Mrs. C. R. MILLER.

Over a year ago, Western Camera Notes published the following formula for the toning of lantern slides, that is, giving a wide range of tones in brown, red, blue and green.

Brown and red tones.

A. Uranium Nitrate 40 grains Water 1 ounce Acetic Acid 20 drops

B. Potassium Ferricyanide 25 grains Water 1 ounce

To 6 drams of water add 1 dram each of A and B. When toned to the desired color wash in slightly acidulated water until the greasy appearance is gone. It must be borne in mind

Amidol 20 grains

Sodium sulphite 240 grains

Potassium bromide 10 grains

Water 10 ounces

Development is very rapid, much more rapid than would be the case with a negative, and the beginner has to be on his guard against obtaining excessive density. The exposure must be so timed that when development is complete, the highest lights of the picture have no veil over them, this can readily be seen after the plate has been fixed if the slide be laid upon a sheet of white paper. The paper should show through the high lights perfectly white, otherwise a crisp picture, when the slide is projected upon the sheet, cannot be hoped for. As soon as density has been obtained in the developer the slide is placed in the fixing bath, made as follows :

Sodium hyposulphite 2 ounces

Sodium bisulphite 1/2 ounce

Water 10 ounces

This is a brief description of the making of a lantern slide, and the beginner is recommended to persevere with the above simple method until he can produce slides of good quality.

Photography.

that this bath intensifies the slide, which should therefore be made somewhat thinner than desired.

Blue Tones : The red tone obtained by the Uranium bath may be changed to greenish blue by immersion in the following bath:

Ferric Chloride 5 grains

Water 6 to 10 ounces

A slightly greener tone is obtained by the use of the following bath :

Iron Protosulphate 20 grains

Cold water 1 ounce

Sulphuric Acid 1 drop The following will give blue tones:

A. Ammonio Citrate of Iron 4 grains Water 1 ounce

B. Potassium Firricynade 4 grains Water 1 ounce

When dissolved, add A and B and then add Nitric Acid 10 per cent solution 5 drops. After toning wash in a gentle stream of water to clear the " white."

To my mind this should have at least created some comment among lantern slide workers. Yet after waiting patiently for nearly a year I have read of none who have tried this most excellent method of relieving the monotony of black and white slides.

It takes an artist of steady nerve and rare ability to tint a lantern slide which will not prove a freak when shown upon the screen. As few of us can lay claim to such talent, the next best thing to do is to find some way of making them attractive by chemical toning. A few days after the magazine arrived I brought out some weak slides which has been thrown aside to be washed for cover glasses. I mixed up the Uranium and Ferricyanide toner and after thoroughly soaking the slide in water, I placed it in the chemical tray. In a few minutes the effect was like magic. The old faded-looking plate came out of its bath a rich red brown. After washing thoroughly, and care must be taken to do this properly, the slide was dried and thrown upon the screen. It seemed to me that detail which never showed in the photograph appeared upon the canvas. Delighted with its success, I later tried the other formula above mentioned with the same good effect so much desired for lantern slides.

I called in my photographic friends and they all agreed the effect was beautiful. Several of these are now using the same chemicals in like manner. Care must be taken not to allow the toner to settle in spots on the plate and it is best to do one at a time and keep it moving. Then, too, remember to soak the slide well before placing it in the coloring tray, otherwise the chemicals will not attack the coating evenly and a freak slide will be the result. Be sure to keep your chemicals in a dry place, especially the Ferric Chloride, which, if exposed to moisture any length of time before mixing becomes valueless. Glass stoppered bottles should be used for all.

The beginner must be prepared to spoil a number of slides, but the result after a few trials will prove highly satisfactory. I have been interested in lantern slide work for a number of years and have between six and seven hundred. It has been my pleasure to try many ways of coloring and various toners, but the formulas reproduced above is by far the best of them all. The slides have been tried under all sorts of light, coal oil, gas, calcium and electricity and the coloring out with equally beautiful effect. I have more than one hundred views of the picturesque parts of Colorado toned in this manner. The chemicals have been so manipulated as to reproduce the exact shade of the wonderful Rocky Mountains. Occasionally a freak slide will result from improper washing or a mixture of chemicals. Yet they even are not always lost. Some of them are really very pretty, giving the effect of double staining.

It has been suggested to me that "whatever intensifies will also fade." That may or may not be true. My slides have been exposed to strong light and not a little dampness, yet they are as fresh as the day they were made. 1 cannot see why they should change color or fade out, and I do not believe they will. However, should such be the result, I would remake the entire lot using the same toners.

The plates to be colored by the method of which I have spoken may be of any good make, and developed with the developer which pleases the photographer. The chemicals work equally well on all brands of plates. After all, the real joy of amateur photography is in lantern slide work. Magic lanterns are cheap and easily rigged up in a private house. You may show your pictures with good effect to your friends, and if you are any sort of a talker (amateur photographers generally acquire that habit) you may add to your income by appearing at church and school entertainments and in this way make your art, whos ) only fault is expense, pay for it-self. If you do not care to be reimbursed for your work, you will be all the more popular and "twere good you do so much for charity." To successfully give an evening's entertainment the slides must have merit, show good detail and be made attractive by some little coloring.