate one body from another, by making
use of his knowledge of their special re-action. We are of opinion
that qualitative analysis ought to be taught as it is practised in
the simplest and most direct manner possible— not cumbering de¬
scriptions with unnecessary details, but inculcating general princi¬
ples first and specialities afterwards. It shall be our endeavour
not alone to follow this course but likewise to constantly keep in
view the one particular object of applying analytical chemistry to
the detection of impurity and adulteration in photographic chemicals.
REMARKS ON THE TANNIN PROCESS.
By John Glover.
If we may judge from the numerous inquiries that from time to
time reach the editors of the publications devoted to photography
* Liebig;.
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
32
and also those individuals who, having given their attention to
the subject of dry processes, have arrived at any amount of suc¬
cess, it needs no apology in bringing the subject of the present
article before the readers of this Journal.
It has been asserted, and with some degree of truth, that excel¬
lent results may be obtained with any collodion when preserved
with tannin. There is, however, a great variation in the sensi¬
tiveness and in the quality of the resulting negative. In the
course of my investigations I was somewhat surprised to find that
some preparations of first-class manufacturers most rapid when used
wet, on drying proved the most insensitive, and gave unsatisfac¬
tory delineation of foliage, though precaution was taken to add
some bromide salt to the usual iodiser.
At the commencement of the present season I entered upon a
series of experiments with a view to ascertain the most suitable
pyroxyline, and the result of my observations is that the most
sensitive collodion for the tannin process is one prepared from
cotton immersed in a mixture of acids of a strength just above
the dissolving point, at a temperature not lower than 145°.*
Pyroxyline . 4 to 5 grains.
Washed ether . 4 drachms.
Alcohol (805°) . 4 „
Iodide ammonium . 3 grains.
„ cadmium . 1 grain.
Bromide „ 2 grains.
The above collodion can be used immediately after preparation,
but works much better a month after iodising, with no diminution
of sensitiveness. The presence of a small amount of chloride is
beneficial, but this can be either effected by adding it to the final
washing bath or to the collodion. Whether this has any effect on
the sensitiveness is a matter of doubt, but I am satisfied that
plates so prepared retain the latent impression for a longer period
without deterioration, thus enabling us to defer the development
for fourteen days or more after exposure — a great stress off the
mind of the enthusiastic amateur on a photographic tour. The
collodion prepared as above is perhaps not quite so tenacious
as one less sensitive. On plates larger than stereoscopic size it
will not adhere to the glass with certainty unless a substra¬
tum be employed. By preference I still use a solution of India-
rubber, which never fails in my hands. I would also strongly
recommend, especially for large plates, previous to development,
the application of dilute spirit, not so much on account of the extra
safety of cohesion as for other advantages, which are obvious.
With regard to the numerous accelerators which of late have
been suggested in the development, &c., of dry plates, more espe¬
cially the process under consideration, I am inclined for the
present to rely for sensitiveness more on the character of the
collodion, the judicious use of restraining acid, and the presence of
honey, decoction of malt, or similar substance in the preservative.
What the vapour of ammonia may effect, as communicated by the
correspondent of the American Journal of Photography, it is difficult
to say.
With the above conditions fulfilled, the tannin process exceeds
the “ resin ” or any other published process in rapidity, certainty,
and excellence of result.
COATING AND SENSITISING THE PLATE.t
By M. D. Van Monckhoven.
The nitrate of silver bath is prepared by dissolving 2| ounces nitrate
of silver (fused) in 35 ounces of distilled or rain water, filtering the
liquid, and pouring it into a gutta-percha tray. The collodion is
spread upon the glass, which is presently plunged into the nitrate
of silver bath : the film whitens by the transformation of the iodide
of cadmium into iodide of silver, which is sensitive to light, and it
is in this state that it should be exposed in the camera.
Such is a general statement of the process : we will FIG- 30-
now enter somewhat into detail.
The collodion should be contained in a bottle with a _
wide mouth (fig. 30 ), which mouth should always be \
carefully cleaned before pouring the contents on the [! j 1
glass.
The box containing the cleaned glasses being placed
in the dark chamber, a plate is withdrawn, and the dust
removed from the polished side by means of a large
badger-hair brush ; then holding the plate by one
corner (fig . 31J in the right hand, the collodion is
poured upon it from the left hand, commencing at the
corner B. It is then allowed to flow by inclining the
* See Nicol’s formula in The British Journal Almanac for this year.
+ From Traits Populaire dc Photographie.
FIG. 31.
COATING THE rLATB.
plate from left to right, and finally draining back into a separate
bottle from the corner D. If, at this moment, the plate is examined
in a particular light it
will be 6een that it is
covered with an infinity
of small ridges in the di¬
rection B D [fig. 32.); but
on inclining the plate
rapidly from left to right
these ridges will disap¬
pear. As soon a6 tbi
happens the plate should
be immersed in the ni¬
trate of silver bath ; but
it is necessary always to
wait a few seconds (and
how many experience
. b , u alone can indicate pre-
cisely) before the film is sufficiently set fig. 32.
for immersion in the nitrate of silver EECEIV1-VG THE collodion into a
bath. We would say, for the guidance
of the reader, that there are certain
characteristics by which it may be
determined if the right moment has
arrived. We will enumerate them : —
1. If the plate be immersed in the
bath while the film is still moist, it
(the film) will become detached in
fragments ; and, in this case, it will
become necessary to filter the bath.
2. If the immersion take place at
the right time the film whitens gradu¬
ally.
3. If, on the other hand, the film be
allowed to become too dry before im¬
mersion, it whitens instantly, and a
good proof is never obtainable under
these circumstances.
Up to a certain point it is not diffi¬
cult to determine when the plate should
be immersed in the nitrate of silver
bath. It will be found if the plate be looked at in a certain
light that it has assumed a dull unpolished appearance. This,
which is the right moment, will be arrived at in summer probably
in about twenty seconds, while in winter it will probably take
sixty seconds.
fig. 33. Nitrate of silver bath is very easy to prepare,"
apparatus for filter- auci the consideration of it shall not detain us
ing nitrame^of siLVBR iong< jp js quite as well for those whose opera-
i ti°ns are conducted on a somewhat extended
scale, to have a considerable quantity of bath
solution, and keep it in a large bottle to which
is adapted a funnel and filter (fig. 33). The
same filter will last a long time; and. on leaving
work, the nitrate of silver bath which has been
used during the day is poured into the filter, and
in this way a solution in proper condition is
always maintained at hand.
For the nitrate of silver bath, dishes in gutta¬
percha, porcelain, or wood with glass bottoms,
are used (figs. 34,35, and38). Gutta-percha dishe
are, perhaps, most frequently employed. As
vertical baths in glass and gutta-percha are not
much used, we shall say only a few fig. 34 and fig. 35.
words in reference to them. dishes re porcelain and wood,
The reason why we recommend a
gutta-percha dish in preference to one
in porcelain is, that the film itself can^g
be better seen, as also the impurities
which float in the solution.
There are several methods of im¬
mersing the plates in the nitrate of
silver bath ; and as this is one of
the most important points in the pre¬
sent chapter, we will pause to consider
it somewhat in detail.
The dish containing the nitrate of
silver bath being much larger than the plate, is raised at one end
(fig. 39) in order that the solution shall accumulate at the opposite
* Iu Xote G we give details for the preparation of nitrate of silver bath.
328
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1862
FIG. 38.
GUTTA-l’EBCBA dish.
end; the plate, previously coated
with collodion, is placed against
the other edge, and held there by
means of the finger or a silver
wire hook ; lowering then the plate
by a continuous motion, and allowing
the dish at the same time to assume
the horizontal position, the liquid
flows at once, and without stopping, over the whole of the plate.
After this the dish should be raised and lowered during a minute or
so ; then introducing underneath the plate a hook made of flat¬
tened silver wire {fig. 36), and by its means withdrawing the plate
from the bath, it will be seen to be fig. 36. fig. 37. and fig. 40.
covered by a number of veins which dippers.
show that the nitrate of silver bath
has not thoroughly penetrated the film,
and that, therefore, the plate should be
raised and lowered alternately until 1
the silver solution flows evenly and |
smoothly over the whole surface of
the film.
It is at this point that the plate
should be withdrawn, the fingers being
covered with India-rubber finger-stalls,
in the absence of which box-wood for¬
ceps or an American clip should be
used, as the nitrate of silver blackens
the hands very strongly (Note 7). The
plate is allowed to drain from the excess of adherent nitrate of
silver solution, and is then placed in the camera frame. We shall
treat of what follows in its proper time and place.
FiG. 39.
FIG. 41 AND FIG. 42.
VERTICAL GLASS BATH.
This method of operating requires only a small quantity of
nitrate of silver bath solution, which is accordingly exhausted in a
proportionately shorter time. The plan we are about to describe
requires, on the contrary, a large bulk of solution, which has the
advantage of becoming very slowly exhausted. Moreover, a
vessel may be used which is only just large enough to allow the
plate to be immersed and withdrawn with freedom.
The solution is contained in
a vertical bath, either of glass
or gutta-percha {fig. 41) ; and,
by means of a hook or dipper of
gutta-percha, which is intro¬
duced on the lower side of the
vessel, the plate is immersed
by one continuous motion into
the fluid, raising and lowering
it alternately as before. The
plate is finally withdrawn ready
for exposure, when the ridges
or lines thereon have disap¬
peared.
This plan is not now gene¬
rally in use, and the following
will be found a better one : —
Two silver hooks are first pro¬
cured, made of flat sheet silver
and bifurcate, of the shape
shown in fig. 37. The nitrate
of silver bath being contained in a dish {fig. 43) of gutta-percha,
the plate is held between the two hooks, the film being upper¬
most, and plunged at one stroke beneath the liquid, taking care at
the same time that one end is immersed before the other, for unless
this be done the liquid will spirt out of the dish. The plate
being once fairly covered by the solution, one of the hooks is
removed; and with the other the plate is raised and lowered, in
order to get rid of the veins or greasiness of which we have spoken
above.
Instead of two hooks, it may be
found more advantageous to use
the two combined in one, as shown
in fig. 43. We may observe, in
passing, that the silver hooks may
he replaced by others made of
whale-bone. In order to bend these,
it is necessary to hold them in the
flame of a spirit-lamp until they
bend, and to allow them to cool,
maintaining pressure in the proper
curve by means of the fingers, until
it is quite cold.
Whichever method is followed in
immersing the plate in the nitrate
of silver bath, it is indispensably
necessary that it be the result of one
steady ancl continuous motion ; for if this be not the case lines will
be formed upon the film, which will become apparent very soon in
irreparable stains.
To preserve the hands from the action of the nitrate of silver,
some amateurs furnish themselves with India-rubber finger-stalls,
or with gloves of the same material ; but such appliances will be
found very inconvenient ; and those who wish to be successful in
photography should make up their minds, before going into it, to
sacrifice the delicacy of their hands and the whiteness of their
shirt-cuffs.
We presume it is hardly necessary to observe that, at the time
of sensitising the plate, the room should be made quite dark — an
operation easily accomplished by moving the shutter in front of
the yellow glass until the light is almost entirely excluded. With
a little practice it will be found comparatively easy to work in
absolute darkness.
As soon as the plate is placed in the camera-back (we shall
return to this point), the window and door may be opened, and the
bath covered with a plate of glass, in order to preserve it from
dust.
A OHAT ABOUT GLASS HOUSES.
How very apt we all are to attribute to some one cause effects
really due to the combined action of many causes ! Like that
popular old sage who confidently announced the building of a
church steeple as the cause from which sprang the Goodwin Sands,
we are never at a loss with our reason why. Tell us of a great
crime, and few of us will fail to name the cause thereof. Tell us
that Mr. So-and-so has failed in business, and we at once lay our
finger on the rock he split upon, and are “ not at all surprised.”
Tell us that Jack or Joe cannot succeed in life despite their most
earnest and untiring efforts, and we wise folk shake the solemn
head and sagely lament the one peculiar weakness or error to which
Jack or Joe owe all their numerous and heart-sickening failures.
For everything on earth we must have some one cause. So it is in
photography. You have a certain amount of failure which puzzles
and bewilders you. Recalling the various stages of your process
and carefully retracing all the steps by which you arrived at cer¬
tain unsatisfactory results, you feel lost in the attempt to account
for the same. You pass in review your glass cleaning, your collo¬
dion, your silver bath, your treatment of the plate previous to ex¬
posure, the camera, the lens, the developer, the developing, &c.,
&c. ; but none of these aid you in solving the enigma. At last you
appeal to your photographic friends. Are they equally at a loss ?
Not a bit of it. • Smith says at once, with a condescending smile of
superior wisdom, “Of course, my dear fellow, it is all due to the
condition of your bath : it is too weak.” Jones unhesitatingly
affirms that you should “add a little silver to the bath.” Brown
says briefly, “ Your developer’s too strong ; ” and Robinson says,
with no more waste of time or thought, “ Strengthen the de¬
veloper 1” . ■ . ;
At length you discover, after long and painful experience,
and many wearisome but futile efforts, that you are successful.
Everything has been modified. The bath has been strengthened or
its ef €\
FIG. 43.
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
329
weakened to suit your light ; your collodion has been modified to
suit your bath ; the developer has been altered to suit both ; and
work becomes a pleasure instead of a plague. You can then turn
your thoughts to the art’s more purely artistic aims, and you be¬
come a miracle of success to all who are passing through the same
troubles and discouragements from which you have so happily
emerged.
Then there comes to you “ one more unfortunate,” and he envies
your success, and makes a very earnest, touching, melancholy
appeal to your Christian charity ; reaping the fruit of which, ho
writes down full particulars of your process, and carries away all
your formulfe in a book. But, strange to relate, he does not suc¬
ceed in any greater degree than he did before doing all this. So
he calls on you again, and, striving to appear as unsuspicious,
confiding, and ready of belief as he was at first, cross-questions you
in an indirect way, which says as plainly as possible — “ I don’t
think you told me the truth, or at any rate the whole truth, or how
is it that I, working exactly as you tell me you work, and using
precisely the same means, cannot arrive at the same results ?” The
simple fact is, your disciple has overlooked one important consi¬
deration — say his glass-room and your glass-room are two different
things ; and while you have been modifying and harmonising,
dovetailing and uniting, as it were, one part with another, until the
more or less perfect whole has been secured, he, on the contrary, has
been working with antagonistic elements. Nor is this case at all an
uncommon one ; for, as a rule, we overlook the important part light
plays in regulating the quality or character of our productions.
We continually witness the generosity with which our successful
, brethren contribute to some photographic friend, acquaintance,
society, or journal what they evidently consider as a full, true, and
particular account of all their doings photographic ; but we very
seldom find them describing the peculiar quality, quantity, or
arrangement of light, which is to their process what the character of
Hamlet is to the tragedy of “Hamlet.” And this brings us to the
threshold of our present bit of chat, which is tobe about glass-houses.
First, with regard to the aspect of a glass-house. — -Well, we are
pretty well agreed that for steadiness and uniformity a good, even
sky-diffused north light is lest, although most of us have seen first-
class pictures produced in houses having all sorts of aspects, and
perhaps have heard the proprietors thereof argue each one in
favour of his own. We are not quite so well agreed as to the south
being the worst aspect, although it is generally described as the
worst. I have heard more than one good operator assert, on the
contrary, that when well managed it is the very best, giving more
detail and transparency in the shadows of a negative, and enabling
them to take pictures of good average quality, when those working
with the north aspect could not secure anything at all passable.
One of the most successful amateur portraitists I know — Mr. N. E.
Fitch — works entirely with a south light; and I remember reading
in one of the American journals of a gentleman who, by using
moveable screens of pale blue paper, sloped at an angle which cut
off the direct rays and only allowed the reflected rays to reach the
sitter, overcame the strong glare of a southern aspect, and con¬
verted a room which he had just despaired of making at all service¬
able into a very famous one, in which he could secure light enough
for work, by simply removing the screens, in the dullest weather,
and by replacing the screens could work with as much ease on the
very brightest day. The method of overcoming the ^difficul ties of
this aspect are not quite met by this or any other plan, however,
for the changes in the quality and quantity of direct light must be
far greater and more frequent than they could possibly be in
working with the diffused light of the northern sky. Mr. Fitch
meets these same difficulties in a somewhat different way. To
explain this we shall need a diagram : —
The dotted line gives the place of the glass. The second line
under the dotted line indicates that portion of the glass which is
ground or stippled to diffuse and weaken the light before it reaches
the sitter ; and the long arrows show the line which the more
purely direct light traverses in its passage to the sitter. To com¬
plete this description, I must add that the loftiest portion of the
room is twelve feet and the lowest seven feet from the floor, and
that its length is twenty-two feet. You will see by this that a very
large quantity of such subordinate light as finds its way through
the ground or stippled glass is present in the room, and reaches
the 6itter from the top and front, and that the entire absence of
side light is more than compensated for by the long angle at which
the direct or principal light is made to travel to the sitter. The
glass-room used by Mr. T. R. Williams, again, is devoid of side light,
and is, in other respects, very similar to that of Mr. Fitch. There
is also no small amount of similarity between the productions of
these two very clever photographers, which is a somewhat signifi¬
cant fact in reference to our present subject.
The front light, although such a belief is by no means popular,
I have always held to be a very valuable addition to the glass-
room, serving as it does to secure roundness and to penetrate
and give detail to all, even the very deepest, shadows. When
associated with side light of course this front light must be a subor¬
dinate light , weakened either by its distance from the sitter, or by
being modified with ground, or dark blue, or stippled glass, as it is
to some extent even in Mr. Fitch’s house ; but its importance is
undoubtedly great. This is now becoming generally recognised.
Mr. Window, a very clever and thoughtful photographer, has
recently built a house in Baker Street having this front light. Mr.
Fry’s recently-built house in the city has it; and I could name
many other good authorities who, in building or altering their
glass-rooms, have taken care to secure a properly modified amount
of front light.
Mr. Fitch, speaking of his arrangement of light, said, at the
meeting of the South London Photographic Society : — Although
the aspect of my room is certainly not the best, on account of the
sun, I am almost of opinion that it produces greater roundness
of feature than any other, and should certainly choose the same
aspect in building another.” I think Mr. Fitch was very right
in asserting that his arrangement of a glass-room gave “ greater
roundness of feature” than any other ; but I think he was decidedly
wrong in supposing this to be due to the aspect of his room, and
think it may be more safely traced to the absence of side light,
which, with so large an amount of diffused sunlight from the top
and front, would be altogether a mistake. It may be remembered,
perhaps, that in my now concluded Letters to a \oung Photo¬
grapher I pointed out that shade gave a_ retiring effect, and light
an advancing effect. This cannot be denied. Now, by the method
of lighting adopted by Mr. Fitch, all the shadows must necessarily
fall upon the retiring surfaces, and all the light upon the ad¬
vancing or more prominent features — a fact in itself sufficient to
account for the great roundness and relief displayed in all this
gentleman’s very excellent productions, without seeking for a
reason in the peculiar aspect of his glass-room.
The objections usually urged against a front light are, to use
the words of a contemporary, that “it has a tendency to cive
a flat, broad effect to the features, and make the eyes light,
fishy, and expressionless.” If the direct front light enters at a
level with the face, and is not properly subordinated to the loftier
light, this is undoubtedly a true statement of the case; but we
must not entirely ignore a very valuable application; simply
because thoughtless people have misapplied it. A front light fall¬
ing at a long angle upon the face gives roundness, relief, and force
of effect, even when, owing to the large amount of diffused light
made use of, the shadows are so delicate and soft as to make one
suspect that a weak, flat, feeble image must be their necessary re
suit. You may get the strongest of black shadows, and most
vigorous and well-marked gradations of tone, without obtaining
anything like the same amount of relief and modelling to be found
in the productions of Messrs. Williams and Fitch* in which (to
speak in a general way) the deepest shades are the merest touches
of what is scarcely black, and the great mass of shadow is tenderly
delicate and soft in all its numerous and insensibly-blended
gradations. .
Another argument, once urged by a friend of mine against the
use of a front light, was, that artists invariably painted portraits
with a side-light, and that both sides of the face would receive
from the front light equal portions of light and shadow. This
was not a very deep argument, because the artist’s side-light
• I mention the names of these gentlemen because I am most familiar with their pro¬
ductions, and not necessarily because there are no other professional and amateur
productions thus characterised,— A H. W.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOG R A P H Y.
[September 1, 1862
0
always enters in front of a sitter, and above the level of the sitter’s
head, and is, therefore, a top light. The amount of light, more¬
over, will always be weakest upon the side of a face which, in a
three-quarter view, is farthest from its source ; while in the case
of a full face, in which both of its sides are equally distant, there
is certainly nothing less picturesque in the two sides being equally
illuminated than there is in an equal division of light and dark in a
very common “half-and-half” way. As an illustration of a really
side-light acting practically as a top light I may, in passing, just
state that in the glass-house of Mr. Goodman, well known for his
beautiful artistic studies and subject groups, there was no glass in
the roof at all. But the room was so lofty that the light from the
side fell upon the model at an angle which at once converted it
into a top light.*
As I am the first, I believe, to argue in favour of a front light in
the pages of a photographic journal, it is very possible that I have
overlooked arguments which some of my readers may be prepared
to urge in opposition thereto. If so, let us ventilate our reasons
in the correspondent’s pages. A little friendly controversy, carried
on as warmly as need be, but with a kindly view of the common
ends and aims which should influence its spirit, will not, I am
sure, be objected to either by the Editor or readers of The British
Journal of Photography.
I have much more to chat about in connexion with this subject,
which is a most important one by-the-bye, but must defer what I
have to say until “ our next.” A. H. WALL.
INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTER.
By H. Petschler,
The annexed rough sketch illustrates a very simple and most
efficient shutter, which I lately introduced to the notice of the
Manchester Photographic Society.
It consists of a turned wooden disc, about three quarters of an
inch thick, and six inches diameter, hollowed out in the centre a,
about a quarter of an inch deep, forming a rim A.
In the centre of the hollow a brass disc is made to revolve, two
quarters of which are cut out at opposite sides: this forms the
shutter B. C is a spring fixed to the outer wood rim. D is a pin
fixed f° the revolving shutter. E is a spring catch, fitting into a
lack I. G G are two holes in the wood disc, cut to fit on two
steieoscopic lenses. It may thus be adapted to any lenses already
fixed to the camera. J J
I he diagram illustrates the shutter as being* set, the two seg¬
ments of the revolving disc at B B covering the openings of the
* nsf s G (r. Hie rim A excludes the light from between the
•s iu tei ana the wood disc, both of which are painted black,
icn Hatching for an opportunity to expose keep your finger on
io \iw i at E. A slight pressure will release the rack F from the
catch, and the spring C, pressing the pin I), will spin the shutter
inuiif , and lock itself again on the opposite side on the spring.
ie exposure may be accelerated or diminished by straining the
spi mg more or less, the catch being set more forward or backward
m ie .ac \. If a longer exposure be desired than the spring will
allow, the hand is made use of to turn the shutter.
cntering'if to light got from a glass roof, not
The advantages which I claim for this shutter are — that it can
cause no shaking during exposure, as it revolves on its centre ;
that it gives equal exposure over the whole opening; its simplicity
and easy working; its easy application to any lenses or camera;
and, when no mounts for lenses are used , the opening may serve as the
stop.
[Mr. Petschler is evidently unaware that this is identical in prin
ciple and almost identical in form with Mr. Shadbolt’s arrangement,
exhibited at the London Photographic Society, 3rd April, 1860. —
See Society’s Journal,, vol. YI., page 193; this Journal, vol. VII.,
page 115, and vol. VIII., page 128. — Ed.]
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS.
Executed by Dr. R. L. Maddox.
We mentioned casually in our last issue the receipt of some
admirably-executed specimens of photographs of microscopic
objects produced by Dr. Maddox; but want of space precluded
our giving at the time any extended description of them.
The discovery of living animals in the nitrate of silver bath was
an event of at least as much interest to students of natural his¬
tory as to photographers, and readers of both classes, no doubt,
made a note of the paper which appeared in our number for May
15, page 189, of the current volume, descriptive of the surround¬
ing phenomena. We endeavoured to give our readers an idea of
the interesting strangers then introduced to their notice by means
of an excellent wood engraving, very carefully cut after one of Dr.
Maddox’s photographs; but though when properly printed the en¬
graving was an exceedingly accurate representation of the original,
the exigencies of a steam printing-press precluded the possibility
of handling so delicate a cut with the care needful to reproduce
all its details. Those, therefore, of our readers who are naturalists
will be pleased to learn that it is in contemplation to have them
re-engraved in a style more suited to such delicate subjects; but,
should any insuperable difficulties present themselves, the photo¬
graphs will be published, which will be more valuable to those
unaccustomed to the use of the microscope than even the objects
themselves — for they are not mere silhouettes of the originals, but
abounding in the most delicate detail, as well as being clear and
sharp in outline. There is a regular series of illustrations, consis¬
ting of male, female, and young, together with some of the special
organs, such as those of prehension — some subjects being executed
under different degrees of magnifying power, by which a clearer
idea of their nature is conveyed ; and, as standards of comparison,
two other species of Acari, viz., that of the cheese mite, and that
singular one known as the acarus of the Abielle perce-bois, are in¬
cluded in the series.
In addition to the preceding there are some few illustrations of
the siliceous fossil remains of the Polycystina from Barbadoes,
together with several diaiomaceous forms which accompany
them. These are executed in a style that gives a far better idea of
the brilliant originals than any photographic representations that
we have hitherto seen, and some specimens (proofs upon albumen-’
ised paper) bear with advantage a considerable magnifying power,
even to the extent of twenty diameters, under which further de¬
tails imperceptible to the unassisted eye become revealed — a fact
which affords indisputable testimony to the very unusual excel¬
lence of the negatives. We would not be misunderstood as
asserting that details are shown such as we have described exceed¬
ing what can be discovered by the eye alone in the microscope,
but further than can be detected without the aid of a lens either in
the negative or positive impression therefrom.
We have some excellent representations of Diatoms from other
sources also. Several frustules of the Triceratium favus (very
characteristically rendered) ; front views of the Surirella bifrons,
from Lough Mourne; the Terpsinoe musica, from Mexico, under two
kinds of illumination; and three specimens of Coscinodiscus , from
Melville Bay. These are all taken with a one-fifth-of-an-inch ob¬
jective by Smith, Beck, and Beck.
Of objects of other classes there are some very promising speci¬
mens, though one or two have presented difficulties not yet
thoroughly overcome ; for instance, there is a Zygnema (spirogyra)
which presents no real indication of its cylindrical nature, though
sufficiently recognisable by any one acquainted with the object.
The pith of the stem of the Hydrangea is a little confused in
appearance owing to the appreciable thickness of the section
(transverse), hut the nearer surface is very sharp and distinct.
The red colour of two specimens of marine algce has interfered
materially, together with the thickness of the object itself, to pre¬
vent the successful photographic representation of one of them,
September i, 186^]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
331
though we believe it to be a Polysiphonia ; the other, apparently
a Corallina, is, however, well defined, in spite of the difficulty men¬
tioned.
We are much pleased that so able a manipulator as Dr. Maddox
has turned his attention to a branch of our art affording- so wide
a field for the exercise of acuteness and skill as the delineation of
microscopic objects, and we may add, also, which promises so fair
a prospect of remuneration to the successful operator. We may
mention, before closing this notice, that already this same gentle¬
man has produced for the stereoscope photographic representations
of an object as seen in the binocular microscope — that latest
improvement by Mr. Wenham of physiologists’ most important
instrument of research.
In conclusion, we may observe that the specimens above de¬
scribed are to be obtained of Mr. Baker, High Holborn, London,
and of several other optical and philosophical instrument makers,
with the exception of the Acari : these are at present not ready
for distribution, but we may shortly be able to state when they
will be ready.
PHOTOGRAPHIC THEORY APPLIED TO RESEARCHES
RELATIVE TO ACCELERATORS.*
By Eugene S auger.
The following are the principal results arising from experiments
that I have made conformably with the theoretical hypothesis
which I advanced in my last communication.
Reducing agents can be employed as accelerating substances,
but they have a tendency, more or less energetic, to fog the proofs
in consequence of a reducing action which operates even before
exposure.
Phosphite of potash employed in the collodion affords only good
results, the phosphoric acid which is set free combines with the
oxide of silver produced by the reduction of the nitrate, and pre¬
vents the fogging : the time of exposure is reduced one-half by its
use. Hypophosphite of soda has afforded me similar results; but,
as all the hypophospliites are soluble, it is needful to employ it in
a different manner.
The best accelerating substances are the oxidating ones ;
chlorate of potash, in presence of free nitric acid, gives instanta¬
neous proofs, with clouds perfectly rendered. This sal t may be used
in the collodion, and even in the silver bath, which, when pure, it
does not even make turbid. The proportionate rapidity is as
follows : —
On a dull, rainy day, collodion sensitised with iodide and bro¬
mide of cadmium gave a good negative in twelve seconds.
The same collodion with nitrite of potash required an exposure
of only seven seconds, and with chlorate of potash from four to
five seconds.
I expected good results from the chlorites, but I sought in vain
to obtain them : their use entails the necessity of certain precau¬
tions, especially with the ammoniacal compounds.
M. Berland, a photographer at Montbeliard, has been so obliging
as to repeat all my experiments, and with a perfect agreement as
to the results attained. I should add that I operate with a neutral
silver bath and a collodion containing an excess of iodine. I prefer
this arrangement because the chemical affinity of iodine for silver
opposes a very slight impediment to the decomposition of the
nitrate by light when the plate is left a sufficiently long time in
the silver bath.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES.
By Samuel Highley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
All who may be impressed with a vivid reminiscence of the fairy
structure of 1851, on making their first entry into the present Ex¬
hibition Building must be stricken with a feeling of heart-sickness
and disappointment, similar to that experienced by emigrants from
lands abounding with tree-covered hills and luxuriant plains who
find themselves landed in a country monotonous in unfojiaged
levels, where there will be nothing of the poetry of nature in the
surrounding of their new Home to refresh the soul during the hours
of toil, or after the labours of the day are done.
Who can ever forget Paxton’s crystal hive, suggesting a design
begotten in a dream of fairyland — a Palace framed of spiders’
web, with the interlacings filled with entangled films of dew — or its
* From La Revue Pliotograpldque.
endless vista, dotted with many a trophy and triumph of Science,
Art, and Manufactures, extending apparently to infinity, typical of
the endless labours of man and of ground yet to be conquered !
Who can have traversed that building without bearing away an
undying recollection of certain objects, such as The Amazon , The
Mourners , The Stuttgardt Horses, The Greek Slave, or the glorious
roll of the organs! Can the same be said of the present Exhibi¬
tion ? I think not ! For, whether viewed from the inside or from
the out, it is unsatisfactory from its want of grandeur, even though
the interior be wonderfully modified since the day of opening,
when the nave was an utter chaos of pinnacled and domed cases,
grouped without any reference to symmetry, and without a single
line of avenue wherewith to guide the eye to the extent of the
building. It is not that noble groups of statuary are wanting on
this occasion; but the space and the flood of light that contributed
so much to do such objects justice is not provided for in the pre¬
sent structure — in 1851 such groups as we have indicated were
isolated, therefore arrested attention; now, nearly every piece of
sculpture is hemmed in with incongruous objects — nor are the
arrangements such as to allow of the larger musical instruments
producing such grand and impressive effects as in the magnificent
nave of the Ilyde-park edifice.
Those whose duty or pleasure it may be to compare the pro¬
ducts of one country with those of another will soon feel convinced
that the Royal Commissioners have succeeded in establishing under
their rule the perfection of higgledy-piggledy, if they have failed
in many other of their duties. Let any one attempt to discover
the locale of the photographs, the chemical products, or the philo¬
sophical instruments scattered over the building in many a nook
and corner, and they will find the search more difficult than that
after Gammer Gurton’s needle, and the labour as eternal as that
of Sisyphus.
It is to be hoped that the difficulties in the way of making com¬
parisons having been “found,” will, according to Captain Cuttle's
rule, “be made a note on,” and that at all future Exhibitions it
be insisted that objects of the same nature, to whatever country
they belong, shall be classed together ; for we hold that facilities
for comparison ought to be one of the principal features of the
arrangements of any such gathering together of objects as that
now in existence ; and we believe that such an arrangement could
be planned that all objects of a class could be grouped together,
without separating individual contributions from the country to
which it belonged — in fact such an arrangement that, at will, the
collective contributions of a country could be examined, or a class
of objects contributed by many countries compared, and thus the
prejudices of our Continental neighbours could be reconciled with
the predominant wishes of our own countrymen.
The first portion of the building that claims the attention of the
photographic visitor is that devoted to Class II., wherein will be
found the following exhibitors, whose cases (as a rule 1 contain fine
samples of the chemicals used in photography; such as recrystal¬
lised iodine, re crystallised nitrate of silver, cyanide of potassium
— commercial, pure, and crystallised — gallic and pyrogallic acids,
tannin, hyposulphite of soda, the iodides and bromides of potas¬
sium, cadmium, kc. These are exhibited by M< ssrs. Bailey. Cox
and Gould, Dunn and Hcathfield, Hopkin and Williams. Huskisson,
Morson and Son, and Squire and Co., and will be found in a group
at the top of the incline in the Eastern Annexe, where the path
diverges to the Agricultural Implements on the left, and the Sub¬
stances Used for Food on the right hand.
Fine samples of the Chemicals Used in Photography will also be
found in the cases of Messrs. Blaud and Co., Cox, Hopkin and
Williams, Horne and Thornthwaitc, and Roucli, in Class XIV. in
the scientific cockloft, and also in many parts of the building in
the collections of foreign countries ; but a notice en passant is all
that is necessary of this section of the Photographic Department,
as little can be gained from a mere inspection of such specimens
beyond what an experienced eye can gather as to their value, and
their history has already been given in these pages in the valuable
articles of Mr. Martin.
To assist our studies of Class II. we naturally turned to the
pages of the Official Descriptive Illustrated Catalogue of that
department, or, rather, what we expected to find the Official
Descriptive Catalogue, bearing in mind the valuable production
of 1851. We were again doomed to disappointment ; for, upon
turning over page after page of this official abortion, we found that
its more fitting title would have been “ The Royal Commissioners
Exhibition Advertiser,” for as neither matter nor illustration
were admitted without being handsomely paid for by exhibitors
desiring a description of their goods, the result may be anticipated
332
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September I, 1802
by any person possessed of common sense who will give live
minutes’ thoug'ht to the matter, v
If it be desirable to produce an official description of the articles
contributed to an International Exhibition — and, for obvious
reasons, there is no question but that such a Catalogue ought to
form part of the programme of every such Exhibition — making a
proviso that the exhibitors themselves must pay the cost of its
production is a very certain way of attaining that official goal, —
“How not to do it!” How is it possible to secure, under such
circumstances, the co-operation of a mixed class of men of many
nations, who are exhibitors for varied motives ? The majority,
either from want of means or will, could not, or would not (as the
result proves), send in descriptions of their goods, if it be a sine qua
non that they must pay at the rate of five guineas a page for
insertion !
For the Catalogue of 1851 every exhibitor was requested to send
in a description of his goods, subject to the supervision and curtail¬
ment of competent editors, but free of charge (except in the case of
illustrations). The result was a work that is full of matter, and
that will be valuable to all time. The production of 1862 is little
more than a reprint, in large type, on fine paper, of the shilling
Catalogue. The descriptions of articles are generally imbued with
the advertising element, and contrast very unfavourably with the
style of matter in the Catalogue of 1851.
Even if we turn to the illustrations they are, in many instances,
discreditable to the work, which, emanating under the auspices of
a Royal Commission, might fairly be expected to attain to the
highest standard of excellence. At page 40 we have a ridiculous
cut of a blacking-brush and blacking-bottle, wielded by a pair of
swarthy arms ; at page 45 a charming group of “flaming fusee”
boxes, supported on one side by a gentleman lighting his cigar with
a fusee, and on the other by a man at the helm lighting his pipe
with the same — a very fitting cut for the back page of Bell's Life,
or even the advertisement pages proper of the Illustrated Cata¬
logue, for it will be seen that the work is divided into advertising
pages proper, and improper. At pages 64, 71, and 79, we are fa¬
voured with artistic and unartistic designs of sauce and soda-water
bottles — one group occupying the best part of a page. At page
99 there is a perfect eruption of brushes, “ scrubbing,” “ deck
clamp,” “ horse water,” “horse body,” clown to “Scotch scrub,”
which last we take to be an invention of the celebrated and
philanthropic Duke of Argyle of posting renown. At page 112
there is a fancy portrait of a Civet Cat that will enchant Dr.
Edward Gray, of the British Museum, who is a Juror in the Educa¬
tional Class, and who will doubtless be impressed with the progress
of ideas on popular Zoology since 1851. At pages 97 and 101 much
space is given (or rather paid for) to two large cuts of the Council
Medal of 1851, the connexion of which with the Descriptive Cata¬
logue of 1862, however, not being quite apparent. And, lastly, the
best part of a page is given to a representation of the top of a tooth
powder pot, and “ such small deer.” We feel quite assured that if
this i which should be an important record of a great gathering of
the inventions of nations') had been confided to the care of such
houses as Longmans’ or Murray’s, either would at once have ex¬
cised half the matter and most of the illustrations that have been
“ approved f by a Royal Commission, in its feverish desire that
something “ should pay.”
(firbibiliait (Snssip;.
THE BRITISH LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHERS.
Axi) now we are in the presence of an army of conquerors. Breese,
Bedfoul, V ilson, Blanchard, England, Mudd, Robinson, Frith, and
a cioud of other landscape artists stand foremost among the photo-
giaplnc victors greater in number, higher in rank, than the land¬
scape photographers of any other country. AVe have some glorious
undscapos in the Trench Department; hut how few they seem in
proportion to the number of exhibitors when we look around our
o" ii department ! Crowded together in their small lofty space —
huddled up with all sorts of incongruous objects in the narrow
passages between the screens— they yet attract the eye and enchain
the attention.
1 1 1 1 :cr\cncc^ jn publishing matters must have anticipated the failure oi
Illustrate-. 7 ' ‘ 11 ure; for we find that the title or the production stands “Official
thu- n r w o : TU' ,10t> ,as.in 1361, “ Official Descriptive asd Illus-
for this i0<,j,|10°e1 Are the Commissioners indebted to the acumen of Mr. Cundall
♦ xhibitors must provide tbeir own woodcuts or engravings which if anvroved bv
*W *• tomw." r<* w'o’rtJSSi. IlSSIJ
Look at the visitors crowding eagerly to get their turn at the
stereoscopes which contain those wondrously beautiful pictures
taken by Mr. Breese, and listen to their exclamations of pleasure
and delight.
Hear the heavy sigh of enjoyment with which that enchanted,
sentimental-looking youth contemplates Wilson’s rolling masses of
sun -illumined vapour, and traces the golden path which, seeming
to flicker and sparkle as he looks, carries his eager eyes over the
vast plain of restlessly-heaving waters to the far-away horizon.
Then listen to the loud, hearty laugh with which that “young man
from the country ” prefaces his honest, vulgar expressions of won¬
der, and anxiously inquires after “ our Jane,” that she, too, may
share the delightful sight which has transported him with more
than magic speed to a familiar scene “ at whoam,” and tickled him
through pleasure into laughter, because it is “ so loike.” In the one
case poetry asserts its influence, in the other fidelity of resemblance
— in both we see how universal our art is in its varied and power¬
ful appeals. There is an artist enraptured with Blanchard’s exqui¬
site bits of picturesque sky and water ; there an architect pondering
thoughtfully before Bedford’s architectural productions; here a
geologist carefully scrutinising the pictured rocks of some wildly-
romantic scene, by Mudd, perhaps ; and yonder an antiquary
absorbed in thoughts called up by some lone relic-ruins of an
earlier age.
On a crowded day at the Exhibition, and in the course of a very
short visit to the Photographic Department, all these and many
other classes of deeply-interested visitors may be seen, and a lesson
read which may do those who have thought lightly and spoken
contemptuously of photography’s mission and value no small good.
Mr. AV. AV. Rouch exhibits some very charming little pictures,
which are full of space, aerial delicacy, light, tone, and clearness.
They are sharp without being hard, forcible without having staring
contrasts, brilliant without lacking repose and harmony. Some,
however, are under-exposed, and some have glaring white skies,
which is a great pity.
Some capital large Talbotype pictures are exhibited by Brecknell
Turner. They lack transparency and detail in the shadows, and
are somewhat chalky in the lights ; indeed, some are very chalky.
Good, had, and indifferent specimens are exhibited by Colonel
Shakespeare. Some curious smears and streaks which mysteriously
deform some tolerably good landscapes by the Plon. AV. Vernon I
suppose were intended for clouds. Mr. Branfill exhibits some very
good pictures, one of which — a view of a rustic road winding be¬
tween trees — from a tannin plate, is a gem of a picture. Some of
this gentleman’s pictures are rather under-exposed. Ebbage’s
photographs are hard and ugly. R. Gordon shows some beautiful
specimens. Cade, of Ipswich, has some tolerably good photo¬
graphs, which are, however, deficient in transparency and detail in
the shadows. S. Thompson has some excellent pictures. Side-
botham contributes some exquisitely delicate, soft, and harmonious
pictures. Artistically beautiful pictures are exhibited by Campbell,
of Ayr, hut most of these also exhibit effects due to under-expo¬
sure. Mudd eloquently asserts in his works the beauty and power
of his art. An interesting view of Chichester Cathedral after the
fall of the spire comes from J. Russell. Sir A. Macdonald contri¬
butes many specimens, good, commonplace, and very good : in
several the great fault lies in a striking want of transparency in the
shadows, and a general want of contrast and relief. Mr. Brown-
rigg, of Dublin, exhibits some pictures which, with one or two ex¬
ceptions, are decidedly commonplace. The London Stereoscopic
Company’s contributions vary in quality, from the magnificent ste¬
reographs of Mr. England to others which range from very good
to very queer indeed. Dixon Piper’s pictures are remarkably fine.
Vernon Heath’s pictures are very varied in their degrees of
merit. Some are as fine as artist could desire — full of beauties — •
and all display most excellent photography. In most of this
gentleman’s productions, however, there is a want of interest, an
absence of pictorial focus, a monotony, which, although distinct
from that caused by a lack of contrast or relief, is no less readily
felt. In other words, they want subordination. Two excellent
pictures, The Cottage Porch and The Castle Gate, only require this
charm to complete them. Scattered lights of equal intensity, and
chess-board patches of dark, would destroy the picturesque beauty
of the otherwise finest work by the most skilful operator. Mr.
Heath should take a lesson in this from the neighbouring photo¬
graphs by Mr. Bedford, which almost invariably exhibit an artistic
breadth and principal focus of effect. Good photography, with
exceeding delicacy, clearness, and softness, characterise Mr.
Heath’s productions; but they are strangely unequal in an artistic
direction.
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
333
H. White’s, although sometimes rather stiff and formal from the
choice of view, discovers excellent photography, and in many cases
very high artistic merit.
Mr. W. D. Hemphill contributes a somewhat large number of
excellent landscapes, which, unfortunately, are deformed by the
frequent presence of that breadth and truth-destroying enormity,
white 11 skies ” (?). For choice of subject, light, and effect, most of
this gentleman’s pictures deserve the highest praise.
.As so many of the landscapes here exhibited have already re¬
ceived notice in these and in contemporary pages, we shall here
quit this branch of the art until our next number, when it may
be resumed in connexion with the foreign departments.
_ ^ A. H. W.
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.
By Our Own Pioneer.
EXETER— THE TAW AND TORRID GE.
Exeter — formerly known as Caer-Iske (the fish castle or city of the
fish river, now called the Exe) — is in itself well worthy a photographic
visit; and will, with the neighbourhood, fully maintain the claim to
its generally acknowledged title of the “ Queen of the West.” As regards
art, graphic and photographic, various professors in the city, and some in
the districts round, will be found entitled to places in the first and
foremost ranks. Tn the earliest days of the silver-plate process Exeter
stood conspicuous. Beard, the original patentee of the Daguerreotype
process in England, was at one time settled at Newton ; while the right to
“exercise the art” in the northern division of the county was secured by
a printer and stationer at Barnstaple. Cousens, the unrivalled engraver
of Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time, comes from the “ Ever-faithful City.”
Danby, the gorgeous painter of sun-sets and historical subjects of the
Martin school, lived for some years at Exmouth. Various other painters
and engravers could he mentioned fully entitled to honourable distinction ;
while one artist in a peculiar branch — the scenic — and whose panoramic
views of the Lakes of Killarney, at the Lyceum Theatre, in Peep o'
Day, have attracted thousands, and are pronounced as unsurpassed in
beauty by anything of the same kind ever produced, was at one time the
scene painter of the Exeter Theatre.
That photography is well patronised in the west is evident from the
number of operators in the city, and from one or more being located at
each of the principal towns and in many of the smaller. There is a
Photographic Society in Exeter, though not represented by any recognised
organ. This is to be regretted, as many of the professional and amateur
members are well up in chemistry and optics, and second to none in the
practice and application of the art generally. The professional photo¬
graphers stand out as most distinguished in portraiture, and produce
first-rate specimens of enlargement by the solar camera, and highly
finished subjects on ivory and paper in miniature. Landscape photo¬
graphy is not represented to the extent it might be, though the high
quality of the numerous stereoscopic views of the district fully prove
their capability ; but then it does not pay like portraits — there is not
the demand for it— and, as “ those who live to please, must please to live,”
the professionals cannot be blamed for following up that branch of the
art most remunerative and in accordance with the public taste. “Time
works wonders,” and the approaching year of sixty-three may do some¬
thing of the same kind in regard to photographic landscape-art in the
west.
The Bath and West of England Agricultural Society hold their next
meeting in Exeter ; and as this association is noted for the high standing
they have attained, the encouragement they offer, and the prominence
they give to their fine-art dejiartment, it is to be hoped the profession and
the amateurs of Exeter and the neighbourhood will not neglect the op¬
portunity they will have of distinguishing themselves. They have a wide
field in antiquarian treasures, objects of interest, and places of note, that
have fortunately escaped the destruction of time and the ravages of the
fanatic. The fine-art arrangements of the Society are under the control
of a committee of gentlemen long known as encouragers of art and pos¬
sessors of private collections of much that is good and rare. I need only
mention the Squire of the Grange, near Cullompton, the owner of Brad-
field-hall, and the Baronet of Pynes, with many others of taste, courtesy,
and discrimination, that will ensure artists and exhibitors from the annoy¬
ances and insults the great body of photographers have been subjected
to at the hands — we cannot say heads — of the great “International
Incapables.” The Exeter Exhibition has every favourable point on its
side: — time] to select and prepare subjects — no hurrying for the last
moment — and no dust, dirt, and — “ such a getting-up stairs.”
Exeter can be reached from the Waterloo-bridge Station in a few
hours, and the following places noted down and looked at, and, if needed,
taken : — First, the cathedral, as it now stands, dating from the time of
Henry I., 1112. The foundation of the see is, by some historians, fixed at
Bishops Tawton, near Barnstaple (where there are some remains of the
old palace), removed thence to Crediton, and finally settled at Exeter.
The west point is a fine piece of stone-work — a sort of gallery of figures.
It is much defaced by dirt and time, but makes a good picture. Per¬
mission should be requested to go into the grounds of the palace, close
at hand, it was the head-quarters of royalty in the troubles of 161G, and
the birth-place of the Princess Henrietta, afterwards Duchess of Orleans.
The palace inside and out is interesting. The east end of the cathedral,
from the grounds, appears to great advantage, taking in the chapter-
house, &c., &c. In the hall and library are some fine bold specimens of
carved work in chimney-pieces and enriched mouldings. In the palace,
and those parts of the cathedral best seen from the gardens, and
in the interior of the cathedral, there is much to interest the photo-
grnpher — much that has fortunately escaped the Puritan visitors of the
Reformation. A private etching was circulated some five-and-twenty
years back in Durham, consisting of a centre view of its cathedral, with
the churches of the city arranged round as a border. This idea might
be worth the attention of some local professional, and made remunerative
by bringing out a view of Exeter Cathedral (dedicated to St. Peter) with
border views of All-Hallow’s- in-the-Walls, St. Mary’s Steps, St. James’s,
St. Martin’s, St. Laurence’s, St. Mary Arches, St. Mary Major, St. Olave’s,
St. Sidwell’s, and the rest of the twenty-one parish chinches of the
“ Ever-faithful City.” The authorities were sadly at fault in allowing
the bridewell and county-jail to occupy their present position, completely
spoiling the otherwise fine picture that could be taken from Northern-
hay and the castle walls. For a general view of the city, embracing its
best buildings and most peculiar characteristics, there is no place better
than the field behind St. Thomas’s Union. Visits could be paid to nume¬
rous places within a few miles and returning to and from, such as
Sidmouth, Exmouth, Budleigli, Salterton, Honiton, or Crediton. The
photographer who is bent on collecting interesting bits in connexion with
ecclesiastical remains will find the College-hall, in South-street, used for
the meetings of the Exeter Architectural Diocesan Society, worth a visit,
as a large volume, the Scrap-book of the Society, contains a great
variety of sketches and drawings of cathedrals, churches, chapels, abbeys,
mansions, halls, castles, fonts, doorways, &c., etc.
On inquiring at the hair-dresser’s shop, directly facing the College-hall,
the person there will direct to the curator in Southern -hay, who will readily
give permission for the drawings and books, &c., to be looked over. By
this means collectors will be enabled to decide on the merits of various
architectural subjects in the locality, and see at once if it is the sort of
thing they may be desirous of photographing. A walk is also recom¬
mended into the Cowiclc-fields, either from the Alphington-road or the
lane by the end of the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle. Go on for
about half-a-mile, then turn and look in the direction of the city, when
one of those fine medium line pictures will be met bringing forcibly to
mind some of the sepia tinted effects of “ Girtin and Sheppard.” Return¬
ing to the foot of the bridge, and following the Okebampton-road for a
short distance, there is the decorated Chapel of Exwick, close to the rail¬
way ; while, further on, are Cowley-bridge and the view from the same —
two effective summer subjects. One of the most interesting routes that
can be taken will be one through Crediton and Copplestone into the far-
famed Taw Vale.
Crediton can be reached by rail or road. If by the latter, Newton St.
Cyrus will be met about four and a-half miles, where the church and
village will be found to be well adapted for photographing, and will yield
interesting pictures from several points of view. Then come3 Crediton,
on the river Greedy, with its old pointed church of the fifteenth century,
fine west windows and door- way, with some good interior bits, not forgetting
the remains of the old Bible chained to the reading desk. The place was
of much consequence in the olden time, previous to the union of the sees
of Devon and Cornwall, and their final establishment at Exeter. The
noteworthy points are the school and alms-houses lately erected ; then
from the high ground, at the back of Downes, a view of the church and
town, and a visit to Shobrook-park, whore there are noble groups of trees,
and an ornamental lake with some splendid specimens of rare water fowl.
On the outskirts a good glade subject and an old cottage will be met with
on the left of the path. Greedy and Greedy Tark will also afford, at this
time of the year, some special features : and, as the places are only some
two or three miles from Crediton, they can be most conveniently reached,
and a choice series may be secured.
THE NEW COPYRIGHT (WORKS OF ART) ACT.
An Act for Amending the Law relating to Copyright in Works
of the Fine Arts, and for Repressing the Commission of Fraud
in the Production and Sale of such Works.
[29f/i July, 1862.]
Whereas by law, as now established, the authors of paintings, drawings,
and photographs have no copyright in such their works, and it is expe¬
dient that the law should in that respect be amended : Be it therefore
enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice
and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this
present Parliament- assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows :
Copyright in Works Hereafter Hade or Sold to Vest in the Author for his
Life and for Seven Years after his Death.
1. The author, being a British subject or resident within the dominions
of the Crown, of every original painting, drawing, and photograph which
shall be or shall have been made either in the British dominions or else-
334
[September 1, 1803
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
tvhere and -which shall not have been sold or disposed of before the com¬
mencement of this Act, and his assigns, shall have the sole and exclusive
right of copying, engraving, reproducing, and multiplying such painting
or drawing, and the design thereof, or such photograph, and the negative
thereof, by any means and of any size, for the term of the natural life of
such author, and seven years after his death ; provided that when any
painting or drawing, or the negative of any photograph, shall for the first
time after the passing of this Act be sold or disposed of, or shall be made
or executed for or on behalf of any other person for a good or a valuable
consideration, the person so selling or disposing of or making or executing
the same shall not retain the copyright thereof, unless it be expressly
reserved to him by agreement in writing, signed, at or before the time of
such sale or disposition, by the vendee or assignee of such painting or
drawing, or of such negative of a photograph, or by the person for or on
whose behalf the same shall be so made or executed, hut the copyright
shall belong to the vendee or assignee of such painting or drawing, or of
such negative of a photograph, or to the person for or on whose behalf
the same shall have been made or executed ; nor shall the vendee or
assignee thereof be entitled to any such copyright, unless, at or before
the time of such sale or disposition, an agreement in writing, signed by
the person so selling or disposing of the same, or by his agent duly
authorised, shall have been made to that effect.
Copyright not to Prevent the Representation of the" Same Subjects in Other
Works.
2. Nothing herein contained shall prejudice the right of any person to
copy or use any work in which there shall be no copyright, or to repre¬
sent any scene or object, notwithstanding that there may be copyright
in some representation of such scene or object.
Assignments , Licenses, dec., to he in Writing.
3. All copyright under this Act shall be deemed personal or moveable
estate, and shall be assignable at law, and every assignment thereof, and
every license to use or copy by any means or process the design or work
which shall be the subject of such copyright, shall he made by some note
or memorandum in writing, to be signed by the proprietor of the cop}r-
right, or by his agent appointed for that purpose in writing-.
Register of Proprietors of Copyright in Paintings, Drawings, and Photo¬
graphs to he lcept at Stationers' Hall as in 5 & 6 Viet., c. 45.
4. There shall be kept at the Hall of the Stationers’ Company, by the
Officer appointed by the said Company for the purposes of the Act passed
in the sixth year of Her present Majesty, intituled An Act to Amend the
Law of Copyright, a book or books, entitled “The Register of Proprietors
of Copyright in Paintings, Drawings, and Photographs,” wherein shall
be entered a memorandum of every copyright to which any person shall
be entitled under this Act, and also of every subsequent assignment of
any such copyright ; and such memorandum shall contain a statement
of the date of such agreement or assignment, and of the names of the
parties thereto, and of the name and place of abode of the person in whom
6iieh copyright shall he vested by virtue thereof, and of the name and
place of abode of the author of the work in which there shall be such
copyright, together with a short description of the nature and subject of
such work, and in addition thereto, if the person registering shall so de¬
sire, a sketch, outline, or photograph of the said work, and no proprietor
of any such copyright shall be entitled to the benefit of this Act until
such registration, and no action shall be sustainable nor any penalty
recoverable in respect of anything done before registration.
Certain Enactments of 5 <£• 6 Viet., c. 45, to Apply to the Books to he Kept
under this Act.
5. The several enactments in the said Act of the sixth year of Her
present Majesty contained, with relation to keeping the register book
thereby required, and the inspection thereof, the searches therein, and the
delivery of certified and stamped copies thereof, the reception of such
copies in evidence, the making of false entries in the said book, and the
production in evidence of papers falsely purporting to be copies of entries
in the said hook, the application to the Courts and Judges by persons
aggrieved by entries in the said book, and the expunging and varying
such entries, shall apply to the book or books to be kept by virtue of this
Act, and to the entries and assignments of copyright and proprietorship
therein under this Act, in such and the same manner as if such enact¬
ments were here expressly enacted in relation thereto, save and except
that .the forms of entry prescribed by the said Act of the sixth year of
llcr present Majesty may be varied to meet the circumstances of the case,
and that the sum to be demanded by the officer of the said Company of
Stationers for making any entry required by this Act shall be one
shilling only.
Penalties on Infringement of Copyright.
6- If the author of any painting, drawing, or photograph in which there
shall be subsisting copyright, after having sold or disposed of such copy¬
right, or if anv other person, not being the proprietor for the time being
ofcopynght in any painting, drawing, or photograph, shall, without the
consent of such proprietor, repeat, copy, colourably imitate, or otherwise
multiply for sale, hire, exhibition, or distribution, or cause or procure to
be repeated, copied, colourably imitated, or otherwise multiplied for sale,
hire, exhibition, or distribution, any such work or the design thereof, or,
knowing that any such repetition, copy, or other imitation has teen un¬
lawfully made, shall import into any part of the United Kingdom, or sell,
publish, let to hire, exhibit, or distribute, or offer for sale, hire, exhibition,
or distribution, or cause or procure to be imported, sold, published, let to
hire, distributed, or offered for sale, hire, exhibition, or distribution, any
repetition, copy, or imitation of the said work, or of the design thereof,
made without such consent as aforesaid, such person for every such
offence shall forfeit to the proprietor of the copyright for the time being
a sum not exceeding ten pounds ; and all such repetitions, copies, and
imitations made without such consent as aforesaid, and all negatives of
photographs made for the purpose of obtaining such copies, shall be for¬
feited to the proprietor of the copyright.
Penalties on Fraudulent Productions and Sales.
7. No person shall do or cause to be done any or either of the following
acts ; that is to say,
First, no person shall fraudulently sign or otherwise affix, or fradulently
cause to be signed or otherwise affixed, to or upon any painting,
drawing-, or photograph, or the negative thereof, any name, initials,
or monogram :
Secondly, no person shall fraudulently sell, publish, exhibit, or dispose
of, or offer for sale, exhibition, or distribution, any painting, drawing,
or photograph, or negative of a photograph, having thereon the
name, initials, or monogram of a person who did not execute or
make such work :
Thirdly, no person shall fraudulently utter, dispose of, or put off, or
cause to be uttered or disposed of, any copy or colourable imitation of
any painting, drawing, or photograph, or negative of a photograph,
whether there shall be subsisting copyright therein or not, as having
been made or executed by the author or maker of the original work
from which such copy or imitation shall have been taken.
Fourthly, where the author or maker of any painting, drawing, or
photograph, or negative of a photograph, made either before or after
the passing of this Act, shall have sold or otherwise parted with the
possession of such work, if any alteration be afterwards made therein
by any other person, by addition or otherwise, no person shall be at
liberty, during the life of the author or maker of such work, without
his consent, to make or knowingly to sell or publish, or offer for sale,
such work or any copies of such work so altered as aforesaid, or of
any part thereof, as or for the unaltered work of such author or
maker :
Penalties.
Every offender under this section shall, upon conviction, forfeit to the
person aggrieved a sum not exceeding ten pounds, or not exceeding
double the full price, if any, at which all such copies, eugravings, imita¬
tions, or altered works shall have been sold or offered for sale ; and all
such copies, engravings, imitations, or altered works shall be forfeited to
the person, or the assigns or legal representatives of the person, whose
name, initials, or monogram shall be so fraudulently signed or affixed
thereto, or to whom such spurious or altered work shall be so fraudulently
or falsely ascribed as aforesaid : Provided always, that the penalties im¬
posed by this section shall not be incurred unless the person whose name,
initials, or monogram shall be so fraudulently signed or affixed, or to
whom such spurious or altered work shall be so fraudulently or falsely
ascribed as beforesaid, shall have been living at or within twenty years
next before the time when the offence may have been committed.
Recovery of Pecuniary Penalties.
8. All pecuniary penalties which shall be incurred, and all such unlaw¬
ful copies, imitations, and all other effects and things as shall have been
forfeited by offenders, pursuant to this Act, and pursuant to any Act for
the protection of copyright engravings, may be recovered by the person
herein-before and in any such Act as aforesaid empowered to recover the
same respectively, and herein-after called the complainant or the com-
plainer, as follows :
In England and Ireland, either by action against the party offending,
or by summary proceeding before any two Justices having jurisdic¬
tion where the party offending resides :
Tn Scotland by action before the Court of Session in ordinary form, or
by summary action before the Sheriff of the County where the offence
may be committed or the offender resides, who, upon proof of the
offence or offences, either by confession of the party offending, or by
the oath or affirmation of one or more credible witnesses, shall con¬
vict the offender, and find him liable to the penalty or penalties afore¬
said, as also in expenses, and it shall be lawful for the Sheriff, in
pronouncing such judgment for the penalty or penalties and costs,
to insert in such judgment a warrant, in the event of such penalty or
penalties and costs not being paid, to levy and recover the amount of
the same by poinding : Provided always, that it shall be lawful to
the Sheriff, in the event of his dismissing the action and assoilzieing
the defender, to find the complainer liable in expenses, and any
judgment so to be pronounced by7- the Sheriff in such summary
application shall be final and conclusive, and not subject to review
by advocation, suspension, reduction, or otherwise.
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
305
Superior Courts of Record in which any Action is Pending may Malce an
Order for an Injunction, Inspection , or Account.
9. In any action in any of Her Majesty’s Superior Courts of Record at
Westminster and in Dublin, for the infringement of any such copyright as
aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Court in which such action is pending,
if the Court be then sitting, or if the Court be not sitting then for a Judge
of such Court, on the application of the plaintiff or defendant respectively,
to make such order for an injunction, inspection, or account, and to give
such direction respecting such action, injunction, inspection, and account,
and the proceedings therein respectively, as to such Court or Judge may
seem fit.
Importation of Pirated Works Prohibited. — Application in such Cases of
Customs Acts.
10. All repetitions, copies, or imitations of paintings, drawings, or
photographs, wherein or in the design whereof there shall be subsisting
copyright under this Act, and all repetitions, copies, and imitations of the
design of any such painting or drawing, or of the negative of any such
photograph, which, contrary to the provisions of this Act, shall have been
made in any Foreign State, or in any part of the British, dominions, are
hereby absolute^ prohibited to be imported into any part of the United
Kingdom, except by or with the consent of the proprietor of the copyright
thereof, or his agent authorized in writing ; and if the proprietor of any
such copyright, or his agent, shall declare that any goods imported are
repetitions, copies, or imitations of any such painting, drawing, or photo¬
graph, or of the negative of any such photograph, and so prohibited as
aforesaid, then such goods may be detained by the Officers of Her
Majesty’s Customs.
Saving of Right to Bring Action for Damages.
11. If the author of any painting, drawing, or photograph, in which
there shall be subsisting copyright, after having sold or otherwise dis¬
posed of such copyright, or if any other person, not being the proprietor
for the time being of such copyright, shall, without the consent of such
proprietor, repeat, copy, colourably imitate, or otherwise multipty, or
cause or procure to be repeated, copied, colourably imitated, or otherwise
multiplied, for sale, hire, exhibition, or distribution, any such work or the
design thereof, or the negative of any such photograph, or shall import
or cause to be imported into any part of the United Kingdom, or sell,
publish, let to hire, exhibit, or distribute, or offer for sale, hire, exhibition,
or distribution, or cause or procure to be sold, published, let to hire, exhi¬
bited, or distributed, or offered for sale, hire, exhibition, or distribution,
any repetition, copy, or imitation of such work, or the design thereof, or
the negative of any such photograph, made without such consent as
aforesaid, then every such proprietor, in addition to the remedies hereby
given for the recovery of any such penalties, and forfeiture of any such
things as aforesaid, may recover damages by and in a special action on
the case, to be brought against the person so offending, and may in such
action recover and enforce the delivery to him of all unlawful repetitions,
copies, and imitations, and negatives of photographs, or may recover
damages for the retention or conversion thereof: Provided that nothing
herein contained, nor any proceeding, conviction, or judgment, for any
act hereby forbidden, shall affect any remedy which any person aggrieved
by such act may be entitled to either at law or in equity.
Provisions of 7 & 8 Viet., c. 12, to be Considered as Included in this Act.
12. This Act shall be considered as including the provisions of the Act
passed in the Session of Parliament held in the seventh and eighth years
of Her present Majesty, intituled An Act to Amend the Law relating to
International Qopyright, in the same manner as if such provisions were
part of this Act.
- — 0. -
lllcctings of Societies.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
A meeting of this Society was held at the Literary and Philosophical
Society’s Rooms, on Wednesday, the Gth ult., — Mr. Parry in the chair.
The Chairman called the attention of the members to the subject of
the circular — namely, that it was proposed to consider the desirability of
framing a rule to prohibit any discussion in the Society as to patents or
matters connected with trade; but, as many members of the Society who
took a great interest in the matter were absent, and, as it was thought
better for the subject to be thoroughly discussed, it was, after some con¬
versation, moved by Mr. Offer, seconded by Mr. Young, and carried, that
the discussion of the subject named in the circular be postponed until
further notice.
Mr. Petschler exhibited a new shutter for taking instantaneous stereo¬
scopic views, which could be adapted to any camera. [See page 330.]
This contrivance was very highly thought of by the members, and a
vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Petschler for explaining and exhibiting
the apparatus.
Mr. Young exhibited several large photographs of waterfalls by the col-
lodio-albumen process, which were very much admired.
A general and interesting conversation took place among the members,
and after a vote of thanks to the Chairman the meeting closed.
Holes of f be Iftontlr.
The crowded streets of the great Metropolis present little indica¬
tion to the uninitiated eye that “the season” is over; yet, never¬
theless, it is quite concluded, and everybody who is antibody is out
of town. It is but the adventitious attractions of the Great Exhi¬
bition which makes them wear the semblance of that which “ is
not.”
Some ancient wells have been discovered at Paris, near the
Boulevard de Sebastopol, together with a large quantity of old
Roman relics. Much regret has been expressed in all countries at
hearing that these wells have been destroyed without any plan or
drawing of them being secured. Where were the Parisian pho¬
tographers that their commercial instincts did not lead them to
secure such valuable negatives?
We saw, the other day, a lady’s fan — beautifully painted, exqui¬
sitely finished and elaborately carved in ivory — in the handle of
which was a very elegantly inserted photograph of the owner,
who stated that it had frequently been the means of restoration
when lost at both public and private assemblies. This being a
perfect novelty the mention thereof may serve as a valuable hint
to the fan manufacturers.
To the American Department at the International Exhibition
a number of photographs have been added, including a series called
Brady's Incidents of the War — remains of railway depots presenting
little but masses of debris , a melancholy spectacle of the sad havoc
of war — forts, entrenchments, and Father Mooney Administering
Mass to the 69 th Regiment; Bridge at Bull Run, &c. Mr. Brady
also exhibits some interesting portraits of very large size, 18 by
16, though much worked upon, including His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, Fremont, Seward, Jefferson Davis, and others.
Some exceedingly large views of the lakes, valleys, gigantic
trees, and almost untrodden solitudes of the interior of California —
where do not photographers penetrate ? — by C. E. Watkins, are
worth attention, though much faded.
A work is in the press by the Rev. T. R. Birks, On Laics of
Atomic Force, intended as an introduction to a perfect theory of
“light, heat, electricity, and the nature of the chemical elements."
We learn from Le Bulletin de la Societe Francciise de Photographic
that M. Mazac (a druggist) announces the discovery of a bromo-
iodo-cyanide metallic salt suitable for sensitising collodion adapted
for taking very rapid proofs, and not liable to deterioration by
keeping, the composition of which, however, is not disclosed.
“Instantaneous” work is evidently attracting much attention, as
evinced by the numerous schemes brought forward for effecting
rapid exposure. M. Adolphe Martin brought forward at the last
meeting of the French Photographic Society a new formula for a
developer, indicated by M. Collin, and calculated to increase the
energy of pyrogallic acid. The formula stands thus: — Prepare
a solution of alum 25 grains to each ounce of pure water (dis¬
tilled or rain). For use mix two measures of the preceding with
38 of water (free from lime), and one part of alcohol. This is to
be shaken up and allowed to settle till the air bubbles are dissi¬
pated, and to 410 cubic centimetres of this mixture add 15 grains
of pyrogallic acid. It is to be poured on to the plate without any
addition of silver solution ; and when the image has been developed
it may be strengthened by a further quantity, icith the addition of
a few drops of a solution of nitrate of silver and citric acid in
the proportion of about 15 grains of the former to 20 of the latter
to each ounce of wrater.
The most important event of the past month worth recording is
the fact of the new Copyright Bill coming into immediate force.
The inclusion of photography in this Act will do more for the
recognition of photography as a Fine Art in the public mind
than all the ingenious, hair-splitting argumentation ever de¬
voted to the subject. It is better — wiser — always to give the
widest interpretation to the term “fine art." Nothing is more
difficult to define, even by the most subtle artistic theorist, than
the point where industrial art ends and fine art begins. No
doubt the faculty for art, through its whole range, is essentially
the same, however much it may differ in kind or degree. The
extreme division and subdivision of walks of art in the present day
is a distinguishing and, perhaps, baneful feature, In antique
times men were sculptors, painters, architects, goldsmiths, workers
in metal, engravers, and even potters, at one and the same time.
Such was Michael Angelo, Raffaelle, Della Robbia, beside a host
of lesser lights too many to enumerate. Now we have engravers
upon copper who know nothing of wood, and painters in watev-
colours who cannot work in oils, &c., &c. S. T.
336
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1802
Scraps ant> Jfragmwts.
Photography at the Bottom of the Sea. — A curious discovery
has been made by a photographer of Paris, by which he possesses
(as he alleges) the means of producing a picture of the bottom of
the sea. — Parthenon.
