American Hand Book of the Daguerreotype Part 4

d. If by accident (we would not advise a trial to any extent of this), you should inhale a quant.i.ty of the vapor of bromine, immediately inhale the vapor of aqua ammonia, as this neutralizes the dangerous effect of the bromine vapor. Every operator should be provided with a bottle of ammonia, as a little sprinkled about the chemical room soon disinfects it of all iodine or bromine vapor, and also tends to facilitate the operation in the camera.

IODINE.

History of Iodine.--This is one of the simple chemical bodies which was discovered in 1812 by M. Courtois, of Paris, a manufacturer of saltpetre, who found it in the mother-water of that salt. Its properties were first studied into by M. Gay Lussac. It partakes much of the nature of chlorine and bromine. Its affinity for other substances is so powerful as to prevent it from existing in an isolated state. It occurs combined with pota.s.sium and sodium in many mineral waters, such as the brine spring of Ashby-de-la-Zouche, and other strongly saline springs. This combination exists sparingly in sea-water, abundantly in many species of fucus or sea-weed, and in the kelp made from them. It is an ingredient in the Salt Licks, saline, and brine springs of this country, especially of those in the valley of the Mississippi. It is sparingly found in fresh-water plants, as well also in coal, and in combination with numerous other bodies.

Fermented liquors contain iodine; wine, cider, and perry are more iodureted than the average of fresh waters. Milk is richer in iodine than wine; independently of the soil, with which it varies, the proportion of iodine in milk is in the inverse ratio of the abundance of that secretion. Eggs (not the sh.e.l.l) contain much iodine. A fowl's egg weighing 50 gr. contains more iodine than a quart of cow's milk.

Iodine exists in arable land. It is abundant in sulphur, iron, and manganese ores, and sulphuret of mercury: but rare in gypsum, chalk, calcareous and silicious earths. Any attempt to extract iodine economically should be made with the plants of the ferro-iodureted fresh waters. Most of the bodies regarded by the therapeutists as pectoral and anti-scrofulous are rich in iodine.

It is probably to the application of this body that we owe the discovery of the daguerreotype. There is no record of the precise date when Daguerre commenced experimenting with iodine, but by the published correspondence between him and M. Neipce, his partner, it was previous to 1833. There is no doubt, however, that the first successful application was made in 1838, as the discovery was reported to the world early in January, 1839.

Preparation.--Iodine is mostly prepared from kelp, or the half vitrified ashes of seaweed, prepared by the inhabitants of the western islands, and the northern sh.o.r.es of Scotland and Ireland. It is treated with water, which washes out all the soluble salts, and the filtered solution is evaporated until nearly all the carbonate of soda and other saline matters have crystallized out. The remaining liquor, which contains the iodine, is mixed with successive portions of sulphuric acid in a leaden retort, and after standing some days to allow the sulphureted hydrogen, etc., to escape, peroxide of manganese is added, and the whole gently heated. Iodine distills over in a purple vapor, and is condensed in a receiver, or in a series of two-necked globes.

Properties.--Iodine is solid at the ordinary temperature, presenting the appearance of dark-grey or purple spangles, possessing a high degree of metallic l.u.s.tre. It somewhat resembles plumbago, with which it is sometimes diluted, particularly when it is fine. Operators should endeavor to secure the larger crystals. It melts at 224.6 deg., forming a brown or nearly black liquid. It boils at about 356 deg., and emits a very deep violet colored vapor. It gives off a very appreciable vapor, sufficient for all purposes of forming the iodide of silver on the daguerreotype plate, at a temperature of 45 deg. or even lower. Iodine crystallizes readily. Every operator has found upon the side of the jar in his coating-box, perfectly regular crystals, deposited there by sublimation.

Water dissolves but a small proportion of iodine, requiring 7000 parts of water to dissolve one of iodine, {85} or one grain to the gallon of water. Alcohol and ether dissolve it freely, as does a solution of nitrate or hydrochlorate of ammonia and of iodides.

The density of solid iodine is 4.95; that of its vapor 8.716. It greatly resembles chlorine and bromine in its combinations, but its affinities are weaker. It does not destroy the majority of organic substances, and vegetable colors generally resist its action. It combines with several organic substances, imparting to them peculiar colors. It colors the skin brown, but the stain soon disappears.

