THE MANIA FOR COLLECTING.

It is doubtful if there is anywhere in the world a boy or a girl who has not at some time or another suffered from this very harmless disease of "collecting." It comes to most of us almost as surely as the mumps, but, unlike many other of the diseases of childhood, it can be had more than once, and there is no limit, apparently, to its phases. Stamp-collecting, and autograph-collecting, and the collecting of coins are most reasonable, instructive, and oftentimes profitable; but what can be said of a person who collects toothpicks? It would almost seem as if such a person were insane, and yet to some men it has appeared to be worth while to do it. An English journal states that probably the distinction of owning the most valuable assortment of these useful little articles belongs to an Eastern Rajah, whose collection contains toothpicks of the rarest workmanship and design, many of them studded with costly jewels. Others of them are valuable from their antiquity and the unique circumstances under which they came into his possession. The most curious miscellaneous collection, the paper goes on to say, ever made was that of an eccentric Scotsman, William Gordon, who lived at Grahamstown, near Glasgow. He had an immense collection of the most varied description, including adzes, gimlets, hammers, keys, jars, bottles, toothpicks, tops, marbles, whips, toys of all sorts, sizes, shapes, and materials, besides having an assortment of walking-sticks and gold and silver watches. The most remarkable articles ever used as toothpicks are the whiskers of the walrus, which are quite stiff, and improve with age. The writer tells also of a curious fad of an eccentric collector, who went in for bottled battle-fields, as he called them. He had about seventy-five bottles, each bottle containing some of the soil of a historic battle-field, and duly labelled.

Surely, if this mania continues to develop, we shall shortly hear of collections of canned volcanoes, and barrelled rivers, and preserved voices—in fact, the last would not, in these days of the phonograph, be a had thing at all. If, instead of taking an autograph-album to a celebrity, and asking him to write his name in it, a collector might readily take a phonograph fully supplied with cylinders to the famous men of the time, and ask them to say a few words to be handed down to posterity, not by word of hand, but by word of mouth. It would be a great joy to us now if some means of preserving the voice of Shakespeare, Washington, Napoleon, and other illustrious dead had been devised in the old days.

Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.

Owing to the number of questions, we devote the entire Department to answers this week.

Sir Knight E. Magsameu asks how to burnish prints without a burnisher; if ferrotype pictures be made with the pocket kodak, and if so, how are they made; if lantern slides can be made with a kodak; if blue prints can be burnished; how to print a title or name on a photograph; what is meant by the diaphragm; and what is the reason tall buildings in his pictures have the appearance of falling down. To burnish prints get a ferrotype plate (price 5c.), clean it with a soft rag dipped in benzine, take the prints from the water and lay them face down on the shiny side of the plate. Lay a piece of blotting-paper over the print and rub it with a squeegee (which is a rubber roller), till all the moisture is out of the print and it adheres to the plate. Leave it on the plate till dry, when, if it does not come off itself, lift it at one corner and it will peel off the plate. The contact with and the drying on the ferrotype plate give the print a fine gloss. If one has not a squeegee, a smooth bottle or even a wooden rolling-pin can be used. Ferrotype pictures cannot very well be made with a pocket kodak. Sir Knight Samuel Boucher, Jun., Box 68, Gravesend, L. I., says that he will send the formula for ferrotype plates to any one who asks him for it. Lantern slides can be made with a kodak. Blue prints cannot be burnished. See No. 855, March 17, 1896, for directions for marking negatives. A diaphragm in photography is a thin metal plate with a hole in the centre, which is placed between the lenses of the camera tube to concentrate the rays of light and increase the sharpness of the picture. The smaller the opening the sharper will be the picture, but the exposure will take longer than with a larger opening. The reason of the lines of the buildings in the pictures being out of perpendicular is because the lens is not rectilinear.

Sir Knight William F. Beers, San Remo Hotel, 75th Street and Central Park, New York city, wishes to know the best book for amateurs. Wilson's Photographics is a good book, and gives detailed directions for making pictures. Sir William says he has a 3 by 3½ daylight kodak which he would like to sell, as he wishes to purchase a larger size.

Sir Knight Arthur Lazarus asks how to enlarge and diminish the size of pictures. To enlarge see directions given in No. 801. Will Sir Arthur state whether he means to reduce from the negative or from the print? Our competition is now open.

Robert Hunter, 122 Buena Vista Ave., Newark, O.; Loe Olds, Spring Alley, Minn.; Edward Clarkson Seward, Jun., 43 North Fullerton Ave., Montclair, N. J.; Walter S. Raudenbush, 130 South 6th St., Lebanon, Pa.; Lester Schutte, 29 East 93d St., New York city; Grenville N. Willis, Maplehurst, Becket, Mass.; Willis H. Kerr, Bellevue, Neb., wish to be enrolled as members of the Camera Club.

Sir Knight J. R. Sixx sends two blue prints, and asks if they are good. He has had his camera but two months and is anxious to do good work. The picture of the poultry-yard is very good, but in making pictures of figures would suggest that the full length be included. If the camera had been moved a little farther away from the subject it would have brought the whole figure within the angle of the lens. The picture is sharp and detail good. The picture of the steamer is a good one, but trimming would improve the general appearance. Try cutting off half an inch in the foreground, at the same time making the edge of the picture parallel with the bottom of the boat, and then squaring the rest of the picture to correspond. A part of an umbrella out of focus shows at one side of the picture. This can be removed in the printing if a thin mixture of Gihon's opaque or lamp-black (water-color) be painted on the glass side of the negative over the outlines of the umbrella. Make it as near the color of the film of the sky as possible, and it will look like a part of it. Try and win a prize in our coming competition.

Sir Knight Walter Raudenbush and several other correspondents who wish to become members of the Camera Club ask if there is any initiation fee required for admission into the Camera Club. There is no fee, and any Knight or Lady of the Round Table may become a member of the Camera Club by sending name and address to the editor and asking to be enrolled as a member. One is not required to be a subscriber to the magazine in order to belong to the Camera Club or to enter the competitions; but it is a great advantage to have the magazine, as the Camera Club column always contains matter which is of value to the amateur.