Chapter 5

I have long been in the habit of mounting prints and photographs in a way which prevents their buckling, keeps the paper underneath quite smooth, and in other respects is so perfect, that it positively defies the distinguishing of the picture from the paper on which it is mounted. I am not certain that my plan is applicable to the mounting on card-board, as it cannot be wetted and stretched, thinking it useless to make use of such a costly material when a tolerably thick drawing-paper will more than serve the same purpose at a very considerably less expense, seeing that the photograph thus mounted bears a much closer resemblance {382} to that of a good and costly print. A good plain or tinted sheet of drawing-paper, 30 inches by 22, may be obtained at the artists' colour shops for sixpence, sufficiently large for two drawings, 9 inches by 11, allowing a sufficient margin.

After various trials, the plan I have found decidedly the best is the following:--Soak the drawing-paper in a vessel of water for ten minutes, or until it appears by its flaccidity to have become perfectly saturated; put it at once into an artist's stretching frame, brush over the back of the photograph with rather thin and perfectly smooth paste, allow it a few minutes to imbibe a portion of the moisture of the paste, and then lay it smoothly down on the damp paper now on the stretching frame, of course carefully pressing out all air bubbles as you gradually, beginning at one side, smooth down the pasted picture. It should remain in a dry place (not placed before a fire) until the whole has become quite dry, about ten or twelve hours. It may then be taken out of the frame, cut to the desired shape, and a single or double line nicely drawn around the picture, at a distance suitable to each individual's taste, by the help of sepia-coloured ink and a crowquill pen, both of which may also be bought at the artists' colour shop. Should it be required to be still more nicely mounted, and to appear to have been one and the same paper originally, the back edges of the picture should, previous to laying on the paste, be rubbed down to a fine and knife-like edge with a piece of the finest sand-paper placed on a wine cork, or substance of a similar size. The drawing-paper should be of the same shade and tint as the ground of the photograph.

A novice in the wax-paper process (having heretofore worked the collodion and calotype, from its very desirable property of keeping long good after being excited, _i. e._ the wax paper), I am very desirous of getting over an unexpected difficulty in its manipulation; and if some one of the many liberal-minded contributors to your justly wide-spread periodical, well versed in that department of the art, would lend me a helping hand in my present difficulty, I should feel more than obliged for the kindness thereby conferred.

My wax-paper negative, much to my disappointment, occasionally exhibits, more or less, a speckled appearance by transmitted light, which frequently, in deep painting, impresses the positive with an unsightly spotted character, somewhat similar to that of a bad lithograph taken from a worn-out stone. I should wish my wax-paper negative to be similar in appearance to that of a good calotype one, or to show by transmitted light, as my vexatious specimen does when viewed on its right side by reflected light. As the most lucid description must fall far short of a sight of the article itself, I purpose enclosing you a specimen of my failure, a portion of one of the negatives in question. Would immersion, instead of floating on the gallo-nitrate solution, remedy the evil? Or should the impressed sheet be entirely immersed in the developing fluid in place of being floated? And if in the affirmative, of what strength should it be? I have thus far tried both plans in vain.

HENRY H. HELE.

[The defects described by our correspondent are so frequent with manipulators in the wax-paper process, and which DR. MANSELL has called so aptly a "gravelly appearance," that we shall be glad to receive communications from those of our numerous correspondents who are so fortunate as to avoid it.]

_The New Waxed-paper, or Ceroleine Process._--The following process, communicated to the French paper _Cosmos_ by M. Stephane Geoffroy, and copied into _La Lumiere,_ appears to possess many of the advantages of the wax-paper, while it gets rid of those blemishes of which so many complain. I have therefore thought it deserving the attention of English photographers, and so send a translation of it to '"N. & Q." As I have preserved the French measures--the _litre_ and the _gramme_--I may remind those who think proper to repeat M. Geoffroy's experiments, that the former is equal to about 2 pints and 2 ounces of our measure; and that the _gramme_ is equal to 15.438 grains, nearly 15-1/2.

ANON.

I send you a complete description of a method for either wet or dry paper, which has many advantages over that of Mr. Le Gray.

I assure you it is excellent; and its results are always produced in a manner so easy, so simple, and so certain, that I think I am doing great service to photographers in publishing it.

