To Mount Photographs.—

The Bookbinder has some useful instructions on this subject. Never place a silver print on a white mount. The high lights are never pure white, and a brilliant white margin kills the half-tones. Choose the tint that seems to harmonize best with the subject. Be sure that the mounts are not made from wood-pulp. [To this we would add, shun cards that have any device or lettering in bronze. On the surface there are sure to be minute specks of the metal, each of which is likely in time to become the centre of a discolored spot.] The adhesive material used to attach the print cannot be too pure; and if stale, it is liable to ferment, to the complete destruction of the picture. Starch, which is used more than any other material, should be made fresh every day. Take a teaspoonful in a large cup, add cold water sufficient to break it up, but no more, pour on boiling water, stirring the while, till it is quite transparent; use when cold. If you use paste, take a teaspoonful of maize-flour; beat it well up in a teacupful of water till it is quite smooth and there are no lumps, place this in a porridge-saucepan (i.e., a double one), and let it boil, stirring continually; it will turn to a delightfully thin and transparent paste that will be easy to work with and very adhesive. If gelatine is used, it should be of the best quality. Dissolve half-an-ounce in a teacupful of water. It should be used hot. Several methods of mounting are in use; the following are among the best. (1) After trimming the print all around, moisten it slightly (the object being to have it limp, without stretching it), by placing it overnight between sheets of damp paper, and it will be about right next morning. Damp the mount, also slightly, paste your print very carefully all over, using no more paste than is just necessary, lay it carefully on the mount, cover it with a piece of clean paper and rub it down well, then place it between sheets of blotting-paper in a standing-press, and allow it to dry under pressure. It may perhaps be necessary to take it out of the press and change the blotting-paper. If this be done properly, the photograph and its mount will lie quite flat. (2) Paste the back of the print all over and allow it to dry. Damp the mount, lay the print on the damp mount, and pass them through the rolling-machine, or place them in the standing-press, under strong pressure, (3) Take a piece of lithographic-stone or a thick piece of glass; glue this all over with the gelatine; place the photographic print quickly down on the glued stone, rubbing it smartly all over; then pick it up and lay it on the mount. All these actions must be rapid, and if done properly by this method, a photograph may be easily mounted even on thin paper without cockling.