Page:TheAmericanCarbonManual.djvu/54

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44
THE AMERICAN CARBON MANUAL.

is very evenly coated by floating, or by means of a flat camel's-hair brush, with the following preparation:

Gelatine, 2 ounces.
Glycerine, ½ ounce.
Water, 1 pint.

The gelatine should be melted and carefully cleared of air by long heating, and skimming the froth; after which the glycerine is added. It will at all times, of course, require melting by heat and straining through wet flannel or muslin before use; it is then applied evenly to the surface, either by floating (which is best), or with a broad camel's-hair brush, and afterwards hung up to dry. Sometimes in coating the print with the gelatine solution, there is a disposition manifested by it not to adhere on all parts of the surface of the print, but to “creep” off in certain spots. When this happens, there can be no adhesion at those points between the gelatinous coating and the pictures; consequently, the film, composing the picture, will be torn off from such places, when the rubbered Saxe paper is removed. To avoid this non-adhesion and “creeping,” it is best to coat the prints in a warm room, where the hot gelatine will not chill, nor “creep,” upon being brought in contact with the surface of the print, as it would do if the print were in a cold apartment. When dry, the print is trimmed to the required shape. A piece of stout cardboard of the required size, pure in color and fine in surface, is passed through clean water, and then drained. Upon the moistened surface the print is laid, face downwards, exactly in the position it is designed to occupy, and the card is removed to the rolling-press and placed on the polished steel plate, print-side downwards, the side on which the print is placed being in contact with the plate, and a felt blanket on the back of the card; it is now sub-