Photography and Book Illustrations. — There is now in course
of preparation an album of Swabian Poets, with photographs and
biographical sketches of Uhland, Kerner, Meyer, Schwab, Holderlin,
Morike, Hauff, and Fischer. — Parthenon.
The Photographers’ Muggy Weather. — To most persons this
kind of weather is most oppressive — not fit to do anything upon ;
but a photographer takes a very different view of it. He calls
that weather “muggy ” which is best adapted for taking a person’s
“ mug.” — Punch.
A Bit of Gossip. — We extract the following from the letter of
a very respectable provincial photographer, and leave to time the
duty of confirming or refuting the statement to which it refers.
Our correspondent says : — “ I was told by - — ” (a distinguished
gentleman, who very recently received his first lesson in photo¬
graphy, but who is, nevertheless, one of the Jurors in Class 14)
“that a sealed packet had been sent from France, said to contain
photographs in colours, which were not yet permanent in light, to
be opened by the Jurors previous to making their awards.”
Warning Hint to Professional Photographers. — A new trick
to which many photographers have fallen victims is now extant.
A respectable looking personage calls upon you, soliciting adver¬
tisements for a new and attractive work, issued in monthly parts,
of which he exhibits a copy. Your advertisement will be inserted,
if you become a subscriber for the work, without further cost.
Struck by the idea, you give the order, and receive monthly two
copies of the work, one for the past and one for the coming month
in which your advertisement duly figures with many others ; but
a few inquiries will soon convince you that these advertisements
only appear in the copies supplied to you and your more immediate
neighbours, while in copies printed for other neighbourhoods your
advertisements will be found wanting.
Another Kick for the Royal Commissioners. — The Athenceum ,
discoursing of the cartoons and stained glass in the International
Exhibition, has the following : — “ It is needless to say what great
works are unrepresented even by photography, and how more than
one series of characteristic and noble designs, the most ambitious
of modern productions that decorate the great cities of Germany,
is here undiscoverable. With regard to stained glass, its position
amongst ourselves is so characterised that it does not appear in
the Fine- Arts Catalogue at all, but must be sought for in the same
section which comprises table and garden glass, ventilators, and the
like. If this rule was observed, why do we not find the pictures set
down to the artist’s colourmen who prepared their pigments, and
the cartoons to the paper-makers’ stalls ?”
Photography and the Witness Box. — We notice in a recent
report in The Times of the trial in which Mr. W. Roupell, late
M.P. for Lambeth, is implicated, under his own confession, in a
charge of forgery, that, in order to avoid the chance of any
clerical error, a photograph of the forged will was taken as “copy”
for the compositor. Some of our readers will remember a similar
case cited by our friend Mr. Forrest, of Liverpool. When an account
for glass supplied by him to the order of a certain nobleman was
sent in it was disputed, on the ground that he had not ordered it,
and that the builder was liable. Fortunately Mr. Forrest had a
written order, in the form of a letter, from the disputant, and,
instead of parting with the original, he prudently sent him a
photographic copy of it, which so thoroughly satisfied the writer
that he immediately discharged the disputed account. i
Representatives of Science. — Messrs. Walker and Zobel have
published a large group of fifty figures, designed by Gilbert, repre¬
senting the more eminent scientific men of the last century. The
portraits are from original paintings by first-class artists, save in
two instances in which the engraving is from “ that artistic applica¬
tion of chemistry and actinism — the photograph.” Bryan Donkin,
the Northumbrian engineer, lived in a day late enough to sit for a
Daguerreotype by Beard; and the venerable Francis Ronalds, who,
half a century ago, gave the first demonstration of the practicability
of the electric telegraph, by sending a message through a coil of
wire ten miles long, insulated in a trench which he had dug in his
garden at Hammersmith, has also been depicted by means of helio-
graphy.* The grouping is a fine study for the photographic
portraitist, and the background, being the library of the Royal
Institution, is appropriate and suggestive.)
* Daily Telegraph.
The Theological Society. — In his review of the scientific
meetings, Mr. Punch informs us that at the last meeting of the
above, “ Signor Fuoco exhibited a photograph of the edict in revo¬
cation of that of Nantes, and Mr. Fyer Brand exhibited photo¬
graphs of Mr. Miall and Dr. Vaughan.”
The International Exhibition. — We learn that the Com¬
missioners have declined to undertake the publication of the
reports made by the jurors on the progress of industrial arts since
the Exhibition" of 1851 ; and they will, with their sanction and
concurrence, be published by the Society of Arts. Dr. Lyon Play¬
fair has undertaken to superintend their publication. They will
form one volume, to range with the reports of the Great Exhibition
of 1851. Then, too, we hear that a very important step has been
taken by the Commissioners towards repairing the alleged in¬
justice of some of the decisions of the juries. The merit of
establishing a precedent for re-opening the decisions must be con¬
ceded to Mr. Trotman* * * This is a most important conces¬
sion, and a most equitable one, and will, no doubt, lead to a rather
extensive revision of the list of awards. — Illustrated London News.
Photography and the Printing Arts. — Electricity and Photo¬
graphy seem destined to work great changes in the printing arts.
Though they can never supersede the artist or the handicraftsman,
they may modify his operations. As regards the enlargement or
reduction of prints by photography, and their reproduction, those
exhibited by Sir II. James, of the Ordnance Department at South¬
ampton, bear the closest scrutiny. His photo-zincographic prints
from the Doomsday Book, and a print — The Election, by Hogarth —
are repetitions to astonish a connoisseur, it only being by size and
texture that a difference is discernible. Photographs from nature
mounted in printed books have never been happy, rarely suiting as
illustrations of the text, or according in tone with the type. Apart
from their liability to fade, they make volumes look clumsy, any¬
thing but solid, and apt to gape open. Of processes to supersede
the labours of the wood-engraver — a long-cherished idea with in¬
ventors — we are shown one or two examples, Mr. W. J. Linton
showing one he terms “ kerography,” producing brilliant results
in the hands of an artist, but somewhat speculative for general use
in pictorial effects. — Athenceum.
The Society’s Catechism. — The Council of the Society of Arts
have sent Mr. Punch a set of questions upon the subject of awards
for merit. Any man who can write can answer a letter, says Mr.
W. Shakspear'e, and Mr. Punch's caligraphy being indisputable,
he can hardly escape from replying to the Council, but he is by no
means certain that his responses will give unlimited satisfaction
to the querists : —
Answers.
1 . No, Council.
Questions.
1. Are you of opinion that
awards for merit, by medals or
otherwise, in International Exhi¬
bitions are desirable?
2. State the reason for your
opinion ?
3. Ought works of fine art and
designs to be excluded from the
awards.
4. Can you suggest any better
method than the appointment of than a juror, as juries go in these
2. Because, Council, they are
always given to the wrongpeople.
3. Yes, Council, because a
party capable of such works
wouldn’t thank stupid judges for
twopenny medals.
4. Anybody is better, Council,
jurors for making the awards.
5. Can you suggest any im¬
provement in the constitution or
proceedings of the juries?
6. Is any appeal from the de¬
cision of juries desirable?
7. If you think awards unde¬
sirable, can you suggest any other
means by which meritorious pro¬
ductions may be brought to the
notice of the public?
8. Have you any further sug¬
gestion to offer on the subject?
days.
5. Yes, Council, kick them in¬
to the street.
6. Yes, Council, to Mr. Punch
and common sense.
7. Yes, Council, let the best
specimens be presented to Mr.
Punch.
8. Yes, Council, that you ab¬
stain from meddling in the matter.
If the above replies, given with Mr. Punch's usual ready affability,
prove of the least use to the Council, he is satisfied. He has
certainly embodied the popular opinion on the subject. To judge
by the incessant and angry protests against everything that has
been done, it would seem that the public have a fine classical
sense of the derivation of the word Jury, and regard it as meaning
a Party to be Sworn at. — Punch.
* An exhibitor whose very important invention was most unfairly described jnpbe list
of awards.
September 1, 1869]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
337
ftefo |]afl(is.
Photographic Difficulties: How to Surmount Them. — Instan¬
taneous Pictures: How to Obtain Them. By T. Cabby
Porting.
(Bristol, Posting, 32, High-st. London, Bland & Co., 153, Fleet-st.)
Mr. Ponting’s name is sufficiently familiar to photographers as a cele¬
brated maker of collodion, and his collodion is well known to possess
qualities differing somewhat from those pertaining to the products of any
other maker.
As a practical photographer we are not familiar with this gentleman —
we do not remember having met with his works in any photographic ex¬
hibition; but it is scarcely to be presumed that one whose attention has
for so many years been devoted to improving and trying to make perfect
the “ chief corner stone” of modern photography, should be other than
well acquainted with the practical manipulation so necessary to the pur¬
suit of our art. And, accordingly, we find on perusing the work before us
evidence that he does possess the needful knowledge — whether acquired
in the field or the operating-room, in producing pictures or in making
mere experiments, is of little moment.
In addition to personal information we perceive, also, that Mr. Pouting
has not neglected photographic literature, as several disputed questions
of recent date have met with attention and examination at his hands.
We are much pleased at finding that in nearly every case the decision
at which he arrives corresponds very closely with our own ; and with
regard to one in particular’ — viz., the use of bromides in collodion — we
cannot forbear expressing much satisfaction at the frank and straight¬
forward manner in which the author avows a modification of the opinion
formerly entertained by him, dependent, however, upon modified condi¬
tions of the premises.
In the preliminary observations we find very sound advice given. As
a sample we take the following : —
“The inevitable trials and difficulties of the young photographer are
quite enough without his having to contend with the additional one of
imperfect apparatus, &c., and, as the selection of the lens is of paramount
importance, it should be strongly impressed upon him that he cannot
have one lens that will answer all purposes. A lens that is declared to
be adapted for all purposes is nothing but a delusion and a snare, and it
would be a very false economy to invest in one ; for be assured of this,
that it cannot do so well as the lenses prepared for only one purpose, and
it is not possible in the nature of things that it should.”
There are ample but not redundant instructions relative to taking
negatives, with a record of a few telling experiments in illustration of
some of the points insisted on. Then follows a chapter on failures, their
causes and remedies ; and another on taking positives on glass, of which
we have only to remark that the matter is generally good.
The chapters on printing, toning, fixing, and washing, are specially to
be commended. We have very little exception to take to any of the di¬
rections given, and heartily concur in most of them — that relative to
washing the prints especially deserving attention, the advantage of fre¬
quent changing of the water over the practice of keeping the proofs for
a long time in running water being forcibly illustrated. Our readers will
remember that this is a point upon which we have frequently insisted.
The closing chapter is on “Instantaneous Pictures,” and a very ex¬
cellent one it is. In it is discussed the question of the value of bromides
as accelerators, and certain crucial tests applied to decide the point which
are so interesting that we are tempted to make the following short
extract
“This alleged fact of bromine being an accelerator was quite contrary
to my own previous experience ; for, in all experiments with this material,
I found that it not only retarded the action, but produced a thin, weak
negative. But, considering the known ability of these gentlemen, and
the high-class works produced by them, it appeared worth while to go
over the ground once more, to endeavour to find, if possible, where the
discrepancy on such a matter of fact as this could possibly arise.
“Five samples of collodion were prepared as follows : —
“ No. 1, iodised collodion, containing 4 grs. of iodide to the oz.
No. 2, the same iodised collodion, with £ gr. of bromide added.
No. n it n I )i n
No. 4, ,, ,, ,, 2 ,, ,,
No. 5, ,, ,, ,, 4 ,, ,,
“Three nitrate of silver baths were also prepared, of the strength of
thirty grains to the ounce.
“ No. 1. This bath was made according to the formula at page 22, with
acetate of soda and acetic acid. .
“No. 2. To this bath was added a quarter of a drop of nitric acid to
each ounce.
“No, 3. This was left neutral, or nearly so, having a very minute
proportion of acetic acid to prevent fogging.
“The developer was made with —
“Protosulphate of iron . 10 grains.
Glacial acetic acid . 6 drops.
Water . . 1 ounce.
“ Two negatives were taken with each sample of collodion: one ex¬
posed two seconds, and the other four seconds, in the three baths in
succession— being thirty negatives in all. A landscape lens with a small
stop was used, in order to secure complete accuracy and uniformity in
time of exposure, which it would have been difficult to obtain with so
many negatives, had a shorter exposure been tried.
. “ Without wearying the reader with a detailed account of all the nega¬
tives, it will suffice briefly to state the results that came out.
“First, as to the baths. With the ordinary iodised collodion No. 1,
the bath No. 1, with acetate of soda and acetic acid, was unmistakeably
the quickest of the three — the nitric acid bath, No. 2, being very 6low.
1 his, it will be remembered, is the precise result of the experiments
detailed at page 19, except that a bath with nitric acid was not then
tried. But with the collodions containing bromide, the No. 2 bath with
nitric acid proved to be much quicker than the other two baths, their
slowness, as compared with the nitric acid bath, increasing as the pro¬
portion of bromide in the collodion increased. No increase of sensitive¬
ness was gained by the large doses of bromide. On the contrary, the
collodion No. 5, with four grains of bromide per ounce, worked much
slower than either of the other samples. The proportion of one grain of
bromide to four grains of iodide gave the best results: larger doses of
bromide imparted a wavy appearance to the film that quite spoiled the
picture, and no increase of sensitiveness was obtained.
“ On comparing the negative taken with the No. 1, on iodised collo¬
dion, in the bath No. 1, with the negative taken with bromo-iodised
collodion, in the nitric acid bath, the latter was markedly the better.
The first was a very intense negative, with strong contrasts of light and
shadow, and would have printed hard : the latter was a soft, though a
sufficiently forcible negative, giving full details in the shadows, and
hardly wanted further development ; but, with instantaneous pictures,
the development will have to be continued by using a weak solution of
pyrogallic acid, with a little silver added, say —
“ Pyrogallic acid . 1 grain.
Glacial acetic acid . G drops.
Water . . 1 ounce.
Solution of nitrate of silver (strength, fifty grains to the ounce) five or
six drops, or more if great intensity be required.
“The h’on developer must be previously washed off.
“These experiments, which have since been fully confirmed in prac¬
tice, clearly demonstrate that, for instantaneous pictures, it is necessary
not only to use bromide in the collodion, but a small proportion of nitric
acid in the bath. These, with an iron developer as strong as the operator
can use, as descibcd at page 30, strengthening by the use of the pyro¬
gallic developer, is all that is requisite in the way of chemicals ; but it
must be borne in mind that everything must be of the highest degree of
purity, and prepared with the utmost care.”
The little work is a very useful one — is very unpretending ; and, though
the author disclaims any intention of attempting to instruct those al¬
ready acquainted with our art, many useful hints may be gathered from
it even by some professional photographers.
There is a good index, and, what in our opinion is of nearly, if not
quite, equal value, a breviate of each paragraph appended in the margin,
after the fashion of Acts of Parliament — a convenience which removes
nine-tenths of the trouble, and all the annoyance, dependent upon refer¬
ence to any particular part of a work.
We have said enough to show that our opinion indicates a pretty
extensive circulation for this little work.
Jfmxigiv CoiTcspmtbcnxc.
Paris, August 2 6th, 18G2.
In some of my former letters I have given an account of the
different shutters recently invented to facilitate the obtaining of
instantaneous proofs. M. Darlot has just invented another, in¬
tended for the same purpose, which I will now proceed to describe.
The instrument consists of a hollow disc, 2 c. (8-10ths of an inch)
thick, in the centre of which there is an opening equal to the
diameter of the object-glass. Inside the disc there is a small
barrel containing a watch-spring and ratchet wheel, with a catch
to hold the barrel when the spring is wound up. The axis of the
barrel projects outside in front of the apparatus, and on its ex¬
tremity is a brass plate, with an opening in it like that in the disc.
When the spring is uncoiled, this plate covers the object-glass.
By turning it round, the two openings are brought to coincide,
which allows the operator to get his focus. By continuing the
rotatory movement, the opening is again closed by the brass-plate.
By gently pressing on a small lever behind, when operating, the
catch is raised from the ratchet, and the spring runs down. The
plate in returning to its first position thus masks and unmasks the
object-glass, with greater or less rapidity according to the strength
of the spring or the tightness with which it is wound up. To
deaden the shock produced by the stopping of the plate M. Darlot
has introduced a small piston, something like the buffer of a rail¬
way carriage, which bears on the end of a steel spring.
This apparatus can bo fixed over any object-glass by meaus of a
collar and screws.
338
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1802
Of all the shutters which produce useful effects in the hands
of their inventors, but still do not satisfy the generality of operators,
the most complete, in my opinion, are the sliding ones invented by
Mr. England. Many persons, however, are still active!}' engaged
in experiments on this kind of apparatus, and we shall, no doubt,
have a satisfactory instrument ere long.
Some impatience is manifested to know what decorations will be
granted here to those who have exhibited in the Photographic De¬
partment, in London. Several have valid claims which it may not
be uninteresting to notice here.
In the first rank I place M. Claudet, who was passed over in
1851 and 1855. You know his claims as well as I do; and I am
persuaded that his nomination in the Legion of Honour would be
as well received in England as in France, for his labours have
been profitable to all. As an inventor, M. Poitevin, too, has rights
which, I think, no one will venture to dispute, with the exception,
perhaps, of those who have been most benefited by his discoveries.
M. Bayard comes next by right of seniority. His first productions
date from the time of Daguerre, and his reputation is based ex¬
clusively on them. He is the father of French photographers ; but
many persons, and myself among them, are inclined to reproach
him for having kept. all his photographic improvements too much
to himself. Publicity alone can secure progress in any art,
especially in one so near its infancy as ours. Le Gray’s communi¬
cativeness would, no doubt, have already procured him the decora¬
tion if he had not disappeared from the photographic world, for
none can forget the services his process has rendered.
As practitioners and artists, MM. Bisson Brothers have univer¬
sally recognised claims to an exceptional recompense. The per¬
fection of their works, the number of their productions, the boldness
of their undertakings, and the development they have given to
photography as an industrial art, render them especially worthy of
distinction. The ascent of Mont Blanc would be alone a sufficient
title. They are also among the veterans of the Daguerreotype.
_ In France thechoice niustnecessarily fall among these I havemen-
tioned; but we shall, no doubt, know the decisions very shortly.
The action between Poitevin and Charavet, the purchaser of
F argier’s patent, has been brought before the tribunals, and pro¬
fessional men have been appointed to report on the case. The
joke of this affair is that Charavet is the plaintiff, and also cleverly
demands the annulment of Poitevin’s patents; but, on the other
hand, this same Charavet, not wishing to pay M. Fargier the
30,000 francs he owes him for his patents, also attacks the very
patent he has himself purchased. The whole affair is incompre¬
hensible. There is no doubt as to the issue. Fargier’s patent will
assuredly be annulled, for we all know what are its merits. We
shall be none the less indebted to him for an ingenious process. As
to Charavet, he will have profited by the labours of others, and have
even obtained a reward at the International Exhibition without any
other merit than a dexterous use of puffing. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , August 1 1th, 1862.
As my last letter closed without exhausting my memorandum-book
it would be well to wipe out the old account before taking,' up fresh
matter.
Dr. O. W. Holmes has had executed for him, by Mr. Whipple, of
Boston, a good stereograph of one of the wonderful Japanese
crystal spheres (pure quartz), and it has given pleasure to many of
his friends who have had no opportunity of examining the curiosity
itself, lhe sphere rests on a small table, and is the only object in
the room in focus; but pictured on its surface can be seen all its
surroundings, and even objects through a window and across a
street, all quite sharp and distinct. He says also (speaking of the
stereographs he so much wants) : “ I have a view of one of the
entrances of Strasburg Cathedral, but I have never seen one of the
spire, which I ascended many years ago. The towers of Bologna
must have been taken a hundred times, yet I have never seen a
stereograph or photograph of them or either of them.”
Speaking of stereographs, Mr. Creemer, of the International
Stereoscopic Company, in Philadelphia, says that the sale of these
pictures has increased very much indeed, and lias become once
more a trade of some importance. The views of the Great Exhi¬
bition are anxiously looked for on this side of the water, and will,
no doubt, meet with a ready sale.
Mr. Wilson, of the Wheeler and Wilson Sewing Machine Com¬
pany, has contrived and patented quite an ingenious apparatus for
" or king wet collodion in the field. It is described as being very
portable and convenient to manipulate. No doubt a description of
it has reached England before this. I have not seen it.
In the application of a new substance in photography, I would
mention that, in the preparation of hard rubber goods, such as
handles for cutlery, &c., the articles are made hollow, and contain
within them a liquid which has been made to serve a curious pur¬
pose. Suppose, for instance, that the article to be produced is a
ring of this hard rubber, six or seven inches in diameter of circle,
and one inch diameter of rim (they are used in machinery for high
balance or hand-wheels). To make them, leaden moulds of the
proper shape are prepared, and a ring of the gum material is
cemented up with some water in it, and is placed in the mould,
and the mould, finely clamped, is shut. The heat of the oven in
which they are baked converts the water into steam, and presses
the gum out against the mould in every direction, and in this con¬
dition they gradually harden, and some of the water remains in
them after they are cold. Holes are drilled into the rings to let
out this water, and the fluid discharged seems to have a pressure
of gas in it within, and is saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen.
It is of a greenish-yellow colour, and answers admirably for
strengthening purposes after the use of bichloride of mercury on wet
collodion. I mention it as new only in regard to the source from
which the liquid is obtained.
A memorandum of “ Patent Laws ” reminds me that some allu¬
sion has been made of late in The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy to the loose way that patents are granted in England. In
a former letter brief mention was made of essential differences be¬
tween the English and the American Patent Offices. It may have
been inferred from what I then said that in America worthless
claims were of less frequent occurrence than in England. This is
not so, however. The low patent fee prompts many to apply who
could not afford to pay the large English fees. Every week we
see published in the Scientific American a long list of patents, very
few of which will ever pay their owners a single dollar, and many
of which have been forced through the office by claims to some
trivial device which may be new, but of no avail, as this one will
conflict with other claims covering the whole invention ; just as
if a man claiming some special device for tipping the front of a
camera could be debarred from using it by one whose claim
broadly covered the so arranging the camera that the axis of the
tube may be square with the plate, or capable of being adjusted in
any angle to it. The admirable system of publishing all the
English specifications puts it in the power of any one desiring so
to do to be well assured through their agents of the originality of
their inventions. But inventors are too apt to think that a patent
once obtained their fortune is made. In England the examination
is made by the people interested after the patent is issued : in
America as thorough an examination as can be made under the
circumstances is instituted by the officer, and a very large propor¬
tion of the claims are rejected, and some after-litigation is avoided.
Professor Edwin Emerson, of Troy, with Professor C. Himes, of
the same place, passed through Philadelphia a few days ago, and
spent the short time they were here with your correspondent.
Mr. Emerson will sail for England in the same steamer with this
letter, and he will be the bearer of letters from me to my friends
abroad. He tells me that an article from his pen and also one from
Professor O. N. Rood : the first On the Appearance of Relief ) and
the latter On the Spectroscope, will shortly be published. Professor
Rood sends a stereograph of his two-prisms spectroscope; but
I hear he is now making one with four separate prisms. All
seem to concur in praising Mr. Rood’s ingenuity and originality.
He is a most indefatigable worker, and yet finds time for much
that is amusing. He has been photographing some of his ori¬
ginal sketches made abroad, and one would imagine that he
has a keen perception of the ludicrous. It is astonishing how
much can be learned by photographers coming together and
seeing one anothei'’s work. Talking does not do, and writing
is no better. From Messrs. Emerson and Himes, who work in
the same room, we learn that they dry their tannin plates by
hanging them up on a line, one corner being caught in a patent
clothes clip. They dry all wet plates in this manner, and it seems
to answer a good purpose. They flow with tannin and do not
immerse in a tannin bath as we do here. They also say that they
have tried many experiments in keeping tannin plates after exposure
and before development for a month at a time, and can see no
deterioration . They use these tannin plates for transparent positives,
but print them with the camera, and not by superposition. They
do so principally because their stereoscopic negatives are taken on
plates five by ten inches, and these five-inch square pictures, can
be thus reduced to the usual size, and will include a larger visual
angle than usual. At first they were well pleased with the use of
chloride of uranium in the toning-bath, but have now abandoned
it as a needless complication.
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
339
Speaking of toning, a great cry was raised in all parts of our city
last week by an universal attack of yellow fever in the prints. The
disease seemed quite universal, and the epidemic may have had its
origin in atmospheric causes; for the weather seldom has been
hotter than it then was. Had the disease been sporadic in its
appearance we could have shrugged our shoulders and exclaimed,
as we are apt to do when no good reason can be given — “Some
error in the manipulation !” Chloride of lime seemed to be the
specific resorted to in this case with markedly good results. A
toning-bath made of acetate of soda, common salt, and the gold
neutralised with bi-carbonate of soda, is poured into the water
impregnated with chloride of lime. The solution looks milky.
The prints must be deeply printed, but not much overdone. They
whiten rapidly in the bath — i.e., the paper does — and they tone
with great rapidity and uniformity. Oh ! by-the-bye, Mr. Ilimes
will make his first appearance in print shortly. I do not know the
title of his article, but judge that the matter will be interesting.
Our Amateur Exchange Club has had some new members added
to it, and a marked improvement is manifested in the proofs. The
large majority of the last exchange were from tannin plates, but
Mr. Dickenson Sargeant sent his exchange of the Kennel from a wet
plate. His pictures of animals are wonderfully good. He seems
to have made the portraiture of the brute creation a speciality, and
po one will dare to compete with him here.
I see by the advertising columns of our daily papers that
Broadbent and Co. have found a name for a new style of
coloured photographs lately issued by them. They call them
Wenderotypes, after Mr. Wenderoth, their inventor. They
are albumen prints, so prepared as to receive the colours in
successive washes, and they are finally protected by some kind
of varnish which gives a good gloss, very similar to the gloss of
albumen, but which is waterproof. I could not detect any smell of
varnish, aud the whites are very pure. They are colouring a very
large number of card-pictures in this manner. Their solar camera is
now in successful operation, and does all that is required of it. I saw
it at work, and the negative in use at the time was quite strong
enough to print in diffused light by contact. The operators
walked about the room with impunity, and no tremor was obser¬
vable either in the instrument or on the print. A proof will soon
be ready, they promise, for Mr. Shadbolt to show his friends.
Three spots of a brownish hue are observable while printing ; but
they do not seem to affect the print. They are due to some blisters
which have come in the balsam between the glasses of the great
condensing lens. As I have before said this "lens receives the
direct rays of the sun, no reflector being used.
Testimony is now fast accumulating to show that the writer of
the article quoted in my last letter was right in saying that in his
opinion a chromatic condensing lens could exert no deleterious
influence over the copying tube. Mr. Wenderoth has shown me
very sharp proofs made with his old condensing lens, which was
not achromatic, and Mr. Rood’s experiments in using a common
burning-glass prove the same thing.
Regarding the ownership of negatives, some of our principal
establishments are now making an extra charge for the negatives
to those who wish to keep them in their own possession ; and they
say that, in nine cases out of ten, people are more apt to have extra
prints made if they own the negatives, and will mostly have the
printing done by the artist who made the negative. Besides, it
saves much trouble in keeping a large stock of them on hand, and
brings them in some more ready money ; so that they now rather
encourage the purchase of the negative by each person who has
had a sitting.
Nothing new has come to light in instantaneous dry photo¬
graphy, and I have heard but little about hot water. Mr. Thomp¬
son, who has worked Anthony’s solidified milk process, seems to
consider it much better than tannin. Anthony’s Wind Gap on
that kind of plate is one of the gems of my collection. Some few
of our amateurs have been using various strengthening solutions
with the tannin plate, bringing out the detail with pyrogallic acid,
and acquiring intensity by mercury, &c., instead of pushing the
pyro., which they say fogs the distance too much. Some time ago
all negatives were strengthened after fixing by alternate applica¬
tion of silver and iron.
An amusing incident has occurred with one of our friends who
was photographing locomotives. He did not label all his bottles,
and there was some uniformity in the shape of his vials. His
negative was not quite strong enough. He asked his companion
to hand him the silver bottle. The plate was flowed, then treated
with iron and washed ; still it was not what he wanted, but was
manifestly improved. Some three applications being made it was
pronounced perfect, and was ready to be treated with a weak
solution of gum arabic before drying, to keep the film fast : when,
lo! and behold ! it was the yum bottle which had been doing service
all this time for silver , and all the increased intensity was in the
operator’s imagination. Gum arabic has since been called “ Burn¬
ham’s intensifier !” He laughs, and says it does strengthen the ne¬
gative — that it is not near so apt to become transparent by peeling
off the plate.
Speaking of quick dry-plates the other day, one gentleman re¬
marked that he had once placed his camera in a window, in such
a position that when the plate-holder was in place he could not
draw out the shutter. He thoughtlessly removed the shield, drew
out the shutter in broad daylight, and replaced the exposed plate
in the camera, and he knew in an instant how foolish he had been;
but still, as a matter of curiosity, he completed his exposure, de¬
veloped the plate, and got a good picture. He says slow plates
are the best.
H[Some little correspondence has been conducted concerning the
International Exchange Club, but the unsettled state of our
country will delay any steps in that direction. We may all have
to lay by our cameras and shoulder a musket; for, enjoying the
blessings of so good a government, we must be ready to stand by
it in its sore trial. The cities of the North are once more noisy
with the tramp of armed men, as the last call for six hundred
thousand soldiers is being responded to with hearty good will.
COLEMAN SELLERS.
Marriage of the Prince of Wales. — The dogmatic outburst of
indignant abuse against photographers for giving point to a rumour in
connexion with this subject, which recently appeared in the columns of
that mighty self-constituted authority, the Court Journal , has now a
comment in the fact that the photographers were right and the great
fashionable oracle very ludicrously wrong. We quote the following from
the Daily Telegraph: — “He (the Prince of Wales) will espouse, and at no
more distant date than the ensuing spring, the Princess Alexandra of
Denmark. The intelligence, welcome to all, will surprise none, for in
these days of universal publicity, the name and rank of the young
Princess upon whom so great an honour was to devolve have long been
mentioned freely in society. What is more, the new and charming art of
photography, which has made us familiar with the external appearance
of everybody of note or importance, and of a great many people neither
noteworthy nor important, has boldly discounted the announcement we
now make to our readers by presenting to them in every other shop
window the portrait of the affianced bride.”
Co rrtspa nbc net.
Kr- We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I had promised you an article on the theory of the formation of
images in the camera ; but, as T desire above all things to avoid repeating
what others have said before me, I intended, before writing, to .apply my
new method of optical analysis to the cloaiing up of some important
points in connexion with this theory.
While waiting to mature my thoughts and complete my experiments
on this article, I propose to communicate to you some experiments,
certainly very curious, and in which those of your readers who 3re en¬
gaged on the same subject will, doubtless, take a lively interest.
1. In the famous experiment of Mr. Young, who developed the picture
after fixing, the formation of the image is not due to iodide of silver. Mr.
HSrdwich has distinctly shown that albumen forms a combination with
nitrate of silver, which is sensitive to light, and that such compounds
were also formed with several other organic substances. Moreover, in
several processes, such as the albumen and waxed-paper, there is a
visible image before tbe application of the developer, i.e., on withdraw¬
ing the sensitive surface from the camera.
8 Tin the paper which I propose to send you I shall prove that this
visible image is not due to the iodide of silver : and it is precisely this
image which is, in the experiment of Mr. Young, the cause of develop¬
ment, even after the removal of the iodide of silver by hyposulphite of
Regarding the subject from this point of view, it would fellow (unless
I had indubitable proofs to the contrary) that all those processes regarded
as rapid — such as the collodion, calotype, cellulose, and L'aguerreotye —
would form exceptions ; while the slow processes having the same base
of iodide of silver, and an organic substance— such as albumen, gelatine,
840
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1862
serum, wax — give, notwithstanding, an image on development after
fixing.
In order to avoid over-stating the matter, it should be added that the
images hitherto obtained in this way have not been so satisfactory as
those yielded by the ordinary method of development ; but, were it not
for this, the iodide of silver might be suppressed in practice. But we do
not propose to consider this fact, except in a scientific light.
2. Here, Sir, is a series of experiments, if possible, more curious.
When, according to your illustrious compatriot Hoffman, acetic acid is
treated with chlorine at a temperature of 120Q centigrade, it is trans¬
formed into mono-chloracetic acid. On distilling the product and collect¬
ing apart that which comes over at 180° a pure product is obtained.
The chloracetate of silver is extremely sensitive to light. Heated
with bases, it yields glycollic acid. During my researches on the salts
of silver I had dissolved chloracetate of silver in ammonia, which 1 had
placed in a stoppered bottle and exposed to direct sunlight. At the end
of a few weeks and under the influence of light, violet-coloured crystallised
chloride of silver was formed. The accuracy of this experiment I propose
to establish b}^ numerous repetitions. The following conclusions are de-
ducible from it : —
a. — Light, in acting on the ammoniacal solution of chloracetate of
silver, forms a violet crystallised chloride, and glycollic acid.
h. — This reaction was not induced by the heat of the solar rays, since
no effect was produced on the mixture contained in a blackened bottle.
c. — The composition of the violet chloride was variable, and the more
slowly the action proceeded the richer was the chloride in silver.
d. — That the violet chloride of silver was not a mixture of metallic
silver and ordinary white chloride, because nitric acid at a temperature
of 90° centigrade did not whiten it nor did it reflect light under the
microscope.
These experiments will doubtless prove very interesting to the dis¬
tinguished chemist who has so well described chloracetic acid.
3. Finally: valeric acid treated with a current of chlorine under the
influence of light, yields chloro-valeric acid. The chloro-valerate of silver
is soluble in nitric acid. Light precipitates from this solution a violet
chloride of silver, and again, in this instance, with a variable proportion
of silver. How can it be supposed that the violet chloride is a mixture
of metallic silver and ordinary white chloride ? We see it produced actually
in nitric acid, the solvent par excellence of metallic silver ! But this sub¬
chloride, unfortunately, is remarkably unstable. Bromide of silver is even
still more unstable : it assumes, under the influence of light, the grey
colour of reduced silver ; but in the article which I am preparing for your
Journal I shall cite some instances in Avhich the bromide acquires the
violet colour, hitherto regarded as peculiar to the chloride, and which
would seem to indicate an analogy between these two salts, although it
shows at the same time that this violet bromide is even still more
unstable than the corresponding chloride.
I hope, Sir, that you will excuse me if I do not send you this memoir
immediately. I would say again, that I have too much esteem for your¬
self and the Journal you so ably represent to write for you and it any¬
thing of an inferior character. I desire, above all things, to publish
original articles, that is to say in which there is really something new.
I am, Sir, yours, &c., D. VAN MONCKHOVEN.
P.S. — I do not entertain the same view as yourself in reference to
Moser’s images. My opinion is that, if the glasses had been thoroughly
treated with nitric acid, it is not possible that any trace of silver should
remain. I do not either believe in the phenomena of “stored-up light,”
as described by M. Niepce de St. Victor.
If I desired to advance a hypothesis on this subject, I should he dis¬
posed rather to favour the idea of a physical modification of the surface.
Hundreds of instances are known in which a physical alteration of a
solid surface determines either crystallisation or a more simple com¬
bination of certain bodies, &c. But what can be the nature of this
modification? As I said in my note before the Academy of Sciences,
many observations must be made before we can pretend to any certain
knowledge on the subject.
SPOTS AND VARNISH.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I am more puzzled with my varnish than with anything else in
my photographic practice. When I have succeeded well, to lose. the
film, or to have it covered with small spots, annoys one exceedingly.
Sometimes the film comes off after the second or third impression —
oftener after the first — and I have no security for it. I tried to print a
positive without varnish, but the prints come out with spots. An ex¬
aggerated specimen 1 send of an old lady in her bed, which required a
good deal of strengthening ; but I had several prints of other subjects
slightly spoilt. 1 use Soelmee varnish and Rouch’s collodion. Is the
varnish too thick, or what is the cause ? — I am, yours, &c.,
Dunskeg, Tort Patrick, N. B., AMATEUR.
18f/i August, 1862.
[If your film leaves the plate after it is varnished, the latter must be
improperly applied— most probably poured on before the film of collodion
is thoroughly dry. A collodion film soon becomes surface dry, but there
is much moisture still retained, and this is only to be driven off by the
aid of heat or the lapse of considerable time. Your varnish has also
probably become too thick to penetrate the film, in which case you had
better add about twenty-five per cent, of alcohol to thin it. Of course
you warm the plate before applying the varnish, and perform the
operation before the fire ; the plate should be made at least as hot as the
hand can bear. The other defect — that of the spots — almost invariably
arises from printing with an unvarnished negative upon paper that is not
property dried after sensitising; and the worst of it is that both the
negative and positive usually suffer under such a condition of things, so
that after an accident of this nature it is hopeless to expect another proof
from the same negative. — Ed.]
PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In the Leader of your last number, on Panoramic Photography,
your comments upon Mr. Parry’s pictures would lead people to suppose
that gentleman to be the originator of the process in question — a claim
which I think the author of the paper does not make.
If Mr. Parry has made an improvement in the ordinary camera by
which such pictures may be taken in greater perfection, by all means let
him have the credit due to him ; but I must claim for myself the origin of
the idea, the working it out in practice with the usual stereo, camera, as
well as the first publication of the plan — which you either have not seen
or have forgotten.
You will find it described in a letter to the Photographic News, dated
March 22, 1862 [1861?], and a copy of the picture sent in illustration of
that letter is at your service.
About twelve months after this, Mr. Sidebotham exhibited, at Man¬
chester, a picture taken in the same manner, which was received as some¬
thing new. Doubt being expressed as to the possibility of uniting two
pictures in this manner, and the details of manipulation being imperfectly
given. I wrote a private letter to Mr. S., accompanied by one of my speci¬
mens, which he kindly exhibited at the following meeting.
From one of these sources Mr. Parry must have procured the suggestion,
and added an arrangement having for its object the better or more cer¬
tain adjustment of the two pictures.
I have not practised the system much, from the difficulty of finding
subjects in which the false perspective is not apparent. Judging from
your description, Mr. Parry’s scenes are well adapted for this mode of
working; but I cannot agree with you that “subjects almost totally ex¬
cluding the sky are consequently very trying to the success of the plan
adopted in taking them.” In my experience it is in the sky that im¬
perfect union is shown, unless, indeed, the sky prints absolutely white,
which is not considered a desideratum in artistic photography. — I am,
yours, &c., G. S. PENNY.
Cheltenham, August 23rd, 1862.
[We remember Mr. Simpson exhibiting a specimen (such as our corres¬
pondent describes) at the North London Photographic Association, some
months back ; but we were under the impression that it was obtained
from Mr. Parry. — Ed.]
OPTICIANS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Dr. D. Van Moncklioven, in an extract which appeared in your
last Journal, says: — “Everybody acknowledges Messrs. Dallmeyer,
Morz, Secretan, and Voigtlander as opticians of the first rank in Europe.”
Although I do not wish to detract from the merits of the opticians named,
I think it would have been but an act of justice of the learned doctor to
have mentioned an English optician — Mr. Ross — whose reputation, not
merely local but European, stands at least as high as the best of those he
names. The passage I have quoted looks very much as if it had received
its inspiration from the shop over the way. — I am, yours, &c.,
FAIRPLAY.
[The writer of the preceding encloses his name for our private satisfac
tion, and we know him to be a perfectly disinterested person, or we should
not have admitted the note ; he is, however, entirety mistaken both with
regard to the source and motive of the “ inspiration.” We have no doubt
whatever that Mr. Dallmeyer is perfectly innocent of any prompting in
the matter, and that the desire to express his appreciation of an English
optician’s skill emanated entirely from Dr. Van Monckhoven’s own cour¬
tesy. In fact, he had expressed to us, in several private letters, his high
estimation of the lenses he had purchased from Mr. Dallmeyer some time
before he wrote the article which he subsequently requested us to extract;
and in further corroboration, we may, without breach of confidence, state
that he had even previously proposed an original article for this Journal
on the subject.
We can readily understand that the worthy doctor did not name Mr.
Ross nor another English optician simply because he was not practically
familiar with their lenses ; had he been so, we fancy their names would
have had precedence of some foreign ones that were indicated. — Ed.]
ARTISTIC BACKGROUNDS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — A great pressure of business prevented our replying in your
previous numbers to Mr. Wall’s “china shop ” letter. We trust that the
same sense of fairness .and justice which procured the insertion of our
last letter will also obtain the insertion of this, which, as far as we are
concerned, will close this correspondence.
September 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
841
That Mr. Wall is a clever man we are willing to concede, and that he
at times “ commits an error as regards good taste” is admitted by you
in your note at the foot of our last letter.
We do not mean for one moment to assert that our photographic ac¬
cessories are perfect, or even near it ; but we do mean to say that we
have been the first to bring these accessories (we do not mean the back¬
grounds) before the public, and we submit on this ground that we are
entitled to some consideration.
There are many difficulties to contend with in perfecting new designs
or ideas, and ours form no exception to the general rule. We cannot go
into detail with regard to these difficulties, but will content ourselves
with saying that they are entirely of a mechanical nature, and that we
have already surmounted many of them ; in fact, our present are very
different from our first efforts. In time we hope to surmount all the
difficulties : to this end our best attention and efforts are directed, and
we are very sanguine as to the result.
We are happy to say we have l’eceived great consideration and en¬
couragement, and we may add praise, from many of the leading photo¬
graphers, gentlemen of true artistic attainments, who have kindly
favoui'ed us in some cases with valuable suggestions, but in no instance
with censure.
That our productions so far answer their purpose satisfactorily is
proved from the fact of the demand for them, which is so great that we
cannot get them ready fast enough, notwithstanding that we have a good
staff of employes; and that the same gentlemen who have had these
‘‘black abominations,” as Mr. Wall kindly calls them (although in what
other colours Mr. Wall would have them painted we cannot possibly
imagine), favour us again and again with orders for the same class of
work; and that our business is not confined to amateurs, but the greater
part of our connexion is with professional gentlemen, very many of them,
as we have said, of high artistic reputation.
Allow us to add that our productions have been praised both by your
own (we cannot at the present moment lay our finger on the number)
and by other photographic publications, and that we have just received
“honourable mention” from the Commissioners of the International
Exhibition. These facts speak for themselves, and require no comment.
We cannot but deprecate the* taste which has led Mr. Wall into
criticising our productions, and we are quite willing to let your readers
judge between us on this point. Our premises will always be open to
their inspection if they wish to form a judgment on the subject. We do
not make these remarks in a hostile, but purely in a defensive, spirit, and
we regret that they have been called forth. — We are, yours, &c.,
54, Great Queen Street , Lincoln's Inn , J. T. & G. BULL.
August llth, 1862.
[We must, with this communication, close the discussion on this sub¬
ject. We have already pleaded guilty to an error in not having cancelled
the expression of an opinion which we know to have been honestly given,
and which was only inadmissible under circumstances with which we
were imperfectly acquainted. We are convinced that no malice was in¬
tended, and are pleased to find that at any rate no injury has been
sustained. — Ed.]
“ OUR WEAKLY CONTEMPORARY.”
To the Editor.
Silly — It would have been more congenial to the feelings of the writer
to have followed the retiring example you have always set in these pages
whenever theyj ersonal element has been introduced into controversy, and
to have declined the honour of replying to the vituperation of my “friend
Simpson :” and had he not added misrepresentation to personality I should
have left this dignified “ scientific journalist” to flounder in the turbid
element he has stirred up, and have remained satisfied with quietly
laughing — as I have often done — at his small exhibition of envy and
malevolence. I might have commended your forbearance in having de¬
clined to insert my letter in your last issue, did I not feel that in so
deciding you denied me that justice which you would have accorded even
to an opponent ; for you must not forget that in the unfounded charge ot
“imitation” made by the editor of your contemporary I am implicated as
well as — if not more than — -yourself. I therefore submit that I have a
moral right to a hearing.
In reply to a remonstrance in this Journal against his propensity lor
“appropriation” without acknowledgment — an article in which there
was not an offensive epithet employed — “friend Simpson,” in his num¬
ber for July 25th, felt it necessary to devote two pages ot his small
space to an exhibition of his malice, bad taste, and love for person¬
alities. In his long, wordy, and offensive reply, this “lellow-labourer
in photographic literature” was not content with simply answering, as
best he could, your damaging article on his “cribbing” proclivities,
but he thought it consistent with his “own self-respect” to resuscitate
the memory of an old dispute about title which had not the most remote
bearing on the question at issue, and hence my rejoinder to the uncalled-
for allusion to that almost forgotten quarrel.
The recent attack — or rather series of attacks — was a worthy wind-up
to our “fellow-labourer’s” first diatribe. In his number tor August 8th,
page 373, he enacts a somewhat similar part to that ot a well-known
transatlantic member of the P. K., in a memorable fight described in The
Times, who, when his eyes were closed up as the result ot the heavy
punishment they had received, “let out, light and left, on friend and
toe indiscriminately. Our contemporary, smarting underfo's punishment,
blindly attacks all connected with this Journal ; and after his short but
characteristic assault disappears— only to re-appear at page 383, where
he again expends more of his wrath in a small-minded attack on a gen¬
tleman of scientific attainments, who had written to protest against the
unwarrantable use made of private correspondence. But at page 384
“friend Simpson” again appears in a multiple character. In the first
column of that page, devoted “To Correspondents,” his strategetic talents
are called into play. Here I have to fight a “triangular duel” with
“Old Photo.,” alias “ I airplay, ’ alias “E. M. S.;” but whose more cor¬
rect alias should be added, viz., the editor of “our weakly contemporary'.”
Firstly, I shall deal with my friend’s primary alias. — “Old Photo."
(“Old Muff” would have been more appropriate) charges this Journal
with “imitating” the News in “almost” every feature ! Well, “wonders
will never stop ceasing!” as his friend, the “traditional Irishman,”
would say. The A rev:s came out as a quarto, and Tuk British
followed suit ! I presume if I state that the Editor and myself had a little
friendly controversy on the subject of enlargement of size before the
News started into existence, my polite friend will say it is a mere
“assertion or mis-assertion.” However, such was the fact: and this
enlargement took place in consequence of the constant pressure on both
the literary and advertising portions of our columns, and not in i
quence of “ our weakly contemporary's ’ appearance in a quarto form.
We had before us, for many years, the Afhenecum — the size of which pub¬
lication, by-tlie-bye, we followed, and not that of the News — 1 ut of course
it must have been the latter we “imitated.”
Again : The News commenced a series of articles on “ Colouring Photo¬
graphs,” and was followed by this Journal with a similar series. I must
leave it to our old and valued contributor, .Mr. Wall, to defend 1
against the exhibition of “ sincerest flattery ” involved in his offering for
acceptance, to the Editor of this Journal, a series of important articles
written with the intention of subsequent publication in a collected form,
and which the publisher and one of the proprietors of the News has
since published in a neat volume.
Again: “The News issued a series of articles entitled the ‘Amateur
Mechanic,’ ” and we followed with “ Photographers their own Artificers.”
Here again I must refermy friend to Mr. Guliivcr, of Swansea — the volun¬
teer contributor of the few desultory articles which have appeared under
that head — as to whether he “imitated” our contemporary or not. Mr.
Gulliver — who is a gentleman of mechanical ability — has forwarded his
articles without solicitation ; and therefore, I presume, “ friend Simpson”
and Mr. Gulliver may be left to settle that question of “ imitation.”
. Again : “ The News commenced a series of articles, entitled the ‘ Dic¬
tionary' ot Photography,’’ and we followed with the “ Photographic
Glossary.” Who do our readers suppose we — or rather the News — “ imi¬
tated ” in this particular ? Why — ourselves. Throughout the first volume
of this Journal (1854), there runs a “Photographic Glossary,” which,
owing to the removal of the author, was left unfinished. We have,
therelore, in following out and enlarging our own ideas “ flattered our
contemporary by imitating him!
Again: “The News originated a column of gossiping fragments, as
‘Talk in the Studio,’ ’ and straightway we became “inundated" with
“Scraps and Fragments,” “Olla Podrida,” “Entremets,” &c. Truly,
“Talk in the Studio” must have been a very prolific mamma ! While
Mrs. “ Talk in the Studio ” herself became attenuated , her offspring be-
oame numerous, and were so like the “old lady !” Now, in order of time,
the second baby' (euphoniously called “Olla Podrida”) madejhis jappear-
anc a first! And here, again, who did we “imitate?” Why — ourselves.
to be sure ! Mr. Higldey, the editor of The British Journal Almanac.
introduced into that little volume, under this head, a number of useful
scraps bearing on photography. After the publication of that little
brochure Mr. Highley, who was then sub-editor of this Journal, proposed
to continue a columu iu the Journal under the same title. -When, after¬
wards, from circumstances, Mr. Highley retired from the post of sub-editor,
baby the second — “ Scraps and Fragments ” — came into existence, ai
still healthy and growing. But snrely my “friend Simpson” does not
claim the paternity of baby the third I — the merry, rollicking “Entre¬
mets.' Our contemporary belongs to the ‘‘serious family " — so mild,$o
dignified, but, alas! - so vain! If be claim this healthy, laughing
youngster as his offspring — the latter i- very unlike bis parent, that is all
I can say !
But, once more, and lastly : The News commenced a series of
articles on “ Photographic Chemicals,” and this we followed by “Notes on
Photographic Chemicals." What will Mr. Martin, the author, sav to
this charge of “imitation?” I fancy his good-humoured smile when
he read that scrap of nonseuse. Mr. Martin had. as you are aware, col¬
lected the materiel for this important series long before the birth of Mrs.
News, and, without reference to that “lady," offered the MS. to the
Editor of tiiis Journal sometime since. I. therelore, refer “Old Photo."
to the author.
Thus have I “ destroyed the web of sophistry ” so ingeniously, but so
softly, woven on tho subject of “ imitation” by “ friend Simpson." Per¬
haps I might be allowed gently to hint that Mrs. News herself has
attempted something in the imitative style. “ Photographic Notes and
Queries ’ are immensely original in a double sense. Again : when our
series of articles on “ Photographic Apparatus " had been “ commenced ”
342
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 1, 1802
and finished fur the time being, our original contemporary commenced a
similar series, under the modest title of “ Apparatus.” We announced,
in our last number, a series of articles to appear on the “ Photographic
Apparatus in the International Exhibition.” In the following number
(that for August 15) the News came out with one on the “Apparatus” at
the Exhibition. Of course, we shall again, by imitating ourselves , be
offering the “ sincerest flattery ” to the “ weakly one.”
In the second of his replies “ To [sham] Correspondents,” under the
nom-de-plume of “ Fair Play,” our contemporary attacks the good-hu¬
moured and pointed sarcasm in the communication of our “ Funny Con¬
tributor ” — a “fellow of infinite jest” — such an one as Goldsmith has
pictured in a couplet as a
“ Rare compound of oddity, frolic, and fun,
Who relished a joke, and rejoic’d in a pun.”
My friend’s mental organs of vision must have been still suffering most
severely from his late “ punishment,” when he so seriously attributed that
bit of sarcastic fun to your own “fine Roman hand!” (I wish he knew
what a scrawl it is) and “ elephantine playfulness !” He must surely be
like the Dublin cabman’s “ poetic horse,” that went “ faster in imagina¬
tion than in reality.” I almost envy you the merry laugh that followed
your perusal of that bit of editorial foolery.
No. 3 of my friend’s fictitious replies— that addressed to “ F. M. S.” —
is aimed at myself. I am glad to think that our contemporary is not
likely to test the reality of the “ mere fudge” of the Act 5 and 6 Victoria,
cap. 45, which relates to periodical literature and not to newspapers.
In his number for August 22nd my friend once more plays with his
paper marionettes, and in his favourite column. Here he again dis¬
plays his usual small tactics in replying to an imaginary correspondent
for the purpose of falsifying facts. “Lex Talionis ” is the little figure
now brought on the stage, said little figure being, no doubt, our contem¬
porary himself, who has a peculiar penchant for the “ says-I-to-myself ”
style of controversy. He is still evidently ill at ease about the charge of
appropriation without acknowledgment ; for, after an interval of a fort¬
night, he gratuitously assumes that this Journal has done likewise, and
asserts that a detail of our “ blunders or shortcomings would not interest ”
his “readers.” He adds: —
“ The article in question did not originally appear in Cosmos, it is erroneously quoted
from that journal by our contemporary. Appearing in two or three French journals
without any acknowledgement of its original source, in the uncertainty thus created we
simply accredited the author, not knowing to which journal it really belonged. Our
contemporary, probably only seeing it in one credited that one, and made a blunder, as
the article originally appeared, we have since ascertained, in Les Comptes Rendus. In a
letter from the writer referred to, we learn that he had alluded to the matter for entirely
another purpose, in no sense as a complaint, and that he regretted the misuse made of
his incidental remark.”
When “friend Simpson” or “any other man” trifles with the “logic of
facts,” floundering must ensue. I have no doubt that “ blundering or
shortcomings,” at any rate, do not include crediting the article of Dr.
Monckhoven to Cosmos .* Notice the admission above, that he subse¬
quently ascertained it to have appeared in the Comptes Bendus. It is to
be presumed he knew from which journal he copied it. Again : Mark the
accuracy of the last clause in the tissue of nonsense with which poor
“ Lex Talionis ” is treated as above. If the writer refers again to the
article in this Journal to which allusion is made, he will find at page 265,
first line, the words, “ We have a communication drawing our attention
to the fact,” &c. There is no mention of Dr. Monckhoven having made
a “complaint.” Then, where is the “misuse” of the “incidental re¬
mark?” As, however, the contents of Dr. Moncklioven’s reply to my
friend’s prying note to that gentleman is given in the third person, it is
just possible that the inaccuracy is to be placed to the account of the
editor of the News, and not to that of Dr. Monckhoven. Truly is it said
that some people should have “ long memories.”
In conclusion. — An apology is due to your readers — and I hereby tender
it — for again occupying so much space in reply to the editor of the News.
I confess that to notice the silly personal nonsense that “my friend”
occasionally writes is unnecessary. Whenever he remains satisfied
with spirting offensive epithets at the Editor of, and others connected
with, fue British Journal of Photography, his paper pellets, which
fall harmless, shall remain unnoticed. But whenever he foolishly fulmi¬
nates what is untrue in connexion with a Journal that was in existence
long before this “Photographic Teacher” began to study “What to Do,
aud IIow to Do it,” and which it has been my aim, for nearly nine years,
to make useful to the ever-increasing number of its readers and to the
art-science to which it is devoted, he shall certainly “ hear of it again.”
II, therefore, he refrain from misrepresentation, I wish him “ a long fare¬
well.' As an antidote to his excessive vanity I recommend him to go
back mentally a few years, and, by recalling to mind the teachings of his
youthful literature, to avoid the melancholy fate of the frog in the fable.
1 hope that “ friend Simpson” will learn wisdom, as well as study literary
honesty, and thus, in the future, he may also “achieve greatness ” as the
editor of what he has himself laboured to make known as — “our weakly
contemporary.”— I am, yours, &c., THE PUBLISHER.
Ft appeared in that publication simultaneously with the Comptes Rendus, doubtless
Imv.iu-i' the Abbe Moigno, being a membor of the Academie des Sciences, heard it read
aud obtained a copy before it was published. When it was copied into the News it had
n it appeared in any other of the French journals. We accredited it to Cosmos simply
because we tnuulntea it from that paper; and we have not hitherto detected the editor
rnWnppropriating articles without authority, according to the practice of the editor of
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Red Gold; — Add one drop of hydrochloric acid.
R. E. C. — Omit the alcohol in the developer : it is that which causes the
mischief in your case.
W. Savage — One ounce of crystals of hyposulphite of soda to five or, at
most, six ounces of water.
B. S. (Belper.) — 1. A port wine colour is correct. 2. Both are good ; but we
prefer the first-named of the two.
Photo. — We cannot assist you in disposing of negatives : we have nothing
to do with photography as a business.
A Subscriber.— R. P. C. — Your several letters have been forwarded to the
respective contributors as requested.
Old Hypo. — Declined with thanks. It is quite useless setting up a “bogie”
again only to prove his non-existence.
W. S. — M. Joubert’s address is 35, Porchester Terrace, Bayswater. We have
forwarded your letter to him as requested.
A Member of the North London Photographic Association. —
The next meeting will be held on the 17th instant.
Theodore. — We will inform the gentleman of your desire, and, should he
respond, communicate with you through the Journal.
L. M. C. — Chloride of sodium and hydrochlorate of soda are two forms of
nomenclature for the same substance, viz., common salt.
Rudolph. — We have no cause to doubt the genuineness of the experiment
described, though we admit that it scarcely accords with former experience.
Verdant Green. — Reduce the quantity of phosphate of soda by two- thirds.
The paper exerts much influence on the result. Most probably your paper is
not sufficiently salted : try it with more.
T. P. Z. — To three parts of plain collodion add one part of the following
solution: — Bromide of ammonium four grains; iodide of ammonium nine
grains; iodide of cadmium nine grains; alcohol, S.G., ‘816, one ounce. Let your
bath be slightly acidified with nitric acid. Fix with hyposulphite of soda.
Measles. — It is not sslphur, as you can readily prove by immersing the
print in bisulphide of carbon, which is a solvent of sulphur. Mr. Dawson has
proved it to be sulphide of silver in combination with organic matters, probably
the size.
J. H. S. — There should be no precipitate of bromide of potassium from the
formula you propose ; but we should advise the bromide of cadmium in pre¬
ference. See notice of Mr. Ponting’s book and short extract in the present
number.
Amateur. — We have so frequently given the details for recovering silver
from waste solutions that we must refer you to some of our back numbers,
especially to an excellent article on the subject by Mr. Corey, pages 266 and
267 of the current volume ; also to Mr. Hardwich’s Manual, sixth edition, page
540. The error you notice was simply a typical one of the compositor’s, and, as
you say, of no consequence.
P. W. S. — We cannot answer for your carbonate of silver being suitable for
a positive bath when converted into the nitrate. It may do, and it certainly
will, for a negative bath. To utilise it, dilute largely some nitric acid with
distilled water, and add the carbonate of silver until no more will dissolve, then
add a few more drops of the dilute acid to make the bath slightly acid. Four
grains of carbonate of silver will produce about five grains of the nitrate.
C. N. — If you wish to take carte de visite portraits, you had better procure a
lens specially constructed for the purpose, rather than a short-focus quick-acting
one such as you describe. The ordinary portrait lenses of the best quality are
calculated rather for sitting than for standing figures. The sketch of a green¬
house which you enclose indicates that it would do for a photographic room ;
but we should not advise you to erect one like it on purpose. We cannot re¬
commend any one to construct a glass-room for you ; but we noticed, the other
day, a very good one in course of erection a little to the north of the Great
Northern Railway, in the Holloway Road (which we perceive by your address
is accessible to you), and on the east side of the way. Doubtless you can
ascertain the address of the sash-maker who is building it.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, Ac., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
NOTICE.— Orders for this Journal sent through Provincial Booksellers to their
London Correspondents, ought to ensure its delivery in any part of Great Britain
and Ireland on the day of publication. The London Wholesale Agents are E.
MARLBOROUGH & Co., 4, Ave Maria Lane, E.C.— When any difficulty is ex¬
perienced in so procuring it punctually, the orders should he sent direct to the
Publisher, 32, Castle Street, Liverpool.
C O N T e;n T.S .
PAGE
LEADER . 323
PHOTOGRAPHIC TROUBLES : THEIR CAUSES
AND REMEDIES. By T. F. HARDWICH. . 324
ON THE NATURE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
IMAGE. By GEORGE DAWSON, M.A. . . 324
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. By EMERSON
J. REYNOLDS . 325
REMARKS ON THE TANNIN PROCESS.
By JOHN GLOVER . S26
COATING AND SENSITISING THE PLATE.
By M. D. VAN MONCKHOVEN . 327
BITS OF CHAT; A CHAT ABOUT GLASS
HOUSES. By A. H. WALL . 328
INSTANTANEOUS SHUTTER. By HENRY
PETSCHLER . 330
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS . 330
PHOTOGRAPHIC THEORY APPLIED TO
RESEARCHES RELATIVE TO ACCELER¬
ATORS, By EUGENE SAHLER . 331
paos
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION : THE PHO¬
TOGRAPHIC APPARATUS & APPLIANCES.
By SAMUEL HIGHLEY, F.G.8., F.C.S , &c. S3I
EXHIBITION GOSSIP : THE BRITISH LAND¬
SCAPE PHOTOGRAPHERS. By A. H. WALL 332
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA ;
EXETER— THE TAW AND TORRIDGE. By
OUR OWN PIONEER . 333
THE NEW COPYRIGHT (WORKS OF ARTj
ACT . 333
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES ; MANCHESTER
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY . 335
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 335
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 336
NEW BOOKS . 337
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 337
CORRESPONDENCE . 339
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, <tc . 342
THE BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
No. 174, Vol. IX— SEPTEMBER 15, 1862.
Purification of Water for Photographic Use. — Our
attention has been called to certain chemicals capable of appli¬
cation to the purpose of rendering water, contaminated with
organic and other impurities, fit for use in most of the opera¬
tions of the photographer. To those of our readers located in
remote districts, where it is no easy task to obtain distilled
water, the knowledge of the means whereby they may render
almost any kind of water within reach available will be no
inconsiderable boon. This desirable result is to be brought
about by the judicious use of one or other of Condy’s disin¬
fecting and deodorising fluids, consisting of the manganates
and permanganates of potash, soda, lime, &c., — which substances
have been long used in various chemical operations, being chiefly
useful for their powerful oxidating qualities. A small pamphlet
On the Purification of Water by Means of the Alkaline Per¬
manganates,* by Henry Bollman Condy, has recently been
published ; and, after having carefully perused it, we are of
opinion that — although written with a view to demonstrate the
practicability of economically purifying water for drinking and
culinary purposes — water purified by means of the re-agents
employed will be equally applicable for photographic use, — an
impression diametrically opposed to what we might have antici¬
pated at the first casual glance at the subject.
Few photographers, having any pretensions to a knowledge
of the principles upon which their labours are conducted, would
entertain any doubt about the injurious effects likely to arise
from the presence of organic matter in the wTater employed in
almost any of their operations, while in some of them it would
bo fatal to success — as, for instance, its presence in large
quantity in the nitrate of silver bath ; but when we reflect that
nitric acid is a powerful oxidating agent, and that the presence
of this substance in conjunction with large quantities of organic
matter in solution does not remedy the defect nor remove the
organic matter from the solution, we are inclined to question
the applicability of an oxidating agent for removing dissolved
organic matter. But if we look at the subject a little more
carefully, we shall perceive that the conditions are not the same
under the influence of the alkaline permanganates as they are
with the nitric acid ; for, although oxidised organic matter is
soluble in excess of nitric acid (hence its injurious influence in
the nitrate of silver bath), it is not so in pure water, but becomes
insoluble, and is consequently precipitated and may be filtered
out. That this is so our own experience proves ; and, though
the experiment we shall detail xvas performed many years before
our attention was devoted to photography and with reference to
quite a different object, it is so corroborative of the views ad¬
vanced that it may be appropriately given here.
It is well known to microscopists that guano, especially that
which comes from Ichaboe and from Callao, contains a certain
small per-centage of the microscopic organic remains of the
Diatomacece — being, in fact, the siliceous cuticle of various forms
belonging to this natural order of minute plants — and as these
* John W. Davies, 54, Princes Street, Leicester Square.
forms are usually adorned with elaborate and elegant markings,
not unlike engine turning, they are sought as interesting objects
for examination under the microscope. We may remark,
so minute are most of the diatomaceous bodies that, singly,
they are quite invisible to the unassisted eye, and that the
only chance of isolating them is to find some solvent for the
organic matter in which they are found that is inoperative
upon the silex of which they are composed. Such a solvent is
nitric acid, which acts by first oxidating the organic matter and
then dissolving it. Now, the great object of the microscopist is
to keep in solution that which has been dissolved, and here his
difficulty first commences ; for it is manifest that the Diatoms
are of no use to him while suspended in nitric acid, and in
order to get rid of this fluid the natural course of proceeding is
to wash it away with distilled water ; but, on attempting to do
so, as soon as the dilution reaches a certain point a precipitate
of flocculent matter is formed (of course a portion of the oxidated
organic matter), which entirely mars his object of isolating the
Diatoms. This annoying deposit was subsequently avoided by
the ingenuity of our friend, Air. Henry Deane, who suggested
several preliminary washings with fresh nitric acid, pouring off
each portion as closely as possible before the next addition ;
but without adopting this course the organic deposit was in¬
variably formed. We think this fact corroborative of the
assertion that, in order to eliminate organic matter from solu¬
tion in water, oxidation to cause precipitation thereof is the
remedy to apply, while the inutility of nitiic acid as the oxi
dating agent for this purpose is sufficiently explained.
The following short extracts from Air Condy’s pamphlet
will supply the several links in the chain of reasoning : —
“ But the action of the permanganates is not limited merely to the
testing of water for organic impurities ; the properties possessed by those
substances, of rapidly decomposing organic matter, and making manifest
to the e}re their effects, render them admirably suited to the purification
of water employed for drinking, cooking, and general domestic purposes.
Composed of oxygen in combination with manganese, the mildest and
most wholesome of the metals, and one or other of the alkalies, the
alkaline permanganates can hardly be supposed capable of proving i n¬
jurious even when, from haste or carelessness, a trace of them In eolation
or a minute portion of binoxide of manganese in suspension may remain
in the water treated. Indeed, it is extremely probable that manganese
is a requisite constituent of the human frame, and that its entire absence
is not conducive to health. The nature of the re-action which takes place
between those compounds and organic matter is, moreover, such, that
when they are used with caution, and not in excess, the whole of the
metallic ingredient present is separated by precipitation in the solid form,
leaving in the water only the alkali which had been in combination with
it. As most waters, by reason of a certain portion of carbonic acid which
they contain, hold in solution, in the form of bicarbonate, a small quantity
of carbonate of lime, the presence of this free alkali is rather an advantage
than the contrarjq since by neutralising the excess of carbonic acid it
converts the more soluble bicarbonate into a less soluble carbonate, which
then subsides as a deposit, leaving an alkaline carbonate in its place.
“ In certain special cases where the presence of alkaline matter might
be objectionable, permanganate of lime may, with much advantage, be
emploj'ed instead of the true alkaline permanganates. jV\ hen this is the
case the oxide of calcium, which constitutes its base, is converted into
carbonate by union with the carbonic acid held in solution by the water,
and is precipitated along with binoxide of manganese and sulphur. Ihere
344
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 15, 1802
then remains a fluid of very remarkable purity, which, so far as organic
matters are concerned, surpasses even ordinary distilled water, . which is
seldom entirely free from impurities of an organic nature. Nor is this all,
for the oxidising properties which enable the permanganates to consume
organic impurities give them the power of removing from water, when
held in solution by it, those metals which are susceptible of being con¬
verted into peroxides.
“The permanganic acid of one equivalent of permanganate of lime
converts three equivalents of protoxide of lead into peroxide, ancUresolves
itself into two equivalents of binoxide of manganese, all of which, from
being in a state of solution, become insoluble, and are precipitated. Water
can thus be readily and completely freed from lead, which is the most
poisonous of ordinary metallic contaminations, and by reactions of a
similar nature from all metals capable of assuming the form of peroxides.
“It is evident that by the same means water containing ferruginous
impurities may be purified so as to render it fit for use in dyeing and other
industrial and economic processes. The avidity which iron exhibits for
oxygen makes this re-action absolutely certain. The same thing holds
with regard to copper, which, though rarely met with as an impurity in
water, is not less injurious in its effects than lead.
“Nothing proves so distinctly the superiority of those substances for
purifying water as the certain and delicate way in which they discover
the imperfections of all other methods of purification, whereas no substance
that I am acquainted with is capable of revealing the presence of organic
matter after their use as purifiers. The permanganates, then, not only
afford a ready and efficacious means of doing what charcoal is supposed,
in a tedious and imnerfect manner, to perform, but likewise of producing
changes similar to those effected by most of the other modes of purifica¬
tion which are usually recommended or occasionally practised. Thus
they do all that alum, caustic, alkalies, alkaline carbonates, and caustic
lime are capable of accomplishing ; while they even surpass ebullition
and distillation in their power of removing organic matter, at the same
time that, by che formation and precipitation of oxide of manganese which
take place at all points of the water during their contact with substances
of an organic origin, they have the effect of mechanically drawing down
impurities held in suspension. Add to this, that water purified by the
permanganates is, in most instances, pure enough for every ordinary
purpose, and so charged with ox3?gen as to be highly agreeable to the
palate, and beneficial to digestion. When absolutely pure water is re¬
quired for some special scientific object, it can be readily procured with
one distillation by the use of an alkaline permanganate.
“To Test Water for Organic Impurities. — Take any number of
tumblers; fill up one with distilled water, another with ordinary drink¬
ing water from a pump, rain water butt, or other supply, and the rest
with various samples of water more or less contaminated with organic
impurities, such as sewage water. Add to each of them, drop by drop,
Condy’s Fluid (crimson) till the contents begin to assume a decidedly
pink hue. This effect will be produced, in the case of the distilled water,
if pure, by a single drop ; more will be required by the drinking water,
which, after standing a little while, will show some signs of muddiness ;
and a still larger portion by the other samples, in which a brown pre¬
cipitate will soon form. The quantity of fluid required and the amount
of muddiness produced in each will be the measure of the relative
impurities of the several waters.
