Volltext Seite (XML)
October 30, 1868.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. 525 guilty of like error, and believe myself much in the right. I drain the prints thoroughly from the hupo before im mersing them in water; and my chief care is to have an abundance of water to start with, and I see that the water has made a move through the syphon before the prints are immersed. Depend on it, much of the fading we hear so much about often arises from excess of care in moving the prints from the fixing bath into a small dish, from that dish into a second, and so on. The waters employed in the earlier stage are converted into weak sulphurous compounds, which attack the whites of the prints, decomposition in atent form is set up, and a damp atmosphere, or other causes, will finish the destructive work, perhaps months subsequent to the formation of the germ. If any one would see what a dilute hypo solution can do, place a print or two in such a mixture for a few hours, when, ten to one, the print will go through all the stages of decay which silver prints are heirs to; or, at least, so their character is de scribed by many. After all that has been said concerning the carbon printing process, until some process is discovered that enables the operator to work with his eyes open—such as silver printing admits of—silver printing will doubtless remain the favourite. By no other known process could Mr. Robinson’s beautiful composition pictures be produced ; by no other process can the sun be employed to remedy defects present in the negative. Therefore, as silver printing is destined to enjoy a long lease of existence, let me, in conclusion, beg of my readers to do what they can to master all the difficulties connected with printing operations. I have faithfully offered reliable for- mul and instructions, in which I have examined existing theories, and offered others of my own. The formula} I have recommended are all based on sound and economical prin ciples, and the whole, if intelligently worked, yield unerring results. I here dismiss the subject of albumen printing, so far as theory and formulae are concerned. My next paper I purpose devoting to the collodio-chloride process and print ing by development. Until then, Au revoir ! ANSWERS to Correspondents. B. A. The addition of plain water to the bath is not, as you suppose, to replenish waste ; it is intended to keep the solu tion in constant working order. The surplus solution so occasioned should bo throwu away. NEaro. You are inclined to display some amount of irony. I have, as you are doubtless aware, studiously avoided puffing my own or any other person’s goods. “ Fair play ” is the motto I adopt, believing there are many in the world more able and not less honest than myself. 8.—Add a little very weak chloride of lime solution to the toning bath, which will enable you to obtain the black tones you are sighing for. Oorresponence. SALTING FORMULAE OF ALBUMINIZED PAPER. Dear Sir,—A paragraph extracted from an American Journal has recently been going the round of the London daily press, in which a satirical squib is set fizzing in honour of M. Dumas, the celebrated French novelist, whose announced visit to Yankee Land has inspired some witty journalist to improvise an anticipatory programme of the eminent French man’s probable performances, according to which, commencing with readings from his own works, M. Dumas will successively exhibit his versatile abilities as player, gastronomer, chemical demonstrator, velocipede driver; and the finale will consist of a grand distribution of photographs of the performer, accom panied with a packet of stuff for the cure of madness. My advice to M. Dumas would be : “ For charity’s sake present the first package of your madness eradicator to the writer of the paragraph in question.” To the thoughtful every incident conveys some useful moral, and the paragraph alluded to has impressed my mind with thoughts I deem most apposite to the subject on which I am anxious to address you in the present communication. A fertile genius is unquestionably one of God’s greatest gifts to man, but its versatile powers require no ordinary amount of care to control them, for the plain reason that a man of genius, feeling strong in his superiority, is frequently but too apt to make a trip when he puts forth his powers to manage matters publicly’ before he has mastered the pro’s and con’s embraced in general details. The unhappy result of his temerity is, he is laughed at by those who. for the once, are his superiors in knowledge, and, when compelled to retrace his steps, the erring genius finds that confidence in the integrity of his teachings has been grievously shaken. How many a man of genius has made shipwreck of his fame by deserting well-mastered fields to wander o’er untried ground—to venture hapazard on work perhaps not above his ability, but beyond the embrace of his previous practice and study! Among painters the name of such fallen ones is legion. Writers I briefly sum up ditto. In short, among every class of toilers, whether of hand or brain, are to be found men who have cause to regret their having entered on some ill-considered undertaking, the failures in which offer forcible proof that nature sternly demands from all a sober use of such powers as a good God has bestowed on them, also that teachings should proceed only from teachers who by much labour have been taught. Turning towards photography, I find versatile actors there who oft cut queer capers, men who probably would be qualified to adorn some humbler sphere, setting themselves up as art teachers. Of a truth, art pretenders are they, stringing together quotations from books ancient and modern, affect ing to commence with Homer, and to follow up with Plato, to make a show of learning, and really drawing largely upon the pages of Ruskin, as is fashionable with dabblers in art. forming in the whole an ensemble most bombastically erudite and fantastical. I say, “Heaven forfend that I consider such sorry performances efforts of genius 1” Robinson in the News, Davies elsewhere, have given us art lessons in good, plain, hearty English, and they are readily acknowledged the right men in the right place. Setting art teaching aside, we discover science instructors seeking notice, some of whom would perhaps do well to select fields that need more of imagination than patient investigation and reasoning. Yet, from time to time, turn up among us men of real genius, who are wont to startle us by their originality of conception, and arouse our feelings of admiration by the acute ness of their logical powers. Let me name one : Mr. Nelson Cherrill, a gentleman I heartily admire, and truly respect, on account of his philosophic intellect. An original thinker, a man of cultivated tastes, a thoughtful and intelligent observer, possessing a skilful hand and able pen, take him all in all, he has all the requisites to mould himself into a photographic star of the first magnitude ; but, alas! human vanity will peep out to make fools of the wisest; and human weakness tugs hard on the most assailable side of Mr. Cherrill when that gentleman is tempted to write or speak on printing matters. I take his last paper, read before the members of the North London Society, which contains some able, original, and well-considered remarks on the true relationship of tone with intensity ; and had the paper concluded with the writer’s comments on these subjects, I fain would have clapped my hands over the pages of the News, and cried, “ Bravo, Mr. Cherrill! you have hit it cleverly.” But the unfortunate supplementary remarks thrust me from the climax of enthu siasm down into the depths of sorrowful cogitation; for well I know that Mr. Cherrill has all the ability needed to make an intelligent and successful printer; but he has wisely chosen the better path, where present fame is his, and future laurels await him ; where he will never, I trust, have reason, after years of toil, to say, “ I have been pursuing a labour of love in a vale of emptiness ; I have endeavoured to benefit my art and its followers, and now, when too late, discover that I have wronged those little ones who laugh and prattle around my ain fireside.” Mr. Cherrill, I repeat, might, if it so pleased him, have made a thoroughly practical printer, but he sagely turned aside, and is not one ; hence, when touching on print ing matters, he presumes on his versatility, and exposes his weakness. A word or two on the point at issue. In his comments on the supposed variations that exist in paper from the same maker, he unconsciously unfolds to the gaze of the initiated his imperfect acquaintance with the subject he attempts to discuss. He objects to making negatives to suit paper, and to pursue no end of experiments to discover the treatment papers prepared