Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes. Various

of water is required. For example, 1 ounce of the gum, either leaf or powder, will swell up and convert 1 gallon of water into a thickish mucilage in the course of 2 or 3 weeks. Only cold water must be used, and before using the mucilage, all whitish lumps (which are particles of undissolved gum) should be picked out or else the mucilage strained. The time of solution can be considerably shortened (to a few hours) by acidifying the water in which the gum is placed with a little sulphuric or oxalic acid; but as the resultant mucilage would contain traces of their presence, such acids are not permissible when the gum-dragon mucilage is to be used for mounting photographs.

      Glycerine and gum arabic make a very good adhesive of a fluid nature suited to mounting photographs; and although glycerine is hygroscopic by itself, such tendency to absorb moisture is checked by the reverse nature of the gum arabic; consequently an ideal fluid mucilage is produced. The proportions of the several ingredients are these:

Gum arabic, genuine (gum acacia, not Bassora gum)	4 ounces
Boiling water	12 ounces
Glycerine, pure	1 ounce

      First dissolve the gum in the water, and then stir in the glycerine, and allow all débris from the gum to deposit before using. The following adhesive compound is also one that is free from chemical reactions, and is suited for photographic purposes:

Water	2 pints
Gum dragon, powdered	1 ounce
Gum arabic, genuine	4 ounces
Glycerine	4 ounces

      Mix the gum arabic with half the water, and in the remainder of the water dissolve the gum dragon. When both solids are dissolved, mix them together, and then stir in the glycerine.

      The following paste will be found a useful mountant:

Gum arabic, genuine	1 ounce
Rice starch	1 ounce
White sugar	4 ounces
Water, q. s.

      Dissolve the gum in just sufficient water to completely dissolve it, then add the sugar, and when that has completely dissolved stir in the starch paste, and then boil the mixture until the starch is properly cooked.

      A very strong, stiff paste for fastening cardboard mounts to frames, wood, and other materials is prepared by making a bowl of starch paste in the usual way, and then adding 1 ounce of Venice turpentine per pound of paste, and {42} boiling and stirring the mixture until the thick turpentine has become well incorporated. Venice turpentine stirred into flour paste and boiled will also be found a very adhesive cement for fastening cardboard, strawboard, leatherette, and skiver leather to wood or metal; but owing to the resinous nature of the Venice turpentine, such pastes are not suitable for mounting photographic prints. The following half-dozen compounds are suitable mountants to use with silver prints:

Alcohol, absolute	10 ounces
Gelatine, good	1 ounce
Glycerine	1/2 to 1 ounce

      Soak the gelatine in water for an hour or two until it is completely softened; take the gelatine out of the water, and allow it to drain, and put it into a bottle and pour alcohol over it; add the glycerine (if the gelatine is soft, use only ¹/₂ ounce; if the gelatine is hard, use 1 ounce of the glycerine), then melt the gelatine by standing the bottle in a vessel of hot water, and shake up very well. For use, remelt by heat. The alcohol prevents the prints from stretching or cockling, as they are apt to, under the influence of the gelatine.

      In the following compound, however, only sufficient alcohol is used to serve as an antiseptic, and prevent the agglutinant from decomposing: Dissolve 4 ounces of photographic gelatine in 16 ounces of water (first soaking the gelatine therein for an hour or two until it is completely softened), then remove the gelatine from the water, allow it to drain, and put it into the bottle, and pour the alcohol over it, and put in the glycerine (if the gelatine is soft, use only ¹/₂ ounce; if the gelatine is hard, use 1 ounce of the glycerine), then melt the gelatine by standing the bottle in a vessel of hot water, and shake up well and mix thoroughly. For use, remelt by heat. The alcohol prevents the print from stretching or cockling up under the influence of the gelatine.

      The following paste agglutinant is one that is very permanent and useful for all purposes required in a photographic studio: Take 5 pints of water, 10 ounces of arrowroot, 1 ounce of gelatine, and a ¹/₂ pint (10 fluidounces) of alcohol, and proceed to combine them as follows: Make arrowroot into a thick cream with a little of the water, and in the remainder of the water soak the gelatine for a few hours, after which melt the gelatine in the water by heating it, add the arrowroot paste, and bring the mixture to the boil and allow to boil for 4 or 5 minutes, then allow to cool, and mix in the alcohol, adding a few drops of oil of cloves.

      Perhaps one of the most useful compounds for photographic purposes is that prepared as follows: Soak 4 ounces of hard gelatine in 15 ounces of water for a few hours, then melt the gelatine by heating it in a glue pot until the solution is quite clear and free from lumps, stir in 65 fluidounces of cold water so that it is free from lumps, and pour in the boiling-hot solution of gelatine and continue stirring, and if the starch is not completely cooked, boil up the mixture for a few minutes until it “blows,” being careful to keep it well stirred so as not to burn; when cold add a few drops of carbolic acid or some essential oil as an antiseptic to prevent the compound from decomposing or becoming sour.

      A useful photographic mucilage, which is very liquid, is obtained by mixing equal bulks of gum-arabic and gum-dragon mucilages of the same consistence. The mixture of these mucilages will be considerably thinner than either of them when alone.

      As an agglutinant for general use in the studio, the following is recommended: Dissolve 2 ounces of gum arabic in 5 ounces of water, and for every 250 parts of the mucilage add 20 parts of a solution of sulphate of aluminum, prepared by dissolving 1 part of the sulphate in 20 parts of water (common alum should not be used, only the pure aluminum sulphate, because common alum is a mixture of sulphates, and usually contaminated with iron salts). The addition of the sulphate solution to the gum mucilage renders the latter less hygroscopic, and practically waterproof, besides being very adhesive to any materials, particularly those exhibiting a smooth surface.

      Mucilages:

      For Affixing Labels To Glass And Other Objects.

      —I.—The mucilage is made by simply pouring over the gum enough water to a little more than cover it, and then, as the gum swells, adding more water from time to time in small portions, until the mucilage is brought to such consistency that it may be easily spread with the brush. The mucilage keeps fairly well without the addition of any antiseptic.

II.—	Tragacanth	1 ounce
Acacia	4 ounces
Thymol	14 grains
Glycerine	4 ounces
Water, sufficient to make	2 pints

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      Dissolve the gums in 1 pint of water, strain and add the glycerine, in which the thymol is suspended; shake well and add sufficient water to make 2 pints. This separates on standing, but a single shake mixes it sufficiently for use.

III.—	Rye flour	8 ounces
Powdered acacia	1 ounce
Glycerine	2 ounces
Oil of cloves	40 drops
Water, a sufficient quantity.

      Rub the rye flour and the acacia to a smooth paste with 8 ounces of cold water; strain through cheese cloth, and pour into 1 pint of boiling water and continue the heat until as thick as desired. When nearly cold add the glycerine and oil of cloves.

      IV.—One part, by weight, of tragacanth, when mixed with 95-per-cent alcohol to form 4 fluidounces, forms a liquid in which a portion of the tragacanth is dissolved and the remainder suspended; this remains permanently fluid, never deteriorates, and can be used in place of the present mucilage; 4 to 8 minims to each ounce of mixture is sufficient to suspend any of the insoluble substances usually given in mixtures.

      V.—To 250 parts of gum-arabic mucilage add 20 parts of water and 2 parts of sulphate of alumina and heat until dissolved.