“To Purify Water on a Practical, Scale. — Pour into a hogshead
of offensive drinking water one wine-glassful of Condy’s Fluid, and mix
with a stick or lath. Generally this quantity will render it as sweet as
freshwater: should it require more, add half a wine-glassful. So long
as organic matter remains — which is known by the pink colour of the
fluid gradually vanishing — add the fluid. If a trace too much has been
used, continue stirring, or immerse a stick or lath, and the colour will
disappear. Let it stand, and any suspended matter present will subside
or filter.” _ _
Aeriat, Photography. — Immediately after Mr. Glaisher’s first
balloon ascent for the purposes of metereological observations,
we suggeste 1 to him the idea of attempting, on another occasion,
to take a photograph of the scene below, described by him as being
grand, impressive, and beautiful ; and, in return, lie immediately
sent an invitation to the Editor of this Journal (whose aspira¬
tions, however, were not quite so elevated as to induce him to
accept it) to accompany him on his recent voyage, alleging that
his own time was so fully occupied while in the higher regions,
in attending to the various instruments under his charge,
that he could scarcely find leisure to allow him to add photo¬
graphical operations to his other duties, but at the same
time promised to do his best to expose a plate if one were
arranged ready for him in a camera. In order that proper
effect should be given to this last suggestion it would have
been needful to have constructed a camera specially for the
purpose, with an arrangement for instantaneous exposure, as the
rapidity of movement, as well as its rotating character, would
preclude any other method of operating being successful. There
was no time to construct the needful apparatus. However, an
ordinary camera, furnished with Dr. Hill Norris’s sensitive
dry plates was taken up; but, from the cause foreseen, it could
not be successfully applied, as the following from Mr. Glaisher’s
own account in The Times will show : —
“On the earth at 111. Sm. the temperature of the air was 59° ; at lh.
13m., at the height of a mile, it was 39° ; and shortly afterwards we
entered a cloud, which was about 1.100 feet in thickness, in which the
the temperature of the air fell to 361°, and the wet-bulb thermometer
read the same, showing the air here was saturated with moisture. On
emerging from the cloud at lh. 17m. we came into a flood of light, with
a beautiful blue sky without a cloud above us, and a magnificent sea of
cloud below, its surface being varied with endless hills, hillocks, mountain
chains, and many snow-white masses rising from it. I here tried to take
a view with the camera, but we were rising too rapidly and revolving too
rapidly for me to do so ; the flood of light, however, was so great that all
I should have needed would have been a momentary exposure, as Dr.
Hill Norris had kindly furnished me with extremely sensitive dry plates
for the purpose.”
ON THE NATURE OP '.THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE.*
By George Dawson, M.A.,
Lecturer on Photography at King’s College, London.
I now precipitated all the nitrate of silver in A and C with an ex¬
cess of chloride of sodium (B already had an excess), and subjected
it to the following treatment : —
The three precipitates, after separation from the solutions, were
carefully washed in many waters. They were then digested for two
hours in slightly diluted nitric acid, free from impurity, at a tem¬
perature not over 212°. The resulting action was so imperceptible
to the eye that I imagined none had taken place. In my anxiety
to determine this I poured a few drops of dilute solution of chloride
of sodium into A, when a decided but not very copious precipitate
of chloride of silver fell. In B it was much less marked, but still
perceptible and considerably more abundant in C than in either of
the other two — that is to say, in C, containing throughout an excess
of nitrate of silver and organic matter, more metallic silver had
been reduced by the force of actinism than in A, which contained
no organic matter ; and still more than in B, which only contained
chloride of silver. It had been my intention to determine quanti¬
tatively the exact weight (if any) of fresh chloride thus obtainable
from each, and thence to calculate the weight of silver reduced,
and I had prepared a standard solution in a pipette graduated to
the 960th part of a grain. In my anxious haste all this was for¬
gotten. But, even had I ascertained the fact, the knowledge could
scarcely he of any practical value except as an illustration of the
comparative difficulty with which metallic silver is reduced under
the different conditions mentioned.
The remains of the original precipitates (still black) being now
carefully separated from the nitric acid and well washed, were
thrown into three saturated solutions of hyposulphite of soda, and
stirred about occasionally for upwards of an hour. Extremely
little, apparently, was dissolved. Again washed, they were treated
with the strongest liquor ammonise for the same time without any
being dissolved. Yet, after the application of all these solvents,
their bulk, colour, and general appearance were nearly the same as
before their treatment with nitric acid. C had lost considerably in
bronzing, and perhaps A was not so intensely black as before.
The impression left on my mind from carefully watching the
foregoing experiments is a strong conviction that the ultimate
effect of a chemical ray acting on chloride of silver is the reduction
of the latter into metallic silver by the liberation of all the chlo¬
rine. According to close observation the very first particles of
chlorine liberated induces a visible change of colour in the mass, the
coloured portion being some sort of subchloride, perhaps, of no defi¬
nite composition. We see the colour deepen as the chlorine is
removed, hut still without any trace of metallic silver; and ex¬
periment shows that an immense accumulation of actinism is
required to dissipate the last traces from a particle, or aggre¬
gation of particles, so that it ma}' be soluble in nitric acid — if
that may he considered a test of complete decomposition.
It may be questioned how far this notion is consistent with the
atomic theory upon which all our ideas of chemical composition
and decomposition are founded. It may be urged, for instance,
that a compound atom of silver and chlorine A g Cl, if .acted on
by light at all, cannot have less than one particle of chlorine taken
away, which must necessarily leave the atom A g free to combine
with any element for which it had an affinity, or with nitric or any
* Concluded from page 3A5.
September 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
345
other aci l enough to convert it into a base, and effect com¬
bination, This undoubtedly would be true when we are dealing
with a compound isolated atom. But that such is not the imme¬
diate effect of light on a mass is very evident from the fact that
chloride of silver blackens readily under nitric acid, after a short
exposure in the sun, and when removed into the dark remains dis¬
coloured for any length of time, the surrounding nitric acid at the
same time not indicating by the most delicate test the slightest
trace of nitrate of silver. The Ag therefore is not free to combine
with the nitric acid, although chlorine can be proved to have been
removed, but must be held prisoner by some more powerful
agent.
I may here venture a probable explanation, forced on my notice
from a patient, unprejudiced attention to the phenomena presented,
and which is not by any means inconsistent with the theory of
atoms, viewed in its strictest sense. Let us suppose a single com¬
pound atom of Ag Cl subjected to the chemical ra}r. The first
impulse would necessarily remove the chlorine, and leave also the
Ag free. In other words, if it were possible to submit at the same
time a multitude of isolated compound atoms of Ag Cl to the in¬
fluence of sufficient actinism, complete separation would instan¬
taneously ensue. But as we can in our most finely-divided preci¬
pitates only throw down an aggregation of atoms — each aggregation
invisible to and inappreciable by the senses, and possibly by the
finest instruments — we may have an atom Cl set free from its Ag;
but the latter being in contact with, or in chemical proximity to,
other compound atoms of Ag Cl, may be detained by them, and
forced into a new combination. All the facts with which we are
familiar, and the appearances that present themselves, furnish a
strong presumption that the Cl has the power of combining with
many atoms of Ag, forming a series of sub-chlorides; thus Ag, Cl,
Ag2 Cl, Ag3 Cl, Ag4 Cl, and so forth, until the final detaining atom
of Cl in the aggregation is dissipated by the force of actinism.
With what great difficulty this last “ break-back feather” is imposed
we may readily learn from the fact of the blacks of our deepest
prints giving no evidence by the most sensitive tests of the pre¬
sence of metallic silver, and from my own observation of the barely
perceptible manifestation of silver from finely-divided chloride
(with chloride of sodium in excess), after an exposure of three
months to sunshine.
Contemporaneous with the foregoing experiments, and to some
extent confirmatory thereof, another series was conducted as
under : —
From amass of dried chloride of silver three small parallelopipeds
were smoothly cut and placed in separate small transparent bottles
— two being filled with dilute pure nitric acid, and the other with
distilled water. The latter and one of the former were exposed
undisturbed for three months in the sunshine on the same ledge as
the large bottles in the previously detailed experiment ; the other
was locked up in a dark cupboard for the same period. The mass
of chloride in both of those exposed to sunshine immediately com¬
menced to blacken ; but, after two or three weeks, the one covered
with nitric acid showed symptoms of slight disintegration, and
long before the expiration of the three months the bottom of the
bottle and the surface of the block of chloride were covered with
an extremely fine black powder. The one covered with water
bronzed completely, but throughout preserved its original smooth
surface ; while the one in nitric acid, in the dark, remained in every
respect unchanged.
I conclude from these latter experiments that the action of light
on chloride of silver under nitric acid does finally reduce some
portion of it to the metallic state, which, being dissolved by the
nitric acid, is again precipitated by the liberated chlorine ; and
thus the action would go on interminably. On no other principle
can I account for the disintegration of the chloride and the forma¬
tion of the fine black powder in the one case, which were both
absent in the other two.
What, then, are we to say is the composition of the photographic
image? If by “photographic image” we only mean the picture
formed on a sheet of paper containing chloride and nitrate of
silver, exposed under a negative for the ordinary time to the
action of light, I should pronounce it to be a sub-chloride of silver
of no definite composition, having less chlorine in proportion to the
depth of the blackening. Doubtless, if the action of light were con¬
tinued indefinitely, some metallic silver would eventually be formed ;
but this precludes the idea of auy photographic image at all, and
I cannot find a particle of evidence to show that the first point of
complete decomposition occurs till after a protracted action under
circumstances much more favourable than an immobile surface of
chloride of silver on paper can possibly be.
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS.
A SERIES OP LESSONS WRITTEN WITH A SPECIAL
VIEW TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS.*
By Emerson J. Reynolds.
GENERAL RE-AGENTS.
Our introductory remarks being concluded, we now arrive at that
portion of our subject in which it is necessary to treat of the
deportment of the several basic groups with “general re-agents.”
Before doing so, it may be better to devote a little space to the
consideration — ’first, of the preparation of (when necessary), and
secondly, of the detection of impurities in, the class re-agents.
These general tests are four in number, viz. : — Hydrochloric
acid, sulphuretted hydroyen , sulphide of ammonium , and carbonate of
ammonia. In actual analysis these re-agents are applied to the
solution under examination in the order above laid down ; and in
the same order we shall now speak of them more in detail.
Hydrochloric Acid ( Muriatic Acid, Spirits of Salts) ; symbol, H Cl.
— This acid, as usually met with in commerce, is seldom pure,
being of a straw-colour, indicative of the presence of perchloride
of iron : the yellow tint being wanting is, however, no sure indi¬
cation of the absence of that metal, as it is quite possible to purchase
an acid which has been freshly prepared and colourless, yet contain¬
ing a considerable quantity of iron. As a pure acid can be easily
obtained to buy, it is unnecessary to describe the mode of prepara¬
tion here ; but, before admitting a specimen of acid into use in
analysis, it ought to stand the following tests : —
1. Place a few drops, together with some water, in a test-tube,
and add a little solution of chloride of barium. If a white
cloud appears, sulphuric acid is present.
2. Evaporate a single drop gently on a slip of glass. No solid
residue should be left.
3. Boil a little in a test-tube with some water and a bright piece
of copper wire. If the wire becomes covered with a steel-
grey coating, arsenic is present.
4. Nearly neutralise some acid with ammonia, and add a drop of
solution of yellow prussiate of potash. If a precipitate of
Prussian blue takes place, iron is present.
Sulphuretted Hydroyen (Hydrosulphuric Acid, Sulphide of Hydro¬
yen) ; symbol, II S. — In preparing this gas Ave require a piece of
apparatus, which may be made as follows: — Take a four-ounce
phial, and fit it with a very sound cork ; then bend a piece of glass
tubing in the flame of a spirit lamp, thus —
P
"We then
introduce the end a into the cork, which has been previously bored,
leaving b free to dip into whatever solution we wish to pass the
gas through. We next have to make some sulphide of iron. In
order to do this, we must take any rods or bars of iron which we
can lay hold of to a neighbouring smithy, and have one of them
heated very strongly in the forge. When the temperature is
sufficiently high it is taken out of the fire and held over a tub of
water, and while there a piece of roll sulphur or cane brimstone
is brought in contact with it : immediate combination ensues, and
the fused sulphide of iron falling into the water is at once cooled.
It should now be collected.and dried. When we want to generate
some sulphuretted hydrogen, it is only necessary to place a lew
pieces of the sulphide in the phial ; then add about two and a-half
ounces of water, and finally a drachm or so of oil of vitriol ; con¬
siderable and very regular evolution of gas then takes place, which
may be easily recognised as sulphuretted hydrogen by its offensive
odour, strongly resembling that of rotten eggs. We must caution
the student to allow as little as possible ot the gas to escape into
the apartment in which he may be working, as it often gives rise
to headache, sickness, &c., and, above all things, never to let it
near his dark room.
Sulphide of Ammoniian (Hydrosulphate of Ammonia) ; N II4 S, H S.
— Take one ounce of the strongest “ liquid ammouia of the shops,
and pass a current of sulphuretted hydrogen through it, until a
drop when added to a solution of sulphate of magnesia (Epsom
salts) no longer causes a white precipitate. V hen this point is
reached the stream of gas may be stopped, and the ammoniacal
solution being mixed with three ounces ot water, it is ready for use.
Carbonate of Ammonia ; N II 4 0, C02.— The ordinary eesqui-
carbonate of ammonia of the shops, if free from non-yolatile matter,
is sufficiently pure for use. One part of the salt is dissolved in
four of water, and one part of liquid ammonia added constitutes
the test solution.
These are all the class re-agents. However, there are two other
solutions required which are not actually tests themselves, but
* Continued from page S26.
346
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 15, 1862
serve to prepcare the way for the group re-agents. It may, there¬
fore, he useful to say a few words respecting them.
Ammonia (N II 4 0). — This may be purchased in a sufficiently
pure state for analysis. It should not contain non-volatile matter,
or sulphates, chlorides, or iron. . ,
For use, dilute one part of the “ liquor ammonia of the shops
with two of water.
Chloride of Ammonium ( Sal-ammoniac ) ; NH4 Cl. — The rough
sal-ammoniac should be dissolved in boiling water, using as small
a quantity of the latter as possible ; the solution should then be
placed close to a fire (but protected from dust), so as to induce
slow evaporation. After a short time, beautiful plumose crystals
will be found to have formed. These must be taken out of the
vessel, washed quickly with distilled water, and then one part of
the crystals dissolved in eight of water, to form the test solution.
In every case where we speak of water we must be understood
to mean distilled water, quite free from extraneous matter. To
ascertain this, the following simple tests should be tried : —
1. A drop evaporated on glass should leave no residue.
2. When added to solution of chloride of barium no white pre¬
cipitate should make its appearance, indicating the absence
of sulphates or sulphuric acid.
3. Add to a little placed in a test-tube a few drops of solution of
nitrate of silver. No cloudiness should be produced, proving
that chlorine or chlorides are not present.
DISCRIMINATION OF THE BASIC GROUPS.
First Gk'oup. — On referring to our list of the members of each
group, it will be found that silver , mercury, and lead comprise the
first group. Now, supposing we make a solution containing
nitrate of silver, sub-nitrate of mercury, and nitrate of lead, and
we then add a few drops of hydrochloric acid, we at once get a
white precipitate, which increases in quantity as more acid is
added, until we arrive at a point when no further change i3 pro¬
duced. What is this precipitate ? It is a mixture of our old friend
chloride of silver, calomel (sub-chloride of mercury), and chloride
of lead. The two first are quite insoluble in water, and the third
nearly so. Therefore, since, under these circumstances, the
chlorides of all other metals are soluble, if we add hydrochloric
acid to a solution and get no precipitate, we may at once infer the
total absence of silver and sub-salts of mercury, and very probably
of lead. Hence, owing to this peculiar action of hydrochloric acid,
it is called the “ general re-agent ” for the first group.
Remarks. — It may seem extraordinary to the junior student that
both lead and mercury should be members of this group and the
next likewise; so we must endeavour to explain the apparent
mystery. The chloride of lead formed on adding hydrochloric acid
to a solution of a salt of that metal is partially soluble in water ;
so that if we have but a small quantity of lead present, it will be
at once perceived that the acid may fail to cause a precipitate,
owing to the presence of sufficient liquid to hold the chloride
formed in solution. However, though the lead may not be detected
under these circumstances, it cannot escape in the examination for
the second group. The reason is quite different in the case of mer¬
cury, since there exist two distinct states of oxidation of the metal,
each oxide forming salts with acids. There are likewise two
chlorides : one, corresponding to the protoxide, is known as the
highly-poisonous “corrosive sublimate;” and the second, to the
grey oxide, is called “calomel.” Now, corrosive sublimate is solu¬
ble in water, and calomel is not ; so that we are at once in posses¬
sion of a simple means of separating salts of one oxide from those
of the other. Therefore, the mercury detected with the first group
must exist in the solution as a salt of the grey or sub-oxide, and
that found in the second as a salt of the red or protoxide.
Second Group. — The separation of this class of metallic oxides
from all others depends on the fact that the sulphides — or
sulplmrets as they are sometimes called — of all the metals which
constitute the group are totally insoluble in an acid solution: we
may also subdivide the group into two sections, one being soluble
and the second insoluble in sulphide of ammonium. Let us now
suppose that wo have a solution under examination and we have
added hydrochloric acid to it in testing for the first group, we now
pass a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen until the liquid, even on
shaking, smells strongly of the gas; the solution is now warmed
gently, and any precipitate which may have formed is allowed to
subside;* the clear supernatant liquid is then poured off, and
reserved to be examined for the remaining groups ; some water
* It peroxide of iron exist in the solution a precipitate of sulphur will be produced
(though none of the members of the second group are present) owing to the power which
sulphuretted hydrogen possesses of reducing pcr-snlt* of iron to the state of proto-salts,
rhp same reduction takes place if certain other oxides are present, but of this more will
be said kertaflcr.
must be then thrown over the precipitate and the whole well
stirred up, then allowed to subside, and again decanted ; we now
pour a little sulphide of ammonium over the precipitate and w arm
the mixture ; it should then be thrown on a filter, and hydrochloric
acid added in excess to the liquid which passes through. If a
coloured* precipitate is produced the test has dissolved a portion
of the mixed sulphides. We thus ascertain, in the first instance,
whether any member of the group is present or not; and next, if
present, of which division it is a member.
The following table shows at a glance the constituents of the
group, the colour of the sulphides, and the division to which each
belongs : —
m <D 0)
c5 3 s o
g T3 3 X)
J- '3 01
Ph cj
f
1.
Antimony, Arsenic, +Tin (1), Tin (2), Gold, Platinum,
Orange. Yellow. Black. Yellow. Black. Black.
Mercury,
Black.
Lead,
Black.
Bismuth,
Black.
Copper, Cadmium,
Brown. Yellow.
Soluble in
sulphide of
ammonium.
Insoluble in
sulphide of
ammonium.
Remarks. — To a beginner, the detection of this class of metallic
oxides may appear a matter of considerable difficulty when com¬
pared with the simple test for the first group. Such is not really
the case, since nothing can be easier than this method of recogni¬
sing the presence of these bodies. There are, however, at the outset,
a few slight difficulties which we shall try and clear away. To
begin, then : in commencing an analysis it is always neccessary to
test for the first group, which, if present, must be completely
thrown down by adding hydrochloric acid until a precipitate
ceases to appear : of course a little lead remains in solution, but
this is discovered in the second division of the group we are at
present engaged with. If free nitric acid be present the solution
must be evaporated nearly to dryness to expel the acid, and then
water and a little hydrochloric acid added. Finally, assure your¬
self by test-papers that the liquid is moderately acid, but not too
much so. If these few and simple precautions be attended to, the
student may, with a little practice, convince himself of the
presence or absence of these two groups of bodies, with very
slight expenditure of time and trouble.
If we plunge into a separate portion of the solution under ex¬
amination a brightly-polished blade of iron or steel, and after
allowing it to remain for a few minutes in the liquid, we find it
coated with a red deposit of copper , we must use sulphide of potas¬
sium for the ammonium compound, in consequence of the sulphide
of copper being somewhat soluble in the latter but not iu the
former. The sulphide of potassium may be made in exactly the
same manner as that of ammonium, substituting “ liquor potassae ”
for u liquor ammonias.”
Third Group. — The general re-agent for this group is sulphide of
ammonium employed with an alkaline solution. Iu actual analysis
we must have freed the liquid under examination from the first two
groups (if present), then a little solution of chloride of ammonium is
added, and next ammonia, until the liquid has an alkaline re-action.J
We now pour in an excess of sulphide of ammonium, and observe
whether a precipitate is produced or not : if not, this group is
absent.
The constituents of the group when precipitated under the cir¬
cumstances above mentioned are in three different conditions,
viz., as sulphides, as oxides, and as salts. Since the last mentioned
compounds are not likely to come much in the way of a photo¬
grapher, and as they would only complicate matters, we will not
notice them further.
This table will give some information regarding the appearances
of the members of this class : —
& 3
2 a
* 1
|'||
a s
'"So
P cS CG
Iron, Nickel, Cohalt,
Black.
Zinc,
White.
Manganese,
Flesh-coloured.
Uranium,
Brownish-
Black.
Aluminum,
White.
Chrcmiu
Green
~n,
}
l
Baryta, strontia, and lime, in combination with phosphoric,
oxalic, or boracic acids, or magnesia with phosphoric
acids,
White.
As
Sulphides.
As
Oxides.
As
Salts.
Fourth Group. — The carbonates of the members of this class are
all insoluble in water; so that, when we are certain of the absence
of the constituents of the first three groups, it is only necessary to
* If only a pale yellow precipitate is produced, which fuses into a yellow liquid and
finally disappears completely when heated on platinum foil, it is simply sulphur, the
formation of which is due to the action of the acid on the sulphide.
•(■Tin (1), if existing as a compound of protoxide— (2), if of peroxide.
t If, after the addition of the ammonia in slight excess, any turbidity appear, it may
be disregar ded, as the subsequent treatment with the sulphide will set matters right.
September 15, 180*3]
THfi BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
add a few drops of solution of carbonate of ammonia , and observe
whether a white precipitate is produced : if so, it is caused by the
presence of barium, strontium , or calcium, all or either.
Fifth Group. — This comprises the following metals: — Magnesium,
potassium, sodium, lithium, and ammonium (?). There is no actual
precipitant for all these bodies ; so that their existence has rather
to be inferred from the fact that the solution contains no other
metallic oxides, but yet, when evaporated to dryness, leaves a
fixed residue, which is not dissipated by strong heat.*
Such are the rules to be adhered to in systematic analysis. Let
us now see how they are put in practice. Suppose we take a dilute
solution of each of the following salts : — 1. Nitrate of silver. 2.
Tartar emetic (double tartrate of antimony and potashf). 3. Iodide
of cadmium. 4. Protosulphate of iron. 5. Chloride of barium.
6. Chloride of sodium. We shall now examine each separately.
1. About half a teaspoonful is placed in a test-tube, and tested
with blue litmus-paper : no alteration of colour is produced. A
slip of reddened litmus, when immersed in the liquid, gives the
same negative result ; therefore the solution is that of a neutral
salt. On adding a drop of hydrochloric acid, a white precipitate is
at once produced; more acid is added, and the mixture shaken
after each addition until further precipitate ceases to appear ; the
whole is then thrown on a small filter, and a few drops of the liquid
which passes through evaporated gently over the spirit lamp on a
slip of glass. No non-volatile matter is left ; therefore we need
not apply any further tests for other bases. Now, as we obtained
a precipitate with hydrochloric acid, the compound examined must
be a member of G-roup 1. To determine which constituent of the
group, would require the use of special tests, which we shall refer
to more particularly in our next article, our only object at present
being the detection of the group to which the compound belongs.
2. Solution is neutral to test-papers. Gives no precipitate with
hydrochloric acid. A current of sulphuretted hydrogen is now
passed to excess through the acidified liquid ; an orange-coloured
precipitate is produced, which is warmed with the solution, then
allowed to subside, and decanted ; it is then washed, as before
described, with water, and, after pouring off the latter, a little sul¬
phide of ammonium is added, and the mixture warmed ; the pre¬
cipitate completely dissolves, indicating the presence of a member
of the first division of the second group.
3. Neutral to test-paper. No precipitate with hydrochloric acid.
Absent, Group 1. Sulphuretted hydrogen causes a yellow precipi¬
tate, insoluble in sulphide of ammonium, and permanent when heated
on platinum foil. This can only be cadmium, as will be seen on
referring to the table of the second group.
4. Affords no precipitate with hydrochloric acid or sulphuretted
hydrogen. A little chloride of ammonium and slight excess of
ammonia are now added, and, finally, sulphide of ammonium : a
blade precipitate is produced. Present, some member ol the third
group, certainly one of the black sulphides.
5. No alteration produced by hydrochloric acid, sulphuretted
hydrogen, or sulphide of ammonium in alkaline solution, but gives
a white precipitate on the addition ol carbonate of ammonia.
Present, some member of the fourth group.
6. Gives no precipitate with any general re-agent ; but since, on
evaporating a drop of the solution, a solid residue remains, one or
other of the constituents of the fifth group must be present.
The student should practise on solutions such as these, until he
has acquired facility and experience in the detection of these
groups, before he commences to separate the individual constituents
of each class. _
Errata in previous Article. — Page 325, nineteenth line from top ot
article, for “ youthful ” read “useful;11 third line from bottom, for “brass”
read “glass.” Page 326, thirty-sixth line from bottom, for “ vinary ”
read “binary;” twenty-first line from bottom, for “ vinary ” read
“binary.”
THE PENCIL AND ETCHING NEEDLE.
By an Old Hand.
Every individual in any way connected with art-graphic or
philosophic — should be able to use the black lead pencil. Every¬
one of moderate capacity may make himself in a short tune capable
of doing so with advantage and often with profit, lo the pho¬
tographer in particular these remarks apply; and many pictures
might be preserved and made presentable if the operators had but
a little skill and freedom of hand so as to touch up their produc¬
tions and hide some accidental blemish or defect. T his, in a com¬
mercial point of view, is of some consequence, and well worth the
* Ammonia must be tested fur in tlie original solution,
t We may disregard the potash, and search merely for the antimony.
o
o
17
attention of all engaged in the photographic art. How many posi¬
tives on glass are refused, from specks, flaws, stains, and other
blemishes on and round the plate that no mat will cover. In fact,
a good, bright, clear mat makes the defect worse! Then, with
landscapes on paper, how many might be preserved that are now re¬
jected, owing to stained white skies, spots, finger-marks, &c.! The
attempt to remove or hide any of the above-named defects by those
wanting dexterity of hand is just making bad worse ; for decision
and firmness in the use of the pencil or brush can only be attained
by practice, care, and attention. Like many other neglected things
it only wants a beginning ; and, in a short time, the novice follow¬
ing the directions laid down in this article would fairly surprise
himself. The writer does not propose to go in for a “ great cram,”
and make people wonderfully clever in no time ; nor does he intend
to touch upon high art, nor any of its attributes ; but to give plain
directions in plain terms, calculated to lead all followers to success¬
ful results. The experience of many years as a sketcher and anti¬
quarian draughtsman has fully convinced him that much rnay be
done by a little perseverance ; and that photographers may occa¬
sionally assist their pictures without knowing anything of or about
the manipulations of Vandyke, Reubens, Rembrandt, or Sir Joshua.
Let it be understood the use of these resources is only advocated in
cases of emergency and necessity. If a photograph be clear, clean,
and presentable — either on glass or paper — let it alone ; do not
attempt to make good better. As, however, photographic proofs
are liable to mishaps beyond the control of the most skilful or
cautious, it is prudent to have means at hand, and to be competent to
apply them in a way that will, in some measure, repair the defects.
I shall, therefore, as regards the black-lead, the camel-hair pencil,
and the etching point, endeavour, if possible, to condense the ex¬
perience of a lengthened period in their use into a narrow compass.
Thirty or forty years back a good black-lead pencil was not to be
obtained under sixpence, and then the lead was hardly half-way up.
The drawing-pencil trade of the period referred to was a great
monopoly ; but, in these days of free trade and competition, good
articles in various degrees of hardness may be obtained for about
two shillings the dozen. For general purposes and practice, select a
pencil marked “ HB.” Cut the cedar away for about three-parts of
an inch to a fine point. Never cut a pencil short and stubby.
Rule a couple of lines on a sheet of cartridge paper, or stitch a few
leaves of straw paper together for general practice: rule it through
as a copy-book, and then practice the following : —
to one inch and a-half or two inches.
As all drawing consists of upright lines, leaning lines, crooked
lines, hollow rounds and curves, judiciously and skilfully mingled,
the simplicity of the above examples, will often cause the self-
sufficient to neglect the practising their formation, and commence
some large showy subject, such as a house or landscape. This is
commencing at the wrong end — beginning at the roof and ending
at the foundation. All such generally waste many vears belore
the hand and wrist get firmness and the eye decision. In following
up and carrying out the practice of the lirst t\yel\e examples
there is little difficulty. Most people carry a pencil in the pocket,
and there are generally odd pieces of paper lying al out . so
rule lines, and practice away, going on steadily, from week to
week, during any leisure hail-hour. At the end ot a few months
application, the hand will begin, as it is termed, to feel ltsel.—to
have acquired firmness and decision— so that when the mind
thinks on a form, the hand catches the idea, as it were, and, guided
by the eye, the pencil shapes it on paper.
348
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 15, 180Q
As regards music : does a violin-player begin attempting difficult
pieces by Sebastian Bach, or a sonata in D, with variations ? Cer¬
tainly not : if well advised, he begins to learn the notes correctly.
So with the examples : a ready use and knowledge of the same is
of equal consequence to the student of the pencil as the notes are
to a musician.
After having practised the first set of examples for some time,
attempt any of the following, sometimes using the narrow lines
and then gradually increasing the width, at the same time accus¬
toming the eye to get the various divisions with evenness and
accuracy. Attend to No. 13 in particular.
12®.
As this article is intended to be plain, simple, and short, there is
no need of going further into the science of drawing, or at all
trenching on the higher or more difficult branches. All who wish
to follow up with the more advanced and difficult portions of the
art can consult any of the excellent manuals published by the
various dealers in drawing materials.
The etcher’s needle, or sharp point, now comes under considera¬
tion. A very useful one may be made by sharpening up the end
of a small file, so that you have two instruments in one. It will be
found of much use in the following way : — Most photographers
have taken many positive pictures, unsightly in appearance, owing
to specks, flaws, and spots — being quite unpresentable, and certain
to be refused by the sitter. Now, though no advocate for back¬
grounding a portrait at all if it be clear and clean, yet if faulty there,
and the face and expression be good, and quite free from any of the
injuries enumerated, an expert and practised hand might tint such
picture up in oil, or flat colour, and so get out of the difficulty, and
Km Jr’ii^iexanlpl0 ,is nrl (‘x?.e,lerit one for general practice, and should be followed ’up
oeiweon broad and narrow lines. - 1
hide all blemishes. Now, the less experienced operator had better
have recourse to the sharp point, and should proceed thus. Dry the
picture well, and holding it firmly in the left hand, over a piece of
velvet, or other dark foundation, proceed to etch in, with the point,
either traces of ivy or foliage, or pillar and drapery, according to
the position of the various specks and flaws. Reference to the illus¬
trations will show, at once, the damaged plate, and the plate
repaired and presentable.
w
In some cases the flaws will be small and trifling and on one side
only : in that case a slight etching over and over in imitation of
ivy will remedy the defect. The great use of this plan is its quick¬
ness. Colouring and painting out in oil or water takes a consider¬
able time — this etching method only a few minutes. The dusty
particles should be blown off with the rubber bellows : never on any
account blow on a picture with the mouth.
DEVELOPMENT OP THE LATENT IMAGE, OBTAINED
IN THE CAMEEA OB SCUBA.*
By M. D. Van Monckboven.
It is obvious that, as soon as the proper time has elapsed for
exposure, the sensitised plate should be withdrawn from the light,
by closing the shutter and carrying it into the dark room. Care¬
fully closing the shutter in front of the yellow glass window,
the plate is taken^out of the frame. The surface generally pre¬
sents, on examination, no apparent image ; but, as we have said
in our introduction, this image can be made apparent by covering
the surface, acted upon by the light, with the solution of a salt
which reduces the salts of gold and silver to the metallic state.
Amongst the substances used for this purpose we shall only enlarge
upon the use of pyrogallic acid and sulphate of iron. Among the
other reducing agents employed in photography may be mentioned
protonitrate of iron, protosulphate of uranium, protosalts of osmium
and titanium, and the hydruret of gaicyle. The capabilities of all
these latter salts were tested by M. Monckboven in the course of
the summer of 1860. Of all these salts not in common use
we have been most successful with the protosulphate of uranium.
Protosulphate of iron is little used, except for direct positives on
glass, of which we shall soon have to speak, and almost everyone
uses pyrogallic acid. As in a subsequent chapter we give all the
necessary details for the use of sulphate of iron, we shall refer the
reader to that, premising always that it is only in exceptional
cases that he will succeed with salts of iron in developing nega¬
tives ; and that above all, for a first attempt, the use of pyrogallic
acid is far preferable.
. * Fro.n Trait! PopuUln Philo jr
September 16, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
349
"We explain the preparation of pyrogallic acid in Note 10,
mentioning here only some properties with which the photographer
must necessarily be thoroughly acquainted.
Pyrogallic acid is a white crystalline solid, without smell ; but
in commerce it is generally obtained in an amorphous state — that
is to say, not crystallised, and with a pretty decided empyreumatic
smell. It is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether, and its solution
in either of these menstrua becomes rapidly decomposed on ex¬
posure to air and light, especially if the solution be alkaline. This
substance alters vei'y soon even when it is dry. If a small amount
of moisture be present, however, the decomposition proceeds with
increased rapidity, being expedited by the foreign matter which
it contains. Thus it is indispensable — first, to keep the pyrogallic
bought in shops in small stoppered bottles ; second, to keep it in
the dark ; third, never to prepare with it more developing solution
than is likely to suffice for a day’s consumption.
It is usual to add to the pyrogallic another acid, as much to pre¬
serve the solution as to develop the picture uniformly ; distilled
water also must be used, or at least rain water, well filtered. That
which is obtained during a storm contains ammonia or nitric acid,
and is unfit for use.
Solution of pyrogallic acid for developing is thus prepared : — A
flask of about 16 ounces capacity is obtained, and made perfectly
clean ; to this is adapted a funnel, furnished with a filter as in
fig. 11. Upon this filter throw fifteen grains of pyrogallic acid.
Then 12 ounces distilled water being measured off, and half an
ounce of crystallisable acetic acid being added thereto, agitating
meanwhile with a glass rod, the whole is thrown on to the filter
containing the pyrogallic acid, which latter dissolves as the liquid
is passing through the filter. The filtration being complete, the
funnel is removed and the flask stopped lightly with a cork, and
set aside for use in the dark.
MM. Davanne and Girard have written a somewhat lengthy paper,
with the view of substituting for crystallisable acetic acid another
solid and less costly acid. According to these authors the preceding
formula may be advantageously replaced by the following: —
Distilled water . 300 parts.
Pyrogallic acid . 1 „
Citric acid . 1 „
Whichever formula is adopted, the solution being prepared, the
following is the method by which we must- proceed to develop the
image. Let us observe, in passing, that not more than five
minutes should elapse between the moment when the plate is
sensitised and that in which the picture is developed.
The plate, on removal from the frame, is held by
one corner (the same by which it was held when
the collodion was poured over it) ; then a small
quantity of the developing solution being poured
into a glass with a suitable lip provided for that
purpose (fig. 58), it is poured by a continuous
operation on the plate, which is inclined alternately
in every direction, in order that the whole collodion
surface may be covered without delay. We then
fig. 59.
FIG. 58.
FIG. 60.
WASH-BOTTLE.
suddenly turn the plate upright, holding it by the corner from
whence the liquid flowed into the glass.
We pour the same solution once more on the plate, inclining it
constantly from right to left, in order that the liquid rnay be kept
in continual motion. The image gradually ap¬
pears, and when it is considered sufficiently deve¬
loped, the plate is washed by dipping it at first
very carefully into a shallow porcelain tray, filled
with water ; it is then placed under a small stream
of water : after which it is fixed. It is desirable,
for washing the plate, to use a little apparatus
represented in fig. GO. It is simply a flask, filled
with distilled water. The cork is perforated, so
as to admit of the passage of two tubes. The
highest — that through which we blow — passes
through the cork, and terminates directly under it;
the other, on the contrary, rests in the water at
the bottom of the bottle. The draughtsman has
reversed this arrangement in the figure by mistake.
In using this wash-bottle, it is fig. 61.
held by the neck while the opera- washing the film.
directions.
(To be conchklcd in our next.)
850
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 15, 180*4
ON THE ADHESIVE MATERIALS EMPLOYED FOB
MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS.*
By James Martin.
Dextrine — British Gum , Torrefied Starch , C24, H20, O20. — This
adhesive material occurs in nature in the process of germination,
and is there produced by the action of diastase on starch. A similar
result is also brought about in the process of artificial germina¬
tion, called “malting.” Dextrine is also produced by acting on
starch by means of dilute sulphuric or oxalic acids, which have the
property of bursting the granules and converting it into the sub¬
stance in question. When starch is carefully heated to a tempera¬
ture of 400°, Fahr., it becomes soluble in cold as well as in hot
water, and loses the power of gelatinising. The solution, when
evaporated, yields a translucent hard mass, much resembling some
inferior varieties of gum arabic, from which circumstance it has
acquired the name of British gum. It is often used as a substitute
for gum arabic in calico-printing, and is also the material employed
to render postage stamps adhesive. Its value, as a substitute for
gum, consists in its being more flexible and less brittle when dry
than that substance : it is also less prone to spontaneous change
in solution than either starch or ordinary commercial gum. Its free¬
dom from saline impurities would also present an additional reason
for its adoption by photographers for mounting prints, and this
fact will be more fully appreciated by studying the table we shall
presently give of the comparative composition of several commer¬
cial varieties of gum. The atomic constitution given above will
have shown the reader that dextrine and starch are isomeric: it
may be distinguished from the latter body, however, by its colour,
and its not being rendered blue by iodine, which gives with it a
dingy purple tint.
Gum C24, Hv, 022, is another proximate constituent of plants,
scarcely less universal in its occurrence than starch. In the form
of gum arabic its ordinary physical appearance will be doubtless
very familiar to the reader. It is further characterised by its
solubility in cold water, with which it forms a thick mucilage, and
is insoluble in alcohol, ether, and oils. Strong nitric acid converts
it into oxalic and mucic acids.
For the sake of brevity it has been deemed expedient to tabulate
the following facts connected with the six varieties of gum found
in commerce : —
PROXIMATE CONSTITUENTS.
SOURCE.
Arabine.
Eassorine
Ccrasine.
Water.
Saline
Matter.
1. Gum Arabic ... -f
t
Acacia Arabica... )
Acacia Vera . J
70-40
__
17-60
2. Gum Senegal .
Acacia Senegal .
81-10
-
r„ „
1(5-10
12-
3-
8. Gum of Cherry, f
tree and other -
stone fruits ... 1
Cerasus Duracina )
and Vulgaris ... j
52-10
—
34-90
1-
4. GumTragacantk J
AstragulusTraga- )
cantha . f
53-30
33-30
_
1 1-0
3-
6. Gum Bassora .
6. Gum of Seeds <
e. a. Linurn Usita- )
52-70
28-9 of
and Roots . (
tissunum . f
103
711
an in sol.
matter.
It is unnecessary to consider in detail any of the above varieties
besides the first two, which, from the large proportions of arabine
or soluble gum which they contain, are best adapted for use as ad¬
hesive materials for mounting photographs, and are in fact in very
general use lor that purpose among photographers.
The first of these, gum arabic , may be regarded as the type of
this class of substances, and the tree yielding it grows on the banks
ol the Nile and in Arabia. The purest commercial kinds are white
or slightly yellowish small rounded pieces, generally hollow on one
side : it lias a smooth conchoidal fracture, and no trace of crystalline
structure. It is free from smell, transparent, brittle, easily pow¬
dered, and has a specific gravity of 1*335. It is bleached by the
action of direct sunlight at the temperature of boiling water, and
when moistened with water reddens litmus paper, owing to a
trace of supermalate of lime which it contains. Suitable re-agents
a so demonstrate the presence of traces of chloride of potassium,
chloride of calcium, and acetate of potash; and, remembering that
the two latter are highly deliquescent salts, although the quantity
contained is a mere trace (from two to three per cent.), yet it is
thought that the propriety of using a substance for mounting pho¬
tographs which will be always absorbing the moisture of the at¬
mosphere becomes highly questionable, especially when it is re¬
membered what marked effects are produced by the joint action of
au an(l moisturo upon the oxides of the nobler metals in the
* Concluded from i>age 30 U.
presence of organic matter — all which conditions, it will be remem¬
bered, are combined in an ordinary positive proof.
Gum Senegal— The uses and chemical properties of this gum are
the same as gum arabic ; it occurs in commerce, however, in
much larger pieces than gum arabic, some being as large as a
partridge’s egg, with a hollow centre. It has a specific gravity of
1*436, and is largely used by calico printers. Its proximate con¬
stitution is given in the table above.
Gelatine , Glue, Isinglass, Size. — The different substances known
by these names possess so many properties in common they
may be conveniently considered under one heading, the remarks
made under which may for the most part be considered to apply
to the whole of them.
Gelatine C13, H10, Os, N2 is a substance of animal origin,
produced by boiling the skins, bones, horns, hoofs, &c., of animals
in water. The liquor thus obtained assumes, on cooling, a semi¬
liquid tremulous condition, known in commerce as size. If, how¬
ever, it be cut into slices and dried, by suitable means, it becomes
hard and brittle from loss of water, acquiring the character of glue.
Both these are but rough and comparatively impure forms of the
substance in question, which are, nevertheless, well adapted for the
purposes to which they are applied. For photographic purposes
a purer form should be employed : this may be found in isinglass,
(a preparation of the air-bladders of a species of sturgeon, Acipenscr
huso,) and also in Nelson’s, Cox’s, and Swinborne’s gelatine, and in
a French preparation known as grenatine. All these are very pure
descriptions of the substance under consideration. The method of
preparing Nelson’s gelatine, which will serve to illustrate the prin¬
ciple involved in the other processes, is as follows : — The pariDgs
of skin being well washed, and their surfaces scored, are digested
during ten days in a dilute solution of caustic soda. At the end of
this time they are placed in an air-tight vat, lined with cement, and
maintained at a temperature of 70° Fahr. : they are then washed in a
revolving cylinder apparatus with pleuty of cold water, and after¬
wards exposed to the fumes of burning sulphur (S 02) in a wooden
chamber. They are now squeezed to expel the moisture, and
finally converted into soluble gelatine by water in earthen vessels,
enclosed in steam cases. The fluid gelatine is purified by straining
it at a temperature of 100° or 120° Fahr.
Gelatine thus obtained is a hard, semi-transparent, coherent, sub¬
stance, freely soluble in boiling water, but imperfectly soluble in
cold water, in which it merely undergoes a kind of swelling. The
concentrated boiling solution gelatinises on cooling : a solution,
however, containing three grains to the ounce of water, although
prepared by the aid of heat, does not gelatinise on cooling. The
applications of this substance in the photographic art are very
numerous, on account of the property it possesses of forming an
insoluble compound with bichromate of potash under the influence
of light. The reader will at once call to mind the processes of
Photoglyphography by Talbot, Photogalvanography by Pretsch,
and processes of a kindred nature by Poitevin, Salmon and Gamier,
and others.
A reference to the composition of gelatine given above will show
it to be a somewhat complex organic substance, and, as such, prone
to spontaneous decomposition under comparatively slight disturb¬
ing influences; in view of which the propriety of using it as a
material for mounting photographs is, to say the least, question¬
able ; especially when it is remembered that mounted photographs
are sometimes hung against damp walls, and that gelatine is a
highly hygrometric substance, which, although it may be kept in¬
definitely in the dry state, undergoes putrefaction when moist.
The result of this putrefaction would be in the highest degree
disastrous to a photograph mounted with gelatine.
In stating objections to the use of a particular substance, or
in noticing difficulties attending the preparation of photographic
chemicals, the writer is desirous of meeting, as far as possible,
the question which most naturally arises in the mind of the
reader : — “ Well, since I have only gelatine to mount my photo¬
graphs, is there no way in which I can prevent its decompo¬
sition?” To amateurs so unfortunately situated (and there may
be many such “up-country ” in India and Australia), the answer
is — “ there is nothing like leather 1” Convert the gelatine into
leather by washing it over with a solution of tannin or infusion of
catchecu or oak bark, and when dry no further decomposition will
take place.
Sulphuric acid, oxalic acid, and long continued boiling, deprives
gelatine of the power of solidifying on cooling. The solution so ob¬
tained lias been termed metagelatine, and employed under that
name as a preservative agent in a dry collodion process by Mr.
Maxwell Lyte.
September 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
351
The most characteristic re-action of gelatine with re-agents is its
formation of an insoluble compound with tannic acid and infusion
of galls; and it is upon this property that the manufacture of
leather is founded, leather being, in fact, for the most part, tannate
of gelatine.
Alcohol precipitates gelatine from its aqueous solution by ab¬
sorbing the water. Gelatine is also insoluble in ether and fixed
and volatile oils. The usual re-action between chloride of sodium
and nitrate of silver does not take place in the presence of gelatine,
which forms an intimate union with the silver salt, requiring the
addition of nitric acid before a precipitate of chloride of silver can
be obtained. This fact has an important bearing on certain photo¬
graphic operations; but this is not the place to enter into a de¬
tailed consideration of it, our attention being directed in this article
especially to the adhesive properties of the substance brought
under notice.
India-rubber dissolved in coal tar naphtha has sometimes been
recommended for mounting photographs, but is not very generally
adopted, probably on account of the somewhat unpleasant odour
of the naphtha used as the solvent. The writer is not aware of
any chemical objection to its use, since the menstruum for the
caoutchouc is completely volatile, and leaves as the adhesive
material after evaporation a substance of a most stable constitution
and perfectly impervious to moisture.
A LESSON FOR THE LEARNED; OR, A FEW
WORDS IN EXPLANATION.
By George Dawson, M.A.,
Lecturer on Photography, King's College.
A photographic teacher would find too much to do were he to fight
with and overcome all the dragons and chimeras in the shape of
false doctrines and misconceptions which are continually besetting
his path in this photographic world of ours. However, I need no
apology for doing battle with and, I trust, conquering one of these
monsters, which put in an appearance lately in the pages of your
contemporary — the Photographic Neivs — in the guise of a letter
from a correspondent. In that contribution I am stigmatised as
a bad chemist, because, in an article published in your Journal,
I stated that imperfectly-washed prints, after passing through the
acetate of soda toning bath, have a tendency to generate sulphuric
acid in the hyposulphite of soda. In order that there may be no
misconception, I quote the words used : — “Now, though I perfectly
agree with Mr. Dawson as to the importance of thorough washing,
I think you will agree Avith me, Mr. Editor, that his chemistry
is quite at fault, when he gives as a reason that ‘free nitrate of
silver is certain to generate S03 in the after fixing bath,’ for I
cannot perceive how any free nitrate of silver can pass through the
toning bath of chloride of gold and acetate of soda without being-
decomposed ; and if it be decomposed, Iioav can it be present so
as to generate sulphuric acid in the hyposulphite bath?”
The matter quoted I consider a good sample of those not uncom¬
mon fallacies in photographic chemistry which, arising from im¬
perfect knowledge, having been once announced, are passed from
mouth to mouth, till they begin to be regarded as established
facts. The Editor, in a note appended, apologetic for my “thought¬
lessness,” seems to “agree” with his correspondent, and fully to
endorse his opinion. Were he one of my pupils I would sIioav him
the following experiments, which may help to place the truth of the
matter in a clearer light, and to convince the most sceptical of the
chemical and practical correctness of my recommendation. I have
occasionally to perform them myself before the students attending
my lectures Avith the same object that I uoav publish them ; —
In a test-tube or Avine glass dissolve say five grains nitrate of
silver in half an ounce of distilled Avater (the proportions are un¬
important, provided the solution be not A’ery concentrated). Add
acetate of soda, in any quantity and of any strength : no pr ecipitate
of acetate of silver Avill fall, even though chloride of gold be pre¬
sent and the solution be kept for many hours. Acetate of silver
has not been formed, for it is very insoluble in Avater; but the
nitrate remains undecomposed, as may be proved by adding a
single drop of hypo., Avhich Avill at once precipitate hyposulphite
of silver, passing through all the usual tints till the black sulphide
remains and sulphuric acid is set free.
If Ave perform the same experiment, only substituting the car¬
bonate for the acetate of soda, the Avhole of the nitrate Avill be
decomposed, and hypo, may be added freely Avithout the formation
of sulphide of silver and sulphuric acid.
Another experiment suggests itself, Avliieh may be still more
convincing to those unaccustomed to draAV practical deductions
from abstract experiments. Cut a newly-printed stereoscopic
picture, on rather thick paper, into two parts ; pour a solution of
acetate of soda, no matter how strong, sufficient only to cover the
bottom of a small flat-bottomed dish ; add gold, and immerse one
of the halves till toned, but do not shake it about, because the
Avater may be in quantity to Avash the print sufficiently to prevent
the effect I am about to describe ; treat the other half, after
thorough Avashing, in a similar way in another bath. Noav hang up
both to dry, or, to save time, dry by artificial heat, in the dark ; then
touch any part of the whites or high lights of the unwashed pic¬
ture Avith a very dilute solution of hypo., an almost instantaneous
formation of a sulphur compound takes place, presenting the ap¬
pearance of a yelloAvish brown deposit, insoluble in the strongest
hypo., partially so in cyanide of potassium, but totally soluble in
bisulphide of carbon. In the other part, Avhich lias been washed,
no such appearance will bo presented, simply because all the
nitrate has been previously removed.
Experiments might be multiplied, all tending to the same con¬
clusion. If any one require still further confirmation of the truth of
my statement, let him tone a feAv unwashed prints in acetate of
soda and gold: he will find, even after the lapse of days, abundant
evidence of free nitrate in his toning bath, by applying any of the
usual tests.
I am therefore compelled to repeat, emphatically, Avhat I have
before stated as an important precaution when using an acetate of
soda and gold toning bath — wash thoroughly , otherwise you will
incur the risk of decomposition of the hypo, and consequent sul¬
phurising of the prints.
There is not much danger of free nitrate reaching the fixing-
bath after the prints have passed through an alkaline solution of
gold and bicarbonate of soda, provided the latter be in quantity
sufficient to precipitate all the nitrate as a carbonate of silver.
The carbonate is readily formed in any strength of solution of
nitrate, but the acetate of silver with great difficulty in very
strong solutions, and even then the Avhole of the nitrate has not
been decomposed.
(trHbifion Gossip.
ANOTHER ACCIDENT. - FOREIGN LANDSCAPE
PHOTOGRAPHS.
In my last “Gossip” I chronicled an accident in the French De¬
partment, caused by the descent of glass and sash-work from the
roof during a heavy fall of rain. In in}' present I have to chronicle
a similar accident in the British Department, by which a group of
the splendid stereographs of Mr. Breese, together with the instru¬
ments in Avhich they Avere exhibited, and the strong top of the
Avalnut-wood table on Avhich they stood, have been destroyed. My
friend, Mr. Sebastian Davis, had the case containing his ingenious
manipulating camera also injured at the same time. It is fortu¬
nate that this accident occurred in the morning before the opening
of the Exhibition, as otherwise serious injuries might have been
inflicted on some of the visitors, the stand of Mr. Breese being
seldom Avithout a crowd about it.
In the British Department of Photography avc find, since our last
visit, A’arious efforts have been made to re-dress the Avails and
partially fill the blanks caused by removing faded pictures, which
blanks are still likely to increase in number if fading pictures con¬
tinue to be removed.
Our present visit, hoAvever, is intended for the Foreign Photo¬
graphic Departments, and Ave shall commence our tour of inspec¬
tion Avith the French.
The French landscapes, to Avhich our attention is now directed,
are not so numerous as the specimens illustrative of other branches
of the art; but there are some very excellent pictures of this
kind nevertheless. A wild, artificial looking landscape, by Silvy,
has its principal merit in the attempt rather than the deed.
Some enlarged instantaneous pictures of sky, Avater. and shipping
are particularly striking from their picturesque and natural
qualities. A. Poitevin exhibits good landscapes, some of which
are executed by this gentleman’s carbon process. E. Jouet,
also, has some excellent pictures. A. Davanne contributes some ca¬
pital landscapes by the Taupenot process, and P. Gaillard is another
successful photographic landscapist. But the great masters are to
be found in Marville, Jouet, the Marquis de Bdrenger, Aleo, "War-
nod, and Maxwell Lyte. Waruod’s instantaneous vieAvs equal the
very best and most artistic I haA*e seen ; Avhile the grandeur and
beauty of MaxAvell Lyte’s mountain scenes cannot easily be sur¬
passed either as photographs or Avorks of art.
352
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. [September 15, 18(52
It is evident that, although British photographers have borne away
the palm of landscape art from all comers, their French rivals are
not so far behind them in the race that in the future they can safely
rest upon their oars ; although in the French their only serious
rivals can as yet be found. The few. specimens sent from other
lands are either decidedly inferior or simply commonplace. Good
and artistic portraiture may be found in very many parts of the
jrreat International Exhibition, but good landscape photography
is almost entirely! confined to the French and Engiisn Depart-
In the contributions from Denmark some good street views
mingle, and some tolerably good landscapes are to be found among
the pictures sent from Belgium. A number oi good landscapes
have been sent from Canada. A tew commonplace views of scenes
and incidents connected with the American wai, sent byLiady
from New York, are in an out-of-the-way corner, near one of the
minor entrances. Cheesy-looking view's, some of them huge and
panoramic, are to be found in the New Zealand Department, most
of which will be found more interesting to the geologist than to
the artist or the photographer. The grand old ruins of Gieece
have been badly photographed, and are fading awaj in the collec¬
tion sent from that country. The Temple of the Winds, and bas-
reliefs from the Parthenon, photographed by Constantine, of Athens,
are the best among these interesting productions. Some inferior
and commonplace landscapes are sent from India, among which
are some panoramic views by T. Marten, and some veiy interesting
pictures of the majestic and awe-inspiring temples of India s far,
far away and unrecorded past, by Captain Dixon.
South Australia contributes a collection of views chiefly interest¬
ing — although many of them are very respectable photographs
from the novel and interesting character of the scenery they repre¬
sent. Among the best of these are C. Nettleton’s, oi Williamstone,
and E. Haigli, from Melbourne — some by the latter gentleman being
very good indeed. A good and large series, illustrative of fossil
rock sections and Victorian geology, by R. Dainfree, deserve. our
praise and thanks. From Adelaide we have sulphur-toned prints
of street scenes, &c. ; from Queensland some sulphur-toned pano¬
ramic and other views. Street views from Natal and Maritzburg
do not astonish us photographically, although I rather think they
were intended so to do. Flood sends some good pictures from New
Brunswick ; and Allport sends some good stereographs from Tas¬
mania. By-the-bye, I should have mentioned some pictures of the
Public Library at Melbourne, which are decidedly good.
But photography is scattered so thinly and wddely over the
whole building, that, although I think I dare assert that I have
examined nearly every specimen of the art it contains, I can find
nothing demanding very special notice beyond those specimens to
which I have already called attention among landscapes.
In our next “Gossip” we must give some attention to the archi¬
tectural photographs and the reproductions. A. H. W.
A VISIT TO LONDON AND THE EXHIBITION.*
By A Scotch Photogkai>her.
I CONSIDERED Claudet’s enlarged pictures as instructive ; for, apart
from any merit they might possess in themselves, they had each a
“tender” mounted in the same frame, consisting of an original
sized print from the negative. This, as I have said, is instructive;
for, at a glance, Mt lets the spectator see the capabilities of the solar
camera. The taste for enlarged pictures being decidedly ad¬
vancing, it may be somewhat confidently predicted that this will
be followed by an increased demand for this instrument, which is
said to have recently received some important improvements at the
hands of the English manufacturer, Mr. Atkinson, of Liverpool. If
it can he used without sunshine for the production of enlarged
negatives, as I see no reason to doubt it can be, then an objection
formerly taken to it by some Scotch operators — that in their
“ land of mists” the hours of sunshine are so rare compared with
those of the sunny south, as to considerably affect its usefulness in
their hands— will, to a great extent, be removed by their being
enabled to operate not only when the sun shines, but also when he
is obscured with clouds.
After reading Mr. Warner’-s communication On Enlarging, I went
in quest of his productions with some interest. Not finding them
hanging among the others, I at first thought they had been with¬
drawn, but I afterwards discovered them standing, I suppose
temporarily, on the ground, with their faces towards the wall, and
circumstances prevented me from devoting much time in the
examination of them.
* Continued from page 312.
Being on the look-out for novelties the moonlight pictures of
Mr. Breese claimed my attention as a matter of course. How a
terrestial subject can be photographed by a brief exposure to the
light of
“ That orbed maiden,
With white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the moon,”
I cannot well perceive. We in the north consider such a feat an
optical and chemical impossibility ; but our ignorance protects us.
I am aware of moonlight views having been taken by a lens of
large angular aperture and a somewhat long exposure, the moon
herself not being allowed to show her face on the sensitive plate
until experience had determined that the sublunary portion had
received its due quantum of exposure, when, on raising a shutter
for a few seconds, the satellite was allowed to impress her image.
Perhaps the beautiful moonlight views alluded to are done in
a similar manner ; and yet the (as I thought) extraordinary large
size of the moon, in one view at least, almost inclined me to the
belief that the moon and earth were printed from separate nega¬
tives — that of the former being taken with a lens of longer focus
than the other.
It must be confessed that there is not much in the Photographic
Department of the Exhibition that is new. 1 saw some huge lens-
mounts among the apparatus. It is quite possible there may have
been lenses in them, but as they were locked up in glass cases
from the vulgar touch, one had not an opportunity of seeing more
than the brass-work. “ They manage these things better in
France,” in the Department of which country I saw some large
lenses alike beautiful in their finish and powers of definition. Talk¬
ing of lenses, it is matter of surprise how the French manage to
sell their optical goods at the prices they do. I am here reminded
of the well-known stoiy of the brushmaker, who, in consequence
of stealing all his materials managed to undersell his neighbours,
but had his business in turn put a stop to by an antagonist who
stole all his brushes ready made. One is almost tempted to think
that, on the assumption that the English manufacturing opticians
charge fair prices for similar goods, the French must have the art of
stealing not merely the brass and glass of which their instruments
are fabricated, but the ready-made instruments themselves. The
photographic portrait combination is an example of this. I have,
on one occasion, paid for an ordinary English lens-mount 25 per
cent, more than I have paid for an equally well-made French
mounting of the same size, including two achromatic lenses of good
finish; and I have access to a French microscope with a triple
achromatic object-glass, the cost of which w*as fifteen shillings, and
which is capable of showing such objects as the markings on the
scales of the Lepisma saccharina with great distinctness.
In connexion with this subject I may mention that the enlarged
photographs of microscopic subjects in the French Department are
very attractive and beautifully executed. It is matter of surprise
that photographers do not pursue this branch of the science with
more assiduity than they do. The preparation of slides, or subjects,
for enlargement is by no means difficult. Let us take one as an
example, and suppose that a photographer wishes an enlarged
view of that lively, sliarp-fanged, catch-me-if-you-can little insect,
the — — (l dread writing his name). But before cooking your hare
you must first catch him ; and the same remark applies here.
This apparently difficult feat is really not so difficult as it appears
at first sight, as the sojourners in some of the London hotels will
testify. Awaking early in the morning with “your poor feet”
covered with blisters from your having neglected the well-known
and only specific for this sore evil (viz., a slight application of
common soap to the feet of your stockings previous to your setting
out on your walks for the day through the great city), the pleasant
reminiscences of the previous day, and equally pleasant anticipa¬
tions of the present day, are all suddenly driven out of your head
as you discover for the first time that you are not as you supposed
the only tenant of your couch, but that some nimble neighbour —
one of those denominated as at once “a bosom friend and a back¬
biter ” — is making a determined resistance to your invasion of his
domain ; and forthwith the chase begins, which, after half-an-hour
we will suppose, terminates by the capture of the enemy and his
being transferred to a small phial or test-tube. How to prepare
him for photo-microscopical purposes, such authors on the micro¬
scope as Quekett, Carpenter, Hogg, and others, have not left us in
ignorance. From the latest edition of Jabez Hogg’s work the
following quotation will be perused with interest by all who are
interested in microscopy, and this, I believe, will include a large
proportion of the readers of The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy
September 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
353
ON MOUNTING INSECTS.
In mounting whole insects, or parts of insects, I first soak them in the ordinary liquor
potassse of the Pharmacopoeia for a period varying with the density of the chitine and
the amount of muscular fibre to be softened. They are then to be washed in water and
pressed, until the muscular tissue is got rid of. The object may then be set out with
water, in the position it is intended to remain in, on a slide; cover it with another, tie
them together, and then immerse them in turpentine. In a few hours the turpentine
hardens the chitine, and, if allowed to remain long enough in it, will displace all the
water. The object is then to be mounted in Canada balsam in the usual way. Should
any water still remain in the object it will cause a milkiness to appear around it when
the cover is pressed down. The cover must be removed and the object washed in turpen¬
tine as long as any milkiness is seen. If the legs of the insect are allowed to dry, air
gets into them, and it is almost impossible to get it out again : by this plan they need
never get dry. Some practice and manipulative dexterity are, of course, necessary to
mount these objects well. Strong acetic acid will clean insects, but not so quickly as
the potass. This has the same disadvantage as the liquor potassce in containing water.
A medium is required which will destroy the muscular tissues, soften the chitine, and
combine with turpentine or balsam. This medium, I believe, the Rev. J. Thornton, of
Asten Abbots, has found out, and by this means he is enabled to mount the very
beautiful insects which we see about. In covering objects I have found that hy wetting
the cover with turpentine before dropping it on the balsam, it prevents the accumulation
of air bubbles.
The object once properly mounted, the subsequent enlargement
is easy. As I have been led to believe that an article on this sub¬
ject is in course of being prepared for reading at a meeting of a
photographic society, with subsequent publication in these pages,
it is desirable not to anticipate it at present.
$5 its tff Cljat.
A CHAT ABOUT LIGHTING THE MODEL.
In the chat about glass-houses, in “ our last,” I promised to resume
the subject; but, finding that to do so would only tend to give
greater emphasis to the conclusions therein arrived at, by proving-
how similar results may be reached by a very great variety of
ways, I have thought it better to trace out more definitely the
tangible source of success in a “chat” about lighting the model.
I could describe, as I at first intended to do, a great number of glass
rooms with which I have a more or less practical acquaintance,
and show, as clearly as might be, their strong and their weak
points, their various arrangements, and the results which could be
traced to the same ; but when this task (necessarily a long one)
was finished, I should only have conveyed my readers, by a tedious
route, to conclusions which, I trust, will not be the less valued if
they are now arrived at by a much shorter road.
As I do not profess in these unpretending little papers to prepare
eggs for those venerable old ladies who, as is frequently insinuated,
require no tuition in the art of extracting their contents, I shall
begin near the beginning, so as to meet, as far as I am able, the
requirements of all I have the honour to address.
OF THE DOMINANT OR PRIMARY LIGHT.
The chief art in lighting the model will be found in obtaining,
in the first place, a certain amount of good light direct from the shy,
which, entering your room at a certain angle, will fall upon the
prominent features of your model and die softly away into the
delicate shades of the more slightly and tenderly illuminated or
shaded and retiring surfaces.* In the next place this light, in
travelling from the image to the lens, must pursue a no less un¬
interrupted course. This should be the dominant or principal light
in your room. No other light should be able to compete with it
in power during any hour of the photographer’s working day.
How to make this light thus dominant is next to be considered.
The first and most readily suggested mode will be the subordina¬
tion of rival lights by the use of ground-glass, curtains, or any
similar means. The ground-glass will do best for rooms in which
the angle of the dominant light varies (practically) but slightly
during the day, as in a room having a northern aspect; but in
rooms where the angle at which the more direct and powerful light
enters is continually varying, screens or curtains will be best. In
rooms lighted directly by the sun the angle of the dominant light
will vary with the position of that great luminary, and the changes
to be effected in the arrangements will be frequent. In rooms
which are not situated in an open space the most powerful light is
very frequently^ that which enters through the roof, because,
coming more directly and uninterruptedly from the sky, it over¬
powers the weaker and more diffused light which may enter from
the front or side. In this case there are only two ways of pro¬
ceeding, either by shutting out altogether the actually dominant
top-light, and making a certain portion of the side-light dominant
in its place (by using the aforesaid blinds, screens, or ground-glass),
in which case the room must be lofty ; or by adopting the plan I
mentioned as used by Mr. Fitch, in which a dominant top-light is
* See remarks about Mr. Fitch's room in the last “ bit of chat.”
made, by the angle at which it travels to the model, to serve the
purpose of a dominant side-light. As in the first place the power
of the light and brilliancy of the image will be very materially
decreased, the second plan will be most decidedly the better.
In selecting your principal or dominant light it must not, of
couise, be forgotten that even a weak diffused light, entering at
some aperture very near the model, will overpower an actually
dominant light which has to reach the model from a greater
distance.
But having conveyed this dominant light thus uninterruptedly
to the model, so as to secure its full value as a means of giving
force and roundness of effect there, we must convey it no less care¬
fully and uninterruptedly into the camera, in order that vigour and
brilliancy may be secured to the image on the focussing-screen.
If this light, in its journey from the sitter to the lens, has to pierce
through a strong body of light crossing more or less directly in its
course, it will be weakened in proportion to the power of the light
which thus intercepts it, and will reach the lens in a condition de¬
cidedly dilute and poor when compared with the power it possessed
when it started on its way from the model. Mr. Collings, a pho¬
tographer who is now building a large photographic gallery in
Bury St. Edmunds, recently informed me that he was so impressed
with the importance of this that he was having prepared a series
of screens to be placed one before the other in the space between
the model and the lens, each screen having an opening, and the
whole of these openings forming along huge cone, the smaller end
of which will be nearest the lens. The light which intersects
the light conveying the image from the sides can then be cut off
with curtains running on the rods which connect the screens,
flow this may answer in practice remains to be seen. I merely
introduce the plan as an illustration, but hope to hear further from
Mr Collings when he has experimented practically with his novel
plan. Galleries standing in open and exposed situations, and
running north and south, having the former before and the
latter behind the sitter, during the earlier and later portions of the
day have direct sunlight on one or the other side, according to
the hour. In this case, unless the side-light be subordinated,
it will overpower the reflected north light by which the model
is illuminated, and so make pictures taken early and late in such
rooms very inferior to those secured in the middle of the day, when
the south light being excluded the north is dominant — although,
even then, if too large a portion of the roof is of glass and not pro¬
perly curtained, a veil of partially opaque sunlight* will fall down
between the sitter and the lens from the roof so as to intercept and
swallow up the lesser light coming from the model to the camera.
If the primary or dominant light enter and fall upon the model
in the way I have indicated, it will be quite sufficient of a top-light
to give due prominence to projecting features by securing delicate
cast shadows; and, at the same time, properly balanced in connexion
with other lights, it will not cast into deep shadow the entire socket
of the eye — or give a lugubrious effect to the mouth by deepening
the shadows of its descending muscles — or put a black snuff-like
patch under the nose — or make lady sitters declaim angrily against
the pearly whiteness of their lovely necks being represented as
if sooty and begrimed with dirt.
THE SUBORDINATE OR SECONDARY LIGHT.
Force, brilliancy, and clearness, with their attendant charms of
crispness and detail, gradation and roundness, having been secured
by properly and skilfully managing a dominant light, we must
next turn our attention to the subordinate lights, playing as they
do important, although less important, parts.
Every portion of the model should have its degree of truthful
relief, roundness, and force. If the dominant light fall — as it is
by no means uncommon to see it fall — rather upon the centre of
the figure than upon the model’s head, that light which reaches
the head will be the secondary light ; and it will be impossible to
secure those qualities which ought to characterise the most im¬
portant part of “ the human form divine,” to say nothing of lost
breadth and harmony, although, in an artistic sense, these are a real
picture's all-important and least-to-be-spared characteristics.
The place of the secondary or least subdued of the subordinate
lights should be found in giving transparency or detail and
delicacy to the shadows, in assisting to properly relieve the figure,
and in acting the part of dominant light to the accessories.
If the secondary light be too weak, while the figure itself —
thanks to a good dominant light — stands well and boldly out,
there will probably be a degree of hardness and harshness in the
shadows of the head and figure, or a want of relief aud reality in
* Landscape painters treat distant scenery, when \iewed through the haze of direct
sunlight, in a similar way to that in which they treat atmospheric influences.