1st. I introduce 500 grammes of yellow or white wax into 1 litre of spirits of wine, of the strength usually sold, in a glass retort. I boil the alcohol till the wax is completely dissolved (first taking care to place at the end of my retort an apparatus, by means of which I can collect all the produce of the distillation). I pour into a measure the mixture which remains in the retort while liquid; while it is getting cool, the myricine and the cerine harden or solidify, and the ceroleine remains alone in solution in the alcohol. I separate this liquid by straining it through fine linen; and by a last operation, I filter it through a paper in a glass funnel, after having mixed with it the alcohol resulting the distillation. I keep in reserve this liquor in a stopper-bottle, and make use of it as I want it, after having mixed it in the following manner.

2nd. Next I dissolve, in 150 grammes of alcohol, of 36 degrees of strength, 20 grammes of iodide of ammonium (or, of potassium), 1 gramme of bromide of ammonium or potassium, 1 gramme of fluoride of potassium or ammonium.

I then pour, drop by drop, upon about 1 gramme of fresh-made iodide of silver a concentrated solution of cyanide of potassium, only just sufficient to dissolve it.

I add this dissolved iodide of silver to the preceding mixture, and shake it up: there remains, as a sediment at the bottom of the bottle, a considerable thickness of all the above salts, which serve to saturate the alcohol by which I replace successively the saturated which I have extracted by degrees in the proportions below.

3rd. Having these two bottles ready, when I wish to prepare negatives, I take about 200 grammes of the solution No. 1. of ceroleine and alcohol, with which I mix 20 grammes of the solution No. 2.; I filter the mixture with care, to avoid the crystals which are not dissolved, which always soil the paper; and in a porcelain tray I make a bath, into which I lay to soak for {383} about a quarter of an hour the papers selected and cut, five or six at a time, till the liquor is exhausted. Taken out, hung up by the corner, and dried, these papers, which have taken a uniform rosy tint, are shut up free from dust, and kept dry. With regard to the sensitizing by nitrate of silver, the bringing out of the image under the action of gallic acid, and fixing the proof by hyposulphite of soda, I follow the usual methods, most frequently that of Mr. Le Gray.

I add only, if I have any dissolved, 1 or 2 grammes of camphorated spirits to 1 litre of the solution of gallic acid.

Allow me, Sir, to say a few words on the great advantages I have always remarked in preparing my negatives by this method.

All those who use papers waxed by Mr. Le Gray's process, know how many, how tedious, and how difficult are the operations before the sensitizing by nitrate of silver. They know too how much care is necessary to obtain papers uniformly prepared and without spots, in the midst of such long operations, in which there are so many opportunities for accidents. In fact, one must be always upon one's guard against the impurities of the wax obtained from the shop; against the dust during the impregnation of the paper; and, while using the iron, against the over-heating of the latter, and against the bad quality of the paper used to blot.

Photographers know also how much wax they lose by this process, and how much it costs for the quantities of paper necessary to dry it properly. They know likewise how difficult and tedious it is to soak a waxed paper which has been previously in a watery solution. On the contrary, by the method I have described, the iodizing and the waxing is done by one single, simple, and rapid process; the saturation is, as may be conceived, very uniform, and very complete, thanks to the power of penetration possessed by the alcohol; and that marbled appearance of the ordinary waxed proofs, which is so annoying, cannot be produced by this method, thanks to the character of the ceroleine: this body is, in fact, of a remarkable elasticity.

The solution of ceroleine in the alcohol is more easy to prepare, and comparatively costs little; and the remains of stearine and of myricine can either be sold again, or, in any case, may be used to wax fixed proofs.

The solution of which I have given you the formula, is photogenic to a very high degree; in fact, used with papers, either thin or stout, it gives, after the first bath of gallic acid, blacks of an intensity truly remarkable; which it is impossible to obtain to the same degree with Le Gray's paper, and which other papers scarcely take after having been done a second time with the acetic acid, or the bichloride of mercury. At the same time, it preserves the lights and the half-tones in a way that surprises me upon each new trial (I have not yet been able to obtain one clear proof by gallic acid, with the addition of nitrate of silver). The transparency of the proofs is always admirable, and the clearness of the object yields in nothing to that of the proofs obtained by albumen.

