Under the general term of the Chromatype, I would propose to include all those processes which involve the use of any of the salts of chromium. It was originally introduced to distinguish a particular process which I discovered, and published at the meeting of the British Association at Cork, in August 1843; but it appears very convenient to adopt the principle introduced by Sir John Herschel, of grouping the phenomena of photography under special terms derived from the most prominent chemical preparation employed.

There are many preparations which are affected by light in a similar manner to the salts of silver. Several have been tried as photographic materials, but as yet without much success, with the exception of the bichromate of potash, which was first announced as a useful photographic agent by Mr. Mungo Ponton, in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal; from which I quote Mr Pontons own account.

" When paper is immersed in the bichromate of potash, it is powerfully and rapidly acted on by the sun's rays. When an object is laid in the usual way on this paper, the portion exposed to the light speedily becomes tawny, passing more or less into a deep orange, according to the strength of the light. The portion covered by the object retains the original bright yellow tint which it had before exposure, and the object is thus represented yellow upon an orange ground, there being several gradations of shade, or tint, according to the greater or less degree of transparency in the different parts of the object.

" In this state, of course, the drawing, though very beautiful, is evanescent. To fix it, all that is required is careful immersion in water, when it will be found that those portions of the salt which have not been acted on by the light are readily dissolved out, while those which have been exposed to the light are completely fixed on the paper. By the second process the object is obtained white upon an orange ground, and quite permanent. If exposed for many hours together to strong sunshine, the colour of the ground is apt to lose in depth, but not more so than most other colouring matters. This action of light on the bichromate of potash differs from that upon the salts of silver. Those of the latter which are blackened by light are of themselves insoluble in water, and it is difficult to impregnate paper with them in a uniform manner. The blackening seems to be caused by the formation of oxide of silver.

" In the case of the bichromate of potash, again, that salt is exceedingly soluble, and paper can be easily saturated with it. The agency of light not only changes its colour, but deprives it of solubility, thus rendering it fixed in the paper. This action appears to consist in the disengagement of free chromic acid, which is of a deep red colour, and which seems to combine with the paper. This is rendered more probable from the circumstance that the neutral chromate exhibits no similar change. The best mode of preparing paper with bichromate of potash is to use a saturated solution of that salt ; soak the paper well in it, and then dry it rapidly at a brisk fire, excluding it from daylight. Paper thus prepared acquires a deep orange tint on exposure to the sun. If the solution be less strong, or the drying less rapid, the colour will not be so deep. A pleasing variety may be made by using sulphate of indigo along with the bichromate of potash, the colour of the object and of the paper being then different shades of green. In this way, also, the object may be represented of a darker shade than the ground".

Paper prepared with the bichromate of potash, though as sensitive as some of the papers prepared with the salts of silver, is much inferior to most of them, and is not sufficiently sensitive for the camera obscura. This paper, however, answers quite well for taking drawings from dried plants, or for copying prints. Its great recommendation is its cheapness, and the facility with which it can be prepared. The price of the bichromate of potash is about two shillings per pound, whilst the nitrate of silver is five shillings the ounce.

As the deep orange ground of these pictures prevents the permeation of the chemical rays of light, it is very easy to procure any number of facsimiles of an engraving, by transfer from the first negative photograph. The correct copies have a beautiful sharpness; and, if carefully managed, but little of the minute detail of the original engraving is lost.

A photographic paper prepared with the bichromate of potash of another kind is described by M. E. Becquerel. He states,—It is sufficient to steep a paper prepared in Mr. Ponton's manner, and upon which there exists a faint copy of a drawing, in a solution of iodine in alcohol, to wash this paper in alcohol, and then dry it: then the parts which were white become blue, and those which were yellow remain more or less clear.

M. E. Becquerel has pursued his investigations into the action of the chromic acid on organic compounds, and has shown that the mode of sizing the papers influences their coloration by-light, and that with unsized paper coloration is effected only after a long time. Perceiving that the principal reaction resulted from the chromic acid contained in the bichromate of potash, on the starch in the size of the paper, it occurred to M. E. Becquerel, that, as starch has the property of forming with iodine a combination of a very fine blue colour, it should produce deep shades of that tint, whilst the lights still remained an orange-yellow.

His method of proceeding is to spread a size of starch very uniformly over the surface of the paper. It is then steeped in a weak alcoholic solution of iodine, and afterwards washed in a great quantity of water. By this immersion it should take a very fine blue tint. If this is uniform, the paper is considered fit for the experiment ; in the contrary case it is sized again. It is then steeped in a concentrated solution of bichromate of potash, and pressed between folds of blotting-paper, and dried near the fire. To be effective, it should be very dry.

It is now fit for use. When the copy is effected, which requires in sunshine about five minutes, the photograph is washed and dried. When dry, it is steeped in a weak alcoholic solution of iodine, and afterwards, when it has remained in it some time, it is washed in water, and carefully dried with blotting-paper, but not at the fire, for at a little below 100° Fahr. the combination of iodine and starch discolours.

If it be considered that the drawing is not sufficiently distinct, this immersion may be repeated several times; for by this means may be obtained the intensity of tone that is desired, which intensity can be changed at will by employing a more concentrated solution of iodine.

When the paper is damp, the shades are of a very fine blue, but when it is dry the colour becomes deep violet. If while the drawing is still wet it be covered with a lawyer of gum arabic, the colour of the drawing is greatly preserved, and more beautiful when it is dry. When a paper is thus prepared, it loses at first a little of its tone, but it afterwards preserves its violet tint.