| ℞ | Ferric chloride | 50 grs. |
| Potassium bromide | 30 grs. | |
| Water | iv ℥ |
The plate should be well washed after this treatment, and developed up with the ferrous oxalate developer.
But such plates are not always saved artistically by the method, for the tonality may be thrown out, and the texture of substances is nearly always damaged.
Frilling.
Is due to the expansion of the gelatine, and will rarely occur if the plate be put in the alum bath before fixing. The gelatine can be made to contract by soaking in methylated spirits of wine.
Blisters.
Are of rare occurrence, and will dry out if the plate be carefully handled and washed in alum, as directed. They may be treated locally with methylated spirit, which causes the gelatine to contract.
Dense negatives.
The best reducer we know of is Dr. Eder’s. He recommends the use of—A., one part chloride of iron to eight parts of water. B., two parts neutral oxalate of potash to eight parts of water. A well-known authority on photographic matters, Dr. H. W. Vogel, says, “Both solutions keep a long time without deteriorating. Immediately before using, equal parts of A. and B. are mixed, forming a bright green solution, which keeps well for several days in the dark, but decomposes in the light. Of this mixture a little is added to a fresh and strong solution of ‘hypo.’ In difficult cases 1 part ‘hypo’ and 1/4 to 1/2 of iron solution are employed. The plate to be reduced is placed in this solution. The image weakens quickly and uniformly. The plate is taken out and washed just before the desired reduction is reached, because the action continues during the washing, gradually diminishing under the stream from the tap. This reducer acts on plates developed either with ‘pyro’ or ‘oxalate,’ and does not destroy the details in the shadows like cyanide. There is also less tendency to frill than with the cyanide bath.”
Reducers, like intensifiers, should not be resorted to, unless in case of a very valuable negative, for it must never be forgotten that, though the printing density is reduced, the tonality is not corrected.