The fuming box is usually a light-tight box with two compartments;
the upper part has a door and should be sufficiently large to hold
the amount of paper necessary for a full day's work, without
crowding the sheets together or preventing a free circulation of
the fumes between their surfaces.
The paper is taken from the lines, each two sheets back to back,
the corners fastened with clips and set up on end in this
compartment or hung on lines, as the case may be. When all the
paper is in, shut and fasten the door and into the bottom
compartment (which is usually a shallow drawer, and separated from
the upper only by a lattice work of wood) place a saucer
containing an ounce or two of strong liquor of ammonia, push the
drawer in, thus closing the compartment, and leave for fifteen or
twenty minutes, or until you are ready to use the paper.
When you remove the paper from the fuming box do not expose it to
strong light until you have it in the printing frames, nor after
that, until you have toned and fixed it. Take the spent ammonia
from the box and pour it into a bottle; it is useful for other
purposes. Many printers cut the paper to size before printing,
others simply tear each sheet into halves, quarters, eighths or
twelfths, and print them thus, trimming them afterwards, some
before toning, others after they are finished and before wetting
them for mounting. The most economical method is to trim before
printing; [p076] all the trimmings should be carefully saved
for the silver they contain.