room
commands a view unobstructed by buildings, trees or the like, so much the
better. I personally prefer a south light. With this one can get soft
enlargements from the most contrasty negatives, while by shielding the
negatives from the direct rays of the sun we can work from negatives which
are quite flat and lacking in contrasts.

[Illustration: Fig. 3]

But whatever the room chosen, all windows but the one at which we are to
work must be blocked up. This can be done by heavy dark curtains, or by
specially constructed frames covered with light-tight material and made to
fit closely in the windows. If there are any transoms these should
likewise be covered. White light entering under the doors can be shut out
by placing a rug along the bottom of the door. Care must be taken that the
window-frames fit closely, as the light from openings at the windows would
soon fog a sheet of bromide paper if it fell upon it even for a few
moments.

[Illustration: Fig. 4]

Assuming that the room chosen can be made practically light-tight, we will
need some arrangement to hold the negative. The details of a box for this
purpose can best be shown by a diagram (Fig. 3). ABCD is a strong and
neatly made box open at both ends, and about two inches larger each way
than the largest negative from which enlargements are to be made. E
represents a section of a board which forms part of a window frame, a
general view of which is given in Fig. 4. Reverting to Fig. 3, F is an
opening cut in the side of the negative box two inches or a little less
from the back of the box, AD, and wide enough to admit the free passage of
a negative in a kit or other holder. On the inside of the box are tacked
strips, GGGG, to serve as a guide to the kit when placing it in the box.
An opening similar to F should be made in the other side of the box to
permit lateral adjustments when we come to use the apparatus, besides
enabling us to put the negative in or withdraw it from either side. A
convenient modification of the strips, G, is found by placing the front
ones a short distance further forward, to wit, toward BC, as they are
shown in the cut (Fig. 3), and tacking to them a piece of watch spring, H,
this then serving both as a guide and as a means of pressing the kit or
negative holder against the other strips, GG (Fig. 5).

[Illustration: Fig. 5]

J is a sheet of ground-glass, which is tacked over the opening when the
box is firmly set in the board, E. I