The ferrotype and how to make it - The Grian Press

SILVER. 77
bath it is always best to procure the purest water,
but in the absence of such, or when distilled,
rain, or ice-water can not be procured, the
operations of the gallery need not cease.
The proper course to pursue in this case, would
be to take the water that is used for ordinary
purposes, and proceed as follows : In J gallon of
water, dissolve 4 ounces nitrate of silver, and
add 2 grains of iodide of potassium. Shake
well, and set in, the sunshine for three or four
hours—one hour of clear sunshine is suffi-
cient—after which filter and strengthen as
desired.
Forty-five grains of nitrate to the ounce of
water gives the most satisfactory results. The
bath is now ready for use, and in most cases will
work as perfectly as it ever will. Should it,
however, not Avork satisfactorily, coat a plate of
glass with Collodion and immerse in tlie bath;
allow it to remain there a few minutes, after
which, if the bath still refuses satisfactory results,
add a few drops of pure nitric acid, when you
will find all difficulties to have disappeared, and
the bath will work splendidly.
If the Collodion recommended in this book be
nsed with the bath made as above, it will remain
in good condition until it has been greatly re-
duced in strength, and shall have become so
saturated with alcohol and ether as to render it
quite difficult to flow the developer, when it will
be quite proper to replace with a new or fresh