HYPOSULPHITE OF SODA.
Hyposulphite of Soda.--This salt forms one of the important chemicals for the Daguerreotype operator. Its application to this art is of an interesting nature. It is used to dissolve the sensitive salt of silver which remains unchanged during the exposure in the camera. It has the property of readily dissolving the chloride, bromide and iodide of silver. It should be pure and free from sulphuret of sodium; should this last be present, it will cause brown spots of sulphurated silver upon the Daguerreotype impression. This annoyance is a great source of complaint from many operators, and ever will be, so long as it is prepared by men who have no reputation to lose, and whose eyes are blinded by the "Almighty Dollar."
A good article may be prepared as follows:
"Mix one pound of finely pulverized carbonate of soda with ten ounces of flowers of sulphur, and heat the mixture slowly in a porcelain dish till the sulphur melts. Stir the fused mass, so as to expose all its parts freely to the atmosphere, whereby it passes from the state of a sulphuret, by the absorption of atmospheric oxygen, into that of a sulphite, with the phenomenon of very slight incandescence. Dissolve in water, filter the solution, and boil it immediately along with flowers of sulphur. The filtered concentrated saline liquid will afford, on cooling, a large quantity of pure and beautiful crystals of hyposulphite of soda."
Hyposulphite of Gold.--This compound salt is by a few considered preferable to the chloride of gold, but our experience has induced us to use the latter, believing we are enabled to produce a more brilliant and warm-toned impression with it. When the hyposulphite of gold is used in gilding, it requires less heat and a longer application, as there is some danger of producing a glossy scum over some parts of the surface of the plate. I prepare this salt as follows:
Dissolve one part chloride of gold and four parts hyposulphite of soda in equal quantities of distilled water: pour the gold into the hyposulphite solution, in the same manner as in mixing the gilding solution; let it stand until it becomes limpid; filter and evaporate to dryness. Re-dissolve and add a few grains of burnt alum.
After standing a few hours, filter and evaporate again. If not sufficiently pure, repeat the crystallization until it is so. For gilding, dissolve in water and use in the same manner as the common gilding solution.
N.B.--The four following mixtures were employed in Neipce's process in his earliest experiments:
Aqueous Solution of Bichloride of Mercury.--Eight grains of bichloride of mercury in 10,000 grains of distilled water.
Solution of Cyanide of Mercury.--A flask of distilled water is saturated with cyanide of mercury, and a certain quantity is decanted, which is diluted with an equal quantity of distilled water.
Acidulated White Oil of Petroleum.--This oil is acidulated by mixing with it one tenth of pure nitric acid, leaving it for at least 48 hours, occasionally agitating the flask. The oil, which is acidulated, and which then powerfully reddens litmus paper, is decanted. It is also a little colored, but remains very limpid.
Solution of Chloride of Gold and Platinum.--In order not to multiply the solutions, take the ordinary chloride of gold, used for fixing the impressions, and which is composed of 1 gramme of chloride of gold and 50 grains of hyposulphate of soda, to a quart of distilled water.
With respect to chloride of platinum, 4 grains must be dissolved in 3 quarts of distilled water; these two solutions are mixed in equal quantities.
Acids.--I shall not go into the preparations of the various acids employed in the Daguerreotype. This would be useless to the operator, as there are few, if any, that it would be advisable to prepare. It is only necessary for the experimenter to be made acquainted with their properties, and this in order to prevent any haphazard experiments, which are too common among operators. Any person who may be desirous to try an experiment, should first study the agents he wishes to employ. By so doing much time and money will be saved; while the searcher after new discoveries would rarely become vexed on account of his own ignorance, or be obliged to avail himself of the experience of others in any department of science.
Nitric Acid--Exists in combination with the bases, potash, soda, lime, magnesia, in both the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, and is never found insoluble. It has the same constituents as common air, but in different proportions. The strongest nitric acid contains in every pound, two and a quarter ounces of water. Pure nitric acid is colorless, with a specific gravity of 1.5, and boiling at 248 deg.. It is a most powerful oxidizing agent, and is decomposed with more or less rapidity, by almost all the metals, to which it yields a portion of its oxygen.
The nitric acid of commerce, is generally the article used by the Daguerreotypist. This usually contains some chlorine and sulphuric acid. It is obtained by the distillation of saltpetre with sulphuric acid. It is employed in the Daguerreotype process for dissolving silver, preparing chloride or oxide, nitrate of silver, [the former used in galvanizing,] and in combination with muriatic acid for preparing chloride of gold, used in gilding. It is also used by some for preparing the plate.
