A NEW CHEMICAL PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PHOTOGRAPHICPICTURES, AND IN THE PREPARATION AND MANNER OF USING THE MATERIALS IN SUCH PROCESS
Year: 1864

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Archibald Henry "Plantaganet
Stuart Wortley and William Warren Vernon at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, "on the 24th
September 1864. pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. we, ARCHIBALD
HENRY PLANTAGANET STUART WORTLEY, of Rosslyn. House, Grove End Road,
in the Parish of St. Marylebone, and the Honorable. WILLIAM WARREN
VERNON, of 35, Rutland. Gate,. Hyde Park, both in the County of Middlesex,
send-greeting.
!
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for "A NEW CHEMICAL
PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES, AND IN THE PREPARATION AND
MANNER OF USING THE MATERIALS IN SUCH PROCESS," and have petitioned Her

page_text: Majesty to grant unto us, our executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration
that the same is a communication to us from abroad by Jacob Wothlij, of
Aix-la-Chapelle, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Archibald Henry Plantaganet Stuart
Wortley and William Warren Vernon, do hereby declare that the following
Complete Specification under our hands and seals, fully describes-and-ascer-
tains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, in and by the following statement, that is to say:
The features of novelty of this Invention consist, firstly, in a new method of
preparing of photographic paper by bringing the fibrous material of which the
paper is composed into actual contact with the compounds or simple agents
used as mediums for coating such papers, thereby producing a better, smoother,
and more even surface.
Secondly, in producing on photographic paper a "matt" or "dead" surface
instead of a smooth or glazed surface, so that when pictures are printed on
such paper they will have a mellow and quiet effect.
Thirdly, in a new chemical compound for rendering photographic paper or
other materials highly sensitive, and, in being able to print photographic
pictures on paper or other material to the actual intensity (in colour) required,
doing away with the necessity of over printing and allowing for the reduction
of intensity of colour in the bath as is now the case.
The following are examples of the means by which these improvements in
photography may be effected.
Chapter 1st. As regards the preparation of photographic paper or the
surfaces of any other material capable of receiving an impression by the action
of light. We take well-made paper, such as is expressly made for photo-
graphic use, and cover the surface of such paper with any of the well-known
simple mediums, such as arrowroot or common starch, albumen, or with such
simple mediums as described, in combination with any other compound or simple
material suitable for any special purpose, and instead of merely enveloping the
surface with the solution and then allowing_it_to_be_naturally absorbed,-which-
will furr up the surface of the paper, and merely deposit itself between the
fibre (as is now the case), and when dry prevent the fibre of the paper laying
down and being properly interlocked together (in fact assuming its original
surface), we, instead of the old process as above, first envelope the surface
of the paper or other materials with the solutions as before described, and
either place it under pressure between two polished surfaces or subject the
paper to a rubbing process by any material best suited to force the medium

page_text: into and between the fibre, and lay them in a firm and compact manner to
produce, when dry, a smooth surface; or we pass the paper between rollers
especially constructed to effect the purposes herein specified, the great and
important object being to incorporate the fibre of the paper with the medium.
and then to lay down and interlock the fibre again after being fully charged,
so that when dry and prepared it will have a better surface for the production
of photographic pictures.
Chapter 2. Our next novelty in photographic chemistry and manipu-
lation is in rendering the surface of such paper or other materials highly
sensitive to the action of light for the production of pictures from and through
the negative to the positive. Instead of using the ordinary preparations of.
nitrate of silver, we prefer to use preparations of another metal in combination.
We take colodion prepared by any of the well-known methods, to which may
be added any of the gums or other mediums to produce elasticity. flexibility.
and adhesiveness, preventing the edges from being defective, dependant on the
state and humid condition of the climate. To render this colodion sensitive
we add, say. to one pound of colodion so prepared from 1 ounces to 3 ounces
(or even more) of the nitrate of uranium, to which we add from 20 grains to
2 drachms of the nitrate of silver. When the solution is thus rendered sen-
sitive we prepare the paper or other material (in a properly lighted room) by
pouring the sensitive solution on to the surface, and then float it in the
ordinary way, the superfluous quantity being poured off the paper; it is then
hung up in a dark room to dry, when it is ready for the printing frame.
The above sensitive colodion thus prepared and combined has the following
advantages over the old process (viz.), that instead of having to print the
positive to a greater intensity of colour to allow for its reduction in the bath,
as is now the case, we print the picture from the negative on to the positive
paper (or other material as previously described) up to its proper strength of
colour; such as in appearance will be satisfactory to the operator, and when
immersed in a bath of ascetic acid or any other agent in solution to dissolve
the salts which are unaltered by the action of light (which takes by this
process about from 10 to 12 minutes). We then place the picture on a sheet
of glass under a siream of water and rub it with a brush or sponge; or we
pass it through a series of baths until it is perfectly clean. We then pass
the picture in any of the so-called toning baths containing chlorides of any of
the superior metals; or the hyposulphite bath may be used or not, as may
be required by the operator, to produce any tone of colour he may think best
suiting his taste.
Chapter 3. If we require a photographic picture, the effect of which will

page_text: be what is technically termed a "matt" or "dead" and not glazed appearance
Instead of dissolving the sensitive salis in colodion as herein-before described,
we dissolve them in alcohol and water, and add, if necessary, any of the
sachrine substances; we then prepare the paper by covering it with the
alcoholic and water solutions combined with the chemical salts to render the
paper sensitive. The paper thus prepared is hung up in a dark room to dry,
when it is also ready for the process of printing by the action of light.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of this
Invention, together with the best means we are acquainted with for carrying
the same into practical effect, we would remark that we do not confine
ourselves to the precise quantities herein specified, as they are required to be
varied in accordance with the class of negative to be printed from or in the
manner of manipulating, as long as the principles of the Invention are adhered
to what we claim as of our Invention is.-
Firstly, the manner of preparing photographic paper or other materials as
herein set forth in Chapter 1.
Secondly, the using of the nitrates of uranium and silver in combination,
by which a new salt is produced, and using them so combined with the
mediums herein specified for the production of photographic. pictures in their
development at one operation, as fully set forth in Chapters 2 and 3 of this
Specification.
In witness whereof, we, the said Archibald Henry Plantaganet Stuart
Wortley and William Warren Vernon, have hereunto set our hands
and seals, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
A. H. P. STUART
URTLEY, (1.S.)
Lt.-Col.
WILLIAM WARREN VERNON. (L.S.)