moved by short treatment with successive portions of hot water. The apparatus which I use for the convenient working of the process, consists of a couple of two-gallon tin cans, with faucets soldered near the bottoms; these may be placed on an iron stand, and the temperature of the solution and water maintained at 140° by a Bunsen burner, which may be shifted from one vessel to the other, as occasion requires. The deep porcelain trays in the market serve admirably as washing vessels in small operations. The cheapness of ordinary phosphate of soda makes the process an economical one; moreover, the quantity of solution required is just sufficient to cover the prints well, and allow of gentle agitation, that they may be kept separated to allow of uniform action. Phosphate of soda was adopted on account of its great osmotic power. Chloride of sodium was tried, but found too weak and slow in its action. It is well known that all septa allowing rapid osmosis are more or less injured by chemical action, but, in this case, the albumen suffers so slightly as to withstand all but microscopical scrutiny. This process, if not practised as here described, can be used as a subsequent treatment (making but two or three alterations), thus economising to a greater extent.-Philadelphia Photographer. Pencil Jottings. BY R. A. SEYMOUR. Fig. 2 is an example from a picture by Mr. Blanchard, exhibited at the Conduit-street Rooms. Through an error Transactions of Societies. THE SOUTH LONDON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. REV. F. F. STATHAM, M.A., PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. AFTER certain business transactions, including the admission of three new members, Mr. Charles Pearce read a suggestive and practical paper, but one not, I think, of a very elevating or artistic character. ON PRODUCING ARTIFICIALLY OPEN-AIR EFFECTS IN THE STUDIO, of which we give a condensed report. Mr. PEARCE opened his subject by explaining that his subject was not, as he at first intended it should be, the combination of portrait and landscape negatives, so as to produce natural backgrounds, but rather a substitute for such a process, which he used only until he could find some means of rendering the former sufficiently practicable. overcome. "To convey the impression of open-air scenes it is necessary to have the foreground arranged with natural objects; the ground must look like ground- the grass and shrubs must be real, or the deception will be at once apparent; and here, at the graph of the Salomon school, by Mr. J. C. Leake, of Corn-outset, is a difficulty which requires a number of 'dodges' to hill. I sketched it at the above exhibition, from one of a frame of the most successful of the many imitators of Salomon's style, exhibited on the same occasion-went on my knees to it, in fact, for the simple reason that in no other position was it possible to see it. My initial-block is simply a jotting from a ball-room. The pose struck me as tolerably good; and as I am never without my little. I. P. sketch-book, I duly jotted it down. Fig. 5 is from a wellknown whole-length The archipainting. tectural background is rather out in its perspective, but it serves 3 its purpose well as a part of the general composition. The remaining example, fig. 6, is also from a painting too well known to need describing. The background is somewhat conventional, but its general character is quite in keeping with that of the subject. t "I dare say most photographers are familiar with the appearance of the studio when, in some moment of enthusiasm, they have essayed to produce an open-air scene, and have called in the assistance of natural objects. Everything of a vegetable nature within reach is pressed into service. Stones, straw, and, I have heard, even cinders, are made available, and in five or six minutes the studio presents an appearance of something between a stable and a pigsty; and, if these 'accessories' are suffered to remain until next day, the appearance of the whole, with its drooping grass and leaves, is thoroughly wretched. The room has to be cleansed before a fresh sitter can be introduced, and the photographer is tempted to make a vow that he will have nothing henceforth to do with natural properties, until a fresh resolution seizes him, and the same scene is reenacted. "I felt, on commencing these pictures, that it was absolutely necessary to have some control over the foregrounds, that they should be ready at a moment's notice, that they should be portable, and present somewhat of an orderly appearance. These desiderata, to a certain extent, I have obtained, and have no difficulty in arranging foregrounds with the same grass and bushes that I used during the summer months. "After other plans, I tried that of forming a permanent ground which would be always ready, with plenty of room to place the sitter and to build up the foreground in parts; and that is the plan I now adopt, and which I find most convenient. The ground may be formed of a material named 'wincey,' which I found was suitable and cheap. Over this is strewed a little hay, and it is on this account that a fluffy material is best, because the hay adheres to it, and is prevented from littering the other parts of the room. The grass is kept available by planting tufts in wooden boxes. The boxes are about nine or ten inches square, and the sides about an inch and a quarter high. The grass is simply dug out in patches, with the mould adhering to the roots, placed in the boxes, and the blades falling over the sides entirely conceal the framework. Any number of these boxes can be made; some I have contain common weeds, such as groundsel, nettles, docks, &c., which are very