354
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 15, 18(1^
all the rest of the picture’s component parts. The dominant light
losing intensity as it diverges in covering a larger field, if it be
powerful, aids, and, when very powerful, goes far to serve in the
place of the secondary light, securing breadth and [ subordination of
effect ; but, unless very powerful, unaided, it will not serve our
purpose of obtaining “ a perfect picture.” The action of the lights
and that of the shadows upon the sensitised plate are unduly pro¬
portioned at the best of times ; but, with a weak dominant light,
the degrees of power are far more disproportioned, and hard, crude
patches of black are found to take the place of those beautiful
transparent shadows which should be quite as full of subdued but
perfectly visible details, gradations, and forms, as the more
luminous portions of the image. To avoid such an unsatisfactory
result as these patches would indicate, the primary and secondary
lights should be well and delicately balanced — the first being con¬
centrated and small, devoted almost entirely to the head of the
model; and the last being widely diffused and large, so as to
graduate well round about the figure and accessories, each in the
order of its degree of prominence, uniting and blending into
one harmonious whole, while, at the same time, giving each its
relative amount of prominence, and securing the full effect of
space before, beside, and behind the model, and all his or her
“ belongings.”
SUBORDINATE LIGHTS.
A still more subordinate light entering at that side of the room
which belongs to the secondary light, and stealing quietly in be¬
hind the sitter, greatly aids in more thoroughly detaching the
figure from the background ;* but it must be carefully kept in its
subordinate position, and never be permitted to rival in intensity
or power, or even come near to, the great mass of secondary light.
A similar light to this, let quietly in say through one or two
thicknesses of ground-glass, according to the power of the light at
this or that hour of the day, on that side of the room which is the
shadowed or darkened side, will more regularly and effectually
give the effect of reflected light in the shadows than any arrange¬
ment of white screens, surfaces of tin foil, or mirrors can do, and
release you from all fear of too strong a reflected light in the eye —
a strong reflected light on such a polished, liquid-looking surface
being sure to be exaggerated in the finished photograph. This
was a plan adopted, often praised, and highly valued by the late
Mr. Lacy, of Ryde, Isle of Wight.
The subdued light behind the model makes the space between
the form and the background more perceptible, and gives rotundity
to the figure by softening those outlines which are only too liable
to cut hard and sharp against the background, while that similar
light on the darkened side, which glides softly into the shadows, by
making retiring surfaces seem more palpably retiring, and perform¬
ing other truth and beauty-emphasising functions, has no small
power in aiding the work which makes all these several lights, thus
balanced and united by subordination, blend and work harmoniously
in producing a first-class artistic result.
A badly arranged, ill-lighted glass room may, by the aid of che¬
mical knowledge and experience, be worked in with an average
degree of commonplace success. But chemicals are exquisitely
delicate, variable tools, not always to be relied upon for uniformly
good results even by the most experienced ; while, on the contrary,
in a well arranged and well lighted studio, work becomes a plea¬
sure, ambition an instinct. And even when baths, developers, or
collodions generate failures (as in the best-regulated establishments
they are wont to do), such failures will be far short of sinking into
those abject depths of hopeless wretchedness which characterise
the failures of those who neglect one of the most important ele¬
ments of genuine success in overlooking the importance of well-
balanced, artistically-managed degrees of light in their glass
studios. ' a. H. WALL.
filedinnsjof Sandies.
GLASGOW PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The opening meeting of the session 1862-63 of this Society took plac.
in the Looms, 75, St; George’s Place, Glasgow, on Thursday, the 4tl
ms ant, at naif-past eight o’clock, when the attendance was numerous
notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather.— John Kibble
1jST> resident, occupied the chair.
Gi minutes of previous meetings of Council having been read anc
confirmed, the President rose and delivered the following—
admira* *j‘e"tlon was first called to this effect by my friend, Mr. Hannaford, who greatl;
Inaugural Address.
Permit me to congratulate you on our meeting once more, although
under a different appellation, still for the same praiseworthy purpose as
formerly, viz., the mutual improvement of each other in the boundless
and still mysterious field of photographic research. Let all our com¬
munion with each other, however much we may differ in opinion, be
tempered by mildness and gentlemanly forbearance. In a science such
as the one we practice there are so many modifying circumstances and
conflicting causes, that different operators treading the same field of ex¬
periment, and, as far as they are aware, using the same class of chemicals,
will arrive at different conclusions. The temperature, actinism, &c., at
the instant of exposure being beyond our control — indeed only made
known to us by each result — it is not to be wondered at that so much
discrepancy of opinion arises, often very difficult to reconcile ; but this,
at least, we have in our power — in all our discussions to behave good-
naturedly towards one another, and not to imagine our own opinions
infallible. It has been said of old that “ a house divided against itself
cannot stand;” and sure am I that every day’s experience must convince
all of us of the truth of this, as well as of ever}1- other saying embodied in
the same sacred volume from which I have quoted.
Since that period when many whom I now see present last met under
this roof as members of the recently-dissolved Society, considerable
interest has been created by reverting to the basis of photographic
science — what is the action of light on metallic salts when in combina¬
tion with other matter ? For instance, when an iodide is used, does the
actinism of light cause a reduction of that body to the purely metallic
state, more or less, according to the energy and time of action, or is the
force communicated catalyctic, electric, or what? In other words, is the
nature of that property communicated to the sensitive medium by which
it appropriates the silver of the decomposing developer to the building of
a visible image corresponding to the one which has been impinging on
its surface for a few seconds ? I do think that this is a subject of para¬
mount importance, and that too much attention and labour cannot be
bestowed on it. Of course, from the time necessary, it is but the few
who can afford to investigate such a subject, the time most suitable for
such exploration being the very hours most in demand for practical
photography; yet, until something like certainty is known of this latent
mystery, our experiments must be in a manner mere groping in the dark.
Another very interesting hint has been thrown out by the keen,
observing Editor of The British Journal of Photograph v upon the
probable action communicated to glass by superincumbent photographs,
which, after a lapse of time, on being cleaned off and the same glass used
for subsequent portraiture, on developing, the original subject again
makes its appearance in a spectral form — like Hamlet's Ghost — to the
dismay of the operator, but Avith this marked difference, that the mere
crowing of a cock will not effect its disappearance ; indeed, I have had
instances that none of the simple or mixed acids or alkalies would even
weaken — presenting some of the rarest specimens of the persistence
caused by light I have yet witnessed. My own impression is somewhat
different from that hinted at by Mr. Shadbolt ; but as that, in combination
with another equally mysterious action, is at present occupying my
leisure time, I will not now offer my humble opinion, as at some early
date I trust to have the pleasure of reading a paper which will at least
have the effect of opening a discussion on that and similar actions.
Upon instantaneous results I hope also to offer a feAv observations, as
in reading the journals occasionally I have met with remarks which
clearly convince me that many do not distinguish — or are not A\rilling to
do so — the great increase in difficulty in arresting the image of the waAres
at something like two hundred j'ards’ distance from the lens, and that of
a body, such as a steamer, moving through ten times the space in the
same amount of time, also at a right angle to the axis of the lens ; that
is, a movement that can be almost arrested in one-tenth of a second in
the one instance, will require exactly one hundredth part of a second in
the other instance — two very different achievements to effect. I may
mention that, through the kindness of Mr. Grubb, of Dublin, my efforts
in instantaneity have been greatly expedited. With one of his patent
aplanatic vieiv lenses, three inches diameter fifteen inches focus for
parallel rays, I can obtain an equally sharp and Avell-defined photograph
in almost one-lialf the time of exposure that was necessary for my former
lens which I have used for the last eight years — same diameter but six¬
teen inch focus — and which, until I received his, I considered first-rate.
I hope against our next meeting to have some samples worthy of your
examination, not only in instantaneous results, but the interior of a con¬
servatory, showing the great depth of focus possessed by the same lens.
This season has been most unpropitious for photographic instantaneity.
I have, for the last month, had all my apparatus packed ready for start¬
ing the short distance of one and a-half miles from my own domicile to
obtain a view of Loch Long ; but it has either rained on the day fixed, or
there was an absence of clouds — the seascape terminating in a misty,
half-visible distance. From present appearance there is not much to
hope for in the way of improvement in the latter end of the season. The
absence of sunshine I do not so much regret, so long as the horizon is
clearly defined. In many instances the want of it is an advantage, were
it only for variety’s sake. The photographs, though Avanting in spark¬
ling brilliancy, have something peculiarly soft and Turner-like in their
appearance, and add specimens to our register of some of those rare hut
evanescent aspects in which nature delights to revel.
September 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
355
That photographic portraiture is rapidly gaining a high position in the
public mind there can be no doubt, and bids fair to become one of the
most perfected discoveries of the present age. Let us add our efforts to
the mass, and, having put our “ hands to the plough,” speed boldly on¬
wards : there is power in combination as well as in knowledge.
Since our last meeting of Council, some weeks ago, my time has been so
fully occupied that I trust you will excuse me for not entering more fully
into our prospects for the future. I am aware that the subjects fixed on
for to-night will fully exhaust the time allowed for our meeting ; so that
I have no compunction in ceasing to trespass on your time. I trust
the hopes and good wishes of all will be fulfilled, and that the Glasgow
Photographic Association will progress in knowledge, wisdom, and, if
not in peace, at least in friendly feud with one another, and in harmony
with all its setn-enlightened brethren.
The President then called upon Mr. A. Mactear, one of the Vice-
Presidents, to give his promised account of the summer excursion.
Mr. Mactear then gave an interesting narrative of—
■A Day with the Panoramic Lens and Camera.
The 24th June, 1862, being, the day set apart for the Glasgow photo¬
graphers holiday and excursion, you would have thought that they had
all iollowed the advice of their fellow-man and brother — the old negro in
the “Octoroon — when he said “Shut up ye black trash,’’ as nearly all
shut up that day.
At fiist it was in contemplation that all should go together; but second
thoughts approved the idea that various parties should, like Burns’s
twa dogs, each take their several way, so that more of “the scenes
that are fairest” might be had for our portfolios.
Mi. Stuart, an energetic member, made up one excursion party (to try the
panoiamic lens and camera), consisting of his brother, four professional
mends, and myself — the place of rendezvous being Mr. S.’s cottage at
Helensburgh, and the base of operation Luss, on Loch Lomond. I went
down the afternoon before with Mr. S., when he showed me the whole of
his arrangements for photographic printing, and really they are so com-
plcte that one is unable to suggest any improvement.
At one place you see a range of barrels for collecting rain water, having
elastic tubing leading to other parts of the premises. There is also a
deep well, with a force-pump, which supplies the house likewise. In
another place is seen merely the upper part of a barrel with a lid which
has suffered burial in the ground, and whose duty it is to receive all the
first washings of the prints, and when it is full the chloride is laid aside
to be converted into the real “ Simon pure." We now enter the sensi¬
tising room, where everything has a very bilious look: here all is in good
order. Passing into the next room we see innumerable printing-frames,
and the negatives laid out for that day’s work. Immediately outside of
this is wrhere the printing goes on : it has a roof of glass, and a glass
front, which is made to slide aside in fine weather, and is only used when
it is raining. I he washing apparatus consists of a large box, with a
number of frames covered with brass wire gauze, each having a number
of prints, and it does its duty well. The toning and fixing room is also
well arranged. After seeing these we went up stairs to see that the bath
and all the other things were in order for our excursion next day with
the panoramic lens. A picture of the street from the window showed all
was right, and I was a little astonished at the rapidity of action of this
lens. In this room all the negatives are stored and classified, besides a
solar camera with a moveable screen, having as many motions as Blondin
himself, quite ready to do large work when the fashion turns in that di¬
rection.
1 he morning of the 24th was a damp, steamy one, the south-west wind
prevailing, and our prospects were anything but cheerful. One of the pro¬
fessionals (Mr. B.) said that he would take the “teetotal’’ lens, when
it was remarked that teetotallers are always under the “ spirit level.”
Mr. E. could’nt see the analogy at all, as it was quite evident the lens
could do nothing without a “ drop in its eye.” All things, according to
the “ manifest,” being shipped, in we go, and, like Gilpin’s hat and wig,
we are soon upon the road.
Entering the Luss. road, which is very steep, we ascend but slowly, and
have time to admire a far outstretched view of the Clyde, with its
surrounding scenery, from beyond Dumbarton round and beyond the
peaks of Arran. What a lovely panorama ! A few minutes before there
was not as much blue in the sk}r as would have made “ breeks tae a
Hielandman now great breadths of azure arise, and everything looks
fresh amidst the glorious sunshine, as we are driving along far, far among
the “ Hielan hills,” ’midst Nature’s wildest grandeur.
Having gained the highest part of the road, Loch Lomond, queen of lakes,
bursts on our view, which, although we have often seen before, alwat'S
impresses our minds with wondering awe and delight. Every place has
its legendary story of what was enacted by, and what befel, the chiefs and
clans, Colquhoun and McGregor, when their roofs were given to the
flames and their flesh to the eagles ; and too many, alas ! were the cold-
hearted butcheries enacted there. Now, how changed ! The chiefs and
their clans fraternise as if no feud had ever existed between them, pro¬
secuting the arts of peace ; so that what was once “ a springing bog and
false morass ” is nsw blossoming with the fruits of the earth.
We now wend our way downwards, and, as we arrive at Sir James
Colquhoun’s gate, we drive through his magnificent grounds — an almost
interminable avenue of trees in splendid order — passing through the other
gate, when we see many a goodly tree with its doomed mark — “cut it
down.”
Arrived at the hotel, we are not long in commencing our work. Off
wo go to the Glen of Luss, each one carrying his allotted part, and our
friend Mr. B. with the “teetotal” lens.
After passing the saw-mill the stream is rather broad, with hugo
slaty boulders (Luss Slate Quarries are on either side of us). Trudging on
through furze and loppings of young trees, “ we saw by the smoke that
so gracefully curled above the green elms that a cottage was near,”
and sure enough we came upon a very picturesque spot where there is an
old Highland bothy — the one-half of which only was habitable, the other
being in a state of dilapidation — with a mountainous background. Bound
the door are a number of blooming healthy children, clean and tidy, who
with their mother, are astonished at our movements while pitching the
tent, &c., which was soon accomplished beside the Glen. It was no
wonder they were astonished, as it was “A., run you for the water!”
— “ M., get up the tent! ” — “E., group you the figures !” and so on.
At length a plate was coated, but the wind partially dried it; it served,
however, as a pioneer for the time of exposure. The tent — no! I mean
the “chamber of horrors” — was too small and confined; so the woman of
the bothy grants us permission to use her kitchen. The bed mat (or
counterpane) is put over the window, which shuts out the light from
thence; but Mr. B. remarked that we must stop the light corning down
the lum (chimney), and he put up a green umbrella bclongingto his wife,
which answered admirably. Have you ever observed the clever inge¬
nuity of photographers? If not, I have, many a time.*
The darkness now was dreadful to contemplate, and what between
groping for bottles, &c., it was doubtful if the thing could be managed at
all, when another plate was announced ready, then exposed. It is good
as a positive, but wants strength as a negative.
A candle now being got, Mr. B. gives the umbrella to another, to enable
him to assist Mr. S., — so that the next would astonish us. All went right
until the developing (the developer and the cyanide were in similar
bottles), when, as luck would have it, Mr. B. took the wrong bottle! The
imagination can easily conceive the result. S. was wroth, and, as he was
talking very loud, 1 went into the dark-looking den to see what was wrong ;
when, tumbling over a cradle, I seized the first thing which came to my
hand, which happened to be the cords and weights of a cottage clock, which
quickly stopped any noise from that quarter. It was, however, soon pui
to rights again. The interior of that kitchen presented a scene to my
eyes which shall not be easily forgotten. My tumble, strange to say, re¬
stored quietness; and, to please me, I suppose, I got the umbrella to hold
up the vent, so that I might give vent to my feelings while another plate
was got ready. This one turned out very well, as you will see from the
print — our happy party are disposed in every direction — a souvenir of a
bright and pleasant day.
It is resolved to change the scene, and scouts are out to choose for the
picture, when a spot in the Glen is fixed on — a fine shady nook; and,
while the plate is preparing, A. and E. are away round by the waterfall to
a spot opposite, “ where feathery brackens fringe the rocks,” and you will
find the two worthies, bathing their feet in the cool water, in the other
picture before you, which is a very successful one.
Having taken another of the same, the traps are packed up, and away
we go retracing our steps to the inn.
I might have said more regarding the lens and camera ; but, as I know
that Mr. Ewing has thought over it, as well as other members, I hope they
will give expression to their sentiments on this interesting subject.
Mr. Mactear in the course of his address exhibited four views taken
with Sutton’s panoramic camera, from scenes in the Gareloch and
Loch Lomond — time of exposure seven to fifteen seconds, with a diaphragm
of three-sixteenths of an inch. These pictures were very good produc¬
tions, the more especially as the operators laboured under many aud great
disadvantages, from want of proper accommodation for their pursuits.
One of the pictures was exceedingly beautiful and perfect, and all pos¬
sessed more or less merit. They excited much curiosity and attention,
being the first pictures taken by the panoramic lens in the West of
Scotland, aud serving ns a practical demonstration of the utility
thereof for landscape photography.
Mr. Ewing expressed the satisfaction all must experience in seeing his
old friend, Mr. Kibble, once more presiding over their meetings. As an
accomplished photographer and an enthusiastic experimentalist all
must acknowledge his eminent capability for the presidency of such a
Society; for, not only was he undaunted at research, but always ready to
communicate the result of his labours to those interested in the art, and
he trusted that he (Mr. Kibble) would long occupy his present official
position in connexion with the Society. He (Mr. Ewing) then entered
into a few explanations respecting the practical use of the panoramic
camera, on which subject he led the meeting to hope he might be induced
to furnish them with a paper at no very distant period.
Some discussion followed respecting the various details in the use
of the panoramic camera, in which several members took part.
The Chairman then called upon Mr. J. Spencer, jun., who exhibited a
new method of mounting lenses — the invention of 5l. Yallentin, of Paris
* In a Highland bothy the chimney is generally in the centre of the roof, the fire being
lighted immediately under it on the floor, without any fire-place.
356
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
_ by which great economy of space is obtained. The lens was an
ordinary portrait combination, with an adjustment for views, but by a
telescopic body, and the nozzle or sun-shade being reversible, so as
partly to cover the mounting of the lens, and the cap being made to
screw on the back part of the mounting, it was protected from risk of
breakage in carriage. The arrangement is of course only of advantage
to those who have occasion to move from place to place.
A camera slide was also shown by Mr. Spencer, which he thought had
several advantages over the old form. Instead of being made with a
door or slide to draw up in order to expose, the plate, this was made on
the principle of the patent shutter now in use in the shop windows, or,
to adopt a more photographic illustration, on the same principle as Mr.
Dallmeyer’s moveable division for his binocular camera, i.e., small pieces
of hard-wood fixed on strong linen or thin leather, so as to make it
perfectly pliable, and the end of this is brought through the top of the
cell, so that it is only requisite to pull the end which is next you (when
the cell is in the camera) in order to expose the plate, and push it gently
upwards in order to close it again. The advantages to be gained are
certainty of preventing light getting to the plate in the act of drawing up
the door, as so frequently happened in the old form ; and for portraiture
the benefit secured is that you expose the plate without the sitter being
aware of it. For professional men this is a considerable advantage, as
the sitters are very apt to settle in an awkward manner when they see
the door of the cell pulled up.
Mr. Spencer further exhibited some very beautiful pictures of country
scenes, and card-pictures of cathedral interiors, taken by Mr. Wilson, of
Aberdeen, all possessing considerable merit, and which were much admired.
The President then introduced Mr. Crombie, from Auckl and, Ne wZealand.
Mr. Crombie expressed the pleasure he felt in being present at the
meeting, and also gave a short account of the position of photography at
the Antipodes. In Auckland, with less than 7,000 inhabitants, he said
they had four photographic artists, so that, in that respect at least, they
showed their appreciation of the art — the proportion of photographers to
the inhabitants being far greater than in this country. He (Mr. Crombie)
had visited this country in a professional sense, for in New Zealand he
was necessarily isolated in a photographic sense ; and hoped, by the kind¬
ness of brethren on this side of the world, to learn much before his return.
Mr. Crombie then exhibited some very interesting specimens of his
own productions, amongst which was a picture of Auckland, in six pieces,
each ten by eight inches, embracing a panoramic view about five miles in
extent ; also some beautiful views taken in the neighbourhood of Auck¬
land, including one of the village in which was held the conference be¬
tween Her Majesty’s representative and the native chiefs. These
pictures were evidently executed with considerable skill, and reflected*
gi-eat credit upon the artist, to whom an “honourable mention” has been
awarded at the Great Exhibition.
Mr. Stuart, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Crombie for his atten¬
dance that evening, said he was sure all would be delighted at the illustra¬
tions from the other side of the world which they then had an opportu¬
nity of inspecting ; and, although the extreme clearness of sky there
presented many difficulties in operation, and could not produce that
softness and variety which those beautiful fleecy clouds peculiar to this
eountry effected in pictures taken here, still they were extremely credit¬
able productions, and displayed considerable knowledge in the art. He
(Mr. Stuart) was sure that all the professional artists of Glasgow would
ho happy to accord a welcome to Mr. Crombie or any other of their fellow-
labourers from the Antipodes.
Mr. Traer, in seconding the motion, said he felt sure all. present
would feel pleasure in welcoming Mr. Crombie, and would afford him a
hearty response to his thirst for increased knowledge of the art. Photo¬
graphers in many of our colonial dependencies must suffer much from
isolation, as no doubt professional jealousy would prevent any local
combination for the advancement of the art where its operators were so
limited; whilst in large communities such jealousies were seldom of long
duration, and invariably sooner or later gave way in the general eager¬
ness for progress. He was sure all would experience great satisfaction
in Mr. Crombie’s presence that evening, and would ever be ready to
receive with a hearty welcome any of our colonial or foreign photographio
brethren whenever they might chance to visit this country, besides every
one being desirous of affording them whatever assistance they could in
extending their knowledge of our interesting art.
The motion was carried unanimously, amid much applause.
Mr. Crombie gracefully acknowledged the compliment which had been
paid to him, and expressed the satisfaction he had experienced in the
cordiality he had met with, which far exceeded his expectations.
Mr. Bowman then drew the attention of the meeting to a simple con¬
trivance made, as he naively remarked, “ out of his own head," with a view
to obviate the necessity of having large and costly machines for the
mounting of card and small photographs in establishments where there
might be but little demand for such. It consisted of a slab of polished
iron on which was screwed a plate of copper of the same size ; a tympan
of cloth or silk is brought down on the slab, and over this is rubbed
firmly a scraper held on each side by the hands ; the prints and cards, pre¬
viously damped and starched, are kept under sheets of blotting-paper to
preserve them moist. The card is then taken up, the print laid upon it
and smartly rubbed down, when it is ready for the glazing press. By
this cheap and simple method a great many could be done in a short
[September 15, 18G2
time much cleaner and neater than when mounted by hand, lie remarked
that it might, perhaps, be called a modification of Mr. Stuart’s method.
Mr. Stuart begged to differ with this opinion, as by his plan the prints
were not damped, and he dared say that he could mount more cards in a
given time by his process than Mr. Bowman with his new application.*
Mr. Bowman assented to this, but stated that, although he could use
his large lithographic press quite as effectively as Mr. Stuart, such was
not his point, but simply to introduce a hand}' little apparatus, whereby
those who did not require large machinery might meet the desideratum.
A vote of thanks was awarded to Mr. Bowman.
Mr. Bowman also produced a pair of wooden pincers for holding the
plate while intensifying the negative, which he thought was new.
Mr. Ribble remarked that he had used the same over six years ago,
showing another example of “parallel ideas.”
A general conversation followed ; after which,
Mr. A. Macnab proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Mactear for his
paper. Votes of thanks were also awarded to the President for his address,
and to Mr. Spencer and other gentlemen who hadexhibited on the occasion.
The President, in bringing the business of the evening to a close,
remarked that he hoped as they had then made a favourable start, it would
be well if in future each member tried to keep up the harmony which had
characterised that meeting, as by such friendlj' feeling towards each other
the Society could not fail to prove a useful and permanent institution.
Reto fc’ioohs.
Treatise on Photography. Third Edition. By Charles Waldack.
Cincinatti: H. W atkin, 140, Third Street.
We believe that Mr. Waldack’s treatise is highly popular in American
The author is certainly a practical photographer, and evidently a diligent
reader of photographic literature; for, in the edition of his work now be¬
fore us, the various questions which have of late attracted the attention
of both professionals and amateurs amongst our guild are either discussed
or have some allusion made to them, and in such a manner that it is
abundantly clear that they have come under the personal scrutiny of the
writer of the work, who is, no doubt, a skillful operator. As he brings
also a considerable amount of intelligence to bear upon his investigations,
his conclusions are in the main reliable. There are, however, some points
of scientific inquiry with which his acquirements have not enabled him
to cope, and in them he is consequently a little at fault; still his readers
will have but small cause to complain, as his volume consists of nearly
three hundred pages, octavo, filled with good and useful matter— all of
present interest, for the whole of that which was obsolete has apparently
been omitted from the last edition. It will be perceived that we approve
generally of the contents of the work before us; but, though so large a
volume, we can honestly affirm that we have not learnt a single new fact
from its perusal, nor is there anything that we can quote that has not
already been placed before our readers in the pages of this Journal dur¬
ing some part of its existence. But in asserting thus much, we would not
have it supposed that we charge the author with mere paste-and-scissors
work ; for though all the materials have been originally acquired from other
sources, they have not been re-applied in their original form, but have
undergone careful examination and generally judicious selection and
digestion before having been employed for reconstruction ; and, even if
the design of the structure be not actually new, it is to some extent after
an excellent model, viz., Hardwich’s Manual. We regret to find so few
persons named to whom the present author is indebted for much of his
matter. A few acknowledgments are made it is true, chiefly to American
authors, and Hardwich and Maxwell Lyte come in for a small portion
only of the credit which is justly their due; but these are exceptions to
the rule.
On looking through our notes made during the perusal of the volume we
find that those of assent to the conclusions arrived at very far outweigh
in number those of dissent; and lest, from the remarks we have felt bound
to make above, Ave should seem to have depreciated Mr. Waldack’s
labours, we think it but right to state that we appreciate them highly —
that we regard them as eminently useful and worthy of much commenda¬
tion, so far as they relate to photography. Such exceptions as we have
taken belong rather to literary than to photographic economy.
The treatise is printed in a good, bold, clear, readable type, that is quite
a comfort to have to deal with in these days, when the prime object of
printers appears to be to cram the utmost amount of matter into the
smallest amount of space; and, further, the shape and size of the volume
is such, that it might be with propriety — though it is not — called a
manual.
- — - -
Collodion. — A correspondent writes as follows: — “I am more
than ever in favour of Bolton’s collodion. I used to consider it
slow; but I have taken some almost instantaneous portraits of
children and find the range of exposure very great, and it is so
beautifully clean and free from spots or stains! Its only defect is
that it is, in my opinion, rather too thick : I generally add a little
ether.”
* Unfortunately Mr. Bowman’s apparatus did not work -very well from the blotting-
paper being too wet, which of course marred the demonstration of its efficiency.
September 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
357
>rt<ms :mtt fragments.
How will Austria Class Photography? — It is reported that
another Grand International Exhibition will be opened in the year
1865, at Vienna. We hope the Austrian photographers will learn
the lesson we are now receiving, and act upon it in good time.
Masterpieces of Industrial Art and Sculpture at the
International Exhibition. — Messrs. Day and Sons have obtained
all the photographs for this important work. The plates, 300 in
number, including nearly a thousand subjects, have been executed
by Mr. Stephen Thompson.
Comments Connected with the International Exhibition. —
A clever amateur says: — “When at the Exhibition I was much
amused at hearing that a person named Barrable had gained a
prize medal, and another, called Beatty, “honourable mention,”
for photographs, though they had not sent any pictures to the
Exhibition : the former intends to get the medal. — The French
Photographic Gallery seemed much neglected, though there
are some good things among them. — Our Colonies make a
good show : some equal any in the building. There is one frame
or stand, under the eastern dome, of six very large landscapes,
particularly well done : I could see no name attached. The
Leaping Toads (mountains) was in pencil on one.”
A Caution. — A photographer in the provinces lately drank by
mistake a glass of water in which was dissolved a lai'ge proportion
of cyanide of potassium. Only on withdrawing the glass from his
mouth was he aware of his mistake, the fatal consequences of which
he averted by swallowing a solution of iron, followed as soon as
possible by an infusion of the Lobelia injlata herb (procurable at all
medical botanic shops), the emetic properties of which speedily rid
him of the dangerous contents of the stomach. We some time ago
published a list of the poisonous substances used in photography,
with their appropriate antidotes, and cannot too strongly impress
on our readers the importance of having this hung up in their
operating-rooms, so as to be accessible to all who, through negli¬
gence or accident, may require timely assistance of this kind.
Mealy Paper and Impure Hyposulphite of Soda. — A photo¬
graphic friend sends us the following: — “I am still much troubled
with mealy paper: the acetate toning does not cure it. I have a lot
of paper (Rive) which blisters in the hypo., and must, from it getting
between the paper and albumen, be impossible to remove by
washing. I have been thanked by dealers for calling attention to
the impure hypo., and have had plenty sent me quite pure. I was
glad to see a confession as to the bad quality of - ’s paper for al-
bumenising. You can very frequently tell a mealy sheet of paper
before sensitising. When I first used the alkaline toning process,
I had a supply of paper of different makes, and never found any
trace of mealiness. Since that was used up I have not had a dozen
good sheets until now. Thin Saxe and thin Rive are very good :
it is wasting money to buy thick.”
Another Distinguished Deserter. — The law seems to be an
exacting mistress, and will not brook a rival so dangerously at¬
tractive as photography is admitted to be. Mr. J. C. Stevens has
announced that early in November he will put up for sale the
whole of Mr. Roger Fenton’s photographic apparatus, consisting of
lenses, cameras, negatives, &c. Mr. Fenton was one of the most
active of those who gave being to the Photographic Society of
London, and was its first Secretary — the post then being an hono¬
rary one — and he remained in that position until the year 1856.
As The Times recently said, Mr. Fenton was “probably the first
photographer who ever pitched his camera-stand under fire ” on
the battle-field, and we all know that the photographs from Die
Crimea were at least as eloquent of the sad truths of that terrible
war as were the word-photographs of his fellow-labourer, The
Times ’ correspondent. During the three years Mr. Fenton was the
Society’s Honorary Secretary the Society grew and flourished
famously ; and on his present retirement from our ranks altogether,
we cannot do better, perhaps, than quote the remarks ol Mr. Robert
Hunt, made upon his retirement from the aforesaid office of Secretary.
“ I beg,” said Mr. Hunt, “ to state emphatically, that in my opinion
the Society would never have had an existence it it had not been
for Mr. Fenton. When there was only a Photographic Club, Mr.
Fenton not only acted cordially with the gentlemen who formed
the first Council of the Society, but exerted himself earnestly to
induce Mr. Fox Talbot to become our President. Several meetings
took place, at the whole of which Mr. Fenton was the ruling spirit.
We cannot, therefore, too strongly express our thanks to Mr.
Fenton for the existence of the admirable Society of which he
really is the parent.” Cordially re-echoing Mr. Hunt, we bid Mr.
Fenton adieu and God speed.
Photography and Literature.— Mr. Lovell Reeve, who has
recently published, in facsimile , by the new process of photozinco¬
graphy, Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and Lovers Complaint, will follow
it up with the Venus and Adonis, Lucrece— the rare quarto plays
published before tl^e collected edition of 1623; and, lastly, the
famous folio itself. Much Ado about Nothing is already in hand.
— Public Opinion. Some other important photographically illus¬
trated works are in course of preparation for the ensuing season,
including an illustrated edition of Scott’s Marmion , the illustra¬
tions of which will be chiefly by Mr. Stephen Thompson.
The Bride Elect of the Prince of Wales. — The Daily Tele¬
graph — a paper that generally soars into enthusiastic praise of all
that is royal in Britain — thus speaks of the card-portraits of the
Prince of Wales’s elected bride: — “Photography, with all its
beauties, is harsh, dark, and intractable in its deviations from truth¬
fulness, especially in the harmonies of tint ; and although it has
favourably impressed the world with the aspect of the fair lady, it
has failed to mirror the real brightness, freshness, and grace of
her appearance : while it needs much more than black glass to
give the ‘charm’ of her manner, or the truly amiable qualities of
her nature.” How singularly quick we sometimes are in dis¬
covering beauty in all the features of face and form, inind and
nature, when the happy possesor of the same has been marked out
by fortune for some lofty position! A single glance conveys all
these charms and beauties of mind and person when thus associated ,
while without such associations they could only be discovered
through the medium of a comparatively long acquaintance.
Photograph}'- is all very well for meaner folk ; but, oh, Daily
Telegraph! how harsh, dark, and intractable are its deviations from
truthfulness, when it dares to mirror British Royalty ! Still let
us (in a whisper) confess that photography is no courtier. It
speaks as honestly of the peasant as of the prince; and, truth to
tell, says of this gentle-looking bride elect that she at least
seems a very amiable and rather pretty -looking youug lady, de¬
cidedly prepossessing in appearance, and if pose, dress, and
expression may be speculated upon, of a simple, lady-like, and
unaffected character.
Photography in the Alps. — M. Bisson, a photographer who
has done much to give a better idea of the difficulties of mountain
ascents than the most loquacious members of the Alpine Club,
while descanting upon his own feats, has recently repeated his
climbing of Mont Blanc, not so successfully as before. So far as
the Grands Mulets, nothing particular happened, says the !\[oniteur;
he took views of different points, and then proceeded to the Pas¬
sage des Echelles, where he and his party crossed the ravines, 300
feet deep, crawling, on horizontal ladders, one by one, on hands
and knees. A bridge of ice and snow, that formerly served as a
passage to the Grand Plateau, had broken down, leaving an abyss
before the travellers, and cutting off their approach to the Dome
de Goutte. Three of the guides, however, succeeded in cutting a
path towards the summit of Mont Maudit, which they traversed,
helping up the remainder of the party, and ultimately the whole
got, by a new and very dangerous route, to the Grand Plateau.
New' difficulties appeared at every step: 800 footings had to be
hewn, in order to ascend the Corridor: that had in places an incli¬
nation of fifty degrees. After all this labour, on reaching the
summit, M. Bisson found the silver of his plates had crystallised,
the temperature having fallen ten degrees Cent., even at noon.
At two r.M. he descended from the summit, returned to it again on
a subsequent day, without further accident, and then, we presume,
procured the photographs he sought to obtain. — Atheneeum.
Jimip Cnmspcmbfnrc.
Paris, September lllA, 1862.
I have but scarcely returned from an excursion to London, where,
in consequence of the shortness of my stay, my attention was
almost exclusively devoted to the Kensington Palace. I can
therefore hardly commence this letter otherwise than by commu¬
nicating to you some of the impressions which I have brought
back therefrom.
First of all I will confess that I was struck by the fewness of the
pictures composing the French and English photographic galleries.
Although I was informed beforehand that several English photo¬
graphers had been obliged to withdraw their frames on account of
tlie damp, I did expect to find a much larger variety of specimens
from English artists. Is this paucity attributable to the smallness
of the space allotted, or to the fault of the jury of admission? or
368
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[September 15, 1802
were my own anticipations immoderate ? I cannot say : I merely
record my impression.
On this occasion I was as much as ever, and even more than
ever, delighted at the perfection to which your landscape pictures
have been brought. Your climate and your light, and your per¬
spectives toned down by a peculiar atmosphere, have, I know,
something to do with the success ; but all that does not diminish
the merit of your artists, which is entitled to the sincerest admira¬
tion. What I admired with all the simplicity of a child, with all
the heartiness of one ignorant of the means employed for pro¬
ducing the charm, were Mr. Breese’s stereoscopic and phantasma¬
goric views. There was especially one view of a simple cliff,
beaten by the waves and dimly lighted by the moon, at which I
gazed so long that the bystanders, wishful to share the pleasure,
began to grumble. But I am not about to give you a report on
photography at the Exhibition. The British Journal of Photo¬
graphy has a staff of critics whose ability renders it supererogatory.
I must tell you that during my stay in London I was enabled to
appreciate, from ocular demonstration, the system proposed by M.
Claudet, in a recent article, for the amplification of photographic
images. M. Claudet made various experiments, and I verified with
the compasses the mathematical accuracy of the results obtained
with his proportional scales — one of which gives the distance for
any dimension from the negative to the lens, and the other the dis¬
tance from the lens to the screen. I was the better able to appre¬
ciate the value of this system from having so often witnessed the
trouble to which our Parisian photographers are put for ensuring
the right degree of amplification, and, above all, the accuracy of
the focus.
Immediately after my return yesterday, I went to see the pic¬
tures brought back by M. Bisson from his recent journey to Mont
Blanc. They form a numerous and interesting collection. There
is a series of views taken in the Oberland. I was struck by one
taken between Meringen and Rosenlani, in which the Vetterhorn
is seen rising majestically above the modest chalets scattered in the
valley. Then there are views of the glaciers of Rosenlani’, of the
lower glacier of Gridenwald, and especially one of the Jungfrau,
taken from Interlaken, and a splendid panorama of Thoune.
The principal part of this new collection is that comprising the
views taken during the different stages of the ascension of Mont
Blanc. The first is that of the Grands Mulets lit up by the setting
sun; then comes the Dome du Goute, with its seracs; then the
famous Ladder Passage, in two very striking plates. The little
troupe is represented climbing slippery heights, where giddiness
would be death. In another picture they are seen under the
Grands Mulets, passing, with the aid of a rope which they each
hold, over the new-fallen snow, which is as smooth as ice. And,
lastly, at a height of 4000 yards, they are boldly scaling an im¬
mense crevasse, where every giddy foothold has to be cut by the
pickaxe, and where the necessary baggage has to be drawn with
ropes.
This view is the last. M. Bisson did indeed reach the summit,
and there pitch his tent, while the cannon of Chamonix blazed
forth in his honour ; but when he tried to operate be found that the
nitrate of silver crystallised on the glass. However, his journey
was a very bold undertaking, and the success he met with highly
honourable.
I have just been informed that the monthly meeting of the
Marseilles Photographic Society, which had been interrupted for
the holidays, will be resumed at the end of September.
ERNEST LACAN.
Camspou’Cmut.
BROMIDES IN COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I beg to endorse fully the experiments made by Mr. Sutton on
the effects of bromides in collodion and on the bath. They were not,
however, directed upon the combined effects of iodide and bromide as
compared with those of iodide alone — although, inferentially, the in¬
feriority of such combinations may be assumed.
An extraordinary amount of misconception exists regarding the use of
bromides generally, while a few photographers attach little or no im¬
portance to those salts. If we regard the question of sensitiveness, the
latter have the unanswerable argument of inferior sensitiveness of bro¬
mide to the invisible image in support of their repugnance ; while the
former arc right in its use only as regards its superior sensitiveness to
the green and yellow rays, when in subjects of some contrast its presence
is indispensable. Of course its use implies the sacrifice of sensitiveness.
It is not at ail impossible to go on making bromo-iodisers superior to
given iodisers up to a certain limit ; but an iodiser ultimately cannot bo
equalled, remembering to use one collodion in all such comparative ex¬
periments, so as to ensure an uniformity of conditions, or as near so as
approachable — a matter apparently overlooked by Mr. Blanchard in his
experiments. The collodion which will give a sensitive bromo-iodised
medium will give a still more sensitive iodised one.
In all comparative experiments I think it will be admitted that like
salts or like combinations should be arrayed against each other — not
potassium or ammonium against cadmium, or against cadmium and
potassium combined, or ammonium and cadmium combined ; for the
superiority of cadmium, and of combinations including it, over potassium
and ammonium, especially under iron development for both, is not a
matter of inquiry, except for the novice. Yet such has been the extra¬
ordinary error of Mr. Blanchard (see experiments, The British Journal
of Photography, May 15, 1862), and the result has been triumphantly
taken as a solution of the question of bromo-iodides versus iodides — a
question the introduction of which for discussion was quite a marvel to
Mr. Fry, inasmuch as the inferiority of iodides could not be disputed !
The whole affair looks very much like a conspiracy among the instanta¬
neous photographers to throw dust into the eyes of the struggling
disciples of the black art.
Besides the equality of conditions obtained by arraying like salts and
their combinations against each other, it is necessary that the proportions
in each should be about equal, at the risk of the quantitatively inferior
salted collodion working worse than the other. It is the practice with
some photographers to use more salts in bromo-iodising than if simply
iodising collodion, the difference being added in the shape of bromide;
but, after careful experiment, I have found this practice objectionable
beyond a certain point, as the collodion, by being surcharged, doesnot work
as it should. In other words, Mr. Blanchard’s proportions for his iodisers
and bromo-iodisers, and the salts for the same, with one sample of collo¬
dion, should have been something like the following, also one bath very
slightly acid : —
Experiment No. 1.
Mr. Blanchard's Iodiser — Iodide of ammonium, grains. — Proposed
Iodiser — Iodide of ammonium, 3 \ to 4J grains ; iodide of cadmium,
1 grain.
Mr. Blanchard' s Bromo-iodiser — Iodide of ammonium, 4$ grains ; bro¬
mide of cadmium 1 grain. — Proposed Bromo-iodiser — The same as Mr.
Blanchard’s.
Experiment No. 2.
Mr. Blanchard' s Iodiser — Iodide of potassium, 3£ grains. — Proposed
Iodiser — The same.
Mr. Blanchard' s Bromo-iodiser — Iodide of cadmium and ammonium, 4*
grains ; bromide of cadmium, 2 grains. (Now this is very unfair.) — Pro -
posed Bromo-iodiser — Iodide of potassium, 31 grains; bromide of po¬
tassium, J grain.
But, if Mr. Blanchard’s bromo-iodiser be retained, his iodiser should
have been — Iodides of cadmium and ammonium, 5£ to 6 grains. And so
on for the rest of the experiments, arraying like salts and like combina¬
tions against each other. Mr. Blanchard would then have found his
iodisers, without exception, superior to his bromo-iodisers in every re¬
spect, whether developed with pyrogallic acid or iron.
The greatest objection, however, to Mr. Blanchard’s experiments is
that, besides the displacing of the conditions between the iodisers and
bromo-iodisers, one plate was used for both collodions — half for each —
although the two sensitive mediums, being differently salted and of
necessarily different ages, had different setting properties and different
capacities for seizing silver from the bath.
My own repeated experiments, extending over a year, were made with
about 160 ounces of collodion of one sample, manufactured by me with
the best materials procurable, and the results were as follow, with one
bath for each series or repetition of experiments : —
A. Cadmium-iodised collodion. — 1. Superior in durability, sensitive¬
ness, and equal in chemical intensity under iron development to the
same with pyrogallic development. — 2. Whether under iron or pyrogallic,
superior in every respect to any bromo-iodised collodion developed with
iron or pyrogallic — that superiority being reciprocally as the quantity
of bromide present in the bromo-iodiser.
B. Iodide of cadmium 3 grains, iodide of ammonium grain, compared
with iodide of cadmium 3 grains, bromide of ammonium 1£ to 2 grains — •
both under iron development. — The simply iodised collodion superior
in every respect to the bromo-iodised reciprocally as the quantity of
bromide present in the latter.
C. The same with the cadmium and potassium combinations, but with
somewhat modified results from the difficultly-soluble character of
bromide of potassium.
D. And in all cases of like combinations between cadmium and ammo¬
nium or cadmium and potassium, whatever the proportions, the simply
iodised collodion was — 1. Superior in every way under iron to the same
under pyrogallic. — 2. Under pyrogallic to corresponding bromo-iodiser
under iron, only when the amount of bromide teas large. — 3. Under iron
to the corresponding bromo-iodiser under iron, reciprocally as the quan¬
tity of bromide present.
Thus the iodiser had the superiority in every case, and the cadmium-
iodised collodion stood first on the list with iron development.
September 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
359
I beg to point out, further, that the miscalled sensitiveness and dura¬
bility of bromo-iodised collodion is not attributable to the bromides
present, but simply to bromo-iodised collodion being compounded of
alkaline and acid salts, — cadmium and ammonium, or cadmium and
potassium ; cadmium being the regulator of durability, sensitiveness, and
density. If any doubts exist on the matter, let the following series of
simple experiments be made in proof of the alleged excitation caused
towards sensitiveness by the combinations referred to, and the inferiority
of bromo-iodisers.
Take one sample of collodion and one bath for each case.
1. For an lodiser — Iodide of potassium, 3£ to 4 grains. — For a Bromo-
iodiser — Iodide of potassium, 3^ to 4 grains; bromide of potassium, £ to
i grains. — Develop with iron or pyrogallic. The bromo-iodiser will be
inferior to the other.
2. Try the ammonium salts similarly : the results will be identical.
3. lodiser No. 1, iodide of ammonium, 4 grains. lodiser No. 2, iodide
of ammonium, 2 grains ; iodide of cadmium, 2 grains. — The latter will be
superior, by reason of the alleged excitation.
4. lodiser — Iodide of ammonium, 4 grains. — Bromo-iodiser — Iodide of
ammonium, 2 grains ; bromide of cadmium, 2 to 3 grains. — The hitter
will be superior in every respect, by reason of the alleged excitation ;
but, when compared with iodiser No. 2 of experiment 3 — compounded of
like salts in like proportions — it will be inferior to it in every way.
5. The same as regards the potassium salts, under certain modified
conditions as already noticed.
6. Iodiser — Iodide of cadmium, 5 grains. — Bromo iodiser — Iodide of
cadmium, 4 grains ; bromide of cadmium, 1 to grains. — The latter will
be inferior.
7. Add to iodised cadmium collodion an equal quantity of freshly-
iodised ammonium collodion: keep a short time : the composition will be
superior to t!ie cadmium collodion for a time.
8. Addt ) iodised cadmium collodion an equal part of freshly-Z>?’o?«jWeif
ammoniuaa collodion : keep a short time : the composition will be superior
to the cadmium collodion for a time , but it will be inferior in every way
to the composition of the preceding experiments.
In other words, if the advocates of bromo-iodisers had compounded their
iodisers of the same salts as their bromo-iodisers, and used them, their
success would have been more constant than it has been. I am inclined
to think these gentlemen chargeable with the origin of certain vexatious
disappointments and failures among the toiling disciples of the art,
caused by their fanciful theories, unfair illustrative experiments, and
erroneous deductions.
Although there should be no doubts regarding the superiority of
iodides, yet the use of bromide for absolutely instantaneous photography,
from its better capacity for resisting solarisation in cases of strongly
illuminated and dazzling subjects abounding with recalcitrant actinism,
is indispensable — but not otherwise, nor just now, in the quantities said to
be used; for, as the matter of this communication is intended to show,
iodides have been erroneously underrated, the error having arisen through
attributing the miscalled superiority of bromo-iodides to the bromides
present, instead of to the combination of the salts used, which will at all
times give iodisers superior in intensity, durability, capacity to resist solcivi-
sation and sensitiveness, to any bromo-iodiser that can be compounded with
the salts at present in use, and with little or no injury to the silver bath.
I may mention here, en passant, that collodion iodised with equal parts
of cadmium and ammonium, or cadmium and potassium, becomes exqui¬
sitely sensitive. I have fancied the latter the better, from its delicate
definition and crispness ; but it is not so permanent as the other, which
is, besides, better fitted for iron developement, from its superior intensity.
The proportions of the salts and the conditions of my experiments hav¬
ing been stated accurately, it will be in the power of anybody to repeat
them, as well as correct any mistake which may have been made.
I have already addressed the Photographic News on the present subject ;
but I did not detail my experiments fully, as I wished to make my letter
rather argumentative than illustrative. In this letter I have put down
everything I can think of; and, as the subject is one of an engrossing
character, I hope you will permit me to be heard in the columns of your
Journal.-I am, yours, &c„ AUGUSTUS WEBB.
Meerut , N.W.P., India, 3l«f July, 1802,
ACARI IN THE NITRATE BATII.
To the Editor.
Sir,— As the subject of “Acari in the Nitrate Bath” is again mentioned
in your Journal, I write hoping to throw some light on the subject,
having met with them under very similar circumstances , and, as fai as I
have examined them, they appear exactly like the drawing published in
your Journal, May 15th.
I did not see the letter from Dr. Madaox at the time it was published,
or I should have written then.
In the spring of last year, on opening a glass bath which had been
covered with an air-tight India-rubber cover for some months, I found
them floating on the solution of nitrate of silver.
Others were on some distilled water in a corked bottle ; but in both
cases they were all dead, and it was not until I searched very carefully
that I found any alive, as they arc so small and colourless that they
easily escape detection in the dark room, although very conspicuous when
floating on any liquid.
In some of the cracks of the boards in the dark room (which had been
used formerly as a harness-room) they were swarming, and had also
over-run everything on the shelf on that side of the room.
They appear to die in a few minutes when placed on a drop of water,
and I thought I had effectually got rid of them by washing the boards ;
but they have appeared again this summer, though not in such numbers
as before.
About a fortnight ago I again found them in the same bath, which had
not been opened for two or three months.
1 have very little doubt but that the Acari discovered by Dr. Maddox
might be traced to a like origin ; for it is very possible that they crawled
into the bath when open, and were not seen until they died and fell into
the solution.
I shall be happy to send you specimens, if you would like to see them,
and shall be glad of a hint how to get rid of them, as they have an extra¬
ordinary and very annoying propensity of committing suicide in any
liquid that happens to be left open. — I am, yours, &c.
September 5, 18G2. ARTHUR C. STERRY.
[We have no doubt that Dr. Maddox will feel interested in receiving
specimens of your Acari, and we shall be happy to forward any to him
that you may send. But we do not anticipate that they are identical
with his, for, if you will again refer to his article, you will perceive that
he found his specimens alive, floating on the solution of nitrate of silver ;
and further, that, after carefully washing them and treating them with
iodide of potassium, there was so dense a deposit of iodide of silver
within the substance of the bodies as to render them quite opaque, and, to
prove opaque, they must have been thoroughly impregnated with nitrate
of silver — a fact incompatible with their having but recently fallen into the
solution : in addition to which, Dr. Maddox is too experienced an observer
to mistake dead Acari for living ones.
With regard to getting rid of your plagues, we recommend you to
make a good stiff latiier o £ soft soap and carbonate of soda in pretty strong
solution, and have the floor well scrubbed with that mixture. — Ed.]
THE DAGUERREOTYPE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have to thank Mr. Corey for the very kind and prompt manner
in which he acceded to my request for information as to the manner of
taking Daguerreotype pictures. I regret to find so few who profess or
are capable of taking portraits by this delicate and beautiful process.
Thanks to Mr. Corey, and others from whom I have received hints, 1
have succeeded in producing portraits which quite satisfy me — the rich
transparency of the shadows and the pearly purity of the whites being
such as I have rarely seen equalled. After practising it a short time I
found a tendency to blueness in the whites. This I found to proceed
from moisture in the iodine, and the way I cured it was as follows : — I
procured some pieces of chloride of calcium, which, after thoroughly
drying by exposure to the fire, I put into a shallow earthenware dish (an
old bear’s grease pot), and set inside the iodine box. This kept the
iodine quite dry, and gave most delightful results.
Some of those American operators most celebrated for their brilliant
pictures are said to have sensitised their plates with Gurney’s American
Compound. Can any one inform me how it is made ? — I am. yours, &c.
MARY B - .
STREAKY SKIES.— REDUCTION OF WASTE.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Can you help me over the following difficulties ? —
1. With a new bath, composed of thirty grains nitrate of silver and a
quarter of a grain iodide of potassium to every 1"0 grains of silver, then
filtered, and made slightly acid with nitric acid, 1 get good negatives,
but streaky skies, and near the end of the development there is a blacken¬
ing of two or more corners. I thought the black smudge at the corners
might arise from airtj' plates ; but, after cleaning them with scrupulous
care, and placing clean blotting-paper at the corners of the slide, tho
same kind of markings appeared. My developer was —
Pyrogallic acid . 1 grain.
Citric acid . 1 ,,
Alcohol ...5, and afterwards increased to 10 minims.
Water . 1 ounce.
2. As Mr. Corey’s plan of recovering silver has the great advantage
of doing away with the forge, I tried it, and signally failed. I placed a
piece of zinc into an old bath, and precipitated the silver with salt. The
following day I poured off the fluid, and, to make sure that I was not
throwing away my silver, 1 added salt to it, and there was no precipitate.
To the bath I added salt and water four several times, and noticed that
the precipitate was a light brown and slightly lumpy, and the zinc was
coated with a black powder. I washed and baked it ; then triturated
with it an equal quantity of pearl ash. I placed this in a red-hot crucible,
but no deflagration took place. After roasting some time I attempted to
pour it out, but it was caked in the crucible. I poured hot water on the
mass (a sample I enclose), but I could find no silver. M hat became of
it? Among other things, I cannot understand the utility of adding salt
after the silver has once been precipitated.
Will you have the kindness to help me to the solution of one or two of
the above dilemmas. — I am, yours, &c. A DULLARD.
September 4, 1862.
860
[September 15, 1862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[1. There is evidently something you must have overlooked in your
operations, as there is not sufficient reason in what you have reported to
account for the defects you name. Streaky skies generally arise from
want of skill in keeping the developer well covering the surface of the
plate, if they are not caused by dirty plates. Send us a proof from one,
and we may be able to point out your error. Blackening of the corners
rather indicates contact of the developer, &c., with the thumb of the
operator. Possibly it may be caused by stagnation of the solutions at
those parts : indeed the two defects combined rather point to the same
cause — your not keeping the developer well in motion, and yet all over
the plate. Perhaps you use too small a quantity of the solution.
2. There was no “sample” enclosed in your note. The account you
give of this experiment reveals a want of care in conducting it, or else a
mis-reading of your instructions. You are not directed by Mr. Corey to
place the mixed precipitate and pearl ash into a red-hot crucible, nor is
any deflagration described nor expected to occur. The crucible must be
placed in a furnace, and the heat raised until complete f usion takes place.
Of course you could find no metallic silver, not having reduced it. We
can only advise you to read Mr. Corey’s paper carefully again, and do so
just before you intend operating. There is no use in adding salt when
the silver has been precipitated, except to make sure that none is left
behind in the solution ; but even in this yrou have not acted quite as
directed, as you will perceive on re-perusal of the paper, though the
slight variation you have made is not very important. The object of
the zinc is not entirely to reduce the silver to the form of oxide — which
is a work of time — but to form a mixture of chloride and oxide which can
be produced quickly.
Since writing the preceding, the specimen arrived in your second note.
We find it to be chloride of silver mixed with pearl-ash. The weight
of the powder gave presumptive evidence of a metallic base. Treated
with dilute nitric acid and allowed to settle, a precipitate of chloride of
silver was found. The solution gave no indication of containing any
silver on the addition of a drop of hydrochloric acid — hence we infer that
your mixture contained no oxide of that metal. On adding ammonia in
excess, a cloudy flocculent precipitate of organic matter was formed,
arising from the pearl-ash, of course. Lastly, a pinch of your mixture
having been placed on a piece of coke, hollowed out to receive it, was
submitted to the action of a gas-flame urged by the blow-pipe, when
several small globules of bright metallic silver were formed. — Ed.]
PREVENTIVE FOR SOLUTION OF THE FILM.
To the Editor.
Sir, — As I have very frequently seen, in the correspondence of different
photographic journals, amateurs and artists troubled with the collodion
film being entirely taken off a valuable negative by varnishing with spirit
varnishes, I beg to lay before them a very simple remedy for the preven¬
tion of this.
Take three or four grains of isinglass, or gelatine, and dissolve it in one
ounce of water (six or eight grains may be used) — it is simply to form a
size with — and, while the negative is still wet from washing after fixing,
take two or three drachms of gelatine solution and run it over the plate.
Let this dry, and varnish as usual.
It does not matter how old the collodion is. This prevents the spiiit
in the varnish from dissolving the film off. This may have been prac¬
tised by more operators than one ; but I have never seen it published in
any journal; and if not, and this is made public, it will, I am sure, be
felt a great boon to many operators and amateurs.
This is a precaution I never fail to take now, whether the collodion be
old or new. — I am, yours, &c. A. WHFIHAM.
ITollingu'orth Lake, Sept. 9, 1862.
[The use of albumen in the way described above is a very common
practice. — Ed.]
MANIPULATING SKIES, &c.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I shall feel obliged by your explaining to me the undermentioned
in your next number.
In your Journal of Jan. 1, 1861, Mr. Hughes, in his article on Art-
Photography, speaks of Mr. Mudd’s method of tinting skies. He says —
“Mr. Mudd paints out the sky, and brings the black within a quarter or
half an-inch of the boundary of the landscape, and he afterwards softens
off the black and leaves the sky to this extent to print through.” Having-
several negatives in which the skies are very pale, will you kindly tell
me if the black is to be applied to the front or back of the negatives. I
thought of using the dead-black varnish. Will it do? and can I soften it
off properly? and does it matter about the negatives being varnished ?
Am 1 to follow the shape of the outlines of the landscape when painting
the black, or am I to carry it straight across?
Also please to inform me if it is necessary to exclude daylight when
intensifying with pyro. and silver, after fixing with hypo.
I have been anxiously waiting for Mr. Breese to inform us how he
obtained those beautiful moonlight stcicoscopic transparencies, but he
has not yet done so. I think 1 understood you to say, in one of your
articles some time since, that he intended doing so. — I am, yours, &c.,
September 8th, 1862. AMATEUR.
[The dead black-varnish will do very well, and it should be applied at
the back of the negative, consequently the being varnished or not does
not affect it either way. You can soften oft' the outline by means of a tuft
of cotton dipped in turpentine.
With regard to the form of outline, a moment's consideration would
show you that to follow the outline of a very undulating line of demar¬
cation between land and sky would produce a very inartistic effect. You
should strive rather to suggest the idea of a natural horizon. Like all
other good things in art, it requires some skill in application.
If you do not exclude daylight when intensifying, your solution very
quickly becomes muddy, and is apt to produce stains. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*** Up to the time of going to press, we regret to say, the letter of our
esteemed American Correspondent, Mr. Coleman Sellers, had not come to hand.
C. O. L. — Drop in a little sulphide of ammonium and note the result.
A. Harman. — Received too late for this number : will appear in our next.
S. Seale. — Your negative is very much under-exposed: we should judge
that it requires not less than three times as long as you have allowed.
F. O. — Nitrate of lead and nitrate of barytes are the salts generally used in
the preparation of proto-nitrate of iron : we find either as effective as the other.
Jas. Moody — We really cannot again repeat what we have so frequently
given at length, but must refer you to our back numbers. Mr. Corey’s paper,
recently published, is entirely practical ; you cannot do better than carry out
the instructions so broadly given.
A Subscriber at Present had better send his real name and address
to the Publisher, from whom he may possibly obtain an explanation, provided
that he possesses the common sense he professes to value. We decline paying
any attention whatever to communications couched in such language as that
of his note.
C. Robinson. — We cannot compliment you upon your discrimination. We
will offer a piece of advice in return for your own, viz., “don’t believe half
what you hear ; ” and, in the present case, if you reject nine-tenths of the re¬
mainder you will retain more than is true. There is not the slightest founda¬
tion for any one of your suppositions.
Juvenis. — We recommend you by all means to commence with printing
from a negative in preference to any other course. Buy, beg, or borrow one or
two good negatives to work upon ; and, when you have mastered the printing,
you will be much better prepared for learning to take negatives. This is what
we regard as the natural order of progress; and, should we ever write a manual,
that is the course we shall adopt.
J. IJ. S. — According to Mr. Ponting, the proportion of iodide four grains,
bromide one grain, is best for one ounce of his collodion. It would be im¬
possible to predict certainly what would be the best proportion for another
sample of collodion, but a trial would soon reveal the fact. You must re¬
member that Mr. Hardwich does not lay down the rule that the quantities he
gave are best under all circumstances. We gave you the best information we
possess up to the present time.
W. G. G. — That described in volume VI., page 4, of this Journal, and next
(or perhaps even better for paper prints) that in volume VI I., page 6. You
will find both descriptions and illustrations. We have both kinds in use to
the exclusion of all others. Some years back we saw at Messrs. Horne and
Thornthwaite’s a refracting stereoscope for pictures of a larger size than
ordinary, of about the dimensions you quote; but, in our judgment, there is
no advantage in an increase of size, because by the use of appropriate lenses
you can give, with the ordinary stereographs, the effect of natural size. We do
not entertain the opinion that the alleged improvement to which you refer is
real — it is a complication; and the fact is that, in practice, the error that it is
intended to rectify is really corrected by an error in the opposite direction.
However you will probably hear more on the subject, for the author of the
proposed alteration will most likely contribute another article on the subject
shortly.
A. II. W. (Leeds.) — The streaky stains in the prints received arise from the
unequal drying of the paper after sensitising and before exposure. This is not
an uncommon occurrence with very highly-glazed albumenised paper, the
glaze appearing to have a repellent action on the nitrate of silver, causing it to
run somewhat in streaks. It is desirable to suspend such paper by two corners,
one being a trifle more elevated than the other, and attach a small piece of
blotting paper to the lowest corner to assist off the drip ; but, in addition to
these precautions, it is advisable to glance at the paper occasionally while dry¬
ing, and in case of the solution running into a streak, to -wipe it out lightly
with a piece of new blotting paper torn with rather ragged edges. The white
feathery streaks we know well : they arise from some sort of capillary attraction
immediately on putting the plate on to the dipper, and if you remove all the
solution from the ledge of the dipper you will find the annoyance cease. We
believe it to be in consequence of a peculiarity in the pyroxyline of w-hich the
collodion is made rather than from the cause you name, though, doubtless, that
exaggerates the annoyance. It is possible that a little more alcohol in the
collodion might remedy it ; but we know that if you avoid bringing the lower
edge of the plate in contact with the nitrate of silver solution until it is actually
plunged therein, it will cure the defect.
fff All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, Sc., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
liise , Ijondon, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 62, Castle Street, Liverpool.
CONTENTS .
r AG E
LEADER . 313
ON THE NATURE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC
IMAGE. By GEORGE DAWSON, M A. .. 341
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. By EMERSON
■I REYNOLDS . 34.3
THE PENCIL AND ETCHING NEEDLE. By
AN OLD HAND . 347
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LATENT IMAGE,
OBTAINED IN THE CAMERA OBSCURA.
Bv M. D. VAN MONCKHOVEN . 348
ON THE ADIIESIV E MATERIALS EM PLOY ED
FOR MOUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS. By
JAME3 MARTIN . 350
FADE
A LESSON FOR THE LEARNED; OR, A
FEW WORDS IN EXPLANATION. By G.
DAWSON, M A . oo t
EXHIBITION GOSSIP. By A. H. WALL _ 351
A VISIT TO LONDON AND THE EXHIBI¬
TION. By A SCOTCH PHOTOGRAPHER.. 352
BITS OF CHAT. By A H. WALL . 3o.i
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 354
NEW BOOKS . 356
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 357
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 358
CORRESPONDENCE . 35,3
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, Ac...., 360
T II E BRITISH
JOUENAL
No. 175, Vol. IX. — OCTOBER 1, 1862.
Concerning Rapid and Instantaneous Exposures. — It is
not a little amusing to those who have kept a sharp eye upon
the various discoveries announced from time to time during the
rise and progress of our art, to observe the little contests that
occur occasionally between two or more experimentalists who
have arrived at similar conclusions relative to some real or
supposed advantage in manipulation, each one claiming to have
been the originator thereof; but, with regard to such contests,
it sometimes happens that neither of the disputants are really
entitled to the honour claimed, and it is not impossible that
this state of things may arise in consequence of some circum¬
stance having aroused imperfect recollection of a happy sugges¬
tion by a third person, thrown out at some previous date, in
anticipation of the time for its useful application. A case in
point is now before the photographic world. Some remarkably
fine instantaneous views of Paris were produced by M. Ferrier,
and everybody sought for information about the means employed
by the operator in effecting his object. A rumour got abroad
that formic acid was used in the exciting bath, whereupon M.
Mc-A. Gauain published a somewhat caustic article demonstra¬
tive of the absurdity of such a suggestion : this brought out a
disclaimer from M. Ferrier, with an explanation that he used
formic acid in his developer, but beyond that no further in¬
formation was afforded.
In the Journal of the Photographic Society for loth July last,
pp. 95 and 96, a communication from the pen of Mr. Henry
Claudet was published, stating that the extraordinary rapidity
with which a negative portrait group of Dr. Diamond and M.
Laulerie was obtained was owing to the “ substitution of formic
acid for acetic acid in the developer.” Certain printer’s errors,
affecting the formula, were introduced ; but these were corrected
in the following number of the same Journal, and, as corrected,
the formula stands as follows, viz.: — A sensitising bath con¬
sisting of thirty-five grains of nitrate of silver to each
ounce of water, acidulated with three drops of strong nitric
acid to each pint of solution. The developer: twenty grains
of pyrogallic acid to seven and a-half ounces of distilled water,
one ounce of formic acid, and six drachms of alcohol.
It appears that a paper, descriptive of Mr. Heniy Claudet’s
method of working, was presented by M. Balard to the
Acadenffe des Sciences, at Paris, and, at the French Photo¬
graphic Society, a claim was put in on behalf of M. Ferrier to
the honour of having introduced formic acid into the developer.
Now, one thing is here pretty clear, viz., that M. Ferrier did
not afford Mr. Henry Claudet the means of applying it advan¬
tageously, for the former studiously avoided giving any more
information than circumstances compelled him to do, whereas
the latter worked out the problem to a practical result, and
gave the public the benefit of his experience.
But the best of the joke is, that neither M. Ferrier nor Mr.
Henry Claudet are entitled to the honour of having first intro¬
duced formic acid as an accelerator into the developing solution,
for this was done so long ago as 10th September, 1853, by Air. F.
Maxwell Ly te, through the pages of Xotes and Queries, and also in
the Journal of the Photographic Society, for H-t September, 1853
(in which last, by the way, there was an accidental erroneous
quotation of quantities as intimated by Mr. Lyte subsequently!.
As our readers will be interested in the formulae given, we
make the following extracts from Xotes and Queries : —
“ To make my collodion, I use the Swedish filtering paper, as recom¬
mended by the Count de Montizon, Mr. Crookes, &c., not so much on
account of its superior properties, as the easier manipulation, and the
greater certainty of obtaining a completely soluble substance. Having
obtained a clear and tolerably thick collodion, take
Rectified spirits of wine . 1 ounce.
Iodide of ammonium . 45 grains.
Bromide of ammonium . 12 ,,
Chloride of ammonium . 1 ,■
Iodide of silver, freshly precipitated from the ammoni te 1 nitrate, as
much as the solution thus produced will take up — a small excess,
will settle at the bottom, will not signify. Nearly the same compound,
one which is equally good, is produced as follows : — Take
Rectified spirits of wine . 1 ounce.
Iodide of ammonium . 50 grains.
Bromide of ammonium . 12 ,,
Chloride of silver . 5 ,,
Whichever of these two sensitisers is used, take one and a-halt dn
and add to every ounce of the collodion.
“Collodion thus prepared is most rapid in its actii n, giving a deep
negative (with Ross’s sixteen guinea lens, and the di v h ping nr- 1
shall hereafter describe) in ten seconds in clear weather, and instan¬
taneous positive pictures, which may be afterwards darken-, i with the
solution of terchloride of gold, in chloride of ammonium. It b not
easily solarise, and, what is best of all, gives the most
“I find it preferable, in taking landscapes, to rather increase the
quantity of the iodide of ammonium, in order to give comp,
to the sky ; but, if the operator pleases, he may produce the most admir¬
able effect with the above-named proportions, by paint:: Is at
the back of the plate with Indian ink : and this latter plan is preferable,
as the addition of move of the iodide lowers the half-tones.
“If more of the chloride than above specified be added, it wiil cause
the plate to blacken all over during development, before the extreme
lights are fully brought up.
“My developing agent is made as follows : — lake
Distilled water . H) ounces.
Pyrogallic acid . 5 grains.
Formic acid . - . . . 1 ounce.
The latter is not to be the concentrated acid, but merely the commercial
strength. These, when mixed, form so powerful a developing
that the picture is brought out in its lull intensity, all quly,
while at the same time all the deep shades are quite unafiected, and the
half-tones come out with a brilliancy 1 have never seen before.
“ Another excellent developing agent is composed as follows Take
Distilled water . 19 ounces.
Sulphuric acid . 3 drops.
Protosulphate of iron . £ ounce.
Formic acid . . . . . 1 . » . .
The formic acid is also a most capital addition to the protonitrate cd n on,
and either this or the former liquid produce most brilliant, positives,
leaving a fine coating of white dead silver. ...
“The developing agents which are made with iron are very applica le
as baths to immerse the plate in; and the j. from its powerful
deoxidisiug property, renders the iron salt more stable during i ng use
and exposure to the air.
“ The developing agent with the pyrogallic and foimic acids will keep
good a very long tune, longer, I think, than that in which acetic acid is
used, but cannot be used as a dipping bath.
