A short Lecture entitled “Improvements in Bromide Printing” followed by a demonstration was given by the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Stiles.

Starting with a description of Bromide Papers & how it was worked, the lecturer outlined the various methods of Exposure & Development giving Formulae for the Developer in general use & specially recommending the Ferrous Oxalate for its simplicity, reliability & the good colours of the prints produced with it.

Two trial exposures were then made – one a rather thin negative representing a winter scene at Cusworth the other a view of the Parish Church from the Canal with a boat in the foreground. The first was a thin negative & to it was given an exposure of 60 seconds with a Paraffin Lamp at a distance of 24 inches, The lamp had a metal chimney with Glass Slip covered with a metal shutter having an aperture [blank] in diameter – a system of lighting adopted to secure uniformity.

To the Church negative an exposure of 90 seconds at 18 inches was given. Increasing the distance of the Light augments the contrast in a thin flat negative & decreasing it has the reverse effect with a plucky negative. The result may also be modified by using a strong or weak developer.

The two prints after development were cleared in a bath of Sulphuric Acid 3 oz to a pint of water to prevent any subsequent discolouration & then after washing were fixed in a solution of Hypo 3oz to a pint of water. After thorough washing, should the colours of the resulting prints not be satisfactory, they may be toned in a bath consisting of 1 grain of gold, 30gns of Sulphocyanide of Ammonium & 6 oz of water.

Care should be taken not to overtone as the Shadows are apt to become blocked up to some extent if this be done.
Mr. Stiles exhibited a number of mounted prints produced by the process he had described & demonstrated, most of them finished with a matt surface by squeegeeing on to finely ground glass. They were mounted by treating with tuncilage(?) of Gum Arabic previous to removal from the glass stripped when dry, trimmed, placed on a previously masked & wetted card & then rubbed into contact with clean blotting paper.

Thus treated the matt finish was not interfered with & the process of mounting became an easy & certain one.

Formulae No 1
Oxalate of Potash 4 oz, Bromide of Ammonia 5 gms, water 16 oz.
Formulae No 2
Sulphate of Iron 4 oz, dilute Sulphuric acid 3iij, water 12 oz.
Add I part of No 2 to 5 parts of No 1
Increased brilliancy is imparted by using half the bulk of old developer.