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May 7, 1869.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. 223 than with the more brilliant materials. Naples yellow may be treated in the same manner when required for the imita tion of gold lights, or the prepared white may be used mixed with ordinary cadmium, and applied without any addition of gum. In pictures containing costumes or uniforms one is often compelled to produce high lights upon a matt ground which has been painted in body colour; in such cases the colours are applied as they are found, in the cake or tube, without any addition of gum; but lights and effects of this kind must always be put in sparingly, as their production tends to render the pictures unquiet and to destroy its aspect, irre spective of the fact that colours so laid on possess a some what dull and disagreeable appearance. This effect may be avoided to a great extent by coating the finished picture with a brilliant varnish. It should be mentioned, that it is generally best to coat drapery with the desired ground-tint as evenly as possible ; a small softening brush may sometimes be used to effect this properly, and the painter will do well to lay on the colour in parts only at a time. When ths ground-tint is dry the shadows may be put in by using a darker tint, or the lights brought out by the application of a more brilliant body colour. Rose- coloured, violet, and blue drapery are in general very difficult to paint, as in most photographs these stuffs are re presented of a very light colour, or even of a pure white ; in these cases the colours should be mixed of the requisite shades in small porcelain saucers, with a sufficient quantity of gum, and applied to the paper with a free hand and full brush, the strokes being made in a diagonal manner in such a way that one stroke is half-covered by the following one, the drapery or other objects being coated as evenly as pos sible. The sloping strokes of the brush facilitate the better distribution of the colour over the surface while the pig ment is still wet. The transgression of the outlines and borders is a matter of little consequence when manipulating with these tints, as the superfluous colour is easily removed by a subsequent operation. When the colours have dried it is possible that they may not appear sufficiently even throughout. The lighter parts are, in such a case, again retouched with a paler or rather thinner colour, until the surface has been rendered quiet and symmetrical, and then the shadows in the folds may be darkened or made more brilliant. And, finally, the lights are worked up with a pigment containing a little white in its composition, and, if possible, also some other bright colour, by which means the effect is heightened to a very great degree. The backgrounds of pictures thus coloured can scarcely be left untouched, showing the violet-brown of the photo graph ; and even when the finished print has been worked up to prevent the appearance of an enamel or oil photograph, the beauty of the picture is much enhanced by a treatment of the background with pigments. In fact, any coloured picture would lose half its charm if the background of it were not suitably finished ; for this reason particular atten tion should be paid to the elaboration of the background. It is by no means an easy accomplishment to cover large surfaces with a nice even tone of colour, which has been mixed with a fair proportion of gum ; a certain amount of skill and practice will always be found necessary, especially when several tints are required to be worked in,as, for instance, a yellowish green above, a brownish green in the centre, and at the bottom a brownish or reddish brown tone. For this purpose transparent colours are generally used, viz.: the so-called azure colours, as terra de sienna, Prussian blue, Cassel brown, Vandyck brown, &c.; and these are mixed in the ordinary way with gum, and diluted largely with water until the colours are of the proper tint. The employment of a softening brush will be found very useful. To sum up, the best plan of proceeding is as follows ;— The background is first washed in, then the tint on the face, the cheeks, and the deeper shadows applied, and after ¬ wards the hair is coloured ; when this has been done, the clothing is proceeded with, and after that the drapery and other secondary articles are taken in hand. When all the colours have been put in, the finer elaboration is commenced, beginning with the head, so that some scope may be left for the tone of the background ; thus, if a more red, brown, or yellow effect is required, the background may afterwards be painted of a greener, browner, or yellower- colour. WET PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT A TENT* Whiting’s Photo-Camera-Lucida (Registered). The mode of working is very simple, and the result is absolutely perfect if the exposure is properly timed. It is as follows :— The box is placed on the ground or any other suitable place, the lid opened, the camera taken out and placed on its tripod. The view is now focussed, or it may be done while the plate is being sensitized. The baths are un covered, and a plate is coated to within an inch of its upper- end, and placed at once in the plate-protector, P P, while the latter is held in the hand ; this is easily done, and the uncoated end of the plate is secured to the inside (of course) of the top of the protector by the tightening-screw. The plate is now immersed in the silver solution to be sensitized. This is done ag seen in fig. 1, by passing the protector over and down the outside of the bath, S. The protector is now serving the double purpose of a dipper and a dark room, and there is no chance of the plate slipping off the dipper or any other mishap—not even fog—and yet the whole apparatus is in the open light, operator and all. When the plate has remained in the solution the proper time, and. the '• grease washed off,” as is done in a dark room, by moving it up and down, the protector is removed from the bath, and the blotting-plug, fig. 3, inserted in its place (the lower end of the protector). The protector, in its office of a dark slide, may now be taken to the camera and fixed to its back, the “ shutter ” drawn up, and the exposure given. It is now passed to the bath, I), the plug having been removed, and the picture developed ; and then to the water bath, W, to wash the developing solution off, and if the tightening-screw be at this time loosened, the protector may be taken off, leaving the plate in the water; and as the upper end is just above the top of the bath, it may be taken hold of, and the washing finished by moving it a few times up and down. The picture can now be examined, and, if good, put it into the plate-box, and you may seek another view ; if not good, you can take others till a satis factory one is obtained, thus ensuring a good picture before leaving the spot, which, be it observed, can never bo the case with the dry-plate worker, who is unable to discover an error until he has left the field, and, consequently, too late to correct it. All this can be done in less time and with much less trouble than it has taken to describe it, and with the best results as regards the quality of the pictures taken. There is no building up or taking down, no difficulty to see or feel, or confinement of space, or anything ; no stopping or messing of any kind, and no possibility of the chemicals becoming contaminated by admixture. There is a perfect immunity from fog or stains, and. in short, no drawback whatever. It can be carried as easily as the apparatus used by the dry-plate worker for the same sized picture. The wet process may now be worked in the field with the same facility as the dry, and with the advantage of knowing “ what one has got." The plate-protector is the grand part of the whole affair ; nothing can be more simple or useful. It is a perfect dark room, slide, and dipper. The coated plate is easily placed in it, and, when once in, is free from danger ; and it is per fectly protected from the injurious action of light while being sensitized, exposed, developed, and washed : nothing * Continued from p. 210.