862
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 18CQ
“I find the formic acid which I obtain from different chemists rather
variable in its strength. What I use is rather below the average strength,
so that in general about six drachms of the commercial acid will suffice
where I use one ounce ; but the excess seems to produce no bad result.
“ A great advantage of the pyrogallic developer which I recommend is
that of its being able to be diluted to almost any extent, with no other
result than simply making the development slower. ”
We think this thoroughly settles the question of priority.
The principal variation between the formulae of Mr. Lyte
and Mr. Henry Claudet is in the much larger quantity of pyro¬
gallic acid employed by the latter, conjoined with the acidifica¬
tion of the sensitising bath with nitric acid, wdiich no doubt
obviates the tendency to fogging, and yet does not, according to
Mr. Henry Claudet’s experience, prevent the material shorten¬
ing of the time of exposure : it appears, therefore, to be a legiti¬
mate improvement upon Mr. Lyte’s original formula, and as
such commends itself to the attention of photographers gene¬
rally. In our own experience of Mr. Lyte’s original formula we
certainly found the advantage claimed as regards the time of
exposure ; but this was accompanied by so decided a tendency
to fogging of the image that the gain in one direction was more
than counterbalanced by the inconvenience described. A
priori, we should hardly have anticipated that so large a quan¬
tity of free nitric acid as directed by Mr. Henry Claudet for
the nitrate of silver bath could have been added without alto¬
gether counteracting the increased energy of the developer con¬
taining formic acid, and it never occurred to us to make the
experiment for ascertaining this fact; which, although unex¬
pected, is not altogether without precedent: e.g., the bromo-
iodised positive collodion, with an iron developer and silver bath,
acid with nitric acid.
This brings us to another consideration that has been under
discussion, the question of the accelerating or retarding effect of
a bromide in the collodion. It will have been observed that
certain skilful operators have given testimony in favour of the
accelerating effects of bromides in collodion from their own
practical experience; but, so far as at present appears, their ex¬
periments do not seem generally to have been conducted in
such a manner as to form data for unquestionable conclusions,
as pointed out in a letter from India, written by Mr. Augustus
Webb, which appeared in our last issue. This gentleman has
arrived at diametrically opposite conclusions, and asserts that
the apparent acceleration is due to the combinations of the bases
of the salts employed ; and he regards the pure iodides as de¬
cidedly more sensitive than any of the combinations of bromo-
iodides. But we are bound to point out that neither has this
gentleman conducted his experiments, upon his own showing,
in a manner that precludes question, as a reference to the more
systematically conducted experiments of Mr. Ponting, as de¬
tailed in the current volume, page 337, will show. The sugges¬
tion of the advantage found, arising from the judicious (pnten-
tional or accidental) combination of the bases of the salts
employed, we believe to be sound as regards stability of condi¬
tion of the collodion, but not in any other way as respects
actual sensitiveness.
Before concluding this article, as bearing some reference to
the same or a kindred subject, we desire to make a few
remarks relative to the practice of using the pyrogallic acid
developer upon a wet collodion plate before exposure, in order to
attain superior sensitiveness of the film. Our readers may
have noticed a “ Scrap ” from a correspondent, a short time
back, wherein he stated that, being in Mr. A. H. Wall’s studio,
he had seen that gentleman resort to the device, and we
appended a note to the effect that we doubted that any real ad¬
vantage was gained thereby, having long since made careful
comparison to decide the point. With reference to this note
Mr. Mali wrote to us as follows: — “I have been wondering
whether, when you used the pyrogallic acid before exposure”
iron developers were in vogue. I obtained a picture a few
evenings since with it (pyrogallic acid), when, by giving the
same exposure without it, two or three minutes previously, I
could not get the ghost of an image. Iron developer; bromo-
iodised collodion ; bath, thirty-five grains nitrate of silver to the
ounce of water; time, six o’clock p.m. ; place, my glass room.”
To this we replied that we did not use an iron developer sub¬
sequently to exposure, in addition to a pyrogallic acid one be¬
fore, for the simple reason that we invariably found the image
already developed on removing the plate from the camera ; and
the probability is that, had it not been so, we should have used
more pyrogallic acid instead.
Those of our readers interested in the question now have, by
Mr. Wall’s particulars, the means of testing the accuracy of
that gentleman’s deductions, and we consider the matter worthy
of a trial.
ON THE DELINEATION OP MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS
BY PHOTOGRAPHY.*
By R. L. Maddox, M.D.
PHOTO-MICROGRAPHY, or the art of producing enlarged positive or
negative pictures direct from microscopic objects by the combined
use of the microscope with photography, although partaking of the
value of each, has, unfortunately, a much less application than
either. The giant strides of progress made by the parents have
left their offspring, in the race towards perfection and usefulness,
far in the rear. Laden with its childish toys and treasures, it
climbs a narrow path; constrained to walk when they run — to stop
when they advance. No precocity marks its growth. Slow its
steps, it clings to friendly hands, and hastes for shelter, in the
threatenings of opposition or adversity, where “proud science”
finds a home.
Thus, indebted to their union for its existence, it claims indul¬
gence for its infant weakness and encouragement in its childhood
from those who so largely enjoy the amusement and instruction
afforded by both. Had photo-micrography received greater atten¬
tion from men of science, it would have been more appreciated by
the public. The voice that cries “ Give, give,” doubtless would
have had its wants satisfied, and, with the call, there would have
been a responding effort to ensure patronage and popularity. For
several years it has raised a gentle appeal, and asked to be wel¬
comed with its kindred. It has also sought a settled place in the
hand-books of science : yet where are we to search its history ?
Chiefly in the pages of the journals. Of the few who have wel¬
comed its birth, and furnished instructions for our guidance, we
have the familiar names of Reade, Hodgson, Shadbolt, Delves,
Highley, Wenham, Traer, Kingsley, Parry, and, more recently,
Bockett and Smith. Across the Atlantic it has enlisted the skill
and knowledge of Professor Rood. In France, several years back,
Dr. Donne urged its claims ; and I then saw exhibited some
beautiful engravings of physiological studies, produced from his
daguerreotype plates. My friend, M. Nachet, Jun., about three
years since, showed me some well-executed prints of opaque
objects. Latterly, we find M. Bertsch its advocate, and M. Neyt
plying us with ingenious means for pourtraying the wonders of
infusorial life. No doubt there are many others, either directly or
indirectly, to whom we are likewise indebted, and I would gladly
mention their names did they occur to me.
We might almost feel tempted to suppose that from so neglected
a subject there can be now little to claim further attention ; yet,
as the sum of our knowledge is the united testimony of the expe¬
rience of others, and this, alas! only the “knowledge of human
ignorance,” the communication of a few details may avail to help
our onward path, where difficulties are rather in proportion to the
images produced than to the objects delineated — the common stock
so scanty, and the patrons few.
The immeasurable interest opened to the student of nature by
the microscope— whether relating to the structure of living bodies,
or the framework of such beings as remain from the “untravelled
regions of the past;” whether as touching the beauties of life, be¬
fore or after the “ dishonours of the grave,” “ where mortality’s
cumbering vestments ” unfold their changeful life ; or whether as
watching those elegant structures that daily press upon his atten¬
tion, and lead him to almost exclaim, “Surely, here begin the
‘ suburbs of creation !’ ”- — there stands, confessedly, a field of
inquiry and research of such magnitude that, ere the borders be
passed, so far and wide extends the view, he becomes painfully
conscious of his feeble progress, and humbled at each step sees
in the vast expanse that “ Nature all o’er is consecrated ground.”
* Head at a meeting of the North London Photographic Association, Sept. 17, 1862,
October 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
363
As we multiply our means of research, by so much the more do
we increase our labours to unfold the concealed wonders of creation.
Those who have patiently attempted to copy some of the objects
that adorn the pages of scientific and popular literature, and who
have earned for themselves a deservedly wide-spread fame, can
alone tell us of the close attention, skill, and care required to convey
little more than a general outline of the beauties presented to the
eye of the microscopist. Any plan, therefore, that will help us to
record our progress, or by which we can endeavour to facilitate the
representation of such objects, or that by a little perseverance can
obtain for us a more or less faithful transcript of our studies, pos¬
sesses a value to be estimated by its application, and, if only for
merits of its own , claims an impartial trial. Consistent, then, with
these views, permit me to ask your assistance to further this humble
endeavour, by making, for mutual benefit, any remarks the
imperfect sketch I have now the pleasure of bringing to your notice
may tempt you to offer. I come before you as a student seeking-
information, and with, in return, little that can be new to your¬
selves: hence are requested your kind indulgence and charitable
criticism.
Why, then, has this neglected study not more largely joined
issue in the great struggle for popularity ? The answer has been in
part anticipated. Still there remain several reasons which require
a brief notice. United they gather strength. The disadvantages
arising from the very perfection of the microscope as an optical
instrument, when pressed into the service of photography, are so
apparent, that we cannot expect the optician to withdraw his
attention from its legitimate rivalry to suit our requirements. We
accept, therefore, the instrument [as he furnishes it. Complying
with its limitations, let us not demand more than they will afford,
and we shall still find a pursuit of extensive application. By a
little ingenuity and perseverance, tempered with much patience,
we must endeavour to remedy the defect his masterly attainments
introduce; hence let us choose such objects as may enable us to
appreciate his labours.
Since the study of the Dicitomacece — units beautiful in symmetry
and proportion, gathered from the fragments of past ages, marvels
in the magnificent universe, with their wonderful markings — has
urged forward every attempt to construct object-glasses which have
“led us deep in the disclose of fine-spun nature,” and detected
structures so “exquisitely small, and, though demonstrated,”
they are still matter of dispute; yet such perfection, with the
facilities for suiting the eye to the surface examined, is witness to
the advance made in late years to object-glasses with a large
angular aperture — that is to say, admitting so many oblique pencils
that the shadows and interference from elevations and depressions
become apparent to the eye — lines and points rendered visible
which, with an object-glass of less aperture, would not at all, or only
faintly, be distinguished. So perfectly are these lenses constructed,
that they require parts in focus to be in one plane ; yet where this
does not happen the eye, by focussing, is furnished with the means
for studying the character of the near or distant surfaces with little
loss of time.
These advantages, unfortunately, do not equally and easily
obtain when they are employed in photography. Again: the
skilled optician has left us with an object-glass slightly over¬
corrected for colour— -that is, which projects the blue and violet
rays of the spectrum beyond the others, with which united they
form white light, and by which arrangement the chemical focus is
lengthened, placed behind, and consequently farther from the object
than the visual focus, his aim being to compensate for the under-
correction of the eyepiece and present structures to the eye tree
from coloured edges. Here, then, supposing the spherical alien a¬
tions of the object-glass to be corrected — that is, the central and
marginal pencils to be equally perfect — our difficulty commences,
and we are necessitated to use those, means which meet our
requirements without detracting from the optical value of the lens
employed. . .
Those who have engaged in the pleasing occupation ot photo¬
micrography have generally adopted plans suited to the instru¬
ments at hand. My own differs slightly from all, at least in one oi
more particulars. The instrument may be simply desciibed as a
small travelling microscope, selected not as the most convenient , but
the best spared. This is fixed by a screw toot in the centie atone
end of a long stout board, and then bent on its axis paiallel to the
surface of the wood. This board is supported at some distance
from its centre on three double, strong .legs., film mirror is
removed, and one of Abraham’s achromatic pi isms substituted.
The stage slides along the support ot the microscope, and carries
a revolving- disc or diaphragm with a tube screwed to one ot the
apertures. In this tube slides another, carrying a Coddington
lens. The slide of the stage has a traversing motion by tangential
screws. The arm carries adapters to receive different objectives.
A fine screw, with graduated milled head, surrounded by a spiral
spring, passing through the axis of the body or pillar, and acting
on the arm, forms the slow motion, while the coarse adjustment is
made by altering the position of the stage. One-half of the
microscope tube, which unscrews in the middle, projects from
the near surface of the arm : this is at once received into a wide,
stout card-board tube, lined with dull black paper, through < ne
end, closed with a centrally-pierced cap of leather. This tube is
divided into two parts, having a telescope motion, connected to¬
gether bv a sliding joint made to lit on one, and carrying from its
edge a thick circular flap or ling of black cloth, which j iss< s ovi r
j the end of the other tube, and effectually closes the teh c ij
against the admission of light. At this juncture a diaphragm can,
if needed, be introduced, fi'lie other or near end oftne card tube
is fixed on the brass tubing of a half-plate portrait combination,
the lenses being removed: this fits to the front of a camera, and
between the front and back part of which is a collapsing poi
A long screw unites the sliding body to the other for the facility
of ordinary use in focussing; and the parts of the camera are kept
central with the microscope by wooden guides at the sides. The
front portion or body of the camera can be fixed beneath by the
screw that belongs to the ordinary triangle. A thick velvet collar
slides on the microscope tube, up to and against the leather cap,
to shut off the entrance of any light.
Let us suppose an appropriate object selected. It is first, if not
icell known, carefully examined with the compound microscope and
the object-glass to be employed; the corrections for the thickness
of the glass cover made, if needed ; an 1 some part in view selected
as that furnishing the best general idea of the object. It and the
objective are then removed to the micro-camera, cent
focussed. Now becomes apparent the value of the prism, which is
so turned (using direct sunlight) as to obtain, when looking on its
surface, an image f the object-glasses carri d back 1 y 1
Coddington lens. Y/hen these are included in the sun’s image,
and the illumination in the glass screen is perfectly equal, a v< ry
minute alteration of the prism sends the rays obliquely to the
Coddington lens and to the object. The scr
and if the character of the image shows the shadows to be too
great, the prism is again moved until it furnishes a goo I g sneral
appearance. This slight movement often brings suddenly into
view a fine line or some markings not previously noticed. Hie
image is now viewed with a moderate magnifying power, fixed in
a tube, so that its focus corresponds to the far side of the greyed
glass. A difficulty sometimes meets us here that is very trouble¬
some when the weather is cold. We often require to go fairly
over the entire image with the eye, and it this occupy any time
the breath is apt to condense on the near
view is rendered imperfect from the refraction caused by the
vapour, and the lines appear confused. This especially happens
when the covering cloth is drawn close to exclude light. So
troublesome did I find this at one time that I entirely set asi ’c the
aid of the magnifying lens, and trusted to the eye suddenly catching
some fine marks or lines. The Coddington lens I have emj
not for any optical value it possesses over an achromatic lens, but
from its construction as part of a sphere 1 find it gives a very
equal illumination, and is less likely to be injured by the heat rays
in the focus of the prism. It naturally lessens the effective t ptical
angular aperture of the high powers : but I do i'."t find this a dis¬
advantage. The prism is placed at such a distance, when used
with the Coddington lens, that its focus would just pass the sur
face of the object were it used alone. In this way it tills the con¬
denser; but if used without the latter, which
case, I prefer the rays to have crossed b fore reachii g the surface
of the object, as there is less chauce of their injuring the objective
by loosening the medium used in cementing the lenses.
This brings us now to consider the second part of our subject,
and in which I may also differ a little from others. Of the various
plans I have adopted for the last three years, I have felt most satis¬
fied when using a slow collodion having a :■ ugh structnreh ss film,
and which will often enable roe to give several seconds exposure.
The collodion was made from linen, and added toa c
in the proportion of three or two to one; iodised with iodides^ of
cadmium and ammonium two grains each, and one grain bromide
of cadmium to each ounce. The bath, forty grains of nitrate of
silver to the ounce of water, slightly acid, with nitric acid. The
developer, the usual fifteen grains ot protosulphate of iron solu¬
tion (to which I occasionally add two grains of acetate ol soda) to
364
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OE PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1862
the ounce of water : with this collodion the ordinary two-grain
pyrogallic acid mixture is quite inefficient. When developed, the
plate is washed, cleared with hyposulphite of soda, and strength¬
ened with the pyrogallic developer, containing a little silver solu¬
tion : then rewashed, and treated with a weak mixture of iodine
and iodide of potassium ; washed, and if necessary followed by a
two-grain-to-the-ounce solution of bichloride of mercury. If the
appearance now under a magnifying lens be satisfactory, the plate,
after rinsing, is covered with a weak and old hyposulphite of soda
solution, then flushed, after washing, with thin mucilage; if not
satisfactory it is further treated with a solution of chloride of gold,
followed by a weak, then by a stronger, solution of hyposulphite
of soda. Structures will now sometimes become beautifully bright
and evident. The plates are then well washed, gum-water flowed
over the surface, and set the plate aside to dry. Without some
adherent medium the film is apt to crack and peel from the glass.
This leads us to the third point, viz., the printing. The paper
(Rive or Saxe) is floated on an eighty-grain solution of nitrate of
silver, slightly acid with acetic or nitric acid, for five minutes;
hung up to drain in the dark, and when surface-dry placed in a
lined box on a well-heated flat stone, and the box closed by a thick
paper cover.
Impressed from the negative the prints are floated printed surface
downwards on rain-water for ten minutes or so, then removed, the
surface smoothed with a glass rod and floated on common water for
the same time, raised and the surface wiped as before; then plunged
into a dish of common water containing about thirty grains of
acetate of soda to the pint. Here they remain any moderate
time,, and after draining are toned in a neutral chloride of gold
solution, made tepid by supporting the dish over steam. They
ure now washed and fixed in the ordinary hypo, solution. The
after-washing is by often flushing and close draining for the first
hour, then soaking, and often changing the water for four or five
hours.
We are now prepared to take a brief survey of the facilities
offered by the above arrangement. A long eye-piece, which I do
not at all object to, can be placed in the microscope tube either
before or when the remaining half of the tube is secured to that in
the arm. The magnitude of the image being equal, but perhaps a
little less defined, the apparatus is thus made much more compact.
The attempt to use slightly oblique light for the purpose of pro¬
ducing more, distinctly the shadows would, if the card tube were
not of some dimensions, risk fogging, by being consecutively partly
reflected towards the sensitive plate, and especially if there were
not a diaphragm situated towards its near end. There is consider¬
able difficulty in managing this carefully: many of my negatives
have one side of the plate beyond the ring fogged from this reflec¬
tion. The use of .a rather non-sensitive collodion gives more time
for the light to bring out the surface markings, and obtain a more
pearly character of the objects (DiatomaceceJ when printed.
The specimens that accompany this paper are all untouched and
unpressed: they are sent to.simply illustrate the method adopted,
and to prove that photo-micrography deserves more encourage¬
ment. Some objects — as the small biack fly or blight, the sand-
hopper, the Entomostrcica , the spiral and woody structure of boiled
asparagus, the fibrecellsof the bog-moss leaf — were simply mounted
without preparation, beyond gentle washing in the ordinary gela¬
tine and glycerine medium : the two latter are sent as illustrations
of employing an unsuited lens of too high magnifying power. There
ate other prints where the error is on the opposite side, as in the
Arachnoidiscus , which will not permit of printing without some
confusion. The negative bears considerable amplification, though
the paper will not receive the image perfectly. When magnified
it is curious to observe the apparent hollow depth the converging
°! (hvei ging radii give to the disc. The Zygnema was simply
placed m a cell with a little glycerine water.* I avoid, if possible,
animal structures that have been treated with caustic potash : their
bi own colour renders it tiresome to obtain an idea of the natural
colour of the object.
Ihe stereo, prints of the brittle star were made, one pair by
slightly elevating and depressing alternately the slide, the object
remaining central, and taking a negative of each position on a ste-
r«°;*P suggested, I think, by Professor Wheatstone ( Journal
°* . Microscopic Society , No. IV.) I have also tried the plan
mentioned by Mr. Wcnham, in his paper On Binocular Vision
,'tourml of the Microscopic Society , No. VI.), of covering one-half of
“JV 'J'>ct -glass, taking a negative, then reversing the mask and
i 1 -mg another negative— a method, I beiieve, lately much advo-
* The
Via*.
print of ihe
S«iianf.,rm, <h;ct and doited evils of Macro, or Racca, i.s from a dry
cated by Mr. Smith, and exceedingly valuable. I find in deep
structures, especially those consisting of carbonate and phosphate
of lime, the light somewhat deficient when illuminated by a side
light. It is rather improved with the Lieberkulm. The stereo. -
print of what I suppose to he a parasite of the brittle star, -was
taken by the employment of this reflector. In some of the prints
— vide Anchor Spicule of Synapta — various wave-like markings are
seen round one or more of the edges of the object. On what do
these troublesome appearances depend? I think they exist in the
medium in which the objects are mounted, and are more evident
when an appreciable interval lies between the under surface of the
glass cover and the surface of the slide. They are visible at times
on the focussing-screen. This is only an opinion, and will bear
correction. Are they due to the “diffracting spectrum?” and can
they receive the explanation given by Mr. Wenham on this point,
in the Journal of the Microscopic Society , No. VII. ? They occasion
some disfigurement which, naturally, we should be glad to pre¬
vent. The prints will prove that with care we can render
photo-micrography available in obtaining a general or more or less
perfect resemblance of appropriate objects ; and I feel convinced,
w-ere wTe in possession of the facts our united labours furnish, they
would offer some encouragement to overcome the difficulties, and
raise to a distinct position this branch of combined science and art —
of course always mindful, as I before said, not to attempt nor expect
too much. Of the various object-glasses employed I have said
nothing: they range from three inches focus to one-seventh, are
by different makers, and very variable applicability. The cor¬
rection is made by either withdrawing the object-glass from the
object the amount of distance required, or by a lens placed behind
in the setting of the objectives. Nor have I ventured to touch on
the subject of using “dark ground illumination,” polarised light,
coloured media, artificially-coloured light — all of which some time
since received my attention, but without any very definite or
satisfactory solution ; nor of enlarging from small, delicate, and
pei feet transparent positives.
I here beg to acknowledge any assistance I have found from the
writings of others. Give fairly your kind criticism to these remarks,
and to the specimens placed for your examination ; and permit me
to hope that we may, with your assistance, receive mutual advan¬
tage — e’en though it rather “humble than elate” — and in the vast
spreadings that lie before us see and feel convinced that “the
Great Proprietor’s all bounteous hand leaves nothing wraste,” but
bids men “ passing, perchance in haste, to pause and think of Him
who made them.”
STEREOSCOPIC PICTURES OP A LARGE SIZE.
By Professor Edwin Emerson.
In a recent article upon Relief in Silliman's Journal of Science , I
have already briefly mentioned an experiment recently made by
me in uniting, stereoscopically, much larger pictures than those
usually prepared for the stereoscope. Since my arrival in Eng¬
land, I have thought it would be of some interest to the readers of
The British Journal of Photography to give an account of my
experiments on this point more in detail.
Theoretically there ought to be no difficulty in uniting very
large pictures ; but practically there seems to have been very
great difficulty experienced in the effort to accomplish it. I have
myself met several scientific gentlemen who have assured me that
they have tried it, and consider it impossible. Mr. Forrest, of
Liverpool, informed me that it had been attempted there, but did
not succeed. As the first experiments made by myself, more than a
year ago, left me in great doubt as to the feasibility ot the matter,
it may be that, in the cases above referred to, the experiments
were performed in an improper manner, or that the conditions
essential to success were not fulfilled.
With a good magic lantern very beautiful results have been pro¬
duced by using a single glass picture as a slide : as the perspective
and light and shade are almost perfect, it is not surprising that
ordinary observers have imagined that they saw pictures having
relief. But those who understand the philosophy of the stereo¬
scope know very well that there can be no real relief in such pic¬
tures. Some of the experimenters above referred to endeavoured
to remedy this defect by the obvious addition of another magic
lantern exhibiting the complementary view, but were disappointed
in getting satisfactory results — partly because the pictures were
thrown upon the screen at too great a distance from each other to
unite them readily, and partly because the edges of the pictures,
at the line of union, overlapped each other and obscured more or
less of the details; moreover, they found ordinary glass trans-
October 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
365
mitted positives not well adapted for reproduction in this way,
being too much developed.
In my own experiment I prepared a glass stereograph of such
dimensions that both the right and left pictures could be ex¬
hibited by means of a single magic lantern. To do this each
picture on the glass was reduced to the diameter of about one inch
and a half; in other words, the two complementary pictures were
so reduced as to fill only the space usually occupied by one alone.
Of course great care was taken to have these pictures perfectly
sharp, and not too much developed. Upon endeavouring to unite
the images formed upon the screen, by means of prisms held to
my eyes, and properly adjusted, I found that there had not been
sufficient separation of the lenses of the camera, in taking the
negative, to enable me to get any decided stereoscopic effect.
That amount of separation between the lenses of the cameras
which is quite sufficient for the production of ordinary stereo¬
graphs will not answer for the purpose of obtaining enlarged
stereoscopic views. Having learned this, I began de novo, by
taking a negative of a view just out of my window, with a separa¬
tion of ten feet between the tubes of my camera. From this
negative I obtained my double positive of the dimensions requisite
for the single magic lantern ; and, upon throwing these pictures
upon the screen, I had no difficulty in uniting them by means of
the prisms, and thus getting a beautiful stereoscopic effect. My
friend, Professor Rood, who had kindly assisted me in this experi¬
ment, afterwards made some stereographs of geometrical figures
of the proper size for exhibition in a similar manner, in which the
stereoscopic effect was sir>gularly distinct.
The prisms used to unite the pictures had plane surfaces, and
the angle included by the inclined surfaces was about 20°. The
dimensions of the enlarged pictures will depend upon the power of
the magic lantern which may be used. In the case described the
dimensions were six feet each way.
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS.
A SERIES OE LESSONS WRITTEN WITH A SPECIAL
VIEW TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS.*
By Emerson J. Reynolds.
SPECIAL P.E-AGENTS.
Nitric Acid ( Aquafortis ). — This acid should be free from non-vola¬
tile matter, and hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, which are tested
for in the same manner as in ascertaining the purity of water.
Dilute one part of the strong acid with three or four of water.
Sulphuric Acicl (Oilof Vitriol) — This test frequently contains both
lead and arsenic: the former is deposited in the state of sulphate
on diluting the acid with water, sulphate of lead being less soluble
in dilute than in concentrated sulphuric acid. The arsenic may
be detected by diluting the acid with water and boiling it with a
clean piece of copper wire : if a steel-gray coatiug be observed,
arsenic is present.
Tartaric Acid is generally sufficiently pure for use. Dissolve one
part of acid in two parts of water. This solution should be pre¬
pared as wanted.
Nitrate of Ammonia. — Neutralise concentrated nitric acid with
' ammonia, and evaporate the solution to dryness; then break up the
mass, and preserve for use.
Ferrocyanide of Potassium (Yellow Prussiate of Potash). Dissolve one
part, by weight, of the salt in twelve parts, by measure, of water.
Protochloride of Tin. — Dissolve some tin in hydrochloric acid,
taking care, however, that some of the metal remains undissolved ;
then decant, and preserve in a well-stoppered bottle. When re¬
quired for use it must be diluted with water, and a few drops ol
nitric acid added.
Caustic Potash. — This alkali, as usually met with, is generally
impure ; but it is easily prepared in a pure state by powdering the
commercial article, and dissolving as much as possible with strong
spirits of wine. Then decant, and evaporate the solution in a clean
iron dish until it begins to flow like oil ; then pour it out on a slab,
and, when solidified, break it up, and preserve in a stoppered bottle.
Dissolve one part of the solid hydrate of potash in twelve parts, by
measure, of water.
ANALYSIS OF THE BASIC GROUPS.
We shall now enter on the study of the detection and separation
of the individual members of each group. For the sake ot greater
clearness in detailing the method to be pursued, as well as to avoid
repetition, which our limits would not permit, vre shall suppose
that the precipitates produced by the several general re-agents
contain all the members of which they can consist.
* Continued from page 3-17.
We will commence by examining the first group.
First Group. — Collect the white precipitate produced by hydro¬
chloric acid on a filter, and wash with cold water. On referring to
our list of the basic groups, we see that the precipitate may con¬
tain silver , mercury , or lead — one or all. We will suppose that tlm
latter is the case. Now pour boiling water repeatedly over the
mixture on the filter, and to the liquid which passes through add a
drop of sulphuric acid. If lead be present, a white precipitate is
produced of sulphate of lead, which, under the circumstances, is
characteristic of that metal; and so we have disposed of lead.
We now pour ammonia over the residue, which immediately be¬
comes almost black: this indicates the presence of mercury. Then
add nitric acid in excess to the filtrate and observe that a white,
cloudy precipitate is produced — demonstrating the exi-tence < f
silver. Such is the simple mode of analysing the first group. Wo
will now explain the rationale.
When the boiling water is poured over the mixture of chlorid* u,
the chloride of lead is dissolved out and found in the filtrate. Wln-n
we pour ammonia on the residue, it decomposes the calomel, taking
away the chlorine and leaving the grey or suboxide of mercury
on the filter: at the same time it dissolves any chloride of ilv< r
(which is largely soluble in ammonia), and, on neutralising the
with nitric acid, the silver compound is thrown down.
The following table gives, in a concise form, the method to bo
pursued in analysing the group: —
Pour boiling water repeatedly over the precipitate.
The residue mat contain mercury and silver: wash with am . a
The filtrate may
contain
Chloride of Lend.
(Test with sulphu¬
ric acid.)
It becomes black.
Present,
Suhchloride of Mercury.
The filtrate may cmii n sileer.
AdJ excess of nitiic at id.
A white curdy precipitate
appears.
Present.
Chloride of Silver.
Second Group. — It will be remembered that the second gr
subdivided into two sections, one soluble and the other insoluble
in sulphide of ammonium. The solution of t' e first section in tlio
alkaline sulphide must be precipitated by adding a slight cxc ss of
hydrochloric acid, and the resulting precipitate thoroughly washed.
The portion which is insoluble must, likewise, be washed and pre¬
served for further examination.
First Division. — The first point to be attended to is the colour of
the precipitate, which, if dark, must be examined for all tire mem¬
bers ; hut, if of a full yellow tint, we need not examine it for ei t her
gold or platinum. Again: if of a light yellow colour, it is highly
probable that antimony is absent ; and, finally, when it is yellow,
and, heated on a fragment of porcelain over a spirit-lamp, if no
residue is left, tin* cannot be present. By paying a little attention
to these physical appearances we can ofteu form a very good
general idea as to the nature of the substance.
If either gold or platinum is present, we must take a little of
the original solution and dilute it, if necessary, then place it in a
test-tube, and, having moistened a glass rod with solution of pi
chloride of tin, it is to be gently lowered into the liquid in the tube:
if a blue or purple streak is observed in the track of the rod. gold is
present. This mode of applying the test is very delicate, and will,
doubtless, be of use to photographers, lo discover the existence
of platinum, we take a little of the original solution, which, if dilate,
must be concentrated by evaporation, then add some hydrochloric
acid, and, finally, a few drops of solution of caustic jwtash and a
little spirits of wine : if, after some time, a canary-yellow-coli
precipitate is produced, platinum is present, ibe test for gold
depends on the production of the “purple of Cassius” with proto¬
chloride of tin. The precipitate produced with platinum is a com¬
pound of bichloride of platinum with chloride of potassium, which
is soluble to a small extent in water, but is much less so if alcohol
is present, hence the addition of the latter. We must always be
particular, in testing for platinum, to have the hydrochloric acid
decidedly in excess. Having disposed of gold and platinum, we
now turn our attention to the separation of the remaining members
of the group — arsenic, antimony, and tin.
The mixed sulphides are placed in a test tube, aud a dilute solu¬
tion of carbonate of ammonia f shaken np with them for a few seconds
onlv and then rapidly filtered off : the filtrate contains the arsenic,
and ’ the residue antimony and tin. Now add excess of hydrochloric
acid to the filtrate, and pass sulphuretted hydrogen, which will
* Fven th ouch the tin was thrown down os the 'ower sulphide which is black, it is
averted into the higher sulphide, the colour of which is ycllocc, after solution in sul-
lde of ammonium.
1 This solution is prepared by dissolvirg one part of the soli 1 carbonate of ammonia
twelve of w ater.
360
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1802
produce a precipitate of sulphide of arsenic, if any of that metal
exist in solution.
We must now examine the residue for the two remaining metals.
For this purpose we take a small porcelain crucible and place in it
a little nitrate of ammonia, then heat the crucible over a spirit-lamp
until the salt melts perfectly. When in this state, throw in some of
the residue in a dry state, and continue the heat until a dry infusible
mass remains. Now digest the latter in a strong solution of tar¬
taric acid, and filter : the filtrate contains the antimony only, which
may be precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen, and the residue
tested for tin with the blowpipe in the manner to be described
hereafter.
We may now give our usual resume: — ■
If the precipitate be dark-coloured, test the original solution for
gold and platinum ; then agitate with a few drops of dilute solution
of carbonate of ammonia, and decant or filter.
Filtrate may contain ar¬
senic. Super-saturate
with hydrochloric
acid, and pass sul¬
phuretted hydrogen.
If a yellow precipitate
be produced arsenic
is present.
The residue (if any) may contain antimony and tin ; fuse wi h
nitrate of ammonia, and, when all fuming ceases, digest the
remaining mass in a solution of tartaric acid, and filter.
Filtrate may contain antimony,
pass sulphuietted hydrogen.
An orange-coloured precipitate
indicates antimony.
Residue :
Tin,
(Examine with
blow-pipe).
Second Division. — Let us now examine this division. In the first
instance, if the precipitate be of a yellow colour, and not dissipated
by heat, it can only be cadmium, which may be thus easily detected
in collodions by the use of the general re-agent alone. If it be of a
dark colour, however, we must search for all the members. To
accomplish this, proceed as follows : — Boil the precipitate with
strong nitric acid: if a black residue remain insoluble, mercury is
present — since sulphide of mercury is insoluble even in boiling
nitric acid. Now decant, and evaporate the liquid until nearly all
the acid has been expelled, and add a drop of sulphuric acid: if a
white precipitate be produced, lead is present. Then filter, if neces¬
sary, and add an excess of ammonia: if a white precipitate be pro¬
duced, bismuth is present. We now have remaining in solution
copper and cadmium, to separate which we must evaporate the
liquid nearly to dryness. Add hydrochloric acid, and divide into
two portions. To one of these we apply a drop of solution of yellow
prussiate of potash : if a mahogany-coloured precipitate be produced,
copper is present. To the second we add excess of carbonate of
ammonia , and warm the mixture: the production of a white preci¬
pitate indicates cadmium. We may likewise remark that, if the
ainmoniacal filtrate have even a slight tint oihlue, the presence of
copper is certain.
The general plan is as follows : —
Boil precipitate with nitric acid : a black residue indicates mer¬
cury. Filter, and expel excess of nitric acid by boiling, then add
the sulphuric acid, and filter again, if necessary.
To the filtrate add ammonia in excess.
A w Lite precipitate
Precipitate
Oxide of
Bismuth.
Evaporate nearly to dryness, then dissolve in hydro¬
chloric acid, and divide in two portions.
Sulphate of Lead.
1. 1 2.
If the solution have a blue \ Add excess of carbonate of
tint, copper is present. | awwtonia, and warm : if a
(Confirm with yellow white precipitate appear,
prussiate of potash.) i cadmium is indicated.
In our next article we shall finish the analysis of the basic
groups.
THE PHANTASMASCOPE.
By Coleman Selleks.
The following is a description of an instrument designed and
patented by me in the United States of America, on the 5th Feb.,
1861, for the exhibition of stereoscopic pictures of moving objects,
and which has not been brought before the public either here or
abroad.
For about one year previous to the issuing of this patent my
attention had been directed to the construction of an instrument
which should present stereoscopic pictures in succession to the eye,
so as to combino stereoscopic relief with the semblance of motion.
Many models were made, having the pictures arranged around
the outside of a cylinder, and some curious devices, with a view to
effecting the interception of view in the best manner, were applied;
but with all of them it seemed inevitable that, as the picture was
passing across the axis of vision, there must be a slight apparent
blurring of the outlines of the photograph, no matter how small
were the openings through which they were viewed. Thus, if the
Openings were one-sixteenth of an inch wide, the picture could be
seen during motion through that space, and, consequently, a pro¬
voking indistinctness seemed a necessary consequence of the
arrangement. Finally, however, a new principle was hit upon
which may be illustrated by the relation of a simple experiment.
If a stereoscopic picture be held before the eyes by one corner,
and it then be moved rapidly backwards and forwards in its own
plane, and at the same distance from the eye, it will be impossible
to see the picture at all ; but if it be moved just as rapidly to and
from the eye, within a limited space, the picture can be seen during
the whole period of motion. This determined the form of instru¬
ment patented at the time above-mentioned. It consists of a
FIG. 1;
cylinder D not more than one inch in diameter, around which are
arranged six wings E E like the paddles of a water-wheel : these
wings carry the stereographs. Around the outside of these wings
passes a band of tin G four inches wide, through which are cut
slits II one quarter of an inch wide and one inch long each, the
centre of each pair of slits being three inches apart. These slits
are close to each of the wings, and immediately at the back of each
picture, so that through the slits may be seen the picture on the
face of the next wing. The lenticular stereoscope C C affixed
above this paddle-wheel arrangement combines the pictures as they
pass in succession before the eye. The whole of each picture
cannot be seen at one time ; but, according to whether you turn it
to or from you, the picture is seen at its lower or upper edge first,
and then the vision passes over the card, which has scarcely gone
before another one is presented to view. The pauses between each
picture is hardly perceptible, even during a slow rotation; and, as
the pictures are seen as they advance towards the eye in the line
of vision, the most minute detail can be examined with care, and
the semblance of motion is wonderfully well conveyed. This is
contained in a series of slides showing a lady seated in a rocking-
chair, facing the observer, and rocking towards and from him.
The pictures, out of the stereoscope, seem all alike, but iu the
instrument above described the motion is very life-like indeed.
Subjects the best suited for exhibition iu the phantasmascope are
those in which the motion is a reeiprocatory one — such as sewing,
fanning, turning over the leaves of a book ; and with six wings to
the revolving wheel, three negatives will give the complete motion,
in the following order — assuming, as an example, a gold-beater
pounding with" his heavy hammer: — Three pairs of pictures are
sufficient for the two extremes of the stroke and one intermediate
position, — printing two from each of these positions, and calling
367
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
October 1, 1862]
them in their order, Up, No. 1 ; Part-way Down , No. 2 and -Down,
No. 3. They are arranged in the wheel thus: two pairs oj -No. J,
then one pair of No. 2 ; next two pairs of No. 3, and then one pair
of No. 2. This arrangement will give a “dwell at each encl ot
the stroke, and the intermediate picture each way fills the \ oid in
the strokes, and makes it appear more natural than it would be
with only the two extremes.
Fiq. 2 is another form of the instrument for use when the motion
depicted requires a larger number of steveogivapbs, slmwi
graduated series of the phases of motion In this i the p ctu ^
arranged on an endless band, and are brought successive y
vieyv at Fby rotating' the square axis at the top jo i he ; —
indicated bv the arrows. By the same movemen t the . .,
A (seen more clearly in fig. 3) is caused to revolve m an oppo
direction, bringing the aperture B into posi- fig - 4-
tion contemporaneously with each picture m
succession, the projecting screen C cut.ing
off the view before the pictures have moved
far enough to canse indistinctness of outline.
Fiq. 4 shows another arrangement ot the
pictures that may be substituted m the pre¬
ceding instrument for that depicted in the
CUThe preliminary experiments which led to
this form of instrument were conducted by
Mr George Burnham and myself, and the
patent is held conjointly between us No¬
thing has been done as yet to present it to
the public in a form which would make it
Saleable, though it is to be hoped that it will
be brought into use, as it will call for a new
style of portraiture, and will give piofes
sional photographers some more work to do.
ON DRY DEVELOPMENT OE DRY PLATES.
By John Glover.
Since the publication of Mr.
sensibility of dry plates, by su & few experiments, with a
appeared from it. description to be
S° I* prepared four plates exactly alike, coaling he col
urith* a eolation containing twenty grarns o Mm a,M 1 t
the case on development, although ti o
and the subject a gloomy one. which had received the
sfde’, saoPtblet ^“cfuld be.plactd in tire uppermost groove,
with its film downwards. Into a dish nearly the size of the box
was poured strong ammonia, with four tunes its volume of water,
in sufficient quantity to cover the bottom one-eighth of an inch,
and placed in the box underneath the plate. The whole was then
closed up for the space of three minutes. On taking out to
examine J was most agreeably surprised to find a fully-developed
image, displaying all the details, down to the very shadows, as
distinct as the negative which had had the full exposure ; but of
course lacking the necessary intensity, which, in amount, I could
only compare to the appearance of a glass positive w ten e
by transmitted light. The plate was again subjected to the action
of the gas, but with no marked increase of vigour. .
I proceeded next to develop in my usual way, by soaking abo t
two minutes in water, then covering with a solution ofpyrogallie
acid, without either acid or silver. Under this action 1 could not
discover much addition to the intensity. On adding the silver
with an additional quantity of citric acid, my hopes mtad
to disappointment, as a cloudy deposit commenced, winch com
pletely veiled every trace of an image, with the exception of the
liiorlipflt UfrlltS. • r «
The appearance could not be compared to genuine fogging—
whlh is invariably caused by metallic redact, on-the deposit :
wavy and irregular, and of a broun.sh tmge by r^ected .
having the unmistakable appearance <4 oxide of silver 1 1 1
proved to he the fact. The film had retained a portion of the
ammoniacal gas which had not been dissipated bj a surf ;
inrr • hence the decomposition so familiar to chemists and moBt
photographers, the ammonia uniting with the nunc acid of tie
"“Tlds^ndnfed1 mef on my second trial to treat the
firstly with an acid, so as to convert the
ammonia into a neutral salt previous to the addition of the
"^"'removing the second plate from the box the image was
equally visible After soaking in water the usual time I cowtd
it with a solution of pyrogallic acid with a good dose <
acid I was equally surprised to find, instead of any ] * -i ••
the development being made, that the image gra ua y
fade, and, if the action had been continued, would, to all appean
l^™.S32iibta tXt. y the addition of a few drop* of acid
silver solution : the balance wae restored and the image began to
increase in vigour, until an intense negative was obtained.
The re “ult to say the least of it, was encouraging, although not
so clean and free from defects as the plate exposed and developed
^fitTas'puzsled^for some time to account for the phenomenon of
the fading of the image under the influence of so powerful a redi c-
^‘^‘t^rbn'afmefion of free nitrate of «Uverin
evlry dry coition film, ***££*£+& &£%£
by either washing oi Jong ■ , ^ *tjve gim we should suppose,
diffused throughout the . . caDable of being converted
i'\the TSTyX SSr of — ^ the whole would ha
mto oxide -it .ill Dy in & . , • awDeriments.
decomposed. So?^> •“JXJ1 Ammonia, instead of being diacai
not the case ; and henoefortn ammi . ; re-agent. may,
fXn0oUnce we°hIte curbed its too revive properties, be darned as
1 propose to employ two separate ji r • cu;mc,
ammonia the sal-ammomac of com ; - ^ to be
1, will be necessary to make the mixedm
reduced to as fine a state ofdmeion ... | _ ■ ot „at,r
about equal proportions as q ^O]utjon 0f the ammoniacal
^wo^untroqtSin o? heaM-td meet probably the
exposure of dry plates reduced to a ison wilh ,hose
SS is^retm Sci^t water A. film to set
368
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OP PHOTOGRAPHY.
up a decomposition of the nitrate of silver, which would not be so
energetic in the case of high -dried tannin used alone.
I throw out these suggestions, trusting that the matter will be
taken up by other experimenters who have more time and greater
facilities than the writer m the carrying of them out, there being
still a wide field for research, as we have undoubtedly much to
iscovei in 1 elation to the nature of the photographic image.
[The experiments above detailed are very interesting; but we
are not surprised at the results, because, honey being a educin'
agent, acts energetically upon nitrate of silver in the absence of
fiee acid, hence the appearance of an image after the ammonia? had
acted upon the impressed plate. As, however, all the free nitrate
of silver would have been reduced on the first application of
ammonm, it 1S cdear t la.t no further application of it or of pyro-
gaihc acid could intensify the image, there being no nitrate of
S1 -u?r !eft wherewith to perform the operation.
j l e bav?. received two illustrative specimens from the author of
the pi eceding paper; but they are far more favourable ones than
tt Z Swk-lmS 'V0UM Iead *> suPP°se- He describes
“ No l.—Lydmtc Alley. Developed by ammonia, and the one
dUl‘ day: and the s,lbicb— especially
what I should have given with wet collodion.”— Ed.]
[October 1, 18CQ
Intcraationat (Mibition.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AETD APPLIANCES,
By Samuel Higiiley, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c.
The antipodes of “ decensus averni facilis est ” must certainlv havn
een m the minds oi the Royal Commissioners when they consigned
photographers to the cockloft of the central tower above the Sc
ture galleries, and its treadmill of seventy odd steps. As fa? as
the generality of visitors are concerned, the English section of
Class XIV might as well have been arranged with AllsonnX ale
kn„w„mthate a°e ; for ifi. abouttquaflVwd
Known that a cellar devoted to beer find a p-aVrp+ ] .
photography exists in some (but undiscoverfble) ntrt of the
th mgs as bear s grease and bon-bons. We believe tlaUH. S
d ££ ; ^ 1- ? r a Tcfuf
footing. If the JnLs\U,VX Such •» “"favourable
Ross, and Voigtlander ; and, though objecting to the want nf nnma
fixed principle on the part of the Jurors aH7n u 1
should or should not receive their recognUio , few of £ Z^tUS
makers will, we think, cavil that such houses Zuli bo awarded a
medal, foi it is owing to their labours, conjointly with the disrovprv
o Archer, that photography has within the last few years become
a rage and opened up a new branch of trade. } become
It is to those houses who devote themselves snep.Mltr ♦ ,
empI°yed in Pkoto8»Pl/th.t we
Mr. Dallmeyer exhibits single combination view lenses of
new foim of lens for the purposes of enlargement of which nhntn*
fhe T o6ri Wp,have a description during the forthcoming session of
at t 1 -u PH°gJ\phic Society. The qualifications of fhese lenses
ie each illustrated by photographs taken by some of our leadimr
?oi itVtCh {? 5-rule that ought to be followed by all optidanf
oi it setLes all disputes as to what a lens will nr will i,* 7 ■’
pmctice, or ought or ought not to do in theory. In connexion
- ?h heSei;S aU eX(Se. ent display of cameras for taking stereo-
th several ^geniously-contrivcd forms of shutter for
traits CiXP,°SUrS f°r la"dscapes, cartes tie visile , and por-
VoL til vAhf?675 have been previously described in
s’.v 1 .» ' and IX. of this Journal ; m fact, after a narnful
exammation oi the entire collection of photographic apparatus in
fW?Xhl ntl01A WG are surPrised at the small amount of novelty
tl at lL }rabl° thereil}> (or it is quite the exception to find things
iat have not already been described in these pages. b
Ir. Ross exhibits, both in this department and in Class XIII
Ins lenses for stereoscopic and landscape views and portraits • he
v U hS a °f q“iok-acting Lrie-de-visUc Ces which
L l Plctures of great beauty, with good marginal- definition
also exhibits a new form of camera, which is very convenient
for the method adopted by Wilson of using the same instrument
foi stereoscopic and landscape views of 7£ by 4J inches • but lie
has sU 1 further added to its utility, whilst but slightly increwW
its bulk by making it suitable for carte- de-visite portraits 0?
album vmws taken in a horizontal direction by the ZuTlZ
.• Tb® .pla*es u®ed for a single or a pair of lenses are 8 by 44
inches m size. This camera has a range of focus of from 31 to 11
mches by means of a bellows body in the front and a sliding solid
ft \n .\he Jack part, worked by a rack and pinion movement
MW n-°f WhlC1m7?1 be readiIy understood by aid of the
wmg diagram. This instrument may be had either with or
P|Qt "J ^ n ri fit Am 1 » — * __ 1. 1 *w «r
footing. If the J,mnr«7l,n i V °n 8Uch an unfavourable
been arranged with hefiibt, t iat thc apparatus ought to have
(an opinion in which iuom? P ? mStrU?ents in Class XI1^
justified in their decision iT8 W1] •if-§Tee)’ yet they were not
choice in the matter w"’ 1 H exblbltor? themselves had no
[lie dictates and illogical cEsMfi'catmn oFth^p” acc.or<?ing tu
hut we suspect tint +i10 ° , 1 lt0yal Commissioners;
scapegoat of the vexed mi PaiaIus'makci's have been made the
Eo]al CommiseiMerras t„ the‘el»a ? Photographers and the
among the Fine Arts and while th.T8 of. Photography to a place
artistic element the nhntnr- • l ■ t omir)lslonei’s have ig’nored the
ignored SSS as a counterblast,
’"'tern, voh„t. An excention has 1 ad >een foisted "P011 tlle“
| pfinv!d»‘??ppttrntus> though lit-itlK-rin , K. ' u ,11 ,ve ?!‘d that raedaU were
'■ ,J,M' lt' 1 ,n-enu,ty °r workmanship can a superiority
without a swing back. Mr. Ross
prefers for an instantaneous shut¬
ter the flap arrangement we de¬
scribed on a previous occasion,
wherein the frame is arranged so
as to meet the flap in its descent,
as shown in^y. 2, at 1, but made of
9/ light material so as to avoid
jarring the camera as much as
possible. This arrangement, Mr
instance forMr. Frith, in May, UM? S‘8teS’ WaS * the &S‘
to hp6?™6 ?°Ur- len1SJ.es of an ordinary carie-de-visite camera have
be exposed simultaneously a very convenient rod-and-crank
a rangement employed, by which two flaps are raised and de.
By aiddoSf?URttane°iUS 7’ and» whlle raised» act as shades to the lenses
ceynnedion wfthPthP l°n% °r Sh°rt 6Xp°SUre Can be at wilb In
nm ?®n Fh landfCape cameras we observed a very ingenious
oi table mount for the lens, which, by means of hino-ed sumoort*
OneaofeRlbletU,;erShutS Up flat’ ^ the fashion of ^a GibKat
fh f f 6at f6atUreS °f Mr- Ross’s contributions is his per-
Med set of panoramic apparatus for Mr. Sutton’s lens. As this
iStrument has been previously described in these pages, and its
present ^orm '"We ^m a U S Sf w® ^ cnly add a L^amof ill
P x] *. may state, however, that a curved porcelain
bath now replaces the gutta percha one formerly employed.
1 !efelence to the mechanical arrangements lately described for
first of fli^r^F110 piCtllres’ M.r- Eoss niforms us that he made the
Sal tin V graduating semicircle forMr.
oaiym, in July, 1861. Mr. Ross has just completed the largest
Si tton’s panoramic lens he has yet made, which gives pictures
n ittccii by eight and a-half inches. The largest he has hitherto
October 1, 1802]
860
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
FIG. 2.
made, yielded pictures sixteeen by seven inches. There is no
question but that this instrument, when placed in intelligent
hands capable of appreciating the class of views for which it is
applicable, is capable of yielding pictures of great beauty, and it*
advantages over the ordinary forms of lenses for delineating such
subjects as those to which we refer will be readily appreciated by
comparing the annexed counterparts of photographs (fiys . 3 and 4 J,
FIG. 3,
VIEW TAKEN BY A LANDSCAPE LENS.
the one by a landscape lens and the other by a panoramic lens,
both of five inches focus, taken from the same point of view. We
may well say, with Hamlet , “ Look on this picture — and on this.”
In the case in Class XIII. several photographs will be found illus¬
trating the capabilities of Mr. Loss's lenses.
The only other sets of lenses that have photographs appended to
illustrate their qualities are those of Voigtlander, in the Austrian
Court, Avho exhibits a line collection, the value of which may be
estimated by the beauty of the portraits by Lewis Angerer. most
of which are of large size ; and of those of Emil Basch, in the
Prussian Court, illustrated by some fine photographs taken by
Albert. In the Foreign Department the following makers con¬
tribute samples of their lenses, but afford no means of their value
being judged of, viz. : — Dertzel, of Austria; Kreuss, and Manecke,
of the Zollverein ; Hermagis, Darlot (successor of Jamin). Bertand,
Derogy, Millet, and Quinet, of Paris. We may also class among
those who exhibit lenses without accompanying photographs to
illustrate their qualifications, those of Shepherd, in the English
Department, whose business, however, we understand, has been
transferred to Messrs. Squire and Co. since the opening of the
Exhibition.
(To be continual.)
FIG. 4.
I VIEW TAKEN BY A PANORAMIC LENS
370
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1809
CABINET PICTURES.
Miscellaneous Subjects, Photographed by War. Hanson, Leeds.
About twelve months ago we had the pleasure of criticising some
stereographic photographs by Mr. Hanson, amongst which were
some that were entitled to a place in the first rank for artistic ex¬
cellence. We have recently received from the same gentleman
(taken, as we are informed, with an aplanaticlens), some specimens
of a larger size (about eleven inches by nine), which testify to his
skill in manipulating something more exacting than stereoscopic
plates, and which will assuredly add to his reputation.
The North Aisle of Whitby Abbey is a study of anti¬
quarian rather than of pictorial interest, yet not deficient in the
latter element so far as treatment is concerned. The photography
is excellent — the definition perfect, even in the deepest shadows —
and the gradation of tone all that can be desired ; — the single fault,
if it be one, consisting in perhaps rather too great softness for
this class of subject, producing a slight deficiency of brilliancy.
It is a singular circumstance, though easily accounted for, that
we generally find photogi’aphers, who have created a name for
their skill in producing large pictures, when they subsequently
turn their attention to stereography apt to produce “hard” pic¬
tures of the smaller class until they have worked at them for some
time ; but here we have an instance of the converse of this — one
who has already excelled in stereography producing larger works
with a somewhat exaggerated degree of softness. Undoubtedly
this is the safer error of the two, and can be very easily remedied
on future occasions.
A Quiet Home — a cottage on the banks of a little stream, the bed
of which is now almost dry, with the exception of a portion of its
centre, and snugly surrounded by numerous trees and shrubs.
Across the stream, stretching from bank to bank, is a wooden foot¬
bridge, on which a little urchin is standing, evidently busy doing
the “looking on” part, in which the juvenile population in any
district are generally so diligent. This is a very pleasing and well-
executed subject, but could be materially improved by vignetting,
or even by cutting it, before mounting, to an elliptical form ;
because, as it is at present presented to our inspection — that
is to say, cut to a rectangular form — the horizontal line of the foot¬
bridge and the perpendicular ones of the supports, to say nothing
of the stems of the trees, repeat the outlines of rectangle too
directly to form a harmonious combination, it being a trifle too
formal and angular.
A Bit from a Yorkshire Glen is a very pleasing study.
Rough angular rocks, piled in confused masses and laved by some
tranquil water, are clothed with masses of elder bushes, and backed
by a plantation of stately fir trees. Although in deep shadow there
is plenty of detail ; but the photographic equivalent of green foliage
is certainly not sufficiently light in tone to convey an adequate
idea of the spot. This is, however, not a fault of the manipulator,
but a weakness in our chemical knowledge that we hope will one
day be overcome. The sky is suggestively shaded so as to give
a good idea of clouds.
Repose — On the Strid, near Bolton— is a very appropriately-
named and very charming picture, abounding in artistic beauties —
nicely-balanced undulating lines, tending towards a natural pic¬
torial focus, where the tranquil stream loses itself in the distance,
owing to a slight change of direction — exquisite definition of detail,
combined with the most perfect harmony and subordination of
parts, yet not wanting in breadth — and complete in unity of design.
We have no objection to take to the exquisite softness here: it is
precisely the kind of treatment that suits the subject best. The
foliage is truly magnificent, every leaf almost defined, yet there is
a perfect absence of spottiness of effect. The river is smooth almost
as a mirror; but it is neither an opaque patch of white nor a pool
of ink, but beautifully clear and transparent water, and evidently
in motion, though gliding gently in complete harmony with the
spirit of the scene. There is a light about the horizon gradually
toned down possibly to a shade deeper than is absolutely needful;
but even to make such a suggestion savours somewhat of hyper¬
criticism, for in truth we have rarely seen a finer production in
landscape photography than the picture now before us.
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA.
By Our Own Pioneer.
EXETER-THE TAW AND TORRIDGE.*
Ahout four miles from Crediton, a short distance from the station,
is Copplestone-cross, an old ecclesiastical lythoglypli or monument
some thirteen feet high, rudely ornamented with rough scrolls : this is
• Continued from page 333.
a good subject for the stereoscope. From the station trains pass on to
Eggesford, the next place most worthy of note, when Kggesford House,
the seat of the Earl of Portsmouth, the woodman’s lodge, on the outskirts
of the park, the old church, and ruined remains of a former mansion, with
the fine specimens of beech and oak stretching away to the river’s edge ;
the old rustic bridge at the end of the copse, with the furze-crowned
heights of the opposite woods, will give a rich series of exquisite pictures,
illustrative of some of the beauties of Taw Yale.
The line of the vale should now be abandoned, and a road to the right,
near the station, followed up hill to Chawleigh. Here a good subject will be
found in the church, and in the interior also, with its richly carved screen.
Between this and Chulmleigh, some two or three miles, is a deep ravine,
crossed at two or thi’ee places by road and foot bridges, embracing all the
requisite points for effective pictures : — one in particular, to the left of
the town, with its hold and massive wooden frame-work patched up hero
and there with picturesque roughness — the broad steps and rude hand¬
rail, leading to the gravelly hank — the old ivy-hung barton skirting the
lane, with the Elizabethan mansion of “ Leigh” cresting the distance.
Chulmleigh itself, with the exception of the church, is not worth a visit.
About two miles below is the high road leading on to Barnstaple. Passing
the Portsmouth Arms and Umberleigh Barton to Umberleigh bridge, this
distance — some twelve or thirteen miles — is through the most richly-
wooded part of the Yale, and it will be found better to follow its direct
line than to turn off for any villages right or left, as the old foot bridges and
wild hazel gaps — the valley mill under Chittlehamholt — the old cottage
near the toll bar, with the winding craig path to Bickington — the oblique
railway bridge that crosses the Taw at Umberleigh — some cottages, with
lofty overhanging trees, bank and brake reflected in the river — are all
subjects distinguished for harmony and natural beauty, totally divested
of any made-up stiffness, and strikingly illustrative of some of the best
effects that distinguished the works of Lee and Creswick. There will
be found in this route ample material, without deviating right or left, till
such time as the broad stone bridge is reached that spans the Taw, the
views from which, either looking to, or from, Barnstaple, ai'e of that long
line-like hazy character so often met with in the flat part of Somerset.
In lieu of crossing the bridge, take the road to the left to Tawstock,
when the first available subject will be an old lime-kiln and barge house,
overhung with some fine old trees, the bridge and turn in the Tawton
road coming in on the left. Leaving this and following the hank of the
river through the vale towards Barnstaple, you turn into the fine park of
Tawstock Court, the seat of Sir Bouchier Wrey, Bart. Among the trees,
the oaks in particular will claim attention. Of the mansion, the only
good remnant is the old gateway. The church is well situated for photo¬
graphing, and in the interior will he found some fine monuments. A
short distance from the church there is an opening, framed in on the right
by a noble group of stately trees, the park palings and keeper’s cottage
being in the foreground ; and slightly to the left, the river, in the middle
distance, with the old farm building at Tawton (once the palace of the
Bishops of Exeter), with the church, rectory, and rising ground filling up
the back.
Further on, by the river hank, is a projecting mass of rock, quite a
Salvator Rosa bit, thickly clothed with furze and bramble, the base bound
and girded by some huge limbs of overhanging trees, forming an
admirable foreground. Some exquisite distances can be got from this,
either looking over Newport, and including the full length of the railway
bridge, or more to the left over the station. Following the hank of the
river, and nearing Barnstaple, much of interest will be seen and met
with, — the church, by the infirmary, at Newport, the bridge and town
from the river bank, or on the opposite side. Barnstaple is now close at
hand, with plenty of inns and lodgings. It can boast of being well known
in and out of Parliament. Photography is well represented there — one
family in the High-street displaying more than usual proficiency in the
arts, mechanical and pictorial, while the brush and pencil are used with
effect and taste by various amateurs and professionals. Barnstaple most
worthily distinguished itself in the fine-art departments of the Bath and
West of England Exhibition some few years back, and no doubt will
maintain a high place when the association appears in sixty-three at
Exeter. It will take a day or so here to hunt up and visit even a few of
the admirable subjects in the neighbourhood. Among them may be
noticed one from Pottington Point. This place will he found by going
along the Braunton-road, past the Rolle Quay, and then turning down to
the river, when a fine view may he got of the bridge, town, quay, railway
station, shipping, &c., &c. On the opposite hank, under Anchor Wood,
some good effects may also he secured, bringing in the objects of note in
and about Pilton. Braunton is worth a visit for the church alone, while
on the line, and hut slightly out of the road, will be found much of
interest in the churches of Ashford and Heauton Punchardon : as these
places are near the estuary of the Taw and Torridge the light-houses
and parts of Appleaore and Northam can he brought in as distances.
Many other places could be enumerated close at hand, hut the above are
deemed sufficient for those who are limited to time, while others who
have much of the same at their disposal can seek and seleet a farther
series in accordance with their own tastes and fancies, not forgetting to
go over Braunton Barrows, and take a look at Croyde Bay and Baggy
Point, then turn to the Torridge, the long bridge at Bideford, and high
ground about Annery, giving a slight hazy distant line tint ; the Look-out
Tower at Northam, and broken ridges of sloping banks at Appledore and
)ctober 1, 1868] THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
3>oat Hyde, on the right ; the lodge at Tapley, with the line of rail to
iast-the- Water on the left, Instow coming in as a marked and prominent
>oint; while the long, flat foreground of sand, with sloops and brigs afloat
>r high and dry, will give several first-rate long-shore pictures.
Returning to Barnstaple, Bideford can be reached by road or rail. If by
■oad, go round by tire mansion at Fremington, down to the river’s edge,
m the hard, close by the lime-kilns, where two or three good views may
je obtained ; then to Bideford, the town by the ford, with its long bridge
)f nearly 700 feet, built on 24 arches, about the commencement of the
1 4th century, at the cost of one of the Grenville family, and, as in many
)ther cases (Gorway’s chaps], for instance, at Tiverton), old historians
have mixed up the circumstances with a dream, which legend can be found
in any of the local histories by such as are curious in these matters. How¬
ever, the Grenville fancy of a past age has left a most desirable fact for
the artist and photographer of the present, as the said bridge forms a
most telbng point, either at high or low water. The town has a specu¬
lative builder, who has risen to a foremost position by industry and per¬
severance. He has erected several houses in commanding situations, some
of them of that picturesque character as to assist the views, notrnar them.
The town and art ought to be much obliged to him. There will be found
a choice of accommodation, either at the public inns or private houses.
Bideford is well seen from East-the-Water, or from Chudleigh Fort, a small
battlemented structure, erected at the time of the rebellion. As the build¬
ings rise considerably upwards from the quay (a broad walk of some II
or 12 hundred feet), it has, in conjunction with the bridge and surround¬
ing country, an imposing appearance. Crossing the quay, and following
the river bank towards North am, a shipbuilding yard is reached. Here
will often be found ships of large size, either building or undergoing
repair, making excellent subjects for the stereoscope. At the end of the
dock an old hull is sometimes lying in all the picturesque loneliness of
the want of shrouds and spars, all ready for a break-up. This, with the
shore of the river under the lodge, near Instow and the quay, is an excel¬
lent marine view. If the tide is low, much may be got from about this
situation, either towards the Look-out at North am or the bridge.
Following the shore to Appledore, innumerable river subjects, peculiar
to this place alone, and not to be met with in any other part of England,
as very many of them can be made principal or foreground objects, or by
varying the situations, rendering them of equal interest, either in the
middle or extreme distances. They bear a singular resemblance in many
instances to some of the w'ater-colour sketches of George Balmer, who
painted the once popular series of pictures known as the Ports and
Harbours of England.
Northam and the church must not escape notice. It has been restored
within the last few years, and is well placed for a subject. '] he Pebble-
bridge is the great natural wonder of the district, a remarkable heap of
large and small stones, extending a couple of miles in a straight line, and
forming a barrier between tbe sea and plain, called the Barrows. It is
some sixty feet wide, and from twenty to thirty feet high — the stones
varying in size from seven or eight inches in diameter to three feet. The
shore scenes here are extensive ones, with Lunday in the distance. The
other, the estuary ot the two rivers, with the shores of the Taw up to
Fremington Pill, the sloping sandhills and distant cliffs of the Braun ton
side, the light-houses and village, relieve the abrupt wildness of this
romantic coast.
A return to Bideford may be made by the Northam road, or passing
along the shore, under Appledore, an ascent can be made to the Look¬
out Tower. From it are fine and extensive views across the Channel to
the Coast of Wales. The Church of St. Mary, at Bideford, dating from
the fourteenth century — and where the author of “ Meditations among the
Tombs” was once the curate — is in the course of rebuilding. It contains
an interesting monument of some of the Grenville family and a curious
font. It is satisfactory to know that the reconstruction is entrusted to
the hands of those who have repeatedly given proof of their fitness to
successfully carry out the undertaking.
From Bideford to Torrington, by the old road, is pointed out as offer¬
ing some first-rate subjects, and seldom traversed. The general route is
by the bank of the river along the new road, — the views from which are
equal to anything to be found, the renowned long bridge invariably telling
with striking and peculiar effect. One of the most interesting old manor-
houses in existence is at Weir Giffard, the property of Earl Fortescue,
with the old Gothic gate-house overhung with ivy, the tower of the
church rising above a fine screen of trees. It makes from the parterre
in front, or from the marsh below the house, an excellent and interesting
view. Permission should be obtained to inspect the hall, which contains
a carved ceiling equal to anything of the kind in England, and not sur¬
passed by that in the Chapel of Henry VII., at Westminster. The church,
from the east ; the interior of the same, with the altar, tombs, and figures ;
the Weir, with the lime-kilns and overhanging woods at Anncry, are all
good subjects. Nearer Torrington, and well seen from tbe meadow
below Beam, is the aqueduct of the canal, cut at the cost of the late
Lord Rolle, in 1824, with the understanding that the inhabitants were to
give up bull-baiting. The barges are lifted into the canal from the river
Torridge, by an incline at Weir Giffard.
Beam, and the view at Staple Vale, will bring the tourist into Torring¬
ton, a place of some repute, famous for making gloves. The site of the
old castle, used as a bowling-green, commands a varied and extensive
prospect. The church has been lately restored. It makes the best
371
picture from the landing-window, over the hall of the vicarage At
Fnthelstock, some two miles to the west, are the remains of the old
Priory, founded in the reign of Henry III. Much that obstructed the
view has lately been removed, and the fine ivy-mantled remains are seen
to much advantage. It can be included with the church, which stands
close by, either from the east or west. From Torrington visits ran be
made to the park at Stevenstone— a seat of the Hon. Mark Rolle _ or to
the far-famed Hartland or Clovelly, the most romantic nook of wood
rock, and water in the kingdom ; or a return to Exeter by Dolton, Iddes!
leigli, Winkleigh, and tbe rail from Eggsford. The richly-tinted glad, s
and slopy hollows of this delightful portion of the coast, — the shady dells
and lanes, — with the gushing streams that bound from old mill wheels
to the gulleys and rocky shores below,— with all those varied objects <•.,
highly prized bv the admirers of the beautiful in nature,— are now in
their most perfect aspects and attractive moods, ready to acknowledge the
power of art, and yield to the subtle magic of tbe camera.
ON THE CONVEP.GEN CY OF THE OPTIC AXES IN
BINOCULAR VISION.*
By Professor Charles F. IIijies, of Troy University.
In his monograph on the stereoscope, Sir David Brewster, while tr* : tine
of the union of binocular pictures by the unaided eyes, when placed as
they usually are— the right-eye picture on the right side and the k-ft-eeo
picture on tbe lelt side states : — “ I lie distance in this case must I <:
gieatly less than the distance of tbe eyes, in order that the optic ax* in
passing through similar points of the two plane pictures, may meet at a
moderate distance beyond them.” [p. 83.1 “We cannot thus unit-
figures the distance of whose centre is equal or exceeds two and a-half
inches. [p. t)7j. “ It is impossible to obtain, by the ocular stereoscope,
pictures in relief from the beautiful binocular slides which are nu
every part of the world for the lenticular stereoscope.” fp. 128]. pn r.
Wm. B. Rogers, in his able and exhaustive papers On Binocular Visit n -
substantially endorses these statements, while disproving Sir David's
theory ot binocular vision founded on tbe bucc< — ive converg< n<
optic axes to the different points ol an object. Ibis assumption < i :*
positive point of convergence of tbe axes, either before or behind the
slide, in every case of the union of supplementary pictures, is counter to
my own experience, and observations in cases of others. The limit of
separation of similar points, and consequently of the 6tze of tbe p tun -
from right to left, depends upon the constitution of the eve, which pre¬
scribes a limit to tbe movement of the axes, or, in other words, to tbe
number of degrees through which the eye can be rolled. It is plain, how.
ever, that within these natural limits unvarying habit has established
others, wiihin which tbe movement is easy, and in most ca.-es in\
beyond which requiring effort and even painful. There does not, howevt r,
appear to be an instinctive tendency to converge the optic axis in looking
at objects. Many persons must have noticed that new-born infants
appear cross-eyed; but that there is not a decided in-squint or out-
squint, but a peculiar working of tbe eyes — an apparent want of concert
in their movements — which appearance vanishes after a short time,
iu the great delight of all interested. From this early period tin re
is an unvarying practice of convergency of the optic axes, nml the limits
within which it is done are practically parallelism on tbe one hand, and
tbe angle formed by the axes when we look at objects placed at the dis¬
tance of distinct vision on the other hand. It might be presume*! that
within these limits there would be others, peculiar to tbe occupation of
the individual; but the habit within tbe above range is «n thoroughly
formed early in life, and tbe power so frequently exercised at all p. ri
that probably no decided effect would be noticed.
