Crush the arrowroot to fine powder, then rub it to a paste with a little water, and let an assistant pour a few drams of boiling water while you keep stirring all the time; finally, let him add the rest of the boiling water, the operator still continuing the stirring. The paste is allowed to cool, and will be thicker when cold than when hot. Remove the upper portion entirely when quite cold, otherwise, if any left, it will give rise to streaks. The author insists upon the necessity of all these cares. Two sheets of paper are now placed side by side on a flat board, then the surface of the first is covered with the paste by means of a sponge, proceeding, before you leave it, all over the sheet in a horizontal direction; the second sheet is covered in a like manner. By the time the second sheet is pasted, the first one will be partially dry. The sponge is now drawn over each sheet, in succession, in a perpendicular direction in order to efface the streaks from the first sponging. If the paste drags in a slimy manner, it is too strong, and a fresh arrowroot must be prepared, because dilution only ends in failure. Why dry, the paper is rolled under moderate pressure, and when it lies smoothly the maximum pressure may be applied.

Add the uranium first, and as soon as it has dissolved all that [pg 69] it can, add a grain or two of soda, and when settled pour off the supernatant collodion and add the silver.14 To coat the paper with collodion, use a board with a handle beneath, such as is used by plasterers. On this place a sheet of paper, the edges being turned up about the sixteenth of an inch; this enables the whole of the sheet to be covered without spilling the collodion or allowing it to run on the back of the paper.

There is a marked difference in the appearance of the prints when they leave the pressure frame. Some samples of collodion cause the picture to print of a beautiful green, others of a rich brown, and some of a yellow or orange tint. The last take the longest of all to tone, and difficultly assume the tint of well toned silver prints,15 those printing to green or brown tone very rapidly.

After printing the pictures are placed in diluted sulphuric acid, 1 to 30 of water, until the high lights are perfectly clear and white; this takes from ten to fifteen minutes. After washing well under a stream of water, they are placed in the toning and fixing bath.

After removing from this bath, the prints are immersed for a few moments in water, and then rapidly washed.