The ferrotype and how to make it - The Grian Press

104 THE FERROTYPE.
to free it from dust which may have settled on the
surface, and holding it firmly between the thumb
and fore-finger of the left hand, the remaining
finger acting as a brace to support and steady
the plate, we pour from the bottle, held in the
right hand, a portion of collodion upon the end
or part of the plate farthest from the fingers,
allowing it to flow gently over the plate and
toward the left lower corner, and thence to the
right-hand lower corner, where we allow the col-
lodion to flow off the plate into the bottle held
in the right hand. As soon as the collodion has
commenced to flow from the plate, it should be
turned first to tlie side and then to the end, or
vice versa, so that the collodion film may be even
and smooth ; for if it is allowed to flow off" the
plate steadily in one direction, there would appear
a series of lines or ridges in the direction of the
flow, but by tilting the plate tlie direction of this
flow is changed, and these lines are destroyed.
This is of much importance, an even and homo-
geneous film being necessary to the production of
a good picture. After the collodion has ceased
to flow from the plate into the bottle, the latter
should be set on the shelf or stand and covered,
after which the plate is changed from the left to
the right hand, all this time being kept in motion,
until the film has set ; that is, become hard enough
to break when touched by the point of the finger,
on the corner from which the surplus collodion
was allowed to run. As soon as it has become