The opinion expressed in the remarks quoted must be founded either
upon tbe hypothesis that it is impossible to render the optic ax
or divergent, or that when the axes are in eifb* r of tl ] sitions, and
the supplementary pictures are presented, so llmt tbe axes pass thr *n Ji
similar points, no union, attended with the usual effect, can take place.
The first supposition only proposes a difficulty similar in kind to that of
closing one eye whilst the other remains open — an operation contrary to
our uniform habit of working the eyes in concert. Tl
is met by facts to the contrary. Pictures more than three inches apart
can be united, and the difficulty in so doing do* s not lie entirely in ;j.o
unusual position of the axes. Every one, who has made the trial of
uniting pictures by converging the axes to a ni art ror more n mote point,
will recollect the unusual exercise of the visual organs it required; and
in either of those cases there is plainly nothing unusual in the p siti* n
of the axes, the difficulty being, as Professor Rogers has show::, in the
necessity of violating the habit of converging the r.x. s and accommodating
the eyes to the same point. Sir David notices that it is easier to get
stereoscopic effect by transposing the pictures and uniting them by con¬
verging to a near point ; and the only explanatory statements made by him
leave us to infer that be considered tbe difficulty to be in tbe convergency.
“ This tendency,’’ he remarks in one place, “ to a distant convergency is
so rare that I have met with it only in one person : ” and, as tbe ordinary
binocular slides could not be used on account of their size by the method
of distant convergency, there was no advantage gained by its use over tbe
other ocular method. The difference between the two arises, no doubt,
* American Journal of Photography.
+ American Journal of Science, Tots. XX. and XXI., new series.
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1862
872
from the fact that the points of accommodation and convergence more
nearly agree in one case than in the other ; for, when the similar points are
nearly the distance between the eyes apart, the axes will be nearly
parallel in passing through them to a more distant point ; but when the
pictures are transposed, the point of convergence will be between them
and the eyes : the accommodation of the eyes will be about the same in
both cases. When the pictures are separated by a distance equal to, or
greater than, that between the eyes, it will require effort, as in the pre¬
ceding cases, to prevent the axes from converging, and for similar reasons.
Those who have overcome this difficulty by continued exertion, will
perhaps remember that even after they had succeeded in producing three
pictures — or rather in reducing the four — by causing the two interior
ones to coalese, there was an indistinctness — a hazy, atmospheric appear¬
ance — although the relief was evident: that sometimes there was an
instantaneous clearing up, and at other times this took place gradually,
just as tho habit was overcome suddenly or gradually, and the eyes were
permitted to accommodate themselves to the pictures, whilst the axes
remained in the same position. If, for the photographic pictures of the
previous experiments, jmu substitute two circles of about lialf-an-inch in
diameter, they will be more readily caused to overlap by converging the
axes either to a nearer or more distant point, probably because there is so
little about them to invite that involuntary scrutiny by the eyes which
causes the axes to converge to the point observed. In uniting pictures
by convergence to a point beyond them, it is of assistance frequently to
look at a distant object, and introduce gradually the slide before the
eyes; but when the distance between the points to be united equals
or exceeds that between the eyes, we cannot be assisted in that way.
In some such cases, when persons have succeeded in obtaining the
relief, it has been by staring at the pictures, as if gazing into vacancy,
as is done sometimes in resting mind and body, or when the mind
is abstracted in thought and persons and things are stared at, but not
noticed, the visual organs being inactive, whence it also seems that the
normal state of the axes is that of parallelism. In this case, as in the
preceding, the complete effect generally follows a hazy appearance.
Having obtained the control over the eyes necessary in the previous
experiments, it will be easy to acquire the power of uniting pictures
farther apart, or of rendering the axes divergent, or rather convergent, to
a negative point. The best method is to take an ordinary stereograph,
and cut apart the right and left pictures, put them in their proper posi¬
tion, and unite and separate them by a gradual motion ; the axes will
remain fixed upon the similar points, and follow them, although you will
be unconscious of any change, and the point of accommodation of the eyes
will remain the same. If difficulty is experienced in uniting them in
their proper position, they may be allowed to overlap a little at first.
When a separation of three inches is passed in the above experiment a
change will be felt, and probably during the first trial all will become
confused at three and a-half inches ; but up to that point the stereoscopic
effect will be complete. By practice I have acquired the power of uniting
the ordinary binocular slides as readily without as with an instrument,
and, by the method just given, have experimented on the limit of separa¬
tion of the pictures for my eaf es, and afterward by means of larger photo¬
graphic pictures produced for the purpose. I found at first that it
required effort to overcome three inches ; but by prolonged practice, at
different times, I increased the distance to four inches. Exercise of this
kind is, however, uselessly severe. Further experiments in that direction
were therefore abandoned, and the limit now appears to be three and
a-lialf inches. After an hour’s exertion as above great difficulty was
experienced in reading : it required conscious effort to prevent the letters
from becoming double. The habit of converging the optic axes to the
point of accommodation had been so broken that it became necessary to
retain them in position by a decided effort. In reading old books, the old-
fashioned s’es were peculiarly annoying, as they invai’iably doubled ; and
when anything unusual or difficult was met with — as, for example, the
rendering of a word in translating — -the eyes immediately attempted to
assist in overcoming it by turning the axes in all directions, causing the
letters and words to march and countermarch from light and left. No
such effect results from a moderate amount of exercise in using the
ordinary stereographs. The weariness of the eyes in all the preceding
cases is not wholly due to the unusual character of the muscular exertion,
but in part to tho fact that the eyes notice many details when the supple¬
mentary pictures are combined that otherwise would have been neglected,
perhaps even in looking at the scene itself. To take an extreme case : a
line may appear to be a blemish in a single picture — it may appear to have
no perspective position. By binocular examination of the slide it turns
out perhaps to be a twig, which extends far into the foreground, all other
parts of the tree having been cut out ; there are dots which turn out to be
leaves, and so forth. The eyes instinctively, as it were, run over and
study these — exceedingly more multitudinous and minute than.pre-
Raphaelite — details of the photographic representations: they work ra¬
pidly and severely, and soon become fatigued.
Since convergence of tho optic axes to a positive point does not appear
to be essential to tbe perception of relief by means of pictorial representa¬
tions, is it not simply accessory to the perception of the relief of the
objects themselves ? Is not the effect in all cases due to the simultaneous
presentation of two supplementary pictures to the retina, without regard
to the angle formed by the optic axes ? The successive convergency
theory must at least be mo.lified, so as to consider perception of distance
dependent merely upon the movement of the optic axes, not necessarily
from one positive point of convergence to another. Whether this move¬
ment is simply a criterion by means of which we unconsciously form an
estimate of distance by long experience, or whether there is an absolute
and necessary connexion between this motion and our ideas of distance,
so that we see and do not estimate, distance is a matter of dispute ; but
there is something so plausible and analogical in Dr. Berkley’s theory,
which meets all cases of convergence, whether to a positive or negative
point, that we insert the conclusion of his argument: — “It remains that
we inquire what ideas or sensations there be that attend vision, unto
Avhich we may suppose the ideas of distance are connected, and by which
they are introduced into the mind. And first, it is certain, by experience,
that when we look at a near object with both eyes, according as it
approaches or recedes from us, we alter the disposition of our eyes by
lessening or widening the interval between the pupils. This disposition
or turn of the eyes is attended with a sensation which seems to me to be
that which in this case brings the idea of greater or lesser distance into
the mind ; not that there is any natural or necessary connexion between
the sensation we perceive by the turn of the eyes and greater or lesser
distance, but because the mind has, by constant experience, found the
different sensations corresponding to the different dispositions of the
eyes to be attended each by a different degree of distance in the object."*
These views of Dr. Berkley’s Sir David Brewster, however, considers
totally erroneous, and contends that our perception of distance is not the
result of experience.
— - — __ — * -
HUctiugs nf Sumties.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The first meeting of this Association for the Session 1862-3 was held at
Myddletmi Hall, Islington, on Wednesday evening, the 17th ult., — George
Shadholt, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
Messrs. James Cooper and Henry Greenwood were ballotted .for, and
duly elected members of the Association.
Mr. Simpson handed to the Chairman, for examination by the meeting,
some very charming panoramic photographs, by Mr. Wilson, of Aberdeen,
which were much admired.
The Secretary, Mr. J. C. Barnett, then read a paper, by Dr. Maddox,
On the Delineation of Microscopic Objects by Photography. [See page 362.1
During the reading of the papev an extensive collection of specimens
was handed round, illustrating the high degree of excellence to which
Dr. Maddox had attained in this interesting and valuable application of
the photographic art. The delicacy of detail, and other characteristic
features, were reproduced with especial success in the enlargements of
the A rach noidisc its Phrenbergii, Campilodiscus clypeus, Triceratium favus,
Surirella bifrons, and, also, in a species of small fly, the Midge , common
on the pink and other plants. The accuracy with which the filmy,
feathery character of the wings in this latter specimen was rendered was
truly marvellous.
At the conclusion of the paper, the thanks of the meeting were accorded
to Dr. Maddox, for his interesting communication. "While inviting dis¬
cussion on the subject matter,
The Chairman directed special attention to the photograph of the
Midge noticed above, asserting that many of the enlargements submitted
for inspection would even now, notwithstanding that they were printed
on paper, bear a further enlargement of some twenty or thirty diameters.
The quality of the specimens then before the meeting was, he thought,
well calculated to remove the reproach which had long attached to photo¬
graphy, to the effect that although it rendered the generality of objects
with great truthfulness, it was inadequate to the more delicate operations
involved in the practice of photo-micrography.
Mr. Hislop desired to know what aperture Dr. Maddox used? The
specimens exhibited were certainly the best he (Mr. Hislop) had ever
seen.
The Chairman, in reply, observed that no particular aperture was men¬
tioned by Dr. Maddox : he (the Chairman) was, however, of opinion that
the Coddington lens employed would not admit of more than 30° of aper¬
ture. In reference to the question of detail, Dr. Maddox had found that it
was possible, by judicious management, to make up in the time of exposure
for what could not be seen by the eye in focussing when a small angle
of aperture is employed. With the object of eliciting further discussion,
the Chairman reminded the meeting that strangers as well as members of
of the Association were invited to join in the discussions, he, therefore,
ventured to hope that Professor Emerson (with whose company they
were honoured that evening) would favour the members with his views
on the subject then before the Society.
Professor Emerson regretted that he had no extended experience to
•record on the matter, his experiments having been confined to the prepa¬
ration of dry plates for Professor Pood, who, for micro-photographic
purposes, found them as good as wet ones.
The Chairman observed that it had been frequently objected that the
condensation of the sun’s rays would greatly injure a good object-glass,
and he thought the ingenious contrivance of Dr. Maddox, in making the
* An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision by George Berkley, M.A. Publiu;
October 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
873
rays cross just before entering the object-glass, was calculated to remove
the objection, and was on that account worthy of commendation.
In the absence of further discussion on this paper, Professor Emerson
directed attention to some stereographs received in exchange from various
members of the Amateur Photographic Association of America. To assist
in the examination of these, he had brought a simple and cheap form of
stereoscope, having a very ingenious arrangement for altering the posi¬
tion of the lenses to suit the varying distances of the eyes apart. To
each of the stereographs was attached a printed form of label stating the
name of subject, the process by which it was taken, the kind of lens used,
with its. focal length, diameter of stop, time of exposure, and one or two
further interesting particulars.
Professor Emerson, in reply to a question from Mr. Simpson referring
to one of the stereographs, said that the preservative agent employed in
the preparation of the plate was not albumen, but solid milk. Further,
in reply to a question from the Chairman in reference to Harrison’s lens,
with which one of the stereographs was said to have been taken, he
(Professor Emerson) explained that Mr. Harrison’s lens was part of a
sphere, and it was his opinion that two and a-half inches (the focus
stated on the card) was the equivalent focus, and not the focus from the
back lens.
In reply to a question from Mr. Simpson as to the value of the vapour
of ammonia in the tannin process,
Professor Emerson gave it as his opinion that ammonia, applied in that
way, would be found a good accelerator, although it must be admitted
that there was a slight tendency to fog, which, however, might be over¬
come by adopting a suitable method of development.
The Chairman asked if there was any evidence of unequal action of
the vapour, as sometimes occurred with the iodine and bromine employed
in the Daguerreotype process ?
Professor Emerson had not observed such an indication in the course of
his experience. The method of application consisted in saturating a piece
of cotton wool with liquid ammonia, and placing the whole in a deep dish
over which the prepared plate might be suspended ; in fact, as Mr.
Simpson suggested, the best thing for the purpose would be a square
glass dish such as was used for iodising the plate in the Daguerreotype
process.
Mr. Hislop observed, in reference to the method of development by
means of hot water, that he had exposed dry plates ten seconds, and by
that method of development had obtained pictures as intense as though
he had exposed four minutes. He would recommend the members to ex¬
periment in that direction, as he thought still greater perfection attainable.
The only difficulty he had found was in keeping the plate coated all over,
as they were so apt to get dry through subjection to so high a tempera¬
ture as 200° Fah. ; and there was, of course, a constant tendency to
stains: care, however, and experience would soon obviate that defect.
Mr. Simpson exhibited some specimens of printing done on paper pre¬
pared with gums insoluble in water instead of albumen. The paper
descriptive of the processes, together with the specimens, had only come
into his (Mr. Simpson’s) hands about a quarter of an hour before Iris
starting for the meeting. He could not, therefore, give any detailed
information on the subject. He could, however, state that the gum used
in the specimens before the meeting was gum benzoin, and the chloride
(one necessarily soluble in alcohol) was chloride of cadmium.
Mr. Hislop thought that the prints should be permanent.
Mr. Martin supported that opinion by a reference to the fact stated by
Mr. Simpson, that the paper was prepared by immersion , so that it was
coated on both sides with a substance impervious to moisture.
Mr. Simpson stated, as a further advantage of the paper, that it did not
curl in drying ; also that the benzoin and chloride of cadmium were dis¬
solved in methylated spirit, and, when the paper was dry, sensitised by
floating for five or ten minutes on the usual nitrate bath.
The thanks of the meeting were accorded to Mr. Simpson, Professor
Emerson, and others who had taken part in the discussion. The meeting
was then adjourned.
GLASGOW PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The next meeting of this Association will be held at the Dooms, 75, St.
George’s Place, on Thursday, the 2nd inst., when Mr. J. M. Crombie (of
Auckland), will read a paper On the History and Practice of Photography
in New Zealand. Other interesting matters will also be brought under
the notice of the meeting.
Photography as a Transcriber of Art Productions. — In an
article on the shortcomings of the Royal Academy, the Athenceum
says : — “ We say books, perhaps, too rashly ; for, so far as the
Academy is concerned, the students will have small opportunity
of consulting them in the vainly-denominated ‘ Library, that
place of study being quite other than the gorgeous garden of art
the young imagination conjures up. We believe it does not con¬
tain a single photograph. What a void this implies let those con¬
sider who know how infinite is the number of art productions that
photography — and photography alone — has copied, and who are
acquainted with the fact that two-fifths of art’s triumphs have
not been engraved at all, and one-half of the remainder are so
badly done as to be utterly worthless to the student.
Hates of % Hlontfp
As September meets its end, the usual photographic signs of
sombre autumn thicken around us. The printer’s frames are out
later and in earlier ; the portraitist sighs over the abbreviated
days ; the solar-camera operator finds a rapidly-increasing demand
for his work at the very time when the misty atmosphere, with
weakened light, render his hours of labour few and far between ;
and the landscapist sees the hours of his “hay-making” rapidly
departing.
To the great mass of London photographers this much-talked-of
season has proved very disappointing. Whether expectations
were unduly great, or whether the counter attractions of the un¬
usually numerous shows and sights of the great metropolis have
proved too powerful rivals of the photographic studios, cannot well
be determined ; but the complaints are certainly numerous, and
seem in most cases tolerably well founded.
Among the scientific subjects of the month that of dialysis, or
“liquid diffusion,” has been receiving attention, chiefly in con¬
sequence of a valuable paper contributed to the Philosophical Maga¬
zine by the Master of the Mint. Substances can generally be
classified as colloids, or crystalloids — terms indicating the degree
in which their solutions diffuse through a gelatinous stratum ;
and the Master of the Mint satisfactorily establishes the fact that
all poisons of a soluble character are crystalloids. — Mr. Lewis, in
a letter to Professor Tyndall, described an experiment intended to
prove that the seemingly increased size of the sun when setting,
and the moon when rising, is due to a mental effect caused by the
instinctive focussing of the eye. Photographs of these luminaries
obtained in juxtaposition with certain objects might perha]
in demonstrating this, the lens being an optical arrangement unin¬
fluenced by mental efforts. — Geologists have been discussing Mr.
B. Steward’s theory (intended to account for the presence of flint in¬
struments of human manufacture in the tertiary drift), and the
probability of Madagascar and Australia having once been a vaBt
continent of the secondary era. — The “toad-in-the-hole” (of the
Great Exhibition) story has been the subject of much ridicule,
since scientific men have demonstrated the simple impossibility of
frogs existing for any length of time when placed in any vessel
impervious to air. — At a manufactory of mineral waters at Leipsig
it has been discovered that the now costly new metal, rubidium, can
be obtained in large quantities from residues and sold at only nine
shillings per pound. — L)r. Gladstone asserts that the spectra of the
electric light produced by Professor Holmes’s magneto-apparatus,
between charcoal points, and a galvanic battery with M. Serin's
lamp, are more extended at either end than the spectrum of
ordinary solar light. — Mr. Crookes, a name well known to pho¬
tographers, has unwittingly supplied several of our contempo¬
raries with a new source of complaint against the Jurors’
awards at the Exhibition. The Daily Telegraph says: — “Mr.
William Crookes, the discoverer of the new element, thallium,
and the exhibitor of several of its compounds, was passed over
by the Jurors of Class II.; while M. Lamy, a Frenchman, who
brought a specimen of thallium into the building about two months
after it had opened, received the honour of a medal." As M. Lamy
never pretended to have been the discoverer of thallium — but, on
the contrary, in a paper read before the Academic dcs Sciences,
awarded all the honour of the discovery to Mr. Crookes — this fact
is the more offensive.
The month’s artistic notes are but few. The collection forming
the Campana (Museum in Paris will not be exhibited in the Talace
of Industry in the Champs Elysdes after the 1st of November.
Some valuable discoveries of ancient paintings have resulted from
the excavations commenced at the subterranean church of St.
Clement’s Cathedral at Rome, and we hope to hear photographers
there have at least secured negatives of such as are most
fragile and perishable. — The Royal Academy has taken a step
in "the right direction by establishing an honorary retired class
of Academicians, receiving each a pension of £100, and re¬
taining their title, thus leaving room for others worthy of filling
vacancies created. The Queen has graciously sanctioned the
reform. — Mr. Penrose has liberally offered to aid in the decoration
of St. Paul’s with frescoes, by making himself responsible for the
first series, which are to be painted on each of the eight spnndrils
between the arches of the dome. Chevalier Salviati, of Venice,
commences the work with a head of St. Paul. — A monument has
been erected at Fontainebleau to the memory of the French
painter, Decamps.
R. A. S.
374
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1862
Straps anti Jfrapm.enls,
A Sign of the Times.— -A card-portrait of Anonyma lias made
its appearance in many of the shop windows, and is selling rapidly.
A Scientific Balloon Ascent is shortly to be made under the
auspices of the Berlin Academy, after the plan of Mr. Glaisher’s
ascents.
King’s College Photographic Classes. —The Lecturer on Pho¬
tography at King’s College, London, resumes his instructions this
day to the classes under his tuition, and the laboratory will be
open from this date.
Roman Photographs. — We are informed by the manager of the
Polytechnic Institution that the collection of photographs executed
by Mr. Macpherson, and which we noticed lately in these pages,
has been removed from Conduit Street to the above-named insti¬
tution, in Regent-street, London, where they are now on view.
Professor C. F. Himes’s article in the American Journal of Photo¬
graphy— On the Preservation of the Alkaline Gold Toning Bath — gives
some ideas to photographers which no doubt will benefit them.
He urges them to restore the acidity to their bath, when done with
for the day, by adding a few drops of hydrochloric acid. This will
bring hack the yellow colour and prevent the deposit of the gold.
This has not been generally practised, and, doubtless, will he new
to many who hear of it.
Coloured Albumen Prints, known as “ Wenderotypes,” are
having an extensive run in America. The process consists, essen¬
tially, in so sizing the albumen-paper that the colours can he
washed on very readily, and the brilliancy lost in painting is
restored by a waterproof varnish which does not injure the whites.
No doubt there are many ways of accomplishing the same result.
Newman’s preparation for albumen-paper answers well with some,
and others are using borax and gum tragacanth, either with the
paint or as a preliminary washing.
Printing-in Skies.— A sky graduating into light near the hori¬
zon is best managed by using the following :■ — Get a piece of stout
cardboard and make it to resemble one of those writing-slopes
used in offices, thus:— st ~ ~ • 1 After the print is
taken from the pressure- . . frame ]ay tliis over it,
and let the light steal in through the open part, graduating as it
enters. Should you desire light clouds place a little wool of the
requisite shape, for a longer or shorter period, on those parts of
the sky in which you desire them, and then use the above simple
piece of apparatus. The landscape must he partially covered.
South London Photographic Society. — We have been requested
by Mr. Alfred Harman, the Honorary Secretary, to state that the
Committee of the above-named Society have resolved that a dinner
shall take place at the “ Greyhound,” Dulwich, on Saturday next,
October 4th, to which the members and their friends are invited.
Tickets will be supplied at five shillings each, until this day (Wed¬
nesday), Oct. 1st inst. As the number for whom dinner will be laid
must be regulated by the number of tickets retained by members,
all tickets not returned on or before this day must he considered
as purchased. Members meet at two ; dinner at four o’clock precisely.
Photography in Colours.— In our last we mentioned a rumour
respecting photographs in natural colours submitted to the Jurors
of Class XIV. at the Exhibition. This has since been illustrated
by the announcement of its truth. M. Niepce de St. Victor had
forwarded a dozen of such pictures, copies from coloured prints ;
hut, valuable and interesting as such results may he, the photo¬
graphing of coloured pigments and the photographing of natural
colours are so widely separated as to lead us to hope for little prac¬
tical good from discoveries in this direction. The process by which
these proofs were secured is that which its author described in a
memoir to the Academy of Sciences, and which was duly transferred
to our pages shortly after.
Antiquity of Photography.' — Our correspondent, Mr. Coleman
Sellers, says: — An amusing anecdote has been told of one of Pro¬
fessor Emerson’s children, which shows how the youthful ideas
are influenced by the home talk. To the son of a photographer
“taking a view of” means making a photograph, and does not
convej' any idea of seeing the view with the naked eye. But to
the point. II is son asked the other day — ‘Is the camera a very old
invention?’ ‘Oh, no! quite modern,’ his father answered. ‘Why
do you ask?’ ‘Why, because our Sunday-school teacher says
that Moses went up into Mount Pisgah and took a view of the
Promised Land.' Here, then, we have the first record of photo¬
graphy, just as the first, record of hanking is said to be when
Pharaoh got a cheque [check] on the Bank of the Red Sea,
crossed by Moses and Co. All trades and professions have their
jokes and traditional anecdotes, and why not photography?”
Harrison’s New Lenses (says our American correspondent), are
at last in the market, and attract considerable attention. I allude
to his globe lenses. A pair now before me, mounted for a stereo¬
scopic camera, are attached to a rigid brass plate, which lias a
focussing-screw to adjust the two tubes simultaneously. Their
staring glass eyes are well named “ bull’s eyes.” In my own
experiment with them I can best illustrate their angle of vision by
stating that from the same stand point — as compared with a pair
of Jamin’s tubes, quarter-size portrait combination, with the hat¬
shaped stop used to convert them into view tubes — they take in,
in three inches square, just four times the area of the Jamin tubes.
Their focus is two and one-half inches, and they yield a circle of
well-defined light five inches in diameter. Their reach is enormous,
and they show no distortion of right lines in any portion of their
field. With wet collodion they yield a picture, in bright sunshine,
in from one to two seconds ; and fine detail, in shadow, is given in
eight or ten seconds.
Happy-go-Lucky. — The Athcnceum says : — “ The amended Cata¬
logues of the Fine-Art and other departments of the International
Exhibition are, at last, now published, after much delay. It is
stated with regard to the corrected edition of the List of Awards,
that certain amendments have been made in the same on revision
of the jury-lists and minute-hooks, and certain explanatory awards
have been made — if we may so style the newly-inserted items. So
far as our own experience of the nature of the claims that have
been recognised by the juries goes, it is such as to lead us very
earnestly indeed to desire to learn upon what principle they have
distinguished many favoured persons or articles. Upon those
comprised in the title ‘Art-Manufactures’ the awards are, in a great
number of cases, quite as inexplicable as the omissions. Without
success, we have endeavoured to master the secret as relates to
the works of Art in precious metals arid in stained glass. It is
clear to us, as it will he to others who study the question, that if
one style of work is rewarded, another, directly antagonistic to it
in principle, ought not to he so honoured ; yet both seem distin¬
guished, and, what is strange, not by the finest productions in
either manifestation, hut, generally speaking, inferior works to
those left unnoticed. In some cases mere mechanical workmanship
has honour denied to Fine Art, though both produced by the same
firm in the same material.”
- .T^.1 -
JfaraQn C0.ntsp0nt1.cntc.
Paris, September 2 Oth, 1862.
M. Roussin, a distinguished professor, has recently given publicity
to certain experimental observations which are particularly inte¬
resting as hearing on the salts of silver employed in photography.
While seeking to modify the proportion of iodide introduced into
the albumen with which the glass is coated, M. Roussin remarked
that the duration of exposure varied in inverse ratio to the quan¬
tity of iodide. The more iodide there is the shorter will he the
time necessary for the exposure ; and, on the other hand, if the
quantity of iodide is much diminished and the exposure propor¬
tionally prolonged, we obtain pictures which are as vigorous as
they would he with a larger quantity. Seeing this, M. Roussin
asked himself whether the iodide of silver was indispensable to
the formation of the image. So he took some fresh albumen,
beat it up alone, and spread it over glasses which had been Avell
cleaned. These were dried, put into a fresh eight-per-cent, nitrate
of silver hath, washed for several hours, and dried; then they
were exposed in the camera, and developed by means of gallic acid
mixed with silver. Of course the exposure was three times as long
as for iodised glasses. 51. Roussin thus obtained images which
were exceedingly vigorous and harmonious. None of them had
that spottiness which so often spoils pictures on albuminated glass.
M. Roussin then tried whether certain salts of silver could not,
as well as the albuminate, he reduced by gallic acid, under the in¬
fluence of light. He found that the oxalate, tartrate, succinate, ben¬
zoate, carbonate, phosphate, and arsenite of silver are energetically
reduced by a few seconds’ exposure to the solar rays; and that these
salts might be employed, just as the iodide of silver, with varying
rapidity. It results, therefore, from these interesting experiments
that the iodide of silver is not indispensable for the obtaining of
images upon albumen, and that the albuminate of silver, carefully
washed and dried, can, like the iodide of silver, he decomposed
under the influence of light.*
* If our worthy correspondent will refer to the hack numbers of this Journal, he will
perceive that M. Roussin has been anticipated by English photographers two or thrte
years since— especially by Mr. C. J. Burnett.— Ed.
October 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
375
A question has been raised, especially in England, as to the
influence exercised by tobacco smoke on photographic preparations.
The question is an important one at a time when the use of the
cigar, the pipe, and the snuff-box is so widely-spread that little
boys take to the habit as soon as they are weaned, I might almost
say. On seeing some of our most active and careful photographers
smoke in their laboratories and galleries, I have often asked them if
they did not think that the practice had an injurious effect upon their
operations. The answer they have given has been in the negative.
However, M. Davanne, speaking on this subject in the Repertoire
de Chimie Appliquee, gives a fact which deserves attention. One
day a rapid process was being tried in presence of several photo¬
graphers who were smoking. The laboratory was literally full of
smoke. All the pictures were fogged. The next day M. Davanne
well aired the operating-room, and tried the same materials. The
pictures were all clean. “ More recently,” adds M. Davanne,
“one of my friends and myself were developing with Taupenot’s
process in the same room, with the same materials, and under
identically similar conditions. One of us, however, was smoking,
and soon his developing bath got so covered with reduced silver
that it had to be thrown away, whereas the other bath worked well.
This anomaly ceased as soon as the smoking was desisted from.”
The experiment, you see, is clear; and, perhaps, in many cases
no other cause need be sought to account for the failures that
some photographers meet with.
On the 1st of October the Compton Internationale des Photo -
graphes, of which I have already spoken, will open an Exhibition
of trench and foreign photographs in one of the best quarters of
Paris — the Rue Richelieu, near the Boulevard. The director, M.
Potonie, requests me to announce this to English artists, and I do
so with the greater pleasure as the idea appears to me to be an
excellent one. At the London Exhibition 1 saw pictures which, if
known and on sale in France, would be immensely successful — such
as Mr. Wilson’s sea views, Mr. Bieesc’s moonlight effects, the
landscapes of Mr. Mudd, and many others. I think, therefore, that
such able artists would find it to their interest to respond to the
call addressed to them by the Compioir dcs Photographes.
A few days ago I had before me a specimen of a new process of
photo lithography — differing entirely, says the author, from all
those hitherto employed. It was a very well-executed portrait.
Unfortunately, I cannot give further details at present, as the
inventor is not in Paris. ERNEST LACAN.
Philadelphia , August 25/A, 1862.
War ! War ! War ! is the cry now as it has been for a jmar past ;
but now it comes nearer to our homes, as we bid God speed to our
companions who are leaving us. The streets are filled with bright
uniforms, and the photographic galleries are crowded with soldiers
and their friends. What a blessing it is that they who go to the
wars can not only leave behind them their images, but take with
them the semblance of those they leave at home 1
Regarding dry photography our amateurs are now at work with
their cameras in all directions, and are, no doubt, laying up a good
stock of negatives for the winter printing. I can say but little
about the formulas in use among them now. They are all ex¬
perimenting. Some stick to the malt process through thick and
thin, and others are as earnest for tannin in its “Simon Pure” state.
Then we have the operators with tannin and honey, and tannin
and malt combined, and tannin fixed with ammonia before or
after exposure. Besides all this Mr. Shriver, of Cumberland,
Maryland, hints at some quick dry-plates by a modification ol the
tannin somewhat different from any of the above.
Mr. II. T. Anthony, the “ irrepressible experimentalist,” as
Thompson calls him, was quite full of caramel some time ago, and
tried caramel and tannin, previous to a notice of that combination
appearing in one of the English journals. He says that tannin,
per se, is very apt to develop a halo around the high lights, and
that this is more apparent when long exposure and small stops
are used. He thinks the use of caramel tends to remedy this evil.
I believe the idea is to flow a weak solution of caramel over the
plate, and, after giving it a little time to penetrate the film, to wash
it off again, and then apply the tannin as usual. He writes, in a
recent letter, on the subject of milk plates, which have done such
wonders both in his hands and in Mr. Thompson’s : “ In using
milk plates do not develop with citric acid, and, above all things,
do not attempt to follow the suggestion of a recent writer in one
of the journals, and flow a solution of acetic acid over the plate
after washing.”
As an instance of the solar camera in scientific hands I would
mention that Dr. Charles M. Cresson, assistant engineer of the
Philadelphia Gas Works, has had one built, and will soon report his
experiments with it: he has a reflector on the Woodward plan,
and is designed to test its value by careful experiment. Dr.
Cresson has been for years an ardent amateur photographer, and,
as recent testimony in court shows, he was the first one in
America who made a picture on collodion. His experiments during
the past year, however, have been more with lime light than with
photography, and his apparatus for the exhibition of lime light in
connexion with the compound microscope, and also the magic
lantern, are said to be the finest in America. He uses street gas
in combination with oxygen; both, however, being used from
rubber bags, and forced out under very great pressure. His
favourite dry-plate in photography is the tannin and honey, on
which kind of plate he has produced much good work. Ilis fancy
has been for very large pictures, and he has been very successful
with L8 X 22 plates, both dry and wet. He is a good illustration
of the fact that the more a man has to do the more he can do;
or, as an eminent lawyer once said, “ When I want a favour done —
some information given in tlie scientific way — I do not go to your
man of elegant leisure : I go to those who have the most to do.
The very busy men are the very ones who have time to do still
more, and to do it willingly.”
The Rev. Mr. Hill, who was to have given the world the grand
secret of photography in natural colours, has come to light again —
an alleged libellous article in one of the American journals having
called him forth. If matters are pushed to tise end lie threatens, w’o
may have some little spice of law to give zest to photographic news.
September 8 th. 1862.
With the intense anxiety all have felt during the past two weeks
concerning the troubles of our government, it has been almost
impossible to concentrate one’s mind on the ordinary routine of
business life, and still less on those things which art 1 upon
as our subject of thought for moments of leisure. Men, who have
been wont to meet and exchange their opinions on scientific
matters — men, whose attractions for each other’s society have been
mainly from kindred scientific hobbies, now meet to talk of war.
War has been the theme of all conversation in all places. M e
read of it in the morning papers, and talk of it at the breakfast
table and all day long. “Have you any news?" is the constant
greeting. Never since my first letter was published in lilt:
British Journal of Photography has my pen been taken up w ith
so little real interest in the subject to be wiitten about as to-day.
With this confession as a preface, I hope my readers will pardon
my shortcomings now, and receive my promise to do better in
future.
Photography, in a business point of view, has been benefited by
our troubles. The dealers in photographic stock and instruments
are at their wits’ end to meet their orders, and all the galleries are
crowded with visitors.
Last wreek Mr. Carl Mienerth, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire —
whose name is known to the readers of the American journals
passed through Philadelphia on his way to Chicago, Illinois. lie
spent two days with your correspondent, dividing the time between
photography, music, and flowers. Music was his profession;
floriculture was his hobby before photography drove the dowers
away ; and now Iris last pastime has overcome all others, and lias
become the business of his life. It is very pleasant to meet with
those whose names are familiar to us as writers, and to see what
they look like and to hear them talk. Mienerth seemed glad to
visit a warmer country than that which has been his home in
America. He complains of the coldness oi the climate and the
coldness of the people : he could find no enthusiastic companion.
Proposing to him, some time ago, to scud us some snow pictoi
some ice gems for the stereoscope — he wr< >te ^ es, cei tainly, 1 at
I tell you it has not that charm for me to take ice here, where we have
eight months full of it. as it would to take a batch in a Brazilian
forest, or a cactus thicket in Sierra Neveda. The country here is
now (November 28^ covered with snow, and it feels as ii that snow
will have no chance ot melting until about next fourth o, July;
and, apropos, the people are about the same. Good people they
are, indeed, just like the air they breathe— salubrious ; but cold,
awfully cold and stiff; no congenial warmth of heart, no sentiment,
no soiil ; all is cold calculating matter. When I speak to one of
them with enthusiasm of my photographic experiments and ex¬
periences, tlie only sympathising question I receive is— “Isut it
expensive ?” So lie was glad to see southern flowers m bloom and
to find men who could value his enthusiasm. We made some
prints, and he toned them with gold he brought with Lim, and
which had been made by dissolving a gold wire m aqua regia, and
876
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1809
then putting salt into the liquid until the salt was so much in
excess as to soak up all the fluid. This saturated salt was then
dissolved in water and was ready for use. He toned in a bath of
phosphate of soda and this gold of his, and very fine blacks and
clear whites were the result. He tells me he keeps the old bath,
and adds more gold from day to day.
Mr. Borda, too, was in Philadelphia some days ago. He purposes
removing his family to this place, and was house-hunting at the
time. He will be a valuable addition to our Philadelphia society.
Speaking of society, there has been some little talk about starting a
photographic society here when the political horizon has cleared up
aqd the war is over. Then it will give me great pleasure to report
the proceedings of it for our transatlantic friends. Borda had been
off to the lakes of New York with his camera, and had brought home
some fine views. He uses one of Harrison’s new globe lenses —
i. e. a pair of them — and it is good to hear him praise them. These
new lenses are getting more plentiful in the market now, and
I have not yet heard a word of complaint about them. The
makers of them say that, in a few days, they will have one of
twelve-inches focus, which will cut a square picture 17 X 17 inches.
Mr. H. T. Anthony sent me, a few days ago, a picture made on one
of his milk plates with these lenses, and it bore ample testimony
in favour of both the process and the instrument. It has been pro¬
posed to use these instruments with the solar camera, as enabling
an instrument for large work to be used in a small space. Borda
is quite enthusiastic about Anthony’s process of fuming tannin
plates with ammonia. He expressed regret, too, that one of the
American journals should have spoken of the process as Borda’s,
when he had distinctly declared, in his article on the subject, that
the idea originated with Mr. II. T. Anthony, and was published by
his permission. To Mr. Borda, however, belongs much credit in
the experiments.
Mr. Anthony says that a plate which has been rendered quite
insensitive by washing in chloride of sodium water has its sensi¬
bility restored by the fuming, and, at the same time, much of the
tendency to solarise, so common to dry plates, is destroyed.
Mr. Creemer, of the International Stereoscopic Company, has
just published some views of the interiors of our army hospitals,
which will be interesting as records of these troublous times.
The Sangenhiem Bros, are still busy with glass slides for magic
lanterns, and their photographic slides are taking the place of all
others in the market. Besides their large stock of views and ob¬
jects from nature, they have painted in Indian-ink a series of
pictures with a moral attached to them, such as the Drunkard' s
Progress , and similar subjects : their Indian-ink pictures are copied
by the camera, and glass slides are printed from them for the lantern.
I have seen many of their tannin negatives, and they speak very
well of the process, saying that with them it is very quick. I
know not if they have any peculiar way of preparing their tannin
plates.
The 15th day of September is fast approaching; and, besides
having an interest in a photographic point of view— as it is the
next day of exchange for the Amateur Photographic Exchange
Club — it is the day fixed for the draft to begin, and some of us may
have to drop the camera for the musket. Speaking of this draft,
some facetious writer calls it the “ Great American Consolidated
Lottery : every fifth ticket a prize. It will be seen that every fifth
ticket will be safe to draw a prize, valuable inasmuch as every
prize entitles the holder to a splendid fowling-piece, game-bag
(knapsack some call it), a pair of blankets, a full suit of clothing,
and a due bill of the association for nine months’ board.” See
how easy it is to wander from what one should write about to what
one is thinking and talking about ! “If I’m not drafted” is the
prelude to all calculations for the future ; so, if I am not drafted,
1 hope to find more interesting matter for my next letter to The
British Journal of Photography.
Now, a few words about solar cameras. — For want of knowledge
of my own, I must relate what has been told to me. One who has
made a business of making and arranging solar cameras tells me
that, when his attention was first directed towards enlarging, he
placed a negative so that the sun could shine on it and then pass
into the copying-tube, and be enlarged on the sensitive paper just
ns the solar camera now is, minus the condensing lens. He could
do no good work in this manner at all, so he added to his instru¬
ment a five-inch condensing lens — which was in reality no larger
than the negative from which he was printing — and yet this addi¬
tion enabled him (using direct sunlight and no reflector), to print
very satisfactory pictures. Ho avers, from actual experiment and
long experience, that the condensing lens is an essential part of
the solar camera ; that it is one of the lenses in the series, and per¬
forms a function in the optical arrangement quite different from
the mere illumination of the negative.
Seemingly in support of the above, I might revert to what Dr.
John Dean, of Boston, told me, and an account of which appeared
in one of my letters to this Journal, viz:— that, in enlarging with
his microscope, he used a three-inch objective ; that he had had
trouble with the field not being properly and uniformly illuminated ;
that there seemed to be a bright centre to the field, and a darker
margin. From Professor Rood he received the suggestion to place
a common burning-glass before the object, so as to condense the
rays into the enlarging tube. He did so, and had no more trouble.
I remarked to him that I presumed he got more light thereby.
He said light was not what he wanted : he had enough of that
before. What he wanted was evenness of field, and the condensing
lens gave him this.
Professor Rood’s own statement seems to confirm this, and the
diagram published with one of my letters at the end of a quotation
from his letter, shows an arrangement substantially the same
as all solar cameras using the condenser.
In regard to the use of a chromatic condenser affecting the
chemical focus of the copying tube, Mr. Wenderoth, who uses
an eighteen-inch achromatic condenser, says he has now satisfied
himself from actual experiment that it does not influence it in
the slightest degree ; and I am rather inclined to believe that he
likes his old chromatic condenser quite as well as his new and very
costly double one. Blisters begin to show in the balsam, and, no
doubt, he will soon have to renew the cement.
COLEMAN SELLERS.
[The letter of our correspondent intended for our last number
arrived a day too late. — Ed.]
dfarx'tsptmhnut.
035“ We are at all times willing to assist our Correspondents to the
utmost of our ability, but we can only do so through the medium
of the Journal. We cannot give private replies except to personal
friends. ^
BROMIDES IN COLLODION.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The experience of your correspondent, Mr. Webb, on the much
vexed question of bromides versus iodides is, in the main, similar to my
own experience, so long as I thought the nature of the bath was of little
importance ; and, as he has not thought fit to enlighten us on this point,
we may safely conclude, from the results he has recorded, that the acid
employed in his bath was acetic acid.
Now, if Mr. Webb, or anyone else who is experimenting in this di¬
rection, will apply the tests to which I subjected the matter, and which
you were good enough to copy into your Journal, they will find the
wonderful discrepancy on this matter is entirely set at rest, and that
when bromides are used in collodion, nitric acid must be used in the
bath, i.e., if the full advantage of bromides is to be realised. With acetic
acid in the bath, there can be no doubt — at least I have none — that
iodised collodion is quicker in action, and produces a far better quality
negative than a bromo-iodised collodion in the same bath.
I do not know whether I have been the first to point out this impor¬
tant fact, as I am too fully employed to read all that is written in the
various journals devoted to photography, nor is it a matter of any im¬
portance whether I am first or last ; but it is of importance that experi¬
menters in writing on this subject, should not leave out of their statement
the nature of the bath they employ.
Since my experiments were made I have had ample confirmation of the
truthfulness of the results — far beyond any anticipations of mine : many
operators, writing to thank me for the new bromo-iodised collodion, state
that they can now get instantaneous portraits in their glass-rooms under
favourable circumstances of light, and with a short focus lens.
As I am committed to a letter to you, I may as well notice your re¬
mark, “ that you did not remember seeing any works of mine at any of
the Exhibitions.” I could not help smiling at the short-lived fame of my
earlier efforts, since I have now to tell that I was an exhibitor, and not
an unsuccessful one, at the three first photographic Exhibitions ; and, as
near as I can now recollect, the number of pictures on each occasion
varied from twelve to twenty, and were at the time kindly noticed, and
met with a ready sale. Since then, as you rightly conjectured, the pho¬
tographic public have compelled me to devote my time almost exclusively
to the supply of their wants, and I have had but little time to devote to
my own amusement with the camera, either in or out of doors. — -I am,
yours, &c., THOS. C. PONTING.
Sept. 25, 1862.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Mr. Augustus Webb, in his communication on this subject in
your last number, page 358, has omitted to state the composition of his
October 1, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
377
silver bath ; and, as the whole question hinges upon whether the bath be
acidified with nitric or acetic acid, the results reported by him are with¬
out value. Judging-, however, from those results, I think it clear that
acetic acid was used, as they could not have been produced by nitric acid
in the bath. With bromo-iodised collodion, nitric acid acts as an
accelerator, and acetic acid as a retarder. The composition of the nitrate
bath is therefore a most important feature in the question, as respects
rapidity of result , it being imperative that the amount of nitric acid it
-contains shall be nicely proportioned to the amount of bromide in the
collodion. I would recommend to Mr. Webb the perusal of what Mr.
Ponting says on this head in his recently-published pamphlet.
There is another very important consideration which cannot properly
be omitted in any investigations of this subject — I mean the mode of
making the pyroxyline. It has, by recent experiments, been proved
that a pyroxyline can be prepared with which a simply-iodised collodion
can be made producing all the effects of bromo-iodised collodion. This
I state as a fact, and a most important one it is. Such a collodion is now
extensively sold to the public, who purchase it fancying it contains
bromide, though it is not announced or sold as bromo-iodised collodion.
I mention this to show how necessary it is to ascertain with exactness
the chemical composition of the pyroxyline before instituting experiments
with bromides and iodides ; and also that it is equally necessary to use
a different bath for each change in the proportions of the twro salts, if
results of any value are to be arrived at. If Mr. Webb will act on these
hints, and favour us with the conclusions they lead to, he will be doing
good service to photography.
I have no time to enter further into the subject at present, and write
this hurriedly at a Cornish Inn, being on a photographic tour in that part
of England. The question, however, appears to me sufficiently important
io warrant a few remarks, which I trust will not be made in vain. — I am,
yours, & c., AN AMATEUR.
/September 20th, 1862.
PURE WATER AND TONING.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have read with much interest your remarks on the purification
of water, in the leader of the 15th ult.
As distilled water is a very large item in the expenses of the photo¬
grapher, it would be a great boon if water purified by Condy’s solution
were fit for all purposes. May I ask (as I am no chemist) if I may
safely use ordinary water (Kent Water Works), purified by the above
solution, not only for developing solutions, but for nitrate baths? As
there appear to be more solutions than one, will you tell me what I should
ask for at a shop in order to obtain the proper one for my purpose ?
I was rather startled, on looking over the volume of the Journal for
1859, to see the following toning bath recommended (page 61) as being “as
sound in theory as it is good in practice ” : — Water forty ounces, hypo,
nine drachms, sulphuric acid thirty-six minims.
As it seems to offer a saving of both trouble and expense, I should
like to have your opinion of it, as my photographic reading teaches me
to avoid toning by sulphur, like poison.
I should say that the prints are to be fixed in the ordinary bath be¬
fore toning ; perhaps that may alter the case. — I am, yours, & c.,
September 25th, 1862. F. L.
[You may safely use water, purified as directed, for all your photo¬
graphic operations. You should ask for Condy’s pink solution : it is the
permanganate of potash. The article to which you allude was contributed
by a writer then connected with this Journal. The recommendation given
was not one which ever met our cordial approval, though at that time we
had not quite so strong an objection to it as we now have, subsequent
experience having more than confirmed the impression we personally
entertained of its want of stability. Be it understood that sulphide of
silver alone is a stable compound — hence the opinion of the author that
“it was sound in theory;” but he did not know, and others only sus¬
pected, that the presence of organic matter, as of necessity there must
be in a paper photograph, totally altered the conditions, and made
such a compound particularly wnstable, especially in the presence of
moisture. — Ed.]
A SUGGESTION.
labourers in the country would be many times tempted to throw out
useful and practical suggestions in this form, when they would never
dream of clothing their thoughts in a prosy paper.
The only thing I fear would be the result which would accrue to vour
self. Your correspondence, &c., must be voluminous enough at present
and it is our interest not to drive you to distraction by wcreaiimr the
same.
I have no doubt there arc many gentlemen sufficiently competent and
disinterested willingly to take this labour off your hands. Of course
much rests with the publisher, as to whether he will undertake to find
space ; but of one thing I am certain, that if it cm ’ mmlishcd a
great deal of information now lying dormant would become public
property, and your Journal become increasingly popular — I am
y°11rs> &c- DICKEY SAM. '
[We are at all times willing to meet the views of our readers if practi¬
cable, and therefore publish your letter in order to ascertain whether it
meets with a response. — Ed.]
r-N o j ax\ x iu\ line o bit L i i Li;
To the Editor.
. Sir, — Mr. Petschler has fallen into a very great error in the construe
tion of Ins instantaneous shutter.
Foi; taking objects in rapid motion, such as vehicles in crowded s(
&c., it would be perfectly useless, owing to the two lenses hot beim?
exposed at the same time, or rat In r I should say, tl. ■ low* .• 1 a • f.[
lens being opened simultaneously with the upper half of the other
For instance, if it is desired to take a picture with something moving
in the foreground, when the shutter is turning round arid exposing the
foreground to one lens the object would be in another place and position
by the time the lower part of the other lens was opened, and of c
the resulting picture would be useless for stereoscopic effect. ’
I know the time occupied in turning the shutter is extremely short*
but still, if it is necessary to give such a short exposure to prevent the
image being blurred, it is equally important that the two pictures should
be taken at exactly the same time.
Trusting I have fully explained my meaning,— I am, yours &c
Pechham, Sep. 10th, 1862. “ " ALFRED HARMAN.
[Your meaning is clear enough, but you will find that if the shutter fcp
in pretty close proximity to the front lens of a double combination, or the
stop of a single one, the defect you apprehend does not occur. _ Ed.]
A FALSE CHARGE AGAINST FIVE BATHS.
To the Editor.
Sir,— Many thanks for your kind reply to my inquiries in No. 171, page
301, in which I should have stated that all my baths were made up
slightly acid. Now, asmy failures have been referred to in the foil
number by “I. T. R. Y.,” I consider it my duty to him and all young
amateurs to say how my failures occurred. I commenced with a good
supply of fresh chemicals, and with these my failures commei
Considering the fault lay in the silver or collodion, I got down a second
supply, and a third. _ I now thought it time to write to our worthy
Editor. Up to this time I wished to overcome all failures, if possible
myself, even at some cost ; but at this time it failed me.
While awaiting the reply I took a look over Journal after Journal.
At last I came to one instructive reply to a c. rrespondent which struck
me forcibly — that is, “he should look to his lens in c fleeted
light from the brightness of the interior.” I dr< pped the J urnal took
my lens and examined it, and bright it was. I lined it immediately with
black velvet, took the first bath and collodion that failed first, went once
more amongst the old ruins, planted my camera, and the first negative
plate exposed was perfect. So on from the first bath to the fifth : were
all in perfect working order. 1 have not used them since, as I have been
otherwise engaged. Time did not permit or I should have given the
above much sooner to “ I. T. R. Y.
I hope, Sir, I have not trespassed too much on your valuable time and
space. The above is at your service, should you consider it worth
insertion. — I am, yours. Sec., * T. g. P.
Trim, Meath, Ireland, Sept. 10th, 1S62.
To the Editor.
Sir, — The British Journal of Photography now boasts of its French
and American correspondents — our own metropolis being ably repre¬
sented by our gossiping friend, and its current events duly registered by
the staff. Why, I ask, should there not be added to its columns
communications from its “ country correspondents,” whose name I
doubt not would he “legion,” if it were once known that a corner
should be specially devoted to their experiences or, possibly, grievances ?
for you are aware that among every class grumblers are to be found, not
excepting that represented by the proverbially good-natured photographer .
It might be urged by a cursory observer that the general correspondence
now fulfils everything required by your country cousins; but, on a more
careful survey, the amount of information conveyed by the writers them¬
selves is very limited indeed.
There are many reasons I could advance in favour oi my proposition ;
but, perhaps, one is sufficient. I am assured that the body of our iellow-
CHEMICAL AND OPTICAL QUERIES.
To the Editor.
Sir, — Will you kindly assist me by answering the foil wing queries?—
1 . Will methylated alcohol do for developing solutions in collodion glass
positives ?
2. In what way can 1 separate nitrate of silver from nitrate of copper
in solution ? I dissolved the silver in nitric acid and precipitated with
a piece of clean copper, but did not succeed well.
3. Is acetate of soda better than carbonate of soda in gold-toning solu¬
tion? and is it svbcarbonntc or washi soda that is meant ? From un¬
certainty of whether it is Mcarbonate or carbonate that is intended, I am
in doubt which to use.
4. Can I find the exact focus of my lens by directing it towards the
sun and letting the light pass through and fall upon a black board, then
measuring from the back lens when the disc is smallest ?
SJ78
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 1, 1862
5. Supposing the focus to be twelve inches, can I insert (when the
twelve-inch combination is taken out) an eight-inch combination to work
■well ? -to
Hoping you will enlighten my ignorance, — I am, yours, &c.,
Knockby House, Waringstown, A YOUNG AMATEUE.
Ireland, 23 rd September , 1862.
[1. No : it is apt to injure the colour of the reduced silver.
2. The usual way of separating the nitrate of copper from nitrate of
silver is by fusing it strongly, so as to decompose the copper salt, and
then recrystallising the silver salt ; but if there be but a small quantity
of nitrate of copper present, it is stated by some operators to be quite
inoccuous, and may therefore be disregarded.
3. We do not consider acetate of soda to be preferable to the car¬
bonate in toning. You can use either the carbonate or bicarbonate, but
the latter by preference.
4. You can find the distance of the principal focus from the back lens
by this means, but not the equivalent focus, if that is what you mean.
5. Unintelligible. Insert it where ? — taken out of— where ? — Ed.]
GURNEY’S AMERICAN COMPOUND.
To the Editor.
Sir, — In reply to “ Mary B- - ’s ” query as to the composition of the
aforenamed excellent sensitising compound for the Daguerreotype pro¬
cess, I believe she will experience no great difficulty in its manufacture by
proceeding thus : —
In a dry bottle put
Hydrate of lime . 1 quart.
Iodine, pulverised . . . 8 grains.
Burnt alum, powdered . . . 3 drachms.
Chloride of lime — as much as will lie on a threepenny piece.
These should be thoroughly mixed. Indeed, in order that the iodine
should be quite incorporated with the lime, it is better to allow them to
stand for a day before completing the mixture, which is done by adding
pure bromide in such quantity as to make the compound of a pale red
colour.
This seems to improve by keeping. The best way to use it is to iodise
the plate to a decided yellow, then over the sensitiser to a red, returning
to the iodine for a few seconds.
The tone of the resulting picture is very fine, the whites being pure,
the blacks intense, and the intermediate tints in their proper gradation ;
while its sensitiveness is all that can be expected.
Another accelerator, producing good results, is composed of equal parts
of lime and powdered starch, with bromine added as above. These dry
accelerators are much to be preferred to aqueous solutions of bromine. —
I am, yours, &c., J. T. T.
PRESERVING SENSITISED PAPERS.
To the Editor.
Sir, — As the dull weather is now approaching, in which photographic
printing becomes a very precarious piece of business, and a great deal of
sensitive paper finds its way into some corner as worthless, it would be
a boon to many a carte-de-visile photographer if you would, through the
medium of The British Journal of Photography, endeavour to elicit
the best method of preserving sensitive photographic paper. — I am,
yours, &c., W. BARRACLOUGH.
September 1 1th, 1862.
[We do not presume that our correspondent is ignorant of the various
contrivances for the purpose specified that have already been introduced,
but that he desires to invite the expression of opinion, based upon ex¬
perience, of their respective merits, as well as new suggestions for
effecting a similar object. — Ed.]
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*** We have to crave the indulgence of several contributors, whose articles
are unavoidably postponed for want of space.
A. C. S. — Received.
J. T. — Received with thanks.
Old Boy. — Not till November.
J- G. — Received: declined with thanks.
F. I’. — The best we can do for you is to maintain a discreet silence.
M. T.— See reply appended to note by F. L. in the present number.
d>.— ^ ou had better use a single combination for the purpose you name.
C. Bailey. — The mottled appearance of your proof is due to the nitrate of
silver bath being too weak.
Chas. Gumm. — The sixth edition of Hardwich’s Manual is the best work
on the subject yet published.
Rudolph.— We cannot reply privately ; but will do so through the Journal,
if you send the queries and a specimen of your failures.
Reuben. — Quite a mistake. We have taken the chestnuts in bloorn many
times, and have no doubt that others have done so likewise.
The Amended Awards of Jurors in Class XIV. — When we are
satisfied that the awards are finally amended we shall give the correct list.
R. F. T.— Methylated spirit will do very well for the spirit lamp, and we do
not sec any objection to its use for a negative varnish ; but for collodion it is
quite inapplicable.
J. Smith (Sunderland). — We have an article already in MS. for our next
that will afford the desired information, which would take too much space to
give in this column.
G. Loader. — We have long since arrived at the conclusion that, for con¬
venience and lightness, no “changing box” is equal to a number of double
“ backs,” if properly made.
A. H. Scott. — We are pleased that you are gratified with the articles named.
Respecting the other matters, we have no intention of continuing the contro¬
versy; our object was simply to obtain redress for a great injustice which we
suffered. Any further measures we take will be by an appeal to the law.
J. S. — A very convenient and cheap form of stereoscope was exhibited at the
meeting of the North London Photographic Association (see report) that
exactly fulfils your requirements. It is made by Anthony, of New York, and
we have little doubt that you could obtain one from Mr. Atkinson, of
Liverpool.
A Bath Brick. — You may rely upon it that the gentleman you name knows
very well what he is about, as you conjecture. The caviller would have shown
much more judgment had he first considered that one holding the position filled
by the gentleman he so rashly criticised, would not have been likely to have
promulgated such a statement without good reason.
An Old Subscriber. — We have an article in preparation upon one of the
subjects to which you allude: it will appear in an early number. As to the
other one, the process is now almost obsolete, and we do not think it would
interest our readers generally ; so that we must refer you to a little pamphlet
by Mr. How for the information you desire. Except as a matter of practice
we cannot recommend you to go into this branch of our art.
Bernard. — 1. The photograph received (a card-portrait) is not good in
position so far as the lower part of the figure is concerned ; because the lady
appears as if standing, though really sitting. From the waist upwards the pose
is good. — 2. The photographic manipulation is faulty only in there having
been too short an exposure in the negative and slight over-development. — 3.
The tone of the proof is good. — 4. Background not too dark. — 5. We have
no means of deciding absolutely whether the print has been sufficiently washed :
for aught we can tell to the contrary it has.
Clericus. — Your brevity is perfection, were brevity needful. We had
some doubts whether the use of resinised collodion would not disorder the bath
by the introduction of detrimental organic matter into it; but Mr. Corey, Mr.
Glover, and others who have worked the process, affirm that in practice they
do not find any inconvenience therefrom. As an iron developer, without acid,
for any further intensifying of the image, a solution of one part of acetate
of soda, to two parts of proto-sulphate of iron has been employed ; say to each
ounce of water, eight grains of the former to sixteen of the latter.
A Beginner. — The bad colour of your prints is due to insufficient toning
with a salt of gold, and this is brought about partly by want of sensitiveness in
the paper : you want a stronger solution of silver to sensitise the paper, and
possibly, another sample of paper more highly salted. The pose of the lady is
absolutely dreadful : did you ever see a lady stand in such an attitude without
being placed in it? If you do not know how to arrange her better than that,
go near to her and talk to her for a few moments, get her to remain in any
attitude that she naturally assumes, and then proceed to the camera ; if her
head is turned too much away, ask her to move the head about until you can
see the features favourably. This may not get a good pose, but it must be
better than what you now have.
FI. Robinson. — We admit the practice adopted by some of our French
brethren, of quoting the strength of solutions at so much/ier cent., to be some¬
what puzzling to an Englishman, but cannot concede that it is at all a foolish
practice, as you designate it ; because, with French weights and measures —
which are divided upon the decimal system, and are also dependent upon one
another — the use of such formulae is simplicity itself: it is only our own
clumsy arrangement that complicates matters. However, if you multiply the
per centagts quoted by jive, and take the product for the number of grains to
be dissolved in each ounce of liquid, you will be very near the mark: if you
want to be very accurate you must multiply by 4-8 instead, and add the
resulting number in grains to each fluid ounce of water, minus as many minims
as there are grains of the salt. The calculation is simple enough when you
once know how to apply it.
A Dullard. — The specimen No. 2* shows the dirty corner to arise from an
excess of the nitrate of silver which has drained down during exposure. This,
not having become freely mixed with the developer, in consequence of absence
of continued motion while developing, has become partially reduced, and there¬
fore has made a stain. Remedy : Touch the corner, before pouring on the
developer, with a scrap of clean blotting-paper. Your proofs are not printed
deeply enough to begin with, and the negatives are evidently faint ones; but
the red tone of the simply washed ones indicates too much acidity in the paper
sensitising bath. If you refer to Mr. Dawson’s article, p. 266, you will perceive
this notified. Again : the time of immersion in the toning bath has not been
long enough : on this point see p. 284, same article. Lastly, if you find the
toning bath slugglish in action, warm it. With regard to the elementary
writer you name, we must “wash him out” altogether, and begin de novo. We
have been contemplating the production of a series of the kind for some time
past ; but otheUmatters have been more pressing.
All Editorial Communications, Books for Review, &c., should
be forwarded to the Editor, GEORGE SHADBOLT, 2, Upper Hornsey
Bise, London, N.
All Advertisements and Letters on the Business of this Journal
to be addressed to the Publisher, 32, Castle Street , Liverpool.
CONT
PACTS
LEADER . 361
ON THE DELINEATION OF MICROSCOPIC
OBJECTS BY PHOTOGRAPHY. By R. L.
MADDOX, M.D . 3G2
STEREOSCOPIC PICTURES OF A LARGE
SIZE. By PROFESSOR E. EMERSON _ 361
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. By EMERSON
J. REYNOLDS . 365
TIJE PHANTASM ASCO PE. By C. SELLERS 366
ON DRY DEVELOPMENT OF DRY PLATES.
By JOHN GLOVER . 367
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. By S.
HIGHLEV, F.G.S., F.C.S., «tc . 368
ENTS.
CABINET PICTURES . 370
WHERE TO GO WITH THE CAMERA;
EXETER— THE TAW AND TORRIDGli.
By OUR OWN PIONEER . 370
ON THE CONVERGENCE OF THE OPTIC
AXES IN THE BINOCULAR VISION. By
PROF. CHARLES F. HIMES . 371
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES . 372
NOTES OF THE MONTH . 373
SCRAPS AND FRAGMENTS . 371
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . 374
CORRESPONDENCE . 376
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, tc . 378
T II E BRITISH
JOUENAL
No. 176,
OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
Vol. IX.— OCTOBER 15, 1862.
The Solved Problem. — The degree of success attainable in
the pursuit of self-deception, if attempted with earnestness, is
truly astonishing. In another column will be found a paper
read before the members of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, at Cambridge, being a Description of
a Rapid Dry Collodion Process, of which Mr. Sutton is the
author; and though but a short one, in it he has contrived to
insert several assertions which positively court hostile comment.
He says : —
“The j^roblem which has most interested photographers of late years
has been the discovery of a dry collodion process by which plates can be
prepared as sensitive as with wet collodion. * * *
“ I have lately solved this problem of rapid dry collodion. * *
“The rapidity of this dry process depends upon the accelerating effect
of bromine in dry collodion. * * The principle, therefore,
of preparing a rapid dry collodion plate consists in using bromo-iodised
collodion, and removing all the free nitrate, which is the element of in¬
stability.”
This is rather amusing from one who was only a few months
back arguing in the most determined way that the action of
bromides in collodion is a retarding one under nearly every
condition ; but we should not have adverted to a sudden change
of opinion alone as the simple result of conviction, on this or
any other subject, were it not accompanied by the cool assump¬
tion of the “ discovery ” of a fact that has been pretty exten¬
sively admitted by a large number of photographers for some
years past, and more than this, the recognition of which has
been literally forced upon its “ discoverer.”
Now, so long back as in the month of February, 1854, the
accelerative effect of bromide in collodion was regarded as un¬
questionable by Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte and Dr. Diamond at least
— evidence of which may be found in Notes and Queries for
February 18th of the year quoted, wherein the former writes : —
“I feel certain that on a strict adherence to the correct proportion
depends all the success of photography ; and as we find in the kindred
process of the Daguerreotype that if we add too much or too little of the
bromine sensitiser we make the plate less sensitive, so in this process.”
We may remark, en passant, that the proportion recommended
is one of bromide to four of iodide, of the same base, by Mr.
Lyte ; Dr. Diamond directing one of bromide to six of iodide.
In this Journal for the 1st of June, 1858, pp. 187 and 1S8,
there is recorded a paper, read by Mr. Charles Heisch at the
Blackheath Photographic Society, in which we find the fol¬
lowing conclusion : —
“What I assert is, that when combined in proper proportion with
bromide, it (the iodide) is far mors sensitive
Of late, the question of the greater sensitiveness of the bromo-
iodised collodion has. received considerable attention, and articles
on the subject have been published by Mr. Y. Blanchard, Mr.
England, and Mr. T. C. Pouting. It may possibly be contended
that these refer especially to wet collodion, and that it does not
of necessity follow that the exaltation cf sensitiveness should
be found in dry plates also, consequent upon the addition oi
the bromide ; but if so, this remark would scarcely be appli¬
cable to Mr. England’s paper, which does treat cl dry plates as
well as wet ones ; and, though he lays no claim to dry plates pre¬
pared by his formula being fit for instantaneous work, he does
put it forth as a “ rapid process.” But the r< ition of the ad¬
vantage of the combination of an iodide with a bromide, or some
other salt of silver than the nitrate, for dry collodionised j
has been so generally and so frequently expressed at the North
London Photographic Association, and elsewhere, as almost to
have assumed the form of a conviction < f it
to ensure the impress of any image on the dry plate from
which the nitrate of silver is absent; while its acc
action has been matter of controversy. All these facts have
been matter of public notoriety.
With regard to the necessity for the removal of the nitrate
of silver, we do not presume that to be claimed as a new dis¬
covery, though the following (after allusion to the use of
preservative coatings, in order to gain intensity) presents very
much the aspect of such a claim : —
“ One more difficulty remained to be overcome, and it is this. "When a
collodion film has once been allowed to get dry, and is wetted a second
time, it is very liable to split and leave the glass; or, if a preservative
has been applied to it, it is very liable to rise in blisters, which spoil the
negative. But this may be prevented by giving the glass plate a preli¬
minary coating of India-rubber dissolved in kerosolene.”
We fancy that this plan is not exactly new, any more than the
use of gum-arabic as the preservative coating. We believe that
Major Russell employed a thin film of caouchouc for the pre¬
liminary coating before he finally adopted the use of gelatine ;
and we know that our friend, Mr. Hardwich, resorted to both
gum-arabic and caouchouc in dry-plate photography.
Dr. Norris’s labours are altogether ignored, possibly upon
the ground that he has not made his process public ; but, with
such striking results as hare been attained by the use cf his
extra-sensitive dry plates, some mention of their existence
might have been expected from one who considers it n< edfol to
inform his auditors that “ with wet collodion the tourist is
therefore obliged to work in a van or tent, and carry a load of
paraphernalia about with him" — a piece of im u scarcely
requisite for photographers, and therefore addressed to those
who would otherwise be apt to imagine that ths author of the
paper had, in his preparation of “rapid" dry plates, been the
originator of such convenient adjuncts to the comfort of the
photographic tourist. Relative to the merits of the fbmralm
given we express no opinion, assuming that when intelligently
applied they lead to the results anticipated. We cannot pass
over such an utter disregard of the labours of other photo¬
graphers as that implied in the sentence, “ I have lately solved
this problem," without a protest on their behalf, even though we
thereby arouse a storm of wrath heavily laden with the thunder¬
bolts of vituperative epithet.
ON INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPH F.*
By John Kibble.
At our last monthly meeting I ] raised, on some future occasion,
to offer a few remarks On J vis Photography ; also to ex¬
hibit some specimens obtain 'vtb the No. 3 Anlanatic View
Lens, made by Mr. Grubb, of D.ii Y so that you mig’ t be enabled
to judge for yourselves as to its capabilities. In addition, I have
* Read at a meeting of the Glasgow PI otogr jLk Institution, Oct. 2, 1S62.
880
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1862
brought one or two results by his E stereoscopic arrangement.
Bat previous to producing the photographs, I wish to enter into a
few particulars regarding the mode of producing such results
generally.
To prepare the nitrate bath : — A saturated solution of metallic
film in nitric acid to be boiled in contact with a surplus of the metal
for an hour or two, when part of the nitric acid forming the nitrate
is decomposed, a portion of its oxj-gen combining with the silver,
the salt becoming the hyponitrite of silver, a much more unstable
body than the former. A sensitising bath composed of one part
of this to three of the fused nitrate of silver is very active; and, if
properly prepared, should show an immediate alkaline reaction with
litmus-paper. From the time it is once used it rapidly deteriorates
for instantaneous action, but still may be considered quick for
ordinary exposures.
The bath prepared with the following proportions is what I use:
forty grains of the mixed salt to one ounce of water, saturated
with freshly precipitated and thoroughly washed iodide of silver,
which, after settling and then being decanted, is ready for use. The
less you filter through paper the better. The above over an iodide
silver surface is highly sensitive to the actinic ravs, but, at the
same time, I must confess a little troublesome. The extreme of
cleanliness is absolutely essential ; also manipulating with the
least quantity of light possible, otherwise fogging will be the
result.
Another very important point in developing is not to allow the
fingers to remain long in contact with any one portion of the
plate, but to be continually shifting, as a very few degrees of addi¬
tional heat communicated will cause a more rapid development at
the points of contact. One quarter of an inch all round the plate
is quite as much as any good photographer ought to allow, or less.
The developer : — Ten grains protosulphate of iron, five drops of
acetic acid, and five drops of alcohol to one fluid ounce of water:
less of the two latter if the size of the plate will admit of being
expeditiously and evenly developed without.
In very rapid exposures, as a rule, the image makes its appear¬
ance so slowly that the silver necessary for the building of the
image is generally reduced from the nitrate by the chemical action
of the protosulphate of iron, long before the very delicate tints so
necessary to the beauty of the photograph have become apparent;
hence a second, and, in many instances, five or six, additions of the
developer are resorted to.
To prevent deposit, the exhausted developer is washed off the
plate previously to adding more ; but a much better arrangement
is to have several vessels charged with the exact quantity of aceto-
nitrate of silver in each, so that, should all the details not make
their appearance, the protosulphate of iron can at once be added to
one of the vessels, and the plate well flooded over in a manner so
as to wash off all of the exhausted developer before it, and so on
in rotation with the whole series if necessary.
Practice has already informed us that half a grain of chloride of
sodium to the ounce of water will destroy the image of an ordinary
exposed surface ; so that we may argue from that that a mere
fraction of that strength will destroy the weakly-acted-on portions
of an instantaneous exposure. No doubt distilled water could be
resorted to after every addition of the protosulphate of iron, but
that is not always at hand, and complicates the process.
In showing specimens of instantaneity the question has been
often put to me — “How do you ascertain what the twentieth part
of a second is?” That I think can be simply and satisfactorily
answered, viz., by using a spring attached to the disc for cutting
off the image, then photographing a moving body the velocity of
which is ascertained. For example, let me adduce the Loch Long
steamer. Her length is 150 feet, her speed in the deep sea nearly
fifteen miles per hour — that is, equal to twenty-two feet for every
second of time; in other words, she moves through a space fully
equal to one-seventh of her entire length in one second. It neces¬
sarily follows that if her hull be photographed at full speed at a
right angle to the axis of the lens, and the result divided into
seven equal parts, if the time of exposure has been one second one-
seventh of the entire length will be blurred, for the fifth of a
second one-fifth of that division, and so on ; so that by using a
finely-divided scale, and, if necessary, a magnifying power, you
can arrive at a pretty exact estimate of the time of exposure with
that particular spring. Its action may be pronounced constant. Of
course if any addition be added to the power of the spring it must
be ascertained, as in the first instance, against a moving body the
velocity and length of which is known.
I am also often asked — “ What arrangement is considered best
tor rapid exposure ?” That is not quite so easily answered ; indeed
it depends entirely on the subject to be photographed. For an
extensive plain, on the foreground of which no very tall objects
rise, the opening in front of the lens so as to expose the nearest
objects first, the sky last and shortest, I have found in my own ex¬
perience to give the best result; but should any tall object, such
as a tree or spire, rising above the horizon intervene, you can
easily perceive the higher portions will run the risk of being under¬
exposed. My own arrangements are so constructed, by turning
on an axis, that I can cut off the image horizontally or vertically.
But one thing I would strongly urge, viz., that the shutter, disc, or
whatever it may be, should be as small as possible — that is, as
near to the size of the stop to be used as is consistent with safety.
On a stormy day, with one shutter (as in the stereo, arrangement)
to cover both lenses, the atmospheric resistance is much too great
for extremely rapid action, and causes great risk on shaking the
camera : the less friction of every kind in such mechanism the
better. There should also be a check to keep it from opening the
smallest portion beyond what is absolutely necessary.
I may mention that the collodion I used in obtaining the whole
of the results submitted for your inspection this evening was kindly
furnished to me by one of our members, Mr. John Stuart, photo¬
grapher, Buchanan Street, who is at all times willing to aid a
brother in distress. The paper of the positives before you I ob¬
tained from Mr. John Spencer, St. Enoch’s Square, and is decidedly
the best in every respect I have yet used ; indeed, after the paper
troubles I have come through lately, it is quite a treat to work
with it— easily "toned, and yields very little to the hypo, in fixing.
Any points I may have omitted, or not clearly expressed, I shall
be most happy to answer.
N.B.— Time of exposure of glass positives of landscapes »\th
part of a second ; of portraits Jth part of a second.
— - o— -
RECOVERY OP WASTE SILVER.
By Charles Corey.
If one may judge from the number of queries that have resulted
since, it would appear that my directions contained in a former paper
on this subject were not so clear and compendious as I intended
them to be. Commonplace as the plan may appear to those who
are accustomed to pore over the furnace in search of the hidden
riches of the crucible, it is possible that it may need more expla-;
nation to the uninitiated, and by means of a diagram I propose
to put the practice within reach of every painstaking photographer
and the name of this class, I take it, must be “legion.” It would
be as well, too, to avail myself of this opportunity of correcting my
too sweeping dictum that most of the precipitates of silver are
in the form of chloride. When thrown down by the addition of
common salt (chloride of sodium), there is no question they are
then chlorides; but Mr. Dawson’s able vindication of his opinion
as to the existing state of nitrate of silver in the presence of acetate
of soda, proves incidentally that where the alkaline mode of toning
is used there are also carbonates; and as the oxide of silver is
soluble in sulphuric acid, though the bright metal is not, so from
accidental causes there may be sulphates, &c. Be this as it may,
when the salt is added, the whole of the compounds of silver con¬
tained in the jar are primarily converted into chloride, to undergo
a gradual change by the influence of the zinc.
I have to thank the Editor for the explanation to one of his cor¬
respondents that this influence is progressive, not immediate;
although the affinity for the silver is so great that the hjMrochloric
acid of the salt seizes hold of it at once, liberating the soda in so
doing, yet, by long immersion, it is made to give up the silver in
part, and affix itself to the zinc — as is exemplified by the corrosion
of the surface of the zinc after a time.
Neither, as the correspondent who signs himself “Dullard”
supposes, is there anything peculiarly cabalistic in the four times
of washing and precipitating, as directed in my former paper. My
meaning was this : when the jar was full with the ordinary wash¬
ing with hard water (which I advised the use of because its
turbidity indicated how long any trace of silver unacted on by
light remained in the paper, though I omitted to direct the final
washing to be with rain or distilled water, to remove any ad¬
herent insoluble silver), the jar so filled with the salt added
for its conversion should be baled out, and left to be refilled again
and again ; and where the printing, as in my own case, was frequent,
I supposed that this baling and refilling might justify reducing
the precipitate after about four times. But it might so happen,
if the solutions were not sufficiently rich, it would not be wise
to proceed to convert it into metallic silver till the jar had
been filled and partly emptied ten or twelve times. A syphon, to
October 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
381
those who are expert in its use, is better for drawing off the super¬
natant fluid ; but, if not cleverly managed, a bubble of air gets
drawn up. This breaks the exhaustion in the tube, and the liquid
falls back, disturbing the sediment. On the other hand, if dipped
too deep, part of the sediment gets drawn up also, and is wasted.
For this reason baling, in inexperienced hands, is the best mode.
As all may not be able to procure the use of a dentist’s furnace,
the annexed diagrams will show every reader how, for the cost of
three or four shillings, he may make a very effective furnace for
himself; and as there may also be dentists among the photogra¬
phers, let them treasure the hint, as board filings may be reduced
in the same way ; for fully two ounces of gold or silver may be
melted and refined in an ordinary stove by this contrivance if the
flue be long enough for a good draught — that is to say, a room
having one or two stories above it to augment the draught.
No. 1 represents a household fireplace. No. 2 is a blower, or
plate of sheet iron, of medium thickness, which must be made
exactly the size of the vacant space above the bars, whilst the
lower portion of the blower closes in the front of the bars also.
B B represents the lower edge on either side, turned up horizontally
and inwards, so as to rest upon each hob and keep it in its place,
whilst a thin wedge, inserted upon its upper side, under the front
of the mantelpiece, keeps it from falling inwards or the reverse.
Should the bars project instead of being flat, as most probably
would be the case, the lower portion must be made in a separate
piece, rounded so as to fit the bars close up to each side, and this
lower piece be then securely fastened to the upper, so that no air
can go up the flue except what passes in at the bottom of the
grate, and therefore through the body of the fire. A A are two
handles of iron rod, about three-eighths of an inch thick, riveted
on, to lift it into or out of its place. In the centre is a hinged
door, with a latch, either to feed the fire, watch the progress of
the work, or lift out the pot when the contents are fused suffi¬
ciently without disturbing the arrangement of the furnace, which
the common grate has now become ; for if the fire has been lighted
with coal first, suffered to burn clear, and then packed up with
broken pieces of coke from the gas works — which is cheaper and
more easily procured than hard or railway coke, though not
capable of producing so great an amount of heat — the extempore
furnace will be found equal to everything required of it, for it
will roar tremendously.
I have advised the purchase of two pots; for though under usual
circumstances one is sufficient, as it may be taken in and out of
the fire several times to be emptied and recharged — so long as it
be not kept out of the fire long enough to get too quickly cooled —
yet occasionally, with the utmost care, a pot will have a large
crack in it, through which the melted metal will escape. For this
reason it is incumbent on the operator to examine the pot each
time of refilling, and if any trace of cracking be detected, at once
to reject that pot and fall back on his reserve.
And be it remembered that when the pot is charged with the
mixture of pearl ash and waste silver, it is not merely necessaiy
to melt the contents into a liquiform state only. The heat must
be kept up until the whole becomes a very bright red: the pearl
ash will then appear to boil ; and it is not until this ebullition has
continued some time that the silver will become liberated and fall
to the bottom of the pot. This may be judged to have taken
place when, after boiling up and threatening to go over the pot
many times, the pearl ash will be obseived, l»y occasionally o| en-
ing the door of the blower, to have quietly settled down to the
lower part of the crucible, only gently simmering at its edges.
Now it may be taken out by lifting the pot out by means o! a long
pair of tongs, and pom ing off into a heated in n shovel ; hut on no
account, for the reason before given, must it I e poured into water.
Besides the danger of this proceeding, when it has become cold,
tn the form of a black cake, careful examination will show that
numberless small particles still remain in the flux, so that it will
require to be melted again and again. Every portion of the flux
must therefore go through t lie process of fusion over and over
again, until every trace of the bright globules of silver is
removed. After this, as it rapidly attracts inoistuie from the
atmosphere, and becomes very disagreeable, it may be thrown
away altogether, or into the slop jar to help precipitation in a
fresh lot of waste washings.
STEREO GRAPHS.
Instantaneous Via rs of London.
Photographed by VALENTINE BLANCHARD.
London : C. E. Elliott, 5, Aldermanbury Postern.
It is generally acknowledged that l< the proof of the pudding is in
the eating.” We have lately seen called in question l»y a c<
pondent, Mr. Augustus Webb, resident in India, the correctness of
principle involved in the use of bromides in the collodion as
accelerative agents, especially adverting to Mr. B! uicl ard’s expe¬
riments on the subject as unsatisfactory on account of the coin*
mingling of salts with different bases. Now, although there is
reason in the objection so far as regards . ueral ing fi m t •
limited a number of strictly comparable c< nditioi s, we ap] ichetid
that were our Indian friend to have an opportunity of ins. < cting
the specimens now before us, lie would acknowledge the ] ra< tio-1
efficiency of Mr. Blanchard’s operations, whatever lie might think
of his theoretical notions.
The following quotation from Cowpcr appended to the slides of
this series is very apt —
“ ’Tis pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat,
To peep at such a world ; to see the stir
Of ihe great Babel, and not feel the crowd” —
especially as applied to the first slide which we take up, viz.. —
No. 191, The New Cattle Market, Holloway, in which are
seen butchers and salesmen in considerable numbers, 1 argaining
and handling the sheep, many of which are packed in the various
pens. A cart with the tail-board hanging down ready fur the
load is in the foreground, and between the shafts stands a patient¬
looking white horse, with more bone than muscle, in an attitude
that military men style “ at ease.” The background is occupied
by the square central clock-tower, the base of which is surrounded
by the several counting-houses and banking establishments pecu¬
liar to the locality. One marked character of the scene must not
be omitted, — the adornment (!) ol the iron struts of the lamp-
posts with the coats ol the drovers.
From meat to vegetables is a natural transition, so that CoVEKT
Garden Market (No. 183) follows in appropriate order. This is a
well-executed representation o'- a familiar scene. Near the west
front of the building may he seen a life-like group of market
people surrounding a stall on the right, wi - : |ho
well-known round baskets containing fruit and choice vegetables,
horses with bags on noses taking their early feed, boys ‘‘loafing
about or on the look-out for a job. .
The Floral Hall, Covent Garden (No. 184), is not quite so
satisfactory a picture : the great contrast between tl e strong sun¬
light and consequent deep shade has been heightened, and the
effect impaired by rather too much intensification of ..<e high
11 From Covent Garden to Charing Cross is but a step. There
are two slides in which the statue of Charles I. is included, —No.
177 being a view of The Strand looking easterly, and showing the
corner by Northumberland House, where the omnibuses pause to
take up passengers, two of which were perfonmi g that operation
during the exposure of the plate : and there are severs P?rsous m
the act of climbing u \ or just preparing to do so. There is a trifle
of over-development in this specimen, and a hjt^ distortion of the
architecture from turning up the camera. No. 180 is taken from
ihe same spot as the preceding, but looking more to the left-hand,
and taking in St. Martin’s Church. No. 1,9 is another view of
St, Martin’s CHURCH and a portion of Trafalgar Square, on*
382
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1862
policeman and several boys evidently watching the operations of
the photographer.
The National Gallery, from Pail Mall (No. 176), also includes
a front view of St. Martin’s Church. This is a capital slide.
Numerous foot-passengers and some vehicles are well scattered
about, including many going up and coming down the steps of the
National Gallery ; two fruit hawkers, with their barrows, are
standing close beside the kerb-stone; and three or four long ladders
are leaning against the house on the left, next adjoining to that in
which the annual exhibitions of the London Photographic Society
are usually held.
Of Waterloo Place, Regent Street (No. 175), Great George
Street (No. 174), and St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster
(No. 172) — the two last including the clock-tower of the Houses of
Parliament — we have nothing special to remark. Victoria
Street (No. 171) is interesting, from its including a view of West¬
minster Abbey, and the moving figures in this slide are capitally
caught.
The Ciiurcii of St. Mary le Strand (No. 186) is taken from a
spot not far from Somerset House, which is just visible on the
right hand ; and the busy traffic of that locality is well represented,
though the shadows are somewhat too dark.
Temple Bar (No. 187) is truly excellent — a stream of cabs,
omnibuses, and carts pouring through the narrow gorge, the
very numbers on some of the vehicles being distinguishable, and
the two statues against the upper part of the ancient gateway
clearly defined. The tower of St. Dunstan’s Church is seen over
the gateway, and nearly in a line with it an impertinent little
chimney-pot is doing its best to help towards the smoke-
begriming process to which all our London edifices are necessarily
subjected.
The General Post-office, St. Martin’s Le Grand (No. 194), is
not quite so happy in execution ; but IIolborn Hill (No. 195),
though a little too dark, is characteristic of that busy thorough¬
fare.
New Oxford Street, looking east (No. 196), is, however, first-
rate in execution. Omnibuses, carts, cabs, waggons, and foot-pas¬
sengers in shoals, in active movement, are all “arrested.” One
“ Hansom” cab alone, in the right-hand corner, is blurred in outline,
and this seems to have come suddenly round the corner into the
view. In the immediate foreground is a man, without his coat,
wheel'ng a barrow, his left leg poised in mid-air, in the act of step¬
ping ; just in front of him is an omnibus, on the back panel of which
is observable the placard, “All the way, 3d.;” and on the outside
front seat, to the right, is a gentleman wearing a white hat, with a
black hat-band ; while on the other side of the driver a passenger
is evidently turning to address him. One individual in a black
suit, with his hands in his pockets, and looking on excellent terms
with himself, is sauntering towards the spectator. The whole
scene is full of life, and the photography leaves nothing to be
desire 1.
We have one view of that very ugly edifice, The Internationai
Exhibition, the east front, taken from the Cromwell Road (No. 185)
A number of visitors, male and female, are crossing over from the
corner by the South Ixensington Museum, and several policemen
are standing in attitudes peculiar to the species — that is to say,
very wide awake, and on the look out. There is a little too much
contrast between light and shade in tin’s slide.
Three river scenes deserve some notice: — The Port of London,
evening (No. 146), a scene on the Thames, just below the bridge!
Some heavy clouds, with light-illumined edges, contrast well with
the glare from the uneven surface of the water, reflecting the in¬
direct light of the setting sun.
The Seamen’s Floating Hospital, off Greenwich (No. 147), pre¬
sents some picturesque cloud and water effects, but is rather out
of focus.
bTuDY on the Thames (No. 197) is an admirable photograph,
and represents the south side of the river bank between Southwark
and London bridges— time high water, when lighters innumerable
and other craft are moored close alongside the various wharves,
ready to lie unladed in due course. St. Saviour’s Church is seen
, ove the buddings on the right hand ; and on the left a sailing
large '■unjust made a tack, from the foot of the Surrev side of
London Bridge the small passenger steamer has just started on
her voyage, and across the bridge a perfect forest of masts is
observable, with a puff or two of black smoke showing the where¬
abouts of certain steamboats.
y 6 c®n cordially commend these capital illustrations of the
metropolis to all desirous of possessing records of out-door life in
1 b ■ mo 'ei n Bahvluii.
(Ediibifinit (Snssip.
Although it is the beginning of the now rapidly approaching end
of the Great Exhibition of 1862, still the crowds of procrastinating
visitors which, according to the daily oracles, were to have be¬
sieged its entrances from “ early morn to dewy eve” during the
last few weeks, are all invisible. Truth to speak the attendance
grows more and more thin, and, despite the thoroughness of the
“ penny-wise-and-pound-foolish” policy which has characterised
its management, the Guarantors have no very hopeful prospect
before them in the winding-up of its accounts.
It has been duly announced that the prizes will be awarded by
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in person, early in the
year 1863. This is good news.
The picture galleries will be closed a fortnight before tlie rest of
the building, and those who consider the increasing damage sus¬
tained through the damp by many of these valuable works will
not think this a day too soon.
Our present business here, however, is with the photographic
reproductions. As an educational branch of photography that of
reproduction cannot be too highly estimated. The reproduction
and distribution of the masterpieces of ancient art, facsimiles of
unique old documents and books of rare value, the preservation of
costly engravings, and the copying of choice paintings, are tasks
which have such power and value as we can only grasp through
the medium of much thinking. It was not without good reason
that one of our best men called it “ the highest branch of the art.”
For many of the reproductions of greatest value we are indebted
to Col. Sir Henry James, whose facsimiles of Domesday Book and
the earliest edition of Shakespeare must create no little interest in
all who inspect them. The very names of such works awaken
historic curiosity. The copies from Turner, by Thurston Thomp¬
son, are remarkably fine works. The living air and light which
floods the canvas of this great master are — despite the absence of
colour and the tender imperceptible gradations upon which
in the originals they hang so tremblingly existent — thoroughly
well rendered. Still, the soaring ambition which — perhaps
unwisely — scorned the forms of earth to revel in the spiritual
beauties of the sun and air, naturally found so much of its
power in the marvels of colour, that, when its productions appear
di vested of this, their greatest charm must necessarily he want¬
ing, and their defects as necessarily prominent. Still, every
artist and every artist-photographer ought to possess a set of
proofs from Mr. Thompson’s negatives, as studies of the very
highest pictorial character. The truths of form are readily re¬
cognised by photographers generally ; but, in common with most
other folk, few photographers recognise those spiritual truths of
light and atmosphere which, in all their wondrous diversity of
marvellous effects, form the chief aims of Turner’s grandest pictures.
For the study of such effects no better aid can be sought than such
as is to be found in reproductions from the works of Turner. The
copies from the Cartoons at Hampton Court, by Caldesi and T.
Thompson, are too well known and too widely appreciated to
need from me either praise or description. The young painter-
student who has nature and such copies of great masters as these
to study from has little need to travel in search of other schools,
although it may perhaps be difficult to force conviction of the fact,
travelling is so pleasant. Dolamore and Bullock exhibit some
very good reproductions, among which is that curious combi¬
nation of striking faults and beauties, The Blind Beggar, of the
National Gallery. Some fine copies of paintings and statuary
have been contributed by Mr. J. B. Pyne and by Messrs. Cundall
and Downes. Some excellent reproductions of engravings are from
the Amateur Photographic Association, and some very superior
ones have been sent by Mr. Rama ge. Mr. Ponting exhibits several
capital copies of paintings, and M. Victor Prout has some very
artistically reproduced works, as has also Mr. Stephen Thompson.
In the French department the reproductions take high rank, and
we recognise very many copies from famous pictures now in the
neighbouring French picture gallery. Copies of plans, drawings,
paintings, engravings, and statuary are here to be found, all of
which are very excellent. It will be observed that the national
character peeps out in the selections made for copying. The pic¬
tured incidents are all more or less of the dramatic or stirring
kind. One of these copies, representing the beautiful Phryne
before her judges, disrobed by the orator who defended her cause
in order that the beauty of her person might plead in her behalf,
is a remarkably good copy of a subject treated in a spiiit pecu-
' liarly French. A nude female figure bearing a vase, from a pic-
October 15, 1802]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
383
ture in the French collection, is also a very fine copy. But I have
not sufficient space or time to describe these more fully. In pro¬
portion to the number of pictures displayed upon the wall and
screens, reproductions are far more numerous here than in the
English department.
The reproductions of T. Albert, of Munich, in the Bavarian De¬
partment, have been so frequently described that we need not pause
to express further admiration of their perfections.— Some fine copies
from Belgium are by J. Mascre, and the Netherlands send us con¬
tributions jby Dr. Eyck.— Von Minutoli is a valuable contributor
from Prussia, and Leth and Lemann are equally valuable contri¬
butors in the Austrian Department. — But Rome comes foremost in
specimens of interest, size, and value. The art-treasures of the
Farnese Palace may be said indeed to belong to the world when
thus reproduced.
And now I must terminate these “gossipping papers” by a brief
glance at this glorious speculation as compared with that of 1851.
In the first place we cannot help regarding the peculiarities of
management seen in 1851 and in 18G2. Cautiously, if not doubt¬
fully or fearfully, the Commissioners of 1851 began their labours.
Hoping for no profit, their only care was to avoid a loss, and the result
was that they reaped a very decided pecuniary success. It must
be remembered, too, that the funds at their disposal were insuffi¬
cient— the public were not sanguine of success — exhibitors came
forward reluctantly — and a strong tide of prejudice and opposition
met them from nearly' all quarters.
Boldly and hopefully and with all that could make success a
seeming certainty, the Commissioners of 18G2 entered the field.
The full tide of popularity bore them up, and exhibitors flocked in
for every department. Hoping for great gains, their only care seems
to have been to swell the profits of the undertaking, and the result, it
seems, must be a pecuniary loss to the Guarantors.
In 1851 prudence and caution, arising from no hopes of power
of patronage, &c., be it remembered, achieved success. In 1862
greedy eagerness and that desperation which clutches even at
straws, associated with the certainty of present and the hopes of
future power of patronage, &c., have led to what must ultimately'
prove, more or less, a failure. Is not there a moral for the Com¬
missioners somewhere hereabouts? A. II. W.
SOME PHOTOGRAPHIC "WHIMSEYS”*
By J. C. Leake, Jun.
When I undertook to provide a paper for this evening I hod no doubt
that I should be able to persuade some of our friends to come forward
and place at your disposal a paper on some subject of a far more
novel and interesting character than I can hope to produce. In the ab¬
sence, however, of anything else — and rather than the meeting should
go empty away — I will endeavour to make a few remarks, in the hope of
raising a discussion which may elicit some useful information from those
gentlemen present who are so wxell qualified to give it.
It has been said of photographers, and truly, that they are in most
cases ignorant of the theories of their art. That this is so is a fact much
to be regretted. Yet, let a man be ever so good a theorist, he will in all
probability get into the habit of doing a number of odd things from fancy ;
and, if asked why he did so and so, his reply would be, “I fancy it is
better, but can give no reason for thinking so.”
This being my unfortunate condition, I propose stringing together a
few of my photographic whimseys, and recounting them to you if you will
kindly listen for a quarter of an hour.
Beginning with plates. — I have a prejudice against everything but the
best polished plate glass. I have tried sheet and crown of almost every
description, and in all cases have failed to produce satisfactory results.
In fact, I believe it to be impossible to produce as much fine and delicate
detail upon either of the two last-named varieties as upon the former. If,
after development, a picture upon a piece of sheet glass be examined, it
will be found that a film of reduced silver is deposited between the collo¬
dion and the glass. This being the case, it is evident that some i educing
action is set up ; and that this is independent of the development may¬
be proved by taking a piece of sheet glass, exciting as usual, and, after
allowing it to remain in that condition a few minutes, fixing it, without
development. In almost every case in which I have tried this experiment
a film of reduced silver has completely cover-ed the plate. Glass of this
description is therefore unfit for photographic purposes, andpre-eminently
so for dry plates, which have to be kept a long time in a sensitive condi¬
tion. I know many amateurs use sheet glass from motives of economy-,
and often fail through so doing ; and I would certainly advise them to
throw away all such plates, and betake themselves to patent plate, which
will serve them better.
Another subject upon which I entertain views which may be regarded
as peculiar, is the preparation of the nitrate hath for negatives. I can¬
not make a bath work to my satisfaction without the addition of carbonate
* Read at a meeting of the South London Photographic Society, October 9th, ISO'.
of soda. I have tried fused nitrate of silver, oxide of silver, and most of
the other substances which have from lime to time bi en recommended for
making and mending baths, but in my hands none have been so success*
ful as the addition cf a small quantity of the carbonate. In mn
new bath I proceed as follows: — Having dissolved the nitrate of -diver in
the water I add to each ounce of solution about a couple of grains of
carbonate of soda, and a small quantity- of the iodising solution with
which the collodion to be used is iodised. Let tbe solution stand
hours, filter, and it will be ready for me. Negatives taken in a I rath
prepared in this manner are of a rich creamy tint, very full and deep
m colour, and, what is of the greatest importance to the portraitist, thv
half-tints and shadows of flesh are rendered with gn it ] ei i ctn< ss. in a
conversation with Air. Blanchard, whose street views are
known, he informed me that his own experiments in this direction had
led him to the conclusion that this method of preparing a bat
far the best, giving a better quality- of negative and producing it in a
shorter time than when the ordinary modes were us< d.
In connexion with sensitising I have another whimsev, viz., that, as
aiule, plates are removed from the bath before the sensitising
completed. Ihe time usually allowed — two or three minutes — is scarcely
sufficient. I would prefer to allow five or seven. On imm< 1 i< n in the
bath, the plate becomes coated with iodide, first, in lines corresponding in
direction with that of the dip. If the plate be taken out of the bath be*
lore these lines are removed, and an even coating obtained, the picture
will be streaked, as the lines will appear in the finished
often said that the plate, if left too long in tbe bath, will l
and this will certainly be the case if it he removed from the bath
soon.
I am a believer in long exposures. In my- humble opinion a large
proportion of the cartes de visite offered for sale in < ur shop-windows are
very considerably under-exposed. I know it is desirable to make the
exposure as short as possible for many reasons; but nothing can justify
the principle of so shortening the exposure as to make the resulting
negative hard, with sooty' shadows and crude, chalky lights.
The best results will be obtained by- giving a lengthy exposure and a
somewhat short development. If the development hasto be pushc 1, tbe
result is rarely satisfactory. It is far better to let the light act so long
upon the plate as that you have some energy to spare, and s > can stop
the development rather short.
I consider a picture under-exposed unless the whole of th s det il in the
flesh and hair is distinctly and well rendered. Let the shadows of the
flesh be well given, above all things: it is to this I look alone in por¬
traiture. Dress and all must (if necessary) be sacrificed to this; as no
beauty of detail or brilliance of effect can compensate fur a want of gra¬
dation in the flesh tints.
Another fancy of mine is with respect to the iron devel ping solution.
This I prefer to mix at least twenty-four hours before u--. In tin- first
place this is better because it will allow the sedimt nt to di ■ T. and
so save filtering ; and secondly, and what is of more importance, the
negatives will be finer in texture, and < onsequenlly r
can ascertain, the particles of silver constituting the image are much
smaller than when the solution is freshly mixed.
As to intensifying, after all I prefer the old system of “pyro." and “di¬
ver, and of finishing the negative at once. If tl
timed, and the bath, collodion, and devel< iping s< >lutic ns in < trder, i nt u ) y
little will need to be done to obtain suffi dent int- nsity, and what is
wanted will most readily be obtained by this method. It h is been argued
that this method of intensifying is api to clog up the fiue lines and
destroy the sharpness of the negative. Perhaps if carried too far it does,
but carefully done (as everything in photography sh< uld be .it will
very fine results, and I believe it to be, on the whole, the best mot’
intensifying.
For fixing I always use hyposulphite of soda. Tn the first place
because it is easier to use. I keep a dipping bath full of solution at the
end of the developing table, and after the plate is intensified just pop
the plate in, and leave it until the iodide is dissolved. A few minutes in
excess will not hurt it. Secondly, it is cheaper, not costing a quarter as
much as cyanide of potassium. And thirdly, and most important of all,
it does not affect the health of the operator. If. however, cyanide he
used, it is better to use it strong enough to fix the picture quickly: for if
a weak solution he used, and the action be continued for a long period,
the peculiar bleaching action will render tbe image grey, and the light
will, in printing, permeate every part, and the resulting print will be flat
and wanting in brilliance.
So much for negatives. — Now, if you are not tired, for a few whims
about printing. And, first, as to paper. When tbe di-ease known as
“ cardomania ” set in, photographers were of course driven to use a paper
upon which as much detail and brilliancy as possible could be obtained,
and the variety known as Rive was at once acknowledged as the best, ru
account of its superior hardness and fineness cf texture. Fur small pic.
lures it is, undoubtedly, the best ; but I hope the day is not far distant
when, for everything above whole-plate pictures, a paper will be used
which has uot the offensive gloss of albumen. Until, however, we can
prepare a paper, producing the same amount of depth and brilliance as
albumen, we must perforce use it. Nevertheless, tLe gloss is a nuisance ;
and I recommend the subject — tbe production of a paper giving the depth
of albumen without its gloss — to theatteution of those gentlemen present
384
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1862
who have time aucl inclination to experiment in that direction, and also
to the Experimental Committee.
Starting with Rive paper, then, I will proceed to state what I consider
the best method of producing prints upon it, always bearing in mind that
I am considering printing portraits only. In sensitising, do not be afraid
of the silver. To produce the best results, from seventy to ninety grains
to the ounce may be safely used. I have a fancy for using a bath of, say
one hundred grains; and, instead of floating three or five minutes, floating
only two. And I believe this to produce the best results, the print being
more on the surface of the paper.
As soon as the paper is surface-dry it should be thoroughly dried by
artificial heat, and the solution should not be allowed to soak into the
paper. I think it will be found that most portrait negatives, good ones
especially, will print best in the shade. The action is slower and more
regular, and generally more satisfactory results will be obtained than
by direct sun-printing, — Mr. Thomas to the contrary, notwithstanding.
All having gone on satisfactorily to this point, I atn inclined to think
that here many printers commence the work of spoiling what they have
hitherto done. Instead of quick and careful washing to remove the
nitrate of silver, the prints are pitched into a pan, and left to soak for,
perhaps, half-an-hour or more, during the whole of which time the
nitrate of silver is soaking into the pores of the paper, amd laying the
foundation of future mealiness and uneven toning. I believe it to be of
the utmost importance to remove the whole of the nitrate of silver from
the surface of the proofs, and that the more rapidly this is effected the
better. Quick and careful washing for ten minutes will do more good
than soaking the prints for half-an-hour. After a thorough washing in
the manner mentioned, the prints may be considered ready for toning
without any further treatment with acetate of soda or chloride of sodium,
which I am inclined to consider as unnecessary complications.
Nearly twelve months since I wrote a short paper on printing and
toning, in which I stated my preference for the acetate -of-soda toning-
bath. During the last year 1 have conducted a somewhat lengthy series
of experiments on the various substances used for toning ; but I have not
found cause to alter my opinion, and still believe the old formula of
thirty grains of acetate of soda to each grain of gold to be the best. One
thing is imperative : the bath must be mixed at least twenty-four hours
before use. A useful “ dodge,” however, if a bath be wanted to work at
once, is to double or even treble the amount of acetate. If this be done
a bath may be used as soon as mixed, and the action will be more rapid
than if the bath has been kept. On the whole, however, I would not
recommend this process, as, if great care be not taken, the prints will
redden to a fearful extent in the hyposulphite, and the whole process has
more of uncertainty in it than when the first-named bath has been used.
As soon as the toning is completed the prints should be well and quickly
washed befoi’e fixing. Many persons do not think this important. I do.
I have seen proofs taken from the toning-bath, and placed on a plate of
glass to drain till some thirty or forty have accumulated, when the whole
batch was placed in the hypo, in a mass, and separated in the solution.
I think nothing can be more dangerous than this method of procedure,
and would recommend that the proofs be well washed before fixing and
placed in the hyposulphite solution singly.
The usual strength, six ounces to the pint, Avillbe found strong enough
for this solution ; and I would recommend that it be used fresh every
day, and unmixed with either chloride of gold or nitrate of silver, as has
been recommended.
On removal from the fixing bath each proof should be washed, back
and front, on a glass plate under a tap, before being placed in the larger
dishes to soak.
I have to apologise for having nothing more novel to offer you ; but I
hope I have said something from which many of you will disagree in toto.
This being the case my end will be attained, and we shall have a long
and interesting discussion upon the points you may think proper to
dispute.
Dagron's Micropiiotographs. — The Abbe Moigno gives a most en¬
thusiastic account of the new method of preparing and exhibiting micro¬
photographs invented by M. Dagron. After describing a process by which
a series of the minute sun pictures are taken in rapid succession, he pro¬
ceeds to inform us that a number of “ cylinders of common or flint glass
are prepared in advance, about five or six millimetres long, and two thick.
The second extremity of these cylinders is spherically rounded in a hol¬
low, to transform it into a magnifying lens. To one extremity of the
cylinder a micro-photograph is fixed with Canada balsam, and the edges
ground by an optical tool to efface the marks of the union. This is the
photo-micrographic cylinder, one of the most delightful conquests of
science and art. . . . If we look at the plane end of the cylinder we
see the picture with great difficulty as a black, almost imperceptible, point,
and M. Dagron was naturally led to do for the second extremity what he
had done for the first. ITe fastened on a second picture with Canada
balsam, he rounded the glass in another hollow, and he obtained a cylinder
which twice performed the functions of microscope and object holder.”
In other cases he fixes the picture so that it can only he seen when the
glass is held at a particular angle. As the originality of these methods
was disputed, and their merit referred to Sir D. Brewster, who gave some
similar hints, the Abbe Moigno obtained a letter from that philosopher
vindicating M. Dagrou’s claims to the invention. — Intellectual Observer.
§rHisIj ^ssunittion.
CAMBRIDGE MEETING, 1862.
The thirty-second meeting of the British Association for the Advance¬
ment of Science was this year held at Cambridge, commencing on
Wednesday, October 1st, and ending on the 8th, the President of the
year being Professor Willis, F.R.S. This was the third visit of the
British Association to the alma mater of many of its originators and
leading members; and a noticeable fact connected with the meeting was
the large muster of members who had graduated at the University of
Cambridge, — among whom we were glad to meet Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte (of
Christ’s College), so long and so honourably connected with our art-science,
who has by his charming productions in landscape photography done much
to establish the claim of photography to rank among the fine arts. M.
Claudet, too, was present; as was also Mr. J. W. Osborne, of Melbourne,
the inventor of the photo-lithographic process, which has been found so
valuable and useful in the reproduction of maps and plans in the colony
of Victoria. Mr. Osborne took a very active part in the proceedings of
several of the sections.
The number of papers connected with photography read at the Cam¬
bridge meeting were, as usual, very few ; yet never before were the pro¬
ductions of the camera brought more into requisition at the British
Association than on this occasion. Photography, as an illustrator of
nearly every conceivable subject, “ cropped out ” in every section, and its
exceeding value in this direction was manifested at the late meeting.
Even the stereoscope was brought into requisition on more occasions than
one, to assist the members in comprehending the photographic illustra¬
tions, in the shape of stereoscopic pictures, introduced by the authors of
papers.
The weather was generally very fine, and those members who were
strangers to Cambridge thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the old univer¬
sity town, and were to be found sauntering through the “ courts ” aud
cloisters of the various colleges, examining the structural beauties of the
university buildings, chapels, bridges, ancient gateways, &c., &c., or
wandering along the margin of the “ lazy Cam,” and through the avenues
of ancestral trees, which are the glory of the “ College Walks.” Many a
lovely view for the camera meets the eye in every direction, and truth to
say, Mr. Mayland, a very able local photographer, has taken advantage
of his position in this picturesque locality, and has reproduced a large
number of the most notable views in and around Cambridge. Still there
are numerous charming views and quiet “bits” which have as yet
escaped the photographer’s camera.
The Corporation and the University authorities threw open their various
buildings for the use of the Association, and the heads of the principal
colleges entertained most hospitably the leading members. It is long
since the “ butteries” were in such a state of pleasant excitement. The
rich banquets prepared for “potent, grave, and reverend seigniors” re¬
vealed the material wealth of the colleges, and the generous sympathy of
college “dons” with hungry philosophers and their own intimate ac¬
quaintance with the mysteries of gastronomic scieuce.
It was a matter of regret that the General Secretary, William Hopkins,
Esq., F.R.S. , of St. Peter’s College, was prevented by indisposition from
taking an active part in the duties of his important office.
The President, as is customary, delivered his address on the evening
of the opening day (Wednesday, October 1st); but the only allusion to
photography in that document was as to the operations of the Ivew
Committee. — On Thursday evening a soiree took place at the new
Assembly Rooms attached to the Guildhall, at which there was a
crowded and brilliant attendance of “men of mark” and “ladyes fayre” —
crinoline and university gowns asserting undisputed sway in the rather
contracted area in which the company were presumed to promenade. Mr.
Dallmeyer exhibited some excellent microscopic and other instruments. —
On Frida}'- evening Professor Tyndall delivered an admirable lecture On
the Forms and Actions of Water, illustrated by some very beautiful experi¬
ments. — On Monday evening Dr. Odling delivered a discourse On Organic
Chemistry. — On Tuesday evening there was another soiree; and, as several
of the members had by this time taken their departure from the town,
while some were otherwise engaged, there was a freer circulation of the
visitors through the hall, and space afforded for examining the splendid
collection of binocular microscopes and microscopic objects displayed by
Mr. T. Ross, Messrs. Smith, Beck and Beck, and Messrs. Powell and
Lealand. Dr. Salviati, of Venice, exhibited specimens of mosaic ; and
Mr. Wright, of London, showed a very fine selection of minerals, fossils,
shells, and a meteorite, of the extraordinary weight of nine and a-half
pounds, which fell on the 1st May, 1860, at New Concord, in the United
States. Among the objects of art laid on the tables for inspection was
a magnificent copy of the first part of the folio work which is being pub¬
lished by Mr. A. W. Bennett, entitled Our Satellite : a Selenography , by
October 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
385
Dr. A. Le Yengeur d’Orsan. This photographic delineation of the moon
is deserving of all success. In a room in the basement, Mr. G. Miller Guy-
exhibited a large electro-motive machine, to which he had previously
drawn attention in a paper in Section A. In a room adjoining the prin¬
cipal hall, M. Claudet had his solar camera apparatus for enlarging carte-
de-visite pictures to life-size, and this operation proved a source of interest
and amusement to a large number of ladies and gentlemen attracted
thither from the neighbouring hall. By the aid of the oxy-hydrogen light,
enlarged images were thrown upon a screen. Among the pictures thus
shown were some very fine photographs of animals at the Zoological
Gardens, taken by the Gompte de Montizon; also some of Messrs.
Negretti and Zambra’s views in Java, &c., &c.
The concluding meeting of the Association was held on Wednesday,
the 8th instant, at three o’clock. After the usual votes of thanks to
the authorities and various public bodies of the University and town of
Cambridge, for their hospitable reception of the body, and for the use of
the Guildhall, Senate House, Schools, and Halls, in which to hold the
various meetings, soirees, and sectional meetings — in fact, when, as is the
custom at this concluding meeting, everybody had lavished praise on every
other body — the British Association for the Advancement of Science was
adjourned till August next, when it is to meet at Newcastle on-Tyne, under
the Presidency of Sir William Armstrong, — till which time and place wo
bid the Association a respectful farewell.
We now proceed to give such papers in connexion with photography as
were read in Section A. (Mathematical and Physical Science) and Section
B. (Chemical Science).
SECTION A.
Friday, October 3.
On Autographs of the Sun.
Professor Selwyn exhibited and described a series of “Autographs of
the Sun,” taken by Mr. Titterton, of Ely. These pictures are the same as
those in the International Exhibition, on the north wall, in the gallery of
Philosophical Instruments. He called them autographs, as the term
photograph he thought too general. The instrument with which they
were taken wae a camera attached to a refracting telescope, arranged
so as to obtain an instantaneous exposure. The Bev. Professor here
produced the autographs taken during a series of very fine days,
from the 25th of July to the 4th of August, 1802. These days are
remarkable not only as having ripened the harvest, but because the
sun then exhibited a number of fine spots. The last day was the most
interesting, the great spot being just at the edge of the disc. The
same group appeared in ihe autographs of August 19th to the 25th, re¬
duced, however, to one spot. Sir John Herschel was the first who sug¬
gested this application of photography, and it was at his instance the ela¬
borate instrument in use at Kew was constructed, of which the contrivance
shown by Professor Selwyn was a simpler adaptation. Some very irn,.
portant phenomena are exhibited in these autographs. The spots on the
sun take about twelve and a-lialf days in their passage across its face, and
generally make their appearance at the part answering to the tropical
belt of the earth. The dusky edge of the sun, too, is plainly perceived.
But as it was suggested that the sides of the camera might produce this
difference in light, Sir John Herschel proposed taking a picture in 6uch
a manner that the edge of the luminary should appear in the middle of
the plate. In the autographs taken in this way the dusky edge is still
very apparent, no diminution whatever of the comparative light having
taken place. The reason for this dusky edge is from the sun’s possessing
an atmosphere. By means of these autographs the faculcc can be very
clearly discerned : these, he suggested, were waves of light, thrown up
higher than the general surface, and answering to the cavities which
formed the spots. The learned Professor then concluded with a few per¬
tinent remarks upon the more extensive knowledge of the sun which
might ultimately be obtained from these very interesting experiments.
The Rev. F. Howlett described his observations of the disappearance
of the large spot (24,000 miles in diameter) on August 4, by which it
appeared that at the times when the two autographs taken that day
showed a visible depression in the limb of the sun there was still a streak
of light between the spot and the sun’s edge — by the first measurement
twelve seconds in breadth, by the second four seconds.
Monday, October 6.
On the Means of Following the Small Divisions of the Scale
Regulating the Distances and Enlargement in the Solar
Camera.
By A. Claudet, F.R.S.
In a former paper read before this Association I have proposed a new
method for measuring both the distances of the negative and screen by
means of a scale of unity divided into 100 parts, and smaller fractions
if possible. By this method the distances are measured not from the
object-glass, Afg. 1, but from two points A and B, which on each side re¬
spectively correspond with the focus for parallel rays. No object can be
brought nearer the lens than A ; and B being the focus for parallel rays,
there cannot be any focal distance nearer than B,
FIG. 1.
FIG- 2.
The scale A C is fixed on the table containing the optical apparatus,
and an index connected with the frame} bolding the negative being
brought exactly on any division of the scale, indicates the proportion and
the distance of the image.
The whole arrangement would be very complete and satisfactory if the
scale were long enough to be marked with divisions sufficiently cc
CUOUS ; but the shorter the locus of the object-gl&88 the smaller the
divisions of the scale must be. Even for long-focus object-glasses it is
very difficult to subdivide the parts of the scale to a degree which enables
us to obtain, with the greatest accuracy, both the exact positions of the
negative and screen. 1
The means I have adopted to reach the divisions
with a greater precision and certainty, consists in
consti ucting on the table of the apparatus an equi¬
lateral triangle, the base of which is the exact
length of the unit of measure. Taking eight
inches, for example, as the length of the scale,
we have a triangle A B C, fig. 2, the three sides of
which are eight inches.
We can enlarge the base three, four, five, or any
A n . ,, .. nu™bcr of times, by extending the*sides"A B and
AG in the same ratio. If we want to enlarge the scale four times, we
form the triangle A D I ) fig. 3, the base of which is four times larger than
B G, or equal to thirty-two inches.
If, instead of dividing B C into
100 parts, we make these divisions
on the base D E, it is evident that
they are four times larger tli an if
they were taken on the base B C.
Now, if wc take the lines A I),
A E, as the radius of a circle, the
centre of which is at A, we may
describe the arc D E F, the end of
which, D E, is the increased scale ;
and supposing that this radius is a
metallic thin wire M, fixed on a
piece N, sliding on the arc, it is
evident that each division of the
magnified scale which happens to
be covered by the wire will corres¬
pond exactly- with an equal divi¬
sion of the scale B C.
But as it would be veryr difficult to mark distinctly these divisions on
the base B O, and, if these divisions conld be marked, still more difficult
to see and read them, we may dispense with dividing B C, finding a
greater advantage by establishing larger proportionate divisions on DE;
the only- thing to do being to fix on A D and A E the position of the
unit B C, according to its length, hy taking A B and A C equal to B C.
So that after having brought the metallic wire on the division of the
scale, DE indicating the size of the required image, and the wire being
fixed on the index moving with the frame of the negative, we shall bring
the index exactly on any division of the scale BC, however small it
may be.
Another plan suggests itself for producing the same result, which
would consist in fixing the moveable frame of the negative, A .jig. 4, on
FIG. 4.
a rack as long as BC, which, acting on a pinion adapted to a sufficiently
large wheel containing the required divisions, could produce a whole
revolution of the wheel: and an index, A, being fixed on the table,
would indicate on the wheel the exact amount of the course effected by
the negative on the scale B C, and, by moving the wheel to the division
required, this would bring the negative with the greatest accuracy to
the distance corresponding with the division.
386
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1862
This system of focussing all camera lenses might be very advan¬
tageously adopted in photographic operations, and would be less subject
to errors than the usual way of focussing on the ground glass.
Tuesday, October 7.
Experiments on Photography with Colour.
By the Rev. J. B. Reade, F.R.S.
As able article on photography in the February number of the North
British Review hints at the possibility of obtaining natural colours by
means of photography.
“ The sun-painter,’’ says the author, “has yet to arrest the colours of
nature, and fix them upon his tablet; and though but a slight approxi¬
mation to them has been obtained, yet we have no doubt 1 that photo¬
graphy with colour is a possible result of scientific research.'1
This observation from such a quarter is just so far encouraging that it
invites experiments, and I shall be happy to find that my own attempts
are a step in the right direction.
A recent examination of the phenomena of polarised light, in their
immediate connexion with the undulatory theory, led me to inquire into
the causes of natural colours, and thence to the possibility of coloured
objects setting up in sensitive films on which their image is thrown the
very same causes which regulate and determine their own respective
colours. This being effected, the image of an object would communicate
to the eye the identical colour of the object itself.
This is what I have aimed at, and I hope, as the illustration will prove,
not altogether without success.
Dr. Young’s Bakerian lecture in 1801 afforded me valuable aid. The
propositions, in general terms, are — that radiant coloured light consists
in undulations of the luminiferous ether ; that all material bodies have
an attraction for the etheral medium, by means of which it is accumulated
within their substance, and exerts its influence beyond them ; and that
the luminous phenomena are exhibited under two modifications — the
vibratory or permanent, and the undulatory or transient state.
This theory leads to the conclusion that the undulations within the
substance of material bodies communicate their vibrations to the
etheral medium without them, and thence to the same medium within
the eye. If the undulations be such as to produce red, red is seen by
the eye, and so for other colours. Now, as we have films eminently sen¬
sitive to the action of reflected light, and capable occasionally of being
coloured by such light, it is clearly within the laws of physical science to
suppose that the several portions of the excited film may retain within
themselves, in the vibratory and permanent state, the varying undulations
of the coloured objects whose images they receive. A picture with the
colours as in nature would be the result, instead of the mere black and
white mezzotint at present obtained. The desiderata are a sensitive silver
compound capable of receiving ancl transmitting the undulations and
energetic reflections from the objects themselves. A tame reflection in
nature as in morals is valueless.
In the course of the present week I happened to obtain unusual traces
of colour in photographic portraits. The chief difference in manipula-
lation was a slight excess of the iodiser in the collodion, and the addition
of acetic acid and acetate of soda to the bath ; and, in order more fully to
test the effect of the cadmium and bromo-iodiser, I increased the quan¬
tity until the colours ceased to be strengthened.
The final proportion of iodising solutions gave the portrait which
illustrates these few remarks. The general warm colours of the forehead
and face of the sitter are fairly represented, and the varying tints of the
hirsute ornamentation correspond with the original. The tone of the
shooting-coat is also correct. I have also obtained coloured pictures of
buildings, and a good representation of autumnal tints ; but these are
within the experience of many photographers. My chief object is to
invite experimenters into this interesting field of research ; and, there¬
fore, 1 will not occupy the time of the section with anything more than a
simple statement of the principle which has guided me, and the method
of practically applying it.
[The picture which accompanied this communication to the section
was shottii to the members present during the reading of the paper. It
had a slight amount of colour upon the face where the light was strongest,
produced evidently by the excess of the iodiser ; but, in the opinion of the
photographers present, the evidences of colour were not of a character to
warrant any hope of a solution of this important question.]
SECTION B.
Thursday, October 2.
Description of a liapid Dry Collodion Process.
By Thomas Sutton, B.A.
The problem which has most interested photographers of late years has
been the discovery of a dry collodion process by which plates can be pre¬
pared as sensitive as with wet collodion. In the wet process the negative
lias to bo taken and finished upon or near the spot from which the view
is taken, and with wet collodion the tourist is therefore obliged to work
in a van or tent, and carry a load of paraphernalia about with him, which
is, of course, both expensive and inconvenient. To avoid this lie is
compelled to work with dry plates, and hitherto no process has been
published by which dry plates can be made as sensitive as wet ones. A
rapid dry process has therefore been an important subject of investigation
to photographers, because during a long exposure of a plate the shadows
move, and figures sometimes alter their position. A man or horse, for
instance, are likely to remain still for a few seconds, but not for ten
minutes.
I have lately solved this problem of rapid dry collodion, and produced
dry plates as sensitive as wet ones, which will moreover preserve their
sensitiveness and good qualities for several weeks, and perhaps indefi¬
nitely. This process, and the principles upon which it is based, I will
now briefly describe.
The rapidity of this dry process depends upon the accelerating effect
of bromine in dry collodion, and in this respect an analogy exists between
the Daguerreotype and dry collodion processes. In the former a silver
plate simply iodised is extremely insensitive, but when submitted to the
fumes of bromine its sensitiveness is increased a hundred fold. The
same thing happens in those collodion processes, wet or dry, in which
the free nitrate of silver is washed out of the film. A collodion film
simply iodised, and without free nitrate, is as insensitive as an iodised
Daguerreotype plate, but a bromo-iodised collodion film without free
nitrate may be rendered as sensitive as a bromo-iodised silver plate. In
the wet collodion process the most exalted sensibility is conferred upon
a simply iodised film by the presence of free nitrate of silver ; but you
cannot retain free nitrate in a dry collodion film, because it not only
crystallises on drying, but by becoming concentrated as the water eva¬
porates dissolves the iodide of silver, and forms a curious and interesting
double salt, the exact properties of which have not yet been fully investi¬
gated. You cannot even retain a perceptible trace of free nitrate entangled
in a dry collodion film without introducing an element of instability, and
consequent uncertainty in your work. The principle, therefore, of pre¬
paring a rapid dry collodion plate consists in using bromo-iodised
collodion, and removing all the free nitrate, which is the element of
instability.
But the image produced upon a bromo-iodised silver plate, developed
with mercury, is extremely thin and superficial, as may be proved by
transferring it to a sheet of gelatinised paper. And, similarly, the image
developed by pyrogallic acid, upon a dry bromo-iodised collodion film, is
thin, and too transparent to yield a good printing negative. It is ne¬
cessary, therefoi'c, to apply to the film a coating of some organic substance,
in order to give density to the dark parts of the negative. Many sub¬
stances have been employed for this purpose, viz., gelatine, metagelatine,
albumen, various syrups, gum arabic, infusion of malt, tannin, &c., &c.;
and experimenters have, almost without exception, exhausted their
ingenuity in varying these preservative coatings, as they are called,
instead of seeking in the use of bromide for the true accelerating agent.
The preservatives named have not all the same effect ; and, besides
affecting the sensitiveness of the film, they also determine the colour
of the finished negative, gelatine and gum giving a black, tannin a red,
and albumen a yellowish colour to the deposit in the dark jiarts. Much
therefore depends upon the selection of a proper preservative, when the
most exalted sensitiveness is required.
One more difficulty remained to be overcome, and it is this : — When a
collodion film has once been allowed to get dry, and is wetted a second
time, it is very liable to split and leave the glass ; or, if a preservative
has been applied to it, it is very liable to rise in blisters, which spoil the
negative. But this may be prevented by giving the glass jflate a preli¬
minary coating of India-rubber dissolved in kerosolene.
The operations in the rapid dry process are, therefore, as follow : —
1. Clean the glass plate, dry it thoroughly, and apply to it a solution
composed of one grain of India-rubber dissolved in an ounce of kerosolene.
2. Coat the plate thus prepared with bromo-iodised collodion, contain¬
ing an equal number of atoms of iodine and bromine, added in combina¬
tion with cadmium. There should be about five grains of mixed iodide
and bromide of cadmium to the ounce of collodion.
0. Excite the film in a bath composed of thirty grains of pure
recrystallised nitrate of silver, slightly acidified with nitric acid.
4 Wash oft' all the free nitrate of silver, and pour over the film a
preservative composed of twenty-five grains of gum arabic, freshly dis¬
solved in an ounce of water. Let it dry spontaneously7, and, before putting
the plate into the dark slide, dry it again thoroughly before a hot flat-iron.
5. Give the same exposure as for wet collodion.
6. Develop the picture by first wetting it with distilled water, and
then pouring over it a developer consisting of one ounce of distilled water,
two grains of pyrogallic acid, two scruples of glacial acetic acid, and a
few drops of a weak solution of nitrate of silver. The image appears
immediately, and very soon acquires the necessary intensity.
7. Fix the negative in the usual way with a saturated solution of the
hyposulphite of soda or lime, and, when dry, varnish it with spirit
varnish.
Negatives taken in this way are equal in every respect to those taken
upon wet collodion plates, and the process is as simple as any of those
which are now employed for slow dry plates.
Discussion having been invited,
Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte said : — My experience having been somewhat
considerable in the use of dry collodion, I venture to make a few remarks
on the paper. There is no doubt of the fact that a combination of bromide
October 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
with the iodide of silver is decidedly advantageous as an accelerator in
the case of sensitive dried films of collodion ; but that this introduction
of bromine should in any way be looked upon as new, when employed in
this manner, is a mistake. Bromides have been very long employed in
landscape photography as a useful adjunct, and have been alternately
vaunted by various practitioners as accelerators, and the contrary. One
thing seems certain, that where green forms one of the prevailing colours
in the picture, their impression is most decidedly facilitated. The pro¬
portion of bromide proposed to be introduced by Mr. Sutton is, in my
opinion, rather too large — one part in four of iodide being the proportion
which I find to work best. The use of gum-arabic as a preservative coat¬
ing, combined it is true with a very small portion of honey, was men¬
tioned by me in the Journal of the Photographic Sac ety of Paris many
years since, but subsequently discarded as giving a tendency to fog; but
perhaps my decision in this respect may have been hurried, as I may not
have washed the plate thoroughly enough, arid certainly the proposed
acid nitrate bath in which Mr. Sutton renders his plates sensitive is likely
to diminish this fogging tendency. This fogging it was which induced
me to substitute the metagelatine for the gum-arabic, which I subse¬
quently did. Now, however, I am led to believe that the. following modi¬
fication of the resin process employed by the Abbe Desprats is the
simplest and best process for dry collodion : — Add to the collodion one-
fifth per cent, of the resin of scammony : that which has been purified
and bleached with animal black is to be preferred. Sensitise in a bath of
seven per cent, nitrate of silver, slightly acidulated with acetic or nitric
acid; wash the plate most thoroughly in clean rain water, or in distilled
water, to which has been added OT per thousand of common salt or
chloride of ammonium, and let the plate become dry in a place thoroughly
free from dust. The exposure is less than that required with any other
dry process with which I am acquainted, and is not above half more than
that required for moist plates. The development should be performed
by first moistening the plate with distilled water and then pouring on a
solution containing one part of pyrogallic acid, ten of acetic acid
(glacial), and five hundred of water. Fix with a solution containing
about one of cyanide of potassium to 100 of water. It is not absolutely
necessary to employ for the first washing bath distilled or rain water,
with an addition of chloride, as in actual experience 1 have obtained very
good and perfect results with spring water; but, considering the varied
nature of the salts found in spring waters, it is prudent to proceed as
above recommended. The second washing should always be performed
in water as pure as can be obtained — in distilled water if possible — and
especially the presence of any bicarbonates is to be avoided. The present
is only a sketch of what I propose to present hereafter in a more detailed
form, and was only elicited from me by hearing Mr. Sutton’s paper. The
acceleration of which Mr. Sutton speaks may very probably depend on
the action of the gum with which he coats the plate. Gum-arabic is the
lime salt of a very weak acid. In contact with nitrate of silver it is de¬
composed, with formation of the gummate of silver ; but no such double
decomposition takes place when it is placed in contact with the bromide
or the iodide of silver. The action of light, however, on these latter
compounds is to eliminate their acid elements and separate the silver,
and the iodide and bromide set free would tend to fix themselves on the
lime in the gum. If the washing be not thoroughly performed, however,
gummate of silver will form, which blackens in contact with the developer,
even without previous exposure to light. It is, therefore, with much
propriety that Mr. Sutton insists on a careful washing of the plate after
sensitising and previous to the application of the gum. In the preser¬
vative process of which I have given a slight sketch, I have chosen to
employ the resin of scammony, as it is soluble in ether, and, from its
friable nature, seems to more completely disintegrate the collodion and
render it pulverulent — a condition most essential to obtaining intensity
on dry plates. The collodion I employ is prepared just as 1 have already
explained in a paper published some time since in the Journal of the Pho¬
tographic Society *
Saturday, October 4.
Details of a Photolithographic Process, as Adopted by the
Government of Victoria, for the Publication rf Maps.
By J. W. Osborne, of Melbourne.
Towards the end of the year 1839 I read a paper in Melbourne, before
the Philosophical Institute, now the Royal Society of Victoria, on a
new photolithographic process, invented by me, and patented in the
colony on the 1st of September of that year. I have now the honour to
bring this subject under the notice of the British Association in such a
form as to enable every one skilled in photography and lithographic
printing to execute it with certainty and success.
The process I am about to describe has been for upwards of three years
in active operation in the Department of Crown Lands and Survey, at
Melbourne, the first map for sale having been printed on the 3rd of Sep¬
tember, 1859, since which time many hundred maps and plans, of all
sizes, have been produced by its means. The Victorian Government has
also recently erected an office suited to the requirements of the process,
and offering every facility for its successful prosecution.
• Mr. Lyte, at our suggestion, prepared a report of his remarks for the press, and at
hia request we publish it in preference to giving our own reporter's notes.
387
Before proceeding to give exact details, I shall sketch out the leading
characteristics of this photolithographic method, with the intention of
making more intelligible the object of the careful manipulations which
are subsequently enjoined; premising, also, that the remarks embodied
in this paper have reference only to tie- reproduction of drawings or
engravings in simple black and white, without the gradual passage from
dark to light, known as half-tone, and peculiar to mezz. tinto engravings,
chalk d rawings on stone, and, in an eminent degree, to ordinary photo¬
graphs from natural objects
A reproduction from stone b' ing required of a drawing or print of the
nature I have described, the first step is to obtain a negative on glass,
bearing to it the desired relation as r gards size. From this a photo-
graphic positive is printed l>v li^lit in the pressure-frame, upon paper
coated on one of its sides with a smooth surface, consisting of gelatin*
and bichromate of potash, with an admixture of albumen. This positive
is now covered with lithographic re-transfer ink by passing it through
the press, inverted upon a stone, which lias been evenly covered with
that substance bv the printer's 7 oiler. The next operation is to float the
paper with its inked side upwards upon a fray of boiling water, the effect
of which is. in the first moment, to fuse- tie- thick greasy ink, giving it
thereby more homogeneity, and, subsequently, to coagulate the albumen
in the coaling, and. ns the water cools, to swell and s iften the gelatin*
which, protected by the opaque portions of the negative, has not suffered
the well-known alteration by the actinic influence in the presence of the
chromium salt. As soon as the blackened prii t lia^ remained a suffi¬
ciently long time upon the surface of the water, a little gentle friction
will he found to remove all the ink, save that in contact with the altered
positive work upon the pap'-r, and a subsequent flooding with boiling
water will sweep away everything that is Miluble upon the surface of the
print, leaving behind the coagulated ulbumen only iu the form of a
smooth tenacious film under the design.
After this pr'nt is properly dried, it becomes what is technically
known as a “positive transfer.” and is, in fact, a pho'ograph of the
original in re-transfer lithographic ink, so constituted as to <• Imit of the
design upon its surface being transferred to a st< n ■ in the 1 rd i nary way
known to lithographic printers. From the drawing thus obtained the
usual number of copies can be printed, the quality and permanence of
the work upon the stone being iu no way influenced by its photographic
original.
To recapitulate: I would first draw attention to the negative, upon the
quality of which depends the excellence of th" works subs [uei tly ] ro
duced'. Its characteristics should be extreme sharpness of definition,
freedom from distortion of any kind, absolute transparency of the
shadows, and considerable intensity. I nless these cond tit ns are ful¬
filled it is impossible to produce photolithographic work which will com¬
pare favourably with that produc' d, by hand. As may b ■ 1 xpected, much
will depend upon the lens employed, and in this respect 1 car. not do
better than recommend the use of Air. Dallmeyers triplet, which I
believe to he unsurpassed for copying purposes, and t<> the excellent
qualities of which I gladly boar witness. The method 1 have syste¬
matically followed to produce negatives of the prescribed quality is as
follows Bearing in mind the fact that in copying the photographer1^
even under the best of circumstances, working in a weak light, owing
to flic near proximity of the original t<> the lens, and the small SU p re¬
quired it will he found best to develop with iron, and to abandon tlM
idea of getting sufficient intensity in the first instance. Intense clear
negatives may occasionally be produced under favourable ..ices,
fit for silver prints; hut not as a rule in all weathers, orinthe n none of
daily work. I therefore recommend the use of intensifying agents, of
which the most important is Major Bussell s developer. I n vu us to its
use however. I have found it necessary to resort to a method ' c.ear-
ing up ” which will, I believe, be found new and useful. This consists
in Viodismg. to a verv slight extent, the deposit rathe film after fixing
bv the use of free iodine, and then dissolving off the iodide of silver
thus formed. In practice it will he found best to prepare a saturated
solution of iodine, in a two-grain solution of iodide ol potassium. F cur
a few drops of this into a developing glass, and dilute with water. Tn at
the fixed plate with this after very careful washing, until the liquid
becomes colourless. The operator will then be assured that all the free
iodine has expended itself upon the silver ui the film, and by judging
of the colour of the dilute solution he uses, a most accurate estimate
may be formed of the amount and intensity of the change it w id effect
upon the negative. Bv proceeding in this way, the deposit, which in
mv opinion is always to he found upon the trai ' -?'e“
in the clearest pictures, is totally swept away, leaving them 1
determining the precipitation of an additional quantity 01 silver. 1
Russell’s admirable developer for his tannin pi . '-'-D . w . c ,
and the development pushed to any desired extent w r t Tear 0. de
stroying the contrast, or dimming the shadows m the s lghtest degree.
To obtain the necessary intensity by this m th alone, would occupy
too much time, the negative being invariably a v, rv !• c F' t0
with in consequence of which it will be found wci * the plate,
when a certain amount of intensity has been obtained, and mifnerw it in
a saturated solution of bichloride of mercury, n water ai .jilated with
hydrochloric acid. Afterwards apply a weak so men . 1 d dc of potas¬
sium increasing its strength gradually until the nceiv-st F‘-°w eolcur
pervades the whole depth of the deposit, when the ye. cw may U
S88
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1802
changed to a dark olive with advantage by flooding with a one-grain
solution of chloride of g Id.
The glass for negatives treated in this way should have the edges
roughened for obvious reasons, and it is also very advisable to pour over
the°finished negatives, while wet, a solution of gum arabic, of such a
Btrength as to leave no gloss when dry. This precaution will be found to
prevent the peeling off of the film while drying, and to obviate the neces¬
sity for varnishing, as the plates will keep perfectly well if stored in tin
boxes.
The next step in this process is the manufacture of photolithographic
transfer paper. For this pupose introduce 800 grains of Nelson’s opaque
gelatine into a flask, add 440 grains of finely-powdered bichromate of
potash, and cover both with eiuht ounces ot cold water. Place the flask in
a dark place for two or three hours, for the purpose of allowing the gela¬
tine to soften and swell. After the lapse of that time its contents are to
be melted by immersing and agitating it in hot water, after which the
temperature must be lowered to about 110° F., and two liquid ounces of
albumen added and thoroughly mixed. About twelve or fourteen half-
sheets of plain positive paper of good quality, having been slightly damped
for some time previously, are now to he coated with this solution in the
following manner: — \ small tin trough is provided, about eleven inches
long, three inches wide, and one and a-half inch deep, into which the
gelatinous solution is carefully strained. The trough is made fast to one
end of a board, upon which the positive paper is placed, and when the
temperature of its contents has fallen to 85° F., the operator, laying hold
of a sheet lay two adjacent corners, draws it slowly over the trough,
while an assistant presses it into contact with the surface of the liquid
by. means of a piece of wood of suitable form.
This is by far the best method of coating paper with gelatinous liquids
with which I am acquainted. It is economical, ensures great regularity,
and enables the liquid used to be retained at the necessary temperature
without difficulty. 1 believe it would be found useful by the manu¬
facturer of common alhumenised paper.
After being coated, the sheets are to be hungup and dried in the dark ;
the room used for that purpose requiring to be artificially warmed in
damp or cold weather. In preparing this paper, great care must be be¬
stowed upon the quality of the albumen used : the eggs from which it is
obtained must either be taken when but a few hours old, or they must be
buttered with the freshest butter while yet warm, in which case they
will keep, if taken care of. for about a fortnight. If this rule be not
attended to no certain results can be looked for.
The positive transfer paper thus made is, when perfectly dry, to be
rolled or glazed in a press, so as to improve the regularity of the surface,
enabling it to be brought into the closest contact with the negative, 'the
average time required for its exposure in the pressure-frame is, in Vic¬
toria, about hall a minute : in this- country I do not think it would exceed
double that time. When the paper is taken from the pressure-frame it
is inked by the printer in the manner already described, a somewhat stiff
ink being use i for the purpose. This should not he applied to the paper
in too heavy a coating, but should just allow the stronger parts of the
positive work upon the print to be dimly perceptible through it. To
effect the coagulation and soaking I have made use of tin trays, of an
inch and a-half deep, and otherwise of dimensions to suit the size of the
negatives. The wa;er used must be actually boiling, and about a pint
of it should be poured into the tray and then r< jetted, before the latter is
filled for the reception of the inked print. This is done to prevent the
cooling of the water used for coagulating, which, -without it, would be so
lowered in temperature as to effect its object with difficulty. The time
required for the proper soaking of a print is variable, and must he fixed
in every case b}’ the judgment of the operator ; but an hour may be named
as the average interval which should elapse before the print is ready for
“ washing off.” The general appearance of the blackened surface, the
relative differences in elevation and gloss which the positive portions
present as compared to the rest of the inked face and the temperature
of the water, are the guides which experience alone will make valuable.
The soaking having been completed, the print is placed upon a smooth
board, and the requisite friction fur the removal of the superfluous ink
applied with a clean and dense sponge moistened with water.
H ere, again, it is hardly possible to give directions which will ensure
perfect success in the hands of one inexperienced in the process ; but I
m; y state that the amount of friction which the print will bear without
injury will not fail to surprise the operator who washes one off for the
first time.
When the rh tails upon the paper have acquired the greatest degree of
. sharpness of which they are capable, the washed-off print is ready for
“ scalding.” For this purpose it is attached to a flat board, and placed
in an inclined position in a large trough. A very large quantity of boil¬
ing water is now poured upon it in such a way as to pass both above and
boTow the paper. 'I bis is an important, indeed an indispensable, opera¬
tion, its effect being to carry away every particle of soluble gelatinous
matter, which, were it allowed to remain, would inevitably “ stop out ”
the work during the subsequent operation of transferring, and it is here
that the albumen, by resisting the action of the boiling water, shows how
admirably it is fitted for the part it has to play, namely, to ensure, by its
sticky nature when damp, the immovable adhesion of the paper to the
lithographic store, during the process of transferring in the press.
Fiuully, the scalded print is drUd by floating it upon the surface of the
water, which has been described as having just passed over it ; a border
of ink left on purpose round the edge of the paper preventing the hot
water from flowing in upon it, while the heat from below causes the
evaporation from the albumen surface to be completed in a few moments.
By adopting this method the print dries perfectly flat without the for¬
mation of irregular corrugations upon its face, which would become re¬
ceptacles for drops of water, contain. ng, in all probability, gelatinous
substances in solution.
This photographic print in greasy ink, or “positive transfer,” as it is
called, is given to the printer — after the drying of the hack has been
allowed to take place spontaneously — who transfers it to the stone in the
usual way, treating it throughout as if it had been produced by the hand
of a lithographic draughtsman.
I beg to lay before the members of the Association specimens of hand¬
drawing — both mathematical and artistic — woodcuts, engravings, and
lithographs reproduced from the stone by my method. Also a specimen
of photozincography, and of transfer to the surface of waxed copper, as
a guide to the engraver. And, lastly, I should remark that several of tho
photolithographs here exhibited are produced by joining two or more
positive transfers, from different negatives, before laying them down upon
the stone, the number joined in this way amounting in one case to eight;
from which it will he seen that a large camera is by no means necessary
for the production of a large copy, nor is there any limit, hut the size of
the lithographic stones and press at command, to that of the finishsd
photolitliograph.
A discussion on AT r. Osborne’s paper then took place.
Mr. F. Maxwell Lyte : T wish to ask Mr. Osborne one question — Wa*
your process published before M. Poifevin’s?
Mr. Osborne : No, it was not. My process was made known in Novem¬
ber, 1859, and adopted at Victoria in that year, and was pronounced to
have by far a comparative excellence.
A Member : I should like to know whether Mr. Osborne’s process is
not a transfer, obtained by means of photography ?
Mr. Osborne : In answer to that, I may say that my process is tho
original one, and was the first introduced into practical operation. The
use of a medium such as photolithographic transfer-paper is sufficient to
convey the photographic image to the stone.
Mr. Wyli>, M.P. : Was the process in use in Victoria before that of
Colonel James at Southampton ?
Mr. Osborne: Yes, it was; about six months. I was the first who
introduced a practical photolithographic process such as that, at tho
Surveyor-General's Office, at Victoria.
Mr. Wylo : Is there any difference?
Mr. Osborne : Yes, there is a difference. Colonel James uses gum-
arabic, while I use gelatine. He omits the use of albumen altogether,
and transfers to zinc. I produce mine from stone, which is by far tho
best, preventing adhesion.
Professor Emerson, of Troy University, U. S. : What method is used
for focussing?
Mr. Osborne : We focus by a magnifier, which is attached to aground-
gla*s by a plate-holder. I believe by this means our method of fucussing
is the more exact and accurate. Professor Emerson lias informed me of
his method, which I am well convinced is much more accurate than the
one we have been using. A great deal, however, depends upon the lens;
and we have not yet got a lens good enough for the purpose. Sometimes
a lens can be racked backwards and. forwards an inch or more without a
sensible change in the focus. I exhibit a county map, which, for all
practical purposes, is good enough.
Mr. F. Maxwell I.yte : In regard to focussing, I venture to say that
the best method of focussing is by a glass coated with collodion and
allowed to dry. It is quite impossible to focus well with a ground-
glass simply ; but, so soon as a magnifier is applied, then it comes out
most beautifully.
Professor Emerson approved of Mr. Lyte’s method of focuss'ng, so far
as it went ; but, with the aid of a magnifier of a high power, they could
get almost an absolute focus. The method of focussing he had recom¬
mended to Mr. Osborne, and which he could not but consider far superior
to the plan proposed by Mr. Lyte, was to use a plain glass in conjunction
with a microscopic focusser of about forty or fifty diameters. Slightly
scratch the further side of the glass with a diamond, and adjust the
microscope to bring out all the fine details of the scratches ; then, by
using the microscope thus adjusted, the image formed by the lens of the
camera could be focussed with remarkable accuracy. It was idle to say
that the lens of a camera could be racked in and out an inch without
making a difference in the focus. By the method be proposed it could
be seen that a movement of the one-thousandth of an inch would make
a difference. This method would also enable the operator to gauge the
difference between the visual and actinic foci with equal precision. It
was a matter of great importance to adopt a method of focussing that
would reproduce all that could be done. It was evident to him, from the
example of that map, that it had not reproduced what it ought, ora*
might have been obtained by a sharper focus.
Mr. Osborne fully admitted the importance of focussing. He (Mr.
Osborne), referring to the specimen maps produced, said that the process
was equally applicable to zinc ; but he preferred stone. The specimen
map which he* then produced was a common lithograph, the accurate
October 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
drawings being fro:n the Surveyor-General’s Office at Victoria, obtained
in the general way. In a new colony like Victoria an immense number
of maps was required. For instance, persons go and buy land, and maps
were published to enable them to see what they were going to buy. The
size was not influenced -olely by the camera. They first got the photo¬
graph upon surface ; then printed it upon stone in the usual way. There
were joinings, but no one could see where the joinings took place. The
maps were published at two guineas, and so on ; but the process did not
necessarily depend upon a large establishment like the one at Victoria.
No touching was required, and there was not one single case in which he
was called to account for inaccuracy. He had copied maps, and the
Surveyor-General had testified to their accuracy. They were said to
agree in a remarkable manner, there not being the slightest shade of
difference. The great difficulty lay in the paper : in making a large map
it swelled, and in joining seven or eight pieces the difficulty arose in see¬
ing that the joinings were not to be detected.
Tuesday, October 7.
On Some of the Difficulties which Present Themselves in the
Practice of Photography , and the Means of Avoiding Them.
By F. Maxwell Lyte, Ml., F.C.S.
Manufacture of Pyroxyline One Cause of Spontaneous Decomposition.
One of the principal causes of the spontaneous decomposition of pyroxy-
line seems to be a remnant of acid left by imperfect washing.
In this condition pyroxyline, and especially that which has been pre¬
pared in weak acids, is very prone to decomposition, and possesses, more¬
over, another disadvantage, viz., that it produces a collodion which, when
iodised, turns very red, and soon spoils the nitrate bath in which it is
used.
It has been proposed, ns a remedy, to add to the last washing water a
few di’ops of liquid ammonia. Now, whenever this has been done, I
have always found that much of the pyroxyline became insoluble, and
that the portion which dissolves only produces a rotten film easily broken
in washing.
Another mistake in making pyroxyline is attempting to add too large a
proportion ot the material, whether cotton, paper, or flax, which it is in¬
tended to be converted. The proportion should never exceed ten per
cent, of the nitric acid employed : beyond this point a further addition
is nearly sure to involve failure of more or less of the product. And this
is reasonable; for in proportion as pyroxyline is formed, nitric acid dis¬
appears, and is substituted by the elements of water, or, what is the same
thing, is substituted by NO4, and HO is produced. A point is conse¬
quently arrived at where the mixed acids become too dilute to produce
any further action. Up to the addition of seven per cent, the conversion
of the pyroxyline is nearly simultaneous with its immersion ; but for the
remaining three per cent, of lignine added, the conversion is more
gradual, requiring four or five minutes to complete it. So that if we add
rather tco much material, the effect is distributed over the w hole quantity,
and a large portion remains insoluble.
The only sure plan is to add not more than ten per cent, of the weight
of the nitric acid employed, and instead of removing the last traces of
free acid with ammonia, I am in the habit of adding a few grammes of an
alkaline acetate to the last washing water. In this water I allow the
pyrox}line to soak for a night, and then withdraw it and wash again and
dry it. Pyroxyline so prepared is very stable ; and, if the temperature of
the mixed acids lias been correct, and their strength accurately examined
before use, the pyroxyline will be found perfectly soluble, and will remain
bo for years.
Halftones.
Much has been said about different samples of collodion producing
better half-tones than another.
I believe the whole — or nearly the whole— gist of landscape photo¬
graphy on collodion, as far as gradation of tint goes, to consist in
obtaining the thickest possible film. My theory on the subject is as
follows: — Iodide of silver is a yellow salt, and offers more or less re¬
sistance to the passage of the actinic rays. The greater, then, the body,
so to speak, of the film, the longer the time which the rays require to
produce iheir effect through its entire thickness. Now, in what consists
the excellence of a positive print? Why, in possessing fine gradations
of half tone, blending insensibly into the deep shades and high lights.
No sudden and severe contrasts exist, as a rule, in nature.
Now, we know by experience that if a t late be over-exposed, the high
lights are solarised, as it is termed, and become transparent, printing
through and destroying the brilliancy of the positive ; while, on the other
band, if a plate be under-exposed, the half-tints never appear at all.
Now,' in landscape we have often atone and the same time deep greens or
red rocks in the foreground — the details of which must be given, in order
to produce a harmonious picture — and blue distances, which must be
impressed in order to give character to the landscape.
The reproduction of such a combination is looked upon bv many
photographers as a, complete paradox ; but use a thick film, and the diffi¬
culty is solved. The yellow iodide of silver offers the necessary resistance
to the aCtinic rays to impede solarisation in the high lights, while we are
enabled to expose the plate sufficiently long to impress Lite details of the
389
deep shadows. Our choice should then fall on that quality of pyroxylin#
of which we can introduce the greatest proportion, without rendering our
colh idion too glutinous; and in this point of view 1 find that prepared
from paper to be much superior to any other, as I have i e marked in other
papers on the same subject.
Having mentioned the subject of solarisation. T may be excused for
venturing a new view as to its cause. We all know that, by vnriou*
degrees of exposure, the sensitive atom of iodide or bromide* of silver,
whichever it may be, assumes successive tones of colour, in which one or
more of the primary colours prevails. Now, may it not be that the super¬
position of these various tones of colour, as would obviously occur in a
plate where the actinic influence had not penetrated too < ■ n | lately th«
collodion film, and produced the ultimatum of effect, should produce
opacity; whereas, if the ultimate effect had traversed the entire tl i
a yellowish or reddish transparence might la- the result — or, in other
words, when the molecules of reduced silver are all in one and the same
position, they may become capable of transmitting certain luminous
vibrations. When their position is variable, they cut every vibration off.
Drying of the Film.
In hot climafps a difficulty presents itself — tbe means of obviating which
it mnv be useful to describe.
"When we attempt to work in a tout under the influence of a hot sun.
the plate frequently is found to have become so far dry on removal
from the dark slide, that when we attempt to pour on 1
it flows unevenly, and tbe finished negative shows rings ol i d de¬
velopment, and it often happens, under the same circumstances, that the
nitrate of silver solution accumulates at the low< r •• Ige of the | ’ ite, and
mixing with the developing solution flows back in streaks over the plat*
and produces dark lines and mnrblings ; further, it sometimes occurs
that in our attempts to obviate these defects the developer i< thrown too
suddenly on to the plate, and washingoff 11 the f silver products
a transparent spot where it falls, and often a sort of mark on the centre
of the plate as jf a fine comb or a brush bad been pa — 1 over it.
Now, in order to obviate these defects, the best mode of proceeding Is
to pour over the plate a little water, to which has been ad • 1 a small
dose of acetic acid, say OT per cent., and when the plate has been
thoroughly washed with this solution, then to apply an ir n d<viloper.
The nitrate of silver having been for the most part removed, a very fen !•
image only appears ; but. on the application of a solnti in < f pyr galhfl
acid, with the addition of a little free nitrate of silver, the image corat - out
in far finer detail than by any ordinary treatmi nt that can be used, and
with a harmony of effect which is quite surprising. In the t q> of the U n*.
in which I work T have a sort of chimney of linen, ii to wi t h I stuff a
tuft of grass or of fern, and which, while it effectually bars the entrance
of light, allows a free circulation of air.
I find that the protosulphate of iron, which i« somewhat reddened by
the presence of a per-salf, is that which answers best for the devel* i ment
of negatives; and with this view I keep a solution of pel f
iron by me, which I add to my ir >n develo| er it the proti sulphate mth
which it has been made be of too pure a nature.
Varnish.
It has always been a problem among photographers to find a two,] var,
nish. The amber varnish, which is decidedly the best hilh :rto J< scribed
is faulty in many respects.
1st. It is very expensive to use. both on account of thi stof
the materials, and of the extreme volatility of the ether at.d chloroform,
which form the solvents.
2nd. The negatives varnished with it are liable to crack in frosty
weather should the slightest condensation of moisture t ik place in tbe
box in which they are stored, and the same effi ot ot;. n an-. - win re they
are placed in contact with a sheet of positive 1 apt r n< t pei f< c Ij drj . .
The solution of gum benzoin in alcohol is lia ' T«
with minute pin-holes from the crystallisation of the b. azoic acid it con¬
tains, the crystals breaking up the film in numerous minute points;
and, lastly, the solution of bleach* d lao i- ina Imissible, as in a hot sun
it becomes tacky and sticks to the positive paper.
The same defect belongs to the varri-h of Soehni T ■
In the South of France, where I work, I have lost many fine negative®
through each of these causes. 1 now nse a varnish which I consider
perfect in every respect, made by dissolving ten to tw< lve per cent, of the
purified resin of jalap in alcohol of ninety-five per cent. This varnish,
while it does not seem to have as great a liability chill as some other
varnishes, is hard and resistant, and gives a body to a n< gative such aa
few others will give, and it never adheres to the positive paper under tbe
influence of the hottest sun.
Printing.
Now, ns to printing positives. I wish to draw your atten'ion to one or
two points, but time will not allow roe to do more. I wish to speak, in
the first place, as to the necessity of adjusting the strength • f flienitrata
sensitising bath to the amount of chloride contained in too paper which
is to be prepared upon it. The moment the paper is laid on rue nitrate
bath it decomposes the nitrate of silver on the surface of the solution
with which it comes into immediate contact with formation of nitrate
of sodium an 1 chloride < f silver. The solution of nitrate of sodium thus
formed possesses a far less specific gravity than the nitrate of silver below
390
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 1862
it and does not so easily mix with it as might be supposed, and, conse¬
quently, forms a film on the top which, lying between the surface of the
paper and the nitrate of silver below, forms a sort of carrier which
dissolves out the salt without decomposing it, and disintegrates and dis¬
solves the albumen instead of coagulating it. Under such circumstances
a white precipitate of chloride of silver often renders the bath turbid,
and the finished proof has a dull, grey, cold tone. This defect is only to
be remedied by so proportioning the nitrate of silver in the bath to the
chloride in the paper that the paper shall find enough nitrate in the part
of the bath into direct contact with which it is brought to convert all
its chloride into chloride of silver, and even leave a small excess.
By adding to the albumen about 0T per cent, of the crystallised phos¬
phate of soda, 2 Na 0 HO Pos + 24 HO, it will be found that the discolour¬
ation by albumen is nearly entirely prevented, and if the latter ever be¬
comes coloured it may always be completely decolourised by adding to it
a solution of a mixture of the crystallised carbonate of soda with crystal¬
lised phosphate of soda, in about the proportion of two to five, and dis¬
solved in water in the proportion of seven per cent. For every ten
grains of such a solution added, one grain of solid nitrate of silver
must also be dissolved in the bath, in order that it may not become
weakened, and the bath filtered till it becomes clear. Thus treated, a
positive bath not only becomes decolourised but retains its transparency,
and does not change colour by use for a long time afterwards.
Remarks upon the above paper having been invited,
Professor Emerson, of Troy, U.S., said he had been much interested in
hearing Mr. Lyte read his paper, in which there was much to commend;
but, with regard to the use of a thick film of collodion being a sine qua
non for landscape photography, be must differ from Mr. Lyte, as bis own
experiments upon that point had led him to believe that a thin alcoholic
collodion, properly managed, would give as good results as a thick one.
This was especially the case in his experience of the tannin and the
Fotliergill processes. Again : as to the method recommended by Mr.
Lyte for avoiding streaks and stains in the development, he could endorse
it as a good one, as be had tried it with success in wet processes. With
regard to the preparation of the sensitising bath for albumen paper,
be was sorry be could not concur in Mr. Lyte’s plan as certain to re¬
lieve the difficulty. He bad engaged in a laborious series of experi¬
ments on albumenised papers, and had not been able to arrive at any
fixed rule for the composition of the nitrate of silver sensitising bath —
simply because the samples of paper varied so exceedingly in their
quality. This was the case even with the same lot of paper, one sheet
differing from the next, and so on. In the present state of affairs he re¬
garded experience in printing as much more likely to lead to a proper
mode of sensitising than any empirical formula. A good method of keep¬
ing clear a sensitising bath for albumenised paper was to mix it with
alcohol in the proper! ion of one-third to two-thirds of water, keeping up
the amount of silver per ounce. This method had been repeatedly pub¬
lished in the French journals, and he (Professor Emerson) had found it
answer the purpose.
Mr. Lyte responded to some of Professor Emerson’s remarks. Under
the conditions al.uded to he would regard an alcoholic collodion sub¬
stantially the same as a thick one. He admitted the difficulty of de¬
termining anything with accuracy as albumen paper is now manufac¬
tured. lie thought it would be well if the makers of albumenised paper
would mark on the paper itself the exact proportions of salt used in eaclt
sample: that would simplify very much the labour of sensitising it, and
the uncertainty atttending it.
On a Simple Method of Taking Stereo. -Photomicrographs.
By Charles Heisch, F.C.S.,
Lecturer on Chemistry at the Middlesex Hospital Medical College.
1'he production of stereo. -photomicrographs which should give the effects
8ecn in the binocular microscope has been fur some time a desideratum. i.
Like many others I have been engaged in attempts to meet the various
difficulties which were encountered. I he use of the binocular microscope,
as the instrument with which to produce the pictures (which at first
sight appears the most simple plan), presents sevei'a! d fficulties.
1. I he two bodies standing out at an angle to one another precludes
the use of one plate on which to take two pictures.
**• I he light of that picture which has been reflected by the prism is
always weaker than that directly seen, so that it is difficult to regulate
the tune of exposure.
Lndei these circumstances I devised the following plan, which answers
perfectly A microscope, with its eye-piece removed, is placed in a ho¬
rizontal position, and fitted to an ordinary sliding-back single-lens stereo¬
scopic camera. The ordinary adapter for the object-glass being removed,
its p ace is supplied by one carrying a tube which can be turned half-round
inside it by nuans of a lever from the outside; sliding in this tube is
a second furnished with a stop which cuts off- half the pencil of light
coming from the object-glass— in fact, occupies the same place as the
pusm in a binocular microscope* The distance of this stop from the
act ot the object glass is adjusted experimentally by sliding the tube
.Uudld toTv'l1;!' m '1ll|isju,.'Pt;l!io" is identicjl vvitl> licit em|il>yed by Mr. Smith, and
which carries it in and out till the image thrown on the ground glass of
the camera is equally illuminated in whatever position the stop may be
turned.
'I he prepared plate being put in its place after carefully focussing the
object, the first picture is taken ; the plate is then shifted, the stop turned
half-round, and the second picture taken on the other half of the plate.
If the object be of considerable thickness, more effect may be produced
by focussing the upper surface for one*picture, and the under surface for
the other. The adapter for the object-glass, with its tube and stop, I
send herewith : it can be applied to any microscope.
Photozincography. — On Thursday last the following letter appeared
in The Times, in consequence of some remarks in the report of the dis¬
cussion which followed the reading of Mr. Osborne’s paper on his photo¬
lithographic process in Section B, as given in another column : —
Sir,- In the repent cf the proc edings of the Chemical Section of the British Associa¬
tion which appeared in The Times of yesterday Mr. J. W. Osborne’s account of the
process invented by him at Melbourne, Australia, is given, ai d which he has named
photolithography.
” In the course of subsequent discussion,” the report says, “it was elicited that one
of the principal claims to novelty involved was the fact that Mr. Osborne's process was
the first in which t lie image on the stone was effected by no ans of a transfer. The jno-
cess of Colonel Sir Henry James used at Southampton for the reproduction of Ordnance
maps, was analogous to it in this respect, but was first used six mouths subsequently to
the process of ,V r. Osborne.”
The inference which may be drawn from this is that I have adonted Mr. Osborne's
process, or something very analo ous to it, without any acknowledgment. If Mr.
Osborne had only s ated that my discreet y had been made indepen etrly and without
any UTiow ledge of the res It of his labours, it would be unnecessary for me to address
you on this subject : but the facts are that an tccoui t of the proce-s adopted by ms is
given in my report to I’ailiament for 1859, with the cony of a small deed printed b.v it ;
that Mr. Os' orne, in a let er dated Melbourne, lbtb January, I860, which is printed in
the Photographic Journal of April, 1860, says, “ A pi sitive is printed from this negative
upon a sheet of paper so prepared th t the image can be transferred to stone, ’ but lie
gives no inform; tioo as to what the natm e ol the preparation is : and, in fact, he ap-
jiears to have stu b usly avuidel divulging the nature of his process in England, that
lie might be able >o take out a patent for it, and only made ii known wi.en be found w#
bad anticipated him.
I have been m st anxions to do full justice to Mr. Osborne, ns you will see by reference
to the fifth page of the pietace to the small work on photozincography, Ac., which has
Leen just published by Messrs. Longman, and of which I sei d you a copy.
I am, Sir, your obediei t servant,
HENRY JAMES, Colonel Royal Engineers.
Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, Oct. 7.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE RECENT COPYRIGHT ACT.*
By Andrew Mure, Esq., Advocate, Edinburgh.
It is now a century and a-lialf since the legislature passed the first statute
which gave to the author a right of property in a published work. Since
that time the right to such literary property has rested exclusively on
statute, Iu both ends of the island — whether rightly or wrongly I do not
here discuss — it was long ago settled that the author who had given to
the world by1 publication his thoughts and ideas had no light at common
law in these; and the evils and injuries to authors resulting from this
state of matters were so deeply felt, that the statute interfered. Between
that date and the present no fewer than nineteen statutes have been en¬
acted, for regulating and controlling the rights of proprietors and authors
of books, or for extending protection to kindred productions, such as
engravings, prints, and dramatic compositions, ff he principle of all
these statutes is, that if the purchaser of a single copy of a book or other
literary work can, by the rules of common or natural law, be supposed to
acquire thereby all the uses of which the copy is capable, including the
power of indefinite multiplication, he purchases for a mere trifle what
may perhaps be a mine of wealth. Ihe price he lias paid is grossly
inadequate to the uses to which such a state of law enables him to put
the purchase that he has made. No one could justify the right of the
purchaser of a single copy to the profits of indefinite multiplication by
himself. The author of the work is alone entitled to these profits.
It is on this principle that the law of copyright is based. It is a
principle, however, of bargain or compromise between the public and the
author; for justice has to be done to the public as well as to the author.
Hence certain general rules have for many years past distinguished the
legislation on the law of copyright.
1. It commences only from the date of the first publication of the work.
2. The duration of the right is limited to a certain number of years.
3. Registration is an essential condition of the acquisition of copyright
by an author.
4. It is required that the work to be so registered shall be original.
Keeping in view these rules, I now come to the legislation of the
present year. It was necessary not only to protect the artist and the
photographer, but also the public and the patron of art. It is believed
to be the fact that an eminent photographer had no sooner published
the likeness of some illustrious personage, or a representation of soma
beautiful scene, than spurious copies of the work were multiplied in
enormous numbers by unscrupulous persons, who procured, perhaps,
only a single copy of the original work. The name, too, of the original
author was falsely used as a guarantee of the authenticity of the work.
On the other hand, the public were at the mercy of any unscrupulous
photographer. If a portrait were ordered, or a work of any importance
commissioned, the party who should have remained sole proprietor was
liable to find copies of his portrait, or of a work he had hoped to keep
private, in the hands of all who chose to give a small sum for it.
* Read at a meeting of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, October 1st, 1803.
October 15, 1882]
391
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
In painting the state of matters was much worse. Avowedly, the
necessity for legislative relief had become essential mainly from the
gross injustice to which the proprietors as well as painters of pictures
had become exposed. Artists ol the highest eminence were no longer
satisfied with the honest products of the labour of their own hands. If a
patron of art give a commission for or purchase a picture at a high price, he
is entitled, in all fairness, not only to possession of the original picture, but
also to the exclusive right to it, so that none shall make a copy without
his. consent. In London it was notorious that some of the most eminent
artists sold numerous copies of the same subject without the consent of
the proprietor of the original picture ; and, in many cases, these copies
were not made by the artist himself, but by assistants poorly paid for
their labour. On the other hand unscrupulous persons became pur¬
chasers of pictures, and multiplied copies of them to the injury of the
artist. I notice that these were the evils which had to be provided
against, because the statement of them will more readily enable the So¬
ciety to comprehend the provisions of the Act of Parliament. To make
the latter known to photographers is the sole object which I have in
view. I do not wish to enter into any disquisition upon the principles
of the law of copyright, or to suppose difficult cases which may arise
under the present statute. I wish merely to set forth, in plain language
what is enacted.
The statute proceeds on the preamble that by the present law the
authors of paintings., drawings, and photographs have no copyright in
their works. Here it is to be observed that, prior to this, whatever
may have been formerly thought or written in support of a copyright
in such works of art, they were wholly unprotected. Observe further,
that sculpture is not included in the statute. This has been the subject
of complaint in some quarters, but without any real foundation ; for, in
the year 1814, an Act was passed whereby the right in such subjects
is vested in the person who makes them, or causes them to be made, for
the term of fourteen years from the time of first publication, provided
that the proprietor’s name, before publication, with the date, be put on
such original sculpture.
The works included within the statute are every original painting, draw¬
ing, and photograph made either in the British dominions or elsewhere,
and which shall not have been sold or disposed of before the commence¬
ment of the Act. It is first to be observed that the work must be original.
It will be apparent to all that many productions of art present no more
difficulty in this question than mechanical inventions, such as the steam
engine or the spinning jenny. The paintings of the great masters in every
country — though the authors may have borrowed the subject from a source
other than their own minds — arc at once seen to be perfectly original in
every sense of the term. Several great Italian masters, for instance, have
treated each in his own way the subject of The Last Supper of Our
I^ord. Yet each painting will be admitted to be a great work of genius
executed separately and independently to which no one would refuse
the title of originality. The law, then, in this matter does not require
that the subject of a painting or a photograph should be new and un¬
attempted by any prior artist. There may be a valid copyright even
though the subject be common to every labourer in the field. What the
law will regard in this respect is, whether the artist or photographer has
produced anything which is the result of his own labour, and has therein
exercised selection, combination, and arrangement, so as to produce
something which no one else has produced before him. Under this
principle it is clear that copies could never be entitled to any right ; and
not merely copies of complete pictures and photographs, but even copies
of parts of these. A copy might be made of one of. the figures of a great
historical painting, the rest being omitted. In this there is nothing of
the copyist’s own except the slavish labour of imitation, and the statute
justly refuses any merit to such a worker as entitles him to protection.
In photography this principle will possibly give rise to many nice and
difficult questions. These are not questions of law, but of fact, which
will depend, in every instance, on the verdict of a jury. I he honest
photographer, however, will have no difficulty in steering clear of such
questions. In his art he has only to execute a scene or object for himself
and he may obtain all the benefits of the statute; for it expic-sly resei yes
the right of any person “to represent any scene or object, notwithstanding
that there may be copyright in some representation of such scene or
object.” Two photographers may, for instance, separately and indepen¬
dently, betake themselves, at the same moment, to photograph the same
object in nature, under the same conditions of sky and atmospheric light,
from nearly the same point of view, with the same materials, the same
kind of camera, and the same process, and produce two representations
of the object nearly resembling each other, each of which will be en¬
titled to originality and to the protection of the statute.
It must not be forgotten that the painting or photograph may be
executed in any part of the world’s surface, and yet take benefit from the
statute. The photographer may photograph the Polar regions at great
labour and expense, return home, and put himself and his works under
its protection. , , . x, , xl ,. ,
Another and important point to remember here is that the subject
painted or photographed shall not have been sold or disposed of before
the commencement of the Act. If the work has been executed and gain
made of it before the 29th July, 1862— when the royal assent was given
to it— no copyright can be validly obtained for such work But it the
work has been executed prior to that date, and retained in the author s
studio, within his own power and under his own control, and if subse¬
quently to the Act he desire to sell the painting or photograph, this
may be validly done and yet the privileges of the statute be secured. It is
even conceived that the painting or photograph may be exhibited publicly
where the eyes of all visitors might inspect i:, without losing the right*
for the work must have been sold or disposed of befi re the commence!
ment of the Act.
We now proceed to mention the persons entitled to the protection of
the statute. rI he first great class of persons whom the statute notices arc
the authors of the subject protected, and the sole condition to their
acquisition of this valuable right is that they shall be British subjects or
i esiden t within the dominions of the crown. A\hat constitutes residence
m the sense here contemplated? Ho the words mean that I
applying for the benefit of the statute shall have come here to reside
permanently, and shall have acquired a domicile in this country ? Or do
they mean that the person may come to reside here for no other purpose
than to acquire the copyright of some work ? May an alien fui
execute a photograph abroad, print off thousands of C< pies, and, i :
them along with him, after a short residence acquire the | rivileges of the
statute? I do not pretend to solve these questions. I will only say that
the general scope of the statute is to encourage native art, and art
executed bv British subjects. On the other hand it is not immaterial
that under the statute the work may have been done either in the British
dominions or elsewhere.
The second class arc assignees or purchasers from the author tf the
work so executed, provided that they, by an agreement in writing at the
time of the sale, signed by the persons selling or disposing, acquire the
right which the author himself might have been entitled to under the
statute. The clause further declares that when any painting or drawing
or the negative of any photograph, shall, for the first tune alter the
passing of the Act, be sold or disposed of, the person so selling or dis¬
posing of the work shall not retain the copyright of it, unless it be
expressly reserved to him in a writing signed at the time of the sale.
Part of the first section of the statute is obscurely worded, and it
were .much to be wished that the Act was clearer and less open t->
questions on the ground of ambiguity. It appears, however, that in all
cases the author and purchaser must determine with whom the c< pvrigbt
will remain by a signed agreement under the hands of be
before the date of the sale.
Another class of persons to whom the benefits < f the statute arc ex¬
tended are the employers on whose behalf a painting < r negative of any
photograph shall be made or executed for a consideration — in short, the
statute gives the right to the party who orders a work. It a j j .
me that in this latter case the copyright is vested in the employer, with¬
out any necessity for an agreement with the artist or j ! Iff
on the other hand, the latter wishes to retain the c< pj right i f the v. , rk,
he must stipulate for that in writing with his employer. The require¬
ments of the statute on this point I distinguish fit m the requirenu
the. statute in the former case. I venture on this opinion, however, with
diffidence; for the wording of the statute is intricate and involved
and the difficulty arises from there being two relative st ntences, tin < no
as to the rights of the person selling or disposing of the work, and tlic
other as to the rights of the purchaser or assignee. The terms employed
in the one sentence arc not so broad and compreht em¬
ployed in the other, and hence the difficulty of construction.
By another clause of the statute it is declared that all copyright under
the Act shall be deemed moveable or pi- nal estate, ... dull be
assignable at law. Under this clause the executor of a dcccas» <1 nutht r,
or trustee in bankruptcy, or husband of a female executing a work, or
other person to whom the copyright may have been c nvej sd by l< .
ment or operation of law, will be entith 1 to take bent the statute .
Now, the right given to all these partis S is the Sole and t xclusit 0 i ight
of “copying, engraving, reproducing, and multiplying the painting or
drawing or design thereof, or the phot< graph < r :!.■ negative thereof by
any means or of any size.” These words of the statute are very com¬
prehensive, and give very extensive rights. It is of imp* rtauc t<» observe
that the design is protected as well as the paintii g itself m that the
painter who produces some new design as an accessory of his subject
would be entitled to prevent the use of that in the aits. This A a v« ry
strong right to confer, the propriety of which may l>c questioned. To
the photographer it is apparent that the right thus coufem 1 will be
of the utmost value. The piracy which was - iftcq : will U •
and, as will be afterwards seen, the party entitled to the benefit of tlx
statute may proceed to vindicate his right by law. V- 1 the ease and
facility with which copies are made and multiplied by the photographic
art will render the law very difficult to enforce. The v
with which the spurious copy can be made to resemble the true one
affords a facility for piracy and a power of evading det' tion. 8' m •
have even maintained that it will be impossible to establish any copy
right in photographs, and the difficulty which would l>e encountered
in this matter was used as an argument against establishing such a
right, while the Bill was 'passing through Parliament. I believe,
however, that, notwithstanding this difficulty, photogra pliers of all
classes — and especially those whom it is politic to encourage — will
derive great beuefit from it. I refer to those who will be encouraged
to attempt important and difficult works, or to make improvements
in the art, and to introduce new processes. I believe the protection
392
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
given to the labours of such men will stimulate and encourage the
art, and gradually foster throughout all classes of photographers a
desire for the production of something new and original, and a higher
respect for their profession than they would otherwise have. It may be
that in a few departments the trade in photographs will be restricted ;
but, as a system of registration is established, to entitle to the benefits of
the Act, it is believed that the general photographer will not be much
affected.
Registration of the work is essential to the validity of the copyright.
This is one of the most important of the provisions of the statute, and it
will be remembered that the Bill was originally introduced into Parlia¬
ment without any of the registering sections. It would undoubtedly
have been a great blemish in the Act if these clauses had not been added,
the want of which would have made it scarcely capable of being en¬
forced. Happily, however, the representations of some patrons of art
prevailed ; and the Act directs that there shall be kept, at the Hall of
the Stationers’ Company, in London, by the officer appointed for the
purpose of registering books and other literary property, a “ Register of
proprietors of copyright in paintings, drawings, and photographs.” In
this is to be entered a memorandum of every copyright established
under the Act, and also of every subsequent assignment of such copy¬
right. The memorandum is to contain a statement of certain par¬
ticulars — and among others the name and place of abode of the per¬
son in whom such copyright is vested, and the name and place of
abode of the author of the work ; together with a short description
of the nature and subject of such work, and, if so desired, a sketch,
outline, or photograph of it. Practically these requirements must
he carefully attended to, to entitle to the benefit of the Act; for the
right is given, subject to the performance of the condition of registration.
The trouble attending this will not be great, for I have no doubt that
forms of registration to be filled up will be easily obtained from the officer
above mentioned. Personal attendance does not seem necessary, and the
fee exacted for making any entry required by the Act is one shilling only.
The register is also open for inspection on payment of one shilling. A
certificate from the officer is declared receivable in evidence in all courts
and in all summary proceedings, and to be prime, facie proof of the pro¬
prietorship or assignment of the copyright.
The duration of the right thus conferred is for the lifetime of the author,
and seven years after his death. This limit is different from that of other
copyrights ; and it is to be regretted that so many acts encumber the
statute-book, which give various limits to the right which they confer.
Having considered the nature and duration of this species of property,
I now proceed to mention the mode in which the infringement of the
copyright may be made and the penalties imposed.
The object of these sections is to give to the proprietor of the copyright
the exclusive privilege of taking all the profits out of the work which it
can in any form produce ; and they prevent the copying, imitating, or
otherwise multiplying, or the importation from abroad for sale, hire,
exhibition, or distribution, any work or the design of it, under a penalty
of £10, with forfeiture of all the copies or imitations made. On this part
of the subject it may be noticed that the question of intention does not
appear to enter into the determination of the question of piracy. It is
the fact, not the intention, which will regulate the law in this matter.
The proof of the piracy will be comparison of the two works ; and our
courts, among other proofs of piracy, have been in the habit of relying
upon the occurrence of the same inaccuracies in the two works. In one
case the great Lord Eldon observed that from the identity of the in¬
accuracies it was impossible to deny that the one was copied from the
other verbatim et literatim. So it will frequently happen that the piracy
of a photograph may be detected by the recurrence of the same flaw in
the registered and spurious work.
While discussing these violations of copyright we must not forget that
the statute goes much farther than we have yet stated, and appears to
inflict penalties upon fraudulent productions and sales, whether there be
copyright or not in the work. Thus no person is fraudulently to sign
any name, initials, or monogram upon any painting, drawing, or photo¬
graph, or sell any painting, drawing, or photograph, having thereon the
name, initials, or monogram ol a person who did not execute the work;
or utter any copy of any photograph as having been made by the author
of the original work from which the copy was taken; or alter any*- work
and sell the same as the unaltered work of the author of any photograph
made either before or after the passing of the Act, provided the person
whose name has been signed or work altered shall have been living
within twenty years ot the time when the offence was committed.
Heavy penalties are imposed for the infringement of these provisions.
It is clear from this that the statute cuts very deeply, and that it is a
total mistake to represent it as merely giving copyright to some works.
It also attacks all fraudulent interfering with the property of others, and
provides remedies against such fraud.
1 lie judicial proceedings by which the copyright may be protected or
nude good are by summary application by the way of injunction, or by
an action for forfeiture, penalties, and damages. Into this part of the
matter I do not enter, but merely call attention to the provision that no
action shall be sustainable or any penalty recoverable unless the work
has been entered in the register-book at Stationers’ Hall.
I do not pretend to have exhausted the provisions of this statute; but
iave given the leading features of it, so that my hearers may understand
he nature ol enactments in which they are so much interested.
[October 15, 1802
I cannot conclude without remarking that the statute does not appear
to interfere with the private labours of any individual or the present
position of the photographer, provided he be content to run the risk of
the loss of the monopoly which the statute confers.
It may interest many to know what is the position of photographs,
not intended for publication, under the law. I answer, that they seem to
me to be in the same position as the manuscript of an author intended,
but not yet authorised, to be published. Such a manuscript may be
given out extensively for perusal ; but if no authority be given to publish,
the common law will protect the author in his rights of property, as well
as his reputation. No man has a right to give another’s works to the
world, or to propagate them beyond the point to which consent has been
given. The author is the sole arbiter to restrict or warrant circulation.
I have thus endeavoured — I feel very imperfectly — to state shortly the
leading principles which the recent statute has brought into force, with
the view of assisting you in the regulation of your conduct, of informing
you of your rights, and in the hope of stimulating you to the exercise of
them. Permit me, in conclusion, to apologise for the numerous imper¬
fections and slight character of this paper, and to express a hope that the
discussion to which it will give rise may compensate for its defects.
rctings of Sacietits.
♦SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first meeting of the above Society for the session 1802-3 took place
on the evening of Thursday, the 9th instant, at the City of London
College, late Sussex Hall, Lcadenhall Street. The Rev. F. F. Statham,
B.A., F.G.S., &c., President, occupied the chair.
The President, in the absence of any formal report by the Secretary in
reference to the out-door meetings which had taken place during the re¬
cess, observed that they had taken place on the days advertised at the
last meeting of the Society, and that the one at Charlton was especially
successful. Some specimens of landscapes and groups of figures taken on
that occasion were brought by the Secretary for exhibition that evening.
He (the President) regretted that there were so few members present,
and thought it partly attributable to the absence of any announcement of
the meeting in the recent numbers of the journals. He had much plea¬
sure in directing attention to an album containing some carte-de-visile
portraits and vignettes, plain and coloured, by Mr. Carbutt, of Chicago,
an American photographer, who favoured the meeting with his presence
that evening. Mr. Martin, too, had presented to the Society’s portfolio
some dozen photographs of the size called panoramic (7£ by 4j), illustra¬
tive of a tour made in North Wales and the neighbourhood of Liverpool.
He (the President) thought Mr. Martin’s example might be judiciously
followed by other gentlemen who had made holiday tours with their
cameras, as the Society would thus become possessed of an annual pic¬
ture record of the proceedings of its members. He then asked Mr. Leake
to read his paper On Photographic “ Whimseys." [See page 383.]
At the conclusion of the paper the President proposed a vote of thanks
to Mr. Leake, which was unanimously accorded.
The President observed that while Mr. Leake expressed an opinion
that there were many present who would differ from him in toto, there
was at least one point upon which they would all agree among them¬
selves, and that was in reference to the care and pains which Mr. Leake
had exercised in the preparation of his paper. He (the President) thought
it very important that members should jot down their experience, and
bring their notes forward for the benefit of their brethren of the camera.
He was not sufficiently conversant with the practical details of the
matters noticed by Mr. Leake to appreciate to the fullest extent the very
able manner in which he was sure they had been treated, and would
therefore call on some gentleman more competent to open the discussion.
The Secretary thought Mr. Leake’s views as to the variation of the
colour in negatives were hardly correct. He (the Secretary7) had ob¬
tained results similar to those spoken of and exhibited by Mr. Leake,
only through a difference of exposure, all the other circumstances
having been equal. He thought the bath more suited for iron develop¬
ment when neutralised with oxide of silver and acidified with nitric
acid, than when carbonate of soda and acetic acid were used successively.
Mr. SurrsoN thought it was generally admitted that such applications
to the bath as had then been spoken of were only necessary when the
nitrate of silver was defective. If that salt were used in the pure state a
good bath was always obtainable : if, however, organic matter were pre¬
sent it might be advantageously removed by the addition of carbonate of
soda, when the carbonate of silver thus produced carried down this im¬
purity much on the same principle as albumen in the fining of wines.
In reference to Mr. Leake’s remarks as to the use of albumenised paper
for large prints, he thought the objection might be removed by adopting
the resinised paper introduced by Mr. Cooper.
The Secretary had heard that that paper was open to the objection of
yellowness in the whites.
Mr. Simpson replied that the benzoin paper had been found to turn
yellow ; but that some papers subsequently prepared with frankincense
and mastic had retained the purity of their whites.
Mr. Wall regretted he had not brought with him a large solar camera
picture taken on the paper in question, which he thought would prove
very useful in that direction.
October 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
393
Mr. Simpson observed, in extenuation of some objections raised to the
process, that it was yet in its infancy ; and, moreover, that he believed
all gums had a tendency to turn yellow.
Mr. Price thought that difficulty might be overcome by carefully
selecting the gums of the first and second gathering.
The Secretary believed it had at least this one advantage, that tho
paper was much stronger, and consequently not so likely to tear in tho
washing and toning processes.
Mr. Howard thought there were one or two observations in Mr.
Leake’s paper which ought not to go forth to the world unchallenged.
First, in reference to patent plate, he must say his own experience
did not accord with Mr. Leake’s, since he had taken very good negatives
of various sizes up to 5 by 4 on the best crown glass, and he thought
that if amateurs followed Mr. Leake’s suggestion they would be putting
themselves to a great deal of unnecessary expense. With reference to
the suggestion to add a little of the iodiser of the collodion to the bath, he
would observe that that was not always convenient, as in cases where
collodion was purchased from large makers those matters were generally
kept secret. His (Mr. Howard’s) plan was to dissolve one ounce of
nitrate of silver in twelve ounces of water, and add one grain of iodide of
potassium, agitate occasionally during half-an-hour, filter, and the bath
was ready for use. Another point referred to was the sensitising of the
paper, and in that connexion he would say he had found a great saving
of the silver solution might be effected by withdrawing the paper very
slowly, so that no more solution was found to adhere than was sufficient
to form two drops.
Mr. Wale thought that the want of harmony between the opinions of
professional and amateur photographers on the subjects then under dis¬
cussion could not but prove very perplexing to beginners, who looked to
men of experience for guidance. He had last week lost five guineas
through taking negatives on common glass : so far, therefore, from advo¬
cating its use, he desired distinctly to endorse all that Mr. Leake had said
in favour of patent plate.
The Secretary was of opinion that the quality of the glass was not so
important as having the two sides perfectly parallel to each other, so that
there should be an equal bearing in the pressure-frame.
Mr. Fitch had taken whole-plate negatives on common glass, and had
no negatives broken : that might probably be attributable to his method
of printing without plate-glass to his pressure-frames.
Mr. Simpson believed that a certain per-centage of breakage was al¬
ways allowed for in all large establishments, and he heard an employer
recommend a printer by saying that not more than half-a-dozen negatives
were broken by him in twelve months.
Mr. Foxlee thought the deposit spoken of by Mr. Leake as occurring
with some kinds of glass arose from the smoke condensed on its surface
in the process of manufacture. He had found tripoli and water remove
it ; but thought polished flatted crown best for amateurs.
The discussion on this point becoming somewhat conversational, the
President asked the opinion of members as to the advisability of printing
in the shade.
The Secretary very clearly and succinctly stated that a strong nega¬
tive should be printed in the sun, and a weak negative in the shade.
Mr. Wall thought that it must be a very strong negative that required
printing in direct sunlight ; and he was induced to advocate printing in
the shade by three experiments which he had performed on the same
negative. He had taken from it one print in the sun, one in the shade,
open a.ir, and the other inside in his glass-room : the third, printed in the
deepest shade, was unquestionably the best picture.
Mr. Simpson thought the increase of detail produced in shade-printed
pictures attributable to the slower reduction of silver.
The President asked if temperature had anything to do with the
result ?
Mr. Leake thought it had not.
Mr, Martin was of opinion that analogy in other chemical operations
would lead to the conclusion that temperature exercised an important
influence, since chemical re-actions were found almost invariably to pro¬
ceed with greater activity at slightly elevated temperatures, and there
could not be much question about the elevation of temperature when a
pressure-frame was exposed to the direct rays of the sun.
Mr. Price’s experience corroborated the opinion expressed by Mr.
Martin. He would, however, remind the meeting that Mr. Snelling had
proved that those pictures which were printed in the sun were the first
to fade; and the fact was explained by comparing the prints to a burnt-
up rump-steak, having only a superficial and thin outer coating of re¬
duced silver, which soon yielded to any adverse influence.
An animated discussion then ensued on the subject of “ mealiness,” in
which a number of most conflicting opinions were elicited, aptly illus¬
trating a remark made by Mr. Wall to the effect that no doctors ever
disagreed so much on matters within their province as photographers
did on this vexed subject.
Mr. Leake having replied to and cleared up one or two misconceptions
of his meaning on the subjects of glass, toning, bath, &'c.,
Mr. Wall gave it as his opinion that the Society should occasionally
recognise services done to photography through other channels than its
own meetings. He would therefore propose a vote of thanks to Mr.
Cooper, Jun., for his account of researches on resinised paper, recorded
in the Photographic News.
The vote of thanks was unanimously passed.
Mr. Simpson exhibited a panoramic picture by Mr. Sutton, of Jersey,
as a specimen of a rapid dry process which he had recently discovered.
The exposure was no longer than with a wet plate, and the picture was
by no means deficient in detail, even in the deep shadows.
Mr. Howard proposed that a special meeting should he convened for
the purpose of deciding as to the method of winding up the Crystal
Palace Exhibition.
The meeting was then adjourned. The next meeting is to take place
on the ldth of November.
MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this Society was held at the Rooms of the
Literary and Philosophical Society, George Street, on Wednesday even¬
ing, the 8th instant, — Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., in the chair.
The Chairman stated that Mr. Mabley, the Honorary Secretary of the
Society, was out of town, and that Mr. Mann had been deputed to take
his place for the evening.
Mr. C. A. Duval was unanimously elected a member of the Society.
The following gentlemen were elected the officers for the ensuing year : —
President. — The Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of Manchester.
Vice-Presidents. — J. B. Dancer; J. B. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S. ; John
Parry ; Joseph Sidebotham ; Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S. ; and
Professor H. E. Roscoe, Ph.D.
Council. — John II. Gilbert ; Thomas Haywood; William Hooper ; W.
T. Mabley; Edward Mann; L. J. Montifiore ; James Mudd ; T. II.
Nevill; Michael Noton ; Andrew Patterson; II. Petschler ; John Roger-
son; Henry Thorp ; J. C. Tobler ; George Wardley : Hindle Young.
Treasurer. — Edwin Offer.
The election of the Secretary was adjourned to the next meeting, as
there were some doubts expressed as to whether Mr. Mabley, the present
Honorary Secretary, who was absent in London, would consent to con¬
tinue to act.
Mr. Mann then read the Treasurer’s account for the past year, showing
a balance in hand of £52 13s. 3d.
It was moved, seconded, and carried unanimously, “That the sura of
£5 be handed over by the Treasurer of this Society to the Council of the
Literary and Philosophical Society, as a contribution towards the late
expenses incurred in beautifying the rooms, and that the best thanks of
this Society be tendered for the use of the rooms.”
A resolution was also unanimously carried that the meetings of the
Society he held for the future at half-past six o'clock, and that the mem¬
bers be provided with tea, and that any member be at liberty to introduce
a friend to tea on the meeting nights, on payment to the Treasurer of a
small fixed amount.
The subject mentioned in the circular, viz., as to whether a rule should
be framed having for its object the exclusion of subjects involving trade
interests, was introduced by Mr. Sidebotham ; and, after a lengthy dis¬
cussion among the members, it was ultimately suggested by the Chairman
that, as he understood it was intended to revise the rules, the subject
should be disposed of when the new rules were framed.
It was then resolved that Mr. Sidebotham, Mr. Parry, Mr. Mabley, and
Mr. Mann be appointed a Committee to draw up the proposed code of
new rules.
A resolution was passed that Mr. Sidebotham bo authorised to purchase
a suitable album for the reception of carte-de-iisite portraits of the
members.
It was then resolved that the meeting bo adjourned to the first Wed¬
nesday in November, for the report to be prepared, the tdection of a Sec-
retary, and other business.
After a vote of thanks to the Chairman the proceedings closed.
GLASGOW PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION.
The ordinary meeting of the Glasgow Photographic Institution was held
in the Rooms, 75, St. George’s Place, on Thursday, the 2nd iust , — John
Kibble, Esq., President, in the chair.
In the absence of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. E. Brace, Mr. J. Ewing read
the minutes of the previous meeting, which were approved of. Six
gentlemen were then ballotted for as members of t lie Institution.
Mr. Crombie then read the following paper —
On the Rise and Progress of Photography in New Zealand.
At the request of the Hon. Secretary I have been induced to offer a few
remarks On the History and Progress of Photography in New Zealand
In 1841 the first European settlement was established in Auckland,
the most northern province of New Zealand. The necessaries of life
being the most important to a young colony, several years elaj sc befirc
anything of a pictorial nature comes on the scene.
Notwithstanding the comparative youth of photography, and in that
remote region, so far back as 1S4D or 1S50 a gentleman was then trav fi¬
ling professionally as a Daguerreotype operator. He was shortly after¬
wards followed by another, who also paid a flying visit to the different
provinces.
In tire early part of 1851 a gentleman, who, with his family, emigrated
to Auckland, had taken the precaution to add the Daguerreotype process
as another “ string to his bow.” He shortly after gave up all other pur-
394
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 15, 180^
suits, and followed it as a profession. He was, I believe, the first in that
part of the world to introduce the calotype process.
With respect to the spread of photography in New Zealand, I may state
that when I arrived in Auckland from Melbourne, in 1855, there had been
at least three operators before me in that small town of about 3,000 inha¬
bitants. A twelvemonth later, when travelling through the towns of the
southern provinces, I found that several had preceded me on the same
errand, and, from all accounts, had finished the business. That, however,
I found not to be the case so far as I was concerned, having always as
much professional occupation as I could attend to.
According to the census taken in December last, the population of
Auckland and suburbs was about 10,000. The photographic wants of
this population are ministered to by six professional photographers, be¬
sides others who practise the art occasionally. The other towns, in propor¬
tion to their population, are equally well supplied with operators. It will
thus be seen that we have no lack of aspirants after photographic fame.
The results are, however, I am sorry to say, very far from being
satisfactory, when compared with those of this and other towns in Great
Britain. This may be accounted for in many ways. The islands of New
Zealand have been, till very lately, without the conveniences of steam
communication. The towns being thinly populated and widely scattered,
an operator is very apt to become either stationary or to lag behind in
the march of photographic advancement. The extended nature of the
settlements and scattered population doing away with that pressure from
without which is so palpable in large towns and densely-peopled countries,
there is not the same incentive to excel that there is in large communities,
where competition is always in excess. But, perhaps, the greatest draw¬
back to the photographic student is — as was observed by a member at
last meeting — to be found in the petty jealousies that are ever associated
with small communities. In large cities like Glasgow, and in societies
such as I am now addressing, the searcher after knowledge has an oppor¬
tunity of propounding his theories and submitting his experiments to
others equally interested with himself in the perfection of the most subtle
and beautiful science of modern times.
The progress of photography in New Zealand, it may be taken for
granted, is in the same ratio of advancement with other sciences at a
distance from their source — rather slow and feeble in its results.
We commenced with the Daguerreotype early in 1847, and adhered to
it pertinaceously up to 1857, when we got to glass positives, which we
eagerly held on by till the interchange of photographs between friends in
England and friends in the colony called for something of a more port¬
able nature. We were thus forced into the paper process.
It must be remembered that, in those distant parts, where everything
has to be done by one pair of hands, and from the want of that incentive
to excel already referred to, we are rather slow to get out of the beaten
track. However, to paper “we have come at last,” several specimens
of which I had the privilege of submitting to the members at the last
meeting, and which you were kind enough to notice in a manner more
flattering, I am afraid, than they deserved.
I now beg to submit to you a street view, taken as nearly instanta¬
neously as the circumstances of my case will admit. This brings me to
the subject of exposure in the camera, — a question that has excited con¬
siderable speculation with several gentlemen to whom I have mentioned
the subject.
Whether it be from the nature of our light, the superiority of your
lenses and chemicals, or defective manipulation on our part, I must
leave you to judge, but I confess I have rarely got a good dense nega¬
tive under from twenty to thirty seconds in the operating-room ; and
outside, with a Voigtlander 3J lens and half-inch diaphragm, I have
required from five to fifteen seconds for views.
My sensitising bath is acid, and has never been boiled. I develop
with iron till the shadows appear faintly ; wash the plate ; intensify by
adding a few drops of the silver bath to the iron developer ; wash off, and
fix with cyanide.
My sensitising bath is composed of forty grains of silver and about one-
quarter grain of iodide of potassium to the ounce of rain water, caught
direct from the clouds.
The developing solution is twenty-four grains of protosulphate of iron,
with the same proportion of acetic acid and alcohol to the ounce of water.
Perhaps the difference of time required in New Zealand and here
may induce some of the members present to instruct us on a subject
that must be interesting to all concerned.
In conclusion permit me to acknowledge the kind and friendly man¬
ner in which I have been received by all the members of the profession.
The time and trouble they have taken to enlighten me on many subjects
have placed me under obligations that I am afraid I shall never be able
to repay.
Tn the course of an interesting discussion which followed the reading
of the paper,
Mr. Alexander Macnab remarked that he had much pleasure in listen¬
ing to the paper just read by Mr. Crombie, as in it that gentleman had
touched upon many points of interest to the profession — one in particular,
viz., the light with which they worked. He was not astonished at the
surprise inanifested by Mr. Crombie in finding that with an apparently
dul.er light photographers in this country were able to produce pictures
with greater rapidity and seemingly more density than their brethren
at the Antipodes, who worked in a much clearer atmosphere. He did
not believe that the difference was attributable to the greater purity of
the chemicals or more rapid action of the lenses, but entirely to the
difference of climate; as, although their light had greater illumination,
it must really possess less actinic power, as it was not always the
brightest day which gave the best results. Even in their obsei ration of
the differing aspects of light in their island-home, they often found on a
lovely day in June, with a bright blue sky overhead, the actinic action
was decidedly slower than on a duller day with perhaps more clouds
above. Much depended on the state of the atmosphere, and the quarter
from whence the wind blew. He had observed that more particularly in
the country, where the smoke and dust of the city could have no influ¬
ence in the matter. Another point of importance was the careful manipu¬
lation of the plate ; as, in the case of different iodides in tin; collodion,
much depended on the time allowed for the coating of the plate on its
immersion in the bath — the time that should elapse before exposure and
development. He thought on the proper understanding of that point
much of the real perfection of the resulting picture depended, as he had
often found that a plate just inserted in the bath till the etheral and
alcoholic streaks had barely subsided, placed rapidly in the dark slide,
and exposed and developed in the same hurried manner, gave hard pic¬
tures, much wanting in those softer gradations of tone observable in a
picture the collodion of which had been allowed to get thoroughly satu¬
rated with silver, and just exposed at that moment when it was in the
best condition to receive the reducing element, light.
Mr. Ewing observed that he could not understand why Mr. Crombie
used such an extraordinary quantity of iron in his developer, as it was
quite unusual in this country to use such a powerful solution. It also
appeared that his silver bath was much stronger than that used for wet
collodion plates.
Mr. Stuart seemed to have used the iron developer quite as strong
on many occasions.
Mr. Macnab was of opinion that better results were obtained from a
weaker solution of iron, say from twelve to fifteen grains to the ounce.
He thought that by using a weaker solution a more evenly developed
and more intense plate was obtained.
Mr. Lqng remarked that he had frequently been annoyed with a halo
surrounding the extreme edges of objects in his pictures, as where trees
rose into the sky of a landscape, or around a portrait figure when a
white background was used.
Mr. Macnab supposed that such halo light was occasioned b}' the
developer passing over the darker portions of the plate without being
taken up, and arriving at the sti’ong contrasting light of the background
threw down a stronger precipitate around the edge, gradually soltening
as it passed over the plate. In regard to the same being observed of
trees, he thought Mr. Kibble had some time ago attributed it to a phos¬
phorescent or vapoury cause.
Mr. Kibble. — To a gaseous cause.
Mr. Stuart remarked, on the subject of light, that he found in working
outside in the shade on a bright day that the prints required a longer
exposure than on a dull day. He had heard Mr. Macnab remark that
on a foggy day, looking out of his window into the street, the houses
could scarcely be seen; but looking from his glass-house, which was
blue, the light was comparatively clearer, and the houses which were
dim before became more visible.. Now, he (Mr. Stuart) considered that
such glass-houses were very apt to cause blunders in the proper exposure
of the plate, as on entering his glass-house, which was not blue, he could
tell to within a few seconds the amount of exposure a plate required.
Mr. Ralston observed that, by a judicious arrangement of blue cloth
screens, any desiderata of colour in a glass-house could be met.
Mr. Kibble then read his promised paper On Instantaneous Photo¬
graphy. [See page 379.]
Much interest was evinced by the members throughout the reading of
the paper, and on the results being produced and handed round Mr.
Kibble received the warm approbation of the Societj\
The Chairman then drew the attention of the members to some beauti¬
fully-executed Woodward’s solar-camera enlarged prints, exhibited by
Mr. John Stuart, stating at the same time that that gentlemau was open
to answer any questions relating to the manipulation of the specimens
then before them.
'Mr. Macnab highly complimented Mr. Stuart on his successful execu¬
tion of those pictures “untouched,” and thought it no flattery on his
part to give that gentleman his unqualified meed of praise ; but the
advanced time of the evening would prevent the members from fully
entering on the subject with that interest which he was certain the
pictures demanded. He concluded his remarks by expressing a wish
(and, in doing so, he had no doubt it was shared by all present) that
Mr. Stuart would kindly allow them to be brought to the rooms the
next evening of meeting, when, perhaps, he would be able to give them
something in the shape of a paper.
To this Mr. Stuart assented.
Mr. Long suggested that, as Mr. Stuart had already been at consider¬
able expense in getting those pictures forward for their inspection, any
further expense incurred be defrayed from the funds of the Institution.
The suggestion was at once adopted.
Mr. Mactear exhibited a useful form of dark cell and a simple instan¬
taneous shutter, but the lateness of the evening ■would not admit of their
careful consideration ; and it was arranged that these articles should
again be exhibited at the next meeting.
October 15, 1862]
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
395
Messrs. Crombie and Kibble received votes of thanks for their excel¬
lent papers, as also Mr. Stuart for his enlarged pictures.
Mr. Crombie was proposed as an honorary member by Mr. Macnab,
and seconded by Mr. J. Stuart, and five other gentlemen were entered
on the proposal roll.
After a brief desultory conversation by the members, the meeting
separated.
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
The first meeting of the Society for the winter session was held on
Wednesday, the 1st instant, — Mr. Marwick, the President, in the chair.
The attendance of members on the occasion was large.
The President made a few observations on the subjects proposed to
be discussed during the session then entered upon. He also alluded to
the arrangements made by the Council for a renewal of the popular
evenings in connexion with the Society.
Mr. Andrew Mure, Advocate, was then called upon to read his paper
On the Application to Photography of the recent Copyright Act. [See
page 390.J
At the close of the paper a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr.
Mure.
An interesting conversation followed the reading of the paper, which
was kept up till a late hour, when it was agreed that the subject should
be resumed that day fortnight.
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
[The following arrived just as we were “going to press” with our
last.- — Ed.]
A meeting of the Council of this Association, for the admission of mem¬
bers and subscribers, was held on Friday, the 26t,li ult., at 26, Ilaymarket,
— The Eight Honourable the Viscount Ranelagh, Vice-President, in the
chair.
The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the
following members and subscribers were proposed and duly elected : —
Admiral Kellett, C.B
The Hon. and Rev. A. Campbell.
R. S. Newall, Esq.
F. Ark, Esq.
J. W. Weldon, Esq.
Rev. R. Battiscombe.
Robert Hunt, Esq.
R. F. Holle, Esq.
B. Willis, Esq.
W. F. Tollemache, Esq.
G. Farquhar Smith, Esq.
Captain J. G. Sandeman.
Benjamin Fagh, Esq.
W. J. C. Moens, Esq.
F. H. N. Glossop, Esq.
Lieut. -Col. C. Holder.
James Ferrier, Esq.
Mrs. C. J. Osborne.
W. H. Price, Esq.
John Yates, Esq.
Charles Crookes, Esq.
J. Proctor, Esq.
T. J. Murray, Esq.
Hugh McBean, Esq.
P. E. Currey, Esq.
The Honor
meeting some
one of the newly- _ .
negatives are by the calotype process, and almost rival in sharpness and
half-tone the finest collodion plates. * The Honorary Secretary also ex¬
hibited some interesting copies of ferns, by C. S. Harris, Esq.
Several matters of detail relative to the method of supplying the
Association prints to members and others having been arranged, the
proceedings terminated. A. J. MELIIUISH, Hon-Sec.
NORTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.
The next meeting will be held at Myddleton Hall, Islington, on the 22nd
instant, upon which occasion a paper, by Mr. George Dawson, Vice-
President, On some of the Preventable Causes of the Fading of Photographs,
will be read.
Major-General Osborne.
Robert Murray, Esq.
A. W. Hume, Esq.
Captain W. R. Houghton.
W. Drury, Esq.
Miss E. B. Huson.
Thomas Pryce, Esq.
Captain A. Hoskins.
W. Allen, Esq.
S. Mortimer, Esq.
T. Woods, Esq., M.D.
Thomas Halifax, Esq., M.D.
Miss E. Gamlin.
J. Vaughan, Esq.
The Commander of II.M.S. Algiers.
T. W. Pigott, Esq.
R. Staples, Esq.
W. Sibbald, Esq.
C. J. Setts, Esq.
George Potts, Esq.
J. W. Tillerton, Esq.
D. W. Hill, Esq.
J. Moreton, Esq.
A. Hall, Esq.
F. W. Hasenclever, Esq.
“THE TIMES” ON PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
It is not often that the professors of our art rejoice in so powerful
an advocate for a recognition of its just claims as the great leading
organ of public opinion, The Times.
On the 4th instant an article of considerable length appeared,
which want of space will not permit us to reproduce entire, but
from which we cannot forbear quoting the following : —
“ There is scarcely a class in the Exhibition which does not profess
with more or less of truth, to have its peculiar
Not one, however, has such just grounds forct mplaii
to Class XIV (photography), and from none have fewi r complaints and
remonstrances been received. Not that photograph, r- 1 at all
indifferent to the slights they have received, or the way in which their
once superb collection has been treated. As a body th
the first of the many whom the Commissioners unfortunat
offend, and their association, therefore, early withdrew from co-operating
in bringing about an exhibition which they knew was not onlv to be
located in a place where few would see it, but exposed to such influences
as would destroy their chances of successful competition with their
foreign brethren. We would venture to say that only a very small per¬
centage of the visitors to the buildingever found by their catali
there was such a thing as a photographic collection in the Exhibition,
and of this small number only a smaller number still ha\ mpted
to scale the weary flights of stairs which giv
the photographs are almost hidden away. For the inf rotation of I
who may wish to see the little that yet remains worth looking at in this
collection, we may state that the room is built above the brick t
the Cromwell Road entrance — a height very nearly < qual to th roof of
the nave itself. A worse place than this could not ly I e giv< n to it.
The glazed roof, for a long time loft uns . made the heat here
during the summer quite unbearable. The beat peek 1 the pictures
off their mounts, cracked and warped their frames, and tl g of the
sun’s rays ruined the tints of some of the finest -
Add to this that the whole space given was inadequate t-; the n rjuire-
ments of the class, and that more than half even < f this litt
shared with the maps and school-books of the education cla.-s. It must
give foreigners (if any ever penetrate up here) a curious notion of our
ideas on education to find that great dolls and cases full of the commonest
kinds of children’s toys are thought more v
tional objects than the artistic and beautiful results of one of the most
important scientific and chemical discoveries of the age. It n.
be due to this state of things that the collection is by no means dii
or arranged with proper effect, and that the catalogue is therefore far
from being as good an assistant as the purchaser has a right :
Photography in 1851 had no class of its own, and, in fact, w - -
represented at all except by a few Daguerreotypes ami T. tv; • s. wlm h,
with their apparatus, were exhibited among philos
The collodion process, to which is due the levelopm ut which has taken
place since, was then not known. In the present c» flection all the j ho-
tographs, with very few exceptions, are by the colli ii and
include, of course, every variety of specimens of the art — large and small
portraits, cartes de visite, landscape vi us ana
towns and buildings, stereoscopes, and positive trarsnar nt pi lures on
glass. Contrary to what might have l> num¬
ber of portraits are exhibited, and of 1 ..11 for
any remark, viz., those by Mayall, Williams, and Watki
After a generally good detailed criticism of the works exhibited
— some few technical errors excepted — in which 1 com¬
mendation is bestowed upon Claudet, Eastham, Caldesi, Bedford,
Rouch, Wilson, Stephen Thompson, tl Ai ti nr Phol
Association, the Earl of Caithness, LadyJ celyn, SirA.U
Sidebotham, Robinson, Mudd, Piper, J. Spode, Vernon Heath,
Sir II. James, Paul Pretsch, the London Stei
Negretti and Zambra, and Breese, the article concludes as
follows : —
“Even now, after all the ill-usage the collection has experienced from
atmospheric influences, there is still more than en ugh 1 : si wh w
well our photographers have maintained their reputal : .. .
comers. Few, however, have visited it without feeling that they de¬
served better at the hands of the Exhit itii n . utl • ritii > than having their
works huddled away in such a remote and almost inac.
the building.”
Fire at M. Silvy’s. — On Sunday, the 28th ult., a fire, which
was well nigh attended with most disastrous consequences to life
and property, occurred at Bayswater. It broke out in M. Silvy’s
laboratory, on the ground floor, owing to the heat of the iurnace
flue, and soon extended to the roof. Assistance was promptly on
the spot, and, owing to the great exertions made, the flames were
prevented extending, but not before great damage was done. Id.
Silvy was not insured.
* It may be some encouragement to beginners to hear that Mr. Murray taught himself
entirely by a shilling handbook sent out to him to Egypt, having never seen a uegatn e
taken by any one until after his return to this country.— A. J. M.
Photography and the American War. — During no previous
time in America lias the art. in a business point view, been in so
prosperous a condition, and with the demand f r pictures has come
a decided improvement in the perfection of the prints. All seem
to be working up to a more uniform standard of exccdence. Card-
pictures are still the most in demand, and many of them are
ordered to be coloured, which is being now dot e in various ways,
and a large numl or of secret j recesses for painting on albumenised
paper are being offered to the trade for a consideration.
396
THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
[October 16, 1862
Srajjs mf& Jxapmrts.
Photographic Premiums have produced the Commissioners of
the International Exhibition £2,350.
Photography in France. — All the regiments of the French
army now include both photographers and telegraphists.
Photographic Joke. — An album photograph, just published,
gives the portraits of a pair of young donkeys in a field, with the
following inscription below Not the first who have stood for
their cart ( e ) s."
Another. What piece of a photographer’s apparatus is the
most valuable in a portrait establishment? — The rolling- press, to
be sure. Why ?— Because however ugly the model may be its’aid
will invariably make the portrait flatter! The perpetrator of the
above is most urgently requested to call at the nearest police
station.
Photography at Rome.— -The Pope has ordered photographs to
be taken of his 258 predecessors, from portraits both in the Vatican
collections and the Papal mosaic manufactory. Petagna is the
artist entrusted with this honourable task .—Parthenon.
The British Association.- — From the report of the Committee
of Council to the General Committee we find that “ a sum of £40
was placed at the disposal of the Kew Committee for the employ¬
ment of the photo-heliometer ; and a further sum of £150 for tl'ie
purpose of obtaining a series of photographic pictures of the solar
surface, with the co-operation of the Royal Society.” The report
of the Kew Committee will make known the results of these re¬
commendations.
Photography at Rome. — The police have been very busy lately
with. a crusade against photographs, and the studios of the Via
Babuino have been weeded of every “counterfeit presentment” of
a liberal politician or good Italian. Only papal