The Optical Magic Lantern Journal (December 1889)

54 The Optical Magic Lantern Journal and Photographic Enlarger. made, without sharp edges, and sufficiently capacivus, “The anesthetic methylated ether of -717, sold by Messrs. White and Sons, manufacturing chemists, of Castle-street, Saffron-hill, London, is as good as any you could use ; it contains no water, and will not wet the flannels. The ether which worked the first winter and failed the second may perhaps have been exposed to the light, in a bottle only ~ Partially full. It would, in that case, absorb oxygen, and become less volatile. — Yours very truly, “T. FREDERICK HARDWICH,” the mixing chamber “DEAR S1R,—Many thanks for your kind reply, The ether had been keptin the dark, so could not have deteriorated in the way you Sltppose. “ The jet that roared was a new one, and possibly not as perfectly made as it ought to have been The nozzle was Platinum. It is rather difficult to gauge these small diameters correctly. ““T might further state that, having readin tbe Photographic Journal that in-America ‘rhyolene’ or petroleum ether was found preferable, I obtained some which | judged to be of Specific gravity -6, inasmuch as a pint bottle, which filled with water would have weighed r4lb., only weighed 1202. full of this ether. I putsome of it in thesaturator along with the ether from the Winchester referred to as unsatisfactory, and had explosions in the tube almost as loud as from the firing of a gun, and somewhat alarming. Had I been among the audience instead of in a gallery, there might have been a panic. I had to leave and procure a blow-through jet before the exhibition could proceed. Of course this was most annoying, “When I bought the saturator, I tried it at home, and it then dissolved as well as with two bags ; the room was very warm, which perhaps accounted for it. Since then I have not been able to dissolve at all, in ordinary working.—I am, yours, &c. “To Rev. T. F. Hardwich.” Mr. Hardwich’s reply to second letter. “ DEAR S1R,—I have myself found that an old jet often works more silently than a new one, which may be due to sharp edges and corners having been oxidised and worn down. “Do you ever use the pumice tubes supplied by Mr. Pumphrey, of Birmingham? I have always worked with a Jet containing pumice granules immediately underneath the nipple. One point, however, must be attended to—the lower disc of wire gauze must be renewed from time to time, or the meshes will be choked up, and the pressure seriously diminished. ‘If you cannot ‘dissolve ' with the oxy-ether look to the H groove inthe plug. It should bea little longer both ways than the O groove, so as to keep the ether always in advance of the oxygen. “Messrs. Cutts and Setton, Queen's Optical Works, Sheffield, write to me to say that they now make porous saturators with three barrels when required. In my own practice I employ Broughton’s vapour tank as a rule, but I recommend the Saturator to my friends, until they have a long experience. — Yours faithfully, T. FREDERICK HARDWICH.” SEEEERitERamee THE American Juurnal af Photography says: “The Optical Magic Lantern Journal, published in London, England, under the direction of Taylor Bros., continues to furnish the most excellent matter relative to the management of the magic lantern, the manufacture of slides, &c. We quote,” &c. THE business of Messrs. Horace C. Lewis and Co., of Liverpool, has recently been formed into a limited company. We understand that their premises in 29, Ranelagh-street, are to be enlarged, A Simple Arrangement for DayLight Enlargement. By the arrangement to be described I can, in a few minutes, make my dressing-room into a dark-room for enlargement. The window is thrown open outwards, then a red curtain lined with black is pinned to the window frame all round, to the exclusion of light, with drawing pins, The camera is placed on the window sill outside the curtain, and the lens is projected into the room through a small sleeve in the curtain, a draw-string in the sleeve being then tightened round the neck of the lens. The negative is put in the place of the ground glass focussing screen, and the picture is thrown on toa piece of white paper pinned on the back of a clothes horse. If the focussing arrangement is outside the curtain, it can be reached by the removal of a drawing pin on the window frame adjacent to it. I do not find the use of stops is necessary Or expedient as a rule. My window is most unfortunately situated, as it faces a bank, only 12 yards off, which with its trees rises to about soft. Moreover, the eaves of the roof come very low. The result is that the reflector, for throwing the light from the sky through the negative, cannot be raised sufficiently to hide all the bank, without reflecting (if one can talk of reflecting shade) the dark under-surface of the eaves. However, I find no uneven lighting of the enlargements to result from this. My reflector, adapted to the exigencies of the case, is white-washed canvas stretched on a frame 2ft. 4in. by 3ft. Gin. S. L. DOBIE. Journal of the Photographic Society of India. Editorial Table. A HANDSOME and complete catalogue has been received from Messrs. McGhie and Co., of Glasgow. It is bound with stiff chocolate covers, with gold lettering and gilt-edge leaves, and contains details of lenses, cameras, shutters, stands, lanterns, and all the numerous photographic sundries ot which the stock of a first-class dealer consists. Several pages of useful formule are to be found in this comprehensive catalogue. We have received from Mr. W. Tylar (Birmingham) some gummed strips for binding lantern transparencies, which we have fcund on trial to stick well to glass. A bottle of white ink for writing the names on lantern slides accompanied the binders.