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THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. Vol. VII. No. 230.—January 30, 1863. CONTENTS. PAGE Private Photographic Exhibition at Nottingham 49 Another Toning Bath with Gold and Lime 49 The Photographic Exhibition—Third Notice 50 Printing Difficulties. By a Photographer’s Assistant 51 Researches in Heliochromy. By M. Niepce de Saint Victor ... 51 Memorandum of a Photographic Trip in Norway. By the Rev. Arthur Cotton, M.A 53 On the Action of Nitrate of Silver upon Albumen. By MM. Davanne and Girard 53 A Short Lesson in Photography.—No. 8 54 PAGE Copyright of Photographs 55 Proceedings of Societies 56 International Exhibition.—Report of the Jury on Photography and Photographic Apparatus 57 Correspondence.—Foreign Science, 58 Photographic Notes and Queries 59 Talk in the Studio 60 To Correspondents 60 Photographs Registered during the Week 60 PRIVATE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION AT NOTTINGHAM. Wb have received a large number of inquiries regarding an announcement which recently appeared in our advertising columns, and has been also widely circulated by means of circulars, referring to a projected photographic exhibition at Nottingham. Not a few of our correspondents suspect the scheme, others denounce it very freely, and some send for our private information particulars of a very damaging character. When the matter first came under our attention, we must confess we viewed it with some degree of distrust. But, as it is not “ our nature’s plague to spy into abuses,” we felt dis posed to pass the matter by without further question or notice. The projector of the scheme, however, asks our opinion on the subject, and our consent to assist in adjudging prizes. We might have answered privately; the inquiries of many correspondents compel us, how ever, to adopt this method, and if we do not supply injurious information, we must at l east offer an‘opinion. 1 hat opinion is in no sense favourable to the scheme pro posed. In the first place, this is purely a private speculation. At the invitation of an unknown private individual, residing in a provincial town, photographers are requested to send him their productions for exhibition or sale. A “Con tributors’ Guide ” is offered on receipt of six postage stamps. This, when received, consists of a circular of three octavo pages, containing the conditions of exhibition, one of which is very singular, and runs thus :— “ 5. All articles intended to be competed for must be entered in the Secretary’s book before the 1st of March, the charge being One Guinea, which shall be used for pur chasing fifteen prizes, and procuring three impartial judges to be chosen by a majority of the contributors.” To say the least of it, such a system of raising the money for prizes, even if adopted by a responsible society, is vicious in the extreme. For the satisfaction of contributors it is announced: ..... .... , .. “3 That this exhibition will be protected by a joint stock company of five shares of twenty pounds each, to defray all expenses not covered by the charges on admission and voluntary contribution. . . How the “joint stock company is to protect the exhibi tion is not quite clear, neither is it clear whether such a company exists, or is yet to be formed. There arc some other curiously worded conditions ; but it is unnecessary to pursue the matter further. Neither do we intend to make use of the information forwarded to us bearing unsatis factorily upon the projectors of the scheme. Whatever the respectability of the persons, the proposition is a blunder. Photographic exhibitions can rarely be successfully t uPin Provincial towns; but if the thing be a possibility at a , it can only become so in the hands of an active photo- giap nc society, o f whom it is the legitimate province o manage such undertakings. When such a project is attempted by private individuals, they lay themselves open to the suspicion of some kind of trade scheming for private purposes ; and in this attempt the mode of pro cedure, and the conditions laid down, are such as cannot fail, we apprehend, to destroy confidence, and issue in entire failure. ANOTHER TONING BATH WITH GOLD AND LIME. M. JEANREXAUD proposes a modification of the toning bath. Considering that the process by chloride of gold and acetate of soda weakens the depth of the tones obtained by proper exposure, necessitating over-printing, he has sought a process free from these objections. He fills one bottle with A. Distilled water 9 ounces Chloride of gold 15 grains B. And another with distilled water 1000 grains Acetate of lime ... lOgrains. The positives are printed strongly, then freely washed in rain water, and the toning bath is prepared in quantity propor tionable to the number of proofs to be fixed. Thus for 2 or 3 proofs 12 by 10, take one ounce from bottle A and add to it two ounces from bottle B, and place the mixture in a porcelain dish, over a spirit lamp. When the liquid becomes heated it gives off faint nitrous fumes, which are immediately succeeded by a slightly acid vapour, arising from the acetic acid. The liquid soon becomes colourless, and commences to boil. A combination now takes place, and in this state the chloride of gold has no longer that corrosive action upon the proofs, which causes so many to be rejected. This operation is very rapid, as only very small quantities of liquid are made to boil at a time. The ebulli tion must not be prolonged beyond a few seconds, because the liquid, which becomes colourless just at the moment it comes to the boil, has then a tendency to become yellow, and thick, and in that state acts with less regularity, and may weaken the proofs. The gold solution is now ready for use ; it is only neces sary to add sufficient distilled or rain water to immerse the proofs in, pressing them down below the surface with a glass triangle, ft is best to keep a glass dish specially for the bath. The time required for toning depends upon the quality of the paper; a quarter of an hour suffices for French paper, half an hour for German ; but with the latter the tones have much more strength and solidity. Lastly, to take every precaution against sulphurizing the proofs, before fixing them with a solution of hyposulphite of soda, strength 20 per cent., they may be passed through a bath containing a solution capable of neutralizing acids, such as water contain ing 6 or 7 per cent, of bicarbonate of soda. This process is very economical, as with 15 grains of chloride of gold 25 to 30 half sheets may be toned. It is very convenient for amateurs, who, not having a large number of proofs at a time, require new baths frequently, and the consumption is in exact proportion to the work performed