Acidulated Solution.--This solution is used for cleaning the surface of the Daguerreotype plate. It has the property of softening the silver, and bringing it to a state in which it is very susceptible of being either oxidized or iodized, hence it contributes to increase the sensibility of the plate. The proportions are to one drop of acid add from 15 to 20 drops of water, or make the solution about like sharp vinegar to the taste.
Nitro-Muriatic Acid.--Aqua Regia is a compound menstruum invented by the alchemists for dissolving gold. It is composed of colorless nitric acid (aqua-fortis) and ordinary muriatic acid; the mixture is yellow, and acquires the power of dissolving gold and platinum. These materials are not properly oxidized; it nearly causes their combination with chlorine, which is in the Muriatic acid.
Hydrochloric Acid (Muriatic Acid).--This acid forms a valuable addition to the chemicals employed by the practical Daguerreotypist. This acid is formed by acting upon common salt (which is chloride of sodium) by concentrated sulphuric acid. The water of the acid is decomposed, and its hydrogen combines with the chloride of the salt to form muriatic acid, and this unites with the sulphuric acid to form sulphate of soda; 60 parts of common salt and 49 parts of concentrated sulphuric acid, afford, by this mutual action, 37 parts of muriatic acid and 72 parts of sulphate of soda. The muriatic acid of commerce has usually a yellowish tinge, but when chemically pure it is colorless. The former is commonly contaminated with sulphurous acid, sulphuric acid, chlorine, iron, and sometimes with arsenic.
Muriatic acid, from the fact of the presence of the chlorine, is used in the Daguerreotype process for dissolving gold, and in combination with various accelerators. Its presence can be detected by ammonia. A strip of paper dipped in this and waved to and fro will emit a thick white smoke if the acid vapor be in the atmosphere. The ammonia neutralizes the acid fumes. By reversing the experiment we can determine whether vapor of ammonia be in the air, and also deprive these suffocating and dangerous gases of their injurious properties, and remove them from the air. Every Daguerreotype operator should be furnished with, at least, a six ounce bottle of aqua ammonia. Its operation is very nearly the same on bromine and iodine vapor.
Hydrofluoric Acid (Fluorohydric Acid).--This acid is used to form some of the most volatile and sensitive compounds employed in the Daguerreotype. It is one of the most dangerous bodies to experiment with: it is volatile and corrosive, giving off dense white fumes in the air. It combines with water with great heat. At 32 deg. it condenses into a colorless fluid, with a density 1.069. It is obtained from decomposition of fluorspar by strong sulphuric acid. It readily dissolves the silica in glass, and consequently cannot be kept in a vessel of that material. It is prepared and kept in lead. It is employed in accelerators on account of its fluorine.
One small drop on the tongue of a dog causes death. The operator who wishes to use it should pour some of the liquid for which he intends it into a graduate, or other vessel, and then add the desired quantity of acid. If by accident any of the spray should fall upon the skin, it should at once be copiously drenched with water.
Sulphuric Acid.--There are two sorts of this acid: one is an oily, fuming liquid; this is made in Nordhausen, in Saxony, and is commonly called "Nordhausen sulphuric acid," or oil of vitriol. The other which is the kind used in connection with the Daguerreotype, is common sulphuric acid. It is somewhat thinner, and when undiluted is not fuming. This acid may be obtained in a solid and dry state, called anhydrous sulphuric acid.
The common sulphuric acid is made by burning sulphur, which forms sulphurous acid. To convert this into sulphuric acid and gain more oxygen, nitric acid, which is rich in that body, is added. It forms a limpid, colorless fluid, of a specific gravity of 1.8. It boils at 620 deg.; it freezes at 15 deg. It is acrid and caustic, and intensely acid in all its characters, even when largely diluted.
Its attraction for basis is such that it separates or expels all other acids, more or less perfectly, from their combinations. Its affinity for water is such that it rapidly absorbs it from the atmosphere, and when mixed with water much heat is evolved. It acts energetically upon animal and vegetable substances, and is a poisonous, dangerous substance to get on the skin. It is a powerful oxidizing agent; hence its use in the galvanic battery, for which purpose it is mostly used by the Daguerreotypist. The fumes of this being so much more offensive than nitric acid, the latter is sometimes used. It is also employed in some of the more sensitive accelerators.