Re: Glass Plates

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Judy,

Saw your post and can give you some info. Cellulose Nitrate is another name for guncotten. I believe it is made by treating cotten with nitric acid. It will detonate but burns slowly. It can be dissolved in ether or ethyl ether. Cellulose nitrate disolved in ethyl ether is also called collodian. Wet plate photogs coated a glass plate with it and then dipped it in silver nitrate. I have a bottle of it somewhere which I think I bought from Photographer's Formularly. Use in a well vented area for obvious reasons.

It was one of the first practical plastics. Originally used to make billiard balls, shirt collars for men and as a base for motion picture film. It is not stable and deteriorates with time. Its flammable nature resulted in some terrible fires in film storage vaults. It was replaced by "Safety Film."

Bob Schramm