M. Stravos Zellis, of Alexandria in Egypt, recommends the following process for marking or lettering on the sensitized paper such names as we wish to give the prints. He takes a piece of thin white paper and traces upon it the words which he wishes to have at the bottom of his negative, and oils it on both sides; having removed the excess of oil by rubbing it between two sheets of bibulous paper, he coats it with varnish on both sides and allows it to dry. On the other hand, he removes from the bottom of the negative a portion of the gelatine, equal to the size of the paper, and substitutes for it the paper, which he sticks by means of a solution of gum arabic and water. He removes then the air bubbles, which would prevent complete adherence, and this being done, waits for his work to dry. If, when printing on the sensitized paper, it is found that the letters do not show very white, the defective portions should be retouched on the back of the oiled paper. To write his name Mr. Zellis makes use of a mixture of gum arabic, lampblack, and water. This process is simple, cheap, and gives excellent results.--Annals Photographique.
At the meeting of the Photographic Society of Berlin, President Stolze exhibited the sketch of the Daguerre monument to be erected in Washington city, at the cost of six thousand dollars.
Dr. Julius Stinde declared never to have seen anything more disgusting (schauerlicheres) than this unhappy head of Daguerre, crushed under the weight of a large ball, and attributes the depravity of our taste to the high duty on articles of fine arts. He says that such monstrosities show that we Americans are yet in point of art barbarians of the purest water. Mr. E. Himly, as well as Dr. Stolze, takes our part, and shows that the American photographic journals have unanimously condemned and ridiculed Mr. H. McMichel’s scheme, and exonerate us as a body. Bravo!--Photographische Nachrichten.
DAGUERRE.
On the twelfth of August, in front of the Smithsonian Institute, in Washington, dedicated to manifold arts and sciences, will be erected a lasting memorial to Daguerre, the author that we all know fixed the visible image on a given surface, which is photography, with all its varieties and names, and they are numerous.
Why should we Americans put up such a memorial? The inscription on the granite below the bronze portrait tells the story:
“To commemorate the first half century in photography, 1839–1889. Photography, the electric telegraph, and the steam engine are the three great discoveries of the age. No five centuries in human progress can show such strides as these. Erected by The Photographers’ Association of America, August, 1890.”
The monument, now almost complete, its bronze features being of a high order of art, will stand sixteen feet high, and will be the only international monument in the city of Washington, where Smithson himself dedicated his fortune for the advancement of science in the western world.