effective, and, the whole being easily moved about, the arrangement can be varied without any trouble. "A weed, a sample of which I have brought to-night, I have found very useful. The leaves and stalks are of a very hard nature, and, when dried, retain their shape perfectly; the flower, which is something like that of groundsel, goes to seed on drying, but retains its shape for a considerable period, and the whole photographs remarkably well. This I turned to account in the manufacture of bushes, by tying the stalks together in bundles, and then nailing these bundles in layers to pieces of wood, arranging them so as to make the loose part of one bundle cover the nailed part of another. The wood having a foot, to enable it to stand upright, the bush is complete. I do not apprehend there would be any difficulty in procuring weeds of a similar characevents, weeds of a soft, succulent nature are unsuitable, and not ter-sorrel possibly might be useful in this way; but, at all fitted for drying. "Another picturesque object will be found in the stump of a ree; it need not be very large, and if it has many roots attached to it so much the better. The long, dried, feathery grass can be had cheap, and will be found very useful. "Some might be disposed to say-Why go to the trouble of making artificial bushes when living plants can be obtained? But I think the necessity of concealing the flower pots will be found an inconvenience, to say nothing of the risk of damage to which they are constantly exposed; for instance (I speak from experience), a lady's dress catching in part of the plant, and turning it, together with the mould, on to the floor. However, if any be disposed to living plants in pots, the box tree, arbor vitæ, and American aloe may be suggested as being suitable; and, if placed behind some of the artificial bushes, will have a good effect. "With regard to introducing water into the picture, I have endeavoured to produce the effects with sheets of polished tin, with what results these pictures will show. I should be glad if any member, who has seen real water introduced into pictures of this kind, would point out the defects and the difference between the real and the imitation.* The tin has at least the merit of being exceedingly convenient to use. The shape of the water can be altered at will, and a few imitation flags, or a stone placed so as to show the reflections, will assist in giving the appearance of water. "With regard to the backgrounds. That every photographer should paint his own I regard as a sine quá non, and it will be found desirable to have it as large as the room will permit, so as to prevent the necessity of using exactly the same portion for each picture. The chief point to be observed in the background is the agreeable distribution of light and shade, so as to be in harmony with the rest of the picture, and while giving force to the figure at the same time producing an effect of atmosphere. Of course, each man must judge for himself the kind of background best suited to his method of lighting. As to the amount of scenery represented, the less there is the better. I have found the indication of a clump of trees to be quite sufficient. One important point to be observed is to have the sitter a considerable distance in advance, so as to throw the background well out of focus, and also to separate it from the figure. "Concerning the vexed question of the horizon: whether it should be high or low I do not pretend to decide; but, for my own part, I am inclined to give the preference to a position about one-third or a little more from the bottom of the picture. In most cases, if it be merely suggested, and no distinct line made out, it will be all that is necessary. "There is one quality which particularly recommends this class of picture, and that is the infinite variety one may obtain with a few materials- an advantage which every photographer who pins his faith to chairs and tables must have sighed for in vain. It not only takes away the machine-like character which too many photographs, excellent in other respects, have, and gives an individuality to each picture, but it stimulates the invention of the photographer, which must necessarily benefit him." After a vote of thanks, and a few remarks from the chairman, Mr. SEBASTIAN DAVIES remarked that when the horizon was too high, the figure did not stand out so bold and well as it did before a low horizon, and pointed out in illustration of this a Although it is true that water in photographs, owing to the fact that the mere surface-polish is too generally represented without the transparency and other qualities, therefore closely resembles a sheet of polished tin, yet it does not follow that a sheet of polished tin really looks at all like water.-ED. + Some years ago Mr. Wall partially adopted the plan used for panoramas, so that a turn of the perpendicular roller on one side or the other, when the sitter was placed, altered the background to suit the requirements of each case. In this way one tolerably long background served the purpose of more than a dozen, without occupying too much space. --En. In the works of our more eminent portrait painters, the backgrounds invariably receive conventional treatment, and in most cases where landscapes are used, to give dignity and effect to the figure, a low horizon with a cloudy sky has been adopted. If the horizon represents the height of the spectator or camera, there is so little sky above it that it has all the effect of a bird's-eye view, and so, regarded in reference to the point of sight indicated by the perspective of the figure, conveys a false impression. Moreover, the introduction of such a large space of scenery almost enforces the presence of too many objects. The better plan, perhaps, is to avoid the difficulty by not introducing the horizon. A background of foliage only, or one in which some object-say a rock or bush-is high enough to rise above and shut out the horizon is, in our opinion, preferable for background purposes.