Page 71 - The Wellington photographic handbook

hang with each side exposed to the air. In a warm room they dry
more quickly in this way than in any other.
Prints must be dried in a room free from dust or fluff, as if
this adheres to the surface spoilt prints will be the result. No
attempt should be made to dry prints by heat, unless they have
been previously hardened.
Bromide prints are trimmed after drying. This operation
can be performed in the usual way with a sharp knife and a glass
cutting shape, or, in the case of large prints, with a steel straight-
edge. Any of the ordinary forms of print-trimmer can be used,
and the process calls for no special remarks.
Bromide prints are best mounted by the dry mounting process,
but the outfit needed is expensive and beyond the reach of most
amateur workers. The notes which follow are intended for those
who have to mount in the ordinary way.
The following gelatine mountant is strongly recommended.
It keeps excellently, and will be found a better and stronger adhesive
than starch.
An ounce of Nelson's No. 2 Gelatine is allowed to swell in
12 ounces of cold water for half-an-hour, and is then dissolved by
the aid of heat. When it is quite melted, 5 ounces of methylated
spirit are added with constant stirring, and 15 grains of carbolic
acid or of some other suitable preservative. This mountant
requires melting by standing the bottle in hot water before use,
and will bear melting and remelting over and over again without
injury to its adhesive properties. The equivalents of the above
quantities in the metric system are—Gelatine 30 grammes, water
360 c.c, methylated spirit 150 c.c, carbolic acid 1 gramme.
The dry trimmed prints require to be soaked in water and
blotted off before being mounted. One must have at hand a pile
of clean pieces of paper, and the first print, when blotted off, is
laid face downwards on the pile. Using a stimsh brush, its back
is brushed over with some of the mountant, care being taken not
to apply too much. It is then placed quickly in position on the
mount, a clean piece of blotting-paper is placed in contact, and
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