Some four or five years since I tried using bromide of zinc instead of the ordinary salts, namely, bromide of ammonium or potassium.  I only made one batch of plates at the time, which possessed several important features I considered an advantage, and I think well worth while following out.  I do not think it can be denied that ordinary gelatine plates, if exposed in a weak light, fall very short of the results obtained with wet collodion when compared side by side, gelatine being almost useless under these conditions, and there is a decided gain in the result in this respect if the emulsion be made with zinc bromide.

In using bromide of zinc there is a slight difficulty to overcome, but it can be overcome, as I have succeeded in making a perfect emulsion.  It will, I have no doubt, be remembered that Mr. L. Warnerke was the first to call attention to this salt in the days of collodion emulsion; and I think he claimed for an emulsion prepared with it that the image would stand more forcing without fogging to gain any amount of intensity.  This was said of a collodion emulsion, and I also find that it is the same when used in a gelatine emulsion.  I have heard a great many say, when speaking about the intensity of gelatine plates, that they can get any amount of intensity.  I grant that in a studio where the operator has full command over the lighting of his subject by means of blinds, but it is not so in the field, especially when the light is dull.  I have seen thousands of negatives, and as a rule I have found want of intensity has been the fault, and generally through the light.  Now if we can find a remedy for this, it will be a step in advance.

What I claim for bromide of zinc is that a rapid plate can be made with it, and any degree of intensity can be readily obtained with a very small proportion of pyrogallic acid in the developer.  The cry as always is to use plenty of pyrogallic acid and you can get any amount of intensity.  I remember, in the early days of gelatine, as much as six grains being recommended, and I have myself, under extraordinary circumstances, used as much as ten grains to the ounce; but I think it is now, to a certain extent, a thing of the past.  With the plates to which I refer, I found that I only required to use for a 71/2 x 5 plate one grain of pyrogallic acid in about three ounces of developer to get full density without the slightest difficulty.  If the ordinary quantity were used far too much density was obtained, and the plate ruined beyond recovery; but with so small a quantity of pyro. the plate was not so much stained as with a larger quantity, and the negative took far less time to develop on account of the intensity being so readily obtained.