Chloride of Iodine--Is formed by pa.s.sing chlorine into a bottle containing some iodine. This can be readily done by pouring one ounce and a half of muriatic acid upon a quarter of an ounce of powdered black oxide of manganese, and heat it gradually in a flask, to which is adapted a bent gla.s.s tube. This tube must connect with the bottle containing the iodine, and the yellowish-green gas disengaged will readily combine with the iodine, forming a deep red liquid, and the operation is complete. The use of chloride of iodine will be referred to in connection with the Accelerators.

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Iodides.--The iodide treated with the oil of vitriol, instantly produces a considerable deposit of iodine; and if the mixture be heated, intense violent vapors are disengaged. The reaction is due to the decomposition of oil of vitriol by iodohydric acid, water and sulphurous acid being formed, and iodine set free. The iodides in solution are decomposed by chlorine, iodine being precipitated, the smallest quant.i.ty of which in solution is instantly detected by its imparting to starch an intensely blue color.

Iodide of Pota.s.sium.*--This compound is easily made in the following manner: Subject to a moderate heat a mixture of 100 parts of iodine, 75 of carbonate of potash, 30 of iron filings, and 120 parts of water.

This ma.s.s must be thoroughly dried and then heated to redness; the resulting reddish powder is to be washed with water, and the solution obtained filtered, and evaporated to dryness. It is found that 100 parts of iodine yield 135 parts of very white, but slightly alkaline, iodide of pota.s.sium.

* I shall present the preparation of only a few iodides, and such as are more intimately connected with the Daguerreotype.

Experiment.--On projecting dry pulverized iodide of pota.s.sium into fused anhydrous phosphoric acid, a violent disengagement of iodine takes place, attended by a transient ignition; fused hydrate of phosphoric acid liberates iodine abundantly from iodide of pota.s.sium; this reaction is accompanied by the phenomenon of flame and formation of a considerable quant.i.ty of hydriodic acid.

Iodide of Mercury.--For the preparation of iodide of mercury, Dublanc recommends to cover 100 grms. of mercury with 1 kilogrm. of alcohol, to add 124 grms. of iodine gradually in portions of ten grms., and agitating between each fresh addition, until the alcohol becomes colorless again. After the addition of the last 4 grms. the alcohol remains colored, the whole of the mercury having become converted into iodide. The resulting preparation is washed with alcohol; it is crystalline and of a hyacinth color.

Iodide of Silver.--This compound is formed upon every plate upon which a Daguerreotype is produced. The vapor of iodine coming in contact with the silver surface, forms an iodide which is peculiarly sensitive to light.

The various colors produced are owing to the thickness of the coating, and the maximum sensibility of the coating, as generally adopted, is when it a.s.sumes a deep yellow, or slightly tinged with rose color.

This compound is largely employed in most photographic processes on paper, and may be easily prepared by the following formula: By adding iodide of pota.s.sium to a solution of nitrate of silver, a yellowish-white precipitate of iodide of silver is obtained, which is insoluble in water, slightly soluble in nitric acid, and soluble in a small degree in ammonia, which properties seem easily to distinguish it from the chloride and bromide of silver. Chlorine decomposes it and sets the iodine free, and chlorohydric acid converts it into a chloride. It fuses below a red heat. Although the effect of light on the iodide is less rapid than on the chloride, the former sooner turning black, a.s.suming a brown tinge; but when in connection with gallic acid and the ferrocyanate of potash, it forms two of the most sensitive processes on paper.

Iodide of silver dissolves easily in a solution of iodide of pota.s.sium, and the liquid deposits in evaporation crystals of a double iodide.

Iodide of Gold.--If a solution of pota.s.sium be added to a solution of chloride of gold, a precipitate of iodide of gold takes place, soluble in an excess of the precipitate. A little free potash should be added to combine with any iodide that may chance to be set free by the chloride of gold.

Iodide of Lime is prepared by adding iodine to hydrate of lime (which will be referred to farther on) until the mixture a.s.sumes a light yellow shade, when wanted for combinations with accelerators, or to a dark brown when employed for the first coating. This latter mixture has been sold in our market under the name of "Iodide of Brome."

Iodide of Bromine.--(See page 76.)

Experiments with Iodine.--Place a plate which has been exposed in the camera over the vapor of iodine for a very brief period, and it will present the appearance of the impression having been solarized.

b. Upon a Daguerreotype plate, from which an impression has been effaced by rubbing or otherwise, the picture may be made to reappear by merely coating it over with iodine.

c. Place in a vessel a little water, into which put the smallest possible quant.i.ty of free iodine and add a little starch, and the liquid will instantly a.s.sume a blue color. Advantage is taken of this fact in the laboratory to detect the presence of iodine in liquids.

The starch should be dissolved in boiling water and allowed to cool.

There are numerous other interesting experiments that can be performed by the aid of iodine, but it is unnecessary here to consume more s.p.a.ce.

CHLORINE.

History.--The Swedish chemist, Scheele, in 1774, while examining the action of hydrochloric acid on peroxide of manganese, first noticed this element. He called it dephlogisticated muriatic acid. It was afterwards, by the French nomenclaturists, termed oxygenated muriatic acid, conceiving it to be a compound of oxygen and muriatic acid. This view of its notice was corrected by Sir H. Davy (in 1809), who gave it the present name. In 1840-41, this gas vas employed for accelerating the operation of light upon the iodized Daguerreotype plate. John G.o.ddard, Wolcott & Johnson, Claudet, Draper, Morse and others, were among the first made acquainted with its use. Count Rumford, Ritter, Scheele, Seebert and others, experimented with chlorine in regard to its effect when exposed to the action of light in combination with silver. In 1845, M. Edward Becquerel announced that he had "been successful in obtaining, by the agency of solar radiations, distinct impressions, of the colors of nature."

On the 4th of March, 1851, Neipce, St. Victor, a former partner of DAGUERRE, announced that he had produced "all the colors by using a bath of b.i.+.c.hloride of copper, and that a similar phenomenon occurs with all salts of copper, mixed with chlorine."

Preparation.--This is easily accomplished by putting about two parts of hydrochloric (muriatic) acid on one of powdered black oxide of manganese, and heating it gradually in a flask or retort, to which may be adapted a bent gla.s.s tube. A yellowish-green gas is disengaged, which being conducted through the gla.s.s tube to the bottom of a bottle, can readily be collected, being much heavier than the air, displaces it completely and the bottle is filled (which can be seen by the green color); a greased stopper is tightly fitted to it, and another bottle may be subst.i.tuted.

In all experiments with chlorine, care should be taken not to inhale the gas!

Properties.--Chlorine is a greenish-yellow gas (whence its name, from chloros, green), with a powerful and suffocating odor, and is wholly irrespirable. Even when much diluted with air, it produces the most annoying irritation of the throat, with stricture of the chest and a severe cough, which continues for hours, with the discharge of much thick mucus. The attempt to breathe the undiluted gas would be fatal; yet, in a very small quant.i.ty, and dissolved in water, it is used with benefit by patients suffering under pulmonary consumption.

Under a pressure of about four atmospheres, it becomes a limpid fluid of a fine yellow color, which does not freeze at zero, and is not a conductor of electricity. It immediately returns to the gaseous state with effervescence on removing the pressure.

Water recently boiled will absorb, if cold, about twice its bulk of chlorine gas, acquiring its color and characteristic properties. The moist gas, exposed to a cold of 32 deg., yields beautiful yellow crystals, which are a definite compound of one equivalent of chlorine and ten of water. If these crystals are hermetically sealed up in a gla.s.s tube, they will, on melting, exert such a pressure as to liquefy a portion of the gas, which is distinctly seen as a yellow fluid, not miscible with the water which is present. Chlorine is one of the heaviest of the gases, its density being 2.47, and 100 cubic inches weighing 76.5 grains.

Chlorine Water.--This combination, which is used in conducting M.

Neipce's process, can be readily prepared by conducting the gas into a bottle containing distilled water. One part water dissolves two parts of chlorine.

Chlorides.--The metallic chlorides are nearly all soluble in water; that of silver and protochloride of mercury being the only exceptions.

A metallic chloride, treated with oil of vitriol, disengages chlorohydric acid. Heated with a mixture of peroxide of manganese and sulphuric acid, chlorine is given off, which is easily recognized by its odor and other physical properties.

The chlorides dissolve in water; give with nitrate of silver, a white precipitate, even in highly diluted solutions, becoming violet colored and finally black when exposed to the light. The rapidity of the change of color is proportioned to the intensity of the light. It is insoluble in nitric acid, but readily soluble in ammonia; it fuses without decomposition, forming, when cold, a tough, h.o.r.n.y ma.s.s, and is reduced by hydrogen and by fusion with carbonate of soda, or with resin.

Chloride of Bromine. (See page 74.)

Chloride of Iodine. (See page 85.)

Chloride of pota.s.sium.--or (Muriate of Pota.s.sa).--Dissolve half an ounce of carbonate of pota.s.sa in water, and neutralize with muriatic acid. Upon concentrating the solutions, cubic crystals will be obtained, having a taste similar to common salt. They consist of pota.s.sium and chloride, and when dissolved in water they may be regarded as muriate of pota.s.sa.

Chloride of Lime.--Mix half an ounce of slacked lime (hydrate of lime) with six ounces of water, and conduct into this milk of lime, with frequent agitation, as much chlorine gas as will evolve from two ounces of muriatic acid and half an ounce of black oxide of manganese. The liquid clarifies by standing; may be regarded as a solution of chloride of lime, and must be protected from the air and light. It may also be made without putting in the water with the hydrate of lime, by merely pa.s.sing the chlorine into the hydrate of lime. This last is by some used in preparations for accelerating the operation of taking Daguerreotypes, but when used for this purpose it is in small quant.i.ties.

Chloride of Calcium.--To one part of water add two parts of muriatic acid, and add pieces of common chalk until effervescence ceases; then filter through cotton cloth and evaporate it by placing it in all earthen or porcelain dish, over a slow fire, to the consistency of a syrup. When cooling, large prismatic crystals of chloride of calcium are formed. These must be quickly dried by pressing between folds of blotting paper and kept carefully excluded from the air, as it readily attracts hydrogen. For most daguerreotype purposes, the syrup may be at once evaporated to dryness. This is frequently placed in the iodine coating box for the purpose of keeping the atmosphere dry. It is so easily made that every operator can provide himself with it in a short time, and at little expense.

Chloride of Gold.--Is prepared by dissolving gold in aqua regia, a composition of one part of nitric to two parts of muriatic acid. Gold foil is the best for our purposes; coin, however, answers, in most cases, for the daguerreotype operator, as the alloy, being so slight is not noticed in the gilding process. When the latter is used, it will facilitate the operation to beat it out, forming a thin sheet, and then cutting in small strips. Where purity is required, foil is better.

The gold is placed in three or four times its own weight of the above acids. For this purpose, an evaporating dish is best (a common saucer will do); a moderate heat may be applied to favor the action. The mixture should be stirred often with a gla.s.s rod; care should be observed not to apply too much heat, for at a temperature of about 300 deg. the chlorine would be expelled and leave a metallic precipitate, which would require re-dissolving. Acid may at any time be added if necessary to dissolve the gold, but it is advisable to add as little excess as possible, as it would require more time to evaporate. After all the gold has dissolved, and the liquid a.s.sumes a deep red color, the solution should be allowed to cool, being stirred nearly all the time. This salt is of a reddish-brown color. It is rarely we find in our market good chloride of gold, as common, salt is used for the bulk; and when the bottles are labelled "15 grains," "20 grains," nine-tenths do not in reality contain exceeding five grains of chloride of gold.

The salt is mixed with the above solution when it is cooling, and gives bright yellow crystals, which some of our uninformed operators conceive to be the best quality.

Chloride of Silver.--(Oxide of Silver.)--Take any quant.i.ty of silver coin or other silver, roll or hammer it thin; cut in small pieces.

This in order to save time. Put the silver in a gla.s.s or earthen vessel (Florence flask is best); pour in nitric acid and water, about three parts of the former to one of the latter. The operation of cutting up the silver may be facilitated by applying a gentle heat.

This blue solution consists of oxide of silver and oxide of copper, both combined with nitric acid. Should the operator wish a pure solution of silver, which, however, is not always used, he may obtain it in the following manner: