=Sizing and Varnishing.=—Prints to be varnished may be printed on prepared or sized paper, and in such cases may be at once varnished. If, on the contrary, the paper is not sized, they require a special preparation, as follows:—A 10 per cent. solution of gelatine is laid on with a broad camel-hair brush, avoiding air bubbles and streaks. After a little practice this operation will be found both easy and rapid. The sized pictures are pinned in pairs back to back on a wooden frame, to which strips of cork are attached; when the prints are quite dry the operation of varnishing may be proceeded with. A good varnish, probably the best for the purpose, which possesses the double advantage of remaining colourless and setting very hard, consists of a solution of 15 parts of white (bleached) lac in 100 parts of wood spirit (vegetable or wood naphtha). On dissolving the shellac it will be found that the solution is clouded on account of the suspended fatty matter, the removal of which is always desirable; the varnish will then filter more rapidly and give a more glossy coating. By adding powdered lime three parts of the solution may be decanted clear, and the remainder may also be used after filtration through felt. Or if to three parts of varnish one part of benzine or petroleum ether be added, the solution will resolve itself into two layers, and the upper one, which will contain the fatty matter, may be poured off. The varnish is best applied by means of a ball or dabber, care being exercised to avoid air bubbles; the print is next placed in =The Drying-box= (see fig. 8), which is a four-sided tin box 1 m. long by 0·25 m. high. A gas-pipe, perforated with small holes drilled about 6 to 8 cm. apart, runs through the upper part of the box, the front of which is open to two-thirds its height. A plate, finely perforated, divides the upper third from the lower two-thirds, and forms an inner division, through the upper of which the gas-pipe passes. The flat perforated division is hinged to allow of being opened for the purpose of igniting the gas. The pictures placed on the bottom of the box dry very rapidly, while the perforated division prevents the possibility of the ignition of the vapour of the spirit employed. With such an apparatus it is possible to varnish and dry a large number of prints in a very short time. [Illustration: _Fig. 8._]