-ED. photograph by Mr. Parry, in which the line of the horizon was so high as to convey an impression of looking down upon the figure. As a matter of fact, of course the horizon should be as high as the lens, but pictorial effect appeared to render some latitude desirable. Mr. HART said, if open-air effects were to be given with any degree of truthfulness, the photographer should take care to render the effect of diffused daylight in illuminating the sitter, and certainly not place one side of the face in strong light and the other in deep shadow.* Mr. PEARCE said this was unimportant, and such a trifling sacrifice of literal truthfulness might be indulged in with propriety. It was common in paintings to see studio-lighted figures with open-air backgrounds.† Mr. DAVIS said, in Mr. Robinson's "Returning Home" the face was to some extent in shadow, but the character of the light and sky seemed to account for it. Mr. HART thought in this case it was not the character of the light, but the cast shadow of the hat which accounted for such deep shadow on one side of the face.‡ Mr. SIMPSON thought Mr. Hart's suggestion was a very important one. Circumstances might throw one-half of the face into shadow even in the open air, but it was certainly incongruous to see a figure in the open air lighted with the side light of a studio. As a rule the light of an outdoor scene came from above the head. Mr. TAYLOR said, attention having been called to the subject of pocket cameras, the members might feel interested in examining an instrument of this kind he had brought down. This was an instrument introduced by Messrs. Geymet and Alker. (See page 333.) The meeting then became conversational, the principal topics being a frame of enamels executed by Mr. Henderson-removed from Conduit-street for the occasion-some cartes with natural background, by Mr. Silvester Parry, printed-in from landscape negatives, and toned down or kept back by exposure to light, the above-mentioned opera-glass apparatus, and a series of landscape pictures, taken by Mr. Frank Howard. The CHAIRMAN being unable to announce a paper for the next meeting, it was resolved to fall back upon the question box, Mr. Sebastian Davis undertaking to introduce a question concerning the causes of pin-holes in dry plates, with a few remarks. MANCHESTER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. Memorial Hall, Manchester, November 12th, 1868. THE treasurer's accounts "That the sum of twenty-five pounds be allowed for the expenses of the soirée. "That the management of the soirée be in the hands of the council, with power to add to their number." After the business had been disposed of, Mr. Whaite exhibited one of A. Krüss's wonder-cameras, and projected the images of several opaque objects on to a transparent screen. Mr. Warburton showed a specimen of Forrest's new focussing glass, which gave much satisfaction to the members. Mr. Winstanley promised to perform some experiments in connection with the production of artificial light at the next meeting. The proceedings closed with the usual vote of thanks to the chairman, &c. In portraits with conventional backgrounds, it is common; and such effects are also too frequently seen in paintings of the potboiler class, in which mere studies, by the addition of landscape backgrounds and sentimental titles, are made to do duty for pictures; but the artists who perpetrate the latter enormities-generally young men dependent upon the sale of such works-would be the very last to recommend such a false practice. It is their poverty and not their will which consents. If the back ground is not conventional but natural, it should be in keeping with the figure.-ED. This error was very generally commented upon by those who saw Mr. Robinson's combination print "Returning Home," at the Conduit-street exhibition; in fact, no observer could well overlook it.-ED. If this were the case, the shadow would be thrown at least half over the lighted side of the face, and then the cast shadows would not bein keeping with it. Mr. Davis's suggestions only prove him to be no true observer of natural effects.-ED. AND now, gentle reader, we will journey onwards. The tedious path between Louvain and Cologne need not be retraversed in this sketch; suffice it to say, having passed through the lovely vale of Chandefontaine, and the vine-clad hills that surround it, on one of which stands Liege, the socalled Birmingham of Belgium, we arrive at Verviers, the frontier town of Prussia. Here officious officials, who don't believe in dry plates, and regard portable cameras with dire suspicion, open your carpet bags, and unstrap your portmanteaus, leaving you in a hopeless state of confusion, from which you have only just recovered, and once more settled down in your corner, when the same process is gone through again at Aix-la-Chappelle, but now in a milder form than heretofore-shirts are only tenderly touched and replaced, and some of your photographic and shaving tackle is only weighed, sniffed at, and put back in its corner, and the great white cipher is a passport to Cologne. It was ten when I arrived. I was of course attacked by a band of guides, through whom I manfully fought my way to a dead wall opposite the cathedral, against which I made a desperate stand, and seeing their solicitations of no avail, one by one the enemy dropped off and left me to my own devices. Though I could not speak a word of German, I found by signs that I was soon understood by one Heinr Reiff, proprietor of a Weinhandlung in the Dominikaner. He had two very pretty daughters, had Reiff, and as one spoke a little French, and the other, having just returned from a three months' sojourn in New York, spoke a few words of American-English, I felt myself perfectly at home, and shall not easily forget the pleasant week I spent in their society. Mynheer usually became elevated towards nine o'clock, and then it was that he told such wonderful German legends and amusing anecdotes. These I appeared to thoroughly enjoy; and then the girls-God bless'm-used to take compassion on me, and seeing that I could not understand their respected "parient," invited me to listen to a language patent to all, that of music; and I can assure you that some of the most delightful evenings of my life were spent with mine host's fair daughters, smoking the fragrant weed at a window overlooking a beautiful vinery, while Johanna and Marie favoured me with well-executed selections from my favourite operas. There are moments when the heart-but to proceed. I did no photographing here, and "not no sketchingperhaps you may think this significant of something.perhaps it was. Cologne is a wild, scattered sort of place, but picturesque withal, and having fine buildings, its glorious cathedral being, without exception, the finest Gothic edifice in the world. And then its waters; how many originals present themselves in every street at which the real thing is alone to be obtained! Be advised, ye unwary, purchase from our own conscientious Rimmel all you require, and beware of the many spurious imitations here. It seems the place of all others for photos of Rhineland in general, and Cologne in particular. They are charmingly executed and exceedingly cheap. At night its streets are ill-lighted, and entertainments are few, though in the daytime "Flora" and "The Zɔo" afford delightful opportunities for promenade. One fine morning I started for "Bonn," and met on the steamer two old schoolfellows, out, like myself, on a vacation ramble. I guessed they were Englishmen by the packets of Bristol birdseye which lay beside them on the deck table; and having recognised each other, how jolly it was to talk over "the pleasant old days of the past," when we played fives and hocky, football and cricket, in that dear old playground! We arrived at Bonn about four o'clock, and after a substantial repast at the "Hotel zur Stadt," I took steamer to Konigswinter, and about six P.M. commenced the ascent of the Drachenfels. Your Bohemian is not a rich man, and so on "shank's pony" he was content to mount, first through luxuriant foliage, till, higher up, mountain firs and birch became more plentiful, and, above all, the bare red rocks cropped out, in bold relief to the tangled mass of underwood below. I paused on my way three times to put up my pocket camera, and thrice three times and once to sketch. "Rise, honest muse, and sing" the glories of the Drachenfels; but, alas! all in vain may I call; Miss Muse is not equal to the task; language and art alike submit to such a prospect as that to be obtained from its summit, by one who, like myself, having arrived there, takes one glance round (holding on firmly to the rocks meanwhile) on meandering river, castellated heights, and vine-clad valleys, sighs at his own littleness, and bears down on the picturesque little gasthaus, about 100 feet from the extreme top. But I had fallen in with a very jolly English girl and her stern duenna, both of whom were making the descent at the same time as myself; and so, having had coffee together, we proceeded, often with alarming rapidity, that not only gave a zest to the affair, but enabled me to render some service to my new-made aquaintances. It was a glorious moonlight night, the Rhine looking like molten silver, as we watched it winding like a glittering serpent stealing along through the stillness of a summer night. The last boat having gone, I had to cross the Rhine in a ferry-boat, my lady friends, to whom I now bade adieu, being my interpreters, and, in a strange locality, I was constrained to walk some ten miles to reach my head-quarters for the night at Bonn. At about half-past ten I passed through Godesberg, its grand old castle, on the heights above the town, looking glorious in the moonlight. Having taken a drop of the crater " here, I trudged on, without meeting a soul or hearing a sound save the chirping of the huge grasshoppers with which the banks of the Rhine are infested, and made Bonn about midnight. Arrived at mine inn, a strange sight presented itself: about twenty Bonnites were going in for national songs, dominoes, and Rhine wine to an extent only understood by German students. What a supper I made on my arrival! and I slept too, without rocking, till later than I like to say next morning. I give you a rough sketch, which I took from the window of my bath roomy of the celebrated "Siebengebirge," or seven mountains, and having substituted a terrace for the less picturesque foreground of rough towels and hair-brushes by which I was surrounded, and I leave it open to speculative photographers to use or not, as they think best, this hint for a background next time they go in for "properties." And now I got to work at printing from the few negatives I had obtained, and found in nearly every case I had not been sufficiently careful in securing the exact focus. These little pictures are sad failures if they are not perfectly sharp. Another wrinkle then made in the brow of my young experience was, that the lens for such small negatives should not be brought to bear upon too near objects, that it should be used with a small stop, and that it should also be very short-focussed. My lens I soon found was not the kind of thing I ought to have used with this camera. Altogether I consider my trip, photographically speaking, a failure, but I have a jolly lot of useful" bits in my sketch-book. There's nothing like the dear old sketch-book for hasty pictorial mementoes after all. After knocking about in sundry ways for some weeks, I found a letter awaiting me at Cologne, informing me that Lady Clara de Vere Mountpleasant (we'll call her Mountpleasant, though her real name is Jones) required, with some fair friends, tuition in painting; so, settling ail my little debts, I took the first boat for Rotterdam; nor did anything of very great importance happen till my arrival, save that my sketches and photos very nearly came to a watery grave, being knocked overboard inadvertently by a passenger, who upset the stool on which (while I went to order a fresh A sort of vulgar Venice reminds me that I am So sung Tom Hood, and it certainly is a sort of vulgar Venice, composed of long irregular streets, intersected by canals, but, unlike "the city of the sea," having windmills at every turn and corner. I don't, however, quite agree with the great Tom as to its being the very grimy city he describes. The streets arenow, at any rate remarkably clean, and the freshcoloured inhabitants, in their white caps and spiral earrings, look remarkably neat and picturesque. But Lady Mountpleasant must not be trifled with; so I get on board the first boat for England, and arrive about seven one fine summer's morning in the London Docks. And now, here I am, back again in the old studio, recounting to a lot of choice spirits (Bohemians, of course) the incidents of my little continental ramble; and as two or three have, like myself, been doing foreign parts, our "wise saws and modern instances," with beer and 'bacca combined, help us pass one of those jolly evenings that are only properly understood in the Bohemia of London, or the ladies' quarter of Paris. The lights burn dim, the guests have all departed, and it is at the request of one of these guests that my say is here said; and so, kind reader (for you must be kind if you have come along with me so far), we'll draw the curtain. A gentleman took out seventy-eight plates, prepared by Mr. Gordon's gum process, and showed me seventy-four good negatives from them, four plates only not having succeeded. I may add, too, that he did not pick his views, had not opportunities of choosing his times of lighting, and many of the subjects were extremely difficult to render. Some of the plates were developed whilst on his tour, and some after his return. In none could any difference be detected.-P. le Neve Foster. [Those who visited the Conduit-street Exhibition will be interested in the above quotation.] Replies and Discussions. TO THE EDITOR OF "THE ILLUSTRATED PHOTOGRAPHER." SIR,-I was greatly pleased to see the remarks in your last number of THE ILLUSTRATED PHOTOGRAPHER, respecting poor Goddard's Fund, by "A Country Clergyman," and I quite agree with him that something should be done beyond "this boasted love of photography." Three years ago I volunteered to become the hon. secretary to a relief fund (see my letter in Photographic News), and collect subscriptions. Recently several gentlemen have asked me to take up that position, and I would willingly do so, but must first understand what answer I am to my last subscription ?" It might be asked why I did not carry make when the question is fairly put to me, "What became of out what I undertook to do in the letter above mentioned? The simple answer is, the person whose "boasted love of photography" has been alluded to, urged me to wait till photography became more flourishing." I fear I shall have to wait some considerable time till it be comes what it once was, and much longer ere I get my Goddard subscription returned, or even some knowledge of what has become of it. Perhaps the individual alluded to considered me a hanger-on, and that therefore I had no right to undertake such a responsible position; if so, I must remind him that I am a hanger-on in one sense, viz., that the question, What has become of the Goddard Fund? shall not drop till the subscribers are fully satisfied.-I am, &c., EDWD. DRING. [To the energy and enterprise of Mr. Dring, as we once before stated, we owe the existence of the first weekly photographic journal, and in many quiet ways, which were never acknowledged in "the journals," that gentleman has worked for the general cause. If he would now take up this subject of a general relief fund in a true, business-like way, at once call a public meeting, get the matter fairly and impartially discussed, collect subscriptions, and organise a committee of well-known and responsible men, having due regard to their characters for honesty and respectability, and who will not therefore shirk the responsibilities and duties of such a position, he would soon have a claim to the liking and esteem of photographers at large, and, by acting where others are only talking, would probably carry out this most desirable scheme, and so become the most popular man in the photographic world.-ED.] LOW PRICES AND BAD BUSINESS. SIR,-I also am a regular subscriber to your famous journal, but, unlike your hairdressing correspondent, who proudly signs himself "No Photographer," I humbly confess to being a practitioner of that base calling, and for that reason shall not apologise for intruding. As a shopkeeper I practise "No Photographer's" now oldfashioned maxim of "small profits and quick returns," not that I admit the soundness of the principle for all businesses, |