The ferrotype and how to make it - The Grian Press

FOG. . 115
they are of the class of raen, who, when " things
do not work well," begin to look intelligently for
the cause, and in most instances do not fail to
find It.
We have in the Collodion process a very im-
portant trio of essential parts—the nitrate bath,
the Collodion, and the developer; these three
must strictly harmonize to produce good results.
The silver solution must be of a suitable strength
for the Collodion, as the Collodion must be salted
or excited to accommodate the number of grains
of silver to the fluid ounce of the silver solution,
and the developer must so harmonize with the
sensitized plate, as to flow evenly and smoothly
over the surface; in fact, to amalgamate with the
surface during that process. To do this, it must
not have too much alcohol for a new bath, or too
little for an old one. Again, this trio is so in-
timately and closely related, that a watchful care
must always be kept to maintain the proper
balance of its parts. If the proper strength of
the nitrate bath is 45 grains to the fluid ounce,
we should hardly expect good results from a 25
grain solution with the same Collodion. Care
must be bestowed in keeping the bath at its
proper strength ;
Collodion which has been kept
for a time is likely to become decomposed, thus
settling free iodine, giving it a deep reddish color;
accompanying this, is a loss of ether by evapo-
ration ;
these things must be attended to accord-
ing to directions in article on Collodion.