The paper, prepared in the manner I have described, is also very quick as compared with Le Gray's paper--at least one fourth quicker; and preserves its perfect sensitiveness in the same proportion of time, three days in twelve. Thus, it is at the same time quicker and less variable. This comparative rapidity may be very well understood, by remembering that the ceroleine is an element much softer than its compound; and possesses a photogenic aptness which is peculiar to itself, which science will, no doubt, soon explain.

To succeed in the preparation of the ceroleine, it is important to work with wax of the best quality; this is not easy in Paris, where they sell, under the name of wax, a resinous matter which is only wax in appearance. It will be well to observe, with the greatest care, the smell and the look of a fresh cut.

[This article reached us after our preceding note was in type. We shall be glad to hear from any correspondents who have tried this process how far they find it to be one deserving of attention.]

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Origin of Clubs_ (Vol. ix., p. 327.).--Johnson's definition of club, as "an assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions," will apply to a meeting held two centuries earlier than that established by Sir Walter Raleigh at the Mermaid, in Friday Street. In the reign of Henry IV., there was a Club called "La Court de bone Compagnie," of which Occleve was a member, and probably Chaucer. In the works of the former are two ballads, written about 1413, one a congratulation from the brethren to Henry Somer, on his appointment as Sub-Treasurer of the Exchequer; and the other a reminder to the same person, that the "styward" had warned him that he was--

" . . . . for the dyner arraye Ageyn Thirsday next, and nat it delaye."

That there were certain conditions to be observed by this Society, appears from the latter epistle, which commences with an answer to a letter of remonstrance the "Court" has received from Henry Somer against some undue extravagance, and a breach of their rules. They were evidently a jovial company; and such a history as could be collected of these Societies would be both interesting and curious. We have proof that Henry Somer received Chaucer's pension for him.

EDWARD FOSS.

_Dr. Whichcote and Dorothy Jordan_ (Vol. ix., p. 351.).--The sentence which Mr. Leigh Hunt couples with Mrs. Jordan's laugh, as among the best sermons he ever heard, your correspondent [Greek: Xanthos] will find in the collection of _Moral and Religious Aphorisms_ of Dr. Whichcote, first published by Dr. Jeffery in 1703, and which were re-published by Dr. Salter in 1753. It is to the following effect:

"Aph. 1060. To _lessen_ the number of things _lawful in themselves_; brings the consciences of men in[to] slavery, multiplies sin in the world, makes the way {384} narrower than God has made it, occasions differences among men, discourages comers to religion, rebuilds the partition wall, is an usurpation upon the family of God, challenges successive ages backward and forward, assigns new boundaries in the world, takes away the opportunity of free-will offerings."

It is possible that Mr. Leigh Hunt may have found it in the little _Manual of Golden Sentences,_ published by the Rev. John Hunter, Bath, 1826, 12mo., where it occurs at p. 64., No. xlvi.

With respect to Dorothy Jordan's laugh, to those of your readers who, like myself, have heard it, and treasure it among their joyous remembrances, no comment will be wanting.

S. W. SINGER.

"_Paid down upon the Nail_" (Vol. ix., p. 196.).--Your correspondent ABHBA mentions Limerick, on the authority of O'Keefe the dramatist, as the place where this saying originated; from the fact of a pillar, with a circular plate of copper upon it, having stood in a piazza under the Exchange in this ancient city: which pillar was called "the nail." Permit me to remark, Bristol also claims the origin of this saying: vide the following paragraph in No. 1. p. 4. of the _Curiosities of Bristol_, published last September:

"We have heard it stated that this phrase first originated in Bristol, when it was common for the merchants to buy and sell at the bronze pillars (four) in front of the Exchange--the pillars being commonly called _Nails_."

I should infer that, from the fact of Bristol having been at the time of the erection of these pillars (some centuries ago) by far the most important place in the British empire (London only excepted), it is more likely to have originated this commercial saying than Limerick.

BRISTOLIENSIS.

"_Man proposes, but God disposes_" (Vol. ix., pp. 87. 202.).--I regret that I am unable to afford MR. THOMAS any information respecting the Abbot Gerson, to whom the authorship of the _De Imitatione_ has been attributed, beyond what is contained in the preface to the edition which I before quoted. The authority there cited is a dissertation, entitled _Memoire sur le veritable auteur de l'Imitation de Jesus-Christ_, par G. de Gregory, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, etc., Paris, 1827. The contents of this work are thus described in that preface:

"Eques de Gregory argumentis tum externis, tum internis demonstrat:--1. Libellum--primitus tractatum fuisse ethicae scholasticum, a magistro novitiorum elaboratum. 2. Eundem, tempore inter annum 1220 et 1240 interjecto, suppresso nomine conscriptum esse a Joanne Gerson, monacho Benedictino, antea in Athenaeo Vercellensi professore, postea ibidem monasterii S. Stephani abbate. Denique specialibus argumentis eos refellit, qui vel Joanni Gersoni, cancellario academiae Parisiensi, vel Thomae Kempensi hunc librum attribuendum esse contendunt."

I have been informed that an interesting article upon the question of the authorship has recently appeared in a very recent number of a Roman Catholic Review; I believe Brownson's _American Quarterly._

H. P.

Lincoln's Inn.

H. P. wishes for some other quotations from _De Imitatione Christi_, in order to test the claims to originality of that extraordinary work; I therefore now supply another--"Of two evils we ought always to choose the least,"--because I strongly suspect that it is even some centuries older than the time of the author, Thomas a Kempis. It will be found in b. III. ch. xii. of the English translation.

A. B. C.

_Roman Catholic Patriarchs_ (Vol. viii., p. 317.).--The following, with the signature W. FRASER, appeared in "N. & Q.":

"Has any bishop of the Western Church held the title of patriarch, besides the Patriarch of Venice? And what peculiar authority or privileges has he?"

The Archbishop of Lisbon has the title of Patriarch of the Indies; but it does not appear that he has any defined jurisdiction, being only an inferior patriarch, and with a title little more than honorary. His grand vicars, however, are archbishops; and his seal has, like those of other patriarchs, the tiara encircled with two crowns only. This patriarchate was created by Pope Clement XI., by his constitution _In supremo Apostolatus_. Afterwards, in the year 1720, the same Pope conferred upon the Patriarch of Lisbon the exclusive right of anointing the Kings of Portugal at their coronation on the right arm, which had previously been the privilege of the Archbishop of Braga.

F. C. H.

The primate of Portugal has the style of "patriarch," but I do not know of any privileges or authority that he has beyond those appertaining to the rank of archbishop or cardinal, when he happens to be one, as at present.

J. S. WARDEN.

_Classic Authors and the Jews_ (Vol. ix., p. 221.).--In Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography_ a few references are given, under the words "Herodes," "Hyrcanus," &c., to classical authors who refer to the Jewish people, their country and customs. Probably many more will be given in the _Dictionary of Geography_, under the words "Palestine," "Jerusalem," &c., when the work is completed. To suppose that the classical authors allude but seldom to the Jews is a mistake. Roman writers of the post-Augustan period abound in allusions to them. I can supply {385} B. H. C. with a few. The _Histories_ of Tacitus refer to them in almost every page, and book v. especially contains an account of their origin, institutions, chief city, and temple. Juvenal also has frequent allusions to their customs and habits, _e. g._ Sat. iii. 14., xiv. 101. &c.; see also Horace's _Satires_, I. iv. 143., I. v. 100., and I. ix. 70., with Macleane's notes on the two latter passages; Pliny, V. xiv. 15., XIII. iv. 9., XXXI. viii. 44.; Quint., III. vii. 21.; Just., xxxvi. 2. I am not aware of any work which gives _all_ the passages in classical authors referring to the Jews.

FRANCIS J. LEACHMAN, B.A.

In answer to your correspondent B. H. C., I beg to say that I have found out the following passages in classic authors bearing on Judea and the Jews, all of which I have authenticated myself, except where I had not the book at hand:

Tacitus. Annales, ii. 85.; xii. 23. 54.; xv. 44. Ditto. Historiae, i. 10.; ii. 1. 4, 5. 78. 79. 81.; v. _passim_. Horace. Satires, i. 4. 143.; i. 5. 100.; i. 9. 70. Juvenal. Satires, ii. 14.; vi. 158-160, 537-547.; xiv. 96-106. Persius. Satires, v. 180-189. Martial, iv. 4. Suetonius. Tiberius, 36.; Augustus, 76.; Claudius, 25.; Vespasian, 5. &c.; Julius Caesar, 84. Pliny, v. 14, 15, 16. &c.; vii. 15.; xxviii. 7. Dio Cassius, lx. s.6.; xxxvii. s.17. Lucan, ii.

B. H. A.

_Mawkin_ (Vol. ix., p. 303.).--An attempt to explain the origin of the word _maukin_, or _malkin_, may be seen in the _Philological Museum_, vol. i. p. 681. (See also Halliwell's Dict., in _Malkin_ and _Maulkin_.) The most probable derivation of the word is, that _malkin_ is a diminutive of _mal_, abbreviated from _Mary_, now commonly written _Moll._ Hence, by successive changes, _malkin_ or _maukin_ might mean a dirty wench, a figure of old rags dressed up as a scarecrow, and a mop of rags used for cleaning ovens. The Scotch _maukin_, for a hare, seems to be an instance of an animal acquiring a proper name, like _renard_ in French, and _jack_ for _pike_ in English.

L.

_Mantelpiece_ (Vol. ix., p. 302.).--_French_, Manteau de cheminee. _German_, Kamin Mantel. This is the moulding, or mantle, that serves to hide (screen) the joint betwixt the wall and the fire-stove.

H. F. B.

_Mousehunt_ (Vol. ix., pp. 65, 135.).--A short time ago I was informed by a gamekeeper, that this little animal is found in the Holt Forest. He told me that there are three kinds of the weasel tribe in the woods: the weasel, the stoat or stump, and the _mousehunt_ or _mousehunter_, which is also called the _thumb_, from its diminutive size. It feeds on mice and small birds; but my informant does not think that it attacks game.

White of Selbourne mentions that such an animal was supposed to exist in his neighbourhood:

"Some intelligent country people have a notion that we have, in these parts, a species of the genus _Mustelinum,_ besides the weasel, stoat, ferret, and polecat: a little reddish beast, not much bigger than a field-mouse, but much longer, which they call a _cane_. This piece of intelligence can be little depended on; but farther inquiry may be made."--_Natural History of Selbourne_, Let. 15.

FREDERICK M. MIDDLETON.

As I can completely join in with the praise your correspondent MR. TENNYSON awards to Mr. Fennell's _Natural History of Quadrupeds_ (except as regards some of its woodcuts, which I understand were inserted by the publisher in spite of the author's remonstrance), I feel induced to protect Mr. Fennell from the hypercritical commentary of your correspondent J. S.s. (p. 136.).

In the passage quoted and commented on, had Mr. Fennell used the word _beach_, it would certainly have referred to the sea; but the word "shore," which he there uses, applies to rivers as well as seas. Thus Spenser, speaking of the river Nile, says:

"... Beside the fruitful _shore_ of muddy _Nile_, Upon a sunny bank outstretched lay, In monstrous length, a mighty crocodile."

The passage, therefore, in Mr. Fennell's work does not seem to me to be incorrect, as it may have reference to the _shore_ of the Tweed, Ettrick, Yarrow, or some other rivers in Selkirkshire.

May I take the present opportunity of inquiring through your truly useful columns, when Mr. Fennell's work on the natural history of Shakspeare, advertised some few years since, is likely to appear?

ARCHIBALD FRASER.

Woodford.

"_Vanitatem observare_" (Vol. ix., pp. 247. 311.).--The quotation of R. H. G. is no more to be found in the Canons of Laodicea than in those of Ancyra. Indeed the passage has more the appearance of a recommendation, certainly excellent, than of any grave decree of a council. It can hardly be supposed to bear any other meaning than that Christian females ought not to _indulge vanity_, or take occasion to be vain of their works in wool, spun or woven; but to refer all their talent to the Almighty, who gives to them the skill and ability to work. Here is evidently an allusion to the skill and wisdom given to Beseleel and Ooliab:

"Both of them hath he instructed with wisdom, to do ... tapestry and embroidery in blue and purple, {386} and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all things."--Exod. xxxv. 35.

And Christian women are reminded that all their skill in such work is the gift of God. The learned Benedictine Rupertus has a comment upon this passage of Exodus, so apposite that its substance may appropriately conclude this Note: