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‹Better GutenbergPhotographic AmusementsHow to Make A Photograph Inside A Bottle · 15 of 56Contents›

Photographic Amusements

by Walter E. Woodbury

15 of 56 · Contents · Download EPUB

How To Make A Photograph Inside A Bottle

Get a glass-blower to make an ordinary shaped wine-bottle of very thin and clear glass, and clean it well. Next take the white of two eggs and add to it 29 grains of ammonium chloride dissolved in 1 drachm of spirits of wine, and one-half ounce of water. Beat this mixture into a thick froth and then allow it to stand and settle. Filter through a tuft of cotton-wool, and pour into the specially made bottle. By twisting the bottle round, an even layer of the solution will deposit itself on the sides. Pour off the remaining solution, allow the film in the bottle to dry, and again repeat the operation.

The next operation is to sensitize the film with a solution of nitrate of silver, 40 grains to 1 ounce of water. Pour this in and turn the bottle round for a few minutes, then pour off the superfluous solution and again dry. Hold the neck of the bottle for a few seconds over another bottle containing ammonia, so as to allow the fumes to enter it. Printing is the next operation; this is accomplished by tying a film negative round the bottle, and covering up all the other parts from the light. Print very deeply, keeping the bottle turning round all the time. Toning, fixing, and washing can be done in the ordinary way by filling the bottle up with the different solutions. The effect is very curious, and can be improved by coating the inside of the bottle with white enamel.

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