Into this put half as many grains of pure chloride of gold as you have sheets of paper to tone; after adding the gold make the solution alkaline by adding enough of a strong solution of a carbonate or bicarbonate of soda to turn red litmus paper just blue; then add a pinch of salt, and the toning solution is ready for use. When half your prints are toned, or the toning proceeds too slowly, add more gold, allowing not over 1 grain of gold for each sheet of paper. When all the prints are toned, put the toning solution into a bottle to keep for the next time, when it will probably work better than at first; p77 use it until it becomes badly discolored, then put it into a large bottle to save the waste gold.
The toning must be done in a flat dish that is as large as the largest print that requires to be toned.
Your toning solution being ready, the prints are now to be prepared for toning by being deprived of all excess of silver and free chloride not acted on by the light; in order to do this, put them one by one in a large dish full of water, in this dish keep them in motion for some little time, then prepare another dish containing the same amount of water slightly acidified with acetic acid, and remove the prints into this one by one as before, keeping them in motion; they will at once commence to turn red, and when they are so they may be taken out, the waters of these two washings must be saved for the silver contained therein.
The prints require two more waters after the acid, when they are ready for toning.
Immerse half a dozen or more of the prints, one at a time, in the toning solution and watch the change of color.
They may at first become a little redder from the action of the salt in the solution, but they will soon change to a brown and then to a bluish or grey brown. And when the faces have become as clear and white as to suit as finished pictures, remove them to fresh water and proceed with another batch until all are done.
FIXING THE PRINTS.
Hyposulphite of soda, about 1 lb. to a gallon of water, constitutes the fixing solution; its function is to dissolve all the chloride of silver that may remain in the prints after their previous washing and toning. p78
The prints should be immersed one at a time, and kept in motion so that the solution may have an equal action. When there are a large number of prints the dish containing the fixing solution should be correspondingly large, so that the prints may not be massed together but kept separate and free for the more perfect action of the fixing solution; they should be kept in motion until the fixing is completed, which will be in about 15 or 20 minutes. Some printers ascertain that the action is complete by holding the print up and examining it by transmitted light; if it looks mottled and uneven it is not fixed, but if you can see the fibre of the paper and all is clear, then remove the prints from the hypo into a dish containing brine or common salt and water, one by one as before, and keep them in motion in this brine until all are well saturated with it; then let fresh water run into the dish, which will gradually change the brine to clear water.
The prints are put into the brine, and this gradually changed to clear water to prevent blisters or a separation of the albumen from the paper in the form of blisters. The water may be allowed to run into the dish, the prints being kept in motion, and in the course of an hour they will be sufficiently washed; they may then be taken out and placed between the sheets of blotting paper to remain until next morning, when they can be overlooked, the blemished prints thrown out, and the perfect may be mounted.